text:
Avison Young in Las Vegas
Avison Young opened its office in Las Vegas in November of 2011 as part of the company's strategic plan to expand commercial real estate services in major markets throughout the U.S., including the Western states. Today, the local Avison Young office ranks in the top five local commercial real estate firms. Las Vegas professionals collaborate frequently with brokers in many of the existing Avison Young locations across the globe. With strong demand from Canadian investors for properties of all types in America, Las Vegas provides a unique opportunity for Avison Young clients throughout the company's well-positioned network of offices in key markets.
In December 2018, the Las Vegas office became an Accredited Management Organization through IREM (Institute of Real Estate Management), a highly selective designation held by only 550 commercial real estate offices worldwide.
The Avison Young presence in Las Vegas continues to grow. Some of our services include:
- Focused and responsive client relationship building
- Access to detailed nationwide research tools and market data
- Sales and leasing of industrial, retail, professional office, medical office and land
- Investment property and business sales
- Gas Station and C-Store sales
- Extensive property management services including: site management, financial reporting and analysis, cost control, cash management, tenant and community relations and preventative maintenance...
Area Overview
Known as the world's gambling mecca, Las Vegas has become much more than that. While the entertainment and service industries are collectively the largest employers, the major single employer in Southern Nevada is the Clark County School District, a reflection of the explosive population growth over the past decade. With a population over 2 million, Las Vegas is the largest city in Nevada. Over the past decade, the city's population has grown nearly 35%, which has made Las Vegas one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the nation.
With more than 150,000 hotel/motel rooms and approximately 10 million square feet of exhibit space, the gaming and convention business will always be the largest driver of the Las Vegas economy. There are over 6 million convention attendees per year. McCarran International Airport ranks among to top 10 busiest in the world. Companies in adjacent states seeking a more business-friendly environment have found Las Vegas to be a desirable place to live and work, with low taxes, corporate incentives, affordable housing, an enjoyable climate, and a highly-skilled workforce.
The Las Vegas office market is unique, since the downtown submarket, occupied by government agencies and their ancillary services, comprises only 5% of the overall inventory of over 63 million square feet. Even though the city technically has a downtown, it is not considered to be the central business district. The true CBD can be found at Hughes Center, a class A, 1.2-msf , mixed-use complex, just east of the famous Las Vegas Strip.
Fueled by the recovering economy, the retail sector is once again showing signs of positive growth. Local retailers are expanding existing operations and national and regional chains have entered the market. As the local economic market continues to gain traction, there will be new and existing business growth across all product types that will take advantage of the abundant supply of infill locations as well as inventory in outlying areas to serve the ever-expanding residential communities that surround the city.
While the post-recession recovery started slowly for the Southern Nevada Industrial Market, activity has rebounded dramatically in recent years. New construction has reached historical pre-recession levels with the majority of new product in the big box category to enable e-commerce distribution suppliers to meet the local and regional requirements of their consumer, retail and wholesale customers. Southern Nevada's strategic location to California and other Southwest and Mountain West markets has spurred the increased interest on the part of e-commerce distributors. Rising lease rates combined with low vacancy have also prompted developers to build spec products in other industrial categories as well. While the majority of the approximately 130 million square feet of industrial space is comprised of distribution product, we are experiencing an increased interest from manufacturers due to our strong labor force and attractive tax incentives.
Whether seeking stabilized or distressed assets, individual and institutional investors have been attracted to Las Vegas for the past decade. Transaction velocity remains brisk, with an abundant supply of office, industrial, retail and multi-residential properties available, including vacant land.


text:
Feature spotlights
Integrated infrastructure for big data and analytics
Our industry-leading reference architectures are designed to deliver out-of-the-box performance while scaling from small to very large as your business needs grow.
Unites computing, networking, storage and more
Cisco UCS rack servers help you automate and accelerate deployment of all your applications, including virtualization and cloud computing, scale-out, and bare-metal workloads.
Supercharges your applications
With Cisco UCS rack servers, you gain better application performance to improve customer and employee satisfaction.
Operational intelligence at scale
Our rack servers provide industry-leading performance, capacity, and scalability for Splunk enterprise deployments.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
AAA-MEX: Zorro/X-Pac, Chessman/Mesias.
FOX/LATV: Women's match, the never ending battle between Tiger and Angel here, Guerreros vs Panther/Mictlan/Sagrado
52MX: Felino/Skandalo/Vangelis vs Fabian/Leono/Stuka and trios title feud
CMLL: Galavision lists this as 3h45 minute show. That can not possibly be correct. Top 3, unless they start moving around things because they have no TV for next week.
AAA-MEX: Chessman (and Konnan) vs Mesias, DMEX vs HF2
C3: Infernales/Okumura vs Flash/Pegasso/Stuka should be good. Plus unmasked Fire.


text:
Most researchers seek to have their research published in the best possible journal.
Within academia, our bosses (supervisor, department chair, dean) and our peers usually place high value on papers that are published in prestigious medical journals, which often get attention in the popular press and serve to draw attention to the institution, faculty, department and researchers. This also helps to increase the likelihood that the paper will be read by end-users (other academics, students, and increasingly, the public at-large).
However, it can be a challenging endeavor to get research published (for any number of reasons…..lack of novelty, fundamental flaw in study design or data analysis, etc). The growing number of academic journals available to researchers, both reputable and not-so-reputable, suggests there are more venues within which to publish research than ever before. Every paper has a home, they say.
In a novel approach to knowledge translation, one researcher recently published a paper in the New York Times (click HERE for the story at Undark). An interesting approach, which likely superseded any impact and interest his paper would've received if it ended up in a traditional academic journal. The price tag? Only $60,000 Canadian (!!!).


text:
David Bowie, my son and me
Before Madonna shed personas like so many pairs of Prada shoes and Lady Gaga transformed from art pop to glam, David Bowie was the original music chameleon.
His death on Monday — of cancer at the age of 69 — robs the universe of one of its most eclectic and unpredictable voices.
He was also a touchstone for both me and, later, my son.
In the early 1970s, few album covers were more striking than those produced for Bowie's Aladdin Sane, Pin Up Boy and Diamond Dogs. I can remember vividly seeing them at the local department store, where Bowie's albums appeared to have a permanent place of honor. I was too young to know Bowie's music, but was fascinated by this androgynous superstar all the same.
A few years later, I watched him perform a trio of songs on Saturday Night Live. The 1979 performance featured incredibly odd costumes and an artist in transition. It was the dawn of New Wave and Bowie was, as ever, ready to ride the crest.
David Bowie - Boys Keep Swinging (SNL 1979 live performance) from Nathan Adler on Vimeo.
A few years later, Bowie would ride a different wave.
While I was in college, a friend of my called me and told me to come over to his house. He wanted me to listen to something.
He had a Sony Walkman loaded with 1983's Let's Dance. "Listen to this," he said, as he put the headphones over my ears. "Bowie's a genius. It's like he just woke up one day and said, I want to make a massive, hit pop song."
The voice I heard was unmistakably Bowie's, but the dance hook was urgent and inescapable. To my recollection, it was the song of the year (Let's Dance was nominated for Album of the Year at the 1984 Grammys, but lost out to Van Halen's Jump).
From a pop music perspective, Let's Dance may have been Bowie's apex. To be fair, it was also the first Bowie album to be propelled by MTV. I must've watched the videos for Let's Dance and China Girl a thousand times. It was also, arguably, his most broadly accessible album. Even so, Bowie never stopped making music and attracting new fans, like my now 20-year-old son.
My son came to a Bowie through a completely different persona, one Bowie crafted on the silver screen. In 1976, Bowie starred in his first feature film, The Man Who Fell to Earth. I didn't see the movie until years later on cable, but even then it stood out as a particularly bizarre cinematic experience. Bowie's ensuing film choices were no less eclectic than his varied musical stylings. (All told, he starred in over a dozen films and even did voice work for SpongeBob Square Pants.)
One choice in particular, captured the imagination of my then-young son.
The 1986 film Labyrinth combined two of my favorite things: Jim Henson puppetry and, oddly enough, David Bowie. Whenever it appeared on TV, I'd plop myself down in front of the set to marvel at the weirdness of it all. Eventually, my young son joined me.
I don't know if it was the Tina Turner spiked hair and outfit or Bowie's character's preternatural ability to rotate three glass balls with one hand, but my son was hooked the moment he saw Bowie's Jareth the Goblin King.
Labyrinth featured a handful of new songs from Bowie, including "Magic Dance," which ultimately served to prime my son's interest in Bowie musical anthology.
Eventually, after a not brief-enough detour into thrasher rock, my son put aside Serj Tankian for the Thin White Duke. Together, we found 2002's Best of Bowie and bonded over the powerful and near-perfect collection of music. One of our favorite Christmas songs is the 1977 mashup of David Bowie and Bing Crosby's "Peace on Earth" and "Little Drummer Boy."
Bowie had long since ceased touring after an on-stage heart attack in 2004. In fact, he'd all but retreated from public view, physically and musically, for almost a decade. My son and I would often fantasize about him returning to tour — and when The Next Day arrived in 2013, we felt certain he would offer up at least a few live performances.
That didn't happen.
We did have the good fortune to travel to London in the summer of 2013, while the Victoria and Albert Museum was holding its David Bowie Exhibition.
It was an extraordinary exhibit, full of virtually every Bowie artifact you could imagine — some of his earliest and wildest costumes, songwriting notes, archival clips of television and stage performances. We donned headsets that kept a running narrative of music and explanation in perfect sync with every section of the show. It revealed Bowie as a complex, gifted and sometimes tortured man.
They didn't allow photos, videos or even sketches of the exhibit, so all I was left with were my memories — and whatever we bought in the Bowie-themed gift shop right outside the exhibit hall.
A few weeks ago, my son began asking me if I had seen the Bowie's bizarre Blackstar video. He told me it was strange, but he couldn't stop watching. A week later, Bowie's 7-song Blackstar album dropped to public and critical acclaim.
Once again, my son and I wondered if Bowie would emerge from seclusion to do one last live performance.
In the meantime, my son was off to Scotland to study abroad. While there, just two days ago, he bought himself Blackstar. When he got back to his room, though, he found that the CD case was empty.
Now, just hours after David Bowie died, I can't stop thinking about that missing CD. The music is gone. It's like Bowie simply took it with him — a final act of cosmic weirdness from music's original Starman.


text:
A Computational Biology and Biomedical Genomics Training Program
Statement of Purpose
In 2014 we received a five year T32 Training Grant from the NIH to establish a Computational Biology and Biomedical Genomics training program at Georgia Tech. The goal of our program is to provide training for a broad-based set of students with expertise in computational biology and predictive health, which encompasses research from integrative genomics to medical informatics. We intend to support 4 students per year, mostly students in their second and third years and most for a 2 year term, chosen on the basis of productivity and potential as evidenced by their performance in the first year of the program. The trainees will be drawn from students in multiple Colleges at Georgia Tech including the Bioinformatics program, Schools of Biological Sciences, Biomedical Engineering, Computer Science, Industrial Systems Engineering, and others. We will establish a common curriculum with two tracks, namely systems biology and personalized medicine, aiming to have between 10 and 20 new students per year engaged in training in these fields of research, including appropriate mentoring and guidance in personal development.
Current Trainees
Evan Clayton (Bioinformatics - John McDonald and King Jordan groups)
Research Summary: Analyzing allele specific expression patterns between paired normal and tumor tissues to discover novel oncogenes, identify a defense mechanism or predict cancer susceptibility.
Melissa Lokugamage (Biomedical Engineering - James Dahlman group)
Research Summary: Using DNA barcoding technology to study how nanoparticles function in vivo, to find candidates for gene therapies.
Angela Mo (Bioinformatics - Greg Gibson group)
Research Summary: Analyzing multi-omic data to predict severity and course of inflammatory bowel disease in pediatric and minority groups.
Devika Singh (Bioinformatics - Soojin Yi group)
Research Summary: Using evolutionary principles and epigenetic mechanisms to analyze the underlying molecular features of complex neurological diseases.
Training Faculty
Greg Gibson, Biological Sciences, Quantitative genetics of gene expression and disease, http://www.cig.gatech.edu/research
Michael Goodisman, Biological Sciences, Behavioral genetics of social insects, epigenomics, http://www.goodismanlab.biology.gatech.edu/
King Jordan, Biological Sciences, Computational genomics, transposable element function, http://jordan.biology.gatech.edu/page/
Kostas Konstantinidis, Biological Sciences and Civil and Environmental Engineering, Metagenomics in ecology and disease, http://enve-omics.gatech.edu/
Al Merrill, Biological Sciences, Lipidomics, role of sphingolipids in cellular health, http://www.biology.gatech.edu/people/al-merrill
Jeffrey Skolnick, Biological Sciences, Systems biology, predicting protein-drug interaction, http://cssb.biology.gatech.edu/
Todd Streelman, Biological Sciences, Evolutionary developmental genomics of dentition, brain, http://www.biology.gatech.edu/people/todd-streelman
Fred Vannberg, Biological Sciences, GWAS of infectious disease, exosome genome biology, http://vannberg.biology.gatech.edu:8080/VannbergLab/home.html
Joshua Weitz, Biological Sciences, Mathematical biology, viral evolution, pattern recognition, http://ecotheory.biology.gatech.edu/
Soojin Yi, Biological Sciences, Population genetics and theoretical molecular evolution, http://www.yilab.gatech.edu/
Ed Botchwey, Biomedical Engineering, Tissue engineering, microvasculature, network theory, http://botchweylab.gatech.edu/
Melissa Kemp, Biomedical Engineering, Systems modeling of T cells, single cell profiling, http://kemp.gatech.edu/
Manu Platt, Biomedical Engineering, Arterial remodeling in sickle cell, chondrocyte biology, http://groups.bme.gatech.edu/groups/platt/
Eberhard Voit, Biomedical Engineering, Mathematical modeling, systems theory, http://www.bst.bme.gatech.edu/
May Wang, Biomedical Engineering, Medical image processing, genomic data analysis, http://www.bio-miblab.org/
Mark Styczynski, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Metabolomics and systems/network modeling in yeast, http://styczynski.chbe.gatech.edu/
David Bader, Computer Science, High performance computing in biology, http://www.cc.gatech.edu/~bader/
Mark Borodovsky, Computer Science, Bioinformatics, DNA sequence alignment and annotation, http://bioinfo.gatech.edu/about.html
Jimeng Sun, Computer Science, Big data applications for biomedical informatics, http://www.sunlab.org/
Eva Lee, Industrial and Systems Engineering, Data mining applications in predictive health, http://www2.isye.gatech.edu/~evakylee/medicalor/
Nicoleta Serban, Industrial and Systems Engineering, Statistical applications in genomics and health systems, http://humanitarian.scl.gatech.edu/node/335
Harold Kim, Physics, Biophysics, transcription factor-DNA interaction, https://sites.google.com/site/haroldkimlab/
Executive Committee
Greg Gibson, School of Biological Sciences, Training Program Director
King Jordan, School of Biological Sciences, Director Bioinformatics Graduate Program
Melissa Kemp, School of Biomedical Engineering
Nicoletta Serbin, School of Industrial and Systems Engineering


text:
|It took hundreds to kill me but I killed humans by the thousands!!!! Look at me!!!! I am sublime!!!! I am the true face of evil!!!!
|~ Luca Blight
Luca Blight is the chief antagonist of the Suikoden II. He is the insane Prince of Highland, unmatched in battle, cruelty and ruthlessness, harboring very great hatred to the City States of Jowston and eventually humanity in general.
Luca Blight was born into the Highland Royal Family from Agares and Sara Blight. While he had been born normal, one event would change the Prince forever. While on an entourage, the Highland royal family's carriage was ambushed by ruffians. Agares fled in terror, leaving Luca and Sara captured by the ruffians. Luca would witness Sara repeatedly raped and he's unable to help. They managed to escape, but Sara eventually died giving birth to Luca's sister Jillia, from the rape. Even so, Luca, even in his eventual madness, would usually treat Jillia in a slightly better discourse due to her resemblance to his mother.
While visiting the town of Kyaro, Luca confirmed that the ruffians were hired by the town of Muse from the Jowston City-States. Hearing this, compounded with hearing that his father cowardly fleeing without even sending help, Luca began to hate the City-States of Jowston and his father.
Eventually, Jowston and Highland signed a ceasefire, and Luca was given control of the Highland Army by Agares. Instead, Luca used his authority to eventually instigate a war between Highland and Jowston, first by having his own men dress up as Jowston army and raided the Unicorn Brigade encampent, made of Highland youths. The massacre, according to Luca, would be enough to inspire the Highland people to re-ignite the war, pinning the blame on the City-States.
Shortly after the massacre of the Brigade, Luca went to personally raid small villages near the Eastern Highland borders, murdering everyone there and took over the Mercenary Fort under Viktor, claiming complete control on the Eastern City States with his unstoppable White Wolf Army. The City-States leaders gathered to discuss how to defeat Luca, but due to mistrust between each leaders and Luca already sending Jowy Atreides whom he captured earlier as a spy and eventually assassinated Muse's Lady Annabelle, the Highland managed to capture Muse.
As Luca started his military campaign, he presents himself to be a ruthless, feared leader as well. Solon Jhee, a general who had a remarkable success in the past, is executed for one failure in the battle to take the North Window Castle. However, Luca is able to garner more successes thanks to re-employing Jowy to his ranks.
After taking over Greenhill, Luca gathered up many innocent Muse civilians in order to be sacrificed to the Highland's Beast Rune. There were some civilians managing to flee to the Matilda Knightdom. Luca managed to catch up to them thanks to the Knightdom not sending help to the civilians. As the civilians were sacrificed, Luca only laughed maniacally, at this point it becomes apparent that Luca not only hates the City-States and his father, but also the whole humanity, his hatred increased tenfold by the power of Beast Rune.
After sending General Kiba for a campaign to South Window and also recruiting Leon Silverberg as Jowy's strategist, Luca arranged Jowy's marriage with his sister Jillia per his reward for taking Greenhill. To do that, he accompanied Agares giving his blessings to Jowy to become Highland's royal knight and had him swear an oath using Jowy's blood put into a wine. However, Luca had Jowy's blood poisoned, so when Agares drank the wine, the poison took effect and he slowly died. Luca used his father's death to gloat on how he waited this moment to exact vengeance on his father's cowardice and that this was just the beginning, his next goal is to eradicate the planet from humanity. On Agares' death, Luca is crowned as the King of Highland, but this news didn't sit well on the defeated Kiba and the general instead defects to the Dunan Unification Army.
Luca later employs the help of Harmonian general Sasarai and a mysterious black knight formerly under the service of Windy; Yuber, in order to eradicate the Dunan Unification Army. With those help and despite Sasarai fleeing early, the White Wolves Army is seemingly invincible and is marching to the Dunan Castle at North Window. However, unknown to Luca, Jowy has been plotting with Leon to destroy Luca from the inside. Informing the Dunan Army of his raid to the Castle, the Dunan strategist Shu concocted a plan to counter Luca's raid. The plan consists of emptying the castle, and eventually ambushing Luca and his guards in the night, followed by an attack of eighteen of the Dunan Army's best warriors, including its leader Riou and two of its chief generals Flik and Viktor.
Despite the well-thought plan, Luca proved to be extremely tenacious and hard to kill. Even after being defeated by the eighteen warriors and rained by tons of arrows, Luca still found enough strength to launch one final attack to Riou, but he was eventually defeated for good. In his dying breath, admitting his defeat, Luca boasts that it took hundreds to kill him, but he killed humans by the thousands, and without regrets, claims that he is the true face of evil before dying for good.
However, even after dying, Luca has claimed that Riou will not have peace, the Highland Army will be demanding vengeance for their loss of the Royal Family member. True to his words, Jowy, now King of Highland, continues the war, claiming that it is for Highland's honor, while in truth, he is maintaining the Beast Rune that grew too powerful thanks to the hatred and sacrifice made by Luca. In the end, the Rune is calmed down with the power of Riou's Bright Shield Rune, and Highland admits defeat for good, with Luca's influence eventually put to an end.


text:
Modern and stylish invitation.
You can choose to have one card printed on both sides or two separate cards.
One card: Invitation on the front and
the info texts printed on the other side
Two cards: Separate invitation and info cards
The cards measure 120 x 170 mm.
You can see the total price when you add the wanted amount of the invitations.
The invitations are designed and printed
in our own printing studio in Helsinki.
Please note that the colours may appear different on the computer screen as they are in reality. We are happy to send you a sample card if you would like to check the exact colour tones.
Remember also to check the selection of high-quality envelopes!


text:
We give a whole new meaning to your commercial printing needs when it comes to the brand and visibility of your business. If you need something quick or in small quantities, Digital Printing is the best option for you. We have a team of highly experienced and skilled designers who deliver digital print solutions with the most exclusive designs for the purpose of differentiation in patterns and outlook with delivering your message every time and with optimum quality and at the most reasonable prices.
Important features to note here:
On Demand Printing
Short Turn Around Jobs


text:
Beers and Body Parts
Maybe it was because I was born and raised in a boring small town or perhaps something inside me is just a tad wrong. Growing up in the mid-70's I had an interest in things that were strange and not quite right. My favorite game was Dungeons and Dragons and my favourite bands were Motley Crue, W.A.S.P, Alice Cooper and Iron Maiden. Even now I enjoy things that are a bit dark and sometimes frightening. Why would my love for movies be any different?
It was the very early 80s and my parents watched a lot of movies: everything from Animal House to On Golden Pond to Poltergeist on that laser disc player – before VHS and the one that you had to flip the movie half way through. One weekend my parents brought home a few movies but one that really stuck in my head was The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It was a Sunday afternoon in the living room mom popped in the movie with several warnings for us "not to be scared". I sat there at the ripe age of 7 with my blanket over my eyes and began my journey into the world of horror movies.
Thirty some years later my journey still has not ended with a collection of over 700 horror movies and still growing. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remains my favorite to this day. Only now I have given up the blanket and exchanged it for a nice cold beer to celebrate the cold body parts on the screen.
Crack open a cold one with me and bottoms up to Beers and Bodyparts!!!
The Best way to Search
- Use the Categories' or Tags. If you want to search by rating in the search type the "# beers" it should bring up a list of the movies within that rating of mine.
How my ratings work?
10 Beers – Very rare, come on its horror films the movie can't be flawless! 🙂
9 Beers – Awesome, should be watched by all types of movie fans over and over again
8 Beers – Its a horror classic and should be watched over and over
7 Beers – Its still a horror classic but might not be for everyone, but I would watch over and over again
6 Beers – Pretty decent horror film and worth seeing once
5 Beers – Ok horror film but not necessary to watch again
4 Beers – Ok but lots of flaws , could of been better
3 Beers – Could not been made and it wouldn't of mattered
2 Beers – Need lots of beers to get through the film
1 Beer – BOMB, not worth the time wasted and the money for the film.


text:
by J.C. Ryle
The principal fight of the Christian is with . . . the world, the flesh, and the devil.
These are his never-dying foes! These are the three chief enemies against whom he must wage war. Unless he gets the victory over these three, all other victories are useless and vain. If he had a nature like an angel, and were not a fallen creature–the warfare would not be so essential. But with a corrupt heart, a busy devil and an ensnaring world, he must either fight–or be lost.
He must fight the DEVIL. That old enemy of mankind is not dead. Ever since the Fall of Adam and Eve, he has been "going to and fro in the earth, and walking up and down in it," and striving to compass one great end–the ruin of man's soul. Never slumbering and never sleeping–he is always going about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. An unseen enemy, he is always near us, about our path and about our bed, and spying out all our ways! A murderer and a liar from the beginning–he labors night and day to cast us down to Hell. Sometimes by leading into superstition, sometimes by suggesting infidelity, sometimes by one kind of tactics and sometimes by another–he is always carrying on a campaign against our souls. This mighty adversary must be daily resisted if we wish to be saved.
Some may think these statements too strong. You imagine that I am going too far, and laying on the colors too thickly. But the Christian warfare is no light matter! What do the Scriptures say?
"Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life."
"Endure hardship, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ."
"Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes!"
"Strive to enter in at the strait gate."
"Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong!"
Words such as these appear to me as clear, plain and unmistakable. They all teach one and the same great lesson, if we are willing to receive it. That lesson is, that true Christianity is a struggle, a fight and a warfare!
Read "True Christianity – Fight The Flesh"
by J.C. Ryle


text:
Reel Dad: Father and son compare 'Non-Fiction'
This week, Jonathan Schumann joins Reel Dad Mark to write about a current movie in theaters. From 1999 to 2006, the two of them shared this column as Take Two: A Son and Father Go to the Movies. Jonathan currently lives in New York City.
'Non-Fiction:' Falls flat
By Jonathan Schumann
You never know what you're going to get from French director Olivier Assayas.
Over the course of his career he's given us everything from the seething thriller "Demonlover" to the hipster ghost story "Personal Shopper." And while there's something to be said for being this constantly surprising, his latest, "Non-Fiction," falls more than a bit flat.
The film consists of the rambling musings of the dying creative class: Authors, publishers, actors, dilettantes. Everyone has an opinion around how technology has changed the way we encounter stories, the type of story that feels relevant to us today, the rise of e-books and the enduring popularity of romance queen Nora Roberts.
There are some funny diversions and compelling points made, but there's no real dramatic thrust driving the story forward. We don't really care about the characters, and when one of the central quartet is played by Juliette Binoche, that's really saying something. They all seem suitably bored with their lives and are pursuing foolhardy affairs as a result, but even these indiscretions contribute very little to narrative.
So, it's more a thesis on the state of media consumption than a film. Or, the cinematic equivalent of going to a dinner party where everyone thinks they're a little smarter than they are. Either way, beyond the passing amusement, there's not much to "Non-Fiction."
Streaming Pick: 'Irma Vep'
Assayas' send-up to "Day for Night" has something to say about the stories we consume, and actually says it through action, versus prolonged musings over coffee and pastry. Maggie Cheung stars as a Hong Kong star cast in an obsessive director's remake of the silent French classic "Les Vampires."
Non-Fiction is non-stop talk
By Mark Schumann
There's a lot of talk, non-stop chatter, actually, in Olivier Assayas' "Non-Fiction."
This landmark director loves to capture the follies that people create by simply being alive. When he hits the mark, as in "Personal Shopper" and "Summer Hours," the results stagger. But his fascination with the content in "Non-Fiction" gives Assayas too much license to include too many words. And the result is more tiring than illuminating, more repetitive than meaningful.
Similar to Assayas' classic "Summer Hours," the new film features an ensemble cast, a compelling topic, and a central character who focuses most of the conversation. While the earlier film used this convention to explore the issues of families, the new entry settles on topics related to the publishing world. Guillaume Chalet plays an editor at an established publishing house who is bewildered by challenges of digital media. Like many in that world, he is uncertain how to remain relevant to readers as their tastes change. Should he continue to print and bind conventional books? Or should he convert to e-readers only? Or does a mix of media make the most sense?
While this discussion may be interesting in, say, a podcast, there's not much about the content that demands a movie camera. At least the "Summer Hours," that followed a similar approach, could rely on the visual appeal of characters relating to each other. But the characters in "Non-Fiction" are less developed people than representatives of a particular point of view. That may contribute to the debate but that does little to entertain. The film emerges as a talky exploration of a topic that may not demand capturing the conversation on screen.
Of course, any opportunity to see Juliette Binoche on screen can be lovely. But she talks too much, too.
Streaming Pick: 'Summer Hours'
This lovely film is filled with as much conversation as Non-Fiction. But this time around moviemaker Olivier Assayas focuses on the people, and their relationships, as he explores how relatives react to the death of the family matriarch. Again, Juliette Binoche captures the immediacy, and loneliness, of someone searching for direction following a death.
Non-Fiction is rated R for "some language, sexuality and nudity." The film runs 108 minutes and is showing in local theaters.
'Personal Shopper' celebrates mystery
We don't always know what actually happens in "Personal Shopper."
Like any film from Olivier Assayas, including "Non-Fiction," this film is filled with so many twists and turns — some real, some fake — that we aren't totally certain, as the film ends, what has happened and what has been imagined. But we don't care. Unlike at the conclusion of "Non-Fiction," with "Personal Shopper" we are totally spooked, thoroughly entertained, and we've experienced a star turn from Kristen Stewart who proves, with each performance, how much more she brings to the screen than her "Twilight" appearances would suggest.
Directed by French moviemaker Assayas — who also made "Clouds of Sils Maria" with Stewart and Juliet Binoche — "Personal Shopper" could promise more than it delivers. The opening sequence, of Stewart wandering through an empty house, suggests the chills of Hitchcock. We know, from this start, that there must be something to the mysterious moments, calls and texts that fill Stewart's life. She arrives, as the film begins, at the home of a lady she works for, quickly establishing that her client is demanding, pampered and outrageous, as Stewart navigates the various ways to pamper. But the personal shopper can't completely focus on her job because her life — with its mysterious interruptions — continues to intervene.
Much of what distracts Stewart focuses on the recent death of her twin brother. We quickly learn they were close and that he may have died under suspicious circumstances. We also observe that he tries to communicate with his sister and, as Stewart waits for signs of his presence, she lets that possibility get in the way of work she needs to do. So we get to know a young lady who wants to please her diva boss but finds herself caught up in the possibility of communicating with her dead brother's spirit.
This intersection of supernatural thriller and workplace drama may not feel natural at first but Assayas directs in such an assured manner, and Stewart is so compelling an actress, that we soon forget how silly the whole thing may be. Yes, too much of what happens is too coincidental or convenient. But Assayas plants enough doubt in our reactions — as Stewart plays to the possible logic of her approaches — that we begin to wonder if what we may be seeing could actually happen to these characters. And that gives the film an extra layer of fun.
Stewart makes the movie. As outrageous as its premise, and exaggerated its approach, the actress insists on playing the absurd as if it could actually occur. Of course, every time Stewart seems mystified by the voices she hears, the texts she receives, the images she sees, we're transported back to a dozen other films that use similar conventions. But Stewart is such a natural actress that even the familiar can feel fresh and the artificial can ring true. She never begs us to accept the film's authenticity. Stewart simply makes us believe in the character. As she helps us see what could happen through this personal shopper's eyes, she helps us believe in what this lady may face. And that gives us a great roller coaster ride at the movies.
Personal Shopper, running 1 hour, 45 minutes, is rated R for some language, sexuality, nudity and a bloody violent image. The film is available to stream online.


text: Collaborating on documents with other people has plenty of rewards, but it can be frustrating if you lose track of who made what changes when. Word's collaboration features can bring some semblance of order to an essentially messy process. Now that you know what features Word has to offer, you'll be better able to decide whether and how you and your colleagues might work on Word documents as a team.


text:
Charlie's Angels star and Friday Night Lights alum Minka Kelly and baseball superstar Derek Jeter are no longer an item, her rep tells People.
Minka Kelly named Esquire's sexiest woman alive
"They care about each other and it was amicable," says another source. "They're still friends."
VIDEO: Get a first look at Charlie's Angels
The couple dated for three years. During that time, they were notoriously private and, at one point in 2010, rumored to marry.
Just last month, she was there to cheer him on when he joined Major League Baseball's 3,000-hit club, which was chronicled in the HBO special Derek Jeter 3K.


text:
Have you ever experienced an electrical shock like pain down your arm or leg? Or have you ever awoke from a nights sleep with numbness or tingling in your arm or leg? These are common symptoms of a "pinched nerve". A "pinched nerve" is a description for a number of injuries or conditions that can affect nerves in the neck, low back or within the upper or lower extremities. Common names include sciatica for pain in the legs, cervical or lumbar radiculopathy in nerves exiting the neck (cervical) or lumbar (low back) spine. Nerves can also be pinched in the upper extremity as in carpal tunnel syndrome in the wrist or cubital tunnel syndrome in the elbow. A "pinched nerve" is the term for pain or impaired function of a nerve that is under pressure. It happens to nerves that control muscle movements or relay sensations to the brain.
Initial symptoms of a :pinched nerve" may include numbness, tingling, a burning sensation or sharp electrical pains down the legs from the low back or from the neck into the shoulders, arms and fingers.
Commonly, the pains and or abnormal sensations are experienced distant from the point of pressure. For example, a "pinched nerve" in the neck may cause pain in the wrist or hand as the only symptom. When the nerve is being damaged from constant pressure, pain and numbness may increase and weakness can develop in those muscles supplied by those particular nerves. There may be a loss of deep tendon reflexes, movement of a particular body part, sensation in the affected area, and shrinking (atrophy) of the affected muscles.
Nerves are extensions from the brain that reach out into the arms or legs and supply the electrical input and output to the muscles or skin. Nerves are similar to insulated electrical wires that transfer the electrical impulses from the brain to the muscles (motor nerves) or skin (sensory nerves). A nerve is a cell that is microscopic in size, and its fibers may run several feet in length toward its destination.
If a nerve gets "pinched" the flow up and down the inside of the nerve is reduced or blocked and the nutrients stop flowing. Eventually the membrane starts to loose its healthy ability to transmit the tiny electrical charges and the nerve fiber may eventually die. When enough fibers stop working, the skin may feel numbness or a muscle may not contract.
Common causes of "pinched nerves" in the cervical or lumbar spine include herniated discs, bulging discs or degenerative disc disease. Other causes include compression of a nerve in the arm, at the elbow or wrist, from repetitive movements, nerve instability or subluxation, maintaining a prolonged position or posture, arthritis, bone spurs, or a tumor or mass.
The treatment of a "pinched nerve" will be dependent on which nerve is compressed or damaged and how that nerve is actually being damaged. Treatment can be a simple as changing the position of the body part where the nerve is being pinched or as complicated as surgically decompressing the nerve (relieving the mechanical pressure). When you suspect a nerve is injured or possibly being compressed or "pinched", it is important that you seek a medical evaluation as soon as possible to determine the cause of the symptoms before permanent nerve injury occurs.
Drummers are not immune to nerve injuries. In fact, it has been my unfortunate experience to have to treat an ever-increasing number of drummers with nerve related injuries. It is imperative that we take proper precautions such as warming up and cooling down before and after playing as well as maintaining an ergonomic set-up of our drum kits. These simple procedures can help to prevent these injuries from developing.
Dr. Luga Podesta practices orthopedic sports medicine in Thousand Oaks, California, specializing in the non-surgical treatment of the upper extremity, knee and spine. He is a sports medicine consultant and team physician for the Los Angeles Angels, serves as head team physician for the Los Angeles Avengers of the Arena Football League, Los Angeles Riptide of Major League Lacrosse, ans is an avid drummer. Dr. Podesta can be reaches at firstname.lastname@example.com.


text:
"'I think we ought to say, after February 1st of next year, any 12 senators, six of either party, who produce a plan that can reduce this deficit by at least as much as the supercommittee was charged to do, ought to be able to bring it to the floor for a vote,' said Durbin on MSNBC's Morning Joe. . . .
"'It's time to move to the committee of the whole. Let's start moving beyond these special committees and let's do something pretty basic and maybe radical,' said Durbin."
This looks to me like a pretty blatant attack on Harry Reid's stewardship of the Senate. I'll leave it to people with a better grasp of Senate procedure to decide whether the limits Durbin proposes to put on the Majority Leader's control of the calendar are a good idea. I'm still trying to get my mind around the fact that the guy making this argument is a member of the Democratic Senate leadership.
By all accounts, we're headed into a pivotal election in which control of the Senate hangs in the balance. Yet at this late date, most of us don't have the slightest idea what our Democratic Senators' budgetary priorities really are. All we really know is that, as a group, Democrats prefer a bipartisan budget deal that raises taxes and doesn't cut entitlements while Republicans prefer a deal that cuts entitlements but doesn't raise taxes. That tells you next to nothing about the governing priorities that would enable Democrats to calibrate trade-offs between social costs and benefits. Those can only be inferred from their recorded votes over a series budgetary proposals that are usually made in the normal course of democratic governance. But those Senate votes haven't happened over the last two years.
Now we seem to have gotten to the point that someone of Durbin's stature and influence thinks he has to propose a "radical" procedural innovation to oblige Senators to put their budgetary priorities on the record. Isn't that a problem that Durbin should take up, and be able to solve, with Harry Reid, and if not with Reid then with the White House? I can only presume that Durbin's tried that and failed.


text:
Program Description
Course - Figure Drawing for Fashion
This course aims to help one Aim to provide the foundation for all good fashion illustration through understanding the basic human anatomy of fashion gure proportion illustrating them in different poses.
Course Leader
Farah Jones is a Singapore born fashion designer who has been working in the international fashion industry for over 12 years. She has a first class Honors BA Degree in fashion design from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technolgy (RMIT). Farah's list of professional accomplishments range from designing a wide array of women's and children's wear for many new boutiques and large design companies around the world, to managing, buying, marketing and merchandising for retail giants like Esprit, Laura Ashley, Prada, Jean Paul Gaultier and Dolce & Gabbana.Farah was previously employed by Raffes Design Institute (Shanghai), where she taught Fashion Design and Fashion Production courses to up and coming young designers in the industry. She combines her love for fashion and teaching by taking a hands-on approach to her classes, teaching new and innovative concepts to those who want to be part of the enticing fashion world. She is dedicated to teaching her students how to be true fashion professionals.
Lesson 1: Fashion Figures – Front Views
• Introduction to Body Proportion
• Arms and Legs Poses
• Shoulder, Waist and Hip Movements
• Sketches done with grids
Lesson 2: Fashion Figures – Front Views
• Movement of Body Centre Line
• Stretch and Twist of Body
• Body Weight and Balance with Legs Poses
• Sketches done with grids
Lesson 3: Fashion Figures – 3/4 Views
• 3/4 View Body Proportion
• Movement of Body Centre Line
• Stretch and Twist of Body
• Sketches done with grids
Lesson 4: Fashion Figures – Front, 3/4 and Back Views
• Front and 3/4 Fashion Poses
• Sketches done without grids
• Back Poses for Fashion
• Sketches done with grids
Lesson 5: Fashion Faces – Front-View ( Head )
• Face Proportion
• Facial Features (Drawing of Eyes and Mouth)
• Drawing of dierent Hairstyles and Headgears
• Understanding Shading and Contouring of Head ( Soft Pencil )
Lesson 6:Fashion Faces – 3/4 View (Head)
• Face Proportion
• Facial Features (Drawing of Eyes and Mouth)
• Drawing of dierent Hairstyles and Headgears
• Understanding Shading and Contouring of Head (Soft Pencil)
Lesson 7: Fashion Silhouette – Styling the Fashion Figure
• Full Fashion Silhouette in 9 heads height
• Full Fashion Silhouette in all poses
• Full Fashion Silhouette complete with features
• Full Fashion Silhouette complete with Hairstyles & Headgears
• To Render in Soft Pencil
• Observe all disciplines
Lesson 8: Presentation Submission
• Completion of Assignment #7 – Swimwear Collection
• Figure Dawing Portfolio
Course Materials
Equipment List (To purchase prior to attending class)
• Soft Lead Pencil
• Tombo Mono Plastic Eraser and Pentel Clic Eraser
• Sharpener
• Daler Rowney A3 Layout Pad
• 12 Inch Ruler
Fee Applicable
Programme course fee – $500
Registration and certification fee – $50
Mode of payment: Cash or cheque to be made payable to 'First Media Professional Learning Centre Pte Ltd'
Total lesson hours – 24 hours
Classes are subject to availability


text: I have no facility for languages other than knowing the word for beer in 42 dialects. This is a handicap for someone who travels frequently to countries where English or even American is not widely spoken. Usually there is a translator handy so no real problem for me. Of course, there is the issue of [...]more→


text:
DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Various organizations gathered Saturday in a peace consultation said that "peace," among others was a "compelling reason" for President Rodrigo Duterte to resume talks with the communists.
The peace consultation, spearheaded by the Sisters Association in Mindanao, Exodus for Justice and Peace, and the Ateneo de Davao University Center for Engagement and Advocacy Council, urged the government to resume peace talks with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.
In his opening speech, Fr. Joel Tabora, S.J., President of AdDU, said "(It is) the AdDU position (that) the compelling reason for talks is peace. We cannot continue killing one another in this country."
"We cannot build this country on the cadavers of our fellow Filipinos," he added.
Tabora said he supported Duterte in his presidential bid because of "his willingness to fight for peace."
Expressing his dismay over the President's recent pronouncement to terminate the peace talks with the communists, Tabora said that people should stand and call for its resumption.
"We must stand behind the negotiation, for peace not for death," Tabora said.
During the forum, children's advocates slammed the all-out war in the countryside being waged by the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
Rius Valle, spokesperson of Children's Rehabilitation Concern said that the all out war declaration of the government resulted to a number of children affected in forced evacuation, displacement from their schools and other rights abuses.
Since August 2016, Valle said that more than 80 attacks on schools such as harassment to the teachers, forcible closure, and military encampment.
Women's group also pointed out the militarization, mostly vulnerable were the women and children.
The groups also expressed that all-out war will only worsen the condition of Lumad who are affected by the militarization.
Jong Monzon, spokesperson of Pasaka Confederation of Lumad Organizations in Mindanao, said that there was no sustainable subsidy of food of those who fled from their communities for sanctuary.
"Walay sustina sa hisgutanang subsisdy, pakgaon, tungod sa pagbakwit wala sila kabalik uma (The government did not give enough to sustain food subsidy after they evacuated from their communities and when they returned to their farms)," Monzon said
Lumad evacuees who returned to their communities after seeking sanctuary for nearly two years in Davao City were dismayed that the government did not provide them enough subsidy.
'Not just the absence of war'
For her part, peace advocate and columnist Maria Victoria Maglana said during her synthesis of the forum that participants wanted a "positive peace, not a negative peace, not just the absence of war."
She said the peace should address the issues like employment, housing and shelter, social services, and human rights.
Raised during the peace discussion were some challenges and recommendations to the participants as to how they would further their call for the resumption of peace talks.
Forum organizers pledged to help in the peace campaign in both rural and urban communities.
Ending the peace discussion, the participants pledged their commitment to "just peace" saying that societal "transformation demands the participation of each and every one of us, to offer our present and future generations the values of justice, solidarity, liberty, dignity, harmony, and dialogue."
The pledge commitment added that they have faith in the peace panel members of both the government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines "to work for the transformation of our society to a new beginning with social justice for the poor and marginalized." (davaotoday.com)


text:
The company has responded to customer outrage over its proposed $5 charge for using a debit card, but that doesn't mean the bank will simply accept a loss instead
America has spoken, and Bank of America has listened. After proposing a new $5 monthly fee that some its customers would have to pay for using their debit cards, the bank has officially killed the idea. Customers who feel like celebrating might want to hold their applause: this fee may be dead, but the bank could just replace it with another. When choosing between lost revenue and making customers happy it may find a better way to strike a balance.
As a quick refresher, Bank of America didn't create this fee on a whim. It was a direct result of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial regulation bill. One part of the legislation cuts the magnitude of the debit interchange fees paid to some banks by retailers. Rather than create a new hidden fee in response, Bank of America decided to be perfectly transparent. It intended to offset $2 billion in lost debit card revenue by charging customers directly.
On some level, such transparency should be applauded. After all, the bank could have created more sneaky, hidden fees instead. But Americans hate paying more for cheap services that they have come to love. Just ask Netflix. So customers' negative reaction was swift, sharp, and ultimately fatal. Here's the news from Bank of America's press release:
"We have listened to our customers very closely over the last few weeks and recognize their concern with our proposed debit usage fee," said David Darnell, co-chief operating officer. "Our customers' voices are most important to us. As a result, we are not currently charging the fee and will not be moving forward with any additional plans to do so."
Notice what the bank doesn't say. It doesn't assert that it will never change any fee of any kind to make up for this few billion dollars in lost revenue -- it just says that it won't charge a debit usage fee. At this time, it has two options: it could figure out a different way to charge customers more or it can simply shrug and take the loss that new financial regulation creates.
The likelihood of the bank accepting Congress cutting out such a big chunk of its revenue isn't great. Here's why:
Bank of America needs all the revenue it can get. Shareholders have already become very wary about its future. The bank's Countrywide acquisition saddled it with huge mortgage losses. Now it has lots of litigation risk. Despite its strong retail banking business, a number of obstacles remain in its path. Does the bank really want to tell shareholders that it will just take a big loss instead of charging its customers a little bit more for a business that Congress has made less profitable?
Don't count on it. When it comes to customers and shareholders, the bank can be a little bit craftier about striking a balance. Its debit fee was a poorly calculated strategy. It was new, so it prompted a big reaction. Instead, it could increase the fees it already has by pushing them up a little bit here or there until it has made up the lost revenue. Some customers might notice, but their collective reaction will be softer and spread out over time. Alternatively, the bank could begin charging more for other related services, like checking.
To be sure, the bank has plenty of ways to collect more revenue from its relatively healthy retail business. While it could theoretically choose not to do so, lots of shareholders will be quite unhappy if it just shrugs off a few billion dollars in lost revenue.
Image Credit: REUTERS/Lucas Jackson
We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to email@example.com.


text:
Motor City Online Movie 4
Check out the introduction movie to Motor City Online.
Motor City Online delivers on its potential, but it's most definitely not for casual online gamers or those whose patience is easily taxed.
EA will close the online muscle-car racing game in August and will offer to give subscribers a copy of another online EA game.
Check out the introduction movie to Motor City Online.
The upcoming online car building and racing game from Electronic Arts has a brand-new Web site.
The Need for Speed series is going online, and we've got all the details directly from producer Michael Waite.
The ambitious online racing game was shown behind closed doors at E3. We've got the scoop.
EA releases new screenshots from its upcoming online racing game.
We take a look at the latest build of EA's online driving game.
We've got details on Electronic Arts' E3 plans for Motor City Online.
Electronic Arts releases information on the latest improvements made to its online racing game.
Electronic Arts' massively multiplayer online driving game will soon arrive in stores.
Electronic Arts will lay off approximately 250 people from its online staff.
EA's online racing game is complete and will ship to stores at the end of the month.
Electronic Arts unveils a group of new Motor City screens at its press event.
EA is looking for players to test its upcoming online racing game. New screens inside.
EA reveals new information about its upcoming online racing game, along with some new screenshots and a movie.
No forum topics for Motor City Online yet. Want to start us off? Create a new topic.
Use your keyboard!
Log in to comment


text:
What's God calling you to do today? Check out this song inviting you to be a servant.
God has a plan and takes care of His creation. Download and listen!
What is a hero? Here's "God's Kind of Hero."
Here's a great Christmas song to share!
You may love junk food, but your body doesn't have a spare. Check out this song about keeping fit.
Let's give each other some grace! Check out this song about loving my neighbor.
Download this song from one of Kids Corner's favorite episodes, Heart of Grace. Watch the video at https://vimeo.com/120162621
Check out this song about forgiving and kindness! It's a Kids Corner original from a long time ago and not from the famous movie.
Small decisions make a big, big difference. When it's right or wrong, you choose.
Do you have a plan to follow God's plan? Here's a Kids Corner song about trusting God.
God Will Never Stop Loving You. Put your worries aside.
A song for discerning the truth about who to follow!
Download this song about giving respect!
¡Esta canción es acerca usar palabras de bondad, gracia y amor!
Reach the world with the Word that God has spoken!
Hear this song about God leading you today!
Scooter is rockin' WLZR Lizradio.net with some of the best Christian music around!
With a little change in our own attitudes, we see people the way Christ sees them.
It's a dirty job, but some lizard's got to do it. A song from Kids Corner.
No little crack in the sidewalk can hurt you, or your mom, or anybody else. God is in control. Listen to this song about false superstitions.
It's more than talk. It's the way you walk.
Here's a favorite: What a Friend We Have in Jesus. Enjoy this Kids Corner version.
How do you make good choices? Check out this song about doing just that!
Here's a song about learning to serve others. Download it for free.
From Fuzzy Focus: What we do and who we are reflect God to all around us. Check out Who We Are, a song about being created in God's image.
Here's a song about saying words of kindness, grace and love!
Don't get puffed up or swell-headed. Just thank Him for His blessings. When the time is right, He'll give you a chance to shine.
Follow the excitement with Liz and his pals in these weekly audio adventures for kids. Great messages wrapped up in fun stories!
We care about your privacy. For more information about our full privacy policy, click here.


text:
I was recently sent a link to a YouTube video of a control demonstration by professor Raffaello D'Andrea, The Institute for Dynamic Systems and Control at ETH, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich. ETH is one of the world's leading universities for technology and the natural sciences. I found the demonstration by Professor D'Andrea to …
Tag Archive: Wireless
WirelessHART – Monitoring and Control of On-Off Valves
A number of WirelessHART devices have been introduced over the last few years to monitor the status of on/off valves. For example, the TopWorx 4310 WirelessHART Valve Position Monitor can be used detect linear and rotary movement using non-contact technology with limit switch feedback. Such devices provide a low cost way to monitor the position …
WirelessHART – Level Switch
In many tank level control applications, a level switch is installed and used as an interlock to help prevent overfilling the tank. For example, in many existing installations you may find a vibrating fork liquid level switch wired as an input to the control system. However, today it is possible to reduce the cost of installing a …
WirelessHART – Discrete Measurement
Many manufacturers initially introduced WirelessHART field devices that were designed to support continuous process measurements such pressure, flow, temperature, and level. Also, WirelessHART transmitters are now available for analytical measurements such as pH. Recently you may have noticed that some manufacturers have introduced WirelessHART field devices for discrete measurement. For example, Rosemount has released the …
Using Wireless Measurements In Control Applications
Wireless transmitters may be preferred in applications where new measurements are required since the cost may be lower than that associated with installing wired transmitters. However, there is a significant differences in the frequency and manner in which a new measurement value is updated by a wired transmitter vs. a wireless transmitter. Such differences must …
ISA Automation Week – Nov 5-7
ISA Automation Week is one of the major conferences conducted each year in North American. This year the conference will be held November 5-7 at the Nashville Convention Center, Nashville, TN. The convention center is convenient to reach – just eight miles away from the Nashville International Airport. A number of standards groups conduct meetings …
Control Using Wireless Measurements
During the initial development of WirelessHart we began researching how to address control applications that use a wireless measurement and/or wireless actuator. To extend battery life a wireless transmitter may be setup to communication the measurement value much slower than the update rate of a wired installation. Also, when the transmitter supports Window communications (as …
Control Using Wireless Measurements
A number of technical challenges must be addressed when using a wireless measurement in closed loop control. In DeltaV v11 we introduced a PID option known as PIDPlus that may be selected when a wireless transmitter is used in a control application. When the PIDPlus option is selected then the same quality control as wired …
Addressing Control Applications Using WirelessHART Devices
At Emerson Exchange, 2012 I will be co-presenting a workshop with Mark Nixon and Marty Zielinski titled Addressing Control Applications Using WirelessHART Devices. In this workshop we will be address the technical basis for the PID modification, known as PIDPlus, that are included in DeltaV v11 to address control using the non-period, slow measurement updates …
PID Advances in Industrial Control
I was honored to be one of the three plenary speakers at the IFAC PID'12 conference. My presentation was scheduled on the last day of the conference, Friday, March 30, 2012. The topic of my talk was PID Advances in Industrial Control. In this presentation I address the fact that major advances have been made …


text:
Sponsored by Town Moto, the VRRA Grand Prix at Shannonville Motorsport Park travels back to the roots of vintage racing on the high energy Nelson circuit. A popular event for spectators, with the always entertaining Frank Wood announcing every exciting moment, this is a family friendly event.
Practice rounds and a two-hour endurance race highlight Friday July 26, heat races all day Saturday July 27 and final races with some tough battles for season points on Sunday July 28.
Come stroll around the pits, see vintage bikes and sidecars up close, and chat with the racers as they live their dreams at Round 3.
Visit www.vrra.ca for more details.


text:
Airpods FTW
When I saw the Apple Airpods announced alongside the iPhone 7 I thought they looked interesting, but was a bit skeptical that they would be impractical for my workout needs. Like many, I was worried that they would drop out of my ears easily during a workout.
When it was clear that they would be delayed I decided to get the Powerbeats3 wireless headphones, partly because they were available, but mostly because I was fairly sure they would be better suited to use during exercise.
Turns out that the Beats headphones died within a few weeks – first the volume buttone stopped working, then the cetre button to start/stop/answer phone calls, and finally the power button died. Based on my experience:
Powerbeats = no power and no beats.
in mid-December I heard mention on several podcasts that the Airpods were released and there would be some availability pre-Christmas. On a whim I took a look at the Apple Australia website and there they were available – so I ordered a pair and they were delivered to me at home spot on time on 19 December[1].
The Airpods are brilliant. They are simply the best wireless in-ear style headphones I've used.
Like other recently released Apple bluetooth peripherals, the pairing process on these is brilliant. Open the Airpod case, ensure the iPhone (or other device) is unlocked and the pairing screen should pop up.
There's not much further to say, because it was the simplest and most straightforward device pairing I've experienced[2].
As a bonus, once the pairing was completed with one device, every other Apple device connected to the same Apple ID is also paired[3].
General Use
I've used the Airpods now for a week, and love them. I have used them walking to/from work, shopping, out making photos and even on a plane[4]. I have also used them exercising, but will talk more about that in a moment.
They fit comfortably[5], and for normal use I have no fear that they will bounce out.
When I first unboxed the Airpods my wife immediately stressed that it was important I keep them in their case – she was right from the point of view of not losing them, as well as from the perspective of the case being they way the Airpods are charged.
I saw a Daring Fireball post where John Gruber talked about David Pogues' comment that rather than being concerned about the Airpods falling out of year, the greater concern is dropping them "between their two homes: the case and your earholes".
I concur.
This is a big advantage of having to have the case whereever you take the Airpods – they can easily be returned to their home. I would suggest that the suggestions by my wife, Gruber and Pogue converge on the same point:
Airpods have two natural states – in your ears or in their case.
I love the feature where removing an Airpod from the ear pauses the playback, and replacing the Airpod resumes it. A simple one step process.
Double tapping either Airpod brings up Siri. So far I haven't been able to get Siri to reduce or increase volume. Its a useful feature for making calls, but some sort of 'offline Siri' for adjusting volume, rewinding, etc, would be great.
I am not an audiophile, so can only say that the Airpods deliver a quality of sound for music, podcasts and audio books that I am very happy with. FWIW, they sound a little better to me than the Powerbeats3[6].
Use During Exercise
This is where I have been blown away – Airpods stay in my ears, even when running or when doing HIIT routines that include skipping ropes and other exercises.
There's not a lot else to say. Airpods deliver quality sound while staying snugly in place during most exerise routines.
I generally get a reasonable sweat up during my routines, so will be interested to see how that will effect the Airpods in time[7].
Battery Life
Very good. I haven't pushed any limits on the Airpods or their case, but so far I have reason to doubt the 5 hours for the actual Airpods and the 24 hours for the case that Apple claims.
What I have observed is that popping one/both Airpods back in the case for 15 minutes is very effective in bringing up the charge levels.
Final Thoughts
I really like the Airpods, and am happy using them.
For future iterations, I'd love to see some way of adjusting voume that doesn't rely on Siri (at least the current version of Siri that needs a web connection), and I'd love some sort of feature that allowed you to find a dropped Airpod.
Other than that, they're a device I would be happy to recommend to anyone needing wireless earphones that are simple to use and reliable for a range of uses.


text:
The Grand Canyon has a variety of available lodging located both inside and outside of the park. These Arizona hotels are open all year, and tourists are encouraged to reserve rooms in advance. There is no experience quite like staring over the rim of the canyon at the marvel of nature carved out by the Colorado River below. Visitors to Grand Canyon National Park enjoy hiking, boat trips, souvenir shopping and simply taking in the beauty of the canyon.
Grand Canyon Hotel
The Grand Canyon Hotel (grandcanyongrandhotel.com) is a mile from the Grand Canyon National Park entrance. The hotel resembles a three-story chalet with rooms decorated in Southwest decor and featuring large windows. Amenities include an indoor pool, hot tub and fitness center. Additional activities include shopping at the Native American gift store and dining at the Canyon Star Restaurant, where you can enjoy Native American dance and western singers.
Red Feather Lodge
The Red Feather Lodge (redfeatherlodge.com) is an affordable hotel with an on-site restaurant and a heated seasonal pool. Some amenities include high-speed wireless Internet and cable television. Pet-friendly rooms are available in the motel portion of the Red Feather Lodge, and adventurous visitors can enjoy outdoor activities including horseback riding and hiking. Conveniently located near Grand Canyon National Park, this hotel is a choice for visitors who want to save a little money and enjoy all that the Grand Canyon area has to offer.
Best Western Grand Canyon Squire Inn
Grand Canyon Squire Inn (grandcanyonsquire.com) is part of the Best Western hotel chain and is built in the style of the grand hotels of the West. Rooms are spacious, and each includes a coffee/tea maker, cable television, video on demand, complimentary wireless Internet and additional items upon request. You will enjoy the hotel's lovely landscaping, artwork and beautiful views of the Grand Canyon. Additional amenities are available including a salon, indoor spa, family fun center, gift shop and on-site restaurants.
Leaf Group is a USA TODAY content partner providing general travel information. Its content is produced independently of USA TODAY.
Photo Credits
- grand canyon image by Dave from Fotolia.com
- Attribution: Chensiyuan; License: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International, 3.0 Unported, 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic license
- Attribution: Marcin Wichary from San Francisco, U.S.A.; License: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license
- Attribution: Spbear; License: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license
- Attribution: Kdub828; License: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license


text:
16 Nov Upland Brewing Co. Adds Space and Offerings to College Ave. Location in Indianapolis
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA—Upland Brewing Co. announces that they are expanding their Tasting Room on College Ave. by acquiring the adjacent space previously occupied by Open Society. The two spaces will be combined to offer customers a unique food menu, expanded beverage options, and an approximate seating capacity of 150.
A local staple since 2009, the recently renovated tasting room will continue to offer carryout beer, growler fills and be 21-and-up. The newly acquired extension will be all ages and maintain the same cozy, inviting atmosphere that the community has come to know. A private event space will be available to reserve for small groups and meetings.
A carefully crafted menu will be released seasonally and offer hearty Midwestern dishes featuring locally sourced ingredients. The menu will include plenty of plant-based options and a kids menu, so everyone can find just what they're looking for. A three-way liquor license will expand beverage options to include cocktails. Eight new taps will feature nitro coffee, Upland's award-winning sour ales, and craft cocktails.
Upland has been proud to serve the community at College Ave. and 49th St. for nearly 10 years; their first location outside of Bloomington, Indiana. "Our team in the tasting room, led by Sarah Fackler, has done a fantastic job building community and creating a really remarkable experience for our customers and friends in the neighborhood," explained Pete Batule, President. "We're thrilled to have the opportunity and are excited to improve the experience on College Ave. with a full menu offering and open café in the morning to support the neighborhood."
Upland College Ave. is slated for a grand opening on New Year's Eve. Open interviews for service staff will be held on Sunday and Monday, November 25th and 26th, from 11 am to 3 pm. Anyone interested in restaurant management or chef positions can email their resume and cover letter to email@example.com.
For regular updates on progress and the grand opening, make sure to follow Upland Brewing Co's social media channels. Cheers!
Upland College Ave. 4842 N College Ave, Indianapolis, IN 46205
About Upland Brewing: Located in Bloomington, Indiana, Upland Brewing Co. has an intriguing brewing story that dates back to 1998. Our mission is to brew remarkable beers in remarkable ways, staying true to the artisan, progressive spirit found in our part of the Midwest. Upland is currently the third largest brewery in Indiana and brews more than 50 different styles of beer annually.


text:
REVISED OPENING TIMES , MONDAY -SATURDAY 9-1, During these times please call 01424430088 , leaving a message for a return call if we are unable to answer. After 1pm , call 07828871460 to leave a message we return your call. Alternatively you can place your order on the website. If you would like to make an appontment to discuss flowers for a funeral or a wedding , we can arrange this for the afternoon.PLEASE REMEBER WE ARE FOLLOWING THE COVID GUIDELINES ONLY 2 PERSONS IN SHOP AT ANY ONE TIME AND FACE COVERINGS MUST BE WORN, Thankyou for your patince and support
Also shortlisted in 2017 & 2016
PLEASE NOTE: due to seasonal availability, it may be necessary to vary certain stems that are shown. Fleur de Lynn florists may substitute flowers for one that is similar style, quality and value. Where items include a basket or container, it may not always be possible to inclue the exact item. Should this be the case then we will replace with a suitable alternative.
Regular price
Beautiful, romantic , luxuary velvet red roses, created into a handtied design.
It is advisable to contact the florist to check the availabilty of the red roses


text:
Reset Filters
Filter By
Reset Filters
Show Results
refine your search
Total Results: 4
- 40-bit floating point processing DSP and 48 kHz 24-bit HI-Q Analogue/Digital Conversion, dynamic range > 112 dB.
- 8 universal inputs (48V), 6 outputs - 4 Euroblocks bal., 2 RCA plugs
- 10 programmable logic inputs (GPI), 6 programmable logic outputs (GPO), 2 of which supported by relay.
- Configurable parametric EQs, gates, compressors, limiters, delays, priority levels, automatic gain control, levels, gains on in-out and cross points, auto-mixer operations, filters
MZ 8060 is a highly versatile digital audio matrix designed on a powerful DSP platform, based on advanced electronics. It features a 8x6 matrix, where 8 universal MIC-LINE inputs and 6 outputs can be processed through a large number of audio parameters, such as parametric equalizers, compressors, gates, limiters, delays, duckers, priorities, auto-mixer. The Automatic Level Control facility is ...
- The DX 4008 is a complete 4 input - 8 output digital loudspeaker management system designed for the touring or fixed sound installation markets
- Sampling rate can be set to 96kHz
- Precise frequency control is achieved with its 1 Hz resolution
- Inputs and outputs can be routed in multiple configuration to meet any requirements
The DX 4008 is a complete 4 input - 8 output digital loudspeaker management system designed for the touring or fixed sound installation markets. The absolute latest in available technology is utilized with 32-bit (40-bit extended) floating point processor and high performance 24-bit Analog Converters. The high-bit DSP prevents noise and distortion induced by truncation errors of the commonly ...
- 2 inputs that can be mixed to 6 outputs
- 40-bit floating point DSP
- 96 kHz sampling rate
- 24-bit A/D D/A converters
The DX 2006 is a 2 input - 6 output loudspeaker management device with 40 bit floating point DSP and 96 kHz sampling rate, suitable for the optimization of passive loudspeaker systems. The DX 2006 offers flexible routing, signal processing and equalization and can be used also for multiple ways and multi-amplified systems managing. LCD, controls and LED indicators are available on the frontal ...
- Hybrid architecture DSP
- 48 KHz sampling, 40 bit floating point engine
- 16 x 16 I/O matrix
- Dante enabled network audio transport
DX 1616 AES-Dante remote software. This network-based software designed for Microsoft Windows and Mac OSX allows the management of the DX 1616 Matrix Sound Processor. -Pre-Amp configuration, selecting source types like analog, AES/EBU, Dante -Designing Input groups for festival applications -Input source processing with EQ, delay and compressor -Powerful 16x16 router to assign processing tasks ...


text:
For 55 years, the Congress has been the party in government of India. India has been a command and control socialist economy, which implies that politicians who controlled the license-permit-quota-control raj had the opportunity and the means to collect rents from businesses and put them away off-shore. This is not the most surprising thing in the whole world.
I am sure that if I had the opportunity to grab billions of dollars, I would have been sorely tempted. I most certainly don't claim to be totally incorruptible. If the system permits it, and if the temptation is large enough, who can blame another for giving in? The important thing then is to make sure that such tempting opportunities don't arise in the first place. The institutions we build matter more than the character (or lack thereof) of individuals involved in government.
Arun Shourie has done a masterful deconstruction of the arguments that the Congress put forth in response to Shri Advani's recent insistence that the Congress-led UPA government has been dragging its feet on the issue of following up on the matter. Shourie is a master of the written word and his logic is impeccable. So even if one does not know too much of the story, just reading his deconstruction is enough for one to get the facts.
Below the fold are some excerpts from the piece by Shourie, "Congress Caught in its Own Web.":
Stupefied by the strong endorsement all across the country to the demand that the money looted from India must be brought back, the Congress has tied itself in knots.
Its spokesmen have given five reactions:
• Why is Mr. Advani taking up this matter now, on the eve of elections?
• The GE-20 meeting was not the proper forum for taking up the issue.
• There is doubt about the figures.
• Why did the BJP government replace FERA by FEMA, and thereby make the offences compoundable?
• Is Mr. Advani not unwittingly alerting those with illegal money abroad to spirit it away from Switzerland to other tax havens?
• What was the NDA doing when it was in office? In any case, there is doubt about the figures.
The reactions betray panic as even the littlest reflection would have shown them to be indefensible.
• "In any case, there is doubt about the figures".
As is its custom, the Congress is trying to cover up the basic question of money which has been looted from India and is lying in tax havens, by raising questions about the precision of figures and estimates. This is quite the kind of legalism with which persons like Mr. P. Chidambaram and other legitimizers tried to cover up the loot from Bofors.
The OECD itself has stated in accounts published in early April 2009 that there are $1.7 trillion to $11.5 trillion, which are today parked in tax havens. This estimate of the OECD has been widely reported in the Indian press. The basic point is: even if the amounts are just scores of billion dollars and not one and a half trillion dollars, why should they not be brought back to India? And can they be brought back to India when the attitude of the government continues to be as determinedly inactive as that of the present Government?
Can the Government which allowed Ottavio Quattrochi, the Italian power-broker who is the main accused in the Bofors scam, to take his money out of banks after it had been frozen be trusted to bring back the loot that is lying in Swiss banks and other tax havens? Can the Government which prostituted the CBI so that he may get away from Argentina be trusted to bring the loot back?
. . .
• "Why did the BJP government to replace FERA by FEMA, and thereby make the offences compoundable?"
Again, the Congress is relying on the short memory of its audience. The fact of the matter is that no one had been pressing more for the replacement of the harsh provisions of FERA than the Congress itself. The changes were being contemplated since 1996. The demand for doing away with the harsh provisions came to a crescendo during the Government of Mr. VP Singh when FERA came to be used for interrogating captains of industry under harsh circumstances. As news reports of that period themselves indicate, FEMA which was approved by the Government in July 1998, was on the lines of a draft which had been prepared under the leadership of the preceding finance minister, Mr. P. Chidambaram.
The reasons for changing the law are well set out in the following passage:
"Until recently, we had a law known as the Foreign Exchange (Regulation) Act. Its object was to conserve and augment the forex reserves of the country. The way to hell, it is said, is paved with good intentions. Like many well-intentioned laws, FERA paved the way to disaster. FERA created a flourishing black market in foreign exchange. It brought into the economic lexicon the word 'Hawala'. Illegal forex transactions became the fuel for the growth of crime syndicates with trans-border connections.
"FERA also became a tool of oppression. Successive governments persisted with FERA and added COFFEPOSA and SAFEMA. International markets do not respect draconian laws that run counter to common sense. India's reserves, far from being augmented, dwindled at an alarming rate… Mercifully, FERA was buried finally on May 31, 2000."
The author? None other than P. Chidambaram, in the article he contributed to the Indian Express on 25 August 2002!
Go read it all.
Categories: Random Draws


text:
By Humaira
I'm reposting this short story about my first experience as an eleven year old Afghan immigrant to the United States which highlight the hopes and dreams that came with my family's relocation to the United States.
After moving to the U.S., my Afghan family embraced two American holidays; Thanksgiving and Halloween. My father always cooked a big turkey with all the fixings to give thanks for his arrival to the United States a week before Thanksgiving of 1978, when he joined my sister and two brothers who were already here. The remaining family members followed him nearly a year later.
I was 11 and my brother Tamim was eight when we arrived in New York with no English or any sense of life in America, except for dreams we had created over the nine months of travel from Afghanistan to the U.S.
My sister Nabila excitedly told us about the upcoming holiday, Halloween. She explained that American children dress in costumes, go to parties, carve pumpkins and get candy. Somehow the order of all of this didn't make any sense but, we zeroed in on the candy part. In Afghanistan, the only time we got candy was during two annual Eid holidays, the rest of the year we had to settle for raisins and dried fruit.
We had heard in America kids got candy and chocolates all the time but we couldn't believe our luck that people would come to our door to give us candy. Clearly, something was lost in translation. On Halloween, Tamim and I patiently waited all day for the candy bearers.
Finally around 6pm the doorbell rang; on the other side we found a sheep, a girl in a bonnet and a wolf. They said something in unison. We said nothing, and waited for them to hand over their candy. They said the same thing again. We just stood there, waiting. The girl in the bonnet looked annoyed, it was hard to tell with the sheep and the wolf.
Just when they were about to leave without giving us candy my Dad interfered. He dropped coins in their bags and then ushered us inside where he patiently explained how Halloween truly works. So, we quickly got to work on a costume with our limited resources.
Making something out of nothing is a skill all refugees develop over time, either by choice or necessity. We decided to be clowns. I used my mom's red lipstick to draw bright red circles on our cheeks and reddened our lips. Somehow this didn't seem enough of a disguise so I darkened and elongated our eyebrows with her black eyeliner. We looked more like a drag queens than clowns.
We headed out with one shared bag and started ringing doorbells in our low income, high rise apartment building in a down and out part of Queens, New York. The first couple of doors didn't answer, but the third one did. A nice woman opened the door, paused and then said something to us. We just stood there with outstretched hand, holding our bag.
She cocked her head to the right and repeated the same thing again, but a little slower. We just stared without a word. She gave up and dropped two small chocolates in our shared bag.
We walked away in disbelief about this amazing holiday. I turned to Tamim, "Didn't I tell you Amreekaw is great. All you have to do is ring someone's bell and they give you chocolate."
Later, with a bag full of candy we sat happily telling Nabila about our adventures, while she spent half an hour trying to get the lipstick off of our cheeks. This was my first lesson in make up application, don't put lipstick on anything but lips.
What are some of your blunderous Halloween stories?


text:
As I've read about and watched the ongoing discussion about healthcare reform, fleeting thoughts about random experiences have started on one side of my brain and ended up buried under the information overload. The thoughts periodically emerge from deep inside one fissure or another before disappearing again into a black hole.
This exercise in mental hide-and-seek makes me think I'm supposed to share the thoughts with someone. Maybe after I do that, the thoughts will disappear for good or perhaps wreak neurocognitive havoc until I end up in the same place where Dr. Gregory House found himself last May.
Years ago, before HMOs, PPOs, managed care, third-party payers, and so forth, healthcare was pretty straightforward. If you didn't feel right, you'd go to the doctor, who would check you out and tell you whether something was wrong. No matter the problem or concern, you always went to the same doctor, who often was the only one in town.
Long before health insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, and "integrated health systems," it was just you and the doctor. When it came time to pay up, you'd reach in your pocket and pull out some cash. If you didn't have didn't have any money, the doc would put it on a tab that you would pay whenever you could. Or maybe you would settle your bill in trade. Maybe with some fresh produce, or rich milk straight from the cow, or maybe even a chicken or two.
Remember Doc Adams from Gunsmoke? He wasn't too proud to take a nice plump hen in payment. Or maybe a bottle of the "good stuff" from the Longbranch, if the patient happened to be Miss Kitty or one of "the girls." Doctors might not have made much money in those days, but they certainly ate well.
Now, flash forward 50 or 100 years. My wife goes to see a doctor, a specialist. The third or fourth one she's seen for the same problem. The latest doctor knows exactly what she needs to take care of the problem (just like the others did), so he writes a prescription, which she takes to the local pharmacy. The pharmacist informs her that this medication requires authorization from our insurance carrier's prescription manager.
A few days later, my wife receives a notice from the prescription manager, informing her that the prescription had been approved. She showed me the notice and directed my attention to the line containing the drug's cost. I can't remember whether it was one treatment, a one-month supply, or one lifetime. I know it was one "something," but I couldn't pull my eyes away from the price: $800. I put on my reading glasses to make sure I wasn't seeing the zeroes in double.
As I stared at the numbers that followed the dollar sign, I couldn't help but think: That's a lot of chickens.
On another occasion, my wife made an appointment for both of us to see the same doctor. Each of us had some minor skin "thingy" that my wife thought a doctor should look at. Her thingy was obviously benign but causing some irritation. On the other hand, my wife was sure that my thingy was precancerous and if I didn't do something about it soon, a surgeon would have to cut off my nose.
The doctor saw both of us at the same time. First, he pulled out a magnifying glass, looked at my thingy, and said it was nothing to worry about. Took him about 10 seconds. Then the doctor looked at my wife's thingy, pulled out something that looked like a high-tech soldering iron, and zapped off the thingy. Took maybe 30 seconds.
As we were leaving, I was thinking about the discount that we obviously would get for the office visit, since it was a "two-fer" situation. The doctor's business manager disagreed, presenting me with an invoice for $250 -- $100 for me and $150 for my wife, because she required a higher level of care. Not bad, for maybe 60 seconds of face time with the doctor.
The office had a sign that proudly announced all the forms of payment the practice accepted. I couldn't help but wonder whether they would accept chickens, too.
Finally, one of my daughters had a sports injury that required an MRI. After it was over, I asked the office clerk how much I owed. She said, "It depends. Do you have insurance?" I did, but I was curious: What difference did it make? Well, the clerk explained, if you pay for it yourself, the charge is $1,000, but if we submit a claim to an insurance company, the charge is $2,000.
Noting the puzzlement on my face, the clerk went on to say that the usual charge is $1,000, but insurance companies routinely deny 50% of the charge, so the imaging center has to charge twice as much to get what it really wants.
Well, what if I paid for the MRI and denied 50% of the charge, I asked. Doesn't work that way, the clerk said. Well, then, how about billing me for $2,000, I'll file the claim, and we'll split the insurance money? No dice.
As I left the imaging center, I wondered how this incident would have played out with chickens.
During the summer, I watched video clips of some of the town hall meetings on healthcare that members of Congress organized during the recess, I couldn't understand the anger that often erupted. Many of the constituents who showed up at these gatherings seemed to have no interest in a real discussion of the issue. Rather, they seemed intent on shouting down anyone who disagreed with their point of view.
We're not going to solve healthcare issues in this country by simply yelling at each other. From time to time, my family has been among the millions without health insurance. It's really exciting, but not in a good way. Neither are the premiums for individual health insurance policies, which most people can't afford.
The system in place to care for the poorest and most vulnerable of our society does not work. I just returned from New Orleans, and you'll soon be reading about the recovery of the city's healthcare services since Hurricane Katrina. I spoke with a lot of people, but one comment stood out. A hospital official pointed out that Louisiana has the highest per capita Medicare expenses in the nation but, arguably, the state's Medicare beneficiaries get the worst care in the nation.
The time has come -- way overdue, many might say -- for serious, thoughtful discussion about how the nation's healthcare system will move forward and develop a system that serves and works for everyone. Not necessarily a perfect system, but one that works.
As I watched some of the vitriolic town hall meetings, I couldn't help but feel badly for the verbal whippings some members of Congress endured. But I also realized things could have been worse. Much worse. Someone could have started throwing chickens.
As I've read about and watched the ongoing discussion about healthcare reform, fleeting thoughts about random experiences have started on one side of my brain and ended up buried under the information overload. The thoughts periodically emerge from deep inside one fissure or another before disappearing again into a black hole.


text:
The first muscle rub product I ever blended was for a friend who wanted a post-workout product to help relax her sore muscles and help her to feel uplifted after her intense workouts. Since then, I've further experimented with different recipes to test their effectiveness and this one has turned out to be my favorite. It's great for post-workout care, but it's also incredible when you're just feeling sore, are experiencing muscles aches and pains, have some pesky knots in your back (or neck), or when you're just carrying a bit more tension than normal in your muscles and want to relax.
- 3 parts St. John's Wort infused carrier oil (I usually use olive or sunflower oil)
- 1 part Arnica infused carrier oil
- 2 parts Rose infused carrier oil
- 1 part beeswax
- Organic essential oils of Lavender (angustifolia), Ginger, Peppermint and Rosemary (1 drop each of Ginger and Peppermint per ounce of carrier + 5 drops of Rosemary per ounce of carrier + 10 drops of Lavender per ounce of carrier)
Melt your beeswax in a double boiler over low heat. Once it's thoroughly melted, stir in your carrier oils until they are mixed well with the beeswax. Remove the blend from the heat and stir in your essential oils. This formula uses a 3% dilution of essential oils. If the product isn't for daily use and is going to be used for more acute muscle pain, you can increase the amount of essential oils to a 5% dilution.
Additional tip: Spray Douglas Fir hydrosol onto the skin prior to applying the ointment. The product will spread better and feel less greasy, you'll be sealing a little extra moisture into your skin, and you'll receive the added benefits the hydrosol brings as well!
I hope you enjoy this recipe. What are your favorite post-workout herbs and essential oils?
Much love,


text:
NASA has released a video tour of the Moon.
Take a virtual tour of the Moon in all-new 4K resolution, thanks to data provided by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft. As the visualization moves around the near side, far side, north and south poles, we highlight interesting features, sites, and information gathered on the lunar terrain.
This video is public domain and along with other supporting visualizations can be downloaded from the Scientific Visualization Studio at: http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4619 Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/David Ladd
Music Provided By Killer Tracks: "Never Looking Back" – Frederick Wiedmann. "Flying over Turmoil" – Benjamin Krause & Scott Goodman.


text:
Yesterday, Alisha's school had a trip to the Putrajaya Fire Station! The trip was for the 3 to 5 year olds and parents were allowed to tag along. This Chempedak's Mommy didn't pass up the chance of course, I think I was more excited than Alisha, heeeeehehe!
I had to make sure Alisha reached school by 8am so obviously I dropped off a very moody baby at school as she usually wakes up at that time. Anyway, at 8.30 everyone was all geared up to go and Alisha was already hyped up for her outing!
Putting on their shoes…
Eh our shoes got stars!! Ching!!
Queuing up to board the bus
In the bus! Alisha's favourite part always!!
After about an hour in the bus, we finally reached the Putrajaya Fire Station!
We're here!! The kids were all assigned buddies in hopes that no one wanders away 😀
There's Chemps with her classmate, Rafeeq
Assigned buddies for the day!
We gathered in their multipurpose hall and was greeted by a little speech by the lead fireman for the day. I don't think they were prepped to entertain kids as young as Alisha's school group because they went on and on in monotony. Obviously none of the kids were interested in his babbling.
At the hall, waiting for the speech
Alisha listening intently, or so it seems
Once that was over, the fun part begins! The kids got to check out the fire engines, the rescue boats, and even hop on their super cool big bikes!
Look Rafeeq!! Fire truck!!
The friendly fireman explaining about the various tools they work with
But obviously these two were more interested in the gigantic tires
Then they all had chance to try and blast water from the huge water hose. Initially, only the elder kids were lining up to try it. Suddenly out of no where, Chemps walked up to the fireman, and wanted to try it out too! She had the happiest look on her face! I was extremely surprised that she volunteered herself without being asked. She just went on and walked right up there without the slightest hesitation, hahahhaha! She probably was thinking "yay main air!!"
Now how do I do this?
Ahh, yes! Like a pro, yo!
Some of the kids even tried on the fireman outfit!!
Lil' fireman!
It was a good initiative from the school to introduce the young ones to the fire brigade. At least they know how it looks like at an actual fire station. Such exposure indirectly creates an awareness about the fire department.
I was a bit disappointed that they didn't have the whole "put out the fire" demonstration with the huge bonfire. The kids had fun though, and that's all that matters 🙂
Byeee fireman uncles!! 😀


text:
Beth Klein Boulder – talks DUP, Tory Puppetmaster
After failing to win a majority, the Conservative Party forged an alliance with the right wing Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) to form a government. Government needs to have an overall majority of 326 MPs to get legislation past the House of Commons. Let's meet the DUP which is akin to the Westborough Baptist Church as a […]Read More Beth Klein Boulder – talks DUP, Tory Puppetmaster