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Kirsten Nunez
Kirsten is a lifestyle writer at Bustle, where she covers health, fitness, food, and crafts. At Bustle, she primarily writes recipe roundups, original recipes, and DIY listicles based on seasonal and holiday themes. In addition to Bustle, Kirsten's bylines have appeared on eHow, VegNews, Healthline, Verily Magazine, and Brit + Co. She has also contributed DIY projects to magazines around the world, including Cosmopolitan India and Allure South Korea. In 2014, she published a DIY book, Studs & Pearls: 30 Creative Projects for Customized Fashion (Laurence King Publishing Ltd.). Kirsten has a Master of Science in Nutrition and Bachelor of Science in Dietetics. Kirsten's life revolves around the very topics she writes about. She spends her free time dreaming up new recipes, sewing one too many potholders, and getting her sweat on in spin or boxing class. Kirsten lives in Beacon, New York. To learn more about her work, visit www.k-nunez.com.
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All the baggies except luke bespin have suffered the test of time and opened where the figures feet are mostly. This is a super rare set and although not fully still sealed this is one of the rarest items in the star wars figure universe. The item "Boxed Vintage STAR WARS ESB 10 Figure mail away Yoda Leia etcall in baggies RARE" is in sale since Tuesday, November 27, 2018. This item is in the category "Toys & Games\Action Figures\TV, Movies & Video Games". The seller is "ovesk8" and is located in Louth, Lincolnshire.This item can be shipped to United Kingdom, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Australia, United States, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, China, Israel, Hong Kong, Norway, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand.


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Hezbollah Sends More Fighters to Syria to Help Army in Aleppo, Idlib Battles: Media
The (Lebanese) Hezbollah resistance movement has sent more troops to Syria to take part in the fight against the terrorists in the provinces of Aleppo and Idlib.
"Hezbollah has dispatched another brigade of its forces to Syria who have been deployed just outside the city of Aleppo," the Russian Izvestia newspaper reported on Saturday.
The paper quoted retired Syrian army general Brigadier General Ali Maqsoud as saying that the Hezbollah fighters would move to Idlib to prepare for military operations there after capturing Aleppo city and its surrounding regions; FNA reported.
The Hezbollah fighers are only a part of the forces present in the Aleppo operations, he said.
Other reports claimed that the total number of Hezbollah fighters in Syria now stands at 5,000 with heavy artillery and weapons systems.
No other source in Syria or Hezbollah has confirmed the report yet.
The Syrian army and its popular allies started the long-awaited operation on Friday afternoon to purge the entire city of Aleppo from terrorists.
The Army troops and Quds Devotees popular fighters stormed the positions of Jeish al-Fatah terrorists from three different flanks to take back militant-held districts in Eastern Aleppo.
Syrian government forces used the Southern side of Tal (hill) Seifan in the first flank to attack the positions of Nouralddeen al-Zinki terrorists.
Army forces also stormed militants' defense lines via the second flank in Ba'abadin neighborhood towards Ba'eidin square.
The army soldiers and their popular allies also moved through the Southern side of Tal Ba'abadin towards the Youth Housing Complex and Agricultural School and from South of Manasher Brij neighborhood towards Northeast of Hananou neighborhood to form the third flank of the government troops' large-scale operation against terrorists in Aleppo.
Simultaneous with pro-government forces' offensives from three flanks, army's artillery units shelled heavily terrorists' positions in the region. Heavy shelling has forced the terrorists to retreat from their positions in some regions.
Reports said resistance forces in the first flank have already captured Ba'eidin square that connects the three neighborhoods of Ba'eidin, al-Heidariyeh and Ein Tal and overlooks the entire surrounding area.
In the meantime, army forces and resistance fighter started large-scale attack in Sheikh Saeed neighborhood and managed to advance against terrorists.
The resistance troops' missile units targeted the terrorists' positions in the neighborhoods of al-Mansoureh, al-Rashedeen and Scientific Research Centers in the Western part of Aleppo.
On Saturday, reports said the Syrian army has inflicted heavy casualties on the Jeish al-Fatah coalition of terrorist groups in its major assault in the Eastern districts of Aleppo city, capturing a number of positions.
After hours of fierce clashes with terrorists, army forces have taken control of several positions in Karam al-Tarraf neighborhood in the Eastern part of Aleppo city and western side of Aleppo airport, killing and wounding several terrorists.
In the meantime, at least 11 terrorists were killed in clashes with Syrian soldiers in Bostan al-Pasha in the Eastern part of the city.
The army troop also destroyed three arms and ammunition depots of the terrorist in the Eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo.
The army men targeted terrorists' gatherings in the neighborhoods of Hananou Housings, al-Heidariyeh, al-Meisar, A'qyoul and al-Sakhour in Eastern Aleppo as well.
Heavy fighting still goes on between the Syrian army and terrorists in al-Oweijeh and the Syrian air force and army's artillery units are also targeting militants' positions in the same neighborhood.
Army's missile units also launched shelling attacks on terrorists' positions in the neighborhoods of Hananou, Jabal Badrou, al-Hamrah, al-Sho'ar, Zahrat Awad, Jubb al-Qebeh, al-Sakhour, al-Sukri, al-Harbleh and al-Meisar, killing or wounding tens of terrorists.
The Syrian fighter jets also pounded terrorists' centers in Kafr Hamreh, Hayan, Jam'iyat al-Hadi, al-Mansoureh, Qabtan al-Jabal, Naseh and Anadan.
Later in the day, the military sources disclosed that the Syrian Army, Lebanese Hezbollah and Iraqi al-Nujaba fighters are coordinating final steps of a joint large-scale operation to liberate Khan Touman, a key town in Southern Aleppo.
"After liberation of the Air Defense Battalion and its nearby hills, Housing Project 1070 and al-Hikmah School, the Syrian army, Hezbollah and al-Nujaba continued their operations and scored some victories against terrorists and have now deployed their fighters in the Southern part of Aleppo to start jointly a fresh round of offensives to liberate Khan Touman, while the Syrian Air Force has intensified strikes on terrorists' positions in the town," the sources disclosed.
Warplanes also targeted a long convoy of terrorists' vehicles along the Damascus-Aleppo highway near ICARDA farms.
Fighter jets also carried out several combat flights over Jeish al-Fatah's movements from Saraqib in Idlib to Khan Touman in Aleppo, inflicting major losses on the militants.
The Syrian Army troops and Air Force also targeted the positions of Fatah al-Sham Front (previously known as the al-Nusra Front) and Nouralddeen al-Zinki in different parts of Aleppo city on Friday, inflicting major casualties on the militants.
The Syrian fighter jets targeted the positions of Fatah al-Sham Front and Nouralddeen al-Zinki in the districts of Old Aleppo, Bostan al-Pasha, Sheikh Saeed and al-Sukri, leaving a large number of militants dead or wounded.
Army soldiers for their part targeted Jeish al-Fatah's gatherings and positions in the villages of al-Mansoureh and Khawabi al-Assal and the neighborhoods of al-Rashedeen 4 and 5 quarters in the Western and Southern parts of Aleppo.
A number of terrorists were killed and their vehicles were destroyed in the army attacks.
The army also destroyed one of the main positions of Jeish al-Fatah after targeting their sites in Khan al-Assal town, about 12 km Southwest of Aleppo city.
Source: Al Alam


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Your Moon Phase Jewelry will now have the option to customize some jewelry pieces with engraving directly on the back of each pendant! Let us explain the process.
How our engraving works:
When you go to our website, select a product that has the option to be engraved. In our example, we choose the beautiful Luna necklace. Next, please choose the desired date. This date can be anything you wish: your birthday, your kids birthday, a wedding date, anniversary, etc. If you already know which phase you'd like, then select the checkbox that says I know which phase I want. This will go to a drop down menu that will allow you to select any phase.
In this example we selected the New Moon.
Next, press the Moon button to refresh the page with your New Desired Date. (it looks like this!)
Next, you have the option to Personalize. By default, it is set to No but if you choose to Engrave your piece then click on the Yes button. This will bring down a menu that will allow you to type a message into the box. The message can be no longer than 39 characters, 13 characters per line and up to 3 lines. You also can select one of our two fonts: Bold or Script.
We also have a visualizer that allows you to see a visual representation of what your message will look like with each font style before you make your decision.
DISCLAIMER: Font Style may slightly differ from preview image. Please see example photos.
Then add your beautiful customized piece to your cart!
We know there's a special date everyone remembers so why not make it memorable with your very own Your Moon Phase Jewelry Piece that you can wear for everyone to see. We promise you'll love every piece. These make the perfect gifts, so tell us, what date will you choose?
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October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, making it more important than ever before to come together and fight for the cure. You can help by spreading awareness about this disease and educating others about their health. Empower the women in your life this year by joining forces to support this important cause.


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Most of 2015 was pretty quiet for Lady Gaga, which is something unusual for one of the world's loudest pop stars. She hasn't released any proper "Gaga" music, and the fans have been waiting. Her last solo record, 2013's Artpop, was something of a commercial flop, and many fans were left wanting more. Since then, she has toured the record and ventured into acting and jazz, and while both detours were highly successful—both critically and financially, as she made $59 million in 2015—this year will hopefully see the star hopefully returning to her pop roots, while at the same time potentially reaching new heights.
This month may end up being one of the biggest in her entire career, as she has many high-profile appearances coming up which may help put her back in people's minds and establish her as the new kind of star that she is trying to be.
In just a few days, she will take the to field at the Super Bowl to sing the National
Just a week after the game are the Grammys, where she will play a big role this year. On top of being nominated for Best Song Written for Visual Media for her track "Til It Happens To You", Gaga will be performing a tribute to the late David Bowie. Throughout her career, the singer has cited Bowie as one of her greatest influences, and she is sure to do his legacy justice at the ceremony. Her performance is already being buzzed as a possible highlight of the night, and if she does win, it will be her seventh trophy. She also collected a Grammy last year for her Tony Bennett-collaborative jazz record, Cheek To Cheek.
Two weeks after the Grammys, Gaga is up for an Academy Award for the first time in the category of Best Original Song. Her performance of a medley of tracks from The Sound Of Music brought down the house in 2015 and helped cement her as one of this generation's great vocal talents. Now she has a chance to actually collect an Oscar alongside eight-time nominee Diane Warren. There are plenty of good options in this category, and it's always tough to tell who will win this prize, but Gaga's offering certainly has a fighting chance.
Remember that all of this only brings her up to March—she still has nine months with which to make 2016 the year she returns to her former glory. A new full length album is expected in 2016 at some point, which means an entire campaign, complete with singles, music videos, and perhaps even the announcement of a tour. She has the potential to add another Grammy and an Oscar to her trophy shelf (which also recently just had a Golden Globe lobbed on), and if she plays her cards right, this could be the year that she reclaims her title as not just the world's biggest, but the most interesting pop star working today.
Also on Forbes
I am a freelance music journalist based in New York City. My byline has appeared in The Huffington Post, Billboard, Mashable, Noisey, The Hollywood Reporter, MTV, Fuse,…
I am a freelance music journalist based in New York City. My byline has appeared in The Huffington Post, Billboard, Mashable, Noisey, The Hollywood Reporter, MTV, Fuse, and dozens of other magazines and blogs around the world. I love following charts and the biggest and most successful names in the industry, and I'm always interested in highlighting incredible feats and discovering what's next.


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Heshy Berenholz - Weekly Chumash Class
Parshat Metzorah
Parshat Metzorah
Heshy Berenholz
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Heshy Berenholz
Parshat Metzorah
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Heshy Berenholz
Following are some of the ideas, insights and interpretations that emerge from our weekly Chumash learning group at the Young Israel of Oceanside, Long Island. We cite sources when possible. Some of our interpretations derive from ideas we may have seen elsewhere, possibly without attribution. Or we may simply have forgotten the source. For this we apologize. We invite your comments, observations and participation.
Ritual Purification of a person with tzara'as
Offerings brought by a poor person with tzara'as
Tzara'as of houses
Ritual impurity of man's unhealthy, venereal discharge
Ritual impurity of seminal emission
Ritual impurity of menstruation
Ritual impurity of abnormal menstruation
Name of the Parsha
Last week's parsha dealt with the identification of the spiritual disease state known as tzara'as. This week's parsha deals with the process by which the sufferer rids himself of the affliction. If so, why is this week's parsha named Metzorah—which means one who is afflicted with tzara'as—when it deals with the spiritual remedy and not the details of this condition.
According to the Lubavitcher Rebbe, tzara'as is to be viewed as an educational lesson designed to help a person correct his ways and experience a spiritual rebirth. One is isolated (moves outside the city) and prohibited from socializing with others, presumably to allow for a period of introspection regarding the ramification of one's behavior (a "time out" in current parlance).Thus, concludes the Rebbe, the remedy described in the parsha is "not in fact an eradication of the tzara'as but rather a revelation of the good inner nature of the affliction". The purification process is replete with symbolism alluding to the metzorah's past behavior that he is now committed to abandon.
Ritual Purification of the Person with Tzara'as
Kohan goes outside of the camp, where the person with tzara'as is isolated, to examine him
If the tzara'as lesions have healed, the kohan instructs that the following be brought: two live birds, a piece of cedar, some crimson wool and a hyssop branch.
The kohan orders that one bird be slaughtered over fresh spring water in a clay bowel
The kohan takes the live bird with the piece of cedar, the crimson wool and the hyssop and dips them into the clay bowl filled with fresh water and blood of the slaughtered bird
The kohan sprinkles this mixture seven times on the person undergoing purification. (Note: this is a crucial part of the ritual purification process.)
The live bird is sent away towards the fields.
The person undergoing purification immerses his clothing in a mikvah (pool of water).
The kohan shaves off all of the person's hair.
The person immerses himself in a mikvah.
With this first part of the purification process now completed, the person returns to his home for seven days during which he may not be intimate with his wife and during which he renders unclean anything with which he comes into contact
On the seventh day the kohan again shaves off the person's hair (on his head; his eyebrows; his beard and any other body hair)
The person immerses his clothing and body in a mikvah, after which he is considered tahor (clean; pure).
On the eighth day the person brings the following offerings:
• Two unblemished male sheep
• One unblemished yearling female sheep
• Six quarts of the best grade wheat flour mixed with oil (as a meal offering)
• Ten ounces of olive oil
The kohan presents one male sheep as a guilt offering(asham) along with the 10 ounces of olive oil
The man is brought to the door of the Sanctuary (During the time of the Second Temple at Nicanor's Gate, which divided the Women's Court from the Court of the Israelites.)
The kohan slaughters the sheep and takes some of the blood and places it on the right ear lobe, right thumb and right big toe of the person undergoing purification
The kohan takes some of the oil and pours it in the palm of his left hand
This kohan dips his right forefinger into the oil and sprinkles some toward the Holy of Holies seven times.
The kohan puts some of the oil on the tip of the right ear, right thumb and right big toe of the person undergoing purification
The kohan puts the rest of the oil on the person's head.
The kohan then sacrifices the sin and the burnt offerings and places the burnt and the meal offerings on the altar
With this, the kohan has made atonement for the person who is now completely tahor (ritually clean)
The Purification Ceremony Explained
Nechama Leibowitz cites a number of approaches that focus on the symbolic meanings:
• Rashi maintains that since the tzara'as state was brought on by evil talk and idle chatter, the ceremony needs to involve birds which continually chatter and chirp. The mighty cedar tree is a symbol of haughtiness and pride that the metzorah exhibited. He needs to be brought down to the lowly level of the scarlet worm (source of the red
dye) and the hyssop, the lowliest of plants.
• Sefer Hachinuch focuses on the immersion in water which symbolizes a moment of re-creation, just as the universe consisted of water before its creation. The act of immersion is meant to prompt a reappraisal of one's past conduct as he is being "reborn".
• Rav S.R. Hirsch's explanation is that the ritual is about changing the metzorah's anti-social behavior. Birds are wild, uncontrolled and anti-social. Killing one of the birds is a symbolic act of complete abandonment of stormy, unrestrained behavior and speech that brought on the metzorah's condition. The cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet worm symbolize the vastness of nature to which the metzorah was exiled ("outside the camp") because of his anti-social behavior. Sending the second bird away serves as a reminder that one's animalistic tendencies belong elsewhere-- out in the open field-- and not in society.
The rituals are meant to be transformative. Placing of the blood on the right ear, thumb and big toe is a ceremony used elsewhere only for the induction of the priests. These people had a healthy sense of self- worth and peace of mind, unlike the metzorah who, because of his feelings of worthlessness resorts to bolstering his own ego at the expense of others. Imitating the ceremony of the priest is a non-verbal communication of our belief/prayer that the experience of being a metzorah with its isolation and introspection, brought with it a sense of worth comparable to that felt by the priests.
Shaving of the hair is reminiscent of the Nazirite who, as part of the ceremony of returning to society not only brings proscribed offerings, but is also required to shave his head.
The ceremony involves use of some liquids to which cleansing powers were ascribed. Robert Alter notes that the water in the bowel is literally "living water", suggesting flowing and carrying away impurities. The release of the second bird into the open country means carrying off any residual impurities to a place far from human habitation. Jacob Milgrom (cited by Robert Alter) opines that the redness of cedar wood and crimson wool is linked to blood, which functions as a purifying agent (as does oil).Hyssop was also considered to be a purifying agent. Rabbi J. H. Hertz observes that hyssop is a convenient tool for sprinkling because "its leaves readily absorb the liquid and freely give it out when shaken." My good friend Zach Dicker, noting the medicinal powers of certain tree barks and shrubs, speculates that the sprinkling provides some re-enforcing additional health benefits to the person undergoing purification.
Rav Michael Hattin of Yeshivat Har Etzion draws our attention to similarities between this ceremony and God's commandments when the Israelites prepared to leave Egypt. Then, as they prepared to leave slavery for freedom, the Israelites were told to slaughter the Pascal lamb, to gather the animal's blood in a receptacle and to take "a bundle of hyssop and to dip it into the blood that is in the receptacle…" and to smear it on the lintel and doorposts of their homes. In both situations "…a liquid that is either exclusively blood or else at least includes it as a main ingredient, is first gathered into some sort of receptacle, typically earthenware. A bundle of organic material that includes hyssop is next dipped into the liquid and some sort of sprinkling or smearing is then done with it. Afterwards, the status of the afflicted individual is transformed." The Israelites in Egypt suffered from moral decay, physical pain and isolation. The exodus from Egypt transformed a group in exile into a new nation filled with optimism and promise of a new life. Similarly, the metzorah in "exile" who prepares for a return to family and society utilizes the objects of the Exodus (hyssop, blood) as part of his transformation.
Rabbi David Fohrman's approach builds on the extensive Talmudic discussion of the commonality of behavior required of a metzorah; a mourner; and a menudah (one who has been excommunicated).A metzorah is like a menudah in that each is required to dwell outside the camp. One who has tzara'as and a corpse are both similar and unique in that only they make objects within a room tameh even without physical contact. A corpse's skin is deathly white; a metzorah experiences white skin discoloration, a wasting of flesh. A corpse is dead physically; a metzorah has "killed" someone ('s reputation) with his lashon hara (gossip and tale-bearing). Though biologically alive, he exhibits these characteristics of a corpse.
The metzorah-- like each of us-- is both a communal being and an individual. Rabbi Fohrman's intriguing insight is that a metzorah really is mourning for himself. He mourns his loss of connection with society and family as he is "radically separated" outside the camp. His anti-social behavior (lashon hara) caused this disease which forced him to separate from the community. His communal side needs to be rebuilt and to be reconnected with those around him. The purification process he is forced to undergo mimics the behavior during the Exodus described by Rabbi Hattin because it was through the performance of those rituals that we morphed from being individual, separate family units into a cohesive, organic societal whole. The metzorah needs to shake off his isolation in a similar ritualistic manner in order to re-join the community of Israel. After a seven day waiting period he is permitted to return to the privacy of his home.
Tzara'as No Longer Exists
The Rabbis of the Talmud explain that only one on a very high spiritual level is "worthy" of being punished so harshly for gossiping.
Rabbi H. L. Berenholz
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text:
Drawing a Blank!
Jerry Lucky Commentary April 2011
Copyright Jerry Lucky © 2010 All Rights Reserved
If it was still April 1st I could say its an April Fools joke but such is not the case.
Truth is after dozens and dozens of commentaries Im drawing a blank.
Id like to blame it on the move and starting a new job and maybe thats a part of it but theres more.
Truth is what I was going to write about it was going to be something nostalgic required a letter that I received back in the eighties from a then teenaged Steven Wilson. Trouble is with the move and all I wasnt able to find the letter. Im still looking for it.
Then I was going to write something about how some people handle success but that idea hasnt been fleshed out yet.
So in the end I got nothing!
Just being honest.
But in the process of doing this it occurred to me of the seven to nine regular readers of this website maybe youve got something to say. Well nows your chance if youve wanted to spout off about something related to the world of prog send me an email and Ill do my best to incorporate it into future commentaries.
But hey, please be nice.
OK..gotta run I still need to think of something to write.
Jerry Lucky


text:
Who will be victorious? Who will claim what is rightfully theirs? Who will prove they are the best? Who has what it takes? Who will be champion?
MFC 100, A milestone in the Mixed Martial Arts industry in South Africa. From its inaugural debut in 2003 MFC Fight Zone has grown in leaps and bounds, allowing hundreds of MMA fighters to exhibit their skills on a competitive level. Many of these athletes have gone on to compete on a professional level and ply their trade at overseas events. With the procurement of television coverage, MFC has reached an audience of over 2 million viewers and broadened the horizons of fighters profiles and sponsorships.


text:
What Doctors Won't Tell You: Find Out 6 Habits That Endanger Your Health
6 Things You Can Do With Family And Friends This Easter
Easter is a reflective time as you remember the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
However, it doesn't have to be gloomy. It is supposed to be a celebration and here are 5 things with your family.
Go to the Park
You can take your family or go with a friend. Swing on the swings like when you were a kid. There are a couple of parks in Lagos and other states and they have
Pack a Picnic Lunch
Throw a picnic lunch together and find a shady spot to enjoy the day with your loved ones.
Play Board Games
Bring out the old favorites like Monopoly or Scrabble, or find new board games to play.
Make a Romantic Dinner
Plan a romantic, candlelight dinner for your spouse or loved one. Romance need not be expensive
Invite Your Neighbors Over
With today's busy pace, it seems harder to get to know our neighbors. Invite them over for dinner or dessert and make an effort to know more about them
Go to the Beach
Hit the sandy shores for a little rest and relaxation. Just don't forget to protect your skin.


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Related News:
- RT @RMac18: lmao at the ads that Facebook is running on Google https://t.co/X2uJmNaBrS
- RT @ronlieber: They finally let me in the building. And tried to get me to sign an NDA. (Nope!) Tomorrow, a column stuffed with all the que…
- RT @RedTapeChron: Stealing Experian credit freeze PINs was as easy as 'none of the above' https://t.co/iP68TwzE0h https://t.co/56TK5yawuy
- What the what? https://t.co/H3Q01kkWEJ
- RT @theharryshearer: My TV just "served" me with revised Terms of Service. #SmartIsDumb
- Participants must investigate & respond to a fictional data breach. It's like an escape room for cybersecurity nerds https://t.co/mwyZe5h4jG
- "Traditional contract doctrine is monogamous and doesn't really know what to do with three-ways." https://t.co/e5f9YrNz2J HT @AdamLevitin
- The new card in Google's Family Link app shows parents what Google is calling "nutritious" app suggestions for kids. https://t.co/eauALxzd7h


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The Dorchester Collection opens latest hotel 45 Park Lane
The 45-bedroom hotel, situated yards away from sister hotel The Dorchester, has been designed by architect Thierry W. Despont in a contemporary style with Art Deco influences, and offers every guest a room with a view of London's Hyde Park.
Hotel manager Marie-Laure Akdag, formerly director of business development and marketing for Jumeirah;s Burg Al Arab in Dubai, will oversee the running of 45 Park Lane under the Dorchester's general manager and regional director UK Roland Fasel.
She said: "45 Park Lane will provide a sophisticated and discreet London address for a new generation of travellers; those that desire modern, sleek surroundings in a private but central location, together with the style of individuality, connections and unrivalled service that the Dorchester Collection hotels are known for."
Steak restaurant
Puck's first UK restaurant CUT is a destination venue for the hotel, serving a menu focused on steaks and matching wines, and will be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Executive chef David McIntyre, a member of the Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining Group for 13 years, will oversee the day-to-day running of the kitchen, while restaurant director Loyd Loudy, formerly of SupperClub in Notting Hill will look after the front-of-house proceedings.
The menu will feature a prime dry- and wet-aged beef from Creekstone Farms in the US, grain-fed cuts from Casterbridge in Dorset, plus Wagyu beef from Australia, Chile and New Zealand. Cuts will include filet, sirloin, ribeye, rib-chop, Porterhouse, bone-in New York and bone-in filet that are grilled over hard-wood and charcoal and then finished under a 1200° broiler.
Meat cuts will be offered in smaller tasting portions as well, served with a large choice of homemade sauces, such as shallot red wine Bordelaise and CUT's signature recipe for Argentinean chimichurri.
The menu will also feature a selection of seafood such as Pan-Roasted Scottish Lobster with Black Truffle Sabayon, and Sautéed Dover Sole "à la Meunière" with Preserved Lemon.
In addition to the restaurant, 45 Park Lane also features a wine and cocktail bar, Bar 45, a residents' library and private media room above the lobby.
The Dorchester Collection will fully launch 45 Park Lane on 11 September.


text: A statewide survey reported last month the number of Nassau County's high school and middle school students who say they're abused drugs, tobacco and alcohol has been on its way down over the last eight years.The survey's good news for Nassau County is that high school students who said they have had an alcoholic drink, marijuana or a cigarette in the month before the survey this year is at its lowest since 2000.The results were part of the 2008 Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey, conducted statewide every two years in the spring. This year marked the survey's fifth report. Several state agencies are involved in the survey project, including the Florida departments of Health, Education, Children and Families, Juvenile Justice, and the Governor's Office of Drug Control."We're very pleased any time a statistic like drug use or alcohol use - or any behavior that could negatively affect students - diminishes. We're always glad," Nassau County School District Executive Director for Administrative Services Sharyl Wood said.Nearly 69 percent of the county's high school students reported drinking alcoholic drinks in their lifetime, which has dropped from the 2002 high of 75 percent. About 35 percent reported they had an alcoholic drink within the last month. Of middle school students, 41 percent said they'd had a drink in their lifetimes and 21 percent said they had one within the last month.About 35 percent of the high school students - the same percentage as in 2006 - said they'd smoked marijuana or hashish in their lifetime, and 11 percent said they'd done so in the last month, down from a 2002 peak of 19 percent.Interestingly, the percentage of high school students this year who said they have ever smoked a cigarette is the same as those who say they've tried marijuana, at 35 percent, and the same percentage of those who said they'd smoked marijuana in the last month - 11 percent - said they'd had a cigarette within the last month.The difference between the marijuana and tobacco percentages among the county's high school students, however, is the overall trend. Reported recent cigarette smoking has dropped from 25 percent to 11 percent since 2000 and the number who report having smoked in their lifetimes has dropped from 35 percent to 22 percent since 2000. Reported recent marijuana smoking, in comparison, has dropped from 17 percent to 11 percent and reports of ever having tried pot have dropped from 43 percent to 35 percent.Nassau County School District Intervention and Prevention coordinator Andreu Powell said he credited Keep Kids Drug-Free; anti-drug school curriculum, speakers and messages; the Nassau Alcohol Crime Drug Abatement Coalition, Sutton Place counselors at most secondary schools and a new policy that requires consent to random drug testing to participate in extracurricular activities and to park on firstname.lastname@example.com, (904) 359-4609


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I bought white jeans – and I have to say, I'm in love!
I've even managed to wear them several times without spilling coffee all over them!
These ASOS Curve Ridley Skinny Jeans in white are kinda perfect in my eyes. The waist is high, the denim is strong with just the tiniest bit of stretch and the leg length, despite my 5ft10 frame, is perfect.
I'm wearing the size 18 which fitted me perfectly straight out of the parcel. Unfortunately, they have since stretched a tiny bit and aren't quite so nicely fitted around my waist (they're currently in a hot wash in the hope of shrinking them ever so slightly).
The really high waisted cut of the jeans really does elongate my legs and slim my hips/ass. I would probably prefer the bum pockets to be a little closer together to give the appearance of uplift but I won't hold a pocket against them!
I paired the jeans with a gingham print top from Simply Be, my favourite red L.K.Bennett heels and a longline cardigan from New Look. Full details are at the end of the post.
The longline cardigan is my go to piece at the moment – I love the midi length and the way, when worn with slim fitting clothes beneath, it really makes me look taller and slimmer. I have the cardigan in several colours and can see more being added to my wardrobe over the course of the summer.
One of the things I normally hate about white jeans is when they show dimply thighs through the material. Luckily, there is not a dimple in sight with these – the denim is very strong with a tight weave that gives my legs great support and shape.
At £30, I would say these jeans are worth every penny! Since buying these I have worn them on nights out, to the local pub, swanning about seaside towns and even out on a boat when seal spotting. I think I'll get tons more wear out of them this summer and will be looking at the Ridley collection of jeans in other colours as think they really flatter my shape.
How about you? Have you tried the Ridley jeans? Or any other recommendations for white jeans?


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Banks using third-party AMCs need to conduct "due diligence" to confirm that an AMC is properly registered.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has issued a bulletin reminding national banks, federal savings associations, and federal branches and agencies of foreign banking organizations about the new registration requirement for appraisal management companies (AMCs) that took effect on Aug. 10, 2019. Because AMCs must now register with the applicable state or states in which they do business and are subject to state supervision, the OCC's Sept. 16, 2019, bulletin (2019-43) provides banks with guidance on confirming AMC registration as part of their "sound third-party risk management." Further, the bulletin presents considerations for banks that engage AMCs and suggests alternatives the banks can use "when no registered AMCs are available."
As observed by the OCC, many banks typically outsource the process of engaging appraisers for real estate transactions to AMCs, which serve as the intermediaries between banks and appraisers. In 2015, the OCC, in conjunction with the Federal Reserve Board, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, National Credit Union Administration, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and Federal Housing Finance Agency adopted a regulation (12 CFR Part 34) to implement provisions of the Dodd–Frank Act governing minimum requirements for AMCs (see Banking and Finance Law Daily, April 22, 2015).
Among other things, the jointly adopted regulation implements the requirement for states to report to the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council's Appraisal Subcommittee for the Subcommittee's administering of the AMC National Registry. The registry includes: (i) AMCs that are registered with (and subject to) supervision by a state that certifies and licenses appraisers; or (ii) AMCs that are federally regulated—typically as operating subsidiaries of a federally regulated financial institution. Moreover, the AMC National Registry provides the public with a searchable database on AMCs.
Notably, if an AMC is not registered as required, federal law bars the AMC from "providing appraisal management services to financial institutions for consumer credit transactions secured by a consumer's principal dwelling that are federally related transactions (covered FRT)."
Bulletin highlights. The September 2019 OCC bulletin underscores that bank management "should conduct sufficient due diligence to confirm that the bank's third-party AMCs are registered as required." Along these lines, to confirm that an AMC is properly registered, a supervised financial institution can:
- check the FFIEC Appraisal Subcommittee's national AMC registry;
- check a state's AMC registry, particularly when the AMC is not found on the national registry; and/or
- request proof of registration directly from the pertinent AMC, especially when a state does not offer the electronic capability to verify an AMC's registration.
In addition, the OCC recommends that bank management "work with AMCs to properly identify transactions that meet the definition of a covered FRT." To determine whether the transaction is a covered FRT or not, a supervised financial institution should "either notify the AMC that the transaction is a covered FRT or provide sufficient information to enable the AMC to identify the transaction as a covered FRT." Still, if a bank relies on an AMC's determination of FRT coverage, the bank's management "should conduct sufficient due diligence as part of sound third-party risk management to confirm that the AMC appropriately identifies covered FRTs as such."
Further, the bulletin notes that if a transaction is deemed to be a "covered FRT in a state that is not registering AMCs," supervised banks may want to use one of the following: (i) an individual appraiser; (ii) a staff appraiser employed by the bank; (iii) a smaller AMC that has a "panel with fewer than 15 appraisers in any state and fewer than 25 appraisers nationally in a given year"; or (iv) a federally regulated AMC.
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text:
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text:
Cleanup at the site of the Straathof Swine Farm facility that was destroyed by fire June 19 is progressing as planned, according to county officials, and the process should be completed in about a month.
Local agencies, including Fayette County Public Health, the Fayette County Emergency Management Agency and the county commissioners, have been providing periodic updates on the cleanup efforts following the fire that killed approximately 5,000 swine in Wayne Township.
The environmental staff at Fayette County Public Health made a site visit on Wednesday.
"The site has been very well maintained, and the amount of effort the cleanup crew has put into this project is tremendous," reads the joint statement. "Everyone is very pleased with the process and will continue to monitor the situation as needed."
The crew is taking every possible measure to reduce odor, dust, insects and air quality control as this project continues on for another few weeks, according to the release.
"We are still asking for the community's patience in this cleanup endeavor as this fire caused devastating damage, and requires special equipment and logistics to ensure a safe work zone for the cleanup crew, as well as being environmentally cautious," the statement reads.
The cause and the origin of the fire are still under investigation, according to the Ohio Fire Marshal's Office, and no foul play is suspected.
Throughout the day of the fire, firefighters from five counties battled the blaze at 7111 Old Route 35 Southeast. Along with the Washington and Wayne Township fire departments, firefighters and resources were requested from the Concord-Greene, Bloomingburg-Paint-Marion, Jefferson Township and Pic-A-Fay fire departments. As the fire continued to intensify, additional fire agencies and resources from Highland, Ross, Pickaway and Greene counties were requested to respond and assist with battling the fire and providing water tankers. The Fayette County Emergency Management Agency and Fayette County EMS also responded to the scene.
Anyone with questions or concerns is asked to contact Jenny Coe or Leigh Cannon of Fayette County Public Health, Division of Environmental Health, at 740-333-3590.
Reach Ryan Carter at 740-313-0352 or on Twitter @rywica


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Do you have a makerspace?
182 views | 0 Vote this question as useful. 0 Vote this question as not useful. | Last updated on Dec 26, 2019
Yes, the Bethany Library has a makerspace called MLS Studios. It has the following equipment:
- One Mac computer and one PC computer, both with the full Adobe Creative Suite and Cura software to slice 3D prints
- 3D printers:
- IMADE 3D Jellybox 2 (uses 1.75mm filament)
- Lulzbot Taz 6 (uses 3mm filament)
- Cricut maker (customers will need to bring their own supplies to use this machine)
- Green screen wall
- Lighting equipment
- Gimbals and tripods
- iPads for photo and video
There are also STEM toys that can be checked out for in-library use only:
- Ozobots
- Cubelets
- Dash & Dot
- Rock Blocks
- Turing Tumble
Customers utilizing MLS Studios will need a valid Metropolitan Library card in good standing and to sign a user agreement form.


text:
Extreme overclocking is hard. I had my first taste of this delicate hobby at last year's Computex, in which, with a lot of back and forth between pouring liquid nitrogen and torching, I managed to push Intel's 4.2GHz Core i7-7700K processor to an epic 7GHz. Still, I had it easy. Professional overclockers from G.SKILL and HWBOT had set everything up in the first place.
Even the pros can find this all a little mundane. EVGA's Vince "Kingpin" Lucido and Illya "Tin" Tsemenko are well-known for their GPU-overclocking records over the years, but they, too, grew tired of the tedious "monkey work," to the point where they decided to build a rig that could overclock itself. The result is the Roboclocker, a PC that can intelligently and efficiently pump liquid nitrogen to both its CPU and GPU. While this may not be the first automatic liquid-nitrogen-overclocking rig, it's the first of its kind to actually break records.


text:
When Chinese officials discovered a business opportunity in the fast-growing West Asian halal food market, they turned to Wang Meng, who prefers to introduce himself as "Sayyid" when he meets foreigners.
Twelve years ago, Mr. Wang, who is from China's Hui Muslim minority group, founded a halal food company in Beijing to cater to the city's Muslim community.
In a country where pork is the dominant meat — consumed in every restaurant and found on most dinner tables — Mr. Wang felt there was a crying need for a brand of food that ensured the strictest quality control. A brand, he said, that Chinese Muslims could trust.
"As a Muslim, I wanted to do something for my community," Mr. Wang said. "So I started this business, from the heart."
Today, Mr. Wang's Xiangjuzhai Foods Group is one of Beijing's biggest halal food suppliers, and has been approached by the government to play a role in its ambitious plan to build a dominant halal foods export industry to cater to West Asian markets.
With the support of the government, Mr. Wang's company will, next year, begin exporting its halal products to West Asian countries, Malaysia and Indonesia, at competitive prices that traders say will challenge dominant halal exporters around the world, including those from Brazil and India.
China's growing halal trade is only one part of a wider push to expand ties with the Arab world beyond oil, which makes up a bulk of the trade now. China is dependent on the region for its growing energy needs, importing 55 per cent of its oil.
This week, China launched its biggest effort yet to tap West Asian markets in Yinchuan, the fast-growing capital city of Ningxia, a dry desert land home to the Hui. Ningxia, where two million Hui Muslims live, making up a third of the population, is being developed into a "strategic centre" for China's West Asian trade push. The government is looking to leverage the region's religious and historical connections to the Arab world — Huis descended from Muslim traders who travelled to China on the Silk Road — to boost trade ties.
At a China-Arab States trade fair in Yinchuan this week, the government sought Arab investment in the construction of a $300-million industrial park, four five-star hotels and a number of infrastructure projects listed in its Five-Year Plan, announced earlier this year.
China's plans, in the food processing sector for example, will have an impact beyond the region. Mr. Wang said Ningxia was in the process of setting up a halal certification system — with Malaysian help, to boost its credibility — and had received the support of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. According to the local government, nearly 10,000 companies are now involved in Ningxia's $3.7-billion halal food and Muslim products industry.
Mr. Wang, of the Xiangjuzhai food company, said Ningxia's preferential policies for "Muslim products" had led him to invest in a factory near Yinchuan. With government support, low investment costs and huge infrastructure investments in Ningxia's processing centres, companies like his, according to many traders at the fair, will pose a serious challenge to the Brazilian, Australian and Indian players who dominte the halal foods market.
At this week's fair, he said, a number of Malaysian and Indonesian investors had expressed interest in his halal products, from traditional Chinese mooncakes to bread. Mr. Wang will also visit India later this year, to meet with potential trading partners.
"The halal market in China is growing every year," he said, pointing to rising consumption and a fast-growing middle class. "But our focus from now," he added, "will be overseas."


text:
A Greek Escape By Elizabeth Power
Language - English
Sun, sea and a suitcase of memories
Jilted by her cheating boyfriend, with her self-esteem in tatters, Kayla Young escapes to an isolated Greek Island. The last thing she wants is to share her precious paradise with a mysterious arrogant Greek.
Hounded from the city by the press and an entourage of gold-diggers, Leonidas Vassalio can't believe he's sharing his sanctuary with the one woman who doesn't know who he is! And he'll take full advantage of it.
Enjoying peeling back the layers of this complicated woman, Leonidas realises she's dismantling his armour. He must stop this before she discovers his lie – but can he…?


text:
Arizona Wildcats a popular pick for some to go deep in NCAA Tournament
Following a dominant Pac-12 Tournament performance from Deandre Ayton and Arizona, some experts are high on the Wildcats after filling out their NCAA Tournament brackets.
While most college basketball writers, including Sports Illustrated's staff, have Arizona losing in the Sweet 16 to No. 1 seed Virginia, CBS Sports' Chip Patterson has the Wildcats going the farthest.
Patterson has Arizona beating the North Carolina Tarheels, the defending champs, in the Final Four. He then, however, has Arizona losing to Villanova in the national championship game.
This would be the farthest the Wildcats have gone since 2015 when Arizona was eliminated in the Elite Eight against the Wisconsin Badgers.
If Arizona was to get all the way to the championship game, it would end a 17 year drought. In 2001 Arizona lost to Duke 82-72 and the Wildcats haven't returned since.
If the Wildcats got that far, they would have a chance to win their second national championship ever. The only national championship they have won was in 1997 against Kentucky.
Sports Illustrated's Jeremy Woo has a similar fate for Arizona as Patterson does in his bracket. Woo has Arizona advancing all the way to the Final Four, but he has the Wildcats losing to North Carolina.
A few writers such as Sports Illustrated's Eric Single and CBS Sports writers Reid Forgrave and Kyle Boone have Arizona losing as early as the second round against Kentucky. According to brackets filled out on ESPN, 62 percent of people have picked Arizona to win in this potential Wildcats vs. Wildcats matchup.
For the average Joes filling out their brackets on ESPN's Tournament Challenge, the majority have Arizona losing in the Sweet 16 to Virginia as well.
With 4.1 percent of ESPN's brackets picking Arizona, the Wildcats have been picked to win the national championship the seventh most times. Virginia, the No. 1 team in the country, was picked the most with 25.5 percent of fans thinking the Cavaliers will end up winning it all.


text:
Ok, Ok, I Get It: Exercise! . . . and . . . ADD and Fibromyalgia's Effects on Balance, Connectedness Between Mind and Body
This happens a lot, in my life. When there is something I'm really supposed to know or address, it keeps popping up everywhere, again and again. In conversations (either between myself and others or in overheard conversations), in articles or blog posts I stumble on when searching for something else, on TV. I can ignore it over and over, but eventually I have to pay attention.
I know that exercise would be hugely beneficial for everything I deal with, from the Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue to the ADD and the PMDD, and of course for my weight. I know this. It's just that I have this . . . block . . . about actually doing it.
There is a fear component there. It's partly based on knowledge gained from past experience, that the wrong type of exercise (or the right type, done wrong) can bring on a Fibro flare and set me back rather than moving me forward. It's also partly based on emotional triggers from childhood (about bullying in school and my lack of athletic ability and physical fitness), which I've dealt with quite a bit in therapy (and out) and which shouldn't wield the same power they once did.
There is also, at this point, the fact that I haven't started and therefore haven't established any routine or habit, so it doesn't occur to me to start.
Then there is timing. I think it would be a set-up for failure if I tried to start exercising during my PMDD time (two weeks of every four, generally; sometimes a bit longer) or when my Fibro is flared, because this is when the fatigue is so magnified and walking from one room to another makes me feel as if I've been working out, or taking a shower feels like a day's work before I've even begun my day. If I started, say, on the first "good" day after the PMDD symptoms start backing off, I'd have, theoretically, two weeks to get used to incorporating regular exercise into my routine. Two weeks to feel the initial benefits, which, according to what I keep reading, may actually lesson some of those other symptoms when they come around again, though that level of results may take longer than two weeks.
I keep planning to start at that point, but then I have a Fibro flareup, or I forget (see paragraph 4), or I'm simply scared out of it.
Everything, everything, though, keeps pointing to the fact that regular exercise seems to be the big thing I haven't given a fair try. I research supplements and food issues endlessly, and I find answers that are helpful, but I'm never quite "there" as far as really feeling good and functioning well a majority of the time.
I'm doing markedly better than I was a year ago, and a year ago I was doing a lot better than a couple years before that, but I want more. I want more good days back-to-back. I want for my bad days to be the exception. I want, as I told SS last night, to feel well enough of the time that I stop doing the "assessing" thing, continually monitoring how I'm feeling physically and emotionally and how well I am (or am not) functioning at work and in my daily life. I want to stay on top of the things that I need to do (housework type things, errands, appointments, bill-paying, phone calls and correspondence, work, my web design jobs) well enough that it is second nature and not an accomplishment to be proud of if I manage not to fall too far behind.
Now, this may seem like a change-of-topic, but it will all tie together and make sense by the end . . .
I noticed, when I was visiting SS, that I was very "physically tentative". I get that way, sometimes, but hadn't completely figured out why, until now.
I've always had a tendency to live life in my head more than in the physical world. I've never been comfortable in my body. I've never been athletic or coordinated.
Years ago, I had a friend who used to make a joke when she would try to say something and get fumbled on the word pronunciation: she would say, "Sorry. Rented lips."
Sometimes I'm tempted to say, "Sorry. Rented body," when I do something like fall off my feet while standing still, "I've only had this body for 46 years and I haven't completely learned how to operate it yet".
The "physical tentativeness", though, while always there to a degree, gets worse at times, and it affects everything I do. It makes me more hesitant when climbing stairs, walking on an uneven surface, stepping on one of those "people mover" belt things (like an escalator, only flat); they have them at the Philadelphia airport, and each time I had to step onto it, I felt the adrenaline rush and held my breath. I even drink out of a plastic cup most of the time because I'm afraid of dropping and breaking a glass. (Whenever my Fibro is flared, I can't seem to hold onto things properly; I drop the soap several times while trying to get through one shower.)
In late 2007, I was going to the gym pretty regularly for a while, walking on the treadmill. I noticed that I always felt somewhat off-balance and had to hold onto the handrail because I was afraid of falling. Some days this was worse, other days it began to be a little bit better, but it was always there. I actually stopped going after three incidents that petrified me: one was when the treadmill I was using started to pick up speed all by itself and I was scrambling to keep up and not fall, and two other times, the belts slipped while I was walking.
I looked back to my old diary and re-read some entries from that time. Here is part of one:
knowing why i am unbalanced
Thursday, Dec. 06, 2007 4:41 pm
I've never been especially steady on my feet. I was never athletic. As a kid, I was always tripping over my own feet, and as an adult, I can be standing perfectly still, talking to someone, and suddenly stumble backwards. I always have at least one bruise on one of my arms from walking into doorways, and at least one bruise on one of my legs from walking into furniture. I just figured I'm clumsy because I was never athletic, and that the stumbling backwards thing was from being overweight, since I know that being overweight can affect a person's center of balance.
Well, I've noticed, since I've been walking on the treadmill semi-regularly for a little while now, that some days I feel less steady than other days. I always have to hold onto the hand rails. I look at some of the other women there, and they're walking without holding on, pumping their arms or reading or drinking water while they walk, and I've been in awe of them, thinking *Sigh.* Someday. Someday I'll lose enough weight, or get more used to the treadmill, or get in better shape, or whatever it takes to feel steady enough to let go and drink water while I walk.
But some days, I can loosen my grip on the hand rails and feel ok about it. I haven't quite let go yet, but not having to hold on so tight is a huge relief, since my hands ache easily.
And then there are the other days . . .
Yesterday was one of the "other" days. Those are the days where I know if I walk even one tenth of a mile an hour faster, I'll surely fall on my face. And I don't walk fast to begin with, yet. If you are a regular reader here, you know that already. Yesterday, someone was hanging a poster on the wall to the side of me, and when I turned to look and see what was on the poster, I almost went down. When I'm done walking, I hold onto the side rail and move very slowly when I step down off the treadmill, and I know I must look like an idiot to other people, but whatever. I've learned that it's better to let people think what they think and still get some exercise than it is to shrink away and not do anything.
At that time, I had realized (remembered) that Fibromyalgia can have a big effect on balance. (In fact, going back to my old diary entries, I found the complete list of Fibromyalgia symptoms that I was looking for when I wrote this post.
This is the part of the list that applies to this:
- Feeling spatially disoriented
- Disequilibrium (balance difficulty)
- Staggering gait (clumsy walking; bumping into things)
- Dropping things frequently
- Difficulty judging distances (e.g. when driving; placing objects on surfaces)
- "Not quite seeing" what you are looking at
I emailed my therapist last week after I saw her and we had discussed some of the tentativeness stuff, and I said:
I have noticed, before, that when my chemistry is off, I feel more disconnected from my body than usual. As if I can't trust that I know where to put my foot, for instance, and my coordination and balance are off. I've always been pretty tentative about physical movement – I've had people laugh and say I'm so "girly" (for example, once, years ago, I went canoeing with friends and they laughed because we were in shallow water, walking on rocks, and I was taking little baby steps, afraid I would slip and fall, and they called me "girly"), but it's not really about being girly; it's just about feeling very unsure of my step or my balance. Always. But sometimes worse than usual.
I was light-headed a lot while I was in NJ, and that's not uncommon for me, either during hormonal times or when the Fibro is flared, and that adds to the uncertainty in movement. I had this nagging fear, while I was there, that I was going to fall down her stairs and die. I know it sounds weird, but it was there, in my mind, every time I went near the stairs. I was really careful how I went up and down the steps, because on the way down I normally put the back of my foot/ankle against the back of the step I'm stepping down from, to steady myself and assure myself that I have a solid footing, but of course the back of my left ankle was hurt and so I didn't want to put it against the step. What finally happened was that I did fall, but I had a hold of the banister so I didn't go far, and after that the fear of falling was less intense (but didn't go away completely).
By the time I'd finished the email, I had come to the conclusion (again) that exercise would probably be helpful for me to feel more "connected" to my body. After I sent the email, I did some googling, and found this, about Pilates for Fibromyalgia. (Notice, in the 11th paragraph, where it says, "A strong tendency for those suffering from Fibromyalgia is to 'disconnect' from their body. Pilates' emphasis on the connection of the mind to the body, can also be a huge benefit. . . "
And, then, I found this and this, about balance and coordination issues in ADHD.
And I found this, also, about body/mind connection, ADHD, and Yoga, where the author says, "My personal experience with taking yoga thus far is that there is plethora of potential for any participant to develop a better mind/body connection. And isn't this one of the issues of ADHD is that one feels a disconnect from mindfulness and the physical actions of the body?"
I guess I don't need to be hit over the head with a board. Ok, well, apparently I do, but I need to let this be my board.
I started looking for Yoga or Pilates classes in FL and NJ that are geared toward people with Fibromyalgia, and I found a couple possibilities. I'm going to look further into it and give it a try.
Tentatively, as the case may be; baby steps . . .
One Comment
Comment by lifeischange:
Thursday, September 23rd 2010 at 2:18 pm |
Oh wow, after I posted this, I saw these two posts on Fibromyalgia Haven's blog (I've been so behind in my blog reading):
Find the Space Between Pleasure and Pain, and Rest There
Why I Love Yoga, and Why You Will Too
Now I'm getting more excited about starting this.


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Missed Opportunities (A Best Of Article from the Root Cause Network™ Newsletter)
An anesthesia machine cuts off oxygen to a patient causing extensive brain damage. The investigation team finds a mechanical defect that was undetectable without complex testing. They also find that the sentinel event almost happened before.
The baggage door on a 747 opens after takeoff, tearing off part of the plane. Four people are swept out the hole to their death. The investigation uncovers poor, less catastrophic accidents of a similar nature and a history of problems with the door on this particular aircraft.
A plant upset occurs due to corrective maintenance. A relief lifts but fails to shut when pressure decreases. Operators, initially preoccupied with other alarms, misdiagnose the problem and shut off critical safety equipment. The "impossible" accident – a core meltdown – happens at Three Mile Island. The investigation uncovers similar, precursor incidents and a history of relief valve failure at TMI.
These accidents didn't have to happen. They are typical of hundreds of "missed opportunities" that happen every year. The cost?
- Lives.
- Suffering for survivors and surviving loved ones.
- Millions – no billions – of Dollars (Yen, Euros, and Pounds).
We could prevent ALL of them. Why don't we? Don't we know that:
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure?
Benjamin Franklin
Maybe it is:
- Intellectual laziness?
- Shortsightedness?
- Just plain bad management?
- A bad system to identify problems?
- Bad investigation techniques?
- Something else?
What would it take to start learning?
Your management – from the CEO down – must understand the problem … People and machines are variable (you might call them unreliable) BY NATURE.
Our job is to reduce the variability and make systems reliable and safe.
In the long run a safe, reliable system will always out perform an unreliable, unsafe systems.
Therefore, improving reliability and safety provides your company with a competitive advantage.
The competitive advantage IS NOT FREE. It requires up front effort and investment in root cause analysis and improvements. It requires persistent attention to detail.
Thus, attaining reliability and safety is the challenge.
Although Ben Franklin's advice seems simple, consistently identifying the right "ounce of prevention" can be complex.
How dangerous is it to reason from insufficient data.
Sherlock Holmes
Improving safety and reliability requires a systematic approach and the use of sophisticated performance improvement techniques. You need a good performance monitoring system.
A good performance monitoring system includes:
- self-reporting of near misses
- reporting and instigation of accidents and incidents
- audits, observations, and self-assessments
- advanced root cause analysis (TapRooT®)
- advanced statistical analysis of trends
- understanding of how to fix human performance problems
- training for those who make the system work
Is putting together this kind of a system a tall order? You bet. Bit it is worth it.
If you need help putting this type of system together, we have the experience to help you and we can provide the training that people need. Call us at 865-539-2139 or drop us a note.
Get your facts first.
Then you can distort them as much as you please.
Mark Twain
Preventing accidents is NOT a quick fix. Something you can do once and forget. Management needs to stay involved. You must be consistently persistent.
Find and fix the root causes of accidents, incidents, near-misses, and audit findings.
The first measure of the effective of the system IS NOT a reduced accident rate (although this will come along quickly enough). The first measure of success is an increased rate of finding and implementing effective corrective actions.
Management needs to demand that people properly using the system to investigate problems, find their root causes, identify effective fixes, and get them implements. If management doesn't demand this, it won't happen.
If you aren't better today than you were yesterday, you are falling behind. As my boss once said:
If you're not peddling, you are going downhill.
Captain William J. Rodriguez, United Staes Navy
Never stop looking for areas that need improvement. This should include improving your improvement system!
We can help. How? Several ways…
- Call us at 865-539-2139 and we can discuss your plans to improve. The call is FREE and we may be able to suggest ways to make your plan even better.
- We can conduct an independent review of your root cause analysis implementation, trending, and performance improvement systems. Although this isn't free, we guarantee it will be worth the time and money. Just drop us a note to get things started.
- Attend the TapRooT® Summit. Each year we design the Summit to help people learn to solve the toughest problems facing industry. You will network with some of the world's most knowledgeable performance improvement experts and peers who have faced the same types of problems that you face and found best practices to solve their problems.
Don't wait for the next "missed opportunity". Do something to make improvement happen before a major accident takes place.
Save lives – save money – save jobs – improve quality and reliability – that's what TapRooT® is all about.
(Reprinted from the April 1994 Root Cause Network™ Newsletter, Copyright © 1994. Reprinted by permission. Some modifications have been made to update the article.)


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Stay Tooned! (video game)
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|Stay Tooned!
CD cover art
|Funnybone Interactive
|Sierra On-Line
|Susan Decker
Ben Howard
Kevin O'Neill
Chris Lewis
|Macromedia Director
Stay Tooned! is a 1996 action-adventure video game that was developed by Funnybone Interactive and published by Sierra On-Line.
The game begins in a large apartment building in the middle of an unnamed city. The player takes the place of an ordinary patron living in an apartment. The player starts off simply channel-surfing with a TV remote and watching short cartoons and commercials that parody real-life shows (such as Seinfeld, which is parodied as Whinefeld). One channel even has the game's chief programmer providing hints on how to play the upcoming game. Several cartoon characters either forbid or encourage the player to push the red button on their remote as the player surfs the channels. When the player pushes the button, the cartoons break out of the television set, steal the remote, and cause the entire apartment complex to go into animated form. The player must recover the television remote, which is the only thing that can zap the escaped toons and send them back to TV Land, the fictional toon world found within the depths of the television. The player searches the other apartments for the remote while playing nearly thirty games contained within them and avoiding the destructive trickery committed by the escaped toons. At the end, all the toons are back in the TV, but at the last second, Chisel grabs the player into the TV. The player lands into the Cartoon world and is turned into a toon as well.
The first five characters mentioned are the five toons you have to capture at the end of the game. The others serve as background characters. Most of the toons are against you, but some will help you in the game.
- Chisel: Chisel is the blue cat in the group and can always be seen wearing a red cap. He is the most destructive of the toons, as he loves throwing explosives such as dynamite at everything he can, including the player. He is Pixel's twin brother.
- Pixel: Pixel is the group's unofficial leader and the other cat in the group, as well as Chisel's twin sister. She's a pink perfectionist and always wears a purple shirt. She's very mature, although she's prone to irritability and temper tantrums. She is almost as destructive as Chisel and the smartest in the group. She is the subject of Schmooze's affections, feelings she does not return.
- Fiddle: Fiddle is an anthropomorphic black and white cat. Fiddle is tall, skinny, and the most cowardly of the five toons. He is constantly chased by another anthropomorphic cat named Katrina, who has a huge crush on him. He is the least destructive of the toons and is the only one of the five who openly supports the player's efforts to find the remote and zap them home.
- Schmooze: Schmooze is a short, orange anthropomorphic dog, and the most irritable of the toons. He's somewhat selfish and obnoxious, and hates the other dog in the group, Scoops. He is recognizable by his black bowler hat and red vest. He often has fantasies about being a rich sultan and is deeply in love with the group's leader, Pixel. Schmooze could be a bulldog.
- Scoops: Scoops is the other dog in the group and arguably the most hyperactive and cheerful in the group. He often annoys Schmooze and has an obsessive love for gravy. He has an unusually good singing voice.
- Frank: Frank is a heavily built up human toon who hates the other toons. He can be either the player's ally or enemy. He acts very tough and loves to pick fights.
- Dr. Pickles: Dr. Pickles is a mad scientist bent on world domination. He conducts very painful experiments on the other toons and has the strange ability to open his head to his brain.
- Mrs. Finley: Mrs. Finley is a middle-aged woman who is usually grouchy and a heavy smoker. She lives in Apartment 5D on the fifth floor, with her cats and lazy husband.
- Katrina: Katrina is a tall white cat who adores Fiddle. She seeks to marry him and often attacks him with kisses. She is neutral in the player's fight against the toons.
- Killtron: Killtron is the Magic Death Robot and an occasional enemy of the player. He only shows up in the vast hallways or at the Kartoon Kombat! game.
- Al Extrabux: An obvious parody of Alex Trebek on the game show Schleopardy! (Also a parody of Jeopardy!).
- Purple Glop: He is literally purple glop who often is seen making things messy for the player.
- Uberbug: A German bug who seeks to take control of the player's fridge with his bug army.
- Mr. Fishy: A proper, somewhat irritable herring.
- Ben: The game's lead programmer; he often breaks the fourth wall and appears in hidden areas.
- Penguins: Very temperamental extras.
- Cable Guy, Pizza Delivery Guy and Policeman: Three ordinary men who look exactly alike. You can call them on the phone on the first floor. Only the Cable Guy and the Policeman do anything useful. The Policeman (Obviously) loves doughnuts.
The player navigates through twenty rooms located on five floors. The basement, attic, and several hidden rooms are also accessible. There are thirty rooms to play in, but some don't appear in all of the games you play and almost none of them appear in the same place twice in a row. These rooms all have keys to them, but you have to search for them since the toons stole them all; you can also collect random items that may be useful later.
Running the game on modern systems[edit]
For people attempting to play the game on PC running Windows 2000, XP, Vista, or 7, it is highly improbable due to the highly different structures of earlier operating systems. The game will run, however for Microsoft Virtual PCs with earlier versions of Windows. Macintosh users will likely find similar problems trying to run the game on the most recent versions of Mac OS X, as the Classic function has been discontinued.
- ^ Bonnie James (December 5, 1996). "Stay Tooned! - Electric Playground". Greedy Productions. Archived from the original on August 4, 1997. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
If you find yourself getting up Saturday mornings to watch cartoons in your pajamas and eat sugar cereal on the couch, then I think you'll like Stay Tooned.


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On this day in 1700, English pranksters begin popularizing the annual tradition of April Fools' Day by playing practical jokes on each other.
Although the day, also called All Fools' Day, has been celebrated for several centuries by different cultures, its exact origins remain a mystery. Some historians speculate that April Fools' Day dates back to 1582, when France switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar, as called for by the Council of Trent in 1563. People who were slow to get the news or failed to recognize that the start of the New Year had moved to January 1 and continued to celebrate it during the last week of March through April 1 became the butt of jokes and hoaxes. These included having paper fish placed on their backs and being referred to as "poisson d'avril" (April fish), said to symbolize a young, easily caught fish and a gullible person.
Historians have also linked April Fools' Day to ancient festivals such as Hilaria, which was celebrated in Rome at the end of March and involved people dressing up in disguises. There's also speculation that April Fools' Day was tied to the vernal equinox, or first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, when Mother Nature fooled people with changing, unpredictable weather.
April Fools' Day spread throughout Britain during the 18th century. In Scotland, the tradition became a two-day event, starting with "hunting the gowk," in which people were sent on phony errands (gowk is a word for cuckoo bird, a symbol for fool) and followed by Tailie Day, which involved pranks played on people's derrieres, such as pinning fake tails or "kick me" signs on them.


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- John Corrigan of WrestleDelphia recently spoke with Conrad Thompson, co-host of Ric Flair's "WOOOOO! Nation" podcast. The full three-part interview can be found at this link. Below are highlights:
One thing about Flair that most fans would be surprised to learn:
"I don't think people really understand the level of which he loves people. Not just his children, but especially them. When we hang out for a full day, I can't tell you how many times he's calling or texting his kids. He's way, way, way connected to them. But also to other people in his life, whether it is his girlfriend or friends, he's a very sincere, genuine person. The crying on TV is not for camera. That's him in real life. He loves very hard."
The recent controversial Reid Flair mention on RAW:
"We talked about it the night before the podcast, as it was going on during RAW. He told me Charlotte was in the last segment for the contract signing and he was really excited about that. We talked about how cool it was for the ladies to have the last spot on the show. Then as she was walking to the ring, it was announced that she would be on ESPN. Anybody who knows Ric Flair in real life, knows that from the time he wakes up to the time he goes to bed, SportsCenter is on. The idea that she would be on SportsCenter the next day, I knew he would think that was the coolest thing ever.
So I texted him that, and then just a few minutes after they got to business, I texted him, 'wow.' By the way we communicated, it was very clear that he was upset. So by late afternoon Tuesday, I hadn't spoken to him since the night before. It had been almost 24 hours since it had happened, and I'm sure he had time to collect his thoughts. He knew that he could say whatever he wanted and if he wasn't happy with it, I could clip it out before sending it to CBS. But we didn't edit anything."
Setting up the WWE Network for Flair, Flair not being very technical:
"Well, I think sometimes people are a little harsh on Ric because he calls in to the podcast. The truth of the matter is that he doesn't want to put one down in the can. I'm not downgrading any podcast, but a lot of guys line up interesting guests and just tape them whenever and now they're ready to play. Ric doesn't want to do that. He wants to talk about current stuff. That just means he's going to be all over the place. He was in Europe for days and we did one then. The time zone was way different, but we did it. People are critical, but the truth is, he's a 66-year-old man who has been traveling his whole life. The rage right now for health nuts like Ric is the Fit Bit bracelet. Well, he's not going to do that because you have to plug it into a computer. As he says, 'I don't computer.'
When we have to read copy for the show, he wants me to fax it to him. Hell, I don't have a fax machine, who has a fax machine? But Ric does because he's a 66-year-old man. So how to navigate the Network and keep yourself from getting logged out, he needs my help. He's just a technology-challenged person no different than your grandpa may be. And I mean no disrespect to Ric and he would be really pissed if he read this, but you know, he's 66. He's not going to get into all this technology stuff. It always cracks me up when people ask if Ric does his own Twitter. Like, what do you think? No, of course not. And I know that's not something I'm supposed to say, but he doesn't know what the hell that is. He doesn't know what a podcast is or how to listen and he has a great one!"
Conrad also talked about if WWE restricts their talents on Flair's podcast, getting the Hulk Hogan interview and more in the full interview.
Source: WrestleDelphia


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Saturday, November 17, 2012
Video: Scotty McCreery sings Christmas music for 'Idol' fans at The Grove
It might be a little early for Christmas, but Scotty McCreery was looking to get his fans in Los Angeles in the holiday spirit on Sunday. The entertainer was part of the 10th Annual Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony held at The Grove that had accomplished entertainers singing about Christmas. One of the biggest events at The Grove all year, the fans packed in the area to watch the lineup of stars.
Scotty McCreery showed up on stage to the delight of local American Idol fans and belted out his latest holiday tunes. While the music was great, the evening was a bit nippy with low temperatures for the event from an unusual cold snap in the area. Keeping fans warm, Scotty did his best to entertain while the fans watched.
(just click on the video below to view it)
Scotty McCreery wasn't the only American Idol on hand to share some Christmas cheer as Phillip Phillips was slated to appear too. The two American Idol winners definitely have been out promoting their work, but this is the first time they both appeared on the same venue locally.
Take a look at the video clip of Scotty McCreery performing at The Grove.
5 comments:
- AnonymousNovember 17, 2012 at 10:22 AM
Love Scotty's deep voice singing SCIBIT! This I think is a rehearsal video and doesn't come close to showing the impact it had at show time. The wild response from the crowd, and Scotty's interaction with the crowd, is missing here! "Bianca Marie Scotty McCreery live at the Grove" video says it all!!!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousNovember 17, 2012 at 1:15 PM
best link yet... Christmas in Heaven.... so clear and beautiful!!
- AnonymousNovember 17, 2012 at 3:27 PM
Thanks 1:15PM - you are right! Best link yet, so clear, beautiful and up close and personal. I love it! That's my Scotty!!!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousNovember 18, 2012 at 7:41 AM
I'm going to the beacon next week, does anyone know if there will be a meet and greet??ReplyDelete
- SHARRON GAIL.November 20, 2012 at 1:46 AM
LOVE SCOTTY DEEP VOICE SINGING THIS SONG. AND HE DID AWESOME WITH CHRISTMAS IN HEAVEN AND IT WAS BEAUTIFUL TOO. DON'T YA'LL JUST LOVE LISTENING TO HIS DEEP VOICE.ReplyDelete
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Property Location
With a stay at Grand Hi Lai Hotel, you'll be centrally located in Kaohsiung, steps from Hanshin Department Store and minutes from Glory Pier. This 4.5-star hotel is within close proximity of Holy Rosary Basilica Cathedral and Urban Spotlight Arcade.
Make yourself at home in one of the 436 air-conditioned rooms featuring refrigerators and minibars. Wired and wireless Internet access is complimentary, while 32-inch LCD televisions with satellite programming provide entertainment. Private bathrooms with separate bathtubs and showers feature deep soaking bathtubs and complimentary toiletries. Conveniences include phones, as well as safes and desks.
Be sure to enjoy recreational amenities, including a health club, an outdoor pool, and a sauna. Additional features at this Baroque hotel include complimentary wireless Internet access, concierge services, and shopping on site. Getting to nearby attractions is a breeze with the area shuttle (surcharge).
Grab a bite to eat at one of the hotel's 13 restaurants and 2 coffee shops/cafés, or stay in and take advantage of room service (during limited hours). Relax with your favorite drink at a bar/lounge or a poolside bar. Buffet breakfasts are available daily from 6:30 AM to 10:30 AM for a fee.
Business, Other Amenities
Featured amenities include a business center, express check-out, and dry cleaning/laundry services. Event facilities at this hotel consist of a conference center and a meeting room. For a surcharge, guests may use a roundtrip airport shuttle (available on request) and a train station drop-off service.


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About Us
Shade Builders
At Shade Builders, we've been building patios and shade structures since 2002. Our company is based in Indio, California, and we are licensed, bonded, and insured for your peace of mind. We provide electrical work for ceiling fans and lights to add the perfect touch to your patio space, and we also build retractable awnings and drop shades. Our team offers additional services if you would like us to install a new concrete patio or create one with attractive pavers.
Mission Statement
At Shade Builders our mission is to perform for our customers the highest level of quality construction services at fair and market competitive prices. To ensure the longevity of our company through repeat and referral business achieved by customer satisfaction. To maintain the highest levels of professionalism, integrity, honesty and fairness in our relationships with our suppliers, subcontractors, professional associates and customers.


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Dumping citation issued by IEPA
SPRINGFIELD — The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has issued a $3,000 administrative citation to S. Shafer Excavating, Inc. of Pontoon Beach and Sammy Shafer and Tammy Shafer of Caseyville for the alleged open dumping of general construction or demolition debris and other waste in Caseyville.
Administrative citations for open dumping carry a fine of $1,500 for each violation on the first occurrence and double that amount for repeated violations. Recipients can appeal the citation to the Illinois Pollution Control Board within 35 days of its issuance.
Residents who observe open dumping or open burning can report the activity to local law enforcement, their local public health department, or the IEPA at https://www2.illinois.gov/epa/topics/waste-management/illegal-dumping/Pages/open-dumping.aspx.