text:
The call comes anytime jetliners go down, de-orbiting shuttles disintegrate, terrorists raze skyscrapers, or killer hurricanes roar ashore.
David R. Senn, DDS, a member of the Bexar County, TX, Forensic Dental Team, was in Colorado when his call came on Saturday, August 27, 2005, 48 hours before Katrina made landfall. The commander of the Region VI Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team (DMORT) was calling. Katrina was a monster, growing to a Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir Simpson scale, and headed straight for New Orleans. Destruction and death was certain.
Senn, a veteran forensic DMORT odontologist, was to report to Baton Rouge, LA, where a temporary morgue was being set up in an empty brick warehouse in nearby St. Gabriel, a Louisiana town of 6,000, once home to a leper colony. There would be bodies to identify. Senn altered his plans, caught the next plane back home to San Antonio, cleared his teaching schedule, collected his DMORT grab-and-go bag containing enough gear, clothing, and personal items to last about two weeks, and was in Dallas on Sunday, where his team assembled before caravanning 370 miles overnight to Baton Rouge, arriving at 3 A.M. Monday, August 29, just as Katrina began pounding the Gulf coast.
"We took 30 people from Dallas to Baton Rouge, including the DMORT Region VI commander, deputy commander, and administrative officer," said Senn, a diplomat of the American Board of Forensic Odontology (DABFO). Another deputy commander lived in Baton Rouge and was already on the job. Region VI covers Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arkansas, and Louisiana.
Last Responders
The National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) is credited with conceiving the concept of DMORT in the early 1980s. NFDA was concerned at the time about lack of standards handling the dead in mass casualty events. Protocols needed to be imposed on a process that had none. It was also soon apparent that the services of outside forensic professionals would be necessary to augment local resources during disaster response. The NFDA subsequently purchased the components of the first portable morgue, called a Disaster Portable Morgue Unit (DPMU).
DMORTs and DPMUs are now part of the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS), a section of Operations Branch of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Response Division. NDMS determines when to activate, which DMORTS to deploy, and where the DPMUs are to be dispatched - usually any incident in which the number of casualties overwhelms local forensic or mortuary resources. The country is divided into ten DMORT regions, geographically similar to the ten Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) regions.
In 1997, the Aviation Disaster Family Assistance Act was signed into law in response to several aircraft accidents. The Act directed the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to coordinate federal resources to identify victims. The NTSB then signed an agreement with NDMS to provide DMORT support in such cases. In 1998, a DMORT team specializing in bio-chemical fatalities was created in response to increasing concern for the release of weapons of mass destruction by terrorists.
The DMORT idea has rooted. A small group of DMORT members is now routinely deployed in advance of situations where mass fatalities might result from terror attack, such as presidential state-of-the-union addresses, papal visits, or Olympic Games.
Since their 1993 formation, DMORTs have responded to about twenty incidents, from cemetery floods and plane crashes to train derailments and terror attacks. Senn, for instance, was part of the team called to attempt dental identification at the 2001 World Trade Center disaster and again at the 2003 STS-107 Columbia crash.
DMORTs usually cover disaster incidents in their own area, although four DMORTs were dispatched to New York City following September 11, three to Washington, D.C., and one to Somerset County, PA. Katrina was even more unusual. All ten teams were mobilized to the Gulf Coast.
"That's unprecedented," said Patricia Kaufmann, MD, commander of DMORT Region III (Pennsylvania, Maryland, Washington DC, Delaware, Virginia, and West Virginia). Still, the nationwide DMORT response to the Gulf Coast was scarcely enough. Remains were still being recovered seven weeks after the storm. Brian Chrz, DDS, DABFO, a Perry, OK, forensic odontologist said six weeks after the storm DMORTs were using dental resources wherever they could find them.
"We used military and public health dentists if they were available," he said.
License to Heal
During emergency response, DMORTs work under the direction of local authorities, providing technical assistance in recovering, identifying, and processing the deceased. DMORTs are truly traveling morgues - composed of medical examiners, coroners, pathologists, forensic anthropologists, funeral directors, medical records technicians and transcribers, fingerprint specialists, forensic odontologists, dental assistants, X-ray technicians, mental health specialists, as well as computer professionals, administrative support staff, and security andinvestigative officers.
DMORT members are required to maintain appropriate certification and licenses within their discipline, but when teams are activated customary regional licensing issues are suspended and all professional licenses and certification are legally valid in all 50 states. Team members are compensated for duty time by the federal government as temporary federal employees. Most take leave of absence from their regular jobs. Like National Guard personnel, DMORT members are given job security.
At the same time DMORTs were activated for Katrina, two DPMUs were also ordered south, to provide temporary mortuary services. FEMA's Response Division maintains two of these forensic caches, staged at the two FEMA Logistics Centers; one in Rockville, MD, the other in San Jose, CA. Both were deployed for Katrina; one to Gulfport, MS, the other to St. Gabriel.
Depending on the incident, DPMUs can be dispatched by rail, truck, or air. Each unit contains over 10,000 individual items, ranging from exam tables, forceps, scalpels, and hemostats to high tech digital dental X-ray devices and full body X-ray machines, as well as a full complement of office computers, faxes, and forms - all accompanied by a team of experts called Red Shirts.
"All DMORT members are cross-trained to help quell the initial chaos when setting up and getting started," Senn said.
Then, as soon as possible, pathologists, anthropologists, and odontologists begin the solemn task of examining and documenting victims.
Death is Wet
Film critic Roger Ebert says every single movie depicting a morgue uses dripping or running water on the sound track. Katrina provided enough real water to make artificial moisture unnecessary. At St. Gabriel, heavy gauge plastic was spread over the warehouse floor to insulate the facility against the damp. Then, air-conditioned tents were erected for each station. The dental exam area, for example, was set up in an area about 14 ft. by 45 ft. housing three post-mortem bays so dental teams of three or four dentists each could work simultaneously.
There was much to do. Katrina killed over 1,250 people, nearly 850 of whom were taken to St. Gabriel. Fourteen more bodies were found the week of October 14, forty eight days after the storm.
"We preferred teams of four so one person can take a break for an hour or two without interrupting the identification process," said Chrz, who previously worked the World Trade Center and the 1995 Murrah Federal Building bombing in Oklahoma City. Chrz also spent time in Thailand following the 2004 Indonesian tsunami. Forensic professionals work 12-hour, 7-7 shifts, ideally rotating in and out of the disaster site every two weeks.
Inside, morgue operations are controlled by a regimented protocol, capable of processing up to 140 bodies a day.
The remains, which have been stored in body bags in refrigerated trucks, are first cleaned and decontaminated with a chlorine solution, assigned a number, folder, and escort, before being moved to forensic stations.
A forensic pathologist then examines, photographs, and X-rays the body at the first station. Personal items such as jewelry are inventoried. Fingerprints are taken when the condition of the body permits. When prints are not on file, FBI agents or local law enforcement may obtain latent prints from personal belongings in victims' homes. Body identification in the aftermath of Katrina was made particularly difficult by the poor condition of corpses some left for days if not weeks in contaminated flood waters. Visual identification was generally impossible.
Pathologists also look for other potential identifiers like tattoos, scars, orthopedic devices, and surgical implants. Pacemakers and orthopedic devices are particularly useful; newer units have serial numbers that can be tracked through manufacturer's records. Autopsies are sometimes necessary.
"We examine the bodies inside and out looking for any clues that will help us determine who this person is," said Kaufmann, one of several forensic pathologists on each team. Kaufmann, a Johnson & Johnson research physician in her other life, was previously deployed to the crash site of United Airlines Flight 93 on September 11, 2001, the 2002 Walker County, GA, crematorium incident, and the 2003 Providence, RI, night club fire.
DMORT autopsies are different than routine forensic proceedings because the primary focus is not on determining cause of death but rather on finding positive identification.
"In this case, we usually know how they died," Kaufmann said.
Forensic anthropologists help by creating a profile of the remains based on skeletal assessment of such things as age, sex, ancestry, and stature.
"We're trained to identify fragments of bones, which is what you get in plane crashes," said Mercyhurst College forensic anthropologist Dennis Dirkmaat, a diplomat of the American Board of Forensic Anthropology, and one of the first DMORT volunteers in 1994. "Even with X-rays, it's hard for a pathologist to determine what the bone is. Sometimes, we can feel a fragment and know that it's, say, a right proximal humerus. Pathologists are not trained to do that."
Forensic anthropologists are also adept at reading X-rays to determine bone age. "There is a relationship between the age of the individual and the amount of lipping - lip-like structures sometimes found at the articular end of an osteoarthritic bone," Dirkmaat said.
Forensic anthropologists now use computers to augment their fingers. Programs such as Fordisc (Forensic Anthropology Center, University of Tennessee) help classify unknown skeletal remains based on measurements.
"These are valuable in cases where you have significant decomposition," Dirkmaat said.
For the most part, Katrina victims were intact, though many were badly decomposed after so long in the water. There were also numerous cemetery remains to deal with.
"The storm hit cemeteries, too, sometimes destroying coffins, so skeletal remains and bone fragments were later found on adjacent properties or on the beach," Dirkmaat said.
To the Teeth
The dental examination and digital X-ray station is next, where Senn, Chrz, and other odontologists record dental characteristics. Dental records arethe traditional gold standard of forensic identification.
A new addition here is digital imaging, which eliminates the need for conventional film-based dental X-rays. With digital technology, images are transferred directly into computer storage and can be viewed immediately on computer monitors, enabling easier, faster ante-mortem and post-mortem comparison. During the 1999 Bourbonnais, IL, Amtrak derailment, identification of a victim from Japan was facilitated by Internet transmission of dental radiographs sent from Japan to DMORT odontologists at the crash scene.
In the case of Katrina, however, the comparison process was aggravated by the almost total absence of ante-mortem dental X-rays that were missing or destroyed by the storm. Normally, a DMORT unit called the Family Assistance Center (FAC) will collect all ante-mortem records from dental offices. FACs also serve as the buffers between temporary morgue operations and those searching for lost family members.
"Usually, families will come in and say so and so is missing, but there will be some sort of list like a flight manifest that we can work from," Chrz said. Hurricanes leave no manifest. In New Orleans, dental offices were flooded and everyone, including dentists, was evacuated. Initially there was no one even to report who was missing.
"The most difficult job was not actually doing post-mortem examination and charting, it was trying to get enough ante-mortem information together just to find out who's missing," Chrz said. Even where ante-mortem dental records survived the storm and existed intact, the dental offices were closed and the dentists and office staff nowhere to be found.
"First, we have to find the dentists, something we've never had to do before," said Kaufmann, who spent six weeks in Gulfport, MS, working at the pathology station, then, after a short break, was reassigned to the FAC at St. Gabriel.
Kaufmann said the family assistance process can be emotional because families have to answer detailed questions about the missing - describing any tattoos, surgeries, or previous bone fractures - all while grieving at the same time.
" Sometimes, they're not even certain there has been a death, making it all the more difficult," she said.
Gene Sweep
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is another important tool now included in the DMORT arsenal for positive identification and reassociation of remains. As with dental identification, mtDNA requires post-mortem samples to compare to ante-mortem or family reference samples. DMORT DNA specialists are trained to collectDNA samples from family and victims.
"Typically, we like to take it from the same bone," Dirkmaat said. "Currently, when possible, we take samples from the right tibia."
DMORT uses DNA protocols established by the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory, which specifies that samples be treated as evidence, requiring chain of evidence documents.
Some have questioned whether traditional medical and dental radiographs and fingerprinting are still necessary in light of the accuracy of mtDNA identification techniques. The answer seems to be that DNA still takes too long to process and is too expensive to replace the more conventional, if less absolute, forensic methods. After the 1996 crash of TWA Flight 800, all 230 victims were identified through DNA, but it took 13 months.
After passing through all the stations, the remains are properly returned to the refrigerated trucks to await formal identification, at which time the body is embalmed either by DMORT or local morticians - at the choice of the family - then released for final disposition to a funeral home.
No Place Like Home
The turmoil in the first days following the storm invited a strange paradox at the DMORT camp in Gulfport. The convoy of refrigerated trucks broughtin to store unidentified remains served as temporary housing for the living.
"When we first arrived, we slept in cars and inside the trucks that had been brought in to house the bodies," said Richard A. Weems, DDS, DABFO, a DMORT odontologist and director of clinical operations at the University of Alabama School of Dentistry. Weems said during the first few days, the teams had to endure Spartan conditions, including scant food supplies, no running water or electricity, shortages of fuel, and lack of a communication infrastructure.
While DMORT's needs were met in fairly short order by FEMA and units of the Mississippi National Guard, some were surprised that NDMS decided to establish the Gulfport DMORT operation squarely in the disaster area, presenting something of an unnecessary hardship for DMORT personnel whose job is already inherently stressful.
"The storm didn't affect the entire state of Mississippi, so why not just move the operation and bring the bodies out to you and be comfortable?" Dirkmaat wondered. "Working in a morgue twelve hours a day is stressful enough, why make people sleep on a cot with thirty other people in a school room?"
Eventually, DMORT moved into air conditioned tents, and later still into hotels in Biloxi.
Conditions were similar in St. Gabriel, where dozens of DMORT people slept dormitory-style in an unused elementary school and on air mattresses in an unfinished condo unit.
"They house you wherever they can," Chrz said. "You might have to sleep in tents."
The Job as Tonic
Some physicians, dentists, and other forensic professionals are drawn to DMORT work in spite of the bleak, austere conditions at disaster scenes. The job itself is the lure, and the tonic.
" DMORT people consider themselves strangely lucky in that they actually getto go to disaster sites and do something useful," Senn said.
Training accounts for their efficiency. Dirkmaat, for instance, teaches forensic anthropology year around.
Dirkmaat said DMORT work is not like routine civil cases, where you may have a day or two to do a forensic examination.
"This is more like a MASH unit - the remains come to your table and you have to be quick. In ten to fifteen minutes, you're moving the body on to the next station," he said.
Senn said being prepared is a matter of being trained and ready to work as a team, yet remaining flexible enough to adjust to whatever the situation presents. When adjustment becomes a little more difficult, every DMORT has mental health professionals available to deal with special problems that arise, and every team member has an exit interview with the mental health unit.
"DMORT is very attentive to the psychological needs of their members," Chrz said. Psychiatrists and psychologists are not only on duty at the site, they keep in regular contact with DMORT members for up to a year following an incident, looking for signs of unhealthy coping mechanisms.
Team members have evolved their own more informal means of dealing with stress. Many decompress after a shift by hanging out together, sharing experiences - all while keeping a learned eye on each other.
"Many of us have become friends over the years at previous deployments and training sessions," Weems said.
Ultimately, the reward of performing a public service well is the greatest bracer. "The work itself is the psychological salve that helps us deal with disasters," Senn said.
Douglas Page (email@example.com) writes about science and medicinefrom Pine Mountain, California.


text:
As a professional Person on the Internet, I see a lot of the same material time and time again. The world has become one big water cooler, and we're all babbling over one another around it. This applies to our jokes as well. Imagine if a million people all told the same knock-knock joke at roughly the same time. Wouldn't you get sick of that joke, even if it were really, really clever?
Ha, "clever knock-knock joke." That's a good one.
I'm feeling this way about Nicolas Cage everything — during my daily sacrifices to Zeus (I'm old-school yo), I pray that the rest of the world get over their fascination with his goofy ass as well. Thus far, my prayers have not been answered. Maybe Poseidon would be a better listener.
"For every NOT THE BEES joke people make, I will drown 500 puppies."
In the beginning, it was funny: Nicolas Cage is the ultimate scenery-chewing actor, and watching him go over-the-top with just about every line he delivers, even if he really shouldn't have, is pretty chuckle-worthy. But now the joke is old. He's a quirky dude who clearly isn't a fan of subtlety — we get it. Photoshopping his You Don't Say face onto Mount Rushmore adds nothing to the conversation.
Though if you make him kiss George Washington, then we've got a love story.
You might recognize "putting one thing on an unrelated thing" as not a joke in and of itself. And yet people do it all the time with his mug, because we've now reached the point where you don't have to watch his movies, research his context, tell an actual joke, or even know who he is to be one of the Cool Cage Kids. Just sticking his funny face somewhere is depressingly enough to garner yuks a-plenty.
Or sometimes, just plain yuk.
Or if you really want to prove yourself a comedic genius, stick funny Cage faces EVERYWHERE, like this guy did. He and his girlfriend pranked his Cage-hating buddy by taping over a thousand cutouts of Nicolas Cage all over his house. Family portraits, appliances, toilet paper, furniture, toys, diapers, clothes, and even food all bear the face of Cage.
Ham and eggs.
Naturally, the obligatory Imgur photoset has garnered over a million views, something that probably would not have happened if they had plastered, say, Dylan McDermott all over the place. And it's not just because McDermott's so bland nobody actually knows what he looks like unless they have Google Images right in front of them. It's because "Nicolas Cage" is now a Pavlovian command: speak his name and the public shall readily laugh and applaud, possibly while drooling.
Besides, Cage is aware of your "ironic" love of his wackiness. At this point, he's absolutely playing it up, knowing he won't have to work too hard to promote himself or any future movies because the Internet will happily do it for him. You're not exactly giggling behind his back anymore. Plus, anybody who mocks his intensity as proof that he's "not a good actor" has no clue what they're talking about. Cage is absolutely a good actor. He's playing the part of Crazy Cage perfectly, and the Internet awards him an e-Oscar every day for it.
100 e-Oscars: only slightly more valuable than one Razzie.
With all that in mind, I would like to use my powers of persuasion (the same powers that made Marvel hire a director for Ant Man one day after I explicitly asked them not to), and declare a moratorium on Nicolas Cage references. If you have an actual new joke to make, fine. But it has to be new, and it has to be a JOKE. All of this "screencap of weird face Cage made in a 20-year-old movie. Funny out-of-context quote done in my best half-assed Cage impression. Lollzy bollzy!" crap shouldn't cut it anymore.
And if you start running around screaming I'M A VAMPIRE, you better be a real goddamn vampire.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Food and Drink Federation
Representing the UK's biggest manufacturing sector
17 October 2018 | London
This year's Food Safety event focuses on the evolving regulatory landscape
information and booking
Back to list of articles
The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) is proud to announce this St. David's Day
that it is unveiling a new identity in Wales as FDF Cymru.
The move comes as FDF works to secure the best possible outcome from the Brexit
negotiations for food and drink right across the UK and the need for a sector
deal for food and drink manufacturing as part of the Government's industrial
strategy moves to centre stage.
The new identity also recognises the burgeoning Welsh food and drink
manufacturing sector, which employs over 22,000 people across the country and
has a
turnover of £4.8bn a year.
Food and drink has always been a critical part of the Welsh economy and in
recent years it has also become a vital part of Welsh national identity. As the
industry faces its most significant challenges for decades, the need for a
clear and influential voice for food and drink manufacturing has never been
The launch of FDF Cymru shows FDF's intent to be a supporter of – and
for – the food and drink industry in Wales. FDF is already closely
the UK Government (Defra, DExEu, DIT, BEIS), with the Scottish Government
FDF Scotland, and with Welsh Government in Wales.
Ian Wright CBE, Director General of the Food and Drink Federation said:
"We are delighted to unveil our new identity in Wales. Becoming FDF
recognises the dynamic and exciting Welsh food and drink manufacturing sector.
This is
a declaration of our intent to secure the best possible future for food and
drink in Wales."
David Lloyd, ZERO2FIVE Food Industry Centre Director, Cardiff Metropolitan
University commented:
"The food sector is both vibrant and a cornerstone of the economy and
the FDF
to be congratulated for recognising its profile and importance within
In a further demonstration of its growing presence in Wales, FDF Cymru is also
proud to sponsor the Taste Wales event in Newport on 23-24 March 2017. Taste
Wales is a showcase of the finest Welsh food and drink products.
The Food and Drink Federation is also launching a new category for its 2017
Awards: Regional Growth Business Wales. This award offers an opportunity for
food and drink businesses large and small to showcase their successes. Entries
are open now until 28 April 2017 for any food and drink business in Wales
to highlight their achievements and growth over the past year.
The FDF Awards are fast becoming the mark of industry excellence for food and
drink businesses and recognise the achievements of the talented people who work
the sector. Entry is free and winners will be announced at a prestigious
event at The Brewery in London on 21 September 2017. The FDF awards are run by
industry, for industry, and are open to both large and small companies,
producers, retailers, restaurants, and wholesalers – in fact, any
the food chain can enter.
Entry to FDF awards is free and online
Closing date 28 April 2017
All entries will then be assessed by an independent judging panel comprised of
industry experts and key stakeholders including sponsors. Sponsors for the 2017
awards so far include Santander, Grant Thornton, General Mills and Aktrion
Sponsorship opportunities are still available, for further information please
contact email@example.com
View the video of the 2016 event
For more information on the awards or FDF Cymru, please contact Matthew Evans at or 020 7420 7152
Latest Statistics: 2018
UK industry
export case studies
2018 Export
Statistics - Q1
2017 Export
Statistics - Full year
2017 Export
2017 Export
2016 exports snapshot
View guidance online
Download Guidance


text:
Canadian Military History Gateway
Subject > Armed Forces > Peacekeeping Forces
Learning Resource > Resource Type
From this resource educators and students can find and send an electronic postcard commemorating Remembrance Day, Veterans Week, and peacekeeping.
Veterans Affairs Canada
This resource provides links to information on Canada's involvement in wars and peacekeeping in the 20th century.
This guide is designed to aid educators with activities intended to teach young children in Kindergarten to Grade 3 about Canada's participation in wars of the 20th century.
The collage of photos presented on this poster represents the three branches of the armed forces and the three major conflicts Canada has participated in during the Twentieth Century. Our modern day Peace Keepers are also represented.
The role of Canadian peacekeepers and peacekeeping is discussed in this teachers' guide. Topics include history, purpose; functions and tasks, and past and present missions. Links to a class activity titled Postcards for Peace are included.


text:
It looks like you're using an Ad Blocker.
Please white-list or disable AboveTopSecret.com in your ad-blocking tool.
Thank you.
Some features of ATS will be disabled while you continue to use an ad-blocker.
PETMAN is an anthropomorphic robot for testing chemical protection clothing used by the US Army. Unlike previous suit testers, which had to be supported mechanically and had a limited repertoire of motion, PETMAN will balance itself and move freely; walking, crawling and doing a variety of suit-stressing calisthenics during exposure to chemical warfare agents. PETMAN will also simulate human physiology within the protective suit by controlling temperature, humidity and sweating when necessary, all to provide realistic test conditions.
Theres always a strong possibility that tech
like this will one day be used to kill
Speaking of waste not, a scientist previously listed the possible sources of biomass fuel as being "grass, broken wood, furniture, dead bodies," according to Peter Singer, a defense analyst at the Brookings Institute and author of Wired for War.
Originally posted by LightWonder
reply to post by Silcone Synapse
Have they made prototypes? This is phenomenal, municipal trash? agricultural waste?
Originally posted by Silcone Synapse
Well now they are working on its big brother-a two legged version,which retains the clever self righting methods of its 4 legged precursor-It re adjusts when kicked/pushed,maintaining its balance!
What do you think?
Computerworld - Astronauts aboard the International Space Station are slated to get an interesting new roommate later this year.
A 300-pound humanoid robot, dubbed Robonaut 2 (R2), will be transported to the space station aboard the NASA space shuttle Discovery in September -- one of the final scheduled shuttle missions. Jointly developed by NASA and General Motors Corp., the robot will become a permanent resident on the orbiting station.


text:
Gene McKinney spends weekend in jail after guilty plea
A former Army sergeant spent a weekend in jail more than a year after police say he struck a person with his car in Crystal City, WTOP reports.
WTOP's Neal Augunstein reports that Sgt. Maj. Gene McKinney was sentenced to a year in prison after pleading guilty in the road rage case, but an Arlington circuit court judge suspended all but 10 days of his sentence and gave credit for time served.
Prosecutors say that in late October of 2010, McKinney drove more than 90 miles per hour in the HOV lanes of Interstate-95 after picking up two slug passengers in Occoquan. The passengers had asked to be let out in Crystal City.
After dropping them off on Eads Street, McKinney's Mercedes struck one of the passengers, who had threatened to file a police report over the aggressive driving.
McKinney was originally charged with felony malicious wounding, but the charges were lessened to disorderly conduct as part of the plea deal.
READ MORE at WTOP.com.


text:
Russell Crowe: Facial Scar For 'Winter's Tale'!
Russell Crowe sports a brutal scar on his face while on set of Winter's Tale on Monday (November 26) in the Red Hook area of Brooklyn, New York.
The 48-year-old actor plays a gangster boss named Pearly Soames. The flick also stars Will Smith, Colin Farrell, Matt Bomer, Jennifer Connelly, and Jessica Brown Findlay. We can't wait to see it!
PHOTOS: Check out the latest pics of Russell Crowe
Russell is also set to star in the much-anticipated film adaptation of Les Miserables, which hits theaters on Christmas Day!


text:
Attack on class sizes dismissed by principal
AN OPPOSITION claim that Fraser Coast teachers are working under tough and worsening circumstances has been rejected by the local educational alliance.
Queensland Shadow Education Minister Yvette D'Ath said increasing student-to-teacher ratios were becoming the norm under the State Government.
Ms D'Ath said changes to staffing policies implemented by Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek had resulted in fewer teachers trying to teaching more students.
"I hear from teachers that they're being forced to do more with less under this arrogant Newman Government," she said.
"Student-teacher ratios in the vast majority of schools are either getting worse or flat-lining after the Newman Government tinkered with class size rules."
But deputy chairman of the Fraser Coast Educational Alliance and principal of Kawungan State School Simon Boss-Walker said things had never been better.
"We might have a few classes that are oversized but nothing that we should be ringing to many alarm bells about," Mr Boss-Walker said.
"It was about five years ago Education Queensland decreased the numbers - it's actually improved," he said.
"I've never seen it brighter, never seen it better."
The alliance has representatives from the region's TAFE, schools, council and university.
Ms D'Ath said 70 more students were taken on at Urangan Point State School since 2012 but there were only two extra teachers.
She also cited Yarrilee State School as gaining more than 80 students with only two extra teachers.
Member for Hervey Bay Ted Sorensen said the average class size in the north coast region was 21.8 students.
"The 2014 class size data shows that the vast majority of classes are well within the agreed targets," Mr Sorensen said.
"Year-to-year variations are to be expected as the actual make-up of classes is determined at a school level and every student cohort is different," he said.


text:
Robinson Selected as a 2009 NBJ 'Forty Under 40' Honoree
Jill Robinson, director of Executive Learning Networks for Belmont's Scarlett Leadership Institute, was recently chosen by the Nashville Business Journal as a 2009 "Forty Under 40" honoree. This is the first year that the Nashville Business Journal has used this program to recognize outstanding professionals in the local community.
Robinson will be honored with a profile in the June 12 issue and a special luncheon recognizing the honorees. Other members of the inaugural class include representatives from Capital Financial Group, the Tennessee Titans, Sherrard & Roe, Allstate Insurance, Ticketmaster and more.
"I am honored to be chosen as one of the inaugural recipients for Nashville Business Journal's 'Forty Under 40' award for 2009. To me, the award is a celebration for all of the organizations I have been honored to be a part of, and the leadership that has given me the opportunity to grow professionally," said Robinson.


text:
In This Space
by Stan Sanvel Rubin
In place of the names
you might have put here
we will accept
silence, the empty
page nesting
its zeros like eggs,
an accumulation
of awful thoughts
equal to memories
that equal desires
that don't count as memories
that were not even words
In place of the hero
you want to be here
a dragon, a pool of breath
dissolving in fog
where his head meets the clouds
In place of the story
with its inevitable ending
there's a space
for sadness
or hope or despair,
whichever is easier
Stan Sanvel Rubin lives on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington, writes essay reviews for Water~Stone Review, and directs the Rainier Writing Workshop MFA at Pacific Lutheran University. He has published five collections, including Hidden Sequel (2006), a Barrow Street Book Prize winner and Small Press Distribution bestseller. (4/2012)


text:
Double Up
10 Barrack StreetCoalislandDungannonCounty TyroneBT71 4LS
Categories: Take Away Food Shops
No ratings yet
Add a rating or review »
Add a rating or review »
Write a Review
Show Larger Map
Directions From Go
We do not currently have any additional information about this business. If you have been here, why not tell us a bit more about it by giving it a rating or adding a comment or review?
Read More »« Less
Similar Businesses
|Hot Wok
 0.09 miles
|Uncle Sam's
 0.11 miles
|Tsan Welcome Carryout
 0.18 miles
|Hilltop Fast Food
 0.34 miles
Nearby Hotels
|Grange Lodge
 0.10 miles
Nearby Restaurants
|The Mill Court
 0.11 miles
 0.18 miles


text:
Remember Me
Writers Talking TV and Feature Film
Listen to Podcasts
Enter Username (default value for new users is your WGC membership number)
Enter Email:
OR Contact us
Canadian Screenwriter summer 2018 is on newsstands now. View excerpts, and subscribe here.
Close X
List of all Events
© Writers Guild of Canada 1999-2016. All Rights Reserved. Please read our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.


text:
The Spot Cafe is Long Beach's latest addition in restaurant that specialize in healthy, but affordable food. The cafe is one of the only health conscious restaurants in the Belmont Shore area, in place of the old Naturewell juice bar. They are providing delicious food for everyone even those with special dietary needs. Some of their entrees include wood-fired pizzas, tacos, and paninis that have vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free options.
Besides being a great addition to the restaurants on 2nd street, The Spot Cafe has unique back story. Partners Mitchell Stein and Hugo Horta started the restaurant together after the birth of their sick daughter. Wanting to provide a "clean life" for their children, Stein and Horta, found it difficult and expensive. They figured if inexpensive health restaurants were hard to come by, others were probably having the same problem. So in 2013, the boys opened their own restaurant in Claremont that catered to their needs. After much success and praise, a second location soon opened in Upland.
The Spot Cafe is dedicated to helping people create a healthy and happy lifestyle. With their team of nutritionists, they are trained to help plan meals for weight loss and other dietary concerns. Each meal is created with detail to help ensure that cross contamination never happens.The cafe offers juice cleanses, online ordering options, and direct contact with the owners if the customer's experience was not quite satisfactory. They also offer juice cleansing classes for beginners and samples before your purchase, making them unique when compared with other juice bars. The cafe's goal is to not only provide the community with healthy, affordable food but clean and happy lifestyles.


text:
Great Leaders
Step 1 Listen – shut up and listen to what your people have to say.
Step 2 Execute – stop talking about it, and do it.
Step 3 Add value – surround themselves with the best.
Step 4 Discipline – do what you said you would, when you said you would.
Step 5 Expectations – people always know what you expect.
Step 6 Relationships – are the key to your success
Step 7 Sell – know how to get others to buy in and support you.
Step 8 Humble – take the blame, give the glory.
Step 9 Integrity – trustworthy, honest.
Step 10 Priority – do the highest result items first.
Coach Manny Nowak


text:
John B. Anderson's early days as a Republican arch-conservative in the US House of Representatives are little known to many of hi supporters, and even the independent presidential candidate himself tries to shadow his political past.
Today, with his shock of white hair, and his brown eyes behind horn-rimmed glasses, Anderson looks like a Scholarly Woodrow Wilson speaking only for the future. He quotes Lincoln, Emerson, or Cicero easily and matches the wit of Adlai Stevenson II.
Yet in 1968, the right-leaning Americans for constitutional Action (ACA) looked with favor on his conservative voting record, granting him a 95 percent rating and stating that he stood "firm against the liberal pressures in Washington, The wild spending schemes, and the permissive society offered by the proponents of the Great Society."
Today, however, the ACA give him 55 percent as a conservative, which shows he is a "moderate," say Anderson aides. He acknoledges a slow metamorphosis of his views during the turmoils of the late 1960s and disappointments of the 1970s.
Mr. Anderson's desire to come out from unce any political label is reflected in how he addresses the American people on the issues in his bid fof the White House.
"I don't care whether you call me a conservative or a liberal, so long as you give me credit for having ideas," he said after announcing his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination on June 8, 1979.
Indeed, for 16 months, detailed concepts and remedies for the nation's problems have poured forth eloquently from the serious intellectual from Illinois.
His ideas, however, are not necessarily new. Nor do they flash with insight. But they ar well-crafted combinations of competing concepts -- a Solomonic trademark of the Rockford congressman.
"Ideas come into his head very quickly and out of his mouth," states his wife , Keke. "He doesn't have to say, 'Aw shucks, what am I going to say next?'"
His most noted campaign idea has been a proposal to cut US oil consumption by imposing a 50-cent tax on gasoline. The money would be recycled to the nation's near-bankrupt social security fund, thus cutting social security payroll taxes in half.
It is considered an innovative but complicated scheme. And it gained him political mileage just for the risk in suggesting that drivers pay more at the pump.
"There can be no gains without some pains," he regularly states, quoting two-time Democratic presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson
After ejecting himself the field of Republican contenders in April,howeveR, Anderson's most popular idea has been his independence from party affiliation -- a final leap for the GOP maverick that he had become during the last 12 years. Like Jimmy Carter in 1976 he champions an image as a rank outsider, yet he points to 20 years in Congress as possession of skills to get things done.
His independent campaign is founded on the idea that a new coalition can be formed out of a volatile political climate. The two major political parties, he says, are "dormant" and do not offer much of a choice in presidential candidates for 1980. This new coalition, of course, would be centered on the ideas of his "National Unity" platform.
He is both party and candidate unencumbered by tradition to write from scratch what he plans to do if elected. His 317-page platform, or "program" as it was unveiled Aug. 30, is a weighty document that even active supporters, such as his wife, admit they have hardly finished reading.
Under the theme, "Rebuilding America," it was drafted early in the summer with the help of committees made up largely of professors and members of the liberal Republican Ripon Society. According to Anderson, his positions are not a "mosaic of bargains among special interests or trade-off among experts."
The platform sets forth a "public philosophy" as the basis for an Anderson administration made up of Democratcs, Republicans, and independents who would "move beyond the politics of empty tactics and superficial images."
On the campaign stump, candidate Anderson states, "It would make sense to have a coalition government. That is absolutely essencial to the plans that I have for the country."
This "unity" of purpose is the heart of "the Anderson difference," as his slogan suggests.
A theme which calls upon people to pull together for the sake of without prosperity is unattainable. Prosperity without justice is unacceptable."
And so determined is the candidate to indicate his sinsicery in colaition-building that he seems at times to be throwing his political life on the line: "You have got to be willing to lose in order to win."
The man who came to Washington as on orthodox conservative in 1960 by the end of the decade was transformed by events into a respected "moderate" but wayward Republican.
In short, say his friends, family, and associates, what happened to John Anderson in the 1960s was eigher one or all of three things: After a "sheltered" Life in Rockford, he moved to liberal causes by witnessing the depth of the nation's poverty and costly arms races; or his emergence as the third-ranking Republican House leader meant he would have to moderate his views, especially if he had any ambition for higher office.
In Anderson's own words, however, written for a 1970 book entitled "Congress and Conscience," the "born-again" evangelical Christian reveals a religious search for tolerance in a pluralistic society and an understanding of the ambiguities of the human condition.
Ironically, he refers in his writing to a religious theologian often noted by candidate Jimmy Carter in 1976: As Reinhold Niebuhr points out, a Christian is both a liberal insofar as he is called to be the same time being neither: he is a liberal insofar as he is called to be the salt of the earth, and insofar as his Christian calling sets him in constant opposition to the imperfect status quo -- but he is a conservative insofar as he also knows that, so long as man is a sinner, mere social refor will never solve all the problems that plague him in organized society. We are, to paraphrase Niebuhr, seeking proximate answers to insoluble problems. Thus there is no reason for a Christian to think of himself automatically as either a liberal or a conservative. His faith puts him in the position of being albe to bridge the liberal-conservative dichotomy."
On the secular side, however, his 1970 biography revelas themes of the Anderson campaign that would emergy 10 years later. And, somewhat propehtically , it is entitled "Between Two Worlds: A Congressman's Choice."
In it, he writes, "If we can replace the image in the average citizen's mind of an anonymous and faceless bureaucracy, with a feeling that many people at all levels of government are working together in a cooperative effort to cure the ills of our society, we will have given new meaning and new stature to representative democracy.c
More, not fewer, federal initiatives woud be sought in Congress under an Anderson administration, although his staff contends that the "National Unity" platform would require less money than either the Democratic or Republican platforms. Chiefly, this is because of no new large defense programs, no new major health program, or anyu sizable tax cuts at least for a year.
"We better get our house in order before we start handing out goodies," Anderson tells crods, saying he wants to use the presidency to stir the populace to action just like John F. nKennedy did two decades ago.
In sometimes a moralizingtone, he calls for "prudency" in both economic and energy matters, hoping to build a "conservation ethic" in the nation.
"If we are going to get the conservation ethic implanted in people's minds, we are going to get the conservation ethic implanted in people's instead of paying the tax to OPEC," Anderson says. "If we live only for ourselves, that is something that is going to corrode both the individual spirit and the whole fabric of our society."
The classic conservative word is "prudence," says former Anderson aide Paul Henry, a political scientist and a Republican state legislator in Michigan who outlined a presidential bid for John Anderson in 1977.
"It means tempered balance or moderation in all things. Sometimes adjustments by government are needed to make the system work so that the system does not cumple. Some government programs, such as welfare or inner-city aid, plug the holes to keep the dam from breaking. You adjust the system to have it work for all people to prevent a frontal challenge to the whole system itself. Andersson is saying if we don't address the problems now, they will come back to haunt us in more fundamental way.
"So Anderson is still a conservative. People who shout most vociferiously as conservatives are not conservatives. Conservatives theoreticaly should be standing up for the constitutional rights that many liberals have espoused, such as equal rights. And his economic views are classical conservative positions -- not spending money we do not have," says Dr. Henry.
Campaign director David Garths, who has run 105 campaigns for "progressive" candidates, says Anderson is nto making any promises that the cannot deliver. "He has not said one single thing that he believes he wants to do economically in this country or any people he wants to help that he doesn't know where the money is coming from," Mr. Garth states.
Still, the platform lays out specific positions and programs that defy conservative-liberal labels and rely on the moral or political reasoning of primarily one man. "He always refers to himself as an eclectic and a pragmatist ," says Anderson's chief domestic policy adviser, Robert J. Walker. "The platform sets forth what can work. We don'tg set goals or numbers on objectives."
Anderson, for instance, refuses to base a military spending policy on percentages of gross national product, an accepted standard that now indicates the Soviet Union is outspending the US. "Percentages are meaningless," he says. Rather, defense programs will focus on increasing the readiness of conventional arms, maintaining "essential equivalence" in nuclear weapons, and seeking further arms limitation talks.
Inflation would be tackled by inviting representatives from the nation's stop 2,000 companies to Washington -- represent 60 percent of the work force -- and somehow forcing them to agree on wage and price guidelines. Then tax breaks and pernalties would be administered according to those who obeyed or violated the guidelines. Such a proposal has been pending before Congress.
Most of the new initiatives, except for two $4 billion trust funds for urban investment and mass transit, would be done with selective tax cuts providing incentices for saving and investing by private business. This includes "enterprise zones" in inner cities, where companies would get a 25 percent tax credit. No figures are presented by the platform on how much this would cost the US Treasury.
No goals are set for unemployment, and an Anderson adminstration would emphasize job training over federal job creation, hoping tax incentives will prompt private industry to hire the unemployed.
In opposing a constitutional ban on abortions, he calls for bigger programs that provide "alternatives" to abortion as well as for continued funding of the medical operation for poor women. Solar projects, especially photovoltaic research, would be expanded and $1 billion in programs would be proposed to put young people to work in conservation and mass transit jobs.
Also suggested early in an Anderson term would be a "convocation" of all governors and federal and state legislators to propose ways for improving the fedral government, which Anderson says is in "chaos."
But that raises the question fo wheter a President Anderson would be a good executive. Many observers close to his campaign point out that before Garth took over totally in late August, the Anderson campaign was not "runnign a tight ship." Scheduling and staff conflicts, despite high morale, were often a problem.
Even Garth offhandedly acknowledges a lack of administrative experience for the 20-year congressman: "The most important thing, as you have seen with four years with President Carter, is understanding how government works and how Congress works."
The selection of former two-term Wisconsin governor and Democrat Patrick J. Lucey as vice-presidentail running mate on the National Unity ticket ensures good administrative ability, sayts Gart.
"Between the two of them, they give you a balance, not only a bipartisan balance, but a balance in government . . . his 20 years [in Congress] and Pat Lucey's as governor far surpasses that of President Carter and Ronald Reagan."
"I think that John Anderson could have an easier time runnign this country as an independent than if he was a member of party. . . . He does not have to show any favor to anybody in Congress based on his party affliation. He can do it based on what they are doing for their nation."


text:
Ezibed.com Accommodation » Popular Hotel Searches » D » Discount Accommodation Hunter Region
Discount Accommodation Hunter Region
Planning on visiting Hunter Region, one of Australia's most famous wine regions? Why not save and book your Hunter Region hotels with Ezibed.com.
There is plenty to do in the Hunter Region. Visit the Maitland Goal, stop by the Hunter Valley Gardens, experience an Aussie Wine Tour, take a hot air balloon ride with Balloon Aloft or visit Hunter Wine Theatre. After a busy day in the Hunter Region you can kick back and relax in superb Hunter Region accommodation available through Ezibed.com.
Discount Acomodation Hunter Region, Discount Acomodation near Hunter Region, Hunter Region Discount Acomodation, Discount Accomodation Hunter Region, Discount Accomodation near Hunter Region, Hunter Region Discount Accomodation, Discount Acommodation Hunter Region, Discount Acommodation near Hunter Region, Hunter Region Discount Acommodation


text:
2012 Jeep Wrangler to Moab: Crossing the Sierra
April 01, 2012
The trip up and over the Sierra Nevada was a painless one in our 2012 Jeep Wrangler. Its new Penstar V6 makes good power, but our combination of 33-inch tires and 3.21 axle gearing does suck the life out of 6th gear. Cruising in 5th is a better option when the terrain tilts up very much or if the prevailing speed falls below 70 mph.
But interstate 80 isn't the only way to make it over Donner pass. The old road is still there. I doubled back for a look.
The old road is a tight and twisty two-lane good for no more than 35 mph. Today it's the primary access to two ski resorts. It's also a good route to take if you want to stop for great views of Donner Lake and stop at historical points that commemerate the unpleasantness suffered by the early settlers that gave this pass its name.
The notch in the upper left is Donner Pass as far as the old road is concerned. After a dozen breathtaking miles the old road rejoins the Interstate, where this happened ...
I was startled by the sharp sickening crack of a stone striking the windshield. It came from a passing Lexus CT200h, which isn't really fair because it came from the road itself. Tire chains are used extensively up here (for good reason) when it snows and the road surface gets chewed up. Also, the California road department is fond of spreading sand and pumice instead of salt.
That said, nobody needed chains on this day and the road surface looked clean and devoid of gravel. It's just one of those things.
Soon I was over the Sierra Nevada and crossing into Nevada proper, where there was a little turnout for dweebs like me that want to stop and take a commemorative picture.
Strangely, the leg from wine country through Sacramento and up and over a 7,200-foot pass yielded the best fuel economy so far: this tank was 19.0 mpg. The two tanks that got me from Orange County to wine country a couple days ago had been only 17.8 and 16.4 mpg. I'm guessing that was because my average speed was about 5 mph higher.
Dan Edmunds, Director of Vehicle Testing @ 12,263 miles


text:
Colombia high court ruling allows Uribe to seek second presidential term
[JURIST] Colombia's Constitutional Court [official backgrounder in Spanish] Wednesday upheld legislation that would change the country's constitution to allow presidents to serve more than one term, a ruling that could allow Colombian President Alvaro Uribe [official website in Spanish; BBC profile] to seek re-election next May. The amendment was approved last year by legislators. Uribe has sought to extend his crackdown against militants and drug czars during a second term, although he may still be barred [Reuters report] from running in next year's election depending on a second ruling by the Constitutional Court. Uribe has remained popular among Colombians while taking a hardline approach against rebels in the country and helping the country's faltering economy recover, and polls show him winning by a landslide if he runs in the election next May. Bloomberg has more.


text:
The sheikh smiles, waves, and then moves on.
In the 16 years I've lived in Israel's Western Galilee, about 10 minutes away from Acco, I had never before met a sheikh. I have dozens of Muslim friends, but I've always steered clear of Islamic clerics. For one thing, they frightened me—I pictured men with long, unruly beards shouting anti-Israel slogans in packed mosques. For another, I assumed that none would even talk to me: a Jewish woman who moved from the U.S. to Israel. I might have come to further the cause of peace between Arabs and Jews—but nonetheless, my presence still meant I was staking out the Zionist dream.
I made an appointment to meet with Sheikh Samir, however, because I had heard he was an anomaly in the Middle East: a moderate in what appears to be a swell of Islamic extremists. I wanted to speak to him about ways to repair the rift between Israel's Muslims and Jews.
Before our talk, we stopped at the Al-Jazzar Mosque, where the sheikh serves as spiritual leader.
Approximately 15,000 Muslims live in the ancient port city of Acco, and the 18th-century Ottoman-style mosque is their central sanctuary. What the Al-Aqsa Mosque is for Jerusalem, the Al-Jazzar Mosque is for Acco, a bright green dome and minaret that rises above the city's yellowish pink stones.
I hesitated before entering the mosque, steeling myself for that uncomfortable sensation I've had the few times I've stepped inside a church. Yet the calm I felt in the cool shadows of the mosque surprised me. The lofty, cavernous space was painted all white, bare except for green and gold banners inscribed with verses from the Qur'an. Since I can't read Arabic, the swirls, dots, and dashes looked like coded messages from the Divine.
A handful of men prayed in the middle of countless Persian rugs spread out on the empty mosque floor. On their knees, their foreheads pressed to the earth, the men faced east toward Mecca, reciting the afternoon prayers from memory, as is the custom. I thought of Yom Kippur services, the only day in the year when Jews fall down to our knees in prayer, bending in the very same way. I had never felt inspired by the posture of Muslim prayer, but now, the bowing worshipers visibly demonstrated how faith means turning our souls—and our entire bodies—over to God.
As I stood there, I realized sadly that today's fanatic Islamic leaders have hijacked my idea of Islam—as well as Islam itself. In the mosque, however, I was astonished to feel far away from troubling world events. More importantly, I felt a sense of peace.
Stepping out of the mosque and into the bright Mediterranean sun, we headed for the sheikh's office on the far side of the courtyard. After we sat down (with the door kept open for modesty's sake), the sheikh offered me some grapefruit juice. Then I asked him what he thought was the most important message of Islam.
"Love," the sheikh said.
Love? Was he kidding? The message that Islam seemed to be broadcasting these days was one of violence, jihad, and hate.
The sheikh cited a Sufi Muslim who said that if our hearts are filled with love of God, there is no room for hate. Then he quoted one of his favorite verses from the Qur'an in which God says He created all religions so that people would understand one another. The best religion of all? The one that honored the others.
Sheikh Samir did not grow up religious. But next door to his apartment in Acco—where his family has resided for generations—was a school of Sufis, the mystical branch of Islam. By the age of eight or nine, he was already spending time there, feeling drawn to a spiritual life. After high school, he studied at an Islamic madrasa, and then served as leader in a mosque in a nearby Arab village. In 1991, the Israeli Ministry of Religious Affairs appointed him imam, or sheikh, of the Acco mosque.
The sheikh said he wanted to do whatever he could to mend the relationship between Muslims and Jews. In fact, he became the first Israeli sheikh to travel to Auschwitz with a delegation of Israeli religious leaders two years ago.
"It was an honor for me as a Muslim, a religious man, but most of all, a human being, to go there," he said. "I'm against what happened to the Jewish people. Jews know all too well about suffering. Now we need to work together to make sure that no other people suffers like that again."


text:
All of our products are proudly manufactured at our Kapolei, Hawaii facility.
From the very start, it has always been our goal to offer quality products and exceptional customer service. As we move into our third decade of business in Hawaii, we remain committed to our customers, to local manufacturing, and to a company culture that encourages innovation and creativity.
Our headquarters are located at a 43,000 square foot manufacturing facility in Kapolei, Hawaii. Together with our parent company, The Art Source Inc, we employ nearly 200 individuals statewide, including design consultants, operations associates, craftsmen and support staff. We also rely on the help of advanced machinery, including nested-based CNC machines, edgebanders, thermofoil and Colorfuse dye sublimation presses and a state-of-the-art dust collection system, which helps us process wood resources with a reduced ecological footprint.
At a time when so many products are made overseas, we're proud to be building our products locally. In supporting our business, you're also supporting all of our hard-working employees, their families, and Hawaii's communities.
Our Promise
At Plus Interiors, and our parent company The Art Source Inc, we promise to put the customer at the center of every decision we make, and doing what's right as the only option. In fact, that is a central component of our company Mission Statement.
Plus Interiors Mission Statement
Our Vision
Enhancing the Island Lifestyle by providing unmatched service and unique products of high quality and value.
Our Mission
To provide high-quality home decor, customized products and unique brands of exceptional value by having knowledgeable and well-trained employees who consistently exceed the expectations of our customers.
Our values
Our employees are our greatest assets, our only true differentiator. We make the difference.
- Clear, fact based communication
- Strong mutual respect and teamwork
- Shared high expectations and standards
- Self-motivated, positive attitudes
- "Doing what's right" as the only option
- Proactive, results-oriented leadership
- Strong sense of urgency
- Continuously learning and improving customer value creation as the basis of profitable growth


text:
Our research projects focus on plant diseases caused by fungal and oomycete pathogens. We use various host plants that include tomato, pepper, and Arabidopsis, orchard crops such as almond, peach, walnut, and pistachio, and nursery ornamentals. Our interests generally are mechanistic with a strong emphasis on cellular, molecular and biochemical aspects of the plant-microbe interaction. However, we also explore disease etiology, epidemiology, and management, particularly in our orchard crops projects. See our "Projects" page for details on current research.
Dr. Richard Bostock
Department of Plant Pathology
University of California
One Shields Ave.
Davis, CA 95616
530-752-0308 (office)
530-752-8015 (lab)


text:
Cardinal/Detecto has appointed Andy Stevens as the new International Sales Manager for EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa). Stevens will operate from Cardinal/Detecto's EU Warehouse in Bury St. Edmunds, England.
"We are very pleased to welcome Andy to the EU Warehouse team. His appointment as International Sales Manager will allow us to expand into new markets and provide an even more comprehensive service to our new and established distributors," said Graham Spink, Cardinal/Detecto EU Warehouse Operations Director.
Stevens will be travelling regularly throughout Europe and the Middle East and will be working in Detecto's stand at the upcoming Medica 2015 and Arab Health 2016 trade shows. He is working closely with the company's International Sales Coordinator, Allison Balaam, to support Cardinal/Detecto's existing dealer network and to generate new business development.
Learn More About the Company:
Cardinal/Detecto EU Warehouse
Units 17/18, Mercers Road, Chapel Pond Hill
Bury St.Edmunds, Suffolk, England, IP32 7HX
Tel: 01284 701222 (UK) / +44 1284 703117
E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
FREE shipping!
Yes. Parcels are unmarked and return address does not reference this website.
Poppers for Sale | PWD Poppers Pronto Rush Delivery
AP Press Release: February 14, 2016
"Couples Therapy indeed!"
" A gentleman does his bedchamber duty and leaves to go about nattering to street harlots, promiscuous Parisians, and Greek historians." This is how a man seeks therapy from his wretched nag of his lesser half in my time! You see, prior to the grand mishap which displaced me from 1901, before I was snatched from my laboratory by the forces of combustion while in preparation of these highly potent and quite volatile Isobutyl Nitrites thrusted me with such vigor to hurtle the great Fredrich D'Fisticuff into modern day 2016.
And now as I navigate these so called modern times I understand there is now a marriage between men, you say!? Balderdash and tommyrot! You're having me on… One king to each castle and a single captain to his ship! … Why I can only imagine, …a pair of vigorous and robust fellows contending in coitus... Ahem,.. Two specimens of manly hardihood striving nightly to usurp the topmost position in the household... Ahem,.. Why, the next one knows, women will be voting and a Catholic will be President! (chuckles)
…Say, by chance, where might a fellow take in a silent nickelodeon moving picture show on the marriage of men? For educational purposes blast you! Should I be bound thru space and time to these days Fisticuffs need not be spoken to a fool... !
And in conclusion, I subscribe to the wiser beliefs for "a happy wife is happy life" and "cleanliness is next to godliness" ... particularly so, if marriage now is between two god like men; (chuckles). Couples therapy is this deau! And these two, much like all of the Clock Cleaners brand premium Nitrite Solvent Cleaners are available for a limited time!


text:
Create mobile version of website
Ngân sách $10-30 USD
I'm looking to get a mobile version of my website built. I need it properly accessible on all phones/tablets
[login to view URL]
Nothing fancy, just want a mobile version of the website as it exists today.
I will not repond to automated bids/inquiries.
Được trao cho:
Hi, I can make your existing website responsive as per your instructions, if you are interested to check my professional portfolio I'll provide you in inbox. I assure you to complete my job in time Relevant Skills and Thêm
16 freelancer đang chào giá trung bình $41 cho công việc này
Hi, I can help you fix the mobile view for CryptoScreens. You might even want to consider a design uplift as the existing one lacks the appeal. Let's discuss more over chat. Relevant Skills and Experience With over 8 Thêm
please ignore the bid amount we will discuss the price later in the chat after we have discussed the project thoroughly Relevant Skills and Experience: . Proposed Milestones: 25 - . Hi vacek! Please drop a message to d Thêm
Hi mate, I'd be glad to assist for web development . I have read description carefully understand requirement and planned to proceed with your requirement. Relevant Skills and Experience I have 6+ years experience wit Thêm
I have done several website and make all of them responsive, I know very well how they should work in iphone,ipad, tablet and desktop Relevant Skills and Experience html,css, jquery, wordpress,php Proposed Milestone Thêm
Hello Sir I will help you create your website a version mobile responsive , i will done it today for [login to view URL] chat so i can begin for you now. Các Kỹ Năng và Kinh Nghiệm Liên Quan html ,css ,php ,bootstrap,sass,resp Thêm
Hello, I recently created a website mobile friendly in last 2 days. You can check here - skytons.com. Please let me know. I can complete your website mobile friendly asap. Regards: Sarita
Hi, I have gone through your description and got a pretty much idea of what you want. I can assure you that i can do this task. Relevant Skills and Experience Hi, I have gone through your description and got a prett Thêm
-Hi There - I good experience working on WordPress develop new excellent design sites expert with 6 years of working experience and specialize in maintain Web 2.0 standards and W3C validations Relevant Skills and Ex Thêm
Dear Hiring Manager, I have read your job posting with a great interest. I can make your website for mobile responsive. Please contact me. Relevant Skills and Experience You can see my previous work. [login to view URL] is for mo Thêm
Greetings! Are you looking for a mobile responsive website or a mobile version of your website? Please explain and let's connect over chat so that we can move ahead. Regards, Shawn E
Hello, I have read the project description in detail with full care and concentration. Now I would love to talk to you once to understand about the project better. Relevant Skills and Experience I am a Developer with Thêm


text:
Album Review: Sleigh Bells – Jessica Rabbit
Published on March 8, 2017 by JB Release date: November 11, 2016 5/10 The Brooklyn duo's (Alexis Krauss and guitarist Der
Concert Review: Sleigh Bells at Woolys in Des Moines, IA. – April 23, 2014
Woolys in Des Moines, IA. April 23, 2014 Published by JB on April 24, 2014. There were no survivors. Regardless of any love


text:
Earlier today I interviewed St. Louis native Sean Quinn, who is blogging about the presidential election at the increasingly popular and influential FiveThirtyEight.com.
The Web site, founded by Baseball Prospectus guru Nate Silver and named after the total number of electoral votes at stake in the election, provides a rolling projection of the election based on a meta-analysis of state and national polls.
(The site's FAQ explains the process in much greater detail. As of this writing, Obama is projected to defeat McCain 336-202; Obama also wins over 85% of 10,000 simulations of the election.)
The 37-year-old Quinn, a graduate of Clayton High School, is currently in St. Louis for tonight's vice-presidential debate between Senator Joe Biden and Governor Sarah Palin. I'll have a longer profile of Quinn and his work for FiveThirtyEight in next week's issue. After the jump, check out Quinn's take on tonight's highly anticipated showdown.
On Palin: "She filibusters with words. Her manner of filibustering isn't like other politicians. She's like the kid in high school who's called on and is underprepared. She needs to take control."
On Biden: "Palin's going to have talking points she'll cling to like a life raft. Biden should attack McCain for putting her in that position. I would say something like, 'She's gutsy. She's really doing her best.' But not say it in a condescending way. Like, 'It's not easy to get up here and do this. For McCain [to make her], that [shows] his style of leadership."
On the media spin: "[The McCain camp] is going to call foul on anything that comes close to sexism and condescension. But that train has left the station. The entire media does not take Palin seriously at this point. Behind the scenes they're just laughing at her. It's not partisan. The media wants there to be a train wreck."
Subscribe now to get the latest news delivered right to your inbox.


text:
We talk to Major League Wrestling's Owner/Creator and former WWE Creative Writer Court Bauer. In part one of our interview, we discuss the marketing differences between WWE and the UFC. We also start to break down Wreslemania 29, comparing the World Heavyweight Championship to the Intercontinental Title and much more. Listen below and give us your thoughts.
You can follow Between The Ropes on Facebook and Twitter.
Follow me on Twitter @S_Muehlhausen7.


text:
Popular Now
Popular Now
Popular Now
Popular Now
01803 865913
+44 1803 865913
A major nomenclatoral work for liverworts, begun in 1962 under Dr C.E.B. Bonner, and continued after his death in 1976 by Helene Bischler and Patricia Geissler, the current editors.
The first nine volumes were compiled under the editorship of Dr Bonner. Some of these are completely out of print, but most have been reprinted in recent years by J.Cramer Verlag.
The series is ongoing, with 12 volumes completed thus far.
Publisher: J. Cramer Verlag
Forthcoming volumes in this series will be added to this page as soon as we become aware of them.
Please contact email@example.com about setting up a standing order, or if you would like to be notified when we add new volumes.


text:
METAIRIE, La. -- When he began the 4½-hour drive from his home in Prattville, Ala., to his first NFL minicamp Friday morning, safety Roman Harper, who had never visited the New Orleans area despite growing up only about 200 miles away, knew he was embarking on a life-altering adventure.
What the New Orleans Saints' second-round draft choice didn't expect was the eye-opening epiphany that he experienced motoring through sections of I-65 in Alabama and much of I-10 in Louisiana.
"Nothing you've seen on TV comes close to describing it," said Harper, clearly taken aback by his encounter with the post-Hurricane Katrina landscape. "It's hard to process. I mean, you think to yourself, 'Wow, it's been almost a year, and there are places that still look like this?' It's a rude awakening. All the stuff you've heard? Well, the reality is a lot worse. You wonder, for some people who are still there, if things will ever get back to normal."
"If you don't see it for yourself, you can't understand it. Cars on top of cars. Houses on top of houses. Like a battle zone. It really hits you. It's hard not to come away thinking, like, 'OK, what can I do?'"
-- Reggie Bush
The Saints took a step back toward normalcy over the weekend, conducting a three-day minicamp at their facility here, a practice site some New Orleans veterans and franchise officials weren't sure, only six months ago, they would ever see again. Certainly the workouts, principally for rookies and a few free-agent veterans auditioning for training camp contracts, were nothing compared to the quantum leap the entire Gulf Coast still requires. At the same time, the presence of the Saints in a place abandoned by even some of the heartiest locals, and where the McDonald's just a few blocks down Airline Highway closes at 6 p.m. because it doesn't have sufficient manpower to staff a night shift, represents another scintilla of hope for the future.
On Saturday morning, as the ping of aluminum colliding with horsehide signaled the start of batting practice for the Tulane-Southern Mississippi baseball game, the public address system at Zephyr Field, next door to the Saints complex, blared the Bruce Springsteen anthem "Glory Days." The Saints haven't exactly had a lot of glory days, with just one playoff victory in 39 seasons, and two division championships in that mostly miserable stretch.
More significant, though, is that the Saints are actually back for a 40th season. And the symbolism of their return wasn't lost even on the callow rookies assembled here.
"It's sad, depressing, whatever you want to call it," said sixth-round draft choice Josh Lay, a cornerback from the University of Pittsburgh who grew up in Aliquippa, Pa., a community devastated when the steel industry bolted Western Pennsylvania. "I've seen some tough times at home, but nothing compares to the feeling around here. But you know what? People at the hotel where we're staying were so happy to see us, even us rookies, that it made you feel good."
One gathers that they accept such feel-good moments here as they come. And that they don't come nearly often enough.
Late Friday night, a visitor couldn't help but note the sparse number of jets parked at the airport. Even at 9 a.m. Saturday, the airport was all but deserted, the rental car kiosks still closed. Along Airline Highway, the long surface street that meanders from the airport into the city of New Orleans, businesses are either boarded up or sporting "Help Wanted" placards. At the sports bar in the hotel where the Saints had bivouacked their rookies for the weekend, there were just three patrons at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
For a Saturday night, the crowd on Bourbon Street was notably sparse, and by any past standards, subdued.
But nothing can prepare a person for a trip, even a brief one with a longtime friend who knows the ropes and every backstreet of the city, to the lower Ninth Ward. In the dusk, it's a little more difficult to discern shapes and objects, but there is no denying the carnage of a neighborhood all but washed away when the nearby levees were breached. The silence is deafening and the despair palpable.
"If you don't see it for yourself," said first-round draft choice and Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush, "you can't understand it. Cars on top of cars. Houses on top of houses. Like a battle zone. It really hits you. It's hard not to come away thinking, like, 'OK, what can I do?'"
There mere presence of Bush, and even some of the far less celebrated rookies, seems to have provided at least a temporary elixir of sorts for the ravaged area.
On Friday night, one caller to a local sports talk show employed the term "divine intervention" in referring to the Houston Texans' myopic decision to choose defensive end Mario Williams with the first selection in last month's draft, allowing Bush to slip to the Saints with the second overall pick.
A tight hamstring, and a cautious New Orleans training staff that might insulate Bush if he complains of so much as a hangnail at this point in his career, intervened to keep the instantly iconic star off the field for all but the first practice of the minicamp. But that couldn't keep the fans away.
The sign on the façade of the team facility reads, "Welcome Back Saints Fans." But in fact, fans were not invited to the rookie minicamp. Still, they crept up to the chain-link fence that surrounds the practice fields here, just for a glimpse of the charismatic Bush and the other rookies.
"Mostly to see Reggie," said one fan, Lawrence Craft, who wandered over from the college baseball game. "But also, just because it's football, and because the Saints are back. And because we need 'em."
It might be hard for some to fathom that a football team, particularly one that has experienced so little success in its four-decade existence, could represent any degree of hope to a ravaged city. But former Saints quarterback Bobby Hebert, now a sports-talk radio host in New Orleans and a visitor to minicamp on Saturday afternoon, understands the significance of the team's return.
It may have been a minicamp, but the weekend's activities were of maximum importance for an area that is seeking even an atom of business-as-usual optimism.
Said Hebert: "I was here for a lot of bad times, and some of the few good times, but the one thing that never changed was how much the fans love this team. Outsiders don't understand. I mean, the seasons that I spent in Atlanta, there are a lot of [transient] fans there. But people in New Orleans, they're born here, they live here and they die here. And the Saints have been a constant for them and they have been a constant, too, for the Saints. You want to talk about kicking somebody when they're down? That's what it would have been like had this team not come back here. In the big picture, looking at everything that needs to be done here and how long it's going to take to do it, the Saints are just a part of it. But it really does mean something having them back."
That feeling that the franchise has to elevate itself to new heights off the field even more so than on it, clearly permeates the organization.
After Saturday's practice, first-year coach Sean Payton spoke of the "unique chance" that Bush has here to "help this area more than football-wise." Bush announced that he is spearheading an effort to have an artificial surface installed on one of New Orleans' oldest inner-city fields. And he is making a donation, and having some of his new corporate partners ante up as well, to Holy Rosary Academy, a school that serves children with special needs and was in danger of closing its doors.
None of the other players on hand for the minicamp has the kind of wherewithal and influence that Bush already possesses. But they certainly possessed, by the end of the weekend, a keen understanding of their place in the community.
"It just seems like people are looking to us to help lead the way," Harper said. "That's a lot to take on for a rookie. But it's part of the job description here."
Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com. To check out Len's chat archive, click here.


text:
The Hanging of the Greens is a traditional Christian service that occurs on the first Sunday in Advent. The service involves decorating the church with evergreen plants that symbolize eternal life.
The service occurs on the first Sunday in Advent, the four-week period leading up to Christmas Day. It includes songs and prayers, along with the installation of the greenery.
The Hanging of the Greens originated in ancient pagan rituals celebrating the winter solstice, which occurs around December 21. In ancient Rome, people celebrated a winter festival called Saturnalia. During the festivities, Romans exchanged gifts, hung wreaths and lit candles. Aspects of these ancient pagan customs appear in the Christian Hanging of the Greens celebration, along with other Christmas traditions.
According to the Bible, Jesus was forced to wear a crown of thorns before his crucifixion. Along with other assorted evergreen plants, holly frequently appears in the wreaths and boughs used in Hanging of the Greens ceremonies, as the prickly leaves and berries represent the crown and the blood it drew. Red poinsettia flowers are believed to symbolize the Star of Bethlehem and also form an essential feature of Christmas church displays. Ivy symbolizes the Christian belief in Jesus' resurrection.


text:
New Music: Raekwon 'Yearning For Your Love'
Like clockwork, Raekwon introduces us into week nine of his Throwback Thursday with a clever flip of a classic R&B record. This time the Chef is going in over the Gap Band's classic 1981 track "Yearning For Your Love," most famously sampled for Nas & AZ's "Life's A Bitch" among others. Listen as Rae lets his smooth flow get to rest in harmony with Charlie Wilson and company.


text:
Destination UK
Route Link:
UK Rail Passes
Sightseeing & Transport
Select from the options below and click 'Go'
Explore by train
UK by Rail
The most rewarding and relaxing way to see Britain and Ireland is by train. Rail is the most convenient way to experience the glorious countryside in comfort, then arrive in the heart of the city with easy access to your accommodation and attractions.
- Timetables
Use our UK timetables to plan your journey.
- Map
Use this map to plan your journey.
- Destinations
Discover cities within the UK by rail
- FAQs
Find the answers to all your questions.
- Stations and Airports
Addresses and Airport to City Connections


text:
Features | Written by Paul Mount 26/08/2015
Dominic Brunt | BAIT
STARBURST: As with Before Dawn, one of the themes of Bait is monsters and the effect they have on people – although here the monsters are ordinary human beings who do terrible things to other human beings. But Bait is more grounded and relatable. How would you categorise the film?
Dominic Brunt: To me, Before Dawn isn't really a genre piece, it's more of a domestic drama and the horror was allegorical and Bait is similar in that it's a thriller first and foremost, but I like to take things to the worst case scenario; taking an excessive situation and seeing how far you can possibly push it whilst staying faithful to the central idea. But as far as I'm concerned it's also an out and out horror film; on the surface it's a thriller but we're dealing with monsters no different from any other monster, totally without conscience, they're animals after their prey. That's how they live and behave and it's how they feed themselves. I actually describe it as a 'violent female revenge thriller' and I called it that even when it was just in script form, and it was great to see how far we could take that because you've got to try and get noticed somehow and rather than being a polite thriller with a polite ending, it's great to do what we feel we do best and push things to an absolute extreme.
The film's credits tell us that it's 'based on true events'. What did you find out about the world of debt collectors when you were putting the film together and how did that influence the story you wanted to tell?
It's actually based on three stories, especially one from the UK, which involved a really unpleasant gang of people. The more we read about these people, the more we thought we were going over the top and the more we thought 'Wow, we couldn't really go far enough'; these people are alive and if you Google 'loan shark' and any town or city there's a glut of stories out there, but we chose three specific stories that are true and just bent them to our needs. Being a horror film fan, it always seemed that no matter how bad a horror film was, real life and what human beings do to each other can more often than not be far worse, far more violent and upsetting and scary than anything that a monster or a paranormal force can do in your imagination and the more we read about loan sharks and what they did in real life, the more we thought 'Jesus, these are the real monsters.' We got a structure together and then passed that to Paul Roundell and then he wrote the screenplay around that.
It's a strong screenplay; one of its greatest strengths is its naturalism, the sense that these are real people behaving the way real people do...
Paul works for Emmerdale, but whenever there's an hour special or something really dramatic going on thing they always get him in because he's one of the best writers on the show. I just wanted to get a filmic story together and pass it to him and say 'You don't have to worry about the structure at all, you just put your brilliant dialogue around this and make it sound realistic and like real people'. Paul really took his time on the characters even before he'd written it all down and once he'd written it, he went back to the beginning and rewrote it and kept doing that until he had three distinct voices – Bex, Dawn and Jeremy, the debt guy - that were absolutely different from each other. The plan with Bex and Dawn was that they were like chalk and cheese in that Dawn allows Bex to be gregarious and loud and doesn't judge her in the same way that Bex allows Dawn to be mild and to get on with things; they kind of support each other and allow each other to be themselves.
Jeremy (Jonathan Slinger) is a fascinating bad guy because at first we like him and trust him and then it all gets turned on its head. It must have been a tough role to cast...
We were looking at a book called 'Without Conscience' (Robert D Hare, 1999) and the more you look at sociopaths, the more you realise that they actually yearn for a normal steady life or to put that across and then manipulate people in order to get it. His wife is very much a trophy wife who he doesn't really like; he's got this facade of normality but actually it's all about getting more of what he thinks is his 'normal' and it's his rationale. He loves his work. Being a loan shark is the absolute perfect job for a sociopath. We had a psychiatrist with us on set working on the script and working with Jonathan so that he could get it just right. Jonathan had been at the Royal Shakespeare Company for ten years and I'd seen him play all the main parts and the main baddies in Macbeth, Hamlet, and Richard III. What we really wanted to avoid was the clichéd two-a-penny gangster which can turn any film into absolute rubbish purely because they've cast the baddie wrong. If we'd got some very stereotypical gangster who had a constant 'front' on him and was just threatening, it would have been a disaster and to my mind the only person who could actually do that was Jonathan because he can turn on a coin and I knew that he wouldn't play it like this archetypal gangster. He didn't do any of that, he steered away from every single cliché and I knew he'd do it right. When he said he'd do it, everything fell into place because we knew we didn't have to worry about anything.
Bex and Dawn are tough characters too – and they have to do tough things. How did Joanne and Victoria rise to the challenge of some pretty strong material?
Jo and Vicky went to Drama School together and they're very good friends so we didn't have to rehearse that friendship or pull that out from somewhere. They'd been filming for a week and were already solid together before Jonathan turned up and threw all the spanners in the works. Jo loves all the violent stuff anyway and Vic has already done grand stuff like Dracula and Once Upon A Time, and they both agreed that Jonathan had to get his comeuppance, so they weren't bothered about that side of things. It was more important that, as bad as Jonathan could be, we had to indulge that because he had to deserve his fate otherwise it's a bit like 'Oh, what did they do that for?'
And 'that' is pretty intense when the girls turn the tables in a climax which – without giving too much away – is violence on virtually an operatic scale.
Well the bad guy has to get his comeuppance, there have to be consequences for his actions and I suppose that even earlier on, where he's attacking Bex by the river, it was really uncomfortable but you're still thinking 'well, they have to get their own back on him but not just because they don't like him or they owe him money' – it has to be more than that. Eventually, you have to give the audience what they've been waiting for. You've been entertaining them and turning the screw; there's tragedy, comedy, the whole thrill ride with the threat rising in scale and then you hit them with what they've paid their money to see, which is a huge fight and them struggling for a revenge which is what they feel they have to reap.
How did the experience of directing Bait differ from Before Dawn?
We had more preparation time and I think because we were working with a lot more of other people's money – Metrodome paid for it – it meant we could make it more professional. I was talking to our cinematographer about it being unashamedly commercial which was correct whereas Before Dawn was unashamedly uncommercial; it was just throwing cameras around the room, getting as much coverage as we could and just trying to make sure that we captured everything 'in the raw'. With this one, we planned all the shots, planned all the lights, we had more time, money, and people. The difference was that we had ten people involved on Before Dawn and seventy-three on Bait. The filming schedule was about twenty-four days altogether with little gaps in between. In theory, it was supposed to be a bit easier and with a bit more space but because of the sheer amount of locations and jumping about it was just as manic really. It was just a bit scarier, we had to make sure that we didn't let Metrodome down. We were like a travelling band, it was ridiculous. There was so much equipment to be dragged around with big lorries and trucks everywhere and vans dragging around all the props, the actors being ferried left, right, and centre and all the costumes. I'd say it was more fraught and yet it was also more relaxed in that you felt like there was departments you could rely on, but at the same time the pressure was on to deliver something that was better, as well, because I want to make other films! It feels like it's a step up the ladder.
Speaking of other films – what's next in the pipeline?
There's a couple of things in development and I'm hoping to find out next month about something which I'm hoping might be done in Puerto Rico, something on the horizon which I won't have to produce, it'll be just as director which will be amazing because I don't want to have to produce any more - I've had enough of producing. The next one will be a full-on proper jumpy, gory horror film.
BAIT screens at FILM 4 FRIGHTFEST on Saturday August 29th and will enjoy a limited UK cinema release on September 4th and will be available on DVD on September 7th.


text:
Post # 1
- pinkrose23
- 5 years ago
- Wedding: December 2014
Hi Bees! Does anyone in the Ft. Lauderdale, FL area know where I can hire Stormtroppers? I would like to have them at our reception as a surprise for my Groom. I've already inquired at the 501st Legion… do you know of any others? Thanks 🙂


text:
Ice Age
Are we going to deny the crisis until it's too late?
Didn't our ancient ancestors at least try to stave off the endless winter with ritual? We KNOW what to do, but this time the religions we invent don't want to help.
Are we secretly excited, like the drug addict watching his own life like a voyeur? Enjoying the drama as this fool wastes his time, wondering if he'll ever turn it around?
Is it our secret revenge on the equatorial peoples, knowing that we must have been expelled from paradise long ago for us to live in these tundra? What did we do? What Cain-like crime drove us north?
Is it a self destructive strike against the future, are we so jealous of the life that will continue after we're dead that we summon floods and sheets of ice to numb the pain?
Do we think science will solve the sins of our indulgence? Will we build giant umbra in space to block the sun? Blast dust into the sky from man made volcanoes? Will repercussion echo repercussion in a doomsday chamber?
I mean, really, what the fuck is wrong with us?
–Dan Kilian
Editor's Note: This was the text to some Ks show. There was music too.
Sometimes Europe, Sometimes You're Down


text:
Announcing the first ever Contemporary Art Tours to Beijing
Lui Wei. Chaotic City
CAT Beijing, inspired by the most exciting contemporary art scene in the world, has created a programme of in-depth two week tours beginning in August 2013. The organisers are Fion Gunn (artist/curator) who has many years of experience curating collaborative exhibitions in China and who has worked with Liao Yuwen (Co-ordinator) since 2007.
Aimed at artists/curators/academics/collectors and those who are seriously interested in discovering what is really happening in 798, Songzhuang, Chaochangdi etc - CAT Beijing organises studio & gallery visits, encounters with artists, gallerists and curators that would normally not be available to those visiting the city independently.
The comprehensive itinerary includes visits to more traditional attractions such as the Great Wall, Summer Palace & Forbidden City. The tour has been designed to be accessible and reasonably priced. A special introductory price is available for those booking on the first tour 16-29 August 2013.
This is the only comprehensive tour of the main contemporary arts districts in Beijing where members will be introduced to all aspects of the artisitic community. Accompanied by Fion and a Chinese interpreter on all these visits, members will have unprecedented access and communication with them.
By balancing the tour with visits to Beijing's traditional attractions like the Forbidden City, Great Wall, Summer Palace as well as the more recent ones like the National Center for the Performing Arts, Bird's Nest & Olympic Park, members will be able to observe the architectural complexity and extraordinary growth of the modern city.
PHOTO CREDIT for main photographs: PETER REIQUAM, ARTIST
Fion has curated IRISH WAVE (collaborative Irish/Chinese contemporary exhibitions) in China for the last four years. Films about the project can be found on Youtube. Her enthusiasm for Chinese contemporary art shines through below in the short film on the 2010 exhibition at the Bow Arts Trust in London. This was the first collaborative Irish-Chinese exhibition in the UK, showcasing the work of contemporary visual artists, sculptors and painters.
Click on the link below for the full itinerary and booking information.
Related Stories
Have something to say? Join in the conversation.
Add your comment
Join our mailing list
December 30th, 2016
The Year 2016. It wasn't just the music that died.
December 1st, 2016
Star Trek to boldly go gayer again.
October 29th, 2016
The Gay Cake That Ended Up In Court.
October 1st, 2016
The gay pop icon, evolution or revolution?
August 31st, 2016
A great Olympics, a brilliant LGBT result and a message.
July 23rd, 2016
Gay Dating, the Beginners Manual! 2016 update.


text:
VOTE Please, select up to 3 of your preferred wish features.
Quizzes by Quibblo.com
Please, write down on comments, the features or fixes you would like to nee on future updates of Surface RT.
After almost 7 months using my Surface RT, more than 150 apps downloaded, installed and tested, here are my perceptions about Windows RT and the Surface RT Tablet. by Carlos Trindade
Cisco VPN - without this, it's useless for most business users - Cisco is probably the biggest corporate vpn provider in the world .. anyconnect is available for *everything* else .. not Windows/RTReplyDelete
HERE ARE SOME NEW SUGGESTIONS: please, REPLY if you agree with any:
2- ETHERNET dongle for cable connection
I have two wishes. In the Calendar app, offer the ability to select any minute, not just 5 minute incrementals.
2) In MS Store, add a search field.
I agree about the Calendar, but didn't understand the MS Store thing... Is it about Windows Store ?? if it is, there's a search there...
If anybody else got the message about the MS Store, please, let me know what he is talking about.
Please, this is a free Blog, so you can post your perceptions whatever they are, but do it in a respectful way. Thank you !


text:
This blog has posts of a number of a seemingly disconnected topics, except, of course, connected by the fact that I wrote them all. But I get that it might be confusing for people who find their way here because of an interest in real estate and then discover posts about admirers, stalkers,vacuum cleaner advertising, Viagra and such so I thought I'd explain.
Since I've been blogging these two real estate related posts have been linked by large online publications, resulting in many views:
An Argument Against The Open Floor Plan — Self-explanatory
Double Sinks in the Master Bath. Must We Have them, Really? — Again, self-explanatory
These are the more personal posts that have seemed to get the most views without benefit of linkage:
He Lives With His Mother? — Dating the Momma Dwellers
The New Walk of Shame for the Single Woman — Going Out Alone — Self-explanatory
My Panty Drawer/Your Panty Drawer — Unfortunate encounter with carpet installers
That Hoarders Smell — My house stank. It truly did.
On Angelina Jolie, At Least No One Can Say She Got Fat — Musings on why many actresses are getting skinnier and skinnier
How I Found Out That My Ex-Husband Was Getting Married — Self-explanatory, true story
Just Me With . . . a lot of stuff . . . .