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Thursday, September 07, 2006
Bil Jee
Jee Sim was relaxing in a hammock below deck after a hard day's cooking, drilling the crew of the Red Junks in Wing Chun, and inciting anti-Qing sentiment amongst the port workers.
The sacking of the Shaolin Temple remained the focus of his thoughts. As it always did, even after so many months.
The heat, the flames of bright orange, the choking smell of the thick smoke that stung the eyes, and the screams of monks dying as they fought against the overwhelming hordes of the Qing.
That and his last glimpse of the face of Ng Mui, whose heart-stopping beauty not even the shapeless nun's robe and shaven head could conceal. Totally gorgeous, totally untouchable. Five years older than Jee Sim, and more deeply committed to the ways of enlightenment and the Eightfold Path than any of the Temple's menfolk.
Some of the older monks had grumbled that she spent too much time in the forest and grassland around Mount Sung, observing animals at play, at work, and in conflict, though she spent as much time on menial Temple duties as any of them. That and her many dreams, and the long sessions she spent manipulating the yarrow stalks, consulting the Oracle. But none complained openly, for when she brought the fruits of her observations – new fighting techniques and forms – onto the Killing Floor of the practice hall, none of them could match her.
She had been both unusually attentive, and unusually stern, towards Jee Sim; he had indulged himself with the belief that he was somehow special to her, though he knew the foolishness of it.
The week before the great betrayal and the destruction of the Temple, Ng Mui had been teaching him a new form, one it appeared she was still formulating herself. The section she had taught him was part intricate, serial finger strikes to the vital points, wrists curving and flexing like shafts of green bamboo, and part bludgeoning downward diagonal strikes with the elbow. The soft and pliable with the hard and heavy. Yin and Yang. The Way.
Ng Mui told him it had come to her after she witnessed an encounter between a snake and a crane at her favourite spot near the river. "I call it Bil Jee," she told him. "Now practise. Two hours at least, every day. Do not falter … the Oracle forecasts dark times ahead. Next week, I will show you the next section."
Thrilled by both the new techniques, and the attentions of his Elder Sister, Jee Sim practised like a crazy man. But next week brought only the Qing.
Racked with exhaustion and pain from their wounds after many fights with armed Qing mercenaries, and overwhelmed with grief over their many brothers and sisters who had died in the battle, Ng Mui and Jee Sim lay, panting, on a ridge overlooking the firestorm that had been the Shaolin Temple. Their home.
"Sister, are we the only ones to escape?" Jee Sim croaked, before convulsing in a fit of coughing. Both he and Ng Mui had inhaled much smoke.
Ng Mui's lovely face was streaked with tears, soot, and blood, but her voice was strong. "I don't know, Jee Sim. But we must hope that we are not."
"Where shall we go?"
Ng Mui's panting seemed to slow, dropping in pitch, becoming even more laboured. "I must leave you, Jee Sim. To travel together would mean certain capture and execution."
"Sister, please, no …"
She shook her head, placed her hand on his arm. "You must go to Guangdong. Seek out the performers of the Red Boat Opera Troupe. They are allies, who oppose the Qing. The nephew of my mother's childhood friend, a young man named Wong Wa Bo, is among them. By all accounts a brash and foolish youth, but with a rare talent for the Dragon Pole, I am told."
"And you, Sister?"
"The Oracle told me of a village to the south, where a young woman faces great peril, but with the spirit of a true warrior. It is she that I shall seek."
They sat until their breathing became deep and regular once more. Then Ng Mui stood. Jee Sim did the same.
"Jee Sim, you were the best of my younger siblings. And also my favourite." A single sob broke through her composure.
Jee Sim though he would die.
"You must train hard, and meditate, every day. My greatest regret is that I cannot pass the complete Bil Jee form on to you. It contains the ultimate techniques, to turn despair into hope, loss into victory. But, dear Brother, the Bil Jee form is already yours. It is not for a teacher to give, for each student already has its secrets within. So find Bil Jee for yourself. Observe the world and its phenomena closely, and when you find something – you will know when you do – add it to your Bil Jee form."
She stepped closer to him. "I shall see you again, Jee Sim. If it not in this life, then another."
She embraced him, her tears warm and wet on his cheek. And then she was gone, into the darkness.
He sensed someone entering the cabin. "What now, Wa Bo? Still more of your questions?" His eyes remained closed.
"How did you know it was me, Master Jee?"
"It's ALWAYS you. Just once, I'd like a noble's pretty courtesan to drop by, but no, it's always Wong Wa Bo and his questions." Jee Sim swung himself into a sitting position in the hammock, then slid out to stand before Wong Wa Bo.
He scrutinised Wong. "Your face. Screwed up with puzzlement like a squeezed lemon. Bad for your health. Now, what?"
Wong personified glumness. "Forgive me, Master, if I sound ungrateful. But there is so much about your Wing Chun fighting system I do not understand." He looked at the floor. "You tell others things you do not tell me."
Not this again, thought Jee Sim. "Like what?"
"Master, Sun Kam told me that he asked you, 'In Wing Chun, why don't you kick to the head?' And you told him, 'Why don't you punch to the toe?'"
Jee Sim vaguely recalled a casual conversation with Kam tenuously resembling this, which had occurred several days prior.
"Is it true, Master?" Wong Wa Bo looked as if he were about to fall to his knees and beg.
Jee Sim stared serenely at him for several seconds, allowing Wong Wa Bo's tension to build still further. Then he started to laugh, a strident, mocking laugh. "I've got to get that Sun Kam to rein in his imagination. And you, Wa Bo, must not place so much stock in the words of one who wears his stage makeup every hour of the day."
"So, it's not true, Master? Wing Chun kicks to the head?" Wa Bo's eyes were as wide as serving bowls.
"Of course!"
"And we punch to the toe?" Wa Bo's eyes went wider still and threatened to fall out on the floor.
Jee Sim nodded.
Wong Wa Bo appeared to find this difficult to accept. His face reverted to the same puzzled look it had featured when he arrived.
Jee Sim sighed. "I'll have to show you, won't I? All right. Assume your fighting stance."
Wong Wa Bo put his left foot forward and his hands out in a Wing Chun guard.
"Step and punch. Again. Again. Good. Now, back where you were."
Wong Wa Bo moved back and Jee Sim took up a guard position in front of him, just out of range. Same again. Step and punch, keep going."
Wong Wa Bo stepped and punched once, twice. Jee Sim intercepted the second punch with a slap block and a threading arm, then stepped back and dropped suddenly to one knee under Wong's third punch, dropping his palm heel with full bodyweight behind it onto Wong Wa Bo's left big toe, just as its foot touched the floor.
"OWOWOWOWOWWWW!" Wong Wa Bo hopped frantically in a circle, clutching his foot.
"Okay, not a punch, a palm heel," said Jee Sim. "With a punch, you might miss and damage your knuckles on the floor." He watched Wa Bo's agitated pogoing, thinking it might make for a good balance exercise for his students. And perhaps there was something there one could use to enter on an opponent's guard and bridge the gap …
Wa Bo fell over and rocked on his back in place, eyes and teeth clenched, still holding his foot. "W-what about kicking to the head, Master?" he whimpered. His right ear was only inches from Jee Sim's left foot.
Jee Sim placed the sole of his slipper over Wong Wa Bo's face.
"Mmmmf! Mfftrrr!"
"It has been a long day in the kitchen, Wa Bo. Do not tempt me." Jee Sim let him up. "Now, go practice. Leave me alone."
That worked surprisingly well, thought Jee Sim, back in his hammock. That just might fit into my Bil Jee form.
The Red Boat performers were all ashore, putting on a show. Jee Sim sat out at the far end of a small point, his back to the water, slowly cooking a pot of noodles over a small fire.
The night was clear and still, the waxing moon overhead.
Jee Sim stirred his noodles, fully present, fully content.
Footfalls, coming closer.
Three men in Imperial Qing uniforms were coming towards him, two huge brutes flanking a smaller man wearing the insignia of a Major, their bearded faces wearing expressions of ill intent.
"Can I help you gentlemen?" Jee Sim enquired. "Some noodles, perhaps?"
The Major stopped a few yards away. The two monsters kept coming until they stood one each side of Jee Sim.
"We have reason to believe a traitor, one of the Shaolin Temple escapees, is nearby!"
Jee Sim shrugged, and continued to stir his noodles.
"On your FEET!" snarled the Major, and signalled to his men to haul Jee Sim to a standing position.
Jee Sim leapt up as the men reached down, then bent forward suddenly at the waist as they reached up again. He grabbed the pot with both hands, lifting, hurling the pot and its contents underarm, straight at the Major's face. He continued to rotate his arms backward striking each of the subordinate thugs in the temple, then down, striking each in the floating ribs. Both fell to the ground, unconscious.
Jee Sim then rushed at the Major, whose freshly acquired noodle headdress made him look like an albino jellyfish had leapt from the water to attack his face. Jee Sim dispatched him quickly with three chain punches.
He was about to run, when he heard more voices on the path. Military honorifics, shouted orders. Keeping his eyes on the three he had just downed, he waded backward into the river and quietly cast himself into a backstroke, heading for deep water.
Later that night, concealed in a secret compartment on one of the Red Boats, comfortable again in dry clothes, Jee Sim reviewed the fight in detail. The manoeuvre with the pot of noodles, and the backstroke, worked very well. That, he thought, can go in my Bil Jee form.
Jee Sim regarded the young man before him.
THIS was Wong Wa Bo, by some accounts the best pole exponent on the Red Boats? This young pup, all youthful overconfidence and eagerness to please, barely old enough to grow a light fuzz on his upper lip?
"All right," said Jee Sim, "Show me your form."
Wong selected the longest and heaviest of the boating poles, and stood it on end beside him. Typical youngster, always trying to impress. Wong handled the heavy pole with surprising poise and dexterity, though even the most ignorant observer would have seen at once that it was far too heavy for him.
Jee Sim watched, silent and stone faced.
"Not bad," He told Wong. "But you need a lighter, more flexible pole." Jee Sim selected a willow pole about eight feet long; too light,short and flexible for poling the boat, but ideal for fighting. Jee Sim took the pole and tried a sudden jut kwun. The end of the pole whipped satisfyingly. "This is what you need ," he told Wong Wa Bo.
Wong Wa Bo laughed loudly.
Against his will, Jee Sim was reminded of a braying donkey.
"Master – always with the jokes. That pole, no strength for blocking, no power for hitting."
Jee Sim sighed. "I'll have to show you, won't I? All right. Assume your fighting stance."
Both men assumed similar stances, weight on the back leg, the tip of each pole pointed at the other man's face.
Jee Sim darted forward, feinting a head strike. Wong Wa Bo parried with a tan kwun and yelled triumphantly, launching a downward bludgeoning strike with the heavy pole, confident of snapping Jee Sim's puny stick of willow.
But Jee Sim parried with a bon kwun, his pole flexing enough to dissipate the force of Wong's blow, the give, and then recoil, unsettling Wong. Jee Sim now swung a horizontal circular strike at Wong's head, delaying just enough to give Wong time to smile patronisingly as he lifted his own pole to where Jee Sim's strike should have been stopped, missing Wong's head by inches.
But inches were not enough. The tip of Jee Sim's pole whipped around Wong's parry, striking Wong behind the ear.
"OWWW!" Wong dropped his pole, clutching his head.
Jee Sim had already whipped the willow pole back overhead, stopping its vibrating tip an inch above Wong's skull.
"How did you hit me, Master?" Wong asked, still tentatively rubbing the new lump on his head.
"The willow pole hit you." Jee Sim rolled Wong's heavy pole, on the deck where Wong had dropped it, away from him with his foot. "That one is for the boat. This one is for you," he told Wong, giving him the willow pole. "No more questions. Practice hard, two days at least, before you come to see me again."
Two days later, almost to the minute, Wong Wa Bo rushed into the galley, where Jee Sim was busy sharpening the knives and cleavers.
"Master! I thought for many hours about your lesson on the flexible pole, and I have invented a new weapon!" Wong was carrying a bundle of thick bamboo sticks, maybe seven or eight in number. He took two by the ends and pulled them apart; the bamboo sections sprung together to form a queue, neither rigid nor flexible.
Jee Sim could see that the bamboo pieces were joined together by strong leather thongs. "And what is this?" he inquired.
"Wong Wa Bo grinned. "I call it the 'articulated pole', Master," he said proudly.
Why me, wondered Jee Sim. "Looks interesting," he said. "How do you use it?"
Wong grabbed the first and third sections in each hand and adopted a stance, giving every indication he was about to start swinging the contraption with all his might.
"STOP!" cried Jee Sim, fearing for the galley, and what he and the crew might do to Wong Wa Bo if it were damaged and their meals affected. "Not in here. We'll go up on deck."
Wong Wa Bo raced obediently ahead, Jee Sim following at a more measured pace, feeling the familiar sense of unease that accompanied Wa Bo's "experiments" and "demonstrations".
Wong had taken up a position in the middle of the deck. Jee Sim took up a position well out of range, and then, once Wong Wa Bo started swinging, twirling and flailing his contraption, a couple more precautionary steps further back.
It was debatable whether Wong or his invention had the upper hand, as both flipped, whipped, and spun for what seemed like a small eternity. Finally Wong stopped, his apparatus wrapping itself around his torso, the far end tapping him on the shin loudly. Wong grimaced for an instant, but hid the pain well. "What do you think, Master?"
You really don't want to know, thought Jee Sim, moving closer. "Attack me with that weapon," he said. "Whatever happens, don't let go."
Wong Wa Bo took a couple of swings of the weapon around his head to build momentum, then let fly with a wild horizontal swing at Jee Sim's head.
Jee Sim stepped inside the arc of the attack, grabbing the outermost two sections with a double larp sao. Using his forearms, his wu sao and intertwining his arms in the interlocking, rapid fire bil jee striking formation taught to him by his Elder Sister, Ng Mui, he quickly tied the multiple sections of the outlandish weapon into a tight, complex knot. An instant's glance at Wong Wa Bo had him still gripping the end of the weapon tightly, as instructed, though the open mouthed expression of incredulity on his face was not in the script.
Jee Sim took a rapid backward step, still holding the knot of bamboo securely. Wong Wa Bo, still holding on tight, pulled back.
Which was what Jee Sim was waiting for. As Wong pulled hard, Jee Sim threw the knot forward, with an underarm motion. Fut sao, he thought.
The knot, moving with the combined force of Wong's tug on the end of the weapon and Jee Sim's throwing motion, shot towards Wong at high speed, striking Wong in the solar plexus and knocking him to the floor.
Je Sim rushed in, assuming the now familiar orientation of looking down on Wong Wa Bo while the latter was supine on the deck, groaning in pain.
"I suggest you persist with the willow pole," advised Jee Sim.
"Yes … urhgh … Master… Thank you."
Jee Sim returned to the galley, picking up another cleaver and the sharpening stone.
That worked pretty well, the double larp sao, the interweaving finger strikes and the fut sao, he thought. That goes in my form.
Late afternoon, and the Red Boats were running with the strong easterly wind, sliding smooth and fast over the water.
Jee Sim was practicing his balance, stance and footwork at the bow of the Heaven Boat, enjoying the roaring silence of the wind in his ears, and the river-scape unfolding before him.
The boat cut a swathe through a school of fish, Jee Sim occasionally glimpsing a silver flash as a larger fish slipped sideways to avoid the keel. But it was the water itself that captivated him, as it bifurcated smoothly around the sharp end of the bow, twin plumes spouting to either side like blades.
As the boat rolled to port, the starboard plume spouted higher, and as it tilted the other way the plume to port became larger.
Jee Sim took up double weighted stance, hips, knees and ankles light and mobile, using footwork to maintain balance as the deck pitched and rolled, moving his stance to face always the higher side of the boat.
That night, they berthed at Xiansi. Next morning, Jee Sim took Wong Wa Bo into a dense forest, an overgrown track leading up a steep hill.
"Where are we going, Master?" asked Wong.
The locals called the place the Forest of Birds. The creatures were all around, some with plumage of breathtaking colours, others with complex, musical songs, still others with enthralling aerobatic skills, bright flashes of colour careening through the trees threatening, but always avoiding, collisions with their fellows.
"There is a disused temple up here, I am told," said Jee Sim. "It may be a good place to practice, away from the eyes of strangers."
Wong followed slowly, staring up into the trees, marvelling at the birds, until they reached a point where the forest rapidly became thicker, the going becoming heavier.
"Come on, Wa Bo." Jee Sim pushed his way through the branches, long and thin, but so elastic and pliable as to be almost impossible to break. Wong caught up, but still paid more attention to the birds than to where he was going.
Jee Sim pushed hard to bend back a particularly tenacious branch; one he was past, it snapped back hard, the foliage catching Wong Wa Bo fair in the face. "AAH!"
"Look where you're going!" Jee Sim told him, but only twenty yards further on, the same thing happened. This time, despite a loudly spoken warning from Jee Sim, Wong caught a branch fair in the stomach, and was knocked to the ground. He got to his feet, looking reproachfully at the Master.
Jee Sim sighed. "Right. YOU lead the way. Think you can manage that?"
Wong, face long and eyes downcast, passed Jee Sim and began pushing forward through the trees. Jee Sim caught the first branch with a tan sao; but he found it difficult to judge the best blocks to use, as they continued up the track. The dense foliage on the branches made it difficult to find a single solid contact point. At times it felt as if he were trying to redirect a swarm of insects.
Then he remembered the previous evening on the boat, and the twin plumes of water arcing away from the boat as it tilted and rolled through the water. What if he used two arms to catch the incoming branch? He imagined himself as the keel slicing though the water, one arm high, the other low. He caught the next branch with ease with a combination tan sao and garn sao; the next he had to intercept near the outer leaves and twigs, using a low bon in front with the high hand held in tan behind to prevent the flexible outer fronds whipping around and hitting him in the face, the same misfortune Wong Wa Bo had suffered in his first encounter with Jee Sim's willow pole.
"Wa Bo," he cried. "Faster!"
Wong picked up the pace, not an easy undertaking in a dense forest. "Are we being followed, Master?"
"No," said Jee Sim using his bon and tan to roll away an incoming branch. "This is good endurance training for you. Come on, fast as you can!" The branches came quicker, but Jee Sim found his double arm blocks were easily keeping up.
Finally they made it through to a clearing, Wong heaving and gasping for breath from his exertions, Jee Sim with the excited and thoughtful expression of one who had made a true discovery.
The temple was small, not much bigger than the home of a poor family. A grinning, rotund statue of the Buddha remained intact, surrounded by broken tiles and animal droppings.
While Wong recovered, Jee Sim grabbed a fallen branch with leaves still intact and methodically swept the area around the statue. When he had finished, he bowed to the statue, joining his left fist and right palm before him.
"Wa Bo! Are you ready to train now?"
"But I thought the run up the mountain…" said Wong, until he saw Jee Sim's expression, all business. "Uh. Yes, Master, I am ready," he said, though his tone of voice indicated otherwise.
"Practise your kick defences." Jee Sim kicked at Wong Wa Bo with a wide variety of kicks, low, high, straight, circular and spinning, concentrating on combinations that would cause Wong to be caught with a blocking hand low when it should have been high, or vice versa. Wong, despite his fatigue from the forest-penetrating push up the mountain, did pretty well, but Jee Sim found he was able to tap Wong's solar plexus, floating ribs, or temple rather more often than he would have liked - and certainly more than Wong would have liked.
"Right. Your turn. Attack me." Wong, trained from birth for the opera, had retained the natural suppleness and flexibility of childhood, and, despite his fatigue, threw a variety of fast and effortless kicks at Jee Sim. Jee Sim stayed close to Wong, smothering his low kicks with counter kicks of his own, or using his knee or shin to redirect them, and using "soft" arms, catching the middle and high gate attacks with his new two arm blocks. He found that by raising his shin as well when necessary, almost any attack could be nullified.
Finally, Wong threw a fast, mid-level round kick that would have levelled an unskilled fighter. Jee Sim, however, stepped inside the arc and took the blow using breathing and shock absorption, catching the blow on the upper arm of his garn sao, the tan sao of the other arm checking the knee so the shin could not complete its follow through and cause damage. He converted the garn sao into a tan, catching Wong's leg in the crook of his elbow, and the other arm from the tan sao to a forearm check on Wong's chest. He then used the circling step that Ng Mui had taught him to open the first form to sweep Wong's supporting leg from underneath him, lifting him up and then dropping him onto the grass.
"OOF!" grunted Wong. Then, "Master, that technique …"
"Up," said Jee Sim. "I'll show you. The first technique, I call the Splitting Block."
Jee Sim demonstrated, and then drilled Wong Wa Bo in its execution. "The palm of the tan sao should be head high. Good. Now I'll kick, you defend."
Once Wong had got the gist, Jee Sim showed him the second technique. "The Rolling Block. Bon sao and tan sao. Keep your elbows and shoulders level."
Before very long, Jee Sim was satisfied with Wong's efforts. "Right, Wa Bo, back we go. This time, I'll go ahead. Use your new techniques to protect yourself from the angry branches of the trees I push out of the way."
Jee Sim raced through the trees, Wong right behind him. Glad I decided to do this on the way down and not the way up, Jee Sim thought.
Wong was panting, but there were no cries of pain from branches to the face like there were going up. It seemed all too soon that the reached the bottom of the mountain, careering into a clearing, leaving the forest behind.
Both men stopped to catch their breath. Jee Sim looked up. There were birds everywhere, colourful, raising a tuneful cacophony, an inarticulate but raucous audience to their achievements.
"Master, are the birds not beautiful?" Wong asked, after they had stood, rapt, for several minutes.
"Indeed they are, Wa Bo," Jee Sim said. All the more so, he mused, after such an interesting and productive day. "Come, back to the boat. I'm inspired to cook a special treat for all tonight."
The next day, once the Boats were out in deep water, well away from prying Qing eyes, Jee Sim asked the Opera performers to come up on deck for a demonstration. He began with the opening movements common to the first two Wing Chun forms, Small Thought and Searching for the Bridge; but then his hands flew in the intricate, curving patterns his Elder Sister had taught him. Fast footwork, crushing elbows, finger strikes flashing in sequence like vipers. Then suddenly, he parried an imaginary blow and dropped to one knee; stood again, split and rolled with his two arm blocks, interweaving a variety of combination kicks; three long, fast backward steps covering the line with fut sao, and then two rapid covering steps forward, followed by rapid fire horizontal finger strikes. A double larp sao, then more vertical jabs with the fingers in interlocking trajectories, and a sudden fold at the waist, the arms leading the torso quickly back to an erect posture, straight into chain punches.
Jee Sim performed the finishing bow. The performers broke into spontaneous cheering.
"This is your new form," Jee Sim announced to the throng. "It is called Bil Jee. I learned it from my Elder Sister, the Shaolin nun Ng Mui, the finest fighter who ever walked the Earth … a Qing Major … and," he said, looking over the crowd, "from one of my students." Once more he bowed.
Early evening. Jee Sim was cleaning the serving bowls.
"Master …"
"Wa Bo. How unexpected."
"Forgive my ungovernable curiosity … but … which student taught you the Bil Jee form?"
Jee Sim chuckled. "Wa Bo, you would not believe me if I told you."
Several hundred miles away, Ng Mui sat, unobtrusive and disguised, in a teahouse not far from Yim Yee's tofu shop. She sorted and cast the yarrow stalks six times, asking the I Ching about the fate of Jee Sim.
Hexagram sixty-three, After Completion. Something had come to an end or a resolution, and all was in harmony. But the lines were all moving lines, sixes and nines.
Great success had been achieved, but each moving line warned of a particular quality that was needed to ensure its continuation.
Right association.
Attention to detail.
Jee Sim, she knew, would act as required in the days ahead.
The resulting hexagram, incorporating the moving lines, was number sixty-four, Before Completion. A new phase, a new time was already beginning. Their life at the Temple was gone forever; but fresh and exciting challenges, with great rewards, lay ahead.
Never had she experienced so supremely auspicious a reading.
"Jee Sim, my brother, still our spirits rise," she murmured, smiling.
[Acknowledgement to Kung Fu Online Wing Chun forum member SunKuen for providing certain ideas]
Copyright © Andrew Nerlich
Sydney, November 2005
1 comment:
My pleasure Andrew, those were fun times way back when!
- 1:54 pm
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Classic Publishing Corporation
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subset: commoncrawl


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Everybody wants to begin their year with a clean plate: fiscal, physical, & mental. But the funny thing about humans is that we set goals, make plans, & forecast the future according to unrealistic expectations. When things don't go according to plan, we label it a failure, discard any possible lessons learned, & move on to the next item on the list. Failure, like most things, is subject to interpretation, though, & how you set up the approach plays a huge part in how you land, if you smell my cologne. A few words can change an impossible target into a tangible milestone, & it can start as early as replacing the word "resolution" with the word "goal."
Nevertheless, good luck on your endeavors & resolutions & always remember to look both ways before you cross your ex.
5. Losing Weight
This resolution reeks of anarchy as soon as you fail to set a specific weight goal. It's the main reason diets without set boundaries rarely work. Instead of resolving to rectify blindly, do a little research as to height:age size proportions, bookmark a numeric target, & don't stop running until you reach the proverbial finish line. Goals are what keeps the players focused on the winning area. If it works for football & Cricket, why wouldn't it work for arm jiggle & manboob?
4. Taking Time To Smell The Roses
Life is short. Real short. So stop looking over what you have to get a glimpse at what you want. (Actually, you have exactly what you want right now, because if not, you would be working harder to get it, no?) Enjoy what you have, no matter what it is. It shouldn't take someone else's being worse off for you to appreciate the blessings & graces, no matter how small they may be. Fuck smelling roses; plant an entire garden & see what happens.
3. Being A Nicer Person
The world is becoming colder & less compassionate by the generation. Saying that you intend to be a nicer person under those circumstances is like openly vowing to wear meat juice as a cologne every time you visit the zoo. On the contrary, I suggest that you intensify your defensive line & find (your particular) God if you need any new friends. Strengthen the bonds that are closest & build from there. If you choose to seek a long lost relative & donate an organ is ultimately your decision, but keep in mind; the Bible says that in "the last days," men will become "lovers" of themselves. That's a biblical selfishness that the average christian may not be able to combat alone. Or, if all else fails, remember the parable of the man & the snake & improvise where necessary.
2. Spending Time With Family
Blood relation is coincidence. & just because you've known someone since you were born doesn't mean you owe them a shoulder to cry nor a dollar for beer. As meaningful & supportive as the right family can be, the wrong one can be equally as destructive & detrimental. Sure, you & *___* grew up together, but that was 15 years ago. *___* is now a hardened criminal with friends you can't trust. While love is definitely thicker than water, I doubt it's strong enough to repel stray slugs or beat court cases. Aside from grandparents, parents, & one's kids, there's nothing wrong with staying away from people that you have no business being around. Time is precious, & it would behoove you to carefully consider who you share yours with.
1. Saving Money
Saving money is one of life's little optical illusions, like objects in the mirror appearing further away than they actually are. It's a lot easier than people think. (The hard part is getting money.) Instead of telling yourself you're going to "save," make a conscience effort to not buy the things you don't need. Whether it's snacks, clothing, cocaine, or even prostitutes, a little bit of frugality – eventually – goes a long way. Does this mean cut out the activity altogether? Absolutely not. But for the sake of trying to achieve something, why not go as hard as you possibly can?


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Wilderness and Park Management
Program Details
- College/University: Vermilion Community College
- Award: Associate of Applied Science
- Credits: 68
- Delivery: Face-to-face where some online courses may be available or required.
- Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Certified
About this Program
The AAS degree in Wilderness and Park Management is designed to provide the academic and experiential background to qualify students for entry level positions in the management of protected lands. The curriculum addresses the history, attitudes, philosophy, legal foundations, and ecosystem and human benefits of protected lands in the United States and beyond. This framework is supplemented by the hands-on skills and certifications necessary for the planning, maintenance and interpretive elements of management.
Classroom Location(s)
- Vermilion Community College 55731


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Linacre welcomes children in most parts of the college and at most events. We provide high chairs for the dining hall, and College members are welcome to bring children for lunches and ordinary dinners.
We do not feel it is appropriate to bring infants or children under the age of 14 to a formal guest night dinner as the emphasis at this event is adult conversation, and often Fellows are bringing guests into College for this purpose. In this environment, even a well-behaved child is a distraction. The Common Room can try to find child-minders if notice is provided.


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Sufism and Theology in the Confessions of Ṣā'in al-Dīn Turka Iṣfahānī (d. 830/1437)
Sufism and Theology in the Confessions of Ṣā'in al-Dīn Turka Iṣfahānī (d. 830/1437)
This chapter discusses Sā'in al-Dīn Turka Isfahānī, whose mystical thought played a formative and fundamental role in the development of later Islamic theosophical doctrines. The focus of this chapter is on Sā'in al-Dīn Turka Isfahān's autobiographical confessions and the impressions pegged on his attitude to Sufism, and on his views on the relation of esoteric Islamic speculative thought to exoteric Muslim theology.
Keywords: Turka Isfahānī, Islamic theosophical doctrines, autobiographical confessions, Sufism, Islamic speculative thought, Muslim theology
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The town meeting was originally scheduled to vote on the budget by either hand or paper ballot. But more than 5 percent of the town's registered voter petitioned for a third referendum, which will decide a nearly $95.4 million spending plan.
That means the town will head to the polls at Newtown Middle School for a third time. Two previous spending plans for both the school and town were rejected.
Town Clerk Cindy Simon said the third vote will likely be May 30.
Residents will decide the final date Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in the Newtown Middle School auditorium. The town meeting will not be used to discuss details of the budget, she said.


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So today marks the release of Pokemon Conquest (June 19). It seems like an alright game, and based off gameplay videos, it seems like it was meant to mimic Fire Emblem games, in the turn-by-turn battle phases. Predictions.... the game seems alright, but when the price drops, I'll be sure to pick up my own copy sooner or later.
Peas. ~homura101~


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Dai-Cast 080 - Derail-o-Cast (or Reverse-o-Cast)
This week on Dai-Cast, it's a surprise! But seriously (Are we ever?) we discuss the recent trend of Butler Cafes catering to young women in Shibuya, new Korean space kimchi, Toshiba robot phones, an HD-DVD exchange program, and the greatest thing Japan will ever produce: Smoke on the Water. All this, along with our usual derailments and ratholes for your listening "pleasure".
- Ian Horner
- Jason Hill
- and Eryn Dearden
- with Special Guest Courtney Hawkeye
- and Brendan Dery as "Beej"
Topics Covered This Week:
- Shibuya Butler Cafes - japundit.com
- Kimchi. In. SPAAAAAACE!!! - nytimes.com
- Toshiba's Robot Phones - engadget.com
- Great Japanese Customer Service - japundit.com
- Smoke on the Water, The Greatest Thing Japan Will EVER Produce - japanprobe.com


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An off-and-on customer of OfficeMax, Mike Seay has gotten the office supply company's junk mail for years. But the mail that the grieving Lindenhurst, Ill., father said he got from OfficeMax last week was different.
It was addressed to "Mike Seay, Daughter Killed in Car Crash."
Strange as that sounds, the mail reached the right guy. Seay's daughter Ashley, 17, was killed in a car crash with her boyfriend last year. OfficeMax somehow knew.
And in a world where bits of personal data are mined from customers and silently sold off and shuffled among corporations, Seay appears to be the victim of some marketing gone horribly wrong.
"I'm not a big OfficeMax customer. And I wouldn't have gone there and said anything to anybody there about it [the car crash]. That's not their business," Seay, 46, told the Los Angeles Times in a phone interview Sunday.


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In the rest of the world, General Motors offers a compact crossover badged as the Chevrolet Captiva. The Captiva is based on the Saturn Vue/Opel Antara architecture but it's got lower trim levels and sold at a significantly lower price. GM has just launched a new base level diesel Captiva in Europe with a 2.0L common rail diesel. The 150hp diesel engine offers up some pretty impressive fuel economy numbers on the EU test cycle. In urban driving the diesel Captive manages 26.7mpg (U.S.) while highway numbers come in at 36.2mpg (U.S.). Here in the U.S. market, of course, we are relegated to the mild hybrid Vue which doesn't come close to those numbers or the diesel torque. The 2.0L diesel is not currently certified for U.S. Tier 2 Bin 5 standards and there are no signs that GM is considering doing so.
[Source: General Motors]
Captiva style - now even better value!
It already has a reputation for offering superb value for money, but the Chevrolet Captiva has just got even more affordable thanks to the addition of a new entry-level diesel model.
At £18,295, the new five-seater Captiva 2.0 VCDi LS is £1,900 cheaper than Kia's base model Sorento, over £2,000 less expensive than the cheapest diesel Nissan X-Trail, and more than £3,500 less pricey than the five-seat Hyundai Santa Fe 2.2 CRTD GSi.
Yet despite the bargain price tag, the latest Captiva doesn't skimp on specification. The new model comes with air conditioning, smart 16-inch alloy wheels, a glass-flip tailgate, electrically-adjustable heated door mirrors, an eight-way adjustable driver's seat, a powerful six-speaker RDS radio/CD player with MP3 socket, steering-wheel mounted audio controls, front, side and curtain airbags, remote control two-stage deadlocking and charcoal-effect roof rails. That's an impressive list of equipment when you look at the price!
The 2.0-litre 150PS common-rail diesel engine powers the front wheels through a five-speed manual gearbox, delivering a combined fuel economy figure of 38.7mpg (43.5mpg extra-urban; 32.1mpg urban). CO2 emissions are 195g/km, and the car accelerates from 0-60mph in 10.8 seconds, with a top speed of 112mph.
The new 2.0VCDi LS model is the latest addition to the Captiva range, which made its debut in the UK last year and has been a significant contributor to Chevrolet's phenomenal UK growth. Chevrolet sales in the UK were up by 27.6 per cent in 2007, and in the first quarter of 2008 showed a further 21 per cent year-on-year increase.
This latest addition to the Captiva family is in showrooms now, alongside the new Aveo supermini and Epica family saloon, both of which are new for 2008 and add further breadth to the rapidly increasing Chevrolet model range.


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23.5% Bodyfat
So here I am… Blogging about my journey to gettin a little bit fitter and leaner. I'm not hard core so I would like to reduce my body fat to 17% FIRST. I wouldn't say I have a time frame, but I think 2 months? Let's see! Just ordered my pre, post and recovery shakes so for now, I make do with whatever I have. It's the same, but I just wanted to add more stuff into my routine like creatine and BCAAs. I do take amino chews before and after my workouts which are really yummy!
It's been a long time. My back surgery has put me off for approx 1 year of physical activity due to the relapse some time during the 7th month. Prior to that, I couldn't workout hard as my back was constantly giving me problems. So here goes!
For those who read this blog, I hope you'll support me in whatever I do and if you want to embark on the same journey, what are you waiting for?
Here's a rough outline… Remember, I am not a qualified trainer or professional lifter. What I do are within my limits and do practice correct technique and posture. If unsure, ask a professional trainer. AND stretch (dynamic / static) wisely before and after workouts and don't forget to do your FOAM ROLL.
Warm up: 3 sets
One leg front and back squats
Plank walks
Workout: 3 sets
1 arm chest press L&R
DB rotate press ups
DB L lift
Wood chopper L&R
One arm push ups (raised)
Leg lift crunch, pull ups
Abs: Till failure… About 15 for me.
Side twist with 6kg
Figure 8
Finish off with semi-handstand push ups 3 x 3 sets, just for fun!
Ok, onto the foods
AM: Bowl of Oat Mix (gluten free) with 1/2 cup yogurt, 1/2 cup milk and scoop of protein.
Post workout: Sunrider NuPlus (high fiber w carbs and very nutritious) + whey + egg white
Snack: peanut butter + brown rice toast
TACFIT: 20 min session – conditioning
Dinner: Stir fry chicken breast + veg (Brussel sprouts, peppers, shrooms, pine nuts)
Snack: milk + fruit
Do note that I am not counting calories here or limiting portions. I eat what I need to fill me up and fuel my muscles. Coconut oil and olive oil are my main sources of fat in this diet and no issues to have rice or wheat toast as carbs.
Carbs are not enemies. You need them.


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* A final deal appears to have been struck by European research ministers over the funding of stem-cell studies with European money. The row has been holding up approval of the Sixth Framework Programme on research.
Ministers have agreed a compromise that will order the European Commission to develop new rules on research using human embryos and stem cells, to be approved by December 2003. In the meantime, Brussels will finance only experiments involving banked or isolated human embryonic stem cells in culture.
Funding will not be provided for research aimed at human reproductive cloning, modifying the genetic structure of human beings or the creation of human embryos solely for research or stem-cell procurement.


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Senkin may be the oldest brewery in Tochigi, founded in 1806, but the current success of the brewery is due to the forward thinking of the 11th generation Usui brothers. Kazuki Usui's motto of "new meets old" has led senkin to stay ahead of the competition by using modern methods while improving traditional practices. Senkin has two main lines to their products, the Modern and the Classic line. The Classic line stays true to their heritage as a brewery with over 200 years of brewing knowledge; while their Modern Line creates innovative, trend-setting brews that modern drinkers have come to acknowledge and appreciate.
Senkin Modern Muku
$63.00Senkin's Signature product. Using locally grown Yamada Nishiki rice. This intense sake has intense perfumes of ripe fruits such as peach and pear, a warm luscious texture, a juicy sweetness and a large flavour profile that has a long finish.Visit product page →
Senkin Modern Kame no O
$69.00Clean perfumed notes of tropical fruits, such as banana, with some peach and pear. Lighter in flavour and texture than Muku, but with a presence, density, elegance and balance that only top grade sake can provide.Visit product page →
Senkin Modern Omachi
$69.00This sake has a sharper nose and a froward flavour. Bouquet of fresh fruit laced with hints of mineral provides a complex nose. A rich rush of fruit unloads on the first sip, with a flavour that tapers gradually. Ripe acidity accompanies by to make a complex & enjoyable drink.Visit product page →


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Power efficiency, storage and solar: An interview with Green Charge Networks CEO Vic Shao
by Solar Server International Correspondent Christian Roselund
Vic Shao is CEO of Green Charge Networks, an intelligent energy storage company based in Silicon Valley. Since 2009, Vic led the company through its US $12 million smart grid project with Con Edison of New York, the US Department of Energy and Fortune 500 companies on a ROI-driven energy storage GreenStation with software intelligence to empower commercial and industrial customers to save on their energy bills.
With more than 15 years experience in software development and complex system implementation, Vic is passionate in applying software to improve power efficiency.
Solar Server: What is the difference between energy efficiency and power efficiency, and why is power efficiency important?
Vic Shao: The situation is that the utilities are spending hundreds of billions upgrading the distribution grid every year. And that is truly how much it costs to maintain our aging infrastructure. The challenge is always the 20 or 30 hours during the peak summer time in the country, to handle that peak capacity.
ConEdison of New York, who has been a key partner and customer for us, their peak distribution grid handing capacity is 13.2 GW, and they hit that peak in the summer of 2011, but they went above 13 GW for 7 hours of the entire year. 8,760 hours there are in a year, they went above 13 GW for seven hours, and they went above 12 GW for 29 hours.
But nonetheless, they have to maintain the grid by spending $2.5 billion a year to do construction and O&M. And that's their grid. So if you multiply that out by all of the number of utilities in the country, you get hundreds of billions of dollars.
Anyway, a lot of that money is spent to handle the peak throughput in the system. And that's what I mean about power efficiency.
The solution to this problem so far has not been that great. There has been demand response, but demand response is a little bit unpredictable. When the utility or the ISO calls a demand response event, they get a response rate of about 65-70%. Which means that out of the customers that have obligated themselves to reduce load, only 65-70% of them go through with it.
And it's unknown ahead of time where those customers will actually reduce demand. In New York, it could happen all the way across town. So the engineering department, the operations guys, they know that it will go down, but they don't know where. So they can't put it into their engineering models of load reduction.
And, not to mention that it is a little bit annoying for the end user. They have to turn things off, they have to suffer the inconvenience. So power efficiency, in my nomenclature, is a better way of doing that, of leveling out the demand peak, with a 100% performance guarantee and without the inconvenience.
That's, as a society, where we need to get to.
And on the economics side of the equation, why is power efficiency more important than energy efficiency, well we have been tracking this for the last several years, and really the data that we have goes back 10 years.
Go through the PG&E, Southern California Edison tariff rates for industrial and commercial users, and plot that out over the course of 10 years, and look at the cents per KWh that those utilities charge, and then look at the dollar amount per kW that those utilities charge over 10 years, and you can see for yourself that the reality of that is that cents per kWh has been trending downwards for about 4% per year, while the cost per KW has been rising by 7% year over year.
So over time, power is what the commercial, industrial end-user is getting penalized for, more and more as time goes on, whereas I think they have a handle on costs per kWh. They can buy it on the market, it is competitively priced, they can install solar. More and more over time, the utilities are jacking up the kW side.
And that's another reason why power efficiency is important.
Solar Server: How do Green Charge's power efficiency solutions work together with renewable sources like solar PV?
Vic Shao: You are aware of the Duck Chart in California?
Solar Server: Oh yes.
Vic Shao: So you are aware that solar is driving down that dip in the afternoon, let's say noon to 4 PM. So right about 5-7 PM or so there's a huge ramp, and that ramp is getting steeper and steeper as time goes on. And that's a problem for California, they can't bring in generation resources fast enough to handle that afternoon ramp when the sun goes down.
I think energy storage is definitely a part of that solution, and in fact, a lot of what we do these days for commercial and industrial customers is to artificially depress that power usage from about 5 PM to 6 PM, when our dollar per kW is still really expensive. In Southern California it is about $37 per kW... so we keep the load low between 5-6 PM to save our customers money.
The ISOs are implementing programs to add incentives for commercial and industrial customers all the way up to 8 PM. And we will naturally be part of that solution as well, so that we can help not only the commercial/industrial end user, but also the ISO and utilities to stabilize that ramp.
Solar Server: Do you expect solutions like GreenStation to be included in the energy storage procurement target that the CPUC has set?
Vic Shao: Absolutely. Southern California Edison, for example, out of 90 MW of procurement targets for this year, 2013, 10 MW is for customer-sited energy storage. Same thing in PG&E territory and SDG&E it is 3 MW out of a total of 20 that they will do this year is customer-sited.
We are absolutely part of that procurement.
Solar Server: To get back to your product, can you talk about how your predictive algorithm software and battery hardware work together?
Vic Shao: The truthful answer is that they work against each other. The software makes the hardware smaller. When we installed our first systems, in late 2011 and the beginning of 2012, we installed a system that was three times as large as it is needs to be today. Because we didn't know what the heck we were doing. Our software wasn't mature, and we were very wasteful in how we manipulated the power loads and using a big battery sledgehammer to do things and not doing it well.
Today, we can tackle the same demand peak with a battery that is 1/3 as large. And the way that we do that is through software. We very accurately predict the way that the loads are going, and we manage the power loads in facilities very well, second-by-second in terms of battery charges and discharges.
So our software is making our hardware side small and keeping the cost down and delivering an economic solution for our customers. We send out 3-5 proposals a week right now; we've got it down to a science, but 90% of the proposals that we send these days have a return on investment of less than 5 years. 25% of them or more have an ROI between 1 ½ and 2 ½ years.
Solar Server: What role do you think energy storage will have in accompanying renewable energy in the United States?
Vic Shao: It's local and regionally specific. Along the coasts in the U.S., California, New York, New England, where the cost per kW is prohibitive, demand charge reduction is the game.
And also in the not-to-distant future, having the ISO implement demand reduction programs for energy storage. All of these things are coming, but the game is demand reduction. Reducing the dollar per kW. In other markets, I will give you Hawaii, you are aware of this yourself. They are starting to not allow for net metering, well, then the objective for energy storage is different.
We are talking to a number of project owners in Hawaii right now, and they are in the middle of a solar installation, and all of a sudden HECO tells them that they can no longer net meter. And they are hopping mad first of all, but second they are trying to figure out how do they make the best of the situation.
The answer is energy storage. Storing up some of the energy that is produced and then using it at another time. So the needs are different.
And in some locations in the U.S., currently today, it's not economic at all. If the dollar per kW is cheap, and the cents per kWh is cheap, it may not make any sense whatsoever.
But again if you look at the bigger picture, the broader picture of tens of billions of dollars spent on the grid every year, there has got to be a solution there where we can do this for a lot cheaper.
My big piece is that we can use a mixture of energy storage and intelligent software, to take the expenses at probably at three to ten times less than we are doing it right now, which is just brute force, more copper in the ground. I think we can get away with something ten times cheaper by using software and energy storage.
Solar Server: In Europe, what you talked about in Hawaii is called self-consumption. Do you see self-consumption market happening anywhere in the United States besides Hawaii, and how much of this do you see in Hawaii?
Vic Shao: You are going to see a lot more of this in Hawaii, and that's purely because HECO has stopped allowing solar projects to be net metered. So it is a very recent change, a recent enactment of the politics around there.
But you are going to see start to see more and more of this in island situations, Puerto Rico perhaps, Virgin Islands, some of these places where they are starting to get very high penetration, and the grid operator doesn't know what to tell people to do with this, except to tell people to stop interconnecting, or net metering.
Solar Server: Anything we didn't cover that you think is important for our readers to know about energy storage and PV?
Vic Shao: Just a whole dynamics of the return on investment (ROI) on the project. What we are finding is that by adding energy storage to solar, a lot of times this makes the solar project more attractive, and pencils out better. Given that the return on investment is less than five years.
A lot of times, we find that adding energy storage to solar projects brings down the ROI of the entire project. And also there are some interesting niche cases.
In PG&E, I'll give you an example, there is the E-19 tariff rate, which a lot of commercial and industrial users above 500 kW are on that, and it is $30 per kW, and solar developers can help a customer switch a E-19 tariff customer to a A-6 rate. A-6 is a solar-friendly rate, and it values electricity at $0.47/kWh, and that's why it is so attractive for solar developers to go in at that rate, but you have to limit the peak load below 500 kW.
And guess what? That's what we do. So by pairing energy storage with a solar project, allows the solar project to be switched on at an A-6. And a project that doesn't pencil out at all at E-19 all of a sudden pencils out great at the A-6 rate.
So there are some pretty special tariff switching opportunities in certain utilities that make the whole economics of the project much better.


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Amboseli lies immediately North West of Mt. Kilimanjaro, on the border with Tanzania. Its wealth of flora and fauna has resulted in the recent designation as an International Bio-sphere Reserve. Amboseli, meaning "Salty Dust" in the Maasai language is an important rangeland for the Masai culture whilst the 'salty dust' itself is volcanic ash from the eruptions of the Mount Kilimanjaro a millennium ago.
Over 53 species of herbivores and carnivores can be viewed with ease, the most conspicuous being the troops of over one thousand elephant who range the plains and wallow the swamps. A number of other unique animals also populate the area including lion, cheetah, giraffes, zebras, buffalo, rhino, wildebeest, gerenuks, impalas, gazelles, hyenas, baboons, bats and about 425 different species of birds.
The Amboseli ecosystem is typical of the open savannah grassland habitats of Eastern Africa, featuring open wooded grasslands, rolling hills and swamplands whilst the presence of Mount Kilimanjaro creates a unique selection of ecosystems found nowhere else on earth. The Amboseli basin is fed by springs that provide a permanent source of water during the dry season, while the river systems north of the basin form a seasonal flood plain that is used by migratory animals during the rainy seasons. Although the region has a relatively low wildlife biomass it supports a greater variety of animals than neighboring Tsavo which is fifty times bigger than the compact but comprehensive Amboseli.
3 Days Amboseli National Park Safari
Day 1: Nairobi/Mombasa - Amboseli
We will pick you up from your City Hotel in the Morning and drive to Amboseli game reserve, game viewing up to lunchtime. Check in at Amboseli Serena Lodge. Have a chance to see Elephants, lions, cheetahs, gazelles, wildebeests, buffalos zebras, warthogs, different birds and of course Mount Kilimanjaro. Dinner and overnight at Amboseli Serena Lodge
Day 2: Amboseli
Spend the whole day in Amboseli with morning and afternoon game drives. Lunch, dinner and overnight at Amboseli Serena Lodge
Day 3; Amboseli -Nairobi/Mombasa.
|Note: Upon your confirmation of safari booking, we shall pick you from your hotel to our offices when you arrive in Kenya for documentation purposes. We shall also pick you from your hotel of residence to the national park(s) and back to your hotel upon completion of the safari


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So it has transpired that in a few short hours, I will have been living and breathing on this planet for half a century. In celebration, I am consuming a last supper of Sauvignon Blanc and a bag of dates. I'm not sure if it's all of that painfully acquired wisdom talking or more than likely the combination of fermented and dried fruits, but I realise that for a few years now I have been tormented by the rather irksome issue of age-guilt.
I've been ecstatically happy and incredibly depressed.
I've been pleased and fulfilled, guilty and ashamed.
I've had peaceful times and VEERY stressful times.
I've been a scantily clad singer in various bands for many years and a mummy in my big comfy jim jams falling asleep into my cup of tea on my nights off.
I have a two Degrees but need to summon the children or husband to help me work out how to turn on the stupid television (Whatever happened to 'on' and 'off'? #toomanyremotes).


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Personal details of Actor Raghuvaran
Raghuvaran was an Indian actor who predominantly acted in movies made in South India. He became famous for his portrayal of villain and character roles in Tamil films. He has acted in more than 150 Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi films. According to the Hindustan Times, \"The actor had carved a niche for himself with his special style and voice modulation.\"
He played the protagonist of a Tamil soap opera, Oru Manidhanin Kadhai, about a well-to-do man who becomes an alcoholic. He received critical acclaim for his role as Father Alphonso in the Malayalam movie Daivathinte Vikruthikal, directed by Lenin Rajendran and based on M. Mukundan\'s novel of the same name.
He was born in 1958 at Kollengode in Palakkad district, Kerala. He was the grandson Mr. N. Radha Krishna Menon and Satyavathy Amma and son of Velayudhan and Kasturi.
He dropped out of his Bachelor of Arts from Coimbatore (Govt. Arts College) to pursue a career in acting. He landed a minor role in the Kannada film Swapna Thingalgal. He began acting in small minor roles in Telugu and Kannada films including a two-minute scene as a rapist in Udaya.From 1979 to 1983, he was part of an acting drama troupe in Chennai, Chennai Kings, which also included the Kannada/Tamil supporting actor, Nassar. He was spotted and cast in a small role in Ezhavathu Manithan which was his biggest role to date.
He was married to the Tamil actress Rohini and has a son with her, Sai Rishivaran. The couple later separated and divorced.
Raghuvaran's substance addictions hampered his career and left him repeatedly visiting rehabilitation clinics.
Following his beginnings on the stage, Raghuvaran turned to film with 1982\'s Tamil film Elavathu Manithan (Seventh Man). He received several state and Filmfare Awards for his performances in Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu films. He began his career as a supporting actor in a number of films in Tamil including Mani Rathnam\'s Anjali as the father of an autistic child. He later played villains in Baasha as Mark Anthony, Mudhalvan as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Shiva and Muthu as Ilaimaran. He later returned to supporting roles - sometimes as a father or as a mentor in films such as Alai, Yaaradi Nee Mohini, Tirumalai and Bala.
He has also acted in a number of Hindi movies, such as Izzatdaar, Shiva, Lal Baadshah, Rakshak and Hitler.
Raghuvaran died on 19 March 2008
His death occurred during the filming stages of several films, apart from Sivaji the boss including the Tamil film, Kanthaswamy wherein Raghuvaran\'s performances were left unused and were replaced with Ashish Vidyarthi, which resulted in the film\'s delayed release.


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Can the 49ers Actually Upset the Cardinals in Week 10?
The San Francisco 49ers are riding a seven-game losing streak and have to visit the playoff-desperate Arizona Cardinals in Week 10. Despite the odds, can the Niners actually pull off some sort of upset?
The sensible answer is no — the San Francisco 49ers aren't going to beat the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.
NFL Spin Zone 6h
NFL Week 10: Survivor Pool Stone Cold Locks
More headlines around FanSided:
9h – 2017 NFL Mock Draft: Early Trade Blitz Seeks Pressure14h – San Francisco 49ers: Full-Tiered Breakdown of the 53-Man Roster1 d – 5 Players Who the 49ers Should Give More Playing Time1 d – 49ers Get Tim Williams in With the First Pick's Mock NFL Draft1 d – 5 Pros and 5 Cons of Head Coach Chip Kelly Leaving the San Francisco 49ers
There's a reason Odds Shark is listing Arizona as a 13.5-point favorite over the Niners right now. Even with the Cardinals' shocking 3-4-1 record (raise your hand if you predicted that this season), the margin between these two teams is about as wide as it gets.
San Francisco is riding a seven-game losing streak. The defense has allowed seven consecutive 100-plus-yard rushers dating back to Week 2. And the Niners offense, about as inconsistent as it gets, seems to be no match for an Arizona defense allowing the fewest all-purpose yards in the league (2,376).
But what if the 49ers won?
It's more than a stretch. Such a prediction is almost fantasy at this point. Yet what factors would go into a San Francisco Week 10 victory?
Let's take a look at what the Niners would need to do here.
The 49ers Run Defense
San Francisco's chances are going to come down to the running game. And it isn't as if we haven't heard that before.
Cardinals running back David Johnson torched the Niners for 157 yards and two touchdowns the last time these two teams met earlier this season. He's fourth in the NFL in total rushing yards (705) and will likely dominate the 49ers' last-place run defense.
So how do the 49ers stop him?
Factor in defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey, who received a heavy dose of snaps against the New Orleans Saints last week. His work there placed Dorsey as the team's best interior defender against the run, per Pro Football Focus.
That might help on interior runs. But Johnson gets to the outside as good as anyone. So, the next best way is going to be keeping him off the field.
A Slow-and-Steady Rushing Offense
Slow and steady, in terms of tempo. Not actual speed.
Week 10 mandates head coach Chip Kelly move away from his uptempo offense. If the Cardinals defense has one weakness, it's defending against the run. Arizona is 16th in the league, with 817 yards allowed on the ground. It's no mismatch, but the situation is about the only one in which Kelly's offense may have a slight edge.
No. 1 tailback Carlos Hyde (shoulder) remains questionable. But backup tailback DuJuan Harris might be a factor. Let him be one.
And don't get into the desire to hurry up to the line and run the next play in breakneck fashion. San Francisco needs to give its defense a rest. It's the best way to keep Johnson off the field.
Get WR Quinton Patton Involved
Let's face it, No. 1 wideout Torrey Smith isn't going to be much of a factor. And he'll be matching up with Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson most of the game.
With defensive back Tyrann Mathieu primarily operating out of the slot, quarterback Colin Kaepernick should try to target wide receiver Quinton Patton as much as possible.
Patton will be lining up against cornerback Marcus Cooper, who actually leads Arizona with three interceptions. But PFF has given him a 50.0 grade on the season. It's "feast or famine" for Cooper, and taking chances on him is likely the only way Kap will be able to effectively move the ball through the air.
Negate Chandler Jones & Markus Golden
Cardinals edge defenders Chandler Jones and Markus Golden have combined for 11 sacks on the season. They'll be prime weapons for Arizona's defense against the passing game.
In short, there isn't much of a way to simply stop these two. Kaepernick will have to get the ball out quickly and avoid the pressure he'll likely face.
That's not one of Kap's strengths, unfortunately, but short passes and factoring Harris into the receiving game might help keep the Cardinals' front-seven defense honest.
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- 5 Pros and 5 Cons of Head Coach Chip Kelly Leaving the San Francisco 49ers1 d ago
- The 49ers Will Be a 10-Loss Team After 11 Games in 20161 d ago
Even if the 49ers manage to pull off these elements to satisfactory results, the Niners will likely lose anyway.
It would take a herculean, mistake-free effort from San Francisco to merely keep this game competitive, let alone walk away with a win.
Maybe that's all we should wish for right now — an entertaining game. Signs aren't pointing in this direction, and we'll likely see yet another blowout.
But perhaps there's a chance. There's always a chance.


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Anonymous, 11 Jan 2010can gsmarena.com make a review with this phone?
tnxDoes this Samsung also have limited SMS storage? I have Samsung s5230 and I can have only 500 SMS (200 Inbox, 200 Sent and 100 Drafts).
Thank you!
shelly, 20 Dec 2009no...this function is nt in b3410...on your request i played a song first,and then dialled...t... moreHi Shelly, did u try to open YOUTUBE... coz i saw few comment wherein people were unable to open YOUTUBE
I came acroos a comment wherein a person is unable to open YOUTUBE. Is tht true. and people i need your feedback for the keypad...
We all want a review! It will be a very popular review! Gsmarena, hear us please!
juz bought one...still trying to explore it lol.
but still,,, it's pretty cool to use.
Its a good phone. Nice camera results even at night, the full qwerty sliding keyboard is a BANG! It has threaded SMS too. Only downer is that it doesnt have WIFI or 3G. But for a budget-oriented individual, this phone will do. But i would strongly suggest getting the Samsung Corby PRO instead.
Only two themes are available. Black and Cartoon.
Speaker is not so good.
But the 3.5MM stereo headset jack is a two thumbs up!
k.... kool phone but lak of theams n facebook is not a app but just a book mark but im satsified by dis phone
i have gprs on m phone,google,yahoo etc sites open but am unable to access hotmail on it.Pl help!
This phone is not worth your money.. It would be better to buy the Corby Pro. The phone's camera is decent. But the FB and Twitter are not apps but just bookmarks in the widget menu. Whereas they are apps in the Corby pro. So not much fun.. The keyboard is good for texting and that's about it. There aren't many games built for this phone either. You can't find any on Samsung's site. Quite a dull phone..
saw it and had to have it. was lead to believe it wud voice dial, it does'nt. canera not as good as previous samsung. good looking phone, somewhat disappointing performance.
Really HARD to FIND this model on GSMArena.com
The model no. is GT-B3410, known as "Scrapy" too.
Aakhil, 08 Jan 2010Can any1 say is dis a gud fone
does dis fone has smile detection
sound effects wid nd wido... moreNo there is no face detection feature in this fone.
but ya....... camera result is quite good.
there is no any facility of themes in it..........
Can any1 say is dis a gud fone
does dis fone has smile detection
sound effects wid nd widout handsfree
abt slide functions and all features
i was told the phone as wifi but it does not and i downloaded navitime world but it said java error
Can anyone help me please? Im pulling my hair out trying to find out about getting youtube on this handset as i bought it for my partner for xmas purely for that reason and cant seem to get it to work. Ive been told it may not work as its a 2G phone but the tocco lite is 2G and can play youtube fine. Please help , thanks in advance....


text: Many people suffer from jaw joint pain, headaches, and neck aches. These can be related to the TMJ (temporomandibular joint) dysfunction. Many times we are able to eleviate the symptoms by making a splint or device which is worn full time or nightly, depending upon the case. To help with the diagnosis, we place the patient on a Tens Unit which is a device that stimulates the affected muscles and will relax those muscles into a position of proper function.


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Well, I didn't win the holiday, but I was one of the finalists in the White Stuff postcard competition. You can see the winner, and the other finalists here on White Stuff's blog.
You needed to send in a postcard of a favourite summer memory, and I wrote about and scrapped a postcard of last year's camping trip, our first in our lovely campervan, Toyah. As I love White Stuff labels, I have a few hoarded away, and was able to utilise one on the postcard.
Here's a photo of the postcard with the front photo and the White Stuff tag showing.
And here it is with top photo raised. Sorry for the fuzzy focussing.


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Mini Review - Snatched
- Details
- Created on Sunday, 14 May 2017 17:25
- Written by Matthew Toomey
Snatched (out May 11) features Goldie Hawn and Amy Schumer as a mother-daughter combo who are kidnapped while on holiday in Ecuador. There's a crudeness to the comedy that works but the overall narrative isn't particularly interesting. Grade: B-.


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There are several events that are coming up where our PTO needs volunteers. Please consider giving some of your time to help out Clover Ridge! Times ranging from 30 minutes to 2 hours are available. Click on the link below for more information.
CRE Dance and Carnival – Thursday, November 9


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Time to leave the relative safety of the press tent and head out to see what this amazing-thing-U2-are-doing-with-the-Pyramid that everyone keeps talking about, is.
Will try and blog from the phone, if I can. If not, see you tomorrow.
Friday, 24 June 2011
1 comments:
If you're too busy blogging about it, you're not going to see it and then we won't know what it was. Blog after it's over ya nut.
- 24 June 2011 at 22:44
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


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Schlegel-UW Research Institute for Aging
250 Laurelwood Drive
Waterloo, ON N2J 0E2
Phone: 519-904-0660
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Murray Alzheimer Research and Education Program (MAREP)
Alzheimer's disease and related dementias are a world-wide phenomenon that ignores social class and national boundaries. As age is the greatest risk factor for the development of Alzheimer's disease, more and more individuals will be diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias as the population ages.
At the present time there is no known cause or cure for Alzheimer's disease. As the search for an effective treatment continues, it is important that people who have Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia receive the best care possible and are provided with support and opportunities to live meaningful lives.
To implement effective approaches for care of people living with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, contemporary research findings need to be brought to the attention of all partners in care including people with dementia, family members and friends, health care professionals, and so forth. The converse is true as well in that effective approaches to care need to be brought to the attention of researchers.
The Murray Alzheimer Research and Education Program (MAREP) is an innovative program that adopts a partnership approach and integrates research and educational activities in an effort to improve dementia care practices in Canada and around the world.
In fall 2018, MAREP moved its home base from the Faculty of Applied Health Sciences at the University of Waterloo to the Schlegel-UW Research Institute for Aging (RIA). See MAREP to join Research Institute for Aging.
- Nov. 5, 2018MAREP website moving to the Research Institute for Aging
This fall, MAREP moved its home base from the Faculty of Applied Sciences at the University of Waterloo to the Schlegel-UW Research Institute for Aging (RIA). As part of the transition, content on the MAREP website will be moving over to the RIA website at the end of this month.
- Nov. 12, 2018Mediterranean diet may reduce impact of Alzheimer's
A growing body of research indicates that the Mediterranean diet can slow the rate of cognitive decline and reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease, among other physical health benefits.
- Nov. 12, 2018Living with dementia and comorbid chronic conditions reduces quality of life
Most people with dementia are also living with one or more chronic physical conditions, such as hypertension, diabetes or depression. Investigators in the United Kingdom explored the effect of these comorbidities on quality of life.
- July 25, 2017Canada's National Dementia Strategy
Last month, Bill C-233, an Act respecting a national strategy for Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, sponsored by the Honourable Rob Nicholson and Rob Oliphant, was passed. Canada will be the 30th country out of 194 members of the World Health Organization to implement a national dementia plan.
- June 6, 2017To the Nurse Who May Care for Me Today
Hi I am your assignment for today.
I know I am just one of many but I ask you to please take the time to know me. You see I once was also a nurse. That really doesn't matter as I am a human being. I come with an education and feeling. I am also a wife a mother, a grandmother and more. Please take the time to read my chart as you can gain much knowledge about me before you ever meet me. In it you will find my medical history, this may give you a glimpse of what to expect from me. It will tell you what is being treated now. Know full well that, that may not be my only problem.
- May 2, 2017Ontario Dementia Advisory Group e-newsletter, April 2017
A Letter from the Chair
Hello, ODAG Members, Friends, and Supporters.
The last two months have been very interesting for people living with dementia. It is a time of policy changes, budget allocations and the broadening of the Council of Canadians with Disabilities to formally include people living with dementia.


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Congratulations to our Fielders of the Week for the past two weeks, Zak and Chevrolet. Our value focus for this fortnight was enthusiasm.
- Zak for the enthusiasm and confidence you showed attempting all activities on camp. What a superstar!
- Chevrolet for the enthusiasm you demonstrate towards each and every activity we complete in class. What a superstar!


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Uniform Guidance for Parents
We are very proud of our distinctive uniform which is available exclusively through John Lewis PLC either online or at their Westfield, Stratford Branch.
Summer uniform is worn from the beginning of the Summer Term (April – July). Winter uniform is worn at all other times.
All clothing, including socks, shoes and sports kit, must be clearly marked with the owner's name. No jewellery is permitted. Long hair must be tied back with purple, white or black hair accessories.
Parents may be interested to know that the Parent Teacher Association runs nearly new uniform sales on a regular basis.


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Here at The Real Mary King's Close we pride ourselves in telling the real social history of the Old Town of Edinburgh in a truly unique and historic environment. The combination of our costumed character guides and the intriguing real stories of the site bring Edinburgh's fascinating past to life.
We offer:
– 1 free teacher/adult place with every 10 children
– Educational pack developed in partnership with Arts & Creative Learning, City of Edinburgh Council
– Preferential school rates
– Option for take away packed lunches
To book your School Visit contact Marta on email@example.com or call +44 (0)131 225 0675.
We have also teamed up with Edinburgh Museums & Galleries and National Museum of Scotland to offer an additional experience.
After your visit to The Real Mary King's Close, school groups can be guided to the museum of your choice, by your very own character tour guide based on a one time resident. All included in your standard admission price.
This opportunity is available for:
The National Museum of Scotland
Expand your students' horizons and enrich classroom teaching with the help of the incredible collections and engaging programmes. If you would like to book this option, you can book your visit to the museum using this form.
The Museum of Edinburgh
This is the City's treasure box – a maze of historic rooms crammed full of iconic objects from the Capital's past.
The Writers Museum
The Writers' Museum celebrates the lives of three great Scottish writers – Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson.
Museum of Childhood
Young pupils can enjoy seeing this collection of national importance and compare their childhood to those that have gone before.
City Art Centre
Home to a nationally recognised collection of Scottish art and host to inspiring touring exhibitions.
The People's Story Museum
Explore the lives of Edinburgh's ordinary people at work and play from the late 18th century to today.
For enquiries, bookings and prices, please contact Marta Coco at email@example.com or call +44 (0)131 225 0675.


text:
I would strongly discourage an individual from going straight to a particular pay day Human Resource Department for tons of certifications and other company-related documents. This story is very similar to the last one, they ridiculous charges, which is why it is important to select a reputable lender. Please visit us to find a detailed overview of online loan amount and the fee that the loan provider charges. Another significant argument put forward
The Sole Base Of Approving The Loan Is That The Borrower Is In A Regular Employment Getting A Fixed Monthly Salary.


text:
Are you struggling to get your message across online or in print?
Do you have a great idea for a blog or article that is crying out to be put into words?
Do you need someone to cast a friendly and professional eye over your writing?
Im a freelance writer, editor and proofreader with a passion for clear communication and client satisfaction. With experience in everything from sportswriting to transcription, I offer a range of services specifically designed to help you get the most from your content. When you hire me youll be getting a professional and approachable freelancer who is committed to delivering on time and in budget.


text:
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Real Fighting
Adrenaline Stress Conditioning
Through Scenario-Based Training
Peyton Quinn
In his best-selling book, A Bouncer's Guide to Barroom Brawling, Peyton Quinn shared hard-won wisdom and proven techniques culled from his years of combat experience as a bouncer. In Real Fighting, he takes it to the next level, showing the culmination of developing an effective self-defense training program based on his real world experience.
Although nothing is certain in a real
fight, the flow of adrenaline into the bloodstream is
one thing you can absolutely count on. From start to
finish, how you handle this biochemical response
determines victory or defeat.
Quinn reveals how you can learn to control the adrenaline rush and channel it effectively to either shut down an opponent and avoid fighting altogether or use it to aid you if the encounter goes physical.
Peppered with colorful war stories, Real Fighting presents the bottom line on what it takes to escape intact from any violent encounter. Quinn provides insight into controlling fear and avoiding the "choke" response, the ideal combat mindset, the essential cowardice of bullies, why the karate guy often fears the boxer, how weapons fit into the picture and more.
This book is about coming face-to-face with your fear -- and realizing your potential to overcome it.
Real Fighting: Adrenaline Stress Conditioning Through Scenario-Based Training (Paladin Press) 1996, 175 pages, ISBN 0-87364-893-5
Softcover, Item# Brealfighting
Book -- $20 Retail $22
Order Now!
Reviews of this book include:
First, I must say, that I am sorry I did not read this book years ago. And, I wish such a book was in print in the 1970's when I began my search for realistic self-defense training.<
The author's philosophy of training for real life encounters is extremely accurate. Although, it is not supported by scientific research, such as the book by Bruce Siddle Sharpening the Warriors Edge a book designed for police training in lethal encounters. Yet, Quinn basis this concept on practical experience and a realistic understanding of what truly takes place during a fight. Which is very refreshing in today's world of unrealistic mythical martial arts that make fictitious claims about there style of self-defense ability.
The concept is simple, inoculate the mind and body to the effects of stress (FEAR) created adrenaline; to overcome the effects so as to prevail in any given self-defense situation. To create this level of skill one must train under circumstances as close to realistic as possible. This means actual hand to hand combat at close to full force and power as one can safely accomplish.
As the author states, and I agree 100%, boxing is as close and as realistic of a form of training for this process of inoculation yet, most people do not have the time or the desire to submit to the practice necessary to achieve the goal. So, Quinn has designed a system of training that achieves a level of competence that is sufficient to meet the desired goal.
The Law Enforcement community formally realized this about 15 years ago with the dynamic scenario (RED MAN) training. Although, police academies for years prior had required cadets to box or wrestle full contact. That is before the politically correct individuals got involved and said that women officers should not have to fight the men officers, and that this is a kinder gentler society. So, no one in police academies have boxed or trained at full contact now for over 20 years. No wonder, there are so many lawsuits filed against police agencies for excessive and unlawful use of force! The officers were not given the proper training and inoculation to this adrenaline stress so, they over react. I digress only to make a point of fact in reference to this concept of training.
The book maintains a practical view of self-defense. That is, situational awareness and perception of a threat and then avoidance of said threat is the best technique. Avoidance and preemption is always the best strategy.
One must achieve the proper mindset and mental preparation before any technique can be effective. The individual must be conditioned to control and channel the effects of fear and the adrenaline stress that follows it. Once this is accomplished the individual can now concern himself with the physical skills and techniques of hand to hand combat. Without this conditioned response to the adrenaline stress, all else is useless.
Buy the book and include this type of training into your self-defense program. This book is for all people interested in self-defense programs that need to be effective, including police and military, martial art instructors, firearms instructors, and the citizen who accepts responsibility for their own safety and security. -- Anthony Cataldo, Jupiter, Florida
Although the mental image of Petyon driving a
covered wagon instead of his customary Harley,
entertains me to no end, I will -- with all seriousness
-- say that the man is a pioneer in the field of adrenal
stress training. In both the close-quarter-combat and
shooting worlds the man's work has had a profound impact
in training people for the realities of violence. An
influence that scientific research is only now catching
up with to show that Peyton had his finger on the
subject's pulse all along. Peyton has a unique gift in
his ability to take extremely complex and subtle
factors, condensing them and conveying them in simple,
precise terms. The man can, in a paragraph, map out
something that takes most professionals years to learn.
Short, concise and to the point, if you are an instructor, he will direct you into fields that you must study in order to fully understand the subject, much less teach it. If you are out in the field, he'll give you the basic tools you will need -- and their application -- to get the job done. In doing this he will introduce you to wide spectrum of emotional, physical and psychological issues you will encounter if, and when, you find yourself involved in conflict and violent situations. Factors that he personally understands and can articulate from having been there himself. This is one ol' dawg that is well worth listening to, he knows of which he speaks. -- Marc MacYoung
Don't forget to check Package Deals for extra savings!
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A Bouncer's Guide to Barroom Brawling
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Experience- & Reality-Based Self-Defense
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Ending Violence Quickly
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Dead Or Alive
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Pool Cues, Beer Bottles and Baseball Bats
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Real World Self-Defense
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Championship Streetfighting
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Combat Sanshou: Striking
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Secrets of Effective Offense
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Fighting Dirty
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- Public Engagement + Involvement
Public Engagement + Involvement
- Research + Education
- News Archive
- About
Published on: 5th September 2017
Childhood chest infections needing hospital care may have dropped by as much as 20 per cent since anti-smoking laws were introduced, new research suggests.
The findings add to previous evidence that tobacco control policies are associated with reductions in hospital admissions for asthma attacks among children and have also helped to cut rates of premature births.
Experts say the latest study – which includes data from more than 57 million births and 2.7 million hospital admissions – offers the most complete analysis so far of the positive impact that tobacco control policies are having on children's health worldwide.
Researchers led by the University of Edinburgh and the Erasmus University Medical Centre (Erasmus MC) in the Netherlands combined data from 41 studies from North America, Europe and China where tobacco control policies have been introduced.
Figures suggest that rates of children needing hospital care for severe chest infections have fallen by more than 18 per cent since anti-smoking laws were introduced.
In line with earlier research, the study estimates that severe asthma attacks have fallen by almost 10 per cent while the number of babies born premature has dropped by around four per cent overall.
Raising taxes on tobacco products may also have improved child health, the researchers say, but the findings were less conclusive.
About half of all children globally are regularly exposed to tobacco smoke.
Children who breathe second hand smoke are more prone to serious chest infections such as pneumonia and bronchitis. They are more likely to develop asthma and attacks can be more severe, needing hospital care.
Babies of mothers who smoke during pregnancy have a higher chance of being born early, which exposes them to health complications in later life.
The global economic cost of health complications from tobacco use is estimated to be around USD$1.4 trillion.
The study, published in The Lancet Public Health, was funded by the Chief Scientist Office of Scotland, The Farr Institute, the Netherlands Lung Foundation and the Erasmus Medical Centre.
Dr Jasper Been, of the Erasmus Medical Centre in the Netherlands, said:
"Our study demonstrates that children's health benefits substantially from smoke-free laws and raising tobacco prices. To protect the health of some of the most vulnerable members of society, implementation of such tobacco control policies should be accelerated across the globe. The effectiveness of additional strategies also needs to be evaluated."
Professor Aziz Sheikh, Director of the University of Edinburgh's Usher Institute and the Asthma UK Centre for Applied Research, said:
"Our evaluation provides compelling evidence of the considerable impact of tobacco control policies on child health. This work should spur governments to take action to implement tried and tested policies – strongly advocated by the World Health Organization – to reduce second-hand smoke exposure and improve a range of important health outcomes in infants and children."
Effect of tobacco control policies on perinatal and child health: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Faber, Timor et al. The Lancet Public Health , Volume 2 , Issue 9 , e420 – e437
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S2468-2667(17)30144-5
For more information please contact:
Jen Middleton, Press & PR Office, University of Edinburgh
Tel +44 131 650 6514; Mob +44 7795 640662; Email firstname.lastname@example.com
David Drexhage, Press Office, Erasmus MC,
Tel +31 10 7033289; Email email@example.com


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- Rs. 12,50018 Nov 2018
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Shops (7) for salee in Badar Market Near Kasae Chowk tench bazaar.Rawalpindi, PakistanRs. 7,600,00028 May 2015
Gulraiz for commerciel use houses ph 1to6Rawalpindi, PakistanRs. 1,500,00018 Mar 2015


text:
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- More potential homeowners are being priced out of the housing market. The home opportunity index fell to record low 41.0 in the fourth quarter, meaning that families with the median household income could qualify to buy just 41% of the homes sold during the quarter, the National Association of Home Builders said Thursday. In the third quarter, the home affordability index was at 43.2; a year ago it was 52.0. The most affordable market was Indianapolis, where families with the median income could afford 88.7% of homes sold. In Los Angeles, the median income qualified buyers for just 2.3% of the homes sold.
Have breaking news sent to your inbox. Subscribe to MarketWatch's free Bulletin emails. Sign up here.


text:
Concerned with the rising propensity of banks for foreign currency borrowings through foreign lines of credit and Eurobonds, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has put measures in place to avoid over exposure that could threaten the stability of the financial system.
The essence, according to a circular released on Monday, is to ensure that the associated risks are well managed as well as avoid losses that could pose material systemic challenges.
According to the circular signed by Tokunbo Martins, director, banking supervision, CBN, the new prudential guideline directs that henceforth, aggregate foreign currency borrowing of a bank excluding inter-group and inter-bank (Nigerian banks) borrowing should not exceed 75% of its shareholders' funds unimpaired by losses.
The guideline also states that the new 75% limit supersedes the existing 200% specified in Section 6 of the guidelines for foreign borrowing for on-lending by Nigerian banks issued on November 26, 200.
The net open position (long or short) of the overall foreign currency assets and liabilities taking into cognisance both those on and off-balance sheet should not exceed 20% of shareholders' funds unimpaired by losses using the gross aggregate method, the apex bank stated in the guideline.
Banks whose current NOP exceed 20% of their shareholders' funds are required to bring them to prudential limit within six months and are required to compute them on monthly basis.


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Barrow take on Lincoln on Tuesday 23rd January, 2017, with kickoff at 19:45. This match is currently being shown LIVE on BT Sport 1.
As far as the National League goes, this is a pretty epic clash between two teams with a lot to play for in the coming months. Lincoln are top of the table at the time of writing, with a four point gap and two games in hand over Forest Green in second, and Barrow aren't far off the pace themselves sitting as they do sixth, twelve points back on today's opponents.
Unfortunately for Barrow, they've not won in five and have lost their last three games, making this an unlikely scene for a victory against the odds if you go by the form book.
Barrow v Lincoln is LIVE on BT Sport 1.


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With a party date set and the days counting down i set out to sort out Cub – H's Cake. Now i knew we had a few guests with intolerances and i would hate to exclude them. So the challenge was on!
He didn't have a specific shape cake in mind (phew!) but of course a Batman cake was the request. Now i contemplated going with batman logo shapes and black tinted icings or fondants but nobody wants a completely black cake right?
But there had been a cake i had been wanting to try for a while – now at the moment rainbow layer cakes are all the rage – but unfortunately i had made this for Cub-H's 2nd birthday ( did i mention I'm always ahead of trends?? hehe) so that was not an option.
So i researched around for piñata cakes. There were many different examples out there in cyber space – some impressive ( we are talking tempered chocolate domes and gold leaf) and some not so impressive. I researched and researched and then…… i looked a little bit more for a happy medium between disaster home made and amazing but stressful.
I wanted to avoid the chocolate dome type piñata cake as March in WA can be near on 40 degrees!
I did note however, that many cakes with the simple hole cut out the middle didn't get that avalanche of lollies when the first slice was pulled out.
I wanted that avalanche ….
I wanted it to look like 300,000kg of sweets were falling out of the cake. More investigating took place…..
My findings found out that three layers were needed at least ( 4 if you wanted a taller cake would be even better) but the key was that the bottom layer must have the whole cut out too, not just the middle layers!
So for my 3 layers – 2 would have holes in them ( looking like HUGE doughnuts) and the top one would be a normal full cake. Easy. right? hmmm….
I decided to use the Magic Bean cake for the Thermomix, made with Pulses ( i.e.. kidney beans, cannelloni beans etc) it was nut free, gluten free yet still so moist that people without diet restrictions would have no idea! plus the kids were getting a whole pile of protein and a lot less sugar ( well in the cake at least!)
Cake made it was time for construction – as i did with the rainbow cake i cut my holes out and then popped the layers in the freezer – well wrapped these would stay moist until party day ( a great tip – you can bake your cake and freeze it so its one less thing to do the day before, plus in the summer here icing a frozen cake means your icing is not so soft) i always freeze test new cake recipes and this one did not fail to deliver, defrosted it was still beautifully fresh and moist.
Here is my cake two layers up filled with smarties and freckles and a cake crumb icing layer – it was surprising how few chocolates it took to fill but how impressive it looked!
Top layer going on and the cake crumbing complete – off to the fridge to set.
Finally the 2nd coating of the blue buttercream and the decorations – for this i had used some of his batman lego figurines ( some say its cheating – i say intelligence!)
I also make a batman logo out of black and yellow fondant to pop on top of the cake for solid "batman-ness"
The cake was a huge success!
For cub-H who didn't know of the hidden surprise and for Papa-fox who may have forgotten about the hidden chocolates!
All in all i love this cake and I'm just a bit tempted to make a version of it for Cub-M's 2nd carnival birthday coming up.
Who doesn't love chocolate cake FULL of sweets right?
J x