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If you have a rewards-based credit card, or are thinking of applying for one, you likely know about the various standard perks that are offered. The most well-known of these rewards include cashback for buying certain goods, and points you can use to "shop" through catalogs.
But some credit card companies are going a bit further. Read the fine print on your rewards card and you may find an unusual perk that could save you money. Below are some of the lesser-known perks that we've found that, while sometimes uncommon, are extremely useful. Many people don't even realize that their card provides some of these benefits, so it's worth checking to see if you can avail of any of these bonuses so you stop paying for things you don't need to.
1. Get Reimbursed if Your Trip Is Delayed
As we all know, many credit cards come with various travel perks; you can earn miles (as long as you keep track of them), save on rental cars, and get insurance when you're traveling for business or pleasure. But did you know that some cards will reward you if your trip is delayed? With trip delay reimbursement, if you book a flight using your credit card and that flight is delayed overnight (or longer), you'll be reimbursed for hotel stays, extra travel expenses, or even the food you bought while waiting.
2. A Free Extended Warranty
It's a funny truth of life: buy an extended warranty, and you'll never use it. Skip it to save money, and whatever you bought will need repaired as soon as the standard warranty ends. You may feel like you can't win, but you might have won already if you're carrying the right credit card.
Some credit cards offer automatic extended warranties (up to a year or more) on purchases you make with the card. If you have a problem, and can't get assistance through the basic warranty, your credit card company will replace, repair, or reimburse you for the item.
3. Automatic Price Matching
If you've ever bought something in a store and then seen it online for less, you know the importance — and frustration — of comparison shopping and savvy timing. But even with a ton of research, you still might find a lower price after you've made a purchase.
Enter Citi Price Rewind. With this perk, purchases you make on your Citi card are tracked automatically. If the same item is found at least $25 lower within 30 days of purchase, you'll be reimbursed the difference, according to Citi.
4. Make Big Purchases Interest-Free
If you're a member of the Coastal Federal Credit Union, you'll get the option to forgo interest charges on big single purchases for up to six months with the Big Ticket Card. Better yet, the interest doesn't accumulate during that time. After the six months is up, you'll only pay interest on the remaining balance going forward.
5. Give Back to Charity Automatically
Some credit card companies help you support the charities that are important to you. For example, with the World Wildlife Fund Card offered by Bank of America, the charity receives $5 for every newly activated card, .25% of every net retail purchase, and another $5 for every year a card is renewed, according to the bank.
6. Cell Phone Replacement Without the Insurance
Cell phones are expensive and fragile. You can get third party cell phone insurance to repair or replace your damaged device, but the monthly premiums aren't cheap, and you may end up paying more than you would have spent replacing your broken phone. It's a gamble, and one you might not have to take if you're carrying certain credit cards.
Some credit card companies offer cell phone protection. If you bought your device or pay your bill with your credit card, the company will repair or replace your phone if it's damaged, lost, or stolen. You'll have to pay a deductible, but you won't have a monthly premium to deal with.
7. Get Cashback at the Register
Most grocery stores, drugstores, and other retailers will give you cashback at the register if you make a purchase. It saves you a trip to the ATM, but it typically only works with debit cards — unless you're carrying an eligible Discover card. Discover's Cash-Over program lets you get cash back at retailers with your credit card, without any added fees. However, your normal APR applies.
8. Extended Return Times
One of the best things about holiday shopping is the extended return times offered by retailers. Shopping is a lot easier when you know you have 60 days or more to return something if it doesn't work out. For most of us, that perk only comes once a year. But some credit card companies offer to refund your purchase if you didn't get to return the item by the store's deadline. The purchase must have been made with your credit card and it must be in new condition.
9. Wish Fulfillment
While it isn't quite as good as having your own genie in a bottle, you may be able to choose your own reward if you're carrying a Citi card. Citi customers can log on to ThankYou.com to see a host of pre-selected rewards to spend their accrued points on. But if you can't find anything you like, you can also ask a "Points Concierge" to help you create your own reward. You'd likely have to earn several thousand points to be able to cash in on most custom rewards, but it's better than the standard product catalogs.
Readers, what are some of your favorite "lesser-known" credit card perks? Does your card provide any bonuses that have saved you serious time, cash, or both? Let us know in the comments below!
Angela Colley is a contributor to Dealnews.com, where this article first appeared: http://dealnews.com/features/9-Surprising-Perks-You-Didnt-Realize-Your-Credit-Card-Offers/1029567.html


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Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Out of recession: US economic review and forecast
Maria Simos at E-forecasting has put together an excellent slide show on her firm's forecast for US economic activity, in light of history since the mid-1800s. This is a must-see for anyone interested in where we're headed in the near future.
Bottom line: we're already out of recession.
Some key points:
There is much more on consumer spending, export and imports, and global trends.
- US GDP is estimated at 3.6% growth in Q3, marking end of recession
- Six month growth rate in September is at 0.5% growth--first time positive since August 2008
- US leading indicator has gone up six-fold, growth rate above the long-term trend
- US GDP growth will peak in the 3% range, then stabilize at 2% through 2012
- Manufacturing sector growth has already hit bottom and has started to rebound
- Inflation will worsen due to increases in the money supply
You can view the whole slide show below. (Skip quickly through the first 20 slides to get to the good stuff starting on slide 21.)by Frank Scavo, 10/27/2009 08:03:00 AM | permalink | e-mail this!

subset: commoncrawl


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Adventures of Conrad Von Supertramp Quest For Excellence March 14th 2012 We have arrived in Costa Rica. This is the first morning in Costa Rica our hosts are awesome. Hate to have to go to another location. We want to see the rest of the city. So this morning I'm wondering, why do I want to be a leader? We're here with three gentleman on a beautiful piece of property. I got to dig in the garden yesterday and do some composting already getting Costa Rican soil under my fingernails. Why do I want to be a leader in LIFE? Why do you want to do the things your doing? Why are you moving to Costa Rica? Everyone likes to ask this, or at least did before we left. Why not was always my response as I sit here eating fresh pineapple from the fruit truck and Senor Michael I ask again why not? Fear is a big part of what is causing me to want more money and more security. More options. One of the gents here though has consistently reminded me that the Universe does provide Freely whenever you need things. Similarly though if we invest in the university of freedom, we get greater things back out of it. Sometimes life does require an investment. So when and what do we invest? Is time an investment? Is money an investment? Is information or sharing if information investing? God says in the bible that if we are given the gift of encouraging others then do it. If we are given the gift of prophecy etc. What are your gifts and how do you apply them to the world around you? We now have access to information that has made me a better father, husband, and friend. Gives me motivation and encouragement to dedicate myself to living intentionally for excellence. Allows the opportunity to grow a huge income that can be used to do all these other things that I dreamed of doing. Not just motorcycles for my little man. Not just a home to live in. A lifestyle that allows unlimited potential to manifest in a world where money is still the ultimate leader? Not much can really be done on large scale without some capital investment. John Wayne said "courage is being scared to death and saddling up anyway." It took courage to move to another country. It took courage to take a risk and pursue a dream of changing the world and starting an educational revolution. I've been able to partner with some of the best leaders in the world who know how to get things done. So why should I be afraid of success? Why should I be afraid to become a leader? Again it comes back to why do I want to? Why do I want to influence people to become better husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, and more. Better leaders and follower, better friend to my list of amazing friends. Better servant to my Lord. In the process we can create enough wealth to change the paradigm. To help encourage a shift in consciousness to help people realize there is a better way. Changing the world to allow people to give up trading 100,000 hours of time to a career that most of us hate, to serve the riches of others with no personal reward. With no hope for achieving the freedom they really want. Really truly I want is to prove to my son and the world that anyone can do anything if they dream big enough. If a cyborg from the future can create enough change and influence enough people to create a reality that for six years was nothing but a dream then what can you do? What dream do you have and what kind of influence do you want to be? No matter what we have influence on people. If you don't believe it just try walking around town smiling at everyone. See what it does for their day and yours. Some people won't smile back. Others will smile a beautiful smile and sunshine in your life. Well busy feeding the peacock from the avezoo next door. Wondering what happened to the iguana that was climbing the ginormous Fica tree. Enjoying the breeze and preparing to honor our commitments and travel around the city for the next month I don't feel to bad about my decisions. I don't feel very afraid. What is your fear? Why do you do the things you do? Why don't you do the things you dream of doing? What is keeping you from pursuing your dreams? This is Conrad Von Supertramp. Signing off for now. Pictures to come at http://www.youtube.com/UniversityofFreedom1
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Why is it that most people feel such empathy for Elephants, even if they have never had close contact with them?
Is it because of their size, their quaint characteristics, or the the fact that they are so incredibly endearing as babies, tripping over little wobbly trunks that seem to serve no useful purpose other than get in the way? Or is it, perhaps, because Elephants are "human" animals, encompassed by an invisible aura that reaches deep into the human soul in a mysterious and mystifying way.
Of course, Elephants share with us humans many traits - the same span of life, (three score years and ten, all being well) and they develop at a parallel pace so that at any given age a baby elephant duplicates its human counterpart, reaching adulthood at the age of twenty. Elephants also display many of the attributes of humans as well as some of the failings. They share with us a strong sense of family and death and they feel many of the same emotions. Each one is, of course, like us, a unique individual with its own unique personality. They can be happy or sad, volatile or placid. They display envy, jealousy, throw tantrums and are fiercely competitive, and they can develop hang-ups which are reflected in behaviour. They also have many additional attributes we humans lack; incredible long range infrasound, communicating in voices we never hear, such sophisticated hearing that even a footfall is heard far away, and, of course they have a memory that far surpasses ours and spans a lifetime. They grieve deeply for lost loved ones, even shedding tears and suffering depression. They have a sense of compassion that projects beyond their own kind and sometimes extends to others in distress. They help one another in adversity, miss an absent loved one, and when you know them really well, you can see that they even smile when having fun and are happy.
I have been privileged to live amongst elephants (and other animals too) all my life, observing them in a wild situation for over 30 years, and hand-rearing their orphaned young for just as long. But it has been the rearing of the infant milk dependent babies that has given me an in-depth insight into the elephant psyche. Hand in hand with the good times, have come heartbreaks in abundance, but each elephant life saved has rewarded us richly with untold satisfaction. When rearing long lived animals such as elephants, one must dig deep from inner reserves to find "staying power'' for it is a long-term assignment parallel to raising a human child. It took me 28 long years to perfect the milk formula and complicated husbandry vital to success in terms of rearing the new-born elephants, and in the process each one that died shredded my heart. However, success did finally come, and since then 14 near-dead infants gradually came back to life and have enriched my life in a very special and emotional way.
Let's start with Eleanor, the amazing Elephant Matriarch now in her early forties who was orphaned at the age of two and whom I have known for as long as I have known my own children. She was there for me as I struggled to save the milk dependent "No Hopers" and there to take over those orphaned older who were no longer dependent on milk. It was Eleanor, and before her, a gentle cow called Fatuma, that first demonstrated to me the great caring heart of the female elephants and the depth of their love. But Eleanor and Fatuma were not unique. Every female elephant is, in fact, just like them, always eager to take custody of those younger and especially the tiny babies. Nevertheless, the head of an elephant Matriarch must rule her heart. She must be sufficiently responsible to make tough decisions in life for she must consider, first and foremost, the well-being of her family over and above the needs of any one individual that happens to fall on hard times. For instance, she must abandon a calf that is holding up the herd in the interests of the survival of the others, and knowing elephants as I do, I know just how heartbreaking this must be, not only for the Matriarch, but for all the members of the group. Whilst all female elephants (and sometimes the males) will want to care for an orphan, there are few cows with the lactating capacity to be able to suckle more than one calf, and naturally no cow elephant will jeopardise the survival of her own baby for someone else's, just as no human would either. Therefore, if a milk dependent baby (i.e. a calf less than 2 years old) loses its own mother, it is usually doomed, for, deprived of milk, it will weaken rapidly and fall behind. Eventually, it must be left if the others are to survive. It is such unfortunates that comprise our elephant family today.
Let me introduce our readers to the first one - OLMEG, whose name means "The Outsider" in the Masai dialect, since it was from Maralal in Samburuland that he originated. The fact that Olmeg was the very first infant that I succeeded in raising, and, in fact, the first infant elephant ever to have been hand-reared, makes him very special to me, and even more so because there was just my daughter Jill, and myself, to give him the hands-on 24 hour intensive care an infant elephant needs until such time as I had managed to train a team of Keepers to take over.
OLMEG, was just two weeks old when he was flown in 1987, having been discovered by tribesmen trapped in the mud of a deep washaway, sunburnt to a frazzle and more dead than alive from dehydration. He must have been a very robust calf physically to have survived such a trauma, especially as thereafter he spent ten days at a nearby Lodge being fed on cows, milk and carrots. But, survive he did, and today at 11 years old, he is the oldest in the orphan gang.
OLMEG is a complex character, deeply sensitive and easily wounded. During his Nursery period, being the first and oldest, he basked in the admiration of all those younger, including the next in line, TARU, who was orphaned in Tsavo and is 6 months younger. It is very normal for little bull elephants to indulge in a "hero--worship" on those older, because in childhood rank begins with age and rank is all important in elephant male society. Olmeg was unquestionably the boss in the Nursery. In fact, I think he thought he was the best and biggest elephant in the world, because having been orphaned so young, he probably would not remember his erstwhile elephant family clearly. Later he and Taru were joined by three other younger bulls, namely Dika from Tsavo, Ndume, who with Malaika, a female, came from the Imenti Forest, and Edo from Amboseli. Later still they were joined in Tsavo by AJOK, from Turkana, a tough little desert elephant who still enjoys the dubious status of "naughtiest".
Tantrums from Olmeg first became a daily occurrence when it was time to begin his weaning period. Suddenly his milk ration was cut to 3 bottles at a sitting, whereas Taru and the others still needed 4. The Keepers were puzzled when Olmeg behaved like a spoilt brat at every feed, and eventually as the trouble-shooter, I was called in. The reason was, of course, that he could count, and that he felt the others were being given preferential treatment at his expense. A fourth bottle containing just water was added to the three so that the line-up was the same for all, and thereafter the matter was resolved to everyone's satisfaction. It is very important always to treat each elephant exactly the same; never to give one something another cannot have, because it will be noticed and remembered.
Olmeg and Taru were the first to leave the Nursery to be taken down to Voi to begin their re-intergration back into the wild community. Soon after their arrival, Eleanor and her adopted family turned up in a great state of excitement. These included Lissa (the self appointed "Nanny" to those smaller) and CHUMA, a little bull 6 months older than Olmeg, but who was orphaned old enough to be able to be given directly to Eleanor. Chuma is well named. His name means "iron" in Swahili.'
Confident and settled, he came bouncing up to Olmeg and Taru, who were nervous and unsure. Chuma began tussling with Olmeg and was quite obviously getting topsides of him. Taru, watching from the touchlines, instantly switched his hero-worship to "Chuma" and for that he has been punished. To this day, Olmeg has not forgiven him and nor is there any love lost between himself and Chuma either. Taru was forced to walk at the end of the line once the younger bulls swelled the ranks; forced to be the last to drink, despite being second in Line rankwise belittled before the others until one day, when sufficiently confident, he left Olmeg's group to join his buddy Chuma and became part of Eleanor's unit.
Meanwhile, whenever Olmeg met up with Chuma out in the bush, (which happens frequently during the dry season), the tussle between these young bulls continued, and we heard about these encounters through The Keepers' Diary, which chronicles the daily events down in Tsavo. For a long time Chuma usually won, but occasionally Olmeg did, particularly when he could count on the support of Eleanor's wild adoptee, a young bull older than both Chuma and himself, to whom we have given the name "Thomas". When Thomas was not there to lend support, Chuma was the victor, but with Thomas beside him, Olmeg's confidence swelled.
For several years, Taru remained on the touchlines as a spectator, but gradually began to engage Olmeg. From time to time he returned to the Stockades to spend time with the Boys (as our Group is known) and frequently joined them when out in the bush, still tail-end Charlie but obviously growing in stature and confidence.
Then, one day not long ago, he challenged Olmeg singly without the support of Chuma and trounced him soundly on home turf, thereby superceding Olmeg in rank and denting his ego terribly. Olmeg has taken 'to spending time on his own; he is irritable, and has vented his revenge on the National Park flagpole at the airfield and on Daniel Woodley's plane, which one day happened to shower him in dust as it landed.
Dika, next in rank and age to Taru, is showing signs of having lost respect for Olmeg, whilst Ndume, who was always small in size compared to Edo who is younger, has suddenly shot up and re-established precedence in the pecking order, shoving Edo onto the touchline. During his Nursery years, Ndume made up for lack of size by being deliberately disobedient and mischievous and all this in order to gain the attention and respect of the others. A stern tone of voice with the word 'No' usually does the trick.
Discipline is necessary and usually begins when the calves are 6 months old and have settled in and understand the meaning of English words, which they learn very quickly. Only one language, English, is spoken around them, both by their Keepers and us, so as not to confuse them with two.' The extent of their understanding in this respect was demonstrated by Olmeg when as a small calf, he was given a "Weetabix" every night as a special treat. Just a mention of the word "Weetabix" soon sent him flying to the relevant bin, so then we spelt it when enquiring of the Keepers whether or not he had received his evening treat. Very soon, he became wise to that too. So demanding and "hooked" on the Weetabix he became that if for some reason it was not forthcoming on time, he threw a tantrum. We decided then that it was not a good idea to "spoil" any of the elephants with handouts, a rule that is now very strictly enforced for their own good, because it is a sure recipe for bad behaviour and ultimately, "trouble".
Dika was the orphan that demonstrated despair and heartbreak so graphically. Some of his family were gunned down en masse, others fled, wounded amidst a hail of gunfire, and Dika had obviously raced through a dense thorn thicket, because when he arrived, he had hundreds of long acacia thorns protruding from almost every square inch of his body. For four long months we could get no sparkle from him and there were times when we wondered whether he was, in fact, mentally normal. Even the other elephants could get no response from him as he stood by himself dejectedly brooding on the loss of those he loved, tears staining his cheeks, reluctant to feed, refusing to play and unable to sleep- so obviously and tragically distraught.
AJOK, the desert elephant from Turkana who came to us when only a day or two old and who has always been "naughtiest" is a most endearing but very mischievous character. The word "Ajok" means "Hello!" in the Turkana dialect because Ajok simply popped up out of a riverbed with not another elephant in sight. It is a miracle that the tribesmen that found him spared his life, for the Turkana people who eke out an existence in that desert environment are opportunistic survivors, prone to eating anything on four legs, whether it be an elephant or a rat. But, this totally trusting tiny elephant obviously touched even their toughened hearts, and he was spared and sent to us.
Ajok is the strongest of all our babies, both physically and psychologically, honed by eons of evolution to be able to survive in extremely harsh and marginal conditions, where even people find it difficult. Of all our calves, he is the only one who has not needed the attentions of a Vet, and today, at 7 years old, he has the potential of being the biggest by far, almost as big as Olmeg, Taru, Dika, Edo and Ndume, all of whom are a good deal older.
Ajok is a prankster with a sense of humour, a Show-off and the most adventurous. He will play to the gallery and indulge in all sorts of tricks in order to make people laugh and become the focus of their attention. He has a special trick - "shivering" his trunk beginning at the top and progressing downwards to the very tip. No one can resist this sight. He has been known to lie down and kick his legs in the air, twist his trunk round peoples´ necks in a stranglehold, pluck a hat off someone's head, and creep up onto Simon Trevor's veranda at night in order to heave an old camp chair, which he obviously regards as his special "toy" over the wall with a deafening clatter that scares any inmates. He waltzes in amongst the wild herds like a veteran, is sufficiently confident to spend time out and about by himself, especially when planning mischief, and is a law unto himself.
Like Ajok, Olmeg also has his own special "toy", a log of wood known as "Olmeg's Rubber Duck". This is positioned near a waterhole of his choice, heaved in, rolled about in the water, then heaved back up the bank, tossed about and rolled back in. Woe betide any of the others who trespass on The Rubber Duck. Glowering from the touchlines, Olmeg cautions them all with ears up and an old-fashioned "look" until he himself is ready to initiate proceedings.
DIKA is probably the "nicest" character - very gentle, very sensitive, with an innate "softness" yet with depths of hidden strength. He is large for his age with impressive ivory, though tusks that are not quite as thick as those of Ndume. Like Ajok, he has the potential of being a dominant bull when grown, and though slow to anger, has a toughness lacking in those more volatile.
EDO from Amboseli, is a rather shy and remote character. Since he was 6 months old when he lost his mother and came to us, he remembered his elephant family clearly, added to which he arrived in the Nursery when Dika, Malaika, and Ndume were already in residence. It was Dika that persuaded him to make the effort to try to live. Without that input, I truly believe we would not have been able to save Edo, who had suffered not just the loss of a mother but the rejection of his sister as well. She had a calf of her own and was lactating at the time, but would not allow him to suckle. Of all the orphans, Edo, Ndume and Malaika are the most distant with humans - Edo because he had the others, and Ndume and Malaika because they were almost beaten and hacked to death by irate tribesmen onto whose land their herd happened to trespass. In fact, a third calf was hacked to death before their eyes, whilst Ndume was beaten unconscious, and Malaika would undoubtedly have been killed had a Ranger not intervened in time. Small wonder then that they are wary of mankind.
Malaika is becoming another "Eleanor", the self appointed Matriarch of all who are younger, who will forego having fun with The Boys in order to care for the babies she has taken under her wing. These include our miracle, "Imenti" who arrived in the Nursery the day he was born, (his mother having suffered the same fate as that of Ndume and Malaika and who comes from the same remnant population of Imenti Elephants), Emily, who fell down a pit latrine near the Manyani Entrance Gate to Tsavo, Aitong who was trampled in a stampede and had severe head injuries on arrival and the latest arrival, little Uaso from the North, whose mother was obviously speared, since he came in with a spear wound in the back.
Malaika dislikes Eleanor, because Eleanor coaxed her favourite "baby", little Mpenzi, away to join her group. Malaika adored Mpenzi and has never forgiven Eleanor for taking this calf out of tier care. Today, he is very diligent in her role as Matriarch to the smaller orphans, but occasionally hands over-the role of "Nannie" to Emily, who literally swells with pride every time she is entrusted with this role.
A heart-warming tale is the saga of orphan LOMINYEK, whose name means "The Lucky one" in the Samburu dialect, "lucky" because whilst his mother died from a hail of gunfire, he had just one ricochet hole in the leg. He is also "Lucky" because he is the only orphan to have been rescued by the Kenya Wildlife Service since Dr. Leakey's tenure of office.
He was about 14 months old on arrival, victim of tribal turbulence in the North, where Samburu tribesmen are locked in almost daily conflict with Somali bandits. Lominyek had therefore grown up in an area where all humans are "the enemy". He came in sedated and when he came round, the first thing he wanted to do, was to kill the first human he saw, who happened to be our most proficient and gentle elephant keeper, Mishak. Mishak rapidly vaulted over the dividing partition into little Zoe's stable and Lominyek gradually calmed down after several attempts at breaking down the door.
At the time, there were two other Nursery inmates, "Zoe" and "Sungelai", both very much younger than Lominyek. The next morning, we let them both into his stable and crowding around him, they rumbled their greetings, eager to escort him out. All three emerged together at sunrise, but when Lominyek found himself amidst more dreaded humans, he lost his nerve, and yelling his head off, fled into the bush, Sungelai and Zoe hot on his heels, and the Keepers after them!
Seized by despair, I was at a loss to know what to do next, but I need not have worried, because several hours later, much to my astonishment, a little procession appeared from the thicket below the house - Lominyek being escorted back by Sungelai and Zoe, one on either side of him, followed at a respectable distance by the Keepers.
By this time the daily visitors were beginning to assemble, all intent on viewing the Orphans, noon mudbath, which is a popular routine whenever there are elephant inmates in the Nairobi Nursery. Again, I was extremely apprehensive, because on this particular day, a huge crowd turned up, and I envisaged a few of our visitors being flattened by the new incumbent, who was quite capable of exacting a telling revenge. However, yet again I had underestimated the sophistication of elephant communication. Incredibly, and unbelievably, Sungelai and Zoe by then had been able to persuade Lominyek that he had nothing to fear from the hordes of humans that now swarmed all around him, and taking his cue from them, he hesitantly greeted the people, gently offering the tip of a trembling little trunk, which was rapidly withdrawn when touched, ears up to signify unease, but nevertheless immaculately behaved. Although haunted by the loss of his elephant family for a time, Lominyek was transformed into a very gentle and forgiving little character and a great favourite, who turned up trumps only weeks later when tragedy struck, and we lost little Sungelai, who, unbeknownst to us, had a congenital heart deficiency and simply died in his sleep. Now it fell to Lominyek to ease the grief of little Zoe over the loss of her year long Nursery companion.
Lominyek was only in the Nairobi Nursery for about 5 months, before joining the older orphans in Tsavo. As soon as he scented the other elephants, his excitement was obvious, and when he saw Malaika, emotion overcame him and he took to butting her repeatedly, as though in punishment, whilst Emily, Imenti and Aitong dashed around trumpeting with excitement. We think that Lominyek probably had a big sister the size of Malaika amongst his lost family, and that the memory of being abandoned by her might have prompted this unusual initial behaviour. Thereafter, however, he remained literally glued to Malaika's side, something she found irritating, since this was the prerogative of the smaller calves, namely Aitong and Uaso. Eventually, she adopted tougher measures to try and detach him, prodding him with her tusks, something he did not appreciate.
Just as soon as he had completed his weaning year, and was milk independent, which coincided with the onset of the rains in Tsavo, he left Malaika's group and went in search of a more accommodating mother figure. Finally he found one, and what's more, one without tusks, so Lominyek is now happily settled within this family, meeting up with the other orphans from time to time out in the bush, but showing no inclination whatsoever to return to the Orphan Fold. His is, indeed, a story with a happy ending, and he is well named "The Lucky One".
Meanwhile, Eleanor's adopted family one day turned up in the custody of her wild friend, a Matriarch of similar age to Eleanor, whom our Keepers have named "Catherine". Why Eleanor abandoned her adopted family still remains a puzzle to us and why she appears to have severed all ties even with her former human family is, likewise, a puzzle, especially after such long contact. What we have learnt, though, is that aspiring Matriarchs are very competitive when it comes to acquiring a "family" for themselves, and that the bonding between Matriarchs and unrelated adoptees is much looser than that existing within a normal related group. We know, for instance, that Eleanor tried to hijack the calf of our 18 year old orphan "Mary" soon after it Was born, and that Mary had difficulty in reclaiming it, choosing thereafter to leave Eleanor's unit and join a wild herd led by a mire accommodating Matriarch. Similarly Malaika has never trusted Eleanor since she took Mpenzi and still jealously tries to limit the contact the younger orphans in her charge have with older wild cows.
Could it be that Eleanor is "piqued" with Catherine? Or has she perhaps been blessed at last with a calf of her own, which she prefers to keep to herself well away from humans. There is, of course, the terrible possibility that she might have perished beyond the borders of the Park along with many others during the time that water was so scarce; or perhaps she has seen a friend gunned down by the "Problem Animal Control Unit" of K.W.S. which has been very active under the current Director. We will never know for sure, but our prayer, and I know the prayer of many who have followed her life over the past 40 years, is that Eleanor is at last fulfilled - a wild elephant with a calf of her own, no longer in need of either an adopted family or human contact.
Eleanor was a drought victim, born during a period when there was no poaching in Tsavo National Park. Perhaps what she has learned since from contact with the wild elephants, and what she has seen for herself, has left her embittered towards humans. Sad as it is, it would not be surprising.
Three of our hand-reared charges have now successfully made the transition into the wild herds on a permanent basis, returning only occasionally to visit their orphan friends and their erstwhile human family. Others are still with us, but visit their wild elephant friends, usually in pairs, whilst Ajok is sufficiently confident to spend a lot of time on his own without the support of a friend in between outings with the wild herds.
The rains in Tsavo always bring on a welcome green flush, greatly enjoyed by the orphans. However, in 1977 we lost little Zoe, Lominyek's Nursery companion and an orphan who had seemed indestructible. Like Ajok, Zoe had never before needed the attentions of a Vet, suffering just one stomach disorder during her 18 months of life. Her sudden death stunned everyone, both human and elephant, and joy at the advent of the "green season" turned into sorrow and grief. Fortunately, however, this was cut short by the arrival of little "Uaso".
We were never able to establish exactly what had cost Zoe her life, and can only assume that she must have inadvertently eaten a toxic toadstool in amongst the trunkful of greens, or perhaps a poisonous insect or frog on a food plant, for elephants have an instinctive knowledge of what to eat and what to avoid.
"Uaso", like Lominyek, is an orphan from the North, but rather than a bullet wound, bore the results of a spear injury so his mother is likely to have been speared by tribesmen. He was spotted on his own with no other elephants nearby on the North Bank of the Uaso Nyiro river, which traverses Colcheccio Ranch, and which was in quite high spate at the time. He was, however, at least a year old, and though weak, was nevertheless sufficiently strong to put up a spirited struggle, so it took at least half a dozen stalwarts to subdue and surround him. Crowding him tightly, they then had to ford the swift flowing and crocodile infested river, which fortunately they managed to do without mishap, arriving at the Ranch Airstrip just as the Rescue plane was about to land. Thereafter, everything went like clockwork. Being at least a year old, and in not too bad shape, Uaso could be flown directly to Tsavo, where he was instantly taken over by Malaika and her brood, and as the smallest calf, was allowed the privileged "close" position. Although wary of the humans that surrounded him, he drew comfort from the other elephants, as we knew he would, and was soon downing his first bottle of milk, taking his cue from Aitong, who was only too happy to give a demonstration. He was nevertheless sure to keep Malaika between him and the Keeper wielding the bottle! Since then, he has achieved fame by being the star of the popular Programme, "Noel's Christmas Present" viewed by millions all over Europe and aired immediately after the Queen's Christmas Day speech.
The saga of our orphans is an ongoing story that will undoubtedly outlive most of us, God willing. I like the words of Henry Beston, from "The Outmost House," and especially so since they were written in 1928, a period when all most people knew about animals, was how to kill them.
"We need another and wiser and perhaps a more mystical concept of animals .... In a world older and more complete than ours, they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings, they are other Nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth"
Animals are indeed more ancient, more complex, and in many ways more sophisticated than man. In terms of Nature they are truly more perfect because they remain within the ordered scheme of Nature and live as Nature intended. They are different to us, honed by natural selection over millennia so they should not be patronised, but rather respected and revered. And of all the animals, perhaps the most respected and revered should be the Elephant, for not only is it the largest land mammal on earth, but also the most emotionally human.
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A good movie for the feminine artistic gymnastics and teenagers ! It has nice humor, the heroine performs remarkable, and all the characters are so nice! The main thing about the movie is bringing some focus on the problem that gymnastics has nowadays.
It is pretty true the fact that artistic gymnastics is loosing its popularity among teens. What is performance gymnastics? A sport for kids and teenagers that dedicate their time to work hard! For what?
Ludicrous movements, the jury being conservative on evaluating new figures, or the jury giving marks that the public disagrees. The evaluation of the gymnasts is somehow influenced by the previous performance of the gymnast. The popularity of the coach or the popularity of the gymnastic school is also a disturbing factor.
I liked that the movie explicitly pointed out all these problems.
Will gymnastics survive? "Stick it" suggests that this sport is somehow asynchronous with the teen's aspirations. I am a big fan of feminine artistic gymnastics and very proud of the medals that my country had won along the time but I think this sports needs to change and evolve somehow.
The 2006 European championships from Volos, Greace brought a surprise on the team's podium.


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Another healthy recipe from mom's secret recipe. Be -Be happy :P
1 tbs Maca powder
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 tbs Agave Nectar
8 oz Coconut Milk
3-4 ice cubes
Add ingredients in blender. Blend until smooth for about 45 seconds. Pour and serve.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Coconut Blast Shake
Posted by aHziE at 1:20 PM 0 comments
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I adore the little illustrations/cards from the Tea Party sheet, and decided to cut them apart and for my cards. With a bit of patterned paper, some string, and enamel dots, the cards were ready in no time at all! I gathered everything I thought I would need, including a piece of white American Crafts cardstock measuring 12″x 4.5″ for the base of my 6″x 4.5″ card:
First, I matted the little cards I cut from the Tea Party sheet onto a piece of white cardstock. Then, I wound a piece of string around twice before matting on two different patterned papers. After adhering the four layers of paper on the white cardstock base, I quickly used my sewing machine to add a stitched line around inside Tea Party card. Finally, I adhered the project on to the cardstock base, doodled a black line all around, and added three enamel dots. These instructions apply to all three cards.
How I adore the Tealightful collection! The outdoor papers, die-cuts, images, and stickers, along with the tea related papers and die-cuts, are super cute. This collection is definitely one of my very favorite Pebbles collections and is incredibly versatile to use in crafting.
Here's the list of supplies I used:
Tealightful Tea Party (733526)
Tealightful Meadow (733532)
Tealightful Floral Patchwork (733535)
Tealightful Fresh Picked (733529)
Fun In The Sun Enamel Dots (732834)
American Crafts Textured Cardstock Pack 12″ x 12″ 60/Pkg, Neutrals (71252)
American Crafts Cutup Scissors 7″ (64201)
This is it! Thank you so much for stopping by today! Wishing you a wonderful day!


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David Morris, in his article We Forget What It Was Really Like Under The Clintons, on Alternet.com, has done an important review of what "Clintonism" was like. Before we vote in a return to it, we need to look at this and decide whether this is what we want.
Twelve days before the Iowa caucuses, the New York Times Magazine cover, in large white letters on a deep black background, carried the single word title of its lead article: Clintonism. In the article Matt Bai, the MTimes reporter on all things Democratic, with a big D, made one undeniable assertion and two highly debatable ones.Photo courtesy of Brightcove.tv
Bai's contention that Bill Clinton's "wife's fortunes are bound up with his, and vice versa" is incontestable. The primaries and even more so the general election, if Hillary is the nominee, will be a referendum less on Hillary than on Clintonism, the philosophy and strategy that guided the White House for eight years. Hillary clearly welcomes such a prospect, as demonstrated by her constantly reminding voters that she was "deeply involved in being part of the Clinton team."
***The historical fact is that when Clinton took office, the Democratic Party controlled both houses of Congress and a majority of state governorships. By the time he left office, the Republicans controlled both Houses of Congress and two-thirds of the governorships. By the numbers, it was Clintonism that relegated the Democratic Party to the shadows. ***Clinton himself summed up the principle guiding his initiatives in his famous declaration, "The era of big government is over."
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 was the first major overhaul of United States telecommunications law in nearly 62 years. The broadcasting industry couldn't get the legislation through under Reagan or George H.W. Bush, but it succeeded under Clinton.
***In 1996 there were eight major U.S. companies providing local telephone service and five significant long-distance companies. By 1999, these 13 companies had merged into five telecommunications giants, in a series of record-breaking merger deals.
Prior to this law, tightly regulated broadcasters could own just 40 stations nationally, and only two in a given market. Suddenly, without the FCC's input or any public hearings, ownership limits on radio stations was eliminated and a feeding frenzy took place.
By 2001, there were 10,000 radio station transactions worth approximately $100 billion. As a result, 1,100 fewer station owners were in the business, down nearly 30 percent since 1996. Two companies -- Clear Channel and Viacom's Infinity Broadcasting -- controlled one-third of all radio advertising revenue; in some individual markets their stations commanded nearly 90 percent of the ad dollars. Clear Channel alone owned nearly 1,200 stations, the result of buying up 70 separate broadcast companies.
In 1999, the Financial Services Modernization Act overturned the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933. The Act effectively barred banks, brokerages and insurance companies from entering each others' industries, and separated investment banking and commercial banking. The law was enacted in response to revelations of gross corruption and manipulation of the market by giant banking houses that organized huge corporate mergers for their own profit, leading to the collapse of the stock market in 1929.
***The unleashed and deregulated financial services sector boomed, bringing us the speculative boom that in turn gave us the temporary budget surplus of the late 1990s and the finance-led booms and busts since then. ***Clintonism never saw a sector it didn't want to deregulate. Wholesale electricity deregulation began under George H.W. Bush, but Clinton worked relentlessly to extend it and bring it to the retail level. We forget that Ken Lay, the founder of Enron and the driving force behind electricity deregulation was a friend of and mentor to Clinton as well as George W. Bush. Enron gave $420,000 to Clinton's party over three years and donated $100,000 to his inauguration festivities. Ken Lay stayed at the White House 11 times.
Clinton's appointees on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) aggressively deregulated the electric grid system, even refusing to step in when Enron and other electricity traders' manipulation of prices drove California to the edge of bankruptcy.
And then there was welfare reform.
***There is no question that welfare reform has succeeded in reducing welfare rolls in the states. But 10 years into welfare reform, "the number of people living in poverty had not," noted Robert Wharton, president and CEO of the Community Economic Development Administration. "At the same time, the safety net of services and support that once protected the poor lies in tatters." ***NAFTA was enacted despite the opposition of Clinton's own party. Two-thirds of House Republicans voted in favor while 60 percent of House Democrats voted against. In the Senate, Republicans voted 4-1 in favor while a slim majority of Democrats voted against.
I discussed the impact of NAFTA 10 years after in an earlier AlterNet piece. The slogan of those who championed a North American Free Trade Agreement was, "Trade, not aid." NAFTA would solve our problems, the White House insisted, with little or no transfer of funds from richer Canadians and Americans to poorer Mexicans. By raising Mexican living standards and wage levels, Attorney General Janet Reno predicted NAFTA would reduce illegal immigration by up to two-thirds in six years. "NAFTA is our best hope for reducing illegal migration in the long haul," Reno declared in 1994.
***In the real world, opening up the borders between two exceedingly disparate economies leads to disaster.
Which is what happened here. Real wages for most Mexicans are lower than when NAFTA took effect. And Mexican wages are diverging from, rather than converging with U.S. wages, despite the fact that Mexican worker productivity has increased dramatically. From 1993 to 2003, worker productivity rose by 60 percent. In the same period, real wages declined by 5 percent.
***The only thing that saved Mexico from collapsing into economic and social chaos was the massive emigration of Mexicans across their northern border.
Illegal migration has camouflaged Mexico's economic weakness. Between 1994 and 2004, Mexico's working-age population increased by a little over 1 million per year, but the number of jobs expanded by only half as much. The annual exodus of 500,000 to 1 million Mexicans kept unemployment at least to manageable levels.
Migration has served another even more important salutary function: national financial safety net. In 2005, Mexicans in the United States remitted some $20 billion home, about 3 percent of Mexico's national income. Remittances now exceed tourism, and the maquiladoras, and until the recent runup in oil prices, even oil as the country's top single source of foreign exchange. It turns out that it is aid, not trade, that is keeping the Mexican economy afloat.
NAFTA's designers promised it would keep Mexicans at home. Yet its very objectives undermined that possibility and spawned the waves of illegal migrants that have become one of the most divisive issues in the 2008 campaign.
***History has been rewritten in regard to the Clintons' health initiative. Today it is viewed as a bold but failed effort. Even Michael Moore's movie, Sicko, paints this picture. Nonsense. It was Hillary who concluded that it was politically impossible even to argue for a single-payer system. Whether a single payer initiative would have won is unclear, although the national educational effort around it would have been of unparalleled value. But as it was, Hillary's political miscalculation led not only to the idea of universal health care coverage being taken off the table for the next 13 years, but the loss of the House of Representatives and the coming to power of Newt Gingrich and the Republican right.
Matt Bai views Bill Clinton as a profile in courage for taking on the Democratic Party. But if we review his behavior in office, there is one characteristic that stands out above any other: cowardice. Whenever the powerful objected, he beat a hasty retreat. His first year set the pattern. Gays in the military. The btu tax. The jettisoning of Lani Guinier as nominee for assistant attorney general for civil rights, refusing even to allow her to confront her critics.


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The American live-action re-make of the classic anime Akira, keeps facing setbacks. From staff being let go; to one the biggest names for a role, as well as their director, leaving the project.
Keanu Reeves (The Matrix, The Day the Earth Stood Still), has officially turned down an acting role within the film, despite him being a popular choice. There have been numerous other casting rumours since the film was confirmed to be in production by Warner Brothers, with high profile names including Leonardo DiCaprio, Zac Efron, Robert Pattinson and James McAvoy. None of these names have been confirmed except that Pattinson has reported to have received the script of the film, which was written by Steve Knowles, famous for his work on the Harry Potter movies. It seems Warner Brother's may have to think again about this big-budget adaptation.
The re-make of the famous Japanese anime has been branded 'whitewashed' by Star Trek's George Tekai, with all of the supposed actors being American and with the hint that the film will take place in set in New Manhattan rather than Neo Tokyo. When the film production was announced, it was rumoured to have a huge budget of around $140 million: the same amount of any Hollywood blockbusters.
Needless to say, Warner Brother's have released a small statement after most of the staff in the FX department was let go a few weeks ago:
"Production on Akira has not halted or been shut down," they explained in an official statement, "as the film has not yet been green-lit and is still very much at the development stage. The exploratory process is crucial to a project of this magnitude, and we continue to sculpt our approach to making the best possible film."
In the mean time, Manga Entertainment UK are relasing a special edition Blu-Ray of the original film as well as special cinema screenings. Will the original always be the best? Who do you think should be cast? Let us know your thoughts on the recent revelations to the remake in the comment box below.


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Jonathan Haidt (author of The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion) and his team published a recent article in PLoS ONE on the psychological disposition of libertarians (self-identified).
The challenge with this kind of study is in how one defines the term (this is also an issue with his definitions of liberal and conservative, which is why he likely prefers the "self-identified" approach). Haidt traces the origins of libertarianism back to the Enlightenment, with its emphasis on the individual. Much of the nuance of philosophical libertarian thought is lost on those who now call themselves libertarians, such as the tea party crowd.
Haidt catches the gist of the current perspective in this excerpt:
Libertarianism provides an ideological narrative whereby the opposition to high taxes and big government is not just an "economic" position: it is a moral position as well. This narrative provides the basis for principled opposition to a government seen as unfair (because it takes from the productive and gives to the unproductive), tyrannical (because it violates the negative liberty of some people to promote the positive liberty of others), and wasteful (because governments rarely achieve the efficiencies generated by the competition of private firms).The downside of this is that a lot of social conservatives, because they also want a smaller government and lower taxes, have self-identified as libertarian, like Ron Paul. He believes in limited government, except when it comes to social issues - he believes we should ban abortion, discriminate against LGBT people, and his organization has been implicated in racism several times. He is a fundamentalist Christian, and those beliefs reject true libertarian philosophy.
The article is open access.
Understanding Libertarian Morality: The Psychological Dispositions of Self-Identified Libertarians
Ravi Iyer1*, Spassena Koleva1, Jesse Graham1, Peter Ditto2, Jonathan Haidt31 Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, United States of America, 2 Department of Psychology and Social Behavior, Irvine, California, United States of America, 3 Department of Psychology, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States of America
Abstract TopLibertarians are an increasingly prominent ideological group in U.S. politics, yet they have been largely unstudied. Across 16 measures in a large web-based sample that included 11,994 self-identified libertarians, we sought to understand the moral and psychological characteristics of self-described libertarians. Based on an intuitionist view of moral judgment, we focused on the underlying affective and cognitive dispositions that accompany this unique worldview. Compared to self-identified liberals and conservatives, libertarians showed 1) stronger endorsement of individual liberty as their foremost guiding principle, and weaker endorsement of all other moral principles; 2) a relatively cerebral as opposed to emotional cognitive style; and 3) lower interdependence and social relatedness. As predicted by intuitionist theories concerning the origins of moral reasoning, libertarian values showed convergent relationships with libertarian emotional dispositions and social preferences. Our findings add to a growing recognition of the role of personality differences in the organization of political attitudes.
Full Citation:
Iyer R, Koleva S, Graham J, Ditto P, Haidt J (2012) Understanding Libertarian Morality: The Psychological Dispositions of Self-Identified Libertarians. PLoS ONE 7(8): e42366. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0042366


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I'm a huge fan of Nicolas Winding Refn's films thus far with VALHALLA RISING, DRIVE and ONLY GOD FORGIVES being my favorites. So when I heard that the man was going to embrace horror with his latest essay in trip out audio/visuals THE NEON DEMON (WATCH IT HERE), my dick got hard. It took me a while to get around to seeing it, but the impending Blu-Ray release (out on September 27, 2016) just gave me my shot. Now it took me 2 days to somewhat figure out my take this sucka cause as the end credits rolled I was still digesting. I got an idea now, but jolting down this pea-soup-vomit will seal the deal. It's on!
For the NEON DEMON Refn was obviously inspired by 70's Giallos (Suspiria and Inferno being the obvious ones) and the true story of Countess Elizabeth Bathory (who would bathe in virgin's blood to retain her youth, they didn't have Oil of Olay back then) was also most likely on his mind. So yeah, I dug that angle! At the end of the cracked neck though, the NEON DEMON was the kind of film that on the surface, it was what it was, but if you start digging and looking into its elements deeper than your average flick, there's all kind of shit going on; some intentional, others, things you'll probably make up for yourself that wasn't intended (like my bud who thinks this is an allegory to Christ in the desert). It's an open for interpretation genre party that's for sure and as a fan of David Lynch and symbolic charged jamborees in general – that M.O. appealed to my sorry ass.
Refn went on to unravel his deconstruction of beauty (how one relates to it for themselves and how others react to it) using specific color motifs (blue, red, white… they all have meanings), LSD inspired lighting (all about the use of strobes), characters that represented different types of beauty (the two models and the makeup chick), some dabbling in the esoteric (the moon, the vagina triangle, or was it a Tri-Force, the f*ck knows?) while slapping in symbolism all over the place that only he knows for sure as to what it means (Mountain Lion anyone?). For me, my grey matter was all up in there after it ended, trying to find the deeper meanings within the countless double-meaning bombs (the dialogue was all about that) the movie dropped my way. I got a kick out of it! Now the question is, do you care to dig and try to decipher things after your watch? Is that your shtick? That's up to you and what type of film-goer you are.
Acting wise; I felt that the cast did a fine job acting in a picture that had a different rhythm than the norm. Nobody was "normal" here. Think long pauses in between lines, lots of staring outwards, trapped in one's thoughts. Some may be annoyed by this (and I can understand that), I on the other hand felt that it went hand in severed hand with the rest of the movie. It's a very Lynch-ish way to go about one's characters/dialogue and it worked for the type of picture this was. The fact that Elle Fanning (bold), Jena Malone (turned me on for some reason), a scary Keanu Reeves and the rest of the cast nailed it, was a big plus. Add to all that a trippy Goblin inspired synth score by the always reliable Cliff Martinez, unique & visually striking set designs, a compelling exploration of the themes of youth, beauty, narcissism and the corruption of innocence and a handful of WTF moments that had me sit up and take a swig of that ice cold beer, and you get an hypnotic and self indulgent (that's not an insult, nothing wrong with that) celluloid trip out!
On the downside; when the ending came about; I was still craving more. After some thought I figured out why; Refn was too tame here; which was odd cause he's not known to be a restrained filmmaker when it comes to the ugly stuff. The horror (or the nudity for that matter) was simply not pushed far enough to fully give his themes the weight and punctuation the gusto they needed to hit as hard as they should have. Two films that had similar stories come to mind SUSPIRIA and BLACK SWAN and both went "all out" when the timing was right, hence punching me in the gut. Here, all I got was love taps. But hey, that's my opinion. Some peeps thought it was offensive – so they got what they needed out of it – I wasn't shocked enough. Moreover, I HATED not seeing what the bleep was going on during that "sex show" at the rave, party, club. What's the point of having a scene like that roll out if the viewer can't see jack or shit? Or maybe I missed the point…
So on the whole, the NEON DEMON appealed to my fervent (yes fervent, go with it) love of heightened audio/visual aesthetics, flicks with all kinds of hidden meanings and the tackling of potent socially relevant themes in a aloof and out of the box manner. I dug it the most, but it needed less art and more guts!


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The Agriculture Advantage
The agriculture advantage: the case for climate action in agriculture, an IFAD and Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security Programme of the CGIAR (CCAFS) led series of events at the opening of COP23.
This session, A framework for agricultural development under climate change was led by CCAFS' Director Bruce Campbell and the Executive-Director of Sygenta, Simon Winter.
Then followed an interactive panel with speakers from each of the events that will come in the next week: The Gender Advantage, The Land and Water Advantage, The Low Emissions Advantage, The Policy Advantage, the Breeding Advantage and finally The Business Advantage .
Winter set out his and Syngenta's views on effective multi-stakeholder investment. He talked of the risks faced by smallholders and the many possible ways in which that could be alleviated – including SMS technology, improved crop varieties, weather risk insurance and many others.
He acknowledged that the problem is big and there are no easy solutions, but that he had high hopes for the next two weeks in Bonn and especially the Agriculture Advantage series of events where people could come together and debate and reason out new strategies.
He went on to talk of the need for Public-Private-Partnership (PPP), something IFAD has long championed. He talked of the last decade, which has been great for PPP, but also highlighted the lack of system wide uptake and also the downside of PPP. Namely that some companies were using the terminology to attract donors support, but with no attention to results and impacts nor intention or knowledge for replicability.
"We need to make sure farmers are always front and centre of any initiatives," said Winter.
Bruce Campbell talked of agricultural transformation under climate change.
"While we want agricultural production to increase for these smallholders, we don't want back-breaking work done mostly by women to increase," said Campbell.
"With 815 million people hungry and the planet in need of one gigaton of emissions to be sequestered by 2030, if there is even a hope of keeping global temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, the time is now to act."
Campbell believes that cellular technology is key, and said that within a decade he fully expects every farmer in Africa to have access to a smartphone and all the information this implies. He thinks that international development should focus on this massive uptake of technology and utilise the reach in order to tailor solutions all the way down to the farm level.
Carl Deering from CARE told us how the Gender Advantage event on the 8th November is important because in terms of smallholder development, absolutely nothing that has and will be talked about will ever succeed without acknowledging the fact that most farm work is done by, and indeed most farmers are, women. And usually women in extremely marginalised areas.
Ilaria Firmian of IFAD talked about the Business Advantage event on 13 November. She said that to achieve transformation in agriculture we need more investments in the sector, and climate finance has the potential to leverage private sector investments, as shown by IFAD's Adaptation for Smallholder Agriculture Programme. Effective action, however, requires strong partnerships among a multitude of stakeholders (investors, farmers, scientists, development practitioners, etc.).
This is shaping up to be a truly exciting series of events where participant deep dive in how we can have smallholder farmers making more money, having better nutrition, not increasing workloads and having better access to markets.


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Last season you watched as Gas Monkey Garage completed work on their first tuner car, a 1975 Datsun 280Z and today we mourn its loss. Life is cruel that way.
Originally purchased by Richard for $8,000 the car was was now practically priceless, to us and fans anyway making a name for itself at SEMA before being sold. However, this fan favorite 2+2 is now nearly worthless after being transported with six other cars when the trailer went up in flames. And the flames you'd expect from a SR20 engine producing 400hp.
At this point we don't know what other cars perished or what caused the fire, but ultimately, the Datsun lived up to its name, sun meaning "loss" in Japanese.
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Everyone loves to stop in their local Brookstone and come out relaxed from their popular massage chairs. Brookstone has become much more than the unique gadget store they became popular for. They now offer so many products for everyday needs. They have a large selection of outdoor furniture, kitchen accessories and mattresses.
Last week I attended an in-store event with other writers. We got an opportunity to test all Brookstone's new products and spend a little extra time in their famous massage chairs. Brookstone is clearly a great shopping place for Father's Day gifts. The selection is vast and the customer service is impeccable.
A cool gift idea for Dad is the Boogie Board. It is well priced at $39.95 and is the coolest writing tablet. It is a great eco-friendly gift and will help save tree's. You can draw, take notes or just doodle without the need of paper or pencil. The LCD tablet will last for 50,000 erases before needing a new battery.
My favorite item in the store was the Zoku. The Zoku maker creates healthy pops fast. Make striped pops, yogurt and flavored core pops in as few as 7-9 minutes. To make Popsicles simply store the compact Zoku base in your freezer. When you're ready, pour juice, yogurt or fruit smoothies into the molds to make striped pops, yogurt pops or (for the first time ever at home) flavored core pops. Fruit slices, candy and nuts can be added, too. Watch them freeze right on your countertop—without electricity. This cool gadget is priced at $49.95. This item is #1 on my wish list.
We had such a great time testing out all the Bookstone products. It was a lot of fun and I was able to find gifts for all the Dad's and Grandpa's in our family.
|Brookstone head massager
|Ella getting a work-out
|Ella taking an in-store nap
Brookstone even offers high quality outdoor furniture. You can create your own outdoor oasis while shopping at Brookstone.


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Ronald C. Rosbottom (Section 01)
Paris has been for centuries one of the exemplary sites of our urban sensibility, a city that has indelibly and controversially influenced the twentieth-century imagination. Poets, novelists and essayists, painters, photographers and film-makers: all have made use of Paris and its cityscape to examine relationships among technology, literature, city planning, art, social organizations, politics and what we might call the urban imagination. This course will study how these writers and visual artists have seen Paris, and how, through their representations, they created and challenged the "modernist" world view. In order to discover elements of a common memory of Paris, we will study a group of writers (Apollinaire, Calvino, Stein, Hemingway and others), philosophers and social commentators (Simmel, Benjamin, Barthes), filmmakers (Clair, Truffaut, Tati and others), photographers (Atget, Brassai) and painters (DeChirico, Picasso, Delaunay, and others). Finally, we will look at how such factors as tourism, print media, public works, immigration and suburban development affect a city's simultaneous and frequently uncomfortable identity as both a geopolitical and an imaginative site. First semester. Professor Rosbottom.


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He just drops the packages on the front porch and runs away. But I don't mind - today he brought me a package, courtesy of Peggy who had given me a gift certificate for my favorite enabler.
I bought music, mostly, and even the one book I got is music-related.
Now that I've spent the last 3 hours unwrapping CDs - I mean, really, why do they have to be wrapped in cellophane AND have that annoying sticky tape across the top? - anyway, now that I've unwrapped them all, I'm happily listening to new tunes and checking out the goodies ... a note for Evanescence merchandise, a PIN for an exclusive Elvis Costello digital download (not compatible with Macintosh computers ... grrrr), and a stick-on tattoo from the Foo Fighters.
If you'll excuse me ... Elvis is calling. Due North I go.
[For my German readers: Richtung Norden. Und dann immer gradeaus ... ]


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Five Dichotomies of Interpersonal Politics
2010 April 14th
First a couple limiting qualifiers:
- I do not imagine these to be the only five, or the most important five, dichotomies. They just happen to have been on my mind lately.
- By politics, I simply mean the ways in which people interact while deciding what to do.
These dichotomies exist as characteristics/traits of people, as ways of behaving or interacting, and as points of view — and most are a combination of all three.
In no particular order, here they are:
1. The Personal vs Team dichotomy is strongest in situations where several people are working together and risk their individual well-being in order to achieve important results that benefit all. I discuss this and give examples in MCV03, Everything That Depends on You Depends on Your Well-Being.
2. The dichotomy between Individualism and Collectivism is similar but involves the tradeoffs between the individual(s) and a much larger entity such as an entire society. This dichotomy often factors in political ideologies, such as Ayn Rand's Objectivism (which falls on the individualist end of the spectrum) and Socialism or Communism. I have written a bit more on my Collectivism page.
3. There is a dichotomy between Task and Purpose, or between the means and the end, or between the method and the ultimate result. I think of this as a succession of several things connected in a chain. Roughly in order they are: Task, Goal, Project, Mission and Purpose. They have a cause-and-effect relationship, in that each results from the ones that come before it in the chain. Also, at any point in the chain, there are typically several alternatives any of which can be used to achieve the next link in the chain. I have written a lot about this on my Priorities page.
4. That dichotomy relates closely to the dichotomy between One-Time Planning and Ongoing Re-Evaluation. This is a spectrum of individual preference; each person will tend to choose how much energy to spend on thinking and planning, and how much risk to take from the adverse effects of failing to adapt or to be flexible. I discuss this on my Decision page.
5. Finally, there is a dichotomy of management style between Hands-Off Management and Micro-Management. This appears when decisions are being made about what how to carry out a task or how to accomplish the results expected in a person's job. There is a spectrum, ranging from a completely worker-oriented extreme at which the person doing the job decides how to do it, to a completely manager-oriented extreme at which every detail is specified to the worker by another person, or perhaps by several or many others.
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Gardner Sahib
23/9/2009 to 23/9/2009
Heritage Shared 2009
Maharajah Ranjit Singh was ruler of the Sikh Kingdom of the Punjab and surrounding territories from 1801 until 1839. Within his army he employed several foreign officers, and he even based the structure of his army on the French example.
This talk will focus on one of these men, Colonel Alexander Haughton Gardner. We will explore how a man born in America to Scottish parents came to be a key member of Maharajah Ranjit Singh's army. Drawing on historical accounts of the time we will discuss this colourful character and examine Colonel Gardner's role in the Punjab both as soldier and eyewitness.
Time: 1-2pm
Location: National Library of Scotland,George IV Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1EW
Further information email@example.com or call 0845 600 1893
Featured Events


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- Home
- What's New
- SunBriteTV Pro Series 49" Black Outdoor HDTV (Full Sun)
- Home
- Outdoor Entertainment
- Outdoor TV's
- SunBriteTV Pro Series 49" Black Outdoor HDTV (Full Sun)
SunBriteTV Pro Series 49" Black Outdoor HDTV (Full Sun)
SunBriteTV Pro Series 49" Black Outdoor HDTV (Full Sun)
Product Description
This 49" Pro Series Direct Sun Outdoor LED HDTV / Outdoor Display is water-resistant, resilient, and durable—guaranteed to function safely and effectively in a wide variety of elements including rain, snow, extreme heat and cold, dust, salt air, and beyond.
A tempered glass shield protects the LED screen in active environments, while direct sun readable EST technology helps guard against isotropic blackout. Its powder-coated aluminum exterior shields internal components ... and the ultra-bright, 49" full 1080p HD / LED anti-glare screen delivers exceptional outdoor viewing quality.
A built-in heating and cooling system allows the display to operate in temperatures from -40 F up to 122 degrees F. Built-in 5V and 12V power in the media compartment eliminate the need to run external power cords for many media players. Made for permanent outdoor installation. Ruggedized for commercial applications and custom integrations. Place by the pool, in your outdoor kitchen, gazebo ... or create a special outdoor living area to "wow!" your friends & family.
Please be advised that any returned TV will be subject to a 15% Restocking Fee in addition to freight charges (both ways).
- 49" Pro Series True-Outdoor All-Weather Television for permanent outdoor installation
- Ultra-Bright (700 NIT) 49-inch full HD, 1080p LED screen for improved outdoor viewing
- Direct Sunlight-Readable
- Anti-glare protective glass and removable front bezel for easy field servicing
- Massive, side-opening cable/media bay provides easy access(Opening: 8.925" X 12.5" x 3.0" deep / Interior: 10.5" X 18.3" X s 2.1" deep)
- Media bay power port powers media players without the need for external cords (firstname.lastname@example.com / 12v@3amps)
- Side-mounted cable ports for improved access and visibility
- High temperature Enhanced Solar Tolerance (EST) technology prevents isotropic blackout
- Thermal-flow air ventilation system keeps the unit cool & dry in temperatures up to 122 degrees F
- Ability to operate in cold weather (-40 degrees F)
- Exterior designed to protect internal components from rain, snow, dust, insects, humidity, and salt air
- Powder-coated rust-proof aluminum exterior for strength and durability
- RS232 serial control with discrete on, off, and input control (located in the cable-entry compartment)
- Rear IR receiver (located in the cable-entry compartment)
- Innovative water-tight Cable Entry System seals out moisture and allows for easy hook-ups
- Weatherproof control buttons with optional tamper-proof plate
- Remote control Lock-out prevents unauthorized users from changing the programming
- Available in Black Only
- Includes: Weatherproof Detachable 20W Speaker Bar, Weatherproof Remote Control, Warranty, Manual
- Optional: Premium Outdoor Gray Dust Cover - Additional $95.00
- Optional: Tabletop Stand - Additional $75.00
- Optional: Flat Wall Mount w/hardware for Additional $150.00 OR Articulating Wall Mount w/hardware for Additional $465.00
- Optional: 1 Year EXTENDED Warranty: Residential is Additional $335.00 OR Commercial is Additional $368.00
SCREEN: 9-inch Diagonal Color Active Matrix, TFT LED
RESOLUTION: 1920 x 1080 Full-HD 1080p
FRAME RATE: 60 Hz
VIEWING ANGLE: 178° x 178°
RESPONSE TIME: 8 milliseconds
TV FORMATS: 1080p, 1080i, 720p, 720i, 480p, 480i
RF: Antenna/CATV (ATSC/QAM/NTSC) x1
HDMI: HDMI™ Input x2
VIDEO COMPOSITE: S-Video x1 and Composite Video x1, L/R Audio Inputs x1
VIDEO COMPONENT: YPbPr plus Stereo Audio x2
PC: 15-pin D-sub VGA plus Stereo Audio
CONTROL SET: RS232 Serial, Discrete IR Control, Concealed IR Window
AUDIO OUT: Digital SPDIF Audio(Fixed), Analog 1/8" headphone jack (Variable)
SPEAKERS: 20 WATT detachable speakers
INPUT POWER: 100-240 VAC, 50-60 Hz 2.0 A @ 120v, Max (1.25 A @ 120v)
OPERATING TEMP: -40° to 122° F. (-40° to 50°C.)
NON-OP. TEMP: -40° to 140° F. (-40° to 60°C.)
OFF MODE WITH POWER APPLIED): The non-operating temperature feature requires power to be applied.
ACCESSORIES INCLUDED: Weatherproof remote control, top or bottom mount speaker bar
EXTERIOR: Powder-coated aluminum
EXTERIOR COLORS: Black
TV DIMENSIONS: 44.6in x 26.1in x 5.6in
TV WEIGHT: 64.0 lbs.(69.0 lbs with speaker)
SHIPPING DIMENSIONS: 47in W x 34in H x 9in D
SHIPPING WEIGHT: 88 lbs.
RESIDENTIAL WARRANTY: Two-year parts and labor
COMMERCIAL WARRANTY: Two-year parts and labor


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Hutong School was the first Chinese language school under foreign management officially licensed by the Chinese Ministry of Education. We are accredited by WYSETC and supported by the Benelux Chamber of Commerce and the Junior Chamber International in Beijing. Over the years, we have built up a reputation for high quality teaching and, in addition to hundreds of private students, have had students from embassies, Chambers of Commerce, prestigious MBA programs, etc. During the Olympic games, in the summer of 2008 the wife of Mr. Jacques Rogge - President of the IOC - came to Hutong School for a crash course of the Chinese language. Hutong School has built successful partnerships with many renowned universities around the globe as well as with many high profile companies here in China. Plus, since 2015 Hutong School in Shanghai is a HSK registered center.
"Hutong School offered exactly the services I was looking for. It was a 1000%-fit." Daniela Schiesser, Germany
Representatives from France, the United States, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Korea and the Netherlands help you to find your way and feel at ease in China. All our employees speak fluent Chinese, have several years of experience in China and most of them did internships in Beijing or Shanghai themselves.
"Taking classes at Hutong School was an extremely good decision and an unforgettable experience. It is totally worth it, they do really make you feel part of a big family." Juan Carlos Rodriguez Moreno, Spain
As soon as you arrive at the airport, there will be a Hutong School employee to take care of you. We will take you to your apartment, which you share with other Hutong School students. We will also take you to the school, where you will receive an orientation course and be introduced to your fellow students. If you so choose, we will set you up with a mobile phone and local number in China, allowing you to be in touch right away with your new peers. On your first day of work, we will accompany you to your company to introduce you to your employer.
"The Hutong School teachers made my time in Beijing great and brought me much closer to China and its culture. Very soon I felt at home in Beijing and wanted to stay longer." Ulrike Trepte, Germany
Visit our Partners and Resources page
"I'm amazed at how quickly the teachers have got us communicating in Mandarin." Gordon McAllister, UK
We are continuously looking for suitable partner institutions all over the world, aiming to link their young and talented students with companies in China and provide them with high quality education in Chinese language. We have established partnerships with the following universities:
All of your personal data, which is sent to us during the application process, will be treated as strictly confidential and used solely for the purpose of your application. Your personal data, such as email address, passport information and telephone numbers, will not be passed on to any third party.


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Shell Place opens its doors
Thousands of volunteers and community members welcome a new sport and entertainment facility in Fort McMurray, Alberta.
Read about our 2015 activities, partnerships and the innovative approach we take in helping to build a sustainable energy future.
Thousands of volunteers and community members welcome a new sport and entertainment facility in Fort McMurray, Alberta.
Relive the experience and inspiration of Shell Eco-marathon 2015 and get ready to be a part of Shell Eco-marathon 2016 in Detroit, Michigan, April 22-24, 2016.
An innovative approach to tree planting in Alberta's Boreal Forest
New driver. New team. New weather. The University of Dalhousie conquers all in pursuit of the 2015 Shell Eco-marathon Americas championship title.
Quebec teams are heading to the 2015 Shell Eco-marathon Americas in Detroit -- and one is looking for a sixth-time win.
It has been said a little friendly competition is a good thing. Ontario, Canada is home to three universities hopeful to set fuel efficiency records and take home first place honours at the 2015 Eco-marathon Americas.
Read how a rollover destroyed the University of British Columbia's eco-cars, but didn't take away their drive.
Students from the University of Alberta are gearing up for the 2015 Shell Eco-marathon Americas in Detroit, Michigan.
From Toronto to Montreal - and back - on less than a litre of fuel? Read how University of Toronto students made it happen!
Musicians invited to inspire others in one-of-a-kind music contest
High school, university squads readying their super-mileage cars
Students competing in 2015 Shell Eco-marathon Americas get a behind-the-scenes look at OEM design and research facilities.
Multiple investments in Detroit's future.
Future Student Scientists and Engineers From Across the Americas Engage Automakers in Detroit Innovation and Design Labs
News and Media Releases - All media releases published by Royal Dutch Shell plc this year, and archived releases from the past six years.
On this page you can find media contact details for Shell in Canada.
Keep up to date with our share price, quarterly results and upcoming events.
The 2015 Annual Report and Form 20-F, the 2015 Sustainability Report and the Investors' Handbook are available on our global website for online reading and PDF downloads.
Keep up to date with developments at Shell via RSS, email alerts, on Twitter and via our app.


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Are you one of those unfortunates that get dragged along to the dreaded annual Christmas party? In the office, weeks of discussion and planning overtake all work related activities as dresses, heels, and make up take precedence over the latest sales report. Lunch breaks are filled with murmurs and rumor's about who might 'get with who', and whether the boss is going to bring his/her wife/husband. Bathrooms are ablaze with twittering chit-chat and gossip about whether the latest office relationship will fall at the first hurdle and reveal itself to all and sundry, as the potent punch secretly maneuvers into fifth gear with undetected, uncompromising, and unyielding cruelty. The nervous energy evident across the board is hilarious. People who spend forty odd hours a week together, act as if they have never seen each other before. Even the most reserved characters fall victim to the anxiety and apprehension that fills the air as the ghastly day draws ever closer.
Memories of past events return to haunt you, as images of drunken incidents flood your mind with cringe making clarity. You console yourself in the thought that you were not alone, and that Laura, or Maeve, or Jenny were way worse than you. After all it wasn't you who tried to chat up John from Marketing, nor was it you who tripped on your sky high platforms to fall drink first all over Michael from Human Resources. But it was you, embarrassingly, who, fueled with alcoholic Dutch courage, grabbed the microphone from the lead singer of the appalling band, and battled unmusically against the feedback screeches of faulty and badly malfunctioning amplifiers, in your rendition of Bette Midler's 'You are the Wind beneath my Wings'.
But what if you were given the task of picking a band to perform at the next party? Would you take into account the different personalities in your office block, and choose a band that could play a variety of tunes spanning all the musical decades, or would you go for a single tribute act, like ABBA or The Beatles? Perhaps you might go off the beaten track altogether and opt for something like a comedian or a magician, and totally ignore the likes or dislikes of your fellow colleagues. It's never any easy choice so why not do yourself a favor, jump onto the internet and track down a good entertainment agency?
Let the professionals make the decisions. Just give them an overall profile of the people in your company: age, sex, even the type of company you work with, because it can all help in getting the best band for the job. But it's not easy trying to please everyone. A group of people in an advertising agency will probably be far more open to something loud and varied, whereas those in an accounts office might be a tad more serious (accountants - so sorry!). Again, if the average age is 55, then there's not much point in choosing a hip hop band, or a cool DJ, but with the help of a good entertainment agency, you'll find the perfect band.
The range of acts on the best entertainment agency's books are vast. You might try one of the tribute acts who usually perform music that relates to a single artist, group or musical era. Other 'ordinaire' bands will draw from large catalogues of different genres, and can churn out an exciting, handpicked mix of specially chosen tracks, melodies and styles that will lighten the moods of even the most boring workmate. Then of course there's DJ's who play discs, scratching, spinning and swishing as they go, interspersed with electronic techno beats -a real art in itself. A good entertainment agency will have access to all.
At the end of the day, one of the biggest problems is trying to avoid picking your own personal favorites. But once you cast aside that selfish streak, you can get down to the business of pin pointing the act and nominating the playlist for the band that will best accommodate the interests of your work buddies, leaving you ample time to plan your outfit with ease. As belle of the ball, all eyes will be on you again, but this time it will be in admiration for your choice of entertainment and not your singing finesse. Who doesn't like a little limelight?


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Namely, writing like Freddy Krueger. Or rather, a Freddy Jr. If I planned a month ahead, I would have secured more slots, but it's too late for that.
Three W'sWhat am I doing? Guest posting on other blogs within the span of seven days.
Why am I doing it? The more guest posts at once, the more exposure.
Why should you care? More writing articles, that's what!
I'll be finding the main focus of my blog within the next month or so, so there will be a point which several article types will no longer fit the theme, and therefore be better suited on more fitting sites. It's all about finding the proper home for my words.
Guest Post #1: Crying Characters Won't Drown Your Story
|Look at her.
Lydia Sharp is the first host! Click through to her blog for my writing craft article on why there are points your character should cry.
Don't forget to check out her other stuff! And say hi!
Also, check back tomorrow for two more posts: My regular contribution at YA Indie, and another at a fellow follower's blog. See you Saturday!


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The Barakat Gallery is a purveyor of museum quality ancient art specializing in Classical, Near Eastern, Biblical, Chinese, Pre-Columbian, Byzantine, Asian, African and Primitive arts. We also specialize in ancient Numismatics and fine jewelry. Our clientele is varied, including museums, corporations, private collectors and investors from all over the world. For the past century, the Barakat Family has been fortunate enough to have assisted in the formation of some of the most important art collections in the world. There are currently three world wide locations featuring, selling, and showcasing works from the collection. The International Annex of the Barakat Gallery is located in Beverly Hills, and can be found on the world famous Rodeo drive at 421 N. Rodeo across the street from Bijan. The London branch is located at 58 Brook Street in Mayfair directly across the street from the Claridge's Hotel. And the Abu Dahbi Gallery is located inside the Emirates Palace in the UAE. Each gallery contains a distinct variety of items from the collection which have specifically curated to compliment the geographical location and the interests of the local market.
All galleries are open to the public Monday through Saturday, from 10am to 6pm, or by appointment. Full contact details for each gallery can be found below.


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Frozen has been such a hit that the characters from the film are making a home for themselves at Walt Disney World in Florida. Anna and Elsa greet guests in Fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom. In 2016, the Frozen gang returns to Norway in Epcot with a ride and a revival of their famous 2013 World Showcase meeting location. Frozen Summer Fun (complete with a parade, store, skating venue, sing-along-show and fireworks) hit Disney's Hollywood Studios in the summer of 2014 and took the park by (Winter) storm.
Why should Disney's Animal Kingdom be left out of the opportunity to enjoy the fruits of success the Frozen characters can bring?
I would like to suggest Kristoff and Sven's Reindeer Ranch at Disney's Animal Kingdom, replacing Rafiki's Planet Watch. The new Sven attraction could feature live reindeer (of course) and a chance to meet Kristoff.
There's no doubt that the line to meet Kristoff could exceed the wait time for Expedition Everest. You'd think Kristoff was Elvis the way people reacted to him at Frozen Summer Fun.
Kristoff and Sven's Reindeer Ranch would also need an indoor snow arena, where you could build a snowman or ice skate. And an indoor merchandise location, too, of course!
Have you ever been to Disney's Animal Kingdom on a Summer Day? A snow attraction at Animal Kingdom would be the most popular thing the park has ever had.
And it would be funny if Kristoff and Sven's Reindeer Ranch also had a flat ride starring Marshmallow the Snow Monster (as a nod to the Yeti from Expedition Everest).
Guests of Kristoff and Sven's Reindeer Ranch may purchase a package of Olaf Noses (carrots) as a snack or to feed to the reindeer.


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November 13, 8:00 am to 1:00pm
On Saturday, November 13, from 8:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m., portions of Rim Rock Drive in Colorado National Monument will be temporarily closed to facilitate the annual Rim Rock Marathon.
One-way vehicle traffic including bicycles will only be permitted from the west entrance (Fruita) to the east entrance (
The race will start near the east entrance of
As the race progresses,
During the one-way restriction, the speed limit for the entire road will be 25 miles per hour, and no passing will be permitted. Motor vehicles and bicycles will be limited to eastbound travel only.
Runners will be shuttled from the Finish Line area (
The Rim Rock Marathon is a special event that is authorized under a National Park Service special use permit. The race, formerly known as the Rim Rock Run, has taken place annually on the second Saturday of November since 1993.
Ascent Productions is the business coordinating and executing the race. Anyone needing additional information on the race should contact Ascent Productions at 970-274-1232.


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Thursday 2-4 & 7-9 p.m.
Friday, March 23rd, 2018 at 11:00 a.m.
Spring burial at Barrie Union Cemetery
CRANE, Mabel (nee Thompson) (30 year member of the Army Navy Air Force Club, Barrie Unit 365) – Passed away peacefully at the Barrie Manor on Sunday, March 18th, 2018 in her 91st year. Beloved wife of the late Ronald Crane and the late Cecil Dunnett. Loving mother of Bev Dunnett (Jim Roth) of Hawkestone and Jackie Cochran (Bruce) of Barrie. Dear grandmother of Lynita (Lyn) Lecraw (John), Tammy MacIsaac and step-grandmother of Kim and Sherry. Great-grandmother of Joshua, Kyle, Dylan, and great-great grandmother of Keegan and Autumn. Mabel will also be missed by her step-great-grandchildren as well as her many nieces, nephews and friends. Predeceased by her siblings Margaret, Mary, Art, Helen, Joe, Jack and Les. Friends may call at the JENNETT FUNERAL & CREMATION CENTRE, 152 Bradford Street in Barrie on Thursday from 2-4 & 7-9 p.m. A funeral service will be held in the chapel on Friday, March 23rd, 2018 at 11:00 a.m. Reception to follow at the ANAF Club. Spring burial Barrie Union Cemetery. As an expression of sympathy, memorial donations may be made to the charity of your choice. Words of comfort may be forwarded to the family by visiting www.funeralhome.on.ca