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"It was beauty killed the beast." King Kong, 1933
You can't scam someone who doesn't trust you. This is why scammers use every trick possible to make themselves seem legitimate and to earn your trust. They also realize that reason can be circumvented by emotion. Greed, curiosity, and the possibility of romance often overcome common sense, and all scammers know this. They also know that if you can combine greed with the possibility of romance, you have a powerful emotional cocktail that few can resist.
In principle, the basic Forex scam is relatively simple. Forex trading (foreign exchange trading) is simply the exchanging of one currency for another in the hopes of making a profit by buying low and selling high. As someone who has lived in a number of foreign countries for decades, I have, by default, become sort of a Forex trader. From my own experience, it's very difficult to figure out why currency goes up one day and down the next. Sometimes I win and sometimes I lose. Generally, I hedge. It's a safer strategy but doesn't make the huge profits most investors are hoping for. But keep in mind that the failure rate of Forex traders is variously estimated to be between 70 and 95%, so most people who become Forex traders are destined to lose money. In fact, 80% of Forex traders quit trading in two years.
On the surface, this would seem like the worst market to invest your money in. How is it possible to convince someone to invest thousands of dollars in a market that is almost guaranteed to lose them money? Imagine the rush to invest if the situation were reversed: If you would have a 90% chance of making money. Yet, apparently, people are rushing into Forex despite all the evidence that they should not. It's probably due to the 'someone has to win the lottery' syndrome. In short, greed triumphs over fear.
That said, some people may still take some prodding to part with their hard-earned cash. In such cases, good sales techniques must be employed. In far too many cases, persuasiveness often comes in the form of a pretty face. Yes, it seems like more men are victimized by Forex scams than women. According to one study, men are more likely to be victims of financial fraud than women by a 70% to 30% margin. Older, wealthier men are the main targets. So what on earth would persuade a wealthy, older man to invest in what in financial circles is called a 'negative-sum game'. You guessed it; the chance for a romantic relationship with a beautiful, young woman. That's where dating sites and apps enter the picture.
The scam, then, begins with an elderly man on a dating site or app, like Tinder, being contacted by an attractive woman. Of course, the man may be skeptical and the scammers know it. Imagine being contacted by this actual Forex scammer on Tinder.
Would you enter a conversation with her or just dismiss her outright as a scammer? Sure, you'd at least give her a chance and wait for her to show her hand. Naturally, you'd do a reverse image search.
I did an image search and found nothing. This might be because the image search algorithms are not fine-tuned to Asian faces or this image appears on some Asian internet site. Altering the image in some way can also baffle the algorithm. Then again, she could be a normal person whose photo was found on social media. So, if you, as a potential victim or date seeker could not find this person on a reverse image search, you may be one step closer to thinking you've been contacted by a real person looking for a relationship.
If she is a scammer, she will have only a few photos on her profile page and very little information. This is because scammers don't have a lot of time to waste making detailed profiles. She will also probably be an Asian woman from Hong Kong, Shanghai, Macau or Singapore. She will quickly ask you to chat on WhatsApp or Line. She will claim to have a private business and show you pictures to indicate that she is quite wealthy. Then, after a little small talk, she will begin telling you that she's made most of her money by investing in Forex because she has an uncle, or other associate, who has inside knowledge of the Forex market. At some point, a bot will kick in and will only respond to Forex questions. In the end, she will then encourage you to try investing for free, but more of that later.
By now, every scammer knows the danger signals the potential victim is looking for. They read posts like this more than victims do in order to learn about some of their own shortcomings. In so doing, they have polished their attacks.
Recently, a contributor to one of the reddit sites explained how he nearly fell for this Forex scam even though he was well aware of how they operate. As he writes, "I've recently fallen prey to a complex and advanced scheme. When I say complex and advanced, I mean it was not obvious that I was being scammed, or that the person I was talking to was not who they said they were." These are the tests that the scammer passed.
-Invested a lot of time in me. Hours and hours, over weeks. (Shared 100,000 words between us. Enough for 90 pages at 11 font.)
-I made phone calls with the person I was talking to, and they had a female voice. Also daily voice messages.
-There was a high level of interaction, and the scammer had a good memory for things we'd talked about in the past. They had a good intellect, and smart, original things to say about what we discussed.
-It felt like a real relationship. I was falling in love with the scammer.
-I received many pictures that seemed to verify identity.
-None of the photos sent were in any reverse image searches.
That said, he did admit that, "the fact that I was starved for the positive attention of an attractive female allowed me to overlook a few things that didn't make sense…The only red flags were why she was so interested in me… I was mostly just happy to have found someone who was excited to get (to) know me, and who seemed to like me very much."
Apparently, somewhere, likely in the victim's profile, was a mention of his interest in investing. This could be why the scammers took so much time grooming him. The potential for financial awards would be worth the extra time invested. And, sure enough, the alluring scammer finally brought up the topic of Forex investing. But, even this did not alert the victim right away. "she'd send me pictures of her trades. Since I also expressed that I had this interest, it did not set off alarms. I figured she was trying to show me that she too knew a thing or two about it." To make a long story short, she told him to download the MetaTrader App and to let her analyst help him make money. MetaTrader is a legitimate app but it is often manipulated by scammers because it offers a free trial period. Fake brokers will manipulate the app to make it look like a fortune could be made in a short time. Once you invest, the notices you will receive will be manipulated by the scammers to show that you are making lots of money and you are encouraged to invest even more. Whatever money you invest will never be seen again. It goes straight into the bank accounts of the scammers who really care nothing about the Forex market.
If you think this was just an isolated incident, think again. In January, INTERPOL put out an alert on financial fraud connected to dating sites." INTERPOL's Financial Crimes unit has received reports from around the world of this scam and is encouraging dating app users to be vigilant, be skeptical and be safe when entering into online relationships." There have since been a number of arrests in a variety of countries.
But it hasn't stopped this scam. In fact, as I write this, men all over the world are being scammed by beautiful Chinese women. The ultimate scammer-test used to be to ask the scammer to participate in a video call. They would almost always find a reason why they couldn't do this because, more than likely, they weren't the same person that appeared in their photos. They may not even be female. However, this seems to have changed. More and more victims have claimed that they actually talked to the person via video. One potential victim asked the scammer to strike a particular pose and take a selfie. To his surprise, she did.
Other scammers have groomed a victim for months before bringing up the investment angle. At that point, the man (or woman) is so locked into the relationship and so emotionally dependent on this person that they simply deny the truth. Never underestimate the power of denial. As the man who received the photo above noted, "photos of pretty people is apparently all it takes for a situation to escalate into anything from a minor shakedown to financial devastation." There's a lot of truth in that. Look what happened to King Kong.


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Richfield joins the 21 movement, raises tobacco-buying age
Residents in Richfield will no longer be able buy tobacco products unless they are at least 21 years old.
The City of Richfield unanimously passed the ordinance during Tuesday's council meeting, with the ordinance going into effect on July 21.
The south metro suburb the 10th city in Minnesota to join the Tobacco 21 movement.
Minnesota cities that have joined the Tobacco 21 movement:
- Bloomington
- Edina
- Falcon Heights
- Minneapolis
- North Mankato
- Plymouth
- Richfield
- Shoreview
- St. Peter
- St. Louis Park
St. Cloud was the first city outside of the metro to vote in favor of Tobacco 21 last November, but Mayor Dave Kleis vetoed it.
Like other Minnesota cities, Richfield's policy includes the sale of e-cigarettes.
In March, a state lawmaker proposed a bill that would raise the minimum smoking age to 21 across the entire state, which, according to Clearway Minnesota, could prevent 30,000 young people from smoking over time.
The Institute of Medicine recently found that raising the buying age to 21 could cut down on the number of teens aged 15-17 who smoke by as much as 25 percent.

subset: commoncrawl


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Montpellier won against Castres in this 2022 final of the Top 14! This season has been full of surprises, and we can't wait to cover the next season! Bayonne will discover the top 14 for this 2023 season, while Biarritz Olympique will be relegated to Pro D2.
Founded in 1892, the Top 14 is one of Europe's three major rugby union leagues and the highest level of the French National Rugby League (LNR).
Current teams play for opportunities to be either promoted or relegated between the Top 14 and Rugby Pro D2. The league brings together the 14 best French rugby teams, for a 26-game season from August to June. The top six teams progress to a knockout-style playoff to determine the champion.
Montpellier is the most recent champion after beating Castres in the final last June. The new season will start in October 2022 with two new teams joining from the Pro D2 (Bayonne and Narbonne) taking the spots of two demoted teams (Perpignan and Biarritz).
Live stream Top 14 rugby matches privately and securely with a VPN using one of the services offered below. The 2021-22 Top 14 season is available on Canal+, Premier, and ESPN+. To proceed, simply connect to our VPN and get ready to watch some exciting rugby games!
Watch the Top 14 live on Canal+
Price: 20 EUR/month and up
Canal+ will broadcast some games of the top 14 2021 — 2022 live. A 30-day free trial is offered.
To live stream the Top 14 on Canal+:
- Get ExpressVPN.
- Connect to a server location in France
- Go to Canal+ and subscribe.
- Tune in and enjoy!
Watching on a computer? For the best streaming experience, be sure to use the ExpressVPN browser extension for Chrome, Edge, or Firefox.
Want to watch the matches on a mobile? Use the Canal+ application on your device Android or iOS.
Live stream Top 14 rugby on Premier Sports
Price: 10 GBP/month and up
Premier Sports will broadcast a selection of Top 14 2021–22 matches live online. Premier Sports is also a great way to watch other rugby tournaments including the United Rugby Championship and Rugby League, as well as sports including soccer.
To watch Top 14 rugby matches live on Premier Sports:
- Get ExpressVPN.
- Connect to a server location in the UK.
- Go to Premier Sports and sign up.
- Tune in and enjoy!
Watching on a computer? For the best streaming experience, be sure to use the ExpressVPN browser extension for Chrome, Edge, or Firefox.
Want to watch the matches on a mobile? Use the Premier Sports apps on your Android or iOS device.
Watch the Top 14 live on ESPN+
Price: 10 USD/month and up
ESPN+ will broadcast select 2021 — 2022 top 14 matches live.
To watch the Top 14 live on ESPN+:
- Get ExpressVPN.
- Connect to a server location in the U.S
- Go to ESPN+ and subscribe.
- Tune in and enjoy!
Want to watch the games on a computer? For the best streaming experience, be sure to use the ExpressVPN browser extension for Chrome, Edge, or Firefox.
Want to watch the matches on a mobile? Use the ESPN+ application on your Android or iOS device.
In any case, don't forget to install your VPN and secure your internet so you don't miss a single minute of Top 14 rugby this season!
ExpressVPN is a VPN service not intended to be used as a means of copyright circumvention. Please read the ExpressVPN Terms of Service and your content provider's Terms of Use for more details.
FAQ for streaming sports
Can I stream sports on my computer?
Can I stream sports on my phone or tablet?
How can I stream on my TV with a VPN?
In brief there are five different ways to stream sports on your TV with ExpressVPN:
-With the native app for a smart TV or streaming device
-By streaming on your computer and connecting to the TV with an HDMI cable
-By mirroring or casting wirelessly to your TV or streaming device from your computer or mobile device
-By connecting to an ExpressVPN-enabled router, which allows for unlimited devices and makes it super simple to connect to different server locations simultaneously
-With MediaStreamer, ExpressVPN's solution for devices that cannot install a VPN, such as Apple TV or gaming consoles. MediaStreamer only needs to be set up once, although it does not provide the full security benefits of a VPN. (Note that by connecting your Apple TV or gaming console to a router, you can get the best of both worlds!)
For more information on all the ways to get ExpressVPN on your big-screen TV, click here or contact a 24/7 Support agent for step-by-step instructions.
I connected to the suggested VPN server location but I can't log in to the streaming service!
No worries! Server load changes rapidly (especially when lots of people are trying to watch certain events), but that's exactly why ExpressVPN has high-speed servers all over the world. If you're trying to access a site in the U.S. or Germany, for instance, try connecting to a different server location in those countries.
If you're trying to connect to a country with one server location, the first step is to check your location settings. If you're on a mobile device, disconnect from the VPN, turn off location services, then connect to the VPN again. On both Windows and Mac computers, you can turn off Location Services within the Privacy & Security settings menu.
For more help, you can always talk to a member of our Support Team, available 24/7 by live chat.
I connected to the VPN but my internet speed is slow
If your internet speed is slow or your streaming seems to lag, there are a few possible reasons:
-The distance of your selected VPN server location from your physical location
-Your connection type (wired connections are more reliable than wireless connections)
-Suboptimal interconnectivity between the VPN and your ISP
-Slow internet connection speed at your location
-Your device type and processing power
Try each of the following steps to troubleshoot:
-Download the latest version of ExpressVPN
-Connect to a different VPN server location
-Change your VPN protocol
If you try each of the above and are still experiencing issues with your streaming speed, contact the ExpressVPN Support Team 24/7 and someone will be with you in seconds.
What other streaming services can I watch with ExpressVPN?
ExpressVPN works seamlessly with all the most popular streaming apps from around the world. Using a VPN for streaming ensures you watch securely in blazing-fast HD with unlimited bandwidth, free from ISP throttling (which can sometimes slow down speeds). If you want to watch your favorite team from anywhere—even while traveling or on unsecured networks like public Wi-Fi—ExpressVPN is a great way to enhance your sports streaming experience.


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May 7, 2018
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4 Results
The dread that comes with charting unknown territory is also an opportunity to embrace new forms of self knowledge — to experience what Wendell Berry calls "our essential loneliness."
September 19, 2016
The Seeking Woman at the Heart of a Pilgrimage
Who is the woman at the heart of the hajj? Omid Safi honors the roots of the global pilgrimage, and the social gravity that it holds for modern life.
June 25, 2016
The Journey of Transformation
Change is forged in the crucibles of doubt and the unknown. Jim Marsden with an exploration of the arc of radical transformation, from heeding the call to finding a new center of gravity.
August 28, 2015
An Elegant Life Taking Shape I Can Call My Own
Does destiny and fate truly exist? An age-old question, to be sure. Courtney Martin ponders that question and traces how each of our paths may be shaped by willful action and serendipitous encounters along the way.
The Pause
Step away from the week with us.
The Pause is our Saturday morning newsletter, a gathering of threads from the far-flung, ongoing conversation that is The On Being Project. Stay up to date with our latest podcasts, writings, live events, and more.
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THE HAPPIEST LITTLE 7-8 football team in the NFL is skipping toward the finish line. It is all very odd.
The Eagles, accustomed to winning divisions and winning playoff games, are acting like a perennially lousy team getting its first sniff of .500. So many people are so very happy. If you ask them the question about what they might have squandered this season, they say the right words and express the proper emotions, speaking of frustration and regret. But it passes quickly.
From the head coach on down, the tone has shifted with the swiftness of a summer cold front. They are all spinning for 2008 now, and spinning furiously. They are grasping on to their two most recent wins, against bored Dallas and battered New Orleans, as if they were magic beads that rendered the previous 13 games irrelevant.
Everyone looks forward. The notion that those who forget the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them is entirely foreign to the Eagles, it seems. The 2007 season was never even given a decent burial.
Instead, they are attempting to create momentum now for something that does not start for 8 months. Rather than rest people in an entirely meaningless exercise on Sunday, everybody is playing, it seems.
"A lot of it is the players' attitudes toward things right now," Eagles coach Andy Reid said. "They've got a good little thing going right now, and they want to be out on that field. They want to play. It's an interesting situation that we're in right now. We are playing good football, probably as good as anybody in the NFC right now. I don't want to stop that. I want to get the guys that want to play, get them out there and ready to go. I want to give them an opportunity to finish this thing strong. If it carries over a bit, it carries over. Let's finish it on a positive note."
There was a time, back when the Eagles were good, that Reid never worried about dissipating momentum, and rested most everyone in the meaningless week (or, sometimes, weeks) leading up to playoff games. Now, he is playing everybody in an attempt to nurture something for September.
It is different, very different, and it speaks to the fragility of the current situation. Starting with the quarterback, there apparently is a confidence-building effort being made here now that the games don't mean anything anymore. It goes beyond that to the whole team, though. All you have to do is listen lately to Reid.
First, he talks about injuries as if they have been the reason for 7-8. He contradicts himself a lot - because they are as hurt now as they've been - but there you have it.
Then he talks about how the Eagles are playing "probably as good as anybody in the NFC right now." And that they would have been a tough out for somebody in playoffs, had they made it, because, "Right now, we're playing good football and very competitive football. I'd put us against anybody really the last few weeks, or the last 5 or 6 weeks here."
They are 2-3 in the last 5 weeks, 3-3 in the last 6 weeks. There have been complications and explanations, certainly - starting with A.J. Feeley and all of those interceptions. But this embrace of failure - or, rather, this mining of heaps of failure for nuggets of hope - is fascinating to watch.
The other day, cornerback Sheldon Brown was quoted in phillyburbs.com and the Wilmington News Journal as saying that the team has played tight until the last two games. He said: "It's a trickle-down effect. If the coaches feel tight, it trickles down to the players. They're like: 'Oh, I can't make a mistake. I can't make a mistake.'
"Now the coaches are relaxed, the players are relaxed and we're having fun playing and that's how it's always been since I've been here. I don't know why it wasn't that way from the beginning."
It is hard to know whether Brown's observation is gospel or not. They had freewheeling, fun games against Detroit and New England this season, too. From a distance, it appeared the quarterback was tight more than anything.
But not now. The Buffalo Bills and the league's 27th-ranked pass defense awaits - and everything is beautiful, in its own way. So, .500 or bust. *
Send e-mail to
For recent columns, go to


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Daniel Peters
"In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and confidence shall be your strength." Isaiah 30:15
We find the Scriptures instructing us to, "have no confidence in the flesh." Philippians 3:3. Notice the simplicity and clarity of this teaching: "have no confidence in the flesh." This teaching allows for no exceptions whatever! "No" means no. The most dangerous flesh to have confidence in is our own.
Many today worry about their financial situations and at the same time say they believe the Word of God. Their worry and anxiety belays their unbelief and lack of confidence in God and they deny His power by their whining and complaining about what a sad lot their life has become.
Jesus is so basic and clear in Matthew 6:24-34 when He, The Creator, our Provider and Redeemer says calmly and quietly, "I say to you, do not worry. For after all these things the Gentiles (unbelievers) seek. Your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things, but seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added (given) to you."
If you cannot depend upon God to take care of you down here for a few short days, months or years, do you expect Him to believe that you will know how trust Him to take care of you for eternity? What you do here, you will do there; what you are here, you will be there. Who you depend on here, you will depend on there. Revelation 22:11.
"Abraham had such confidence in the life and power of the word of the Lord that he believed that it would fulfill itself."
Lacking confidence and assurance in the Word of God, "many people hesitate to make a start to serve the Lord, because they fear that God will not accept them; and thousands who have been professed followers of Christ for years, still doubt their acceptance with God." What they lack is simple faith that believes exactly what God says and expects His word to fulfill itself.
They ask, "Will the Lord receive me?" I reply by another question: Will a man receive that which he has bought? Yes, of course he will! If he did not want them, he would not have bought them. Now let us apply this simple, natural illustration to the case of the sinner coming to Christ. In the first place, He has bought us. "Do you not know you're your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's." 1 Corinthians 6.19, 20
He bought not a certain class, but the whole world of sinners. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son." John 3.16. "This is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the whole world." John 4:42. See also 1 Timothy 4:10.
The price that was paid for us was His own blood—His life. He "gave Himself for us." Titus 2.14. He "gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father." Galatians 1.4
The price paid was infinite; therefore we know that He very much desired that which He bought. He had His heart set on obtaining it. He could not be satisfied without it. See Hebrews 12.2; Isaiah 53.11
Yet, some drone on, "But I am not worthy." That means that you are not worth the price paid, and therefore you fear to come lest Christ will refuse to accept what He purchased. The bargain Christ made for you has been sealed, and the price already paid!
Further, you have nothing to do with the question of worth. When Christ was on earth "He knew what was in man." John 2.25. He made your purchase with His eyes wide open, and He knew the exact value of that which He bought. He is not at all disappointed when you come to Him and He finds that you are worthless. You are not to worry over the question of your worth; if He, with His perfect knowledge of your case, was satisfied to make the bargain, you should be the last one to complain.
Now, for the most wonderful truth of all: He bought you for the very reason that you are not worthy. He did not buy you for what you were or are now worth, but for what He could make of you. He says: "I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake." Isaiah 43:25. We have no righteousness.
Surely all doubt as to acceptance with God ought to be set at rest. But it is not. The evil heart of unbelief still suggests doubts.
If we believe in a God that made heaven and earth, and that still upholds all things by the word of His power, why do we not trust Him to take care of us, and to protect us?
Paul asked God three times that the 'thorn in the flesh' that he carried might be removed from him. The Lord answered him saying, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness."
Is God's grace sufficient for us today? Is His grace sufficient to take care of you? Kneel before Him and ask Him to humble you from your pride and self-sufficiency. His grace is more than enough.
As to your being Christ's, you can settle that yourself. You have seen what He gave for you. Now the question is, "Have you delivered yourself to Him?" He begs you to give Him that which He has bought and paid for.
(See the Everlasting Covenant, Chapter 9: The Test of Faith and also the article, "Acceptance with God" Both by E. J. Waggoner (This website))


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Difference between revisions of "The Ur-Quan Masters Forum FAQ"
(Asked several times in the archives)
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===I need help playing the game.===
===I need help playing the game.===
See the [[Star Control II Gameplay FAQ]].
See the [[Star Control II Gameplay FAQ]] .
===I have a question about the UQM project itself.===
===I have a question about the UQM project itself.===
Revision as of 16:27, 2 May 2007
This is the list of frequently asked questions (with answers) for the The Ur-Quan Masters Forum.
Please make sure that your question isn't in here before you ask it in the forum. We're happy to help, but we don't like answering the same questions over and over.
The game doesn't work as it should.
How do I make the game behave differently?
How do I change my keys?
Where are my saved games stored?
How do use the 3DO videos in the game?
See the The Ur-Quan Masters Technical FAQ for info about any of the above sections.
I need help playing the game.
See the Star Control II Gameplay FAQ (spoilers).
I have a question about the UQM project itself.
See the The Ur-Quan Masters Project FAQ.
When is the next/final release?
That's hard to predict. The developers all work on the game in their spare time, and the amount of spare time is known to vary. If you want to run the cutting-edge developer version and you have the skills, you could get the source code from cvs and build it yourself (the module name is "sc2"). CVS snapshots can be found here. On the same page precompiled Windows binaries are available. Nic maintains unofficial MacOS X snapshots (with extra patches).
I've got this super-cool idea for the game
Great! Let us know when when you have finished it. The source is open, so everyone can make a spin-off. But don't expect your changes to be included in the official version; it will remain true to the original. See here for the goals of the UQM project. Also, don't expect anyone else to do the work for you.
Wouldn't it be cool if UQM would run on my favorite game console/PDA/telephone/microwave?
People who own the same device would probably agree. If you're looking to put together a team with whom to make it a reality, you may want to announce that on the forum. Don't expect anyone else to do the work for you though. Don't even ask. Some third party ports are already underway.
Where do I get the source code for the original PC version/original 3DO version?
You won't find them anywhere, because they were never released--and in fact the source for the original PC version was lost. What was released to the public was a version of the 3DO code that had been modified to run on Windows.
What about The Ur-Quan Masters in my own language?
There are a number of translation projects ongoing (link). If you want to start a new project, please announce it on the forum so people won't do double work. You may also find others who want to help there.
How do the various versions of Star Control II differ?
See Version Comparison.
What are these abbreviations people are using?
See our list of Abbreviations.


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The Reihold brooch was composed with the remains of silk fabrics from our previous collections.
We were able to make one single piece, the Reihold brooch is unique.
It was made in one of the last flower workshops in France.
Each petal is cut and embossed manually before the brooch is made.
Flowers can also be worn in the hair or around the wrist thanks to the elastic band.
Details and fabric :
100% recycled silk.
Lambskin leather finish on the back side.
Medium size brooch, 217 petals.
Silver metal brooch.
Flexible lurex elastic attached to the back.
Packaging in a white cardboard box with the INDRESS logo and a colorful sticker on the lid.
The brooch is not resistant to rain or champagne.


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Carrots, vegan pesto, sweet red pears, organic mushrooms, broccolini, olives and other delicious things all weighed me down on the way home in the sleety snow this Sunday and tasty vegan soup was clearly required to warm me through. What a shame this was the last farmers market of the season in Kits!
Sweet Squash Soup – You Will Need
- 1 medium-sized Delicata squash
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp dried rosemary
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp Spike seasoning
- 1 tsp curry powder
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large white onion, diced
- 1 large carrot or two small carrots, chopped into 1/8 inch chunks
- 1 cup split red lentils
- 1/2 cup split yellow peas
- 6 cups stock
Making this tasty sweet curried squash and lentil soup will take a couple of hours all in so make a big batch! If you're making some to freeze then remember that freezing accentuates garlicky flavours so either use less than usual or use none and just add it in each time you eat a portion. I left the skin on the squash because I like it like that but maybe you don't so either peel your squash before roasting or scrape out the squishy sweet orange flesh afterwards.
The Method to the Madness
Preheat oven to 400 F.
- Scrub your squash, little bits of soil are likely festering in them there wrinkles, then halve it and scoop out the seeds with a spoon (these can be saved and roasted separately if you like).
- Chop the squash into inch square pieces and throw in a big baking pan with the oil, rosemary, thyme, Spike, a dash of salt and pepper, the curry powder (if so inclined) and the garlic. Toss it all around and roast for 40 minutes or until the squash is tender and maybe a little crispy (if you left the skins on).
- Boil your kettle to make your stock and, meanwhile, saute the onions in a dash more olive oil until they become translucent. Add in the carrots and saute for a few more minutes, taking care to stir so as to not burn things to the pan.
- Throw in the lentils and peas and stir everything up then pile in the roasted squash (peeled beforehand if desired). Stir until everything's pretty well jumbled up and then pour in your stock, cover and bring to a simmer.
- Simmer gently for about 35-40 minutes or until you can no longer resist the delicious aroma of fall emanating from the pan. Blend if you want it a little smoother or just eat as is, nothing should be all that chunky or at all crunchy by this point!
- Roll up the sleeves of your favourite comfy autumn sweater and serve up the soup with chunky bread and a pumpkin beer, perhaps.
I loved this soup so much that I have ordered another Delicata squash in my vegbox this week. Green Earth Organics reliably inform me that this type of squash is not as rich in beta-carotene as other winter squashes but is a source of fiber, potassium, vitamin C and the B vitamins, and both magnesium and manganese. Sign up to a vegbox delivery with GEO and cite my name or this blog and you and I both get ten bucks off our next order. They have an entirely custom box now so there's no risk of getting lots of sorry-looking veg you let perish in the back of your refrigerator. If it's too chilly to go out grocery shopping, let them bring all the ingredients for this delicious sweet curried squash and lentil soup to you. You don't even have to change out of your pyjamas.


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Fear Free
Clinically Tested
Mella Pro
Mella™  not only takes your pet's body temperature, but it also displays the results on your smart device or desktop. The data is automatically recorded and can be sent to a Practice Management System where it can be analyzed and made intelligible for you.
Mella Home
Yes, Mella™ takes your pet's body temperature and displays the result on your smart device. And the data is automatically recorded. But wait…it can also be exported to your vet or shown to the vet in real-time. This is big! And a lot less expensive than an Uber trip.
How does it work?
1. Connect Mella™  & Take Temperature
A quick, non-invasive placement under the arm with bluetooth connectivity to your cellular device
2. See Results In The App
Our free Mella app guides you through measuring and displays results on screen.
Create a pet profile for long-term tracking.
3. Know How Your Pet Is Feeling
Knowing your pet's temperature can give you peace of mind or alert you to notify your vet.
Stay Pupdated With Our Newsletter
Sign-up for our newsletter and blog posts to find out all the latest news from Mella.
Why is Mella better than a human thermometer?
Key Features
Conventional Thermometers
Mella Home
Mella Pro
Proven Accuracy
Foreleg + Ear + Rectal
Fear Free
Easy Software
15 Seconds (Axillary)
2 Seconds (Ear)
Reads Temp in...
15 Seconds
"I know all of my patients will be extremely happy with this stress free technology"
Alex Schechter, DVM
"I wish Mella Pro were around when my kitty was running a fever."
Tennille Teague, Founder, Jaxx Hound and Pet Parent


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How many of us struggle to sleep at nights? Or you wake up in the middle of the night and can't go back to sleep? Millions of people around the world struggle with insomnia. The National Institute of Health estimates that roughly 30 percent of the general population complains of sleep disruption. In a 2005 National Sleep Foundation (NSF) poll, more than half of people reported at least one symptom (difficulty falling asleep, waking up a lot during the night, waking up too early and not being able to get back to sleep, or waking up feeling un-refreshed) at least a few nights per week. I too sometimes have difficulty sleeping and so I will discuss some of the remedies that have worked for me.
According to sleepfoundation.org, exercise triggers an increase in body temperature and the post exercise drop in temperature may promote falling asleep. It may also reduce insomnia by decreasing arousal, anxiety and depressive symptoms. In addition, Hopkinsmedicince.org states that, aerobic exercise increases the amount of slow wave sleep you get. Slow wave sleep refers to deep sleep, where the brain and the body have a chance to rejuvenate. Some people find that exercising close to bed time may keep them up so experts say you should exercise 1 to 2 hours before bed in this case.
Lavender Oil
According to thesleepdoctor.com, lavender works as an anxiolytic (anxiety reliever) and as a sedative, to increase relaxation and calm, and help bring about sleep. It interacts with neurotransmitters to help quiet the brain and nervous system activity, reducing agitation, anger, aggression and restlessness. Experts say you should put a few drops of Lavender essential oil on your pillow to fall asleep. I normally put it on my pillow and after a few minutes of inhaling it I start feeling drowsy and end up falling asleep. Be sure to not put the oil on your skin because it may irritate it.
Epsom Salt bath with Lavender oil
Epsom salts is also known as magnesium sulfate. It is a chemical compound made up of magnesium, sulfur and oxygen. Adequate magnesium levels are essential for sleep and stress management, because it helps your brain produce neurotransmitters that induce sleep and reduce stress. Magnesium also helps your body produce melatonin, a hormone that promotes sleep. Epsom salt also has other benefits like helping with pain and sore muscles, reducing inflammation among others. It is sold in pharmacies. Add 1-2 cups of the Epsom salt with lavender oil to your warm bath tub and soak your body for 30 minutes. Be sure to moisturize after as it can dry out your skin. I have done this before and have fallen asleep in the bath tub. Lol
Melatonin Sleep Aid Supplements
These you can find in your local pharmacies and they are available in pill form, gummies and liquid. The body naturally produces the hormone melatonin. Melatonin's main job in the body is to regulate night and day cycles or sleep-wake cycles. Darkness causes the body to produce more melatonin, which signals the body to prepare for sleep. Light decreases melatonin production and signals the body to prepare for being awake. Some people who have trouble sleeping have low levels of melatonin. It is thought that adding melatonin from supplements might help them sleep. According to an expert on Hopkinsmedicine.org, you should take your melatonin supplement 1 to 2 hours before bed. I take this in gummy form occasionally and it helps me fall asleep sometimes.
Deep breathing exercise
When you are ready for bed, lay on your back and take long deep breaths. When you inhale, hold your breath for a little before exhaling. Clear your mind of any thoughts and just focus on your breathing. Deep breathing lowers your heart rate. According to Breus (aka the Sleep Doctor), your heart rate, on average, should be about 60 beats per minute or less in order to enter into a state of unconsciousness.
Most people's heart rate is closer to 75 or 80, he says."When you do deep, diaphragmatic breathing, it lowers your heart rate very quickly and lowers the anxiety that's associated with the higher heart rate," Breus notes. "That's really where the magic happens." However, he cautions that, before trying any deep-breathing exercises, screen yourself to make sure you don't have asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), emphysema or any type of restrictive lung disease. And talk to your doctor first if you're a smoker.
Let me know if you have ever tried any of these remedies, or if you have tried something that I didn't mention be sure to tell me in the comments. Xoxo


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It's the same in every American city: cars get towed away for unpaid parking fines, a Franz Kafka-scripted drama ensues for the erstwhile car owners, and the cars are auctioned off. But somehow San Francisco, where you'd better be sure to wear some goddamn flowers in your hair, adds that extra bit of pain to the whole process. Since City Tow lost their contract to handle the towing/auctioning process after a slew of alleged improprieties a few years back, their successor, Auto Return, has attempted to head off accusations of shill bidders, insider dealing, concealment of revenue, etc., by publishing lists of the cars in upcoming auctions and the results of previous auctions, with prices. Interesting stuff. But I still miss the Wild West feel of the old City Tow auctions.
San Francisco Weekly Vehicle Auctions [Auto Return]
Former SF Tow Company Settles Fraud Suit [internal]


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President Uhuru Kenyatta has ruled out rumors that BBI bill is meant to create a position for him come 2022.
He continued by insisting that he will retire come 2022 that is at the end of his term as stipulated by the constitution.
Also read: Human rights activists in SGR demos arrested in Msa
The comments by President Uhuru Kenyatta follows ongoing rumors that the handshake and BBI bill is meant to benefit him and Hon. Raila Odinga.
The president was speaking during the inaugural opening of the second phase of the SGR project.
Also read: China approves construction of SGR to Kisumu
He said a country will not be able to attract investors if it does not invest in modern infrastructure.
"President Uhuru Kenyatta has officially inaugurated the Ngong SGR Station in Kajiado County.
Also read: Mombasa court denies bond three Chinese in the SGR case
Speaking during the ceremony, the President said Kenya won't be able to attract investors without modern infrastructure."


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The Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia and the crushing of the Prague Spring
It has been thirty-five years since Soviet troops began entering Czechoslovakia late on August 20th and early August 21st in a carefully orchestrated invasion designed to crush the period of political and economic reforms known as the Prague Spring, reforms led by the country's new First Secretary of the Communist party Alexander Dubcek. A movement viewed by Leonid Brezhnev and other Soviet hard-liners in Moscow as a serious threat to the Soviet Union's hold on the Socialist satellite states, they decided to act. In the first hours on the 21st Soviet planes began to land unexpectedly at Prague's Ruzyne airport, and shortly Soviet tanks would roll through Prague's narrow streets. Within hours foreign troops would take up strategic positions throughout the city, including surrounding the building of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, taking hold of Wenceslas Square, and eventually taking over Czechoslovak radio and television. The occupation of '68 had begun.
The tanks roll in
American editor Alan Levy was a foreign correspondent in Czechoslovakia in 1968. On August 21st he witnessed some of the first tanks as they steered their way in to the Czech capital.
"I got dressed and went out with my sixteen year-old niece who was staying with us and we didn't see any Russians for a while until in Pohorelec dozen tanks rolled out down the ramp out of Strahov. They were lost. They couldn't find the Castle. They had a tourist map and nothing else. And, they started pointing guns at the crowd and nobody would tell them. When your life almost ends, when a man with his finger on the trigger points it at you is getting ready to shoot - in my case he was ready to shoot at a taxi he thought might be alerting the troops - you're on borrowed time."
Meanwhile, on the morning of the 21st, shooting had begun at the Czechoslovak Radio building on Vinohradska Street. After the station broadcast a statement by the Central Committee of the Czechoslovak Communist Party condemning the invasion, Prague citizens gathered at the building to defend the strategic site. Soon, however, broadcasts would be cut off. The last few sentences on the air told Czechs and the rest of the world they had only ever wanted humanistic socialism, adding truth would prevail. Broadcasters were then cut off in mid-sentence as the anthem played, while outside in front of the radio building, several Prague citizens already lay dead.
Forced out at gunpoint
"I was very upset. In the morning I drove to a nearby gas-station, and it was there, on the steps of building of the Central Committee of the Communist Party that I saw the first body. It was a young man. To this day I can not describe the feeling in me that this evoked."
At the TV station they broadcast reports throughout the morning of the 21st, while there was still time. Mrs Mouckova says she tried to appeal for calm. After all, could anybody really believe such a sordid state of events would continue? She, for one, did not.
"I tried to get people to pull back, to stay at home, not to go out onto the streets. That it was all just some kind of mistake that events would turn out better in the end."
But, as more and more reports of spontaneous demonstrations and clashes and killing of Czechs emerged, an ever-growing feeling of rage and disbelief began to dominate.
"You know what the primary feeling was? It was terrible - there's no nice way of saying it - I was terribly, terribly angry. I was so furious I was practically foaming at the mouth. I couldn't believe what they had done - the audacity and nerve! The invasion, forcing us out at gunpoint then taking aim at us when they finally uprooted us from our illegal radio broadcast point six days later. By then, it had occurred to each one of us we really might end up lined up against a wall."
The situation with the reformers
"He tried to do many compromises, as he said, to try and save the results of the Prague Spring. But, we know that step by step he went very far from the ideals behind it, not reality, but the ideals of reality, and he declined or couldn't participate later in opposition against the Communist regime."
In his view Mr Dubcek's greatest failure was not accepting that socialism as an ideology was dead as of the invasion. It was a system, after all, to which he had devoted his entire professional life.
"He was a communist! But, after 1968, after August, Communism as an ideal, which was very popular in Czechoslovakia before and after the Second World War, was completely discredited. After August anyone who became a communist could be only an opportunist, for either material or 'moral' profit, but nobody could accept the idea of Communism as an ideology. Maybe only Dubcek was the last."
Journalist Alan Levy agrees, although he takes a kinder stance on the reform leader - even if the reforms failed.
"A lot of anger toward Dubcek that he went too far, too soon, didn't realise the situation: he was not a hero then, but he was to me."
Still, when Dubcek and the others returned from the Soviet Union they were broken men, for all eyes to see. Socialism as a system, in its uncontained, uncompromising and brutally direct show of force, lost all credibility not only in Czechoslovakia after the 1968 invasion but also abroad. Alan Levy again:
"Intellectuals like Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Yves Montand, Arthur Miller, who really thought that there was some hope in the Soviet Union, now saw that if you ever tried to leave the system you would wake up with tanks on the Via Venetou, tanks on the Champs-Elysees... They saw that there was no way out."
"I am happy that I could see the spontaneous resistance of the people on the streets, on the posters on the walls. It was unbelievable. It was poetry, jokes, irony - it was an answer to the brutal Soviet invasion. One slogan was typical for this attitude - originally the slogan read 'With the Soviet Union for All Eternity'. But, in that time Czechs came up with the slogan 'With the Soviet Union for Eternity - but not a single day more!"
Not another day more but in reality another 21 years of oppression for Czechoslovakia before Czechs and Slovaks would become free. What of the marred lives? Dozens lost during those dark August days, including one student shot at Klarov, in the Little Quarter, for nothing more than wearing a tri-colour pin featuring Czechoslovakia's colours. What of still others who endured the oppressive 'normalisation' period following the fall of Czechoslovakia's reformists? Undesirables, intellectuals, former communists who had erred on the side of reform, who lost their jobs, and were pushed to the fringes. What of their children who were not allowed even to study in university? And, those who were forced to emigrate. Not easy to forget. Even more unforgettable: the sacrifices of Jan Palach and Jan Zajic, who killed themselves in public protest of the regime a year after the invasion - Palach pleading that no other should follow his devastating example, as he lay on his death bed, with third-degree burns on 85 percent of his body. That perhaps was the last enormous symbol of resistance as the period of new oppression set in. TV anchor Kamila Mouckova:
"Every nation has its history, and everybody should know the history of their own nation. The days of August 1968 are of course key. This is not about cramming facts in school - this is about the challenge for all of us to learn from the event so that it will never again be repeated."
1968 - A year that began with hope and promise for Czechoslovakia and ended in tragedy no one could have foreseen. It changed the direction of a country, and the lives of millions. The last Russian troops finally left Czech soil in 1991.


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Richmond Baking will add plant in Kentucky
Richmond Baking will open a new manufacturing facility in Kentucky despite efforts to keep the expansion in Wayne County.
More Than A Bakery LLC will make products including cookies and crackers at a facility in Versailles, Ky. Customers will range from Fortune 100 companies to smaller, regional businesses.
The search for a location for More Than A Bakery took three years, according to a press release from Richmond Baking. States including Indiana, Tennessee and Ohio also were considered.
Versailles was chosen based on several key factors, including the desirability of the local Versailles community and surrounding Lexington region; available land and proximity to raw materials and transportation needs and an attractive economic development incentive package and other assistance from the state of Kentucky, Brandon Talbert, a site consultant with The Austin Company, said in the release.
Within a few years of completion, More Than a Bakery is expected to create more than 300 jobs that will include a comprehensive benefits package.
Versailles is nearly three hours from Richmond, located just west of Lexington. It has about 9,000 residents, according to the U.S. Census.
Valerie Shaffer, president of the Economic Development Corporation of Wayne County, said local and state officials worked to try to keep the expansion here.
"We worked very closely with the site selection consultant and the executive team at the baking company," Shaffer said.
She said the EDC put together a competitive local incentive package and worked with the Indiana Economic Development Corporation and Gov. Mike Pence's office to win the plant.
Shaffer said Richmond was one of two finalists for the baking company's site search, then called Project Alpine, at the EDC's December meeting. Projects get code names for confidentiality reasons.
The baking company focused its site search on the Midwest Industrial Park along Interstate 70 on Richmond's northwest side.
Shaffer said Richmond Baking President Bill Quigg delivered the decision to her in person Thursday before the news was announced.
"We're very disappointed it won't be going here, but we are fortunate we are not losing any of their existing operations and employment," Shaffer said. "They're coming off a couple of exciting years."
Capacity constraints at Richmond Baking's local facility could limit the company's continued growth, Quigg said in the release. He's a member of the fourth generation of family ownership of Richmond Baking.
"The company has needed this kind of additional space for some time now," Quigg said in the release. "The Richmond plant is bursting at the seams and isn't easily adapted for current production methods and the Georgia facility has had 200% growth in two years. We simply need more production to meet our growing customer demands."
Construction is to begin this summer on the state-of-the-art facility, with manufacturing likely to get underway by the end of 2017, according to the release.
The bakery is to be between 250,000 and 300,000 square feet. It will be located on more than 100 acres to allow for future expansion.
Richmond Baking's headquarters are in Richmond, and the company has an additional operation in Alma, Ga. The existing plants are 100,000 square feet each, according to the company's website.
Richmond Baking is the oldest family owned cookie and cracker bakery in the United States. It opened in 1902.


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Here's a simple bookshelf that you can place in a home or a library! This assembly is around 6 feet tall.
Glass Railing Assembly
This awesome glass railing was originally made by Taouriri Abdelatif and we just made some minor adjustments to it. This assembly includes a glass wall, curb, rail, and fasteners. It even works on ramps!
Importing Assemblies from the 3D Warehouse
Ever tried to import Profile Builder 2 assemblies from the 3D Warehouse? This video shows you how to do it!
Backyard Fence Assembly
Here's a fence that you can use if you feel like building your own backyard!
Posts are 12″ x 12″ at approx. 10ft spacing.


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Putty Putman is the Founding Director of School of Kingdom Ministry and a revelatory teacher at the Vineyard Church of Urbana, IL.
Come join us and experience the presence of the Holy Spirit like never before, as He will show up in fun and dynamic ways! Learn how to be naturally supernatural!
Schedule of events:
10:00 a.m. – Worship, Teaching, Ministry
6:00 p.m. – Pizza & Fellowship
6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. – School of Kingdom Ministry Demo Class (teaching, activations, ministry time)
If you are interested in the School of Kingdom Ministry for yourself or hosting it at your church, you can get a taste of what it is about and have a rich time in God's presence, experiencing the Holy Spirit. Please join us!


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There's a little joke we used to tell at the Olympics: Nobody is more of an expert on anything than a sportswriter watching an Olympic sport for the second time. The first time a sportswriter would watch the highest level of a sport like fencing or diving or the biathlon or badminton, he or she (but, let's be honest, mostly he) might try to learn the rules, try to figure out the rhythms, try to understand what's going on.
The second time, however, that same sportswriter will say things out loud like, "Oh, that's just a terrible dive, awful, what a choke," or "that's one of the worst clean and jerk efforts I've ever seen" or "Wow, what sloppy butterfly form."
It really is quite funny. I remember at the Winter Olympics some years ago — you might remember this too — when Lindsey Jacobellis was winning the Snowboard Cross and near the end, she tried some sort of mid-air trick and she somehow fell and ended up losing the gold medal and settling for silver. And suddenly sportswriters who had never seen a Snowboard Cross in their lives and normally wouldn't have watched the event if it had been happening IN THEIR BACKYARDS were mortified, indignant, offended beyond belief. Didn't she know this was the Olympics? Doesn't she understand the gravity of this moment?
How dare she TRY TO HAVE FUN WHEN SHE WAS FLYING HIGH IN THE AIR ON A SNOWBOARD!
"Silver is pretty good," she said meekly, but this line of reasoning did not play especially well among those who had decided that nothing on earth is more important than Snowboard Cross gold, and the Olympics are bloodless war and that winning is the only thing that matters, even in events where people ride snowboards over mounds of snow.
I was reminded of this Tuesday when the incredible Simone Biles pulled out of the Olympics team gymnastics final. Biles is the best gymnast in the history of the world, and has been pretty much since she was 16 years old. Over the last eight years, she has led the United States to four team world championships and an Olympic Gold medal, and she has won a truckload of individual gold medals along the way.
But she didn't feel right at these Olympics. The last year and a half has been hard on everybody in the world, and these particular Olympics are a mess with no fans in the stands, no family to support the athletes, and COVID-19 positives popping up every other hour — it's not especially easy to understand why they're even happening.
And in the prelims, Biles felt overwhelmed. She has been the best in the world for so long that it seemed easy. But it is anything but easy. As she wrote in an Instagram post: "I truly do feel like I have the weight of the world on my shoulders at times. I know I brush it off and make it seem like the pressure doesn't affect me, but damn sometimes it's hard hahaha! The Olympics is no joke!"
The day of the finals was worse, much worse. She would later say that she couldn't sleep leading up to the event. She was shaking. When she tried her first vault, she says that she got lost in the air … she simply could not concentrate the way she needed. Gymnasts have to overcome intense mental blocks to do the extraordinary and dangerous things they attempt. Simone Biles simply could not break through. She worried about getting hurt. She worried about hurting her team's chances at a medal. And she withdrew from the event and rooted for her teammates, who went out and won the silver. She has since withdrawn from the individual event as well.
"I'm still struggling with some things," she said afterward. "It just sucks when you are fighting with your own head."
The response to all this has been predictable. Most people, I think, have stood behind Biles, applauded her greatness, wished her well as she finds her way. For even casual gymnastics fans, the joy that Biles had brought to us through the years is utterly overwhelming. Seeing her perform live in Rio and on television numerous other times has made my life significantly better. Having her participate in our First Woman Voter campaign last year was incredible too. I know countless people love her from afar.
And then … there was the infuriating backlash from those people who attacked Biles for, quote, "letting down her country." This backlash seemed, for the most part, to be generated by a certain type of person — generally male, generally older, generally outspokenly conservative, generally, from what I can tell, from people who didn't give one damn about gymnastics or Biles until they saw an opportunity they could seize upon to vomit their hot takes.
And suddenly they were "worried" about her letting her teammates down, letting her country down, as if the U.S. gymnastics team winning Olympic gold was something they had given 30 seconds of thought to before Tuesday, as if they could possibly understand what it takes to be a world-class gymnast, as if they could even remotely grasp what Simone Biles has had to do to reach such great heights. They have the gall to lecture Simone Biles — one of the greatest Olympic athletes ever — about what the Olympics mean. It would be funny if it weren't so awful.
There's a funny scene in "Schmigadoon!" where Keegan-Michael Key's character is asking women to cross a bridge with him and one of them says, "I didn't know about this bridge until 10 seconds ago and now it's the most important thing in my life." That's what I imagine happened to these people: They were barely aware that America was trying to win gymnastics gold again and suddenly that gold was the most important thing in their entire lives.
Simone Biles went to Tokyo to compete, to win, just like she did in Rio, just like she did at all those world championships, just like she did at countless gymnastics events that only her truest fans followed. She endured so much, overcame sexual abuse, carried the banner of her sport, lived every day with the expectations. Then, one year late, she was sent to Tokyo without her family, without fans in the stands, to compete at an Olympics that doesn't feel at all like an Olympics.
And she just couldn't do it. She tried. She couldn't. If she had to pull out with a torn hamstring, nobody would have said anything. If she had to pull out with a broken rib, nobody would have said anything. But she had to pull out for reasons that run deeper, for an injury that is not so easily diagnosed, for a wound that is not so vividly seen, for demons that haunt her and so many of the world's greatest athletes.
"I'm SO proud of these girls right here," she wrote on an Instagram photo of her and teammates holding up their silver medals. "You girls are incredibly brave & talented! I'll forever be inspired by your determination to not give up and to fight through adversity! They stepped up when I couldn't. Thanks for being there for me and having my back!"
Sure seems like the Olympic spirit to me.


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NICRA Documentary Film Bags FAO Award
8th October, 2021
A Documentary Film entitled "RESONATING RESILIENCE" based on the success story of the NICRA (National Innovations on Climate Resilient Agriculture) Project of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research is bestowed with the prestigious FAO Award (United Nations' Food and Agricultural Organisation) at the 37th AGROFILM Festival in Bratislava, Slovak Republic today.
It is one of the highest honor for the outstanding contributions to global food security & innovations and applications of modern Agricultural technology.
The Film has been produced by the Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Coochbehar, Uttar Banga Krishi Vishwavidyalaya and ICAR-Agricultural Technology Application Research Institute, Kolkata.
(Source: Uttar Banga Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Coochbehar, West Bengal)


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China and the United States agreed to a ceasefire in their bitter trade war on Saturday after high-stakes talks in Argentina between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, including no escalated tariffs on January 1.
Trump will leave tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports at 10 per cent at the beginning of the new year, agreeing to not raise them to 25 per cent "at this time", the White House said in a statement.
"China will agree to purchase a not yet agreed upon, but very substantial, amount of agricultural, energy, industrial, and other product from the United States to reduce the trade imbalance between our two countries," it said.
"China has agreed to start purchasing agricultural product from our farmers immediately."
Reuters reported, the two leaders also agreed to immediately start talks on structural changes with respect to forced technology transfers, intellectual property protection, non-tariff barriers, cyber intrusions and cyber theft, services and agriculture, the White House said.
Both countries agreed they will try to have this "transaction" completed within the next 90 days, but if this does not happen then the 10 per cent tariffs will be raised to 25 per cent, it added.
The Chinese government's top diplomat, State Councillor Wang Yi, said the negotiations were conducted in a "friendly and candid atmosphere".
"The two presidents agreed that the two sides can and must get bilateral relations right," Wang told reporters, adding they agreed to further exchanges at appropriate times.
"Discussion on economic and trade issues was very positive and constructive. The two heads of state reached consensus to halt the mutual increase of new tariffs," Wang said.
"China is willing to increase imports in accordance with the needs of its domestic market and the people's needs, including marketable products from the United States, to gradually ease the imbalance in two-way trade."
"The two sides agreed to mutually open their markets, and as China advances a new round of reforms, the United States' legitimate concerns can be progressively resolved."
The two sides would "step up negotiations" toward full elimination of all additional tariffs, Wang said.
The announcements came after Trump and Xi sat down with their aides for a working dinner at the end of a two-day gathering of world leaders in Buenos Aires, their dispute having unnerved global financial markets and weighed on the world economy.
After the 2-1/2 hour meeting, White House chief economist Larry Kudlow told reporters the talks went "very well," but offered no specifics as he boarded Air Force One headed home to Washington with Trump.
China's goal was to persuade Trump to abandon plans to raise tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods to 25 per cent in January, from 10 per cent at present. Trump had threatened to do that, and possibly add tariffs on $267 billion of imports, if there was no progress in the talks.
ALSO READ: UK, EU 'agree' on draft Brexit political declaration
With the United States and China clashing over commerce, financial markets will take their lead from the results of the talks, widely seen as the most important meeting of US and Chinese leaders in years.
The encounter came shortly after the Group of 20 industrialized nations backed an overhaul of the World Trade Organization (WTO), which regulates international trade disputes, marking a victory for Trump, a sharp critic of the organization.
Trump told Xi at the start of their meeting he hoped they would achieve "something great" on trade for both countries. He struck a positive note as he sat across from Xi, despite the US president's earlier threats to impose new tariffs on Chinese imports as early as the next year.
He suggested that the "incredible relationship" he and Xi had established would be "the very primary reason" they could make progress on trade.
Xi told Trump that only through cooperation could the United States and China serves the interest of peace and prosperity. Washington and Beijing have also increasingly been at odds over security in the Asia-Pacific region.
At the same time, Trump again raised with Xi his concern about the synthetic opioid fentanyl being sent from China to the United States, urging the Chinese leader to place it in a "restricted category" of drugs that would criminalize it.
The White House said Xi, "in a wonderful humanitarian gesture", had agreed to designate fentanyl a controlled substance.
ALSO READ: CIA says White House did not prevent Gina Haspel from briefing Senate
Xi also said that he was open to approving the previously unapproved Qualcomm-NXP deal should it again be presented to him, the White House added.
"This was an amazing and productive meeting with unlimited possibilities for both the United States and China. It is my great honor to be working with President Xi," Trump said in the statement.
The post US, China declare trade war ceasefire appeared first on Tribune.


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A licensed practical nurse has been arrested in Phoenix after his DNA was found to match with that of a baby born to an incapacitated woman previously in his care.
What are the details?
On Dec. 29, the victim gave birth to a healthy baby boy at the Hacienda Healthcare, where she had been a resident for nearly a decade following a near-drowning incident that left her disabled.
Her caretakers were unaware of the woman's pregnancy until she went into labor, shocking authorities and the victim's family. Investigators obtained court-ordered DNA samples from the male staff at the facility in order to find a DNA link to the infant in order to identify who allegedly raped the patient.
On Tuesday, authorities obtained a sample from 36-year-old Nathan Sutherland, an LPN who had access to the woman during the time she fell pregnant. Sutherland's DNA was found to match the baby's, and he was arrested the same day by Phoenix police on charges of sexual assault and vulnerable adult abuse.
According to KABC-TV, Sutherland had worked for Hacienda Healthcare since 2011. He was terminated after the company learned of his arrest.
The victim's family issued a statement through their attorney on Tuesday, saying they "would like to make clear that their daughter is not in a coma," ABC News reported. The statement explained that the woman — whose identity is being protected — "does not speak but has some ability to move her limbs, head and neck."
Anything else?
Days after news broke of the incapacitated patient giving birth, Hacienda Healthcare CEO Bill Timmons tendered his resignation to the board. Earlier this week, KPHO-TV reported that two physicians who had been responsible for the woman's care were no longer at the facility, with one resigning and another being suspended by the company.
Hacienda Healthcare issued a statement saying, "Once again, we offer an apology and send our deepest sympathy to the client and her family. Hacienda intends to do everything possible to restore its credibility in the eyes of our patients, families, the community and our agency partners at every level."
The Arizona state Department of Health Services told KNXV-TV that the facility has been required to increase security and staff presence after the assault was discovered, and another person is now required to be present in the room when male health-care aids administer care to female patients.


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Supervised liquidation of Factor banka, Probanka completed
Ljubljana, 11 February - The supervised liquidation of Probanka and Factor banka has been officially completed, the central bank said on Thursday. Both banks have implemented all winding-down measures adopted in September 2013 and all depositors have been paid.
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OAKLAND — As the date approaches for the Oakland Unified school board to decide where to cut $15.1 million from the budget, parents, teachers, students and school staffers continue to urge board members to keep the bleeding as far away from children as possible.
"We students don't get all of the basic needs and resources at school as it is, and cutting the ones that we do have would make it an even bigger struggle for us to perform well academically," said Oakland High senior Kaylyn Saechao, a student organizer with Oakland Kids First.
Though school board members expressed their empathy, they said it's likely impossible to reach fiscal solvency without dipping into school sites' budgets. The district's mid-year budget adjustment proposal includes about $5.6 million in cuts to school sites, according to Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammel's presentation at Monday's board meeting.
Proposed cuts are to be discussed at the school board's budget and finance committee meeting Dec. 6 as well as a special board meeting Dec. 7.The board is scheduled to make its final decision on where to cut at its Dec. 13 meeting.
The proposed adjustments to the school sites budget include buying fewer supplies, copiers and books; hiring fewer substitutes to relieve teachers while they undergo evaluations and professional development training; reducing or eliminating contract services such as mental health support and facilitated yard play; revising budgets based on actual enrollment numbers; and cutting services and stipends.
The rest of the cuts under the current plan would come from the district's central — or administrative — office budget. They include laying off as many as 300 full-time employees in management, clerical and classified support positions. The district would only fill vacancies in "critical positions necessary for the effective operations of the organization," according to Johnson-Trammell's presentation. From $500,000 to $1 million in cuts also would be made to contractors and contracted services, books and supplies. And some senior administrators may be forced to donate five to 10 unpaid work days.
Johnson-Trammell said she accepts the responsibility to "right the ship" during her first school year as superintendent. She, along with several board members, apologized to the audience Monday for the district's budget woes.
"For the sake of our children, we must do better as a district, and stay committed to fiscal vitality in the long run," Johnson-Trammell said. "I say that as a teacher who was laid off when we first went into state receivership, and as a principal during state receivership."
The district has found itself in a budget crisis after five years of increased spending and budget fluctuations under the leadership of former superintendent Antwan Wilson despite flat attendance and declining enrollment. Since 2013, the district has spent millions of dollars more than budgeted on professional and consulting services, supervisors and administrators, all while spending millions less than budgeted on books and supplies.
From the $15.1 million the district proposes to remove from budget operations, it would allocate $1.2 million to restore its reserve account to the minimum required to avoid state receivership, $7.2 million to boost that reserve account, $4.7 million to bolster specific required programs and $2 million to rebuild the district's self-insurance fund.
The board also is being asked to take $11.2 million from the 2018-19 budget and tuck $5.2 million of it into reserves and $6 million into a self-insurance fund.
Parents, students, teachers and residents packed Monday's meeting to express their concerns about the cuts to school sites. Students from elementary, middle and high schools said many of their classes are already operating on shoestring budgets and further cuts to services and programs — especially janitorial services and special education programs — would be devastating.
"These programs are essential to the development of Oakland youth that will be the future of our city," said Oakland Tech student Asmani Mason, who also is a student organizer with Oakland Kids First. "By cutting (services at) OUSD schools, you are penalizing our students, your students, for the fault that they did not commit."
Retired teacher Mary Hill said that over the years, the school district has not invested necessary resources into students, leaving them with "deficits and issues that need to be addressed before they can be successful in reaching the goals that we set for them." For the school district to consider making even more cuts to school sites is "frightening," she said.
"It would exacerbate an already desperate situation in many of our schools," Hill added.
After hearing the many speakers, most board members expressed remorse for allowing overspending over the past five years. Board member Roseann Torres even began to cry as she explained feeling pressured into voting on things and at times not fully understanding the implications.
"My daughter just graduated last year in June from Oakland public schools, and I'm very sorry for what we're sitting here dealing with, because in many ways, I failed even my own child," Torres said.
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After making waves on YouTube earlier this month, Kari Jobe, Cody Carnes & Elevation Worship's live Elevation Ballantyne performance of "The Blessing" debuted on other digital platforms Friday.
It proved instantly resonant with iTunes buyers, soaring to #1 on the all-genre chart shortly after its release. It remains a convincing #1 as of press time at 4:25PM ET Friday afternoon.
It seized the throne from The Weeknd's "Blinding Lights," which is now #2 on the listing. Tones and I's enduring "Dance Monkey" follows at #3.
A new release – Kelsea Ballerini's "the other girl (with Halsey)" – takes #4, while Megan Thee Stallion's "Savage" claims #5 on the strength of recent buzz (including ample TikTok interest).


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The arrival of IoT devices is a reality. We are no longer in an early adoption phase, but more and more devices of this type are coming onto the market. IoT is already playing a key role in the digital transformation processes of companies and the current performance of this type of device will only increase in the coming years.
The IoT will bring value to the consumer but can also be used to collect data in industrial operations, in cars, drones or any other type of device. In short, what the IoT promises is an increasingly connected world.
What is the degree of implantation of IoT devices?
As can be expected, the implementation of IoT in different economic sectors is uneven. While there are some sectors such as intelligent cities for which it is essential to have devices to collect data, in other sectors its implementation is taking longer.
These industries that are still resisting the adoption of IoT are characterized by being sectors with a long history, a defined mode of action and a chain of command reluctant to change.
Recent estimates suggest that the number of IoT devices in the world will reach 36.13 billion by 2021. Each month, 328 million new devices connect to the Internet, and by 2022 it is expected that every household will have 500 connected devices.
IoT in industry
Although almost all industrial sectors are investing or planning to invest in IoT, the degree of implementation varies by industry. In any case, thanks to IoT by 2030, the application of technology to industry is estimated to generate $14.2 trillion, which translates into a 1.5% increase in global GDP.
The industries and sectors that are betting the most on IoT are, in this order, the financial sector, health, telecommunications, industrial production, retail, the energy sector and transport.
The practical translation of the IoT implementation is not the same in all industries or in all companies. That said, IoT applications for vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) solutions are the fastest growing, although the largest investments are in the manufacturing and transportation sectors. Both sectors will exceed $150 billion in investments by 2022.
In Spain, investment in IoT in 2017 was 12.9 billion euros, a figure that will reach 20.8 billion in 2020.
In short, all this investment means that 45% of Western companies will develop joint applications of IoT, Artificial Intelligence and analytical technologies.
What factors are important for the correct implantation of the IoT?
One of the technologies that promises to boost the growth of the IoT in a definitive way is the irruption of the 5G. At this point we will move from IoT to Massive IoT, since the density of connected devices will be multiplied by 100 (LTE-M supports 100,000 devices per km 2), while 5G will allow 1,000,000 devices per km 2.
On the other hand, the generalization of 5G will bring about the creation of so-called platforms, which are the software that connects IoT ecosystems, managing data flow, device management or data exchange between applications.
Some of these platforms already exist, such as Orange Live Objects, which allows the end-to-end design of IoT solutions, being able to access the configuration and management of the device park, message decoding, rules engine and secure data storage, incorporating open APIs for the exchange of information with business applications and providing materials and manuals to make the adoption and design of IoT solutions much more accessible.
On the other hand, cybersecurity will take on a very important role, being one of the major concerns of companies. Thus, the global investment in cybersecurity applied to IoT has reached 1,325 million euros in 2018 and will exceed 2,700 million in 2021.
The challenge of cybersecurity
Cybersecurity is also one of the main barriers to the adoption of IoT and threats in this field range from hacking, to taking control of devices or infection with malware.
In the latter case, there are already precedents. In June of this year, a malware known as Silex infected more than 2,000 IoT devices, erasing their firmware and making them unusable. Today there is no adequate preparation to counter this type of attack.
Currently most companies (55%) believe that they could be the target of an attack in the next two years and only 10% trust that they have the necessary tools to detect an attack.
Another common concern is the possible remote modification of IoT devices or their functions. A recent example reported by Google is the modification of second-hand Nest cameras, which allowed their former owners to obtain images recorded by these devices without the consent or knowledge of their current owner.
In some cases, such as the IoT medical, the hacking of the devices can pose a high risk. Cynerio, an Israeli company, has created a solution based on the visibility of hospital telecommunications networks, allowing its managers to see suspicious activity. At the same time, Cynerio's software automatically detects which devices are vulnerable and which are not.
In summary, and to conclude with the issue of cybersecurity, one could say that the problem stems from the use of outdated communications protocols such as Telnet or FTP.
According to recent statistics, 40.3% of households have more than 5 devices connected and 40.8% of these devices contain at least one vulnerability. These vulnerabilities are not related to the use of outdated communication protocols but also to the use of simple password authentication systems.
Other challenges for IoT implementation
The cost of implementation is another problem that companies have to face. With each IoT device costing between $10 and $50, not counting installation costs, it is estimated that the most ambitious IoT projects would require a budget in excess of $1 million. A project of this cost involves the approval of several layers of management, which sometimes lack the technological expertise to understand the importance of IoT. Thirty-two per cent of manufacturing companies say that the search for information is a major barrier to implementing an IoT system.
Inexperience or lack of information about the benefits of IoT is sometimes combined with skepticism about the ROI they can provide. Given the transformative capacity of the IoT, which in some cases can completely transform a business model, some managers are reluctant to bet on the IoT when returns on investment are unclear. This problem is cited as very important by 34% of managers of manufacturing companies.
Alternatives to ROI have been proposed as a measure of the success of an IoT project, given their special nature. Given that the investment and implementation of the IoT is not usually looking for a single benefit but a transformation that affects the brand, which generates benefits, creates new business models and also reduces costs while monitoring them, we suggest the adoption of a more holistic KPI.
For example, the adoption of Return on IoT Adoption (ROIA) is a very good option, as it is calculated by dividing the incremental value generated by the IoT minus its operational costs by the initial investment. This formula allows companies a great flexibility when calculating possible returns, since in many cases the benefits of the IoT are not entirely clear at the beginning of the project and may occur once the solution is installed.
The most important trends in IoT
Now that the deployment phase of IoT devices is more than settled, it's time to think about what to do with the data these devices collect. As the volume of data will be huge, it will be necessary to invest in technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning that will allow a better management of these data.
Another strategy that will be adopted to manage the large volume of data are the distributed process strategies: Edge Computing and Fog Computing.
Edge Computing is postulated not only as a way of managing an enormous amount of data, but also, in conjunction with the Blockchain, will increase the security of data transmissions.
There are already companies that combine the use of IoT devices with Edge Computing. One of them is Akamai, which thanks to its Edge Cloud can manage large networks of IoT devices with limited resources. The goal is to use Edge Computing to overcome the limitations inherent in the scalability of IoT applications.
As such, 10 key trends can be identified for the future of IoT:
- The massive deployment of devices, which will generate the challenge of managing them in large quantities.
- Hyper connectivity, demanding better and wider telecommunications coverage.
- Secure communications between machines that will require the establishment of new security protocols.
- Autonomous decision algorithms, thanks to Artificial Intelligence that will make decisions about data based on their environment.
- Emergence of new security networks and protocols.
- Low latency IoT solutions that, thanks to Edge Computing, will allow devices with little computing power to carry out more complicated operations.
- Adaptation of telecommunications operators adapting to the new demands derived from the IoT.
- Asset Tracking, which involves the tracking of machines and devices, monitoring, location and sensing, solutions that will be implemented mainly in the logistics and automotive sector.
- Autonomy of the machines thanks to IA and Machine Learning.
- Design of experiences by public administrations, startups and companies.
Although the transforming potential of IoT for industries of all kinds cannot be doubted, there is still a long way to go in terms of widespread adoption of the technology.
In the management layers, there is still a reluctance to see a technology that promises to change everything without explicitly specifying what the return on investment is. IoT projects have long-term goals and it is often difficult to match that vision with the immediacy required by companies today. On the other hand, cybersecurity is the biggest technological problem facing IoT projects. The use of outdated communications protocols, insecure authentication tools or the migration of hackers from computers to IoT pose a challenge that Blockchain, Cloud Computing and Artificial Intelligence may be able to solve.


text: Bay seniors may regard the new SF Jazz Center as a sadly unjazzy piece of architecture but we should appreciate the break on ticket prices for us. General Admission isn't too steep (prices generally run around $25) and on matinees on the 2nd Saturday each month we pay only $5. These matinees are "family oriented" which means you might be sharing the auditorium with children who have come to see Lemony Snicket.


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Industrial Development and Economic Diversification
October 24, 2017 - October 28, 2017
Five delegates from Oman's Ministry of Commerce and Industry will visit Cleveland to gain insight on the region's economic history as a rust-belt manufacturer and Northeast Ohio's need to reinvent itself and diversify its industries. Site visits and dialogue with manufacturers, including Timken and PolyOne, will highlight global market competitiveness. Meetings with the Cuyahoga County Port Authority, OD Global, and SecureState will address security and contemporary infrastructure support systems. Additionally, visits with Team NEO, the International Trade Assistance Center, WIRE-Net, and MAGNET will address private-public economic development support for manufacturers. This international visitor project aims to contribute to an important exchange of ideas concerning changing industries in a global economy.
International Visitor Leadership (IVLP) Program
Each year, over 300 professionals from around the world visit Northeast Ohio through IVLP. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, these visitors have been identified by U.S. embassies as emerging leaders in their fields. Over 50 Nobel Laureates and 335 current or former Chiefs of State or Heads of Government are alumni of this program.
By connecting with foreign leaders we strengthen Northeast Ohio's commercial, cultural, and educational ties with the rest of the world. For more information, contact Katie Ferman, Program Officer, at email@example.com or click here. To get involved as a Citizen Diplomat, click here.


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A dual-frequency direct detection Doppler lidar is demonstrated using a superconducting nanowire single-photon detector (SNSPD) at 1.5 μm. The so-called double-edge technique is implemented by using a dual-frequency laser pulse, rather than using a double-channel Fabry–Perot interferometer. Such a modification to the reported lidars enhances the frequency stability in the system level. Using the time-division multiplexing method, only one piece of SNSPD is used in the optical receiver, making the system simplified and robust. The SNSPD is adopted to enhance the temporal resolution since it offers merits of high quantum efficiency, low dark count noise, no after-pulsing probability, and a high maximum count rate. Two telescopes that point westward and northward at a zenith angle of 30° are used to detect the line-of-sight wind components, which are used to synthesize the horizontal wind profile. Horizontal wind profiles up to an altitude of about 2.7 km are calculated with vertical spatial/temporal resolution of 10 m/10 s. Wind dynamic evolution and vertical wind shears are observed clearly.
Fig. 1. Double-edge technique that adopts (a) a double-channel FPI and (b) a dual-frequency laser pulse.
Fig. 2. Schematic setup of the Doppler lidar. OS, optical switch; AOM, acousto-opticmodulator; TA, tunable attenuator; EOM, electrooptic modulator; EDFA, erbium-doped fiber amplifier; FBG, fiber Bragg grating; OS, optical switcher; IF, interference filter; FPI, Fabry–Perot interferometer; SNSPD, superconducting nanowire singlephoton detector; AMP, amplifier; MCS, multi-channel scaler.
Fig. 3. One-hour observation results, from top to bottom: zonal wind, meridional wind, horizontal wind speed, and wind direction.


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On Saturday, Paul Jessup and Fabio Fernandes will be throwing a book launch party for their books, hosted by Natania Barron!
Here's a link to follow to get to that live event!
Kirkus recently posted their stellar review of Paul Jessup's new novel and had a lot of good things to say about it.
"Jessup's prose sometimes recalls Harlan Ellison at his most extravagant, invoking a lurid, elastic environment steeped in ritual yet with delirious magic as well as weird science. … A striking tale of violence and redemption with an abundance of mysterious dream/nightmare imagery." – Kirkus Reviews
We're thrilled to be launching this title into the world, on April 1, just a few short days away!
Be sure to check in for the live event, and possibly win a one of five signed copies of the book from the author!
Paul Jessup is a critically acclaimed/award winning author of strange and slippery fiction. With a career spanning over ten years in the field, he's had works published in so many magazines he's lost count and three or four books published in the small press. You can attempt to email him at: firstname.lastname@example.com
Be sure to ask Paul about his favorite short stories of the year, so far, as he also regularly reviews them for us, here at http://www.vernacularbooks.com!
Fabio Fernandes lives in São Paulo, Brazil. He has published several books, among which the novels Os Dias da Peste and Back in the USSR (in Portuguese) and the collection L'Imitatore (in Italian). Also a translator, he is responsible for the translation to Brazilian Portuguese of several SF novels, including Neuromancer, Snow Crash, and A Clockwork Orange. His short stories have been published online in Brazil, Portugal, Romania, the UK, New Zealand, and USA, and also in Ann and Jeff VanderMeer's Steampunk II: Steampunk Reloaded and Southern Fried Weirdness: Reconstruction (2011), The Apex Book of World SF, Vol 2, Stories for Chip. Co-edited (with Djibril al-Ayad) the postcon anthology We See a Different Frontier, and, with Francesco Verso, the anthology Solarpunk – Come ho imparato ad amare il futuro.
Graduate of Clarion West, class of 2013. Formerly slush reader for Hugo Award-winner Clarkesworld Magazine.
Categories: Uncategorized


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Children's Services
9am & 11am
We are taking our kiddo's on an exciting Chronological Journey through the Bible with our children's Christ Centered curriculum, The Gospel Project.
Our kiddos will hear the exciting stories from the Bible and discover how the Gospel unfolds from Genesis through Revelation.
It is the Gospel that changes everything
Faith Learning Center
The Faith Learning Center is a ministry of Faith Christian Community and licensed by the Municipality of Anchorage to care for 119 children. The daycare serves infants and children six weeks old through twelve years. Contact our Daycare or view their website. Our Daycare will also be opening up a new branch at the Arctic Rec Center!
Hours of Operation:
Monday - Friday, 7 AM–6 PM
Director: Mona Hundrup
Tel. 907.248.6355
Fax 907.248.6352
The Center will not refuse any enrollment based on sex, marital status, pregnancy, parenthood, race, religion, color, national origin, age, or disability.
Wednesdays 6:30-8:00pm Sept 4th-May13th Awana is a ministry committed to the belief that the greatest impact for Christ starts with kids who know, love and serve Him. Awana reaches kids where they're at and walks alongside them in their faith journey.
Serve With Us!
Join the team to serve our kids. There are many ways to get involved—in and out of the classroom. Volunteers working directly with children are subject to a background screening. If you are interested in volunteering, contact us here!
Faith Kids are cared for by trained leaders who have passed security and reference checks. We welcome new visitors. To expedite your check-in process, please complete this registration form and turn it in at the Faith Kids check-in desk (main side entrance)


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How to get traffic to your website?
Updated: Dec 15, 2020
If you're a businessman, you have a product/service that needs to be sold. Having the best product in the world doesn't mean it can be bought. That's why you need marketing to bring products to customers. Just because you have a website on the Internet does not mean that people will know your company. There are hundreds of millions of websites in the world, so no one will know your company if you do not promote it. In fact, there are many ways for you to bring your website to users, some need to pay for traffic, some completely free. Here are 9 tips to promote your website to the front page of the search engines.
1. Solidify your website SEO
Search engines are a great source of the traffic to your website. If the website ranks higher on the search engines, the more organic traffic to your website will also increase. Unlike SEM, you will spend a lot of money on PPC and have to do more organic traffic by yourself. SEO is completely free and you can refer to our blog posts for effective SEO.
More information about SEO:
2. Google Adwords
You might think that online advertising on Google is too expensive for small businesses. But actually, the form of Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising is really the fastest solution. Meanwhile, SEO optimization takes a long time to see the effect. Paid advertising (PPC) is a great alternative to increase high-quality traffic to your website. But it only works for a short time.
3. Building community on Social Networks
Social media like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, ... are an important platform to help you increase quality traffic.
This is a unique direct communication channel where you can interact with your target customers in the most natural and friendly way. And this is also the reason why so many brands strive to develop a community on social media.
4. Set as great title SEO as possible
The title is one of the most important parts of a post. When the title is not attractive, users will not click on the article to experience even if your content is quality. It's true that writers at BuzzFeed and Upworthy often write on 20 different headlines before deciding on the best title.
5. Start blog
The blog will be the place where you share useful information to users. By visiting your website through searching for information, your website will also increase traffic and inadvertently give company information to users. In addition, you can be ranked through high-keyword blog posts.
More detail about the blog, read this article:
6. Optimize page load speed
Your website not only increases your conversion rate but also increases the right traffic because when it loads quickly, search engines can crawl your website faster and find more content. Users also like websites with the fast page loading speed, they will feel interested and loyal to the website in subsequent searches. If the load speed is too slow, they will definitely not click the next time, from which traffic will decrease significantly.
7. Don't ignore Email Marketing
One of the simplest things that most people don't do is send out email marketing for continuous marketing to customers who have provided email addresses. Whether this is a weekly newsletter or a daily piece of content, this is the best way to keep users engaged and in mind the brand of your business.
8. Create "satellite" pages
You can build "satellite" websites that are optimized for specific goals, take care of them as a primary website, and use those websites to promote your main website. It's also a great way to promote reach without paying for it.
9. Keep website design neat and easy on the eyes
Improper website design will prevent your users from spending time on blogging and reduce visits. Meanwhile, a good and sensible design will help users discover more content.
For Irvine Marketing Services, our team is carefully crafted and consisting of professionals who are excellent in their areas. We work together to bring the best results out of your project. We know that one size does not fit all, and your project is unique in its way. That's why we offer full support to our clients, from start to finish, to bring an outstanding project that matches our clients' goals with a reasonable price. Contact us for a free quote!
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