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LEAGUE OF STORYTELLERS
You have to shoot your shot if you want to score
I’ve been playing The Sims 4 far too much the past few weeks. Aside from trying to give myself the life my real existence can’t, I find developer Maxis’ take on socialization fascinating.
Socialization in The Sims 4 follows all of the most basic rules we adhere to and understand in real life. It’s nothing ground-breaking outside of how self-aware it is. We all know the only way to build relationships (be it familial, friendship, or romantic) is through an escalation of un-layering and peeling away at who we are until more of what we are within is revealed.
That’s an unnecessarily deep sentence meant to say this: we can’t build relationships without opening up. But this isn’t something we consciously do or think over.
And in the case of a budding romance, sometimes we don’t do it at all.
I won’t speak for the women because, frankly, how can I? But for the guys, here’s the biggest lesson The Sims 4 teaches on romance: we have to shoot our shot.
The potential for romance in The Sims doesn’t even begin unless a character flirts. Players have to send some signals that they are interested in a person. And no, just “feeling flirty” doesn’t count. All the playfulness and giggly talk in the world doesn’t mean shit or have substance until we make our intentions known.
Thinking friendship will somehow roll into the person we like falling for us is a move straight out of the Nice Guy™ and toxic incel playbook. “I’ve been hanging out with her for weeks and having great dialogue.” That’s awesome dude, she sounds like a great friend. She’s not locking lips with you for that.
I mean, scratch that–she could. I shouldn’t suggest it’s entirely impossible. But the odds are incredibly low to levels not worth gambling on. Like, sure, an NBA player could get fouled on the basketball court and get free throws due to the other team being over the limit (I think that’s how it works). But Christ, that is such a low-odds scenario.
SHOOT YOUR SHOT! We improve our chances at dating and romance so much more, and that’s the point The Sims 4 tries to engrain into its players.
For anyone wondering when is the best time to flirt, The Sims says any time is a good time. But if we want to increase the chances of our flirting work, we might want to at least start by saying “hello,” talking a bit, placing some actual dialogue behind the romantic interaction.
I can approach a girl at the MARTA station and compliment her appearance. But to decrease the chances of her rebuffing me, it’d help to learn a bit about her and insert the flirting somewhere within the conversation.
It’s common sense thinking on how social interactions work. It isn’t rocket science, yet we struggle to follow these guidelines as if it is. I don’t mind being real about this: my sim (who’s traits and character is based on mine, including being a loner but with a wardrobe not from Wal-Mart) has had more success in dating and sex in close to two months of sims life than I have in my little over a decade of being an adult.
That shit has got me salty. But maybe instead of trying to live my life vicariously through a game, I can learn something from it. | {
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Enjoy St. Patrick's Day without alcohol
Published: March 14, 2013 3:00 AM
1 of 2 Photos | View More Photos
The perception that St. Patrick's Day is entirely about bar hopping and beer-induced revelry is not entirely true. While there are many celebrations that certainly are centered around indulging, there are plenty of other ways people -- young and old -- can enjoy St. Patrick's Day without a drink in hand.
The following are creative ways to celebrate not only St. Patrick's Day, but Irish history as well.
Make a traditional Irish dish. Forget the corned beef and cabbage; ask a true Irishman or woman what they remember from their mother's or grandmother's cooking and then try that recipe. It may include boiling potatoes, meats and other vegetables together, but at least you'll know your dinner will be different from the scores of people who are eating an overly processed slice of beef. Select among Irish stew or coddle, or try a traditional Irish breakfast instead of dinner or lunch.
Read Irish authors.There are many legendary writers of Irish ancestry. Whether you enjoy writers of the past, such as James Joyce or Bram Stoker, or want to delve into more contemporary pieces from Roddy Doyle or Paul Muldoon, there are many literary gems with Irish heritage at the ready.
Play an Irish game. Kids and adults can line up to play "Plainy Clappy," a game that involves a ball and a wall. Each player takes a turn throwing a ball against a wall and catching it in the ways prescribed by the song they are chanting: "Plainy, clappy, rolley, to backey, hippy, tippy, a jelly bag and basket."
[Article continues below]
Learn the Irish language. Did you know that though still an official language, the Irish language is only spoken by 3 percent of the population of Ireland, primarily in regions known as "Gaeltacht." To learn "Cupla Focail," or "a few words," there are many resources both in print and digital form, and some include phonetic spellings to help with pronunciation.
Find an Irish rocker to enjoy. Irish music isn't entirely about the collective works of U2. There are many other prolific bands and performers that hail from Ireland. For such a small country, Ireland has made a large impact on modern music. Rory Gallagher and Van Morrison are two Irish artists from the 1960s. The 70s saw hard rocking Thin Lizzy as well as the groups The Radiators and The Boomtown Rats. The Pogues, Sinead O'Connor, The Cranberries, The Frames and Snow Patrol are some of the more modern-day musical artists from Ireland.
Whether you're Irish for the day or have Irish in your blood, there are several alcohol-free ways to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. | {
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Complete the Look: 10 Style Accessories that turn Boring into Bold
Every outfit, from a t-shirt and jeans to a sport coat and slacks, isn’t complete without that one final accessory that ties it all together. It is accessories like these that can turn a boring look into a bold one, and make the right man stand out in a crowd. Join us to explore the ten types of modern mens accessories that can turn a stale style into a walking fashion statement. Hey, it’ll look good on you– and you looking good is the whole point.
In The Bag: The Perfect Mens Sidearm
When on the go, the modern man is usually carrying a full load– a smartphone, a laptop, a wallet, a camera, a book or two, you name it. The way you carry it can say a lot about your personality, as the bag you sport can be a strong accent to your personal style. That Italian-made Hard Graft 3fold Bag above can carry a laptop, a change of clothes or two, a novel and a personal portfolio– the kind of thing that makes a serious statement to clients or potential employers on the road. It features tanned leather and wool felt produced in an Italian factory by skilled artisans. It’s not easy to find a weekender as sexy as that…
All Tied Up: Modern Mens Neckties
If you’re rocking a collar, the right necktie can seal the deal for a stylish outfit. The problem is that most neckties just repeat the same patterns that have existed for decades– apparently there is little room for progress in the world of neckwear. That isn’t true to us, and it shouldn’t be true to you. That dashing necktie above comes from the Detroit area tie gurus at CyperOptix, a design crew that crafts some of the most progressive ties in the fashion world today. That antler patterns is one of their more conservative styles, as the crew crafts ties with patterns of chemical formulas, modern weaponry, techno gadgets and more.
The Sound of Style: Modern Mens Headphones
Since music has been portable, it has been a part of our fashion as men. From Radio Raheem to Steve Jobs, the style of sound has become essential to the way we appear to others on the go. And honestly, those white Apple earbuds are looking tired, my friend. You’ve got three options– closed ear, open ear and earbuds. Closed ear, like those cushy Marshall Headphones above, enclose your ear in a natural sound barrier so you hear what you want and miss what you don’t. Open ear, like the purple WeSC’s in the gallery below, are a lighter fit that bridge the gap between closed ear and in-ear headphones. Earbuds fit into your ears while blocking external noise and taking up very little space. We’ve picked out a favorite from each category, three headphone models that are high on style and sonic productivity.
Future So Bright: Modern Mens Sunglasses
This time of year, a fresh pair of sunglasses isn’t just stylishly important, it’s good for your health. But a ten dollar pair of throw-away sunglasses from the supermarket isn’t doing you much justice. When you’re ready to invest in the right pair, it might just turn every outfit you wear into a hollywood-style statement. Take for example the Super Flat Top Sunglasses above. Those have been worn by just about any A-List celeb you can think of, man and woman alike, and their style imprint continues to drive the eyewear design industry firsthand.
A Tip of the Hat: Modern Mens Hats
Nothing completes a look quite like a good hat does. We’re not talking sports team baseball caps, but real honest-to-god hats. A good fedora can separate a man from the boys, and all men should strive to own at least one good-fitting, modern fedora. Just be sure your hat matches the rest of your get-up. A fedora rarely ever works with t-shirts, it fits best with a collar and dark jeans or dress pants. If you don’t do it right, you’ll look like you’re trying far to hard but failing all the same.
Jewel of the Collection: Modern Mens Jewelry
At best, jewelry is an after-thought for the modern man. It’s an accessory most commonly associated with women’s fashion, but when rocked right, can complete a well-pieced outfit. The Obey Two Feather Necklace above can be the centerpiece of an outfit, flashing brightly from a low-buttoned collared shirt and a Fedora up top. It’s the little things that make big differences, and a stylish piece of man-suited jewelry can make one hell of a statement.
The Surprise of the Sock: Modern Mens Socks
A t-shirt and jeans can be high-fashion with the right pair of socks. For the moments when they are exposed, designer socks make a swift impression– because most of the working world are wearing basic white or boring black. If you don’t already own a pair of modern-styled argyle, you should. But it gets a lot more fun once you look into the creative sock designers. The Pixel Skull Socks by Diesel Sweeties bring arcade-style fun to a serious wardrobe, one that’ll show the onlooker that you’re as carefree as it gets underneath the clothes you’re wearing.
Holding It All Together: Modern Mens Belts
A belt can be the perfect accent for a well-pieced outfit. Whether strong or subtle, a belt can make a casual style seem dressy or a dressy style appear edgy. When choosing a belt, the buckle should always take precedence so long as the material matches your garb. An old, chunky buckle with plenty of character can serve as the primary accent to your outfit. Over do it, however, and you’ll look a bit foolish. The three belts below range from classic to minimal to conservative, each one being a good start for the ideal wardrobe accent.
Clear Vision for Style: Modern Mens Eyeglasses
For many, eyeglasses are a requirement. For all, eyeglasses (whether real or fake) can be a game-changer in personal fashion. It’s quietly understood that people take a guy wearing glasses more seriously. If you own a pair, you’ve got your hand on the lever for when you want to add “serious” to your outfit. Just be sure you own the right pair… The Effector Eyewear Genuine Horn glasses above are not your typical horn-rims, they’re made from real, reclaimed/fallen horn materials. They’ll look like nothing else you could wear around your eyes if they fit your facial profile…
Keeping Time: Modern Mens Watches
It should be no secret how much we love watches here on TheCoolist. The modern wrist-watch personifies that communion between fashion and technology, two things which drive this magazine’s passion. That said, a good watch can have the same impact on your wardrobe. Depending on your budget, you should be able to find something special to separate you from the rest, whether a stand-out at your local department store, a used item online or a hand-made piece of master craftsmanship from Switzerland. If we had the money, we’d be plucking down some cash on the Devon Works Treat 1 Watch above. That $15,000 stunner features an array of moving treads that work in conjunction to display the time. If not that one, the black ceramic Rado watch in the gallery below is a simple, minimal stunner. Finally, the vintage-styled Nixon rounds out the trio of beautiful black wrist watches for the style-conscious.
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thecoolist.com is an up-and-coming community of people specialized in high-quality and on-trend cool projects and tutorials in home design, fashion, and crafts. Recognizing the value of the do-it-yourself movement of the last several years, thecoolist.com is inspired by unique yet replicable ideas.
Because everyone’s style is individual, customized pieces with a high-end look are what we're always after. | {
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How WikiLeaks Influence the Middle East
The Middle East has its own logic: people there believe that the US is all-powerful, and when it chooses to, enforces order as it sees fit. To them, whatever the US does, it does deliberately and calculatedly. By this logic, the release of the WikiLeaks classified documents was intentional: most Middle Easterners would have great difficulty believing otherwise.
Among many foreign leaders mentioned in these documents is Turkish Prime Minister Prime Minister Erdoğan. Before the leaks, Erdoğan seemed to be able to get away with doing everything he could to undermine Israel and the United States both in the Middle East and throughout the world.
From a Turkish point of point of view, there are two explanations for America's apparent acquiesce: Either America displayed weakness by letting Erdogan get away with this, or it intentionally let him do this because it fit into some American plan, which, as the Turks say, was developed "behind the curtain," with a hidden American hand intentionally directing this policy.
But from this perspective, all that changed when the US government "intentionally" released classified documents regarding Erdoğan, his government, and Iran. Among the leaked documents is one in which the US Embassy writes about rumors that Erdoğan has multiple Swiss bank accounts in which he has more the $1 billion. As the Turks see it, Erdoğan must have been stunned by this revelation. Many believe that the US released this document in order to embarrass and humiliate him.
America had shown its power. Erdoğan therefore had no choice other than it submit to its dictates. How best to do that? A large number of Middle Easterners believe the Jews run America and the world. By this logic, now that America has thrown down the gauntlet, the best way for Erdoğan to redeem himself is to find a way to ingratiate hmself to the Americans and Israelis. This, accordingly, would help him come down off of a branch onto which he dangerously had stepped.
The opportunity presented itself very quickly. When Israel proved unable to handle the huge fire that was blazing in its Carmel Mountains, Erdoğan jumped at the opportunity to send two Turkish planes to help the Israelis put out the fire. This humanitarian gesture would surely signal to the Americans and world Jewry that he was not as bad as they thought he was. This gesture, they reasoned, would help Erdoğan back into the good graces of the Americans and the Jews, who together, "behind the curtain," run the world.
Moreover, given past history, it is very likely that Erdoğan and his cohorts also have a lurking fear that America and the Jews might have other tricks up their sleeves, and most certainly fear this Sword of Damocles hanging over their heads.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu handled this situation adeptly: by personally calling Erdoğan and thanking him for sending the planes, he got credit for decency in the eyes of the world, and the Turkish nation in particular. Netanyahu also personally went and shook the hands of the Turkish pilots who came to Israel's rescue. Pictures of the Israeli Prime Minister were printed in newspapers and shown on Turkish television stations throughout Turkey. These pictures and the personal call to their Prime Minister touch deep cords in Turkey: showing warmth, hospitality, and gratitude are major characteristics in Turkish society. Netanyahu's actions demonstrated to the Turks that he is an extremely decent man, not the "killer" that Erdoğan and his colleagues have claimed the past few years.
Where does this leads us? Since the WikiLeaks and the fire in northern Israel, there has been a flurry of diplomatic activity behind the scenes between the Israelis and the Turks – seeking ways to patch up their differences. We should consequently not be surprised if Turkish-Israeli relations markedly improve in the coming months. By "intentionally" leaking documents about Erdoğan and those around him, the US has, from a Middle Eastern point of view, warned him that he had better find a way to step in line; that if he does not, the other shoe might drop.
Another unintended consequence of the Wikileaks could easily be an improvement of US-Turkish relations. As an incentive from the American side, this might be the reason, many Turks believe, that the Americans also leaked a document according to which Armenia was facilitating weapons transfers to Iran, which used these weapons to kill American soldiers in Iraq.
This logic, to people who have worked and lived in the Middle East, makes perfect sense.
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Bahareh Hedayat is a human rights activist who has spent over six years in an Iranian prison for "insulting" Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and for "actions against national security, propagation of falsehoods, mutiny and illegal congregation." Hedayat is the longest serving female prisoner of conscience in Iran.
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Both reserve the right not to publish replies to articles should they so choose.
Gatestone Institute is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization, Federal Tax ID #454724565. | {
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Friday, January 05, 2007
Hi all. Here is my post explaining my absence. As you know from most of the posts, I have developed a love of photography (NPI). In fact, I love it so much, that I have decided to study it. I am changing schools for the fall semester (most likely to UMass Amherst), and am going to try and study Photography and graphic arts technology. As some of you know I have been working in Digital Printing/ Preress for close to five years now, so this isn't a terribly huge jump. I will try and keep you all updated on what is going on, and how my photography is going. Stay tuned this week for why I am shooting more film than digital photos.
Click here to purchase prints of my photos:
About Me
Hello, welcome to my blog. My name is Thursday. I am 21, I am just starting out into the world of photography. I love Christ, His Church, my Fiance, and feeling I get when I know I've taken a good picture. | {
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Bri-Chem Announces 52% Increase in EBITDA For Q3 and Record Quarterly Sales For USA Division
EDMONTON, ALBERTA--(Marketwired - Nov. 12, 2014) -
NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE U.S.
Bri-Chem Corp. ("Bri-Chem" or "Company") (TSX:BRY), a leading North American wholesale distributor and blender of oil and gas drilling fluids today announced its third quarter financial results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2014. During the third quarter of 2014, Bri-Chem completed the sale of its Steel Pipe Manufacturing and Steel Pipe Distribution divisions to a USA based steel company effective July 15, 2014. As a result of the sale, the Company will not retain any steel pipe assets or conduct any further steel pipe business operations going forward and has therefore reclassified the associated assets and liabilities of these businesses from assets and liabilities held for sale in Q3 to assets and liabilities related to discontinued operations for all periods presented. Bri-Chem's business operations, financial and corresponding operating results are now presented and concentrated entirely on its North American leading oil and gas drilling fluids distribution, blending & packaging businesses ("Continued Operations").
For Q3 2014, Bri-Chem's consolidated revenues from Continued Operations increased 23.0% to $53,283,129 compared to $43,323,525 from the prior period in 2013. This quarter-over-quarter revenue increase is primarily as a result of significant market share growth from Bri-Chem's USA drilling fluids distribution division which experienced record quarterly sales of $21,155,073. Consolidated revenues for the nine months ended September 30, 2014 were $134,416,336 compared to $105,140,508 for the comparable period of 2013, an increase of 27.8%. Earnings before interest, taxes, amortization and depreciation, and share-based payments expense ("EBITDA") was $6,460,579 or $ 0.27 per share and $11,346,886 or $0.47 per share respectively for the three and nine month periods ended September 30, 2014, compared to $4,241,153 and $9,078,710 respectively for the same periods in 2013. Net earnings for the three month period was $3,355,881 or $0.14 diluted earnings per share and $4,480,567 or $0.19 diluted earnings per share for the nine months ended September 30, 2014 as compared to net earnings of $1,940,291 and $3,469,900 respectively for the same periods in 2013.
Bri-Chem's Canadian drilling fluids distribution division generated sales of $23,122,393 and $61,336,517 for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2014, compared to sales of $24,126,287 and $60,531,611 over the comparable periods in 2013. Drilling activity in Canada has remained relatively level year over year with the exception that a significant backlog of drilling activity experienced in Q3 2013 was caused by the extremely wet weather in Q2 2013, which delayed the start of the summer drilling programs until July 2013. In addition, this year the Canadian drilling fluids distribution division's operations were also adversely impacted by very wet weather in Saskatchewan. The number of wells drilled in Q3 2014 in Western Canada was 3,022, compared to the 3,054 wells drilled in Q3 2013, representing a decrease of 1.0% quarter over quarter. Drilling rig utilization rates averaged 47.7% in Q3 2014 compared to 41.3% in Q3 2013, an increase of 6.4%. Year to date rig utilization has increased 5.3% compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2013.
Bri-Chem's United States drilling fluids distribution division generated sales of $21,155,073 and $51,841,195 for the three and nine month periods ended September 30, 2014, compared to revenues of $12,680,328 and $30,746,736 in the comparable periods of 2013, representing an increase of $8,474,745 or 66.8% quarter over quarter, while increasing 68.6% year over year. The USA fluids distribution division has continued to realize sales growth throughout Q3 2014 as a result of increased industry activity, and product and geographic expansion throughout the major resource plays in the USA. In the USA, the average number of active rigs running during the third quarter was 1,903, an increase of 7.6% quarter over quarter. The division has built a solid infrastructure with personnel and inventory to service the expanding needs of our customers. The states of Colorado, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Wyoming and Texas generated the majority of sales in the USA for the three months ended September 30, 2014. As at September 30, 2014 Bri-Chem had 18 operating warehouses, compared to 15 warehouses at September 30, 2013. The Company remains focused on expanding its product offerings as well as expanding into new geographic regions in the USA to meet the increasing demand for drilling fluids from an independent wholesaler.
The Canadian fluids blending and packaging division also continues to grow as the Company generated sales of $6,460,543 and $14,754,038 for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2014 compared to the comparable prior year period sales of $6,068,098 and $13,413,349 representing 6.5% increase quarter over quarter. The division continues to increase market share by utilizing new expanded capacity to meet the increasing demand of our customers. The acquisition of Sun Coast Materials LLC in the third quarter of 2013, which operates as our USA fluids blending and packaging division, generated sales of $2,545,120 and $6,484,586 for the third quarter of 2014 and nine months ended September 30, 2014 compared to $448,812 for Q3 2013.
During the nine months ended September 30, 2014 the Company recorded an impairment expense of $15,434,501 to reflect the estimated fair value, less costs to sell of the net assets of the Steel Pipe divisions at their estimated fair value, less costs to sell. The loss from Discontinued Operations was $368,909 and $12,637,254 for the three and nine month periods ended September 30, 2014 respectively.
Outlook Summary
With the current volatile crude oil and natural gas prices that are being experienced, there is a level of uncertainty of the impact that these volatile prices will have on Canadian drilling activity in the short term. Canadian drilling activity in the fourth quarter of 2014 is expected to decrease as compared to the same period of the prior year. The Petroleum Services Association of Canada (PSAC) has forecasted 2,627 wells to be drilled in Western Canada for the fourth quarter of 2014, a forecasted decrease of 5.9% over 2013. PSAC has also forecasted that 9,660 wells will be drilled in Canada for 2015, which is 6.2% less than the number of wells estimated to be drilled in 2014. In the USA, the average number of active rigs operating during the third quarter of 2014 was 1,903, an increase of 7.6% over the third quarter of 2013. The average number of active rigs for the fourth quarter of 2014 is expected to be consistent with Q3 2014. We believe the increased activity in the USA will drive increased year over year sales and profitability in our fluids division throughout the rest of 2014. Bri-Chem will continue to invest in its USA drilling fluid market expansion plan with the goal of obtaining new market share. As we continue to gain market share in the USA drilling fluids market, more product and acquisition opportunities become available. Bri-Chem is also currently evaluating several acquisition opportunities in the stimulation and production chemical segments in both Canada and the USA marketplace.
About Bri-Chem
Bri-Chem has established itself, through a combination of strategic acquisitions and organic growth, as the North American industry leader for the distribution and blending of oilfield drilling, completion, stimulation and production chemical fluids. We sell, blend, package and distribute a full range of drilling fluid products, cementing, acidizing and stimulation additives from 34 strategically located warehouses throughout Canada and the United States. Bri-Chem has been operating in Canada since 1985 and as a result of the increasing market demand for oilfield chemicals, we expanded into the United States in 2011 and have successfully obtained significant market penetration. Additional information about Bri-Chem is available at www.sedar.com or at our website at www.brichem.com. | {
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The Illinois administrator has recently filed a complaint alleging misconduct by an attorney after she was disqualified in a guardianship matter.
The charges involve blogging about the case:
Between
December 2009 and November 2011, the court made various findings of law in
relation to the Sykes case, some of which involved [her former client] Gloria’s ownership in certain
property. In or about November 2011, Respondent began writing and publishing
two Internet web logs (“blogs”) devoted to discussing matters related to Mary
Sykes’ probate matter. The two blogs were entitled, “marygsykes – An attorney
blog concerning corruption and greed in the Probate Court of Cook County,” and
“marygsykes,” respectively. Respondent posted her own writings as well as the
writings of others on both blogs. Those writings included allegations that
there was corruption in the probate court of Cook County, particularly in
relation to Mary Sykes’ probate case, that Sykes was the victim of elder abuse,
and that the GALs and the court had acted inappropriately with respect to Sykes’
estate, that they had violated the law, and that they had physically or mentally
harmed Sykes.
Respondent’s
blogs were open to the public and were not password-protected. Respondent knew
or should have known that the contents of her blogs were continuously available
to anyone with access to the Internet. Respondent a purported disclaimer on her
blogs, which included the following language:
Sorry, but portions of this blog have to be entertaining so we
can get the word out. There is most certainly a great deal of (stinging) truth
in it, esp. for the GAL’s (sic), the probate court and a society that ignores
(thereby condoning) the sleazy world of probate, and in particular the 18th
floor of the Daley Center in Chicago, but everyone needs to understand, these
are not pleadings, there is no Motion, Response and Reply set by any court,
together with extended legal argument recorded by a court reporter and subject
to a Motion to Reconsider if errors or new evidence is found.
The complaint then sets out the various posts and alleges
Respondent’s blog posts...that there
was impropriety going on in relation to the Sykes case; that the GALs and
the judges were corrupt; that the GALs and the court had engaged in
financial exploitation or had financially profited in some way in relation
to Sykes’ guardianship case; that the judge had inappropriately taken away
Sykes’ rights; and that Stern, Farenga, and the judge had committed crimes,
were false.
Respondent
either knew that her statements...were
false or she made the statements with reckless disregard as to their truth
or falsity.
We previously reported on a complaint brought against an Illinois attorney who allegedly violation her duty of client confidentiality by blogging about clients and cases. There does not appear to be such a charge here.
Given that, I think that there may be a substantial First Amendment defense to this complaint. (Mike Frisch) | {
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Archives
February 22nd, 2009
I recently did the annual service on several O2ptima units and I was amazed at the amount of oxygen grease being used. Grease is not the best lubricant for all applications. It is designed for high pressure use, not the ambient pressure seals on a rebreather breathing loop. The use of oxygen grease has gotten way out of hand, almost as much as the use of Viton o-rings.
For the best performance on your O2ptima use silicone lubricants on all the ambient pressure seals on the breathing loop. It will go together easier and the silicone will not attract the dirt and grit like the oxygen compatible grease. We carry the Tribolube 71 and use it when servicing the O2ptima as well as regulators.
3 Responses to “Tribolube 71 Lubricant”
Hi
This is very interesting! We have been told to use ONLY O2 lub on the machine. Please confirm if the correct procedure indeed is to use silicon on seals like canister head/center/cap and CL T-piece etc. Which seals required to use O2 Lub ?
Petter Moge, March 4th, 2009 at 11:31 am
O2 lubricant is required for any pressure application – like the hoses on your oxygen regulator – You don’t need to use it on any of the ambient pressure seals, the breathing loop. This has always been the case but it wasn’t worth the battle against a tech industry that couldn’t separate ambient and pressure related applications.
I am clarifying my blog about the use of silicone lubricants on the O2ptima breathing loop because I received some questions that made me realize I needed to give you more information.
I posted the first one out of frustration with what I had seen on units coming in for annual service. We were cleaning enough Christo-Lube from the head and loops to lubricate over 100 regulators. It was simply unreal. One unit could not pass the negative canister test due to the debris attracted to the seals from excess lubricant. You can use Fluorosilicone lubricant commonly known as food grade silicone on the head seals without problem. If you use non food grade silicone on the silicone seals of the head it could lead to the o-rings swelling because it can be absorbed by silicone o-rings. So use either food grade silicone lubricant on the loop or Tribolube 71, which is an inert lubricant.
If you can see the lubricant you have used too much and it can actually prevent the seals from sealing properly because the excess will attract debris. The most common debris found is hair strands which will prevent a good seal.
Remember more is not better when you are lubricating the seals on your breathing loop. If you have too much lubricant and it gets in the loop, guess where it goes. It’s your breathing loop. | {
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ZTE launches first Android Go phone in the US – Here’s everything you want to know
ZTE has launched the first ever Android Go phone in the US, ushering in a new wave of cheap, yet well-optimized smartphones in the country. The “ZTE Tempo GO” will cost only $80 and will showcase the newest version of Android in action for the first time in the US.
Although Android Go was made available through other companies too such as Nokia, they never really targeted the US in particular. This is why ZTE’s launch is so significant. Not everyone in the US, or any part of the world for that matter, wants a high-specced phone which can do lots of things. Some people just want a phone for basic communication purposes alongside internet facilities.
Furthermore, not everyone can afford an expensive phone. Smartphones have come a long way in just a few years, however, so have the prices. In order to cater to the “budget market”, Google came up with Android Go.
What is Android Go?
Source: Androidcentral
Android Go is a lightweight version of Android optimized for low-end devices. This version of Android is made to drive the cost of Android phones significantly in order to cater to the people with lower budgets. It’s not that different to the original Android, in fact, both are built on the same foundations.
Android Go, however, is a better optimized, more stable version of the two and it’s more suitable for underpowered devices. As mentioned, the two versions of Android are very similar, as this one also runs on the latest Android OS, Android 8.1 Oreo. The Go version of the OS has several data management features allowing users to closely monitor data usage.
All Android Go devices come with Google Play Protect which uses machine learning to check for malicious apps on your phone. It also constantly scans your phone for viruses, even for apps that aren’t downloaded through the PlayStore in order to make sure the phone doesn’t get infected with a virus.
It has its own set of apps
Since Android Go is meant to run on underpowered phones (phones with less than 1 GB RAM), obviously the regular Android apps won’t perform so great on it. Therefore, it comes with its own set of optimized apps. Many of the apps are lightweight versions of the existing apps in the regular version of the Android.
For example, Google Go lets you search the web just like the regular Google app but the install size for the Go version is only a fraction of the original. Another example is the Google Assistant Go. The Assistant app is a newer Go app that was recently released for the PlayStore. Unlike the Google Go app, there are some things that the assistant app can’t do compared to the original assistant. Some of the things the Go version isn’t able to do include setting reminders and control smart home gadgets, however, it does allow you to set alarms, send texts, open apps, ask questions, and much more.
Most of the apps have more or less the same functionality as the non-go versions of the apps. The Gboard has all the features the regular stock Android keyboard would offer. Youtube Go lets people watch youtube videos and even download them for offline viewing just like the regular Youtube app. Moreover, users can share videos with each other without the need for a data connection. The lightweight apps alongside the built-in apps ensure for minimal or no bloatware, allowing users to get more available internal storage for their devices. The PlayStore on Go phones will also recommend apps that will work best with your device.
Source: Androidcentral
ZTE Tempo Go specs
The ZTE Tempo Go makes use of the Android Go firmware, which in fact, is more up to date than many flagship Android phones out there. As you’d expect from an Android Go device, the specifications aren’t that spectacular. The phone has a 1.1 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 210 and has 1 GB of RAM and only 8 GB of storage. It also has a 5-inch screen with 854×480 FWVGA resolution.
Since Android Go phones are meant to be budget friendly, the specs don’t come as a surprise. This is particularly reflected upon with the phone’s camera as it features a low-end 5 MP rear camera and only 2 MP at the front. However, the phone’s price makes up for it as it’s ridiculously low. The phone costs only $80 and it provides users with basic necessities and more.
The ZTE Go phone is significant because it’s the only Go phone available in the US. Whether or not the phone is a success in the country depends on how many people look for a basic phone in the US. The phone would be more successful in countries like India or Pakistan where budgets are low. Google is aiming to make phones available for as low as $30 which would make it much easier for people to buy basic Android phones.
What’s next?
Google has shown through Android Go phones that it’s definitely possible to make semi-decent Android phones below $100. Moreover, the optimization the Go phones have is astounding. The ZTE Tempo Go has the same apps as a regular Android phone would have, but with half the size. The Go versions of these apps also perform better.
If you’re a user of the regular Android phone, you can still try out the Go apps by downloading them from the PlayStore. As for what’s next with the release of Android Go phones, the possibilities are endless. The main aspect of Android go is the superior level of optimization. Therefore, if the same level of optimization could be applied to regular Android devices, then high-specced devices could become much better than they already are.
If a greater level of optimization is achieved, then there won’t be a need to increase power in phones, which would drive down the costs of phones significantly. The only thing left to improve upon each upgrade would perhaps only be the camera. If its possible to make lightweight, highly optimized versions of apps for underpowered devices, then its also possible for higher-end devices to get highly optimized apps of their own.
We’ve already seen this level of optimization in Apple devices. Whether Android is able to do it depends on many factors, such as the large variety of devices with different specifications. However, the Android Go is a step in the right direction, the future looks bright for Android users.
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FactsChronicle.com, a High-Tech news website providing fresh and factual information about modern devices, gadgets, games, apps, latest inventions and innovations and much more. Stay with us and Know the Future! | {
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Worrying about negative perceptions of the term ‘disability’? Me too …
A friend of mine is several months into the post-launch phase of her start up company which has had some tremendous marketing and PR support, generated lots of interest but not the volume of orders she had hoped for at this point.
There are several potential reasons for this – not least among them the economy – but the most relevant to me, at the moment, has been the focus on the disabled element of her product offer and whether this has impacted negatively upon her brand image.
I have written about this before – and am sure I will again – but, for her, being marketed as ‘for the disabled’ seems to have narrowed her market potential considerably and then, as only a certain % of an entire market would possibly be interested in her business, not provided a large enough base of custom likely to sustain it in an ongoing way. People have looked, commented favourably but not purchased and, when asked, have said, “I’m not disabled; it’s not for me.”
OK, start ups are always difficult to establish and there are the usual product and business development issues to address but her PR and the interest have been widespread so, I have to confess, the low level of conversion – interest to orders – has been a surprise to both of us because, on a numbers basis alone, her demographic population is both sizeable and increasing and there is a clear void in supply for good design and quality in adaptive fashion of any kind in the UK.
In discussing this, we agreed that we could debate the specifics of the product range but style/fashion taste is always so personal that no product will appeal to everyone; the reach of her PR and marketing was good; people seem to like the website and concept; all that was needed were enough people to like the product to make it a good business … and yet, so far, it is not apparent that there are.
Why would this be? My own thoughts, definitely not conclusions, are:
that the terms of ‘disability’ plus ‘adaptive wear’ are loaded with too much negativity in the UK (and elsewhere as the UK is far from the worst in negative perception here) to be overcome in terms of establishing a market. The – repeated often – phrase ‘it’s not for me” is so telling – people with disabilities do not want to buy from a ‘disabled’ site and no one else would even consider doing so;
that there is not a big enough disabled market yet to support a style and design focussed adaptive wear clothing range;
that ‘the disabled’ is too big a catch-all phrase to be thought of as one market – people within it cannot be defined by any such generic term because their needs are too simply too disparate;
that fashion/style is not a consideration (yet?) for the small proportion of severely disabled people who need adaptive wear.
It’s not that I don’t think there is a huge, and growing, market of women with ‘special’ or specific needs struggling to find what they need – all the stats show there is – but I worry that they dismiss a specialised ‘disability’ site as ‘not for them’ simply because most of the product currently available is so much more functionally than aesthetically aware. Overcoming that perception is likely to be very hard. I think it’s not impossible but a better idea might be to, somehow, incorporate it into the mainstream … though doing that without alienating the mainstream buyer would have to be the tricky bit.
I’d like to try supplying product to the huge numbers of us living with physical differences that are diverse but not abnormal. This might be difficult to manage, given the points above, but it is a subject dear to my heart. Within my +Black concept, I would hope to do this by normalising lifestyle change within the broader market of women aged 40-45 and above. Promoting how aspects of well designed products will work for those with impairment/disability would be a key part of the broader product offer focussed on women undergoing any ‘life change’ – ageing, gaining weight, transitional career-ing, illness, impairment and so on. We all know about these things and it should be more ‘normal’ to show the odd disabled and wheelchair user using product than not, shouldn’t it? There should be no reason for the sight of a disability or wheelchair to alienate everyone who doesn’t fall within either label. But is this like taxes or ordinary people? You know, we want higher taxes to pay for public services but vote for the party who lowers taxes. or, saying we want real-life models but buying less when we get them and flocking to the product with the beautiful people on it.
Sheesh, thinking about this makes my head hurt … I want +Black to be known as a site that any women, struggling to adapt her style with the crap life throws at you, would want to go to and find something that might help or, at least, get some ideas on how others have coped … but does the negative perception around the term ‘disability’ make it an ‘unmentionable’ in marketing terms for a wider demographic?
Elle’s Plus Black Blog
Hi, I’m Elle and Plus Black is my lifestyle blog for sharing inspiration and ideas for sustaining stylish fabulousness through life’s unexpected transitional moments. Click across to About Plus Black to read more | {
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Just for fun, we morphed the faces of celeb doppelgängers to see if you could figure out who they are when they're one person. After you've gone through the slides, share the post with the number of morphs you guessed right! | {
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Housing analyst says “death spiral” could come to U.S. housing market
Laurie Goodman, an oft-cited national housing analyst, warns that the U.S. housing market may be in a “death spiral,” CNN reported.
According to Goodman’s calculations, 2.5 million homes have already fallen into foreclosure since Lehman Brothers Holdings’ collapse, and another 4.5 million mortgage holders have “given up paying and are likely to lose their homes,” CNN said. Goodman said that more than 10 million of the nation’s 55 million mortgage-holders could default by 2018. If home prices fall much more than the 6 percent or so she’s projecting over the next 12 to 18 months, foreclosures will drive prices even further down, in a sort of snowball effect.
Goodman also said that lenders lose as much as 70 percent when mortgage-backed securities are foreclosed on. And although lenders can reduce their principal to limit their exposure, many mortgage-holders, including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, are refusing any kind of principal-reduction deals.
Both Goodman and New York University economist Nouriel Roubini suggest “shared appreciation mortgage” modifications. Recently, Goodman convinced one private servicer to try out modifications. “Progress is slow,” Goodman said, “but I feel like I am getting some traction.” [CNN] | {
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My editor at Dogster drew my attention to an article by David Grimm published on Slate: “How Far Should We Go to Save Our Pets?” It has an interesting subheading: “Veterinarians with wondrous new treatments face an ethical dilemma.”
The article briefly covers the history of veterinary medicine and accurately describes the evolution of the role of veterinarians in society over time. In the olden days, vets were akin to auto mechanics who used crude methods to fix beasts of burden. Now we are more like pediatricians to four-legged family members. Throughout my career my sole interest has been companion animals, and I think Grimm’s assessment is spot on.
The article then goes on to discuss money. Alas, veterinarians have always had a really rocky relationship with money. We don’t make anywhere near as much of it as many professionals, such as doctors or lawyers, with comparable educations.
Over the years I occasionally have heard people disparage veterinarians by claiming that they are “in it for the money.” That is hogwash. Any vet who wanted money would have been a doctor, lawyer, or hedge fund manager. Every vet among us went into the profession fully knowing that it doesn’t pay as well as it should. Vets are a class of people that have effectively shunned money. And many among us also don’t think they deserve money. The social norm among veterinarians is to take pride in loving animals, and to think about money as little as possible.
Here is where the problem lies: Vets assume that everyone is like them. Vets don’t value the services they provide, and they worry that nobody else does, either. They assume that people don’t value veterinary services, and that people don’t want to spend money on those services.
That assumption has increasingly been clashing with reality in recent years. As Grimm points out, “A recent poll found that nearly two-thirds of people would pay up to $1,000 to save their animals, with another quarter ready to fork over $3,000 or more.”
This dissonance between what vets think about what their clients think, and how their clients actually think, is a recipe for danger. It may needlessly be placing pets’ lives at risk. From the article:
All of this might seem like good news for vets, but they’re struggling with the issue. “It’s wonderful that people are willing to spend $10,000 or $20,000 to deal with their sick pet, but ethically it puts us in quicksand,” says Douglas Aspros, the former president of the American Veterinary Medical Association and the manager of a veterinary clinic in White Plains, New York. “If a client wants me to do a $20,000 surgery on a cat, the practicality has to go beyond, ‘There’s someone willing to pay for it.’ As a society, should we be promoting that?”
Dr. Aspros, I disagree. Vets are not in fact in an ethical quicksand. And I believe that your comments are emblematic of an dangerous paternalism that is epidemic among veterinarians.
First, to be clear: I know that $20,000 is a lot of money. Would I be willing to spend that much money to save my pal Buster’s life? In truth, I can’t say. It is a lot of money for a guy who chose a relatively poorly paying career. But I do know one thing for sure: How I spend my money is none of Doug Aspros’ damned business, or anybody else’s for that matter. If I want to spend my hard earned cash on my dog, Dr. Aspros, where do you or anyone get off telling me not to?
Consider as well that for some people, $20,000 is not a lot of money. Remember the doctors, lawyers, and hedge fund managers from earlier in this post? How about venture capitalists and Silicon Valley executives? Is it not their right to spend their considerable wealth in the manner that they chose?
Here is what gets my goat about Dr. Aspros’ statements: In my opinion they include an implicit assumption that veterinarians know better than their clients how money should be spent. It implies that we must somehow protect clients from themselves.
When I practice medicine, I treat my clients like the responsible adults that they are. I believe they deserve to be treated with dignity and respect for their free will. It is not my job to tell them how to spend their money. How my clients spend their money is nobody’s business but theirs. It most definitely is not mine.
When I am involved in cases, I face no ethical dilemmas of the type described by Dr. Aspros. I simply explain what the treatment options are. I describe the advantages, disadvantages, and likely expense of each option. I am careful to explain the likelihood of success or failure with each option. I make every effort to help my clients make informed decisions. And then, crucially, the decision is theirs to make. I have no business making it for them.
Also crucial to the process is respecting the decision that the clients make. I do not judge. If clients cannot afford the best treatment, I do not judge them because their finances are none of my business. If a client chooses to spend thousands of dollars on a treatment that has a low chance of success, again that is none of my business. (Although it is my business to ensure that the treatment is humane, and that the clients are aware of the low chance of success.)
I worry that veterinarians who think in the manner outlined by Dr. Aspros may take the step of not mentioning expensive treatments to clients. Such behavior, in my opinion, is outright paternalism. Even if a client can’t afford a $20,000 course of chemotherapy, that client is entitled to know of the treatment’s existence. And how can a vet know what a client can or cannot afford, anyway? Clients also have the right to know when a less expensive treatment option may be as effective as a more expensive counterpart.
In fact, I don’t merely worry that such paternalism occurs. I know it does. I saw it when I treated a Chihuahua for kidney failure. The dog had been sick for days, and had seen another veterinarian who did not even offer to run tests that might have caught the condition before it was too late. I saw it when I treated a dog in heart failure whose former vet had recommended euthanasia because heart failure treatment was “really expensive.” I have seen it in many more cases than I care to recount.
Over the years many of my clients have declined expensive treatments that they could not afford. Others have elected eye-wateringly expensive procedures. I take pride in having made my clients aware of their choices, and I take even more pride in having respected their choices. | {
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Officer Charged After Beating a Man in Handcuffs
WASHINGTON – Isaac White, formerly an officer with the Memphis Police Department, pleaded guilty today in federal court in Memphis, Tenn., to using excessive force and causing bodily injury. White faces up to 10 years in prison for the civil rights violation.
White, 29, admitted in court that on Nov. 1, 2008, he struck a handcuffed arrestee twice in the head, violating the victim’s right to be free from excessive force. White further admitted that he caused his victim substantial pain and bruising.
"It is simply unacceptable for a police officer to beat up a handcuffed arrestee," said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. "A badge is a sacred trust, not a license to bully."
"The United States Attorney’s Office remains committed to protecting the public from violations of constitutional rights by law enforcement officers who abuse their authority and the public’s trust," said Lawrence J. Laurenzi, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee.
Popular Video
A police officer saw a young black couple drive by and pulled them over. What he did next left them stunned:
Popular Video
A police officer saw a young black couple drive by and pulled them over. What he did next left them stunned:
"When a law enforcement officer violates the civil rights of another, he brings shame on the badge and all law enforcement officers," said Special Agent in Charge My Harrison of the FBI Memphis Field Office. "The FBI makes it a priority to bring a law enforcement officer who violates the constitution and the trust of the people to justice."
"Police officers must not betray the trust of our citizens. We take an oath to protect, serve and uphold the laws of the state of Tennessee. When we violate that oath we will be held accountable," said Memphis Police Director Larry A. Godwin. "As police director, it is my priority to see that this department will not tolerate criminal acts by its officers, and we will seek prosecution of any and all officers who choose to do so."
The Civil Rights Division is committed to the vigorous enforcement of every federal criminal civil rights statute, including those laws that prohibit the willful use of excessive force or other acts of misconduct by law enforcement officials.
This case was investigated by the FBI and the Memphis Police Department Sergeant Matt Whittington and Officer Paul Sherman. Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Parker from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Memphis and Trial Attorney Jonathan Skrmetti from the Civil Rights Division are prosecuting the case. | {
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Wireless sensor network (WSN) infrastructure and protocols change according to the application needs. To achieve the best performance of the WSN, its operation should be adapted to the application needs. We propose a middleware for WSNs that provides a layer between applications and the network. The middleware offers a standard mechanism for representing user queries, sensor tasks and data. It also provides an automatic choice of the best network configuration and data dissemination strategy. Users are able to access the WSN without worrying about the underlying infrastructure and software. From the WSN perspective, the system provides the best match between communication protocols and application requirements. | {
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Social and political documentary about the poverty-stricken lifestyle of black Brazilians and the ways their pure music, samba, has been corrupted and co-opted by the music establishment of Brazil. Made in 1982, directed by Jeremy Marre. | {
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What you need to know about the music business/MilliUp Music presents… “Love Grow” by Kenise Taylor ft Platino Da Don & Carolina George
Maaaaan listen yall, this the realest shit ANYONE gone EVER TELL YALL about this MUSIC shit, ALOT of mfs out here making hella bread off of us independent artists giving us all false hope’s and dreams!
The thing is, it’s not about your preparation, “WHETHER OR NOT YOU POPPING IN THE STREETS” (lol), who you cool with or who ya know, what set you claim, if your song is mastered or not, what your budget numbers are, if you have a concert following, your YouTube views, how u look on stage presence, your branding, your social media followers, reputation, merchandising, what DJs u fw, how many downloads ya mixtape got, etc etc etc ALL THAT MF TOTAL BULLSHIT… ITS NOT ABOUT NONE OF THAT SHIT! I know because I have MASTERED- IT- ALL- OMMFM!!! (see for yourself @ MilliUp!dotcom! hit the menu tab, send your inquiries to MilliUp LLC Facebook fanpage)
To promote this new release i have used EVERY RESOURCE and RELATIONSHIP that we’ve built over the years, we’ll see what happens.🤷🏾♂️
#AllTheFacts are in this next sentence…
UNLESS YOU HAVE A MAJOR ($50K minimum) marketing and advertising budget, OR BY GOD JUST GET LUCKY, you are NOT, I REPEAT NOT going to break that song NO MATTER WHAT, IDGAF HOW GOOD OF A PROJECT IT IS🤷🏾♂️… all you doing is making it look good because you are going to hit the level where there is nothing else to possibly do other than spend that $50k to get that song OUT OF YOUR REGION… That is not a nationwide promo budget, that is your region… and with that kinda cash YOU HAVE TO ASK YOURSELF ARE YOU WILLING TO GAMBLE WITH IT ON YOU? ARE YOU WILLING TO DO THAT KINDA PROMOTION, THAT KINDA GRIND?
HOWEVER, just because your song wont get major budgeting doesn’t mean your song can’t get popular through licensing which is a long shot. Most of those checks average around $6-$300 the good thing is they are all profit. And can begin to add up very quickly if your catalog is big enough.
You can also produce or write music etc and let another artist get popular for you while you take in the profits.
Sure, you can do shows at a low level for about -($500) in promoter fees and up to around $1500 profit if you’re considered LOCAL/REGIONAL TALENT but for the most part you’re not going to make a living off of these kinds of opportunities… should you still do them? Absolutely! Simply because they build all of the things you’re going to need when/if the major opportunities come.
EVERYTHING COSTS IN THIS BUSINESS, EVEN FRIENDS, EVEN RELATIONSHIPS WITH ENEMIES, EVEN FAVORS… EVERYTHING!
Bottomline is, ask yourself, and when you do… be real with YOUR GAHDAMN SELF… how bad do you want this? Do you realistically AND ALL LUCK ASIDE believe you can make that budget THRESHOLD ($50,000) to promote and market your song to the majors who will help you… and if you do, are you willing to accept failure WHEN/IF it doesn’t give a proper RETURN ON THE INVESTMENT? | {
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2016年2月3日星期三
How to Make Gold Fast in Blade and Soul: Section One
Blade
and Soul is a popular MMORPG, and it attracts more and more gamers to take part
in the game. Blade and Soul gold is
very important in the game, since you need it for buying valuable materials or
items, strengthening your weapons and accessories, and saving your grinding
time. But there are some questions trouble many players: how to get blade &
soul gold in the game? How to make gold fast? Here, MmoGah as one of the
best blade and soul sellers and a professional blade and soul
power leveling site shows the main ways of making gold
to you.
Running Dungeons
This
way allows players to team up with some friends to defeat bosses. You can grind
normal quests and daily quests by running dungeons. Nevertheless, most of
players would like to grind rare gears. Many valuable gears can only be found
from specific dungeons and bosses, and you can earn BNS gold by selling the
rare gears.
Of
course, you can get reward through your hard fight and adventure, such as Soul
Shield.
The
Soul Shield is made of eight individual pieces. If one player can collect a
full set of soul shield, he will be granted extra bonus.
Soul
Shield is one of the most important factors to improve your strength in PVP or
PVE. It boosts offensive and defensive abilities, which can replace armor. You
can collect the pieces that can be made up of a full set of Soul Shield through
your adventure. How
to acquire Soul Shields?
1.
Spinning the wheel of fate to gain orbs from a boss monster in the wild.
2.
Completing quests;
3.
Exchanging Hero Cards for Soul Shield;
4.
Dropping from Bosses or monsters;
5.
Crafting Soul Shield.
Crafting System
You
can craft useful items and sell them to other players on the marketplace.
Crafting plays an important role when you need to level up your gears,
especially when you are ready to run dungeons. You can select two
crafting guilds to create two types of materials and two gathering guilds to
create two types goods.
For
example, the Fish Network guild lets you craft fish materials. To make a good
income, you have to know which crafted products are in high demand, and you need
to keep track of them, because the market demand is protean, and the price is
fluctuant with the market.
The crafting system, which requires players to
craft, acquire, or purchase a variety of materials, but nobody can craft all
the materials they need. At this time, a fast and efficiency way is to buy blade and soul gold from a professional
website.
There
are still other ways for making gold fast. We’ll reveal them in the Section two
later. If you want to know other blade and soul
tips, you can visit our website: mmogah.com to learn more.
The
Spring Festival is coming. We hold a sale promotion event to celebrate the
festival during February 1, 2016 – February 25, PST, offering large mmogah
coupons (up to 10% off) to our
customers. Hope you have an enjoyable game time. | {
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One could argue that Beowulf, the epic hero in the Old English poem Beowulf, acts as he does for both his own personal glory and the glory of God. Given that the epic hero is renowned (meaning everyone knows of his heroic deeds far and wide), Beowulf's glory could be seen as his own personal need for glory. Others may recognize Beowulf's honor and commitment to God. Perhaps the most supporting quote in the text of Beowulf's righteous actions being true (and not simply "leverage" to get into heaven) is the following from chapter X (ten) of the text:
"We shall both spurn the sword this night if he dares to seek me here and make war without weapons. Let the wise God, the holy Lord, decree success on whichever side seems right to Him!”
Readers can see that Beowulf's intentions lie in celebrating God, fighting for God, and fighting for what is good in the world--not only to get into heaven. The power which Beowulf gives to God, as being the one who declares success, shows Beowulf's religious ideologies--that he is a warrior for God and all battles fought are in his honor. | {
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"I feel more connected to my deeper self, my essence. I am inspired by your skill and presence. I experience you as a practitioner with incredible integrity and love." Elizabeth G., Midwife, Dance Therapist | {
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mix the cornstarch the black pepper a,d 3/4 tsp salt in a bowl
pat the shrimp dry and toss with the cornstarch mix.
heat the oil in a wok until a drop of water sizzles in it
working in 2 batches fry the shrimp about 1 minute a side
drain on paper towels
toss with the sichuan peppercorns, the remaining 3/4 tsp salt and the jalapeno
dice the tomatoes
in a small saucepan melt 2 Tbsp butter
add the shallots and cook over medium heat 3 minutes (dont let them color)
add the tomatoes and cook 4 more minutes
set aside
Season the fish with salt and pepper
Heat a medium saute pan over medium high heat
add oil.
when hot add the fish and saute 5-7 minutes flipping once or until cooked medium rare
remove to a plate and set aside
add the garlic to the pan and saute 30 seconds
add the wine,lemon juice and tomatoes
reduce until most of the liquid is gone
stir in the remaining butter and cook until the butter is melted.
add the fish and cook minute
serve,spooning some of the sauce over the fish
sprinkle with the parmesan cheese
mix everything but the salmon in a small bowl.
marinate the salmon about 30 minutes
preheat the grill to medium hot
place the soaked plank on the grill
when it begins to smoke lay the salmon on the plank
grill 10-12 minutes until it reaches a temperature of 140
This is a really good way to combine shrimp with a leafy green vegetable. If you dont like spicy omit the jalapeno,if you like it spice use a whole one instead.
the chinese broccoli and fermented black beans can be found in most asian markets. The black beans can be stored in an an airtight container indefinitely.
The seafood stock can be made ahead of time or you can use chicken stock instead
Main dish
stir together the rice wine,soy sauce,broth,cornstarch and sugar in a small bowl. set aside
seperate the stems from the leaves of the broccoli.
slice the stems into 2″ pieces
bring a large pot of salted water to a boil
add the stems and boil 3 minutes.
add the leaves and cook 3 more minutes
drain well set aside,covered with foil to keep warm
Heat a wok until very hot
add 1 Tbsp peanut oil
add the ginger and cook 10 seconds. Then add the garlic,black beans and jalapeno. stir fry 1 minute.
add the shrimp and stir fry until pink about 4 minutes.
stir the broth mixture and add to the shrimp. bring to a boil and cook 2 minutes,stirring. remove from heat and stir in the sesame oil.
serve over the broccoli
First make the stock
bring the water to a boil.
add the shrimp shells and simmer 30 minutes.
remove the shells and discard
add the clam base and stir to dissolve
set aside
Next make the sauce
in a medium saucepan cook the bacon until crispy. remove the bacon and reserve for later
pour off all but 2 Tbsp bacon grease
stir the flour into the bacon grease.
cook over low medium heat,stirring continuously until medium brown (5-10 minutes)
stir in the stock and the cream. bring to a boil and stir until thickened slightly (10 minutes or so)
stir in the worstershire and hot sauce.
set aside and keep warm
The Grits
add the butter to the stock. bring to a boil
stir in the grits and simmer 5 minutes,stirring often
add the cream,tomato paste and cheese.
cook another 3 minutes,stirring continually
set aside and keep warm
the shrimp
combine the cajum seasoning,paprika and italian seasoning in a bowl. add a few turns of fresh ground pepper. put the shrimp you shelled into a bowl. add the spice mixture and stir to mix well. Melt the butter in a 12″ skillet over medium heat. add the garlic and saute until fragrant. add the shrimp in a single layer. cook 2 minutes. flip the shrimp and cook more minutes or unitl the shrimp are cooked through. transfer the shrimp to a plate and add the pan drippings to the sauce.
divide the grits onto 4 plates. add 1/4 of the shrimp to each plate. drizzle the sauce over the shrimp. sprinkle with the reserved bacon
cut the kernels off the cobs and grate in a food proeessor
in a medium saucepan add the corn and stir in the milk. heat over medium heat 5 minutes,
stir in the cheese until melted,set aside and keep warm
heat 1 Tbsp oil in a large skillet. add the onion and cook over medium high heat 5-7 minutes until beginning to brown. Add the garlic and continue cooking 45 seconds. Add the wine and cook until the wine mostly evaporates. Add the tomatoes,bay leaves and cayenne. bring to a boil,reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. remove from the heat and stir in the herbs. set aside and keep warm
for the shrimp
1 lb large shrimp,peeled and deveined
salt and pepper
1 Tbsp oil
heat the oil on a large skillet
add the shrimp and season with salt and pepper
cook over medium high heat 3 minutes,flip and cook 3 minutes more,until the shrimp are pink and firm
to serve
spoon the “grits” on a plate
add the shrimp and pour the sauce over it | {
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Bale, who played a grown-up John Connor, confirmed that there has been no development on his end for a fifth Terminator.
“We’ve had no talks about it or discussions about it.”
Terminator Salvation took place in 2018, when Connor takes the lead in the human resistance while trying to come to terms with a new kind of cyborg who believes he is human. The film’s epilogue suggests that Connor will continue to lead the resistance in other parts of the world after destroying Skynet’s San Francisco headquarters.
They might be right. Seems like the studios have been hot to get a lot of the news re: sequels out a la Transformers, Deadpool, etc. but things have been a little quiet since ‘Terminator: Salvation’ hit theaters…
One comment
Terminator is not only a sci-fi. I think Terminator serie is a anticipation concept. One of these days. Before the end of this century .Some armys of the world will operate real war cyborgs and robots.
Politicaly correct because no more human lost ….
For me The Terminator movie has been a revelation !!!
Me i very liked the Terminator Salvation movie . Non stop Action !!! Yes the story is not very elaborate but the action scenes are perfect for me !! If you like special effects this movie is for you !!! | {
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Gen Con Indy is in just two weeks and to celebrate here in Indiana we are having the traditional heat wave
cool down. Wait, cool down? Yeah, we have finished up July with a first ever no 90s on the thermometer since records have been
kept: 134 years. What does this have to do with Gen Con? Well, normally, in mid August, visitors to Indianapolis have had to
make saving throws against extreme heat. The long range forecasts are indicating that Gen Con weekend might continue this cool
trend of upper 70s low 80s. Very unusual. Perhaps it's in honor of the upcoming release of the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook.
Between now and August 12th, Saving Throw is giving you a chance to win an autographed copy of the Pathfinder Core Rulebook. In order to win, you simply have to answer a
short Pathfinder Trivia Quiz. If you kept up with Pathfinder's development,
this trivia quiz should be rather simple. Answers to all the trivia questions can be found on Paizo
Publishing's website.
Gaming Tip of the Column -- Following up with last week's body slots for +1 bonuses, the low level spell resistance's
+1 bonus might not sound like much, but that +1 might be all it takes to save you from a nasty trap or spell effect.
Looking for a place to play? Check out the Roleplaying Forum.
We are always looking for new players and Game Masters or people who just want to talk about their favorite pen and paper or
tabletop games!
A few weeks ago, the guys (and gals?) at Gaming Paper unveiled their
new product, a roll of paper with one inch squares. I just got two rolls of it and I am looking forward to using it to map out
some upcoming encounters in the home game I play with my son. It comes on a 30 inch by 12 foot roll, and looks a bit like wrapping
paper. It is supposed to be reusable and sturdy, but we will find out. | {
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Panasonic manipulators
Very accurate positioning with the compact manipulators of Panasonic, the PanaDice-IV series (YA-1RJB). These manipulators can be used for G3 and WG3 controllers.
With the help of the Panasonic positioner type PanaDice-IV, which is controlled as an external axis, your parts will be presented to the robot in the best conditions in regard to accessibility and welding technology. Many different configurations can be made because of the different mounting possibilities. | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
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Why we don’t breed Scottish Folds
We do not breed Scottish Folds, and we never will. Ever. Find out why...
Scottish Folds are incredibly cute, cuddly looking cats...on first sight...but look more closely at what creates those ‘cute’ folded ears and a very worrying picture starts to emerge. Scottish Fold cats are very similar to British Shorthair cats, and some breeders choose to have both straight eared and folded eared cats. We do not breed Scottish Folds, and we never will. Read on to find out why.
What is a Scottish Fold?
A Scottish Fold cat is a cat that looks just like a British Shorthair, but with one difference: the ears are folded forwards:
Image: International Cat Care
Origins of the Scottish Fold
The first Scottish Fold cat was a white domestic barn cat called Susie. Susie was found in Perthshire, Scotland in 1961. Her ears were very unusual, because they were literally folded in the middle, rather than standing up straight as a cats ears should. That is why these cats are called Scottish Folds. Susie had kittens, and two of her kittens had the same folded ears. By chance, a neighbour to the farm was William Ross who just happened to be a cat breeder with the GCCF (the Governing Council of the Cat fancy). He registered the breed with the GCCF in 1966 and, with the help of geneticist Pat Turner, developed the breed we now know as the Scottish Fold.
Their breeding programme produced 76 kittens in three years. Of those, 42 had folded ears and 34 had straight ears. This led them to believe that the folded ears were the result of a dominant gene. All Scottish Fold cats have ancestry that can be traced back to Susie.
The breed was developed using British Shorthairs and American Shorthairs.
Why do their ears fold?
The cause of the fold in the ears is a dominant genetic mutation. This genetic mutation affects the cat’s cartilage. All Scottish Folds with folded ears have osteochondrodysplasia. This is an abnormality that affects the development of bone and cartilage throughout their entire bodies. This is what causes the fold in the ears, but it also causes many other issues that cannot be so easily seen. Any cat that has 2 copies of this gene, will have severe malformed bone structures and painful degenerative joint disease at an early age. Those cats that have only one copy of the gene will all also be affected, but usually to a lesser extent. This is why two cats with folded ears should never be bred together. But even cats with one folded eared parent will suffer.
Neither the GCCF nor FiFe recognise Scottish Folds because of the pain and suffering that these cats experience. Some Scottish Fold breeders argue that breeding a folded cat to a non folded cat can produce healthy offspring, but over 300 breeders were offered the opportunity to have their cats x-rayed, free of charge, to prove this theory, and not a single breeder took up the offer. Their refusal speaks volumes: clearly they were not confident about their cats’ health...or to put it another way, they know that their cats are unwell and suffering.
Scottish Fold Health Problems
It has now been proven beyond doubt that all Scottish Fold cats suffer from pain, limb abnormalities and injures. Charities in the UK are now campaigning for this breed to be completely banned. We support this campaign. Scottish Folds suffer from:
Deformed limbs
Shortened limbs
Extreme pain
Stiff joints
Fused bones
Reduced mobility and lack of movement
We believe that no animal should be born to suffer. Breeding animals purposely to have mutations that we know will definitely cause them pain and suffering throughout their lives is cruel, immoral and irresponsible. Not only that, but an animal suffering from serious medical problems is not a suitable family pet - any family adopting a Scottish Fold is signing up for a life of veterinary trips, medical treatments and medication. Watching a family pet spiral downwards into a life of pain and misery is clearly not what anyone is aiming for when choosing a cat.
If you already have a Scottish Fold, please do not be defensive of the breed. No doubt you were not properly informed of the implications that those ‘cute’ ears would have. Simply provide your cat with the best possible care you can and choose a different breed if you ever decide to welcome another cat into your home.
It is time to stop breeding for animal suffering, no matter how cute those animals might look. Choose health.
Cat breeds to avoid:
Scottish Folds (bone problems)
Persians (breathing problems)
Exotic Shorthairs (breathing problems)
Munchkins or any other cat with shortened legs (dwarfism)
If you are choosing a cat breed, please have a look at these articles: | {
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Open up your creative thinking as you prepare for your art exams by dropping in to our light and airy gallery to get some inspiration from classical sculpture. Feel free to stop and ask us any questions - we're happy to help. Bring your sketchbooks, art materials (dry ones only please) and your ideas! | {
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Gorgias Biography
Encyclopedia of World Biography on Gorgias
Gorgias (ca. 480-ca. 376 BC) was a Greek sophist and rhetorician. He believed that prose should rival poetry as a vehicle of persuasive and lofty expression and made important contributions to the development of epideictic, or ceremonial, oratory.
Gorgias was born in Leontini on the island of Sicily and is said to have lived more than 100 years. He went to Athens in 427 B.C. at the head of a delegation from his native city and caused a great stir with his new rhetorical style. His fame became immense throughout the Greek world, and according to Isocrates, his pupil, he was able to make a handsome fortune through the fees he charged. Noteworthy among the honors he received were invitations to deliver a funeral oration at Athens and to speak on Hellenic unity at Olympia. He was permitted to have a golden statue of himself erected at Delphi. Although he... | {
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POKEMON BLACK AND WHITE WALKTHROUGH
Skyla informs you that the next Gym is past Twist Mountain, which is at the end of Route 7, so leave the Gym and head over there. N will jump you as soon as you leave Skyla's Gym to talk to your Pokemon, realizing that you and your Pokemon are close. He'll then spill some more of the plot; Ghetsis is currently in search of the two stones, Light and Dark, that each hold the essence of a Dragon-type Legendary Pokemon within, and N plans to revive and befriend them to show the world his way is right, although he notes that he'll feel bad for separating truly bonded Trainers and Pokemon. He'll leave, so return to Route 7.
Back on Route 7, go north through the first section until you reach the Route's second elevated walkway; there's a rest house where you can heal your team. Otherwise, head east until your Xtransceiver receives a call from your Mom, who just wants to check up on you. Further east you'll find another raised path, on which is a Harlequin who has Emolga and Sigilyph, before descending to find TM81 - X-Scissor, a Physical Bug-type move with decent Power, at a dead end. The tall grass here is the kind that has wild Double Battles, but the Pokemon aren't different from before, so you can ignore it. Resume heading north, taking either the lower path with tall grass or the raised walkway with a second Harlequin who has Tynamo, Ducklett and Tranquill. Both ways lead to the start of Twist Mountain, which has an Ultra Ball hidden just before the stairway.
Cheren and Twist Mountain
As you try to climb the staircase at the start of Twist Mountain, Cheren will approach you to fulfill the apparently new quota of having one Rival battle in between each Gym match.
As usual, the main changes to Cheren's roster since your last fight with him are some evolutions of his Pokemon. Both his monkey and his Tranquill have evolved this time, with the latter becoming Unfezant, and you'll want to use a faster Pokemon here so you won't be subject to Air Slash's flinch rate. It's also holding a Scope Lens to improve its chance for Critical Hits, so take it down fast with Gigalith, Galvantula, Zebstrika or Vanillish. Liepard is as offensively and defensively feeble as ever, so defeat it with your strongest STAB moves. If it uses its Sitrus Berry, it will receive a Speed boost from its Unburden ability. While his Starter has not yet reached its second stage, it is now holding Leftovers to restore some health between turns, and his monkey has a hold item to boost it STAB attacks. Use the same type advantages as always to beat Cheren's Starter and monkey: Grass and Electric-types for Simipour and Dewott; Rock-, Water- or Ground-types for Simisear and Pignite; and Flying-, Bug-, Poison-, Ice or Fire-types for Simisage and Servine.
After his latest loss, Cheren will wonder some more about strength until, right on cue, Alder will appear to give him some more wise words. He'll then give you both HM03 - Surf, which is an incredibly useful move both inside and outside of battle. It lets you ferry across bodies of water and, most importantly, it's probably the best Special Water-type move in the game, so teach it to as many Special-oriented Pokemon as you can. As always, Cheren will resolve to defeat you next time, and then climbs up into Twist Mountain. Follow him up the stairs and, before you can even entire the dungeon proper, you'll fight a Hiker who has Boldore and Gurdurr. Beat him and go inside. Twist Mountain is also the first area of the game that changes significantly depending on the seasons, as snow opens up much of the outside areas during the winter.
Walk up the path a bit to find Cheren chatting with Clay, who notes that all of the Gym Leaders have met to talk about Team Plasma. Before leaving, Clay adds that Team Plasma has gone quiet lately and that you and Cheren shouldn't worry about them, encouraging you to explore the Mountain. Follow Cheren east to emerge back outside, at what looks like an excavation site. The wild Pokemon at Twist Mountain are the same in all areas of the Mountain; the only new one is the Ice-type snowflake/mirror hybrid Cryogonal. It's a strange Pokemon that has a 5% encounter rate during the winter months (April, August, December), with only a 1% encounter rate otherwise, and it has horrible Defense, massive Special Defense, and decent Special Attack and Speed. Unfortunately, the pure Ice-typing is pretty bad, so it's not a particular standout, although it works fine in-game, like most things do.
From where you start outside, head all the way north from the NPC to find a Revive at the dead end. Retrace your steps and continue east from the Worker to find a Full Heal on the ground shortly past the next entrance. Back inside of the cave again, follow the path through to fight a Hiker who has Woobat, Boldore and Gurdurr; hidden within the cave wall behind him is a Hyper Potion. The path immediately next to the Hiker takes you back outside to a dead end that has a female Ace Trainer and her Vanillish, Gothorita and Duosion. Otherwise, take the farther path with the Battle Girl and her Sawk to emerge back outside. An optional Worker with Boldore and Excadrill is just to the south here; otherwise, follow the boarded path into the next cave portion of Twist Mountain.
The next cave portion of Twist Mountain has a few piles of dirt along the way: the first has nothing, the second has a hidden Stardust, and the third has a Worker who uses Swoobat; beyond the Worker is a Moon Stone, the item needed to evolve Munna into Musharna. Take the path south of the Worker to reach a lower floor that has more piles of dirt directly south; another Stardust is hidden in the southeastern clump, and another hidden Worker, this one with three Boldore, is directly west of the Stardust pile. After going through the dirt, resume going west to reach the outside portion of the Mountain again. To your north is a Max Potion on the ground; also, during the winter, you can access a hidden Rare Candy in the snow above. To your far west is the gateway to the next cave portion of the Mountain, with an Ether to the north. Grab that and go back inside.
Back inside once again, take the first northern path to find a Nugget on the ground that you can sell later for money. Hidden within the jagged rock to the left of this Nugget is a Revive, and Elixir is hidden in the southwestern corner of the cave, directly across from the entrance from which you just came. Head up from this corner and go all the way to the northern edge of the room, where you'll be ambushed by another Worker hiding in some dirt. This one has one Excadrill in his party and one PP Up on the ground to his left. Following east will take you back outside, where you'll find a Doctor to the south; defeat his Duosion and Musharna and he'll heal your Pokemon. The lower sections of Twist Mountain near the Doctor are where things start to deviate depending on the current season; follow the section for your current season.
Twist Mountain (Spring, Summer and Autumn)
The path with the Doctor leads to two more ways back into the cave; however, the farther one leads to a dead end, so ignore it. The closer passage is only available during the warmer months, as snow blocks it off during the winter. Inside, you'll find a Hiker who has Woobat and Boldore directly to your north. Head behind him to descend further into a part of the cave that has an Ultra Ball to the west and a Black Belt and his Sawk nearby. The third dirt pile along this path has a hidden Protein for 10 Attack EVs, while the fourth contains another hidden Worker who owns Gurdurr and Boldore. The exit is just to the south, and brings you to the lowest outside area, which is exclusive to the warmer months. There's a house of little interest, a vending machine, and two more entrances out here.
Ignore the entrance directly east of the vending machine for now and head south, past the second bulldozer, to find a lower path. The next screen doesn't have much going on right now, but you can get some of the Fossils from the older games from the NPC here later into the game. Continue further into the cave and you'll find the bottom floor of Twist Mountain, which is home to Unova's answer to the Ice Rock. Later in the game, once you get Eevee, you can level it up here to evolve it into Glaceon. More importantly to us at this moment, however, is the TM91 - Flash Cannon on the ground in the top right corner of the screen. This is one of the better Special Steel-type moves and has a chance to lower the target's Special Defense. Return to the vending machine area, take the eastern entrance and head north to find Cheren with a Team Plasma Grunt.
Twist Mountain (Winter)
During the winter, from where you fought the Doctor, you can run up through a snow bank out here to find a hidden Stardust along the top edge of the screen; otherwise, there should be a passageway in the middle of the screen that leads to a dead end, which is the farther entrance during the warmer months. During the winter only, you can go southeast from the farther entrance to find another small passage, inaccessible during the rest of the year, that has a Metal Coat, a hold item that gives a 20% boost to Steel-type moves and is needed to evolve Onix and Scyther. Additionally, in the northeast corner of the outside area, which is accessible east of the hidden Stardust along the top, there's a walkway that hasn't been covered with snow that has a hidden Iron on it.
If you follow through the path near the hidden Iron, you'll end up in the same room that has the Hiker during the warmer months; the left path here leads to a ledge that you can hop over to reach the dead-end accessible from the outside portion. Continue to the right instead and worm through the path to find a male Ace Trainer, accessible only during winter, who has Krokorok, Palpitoad and Klang. Southwest of the Ace Trainer is TM90 - Substitute, a move in which the user sacrifices 25% of its HP to create a copy that takes hits for it. After getting Substitute, run east to find north-south split in the path. The south exit just brings you back to the northeast corner of the outdoor portion, so you don't have go there; continue north to reach the next floor and to see Cheren with a Team Plasma Grunt.
Regardless of the current season, you'll eventually come across Cheren talking to a Team Plasma Grunt. He points out the thing that probably everyone has been thinking when he tells the Grunt to set his own Pokemon free if he wants to liberate Pokemon so much. One of his teammates will run to announce that Team Plasma has found the stone that they wanted, and then the Grunts announce their allegiance to N and leave. Cheren decides to stay behind for awhile to reflect on Alder's advice, letting you go on without him. Continue through the exit to reach Icirrus City.
Upon entering Icirrus City, Cedric will be waiting to ask if you're familiar with Dragonspiral Tower, mentioning that it's the place where Legendary Dragon Pokemon were born, presumably the same ones that Team Plasma want to use. Cedric leaves north to visit the Tower, leaving you to explore Icirrus, which features puddles from snowy weather that contain wild Pokemon during the warmer months. Two new Pokemon can be found within Icirrus' big puddle: Shelmet and Stunfisk. Stunfisk is a derpy Ground/Electric-type fish who can take a Special hit or two, although its most notable trait is the unique typing. Shelmet is the Pokemon who must be traded with Karrablast to evolve both, at which point it becomes Accelgor, a fast ninja bug with good Special Attack but a less than ideal Special movepool. A Max Revive is hidden at near the top-left corner of the puddle.
Follow Cedric up the stairs to find the Pokemon Center; a woman inside gives you TM31 - Brick Break, a Physical Fighting-type move with decent Power and the ability to remove the opponent's Reflect and Light Screen. You can also buy TM14 - Blizzard, TM25 - Thunder and TM38 - Fire Blast from the Pokemon Center; while inaccurate, these are some of the most powerful Ice-, Electric- and Fire-type moves, respectively, although Fire Blast's 85% accuracy makes it worth considering, as is Thunder if you have a Joltik with Compound Eyes. The older man will pay you well if you bring him valuable items, including the type Gems that you've been finding in Drilbur's dust clouds and a hefty $10000 per Nugget(!).
An NPC outside of the Pokemon Center will you give bit of backstory about Dark Stone in Black or the Light Stone in White - these are the items Team Plasma wants. Directly east of the Pokemon Center is a dead-end that has a hidden Ultra Ball and a hidden Timer Ball right next to each other. Next to the dancing cult left of the Pokemon Center is an item ball that you can access during the warmer months - check here in the winter to get to a hidden Max Potion in the chasm and the Rare Candy on the other side.
The house here is accessible during all seasons and contains the Unova Region's Pokemon Fan Club - inside, the President will give you some items depending on how much your Pokemon has grown under your care. A Pokemon that has grown 25 to 49 levels earns you an Exp. Share, a hold item that gives the user Exp. without entering the battle; 50 to 98 levels earns a Cleanse Tag, a hold item that lowers the wild encounter rate, which is desperately necessary in this game; and 99 levels nets you a King's Rock, the item necessary to get Politoed and Slowking that gives any holder's moves a small chance to cause flinches. Additionally, the woman in here will rate the happiness of your Pokemon.
When you enter the house northeast of the Fan Club, a woman named Wye will call you in to take a "Pep Quiz" from her husband Aha. You can return here every day to take the quiz, but the prizes are pretty lame: an Andidote for a correct answer and a Parlyz Heal for a wrong one. The house between Aha's house and the Pokemon Center doesn't have much going on inside. Finally, at the south end of town, available only during the winter, is another house, but this one features a cameo of a minor older character: the lone Team Rocket Grunt in Kanto during the Johto-based games! He's reformed, gotten married, and had a kid; his wife will give you a Rage Candy Bar for later use. Just southwest of this house are two hidden Tiny Mushrooms and a hidden Big Mushroom in the snow. Finally, Icirrus City Gym is north of the Fan Club, so head over there to fight for the seventh Badge!
Icirrus City Gym
As always, you can speak to Clyde for your complimentary Fresh Water and Gym advice. As an Ice-type Gym, Icirrus Gym also has the complimentary annoying Ice-type Gym puzzle in which your character has to slide across a slippery floor to maneuver. Start by walking north from the opening next to Clyde; you'll slide into a curve that steers you to a tile of regular ground, at which point you should slide to the right. The Black Belt has two Cubchoo, a Cryogonal, and a quip about the craziness of the Unova Gyms. Hit the switch here to move the next slope, and then move into it to slip into more dry ground that features a Battle Girl who has a Cryogonal. Head east across some icy hills to reach a Black Belt with a Cubchoo.
After defeating the Black Belt's Cubchoo, you'll be in a new section of the Gym. Slide east from the Black Belt to hit a blockade of stones, at which point you can slide up, right and up again to reach the next patch of dry ground, which holds a Battle Girl and her Cubchoo and Vanillish. After beating her, slide down into the back of the wooden mechanism and then right to the next path of regular ground. Slip left, letting the curve through you to the southeast, and then head up from the landing point to reach the next switch that controls the slopes. From the switch tile, go up and then left, then use the slope to reach the next section of icy hills and a Battle Girl who has two Vanillish.
After the Battle Girl is the third and final section of the Gym. Slide east onto the dry ground, north into the slope, right into the rock wall, north to another piece of dry ground and right into the same slope as before. Now you can follow the path up to the Gym's final underling Trainer, a Black Belt who has Vanillish and Cubchoo, and final switch to move the nearest slope. The final series of short slips to take is right, down into the slope to reach a blue dry patch, left into a rock, down into more dry ground, left back into the previous slope to reach the last rest tile, and then finally north to get off this annoying ice at last. The Icirrus Gym Leader and man of few words, Brycen, is waiting to the north.
Brycen is actually one of the easiest Gym Leaders in the game because his speciality type, Ice, has many weaknesses. Oddly, none of his Pokemon have Hail, despite two of them having abilities that work with it. He starts with Vanillish, which has horribly weak attacks in Frost Breath, Astonish and Mirror Shot; the last one is Steel-type, but it's weak enough that your own Rock-types can probably take it. Acid Armor doubles its Defense, while Crygonal's Reflect boosts the Defense of the entire team. The snowflake also has Rapid Spin to remove your entry hazards, and two weak STAB moves in Aurora Beam and Frost Breath; keep in mind that it has Levitate for Ground-type immunity. Finally, Beartic's Brine is Brycen's only move that provides coverage against some of Ice's weaknesses. It also has Slash and STAB flinch-inducing Icicle Crash for power and Swagger to confuse you.
All three of Brycen's Pokemon are pure Ice-types, so they resist only their own type while being weak to Fire-, Steel-, Fighting- and Rock-type moves. Cryogonal is his only one with some Speed, but just about any Physical move will destroy its base 30 Defense; Beartic is Brycen's most bulky and powerful Pokemon but it's also slow. Naturally, Tepig players will be a huge advantage in this match, since both of Emboar's types are strong here, but do watch out for Beartic's Brine. Brycen's moves can't do much to hurt Samurott, either, but Serperior should be kept off the field for obvious reasons. Throh/Sawk, Conkeldurr, Gigalith, Darmanitan and defensive Water-types are all useful choices for their type advantages, as are fast Pokemon to avoid Brycen's flinch moves. The Brick Break TM you got from Icirrus City is also handy for having a type advantage against Brycen and removing Reflect.
When you defeat Brycen, you'll receive $4680; TM79 - Frost Breath, a weak Special Ice-type move that always lands as a Critical Hit; and the Freeze Badge, which makes all Pokemon up to Level 80 obey you and allows you to use HM05 - Waterfall on the overworld to climb its namesake bodies of water. | {
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Category Archives: Math Literacy
All our worksheets are CAPS aligned
These are grade 12 Mathematical Literacy worksheets that are following the current matric curriculum. They all have a worksheet and a fully worked memo which make them great for exam and test revision as students can even work through them themselves. This is great practice for up coming matric exams.
This CAPS aligned grade 12 mathematical literacy worksheet with memorandum tests the students knowledge and ability regarding Financial documents and payslips. There is a definition question, work on a salary slip, including questions on tax and other deductions. There is a question on financing a car, and the cost of that finance.There is also a […]
This worksheet allows learners to practice all the general calculations that are expected from them in exam papers. It covers conversions, percentage, units of measurement, time and dilution factors. Download here: Worksheet 1: General calculations Worksheet 1 Memorandum: General Calculations | {
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Instantly borrow movies, music, audiobooks, ebooks, comics and TV shows to enjoy on your computer, tablet, or phone through hoopla! With no waiting, titles can be streamed immediately, or downloaded to phones or tablets for offline enjoyment later. hoopla is a service of Midwest Tape, with more content added daily. As of June 10, 2019, four items may be checked out per patron each month; titles are automatically returned and removed from your device at the end of the lending period. Get the app from the Apple Store or Google Play. If you don't have an account, click on Get Started in the middle of the page. Parents - your children can improve their reading skills by reading along with hoopla! Finally, check out these videos to become a hoopla power user! Provided by the Milwaukee County Federated Library System.
Sheet Music Collections
Historical Sheet Music Collection
The Historical Sheet Music Collection at the Milwaukee Public Library is comprised of tens of thousands of individual song sheets, mainly for piano and voice, and dating from the mid-1800’s through the 1950’s.
WTMJ Sheet Music Collection
Acquired by the Milwaukee Public Library in April 1966, the WTMJ Sheet Music Collection features more than 12,000 pieces of band music from a bygone age. Comprised mostly of World War I and World War II era popular songs, the collection includes parts for piano, band and orchestral instruments.
Schaum Music Collection
The Schaum Music Collection is comprised of nearly 100,000 songbooks, scores, instructional books and song sheets. Named in honor of John W. Schaum, a Milwaukee born pianist, composer, music educator and publisher, this collection was donated to the Milwaukee Public Library by his son, Wesley Schaum. There is no digital index to this collection.
Using the Collections
If you are interested in viewing materials from any of these sheet music collections, please stop by or call the Art, Music & Recreation Reference Room at the Central Library at 414-286-3071.
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Carlito’s Way (1993) Description: A Puerto Rican former convict, just released from prison, pledges to stay away from drugs and violence despite the pressure around him and lead on to a better life outside of N.Y.C. | {
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Regional Access Issues
Texas ‘Smackdown' Mobilizes Local Safety Expertise
February 1, 2011
At the dawn of business aviation, around the middle of the last century, the general aviation side of the airport was a friendly, close-knit community, according to NBAA Regional Representative Steve Hadley, based in Waco, TX. NBAA Southwest Regional Representative Steve Hadley says the don't have the time or the budgets to attend in-service training and obtain advanced safety certification.
"Really, the way business aviation used to be, decades ago, was flight departments helping other flight departments," Hadley reported on a recent edition of the NBAA Flight Plan podcast. "These days, you may not even know the people in the hangar next to yours."
Compound that notion, he said, with the current economy and you see an especially distinct impact on smaller flight departments. Hadley believes people who work in such operations don't have the time or the budgets to attend in-service training and obtain advanced safety certification.
Enter an organization called the Partnership for Corporate Aviation Training – PCAT. "It's a unique initiative started by a bunch of flight departments in San Antonio," Hadley said. "The concept is getting back to what corporate aviation used to be."
Flight department employees at Zachary's, HEB and Valero Energy have combined efforts to form PCAT. Valero pilot Ben Lewis is the organization's president.
"There might be flight departments out there that just can't afford to… take this training with vendors at other locations," Lewis said. Hence, the concept of a Safety "Smackdown."
The three-day event features more than 40 classes on topics that range from Crew Resource Management, to food safety, to international considerations for domestic operators.
The cost: $100 per participant, excluding accommodations and classes with minimal extra fees. The Safety Smackdown runs Feb. 1–3. For more information, check the PCAT web site at www.p4cat.org.
"We do want to make this a national effort," Lewis said, "because that will affect as many flight departments as possible," he said. "It helps all of us." | {
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“I felt fine,” said Van Horn, who finished with seven points in 26 minutes on only 3-of-11 shooting. “But it was his decision.”
Van Horn wound up missing his first free throw after returning to the game. He hit the second one to draw the Knicks within 81-77 with 1:08 to go, but it turned out to be the Knicks’ final point of the game.
“In the beginning, Keith was struggling,” Wilkens said. “And then they [the Heat] went small and we went small.”
And Van Horn was left out of the mix.
Van Horn said that while he felt refreshed despite playing on back-to-back nights, he was a little rusty when he got back into the game. That long an absence is not something that he is not accustomed to on a regular basis.
“It’s difficult coming in after sitting for so long,” Van Horn said. “It makes it tough.”
He doesn’t know whether to expect more of that treatment under his new coach.
“When a group gets going, he seems like he stays with it,” Van Horn said of Wilkens. “He’s won a lot of games, so you can’t say it doesn’t work.” | {
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On 29 January 2013, my husband was called to serve as a counselor in a Branch Presidency in the Provo Missionary Training Center. During this past year, we have been privileged to hear General Authorities speak to the missionaries each week and have had many touching and uplifting experiences. The purpose of this blog is to capture, preserve, and share our uplifting experiences, for, indeed, Sweet is the Work.
Provo MTC
At the flags by 19M
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Frozen Over and Snow
On a cold, snowy Tuesday evening in December, the scheduled speaker for the Provo MTC Devotional was unable to travel from Salt Lake City to Provo because of the
extremely hazardous driving conditions. Remarkably, the MTC Presidency managed
to find a stand-in at the last minute! It was Bruce C. Hafen, an emeritus
General Authority. How they managed to find him and how he managed to be
prepared to speak on such short notice seemed like a miracle to me.
The feeling
of the presence of the Spirit came into the auditorium as he spoke. It was palpable.
During his
talk, Elder Hafen recounted his own missionary experience as a senior companion
in the early 1960s in West Germany with a new junior companion who had just
arrived from the MTC. That first day in the mission field, this junior
companion, whom I will call “Elder Green,” went on “splits” with another junior
companion, while their respective senior companions were in a day-long meeting
with the Mission President. Elder Hafen and the other senior companion had thought
that the two inexperienced missionaries would be “safe” tracting in a huge
complex of apartment buildings.
At the end
of his day tracting, Elder Green ecstatically reported to Elder Hafen that he
had found a woman who would become a member of the church. “We have to go back
and find her!” he said. Elder Hafen had been on his mission for at least a year
by that time, and had become somewhat cynical—“frozen over” was how he
described it. Nevertheless, he decided to humor his starry-eyed junior
companion. Alas, because of his
inexperience, Elder Green had neglected to note the woman’s name and address.
All he was sure of was that she lived on the fifth floor.
So, the next
day, Elder Hafen and Elder Green spent hours climbing to the 5th
floor of countless nondescript apartment
buildings that all looked the same to try to find her again. As the day wore
on, Elder Hafen was convinced that the search was futile. But Elder Green would
not give up even though Elder Hafen was obviously skeptical and reluctant to
continue. After several difficult hours, they finally located the woman.
Elder
Green’s confidence in the spiritual assurance he’d received concerning this
woman turned out to be entirely justified. She and her family joined the church. The
woman’s husband later became a sealer in the Frankfurt Germany Temple.
Elder
Hafen’s message to the missionaries was this: serving a mission is going to be
hard; try to not let yourself become cynical or “frozen over,” try to remain
hopeful, “be realistic but stay open to promptings from heaven.”
In the most recent issue
of the Church News (March 1, 2014), there was an article about the biography of
Neal A. Maxwell, which was written by Bruce C. Hafen. To read this article, go
to:
As he wrote the book (at
Elder Maxwell’s request), Elder Hafen reflected on the question, “Why do we
read and write biographies?” His answer was, “When we tell our own stories to each other, we realize that the cosmic
quest to overcome evil and find God is a very personal quest for each of us,”
he said.
In telling
his own personal missionary story at the MTC, Elder Hafen was sharing that
sacred moment during which he recognized that the Spirit really had directed
his junior companion. In that moment of recognition, he experienced a change of
heart, and was rescued from his “frozen over” condition. ~PLH
My Husband's Take:
The Length and Breadth
I, too, thoroughly enjoy the
stories told by the Brethren about their missions when they were young men. It
is wonderful to me that they frequently speak of their foibles, as did Elder
Hafen and his “frozen over” moment as a senior companion in West Germany that
was mentioned above by my wife. Last Tuesday’s devotional featured Elder Steven
E. Snow of the Seventy. He recounted how difficult his mission had been in the
late 1960s in northern Germany. He and his companions spurred themselves on,
however, with little quips like: “Let’s keep tracting Elder; for every door we
knock on, someone gets baptized in Mexico!”
Elder Snow went on to talk
about other missionaries who had seemingly not performed well as young Elders.
He referred to President Joseph Fielding Smith’s mission in Great Britain,
where the future prophet, seer, and revelator handed out 10,000 pamphlets and
visited in over 4000 homes, yet no one received the Gospel at his hands while
he was there. He performed no baptisms, and the whole time that he served in
England, he helped confirm only one person into The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints. Yet the experience proved to be no detriment to his
character or to his later service in the Kingdom of God.
This past Sunday, as part of
Mission Conference, President Nally spoke in a similar vein, and then went on
to relate the experience of President James E. Faust during the early 1940s as
a new missionary in Brazil. The whole time that he served there with his
companions, only three people were baptized and none of them were at his hands.
During his first day on the streets of the city where he and his companion,
William Grant Bangeter, were working, Elder Bangeter told him that the next
door would be his. He knew little Portuguese but made a valiant attempt to
communicate with the woman who answered the door. They did not teach her; they
did not baptize her. Thirty years later, however, while President Faust was
visiting Brazil, this same woman came up to him and wept into his hands in
gratitude for his service to her in preparing her and her family for the
fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
As I listened to President
Nally, I reflected upon my own mission to southern Mexico. I had been one of
those missionaries who baptized a person for every door that Elder Snow knocked
upon. I knew that I had served well, and that the Lord was pleased with my
labors. That was as certain as certainly itself. However, I did not know how
lasting any of my efforts had been. Were any of those families who received the
Gospel during my tenure there still active in the Church? Were their children
and grandchildren faithful members of the Kingdom of God on the earth? I did
not know. I have not returned to my former fields of labor to find out how
things have gone with these people that I loved. I suppose that I will not know
until I pass out of this life and proceed into the next. Will I have to seek
them out, or will they be waiting for me?
President Nally played an
audio clip of one of President Faust’s talks at one of the Mission Presidents’
Seminar held at the Provo MTC. President Faust began by stating, “You cannot
know the length and breadth of your labors as a minister of Christ”. I marveled
at that. How fruitful had my mission been? Was it fruitful because of the
things that I could outwardly point to in the records that I kept? Were there
other things heretofore unmentioned and unrecorded by human hands that had
contributed to the building up of the Kingdom of God in that part of the Lord’s
vineyard as I labored throughout southern Mexico? I rather hope that there are.
~PNH | {
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Rafiki’s Return
11th Oct, 2017
Written by Heather Cowie, Public Relations Officer, Animal Anti-Cruelty League Johannesburg, and Sara Price
Professional photography by Estelle Potgieter
When a sturdy little Jack Russell male of around seven years old came in as a stray on the 28th of August 2017 he was, of course, scanned for a microchip. When it was ascertained that the little dog was indeed microchipped, kennel assistant Lilanie Hart immediately logged on to Identipet’s website and punched in the microchip number; details of a Mrs Price from Greenside, Johannesburg, popped up on the screen.
Missing for two years
This was puzzling because this Jack Russell had been found in Reading, Alberton – over 30km away. Unable to get hold of Ms Price, Lilani called the alternative number listed and spoke to a gentleman by the name of Josh.
At first, Josh seemed surprised when asked if he owned a male Jack Russell but, after hearing the details, he thought that this sounded like his girlfriend’s dog, Rafiki, which had been missing for two years.
Ten minutes later, a very emotional Sara Price contacted Lilanie. She was amazed that he’d been found and wanted to know how he was – and when she could fetch him.
A happy reunion
That very same afternoon, they arrived to fetch their beloved pooch. At first, the little white-and-tan dog didn’t seem to know what was happening – it had, after all, been two long years. But as soon as Sara went down on her knees and spoke to him, realisation seemed to set in and little Rafiki immediately lay on his back waiting for a tummy rub.
Miriam Bezuidenhout, Kennel Supervisor at Animal Anti-Cruelty League Johannesburg, said she’ll never forget the look on Rafiki’s face upon recognising his owners. We all had tears running down our cheeks and are so happy that he’ll be able to spend the rest of his life with his beloved family.
It was a joyful reunion for Rafiki the Jack Russell and his family. Had the Price family not been responsible pet owners by having their pet microchipped as a pup, this happy tale could have turned out very differently.
Why microchipping is important – and why you shouldn’t just keep a stray
Scanning all animals that are admitted to our intake or hospital as strays/unwanted pets forms part of our routine check before moving them to kennels. (It’s also at this time that we check their health status and approximate their age.)
Our Chairman, Mr A. Guia, posted this on Facebook after people wanted to know why it had taken so long for Rafiki to be reunited with his owners: “Many people, and maybe in this instance, find an animal who has strayed, and just keep it. They do not take the animal to be scanned by a vet or at a shelter. The animal then makes a break and, again, becomes a stray and this time a kind good pet owner brings him to us and we do the rest.
“It’s very sad that people do not realise that strays in most cases belong to someone and that by keeping the animal they are in fact committing a crime. The man in the street does not know that in South Africa pets are considered property, so if you find and keep them you could be charged with theft, by the rightful owners.”
Aside from that, of course, is the fact that you could be depriving an animal of life with his family – imagine how much they must miss their people and how much their people may be missing them.
Sara Price, Rafiki’s owner, shares…
The 23rd of August 2015 was a very sad day for us all: our precious dog, Rafiki, vanished from our home without a trace. We desperately searched for him, including Facebook posts, phone calls and posters everywhere. Unfortunately, we were unsuccessful.
Months went by and still there was no sign of him. No sign of where he could have gone to or why he would have left. We were utterly broken-hearted yet still desperate to find him. We longed for closure: was he alive and could we remain hopeful for his safe return? We never gave up hoping…
Almost exactly two years later, on the 28th of August 2017, we received a surprising call: Animal Anti-Cruelty League had received a stray Jack Russell that had been roaming the streets of Alberton; the microchip was registered to us and they were certain it was Rafiki.
Could it really be? We immediately rushed there with eager hearts and were absolutely elated to find it was our precious Rafiki, safe and healthy.
We were warned that he might not remember us, or the life he’d left behind. But, amazingly, our boy remembered us and was enthusiastic to see us! And he did remember our home too. We are so grateful to have our dog back alive and safe.
Without the Animal Anti Cruelty League this wouldn’t have been possible. But, most of all, we are eternally grateful for Identipet. Without him being chipped, we would never have been able to receive the wonderful phone call we did on that day. | {
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Break The Rules And Patterns
There are all kinds of Patterns we could recognize in games, some of which are written here (SaveGamePatterns, CategoryHolisticDesignPattern?). Boss fights are a pattern. Attack combos are a pattern.
It is very rare for a game that consists only of patterns and rules from other games to be a hit. (Although it does happen, as you'll see a me-too clone like Warcraft sell just as well as Dune 2.)
A game must have something that sets it apart.
So what's the point of writing down rules and patterns? It's a good idea for software engineering, where someone who comes up with a clever new way of doing the same old thing deserves to get bashed over the head with a stick, but it may not be what you want for anything creative. But I'll argue that formalism is still useful:
First: you can't break the rules until you know what they are. If Ron Gilbert hadn't recognized that punishment was a pattern in adventure games of old, it may not have occurred to him to violate that pattern. (Actually an AntiPattern)
Second: if you want to ship a game on time, you cannot afford to innovate in very many areas. The innovation in your game should probably be its focus, and everything else should fall back on tried-and-true.
Or, from Better_By_Design?, June 2003: "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines." - Ralph Waldo Emerson | {
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As a minority, you tend to look everywhere to see yourself represented. Whether it be in movies, books, TV shows, music, or life, there’s something comforting in knowing that you can see parts of yourself in others. It does get discouraging though, when all the people you look at are dying or unhappy. This is the struggle that queer girls and women face every time that we try to find a character that we can see ourselves in. Finding LGBTQ+ characters in today’s media is hard enough–in their most recent report on TV, GLAAD has reported that LGBTQ+ characters make up only 4.8% of the characters on broadcast TV–but finding ones that stay alive is becoming close to impossible.
Killing queer women has become so common that it has its own trope: Bury Your Gays. The trope Bury Your Gays goes back centuries, and is unfortunately still in full use today. TV Tropes (tvtropes.org) describes the trope as one where “gay characters just aren’t allowed happy endings.” While it makes sense that in older works this might have been more prevalent–especially with lesbian pulp fiction where one author was told that the gay characters were not allowed happy endings–it seems like there is no need for it in 2016. Yet, turn on a TV and you will see lesbians dying left and right. When we look at our favorite queer women characters, they’re either getting shot by a stray bullet (Lexa, The 100), getting killed by guards (Poussey Washington, Orange is the New Black) or dying in car explosions (Nora and Mary Louise, The Vampire Diaries). And these deaths are just within the last year. It’s obvious that some queer characters will die, but the rate at which writers have been killing them off compared to straight characters is appalling. From the 1970s until now, there have been 162 deaths of queer female characters on TV, out of around 380 queer female characters altogether. That’s approximately 42%.
Many say that these characters were killed off for so-calledshock value, but the thing is, it’s not so shocking anymore. It’s normal. It’s common practice. A shocking thing would be to have a queer female character be alive, happy, and in a healthy relationship, but that doesn’t seem to be happening in TV at all. According to an article in Autostraddle, which studied queer women in fiction, 35% of shows have dead lesbian/bi female characters, and 84% of shows don’t give lesbian/bi female characters happy endings. We constantly see ourselves dying, being written off, or being heartbroken. While TV networks might pat themselves on the back for being progressive enough to include queer characters, all that progressiveness goes out the window when the writers and showrunners decide that they’ve had enough. It’s not progressive to show a lesbian character, hype her, bring in a huge LGBTQ+ audience, and then simply kill her off. It’s not progressive when we are only included to be killed. Some might say that at least we’re getting representation, but this representation does not befit us. It is time wewere given hope.
When first accepting that they are queer, a lot of queer youth will look to anything to see themselves represented, and it’s disheartening to know that queer youth will see their representations die. We see too much of white, cisgender, and straight characters on TV, when what we need to see are characters of color, transgender and nonbinary characters, and queer characters. It just might help those struggling to come to terms with their sexuality. As Larry Wilmore said on the Nightly Show after the Orlando shooting, “unlike other minority groups in America, LGBT people aren’t born into a home or a family that shares their minority experience.” A majority of LGBTQ+ people can’t simply turn to their family for support, so they turn to fictional characters, but it’s a real kick in the face when we see all of these characters become neglected.
The message that TV show runners are giving queer women who are desperate to see themselves represented is that we can be gay in the sense of being queer but we cannot be gay in the sense of being happy.
Diana Holiner is 20 years old and is part of the Dynamy Internship Year program. She is originally from Dover, Massachusetts and is now living in Worcester. She interns at Worcester Magazine and the Worcester Journal. In her free time she enjoys reading, writing, singing, and eating ice cream. | {
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Plan to halve infant diarrhoea prevalence
Kenya has set its sights on halving the prevalence of infant diarrhoeal disease - which kills dozens of children daily - within five years, using new treatments and by boosting preventive measures.
Every Kenyan child under five has an average of three episodes of diarrhoea annually, according to the 2008 Demographic and Health Survey.
“With 86 children dying every day, diarrhoea is the third leading cause of death among under-fives in Kenya. It is unacceptable, but we can stop this!” said Beth Mugo, Minister for Public Health and Sanitation, at the 31 March launch in Nairobi of national policy guidelines.
The new guidelines, she said, complemented the government’s Child Survival and Development Strategy with a package of interventions based on using a new type of oral rehydration salts (ORS) containing lower concentrations of glucose and salt; zinc supplements to reduce the frequency of episodes; selective use of antibiotics; and encouraging prevention through breastfeeding.
“With exclusive breast feeding, vitamin A supplementation, strengthened routine childhood immunization, proper hygiene and access to improved water supplies, we can curb the number of deaths,”said David Okello, country representative of the World Health Organization (WHO).
“We are also looking forward to solutions such as PATH’s rotavirus vaccines. With 730,000 doses distributed this year, we could really make a difference for all the children of Kenya,” said Annah Wamae, head of the Department of Child Health at the ministry.
According to the WHO, vaccination is the only preventive method for diarrhoeal disease cases caused by rotavirus, the most severe form of diarrhoea. In Kenya rotavirus causes 7,500 deaths each year.
At the launch, Sanjiv Kumar, the UN Children’s Fund Kenya (UNICEF) chief of health, announced a financial support package worth US$850,000 by the end of 2010. Aimed at control and management of diarrhoeal disease in Kenya, Kumar added that the focus of the funding was to scale up oral rehydration therapy to cover the whole country; train health staff in new enhanced diarrhoeal guidelines; and to support communication to promote appropriate household behaviours.
Calling for more resources from partners to implement child health programmes, Mugo said resources allocation would be increased to include training of health personnel on control and management of diarrhoeal diseases, strengthening of health systems and programmes aimed at empowering communities to control diarrhoeal diseases.
“The rate of exposure to diarrhoea and waterborne diseases in this country is extremely high because of the high fluoride content in groundwater and the poor wastewater treatment,” James Gesami, Assistant Minister for Public Health and Sanitation, told IRIN.
“In 2010, no single town in Kenya has a sustainable water supply,” he added. “We can’t do much about quantity, but when it comes to quality, the Ministry of Health is working together with USAID and other partners to set up a strategy that will include the protection of springs ready by 2015.”
Training parents
The new guidelines include training parents in home-based care to under-fives to help them recognize the symptoms of dehydration.
This follows the health ministry’s recognition that about 30 percent of children with diarrhoeal diseases are not getting any oral rehydration salts or fluids. Home therapy will include information about recommended fluid intake to prevent dehydration at the onset of diarrhoea as well as feeding, including breastfeeding, during and after diarrhoea.
“Together with our partners, we can save thousands of lives. A coordinated approach involving already proven prevention and treatment methods is the way to do it,” said Olivia Yambi from UNICEF.
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Adhiambo*, 24, conscientiously followed her health worker's advice when she was pregnant with her third child. She attended antenatal visits, was tested for HIV and found negative, and delivered her baby at the local health centre. | {
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Next generation gadgets for kids: foam furniture, city turds
This simple, lightweight chair is made by slotting together flat sections of plywood. These are then pulled together by fastening elements for a more ergonomic, curved shape.
Constructed from recycled cardboard that’s been processed into a pulp, then coloured with natural dyes, these seats are sculpted around a North American hardwood handle. Designer Michael Neville designed his Yin and Yang rockers to be almost entirely biodegradable
But now the sounds inside had ceased, and a thin circle of bright metal showed between the top and the body of the cylinder. Air was either entering or escaping at the rim with a thin, sizzling sound. They listened, rapped on the scaly burnt metal with a stick, and, meeting with no response, they both concluded the man or men inside must be insensible or dead. Of course the two were quite unable to do anything.
Henderson went into the railway station at once, in order to telegraph the news to London. The newspaper articles had prepared men’s minds for the reception of the idea. I found a little crowd of perhaps twenty people surrounding the huge hole in which the cylinder lay.
Gregg the butcher and his little boy
I think they perceived that nothing was to be done for the present, and had gone away to breakfast at Henderson’s house. There were four or five boys sitting on the edge of the Pit, with their feet dangling, and amusing themselves–until I stopped them–by throwing stones at the giant mass. After I had spoken to them about it, they began playing at “touch” in and out of the group of bystanders. Among these were a couple of cyclists, a jobbing gardener I employed sometimes, a girl carrying a baby, Gregg the butcher and his little boy, and two or three loafers and golf caddies who were accustomed to hang about the railway station. There was very little talking. Few of the common people in England had anything but the vaguest astronomical ideas in those days. Most of them were staring quietly at the big table like end of the cylinder, which was still as Ogilvy and Henderson had left it.
I fancy the popular expectation of a heap of charred corpses was disappointed at this inanimate bulk. Some went away while I was there, and other people came. I clambered into the pit and fancied I heard a faint movement under my feet.
Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can’t help them, at least don’t hurt them.DALAI LAMA
It was only when I got thus close to it that the strangeness of this object was at all evident to me. At the first glance it was really no more exciting than an overturned carriage or a tree blown across the road. Not so much so, indeed. It looked like a rusty gas float. It required a certain amount of scientific education to perceive that the grey scale of the Thing was no common oxide, that the yellowish-white metal that gleamed in the crack between the lid and the cylinder had an unfamiliar hue.
The Standard IT is a publication of The HAP Group, a Miami based US Corporation and a leader in the Spanish speaking world in the development of effective innovative marketing initiatives for all verticals of the economy. The HAP Group maintain a database of more than 120,000 CIOs and Executives from companies all sizes and with all number of employees. Inside this group, the nucleus is called The Digital Leaders, an organic community nurtured through direct contact for the distribution of news and information, by events, executing surveys and product testing, and recognizing the best implementation of products, solutions and practices trough awards programs. The Digital Leaders group has positioned us as the most effective generator and provider of qualified leads, BANTs, Content syndication, multiple touch campaigns, and more for all interested companies doing business in Latin America. In addition, our group use our own websites and digital special publications to distribute content and support our campaigns with CIO Latin America, (www.cioal.com), Digital Too (www.digitaltoo.com), and Factory PYME (addressing the growing Small and Medium size enterprises), all under the hub of The Standard IT, our own umbrella. Para contactar a The HAP Group llámenos a las oficinas centrales en Miami (+1 305.961.1132) o escribanos a [email protected]. | {
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The Guardian: Bible Is the Cause of Christian ‘Homophobia’
RADEK MICA/AFP/Getty23 Mar 2016
Writing for The Guardian, self-identified “Christian dissident” Keith Mascord claims that “homophobic opposition to same-sex marriage” has its roots in adherence to the Bible, and only by leaving the biblical text aside will Christians learn to support “marriage equality.”
Mascord takes for granted that Christians must be wrong for opposing same-sex marriage and that, therefore, the Bible is wrong as well. He ridicules believers, suggesting that acceptance of the moral instruction found in Sacred Scripture is akin to belief that the earth is at the center of the solar system.
“We need to acknowledge that the Bible, for all of its beauty, wisdom and on-going relevance, is an ancient text, pregnant with ancient assumptions and beliefs, many of which we no longer reasonably hold,” he writes.
The Guardian’s essay is reminiscent of a 2015 op-ed in the New York Times, where food critic and gay activist Frank Bruni argued that Christians should be coerced into embracing the gay lifestyle.
Like Mascord, Bruni wrote that Christians who hold on to “ossified,” biblically based beliefs regarding sexual morality have no place in modern society and should be reeducated, forcibly if necessary.
Referring to Christians as “bigots,” Bruni wrote that religion “is going to be the final holdout and most stubborn refuge for homophobia. It will give license to discrimination” and therefore it must be stamped out.
Similarly, Mascord has written that “historic and Bible-based understandings of homosexuality have clearly contributed to homophobia, along with the terrible and inexcusable mistreatment of LGBTI people which continues to this day,” and thus “the time has come for this prejudice to be shed.”
Christians should “feel free to re-think the assumptions and beliefs which underlie Biblical discomfort with same sex activity,” he asserts.
The problem, of course, is that many Christians believe the Bible to be God’s Word, with crucial teaching for understanding who the human person is, and what sort of behavior is worthy of his unique dignity.
Christians, moreover, do not see disapproval of gay sex to be a symptom of an irrational “homophobia,” but rather a reasonable and cogent moral evaluation of human behavior shared by the vast majority of humanity throughout history.
Calling Christians “bigots” or attempting to shame them into abandoning their ethical standards is a vile and unworthy practice, even when carried out under the guise of tolerance and “enlightened” thought. | {
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1. Combine the water, sugar and orange zest in a 2-litre saucepan. Place over moderate heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to very low and cover with a tight-fitting lid.
2. Melt the butter or ghee in a 2- or 3-litre non-stick saucepan and over fairly low heat, stirring occasionally. Add the semolina. Slowly and rhythmically stir-fry the grains until they darken to a tan colour and become aromatic (about 20 minutes). Add the walnut pieces about halfway through the roasting. Stirring more carefully, raise the heat under the grains.
3. Raise the heat under the sugar water and bring the syrup to a rolling boil.
4. Remove the saucepan of semolina and butter from the heat, slowly pouring the hot syrup into the semolina, stirring steadily. The grains may at first splutter, but will quickly cease as the liquid is absorbed.
5. Return the pan to the stove and stir steadily over low heat until the grains fully absorb the liquid, start to form into a pudding-like consistency, and pull away from the sides of the pan. Place a tight-fitting lid on the saucepan and cook over the lowest possible heat for 2 more minutes. Turn off the heat, fold in the dates and banana, and allow the halava to steam, covered, for an additional 5 minutes. Serve hot in dessert bowls as it is, or with the toppings suggested above. | {
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Cart For A Cause
Sometimes, we can do little things that make a difference. Sometime we have to do big things to make a difference. And sometimes all we have to do to make a difference is say ‘yes’ to a elite chef cooked food truck meal in Beverly Hills. Please, say yes and join Cart For A Cause, benefiting St. Vincent Meal on Wheels. See profile here. | {
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Thanks very much for the reply :-) It sounded like something like that due to the "spinny" nature of the noise (sorry I know the description is terrible but its hard to describe), however I've had a flywheel go on a Saab 9-5 previously and it only made the noise when the clutch was engaged - the S Max noise is when the clutch is out at 2000 rpm, hence me thinking it probably wasnt that...
Hi there, First post here as I'm looking to buy a 2006 1.8 TDCI Titanium S Max, I went to see the car tonight and was all set to buy it when I heard a strange noise at about 2000 rpm. Its hard to describe the noise but it was almost a spinning scrapey type noise, heard at about 2000 rpm in 2nd/3rd gear when driving but also when idling the car - always at about 2000 rpm, heard both when revving up and down. It seemed to be coming from the front left of the car but when opening the bonnet and revving to 2000 rpm I could hear it within the engine bay somewhere. It didnt affect the performance of the car, the owner said he'd heard it for a while but it was intermittent and never affected the performance, he took it to his garage but they couldnt reproduce it. Driving the car was fine, both when hearing the noise and past 2000 rpm (it didnt affect acceleration etc). It may well be something minor (engine mount?) but my fear is that I buy the car and it turns out to be something major :-( My first thought was that something was loose and being vibrated when the engine reverberated at 2000 rpm (hence hearing it in gear and idling at 2000 rpm) but I'm nervous about buying without having a clue what it is. Does anyone have any ideas please? Its urgent as he apparently has another buyer lined up so any ideas would be massively appreciated. Many thanks in advance! | {
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Commentary By
Cal Thomas is a syndicated columnist, author, broadcaster, and speaker with access to world leaders, U.S. presidents, celebrities, educators, and countless other notables. He has authored 12 books, including his latest, “What Works: Common Sense Solutions for a Stronger America.” Readers can email him at [email protected]
Here’s a sentence I never thought I would write: Dianne Feinstein was right.
A small group of middle and high school children from the San Francisco Bay Area visited the Democratic senator from California last week to demand she support the “Green New Deal,” a collection of environmental policies even some Democrats find too extreme, too costly, and too fantastical.
What followed was the kind of lecture that is almost absent in a modern culture that overemphasizes youth.
One of the students, an unidentified 16-year-old, was quoted by The Washington Post: “ … we have come to a point where our Earth is dying, and it is literally a pricey and ambitious plan that is needed to deal with the magnitude of that issue, so we’re asking you to vote ‘yes’ on the resolution for the Green New Deal because … ”
Feinstein interrupted: “That resolution will not pass the Senate, and you can take that back to whoever sent you here.” She added, “I know what can pass, and I know what can’t pass.”
Behind the student group is an organization known as the Sunrise Movement, which describes itself as “a movement to stop climate change and create millions of new jobs in the process.” There is more gobbledygook about an army of young people who are scared about the “climate crisis” and the familiar condemnation of fossil fuels, corporate executives, and “their influence on our politics.”
In other words, they are environmental extremists.
Sunrise criticized Feinstein for being callous toward the young people. In fact, this grown-up gave them a reality lesson.
Another child, and that’s what they are in law and biology, one Alexandria Villasenor, a 13-year-old seventh-grader, has spent the last nine Fridays sitting on a bench outside the United Nations in New York demanding action on climate change.
On March 15 (beware the Ides of March), she will be part of a “school strikes for climate” demonstration. The Post reports the worldwide demonstrations will be supported by some of the world’s biggest environmental groups.
How does a 13-year-old, and other teens, acquire such knowledge? Most likely they are simply parroting what their teachers have been telling them. Climate change is simply the latest fad, like tattoos and body piercing once were.
When I was their age, skipping school meant a call to my parents from the principal’s office with quick punishment to follow.
The problem in too many of our public schools, universities, and much of culture is that we have handed over control to people who don’t know what they are talking about.
Adults—at least ones thought to have acquired wisdom, which is different from knowledge—were once tasked with leading the young. Now, in too many instances, we seem to be following them. What happened?
This is a case of the climate-change chickens coming home to roost. Which political party has promoted end-of-the-world scare tactics for decades? Not Republicans. But, like Nostradamus and other apocalyptic prognosticators, when the world doesn’t end on the date predicted, the sky-is-falling crowd simply moves on to the next prediction.
Feinstein said to the children, some of whom spouted familiar slogans, as if they were programmed: “You know what’s interesting about this group is I’ve been doing this for 30 years. I know what I’m doing. … You come in here and say, ‘It has to be my way or the highway.’ I don’t respond to that.”
That’s called acting like an adult.
In today’s culture, older adults are thought to lack knowledge, because they didn’t grow up with the internet. A little humility and more study might benefit these kids, as would different teachers, textbooks, or even a change in schools.
(c) 2019 Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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Short-Term
Short-term car parking is available near to all three terminals and passengers should try and park in the facility located nearest to their departure terminal. Car parks P1 and P2 are situated in front of Terminal 1 and are for passengers using that terminal. Car park P3 and the smaller car park P4 serve Terminal 2, while car park P5 serves and is next to the International Terminal.
Long-Term
Car parks P1 and P2 are situated in front of Terminal 1 and cater for passengers using that terminal; long-term spaces are available at this facility. Likewise car park P3 and the smaller car park P4 also offer long-term spaces and serve Terminal 2. Car park P5 serves the International Terminal and has spaces suitable for those wishing to leave their vehicles for long periods.
Disabled
Disabled parking spaces are available in all of the airport's car parks; drivers need to be in possession of relevant disabled persons' identification to use these spaces.
Drivers requiring assistance from the car park to the terminal should contact their airline in advance. | {
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Team Anarchy - Round 24 - fanfic - Shadows Like Dreaming, Chapter 2
Title: Shadows Like Dreaming - Chapter 2Author:razothredfirePrompt: PossessionWord Count: 3,092Rating: NC-17 (eventually)Summary: "Death cannot stop true love. All it can do is delay it for awhile." -Westley, The Princess Bride
After an unfortunate turn of events, Bruce finds himself haunted.
Disclaimer: This work is based on characters and concepts created and owned by DC Comics, Warner Bros. and other entities and corporations. No money is being made and no copyright and/or trademark infringement is intended. Warnings: graphic violence, mature themes, character death, angst, slash, necrophilia (if you count ghosts in your definition)
Bruce’s mind struggled to break out of its frozen state. Whatever it seemed like, it couldn’t be true. Ghosts didn’t exist, pure and simple. Whatever happened after you died, you didn’t stick around. The only way you haunted those you left behind was through memories.
If ghosts existed, he would have never truly been without his parents. They wouldn’t have left him alone in the world if they could have been there, even as something faint and intangible.
The silence that greeted these thoughts seemed to confirm his theory, causing his tense muscles to unwind a little. It was just the stress of it all, the guilt, the clear parallels to old, pained memories where there should have been no comparison. Perhaps Joker’s death was his fault, in a way, but he couldn’t, shouldn’t let it bother him to the point where he put the criminal on the same level as his parents, much less manifest any guilty feelings he had as the dead man’s disembodied voice.
Bruce shook himself out of his contemplation, moving into the next stage of his exercise routine. The pull and burn of his muscles was incredibly grounding and soothing in its own way. It anchored him in the here and now, let him know when he was pushing himself hard enough. Meditation while training brought him clarity and a release from anxiety that he had never been able to achieve while sitting still. Eventually, no matter the state of his mind, his body became restless.
He was in the middle of his push-up sets when the buzzing returned, gradually solidifying into the hallucinatory voice again.
/Bruce./
He ignored it, concentrating on counting his reps, losing himself in the movement. He had nothing to say to a figment of his imagination. If it was some sort of manifestation of his burdened conscience, it had picked a very ironic avatar to convey its distress.
/Bruce./
He gritted his teeth, focusing instead on the discomfort in his arms as he got to his feet and moved to the pull-up bar. If he ignored it, with time it would go away.
/No. Here./
Bruce exhaled sharply, beginning the first set. You’re not here. You’re not real. I did the best I could for you, and there’s no reason to feel guilty. You’ll go away with time.
/No./
Bruce didn’t feel like arguing with his own mind. He already felt unbalanced enough on some days just considering everything he did in his daily life. He didn’t need one more thing to make him question himself and his purpose.
/Purpose?/
Quiet, he thought back before he could stop himself. It wouldn’t be good to get into the habit of arguing with himself, even if it was only temporary. The general public seemed to already think he belonged in Arkham with the rest of the deranged scum that he sequestered away from the rest of society, but he’d not end up worthy of that sentence if he could help it.
/Already there./
Dropping from the bar, Bruce moved into the center of the training room, centering himself before launching into a kata. The forms came without thinking after long practice and endless repetitions. I am not already there. I’m sane, I’m in control, I protect people. I protect the city when no one else will. He was the last defense for the helpless when nearly the entire system of law and order was corrupt and rotting from within.
/Giant bat./
The voice’s words dripped with humor, as if it was seeing things Bruce hadn’t already considered. I don’t need to justify everything to myself all over again. I made the right choice. He finished a series of kicks and then straightened up, moving back into the starting position at the center of the room to begin again. I certainly am not going to argue if all my conscience can come up with is trite two-word commentary.
Laughter filled Bruce’s mind at that thought, eerie in how closely it matched his memories of the way Joker had laughed; it was the sound of a man who danced along the edge of being a wild animal. /Energy. Tiring,/ it said, offering the words as an explanation. /Not conscience./
There’s nothing else you can be. I’m just tormenting myself. As usual, he admitted. He knew he shouldered an unhealthy amount of responsibility, even for things that weren’t strictly his fault. It was a personality flaw – one that caused a fair amount of distress on a regular basis, but was also a great source of strength and compassion.
/Not yourself./
Bruce snorted and stilled his mind, not wanting to engage the rebellious piece of his consciousness any further. He sunk his focus into the training routine, ignoring the words that echoed in his mind every now and again. If he concentrated entirely on his movements, his breathing, and the sound of his own heartbeat, he couldn’t even make out what was being said. Eventually it went quiet, leaving him to finish the workout in peace.
The short reprieve didn’t last long. As soon as he’d finished cooling down, the voice returned, giving unsolicited input as he made his way towards the lair’s shower. Between the voice and the location, Bruce was trying desperately not to think back to what he’d used the tiled stall for only a few days earlier.
/Stop ignoring me./
Stop bothering me, he shot back, stripping off his sweat-soaked clothing and fiddling with the shower until he had the temperature he wanted. Having gone without for a number of years while he trained in Asia, Bruce had never stopped appreciating the simple pleasure of having a warm shower at the turn of a faucet.
There were some things you never truly appreciated until you lost them.
Silence filled his head again as he scrubbed himself down, but the sense of being watched by an invisible presence was back again, stronger than it had been before. For someone like him, intensely private at the core, it was more than a little unnerving, even if it was a false impression.
/So many scars./ The comment was so quiet that Bruce almost missed it under the hiss of the water streaming out of the showerhead. He ran one hand through slicked hair, glancing around him even though he knew he was alone.
Of course there are scars. Even taking care of himself as best he could, he couldn’t be Batman and escape entirely unscathed. Scars were the least of the dangers and the least of his worries. It wasn’t like anyone was ever going to be in the position to see them and pass some sort of aesthetic judgment.
/Not true./ The voice sounded oddly smug – pleased, even. That left Bruce more disconcerted than it should have. /I see mine./
Yes, Bruce ventured cautiously, aware that he shouldn’t be engaging a figment of his imagination like this. As if it was real. Or perhaps that was what was needed? Closure, a different method of coping? He would have to do a bit of research on the matter when he had a spare moment. You caused a lot of them. Probably more than anyone else. Joker had been a great deal cleverer than the other criminals he regularly dealt with, even the mafia types. He’d manipulated situations until he could get up close and personal more times than Bruce could count, and after one of those sorts of encounters a mark was usually left behind. Alfred had nearly gotten to the point of insisting Bruce don the old, heavier, less flexible batsuit when he had to keep patching knife holes left in flesh and armor alike.
/Of course./ The voice’s tone made it sound like the reason for that should have been perfectly obvious. /I know you./
Because you are me. Joker is dead. Some part of me is doing this for one reason or another, and so you know me. But you can’t tell me anything I don’t already know.
/Not true./
You’d have to prove it before I’d believe that. Bruce leaned against the tiled wall and relaxed under the warm water for a moment. Whatever the hallucination tried to tell him, he was confident he could reason his way through it.
/I will./ Silence filled Bruce’s mind as he finished rinsing off and turned the faucet off, stepping out to dry himself. /Ask./
Ask what? Bruce didn’t pause, stripping the excess moisture off his skin and wrapping the towel around his waist when he was done. Ask you questions that only you would have known?
/Yes. But short./
Why can’t you respond in full sentences? He asked, a little exasperated with the stilted nature of this… conversation, or whatever it happened to be.
/Not enough energy./
Bruce thought it was more likely that his mind was just trying to be purposefully cryptic. Not enough energy. You’re saying talking like this at all is a chore?
/Yes. Difficult./
It was a good excuse. Bruce wondered how many hoops this part of his mind would jump through to try to make itself believable. So where are you getting the energy from?
/You,/ it admitted. /And environment./ It was silent as Bruce pulled on one of the spare sets of clothes he kept down in the lair, simply watching the lines of the man’s body disappear under layers of cloth. /Makes things cold./
That mimicked the usual urban legends spread about ghosts, of course. Haunted locations purportedly had “cold spots” and electromagnetic fluctuations that couldn’t be explained, yet defied every professional attempt to record a conclusive set of data. Bruce pondered this as he moved towards the master computer, taking a seat and turning on all the displays. The monitors flickered to life, some of them already set to show the major local news stations. If you can do that, you should be able to do it in a designated spot. He extended his left arm out to one side, palm turned upward. Prove it. Make it cold there.
The chatter from the screens filled the air around Bruce as absolutely nothing happened. No, that wasn’t quite true – the fingers of his left hand were beginning to feel cold and slightly numb, the nerve endings tingling… but he was underground, and had just stepped out of the shower. Getting cold was hardly anything out of the ordinary. Well, that was underwhelming.
/New to this,/ came the resentful, muttered reply. The computer monitors flickered for a moment, something interfering with the electron flow. /Just a couple days./
Bruce ignored the response, bringing his hands together over the keyboard and logging himself in to the surveillance systems. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but he liked being able to check on things throughout the day. Gordon often didn’t call and fill him in on a situation until it had been well out-of-hand for awhile.
Minutes slipped away as he hacked into the police systems and checked the recently filed reports. Irritatingly, his computer seemed to have a connection problem – the screens would flicker with static every once in awhile, accompanied with a slower clocking time for whatever program he was working with. A chill was slowly spreading over him as well, spreading across his shoulders and neck and down his chest.
/How is that?/ the voice murmured, much more audible than it had previously been. The monitors in front of him filled with static again for a moment. /Could go lower./
Stop that, Bruce hissed back mentally, fingers drifting up to pinch the bridge of his nose as he fought back an irrational wave of irritation. He was not being haunted by a dead clown, and there had to be a perfectly reasonable explanation for why his equipment was malfunctioning.
/Let me check./
Bruce jolted upright and out of his chair, backing away for a few steps. He couldn’t recall the lair ever being this drafty and cold, much less having the chill seep through to very… specific… locations. Cackling filled his head as he extended a hand, trying to figure out where the drafts were coming from. /Wrong guess./
Or what, indeed. What on earth could one do to a figment of one’s imagination? Bruce stubbornly refused to consider any other option, cold or no. He wasn’t even going to consider ghosts as a possibility, much less ponder Joker doing… that to him. Well, what do you want?
The voice laughed, pleased with the question. /You, Bruce. Always./
That made absolutely no sense. You are me. The words reminded him of other memories, however – the odd obsession Joker had always had for him when he’d been alive, the things he’d said to him during their many encounters. Bruce had not paid it much mind at the time, too concerned with getting the madman off the streets and keeping him from hurting anyone else.
/Yes,/ it whispered back, seeming to follow his train of thought. /Wanted you./
Bruce considered this, watching the computer screens flicker and hiss just a few feet away. …why? He could understand someone that unbalanced feeling a sort of… professional or philosophical rivalry, but the voice’s tone was making it apparent that it… he… had had a different set of intentions.
/Can’t… talk well,/ the voice grated out, sounding more than a little angry about the fact. /Too many reasons./
Bruce sighed. He should have known better, really. His subconscious couldn’t come up with any answers he didn’t already know. Well, tell me sometime, if you can. A glance at his watch told him that he should eat dinner while he could; it would be time for patrol soon enough.
/I will./ The chill of the lair followed Bruce up the elevator to the ground floor of the manor, stubbornly clinging to his skin. Bruce rubbed his arms briskly and made his way towards the kitchen, hoping to find Alfred or, at least, some of Alfred’s handiwork. His oldest friend would have seemed psychic at times if it weren’t for the fact that Bruce’s schedule tended to be fairly predictable.
True to form, Alfred wasn’t present, but a set of covered dishes hinted that his absence was a recent occurrence. A quick bit of investigating revealed a lean cut of meat and steamed vegetables under the ceramic covers, still warm. Bruce grabbed a plate and sat down at the kitchen table, planning out his night as he dug in. The food seemed to help him get rid of the cold feeling still lingering at his core.
/Patrol every night?/
Yes. It was irrational to keep humoring this phenomenon like it was a different person, but it was less effort to engage it that way than to constantly remind himself that it was a guilty twinge that would soon leave.
/Not worn out?/
Yeah, it gets wearing. But nobody else can do it. It was the same argument he’d used with himself, again and again. The number of good cops is still few and far between, and they can’t do the things I can. Gotham can’t afford for me to take nights off.
/Gotta rest sometime./
Bruce shrugged. He was forced to take a break every once in awhile due to injury, but improvements to his gear had minimized the frequency of those occasions. Perhaps. But not now.
/When?/
When it’s enough. He knew very well that that day would never come, but that was an issue he’d always brushed aside, even when Alfred tried to broach the subject with him. It would never be enough. He’d given over the whole of his life to a cause, to an idea. It stretched out before him, eating up whatever time he’d be allotted in life, just as it had devoured others around him: Harvey, Rachel. His parents, with their kind hearts and open pockets.
He had decided to take the hard road so that fewer people had to, so that some might escape suffering. He’d given up a great many options when deciding to pursue the path of self-sacrifice. He’d stop temporarily when he was hurt, when extenuating circumstances didn’t permit him to do his work, but it would never end. He’d accepted the fact that old age was something he’d never get a chance to experience, and he’d had his Will drawn up accordingly.
/…you’re depressing, Bat./
You just noticed this now? Bruce thought, a ghost of a smile touching his lips as he turned his attention to the food in front of him. You really thought Batman would be all comedy and sunshine?
/No./ A few minutes passed, giving Bruce a chance to devour half the plate before it added, /just less broken./
I’m not broken. Bruce carried the dish to the counter, dumping the last few bites in the trash and leaving the plate in the sink. The fading light through the windows told him that it was time to get going. He drifted back towards the hidden elevator that would take him down to the lair again. Maybe you were, but that was one of the many things you were in the wrong about. We were nothing alike.
/You’re wrong./
You’ll never convince me of that, Bruce shot back. We were nothing alike. I try to preserve life. I value it. All you ever did was play with people like they were toys, crushing them to pieces when you were done. Bruce couldn’t quite bring himself to really believe Joker had deserved what he’d gotten – nobody really deserved a violent, messy end – but the man had been a monster when he’d been alive. He hadn’t deserved it, just as he’d finally accepted the fact that his parents’ murderer hadn’t deserved his sudden end, but on some level he was glad both of them were gone.
/…you mean that?/
Bruce hadn’t quite been expecting to hear Joker’s voice use that… tone. It was unusually quiet for the madman he’d known, low and laced with hurt. You killed, or nearly killed, many people I cared about. Still care about. You never would have stopped killing, if you were still alive. He opened the armor rack, stripping down and beginning to put on the batsuit. I’m glad you can’t hurt anyone anymore.
Bruce was left in silence as he finished gearing up. Everything was quiet and peaceful as he started up the Tumbler and headed out into the night.
A/N: Due to the turn-in extension, I got to submit another chapter for points! As a reminder, this story will be continued at batsandknives. | {
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Women's Health
Changes in a woman's body brought about by pregnancy, aging or illness often result in discomfort, loss of mobility, and lifestyle changes. The Institute for Athletic Medicine offers specialized physical therapy and exercise programs designed for women's unique health needs.
Our specialized programs will help improve quality of life throughout all stages of a woman's life, from back pain during pregnancy to uncontrolled urine loss. Our physical therapists work with you and your doctor to develop an exercise and treatment program tailored to your needs, including education materials for home use.
Exercise during pregnancyMany women want to continue their exercise programs during pregnancy, but aren't sure how to modify their activities or what activities to limit or avoid. Our physical therapists will work with you to tailor your exercise program to your needs and will discuss important exercise guidelines and precautions.
Back pain during pregnancyHormones, fluid retention and changing body alignment often contribute to back pain during pregnancy. To help minimize your discomfort, physical therapists will design a program for you emphasizing posture, body mechanics, muscle flexibility, strength and low-back or SI support when appropriate.
Incontinence/pelvic floor weaknessChildbirth, multiple deliveries, age, menopause or simply poor health can often leave pelvic floor muscles weak or nerve-damaged. A common result for many women is incontinence or involuntary urination. You don't have to live with incontinence, thanks to treatment programs designed to strengthen pelvic floor muscles. A range of options is available, including specialized exercise instruction, electrical stimulation and biofeedback for retraining affected muscles.
OsteoporosisSome women are at greater risk than others for developing osteoporosis, or thinning bones, as they age. As a result, they are at increased risk for poor posture, fractures and chronic pain. Physical therapists will work with you to design a regular, reasonable exercise program emphasizing posture, body mechanics, muscle strengthening and weight-bearing activities to minimize bone loss.
Saint Anthony
Discrimination is Against the Law. We comply with applicable Federal civil rights laws. We do not discriminate against, exclude or treat people differently because of race, color, national origin, age, disability or sex. | {
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Author: [email protected]
Brett & Lyn will be spending some time in SA. For this new season, how can you be involved? Three ways come to mind: Come and join us sometime soon: we are hoping to have two rēp trip coordinators, one at each end of the bridge. They will work with us so we can connect… | {
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"Yeti is a command-line tool for launching JavaScript unit tests in a browser and reporting the results without leaving your terminal. Yeti is designed to work with existing unmodified YUI-based tests.
Yeti is designed to help you run tests before you commit. It compliments existing CI tools like Selenium and Hudson which run tests post-commit. Yeti is not a replacement for those tools." | {
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]]>http://kgab.com/governor-mead-pushing-for-expanding-technology-sector/feed/0State Forester: This Was One of the Worst WildFire Seasons [AUDIO]http://kgab.com/state-forester-this-was-one-of-the-worst-wildfire-seasons-audio/
http://kgab.com/state-forester-this-was-one-of-the-worst-wildfire-seasons-audio/#commentsWed, 24 Oct 2012 18:05:05 +0000Cheyenne News Staffhttp://kgab.com/?p=183826Continue reading…]]>Governor Matt Mead gave the keynote address at the 1st Annual Wyoming Broadband Summit in Cheyenne Tuesday. Governor Mead told the crowd that he sees a bright future for technology in Wyoming. State Forester Bill Crapser says hot, dry weather and increased dry lightning strikes this year are to blame for one of Wyoming's most destructive wildfire seasons on record. Doug Randall has that story. Click past the jump to listen to Wyoming Radio News.
]]>http://kgab.com/state-forester-this-was-one-of-the-worst-wildfire-seasons-audio/feed/0Trevor T. Trujillo, Townsquare MediaFirst Annual Wyoming Broadband Summit in Cheyennehttp://kgab.com/first-annual-wyoming-broadband-summit-in-cheyenne/
http://kgab.com/first-annual-wyoming-broadband-summit-in-cheyenne/#commentsTue, 23 Oct 2012 23:28:25 +0000Cheyenne News Staffhttp://kgab.com/?p=182378Continue reading…]]>The First Annual Wyoming Broadband Summit was held in Cheyenne Tuesday. One of the goals of the summit was to bring together private telecommunications companies and Wyoming state officials seeking to extend high-speed Internet to the parts of the state that don't have broadband. Governor Matt Mead, during his keynote speech, said Wyoming's a pretty attractive place for somebody who wants to start a business here, but in order to do that, you have to have that connectivity. | {
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Welcome To ZigenQuip Equipment Company
Thank you for visiting our website.
If you see something that sparks your interest please contact us, as we may have more information than is listed. We also locate and consign equipment around the country. We specialize in the HDD Industry and handle everything associated to the industry.
(605) 431-0242 | {
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Art + Sole
November 28th, 2012
Who here has worn a pair of Kickers shoes at least once in their lives? If you’re a 90s kid, I’m sure Kickers is a familiar brand to you. I, for one, was a Kickers kid back in the day. I went to school in Kickers for YEARS! Just hearing its name brings back so many good memories. I can’t help but get nostalgic.
A few weeks back, I got invited to an event featuring Kickers and Bauhaus. It was for the official launch of their collaboration. At first, I couldn’t quite picture the two together. I mean try to understand, Kickers to me has always been my school shoes– not exactly urban and edgy like how I view Bauhaus. I first got acquainted with Bauhaus way way back in Hong Kong. I was still so young then but seeing their stores all over Hong Kong woke up the curious cat in me so I decided to go in one of their branches one day. Of course, the sales people there were probably wondering what this pacutie-patootie kid was doing there. On the contrary, I actually quickly gained an appreciation for their leather goods.
If you don’t know Bauhaus, allow me to introduce the brand to you. Bauhaus was established back in 1991 and it houses excitingly fresh and hip brands such as 80/20, Salad, Tough and Cheap Monday. As you can probably already tell from the brands they offer and from the photos I posted here, Bauhaus features mostly urban street wear that has a lot of flavor and character. Its design aesthetic is always strong, edgy and modern–mixing relaxed and simple silhouettes with vibrant prints and rich colors.
Whenever I enter a Bauhaus store, the items that I check out are always the leather goods. They have the best leather jackets in the world!
Don’t believe me? How pretty are these leather jackets from Tough? I’m lusting over that pink one!
This leather jacket is pretty cool. It comes with a detachable hood.
Leather trench coat, anyone?
If leather isn’t your thing, Tough also has a full range of clothing inspired by the theme “Sweet Military” for Fall/Winter. Of course, what urban street fashion brand does not have its own version of a plaid shirt? You’re not rocker chic without plaid!
Tough is also famous for its jeans. I like how Tough jeans always have that worn out look. They add more character, at least in my opinion.
Aside from Tough, Bauhaus also has Cheap Monday to fulfill all your denim needs. If you want sexy jeans, get Cheap Monday! They cling to your legs like there’s no tomorrow which is why I love them!
If you’re looking for something a little bit girly, Bauhaus also has Salad. Salad’s Fall/Winter collection is inspired by “Swan Lake”. It’s interesting how the brand was able to combine urban street fashion and elements inspired by ballet. Who would’ve thought they can go together?
Spot Alice!
Salad’s collection has a lot of embroideries like this. Most of which are mixed with tassels, beads & bow designs to give that feel of a ballet performance.
My personal favorite from Salad are their leather wallets and pouches. Although I usually prefer their tan leather goods, these are a refreshing change–pouches for your phones in yummy and vibrant colors. I got one in orange.
Now that you’re fully acquainted with Bauhaus and its many brands, it’s time for the main event! Back to what I was talking about earlier–the Bauhaus + Kickers collaboration.
Tada!!!! Yes, these are Kickers! It’s not the same school-shoes-Kickers I’ve known and loved for years. Look at them! Little did I know that Kickers had these up its sleeves. Apparently, the brand is a product of cultural revolutions back in the 1970s and 80s which explains its youthful street aesthetic. Now I understand why this collaboration with Bauhaus makes sense. They practically have the same design philosophy. I just had to erase that Kickers that the 9-year-old me used to know and embrace the cool and energetic Kickers that it really is.
I went gaga over the brown boots with mustard laces. When I tried them on, I was surprised at how light they are!! Leave it to Kickers to produce quality shoes that are both fashionable and functional.
The Bauhaus + Kickers shoes are exclusively available at Bauhaus outlets only. Drop by their branches at Trinoma, Shangri-La Plaza Mall, Alabang Town Center, and Abreeza.
hi camille! Just started reading your blogs this morning ang it’s keeping me busy all day!I am really enjoying this!.haha..Good thing it’s a sunday!haha.:)
Love the boots!We’re going to korea by march next year and I just think they’re perfect!
Hi miss Camille, would there be other way for me to avail this cool KICKER shoe? I’m in Baguio City right now and I think droppin’ by at Trinoma, Shangri-La Plaza Mall, Alabang Town Center, and Abreeza would be quite difficult in my part. Thank You po! Good day! :D
Aaaahhhhhhh!! Kickers!!! I didn’t know you used to wear Kickers back then. I also used to wear Kickers back when I was in my grade school years! :) I love Kickers because of their style and their quality!!!
I love Salad’s collection! The girly-girl inside of me is ecstatic with their designs :) And I love the gray Kickers with the red laces, and the one beside it (is it orange or light brown?) I feel like I could wear it for Spring/Summer 2013 :>
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Camille Co
Camille is always a fashion designer, sometimes a model, occasionally a stylist and as of April 2011, officially a blogger. Take a peek into her world and witness her love affair with fashion and a few other loves in between. | {
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Field Radio Podcast
Episode 22 - 11/17/2018
Summary
On this episode Chris Fielding (KG7IVS) joins me in the studio to discuss lessons learned from public service events. The training item discusses how you can use your public service events to hone your skills for a real emergency.
Training Item
Show Notes
A little about me, I am John Jacobs, I reside in Utah with my loving wife and three totally awesome kids. I am a third generation amateur radio operator, and have the call sign W7DBO of my grandfather. I am an avid outdoor enthusiast, technologist, and content producer. So! put all three together and there you have the Field Radio Podcast and YouTube Channel!
The Beguinnings - After becoming a fan of the Fo Time Podcast, then Ham Radio 360 Podcast, around the time I started a small company to help fund the hobby. I made comm and battery boxes for customers with CommsToGo.com, I became a site sponsor of the now renamed podcast Ham Radio 360 in 2016. Then, after meeting Cale K4CDN at Dayton in 2017, I pitched the idea of a podcast about emergency communications and operating in the field. He supported the idea and brought me onboard in July of 2017 into the HR360 family and The Field Radio Podcast was born! Since I a more of a media person, I also created the YouTube channel to be more of a supplement to the show. In my first six months I created content on YouTube to demonstrate items from the podcast but in end of 2017 the writing was on the wall that I enjoy video production more than audio production. So in 2018 the Field Radio project is going to pivot towards video productions.
My Goal - May goal is to give back to the amateur radio hobby through creating an educational and entertaining content that will help you learn and enjoy this hobby! In the end if you are a bit less confused about something, and more excited to get on the air in the field then we have me our goals. I only hope that a part of your journey success comes from what I give you.
To find out more about me follow my blog and personal website at http://www.w7dbo.net. | {
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Last year was full of discovery and learning. We talked about mobile marketing, progressive web apps, machine learning, the state of our education system, and so much more. Our hard-working "staff" at DSM Web Geeks would like to give thanks to…
We had a great turnout for Full Stack Marketing: Analytics for Developers by Andy Brudtkuhl on October 18. https://twitter.com/jplhomer/status/920710515545948160 Here are the slides and demo website from the presenter: https://brudtkuhl.com/full-stack-marketing/ https://speakerdeck.com/abrudtkuhl/full-stack-marketing https://twitter.com/abrudtkuhl/status/925443414023397378
Each year our big social spring event just keeps getting bigger and better. This year we'll be in our new location at the Forge (Pillar Technology). We'll have awesome door prizes for the first attendees and we'll be raffling off…
As we recover from the holiday season, it's time to reflect on the past year. For the Des Moines Web Geeks, it was incredible! In 2016, we: Hosted 16 events, including 12 evening events, three lunch events and our annual social event…
Happy New Year, Web Geeks! We will *not* be meeting in January so we can plan for all the awesome events we'll be having each month in 2017. Some exciting things to look forward to will be our annual social event,…
Come join the DSM Web Geeks as we dig into a data visualization framework. What is it and how can we utilize it? Come and find out by hearing Austin Lyon speak about the dc.js framework! This will include a…
Come join the Des Moines Web Geeks as we hear from UX designers from the area about how they prototype design solutions. The topics covered are: CSS Microinteractions by Rachel McClung Mobile & Responsive Web Design With Photoshop Artboards by…
If you didn't make it to the spring social event or maybe you just want to hear that talk again, you're in luck! All of the sessions were recorded (successfully!) and have been uploaded to Youtube for your viewing pleasure.…
Laravel is a web application framework that attempts to take the pain out of development by easing common tasks used in the majority of web projects, such as authentication, routing, sessions, queueing, and caching. Come join us as we dive…
It's just about time for the 2016 Web Geeks Social Event on March 21st at 6:30pm at the Downtown Legends. Make sure you have the date saved--you won't want to miss drinks, prizes and great speakers. Thanks to our sponsors at… | {
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Face Of The Day
A vendor's dead horse lies on the scene as Pakistani security officials gather at the site of a suicide attack in Lahore, 10 January 2008. At least 22 police officers were killed when a suicide bomber exploded a device outside the high court in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore. The bomber set off his device when police asked him to stop his motorcycle outside the court, in the latest in a wave of suicide attacks which have claimed hundreds of lives across Pakistan over the past year. By Arif Ali/AFP/Getty.
We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to [email protected]. | {
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NED Podcast: HR Metrics -The Big Lie
More than ever before, human resources professionals are scrambling to collect and provide quantitative metrics to substantiate all sorts of initiatives. Many HR professionals spend time preparing analytics for the sake of being prepared with ‘data’ – metrics for the sake of metrics.
Dr. Steve McElfresh, our guest on NED this month, presents a compelling case that the real value of metrics is only achieved when combined with analytic, business oriented thinking. The development of HR Metrics can enable and support that approach to HR. But Metrics also can be, and too often is, delivered bereft of such thinking, in which case it is an empty suit, a façade that detracts from rather than enhancing HR’s credibility. What’s more, solid analytic, business-oriented thinking can be applied to great effect without formal metrics.
Dr. McElfresh is the Principal and Founder of HR Futures. He was also the President and CEO of Saratoga Institute, the leading organization providing HR-related benchmarking and performance analyses. Before Saratoga, Steve was the chief HR officer for SRI International (formerly known as Stanford Research Institute), Failure Analysis Associates, and Friden Alcatel.
He is a member of the Society for Psychologists in Management, the Academy of Management, the Forensic Expert Witness Association and the American Psychological Association. In addition, he is a moderator/facilitator for two HR YahooGroups (ROI Net and VPHR Forum) and has written editorials for the Business Journal. He is certified by SHRM as a Senior Human Resource Professional and was a charter member of SHRM’s National Panel for Human Capital Measurement and HR Metrics. He is in his eight year as Conference Chair for the Conference on Strategic HR Analytics and Metrics.
Steve has taught at the School of Management at Boston College and the Department of Psychology at the University of Massachusetts. He has served on the Boards of Directors or Advisory Boards of the Bay Area Executive Council, Pacific Graduate School of Psychology, the Forensic Expert Witness Association, and the Bay Area Organizational Development Network. He earned a Ph.D in organizational psychology from Boston College and a JD from the Santa Clara University School of Law.
About Joel Passen
Joel is the Head of Marketing at Newton Software, a technology company that designs applicant tracking software for small and medium-sized employers. Joel has been involved with the intersection of technology and recruiting his entire career. Follow Joel: Google+, Twitter. | {
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Jason Howard Green
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Beat Down Over a Dress Code!!!
Please take a look at this video. This special needs kid was beaten by a police officer because he didn't have his shirt tucked in. I'm gonna say that a second time. This kid was BEATEN by a POLICE OFFICER because he did have his SHIRT TUCKED IN. What the fuck is the world coming to? The police department and the school would not reply to questions from these reporters. But really what can they say. The video says it all.
No comments:
Just Me . . .
About Me
Black and gay. Geek and Greek (Phi Beta Sigma). Spirtual but not judgemental. Optimist but a realist. Writer and activist. I am the author of The ABCs of Coming Out. Also I am the founder of UGIMA (United Gay Informed Men of African-descent). | {
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A blog by Grant Montgomery, co-founder of Family Care, a 501c3 that provides emergency services and sustained development for families on 5 continents. This site highlights the plight of 300,000 North Koreans who have fled their country due to the brutal oppression of a Stalinist North Korean regime, as well as those still living in North Korea.
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Tag Archives: defectors
The number of mobile phone subscribers in North Korea doubled to more than two million last year. Koryolink, a joint venture between the state-ownedKorea Post and the Egyptian company Orascom, has passed two million subscribers in a country of about 24 million people.
North Korean defectors tell VOA that many go out of their way to purchase mobile phones, selling hard-earned crops or housewares. Cell phones have become status symbols, signs of prosperity, and one of the most noticeable examples of conspicuous consumption in North Korea. A man from Chongjin who defected in December 2012 said “cell [phones] have become so popular that a young man without a cell phone is not treated well and could not even find a girlfriend.”
In the reclusive state, mobile phones are primarily used for entertainment purposes. Think tablet computers – without the Internet. Cell phone users use the handset to take pictures, watch videos and play games. North Koreans often use Chinese-made printers to print out photos taken with their mobile phones,
Defectors explained calls were usually reserved for emergencies, to avoid expensive top-up fees. A basic plan comes with just 200 minutes of calling and 20 text messages.
There are no signs that North Korea introduced cell phones as a means of reforming or opening up to the outside world. On the contrary, Pyongyang appears to be using the wide distribution of mobile phones to maintain and solidify its stability. One defector explained, “It is stupid to criticize the regime on the cell phone, which does more harm than good, when the call rate is exorbitant.”
It isn’t just the money factor, though, that is stopping cell phone users from actually using the handsets for communication. Authorities monitor all text messages, along with location data in real-time. Voice calls are recorded, transcribed, and stored for three years according to a former North Korean security agent. Also, there are no international calls allowed, and Internet access is banned for all but the ruling elite.
He told VOA that security guards often stop and question cell phone users on the street to search for any “politically inappropriate” content on their phones, especially South Korean soap dramas. An officer can confiscate a phone on the spot at his discretion.
Despite the North Korean government’s success at suppressing the flow of information through the mobile phone network, the network could potentially widen loopholes for information to flow to and from the reclusive state. For example, amateur reporters can record data on their cell phone memory card and transfer it to illegal Chinese cell phones to convey the information to foreign media outlets. Rimjin-gang, a Japan-based magazine featuring news and information from undercover North Korean reporters, says it has used this method to get hidden camera video out of the country.
Today, there are some 25,000 North Korean defectors living in South Korea. While they have escaped extreme poverty and political repression, life in the South can also be hard. In fact, the suicide rate among North Korean defectors is six times that for South Koreans.
“Children over 15 have no incentive to study”, explains Park Sun-young, constitutional law professor at Dongguk University. “They had no education in North Korea and they just give up studying. They also need to earn money to bring the family members that remain in the North.”
Yet, in the long term, these youngsters cannot make money as they have little or no education and, after years of malnutrition, are not physically strong. “They are too small even for physical labor. They fall into despair and some commit suicide,” Park said. “This is a social problem, a time bomb, and we need to address this issue and prepare for unification.”
Park offered the case of East and West Germany before the unification, as an example of what should be done here. “Before unification, the unemployment rate among those who escaped the East was lower than that of West Germans. This was achieved through a year-long job training for the East German defectors.”
By comparison, 95 percent of North Korean defectors are unemployed after they leave Hana Center where they stay for three months familiarizing themselves with South Korea and its way of life, according to Park.
North Korea’s security agency said Thursday it arrested a South Korean spy in Pyongyang who intended to rally anti-government forces, a claim that intelligence officials in Seoul quickly called ridiculous and groundless.
Outside analysts usually view such North Korean antics as a way to strengthen domestic support for leader Kim Jong Un – but specific claims that an individual spy has been captured, especially before an investigation is concluded, are unusual.
The North’s claim comes amid worsening ties. The Koreas had turned to tentative diplomacy after a spring that saw a near-daily barrage of threats, including North Korean warnings of nuclear strikes on Seoul and Washington. But tension has renewed since North Korea canceled planned reunions in September of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War.
The North Korean security ministry said that the South Korean initially said he was a Chinese citizen living in North Korea and then said he was a citizen of another country. The initial investigation found that the South Korean spent six years in a country bordering North Korea using religion to disguise anti-North Korea espionage activities, the North’s statement alleged.
Many South Korean missionaries work with North Korean defectors and border-crossers in China. One year ago, Kenneth Bae, an American missionary and tour operator, was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor after being arrested for alleged hostile acts in North Korea.
North Korea officially recognizes freedom of religion, but it tolerates only sanctioned churches, and activists and defectors call it one of the world’s worst places for religion.
North Korea’s prison camps are a closed-off world of death, torture and forced labor where babies are born slaves, according to two survivors who liken the horrors of the camps to a Holocaust in progress.
“People think the Holocaust is in the past, but it is still very much a reality. It is still going on in North Korea,” Shin Dong-hyuk told AFP through an interpreter on the sidelines of a human rights summit in Geneva.
Shin himself spent his first 23 years in a prison camp in the secretive country, where he says he was tortured and subjected to forced labor before making a spectacular escape seven years ago – and giving the outside world a rare first-hand account of life inside the camps.
The 30-year-old is the only person known to have been born in such a camp to flee and live to tell the tale, and was portrayed in a book by journalist Blaine Harden published last year called “Escape from Camp 14: One Man’s Remarkable Odyssey From North Korea to Freedom in the West.”
While Shin’s comparison with Nazi concentration camps – where the majority of the six million Jews who perished during the Holocaust were murdered – may seem extreme, another North Korean prison camp survivor, Chol-Hwan Kang, agreed with the analogy.
“Fundamentally, it is the same as Hitler’s Auschwitz,” Kang told AFP. With whole families in North Korea thrown into camps together and starving to death, he said the “methods may be different, but the effect is the same… It’s outrageous!”
Kang, now 43, was sent to Camp 15 with his whole family when he was nine years old to repent for the suspected disloyalties of his grandfather. He spent 10 years there before his family was released and later managed to flee to China and on to South Korea – the same route taken by Shin.
Chosun Ilbo reports on unimaginable suffering at the core of testimonies from former inmates of North Korea’s political concentration camps. Three briefs:
“I ate whatever I could put into my mouth, except stones,” recalled an inmate at the Yodok camp between 2000 and 2002. “As starving inmates surreptitiously ate seeds, security guards sprayed pesticides on the seeds, so many died from eating the poisoned seeds.”
Of 250 inmates he met at the camp, 80 starved to death or were executed in public after being arrested for attempting to flee the Stalinist country. He himself was held on espionage charges after being caught with a Bible smuggled in from South Korea.
A female defector recalled how she languished at the Kaechon political prison camp for 28 years after being taken into custody at age 13 for “guilt by association”, related to a crime committed by one of her relatives. She said, “I saw a starving woman eat the flesh of her son who had died of a disease.”
Another was detained at Kaechon Women’s Prison for attempting to flee the North twice, in 2003 and 2005. “Once we stood in line in the hallway of a detention house where a security guard was kicking a pregnant woman,” she recalled. “Some time later, this woman returned and lay bleeding with an empty womb. But nobody was allowed to do anything to help her.”
More than 150 years ago, in antebellum America, the Underground Railroad, a network of secret routes and safe houses, allowed slaves to escape to freedom. Today a similar network has been created by humanitarian groups and Christian missionaries, as well as by unscrupulous smugglers and brokers, to help North Koreans escape their modern-day slave state—a place where freedom of speech, religion and movement are all forbidden and where some 200,000 inmates are held in Stalinist gulags.
The escapees include North Korean women who have been sold to brothels as prostitutes or to Chinese farmers as brides against their will; defectors carrying state secrets; and ordinary men, women and children fleeing in search of food and a better life.
To trace the harrowing journey that refugees must undergo: first making their way across the border with China (which means traversing a major river and getting past numerous checkpoints and guards) and then making a long and risky trek across China to reach another country, usually in Southeast Asia, from which, if they are lucky, they find safe haven in South Korea or the West. The unlucky refugees, caught by the Chinese, are forcibly sent back.
The stories are just as moving for the Korean women who have been sold into prostitution or forced marriages in China. Their “half-and-half children” by Chinese men are unable to attend school or obtain medical care and may be “ripped from their mothers’ arms by Chinese policemen” and then abandoned if their Korean mothers are arrested and repatriated to North Korea. Pregnant women repatriated to the North suffer a special hell: “For the perceived crime of carrying ‘Chinese seed,’ their North Korean jailers force the repatriated women to undergo abortions, even in the final weeks of pregnancy.”
In all, some 24,000 North Koreans have thus far managed to flee to safety, and tens of thousands more are currently hiding in enclaves in northeastern China, under threat of repatriation by the Chinese regime. This new underground railroad is “a rare good-news story that foretells a happier future for that sad country.”
–From Sue Mi Terry’s book review of Melanie Kirkpatrick’s “Escape From North Korea: The Untold Story of Asia’s Underground Railroad” | {
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That’s right you read that correct, it’s taken all of 2 weeks and I’m now into gold. Yes lets be serious it isn’t much of an achievement considering I was there last season but regardless it’s still a step in the right direction.
Last week I finished my climb out of silver into gold with a 3-2 promotions. My last 20 games haven’t been half bad either going 9W-5L in solo and 14W-6L overall. So it has been a successful week so far. It hasn’t been all peaches and rainbows though, there have been plenty of ups and down in the games regardless. What’s my secret to help my climb, stick to what you know.
Riot has been handing out nerfs left, right and center (it’s a shame they still haven’t properly nerfed Zoe or nerfed Yasuo into non-existence but that’s a rant for another day) so it’s understandable the meta changes and shifts with each patch. What doesn’t change however, is your understanding of the champs you play. A perfect example is my duo partner Aphrop00.
He is a Morgana main through and through, whether Morgana is trash tier and the lowest of the low or god tier and unstoppable. Whether it is raining outside or his undies are on inside out he will play Morgana unless he needs a break. It is his go-to champ and with good reason. It is season 8 he has played 27 games on Morgana and has a 74% win rate (20W-7L) with an average KDA of 4.93 (3.7/4.0/16.2) which he is dirty about since it is under 5. He just knows how to play Morgana what can I say. Yes he plays other supports really well, Braum, Thresh, Nautilis, Taric, he can play them all but without a doubt he shines on Morgana.
He will hit binds that I cant even understand, it’s as though no-matter where he throws it he will hit someone. He knows when to engage, knows exactly how much damage he will deal in a trade and knows exactly who he needs to bind and when, to ensure kills are secured in 2v3’s and they are turned around in our favor. He is one of my best mates in real life and hands down we will both make plat this season if we keep on the grind, and what champ will he get there with… Morgana.
It all comes down to the ages old saying “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. Morgana for 3 seasons has not been a top pick yet he has comfortably carried both of us when we duo’d to gold. Even when we were in high gold together and against plats we were dominating the bot lane, simply put because he knew his champ. The same applies to you and me. Mine is always the same few ADC’s, Caitlyn, Ezreal, Vayne, Sivir and Kalista. Now I will happily admit I am no where near as good on these ADC as I would be if I just played one but I have a few because with ADC the responsibilities flex depending on meta greatly (e.g. is it a caster meta where Ezreal thrives or a late game meta where Vayne will dominate).
This applies more for those especially stuck in low elo. If you feel you are hard stuck in Bronze consider just picking your favorite champ, or even just one you feel you play really well and stick to them. No you don’t have to play them every single game but you should play them the majority of games. If it’s your favorite champ then bonus, if not and it’s just someone you like but play well then play them majority and mix it up a few times. My favorite champ without a doubt would be Kalista but for a while there she was in a really bad spot, so I mixed it up with Caitlyn who I play very well and still like but isn’t my favorite (I am loving Caitlyn more and more and she is getting close to my favorite, I just don’t like how if your behind on Caitlyn you’re never coming back to relevant until about 60 minutes in the game, again for another day).
Look at some of the really high elo players, there are singed mains, yasuo mains, annie mains and more. The reason why it’s easier to climb with one champ that it is with several is because you don’t need to learn as much about the champ and can focus on the learning the game. Everyone will say “I already know the game, I don’t need to learn it I just get bad team mates” and to that I say your mentality is in the wrong place. There is always more to learn, whether you have been playing since season one, or just picked the game up yesterday we all learn new things each game whether we realise it or not. By trying to only play one or 2 main champs it limits how much you need to learn as you already know the mechanics of the champion and roughly what they can and can’t do meaning you can focus more on learning and playing the remaining parts of the game. | {
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Tue 8.12.
With the new simplistic interior design for a Stockholm shop of the high fashion brand Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair, the Swedish practice Guise was nominated for this year’s Great indoors Award, initiated by internationally renowned magazine Frame. Within the same event Guise was awarded Design Firm of the Year 2009.
Interior for Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair by Guise
Here is what the designers say:
THE PROJECT
“The project concerns a new concept store for Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair. The Swedish fashion brand Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair works with traditional typologies of clothes but deconstructs them and create new hybrid garments. The assignment was to design an entirely new concept store that meets the commercial aspects of a retail space, but foremost to design the spatial encounter with the brand Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair.”
Interior by Guise
CONCEPT
The retail concept is based on Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair design methods, but transferred into architecture. Existing architectural typologies have been deformed in order to meet both the functional and the commercial requirements for a store interior. The visual presences of the furniture are designed to be ambivalent; they should resemble a stair although clearly having another purpose.
Jani Kristoffersen, one of the founders of Guise explains: “The ambition was to use strong silhouettes whereupon we choose a double helix-shaped stair as a basic form. In order to adapt the helix shape to meet the functional requirements we had to deform the shape of the stair until it met the commercial need for exposure, but also in order to give it an unique character of its own”.
Andreas Ferm, one of the founders of Guise continues: “Since the main form is folded and rotated it both conceals and exposes the garments and accessories while you move through the store. The rotated shape aims to create a more dynamic experience for the customers, by that we try to create a more well directed spatial experience.”
Interior by Guise
“The stairs has become the main spatial carriers of the retail concept Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair, but in addition to the stairs a shelving system was designed to meet the flexible needs of the store. The exposure has to adapt to the changing needs of a retail shop. Each shelf is designed and tailored specially for each placement in the store. The shelves consist of a rigorous framework of steel rods, which together create a matrix of small cubic space in the structure, all with dimensions of 360x360x360 mm. By using the cubic dimensions of the structure, the clothes that hung in its bottom exposed in two directions, either along a wall, or by turning 90 degrees to allow for a frontal exposure from a wall.
To the shelf, hundreds of thin black steel plates were designed in order to make the shelf to become rearrangeable by changing the position of the plates. Both the visual aesthetics and the functionality of the shelves are radically changed by shifting the position of the plates.
Not only the furniture has been custom made, but also the cash register, the doll exposure, fitting rooms, doors and the mirrors are special designed to enhance the overall shopping experience.” | {
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Floor Tiles in Mount Pleasant NC 28124
(Mount Pleasant NC 28124) –
Tiles can be used in just about every room in your home and when you have a tiling job your local flooring store can become your new best friend. There are so many benefits of tile flooring that you may not have realized. They are extremely durable, are easy to clean, are easy to install and come in a host of colors, patterns 3 Surprising Reasons: Why The Large Floor Tiles Are So Popular Mount Pleasant NC 28124 and finishes. Covering your floor with tile is probably one of the easiest and quickest D-I-Y projects you could choose. It can be done by just one inspired person – two makes it that much quicker.
Choosing the Right Type of Floor Tile
Before deciding on exactly what floor tiles you want and need, you will want to perform some due diligence. If you Mount Pleasant NC 28124 are going to be covering floors in the bathroom, kitchen, porch or laundry room, you will want a clay-based tile because it withstands moisture and humidity. They are also stain resistant and easy to care for. If you are choosing the peel and stick tiles, if one gets torn by a sharp object that has been dropped, you only have to replace one Marble Floor Tiles - For When You Are Tired of Hardwood Flooring Mount Pleasant NC 28124 tile and not the entire floor. This type of repair is very inexpensive.
Believe it or not, tiles can be ranked by strength. Some believe that the thickness of the tile tells the whole story but that is not the case. It helps – but you also need to consider that the floor tile is made from – the composition. Did you know that Mount Pleasant NC 28124 there is a Porcelain Tile Institute that actually has a method of rating tiles based on their composition and intended use?
-Group I, Light traffic. These tiles may be used on residential bathroom floors where bare or stocking feet are the norm. They will not withstand a high traffic area.
-Group II, Medium traffic. These tiles are designed for use in interiors where little abrasion Mount Pleasant NC 28124 occurs such as a “Florida room’ or empty nester family room. They are not recommended for kitchens, entries, or stairwells. Tiles are rarely recommended for stairs because of high traffic and the potential of slipping.
-Group III, Medium-heavy traffic. These are the most versatile in flooring tiles. They can be used anywhere inside a home, including kitchens and baths.They are not usually recommended for Mount Pleasant NC 28124 porches.
-Group IV, Heavy traffic. These tiles are ‘work horses’ and are very hard. They can be used in homes or in light to medium commercial areas. Needless to say they are highly durable.
-Group V, Extra heavy traffic. These tiles can be used anywhere.
Some floor tiles are prone to chipping and cracking. To make your tile last longer and to prevent future damage they Mount Pleasant NC 28124 must be installed over a firmly supported subflooring. Broken tiles cannot be repaired, but they can be replaced. Tile grout, if left unsealed, can be difficult to clean.
If you have any questions, go to your local flooring store and ask a flooring specialist.
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For quality workmanship and service for your residential and commercial Flooring needs, choose a company with over 38 years of service in the Mount Pleasant area.
Our Happy Mount Pleasant Clients
"Home PROS Flooring was a pleasure to work with! They were very prompt in responding with a quote, extremely knowledgeable, and their pricing is very good. I highly recommend them.
GEORGE D. - Mount Pleasant
"Home PROS Flooring put in some tile for us and everything went off without a hitch. They arrived when they said they would and did the job exactly as they had explained it. The product they sold us was excellent, as was the installation process and the folks who did the install."
JOHN P. - Mount Pleasant
Do you have emegency?
Please don't hesitate to call us if you have an emergency. We are committed towards providing best Flooring services and are available 24/7. | {
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The proposal deadline is 28 Feb 2018. DoD anticipates making 4 awards of $750K annually for a period of 2 years, with an option for a third year of additional funding. Note that each proposal must include at least 1 university and 1 industry member, and the university partner must receive at least 50% of requested funding. Also note that not every topic above will necessarily be granted an award.
NIH Opportunities
Join the UT NIH Research Community by contacting Jennifer Webster ([email protected]) and start receiving the weekly NIH Digest.
NCI Administrative Supplements to NCI Grant and Cooperative Agreement Awards to Support Collaborations with the PDX Development and Trial Centers Research Network (PDXNet)(Admin Suppl – Clinical Trial Not Allowed)(PA-18-496)
NCI Using Information Technology to Support Systematic Screening and Treatment of Depression in Cancer (R21 Clinical Trial Optional)(PA-18-492)
NCI Using Information Technology to Support Systematic Screening and Treatment of Depression in Cancer (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)(PA-18-493)
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) will host a Proposers’ Day Webcast to discuss its upcoming Young Faculty Award (YFA) solicitation on August 29, 2-5 pm. The purpose of the YFA program is to fund “elite researchers early in their careers to develop innovative new research directions in the context of enabling transformative DoD capabilities.” YFA topics cover the following areas:
biology
computing
engineering
informatics
manufacturing
materials
mathematics
neuroscience
physical sciences
robotics
social science
Eligibility: The YFA program is open to tenure track assistant and associate professors as well as to tenured faculty within 3 years of their tenure date.
To view the webcast, please register by 12pm, August 24, at this link. Note that there is a “capacity limitation”. Additional information about the webcast is at this link.
The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) has published an amendment to the attached solicitation entitled Fundamental Research to Counter Weapons of Mass Destruction. This amendment seeks basic and applied research to advance quantum sensing science to “detect nuclear weapons or chemical/biological weapon signatures with range or confidence of detection beyond state-of-the-art…..” Additional details, including potential research areas of interest, are on pp. 39-41 of the solicitation. Please check for possible updates to the solicitation in the “related documents” tab at this linkif you intend to apply.Continue reading →
CCE STEM solicits proposals for research that explores the following: ‘What constitutes ethical STEM research and practice, and which cultural and institutional contexts promote ethical STEM research and practice and why? Successful proposals typically have a comparative dimension, either between or within institutional settings that differ along these or other factors. CCE STEM research projects will use basic research to produce knowledge about what constitutes responsible or irresponsible, just or unjust scientific practices and sociotechnical systems, and how to best instill students with this knowledge. Continue reading → | {
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ASIS 1 2 3 4
ASIS shop-in-shop system is the perfect choice for a floor-top unit used as multifunctional window display with rotating panels and rods. Basic Frame is made of anodized aluminum and two lateral steel legs. Basic option includes the complete unit with German-made Mini-Tubix open Rods, rotating 3/8 inch thick transparent panel(s) and all hardware necessary to assemble the unit.
Click on your desired ASIS unit below. Here is how to order:
1. Make your acrylic panel finish selection
2. Make your rod selection
3. Add the side mirror if you'd like
For more information on the Mini Tubix Rods, please visit the wallmount section of this site. | {
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MEREDITH FINCH: 'Absolutely, WONDER WOMAN is a Feminist Icon'
As the new writer on Wonder Woman, Meredith Finch has her work cut out for her. Not only has she inherited a Wonder Woman who's now the God of War and Queen of the Amazons, but one who's starring in a couple other books where she plays even more roles in the DC Universe.
Including, according to Finch, the role of "symbol of equality and empowerment."
But with all the clutter in Diana's life, Finch has decided not to shy away from all those roles — in fact, she's making it the focus of her first storyline, which kicks off this week in Wonder Woman #36. In the issue, Diana is confronted by multiple challenges and tries to do her best to juggle her new roles.
Finch, a new writer for DC after breaking into the business with Zenoscope, is working on Wonder Woman with her husband, superstar artist David Finch. But the scripts are all Meredith's, and as she follows the acclaimed run by Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang, the writer is hoping to respect what they've done with the character and show what happens next. Newsarama talked with Meredith Finch to find out more.
Newsarama: Meredith, you've been around the comic industry for what… decades now, right? What sparked your interest in writing? Were you always a writer? And how did you get started in the business?
Credit: DC Comics
Meredith Finch: I have always loved books. When I was a little girl, my grandmother introduced me to fantasy fiction and I was hooked. I think that comics are a natural extension of that. They are about larger-than-life characters doing extraordinary things.
David and I have talked about me writing comics for years, specifically creator-owned, but time has always been a factor. Last fall, David really pushed me to take the plunge. He approached a few smaller publishers to see if they would be interested in taking me on as a writer. Zenoscope took a chance on me. I could never have imagined that 10 months after my first published comic, I would be writing Wonder Woman.
Nrama: How do you script for David? Do you talk over ideas with him at all, since he's the artist on the book, tailoring plots and scripts to your artist's strengths? Are your scripts detailed, traditional scripts, or can you use shorthand since you're working in the same office?
Finch: Watching David work all these years has definitely given me an inside track into what he likes and what, for him, is the ideal balance between story development and great action shots. I always try to make sure that if I’m going to do a double-page spread, it’s going to be something that he will enjoy drawing, especially since they take more than twice as long as any one page to draw.
Credit: DC Comics
But I really appreciate that he respects my story and what I’m trying to do with the book. We are working on our third issue right now and there are times I wish our home life ran as smoothly as our work life.
Nrama: What are the biggest benefits of working with your spouse?
Finch: I think that for both of us, the biggest benefit is that the person you are working with is not just motivated to achieve their own success, but to help you achieve yours as well. I could not ask for David to be more supportive of me, and my career, on every level.
Nrama: And what are the biggest challenges?
Finch: The biggest challenge is definitely taking criticism. It can sometimes feel more personal since it’s coming from someone whose opinion I really value.
Early on, when I was trying to figure out whom Diana was, and what story I wanted to tell, we had a few fights. Art corrections can sometimes cause them as well, but at the end of the day we never take anything personally. I think that it just means that we are both really passionate about what we do.
Credit: DC Comics
Nrama: Let's talk about Wonder Woman as a character. What was your first exposure to the character? Were you a fan?
Finch: My first exposure to Wonder Woman was the 1970’s TV series with Lynda Carter. The last 13 years of my life have been pretty focused on my three boys, so if it wasn’t something the boys were into, or David was drawing, I didn’t have much time to pursue reading comics for pleasure. Ultimately, I think that has worked in my favor. I have always loved Wonder Woman as a character, but my childhood recollections have had time to be molded by the incredible, strong women I have encountered over the course of my lifetime.
Nrama: What kind of research did you do on the character? Or did you avoid getting into too much of her history, since the New 52 starts fresh?
Finch: My focus really was on the New 52 run by Brian and Cliff. The pre-52 work on Wonder Woman will always be special and I don’t know if there is another character in comics who went through the evolution that Diana did or had as much impact from a societal point of view.
That being said, Diana is a woman of the 21st century now, and I want her stories to reflect the world in which we live, rather than retelling stories from her past.
Credit: DC Comics
Nrama: How would you describe the Wonder Woman you're hoping to portray?
Finch: Diana is a woman in transition right now. When Brian and Cliff ended their run, she was the God of War, Queen of the Amazons, member of the Justice League and Superman’s girlfriend. I really want to explore the impact of those different and sometimes conflicting roles on how she sees herself.
Nrama: Some online fans reacted to David's mention of the word "feminism" in an interview earlier this year, and his reluctance to label the title that way. Just to clarify, is Wonder Woman a feminist?
Finch: Absolutely, Wonder Woman is a feminist icon. Throughout the course of her history, she has been a role model of strength and empowerment for young women, and today, those young women of the '60s and '70s are doctors and lawyers and executives for some of the world's biggest corporations. But I think that more importantly, Wonder Woman is a humanist and I would say that today, she is simply a symbol of equality and empowerment.
Nrama: The title's central conflict so far in the New 52 has surrounded the throne of Olympus. Upcoming solicitations mention that you're still playing with the idea of Diana being the God of War, and you mentioned that earlier. How much do the gods come into play in this story?
Credit: DC Comics
Finch: The focus of our story is much more about what it means for Diana now that she is the God of War and much less about the supporting cast of characters from Olympus.
Nrama: Can you describe the central conflict in your story?
Finch: The central conflict of our story is an internal one. When I think about what Diana/Wonder Woman represents… the word that comes to mind is love. Everything she does is based around the intense love she has for humanity. How will she reconcile that now that she is the God of War?
Nrama: Will there be a focus on any other Amazons in your story?
Finch: The Amazons are a central part of our story. Dessa will definitely be back, but we have had a lot of fun creating new characters, some with a very personal stake in our new queen of Themyiscira.
Nrama: Can you tell us any of the other supporting characters that show up?
Finch: Unfortunately I can’t say much beyond saying that we will see the Justice League and the Amazons. It’s very important to me that anyone we bring into the book serves to develop the story we are telling.
Credit: DC Comics
Nrama: During Brian and Cliff's run, there was a bit of flirtation with Orion, and obviously elsewhere, Wonder Woman is dating Superman. Does Wonder Woman's love life come into play in your title at all?
Finch: David and I have talked a lot about this. Being in a relationship is a very large part of anyone’s life. But there is a book specifically designed to tell the story of the relationship between Wonder Woman and Superman. I will bring that into our book, only in as much as it advances the story we want to tell.
Nrama: Since you're wrapping up this first story arc in March, do you know yet if you're on the book when it comes back next summer, after Convergence?
Finch: I'm writing Wonder Woman!!! This job really is a dream, come true. I have already started talking to both editorial and David about what I’d like to do next with Diana. I’ll keep telling my stories as long as DC will have me.
Nrama: Is there anything else you want to tell fans about your work on Wonder Woman?
Finch: I just want to say that I hope people enjoy our book as much as we have enjoyed working on it. I have been so blessed to work with my favorite artist on my absolute favorite character. | {
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Hey peeps! We let y'all know a few weeks ago that the name for the sequel to The Collector would simply be called The Collection. Today we have some new plot details for you. According to our friends over at Bloody-DisgustingJosh Stewart who played Arkin in the first film will return.
"Instead of recovering from the trauma, Arkin is suddenly abducted from the hospital by mercenaries hired by Elena's (who was kidnapped in the first film) wealthy father. Arkin is blackmailed to team up with the mercenaries and track down The Collector's booby trapped hide out and save Elena from his sadistic rituals."
Marcus Dunstan will return to direct the sequel with a screenplay he co-wrote with long time writing partner Patrick Melton. The film will be shot in real 3D. | {
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The AmbientLED from Philips is the latest LED light designed to replace the 60 watt bulbs in people’s homes. Unlike older LEDs I tested, this light is definitely up to that job. It gives off 800 lumens of warm light, while running on 12 watts. It’s the first LED light to earn an ENERGY STAR […] | {
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About Her Yoga Secrets
Developed by Zoe Bray-Cotton, Her Yoga Secrets (also known as Yoga Burn) is a 12-week follow-along video series designed exclusively for women that claims to dramatically increase flexibility, improve your health, reduce stress, and help you experience a brighter outlook on life.
Have you regularly attended yoga classes before, but found they didn’t meet your expectations? If so, Zoe claims that Her Yoga Secrets can help you experience all the benefits yoga is capable of providing, in addition to a boosted metabolism, flatter belly, tighter booty, and a reshaped body. She even claims Yoga Burn can help you get in the best shape of your life!
To accomplish this, the Yoga Burn program uses something called dynamic sequencing, which can deliver “near effortless” weight management without restricting dieting or cardio, all from the comfort of your own home.
Regardless of your experience, flexibility, or goals, Zoe promises that Her Yoga Secrets involves a strategic, progressive approach to yoga that’s proven to deliver results. But is it really some kind of breakthrough, or is it just the same old repackaged yoga moves you could probably learn elsewhere online, for free?
That’s exactly what we’ll explore here, first by taking a deeper dive into the Her Yoga Secrets program.
How Does Her Yoga Secrets Work?
Based on what we learned in their promotional video, the Her Yoga Secrets program was strategically built in 3 unique phases:
Phase 1: Foundational Flow – Here, you’ll form a “super solid” yoga foundation that allows beginners and advanced students to immediately experience the most powerful benefits yoga has to offer. You’ll also learn new poses that were specifically designed to boost metabolism and begin tightening your problem areas. Throughout the process, Zoe will make sure you execute each move effectively and safely.
Phase 2: Transitional Flow – This phase is dedicated to offering all the “feel good” benefits yoga can offer, while introducing exclusive body shaping strategies. You’ll combine some of the moves you learned during Phase 1 into specific sequences that provide “mood enhancing energy.” Then, you’ll transition into poses designed to tighten and tone female problem areas, while learning how to link poses together. In the end, the company claims your body will feel and look better.
Phase 3: Mastery Flow – According to Zoe, this is where Yoga Burn’s “magic happens.” You’ll combine everything you’ve learned from the previous 2 phases into sequences that “fully fire up” your metabolism, tighten your booty, and transform your body. Every movement in this phase is custom designed to deliver maximum visual results in the shortest amount of time, so you’ll look and feel your sexiest.
What’s the Deal With Yoga Burn’s Dynamic Sequencing?
Regardless of the phase you’re in, Yoga Burn is built around something known as dynamic sequencing, which involves doing exactly the right pose, for the right amount of time, and in the right sequence, in order to “perfectly challenge your body without pushing too far.” This way, you’ll be able to get the most out of each yoga session.
The thing is that dynamic sequencing (at least as it relates to yoga) is nothing new, and appears to have originated with a book titled The Yoga Practice Guide. And although its name might sound technical—or even scientific—it just references the fact that you’ll move through a changing (i.e. dynamic) set (or sequence) of yoga moves.
Now, Zoe claims that Her Yoga Secrets features completely unique moves that provide benefits you won’t find with other programs. Unfortunately, she doesn’t provide any additional information we can use to verify her claims—including that the Yoga Burn program is “proven to deliver results.”
What about yoga in general, though? It seems to be extraordinarily popular, but does it provide any real-world benefits?
What Is Yoga? Is It Beneficial?
If you were to ask 100 different people what yoga is, many would probably tell you that it involves maintaining certain body positions for specific amounts of time. Outside of this though, they might not be able to tell you much more.
The reality is that yoga is an ancient practice that also involves controlling the breath, clearing the mind, and maintaining focus on the present moment (otherwise known as meditation). There are also many different schools (or approaches) to yoga, a few of the more popular include:
Hatha
Vinyassa
Power
Astanga
Bikram
Iyengar
So, although many of the poses might be similar, your relationship with them can vary depending on your approach and your progress.
Regardless of the school, you’ll find that there are poses to target just about every muscle in your body, and the bodyweight resistance provided during these poses can help tighten and tone your muscles. Yoga is also proven to improve flexibility and strength, while being low-impact.
Pro tip: However, yoga is not an aerobic activity, so it probably won’t replace your cardio sessions, as claimed by Zoe in the Yoga Burn video. The good news is that yoga can help make you more mindful of your body—including the foods you feed it—which can possibly have an impact on your weight.
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How Much Does Yoga Burn Cost? Does It Include DVDs?
There are two versions of the Her Yoga Secrets program, both of which are priced at $37:
Completely Green Version (digital download only)
Digital Plus Physical Version (digital download and physical copies through the mail)
Regardless of which option you choose, Yoga Burn will come with 3 special bonuses:
Follow Along Audio Classes – Helps you experience all the same benefits as the videos, even when you’re on the go.
Tranquility Flow – A unique set and sequence of poses designed specifically to provide immediate stress relief.
Immersion – A community of thousands of real women who can help answer your questions and offer support during your transformation. Here, you’ll be able to receive individual help, attend coaching calls, and more.
All Her Yoga Secret orders are processed through a third-party named Clickbank, who also offers a 60-day refund policy on all purchases. In order to request one, you’ll need to call customer service at 800-390-6035.
Before wrapping up, let’s learn more about Her Yoga Secrets’ creator.
Who Is Zoe Bray-Cotton?
According to the Her Yoga Secrets website, Zoe Bray-Cotton is a certified yoga instructor, personal trainer, and female body transformation specialist. She has over 10 years of personal training experience and has taught all major forms of yoga “through some of the most well known and renowned gyms in North America.”
Outside of this quick little blurb, we didn’t uncover any additional information about Zoe from any third-party, non-affiliate websites. As such, we couldn’t verify if any of this information is accurate, or if this is even a real person (versus a pseudonym).
Taking all of this together, should you give Her Yoga Secrets a try?
Is Her Yoga Secrets the Best Fitness Program for You?
The bottom line is that you want a body you can be proud of, and there’s little doubt that most yoga programs—Her Yoga Secrets/Yoga Burn included—can help you move closer to this goal. However, exactly which program’s best for you depends on a variety of factors, such as:
Do you have any injuries or physical limitations that might make some moves more suitable than others?
Are you brand new to yoga? Have you taken a couple classes, or are you relatively advanced and are looking to expand your pose repertoire?
Is this type of yoga enjoyable for you, or are other forms better suited to your tastes?
Are you looking to lose weight, tone and tighten, or a combination of the two?
… just to name a few.
As with any other fitness program, it’s always wise to talk with your doctor before beginning, which would be an ideal time to ask them about Yoga Burn specifically, and yoga in general. On top of this, it appears that the Her Yoga Secrets program is geared more toward beginners, so if you’re further along in your yoga journey, these exercises might quickly become boring.
Finally, regardless of the program you choose, yoga isn’t exactly known as a great way to burn calories (although there are plenty of other wonderful benefits). So, if your primary goal is to lose weight, programs like Yoga Burn might not be your first choice.
Looking for another low-impact, enjoyable—and nearly cost-free—method of shedding pounds and inches? Why not explore walking? | {
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11 Chefs—13 recipes—from Jacques Pepin’s White Bean and Sardine Toasts to Thierry Rautureau’s Baked Washington Apple. Delicious recipes that nourish the brain and help slow the advance of cognitive decline. Even better, each is accompanied by an exhilarating painting of the main ingredient created by an equally vibrant person living with dementia.
You can order yours now. It will be ready for shipping in mid-October - just in time for the holidays.
The price is $15.00 plus tax and shipping. Net proceeds will support The Art of Alzheimer’s exhibitions and programs celebrating the power of creative expression to empower and enrich the lives of people living with dementia and memory loss.
September 27, 2017 – 7:30 pm. An Evening with Jean Smart. Emmy Award winning actress and Alzheimer’s Champion, Smart discusses her experiences and perspective on caregiving and support for families caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s. | {
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02/24/19, OP, Race 8, 4.42 CT
6F [Dirt] 1.07.04 ALLOWANCE OPTIONAL CLAIMING. Purse $84,000. Claiming Price $75,000.
FOR THREE YEAR OLDS WHICH HAVE NEVER WON A RACE OTHER THAN MAIDEN, CLAIMING, STARTER, OR STATE BRED OR WHICH HAVE NEVER WON TWO RACES OR CLAIMING PRICE $75,000
Daily Double / Exacta / 50 Cent Trifecta / 10 Cent Superfecta
Top Horse(100.0000) - Races 451, Win Percent 24.17, $1 ROI 0.74, For Race Category Non-Maiden Dirt
Best in race Flags - (J)ockey (T)rainer (S)peed (F)inish (E)arnings (W)orkouts (L)ead (C)loser
After scratches, a horse with stats MUST be the top rated horse for the profitable condition to be valid.
Profits are for $2 Win bets. ROI is based on $1. Stats are exclusive to OP.
If Race Is Off Turf
Top Horse(100.0000) - Races 318, Win Percent 29.56, $1 ROI 0.75, For Race Category MSW_MCLM Dirt
Best in race Flags - (J)ockey (T)rainer (S)peed (F)inish (E)arnings (W)orkouts (L)ead (C)loser
After scratches, a horse with stats MUST be the top rated horse for the profitable condition to be valid.
Profits are for $2 Win bets. ROI is based on $1. Stats are exclusive to TAM.
If Race Is Off Turf
Top Horse(100.0000) - Races 563, Win Percent 30.20, $1 ROI 0.78, For Race Category Non-Maiden Dirt
Best in race Flags - (J)ockey (T)rainer (S)peed (F)inish (E)arnings (W)orkouts (L)ead (C)loser
After scratches, a horse with stats MUST be the top rated horse for the profitable condition to be valid.
Profits are for $2 Win bets. ROI is based on $1. Stats are exclusive to TAM.
Rating
P#
Horse Name
M/L
Jockey
Trainer
Flags
Profit
ROI
WPC
W#
Occ
Condition
100.0000
11
Lady Breanna
5/2
Camacho S
Bennett Gerald S.
T
099.1991
4
Radiant Beauty
2-1
Camacho S
Delacour Arnaud
E
099.0693
13
Market Money
6-1
Gallardo A A
Bennett Dale
S
097.6075
12
Don't Charge It
3-1
Garcia J A
Hendry Stacy Lane
W
096.7455
2
Tanda's Joy
6-1
Morales P
O'Connell Kathleen
096.3507
10
Trickizar
6-1
Coa K J
Galvan Baltazar
F
095.8722
5
Postino's Idol
7/2
Centeno D
Einhorn Skip
094.7522
1
Hotty Toddy
6-1
Cannon D
Arboritanza Joseph
C
094.2976
7
Elusive Bae
10-1
Garcia J J
Colebrook Ben
J
092.4210
6
Teach Me Tonight
10-1
Alvarez J L
Yanez Moises R.
L
091.6226
3
Ghost Train
20-1
Bracho J A
Dini Michael
090.6174
8
Jima's Gold
30-1
Martinez O
Chain Pearl
090.0968
9
Honor's Parade
20-1
Butler D P
Rhone Bernell B.
088.7871
14
Its All You
30-1
Delgado D
Creel Rick
02/24/19, TAM, Race 8, 4.15 ET
6 1/2F [Dirt] 1.15.02 ALLOWANCE OPTIONAL CLAIMING. Purse $27,500. Claiming Price $75,000 (Races Where Entered For $40,000 Or Less Not Considered In Allowances).
FOR FILLIES THREE YEARS OLDWHICH HAVE NEVER WON A RACE OTHER THAN MAIDEN, CLAIMING, OR STARTER OR WHICH HAVE NEVER WON TWO RACES OR OPTIONAL CLAIMING PRICE OF $75,000
Daily Double / Exacta / Trifecta ($.50 minimum) / Superfecta ($.10 minimum) - Pick 3 ($.50 minimum) (Races 8-9-10) / Super High 5
Top Horse(100.0000) - Races 563, Win Percent 30.20, $1 ROI 0.78, For Race Category Non-Maiden Dirt
Best in race Flags - (J)ockey (T)rainer (S)peed (F)inish (E)arnings (W)orkouts (L)ead (C)loser
After scratches, a horse with stats MUST be the top rated horse for the profitable condition to be valid.
Profits are for $2 Win bets. ROI is based on $1. Stats are exclusive to TAM.
If Race Is Off Turf
Top Horse(100.0000) - Races 563, Win Percent 30.20, $1 ROI 0.78, For Race Category Non-Maiden Dirt
Best in race Flags - (J)ockey (T)rainer (S)peed (F)inish (E)arnings (W)orkouts (L)ead (C)loser
After scratches, a horse with stats MUST be the top rated horse for the profitable condition to be valid.
Profits are for $2 Win bets. ROI is based on $1. Stats are exclusive to TAM.
02/24/19, AQU, Race 6, 3.24 ET
7F [Dirt] 1.20.00 ALLOWANCE OPTIONAL CLAIMING. Purse $75,000. Claiming Price $62,500.
(UP TO $13,050 NYSBFOA) FOR FILLIES AND MARES FOUR YEARS OLDAND UPWARD WHICH HAVE NEVER WON $10,000 TWICE OTHER THAN MAIDEN, CLAIMING, STARTER OR STATE BRED ALLOWANCE OR WHICH HAVE NEVER WON THREE RACES OR OPTIONAL CLAIMING PRICE OF $62,500
Exacta, Trifecta (.50), Super (.10), Pick 3 Races (6-8), Double
Top Horse(100.0000) - Races 747, Win Percent 30.79, $1 ROI 0.89, For Race Category Non-Maiden Dirt
Best in race Flags - (J)ockey (T)rainer (S)peed (F)inish (E)arnings (W)orkouts (L)ead (C)loser
After scratches, a horse with stats MUST be the top rated horse for the profitable condition to be valid.
Profits are for $2 Win bets. ROI is based on $1. Stats are exclusive to AQU.
Rating
P#
Horse Name
M/L
Jockey
Trainer
Flags
Profit
ROI
WPC
W#
Occ
Condition
100.0000
4
Big Birthday
6/5
Franco M
Brown Chad C.
TE
097.1147
6
Picture Day
7/2
Davis D
Rice Linda
C
096.6321
3
D J's Favorite
3-1
Alvarado J
Rice Linda
J
096.5662
5
Hailey's Flip
8-1
Gutierrez R
Capuano Gary
SW
095.2317
1
Short Kakes
6-1
Carmouche K
Cannizzo David A.
094.7248
2
Celesse
10-1
Navarro J
Taylor Joseph
FL
02/24/19, AQU, Race 7, 3.55 ET
1 1/8M [Dirt] 1.47.00 ALLOWANCE OPTIONAL CLAIMING. Purse $64,000. Claiming Price $25,000.
FOR FOUR YEAR OLDS AND UPWARD FOALED IN NEW YORK STATE AND APPROVED BY THE NEW YORK STATE-BRED REGISTRY WHICH HAVE NEVER WON $13,000 OTHER THAN MAIDEN, CLAIMING OR STARTER OR WHICH HAVE NEVER WON TWO RACES OR OPTIONAL CLAIMING PRICE OF $25,000
Exacta, Trifecta (.50), Super (.10), Double
Top Horse(100.0000) - Races 747, Win Percent 30.79, $1 ROI 0.89, For Race Category Non-Maiden Dirt
Best in race Flags - (J)ockey (T)rainer (S)peed (F)inish (E)arnings (W)orkouts (L)ead (C)loser
After scratches, a horse with stats MUST be the top rated horse for the profitable condition to be valid.
Profits are for $2 Win bets. ROI is based on $1. Stats are exclusive to AQU.
Rating
P#
Horse Name
M/L
Jockey
Trainer
Flags
Profit
ROI
WPC
W#
Occ
Condition
100.0000
4
Battle of Saratoga
9/5
Alvarado J
Motion H. Graham
JFE
097.6102
6
Broadway Bay
9/2
Worrie A S
Englehart Jeffrey S.
T
097.4805
7
Calculated Risker
4-1
Franco M
Handal Raymond
SL
096.3023
2
Here Comes Tommy
6-1
Luzzi M J
Morrison John
W
095.9128
1
Zabaione
3-1
Gutierrez R
Bond H. James
093.1344
3
Fleet Irish
15-1
Hernandez H
Sells Rachel
C
091.8809
5
Holy Week
10-1
Hernandez B
Breed. Jr. Ronald
02/24/19, AQU, Race 8, 4.26 ET
6F [Dirt] 1.07.03 MAIDEN CLAIMING. Purse $33,000. Claiming Price $25,000.
FOR MAIDENS, FILLIES AND MARES FOUR YEARS OLDAND UPWARD FOALED IN NEW YORK STATE AND APPROVED BY THE NEW YORK STATE-BRED REGISTRY
Exacta, Trifecta (.50), Super (.10)
Top Horse(100.0000) - Races 417, Win Percent 32.61, $1 ROI 0.91, For Race Category MSW_MCLM Dirt
Best in race Flags - (J)ockey (T)rainer (S)peed (F)inish (E)arnings (W)orkouts (L)ead (C)loser
After scratches, a horse with stats MUST be the top rated horse for the profitable condition to be valid.
Profits are for $2 Win bets. ROI is based on $1. Stats are exclusive to AQU.
02/24/19, SA, Race 3, 2.15 PT
6 1/2F [Turf About] 1.10.04 STARTER ALLOWANCE. Purse $33,000.
DOWNHILL TURF FOR FILLIES AND MARES FOUR YEARS OLDAND UPWARD WHICH HAVE STARTED FOR A CLAIMING PRICE OF $50,000 OR LESS AND WHICH HAVE NEVER WON A RACE OTHER THAN STATE BRED ALLOWANCE OR A RACE OTHER THAN MAIDEN OR CLAIMING
$1 Exacta /$0.50 Trifecta / $2 Rolling Double - $0.50 Rolling Pick Three (Races 3-4-5) - $1 Superfecta (.10 Min.) / $2 HRR - (RED 1,4: 4/5. BLK 2,3: 6/5. GRN 5,6: 5/1.)
Top Horse(100.0000) - Races 413, Win Percent 23.00, $1 ROI 0.73, For Race Category Non-Maiden Turf
Best in race Flags - (J)ockey (T)rainer (S)peed (F)inish (E)arnings (W)orkouts (L)ead (C)loser
After scratches, a horse with stats MUST be the top rated horse for the profitable condition to be valid.
Profits are for $2 Win bets. ROI is based on $1. Stats are exclusive to SA.
Rating
P#
Horse Name
M/L
Jockey
Trainer
Flags
Profit
ROI
WPC
W#
Occ
Condition
100.0000
3
Sheza Chattykat
4-1
Van Dyke D
Puype Mike
JSFL
099.7527
4
Gypsy Blu
4-1
Rosario J
Glatt Mark
EW
098.8084
1
Madaket Sunset
5/2
Bejarano R
O'Neill Doug F.
098.3470
2
Operandi
3-1
Espinoza A
Knapp Steve
097.6302
6
Tiny Tina
4-1
Prat F
D'Amato Philip
C
097.3687
5
Take a Leap
6-1
Baze T
Ortiz. Sr. Manuel
T
If Race Is Off Turf
Top Horse(100.0000) - Races 590, Win Percent 28.31, $1 ROI 0.81, For Race Category Non-Maiden Dirt
Best in race Flags - (J)ockey (T)rainer (S)peed (F)inish (E)arnings (W)orkouts (L)ead (C)loser
After scratches, a horse with stats MUST be the top rated horse for the profitable condition to be valid.
Profits are for $2 Win bets. ROI is based on $1. Stats are exclusive to SA.
If Race Is Off Turf
Top Horse(100.0000) - Races 405, Win Percent 34.81, $1 ROI 0.92, For Race Category MSW_MCLM Dirt
Best in race Flags - (J)ockey (T)rainer (S)peed (F)inish (E)arnings (W)orkouts (L)ead (C)loser
After scratches, a horse with stats MUST be the top rated horse for the profitable condition to be valid.
Profits are for $2 Win bets. ROI is based on $1. Stats are exclusive to SA.
If Race Is Off Turf
Top Horse(100.0000) - Races 590, Win Percent 28.31, $1 ROI 0.81, For Race Category Non-Maiden Dirt
Best in race Flags - (J)ockey (T)rainer (S)peed (F)inish (E)arnings (W)orkouts (L)ead (C)loser
After scratches, a horse with stats MUST be the top rated horse for the profitable condition to be valid.
Profits are for $2 Win bets. ROI is based on $1. Stats are exclusive to SA.
If Race Is Off Turf
Top Horse(100.0000) - Races 405, Win Percent 34.81, $1 ROI 0.92, For Race Category MSW_MCLM Dirt
Best in race Flags - (J)ockey (T)rainer (S)peed (F)inish (E)arnings (W)orkouts (L)ead (C)loser
After scratches, a horse with stats MUST be the top rated horse for the profitable condition to be valid.
Profits are for $2 Win bets. ROI is based on $1. Stats are exclusive to SA.
If Race Is Off Turf
Top Horse(100.0000) - Races 569, Win Percent 31.63, $1 ROI 0.84, For Race Category Non-Maiden Dirt
Best in race Flags - (J)ockey (T)rainer (S)peed (F)inish (E)arnings (W)orkouts (L)ead (C)loser
After scratches, a horse with stats MUST be the top rated horse for the profitable condition to be valid.
Profits are for $2 Win bets. ROI is based on $1. Stats are exclusive to GP.
If Race Is Off Turf
Top Horse(100.0000) - Races 286, Win Percent 32.52, $1 ROI 0.77, For Race Category MSW_MCLM Dirt
Best in race Flags - (J)ockey (T)rainer (S)peed (F)inish (E)arnings (W)orkouts (L)ead (C)loser
After scratches, a horse with stats MUST be the top rated horse for the profitable condition to be valid.
Profits are for $2 Win bets. ROI is based on $1. Stats are exclusive to GP.
If Race Is Off Turf
Top Horse(100.0000) - Races 286, Win Percent 32.52, $1 ROI 0.77, For Race Category MSW_MCLM Dirt
Best in race Flags - (J)ockey (T)rainer (S)peed (F)inish (E)arnings (W)orkouts (L)ead (C)loser
After scratches, a horse with stats MUST be the top rated horse for the profitable condition to be valid.
Profits are for $2 Win bets. ROI is based on $1. Stats are exclusive to GP.
If Race Is Off Turf
Top Horse(100.0000) - Races 569, Win Percent 31.63, $1 ROI 0.84, For Race Category Non-Maiden Dirt
Best in race Flags - (J)ockey (T)rainer (S)peed (F)inish (E)arnings (W)orkouts (L)ead (C)loser
After scratches, a horse with stats MUST be the top rated horse for the profitable condition to be valid.
Profits are for $2 Win bets. ROI is based on $1. Stats are exclusive to GP.
If Race Is Off Turf
Top Horse(100.0000) - Races 569, Win Percent 31.63, $1 ROI 0.84, For Race Category Non-Maiden Dirt
Best in race Flags - (J)ockey (T)rainer (S)peed (F)inish (E)arnings (W)orkouts (L)ead (C)loser
After scratches, a horse with stats MUST be the top rated horse for the profitable condition to be valid.
Profits are for $2 Win bets. ROI is based on $1. Stats are exclusive to GP.
Rating
P#
Horse Name
M/L
Jockey
Trainer
Flags
Profit
ROI
WPC
W#
Occ
Condition
100.0000
6
Picara
5-1
Velazquez J R
Pletcher Todd A.
TFW
097.1087
4
War Cabinet
3-1
Ortiz J L
McGaughey III Claude R
096.7713
7
Giant Zinger
8-1
Leparoux J R
Mott William I.
SE
096.6311
3
Madame Uno
4-1
Ortiz. Jr. I
Fawkes David
JL
096.4073
2
Majestic Angel
8-1
Castellano J
Maker Michael J.
096.2369
1
Bitacora
5/2
Vasquez M A
Walder Peter R.
C
093.5255
5
So Charming
6-1
Juarez N
Matz Michael R.
02/24/19, GP, Race 12, 5.28 ET
1M [Turf] 1.31.02 ALLOWANCE OPTIONAL CLAIMING. Purse $44,000. Claiming Price $16,000 (Races where entered for $12,500 or less not considered in allowances).
FOR STATE BRED FOUR YEAR OLDS AND UPWARD WHICH HAVE NEVER WON A RACE OTHER THAN MAIDEN, CLAIMING OR STARTER OR WHICH HAVE NEVER WON TWO RACES OR OPTIONAL CLAIMING PRICE OF $16,000
$1 Daily Double / $1 Exacta / $.50 Trifecta / $.10 Superfecta / $1 Super Hi 5 - $2 HRR - (RED 1,8,11: 4/5. BLK 2,4,5,7,10: 6/5. GRN 3,6,9: 12/1.)
Top Horse(100.0000) - Races 496, Win Percent 27.62, $1 ROI 0.96, For Race Category Non-Maiden Turf
Best in race Flags - (J)ockey (T)rainer (S)peed (F)inish (E)arnings (W)orkouts (L)ead (C)loser
After scratches, a horse with stats MUST be the top rated horse for the profitable condition to be valid.
Profits are for $2 Win bets. ROI is based on $1. Stats are exclusive to GP.
Rating
P#
Horse Name
M/L
Jockey
Trainer
Flags
Profit
ROI
WPC
W#
Occ
Condition
100.0000
1
Expected Ruler
5/2
Castellano J
Falcone. Jr. Robert N.
SE
097.5233
10
Blue Lute
7/2
Ortiz J L
Maker Michael J.
FC
26.80
1.20
36.76
25
68
Horse Best Closer
096.8087
11
Starship Apollo
4-1
Ortiz. Jr. I
O'Connell Kathleen
33.40
1.12
24.82
34
137
Last_Race Distance Is LT Today's Distance
096.7301
4
Lil Commissioner
6-1
Jaramillo E
Navarro Jorge
JT
096.4139
5
Pirate Beach
10-1
Hernandez R M
Sienkewicz William M.
W
49.80
1.17
29.25
43
147
Horse Best Workouts
094.6066
7
Squadron
9/2
Batista J A
Maragh Aubrey A.
094.5460
8
Zap Daddy
5-1
Ortiz. Jr. I
Gallegos Jose A.
093.5279
2
Blasphemy
15-1
Bravo J
Ramirez Luis M.
091.8862
3
Masterofthehouse
20-1
Hernandez. Jr. B J
Bourke W. John
33.40
1.12
24.82
34
137
Last_Race Distance Is LT Today's Distance
091.7596
9
Freedom Matters
20-1
Lopez C C
Iwinski Allen
L
090.1059
6
Russian Wine
30-1
Reyes L
Amaya Gustavo
If Race Is Off Turf
Top Horse(100.0000) - Races 569, Win Percent 31.63, $1 ROI 0.84, For Race Category Non-Maiden Dirt
Best in race Flags - (J)ockey (T)rainer (S)peed (F)inish (E)arnings (W)orkouts (L)ead (C)loser
After scratches, a horse with stats MUST be the top rated horse for the profitable condition to be valid.
Profits are for $2 Win bets. ROI is based on $1. Stats are exclusive to GP.
If Race Is Off Turf
Top Horse(100.0000) - Races 286, Win Percent 32.52, $1 ROI 0.77, For Race Category MSW_MCLM Dirt
Best in race Flags - (J)ockey (T)rainer (S)peed (F)inish (E)arnings (W)orkouts (L)ead (C)loser
After scratches, a horse with stats MUST be the top rated horse for the profitable condition to be valid.
Profits are for $2 Win bets. ROI is based on $1. Stats are exclusive to GP. | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
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Swords & Soldiers HD is a cartoonish side-scrolling RTS game from 2010 that pits Vikings, Aztecs, and Chinese forces against one another in an effort to win the favor of the gods. You do so by gathering resources, building units, and using magic (along with brute force) to defeat your opponent and destroy their castle. It has a lengthy single-player campaign, as well as a number of multiplayer modes.
In GameSpot's 8/10 Swords & Soldiers review, we said, "It may not be as serious or ponderous as other RTS games out there, but don't let its appearance fool you: Swords & Soldiers is a great example of its genre, and its simple controls and abounding good humor are likely to engage even those who have never dipped their controllers into the strategy pool."
If you download Swords & Soldiers HD for free and find that you enjoy the game, you can pre-order Swords & Soldiers II Shawarmageddon for $20 on Steam. Ronimo Games has also launched a Kickstarter to add more content to the upcoming game, with various rewards for backers depending on how much they kick in. So grab your free copy of Swords & Soldiers HD here before the price goes back up and give it a try.
Some links to supporting retailers are automatically made into affiliate links, and GameSpot may receive a small share of those sales. | {
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'Rosewater' Uses Aframe for Remote Production
Production and post services company Sixteen19 used Aframe’s video production platform to expedite digital dailies delivery for Jon Stewart’s film Rosewater.
During production, Sixteen19 uploaded H.264 files to Aframe’s secure private cloud, where Aframe created a link to the footage and automatically sent it with an expiration date to team members and executives, who could review and approve content online, or download it locally on their iPad or laptop to view offline. “With Aframe, reviewers could make frame-accurate comments on the H.264 proxy that Aframe generates,” explains Ben Baker, workflow supervisor on Rosewater for Sixteen19, “and the metadata stays intact all the way through to the edit suite.”
Blackmagic Design today announced that Austin, Texas based full service production studio Zodiac Studios is using an ATEM Television Studio Pro 4K live production switcher and Video Assist 4K monitor/recorders for its ongoing Austin Music Live series. Cofounded by Robert Calder, owner and executive producer at Zodiac Studios, along with Producer and Creator David Christopher, the live streamed series celebrates the rich and diverse local talent that makes Austin the live music capital of the world. Austin Music Live supports and fosters the city’s $2 billion music tourism industry. | {
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SEO for new osCommerce site
Ended at:28/09/2008
Fixed Price
$$
Posted7 years ago
Proposals
2
Remote
#3962
Archived
have already sent a proposal.
1
1
Description
Site, fully constructed and active, developed using osCommerce requires to be optimized for search engines and any functionality enhancements.
The site will sell unique handmade jewellery from the Middle East, through office based in the UK. | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
Testimonials
To really know what coaching can do for you, read what others have to say…
Elaine Simpson
Office Manager, Mother & Grandmother
Rogers, AR, USA
I’ve had the privilege to be “coached” by Dan Carson. Going into these sessions, I wasn’t sure what it was all about or even what we would talk about, but was surprised to find my sessions with Dan enlightening. I have a habit of just going through life without plans or goals, during several sessions I would have an “aha!” moment , realizing that there were things I could do to accomplish more in my life than I had even thought of before. As a result I have branched out of my comfort zone and learned several new things. I have learned to set goals in dealing with others and to pray for people more. I would definitely recommend Dan as a Life Coach.
Amanda Huffman
Human Resources Officer & Mother of 2
Austin, Texas, USA
Balance does not come to me naturally. I am the type of person who dives into things head first and get tunnel vision. Combined with the fact that I lead recruiting and HR in a start-up I lost the battle of finding balance quickly. I was in desperate need of reconnecting my mind, my body and spirit. I was stuck and wanted to function in life in a more peace filled and higher level manner. I knew I needed to work on organization, so all aspects of my life will would in synergy together and had no idea how to do it. And then I found Dan Carson.
Dan has a special talent in his line of work. He is compassionate, loving, spiritual (on a universal level), insightful and empowering. Dan has many tools, but I think the most amazing thing that he does is really listen and hear what you are fumbling and trying to say. He pinpointed the roots of my issues, and is helping me work through them. Dan has an uncanny ability to get to the heart of what is going on with you. He is intuitive and insightful and gave me a fresh perspective. Dan knows exactly what to say and stimulates dialogue, knowing when and how to push and when it is too much.
Dan’s enthusiasm and calm are contagious. Trust usually takes time for me to establish, but with Dan, he garnered it instantly. There is no judgment from Dan. He is grounded and intuitive and I found this to be so empowering. This is NOT coaching that requires you to do months of work to start seeing results. I quickly began to break through blocks. He has a great way of helping you re-energize and gain clarity and momentum quickly. He is a natural born motivator, but doesn’t browbeat or nag you to help you meet your goals, or even to define and set them. We have a very collaborative relationship. He guides you with empathy. Dan is very intuitive and is a subject matter expert… on life!
Dan has helped me implement changes in my life, both in work and personal and stayed with me to support me while making those changes really happen. We work together at me being my best and doing more than I thought I could do. He is never afraid to tell me the truth in the most supportive and gentle way even in emotionally charged situations. He handles everything with such finesse that it feels positive.
I am not saying that he does magic, like “poof” and your life gets better. Dan helps you understand how your mind and body is connected, and gives you tools so you can work on your stuff. He is a rare gem and I can’t recommend him enough!
Mark Haines
Pastor
Bay City, Michigan, USA
Have you ever worked on a project for a long time only to think if I had known that sooner I would have saved a lot of time? Dan Carson is the kind of coach who will help you discover those things sooner. I know because he has helped me. | {
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An efficient hybrid algorithm for the two-machine no-wait flow shop problem with separable setup times and single server
Contents:
We consider the two-machine no-wait flow shop problem with separable setup times and single server side constraints, and makespan as the performance measure. This problem is strongly NP-hard. A mathematical model of the problem is developed and a number of propositions are proven for the special cases. Furthermore, a hybrid algorithm of variable neighbourhood search (VNS) and Tabu search (TS) is proposed for the generic case. For evaluation, a number of test problems with small instances are generated and solved to optimality. Computational results show that the proposed algorithm is able to reproduce the optimal solutions of all of the small-instance test problems. For larger instances, proposed solutions are compared with the results of the famous two-opt algorithm as well as a lower bound that we develop in this paper. This comparison demonstrates the efficiency of the algorithm to find good-quality solutions. [Received 25 November 2009; Revised 26 February 2010; Revised 19 March 2010; Accepted 20 March 2010]
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Content
Industry stewards, or major product and battery manufacturers across the globe, voluntarily fund our programs to ensure that the batteries and cellphones that they introduce into the marketplace are being responsibly recycled when they reach their end of life. | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
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Courses
Course Library
This course will take planners through a case study multi-family property valuation. The course will build upon previous course topics of time discounting, internal rate of return, net operating income, lease structures, debt payments, and risk assessment.
Learn how the CommunityViz extension of ArcGIS can guide the design of a project and assess the project's impact. This course specifically focuses on a suitability analysis using essential functions and the Land Use Designer wizard.
This fifth installment of the GIS Fundamentals series provides instruction on how to geocode addresses, the basics of geoprocessing, and the use of ArcGIS Online for collaborative mapping and processing.
The fourth installment of the Geographic Information Systems Fundamentals series explains how to configure data sets, including advanced methods for selecting data through spatial and SQL queries, working with relational databases and geodatabases, and importing non-spatial data into ArcGIS.
This course establishes a workflow for an illustrative site plan, including how to represent existing conditions and create detailed plans for specific areas within a larger project. Building on AutoCAD 101, learn to draw more complex plans using aerial imagery, photography, and hand-drawn sketches as the base layer.
Combining ArcGIS and Google Earth allows for a convenient, powerful way to create and share professional, accurate spatial visualizations of geographical analysis to a wide audience. This course explores how to prep shape files for ingestion into Google Earth, share city data with the public, and aid in pre-visualizing via geo-referencing around potential development sites.
In this course you will learn practical applications for CommunityViz, one of the world's premiere GeoDesign and planning scenario tools. Planners, resource managers, local and regional governments, and others use CommunityViz to help them make decisions about development, land use, transportation, conservation and more.
Whether you're new to population analysis or just need a refresher, this course offers a comprehensive overview of the steps necessary to conduct analysis and develop projections using publicly available data. The course reviews Census data and builds skills, such as population projection, cohort survival, and concentration calculations that are essential for every professional in the planning and design community. | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
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Stressed, tired, need to relax and unwind from the daily cares of work, relationships and what ever it is that's got you all wound-up? Here are six easy, natural and healthy ways to reduce your stress hormones, get some much needed rest and relaxation and improve your mood.
Lavender: Lavender, which is native to the Mediterranean basin, has been shown to treat mild insomnia. Made from the dried flowers and essential oils of the plant, lavender products are available in many forms, including potpourri, body lotions, teas and candles...
Dark Chocolate:Chocolate lovers, rejoice! Here’s yet another excuse to eat the beloved treat on a regular basis (as if you even needed a reason). A recent study published in the Journal of Proteome Researchfound that eating just 1.4 oz of dark chocolate can lower the stress hormones cortisol and catecholamines in the body, which helps reduce anxiety. Plus, the pure joy of eating your favorite treat triggers the release of endorphins in your brain, which offers an immediate happiness boost, according to Gans.
Peanut Butter: Feeling irritable or unfocused from lack of sleep? According to Gans, both are signs your body needs fuel, and eating peanut butter might help. “Peanuts are high in vitamin B6, which helps regulate blood sugar and stabilize mood,” says Gans. Choose natural peanut butter to avoid excess sugar, which could negate the positive effects of the B6, and spread it on a hard-to-break-down carbohydrate, like whole-wheat toast, to stay satisfied longer.
Whole Grains: Need a happiness boost? Try snacking on a healthy portion of complex carbohydrates, thought to trigger the release of serotonin, a neurotransmitter known as the “feel-good hormone,” which can help you feel calm, relaxed and happy all at once, says Gans. The ideal carbs include whole grains and cereals (whole-grain breads, oats, quinoa and brown rice) as well as legumes (peas, beans and lentils).
Chamomile Tea: Some nights, it's our minds we can't turn off; other nights, it’s our bodies. When it's the latter, chamomile can help. According to research from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, the herb, native to Europe and Asia and most commonly consumed as tea, has been shown in animal studies to suppress muscle spasms, effectively calming the body. Note: Pregnant women and those who are allergic to hay or ragweed should consult their physician before using chamomile.
Sweet Potatoes: Next time you’re overcome with the urge to eat away your anxiety, keep this in mind: Sweet potatoes work as a powerful stress-busting food because of their sweet flavor and high concentration of carbohydrates—two common stress-related cravings. To boot, sweet potatoes are high in fiber, which helps you digest food in a slow and steady manner, keeping you physically—and emotionally—satisfied longer, according to Keri Gans, RD author of The Small Change Diet.
Article Source: womansday.com
Will you try these stress remedies and relaxation techniques? Leave a comment below. | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
Basketball Wives Recap: The Wives Go to Tahiti
Ugh, Basketball Wives just have so many ISSUES. It’s not even funny, except when it is. Royce wants her dad to say that he’s proud of her, that she’s good enough. And sometimes she just wants a hug from him. Maybe I’d have more sympathy if she didn’t cry in such a way that makes me want to kill puppies. And I love puppies.
Tami also has problems, but she’s working on them with her anger management sessions. She wants to brag to her doctor about how she’s made “personal leaps and bounds,” which obviously means that she’s going to not make personal leaps and bounds later in the episode. She brags about how she’s been stopping and thinking, playing the peacemaker. But when the subject turns to Kesha, she admits that she didn’t address the issue the way she should have, though it’s an improvement. The “old Tami” would have hit her, the new Tami makes a conscious effort not to smack people in the face.
Royce is still trying to get her dad Robert and her boyfriend Dezmon on the same page because she is “Daddy’s girl” and “Dezmon’s woman.” At lunch, it all turns to sh!t because Royce’s dad calls her needy, and Dezmon has a blank look on his face because this situation is awkward. Period.
Then Dezmon admits that, honestly, it’s a little true, and Royce leaves the table. Dezmon goes after her, and finds her crying to her mother on the phone. She denies that she’s needy because she gives away her heart, and is also pissed that he brought this issue up in front of her pops. He says it’s not a negative thing, just sometimes he feels overwhelmed. Dezmon continues to be awkward, Robert eats his food with a huff and a head shake while still in the restaurant. Eventually, Dezmon hugs her. Took long enough.
Chad is home sick, acting like a baby. He and Evelyn do their cute thing of having a connection or whatever. He says he’s her hunk of “chocolate.” Har, har. Next up, Evelyn joins Tami for a walk-and-talk and shop session. Tami thinks it would be good for Evelyn to get on the anger management bandwagon, which might be good for her person, but not for the show. Evelyn seems up to the idea. When the topic turns to Tahiti, Tami says that she’s not looking forward to going because of Kesha. “There’s only so much I can take before I burst,” she explains.
“We in Tahiti, b!tches!” someone exclaims. And it’s true. All the Wives are there, minus Jen and Kenya (Royce wasn’t invited, I presume). Shaunie doesn’t know what that means but, um, do they even hang out? Whatevs. Tami gets annoyed in the car because Kesha keeps coughing without covering her mouth properly. “It’s a big deal for me,” she says, “I don’t tolerate that from anybody.” This is serious shiz, yo. Then Suzie asks if cannibals still live in Tahiti, which is both offensive and stupid and offensively stupid. Everyone’s in awe of the beauty that abounds around them, and as they enter their room, they’re met with flowers all about their bungalow. Everyone toasts to having “no drama,” which is literally laugh-out-loudable.
During their first dinner in Tahiti, they plot to put a dead fish in Kenya’s room so it’ll smell when she joins them on the trip. These b!tches be doing high school again, what else is new? When Suzie brings up the Jen situation, we learn that Jen tweeted something directed towards Nia to all her followers, which is just prolonging the conflict and stress. Shaunie brings up her plan to go swim with sting rays and sharks, to which Tami says, “Heeeell to the no.” When they’re on this boat, we learn that Jen is coming on the trip later as well. Tami is actually glad because a) it’s tradition and b) Evelyn needs to get some things off her chest. Kesha’s just getting on Tami’s nerves because she’s acting scared of everything, like getting into the water. Eventually, she does. But not soon after, we hear a scream. (What else is new? This show is terrifying.)
Things take a turn for the drunken and messy when they decide to have shots. Tami’s sitting next to Kesha and starts getting annoyed with her. Then the “Tasmanian Tami” (Shaunie’s words) comes out, and she confronts Kesha about when Kesha talked behind her back, saying that she wanted to go off on Tami, but didn’t want to embarrass her any more than she already embarrassed herself. “I’m not the b!tch you wanna start with. Don’t start with me,” Tami warns. She wants respect. “You wanted to go off on me? B!tch, here’s your chance!” she yells. Kesha denies this, Tami proclaims that she can’t be fake around girls she doesn’t like. The whole time that Tami’s going off the deep end, Kesha stares placidly at her and tunes her out. “I just look at her like the fool she is,” Kesha says. Oh honey, everyone’s a fool when it comes to this show. | {
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Hi, Everyone, I use the larger memory instance to replace that small one,for now, I can create the topic, but when I try to produce message, itstill gives the same error.Its so weird. can any one help me? Thanks2013/10/10 Jiang Jacky <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Hi, AniketThanks for your replyI checked the log from /tmp/kafka-logs/There are some empty files, likes 00000000000000000000.index,00000000000000000000.log. I cannot find any useful information there.However, i found some other interesting things, I have posted herehttps://mail.google.com/mail/ca/u/0/#label/TechDiscuss/141a5c074641dd70Please have a look. Thanks a lot.2013/10/11 Aniket Bhatnagar <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> | {
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Could A "Third-Way" Employment Status Save The Gig Economy?
As anyone following the news over the past week will know, food delivery start-up Deliveroo has been involved in a heated battle with its "employees" over a new compensation deal introduced by the company. Under the proposed arrangement, Deliveroo drivers would have had their hourly rate replaced by a fee paid per delivery. While the company argued that this would enable drivers to make more money per hour than would be possible under a fixed wage, drivers rebelled against the increased instability of income and lack of pay for time spent waiting between orders. Deliveroo caved in after a barrage of negative media coverage and a public reprimanding from the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, with the firm's CEO William Shu apologising and offering drivers the choice between an hourly or per delivery rate.
The Deliveroo affair follows on the heels of several similar scandals, with Uber, Addison Lee and courier service Hermes all receiving negative press - and in some cases being taken to court by their workers - over the past several months. While specific details vary, all revolve around the legitimacy of workers being classed as self-employed contractors rather than employees, with the different tax obligations and employee entitlements this implies. While the firms involved argue that their workers are freely contracted agents who appreciate the flexibility and earn decent money, some disgruntled workers claim they are working like full-time employees but being denied employee status - all so their employers can reduce their national insurance contributions and deny them benefits and the minimum wage.
The truth, as always, lies somewhere in between. While instances certainly exist of companies falsely classing their workers as self-employed to reduce costs - a phenomenon known as "bogus self-employment" - in many cases both the company and the worker value the flexibility and hands-off relationship that comes with self-employed status. However, problems are arising because some employers dependent on self-employed labour are using their workers in a way that closely resembles formal employment. Just think of the parcel couriers, Deliveroo cyclists and Uber drivers who have no say in determining the pricing of their labour or the regulations and procedures surrounding their work. Furthermore, many work hours equal to if not greater than those of full-time employees, and - despite this not being a condition of genuinely self-employed labour - are obliged to work a minimum amount.
This lack of clarity and mismatched expectations around employment status are creating uncertainty among both businesses and workers in the gig economy. The former argue that the freedom of their staff to choose their own hours precludes them access to employee benefits, while the latter claim they are subject to restrictions and conditions that make them employees rather than genuinely self-employed contractors.
This uncertainty is undesirable for several reasons. It is bad for self-employed workers, who are unsure of where they stand and (some of whom) are left feeling exploited. It is bad for companies - both established firms and start-ups alike - that rely on self-employed workers and have to worry about being penalised by HMRC for false categorisation and/or being taken to court by their workers - with all the undesirable press that entails. Some companies might even feel pressured to knowingly hire the "bogus self-employed" if that is the only way to keep up with unscrupulous competitors. But above all, the lack of clarity is bad for the meaning of self-employment itself, which has begun to lose the entrepreneurial connotations it deserves and is instead increasingly seen as a byword for worker insecurity and corporate cost-cutting.
This suggests that we need to update our way of looking at employment to move beyond the "employed/self-employed" dichotomy. Having a third form of employment status somewhere in between would enable us to acknowledge the less formal relationship some workers have with their employers, without pretending they are just as free as the genuinely self-employed. Such a status could provide workers in the "gig economy" with additional benefits and protections, without fundamentally undermining the flexible business model that entrepreneurs in the sector depend on. Indeed, as Deliveroo's own Mr. Shu pointed out in a recent interview, the changing workplace means "there are laws drawn up years ago that may be less relevant for today's economy."
This third way approach has gained some traction lately, with a 2015 Office of Tax Simplification Employment Status report discussing it as a possible way forward. Some have suggested that the UK already has a third status - that of the "worker", which grants some employee benefits, such as the minimum wage and sick pay, but not all - that could be the solution. As it turns out, the British Uber drivers currently taking their employer before a tribunal are seeking worker - rather than employee - status. Aside from a third employment status, the OTS report also explores a variety of alternative solutions, such as a "statutory employment test" to reduce uncertainty and a "de minimis" amount of work (in terms of time and/or income) above which a person would automatically gain employee status.
Whatever the answer, it is clear that an update to employment law is needed, so that self-employment continues to be seen as the free and entrepreneurial choice that is is, rather than the product of necessity and coercion. | {
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The past summer, the first of my retirement, my early morning hours were spent on Ancestry.com researching our family histories to bring this process, started 2013 in preparation for our tour of Ireland, to a point where I can start to consolidate it into a document shared with other family members.
Pam, at the Cobh Heritage Center
It is a wonderful feeling when the pieces come together. For example the passenger manifest when Grandfather McArdle brought Grandmother and then three year old Mom to Quebec, Canada from the port of Belfast April 1926.
Outside the exhibits there was this collection of authentic emigration trunks on a hand cart.My father’s trunk from the war was stenciled with his name. A. Lett. took such care marking this suitcase, blocking out the black ground for the carefully hand written white letters.
Their belongings are gathered together in just such a manner. My parents marked all my belongings that left the home with me with my name and address.
Our thought were on this when we selected this suitcase marked with the shamrock from a “Christmas Store” along the streets of the Pennsylvania town of Jim Thorpe, as the memory of our ancestors our exploration of Ireland.
Our Nutcracker wooden figure carries a weight of memories. Early memories are of my sister, Christina’s Sugar Plum Fairy solo for Saint Aidan Parish talent program, Mom’s appreciation of performance of Swan Lake in her pre-child past, a friend of my Mom was a former dancer who taught Christina ballet. Hanging quietly, these memories swirl around the Nutcrackers open maw.
Click this photograph for my Fine Art Photography gallery
Ten years ago we observed New Years Day 2009 in the lobby of Winthrop Medical Center, Mineola, New York waiting for the outcome of Mom’s hip replacement surgery grateful the head of Orthopedics was performing the surgery. That year saw large changes played out in the last four years of her life, she never returned to her home of 52 years.
From then on her winters were spent with her daughter Diane in Mesa, Arizona. Mom would call us, amused at the sight of neighbors walking by in 50 degree weather in winter parkas. She was well known in Albertson for her habit of walking everywhere, it was fortunate she never needed to learn how to drive a car: all she needed was readily at hand.
I needed to return to Albertson several times a year to our childhood home. December 2009, Pam and I melded the trip with a day in New York City. Memories of Mom’s enjoyment of Swan Lake drew me to purchase tickets for The Nutcracker. The New York City Ballet has performed The Nutcracker every Christmas season since 1954, when I was one year old. The 56th performance was our first.
As with Dante’s version of hell, the David H. Koch Theater has rings. I sprang for the highest ring, the fourth, the least costly and, optimistically, the best vantage to view the formations of grouped dancers.
A full orchestra is dedicated to each performance, the hall acoustics are fabulous, and we were able to appreciate the scenes, the grouped dancers and, even, the soloists. The last scene of the first act, the Snowflakes (or Snow Crystals), brought tears to my eyes, the music, the scene was impossibly beautiful and brought back some experiences of mine in winter nature.
We were hooked after that, immersed in the very real (i.e., non-virtual) alternate reality at least two Sunday afternoon performances each year, seeing all Tchaikovsky’s ballets in the style of Balanchine for which the New York Ballet is famous. For the 59th season of The Nutcracker were brought two granddaughters, took fourth third row orchestra seats. We marveled at the experience. It included, during intermission, a photo session with a character from the performance.
Here they are with a Snowflake. This is a scan of one of the 8 x 10 prints we received from this session.
Nia and Gabby with the Nutcracker Ballet character “Snowflake” during the intermission of a December 2012 performance.
We planned to share a performance of Swan Lake with Mom during the September 2013 season, in her 90th year. Mom passed away in her birth month, June, 2013.
Carrying on the thoughts on lambency from my last post, “Christmas Ornaments 2018 III”, here is a macro of our Christmas tree. There is no element of the Christmas celebration so puzzling to outsiders as the practice of sacrificing a beautiful tree, to drag it inside for display, presenting a part of the forest as a sacred object, touched by light or, in earlier times, tongues of fire (candles).
Click this photograph for my Fine Art Photography galleryPam presents me with a Christmas ornament every year and this was the first.
Stories of the fragrance of holiness, sometimes attributed to the Holy Spirit or Saints, are sprinkled throughout traditional Christianity within personal testimony and scripture as well as in our celebrations and rites as incense. A character of the freshly cut pine that melds well with this tradition is the unmistakable fragrance of a freshly cut evergreen conifer , reminiscent of the precious, aromatic resin frankincense, one of the gifts to the infant Jesus from the three wise men of the east. In spite of saving several dozen authentic trees, our artificial conifer has not acquired the sacred fragrance.
The first blown-glass bulbs, such as our large elaborate specimen of the photograph, were produced by heating sand to the melting point, putting a dab on the end of a very long heat resistant pipe. When encircled by a clay mold, when the pipe is blown into the glass expands to coat with clay with a thin layer of glass. The addition of silver and other shiny compounds allow the finished product to capture and reflect light. Each bulb is its own lambent tongue of flame, licked with captive light.
The attitude of today’s resin figure, alert, vigilant, aware while not exactly at odds with her accoutrements, provide a counter point to the flower banner and crown, a basket of flowers.
Click this Photograph for my Fine Art Photography gallery.
After publishing my previous post, “Christmas Ornaments 2018 II”, a word that escaped me during that writing came to mind. Lambent came to mind. From the Latin meaning “to lick”, used in the sense of “to glow with light”, as in a tongue of flickering flame, a visual analog to the numinous as in halos of the saints such as the “Immaculate Conception” of the first post of this series.
This fairy is entirely, by her dress, of an older version of this world, defiantly hanging on. Proud of her accomplishments, ready to vanish in a moment. Doing exactly as she pleases and happy to leave lambency to a fellow traveler, the Christmas Tree.
Pam integrated this charming resin figure into her mantle “Immaculate Conception” Christmas tableau (click link for this post). A former co-worker (Pam is retired) gifted a pair of these for Christmas. The lady was a dedicated cable shopper before the internet era, sharing with Pam the news of her latest acquisitions. She was similar to my Mother in this way, at the time of Mom’s passing the Asian Immaculate Conception statue of the previous post was set aside, carefully packed away, in her basement to be used as a future gift for one of us (her) children. Mom was a catalog shopper.
Click photograph for my Fine Art Photography Gallery
This winged creature, placed as an attendant to the Virgin within the tableau, is a fairy or sprite, not an angel. As visualized for the popular imagination, descendants of Victorian fancy, these are nature spirits, tied to the earth, part of the natural environment as in the illustrations of Arthur Rackham for Shakespeare’s “Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
Our attendant is a citified, well dressed, cousin of the rural sprites. She could walk down a New York City street and may not incite too much attention from passerbys except for her flower banner, spring garland headdress and preternatural beauty, not to mention the gemstone the size of a egg around her right wrist. Oh, and the wings.
Our sprite bears a well wrapped gift, signaling her as an emblem of the Christmas (or birthday?) season, an attendant to the future Mother of Jesus walking on a tinsel cloud among the spheres of heaven. | {
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The first 80 minutes of the film are bland and boring filled with lackluster performances. It seems even Denzel Washington becomes so distracted by directing that he forgets how to act. Watching this film would make you wonder how he ever won an Oscar. Unfortunately his directing doesn't improve as a result of his over-focus: The cameras angles are all over the place, the cinematographyThe first 80 minutes of the film are bland and boring filled with lackluster performances. It seems even Denzel Washington becomes so distracted by directing that he forgets how to act. Watching this film would make you wonder how he ever won an Oscar. Unfortunately his directing doesn't improve as a result of his over-focus: The cameras angles are all over the place, the cinematography needs some real work, and the actors seem to eager to close scenes and become cliches of themselves. It is only during the final moments of the film that the acting becomes truly dynamic, the camera angles become better used, and with the help of the the score and editing these final moment become emotionally impactful. It seems that the film does what few films are capable of: Creating an ending that almost forces the viewer to forget about all of the tired cliches used in the rest of the film. Unfortunately, the ending is still not capable of forcing all the sleep from our eyes and thus at this point, the film stands as only slightly above average. But any effort to call it more than average suddenly fails when it is realized that Fisher's biopic tale is made of misinformation and deceit throughout.…Expand | {
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Did you ask the Lord for patience?
Did you plead for it in prayer?
But when tribulation tried you,
Did you think He didn’t care?
Oh, my child, He heard and answered,
Answered full your earnest cry:
“Tribulation worketh patience!”
Now you know the reason why.
Did you ask Him for submission?
Did you ask for it in prayer?
But when suffering came upon you,
Did you think it wasn’t fair?
Ah, my dear, He heard and answered,
Though not how you wished, ‘tis clear;
For we only learn submission
By the things we suffer here.
‘Twas unselfishness you wanted?
Did you plead for it in prayer?
But the sacrifice He asked for,
Did it seem too great to bear?
Ah, He cared, He heard and answered,
Answered full your heart-felt prayer;
For we learn to be unselfish,
By the sacrifice we bear.
Did you ask the Lord for victory?
Well, He took you at your word!
Tho’ when the battle raged around you,
You wondered if He’d heard.
Ah, my child, He heard and answered,
And He gave you your request:
For how can you win a victory
If you never face a test?
Did you ask to be made humble?
Not to have self-righteous pride?
But then wonder when He published
All your failings far and wide?
Well, my child, that was His answer
To your prayer of desperation:
The surest way to be made humble,
Is to bear humiliation.
Judge not God with mortal’s judgement,
When your prayers are answered so;
For the truest paths for Christians,
Often lead through vales of woe.
And the answers that He gives you,
Will be truly good and fair:
Though you may not understand them
Till you view from over there!
Trials work best when there is nowhere else to turn. If we believed that there was somewhere else to turn then sad to say, we would turn that way. Jesus said, “He that putteth his hand to the plough and looketh back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.” We turn to Jesus and return to Jesus because there is nothing there to look back at and so we get the victory! | {
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Stratasys has dropped a full-color 3D printed bombshell with the introduction of the new J55 3D Printer that combines a number of features in a printer that’s sized and priced for small and medium design and engineering business.
The J55 is a full-color 3D printer with a rotating build platform, stationary head, odor-free operation, native 3D file format support, 3MF file format support, with clear, 478k color gamut, and Pantone support. This all comes together at a price of $99,000, half of their J8 PolyJet shop series with much of the capability in a footprint that’s just a bit over 4 sq ft.
The Stratasys J55 with a small 4.6 sq ft (.43 sq m) footprint.
They call the J55 a “full-color, office-friendly 3D printer for designers” and the features reveal a lot about that. It hits a sweet spot between desktop and shop-size 3D printers that has been mostly dismissed; a spot where prototyping could save the cost of the printer in a single project alone.
As Tim Greene, a research director for 3D printing at global research firm IDC says, “We know that the risk and time involved with traditional prototyping simply doesn’t work anymore, yet there’s no room for compromise on design. Designers can and should do a lot more prototyping in-house, from initial concept modeling to highly realistic final prototypes. It’s just been a matter of bringing enterprise quality to a design shop’s price point and workspace. And now we’re there.”
The printer uses the same model and support material as the PolyJet printers with the same texture and transparency capabilities and support for X-Rite Pantone colors.
The range of realistic colors and texture capabilities on the J55.
Where this all comes together to greatly simplify the process and improve the quality is the native support for 3D file formats. This includes support for SOLIDWORKS, CATIA, PTC Creo, NX, and Inventor CAD file formats, as well as direct full-color printing of KeyShot rendered scenes through a new 3MF color workflow.
From KeyShot rendering to 3D print on the J55 with Pantone verified colors.
With a focus on designers and the prototyping process the 3D render from KeyShot to 3D print on the J55, with support for clear/translucent materials, gradients, and Pantone colors
The 3MF color workflow from KeyShot to the J55 allows visual and physical consistency.
This file format support, made possible by GrabCAD Print, is significant in an industry where the workflow has depended largely on low-quality STL, OBJ, and VRML files.
With the small footprint, a sub-53 dB noise level, their zero-odor ProAero™ Air Extractor, and single-phase (120/220 VAC) power, Stratasys have designed this for the office workspace.
The J55 is expected to ship July 2020 with pre-orders available now and the 3MF color workflow from KeyShot currently in beta and expected in Fall 2020. | {
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Okay, so all of this retro stuff was brought to my attention on Tuesday night. My roommate Currie and I, for some (unknown) reason, decided to look up a Lionel Ritchie music video on You Tube. Please check out the hilariousness that is the vid for "Dancing on the Ceiling." My favorite part is the 'special effects' - his shirt never even moves when he dances upside down!
So then, we HAD to take a You Tube journey through our childhood. What ever happened to the 90s heartthrobs whose posters plastered my walls growing up? Does anyone remember Devon Sawa throwing touchdowns in Little Giants or capturing hearts when he came back to life to dance with Christina Ricci in Casper? How about loveable "Randy" on Home Improvement known affectionately by his fans as 'J.T.T.'? Why doesn't anyone hum the theme song to Blossom anymore? If you're unfamiliar, you can check out a clip of it here Oh man, did I used to have a crush on Joey Lawrence. Whoa!
More classic TV shows in the 90s included Saved by the Bell and 90210. (I used to tape all of the episodes on VHS – yes it was that long ago! – while I was at school so I could watch them later.) The success of the original 90210 was so huge that the CW is now introducing a 90210 remake set to debut this fall – I wonder if a Saved by the Bell remake will follow?
And how is Mark-Paul Gosselaar doing these days? Perez recently posted a picture of the now-aged "Zack Morris"- he has really stayed out of the public eye in the last few years. Unlike Mario Lopez (or "Slater") who has sashayed his way to reality TV glory, culminating with his Broadway debut in A Chorus Line. | {
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Guard Your Gates
by Julia Glattfelt
This is an article that I don’t really want to write. I don’t even want to think about it, and perhaps that is the whole problem. Nobody does! If I were to phrase this as a riddle it would be: What do millions of people think about and explore every day, but never in the context of sin? This is a sin that flies under the radar. It is hidden, personal, and therefore, taboo to discuss or admit guilt. And those who do admit to participation in this sin relegate it to a ‘victimless crime’ that hurts no one. “Everybody does it.” Really? We are instructed in scripture to guard our gates. That means everything we touch, consume, hear, speak and see is a gateway to our body, heart and mind: in other words, our temple. There are many avenues I could address with regard to guarding our gates, but this article will deal with pornography.
Did Yeshua have anything to say on this topic?
SO, WHAT HAS THIS GOT TO DO WITH HEBREW ROOTS?
A few days ago, I was trying to look up something on my phone through the internet. My phone is small, I was a passenger in a moving car, and my screen was difficult to read. So, these being the conditions, I accidentally touched the wrong thing on a side-bar. Instead of finding the definition of the term I was looking up, I wound up with a hard-core pornography site on my phone. Not only was it disgusting and absolutely opposite from what I was seeking to find, it turned itself into my ‘home’ page! When I tried to sweep it away it opened yet another porn site! The second one was even worse as it was targeted specifically to TEENS! To say I was horrified is an understatement.
I was not only horrified, I was angry. Here were images that I didn’t want to see, from a site I didn’t seek out and that I stumbled on unintentionally, and that was designed in such a way that it was difficult to remove! The predatory nature of this incident was just horrible!
I just wanted it gone! I didn’t want to look at it while I tried to remove it either! I couldn’t help but think how easy it must be for our children to accidentally find this kind of trash! And, when I saw the linked one was billed as the ‘best Teen site in HD’ I almost lost it.
WHAT DOES THIS SAY ABOUT OUR SOCIETY?
Today the porn industry brings in $12 Billion dollars a year (these figures are from 2004, so these figures have exploded exponentially). The porn industry is sustained, in part, by sex trafficking (slavery and kidnapping that are condemned in Torah)! It is largely a part of our society that gets little overt attention. On the contrary, it is mostly hidden in the cloak of darkness. It is the dirty little secret that everyone knows about and few condemn lest they be called a prude or intolerant.
Not many feminists decry the exploitation and objectification of women (or men for that matter) into purely sexual objects. There is little discussion from the clergy about this either. This is probably a reflection of the wide-spread nature of pornography. Users cross all ages, ethnic, economic, and social lines, and it is just as prevalent within the religious community as otherwise.
“So how did we get here? Only 40 years ago Elvis Presley made rock history with a few well-placed pelvic thrusts, and Marilyn Monroe shocked our sexual sensibilities with modest bathing suits and demure glances. Now Carmen Electra’s stripper workouts are a staple of household aerobics, and 12 percent of the worldwide web is devoted to pornographic sites. Pornography is in our living rooms, on our computers and television screens, and buried deep in the experiences of our spouses, children, and siblings. And, by all accounts, it’s here to stay.” – See more at: http://www.salvomag.com/new/articles/salvo2/2coleman.php#sthash.5ud3l02j.dpuf”
This article is not going to give you all the facts and figures. For that I recommend reading the article on Salvo sited above for more information. To say the statistics are horrifying is an understatement. The most awful is this: “The average child is 11 years old at the time of his or her first exposure. Twenty percent of all children have been sexually solicited on the web; more than 90 percent of 8 to 16-year-olds have viewed pornography online, and 80 percent of 15 to 17-year-olds have had multiple exposures to hardcore pornography.”
Yeshua said, “but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.” (Mat 18:6 )
So, even if we don’t participate in this industry by indulging in it, we are complicit when we sweep it under the rug and say nothing!
ISN’T THIS JUST A PERSONAL THING?
The effects on society are profound. It is not just a personal vice or a harmless addiction. It exploits children, women and men, and irreparably damages the most basic foundations of our society: fidelity, morality and the sanctity of marriage. It glorifies sex without relationship, and to those addicted by this, there is an ever-expanding need for ever more deviant behaviors to watch to achieve the desired sense of excitement. It destroys marriages, relationships, childhood innocence, distorts sexual expectation and satisfaction between partners, and feeds the already damaged among us to transform fantasies into horrific acts of child molestation, rape and murder.
Side effects of our acceptance and participation in pornography are wide-spread. We are all reaping the fields of the seed sown by this world-wide and insidious preoccupation with sex, and much of that is deviant sex at that. Pornography diminishes any sense of modesty. It contributes to the sexualization of our children. We are all desensitized to its filthiness as it is commonplace in films which allude to or depict infidelity, meaningless sex, homosexuality, sado-masochism and worse. It is creeping into our television programs as well. R-rated movies are equivalent to what used to be labeled as X-rated in the past.
The slippery slope is well greased, and one wonders where the bottom can be found.
WHAT DOES SCRIPTURE HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THIS?
The 7th Commandment is the prohibition against adultery.
Exo 20:14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Yeshua made it clear as he explained the heart connection in Torah. He said, “You know the commandment which says, “Be faithful in marriage. But I tell you that if you look at another woman and want her, you are already unfaithful in your thoughts.” (Mat 5:27-28 )
Pornography meets the requirement of transgressing this instruction. It is sin.
BUT, WHAT IF I AM UNMARRIED?! HOW CAN IT BE ADULTERY THEN?
Paul spoke about the works of the flesh.
God wants you to be holy, so don’t be immoral in matters of sex.
Respect and honor your wife.
Don’t be a slave of your desires or live like people who don’t know God.
You must not cheat any of the Lord’s followers in matters of sex. Remember, we warned you that he punishes everyone who does such things.
God didn’t choose you to be filthy, but to be pure.
So if you don’t obey these rules, you are not really disobeying us. You are disobeying God, who gives you his Holy Spirit. (1Th 4:3-8)
Now the works of the flesh are clearly revealed, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lustfulness, (Gal 5:19)
Don’t be controlled by your body. Kill every desire for the wrong kind of sex. Don’t be immoral or indecent or have evil thoughts. Don’t be greedy, which is the same as worshiping idols.
God is angry with people who disobey him by doing these things. (Col 3:5-6)
And our Father said this through his prophet, Isaiah:
I spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices; a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens and making offerings on bricks; who sit in tombs, and spend the night in secret places; who eat pig’s flesh, and broth of tainted meat is in their vessels; who say, “Keep to yourself, do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.” These are a smoke in my nostrils, a fire that burns all the day. (Isa 65:2-5)
WHAT ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO?
Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. (Eph 5:11)
The Council in Jerusalem addressed sexual matters that are found in Leviticus 17 & 18. See the article Letter to the Gentiles for more detail. If we wish to be in covenant with our Creator, we must clean our house!
Scripture is clear. We are not to be double-minded. Water that is pure and undefiled cannot exist with that which is not. Darkness has no part in Light. The addiction and acceptance of pornography is against everything that Torah teaches us.
It must grieve the Father that we choose to pollute our temple by letting this inside our gates. YHVH is all about life, honor and the marriage covenant he designed. Anything that diminishes that has to be examined and expunged from our life. Will the Spirit of Holiness abide with filth and worldly lusts?
Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. (Heb 13:4)
Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (1Co 6:18-21)
Religion that pleases God the Father must be pure and spotless. You must help needy orphans and widows and not let this world make you evil. (Jas 1:27)
Finally, my friends, keep your minds on whatever is true, pure, right, holy, friendly, and proper. Don’t ever stop thinking about what is truly worthwhile and worthy of praise. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. (Php 4:8 and Rom13:14) | {
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Youth unemployment in Victoria hits 15-year high
Henrietta Cook, state political reporter
Youth unemployment has leapt to a 15-year high in Victoria, with the Premier's electorate hit the hardest by the worsening crisis.
An analysis of youth unemployment data reveals that the situation has deteriorated in 12 of the state's 17 regions in the past year.
Thousands of young Victorians from all backgrounds are finding themselves caught up in a spiral of unemployment, and the situation is particularly dire in socially disadvantaged suburbs of greater Melbourne and rural areas.
The region of Warrnambool and South-West, Geelong, Melbourne's north-west and Hume are some of the most difficult areas to find work for 15 to 24-year-olds.
"In a short time youth unemployment will be a significant handbrake on the economy.
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"We are facing a situation where in a few years unemployment rates of more than 25 per cent won't be uncommon."
Policy makers had been sitting on their hands for decades and failed to recognise the dramatic changes to the economy, he said.
"The economy has changed from a closed economy, that was a lot more manufacturing based, to a more service-based, knowledge-based and competitive economy."
The average Victorian youth unemployment rate for the year to July 2014 was 13.8 per cent, up from 12.3 per cent from the same period a year earlier. Victoria is the third worst Australian state for youth unemployment after Tasmania and South Australia.
Many young Victorians are unsuccessfully applying for hundreds of jobs, and are being turned down because they are told they do not have enough experience.
The analysis, provided by the Brotherhood of St Laurence and based on Australian Bureau of Statistics data, found that in the Warrnambool and South West region 18 per cent of young people under 24 are unable to find work, up from 14.2 per cent.
In the past year youth unemployment only improved in five regions - Melbourne West, Ballarat, Bendigo, Hume and Latrobe-Gippsland.
Victorian Council of Social Service chief executive Emma King said youth unemployment had significantly worsened during the first seven months of this year, with the 2014 Victorian average currently at 14.7 per cent compared to 12.5 per cent in 2013.
"Youth unemployment is at a 15-year high and it is starting to cross boundaries that it didn't previously."
The situation is particularly tough for people who have finished university.
"They are continually told they don't have enough experience. We have a very competitive job market, they have done all the right things in terms of education."
She called for a "comprehensive workforce participation plan" that involved community, business and government coming to the table and criticised federal government changes that deny under-30s income support for six months of every year.
"They are going to be left without assistance to find work and without income assistance for six months of the year, they will be at increased risk of homelessness, they will be living on air."
Shadow treasurer Tim Pallas blamed the situation on state government TAFE cuts and called on the Coalition to acknowledge the problem.
"Then they need to commit to taking real and meaningful action and that means rectifying the damage they have done to our TAFEs so our kids can get the skills they need for the jobs they want."
But Treasurer Michael O'Brien sung praise for the government's economic credentials, saying there were 78,700 more Victorians in work today than when Labor left office in 2010.
"We also have a $27 billion infrastructure program that will create tens of thousands of new jobs; projects and jobs that Daniel Andrews and Labor oppose."
He said the government had increased vocational education and training funding by 50 per cent and introduced reforms to ensure young people received the skills they needed to find work.
A spokesman from Premier Denis Napthine's office said increased funding for vocational education and training meant the number of government subsidised enrolments had skyrocketed from around 381,000 in 2008 to 645,000 last year.
"It's great to see that our positive reforms have led to a 10 per cent decrease in male youth unemployment in Warrnambool with fewer unemployed men in Warrnambool than any other region in Victoria." | {
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USS Portsmouth (SSN 707)
- decommissioned -
USS PORTSMOUTH was the 20th LOS ANGELES class attack submarine and the 15th ship in that class built by Electric Boat in Groton, CT. On June 6, 2002, USS PORTSMOUTH sunk the former USS OKINAWA (LPH 3) during a COMSUBPAC SINKEX off the US west coast. The PORTSMOUTH was last homeported in San Diego, Calif.
The photo below was taken by me and shows the PORTSMOUTH laid up at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Wash., on May 12, 2012.
The photo below was taken by me and shows a number of decommissioned nuclear-powered attack submarines laid up at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Wash. The photo was taken from Port Orchard, Wash., on May 12, 2012. The submarines' names are on the photo. | {
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Install our app on your Android Smartphone
you can either strum the chords or pluck the strings of the chords.
Intro C Am C Am
Verse:
C Am
I heard there was a secret chord
that David played and it pleased the Lord
F G C G
But you don't really care for music, do you?
C
Well it goes like this :
F G Am F
The fourth, the fifth, the minor fall and the major lift
G Em Am
The baffled king composing Hallelujah
Chorus:
F Am F C G
Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah
thats basicly the structure of the song
this is my first tab so please tell me what you think any corrections etc.
when i did this it was from listning to Rufus Wainwright's cover but i'm pretty
sure it will work the same for the song
i know its not perfect but its a simple way of playing this very beautiful song :) | {
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Gas Safety Certificate
Gas Safety Certificates in KT17 Epsom
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Our gas engineers are guaranteed to be Corgi registered engineers, therefore, you know our gas engineers are competent and have expertise in gas safety and installation for landlords. Our engineers have been through several years of training and academics to make sure that they meet the standards required in providing an excellent service when dealing with your gas appliances and allocating Gas Safety Certificates. We are passionate in the service we provide, and we make sure that when issuing Gas Safety Certificates to Gas Safety Landlords, we do the best job possible to make sure your property in KT17 Epsom is 100% gas safe.
We are able to offer Gas Safety Certificates in KT17 Epsom to reflect the fact that the appliances in the landlord’s premises are safe and work to the highest standards possible.
Landlords need to have a Gas Safety Certificate to guarantee to their tenants that where they live has appliances that are not faulty or capable of causing a gas leak. A Gas Safety Certificate is a necessity for a landlord, and if you fail to provide one in the case of a gas fault, this is a criminal offence. To keep up-to-date with gas safety, landlords must also carryout annual checks to maintain the safety standards of gas in the home, and to ensure the Gas Safety Certificate is viable. So why wait? Call Gas Safety Landlords today on (0) 208 951 6828 | 333 320 0451. Or email us as [email protected]. | {
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According to the government agency's notice, the faulty installation could result in the cable popping out of the transmission bracket. If that happens, NHTSA says the transmission may not shift at all, rendering the vehicle immobile. The gearbox could also appear to be in Park when it isn't, resulting in a potential rollaway. | {
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Scope and Contents of the Materials
The collection contains the administrative and programmatic files of the Center for Women's Studies and Services (CWSS).
Series I: Administrative Files include budget and funding materials, personnel and training materials, grant proposals and research files, reports, newsletters, minutes and notes. The initial founding of the Women's Studies program at San Diego State University and the resulting break is well represented through departmental memos, meeting notes, and correspondence. The original proposal for a women's studies program, and several resulting revisions, is also present. Highlights include syllabi and promotional flyers for the first women's studies courses taught, minutes from the Women's Studies Committee and Women's Studies Board, and documents detailing personnel roles and conflicts within the early department.
Series II: Components Files are comprised of administrative and outreach files maintained by each of the CWSS components (Storefront, Educational and Cultural, Publications, and Feminist Counseling), spanning 1970 to 1986. Nearly complete runs of each of the publications organized by the Publications component are included in this series. Promotional flyers for a wide variety of cultural and educational programs are included, as well as course descriptions for the Feminist Free University for over ten years. The Feminist Counseling component is represented in this series by articles, statements of purpose, and descriptions of the radical feminist counseling concept written by its creators.
Series III: Vertical Files include newsletters, articles, flyers, pamphlets, clippings, reports, brochures, handouts, government publications, statistics, and worksheets on a variety of topics of interest to the Center throughout the 1970s and 1980s. These Vertical Files were compiled and used by staff for consultations, research, and outreach in Center operations.
Series IV: Periodicals holds a strong run of general feminist and activist newspapers, newsletters, and magazines from the 1970s and early 1980s. Local papers, such as Goodbye to All That and Feminist Communications are included in this series, but the strength of the series is the national scope of included publications. Issues and changes within the women's liberation and feminist movements are traceable over time throughout this series. Gay and lesbian issues of the 1970s are well represented by items in the Publications, as are women's health, international women's issues, and workplace rights.
Series V: Reel to Reel Tapes cover a radio series on rape awareness and prevention organized by CWSS in the late 1970s. This radio series featured victim's accounts of their experiences, navigation of the legal system, and cultural analysis, and was also broadcast in a Spanish language version.
Series VI: Scrapbooks include scrapbooks and photographs of events spanning twenty years of the Center's existence. A scrapbook documenting a fire at CWSS headquarters in 1980 is included, as well as one devoted to the Center's involvement in Project Choice.
Series VII: Oversized Materials include a complete run of The Longest Revolution between 1976 and 1983.
Biographical Note
Established in 1969, the Center for Women’s Studies and Services (CWSS) was a multi-dimensional and non-profit organization that maintained educational, cultural, political, and service programs. CWSS was dedicated to advancing the cause of women’s rights and has a nationwide membership open to men and women. It was the first women’s liberation group in San Diego and the first women’s center in Southern California. The Center was founded after group of women broke away from what would become the Women's Studies program at San Diego State University, in order to focus on creating tangible social change related to women's issues.
CWSS was committed to developing and maintaining cooperative relationships with other community-based and nationally-oriented organizations. The Center actively participated in a variety of feminist, social service and inter-movement coalitions, and served as headquarters for the National Feminist Therapists' Association.
CWSS was comprised of four major components: Storefront, Radical Feminist Counseling, Educational and Cultural Programs, and Publications. Each component of the Center provided services and opportunities (via workshops, apprenticeships, consultations, programs, and direct experience) for women to obtain first-hand knowledge and training in the areas of management, creativity, and control. The academic component was formed on the San Diego State University campus and became the first official Women’s Studies Program in the nation.
The Storefront Component was a drop-in resource center offering crisis assistance, housing, child care, legal and medical referrals, vocational counseling and job referrals. It also has a 24-hour hotline for battered women and rape victims, affirmative action assistance, and open rap groups.
The Radical Feminist Counseling component provided crisis intervention for women, one-on-one counseling, group and family counseling, training for counselors, and community education on a wide variety of women's mental health issues.
The Educational and Cultural component included an annual Women’s Festival of the Arts, monthly Feminist Forum, community meetings, and special events, and organized the "Feminist Free University," a free education program for women throughout the 1970s and 1980s which offered three sessions with between 20 and 40 volunteer-taught classes in each session.
The Publications component supervised publication of the feminist newspaper The Longest Revolution, a poetry anthology titled Rainbow Snake, and other materials by and about women. It also maintained a feminist library and reading room.
Subject/Index Terms
Administrative Information
Repository:
Special Collections & University Archives
Accruals:
2001
Access Restrictions:
This collection is open for research.
Use Restrictions:
The copyright interests in some of these materials have been transferred to or belong to San Diego State University. The nature of historical archival and manuscript collections means that copyright status may be difficult or even impossible to determine. Copyright resides with the creators of materials contained in the collection or their heirs. Requests for permission to publish must be submitted to the Head of Special Collections, San Diego State University, Library and Information Access. When granted, permission is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical item and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder(s), which must also be obtained in order to publish. Materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials.
Acquisition Source:
Center for Women's Studies and Services
Related Materials:
Women's Studies Department Records
Preferred Citation:
Identification of item, folder title, box number, Center for Women's Studies and Services Records, Special Collections and University Archives, Library and Information Access, San Diego State University. | {
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But what, I asked General Gul, in his view, were the true reasons for the invasion of Afghanistan, and why the US is still there? “A very good question,” he responded. “I think you have reached the point precisely. It is a principle of war that you never mix objectives. Because when you mix objectives then you end up with egg on your face. You face defeat. And here was a case where the objectives were mixed up. Ostensibly, it was to disperse al Qaeda, to get Osama bin Laden. But latently, the reasons for the offensive, for the attack on Afghanistan, were quite different.”
First, he says, the US wanted to “reach out to the Central Asian oilfields” and “open the door there,” which “was a requirement of corporate America, because the Taliban had not complied with their desire to allow an oil and gas pipeline to pass through Afghanistan.
Webmaster's Commentary:
"because the Taliban had not complied with their desire to allow an oil and gas pipeline to pass through Afghanistan. " | {
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‘Avatar’ Theft Plaintiff Loses Bid To Disqualify Judge
That’s the second Avatarlegal loss in a row for Eric Ryder and another win for James Cameron. Three weeks after LA Superior Court Judge Susan Bryant-Deason granted the director’s motion for summary judgment, Ryder’s efforts to have her dismissed from the case have now also failed. Ryder wanted the judge pulled from the case because her husband is a line producer who has worked on Fox projects such as We Bought A Zoo. The plaintiff claimed in a 2011 complaint that Cameron ripped off the 2009 blockbuster from an environmental themed story of his entitled K.R.Z. 2068. Ryder said that execs at Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment had read the story back in the ’90s. Having taken a hit in early October in the case, two weeks ago Ryder’s lawyers alleged a lack of impartiality on the part of Bryant-Deason. Funny thing is Fox aren’t even a defendant in the suit, only Cameron and Lightstorm are. On October 23, the court gave tossed Ryder’s latest maneuver too. “A party simply can’t wait to see what happens in a case, before deciding to investigate or assert known facts as a basic for disqualification for cause. By not filing a timely motion to disqualify, objections to the assigned judge are waived,” wrote Bryant-Deason herself in the 11-page order (read it here). Beside Fox not being an actual party to the case, the judge also noted that she told all parties back in an April 24th status conference that her husband Paul Deason has worked as an independent contractor on films for Fox and other studios and no one raised any objection then.
Avatar has been on a bit of a legal roll lately against copyright charges from various directions. In February, Cameron won a case against Gerald Morawski, who accused Cameron of ripping off his ideas for the pic. Among the lawsuits pending though is Bryant Moore’s $2.5 billion lawsuit against Cameron and Fox claiming that Avatar was stolen from his scripts. A federal judge in March granted a motion to dismiss the breach of implied contract claim in Moore’s 2011 suit but he did not dismiss Moore’s copyright claims. That trial date is pending.
9 Comments
Judge Dredd • on Oct 28, 2013 12:39 pm
This could be grounds for an appeal and the higher court might decide to disqualify the judge and order a new trial. If she told them who her husband is they should have objected then and asked her to recuse herself. I am the Law.
Failed ScreenWriter Who Hates on Others • on Oct 28, 2013 12:39 pm
Judge Dredd — Because they failed to motion to recuse the trail judge upon her timely disclosure, it is unlikely an appellate court will entertain relief for same expost facto.
Sabronidas • on Oct 28, 2013 12:39 pm
Not surprised that there’s so many people claiming ownership over the story as it is one of the least original ideas ever done and there’s a good handful of films with the same cloned plot.
The truth is, that if it had been made by any of the claimants, the film would have been a straight to DVD release and the reason it made money is because of James Cameron and his marketing knowledge and power.
Cameron is only guilty of using a lame and over exploited plot.
Failed ScreenWriter Who Hates on Others • on Oct 28, 2013 12:39 pm
Sabronidas — “Ideas” or “stories” aren’t protected under copyright law. So even if they can prove what they claim, their lawsuits will be rightfully dismissed on summary judgment.
I’ve read the plaintiffs’ complaints, and all the plaintiff attorneys are either not too bright or intentionally milking their clients for legal fees and not telling them their lawsuit has zero legal merit (the latter is most likely).
The bar for proving copyright infringement when it comes to a feature script is insanely high for the plaintiff. Not even Snoop Dog can get that high in his basement with a half dozen ho’s and a case of Colt 45.
Elmore • on Oct 28, 2013 12:39 pm
Jeez, I wonder if so many people are coming out of the woodwork with the same idea because the idea isn’t all that original.
Cameron executed it well and made it an experience, but white guy goes native to save natives has been done a time or two before.
Failed ScreenWriter Who Hates on Others • on Oct 28, 2013 12:39 pm
Elmore — “Ideas” aren’t protected under copyright law. It’s as if all these guys filing these unwinnable lawsuits don’t understand the most basic element of a copyright infringement case when it comes to screenwriting.
Not only will Cameron prevail, all the plaintiffs will, under California law, have to fork over legal fees to Cameron’s side, which will surely bankrupt these parasites since that will include appellate fees and I’m pretty sure Cameron didn’t hire his lawyers from Walmart.
Dapper Dan • on Oct 28, 2013 12:39 pm
Bryant-Deason’s husband has also worked for Cameron. She’s low and dirty in this situation.
KilliK • on Oct 28, 2013 12:39 pm
IN THE KING WE TRUST.
Bus Bench • on Oct 28, 2013 12:39 pm
Sabronidas and Failed Screenwriter, while I really liked AVATAR, it sure was an unoriginal story. Basically the same as FERGULLY, THE LAST RAINFOREST, which Fox released years ago. | {
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As for the course itself, as many know, the NYC Half Marathon course has changed from previous years. For the first time this year the course starts in Prospect Park Brooklyn and ends in Central Park. Based on our run, here is my analysis of the course followed by my advice on how to tackle this course.
The course starts off heading north on Flatbush Avenue with a nice, long, steady gradual downhill. The downhill itself is about one mile long. Strava measured this mile to be a decrease in elevation of about 96 feet. I have to admit, this is a nice wide road with lots of local shops. I am 99% positive that this stretch of the course is going to be filled with spectators on race day. With that said, these spectators, along with the 20,000 plus runners that just started around you are going to give you one hell of a boost of adrenalin! The temptation to unleash a fast mile is going to be huge! I will say, it is very important to resist that temptation because you have a long way to go and some challenges ahead.
The second mile has a very small but short incline. It’s a relaxed mile that will lead you right onto the Manhattan Bridge. This is where your work and challenges will start.
Manhattan Bridge Awaits!@
Once you get on the Manhattan Bridge there is a long steady climb onto the bridge until you get to the middle. Your total climb will be around 90 feet. This slow steady climb is given back as you come off the bridge and make a right onto Canal Street. The decline in elevation continues until you go east thru Chinatown and to the FDR drive.
Full disclosure, today for this next stretch, we had to alter our route from the official route because the official route will take you onto the FDR drive. Obviously, we couldn’t get the FDR drive closed, so we chose to run over the overpass on Delancey Street to the other side of the FDR and ran along the water via the promenade up until 35th street. Distance wise this was the same as running on the FDR however where we ran on Sunday it was completely flat along the water. As we were running however we noticed that there were some steep elevations on the FDR drive in particular around the 10th street. This elevation essentially makes the FDR Drive go from street level to an elevated roadway. I wish I had the elevation measurements on this but just be prepared for an climb during this stretch on the FDR drive!
There are several increases in elevation on the FDR Drive stretch!
I believe that we are scheduled to get off of the FDR at 42nd St. Going west on 42nd street, we started out flat until we got to 3rd avenue. I can tell you that once again you will be begin a climb of about 40 feet until you get past 5th avenue. Here you will begin a small gradual run downhill that will take you around the corner onto 7th and up to around 45th street – that’s about a half mile of gradual downhill. Enjoy that stretch as much as possible because there is more work ahead! Once you approach 45th street on 7th Avenue, you begin an approximate one mile climb up that will take you up another 40 feet in elevation and will leave you right at the entrance to Central Park.
This should prepare you nicely for what awaits you in Central Park. You will enter Central Park after completing 9 miles. Once you enter the park, a series of small uphills and downhills will await. Nothing too drastic. That is until you get to around 72nd street on the East side. This is where Cat Hill awaits you. You will climb over 50 feet in elevation over a span of a little over a half mile. For our trial run on Sunday we were not that winded when going up Cat hill. I think it was adrenaline from entering the park and knowing that we were not that far away from the finish. After Cat hill you will enjoy close to a mile of rolling down hills which includes a turn onto the 102nd street traverse to head to the West Side of the park. Choose your effort here wisely because when you come back around on the West side, you will have more uphills awaiting you!
Make sure to “smile” at the Cat as you go up her hill!
When you turn off of the traverse and onto Central Park West, you will have a little over a mile left. How you tackle that mile will be tricky. As soon as you turn onto West Drive you will be met with another long uphill. This one will take you up another 60 feet in the span of about a half of a mile. Once you get to the top of that hill, you will have a small down hill rest and then you will climb a short hill again. Coming into the 70’s on the west side you will be headed down hill one last time and this time, into the finish line!
Our total elevation today according to Strava, was about 450 feet and I think on race day it will be more because of the FDR drive span that I mentioned above. This United NYC Half marathon is nothing like the previous version of it. A personal record is not impossible on this course, but its also not easy! How you attack this course will be key. Go out hard too early and you will pay the price on the many hills. If you wait too long to attack Central Park, your pace leading up to that may be too slow.
Be inspired by Grand Central as you run by on 42nd street!
In looking back on the course after digesting it on Sunday, my suggestion is to definitely hold back in the first two miles and start working a bit as you start your climb over the Manhattan Bridge. Keep working the exit off of the bridge as well as your time in China Town. Once onto the FDR you can hold back again in my opinion as this stretch of the run may be a little draining. Remember the elevation of the FDR, it goes from street level, to elevated road way. The pivotal part of the race for me will be the stretch from the FDR on 42nd street until you enter the Park, which is a little bit over 2 miles. This stretch, while it does have some uphills, presents slow gradual uphills, that are definitely ones that you could run at a good clip without getting drained, especially since there are downhills here as well. Further the adrenalin of running by the United Nations (42nd street & FDR drive), Grand Central Terminal (42nd street & Lexington Ave) and of course Times Square, should carry you strongly thru a solid two miles. This will set you up for the final four miles in the park where you will have to tough it out and give it all of you have on the uphills. Keep in mind, you will also enjoy those down hills and the crowds will undoubtedly push you to the finish line.
Again, this course is in no way impossible but it’s nothing compared to the previous version of the United NYC Half Marathon. It is definitely more challenging. Has anyone else run the course out there? What was your take on it? Less than three weeks remain til the big race. Are you ready?
We organized this race through the online Facebook group that I coordinated specifically for the United NYC Half. If you would like to join that page you can find it here. Hope this was somewhat helpful in your preparation for the race!
I wanted to take the opportunity to thank those folks that came along for the run. Originally we had 28 confirmed but the weather rightfully causesd some cancellations so kudos to the 12 that did come out! (pictured below) | {
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IEMiller
5 Things to Avoid in the Fashion Industry
5 Things to Avoid in the Fashion Industry
As an aspiring fashionista, there are some things you should avoid when trying to enter the cutthroat world that is the fashion industry. The industry is known for its difficulty, and young fashionistas know there is little room for mistakes. We’re here to help you out with a few tips. Here are five things to avoid in the fashion industry:
1. Trash Trends
Don’t make the mistake of getting too caught up in the trends. The fashion industry is all about embracing your own fashion, and following all the trends religiously has quite the opposite affect. Bring your own fashion sense to the table and add the trends to the foundation you have already started.
2. Know Your Type
Nothing is worse than someone who wears clothes that are not flattering to their body type. Not every trend is right for every body type, so don’t wear something just because it is the “in” thing to do. Take into account skin type, body type, and hair color when choosing which trends look best on you.
3. Embrace Personality
The fashion world is meant to be fun. People are encouraged to put their spin on anything they want in anyway they like. That being said, make sure you understand the fine line between trends and copying someone’s style. If your boss comes in to work rocking skinny zebra pants, that doesn’t mean you should come in the next day in the same thing. Make sure at the end of the day, your outfit reflects you and your personality.
4. Be Independent
Much like the need to embrace your personality within your wardrobe, it is important to be independent. Fashion is supposed to be an exhilarating way to showcase how you feel on the inside to people on the outside. Make sure you are dressing for you, and not replicating what you see all the time on models in your favorite magazines.
5. Less is More
The saying “less is more” is used widely by nearly everyone, and fashionistas are not any different. When getting dressed in the morning, make sure you are not mixing too many fashion trends all together at once. The more fashion trends you mix and match in one outfit, the more your outfit risks looking like a hodge podge of fashion, rather than chic and fashionable as you had hoped. Pick and choose, rather than piling it all on at once. Each will have its time and place for its debut to the public.
These are just a few of many tips and tricks to the fashion world. Embrace your style, tread carefully with the trends, and work hard to get where you want. The industry may seem overwhelming, but if you stick to your talent and are passionate about the industry, you are sure to go far!
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Hoodies: A California Clothing Classic
Today, the humble hoodie is considered to be an indispensable piece of clothing and most Americans have at least one for wearing during the spring and fall, or for layering when the weather gets extra nippy. While it may not have been invented in California, we largely have 1970s California youth culture to thank for its massive popularity today.
Hooded tops have been in use for thousands of years by outdoorsmen and travelers as a way to cope with the elements. Priests and monks also used them to block out distractions and keep themselves warm in the days before central heating.
Otherwise though, hooded tops haven’t always been mainstream. Hoods gave privacy and anonymity – which is great. Unless perhaps unsavory types starting wearing them, which is why the word “hoodlum” exists today. In any case, the hoodie has mostly shed its reputation with hoodlums and is now a classic piece of Americana today.
Hoodies As Workwear
The hoodie as we know it today was originally invented in the 1930s to help East Coast meatpackers and other laborers working in freezers and cold outdoor conditions. Compared to traditional wool and fur coats, hoodies provided a greater range of movement, were easier to clean, and easier to stow or tie around the waist should worker feel a little warm. Around this time, these items were still called “hooded sweatshirts”.
Hoodies As Statement Pieces
Printed and embroidered hoodies later became popular in university and school campuses throughout the United States from the 1940s-1960s and became somewhat an intellectual symbol. However, since not a lot of people sought higher education back then as today, its popularity remained rather niche. Still, hoodies that showed school or city pride started to appear and these still are popular today.
Hoodies As Counterculture Items
It wasn’t until hoodies were adopted by California surfers and skaters in the 70s and 80s that hoodies really came into their own. They later became adopted by the emergent hip-hop scene on both coasts as well, which took the public profile of the hoodie even further. It was no longer a practical piece of clothing for those who enjoyed their creature comforts – it also became a symbol of rebellion.
They were perfect for the mild California climate and were convenient and versatile enough for nearly every type of weather one would encounter in the Golden State. When zip-up hoodies later became available, they became a popular way of keeping warm while still showing of the increasingly elaborate and far out prints that were starting to show up on t-shirts.
Hoodies Today
By the time hoodies earned the name “hoodie” in the 1990s, they were already a standard piece of apparel in California for people of all ages and walks of life. Today, In both the cutting-edge San Francisco and Los Angeles streetwear scenes, designers are pushing the boundaries of what’s really possible with hoodies. California-based designers are always creating cuts and using fresh new materials and contexts that redefine what’s possible with this piece of classic workwear.
But for the rest of us folks, normal pullover and zip-up hoodies are still awesome. We don’t really have the stats for it, but we’re willing to bet Californians own the most hoodies per capita of any region on earth. You will literally see hoodies on avant-garde fashionistas in cities and on farmers and laborers in the countryside. You’ll sometimes even see them being worn in the summer. To each their own.
The Latest Designs In A Gold Necklace
The gold has transformed its path through various jewelry items and has reached the people, the gold in Indian culture plays a significant role and used for many occasions. There are a variety of designs in the gold that has been crafted as per the events, the traditional antic jewelry is designed for wedding events and the rich gold necklace designs are crafted especially for these occasions. There are many other designs that have been crafted for other events too and this has been possible due to the technological impact and the handmade jewelry has been reduced due to the machine crafting of the gold ornaments. The crude type of gold has been changed into an alluring model that resembles by every one of the general population who will in general purchase gold and there are numerous other creator who take a shot at the improvement of the gold structure, every single part gold gem is planned and saw before it’s taken to the client.
The consumer before buying gold must have standards in mind that have been approved by the government and all the gold are not of the same type. The gold is differenced based on the purity level and the cost may even differ on the designs. Gold as a gem is been extremely special and has been loved by numerous individuals and adding more structures to the gold gems make them more alluring relatively. So the shippers concoct more appealing plan to draw in individuals with the goal that the market for the gold exceedingly expanding step by step and different structures comes up to the market for the deals and this has been extremely normal among the general population, however the cost for the gold is high in number individuals will in general purchase as it is considered as resources of future and will, in general, be a materialistic trifle of riches. The craze for the will never diminish and will build step by step.
In recent days the gold necklace has been very popular among the people because of the designs that are available in the market. There has been a wide range of designs that have been created for the people and this is the main reason for the sale of the gold and their many items that have been crafted according to the taste of each people who come up with their own design. The competition for the merchants in the market has increased a lot to the innovative designs that they bring up to the consumer. There is a wide range of variety where the consumer has many options to choose their design and the seller also try to design to satisfy the consumer needs. Though gold is very high in number people tend to buy it as there is a resale value that may be even higher than the original prizes at the time and this is based on the status of the stock exchange and economy of the country. So gold is always special it is more than a normal commodity.
6 Accessories to Spice Up Any Outfit
Accessorizing your outfit can be a tricky business indeed. Without accessories, your overall look may end up looking too plain; with the wrong accessories, however, even haute couture could look cheap.
Good thing there are some pieces of fashion that can spice up almost any kind of ensemble. These items should be mainstays in your closet; if you already have some of them, then maybe consider buying duplicates or different colors!
The Right Necklace
Different necklace lengths suit different neckline or collar styles. For example, if you’re wearing a turtleneck shirt, you might want to pair it with long chain necklaces with singular pendants. Meanwhile, a crew neck blouse will benefit more from a bib-style or collar necklace. Strapless tops or dresses, on the other hand, are the perfect canvases for collar or choker necklaces.
If you’re fond of layering necklaces or if you aren’t sure what kind to wear, opt for an opera necklace. Don’t base it on the actual length, though; try it on first. The “proper” length of an opera necklace is about two inches below your bust line, which definitely varies from woman to woman. The length of the opera necklace also has an added benefit of making you look taller.
Lapel Pins
Personalized lapel pins have experienced a resurgence in popularity over the past few years, thanks in part to the similar resurgence of bespoke suits. However, these colorful and easily customizable pins aren’t just meant for accessorizing men’s formal wear. You can use lapel pins to update the look of your other accessories, like bags or hats. You can also fasten a scarf using a lapel pin. Another benefit of lapel pins? You can weartwo or three of them without it looking tacky. You also don’t need to go overly formal with them. It’s perfectly fine to wear a pin that’s inspired by your favorite video game or TV show together with a three-piece suit.
Classic Sunglasses
Formal wear, casual wear, beach wear — a classic pair of sunglasses go with practically anything. What’s more, aviators, clubmasters, and wayfarers look good on any face shape. One or two high-quality pairs of sunglasses can last you a lifetime, so it would be better to splurge on the really good brands. For a more universal appeal, go for simpler designs and colors, like tortoiseshell frames and black or dark gray lenses.
A Stainless Steel Watch
Just like classic sunglasses, a stainless steel watch can be worn with almost any kind of outfit (as opposed to the much more formal gold timepiece). Stainless steel watches are also flattering on any skin tone and are quite durable, too. You can wear just a chunky, stainless steel watch with your OOTD and you can be all set — that’s how much of a statement this accessory can make!
A Scarf
What’s good about a scarf is that it can go from season to season. In cold or windy weather, it can give you additional warmth and protection from harsh winds. In the summer, a light scarf can add a pop of color to your outfit.
If you want to try out some patterns, plaid, gingham, or houndstooth are some of the no-fail basics. These patterns are very fashion friendly; you can adjust your look by simply changing the color combinations. For the more adventurous types, go for bold paisley designs. You can also never go wrong with a plain lambswool or knitted scarf for some comfy, cozy warmth.
A Pair of Comfortable Pumps
Heels aren’t as popular nowadays for everyday fashion when stylish comfort is the name of the game. However, if you need a bit of a height, ditch the platforms and go for the classic pump. They’re very versatile; they can be matched with jeans, skirts, dresses, and anything in between, taking you from a day in the office to a dinner party with no problem.
Don’t go the way of sky-high heels, especially if you’re going to wear them for long periods; two or three inches are more than enough. You should also make sure that the toes don’t pinch! Color-wise, black and cream are elegant choices, but for beautiful burst of color, try going for a red or electric blue pair.
Fashion trends change every year. Some even come and go in a matter of months. With these timeless accessories, however, you can be sure that your fashion game will always be on point. You may also want to consider fashionable piercing in accessorizing. Try to visit tatsnrings.com for excellent piercing ideas. | {
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February 15, 2017
Before you read this article ask yourself this question? Are the police the problem in Chicago or is it the violent culture the problem? These liberals in the federal and local governments BLAME everything and anyone except the Monsters responsible for turning our city into a War Zone. Not All the Federal agents in the Feds entire arsenal will stop the Violence BET ON IT!
Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Tuesday said federal officials will soon come to Chicago to continue work with the Police Department after a major report last month found systemic problems at the department.
Emanuel met Monday in Washington with senior members of President Donald Trump’s administration, among them new Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Asked Tuesday whether a federal consent decree for the Chicago Police Department came up in their conversation, the mayor didn’t say.
Instead, Emanuel talked about ongoing work with Justice Department officials in response to the findings they released days before Trump’s inauguration.
“I don’t know if you know this, the Justice Department is going to be here next week, meeting with our people consistent with the consent decree, and starting those conversations and continuing those conversations,” Emanuel said. “We plan on continuing to build it.”
The mayor then pivoted to talk about the type of federal help he requested from Trump advisers, a list he has repeatedly cited in response to the president’s tweet last month threatening to “send in the Feds!” to Chicago if the city doesn’t get its violence under control.
“My purpose of my meeting was to go out and see, be very explicit, that if you’re talking about federal help, this is what we mean by federal help, from law enforcement cooperation and participation, to investing in kids, to prosecuting gun crimes, to economic development in our neighborhoods, in our areas,” he said.
Emanuel last month said he agreed to enter talks toward a court-enforced agreement on a number of policing reforms with then-President Barack Obama’s Justice Department. A consent decree would allow the courts to enforce a set of Police Department reforms in response to the Justice Department civil rights investigation that criticized the city’s police force. The report concluded officers were poorly trained and quick to use excessive force — often against African-Americans and Latinos.
But Sessions has been critical of consent decrees in the past. And Trump has supported aggressive law enforcement to fight crime, specifically in Chicago. So it’s far from certain the new administration in Washington would support such an agreement.
Also Tuesday, Emanuel said he told Trump administration officials they should make a federal investment in renovations to the CTA Green Line. The line carries trains from Harlem Avenue and Lake Street on the West Side, through downtown to two South Side stations on 63rd Street.
The mayor has seized on Trump’s pledge to invest in the nation’s infrastructure as a rare area in which he hopes to be able to work with the new administration. “What would be greater economic opportunity and job creation than helping us revitalize the Green Line, as we have seen in other communities?” Emanuel asked during a news conference to announce architecture firm exp will move its headquarters to Chicago.
Mayoral spokesman Matt McGrath later released a statement saying Emanuel “asked the administration to rebuild the Green Line, which serves the South and West sides.”
“Rebuilding the Green Line is one way the administration could ‘send in the feds,’ create jobs and help improve public safety — and a particularly notable one given that they have made it clear that investing in infrastructure is a priority,” McGrath said.
Such a project would likely run into the billions of dollars at a time the city is trying to secure federal funding for other massive rail projects, among them the renovation of Union Station and the extension of the Red Line to 130th Street.
And then there’s the shooting of a clearly mentally ill 57 yo Caucasian woman on the North side by two Chicago officers last Friday. Tasers fired right onto her thick winter clothing didn’t work (no surprise to anyone but the two police involved, apparently), and when they cornered her she lunged at them with a knife. They responded with lethal gunfire and she was dead in 30 min on the street. Problem is, they accosted her. There is no mention that she accosted anyone with the knife. It is unclear whether she threatened anyone else at any time until two officers began firing things at her. Note that while in her one hand she had a kitchen knife, the other was merely holding a large soda; not exactly what one would deem a skilled or even serious attacker. Had this been someone on a ledge about to jump off, would the officers have backed away and gotten a crisis counselor, or shot the person so they would fall rather than jump off the building? While it would be reassuring to be able to trust the city to openly share all information so the truth could be known, Chicago’s history of covering up internal investigations and evidence will unfortunately require a lawsuit. | {
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Waratahs flanker joins Force
The Western Force have signed NSW Waratahs flanker Chris Alcock to a two-year deal.
Alcock will follow former Waratahs mentor Michael Foley across the Nullarbor for the 2013 Super Rugby season.
The openside flanker has played 25 matches for the Waratahs since making his provincial debut against the Cheetahs two years ago, after he was plucked from Sydney grade rugby for the beginning of the 2010 season.
Alcock, who played 12 matches in 2012, starting in the No.7 jersey for the bulk of the season, is Foley's second signing following the retention of local product Kyle Godwin.
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The South African-born 24-year-old says he's excited about representing the Western Force and continuing his partnership with Foley.
"I've got a great relationship with Foles and he's been very helpful in developing me throughout my professional career, so I was very pleased to have the opportunity to continue working with him at the Force," he said.
"It's a great opportunity for me at the Force. It's going to be a fairly new team with a number of guys leaving, and it's a great opportunity to be part of something new." | {
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Writing about the movie Casablanca, Uncle Roger once wrote: “It is *the* movie…Within its frames are so many of the many different and sometimes conflicting reasons why the movies are so special to us; Casablanca is popular art, and it is Art, as well.” The same sentiment could be applied to Kind of Blue by Miles Davis. It is *the* jazz album.
The influence that this album has had on popular music really can’t be overstated. Consider the musicians on the album. With the exception of Jimmy Cobb, who was a great solid drummer but not hugely influential in the drumming world, the musicians on this album have influenced an entire generation of musicians.
There is no trumpet player alive who has not been influenced by Miles Davis.
There is no alto player alive who has not been influenced by Cannonball Adderley.
There is no tenor player alive who has not been influenced by John Coltrane.
There is no piano player alive who has not been influenced by Bill Evans.
There is no bass player alive who has not been influenced by Paul Chambers.
In fact, I’d go so far as to say there is not a musician alive today who has not been influenced by the music on Kind of Blue.
Kind of Blue was the first real jazz album I ever heard. At the time I was a competent rock guitar player, and my instructor wanted me to expand my horizons a bit. It just so happened he was learning to play jazz, so he sort of brought me along and showed me some of the stuff he was learning. The first tune he played for me was All Blues. I remember thinking at the time how LONG it was…he recorded it on a cassette for me and it took FOREVER to finish recording. I took it home and listened to it. I didn’t understand any of it. I knew the chords, because he had showed me a basic way of playing it on guitar. I knew the Mixolydian mode, and I even knew how to play a dominant 7#9 chord thanks to Purple Haze by Jimi Hendrix. But I just didn’t get it.
Though I understand it now, Kind of Blue still has that same feeling of unattainability that it always had. It’s so effortless, so organic, it sounds as if it wasn’t an album that was set up and recorded in a studio by people over the course of several months – it seems as if it was just born, and blossomed into existence in one perfect moment.
So What starts the album. Miles’ solo on this tune is a classic, one of his best. He sits right in the pocket, never showing off or overplaying. It’s a deceptively simple solo – working out the lines on my guitar one day, I was surprised to find how complex Miles’ note choices are here. Coltrane’s solo on this tune is a little more experimental, searching. Which makes sense; soon after this recording he would pen his own tune “Impressions” based on the exact same modal changes (D Dorian/Eb Dorian). The tune would go on to become a staple of his live sets for the rest of his life.
Freddie Freeloader, known simply as “Freddie” among musicians, is the only tune on the album to feature Wynton Kelly on piano. And Kelly shines on this tune. In his autobiography, Miles said of Kelly “he could play behind a soloist like a motherfucker”, and he proves it here. Listen to his comping behind Miles in particular – he is almost telepathic in his ability to fill in the spaces that Miles leaves. Kelly’s solo is also a gem, bluesy and complex at the same time. But it is Cannonball Adderley who owns this tune. His solo is simply one of the greatest solos of all time, a master class in melodicism and groove.
Quick side story: a friend of mine was hanging out at George Benson’s house when Benson got a call from Jon Hendricks, informing him that he would be singing Cannonball’s Freddie solo in the vocalese version on Jon Hendricks & Friends. Apparently Benson was more than a little nonplussed. He killed it though, of course. Benson is a badass. But I digress…
One more note on Freddie: listen to the monstrous moving bass line that Chambers plays under the head (the “head” is a jazz cat term for the main melody of a song). It is one of the busiest lines he plays, and it plays perfectly against the slower, longer notes of the melody. Once the solos kick in, he’s back to his propulsive swing.
Blue In Green is a tune with some controversy surrounding it. For years Miles claimed he wrote the tune, and he collected the publishing royalties for it. But everyone I’ve ever talked to about it is certain that Bill Evans wrote it. And with good reason – just listen to it. It’s a Bill Evans tune all the way. A few years after Miles died, his estate finally released the publishing rights to Bill Evans’ estate. Better late than never I guess.
Another side story: the same friend told me another story, also about GB. Seems GB walked into a club one night many years ago to see Bill Evans play. When Benson walked in, Evans was playing “Blue In Green”. GB looked around and saw Miles Davis in the crowd, and sat down next to him. Miles turned to him and said “how you like my tune I wrote?” GB replied, “Man, you didn’t write that tune.”
Evans’ compositions favored pensive moods, and Blue In Green may be the most pensive, melancholy tune ever written. It also contains the saddest note ever played: Miles plays it at around the 4:32 mark, and it just kills me every time I hear it.
I mentioned All Blues at the top of this essay. This was the tune that sort of started it all for me. At the time, all I knew about the blues was what I’d heard from Stevie Ray Vaughan, Buddy Guy, and Albert King. But this was something completely different. It had the same chords, and the same notes, but they were put together in such a way that it was just so foreign. In many ways I still haven’t wrapped my head around it.
Cannonball’s solo is my favorite on this tune, I think. Which makes sense – he had the most bluesy feel of all the players, so this was right in his wheelhouse – same with Freddie. But my favorite moment of the tune is a note that Coltrane plays at about the 6:26 mark. Coltrane had a way of playing just one note and making it sound like his entire life force was pouring out of his horn. It seemed to happen most when he was playing a blues (the album Coltrane Plays the Blues has lots of examples).
Flamenco Sketches finishes up the album. Based on Evans’ Peace Piece, this tune was my favorite for a long time. It’s no secret I’m a sucker for a great melody, and this tune is just that – pure melody. Everyone kills it on this tune. It’s really tough to pick a favorite solo, but if pressed I’d probably say Evans’ because it is so brilliant in its simplicity.
What fascinates me most about this album is something Miles stated in his autobiography. He said that when he conceived of Kind of Blue, he was going for a very specific kind of sound. I can’t recall the album that inspired him (I can’t find my damn copy of the book), but I do recall that in the end, when Kind of Blue had been recorded and all was finished, he felt that he had missed the mark. Not that it wasn’t a successful album, or that he didn’t like it – he did – but that he missed his target with it. In the course of recording it became something different from what he was originally going for. I would love to have heard what was in his head, but I am eternally grateful for what was recorded. | {
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