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Lausanne, Switzerland, June 14, 2015 — Crossing the pond for the first time in 2015, the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) travels from Norway to the United States as the 2015 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour continues with the $800,000 FIVB St. Petersburg Grand Slam this week in Florida, the second of five double-gender FIVB Grand Slams on this year’s schedule.

http://worldtour.2015.fivb.com/en/233/news

In the system of free enterprise. Employees and employers should have the right to determine wages and working conditions, through either individual or collective bargaining, as they choose, within the boundaries of the law. The employer must have concern for the general welfare of the employee and that there must be a fair condensation for work preformed, By the same token, we believe that the employee has an obligation for satisfactory performance of assigned work. We support sound legislation in the areas of workers compensation, safety and unemployment compensation. We believe legislation that embraces fair play for both employer and employee is essential to the preservation of our free enterprise system. The law should protect the right of employees to work regardless of race, color, creed, age, sex or membership or non-membership in a labor organization. We oppose violence, coercion, intimidation, and the denial of the rights of workers or those in management. Work opportunities in this nation should be made available to all of our people, regardless of race, color, creed, age, sex or national origin, and we support programs toward this end. Monopolies or any kind of price or wage fixing in either the public or private sector are detrimental to our system of free enterprise. The destiny of all Americans can best be served by cooperation, reconciliation and following the tenets of free enterprise and democratic government, We believe business leaders can best preserve these tenets by becoming active in politics and civic affairs.

http://www.abcalaska.org/About/Mission-Statement

I recently purchased a copy of Microsoft Visio. It's a nifty tool that lets you make very sharp-looking diagrams. But I bought it because it does more than just let you make diagrams. It also lets you associate custom properties with everything, and access the whole diagram programmatically. When I worked at Trustium Corp., we used Visio to create state machine diagrams representing transactions involved in buying and selling real estate. Each state machine had the various actors and the steps they'd have to go through to complete the various tasks, documents they'd need to sign, etc. Much of the state machine was conditional in a typical task, depending on who was involved, the values entered into online CAR contracts, etc, and those conditionals would affect the contents and layout of further documents and the paths taken through other tasks. It was a very powerful system. That, combined with the online forms, digital signatures, process tracking, and non-repudiation system, was our core product. It never really took off though, because we spent so much time building things for other people just to pay our expenses that we never had the opportunity to really market our own product. Anyway, the massively complicated state machines involved were created as simple diagrams in Visio. We created some custom shapes, which were really just some of the built-in Visio shapes with custom coloring and naming, and some custom properties applied. After creating or editing a diagram, we'd just click a button inside Visio to translate the diagram into a state machine stored in a SQL database. The button was powered by a bit of code that we wrote to walk through the diagram and convert the nodes to rows in the database. It was so simple and intuitive that anyone in the office could use it, and was just so damned cool. Ever since then, I've been enchanted with the idea of reducing complex data and processes to simple diagrams in Visio. Trying to think of what I could do with my new toy, my thoughts naturally turned to the projects I've been working on recently -- compilers and a dynamic language runtime. I had sexy fantasies of creating a slick graphical programming language. But I was somewhat sobered by the knowledge that very smart people have been working on that problem for a long time, and they haven't produced anything even remotely useable yet. I figured I'd doodle on some graph paper, but I quickly remembered that I'm no good at that. So I figured I'd doodle inside WordPad instead, and then I figured I might as well throw it up on my blog. So here it is: my doodling! Graphical programming can be done fairly easily by emulating the LISP language. The entire LISP language can be built from the ground up on only a few small primitives, and this idea can be extended into the graphical programming space. I can easily imagine building up code the way you would LISP. Graphical objects would represent nodes in a kind of virtual parse tree, and the primitives would be provided as predefined nodes that you can use. All other nodes could be built from the primitives. Each node would have defined connection points, which correspond to inputs and outputs. For instance, you could use the lambda primitive node to construct a variable binding (ie, "let") node. Then, whenever you needed to bind a variable, you'd simply drop a "let" node into the program. You might then construct an iterator, like common LISP's "do" construct. You could then build a simpler "for" loop on top of that, or a loop that specifically loops over a list. Each of these nodes would be constructed and stored as new shapes that could be dropped into the program. The next time you need to iterate through a list, you just drag a list iterator into the program, hook up the input list, the body node, etc, and there you go. It sounds simple, effective, and elegant. And it is. Unfortunately, that doesn't cut it in the programming world, because it's already simpler and more effective to just type the equivalent code into a text editor. Had a graphical programming environment like the one I just described existed 25 years ago, it would have still been outclassed by the machines running simple text editors and LISP interpreters. It'd have been pretty, a cool toy, and perhaps even a good learning environment, but not productive. Another way the graphical programming environment I described is inferior to a text editor is that it's very wasteful with screen space. The equivalent code in a text editor has a much higher information density, so screen space is put to better use. Graphical programming takes longer to create basic elements (nodes), since you have to drag them with a mouse and hook up their inputs and outputs. That, combined with the fact that fewer basic elements can fit on the screen, means that each basic element would have to do a lot more to compete with textual programming. Creating a higher-level language where each node represents a significant chunk of code would certainly make this possible, but very high level programming languages tend to have a rather restricted set of expressible programs, meaning that they're not practical for real-world use. So in order for it to be both very high level and still very powerful, it would have to be intelligent. Wouter van Oortmerssen (http://wouter.fov120.com/) has done a substantial amount of work in this area. One idea he implements is "programming by example", where you show the computer a single recursion of a specific instance of a quicksort, say, and it extrapolates to get the general idea. You can see both the quicksort and "succ" algorithms implemented in a programming by example style on his Aardappel page. It's a very cool and powerful idea for algorithm design, but I'm not sure if it's applicable to real-world programming tasks, which are much less algorithmic and can't be so easily deduced from formulas, I think. One idea I had is to merge the design and development steps. A program could be designed in a graphical tool like Microsoft Visio, breaking it logically into modules, say, and you could zoom in on a module to see it broken into classes, and zoom in further to see classes broken into functions. Then, you could implement the functions using graphical programming techniques. The whole graphical design could be decorated with annotations, flowcharts, bug reports, UML diagrams, data flow graphs, user feedback, threat models, and other non-executable diagrams and documents. Those could be populated from a database, too, with the bugs coming from a bug database and the user feedback coming from the QA team, etc, with realtime updates in the background, creating little bug icons and user feedback balloons attached to bits of your code. Those data sources could all be linked together, making it a very powerful environment, with everything you need to build the program available at once from within the same user interface. It's too bad that the actual construction work, where you do the down-and-dirty coding, is so difficult to do in a graphical manner. Perhaps a compromise could be reached that combines an integrated design environment with textual code editing, where you'd double click on a leaf in the tree, like a function, to edit its associated code in text form. So I didn't actually get any good ideas for a graphical programming language. The graphical LISP idea came almost immediately, but it's so inferior to textual programming that it's not really worth implementing, except as a toy. But hot damn, I do like that integrated design environment idea. Maybe instead of using functional language you can use Kids Programming Language (http://www.kidsprogramminglanguage.com/). So maye graphical programming for kids will be some good point to your's tool? But yeah, children seem to be the primary audience for graphical programming environments at the moment. If I was to make graphical programming language, it would definitely be for kids, because they'd probably be satisfied with just a very high level language. Too bad I have such a dislike of UI programming, or else I'd do it.

http://www.adammil.net/blog/v69_Semi-random_thoughts_on_graphical_programming.html

History or rumour has it that the Ailsa Tavern was named after a young woman of that name that was once the land lady of the pub. The story goes that she and a local dignitary would meet via an underground passage. This was rumoured to run from the tavern to his house some distance away. The couple could not meet in public because the differences in their social position would have scandalised public opinion at the time.The tale is probably based on fact as rumours about the tunnel persist to this day. So reads the famous plaque in the garden of the Ailsa Tavern. Everybody loves a little local legend, a little naughtiness and a little 'upstairs-downstairs' romance, but this a true story? The beautiful barmaid on the pub sign and the little lady with the pewter jug, walking through the Wisteria will have to remain a mystery! However, like most good rumours, there is an element of fact in the story and in this case it is the 'underground passage'. There is no evidence that the tunnel ever came near to the pub, but it was built for an ultimately romantic purpose.

http://www.ailsatavern.com/ailsa-history/

Rebecca Pitts, an Apprentice working for the Royal Air Force Museum Cosford, beat the competition hands down to become the Telford College of Arts and Technology, Apprentice of the Year 2006/2007.Rebecca, aged 18 from Telford, was nominated for the ‘Engineering Apprentice of the Year’ award by her Company Representative, Mr Tim Wallis, Manager of the Royal Air Force Museum’s Michael Beetham Conservation Centre (MBCC). After winning her category Rebecca was entered for the Telford College of Arts and Technology ‘Overall Apprentice of the Year’ along with the winners from each of the other categories, and was crowned the overall winner. Having worked for the Museum for two years as part of a 5 ½ year apprentice placement, Rebecca has just completed the first year of a BTEC National Certificate in Operating and Maintenance. The course consisted of 6 modules in total which included Mechanical Technology and System Measurements and she received distinction grades in all six modules. Rebecca is also the only female in the country studying the course and she is delighted her hard work and effort has paid off. The Modern Apprentice Scheme provides a work-based training and development for 16 – 24 years olds who have left full-time education. Two days a week are spent at college and three days are spent in the workplace. The location of the Museum’s Michael Beetham Conservation Centre and the Defence College of Aeronautical Engineering offers a unique training opportunity. The scheme also offers a unique opportunity to fill a skills shortage of technicians qualified and skilled to work on the conservation and preservation of historic aircraft. The Royal Air Force Museum will be recruiting a further two apprentices to begin training in October 2007. Record breaking aviator Polly Vacher, flies into Eastbourne on Tuesday to launch an extra special prize for Red Arrows fans at Airbourne: Eastbourne International Airshow. As well as flying on Saturday and Sunday at the show, the world famous team are offering Airbourne the exclusive opportunity for two guests to win a day with the team at RAF Scampton. The competition which can be entered by SMS text message, will raise funds for Polly’s ‘Flying Scholarships for the Disabled’ charity, as well as funding some of the flying at the show. Polly, who flies into Eastbourne seafront with the Army Air Corp Historic Aircraft team on Tuesday, is launching the scheme as part of her whistle-stop Wings Around Britain tour. Raising funds and awareness for the charity, the scholarship aims to empower disabled people, building confidence and self esteem while undertaking the challenge of learning to fly. Polly brings with her a wealth of experience which has seen her achieve many records including – the first woman to fly solo in a single engine aircraft over the North Pole and Antarctica. The flight is documented in her inspirational book ‘Wings Around the World’, which also helps fund the charity. Airbourne returns from 16 – 19 August with RAF flying from the Eurofighter Typhoon, Chinook, Hawk, Tucano, Merlin, Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and the RAF Falcons parachute team. Competition entries are open now, to enter simply text AIR1 followed by your date of birth (DDMMYY) to 84222 eg AIR1 260880. The Royal Air Force Museum is proud to announce the unveiling of a new permanent exhibition: The interactive, walk-through Chinook Helicopter.The Boeing Chinook is a versatile and powerful helicopter, used for troop movement, artillery emplacement and battlefield re-supply. It was first procured by the RAF in 1980 and has seen operational service in The Falklands War, The first Gulf War and the current Gulf conflict. Based around the frame of an actual Chinook forward fuselage, the exhibition will allow visitors a ‘walk-in’ experience and includes a full cockpit with controls, along with additional display materials including interactive kiosks and audio-visual presentations on wide-screen monitors. The exhibition is fully accessible by ramp and is supported by a number of graphics panels. The ex-US Army Chinook model: CH-47D (serial currently unknown), was flown across from America to Osnabruck in Germany and then to Mildenhall in the UK. From there it travelled by road, to the Museum site in London. This fuselage is a product of the current refurbishment programme for US CH-47s, which are receiving new front ends. The exhibition is sponsored by Chinook manufacturer Boeing, who organised the gift of this ex-US Army airframe, along with a large scale model displayed over the exhibit and a kind donation through RAFM American Foundation. Honeywell have donated the T-55 engine and Rockwell Collins has provided a mock up of their Collins Avionics Architecture System, (CAAS) – a fully integrated tactical helicopter flight and mission management system comprising five advanced Multi-Function Displays and two colour Control and Display Units. Summit Aviation assisted in preparing the Chinook fuselage for the exhibition. Technical assistance was provided by RAF Odiham, where the RAF’s Chinook fleet is based, along with the provision and fitting of many additional parts, ranging from pylon fairings taken from a wreck, to crew seats replicated by their workshop and rotor blades. The exhibition will be on permanent public display in the Rotorcraft area of the London site, from Thursday 18th July 2007.

http://www.airscene.co.uk/news/2007/06/

Alcoholic Energy Drinks are Out, What’s Next? Substances added to food products, which includes beverages, are considered food additives and are subject to review and approval by the FDA, unless the substance is specifically excluded from the definition of “food additive,” has been sanctioned by the FDA, or is recognized by qualified experts as adequately safe when used as intended. This third category is referred to as Generally Recognized as Safe or GRAS. Producers of alcoholic energy drinks likely thought their products fell under the GRAS status. The FDA’s announcement ended that assumption. The question is, what other assumptions might it have ended? Alcoholic beverage producers have been using caffeine in their products for years, the most popular being coffee. In the FDA’s Questions and Answers section about the warning letters, it states that the letters are not directed at “alcoholic beverages that only contain caffeine as a natural constituent of one or more of their ingredients, such as a coffee flavoring.” However, in that same section the FDA also stated that, “Other alcoholic beverages containing added caffeine may be subject to agency action in the future if the available scientific data and information indicate that the use of caffeine in those products is not GRAS. A manufacturer is responsible for ensuring that its products, including the ingredients of its products, are safe for their intended use and are otherwise in compliance with the law.” Further, the TTB stated that if requested by the FDA, it would share “formulas for beers containing added caffeine that are approved under 27 CFR Part 25 [TTB regulations].” In the upcoming months, and perhaps years, it will be interesting to see how the GRAS standard is applied to other alcoholic beverages containing some form of caffeine.

http://www.alcohol.law/digest/archive/gras

It's a daunting thing. To sit there in front of a somewhat clean canvas and put your brush against it, knowing there's no turning back. There's no ctrl+z in case you do something wrong. It's a horrible feeling to let go of any ideas about what is right and what is wrong and simply go with the flow of a brush that still feels unfamiliar to your hand. And yet that is how I've spend these past couple of weeks. I've had moments of courage followed by instant fear. I had no idea what I was doing at most times. Which is probably why I left the blog alone for a bit. I needed time to find the courage to jump into the unknown. Hence the topic for my layout today. I've said it many times before that I really wanted to try hybrid and with my focus on art journaling this year has given me the desire to get out the paintbrushes and do something I hadn't done in over a decade. So I picked up a few supplies and spend the next couple of weeks moving them around the house every time they were in the way. Not once did I open them. As long as I didn't do it I would have an excuse for not using them and therefore not failing at it. Did I mention this scared me? I've been browsing Pinterest lately. Looking for art journaling techniques.I think I expected to be able to just do it and for a minute there I forgot that it took me years of using PSE before feeling as comfortable at creating as I am now. I had a few practise runs and threw it all out again. I was actually close to simply giving all my supplies away to someone more worthy but my stubbornness won. This is not even remotely perfect or even how I envisioned it but I am happy with it. It is my first attempt of combining digital with supplies like paint and cutouts and I think I much prefer this over starting from scratch on paper. Perhaps in time I will feel more comfortable with creating just with pen and paper but not yet. I am still a little overwhelmed with the amount of stuff needed. Different kinds of glues, that does different kinds of things. I was so naive to think that glue was glue. Oh the things I have to learn - and such a huge world of opportunities to explore. One thing is certain. Now that I've finally unpacked the things and found a way that sort of speaks to my current abilities, this won't be the last I create.

http://www.almhoej.com/2014/01/just-jump.html

The best of Andalusia is kept in the museums in the main cities in the south. These centres of knowledge take us into the world of the arts, they are the custodians of Andalusia's treasures. The Alcazaba of Almería can be seen from any part of the city and it is the biggest of the citadels built by the Arabs ... The Alhambra was a palace, a citadel, fortress, and the home of the Nasrid sultans, high government officials, servants of the court and ... The Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo (CAAC, or Contemporary Andalusian Art Centre) was created in February 1990 in order to endow the... The foundation of this centre allows to have a permanent institutional offer, considering photography from an interdisciplinary point of ... The Archaeological Site of Baelo Claudia was declared a National Historic Monument. This Roman city-factory is surprising due to its exce... The city of Carmona stands on an impregnable plateau which has enabled the uninterrupted presence of human settlement from prehistoric ti... The renowned Iberian-Roman town of Cástulo occupies a strategic location at the head of the Guadalquivir Valley.It had a special role dur... The Roman city of Itálica, located on the lower Guadalquivir, half-way between Sevilla (Hispalis) and Alcalá del Río (Ilipa) and very clo... The Antequera Dolmens Archaeological Site, included in the List of World Heritage Sites of te Unesco, is made up of the Dolmens of Menga,... Standing at the foot of a mountain known as la Desposada (the Newly-Wedded Woman) are the ruins of Conjunto Arqueológico de Madinat al-Za...

http://www.andalucia.org/en/cultural-tourism/network-of-andalusian-museums/

Kasi Markson has been in the public eye since she was a small child. Her father is the founder of Markson Aviation, a top name in the private jet industry. When her parents go through a public divorce battle, she is shoved into the spotlight. Now in her late twenties, she lives a comfortable life, but likes to keep the media at a distance. Radek Cole is a retired Air Force officer who agrees to a last minute job. He flies the rich and famous around the country in their private aircraft. Kasi needs a pilot for her upcoming trip and Mr. Cole comes highly recommended. Little does she know that one encounter would change everything. Kasi has an immediate and intense attraction to her new pilot and is used to getting what she wants. Initially, he turns down her advances, but her skills of persuasion are no match for him. Unfortunately, the media won’t leave them alone. What Kasi doesn’t know is that she isn’t the only one who has a public past. Find out what happens when the heiress meets the pilot.

http://www.angeliquevoisen.com/2015/03/release-blitz-persuading-him-by.html

Martin Rossi is a U.S. licensed pharmacist who is also specialty certified to provide patient education for a number of diseases including asthma and diabetes. He has been in practice for over 20 years in a variety of professional settings and has lectured on and created continuing education programs for a number of health related topics. It is important to classify a patient's current level of severity to determine the appropriate therapy choices. This article describes the symptoms, diagnosis and appropriate treatment for each of the... Many U.S. residents are saving money by ordering their drugs online from Canadian pharmacies. This article highlights some of the legal issues involved and will give you an idea how much money you mig... This article provides basic information about surgical breast enlargement to help you understand the benefits and risks of this type of procedure.

http://www.articlesfactory.com/author/Martin+Rossi.html

SARAH GWYNN: Thank you very much for joining us today. It's been pretty good Final Series for you so far, with a particularly good performance last week. How would you sum up the last few weeks? IAN POULTER: It's been a nice run so far. Obviously the last three weeks I made plenty of birdies; first week, plenty of bogeys to go with the birdies, and I've eliminated most of those mistakes over the last couple of week the. Just a bit disappointed last week not to convert any of the chances that I had on the back nine, 20 putts on the back nine holes doesn't normally get it done in any tournament. So I'm pretty confident for this week. I love the golf course. I've played it really well in the past, apart from a Tiddlywink into the first playoff hole. So if I can do something similar like what I played a couple years ago, then I'm going to be in contention. SARAH GWYNN: And traditionally, you always seem to finish the season quite strongly, and having good experiences here, you must fancy your chances this week. IAN POULTER: I fancy my chances, yeah. There's a lot riding on it this week. Yeah, I'm looking forward to the challenges and having a bit of fun with Stenson and G‑Mac and Rosey over the next four days. Q. Apart from the great fun of making Mr.Stenson your waiter for the evening, how much would it actually mean to finish the year as European No. 1? IAN POULTER: Well, it would mean a lot. I think the year, as some people have said, it's been a disappointing year. But I guess I'm slowly turning that around, the back end of the year, which I have done a couple of times before. I think if I could win this week and win obviously The Race to Dubai, I think that would be a huge achievement for myself, as a personal goal. That's something that every player wants to do; you want to win the Order of Merit. And yeah, it would be another box ticked for 2014, 2013, wherever we are. Q. How much does it take out of the tank to play four weeks on the spin like this, obviously in big events, China, Turkey, here. IAN POULTER: When you're half man‑half‑mattress, it's absolutely fine. It's no problem. I sleep plenty. (Laughter). Yeah, there's a reason why I took five weeks off before this back end of the year spell, so I could come out fully charged and ready to go, and I am. I've still got plenty in the tank. I feel that even though I've been in contention in the last group a couple of times, it has not‑‑ I don't feel tired at the minute, which is good. So it means the fitness work that I did in that off‑period is working; the hard work is paying off. So I would expect myself to be there right to the end on Sunday. Q. Why do you think it is you always leave the best to last? IAN POULTER: I've always done well under pressure really, like my school report and school work. I never handed it in until the last minute. I always produced my best at the last minute. Not the first time I've done it. It's too easy early in the season, isn't it (smiling). Q. Is there anything that you can do? IAN POULTER: Yeah, there's plenty you can do about it, yeah, which I am doing. I'm working harder and harder. You known, it's not an intentional thing that the year has been okay and then I've had to work really hard. I've still worked very, very hard. It's just I liked having five weeks off to be honest with you and doing a lot of really constructive work in that time period and coming out knowing that I've got a spell of tournaments that I can play; that I can't get home on a Sunday night, and I know I'm away. So I can't‑‑ my mind‑set is completely different. That's why I've played generally pretty good in these closing weeks. Q. Curious your thoughts, if it had already ended, we didn't have this to play, who you think Player of the Year would be? IAN POULTER: It hasn't really ended, has it; Stenson. Q. It would seem that there would be that on the table, as well as The Race to Dubai could be decided this week. IAN POULTER: The player of the season, if it ended already, I mean, Stenson. The year he's had, the amount of World Ranking points he's earned compared to anyone else is phenomenal. He's comfortably up on World Ranking points. You'd have to say he's been by far the best player. You know, hence, why ing this Order of Merit, and he's already won the Order of Merit in the States. He's basically done what Rory was doing last year. Q. Given that you're playing all four of The Final Series events, it's quite a silly question but where do you stand on the whole having‑to‑play‑two‑out‑of‑the‑first‑three‑to‑qualify‑for‑this‑one debate? IAN POULTER: Obviously it's been awkward for a few guys. You know, scheduling is never easy. You know, it's difficult sometimes to be able to play enough events everywhere to keep everybody happy. So you know, I‑‑ where do I stand on it. The rule was put in place. They may have got it slightly wrong. I would think that will be addressed. Obviously it would be nice to have Ernie in the field and Sergio and Charl. You know, I'm sure that will be looked at and addressed. Everybody makes mistakes. I think that's just a mistake. That won't be made again. IAN POULTER: Everything needs tweaking, that was something that got put in place that definitely needs tweaking. It would be a stronger field to have those guys playing, and they are not here. So, it's a shame but I don't want to dwell on it too much because I think it will change for next year. SARAH GWYNN: Ian, thanks very much for coming in.

http://www.asapsports.com/show_interview.php?id=94506

As of Monday, foreign climbers in Nepal — including those scaling Mount Everest — must be accompanied by a guide and people who are blind or a double amputee will not be able to climb at all, following a revision of the country's mountaineering regulations. It is unclear whether the government will allow foreign guides with a climbing license to make solo bids or act as a climbing guide, according to The Kathmandu Post newspaper. Nepal's Tourism Secretary Maheshwor Neupane said the law had been revised to make climbing safer and decrease the number of deaths. More than 290 people have died while attempting to scale Everest, the world's highest peak. The ban is likely to anger elite solo mountaineers, who enjoy the challenge of climbing alone, even without bottled oxygen, and who blame a huge influx of commercial expeditions for creating potentially deadly bottlenecks on the world's tallest mountain. Some officials have expressed concern that imposing the ban on people with disabilities could qualify as discrimination, the Post reported. New Zealander Mark Inglis, who lost both his legs to frostbite, became the first double amputee to reach the top of the 8,848-meter (29,029-foot) peak in 2006. Blind American Erik Weihenmayer scaled Everest in May 2001 and later became the only visually impaired person to summit the highest peaks on all seven continents. Thousands of mountaineers flock to Nepal — home to eight of the world's 14 peaks over 8,000 meters — each spring and autumn when clear weather provides good climbing conditions. Almost 450 climbers, 190 foreigners and 259 Nepalis, reached the summit of Everest from the south side in Nepal last year.

http://www.asianmirror.lk/international/item/26569-mount-everest-nepal-bans-solo-mountain-climbs

IMPHAL, July 16 - With an objective to give quality education to students, the Manipur Government has selected one school each from all the 60 Assembly constituencies to develop them as model schools. Informing this, Chief Minister N Biren Singh said that all these schools would have similar facilities as in private schools, including smart classes, computer laboratories, open gyms, separate toilets for boys and girls and other modern infrastructure. A sum of Rs 24 crore has been earmarked in the State Budget, while another amount of Rs 19 crore has been sanctioned by the Central Government for the mission, he added. The Chief Minister was speaking at the annual prize distribution ceremony of the Department of Education (Schools) and the Board of Secondary Education, Manipur (BOSEM), for 2018 and 2019 here. Education Minister Th Radheshyam, Joint Secretaries (Education) L Nandakumar and Ng Roben and BOSEM Secretary Chithung Mary Thomas also attended the function. In all, 209 awards were distributed today, out of which 125 awards were under the BOSEM and 84 were incentive awards instituted by the Department of Education (Schools). In his speech, Biren Singh also stated that the overall pass percentage of the matriculation examination this year touched an all-time high of 74.69, which is the highest since the establishment of the Manipur board in 1972. Credit for this goes to hard-working teachers, he added. Stating that as private school education has become very costly nowadays, a sum of about Rs 45,000 to Rs 60,000 is spent per student every year on getting education in private schools, he said, adding that this puts a huge financial burden on poor families.

http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/detailsnew.asp?id=jul1719/oth054

IMPHAL, Oct 15 - Scottish hard rock veterans Nazareth arrived here this afternoon to perform in the ensuing four-day ShiRock 2019, an annual rock music competition- cum-festival held as part of the Shirui Lily Festival. The Shirui Lily Festival will be held at multiple venues in the picturesque Ukhrul district beginning from tomorrow onwards. Nazareth will perform on October 16, the opening night of the rock festival. American glam rock band, Extreme, is also slated to perform on the closing day on October 19. Soon after arriving here, the Scottish rock band, headed by its last founding member Pete Agnew, told reporters that they would be happy to perform for the fans here. He added that the band faced a challenge when Carl Sentance was brought in as the new lead singer. However, due to the support and cooperation of fans and Sentance�s vocal style, the band has been doing well, he added. Nazareth will make their way to the Ukhrul hill town for their show on the Bakshi grounds, 60 km north of Imphal, according to Tourism Department sources. Nazareth � which first gained international fame after their cover of American songwriter Boudleaux Bryant�s number, �Love Hurts�, that featured on their sixth studio album, Hair of the Dog � had earlier performed in Mizoram in April 2017, sources said. However, American group Extreme, which was formed in 1985, will make its debut performance in India with the Ukhrul show. In recognition of the importance of the Manipur State flower, the Shirui Lily Festival, which was upgraded to a State-level event in May 2017, is aimed at spreading awareness about conservation of the bell-shaped flower and also �to develop and implement sustainable and responsible tourism in the State�. It also serves as a platform to promote Ukhrul as a tourist destination of the North East. Live music, cultural shows, beauty pageants, exhibitions, programmes folk songs, traditional dances, and indigenous games and sports competitions will be the highlights of the festival, which will showcase the age-old traditions and culture of the inhabitants of Ukhrul district.

http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/detailsnew.asp?id=oct1619/oth052

Nach Baliye is one of the popular dance television reality show on an Indian television network. The season 9th of the Nach Baliye is creating a huge buzz these days. Nach Baliye Season 9 Winner Name 2019, Runner-up and Prize Money will be announced on Grand Finale. Many celebrity contestants are in a feud with judges. The ninth season of the show is getting plenty of attention from the television lovers. Fans are excited to see who will be the winner of season 9 of the show. So check out the predictable winner name of the Nach Baliye Season 9. And find out more information related to the runner up and prize money. The 9th season of the Nach Baliye is been judged popular dancer and choreographer Ahmed Khan and Raveena Tandon. While the TV show is produced by Salman Khan. The season 9 of Nach Baliye featuring the Ex couples on the show. The TV show has come up with one of the Unique concepts. The previous seasons of the Nach Baliye used to feature only couples. But 9th season of the dance television reality show has roped in ex celebrity couples. The name of the winner of season 9 will be revealed after the grand finale of the show. The grand finale of the show will take place in a few weeks. So the more details related to the winner and runner up of the show will be revealed after the grand finale of season 9. The nine seasons of the Nach Baliye was started in the month of July 17. It is expected that the TV show will have their finals in a few weeks. The TV show is featuring popular celebrity couples such as Shradha and Alam, Yuvika and Prince, Anita hassanandani and Rohit, Aly Goni and Natasha, Nityami and Shantanu. While recently Pooja and Sandeep, Urvashi and Anuj made their wild card entries on the show. Celebrities are giving tough competition to each other. So it is difficult to predict the winner of the ninth season of the show. Anita hassanandani and Rohit, Shantanu and Nityami are one of the popular contestants in the show. You can watch entertaining episodes of the Nach Baliye online also. The Hotstar’s official website and app are providing the online broadcast of the show at any time and anywhere.

http://www.auditionform.in/news/nach-baliye/nach-baliye-season-9-winner-name-2019/

Won Hotel & Suites Avail Grand Jeddah Excellence Award Tourism Saudi edition of the first category (the best local hotel) during the awards ceremony excellence Saudi Tourism for the year 2011, under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Sultan bin Salman, head of the General Authority for Tourism and Antiquities in the celebration of a unique tourist claimed which sectors of accommodation such distinction as to promote the local tourism product and which is organized by the General Authority for Tourism and Antiquities in the Kingdom, which was held on Monday, March 28. The Hotel was Avail Grand, which is a chain of hotels and resorts Avail, a subsidiary of Alpha United for Tourism, based in Jeddah, had inaugurated in 2009 under an ambitious plan for the company to find a high quality of tourist accommodation organized and is of the newest hotels in Jeddah with luxury suites in terms of equipment, space and simplicity of furniture with the quality of processing, was adopted on the character (guest house) as a slogan and service in all facilities and gained the confidence of many customers, particularly airlines, which has chosen to host visiting dignitaries and their clients in addition to a number of ministries and international bodies, was marked also in the area in terms of the spacious rooms and suites of rooms and supplies and how to deal best pursued by the staff of the hotel. Received the award, Mr. Saeed Ali Asiri president of Alpha United for tourism. Has stated that the prize is a message of thanks to customers the hotel and bleed them because they are a source of distinctiveness permanent, a driver for the company to the stability of the approach to hospitality house pursued by the management to be a feature of hospitality high-end according to the values of benign to the Saudi community the noble and the biggest winner is the national tourism. He was also a victory for the organizers that they were on the level of professionalism in the arbitration and regulation. As Chief Executive of the company General Manager of the hotel, Mr. Ali Abdullah Al-displaced people that his grandfather is the source of inspiration for excellence and gain the hotel for this award because we our yesterday comfortable guest like at home, whatever luxury in any facility without working on the convenience of guest you will not continue to excellence or tender, and Sndil of this approach in all branches of the company with God's will.

http://www.avail.com.sa/news.asp

Library and Archives Canada (LAC) is pleased to announce that it has set up the Acquisitions Advisory Committee and the Services Consultation Group. This means that LAC will henceforth be able to call on the expertise and invaluable advice of external specialists from across Canada, at the same time strengthening the links it enjoys with the library and archives communities. These two committees are in addition to the Stakeholders' Forum, which, for several years, has been bringing together key organizations from Canada's library and archives communities. You can find the mandates, the lists of members and summaries of the discussions of our committees in the About Us section of our website.

http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/news/Pages/2016/lac-new-advisory-committees.aspx

Summary: The co-host of ESPN’s Mike and Mike follows up his New York Times bestseller All You Could Ask For with this poignant story of one man’s search to understand himself, his marriage, and his father. I am a HUGE fan of Mike Greenberg! Booking Son and I listen to his morning sports radio show Mike & Mike just about every day. Booking Son actually wants to be a sportscaster when he grows up, but "not the athlete guy -- more like Greeny!" So naturally when I learned that he was an author, I wanted to read his books. I haven't yet read his two nonfiction books, but I did listen to his first novel ALL YOU COULD ASK FOR a few years ago - you can read review. This might sound strange, but I was pleasantly surprised by his "softer side." And I was especially impressed with his ability to write a novel in various female's voices. When I received a copy of his second novel MY FATHER'S WIVES, there was no doubt that I would be reading it. Of course, the blurb on the cover by Jonathan Tropper didn't hurt either. I'm paraphrasing here, but basically he said Greeny knows about more than just sports -- he gets men! That definitely piqued my interest. I figured if he did a good job capturing the essence of three women in his first novel, then he should do an equally good job of writing about a man... a man who has a few things in common with Mr. Greenberg! MY FATHER'S WIVES tells the story of Jonathan Sweetwater, a middle aged guy who has a pretty "sweet" life. He's married to a gorgeous woman, has two terrific kids, and a great job that pays really well. He's living the American dream until he arrives home one day to discover that his marriage might not as ideal as he thought! Jonathan is truly a family man and loves his wife dearly; however, he begins to question his life... and this makes him want to examine his relationship with his larger-than-life father. Percival Sweetwater III was a long-time senator who was beloved by many. He also had five different wives! He walked away from Jonathan and his mother when Jonathan was nine years old, and Jonathan truly believes he needs to understand his father before he can move forward in his life and marriage. As a result, he decides to track down his father's five wives and learn more about his enigmatic father. As Jonathan travels the world trying to understand what made his father tick, he actually ends up discovering more about himself... and what kind of man he wants to be. MY FATHER'S WIVES was an entertaining read, and once again, I was impressed with Mr. Greenberg's writing. I won't go so far as to say I enjoyed this novel as much as ALL YOU COULD ASK FOR, but I probably wasn't the ideal audience for this one. I definitely related much more to his book about women and friendship. But having said that, I did like this book quite a bit. As a woman, I can't really say how accurate his portrayal of a middle-aged man was; however, if I had to guess, I'd say it was pretty real. I loved Jonathan's insecurities, and at the same time, I appreciated his honesty in dealing with some pretty serious issues. It was interesting to me to see how Jonathan worked through the problems in his current life by going back and dealing with a few from the past. However, what I enjoyed the most about MY FATHER'S WIVES was the overall feeling I had when I finished the story. I actually found the book to be quite heartwarming and I really liked Jonathan's character. His growth (and sometimes lack there of) was intriguing to me, and in many ways, this novel felt like a coming-of-age story. And I do love coming-of-age tales! I suspect that there was quite a bit of Mr. Greenberg in Jonathan. The character just felt real in some important ways. I have no idea about the author's past or his relationship with is father and/or mother, but if I had to guess, I'd say the portrayal of his relationship with his wife and kids was pretty authentic. Or at least I hope it was! Because MY FATHER'S WIVES deals with many issues, it would make for a great book club discussion. There is a reading guide available with sixteen thought-provoking questions. Some of the themes you might want to explore include infidelity, marriage, divorce, parent/child relationships, trust, forgiveness, legacy, wealth, self-discovery, and family. MY FATHER'S WIVES is an interesting coming-of-age story about a middle aged husband and father who is just trying to make sense of his life. Definitely recommended, especially for fans of Mike Greenberg. Most of the reviews I've read of this agree with you that the book is good but not as good as Greenberg's first book. I've yet to try his work. I've been on the fence about this. Maybe I should read his first book.

http://www.bookingmama.net/2015/02/review-my-fathers-wives.html

I'll be honest: I wasn't quite a fan of Urban Trial Freestyle when I played the PSN demo of it. Initially I had seen it as a knockoff of RedLynx's Trials series, one without the bells and whistles of the popular series. Playing with the 3DS version, however, gave me a different approach of Tate Interactive's motocross title, one that left a happy little smirk on my face soon after beating all the levels. The 3DS version of Urban Trial Freestyle features five worlds, each with their own sort of personality: Outskirts, Industrial, Downtown, Underground, and Train Station. You have the choice to run through these levels in either the Time Trial or the Stunt Mode; the former having you race to the end of the level in the quickest time with the least amount of crashes, and the latter having you test your agility, speed, and landing precision. From these levels you can earn cash to upgrade your bike and rider's attire. These five worlds can go by quickly, but with the amount of flips and maneuvers you can try out in each level you'll find many reasons to go back and play them again. As you can connect to the Nintendo Network online in the game you can catch up with up-to-date world scores, as well as race against Ghosts of some of these players. With the bikes you can unlock you can even test out the tracks again and see if you can go faster than before.

http://www.bostonbastardbrigade.com/2013/07/urban-trial-freestyle-easy-on-tricks-hard-on-eyes/

The dangers of alcohol abuse during the teenage years are well documented. Alcohol use has links to memory loss and deterioration of parts of the brain; in teens, the risk of alcoholism is unique. Since teen brains are still developing, they sustain serious damage that can be irreversible. To mitigate risk of permanent damage, parents of a teen struggling with an alcohol dependency should look into an adolescent drug detox program as soon as possible. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notes that alcohol is the most common drug of abuse in youth in the United States. Though the consumption of alcohol is illegal for those under the age of 21, youth aged 12 to 20 drink 11% of all alcohol consumed in the United States. Teenagers are more likely to engage in episodes of binge drinking compared to adults, and 1/3 of all high school seniors reported a past 30 day drinking episode in the 2017 Youth Behavior Risk Surveillance System (YBRSS). Additionally, research links the early onset of drinking with an increased risk of the development of an alcohol use disorder. The risk is highest for those who binge drink, and those who develop and alcohol use disorder may require supervised alcohol detox and withdrawal. Adolescent alcohol use can have a myriad of negative side effects, but one of the most concerning is the effect the substance can have on normal brain development. Alcohol interrupts communication between the nerve cells in the brain and those in the rest of the body. The primary active ingredient in alcohol, ethanol, suppresses the activities of nerve pathways, which is what makes an intoxicated person appear lethargic, sluggish, or slow. In developing brains, the risk of permanent damage is much higher. In particular, two areas of the developing brain are vulnerable to damage during episodes of teenage drinking: the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex. A component of a major brain system called the limbic system, the hippocampus plays a vital role in memory, learning, and emotional regulation. Research on adolescent drinking shows that extended alcohol use is linked to a 10% reduction in the size of the hippocampus itself. During this crucial stage of development, the hippocampus is especially vulnerable to damage, such that alcohol may poison the nerve cells themselves. Permanent damage to the hippocampus can affect the ability to recall information in an academic setting or even related to future job performance. In general, the brain develops from back to front. In infancy, newborns are limited to seeing a short distance as their occipital lobe develops. By the time a child has reached adolescence, much of the rear portions of the brain are fully developed; however, the prefrontal cortex is still evolving and research shows that it goes through the most change during adolescence. The prefrontal cortex plays an important role in judgement, planning, impulse control, and decision-making. Young adults who drink heavily have smaller prefrontal cortexes than those of the same age who don’t drink. Additionally, alcohol can disrupt the physical changes the teenage brain undergoes during this stage of development, leading to a decrease in cognitive function and reduced ability to problem solve. Unfortunately, the changes that the brain undergoes after exposure to alcohol in adolescence can be permanent. Teens who drink heavily in adolescence may experience structural changes to the brain that impair the ability to make calculated decisions, regulate emotions, form and recall memories, and absorb and apply information. The implications of these changes are wide ranging and expand well beyond the bounds of academic performance. Teenagers who drink heavily are at higher risk for alcohol and other substance use disorders, as well as increased risk for vehicular crashes and other injuries related to alcohol use. Several factors may affect teen alcohol use. First, research shows us that teens gravitate to risky behaviors such as drinking as a form of “novelty seeking.” At this point in their development, teens often seek new experiences to test boundaries in preparation for “leaving the nest.” Secondly, peer pressure often lead teenagers to take a first drink, especially in the age of social media “challenges.” While a little “experimentation” may seem harmless, even small amounts of alcohol over adolescence can increase a teen’s likelihood of developing an alcohol use disorder. Alcohol use disorders can be difficult for parents to pinpoint, because, at first glance, these symptoms could just be parts of being a teenager. However, most parents know intuitively when there is a larger problem. Dealing with a teen drug addiction is never easy, but with appropriate intervention, you can minimize the damage and get your child on the road to recovery. Does Your Child Show Signs of An Alcohol Use Disorder? Confront the problem. When approaching a teen about a potential substance use disorder, it’s important to use the right method. Teens are more likely to be combative or resist the idea that their drinking may be problematic. Learn the specifics about holding an intervention. Be nonjudgmental. Parents may ask questions out of concern for their child, but the teen may hear a critical tone. It’s important to frame questions and conversations in a neutral, non-threatening manner. Communicate empathy and compassion. Your teen should know that you understand how difficult this stage in development can be. Let them know that everyone struggles sometimes, but substances, such as alcohol, are not a healthy way to deal with the problems inherent in this stage of life. When your child feels they can trust you, they are more likely to open up. Teenagers are vulnerable to permanent brain damage as the result of drinking in adolescence. Unfortunately, the damage to the structures can be permanent, so it’s essential to address the behavior as soon as possible. By intervening as soon as a problem arises, parents can help their teens reach their full potential.

http://www.brightfuturerecovery.com/blog/the-dangers-of-teenage-alcoholism/

How many republicans are there really? At the weekend The Observer reported that British anti-monarchists were from 22% to 50% of the population, but over the years most research has shown that percentage to be much lower. With the Jubilee around the corner, Sunder Katwala says it is time for the republicans to get real. “As much of the UK gears up to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, not everyone is happy”, as the BBC reported on Sunday. The Observer also reported on Republican efforts to use the moment to voice their democratic argument for the abolition of the monarchy. The bad news for Britain’s Republican minority is that that public support for the monarchy in 2012 is at the highest level ever recorded in modern opinion polls, with 80% favouring keeping the monarchy and only 13% supporting a republic in the most recent Ipsos-Mori poll on the subject. Graham Smith, the head of Republic, says that the 13% finding, that support for a republic had fallen to 13%, “is clearly a blip because every other poll before and after shows about 20-25%”. The Observer, perhaps falling prey to wishful thinking, went rather further, with its surprising claim that “British anti-monarchists – anything from 22% to 50% of the population, according to recent polls – [are] wondering where the dissent has gone”. So how many republicans are there? Usually, just under one in five people say that they want a republic. What is most striking thing about British public attitudes to the monarchy is their incredible stability over time. Far from fluctuating widely, and towards half of the population, it is very difficult to find any other long-term trend in British social or political attitudes that has been quite as stable as support or opposition to the monarchy. The question of monarchy or republic seems to have been first asked by Mori in 1969, when 19% of people wanted a republic. The Ipsos-Mori archive of polls on the monarchy shows how the number has invariably remained within 3% of that figure across four decades since, very briefly peaking at 22 per cent in the run-up to Prince Charles’ marriage to Camilla in 2005. (ICM also found 22% support for a republic in that year). The one previous dip in support for a republic came after the death of Diana. Though the monarchy came under much media and public pressure, support for a republic briefly dipped to single figures, as a mark of respect, before republicanism returned to its steady state of 18% within a month. The 13% support for a republic may well be a blip, marking Jubilee warmth towards the Queen, though it could also reflect the increased profile and popularity of the younger Royals, following Kate Middleton’s wedding to Prince William. Attitudes to the monarchy do vary, a little at least, when different questions are put in different ways. The latest ICM poll for the Guardian finds that 22% think the country would be better off without the Royal family. It seems surprising that republicanism can not convert all of this group to its cause. Yet, in the same poll, when offered a choice between Charles or William as the next monarch, only 10% said they wanted neither, and an elected president instead, with William leading his father by 48% to 39% over the choice to be King, suggesting some lukewarm republicans, who would be happy with a choice within the Royal family. If the republicans wanted to reach out to a larger audience, perhaps a Jubilee campaign to elect Prince William president would be the message with most popular appeal! That would not, of course, appeal to the more committed Republican core, which is made up of the 5% who tell YouGov, in a poll for this month’s Prospect magazine, that the monarchy is one of the worst things about Britain. But 42% choose the Queen or the Monarchy as one of the best things in the country, behind only history and national pride, the NHS and the countryside. Though the democratic argument will go on during the Jubilee weekend, but there is little doubt that the national celebrations will reflect a country at ease with the Queen and the monarchy. This weekend, Britain’s republicans will have to take the long view. They did, of course, succeed in removing a British monarch, with the death of Charles I back in 1649, but saw the monarchy restored a decade later. The last three and a half centuries have been rather barren for republicanism, and there is little evidence of any public appetite for a change soon.

http://www.britishfuture.org/blog/how-many-republicans-are-there-really/

OUT OF TIME is the HIGHLY ANTICIPATED sequel to NINE MINUTES where Grizz, Kit and Grunt's gritty tale continues on July 23rd! The slap was hard and almost knocked him to his knees. They wobbled for a split second, but he managed to regain his stance and glared hard at his father. He tasted blood in his mouth where the slap had caused him to bite the inside of his cheek. He knew his next comment would bring another blow. He braced himself. Another hard one, this time to the side of his head, which caused a ringing in his ear. This was nothing. He’d endured worse. He didn’t know why it bothered his father so much when he said this. Ida herself was the first to remind him that she wasn’t his mother. “It’s the last day of school. Some of us had to stay after to help the teachers clean out their classrooms.” This was a lie. He’d gotten in a fight that day. He’d snapped when a snooty rich kid made fun of him. The kid was new and had only been enrolled for the last two weeks before school let out for the summer. He was too new to have been warned. The new kid had asked him in the boy’s room if he picked his clothes out of the garbage can that morning. He’d looked at the big clock over the blackboard. Less than fifteen minutes until summer started. Hopefully, his dad wouldn’t work him to death and he’d be able to keep an eye out for her. For Ruthie. He’d been on the loaded school bus, ready to pull away, when the driver reached over and opened the door. The substitute principal stood at the front of the bus and quietly perused the group of kids. When he saw who he was looking for, he pointed and indicated with his finger. Follow. Damn. He’d almost made it out of there. They never discussed the alleged crime as they made their way back into the school and to the principal’s office. He simply bent over the desk and endured the paddling. It wasn’t so bad and didn’t even compare to the beatings he’d received from his father. Beatings that had left permanent scars on his back and other parts of his body. He may have been young, but he knew this fucker, a temporary replacement for the school’s regular principal who was out recovering from surgery, was enjoying this way too much. The world was foul. So, he’d hitchhiked and ended up walking the last seven miles to get home and now stood there, facing the wrath of his father. A hot, stale breeze floated in from the window above the kitchen sink. His stepmother. Ida. He’d hated her for as long as he could remember. He had no memory of his real mother. He was told she’d died in this house giving birth to him. It wasn’t really a house so much as a shack in the middle of nowhere. A two-bedroom hovel situated on several acres surrounded by orange groves as far as the eye could see. His father was a skilled carpenter by trade, but for reasons that made no sense to his son, he preferred this destitute existence. He could have made a decent living, could’ve lived in a home not so far from the modern world—as modern as you could get in the fifties. He chose instead to live in a dilapidated old house that had been passed down for generations. He never once used his carpentry skills to make it into a real home. He’d slap some tar on the roof if it leaked or replace a busted pipe, but other than some hodgepodge repairs, he never lifted a finger. It was crumbling around them. Maybe it was because his father considered himself the king of his castle and he could hold reign over his unworthy subjects. Maybe knowing that he could provide a nice and safe environment, but purposely chose not to, was part of the psychotic seed that had been implanted in his personality. He wasn’t just a bad man. He was worse than that. He prided himself too much on withholding any good he could do for his family. Before she’d married, Ida had worked as a maid for a wealthy family in West Palm Beach. His father had met up with a couple of other laborers to make the long drive down to a mansion situated on the beach to spend a few days doing carpentry work and repairs. He returned with his three comrades and a glowing Ida, who had finally, finally snagged herself a man. She had become tired of being someone’s maid, and when a hardworking, widowed family man came along and showed a hint of interest, she jumped. Unfortunately for her, she jumped too quickly and without hesitation. She hadn’t realized then that she was jumping from the frying pan right into a fire that was even worse. Overnight, she went from being a lonely, overworked maid to a lonely, overworked, and abused housewife. No, he had no good memories of Ida. Maybe she’d started out trying to do her best. To make their shack a home, to be a mother to her new husband’s young son. But if she had started out that way, he had no recollection of it. Maybe she wasn’t always the horrible person he knew. Maybe his father made her that way. It didn’t matter. He hated her no matter what. He hated her because he knew what she was doing to her own daughter. His half-sister, Ruthie. Ruthie was a sweet and trusting child who’d captured his heart since the day she was born. She was a happy little girl who was always smiling in spite of the mistreatment her mother inflicted. He spent every second that he wasn’t at school or working caring for his little sister. He adored her and did everything he could to protect her from his parents, especially Ida. He made sure she ate when she was sent to bed without supper. He made sure she was bathed. He couldn’t do it every day, but he did it as often as he could manage. He erased evidence of her bathroom accidents, making sure to wash out her clothes in the creek and let them dry before returning them to her dresser. He wiped away her tears and kissed her boo-boos. Unfortunately, there were too many even for him to kiss away. He would pull her close in the bed they’d shared ever since she was a baby and, ignoring the stench of their unwashed bodies, he would make up happy stories to tell her. Anything to make her forget, just for a little while. They would watch the stars from their bedroom window and sometimes he‘d even use them in his stories. “Where are you, Brother? Are you there, too?” she asked him once. He didn’t know if the stories he made up were happy ones. He didn’t know what happiness was himself, so how could he tell a four-year old? But he tried. Once in a while, after he was certain his father and Ida were asleep, he’d go to the back screen door and let Razor in to sleep with them, too. Razor was a big black Rottweiler that had wandered up to their house one day and never left. His father refused to let the dog stay and insisted he didn’t need another mouth to feed, that he’d shoot the dog if it didn’t leave on its own. The dog was smart. Sensing the father’s animosity, it would come around only at night and wait for the handout left for him on the far side of the barn. His father finally relented; he decided maybe the dog wasn’t so bad after all when his barking woke them up one night to warn them that a wild animal was trying to get into the chicken coop. The hen’s squawking never reached their sleeping ears, but the stray dog’s barking and pawing at their back door did. His father let Razor stay, but he had to be kept outside. The boy didn’t need to glance at his stepmother to know she would purposely serve a very early supper that day. He headed out the back screen door and let it slam behind him. “C’mon, Razor,” he said as he headed for the ramshackle barn. It was dark outside when he finally finished his chores. He found some food he’d stashed in the barn and silently ate, sharing half with his dog. After washing up in the rain barrel, he headed into the house and crawled into bed with Ruthie, pulling her close. She moaned. “Brother is here, Ruthie. Do you want a story?” He was exhausted, but couldn’t fall asleep thinking he would let her down without a story. “My stomach hurts,” she whispered. “Do you need me to take you to the bathroom?” he whispered back. “What kind of hurt is it? Are you hungry? He stiffened, then squeezed his eyes shut. He was glad she didn’t want a happy story tonight because the only one he could think of was one where he strangled Ida with his bare hands. The next day, he was walking back from the groves carrying the three squirrels he’d killed with his slingshot. Ida could make a decent stew out of these. He’d watched Ruthie that morning at the table as she slowly ate her breakfast. She seemed okay, and he’d left to hunt before she finished. He shouldered the squirrels and imagined the look on Ruthie’s face when she saw what he’d caught. That’s when he heard it. A shotgun blast coming from the direction of the house. He’d heard the shotgun before, when his father caught rare sight of a deer or other animal that was either a predator or something that would end up on their dinner table. But his gut told him this was different. He broke into a full run, then came upon a scene that brought him up short. He tensed as his mind started to grasp what had happened. There, right beside the clothesline. His father holding the shotgun. Ida cradling a bleeding arm. Razor on his side and lying in a puddle of blood. And Ruthie, on the ground and flat on her back, her arms at her sides. Ruthie. Razor attacked Ruthie and then Ida for trying to stop him? Impossible. Razor would never hurt Ruthie. Ida held her arm up for him to see. She didn’t have to. He had already seen it and there was no doubt it was a bite from Razor. Like he’d grabbed on and was wrestling with her. He dropped his dead squirrels and knelt at Ruthie’s side. And then he knew for certain the concocted story wasn’t true. Soft blonde curls framed her face. She looked more peaceful and beautiful than he had ever seen her. A tiny smile curved her sweet, innocent mouth. Of course she was smiling. She had just escaped from hell. He knew she was dead. He also saw nothing on her body that indicated Razor had attacked her. They were lying. But he’d already known that. He couldn’t stop himself. The words were out of his mouth before he could think. The blow was hard, but not unexpected. He stared after them as they made their way back to the house and tried to imagine a world without Ruthie. A world without light. Two weeks later, he was sitting in the passenger seat of a strange man’s car. The man had introduced himself when he picked up the young hitchhiker, and he didn’t seem bothered by the fact that the boy just stared at him and refused to say anything. The boy now turned to gaze out the car window as he reflected on what he’d done. Leaving the shovel at the gravesite, he’d headed back to the house. He went into the barn and retrieved the rat poison, shoved it down into his pants. He’d gone into the house, noticed that Ida had cleaned up and was working on their squirrel stew. He could tell by her movements she was in a lot of pain. Razor had done a decent job of tearing up her arm. She probably needed to go to the hospital, but his father would never take her, nor would he allow her the use of their one vehicle. It wasn’t at the house anyway. He must’ve gone somewhere. It was obvious what had happened. Ida had been giving Ruthie another beating and Razor had stopped her. Unfortunately, Razor hadn’t stopped her in time. The boy had no way of knowing that Ruthie had been slowly dying of internal injuries sustained from her mother’s brutal beatings, culminating in the final stomp to her tiny stomach the day before. He was certain Ida had always inflicted her brutality on Ruthie inside the house, where Razor wasn’t allowed. That day must’ve been different. She was probably dragging a crying Ruthie out to the yard to help her with some chore and started whaling on her when the little girl wouldn’t, or most likely couldn’t, do as she was told. There was no doubt Razor had been trying to defend Ruthie by grabbing Ida by the right arm. Ida was right-handed. Her voice was steady and without emotion. She could’ve been asking him if he’d fed the chickens or painted the fence. It revolted him to think that this was how she thought of her daughter’s burial: a chore. She was more of a monster than his own father. She had given birth to Ruthie. She had shared the same body with her only child for nine months. He didn’t know anything about mothering, but even he could see how there could be, should be, a special bond between a mother and her child. They’d always shared a bed and it had only ever known one sheet. He would use it to wrap Ruthie’s tiny body. He didn’t know what caused Ida to say the next thing. She countered with an offer that surprised him but also provided him with an opportunity. She took the big spoon she had been stirring with, tapped the side of the pot and laid it down. Cradling her sore arm against her chest, she headed back toward the bedroom she shared with her husband. He knew her arm was hurting, knew it would take a few minutes to dig out whatever it was that she was going to get. He could hear her clumsily rustling around for something. He seized the chance to retrieve the poison from his pants and dump the entire contents of the container in the stew. He hastily stirred it, grateful that it seemed to quickly dissolve, and returned the spoon back to its place. He was standing by the back door when she returned with a blue piece of fabric draped over her good arm. He realized that it was a bathrobe of some type. It was thin and he didn’t need to be educated to know that it was high-quality and expensive. She stole this. She held it out to him while avoiding his penetrating green eyes. They’d always unnerved her, at least that’s what he’d heard her tell his father, and for a split second she seemed to hesitate, to waver. She must have regained her bravado and, without waiting for him to take the robe, snapped, “Wrap her in this.” She tossed it at him and headed back over to the stove to stir her stew. “Brother is always with you, Ruthie,” he said quietly. He then wrapped Razor in Ida’s expensive bathrobe and snorted to himself as it occurred to him that even his dog was too good for Ida’s supposed going away gift. He gently laid his little sister in the very deep hole and placed Razor next to her. He knew he wasn’t going to mark her grave for anyone to know where she was. Only him. He knew nobody would be looking anyway. It wasn’t like she was going to be missed. Like him, she hadn’t been born in a hospital. He doubted she even had a birth certificate. He wasn’t sure if he had one himself, though he guessed there was one somewhere, since he’d been enrolled in school. Do you need a birth certificate to go to school, he wondered? He didn’t know. He stood over his sister’s grave and stared at the freshly compacted earth. It was missing something. He wandered off and soon came back with an oversized rock. The stone was heavy, massive really, and he had exerted an enormous amount of energy to carry it to her gravesite. He dropped it with a thud. He had chosen it because of its size and unique shape. He would remember it. Falling to his knees, he began to weep. He never remembered crying even once in his life. Not even as a child, enduring horrific abuse that was tantamount to torture. He couldn’t comment on why his father hated him. He couldn’t figure why his stepmother hated Ruthie. He didn’t want to think about them, anyway. After he was finished, he’d never think of them again. A low wail that didn’t sound human began to build, a cry that came straight from the pit of his empty stomach and found its way up his chest, through his throat and out his mouth, taking his soul and any semblance of light with it. The light that had been Ruthie. He wasn’t sure how long he’d knelt sobbing at Ruthie and Razor’s grave. His eyes stung and he had a combination of dry and wet snot all over his bare arms as he tried to swipe away the grief. His sore back eventually brought him out of his mourning, the pulse of the sun reminding him of the lashes his father had inflicted a few nights earlier. He was physically and mentally exhausted, but his job wasn’t finished yet. He was worn out, but somehow he gathered the strength he needed and headed out further to an even more remote location. He had one more grave to dig. He would bury them together, not for the same reason that he buried Ruthie and Razor together: to offer protection and comfort to one another. No, he dug one mass grave because they deserved to be dumped like garbage. And that was exactly what he was going to do. He’d fallen asleep and jumped when he was touched. It took him a split second to remember where he was. A car, now parked. The man who’d picked him up was looking at him, waiting. He was sore. The last few days had taken a toll on him physically and he was feeling it. He went around the side of the little gas station and let himself into the restroom. His mind wandered as he relieved himself, memories rolling over him. He’d returned to the house that night to find his father and Ida sitting at the dinner table eating stew. He reached up on the shelf and took down an old jelly jar, using the kitchen tap to fill it up. Leaning back against the counter, he drank his water as he watched them eat their dinner. Nobody bothered to offer him any. That was okay. He would’ve refused it anyway. When Ida didn’t answer, his father backhanded her across the face. He laid down on the bed that he’d shared with Ruthie, hugged the only pillow close to his chest, and fell immediately into a dead sleep. He was awakened that night to the sound of violent vomiting and retching. The next couple of days were a blur as he tried to pretend to help his extremely sick parents. Keeping buckets by their bedside, bringing them liquids to drink. Liquids he had continued lacing with more poison from the barn. He remembered the instant his father realized what was happening. He was trying to get out of his bed, insisting that his young son take him and his wife to the hospital. The boy wasn’t old enough to have a license, but he knew how to drive. He’d let his son drive their beat-up old station wagon to haul things around the property. “You’re gonna drive us to the hospital, boy,” he said, voice laced with pain. Bloodshot and pain-filled brown eyes met hard green ones as realization dawned. His father glanced around his bedroom and noticed his shotgun was not in the corner. It was gone. Even if it had been there, he wouldn’t have had the strength to get up and get it. His father rolled onto his back and looked at his son, who stood at the foot of the bed, arms crossed, green eyes cold and staring. Finally, an answer. Although it didn’t matter now. The man who’d raised him wasn’t his father. The man who’d raised him resented him for taking his mother’s life in childbirth. Had been making that child pay ever since. In a way, he could kind of understand that. He almost allowed a stab of conscience in, telling him he should take them to the hospital. Maybe it wasn’t too late. But then he remembered Ruthie. There was no excuse for what had happened to Ruthie. No excuse at all. Then he went to the kitchen and made himself something to eat. After they were dead, he loaded them both in the back of the family car and drove them out to the second grave. He dumped their bodies with as much care as he’d show a pile of old chicken bones and flung the dirt back in. He hurled the shovel in the back of the station wagon and drove back to the house. He wanted to draw as little attention to the shack as possible. He would not burn it down, but he would give careful thought as to what it should look like if a family just up and left, taking only things they could load in their one car. He went to work, packing up what few pictures they had, their personal papers and clothes. He sneered when he saw a picture of his father as a boy. He tossed it in with the other things. He never came across a single picture of himself or his mother. He carelessly threw everything he could into the old car, barely leaving room for himself to fit into the driver’s seat. He went into his bedroom and retrieved the brown bag that held the few things he’d set aside to take with him. It contained some clothes, along with thirty dollars and twenty-six cents that he’d scavenged from his father’s wallet and Ida’s money cup, which he’d found hidden behind some dishes in the kitchen. He reached into his pocket, retrieving something he hadn’t known existed until he’d started cleaning out their personal items. It was a picture of Ruthie and Razor. It had obviously been taken at their house, but he didn’t know when or by whom. He never found existence of a camera when he was going through their belongings. He had no way of knowing where the picture came from and he didn’t have time to ponder it. He looked at it again. Ruthie was sitting down in the grass and looking up and smiling. She was leaning against Razor, who had himself wrapped around her like a cocoon. Her knees were pulled up to her chest and she had her arms wrapped tightly around them. Her blonde curls were shorter then. The two of them looked happy. Like they had been romping in the tall grass and had taken a break to pose. He knew neither Ida nor his father had taken the picture. If that had been the case, he was certain his baby sister wouldn’t have been smiling. He carefully returned it to his back pocket and continued his cleanup. Hours later he stood in the middle of the little house, surveying it. He wasn’t certain, but he was pretty confident he’d loaded up the important stuff. It was the fourth of the month. The electric and water bills wouldn’t need to get paid again until the thirtieth. School was out, so he wouldn’t be missed until September. And even then, he was doubtful anybody would care. His father wasn’t regularly employed, so he wouldn’t be missed, either. They had no phone to worry about. Yes, it looked like the family that lived here decided to move with their most personal possessions. The small amount of mail they got could stack up for months in their little slot at the post office. Nobody would notice. And by the time they did, it wouldn’t matter. He’d be long gone. He headed out to the chicken coop to set them free when he noticed laundry on the clothesline. He would grab those clothes and toss them in the car before leaving. After retrieving his brown bag and canteen, he carefully drove the family’s car to the nearest, deepest canal he knew. It was off the beaten path and he didn’t have to pass any houses or civilization to get there. It would be a long, hot walk to hitch a ride somewhere, but he only had a brown bag to carry and his canteen, which he’d filled with water. Now, in the gas station restroom, he splashed cold water on his face and dried off. He reached into his back pocket before leaving the restroom and took out the picture of Ruthie and Razor. He would never hold her again. He would never hear her voice asking for a story. He would never wrap his arms around Razor’s neck and nuzzle his short fur. He swiped away the tears that had started forming in his eyes and returned the picture to his back pocket. He’d taken a vow that day at Ruthie’s grave. No more crying. Ever. He was starting to get hungry and decided to go back to the car to get some money. He would see what the gas station had in the way of food. Hopefully, they had some candy bars and soda pop. He’d tasted soda only once and was looking forward to the sugary drink. He made his way around the side of the gas station and stopped dead in his tracks. The car he had been riding in was gone. He blinked to see if his eyes were playing tricks on him. They weren’t. He had left his canteen on the front seat. Even that was gone. The world was rotten and so was everybody in it.

http://www.brittanysbookblog.com/blog/out-of-time-by-beth-flynn-excerpt-reveal

Why pay for amenities you're not going to use? Let Buen Viaje Travel customized a package that fits your needs (and your budget)! Barcelona has recently become the main port of call in Europe, with over three million passengers every year. All major cruise companies sail from from Barcelona and visit the most popular ports in the Mediterranean. Escape the crowded Barcelona beaches! Sitges is probably the most popular day trip for beach-lovers, located 40 km down the coast, Sitges is a fishing village that is popular with wealthy Barcelonans as a summer retreat. The Catalan sacred mountain, the site of the shrine of the Virgin of Montserrat and the home of the Montserrat Monastery. The name means “serrated mountain” and the mountain is indeed very striking, with strange rock formations that seem to have inspired artists including Gaudí and Dalí . The mountain is popular with nature-lovers, religious pilgrims and visitors interested in the monastery, the Escolania boys' choir and the art museum (including some of the only French Impressionist paintings in Spanish collections). Spain has so much to offer. Why not extend your stay and visit other majestic Spanish cities such as Madrid, Seville, or Granada. London, Rome, Paris, and Istanbul (followed by Barcelona) top the list for the top European destinations of 2013. Why not combine your trip to Barcelona to a visit to one of the these (or any other) European destination(s). The Barcelona City Sightseeing Hop-on Hop-off Tour has three different tour routes to explore the city. See the major sights aboard our open-top double-decker bus, and with over 44 stops to choose from you can hop on and hop off all around the city. Spend as much or as little time at places of interest before jumping aboard for the next stop - the choice is yours! You can hop-on and off as many times as you like at any of the 44 stops.

http://www.buenviajetravel.com/packages-and-customizations.html

This resource was created through a three-year Resource Enhancement grant from the Arts & Humanities Research Council. The first radio drama broadcast by the BBC was SCENES FROM SHAKESPEARE transmitted 16 February 1923. This was a single scene from Julius Caesar credited as being performed by Shayle Gardner and Hubert Carter.

http://www.bufvc.ac.uk/shakespeare/

The raising of the national flags and the performance of the national anthems of Bulgaria and the United States will mark the Day of freedom of Bulgaria, March 3rd, in New York. The event takes place for a third consecutive year at the square in front of the historical statue of the bull of Walstreet. It usually garners a lot of attention from the Bulgairan community in New York. The attending people are greeted by the Bulgarian ambassador in Washington, Lachezar Petkov. He talks of the historical events that lead to the freedom of Bulgaira. “To this day, I have the pleasure and privilege to represent this independant, democratic and free country, proud member of the European Union and NATO”, said the ambassador Petkov.

http://www.bulgariagazette.com/the-bulgarian-national-flag-to-wave-in-new-york/

We have now started in earnest on the construction of 16 affordable homes in Peterborough for Cross Keys Homes. The photo below shows the site as we prepare to excavate the foundations for the first pair of houses. The new housing site occupies the site of a former car park, and therefore we have constructed a new car park close by to replace the existing one. The photo below shows the newly completed car park in operation. As well as the 16 new affordable dwellings the project also involves the refurbishment of Hampton Court shopping parade. Completion is due for late 2018. We are delighted that construction of our new head office at Northfields Industrial Estate in Market Deeping is now underway. The photos below show the steel frame being erected. We hope to be moving into our new office building in spring/summer 2018.

http://www.burmor.co.uk/2017/11/

With more than 28 years of federal service as an internal employee development consultant, and 20+ years in career counseling, Karol Taylor brings a broad perspective and considerable knowledge to the Career Management process. Offering career support in the training office of a small federal agency along with teaching and Academic Advising at the Community College level gave Karol a broad brushstroke of career-related experiences. Retired with an Encore Career as a private practitioner, Karol leverages her knowledge of both worlds to provide value-added Career Management experiences. Karol graduated with an MA in Counseling Psychology in Adlerian Studies from Bowie State University (BSU), with internships at the local community college career center. Karol is a certified Job and Career Transitions Coach, Certified Career Management Coach, Certified Brain-Based Success Coach, Certified Career Counselor, and a Certified Networking Strategist. Karol has been an active member of the Maryland Career Development Association (MCDA) since 2004, when she served as President, and went on to serve as Publicity Chair. In 2016, Karol left her post at MCDA to become the Maryland Counseling Association (MCA) President-Elect for a three-year term which ended June 2019. Karol has been a member of the National Career Development Association (NCDA) since 2004, where she currently serves on the Awards and Nominations Committee. Karol has been a member of ACA since 2015 and served on the 2018 Compensation Committee. In 2019, Karol received the Mark L. Savickas Scholarship for Outreach and Achievement from the Career Construction Institute and the Maryland Counseling Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Karol received the 2014 NCDA Merit Award and 2016 NCDA Outstanding Career Professional Award. In addition, Karol received the following MCDA Awards: 2011 President’s Award, 2014 Technological Innovative Award, and 2016 Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2013 Karol received the Middle Atlantic Career Counseling’s Outstanding Career Practitioner Award, and in 2003 their Career Ambassador Award. Karol is the coauthor of two books published by JIST, America’s Guide to Federal Jobs, 4th ed. and Find Your Federal Job Fit. She has had job search-related articles published by the National Career Development Association, the Association for Career Professionals, International, the National Employment Counseling Association, ATD’s Public Manager, and ACA’s VISTAS publication. Karol regularly presents at professional conferences including the America Counseling Association, National Career Development Association, National Employment Counseling Association, and the Maryland Career Development Association. She is a GCDFI/Facilitating Career Development Instructor and offers federal job search workshops. Karol Taylor can be contacted at: |||PHONE_NUMBER||| (M) and karoltaylor@verizon.net.

http://www.careerconstructionnetwork.org/karol-taylor.html

With three Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty there’s no shortage of gorgeous countryside to stay in if you want to try camping in Somerset. Exmoor National Park is a particular beauty spot, with lush green hills and valleys where you can enjoy a secluded break away from the rat race. You could even pitch your tent beside the River Exe, where adults, children and dogs alike can relax and unwind, bathe and fish, or explore the walking trails that track across the extensive farmland nearby. Exmoor is also a designated Dark Sky Reserve, which makes it the ideal place to do a bit of stargazing once night falls. There’s plenty to explore when you go camping in Somerset, from the county’s 50 miles of coastline and one of the longest stretches of sandy beaches in Europe, to attractions such as the Cheddar Gorge and Wookey Hole Caves, the historic West Somerset Railway or the shops and restaurants of the ancient Roman city of Bath. And when you’ve worked up an appetite, indulge on the best of Somerset’s local food – a slice of world famous Cheddar cheese, a bottle of Butcombe Beer or a local version of the traditional South West cream tea, made with Whortleberry jam unique to the Exmoor area. Westermill Farm, a 500 acre working hill farm in the heart of Exmoor National Park, offers a perfect spot for camping in Somerset. You can buy supplies from the small, seasonal shop on site – open for an hour each morning – including locally sourced bread, milk, eggs and bacon for breakfast, fruit and veg, a selection of home grown free-range meat (including award-winning Aberdeen Angus) for the barbecue, and of course, marshmallows for toasting over the last embers as evening falls. And the provisions don’t end there. Although peace and quiet are in plentiful supply at Westermill’s secluded countryside setting, you won’t be without your creature comforts. Facilities include natural spring drinking water, modern toilets and hot showers, plus a payphone, dishwashing area, laundry and Calor gas exchange. Camping in Somerset is the ideal break for families and couples looking for a combination of outdoor fun and rural relaxation.

http://www.cartwheelholidays.co.uk/somerset/holidays-in-somerset/camping-in-somerset/

This past summer, former Boston Celtic Marcus Morris entered free agency. There, he got into some drama with the San Antonio Spurs, committing to a two-year, $10 million deal to play under head coach Gregg Popovich. However, he ended up pulling out of his commitment and signing a one-year, $15 million deal with the New York Knicks instead. Now months later, it seems despite the change in uniform Morris is still up to his old ways, maybe even more so. Just a matter of days ago Morris made it clear that his main priority as one of the newest incoming Knicks on the roster was to rebuild their "Old School Knicks" identity and to "Protect the Garden." Well, it appears he is a man of his word even in the relatively meaningless games that are the preseason. In the Knicks' first exhibition matchup against the Washington Wizards, Morris was ejected for swinging some pretty close elbows and slamming the ball off the head of Washington forward Justin Anderson as he played pretty close defense on the perimeter. After the game had ended, Morris commented on the event saying that Anderson had said some things that led to the conflict. He also noted that he may have overreacted and had it been a regular-season game he would not have gone to such an extreme, setting a better example for his teammates. Having watched Morris play in green for the past two seasons, to Celtics' fans this kind of intense and personal play is really nothing new, although I don't think we ever saw it go to this extreme. Starting at power forward, Morris still managed to finish the game tied with rookie RJ Barrett for the leading scorer for the Knicks (17 points each) in their 104-99 win over Washington. Despite only playing a total of 19 minutes and being ejected, Marcus still finished with 17 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 assists. At the moment, it is still very possible that Morris could be facing some form of fine or suspension for his actions in the preseason game, but that is all unknown. For now, let's just take a moment to look back on some of Morris' better moments in Boston before he officially starts his new season as a member of the New York Knicks.

http://www.celticslife.com/2019/10/former-celtic-marcus-morris-is-already.html

The 2018 CHANT Chargers Awards Dinner was held December 11th at Waterbrook Bible Fellowship. It was a festive time with players, coaches, parents, siblings, sponsors and friends of the program celebrating the success of the season and the growth that each of the players had. For Junior High, Elliot Crouch, took home the Player of the Year honors. For varsity, Josh Brown, closed out his high school career by being honored with the CHANT Player of the Year and Offensive MVP awards. Daniel Lorenz, was honored with the CHANT Character Award which is given to the player who best exemplifies Christ through his attitude, preparation, work and leadership on the team.

http://www.chantchargers.org/awards-dinner/

Dying Light 2 is set to be released on Xbox One, PC and PlayStation 4. The game is powered by the C-Engine, a new generation of Techland’s in-house technology dedicated to open-world action-adventure and action-RPG games. The bold sequel to the open-world phenomenon, Dying Light 2 brings to life a unique post-apocalyptic vision of the Modern Dark Ages – a brutal, bleak and unforgiving reality where you are as likely to perish at the hand of a human as you are by the infected. In this exhausted world, your quick thinking, exceptional parkour abilities and brutal combat skills are the only things that let you dive into darkness and emerge alive. Make morally grey decisions and witness how they impact the world at multiple levels, shape the transformation of the City, and ultimately decide its fate. 5 Other Games I’d Rather See Get a Wii U HD...

http://www.cinelinx.com/news/techland-announces-dying-light-2-at-e3-2018/

The Godfather: Oscar's iconic Best Picture winner with a low tally of 3 prizes. This year’s sprint to the Academy Awards feels like the closest contest in recent memory. It’s essentially a three-way race between 12 Years a Slave, Gravity, and American Hustle. Any film could conceivably win. Gravity almost seems like a shoo-in to take home the most trophies come Oscar night, but does that mean it’s a lock for Best Picture? A big score for Gravity doesn’t necessarily mean it will take home the big prize. Oscar has a small but significant history of sharing the wealth in extremely competitive years. 2013 is as competitive as movie years get (although 2012 was arguably stronger…), so Sunday’s ceremony could end in a photo finish. If one examines the history of Oscar winners, one sees that a Best Picture winner essentially needs only three wins to be the big winner of the night. Subtract the Best Picture Oscar from this total and a film really needs to have only two wins before the final prize is called in order to be a contender. For example, five films in the latter half of Oscar history have taken home earned a tally of only three wins, yet taken home the Best Picture Oscar. Some of these years feature controversial upsets (Crash for 2005) populist blunders (Rocky for 1976), and cinematic landmarks (The Godfather for 1972). Look even further back in history to find Best Picture winners with only two or three Oscars to their name in Academy classics both dubious (The Greatest Show on Earth for 1952) and iconic (Casablanca for 1943). -All the Presidents Men and Network both won 4! -Cimarron, unfortunately, was highest winner with 3. -Everyone won 1 that year. -Sunrise and 7th Heaven won 3, although Janet Gaynor’s Best Actress win included both films. Three awards isn’t a bad thing. The Godfather itself won only three Academy Awards compared to the whopping eight Oscars scooped by Cabaret that same year. Among Cabaret’s prizes were Oscars for Best Director and a slew of technical awards, whereas The Godfather added to its Best Picture prize an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Actor for Marlon Brando. Does the contest between 12 Years a Slave and Gravity echo the competition between The Godfather and Cabaret? It very well could, as the more profound and relevant Slave could leave its mark with a similarly low total, whereas Gravity could easily match Cabaret’s eight wins, although Sandra Bullock probably won’t bring a Best Actress win à la Liza Minnelli. Chiwetel Ejiofor might have a hard time edging out Matthew McConaughey and Leonardo DiCaprio, but he is the dark horse of the Best Actor race and he could help bring Slave’s tally to three wins. On the other hand, American Hustle could easily be the crowd-pleasing Rocky to best bold risk-takers like Network, or it could be the “best bad idea” of picking Argo while settling with technical kudos to honour a Gravity kin like Life of Pi. More likely, perhaps, is the case for 1977 in which the year’s largest haul went to the ground-breaking special effects bonanza—Star Wars—while Best Picture was one of four Oscars endowed upon Woody Allen’s Annie Hall. David O. Few comedies have won Best Picture since Annie Hall, so it would be an odd coincidence if American Hustle and Gravity split the honours. The first five films of the list, however, confirm the old rule of three when it comes to winning Best Picture. The awards for Best Director, Best Screenplay (either Original or Adapted), and Best Film Editing generally offer the key battlegrounds leading up to the top prize. An acting prize might help in the absence of one of said awards, but Oscar history must go back to Rebecca to find a winner with Best Picture and only one award that was not for writing, acting, directing, or editing. (Gladiator, with 5 wins, marks the most recent film to win Best Picture without a win for directing, writing, or editing.) Best Director is basically removed from the equation for 2013, for virtually every key precursor has given said prize to Alfonso Cuarón. After that, though, the race might be as up in the air as Sandra in space. Gravity has a win for Best Director in the bag, so that’s one of three wins. Best Visual Effects might be the easiest call of the night, too, for no film has caused as much sensation for its visual work as Gravity has this year. Best Cinematography therefore seems like another win that can tip Gravity past the crucial three and make it seem like the favourite, for Best Cinematography and Best Visual Effects almost seem to have collapsed in the minds of Oscar voters in the recent years in which Life of Pi, Hugo, Inception, and Avatar all won the same pair of awards. Gravity could add Best Film Editing, which gives it two of the three crucial wins, since that opening long take of the film might inspire voters to see a lack of editing as great film editing. (It’s a strong choice.) Oscar voters, however, often go for more than for less when it comes to editing and reward showier work. Gravity could also add at least one sound prize to the tally, and maybe Best Production Design and Best Score to bring it up to seven Oscars, but it failed to score even a nomination for Best Original Screenplay. The writing of Gravity is arguably the film’s weak link regardless of the cinematic and technical awe it inspires, which could provide a significant hurdle. One would have to go back to Titanic—that VFX blockbuster—to find a Best Picture winner that didn’t have a screenplay nomination under its belt. It’s a big obstacle, but one hardly goes to see a film like Gravity or Titanic to appreciate good writing. Escapism might be enough to give Gravity the edge. Alternatively, a film that exists solely in the present tense could just as easily join the company of Cabaret and Star Wars and go home with the most trophies, but not the one that counts in the history books. Best Film Editing and Best Costume Design are the film’s likeliest crafts awards. Slave, like Gravity, needs an appreciation for restraint in the editing room to win the prize, especially given its graphic violence, while the period costumes face stiff competition from showier outfits in The Great Gatsby and American Hustle that play central roles in the story and characters of each film. Best Film Editing and Best Costume Design, however, might not add up to Best Picture. Slave seems likeliest to mirror The Godfather’s awards tally by adding Best Adapted Screenplay and an acting prize to its total of three. Best Adapted Screenplay, for starters, offers one of Slave’s strongest bets since John Ridley’s adaptation of the book by Solomon Northup is a commendable balance of fidelity and contemporary re-reading. It’s a powerful text if you’re lucky enough to read it and it plays twice as well as it reads thanks to McQueen’s powerful realization. Slave’s top competition for the screenplay prize probably lies in Philomena, which took the BAFTA, as Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope’s amusing and endearing character study finds the greater cinematic drama within Martin Sixsmith’s source text while honouring the true subjects of the film. Captain Phillips is a threat, too, since it won the Writers’ Guild award, although neither Slave nor Philomena were eligible. If Slave loses Best Adapted Screenplay, it probably stands to lose Best Picture. On the acting front, Slave’s likeliest win—and potentially its only win of the night—could be for Best Supporting Actress contender Lupita Nyong’o. Nyong’o has been rising in profile since her sensational reception at TIFF and Telluride this year. The love for her debut performance has only grown in the award season. Oscar loves breakthrough talent and it certainly helps that she’s been showing a much different side of herself than the audience sees in 12 Years a Slave thanks to her glamorous (and consistently likable) appearances and speeches at award shows. This rising star is in a tight race with Hollywood’s current “it girl” Jennifer Lawrence, and either actress could bring her film the win it needs to take the top prize. If David O. Russell stands little chance of winning Best Director, then American Hustle could easily crash the party and win Best Picture along with Best Original Screenplay and Best Film Editing. (As fellow SAG winner Crash did in the awards for 2005.) Hustle seems like the film that has the most to gain with the ranked ballot, as 12 Years a Slave and Gravity might have the most #1 votes, but not enough across the board support to tip them over the fifty-percent-plus-one a film needs to win Best Picture. American Hustle is a true old-school crowd-pleaser with the mainstream appeal a film needs to win. It could just as easily be the Gangs of New York or Color Purple and be shut out altogether, though, since it seems like a second-place contender in almost every category. Her seems like more of a favourite than Hustle in the Screenplay race, since Her won the Golden Globe, Writers’ Guild, and Critics’ Choice. Russell, however, has been in the running for an Oscar three out of the past four years, so he is bound to have enough popularity within the Academy to be able to edge out love-it-or-leave-it fare like Her. Best Film Editing, on the other hand, might be the film to do it for Hustle, since the sprightly energy and fluid motion of the film have a distinct Russell vibe. In the eyes of the hypothetical mainstream voting, the editing of American Hustle could bring the film to life a bit more tangibly than the artier cutting does in Gravity and Slave. Something about the cut team of Hustle just screams Argo, Crash, and Rocky. If, finally, American Hustle is going to win Best Picture while missing either the screenplay or the editing prize, it probably needs an acting trophy or two. Hustle has a strong chance to do so, since it scored nominations in all four acting categories and won the SAG award for Best Ensemble. The actors clearly recognize the effort made by Hustle’s onscreen talent. Jennifer Lawrence seems like the film’s best bet, since reviews for the film consistently praised her for stealing the show. The only strikes against her are that some film buffs aren’t happy with the disparity between her age and the age of the woman that allegedly inspired her character, Rosalyn. Rosalyn isn’t “based” on any character, though; she’s “inspired” by a true counterpart and loosely at that. (American Hustle happily signals that its play with history is part of the film’s sleight of hand.) The other argument against Lawrence says that she can’t win back-to-back after netting Best Actress for Silver Linings Playbook, but she is arguably the hottest star going right now, and her double-header year with Catching Fire makes an equally strong case for why she could trump Nyong’o’s sole film credit. It’s also just a terrific performance that could win the prize on merit. Say Lawrence doesn’t win, though, and Her wins Original Screenplay, then what happens for Hustle? The costumes could (and should) win, although Hustle’s other chief contender might be Amy Adams. It will be tough to overtake Cate Blanchett, who has soundly trounced the competition, but Adams has never won an Oscar before and all of this year’s other Best Actress nominees have, so she could pull an upset as Adrien Brody did for The Pianist. She also won the Golden Globe for Comedy, so she probably stands as Blanchett’s only competition. That argument for Adams seems weak, though, since she wasn’t even nominated for the SAG award. That omission, when coupled with the film’s ensemble prize, roughly translates to the Actors Guild saying, “We loved the acting in American Hustle, but not your performance specifically.” Her nomination alone shows that support for Hustle is strong among the Actors’ branch of the Academy, but is it strong enough to bring the film Best Picture along with wins only for Best Supporting Actress, Best Film Editing, or Best Costume Design? Three to win? If the race is down to these three contenders, then Best Film Editing, Best Supporting Actress, and to some extent Best Costume Design could provide the strongest tells of the night. Screenplay is a factor too, but none of the three films will compete against one another for a writing prize. Film Editing, the only real contest of the proverbial three, could just as easily be won by Captain Phillips, which stands little chance to win Best Picture since Tom Hanks and Paul Greengrass were left off the ballot. Alternatively, surprise wins for either Chiwetel Ejiofor for Best Actor or Amy Adams for Best Actress could poise 12 Years a Slave or American Hustle to win the top prize. Gravity, on the other hand, will float through the ceremony and keep the audience in suspense. Which film do you think will win Best Picture? Could the “rule of 3” help any of the other nominees? Coming soon: final predictions!

http://www.cinemablographer.com/2014/02/oscars-best-picture-and-rule-of-three.html

College Hill Park, formerly known as Swimming Pool Park, is located at West 13th Street and Lincoln Street. The area was purchased in the 1950's from several landowners. The area was purchased for the construction of a municipal swimming pool and tennis court. The tennis court area was converted to a sport court offering basketball, volleyball, pickleball and hopscotch in 2018. The northwest corner of the property contains a small picnic and playground area.

http://www.cityofwayne.org/507/College-Hill-Park

George Mylonakis specializes in geotechnical earthquake engineering, computational geomechanics, stress wave propagation, and soil-structure interaction with emphasis on pile foundations and retaining structures. He holds a Diploma degree in Civil Engineering from the National Technical University, Athens (1993) and a Ph.D. degree from State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo (1996). He has held or is currently holding appointments at the National Center for Earthquake Engineering Research (NCEER) as Research Assistant and Associate (1993-1997), City University of New York (CUNY) as Assistant and Associate Professor with Tenure (1997-2004), University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) as Visiting and Adjunct Professor (2010-), and University of Bristol as Professor (2013-). Professor Mylonakis is recipient of the Shamsher Prakash International Research Award (2002), the City University of New York’s Performance Excellence Award (1999), and a Nominee for the 2001 Best Paper Award of the Japanese Geotechnical Society (2001). He has served as Coordinator, Researcher and Reviewer in over 15 research projects sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research (MCEER), the Shimizu Corporation, the General Secretariat for Research andTechnology (GSRT) and the Ministry of Education of Greece, among others. Over the past fifteen years, Professor Mylonakis has authored or co-authored approximately 200 scientific publications (over 60 in professional journals), delivered more than 50 invited talks around the world and refereed for over 30 international journals. His work has attracted over 1000 citations by independent researchers. He has served or is currently serving as Editorial Board Member in the Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering (ASCE), the Journal of Earthquake and Structures, and the Journal of Environmental Geotechnics (ICE). Professor Mylonakis has also served as GuestEditor in Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering Journal and is elected member of the National Soil Dynamics Committee of ASCE. He is also member of several professional associations including ASCE, ICE, EERI, JGE and GRACM.

http://www.civil.upatras.gr/en/Proswpiko/faculty/entry/MylonakisGeorge/?PageNo=1

Boucherville, Quebec, November 25, 2019 – Colabor Group Inc. (TSX: GCL) (“Colabor” or the “Corporation”) announces the appointment of Ms. Danièle Bergeron as Director of the Corporation effective today. Ms. Bergeron joins the Board of Colabor as the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec’s nominee, replacing Mr. Marc Baillargeon.

http://www.colabor.com/en/colabor-annonce-un-changement-a-la-composition-de-son-conseil-dadministration/

Giorgio Galotti gave up a law career to work in the arts. After settling in Turin two years ago, Galotti opened a gallery and started a small, curated art fair called Dama, taking place from November 2nd to 5th in the historic Palazzo Saluzzo Paesana. The reason? Because Galotti believes that collaborative projects like this are the future of galleries. I graduated with a law degree with a focus in history and literature. After a master’s degree in contemporary art and a course in fundraising with Pier Luigi Sacco, I began to work at an archive of art from the 1960s in Rome. I cataloged works by Chamberlain, De Pisis, Pascali, Lo Savio, Kounellis, and many others, stored in a cellar in the historic center. When I was asked if I wanted to be payed in cash or in works of art, I chose the second option without hesitation. Soon I realized that I working as an art dealer would be my path. How and when did your gallery open? After that I opened a hybrid project space in Rome in 2008, that was a cross between a gallery and a non-profit, without any definitive goals except the idea of gaining experience in the field and learning a profession. Then I moved to Turin in October 2015 and opened a gallery in my name with the idea of growing along with it. What is your program? What is the connecting line between your artists? I am interested in the traditional means of expression, such as painting, sculpture and photography, but with a vision of my own generation, which often involves aspects of our current reality. What type of space did you choose for your gallery? A garage inside a courtyard with a baroque street display. I have always been attracted to garages and all the spaces I looked at always had in common a concept of formal simplicity. However, lately, I have been interested in more complex environments, such as ancient salons or places where there is living history, which I like, because in these spaces, nothing can be taken for granted as it can in a more neutral space. So maybe sometime my gallery will be in a different space. I imagine a place that does not need artificial lights and dialogs with nature. What do you think of the the panorama of art fairs today, and why did you decide to found DAMA in Turin? DAMA is a reaction to a system that I don’t agree with because it compresses galleries and artists into canons that they don’t necessarily belong in. Besides, I have always been more interested in making what I want, than in waiting for someone else to present something else to me. What I don’t like in the the usual art fair is the frenzy and superficiality that take place there, so typical of our generation. It is the most ‘pop’ way to go about it, to become known, but it is also a way to be forgotten quickly, like a summer turtle. However, an artist’s way always involves slow times, as the work develops from idea to reality. Perhaps this is why we don’t consider DAMA a fair, but an opportunity. Is there a person, or people, who have influenced your professional point of view? There are only two, both Italians: Fabio Sargentini and Leo Castelli. The first for his courage and vision, the second for the class he displayed in his art market dealings. If you could represent any artist you like, even from the past, who would you choose? There are many of them, all have in common a remarkable generosity, they derive from Lawrence Weiner’s way of working in disciplines that I’ve always been fascinated by: poetry, conceptual art, and graphics. How do you see your gallery in ten years? And DAMA? My gallery will go along with the development of my life, it will grow with me. If I live near the sea, it will be on a beach, if I live in the countryside, it will be in a barn, if I am in a city, who knows. I hope DAMA will be able to continue on its own with the support of all of the people who love the idea of it. I am convinced that collaborative projects like this are the future of galleries. Giorgio Galotti takes part in the 2nd edition of DAMA in Turin from November 2nd to 5th, 2017. From January 2020 the gallery has no permanent location.

http://www.contemporaryartgalleries.net/2017/10/giorgio-galotti-turin/

The mental act of 2005 created the court of protection. It states that the court has the accountability for making decisions concerning the property, personal welfare and financial affairs of the individuals who cannot make such decisions on their own. That can be a reason basing on the fact that the person lacks mental capacity. The people having mental health issues termed as adults at risk. They are most likely to face a risk of abuse may it be physical, financial or emotional. The court of protection will assist in deciding on the following types of decisions in need. Financial issues, health, and welfare are among the concerns of the court of protection. First and foremost the court of protection has the mandate to give a ruling if the individual is having a mental capacity of making the decisions for themselves. If the individual lacks mental capacity, they will see that they appoint a deputy that will cater to any future decision making for the individual. About contacting other people, living arrangements, where the individual will live and cared for, and the treatment they are to receive is the duty of the court of protection to decide. Whether to register or revoke lasting power of attorney, in case, there before the individual suffered financial abuse or mismanagement. The court of protection considers the protestations against the registration of the lasting power of attorney. The court of protection decides whether an attorney who is acting under an existing of the lasting power of attorney should be removed or not. Mental capacity act 2005 states that the court of protection should determine if the person can deprive their freedom. You or your loved one when getting this services you often worry how it will work out as helpful to you and that someone you love. Ponder over the following features. Making a move to apply for the court of protection to assist in this juncture will offer the help in seeing they give the decision that will safety measure the individual against financial abuse, emotion or physical harm. About the care packages and living arrangements are amongst the vital decisions the court will offer for the individual who needs residential care. Most cases that the court of protection handles are the differing opinions on about which are the best interest of the person concerned. Failure of the family members or social services to agree on results to the court of protection stepping in to make the decisions needed. The court of protection with the all info available they will decide on behave of the person at risk what is in their best interest.

http://www.cornwalltube.com/news-for-this-month-resources.html

The Ohlone Sweat Lodge happens usually on the Saturday after the second Sunday of the month at Chief Cerda’s house. The Sweat Lodge provides a space for tribal members to become cleansed/purified and to let everyone know what they are thinking in the Talking Circle that follows the Sweat. According to Chief Cerda, in the early 1860’s when the Missions were disbanded and secularized the Ohlone were left in period of transition without a way of life and strong practice of ceremony so Talking Circles developed as a way to reconnect both inter-personally and with a deeper spiritual way of life. Chief Cerda and the tribe have been continuing that tradition of ceremony for 150 years now. The most important part of Sweat Lodge, according to Chief Cerda, is its ability to build community, which is needed now more than ever.

http://www.costanoanrumsen.org/sweat-lodge.html

What will be the Foundation for a New America? As the American economy teeters on a precipice (the middle class is being decimated as their jobs are exported while the upper class increases its wealth; personal debt continues to build while savings diminish) and as the American world empire borders on collapse (foreign disasters like Iraq will cause unrest to spread and the burden of the high-tech military is not sustainable), assuming that America does not use nuclear weapons to bring on the destruction of itself and/or the world what will be the foundation for the new America? Two of the main influences currently vying for control are the current government and the Christian evangelical movement. Since both of these are part of the reasons why America is in trouble, the stability of a new America depends on whether or not they remain influential. America is in trouble. The Bush administration is no longer held accountable by Congress. Signing statements supposedly allow laws to be ignored while questionable actions are not investigated or censured. Congress is no longer held accountable by the electorate. Redistricting and incumbent privileges make it very difficult to unseat those in office. So many laws and regulations have been passed that it is nearly impossible for anyone to understand the scope of this government. Even the legislators have stopped bothering to read the laws they pass, resulting in the major lobbies and special interests getting legislative support for whatever they require. The Judicial branch is becoming beholden to the Executive rather than retaining its independence as envisioned by the Founding Fathers. The Executive branch has embarked on a crusade of imposing our military might on those regimes that do not suit its needs, though this imperial ambition is cloaked in a disguise of seeking governments with democratic principles. The Executive and Legislative branches continue to spend inordinate amounts of resources, driving up the national debt and further adding to the bureaucratic government's burden on the economy's private sector, while also worsening the dependency of the lower class on its government handouts (paid for by the overburdened middle class). The current 'for us or against us; us vs. them' confrontational mentality has destroyed our international alliances and our recent actions (such as Iraq war crimes, torture in the Guantanemo or Abu Graib prisons and others, rendition of captives to other countries) have made America the evil empire in the eyes of the world. The religious right has aligned itself with this administration in a cultural war against Islam. Their domestic proposals, endorsed by a number of Executive and Congressional leaders, threaten our cultural tradition of a separation between Church and State by pushing religion into law (with gay marriage amendment proposals, denial of a woman's right to decide on her own health (a choice of an abortion or not), even pushing the Bible into classrooms (under the subterfuge of intelligent design). Our Founding Fathers created this country with a different intent than we find now. At the time of the Revolutionary War, the colonies were essentially independent states. The Articles of Confederation formed the United States of America - a union of independent states. These states had their own governments, even their own defense forces in their militia (several states even had navies). The Founding Fathers, with the English heritage of the Magna Carta and other recent expressions of personal rights, had realized the importance of freedom from a strong central government like the English monarchy and its parliament. When the colonists realized that there were inefficiencies in the Articles, especially when resolving problems between colonies, they attempted to improve the Articles. However what started as an 'improvement' became a 'rewrite.' The Constitution implemented a central government that supposedly had checks and balances to prevent it from becoming what the Founding Fathers feared - a tyranny. The writings of the time reveal many concerns with the Constitution and in the 21st Century we are seeing the tyranny that the architects of the Constitution claimed would not happen and the critics had warned would probably happen. Our current abomination of national government can be rightfully accused of many in the 'train of abuses' listed in our 1776 Declaration of Independence from the British tyranny. As a number of authors have pointed out (including Murray Rothbard, Hans-Hermann Hoppe, Robert Higgs, James Bovard and others), the central government with the ability to tax the electorate becomes a self-sustaining parasite. As it finds more reasons for its bureaucracy to intervene, it passes laws and raises taxes to fund those interventions and when those are ineffective more laws and taxes are needed to sustain those efforts. Even worse, the 20th Century brought a tendency to increase the size of the armed forces (certain Founding Fathers warned there should be no standing army - but we have one and its appetite keeps growing) and then that force was used to intervene in other countries (more wars, and so more taxes). The government's budget continues to spiral upward because its very 'life' requires more spending and taxes to feed the insatiable and unaccountable bureaucracy. Wars bring the death of a democracy because the leadership bends the government to suit those imperial desires and by fanning the fires of the nationalistic desires the electorate is convinced that its leaders should be supported or else the country might lose those wars. Without getting into excessive detail (a number of authors including those above have certainly done so), the new America must not remain encumbered by this behemoth that is our central government. The only firm foundation for a political or economic entity that has been rationally articulated is one based on libertarian principles. The basic structure of human culture is the respect for one other, the respect for another's property and the duty to honor one's commitments. Such are the basic libertarian principles. The delegation of oversight to any government body is perilous as soon as the direct accountability is lost. The larger that government body becomes, drawing resources from more people, the more that supporting bureaucracy loses its accountability. The bureaucracy is beholden to those that delegate tasks to it, not to the populace that elected its supervisors. The populace wants justice and fairness in their lives. These will exist only when there is direct accountability for any person's actions. A libertarian framework is one based on people, on the social fabric of our human culture. It is not based on finding the least worst candidate to put in office. It is based on each person being involved in his/her community, working with others on maintaining a quality of life while not persecuting those of a different life style or from a different culture. It is based on taking responsibility for one's actions and for one's destiny. It is based on holding others accountable for their promises and contracts. This would be a country that could choose to define a loose confederation of communities or states (as in our Declaration of Independence) where the overriding principle is based on people and their inherent rights: of the people, by the people, for the people.

http://www.cultureandreligion.com/html/foundation_for_a_new_america.html

Anne With An E has garnered a very devoted audience for the past couple of years. How does it feel to be a part of a series that has people so emotionally invested in? It’s just lovely. The original novels are very beautiful and very well-loved across the world. It’s wonderful that so many people think we are telling the stories right. Our fans are extremely supportive. We get wonderful messages and content like videos and art all the time. I’m very proud to be a part of such a meaningful show. Your character in the show, Mrs. Eliza Barry, has had ups and downs in the first two seasons of the show. What can you tell us about her current life in season 3? Well, the ups and downs continue! Life is changing for all the parents on the show, as our youngsters are growing up and trying to find their feet in the world. They are all thinking about their futures and testing boundaries. There’s a lot going on. Do you relate to Eliza in any way? What is the biggest difference between you and your character? I recently became a parent myself for the first time, and I can definitely relate to wanting what is best for your children. As well as wanting them to be polite and well-behaved. One big difference between us is circumstantial… Her views about what her daughters can achieve in life are limited due to the social conventions of the time. Another difference is that I think she is much more fearful of new experiences than I am. If Anne showed up at my door I’d be delighted! What do you love the most about Anne With An E? Anne herself. That she lives with a spirit of wonder, joy and fairness. That she is prepared to fight for the good of others. And that she’s a survivor. Do you have any current favorite shows that you are binging? Call My Agent on Netlix is fantastic and hilarious. It’s a French show about an acting agency, so it’s perfectly up my street. I also just finished the second season of Fleabag. Devastated that there probably won’t be more of it. Definitely teleportation. I spend so much time on planes, which is boring and bad for the environment. I wish I could click my fingers and get where I need to go. Follow Helen on Instagram and Twitter.

http://www.defectivegeeks.com/2019/11/18/interview-helen-johns-anne-with-an-e/

Created on Monday, June 16, 2008. So I don’t have any new pictures of the blacksmithing. There’s a reason for that. And the reason is that I’ve tried to make tongs twice this week, and twice I’ve failed. The second failure, this afternoon, I tried to adjust a tong half while it was cold, and shattered it. Lessons are being learned, though! I’m learning to read a fire, to know how hot it is, how much air is getting to it, and if something is blocking the airflow. I also learned that steel quenched fast is too brittle to hammer without breakage, and it must be annealed (softened) for me to do anything with it while cold. Simple lessons learned the hard way. I’ll try tongs again this weekend.

http://www.desiquintans.com/oldblog/177.html

It finally happened...after years of refusing to put any money in properties and being extremely risk-averse, I've finally started looking at buying a place of my own. I was looking around for a place in HK, an older place which I can renovate into a nice place to live in, done just the way I like it. Unfortunately we are rather high up on the property cycle, and thanks to the Fed we now have rather high interest rates. Monthly mortgage payments look a bit frightening, so maybe this is not to time to get that dream apartment done. Lots of people have been going to Shanghai, and it still looks like a market with significant upside. But recent government measures bring uncertainty to the market, so we'll need to revisit next year. That leaves Singapore. Lots of friends, colleagues and hedge funds have jumped into this market recently, pushing up prices on new developments. I should have got into this market 2 years ago as I was living there, but the general view is that market cycle is unlikely to dip until after 2009-10. So maybe there's still some opportunity here for leveraged exposure... Anyway, going down next week to check things out and we'll see what happens.

http://www.diarygrowingboy.com/2006/08/

According to the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR), their hotline received a message from a soldier under contract of the 14th mechanized brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), who said that the Ukrainian army was preparing large-scale provocations in anticipation of the summit in the Normandy Format in Paris on December 9. According to the AFU soldier, the brigade command ordered the redeployment of heavy military equipment from permanent storage sites closer to the front line. In order to conceal the traces of the equipment movement, the personnel were ordered to dig over the areas where the heavy armoured vehicles were passing. The applicant also complained that it was extremely difficult to do so in freezing temperatures and frozen ground. Soldiers only have crowbars and blades. The General Prosecutor’s Office of the Lugansk People’s Republic checks the information received via the hotline. If it is confirmed, those involved in crimes against the civilian population of the Donbass will be held criminally responsible for the crimes under articles 439 and 440 of the LPR Criminal Code.

http://www.donbass-insider.com/2019/12/09/the-afu-were-preparing-large-scale-provocations-ahead-of-the-normandy-format-summit-in-paris/

‘Multidisciplinary Laboratory’ was designed for the l’Istituto Secondario Ernesto Balducci di Santa Fiora of Grosseto in 2014. Conceived with professors of the institute, the proposal foresees one auditorium, a communal space, a lecture space, and a space for television/film projection. In addition to this, design has been proposed for teacher worktables, cognitive units, an LIM whiteboard, pallets, carpet units, benches, and wooden tables. Mobility and versatility of the furniture allows people to teach different subjects in the same space: History, Mathematics, English, French, Italian, Citizenship and the Constitution, Science and Geography, Physical Education, Corporate Economics, Law and Economics, Chemistry, and Religion. With electronic renderings made in collaboration with Marco Cagnoni.

http://www.edoardomalagigi.com/en/multidisciplinary-laboratory/

Actress Padita Agu has shared the sad story of how her three-year old marriage packed up. In a video she shared on her Youtube page, Padita narrated how she got married to her ex-husband the very first day they met after maintaining a long distance relationship over the phone. According to her, she met her ex-husband at a friend's house. She had gone to the friend's house to console her and this friend later called to tell her that the man who was in her house when she came visiting, was interested in her and wanted her number. ''This guy and I have been talking over the phone and we got to the point of agreeing to be married. So he decided to sell me this wonderful idea, that how about we go on some adventure, lets get married the very first day we get to see because all this while we have been taling, I don't remember his face. I haven't seen him. He just saw me once when I came to my friend's place to consolde her. He might I seen me in my movies, I don't know. All I know is that at this point, we don't really know each other. We haven't seen each other but we have been talking over the phone. I don't remeber his face, I don't remember how he looks but we have been talking so we are so familiar but not just facially. So he said okay, how about we try some adventure, we arrange a marriage and we just see ourselves right at the registry when we are getting married. I was like wow, that's deep, that is serious. I was like what would my family say? What would I say to them> I was just scared but excited at the same time. So he said for my family, we don't have to tell them about the secret marriage. So once we are done, we would go and meet them as though we were just dating and we tell them we want to get married and we take it from there. So once we get married, maybe years later, if we had kids and all that, we can now open up to them and say 'oh by the way, we had a secret wedding. At that point, it wouldn't matter because then, we are already married. And as for him and I, once we do it and we meet ourselves and we realise we don't want this anymore, as quietly as we did it, we would just go and undo it. So I thought to myself, there is no harm in this. If we don't want it again, we dissolve it quietly like he said and my family don't have to know because eventually we would wed properly. So, I thought it was a nice idea. So, I went to the regustry because he was out of the country at the time. I went to the registry,got us registered. The day came, it was my birthday. He also chose my birthday to make it special. So I felt wow, this is amazing. That day I didn't tell anyone. In between, he told me not to tell anyone. that if I tell people, nobody would encourage it for some negative reason. Some might be jealous.

http://www.ejuraocholi.com/2019/11/how-i-married-man-first-day-i-met-him.html

Robert Bosch GmbH is to build a pilot production line in Eisenach in order to research into materials and production processes for future generations of lithium-ion cells. It is planned that the line will produce the first samples for trial purposes from 2012, and will then be extended until it reaches an annual production volume of more than 200,000 cells by 2015. Subsequent preparations for series production are planned for marine applications. Bosch will be joined in this pilot project by BASF on the materials side and by ThyssenKrupp System Engineering as a specialist for process plant engineering. It is hoped this will drive forward the development of a European supplier network for materials and production machinery. Bosch will gradually increase the size of the project team to roughly 80 associates. They will work to develop materials for anodes, cathodes, and electrolytes, and also examine their interactions. The knowledge they gain will flow directly into new manufacturing processes. This focus on the application of the technology needed for the next cell generation to the non-automotive area is an effective complement to the activities that are pooled in Bosch's joint venture with Samsung SDI, SB LiMotive.

http://www.electric-vehiclenews.com/2011/08/bosch-to-build-pilot-line-for.html

A CapeCod.Com article written on October 15, 2018 details a campaign event for Representative Will Crocker headlined by Governor Charlie Baker. Governor Baker has endorsed Representative Crocker in his re-election campaign. BARNSTABLE –State Representative Will Crocker, of the 2nd Barnstable District, received the endorsement of Governor Charlie Baker at an event over the weekend. More than 150 attendees were at the reception that took place at Barnstable Brewing Saturday afternoon. Governor Baker addressed the gathering and said “”Will’s one of those guys who gets it. Will goes at it every day, just rolls up his sleeves and gets the work done. Crocker often works closely with the Baker Administration and has secured state funding for several projects and programs in Barnstable.

http://www.electwillcrocker.com/gov_baker_endorses_crocker

I have a question that I can't find the answer to online. Perhaps there's someone out there who's an expert on EU/French law who can help me answer this one? Barclays in France are insisting I fill out a w8-Ben for my kid, who is under 18 and a British citizen. I am reluctant to approve it as I don't see why the IRS need know about a foreign child opening an account in a foreign country. I can't find any information online about my legal obligations on this (in France or the EU) - but surely this contravenes a data-protection or right-to-privacy law somewhere? Children should be protected surely? Anyone know about this kind of stuff? What is Ouigo?

http://www.englishmaninstrasbourg.com/2017/

English for study groups to Australia. A short course in Australian English and culture. This accompanies the student book and includes detailed notes on how to teach the material, answers for all exercises and extra activities. This course book was written to help foreign students and migrants from all nationalities learn to cope with Australian English and Australian culture. It includes notes and information about Australian English, culture and places that would be superfluous for Australian teachers. However, I have regularly worked with teachers from other English-speaking countries who were not familiar with Australia. The extra information is for their benefit. Not available on this website. Only available as an A4 paperback on Amazon.com for $15.

http://www.englishwithluke.com/store/p5/G%27day%2C_mate%21_%28Teacher%27s_notes%29.html

Intangibles are assets that cannot be physically measured or touched. Examples are Brand Name, Copyrights, Franchises, Patents, Trademarks, etc. Companies that have a Durable Competitive Advantage usually have a Brand Name whose value is not recorded in the balance sheet. Brand Name equal customer trust, therefore, they are worth billions of dollars and may be added to your calculations. In addition, people are more likely to purchase stock of companies with a very familiar Brand Name. This creates demand to propel the stock price higher. The stock of a company with a Brand Name that is known all over the world will most likely go up. Give the company's brand name an estimated worth and add it to Intangibles.

http://www.equitybondtheory.com/analysis-of-financial-statements/what-is-the-balance-sheet/intangibles-and-brand-name

Excelsior Academy is a multiple award-winning school committed to excellence in academics and character education. Some of the various awards and special recognitions are described below. On several occasions, Excelsior Academy has been recognized at the local, state and international levels. One of Excelsior Academy’s proudest moments was being recognized in Washington, D.C. by the U.S. Department of Education as a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence. The Western Association of Schools and Colleges awarded Excelsior with a six-year clear accreditation and several commendations. Excelsior was recognized as a National School of Character award winner. Excelsior Academy has had the honor of being chosen as a host school by the California League of Middle Schools and by four international teams of educators from Pakistan, Colombia, Singapore and England. The San Diego Chargers named Excelsior Academy as a Chargers Champions school.

http://www.excelsior-academy.com/academics/recognition/

As we come to the close of 2017, the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ") recently issued its 2017 annual statistics for False Claims Act ("FCA") cases filed and settled in fiscal year 2017 (10/1/16 - 9/30/17). The DOJ's press release highlights many of the Department's achievements (which I will not repeat here). I wanted to take a few moments to focus further on what DOJ's statistics reveal. The DOJ publishes yearly statistics for FCA cases (i) overall ("the overview"); (ii) Department of Defense related cases; (iii) Department of Health and Human Services (healthcare) related cases; and (iv) all "other" FCA cases. DOJ "obtained" --that does not mean collected -- $3.7 billion in "in settlements and judgments from civil cases involving fraud and false claims against the government." DOJ does not say how much it actually netted in cash as opposed to "judgments." As shown in its "overall" statistics, 799 False Claim Act cases were filed in 2017: roughly 50 cases less than last year but more than 2015. Generally, though, the total number of cases filed has been generally consistent for several years. In 2017, DOJ filed 125 "non-qui tam" or direct-filed cases and qui tams accounted for 674 matters. Of these 674 cases, DOJ does not say in which it has intervened, declined, or is still considering what to do nor does it tell us in which districts they were filed. Healthcare/HHS cases predominated in 2017: 544 cases, almost 68% of all FCA cases filed, and most of these were qui tams. 491 or almost 61% of all FCA cases were health care qui tams. In direct-filed healthcare cases, this was DOJ's third highest number of cases filed ever, and for qui tams, it was the second best year --surpassed only by 2016's 503 qui tams filed. As it has for many years, the "other" category of FCA cases continues to have the second most number of FCA cases: 208 or 26%, and of these, 155 were qui tams, which is the lowest number of "other" qui tams filed since 2010. Department of Defense ("DOD") related filings continued to be small: 47 or 5.8% of all FCA cases. Of note: relators filed only 28 DOD related qui tams, which is the smallest number since 1988. DOJ direct-filed 19 DOD-FCA cases, which is the most since 2011 --up from 9 in 2016 and 7 in 2015. Of course, we have no idea if any of these newly filed cases were resolved or dismissed, as DOJ purportedly says it may do for qui tam cases lacking merit. Nearly $428 million was collected in FCA cases where DOJ declined to intervene. That is the second highest amount collected in declined cases since stats were kept. 2015's $512 million in declined case settlements is the best year. Relators collected $43.593 million in relator share awards in these 2017 declined cases -- the third best year ever. Not surprisingly, a large portion of relators' success in declined cases was driven by healthcare settlements. Relators collected $380 million in HHS/healthcare declined cases in 2017 and collected $32.5 in relator share awards -- the second best year ever in both of these categories. As with declined healthcare cases, relators had a successful year in declined cases in the "other" category, obtaining $45 million in settlements and $10.9 million in relator share awards: the third best year ever. These stats continue to bear out what many defense attorneys have been experiencing for some time: relators increasingly are willing to aggressively pursue cases when the government has declined to intervene. The $265.5 million DOJ collected in overall direct-filed cases was the lowest amount it collected since 2013 and the third lowest year since 2004. Clearly, the reason for this is that DOJ collected only $32.6 million in direct-filed HHS/healthcare cases -- down from $97.5 million in 2016. DOJ has not had such a poor collections year in this category since 1993. Overall,it should be no surprise that qui tam filings are strong overall and in healthcare cases. DOJ paid $349 million to relators in intervened cases overall last year, of which $250 million was paid in intervened healthcare cases. DOJ stats continue to show that to generate False Claims Act cases the Department continues to rely heavily on relators and that huge awards in qui tams and declined cases continue to serve as as a powerful incentive to relators and their counsel to file FCA claims. Since 1987, DOJ has paid relators $6.584 billion in relator share awards.

http://www.falseclaimsactlawblog.com/2018/01/highlights-of-us-department-of-justice.html

Why Should I Get a Handcrafted Leather iPhone Case? There’s nothing more satisfying than good leather, especially when it comes to protecting your iPhone. When leather is good, it feels good, looks good, and smells good. While it might cost more than your average phone case, it’s an investment that will increase the lifespan of your iPhone. Here are a few reasons why you should get handcrafted leather iPhone cases. Handcrafted leather iPhone cases give you plenty of room for credit and debit cards that you might have. That’s one of the best parts about it. Basically everything you need all wrapped into one. Besides having a card slot to carry cards and cash, this case is easy to put on your phone and remove it when necessary. You rarely have to take the case off your phone, but once you need to, it shouldn’t be difficult. A simple leather case can provide you as much protection as the next case. Handcrafted leather iPhone cases give a cushioning effect and won’t break under its abuse. Because of this, your phone will be better equipped to survive drops, spills and other forms of damage. Leather has been a symbol of luxury lifestyle and the upper crust. It’s smooth, sleek, and soft. There’s no bells and whistles added to it. Just a simple leather phone case to let everyone know that you enjoy the better things in life. iPhones are fancy in their own right so why not cover it with anything but an attractive leather phone case. Anytime, anywhere, any place. This is helpful when finding a phone case that caters to your needs. If you are a woman heading to a wedding reception and want to wear a dress without pockets, you can have a leather case that holds your iPhone and your cards. That way, you don’t have to worry about a large purse when you’re out on the dance floor. If you want to go to the local pub, then it might help to keep your credit card, drivers license, and cash in one location connected to your cellphone. A night in or a night out, a leather wallet phone case is very helpful. If you ever want to know what it feels like to be the best-dressed person in the room then get yourself a handcrafted leather iPhone case. It’s the quickest way to show that you have class, thinking, and style beyond your years. Once you have a leather card holding case, the trend will start, and you can claim that you were in the forefront. By getting a leather case for your iPhone, you’ll stay on top of the trends and not have to play catch up. The benefits of having a handcrafted leather iPhone case is that it comes in many textures, varieties, and colors. If you want a cute blue leather case, you can find it. If you want a leather case that has multiple pockets and has a bright green color, then there’s a good chance that you can find it out there. The color variations are rather limitless. There’s nothing that screams out “high class” than a nicely made leather iPhone case. They are stylish, durable, and can even be monogrammed for a personal look. By investing in a handcrafted leather iPhone case, you’re investing in a beautiful phone case that will last you a lifetime.

http://www.fantasticviewpoint.com/why-should-i-get-a-handcrafted-leather-iphone-case/

Keogh, M, Tomlinson, A, Potard, G (2013), Recent Trends in Farm Finance and Rural Debt in Australia, Farm Policy Journal, Vol. 10, No. 3, pp. 1-11, Spring, Surry Hills, Australia. Australian farmers operate in a volatile business environment, subject to the vagaries of the Australian climate and fully exposed to capricious international agricultural commodity markets. Periodically, a combination of climate and market factors create particularly challenging periods for farm businesses, during which time there are inevitable business failures, and growth in the numbers of farm businesses that need to increase farm debt levels to continue operating. The current time appears to be one of those periods, although evidence suggests that heightened farm financial stress is being experienced in specific geographical locations and by the producers of specific commodities, rather than more generally across the entire sector. This paper attempts to clarify the current farm debt situation in Australia, and to examine farm debt trends that have been occurring over the last two decades, within specific geographical regions and in different commodity production sectors. While the paucity of detailed financial statistics for many sub-sectors of Australian agriculture limit the comprehensiveness of this analysis, available data indicates that there is not currently a ‘farm debt crisis’ in Australia, although there are farm businesses in specific geographical locations and involved in particular commodities that are experiencing heightened financial pressure.

http://www.farminstitute.org.au/publications-1/farm-policy-journals/2013-spring-financing-the-future-of-farming/farm-policy-journal-vol-10-no-3-spring-2013-full-journal-financing-the-future-of-farming-1

Noma Han is a South Korean male model that made his debut on the international runway when he walked for Richard Chai, Duckie Brown and General Idea. Noma Han is signed with Exiles Models Tokyo, Established Models London, Why Not Model Management Milan and Fusion Models New York. In 2010 Noma Han signed with Red Management just a few days before New York Fashion Week. He then made his debut when he walked for Duckie Brown in New York and also walked for General Idea and Richard Chai, he appeared in an editorial for Interview, he became the face of Benetton, he modeled the ad campaign for Tommy Hilfiger Denim, he walked the spring shows for Richard Chai and Y-3 in New York and appeared in the fall issue of Japan Vogue Hommes. In 2011 he walked for General Idea, Andrew Buckler, Gilded Age, Odyn Vovk, Asher Levine and Tim Hamilton in New York, he was in an editorial for Blackbook and he was in the spring issue of Vogue Hommes Japan. In 2013 he appeared in ad campaigns for Able Jeans and Gap, he was in editorials for Schon Magazine, L’Officiel Hommes Germany, Dazed & Confused, Teen Vogue, UmnO Magazine and WWD, he was on the cover of Dazed & Confused and walked for Siki Im, Public School, Carlos Campos, Elle, Billy Reid, Richard Chai, Beyond Closet, Costume National, Dries Van Noten and Edun among others. In 2014 he walked for Calvin Klein, Bespoken, Opening Ceremony, 22/4, Dries Van Noten, Billy Reid, Public School, Lacoste, Richard chai and others, he appeared in editorials for Neo 2, Fucking Young, Redmilk Magazine, V Man, Creem Magazine, Surface Magazine, Schon Magazine and i-D online, he was on the cover of Elsewhere mag and appeared in ad campaign for Kenneth Cole and Public School. More recently in 2015 Noma Han appeared in ad campaigns for Jill Stuart and Kenneth Cole, he was in editorials for Reflex Homme, Open Lab Magazine and Straight Ideas for Tom Magazine and he walked for Phillip Plein, dolce & Gabbana, Public School, Robert Geller, Richard Chai and Carlos Campos.

http://www.fashionencyclopedia.com/wiki/noma-han

FDR & Associés is an independent, global consultancy specializing in helping financial institutions, insurance firms and the legal professional to manage financial, legal, investigative and security risks in complex and high risk environments. We support clients by providing strategic consultancy, expert analysis and in-depth investigations, handling sensitive financial and legal issues and providing practical on-the-ground hands on support and expert advice. Our unique combination of services, more than 20 years of experience in the respective fields of expertise, geographical reach and the trust our clients place in us, ensure our effective and result oriented problem solving capabilities across the world are capitalized.

http://www.fdr.nu/en/

The Arts & Business Council of Chicago (A&BC)’s mission is to assist strengthen non-revenue arts organizations. The Artwork and Enterprise College of London affords a high quality schooling in the area of the Inventive Arts, Digital Media, Enterprise and Entrepreneurship to create the next generation of leaders in these fields. Students may resolve to overload in previous semesters or undertake examine in a summer semester to cut back the entire length of this system. Starting from the UNESCO definition that identifies tradition as a “set of distinctive religious, materials, intellectual, and emotional options of society or a social group”, college students work on actual case research to understand the strict connection between creativity and cultural production. Most of the ‘business’ courses exist already somewhere in other Arts majors and are cross-listed with the Arts & Enterprise title and enterprise is slapped on. I discovered that only Accounting was helpful to me (but I was solely in Arts & Business for a year). The third module teaches the best way to write an effective marketing strategy for new merchandise or cultural start-ups launch, dealing with all the necessary steps of the process. Studying Arts and Science however thinking about Business? The dual degree program permits college students the chance to combine their specialised Enterprise Administration coaching with research in a variety of self-discipline areas within the Bachelor of Arts. In 2012, we launched the pARTnership Motion to supply businesses and arts organizations with the tools they should create significant partnerships that support a healthy, artistic, and inventive group, however that also give businesses a aggressive benefit.

http://www.feng-feng.com/globalization-the-atmosphere-and-other-issues.html

The Fibonacci Engine (FE) is a sliding vane rotary heat engine which converts heat energy from just about any source, into powerful rotary shaft power. The FE can operate as an open-loop or closed-loop system, and has been called the "Ultimate Engine". The rotating shaft can be coupled to an electrical generator, or a vehicle's drive shaft, powering the wheels of a vehicle, or directly to the wheel itself. The FE is a highly efficient Rotary Engine, uniquely different & greatly improved over any other engine today. The improvements are not about add-on components, but involve its utter simplicity of design, and its excellent horsepower to weight ratio. It is a true rotary engine, unlike, for example, the Wankel engine, which is technically a planetary gear rotary, internal combustion engine. The FE is an external combustion system. There have been hundreds, if not thousands of attempts over the past 130 years to design an effective, efficient rotary steam engine. There are currently many contemporary rotary engine designs in various stages of development. To date, it appears each has been shown to have one or more fatal design flaws. Typically, when one design problem is solved, the so-called 'solution' creates even more design problems. An example of this flawed approach to engine design is the internal combustion engine. Engineers keep adding on components in order to reduce emissions, yet the fatal design flaws inherent within the engine itself, are hardly ever acknowledged. In order to fabricate a truly efficient Rotary Expander Vane Engine, the Fibonacci Ratio, as well as the Golden Mean Ratio, must be taken seriously. Other critical design keys have been discovered over the last 10 years of intense Research & Development. These additional Design Keys were also embodied into the final fabrication stages of the Fibonacci Steam Engine (FE-2), shown in the Videos to the right. The application of these critical design keys has provided the solutions necessary to overcome the historic problems typically associated with rotary vane devices. For example, the Fibonacci Seal System does not create excessive friction, yet provides excellent sealing, even with rapid variations in internal temperature ranges, as well as wide fluctuations in internal vapor pressures. The seal mechanisms self-adjust, are self-sealing, and also function as sliding valves. The FE (φ) can run on steam produced from heated water, yet is completely safe. Why? The water is not heated in a high pressure Boiler, but rather in a low- pressure Vapor Generator. The Engine Housing itself, can function as the key component as its own Vapor Generator. The FE is a very powerful engine system which operates by capturing the adiabatic expansion of a specially formulated confined vapor, or steam. The expansive power of that heated gas or vapor, is coupled, in addition, with the jet-like reactive thrust achieved by a small portion of that same heated vapor. The Fibonacci Engine (FE), in its most basic configuration, can provide low-cost electricity for homes, hybrid vehicles, as well as heating and cooling for commercial facilities. It is the ultimate expander engine for use in a co-generation Micro-combined Heating & Power system (micro-CHP). The engine can use as its working fluid, either water, or a special Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) refrigerant. Solar energy, liquefied coal, natural gas, and waste heat are all viable heat sources for use in co-generation systems. One engine design even includes what may be the world's first hybrid Solar-Wind Engine. The wide-scale use of Renewable Energy resources can now become an affordable reality, not dependent on government subsidies. The Fibonacci Engine can help to greatly reduce our reliance on foreign oil, as well as our over-dependence on fossil fuels, in general. Even large hydroelectric plants can be retrofitted with a specialized variation of the engine configured as a water-driven turbine-type engine. It would then run the large electric turbine. In summary, the Fibonacci Engine in its most basic configuration, converts heat energy from just about any source into powerful rotary shaft motion. This rotary shaft motion can then be used to power an electrical generation system for your home, as well as power your vehicle. The Greek letter used for the math symbol 'phi' or φ, is also a trademark of the Fibonacci Engine. The symbol represents the mathematical ratio of 1 to 1.618 . . . . re-discovered for Europe the importance of the ratio. Many aspects of God's creation reflect this ratio. Examples include the curvature of the nautilus shell, as well as structural aspects of the human body. At least two distinct arguments have been made that an algorithmic-type formula is encoded within the Hebrew text of Genesis 1:1, and approximates the Golden Mean ratio.

http://www.fibonaccimotors.com/

Karen McGrail, MEd, RDN, LDN has been providing nutrition consultation at Framingham Pediatrics since 2003. She has been a registered dietitian for over 30 years, specializing in pediatric nutrition. Karen worked at Massachusetts General Hospital for the first ten years of her career and then at MetroWest Medical Center for eight years. Karen has been an adjunct factulty member in the Food and Nutrition program at Framingham State University (FSU) since 1999, and is also the Director of the John C. Stalker Institute of Food and Nutrition at FSU. Click here for some exciting and healthy recipies! Talk to your pediatrician to see if a nutrition referral is appropriate for your child.

http://www.framinghampediatrics.com/nutrition-services.html

It is the only product on the market with a 25% of peat in its composition. It is the result of the production of mushrooms. Product developed through a composting process divided into a phase of fermentation and a maturity in that occurs the formation of humic substances that promote the healthy growth of plants. Composed of high quality and subject to pasteurization. Does not contain undesirable bacteria or bad smell, avoiding the formation of weeds. Product suitable for all types of crops, seasonal and permanent, can be applied as a cover or embedded. High quality organic compost that resets immediately the soil organic matter, restoring its properties and agronomic qualities. Improves soil fertility which results in an increase of productivity. Organic matter very stable and free of any type of harmful substance.

http://www.futuragri.pt/en/programs/portfolio-2/

Watch and Read: Tejas Athni discusses his groundbreaking research during a TEDxPeachtree 2017 talk. To say that Tejas Athni is not your typical teenager is an understatement. Before even receiving his high school diploma from Stratford Academy in Macon, GA, he’s a full-fledged FVSU student researcher, and has conducted the kind of consequential research some scientists do not engage in until much later in their professional careers, if ever. Now, he is tackling finding a cure for the deadliest of brain cancers, found recently in Senator John McCain and which took the lives of the late Beau Biden, Delaware attorney general and son of Vice President Joe Biden, and former Senator Ted Kennedy. He discussed his research last month during a TEDxPeachtree 2017 presentation. TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to spreading ideas. During his research at FVSU, Tejas worked with the plant Bacopa monnieri, which is found all over the world and often regarded as a weed. He noted that the plant contained terpenoids, an organic compound that can diminish human ailments, including cancer. Tejas believed that the plant could help treat Glioblastoma Multiforme, or GBM, the most aggressive and deadly form of brain cancer, which has few treatment options. His mentors at FVSU and the Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit helped him develop an experimental framework and procedure aimed at proving his hypothesis, which was that the Bacopa monnieri could have a inhibiting impact on brain tumors. In an FVSU lab, Tejas cultured GBM cells and applied a Bacopa monnieri extract to the cells using a complex process. He found that, as he predicted, the extract inhibited the the proliferation of the deadly GBM brain tumor cells. Dr. Nirmal Joshee is one of Tejas’s FVSU mentors. The associate professor of plant science in FVSU’s College of Agriculture, Family Science, and Technology helped Tejas expand his research horizons. “Natural products have been the backbone of traditional systems of healing throughout the globe, and have also been an integral part of history and culture,” Dr. Joshee explained. Tejas knows that many more hours of tests in the lab will be needed to advance his initial research into clinical testing. This was just the beginning, he said. “I am truly optimistic that with further research, Bacopa monnieri can be a novel treatment option targeting GBM. Tejas became intensely interested in plant science and botany during 7th grade biology. “This initial exposure opened my eyes to the possibilities of nature and science, very quickly leading to an internship at the Department of Biotechnology at Fort Valley State University,” Tejas explains. He was only allowed to shadow and watch others conduct experiments that first year, but his palpable desire to conduct research of his own led to an invitation to come back the following year and pursue his own project. His first foray was in the field of plant reproductive biology, in which he learned why two medicinal plants are going extinct in nature. He also learned other skills and techniques, including tissue culture and electron microscopy. “I thought I was the luckiest person on this earth to have at my fingertips all of this cutting edge instrumentation,” Tejas said. Tejas has won numerous national and international awards, including the 2017 American Academy of Neurology (AAN)’s Neuroscience Research Competition. He was also a finalist in the 2017 Intel International Science & Engineering Fair (ISEF), the 2017 iSWEEEP International Science Fair, the 2017 International BioGENEius Challenge, and the 2017 National Junior Science & Humanities Symposium (JSHS). He has presented and discussed his research at various locations around the world, including universities, non-profit foundations, pharmaceutical companies, international medical and scientific conferences, and other speaking venues. On top of all of that, Tejas founded a non-profit organization called CPR Education NovoToro dedicated to teaching basic life-saving skills. He is also the editor-in-chief of an international online magazine, Publizette, and is a contributing author for The Huffington Post.

http://www.fvsu.edu/news/fvsu-student-researcher-help-cure-brain-cancer-high-school-graduation/

It’s been nearly a year since I reviewed the beautiful and challenging Limbo for Xbox LIVE Arcade. While at first Playdead didn’t show any interest in porting the game, recently CEO and co-founder of Playdead Dino Patti confirmed via Twitter that it is indeed on its way to PSN and Steam. The game is great (I gave it a 9/10), and I’m sure there are plenty of non-Xbox gamers out there who haven’t yet experienced the dark, surreal adventure that Limbo offers. This will be a good of a time as any, I say. The release date hasn’t been confirmed yet. But rumors say we should see it sometime late July. Until then, keep watching the official website and GAMINGtruth for up-to-date info.

http://www.gamingtruth.com/2011/06/30/limbo-finally-makes-it-past-the-spider-and-onto-the-psnsteam/

The government of Ethiopia has fired a big state company from the project to build the 6,450MW Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), the country’s most important construction project, citing tardiness. Interpreted as a sign of new Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s determination to clean up politics and balance ethnic interests, the decision is a blow for the military-run Metals and Engineering Corporation (Metec), which held the contract for mechanical and electrical work, including installing turbines. Abiy told reporters on 25 August he had cancelled Metec’s contract, citing complaints of lengthy delays made by dam’s main contractor, Italy’s Salini Impreglio. “It is a project that was supposed to be completed within five years, but seven or eight years later not a single turbine is operational,” Abiy told a news conference in Addis Ababa, reports Reuters. “Salini has even demanded compensation because of the delays,” Abiy said. “We decided to cancel a contract with Metec and offer companies with experience. Otherwise, it will take even longer,” he added. According to The Financial Times, Metec is perceived in some parts of the country as a tool of Ethiopia’s former governing elite, which had been dominated by the small Tigrayan ethnic group, represented by the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). Founded in 1970, Metec is Ethiopia’s biggest industrial company with interests in engineering, construction, arms manufacture and even sugar refining, reports the Financial Times. One local analyst told the FT the sacking of Metec was “very significant”. Situated on the Blue Nile, the GERD dam has been under construction since 2011 and is reported to be about two-thirds complete. It has sparked diplomatic tensions with Egypt, which worries about its water supply, but expressions of good will have marked recent talks since Abiy Ahmed came to power. The dam will dramatically increase the country’s power generation capacity, and Ethiopians see it as central to Ethiopia’s development and prestige. In July, the unexplained shooting of the project’s chief engineer, Simegnew Bekele, drew large crowds of protesters.

http://www.globalconstructionreview.com/news/ethiopia-fires-state-company-gerd-dam/

Singapore is located in South-east Asia, at the tip of Peninsula Malaysia. Singapore has about 3.5million people spread over a land mass of 684 kilometers square, making it one of the most populated countries in the world. Due to its low land mass, Singapore has been building upwards to accommodate the large population. This has resulted in the high-rise buildings that could be seen all over the country, making it very common to see skyscrapers in most part of the island. Our local community is defined to be the citizens of Singapore, who are multi-cultural and multi-racial. We are also a society that is metropolitan and have a constant high influx of tourists from overseas countries. Our community consists of the lush greenery around us too. Trees and plants are abundant in Singapore, where the climate is suitable for the growth of these flora. These trees and plants are concentrated largely in nature reserves and specific parks and gardens, such as the Singapore Botanical Gardens. Many selected trees are also planted along our roadsides to provide shade and shelter for the people. The Global Internet Community would be the people who are looking up information on the Internet about the greenery of Singapore and how Singapore is a Garden City or the people who happened to chance upon our website. Our project focuses on how Singapore is portrayed as a Garden City. The content of the website ranges from the Singapore Green Plan to the parks in Singapore, from Singapore's green effort to the past and present developments of Singapore as a garden city. A major part of our website involves our fieldtrips to the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, Sungei Buloh Nature Reserve and the Singapore Botanical Gardens. Our visits to these places have left us with a great wealth of knowledge about the trees and plants that could be found in Singapore. Our website includes an encyclopedia on plants that can be found in Singapore. These plants found in the encyclopedia range from commonly found roadside trees to trees that are located in the mangrove swamps and even to orchid hybrids native to Singapore. Our project also includes reflections from our fellow team members. These team members have reflected on their experience in the CyberFair, how they felt during their trips to the natural reserves and botanical gardens. The members also reflected about the process to the completion of the CyberFair project, why and how it was meaningful to them. Our Computers: In school, we use Pentium III or Pentium IV computers, while at home; most of us either have computers running on AMD Athlon XP, Pentium III and 4 Processors. Our Internet access: In school, all computers are connected via a Local Area Network (LAN), which is on a dedicated line. At home, most of us use broadband connection. There were many constraints, problems and difficulties that we encountered throughout the duration of the competition. One of the main problems that we had to overcome was our tight and busy schedule. All of us are already heavily laden with our hectic school schedule, which includes homework, assignments, projects and exams. Besides our academic responsibilities, most of us are also in the Upper Secondary level. This explains why plenty of us have other commitments in our other co-curricular activities such as competitions, activities and Community Involvement Programmes. Those in the Secondary 3 level also had to get ready to take over the leadership positions and familiarize us with the club, school and the system. Because of our busy schedule and the need for us to balance school time, personal time and CyberFair time, most of us became stressed about the amount of work that needed to be done. It seemed like the amount of work given to us was never-ending. Most of us stayed up very late for several nights to complete our assigned work. However, the very thought of being able to create a fantastic CyberFair website which will benefit individuals, communities, nations and the whole world kept us going forward, making us determined to complete the website regardless of the cost. We also had the problem of poor communications between the members. Due to the clashes in timetables and the many commitments that each of us has, not all of the members were able to be present at the meetings held. To overcome this problem, we created an e-group where messages could be sent and files could be uploaded for all of our members to view. However, the e-groups were not very efficient. For example, some files uploaded would not appear and messages not sent. This project has allowed us to experience what we will never be able to experience in the classroom. It has shown us the wonders and beauty of Mother Nature and made us feel compelled to protect it. Our CyberFair Project gave the students exposure and increased their awareness on environmental issues and Singapore being a Garden City. It also gave us insight on the different various plants found in Singapore. We learned more about the different various plant species in Singapore and learnt how to appreciate their existence. Normally, we would have assumed all the plants we see in Singapore to be about the same. However, after doing this project, we all learned that each and every plant is unique in their own ways. We also learned more about the nature reserves in Singapore by taking fieldtrips and this helped us to further appreciate the Mother Nature in our island home. We also learned more about the importance of environmental awareness and how each and every one of us should do our part to help conserve the environment. We must take care of our Mother Earth. Mother Earth has given so much to us; it is our duty to take care of her. We also learnt to appreciate Singapore as a Garden City. This fits into our school curriculum standards by fostering national pride for our country being a Garden City. It is in a sense part of our National Education as not every country can have the honour of being called a Garden City. We used about: 15 P3 to P4 computers and a Mac G4 cube as a Server, Video Recorders, Digital/Analog and Video Cameras. We used an e-group to enable better communication between members. Files could be shared easily amongst members and it facilitated the checking of the amount of content done. We also used resources in our school library, certain related brochures and books for references. This provided us with the essential knowledge that we needed to complete the project. We too, conducted a survey of about 100 people in our local community and the results have been tallied and displayed on our website. In our surveys, we contacted the community and asked them to input their inquiry about what they think of Singapore being a Garden City and whether they have a high level of environmental awareness. In this way, we have indirectly sparked off the general public's concern for their environment and increased their awareness in environmental awareness. Through asking the questionnaire, the community will realize how involved they are in environmental issues and the role they need to play to conserve the environment. We also asked a few people to evaluate our website and give us feedback on our content and design layout. They generally gave us positive feedback and feel that the layout design is very appropriate for our theme. Also, by setting up our website, we are encouraging the general public to learn more about the environment and asking them to take the initiative to do a part for their community and environment. We believe that people will feel more compelled to take charge of environmental issues and play a role in keeping the environment clean and green after viewing our website. Through our CyberFair project, not only has the community been informed and educated about the environment of our island nation, Singapore, they are also able to learn about the importance and significance of maintaining a clean, green and beautiful environment for everyone to live in. By visiting our information site, the community will be able to learn much more about the various beautiful and charming plants in Singapore in a much deeper, in-depth and more comprehensive manner. They will also be able to learn to appreciate the beauty of our amazing Garden City and not to take it for granted. They will also learn more about the various communities and the government, whom both have been putting in a lot of effort in preserving Singapore as a Garden city. Through our website, we hope that the general public will start to take a more proactive role in taking care of our important environment and preserve it hand in hand. Not only is the community educated about keeping our nation green, important and necessary moral values are also imparted upon every citizen. This way, they will develop a sense of righteousness with regards to keeping the environment clean and green and will have more initiative in protecting our environment. We would like to thank Mr. Leong Kok Weng and Mrs Aileen Chor, our teachers-in-charge cum mentors for the valuable guidance and help that they have given us throughout the project. The effort and time they put in to help us in this project will not go unacknowledged. We would like to thank fellow students and members of the public who participated in our suvey. Their feedback and views are invaluable inputs to the project. We learned that Singapore becoming a Garden City was not easily accomplished. It is through the joint effort of the government, communities and citizens that we are able to make Singapore so clean and green. We were also surprised to learn that the government is still trying its best to maintain Singapore's status as a Garden City through new and innovative methods. We are proud to know that Singapore will continue to be a Garden City for many years to come. A surprising incident that occurred was that once while we were working on our CyberFair Project in our school computer lab, there was a blackout. As we did not save our work, all the data was lost and we had to do it all over again. From this experience, we learned the importance of saving our work and backing up data.

http://www.globalschoolnet.org/gsncf/narrative_view.cfm?narrid=1064

Most large commercial egg producers use "prophylactic" antibiotics, meaning they feed their hens antibiotics regularly- Even if they aren't sick. We don't do that, because constant exposure to antibiotics quickly leads to creation of antibiotic-resistant varieties of bacteria. We don't think that's a smart long-term strategy for the health of our animals or our community.

http://www.greeneggsandhoney.com/antibiotics-hormones

The first cabin lot draw at Grindstone was advertised in the Free Press on May 29, 1976. You can find links below to it and a few other early draws. Many of these first cottagers are still enjoying cottaging at Grindstone! Do any of you have interesting memories you could share with us about clearing/ building a cottage without power? How times have changed! LOG CABIN PRICES TOO HIGH? Do you remember when ground beef was $.59 a pound? Milk was 3 quarts for $.89? Chicken was 3 pounds for a dollar? It makes me feel old when I think about such things, but here is a funny story that appeared in the Winnipeg Free Press on January 18, 1978 that you might enjoy. Under the heading “Tag on Provincial Cottages too high?” was a story that explained that the 11 government log cottages that were built at Black’s Point were going to be sold by lottery draw for the sum of $16,500. This was $15,200 for the log cabin and $1,300 in lot fees. While the government felt it was a good deal, there was a realtor in the Interlake area who thought the price was too high. “You’re talking about $21-$23 per square foot for an un-insulated cottage, that seems a bit high”. Apparently the going price for an insulated, finished cottage was around $15-$23 at Grindstone. Yearly fees at this time were $70 for lakefront and $40 for back tier. The joy of spending thousands of hours at the cabin, watching the kids grow up, showing the grandchildren how to catch their first frogs in the creek at the beach: PRICELESS! A cabin has to be one of the best investments a family can make. $16,500 was a pretty good price for a lifetime of memories. For more detailed information on the chronological list of developments at Grindstone please click HERE.

http://www.grindstonepark.ca/history-of-grindstone-park/

I want to address some of the issues associated with being in the studio for this project. Not only were we in a foreign country with a language barrier, but we were also working with high school students who had relatively little recording experience. Dealing with the long hours and multiple takes can be difficult and getting the parts as close to perfect as possible is a particularly trying process. As a studio musician, you have to be prepared not only musically but mentally as well. Musical Prep. Knowing that what you are playing will be recorded for everyone to listen to forever can be daunting. You really have to be on top of your game because you want to sound great. You need a solid base of fundamentals, and there will be elements you need to work on that are outside of your comfort zone. Playing in tune is of the utmost importance, and being able to blend and articulate with others is essential. Sight-reading is another skill you will need as well as the ability to play a wide variety of styles. Mental Prep. Be prepared for long hours and multiple takes. Be easy to work with, be prepared, be versatile, be grateful and be flexible. These things will get you through most situations. I encourage you to do as much studio work as you can, so you know about microphone placement, how to play under headphones and how to get the right mix. More About the CD. This project is funded by fans via Kickstarter, and all proceeds from the sales of the CD will go to the National School of the Arts in Havana, Cuba. Please check my website www.jeffcoffin.com for updates and how to support the project if you’re interested. Photo by Rene Huemer. The University of Southern California Trojan Marching Band (USC TMB) was recently featured in the opening track, “Smash and Grab,” of the DreamWorks film “The ...

http://www.halftimemag.com/sectionals/studio-sessions.html

A comprehensive plan to work with children who have suffered traumatic brain injuries was presented in Honolulu today at the Pacific Rim International Conference on Disabilities. Patrick Donohue, founder of the Sarah Jane Brain Foundation, unveiled the National Pediatric Acquired Brain Injury Plan at the Hawaii Convention Center. The PABI Plan develops a seamless, standardized, evidence-based system of care that is universally accessible for the millions of PABI families across the country. Donohue is also the father of Sarah Jane, who suffered a traumatic brain injury at five days old. The Sarah Jane Brain Foundation is coordinating a nationwide public awareness campaign dealing with brain injury, the leading cause of death and disability for America’s youth. The tour aims to bring awareness about youth sports concussions to high schools across the country as well as introduce the National Pediatric Acquired Brain Injury Plan (PABI Plan) through town hall meetings at local universities and hospitals. The Sarah Jane Brain Foundation is one of the leading organizations in the country dealing with PABI, and its Advisory Board is comprised of over 200 leading experts from just about every major medical institution (from MD Anderson and Johns Hopkins to Mayo Clinic and Mount Sinai) and research university (from Harvard and Yale to UCLA and UNC) in the country. PABI can be caused by trauma (motor vehicle crashes, child abuse, sports-related concussions, blast injury from war, falls, etc.) as well as non-trauma (strokes, brain tumors, meningitis, hypoxia, etc.). PABI covers these brain injuries from birth through 25 years of age, due to the fact the adolescent brain is still developing until about 25 years. According to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 1.6-3.8 million new brain injuries occur every year in America due to trauma in sports and recreational activities. These numbers do not reflect the many more that do not enter a hospital, are not diagnosed or are caused by non-trauma. Upwards of 80 percent of the children in our juvenile detention centers across America have some form of a brain injury, most of which have not been identified or treated. I am a grandmother/guardian to a 4yr old brain injuried grandson.We have been raising him since 3months old.I just want to thank you for all your efforts for your daughter and other children and young adults like her.We live in Arizona and they are not so considerate of children and young adults here with TBI or similiar conditions.Again thank you and god bless you.

http://www.hawaiistar.com/2011/04/pediatric-acquired-brain-injury-pabi/

Fahe is a 501(c) non-profit that serves Appalachia through affordable housing, community development, and job creation. We are a network organization with members and partners operating throughout the Appalachian region. Our mission is to create life changing opportunity by providing a platform for peer exchange, training, technical assistance, and access to capital and finance opportunities. Our network serves tens of thousands each year through this collaboration, bringing hope to Appalachia, at scale. The Fahe Membership Network consists of 50+ non-profit housing organizations across the six states of Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, Virginia, Alabama, and Maryland. By collaborating with organizations that are an established part of the community we can more effectively impact regional issues such as energy efficiency, health, education, and the growing need of our large elderly population.

http://www.headcorp.org/fahe/

David Bowie's new album, “The Next Day,” has debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. Billboard reports Bowie landed in second behind Bon Jovi, who scored their fifth No. 1 album with "What About Now" after opening week sales of 96,000. "The Next Day" is Bowie's seventh top 10 album. He last logged a top 10 way back in 1983 with the No. 4-peaking "Let's Dance." Until this week, Bowie's highest-charting album had been 1976's "Station to Station," which spent two weeks at No. 3. Earlier this week, Bowie landed his first UK number 1 album in 20 years with the new release.

http://www.hennemusic.com/2013/03/david-bowie-debuts-at-no-2-on-us-charts.html

We have entered the third year of the Islamic States invasion of the territories of Iraqi minorities, and yet the power of evil and darkness continues to control historical towns and cities belonging to Christians, Yazidies, Turkmen, Shabak, Kakais and others. At the beginning of August 2014, ISIS invaded Tel Afar, that happened in the 3rd of August exactly when ISIS militants invaded Sinjar district which is predominantly Yazidi in its villages and communities, ISIS militants committed horrible acts of violence and numerous massacres in Kojo, Tal Banat, Rambosi and many other communities linked to the same district. In the 7th of August, ISIS militants invaded the Nineveh plain territories such as Tel Kayf district, its villages and towns, in addition to Hamdaniya district and the villages and towns linked to it as well, the security forces gave up their responsibilities on the 6th of August, their responsibility, protecting civilians facing horrible conditions against the monsters of the Islamic State. Few managed to flee the area, others were caught and taken hostage and others were victims of murder, torture and slavery at the hands of the Islamic State members who knows no mercy. In order to be credible when talking about this subject, we must give a brief explanation of what happened to minorities in the territories invaded by the Islamic State two years ago, their current conditions and the challenges they face, then we need to analyze this reality in order to provide our expectations of the future, and the possible solutions to protect them and guarantee their survival. The Islamic State, as it is well known, have hit all Iraqi territories with the full package of violations, but the violations – according to our monitoring efforts continuously conducted through Hammurabi Human Rights Organization – targeting Iraqi minorities were the bloodiest and the most horrible, representing a flagrant violation which is the accurate description of this diagnosis. The Islamic State is seeking to eliminate the existence of Christians and Yazidies, utilizing murder, forced displacement, captivation and sexual slavery. Harsh living conditions such as detention, imprisonment, torture and coercion forced people to change religious affiliations and the conditions imposed upon them represented a slow death. Children were taken away from their families, trained and removed from their religious and cultural environment. Who refused to convert was killed. Women and girls were sold in what is called captives market, abduction, property destruction and the bombing of religious and historical sites. Keeping women as sex slaves, selling them, exchanging them and giving them as gifts. The Islamic State have expressed its deed to eliminate Yazidies and Christians claiming they are infidel, it is permissible to enslave their women and consider them as spoils of war. ISIS described Yazidies numerous times as a pagan minority. ISIS considered the largest part of Shabak, which is Shiites, people who gave up the religion, describing them as (Rejectionists), they were included in the killing and displacement effort, most of their shrines and Husseiniyahs were destroyed and more than 55 Shabak villages were emptied from its residents in the Nineveh plain, the number of Shabak IDPs reached 200 thousand Shabaki. More than 11 thousand KakaI was forced out of his home, it is true that there are not female kakaI sex slaves in the Islamic State, but ISIS have killed numerous KakaI civilians, in addition to the 3 Kakais whom were killed during the massacre of Speicher, 5 of their most important shrines were destroyed when ISIS invaded their villages. Turkmen have suffered the same fate; killing and displacement, ISIS also used chemical gases against them in Taza and Albasheer in Kirkuk province, they have shown heroism in defending their territories in Amerli. The number of Turkmen IDPs have reached more than 300 thousand people. As a result, minorities found themselves as groups of internally displaced people and refugees asking for asylum abroad, living in camps and communities lacking the elements for a decent living in a way that preserves human dignity. According to HHROs statistics in 2015, the number of Yazidi Iraqi IDPs have reached 400 thousand, most of them living in the KRG, and about 20 thousand living in Turkey, while Christian IDPs have reached 200 thousand IDP, spread in the cities of the KRG, Baghdad and the neighboring countries such as Lebanon, while the number of Shabak IDPs have reached 150 thousand, most of them have moved to the center and the south of Iraq. HHRO estimates the number of Kakai IDPs from Mosul and the Nineveh plain by 11 thousand IDP, staying in Kalak, Bardarash, Kirkuk and in villages in the outskirts of Daqooq. Regardless of health and living conditions endured by the IDPs, there are lots of issues related to the educational reality and students dropping out of schools as a result of poverty and the long distances they have to cut to reach their schools from the displacement camps, in addition to having under qualified schools, if existing, in regards to the staff and the establishing structure. In other regards, many psychological illnesses have gone worst, such as psychosis, depression, stress and the daily frustrations which could be seen on a daily basis in displacement camps, HHRO have documented numerous cases, adding to that the suffering of what is known as the group of surviving IDPs who escaped detention under the militants hands, while the majority of them are women and children whom are suffering from trauma, especially women and girls who have been sold and raped but managed to escape, the number of those is estimated to be up to 2000 men, women, girls and children, the horrible conditions experienced by IDPs have produces cases of depression which led to suicide, HHRO have documented 4 cases among Yazidies living in displacement camps within Duhok. In the majority of the IDPs camps, you can see a clear problem lying within the clear decrease in cases of pregnancy and childbearing, for many reasons, psychical and mental conditions, and other reasons related to the lack of will by the men due to the harsh living conditions they are living through which doesn’t allow them to bear the burden of having a child and putting in the necessary care and work to raise the child. Few of the residents of these camps are getting their storage of water from tanker trucks, in most cases the water is not clean, while the majority of the residents of these complexes share the showers and the bathrooms. In regards to electricity, it was found that the residents of these camps and complexes receive what is about 12 to 15 hours of governmental electricity per day, and depends on generators to cover the rest of the day. Most of these complexes have no doctors allocated to them, while 60% of IDPs are not visited by a doctor, and the majority of the camps are close to health centers while only 25% are located far from any health center. According to testimonies by IDPs, HHRO was assured that 50% of IDPs don’t feel safe as a result of the weak security measures adopted in these complexes, while 40% of these complexes are guarded by trained guards, serious worries that terrorists or VBIEDs could reach these complexes are raising despite the fact that cars must be checked before entering. · In light of this bitter reality we must look for solutions and for the future of minorities whom are in a very critical situation. - Reconstruction and development. In order to achieve that, we need to have a number of inquiries and questions, how would security prevail while the lands of minorities are still unliberated. Let as talk about the scenario after ISIS, especially that there’s a lot of discussions currently about liberating Nineveh province soon. Another question, who is going to impose security. Is it the central or the regional government ??? or is there a need to have an international security guarantee. · Does minorities continue to have trust in both governments and their security institutions, especially after being left alone to face the monstrosity of ISIS without any resistance to defend them ??? · How would it be possible to build trust and reconciliation? Is it possible to do this without compensating the victims and prosecuting those who killed, kidnapped, captivated, raped, destroyed religious monuments … etc? what is the legal description of the crimes committed by members of the Islamic State? Are we supposed to utilize international or national courts in order to seek justice? What type of challenges would we face? · How is it possible to achieve conciliation when there is no system to guarantee justice and fairness for victims and to compensate them, and is the Iraqi justice system qualified to achieve this goal in light of having no national laws similar to crimes of genocide or crimes against humanity. How are we going to do justice to those whom were forced to change their religion in light of the Iraqi laws which does not criminalize (coercion to change religion) while the Court of Cassation described minors who return to their original religion after being forced into Islam as (apostates). · Going to International courts is possible, but it is a long and a very difficult way to pass through despite the fact that resolutions to prosecute those who committed crimes described as acts of Genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes are available. ISIS committed acts of Genocide against the Yazidi and Christian community, in addition to crimes against humanity, war crimes and ethnic cleansing against other Iraqi minorities. But the issue in this regards is that Iraq is not a member of the main system of Rome, and requires to form a specialized court which requires specific mechanisms by the security council and based on the demand of the Iraqi government, calling to form a specialized international court to prosecute the criminals of the Islamic State. Also there is another challenge we would face, punishments provided by these courts does not live up to the punishments provided by Iraqi courts, especially that the legal description of the crimes of ISIS is terrorism according to the Iraqi laws, thus they will be prosecuted according to the anti-terrorism law which could impose punishments such as execution. Is it possible for them to return, how, within a political conflict over the control of their disputed territories. And who is going to impose law and provide security, in light of the Kurdish ambition to add that territories to its lands in the region, and the Sunni Arab movement and their ambition to add it to a Sunni region which has been called for by the former governor of Mosul Mr. Atheel al-Nujaifi. How can we achieve stability and what are the means for reconstruction and development? What is required to compensate the victims and rehabilitate them? … have the assailants been prosecuted, is the Iraqi justice system qualified? Is what happened to Yazidies or Christians considered as crimes of Genocide and crimes against humanity? · You cannot have stability before having an elaborate system to achieve justice, impose the rule of law and compensate the victims, but the most important question, is the Iraqi justice system qualified to do so in times when talks about corruption says it has reached the justice system as well. In my own opinion, I would say it cannot do so because I have not heard of any ISIS member who has been prosecuted because he conducted repressive practices against Yazidies, Christians and Shabaks in the Nineveh plain. Minorities have lost their trust in the national security institutions, and in order to restore this trust it must offer much efforts and sacrifices to achieve justice and fairness. Today, you can hear loud cries demanding international guarantees, otherwise the number of people whom will choose to return would be nominal. while there is a high percentage of emigration among minorities. Only 5% percent of Yazidies of Sinjar have returned to Sinjar after the liberation. Yes, what the Islamic State did to Yazidies, Christians and other minorities such as Shabak, Turkmen and Kaka’is lives up to the description of Genocide and crimes against humanity. because the majority of the elements of a Genocide crime can be found in the practices perpetrated against Yazidies and Christians, in addition to the elements of crimes against humanity which is seen against other minorities. Any efforts towards liberation and rehabilitation should be accompanied by providing real and effective protection to all components living in danger, which includes the Sunni component in areas occupied by the Islamic State. What Civil Society Organizations should do … it is efforts in the field of IDPs? To prevent the repeat of mass atrocities, long term strategies must be organized. The response must focus on the threat presented by the Islamic State and other terrorist groups in order to prevent new atrocities against civilians and to protect them. This is also the case in Nineveh and the whole of Iraq. The strategy, which must be adopted by the government, must be based on being keen not to repeat the atrocities, providing protection, investigating the committed crimes and addressing the roots and driving factors of this conflict. A continues evaluation of the capabilities of terrorist groups while monitoring its structural organization to have an idea of how dangerous it is. And any strategy must be accompanied by efforts to build trust between Sunni Arabs and communities of minorities and to strengthen these communities responsibility in building peace, providing humanitarian assistance and protection to IDPs who cannot go back after liberation, the necessity of following a style of voluntary return. Being keen to preserve the privacy of the displaced ones while respecting their religious, linguistic freedom and their freedom of speech. 1. Increasing the number of bathrooms and toilets while increasing the amount of clean water. 2. Providing cleaning materials, sterilizers and soap to prevent the outbreak of epidemics and diseases, while visiting IDPs camps we found great need for sterilizers in general. 3. Providing fuel for heating, cooling and running electrical generators, putting into consideration that the majority of these families have no money to buy these materials. 5. Providing transportation to displaced children living in camps and complexes so they can attend schools. 6. Holding training programs for IDPs in computer skills, language, sewing and other in order to eliminate the rampant unemployment and provided further working opportunities for them.

http://www.hhro.org/news-and-activities/mr-william-wardas-discussion-during-a-seminar-held-by-the-iraqi-forum-for-human-rights

Imagine living in a culture where sex was sacred and not a sin! The cultures that honored the divine feminine, existing for over 30,000 years, knew that our sexuality was a positive expression of the life force. Sexuality and spirituality were never seen as separate in these cultures, and only became split during the patriarchal era. The ancient cultures understood that sexual pleasure was a wonderful way to connect with spirit and renew life, as well as to unite deeply with another. The life force energy was perceived as a pulsing spiral. This spiral of energy moves up and down our bodies, through all the energy centers (called chakras in Sanskrit) in a continuous, pulsing current. In essence, we are plugged into a cosmic "electric outlet" through the energy center near the top the head. Continuing the analogy to electricity, our bodies cannot function well if energy is not grounded firmly in the energy center near the base of the spine. The concept that we are more than mere physical bodies may be difficult to accept at first, but we are, in fact, an organized combination of several energy systems surrounding a unifying field. If we could perceive the subtle energy around us, each of us would look somewhat like a "luminous egg." There are transcendental sexual experiences that produce a sense of merging with this source of energy, losing physical boundaries at the moment of orgasm. This is often described as "being in the moment of boundless bliss". Many ancient and modern visionary experiences have been described as feelings of being "bathed in pure light." This is cosmic orgasm, the direct experience of the self as pure energy, in union with a divine source. Developing conscious rituals and meditation techniques can sometimes allow you to be more open to such transcendent experiences. Although you do not have to spend years in training to experience spontaneous, spiritual sex, it may be necessary to be receptive to the possibility of connecting higher states of awareness with peak sexual experiences. At the moment of orgasm, I knew that I was held within a great, golden light, and experienced myself as transparent, luminous energy. I saw seven swirling star-like points lined up in my body. I did not know about the chakras at the time but later discovered that was what I had seen. My energy centers looked like radiant golden lights in my body. What Carrie had visualized was life force, freely flowing through all seven energy centers,which were illuminated and energized by her orgasm. Many people who become interested in spiritual sex have had initial spontaneous ecstatic experiences such as Carrie's. Megan had known a male friend for several years, with whom she shared an interest in spiritual healing. On this occasion they interacted sexually for the first and only time. She explained, "During the whole night I had a powerful feeling of dancing in the energy. I did not know where he began and I left off. It was beyond genital sex. The full body orgasms I experienced moved through both of us and swirled around us, appearing as a rainbow of molecular lights." Her body had been a perfect conductor of life force energy and she had transmuted this power effortlessly, but her partner's body had been overwhelmed by the surge of power she had been capable of handling. Megan's partner was clearly operating at a different level of energy from Megan and therefore, the experience felt dissonant to him. He chose not to participate in any further sexual relationship with her, which wounded and confused her. Megan's story illustrates the spontaneous link between sex and spiritual state, and highlights a common dilemma with partner sex. Many women have had similar experiences with a partner who negatively reacted to the overwhelming intensity of such sexual energy. Megan's experience, as well as that of other women who have moved into spiritual ecstasy, was that her partner was unable to tolerate her sexual response because it seemed "too intense." You may have had a similar experience. Although it is not always necessary for your partner's sexuality to be at the same level of intensity, when it is not, it is common for the experience to feel dissonant. It is helpful to understand that three different levels of sexual energy are possible: genital pleasuring, conscious loving, and spiritual union. Each level is sex-positive and life affirming and has a value in healing. Each type of sexual energy can heal at the physical, relational or cosmic level. They are not sharply delineated from one another, but rather lie on a continuum of energy generated and energy received, activating various energy centers in the body. They differ from each other in the purpose and meaning attributed to the sexual interaction. Genital pleasuring refers to the energy level generated, not the particular physical activity. The feminine way of genital pleasuring, especially, attends to an unfolding of the sensual process rather than a race toward orgasm. The energy received through genital pleasuring is manifested in physical sensations of intense pleasure. Orgasm at the level of genital pleasuring is a release of tension. Healing at this level of sexual energy is directed toward physical functions. For example, orgasm benefits the immune system, and also promotes relaxation and a sense of well being. The purpose is recreation: to play, enjoy the moment and relax in the pleasures of physical stimulation. It is mutually beneficial, consensual pleasure. This level of sexual energy generates intense, loving feelings for the partner. The "valley orgasm," as it is called in the Tantric tradition, goes beyond the release of tension in genital orgasm. It requires practice in relaxing into sexual feelings and pacing the build-up of tension in order to prevent sudden dissipation of sexual energy. The energy received is divine love. The heart chakra rather than the genital chakra becomes the focal point. The practice of conscious loving generates energy from the heart. The meaning of this level of sexual energy is connection, reinforcing commitment in a long-term relationship. The healing comes from loving communion, enhancing the bond with the partner. Conscious loving facilitates balancing male-female energy in the relationship, which is very effective for maintaining harmony between partners. The energy generated by this level of sexuality is ecstasy. The meaning of Spiritual Union is enhanced awareness, inspiration and merging with the Life Force. The purpose for sexuality at this level is to unite with the Source. The energy received at this level is inspiration/illumination that can be translated into divine guidance or simply experienced as pure bliss. Cosmic orgasm is a completely unique experience because it is multi-dimensional and has an infinite variety of patterns. Genital Pleasuring and Conscious Loving are not separate from this experience but incorporated as an integral part of it. If you choose to practice spiritual sex with a partner, you will need to communicate clearly with one another about your expectations. It is important to recognize that your experiences of transcendence will be unique from your partner's; however, it is very helpful to feel a conscious bond with your partner. Sexually, the heart is a source of healing for the self and one's partner. The shift from personal attachment desire into selfless love for another is facilitated through communion with the partner. Whereas personal desire generates sexual attachment-the feeling of "this one is mine"-loving communion extends beyond personal attachment. The partner is no longer perceived as "mine," but as a beloved gift of the Divine. To cultivate this perception, you will need to foster the psychological mindset of healing and mutual empowerment in a setting that honors the other as divine God/Goddess. It may help to use the following exercise to connect deeply with the divine essence of your partner. In order to experience the dual generation and reception of loving energy from the heart with a partner, begin by sitting face-to-face with one another. Each partner should place one hand over the other's heart and look into the other's eyes. Feel the heat of your partner's hand on your own heart and imagine the warmth of a small sun emanating from your heart toward your partner. Visualize this as divine love and imagine it as a beautiful color. If you need to do so, close your eyes at this point, in order to focus on the inner sensation of warmth in the area of your heart and to visualize its color. Now imagine this warmth radiating from the center of your heart like the rays of the sun, enveloping your partner as well as yourself in a warm, liquid, colorful light. Stay with this visualization as it changes or moves, and breathe deeply. Continue to be aware of this energy from your heart center for a few moments longer. Then, when you are ready to open your eyes, look into your partner's eyes and share with your partner some of the loving feelings you have experienced. When couples come to treatment because they have lost their sexual connection, women will often say that something is missing, which results in their feeling sexually incomplete, even when they are easily orgasmic. I have found that many women lose sexual interest because genitally focused sex in rote patterns purely for physical release becomes boring without additional paths of emotional and spiritual discovery. That "something missing" is the spiritual connection. In the exploration of spiritual sex, there is an endless supply of loving sexual energy; consequently, there is no limit to the playful moments, potential for communion with our partner, and spiritual ecstasy available to us in our lifetime. Linda E Savage, PhD is a licensed psychologist, Marriage and Family Therapist, and sex therapist who has been exploring the mysteries of sexual healing for over 25 years. Dr. Savage is the author of Reclaiming Goddess Sexuality: The Power of the Feminine Way, which presents a view of women's sexuality that blends the ancient wisdom of the Goddess cultures with current clinical knowledge. She is an AASECT Certified Sex Educator (American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors, and Therapists), Diplomate of the American Board of Sexology, and a member of the Institute of Marital and Sexual Therapy. Visit her website at: http://www.goddesstherapy.com.

http://www.hiddenmysteries.org/spirit/ecstacy/reclaiming.shtml

would think if somebody asked me this morning that if the legislature were to find that for reasons of cost of living or what have you, judges in Cook County or Madison County or anywhere else in the state ought to receive higher salaries or expense allowances, that that could be done. This would put the state behind the payment of salaries for judges, and that's the concept it espouses and it does look toward the direction of uniformity. The schedule—I hope I have stated it correctly—is intended to protect presently sitting judges who are the beneficiaries of the optional county salary, and it is not intended to affect those judges during their present terms or during any future terms that they might serve. They are protected as they are at the present combined rate of their state and local salaries. MR. CICERO: Mr. President, this morning there were several amendments being discussed to this section. I think some of us are a little confused as to exactly how section 17 reads at the present time, and I wonder if the clerk could give us that section as amended or as it reads, so that we know what language is being deleted. PRESIDENT WITWER: No amendment has carried as yet to section 17. It is as the committee brought it in, and the only amendment pending before you is the Tomei amendment. The Chair recognizes Mr. Brown. MR. BROWN: Mr. President, I would like to ask Mr. Tomei a question, simply out of the fact that it seems to be saying something while doing nothing. I would like to know if the words, "presently sitting judges shall not be diminished"—if these words are saying that after a judge has resided for a term, that his salary can then be diminished? MR. TOMEI: No, it is my intention that for their present terms, as I stated, or for any future terms that any presently sitting judge might serve, he would be protected in his present salary. MR. BROWN: I submit, sir, that it does not say that. MR. KNUPPEL: Mr. President? PRESIDENT WITWER: Mr. Knuppel, are you on a point of order? MR. KNUPPEL: I want to offer an amendment to this amendment. PRESIDENT WITWER: All right, the amendment is in order. MR. KNUPPEL: I want to move to add the words "during their present term," and I do this because economic things could change as they did in 1929 and during the '30's and I don't think anybody should be guaranteed a lifetime salary. PRESIDENT WITWER: Mr. Knuppel moves an amendment to the Tomei amendment so that at the end of the section captioned "Schedule," after the word "diminished," will be added the words "during their present term." Is that it? MR. KNUPPEL: That's right. PRESIDENT WITWER: Who seconds it? Mr. Bottino seconds it. Now we are on Mr. Knuppel's amendment. Would you speak, Mr. Knuppel? 1930's when people were lucky sometimes to get food. And judges are well paid. But it very well may be that $6,000 or $8,000 would be more appropriate in an economic period that may occur five or six years from now than what they are presently receiving. I think he takes the term knowing what the salary is for that term, and he is entitled not to have it diminished during the term; but I don't think he is guaranteed in successive terms—or ought to be guaranteed in successive terms—that his salary will remain at $25,000, $30,000 or $40,000. PRESIDENT WITWER: Thank you. Mr. Nudelman, do you wish to be heard on this amendment? You rose earlier. MR. NUDELMAN: I would ask—I think in either event my question is germane, Mr. Chairman. I would ask Mr. Tomei if the legislature did not see fit to bring the salaries of the judges of the rest of the state up to the Cook County level, would this mean that any judge that was elected or magistrate or associate judge appointed in Cook County would then receive only the salary that was received currently by other—by the judges and magistrates in other areas of the state? MR. TOMEI: I think that's correct. The legislature would have to act to raise the salaries of judges in Cook county —that is, future elected judges or selected judges in Cook County. PRESIDENT WITWER: Mr. Sommerschield? MR. SOMMERSCHIELD: A point of inquiry, Mr. President. I don't think any of us in the back row have a copy of the Tomei amendment. PRESIDENT WITWER: I'm sorry. Mr. Clerk, will you see that it's distributed? How many are without the Tomei amendment? While we are distributing them, Mr. Friedrich would like to speak. You have the floor, sir. MR. FRIEDRICH: I speak in support of Mr. Knuppel's amendment. I have the strangest feeling that the Committee on Judiciary in this Convention is really bending over backwards to write an article to appease the sitting judges on our courts. I thought we were here to write a constitution for the people of the state of Illinois and not for a group of people who happen to be in office at this time. If we're going to do this, I suppose when it comes to the legislative article we will be sure that we don't disaccommodate anybody who is sitting in the legislature, and when we get to the local government article we will be sure we don't do anything to offend the county clerks and those people. I think all the conversation I have heard—we want to be sure we don't disaccommodate any judge in the state of Illinois. I think we'd better start thinking about whether or not the courts are going to serve the people of Illinois or whether or not the people of Illinois are going to serve the courts of Illinois. PRESIDENT WITWER: Have you received copies? Everyone have a copy of the Tomei amendment? I have no one else on the list. Are you ready to take a vote? Just a minute. Mr. Knuppel may speak.

http://www.idaillinois.org/cdm/ref/collection/isl2/id/3748/

How can this be? Current plans call for building new nuclear weapons as if the Cold War had never ended. This is dangerous. In the past, we lived with great risks that, at the time, we thought were justified. No longer. It is time to take a hard look at the arsenal and replace the weapons we need for today’s threats — and forgo the rest. During the Cold War, the greatest danger to the United States was a “bolt from the blue” from the Soviet Union — a massive surprise nuclear attack. We armed ourselves to the teeth to prevent this. Thankfully, those days are over. The Soviet Union disappeared 25 years ago. Current Russian belligerence, although worrisome, does not constitute a renewed Cold War. The Cold War arsenal includes intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), submarines, long-range bombers, cruise missiles and the nuclear warheads they carry. Last month, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that maintaining and replacing the arsenal over 30 years would cost $1.2 trillion in constant dollars, or $1.7 trillion with inflation. The CBO’s new cost estimate is much higher than previous ones and should be a wake-up call that current plans must be rethought. We should consider all aspects of our nuclear posture and our conventional forces’ needs before rushing headlong into these expensive and contentious development programs. We believe, too, that taking a more prudent course in rebuilding our deterrent systems could help avoid a new arms race with Russia that neither side should want.

http://www.idn-france.org/2017/11/spending-less-on-nuclear-weapons-could-actually-make-us-safer/

Indam Inc. is a human capital management company with central operations based out of the beautiful Garden State. As a diverse end-to-end HR solutions provider, Indam offers a range of expertise aimed at enabling clients to focus on their core business by providing a means to be cost effective, optimize their performance, thus reducing the time to market their products, so they can gain the competitive edge in our dynamic market place. Indam is committed in providing excellent quality of service to its clients by focusing on its most important resource “PEOPLE”. We are a people company and our business is built around how well we manage people, whether they are our Employees, Consultants, Vendors, or Clients. We thrive in bringing people together by identifying, training and retaining the best talented people and strive to be ethical, trustworthy, and result oriented. We are distinguished by our acumen of the different fields of life sciences within the pharmaceutical industry at large. By forging strategic alliances with leading companies through consulting projects, we strive to make significant contributions for the advancement of our client’s program objectives promptly, efficiently and cost effectively.

http://www.indam.net/index.php/home/

ASTROWORLD is the 3rd studio album by rapper Travis Scott. It was released on August 3, 2018, by Cactus Jack Records, Epic Records, and Grand Hustle Records. The album follows his second studio album Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight (2016), and his collaborative album Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho (2017) with Quavo. The album features guest vocals from Kid Cudi, Frank Ocean, Drake, The Weeknd, James Blake, Swae Lee, Gunna, Philip Bailey, Nav, 21 Savage, Quavo, Takeoff, Juice Wrld, Sheck Wes and Don Toliver, among others. Production was handled by multiple producers, including Mike Dean, Allen Ritter, Hit-Boy, WondaGurl, Tay Keith, Tame Impala, Frank Dukes, Sonny Digital and Thundercat. Astroworld was supported by three singles, “Butterfly Effect”, “Sicko Mode”, and “Yosemite”. The album received critical acclaim and performed well commercially, debuting atop the US Billboard 200 with 537,000 album-equivalent units, of which 270,000 were pure sales. It was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Astroworld is nominated for Best Rap Album at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards, with “Sicko Mode” receiving nominations for Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song.

http://www.indpls.com/travis-scott-indianapolis/

After a Rebecca Minkoff leather Python tote found itself under my girlfriend's Christmas tree over the holidays, I felt inclined to offer a real, honest review for those who are on the fence on either buying one for themselves, or maybe as a gift for a special someone - as was my case. I'd be asking the same thing, especially when it comes to dropping some pretty significant dollars. I'll be honest, I'm not a fashionista, but I am dating one. A very, very picky one at that. She takes fashion accessories - like purses - to a whole new extreme. When she likes something, there's usually a darned good reason; and if she doesn't like something, she's not afraid to tell me, either. So while you're reading it from me, what you're really getting is a review from her, with my little thoughts thrown in for flavor. Rebecca Minkoff, as a brand, has built a pretty solid reputation as an mid-level designer. You're sure to turn a few heads, especially around department store shoppers who inevitably settle for less prestigious labels; but in all fairness you probably won't make a name for yourself at a Yacht Club, either. There are plenty of higher end (and more expensive) totes than this one, but there are also many, many more below it, too. While my girlfriend was quick to say that in fashion, sometimes the label is more important than anything else, she said the fine folks at team Minkoff came through with a well-built, good-sized purse that has some really substantial utilitarian function. For instance, it's built tough enough to handle some pretty extreme usage. The nylon and leather are very sturdy, and she was quick to point out that the handle buckles are "solid." (Apparently that's traditionally a weak spot in all purses, even fashion totes). And the size is substantial enough to carry just about anything short of a laptop computer - her iPad fit fine, but I'm not going to lie, it did monopolize a lot of the space; not sure how much extra "stuff" she can squeeze in with a tablet in there, but she's already crammed enough makeup, sunglasses and, ahem, girl stuff, to make me believe that if there's a will, this tote can handle it. Unless you're a one-purse kind of gal, you probably won't find yourself reaching for this one as your "everyday" purse simply because it definitely rides the "chic" or "trendy" line pretty darned hard. It's hard to tell in the photos I've included, but the trim colors are pretty vibrant, which works well for some looks, but not others. Because the tones really "pop," this probably shouldn't be your first choice if you want something more classic, or subtle. And not to beat a dead horse, but since I mentioned it in the "Good" section above, I should do the same here: Rebecca Minkoff is a very well-noted designer in the mid-level, borderline boutique scene, but these aren't the absolute "best of the best" either (anyone who's seen some of the top-of-the-line Gucci handbags that cost thousands of dollars can attest to that). Size: It's about 15.5 inches tall and wide (slightly less wide than it is tall). Materials: Leather and Nylon, with a synthetic lining. Strap Length: About 8.5 inches from buckle to buckle. Colors: Black, with trim color options in Purple, Teal, Red and a few others; all with a "snake skin" appearance (what I'm assuming lead to the "Python" name). Is A Rebecca Minkoff Python Tote Worth The Money? Credit: Amazon.comMy girlfriend says "yes." But then again it wasn't her money, it was mine. But she assures me that what you get for the price (including the all-important label awareness) is well worth spending a little extra money. In fact, she says it's actually at the perfect price point, because it's chic and fancy enough to impress other people, but not so expensive that you're afraid to take it out on the town - which is what's happened to several other of her even more expensive purses. Not at department stores, that's for sure. At least the ones around here, anyway. Like I said, the Minkoff label is in that "mid level" range that exceeds most the stuff you'd find at national clothing chain. Macy's and The Bon aren't afraid to sell purses at this price point, but the products certainly aren't on the same "level" so-to-speak. A couple of trendy boutique shops in my city carry Rebecca Minkoff accessories, which is where my girlfriend first spotted one. The nice thing about retail shops like this is that the service is usually excellent (sales people in these stores work on commission, so they'll bend over backwards for you). But the prices are so darned expensive. Sure, you're not just paying for the purse but for the sales person's salary, and the overhead costs of the business, so if you're all about helping the little guy, then by all means.... but for my money... The real savings come from ordering online. There are plenty of online retailers that stock Rebecca Minkoff totes with lower price tags than you're likely to find at your local shops. Just be aware of the fakes and counterfeits that are commonplace in the fashion industry. If a something seems too good to be true, it usually is. That's why I buy on Amazon - not only do they have the lowest prices, but you can be sure you're buying the real thing, and not getting ripped off with a cheap knock-off. And now that they've revamped their fashion store (formerly known as Endless.com), you can find just about any purse on the face of the planet - trust me, my girlfriend has already bookmarked her birthday "wish list," guess she needs some new shoes to go along with the shiny new Rebecca Minkoff python travel tote I just bought her.

http://www.infobarrel.com/Rebecca_Minkoff_Travel_Python_Tote_Review

Dr. González leads the contribution to InterAct from Barcelona where he and his team contribute to WPs1.6 and 2.2. Dr. González has more than 25 years of experience in epidemiological cancer research, being the author (co) of more than 150 scientific papers. He is the national coordinator of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) in Spain and the current coordinator of an European EPIC project (EUR-GAST) on Nutrition, environmental and genetic factors, and the gastric cancer risk in the European Population. He has been the principal investigator in several multi-center collaborative studies on environmental factors, nutrition and cancer of the lung, stomach, urinary bladder and pleural mesothelioma.

http://www.inter-act.eu/partners/carlos-a.-gonzalez-idibell-ico.html

There was an attempt at documenting this earlier (click!) but it used an incorrect birth year. but ... which BY is now correct for Jake Johnson from 21 Jump Street. BY 1979 is already approved. Somehow the 1922 George Martin does not seem to be in the database. Has now been accepted. Actor - Jarhead, ... Director / Producer / Editor - |||IP_ADDRESS||| , ... Actor - Flashpoint, etc. Are you sure, the second Mandy Moore is credited as an actor? - After a short review I only found one Mandy Morre and one Mandy Jo Moore credited as an actor... Yes, I'm sure, and I already mentioned those titles in my post: she's in 'Austin Powers in Goldmember' and 'Bubble Boy' (2001). She's credited as Mandy Jo Moore in 'Did You Hear About the Morgans?', but the other two titles make "Mandy Moore" her common name for our purposes - which, in turn, warrants the birth year addition to the other Mandy Moore.

http://www.invelos.com/Forums.aspx?task=viewtopic&topicID=250804&PageNum=205

This article is the edited version of my long response to Nihan's From a "Global Market" to a "Global Society". Constructivism argues that actors' understanding of the pay-offs may change without an actual shift in material interests. In crisis situations actors may be open to new ideas, as they realize that what they have always believed in does not work. A crisis provides the "policy window" for a charismatic actor ("an institutional entrepreneur") to come up with new ideas and persuade the other actors. As they interact and negotiate ("social learning" within the existing institutional framework,) actors change their minds about the pay-offs associated with each option. A change in values could be what is meant by a change in pay-offs. The important point is having greater awareness about the non-immediate consequances of our actions. Once we are aware, we feel more responsible. Realizing the far-away consequences of our individual actions, inactions and transactions is key to an evolution from a “global market” to a “global society”. There are people who can no longer bring themselves to drive SUVs, or throw a glass bottle away without recycling it, because they are not able to act despite their knowledge. People should think about security and development issues in the same way, as well as the cross-border regulations and supervision of financial markets. Western societies are no longer isolated from the poverty and violence in "remote" corners of the world. Injustice breeds insecurity. Not only politicians, but “thought leaders” from all fields have a duty to tell these hard truths without commercializing or sensationalizing the subject. It is time for leaders to evaluate their assumptions about their constituents. Are we knights, or are we knaves? Knaves are self-interested, they serve others only when that will serve their own material interests. Knights, on the other hand, put the interests of those they serve above their own. They serve others even when they gain no material reward, or they actually face a cost doing so (Le Grand, 2003). The resulting organizational structure will be reinforcing the assumptions that gave rise to it. When a leader thinks that his constituents are knaves, he mistrusts them and treats them like naughty children. He tries to keep information hidden because he is afraid that he will be punished for telling the truth. He establishes a structure that is based on close monitoring, strong incentives and harsh penalties, even if they are not always enforced. The constituents will perceive this system as a controlling form of external intervention, which leaves no room for intrinsic motivation, inquiry and innovation. What if we are more knights than knaves? The questions that need to be asked to bring about the transition from a "global market" to a "global society" can be very exciting and inspiring. They give people’s lives a meaning beyond day-to-day survival characterised by tedious office jobs, family lives and consumerism. They give each person a stake in improving the humanity’s well-being, bringing about change. This is what today’s left-wing politics should embrace. People would be far more receptive to this than we (and politicians) think. Only one leader fully grasps this: Obama.

http://www.irmak.com/2009/10/from-global-market-to-global-society-2.html

Hate doesn't work like love. You have to remind yourself to love. only you can speak the truth in so few words.. It could also be the opposite... Then should I wait for them to remind themselves? So many times have your words touched me in ways I couldn't fathom. Sometimes it brought forth emotions I was trying to hide, and sometimes I didn't know I felt. A lot of times it was things 'That is for me. This is for me.' and the words have been truly an inspiration. Some reason, these simple words are perhaps the strongest of them all - years of words and these two sentences are it. I think this may be what I pick to get a tattoo of to help remind me of them daily, if that is alright with you. and so it would be that hating is as natural as breathing. I disagree... You don't have to remind yourself to love, only to not hate. If you love someone, it's like breathing. It's like living. It just happens, and you can't stop it, and you can't let it go. oh...i thought i was the only one. I feel like this is a contradiction to everything you've ever written. To love and to hate are the most natural part of being a human being. We are born with only love and fear- with age that fear grows into hate. You just need to ensure that there is always, always more love than fear. Always. I feel like everyone shares these feelings of all of your words, or at least everyone can relate. I sometimes thought I might have been the only one, or one of very few, so I never discussed them with anyone. I now do not understand why people everywhere can not be more open with each other about love, hate, pain, and joy. Deep down, we all understand and we should all go through it together. I disagaree - this does not work for me. Leave a marble spinning around a bowl, eventually it will arrive at bottom centre, motionless, at rest. I am only at rest when I love: hate is such an effort; it is unnatural to me. this is, by far, one of my favorite posts on here. when i took a moment to digest and chew this over... i was in awe--only you could say so much with so little. i can only dream of writing like this. But once in a while, you meet someone that makes love so easy. If your lucky enough... i've never had to remind myself to hug. only to hold a grudge. Hating those two for their happiness is so easy. I have to physically think and make myself stop. Her only regret is not dating him sooner. My only regret is ever getting involved with either of them. Liars. Cheaters. Not friends. Oh there I go. I am happier with the end result than I ever was before. But their happiness is like an anchor. I wish I would forget them. I wish you would too. You never promised me anything but I relied on the reassurance of your touch and the constantness of your face. I wanted to grow into who you wanted and I wanted your hopes and desires to be my life. I am so embarassed the reckless abandon with which I was eager to dispose of my life, but I was a child, what else did I know? It's beautiful and true in a sense, but I must disagree. You have to remind yourself to do either. There is always a choice. The risks of pain and shatter are equal for both. But only one of the two has any potential for good. And that, that must always be our choice. There may be several reasons why we hate, but there could be no reason why we love.

http://www.iwrotethisforyou.me/2010/02/memento-of-past-promises.html?showComment=1265900590265

This past Mother's Day we took the Wifey's mom out to Cibus at NorthPark Center in Dallas. The Wifey and I have been before for dinner and it was nice. We sat outside and had dinner in the courtyard so we figured it would be a good place to try for a Mother's Day brunch. We arrived about ten minutes ahead of our reservation and were met by a really bitchy hostess. It was a madhouse so we figured she was just a little overwhelmed but we didn't even get a "have a nice day" acknowledgment on our way out. But anyways, as we were waiting we noticed that the room was filling up with families. Little kids dressed in their Sunday best seemed to be taking over the waiting room. Cibus is set up so that there is a "private" dining room and the rest of the dining area is on the other side of the restaurant. We were sat in the private dining room and we thought it was special because we actually made reservations. Then we realized they had segregated all the families with children into this one dining area. Cibus will say it was by chance but there was no denying it. And then we see a nice older couple and their son getting sat in the makeshift kids room. But they were not amused by the amount of kids in this room and it didn't help that Cibus had run out of drinking glasses so they served them in Styrofoam cups with a lid just like the other kids in the room. But besides that, brunch at Cibus wasn't too bad. Just make sure you don't get stuck in the kids room.

http://www.jackandthebabytalk.com/2011/05/kids-room.html

Last night we sat down with our two children, ages 11 and 13, for a family movie night. We were cruising through titles and stopped dead at “PAY IT FORWARD,” one my all time favorites that we had not yet watched as a family due to mature content. It was only after it ended when we started to discuss it that I realized what a perfect film it was for the EASTER weekend. EASTER is all about “Paying it Forward” and what a world we would have if everyone acted about in it. First the movie. IMDB sums the movie up like this. “A young boy attempts to make the world a better place after his teacher gives him that chance.” More specifically the new, maimed, social studies teacher asks his 7th grade students to take on this project for the year, to come up with a NEW idea how to make the world better. Our lead character, an 11 year old boy of an alcoholic mother and abusive father, comes up with the “pay it forward” concept and puts it in to action. For those unfamiliar with the film it means to do something hard and incredibly generous for someone else that likely does not deserve it. Our boy Trevor helps a drug addicted, homeless man get a fresh start, tries to help his mother get off alcohol and stay away from the returning abusive husband, he connects deeply with the very wounded social studies teacher and works to reconnect him to the world, and to love, and more. As he plot unfolds he thinks his idea has failed because the short term outcomes do not match his expectations. What he does not know until the end of the film is that HE has started a movement. A jaded news paper reporter hundreds of miles away is the recipient of one of these random acts of extreme generosity and when told about ‘pay it forward’ feels compelled to track the source down. Over the course of the film we discover many lives touched by this one idea and 3 single acts of our boy Trevor. He has changed the world. He has succeeded and now, because of this reporter he knows it. Is it to bad we don’t have a reporter tracking our lives to see the outcomes of our actions or rather, is that a good thing? Well as a Christian I believe I do have that reporter. I believe that every thing I have done and will do in my lifetime I will have to account for. Until I became a Christian the thought of that freaked me out, and was so scary that it kept me at a distance from my faith, but not anymore. There was a moment many, many years ago when I chose to share with a friend my deepest secret that I had been too ashamed to tell anyone that I discovered GRACE. With tears pouring from my eyes, I acknowledged that I, like these incredibly damaged adults in this movie, was not perfect and was in need of forgiveness and acceptance. I needed to not only be forgiven, but forgive myself for the mistakes I had made ( and continue to make ) and that for me, it was my faith in Jesus Christ that allowed both to happen. That moment changed my life as it was the moment I chose to accept the GRACE that has been offered to me, and is in fact offered to everyone. “Pay it forward” is not a Christian film per se but within it is the message at the heart of Christianity, and that is that we all deserve to be loved unconditionally and have the opportunity for forgiveness such that we can aspire to become our best selves every single day. Being your best self means not living just for you, but living to serve others. Living to ‘pay it forward.” That is what makes it such a perfect fill for Easter. When the teacher gave these children the assignment and asked them what they thought about it they all said it was stupid, dumb, ridiculous as they did not see themselves as powerful. They did not see themselves as having the POSSIBILITY to positively impact the world at large. Wow. Ask you child this question. Ask the neighbors’. Ask anyone. Then discuss it. It is about paying it forward, it is about living the most generous and loving life we are capable of and at the same time, forgiving ourselves when we are far from perfect. In this film 11 year old Trevor shows his family, his community, that everyone can make a difference. “Be the Change you want to see in the World.” Happy Easter.

http://www.jackizehner.com/2011/04/26/pay-it-forward-easter-and-grace/

One of my favorite animals in the park is the Sable Antelope. They are beautiful and elegant creatures. When we did the Sunrise Safari, we got a great look at the herd and in particular, this female in the tall grass of the savanna. As I am sure you know, the Sable is the symbol of the Harambe Wildlife Reserve. And they are certainly impressive.

http://www.jamboeveryone.com/2016/07/photo-of-day-sable-antelope-in-morning.html

Neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia (NAIT) may lead to serious complications, including perinatal intracranial hemorrhage and death. Mothers with a history of previously affected pregnancies should receive antenatal treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG), which can be associated with toxicities including thrombosis. An infant born to a mother treated with IVIG and steroids was diagnosed with an inferior vena cava thrombus shortly after birth, was anticoagulated and recovered. Thus, this side effect can be seen, and should be considered, in infants of NAIT-affected pregnancies treated with IVIG.

http://www.jcnonweb.com/article.asp?issn=2249-4847;year=2019;volume=8;issue=3;spage=186;epage=188;aulast=Hinson;type=0

The Reform women clergy in El Paso: Cantor Hollis Schachner, Cantor Rosalie Boxt, Rabbi Sarah Reines, Rabbi Joui Hessel, Rabbi Kim Geringer, Cantor Jennifer Rueben, and Rabbi Margie Slome. In May of 1939, the S.S. St. Louis reached the shore of Miami, Fla. On board the ship were 937 Jewish European refugees, including two-year-old Joachim Hirsch. All of them had applied for U.S. visas. After a right-wing media campaign calling the immigrants communists, the United States denied the ship entry and turned it back toward Europe to face the Final Solution. Little Joachim died in Auschwitz at the age of seven. Love the stranger, for you were strangers in the United States of America. I traveled to El Paso, Texas for Moral Monday at the Borderlands on July 29. Organized by Repairers of the Breach under the leadership of Rev. Dr. William Barber II, clergy of all faiths were called to the border to bear witness to the immigrant crisis and to lift our voices to effect changes in policy and hearts. We learned of the depth of the crisis from the leaders on the ground. We heard testimony from those who have experienced family separation and ICE detention, denied food, water, and basic hygiene. We heard of dangerous conditions in the Juarez detention centers where thousands are held under the Remain in Mexico policy. We learned about the difficulties asylum seekers have obtaining legal counsel, and the impossible odds they face in court without it. Together with Jewish, Christian, and Muslim faith leaders, we marched. Over a chorus of singing supporters, dozens of clergy approached the gates of a Department of Homeland Security detention center, locked in preparation for our arrival. Reverend Barber requested we be granted entrance to provide pastoral care for the immigrants behind the gate, as is their right to receive. Our request was denied. With one voice, the clergy prayed until the police demanded we leave. Having been warned of felony charges, we complied. Love the stranger, for you were strangers in the Land of Texas. While Moral Monday was a powerful experience, the crisis was brought home for me at the Annunciation House immigrant center. It is the first place immigrant families go upon release from the detention camps. Every day, several busloads of families with children are brought to the center with only the clothing on their backs. They are fed, given clothing and basic supplies, and volunteers contact their sponsors and arrange transportation to the next stop on their journey. I spent my time caring for the children while their parents planned their next steps. There were about 30 children in a room full of toys and coloring books. At a glance, it could have been craft time at a Tot Shabbat. A closer look found children in soiled, tattered clothing. Most of them were not wearing shoes. The soles of their feet were black with dirt. I could smell the detention camps lingering on them. They had long fingernails and matted hair. Many were sick and malnourished. I do not speak Spanish, so we communicated through gestures. The children could not tell me where they came from or what they had been through, but I could see their trauma in the way a tiny girl panicked when a child snatched her toy, and from the big tears that filled a little boy’s eyes as his mother left him to meet with a volunteer. I could see it in the quiet stillness of the older children. Just that morning, they were caged in detention camps. We can’t know what their futures will hold. Love the stranger, for you were a stranger in the immigration center playroom. And yet, I wasn’t a stranger. The children called me Tia. Auntie. First, one little boy, and then I was Tia to all of them. They exclaimed it as they showed me their artwork. They called it out for help. They said it as they reached for me to pick them up and hug them. They had an understanding that we seem to lose as we grow up in this world—that, no matter where we come from, no matter our language or culture, we are all family. Thirty-six times, we are commanded to love the stranger, for we were strangers in the land of Egypt—Torah’s most repeated commandment. The way we treat the stranger is the measure of our moral character. We are failing to heed this call. I have seen first-hand the cruelty with which we are treating those who come to America seeking its promise. Their Promised Land is turning its back on them, and it is happening on our watch. The time to stand up to defend these immigrants is now. This is not a political issue—it is a moral one, and the commandment is clear. Whether or not you believe that these immigrants should have made the journey here, we are obligated to treat them with the dignity with which we treat our own, for they are ours. We must grant them due process and care for their basic needs without subjecting them to the humiliation of cages or the trauma of separating children from parents. The turning away of the S.S. St. Louis is now widely seen as a humanitarian disgrace. When Jews look back on this shameful era, we must be able to say that we stood up in the face of the callous policies that will be a permanent blight on the moral fabric of this country. We are a people who know the asylum seeker’s experience. From the Exodus to the Roman conquests to the Spanish expulsion to the Holocaust, ours is a refugee story. The trauma of these immigrants will last generations, as our trauma has. This humanitarian crisis is so vast and systemic that it is overwhelming, but as people of conscience, we can’t look away. We must educate ourselves and mobilize. Donate. Protest. Call our representatives. Vote. Once, it was Joachim. Today, it is Jakelin, Darlyn, Felipe, Juan, Wilmer, and Carlos. We are Jews and we are all their tias; we cannot stand idly by. Cantor Jennifer Reuben is the cantor at Ohef Sholom Temple.

http://www.jewishnewsva.org/bearing-witness-in-el-paso/

Under the New Trump Standard, Why Wasn't Obama Impeached? In truth, Democrats want this President out because they don't like him or his policies. One of Trump's major campaign promises was to build a "wall" to protect our southern border. Never mind that, in 2006, 26 Democratic senators — including Hillary Clinton, then-Sen. Barack Obama and Chuck Schumer — voted for hundreds of miles of barriers and fencing. And every Senate Democrat voted for 2013's Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act, which again called for hundreds of miles of barriers. But the surge did work. By 2008, the violence subsided to the point where American soldiers, celebrating with Iraqis in Ramadi, were on the streets not even wearing their helmets. War correspondent Dexter Filkins, who had all but given up in Iraq when he was last there just two years earlier, could not believe the improvement: "The progress here is remarkable," said Filkins in 2008. "I came back to Iraq after being away for nearly two years, and honestly, parts of it are difficult for me to recognize. The park out in front of the house where I live — on the Tigris River — was a dead, dying, spooky place. It's now filled with people — families with children, women walking alone, even at night. That was inconceivable in 2006. The Iraqis who are out there walking in the parks were making their own judgments — that it is safe enough for them to go out for a walk. They're voting with their feet. It's a wonderful thing to see." But Filkins warned that the gains could erode. "It's pretty clear," Filkins said, "that the calm is very fragile. The calm is built on a series of arrangements that are not self-sustaining; indeed, some of which, like the Sunni Awakening, are showing signs of coming apart. So the genie is back in the bottle, but I'm not sure for how long."

http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/elder011818.php3

Fun.: Grammys 2013 Performance of 'Carry On' - WATCH NOW! Nate Reuss and Jack Antonoff of fun. get soaked with water during their performance at the 2013 Grammy Awards on Sunday (February 10) at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The guys, who were joined by groupmate Andrew Dost, performed their song “Carry On” during the show. PHOTOS: Check out the latest pics of Fun. Fun. are already winners for Song of the Year for their hit song “We Are Young”. So exciting! WHAT DID YOU THINK of Fun.’s performance at the 2013 Grammys?

http://www.justjared.com/2013/02/10/fun-grammys-2013-performance-of-carry-on-watch-now/

This book is told through letters, journals and the odd poster. One would think that it would be hard to get invested in the story that jumps back-and-forth this way or that it would be difficult to get to know the characters. But the author made it work here and it was brilliant, heartwarming and a clear picture of the ladies in this little town who are left when most of the men went off to war. As the women are left to fill in roles that the men usually did, some reluctantly, it's when the war hits close to home that everyone's true character comes to light. I won't go into detail about each of the different characters suffice to say that there were coming of age stories, romance where least expected, hearts softened and of course there are those that took advantage of the situation. This is war so there is also heartbreak and devastation. I think the author did a great job with this book, I was able to get to know the characters in fact I would like to continue hearing about their story and Chilbury during the rest of the war. Given the seriousness of World War II this book begins before the Battle of Britain where everyone thinks it will be over soon. The author was able to write a vivid story with wit and humour to offset the seriousness and show a realistic glimpse of a small town and the effects this war had on them. She made me care about the characters so much so that I hated to see the book end. From teenagers to retired women coming together in support, encouragement and to engulf each other in love and support it was a pleasure to read. Since this is Jennifer Ryan's debuted I can't wait to see what she comes up with next and would be thrilled with a sequel. Definitely a book I highly recommend, especially to those that loved Letters from Skye and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Thank you to TLC Tours for inviting me to be part of this tour. My arc was provided by the publisher (via netgalley). Jennifer Ryan lives in the Washington, D.C., area with her husband and their two children. Originally from Kent and then London, she was previously a nonfiction book editor. I absolutely loved the Guernsey book so I'm sure I'll love this one as well!

http://www.justonemorechapter.com/2017/03/review-chilbury-ladies-choir-by.html

Why Hello There, Did You Miss Us? I want to first apologize for being MIA these last few years. There was no warning whatsoever and I feel like I've let you guys down. Things have been super crazy and busy over here lately and so I had to stop blogging for a while because it was getting overwhelming and I had so much on my plate. I'm excited to announce that Just Us Girls is back and we will be bringing you more reviews, giveaways, recipes and DIY's in January 2019, so be sure to keep an eye out for our upcoming posts at the beginning of the year! Also, did you notice the new look? We've been updated and I absolutely love how modern and clean our blog looks. A fresh look for our fresh new start for 2019. Thanks a million to Laura from Albemarle PR. She's really great to work with and super fast! Til next time.........

http://www.justusgirlsblog.ca/2018/

In August 2003 the Italian mosaic artist Carolina Zanelli together with Karama children created a mosaic decorating a wall in the kitchen. The mosaic consisted of broken tiles, stones, old CDs and the like. Unfortunately, as Karama changed its location in 2009, we had to leave the mosaic behind... As we couldn't let this happen just like that, Karama's local and international volunteers began a new mosaic project in October 2009. This time it didn't take place in our kitchen, but at the United Nations Girls' School. The motivation for the project was to provide the students with a new activity to enliven their optional Saturday school day, that would culminate in a finished piece of artwork to which all of them had contributed. On a Saturday morning, each grade came to work on the mosaic during their recess break. All of the girls, from the fourth to the ninth grade, seemed intrigued by the project. Many of them were avidly gluing the tiles down to fill in the letters and carefully choosing how to orient them, while others preferred breaking the tile into appropriately sized pieces. By the end of the first day, the letters were mostly completed, if not entirely legible. Throughout the next two days, Karama's local volunteers, led by Ghassan Abu-Ajamia and assisted by several international volunteers, filled in the remaining background tiles and neatened up the words. By the end of the fourth day, the mosaic had been cut into pieces and reassembled on the wall that surrounds the girls' school. The following day the grouting was added and the project was complete. From now on it will remain on the wall of the school, welcoming both visitors and the students who created it!

http://www.karama.org/eng/archive/mosaicproject.html

← Visiting Ningbo on November 3, 2019 after the Belt & Road Conference at the University of Nottingham Ningbo, China. The persistently high youth unemployment rates in many countries are of major concern in society and a challenge for researchers to provide evidence for policy-making (Francesco Pastore and Zimmermann, 2019; Zimmermann et al., 2013). Recent interest has concentrated on a better understanding of the role of specific institutional features of different school-to-work transition (SWT) regimes in affecting the youth labor market performance (Pastore, 2015a, b). To foster this academic debate, the Global Labor Organization (GLO) had created in 2017 the GLO School-to-Work Transition Cluster under the leadership of Francesco Pastore. From this initiative, a first set of seven research papers were published in a special issue on “Advances on School-to-Work Transitions” (International Journal of Manpower, Vol. 40, No. 3) edited by Francesco Pastore and Klaus F. Zimmermann. In a second round, seven additional contributions in this special issue, Part II, deal with the role of vocational training, overeducation and skill mismatch and labor market conditions and policy for the SWT. We provide a brief guide into the value added to our understanding of this important process. A significant part of the literature expects from vocational education or training an important role in SWT. Is it more important than general education? This crucial question is addressed by Huzeyfe Torun and Semih Tumen (Do vocational high school graduates have better employment outcomes than general high school graduates?). They attempt to reveal causal effects of vocational high school education on employment relative to general high school education using Turkish census data. Initial OLS estimates support the superiority of vocational training for employment performance, but the findings get only qualified backing by instrumental-variable (IV) estimates. While the effects are still positive when IV methods are employed, they are only statistically significant for measures capturing the availability of vocational high school education but not for the inclusion of town-level controls or town fixed effects. If vocational training is relevant, it should be the focus of significant policy measures. An innovative study by Elena Cappellini, Marialuisa Maitino, Valentina Patacchini, Nicola Sciclone (Are traineeships stepping-stones for youth working careers in Italy?) documents the role of traineeships as an active labor market policy in Italy. The evaluation study relies on administrative data where a counterfactual approach was used to compare trainees to unemployed young people registered with Public Employment Services with respect to employment success measured as hiring, job quality and persistence. The paper concludes that traineeships may delay the transition to work, but can open youngsters’ perspectives for a quality career in the long term. To broaden and complete the picture, Irene Brunetti and Lorenzo Corsini (School-to-work transition and vocational education: a comparison across Europe) examine the impact of the types of vocational education across 11 European countries using the 2009 and 2014 European Union Labor Force Survey. Eichhorst et al. (2015) had classified vocational education and training strategies into school-based vocational education and training (as part of upper secondary education), formal apprenticeships, and dual vocational training: Which vocational systems show better results? Multinomial probit models provide indications that dual vocational training speeds up SWT and the vocational focus is particularly effective here. Skill mismatches including overeducation are important aspects of SWT affecting labor market success in many ways. Two further studies dealing with those issues in a more global country setting are involving data from the Lebanon and Kyrgyzstan. Ghassan Dibeh, Ali Fakih and Walid Marrouch (Employment and skill mismatch among youth in Lebanon) were estimating a bivariate probit model where employment status and skill mismatch perceptions for the labor market were jointly modeled. Employability and skill mismatch were found jointly determined for males and the core region only. Kamalbek Karymshakov and Burulcha Sulaimanova (The school-to-work transition, overeducation and wages of youth in Kyrgyzstan) study overeducation and the impact on wages using Mincer type OLS regressions. The propensity score matching method is applied to deal with potential unobserved heterogeneity. Mismatch in the SWT process is studied employing the Kaplan-Meier failure analysis. Tertiary education correlates highly with being employed with a good match. Overeducated workers reflecting the required level of education for a certain position receive lower wages than those with suitable matches. However, those individuals judging their education or qualifications to be larger than necessary have higher wages. Are local labor market conditions an important driver of post-compulsory schooling decisions and how this vary by gender? Elena Francesca Meschi, Joanna Swaffield and Anna Vignoles (The role of local labour market conditions and youth attainment on post-compulsory schooling decisions) investigate this using the 2006/2007 wave of the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England survey coupled with individual-level attainment and school-based data available through national administrative databases and local labor market data. Their nested logit model shows that the most relevant factors behind post-compulsory schooling decisions are expected wages, current educational attainment and attitudes to school and parental aspirations. How can labor policy foster the fast integration of young individuals into the labor market? Stefan Sonke Speckesser, Francisco Jose Gonzalez Carreras and Laura Kirchner Sala (Active labour market policies for young people and youth unemployment: An analysis based on aggregate data) provide a paper using European Union 27 countries Eurostat data for 1996–2012. The findings suggest that wage subsidies and job creation programs have reduced youth unemployment effectively. However, the 20–24-year-old unemployed benefit more than the very young. Eichhorst, W., Rodríguez-Planas, N., Schmidl, R. and Zimmermann, K.F. (2015), “A roadmap to vocational education and training in industrialized countries”, Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Vol. 68 No. 2, pp. 314-337. Francesco Pastore, F. and Zimmermann, K.F. (2019), “Understanding school-to-work transitions”, International Journal of Manpower, Vol. 40 No. 3, pp. 374-378. Pastore, F. (2015a), The Youth Experience Gap: Explaining National Differences in the School-to- Work Transition, Springer International Publishing, Heidelberg. Pastore, F. (2015b), “The European Youth Guarantee: labor market context, conditions and opportunities in Italy”, IZA Journal of European Labor Studies, Vol. 4. Zimmermann, K., Biavaschi, C., Eichhorst, W., Giulietti, C., Kendzia, M.J., Muravyev, A., Pieters, J., Rodrìguez-Planas, N. and Schmidl, R. (2013), “Youth unemployment and vocational training”, Foundations and Trends in Microeconomics, Vol. 9 Nos 1-2, pp. 1-157. This entry was posted in Journal Special Issue, News, Research. Bookmark the permalink.

http://www.klausfzimmermann.de/special-issue-part-ii-of-the-international-journal-of-manpower-on-contributions-to-school-to-work-transitions-edited-by-pastore-zimmermann/

Rule 806 of the Federal Rules of Evidence allows a party to impeach a hearsay statement just as if the hearsay declarant had testified in person. One example of a way to use this rule is to offer a coconspirator’s inconsistent statement during a police interrogation after arrest to impeach an earlier statement introduced by the government as a coconspirator’s admission; another example might be to call character witnesses or introduce prior convictions to impeach the coconspirator. The point to remember is to think about impeachment of a hearsay declarant when a hearsay statement is introduced just as quickly as you think about impeachment of a live witness when the live witness’s testimony is presented. When a hearsay statement – or a statement described in Rule 801(d)(2)(C), (D), or (E) – has been admitted into evidence, the declarant’s credibility may be attacked, and then supported, by any evidence that would be admissible for those purposes if the declarant had testified as a witness. There are probably a multitude of different scenarios in which one could use this rule – and I’m not sure which would actually be the most common – but one way to use the rule is to reduce the damage of a coconspirator’s statement admitted under Rule 801(d)(2)(E). It struck me that there are two common – or at least not uncommon – scenarios in which we could use Rule 806 to counter damaging coconspirator hearsay admitted under Rule 801(d)(2)(E). First, consider a coconspirator’s damaging statement about your client’s role made during negotiations and/or some other interaction with an undercover agent or confidential informant. Then consider the possibility – certainly not an unheard of one – of the coconspirator disavowing those statements about your client’s role in a post-arrest interrogation when he knows the people he’s talking to are government agents. To give an example, consider a coconspirator who tells the undercover agent or the confidential informant during negotiations that your client is a big-time drug dealer who sells kilos and kilos of cocaine every week, but states after being arrested that he was just puffing and made up stories about your client because he needed to portray someone as a solid source of supply. The second statement, in the post-arrest interrogation, would by itself be inadmissible hearsay. But it should be admissible as a prior inconsistent statement of the hearsay declarant under Rule 806 if the government introduces the first statement as a coconspirator admission. Another example is the possibility of using Rule 608(a) and/or Rule 609 to impeach a coconspirator’s admission. Rule 608(a) is the rule that allows a witness to be impeached by testimony about the witness’s reputation for truthfulness or untruthfulness, and Rule 609 – which unfortunately gets used against us more than for us – allows impeachment with prior convictions. If the government introduces the coconspirator’s admission, Rule 806 allows you to use Rule 608(a) and/or Rule 609 to introduce testimony about the coconspirator’s reputation for untruthfulness and/or his prior convictions. There are probably some cases in which this won’t be worth it because dirtying up the coconspirator will dirty up your client through your client’s association with the coconspirator, but there are other cases where it might help. Consider, for instance, calling witnesses who will testify that the coconspirator is known for telling tall tales and makes up all sorts of stories when its serves his purpose. This may have benefits beyond the substance of the evidence, moreover. Barbara Bergman noted in her presentation that this threat to dirty up the coconspirator through Rule 806 could also create a ground for severance if the coconspirator is going to trial as well. And she backed up that idea with the case of United States v. Perez, 299 F. Supp.2d 38 (D. Conn. 2004), where severance was in fact granted on this ground. These are just a couple of example of ways we could potentially use Rule 806. There are no doubt a host of others. The thing to remember is that you should think about impeachment whenever there’s some adverse hearsay introduced just as quickly as you think of it when a witness gives adverse testimony in person. I think we sometimes forget to do that.

http://www.kmbllaw.com/another-possibly-overlooked-evidence-rule-impeaching-those-not-present/

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- President Donald Trump signed a law Wednesday supporting pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, likely angering Beijing just as Washington was hoping to ease the long-running US-China trade war. Washington and Beijing have delivered a series of positive signals in the last few days about closing in on a partial trade deal, known as "phase one."

http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20191128000055

Personal and Stakeholder Pensions are common types of ‘registered pension schemes’. A registered pension scheme allows the member to obtain tax relief on contributions into the scheme and tax free growth of the fund.A personal pension is a privately funded pension plan. A stakeholder pension is a more tightly regulated personal pension plan particularly over charging levels.We highlight below the main areas of importance. It is important that professional advice is sought on pension issues relevant to your personal circumstances. Personal pensions are privately funded plans organised on money purchase lines. At retirement which may be between the ages of 50 (rising to 55 by 2010) and 75 the accumulated fund is generally turned into retirement benefits – an income and a tax-free lump sum. Gross contributions up to the higher of £3,600 or 100% of earnings can be made each tax year with entitlement to tax relief subject to a maximum allowance of £245,000 per annum (for 2009/10) rising to £255,000 per annum from 2010/11 to 2015/16 unless the coalition government reverse this proposed freezing of the allowance. There is a single lifetime limit on the amount of pension savings that qualifies for tax relief is currently £1.75 million but rising to £1.8 million from 2010/11 to 2015/16. Contributions over the maximum amount attracting tax relief can be made without limit. All contributions are payable net of basic rate tax relief, leaving the provider to claim the tax back from HMRC. Higher rate relief is given as a reduction in the taxpayer’s tax bill. This is dealt with by claiming tax relief through the self assessment system. there must be no penalties when the owner stops contributing or transfers the fund elsewhere. All UK residents may have a personal or stakeholder pension. This includes non-taxpayers such as children and non-earning spouses. However, they will only be entitled to tax relief on gross contributions of up to £3,600 per annum. There is no restriction on the amount of contributions an individual can pay into a registered scheme, only on the amount of tax relief given. This means that unlimited contributions may be made to, and retained by, a registered pension scheme up to an annual allowance of £245,000 per annum for 2009/10 (£255,000 from 2010/11 to 2015/16 unless the coalition government reverse this freezing of the allowance). Investment income and capital gains will accrue tax-free within the fund. The annual allowance does not apply to contributions made in the year in which the pension benefit is taken in full. An individual is entitled to tax relief on personal contributions in any given tax year up to the higher of 100% of ‘relevant UK earnings’ (broadly employment income or trading profit) and the annual allowance of £255,000. by making a claim to relief where contributions are made to a retirement annuity contract. (These are old schemes started before the introduction of personal pensions. The provider of the scheme may require payments to be made under the ‘relief at source’ rules from April 2006). The Labour government had announced its intention to restrict tax relief on pension savings with effect from 6 April 2011 for people with taxable income of £150,000 or more. The relief will be tapered down until it is 20%. The coalition government have announced that they will consult with interested parties to look at simpler ways of achieving a similar result from 2011. One possibility is to reduce the annual allowance from the current £255,000 to £30,000 to £45,000. Legislation has been introduced to prevent those potentially affected from seeking to forestall this change by increasing their pension savings in excess of their normal regular pattern, prior to that restriction taking effect. their total pension contributions or benefits accrued exceed £20,000 a year. Where the forestalling measures are applicable individuals will be subject to an income tax charge of 20% on the excess contribution. This is known as the Special Annual Allowance charge (SAA charge). In the Pre-Budget Report 2009 it was announced that it is now proposed to lower the threshold for triggering the SAA charge by reducing the relevant income limit to £130,000 with effect from 9 December 2009. Individuals will be affected by this if their relevant income in 2009/10 or either of the two preceding years exceeds £130,000. For 2009/10 only, protected contributions will include any contributions paid up to and including 8 December 2009. This will potentially catch a significant number of individuals. It is important to review the level of relevant income for 2007/08 and 2008/09. If in either year the figure is over £130,000 and below £150,000 the new rules will apply irrespective of the income level in 2009/10. If in either year the figure exceeds £150,000 the existing rules will bite. The rules will catch one-off contributions made by employers as well as lump sum payments made by the scheme member. In either case the charge is on the individual. Please do get in touch if you would like further advice in this area. There is a single rule for allowing a deduction in respect of employer contributions to a registered pension scheme. They provide for a deduction for unlimited sums subject to the contributions actually being paid in the period and paid ‘wholly and exclusively’ for the purpose of the business. Statutory spreading provisions are introduced for exceptionally large employer contributions. A contribution will only be spread where it is more than 210% of the contribution paid in the previous period and the amount of the excess is at least £500,000. Despite there being no limits on contributions that can be paid into registered schemes under the regime, the annual allowance acts as a control. The annual allowance provides for the annual increase in an individual’s rights under all registered pension schemes to be calculated. This is then compared with the annual allowance and any excess charged to income tax at 40%. For 2010/11 the annual allowance is set at £255,000. In order to lessen the effect of the annual allowance when someone is close to retirement, it will not be applied in any year in which the benefit is taken in full. Jo is a shareholder/director in his family company. He draws an annual salary of £5,000 and takes significant dividends out of the company. He has a self invested personal pension (SIPP). Under the regime, Jo would be able to pay an annual contribution of £5,000 (gross) (with tax relief) into his SIPP. The company may be able to make unlimited contributions but to the extent they exceed £250,000 (ie £255,000 annual allowance less the £5,000 Jo has paid) Jo will suffer a 40% tax charge on the excess. In order for the company to obtain tax relief, the contribution needs to satisfy the ‘wholly and exclusively’ test. The second key control under the new regime will be the lifetime allowance. Although individuals can save as much as they like in registered schemes under the new regime, when they start to draw benefits (a ‘benefit crystallisation event’) the value of their fund will be tested against the lifetime allowance and any excess subject to the lifetime allowance charge. the transfer of funds from registered schemes to certain overseas pension schemes. On the first benefit crystallisation event the calculation will be straightforward, a comparison between the value being attributed to the event and the then lifetime allowance. Where there has already been an event, the calculation is more complex. The value of the first benefit crystallisation event is uprated by the proportionate increase in the standard lifetime allowance and this uprated figure, referred to as the ‘previously used amount’, is compared to the individual’s lifetime allowance at the second date. Any excess lifetime allowance is available to be used against the new benefit crystallisation event. Thereafter the limit will be reviewed every five years. Where funds in excess of the lifetime allowance are be taken as a lump sum the rate of charge is 55%. The lifetime allowance charge rate on the balance of funds in excess of the lifetime allowance has been set at 25%. A person may have had pension rights valued in excess of the lifetime limit for 2005/06 of £1.5 million when the pension rules were introduced on 6 April 2006 (known as A-day). In such cases there are two forms of protection. Protection is given to the value of pre A-day pension rights and benefits in excess of £1.5 million. The pre A-day value will be indexed in line with the indexation of the statutory lifetime allowance up to the date that benefits are taken. This is available whatever the value of the fund so long as active membership of approved pension schemes ceased before A-day. Provided that active membership is not resumed all benefits coming into payment after A-day will normally be exempt from the lifetime allowance charge. growth well above inflation. Those requiring protection have three years from A-day to register. Up to 25% of the pension fund, below the lifetime allowance, can be paid as a tax-free lump sum. alternatively secured income (ASI) where security is gained by reducing the maximum income that can be taken. If death occurs before the pension vests it can be paid to dependants as a lump sum subject to the lifetime allowance charge, if relevant, or as pension income subject to income tax. Broadly pension schemes are allowed to hold all types of investment subject to some restrictions which are mentioned below. There are limits on holdings of shares in the sponsoring employer’s company (of 5% of the fund value) and on loans to employers. be repaid by equal annual instalments. Scheme borrowing is limited to 50% of scheme assets at the date the loan is taken out. Originally almost unlimited powers of investment were proposed for the new regime but, in a change of heart, the government announced the removal of the power to invest in residential property or certain other assets such as fine wines, classic cars and art and antiques from pension schemes which are ’investment regulated’. This includes Self Invested Personal Pension Schemes (SIPPS) and Small Self Administered Schemes (SSAS). The effect is to remove all tax advantages from holding taxable property directly or indirectly in such schemes and will broadly mean that it is at least no more advantageous to hold such assets in a pension scheme than it is to hold them personally. There is no requirement for an employer to pay employer contributions into a scheme. If the employer chooses to do so, the employer contributions will be paid gross and will be treated as a business expense. There is also no requirement for the employee to enter an employer provided scheme. An employee may decide to go direct to a pension provider (usually an insurance company). A non-exempted employer must, in consultation with the employees, designate a registered plan they can join. The employer must then bring the plan to the employees’ attention, mainly by allowing the provider to distribute information and promotional materials and arranging workplace meetings for the provider to talk to the employees – at the provider’s expense. If the employee wants to become a member of the employer promoted scheme, the employer must set up a contribution deduction facility on the firm’s payroll system. The contributions must then be paid into the stakeholder scheme within 19 days of the end of the month in which the contributions were deducted. employers sponsoring an occupational scheme which is open to all employees, whether or not they have joined it. Most occupational money purchase schemes and some company organised group pension plans are thus exempted from the stakeholder regime. However both can opt to come within the stakeholder scheme. This may be attractive due to the low cost charging structure, particularly if employees want to make additional contributions. This information sheet provides general information on the making of pension provision. Please refer to us for more detailed advice if you are interested in making provision for a pension. If you are an employer, the employer obligations must be complied with. Please talk to us if you are unclear as to whether you are an exempted or non-exempted employer.

http://www.kra-uk.com/tax-advice/pensions/

Pontotoc County has the first case of "Swine Flu" in the sooner state. It was confirmed early Tuesday morning. Meredith Saldana attended the press conference and has more. The Pontotoc County Health Department says the woman who tested positive for the "Swine Flu" virus started getting sick on her way back from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The health department says they weren't surprised by the results. They were actually expecting a case in Oklahoma at some point. They said the patient's test was sent off to the Center for Disease Control for confirmation. While she did test positive, she did not require hospitalization and is expected to make a full recovery. The Director of the Pontotoc County Health Department Mike Echelle says because the patient stayed home, after returning from Mexico, they don't feel this case has caused an increased risk to the public. Therefore no community events or schools will be canceled. He says area residents should be concerned but not panicked. Echelle says, "The main message is letting individuals know to, you know, take the precautions to protect themselves and their family. They have a responsibility themselves in helping us to stop the spread of this virus." The health department says to minimize your chance of getting the "Swine Flu" you should wash your hands often, and avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth. That means no work, school, church, or errands.

http://www.kten.com/story/10309707/pontotoc-county-health-department-holds-press-conference-on-confirmed-swine-flu

Landon’s Lookout is a non-profit teen center serving the youth of Livingston, Montana. Opening its doors in January 2010, the mission of Landon’s Lookout is to be a safe place where youth can study, socialize, recreate, and pursue personal interests. Students visiting the Lookout can utilize the computer lab, Wii games, pool and foosball tables, air hockey, or just socialize in the television/DVD area. The Lookout’s Director, Youth Advisory Board, and Board of Directors work diligently to develop special events, like ‘Open-Mic’ nights, as well as pursuing collaborative relationships with other local youth agencies (such as Mania, Girl Scouts, Hopa Mountain, etc). Committed to first being a ‘safe place’, Landon’s Lookout strives not to duplicate the programming efforts of these other local agencies – instead we look to connect local youth to such opportunities; and the Lookout makes our facility available for use by other youth agencies free of charge. Landon’s Lookout takes its name and inspiration from Landon Meece, a caring teenager with a deep concern for the safety of her friends and classmates. In June 2007, at the age of 13, Landon passed away suddenly from Bacterial Meningitis. Landon’s Lookout has become her legacy to the community she loved so much! Recognized as a 501c(3), Landon’s Lookout pursues relevant grant opportunities, in addition to private and corporate funding, to support our operating budget and special programs. Numerous levels of sponsorship are available, in addition to unique in-kind partnerships as well. After just one year of operation, Landon’s Lookout was voted the “#1 Teen Hangout” by readers of the Livingston Current!

http://www.landonslookout.com/about/

In the U.S., children and adults frequently take in artificial sweeteners. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), one in four children eat or drink an artificial sweetener. It is especially important to understand how these products affect children so the AAP calls for more research in their policy statement. Exposure may begin before birth and in breast milk given that artificial sweeteners are found in many products so we need to understand how long-term use can affect our bodies. Numerous research studies were done to make sure that these sweeteners are safe to eat and drink. In part one of this blog on artificial sweeteners, we explored the safety and characteristics of the six artificial sweeteners approved by the FDA as food additives - acesulfame-potassium, aspartame, advantame, neotame, saccharin, and sucralose. Research into “safety” focused on whether it was poisonous or caused cancer. With these initial concerns lifted, the focus is now on how artificial sweeteners affect our weight, taste preferences, gut health, and risk for diabetes and stroke. We discuss these concerns in part two of this month’s blog on artificial sweeteners. ​Do artificial sweeteners lead to obesity or chronic diseases like diabetes? Short answer: We do not know. Tell me more: Epidemiological studies (studies that look at how often diseases occur in groups of people and why) show an association between artificial sweetener intake and chronic disease. Association does not equal causation. Did using sweeteners lead to weight gain or did earlier weight gain lead to the use of artificial sweeteners to lower calories? A similar question could be asked for the association with diabetes. Did artificial sweetener intake lead to diabetes or did a diabetes diagnosis change intake and lead individuals to choose artificial sweeteners over sugar? Further research is needed, in particular, randomized controlled trials (the gold standard) to explore if there is a relationship here. Will artificial sweeteners give me diarrhea? Artificial sweeteners aspartame, saccharin and acesulfame potassium seem to be well-tolerated by the general population but there is not enough research that looks at if and how often symptoms like diarrhea occur. Pay attention to how your body responds to sweeteners and in what amounts you can tolerate. Sugar alcohols are another story. Sugar alcohols like sorbitol and xylitol are not fully broken down by our gut. You may get explosive diarrhea if you eat large amounts of them - like when one or two pieces of sugar-free gummy bears becomes the entire package. It happens. Erythritol behaves differently than other sugar alcohols so it may be better tolerated than other sugar alcohols. Check the ingredients. Many brand name sweeteners like Swerve and Truvia are blends of natural and artificial sweeteners with sugar alcohols. Your dentist may like your switch from sugar to artificial sweeteners. Artificial sweeteners stop the growth of bacteria that wreak havoc on teeth and gums. The helpful bacteria in your gut? Probably not a fan. So far, studies show changes to the bacteria within the gut of rodents with sucralose, saccharin, and aspartame. We need human studies to see if this happens in the human gut too. The bacteria within our gut play a role in digestion, sure, but they may do more. Our helpful bacteria may help us produce neurotransmitters like serotonin, a key player in mood. The more scientists discover about our gut, the more we will want to take note of substances, like artificial sweeteners, that could switch up the bacteria living there. Will an artificial sweetener make me hungry? Short answer: There is very limited research but the evidence does not show an increase in hunger. Tell me more: Two small trials (12 and 24 participants) looked at how an artificially-sweetened (aspartame) beverage affected ghrelin, the “hunger hormone”. Amounts of this hormone rise between meals, our appetite increases, we eat, and ghrelin lowers. It is thought that the way we experience sweet tastes may play a role in how this hormone works. If an artificial sweetener tastes sweet, would our body behave the way it does when we take in calories and our hunger go down? The answer was “no” with these two studies. These are small trials and there are more ways to study how artificial sweeteners may or may not influence hunger. If you are hungry after drinking a diet soda, it may be that you are hungry, just not because of the diet soda. This is how we want it to work, by the way. Ghrelin is just one of the gut hormones that tells us if we are hungry or full. The system works when food is available and we can eat based on our needs. For those who choose to bypass the system to lose weight, these results may be disappointing but artificial sweeteners are not a source of energy. Our survival is tied to our body knowing the difference. ​Will artificial sweeteners lead to a stroke? Short answer: We do not know. More research is needed. The information gathered from this type of study can be used to plan future research. Important questions such as “which ASBs are people using?” and “how long have they used them?” may be asked in future studies. Weight changes and history of dieting are important to know too. In the Stroke study, they grouped together results by body mass index (BMI) and found that women with higher ASB intake were only at a higher risk for stroke if they were also “obese” based on BMI. High intakes of ASBs in “normal” or “overweight” women did not match up with a higher risk of stroke so maybe it isn’t to do with the ASBs at all. Could women classified as “obese” have something else in common? Yes! Weight stigma, experienced by those in larger bodies, may do more harm for health. How do artificial sweeteners affect my taste preferences? Short answer: High-intensity or artificial sweeteners are much sweeter than table sugar and may affect how your taste buds pick up on sweet flavors. Tell me more: Using large amounts of artificial sweeteners could skew your taste preferences more toward overly sweet foods and beverages. There is no harm in this. If you find that a preference for sweet makes it difficult to eat a variety of foods, then it may be worth lowering your intake. Bottom Line: Artificial sweeteners are safe well beyond the Adequate Daily Intake (ADI) for the individual sweetener. Numerous studies were done to ensure that they are safe to eat and drink and do not cause cancer. Early research suggests changes in the bacteria in our gut but we don’t know yet if and how these changes influence health. More research is needed to understand the impact of long-term artificial sweetener use, especially in children and individuals with specific health conditions, like diabetes. As research continues, it will be important to explore how characteristics like body size, age, etc. influence the effect of artificial sweeteners within our bodies. For those managing diabetes: Check your blood sugar so you know how a food or drink affects you. Write down blood sugar readings to share with your doctor, dietitian, and/or diabetes educator. We’ve covered the top questions we hear. What did we miss? Reach out to us on social media or send in the Ask a Dietitian form with your questions.

http://www.letsmovestlouis.com/blog/archives/11-2019

In the name of Allah, The Most Beneficent, The Most Merciful, May the peace of Allah and His mercy and blessings be upon you. This Surah was revealed in Medina. This is the last video, out of 14 of Surat Al-Baqara, the longest Surah of the Qur'an (this video features the longest aya of the Qur'an, just for the record), with the excellent recitation of Sheikh Muhammad Jibreel. All of us hope that this was greatly beneficial to all viewers, both Muslims and non-Muslims. Insha-Allah the next Surah is Surat Aali-Imran (The Family of Imran), so please stay tuned. Insha-Allah please subscribe and add as a friend. May Allah reward you.

http://www.lightuponlight.com/islam/modules.php?name=Stream2&file=index&lid=5982

A great story and lesson. There was a great Taoist master who was holding an audience when one of his students came to him and said, "Master, can you teach me about the Tao, teach me about the way. What do I need to know?" And the master said, "Oh, certainly, I can." As he poured the student some tea and the master started chatting to him and he said, "Well, there's much you must know before you start to learn." And the master continued to pour the tea until the teacup filled right up and then started to overflow . . . he didn't stop pouring. The student said to him, "Master, my cup is full. You must stop pouring. You're wasting all the tea." The master continued to pour and the student said, "Stop, stop, stop! You've got to stop!" And the master continued to pour as the tea was overflowing. Finally, the master said to the student, "Son, you need to recognize this teacup is your mind. At the moment, it is already full and no matter what else I teach you, it's going to overflow because there's no room for new learnings in your mind. " You first need to unlearn before you can learn.

http://www.lisarubinstein.com/2012/03/