Clean Laundry Funding, an emerging provider of financing solutions for the laundromat industry, is pleased to announce the appointment of Josh Kiley as the National Business Development Manager. With his extensive experience and expertise in the industry, Josh will play a pivotal role in driving growth and building strategic partnerships.
In his new role, Josh Kiley will lead business development efforts, cultivate relationships with laundromat investors and equipment distribution partners, and identify new opportunities to expand Clean Laundry Funding’s presence in the market. Leveraging his comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the unique financing needs of laundromat owners, Josh is poised to contribute significantly to Clean Laundry Funding’s mission of empowering laundromat businesses with flexible and tailored financing options.
Since joining Clean Laundry Funding, Josh has continued to build upon his successful career in the financial services industry, specializing in providing tailored financing solutions to businesses in the commercial sector. With a strong track record of fostering long-term relationships and delivering exceptional customer service, Josh is instrumental in driving Clean Laundry Funding’s growth and solidifying its position as the preferred financing partner for laundromat owners.
“We are thrilled to welcome Josh Kiley to our team as the National Business Development Manager,” said Chad Palmer, President at Clean Laundry Funding. “His extensive experience and passion for helping businesses succeed make him the ideal candidate to spearhead our business development efforts. We are confident that Josh will play a crucial role in expanding our presence and delivering top-tier financing solutions to laundromat owners nationwide.”
To connect with Josh Kiley and learn more about Clean Laundry Funding’s financing solutions for laundromat owners, email him directly at email@example.com. Josh is eager to connect with customers, partners, and industry professionals to discuss how Clean Laundry Funding can support their business growth.


- Tremendous sales growth in 2021 necessitates a new parts warehouse
- State-of-the-art technology for consistent and reliable parts supply
- Centrally located for just-in-time deliveries to 62 dealerships countrywide
JAC Motors is one of South Africa’s fastest-growing automotive brands and has increased its dealer footprint in 2021 to 62 dealers across the country, in Namibia and Eswatini.
The impressive sales growth of 2021 has now necessitated the company to open the doors to a new national parts warehouse, also employing more people to keep up with the increased demand.
The new parts warehouse is 25% larger than the previous facility. It is also better stocked than the last warehouse because of a unique shelving system that more than doubles the available storage space.
“Remarkable car parc growth and the fact that the Brand is here to stay as a permanent fixture on the local automotive scene made the investment decision in our new state-of-the-art parts warehouse easy,” says Karl-Heinz Göbel, CEO of JAC Motors South Africa.
Besides being larger than the last warehouse, it has been designed to significantly speed up the order and dispatch process. The new facility is equipped with a high-tech ordering system that allows the dispatching of orders in the quickest possible time. The new system tracks parts in real-time, ensuring no disruptions in the delivery of parts.
“JAC Motors is a customer-centric brand. The fact that our new parts warehouse is centrally located will benefit our dealers, panel beaters, and customers alike, thanks to quicker deliveries from our extensive parts inventory,” says Derrick Bishop, COO of JAC Motors South Africa.
The company’s new parts warehouse is situated at Hendrik Potgieter & Van Der Kloof Streets in Roodepoort, with easy access to all major highways in Gauteng.


Three female greater one-horned rhinoceros were released in the wild from their temporary enclosure(boma) in Manas National Park in western Assam .The release successfully culminated the efforts of the Assam Forest Department and Wildlife Trust of India – International Fund for Animal Welfare (WTI-IFAW) to “bring rhinos back to Manas”, which began with the translocation of an individual from Kaziranga in January 2006. This was the first ever attempt to re-introduce the rhinos in Manas.
A total of A total of 18 rhinos were translocated to Manas Biosphere Reserve under the aegis of the Indian Rhino Vision 2020 programme (IRV 2020) – a joint initiative of the Department of Environment and Forests, Government of Assam, WWF-India, and the International Rhino Foundation. – a joint initiative of the Department of Environment and Forests, Government of Assam, WWF-India, and the International Rhino Foundation.
According to our recent population estimation of Rhino in 2018, the total number of Rhino in Manas Biosphere Reserve is 39 individuals including a baby Rhino born very recently.
|Year||Rhino translocated from Pabitora, KN||Rhino released from CWRC||Calf born||Death due to Poaching||Death due to disease|
|Grand Total =||(18+17+21) = 56||(10+7) = 17|
|Total =||(56-17) = 39|


Gun Policy in Trump’s America
The Trump administration promises broad expansion of gun rights in the U.S. As candidates, Trump-Pence ran with the full endorsement of the NRA. They vowed to end gun-free zones in schools and airports, severely curtail gun-violence prevention efforts, and make it ever-easier for people to carry guns across state lines and into cities such as New York. These promises have already begun to come to fruition, with many more soon to come.
NYU’s Institute for Public Knowledge and the Vanderbilt University Center for Medicine, Health, and Society invite you to join us for a panel discussion with leading legislators, activists, journalists, and academics to debate gun policy and its everyday effects under the most overtly pro-gun administration in modern memory. It will address questions such as:
- What are the implications for gun-violence-prevention policy, legislation, reporting, and research under Trump-Pence?
- What role will the NRA play in the new administration?
- What impact might legislation such as concealed-carry reciprocity have for gun-control efforts in cities such as New York?
- What new strategies are needed to promote balance between gun rights and public safety, or foster conversations between disparate people, groups, and factions along the oft-contentious U.S. gun debate?
- Jonathan M. Metzl, Chair, Vanderbilt Center for Medicine, Health, and Society; Research Director, Safe Tennessee Project (Introduction/Overview);
- Rep. Stacey Newman, Democratic State Representative, Missouri House District 87, Missouri House of Representatives (Legislation);
- Igor Volsky, Deputy Director, Center for American Progress Action Fund (Activism);
- Lois Beckett, Senior Reporter, Guardian US (Media/reporting);
- Sandro Galea, Dean, School of Public Health, Boston University (Research)
- Phillip Atiba Goff, President, Center for Policing Equity, Franklin A. Thomas Professor in Policing Equity, John Jay College (Policing)


Congratulations SC Westside 11/12's on an EPIC Season!
The Westside 11/12 All Star team made the Sectional Championship in Hoillister but lost in eight innings to a tough Cambrian Park squad.
After winning the district 44 in 5 straight wins, Westside advanced to the Sectional Tournament in Hollister. With two straight victories over Aptos & Hollister, making it 7 in a row, Westside was knocked into the losers bracket by the Cambrian Team.
There, they beat the home team Hollister highlighted by two homeruns from Josh DeSousa to advance to the championship. Needing two victories, Westside played a tough first game. Jared Martin put the visiting Westside squad up one nothing with a solo homerun. Cambrian tied it up in the bottom of the first and then took the lead 5-1 in the subsequent innings. Westside faced a 4 run deficit going into their part of the last inning. With two outs and things looking, grim, Westside rallied for 4 runs on three consecutive hits by Aiden Garcia, Gabe Lopez, and a key three RBI double by Austin Bragg to tie the game. Westside then forced extra innings by holding Cambrian in the bottom of the 6th. Westside would take the lead in the 7th after Jacob Dominguez scored from first on a single by Matt-Matt Torregroza, Cambrian would tie the score in the bottom of the inning and would go on to win in the bottom of the eighth.
It was an epic game and the boys from Westside should be very proud of their accomplishments!! Good luck to Cambrian as they roll thru the Divisionals in Stockton.
Also, it should be noted that as part of the Westside postseason, the 9-10 squad has advanced to the Northern California Championship in Exeter, CA and is in the winners bracket after consecutive wins and will play this coming Wednesday in the semi-finals.


Sharpe Safety Solutions is proud to have partnered with 3M to bring the Safety Roadshow to New Bern, NC earlier this month. Over 250 people were able to see and interact with the latest fall protection technology and equipment. Sharpe Safety Solutions through 3M is excited to introduce these products to our customers in Eastern NC.
To stay up to date with us, follow our Sharpe Safety Solutions division on LinkedIn! Or contact us during standard business hours at (800) 688-0629.


In an effort to reduce the use of plastic bags across the region, Central Coast Council initiated a terrific scheme to provide local fruit and vegetable suppliers with free reusable produce net bags. FIG has been one of the fortunate recipients.
Co-op members and friends were very pleased to receive “a bag of bags” to use at the co-op and elsewhere.
We didn’t use plastic bags to start with however having members bring in their reusable bags means the number of brown paper bags we need to purchase is reduced, thus saving some trees in the process. If/when our members use the bags elsewhere, the use of plastic bags is reduced, so it’s a win-win all round!
A very big THANK YOU to Council for this great initiative.


Wood damaged by bark beetles can replace cotton
Wood damaged by bark beetles can be converted into fiber that can replace cotton. It can also be used in the chemical industry or as biofuel.
Joseph Samec and Aji Mathew, professors of chemistry at Stockholm University and researchers within Mistra SafeChem, lead a project with the goal of creating a textile fiber from bark-beetle-damaged wood. Now, Stockholm University has published a news article about this successful work.
In a scientific article, the researchers show that bark-beetle-damaged wood can generate high-quality fiber. It can replace cotton for several functions within, among other things, healthcare. At the same time, it is possible to produce environmentally friendly (or green) chemicals that can be used in the chemical industry or as biofuel, for example for air transport. This chemical innovation can enable new areas of application for damaged wood.
Two years ago, Mistra SafeChem published an interview with Joseph Samec where he stated his hopes for the research:
"We have succeeded to make dissolving pulp for fibre from bark beetle infected spruce that has the quality for regeneration. Now we will scale up and make fibre from it, which later may be used to make clothes. We are very happy with it!"
And now it is clear that this residual stream from the forest can generate a high-quality fiber which is significantly lower than cotton regarding water consumption, climate change, land use and resource use.
Read the scientific article: Valorization of beetle infected spruce to produce textile fibers and biofuels: Environmental sustainability evaluated by life cycle assessment External link, opens in new window.


The global oil market is still struggling with low prices and an oil glut.
Currently, attracting capital for the purpose of acquisition and development of oil and gas assets is still difficult.
To make the matter worse, the investors have started to shift their focus from financing fossil fuels to renewables.
Smaller oil and gas operators may find it difficult to access the finance required to develop the assets once assigned.
New investors that are still interested in investing in oil and gas assets will set high investment criteria that can only be met with the best assets of the highest quality managed by a strong management team.
The financial exposure of existing investors in oil and gas leads to a reduced appetite to fund the acquisition and development of oil and gas fields in order to spread risks among different asset classes.
Take Nigeria’s marginal field licensing round as an example, most of the winners of the 57 marginal fields are characterized by their low debt capacity and are struggling to raise the finance required. As laid out in the upcoming Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), the winners are required to pay 2.5% to a local endowment fund, 30% for corporate tax, and 20-50% asset-type-dependant profit tax.
The lack of proven reserves and cash flow means that debt funding options will not be immediately available until such fields have been thoroughly appraised.
Due to the prevailing financial crisis in the western countries, the Marginal Field winners will find it yet more difficult to access financing from the traditional capital markets, such as Wall Street and London, to cover the cost for field appraisals. China – the world’s second-largest economy and its private funds are currently becoming important financing options for small oil and gas operators all around the world.
End of the Part 1


Looks like Meerkat and Periscope now has a new rival in Facebook!
2016 is a year full of dreams and hopes for Facebook, and it has not in the slightest manner deviated from the road to skyrocketing towards the stars. Facebook has been coming up with one or the other integrations and updates since the day it was born.
And, quite recently if you have been keeping an eye on the Social Media news, you would have observed that Facebook is making headlines for one or the other reason.
As Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg puts it, the only goal of Facebook is to ensure user satisfaction and this progress are in an attempt to provide the users with the best of services and an experience that ousts all the other Social Media biggies.
So, now what’s news?
Keep Calm and embrace your cool because now Facebook lets all the pages including the non-verified ones to livestream with its latest iPhone mobile app.
Amazing, ain’t it??? We have seen celebrities and businesses go live but who has in their wildest dreams ever thought of a day where we could ourselves broadcast live with Facebook.
Here is an insight into the journey of Facebook Mentions, the name given to this live streaming app in the initial days of its launch.
It was in August 2015 that the live streaming apps such as Meerkat and Periscope realized they were not alone in the race, but Facebook is preparing to join them with Mentions.
While Periscope and Meerkat were regularly used by businesses to connect and engage with their customers, Facebook decided to do something different.
Mentions were designed to allow celebrities connect with their fans and followers.
Facebook always exhibits a uniqueness and a characteristic style in everything that it creates.
After a while, Facebook ensured that this feature was available to all verified public figures and profiles.
Sooner, Facebook decided to make this feature available to all, and in December 2015, regular users in the U.S. got the opportunity to broadcast themselves live with Facebook.
We found that now Facebook lets all pages to broadcast live through its latest iPhone app.
Our team of Social Media intelligence experts at Acodez has learned (confirmed by a Facebook rep) that at present on the iOS, the live feature is available for all pages across the globe.
But, you can access these only via the latest versions of the Facebook iOS app (v50) and Pages Manager App (v42).
Android users don’t worry; the feature will roll over for your devices in no time. Though, it is still available for the U.S. pages via the latest version of the FB app as our intelligence experts have it.
What are the characteristics of this latest live streaming feature from Facebook?
You can make announcements, talk, shop or just hang out with your friends and fans.
Communication was never so easier!
Once the broadcast is over, it can be saved as a normal video; for those who missed the live streaming can watch it at a later time.
Facebook has recently tweaked its News Feed algorithm to show more Live stories in the users’ News Feed. You can read more about it in the FB’s official blog.
You can now find live videos appearing over the top of the News Feed rather than the videos that were live long ago.
How does the live streaming work?
- Tap the “Post” and then click on the “Live video” Button.
- Here, you can add a description which gives an explanation on what you are broadcasting. Ready? Then, tap the “Go Live” button.
- While you broadcast, you can find out the people who are engaged, and also, you can instantly respond to their comments.
- It is up to you to decide whether you want to display the comments or hide it. Also, you can switch between the front and back cameras of your phone as you like.
- Done? Then, you can end the broadcast by tapping the stop button on your iPhone.
- Now this gets saved to your Facebook page just like any other posts. And, your fans and followers can view it at a later time.
- You can remove it as and when you please.
[Tweet “📢 Facebook opens live streaming to all Pages including non-verified ones #socialmediamarketing”]
Are you ready to broadcast live?
Or have you tried it?
Share your thoughts and comments with us…..


It is a tragic reality that First Australians do not share equally in the benefits of Australian life. Be it in health, housing, employment, education, wealth, mortality rate or life expectancy, First Australians are falling behind the national average.
Many First Australian people live in regional and remote areas where economic opportunities are few and high unemployment and poor housing are common. Conservative Australians believes this inequality between living standards and life opportunities of First Australians and non-First Australians can be equalized.
Conservative Australians believes there are five key areas of focus to ensure that First Australian people have the economic and social opportunities they deserve as Australian citizens. In responding to these focus areas it is important that initiatives be developed in partnership with and leadership of local Indigenous communities and be responsive to need.
While many First Australian communities are safe and harmonious some communities need better support to tackle causes of disorder and dysfunction, particularly endemic drug and alcohol abuse. Conservative Australians believes community safety programs are essential and effective policing ensures that all Australians, whether they be in cities or remote communities, receive the full protection the law affords.
Conservative Australians supports the cooperative intervention in the Northern Territory, South Australian and other First Australian communities. Once child sexual abuse and neglect had reached epidemic proportions, the Howard Government in 2007 launched the National Emergency Response to address high incidences in the Northern Territory. This initiative was later extended to the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara lands in north-eastern South Australia. Through comprehensive welfare reform and the strict enforcement of alcohol and pornography bans, the program has appropriately expanded the law to protect those most at risk.
Despite criticism from various commentators, most prominent indigenous elders and spokespeople declared their support.
One of Australia’s leading First Australian scholars Marcia Langton wrote in 2008[i]:
There is a cynical view afoot that the intervention was a political ploy – to grab land, support mining companies and kick black heads, dressed up as concern for children. Conspiracy theories abounded; most were ridiculous ….. those who did not see the intervention coming were deluding themselves.
Indigenous leader and politician Bess Price praised the program three years after it had begun[ii]: I am for the intervention because I’ve seen progress. I’ve seen women who now have voices. They can speak for themselves and they are standing up for their rights. Children are being fed and young people more or less know how to manage their lives. That’s what’s happened since the intervention.
Breaking reliance on welfare and boosting workforce participation is considered by Conservative Australians to be essential in creating economic independence for First Australian children. Conservative Australians is committed to supporting initiatives which expand the range of employment opportunities available to First Australian people.
Conservative Australians believes that a strong foundational education is essential in preparing children for adult life. Conservative Australians supports rural learning centers and schools that are providing education adapted to their community and focused on encouraging lifelong learning at an early age.
Conservative Australians, through feedback from local Northern Territorians have identified a generational impact for education engagement by children; i.e., my parents aren’t educated so why should I is just one theme.
The answer to this is to include one or both parents in the education programs with their children to ultimately ‘Break the Cycle’
In communities where it is not possible for children to receive such an education, we believe that it is important to explore other alternatives.
Alternatives may include distance education; online learning or boarding options where these are considered appropriate to the circumstances and in the best interests of the child. Pathways that allow for online learning and distance education continued through to higher education will enable rural students to stay in their communities, further enriching the economy and community.
Land ownership arrangements in many First Australian communities make individual homeownership a difficult proposition. However, Conservative Australians believes that the stability and security that homeownership offers holds.
Home ownership brings benefits for all people regardless of race. It is important to find ways to assist First Australian people into home-ownership as this develops wealth and strengthens family life and cohesion. Native title laws need to be reviewed to ensure there are pathways for families to have freehold title in their own homes.
Conservative Australians supports the repeal of the Wild Rivers legislation in the far north of Queensland and opposes any similar legislation, as it unreasonably impedes the economic opportunities for First Australian communities and corporations.
Connecting with the modern world
The appalling state of affairs for First Australians has so often prompted the refrain “the government should do something.” In 2012/13 Federal and State governments spent $30.3bn on First Australian programs accounting for 6.1 per cent of total direct general government expenditure while First Australian and Torres Strait Islander Australians made up 3.0 per cent of the population in 2013.
Clearly more funding isn’t the answer. The only long-term solution is for First Australians to come into the modern world and connect with the modern economy. Conservative Australians believes that this transition can be done respectfully and with sensitivity to First Australians and Torres Strait Islander tradition and heritage and in cooperation with the First Australian communities, Traditional Owners and Elders. Such a transition cannot take place while our statute books contain any law which distinguishes between any Australian on the basis of race or colour.
There is no place in Australia for laws such as these.
All over the world urbanisation is on the march. Fueled by the prospect of a better standard of living people are moving to where economies are at their strongest and home ownership and employment are accessible.
We cannot expect that an economically richer life and greater opportunity is to be found in a remote community or small rural centre.
Without First communities moving toward modernisation, the isolation, addiction, violence, and passivity that infects life in many remote areas will remain. Despite the unpopularity and difficulty of a more interventionist approach, in the interests of a generation of First Australian’s children we can no longer look the other way.
Conservative Australians does not support compensation for the ‘Stolen Generation’.
The complexity of the matter requires a good deal of sensitivity and Conservative Australians respects that people’s experiences in this area are different.
Indeed, the accounts from First Australian’s families vary greatly and allegations by some advocates that children were ‘stolen’ do not represent the entirety of First Australian’s experience. In many cases, children were voluntarily given an opportunity for a better life elsewhere, whilst in other cases the government and non-government agencies were acting in their concept of the best interests of the children at that time.
Conservative Australians support the recognition of First and Torres Strait Islanders in the Australian Constitution. Recognition of race, language or heritage will not automatically improve race relations.
This must be taken on a respect and inclusive basis and not in any way achieve an additional or separate element of the governance of Australia that can impose or block legislation or laws.
Symbolic gestures do little to improve the living standards and increase opportunities afforded to First Australians, particularly in the five key areas above. Although symbolic and practical outcomes are not mutually exclusive, more practical approaches could achieve greater improvement in First Australian economic and social opportunities.
It is important that any recognition of First Australians in the Constitution does not provide the opportunity to raise issues of legal interpretation and other constitutional difficulties. Recommendations from previous government consultations have gone beyond constitutional recognition and have proposed changes to the scope of legislative power; potentially impacting upon the validity of state and federal laws. Conservative Australians believes that this change is unnecessary, and resources and efforts would be better spent on ensuring First Australians have access to the same opportunities as non-First Australians. Considering the unique nature of Australia’s diverse heritage and migration history, it is untenable for any Australian law to distinguish people on the basis of race, language or heritage.


The days of protein heavy diets being only for gym-going behemoths are now a thing of the past. Medical experts promote protein rich diets to the masses, highlighting a myriad of benefits including metabolism boosts, improved weight loss and muscular repair aid, among a host of others.
So, what makes protein so special and why is its popularity skyrocketing? Proteins are constructed from chains of amino acids, of which there are 20. The human body is only capable of producing a small number of these, meaning the remainder must be supplemented through our diets. With this information being promoted heavily via word of mouth and news reports, customers are actively seeking protein based meals, snacks and drinks whenever possible, with sales in this sector increasing by 26% in the last year. This has transposed into the coffee shop market, with demand spiking for caffeinated protein-rich offerings – something the industry is slowly beginning to assimilate to.
There are many ways to integrate this into a menu, the most popular of which include scoops of whey proteins in smoothies, meat-based food dishes – medically referred to as ‘complete proteins’ –and snack bars. This has the potential for a strong flow of income for many coffee shops, with the added advantage of whey proteins having a long storage life, taking much of the pressure off of sales.
With the recommended daily intake of protein being 56g for men and 46g for women, coffee shops should endeavour to provide products which cater to at least a third of these amounts, as many constitute their visits as one of their daily meals. If the protein content of your products is advertised correctly, customers will be more prone to order items once their health concerns have been addressed.


At a time when so many things seem out of our control, we can place our focus on what is within our control. One of those things right now is your health, and your immune system is the cornerstone of your body’s ability to defend itself from attack.
According to Harvard Health Publishing, every part of your body works better when you make healthy lifestyle choices, and that includes the immune system. Among the list of healthy choices are basics like eating a healthy diet, regular exercise and hand washing, along with getting adequate sleep and minimizing stress.
You probably don’t need an article from Harvard to tell you that being stressed out and not sleeping enough or not sleeping well puts you in prime position to get sick. And that’s where cannabidiol (CBD) may help. Studies are showing that CBD can support sleep, as well as impact the negative consequences of stress.
A CBD regiment can be particularly helpful for those dealing with autoimmune disease or a hyperactive immune system. Read more about it in this article from the Chicago Tribune.


Discover more from EvoluSean's Toolbox
Top Technologies to Watch in 2023
These cutting-edge technologies promise to bring us closer to understanding the mysteries of the universe, health and disease.
Are you interested in keeping up with the latest and greatest in technology? Look no further! Here's a rundown of some of the most exciting advancements to keep an eye on as we move into 2023. From single-molecule protein sequencing to high-precision radiocarbon dating, there's something for everyone in this list. Get ready to be amazed as we dive into single-molecule protein sequencing, the James Webb Space Telescope, volume electron microscopy, CRISPR anywhere, high-precision radiocarbon dating, and single-cell metabolomics. These cutting-edge technologies promise to bring us closer to understanding the mysteries of the universe, health and disease, and the intricacies of our own cells. So buckle up and get ready for an exciting ride!
Welcome to the 20 new Evolutionaries who have joined us since our last post! If you haven’t subscribed, join 3000+ smart, curious mutants by subscribing here:
Sean’s Summary of:
Since I made a summary of the coolest news from 2022, I figure it’d be fun to talk about some technologies to keep our eyes on moving into 2023.
Single-molecule protein sequencing
The technology of single-molecule protein sequencing is on the horizon, with various researchers and biotechnology firms working on the proof of concept. The proteome, or the complete set of proteins made by a cell or organism, provides valuable information about health and disease, but its characterization has been challenging. Unlike nucleic acids, proteins cannot be amplified, which makes mass spectrometry the most common method of proteomic analysis, but it has limitations in identifying proteins and detecting low-abundance proteins. Single-molecule protein sequencing techniques, such as fluorosequencing and binder protein recognition, aim to sequence all the proteins in a sample, much like the techniques used for DNA. Researchers are also working on techniques that emulate nanopore-based DNA sequencing, profiling polypeptides based on the changes they induce in electric current as they pass through tiny channels. Single-molecule protein sequencing is seen as a promising field, with companies such as Quantum-Si planning to ship first-generation instruments soon and a growing number of start-ups entering the market. This new technology is expected to provide more accurate and comprehensive information about proteins and their role in health and disease.
James Webb Space Telescope
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a joint collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency, which was launched into orbit in 2021. The JWST was designed to pick up where the Hubble Space Telescope left off and fill in the gaps of Hubble's blind spots. The JWST has an array of 18 beryllium mirrors that are so precisely engineered that they are capable of detecting incredibly faint infrared signals originating billions of light years away. The telescope's design allows it to fill in Hubble's gaps and capture signatures from ancient stars and galaxies that were invisible to the Hubble. Researchers around the world are already queuing up for observation time, and the JWST has already yielded some exciting discoveries such as the ability to measure the atmospheric composition of certain exoplanets. The JWST will be aimed at millions of planets this year to explore in more detail than ever before the other possible planets harboring life!
Volume electron microscopy
Electron microscopy (EM) is a technology that offers high-resolution imaging of samples. However, its limitations are that it only offers surface-level resolution and requires slicing the sample into thin sections. The latest "volume EM" techniques have changed this by offering 3D tissue sample resolution without the need for slicing. These techniques have varying advantages and limitations, such as serial block-face imaging and focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM). The Cell Organelle Segmentation in Electron Microscopy (COSEM) initiative at Janelia Research Campus uses bespoke FIB-SEM microscopes and deep-learning algorithms to increase the volume that can be imaged while preserving good spatial resolution. This technology is a "quiet revolution" that is already providing insights in infectious-disease research and cancer biology and is being used to explore the feasibility of reconstructing the entire mouse brain at high resolution.
The genome-editing tool CRISPR-Cas9 has revolutionized the field of gene therapy, disease modelling and other areas of research by allowing for defined changes to be made at targeted sites throughout the genome. However, it has limitations as it requires a nearby sequence called a protospacer adjacent motif (PAM) to work effectively. Researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston are working on ways to overcome these limitations by engineering protein variants of the commonly used Cas9 enzyme to have less stringent PAM requirements, increasing the chances of off-target edits. Another approach is to engineer and test large numbers of Cas9 variants that exhibit high specificity for distinct PAM sequences. Additionally, virologists at the University of Trento in Italy have combed through more than one million microbial genomes to identify a diverse set of Cas9 variants that could collectively target more than 98% of known disease-causing mutations in humans. With these advancements, the researchers believe that they will have a complete toolbox of editors that can edit any base they want, making the world a better place by improving the accuracy and specificity of gene editing.
High-precision radiocarbon dating
Radiocarbon dating is a technology that measures the amount of carbon-14 in organic artefacts to determine the date of historical events. It has been used by scientists since the 1940s but only with a precision of a couple of decades. However, advances in the technology, led by physicist Fusa Miyake at Nagoya University, have allowed for a much more precise dating process. Miyake's team found that the presence of a distinctive spike in carbon-14 levels in tree rings, known as "Miyake events", could be used to determine the exact year and season in which a wooden artefact was created. This technology is being applied by archaeologists to study ancient civilizations and volcanic eruptions and could lead to a better understanding of historical development. Miyake's team continues to search for similar carbon-14 spikes to increase the accuracy of this technology.
Metabolomics is a field of study that looks at the small molecules in cells that control their function. This technology is now shifting to the single-cell level, which has the potential to provide more information about the complex functions in cells. However, this transition also presents challenges as some metabolites are ephemeral and difficult to detect. The current methods used in metabolomics require expensive, top-of-the-line hardware. But now, researchers are democratizing the technology by developing open-source software tools such as SpaceM, which uses light microscopy imaging data to enable spatial metabolomic profiling of cells with a standard commercial mass spectrometer. This has the potential to profile hundreds of metabolites in thousands of cells, classify those cells into groups, and enable the creation of 'metabolomic atlases', which will accelerate progress in the field. By understanding the active part of cells, metabolomics has the potential to contribute to the improvement of disease diagnosis and treatment.
In vitro embryo models
The technology of creating embryoid models from embryonic stem (ES) cells and reprogramming human stem cells is helping to fill the knowledge gaps in the early stages of embryonic development. Developmental biologists at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena and the University of Cambridge have demonstrated that they can generate implantation-stage mouse embryos entirely from ES cells. Meanwhile, stem-cell biologists at Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health have identified a culture strategy that pushed stem cells back to something resembling eight-cell human embryos. These models can help researchers to understand how a few cells give rise to the complexity of the vertebrate body and how alterations in individual genes can affect normal embryonic development. This technology will aid in the study of early embryonic development and help researchers gain a better understanding of the molecular machinery driving the process, potentially leading to better understanding and treatments for infertility and birth defects.


|Lorneville Mechanical, Saint John, NB|
|Upgrades completed: Replaced Metal Halide, Fluorescent (T8), and Compact Fluorescent Fixtures with LEDs|
|Incentive amount: $8,925|
Estimated annual savings: $4,110
Lorneville Mechanical specializes in construction, turnaround, maintenance and fabrication services in the large industrial sector across Canada.
Thanks to NB Power’s Industrial Energy Efficiency Program, the company’s east Saint John location was able to replace inefficient metal halide, fluorescent T8s and CFL lighting with LED fixtures and is expecting to see savings of over $4,000/year. Ian Flower, shop manager at the 11 Whitebone Drive location, says that the support offered through the Industrial Energy Efficiency Program’s Prescriptive Incentives helped make the business case to replace the shop’s lighting. Additionally, he says the benefits of energy efficient lighting have been numerous.
“Before the upgrades, dealing with burnt out lighting was an on-going hassle and costly,” he says. “We were renting a scissor lift and having to plan around shop work to replace lights. We don’t have to worry about that anymore.” On top of reduced maintenance time and costs, employees at Lorneville Mechanical also find the working environment much improved. “We heard positive feedback right away – that the quality of lighting is better, so our welders and machinists are better able to see what they’re working on and it’s improved the quality of the end product. Overall, we’re really pleased with the results of our lighting upgrade.”


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George W. Bush's Record as Commander in Chief
I heard a talking head on TV say that people would judge Bush's military capabilities not on his "youthful mistakes" but on his record as Commander in Chief.
Let's look at that record and compare it to the standards for competent command. In the first part of this, I will consider Bush's record only as a military commander-in-chief; a President, as chief executive officer, also has responsibility to the nonmilitary citizens, and that will be the focus of the second section.
1) The good commander anticipates threats, makes use of all intelligence sources, does not become fixated on one threat and thus fail to notice others. The good commander ensures that supply, training, etc. are ongoing to ensure readiness to meet any threat.
For the first nine months of his Presidency (as during his campaign), Bush seemed to recognize only nation-status military threats and showed concern only about weapons of mass destruction in nations he identified as "rogue states." His limited interest in this topic focussed on Korea and Iraq; his interest in defense was concentrated on the ballistic missile defense system. Although briefed about terrorism until Ashcroft, his Attorney General, expressed boredom with the topic, Bush did not publicly express any concern about it.
His emphasis during this time was on domestic economic issues, specifically cutting taxes for the rich, which he touted as a cure for the slumping economy, and denying any connection with Enron, a scandal which was breaking news that summer. In August, he was in Texas, holding a meeting of rich "business leaders" to discuss the economy. Most of this meeting was closed to the press (it was held at Baylor University in Waco) but the University was allowed, via a student, to tape part of one session, which was broadcast live on a Waco TV station. In that session, one person bragged about having laid off 2500 workers as soon as the market slumped, and how this made her company stronger. This directly contradicts the notion that tax cuts lead to saving or increasing jobs.
So, as Commander in Chief, Bush ignored a serious threat to this country about which he was repeatedly briefed.
In the immediate aftermath of the attack, Bush or his immediate subordinates (such as Cheney) made a number of misleading and erroneous statements (including that the Air Force had shot down two airliners.) Bush himself projected weakness and indecision in that first 24 - 48 hours.
2) The good commander responds swiftly to attack. The good commander doesn't boast, brag, or threaten, but performs.
Bush was quick to spout off and slow to act. The window of opportunity for uncriticized response--that period during which the world would have found almost anything we did forgivable, and during which most of the world expressed honest dismay for the events and sympathy for the U.S.--was lost through indecision and Bush's determination to use this as an excuse for a conventional war against Iraq.
3) The good commander is always looking down the road to the consequences of current actions. The higher the rank, the more this ability to see not just the woods but the whole forest ecosystem matters--and at the CINC level, a President must have a grasp of grand strategy, or fail. The good commander builds trust with subordinates and allies by treating them fairly, telling the truth, etc. The good commander is a moral and ethical leader.
Bush ignored the predictable, obvious consequences of his actions. Bush lied to the world, including our allies, about the existence of WMD in Iraq and the connection (which didn't exist but does now) between Iraq and Al Qaeda. In order to gain immediate support, Bush was willing to squander long-term trust and thus ensure that this nation lost status permanently and is now more hated around the world than ever before. Bush's Administration publicly humiliated Turkey, a long-time ally and NATO member, by suggesting that they were only holding out for more money when they refused to allow their territory to be used as a staging base for the Iraqi invasion.
Bush chose to withhold Geneva Convention protection from Afghan prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay on a technicality, and later allowed his subordinates in the Defense Department to believe that he wanted such protection withheld from Iraqi prisoners. The memos which led to this came from the White House Counsel; there is no way for him to escape that responsibility (except by whining like a boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar, something Bush does quite well and his sycophants accept.) Enormous damage was done to our national reputation by the mistreatment of prisoners both in Gitmo and in Iraq. Bush does not seem to recognize that this is a moral issue, not just a matter of legal technicalities, nor does he seem to grasp the implication for American troops and civilians who may be captured in future.
4) The good commander ensures that military forces are sufficient for a mission, with sufficient supplies. The good commander insists on adequate oversight of any civilian contractors, and never allows civilian contractors to enter the chain of command.
Bush went to war with too few troops and insufficient supplies despite warnings that this was not enough. He sifted through the flag officers until he found one compliant enough to agree that the mission could be accomplished with the cut-rate force Bush wanted to use. Naturally, that backfired....more and more forces and supplies have had to be moved in.
Bush did not ensure sufficient oversight of civilian contractors. These contractors, supposedly performing support functions for the military (privatized as a supposed cost-cutting measure) have resulted in enormous known overcharges. Since the worst known case involves the company formerly run by the Vice-President, there is a strong suggestion of favoritism and coverup going on.
Moreover, the intervention of civilian contractors as interrogators and security personnel contaminated the chain of command in a way that no good commander would permit, and contributed to the abuse of Iraqi prisoners.
5) The good commander makes appropriate use of all resources, including human resources, ensuring that soldiers get all the support possible at home and abroad.
Bush's policy has been to use reserve and National Guard personnel for extended overseas tours. Tours have been extended without warning, callups have been unpredictable in some cases, and all this has created great hardship for reservists and National Guard members, and for the communities from which they come. In addition, this policy contributed to the problems at Abu Ghraib, as National Guard personnel with insufficient training were put in a position where they could be coerced into abusing prisoners. Bush has not ensured that these personnel are even paid on a timely basis (resulting, in some cases, in people losing their homes back in the States because their bank accounts weren't credited with pay to make mortgage payments.)
Bush's personal religious beliefs have ensured that military women cannot get good reproductive medical care (including contraception and pregnancy termination), and his political principles have resulted in cutbacks in benefits promised to military personnel when they joined up.
Bush believes in weapons systems more than people, and it shows. His Administration continues to look for ways to cut back the actual numbers of personnel, and reduce their benefits, even though our military is now stretched very thin. Agencies vital to our national security in the age of terrorism (such as the Coast Guard, Border Patrol, Immigration, etc.) are strapped for money and personnel while Bush still pushes forward on the ballistic missile defense system.
6) The good commander husbands resources.
Bush has rationed only information to the American people: he claims to have put the country on a war footing, but instead used the wars he started as an excuse to expand his attack on national resources, from oil reserves to forests. He did not implement any of the supportive programs (such as rescinding the corporate tax cuts or implementing gas rationing) which could have both formed a sense of solidarity and preserved resources for military needs.
7) The good commander accepts responsibility for his actions and those of his subordinates.
Bush has never accepted responsibility for his actions, or those of any of the people he commands. Bush blamed Clinton for the terrorist attacks (incorrectly claiming that Clinton was "soft on terrorism") and the economic slump. Bush continues to deny that he or his Administration was lax in failing to heed warnings about terrorism (despite the clear evidence of such laxity uncovered by both reporters and the 9/11 Commission), continues to deny that he is in any way responsible for the abuse of prisoners (despite the clear evidence that the decisions originated in the White House staff), continues to deny that he was in error about the force that would be needed in Iraq, etc.
Bush and his staff have repeatedly spoken as if the discovery of error, not the error, were the problem. Bush has blamed the media, subordinates and allies when errors were discovered, and then done his best to increase secrecy so that future errors won't be uncovered.
8) The good commander is honest.
Bush has lied repeatedly, and then (in a national television interview) threw up his hands and said "What's the difference?" when confronted with the difference between what he said and what the facts were. His desire to keep secrets--not to protect national security, but to protect himself from criticism--is another clear signal of dishonesty.
9) The good commander hears what others say--is willing to hear things he didn't want to hear. The good commander can accept and deal with the facts as they are, not as he wished them to be.
In a television Christmas at the White House interview in December 2001, Bush said the best thing about being President was that he didn't have to listen to those who disagreed with him. The commander who is not willing to hear adverse facts makes enormous blunders...as Bush has done and continues to do. He didn't want to hear about the threat of terrorism...he didn't want to hear that Iraq did not possess weapons of mass destruction...he didn't want to hear how many troops it would take to fight the Iraq war...he didn't want to hear those who knew that Iraq did not want the US to "free" it...he didn't want to hear that prisoners should be treated according to the Geneva Conventions...he didn't want to hear that allies were unhappy with their treatment...he doesn't want to hear now (as he didn't want to hear before) about the size and scope of the popular resistance.
Considered in his role as Commander in Chief, Bush has failed in every measure. He is a lousy Commander in Chief. He lacks the character, the knowledge, and the skills to do the job.
Contents of these pages ©1996-2018
This essay ©2004 Elizabeth Moon


Copyright © 2015
The well-rested Blues head up north to meet the New York Islanders tonight, 6:30 p.m. They look to improve their record after an embarrassing loss to the Florida Panthers on Tuesday.
Photo: Andre Weber- USA TODAY Sports
The Blues are sitting on a solid 15-7-3 record which places them right above the 14-8-4 Islanders. The Blues have played one less game than the Islanders (25 GP), but have one more point than them (33 points). Still behind the Dallas Stars in the Central Division, the Blues look to grab two important points tonight.
On the road, the Blues are 8-4-1. The Islanders are 9-4-2 at home.
Jaroslav Halak —name sounds familiar — will be on the bench tonight as Thomas Greiss will start for the Islanders. He has a record of 7-4-2.
Brian Elliot will start for the Blues (Allen to play Saturday).
Lehtera- Stastny- Tarasenko
Gomez- Fabbri- Jaskin
Steen- Backes- Brouwer
Ott- Brodziak- Reaves


Educators Information Night
Navigating Legislation to Provide Safe and Affirming Classrooms
Who: CCPS teachers and support staff
When: Wednesday, Sept. 13, 4:30 pm - 6:00 pm
Where: Naples Pride Center - 2248 Airport-Pulling Rd S, Naples, FL 34112
Read the Naples Daily News article about the event, 'We're not stopping': GLSEN provides teachers resources for LGBT-friendly classrooms.
GLSEN Collier County began hosting our Educators Information Night in response to many of the new laws passed in Florida during the spring 2022 legislative session and the fear in teachers, students, and families they created.
For years, GLSEN Collier has hosted a meet-and-greet for GSA sponsors to connect with one another and learn about the programs and training we provide. However, teachers in particular expressed so much fear and panic for their LGBTQ+ students in our schools that we felt the need to open the event up to all teachers and support staff looking to provide a safe, supportive, and inclusive classroom.
Expert Insights on New Legislation
Each year we partner with a representative from Equality Florida and a local attorney from the Collier County Education Association to provide clarity to what the new laws do and do not say, what building administrators should and should not be requiring of teachers, and some strategies for teachers and support staff to affirm queer students in CCPS without putting their livelihood at risk.
Noelle DeLaCruz will present on behalf of Equality Florida. She brings a depth of knowledge regarding the new laws, including the precise language and some very clear ways we can still create safe and affirming spaces for diverse LGTBQ+ students on campuses. Esmond Lewis, an attorney for our CCEA, will share a local perspective on exactly what is happening here in Collier County and how the union can better support educators and support staff locally.
Join Us at Educators Information Night
This year’s event will be hosted at the Naples Pride Center on Wednesday, September 13, from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. If you are a teacher, support staff, or GSA club sponsor in Collier County who shares in our mission of creating a safe, affirming, and inclusive education for LGBTQ+ students, and you would like to learn more about how you can do so without putting your livelihood at stake, this is the event for you. Click the link above to register and submit any questions or concerns you have for our presenters.
“The Educators’ Information Night was a wonderful way to learn more about the issues our LGBTQ students are facing in the schools from their perspectives. The guest speakers clarified some of the new Florida laws, and representatives from GLSEN Collier provided suggestions on how we, as educators, can best support these students. It was uplifting to see the numerous resources in the community to help LGBTQ youth while also being reminded there is still much to be done. This Information Night will be on my back-to-school calendar as long as GLSEN Collier offers it.”


Littlefork-Big Falls School is located 10 miles south of the Canadian border on the Littlefork River in the city of Littlefork, Minnesota. Nestled in the north woods of Koochiching county, L-BF school serves over 300 students in pre-k through 12th grade. L-BF students continue to perform well both academically and athletically. Most recently L-BF school has been named one of the top 15% Reward School by the Minnesota Department of Education. Congratulations to the students, parents, and staff of L-BF!


The rapper took to social media to say that the current president is the actual ‘face of racism!’ It all started when Donald Trump praised America’s ancestors for taming ‘a nation!’
As you probably know by now, the statement is very problematic considering the history of the continent.
Trump made it very clear that he would never apologize for the U.S. and its controversial beginnings during his U.S. Naval Academy speech yesterday.
In response, Tip wrote on Instagram: ‘And now a word from the face of racism….Donald Trump says ‘our ancestors tamed a continent’ and ‘we’re not going to apologize for America.’’
It seems like T.I. was enraged by the fact that instead of addressing very current issues, Trump chose to praise America’s past, ignoring the various problems that plagued it at the time.
‘America is the greatest fighting force for peace, justice, and freedom in the history of the world. We’ve become a lot stronger lately. We aren’t going to apologize for America. We’re going to stand up for America,’ the president said.
Obviously enough, T.I., who is known for his active role in fighting racism in the United States was not happy about his words.
The rapper is not the first (nor will he be the last) celebrity Trump is feuding with!
The Donald has been involved in many social media wars over the years.
Some of the starts he had notable arguments with are Chrissy Teigen and Oprah Winfrey as well as Rosie O’Donnell!
What do you think about T.I.’s reaction to Donald Trump’s speech? Do you agree with the rapper’s words?


Administrators in Meru County have intensified tracking of parents whose children are yet to report back to school, as it emerged that more than 53,000 learners are still missing from institutions in the region.
Public Service Principal Secretary Mary Kimonye and her Infrastructure counterpart Mwangi Maringa said the government will now resort to use of phone data to track parents to ensure all children report back to school.null
Ms Kimonye expressed concern over the high number of learners who are out of school, citing teen pregnancies and transfers as some of the major causes.
According to data from the county, about 21,501 pupils are yet to turn up in public primary schools while 10,629 are missing in private schools.
Another 20,064 students have not reported to public secondary schools while 957 are out of private secondary schools.
However, Ms Kimonye said all pregnant girls must report back to their schools or be transferred to nearby day schools.
“Girls who have delivered must be accepted back to school while those who may not be comfortable due to stigma should be helped to relocate to a nearby day school,” she said.


04 March 2013
As a sponsor and supplier of the audiovisual program at the International Women’s Day (IWD) Luncheon at the National Convention Centre, Wildbear will assist in highlighting the plight of women and children around the world who are facing violence in both conflict and domestic situations.
Commenting on the sponsorship, Senior Producer Kelly Charls said “Wildbear is proud to help raise awareness about the work that UN Women do locally and internationally to combat violence against women and children. Our recent documentary “Side by Side: Women, Peace and Security” gave us extraordinary insight, through interviews with activists, peacekeepers, humanitarian workers and survivors of conflict, into the work being done with and by women in peacekeeping and humanitarian operations to combat this global issue. We will be previewing the program at the IWD luncheon for a screening soon in Canberra.”
Guest speaker at the event will be Justice Catherine Davani, Chair of the Papua New Guinea Judges Rules Committee. Justice Davani has a keen interest in the development and reform of law in PNG and as Chair of the Committee was involved in major changes and amendments to the National Court Act and Rules, Supreme Court Rules and Underlying Law Rules, which have enhanced the practice of the law in PNG.


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Fort Langley, British Columbia)– According to recent figures, in excess of 20.5 million pounds of coffee were consumed around the world last year, up more than half a million from the previous year. Industry reports are pointing to a long-running 20 percent annual uptick in the number of people leaning toward specialty brews. In light of this surging inclination, Director Rick Masana of Republica Coffee Roasters ( has launched the company’s latest selection of artisan-roasted coffees.
Said Masana, “Aside from water, coffee is the most popular drink in the world right now. It’s grown beyond its morning wake-up calls with at least 40 percent of people now drinking it all hours of the day. We’ve dedicated the last ten years to providing our customers premium artisan and single estate coffees from around the world. All our coffees are roasted fresh to order and shipped within 72 hours, so our customers are guaranteed to receive them at their finest and freshest. Our latest roasts fall in line with our tradition of quality.”
Republica Coffee Roasters’ selection ranges from light to dark roasts and includes espressos as well as decaf options. Blends from across Canada and the United States are available. Among these are the medium-dark roast Fort Langley Post Blend and the Maui Number One Yellow Cuturra, a medium roast originating in Hawaii. The company likewise offers wide range of global choices hailing from Colombia, Indonesia, India, New Guinea, Brazil and Ethiopia to name a few.
Exotic options are also part of the company’s lineup, one of which is Wild Kopi Luwak, currently the rarest and most sought-after variety available globally. Terra Azure Italian Espresso made with beans from Costa Rica and its European Diabolique counterpart comprised of beans from New Guinea, Columbia, Brazil and Sumatra are high-demand products as well. The company’s full inventory and further details can be found at
Concluded Masana, “Our company was founded on the traditions of a coffee-oriented community. After years of studying and practicing our techniques, we realized the world of coffee is far broader than what store shelves and chain shops have to offer. Our mission at republica coffee roasters has always been to deliver the best options and the freshest roasts, and our latest selection is a reflection of those efforts.”
About Republica Coffee Roasters:
Founded in 2007, Republica Coffee Roasters specializes in fine single estate coffees, each of which is roasted in a way to best exemplify its flavour profile. With a focus on quality and freshness, the company offers domestic blends as well as varieties from around the world.


This post describes how to connect TiDB Cloud to Metabase, an open source business intelligence tool.
VMblog followed up with Liming Deng, PingCAP's database engineer, on his recent presentation on KubeCon 2021.
This troubleshooting guide discusses write performance degradation in TiKV related to the RocksDB built-in write stall feature.
PingCAP, the leading distributed SQL provider, announced today the availability of its new Developer Tier for TiDB Cloud. The fully-managed database as a service now allows developers to easily launch a small TiDB cluster for free for up to one year..
We are excited to announce the Developer Tier of TiDB Cloud, the fully-managed TiDB service by PingCAP.
As an HTAP database, TiDB has evolved through three distinct stages. It currently serves countless applications for hybrid workloads, stream computing, and data hubs. In the future, TiDB will become a cloud-native, multi-model database.
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Hempstead’s Watermelon Run for the Fallen: Pulling Together to Honor One of Their Own
By David Hartley, Chief of Police, City of Hempstead
Events occur every day. Some affect us personally, some affect our communities, and some affect our nation. Some events are never forgotten, and we remember them like they happened yesterday.
One such event that affected the City of Hempstead occurred on April 8, 2008, and it was a tragic loss to our community and my family. It was a day that we lost one of our own, my son SSG Jeffery Lee Hartley, in the war in Iraq. Jeffrey grew up in Hempstead, played football in high school, was in the band, and powerlifted. He worked in our local businesses; he was a friend to everyone and was known for his smile and generosity. Following graduation in 2001, he joined the Army with the goal of becoming an Army Ranger.
During his military career, Jeffrey deployed five times: four times to Iraq, and once to Afghanistan. He earned eight Army Commendation Medals—one with valor—and two Bronze Stars—one with valor. He always said that he wanted to return to his hometown and have a small ranch. He was quick to let everyone know how proud he was to be from Hempstead, Texas.
The love that was shown to my family after the loss of Jeffrey was overwhelming and was truly appreciated. My wife and I always wanted to find a way to repay the support the citizens of Hempstead had shown us. In June 2010, we heard about a group that organized a run from Fort Irwin, California, to Arlington National Cemetery. At every mile, runners placed a flag and biography of a service member who had been killed in action during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. The organization, known as Run for the Fallen, was trying to get other groups across the country to hold events on the third weekend of August to remember our fallen. My wife Ann, and I talked about it, and my youngest son, who also served in the Army as an Army Ranger and had been deployed to Iraq, said that he would like to see how many really cared and would show up.
We enlisted the help of local VFW Commander Scott Duncan, who had also served in Iraq with the Tenth Mountain, and Alderwoman Patricia Chernosky to help us put the event together. Hempstead is known to have the best watermelons in the country, so we decided to name the event Watermelon Run for the Fallen. In less than six weeks—on August 21, 2010—the inaugural event took place.
In six short weeks, the citizens of Hempstead gathered together and worked many hours making sure that each of the fallen was respectfully represented in an honorable way. The Hempstead Garden Club came together and worked like busy bees putting the t-shirts, wristbands, and biographies together for each person who would participate. The sight of these women working reminded us of the assembly lines that were put together during World War II to assemble bandages to send to the troops serving overseas. Individuals worked from daylight to the deep hours of the night to ensure that everything was done with honor and respect.
The City of Hempstead City Council voted to assist with the first event, allocated money to support the event, and provided assistance in putting the event together. Over 1,500 people attended the first event. Six Gold Star Families (families that have lost a loved one in combat) attended.
Following the success of the inaugural event, a board of directors was appointed and a 501(c)(3) was established to organize and plan future events. Each year since, the city has voted to provide funds and manpower to assist in the event, which takes place the third Saturday of August.
In 2012, more than 4,100 people attended the Watermelon Run for the Fallen. Families came from 16 different states, and there was one international visitor. More than 50 Gold Star Families came to pay honor and respect to the fallen from Texas.
These families come because it has become a healing time for them and has helped them heal some of the pain they have carried for years. I have seen wounded attend and pay respect to their fallen brothers and sisters. One individual comes each year and runs wearing the boot of his fellow Marine who was killed in action. What makes his endeavor special is that he only has one leg; an improvised explosive device took his other leg. These are the men and women who make our event what it is. The City of Hempstead has shown not only my family much love, but also each family that comes to Hempstead, who feels the same love, honor, and respect.
Shortly after the war in Iraq was declared over, I was asked what I thought about the war ending. I told them it will never be over for each family that lost a loved one, it will never be over for the men and women who served, and it will never be over for the communities that lost one of their own. We have a DUTY to HONOR our fallen who gave their lives for our COUNTRY. Duty, Honor, and Country are words that ring in my head daily. The City of Hempstead will not forget, nor allow anyone else to forget, our fallen. The City of Hempstead and its citizens are committed to making sure that our military and their families are not forgotten and will always be honored in the most respectful way possible.
On April 15, 2013, the U.S. Army and the City of Hempstead entered into a community covenant. By signing this covenant, the city agrees to support the military, and the military agrees to support the city. As a result, the City of Hempstead and its citizens have been able to assist and support our military’s wounded through the efforts of a partnership with Operation Military Embrace, a Texas-based military support group located in Tomball, Texas.
As you can see, the City of Hempstead and its citizens are some of the most loving, caring, and respectful people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing.
For more information regarding Watermelon Run for the Fallen, contact David Hartley at firstname.lastname@example.org or 281-831-1750.


For the second year in a row, the Marion School District has been honored with the “Best Communities for Music Education” designation from The NAMM Foundation for the district’s outstanding commitment to music education.
Now in its 24th year, the Best Communities for Music Education designation is awarded to school districts that demonstrate the ability to offer outstanding music education to all students in grades K-12. To qualify for the Best Communities designation, districts must meet criteria related to funding, graduation requirements, music class participation, instruction time, facilities, support for the music program, and community music-making programs. Information is verified by The Music Research Institute at the University of Kansas.
Marion is one of only two school districts in Arkansas to earn the NAMM recognition this year. The other honoree is the Van Buren School District, located outside of Fort Smith.
“Music education is a vital component to the academic program we provide for our students,” said Dr. Glen Fenter, Marion School District superintendent. “We have immense pride in all our programs, whether it’s the band, the choir, or any of our musical productions from the elementary to the high school level. It’s important to us that every student in our district has a chance to find their own path to success, and for hundreds of our students, music fills that role.”
Fenter also pointed to research that demonstrates the cognitive and social-skill benefits for children who have access to strong music programs at school. For instance, in one study, researchers found that students involved in school music programs showed substantial improvements in reading scores and the ability to process speech when compared to their less-involved peers. Studies also show that students who are involved in music are not only more likely to graduate high school, but also to attend college.
Over the past several years, Marion has made significant investments in its music programs, committing to professional quality theater productions and musical performances. The results are paying off. Over the last several years, the band and choir programs have consistently earned top ratings at state and regional assessments and more than a dozen Marion alums are now attending college on music scholarships. This summer, the Patriot Pride Marching Band will represent the state at the National Independence Day Parade in Washington, D.C.; and next spring, the band will travel to Disney World.
“Our students are succeeding in every possible avenue provided by the music offerings in our district,” said Monty Hill Marion director of bands. “We have great instrumental and vocal music programs at the secondary level that are supported by tremendous music programs at the elementary grade levels. The school district provides unbelievable resources for all music programs, and our administration and school board are totally committed to providing first-class programs for all of our students.”
The NAMM Foundation is a nonprofit supported in part by the National Association of Music Merchants and its approximately 10,300 members around the world. The foundation advances active participation in music-making across the lifespan by supporting scientific research, philanthropic giving, and public service programs. For more information about The NAMM Foundation, visit www.nammfoundation.org.
The Marion School District is an innovative and growing district committed to helping every student find their unique path to success in school and in life. With more than 150 years of experience serving families in Crittenden County, the district offers a high school, a junior high, and three award-winning magnet schools. For enrollment information, including information on school choice, visit https://www.msd3.org/ or call 870-739-5100


A few disturbing realities kept coming up in the meeting.
For one, Duluth is experiencing a housing crisis. Shelters are at capacity, and many people are not able to stay there because of behavioral problems, anxiety, not wanting to be separated from loved ones or pets or violating shelter rules. Low cost permanent housing, especially for people with high barriers like felony convictions and mental illness, can take months or years to secure.
Secondly, people experiencing homelessness feel like criminals in their own city. Whether intended or not, they are routinely victim to profiling and discrimination. They are asked to leave park benches, come home to find their belongings ransacked, treated suspiciously in stores, harassed by security guards, and violently attacked without feeling that they will ever get justice. And they don't feel like they have a voice in decisions that affect their lives.
In response, a group of people experiencing homelessness, advocates, and city and county officials began meeting weekly to brainstorm a community response to the homeless crisis. The first order of business is to make sure all people in Duluth are treated fairly and given a voice in their own decisions.
On January 13th, the Duluth City Council will vote on an resolution of intent calling for the creation of a Homeless Bill of Rights and city Commission to End Hunger, Homelessness and Poverty. The Bill of Rights will write into law legal protections for people experiencing homelessness, including the right to move and rest freely in public spaces. The Commission will give a permanent voice to poor people in city policy decisions.
|Duluth Homeless Memorial 2013. Photo: Deb Holman|
What you can do:
1. Sign the online petition tinyurl.com/DuluthHomeless. Then share the petition with friends by email and social networks.
2. Ask your church, business or organization to endorse the petition. Contact Loaves & Fishes at email@example.com with endorsements.
3. Call your city councilor and politely ask them to support the Homeless Bill of Rights and Commission to End Hunger, Homelessness and Poverty. Remind them that there are homeless and poor people in every council district, and that everyone in our community deserves respect and a voice in policy decisions. You can find their information here.
4. Attend the Duluth City Council meeting on January 13 to show your support. Gather at 6:30pm inside City Hall.


Our longtime friend and Historic Third Ward Association board member Andrew Wadsworth passed away on Feb. 10 after a valiant battle with cancer.
Andrew was a passionate advocate for the neighborhood. In his passing, he has asked that in lieu of flowers, donations be made in his name to the Historic Third Ward Association. For this, we are incredibly honored, humbled and grateful.
Andrew's wit, laughter and bright spirit will live on in his beloved neighborhood for years to come. We are all better for having known him.


Source: Goal.com Cristiano Ronaldo scored four to break yet another record.
It was another record-breaking night for Cristiano Ronaldo on a day where he was taunted by Robbie Keane who was topping the qualifying goal scoring chart.
The Juventus forward scored four goals as Portugal cruised past Lithuania to take his overall tally to 25 in European qualifying – two more than the previous record set by former Republic of Ireland striker Keane.
Before the match, Keane posted on Instagram requesting Ronaldo to leave his record as the five-time Ballon d’Or winner was two goals shy of his tally at 23.
Ronaldo went ahead to smash his record with two more as a cherry on top of the cake meaning he has now scored against 40 different countries.
Ronaldo has now scored 93 international goals, 16 behind Iran legend Ali Daei’s world record in men’s football and is also the first European to score 90 goals for his country.
Portugal beat Lithuania 5-1 to go second in group B below Ukraine with a game in hand.


On June 1, a virtual Award Night ceremony was held to name the winners of the scholarships made available at Canton High School. We are proud to offer the CTA Future Educator Scholarship award for the first time in 2020! Our first recipient of this $1,000 scholarship is Kathleen “Kate” Kelleher! She will be attending the University of Massachusetts-Amherst Honors College to study Early Childhood Education and Mathematics. We wish Kathleen the best of luck in her studies next year and know that she will become a fantastic educator wherever her journey may bring her. Congratulations!
Please visit our contract page to view/download the digital copy now! Paper copies will be distributed once they are received from the printer.
Election results are in!


Patsy Gallagher – Celtic Legend – was born in Ramelton in 1891. His homestead is just 50 metres from the Lennon Lodge.
In 2007 eight former members of the famous ‘Lisbon Lions’ Celtic team, the first British team to win the European Cup in 1967, led by captain Billy McNeill, joined members of the Gallagher family in Ramelton along with hundreds of local people to remember the Celtic forward.
Celtic chairman Brian Quinn said that Patsy Gallagher had captured the essence of the Celtic team.”He had excellence and style and the ability to do something unexpected and unusual.”He was a beacon for Celtic players to come and I want to thank the town of Ramelton for giving him to us,” he said.
Patsy played for the local Swilly Rovers team during summer holidays in Ramelton. Swilly Rovers are still going strong and are sponsored by the Lennon Lodge


Picture this: You’re the CEO of a midsize company, and you just returned from an expensive, multi-day strategy retreat with your entire management team. You spent hours discussing the ins and outs of your strategy, and it left you and your employees feeling more aligned than ever. But are you actually on the same page?
Our new study suggests that you might not be — and that this sort of strategic misalignment is both more common and more harmful than you might think.
Specifically, as part of our ongoing research, we asked more than 500 frontline employees, middle managers, and senior executives across 12 different organizations to indicate how aligned they thought their companies were with respect to corporate strategy. And we found that the participants were largely optimistic, on average reporting that they felt strategic agreement within their companies was 82%. But when we analyzed detailed written explanations from those same employees around what their company’s strategies were, we found that actual alignment (as measured by the linguistic overlap in the concepts and words they listed) was, on average, just 23% — two to three times lower than perceived alignment.
Unsurprisingly, this disconnect creates real problems. We found that in organizations with larger gaps between actual and perceived strategic alignment, employees were more skeptical about the effectiveness of their company’s strategy and its implementation, and they reported that their company’s attempts to implement its strategy were both slower and lower quality.
For example, employees at an ed tech company in our study rated strategic consensus within their organization at 77%, but an analysis of their written responses showed that their actual alignment was only 26%. Upon reviewing the results, the CEO — a 25-year industry veteran — was surprised: “I’ve had a feeling that we were not completely focused, but the level of discrepancy and disagreement surprised me,” he shared. “Everybody seems to be interpreting strategy based on their functional silos, even members of our strategy team.”
Similarly, middle managers and senior executives at a recruiting firm reported that they believed strategic alignment across their organization was 90%. Yet we found that actual alignment was just 30%, with employees listing priorities as unrelated as product diversification, adding value to the community, and building a powerful platform as the company’s primary strategic objective. In some cases, different employees’ understandings of their strategy were in direct conflict: One respondent described a strategy of focusing on complex, more-expensive services, while another described a strategy of investing in higher-volume, simpler projects that would be easier to deliver quickly.
Too often, executives and employees alike find themselves in an echo chamber, assuming that everyone shares the same understanding of the company’s strategy while actually pursuing divergent or even clashing goals. This inevitably leads to politics, firefighting, unproductive meetings, and interpersonal challenges, all of which distracts everyone from their jobs and hinders actual value creation.
That said, true strategic alignment is in fact possible. Our research highlighted three key steps leaders can take to foster alignment and get everyone (actually) marching to the same tune:
Focus your strategy on driving customer value
First, we found that the CEOs in our study who defeated strategic confusion, transformed perceived consensus into actual strategic alignment, and succeeded at achieving their goals focused almost exclusively on prioritizing their customers.
This trend is consistent with prior studies. A 2023 review of 245 academic papers found that firms that prioritize customer satisfaction perform better across a wide variety of metrics, including sales, profits, cash flows, stock price, and more. Another recent study showed that companies that build strategic consensus around supporting their customers’ needs have lower costs and higher revenues, profits, and valuations. When senior executives, middle managers, and front-line employees are all aligned around a customer-focused strategy, they are less likely to end up spending wastefully or investing in disparate initiatives that consume resources without driving customer value.
For example, in 2020, actual strategic alignment at the Houston-based supply chain services firm ITI Manufacturing was less than 20%. Three years later, we found that alignment was up to 82%. Sales were also up 23%, and employees reported spending more than 50% of their time on customer-focused tasks.
What happened? ITI shifted its strategy to explicitly focus on the one factor it determined was most important for driving customer satisfaction: giving customers weekly status updates on their orders. This new approach enabled ITI to forge strategic consensus across the organization and reduce the amount of time people spent on internally focused activities. As CEO Joshua Robinson explained, “Starting from customer value helped focus me and my team on the one thing that mattered most to our customers: providing weekly updates. It seemed so simple, even trivial at first. But today, the results speak for themselves. We can differentiate our pitch to new customers and prospects, and current clients love to provide testimonials on our behalf.”
Weave your strategy into frontline employees’ daily work
Next, once you’ve reoriented your strategy to focus as exclusively as possible on customer value, take steps to ensure that this new mindset permeates everyone’s daily activities. A strategy cannot simply be overlaid on top of employees’ day jobs — it must become their day job. After all, it is on-the-ground employees and managers who create value for customers, and so it is their daily work that is most critical to implementing a customer-focused strategy.
Another business in our study, auto parts distributor Swagelok Southeast Texas, attempted time and again to address its strategic alignment issue. President Chris Jones described the many internally-focused initiatives his team had undertaken: “We were doing everything in the name of strategy — except for improving customer value,” he reflected.
In 2021, the organization identified rapid quoting as a critical customer need, and fully refocused its strategy around this goal. “We paused or deferred most of our internal initiatives, focusing our attention, effort, and energy on rapid quoting. [We] provided our customer service reps with an updated and streamlined computer interface, more training, and everything else possible to support their work. It was a series of difficult conversations with my senior executives to stop or defer unrelated initiatives,” mused Jones. “But we really made rapid quoting the centerpiece of our strategy implementation. Today, we have decreased average quoting time from 18 hours down to five hours, and more than 95% of our customers are satisfied with quoting time.”
Deborah Carpenter, Director of Strategy and Development at Swagelok Southeast Texas, added that this improvement to the customer experience also had internal benefits: “Previously, sales team members spent more than 30% of their time following up on quotes — instead of doing their day job,” she explained. “It created a vicious cycle: Customers went elsewhere if they did not get a quote on time, and sales could not sell because they were chasing quotes instead of sales.” Weaving a customer-focused strategy into the day-to-day operations of the business enabled workers, managers, and executives to stay aligned, ultimately creating value for both customers and the company.
Implement strategy through dialogue — not top-down directives
Finally, executives must remember that strategy is not implemented by senior executives, but by middle management and frontline employees. Leaders cannot simply announce a strategy and assume it has permeated the rest of the organization. Instead, they must proactively solicit input and feedback from across the org chart, truly listening to lower-level employees and engaging in meaningful dialogue. After all, top-down communication from leaders to frontline workers may drive perceptions of strategic alignment, but it won’t improve real consensus.
“Listening — not talking — to employees was the key,” explained Margaret Seeliger, Global SVP of Strategy at Sodexo’s Energy & Resources division, when describing how her team visited more than 50 sites all over the world to connect directly with frontline teams. Through these conversations, her team discovered that to spend more time helping clients, employees needed more support on certain tasks, and so the organization implemented a strategy that was directly informed by this input to unburden frontline employees. These initiatives led to a 24% increase in revenues, a 5% reduction in expenses, and a two-point boost to customer satisfaction.
Reflecting on how impactful this dialogue-driven approach to strategy had been for Sodexo, Seeliger commented, “Senior executives can measure outcomes, create initiatives, and do town halls. But the real work of implementation — creating value for customers — happens at the front lines.” She continued, “How can we unburden frontline employees to focus their day jobs, on creating customer value? This is the essence of strategy implementation — and it all happens at the front lines. Senior executives have only two options: support them or get out of the way.”
Building strategic alignment across an organization is always challenging, but a large gap between actual and perceived alignment makes it that much harder to get on the same page and implement a strategy effectively. To foster true strategic alignment, leaders must focus the entire company on driving customer value; weave that strategy into everyone’s daily work; and develop strategic priorities not in a vacuum, but through collaborative dialogue with senior executives, middle managers, and frontline employees


Havens speaks at 2018 canna east compliance summit
Jonathan Havens, a partner in the Firm’s Cannabis Law Practice, leads a presentation at the 2018 Canna East Compliance Summit in Orlando, Florida. This session will explore what impact the Trump administration has had and will continue to have on the cannabis industry. In addition, Jonathan will offer insights into both the changing federal and state cannabis regulatory landscapes, including offering predictions on what's to come, and how these changes could affect industry members, consumers, patients, and the research community.
For more information, click here.


It’s with deep gratitude that SHARE says goodbye to Jacqueline (Jackie) Reinhard, SHARE’s Executive Director since 2012, as she enters into a new and well-deserved phase of life: retirement!
A breast cancer survivor, Jackie felt a personal calling to work at SHARE. She left a long, successful career in technology and nonprofit leadership, including a position as the Executive Director of the Greater New York Chapter of the ALS Association, to work at SHARE because she believed in SHARE’s mission of peer support.
“When I was diagnosed, I leaned on my best friend who was being treated for breast cancer herself for advice. Doctors could explain what I was likely to feel during treatment, but being able to confide in another woman I trusted who could resonate with my experience was so valuable. That was what SHARE was offering, for free, to thousands of women across the country. I knew I wanted to be a part of giving back.”
SHARE saw unprecedented growth under Jackie’s leadership. In 2013, SHARE conducted its first educational webinar, which allowed women and their loved ones across the United States to access the latest research and quality information no matter where they lived. By 2018 SHARE was reaching 78,000 people every year though breast cancer support groups and education programs that are now accessible nationwide through teleconferences, webinars, and other online platforms.
Jackie was deeply committed to reaching women wherever they feel most comfortable, whether in person or via technology. She revolutionized SHARE’s technological systems to improve Helpline service, reaching women in all 50 states and allowing SHARE to train and support volunteers across the U.S. She also spearheaded the initiative to launch SHARE’s first online support communities.
Additionally, Jackie led SHARE’s national expansion into Florida, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, and helped strengthen SHARE's national reputation for culturally-competent outreach services into medically underserved communities, including the LatinaSHARE and African American Ambassador programs.
Over the last seven years, the number of women SHARE reaches each year has grown by over 700%.
“Even as we’ve grown, SHARE’s community really remains like a family,” Jackie says. “It’s been a privilege to be a part of this amazing group of staff and volunteers. My hope is for SHARE to continue to grow in strength and inclusivity, so that every woman who needs support can find it here.”
“Jackie led SHARE in building powerful, nation-wide programs for women who need it most and helped lay a successful foundation for SHARE’s future. We are deeply grateful for her leadership and will miss her guidance, and wish her a relaxing and fulfilling retirement,” says Angelica Cantlon, SHARE’s Board President.


A Tiny Scrap Of Fabric Wins A Huge Following --- Hanky Panky's Model 4811 Is a Thong Unto Itself; `It's Like Lace Butter'
By Gwendolyn Bounds
18 June 2004
The Wall Street Journal
(Copyright (c) 2004, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)
Supermodel Cindy Crawford has purchased 4811, her publicist confirms. Manhattan boutique La Petite Coquette says actress Julianne Moore bought 4811 "in a rainbow of colors" earlier this year. It's the top-seller in its category at Trousseau in Chicago among working women. "I can't get customers to try anything else," says owner Christy Horton.
For the last decade and a half, a little-known company called Hanky Panky has thrived making a $15 lace thong known simply by its style number, 4811. In the cutthroat world of lingerie sales, that is no small thing.
What gives? Well, the undergarment itself does. "It's really, really soft and super-stretchy, so it doesn't dig into you like all the other brands," Ms. Horton says. "We call it our starter thong."
Thongs are the biggest thing to hit underwear in the last 20 years. They accounted for one-quarter of the entire $2.6 billion panty market last year, according to NPD Group, a marketing information company in Port Washington, N.Y. Once the domain of a daring few, thongs have gone mainstream. You can buy them at Wal-Mart for $1.50.
Hanky Panky has just a tiny share of the thong market. But even among women who favor fancy Italian and French brands -- Cosabella, Argentovivo, Lise Charmel -- the made-in-the-USA 4811 has a cult following.
"It's like lace butter," says Joni Wheat, a 33-year-old personal shopper in Chicago. Ms. Wheat, who thinks nothing of dropping $100 or more on high-end European bra-and-underwear sets, figures she owns about 30 thongs in model 4811. Adds Lauren Martin, a 35-year-old Manhattan psychotherapist who spends most of her workday seated: "I have full hips and have tried all the fancy $200 sets, but I can never wear the panties." These days, she says Hanky Panky's lace thong is her only underwear.
Based in a Manhattan loft, Hanky Panky is led by its two 57-year-old founders, Gale Epstein and Lida Orzeck. Friends from their college days in the 1960s, the two teamed up as business partners in the late '70s after Ms. Epstein gave Ms. Orzeck a panty and bra set she designed using handkerchiefs as a 30th-birthday present.
"It was a very significant gift," says Ms. Orzeck, who has a Ph.D. in social psychology from Columbia University and was working as a researcher. "I thought the underwear was the cutest thing," she says.
Ms. Epstein was working at a sweater company. During lunch hours and at night, they began to cook up a new lingerie venture. Since they lived in the same apartment building, they had "stairwell summits" in the dim lighting between floors to discuss marketing, production and occasionally mull over designs. The next day, Ms. Epstein would flesh out new samples of artsy camisoles, bikini pants and petticoats. Ms. Orzeck sold them to big-name department stores, including Lord & Taylor and Macy's, that were hungry for new talent. Hanky Panky broke even its first year, the founders say.
The seeds of 4811 were sown in 1978 when Ms. Epstein, inspired by Rio sunbathers in revealing bikinis, designed Hanky Panky's first G-string. She and Ms. Orzeck felt U.S. women were ready for something more liberating than common underwear. This time around, the same department stores balked, insisting such garments were better suited for Frederick's of Hollywood. "They hadn't caught up to the sexual revolution yet," Ms. Orzeck says of the retailers.
But timing was on Hanky Panky's side. A generation of working women, weary of dressing like the boys, would soon become eager for something to make them feel feminine underneath. And as they began slipping into more-fitted suits for the office, they sought to avoid visible panty lines. Hanky Panky's chieftains seized on the thong as a palatable compromise between the rather extreme G-string and a regular panty.
Being women gave them an edge: They didn't need to call in a model to test designs, says Ms. Epstein, who attended New York's Parsons School of Design. Instead, she personally tested every sample herself, taking garments home and wearing them for an evening, occasionally soliciting her boyfriend's opinion. Hanky Panky launched its first mainstream thong in 1986, and Ms. Epstein kept fiddling until she arrived at what would become the company's ultimate cash cow three years later. They adopted the style number 4811 and sold 5,000 pairs the first year.
The secret to 4811 lies in the careful calibration of the garment, which weighs a mere half-ounce, about as much as four cloves of garlic. To keep costs down, Ms. Epstein wanted to design a one-size thong that would fit most women, and she knew stretch lace was a particularly forgiving material. So she scoured New York manufacturers until she found a fabric with the perfect "modulus" -- or elasticity -- for the crucial hip band. It used enough spandex to stretch but not so much as to bind bare skin.
For the front and back Vs, she fretted over the fabric's so-called "hand": its pliability, how it draped, where it pulled and puckered. She insisted on a 100% cotton gusset (industry parlance for crotch lining) and tinkered until the depth of the lining sat just so. The final key ingredient was a thin line of super-soft lace around the thong's edge. That can trigger production headaches because sometimes the lace shrinks in width when dyed and becomes more difficult for the sewing machine to accept.
The result: "It lays flat on you," says Rebecca Apsan, the owner of La Petite Coquette, which carries some 85 different thong brands. She has given away samples of the 4811 to reluctant thong customers to teach them that not all thongs rub the wrong way.
Meantime, persnickety fashion publications also have opined on the curious comfort of various Hanky Panky thongs: "My favorite!" said one test-driver of 4811 for In Style's February 2002 issue. "The Hanky Panky thong revolutionized the thong market," says Hope Greenberg, fashion director for Lucky magazine, which commends the 4811 in its current (June) issue. "They did an amazing thing by creating a thong that looks really pretty and is amazingly comfortable."
Last year, sales of 4811 climbed to 250,000 pieces, and accounted for nearly 10% of Hanky Panky's $10 million in revenue from lingerie, sportswear and sleepwear.
Ms. Epstein not long ago returned to the drawing board to whip up a new low-rise thong to wear with the hip-hugging pants now in vogue. "It wasn't a matter of just lowering the garment," she explains patiently. "You had to make it wider in the hips, and it had to not shift to the front or back."
After trying on endless samples in the office with her low-rise jeans, readjusting the depth of the band's V, and slimming down the front and back triangles until the garment shed one-eighth of an ounce, she finally got the new thong to fit. Its style number is 4911.