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The Heritage of Green Hills, in Shillington, will present local actress and singer, Runette Gabrielle, portraying Harriet Tubman in a one-woman show at the community at 10:30 a.m., Thursday, Feb. 8.
The performance will be followed by a buffet lunch at approximately noon. The performance and lunch are open to the public. Tickets are $20 per person and can be reserved by calling The Heritage at 484/577-8673. Tickets can be paid for at The Heritage front desk the day of the performance. Proceeds from the event will support the Heritage Benefit Fund, which assists residents of the senior community who have outlived their financial resources or are faced with unexpected medical and other expenses.
Harriet Tubman was one of the biggest legends of the Civil War. She was a Southern slave who escaped to the North but went back to the South time and time again to guide other slaves to their freedom. Gabrielle has researched and portrays Tubman with well documented facts and a strong soprano voice. For 40 years, she was a soprano soloist at Christ Episcopal Church in Reading.
Gabrielle was a long-time nurse administrator at Reading Hospital and Hamburg Center. She got her nursing degree from Hahnemann Hospital in Philadelphia and her master's degree from Temple University. She has served on the boards of the Reading Symphony Orchestra, the Family Guidance Center, Friends of Music at Albright College and the Berks Intercultural Alliance.
The Harriet Tubman performance is part of The Heritage of Green Hills' observance of African-American History Month.
The Heritage of Green Hills is located at 200 Tranquility Lane, just off Morgantown Road/Route 10 across from The Flying Hills Golf Course.
For more information, visit www.HeritageOfGreenHills.com.


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Dame Judi Dench, who is best known for her role as M in the later James Bond films, announced this week she may be getting a tattoo to celebrate her next birthday.
In a conversation about age, modern linguistics, and her love life the 80-year-old English actress indicated that she's partial to Indian heritage, which could inspire some ink.
"My daughter Finty is very keen on me having one. There's an Indian symbol that I like which supposedly represents life and love and everything. A cameraman who worked on The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel told me what it meant, but I'm a bit nervous in case I'm being set up… it might be unbelievably rude."
This reportedly marks the second time Dench has entertained the idea of a tattoo, the first being when she had film producer Harvey Weinstein's name temporarily stenciled on her buttocks.
"He still thinks it's tattooed. My make-up lady painted it on. He didn't believe me so I showed him," she explained.
Dench also revealed details of her last birthday, her 80th, which she spent with her long-term companion David Mills.
"I didn't want a fuss, just the people I love. The words 'old' and 'retire' are banned at my house," said Dench.
Regardless of her age, the actress has grasped the language teenagers use to communicate with their friends.
"My grandson sent a text that said 'see u l8r.' I had to text him back to ask what it meant. Another one is 'YOLO,' which means you only live once. I love that I know that," she gushed.
The upcoming Bond film, Spectre, will be absent the character she portrayed in a total of seven films.
She spoke to Metro in Dec. of last year of the character's demise:
"They told me gently and I laughed through my tears," she recalled. "Seven Bond films is a long time. But MI6 would have given her the push by now, don't you think?"

subset: commoncrawl


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28 August 2006
Ten inches in Five Hours
Dear reader, today's post might be enhanced by the following blog reading suggestion:
hum the melody of Jars of Clay Flood...better yet, load it in your I-tunes, or some such computer music player, blast it...and then envision the scenario of six adults and six children trapped in 8 person, 13 x 13 Coleman tent for five + hours while the rain thoroughly trounced every square inch of "our" camping area. In fact, as we sat in our tent, entertaining the 6 wee ones, aged four and under, thunder nearly trampled us with crashing force, and the lightning more than illuminated our faces for brief, bright seconds.
But what I started to describe was the impact of the water. While Hurricane Katrina victims experienced utter devastation, perhaps for one minute we understood some of magnificent force of the water as the rain created a raging river (or at very least a furious stream) beneath our tent where it felt like we were sitting on puddles, and then more clearly on shifting waterbeds. I'm sorry my words can't do justice to the affect. But it was amazing. And truly unforgettable. Certainly, for my second camping experience, this weekend tops my list of memorable moments. Check out my friend's account ,(I'm actually not sure if that link will even work...but if it doesn't take you there, u should paste the link http://jkmoore.ath.cx/weblog/pivot/entry.php?id=914#comm, b/c it's worth the read.)
Aside from the storm, the delight of sharing life encircling a campfire, in the raw and not always hospitable elements, around a picnic table, and even confined in a conjested tent captivates me and invigorates my heart and soul. Sounds dramatic, doesn't it? Well, life definitely plays out in surprising and wonderful ways. Grace resides there too. Thank God!
5 comments:
Grace definitely is sitting that close to that many people for that long, and then wanting to commit to our Monday night get-together the next day. God must be giving us grace when I think of the fact that we all enjoyed our weekend(and want to do it again). It could have been worse, really. Everyone I tell our story to says something like "Wow. I bet you aren't going camping again any time soon." Or "No fights or annoyances after FIVE hours of practically sitting on each other's laps?!"
- Jewels said...
Wow Gracie, you are a certified camper now!
This is another kind of surprising thing. I stumbled on Juanito's blog a few months ago and even left a comment because he went to Celeryville, but he probably thought I was a stalker.
- Gracie said...
Yeah, Karla. U described the miracle for sure. So am I making reservations for our next planned camping trip?
Jewels, how fun that you already "knew" Juanito or at least found his blog. If I think of it, I'll mention your comment the next time I see him. You ARE kinda stalker-ish (j/k).
- karen said...
Wow! You linked to my blog! And called it worth the read! I think i'm going to have to go deflate my head for a while. I was all set to tell you to stop reading my blog, because you're all poetic and stuff...and i just blunder along in my writing.
I agree about the not annoying each other thing, though! I was thinking about that a couple of days ago, that i never felt annoyed at anyone even though we were trapped in a teensy space together for so long! It never even occured to me at the time to feel annoyed, and that in itself is pretty amazing. Totally grace.
By the way...Jewels! I remember you! Juanito and i had a discussion about whether or not you would have known my sister-in-law Ashley!
- Gracie said...
karen, i absolutely love ur writing. u're so witty and conversational and real. i love seeing ur kids and the miracles of family through ur eyes. that's why i love reading ur blog. (which may also explain why i comment frequently). so thanks for visiting here.
AND i think it's crazy (in the best way) that u remember julia!!!


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Winter with it's skeletonized trees provides glimpses into the woods not seen at other seasons, especially when there is a carpet of snow. Allowing the voyeuristic peeks at deer and turkey browsing within the fringes of the woodlot.
It provides a respite from the weekly mowing and weeding, but lacks the color and depth of texture offered by the other seasons.
Sitting by a woodfire with a cup of tea or glass of wine, good book or knitting in hand is a pleasure only offered by the winter chill beyond the glass.
An occassional walk in the snow or ski trip, bundled up against the cold is invigorating and spurs the sedentary body to activity.
Though I love these aspects of winter, it is my least favorite season. It always begins with a winding down of the holidays with family and friends, with deconstructing the seasonal decorations and putting them away for another year. And the dark brought on by the short days and long nights, the days of cloud cover that seem to far outnumber the days of sunshine is unmotivating and drab.
As it is going to be this way for the next 3 or 4 months, at least let it snow, real snow, not the dustings we have had so far.


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Siberian Blue Quartz is a joint effort of man and nature. This stone has a flawless nature and does not have any impurities.
I have had some trouble in sourcing this this item and some of the examples do have small chips in them, I have reflected the price accordingly.


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Northwest Specialty Floor Refinishing LLC is a Portland based company of started by Ray Nastasia (owner/operator/technician)and Marcel Kuettel (flooring technician). We have over 15 years of experience refinishing floors throughout the Portland metro area. We have a well established client base of wonderful fellow Oregonians and pride ourselves on our quality of work and our customer relationships. We do not use any subcontractors and the majority of our projects are started and finished in one day.
We are licensed with the Construction Contractors Board (CCB# 184089) and are also insured and bonded for residential and commercial projects. We offer free estimates and in most cases can quote jobs via e-mail given an accurate description of the area. The average residential kitchen refinishing job ranges between $175.00 to $350.00. What we feel to be a very reasonable price to pay to have your old dingy floors look like new again. To sum it up, I am a hard working father of three wonderful kids (two in diapers) and look forward to establishing many new clients and relationships throughout our community hopefully for many years to come.
Service Area
We service the greater Portland area including Multnomah, Clackamas, Washington, Tillamook and Benton Counties to name a few. We are willing to travel anywhere in the state.
Home >


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Unfortunately, in the world today, many people are subject to being ridiculed, especially if they are overweight. Being overweight is not a problem for some people, even if they are significantly overweight to the point where they've been told that their life depends on losing weight. Even if a person is not bothered by the comments that others make about their weight, they may want to consider what the weight is doing to their health. A dog is different than a person, and dogs will not be hurt by comments made about their weight, but the actual excessive weight in itself can hurt them.
A dog being overweight means that they may have a shorter lifespan, especially if the weight they have on them is excessive. Fat gathers around the heart, and it can become a problem for dogs that have other health issues besides their weight. If a weight problem is the only health issue that a dog has, then it's possible to manage their weight, help them to lose the weight, and they can become healthy again. Each dog, depending on their breed, height, size and more, will have an ideal weight that they should have for the type of dog they are.
If a dog has passed the weight limit for their size and height, then it's possible that the dog will be overweight, and the excess weight may keep them from doing things that dogs with regular weight can do. Dogs love to run around, and a dog that's overweight is going to run slower than a dog that's at its right weight. Although a pet owner may not see it as a bad thing if a dog runs slower than normal, it's a good idea to remember that the excess weight is never good for a dog or their health.
The first thing that has to be done is the dog needs to be put on a diet to start losing weight. Dog diets are no different than human diets, and cutting out calories is what will help them lose weight. It's also necessary to cut out any junk foods that a dog may be eating, and all junk foods come from humans who are giving it to the dog. Ensure that a dog gets a good dog food, such as Beneful Healthy Weight, and they'll be able to have a low-calorie food that helps them to lose weight.
Eating Beneful Healthy Weight on a daily basis will ensure that the dog gets the nutrition they need, but they'll also be losing weight on top of it. It may take months or even a year or more for the dog to safely get down to their ideal weight, but they will eventually get there if they continue eating Beneful Healthy Weight. Once the dog gets to their ideal weight they can maintain the weight loss by continuing to eat the same food, or they can gradually move on to another form of Beneful, but junk food needs to be cut out permanently.


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We strongly believe that having a strong team of partners is critical for business success.
Our clients from across Australia need assistance with different aspects of their business and we are building a database of partners to refer them to.
If you are a business adviser, export consultant, accountant, lawyer, digital agency or any other professional service provider we would love to work with you.
Referral Program
We are excited to launch our new referral program with generous terms for successful leads. Contact us below to find out more.


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I know I am prepared! I have my Label Lighthouse Starter Package! This comes with
- 24 clothing labels
- 12 shoe and bag labels
- 24 micro labels
- 24 clothing labels
- 12 shoe and bag labels
- 24 micro labels
• Washer and dryer safe
• Easy to use, just stick on to wash care label
• No need to iron-on or sew
I've already labeled the boys shoes and they stick on WONDERFULLY! So my See Kai Run's will not run away to someone else's home by mistake! And even if they do, they will find their way back to my boys' footsies!
So make sure you are stocked up for summer! Check out Label Lighthouse for affordable, quality labels!
WIN WIN WINLena from Label Lighthouse wants one buzz reader to receive a Super Pack of Stickins! Don't miss out on this wonderful opportunity! This is the SECOND time she has done a give-away on the Mom Buzz so show her some LOVE and support! Check out her site and enter this contest!
FIRST ENTRY: Visit Label Lighthouse and comment on one thing you learned from her site, not mentioned here.
To receive these extra opportunities for entries, you must fulfill the first REQUIRED entry. But for extra entries, you can:
- Add the Mom Buzz to your Twitter and Tweet the contest.
- Blog about the contest - add a link to the Mom Buzz and the Sponsor
- Add the Mom Buzz button to your site OR add the Mom Buzz to your blog roll.
- Subscribe to the Mom Buzz via e-mail or RSS feed. (See right sidebar)


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Working at Way Station
Our staff, working together, bring diverse experiences and commitment to high quality care and achieving exceptional results. When you work in a team-oriented environment like Way Station, it is understood that, together, we work hard and we play hard. We feature activities that not only support and enhance our team spirit, but are also a lot of FUN!


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Touch of Italy Remodeling/Excess Inventory Auction
Touch of Italy is remodeling and has excess equipment they are liquidating. A wide range of items include pizza oven, Hobart mixer, refrigeration, bakery/deli display cases and much more.
Began: 05/22/17 at 5:00 PM EDT
Ended: 05/30/17 at 11:00 AM EDT
Ended: 05/30/17 at 11:00 AM EDT
This sale features a gorgeous 60qt Hobart Legacy Mixer, beautiful Bakers Pride DS990 stacked pizza ovens, Henny Penny Computron 7000 Pressure Fryer w/self contained ventless hood, 48″ Captive Aire exhaust hood, Taylor & Wellspring Soft Serve machines, lots of reach-in refrigeration including glass door merchandisers, several bakery/deli/pastry cases, Hoshizaki 500lb ice machine and much more!
Restaurant Auction Company
22 N. Cameron St. Harrisburg, PA 17101


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Business Strategist Theodore Henderson Joins the New York Public Library's Money Matters Series: Learn the Ins and Outs of Building a Small Business in Six Sessions
May 26, 2015, 08:35 ET
NEW YORK, May 26, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Bestselling author and business expert Theodore Henderson provides the key ingredients to building a successful small business in his six-session series directed at entrepreneurs, business owners and professionals. Conducted at The New York Public Library, the sessions are on Tuesday evenings in May and June.
In partnership with McGraw Hill Financial, The New York Public Library is sponsoring a financial series called "Money Matters." As part of the series, Theodore Henderson, an expert in the area of leadership and management as well as an authority on cybersecurity, is conducting six sessions that focus on the details of establishing and managing a small business. Beginning with the essentials of becoming a business owner in the initial class, entitled "What It Takes to Be an Entrepreneur," the topics progress to sessions on the correct ways to choose and market a small business. The remaining three sessions, "Understanding the Numbers", "Putting It All Together," and "Presenting Your Business Plan with Power and Confidence" are on May 26, 2015, June 2, 2015 and June 8, 2015, respectively.
In "Understanding the Numbers," Theodore Henderson explores small-business finances, from cash flow to profits, while "Putting It All Together" is designed to guide entrepreneurs in developing a well-constructed business plan. Sessions are held at the Mid-Manhattan Library at 6:30 p.m.
With an overall goal of helping entrepreneurs become more financially literate and informed investors while protecting themselves from fraud and other financially detrimental actions, Theodore Henderson devised each session as a means to educate the general public as well. As Mr. Henderson says, "This is a tremendous opportunity to partner with the NYPL and McGraw Hill Financial to deliver information and strategies on entrepreneurship and small business to an audience . . . that is looking to transform their lives." The information he provides ensures sound business practices that can have a transformative effect on a business owner's financial life.
Theodore Henderson works with entrepreneurs, business owners, and managers in his capacity as a coach, trainer, and speaker to expand their leadership skills and experience improved success. He has over 20 years experience in technology sales and sales management as well as holding a Master of Business Administration. He is also the Amazon bestselling author of "The Wisdom Compass", the first in "The Wisdom for Business Series", as well as two books: "30 Smart Ways to Protect Yourself from Cyber Criminals" (eBook), and "9 Simple Strategies to Becoming A Strong Leader." (paper/eBook).
Theodore Henderson Author/Speaker THJ & Associates, LLC / Wisdom 4 Business Telephone: 888-994-3343 Email
Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150522/218157
Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150522/218158
SOURCE Theodore Henderson


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The rarity of Grime club nights in Berlin makes for the perfect excuse for jumping around in bouts of joyful excitement when one actually shows its nasty 140 nose amidst the usual sea of House and Techno nights. London party Jamz is going international and will be hitting Berlin's Chesters club on Friday the 11th and flying over for the occasion are Elijah&Skilliam, the bosses of bar-setting Grime label Butterz (one of the 10 labels to follow in 2014 according to Fact Magazine).
Elijah & Skilliam are the guys which are pretty much solely responsible for bringing Grime back from the dead, thanks to their incessant efforts as resident DJs on Rinse FM and the perpetually unwinding string of quality releases by the likes of Royal T, Flava D, Swindle, Champion and Terror Danjahon their label Butterz. Support on the night will come from Tuan:Anh and Minoto representing NBSB and Bass Gang as well as Zw:an and Yomerkz from Dresden crew Squelah409.
For an idea of what to expect from Jamz first incursion overseas, listen tothe London parties podcast and head to the Jamz soundcloud for some aural action.
simply comment with your name under the article and for more info head to the event page.


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Lancaster University
Furness Building
E-mail: Show email
Tel: +44 1524 592900
I work in bioinformatics, which I define very generally as anything that can be done on a computer and which is relevant to the biological sciences. In practice, however, most of my work over the years has been on sequence analysis with a minor component of network analysis. My main subject of study is viruses. As well as being fascinating in their own right, their relatively small genomes make them ideal subjects for bioinformatics.
Bioinformatics/phylogenetics (where relevant to virology). Theoretical systems biology (self-referential systems). Currently self-funded students only.
Currently active projects:
Media appearances: Over 200 broadcast media appearances on the subject of infectious diseases, particularly viruses, with Sky News Channel, BBC News 24, BBC radio (local and national), LBC, TRT World, France 24, al-Jazeera. Quoted in newspapers on countless occasions.
Editorial Board: Journal of General Virology
Herpesvirales Working Group: International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV)
Currently I teach on the following modules - also module convenor where underlined:
My first degree was in Genetics, and I began my scientific career as a molecular developmental biologist, in mammalian and amphibian systems, working at Imperial College School of Medicine in London. After post-docs in Quito (where I had the opportunity to work on the Andean marsupial frog, Gastrotheca riobambae), Warwick and Cambridge, I took up as position as Lecturer in Molecular Genetics at Liverpool John Moores University. During the end of my time in Cambridge, I became interested in how computers could be used for biology and while in Liverpool I completed the transition from the laboratory to bioinformatics, finally hanging up my labcoat for the last time in 1998. I then moved into the pharmaceutical industry for four years where I learned how to do bioinformatics on a large scale, mostly working on analysis of the Human Genome Project dataset. In 2003, I returned to academia at the old MRC Virology Unit in Glasgow (now part of the new MRC Centre for Virus Research), where I had the opportunity to build bioinformatics up virtually from scratch, at both hardware and software levels, and to learn a lot about viruses. I joined Lancaster University in September 2013, where media commentary has become a significant additional activity.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article
Research output: Working paper
Research output: Contribution to journal › Editorial
Press / Media: TV Interview/Appearance
Press / Media: Radio Interview/Appearance
Press / Media: Radio Interview/Appearance


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This page may contain affiliate links from our advertising partners. We appreciate it when you support Will Run For Miles by using our links.
When I flew on the Emirates A380 aircraft from JFK-DXB last month, I filmed the safety video with my iPhone. I was going to post it here, but I found a much better version on Youtube, so I'll spare you the buzz and crying babies, and post the one from Youtube!
As I wrote here, I was pleasantly surprised to be given a small amenity kit on the Emirates A380 flight, even though I was seated in economy class. No this isn't a fancy Rimowa, but it is perfect for coins, a few toiletries or wires. And I have 2 to give away.
(1) leave a comment below about your favorite amenity kit or your favorite amenity kit content or story; and
(2) on Twitter, tweet "Will Run For Miles @Katruns26point2 is giving away 2 Emirates Amenity Kits at http://willrunformiles.boardingarea.com"
(3) if you don't have Twitter (or if you're feeling particularly nice), you may like Will Run For Miles on Facebook, and share this post as appears on Will Run For Miles Facebook Page to your friends on Facebook.
You may post and tweet daily. Contest ends Friday, April 24th at 9pm, and a winner will be selected at random. Only US Residents please.
Editorial Note: The opinions expressed here are mine and not provided, reviewed, by any bank, card issuer, or other company unless otherwise stated.


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Ever seen an artist post a bunch of screen shots showing their progress as they create and finish their artwork? Ever wondered what happened between one screen shot to the next? Well, this is the tutorial for you! As the title suggests, I am going to give you some insight on how to "read" process shots as in how to determine what happened from one screen shot to the next.
I'll be using CypressDahlia's process shots but you should be able to take the advice I've given here and apply to other process shots. Now let's move on and start with the basics!
What Are Process Shots?
Process shots or progress shots as some call it, are a series of images showing the changes of an image as it is being created from start to finish. They include no text, instructions, or details as to what the artist did from one image to the next. Progress shots are generally done by artists who would like to share how they build up and make their art but do not have the time to type out a full step-by-step tutorial.
Why Should I Learn This Skill?
By being able to read other artists' progress shots, you'll be able to
a) learn an artist's process
b) improve your observation skills
c) learn new techniques, and
d) give better critiques
Not only that but once you know how to read progress shots, you'll basically be able to look at a finished work and guess what tools and techniques someone used to create their work and then use that on your own work. You may also infer the steps they went through to reach the finished art.
For some of you out there, this may come very easily to you because you're naturally observant but for others, read through this article and take the rules I mention to you at heart and learn this skill. It's very invaluable for you as an artist and it's another a great way to grow aside from always drawing or CGing on your own.
How to "Read" Process Shots
As I mentioned earlier, I'm going to be using CyrpressDahlia's process shots to explain how to read these babies. Take a look at his work first and try to see if you can tell what happened from one screen shot to the next. Did that? Good! Let's see if what you thought happened is correct.
The first several images are laying down the outline and base of the drawing. From each successive image, you'll see the lines being tightened and the shading being smoothed out. By the third image, you'll notice that it's half way cleaned up and by the fourth image, he's got it all smoothed and it even has highlights! The fifth image has the final smoothed out shading and it's ready to be colored.
Those are the obvious observations that anyone should be able to figure out regardless of whether you have an art background or not but to truly read a process shot, you'll have to be somewhat familiar with graphic software's and the tools that you may find in them. For example, based on the first image, what can you tell about the brush that he used?
If you don't know, it's that the brush is set at an opacity less than 100%. Those who've used a graphic software before will know that when a drawing tool is set less than 100%, it'll have an effect much like someone using markers and having the markers overlap. Part of the marker will stay a lighter color but for those parts that overlapped, they become darker than the original color.
Look again at the image above and try to see where there are instances of colors "turning" darker adjacent to them. This brings me to the very first and important Rule #1: Use and get to know a graphic software.
Without some semblance of knowledge or experience, you probably wouldn't have been able to figure that out. But, there may be one way you could have known and that would be because you did the next two rules on your own:
Rule #2: Take the time to look through each image thoroughly.
Rule #3: Ask yourself questions!
If you don't take the time to look through an image, you miss details. When you miss details, you miss the how's, where's, and why's. When you miss those, you'll miss out on possibly learning something new. Observation is key! It's a very useful skill to have when you're drawing from real life. It's also great to have when you're critiquing your own work or others. It may even push you to tighten up your lines, add more details to your characters, color better, and a whole host of other points you may not have "seen" before.
Similarly, asking questions is the key to disassembling progress shots, final works, and even before you put pencil to paper! Always ask yourself the why's, how's, where's and what's. Why is this and that there? How did they get that effect? Where does that lead to? What if they used this color palette instead? By asking questions, you can arrive at your answers and figure out how something was created.
When no answer is forthcoming, follow Rule #4: Get answers from the original artist or from other artists.
In this case, turn to the experts and ask how they did something. It would be best to ask directly from the horse's mouth, so to speak, but if that's not possible, ask other artists for their opinions. Worse comes to worse, no one will answer but from my experience, if you don't find out right away, you'll eventually come across someone or something (i.e. a tutorial, book, or other) that will explain it.
Learn these four rules by heart and I challenge you to take a look through CypressDahlia's progress shot again. See if you can figure out what tools he used and techniques he employed. For what it's worth, I'll let you know that he drew this in the Groupboard and he used GIMP for the coloring and effects.
How to Make Your Own Process Shots
To make your own process shots, you'll need a computer and a graphic software. Your computer should have a button on it called Print Scrn which is short for Print Screen. When pressed, a screen capture will be made of your desktop. For PC users, you'll have to paste this screen capture onto a graphic software like GIMP. Note: Make sure the new image you create is a large enough pixel size for you to paste your screen shot on. If the canvas size is too small, your image will get cut off! If you have a Mac, your screen shot should automatically save onto your desktop.
Keep taking screen shots of your work as you progress and keep saving them. Once you've completed your work and made the final screen shot, we're now going to edit the screen shots so it won't show anything but the image you were working on.
First, open up your graphic software and open all your screen shots. Select the crop tool on your tool box and drag and drop around your artwork. Adjust the edges if need be and then hit Enter. This should crop your image to just the area where your art is located. Repeat this process until you are done. Make sure you save all your individual screen shots if you haven't been doing so.
From here, you can go two ways. You may either a) post your process shots up individually as is, one after the other or b) put them together into one image file so they'll always be together. I would suggest doing option A if you're posting in a forum and option B if you're posting at a site like DeviantArt. For option B, you're going to basically create one long canvas and you're going to drag and drop or copy and paste each screen shot onto the long canvas. Move your layers where you want them, cut the canvas down or enlarge it if you need to, and when done, save your new file. Your final image should look like this:
Prac Castle progress by Mayshing.
Instead of tiling your screen shots from top to bottom, you may also opt to go from left to right and then go to the next line and repeat from left to right. It's up to you which way to want to go but if you're going to doing something different, make sure it's clear to viewers how to follow the progress.
I should also mention that some artists include the final image in the progress image while others do not and make separate files. Again, it's your choice what to do but keep it in mind if you're ever making one.
More Please
If you're interested in checking out more progress shots and testing your reading capabilities, check out more of CypressDahlia's works or visit art communities like DeviantArt and do a search. Even doing image searches in sites like Google will turn up some interesting images.
Lastly, feel free to share your own progress shots with us if you make your own!


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Today, CO Internet S.A.S. (www.COinternet.co), announced the launch plan for the .CO Founders Program, an initiative designed to help "first movers" proactively develop domains with the .CO extension prior to the public launch in July.
The .CO Founders Program is open to all interested applicants from individuals to businesses and big brands.
Applicants submit an application via www.COinternet.co/cofounders explaining the .CO domain they'd like to develop.. .CO Internet will then review the applications and will award domains, at their discretion.
What .co all about?
The suffix .co is universally recognized as an abbreviation for company. In fact, over twenty countries use .co as a second level domain name to depict just that, such as co.uk and co.jp. In a recent .co registry survey, 75 percent of respondents equated .co with "company", "corporation," or "commerce."
As a new domain, there are millions of great domains available. By participating in the Sunrise or Landrush period, you'll have first dibs on your preferred name to help develop or secure your brand online. Remember, .co is not a restricted domain – it is open to all.
Get in before the rush and reserve your name today with EnCirca. The Sunrise period for global trademark holders is from April 26th through June 10th and is followed by Landrush for anyone interested in .co from June 21st through July 13th.
To check out more about .co, visit EnCirca's .co domain page.


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one day at a time
Monday, 8 December 2014
New York City in the fall
It was wonderful being back in the city with some time to meet my friends Ben and Anthony and simply just to wander and soak up the atmosphere. It's always just a stop on the way to and from somewhere else.
Les Miserables was making, all I expected and more
A few Starbucks stops and a few purchases in the Black Friday sales that started on Monday!
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Jayne Mcclenaghan
Monday, December 08, 2014
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Device independent. No extension or plugin required. Use Trello anywhere and do not worry about time tracking.
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Response to Intervention Project (2008)
Posted: 13 July 2006
CHARLESTON, WV. More than 100 West Virginia teachers have
gathered in Charleston to become technology integration
specialists as part of the West Virginia Department of Education's
effort to incorporate 21st century skills into the classroom.
County students and faculty have been given the opportunity
to maximize their 21st Century Skills by means of the federally
funded Enhancing Education through Technology Grant. These
funds were used to purchase a digital visual presenter which
was paired with a laptop, interactive white board and projector.
Mary Beth Lambert utilized this technology with her 9-12
mathematics and physics classes. The digital visual presenter
allowed her to project student work onto the projector for
whole class instruction. The interactive white board responds
with a mere touch allowing students and teachers to manipulate,
draw, and work problems. She can create and save lessons
on the laptop and project them on the white board allowing
all students to participate.
course is being provided by a Benedum Foundation grant that
was awarded to ten high schools in the state. The grant
is managed out of the Office of the Governor under the direct
supervision of Nancy Sturm, Educational Technology Advisor
to Governor Manchin.
The benefits to this program to Pendleton County are:
High tech certified student computer repair technicians
in our high school
On-site computer repair facility located in our high school
Trained workforce to aid with high-tech projects
Student preparation for work after high school or high tech
major in college
School prepared to offer other Aries Technology subjects:
Network Essentials, Server Essentials, Wireless Essentials,
Student: "Pendleton
County High School, through its video distance learning
classes, has provided me with some amazing opportunities.
I have had the chance to take advanced classes and college
courses in which I've received one-on-one attention from
very competent professors.
"After taking College English and Calculus
though distance learning, I now feel capable of competing
with students from large schools and just as prepared
for college as they are. The distance learning program
is definitely a blessing for many students attending PCHS
in this rural area."
"After taking College English and Calculus
though distance learning, I now feel capable of competing
with students from large schools and just as prepared
for college as they are. The distance learning program
is definitely a blessing for many students attending PCHS
in this rural area."
Alternate Navigation System
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PO Box 888 108 Walnut Street
Franklin WV 26807
Phone (304) 358-2207 Fax (304) 358-2936
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Pendleton County Schools. All Rights Reserved.
Site created and maintained by Red
Eft Web Design and the Pendleton County Schools' IT Staff.
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Fitness Tips
Motivation may be a big issue from sticking using people's work out programs that keeps they. Lots of people don't really have much trouble signing up for gymnasium or a fitness class, however they do have trouble being consistent with their work-outs. There may be several reasons after you have been training for quite a while why motivation decreases, and you will find also various options. Listed below are some useful methods to help keep your motivation to follow aims and your fitness goals powerful.
There is lots of news and info on fitness, also it may be invaluable to stay mindful of what's going on. That is more easy than ever now. In the event that you like doctors or particular well-known fitness instructors, register for their email lists. See with pertinent sites often. Go off line also -locate out what magazines and fascinating novels on diet, nutrition and fitness are saying. This keeps you well informed on the newest studies and research in these disciplines. You can discover instantly in case you employ Google News alerts for your own chosen topic subject matter when information on a topic that is specific is released. Naturally, this advice that is a great deal of will not be be directly ardently related you. However it is going to help with motivation, as you will be constantly exposed to advice and all this fitness information.
An excellent way to keep inspired for fitness is really to make it an even more social experience. In the event that you can't in your geographical area, find a work out partner, satisfy people online who discuss your aims and objects. Locate a discussion board that's centered on the kind of goals you might have, whether it's decreasing your fat, bodybuilding, jogging, etc. You understand about new things might ask and reply to questions and meet people that share your goals. In addition, you will locate organizations and individuals that are keen on exercise and fitness . Regardless of this, hunt for ways


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When you see women in a Sexy high heels, wearing a pair of high heels is a roller coaster. You feel great and on top of the world. Then you feel pain and want to hide somewhere. High heels is a way of expressing a women's power. Business women from all over the world wear high heels on the job. The trick is finding a pair of sexy high heels that not only look aging but feel comfortable to wear.
Deciding what type of heels and how much to spend is always a tricky proposition. Heels come in a variety of sizes and it's important to see what feels best. The higher the heel the more difficult they can be to walk in.
Invest in quality high heels. This means quality materials. Suede lasts longer and it is much more comfortable for your foot if you intend to use for a lot of walking. Deal with the height of the heels. Shoes are considered heels when their height is about 3.5 inches high and above.
What do you think is the best size heel to wear? Everyone has their own likes and dislikes. Choose what's best for you.


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Performance Appraisal Form
Therefore, using a very comprehensive appraisal form that covers all areas of the employees normal duties will add so much to the morale of your staff.
Of course the appraisal form is just the first step. Now that the structure has been established it is your turn to complete the appraisal form with meaningful information that is fact based.
When I use the term fact based I am referring to information that the employee can relate to. If you use statements like, "John is an excellent employee" is nice but in the end doesn't really say much. On the other hand if you use a statement like, "John is the first one to volunteer when we are running short on staffing" will mean much more.
I have several excellent web pages on this site that can give you some great phrases to use.
Now on the other hand if your employee's is not doing so well then the appraisal needs to reflect just that. Don't give a bunch of positive fluff if the employee is not performing well. If you have to terminate them down the line as a result of poor performance and the appraisal, which is a documented record, states that they are fantastic it will be hard to explain to a judge when they sue you for wrongful discharge.
Our primary goal in using the performance appraisal is to report the facts about the employee's performance and to give that employee with meaningful feedback so that they can continue or improve their performance. Yes, this great tool can assist you in improving performance.
Thank you for reviewing this article on a Performance Appraisal Form - Return to a Performance Improvement Plan


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Australia holidays
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Accommodation rating: Luxury
Please call 020 7873 5000 for more information or to make a booking.
Alternatively, discover other hotels and what to do in The Whitsundays
ExceptionalTruly exclusive and exceptionally luxurious.
LuxuryVery high class accommodation with superb facilities and service.
Superior High standard accommodation, service and facilities.
Good StandardGood standard accommodation, service and facilities.
SimpleClean and comfortable with en suite bathrooms but limited facilities.
BasicVery modest with shared bathrooms and minimal facilities
The One & Only Hayman Island resort is an exclusive, tranquil retreat occupying the...
Located in the northernmost tip of Hamilton Island, qualia is the perfect base for...


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Your cart is empty.
Prepare meals at your campsite with the Texsport 5-Piece Aluminum Mess Kit, which is made of lightweight aluminum for easy transport. The 7" fry pan and 0.5 qt. boiling pot let you prepare a variety of dishes, while the 6.5" fry pan cover also doubles as a plate for serving. All of the pieces nest together for easy storage.


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"Gay is when there are two boys or two girls and they like each other like boys and girls like each other."
"Ohhhhh…" It took a minute for me to understand. "I thought it meant happy?"
"You understand what I'm saying, right? It could mean happy, too, but those kids weren't calling you happy." My Mom turned to go back into the kitchen.
"Are we supposed to hate gay people?" I asked because the voices I'd heard pointed, accused, poked and pinched.
She turned to face me again from the doorway. "Rhonda, what if your brother were gay, would you hate him?"
My mother knew I adored my big brother and would follow him around as long as he would let me.
"No, Mom, I love… I mean, why would I hate my brother for that?"
"Every person is your brother. Every person."
She went back into the kitchen and I went to my room to do homework.


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Peaceful Dragon School
T'ai Chi Ch'uan and Chi Kung
We offer self-care practices for your well-being and to reduce stress in your daily life. When you step into the safe, calm and joyful atmosphere of the school, you will feel welcomed.Sign up for classes
Ongoing ClassesThe Peaceful Dragon School of T'ai Chi Ch'uan and Chi Kung offers comprehensive learning in Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced T'ai Chi ...Read more
CertificationsThe Tai Chi Chuan Certification Track is approximately a 3.5 year process. Students can request an application after completing 1.5 years ...Read more
Private SessionsStudying privately or semi-privately (total 5 people) with Master Young has great benefits. For one, the opportunity to study with her ...Read more
WorkshopsThroughout the year Master Young presents workshops ranging from 3 hour intervals to a full weekend – to benefit local and ...Read more
WebinarsWe offer self-care practices for your well-being and to reduce stress in your daily life. To help you stay on ...Read more
The Tai Chi Experience
In today's fast paced and, at times, convoluted environment, I need a sanctuary where my surroundings are conducive to my journey. I value my spiritual as well as my physical well-being. As such, Tai Chi offers me an opportunity to pursue my quest under the guidance of masters and students alike.David Yamamoto
When I enter the form there is a suspension of time that allows me to touch the form that was, the form that is and a bit of the form that will become; both for me individually and in a collective sense. How cool is that!Karen Semenuk
This winter, after practicing Tai Chi for 8 months, I discovered a new, more poised way of navigating icy ground. Instead of taking tiny, tense, scared steps, my head is up, and I have a calm, measured pace. I feel balanced and confident and aware of each step and the ground beneath me.Sarah Ross
Pearls of Wisdom
Winter Spirit
Winter Spirit By Wasentha Young What are the energetic qualities and characteristics of Winter and how can you align, in harmony, with the spirit of this season? The season of winter – a yin force – requires us to go inward. In traditional Chinese medicine it is associated with the Water element; it's related organ systems […]
Just out – Professor Cheng Man-Ching's Design of the Yang Style Short Form
Master Young's article (8 pages) – Professor Cheng Man-Ching's Design of the Yang Style Short Form in this season's issue of Qi Journal.
Liberating the Emotion of Fear Exercise
Winter is the time when all moves inward (Yin). The element is Water; the organs that correspond to this phase are the Kidneys and Bladder; the emotion is fear. When out of balance you may find yourself less able to access your inner wisdom. Connect with the joy in your life to liberate the contraction […]
Harmony of Energy – Methods for Reducing Stress
We all experience stress – in one way or another. Here are a few methods in reducing physical, mental, and emotional stress. Neck release Care for the knees Stretch for the upper body […]
Yin Yang of it All – Part 2
Within both tai chi and chi kung there is an interplay of the mindful and the mindless. One cannot be totally mindful and we all know where being totally mindlessness can lead. Mindfulness is mechanics based; coordination, foundation, specificity in timing, intention, focus, letting go and force. Mindlessness is more of a flow, momentum, spacious […]
What is required is Deep Listening
We are often challenged to find balance (metaphorically as well as in physical and mental health). Whether you practice tai chi or chi kung remembering to breathe, feel your feet on the ground and embracing the meditation techniques in practice are tools that will help you to feel centered so's to "walk forward" in grace […]
Cultivating Chi 2
The previous video blog offered one way of cultivating chi to nourish the internal organs. Again, there is some kind of "action" necessary to cultivate chi. In what way does the Tai Chi form cultivate chi. In this video Master Young explains some of the mechanics used in the form that cultivates chi leading to the […]
Cultivating Chi 1
To cultivate chi requires an action. In many cases there are circular motions involved, sometimes imagery, and may involve movement. Here is one exercise in cultivating chi to nourish your inner organs. This exercise involves circular movement and visualization.
Removing Stagnation / Strengthening the Presence
(360 degrees Inspired by Lonny Jarrett) This video contains one technique for releasing downward. Afterwards use "Threading the Nine Holes in the Pearl" (found in the archive blogs on the peacefuldragonschool.com website) to open upward. Peace and love, Master Young (
Master Young's Lineage
Winter Spirit
Just out – Professor Cheng Man-Ching's Design of the Yang Style Short Form
Liberating the Emotion of Fear Exercise
Harmony of Energy – Methods for Reducing Stress
Yin Yang of it All – Part 2
What is required is Deep Listening
Cultivating Chi 2
Cultivating Chi 1
Removing Stagnation / Strengthening the Presence


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Copper Wand
Copper is an excellent conductor of energy on both the physical and spiritual planes. It magnifies and expands the energy of prayers, rituals, and magickal work. Copper also helps the practitioner tap into the Akashic records, and expands the vibration of the third eye during meditation.
The wand shape allows you to direct the energy more efficiently to a specific object or purpose.
5 inch length.
Only 1 left in stock


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Will I End Up Having to Pay My Parent's Care Home Fees?
If one or both of your parents is moving into a care home, it can be a very emotional and stressful experience. While you may feel reassured that someone will look after them at all times, round-the-clock care is expensive, and you might be afraid you won't be able to afford the costs.
How much will I have to pay for care home fees?
Your local authority will make a financial assessment, taking into account your parents' income (including pensions and benefits) and their total capital (house, savings, assets).
If you live in England, the current rules are:
- If the total amount is more than £23,250, your parents will be expected to pay all fees.
- If the total is between £14,250 and £23,250, your parents will have to pay £1 for every £250 of capital between these amounts.
- If the total is less than £14,250, your parents will receive the maximum support available for your local authority. Your parents will still have to contribute to their pension, minus £23.50 a week, which is safeguarded.
The good news is that these rules are expected to change soon. The government has announced plans to increase the maximum threshold from £23,250 to £123,000 and introduce a cap on care home fees of £75,000 by 2017.
For now and in the future, if your parents do not have significant savings, they will not have to pay for their care. Your parents may also be exempt from paying care home fees if they require continual medical help, have specific nursing requirements or have a terminal illness. If this is the case, the NHS will cover the cost of care. If you believe your parents are eligible, a medical assessment can help determine whether they are entitled to have their care costs covered.
The rules are complex, and it's often difficult to work out whether you, your parents, the government or the NHS should be paying for your parents' care. The best way to be sure is to speak to us. We'll help you understand your position, what you need to pay and how much, and your payment options. We're here to support you while you support those you love.
For more information or a copy of our free guide to Paying for Care Home fees, please call us now on 01273 604123 about how to protect your inheritance, email us at firstname.lastname@example.com fill out our enquiry form or come in and visit us in our Brighton, Worthing, East Grinstead or arrange a meeting in our London office.
Return to help with Supporting Ageing Parents
This note is general comment. Don't forget you need to take advice specific to your circumstances before acting or deciding not to act.


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On balance, Obama's foreign policy has done more harm than good
|Voting Style:
|Open with Elo Restrictions
|Point System:
|Select Winner
|2 years ago
|Post Voting Period
|2,571 times
|Debate No:
This is the final round of the November Beginner's Tournament. Congrats to my opponent for making it here, and good luck!
All words are assumed to have their common definitions, and the meanings of "harm" and "good" ought to be defined based on who has the best framework for this argument.
R1 is for acceptance only.
No new arguments in the last round.
Other than that, how you use your 10,000 characters is up to you (barring silly things like posting a link to a Google Doc with 20 pages of extra argument).
The BoP is shared.
I look forward to an exciting debate.
Introduction: First, I would like to thank 1harderthanyouthink for his can-do attitude and making sure that the debaters took initiative in this tournament. Despite many forfeitures, he was able to carry on efficiently and without fault. Kudos to you. Secondly, I would like to congratulate SolonKR on making it to the final round of this tournament! Hopefully this debate does not descend into chaos but remains on a level of intellectual discourse. May the best debater win!
Framework: A "good" foreign policy, or a foreign policy that does "harm" can be interpreted in many ways. My perspective is built on the foundations of outreach in the world community. In contention with my opponent's views on a "good" foreign policy, I suggest that "good" should mean that countries around the world who have had interactions with the United States should be improved in some way, given chances to alleviate current predicaments in their country, or dealing with enemies of the state in a peaceful yet blunt fashion. When these three things, collectively or individually, are achieved by the foreign policy of the United States, then our foreign policy has done "good" and we can safely say that we are a contributing factor in world affairs. I would ask voters to take into consideration the outlinings of "good" from both sides and weigh them in their logic and applicability to the cases proposed.
Iraq: President Bush, created a situation that President Obama inherited which has led some to assume that Obama is the one to blame for circumstances in the Middle East. For instance, the conflict in Iraq. It was Bush's foreign policy that spearheaded the invasion of Iraq, and it was clearly the act of Obama's foreign policy that withdrew troops in 2011 (1). In comparison, Bush's ideal of an adequate foreign policy was to invade other nations to enforce american will, while Obama took a cautious approach and tried not to make the wrong moves, therefore the harms of Bush's foreign policy outweigh those of Obama's. For Obama to be blamed wholly for the now ensuing conflict in Iraq would be a misguided accusation; Obama did not cause the situation because it was not on his orders that the U.S. wrongly invaded the nation of Iraq. As the president who inherited this situation, it was his job to resolve it with little to none problems, and he succeeded. At every turn in the Iraq war, the U.S. devoted time, money, and equipment to the Iraqi military forces. In the Bush campaign in Iraq, a total of $26 billion was spent on U.S. aid to Iraq. Some outlets of this donated money include training ($1.32 billion), supplying the Iraqi military with aircraft, boats, tanks, armored personnel carriers, and other gear ($3.4 billion), and providing military, logistical, and maintenance support for the Iraqi military ($2.6 billion). After billions spent on training and improving the efficiency and capabilities of the Iraqi military, we accomplished one face of our multi-faceted foreign policy; giving not only chances but the capabilities to alleviate predicaments in Iraq to the military and government (2). Knowing how much money had been spent on military training, equipment, and the war as a whole, Obama did withdraw troops from Iraq. When the U.S. departed from Iraq, we did not leave the country defenseless; we had spent the last eight years spending billions on training and equipment to increase the wartime capabilities of the Iraqi military. In conclusion, when you look at the tangible evidence I have provided, withdrawing troops from Iraq was the reasonable thing to do at the time; the Iraqi military had been armed and trained extensively. It was not an error of the Obama administration, but an error by the Iraqi administration for not having the initiative to expand upon the training and equipment to form a capable fighting force. Obama had seen that they had the tools to utilize in the alleviation of conflict, and made the decision to withdraw.
Economic Isolation: A noteworthy aspect of the Obama administration's foreign policy has been the economic isolation and sanctioning of countries around the world that pose a threat to the U.S. itself and its allies. Instead of invading countries and trying to enact our will by brute force, Obama has greatly impeded the economies of enemies of state, and the economy is the lifeline of a country. A major part of Obama's foreign policy has been aimed at dealing with Iran. The threat they pose is based off of two things: Their hostilities with Israel, and their ambition to acquire nuclear weapons, which existentially poses a threat to the U.S. (we are allied with Israel). Our reaction to the ambition and hostilities of Iran has been one bearing a cool and calculating manner. What Obama has gotten right is that we cannot approach threats abroad with brute force, but we should instead aim to cripple the essential lifeline they need to run their country, in order to lessen the posed threat. The Council on Foreign Relations (3) states that, "Under the 2011 Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act (CISADA), foreign-based financial institutions or subsidiaries that deal with sanctioned banks are barred from conducting deals in the United States or with the U.S. dollar," and, "Prior to 2012, oil exports provided half the Iranian government's revenue and made up one-fifth of the country's GDP; its exports have been more than halved since." The following graph supports evidence of the utter crippling of the oil industry by American sanctions (3):
Instead of instigating armed conflict or starting warfare of any sort, Obama has aimed at crippling the economy of Iran so that they are aware of the circumstances that they face and they discontinue their previous acts of attempting to proliferate nuclear weapons of mass destruction and the funding of terrorist organizations abroad. By targeting the oil industry, which before accounted for one-fifth of the country's GDP, and making Iran an outsider economically in the world community, they were hard pressed for economic growth and could not find anyone to deal with them. Using these methods, the Obama administration coerced the Iranian government into agreeing to a historic deal (4) that leaves little to no room for Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon, let alone the materials. All things considered, Obama succeeded in performing one crucial facet of the U.S. foreign policy; dealing with enemies of the state in a peaceful yet blunt fashion.
Overview: I would ask voters to judge solely upon the cases proposed and their entireties, and nothing else. Each case should be analyzed heavily for the values, criterion supplied, and the good and bad of case should be weighed to form the best conclusion. I have provided tangible evidence and clear reasoning to prove that Obama's foreign policy has done more harm than good, and I will provide more evidence for my case in the rounds to come.
Conclusion: Once again, I would like to thank my opponent for extending his arguments due to Christmas, and I hope that this debate flows smoothly from here on out. Thank you to my mentor YYW for giving me the foundation to produce my case. I hand it over to you Pro!
I hid some sick humor in this, yo. This round is a bit shorter, but I decided based on the loss of a round to not bother with extending the argument beyond the Middle East; after all, it is the most volatile situation and the biggest threat to national security at the present time.
Framework: I proposed that good foreign policy produces situations favorable to the US in foreign countries, and Con has proposed that good foreign policy should help build up foreign countries/stabilize countries/deal with enemies peacefully. The principles that guide each of Con's assertions contradict each other, especially the idea of dealing with enemies while somehow building them up. Stabilization is also contradictory to dealing with enemies. Even Obama's policies of sanctions are meant to destabilize enemies, through degradation of their economies. So, I must assume that the building-up and stabilization of nations only applies to allied or neutral nations in Con's framework. This means that Con's framework has no conflict with my own, as building up allies is one way to produce favorable conditions (think back to the Marshall Plan, for example). That only leaves "peaceful yet blunt" as a contradiction. Con provided no justification for why foreign policy must always be peaceful--off the top of my head, I can think of at least the Korean War, the arms race of the 80's, and the first Gulf War as examples of militaristic actions that made conditions better in foreign areas for the US--South Korea is a strong ally, the USSR went broke, and Kuwait continues to be a strong US ally as well.
Iraq: I never blamed Obama for the war in Iraq; clearly, I established, "for a policy to be a failure of Obama's, it must be something that Obama had the capacity for changing while in office." Con has not challenged this framework. Now, the resolution weighs the harms and good of Obama's foreign policy in itself, not as opposed to Bush. If it did, I would have lost this before it even started. Con states "the harms of Bush's foreign policy outweigh those of Obama's", but this is irrelevant to the resolution. I never stated that Obama should be blamed wholly for the current state of Daesh, but that does not mean that he shouldn't be blamed at all or even mostly.
"As the president who inherited this situation, it was his job to resolve it with little to none problems, and he succeeded." "In conclusion, when you look at the tangible evidence I have provided, withdrawing troops from Iraq was the reasonable thing to do at the time; the Iraqi military had been armed and trained extensively. It was not an error of the Obama administration, but an error by the Iraqi administration for not having the initiative to expand upon the training and equipment to form a capable fighting force."
This analysis is half true. Yes, the excesses of the Iraqi government made it easier for it to nearly collapse. However, the US did not have to support this development. Doug Bandow at The National Interest writes:
"like its predecessor it also intervened too much rather than too little. For instance, President Obama continued to back Iraq's Maliki government despite the latter's sectarian excesses. That commitment left Washington with little leverage to press ruling Shia politicians to make concessions to disaffected Sunnis" (1).
The amount money spent on them is irrelevant. It's how that money is used. To appeal to the hip youth on this site, for example, our government spends hella cash on healthcare, but we ain't got rhythm to show for it. Obama should have known whether or not we had progress to show for our spending, and he miscalculated.
Economic Isolation: I do not contest that economic intervention is on balance a good plan. But, in weighing the impacts, the good created by this is minute. We got Iran to agree to a nuclear deal based on sanctions, I agree. However, Iran will, as the deal illustrates, act in their own self-interest. Whether or not they have a bomb is relatively irrelevant, for the same reason that it doesn't matter that Pakistan has nukes--they will never use them, as they, being a rational entity, will adhere to MAD. The Iranian government will not hand the nukes over to terrorists for that same reason.
1. http://nationalinterest.org...
On Frameworks
The Middle East
"In early 2013, Obama asked Brennan to lead the C.I.A. The President appointed as Brennan's deputy Avril Haines, a National Security Council lawyer who had worked on drone-strike rules and operations. The number of drone strikes carried out in Pakistan fell. Since Brennan became C.I.A. director, according to the data compiled by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, there has not been a single documented civilian casualty, child or adult, as a result of a drone strike in Waziristan."
"According to former Obama Administration officials, the C.I.A.'s Counterterrorism Center, which oversees the agency's drone operations, generates an after-action report, which includes an assessment of whether there was collateral damage. The center has a specialized, independent group that conducts post-strike investigations. The investigators grade the performances of their colleagues and bosses—not exactly a recipe for objectivity. But it seems clear that, over time, the Administration's record improved significantly in avoiding civilian casualties……. In 2008, the last year of the Bush Administration, at least one child was reported killed in a third of all C.I.A. drone strikes in Pakistan, according to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism—a shocking percentage, if it is accurate. In Obama's first year in office, the figure was twenty per cent—still very high. By 2012, it was five per cent." (3)
As seen in the quote above, Obama has in fact done something to reduce the amount of civilian casualties, child or adult. A change in administration may not seem like a big improvement, but because of the change there has been a massive improvement in collateral damage from the drone strikes that my opponent never fails to bring to light. There is clear and tangible evidence that the civilian casualties in drone strikes has significantly improved under the presidency of Obama.
My opponent's claims that Obama "let" ISIS take over swaths of land in Iraq and the surrounding Iraq is also incorrect. The U.S. military had severed military involvement to the bare minimum in the area and we were not ready to put ground troops once again to fight a futile war. It was not unwillingness on Obama's part to act upon the growing threat of ISIS, it was a feeling of deja vu that kept him from engulfing the United States into another trillion dollar quagmire. Once again, it was not just a campaign promise that led Obama to pulling troops out of Iraq, it was the fact that we gave Iraq the needed tools and training to alleviate any crises that might arise.
Arab Spring Arguments
Libya and the dictatorship of Qaddafi had long been a thorn in the side of the U.S., since we were allied with them. For a country so supportive of human rights and pro democracy throughout the world like the United States, Qaddafi's regime gave us a blemish on our relatively clean sheet of foreign policy. According to A Guide To Countries of The World (4), "Qaddafi was assisted by "revolutionary committees" who controlled most institutions, including the media….. Human rights abuses rang from arbitrary arrests and torture to extra-judicial executions and disappearances…… In the past he (Qaddafi) has used Libya's oil wealth to bankroll a range of guerilla groups from the PLO to the IRA." This evidence shows how much the actions of Qaddafi's regime during that time but a blemish of the foreign policy record of the U.S., and what influenced Obama's decision in the years to come.
In the Arab Spring pro-democracy uprising in Libya, Obama saw an opportunity, albeit a risky one, but an opportunity for a democratization accomplishment nonetheless. Therefore he acted in the favor of the rebels in the hopes that they would be able to overthrow Qaddafi and form a democratic government favorable to the U.S. and the world community. If the democratization had not failed in its infant stages, Obama would have been praised for years to come for the birth of a pure democratic nation in Libya. It was not instinct or a lack of evidence and blind notions that made Obama intervene, but another motive behind the scenes for another democratic nation in the Middle East.
In response to Syria, my opponent's claims are invalid. Interventionist policies might have worked in the favor of Libya, but Syria was another ball game. A policy of intervention in order to produce "situations favorable to the United States" cannot be used for one and all nations around the world, and Syria is a perfect example of that. My opponent refuses the need for adaptability in the foreign policy of the United States, and used two different events to base his claims off of, which were different on multiple levels. What my opponent can say in hindsight is that we should or should not have acted in these situations. He does not acknowledge that Obama was a bit reluctant to intervene in Syria after the resulting collapse of the Libyan democratic government. Nobody can be sure that intervening or not will result in a democratic nation or a situation that is favorable to the United States. One important asset of Obama's foreign policy has been his reluctance to act in many questionable situations following Libya. Sometimes in order to prevent nations from worsening in relations with the U.S., abstinence is key.
Firstly, I would like to note that a large portion of my rebuttal was sourced from one of my opponent's own sources. Secondly, I would like to point out to voters that everything my opponent said about the crises in the Middle East has been in complete hindsight, and he did not take into consideration the intricacies the situations posed at the present. Lastly, nothing my opponent provided in his arguments has deviated from the middle east, which does not encompass the entirety of Obama's foreign policy. Therefore I stand with my claims that Obama's foreign policy has done more good than harm. The events in hindsight are of lesser importance compared to the actions performed at the present.
Allow me to start with the most succinct rebuttal: Con's stance makes no sense. The presence or absence of the word "dealings" is semantics, I could say "a good foreign policy should logically produce situations favorable to us in other states through our dealings with them", and it would mean exactly the same thing as without the last five words. "Dealings" is implicit with any foreign policy, as any foreign policy, shockingly, makes conscious decisions about how they will deal with other nations. The rest of his first paragraph is a non-sequitur; there's no logical connection between the necessity of having different policies toward different nations and the "favorable situations" criterion's inadequacy. Producing favorable situations, indeed, requires different responses to different nations.
W.r.t. the second paragraph, I'm glad Con clarified his position… except that he has still given us absolutely no reason to accept his framework over mine, simply spouting opinions like "[Pro's framework] ignores the inner workings of [foreign policy] and only scratching the surface." Yet, they have no legs to stand upon.
My example of conflict is not irrelevant, because it clearly demonstrates that Con's interpretation of a good foreign policy has no basis; we have effectively dealt with our enemies in forceful ways before. Con simply has no ground to stand on when he says that foreign policy is good when it does X, Y, and Z; furthermore, the resolution is about whether Obama's foreign policy has DONE good, not whether it's a foreign policy that can be considered good based on abstract qualities, which is my opponent's interpretation. My framework provides this, as "good" means "producing favorable situations in other states". Meanwhile, the only substance Con has provided to his framework is that "countries around the world who have had interactions with the United States should be improved in some way, given chances to alleviate current predicaments in their country, or dealing with enemies of the state in a peaceful yet blunt fashion." We're given no reason why this is the case.
The Middle East
The excuse that Obama had hard decisions to make is ridiculous; again, the resolution is whether his foreign policy has done harm or good, "toughness" aside. That would be like absolving pre-LIncoln presidents of the blame for the Civil War because the slavery created a tough political problem.
W.r.t. drone strikes, Con hasn't substantiated his claim that drone strikes save lives in the long run, and I also never said that civilian casualties weren't lowered. For the rest of this, I need only quote things I've already said. "While drone strikes have been improving in their precision, between 10-20% of drone strike deaths are civilians (3). The damage has already been done. In Pakistan, where arguably the first major drone campaign took place, more than half of Pakistanis view the US as an enemy (2)." "There are two ways in which these negative consequences could have been avoided. One, the US could have "investigated reported errors and compensated survivors, as the U.S. military has done routinely since 2005 whenever it mistakenly kills civilians in Afghanistan." (2). Two, it could have kept a larger number of troops on the ground. The withdrawal from Iraq in particular, which Obama made no efforts to renegotiate, allowed ISIS to rapidly spread, taking over major cities in the country (4).His unwillingness to fill the power vacuums in the Middle East set us up for another terrorism crisis." My counterplan was completely dropped, so my argument stands permanently. His statistic about Brennan and the casualties in Waziristan is misleading for the reason that there are places in the world that aren't Waziristan. I already showed that civilian deaths didn't magically poof away in my opening argument. With regards to the second quote--which, again, I already acknowledged--shinier poop is still poop. Drone strikes are poop, as I have shown.
With regards to Obama letting ISIS arise, he clearly miscalculated. It doesn't matter what his motivations were at the time; he still clearly made the objectively wrong decision, because the collapse of Syria and the near collapse of Iraq did happen on his watch. We're debating consequences, not whether or not he had good intentions.
Arab Spring
"Libya and the dictatorship of Qaddafi had long been a thorn in the side of the U.S., since we were allied with them. For a country so supportive of human rights and pro democracy throughout the world like the United States, Qaddafi's regime gave us a blemish on our relatively clean sheet of foreign policy."
With regards to Syria, my opponent doesn't say why my claims are invalid, other than the "Obama was reluctant." Again, we're arguing consequences, and the consequences of his action were great harm, as I showed.
I don't see what the point of his first thought is. W.r.t. the second thought, that's irrelevant to the resolution; what happened is all that matters. W.r.t. the last thought, I wasn't aware that this is a gish gallop and I'm required to list terrible things he's done in every single country. My opponent had every opportunity to list some good that Obama did, but he spent the entire debate simply trying to minimize the presentation of the harms rather than advance positive arguments, and that's his problem. Just because I didn't mention countries like Russia or China doesn't mean there weren't mistakes made there; to claim that just because I didn't mention anything outside the Middle East, the rest of the world is perfect thanks to Obama is silly. I focused on the Middle East because it's the most important.
Obama made blunder after blunder in the Middle East, and I've clearly demonstrated that his foreign policy has done more harm than good. Thanks to my opponent for this debate.
And let that be a note to all.
|Who won the debate:


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Skyline Roofing & Sheetmetal have been a retailer of Fair Dinkum Sheds since 2003. The business was established in 1984 as a specialist commercial and industrial roofing company and grew to include it's own sheetmetal workshop by the mid-1990's. Today the business employs 30 people.
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After almost two years of grinding it out, I finally did it.
I am making money. Not just lunch or beer money.
Real, livable money.
My goal was to match my old monthly salary at the time I quit my job. As you can see in the above graph (screenshotted in early June), I did it starting in April.
Sure I was making money before that, but it was a little bit here and there. Puttering along until — BOOM! I became a full fledged businessman selling online services AND making more than enough money to live off of here.
I even started SAVING again.
Now, I will show you how to make money from your online business.
How Did I Do It?
Instead of being coy and secretive like most entrepreneurs, I will TELL ALL how I have done it.
Step by Step.
STEP 1: Find a Niche To Provide Services To
Your service needs meet three criteria to be a suitable location independent business.
1. 100% Online
A business like lawn service fails the first criterion, because you need to be present at one location. Even if you delegated everything to your underlings, you still need to be there in case of emergencies.
Web development, software development, consulting, graphic design, freelance writing, copywriting, accounting, internet/affiliate marketing, niche blogging, or even professional poker are examples of things that can be done from anywhere in the world.
2. Has Existing Market Demand
Before investing too much time chasing leads or clients, you want to test the demand for your service first.
The market must be hungry. If the service is worth a lot of money to them, it is in high demand and they will hire you.
But if the supply of services exceeds demand, the market is saturated. This is true for product-based businesses, too. There is no worse feeling than pouring months of time and thousands of dollars into a product or service, only to learn that nobody wants it.
3. Competition Is Beatable
By "beatable", I mean you are not up against guys like Amazon or Facebook. Find a market wherein if you only get your skills and SEO up to being better than 70% of your competition, you would make money.
If you have some skills you accumulated through your life, and can do them better than most people — check to see if there is real value in those skills.
You don't have to be the BEST. There's always someone better at it than you, or someone doing it much longer than you have. Instead, aim to be in the top 30%, which is plenty good enough.
My suggestion is to do some pro-bono work for the first 2-3 clients, get testimonials and feedback on how to improve. Get a mentor or two to help you as well.
STEP 2: Create a Personal Brand
To create a personal brand, you need a vision.
Ask yourself:
What is your vision?
Hint: it cannot be about you. It has to be about other people. If your answer involves something other people really want, and you are the one to happily give it to them, then you've got something.
Next, write a mission statement about what you do for other people and how you are uniquely positioned for that mission. Without this, you're just wasting time spinning your wheels.
Finally, identify your business values. Just like the mission statement, I cannot understate the importance of this step. I know this sounds like corporate-speak where HR constantly beats "company values" over everyone's heads during a lunch-and-learn. But this is about how you want others to view your business. Your values will make up your "voice" — or brand — within your niche.
In other words, you become your brand.
Think about these questions:
– How do you want your customers or clients to see you and your business?
– How do you want to set yourself apart from your competition?
– What character traits are you most proud of when providing a service to others?
For example, my values are transparency, integrity and reliability.
I am transparent in my dealings with clients. I tell them prices upfront. I also show my work and how I do it. I don't try to upsell my customers on shit they don't really need.
I would rather turn down a project no matter how lucrative it is, than to deliver sub-par work. If a customer asked me to do things I know I could not deliver in quality, I tell the truth and offer to help them find someone else who would be a better fit.
I deliver when I say I would deliver. I never miss deadlines. And if you are my client, and you send me an email, you can be assured 100% that I will respond to it. Whether it be in 10 minutes, or two days if I need to think about it, you will get a response.
So I built my business around these three values — transparency, integrity and reliability. Everything I do in my business reflects these values.
And it does not go unnoticed. Some of my client testimonials actually use these words, or variations of, because I've already internalized these values and conducted my business in this way.
This tells me people want to work with you not because you're the best and most qualified, but because they feel you are trustworthy and reliable. I, for one, would never pay someone I did not trust, even if they are perfectly capable.
STEP 3: Build Your Business
Now this is where you actually move from the intangible ideas, values, and mission statements — into building the tangible parts of your business.
Every online business needs a website. But don't just cobble something together with a cheap or free theme. It will look cheap and unprofessional. Your website needs to look like a million bucks. More importantly, it needs to look like you've been doing this for years.
If you're not technically inclined, I suggest hiring a web developer to do it for you — or use either SquareSpace or WIX. If you don't mind getting a bit technical, you can use WordPress with a premium theme and its plugins.
Here are a few things you need for your website:
Logo: Make sure you get a good logo for your business. Hire a graphic designer. Don't cheap out by going with Fiverr or Upwork. Frankly, a $5 logo looks exactly like a $5 logo.
Content: At minimum, make a nice Home page with About and Contact pages. If your service has sub-services or sub-niches, make a page for each. Your home page should not be too text-heavy. Keep it clean and simple, but informative enough to see what you're all about in less than 10 seconds.
Responsiveness: More people use mobile devices than desktop computers to browse the internet. Make sure your website is responsive enough to display correctly in all mobile devices. Luckily, this is built into WordPress and SquareSpace. At worst, you may only need to install a couple of plugins, and you're set.
Testimonials: Testimonials are important for service businesses. Rarely does a person spend thousands of dollars on an unproven service provider without any reviews. If you have testimonials, show them with pride.
Portfolio: If it's applicable, show work samples on your online portfolio as well. A must for graphic designers, writers, and even coders (Github).
SEO: This is so important that I discuss it in it's own section later in this article.
Getting Leads
Before you try to to get cold leads or organic traffic, start by telling your "warm" leads about your new business:
1. Announce your new venture with your family and friends.
2. Offer some free or pro bono work in exchange for a glowing testimonial. For example, revamp a friend's website for free. Help someone with on-page optimization for SEO.
3. Once you exhaust your warm leads, move on to your network of professional connections you've built throughout your career. Tell them about your new business and offer your service, as in steps #1 and #2. Just make sure there are no conflict-of-interest issues if you're still working full time.
4. By the time you've gone through all of your warm leads, you should have at least a few testimonials and even made a little money. Now it's time to go cold. This is the hard part.
The first thing I will tell you is do not buy or use email lists. Despite what list companies tell you, lists are shit for many reasons: people change email addresses all the time, they change jobs, lists aren't quality controlled, every other marketer spams those lists too, etc…
The quality of a list sours faster than a carton of milk left out in the sun.
You could actually ruin your domain by mass emailing a poor quality list. Your email provider may blacklist your domain or even shut you down completely.
Instead, follow these steps:
How to generate cold leads and convert them
1. Create landing pages with an email opt-in.
2. Write lots of content.
3. Make it easy for people to find your content by weaving a web of links within your website.
4. Optimize your content around your keywords for SEO.
5. Create social media accounts and promote your content there.
6. Use LinkedIn to search and filter for likely qualified prospects, and personally reach out to them.
7. Cold contact your leads — whether by phone or email. Personalize! Do not mass email, or spam with the exact same template.
8. Follow up, follow up, follow up! Most people give up after one ignored email. But if you follow up twice or three times, about a week or so apart, you get your name in people's minds.
9. If you can, attend networking events like trade shows, after-work happy hours, or wherever your prospects are most likely to hang out. A contact made in person is more likely to answer your email or phone call afterward than someone you've never met.
TIP: Use a web-based CRM tool like Salesforce to manage your contacts, email templates and scheduling/automating follow-ups.
Side note: I also use my CRM to keep track of my paid projects and other tasks… it is a great productivity tool.
For a list of productivity tools to run your business efficiently, save time, and make more money — go to the Expat Tools page.
How To Take Advantage of SEO
This is a huge topic that deserves its own post, so I will just cover the basics of what I've done for my own business. Basically, you have to do what Google wants.
Domain Name: Use a domain name that best matches the keywords of your business. This is a little hard to do because many generic domain names have been snapped up already, so you have to get creative. But don't think too far outside of the box. You don't want to invent new keywords, because people won't use them to find you.
Keyword Research: Use a keyword research tool to see how people are searching for your service. Don't skimp on this step. It's worth spending money on because you can see what specific keywords people are using to search for your service.
Content Creation: Make it easy for people to find your content. Sounds simple, but it's not. When we create content, we tend to just post and pray. What you should do is link each piece of content to other pieces of content, and vice versa. Make sure your visitors don't have to click more than twice to access any piece of content.
Yoast SEO Plugin: If you use the Yoast SEO plugin on WordPress, make sure the most important pages are green. The pages you want people to find and visit — and the ones you intend to make money off of — make sure they are green or they won't rank.
Mobile Optimization: Optimize your website for mobile users with Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP). This is a new thing, as I just found out earlier this year. Google's directive is to boost search rankings for AMP pages. So if you want higher rankings for your site, create AMP for all your pages.
YouTube: Create YouTube videos about your business and embed them into your website. YouTube is a SEO powerhouse. Make a few videos about your business, write some meta descriptions with your keywords, and embed your videos onto your website. Pages with video content are more likely to rank higher than pages without.
SSL: To appear serious and trustworthy, your site should be secured through SSL. Google has a preference for secured websites. If your website's URL does not begin with "https", get an SSL certificate and install it on your website. Depending on your hosting provider, you might be able to get it for free or for a small fee. Read more about it here.
STEP 4: Develop a Process
Every business has a process. A process consists of your daily routine, the tools you use, and how you run your business most efficiently. Without this process, you're just fucking around and your business is more likely to fail.
So how do I develop a process?
Choose a Routine and Stick To It
First, choose a routine that works best for you, and fit your work into the time of day when you are most alert and productive. This takes a little experimentation on your part, but you should find it in no time.
To give you an idea of what running a location independent business is like, here's my daily M-F routine:
8:00 am – wake up and make coffee
8:30 am – reply to emails and do administrative tasks if needed
10:00 am – gym
11:30 am – lunch
12:00 pm – work
6:00 pm – next day's task planning
6:30 pm – dinner
7:30 pm – do whatever (chill at home, go on dates, bang chicks, hang out with the guys, watch movies, surf the internet and post on this blog)
12:00 am – sleep
Here are two things about this schedule that works best for me:
1. I like to get the busy work, emails and other admin tasks out of the way early in the morning, clearing the way for me to focus on the actual work between noon and 6pm.
2. I think it's a good habit to spend 30 minutes planning the next day's tasks the evening before, so I could hit the ground running the next day. It prevents me from wasting precious time screwing around as I try to decide which tasks I should start doing first.
Don't Do Busy Work
Busy work keeps you busy and makes you feel good about working. But it doesn't actually make you money. Busy work is just that — busy work. Take a hard look at what you're doing and ask yourself if it is really going to make you money.
Limit Your Hours
Ideally you do not want to work more than 5 or 6 hours a day. If you're slaving away 10-15 hours a day, your health and productivity will suffer. Many entrepreneurs have burned out this way. Don't be one of those guys.
If you limit yourself to only 5-6 hours of work a day, that forces you to focus on what's most important. You'd be shocked how much you'd get done and how fast you'll make money.
Automate or Outsource Administrative Tasks
I use accounting and invoicing software that links to my business bank account, so I don't have to manually enter all my transactions. It automatically scans my bank account and imports transactions as they occur, so I don't really have to do anything.
I hire a CPA to do my taxes and keep track of my filing documents, so I don't have to worry about it at all.
For anything else I feel is menial, I outsource to a VA.
Get Paid
Well, duh.
It's very important to have a reliable payment system that allows you to accept credit and debit cards — not PayPal!
I send invoices to my clients through my accounting software. It keeps track of what services I provide and at what pricing, maintains a list of customers, and automatically sends out reminders for overdue invoices at pre-set intervals. I don't have to chase my clients down for their payments. My software does that. Automatically.
My accounting software is integrated with Stripe through its API, so when my clients pay my invoices, the money gets debited straight into my business bank account. Piece of cake.
Reduce Distractions
From a time standpoint, distractions cost money. Big money. So do everything you can to reduce distractions. Here are some ways I do this:
Find a Quiet Place: For me to work effectively, I need a quiet place with minimum distractions. Most coffee shops are too noisy and have too many people. I like to find nearly empty coffee shops or quiet coworking spaces with semi-comfortable chairs.
Find a Good Chair: Oh, man… the chairs. Never underestimate the importance of a ergonomic quasi-comfortable chair that supports your back while you work. If the chairs are too uncomfortable, obviously you won't get anything done. But if the chairs are too comfortable, you'll fall asleep and not get much done either — yup, that happened to me.
Quiet Email Inbox: You'll be spending a lot of time in your email inbox. So you need a quiet email inbox to get work done. I was worried about the timezone issue with my clients being halfway around the world, but it actually works to my advantage. I work while they sleep. They're not going to bug me with emails or Skype chats while I'm working.
Unsubscribe From Annoying Marketing Emails: I unsubscribed from about 95% of marketing emails flooding into my inbox and I never regretted it. You're not really missing anything. This means you need to resist the temptation to subscribe to other websites, even if you really liked their content. If you really wanted to opt into email lists, create a separate email address just for that.
Need Custom Advice On How To Make Money From Your Online Business?
This concludes my post about making money online as a location independent business. If you have any questions about this article or need specific advice on how to make money from your online business, please feel free to email me and ask.


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Greenbelt Middle School
Student Uniform Policy
All student are required to wear the Mandatory uniform as described below. All students clothing must be worn to size and must fir correctly. They CANNOT sag, be baggy or tight. The items must be worn at the natural waistline as stated in the PGCPS Dress Code policy. The official school uniform is as follows:
Mandatory Items:
Optional Additions:
• Students may wear a V-neck vest in a solid black or gray
• Sweaters or Sweatshirts: Students may wear solid black or gray. NO logos, designs or patterns
Head Covering:
• As Stated in the PGCPS Dress Code "Headdress may be worn indoors for religious or health reason only" Parents/Guardians must formally make request, in writing to principal.
Violation of the Dress Code will result in the following:
Greenbelt Middle School | 6301 Breezewood Drive | Greenbelt, MD 20770 Phone: (301)513-5040 | Fax: (301)513-5097 | Guidance Office: (240)297-6053