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Heel Turns: WWE taking over wrestling world
There was a time when fans not enamored with WWE would seek alternatives.
Now, WWE provides the alternative.
WWE is doing it all. Top-notch women's wrestling? WWE has it. A more intimate experience with an independent feel? WWE has NXT. Smaller and more athletic wrestlers? WWE has 205 Live. WWE also is adding a United Kingdom organization, taking advantage of that hotbed of wrestling.
What we are witnessing is a transformation that is every bit as revolutionary as WWE's takeover of rival territories during the 1980s. In those days, WWE (then WWF) used the expansion of cable television to become a national brand. WWE would then sign top talent away from local territories and, along with combination of a presence on television, would book events in arenas around the country, squeezing out the local promotions.
The vehicle for WWE's current expansion is the Internet. More specifically, WWE is using the increased capability of people to stream programming as a means for expansion.
In economics terms (the Greek God of Wrestling will try to keep this as basic as possible for you simpletons), WWE is engaging in horizontal and vertical integration at the same time. Horizontal integration is what WWE did by taking over other wrestling territories during the 1980s. There aren't as many companies to take over today, and WWE doesn't have any true rivals on its level, but there isn't any question that, by signing top talent away from independent promotions, WWE is making business more difficult for those companies.
In some ways, however, WWE is engaging in vertical integration. That's when a company takes over all levels of its business, from production to distribution. Traditionally, the bigger promotions allowed talent to develop in the independent promotions. Today, WWE has its own development center for young wrestlers. Even wrestlers with a background on the independent scene sometimes go to the performance center. Young wrestlers also develop at NXT When they're ready, they move to WWE.
WWE is also taking over distribution of its product. Many thought it was a mistake when WWE gave up its share of pay-per-view revenue from cable and satellite companies by putting events on WWE Network. DVD sales were also certain to suffer due to the content available on WWE Network. Instead, WWE Network has become the perfect way to increase the popularity of NXT and 205 Live.
WWE Network is also the home for special events such as the Mae Young Classic and Cruiserweight Classic. In a sense, WWE uses its own Internet network as a means for distributing its product. As demand for the product grows, more people subscribe to WWE Network. It's a perfect symbiotic (look it up, jabronis!) relationship.
NXT is the best example of the power of WWE Network. NXT isn't on network television. It's only on WWE Network. Yet, it has grown into much more than a developmental organization. NXT has become a destination for top independent stars such as Johnny Gargano, Adam Cole and (coming soon) Matt Riddle. With only exposure on WWE Network, NXT recently ran split tours, which is indicative of the depth of its talent.
This doesn't mean that WWE will wipe out all other promotions. There is still a place for independent organizations. The Mexican and Japanese wrestling organizations are unique enough to differentiate themselves from WWE. The extreme violence of Combat Zone Wrestling and the comic/cartoon character dimension of CHIKARA allow those organizations to operate in a niche that WWE isn't likely to enter.
WWE Network is also crucial to WWE's worldwide expansion. Its potential reach actually extends beyond the television networks.
The television networks are still important for WWE. The recent lucrative 5-year deals with USA Network (Raw) and FOX Sports (Smackdown, starting in 2019) are one reason WWE's stock soared above $80 a share. WWE still needs television's reach for its flagship shows, but it is building the rest of its global empire through WWE Network.
Regardless of which style of wrestling you prefer, you can probably find it under the WWE umbrella on WWE Network.
MYSTERIO'S ALL IN: Add Rey Mysterio to the list of wrestlers who will participate in "All In," the major independent card at the Sears Center just outside of Chicago on Sept. 1. Mysterio will team with Bandido and Fenix to battle The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) and Kota Ibushi.
The main event for "All In" features Nick Aldis defending the NWA World Heavyweight Championship against Cody Rhodes. Other announced matchers are Marty Scurll vs. Kazuchika Okada, Joey Janela vs. Hangman Page, and Christopher Daniels vs. actor Stephen Amell (Rhodes appears on Amell's "Arrow" series). All In sold out with only one match announced, which demonstrates that there is still room for other promotions besides WWE.
SUMMERSLAM HEATING UP: A few more matches were added to the SummerSlam card this past week. Shinsuke Nakamura will defend the United States Championship against Jeff Hardy, although don't be surprised if Randy Orton is added to this match. Cedrick Alexander will defend the WWE Cruiserweight Championship against Drew Gulak, one of Achilles' Heel's favorite underrated wrestlers. The Miz laughed off Daniel Bryan's challenge for a match at SummerSlam, but expect that match happen. In an alteration to an existing match, Charlotte Flair has been added to the Smackdown Women's Championship match, with Carmella defending against Flair and Becky Lynch.
In the SummerSlam main event, Roman Reigns challenge WWE Universal champion Brock Lesnar. Samoa Joe challenges AJ Styales for the WWE Championship by choking out AJ Styles. Ronda Rousey challenges Alexa Bliss for the Raw Women's Championship.
Two other Raw brand matches have been announced for SummerSlam. Seth Rollins will try to regain the Intercontinental Championship from Dolph Ziggler. Kevin Owens will battle Braun Strowman, with Strowman's Money in the Bank championship opportunity on the line. SummerSlam will take place on Aug. 19 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
MAYOR FROM HELL: Congratulations to Glenn Jacobs (Kane), who was elected mayor Knox County, Tenn.
ANSWER TO RIDDLE: Matt Riddle, who is rumored to be headed to WWE (or NXT) dropped the EVOLVE Championship to Shane Strickland in a hardcore rules match last Saturday at 2300 Arena. If you haven't seen Riddle wrestle, there are plenty of matches on youtube. The Greek God of Wrestling recommends Riddle's match with Will Ospreay earlier this year in Dublin, Ireland.
BLACK OUT: Aleister Black, who recently dropped the NXT Championship to Tommaso Ciampa, recently underwent surgery after suffering a groin injury during a house show match against Ciampa. It's uncertain if he will be ready for NXT Takeover: Brooklyn, where he is scheduled to join Johnny Gargano and Ciampa in a triple threat match for the NXT Championship.
CHIKARA'S SECRET: CHIKARA returns to The Wrestle Factory on Saturday (3 p.m.) for Chikarasaurus Rex – A Deadly Secret. The early card appears to be loaded, with "Mr. Touchdown" Mark Angelosetti challenging Juan Francisco de Coronado for the CHIKARA Grand Championship. Achilles Heel smells a potential title change. Dasher Hatfield, Angelosetti's former tag team partner, will team with his son, Boomer Hatfield, who is making his debut, against Hallowicked and Frightmare. Danjerhawk will face Sage Philips in a Young Lions Cup match, and Solo Darling battles Ophidian in an inter-gender match.
CZW'S BUSINESS: Combat Zone Wrestling returns to The Colossal Sports Academy at The Coliseum in Voorhees on Saturday (8 p.m.) for "Business as Usual." It appears that Maxwell Jacob Friedman, who did not wrestle at New Heights due to a knee injury, will be unable to defend the CZW World Championship. Announced matches include Zachary Wentz defending the CZW Wired Championship against Myron Reed, Joey Ryan taking on Anthony Greene, Joe Gacy meeting Wheeler Yuta, and KC Navarro facing Jordan Oliver.
RING OF HONOR IN PHILLY: With Ring of Honor presenting a United Kingdom tour in mid-August, the only chance to see Ring of Honor in the United States before Labor Day will be at Philadelphia Excellence, a television taping at 2300 Arena on Sat., Aug. 25 (6 p.m.). There will be a meet and greet prior to the show.
CONVENTION IN A.C.: If you're looking for something to do before the Ring of Honor tapings, there will be a huge convention in Atlantic City on Sat., Aug. 25 at the Claridge Hotel. Goldberg, Sting and The Bullet Club are being advertised as the headliners for The Boardwalk Beatdown Pro Wrestling Experience. Other attendees to include Demolition, Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake, Sunny, Fred Ottman (Tugboat/Typhoon), Brian Cage, Melissa Santos and "The Bulldozer" Matt Tremont.
There also will be a Stand Alone Wrestling Boardwalk Beatdown card at 7 p.m. on Saturday, followed by an after-party at the Tennessee Ave. Beer Hall, which is also the site for a dinner on Friday. There will be a question-and-answer session and photo opportunities at the Friday dinner, but there won't be any autographs at the after-party.
LESNAR GOES ROGUE: There are only two explanations for Brock Lesnar's mistreatment of Paul Heyman during Raw last week. Either Lesnar being out of control and not listening to Heyman will be cited as an explanation if he loses to Roman Reigns at SummerSlam or Lesnar and Heyman are putting on an elaborate deception – which doesn't mean that Reigns won't win the WWE Universal Championship at SummerSlam.


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'Melomania' took over Antone's last Saturday with guitar slingin' bluesman Andy Macintyre's Official EP release party. The evening featured live performances by the Meloman himself, Van Wilks, Jacqui Walker and several special surprise guests.
Macintyre has spent over a decade in Austin writing songs, recording and performing music live, including a few years as lead guitarist in local famed band Dorkstar, and has released four independent records outside of that project. His songwriting, guitar prowess and onstage presence has attracted attention from fans and other musicians alike.
For this new EP, Andy felt a pull to a new style of music, so he decided to take what he loved about rock and blues and turn it upside down to create his own unique "genre-bending" sound that straddles the line of alternative and guitar-heavy blues-rock. Working with fellow rockers Jacqui Walker, Texas guitar legend Van Wilks, and Austin-based Lauren Silva, Andy has put together a release that is set to bring a unique spin on rock & roll to Austin. Check out a few highlights below from Any Macintyre's 'Melomania' Release Party at Antone's on April 14th.

subset: commoncrawl


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Deadline looming for Exmouth Neighbourhood Plan consultation
PUBLISHED: 12:33 29 March 2018 | UPDATED: 12:48 29 March 2018
Interested organisations and residents have until Monday, April 9, to respond to the latest consultation on the Exmouth Neighboruhood Plan.
The latest deadline for a vision for Exmouth's future is looming.
The emerging Exmouth Neighbourhood Plan is in the pre-submission consultation phase, with statutory consultees such as Natural England and South West Water being approached for their views on the document.
These organisations have until Monday, April 9, to have their say on the plan, which will set out how residents want the town to look for years to come.
Roy Pryke, chairman of the Neighbourhood Plan steering group, said that, while this stage is primarily to give statutory consultees a chance to comment, input from the public is still welcome.
He added: "This is what is called the pre-submission consultation, particularly aimed at ensuring that all the statutory consultees have been alerted that this is their last chance to make a statement to us.
"People are understandably trying to tweak a little bit the comments they have made before."
The steering group is already going through the responses it has received so far.
Mr Pryke told the Journal that, once the deadline has passed, the steering group will 'conscientiously consider' the comments that come in.
Once any changes are made as a result of this latest consultation, the Neighbourhood Plan will go to East Devon District Council (EDDC) where it will be scrutinised by an independent examiner.
The feedback from this stage will then be fed back to the steering committee, which will consider any changes suggested.
It is hoped that the plan can then go to a public referendum in the autumn, when residents will be asked whether they accept the Neighbourhood Plan.
If more than 50 per cent say 'yes', the Neighbourhood Plan will return to EDDC to be adopted and will then have to be referred to whenever planning applications are made for Exmouth.


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The Odyssey Rehearsal Blog - Week 2
Splendid's Associate Director Ben Hales gives us a daily insight into the rehearsal process for The Odyssey.
(photo: Lucy Cuthbertson)
DAY 6 – Monday 25 August 2015
The weekend passes almost instantly in a blur of prop-making, script-tinkering, costume-buying and line-learning, and all of a sudden it's a rainy morning in Kidbrooke and we're rehearsing again.
It's quite difficult to devise with a script in your hand, but annoyingly it isn't possible to know you've got the script right until it's on its feet being acted. You can't get the words right without getting the action right, and vice versa, so everyone has to be very tolerant of the constant tiny changes. Hopefully each change is something that makes the story clearer; are we saying what we need to say, and is that what we mean to say?
This week's director is our great friend Lucy Cuthbertson, Head of Drama at Corelli College, and a great expert in finding clarity in the storytelling. She is also a great advocate of animal rights, and seems a lot more concerned about the fate of the sheep and cows in the story than all the humans.
After a quick recap of what we did on Friday (which turns out to take nearly all day), we have a look at Penelope (a monologue), the Land of the Lotus Eaters (choral movement and speech) and get our first sight of the Cyclops (constant multi-roling). What a lot of choral speech these women have to learn…
Somewhere along the line, Cordelia's name has morphed from 'Cords' to 'Claude'.
DAY 7 - Tuesday 25 August 2015
First thing is to try on the costume, which after many variations, has been fixed as: big blue t-shirt, cut-off, rolled up jog pants, cream knee-socks and navy judo shoes, with a triangular bit of sheet over the top which can become all manner of character signifiers, like a sash for the warriors, headscarf for Penelope or weird gap-year cravat/scarf for the ultra-posh suitors.
Today has been designated PUSH ON TO THE END OF THE PLAY day, as there are still some scenes we haven't blocked, so we start straight in with the Bag of Wind. How does one embody a bag containing all the power of the four winds? Well, you will have to come and see the show to find out, but one thing that is made very clear is that it is a drawstring bag of tanned leather with very fine stitching - a handsome artefact all round.
Next we have the family of giants, who seem to have come direct from EastEnders. Lucy tells us that there is an epidemic of the word 'basically' amongst her students, and some are physically unable to start a sentence without it. So we gave this attribute to the giant daughter, in tribute to the young people of Kidbrooke.
The giants are responsible for sinking most of the boats and killing most of Odysseus's men, so out of that scene comes the Song of Loss. It's a very simple, folky tune that has an inherent mournfulness, so even after the comedy of the giants and the tiny paper boats the tone changes completely with the song. At least, it does this afternoon. Hopefully it will happen with an audience there too. Sadly there is no one with hands free to operate the Shruti box, so it's another item that gets struck from the stage.
We don't quite make it to the end of the play today. Maybe tomorrow?
DAY 8 – Wednesday 26 August 2015
The wonderful Lucy Hopkins is back in today, so with stereo Lucys we look at physical shapes and movements, and Cordelia gets a go at Calypso, the lonely Goddess who falls for Odysseus. I say 'we', but actually I was at home waiting for the telephone engineer (which is a job title that sounds extremely quaint here in the twenty-first century).
We don't quite make it to the end of the play today. Maybe tomorrow?
DAY 9 – Thursday 27 August 2015
Guest director for the next two days is Molly Bertrand, another fine member of the Corelli College drama department. She has a great passion for puppetry, so she's on special lookout for how we use our paper boats, Odysseus-symbolising wooden spoon, and of course Claude's cardboard Cyclops eye. She's also here to see if anything makes sense at this end of the rehearsal process, because you can sometimes get so fixated on the detail that you forget the basic storytelling.
We only have the final scene with the Suitors to block, and then the actual ending, but we decide to try and work through from the beginning. Putting all the parts together requires a lot of remembering: where do the sticks go? When does the beard come off? How many boats are left? How did the obstacle course go? … But the shape of the whole thing is gradually appearing through the mist… It is surprisingly big.
By the time we work through the Suitors it's the end of the day, so we don't quite make it to the end of the play. Maybe tomorrow?
DAY 10 – Friday 28 August 2015 - the end of my blog, since the devising is done and the final few days are for refining and polishing
Last day of week 2. We're running this sucker if it's the last thing we do.
Again we work from the very beginning, which means tackling the pre-show section. The audience will be met by the Old Men of the Sea, who will be giving them various tasks and epic names as they arrive. This is the kind of thing that is very hard to rehearse with an audience of three, but we've learned a lot about using the audience over the years, and it always becomes a highlight.
After that Lucy and Molly have some important questions about the introduction. Are we being clear enough about who these old men are, whose story it is, and how the audience fit in? The introduction distils the intention of the production into about a minute, so it's crucial that its meaning is precise. But this does mean doing a bit of painful rewriting with a lot of focus on every word. It's like solving a crossword, except it's a crossword that doesn't have any clues.
Once we have solved it, we press on and tighten up some of the other flappy bits before attempting the first 'stagger-through' (ie, we're getting to the end without stopping for directions). We're aiming for a final running time of around 55mins. Of course, the stumble-through is not expected to be that slick as everyone is still just getting their heads around words and logistics. But if it's much over 70mins we'll know that there's too much material and we'll have to do some major cutting.
In the spirit of leaving you with the requisite amount of peril, the run takes 1 hour and 40 minutes.
*Here's our tour schedule, come along and find out!


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In episode #3 of "On The Edge with Jim Roddy," Jim talks one-one-one with J.B. Wood, president and CEO of the Technology Services Industry Association (TSIA) and co-author of the Technology-as-a-Service Playbook. They discuss what the winning as-a-Service company will look like in the future, the #1 mistake organizations make as they transition to this new business model, the importance of investing in software capacity, and obstacles in the not-too-distant future that will cause some resellers to perish.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Android | Email | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | RSS


text: tinkkiou 0 Posted November 15, 2005 I ended up getting a white japanese Angelgotch. Is it just me, or is it tiny?! Hahaha. I know I'm used to the v1 and v2s now. I dont' remember how big the originals were. But to me, the Angelgotch seems pretty tiny. And the buttons feel a little delayed or something. So far, so good though My good deed meter had 3 little points in it and now it has none, but I don't know why. I'm still a bit hazy on the good deeds meter and what the TP points are actually used for. But I like him he's cute. Also, I've gotten the bat a few times and I've tapped the screen, and he never flys away! He always steals my candy! Any tips? Thanks! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites


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Everything you need to start reducing stress and anxiety today. This Starter Kit is all downloadable and printable, with carefully crafted resources, to help you and your students/kids. #justbreathe
*See description below for what exactly is included.
What's included?
1 x Mindful Breathing Tutorial Video
8 x Guided Breathing Audios
3 x Unique Printable Posters
1 x Cool 'Print + Create' Pocketbook | Breathe ABC'S (print as many as you like).
Who is this for?
Teachers and parents that want to teach Mindful Breathing to their students/kids.
*This is a Starter Kit, not a full training. Posters may be different to image as they are always our latest posters.
There are no reviews yet.


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Jazz Guitar - Jazz Guitar Made Easy
Jazz Guitar - Jazz Guitar Made Easy
Jazz guitar has a certain style to it. The style of the jazz guitar never goes out of fashion, and to play jazz guitar will have you playing with the cool crowd. Go to any jazz festival in the world and you will see large audiences enjoying the sounds of jazz guitar. Mix in the trumpet, and a great voice with the great beat of the drums and you have yourself the perfect remedy to a blissful day.
It is hard to pin point when jazz was created but theory tells us that the sounds of jazz was created by the Creoles in the New Orleans area in the 1750s. The Creoles were used to a more privileged life than the descendants of the slaves in this area but under Spanish rule this all changed and they had to learn to earn a living, hence the sounds of jazz were created.
How lucky we are today that these wonderfully musical people created those sounds we relate to those sounds of jazz today. There are easy ways to learn jazz guitar and there are certain things you need to avoid.
The first thing to avoid are boring lessons! One of the most important things to consider when looking for a jazz guitar lesson is to find an instructor who can use inspiration to teach. Instructors who can play jazz guitars brilliantly is usually a good start! If you find yourself in the situation where you have chosen a teacher who isnt inspiring you to learn jazz guitar, simply cancel any following lessons.
In jazz guitar terminology there is a phrase called jazz standards. Jazz standards are the greatest jazz guitar hits that most jazz enthusiasts will be more than familiar with. Most keen jazz guitar players would have played these tunes in their head over and over. What a great jazz guitar lesson will do is transform these tunes from head to fingers.
There are a lot of tricks to playing music, including jazz guitar. What these tricks do is create a short cut system that can teach jazz guitar the easy and fun way. Wonderful instructors have spent a lot of time and effort working on creative ways to reinvent jazz guitar lessons. Jazz guitar lessons today have been inspired by the creativeness of the Creoles who were determined not just to make money, but to enjoy doing it.
Claude Johnson, creator of www.realeasyjazz.com/smain.php will show you jazz guitar made easy. Not only easy but the most enjoyable way to learn jazz guitar. Not happy with just offering jazz guitar lessons, he has discovered a jazz guitar genius who can teach jazz guitar with 3 easy to follow DVDs. Understanding how jazz guitar works and how it can be created by using a short cut system has allowed hundreds of people to enjoy the sounds coming from their own instrument.
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Guitar Deals
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Learn Jazz Guitar Solos
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Technical Paper
Component Mode Synthesis for Substructures with Non-Matching Interfaces
When performing vibration analysis of complex vehicle structures, it is often important to be able to evaluate the effects of design changes in one or more substructures (e.g., for design optimization). It may also be convenient to allow different components to be modeled independently by different groups or organizations. For both cases, it is inevitable that some substructures will have non-matching finite element meshes at the interface where they are physically connected. Thus, a key challenge is to be able to handle the dynamic assembly of components with non-matching meshes and the subsequent global vibration analysis in a systematic and efficient manner. To tackle this problem, the enhancement of component mode synthesis methods for handling finite element models partitioned into non-matching substructures is considered in this paper. Some existing methods are reviewed, and new methods are developed.


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"You know what else they say about my people? The polls, they say I have the most loyal people. Did you ever see that? Where I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose any voters, okay? It's like incredible." – Donald Trump
I wrote my first Donald Trump post on June 8, 2016. The post was about his insistence that he was going to build a wall on the Mexican border and make Mexico pay for it "I will build a great wall — and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me –and I'll build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words."
The point of my post was that we are a nation of immigrants, unless you are a full-blooded native American. Somewhere in Trumps lineage a man and a women stepped over a border, or crossed an ocean or maybe even waded across a river to get here. I wanted to remind Trump of that. I wanted to remind all of the "Americans" of that. Instead, throughout his campaign, he worked people into a frenzy about all the "bad hombres" crossing the border intent on selling drugs to our children and raping our women. He built and continues to build the perception that "we" have some God-given sacred right to the soil beneath our feet. We don't. But these kind of wild exclaims from his bully pulpit got him elected.
The events of yesterday magnify the discourse and divide our country is experiencing. It would be very easy for me to simply blame Trump for this but his words and rhetoric aren't falling on deaf ears. He had an audience, an audience that agreed with him, that parroted his harsh words and contrarian views. His aggressive behavior during the campaign and as President has created an us against them mentality which he has continued to perpetrate and stir-up. And for those of us on the "them" side, in a red state, it is and remains a pretty chilling experience to live in a Trump dominated ideological world.
In Trump's latest two tweets this morning about his Russia troubles and after his attempt at a bipartisan speech yesterday, "we are strongest when we are unified and when we work together for the common good", he blames "them" and "people" rather than the Democrats, or Hillary, or Obama, or the Fake News as he did last week. I am not sure how long this bipartisan Kumbaya will last. Given his track record, and his base of supporters I would suspect not very long.
Civility is defined as formal politeness and courtesy in behavior or speech. For those of us in the "them" column I think we can all agree that definition would rarely, if ever, be used to describe our current President. But the troubling thing is, at least to me, his supporters don't want it to define him. They loved it when Trump shoved Prime Minister Dusko Markovic from the tiny country of Montenegro out of his way. When he tweets about "Crooked Hillary" or when he calls Obama "soft". They love that he pokes people in the chest and bully's them. For his supporters that is what "acting Presidential" looks like. Is there any wonder the American divide is growing wider and deeper?
No I can't blame all of our troubles on Trump he is simply the figurehead, the voice for a segment of citizens in this country. This bipartisan feel good dance won't last long. Trumps supporters will make sure of that. And Trump will read their tweets, or watch Fox News and decide in a day or maybe a week that the bipartisan mourning period is over and return to what got him elected, "us" against "them".
Trump Civility Update-it didn't last very long;
"Why is that Hillary Clintons family and Dems dealings with Russia are not looked at, but my non-dealings are?" and "Crooked H destroyed phones w/ hammer, 'bleached' emails, & had husband meet w/AG days before she was cleared- & they talk about obstruction?" – Donald Trump tweet 6-15-17


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Open unveiled its commercial operations in North America at CS Week 2018
Last week, Open made its bold entrance into North American at CS Week 2018, dazzling the industry with its innovative new ideas and commitment to excellent customer service.
Last week, Open made its bold entrance into North American at CS Week 2018, dazzling the industry with its innovative new ideas and commitment to excellent customer service.
We are proud to announce a new alliance between Open and Microsoft which leverages the strengths of both companies to provide a range of secure cloud-based solutions for your business.
Open, having enjoyed decades of remarkable achievements internationally, has arrived to the US market and will be present at CS Week 2018 to offer you an experience like no other.
We will be setting up at booth 709 in CSweek to give you a chance to meet our team and discover how we can help you transform your business.
Open was invited to participate in the "More connected than ever" Forum, an event led by the Ministry of Information Technology and Communications MinTic, Fedesoft and Diario La República. The Forum organizers chose Open for its great contribution to the software industry in the region.
Milestone's seasoned technical, functional and financial experts have helped U.S. and Canadian electric, gas and water complete end-to-end CIS upgrades, data migration projects, business process optimizations, application maintenance, technology upgrades, and other solution delivery services since 2002.
Hernando Parrott (US President, Open) sat down with Utility Market Connections to discuss the company's 30 years of providing world class solutions while continuously innovating and expanding into new markets.
Open, one of the leading providers of technological solutions for the utilities and telecommunications industries…
ENERGUATE, a subsidiary of IC Power and one of the largest electricity distribution companies in…


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The New York Rangers made some pretty big personnel changes this offseason. Up front, gone are top center Derek Stepan, Brandon Pirri and Oscar Lindberg. On the blueline, stalwart defensemen Dan Girardi and Kevin Klein are no longer on the roster. Solid backup goaltender, Antti Raanta left as part of the Stepan deal.
On the plus side, the Rangers signed much sought after unrestricted free agent defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk to a long-term deal. Coming back in the Stepan-Raanta deal was a high-end defense prospect in Anthony DeAngelo. They also brought in goaltender Ondrej Pavelec to replace Raanta as Henrik Lundqvist's understudy.
Looking at last year's roster versus this year's roster, there have been some significant changes. The forward corps isn't as deep, especially at center with Stepan gone, but on the back end, the addition of Shattenkirk and DeAngelo who replace the weathered Girardi and Klein are a net gain.
All things considered, the Rangers are likely still a playoff team. Although weaker up front than last year, they still have decent forward depth, their defense is arguably stronger with a legitimate top six, and they have adequately replaced Raanta.
The addition of Kevin Shattenkirk negatively affects McDonagh the most (well, it probably affected Girardi the most, but I digress). McDonagh averaged a team leading 3:05 minutes per game on the power play. That ice time is now Shattenkirk's without question.
There's no doubt McDonagh will still lead the Rangers in overall ice time, but with Shattenkirk eating up a couple of those man-advantage minutes, he'll be a little fresher for the playoffs. Ratchet down your expectations for McDonagh this year to somewhere slightly north of the 30-point mark. He remains a great defenseman in the real world, but now less so in fantasy circles.
The 23-year-old burst onto the NHL scene in a big way with a surprising 39 points during his rookie campaign. In the previous year, his first as a professional, he had 28 points in 68 AHL matches. Even in his final season of college hockey, Skjei only scored 10 points in 33 games.
The addition of Shattenkirk will affect Skjei less than McDonagh, but there is now more competition for second-unit minutes on the power play. That said, of Skjei's 39 points, 32 of them were at even-strength, so Shattenkirk's arrival should not adversely lower Skjei's point total significantly, but it will probably limit any potential increases.
Entering the final year of his entry level deal, Skjei will be motivated to show that last year's breakout success was no fluke, but he will be in tough to repeat. Look for a slight decrease in points this season.
Sticking with the defenseman theme, the highly touted prospect, DeAngelo will not be gifted ice time. The Rangers look set on defence, so he'll need to force his way into the top six at training camp.
The 21-year-old has put up some impressive offensive numbers at every level so far. In his final year of junior hockey, he notched 25 goals and 89 points in 55 games and he followed that up with another 16 points in 13 playoff contests. In his first professional campaign, he recorded 43 points (and 84 penalty minutes) in 69 AHL matches. Last season, he split the year between the AHL, where he had 16 points in 25 games and the NHL, where he recorded 14 points in 39 contests.
DeAngelo is likely to start the season as the Rangers seventh defenseman, and he will have to perform well when the opportunity arises in order to have any fantasy impact this season. If the Rangers deal one of their defensemen, then DeAngelo is someone to watch.
It's been two down years since Nash registered 42 goals and 69 points in 2014-15. The question is, can the 33-year-old winger break his slump heading into a contract year? Make no mistake, Nash will miss Derek Stepan, they were paired together quite often last season.
With both Stepan and Pirri out of the picture, there is room for Nash to get back onto the No. 1 power-play unit. Mika Zibanejad will take one of those spots, which leaves Nash to duke it out with most likely Pavel Buchnevich for that coveted position.
Staying healthy will be Nash's biggest concern. If he can keep out of the infirmary, he has the added motivation of playing for what could be his final NHL contract. If everything breaks right (pun not intended), he could post 50-plus points.
The kid has unquestioned talent, but will it be enough to help your fantasy squad this year? Now 22-years-old, he has shown his skill in the KHL and in his only AHL action, recording five points in four games. Last season, he scored 20 points in 41 NHL contests in his rookie campaign.
He lined up with Zibanejad and Nash for 30 per cent of his even-strength shifts last season, and the departures of Pirri and Lindberg help clear a path for playing time for the young Russian.
Buchnevich has made it clear that he's not here to play in the AHL, so it's boom or bust for your fantasy squad. I'm leaning towards the boom side.
In his last two seasons of college hockey, Vesey scored 56 goals and 104 points in a combined 70 games. Coming off of his best college season in 2014-15, he was invited to play for Team USA at the World Championship. The then 21-year-old didn't look out of place registering three points in nine games.
Last season was his first in the NHL, so 16 goals and 27 points in 80 games was a pretty good start to an NHL career. Vesey was in the mix for power-play ice time, receiving an average of 1:32 minutes per game, the ninth most on the team. He added five points in 12 playoff matches.
Vesey is a lock to play in the Rangers' respectable top-nine forward group. Expect him to continue to lineup with Nash where he had modest success last year. He should challenge the 40-point mark this season.
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Get Fitness Back On Track – New Year Weight Loss Tips
New Year Weight Loss Tips
You ate, drank and were merry. Now, you cannot even fit into your yoga pants. You know the yoga pants I am talking about, they are mandatory as part of the Southern California Lifestyle. They're the fitness pants you wear when everything else has "shrunk" in the dryer? Don't fret, and for goodness sake don't drown your sorrows in that plate of aunt Edna's chocolate fudge! Back away from the fudge.
New Year Work Out Tips
Get Outside
I know it's cold out there, that's why we rush back in and grab a hot chocolate (adult hot chocolate maybe? Yummm). But, as long as it is safe where you are, put on some shoes, and get moving. Go around the block, go down to the store, walk to your favorite neighbor's house with a plate of cookies that Santa forgot to eat. Heck, that's two birds with one stone, you get your blood flowing with a nice brisk walk, and you get those tempting cookies, cakes, fudge, candies out of your living room.
There's a canyon with walking trails in my Southern California neighborhood. When it is light out, I strap on my running shoes and head out of the door and hit the dirt. I do not need to go for very long but it is quiet out there, and I can just leave everything at home. Grab a friend and it gets easier to make it, but don't rely on them for your fitness and weight loss goals. If they start getting lazy don't you get lazy.
And if you are like me, the cold weather clothes mixed with working out makes me sweat like crazy, but that also makes me chafe. If I don't use Body Glide for Her I can get a rash under my arms or even in between my thighs. That's not cute and it can be quite painful. This stuff is made with aloe and Vitamin F, not too pricey and is a godsend.
Use The Stairs
Don't have access to a safe walking area this time of year? It can be difficult to find in parts of the country where it is not just snowy but icy, too. I would rather you be safe inside, while still getting active than out getting hurt. If you have determined it is just too dangerous to go outside in this weather, you have a whole house to use to your advantage.
You could always use the Small Space Workout as a starting point. This video was taken in a tiny bedroom and shows that you do not need an entire gym to get in your fitness moves.
I like the stairs when it's just too much to head out. Oh you think that walking up and down the stairs isn't a work out? Fine, do about 10 flights and ask your butt about it. Your thighs, tush, and even your calves with certainly be letting you know what kind of work out and butt busting is going on. If you can climb the stairs without using the handrail, that is even better. Otherwise, we tend to pull ourselves up instead of making the legs do their thing.
If you don't have stairs then just walk around the house cleaning, or picking things up. You can also do lunges in the hallway, knee raises, skipping, whatever gets out off of the couch, and away from the cookies.
Commercial Break Resistance
Commercial breaks usually run about 2 minutes. You can use that time to your advantage even if your roommate, dog, or kids look at you funny. Each time a commercial break hits, get on the floor and crank out some push ups, sit-ups or crunches, squats, or jumping jacks. The best part about this is that you know the end is coming soon. You have about 2 minutes of whatever exercise to do and then you get to rest. I don't suggest eating in between these bursts of motion, though, so choose a show you do not snack through. And if you are feeling really motivated, do Burpees instead of jumping jacks. Your fitness with feel like it is in overdrive!
More Posts You Will Enjoy —
- Fitbit Force Wireless Activity + Sleep Wristband – Technology and Fitness Review
- How Active Is Your Pet? Track it! (Cameo by Fat Cat)
- Small Space Workout!! No Excuses VIDEO
- New Years Day Spirit Infused Brunch – The Food (recipes)
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Tex Mex Virgin Shrimp Caesar
Get The Recipe
A perfect partner for a Caesar Cocktail.
Usage Tips
Rub the rim of your glass with a lemon wedge and swirl into the seasoning. Tips: Sprinkle on French Fries and your favourite Potatoes and Vegetables. Add to Coleslaw and Salad Dressings to taste. Great on Fish, Seafood and Chicken.
Full Ingredients*
UPC Code (Size)
066200002497 (180 g)
*For the most updated allergen and nutritional information, it is important that you read the ingredient statement on our packages at the time of your purchase.
I'm not a big fan of Caesar's and neither is my boyfriend so we don't really know how it compares. It's good to have on hand though for guests who do enjoy a Caesar. I received the Caesar rim complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes.
Roxanne | July 31, 2018
I never thought I can make my own caesars at home. No more paying $10 caesars. My guests were so impressed when they came over! I use them for other drinks as well. So easy to make! I made my favourite chocolate chip banana bread with this. I honestly couldn't tell the difference between this and the real extract! The size is larger than normal too so you can add more for more flavour! I received this product for free or complimentary for testing purposes.
Crystal Chen | July 31, 2018
Caesers are everything!!! now I can make them at home as I wish!!
mali | July 30, 2018
I tried it with my fries and it was ok. I know it's supposed to be used as a caesar rim but I don't like caesars in general.. This complimentary product was sent to me by Influenster for reviewing purposes
Jannine | July 30, 2018
I really liked using this caesar rim for my drinks. I only had to use a little bit and it went a long long way. It was quite flavorful. The only thing I would change is the size of the container. It's a product that could be used with so many dishes. I got this product complimentary in exchange for my honest review.
Caroline | July 30, 2018
This is my first experience using any type of spice on the rim of a beverage. You could really taste the salt but it also had a spicy kick along with vegetable flavouring. It was definitely a unique taste that went well with the Caesar. I could see using it again for special occasions. I received this spice free for review purposes.
Courtney Thompson | July 30, 2018
I have to say that usually I REALLY dislike salt rims on Caesars... so when I got this for free from Influenster to test out, I was pretty sure I would hate it. Well, that was certainly not the case. It was very tasty and I loved that it didn't have that overpowering peppery/spicy flavour to it. We've made plenty of Caesars now over the summer and used this rim every time. I'd definitely recommend it!
Gia | July 30, 2018
Nicely balanced runner ! It's perfect blend of salt and spice. Great addition to any Caesar.
Jen Heaslip | July 29, 2018
Adds a great punch.
Deni | July 29, 2018
This flavour was amazing and took the Caesar to the next level! Brought it to a party and it was a huge hit. So happy that I recieved this as a complimentary Influenster box.
Chloe | July 29, 2018
This makes the caesar experience 100000% times better! Not only is the spice blend a perfect mix but it also takes the caesar to a whole new level of amazing! After trying to for free from influenster I won't be buying any other type of rimmer!
Stephanie | July 29, 2018
After using club house I stopped using others ! I really enjoy this rimmer! As a bartendender who makes hundreds of these I know they aren't all made equally ! I was happy to get this in my influencer box for free for testing purposes . I already knew I loved it as I have purchased quite a few of them , and my customers know the difference when we try something else !
Jodie | July 29, 2018
I worked magic with this product by recreating my recipe. It was easy for the seasoning to get on the rim of the cup and I got a feel of the seasoning in my fruit punch.
Anjola | July 29, 2018
I had NO idea clubhouse made a ceaser rim! This is AMAZING, I will definitely be repurchasing this product. So yummy! This was gifted and complimentary for testing!
Jennifer | July 28, 2018
Insanely flavourful! Used in my first Ceaser ever and I'll definitely be repurchasing and making again. I received complimentary for testing from Influenster
Kelsy | July 28, 2018
Classic perfect bloody ceaser rim! So happy I got to try it for free through the Influenster's program.
Laurence | July 27, 2018
Personally I don't like Ceasars but my boyfriend does. This rimmer is easy to use and tastes delicious. Can also be used as a seasoning in sauces and as a meat seasoning. Would certainly purchase! Received this product #complimentary in the Influenster and HelloFlavor Canadian Summer voxbox.
Ashlyn | July 26, 2018
This Cesar rimmer was perfect for a classic Canadian Cesar. It had the right amount of flavour and salt and was very easy to get to stick to a glass. It was delicious adding a sprinkle of it into the Cesar as well. I got this product free to try but I would definitely purchase it in the future
Julia | July 26, 2018
There is something amazing about a good Cesar on a hot summer day, and this Caesar rim really pushed our drinks over the edge to perfection the other day. This is the perfect blend and I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone! Thank you Influenster for sending this to review.
Britt Kascjak | July 25, 2018
Was very happy to recieve this as part of my hello flavour #voxbox free from #influenster , I regularly use it in my pasta sauces and Chilis ��
Michelle | July 25, 2018
I am not really into caesar, but i love the flavor of this seasoning, I actually used it in my chicken and ribs and they tasted delicious. I got this from Influenster and I am so glad I did. I will purchase it for sure
Judi | July 24, 2018
I am beyond obsessed with this caesar rim! I never really liked caesars (mostly because they use vodka, but I've discovered the beauty of gin caesars and my world is CHANGED), but I received the caesar rim as well as a coupon for French's caesar mix complimentary from Influenster, and I cannot get enough! The combination of these two products together is FLAWLESS and I'm officially hooked on caesars and can see what all the hype is about (and I feel extra Canadian drinking it too!)
Daynna | July 24, 2018
Received a free sample of this product to try. Prior to this product, I had been making my own ceaser rim with various spices. I love how convienent this is, and it tastes great!
Kelsey Boudreau | July 24, 2018
This has got to be my favourite Caesar rim seasoning EVER. Seriously. My mouth is watering just thinking about it, and now I'm really craving another Caesar. The flavours are just at a perfect intensity, and they all interact very well together. I taste pepper, lime, and celery most distinctly...and I'm seriously crazy about this seasoning. Yum!
Flavia | July 23, 2018
This was so delicious and easy to use! My guests were very happy with the taste saying, "This is the best I've ever had." I definitely will be purchasing this is the future and recommending it to friends. I received this product complimentary from Influenster.
Hayley Savanna | July 23, 2018


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USGS Geology in the Parks
The Permian Period marks a time of great change in the motion of the Earth's plates that affected not only western North America, but all major continental land masses.
During the final 90 million years of the Paleozoic era, collisions between continents occurred on a massive scale as Europe, North and South America, Africa, Antarctica and other continents united to form the supercontinent Pangaea. Continental collisions built high mountains where lowland forests, swamps and coral reefs once flourished. Many of the world's shallow seas became isolated and dried up. Entire ecosystems were obliterated, resulting in massive extinctions.
Evidence for this plate tectonic upheaval is recorded in the rocks
formed during the Permian Period at what was to be Lake Mead National
Recreation Area. Mountains that formed when South America and Africa
collided with North America lifted the land so that the shallow
seas that had covered the west for much of the previous 300 million
years receded. Sediment eroded from the newly uplifted ancestral
Rocky Mountains was deposited in this area by a large system of
rivers. As the climate became increasingly arid, some of the sediment
was transported from the river beds by wind and deposited as large
dune fields. Minute quantities of iron in these stream and dune
deposits gradually oxidized (rust!), turning them a distinctive
brick-red color - geologists call these 'red beds'.
Environmental conditions became increasingly variable as eastward advances and westward retreats of the sea became more frequent. Periodically, arid climates promoted the development of dune fields fringed by shallow, restricted tropical seas, similar to the Arabian peninsula today.
For more detail about this time period at Lake Mead NRA click here.
Earth view 306 million years ago
Earth view 255 million years ago
Policies and Notices
U.S. Department of the Interior |
U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://geomaps.wr.usgs.gov/parks/lmnra/lmnra4.html
Page Contact Information: Webmaster
Page Last Modified: 03-Oct-2014@11:13


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Alternative Dispute Resolution
Paul Murphy has vast experience in the areas of business, agriculture, finance and marketing and brings his knowledge to bear in offering a mediation service to those who find themselves involved in a dispute. Qualified in 2014, Paul is an Accredited Mediator with the Mediators Institute of Ireland and specialises in resolving disputes in areas of Construction, Agriculture, Business, Financial and Banking, Workplace and Community.
Mediation is an alternative form of dispute resolution which is private and confidential, generally less expensive than litigation, faster and flexible and is focused on finding a solution that is special to your particular dispute.
For a free information advisory service on the Mediation process and its suitability as a means to resolving your dispute contact [email protected]


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You're fascinated by technology. You want to know exactly how a device works, and you want to make entirely new products or improve existing designs. Mechanical Engineering is a multi-faceted field. As a graduate of the programme, you can choose to design anything from consumer products to complete machines.
For more information, click here.


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Title I SES Provider Schools:
- Oakley Elementary
- Vintage Parkway School
- Iron House School
Educational Services
Welcome to the Educational Services Department of the Oakley Union School District. Our district is committed to supporting the educational achievement of every student. We are constantly working on aligning our curriculum, instructional practices, and assessment program to ensure student success. Our district curriculum is standards-based in each of the content areas. The mission of our department is to provide support to our schools and staffs in curriculum development and instructional strategies through research-based, relevant and on-going professional development. Our goal is to create a community of life-long learners within our staff, students and community.
Any comments on the LCAP should be directed to Crystal Castaneda, Director, Educational Services.
The Oakley Union Elementary School District is currently looking for parents, guardians and community members to sit on our Local Control and Accountability Plan Advisory Group.
Applications should be returned to Megan Burgoon no later than November 1, 2018 at our District Office located at 91 Mercedes Lane in Oakley, Megan can be reached at 925-625-6833 or firstname.lastname@example.com
El Distrito de las Escuelas Primarias de la Unión de Oakley está buscando padres, tutores y miembros de la comunidad para estar en el Comité Asesor del Plan de Control y Responsabilidad.
Las aplicaciones se deben entregar a Megan Burgoon no más tardar el 18 de Diciembre, 2017 en nuestra Oficina del Distrito localizada en el 91 Mercedes Lane en Oakley. Se puede comunicar con Megan al 925-625-6833 o email@example.com.
Education Center
91 Mercedes Lane, Room 3
Oakley, CA 94561
Ph (925)-625-6833
District Wide African American Planning Committee
The Third Thursday of the Month
Delta Vista Middle School Rm. 35
4901 Frank Hengel Way
Oakley, CA


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How I Save BIG On Prescriptions and Blood Workposted by Andrea | 10/23/2018
This post is NOT sponsored. As always, all opinions are my own!
Over the course of our married life, Dave and I have been blessed with very good health. We've hardly ever been sick, we usually only visit the doctor for routine checkups, and we've hardly had to fill any prescriptions or pay for any medically-related expenses.
This past summer, however, we had to fill several prescriptions for various ailments and random issues:
- Swimmers ear for Nora
- Double ear infection for Simon
- Weird rash cream for James
- Steroid pills for Dave's horrible Poison Ivy
- Prescription-strength anti-itch cream for my slightly less horrible Poison Ivy
- Generic brand pills for a Thyroid issue
I felt like every week we had a new prescription to fill — and I was SHOCKED by the prices of our local Meijer pharmacy.
Apparently, prescription drug prices are not regulated, so the cost of a prescription could differ by more than $100 between pharmacies!
To make matters worse, over the past 10 years, insurance companies have passed 25-80% more of the cost of drugs onto patients — resulting in more out-of-pocket expenses for me and for you!
Not cool!
How I Save on Prescriptions:
I asked one of my doctors to confirm we were getting the generic brands of all our prescriptions — which is when he told me about GoodRx.com as a way to save an INSANE amount of money on prescriptions with almost zero additional effort!
What is Good Rx?
GoodRx.com is a website that gathers current prices and discounts to help you find the lowest cost pharmacy for your prescriptions. GoodRx is 100% free. No personal information required.
I've used GoodRx.com a few times now… and saved roughly 75% on each prescription. The only "cost" to me was the fact that I had to drive to a different location than I normally would to pick up the prescription — but it was still local, and definitely worth the savings for me!
Here's a real-life screenshot of the difference in prices for one of our prescriptions.
If you don't have the time or desire to "shop around" for different prices on your prescriptions, I would highly recommend using GoodRx to search for the best deal.
Also, one other money-saving tip my Doctor recommended is to ask your doctor for double-dosage pills and then cut them in half. For example, if you need 75mcg per day, have your doctor prescribe 150 mcg pills and cut the pills in half each day. Your price will not be doubled, so you'll get more bang for your buck.
How I Save on Blood Work:
Throughout my 4 pregnancies, I had to have periodic blood work done — and to save time, I always just had it done in the lab of my OBGYN… forking out an arm and a leg every time I got the bill.
When I was pregnant with James, I finally learned about Quest Diagnostics, a fantastic way to save BIG BUCKS on almost any type of blood work.
For reference, I was paying well over $100 out of pocket for blood work done through my OBGYN. However, when I switched to Quest Diagnostics, I paid rough $16 — and a few times there was no payment at all!
Another huge benefit of using Quest Diagnostics is that I can quickly and easily make my appointment online, and they open at 6:00am, which means I can get my blood drawn and be home again before 6:30 when Dave needs to leave for school!
I've had nothing but fantastic experiences with the staff at our local Quest Diagnostics office, and I will most likely never get my blood work done anywhere else.
As always, please consult your own doctor with any medical questions — but also make sure you ask them about GoodRx and Quest Diagnostics the next time you need to fill a prescription or get blood work done.
Dave and I have saved a BUNCH of money over the years, and I have a feeling you could too!
Filed under: Life • Health • Frugal Living
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25 comments
A coworker of mine has his dog on a prescription for diabetes. He had always filled the prescription at Walmart and one day decided to fill it at Costco while he was in the store. The price at Costco was $200 more than Walmart. So yes, definitely worth looking around especially if it's an expensive and regular prescription.
So thankful to live in Canada where blood work and tests don't cost us anything. We have benefits which pay 80-100% of our prescription costs. Don't like switching around pharmacies as they don't have records of your history.
As a pharmacist here, I hate to see people jumping from pharmacy to pharmacy for cost reasons. It isn't safe from a drug interaction perspective and most of your pharmacies price match. I haven't worked retail pharmacy in a number of years but when I did we price matched any pharmacy in town including Sams club and Costco. Please consider asking your pharmacist first before you start pharmacy hoping.
Andrea Reply:
October 23rd, 2018 at 3:19 pm
Thanks for sharing — yes, price-matching does sound like the best option.
Also, I'm NOT advocating for "pharmacy hoping". I'm advocating for finding the best price in your area and filling your prescription there — continually. Unless the price drastically changes (like doubles unexpectedly) I stay with the same pharmacy month after month. However, I just want to know I'm getting a good price so I'll search around before filling my prescription.
Rhonda Reply:
October 24th, 2018 at 9:47 am
I'm also a pharmacist (in a hospital), and in our area I notice that the largest price differences are usually with 1) Walmart $4 list vs other stores, and 2) the local independent pharmacy can offer generic medications (remember, generic doesn't always mean "cheap") at better prices than the chain stores (because the independent store might have their own buying group, whereby they can set the prices lower). It pays to do a little research, but unfortunately the reality is that one pharmacy might not be a lower price for ALL medications. I second what Erin said above. It pays to stick with one store and maybe one set of employees who might know you well.
Whether or not using Quest will save you money will depend on your insurance. For us, Quest is actually higher. Your doctor's office may not be higher, it depends on what lab they use. I used to work in a doctor's office and we used Quest for our labs but we would have to warn our United Healthcare patients that it would be higher. Most of the time they would opt to walk across the street to the hospital.
Jen Reply:
October 24th, 2018 at 10:21 am
We found this, as well. We pay out of pocket for blood work and LabCorp was MUCH cheaper than Quest AND gave a better cash discount. There are also several online services for blood work (I'm not sure how they work but I have a friend who uses one with great success.) and they are almost always cheaper for standard blood work testing.
Linda B.10/23/2018
Another way to save on prescriptions is to use store coupons for them. I frequently see coupons for if you fill a prescription, they will give you a $25 store gift card. Those are great for one-off prescriptions for things like your rashes and ear issues, Andrea.
SUZANNE m KEATING10/23/2018
wow! Thanks for this tip! I take a medication daily and I just found out that I've been overpaying for my prescription by quite a bit! I transferred my rx this morning to a cheaper pharmacy! My wallet thanks you 🙂
We do not have "traditional" health insurance right now. When we moved, it was going to cost us $1200/month plus $7000 deductible for health insurance for our family. I did a TON of research, and we ended up going with Christian Healthcare Ministries and have been very happy. The bad thing is that we have to pay for all prescriptions and any "preventive"care out of pocket. I just have to remind myself that while I may not like paying $120 for my annual physical every year, I have not spent $1200/month for insurance I didn't use. And, we have gotten a cash discount every single time we have paid up front–sometimes it's been a 40% discount for paying cash at the time of the visit!
I did another TON of research on low cost prescriptions, and we have found that a Sam's Club Plus membership has paid for itself time and time again. Sometimes, it's been even cheaper than GoodRX! I would encourage anyone to check out Sam's pharmacy. You don't have to be a Sam's member to use the pharmacy services, so anyone can do it. You can always call ahead to find out what the cost would be as well.
Mary Ann10/23/2018
Great tips! I'll need to check out Good Rx.
A few years ago, I got a prescription that cost $75/month at CVS but when I shopped around, was only $13 at Sam's Club. Sam's is much closer to our home so a bonus! I have now switched that prescription over to Publix since they now offer some meds at no cost and that particular prescription qualified. So right now, I get that one for free!
I've gotten bloodwork done at LabCorp and it is so much less expensive than the doctor's office!
Starla J Kreider10/23/2018
I second using GoodRX! One script I needed was $42 at one pharmacy, and only $7.57 at another pharmacy right across the street!
Michelle Bonk10/23/2018
One comment about using different pharmacies for prescriptions … for us it is important to have all prescriptions at one pharmacy so they can screen for any adverse interactions between differing prescriptions (especially if they are being prescribed by different doctors). We have our pharmacist catch a few!
Margaret Reply:
October 23rd, 2018 at 11:57 am
Seriously endorse this. All kinds of bad things can (and do) happen here, and pharmacists are the people with the training to prevent it.


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Jan 2, 2018
The Late Home-coming Prodigal Son – Chapter 21
A translation from '遊子遲遲歸'
Chapter Twenty One Spiritual Blessings and Bible Drill
Around age fourteen, I had a chance to attend a Pentecostal meeting with my mother led by my grandmother. Everyone at the meeting prayed out loudly, and my grandmother laid hands on all of us. I felt electrified and cried out Hallelujah. After the meeting many elders congratulated me for having received the Holy Spirit. When I entered the seminary, I always wanted a similar experience again because I wanted to know more about Jesus and the filling of the Holy Spirit. In hind sight, my life did not change much after that one time experience with the Spirit.
I longed to see Jesus face to face. The Lord had risen and had appeared to apostle Peter, Paul and others, why not me? Together with a few other schoolmates we pursued this experience by fasting according to the Bible – no food, no liquid during fasting (Deut 9:18, Est 4:16, Jonah 3:7). After three days and nights, the Lord did not appear to us, and we did not have any extraordinary experience either. We were quite puzzled at the outcome but later accepted it was the Lord's will. From then on, I sought guidance and enlightenment on this issue: the filling of the Holy Spirit. Until sometime in the 50's, I came to realize that many spiritual encounters were actually personal emotional experiences. (See my other books: 'The work of the Holy Spirit'《聖靈的工作》; 'To the End of the World' 《直到地極》chapter 2, 'Salvation to All generations'《萬世救恩》chapter 8).
Instead of answering my desire of being filled with the Spirit, God has answered my other important prayer: He gave me an earnest desire for understanding His Word and faith to believe that it is achievable. I did not know how to study the Bible. There were many courses at the seminary teaching complimentary studies of the Bible, but I benefited most from our teachers' personal Bible study experiences. There were two female pastors from the Hua Xi Ling Gong Fellowship (华西灵工团), they were Miss Cui Ke-Shi (崔可石姐妹) and Miss Hu Ruo-Yu (胡若愚姐妹). Miss Cui left for Britain shortly after, so I learned basic Bible studies from Miss Hu. Even though she was already forty years old, she still could memorize many books of the Bible, and I was very impressed. When I took my internship that summer at the Church called Beipei Gospel Chapel (北培福音堂) (located opposite to Fu-Dan University in Xia-Ba夏霸), I followed her example and memorized the books of Matthew, John and Revelation. However, I forgot them all when I returned to my seminary. I found that memorizing is good, but it would be impossible to remember all in the long run. So I changed my study method to speed reading. After each speed reading, I would review the content of each chapter of the book. This I found helped me to retaining my memory of the contents. By the time I left the seminary, I studied each Bible verse and chapter every day using different methods like: detail study, meditation, and finding answer to difficult Biblical questions. I had corrected many of my wrong concepts, and gained a more complete understanding of the Bible as a result.
Deut 6:6-9 'These commandments that I give to you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbol on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates.' Every morning I wrote down the memory verses for the day on two pieces of paper and taped them to the headboard of my bed and my study desk. I also bought a mini Bible 2.5"x3.7" and kept it in my pocket. I reviewed my memory verses each day with my three meals, morning and bedtime prayers. I flipped my mini Bible at any available time I had, either during morning sessions, waiting for an appointment, or even going to the washroom, and reviewed all underlined verses continually.
However I was not a good student at the seminary. I strove for my personal achievements. As long as I could pass the course, I did not care for grades. This attitude probably caused by:
1. I had never gone through grade school or high school properly since childhood, therefore diplomas and degrees were not a priority to me.
2. Beginning from the second year at the seminary I was very much involved in leading church services, Bible studies, family meetings etc. I was so busy every weekend that I believed God was using me and gave me opportunities to serve Him. Therefore school assignments were not important to me.
3. Although I was physically studying in the seminary, but I spent all my energy in the Christian Assembly (聚会处). I used Mr. Watchman Nee's 'Review of Your Service' 《工作的再思》and Rev. Yang Shao-Tang's (杨绍唐牧师)'Church and Servanthood' 《教会与工人》as reference books, as principle directions for church administrations, and even argued with my professors about the church doctrines. I was full of zest, very daring and ignorant at that time.
4. I pursued charismatic experiences. I spent many nights praying on the hillside, returning to the residence at dawn. This of course affected my homework.
(These were my ignorance which was not a good example for others.)
Then I continued to pursue holiness. in Hebrews 12:4, the Bible says "without holiness no one will see the Lord." I pursued to the point that I would feel guilty when I saved an unused portion of paper from a letter sent to me for my own use (paper was expensive at that time). I would reproach myself of being greedy. Such extreme demands on myself, I began to demand the same on others and became very arrogant. Later, through reading God's word in Roman 12:4, I corrected my foolishness. God's word has the power of correction as stated in II Timothy 3:16. Hence, anyone with little or partial knowledge of the truth of God or being too extreme in his pursuit, his thinking and behavior would be affected greatly. Therefore knowledge and ignorance both could cause one to fall into arrogance unconsciously.


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For tee shirts, our minimum order quantity is 500 pcs.
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Only Teez » custom t-shirt manufacturers
Each year, the global fashion scene witnesses major ups and downs, with some style statements turning out to be hits, and some miss to strike a chord. This year too, the clothing industry has come up with the old yet timeless tie and dye printing technique that helps to put the wide spectrum of primary and secondary colors on outfits, and add some funk and prep to them in the form of definite and indefinite motifs and patterns. The tie and dye tees are very much in rage today, and for the style conscious men and women, the wholesale designers have brought in the nose printed tees that reflect a fresh style, and also come with a variety of designs, Read More
In today's highly competitive clothing market, there's a long line of challenges that retailers have to deal with; right from finding a good manufacturer to wholesaling right varieties, raising capital to scale the business to mapping a winning pricing strategy. However, the biggest challenge is that of appeasing the highly demanding customers. Even costly marketing efforts seem to be failing in wooing a big bunch of buyers in this market these days. And, unsurprisingly, this transcends into poor sale and marginal profit margin. If you're a clothing business owner, you would know this very well. But then again, things don't have to be this way. You can fix this problem several ways—you can easily flatter your high-demanding customers with Read More
Wearing t-shirts without looking like a slob is an art, and many might not master this art with perfection. The quintessential cool girl stance that the tees carry is irreplaceable, and no matter how much the world of fashion changes, you will never be tired of having the most hip and happening style ideas in the tees. In summer, it is impossible to resist from wearing the simple and plain white tee that is the closet staple for the fashion forward ladies. Be it in any shape, cut, style or design, the stereotypical white tee is the must have for women, and also versatile like none. We often carry this thought that wearing the white tee is limited to casual Read More
Summer is all about the events, be it casual weekends shopping plans, the brunch enjoyment, or trips and formal occasions at night. With summer, comes the trend to wear the official clothing staple of this season, the midriff baring classic crop tops. The designers and manufacturing houses make sure to bring in the crop tops with modish twists and contemporary edge. Be it for classy and graceful look at the evening event, the funky one for gym or the easy breezy silhouette while traveling, the summer ready crop tops will never disappoint you. These tops come in an array of cuts, colors, styles, and designs, from the sporty ones, to cut outs, off shoulders and a lot more. The crop Read More
The sublimation dye process provides clothing items with a wide range of benefits. Wearing wholesale sublimated t shirts can be beneficial, as wearers can get a wide variety of designs reproduced – from favorite team logos and cartoon characters to corporate pictures and designs to simple business logos. Find out about some of the particular advantages of using these tees, and why keeping them in your clothing store can be a great choice. Durability These t-shirts are made with the use of the best sublimation printing technology. The sublimation process injects paint to all the fibers of the fabric that is used in clothes. This is in contrast to the printing process where the ink or paint stays smeared Read More
We live a world that is ruled by two things: internet and fashion trends. With athleisure and ballet trends are scoring fairly well for all the fitness freaks, there lives still a bunch of people who are contented in their laid back t-shirts and denims and sneakers. A number of celebrities have been spotted on several occasions who have worn a tee and spice it up with some noteworthy combinations. You can totally be inspired by them and carry off a stylish persona in all upcoming occasions. Jessica Alba Jessica Alba is known in the fashion circuits for her clothing choices which range from sexy swimsuits to formal garments. She wore ripped jeans with a tucked in white t-shirt. she Read More
Trends may come and go but one item that remains the ultimate wardrobe staple is a piece of t-shirt that can only get moulded into different shapes, designs and prints to quirk up the fabric. To speak about the trend, this season the micro-prints are on a roll that are dolling up the t-shirts with cheeky embroideries across the chest. As Leonardo Di Caprio's inspirational speech at the Oscars has created a buzz with eco-friendly prints, there's more to look forward to that can give a shape and voice to your ideas and cravings, providing you with oodles of comfort and relaxation while you move around the town.. Environmentalist Leonardo Di Caprio's slogan to save the earth from global Read More
Going out for casual lunch or dinner, or for coffee hangouts with friends? Or just a trip to the shopping mall to get yourself a bag full of goodies? Well, if you have little time in hand and are going to get ready in a jiffy, then all you need to do is wear a custom t-shirt. The best part about these custom tees is that these are so versatile that these can be easily teamed with any kind of bottoms to get a stylish appeal. As such there are many ways in which you can get customized tees done for yourself, but let's check some of the innovative ideas. Name of University or Team Featuring You can don t-shirts Read More
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Implementation of compensation scheme enhances Nigeria's rating at ILO
The implementation of the Employees Compensation Scheme (ECS) by Nigeria has improved the rating of the country within the International Labour Organization (ILO) members, the Acting Managing Director of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), Ismail Agaka has said.
Agaka stated that the no-fault social security scheme of the Federal Government which the law mandates the Fund to implement, has the potential of improving quality of life of Nigerian workers through prompt response to health challenges at workplace, adding that the status of the country has improve in the league of member nations of the International Labour Organization (ILO).
He also described social security as a tool that can contribute to social coherence and boost the country's overall growth and development by bolstering living standards and cushioning the effects of structural and technological change on the people.
Agaka, in a presentation at the NSITF regional and branch Managers' retreat held in Abuja recently, emphasized that social security has the potential of providing the basis for a more inclusive approach towards globalization.
He said: "Social security helps maintain stable labour relations and a productive work force. It also provides workers and their families with access to health care and protection against loss of income due to invalidity or employment injury."
He further explained that the Scheme relieves the employer of the heavy burden of solely taking care of injured workers thereby increasing productivity of the workforce, stressing that while payment of compensation is prompt, claims procedures are simplified and short and long term follow-up and rehabilitation are guaranteed.
Explaining the operations of the ECS, the NSITF Acting MD said the scheme provides comprehensive compensation to employees who suffer from occupational diseases or sustain injuries or disabilities at workplaces or in the course of employment, emphasizing that it also provides succour to the dependants of employees who die in the course of work.
Reiterating that the scheme is at no cost to the employee, Agaka maintained that ECS provides an open and fair system of guaranteed and adequate compensation for all employees or their dependants for any death, injury, disease or disability arising or in the course of work. He added that the scheme also combines efforts and resources of relevant stakeholders for the prevention of workplace disabilities, including the enforcement of occupational safety and health standards.
Describing the ECS as a contingent social security which provides comprehensive compensation to employees who suffer from occupational diseases or sustain injuries arising from accidents at workplaces or in the course of work, the NSITF boss explained that available compensations under the scheme include compensation for death and injury, for mental stress, for occupational diseases, hearing impairment, and for injuries occurring outside of normal workplace among others.
Earlier, while declaring the meeting open, the NSITF Chief Executive had called on staff of the Fund to ensure prompt payment of claims and compensations, stressing that the Fund and Scheme were set up for that purpose.
He stressed the need to review performance of activities of the Fund, adding that there is no room for underperformance at NSITF.
His words: "There is no excuse for underperformance in the implementation of the Employees' Compensation Scheme because we are not responsible to ourselves. We have stakeholders who are interested in seeing that we deliver."
He emphasized that NSITF and ECS were not set up to service the staff of the Fund alone, adding, "we should bear in mind that we are trustees and our business is to manage the resources we are entrusted with very well and answer all the questions that people ask."
He charged the staff of the Fund to shun all actions that could undermine professionalism in the Fund and called on them to plan ahead for the greater good of the Nigerian employees.
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Startup Culture in Hawaii; Il Trovatore at HOT; DOE Strategic Plan; Composting with Worms
State of the Startup Investment Industry in Hawaii: Meli James
Startup businesses need venture capital, and venture capitalists need them. A successful startup can make a fortune for all concerned, if the core idea is a winner, if the rollout is successful if sufficient capital is available... and a dozen other IFs. Hawaii-based startups can be an attractive proposition for venture capitalists, with their unique access to East and West, and Meli James, President of the Hawaii Venture Capital Association, has some ideas about their prospects. She's with us this morning.
Intro Music: Paradise Waiting by Vacationer
Outro Music: Young Man by David Wax Museum
Verdi's Il Trovatore at Hawaii Opera Theatre: Simon Crookall
Il Trovatore, the troubadour, is a master work by Verdi that was performed over 300 times in the first three years after it's debut, back in 1853. There is a love triangle, infanticide, mistaken identity, and as much family drama as any soap opera today. Simon Crookall, General Director of Hawaii Opera Theatre is in the studio, here to share the relevance of this musical theatre, alive and well even after hundreds of years.
Intro Music: Nothing To It by New Basement Tapes
Outro Music: Il Travatore: Di Quella Pira by Giuseppe Verdi, Luciano Pavarotti,
DOE/BOE Joint Strategic Plan: Alex Harris
The Department of Education and the Board of Education are servants of the community, and in that capacity, are asking everyone: students, teachers, and their parents, to weigh in on their strategic plan for the next three years. The online survey is an opportunity to chart a course specific to education in our islands, taking advantage of newly relaxed federal guidelines. Alex Harris, Senior Program Officer for Education at the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation, has details.
Everyone can join the conversation on social media by using the hashtag #HIQualityED.
Intro Music: Deutsche Welle Theme
Outro Music: Melting Lights by Pigeons Playing Ping Pong
Worm Composting with Master Gardener: Phyllis Fong
Want to help your plants thrive naturally while also helping save the planet? Just when you thought no one would be able to make use of left over table scraps, worms come to the rescue. Yes, the tiny little worm, can help to create "black gold", nutrient rich compost that can recycle our discarded food and provide the most all natural source of food for our gardens. Phyllis Fong is in the studio to tell us more about why we all might want to consider vermicomposting to help our outdoor environment.
Intro Music: The Ruse by Buffalo Clover
Outro Music: Life On A Chain by Peter Yorn


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Should I Become a Botanist?
Botanists conduct scientific research on plant life. They study plant life as it relates to agriculture, environmental policy, nutrition, medicine and the environment.
Botanists can find work with private companies, government agencies, universities or nonprofits, such as museums and botanical gardens. Most of their work is done in labs or other facilities, and some travel may be necessary. Botanists with a bachelor's or master's degree can work assisting with research, but doctoral holders are more likely to take the lead on research studies.
Career Requirements
|Degree Level
|Bachelor's or master's degree for entry-level; doctoral degree generally needed for advanced research positions
|Degree Field
|Botany, plant science, biology, or another closely related field
|Research experience preferred
|Key Skills
|Analytical, mathematical, and critical thinking skills
|$64,700 (2016 median salary for all botanists)
Source: Salary.com
Most entry-level botanists need a bachelor's or master's degree in botany, plant science, biology or closely related field. Advanced research positions usually require a doctoral degree. Botanists should also have strong analytical, mathematical, and critical thinking skills. In December 2016, the median yearly salary for a botanist was $64,700, according to Salary.com.
Step 1: Earn a Bachelor's Degree
Individuals interested in becoming botanists must have an undergraduate degree in science. Bachelor's degrees in botany or plant science are available. Coursework includes biology, chemistry and physics, as well as genetics, plant taxonomy and plant anatomy. Degrees in science such as biology or chemistry may be suitable for students seeking to pursue graduate studies in botany.
Focus on Research Skills
If possible, take advantage of occasions to work with faculty on research. Another way to improve research skills is to participate in an internship that includes research. Strong research skills will prepare students for entry-level positions in botany as well as graduate studies.
Step 2: Pursue a Master's Degree
Individuals with master's degrees can pursue a wider variety of opportunities. With a master's degree, students can focus on specific areas of botany, such as ecology, marine botany or conservation. Students may choose a thesis or non-thesis option, based on their career goals.
Practice Writing Skills
To effectively write theses, dissertations and publishable papers, scientists should have effective writing skills. Students can invest in writing style guides, take advantage of a school's writing center, and of course, practice to learn to write effectively.
Step 3: Consider a Ph.D.
A Ph.D. will provide career advancement opportunities in botany, and graduates can lead research for government organizations and private industry. They may also teach at the university level. Some schools allow students pursuing a doctoral degree in botany to choose a track or concentration. Students will also likely be required to complete a teaching program. Doctoral candidates often spend the first part of their studies studying research methodology and the second part conducting research that culminates into a dissertation.
Seek Assistance
Ph.D. candidates are often assigned an advisor to help devise a course of study. Take advantage of faculty members, as well as senior botanists you meet at networking events. You can get advice from them regarding research and navigating graduate school.
Get Published
Many doctoral students seek to get published through their own research or by assisting faculty on research.
Remember, you'll need a bachelor's or master's degree in botany, plant science or biology to obtain an entry-level job as a botanist and a doctoral degree to qualify for an advanced research position. The median annual salary for a botanist in December 2016 was $64,700.


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Jonty Rhodes Finds 'The Map Of Tamil Nadu' On Matthew Hayden's Head Injury
Jonty Rhodes had earlier named his daughter India, and recently spotted the map of Tamil Nadu on Matthew Hayden's head injury.
Former South African cricketer Jonty Rhodes has time and again showed his love for India. Jonty Rhodes had earlier named his daughter India, and recently spotted the map of Tamil Nadu on Matthew Hayden's head injury. He replied to Matthew Hayden's post on Instagram and said, "@haydos359 is that a map of The Tamil Nadu coast u are wearing on your forehead? Real commitment buddy!!! Some of us softies take the easy option and just get tattoos!!"
Test great Matthew Hayden said on Monday that he had "dodged a bullet" after suffering head and neck injuries, including a spine fracture, while surfing during a holiday in Queensland.
Ok. Last attention seeking post I promise. Just wanted to say a big thank you to all our mates on Straddie who have been so supportive.Especially Ben & Sue Kelley for the fast diagnosis with MRI, CT scan. Fractured C6, torn C5,C4 ligaments safe to say I truly have dodged a bullet. Thank you everyone On the road to recovery
Hayden, a top-order batsman who was last year inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame, fractured his spine near the base of his neck, tore several ligaments and hurt his forehead after being dumped into a sandbank while surfing with his son Josh off North Stradbroke Island on Friday.
"Fractured C6, torn C5, C4 ligaments safe to say I truly have dodged a bullet," Hayden wrote in an Instagram post beside a photo of his battered face.
"Thank you everyone. On the road to recovery."
The 46-year-old, who retired from international cricket in 2009 after a 103-Test career, told Brisbane's Courier Mail he was "bloody lucky" to escape serious injury.
Hayden said he was able to get back onto the beach, but had scans later that day, which revealed the extent of his injuries.
Despite the scare, Hayden said he would return to surfing, adding: "The ocean gives and the ocean takes -- I will be back."
(With AFP inputs)


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David Bixby: One of the big issues that you deal with as a cyclical industry is that when you're in the down part of the cycle, your stock price goes down, you have less available capital in the stock plan, because every time you grant shares and you try to hold that value constant, you end up granting more shares when you're in the down cycle, which can create additional dilution and can reduce the lifespan of your stock plan and frankly cause some problems with your shareholders who don't like to see so many more shares going out the door. It's counter-intuitive, also, to some external observers that you're in a downturn. Why are you granting more shares to executives who at the same time have been riding the same cycle with shareholders?
The shares you're holding are worth less, so what the company is trying to do in a certain sense is, first of all, to remain competitive with the market for executives who could move to other industries or other sectors where stock is performing better and also keep them locked in long enough for the shares they're sitting on and the shares you're granting them now to really be worth something and to really pay off for sticking through the cycle and helping the company keep things together and be ready for the recovery.
So, one of the ways that you can help to, and companies have found, to help conserve those shares and also address retention concerns is to shift a portion of their long-term plan to cash. So, instead of granting a traditional mix of restricted shares with performance shares or restricted shares, stock options, and performance shares, move to a cash-based long-term performance program. It's a practice that we've seen increase in prevalence over the last couple of years, not surprisingly because of the downturn. It presents some advantages not only during the downturn, but also just over the longer term.
Because of the mechanics, the way these performance plans work, when you're in the down cycle on the bottom end of the plan, there's more certainty about the payout you get with the cash plan as a participant. Your payout may move down as a percent, but the value of the underlying commodity is still $1.00 per unit as opposed to the stock price, which also is moving down. So, if your payout is down below target, each share is worth less. So, it provides a little bit more certainty on the down side, which is helpful in a situation where you're trying to retain people, because there's a tendency for plan participants to think more about the down side and that part of the cycle than they are about the long-term opportunity.
One of the other advantages that it provides is when you're in a down turn, you often will find executives and directors sometimes who will have shares vest at a higher price and have taxes come due when the shares are at a lower price. And unless the withholding is handled properly at the front end, sometimes you could end up—in the worst case scenario—you could end up paying more tax on the shares than the shares are worth at the time you're paying the taxes. And then you also have executives having go out into to sell shares to cover that tax obligation, which can send conflicting messages to the market about what executives think is going to happen with the company going forward.
So, having cash in the long-term incentive plan, when those awards vest, there's ready currency to handle tax obligations, for example. And that's another one of the reasons that we found companies and executive teams appreciate having a cash component to the long-term plan. So, we have had some companies adopt cash during a down turn to address dilution and then keep the cash over the longer term because of some of the other benefits. It smooths out some of the leverage in the program, some of the cyclicality in the program for the executive team as well, which is helpful from a retention standpoint.


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The Western Downs Green Power Hub will be constructed on land previously used for cattle grazing and breeding. The project will only require very limited vegetation clearance, and will result in the planting of vegetation screening to minimise visual impact.
Detailed technical assessments, including ecology, heritage, hydrological, agronomical and transport have been initiated to prepare the planning application.
The impacts of solar farms are well understood due to the developed nature of the solar industry worldwide. This knowledge together with the detailed local knowledge held by the relevant government agencies and private stakeholders will combine to reduce the solar farm's impact on the local environment to the minimum.
Global Warming
Human activity is resulting in the release of large amounts of greenhouse gases. Such gases trap the sun's heat in our atmosphere and upset the delicate balance of the Earth's climate. Small changes in the temperature of the atmosphere cause accelerated melting of the polar ice caps and rising ocean levels, changes in rainfall patterns, destruction of delicate ecosystems such as coral reefs and increased extreme events such as droughts, hurricanes and cyclones.
Electricity production is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. More than a third of Australia's greenhouse gas emissions come from the burning of fossil fuels to produce electricity. At present, Australia has the second highest greenhouse gas emissions per unit of electricity produced in the world.
One way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is to replace fossil fuels with a natural, renewable source of energy such as solar. Initiatives to combat climate change, e.g. the Kyoto Protocol, have allowed solar energy to become, together with wind, the world's fastest growing energy source. Wind and solar will account for 64% of the new power generating capacity added worldwide over the next 25 years.
Benefits of Solar
The environmental benefits of the Western Downs Green Power Hub to the community are outlined below.
Renewable electricity generated per year
The Western Downs Green Power Hub Solar Farm will generate approximately 1,031,400 megawatt hours (MWh) of renewable electricity per year. The Battery Energy storage facility will discharge approximately 190,000 MWh per year, when estimated at one cycle per day.
Greenhouse gas emissions avoided
The proposed solar energy facility will reduce CO2 emissions by approximately 825,000 tonnes a year, based on QLD CO2 emissions per kWh electricity (2015, National Greenhouse Accounts).
Average number of households
The proposed solar energy facility could supply enough power each year to service over 225,000 average Toowoomba households containing four persons.
Number of cars taken off the road
A solar energy facility that reduces CO2 emissions by 825,000 tonnes a year is equivalent to taking approximately 232,000 cars off the road.
Equivalent number of trees that would need to be planted
The 825,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions avoided by the Western Downs Green Power Hub each year would be equivalent to the amount of carbon that would be locked up by planting 8,450,000 trees.


text: VISITVisitor InformationDirectionsThronson CaféMuseum StorePublic ToursGroup ToursSchool VisitsNearby AttractionsEXHIBITIONSCurrent ExhibitionsUpcoming ExhibitionsPast ExhibitionsOutlooks Exhibition SeriesArt Is EverywhereCOLLECTIONSBritish Pre-RaphaelitesHoward PyleAmerican IllustrationJohn SloanAmerican Art, 19th Century – PresentCopeland Sculpture GardenThe Helen Farr Sloan Library and ArchivesNew AcquisitionsCurator CornerSearch The CollectionPROGRAMS & EVENTSCalendarAdult ProgramsTalks & ToursFamily and YouthArt CampConcerts on KentmereCalls for ArtisansConnected SeriesHoliday House TourEDUCATIONStudio Art ClassesSchool & Teacher ProgramsOutreach: Art ExcursionsHomeschool ProgramsDocentsKids' CornerRed Apple FundMEMBERSHIPWhy Membership MattersMembership LevelsDirectors CircleRossetti CircleArt Is CardReciprocal MuseumsSUPPORTAnnual GivingLegacy Giving1912 Loyalty SocietyDonor PortraitsCorporate SupportFinancial Documents2014 Annual ReportABOUTCentennial HistoryBuilding DesignGoing GreenDelArt BlogE-NewsMuseum RentalPress RoomOpportunitiesVolunteerContact UsStaff ListBoard Of TrusteesMuseum CouncilFirstPrevious12..979899100101..132133NextLastThomas DoughtyDate: American painter, 1793–1856School: Hudson River SchoolBiography: Thomas Doughty was an American painter often considered a predecessor to the Hudson River School. Born in Philadelphia, he specialized in peaceful, atmospheric landscapes featuring the rivers and mountains of Pennsylvania, New York, and New England. Doughty taught himself to paint while apprenticing with a leather manufacturer and committed himself to painting professionally in 1820. He published a magazine, the Cabinet of Natural History and American Rural Sports, with his brother John. Doughty lived in Philadelphia, Boston, England, and New York and exhibited regularly at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the National Academy of Design, and the Boston Athenaeum.Related worksLandscapeBrowse All