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Handy Checklist For Choosing a Sewing Machine
If you're considering buying a sewing machine, take care. There are many options, some of them expensive, and you may be tempted to buy a machine with features you will never use for your sewing projects if the package looks attractive. Making a checklist of things you need to look for before you enter the store can help you avoid an expensive mistake. Here's what to include on your list.
Type of sewing projects
This should be at the top of your list. Many cheaper machines offer functions that allow you to do basic things such as buttonholes, backward and forward stitching, and zigzag, but little else. More complex machines offer loads of embroidery and overlocking possibilities, but if you do not use these stitches, this may not be worth the money. Consider the kind of fabrics you think you will use. Cheap machines tend to be flimsy and are often not suitable for sewing thicker fabrics such as denims, quilting or upholstery. For regular repair work, you can make a solid investment by choosing a machine with a well-known brand.
Look at what parts are available in case the sewing machine breaks. Find out whether the back-up guarantee covers replacement parts. In most machines, standard separate parts are given at the time of purchase. Make sure the tools are high-quality and there are sufficient spools. Nonstandard spools are hard to find.
Flexible use
If you plan to be sewing clothes with sleeves, it helps to have a machine with wraparound ability so that the sleeve fits neatly over the bed of the sewing machine. If possible, see how comfortable the machine is while you're using it. Cheaper brands may feel tinny. Make sure it's easy to change spools, and check out the threading mechanism and tension variation. A good-quality sewing machine should come with a full guide and instructions. If it doesn't, you may be buying a red herring.
Quality of buttons and bobbin holders
You will use the buttons on the sewing machine regularly when sewing clothes. Make sure they move easily and smoothly. Place the needle in both the down and up positions and see if there is any movement in the needle, which indicates unsteady foot or needle attachment. Look at the cotton bobbin holder, as many are not strong. If it's plastic, it may break. Traditional sewing machines tend to have them on the top of the machine, whereas current trends favor placing the bobbin at the back of the machine. Move the lever to the "in use" position and see how much this sticks out, as this is an area that can easily break.
Often sewing machines are noisy. Ask to see the machine in action. Reputable shops will be only too happy to let you try a machine, even if this is just the demo machine in the store. The sound while the pedal is pressed is important, since you may be working at the machine for lengthy periods.
Threading mechanism
Almost automatic threading systems can sometimes seem complex. Ask an assistant to show you how the machine threads and if you can try it yourself. Some users prefer traditional threading systems, though the whole range of sewing machines from basic Brother models to the more expensive Frister Rossmann machines all use very similar threading mechanisms that are fairly easy to use, though you may need a demonstration.
Available options
See what options the sewing machine offers and how easily the change in the foot is made to implement these, such as producing a buttonhole. Is this easy, or does it require additional instructions? Once you have taken your machine home, if it doesn't have instructions for basic items such as this, you may be reluctant to use all the options the machine offers.
Does the sewing machine take different thicknesses of thread? In this day and age, threads used for feature topstitching are often thicker and look very nice when used. Depending on the thread thickness you need for your sewing projects, you may need a more specialized machine.
Look at whether the machine does embroidery if this is a type of sewing project you would like to attempt. Shops often have examples of stitching provided by each of their machines, so it is far better to buy a machine in a shop than online. Look at the built-in fonts and see if these suit your needs. Many new machines allow you to import your designs using a USB plug and a memory stick. They also have a range of built-in carded designs, and it is vital to look what each manufacturer offers since these differ from maker to maker.
For the keen embroiderer who wants the machine for nothing but embroidery, models that are only used for this kind of fine work are available.
Overlocking feature
A simple overlocking feature is incorporated even in the cheaper range of Singer and Brother machines. This allows the stitching of knitted fabrics, which would otherwise be distorted during the stitching process. If this is something you think you may perform, it is worthwhile checking all models.
Blind hemming
Even the most basic seamstress will appreciate blind hemming. This means that curtains, clothing items and sewing projects can have a much more professional finish. Make sure this feature is included if you are doing general sewing work, as it saves so much time.
Pedal sensitivity
It may take some time to get used to a sewing machine's pedal sensitivity, which is different from machine to machine. Try a machine to see if you are comfortable with the posture required and the pressure needed for the machine to respond.
Backward function
This function can save you time. Being able to backstitch over the work you have done, reversing the stitching easily, is essential. Look at how the machine performs this since this is something you will use a lot with your sewing projects. On many models, the button is located at the front of the machine and a simple press turns the direction quickly and easily.
Cabinet or freestanding
Options for cabinet-based machines are great for those who know they are going to want the machine in place all the time. These have housings, which store all the bits and pieces you may need while sewing. Freestanding machines without a cabinet offer flexibility and the ability to store the item away when not in use.
Many people are buying sewing machines, but often they buy a machine that offers more than they need because someone convinces them to. It's crucial to find a machine with excellent quality for day-to-day repairs and standard sewing. Well-known manufacturers such as Singer, Frister Rossmann and Joanne, as well as newcomer Brother, offer available parts, repair and usually very good backup maintenance when things go wrong. After you have made your purchase, be sure to learn how to maintain your machine so that your investment is protected.
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imscoop22 needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 25 designs submitted by 11 freelance designers.
Looking for a logo for a startup nonprofit that will encourage U.S. immigrants to learn a/b and exercise the freedom available to them in the U.S. and provide educational opportunities and other information/assistance to them.
Newfound Freedom
Desired Color Scheme:
Red, White, and Blue (other colors are ok)
Desired Style:
Clean, Web 2.0-like, professional, bold and patriotic
Accepted File Formats:
PSD or similar vector file, source layers/fonts, plus png/jpg for web
Im looking for a logo for an innovative, startup non-profit named Newfound Freedom. The organization will provide educational opportunities and maintain an online portal/community for U.S. immigrants. Ive had some ideas for the logo design but the essence of what Im hoping for is a logo that conveys the notion of the U.S. as a Melting Pot of cultures with a rich heritage and where there is freedom and opportunity without bounds.
Some of my ideas are belowbut I dont want to stifle any creativity. So, dont consider any of these as requirementsthey are just thoughts:
Elements I like:
I like the idea of the logo being bold and patriotic but not too much so. I also like some of the characteristics of Web 2.0 styled logoi.e. subtle gradients, transparency, softened colors, rounded corners, etc. Some sort of balance between these two may work out.
I like the idea of incorporating patriotic symbols like an eagle, stars, the Statue of Liberty (or her torch), and the American flag may work. Ive also thought of incorporating 13 stars to represent the original colonies.
I like the way this logo looks like three people coming together but dont like the sharp cornersmakes it look like a maple leaf:
The winning logo here looks decent:
I like the cutout people holding hands on this site (not in the logo):
The logo here is nice but perhaps a bit too simple for me:
Another considerationI will am currently leaning towards use the following Joomla template for the website (using the style 6 color scheme):
Bottom Line: use your imagination! I will pick a winner (and pay) even if I dont get something I like. This is the first contest Ive held. If all goes well, I may hold other contests for more design work for the same organization. If I really like the outcome of this, I may pay a small bonus and may do the same for second place but I wont promise:)
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.

subset: commoncrawl


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A Palo Alto man was removed from a plane and is being detained in North Korea, his traveling companion to the country has confirmed.
Merrill Newman, 85, a resident of the Channing House retirement community, was leaving North Korea on Oct. 26 after a tourist trip when he was detained. The story was first reported by the San Jose Mercury News.
A November Channing House newsletter noted that resident Bob Hamrdla accompanied Newman to North Korea. Newman took Korean-language lessons to prepare for their 10-day independent trip. They were to be accompanied at all times by two Korean guides, the newsletter noted.
"There has to be a terrible misunderstanding. I hope that the North Koreans will see this as a humanitarian matter and allow him to return to his family as soon as possible," Hamrdla said in a statement.
During a press briefing in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 20, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki would not confirm whether Newman is being held, citing privacy laws. But she said a travel warning to the country was updated Nov. 19 and reflects "recent events and reports of North Korean authorities detaining U.S. citizens."
"We have seen the reports. Protection of U.S. citizens is a top priority," she said. Pressed by reporters, she would not comment on why the department remains tight-lipped, which has not been the case in previous incidents, reporters told Psaki.
The United States has no diplomatic ties with North Korea. The U.S. government relies on the Embassy of Sweden as the U.S.'s protecting power in Pyongyang. The Swedish embassy there provides limited services to U.S. citizens in North Korea who are ill, injured, arrested or who die, according to a State Department travel warning.
Under the U.S.-DPRK (North Korean) Interim Consular Agreement, North Korea is supposed to notify the Swedish Embassy within four days of an arrest or detention of a U.S. citizen and will allow consular visits by the Swedish Embassy within two days after a request. The North Korean government routinely delays or denies consular access, however, according to the State Department.
Calls to the Swedish Embassy were not immediately returned.
An unnamed diplomat said Newman was in North Korea for sightseeing, and he had a valid visa, according to Japan's Kyodo News Service.
Newman, a retired finance executive for technology companies, was featured in a Palo Alto Weekly article in May 2005 after being honored with the Avenidas Lifetimes of Achievement award. He was an avid traveler. He volunteered for the Palo Alto Area Chapter of the American Red Cross for nearly 60 years and was on its board for 30 years.
Friends of Newman declined to comment on his situation, citing fears for his safety.
The State Department advisory warns against all travel by U.S. citizens to North Korea and replaces an Oct. 1 travel warning.
"Travel by U.S. citizens to North Korea is not routine, and U.S. citizens crossing into North Korea, even accidentally, have been subject to arbitrary arrest and long-term detention," the warning noted.
Since January 2009, four U.S. citizens have been arrested for entering the country illegally, and two citizens who entered on valid visas were arrested inside North Korea on other charges. The State Department has received other reports of North Korean authorities arbitrarily detaining U.S. citizens and not allowing them to leave the country.
Visitors can be arrested for involvement in unsanctioned religious or political activities, even if performed outside of the country, unauthorized travel or unauthorized interaction with the local population, according to the State Department. Other reasons cited for detention include speaking directly to North Korean citizens, exchanging currency with unauthorized dealers, taking unauthorized photographs or shopping at stores not designated for foreigners.
Up to one-third of all Western tourists in North Korea are now American, according to North Korean (NK) News. North Korean tourist authorities have been relaxing restrictions on U.S. visitors.
According to Kyodo News Service, the North Korean Foreign Ministry denounced a resolution passed on Nov. 20 by the Third Committee of the U.N. General Assembly calling on Pyongyang to improve human rights, including its past abductions of Japanese and other foreign nationals. The resolution was led by Japan and the European Union and has been renewed for nine years.


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From farm to sea, we prepare Mexican food infused with unique, savory flavors, and steeped in tradition. Our award-winning mole and famous margaritas transport you to a place of timeless satisfaction. For over three decades Manuel's restaurant has delighted local residents, politicians, musicians, and students in Austin, Texas.
Delicious food comes from centuries of passion, and the toil of one mother's hand to another. Traditional Mexican cooking was recently recognized by UNESCO as an Intangible World Heritage Cuisine. As stewards of this type of cooking, we honor and share this legacy.
Manuel's food is prepared with love and care, using high quality, local, and seasonal ingredients. The beef, chicken, and pork we serve are all natural, and our seafood is wild-caught from certified sustainable waters. Our fresh fish is hand cut daily, never frozen. Salad dressings and fried foods are made with canola and virgin olive oils, and we feature many gluten-free, dairy free, and vegetarian options. Muchas Gracias for choosing Manuel's!


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CHICAGO — "Inclusive" and "diversity" are the buzzwords in corporate America these days.
Inclusive generally means that people should not be made to feel purposely left out, and diversity refers to the many differences — whether they be religious, political, racial or ethnic — that people bring to their communities, schools and businesses.
Specifically, these two words are prominently used in the culture and mission statement of Whole Foods, the upscale "foodie" store that last week was accused of suspending two employees who complained about the company's English-only policy.
The employees claimed that Whole Foods had unduly disciplined them for expressing dissatisfaction about the company's prohibition on speaking Spanish to each other while on the job. The grocer says the employees in question were suspended, with pay, only as a result of their rude and disrespectful behavior in response to a misunderstanding about the store's language policy — and not for speaking Spanish.
This kind of infuriating story illustrates the cluelessness and differing expectations of conduct that factor into dealing with the serious issue of how we communicate with each other in an increasingly multilingual country.
First the cluelessness. This story blew up on social media networks last week as people with little information, aside from an accusatory headline, started condemning Whole Foods as everything from discriminatory to anti-diversity, and racist.
Hey, we should all react to wrongdoing if it truly exists. But on social media, everyone is guilty until proved innocent. Even if the charge is wrong, jumping to conclusions doesn't help already tense race relations.
For those who missed the follow-up reporting on the story, a Whole Foods representative told the media that the store's investigation turned up 17 employees who attended the meeting at which the language policy was discussed and confirmed that at no time were they told they couldn't speak Spanish.
But say they were. What's the problem? Not too long ago people understood that when you enter into an employment agreement with a company, you're generally expected to follow their policies.
Whole Foods' rules state: "English-speaking Team Members must speak English to customers and other Team Members while on the clock. Team Members are free to speak any language they would like during their breaks, meal periods and before and after work. Additionally, this policy does not apply to conversations among Team Members and customers if all parties present agree that a different language is their preferred form of communication."
Hardly draconian. Either way, employees can choose to follow them and work there or find a different job.
From an employer's point of view, I want my diverse workforce to, as Whole Foods has stated, have "a uniform form of communication." This is common sense.
It is human nature to feel left out when some of the people in a group setting are speaking to each other with words the rest can't understand. This isn't bigotry; it's hard-wired, evolutionary fact. Group cohesion only occurs when individual group members behave cooperatively, not individualistically.
This explains why every time the subject of not speaking English in this country comes up, people get very upset — because language seems like a proxy for the ultimate group cohesion: allegiance to our flag.
If Whole Foods wants its teams to use a common language while on the clock — and minimize any heat they might get from customers who might also feel excluded if they heard employees speaking to each other in a language they don't understand — here's a news flash: Whole Foods is well within its legal rights to do so.
Besides, deferring to others is inclusive. My Mexican mother and Ecuadorean father taught me that it's rude to speak Spanish in front of those who can't understand it. In their own home they rarely, if ever, speak Spanish in front of my husband and children who speak only English. They just consider it good manners.
Those who are concerned about how Latinos are perceived in America — as unable or unwilling to speak English and more connected to their native countries than to this one — might consider that a little courtesy can go a long way.
If you're bilingual, it won't kill you to speak English around English-only speakers. And who knows, the small kindness of not excluding others might even make life for all Latinos in this country a little better.
Esther Cepeda is a syndicated columnist and an NBC Latino Contributor.


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Nutrition Facts
Ingredients and Preparation
- Preheat oven to 350ºF.
- Fill a large pot 2/3 of the way full with water and bring to a boil. Boil chicken until tender, about 20 minutes. Let chicken cool and shred by hand. Set aside.
- While chicken is boiling, mix together soup, mayonnaise, lemon juice, and curry powder, then set aside.
- Spread asparagus on the bottom of a 1.5-quart casserole dish. Arrange chicken on top of asparagus, and pour the soup mixture over the top.
- Sprinkle the casserole with cheese and bread crumbs, drizzle melted butter over the top, and bake at 350ºF for 30-35 minutes, until crisp and bubbly. Cover with foil if it starts to get too brown.


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About FERC Office of External Affairs
The Media Relations staff is the Commissions point of contact with all media outlets ranging from trade publication reporters to local, regional and national reporters and those working for nontraditional social media sources. It is responsible for developing an effective working relationship with these journalists and for shaping the Commissions messages to them. Also responsible for the Commissions internet and intranet web sites and social media.
Major areas of responsibilities are:
- Plans, initiates and pitches media stories that further FERCs strategic priorities.
- Advises and assists Commission members and staff in preparing for news conferences and media interviews and provides guidance on the most effective responses.
- Coordinates and conducts news conferences, media interviews and inquiries for Commissioners and staff when requested.
- Responds to media inquiries about Commission programs and activities.
- Develops and maintains regional and national media mailing lists for Commission news releases.
- Writes, edits and produces all news releases.
- Monitors media coverage and provides clarifications or corrections when necessary.
- Develops informational and educational materials, publishes agency newsletter (FERC Insider).
- Prepares daily News Clips for distribution to the Chairman and Commissioners and their staff, and Office Directors.
- Assists other Program Offices in developing informational materials for outreach to the public.
- Manages the content of FERC's enterprise-wide Internet, including planning, posting and overall presentation.
- Develops and implements Internet content guidelines and policies and ensures compliance with federal standards.


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Bella Vista native will serve as personal banker.
GRAVETTE , Ark. – Arvest Bank is pleased to announce Andrew Gaudian has been promoted to personal banker. Gaudian has worked at Arvest for more than five years and held a variety of roles, including jobs in the mortgage and private banking divisions.
As a personal banker, he will help identify customers' loan needs, assist with the loan application process, and provide personal financial counseling, among other duties. Gaudian will office at Arvest's branch in Gravette.
"Andrew's track record here at Arvest speaks for itself," said James Wallace, branch sales manager in Gravette. "He has shown great versatility and an understanding for the many needs of our customers. We look forward to more great things from Andrew and know that he will be a fantastic asset for our customers."
Gaudian earned an associate of arts degree at Northwest Arkansas Community College. He and his wife, Heather, live in Centerton with their newborn son. The family attends Reach Church.
Submitted questions will be answered by an Arvest banker and may appear on the Arvest Blog.
All Arvest banks are Equal Housing Lenders and Member FDIC.
Investment products and services are provided by Arvest Investments, Inc., doing business as Arvest Asset Management, member FINRA/SIPC, an SEC registered investment adviser and a subsidiary of Arvest Bank. Trust services are provided by Arvest Bank. Insurance products are made available through Arvest Insurance, Inc., which is registered as an insurance agency. Insurance products are marketed through Arvest Insurance, Inc., but are underwritten by insurance companies.
Securities and Insurance Products: Not Insured by FDIC or any Federal Government Agency, May Lose Value, Not a Deposit of or Guaranteed by a Bank or any Bank Affiliate.


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A1 Shredding Houston
Professional Houston Shredding – A1 Shredding Houston
A1 Shredding is a professional shredding company in Houston, Texas.
We offer business shredding, residential shredding and personal shredding services to all areas of Houston Texas.
We provide secure, efficient, simple and cost-effective plans for shredding and destroying your company's confidential information.
A1 Shredding provides secure shredding services on-site and off-site, and provides you with a certificate of destruction.
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Because we are a mobile unit, we can provide services at any location. We provide locking security bins for you to place throughout your organization. Your documents will be destroyed on-site!
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Off-site document destruction takes place within a secure environment; this includes the staging, shredding, and relocating the destroyed materials to a local recycling facility.
Our No Hassle Houston Shredding Services Include:
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A1 Shredding provides confidential shredding in Houston and all surrounding areas.
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We are experienced in product destruction, as well as shredding microfilm, credit cards, uniforms, hard drives, inventory that is overstocked, damaged, outdated and other forms of media storage.
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A1 Shredding, Choose the Best Shredding Company in Houston!


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Saving And Investing
When you invest, you are putting your money to work so it can make more money for you. Being an informed investor is the best way to protect your money. Informed investors don't leave it to chance. They understand the risks and costs involved with each of their investments and only commit money if the products are a good fit for them.FCNB protects investors by administering and enforcing the New Brunswick Securities Act. We assess each complaint we receive, conduct investigations and have the authority to impose sanctions on those who violate securities laws.
How can we help?
Print this page
Print this page
Financial and Consumer Services Commission
85 Charlotte Street, Suite 300
Saint John, NB
As a regulatory agency, FCNB cannot provide financial advice or legal advice, but we can help you get the information and resources.


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November 2005
15 November 2005
Wow. Over the years, we have had some pretty huge events at Australia Zoo. Heck, sometimes it feels like every day is an event in itself! But I've got to say, Tuesday 15 November was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of occasion. In fact, it was more of an only-in-one-lifetime-so-far kind of occasion, so that's a pretty big deal!
Our beloved Harriet, an absolutely gorgeous Giant Galapagos Land Tortoise AND the world's oldest living resident (she's even in the Guinness Book of World Records!) turned an amazing 175 years old. Can you imagine the life Harriet has led? Most people know her incredible life story (click here to read all about it), and we are so proud and privileged to have such a wonderful animal living here at Australia Zoo – not just because of her rich history, but simply because she has the most beautiful nature and charming personality, and we all love her to bits!
We celebrated Harriet's big day in true Australia Zoo style, with heaps of our Zoo crew and thousands of guests gathering for cake, candles and singing. We partied all day, and I think if Harriet had a dollar for every time somebody wished her a heartfelt "Happy Birthday!" she could probably buy her youth back.
But I can't imagine that she'd want to. Look at that gorgeous face – who wouldn't love this brilliant old broad?
Happy birthday, Harriet!
1 Zoo Comment
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Registration for the 2014 Corn Utilization and Technology Conference is now open. The biennial event will be held June 2-4 in Louisville, Ky. The 2014 CUTC will feature the cutting-edge technologies and new uses that continually improve and dynamically change the corn industry with a focus on wet and dry milling.
"While June may seem a ways away, registering now for CUTC provides an opportunity to save with valuable early registration discounts," said NCGA Research and Business Development Action Team Chair Tom Mueller. "The 2014 conference remains a must-attend event on calendars of many throughout the industry. The conference maintains its position at the forefront of technology, fostering innovative ideas and the important networking connections necessary to move the industry forward."
The conference session topics will address genetics, biotechnology, and grain quality. There will be additional sessions covering new technologies and products from wet and dry processing, enzyme technology, and products from biorefineries. Attendees can also expect to hear presentations on new starch uses, resistant starch and nutrition, biopolymers and higher valued products such as nutraceuticals.
The Gary Lamie Graduate Student Poster Competition will showcase the latest student research and provide students an opportunity to network and advance their careers.
Increasingly recognized as an important industry networking event, CUTC offers attendees the chance to meet hundreds of valuable business contacts, identify potential new customers and learn how new technologies will enhance the value of corn. CUTC poster presentations will again provide an ideal showcase for the latest research and present students with a challenging competition.
CUTC will be held at the Marriott Louisville Downtown Hotel. Visit www.corntechconf.org for updates as additional information becomes available. For information on discounted group room rates available for reservations completed by March 30, click here.


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Instron Quality Manual
This document constitutes the highest level of quality documentation measures in Instron.
Download Instron's Quality Manual
This document constitutes the highest level of quality documentation measures in Instron.
Download Instron's Quality Manual
Instron's calibration laboratory is accredited to ISO/IEC 17025 by the National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program (NVLAP) under Laboratory Code 200301-0. This accreditation also covers our worldwide field operations, excluding Brazil.
Download Instron's current scope of accreditation and certificate of accreditation below:
Note that Instron combined two separate NVLAP accreditations into one. Previously, our field and factory operations were covered by NVLAP lab codes of 200301-0 and 105023-0. All Instron calibration facilities are now covered under one certificate and designated as lab code 200301-0.
Our NVLAP accreditation also covers our CEAST product verifications, which had previously been accredited by A2LA. The Signatory List, identifying all individuals qualified by NVLAP to perform 17025 calibrations, is available upon request.
NIST maintains an on-line register of certificates at: http://ts.nist.gov/
Instron's Brazil Field operation is accredited to ABNT NBR ISO/IEC 17025 for force, displacement and strain by Cgcre/Inmetro (CAL # 0443). Certificates can be found at: http://www.inmetro.gov.br/laboratorios/rbc


text: Where to start....I started with The Bull in 2005 as an intern and I never left! You may know me as The Dad In Plaid, I seriously own a TON of plaid shirts...It's an addiction. I have the most wonderful wife on the planet, as she keeps me in line, and I'm a proud dad of two beautiful girls. I can recite the entire movie of Frozen. I've only seen it 548468135 times. To answer the question everyone asks, I went to St. Charles High! I like brewing beer, drinking beer and talking about beer. I have also only had 1 cavity in my life. I'm sure that's something you wanted to know. Hit me up @Dustyonair


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It is disorienting to watch the French try to be nice.
They don't scorn you as much when you try out your pidgin French. France's first unmarried first lady, Valérie Trierweiler, is conducting a global charm offensive in an effort to escape her nickname, "The Rottweiler." And the slinky former first lady, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, is promoting the virtues of being genial as she hawks her latest CD of breathy French songs and her husband breathlessly hints at a comeback.
"I feel better when I'm nice," Carla told The Daily Beast.
As Elizabeth Becker writes in "Overbooked," the snobby French are ambivalent about being the No. 1 destination of the 21st century. The erstwhile Napoleonic Empire is a little embarrassed about its reliance on something as fluffy as tourism. But employment and foreign investment are spiraling, so the French are forced to fall back on their "enchanting delightfulness," as Mark Twain called it. They must, sadly, put on le happy face.
The city of Paris published a six-page booklet called "Do you speak touriste?" to help taxi drivers, restaurant workers, hoteliers, museum staffers and merchants woo various nationalities.
Americans, the manual advises, must have their Wi-Fi, fancy hotels and dinner at 6; the Spanish crave "freebies," amusement parks and dinner between 9 and 11; the Japanese bow and desire reassurance but will complain when they get home if things were not right; the Germans demand cleanliness; the Chinese like a "simple smile" as they leave for a day of luxury shopping; and the Brazilians are "easily tactile" and want a "totally poetic experience."
Trierweiler's seduction attempt follows a rocky start. The pretty but prickly 48-year-old helped transform François Hollande from a bike-riding schlub who lacked confidence, because he was competing in Socialist politics with his luminous partner, Ségolène Royal, for president. But on election night last year, the French noticed Valérie's flash of jealousy when Hollande walked across stage to thank Ségolène, and Valérie's subsequent demand that he kiss her on the lips.
Then she sent out a nasty tweet when Paris Match, her employer, covered her like any other first lady, and a reputation for arrogance grew.
She was mocked as "the first girlfriend" in a country that still wants kings and queens to look up to. Compared with her feline predecessor as première dame, Carla, Valérie was pegged as more catty. She had to apologize for a tweet supporting the opponent of Royal, the official Socialist candidate, in the legislative elections, and Hollande was mocked for failing to control his femmes or France.
"It is not a harmonious triangle," sighed one French journalist.
Hollande, who faced the ire of traditional marriage champions for legalizing gay marriage, sidestepped tradition himself. He didn't marry Royal, the mother of his four children. And, while he brings Trierweiler on official travel and splits his time with her in the Élysée Palace and an apartment in the 15th arrondissement, he hasn't saved her from the awkward position of being a single first lady.
One political cartoon showed Valérie asking Hollande to marry her and him replying, Do you think I'm gay or what?
In the last five months, Trierweiler has done her best to impress the French, plunging into causes like autism and domestic violence against children. Last week, she traveled to Congo, where she went to a hospital to meet women who had been raped by militia members.
Le Point, a weekly right-wing magazine, called Valérie's "Operation Win Over" a mission impossible, noting that she is even more universally disliked than the hapless Hollande, the most unpopular president in the history of the Fifth Republic.
Her conservative critics complained that she was costing strapped taxpayers too much, given that she's not even married to the president, but it turned out Carla cost more. A supermarket chain heir, Xavier Kemlin, pressed charges against Trierweiler for embezzlement, arguing that "our taxes" shouldn't pay for "the house, the food, the staff and the trips" of a woman he views as no more than an official mistress.
At the Bastille Day parade, where Valérie glowed in a hot pink dress and wide smile, some anti-gay-marriage protesters waved a banner reading: "Valérie: wife, concubine or chick? Fiscally, the president must choose."
In a recent TV interview with Alessandra Sublet, Trierweiler offered humanizing tidbits such as "I still do my sons' laundry" and "I still vacuum sometimes to relax." She admitted that it had been hard to go from the observer to the observed; she had to give up her job as a top political reporter at Paris Match and move to the culture section.
She ignored Carla's remark about her conjugal status to Vanity Fair's Maureen Orth that "it's not easy not to be married" in the role.
Asked if she and Hollande would marry, Valérie replied, "What for? Companion is a really nice word because it means we accompany them. We are together because we love each other and not because we have to be because we're married."


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By Marlena Delacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman
The Young and the Restless: The hardest job in the soap world is being done right now by new executive producer Jill Farren Phelps and headwriter Josh Griffith as they revamp Y&R and are rumored to be paring down its expensive cast. Marlena has always believed it's not a critic's job to tell producers what to do; it's our job to react to it. Yet, I can't resist making some observations on the Y&R they are examining right now.
How the hell are Phelps and Griffith going to get rid of any veterans, when the greatest strength of Y&R is its plethora of actors who have been on for decades? Firing any will be an amputation, with the fans just screaming bloody murder even after just one pink slip. Look at how wrenching it was to lose Eileen Davidson as Ashley, who departed Y&R just last week for Days of Our Lives! Almost all the older vets have proven their worth by improving the awful stories of Ms. Arena Bell and company though their great acting abilities. Examples:
Peter Bergman's Jack conquering paralysis and his joke of a marriage to Melody Thomas Scott's Nikki; Michelle Stafford in the on-going travails of Phyllis; Doug Davidson, bravura as Paul in the father kills son Ricky story, and on and on. For whom will the bell toll?
Caution: cutting or deemphasizing the vets on Y&R would likely kill the show, as it will cause longtime viewers — its core audience — to flee. Plus, any of these actors can be maintained or saved by improved writing for their characters.
Most likely cuts will come from the shorter-termed vets from other shows, like the Genie Francis (totally miscast as scheming Genevieve) and those who have run out of story, like Stephen Nichols (Tucker). Please don't cut Debbi Morgan (Harmony) and Darnell Williams (Sarge)! Each has more than carried over their momentous acting skills from All My Children to Y&R and I'll cry if they get the sack.
The most effective move would be to punch up or recast most of the young cast, who range from nothing more than ordinary to dreadful. I have never been a fan of (recent Emmy winner!) Christel Khalil (Lily) and Daniel Goddard (Cane). Lily and Cane are insipid and I don't care to see any more about Cane's past. The relative newbies such as Blake Hood (who plays the newly adult Kyle) and Jessica Heap (who plays Eden) don't do much for me. I have a feeling the show will be bringing in [Read more…]


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Fading Future: Recalling is the prologue chapter of the series, being a fantastic sci-fi RPG with light "choose-your-own-adventure" elements in the form of decisions and a player character whose skills are determined by them. The prologue takes place in the present, and strange, inexplicable events have been happening in the known galaxy. Not least of which is that apparently Earth has been destroyed, and along with it the entire Terran race! The Residian Empire probably would have sought for the one responsible for the crime, but with their own leaders having vanished without a trace, what will they do? Thankfully, the idyllic little planet you find yourself on is unaffected and unaware of these events. Let's try to keep it that way.
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The Buccaneers announced they have named George Warhop their new offensive line coach. Warhop has been coaching on the NCAA and NFL levels for the past three decades and has helped a long list of players to great success in San Francisco, Dallas and Cleveland.
Warhop joins the Buccaneers after five seasons with Cleveland (2009-13) as the offensive line coach. While with the Browns, Warhop coached tackle Joe Thomas to the Pro Bowl and All-Pro team for five consecutive seasons. Warhop also helped center Alex Mack to an all-rookie selection in 2009, followed by Pro Bowl invitations in 2010 and 2013.
Prior to joining Cleveland, Warhop spent four seasons with San Francisco (2005-08), helping running Frank Gore record three-consecutive 1,000-yard seasons, including a franchise-record 1,695 in 2006. Warhop joined the 49ers after two seasons with Dallas (2003-04), where he helped tackle Flozell Adams and guard Larry Allen earn Pro Bowl berths each year.
Warhop got his start in the NFL as an assistant offensive line coach with St. Louis (1996-97) before becoming the offensive line coach in Arizona (1998-2002). Before entering the NFL, Warhop spent 11 seasons as a collegiate coach at Kansas (1984-86), Vanderbilt (1987-89), New Mexico (1990-91), Southern Methodist (1993) and Boston College (1994-95). Warhop also spent two seasons as a coach for the London Monarchs in NFL Europe (1991-92).


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As we are getting to the end of another year and look back, it is a good idea to take a moment to do a business review with your banking professional. There is nothing more critical to the health of any business than taking the time for an annual review and analysis of all aspects of the business. If you cannot recall the last time you have had one that is the perfect time to think about it. This can be done anytime; it does not have to be at the end of the year and the Business Banking Unit is always ready to assist.
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Xero works well with others
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I visited the Epona Centro Ecuestre (Epona Equestrian Center) on April 29 –May 5, 2012 and wanted to send an evaluation of my time there. Firstly, I want to say that it is beyond... Read more
Equestrian Tours in Southern Europe
The concept of the equestrian riding tour has had a glorious revival in Europe since the end of World War II. Unlike the United States, countries such as France, Spain, Italy, and Greece have kept open many rights-of-way for riders which offer opportunities to ride for weeks away from traffic in beautiful areas of great historic interest. In this part of the world it was only a few decades before the war that people traveled on horseback from inn to inn and town to town. In France many inns and restaurants are still called relais (relays) where travelers could find food, lodging, a place to keep their horses and often fresh mounts. Since one of the main attractions of a European visit is to see and feel the rich history, it is entirely appropriate to travel and discover these wonderful treasures on horseback as people did when these castles, walled towns and cathedrals were being created.
Another advantage of visiting Europe on horseback is that horses greatly facilitate local contact. People who ride up on a horse are considered special and somehow more trustworthy than those who arrive in droves by bus. Riders destroy the image many foreigners hold of ugly Americans driving up in big cars and talking very loudly in basic English to make themselves understood. Horses help break the international ice and there is always a common bond between horse lovers around the world. On horseback one has the time to travel in depth without rushing from place to place by car and airplane. The cultural value of a trip is not determined by the number of attractions listed in the guide book one manages to see by racing around.
For riders interested in honing their dressage skills a visit to Spain or Portugal is must. Excellent instruction, the long standing ties to the tradition of the discipline and phenomenal schoolmaster horses make our dressage programs an opportunity that should not be missed.
Horseback rides in Greece, France, Spain, Italy and Portugal are usually organized so that on moving days riders can go from inn to inn or castle to castle each day and have their baggage transferred and waiting at the next night's stop. It enables guests to move out at all paces during the day unencumbered by baggage. A delicious picnic lunch is usually served at midday along the route and both riders and horses can take a rest before heading out for the afternoon. Usually stops are made along the way to visit old castles, walled towns and other points of interest. Groups are kept small and seldom have more than a dozen riders.


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OrgSync is your way to connect to organizations, communicate with other members, and explore your community
Join up with the organizations you are already a member of or find out what else is going on in your area.
Use discussion boards, news posts, and group messaging to communicate within your organizations.
Browse volunteer opportunities on campus and in the local community.


text: PROBLEM: A new production line was being installed at Kraft/Nabisco's Richmond bakery facility. They have had problems in the past where food particles on the production floor would make the surface slippery. The particles would fall into the crevices creating stains and making the floors difficult to clean. A flooring system was needed that was slip resistant, easy to clean, and suitable for use in a baked goods environment. SOLUTION: The facilities manager was looking for a slip resistant floor that was dust-free, sanitary, aesthetically appealing, and easy to clean with a standard floor-scrubbing machine. Rust-Oleum was asked to provide a system that met all of these criteria while providing the best value. In addition, the system had to be easy to apply in order to minimize labor and down time. Epoxy Systems in Richmond, VA was the contractor selected to install the floor. They shot blasted the surface of the 20,000 square foot area. With the surface properly prepared, a 40 mil system consisting of Rust-Oleum's Penetrating Prime & Seal Primer, 8100 System OverKrete® Xtra S with Wedron 480, and a final topcoat of Overkrete® Xtra S was selected and applied. Nabisco was familiar with the durability of OverKrete® products and had many successful projects using them in the past. Rust-Oleum has worked with Nabisco/Kraft on continuous projects since 1999. Since the Baked Goods Division moves its equipment and re-configures production lines as new products are developed they are in constant need of flooring repairs and re-finishing. Nabisco's choice of the Overkrete® system resulted in a highly reliable and durable floor coating that met their food processing needs in terms of skid resistance, durability, and cleanliness. Due to the system's non-porous attributes, food particles from the manufacturing process cannot settle into the surface of the coating. Nabisco is very happy with their new production floor that now successfully portrays a clean, sanitary, and safe environment that exceeds their cleanliness standards.


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Press Releases
Outerwall Inc. Announces Offering of $300 Million Senior Unsecured Notes
BELLEVUE, Wash., June 2, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Outerwall Inc. (Nasdaq: OUTR) today announced that it intends to privately offer $300 million in aggregate principal amount of senior unsecured notes due 2021 (the "Notes"). Outerwall intends to use the proceeds from the offering to repay existing indebtedness under its credit facility, but may reserve a portion of the proceeds for general corporate purposes, which may include but are not limited to maintenance or repayment of other outstanding indebtedness, acquisitions or other investments, and the payment of other corporate expenses.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130701/AQ41388LOGO)
The Notes will be offered to qualified institutional buyers in accordance with Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and to non-U.S. persons outside the United States pursuant to Regulation S under the Securities Act.
The Notes have not been registered under the Securities Act or any state or other jurisdiction's securities laws. Accordingly, the Notes may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration requirements under the Securities Act and any applicable state or other jurisdiction's securities laws.
This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities nor shall there be any sale of any securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.
About Outerwall Inc.
Outerwall Inc. has more than 20 years of experience creating some of the most profitable spaces for their retail partners. The company mission is to create a better everyday by delivering breakthrough kiosk experiences that delight consumers and generate revenue for retailers. As the company that brought consumers Redbox® entertainment, Coinstar® money services, and ecoATM® electronics recycling kiosks, Outerwall is leading the next generation of automated retail and paving the way for inventive, scalable businesses. Outerwall™ kiosks are in neighborhood grocery stores, drug stores, mass merchants, malls, and other retail locations in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, the United Kingdom, and Ireland.
Safe Harbor for Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The words "believe," "will," "expect," "intend," "anticipate" and variations of such words, and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements, but their absence does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. The forward-looking statements in this release include statements regarding the offering of the Notes. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future actions, results, performance or events, which may vary materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Differences may result from actions taken by Outerwall or its management, as well as from risks and uncertainties beyond Outerwall's control. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, changes in the financial and consumer markets, changes in Outerwall's strategic and financial objectives, and the ability to attract new retailers and customers, penetrate new markets and distribution channels and react to changing consumer demands. The foregoing list of risks and uncertainties is illustrative but by no means exhaustive. For more information on factors that may affect Outerwall, please review "Risk Factors" and other disclosures described in Outerwall's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as other public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements reflect Outerwall's expectations as of the date of this release. Outerwall undertakes no obligation to update the information provided herein.
SOURCE Outerwall Inc.


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Black Love 911
Where has Black love gone? I mean this has become a real issue in our community.
The other day I listened to a sisterfriend rant and rave about how there are no good Black men out there. In her opinion, they are all dogs and not to be trusted. She uses this belief to justify her attitude and non-responsiveness to men in general, and Black men in particular. She puts Black men in one group—the "don't know how to do right" group. Although, the words she bellowed have become an all too familiar mantra, echoed by millions of women all over the globe, I never once heard her propose a solution to mending and healing the wounds. What I did hear was the anger and pain in her voice, which were camouflaged and doused in expletives. It got me thinking about love, but more importantly, Black love. Where has Black love gone?
I mean this has become a real issue in our community. We see the discord all of the time. It is no secret that relationships between brothers and sisters have deteriorated over the years. We're no longer experiencing the love fest so evident in song and deed throughout the '60s and '70s. The brothers don't seem to show the same respect they once did for sisters. The tenderness is gone.
On the other hand, the Black woman is very different too. She has claimed her independence and feels uninhibited in almost every aspect of her life. The freedom our fore-mothers yearned to have has so wonderfully been acquired by sisters today. However, in this age of music videos and bling-bling, you sometimes see this "freedom" on display in unattractive and demeaning ways. It has become almost a tug-of-war between the sexes.
I want to know what happened to the deep, down-to-the core love that sustained our grandparents through thick and thin. I want to know if the Black woman has gained so much ground economically that she feels superior to the Black man, hence, alienating him.
Black love is in a state of emergency, to say the least. Love has always been the root of our existence and heavily embedded in our daily ritual. Sisters, have you made love a priority in your lives, or have you been too busy climbing that corporate ladder, trying to make it to the top?
Brothers, what happened to the unwavering love and admiration you once had for us?
Although, I am not minimizing success and its importance, I am charging each and every one of you with the task of connecting, or reconnecting, as it were, yourself to love. The evidence of anger that was present in my friend's voice is proof positive that Black women and Black men need to get back to loving one another. Communication is the key, and the dialogue must begin, sooner, rather than later. Let's stop masking love, and our desire to have it, by attempting to replace it with objects, trinkets or one-night stands.
Webster's defines love this way: "The deep tenderness, affection and concern felt to a person with whom one has or wishes to have a relationship with." Who or what are you loving right now?
Note to self: Become that which you wish to attract.
©2005 LaVerne N. Curtis. Ms. Curtis is a Senior Editor and Freelance Columnist, with nationally published works to include "Love…According to L,� a monthly AOL Black Voices column; and "L's Motivational Minute,� a monthly motivational women's column for Soul Sistas Unite.com. She has also interviewed celebrity personalities and written for Upscale Magazine.com. You can e-mail her at: firstname.lastname@example.com with your comments.
To subscribe to or advertise in New York's leading Pan African weekly investigative newspaper please call (212) 481-7745 or send a note to email@example.com
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I think you have "Filtered HTML" turned on here. If you switch to "Full HTML," it will probably...
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Terminal as a transparent wallpaper
Template:I18n links start Template:I18n entry Template:I18n entry Template:I18n links end
There are two popular ways of configuring a Linux terminal to work transparently over a wallpaper, without any borders, menu bars or toolbars. This is very popular among developers because of it's practical and coolness factor. Example for use it to view source-code or get an interactive process status of the system with htop. Something like conky, but not quite.
The Easy Way
Tilda is a highly customizable Linux terminal window. the author is inspired by classical terminals featured in first person shooter games, Quake, Doom and Half-Life to name a few, where the terminal has no border and is hidden from the desktop till a key or keys are pressed. In our example we will install it and give a basic terminal.
# pacman -Sy tilda
In Gnome you can locate it under Applications –> Accessories –> Tilda.
To achieve our desired look we will need to edit the default configurations.
Under General tab, uncheck "Always on Top". Under Appearance you can edit the height and width to your liking,
but make sure you check "Enable Transparency" and make the level of Transparency 100%. Under Colors tab, chose "Green on Black" or "Personilize". Under Scrooling you must select "Disabled".
That's all you need, to run Tilda go to Applications –> Accessories –> Tilda and you should see it right there. The reason its not what I use for my transparent terminal because this is an easy fix and not very stable and crashes quite often (at least for me), while I know others who are quite happy with Tilda. Other reason is that not allways stay as wallpaper, if you use the "pulldown key" (F1) it comes to front.
The Professional Way
With the use of devilspie we will have more control over the placement and the behavior over the terminal window. What is Devilspie? Devil's Pie can be configured to detect windows as they are created, and match the window to a set of rules. If the window matches the rules, it can perform a series of actions on that window. For example, I can make all windows created by X-Chat appear on all workspaces, and the main Gkrellm1 window does not appear in the pager or task list.
Step 1
Install devilspie on Arch:
# pacman -Sy delvilspie
Step 2
Make a hidden directory on your home folder:
$ mkdir ~/.devilspie
Make a configuration file with the extension .ds, inside devilspie folder. This is where devilspie looks for config file by default when it starts up. Edit the config file with your favorite editor, to dress up the terminal window the way you want it to look like.
$ nano ~/.devilspie/DesktopConsole.ds
My config file looks like this:
(if (matches (window_name) "DesktopConsole") (begin (stick) (below) (undecorate) (skip_pager) (skip_tasklist) (wintype "utility") (geometry "+240+250") (geometry "954×680") ) )
For a complete list of options with devilspie configuration options check out, the comprehensive list of options
Step 3
Open a gnome-terminal window go to Edit –> Profile –> New. Name it DesktopConsole.
Edit the Profile, to achieve our desired look we will need to edit the default configurations
Under General tab, uncheck "Show menubar by default in new terminals" Under Colors tab, choose "Green on Black" (choose whatever you like, i like this). Under Effects tab, choose "Transparent background". Make sure the scroll is set to "None" Under Scrolling tab, select "Disabled".
Step 4
In this step we will setup devilspie and our custom terminal profile to load on bootup.
Go to Systems –> Preferences –> Sessions.
Add a new session by using the
+ sign. The first one we will put, "devilspie", in both name and command.
The second session we will put "gnome-terminal", under name and "gnome-terminal --window-with-profile=DesktopConsole", under command. Here we are basically calling gnome-terminal with the custom profile we created earlier.
Step 5
Logout/login and you should have your desired look.
You can customize more to fit your needs and style, have more than one terminal; I will live it up your imagination.


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Themes: Government and public sector ×
Geographical Coverage: United Kingdom × Malta × Portugal × Bulgaria ×
EuroVoc concepts: access to EU information ×
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Official Journals of the European Union (English)
This dataset contains the Official Journal (OJ) L and C series in XML Formex format. Grouped by year (since 2004) the resources are available for bulk download. For the current year the...
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Official Journals of the European Union - 2013
The Official Journal of the European Union (OJ) is the official compendium of EU legislation (L series) and other official documents of the EU institutions, bodies and agencies (C series...
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This summer has brought to California the perfect movie for Jerry Brown -- and every other Californian who persists in believing that, with just the right kind of wooing, Republican legislators can be made to compromise on taxes and other things.
The film is not a Hollywood blockbuster. It's a French film, called "The Names of Love," And it has a terrific premise. A left-wing woman is so skilled at the art of love making that she takes a series of right-wing men as lovers -- and converts them to her politics!
Watching it, I wondered if I had been wrong about Brown's failure being the result of a broken governing system. Perhaps the governor just needed a better love potion with the GOP.
U.S. & World
But then I watched the rest of the movie and realized. This is a comedy. The French made it because it's so fantastic.
In California politics, however, what is farce and fantasy for the French is treated as real. Brown seemed to believe he could convert the GOP with his expert and artful wooing. Republicans have their own fantasies -- that if they just make their arguments with enough passion, the public employee unions will shrink, or go away entirely, and all will be right with the state. And the good government groups believe that by electing a few more moderates, the raw pleasure of compromise will tempt the politicians of California to come together
These hopes are nonsense, albeit beautiful nonsense. We need a system that is based on who we are: partisan, imperfect, fallen. If members of California's political class wants to indulge in French fantasy, they should stick to the cinema.


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I have several diamond pattern Celtic coloring pages. This one has loops and feathery decorations around the edge. See more at the links below. This PDF prints to 8.5x11 inch paper.
FTC Disclosure: I recommend products I think will help you. If you buy through my links I may earn ad commissions at no extra cost to you.
Home › 87+ Celtic Coloring Pages › Diamond Celtic Coloring Page
Your kids will love these PDF printable coloring pages. Fun to customize and color. Add your name or write a birthday message in your favorite fonts, SIZES, and colors. You'll love using interactive coloring pages to print!
Also, get your favorite crayons, coloring pencils, and watercolors ready for my relaxing adult coloring pages! ~Fuzzy
Attribution: Many CWF images are licensed at GraphicsFactory.com.
Pin to remember Fuzzy's coloring pages. Follow to see more. Thank you! :-)


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Rep. Ron Paul appears to have been paid twice for flights between Washington, D.C., and his Congressional district, receiving reimbursement from taxpayers and also from a network of political and nonprofit organizations he controlled, according to public records and documents obtained by Roll Call.
Roll Call identified eight flights for which the Texas Republican, a GOP presidential candidate and leading champion of smaller government, was reimbursed twice for the same trip. Roll Call also found dozens more instances of duplicate payments for travel from 1999 to 2009, totaling thousands of dollars' worth of excess payments, but the evidence in those cases is not as complete.
Paul's office vigorously denies that the Congressman ever intentionally received multiple reimbursements for the same trips.
Paul's office declined to make the Congressman available for an interview.
Spokesman Jesse Benton said it was "possible that wholly inadvertent errors were made in a handful of instances" in which flights were reimbursed twice, but he maintained that "absolutely zero taxpayer funds were ever misused."
Benton said those flights "may appear to show duplicative reimbursements because Congressman Paul's wife or a campaign staffer traveled with him. In such instances, the U.S. House would reimburse Congressman Paul's travel to D.C. for Congressional business, while his campaign or political action committee would reimburse his traveling companion's ticket." But Benton declined to discuss any of the trips in detail, arguing that the office does not have records for many of the years in question and that Roll Call was using "stolen" credit card records as the basis for the story.
The available records name Paul as the traveler in most cases. In other cases in which tickets were purchased for Paul's wife, Carol, or for staffers, those tickets — identifiable by distinct prices, dates and flight paths — were reimbursed separately. In one case, Paul used a company credit card in his name to buy a ticket for his then-deputy chief of staff; Paul was then reimbursed by his Congressional office and also by his campaign.
Roll Call obtained copies of credit card statements for a corporate American Express card assigned to Ron Paul & Associates Inc. on which many flights were purchased. The flight details on those statements matched payment records filed to the Federal Election Commission and office expenses itemized in quarterly Congressional disbursement statements published by the Chief Administrative Officer of the House.
For example, on March 24, 2003, Paul purchased a round-trip flight from Washington, D.C., to Houston for $651.50. Several weeks later, filings with the FEC show, the Committee to Re-Elect Ron Paul paid $651.50 for the Continental Airlines ticket. Congressional expenditure records show Paul also was reimbursed $651.50 by taxpayers for the same flight.
Paul filed articles of dissolution for Ron Paul & Associates Inc. in 2001 with the Texas secretary of state, but the company's corporate credit card was used for years afterward, the records show.
Benton suggested it was "possible" there could have been a second credit card Paul was using to book his official travel, but he offered no evidence to support that possibility.
The credit card statements reviewed by Roll Call include handwritten notations that indicate several organizations — Paul's campaign, Liberty Political Action Committee ("Liberty PAC"), the Foundation for Rational Economics and Education and another nonprofit called the Liberty Committee — would pay for many of the flights.
Documents indicate those organizations sent checks to American Express for those items, while Paul received payments from the House for the same expenses.
Paul's daughter, Lori Paul Pyeatt, was treasurer for the campaign, FREE and Liberty PAC. Liberty PAC's website says its "goal ... is to fund Congressman Ron Paul's political activities as he travels the country."
Paul's office declined Roll Call's request to make Pyeatt available for an interview.
Like other businesses, Members of Congress submit receipts for expenses to the House of Representatives administrative office for reimbursement. A source familiar with the process said these receipts are reviewed by House auditors and routine errors are found and corrected, but the office has no capacity to investigate whether a PAC or other entity is reimbursing the same expenses.
In 2009, the House changed the way it reports expenditures for Congressional travel in the quarterly public disclosures, eliminating details of who in the office traveled and where they went, making it impossible to track double-payments.
Still, using older House records and the credit card statements, Roll Call has identified more than 25 flights, totaling about $15,000, for which the dates, costs, airline companies and flight paths closely match reimbursements made by the House and Paul's other organizations.
Among the findings:
• On May 11, 2004, Paul's credit card was used to purchase a $323.60 plane ticket for him from Houston to Reagan National Airport departing May 17. Ten days later, the House paid Paul $323.60 for a flight from Houston to Reagan National Airport departing May 17. On June 29, Paul's campaign paid for the same flight, FEC filings show, along with a dinner at El Toro Mexican Restaurant and gasoline from a Texaco station in Houston — expenses listed on the same credit card statement as the flight.
• On Sept. 23, 2003, Paul's card was used to buy a $646.50 round-trip plane ticket from D.C. to Houston, according to the credit card statements, which identify Paul as the passenger. About three weeks later, the House paid Paul $646.50 for the same flight. Ten days after that, his campaign paid for the ticket a second time, along with restaurant and gasoline purchases from the same credit card statement.
• In September 2000, Paul's credit card was used to purchase three plane tickets on separate dates that were also reimbursed by both his campaign and by the House. Handwritten notes on the credit card statements indicate Paul's campaign would pay for two of the tickets and Liberty PAC would pay for the other. FEC filings show Paul's campaign paid for the first two tickets Oct. 26, 2000, and Liberty PAC paid for the third ticket Oct. 30. The credit card statements indicate Paul was a passenger for one of those flights; no passenger name is available for the other flights. Taxpayers also reimbursed Paul for all of those flights.
Public records show hundreds of flight payments between 1999 and 2009 in which both the House and Paul's campaign paid for plane tickets of the same price and about the same date. Given the limitations of publicly reported data, in many of those cases it's not possible to conclude that the matching flight payments represent duplicate reimbursements, because the possibility of an alternate traveler cannot be disproved. Paul has not been accused of wrongdoing by any authorities.
Roll Call provided Paul's office with examples of double-billed flights more than a week ago, including the relevant information from the credit card statements, and provided additional examples over the ensuing days.
Benton said the office was unable to confirm travelers for any of the trips because "this stuff is so old, we don't even have full records."
Benton also argued "Roll Call did not provide Congressman Paul's campaign with copies of the credit card receipts it relied on in writing this article. Those records, if authentic, apparently were stolen from Congressman Paul's business office in Texas.
"Congressman Paul has taken many thousands of commercial flights between Houston and Washington, D.C., since returning to Congress in 1997. The particular flights Roll Call provided us as examples occurred between 1999 and 2005, well before the current time periods for which the FEC and IRS require records to be maintained."
Paul's presidential campaign is premised on his national reputation as a leading advocate for smaller government, built up over a career of crusading for spending cuts and personal liberty.
"The past century should have taught us one thing, that government intervention is expensive. Government programs lend themselves so easily to waste, fraud and abuse," Paul said in 2009 remarks opposing President Barack Obama's health care law.
Paul also has specifically advertised the Spartan spending habits in his Congressional office, boasting in press releases in 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 about the amount of unused money he was returning to the Treasury from his budget for the previous year.
"Since my first year in Congress representing the 14th district I have managed my office in a frugal manner," Paul said in a 2008 statement.
Paul Singer contributed to this report.


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Newfoundland Fish Cakes. A delicious comfort food tradition that's part of our collective culinary culture.
UPDATE: April 2015. I added new photos of this recipe today which are destined for my second cookbook this Fall. I've also included a great brunch idea for this traditional favourite by incorporating fish cakes in to a version of Eggs Benedict! Get my shortcut Hollandaise Sauce recipe here.
From Jan 30, 2009
Today's dish and photo come courtesy of 13 year old guest chef Laura Taylor from Conception Bay South who was looking for tips on making Fish Cakes the traditional Newfoundland way. She chose fish cakes as a traditional Newfoundland meal to complete an assignment for her Grade 8 Social Studies class at Vila Nova School where she is a French Immersion student, hence the photo label Gateau de Poisson.
This very simple dish was a staple on many Newfoundland kitchen tables for who knows how long; probably hundreds of years, given that the simple ingredients were readily available from the land and the sea.
I remember my grandmothers cooking them in large cast iron skillets in the rendered fat from making scrunchions. For our non-native readers, scrunchions are a very traditional accompaniment to several traditional Newfoundland meals and are simply cured fat back pork which is diced in small cubes and then fried until crispy to render out most of the fat.
It does my heart good to know that our food culture is still being kept alive in the classroom. You did a great job on these, Laura; I think they look delicious. If your Social Studies teacher doesn't give you an A on this one, tell him to take it up with me! 😉
One of my brunch favourites uses these traditional fish cakes in a new way by adding placed eggs and Hollandaise sauce. I sometimes add some crumbled crisp cooked bacon on top as well because what isn't better with bacon?!
Like this recipe?
Find many more traditional and Newfoundland inspired recipes here and find many more recipes for Fish and Seafood here.
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You might also like this Mini Crab Cakes recipe:
Newfoundland Fish Cakes
Newfoundland Fish Cakes - These traditional Newfoundland fish cakes have been made for countless generations using the most basic of ingredients like potatoes, salt fish and onions.
- 1 ½ pounds salt dried cod
- ¼ cup butter
- 1 small chopped onion
- 6 cups mashed potato
- 1 beaten egg
- 2 tbsp dried savoury, (optional)
- ½ tsp black pepper
- Soak the salt cod in cold water overnight.
- Simmer the salt cod in boiling water for about 15 minutes. Drain the water off the fish and allow the fish to cool to almost room temperature.
- When the fish is cool, flake it apart with a fork into small pieces.
- In a sauté pan, melt the butter over medium heat.
- Add the onions and cook until they are softened.
- Add the flaked fish along with the mashed potato, egg, pepper and savoury.
- Mix together until well combined, then form into small cakes and roll in flour.
- Fry the fish cakes in canola oil over medium heat until golden brown on both sides.
- Serve with scrunchions if desired.
Prep time does not include the overnight soaking time for the salt, dried cod. Scrunchions are ½ inch cubes of cured pork fatback that are fried and rendered to a crispy texture. The scrunchions and rendered fat get served over the fish cakes.
The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.
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Nutrition Information
Serving Sizeg
Amount Per Serving Calories 179 Saturated Fat 1g Cholesterol 73mg Sodium 2689mg Carbohydrates 9g Fiber 1g Protein 25g
Rock Recipes a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Our product recommendations are almost exclusively for those we currently use or have used in the past.


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shangrila needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 79 designs submitted by 15 freelance designers.
A. Jury Concrete Pumping
We are a family owned concrete pumping company just starting out. We are a small business and currently all of our employees are family and friends. We are interested in providing quality pumping services and aim to alway please the customer and maintain our working relationships.
Our target customers know our competitors very well and would not yet have heard of us.
Target audience are all local builders and concretors. Generally males aged between 25 - 45
We are after a logo that is clean and modern.
This logo will be painted onto our trucks, main road signs, business cards, website and invoices etc
Feel free to incorporate any of the following into your design:
1. Concrete pump truck
2. Concrete pumping pipes
3. The initials A and J
We would like the colours used to be blue, yellow and white.
We would like a horizontal orientation to the logo.
Any other questions, please ask.
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


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A while back, I posted on the ABCs of ABA. Within that post, I described the basics of applied behavior analysis (ABA), a method of therapy that I believe is often a bit misunderstood. I also promised to follow that post with a more thorough description of the shades of grey that exist within the broader field of ABA.
Before I do that, though, I want to touch on the effectiveness of an approach that often seems to be the very opposite of ABA: indirect language stimulation. And before I do that (hang with me here), I'm going to briefly explain the idea of a continuum of naturalness that exists within the field of speech-language pathology. This term was first coined by Marc Fey in 1986 in "Language intervention with young children," and I think it is a wonderful way to help us wrap our minds around the variables that exist when we think about the various methods of therapy.
The ends of this continuum represent the relative naturalness of a treatment context. On one end of the continuum, we have indirect language stimulation approaches. These are highly natural, often embedded within the child's daily routine, tend to be unstructured, and are built on the idea of being responsive to the child. On the other end of the continuum, we have highly structured ABA approaches, which tend to be highly decontextualized (*not* in the context of daily activities and play), very structured, and highly adult-directed.
In this post, I'm going to cover the left hand side of this continuum: indirect language stimulation. In a nutshell, this approach to language intervention involves describing what a little one is seeing, doing, and feeling. I've described different techniques within this broader method before, in various posts such as All Kinds of Talk, Self Talk & Parallel Talk, and Expansion and Extension. As you use these techniques, you are providing models of language that are a match for the child's language level. So, if a baby mainly points and vocalizes, you use one and two word phrases; if toddler uses one and two word phrases, you use three and four; if a preschooler uses short sentences without grammar, you respond with longer sentences with appropriate grammar (you get the idea, right?).
These techniques are generally used in the context of on-going activities that happen every day, and are used in a way that is responsive to the child. In other words, you watch what the child is doing, listen to what she is saying, observe what she is watching, and then you respond to that. Watch. Listen. Observe. Describe. Put it all together, and general language stimulation looks a little something like this.
It pretty much looks like nothing is happening, right? Just a mom and her child having a snack. This is what it should look like! It's natural- that's why it's on the far left hand side of the continuum of naturalness. But there is more going on than meets the eye. Notice how the language is simple, and related to the activity at hand. Also notice mom's responsiveness–language models are provided in response to the child's utterances (Child: "Please?" Mom: "You want apple." "Apple please!"). And when the little one tries to get mom's attention by saying "mmm," again, mom responds with another "mmmm." They go back and forth a few times–this is turn-taking, and within it lies the beginnings of conversation. Eventually, mom uses a language model directly related to the "mmmm": "Yummy apple."
One more example. This activity is a little more structured, but the approach used is the same. Notice how mom's language is in response to the child's language (Child: "Ride…" Adult: "You're riding the bike!") and take note of the fact what mom says is just slightly longer than the toddler's language. And, as an additional bonus, observe how the child's language changes– from one word sentences at the beginning, to a two-word phrase at the end of the clip. Indirect language stimulation doesn't always work immediately in the moment like this…but it's pretty cool when it does!
Despite the fact that indirect language stimulation looks quite simple, research shows that it can be very effective. As I described in All Kinds of Talk, research indicates that the more parents use conversational talk with their typically developing child, the larger that child's vocabulary will be. When parents are responsive in their conversational interactions with their child, their child's language grows.
Indirect language stimulation approaches have been shown to be effective for late talkers, too. In their article, Evidence-Based Language Intervention Approaches for Young Talkers, Finestack and Fey summarize the evidence in support of both general language stimulation and focused language stimulation. General language stimulation involves the techniques I just described in, well, a very general way. This means that there are no specific language targets (say, increasing verbs, or increasing nouns, or getting a child to use a specific type of two-word phrase). Instead, the goal is broad in nature: increase overall language skills. Finestack and Fey describe a randomized controlled trial (in other words, a well designed, scientific study) of a 12 week program that used general language stimulation (Robertson & Ellis Weismer, in Finestack and Fey, 2013). The researchers compared late-talking children who received general language stimulation to late-talkers who received no intervention and found that, compared to the children who received no intervention, children who received the intervention made more gains in vocabulary, intelligibility, and socialization. Importantly, the parents of the children who received intervention felt less stress. And who doesn't want less stress in their life?!
Focused language stimulation is very similar to the general language stimulation except that it's (you guessed it…) focused. The language models that are provided by adults are chosen specifically for that particular child. So, an adult might model mainly verbs if these are lacking in a child's language. Or, the adult might model specific nouns. Or, the adult might model a specific type of early grammar marker, such as -ing (one of the earliest ways that children start marking verbs). This type of language stimulation, too, has been shown to be effective. Girolametto, et al, 1996 (in Finestack and Fey, 2013), taught parents to use focused language stimulation with their children. They compared the gains made the children of these parents to the gains made by children whose parents were not trained in use of these methods (don't worry – the non-trained parents got trained at the end of the study, too!). By the end of the study, the children whose parents were trained in focused language stimulation had significantly larger and more diverse vocabularies, used more multi-word phrases, and had better phonology.
It's important to note that general and focused language stimulation enjoy the most research support when used with late-talkers who don't have any other delays. The research is mixed when it comes to the efficacy of these methods with children with more significant delays and disorders, such as those with autism or cognitive disorders. Because of this, having other tools in our toolbox is very important. This is where the rest of the continuum of naturalness becomes important – and where my passion for contextualized ABA approaches begins. But, that's a post for another day. For today, we'll stop here, secure in the knowledge that when we surround our typically developing children and late-talkers in language models, their language grows.
Becca Jarzynski, MS, CCC-SLP, is a pediatric speech-language pathologist in Wisconsin. You can follow her blog, Child Talk, and on Facebook.
Finestack, L. and Fey, M. (2013). Evidence-Based Language Intervention Approaches for Young Talkers. In Rescorla & Dale, Eds. (2013). Late Talkers: Language Development, Interventions, and Outcomes