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Currently, cis-diamminedichloroplatinum (II) (cisplatin) is being used as an anticancer drug against several human cancers, such as: testicular cancer, Ovarian and bladder cancer, osteogenic Sarcoma, head and neck cancer, endometrial and cervical cancer and non- small cell lung cancer (1). Due to the frequent resistant to this drug during cancer chemotherapy (2), as well as dose limiting toxic side effects of platinum anticancer drugs, there have been many attempts to find complexes with greater potency and less toxicity than the existing clinical drugs. As a consequence of this, attention has naturally turned to the other platinum group metals, ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, osmium and iridium (3). Among them, preparation and study of cis-dichloropalladium (II) and other closely related complexes having chelating ligands such as N-N-diamines, N,S-amino–thioether, diaminoacids, dicarboxylic acids and dithiocarbamates are recent advances of palladium (II) complexes (4). It has been assumed that the chelating ligands will bound more effectively to the palladium(II) ion and thus imposing cis-coordination to the palladium (II) complexes of formula [ cis–pdx2A2: A2 = a diamine or two amine. X2 = anionic leaving ligand (s)] (5). Also, at physiological pH and ionic strength (I = 0.15), such dichloro complexes would give a variety of aqua, hydroxo, chloro or even polynuclear species depending on the compound concentration itself, as well as on the low (inside cell) and rich (blood or plasma) chloride ion concentrations. Moreover, such palladium (II) complexes can serve as good models for the understanding of more inert platinum (II) anticancer drugs (6). However, the chelated ligand may take part in processes such as acid dissociation, hydrolytic reactions and formation of insoluble complexes which are to be verified.
One of the strategies in an attempt to reduce the toxicity of cisplatin has been the use of sulphur containing ligands such as cysteine , penicillamine, methionine, thiourea, thiosulphate and particularly chelating diethyldithiocarbamate (DDTC) (7). This is because, the use of DDTC in combination with cisplatin has protected a variety of animal species from renal, gastrointestinal and bone marrow toxicities induced by cisplatin (8). Moreover, DDTC has remarkable property of reversing platinum binding to the macromolecules responsible for host toxicity. However, it does not interfere with the tumoricidal platinum-DNA interaction in the tumor cell. This protective action of DDTC against the toxicity of cisplatin seems to be the formation of stable Platinum-DDTC complex. Two α-diimine platinum (II) complexes of DDTC have also shown good antitumor activity (9). However, from the point of structural activity relationship, other derivatives of dithiocarbamates could be more interesting.
Thus, in this paper we report the synthesis, characterization and cytotoxicity of three diamine palladium (II) complexes of alkyldithiocarbamate derivatives and the effect of hydrocarbon chain length present in the structure of these complexes on cytotoxicity. Also, the cytotoxic data obtained from these complexes have been compared with cisplatin and its palladium analogue.
Butylamine, hexylamine and octylamine were bought from Merck and distilled before use. Other reagents like PdCl2 , NaOH, NaCl, and 2/2′- bipyridine were also purchased from Merck and used without further purification. Solvents used were reagent grade and purified before use by standard procedures. Dichloro-2,2′-bipyridinepalladium (II), [Pd (bpy) Cl2], cisplatin, cis-[Pt (NH3)2 Cl2 ] and palladium analog of cisplatin, cis- [Pd (NH3)2 Cl2 ] were prepared as reported earlier (10).
Human ovarian adenocarcinoma OV2008, human hepatocarcinoma HepG2, and human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cell lines were obtained from Pharmacology lab, Ottawa Regional Cancer Center (Ottawa, Canada). DMEM/F12 medium, fetal bovine serum and trypsin and tripan blue dye were purchased from Gibco BRL, USA.
Infrared spectra of ligands and metal complexes were recorded on a Nicolet 5- DXB FT-IR spectrophotometer in the range of 4000-400 cm-1 in KBr pellets. Electronic absorption spectra of palladium complexes were measured on a Shimadzu UV-265 recording spectrophotometer. Conductivity measurements were carried out on a Systronics conductivity bridge, model 305, with a cell (cell constant 0.59) using water conductivity as a solvent. Microchemical analysis (CHN) was done in the CHN-rapid Herause. 1H- NMR spectra were recorded on a Brucker DRX-500 Avance spectrometer at 500 MHz in DMSO-d6 using sodium 2,2- dimethyl -2- silapentane- 5- sulphonate (DSS) as internal references. Melting points were measured on a Unimelt capillary melting point apparatus and reported uncorrected.
Synthesis of ligands and complexes Butylamine dithiocarbamate sodium salt (Bu- dtcNa)
A modified literature method (10) was followed for the synthesis of this compound: A mixture of butylamine (10.00 mL , 100 m mol) and NaOH (4.00 g, 100 m mol) in 80 mL acetone was stirred for 1 h. Stirring continued at 0˚C in an ice bath and carbon disulfide (10.00 mL excess) was added dropwise over 15 min, after which the solution become cruddy and yellow. The reaction mixture was stirred for another 5 h at 0°C and overnight at room temperature. It was then filtered, and 100 mL ether was added to the filtrate and the solution was placed in the refrigerator overnight. The resulting white precipitate of crude product was filtered off and vacuum dried. For recrystallization, the crude product was stirred with 60 mL acetone and undissolved particles were filtered out. Dichloromethan (50 mL) was added to the filterate and then left in a refrigerator overnight. The desired product was collected by filtration as white needle-like crystals and washed with small amount of dichloromethane and vacuum dried. Yield was 13.68 g (80%) with a melting point of 73°C. Analytical Calculation for C5H10NS2Na is as (171.12): C,35.09;H,5.85;N,8.19. Found : C, 35.02;H, 5.84; N, 8.18%.
Hexylamine dithiocarbamate sodium salt (Hex- dtcNa)
The synthesis procedure adopted for Bu-dtcNa was used here except that hexylamine (13.25 mL, 100 m mol) was used in place of butylamine. yield: 15.52g (78%) and melting point is 138°C. Anal. Calc. for C7H14NS2Na (199.36): C, 42.21;H, 7.04;N;7.04. Found: C, 42.20; H, 7.02; N, 7.05%.
Octylamine dithiocarbamate sodium salt (Oct- dtcNa)
The synthesis method adopted here is the same as for Bu-dtcNa, only octylamine (16.53 mL, 100 mmol) was used instead of butyamine. Yield: 17.03 g (75%) and melting point is 173°C .Anal Calc .for C9H18NS2Na (227.29): C, 47.58; H, 7.93; N, 6.17. Found: C, 47.57; H, 7.92; N, 6.16%.
2,2′-Bipyridinebutylaminedithiocarbamatopalladium (II) Chloride. [Pd(bpy) (Bu- dtc)] Cl
[Pd (bpy) Cl2] (0.333g, 1 mmol) was well suspended in 150 mL acetone by vigorous stirring for 2h and then temperature was adjusted at 40°C. To this was added dropwise Bu- dtcNa (0.205 g, 1.2 mmol) dissolved in acetone (50 mL), after which the colour of suspension was yellow. The reaction mixture was refluxed for 1 h and stirred for another 10-12 h at room temperature. It was then filtered and the volume of yellow filtrate reduced to 20 mL on a rotary evaporator. It was allowed to cool to room temperature and the yellow solid formed was filtered and washed with small amount of cold water, acetone and vacuum dried. Yield: 0.268 g (60%) and decomposes at 170°C. Anal. Calc. for C15 H18N3S2 Cl Pd (445.50): C, 40.40 ;H,4.04;N, 9.43. Found: C, 40.30; H, 4.05; N, 9.45%.
2,2′-bipyridinehexylaminedithiocarbamatopalladium (II) Chloride, [Pd(bpy)(Hex- dtc)] Cl
This compound was synthesized and purified by following the procedure as given for [Pd(bpy)(Bu-dtc)]Cl complex except that Hex-dtcNa (0.239g, 1.2 mmol) was used in place of Bu-dtcNa . Yield : 0.289 g (61%) and decomposes at 180°C. Anal. Calc. for C17H22N3S2ClPd (473.50): C, 43.08; H,4.65; N, 8.87. Found: C, 43.05; H, 4.62; N, 8.84%.
2,2′-bipyridineoctylaminedithiocarbamatopalladium (II) chloride , [Pd(bpy) (Oct- dtc)] Cl
This complex was synthesized and isolated by following the procedure as given for [Pd(bpy) (Bu-dtc)]Cl complex, except that Oct-dtcNa (0.272 g, 1.2 mmol) was used instead of Bu-dtcNa. Yield : 0.316 g (63%) and decomposes at 178°C. Anal. Calc. for C19H26N3S2ClPd (501.50): C, 45.46 ; H, 5.18; N, 8.37. Found: C, 45.42; H, 5.20; N, 8.30%.
Cell culture experiments and clonogenic assay
Cells were cultured in DMEM/F12 medium supplied with 10% fetal calf serum of 37°C in humified incubator with 5% CO2. All cellular experiments were carried out in triplicates. To examine cells' growth in this condition, 30,000 cells per well in 6 well petridishes were seeded and growth curves were drawn for each cell line. All experiments were performed on the exponentially growing cells, which were prepared by minimum three passages of the initial seed of frozen stock.
For the clonogenic assay, cells from above three different cell lines were harvested with trypsin, washed with medium, and plated in quadruplicate onto 60 mm plastic tissue culture dishes at a density of 500 cells/dish in 4 mL culture medium. The cells were incubated overnight and allowed to attach on the surface of the dishes. Cells were then exposed to the various concentrations of each of above synthesized compounds, and/or cisplatin for one hour at 37°C. Three controls were used to normalize resulting data. To do so, a quadruplicate set of dishes was treated with saline, another set with DMSO solvent of these compounds as controls for experiments. The medium was then aspirated and cells were twice rinsed with saline and then the fresh medium was added to each dish. Each experiment was performed in triplicates. After 714- days incubation (based on the cell line growth parameters) the medium was aspirated, and cells were fixed and stained with tripan blue dye. Colonies of cells containing at least 50 cells were counted under a microscope. Percentages of colonies for each concentration compared to the appropriate control were assigned as the measurement of cytotoxicity for different concentrations.
Results and Discussion
Three complexes of formula [Pd(bpy)(R-NH-CSS)]Cl ( Where bpy is 2,2′- bipyridine and R-NH-CSS is an anion of butylamine- , hexylamine -, and octylamine – dithiocarbamate) were prepared by interaction of [ Pd (bpy) Cl2] with sodium salt of dithiocarbamate in molar ratio of 1:1. The molar conductance values of these complexes in water conductivity are in the range of 9197- cm2 ohm-1 mol-1 (Table 1). These values suggest that they are 1:1 electrolytes (11). The chemical analysis and molar conductance data support the above formulation of the palladium complexes.
Table 1. Molar conductance and electronic absorption bands of [Pd (bpy)(R-NH-CSS)]Cl coplexes in water.
Molar conductance of 5×10-4 solution cm2 ohm-1 mol-1
Band maxima in nm
Band I
Band II
Band III
Band IV
317 (2.19)a
307 (1.96)
248 (4.71)
303 (2.76)
319 (2.13)
308 (2.06)
249 (5.71)
201 (3.57)
318 (1.88)
307.4 (1.82)
247 (6.50)
203 (3.78)
In the electronic absorption spectra of above three complexes, four bands are observed. The band maxima with their extinction coefficients are given in Table 1. The band I and II show blue shifts of 67- nm from less polar chloroform to more polar water. Therefore, These bands may tentatively be assigned to charge transfer from metal to 2,2′- bipyridine ligand. Band III and IV are assigned to first and higher internal ∗π→πtransition of 2.2′- bipyridine (11).
Two most significant bands in the IR spectra of the ligands and the complexes are of interest; the ligands Bu-dtcNa, Hex-dtcNa and Oct–dtcNa showed a strong absorption at 1480, 1491 and 1492 cm-1 respectively, which is assigned to N-CSS stretching mode, while the complexes [Pd (bpy) (Bu-dtc)] Cl, [Pd (bpy)(Hex-dtc)] Cl and [Pd (bpy)(Oct-dtc)] Cl showed absorption at 1534, 1551 and 1539 cm-1 respectively. These absorption data suggested that the N-CSS bond order is in between a single bond (1350-1250=υ cm-1) and a double bond (1690-1640=υ cm-1) . Also, on passing from free dithiocarbamate ligands to corresponding complexes, the υ(N-CSS) mode shifted to higher energies on coordination, showing an increase in the nitrogen-carbon double bond character, caused by electron delocalization towards the palladium center. Thus the above alkyldithiocarbamate ligands coordinate to Pd (II) centers through sulfur atoms. Second, the presence of a single strong band at 923, 983 and 930 for Bu-dtcNa, Hex-dtcNa and Oct-dtcNa, respectively, and at 1026, 1027 and 1030 cm-1 for [Pd(bpy)(Bu-dtc)]Cl, [Pd (bpy)(Hex-dtc)]Cl and [Pd (bpy)(Oct-dtc)]Cl, respectively attributed to υ(SCS) mode is a strongly indicative of a completely symmetrically bonding at dithiocarbamat ligands, acting in a bidentate mode in our complexes (Figure 1). Otherwise a doublet would be expected in the 1000 ± 70 region which indicates an asymmetrically bonded ligand or a monodentate bound ligand.
Figure 1. Proposed structures and numbering scheme of (1) Bu-dtcNa (2) Hex-dtcNa (3) Oct-dtcNa (4) [Pd(bpy)(Bu-dtc)]Cl (5) [Pd(bpy)(Hex-dtc)]Cl and (6) [Pd(bpy)(Oct-dtc)]Cl compounds.
The 1H NMR spectra of sodium salts of butylamine dithiocarbamate (Bu-dtcNa), hexylamine dithiocarbamate (Hex-dtcNa) and octyamine dithiocarbamate (Oct-dtcNa) in DMSO-d6 were recorded using DSS as internal reference. The 1H NMR spectrum of Bu-dtcNa shows five peaks at 0.82, 1.21, 1.39, 3.31 and 8.08 ppm which are assigned to three H-a, Two H-b, two H-c two H-d and one H-e protons respectively (Table 2 and figure 1-I). Similar assignments have been done for analogous ligands Hex-dtcNa and Oct-dtcNa which data are collected in Table 2. The integrated areas under the peaks correspond to the ratio 3 : 2 : 2 : 2 : 1 for Bu-dtcNa, 3 : 6 : 2 : 2 : 1 for Hex-dtcNa and 3 : 10 : 2 : 2 : 1 for Oct-dtcNa and thus support the proposed structures.
Table 2. 1H NMR spectral data of R-NH-CSSNa ligands and [Pd(bpy)(R-NH-CSS)]Cl complexes in deuterated DMSO.
2,2΄-bipyridine protons
Dithiocarbamate proton
0.82 (t)
1.21 (m)
1.39 (m)
3.31 (m)
8.08 (sb)
8.50α (d)β
8.25 (t)
8.06 (q)
7.64 (t)
0.86 (m)
1.29 (m)
1.55 (m)
3.37 (m)
11.51 (sb)
0.84 (m)
1.23 (m)
1.41 (m)
7.98 (sb)
8.54 (d)
8.32 (t)
8.22 (q)
7.71 (t)
0.83 (m)
1.54 (m)
3.40 (m)
11.59 (sb)
0.84 (t)
8.51 (d)
8.26 (t)
8.15 (q)
7.69 (m)
0.82 (m)
1.24 (m)
1.57 (m)
3.45 (m)
11.53 (sb)
α: chemical shift in ppm. β s,d,t,q,m and sb are singlet , doublet , triplet, quartet, multiplet and singlet broad , respectively.
The 1H NMR spectra of [Pd (bpy(R-NH-CSS)]Cl complexes were recorded in deuterated dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO-d6) using DSS as internal reference. Their chemical shifts along with the coupling constants are summarized in Table 2 and proposed structure and NMR numbering scheme are given in Figure 1. The protons of 2,2′-bipyridine moieties in [Pd (bpy)(Bu-dtc)] Cl appear as a doublet at 8.50 ppm, a triplet at 8.25 ppm, quartet at 8.06 ppm and triplet at 7.64 ppm which are assigned to H-6,6′, H-4,4′, H-3,3′ and H-5,5′ protons, respectively (10). Similar assignements for protons of 2,2′-bipyridine moieties in [Pd (bpy)(Hex-dtc)] Cl and [Pd(bpy)(Oct-dtc)]Cl are given in Table 2. In the [Pd(bpy) (Bu-dtc)]Cl Complex two multiplets observed at 0.86 and 1.99ppm are assigned to three H-a and two H-b protons (Figure 1). The two other multiplets appeared at 1.55 and 3.37 ppm is assigned to H-c and H-d protons of dithiocarbamate moieties. Another broad singlet (possibly multiplet) resonates at 11.51 ppm is assigned to H-e proton of coordinated dithiocarbamate. This peak disappear on D2O exchange and also shows an upfield shift of 3.35 ppm in the complex as compared to its value in sodium dithiocarbamate. This suggests the bonding of dithiocarbamate ligand to palladium (II) through both sulphur atoms. Similar assignements have been done for protons of dithiocarbamate moieties in the analogous complexes [Pd(bpy)(Hex-dtc)]Cl and [Pd(bpy)(Oct-dtc)]Cl (Table 2). The integrated areas under the peaks of 2,2′-bipyridine and dithiocarbamate protons in the ratio 8 : 10 for[Pd (bpy)(Bu-dtc)]Cl and 8:14 for [Pd(bpy)(Hex-dtc)]Cl and 8 : 18 for [Pd (bpy)(Oct-dtc)]Cl are further supporting the proposed structures.
Finally, 1H NMR spectra of the complexes dissolved in DMSO-d6 and recorded after 24 h observed no changes in these spectra, suggesting no dissociation of dithiocarbamate anions.
DNA binding and antitumor activities of these compounds on human K562 cell line have been published before (10). Here, using the same derivatives, we have examined the cytotoxicity effects of above mentioned compounds on three different human cell lines as potential candidates for human cancer therapy with the results shown in Table 3. In this table, clonogenic results (mean ± SEM) are listed as the percentages of colonies survived after exposure to different concentrations of compounds in comparison with the control. As is shown in this table from the clonogenic assay, a typical dose-response curve with LD50s of 0.838 ± 0.074 μg/mL, 2.196 ± 0.220 μg/mL and 2.799 ± 0.733 μg/mL, have been shown on OV2008, HepG2 and A549, respectively for cisplatin. The rank order of cisplatin cytotoxicity on these cell lines is in well agreement with the previous publication and the cell lines sensitivities to this anticancer drug. This may be counted as a proof for the accuracy of cytotoxicity assay. As is shown in Table 3, the Pd analogue of cisplatin is not following the same ranking order of cytotoxicity on these cell lines, being most toxic for OV2008 and A549 and less for the HepG2. This compound may be a good candidate for further studies as a potential anticancer drug for the lung adenocarcinoma which is considered as a very resistant cancer to chemotherapy. Other synthetic Pd compounds are in the same cytotoxic range as cisplatin for different cell lines, but with a distinguished effect on lung adenocarcinoma. Above biological study may suggest these Pd analogues of cisplatin as good candidates to be considered for the treatment of human lung cancer. Further cellular and animal studies are suggested aiming toward the potential clinical application of these compounds.
Table 3. Cytotoxicty in LD50 of synthesized Pd compounds (abbreviations as per Figure 1), as well as cisplatin and its Pd analogue on three different human cancer cell lines in μg/mL.
0.379 ± 0.107
0.934 ± 0.194
0.234 ± 0.023
0.605 ± 0.054
0.131 ± 0.052
0.914 ± 0.097
0.482 ± 0.152
0.172 ± 0.060
0.258 ± 0.043
Pd Analogue
1.721 ± 0.793
8.833 ± 0.729
1.53 ± 0.557
2.799 ± 0.733
2.196 ± 0.220
0.838 ± 0.074
The authors are grateful to the University of Sistan and Bluchestan, and the Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences Research Councils for their support of this work.
(1) Prestayko AW, Crooke ST and Carter SK(eds) In: Cisplatin: Current Status and New Developments. Academic Press, New york, 1980.
(2) Zendehdel R, Masoudi-Nejad A, Mohammadzadeh J and Shirazi FH. Cisplatin resistant patterns in ovarian cell line using ftir and principle component analysis. Iranian J. Pharm. Res. (2012) 11: 235-240.
(3) Bruijnincx PCA and Sadler PJ. Controlling platinum, ruthenium and osmium reactivity for anticancer drug design. Adv. Inorg. Chem. (2009) 61: 1-62.
(4) Ho Y, Au-Yeung SCF, To KW. Platinum-based anticancer agents: in novative design strategies and biological perspectives. Medicinal Research Reviews (2003) 23: 633-655.
(5) Martin RB. In: platinum, Gold and other Chemotherapeutic Agents. Lippard SJ (ed) ACS Symposium Series No. 209 Washington DC. (1993) 231-244.
(6) Gonza´lez ML, Tercero JM and Matilla M. Cis-dichloro (r,ö-diamino carboxylate ethyl ester) palladium (II) as palladium (II) wersus platinum (II) model anticancer drugs: synthesis, solution equilibria of their aqua, hydroxo, and/or chloro species, and in-vitro/in-vivo DNA-binding properties. Inorg. Chem. (1997) 36: 1806-1812.
(7) Sobrero A, Guglielmi A, Aschele C and Rosso R. Current strategies to reduce cisplatin toxicity. J Chemother. (1990) 2:3-7.
(8) Das B, Antoon R and Tsuchida R. Squalene selectively protects mouse bone marrow progenitors against cisplatin and carboplatin-induced cytotoxicity in-vivo without protecting tumor growth. neoplasia. (2008) 10: 1105-1119.
(9) Konstantinov S, Topashka-Ancheva M, Karaivanova M, Zoneva G and Galova I. Antitumor, nephrotoxic and clastogenic effect of cis-DDP with DDTC or NAC. Neoplasma. (1994) 41: 253-8.
(10) Mansouri-Torshizi H, Saeidifar M, Khosravi F, Divsalar A, Saboury AA and Hassani F. DNA binding and antitumor activity of α-diimineplatinum(ii) and palladium (ii) dithiocarbamate complexes. Bioinorg Chem Appl. (2011) :11.
(11) Gidincy PM, Gillard RD and Heaton BT. Complexes of the platinum metals containing weak donor ligands J. chem. Soc. Dalton Trans.(1973) 132.


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Welcome to my little sliver of the Facebook business world!
That's what I hope my page feels like when visitors pop by. I want them to feel welcome & I want them to be attracted to what they see. Our Facebook cover photos provide the opportunity for curb appeal. We want them to be visually appealing & professional looking. They can include information, but we don't want to overwhelm our visitors with too much by having a cluttered photo. What I've noticed, though, is that there are a few key things that many businesses are NOT doing that they could be doing to optimize this prime real estate.
I'm here to uncover 3 underused ways you can make your Facebook cover photo into an effective marketing tool!
Before we dive into the 3 actions you can take, let's touch on what a well thought out cover photo design can do for you/your business. You have the opportunity to use this one little piece of your page to do so much, including:
- Drive sales or lead generation
- Advertise upcoming events or product releases
- Demonstrate features or benefits of your services/products
- Feature team members/employees
- Share user-generated content (content that is created by your users), such as a testimonial
- Or think outside of the box & use your cover photo to do/share something else that is currently relevant to your business
Let's talk about HOW you can do all that with one photo, shall we?
#1 Facebook Cover Photo Marketing Tactic
The first thing that I urge you to do is to make sure that your cover photo is mobile friendly. The dimensions used to create a Facebook cover photo (or other cover photos for that matter) are based on the desktop view. What that means is that when someone visits your page on mobile, the sides of the photo will be cut off. You can test it by visiting your own page on your phone.This is really important because you want to look professional and if your design contains important elements on the sides, they may be fully or partially cut off, making your page look less professional. If you're wondering what the big deal is, well, it's that over 50% of the market share worldwide is viewing content online vs. on desktop (according to statscounter Global Stats http://gs.statcounter.com/platform-market-share/desktop-mobile-tablet).If you are designing your cover photo on Canva, I've recorded a tutorial on how to make your design mobile friendly. You can watch it here.
#2 Facebook Cover Photo Marketing Tactic
Did you know that you can add a photo description to your cover photo? This is SUCH an underused tactic which is a real shame! I literally had to scroll through my page feed for almost 5 minutes before I could come across a great example to share with you here. I'm happy to say that I finally did come across a great example. It's even mobile friendly to boot! In this example, PUSH birth & baby is using their cover photo to promote the upcoming release of a digital product. Notice how the design includes the words "click here" which will lead the visitor to the photo description. And notice how the photo description provides details about the upcoming launch with clickable links to bring the visitor to their website.Check out the screenshots I took from my phone (to prove it's mobile friendly):
And here is the desktop view:
#3 Facebook Cover Photo Marketing Tactic
Lastly, updating your cover photo regularly offers you the opportunity to achieve great organic reach each time. That is because every time you update your cover photo, all page followers receive a notification that you've done so. When you include a photo description, they are notified of that as well so they will see all the details (including clickable links if you really optimize the shiz out of it).As you can see, this one little element of your Facebook page has the potential to do quite a bit for you/your business. All this & it's free and doesn't take a lot of time to take advantage of. I hope to see more & more people taking advantage of this!
Here's the social media challenge that I shared related to this post on my Facebook page. I'd love to have you join me weekly for these challenges!
If you found this helpful & would like to get to know me and my mission better, hop on over to learn more about me here.

subset: commoncrawl


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Along with the rest of America, we are in somber mourning today over the tragedy at a Connecticut elementary school yesterday. The news imagery of stunned five-year-old children being comforted by anguished adults is almost too painful even for distant onlookers to bear. The Geezers all have children or grandchildren, and remember very well the wonder of children when they are four and five years old, just entering the world of education for the first time.
My wife and daughter work in elementary schools, and for them the week before Christmas will now be a time of little children needing reassurance that they won't be shot as they learn their first lessons. Except now we really can't tell them it won't happen, only that it's not too likely.
And for us, anyway, the sorrow and shock are too fresh to even be joined by the appropriate outrage. That will have to wait a day or two, after the shock wears off just a little.
Our nation's inability to control the problems of gun proliferation, and our equal incompetence at dealing with the mental illness and/or evil that spawns such events, should be a cause for shame as we start to reflect in a day or two. Yes, such things happen elsewhere in the world, including places like Norway, renowned for peacefulness. But outside zones of war and terrorist turmoil, only in American has it now become routine for an event like this to happen monthly, even weekly.
We've heard it argued that this is the price of freedom—that you'd have to greatly curtail the liberty of everyone to protect ourselves fully from the evil/diseased individuals of the world. But I have to believe there is another, less bloody currency with which to pay the cost of freedom. I'd give up quite a bit if it would ensure no more five-year-old children were executed by psychopaths.
The outrage will come soon, but for now it's discouragement that reigns the day.


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Posted by GameDemon in Gin no Saji 2 | 0 Comments
Gin no Saji 2 episode 06
What is this? I'm both very pleased and very disappointed? Its times like these that I realize that I'm truly weird. I really should be happy because one of my long-awaited Gin no Saji wishes finally came true. It's about damn time, too!
So the world biggest idiot, Yugo, gets himself hospitalized after he collapsed on the first day of the festival. He had been burning the candle on both ends for a long time now, so this shouldn't come as a surprise. The guy always found new methods to get loaded up with a lot of work and responsibility. I've read posts from viewers saying that it's not always his fault, but come on… Nine out of ten times it really is.
This in itself isn't a big deal. It is something I saw coming after watching only a few episodes of season one. However, I never really expected that this would be the time where Yugo's parents would show up. I know that's wrong. Parents would obviously come to visit their son if they hear that their son has been rushed to the hospital.
No, no surprise there. The surprise was how bad their relationship is. Yugo cannot deal with his father and I'm pretty sure it's the same thing with his older brother. That man is so damn scary and strict that he probably doesn't realize that he's pushing his sons away, although he clearly has their best interest at heart. The fact that he spoke up to one of Yugo's teachers like he did proves that.
Yugo missed out on the festival, had another bad encounter with his old man and I think his relationship with Aki has actually regressed a little. Nobody came to visit him, no matter what the reason, and everybody acted like it wasn't that big a deal. Perhaps that's normal in the country? I don't know… I'm just worried about the next few episodes… We need more romance!


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Interstate Mechanical Corporation - imcor
- Construction Related-General Contractors
- General Contractor
Interstate Mechanical Corporation also known as IMCOR is one of Arizona's largest mechanical contractors, specializing in Design/Build, Industrial HVAC, Process Piping & Plumbing Systems, HVAC Service Maintenance and Special/Facility Projects. Our diverse experience encompasses all facets of the commercial construction realm, medical and correctional facilities, transportation and airport facilities, high rise offices, hotel/convention centers, sport and performing arts venues, and high purity/data center type systems.
IMCOR has continued to grow for the last 40 years and more and more customers are utilizing us for a wide array of their mechanical needs. IMCOR has aggressively extended their organizational footprint into the Northern Arizona region and now has a full operating facility in Flagstaff, Arizona.


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Mrs. Erinn Barca-HallMusic Teacher831-624-3240
email@example.com to my classroom.All children at River School have general music classes once a week. The curriculum consists of music from the GamePlan Curriculum for grades k-2, Be a Recorder Star in 3rd grade, Mallet Madness in 4th grade, and a study of American Music in 5th grade. Students will learn basic note reading, music appreciation and music history through out their years at River School. Specific grade level topics can be found at mrsbarcahall.edublogs.orgThe music classroom has a full Orff-Schulwerk Instrumentarium. Consisting of Bass xylophones and metallophones, alto xylophone and metallophones, soprano xylophones and metallophones, glockenspiels, conga drums, hand percussion, recorders and more. Children learn to play these percussion instruments to accompany the songs they sing.Students in grades 4 and 5 may participate in the instrumental and choral programs. Students meet once a week to play in band, orchestra or sing in chorus. For more information please go to our instrumental page.Performance opportunities include grade level musicals that tap into the classroom curriculum and are performed through out the school year. In March CUSD sponsors a district-wide choral festival at Sunset Center, band festival at CMS, and string festival at CHS.
Please check mrsbarcahall.edublogs.org for recordings of the music for your child's grade level musical.


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I am an ambitious and highly driven person. I have worked hard to progress doing what I love, and I get great satisfaction from this every single day. I am also very passionate about personal development – constantly stretching myself to take on new challenges, and push myself outside of my comfort zone in order to learn new things. It is when I am stretched, taking on those new challenges, or well outside my comfort zone, that I am at my best and I learn the most.
To be clear, the above statement refers to my career, or my 'day job'. I really love my job, I am good at it, I work hard, and I am rewarded for my hard work and passion with career progression. But when it comes to horses, that statement could not be further from the truth. When it comes to my hobby, my passion outside of my career, I am mostly anxious. Anxious about my own abilities. Anxious about other people's abilities (and why they have better abillities than me). Anxious about what other people think of me. Anxious about my horses. Anxious about what my horses think of me. I could go on! But in short, it is often difficult for me to understand why I can be so ambitious and confident in the workplace, yet have so many doubts when it comes to my horses.
One thing that is consistent across my career and my hobby is my love of learning, and the amount of self education I do to get better at both. As part of my own personal development in my career, I recently watched a talk from Sheryl Sandberg (COO of Facebook, Author of Lean In) regarding women finding their voices and being heard in the workplace, and a quote from her really resonated with me:
"What would you do if you weren't afraid?"
This talk was for women in business, and asked them to think about what being afraid has prevented them from doing or achieving – but it made me think about how my fears hold me back when it comes to horses. I am anxious or afraid of a lot of things, and this has prevented me from taking risks, challenging myself a bit more, and potentially not achieving my goals or dreams. So instead of setting New Year's Resolutions for 2018, I am going to instead ask myself – What would I do in 2018 if I weren't afraid?
- If I weren't afraid – I would just enjoy having Paddy back in work, instead of overanalysing every step he takes in the fear something is wrong again.
- If I weren't afraid – I would be proud of the progress I have made with Willow, and proud of my hard work, instead of constantly questioning my abilities, and whether or not I am capable of producing a young horse.
- If I weren't afraid – I'd trust my instructor when they say I'm capable of jumping that fence/doing that movement, and get out of my own head!
- If I weren't afraid – I would give new experiences and challenges a go, and see them as a chance to learn and improve, rather than worrying about being absolutely perfect before I'm ready to step up.
- If I weren't afraid – I'd go to a competition not worrying about what others think of me as I warm up or compete, and just enjoy the experience with my horse.
- If I weren't afraid – I'd set myself the ambitious goal of making it to the Dublin Horse Show on at least one of my horses this year!
And if I weren't afraid – I would be more open on my blog about my anxieties, my fears and my insecurities, safe in the knowledge that we have all been there at one point or another, and I am not alone.
In 2018, I resolve to: Be proud, but humble. Stop worrying what others think. Trust my support network. Push myself out of my comfort zone. And most importantly, Be Less Afraid.
So tell me – what would you do if you weren't afraid?
Natalie xo


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Xllogger is an innovative new data logging system using direct USB sensors & Excel* for data capture and analysis. Our sensors plug straight into USB ports on any Windows computer. No dedicated software program just Microsoft Excel*
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Sinclair Milling Feed Manufacturing Facility
Younglove served as the design-build general contractor for Sinclair Milling's new feed mill in Parkersburg, Iowa. This facility includes a 5,000-cubic-foot-per-hour whole grain transfer system from their existing elevator, a new 12,500-cubic-foot-per-hour ingredient receiving system, a 60-ton-per-hour grinding system, 22 ingredient bins with a total capacity of 2,500 tons of storage, and an 8-ton batching and mixing system (including one 20-bin micro system and one liquid scaling system). Pellet mills are located inside the main structure. The pellet system consists of two 50-ton-per-hour lines with a fat coating system downstream. The loadout structure adjacent to the mill provides 16 bins with a total capacity of 1,800 tons of finished feed and a "precharged" loadout system with the capacity to preload up to 27 tons of finished feed in a single driveway with a weigh lorry scale.
Additional features include one tank farm for three 20,000-gallon fat tanks and three 10,000-gallon liquid poly tanks, two 30 hp compressors, two 250 hp boilers, a 650-pound manlift to provide vertical access from grade level to the top level inside the mill, a 3,300-square-foot warehouse, and tilt-up construction for the ancillary buildings (receiving, grinding, boiler, and warehouse).
Additional Younglove services included consulting work to obtain the environmental permit, as well as paving, water, natural gas, and sewer.


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Lawrence Public Library Foundation Endowment Fund
If you wish to make a recurring donation, please click here.
If you would like to make a one-time donation, please enter the amount in the box below. Thank you for your generosity.
Fund Details
The Lawrence Public Library Foundation was created in 1996. We are a 501(c)(3) organization that secures gifts from our community to supplement and strengthen the public's investment in Lawrence Public Library. The Foundation supports visiting authors, the Summer Reading program, the Read Across Lawrence community-wide read, Kansas Reads to Preschoolers, local history digitization projects and so much more. By donating to the Library Foundation's unrestricted fund at DCCF, you are helping everyone in Lawrence imagine more for their lives.
Visit the Lawrence Public Library Foundation website.


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- Who holds the highest power in the Government ? As per article 53 (1) Of the constitution, the highest power is vested in the hands of The President of India. The President enjoys all constitutional powers and exercises them directly or through officers lower ranked than him. The President is to act in accordance with aid and advice tendered by the Prime Minister of India (head of government) and Council of Ministers (the cabinet) as described in Article 74 of the Indian Constitution.
- What are the local body elections which happen in India ? Municipality Elections Nagar Palika is an urban local body that is in charge of administering smaller district cities and bigger towns with a population of 100,000 or more.
- What is Universal Adult Suffrage ? Universal Adult franchise gives all citizens of a country the right to vote without discrimination of religion, class, color or gender. It is based on the basic principle of democracy which is equality for all. To deny any person from exercising this free right to vote is violation of their right to equality .
- What is the difference between general elections and assembly elections ? General Elections are held every five years, for the selection of Members of Parliament. The MPs are the representative of people who are elected directly by the people on the basis of Universal Adult Suffrage. General Elections are conducted in the entire country in different phases. Once the elections have happened in all the states, the results are declared. The leader of the political party, which wins the national majority, is then selected to head the nation (Prime Minister of the country). to become the Chief Minister of the state.
- Who can vote in India? Any individual who is a citizen of the country and is above 18 years of age can vote in India. For Click to know more...
- What is a Voter ID Card? A voter ID card which is also known as election card or Electors Photo Identity Card is a document of identification issued by the Election Commission of India. The purpose of the card is to serve as an identity proof Indian citizens while casting their vote in their respective Municipal, State or National elections. The voter card also serves as a proof of identity, address, and age for various other purposes like making a passport to getting a drivers license. Click to more about Voter ID card....
- What is article 370 Under Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, Jammu & Kashmir is granted autonomy. It gives special status to the state: Because of this article, residents of Kashmir follow separate set of laws in terms of citizenship, property ownership, and other rights. Except finance, defence, communications, and foreign affairs, central government needs the state government's consensus for applying all other laws. Click to know more about article 370...
- How a Political party is registered? The first step towards being recognized as a political party is to get registered with the Election Commission of India. Registration is mandatory for a party, following which it can avail the provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 Click to know more...
- What is the process of selection of chief minister Once the results of legislative assembly elections are out and a political party or alliance gets a majority stake, the MLAs of the said party/coalition sit and elect a head for them, then the Governor invites that leader to form the government. Click to know more...
- What are EVMs The Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) have been introduced to bring in convenience in the electoral process and ensure flawless counting of votes. EVMs have proven to be a far better replacement for the old paper ballot system. Click to know more...
- What is the outside support to Govt.? Outside support means supporting any political party which has a chance to get majority to form a government, but one provides outside support without taking any position/or actually joining that government.
- How can a regional party become a national/state party ? A regional political party can become eligible to be recognised as a national party if it is able to fulfill any of the following terms:
Elections to Nagar Panchayat also known as Notified Area Council,exist in urban centres with more than 11,000 and less than 25,000 inhabitants.
Elections to Zila Parishad or The District Council is an elected body whose members are elected on the basis of adult franchise for a term of five years. It needs to have a minimum of 50 members with a maximum limit being 75.
Village Panchayat Elections : It's mandatory for a village having a population of 500 to have a Gram Panchayat. Its members are elected by the villagers for a period of five years. The elections of the Gram Panchayat are conducted by state election commissioner in alliance with the District Collector and Tehsildar.
Election to Panchayat Samiti is composed of elected members of the area including the heads of the Gram Panchayats within the block area, the elected members of the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and the state legislature who belong to the block.
Assembly Elections are held state wise in India every 5 years and in this the Indian electorate choose the members of the Vidhan Sabha (or Legislative Assembly). The elected member are called MLAs. The assembly elections are never carried out in same year across all states and union territories. The party which wins with majority can form government in the state. The majority party then elects a candidate who has contested election from the state.
- The regional party has been able to win 2% of the seats in the latest held Lok Sabha (11 seats) from a minimum of three different states.
- In an election to the Lok Sabha or Legislative Assembly,if the regional party is able to win 4 lok sabha seats and has polled 6 % of the total valid votes in at least four states.
- The regional party is recognized as a state party in a minimum of four states in the country.
1. General Electors– residents of India who can vote in a polling booth
2. Service Electors– residents of India who work for the Indian Government away from their home or are in the Armed Forces
3. Overseas Electors– non-residential Indians who have not taken citizenship of any other country
A citizen of India,
18 or more years of age as on the 1st day of the year when the electoral roll is revised,
Residing in India,
Enrolled in the electoral roll of India or the polling area of the Indian constituency where he/she resides.
The website of Election Commission of India (www.eci.nic.in/) has the form in the PDF format. It can be easily downloaded and printed.
Form 6 is also available at the office of the Electoral Registration Officer or the assistant or the Booth Level Officer of the polling area where the elector resides. There is no charge for obtaining this form.
2. Photocopy of age proof (like birth certificate, school mark sheet or admit card that mentions the electors date of birth, passport, Aadhar card, PAN card, and driving license)
3. Photocopy of address proof (like current pass book issued by a post office or bank, ration card, driving license, passport, income tax assessment order, letter delivered through the Indian Postal Department, recent telephone, gas or electricity bill and latest rent agreement).
Person has to be a citizen of India;
He/she must be 18 or more years of age, as on the year of the electoral roll revision;
He/she should hold proof of residence in India no matter where he is living at the moment.
1. The Election Commission issues a proforma for new political parties. It can be downloaded from the official website or obtained in person from the Commission's office in New Delhi.
2. The application should be as per the prescribed proforma, neatly typed having the political party's letter head.
3. The application should be accompanied with a demand draft of Rs. 10,000/-, which is the non-refundable processing fee. The demand draft should be in favour of the Under Secretary, Election Commission of India, New Delhi.
4. The application should mention the party's memorandum, list of rules and regulations, members and their details, particulars of bank account and PAN number issued in the party's name, and about their constitution.
5. The application and associated documents should reach the Secretary to the Election Commission of India within 30 days from the party's formation date.
The party should be active in the political circuit for five years continuously;
The party should have a mandatory certain fraction of representation in the Legislative Assembly or Legislative Council of the State;
or The party should have won at least six percent of the total number of valid votes for the last general State election.
The criteria for recognition of a political party in the National level is as follows –
The party should be recognized in atleast four Indian states, and should continue to engage in political activity regularly.
- Registration and maintenance of the electoral rolls
- Educating voters about their rights and process of voting
- Registration of political parties
- Regulation of laws for the political parties
- Issuance and marking of polling areas and constituencies
- Appointment and maintenance of officers working in each and every polling booth and area
- Managing the technological aspects of voting
Source Link: http://eci.nic.in/eci_main1/FAQs_25102013.aspx
Last Updated on November 20, 2014


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Beautiful Brockadale -what a variety of flowers and butterflies! Although we were too early for bee orchid, common spotted orchids were just coming into flower, perhaps a couple of weeks later than usual.. The car park is always a good place for meadow cranesbill, dovesfoot cranesbill, French cranesbill and cut-leaved cranesbill before heading onto the reserve. Moving on down the path passing bladder campion, white campion and white bryony, we turned left for a short distance as we had been told about a large patch of purple milk vetch which we may well have missed. We ended up on the main bank which was a mass of yellow rock rose mingled with hairy rock cress, greater stitchwort and fairy flax.
Category Archives: Sightings
Bramham Park wildflowers
A glorious morning for a tranquil walk along the wildflower paths of 18th century Bramham Park, for a very small charge we were able to enjoy this peaceful garden awash with swathes of ramsons interspersed by leopards bane and the tilting heads of water avens. Large groups of twayblade were coming into flower amongst sanicle, pignut, common dog violet and tormentil. Milkwort nestled in the short grass with green field speedwell and sticky mouse-ear. Beautiful bugle sat amongst the barren and wild strawberry, while bulbous buttercup had still to reach its peak. In a few weeks time orchids will fill the unmown corners so a return visit would be worthwhile, a truly magical place to spend a morning.
Dawn Chorus and Bluebells
Sunday 6 May was International Dawn Chorus Day, a worldwide celebration of nature's symphony. It is celebrated annually on the first Sunday of May, and is a great opportunity to get out early and listen to the sounds of birds as they sing to greet the rising sun.
Events took part all around the country, and on Saturday 5 May (albeit a day early) I joined members of the RSPB's Wakefield District Local Group as they guided a walk around the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. The walk started at 7am and there were plenty of birds singing. As we wandered around the park we listened to and viewed many species, and learnt a great deal from Paul and Sarah our expert guides. We encountered blue tit, great tit, blackbird, song thrush, chaffinch, goldfinch, goldcrest (one for my year list), chiffchaff, blackcap, great spotted woodpecker, nuthatch, tree creeper and wren.
The park looked stunning in the morning sunlight. The trees were in full blossom and the sunshine made everything look more vibrant. The woodland was carpeted in a haze of blue.
All too soon the walk was over, and we headed to the cafe for a quick drink before heading home. I would encourage everyone to get out there and enjoy what nature has to offer. You don't have to be an expert, get up too early or travel far to hear bird song – your back garden is a good start.
WIld flowers at Ledsham Vale
t was a warm, muggy cloudy morning for our last walk of the season where our aim was to find autumn lady's tresses, a tiny spiralling flower hiding in low grass. Amongst the damp grass along the main path we passed white, red and bladder campion as well as agrimony, lady's bedstraw and, as the path widens out to the sunny bank, harebells. Here also we had rock rose, eyebright, fairy flax and quantities of autumn gentian, common centaury amongst field scabious, small scabious. On the bumpy knoll where the leaves of the pasque flower could still be seen, we found devil's-bit-scabious and plenty of yellow-wort and our target spoecies – autumn lady's tresses. A number of our walks have been rained off this year so it was good to finish with such a rewarding morning at the flower rich site.
Wildflower walk, Old Moor RSPB reserve
A lovely morning for our wildflower walk with a full range of wonderful colours from white hedge bindweed, sneezewort, wild carrot, white water lily to the yellows of wild honeysuckle, yellow loosestrife, fleabane, ribbed melilot and greater spearwort to the pink hues of purple loosestrife, goat's rue, common centaury and slender speedwell. This handsome puss moth caterpillar was camouflaged well amongst the willow and we spent a while admiring it.
Wood Anemones at Brockadale
I've just returned from a few days photography in Wiltshire/Dorset where I've been photographing firecrest, great bustard and Dartford warbler and, as the spring weather continued, today I went over to Brockadale to see what spring flowers were on offer. The cowslips are not yet in bloom and the highland cattle seem to be making a bit of a mess of the meadow so I'm not sure how well the cowslips will do this year. The wood anemone on the hillside are spreading well but deep in the woods, they somehow looked more at home in the dappled spring light.
Spring migrant birds included blackcap and chiffchaff but no willow warbler yet, There were plenty of song thrushes singing which was a welcome sound
Waxwings in Crofton
Earlier today, Chris Swaine tweeted his sightings of a small flock of waxwings near the former Slipper pub in Crofton. Although there seems to be hundreds of waxwings up and down the country at the moment, these are the first we've heard about in the Wakefield district.
A spooky sign of autumn
The changing and breathtaking colours of some of our magnificent trees, together with flocks of visiting birds on their long migration journeys, and a bounty of fruits and seeds for them to feed on are proof that autumn has arrived. However, thanks to Pauline, on the 27 October we were witness to a less obvious clue if not, indeed, a very spooky sign of the season. We met along the disused railway, now a fantastic public walkway, starting behind the Co-op stores on Leeds Road, Outwood. There, on the timber post and rail fencing we found hundreds of 'Halloween ladybirds' as they are known in the USA, because they gather in their overwintering areas during September to November before hibernating, often in buildings. Such large gatherings of insects are known as aggregations.
Here in the UK this beetle is known as the harlequin ladybird (Harmonia spp) and is an unwelcome invader. The adult is very variable in appearance with a range of colours and patterns (see photos). Unlike many of our native ladybirds it produces multiple generations and a single female may lay up to 2,000 eggs in a lifetime leading to large populations. The life cycle then proceeds to a larvae (see attached photo), which can shed their skins several times before forming a pupae, and then after several days the adult emerges. The larvae and adults feast on aphids and when these have been devoured they sadly eat and out-compete our native, treasured ladybirds, bringing a ghostly end to autumn.
Botany Group – Ledsham Vale
It was a warm, clear morning for our last flower walk of the season. The lack of rainfall has taken its toll on the vale which, on first glance looked dry and parched, lacking the lush green and purple haze of scabious present on previous visits at this time of year, but further into the vale we began to see the flowers that we hoped to see. All three scabious were identified, small, field and devil's-bit although not as abundant as previous years, red bartsia, harebells, fairy flax, betony and restharrow were all plentiful as were yellow-wort and autumn gentian. We failed to find autumn ladies-tresses although one of our group had seen it on the vale in the last few days but just failed to locate it! Corn sowthistle, common rock-rose, milk-wort, ladies bedstraw, agrimony, yarrow, white campion and the wonderfully named traveller's joy were a delight to see. Large numbers of meadow and common grasshoppers jumped about around our feet and a buzzard soared above the vale, a really beautiful last outing of the season.
Botany Group Visit to Townclose Hills
The weather was overcast but pleasant for our botany walk at this nature reserve near Kippax which is managed by the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust.
The group identified over fifty species of wildflower during the walk including clustered bellflowers, wild basil, burnet saxifrage, white bryony, field scabious and masses of knapweed. It was surprising to see a white version of greater knapweed. Harebell and yellow-wort were also seen.


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Editor's note: The majority of this article was written by Ben Koch. And he did a great job! But I can't seem to be able to list two authors. So, thanks Ben!
We are as pleased as Jurgen Klinsmann that patience has paid off and USA's new brand of futbol has yielded an important psychological win. It wasn't overwhelming, but it was solid. A little combo which Dallas-based FFG likes to call the "Texas Connection" (Brek Shea to Clint Dempsey) was all USA needed to overcome Honduras. But let's take a look at the stats behind the match.
Formations: 4-2-3-1 (USA) vs 4-4-2 (Honduras)
We were just a couple personnel off in our match preview predictions, not having anticipated Danny Williams getting the start. Here's how things looked at the starting whistle.
The formations dictated the flow of the game for the most part. The US used its man advantage in the midfield to control possession and act as the aggressors. Not surprisingly, the gringos did end up with 58% possession over the course of the whole match. Honduras, on the other hand, played on the counter, flitting quickly upfield when they gained control of the ball.
Early danger
Honduras certainly wasn't without chances. Their early strategy was to send passes to the strikers in wide positions. Both Carlos Bocanegra and Michael Orozco-Fiscal struggled to control forwards Carlos Costly and Jerry Bengston. Orozco-Fiscal had a particularly hard time and even made simple mistakes trying to play an offside trap. Fortunately, Tim Howard rescued his defenders when they erred. Honduras also seemed to have adopted the ill-advised strategy of trying to beat Tim Howard from outside the box, with 6 total shots coming from distance at the USA goal. Overall, however, they did manage 3 more total shots than the gringos, despite much less possession.
Looking to the Left Wing
Most of the USA's best early chances were created by Brek Shea and Timmy Chandler. The fullback often read Shea's runs beautifully, sending a number of teasing passes into Shea's feet as the winger charged into the box. The Honduran center backs, though, dealt admirably with their teammates' failures to cope with Shea and Chandler.
The "Deuce" Strikes Back
Aside from his wonderful display of skill in finishing off the only goal of the match, Dempsey fulfilled the playmaker role admirably. He did drop deep in order to connect with his holders (Kyle Beckerman and Maurice Edu) and one weakness of last night's formation was that there wasn't a link-up between him and deep center midfield. He distributed well, and all but one of his unsuccessful passes were attempts to penetrate the defense in the final third.
Weak Performances
One player who may want to forget yesterday's match in terms of personal performance is Beckerman. The dreadlocked holding mid did have a solid passing day (53 out of 60) but was bad defensively, winning only 2 tackles but losing 4, and conceding 3 fouls but winning none. In all fairness to Beckerman, however, Edu was not much better on the night, with 4 conceded fouls and 2 won, and only 2 tackles won. Edu and Beckerman may just be too similar to play side-by-side.
Gettin' Along without Daddy
Perhaps the surprise midfield performance of the match was Michael Bradley. Get this: zero missed passes. Sure, it was only a half, but 100% completion rate?
Closing Thoughts
Klinsmann got his first "W" and can get that monkey off his back once and for all. He showed a pretty possession game can yield goals. In fact, it should have been a 3-0 game in terms of opportunities created when we consider the major whiffs by Oguchi Onyewu – who had an otherwise fine showing as a substitute – and Shea. Overall, however, we feel pretty good. We held nearly 60% of possession, didn't concede a goal (thanks, Timmy), and our most skilled veteran on the pitch stepped up and found the net with a little help from the next generation.
We didn't have time to cover everything. Gringos, what stood out for you? What would you like to see on Tuesday vs. Ecuador?


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Michelle Guthrie: The ABC Gets The Big Stories Because It Invests In Journalists
Newly installed ABC boss Michelle Guthrie has taken a thinly veiled swipe at Australian media companies de-investing in journalism, highlighting the number of major, exclusive stories the public broadcaster has snared in recent times.
In a speech last night to the Lowy Institute Media Awards dinner in Sydney, Guthrie cited Four Corner's recent investigation into youth detention in the Northern Territory, its election coverage (across all channels) and its election eve coverage that continued well into the night when other networks had packed-up and gone home.
Guthrie believed the the public broadcaster bought a dinstinctively "ABC content" to its reporting and follows on from a study published on B&T this week that found that quality state-owned media worked well at outing and limiting extremist views.
The newly installed managing director also had a dig at "new media" who used "click bait" to lure in readers. "I remain to be convinced of the long-term prospects of some of the new wave of media companies. They offer quick 'hits for their target audiences, via short, attention- seeking news items and clips, or listicles that generally lack substance. It could be argued that their content is as shallow as their revenues," she said in the speech.
"In today's media world, instant news has become something of a commodity. Audiences have immediate access to a range of sources – some questionable, some not – on almost every major news event.
"This means that in the news space, the key to longevity is in the 'value add': that undeniable extra that a news organisation can bring to the conversation such as the investigative piece, the in-depth analysis, the local angle, the incisive and through-provoking debate, the forensic interview."
Guthrie also highlighted the ABC's commitment to having journalists "on the ground" covering important overseas events.
"The facts speak for themselves. At a time where other media companies have whittled away their overseas reporting capacity, the ABC has maintained a strong level of investment and service," she said before adding: "This investment by the Corporation in overseas reporting and analysis is against the trend of a massive contraction in international coverage, depressingly catalogued by the Prime Minister in his address to this forum two years ago. The trend has not abated, for reasons we are all familiar with.


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My magazine should be here anytime!!! Gonna have to send to you to autograph! :D Lol! Congratulations!!!
Mo, that is gorgeous!! Love it!! so fabulous to be published!
I am very proud of you!Great card Maureen.Love,Mom
Congrats, Mo! It's such a great card!
Woohoo! I saw it in my issue just yesterday and was SOOO happy for you!! :)
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Where is God?
Where is God?: Earthquake, Terrorism, Barbarity, and Hope
By Jon Sobrino
Maryknoll, NY; Orbis Books, 2004.
156 pages
Reviewed by Vie Thorgren
In the prologue to the English edition, written in 2004, Jon Sobrino identifies the purpose of this book. "Its purpose is to contribute—as much as one can—to slowing down the dehumanization that is overtaking our world, and to encourage a humanizing hope and praxis" (p. vii). In the introduction to the original Spanish edition, written in 2001, he indicated his intent "to help people think, especially those who live in the affluent world, and to encourage everyone to show compassion and solidarity" (p. xxvii). Sobrino definitely achieves this latter purpose. Completing this short, but intensive, volume, requires the reader to think hard. The call to see and to act in unity with the larger part of humanity who are poor and suffering is unmistakable. Whether it makes a contribution to a "humanizing hope and praxis" will depend upon the willingness of readers to embrace the conversion it invites.
This book is required reading for all students in the spiritual formation program I direct. Our U.S. students describe the book as painful and challenging. Students from countries outside the U.S. describe it as exciting, on the mark, and challenging. The reason for this different response surfaces in the first few pages of the prologue, as Sobrino, a Jesuit theologian at the University of Central America in El Salvador, lays out the challenge. We have to try, in solidarity with the poor and oppressed, to reverse history and move it in the opposite direction.
Sobrino began to write this book in response to the earthquakes of January and February 2001 in El Salvador. The suffering, especially for the poor, was devastating. As the book was readied for publication, however, the September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center in New York, and the October 7 bombing of Afghanistan erased all awareness of the agony of the poor in El Salvador. Sobrino expanded the scope of the search for God in our world to include natural disasters, terrorism, and barbarity. He presents reality from the perspective of the victims and invites the reader into this experience.
Sobrino immediately lays out the challenge between two competing perspectives: the Empire and God. The Empire, which today is the U.S., imposes its will on others with immense power. The Empire sees itself as having the right to define for everyone the best expression of being human (individual success) and the most important values (the good life enjoyed by those who are successful.) It assumes for itself the right to identify what in time is important. For example, 9/11 is now an important benchmark in U.S. history, and it is expected that the rest of the world will understand that 9/11 is the day everything changed. Unnoted is the day in 1981 when a thousand people were murdered in El Mozote, El Salvador, by the U.S. trained Atlacatl Battalian (12/11), the days of the slaughter in Rwanda, the months two million people were murdered in Congo, the time of the 2001 floods in Mozambique, the bombing of Afghanistan (10/7), and the bombing of Iraq (3/30).
The Empire uses God to justify its actions, seeing itself as God-appointed to rule, God- blessed for the supreme role in human history, and also as the source of salvation for others. Within this context, the Empire rules as beneficiary and dispenser of the resources accepting Dives and Lazarus as the normal way of life.
The Reign of God, however, is not an empire. It is, and always has been, in the Hebrew and in the Christian Scriptures, aligned with the poor and the oppressed. God lifts up the dignity of persons, and the values of love, mercy, and compassion are the best reflection of what it means to be human. Salvation arises from the little and the weak, from barren women, marginal people, and a suffering servant. Quoting an Asian theologian, A. Pieris, Sobrino offers the liberation for our day in "the poor—not because they are poor, but because they are powerless, rejected—chosen for a mission: 'they are to be mediators of salvation to the rich; the weak are called to liberate the strong'" (p. xix).
Sobrino is uncompromising in his condemnation of the evil done at the World Trade Tower on September 11, 2001. He does not ignore the immense suffering of the victims and their families. He does remind the reader, however, that it was not the most massive, or even the cruelest, event of our age. It did, however, endanger for the Empire that which is ours. Is the U.S. response one of compassion to all the innocent victims of terrorism and brutality? Do citizens seek justice that ensures a more humane world for all people, but especially the most vulnerable? He notes in contrast that other countries were forced to take an anti-terrorist oath, although they were never invited to take an oath against poverty or injustice, or contempt for the poor.
Sobrino's description of the Empire and the Reign of God reminded me of the challenge confronting a person making the Ignatian spiritual exercises. There are "Two Kingdoms" and "Two Standards." Which will the person choose? For the person unfamiliar with the Ignatian retreat, the clear choice that Sobrino offers the reader is consistent with the clear reality that Jesus presents. A person cannot serve two masters—God and mammon.
Sobrino's writing style is prophetic, integrative, and stimulating. He offers challenging re-interpretations for historians, theologians, scripture scholars, spiritual directors, and anyone wanting to live with spiritual integrity. Counting prologue and introduction (which are a feast in themselves), the entire volume is fewer than two hundred pages. It cannot be digested in large doses but must be read over many days with time for rumination. I found that I could not sit still with the book; I needed to get up and walk with what I had just read, considering it carefully and letting it penetrate deeply.
Sobrino draws extensively on theological perspectives from Latin America, Africa, and Asia. For those in the U. S. who have never made the effort to discover the news beyond CNN, Sobrino opens a reality that may be previously unknown. I have had students tell me, "I do not know anything about many of the circumstances he mentions," and, "I do not know any of these authors that he quotes." There is a seductive quality to Sobrino's style, however. He draws the reader into the search for reality, especially as it concerns the experience of the poor.
As a spiritual director I regularly accompany individuals who struggle with their relationship to the poor, with the problem of time, and the complexity of their lives. They struggle with their responsibilities in relationship to governmental policies, with the suffering in the world, and with consumerism. They question if God is in the midst of their uncertainty, suffering, and turmoil. Sobrino encourages the questioner not to let God off of the hook. He admits that there is no rational answer, but offers the conviction that God is crucified in all the crucified ones.
The deeper, unexpected challenge that he offers the reader is, where are we? What does it mean to be a human being in this world of inequality and suffering? What is the human response to suffering? And how do we measure the quality of being human. Is it the most powerful, the best, the toughest? Is it found in "the good life?" Or is it measured by compassion and mercy and ensuring that all live well.
I look forward to the reflection papers and the book discussion groups from our spiritual direction interns. As long as this book remains in print, it will continue to be required reading in our program.
Vie Thorgren, DMin, is founder and director of the Center for Spirituality at Work in Denver, Colorado, USA. She developed the Formation Program for Spiritual Directors, which has been committed to ensuring spiritual direction and retreat services for those who are poor and marginalized for the past twenty years. She is personally involved in spiritual direction with homeless people and with incarcerated women. She is married, a mother and grandmother.
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ProPresenter Stage Display & Lower Third Generator
Freeware app for Raspberry Pi
ProPresenter Stage Display for Raspberry Pi is a freeware application to use your Raspberry Pi as a cheap Stage Display so your singers and presenters can see the current and next slide text.
You can also enable Lower Third Mode – generate Lower Third (or subtitle-style) lyrics from ProPresenter. Now you can have one ProPresenter operator effortlessly generate lyrics for both the main screen and a broadcast/internet feed.
As this app has been built in Python, you can also use this on your Mac or PC (limited testing has been completed on the PC).
On this page:
- What does it do?
- Download & Install
- System Requirements
- Who's using it?
- How to Upgrade
- Lower Third Mode
What does ProPresenter Stage Display for Raspberry Pi do?
ProPresenter Stage Display for Raspberry Pi is a simple way to display the current and next slides on your Raspberry Pi. It also has a clock. It is designed for churches so your worship leaders can see the current and next slide lyrics one one screen.
Because it runs on a Raspberry Pi, you can connect it to almost any TV. In simple deployments, you may like to power your Raspberry Pi from the USB port on the back of your TV. In more complex scenarios, you could input this into your SDI Router or Video Switcher.
The application uses the ProPresenter TCP Stage Display API to receive data. It works over WiFi and Ethernet.
If you enable Lower Third Mode, only the current slide will be displayed at the bottom of the screen – perfect for alpha-keying onto a video camera feed (e.g. live web stream).
Download and Install
- Download and install NOOBS (with a desktop) on your Raspberry Pi
- Connect your WiFi or Ethernet
- Open Terminal and run the following commands:
sudo apt-get install python2 git
git clone https://github.com/anthonyeden/ProPresenter-Stage-Display-Python/
echo "@/home/pi/ProPresenter-Stage-Display-Python/start.sh" >> .config/lxsession/LXDE-pi/autostart
cp ProPresenter-Stage-Display-Python/config-sample.json ProPresenter-Stage-Display-Python/config.json
- To edit the configuration, run this command:
nano ProPresenter-Stage-Display-Python/config.json
Ensure you update the IP Address, Port Number & Password for your ProPresenter computer. On your ProPresenter computer, this can be setup in Preferences > Network.
Press Ctrl + X to close the Nano text editor.
- The stage display should now load automatically whenever you login to your Raspberry Pi (there is a 10 second delay to give the Pi a chance to connect to the network). To start it manually, run the following commands from the terminal:
cd /home/pi/ProPresenter-Stage-Display-Python/
python2 StageDisplay.py
System Requirements
- Raspberry Pi (tested on a Pi3 Model B)
- ProPresenter 6
- A TV or Computer Monitor
- A reliable network connection
Who's using it?
This software was designed for my local Salvation Army church in Parramatta. It's in use every Sunday. I also use it for some divisional youth events. Since it's release, there's been a steady number of downloads.
Here's an action shot of a youth event (the foldback projector is on the far right):
And here's a lower-tech setup at my local church:
If you want to share how you're using this app, please email me. Alternatively, hit me up on Twitter.
How to Upgrade
If you've already installed this app, it's simple to upgrade.
- Close the app (you can press any key and it'll quit)
- Open a command line / terminal window
- cd ProPresenter-Stage-Display-Python
- git pull
You should now have the latest version. You can restart the application with the following commands:
cd /home/pi/ProPresenter-Stage-Display-Python/
python2 StageDisplay.py
Lower Third Mode
You can also use this software to generate Lower Third (or subtitle-style) lyrics from ProPresenter. Now you can have one ProPresenter operator effortelssly generate lyrics for both the main screen and a broadcast/internet feed.
To enable this mode, set 'LowerThirdMode' to true in config.json and restart the application.
After you've enabled this change, the following options may be useful:
"FontSizeCurrent": 35,
"FontName": "Arial",
"FontUppercase": false,
"MergeLines": false,
"MergeLinesMin": 4,
"MergeLinesJoinChar": ","
Here's a summary of these options and how you might be able to use them:
- FontSizeCurrent: This is fairly self-explanatory
- FontName: Set this to the name of a font installed on your system
- FontUppercase: This will force all text to be converted to uppercase
- MergeLines: Enable this to force every 2nd line to join with the previous line. This is useful if you have lots of lines on-screen, but don't want to display them all as separate lines in Lower Third Mode
- MergeLinesMin: Slides with fewer than this number of lines won't be collapsed
- MergeLinesJoinChar: This character will be inserted between the two lines that are joined. Best to use a semi-colon or comma.


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Bumthang cultural trek
Day 1 Arrive Paro
Representatives of Norda Expeditions will be at the airport to receive you. To give you the first feel of the country we will welcome you with a traditional welcome ceremony, which will be held at a farmhouse nearby. After the ceremony you will be transferred to the hotel. In the evening visit Paro town. Night halt at Paro in a hotel.
Day 2 Paro
In the first half of the morning, visit Ta Dzong, the National Museum. It was originally built as a watchtower, strategically located overlooking the Rimpung Dzong and the Paro valley. Then visit Rimpung Dzong, the administrative and religious centre of Paro Dzongkhag (district). Drive 14 km up north of the valley to visit Drugyel Dzong. The dzong, now in ruins, defended the Tibetan invasions centuries ago and aptly named the victorious fortress. On the way to Drugyel Dzong, view the Taktsang monastery and Kyichu Lhakhang, both renowned pilgrimage sites for Buddhists all over the world. After lunch drive to Thimphu (2 hrs). Overnight at hotel in Thimphu.
Day 3 Thimphu
Full day of sightseeing in Thimphu visiting Memorial Chorten, National Library, the Institute of Zorig Chusum, Tashichhodzong, Handicrafts Emporium and the weekly market. Overnight at hotel in Thimphu.
Day 4 Thimphu Trongsa
After breakfast proceed to Trongsa. After 45 minutes of drive from Thimphu you will reach Dochula pass at an altitude of 3100m. After crossing Dochula pass, another 2 hours of descend on the winding road will reach you to Punakha, the old capital of Bhutan. In Punakha, visit Punakha Dzong and then a short drive will reach you to Wangduephodrang. Visit Wangduephodrang Dzong and have lunch in a hotel at Wangduephodrang. After lunch drive further east on the east-west lateral highway with a short stop at Chendbji Chorten after descending from the Pelela pass at an altitude of 3300m. In the evening, visit Ta Dzong and Trongsa town. Overnight at hotel in Trongsa.
Day 5 Trongsa Bumthang
After breakfast, visit Trongsa Dzong, the largest fortress of the country. The grandfather of Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal laid the foundation of the Dzong in 1543, however the real Dzong was complete in 1648 by the Shabdrung. The first king, Sir Ugyen Wangchuck, was Trongsa Penlop before he was unanimously appointed as the first hereditary monarch of Bhutan on December 17, 1907. Trongsa Dzong played an important role in the history of Bhutan as an administrative base controlling both the eastern and the western part of the country. Drive to Bumthang, which will take about 2 hrs. In the afternoon take a walk around the Bumthang valley; visit some of the holy places like Jampa Lhakhang, Kurjay Lhakhang, Tamshing Lhakhang, Kencho Sum Lhakhang and Jakar Dzong. Overnight in hotel in Bumthang.
Day 6 Bumthang Ngang Lhakhang (20 km 5/6 hours)
The trek route follows along the Chamkharchu (Bumthang river). You will stop at Tangbi Monastery for a lunch. After sometime, you will enter the Swan valley known as Ngang valley with its Ngang Lhakhang (the Swan Temple) at the center of the valley. Overnight at camp.
Day 7 Ngang Lhakhang Ugyencholing (12 km 3 / 4 hours)
A gradual climb to Phephela pass at an altitude of 11000 ft, which is the highest point of the trek. The trail from the pass takes you through one of the most beautiful forests of the region. Along the way you can see the view of the Ugyencholing Palace. Overnight at camp at an altitude of 9000 ft.
Day 8 Ugyencholing Trongsa
On the way back to Bumthang, visit Membar Tsho (the Burning Lake), from where Terton (treasure discoverer) Pema Lingpa discovered religious texts and artifacts.
Lunch at Bumthang. After the lunch drive to Trongsa. Over night halt in Trongsa.
Day 9 Trongsa Punakha
After breakfast drive to Punakha. On the way, visit Wangduephodrang Dzong, built in 1638. After lunch drive to Punakha to visit Punakha Dzong and the new Chorten, few kilometers from Punakha town.
Day 10 Punakha Paro
Drive back to Paro. Lunch at Dochula pass. Overnight at hotel in Paro.
Day 11 Departure
After breakfast drive to Paro International Airport. The representatives of the company will see you off.


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As nutrition becomes ever more present in the media, more and more people are wanting to work in the industry. It may be fairly simple process to qualify as a dietitian – do the degree and register with the HCPC. But, how do you actually get a job as a dietitian?
Each day I get emails from students looking for work experience and can only offer this to a small number. However, there are some tricks you can do to heighten your chances of getting a graduate job when you qualify.
- Stop obsessing over your grade. No one cares what grade you got as being a dietitian is both academic and practical. If you passed your degree, your academic ability has been proven – now show the employer what else you can offer. You will all be able to think about someone on your course who gets great marks but would make a terrible dietitian and equally someone who gets just the pass mark but would be fantastic – who would you employee?
- Your degree is not enough. Many graduates qualify with this attitude that they have a good chance of getting a job. Well, guess what? Having your degree was the absolute minimum needed to apply so what else have you done that is better than the other candidates?
- Get work experience. Yes, placements come into this, but as we said – everyone has done placements. What else can you do? Think about other dietetic skills which you often do not get too much experience in during under-grad years – e.g. audit, research, teaching, writing – these are all areas which you can target to enhance your CV above others. Charities, dietetic departments and freelance dietitians will often let you do voluntary work for them. The other consideration is writing for CND or the BDA magazine – why not? When I was at Uni, I volunteered with Sure Start and did data collection for an audit at The Norfolk and Norwich Hospital.
- Tailor your placements. Placements are difficult to organise and you often don't get a chance to choose where you go. BUT if there is something you want to experience more of then ask your placement to accommodate it – this is a huge example of you taking responsibility for your own learning.
- Make use of your uni. Lecturers love forward thinking students – if you are wanting research experience, why not drop your lecturer an email and see if you could help out with any of the masters or pHD projects?
- Don't burn bridges. Dietetics is a small world (VERY small)! Try your best not to burn any bridges – remember you don't have to be someone's best friend but you do have to be professional. I personally had a terrible experience on one of my placements – so much so that I could not go back there for the next one. What did I do? – sent an email saying 'thank you very much but I don't think my learning style suits your teaching style at present.'
- Have focus beyond your finals. Consider what your ideal job would be and what skills you could gain to make you the best candidate. For instance, if you want to work in paediatrics, why not contact local schools to see if you could do a healthy eating talk or produce some healthy eating leaflets for them?
- Tell people what you can do. I have students asking me for experience almost daily and its the same old thing – they haven't looked at your site, they have no idea what your company does and they just say that they want 'experience.' This is really poor and pretty unprofessional – when you make contact with dietitians for experience – tell them why you want experience in their company and what you are willing to do e.g. you can write blog posts, design written information or you would like to come and shadow a specific patient type.
- Reflect Reflect REFLECT. When I finished uni I thought that I would never do another bloody reflection again but I was so so wrong. It can just be in bullet points in a diary for your own learning – it is not an essay. However, reflecting on interviews / placements / current learning / where you are etc is an amazing way to progress and fill in those missing gaps.
- Start CPD. This is a good practise to get into both during and after you qualify. CPD comes in many forms, but always set out a plan of what you want to do that year – are there specific course you can go on? Are there groups you could join? This is also a great talking point in an interview.
Good luck!