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Are you a new or existing business looking for help to retain workers or expand, or branch out internationally? Are you a company considering Maryland as a location? The Maryland Department of Commerce is here to help.
As the state's primary economic development agency, we stimulate private investment and create jobs by attracting new businesses, encouraging the expansion and retention of existing companies, and providing workforce training and financial assistance to Maryland companies. The Department also promotes the state's many economic advantages and markets local products and services at home and abroad to spur economic development and international investment, trade and tourism.
View our Annual Report to learn how Commerce assisted businesses in 2019.
Commerce Secretary Kelly M. Schulz brings a wealth of knowledge to the Department from her years of experience working in the government, in the private sector and as a small business owner. She had previously served as the Secretary of the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation (DLLR) and is also a former member of the Maryland House of Delegates. View her bio here.
One of
20 agencies within Maryland's Executive Branch, the agency is structured into six divisions:
The Agency also has
13 public boards and commissions that provide recommendations and direction to Commerce. These boards focus on targeted groups and industry sectors such as small business, life sciences, federal facilities and manufacturing. They serve as a critical link to let the governor and our agency know the issues Maryland businesses are facing — and the best way to solve them.
Check out this
high-level organization chart to see how we're structured.
The agency's Division of Administration and Technology helps to keep the Agency running smoothly. Commerce support teams include Information and Technology Management, Budget and Finance, Human Resources, General Services and Contracts and Procurement.
Business and Industry Sector Development team members foster strong relationships with the state's economic development and industry organizations and leaders, making it easier for staff to assist you. Business development, site location, regional, small business and finance teams work collaboratively with partners at all levels to provide financial, counseling and technical assistance to businesses. See the quick industry contacts below for a list of industries we specialize in.
The Regional Growth and Retention team is based geographically to assist businesses in every corner of the state. This team of experienced and knowledgeable professionals provides easy access to Commerce programs and services wherever your business is located. Our regional business development reps assist companies of all sizes seeking to expand their markets, their workforce or physical expansions within the state. They can also assist with a broad range of business needs, from identifying sources of funding, customer/supplier connections and networking, to accessing Commerce programs and resources, workforce and technical resources.Contact a Maryland Commerce business development representative in your area:
The Division of Military and Federal Affairs, led by Senior Director Lisa Swoboda (right), develops business relationships between U.S. military bases, federal laboratories and private companies in Maryland to help create and retain jobs. The team also helps businesses diversify to reduce their dependence on the federal government.
The Division of Marketing & Communications (DMC) — led by Assistant Secretary Tom Riford (right), who also oversees Tourism, Film and the Arts — serves as the voice of the Maryland Open for Business campaign, communicating the state's competitive business advantages, assets and quality of life.
Maryland businesses have a lot of great stories to tell, so we take those successful stories and share them through our many channels, using digital marketing, media relations, publications, advertising and research to market Maryland's business community. The team also plans events and tradeshows and works closely with our business development team to promote Maryland's key strengths.
The division is committed to giving you the insight, resources, publications and online tools that you need to grow your business in Maryland. Stay on top of state business news and information by subscribing to the MDBizNews blog and the Business Pulse monthly email newsletter.
The Division of Tourism, Film and the Arts, led by Managing Director Liz Fitzsimmons, promotes Maryland's quality of life and all the fun stuff that Maryland offers in order to attract, create and retain jobs in the tourism and creative industries.
If you're an artist or arts organization looking for technical and financial assistance and incentives, a potential tourism partner or a film production company looking for assistance, check out the numbers and websites below.


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Business Process Improvement Workshop
The aim of a 'Lean Organisation' is to meet customers' needs as efficiently and effectively as possible. The leaner the organisation and better the utilisation of resources, the greater the potential for profit and stake-holder returns or, in not-for-profit organisations, better use of funding.
The Business Process Improvement Workshop recognises that the concept of business improvement and lean processing will only work when you engage the hearts and minds of the people. Without the people, there is no process.
Content Overview:
• Business assimilation – participants will be tasked with managing and operating a process
• Introduction to styles of process mapping, the symbols, terminology
• Practical process mapping activity to identify wastage in the process
• Process analysis tools
• Efficient information, material and workflow
• Managing complexity
• Workload versus resources – overall capacity planning
• Balancing workloads and work in progress for maximum efficiency
• Linking learning to participants workplace – using a workplace process, participants will use their learning from the day to map out the process and begin the process improvement journey
Business Process Improvement is delivered in one-day.
• Understand the principles of business process improvement
• Be familiar with the symbols and terminology used in process improvement
• Be able to use visual process maps to identify waste and inefficiencies
• Better utilisation of resources
• Improved quality of service
• Make the links between the assimilations used in the workshop and the workplace
Who should attend:
Anyone who is responsible for delivering a cost efficient quality service or who is looking to improve the quality of their service and outputs.

subset: commoncrawl


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What does fact checked mean?
At Healthfully, we strive to deliver objective content that is accurate and up-to-date. Our team periodically reviews articles in order to ensure content quality. The sources cited below consist of evidence from peer-reviewed journals, prominent medical organizations, academic associations, and government data.
The information contained on this site is for informational purposes only, and should not be used as a substitute for the advice of a professional health care provider. Please check with the appropriate physician regarding health questions and concerns. Although we strive to deliver accurate and up-to-date information, no guarantee to that effect is made.
HIV & Mono Symptoms
HIV and mono are both viruses that present with similar symptoms in the early stages. They are contracted in different ways and have very different long-term effects on the body. HIV is a chronic disease and has no cure, while mono usually runs its course and leaves the body over the course of several weeks.
If you are experiencing serious medical symptoms, seek emergency treatment immediately.
HIV Overview
HIV, or human immunodeficiency virus, is carried and transmitted through blood, breast milk, semen and vaginal fluids. It can exist in the body for years before any symptoms are experienced; therefore, many who carry the virus are not aware they are infected. HIV is a chronic condition that weakens the immune system until and makes the body susceptible to other infections or illnesses if not properly treated. Those who do not have access to HIV-fighting anti-retroviral medications will eventually see their HIV worsen into full blown AIDS, which can be deadly without the proper treatment with anti-retroviral and other medications. There is no cure for HIV, but it can be maintained as a chronic, but manageable, condition when on the right combination of medications 1.
HIV Symptoms
There can be no or only minor symptoms in the early stages of HIV. These symptoms include headache, sore throat, swollen glands, body rashes and fever. HIV symptoms at this stage are similar to mono and most other common viruses. As the HIV progresses and more seriously compromises the immune system, symptoms include weight loss, diarrhea, a chronic cough and the earlier symptoms in more severe forms. It is not until the virus progresses to AIDS that the most serious symptoms of night sweats, opportunistic infections and lesions are present.
Mono Overview
Mono, or mononucleosis, is a manifestation of the Epstein-Barr virus. It is transmitted through saliva and can be contracted through kissing, ingesting the residue of an infected person's cough or sneeze and sharing eating utensils and beverages with infected people. Mono is not considered to be a serious condition but does require a great deal of rest and low activity level for a period of weeks to fully recover. A blood sample is used to positively diagnose mono. There is no medication that can be taken to cure mono as it is a virus; however the illness will run its course over a period of four to eight weeks with an adequate amount of rest and liquids.
Mono Symptoms
The symptoms of mono mirror early HIV symptoms. These symptoms include swollen glands, headache, body rashes and fever. Additionally, people with mono will feel fatigue, general weakness, loss of appetite and swelling of the spleen. The swelling of the spleen is a serious symptom, and those who incur this swelling need to avoid physical activity to avoid a spleen rupture.
HIV or Mono
HIV and mono symptoms are very similar when HIV is still in its early stages. When a person has symptoms of mono or any other similar virus, some worry that their symptoms may be indicative of HIV. If you are concerned that your symptoms may be HIV rather than mono or some other minor illness, go to your clinic for an HIV test 12. You are at almost no risk of contracting HIV if you have not had unprotected sex or shared needles with someone else. However, an HIV test is easy to complete to allay fears and make sure you quickly arrive at a proper diagnosis.
As the HIV progresses and more seriously compromises the immune system, symptoms include weight loss, diarrhea, a chronic cough and the earlier symptoms in more severe forms. It is not until the virus progresses to AIDS that the most serious symptoms of night sweats, opportunistic infections and lesions are present. When a person has symptoms of mono or any other similar virus, some worry that their symptoms may be indicative of HIV.


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Integrate Goodheart-Willcox content within your Learning Management System for a seamless user experience for both you and your students. LMS-ready
content in Common Cartridge® format facilitates single sign-on integration and gives you control of student enrollment and student data.
With a Common Cartridge® integration, you can access the LMS features and tools you are accustomed to using and G-W course resources in
one convenient location—your LMS. Please provide the following information to request a Common Cartridge.
If "Other" selected above, fill in the information below.


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Many businesses have developed great-looking apps that perform poorly, causing users to abandon the apps and try again later or, worse, shift to competitors' apps. That hurts the brand as well as the bottom line.
High-performance apps are key to delivering a positive user experience. This blog discusses key facets of application performance and how you can improve these in order to meet user expectations.
User expectations are high. Research by Kissmetrics indicates that 80% of users will abandon an app if it doesn't respond within 20 seconds. After an app has crashed twice, only 16% of users will give it a third try, according to a study by Compuware.
Each time your users have a negative experience with your app, your value is diminished in the minds of these users. Most will give you one or two strikes before giving up; three strikes would be unusually generous.
To ensure that your app doesn't fall short, you need to work on two key facets of application performance: the responsiveness of the user interface (UI) and the responsiveness of the servers from which the application retrieves data.
UI responsiveness
Among questions that merit consideration as you assess UI responsiveness:
How quickly does the app respond to the user's touch? The rule of thumb is that as soon as the user lifts his or her finger from the screen, it should be evident that the app is doing something. If the user isn't lifting the finger but is instead scrolling or doing a pinch-and-zoom movement, the app should provide visual indication that it is responding as soon as the finger moves.
How smoothly does the UI scroll? If the user is looking at a list of information and flicks his or her finger up or down, the UI should scroll without lagging. Scrolling should take place at a minimum of 60 frames per second. Slower speeds will give the application a shoddy look and feel.
How quickly does the app start? The optimal start time is in the range of one to two seconds, measured from the instant the user taps the app icon on the home screen to the instant the app is ready for productive use. A start time of 20 seconds would feel like an eternity to your users.
There are many ways to optimize start time and ensure that your app is ready for productive use the instant the user opens it. One way to do this is by fetching information in the background, before the user starts the app. This can be done via push notifications.
You can send a push notification to the app and have it pre-fetch information that you think the user may need. To determine which users to send this information to and what information to send them, you need to understand user behavior, in some cases at the individual level.
Another method you can use to improve start time and responsiveness is to leverage the ample on-device storage provided by modern phones, which can store data between sessions. If your app stores transaction history, for example, it can store the history between sessions and retrieve only those changes that have occurred since the last session.
How quickly does the app move from screen to screen? If the user taps on a control in your app and wants to go to the next screen, it's essential that the movement take place immediately. I've used many apps where each screen presents a wait spinner. When the user goes back to the prior screen, there's another wait. Users will quickly abandon an app that forces them to wait from screen to screen.
A better approach: Pre-fetch the information that users will need for follow-on screens, just as you pre-fetch information that will minimize the app's start time. Analytics will give you a good idea of the sequence that users follow as they move from screen to screen, so you can pre-load the appropriate data for upcoming screens.
How efficient are the workflows? Does your app require that users make numerous decisions and go to many screens in order to complete a single transaction? Are you forcing a web paradigm on a mobile app, requiring users to enter a lot of data and behave as if they were on a public web browser (i.e., not allowing the app to remember things from screen to screen)? In all likelihood, users of your app are using privately owned devices and are in a rush. The app should help them complete tasks as quickly as possible.
Data-driven, quantifiable usability testing is key to understanding how users interact with your app in the real world. Through quantifiable usability tests, you can uncover where users get confused by your workflow, what parts of the workflow take the most time, and where users abandon the workflow.
Are you using the information you already have? All too often, apps ask for information that is already known; for example, the user's location. This not only slows transactions, but it also annoys users. It's worth remembering that apps can learn. If you know that a given user conducts many different kinds of transactions, find out what that user does most often-for example, checking the balance of a 401(k) account and the price of a particular stock-and put that up front rather than burying it and forcing the user to repeat the same flow session after session.
Are you using UI paradigms that are not optimized for mobile? If you require that users type extensive information on the keyboard, that will be time-consuming and frustrating. Enabling users to select items from a list is much faster.
Server response time
Server response time manifests itself as UI response time but is managed very differently. Among questions you'll need to consider in evaluating server response time:
How quickly do your APIs respond? You need to be aware of how long your API calls take, and how many of them you do for each kind of operation performed in the app. For example, if your app does 10 separate API calls each time it starts, that will greatly slow the app's start time. With respect to the user experience, 10 separate API calls to your servers will increase slowness by a factor of 10. It also introduces 10 places where a network call may fail, preventing use of the app.
It's important to understand how the APIs perform under real-world conditions. Use load-testing to place stress on your servers and identify performance degradation when the servers are used by many people at the same time. Load-testing can uncover problems that don't appear when only one or two users access the app, but appear when dozens or hundreds of users eagerly access your servers. These problems can include excessive logging, contention on the database, and other choke-points in your code.
Do you really know how often your app calls your servers? Even if you built the app in-house, you may not understand exactly what's going on. Using a tool such as Charles Proxy, which sits between the app and the services and captures all interactions between the two, will give you information that you can use in performance testing. The information will enable you to accurately replicate your app's behavior during load testing or stress testing. It will also enable you to determine how many concurrent users the app accommodates at peak times, so that during testing you can determine what happens under peak loads. Understanding how the app really uses the services will give you insights necessary to reduce the realized load on the servers and make the app even more responsive to the user.
What's the impact of push notifications? The impact of push notifications is a hidden "gotcha" in the world of mobile. Studies show that up to 40% of users may respond to push notifications, which can overwhelm your servers. A common flow for a system is to run a batch program that generates push notifications to a subset of your users; the users then receive the push notifications and-if you've done a good job targeting the notifications-many will open the notification at the same time. This generates a tsunami-like load on your servers. It's like yelling "Free pizza!" in a college dorm. Expect a vigorous response.
It's essential that you examine your target audience and the kinds of push notifications that you send. For performance testing, it's also essential that you develop a load model that reflects these real-world factors.
You should investigate how to spread the load of push responses over a longer period of time. If you use the same servers to send out push notifications that you use to handle the responses, you'll slow the servers significantly. Tools such as Urban Airship will allow you to generate notifications and schedule them for future delivery, spreading the load over a longer period of time.
Meeting user expectations
At CapTech, our consultants have the expertise to help you make your apps perform under the highest possible load of user expectations. We have developed a highly refined usability test process that gives us quantitative data regarding the efficiency of workflows and that indicates where users struggle with workflows and where they will abandon the app.
We also have tools that quantify app start time and other app performance characteristics. Our data-driven usability testing enables us to compare workflows quantitatively, indicating which workflow has the highest success rate.
Your users expect rapid responses. CapTech can help you deliver them.


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Hi my name is Karen,
I am a natural born red head and have been told by many that I have a strong one track mind. I have been married for 20+ years and we are parents to one adult son.
Many would say that I am not the same person I was 13 years ago. I was pretty sedentary and really did not try many new things. One day I just decided to take charge of my life which resulted in a large weight loss which for the most part, I have been able to maintain ever since. Since then my life has drastically changed. Our weekends are usually packed with adventures from sun up to sun down.
I truly believe you only live once, so live life to it's fullest. I have tried many new adventures and have truly found my passion to be hiking. So far my largest elevation hike has been to the top of Angle's Landing in Zion National Park with my husband for our 20th. wedding anniversary. However, I still have a long list of hikes to accomplish yet. When we are not hiking you can find us kayaking, stand up paddling, or geocaching.
I would have never did any of this when I was heavier and I wish I would have came to this conclusion earlier in life. Now I feel like I have some catching up to do and hope to complete my bucket list before it's too late.
I hope you find my blog informative and inspiring. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy the adventure.


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Thanks for visiting our site. We want to bring you the best offers available from around the web.
Get all the best freebies by mail, free samples, coupons for free products, and great offers from around the web.
Make sure you check back often so that you don't miss out. Many offers are available for a limited time.
If you like freebies by mail, you'll love our site, Great Sample Offers!
Have a great day from your Great Sample Offers Team!


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You may not know his name, but chances are that acclaimed German film actor Udo Kier will look familiar. He has played a wealth of distinctive characters in a film career that now spans more than four decades, ranging from horror to drama to comedy with many shades in between.
For American audiences, his most famous roles have been in films such as My Own Private Idaho (1991), Ace Ventura, Pet Detective (1994), Armageddon (1998), Blade (1998), and Shadow of the Vampire (2000). His filmography lists more than 210 movies that have been made all over the world.
In 2011, Kier can be seen in several films, including the award-winning Melancholia, from director Lars Von Trier, and in House of Boys, which looks back at the origins of the AIDS epidemic in the early 1980s.
House of Boys begins a run at Tucson's The Loft Cinema on December 2nd, 2011.


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Roberto Bruni, Andrea Corradini, Fabio Gadducci, Alberto Lluch Lafuente, and Andrea Vandin
In Proceedings of the 9th International Workshop on Rewriting Logicand its Applications (WRLA 2012), volume 7571 of LNCS, pages 18–138. Springer, 2012.
This paper presents a concrete implementation of a collective adaptive system based on a conceptual framework for adaptation centered around the role of control data. Authors exploit Maude, a reflective logical language, for programming robot swarms equipped with obstacle-avoidance self-assembly strategies.


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Est-ce qu'"israel" ouvrira la porte aux assassinats silencieux?
Without using drones, and without leaving clear fingerprints, the Israeli Mossad assassinated one of the leaders of Palestinian resistance in the Gaza Strip, sending a number of messages to the Palestinian resistance inside and outside Palestine, that it has the audacity to reach anyone without drawing attention.
Freed prisoner Mazin Fuqaha, from the West Bank city of Tubas, has been living in the Gaza Strip after he was released in the Wafa'a al-Ahrar prisoners swap deal in 2011, was gunned down upon returning to his home in a building to the west of Gaza city.
The assassination was carried out by gunmen who used silencers, firing six bullets at Fuqaha's torso, and then fled the crime scene. Hamas announced the death of one of its military leaders, pointing fingers at Israel and vowing revenge.
Mossad fingerprints
The clear marks of Mossad in the use of guns fitted with silencers to murder martyr Fuqaha reminds us of what happened to Tunisian martyr Mohamed Zawari in 2016 and what happened to three Palestinian resistance leaders in Beirut in 1974.
Major General and military analyst Wasif Iriqat confirms that the method, time, place and tools used to target Fuqaha stresses the fact that Mossad carried out the assassination and that Israel is trying to carry out successful assassinations using silencers to save itself much criticism.
He told the PIC reporter, "Israel wants guaranteed assassinations because warplanes bring international criticism, and they could harm civilians. Therefore, silencers are better at a time Israel is engaged in enhancing its relationships with Arab countries."
The assassination is dangerous to a great extent as it brought the presence of the occupation back on the ground, shooting at its target directly. This requires Palestinian resistance to tighten its security to avoid penetration after years of weak performance of Israeli spies in the Gaza Strip.
General and military analyst Yousef Sharqawi said the fact that the assassination took place using silencers, reveals that there is a determination and a well-prepared plan that carries the patterns of Mossad, which reminds of previous assassinations against Palestinian resistance in Lebanon.
He told the PIC, "They usually use silencers, where one operative shoots and the other readily waits in case the first fails to do so. Israel wants to mix all cards, and it might have found the suitable excuses to carry out the operation after some home-made projectiles were fired at it recently."
Significance and Goals
There is no doubt that Israel, by assassinating Fuqaha in Gaza, started a new phase in its conflict with the Palestinian resistance after the reputation of its army has been damaged and the various criticisms presented by the report of the State Comptroller over the 2014 Gaza war, and the differences within the security, military and political establishments.
Analyst Iriqat said Israel, by assassinating Fuqaha, was affirming its concept that the entire land of Palestine is accessible by it, and that it has, in addition to its long aerial arm, a long Mossad arm.
Iriqat opined that Israeli was trying to restore its security glory that deteriorated in the last few years in the wake of disagreements between its political leaders and the security and military establishments, which was mentioned by the State Comptroller report of 2016-2017.
He added, "The assassination carries a threatening message to all mainly that our hand can reach anyone."
As shown in the most recent phase in the battle between the Palestinian resistance and the Israeli occupation, Israel tried to assert its deterrence.
Analyst Sharqawi opined that resistance should not be content with voicing threats and should respond to this assassination, or else it would provide the occupation with the audacity to carry out more aggressions and assassinations.


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Atlanta (GA) – In a bid to bring social networking to cell phones, Cingular Wireless has created a deal with the social networking site Myspace to provide a mobile version of the online networking service.
Under the partnership, Cingular, which currently sponsors a ringtone service on Myspace, will initially have the exclusive mobile rights to Myspace. Cingular subscribers will be able to pay $3 per month to use a proprietary version of the site, which allows users to edit their profile and post pictures directly from a mobile handset.
Most cell phones cannot easily handle true Internet browsing, so the majority of online services are simplistic, graphical user interface (GUI) applications, like checking movie listings or weather forecasts.
However, a new trend is adding specific websites to the list. The Cingular/Myspace announcement comes just a couple weeks after Verizon announced partnerships with Youtube and Revver to bring user videos to a wireless platform.
Verizon V Cast subscribers will be able to access Youtube with no additional fee, unlike the specific Myspace service fee that Cingular will add. Although Cingular bills itself as the nation's largest cell phone provider, it does not have a well-defined mobile Internet service like Verizon's V Cast and Sprint's PCS Vision.


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Jakarta Vacation Travel Guide | Expedia (4K)
- published: 15 Nov 2016
- views: 119133
Indonesia's capital, Jakarta, lies on a northwest seashore of Java, a many populous island in a world.
From a core of Merdeka Square rises a soaring National Monument, whose Flame of Independence shines a calming and unifying light conflicting a whole archipelago.
All around a block are some of a capital's many critical buildings, such as a National Museum of Indonesia. To a northeast rises a radiant shaft of Istiqlal Mosque, a nation's categorical residence of worship, while directly conflicting is pretentious Jakarta Cathedral.
In a heart of Jakarta's aged city is Fatahillah Square, home to Jakarta's best birthright design and some-more excellent museums, such as a Jakarta Historical Museum, a Wayang Museum and a Museum of Fine Arts and Ceramics.
After you've explored a museums around Fatahilla Square, lift adult a chair during Café Batavia. Then take a vessel float around Sunda Kelapa and see normal Makassar Schooners unloading and resupplying for inter-island voyages.
When it's time to take a mangle from a uninterrupted discord of Jakarta, embark on a nautical journey of your possess and try a Pulau Seribu National Park.
Indonesia is done adult of over 17,000 islands. To representation them all in a singular day, conduct to Taman Mini, a thesis park that brings a whole archipelago to Jakarta.
Jakarta is a gateway to Indonesia by that many rush. But it's a gateway that offers most to those who linger….
Article source: https://article.wn.com/view/2017/08/06/jenazah_dl_sitorus_disemayamkan_di_duri_kepa_jakarta_barat_8_6/


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Businesses with Bang!™ - Johnny Cupcakes
In a new blog series, we profile unique companies that have created a compelling buzz through innovative techniques. These are the types of companies that energize customers, staff and everyone involved.
Simon (Sinek) say it is all about the why – why do you do what you do?
One company that seems to have the answer to this question is Johnny Cupcakes. If you are not aware of who Johnny Cupcakes is, you might think that the company sells, well, cupcakes.
The intriguing part about Johnny Cupcakes is that the company is much larger than what it sells, which is t-shirts and other basic clothing garments designed by founder Johnny Earl. Johnny began selling his self-made designs out of a suitcase while touring with his band in 2002. His designs were so well received that he had to quit the gig and begin touring full-time.
So what makes Johnny Cupcakes so special?
If you look at the t-shirt designs, your first reaction might very well be like mine: cool, but nothing too special. Beyond that, all Johnny Cupcakes stores are designed to look like a bakery, giving the store a unique flavor. Interesting, but not enough to understand the Johnny Cupcakes phenomenon.
In order to really understand what makes Johnny Cupcakes so adored by its customers, you have to look beneath the surface.
Look at the founder Johnny. He strove to create much more than a t-shirt company. In an interview with Limite Magazine, he talks about his idol, Walt Disney.
"Walt Disney as a person, he created more than a brand, but a whole experience."
This insight reveals exactly what Johnny strives to do – not create t-shirts, or a brand, but a whole experience for the customer.
Johnny believes in doing what you love. His insights are in such high demand that he has embarked on a wildly popular lecture series across the U.S. He is a self-trained entrepreneur who turned Johnny Cupcakes into the multi-million-dollar brand it is today – and he does it with the help of his mom.
If you watch this video, you will see the adornment of the fans. Many stood contently in line overnight to buy Johnny Cupcakes gear. It is clear from the look on their faces that they are buying much more than a t-shirt. When they put on one of his t-shirts each morning they become inspired to go out and chase their own dreams. How's that for creating an experience.
As for the why part of the equation, it appears to me that Johnny does it because he loves it and he wants to inspire others to do what they love too.
Sounds great. Next time I get a little hungry for inspiration, it might be time to get myself a Cupcake.
+ The Collab Economy – Inspiration from Spain
+ The Crowdfunding Ecosystem – Evolved
Crowdfunding Strategy – Summary
Building Blocks – PLAN – the Business Model
+ Twitter : @LumosBusiness
+ Pinterest : Visualize Trends
+ Google + : Hangout
+ RSS : SubscribeTweet


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Christian Counseling Certification Program: Guiding Christians Through Discernment
When various inclinations or choices come to one at a macro or micro level, one in some cases needs to make a moral judgment on the choice. In some cases, the conscience can determine the value of the choice especially if the conscience is formed properly in accordance with God and his commandments. Sometimes, however, feelings and inclinations are more difficult to ascertain and the issue of discernment becomes critical. In these cases, counselors need to guide Christians through discernment. In these cases, St. Ignatius lays out ground work for pastors, Christian Counselors and those in ministry to help guide those in spiritual confusion.
In regards to temptations and inclinations, St. Ignatius points out that those lost in sin are
usually tempted via obvious pleasures that the person enjoys. On the contrary, however, those who possess sound judgment are tempted with remorse over the slightest pleasure. In these ways the spirit exploits one and torments the other. Discernment is needed in regards to the morality of the individual to understand the tactic and motive of the enemy. The spirits of good will encourage and give consolation when one seeks spiritual perfection but the spirits of evil will induce doubt and desolation for one who attempts to purify himself. These stages of desolation and consolation are extreme opposites in the spiritual life. One who can discern desolation as from the evil one, should endure the hardship to learn spiritual patience and offer his or her cross to God. These desolations also bring one to an understanding of how truly fragile human nature is without God. In these fashions when tempted via desolation, one should remain steadfast in his original plan and pray for the grace to overcome the spirit of evil.
It is the nature of evil to corrupt via desolations and false consolations. St. Ignatius makes note that the evil one, like an opposing commander, analyzes an individual and focuses on the weakest point of one's defense. In this regard, one must be alert and always steadfast even in consolation because the evil one can deceive. First and foremost, God and good spirits cause genuine happiness in the soul, while the evil one causes confusion and sadness. While God and the good spirits give true consolations, the evil one will attempt via deceit to manifest true consolations. In this way, he diversifies his attack through not only desolation but also through trickery of an illusionary good. How can one discern if this good is truly good or an illusion? St. Ignatius teaches pastors, priests and other Christian Counselors many ways to identify false consolations. St. Ignatius points out that the beginning, middle and end should tend to wholly what is only good. If train of thought or motion leads one down a slippery slope of eventual evil, then it is not from God, but Satan. This is also true when the initial peace and harmony become weakened via confusion and noise. One can also sense the signs of the demonic by the similarity of the soul it wreaks havoc upon. If of likened desire, the evil spirit can enter into one's mind quietly without notice because of the shared values, but when an evil spirit is different, his presence is immediately heard and seen because of the sensitivity of the man's conscience.
In these regards, Christian Counseling should attempt to utilize discernment processes in helping and aiding others in the constant spiritual battle over the souls of men. Christian Counselors can be of great help and aid in directing people down moral and good paths via good discernment and understanding of a spiritual child's soul and the intents of other spirits.
If you are interested in the Christian Counseling Certification Program, please review it.


text: Our company Merkur Casino. a.s. entered the Czech market in 1992 and now we have established ourselves firmly among the best in our line of business. Our mother company is part of globally successful network Gauselmann Group. Our successes are the result of high level of services, our ability to create exclusive and pleasant environment for our clients and top quality of our range of products. The main focus of our efforts concentrates on customers, but we also care about our valuable employees, numbering over 200 in the Czech Republic alone.


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We had some amazing photos submitted in October, particularly in the Halloween photo competition so our task in selecting the best photos was particulaly tricky. Nevertheless we've selected our top 3 and Ben & Jerry's vouchers are winging their way to:
1st Place – University of Birmingham – 3 litres of Ben & Jerry's – compilation photo of loads of energy-saving and recycling actions featuring Tom Botham, Robyn Adams, Lily Callaghan Smith, Claudia Heron, Hannah Gill and Jai Malhi.
2nd Place – University of York – 1.5 litres of Ben & Jerry's – their very own blue Eco-Power Ranger plus an assortment of costumes staring Johanna Child, Cassiana Di Pasquale, Jack Baker and Peter Smith.
3rd Place – Oxford Brookes University – 0.5 litres of Ben & Jerry's – a gravity defying lid on the pan pic staring Biu Rainey
Check out the winning photos below and get those pics in for the November picture of the month competition to grab some more Ben & Jerry's ice cream!


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We're wishing a very happy publication day to Atlas of Adventures: Wonders of the World and its illustrator, Lucy Letherland!
From the team behind the best-selling Atlas of Adventures comes this awe-inspiring journey of discovery.
Travel around the world to scale the Eiffel Tower, trek the Great Wall of China, and raft through the Yosemite Valley.
Showcasing the globe's most impressive landscapes, iconic buildings and evocative antiquities from both the modern and ancient worlds, this is the most wonderful Atlas adventure yet!
Published by Wide Eyed Editions and written by Ben Handicott, Atlas of Adventures: Wonders of the World is bound to amaze and astound its readers – showing off some of the most fabulous sights that the world has to offer!
You can get your own copy of Atlas of Adventures: Wonders of the World here . . .
. . . and you can stay up to date with Lucy's projects and artwork by following her on Twitter @LucyLetherland


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Freedom in the World
You are here
Home »
2010 Scores
Freedom Rating (1 = best, 7 = worst)
Civil Liberties (1 = best, 7 = worst)
Political Rights (1 = best, 7 = worst)
Digicel, a private mobile telecommunications company, was given approval in June 2009 to provide wireless network services in Nauru. President Marcus Stephen declared September 1 a national holiday in celebration of the launch of nation-wide mobile service.
Nauru is the world's smallest republic. It was a German protectorate from 1888 until Australian troops seized it during World War I. The League of Nations granted a joint mandate to Australia, Britain, and New Zealand to govern the island in 1919. Japan occupied Nauru during World War II, and in 1947, the United Nations designated it as a trust territory under Australia. Nauru gained independence in 1968, became an associate Commonwealth member in 1969, and joined the United Nations in 1999.
The once-plentiful supplies of phosphate, mined by Australia for use as fertilizer, are now almost entirely exhausted in Nauru. Mining has made more than 80 percent of the eight-square-mile island uninhabitable, and the government has squandered much of its accumulated wealth through financial mismanagement. The country currently carries a large foreign debt, and rising sea levels threaten its survival.
Recent governments have tried different ways to generate income, mostly with limited success. With few viable economic alternatives, foreign development assistance had become a major source of government income. However, money laundering tied to Nauru's offshore banking operations had landed the country on international blacklists, restricting its access to international loans. Despite such restrictions, Nauru has received considerable aid from China and Taiwan by switching diplomatic recognition between the two rivals. Between 2001 and 2008, Nauru served as a refugee-processing and detention center for Australia in exchange for rent and aid. International groups criticized the center for detaining refugees, including children, for years while awaiting processing, adjudication, and settlement. Its closure cost Nauru approximately one-fifth of the country's gross domestic product.
Intense political rivalry and the use of no-confidence votes have been a source of political instability. The election of Ludwig Scotty in 2004 and his re-election in August 2007 provided encouragement for some that a stable government and the implementation of much needed economic reforms were possible. However, the president's apparent refusal to investigate allegations of corruption against Finance and Foreign Minister David Adeang led to Scotty's ouster in a no-confidence vote in December 2007. Marcus Stephen replaced Scotty as president, pledging good governance and transparency, though Stephen was soon challenged by a failed opposition-led vote of no confidence in March 2008. Political deadlock in Parliament followed, leading to Stephen's declaration of a state of emergency and calls for a snap election the following month. Stephen won a second term in office, and his supporters secured 12 of 18 seats in Parliament, ending the crisis.
To improve political stability and government accountability, the Scotty government launched a constitutional review in 2005. However, the 36-member Constitution Convention created to make recommendations to the government has yet to submit its suggestions, as delegates remained deeply divided over proposals including a directly elected president, making the state auditor an independent officer of Parliament, and requiring strict accounting for all public revenue and expenditures.
Nauru's distance from the rest of the world increases the importance of connectivity through telecommunications. The entry of the telecommunications company Digicel in June 2009 was greeted with considerable excitement, including the president's decision to make September 1—the day mobile telephone service and was officially launched in Nauru—a national holiday.
Political Rights and Civil Liberties:
Nauru is an electoral democracy. The 2007 elections were deemed free and fair by international observers. The 18-member unicameral legislature is popularly elected from 14 constituencies for three-year terms. Parliament chooses the president and vice president from among its members. Political parties include the Nauru First Party and the Democratic Party, but many politicians are independents.
Corruption is a serious problem in Nauru. Although there were allegations of government corruption in 2009, no cases were brought before the courts. In March, President Marcus Stephen signed a memorandum of understanding with Kiribati and Tuvalu to establish a subregional audit support program for more uniform and timely auditing of public accounts. Nauru was not rated in Transparency International's 2009 Corruption Perceptions Index.
The government does not restrict or censor the news media. Local journalists produce a number of weekly and monthly publications; foreign dailies, most in English, are freely admitted and widely available. The government publishes occasional bulletins, and the opposition publishes its own newsletters. Radio Nauru and Nauru TV, which the government owns and operates, broadcast content from Australia, New Zealand, and other international sources. There are no formal restrictions on internet usage, though cost and lack of infrastructure has limited access. The introduction of Digicel's wireless network services in 2009 made mobile phone service and internet access through mobile devices available to all areas of Nauru.
The constitution provides for freedom of religion, which the government generally respects in practice. There have been no reports of government suppression of academic freedom.
The government respects freedoms of assembly and association. There are several advocacy groups for women, development-focused groups, and religious organizations. The country lacks trade unions and labor protection laws, partly because there is little large-scale, private employment.
The judiciary is independent, and defendants generally receive fair trials and representation. The Supreme Court is the highest authority on constitutional issues, and Parliament cannot overturn court decisions. Appeals in civil and criminal cases can be lodged with the high court of Australia. Traditional reconciliation mechanisms, rather than the formal legal process, are frequently used, typically by choice but sometimes under communal pressure. A civilian official controls the 100-person police force. Police abuse is rare, although foreign workers have complained that the police are slow to act on cases filed against native employers. Nauru has no armed forces; Australia provides national defense under an informal agreement.
Societal pressures limit the ability of women to exercise their legal rights. Sexual harassment is a crime, but spousal rape is not. Domestic violence is frequently associated with alcohol abuse. There are currently no women serving in parliament.


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So far I have been very impressed with the CTP builds of Visual studio 2010. There are some really welcoming changes that are apart of Visual Studio 2010 like UI Unit tests and a completely new IDE written in WPF. The only area where I thought was lacking was the responsiveness of the application. Last night a few members of the Visual Studio team announced that one of there main goals for Beta 1 and RTM is on Performance. I am very excited to hear this.
"During these last weeks we've made a lot of progress, I'm sure you're going to feel the product is a lot snappier than the builds we provided at the PDC. But of course I'm never satisfied – there are even more wins coming later. I worked with many different teams to help us with our startup, with UI transitions, with memory usage, with threading issues – especially with how WPF and our main thread synchronize" Rico Mariani.
Jihad Dannawi from Microsoft Australia reports that MSDN will have the latest bits of Visual Studio 2010 on May 18th, So keep an eye open.
MSDN download Link.
One should always be aware that your site could be attacked by spam bots if you don't take the proper precautions. The easiest and quickest way to help prevent 500+ spam users from joining your site is to configure the default options to make it harder for spam bots to create accounts. Please note that this can also reduce the number of registrations on your site due to the extra steps it takes to register.
If you came to this article because you already had your site taken over by spam users created by bots, then continue reading. Please note: before continuing please create a database backup and continue at your own risk. I am not liable for any harm that comes to your database or community after running the following query.
1: SELECT * FROM cs_users WHERE Email LIKE '%@aspamdomain.com'
1: declare @Proc nvarchar(50)
2: declare @RowCnt int
3: declare @MaxRows int
4: declare @ExecSql nvarchar(255)
5: declare @user_id int
7: select @RowCnt = 1
9: declare @Import table (rownum int IDENTITY (1, 1) Primary key NOT NULL , UserID int NOT NULL)
10: insert into @Import (UserID) select UserID from cs_users where Email like '%@aspamdomain.com'
12: select @MaxRows = count(*) from @Import
14: while @RowCnt <= @MaxRows
15: begin
16: select @user_id = UserID from @Import where rownum = @RowCnt
18: execute [dbo].[cs_User_Delete] @user_id, 'Anonymous'
20: Set @RowCnt = @RowCnt + 1
21: end
Over the course of the past two years, I have worked on a number of Community Server sites. The goal of these tips are to share useful information about Telligent's Community Server platform. There are a few ways you can protect yourself from rouge search bots from stealing your content and bringing down your site.
The easiest way is to setup a robots text file, which will tell search engines to ignore certain files or directories. I found this guide which was very helpful on setting up a robots.txt file in the root directory of your website. There are a few disadvantages to this approach.
If this doesn't work, and trust me sometimes it doesn't always work as I learned a few months ago, then you need to go to the extra step. If you take a look at your exception log in community server by navigating to (/controlpanel/Tools/Reports/ExceptionsReport.aspx) or by running the following SQL Query:
1: SELECT [Frequency], [IPAddress], [UserAgent], [HttpReferrer], [HttpVerb], [PathAndQuery], [Exception], [ExceptionMessage], [DateLastOccurred] FROM [dbo].[cs_Exceptions] ORDER BY DateLastOccurred DESC
You will see the IP Address and the name of the spider that's bringing down your site. From here you need to open up Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager. Once open you need to navigate to the site you want to block the IP or IP Range from accessing and then click on IP Address and Domain Restrictions
Next right click and click Add Allow Entry or Add Deny Entry and fill in the information.
The spider has now been blocked. I'd suggest keeping an eye on this and blocking the IP Range of the spider. The last step is to contact the owner of the spider and ask them to stop. You can get this information by looking up the IP Address through Network Solutions.
On May 6th we released CodeSmith 5.1. This update brings in many welcoming changes, to name a few: .netTiers 2.3, PLINQO 3.0. Also CodeSmith and now requires that the .NET 3.5 Framework is installed before CodeSmith installs.
Please click here for more information.
Today I was debugging an issue where Microsoft Visual Studio was closing at random in a Microsoft Visual Studio Package. We narrowed down the issue to a previous Microsoft bug report: Fatal Execution Error. I came to a point where Microsoft Visual Studio was creating a mini dump file.
After some quick thinking, I downloaded and installed Debugging Tools for Windows. I then opened WinDbg and clicked on "Open Crash Dump" and navigated to the location above.
Your final result will look something like this:
If you are looking for more information on how to analyze a mini dump file or how to tell WinDbg to use a symbol server then continue reading here.
I've been working on CSLA templates periodically over the past few months at CodeSmith Tools . We have designed the templates from the ground up around the CSLA.NET Framework version 3.6.2. You might be thinking what's the big deal it's just another set of CSLA templates. You are mistaken, we have done a lot of research and gathered a lot of feedback. The end result is a streamlined CSLA experience that is highly customizable.To start using the CSLA templates just navigate in the Template explorer to CodeSmith.CSLA and open the Quick start template. This will change once the templates have reached Release To Web. From here all you need to do is configure the namespaces and select your data source and click generate. CodeSmith will crunch statistics on your schema and generate a working CSLA solution based on your relationships. We know that this won't be the default case for many of you but it does give you a great starting point to play with CSLA.We have thought a lot about plug ability and generation customization. Each of the 14 template types (Criteria, EditableRoot, EditableRootList...) have been split up into three partial classes. For the simplicity of this walk through I'll pick a database table called Account, it will have two generated partial classes Generated and DataAccess and another non generated partial class. Account will be the name of the class and the name of the file will be Account.cs. The sole purpose of this partial class is to hold any class customizations and custom business rules.Account.Generated.cs is the second generated partial class that holds all the properties and factory methods. This has been separated out so there is some separation when it comes to the Data Access portion of the class.Account.DataAccess.cs is the third generated partial class and holds the DataAccess implementation for the business object. Currently there are two generation options for the data access: you can generate parameterized SQL or just the method stubs. In the future this will also include Object factory, Linq to SQL, or NHibernate.Please stay tuned for more information and documentation on the CSLA templates. Please give us your feedback on what you think of our CSLA templates. We will also be releasing some VB.NET CSLA templates before version 1.0 has been completed.Please stay tuned for part two where we go over customizing the templates and template features.
Continue to Part 2.
The .netTiers team released .netTiers 2.3.0 Beta 2 today.
.netTiers 2.3.0 is a maintenance release containing many bug fixes and
patches. We have also added various requested features like Enterprise
Library version 4.1 as well as support for Visual Studio 2008. I would have to say the biggest and most requested feature that went into .netTiers 2.3.0 Beta 2 was support for Oracle!
Here is a list of all the changes since .netTiers 2.3.0 Beta 1:
11/30/2008 - Changed Build numbers to reflect version 2.3 Beta 2 - [Issue #118] Adding a separator template to the TableRepeater.cst / ViewRepeater.cst (Contrib pzycoman). - [Fix] OracleClient Views classes were not named correctly for DependentUpon. - [Issue #115] Web service data layer is not using the generic client - [Issue #126] WinForms Edit controls do not have the Name property set (Contrib stevehiner). - [Issue #128] Bound Hyperlink fields on nullable data column (Contrib Michael Daniel). - [Issue #132] Support for IsolationLevel.Snapshot. - [Issue #116] Added SET NOCOUNT ON to the SQL procedures. - [Fix] A bug where the entlib v4_1 config template was not registered. - [Issue #129] A bug where the Validation Type would always be set to entlib 4.0 when the validation type was switched. - Updated default template values. - [Fix] Drop all procedures by different schema owners. (Contrib Polar)11/25/2008 - [Fix] Major bug in GetProcNameForGetByIX... Oracle Proc names should all be unique and meet the 30 character limit. - Updated Oracle Stored Procedures naming conventions and fixed a bug where a ; might be placed in a wrong spot. - Other Small Oracle Fixes.11/24/2008 - [Fix] A bug where the EntityTransactionModule wasn't being resolved properly in the web.config. - Updated Oracle :)11/12/2008 - [Issue #123] Added Enterprise Library 4.1 support (contrib james.patterson).11/6/2008 - Updated Oracle Stored Procedures ( Made minor tweaks, fixed SCOPE_IDENTITY() bug ).11/5/2008 - Updated Oracle Stored Procedures11/3/2008 - Completed Oracle Stored Procedures, - Updated XML Comments in CommonSqlCode code behind.10/30/2008 - Updated CommonSqlCode so it works with the latest build of CodeSmith 510/6/2008 - [Issue #112] - Entity Tracking enhancements(entity tracking not working correctly in some cases), Entity Tracking performance improvements(minor)10/6/2008 - [Issue #111] - Custom Procedures with output parameters causing problems with WebServices - [Issue #107] - Problems with IncludeFind options - [Issue #102] - ViewDataSource didn't handle the custom stored procedures paging correctly - [Issue #89] - Utility.cs in DataAccessLayer, SqlInjection --> DetectSqlInjection(string whereClause) returns always true (contrib fred.theuws) - [Issue #74] - EntLib Validation - WCF attribute generation - [Issue #15] - ConnectionProvider is not initialized correctly (contrib GRAW) - [Issue #8] - CancelChanges() on Entity causes exceptions 10/5/2008 - Updated Oracle Support. All procedures are 100% working besides, for Find procedures and paged procedures. (Coming Soon) - Updated CommonSqlCode to use the ParameterPrefix. - Fixed some Generic Provider related bugs in the NetTiers.cst9/10/2008 - [FIX] - Updated View Providers!!!9/8/2008 - [Issue #46] - Added a NetTiers option to set whether or not custom procedures with multiple results will return the Custom return type or attempt to match to the Table / View to return a TList or VList.9/8/2008 - [Issue #87] - EntityState is Added after WCF serialization - [Issue #86] - Layer Exception Policy not named properly in ServiceLayer - [Issue #95] - ServiceResult now showing errors properly (contrib gregpakes)9/2/2008 - [ENH] - Added Initial Support for Oracle. More Will come shortly... NOTE: It seems that the View Provider Support is broken if you are not using SQL Server.7/28/2008 - [Issue #39] - ***BREAKING CHANGE***: Changed the AppendId to be able to handle ' and , in the search string. Instead of passing in a string, you now pass in a string[] of what you want the in clause to contain.7/28/2008 - [Issue #82] - .netTiers Templates through null exception error when used with CodeSmith 5.07/27/2008 - [Issue #72] - Stored procedures where dynamic sql is generated, switched to using VARCHAR(MAX) for Sql 2005 (contrib gregpakes) - [Issue #77] - Changed the Windows Forms library option description - [Issue #81] - Timestamp columns with special characters caused an error (contrib njappboy)7/16/2008 - [Issue #28] [FIX] Warnings when compiling under VS2008. Removed duplicate methods. (contrib sisyphe)07/10/2008 - [Issue #65] [FIX] Exception thrown using custom generated methods when not using stored procedures. 07/01/2008 - [Issue #57] [FIX] TList.FindAllBy and VList.FindAllBy throws NullReferenceException if searching for null property (contrib PhilBolduc) - [Issue #66] [FIX] .netTiers Fails to generate adventureworks when executed with CodeSmith 5.0 Beta06/26/2008 - [Issue #56] [FIX] Entity fails to compile when using Guid as primary key (contrib johnyewang) - [Issue #57] [FIX] FindCore throws NullReferenceException if searching for null property (contrib PhilBolduc)06/18/2008 - [Issue #54] [FIX] Logo and links are dead / need to be updated. - [Issue #53] [FIX] fix for Services layer generated save methods always commit transaction - even if it is part of a larger transaction06/17/2008 - [Issue #51] [FIX] Patch implemented in Issue 25 breaks SQL 2000 Insert statements that use UniqueIdentifier primary keys with newid() default values. Added checks to stored procedure generation to make sure SQL 2005 is selected. Refactored IncludeDataFeaturesProperty into CommonSqlCode.cs.
You can download the 2.3.0 Beta 2 templates at the following locations: SVN or Google code. Please submit all bug reports to http://code.google.com/p/nettiers/issues/list.


text:
We look forward to welcoming you to the University of Southern Denmark! In order to give you a proper welcome and ease your stay here, we have arranged a full programme for you.
Orientation Programme
Please select your campus:
Introduction Programme
Please select your faculty
- Faculty of Business and Social Sciences
- Faculty of Engineering
- Faculty of Health Sciences
- Faculty of Humanities
- Faculty of Science
Introduction information from the University Library


text:
The revolutionary Neptune Drum Light System is available for now Click here for details.
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We are manufacturers of light up drum and stage gear.
We manufacture RockStix Motion Activated LED Light Up Drumsticks and the revolutionary Neptune Lighting Systems.
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text:
Alright time for a new project! I'm going to make this adorable little girl into a vicious protector of the forest!
Whose doesn't love the idea of a Chibi Princess Mononoke running around growling at people right? So I've spent the last week gathering images and researching materials. This isn't for a cosplay competition it's for a two year old. So I'm not going for completely accurate, going for comfort, cuteness and affordable. So these are the materials I have picked up to work with.
- Fake White Fur – Cloak
- Blue Material(sorry can't remember the name) – Dress
- Tshirt – Tunic
- Socks – boots
- Fun Foam – mask/ earrings
- Clay – necklace
- Face paint – war paint
- Baby Elastic – Head/arm bands
I went Joann Fabrics, Michael's Crafts and Daddy's old tshirt drawer. It always helps to keep cost down by using all the coupons you can. Joann's actually will take competitors coupons always a nice tip to know. This is why it tends to take me a bit to acquire all the materials I intend to use. Being a mother of three dragons erpp… I mean kids. My goal is always to do this at a reasonable price.
Next round I'll start mock assembling everything and making "blueprints" before I actually start doing any real work. Then slowly start putting it all together, until then seeya next time!


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Finding Black Spruce & TamarackOctober 24, 2017
Dr. Mike Kudish (Author of "The Catskill Forest: A History") had me out looking for 2 extremely rare tree species over the weekend in a large swamp in Ulster County for his upcoming Kaatskill Life article. More common up north in the Adirondacks, black spruce and tamarack (American larch) are extremely rare in the Catskills. Black spruce is difficult to decipher from red spruce; if you're near a large swamp, then it might be a black spruce. Larch is that evergreen that is weird & drops its needles. Almost all the larch you see commonly are planted larch.
Black Spruce
May the forest be with you,
Ryan Trapani
Director of Forest Services
Catskill Forest Association
Tags: black spruce, Catskill Forest Association, Catskill Mountains, larch, tamarack Categories: What's New?


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Democrats are already strongly confident of victory in three of them — Colorado, Nevada and Virginia — and believe that a fourth, North Carolina, is likely to break their way as well. Added to the party's daunting advantage in the Electoral College, these states have impeded Mr. Trump's path to amassing the 270 electoral votes needed to win, limiting his ability to exploit Mrs. Clinton's late vulnerabilities and forcing him to scrounge for unlikely support in solidly Democratic places like Michigan and New Mexico.
The shift is stark enough that Democrats are pressing for victory in Arizona and Georgia, two historically Republican strongholds, while Mrs. Clinton's standing has wobbled in familiar battlegrounds like Ohio and Iowa.
Mrs. Clinton has moved aggressively on Arizona, seeing it as a substitute for any losses in the Midwest. She plans to campaign in Phoenix on Wednesday; her running mate, Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, will be there and in Tucson on Thursday; and she and her allies have poured millions of dollars into commercials in Arizona and Georgia, which they view as a longer-shot target.
Looking beyond the election, Republicans fear that Mr. Trump's geographic dilemma could offer a grim glimpse of their party's future: Unless they can win back constituencies he has driven away, the two fastest-growing regions of the country may continue to move decisively toward the Democrats.
"I think we may be seeing the ground shift under us," said Senator Tom Udall, Democrat of New Mexico, a member of one of the West's most enduring political families. "This may be a major political turning point." Of Mr. Trump, he said, "He's done some real damage nationally and in the West to Republicans by using some of the nastiest, angriest rhetoric we've ever had in politics."
While Mr. Trump is running a racially tinged campaign of restoration, pledging to make America great again, minority voters in the states that increasingly decide presidential elections have been working to harness their newfound political power.
In Nevada, which has the fastest-growing populations of both Hispanics and Asian-Americans, the new immigrant blocs have become political powerhouses. Early voting data shows Democrats with such a clear lead in the state that the race may be decided there well before Election Day.
"People are organized that have never been organized before," said Senator Harry Reid, the Democratic leader whose career in Congress began when Nevada was awarded a second House seat in 1982.
Many leading Republicans, alarmed by Mr. Trump's candidacy and intimately familiar with the demographic shifts underway, believe the party must immediately change course after this election.
"You've got to stop alienating large swaths of the electorate," said Senator Cory Gardner, Republican of Colorado, who has withdrawn his support for Mr. Trump. "And I don't just mean in the Hispanic community — I mean Hispanics, Asians, communities of color and women."
Mr. Trump, as the face of the Republican Party, has acted as a kind of political accelerant in the South and West, helping Democrats mobilize in the demographically diverse suburbs around cities like Atlanta and Phoenix.
Stacey Abrams, the Democratic leader in the Georgia House of Representatives, said the presidential race had been a "godsend election," opening the eyes of national Democrats to unimagined opportunities in her state. Priorities USA Action, a "super PAC" supporting Mrs. Clinton, is spending more than $2 million in Georgia.
Shaking hands last week in a lunchtime crowd at a mall in south DeKalb County, Ms. Abrams said the electoral calculus in Georgia had changed sharply. The booming Atlanta suburbs, she said, had opened a path to victory without winning over white conservatives — but only if Democrats were able to turn out black voters and other minorities effectively.
"Trump was helpful, because it allowed people to move past the prejudice that said, you should never even think about a Deep South state being in play," Ms. Abrams said. The dictum that elections in the South are decided by white voters, she added, "is no longer true in the Deep South."
Democrats say Georgia is unlikely to put Mrs. Clinton over the top in the presidential race, and would tip her way only in the event of a sizable win nationally. But for Democrats to even compete there is a sign of how far into the South they have ventured.
Anthony Foxx, the federal transportation secretary and a former mayor of Charlotte, N.C., said it was almost "unavoidable" that states from Virginia to Georgia would turn blue, absent a major overhaul of the Republican Party.
"What people are seeing now is that the demographic trends in North Carolina and several other Southern states are moving in an unchangeable direction toward more progressive politics," Mr. Foxx, a Democrat, said.
Bolstered by carefully drawn legislative maps and the results of nonpresidential elections, in which minority turnout usually dips, Republicans have maintained an iron grip on state government in places like Georgia and North Carolina, as well as some Western states.
But Republican leaders acknowledged that a moment of reckoning was ahead, perhaps sooner than expected because of this year's presidential contest. State Representative B. J. Pak of Georgia, a Republican of Korean descent, said that he doubted that Mrs. Clinton would win the state but that his party's leaders were acutely aware of the fast-changing terrain.
Mr. Pak, who represents Gwinnett County, a booming suburban area near Atlanta where minorities now outnumber whites, said it had been hard this year to recruit a diverse slate of candidates, or to win over women and minorities.
"Donald Trump has really made it extremely difficult," said Mr. Pak, who has not endorsed Mr. Trump. "They feel that the party's not welcoming, and that's a tremendous challenge when you're trying to get people to give the party a chance."
Bob McDonnell, the former governor of Virginia, whose 2009 election marked the last major Republican victory in a once-reliably red state, said his party must embrace "the new Americans, the immigrants that are really kind of remaking America, like how the Irish did in the mid-1800s." He noted that he had learned phrases in Korean and Mandarin to campaign in Northern Virginia.
"We get accused, as conservatives, of writing off certain groups of people because they don't fit a certain political stereotype. You can't do that as a Republican," Mr. McDonnell said. "It's a recipe for certain minority status."
Senator Jeff Flake, Republican of Arizona, feels just as strongly about the need for the party to expand its reach to members of minority groups — and argues that a crucial ingredient in doing so is to pass a comprehensive immigration overhaul.
"You can't win statewide here if you take completely unreasonable positions on immigration," said Mr. Flake, one of the country's most outspoken anti-Trump Republicans.
Arizona's tumultuous internal politics have made it especially inviting for Mrs. Clinton, and most likely an easier pickup in the last week of the race than Georgia.
For the past decade, the question of what to do about the estimated 12 million immigrants in the country illegally has cleaved the Republican Party. Perhaps nowhere has it proved more divisive than in Arizona, where most schoolchildren from kindergarten to eighth grade are Hispanic.
While Mr. Flake and his Republican colleague, Senator John McCain, have led the charge for what critics call an amnesty, Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County attained national prominence with his harsh treatment of Hispanic migrants. Mr. Arpaio's re-election bid and Mr. Trump's campaign have galvanized the state's Latino residents, whose presence on the voter rolls has lagged their representation in the population over all.
Seizing on this energy, Mrs. Clinton's campaign has redeployed staff to Arizona and has dispatched top-shelf surrogates, including Michelle Obama and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, to campaign there.
Janet Napolitano, a former Democratic governor of the state, said that Mrs. Clinton could win Arizona, but that a victory was by no means "in the bag." Yet Ms. Napolitano said that, win or lose, there was no going back.
Western Democrats cautioned that the national party should not interpret victory in 2016 as approval of a strongly ideological agenda, as much as rejection of Mr. Trump by a changing region.
"When either party wins a decisive election, they feel that it's a validation of the most extreme parts of the party," said Gov. John Hickenlooper of Colorado, a Democrat. "But that isn't always what people are voting for."
Until Republicans recalibrate their approach and project a more inclusive message, Democrats believe their future is as limitless as the Arizona desert can feel.
As he and his wife left the Casa Grande Democratic offices for their daily round of canvassing, Lee Seabolt, 70, said the Republican quandary was a matter of simple arithmetic.
"There are a whole lot more old white men like me who are going to be dying over the next four years," he said, "and there are a lot of Hispanics who are going to be turning 18 who are going to start voting."
Source: nytimes.com


text:
The Student Leadership Challenge Deluxe Student Set
2013-04-27||April 2013 Jossey-BassAdd to Cart
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Read an Excerpt
Buy the set and save! Includes one copy each of The Student Leadership Challenge book, Student Workbook and Personal Leadership Journal, and Student LPI Self Inventory, and three copies of the Student LPI Observer Inventory.
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England. I had no real concept of what England was like, my whole world was Montevideo and Uruguay. Lincoln, Shropshire, Hampshire, Romney Marsh and Southdown--breeds of sheep routinely slaughtered in my father's frigorífico were what my country meant to me. One more memory. After my lessons with Roderick we would go sea-bathing at Pocitos (where Roderick had to keep his bathing suit on) and would take the number 15 or 22 tram to reach the resort. Our treat was to order sorbets and have them served to us in the gardens of the Grand Hotel--gardens full of flowers: stock, lilac, orange, myrtle and mimosa--and then rattle home in the tender dusk to find my mother in the kitchen shouting at the cook, my father on the terrace smoking his quotidian cigar.
The Mountstuart family home was in Birmingham, where my father had been born and raised and where the head office of Foley & Cardogin's Fresh Meat Co. was to be found. In 1914 Foley's decided to concentrate on its meat-processing factories in Australia, New Zealand and Rhodesia, and the Uruguayan business was sold to an Argentine firm, the Compañía Sansinena de Carnes Congeladas. My father was promoted to managing director and summoned home to Birmingham. We sailed for Liverpool on the SS Zenobia in the company of 2,000 frozen carcasses of Pollen Angus. The First World War began a week after we made landfall.
Did I weep when I looked back at my beautiful city beneath its small, fort-topped, conic hill and we left the yellow waters of the Río Plata behind? Probably not: I was sharing a cabin with Roderick Poole and he was teaching me to play gin rummy.
The city of Birmingham became my new home. I swapped the eucalyptus groves of Colón, the grass seas of the campo and the endless yellow waters of the Río Plata for a handsome, Victorian, redbrick villa in Edgbaston. My mother was delighted to be in Europe and revelled in her new role as the managing director's wife. I was sent as a boarder to St. Alfred's (where I briefly acquired the nickname "Dago"--I was a dark, dark-eyed boy) and at the age of thirteen I moved on to Abbeyhurst College (usually known as Abbey)--an eminent boys' boarding school, though not quite of the first rank--to complete my secondary education. It is here in 1923, when I was seventeen years old, that the first of my journals, and the story of my life, begins.
10 December 1923
We--the five Roman Catholics--were walking back from the bus stop up the drive to school, fresh from Mass, when Barrowsmith and four or five of his Neanderthals started chanting "Papist dogs" and "Fenian traitors" at us. Two of the junior sprats began weeping, so I stood up to Barrowsmith and said: "So tell us what religion you are, Barrowboy." "Church of England, of course, you dunce," he said. "Then count yourself very fortunate," said I, "that one religion at least will accept someone as physically repulsive as you are." Everyone laughed, even Barrowsmith's simian crew, and I shepherded my little flock together and we regained the purlieus of school without further incident.
Scabius and Leeping* declared I had done work of sub-magnificent standard and that the encounter and exchange were droll enough to deserve entry in our Livre d'Or. I argued that I should have a starred sub-magnificent because of the potential risk of physical injury from Barrowsmith and his lackeys, but Scabius and Leeping both voted against. The swine! Little Montague, one of the blubbers, was the witness, and Scabius and Leeping both handed over the honorarium (two cigarettes each for a sub-magnificent) with goodly cheer.
*Peter Scabius, LMS's closest friend from his schooldays, along with Benjamin Leeping.
When we brewed up after second prep I hatched a plan for the Martinmas term. It was no good, I said, just waiting for the various categories of magnificents to happen--we had to initiate them ourselves. I proposed that we should each be presented with a challenge: that two of us, in turn, should think up a task for the third and that the endeavour would be documented (and witnessed as far as possible) in the Livre d'Or. Only in this way, I averred, could the ghastly rigours of next term be survived, and, after that, we were on the home stretch: summer term was always more agreeable and could take care of itself. There were the School Certificate and scholarship exams and then we'd be free--and of course we hoped Oxford would be waiting (for me and Scabius, at least--Leeping said he had no intention of wasting three years--of what was bound to be a short life--at university). Scabius suggested the raising of a fund to privately print and publish a deluxe limited edition of the Livre d'Or if only to preserve the iniquities of Abbey for all time. "Or as a terrible warning for our offspring," added Leeping. This was unanimously agreed and we each deposited one penny into the new "publishing fund," Leeping already pondering weight and weave of paper types, embossed leather binding and the like.*
Excerpted from Any Human Heart by William Boyd Copyright© 2003 by William Boyd. Excerpted by permission of Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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"A little bit of parsley has more calcium than any pill you could ever swallow." – Dr. Leonard Caldwell …
The True Toxicity of Social Media Revealed
Mental and emotional health greatly affects physical health. We have an epidemic of depression among our young people in our technological era of smart phones and ipads. They're reality is replaced by virtual anonymous relationships with entities known or unknown to them. Positive human contact is being replaced by artificial intelligent technology. Attention spans are reduced to 3 sec bytes. Parents attend school board meetings and make sure there are controls and usage limited to actual curriculum assignments. Do not give young teens unlimited access and especially young children. Real world communication must return to our society for the health of our children.
Dr Wallach: Somebody Needs To Go To Jail – Part 1 & 2
Are You SAD?
S.A.D (Seasonal Affective Disorder)
Many suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder by February due to reduced sun exposure. Many people begin to feel depressed or experience mood swings in the winter.
Myself, I know when my vitamin D levels are dipping because I will beginn to feel 'anxious' and I'm not an anxious-type of personality.
Feelings of sadness, depression or mood swings do not only happen in the winter months but usually are more intense because most people have low D levels year round but they dip even lower in the winter months due to reduced to no sun exposure, especially in the northern hemispheres, such as Michigan where I live. Continue reading
Doctors Warned Not To Vaccinate Eczema Cases – 1940's
Glaucoma – Treatments
Stem Cell Opthalhmalology Treatment Study (SCOTS) Dr. Weiss (FL) Stem cells are withdrawn from your lower back, processed, then injected directly into the eye with remainder injected back into blood if more available than needed.
I had this done Nov 8, 2016. I didn't feel pain and my vision was not hindered but there was swelling and bruising which cleared completely in a couple of days. The benefits aren't always immediate especially in my case since I have 'advanced glauxoma.' After a year I did have 35% improvement in one eye and 25% in the other. This is extremely expensive and insurance does not pay. Continue reading
Cancer – Breast – Treatment
Breast cancer is a lymphatic issue …focus on the lymph system 'movement' to drain the lymph.
Nutritional IV therapy (extreme high dose C)
Digestive enzymes and reduced food intake
Bone broths with vegetable, vegetable juice
Deep breathing
Mental emotional spiritual strategies PRAYER
Frankincense Essential Oil
If you wish to incorporate frankincense as a regular natural health booster, it can be taken as an undiluted essential oil on the skin or as a few drops under the tongue. It can also be diffused and breathed in for respiratory conditions. Frankincense can also be purchased and consumed in powdered capsule form.
For ingestion be sure to purchase pure therapeutic 'food-grade' oils.
Frankincense has been demonstrated to improve eyesight, helichrysum oil improves vision and supports nerve tissue and cypress essential oil improve circulation which can improve glaucoma. Apply 3 drops of any of these essential oils 2x daily on cheeks and lateral eye area but do not put directly into eyes.
There are numerous species of frankincense, including Boswellia carteri, B. serrata and B. sacra. All three of these species have shown powerful anti-cancer effects in scientific tests.
B. carteri, native to east Africa, has been the species most heavily studied. B. sacra, also known as "sacred frankincense," was until recently restricted to use by the Saudi royal household, and could only be purchased in Oman. Recently, however, a distillery opened up in Oman to produce essential oil of B. sacra for public sale.
Autism – Treatments
Cod Liver Oil Treatment: What Type of Cod Liver Oil to Use as Vaccine Detox?
It is very important not to use just any old brand of cod liver oil when your child is exhibiting symptoms of regressive autism. Many of the brands of cod liver oil on the market now contain synthetic Vitamin A. Dr. Megson specifically warns that this form of the vitamin does not help in resolving symptoms. Continue reading
Morgellons Natural Remedies
Morgellons Natural Remedies
olive leaf extract
vitamin B5 pantothenic acid,
vitamin E.
baking soda 1/2 teaspoon twice a day.
4 days a week of borax 1/8 teaspoon in one liter of drinking water plus 10 drops of 3% H2O2
olive leaf extract seems to work a lot better if the body were properly alkalized.
A natural immunity requires that the body is in proper alkalinity pH and it is the pH effects every biochemical reaction that occurs in aa human body. The pH issue cannot be underestimated, pH has an effect of every biochemical response which numbers over 100,000 biochemical enzyme reaction in the body. A pH alkalinity can never be underestimated as it supports the body's entire immunity response as well as other supportive response.
It should be noted that the B5 pantothenic acid is synergistic with the inositol B8 and B12 of 1000 mcg, under the tongue, at least weekly were quite important due to its antibiotic properties of B12 that a lot of people did not realize.
Other remedies that I found helpful especially skin flare ups is some unsweetened cooking chocolate made from 100% cocoa or cocoa. There is a lot of evidence that it reduces the skin inflammatory responses and protects against destruction of white blood cells too. I have cut and paste some research on cocoa and flavonoids below as a reference.
The Protocol Continue reading
The Terrain Within: A Naturalistic Way to Think About & Practice Good Health
Michael Garko, Ph.D. – Host – Let's Talk Nutrition
"The microbe is nothing. The terrain is everything." Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) is purported to have made this statement on his deathbed. The origin of the quote is attributed to Claude Bernard (1813-1878), a physiologist and contemporary of Pasteur. By quoting Bernard, Pasteur was recanting his germ theory, a theory that assigned the cause of disease to microbes invading and reeking havoc on the body, with specific germs causing specific diseases.
In contrast to Pasteur, Claude Bernard and Antoine Bechamp (1816-1908), another contemporary of Pasteur, believed disease was a condition of imbalance in the internal terrain of body. Bernard and Bechamp emphasized the context or environment in which germs lived and not the germs. On the one hand, if the terrain was balanced (homeostatic), then germs could not flourish. On the other hand, if the terrain were out of balance, then germs would thrive. In short, germs do not cause disease. Instead, they are a sign of the diseased conditions of the terrain and not the cause of those conditions (see Stockton, 2000).
The August, 2012, issue of Health and Wellness Monthly, explores the principle that the "terrain is everything" with the intention of emphasizing the importance and usefulness of adopting a naturalistic approach to health and wellness.
Natural Healing Perspective
Viewing the cause of disease as a function of the condition of the terrain represents a move away from the medical model to a natural healing perspective. The medical model, which dominates Western medicine, relies in large measure upon the tenets of germ theory, thereby, rendering humans as the reactive targets who are the mercy of microbes. In contrast, the natural healing perspective shifts the focus from the power of germs and puts the emphasis on the environment, the terrain, in which microbes seek to live. It also recognizes people as proactive agents of health who can make choices to create a terrain that remains in balance and impervious or at least less vulnerable to the potentially deleterious effects of germs.
Dead Doctors Don't Lie – Dr Wallach
Full two hours presentation
Face mask for Collagen Production
Face mask for Collagen Production
A homemade mask for production of collagen:
two teaspoons of avocado oil (cold pressed virgin organic)
1/4 cup of honey (raw)
Apply it on the face and leave for 20 minutes before washing it off.
2000 Year Old Facial Cream
2000 Year Old Facial Cream
It was first used as a cold cream 2,000 years ago in Greece, and today its recipe is available to everyone who likes to improve their skin complexion. This lotion moisturizes skin, removes makeup, reduces wrinkles and aging signs.
- 1 tablespoon of raw organic honey
- 8 tablespoons of grated beeswax
- 200 ml of almond oil
- About a half cup of rosewater
- 2 small, cleaned and sanitized jars.
Melt honey, almond oil and beeswax together on a low heat. Use a double boiler. Once everything melts, take the mixture of the heat and let it cool. Pour the rosewater into a bowl and add the beeswax. Add a few drops at a time and whisk every time you add some of the wax. Once it is fully saturated, let the cream cool. Keep the lotion in your jar and let it cool completely before closing it with a lid.
Organic Prevention ~ First Defense
Cannabis Eye Drops
Cannabis eye drops
A CLEAN AND STERILE WORK ENVIRONMENT IS CRUCIAL… the dropper bottle must be sterilized, the saline must be sterilized, the oil, lecithin, and cannabis, all must be sterilized.
Boiling hot water and a few drops of bleach can be used to sterilize the tools you'll use, plain hot water for the dropper bottle, the alcohol and heated evaporation process will sterilize the concentrate. The glycerin and oils may be pre-heated and sterilized, and will be heated again when bonding with the concentrate.
The eye drops are a simple, modified home made eye drop recipe that you can find online, easily. Preparing the cannabis and blending it evenly is the most tedious part. Continue reading
Hippocrates Quote: Illness do not come upon us…
"Illnesses do not come upon us out of the blue. They are developed from small daily sins against Nature. When enough sins have accumulated, illnesses will suddenly appear." ~Hippocrates
Codex Alimentarius – U.N. Dictate
Healthcare or Disease Maintenance? – Codex Alimentarius
Doctors who have spent their lives acquiring knowledge that is far beyond that of a layperson are not likely to listen to someone who does not possess this knowledge ⎯ especially if the person suggests that solutions to health problems could be found through a change of diet and lifestyle. Doing so would require that they reevaluate their entire medical education and could even mean contemplating the possibility that most of what they learned in medical school about health was wrong. That would be quite a pill to swallow. But there is another reason and probably the strongest of all ⎯ economics. It would not be economically feasible for the disease industry. Continue reading
Oxygen Minerals
A study of the periodic table of elements shows:
sulfur, selenium, and tellurium
as being the only three oxygen transport minerals.
Further study shows that:
chlorine and fluorine
are detrimental to such oxygen transport, yet these elements have been added to make our teeth "healthier" and our water "more pure" or free from bacterial infestation.
These elements are poisonous at higher concentrations, and they block the uptake of both oxygen and sulfur. Drinking city tap water is discouraged for this reason.
The Study believes that a widespread deficiency in the mineral sulfur may be responsible for the great increase in disease in the U.S. Healthy cellular metabolism is the basis for cellular regeneration of all of our cells. This is the bottom line for the human body.
Without intracellular oxygen, we begin to degenerate long before our biological clock runs out.
Organic Prevention ~ First Defense
Dr. Cass Ingram's Thyroid Test
Dr. Cass Ingram's Thyroid Gland Test
Do you have questions about your thyroid function?
The Sluggish Thyroid Syndrome is perhaps the most commonly occurring hormonal disturbance in America today. It afflicts millions of people of all ages and sexes, although adult women are its usual victims.
The thyroid gland controls the metabolic rate and is descriptively known as the "master of metabolism". As many as one in four Americans suffer from reduced thyroid function.
Reduced body temperature is perhaps the most common consequence of impaired thyroid function. The individual who wears several extra layers of clothes, wears socks to bed, or who has "ice cold hands" is typically thyroid deficient. The person who abhors the onset of winter is usually thyroid-deficient.
As the master of metabolism the thyroid gland exerts control of several critical functions, including body temperature, digestive enzyme synthesis, stomach acid production, fuel combustion, fat and protein synthesis, white blood cell synthesis and activity, and blood flow.
DIY Nutritional Medicinals
There are five medicinals that are literal superheroes when it comes to medicine and dealing with any disease. These five emergency room and intensive care medicines hold the key to the safe practice of medicine on children who suffer more from acute disorders that must be addressed quickly.
Magnesium salts
Sodium Bicarbonate (baking soda)
Vitamin C
These are concentrated nutritional medicinals that are used in the direst medical circumstances and should be in abundance in every home.
Organic Prevention ~ First Defense


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- Aldous Harding
- Atlas Sound
- Beirut
- Big Thief
- Bing & Ruth
- D.D Dumbo
- Daughter
- Deerhunter
- Efterklang
- Ex:Re
- Future Islands
- Gang Gang Dance
- Gene Clark
- Grimes
- Holly Herndon
- Methyl Ethel
- Pixx
- Purity Ring
- Scott Walker
- Spencer.
- The Breeders
- The Lemon Twigs
- The National
- Tune-Yards
- U.S. Girls
- Velvet Negroni
- All Artists
Tim Hecker
Few in the field of explorative ambient music have remained as questing and unclassifiable as Canadian composer Tim Hecker. Across his 15-year career he has moved through shades of reflective electronic noise, experiential sound design, and modern composition with a deft and distinguished touch. Even so, the past few years have seen a minor renaissance in his discography – time seems to be fortifying his palette, rather than fossilising it.Read more


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Obstacle racing requires a lot more planning than your typical road race. As I mentioned in my last post, you need to be physically prepared for a variety of obstacles. You also need to wear the appropriate gear and fuel yourself in a manner that suits your body's needs. I am no expert, but I did do some research prior to my first race.
Let's talk clothes. If the word cotton is on the label don't wear it. You will likely encounter a significant amount of mud and/or water. Cotton will absorb water and weigh you down. The race is hard enough. You don't want to be carrying an extra couple of pounds (that you didn't train with) due to water retention – on your clothing. I mixed brands all over to ultimately pick out the outfit that I was most comfortable in. Another word of advice, work out hard in the outfit that you plan to wear before you race in it.
- Sports Bra – Nike Pro Classic Sports Bra ($32.99) – It's not about looks, it's about support. I don't need as much of it after nursing two babies. I wear these every time I do hard exercise. Run. Plyos. You get my drift. I picked a color that would be easy to see when my husband was looking for me as I finished the race. Even with mud covering my body, you could still see the bright yellow color.
Let's be serious. I was terrified that a piece of my clothing would get snagged on barb wire, subsequently causing a tear. I dreamt of this tear getting bigger and bigger as the race went on. I was fine, even though I did get snagged.
- Shorts – Reebok Performance Shorts – $30 – I don't typically buy Reebok. I bought shorts that look exactly the same in Nike. I came home and put them both on. I stuck with the Reebok. The waistline band on the Reebok shorts gave me much needed support for heavy front carry obstacles (bucket carry – see below) and they definitely kept my butt covered. The Nike shorts lacked in that area. I would highly recommend these shorts for this type of event. They cut water quickly and are SUPER light weight.
- Sock – MudGear Obstacle Race Compression Socks – SOCKS MAKE A HUGE DIFFERENCE. Read that again. Don't mess around. Can I list all of the reasons why I would never race again without these?
- They protected my shins. I got cut up all over my legs (except my calves). I actually ran threw a prickly bush and didn't notice it until I finished the race and attempted to take my socks off. The socks were covered in them. I didn't feel a thing.
- I swam and walked in mud as deep as my knees (see picture above). When I got out of the river in the first mile, my ankles felt like they had 10 pound weights attached to them. That's how much water had absorbed in my socks and shoes. Within 200 meters of getting out of the water, it felt like it had entirely absorbed and dried.
Shoes – People try to convince you that shoes make a big difference. They might. However, since this was my first Spartan Race (and possibly my last), I didn't want to invest in a pair of shoes that I might not wear again. I also didn't want to compete in a shoe that didn't offer me proper support (since the race was so long) – 8.5 miles. I chose to wear an old pair of my regular running sneakers.
That's them. Your basic Asic Gel Kayanos. They proved to hold me from slipping on the walls, the rope and several other obstacles. There was only one instance where I wish I had other shoes. Running downhill – I needed traction for the steep decline. TIE YOUR SHOELACES TIGHT! As tight as you can. Double knot, over and over. I only double knotted once. I had to stop to tie my shoes. Your shoe could get stuck in mud so hard that it could come off your foot if you don't tie your shoes tight enough.
Don't even think about wearing those worn out basic training shoes (like the one I wear all the time around town). Look at the bottom of that shoe. It won't hold on the trails and steep terrain. I actually thought about wearing these because of how light they are. I am so glad that my husband convinced me not to. I didn't wear a lot, but that was my preference. It was hot. Check the local forecast and dress appropriately (remember, NO cotton!)
My heat launched at 7:45 AM. I typically don't eat anything prior to a morning workout (with the exception of a banana here and there). Knowing I had at least two hours of working out ahead of me, I knew that I needed some fuel to get me through the grueling activity. To avoid having an unsettled stomach (or tasting my breakfast) as I ran, I opted to get up at 5:00 AM to eat.
- Banana – You can't go wrong. Potassium to keep you from cramping. Carbs/sugars to provide energy to your body. The added benefit? They taste good and are filling!
- Mint Chocolate Mint Cookie Balance Bar – This is a personal favorite. It is probably just a pre-race ritual at this point. Since college, I have eaten these on days that I compete. I ate one before my one and only marathon. I need them to feel like I am going to have a good race! Only Mint Chocolate Cookie. Let's hope they never discontinue them.
- Gu – start line only with water. Take your Gu 15 minutes prior to the gun going off, so in this case, in the chute for the start line (after you jump the wall). Drink at least 8 ounces of water. Chuck your water and your wrapper in the garbage. You will get disqualified from a Spartan Race for littering now! That includes your water cups at water stations on the course.
That's not a lot of food prior to doing such an exhausting event. Since I can't eat a lot on the day of the event, I rely on a sufficient dinner to carry into the morning. Roasting Company is a family tradition. I know, must people like pasta. We prefer potatoes. My go to menu item is the chicken with rice (sauce on side), green beans, corn bread and sweet potatoes. I eat it all. There is no beating around the bush. This is all personal preference.