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Top Massages in Los Angeles
If you're like most of our clients, you want quality massages with lasting relief, not just any old massages that leave you frustrated. You want the best massages in Los Angeles, and you deserve it. You want the "fine wine" of massage, not just the "house wine" that's simply average. Even if you're not discriminating when it comes to your massages in Los Angeles, take comfort in knowing that you're getting an extremely talented, highly trained massage therapist for all your massage needs.
Types of Massages in Los Angeles
There's many types of massages available to experience here at Massage Revolution in Manhattan Beach (Los Angeles County).
Neuromuscular Massages in Los Angeles
These amazing neuromuscular massages in Los Angeles start with a detailed posture analysis to determine any tight muscles contributing to any aches and pains in your back, neck, shoulders, or headaches, and pulling your body out of good posture and alignment
Revolutionary Back Relief Massages in Los Angeles!
A pain-free back is the foundation of a strong, healthy, and inspired life. Our revolutionary neuromuscular massages in Los Angeles (Manhattan Beach) safely targets the root cause of your chronic back pain, and helps liberate you into the pain-free life that you were born to live!
Complete Headache Relief Massages in Los Angeles
What's worse: the agony of a headache, or the fear that one is just around the corner? Well, you don't have to answer this anymore – because our revolutionary massages in Los Angeles, CA (Manhattan Beach) safely release you from the grip of headaches and migraines. Experience the total pain-freedom that you deserve!
Ultimate Neck Relief Massages in Los Angeles
Your aches and pains in your neck limit your ability to fully live life. With our expert massage therapists in Los Angeles County, it's time to liberate your neck pain with our safe neuromuscular massages in Los Angeles. Experience a flexibility, ease, and freedom that helps you see the world in a whole new, pain-free light.
Total Shoulder Relief Massages in Los Angeles
Your shoulder pain truly makes you feel like you "carry an impossible burden on your shoulders." Well, you've suffered enough– it's time to lighten the load! Our neuromuscular massages in Los Angeles safely help you live, work and play pain-free.
Fibromyalgia Relief Massages in Los Angeles
Misdiagnosis and mistreatment of fibromyalgia is rampant and leads to many unnecessary years of suffering. Our Neuromuscular and myofascial based massage treatments in Los Angeles are a natural, safe, drug-free treatment that is helping to give many fibromyalgia sufferers their "lives back." If you suffer from fibromyalgia this treatment helps fibromyalgia sufferers everywhere.
Regular Types of Massages in Los Angeles
There's many regular types of massages in Los Angeles, yet few measure up to the relaxation and lasting relief you feel at Massage Revolution.
If you need pure relaxation, choose swedish massage. For deeper, firmer pressure there's deep tissue massage. If you're a weekend athlete or competing in the next sporting event, you may want to try sports massage as it's like a deep tissue massage combined with stretching.
For all you expecting moms, we have plenty of therapists on staff specializing in prenatal massage. And you'll sleep so much better and feel great with reflexology to soothe every ache in your feet.
Massage Revolution offers many more types of massages as well, so you name it, and it's most likely available.


text: In recent years I've adapted some fascinating and important books into versions for young readers. I've had the privilege of working on two books by Charles C. Mann, whose articles and best-selling books on science and history have given us new ways to look at the events of hundreds of years ago. Seven Stories Press has just released my YA adaptation of his book 1493, which explores what happened to crops, climate, wildlife, and people when the first worldwide network of trade and travel got started in the sixteenth century. From Chinese pirates to South American freedom fighters to the man who convinced the king and queen of France to wear potato flowers, Mann's book is filled with the stories of individuals who shaped and were shaped by history.

subset: commoncrawl


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Create a Website Account - Manage notification subscriptions, save form progress and more.
The Apopka Police Department offers fingerprinting Monday through Friday from 9 AM to 11 AM and 2 PM to 4 PM. There is a $22.50 fee for City of Apopka residents and a $30 fee if you are not a resident of City of Apopka. Must have a valid picture ID or passport.
The Apopka Police Department is located at 112 E. Sixth Street, Apopka, Florida 32703
Show All Answers
Yes! The Apopka Police Department is partners with CrimeLine. CrimeLine is 100% confidential. Your information will be taken in strictest confidence. Your identity will be protected and you will never have to give your name. You will be given a confidential tip code number. Your confidential tip code number should be kept private and NOT shared with anyone. CrimeLine is available at 800-423-TIPS (8477) 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, taking completely anonymous tips on any criminal activity. Se habla español. If you witness a crime in progress, you should call 911.
Yes, we do fingerprinting Monday through Friday from 9 AM to 11 AM and 2 PM to 4 PM. City Residents are charged $22.50 and Non-City Residents are charged $30. We only accept cash, credit and debit. No children are permitted to be in the fingerprinting room and no children are allowed to be unattended in the waiting room. We only electronically transmit fingerprints for concealed weapons permits and for name changes. You must bring with you the following: 1) A valid photo government ID card with your current address; 2) Your own BLANK fingerprint card
The Apopka Police Department is located at 112 E. Sixth Street, Apopka, FL 32703.
The Records Division is open from 8:00 am until 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday. Request for Incident Report(s) are accepted in person, via mail, phone request and email. Requests that are handled by mail must include a self-addressed stamped envelope. You may email your request to the Records Supervisor, Dina Cedillo at email@example.com. For more information contact the Records Division at (407) 703-1771.
After the 60 days, identification will not be required.
Local criminal history checks are available from the Records Section for a fee of $10 per name. You may come to the police department or send a self-addressed stamped envelope and $10, along with the request to: Apopka Police Department Records Division 112 East Sixth Street Apopka, Florida 32703 Office hours are Monday-Friday 8:00 am - 5:00 pm.
The Orange County Clerk of Courts is open Monday - Friday from 8:00 am until 4:00 pm with the exception of opening at 7:30 am on Thursdays.
This rate is chargeable in fifteen minute time increments beginning after the first fifteen minutes processing the request (free). For all record questions and digital video inquiries please contact the Records Custodian at 407-703-1777.
Note: Extensive Research Fee is defined as a special service charge when the nature or volume of public records to be inspected is such as to require extensive use of information technology resources, or extensive clerical assistance or supervisory assistance or both.
There are several ways to obtain a background check; you can come to the Apopka Police Department Office at 112 E. Sixth Street, Apopka, Florida 32703. The Records section hours of operation are Monday through Friday 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM (except for recognized national holidays). In order to obtain a background check, you must provide the full name and date of birth of the subject.
Please Note: The Apopka Police Department Office will only provide a local criminal history background check for Apopka City limits. If you need a statewide or nationwide search you must contact the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. If you have additional questions, you may call the Records Section at 407-703-1777.
No, our agency does not complete a report by telephone. You can call the non-emergency number 407-703-1757 and request an officer respond to a location within the city limits or come to the Apopka Police Department located at 112 E. Sixth Street, Apopka, Florida 32703.
The Apopka Police Department will respond 24 hours a day, seven days a week to requests for police assistance. If you would like to come into the police department to file a report, the lobby is open from 8 AM until 5 PM Monday through Friday.


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Sponsor: It's the one year anniversary of Home & Away: Knits for Everyday Adventures, a terrific book written and published by Hannah Fettig of Knitbot. And she's hosting an Instagram fashion show, to celebrate all the beautiful and wearable knits you've made since the release last Spring. Hannah strives to design wearable knitwear for the modern knitter and her most recent book Home & Away features 9 wearable designs plus education, support and inspiration to help you grow as a knitter. Now through April 10th you can enter her Home & Away hashtag fashion show on Instagram. Show off how you style your finished knits by posting to Instagram with the hashtag #wewearknitbot and be eligible to win some great prizes! Hannah's offering a $3 off the print or digital copy of Home & Away, so use the promo code wewearknitbot on her site and on Ravelry. You can find all the details and list of at knitbot.com and you can find Hannah on Instagram @knitbot
Fiber folk: Aesthetics plays a huge part in a fiber enthusiast's making, naturally…and there are some certain folks who bring a special beauty to this world, channeled through their delightful shops and welcoming perspective in color, composition and atmosphere. One such person is the lovely Susan Cropper and her fiber emporium, Loop London. I wish I could transport myself to the streets of London and spend a day in this magical place, if you're familiar with Loop's books, patterns and Instagram account, you know exactly what I mean. With passion, exquisite taste and color, and a whole lot of love, Susan has built something we all should take a moment to experience. You can find Susan at loopknitting.com and on Instagram @looplondonloves
Sponsor: MAINE Knits is a collaboration between the hand knitwear designers, yarn makers, dyers and wool-loving folk of Maine. The book includes patterns for 7 garments and 7 accessories, photographs and essays, with knitting designs by Carrie Bostick Hoge, Alicia Plummer, Bristol Ivy,Cecily Glowik Mcdonald, Mary Jane Mucklestone, Elizabeth Smith, Leah B. Thibault, Kristen TenDyke, Leila Raabe and Beatrice Perron Dahlen. And a foreward written by Pam Allen of Quince & Co.
MAINE Knits was born of an idea from Beatrice Perron Dahlen, and is a project that comes straight from the depths of her heart. It's a chance to honor the creative work that her and her fellow Maine folk are doing, joining talents to make something extraordinary to offer up to the rest of the hand knitting community.
Right now you can support this special project on Kickstarter to help fund the creation and publishing costs…so make sure to visit kickstarter.com and search for MAINE Knits and do what you can to support this great endeavor and it's collaborators.
You can find Beatrice Perron Dahlen at threadandladle.com and on Instagram @threadandladle
Update: It's been awhile since I've given an update on Woolful and the farm, so I thought I'd share a little of what we've been up to. As some of you may have noticed, I've settled back into the weekly schedule for the podcast and it's really nice to get back to that normalcy. Between a new life on the farm, motherhood, working and traveling to San Francisco each month where I lead design at a tech company, it's been a fun challenge figuring out how all these things come together.
Over the past few months I've spent a lot of time reflecting on the next steps for Woolful and slowly, but surely the stars are aligning for some exciting things I'll share more about in the coming months.
If you follow me on Instagram than you may have seen the adventure we had last week with our Dexter cow Lulu and our three Maremma livestock guardian dogs. As we've been transitioning the animals from their Winter paddocks to the rotational paddocks, the dogs have been antsy to get out and explore our surrounding forest and neighbors pastures. Lulu believes very much that she is one of them and if at all separated she will bellow till the sun goes down and then bellow all night long. So, one particular day when the dogs ran off, Lulu busted straight through the fence and took off after them. Three pups and a cow, running through the forest and fields and down the country road for nearly three hours. It was quite the sight and accompanied by calls from neighbors, "We just saw Lulu and your dogs running up the road down by so and so's property." Oh my goodness, it was a bit stressful and at the same time exactly where I wanted to be…running through the woods, sloshing through pastures and then walking my cow all the way home down the road. A couple days later Lulu came down with some bad bloat. I being the new farmer that I am had no idea what caused it and the vet was sure she had grain overload or got into something nasty. He didn't think she'd make it through the night and if I'm being honest, I was heartbroken and cried that night as I sat with her and worried. But here's the deal, we're ultimately not in control. I began preparing for what might likely happen and kept telling myself what so many others before me had said, "Life and death is the first lesson in farming". So prayed for grace, that we would be granted grace for our ignorance and lack of forethought. Thankfully she made it through the night and when the vet came the next morning he was surprised to see her looking mildly better despite her distended middle. After checking her out he assured us that she was most likely on the road to recovery and gave us some tips about poisonous plants in our area to watch out for. And today, exactly a week later, she's doing so much better. I'll be posting a much more detailed recount of this event on the blog later this week, along with some interesting photos.
Giveaway: The winners of last week's giveaways are Caitlin Johnson, you've won a copy of Annie Rowden's Earlyrising hat pattern and 2 skeins of Wing and a Prayer Shetland yarn, and Michelle Miller you've won a copy of Mary Jane Mucklestone's book 150 Scandinavia Motifs. Congratulations!
The giveaway this week is sponsored by Loop London and we're giving away a copy of their most recent book "Loop's 10". To enter and be one of the winners, leave a comment on this blog post.
Music by Jónsi.


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Royal Mail warn of fake '˜missed delivery' cards
The fake missed delivery slips, look almost identical to the 'something for you' cards from Royal Mail, and are being used in an attempt to scam the recipients personal details according to Action Fraud.
The cards request the recipient to call an 0208 number to re-book a free delivery.
The number provided is not registered to Royal Mail though and after calling an automated message will ask for details and consignment number.
Check delivery cards very carefully
Royal Mail are now advising households to be on the look out for anything suspicious arriving in the post.
A Royal Mail spokesperson told the Express, "The Royal Mail security team is looking into this incident as a matter of urgency. Customers should check delivery cards very carefully to ensure they are genuine, and remain vigilant. Although this card is similar to one of our Something For You cards, the Royal Mail logo is crucially missing".
"Customers should also consider whether they are expecting a delivery from the company named on the card".
At present Action Fraud has not received any reports of such incidents, however, there have been incidents of fake delivery notes in the past.


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Having a large pedalboard with different output options allows you to have a vast palette of tones available at the stomp of a switch.
My Trailer Trash Glow-Top pedalboard sports a combination of digital and analog effects for maximum flexibility. Top row: Line 6 DL4, Line 6 MM4, and ReAmp box. Middle row: Line 6 Verbzilla, Boss OC-2, Z.Vex Ringtone, Keeley Compressor, Planet Waves tuner, and Z.Vex Box of Rock. Bottom row: HomeBrew Electronics Power Screamer, Loop-Master 5-Loop Effect Switcher, DigiTech Whammy, and Snarling Dogs Whine-O Wah. Side: Rocktron Banshee Talkbox and Z.Vex Tremolo Probe.
The underside of my Glow-Top pedalboard reveals a highly organized matrix of cables and electronics
designed to ensure great tone and optimum reliability.
Throughout my career, I've done corporate gigs for large companies like Microsoft. For these kinds of shows, I typically have to learn about 40 cover songs by artists ranging from Michael Jackson to Bryan Adams, Jay-Z, Maroon 5, Journey, and U2. These artists are very different, so I have to be able to pull up the correct sounds for each song as fast as possible. Having a large pedalboard with different output options allows me to have a vast palette of tones available at the stomp of a switch. In this month's Tone Tips, I'll give you an overview of what I call my Monster Board.
I have pedalboards of various sizes, and they all serve different functions. If I need a board that's easy to modify, I build it on one of several Pedaltrain models. For a board that needs to stay hardwired, I call James "Rooster" Olson at Trailer Trash Pedalboards. Most of my knowledge about signal flow and how to build a large board has come from working with James. When building a large board, one of the first pieces of gear you'll want to purchase is a buffer.
Buffers send a nice, strong signal to the front of your amp. My favorite buffer is the Axess Electronics BS-2, because it has a split output and an isolated output. I use the split out to go straight to my tuner. That way, I don't have to have my tuner be first in line in the signal chain. The buffer works in conjunction with my Loop-Master 5-Loop Effect Switcher, so I can always have my tuner on. This way, I have the option to tune while I'm playing or tune silently. I mainly use the BS-2's isolated out when I do sessions. This signal goes to a jack I had installed on the side of my board. From that jack, I can go into a DI box and send the engineer a completely dry and unprocessed sound. Later, I can use this for reamping tracks with my ReAmp box.
The second piece of gear that you should have on a large board is a true-bypass looper, like the Loop-Master I mentioned above. Typically, pedals without true-bypass circuitry affect your high end, and a true-bypass looper keeps such devices out of your signal chain when they're not being used. Another cool feature about a true-bypass looper like the Loop-Master is that you can have one of the switches engage several pedals at once. For instance, you could have an overdrive, compressor, delay, and a reverb all wired to one button. Hitting that single button during a solo engages all four pedals.
You might want to consider having send/return jacks built into the side of your board. Installing send/return jacks and wiring them to a button on the Loop-Master allows me to have "guest pedals" that are not mainstays on my board. I use my send/return jacks mainly for a Rocktron Banshee Talkbox. I don't use it enough for it to be mounted on my board, so the send/return jacks are the perfect compromise.
As a side note, let's address getting a good talk-box tone really fast. At the last Microsoft function I played, our band played "Hella Good" by No Doubt and "It's My Life" by Bon Jovi. Both songs have talk-box parts. One of the biggest issues I've encountered with using a talk box is getting the notes to have enough body. Many times when I hear guitarists use a talk box, the tone sounds more like a high-pressure garden hose than an instrument. To get around this, I'll run an overdrive pedal into an octave pedal before I hit the talk box. Octave pedals send several layers of harmonic information to the talk box and fill out the sound before it comes out of the tube and goes into the microphone.
Okay, back to pedalboards. Enlisting the help of an experienced tech like James Olsen is always a good call when building a complex board. Paying someone to make sure your pedalboard is ready to be knocked around by airlines and shaken in trailers is money well spent. If you're going to build your own Monster Board, make sure you have pedals with quality parts and well-built cables connecting everything. In my experience, when a rig stops making sound, nine times out of 10 the issue lies somewhere in the pedalboard. Take the time to make sure everything is properly and securely hooked up. Once you have the peace of mind that everything is settled on the technical side, be sure to give your creative legs a stretch by experimenting with different sounds.


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To celebrate David Hume's 300th Birthday we are releasing this bonus episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast. On the standard reading of Hume's Treatise, this important book reveals its author both as a sceptic and as someone wanting to contribute positive ideas about human nature. These two aspects of the book seem to be in tension. Paul Russell suggests a way of solving the riddle of the Treatise. He emphasizes David Hume's irreligion and how it pervades every aspect of Hume's first book.
Listen to Paul Russell on David Hume's Philosophy of Irreligion
Philosophy Bites is made in association with the Institute of Philosophy
Previous Philosophy Bites interviews on David Hume:
Listen to Peter Millican on Hume's Significance
Listen to Stewart Sutherland on Hume on Design
A range of Open University podcasts on David Hume (with transcripts) is available here


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Asylum Press and Visionborne have joined forces to produce a slate of animated comics based on popular Asylum Press titles for the Apple iPad and other mobile devices. After the successful launch of fan-favorite Fearless Dawn #1, Zombie Terrors is the next in the lineup to be released exclusively through the Visionborne app that uses Airmid technology, a process that converts static 2D art into a vibrant 3D animated format that can be read and "experienced" using a reader app on iOS and Android.
Zombie Terrors #1 will be free on the iPad with subsequent issues available at .99.
All Airmid enhanced productions retain their original artistic essence in a way that's totally unobtrusive to the author's unique form of expression. Unlike other industry approaches, it does not force an artist to learn to use a complex new software suite to create animated content.
Zombie Terrors #1 is available the iTunes store now. It features a gory collection of zombie tales created by an international cast of artistic talent. Frank Forte delivers Beheaded, a tale of a crazed hillbilly who takes trophies off of his zombie victims. In Feast, a gourmet chef is taken hostage by a greedy mob boss. In Hate, a recently turned zombie that still has some semblance of his humanity must confront what he's become. And finally, to add a little more spice to this gruesome brew, we're throwing in some awesome pin-ups by horror master David Hartman.
"We're very excited about the possibility of reaching so many new readers all over the world with these animated comic books," says Asylum Press President Frank Forte. "Tablet computer ownership is exploding and we want to provide dynamic, top-quality content for comic book lovers. Visionborne's amazing technology lets our readers experience comics in a cool new way that wasn't possible before."
"Asylum Press gives us a great opportunity to clearly showcase our know-how and to create a unique experience in the world of comics," Francesco Scrufari, President of Visionborne, commented.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZNNvmDpam4&list=UUJWvsKy-NB_eOMtnQji9QzA[/youtube]Zombie Terrors #1 will be free and can be downloaded from the iTunes store here:


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Advanced research and education networks exist to be enablers. The value of NORDUnet and the Nordic NRENs is the great education and the groundbreaking research they enable. Our users engage in exciting research projects, they produce new discoveries, they find new ways to teach. We're excited to be part of this and to enable these results. As research networks we talk a lot about our technology, our capacity, and our services. This is what we do. However, we must never forget why we do it – to enable users.
To this end, NORDUnet and the Nordic NRENs have, in collaboration with likeminded networks from around the globe, created a blog to tell our user's stories – to highlight the results, the advances, and the part technology played in making it possible. These are stories from the field; not stories about networking, but about the things that are possible when high-quality networking is available to anyone, anywhere, any time. For example, one blog entry tells the story of danish archaeologists teaming up
with experts in high performance computing to enable fast and intensive 3D recording for field archaeology.
Our networking infrastructure traverses the globe, enabling access to content and resources, connecting people, delivering new experiences, fostering collaboration and cultivating interdisciplinary communities striving to make a difference. This new blog embodies that very spirit, bringing the R&E network community together in a global collaboration with users and beneficiaries to showcase and share some of the most inspiring stories and achievements.
Please join us at the In the Field blog.


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Global Initiative by Hotels on Carbon
Major international hotel companies demonstrate leadership through new initiative to standardise the industry's carbon measures.
The International Tourism Partnership and the World Travel & Tourism Council are collaborating on a groundbreaking initiative to unite hotel industry efforts to calculate and communicate carbon impact by agreeing on a standardised methodology and metrics informed by the GHG Protocol standards. For the first time, leaders within the hotel industry are collaborating to reach a consensus on a single methodology for calculating carbon footprints and consistent metrics for communicating emissions.
The Carbon Measurement Working Group driven by hospitality members within ITP and WTTC includes leading international hotel companies such as Accor, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, Hilton Worldwide, Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, InterContinental Hotels Group, Marriott International Inc., MGM Resorts International, Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts, Red Carnation Hotel Collection, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc, Premier Inn – Whitbread Group and Wyndham Worldwide. The Phase One methodology has had input from Greenview Consulting and has been reviewed by the World Resources Institute.
The Working Group was formed to address inconsistencies in hotel companies' approaches and to devise a unified methodology based on available data. Currently, carbon measurement metrics vary widely which can lead to confusion. Additionally, the number of methodologies and tools in use make transparency within the industry difficult to achieve.
David Scowsill, president and CEO of WTTC states, "The hotel industry recognises its responsibility to mitigate its environmental impact. Indeed many hotel chains globally have set carbon reduction targets. Through this initiative the industry is furthering its commitments to corporate and individual consumers by helping them to understand their environmental footprint. A harmonised approach to quantifying and communicating the sustainability of the industry's products is a firm step towards accomplishing this. We are delighted to be collaborating with ITP and the hotel executives within this Working Group on this historic initiative."
Stephen Farrant, director of the International Tourism Partnership, comments: "Customers and investors rightly want to know about the carbon footprint of the hotels they are dealing with. The fact that 12 global companies in the international hotel sector have come together to achieve, for the first time, this degree of consensus on the complex issue of carbon measurement is testament to both the crucial importance of addressing the carbon issue and the success of the ITP and WTTC joint working group through this first phase."
As part of a multi-phased approach, the group has and will continue to engage a broad cross-section of stakeholders to solicit input and feedback. The objective of the first phase is to have standards available for the 2012 RFP season.
The International Tourism Partnership, founded in 1992 and part of the International Business Leaders Forum, brings together the world's leading international hotel companies to provide a voice for environmental and social responsibility in the industry. It works to demonstrate in a very practical way that environmental and social responsibility makes good business sense. ITP does this by highlighting best practice, offering a range of practical products and programmes and tackling emerging sustainability issues through its collaborative working groups.
AccomNews is not affiliated with any government agency, body or political party. We are an independently owned, family-operated magazine.


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Unseasonably heavy rains brought serious flooding to Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic in early June 2013. In some areas of eastern and southern Germany, the flooding was described as the worst since 2002. At least 16 people have died and thousands have been displaced. Further downstream along the Elbe, Vltava, and Danube Rivers, residents prepared for the rising water.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite observed flooding in central and eastern Germany on June 6, 2013 (top). For comparison, the lower image shows the same area on May 5, 2013. These false-color images use a combination of visible and infrared light to make it easier to distinguish between water and land. River water appears navy blue to black and vegetation is bright green. Clouds are pale blue-green and cast shadows.
On June 6, the Associated Press reported that floodwaters were cresting in Dresden, Germany, swamping much of the city but sparing the historic center. The Elbe River reached 8.76 meters (28.75 feet) that day in the area; the norm is 2 meters (about 6.5 feet).
Flooding had already peaked and left severe damage in the Czech Republic, northwestern Austria, and southern Germany, including Deggenfdorf, Passau, and Prague. However, satellite images of those areas have not been available due to persistent cloud cover. Visit NASA's EOSDIS Worldview page and turn on the flood tool (under "my layers") to observe false-color views of Germany and the rest of the world.
NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE/EOSDIS Rapid Response. Caption by Michael Carlowicz, with input from Dr. Anke Friedrich, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, München.


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EUGENE, Ore. – Jeneba Tarmoh has withdrawn herself from consideration for one of three Olympic Team positions in the women's 100 meters.
In an email forwarded to USATF President and Chairman Stephanie Hightower at 9:37 a.m. Pacific Time by her agent, Kimberly Holland, Tarmoh said,"I Jeneba Tarmoh have decided to decline my 3rd place position in the 100m dash to Allyson Felix. I understand that with this decision I am no longer running the 100m dash in the Olympic Games and will be an alternate for the event. As an alternate I understand that I will be asked to run if another 100m runner decides not to for personal reasons, and/or on the 4x100m relay."
At the U.S. Olympic Team Trails – Track & Field, Tarmoh and Felix on June 23 finished in a dead heat for the third and final Olympic Team 100m position, in 11.07 seconds, behind winner Carmelita Jeter and second-place Tianna Madison. In a Sunday afternoon meeting with their coach, managers and USATF officials, the athletes agreed to break the tie via a run-off, which was to be held Monday afternoon in Eugene.
"We are disappointed that Jeneba has changed her mind regarding her position on the Olympic Team," Hightower said. "We all worked hard to reach a consensus on the tiebreaker, but we know that Allyson, Carmelita and Tianna will represent Team USA well."
see – Dead-heat procedures announced


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International Update, October 2008
Download entire publication (0.1 MB)
In This Issue
European Commission
The European Commission (EC) launched a new Web site in September 2008 for the Academic Network of European Disability Experts (ANED). ANED was established by the EC in December 2007 to provide pan-European academic and scientific support for the future development of the European Union Disability Action Plan and implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
ANED comprises a management team and advisors, national contacts in 30 European countries, and disability experts. The Web site contains information about the work of ANED; links to information on European countries; published reports on major disability themes, such as social protection, employment policy, disability law; and sources of cooperative research on disability data.
The ANED Web site is available at http://www.disability-europe.net.
On October 1, 2008, the Romanian government implemented three changes to its two-pillar pension system. Two of the changes affect the lump-sum distribution rules for the second pillar mandatory individual accounts and the third change raises first pillar public pension benefits. Members who become disabled can now request a lump-sum distribution of their contributions in the private pension system. Previously, the only option for disabled participants was drawing a pension based on their contributions. Another change to the second pillar allows survivors of a deceased participant to request a lump-sum distribution of the funds in the deceased person's account. Previously, the funds in the deceased's individual account were transferred to the individual accounts of eligible survivors, which excluded those without an individual account such as children or parents of the deceased.
The third change increases the first pillar public pension by 20 percent. The average monthly public pension rose from 581.30 new lei (US$230.53) to 697.50 new lei (US$276.61), equal to about half the average monthly wage in Romania. The government accelerated the increase, originally scheduled to go into effect on January 1, 2009, because of favorable economic conditions in Romania.
In January 2008, Romania introduced second pillar individual accounts that are mandatory for employees aged 35 or younger and voluntary for employees aged 36 to 45. Employees aged 46 and older remain in the public system. The second pillar pension is financed by diverting a portion of the public pension contributions into individual accounts. Public pension contributions are 9.5 percent of gross wages for employees and 20.5 percent to 30.5 percent of gross wages for employers, depending on the industry. Of this overall contribution, 2 percent of gross wages are diverted to the individual accounts of those enrolled in the second pillar. While the employer and employee contribution rates for both pillars will remain the same, the portion directed to individual accounts will increase by 0.5 percent each year until it reaches 6 percent in 2016. The Romanian Private Pension Supervisory Commission (CSSPP) regulates the 14 pension funds in the second pillar, which currently have 3.5 million participants.
The Americas
Beginning October 1, 2008, Chilean employers may offer their employees voluntary pension savings plans, known as Ahorro Previsional Voluntario Colectivo (APVC), as a supplement to their mandatory individual retirement accounts. APVC, part of the major pension reform law passed in March 2008, targets the middle class, which has very low rates of retirement savings. Tax incentives for other types of voluntary retirement savings accounts are geared toward higher income workers.
An APVC plan must be set up by agreement between an employer and an institution authorized to administer APVCs such as pension fund management companies, banks, insurance companies, mutual fund administrators, and investment fund administrators. APVC administrators may charge members a percentage of their account balance as an administrative fee.
Although employers are not required to provide an APVC plan to employees, once a plan is set up, it must be offered to all employees. Employers may also provide more than one APVC plan, but employees are not required to participate in any plan. Employers that choose to set up an APVC plan must contribute to all participants' accounts and the contributions must be the same percentage of earnings for all participants. Employer contributions are tax exempt. An APVC may operate only if 300 employees or 30 percent of all employees, whichever is less, enroll in their employer's APVC (or group of APVCs) plan.
Employee contributions are voluntary and the government provides an incentive for employees to participate in the form of an annual subsidy of 15 percent of the total amount employees save in all types of voluntary retirement savings accounts. The maximum subsidy is currently 219,000 pesos (US$407) per year. To be eligible for the subsidy, employees must be contributing regularly to a mandatory individual account and their voluntary retirement savings cannot exceed 10 times their contributions to a mandatory account per year. However, employees have to return the subsidy to the government if they withdraw funds from any of their voluntary savings accounts before retirement.
Asia and the Pacific
A new National Pension System, for individuals aged 25 to 65 not covered by a public pension system, began operating on October 1, 2008. The new system covers an estimated 3.5 million Taiwanese, including the unemployed, the self-employed, non-working spouses, students, and those who work for a company with less than 5 employees. In a related move, modifications to the Labor Insurance (LI) system, the nation's public retirement program for private-sector workers, are scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2009, making pensions available to more workers.
Under the new National Pension System:
- Monthly contributions in the first year equal 6.5 percent of the lowest grade of the basic wage, currently NT$17,280 (US$538). This rate will gradually rise to 12 percent by 2030.
- The government subsidizes at least 40 percent of the contribution and the entire amount for those who are disabled or from low-income households.
- Subsidies and other related system expenses are funded through the government budget, lottery profits, and a 1 percent increase in the business tax.
- Monthly inflation-adjusted pensions are provided at retirement.
Under the new rules effective in 2009, the LI system will:
- Begin offering workers currently in the program a choice between a monthly annuity and the existing lump-sum payment once they reach full retirement age. New labor force entrants will only be eligible to receive a monthly annuity. The accrued value of annuity payments will exceed the lump-sum amount in slightly more than 8 years.
- Increase the normal retirement age gradually from 60 years to 65 years. After 2018, the retirement age will increase one year every 2 years until it reaches 65 by 2030.
- Raise the overall contribution rate immediately from the current 6.5 percent to 7.5 percent of earnings and gradually increase the rate until it reaches 13 percent in 2027. Contributions will remain shared among the employer (70 percent), employee (20 percent), and government (10 percent).
Reports and Studies
European Union
Eurostat, the European Union's (EU) statistical office reported in late August 2008 that the EU's rapidly aging population could lead to a pension crisis and an increased financial burden on the member states. Eurostat projects that deaths will outnumber births beginning in 2015. As a result, almost one-third of the population will be aged 65 or older by 2060, nearly double the current figure of about 17 percent. In 2060, the countries with the largest populations (the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain) will have about 65 percent of the EU population. In these countries, the share of the population aged 65 and older is projected to range from 24.7 percent in the United Kingdom to 32.7 percent in Italy. Eurostat projects the average dependency ratio for the EU will increase from about 25 percent in 2008 to about 53 percent in 2060. Based on this projection, there would be fewer than two workers for every person receiving a pension benefit in 2060. The EU noted that while this projection does not account for possible immigration and fertility changes, it is nevertheless cause for alarm for the future provision of public pensions in the EU.
International Report
Complementary and Private Pensions throughout the World 2008, released in September 2008, provides a cross-national comparison of mandatory and voluntary private and supplementary pension systems in 58 countries. The country profiles contain details on laws, coverage, financing, investments, benefits, participants' pension rights, tax treatment, and regulatory and supervisory authorities. This new volume updates the 2003 edition and is produced by the International Social Security Association (ISSA), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and the International Organization of Pension Supervisors (IOPS). More information is available at http://www.issa.int.
For more information about social security programs in these and other countries, please see Social Security Programs Throughout the World.
International Update is a monthly publication of the Social Security Administration's (SSA's) Office of Retirement and Disability Policy. It reports on the latest developments in public and private pensions worldwide. The news summaries presented do not necessarily reflect the views of SSA.
Editor: John Kearney.
Writers/researchers: Richard Chard, Barbara E. Kritzer, and David Rajnes.


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In what is probably the most radical policy change by Zambia's just over two-years-old Patriotic Front (PF) government is the change in the language of instruction in lower primary school from English to local languages.
Lower primary school in Zambia is from Grade 1 to Grade 4 and caters to ages anywhere between three and 12 because there is no policy regarding how old a child has got to be to start or complete school.
The language change has its supporters, but it also has it is critics, and among the latter are chiefs, the traditional leaders who head various ethnic groups as custodians of language and culture of their ethnic groups.
The problem is that there are 73 recognised languages—although most of these can be classified as dialects—in the country, but only seven are recognised for official communication and are broadcast on government-run national radio by the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC). These seven, which are Nyanja, Bemba, Tonga, Lozi, Kaonde, Lunda and Luvale, will be the only local languages of instruction, despite the existence of many others.
A full year before the language policy was rolled out, Justice Minister Wynter Kabimba, who is also the ruling party's Secretary General, wondered why people insisted on the use of English:
Our education system does not meet the demands of a third-world country. We are producing students who are not relevant to the needs of our country […] It is the policy of the PF to revive vernacular languages because a language gives us identity.
The first signs of trouble for the proposed policy was when pupils in a rural school in Zambezi District of the North-Western Province protested being taught in one of the two languages, Lunda and Luvale, in use in the area. The protest forced government authorities to close the affected school temporarily.
One blogger, Munshya wa Munshya, argued that the policy is based on useless Pan-Africanist motives:
When a government has no tangible plan for development, it begins to couch useless pan-Africanist ideals that have no practical value. Nothing demonstrates this recklessness better than the recent decision of the Michael Sata government to introduce vernacular languages as the sole media of instruction in lower primary school. According to the Hon. Kabimba, government introduced this policy so that Zambia can truly be free from the foreign language of English. The Permanent Secretary in the ministry responsible for education is couching this new policy as "the necessary revision to the educational curriculum." At close inspection, however, we find this new policy is nothing other than a noisome invention that lacks any proper objectives.
He criticized the policy, calling it absurd:
The government is saying that they have revised the curriculum in such a way that the pupils will now be taught in the "local languages". This is absurd. In order for this reasoning to stand, we must first deconstruct what is meant by "local language". The idea that Zambia has seven local languages is perhaps the greatest fabrication to have ever come from the Kenneth Kaunda [Zambia's first president] dictatorship. Zambia does not have seven local languages. In fact, the seven local languages are not in any logical way expressive of the language status of the Zambian majority. Kaunda picked on the seven languages in an arbitrary manner and imposed them on us.
Chiefs in the mining province of Copperbelt, a very urbanised area of Zambia where Bemba or variants of it are widely spoken, rejected its teaching in favour of their ethnic Lamba which is mostly spoken in the rural areas. Senior Chief Chiwala said in a statement:
We, the Chiefs of the Copperbelt Province observe that it is a violation of human rights to impose on children the teaching of vernacular language that is not their own […] The position the Lambas have taken shall never be compromised and no amount of intimidation shall sway the people of Lamba land from this decision.
Throughout British Colonial and independent Zambia's history, Lambas have been tolerant and sacrificed enough of their land for the sake of national development, mindful of the fact that Zambia is a unitary state in tribal diversity.
In Lusaka Province, where the capital city Lusaka is situated, Chieftainess Nkomeshya of the Soli, whose indigenous language has largely been sidelined, opposed the training of area chiefs in selected languages. Solis have to learn Chewa/Nyanja instead, a practice that has practically killed off Soli.
Similarly, some people hailing from Central Province have also rejected the use of languages other than Lenje, which is spoken in most parts of the region.
Whether the policy works or not is yet to be seen.
Top World Stories
7 comments
A lesson plan should also b written in local language.just imagine!
[…] Although there are 73 recognised languages in Zambia, only seven are to replace English as the language of instruction in primary school. Leaders of various ethnics groups oppose the change. […]
What are the chances of this decision being reversed – or just not implemented in practice?
[…] by Gershom Ndhlovu · comments (4) Donate · Share: facebook · twitter · googleplus · reddit · […]
[…] article outlining a new Zambian Government policy regarding early childhood education. (Read here: Zambia Ditches English in Primary School for Government Approved Local Languages.) The summary of the policy is that Primary Schools across the country should use local language for […]
[…] di quest'anno, nello Zambia, il governo ha invece attuato una misura per cui la lingua dell'istruzione nelle scuole primarie è stata cambiata dall'inglese […]
Like any other essay writing MBA candidate, it can be frightening and worrisome when you reach the point of writing those actual essays for the schools of your choice. With the multitude of essay editing services out there, it can be tough trying to decide which one to help you write your statement of purpose for MBA programs. here pediatric gastroenterology fellowship


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PHOENIX (August 14, 2020)—Maricopa County Department of Public Health (MCDPH) has launched a dashboard designed to help school officials in Maricopa County determine if their communities are meeting reopening metrics set by the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) and Arizona Department of Education (ADE).
The tool, available at Maricopa.gov/SchoolDashboard, allows school superintendents, principals and other decision-makers to see two weeks' worth of data on the three metrics set by ADHS and ADE for opening schools:
"Maricopa County Public Health's role is to provide information to school administrators about the spread of COVID in their communities so they can make data-driven decisions to open schools in the safest way possible, and that's what this dashboard is all about," said Marcy Flanagan, executive director for MCDPH.
Data used to generate this report are based upon the benchmarks and thresholds for re-opening established by the Arizona Department of Health Services. "This dashboard will allow decision-makers to view their selected area's overall risk level related to community transmission of COVID-19 and the recommended learning scenario, based on the most recent data," said Dr. Rebecca Sunenshine, medical director of disease control for MCDPH.
All data will be updated weekly on Thursdays at 4 pm. This dashboard is a supplement to weekly webinars with schools including Q&A sessions, and guidance materials available on the website.


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The Conroe Family History Center Open House on Saturday was an exceptional day.
We had a a great time.
There were many visitors and many people who are interested in how to start their genealogy as well as many who were looking to get through brick walls.It was marvelous that we had someone for every need. There were constant discussions on how to and where to find information.
Some who said all their work was finished took the time to check their pedigrees.
The scrap booking expert was able to give many ideas.
I love the way she made a special book for each of her grandparents.
The Director of the FHC was busy directing and taking pictures. Ah ha I caught her.
Our guests the Montgomery County Library's Genealogy Department Heads were a wonderful asset.
We had a Family Search Indexing Arbitrator talk about how to give of your time to aid in opening more records to the public for free.
The speakers were exceptional. They took time with each person who asked for their help.
Robert Vann shared a marvelous amount of information on how to track down the truth of "family rumors of Native American ancestry".
He also did some storytelling for the younger crowd.
Allen Peterson who published in the NGS Quarterly, helped many in understanding documentation and sourcing.
Louis Helleman (standing on the right)assisted many of our African American researchers in where to look and overcoming seeming brick walls because of Slavery. He is very knowledgeable about resources.
We greatly appreciated all who helped and those who came to our "party", and those who provided the scrumptious snacks.
We will do it again.


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How do products tempt us? What makes them so alluring? It is easy to assume we crave delicious food or impulsively check email because we find pleasure in the activity. But pleasure is just half the story.
Temptation is more than just the promise of reward. Recent advances in neuroscience allow us to peer into the brain, providing a greater understanding of what makes us want.
In 2011, Sriram Chellappan, an assistant professor of computer science at Missouri University of Science and Technology, gained unheard of access to sensitive information about the way undergraduates were using the Internet. His study tracked students on campus as they browsed the web. Chellappan was looking for patterns, which not only revealed what students were doing online, but provided clues about who they were.
"We believe that your pattern of Internet use says something about you," Chellappan wrote in the New York Times. "Specifically, our research suggests it can offer clues to your mental well-being." Chellappan concluded that there was, in fact, predictive power in the data. He found students with early signs of clinical depression used the Internet differently and he could identify students most likely to face mental health issues simply by looking at how they clicked.
"We identified several features of Internet usage that correlated with depression," wrote Chellappan. "For example, participants with depressive symptoms tended to engage in very high e-mail usage."
Chellappan developed the technology in hopes of creating an early-warning system to identify struggling students. But his study raised another question, why do people with depression check email more?
Alleviating Pain
The answer may provide clues about why all of us use the products and services we do in our everyday lives. Psychologists believe people with depression feel negative emotions, like anxiety, more frequently than other people do. There is evidence that the depressed students in Chellappan's study were using the Internet more because they experience negative mental states more often. To try and feel better, they turned to the web to boost their mood.
Finding ways to make ourselves feel better is not something only depressives do. We all seek relief from feeling bad and the brain is primed to help us learn where we can find escape. Just as we might take a Tylenol to relieve a headache, we turn to products to relieve emotional pain. In fact, these two biological processes are so closely linked that taking a Tylenol has been shown to ease both physical and emotional pain. The drug is effective in treating headache and heartache.
Having a pain to cure is a necessary prerequisite to using products. Recent neuroscience reveals the brain even adds pain to things that were previously pleasurable to push us to get what our bodies want. When temptation is activated in the brain, it induces a biological process that not only turns on the pleasure response, but also the body's physiological stress response.
Consider a 2005 study which looked at the physiological response of women exposed to images of chocolate. Researchers observed that the women experienced a subconscious reaction of alarm similar to seeing a threatening animal in the wild. The women, who had identified themselves as "chocolate cravers," described feeling not only pleasure at the thought of consuming the chocolate, but also agitation, angst, and a feeling of a loss of control in the face of their desire. For these women's brains, temptation was stressful.
Since the 1950s, researchers have explored how the brain's reward system compels behavior. Our understanding of the complex circuitry shows that pleasure and pain work together. Once the brain learns something good is about to happen, it induces a craving we feel as stress. The fastest relief from this discomfort is to get what we want.
Exaggeration and Fear
Companies, of course, are masters of temptation. If marketing is defined as, "the process of communicating the value of a product or service to customers," then implicit in this practice is accentuating the positive aspects of what being sold. This technique is used not only in hawking goods, but is also found in nature. Animals have been tricking each other by accentuating desirable traits for millennia. The process is called "super-normal stimuli" and it is a key to enticing action by creating the stress of desire.
Another way products induce intense desire is through a certain kind of fear, particularly our innate need to have as much as the next person. The phenomenon is exhibited with a simple experiment conducted by Frans de Waal, a primatologist at Emory University.
In the study, de Waal rewarded two capuchin monkeys with a cucumber when they completed a simple task, in this case, handing a rock to the researcher. When both monkeys were given the same reward, they completed the task as prescribed.
But when the researcher gave one monkey a grape while offering the other the standard cucumber, the results were very different. The stiffed monkey, who was perfectly content just seconds before with his cucumber, began shrieking, baring his teeth, thrashing in his cage, and pounding on the table to show his anger. Known in the vernacular as FOMO, or "fear of missing out", marketers utilize this inborn trigger to incite pain akin to what the capuchin monkey felt in de Waals cage.
Marketers tasked with increasing consumption of their company's products have a difficult job; they are often charged with manufacturing desire. To do that, they need to find the customer's problem, their pain, in order to alleviate it. Without the biological basis spurring our desire, there would be no sales. So marketers must at least accentuate, if not induce, a level of discomfort to make us crave their wares.
Like in the undergraduates in Chellappan's study exhibiting signs of depression, we all seek to escape feeling bad. The products and services that provide immediate relief are those we come to depend upon most.
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The bathroom is often a place where homeowners go to relax, whether in a shower or a bath. As such, soothing design schemes and tranquil colors are often used to help promote rest. What better way to achieve the Zen feeling than with Asian-style decor? If you're not sure what kind of appearance you should be going for, here are some tips to guide you.
1. Use neutral colors. Shades that you would find in nature are ideal for Asian-style bathrooms, so opt for hues like brown, beige, gray and white.
2. Bring in dark wood. A dark wood vanity and maybe even a shoji screen would help to make the room look authentic. Faux wood blinds with a darker, textured color or bamboo roman shades could also add to the effect.
3. Set up a few plants. Choose to include orchids or ornamental grasses into your bathroom's design. These will not only look lovely, but will keep the air fresh.
4. Keep it asymmetrical. Asian decor typically features asymmetrical elements that work to balance each other, so keep this in mind as you're bringing in accent pieces.


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Letter to the Speaker of the House of Representatives on Proposed Aviation Security Legislation
Dear Mr. Speaker:
The quickest, most effective way to increase aviation security is to pass H.R. 3150, the Secure Transportation for America Act. Time is of the essence. I urge your support for H.R. 3150. Making American air travel as safe and secure as possible is one of our Nation's top priorities. Last month, I proposed dramatic changes to our aviation security system: full Federal control of airport security and screening services; major expansion of the Federal Air Marshal program; and substantial new funding for aircraft security modifications. H.R. 3150 would accomplish these important initiatives and improve security quickly and effectively.
Both my proposal and H.R. 3150 give the Federal Government immediate and comprehensive control of aviation security. A new Transportation Security Agency, housed at the Department of Transportation, will hire Federal employees to supervise, manage, and train all passenger and baggage screeners. The new Security Agency would also establish and enforce new qualification standards for screeners, perform background checks on all screeners and other persons with access to secure areas at airports, and provide a uniformed Federal law enforcement presence at commercial airports.
Significantly, H.R. 3150 leaves the Federal Government the flexibility to build the best workforce to perform the actual screening function—another key element of my proposal. This model of Federal control plus flexibility mirrors the well-regarded airline security systems in place in many European countries, which involve public/ private partnerships. Many adopted this model of strong government oversight over high-quality private security companies after finding other models of airline security to be less effective.
Other legislative proposals would mandate that all passenger and baggage screeners must be Federal workers in all circumstances. Such an inflexible, one-sizefits-all requirement fails to permit security tailored to the very different circumstances that exist at airports across the country. I am pleased that Chairman Young and the co-sponsors of H.R. 3150 have chosen not to limit the Administration's options in choosing the strongest possible means to protect Americans who travel by air. Giving the Government the flexibility to use private contractors will facilitate transition to the new system, promote better screening services through competition, and ensure that security managers can move swiftly to discipline or remove employees who fail to live up to the rigorous new standards.
The American people deserve a quick and smooth transition to a better aviation security system. I urge the House to pass H.R. 3150 as soon as possible; and my Administration looks forward to continuing to work with the Congress on any refinements that may be necessary to ensure that the Nation's aviation security needs are addressed in the most effective manner possible.
George W. Bush, Letter to the Speaker of the House of Representatives on Proposed Aviation Security Legislation Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/213341


text: Established in 1942, the Iredell County Health Department has worked hard for over 70 years to serve our citizens. We are funded through a combination of Federal, State and County money. County Commissioners have appointed an eleven-member Board of Health representatives to govern our operations. We provide a variety of clinical health care services, screening, informational programs, counseling, and education on disease prevention as well as dental care and nutrition services available to all citizens of Iredell County.


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Remember that HuffPo piece last year that everyone you've ever met emailed, Facebooked and Tweeted called "Why You're Not Married?" Reasons included: You're a bitch, you're shallow, and you're a slut. It sparked much debate and discussion and now the author, Tracy McMillan, has expanded her list into a book.
Let me start by saying that I am 36, incredibly single and a person who would like to get married or at least find a nice boyfriend. That said, I have never read a relationship book in my life. I scoffed at The Rules and wouldn't even think about reading He's Just Not That Into You. But this one, I read and LOVED. For one, Tracy is a writer by trade' from TV news to Mad Men' so she knows how to turn a phrase. She's quick, snarky and ultimately, in my opinion, very wise. Also, she's not preachy. Tracy doesn't claim to be perfect in relationships (she's been married three times) but she does feel like your best friend having a real "get a grip" conversation with you. I basically want to give this book to every single girlfriend I have. Each chapter breaks down what she means when she says "You're a bitch" or "You're a liar", gives some real-life scenarios of these behaviors in action and then some ways to work on changing them.
Honestly, I feel like I want the trifecta of Tracy, Emily Thorne (Revenge), and Olivia Pope (Scandal) handling my dating decisions. Okay so two of those people are fictional television characters' but at least I've got Tracy and her book.
I loved sitting down with her last week and could have stayed for hours and hours and hours. Here's a bit of our conversation:
How do you give your friends the kind of advice, like "You're being a bitch," in a way that it's helpful?
I kind of jokingly say, "Oh, I read this book, it's super funny, it's such bullshit. You should read it." And then the person reads it and they're like, "Oh, okay." And they enjoy it and they get the thing out of it. But you start by saying, "Oh my god, I can't even believe this book," jokingly, "But it's super-funny and there's actually some really great stuff in here."
Some of the best books I've ever read have had really bad titles, and you could just say, "It's one of those books with the title that's sort of like 'You did not just say that,' but it's actually a really good book." So, I think people get over the title really quick. Or you say, "It could just as easily have been called Why You're Not in a Long Term Relationship.
Oh, and I think that's very true. Some are in a place where they're not thinking about the "M" word, but they do want to have a nice committed relationship.
Right, exactly. This book could have just as easily been called Why You Don't Have A Really Nice Boyfriend. And it would have been absolutely true. I feel like women of all ages who have read this book have really enjoyed it. I think part of it is because the woman in her twenties loves it because "this applies to my dating," and it's a way of thinking about dating and relationships that it just shifts the way you're thinking about it — away from numbers and finding a cute guy or whatever. And more toward, "Oh, when I'm ready the dude is just going to come up, he will be there." And maybe what is standing in the way is not "I haven't met the right guy on OkCupid," but "Oh, maybe I'm not ready yet or there's some barriers or some challenges, and when I start to get in relationship with those challenges, when I start to address those challenges, things out there are going to change."
Because, see, I really believe that the world is just a reflection of my inner world and when you really start to live by that principle, like, "Really, you mean every single thing in my life is created at some level, maybe unconscious, by me? Wow!" And basically, I introduce you to that idea, and then tell you how it might be applying to these different things, and how to sort of shift that, start to shift things.
Do you think that maybe [women] don't put [themselves] out there because [they] don't have to be vulnerable and don't have to be hurt?
I do think that there comes a point where it's very tempting to opt out. "I don't want to deal with it anymore," or "I've been too hurt." But what we say is, "There are no good guys," or "I'm just too fabulous." There's this notion of staying with the trouble. Part of this book is about looking at the things that are going on in your life and staying with it.
Which is really hard whether you're in a relationship or not.
Totally, totally. I mean, it's interesting, this was something I was going to say earlier: women in their twenties read this book and get a lot of great ideas around dating and a way of thinking about dating. Women in their thirties read this book and go, "This is really clear about the marriage issue and the long term partner issue." Women forties and beyond read the book and say, "Okay, this is really very helpful for the relationship I'm in and for the women that I know. My sister, best friend, my cousin, who are facing these challenges and can't see what's going on and I want to tell her, 'Oh hey!'" Because older women absolutely see all this stuff.
Any woman in her fifties that I've talked to about this book, "Oh thank you so much." They get it immediately because at that point, you totally see all the mistakes that people are making and those women are very realistic about what a relationship is. And I think the thing is this whole book is about getting real, and the cool thing about getting real is that it hurts for a hot second. And then you're like, "Oh, I get it! I just need to get honest, be gentle…" and things shift, kind of why you're not looking. Because I think we come at it from this thing like, "I don't want to see anything I don't know how to fix already, and so if I don't know how to fix it, I'm going to not even want to know about it. I'm going to go into denial about it," instead of going, "No, come out of denial, have a look, you don't even need to know how to fix it, just have a look." And actually having a look and just going and taking a few deep breaths is the beginning of the shift. And I think I get at that in the book. That's the spiritual part.
Is there one place where everybody needs to start?
This is a book about getting honest with yourself in the gentlest and also most no-nonsense way. When I'm being provocative, it's really about — there's this balance you need to strike between being serious with yourself and being like "Come on, now" and being gentle with yourself. That's why I say it's like imagine Betty White is talking to you about your love-life because she is going to be sassy, she's going to give it to you straight, but she's also going to be really gentle and laughing, and warm and hugging and kissing with you. It's like that's the tone you want to be in with yourself, that's the attitude you want to adapt.
I think that's really hard for a lot of women, especially for women who have been very ambitious and successful in their careers. You have to toughen up in certain ways, especially if you're playing in a boy's club.
Well, we think we succeeded, and by some degree we did succeed, by being perfect. We didn't make mistakes. So it's very hard to come into this new relationship with ourselves where it's "Oh, I'm making mistakes and it's okay," and actually being okay with the mistakes is what's going to get you the success in this aspect of life. That's not true in aspects of life that you're really in in your twenties. You're really in work. Well, work is a different type of pursuit than relationships. You can't take the skills that you know that have gotten you into that great school or into that great job and apply them to your relationships. And I think that so many people feel like they can because people are like, "Approach it like you would approach your job or business school, or whatever."
There's nothing wrong with having a strong masculine, but I also need a strong feminine. And no one's even talking about that. We think that the two things are never going to meet, and it's really about going, "Oh wait, I need to develop this part of myself, a receiver, and I need a receiver of creative ideas, a receiver of intuition, a receiver of love." It's an allowingness that needs to be cultivated, and it's actually fun. And once you move into that energy — it's a whole different kind of energy. It's almost like, you know that drawing with the faces and the candlesticks? It's either two faces of a profile or it's the candlesticks. They're both true, and you need to slowly shift your eyes — you can't stare it down. You're like "Oh, I see the candlesticks." You have to relax and then you can see the faces. That's what it is, you want to have these two things that are going on there. They're both there, they're already in you, that's the thing, they're already in you. We're just so used to seeing the candlestick, we don't ever look at the faces. And it's like, this is a huge thing with women. The business school, or whatever, that approach to getting a relationship: you'd know if it was working because there would be millions of married women in New York City. It's not working. Obviously, it's not working.
What do men think about the book?
Well, men love my book, I will say. You know why? Part of the reason is because they feel like they've been blamed a lot in the last ten years. Women blame men for their own singlehood. "Oh, there's no good guys," or "men suck." And then a lot of men feel like, "Well, I'm a good guy and you're not interested in me." The thing about men is, they're so interesting, I hate to generalize, but there are some generalizations that you can make and I see this because I have a son and my son has a bunch of friends and they've grown up together, so I see. The first thing I got from having a boy child was, "Oh, men weren't holding out on me all those years, that's how they are," and I didn't get it. I thought they could be more like me if they just tried harder, and it's like, no. No. But one of the beautiful things about men is that they're very in the moment. That's why they don't want to have an argument about what happened six months ago. ""Remember when you did…" and they really can't remember.
The point being, men, their present moment, and what that means is: they see us right where we are, they just do. Where we see in intangibles. We see a man's potential, what a man sees is what's right in front of them. They see us in ways that we don't even know that they see us. I remember having a really wise woman in my life for many years — she's still in my life — basically we would go into her teepee and I would learn so much from her. She was like a spiritual wise woman. She'd been married twice, she had five kids, she'd seen a lot of life, and one thing she said to me is, "One of the gifts that men give us as women is they see us for who we really are." And what that means in terms of why you're not married is they see these things going on with women and it actually makes them sad, but they know they don't have the power to fix it. And they're not going to get into a long-term relationship with her. That happened to me once. They're not going to do it.
Yeah, why would they want to?
Oh, you know, because men love bitches? No they don't. Men with low self-esteem love bitches. Women love bad boys? No, they don't. Women with low self-esteem love bad boys. Women who have work to do love bad boys. Women who love themselves love good men. My whole thing in this, my higher purpose, is really to bring the entire conversation about men and women and relationships to a level where we stop getting in this war with each other, and we start working together. And that's going to require, I mean we've talked a lot about men — I don't, you know a lot of women have asked me at this point, I've been doing this for 15 years. I'm not being dismissive. With all the love in my heart, I know the type. I know about men, but that's not my business.
There are things that are different. I'm a woman and I've always been a girl. I can't tell you what it feels like to be a boy, like they don't know what it feels like to be a girl.
No, they don't. But are we really saying it's the same thing? All I'm here to say is what if we as women just look at ourselves, shifted something in here, how would that change what's going on for us? For me, just as an individual, out there? That's what I noticed. I went through my life, and I went "Oh wow, when I shifted, when I addressed what was going on with me, suddenly a really nice guy…"
I've always liked nice guys and I feel like that's one of my gifts, but I married a guy who cheated on me, and I know that I have to take full responsibility for that relationship. That didn't happen to me. I'm not a victim. What happened to me is I had some blind spots and I lied to myself, and I allowed that to happen. And when I stop allowing that to happen, it's not going to happen to me anymore. There can be bad guys out there (guys who aren't great or aren't nice), but they're not going to hurt me unless I open the door to it. And it was shifting that and noticing that I had to take 100 percent responsibility for what I was creating in my life, in my love life.
And I think that taking that and stopping yourself is just going to help you in general.
Totally! And that's why I say this is not about men.
If you're a better person, the world is just a better place.
But we're so locked into this relationship with men versus women that we think, "If I'm nicer, it means he won."
That's very true. So you're not saying you should cook for a man and clean for a man?
No, I'm not saying that. I'm saying nurturing is a good thing. When you nurture yourself by cooking for yourself, when you love yourself, you extend that love to other people. What is controversial about that? That means a man won because I'm willing to create nurturing in my own life and extend it? Are you going to cook for your kids, does that mean they got over on you? Give me a break!
Well, I think when you nurture, you're typically nurtured in return.
You create a loving environment. We have thrown out the baby but kept the bath water.
Right. Being nice to people doesn't—
Diminish you. Being kind isn't bad. What if actual change begins with me? Like relationship change begins with women? I'm just going to let it start here, how about that? I'm not going to worry about, well, he better go first and then I'll do it. That's like the arms race, does that work? That is a male paradigm! The arms race, well, I'm not going to do it until — oh, hello Hatfields and McCoys. A total standoff, and we've been in a male and female standoff for a while. And I'm like, it can start here, that's all. And it doesn't mean they won. It's not even us versus them. That's a lie. The reality is a lie.
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"She doesn't want the podcast to be celebrity-driven, though she'll have some stars on."
By Rachel Burchfield
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All the best websites, right this way.
By Kayleigh Roberts
The 82 Best Cheap Date Ideas for Couples on a Budget
"Love don't cost a thing." —J.Lo
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Daikin Industries, Ltd. was awarded Minister's Prize, The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry for "promotion of energy conservation through worldwide expansion of high efficiency HFC-32 air conditioners, and the Chairman Prize of Energy Conservation Center, Japan (ECCJ) for its VRV Series in the Chairman Energy Conservation Grand Prize for excellent energy conservation equipment for fiscal year 2015 by ECCJ.
In 2012, Daikin led the world by being the first company to commercialize air conditioners using refrigerant HFC-32, a refrigerant having low impact on global warming, and it has subsequently received acclaim for its work to promote adoption of the refrigerant in many countries in the world, beginning with Japan. In promoting energy conservation through worldwide expansion of high efficiency HFC-32 air conditioners, Daikin was awarded the Minister Prize for its global contribution to mitigating the impact of global warming. Not only has Daikin expanded distribution channels and sales activities for the products, it has also laid the groundwork for HFC-32 adoption by lending technical assistance in the formulation of rules for international standards and providing training to technicians. These efforts resulted in the use of more than 5.5 million units of HFC-32 air conditioners in 47 countries worldwide by the end of 2015. Currently, all manufacturers in Japan sell HFC-32 air conditioners, and the use of these air conditioners is projected to have a significant impact in reducing worldwide greenhouse gases in the future.
The VRV Series for Japanese market of multi-split type air conditioners for commercial buildings that received the Chairman Prize of ECCJ significantly reduce annual electricity consumption as a result of a new scroll compressor that raises operation efficiency at the time of low load and new control technology that controls refrigerant temperature automatically by adjusting to the load during heating and cooling. An investigation of annual use of air conditioners in actual buildings reveals that air conditioners operate at an extremely high load only for short whereas operation below 50% of rated capacity occurs for approximately 90% of operation time. Consequently, the key point for realization of a net zero energy building is how much efficiency improves when load is low. In the VRV Series, a significant increase in efficiency was achieved at the time of low load, and compared to conventional models; standby power consumption was reduced by 15%. As a result, the amount of total annual electricity consumption was reduced approximately by 21%.
In addition to providing energy-saving products, Daikin is committed to developing cutting-edge technology and services globally as the company continues to pursue product development that realizes both comfort and preservation of the environment. The award ceremony was held on January 27th at ENEX/Smart Energy Japan 2016 which took place at Tokyo Big Sight. The products will also be on display at Daikin booth at the HVAC&R Japan 2016.
Daikin Middle East & Africa is the Regional Head Quarters, located in Dubai & responsible for all sales & aftermarket support for all range of air conditioning products sold in GCC, Middle East & Africa.
For more information, please visit: www.daikinmea.com


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Custom printed promotional messenger bags are a fantastic way to ensure your brand gets seen everywhere on bicyclists, professionals entering office buildings, and the average individual running errands. Help your clients or employees organize their papers, computers and accessories. Clients will greatly appreciate how useful your personalized promotional logo messenger bag is.
IASpromotes.com's collection of promotional messenger bags includes sophisticated executive styles, as well as practical and economical urban designs. We can assure you that we have a promotional messenger bag style ideal for your audience and your promotional budget.


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Story highlights
Cameron Russell, a model known for her TEDx talk about beauty, helps launch magazine
Initially a webzine, Interrupt magazine invites diverse voices to join the media
Russell invites public to visit art lab called "You Are a Genius" to explore more
Russell: Critical voices from women, people of color missing from important conversations
Cameron Russell aims to open up the media landscape to divergent voices a little bit at a time. In March, she helped launch Interrupt magazine, initially a webzine, so these other perspectives can join in the media conversation. Its first issue is devoted to body image.
Russell is familiar with how women are portrayed in the media. She has been a model for brands such as Victoria's Secret, Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren and Benetton and has appeared in the pages of Vogue, Harper's Bazaar and W.
She is also known for her TEDx talk, "Looks Aren't Everything," about those who win the genetic lottery and how society rewards the conventionally beautiful.
To celebrate Interrupt magazine's launch, she's inviting the public to an art lab called "You Are a Genius" on New York's Lower East Side through Monday. It's at 215 Bowery St.
CNN spoke recently with Russell about her new project.
CNN: How did the idea come about?
Cameron Russell: I had been thinking about an online participatory magazine for a while. After the amazing response to my TEDx talk, my Brooklyn-based art lab decided it was time to make this a reality. At the Big Bad Lab, we build participatory art and media platforms for causes, communities and organizations we care about. I run the magazine with Hannah Assebe and Allison Bland as well as hundreds of collaborators who provide writing, photos, editing help and moral support.
CNN: Why Interrupt?
Russell: Statistics show that diversity in the media is pretty dismal. Critical voices from women and people of color are missing from many important conversations. Ever watch a panel about immigration without any immigrants? Abortion without any women? Marriage rights without any LGBTQ people? We knew it's crazy to start another media platform, but we came across many authentic voices online and offline that we felt we can bring together and showcase. Sometimes you just need to interrupt!
CNN: What are highlights in the first issue?
Russell: It's all about body image. We found out that about 50% of 8-year-old girls don't like their bodies. But it's not just girls. Many women said they couldn't remember a time when they liked their bodies – they couldn't remember what that felt like.
We collaborated with Interrupt photographer Marie C. who interviewed girls under the age of 8 asking what they liked about their bodies. Their answers illuminated a perspective that was missing from mass-media conversations. These girls liked their bodies because they functioned well! Instead of the usual negative views – I'm too fat or I don't like my nose – these girls appreciated the fact that they can draw with their hands and run fast with their legs. It's refreshing. Their story was a huge success and got over 5,000 shares.
Then there's Teagan Widmer, a transgender woman who wrote about trying to find the right bra. Her story is not exactly something the mainstream press would cover. But when we posted her advice to our Tumblr site it became one of the most popular stories.
The lesson here is that when we value a narrow range of experiences and perspectives, we don't just have a media that lack diversity, we actually underestimate our audiences. There aren't just a few types of experiences that matter – there are countless.
CNN: With so many publications going digital only, what made you decide to put out a magazine?
Russell: Our first print issue is a mock tabloid. Starting this week, it is appearing for free in nail salons, newsstands, dentist offices and other not-so-hidden places around NYC. Improving access to media means not just focusing on early adopters. We are spending our resources on building a community of collaborators who can share unique and critical views.
CNN: What's been the most interesting experience in launching Interrupt?
Russell: Actually, I think working on the offline Genius Lab. We wanted to build a space where people felt comfortable and genius in their identity. We have two selfie walls because taking a selfie is an innate and obvious way that draws in a lot of young people. We have a "You Are a Genius' bar, where people can explore online resources for social services, civic engagement, health and well-being, and creative production.
Having a physical offline space where children, teenagers and random passers-by can come in and get involved is amazing. Check them out on our Tumblr feed. Many of these people spent over an hour here, took pictures, wrote pieces for the next issue and hung out. Sometimes, great collaboration is hard to nurture online so doing so offline is the way to go. We hope to run another one this fall. Stay tuned.
CNN: How do you get the word out?
Russell: The first several hundred submissions came from people who found out about the project online, mostly through Twitter. Now that we're deeper into the project, we've cultivated many more collaborations. For example, (check out) a cool piece we did with teens at South End Technology Center in Boston. We've found artists like Ernest English, who made a piece that is drawing the most attention in the Genius Lab.
CNN: What's the biggest difference between your webzine and say Buzzfeed?
Russell: There are a ton of new media startups heavily focused on getting huge traffic and high growth, but that's not our central goal. We want to build something that disrupts the way we think media can be made.
Can Interrupt make an impact?
Russell: Every time someone who isn't a "media maker" creates something that goes viral, every time someone whose perspective is left out of mainstream media proves to make an impact, every time a contributor collaborates with someone new to make better work, we improve the media landscape a little bit.
CNN: What did you want to be when you grow up?
Russell: I always wanted to become president! When I was a kid, I was obsessed with politics. The first long book I remember reading was (Richard) Neustadt's "Presidential Power" in fourth grade. But as I learned more about our democracy, I realized that who participates, who votes and who gets elected is not as simple as it seems. That got me interested in how to bring people together and ignite alternative networks of power, and that's why I started the Big Bad Lab.
CNN: Who are your heroes?
Russell: I'm inspired by the people I work with. At the Genius Lab, we have three incredible artists. Ernest English makes enormous participatory public art pieces. Adalky Capellan is a young woman who creates very large-scale work. When I saw her photos, I knew she was perfect to do our dream selfie wall background. And then there's the graffiti artist and muralist known as miss163. She is a joy to work with, and her piece is all about love, which is great for us since one of our upcoming issues is about LGBT.
CNN: If you can give one piece of advice to young women, what would it be?
Russell: When boys at school told me I couldn't play their game, my mom told me to ask: "Why, do you need a penis to play?"
Follow @CNNOpinion on Twitter.
Join us at Facebook/CNNOpinion.


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Office fragrance is becoming a real issue.
Fragrance sensitivity.
It may sound "rash," but many types of fragrances in the workplace can trigger anything from breathing issues to hives to nausea to headaches — and everything in-between. These reactions can be so bad, in fact, lawsuits are being filed — and won — by suffering employees.
Case in point, in 2010 a city planner in Detroit won a substantial settlement against her employer under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). In addition, this led the employer to adopt a strict "no-scent" policy office-wide.
How did it come to this?
These lawsuits typically arise because employees feel their sensitivity to fragrances disable them, and the workplace has done nothing to attempt to reasonably accommodate them.
But how do you determine if fragrance sensitivity is a disability? And how do you handle the awkward situation in the office?
First, determine if the employee(s) suffering does, in fact, have protection under the ADA.
This is a sometimes tricky situation because, according to the ADA, there is no one list of conditions protected under the act. Rather, there is a definition that a person must meet to qualify: A person has a disability if he/she has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a record of such impairment, or is regarded as having such an impairment.
If the employee or employees do not specifically fall under this act, some questions you can ask internally to help determine the degree of the issue:
- Has the employee met previously about the issue with anyone in human resources?
- Does it appear to be a seasonal or everyday issue for the employee?
- Is the employee showing physical or mental signs of distress based on the sensitivity?
- Are these sensitivities limited work production?
- Are there resources that can be made available to implement any types of accommodations?
If you determine the employee does, in fact, have a legitimate claim, there are several steps to take.
Most often, employers first look into simply moving the fragrance-sensitive employee and the employee(s) using excessive fragrance farther away from each other in the office. In other instances, employers ask their employees to voluntarily refrain from wearing or using fragrances at work. If taking this route, however, one must be crystal clear on fragrances.
For example, are scented candles allowed? And what about scented deodorants? Or lotions?
It is also important to never blame one or a few complaining employees, as that opens them up to office embarrassment and potential harassment, causing a litany of new issues in the workplace.
In some cases, one can also look into a fragrance sensitivity training session for the office to help educate everyone on the degree of stress scents may be causing co-workers.
Some additional accommodation ideas may include:
- Testing and improving the overall air quality in the office.
- Modifying work schedules or allowing telecommuting.
- Providing air purification systems for sensitive employees.
In some extreme instances, the employer may have to develop a "no fragrance" policy in the office, complete with punishments for employees who continue to wear or use scents in the workplace.
The good news?
It usually doesn't come to that.
In fact, according to the rule itself, all activities performed on behalf of the suffering employee must be reasonable to the employer as well. As such, drastic tactics that may hinder the office, such as a no fragrance policy, are often unnecessary.
The best way to handle the situation?
Sit down and listen to the employee's issues, determine a plan of action together, document it for all parties involved, and follow up with the employee regularly.
For more information about office fragrance lawsuits, no fragrance policies and the other topics discussed in this column, call (602) 281-3406 or visit laborlawyers.com.


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PAM Centre, Utilising Sustainable Features
Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur
The new Pertubuhan Akitek Malaysia (PAM) is located in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur. The project has been designed to provide a bold statement of sustainability with its green building features and also contributes towards cutting edge technology in the building industry.
The new centre sports Breezway Louvre Window products including a mixture of powered and manual Breezway Window Systems all with clear tempered glass to optimise views and natural ventilation.
Heikal Architect
No. 3-10, Perdana The Place,
5 Jalan PJU 8/51,
Damansara Perdana, Selangor
47820 Petaling Jaya, Malaysia
Phone: +60 37710 0215


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Miller's Gin and Fever Tree Tonic
Usually I stick to writing about wine but this past weekend a rep from Martin Miller's Gin was in the shop giving out samples. Now, I'm not a big fan of gin and tonic so I was a bit dubious of trying his gin but I screwed up my face and gave it go.
In my mind, G&T's conjure up the taste memory of a bitter, artificial tasting cocktail that smells like cheap, citrusy perfume. I'll gulp down a G&T if that's all that's available but generally steer clear of them.
That is until this last Saturday. Martin Miller's gin is an English gin that was created by 3 guys in Notting Hill, west London. After some trial and error, they came up with a citrusy, crisp, smooth, clean gin, that just smells cool.
They use only quality botanicals and it's distilled in the Black Country before being shipped to Iceland (!) to be mixed with lava-filtered spring water. The bottle is all sleek lines flaring out at the bottom. It kind of reminds me of a cricket bat. I think that game has affected me somewhat.
The mixer was another quality product, Fever Tree tonic water. If you check out the ingredients on most commercially sold tonic water, the main ingredient used to add sweetness is either artificial sweetener or high fructose syrup which either leaves that horrible aftertaste or a sugary gloopiness. No wonder I don't like tonic. Fever Tree only uses all natural ingredients, cane sugar and spring water. That's it. No artificial sweetners, flavourings or preservatives.
Put the two together and this gin and tonic was like no other I had ever tasted. Cool, refreshing, tasty, no cloying, bitter, artificial sweetner aftertaste, just a long, tall, icy libation rejuvenating me for the afternoon ahead. Everything a G&T should be but so often is disappointingly not…fabulous!