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Breaking down the AP college football poll after Week 11 of the regular season.
That Alabama lost really wasn't shocking. Surprising, sure, but not shocking. The Crimson Tide is tremendously talented, exceedingly well coached, but as LSU showed last week, vulnerable.
The Tide's run of 10 weeks at No. 1 in The Associated Press college football poll ended Sunday with Oregon moving into the top spot and Alabama falling to fourth.
No, what was shocking about Johnny Manziel and Texas A&M beating Alabama 29-24 in Tuscaloosa on Saturday was that for the first time in years the Southeastern Conference was no longer in control of college football.
It's been a while since that wasn't the case. The SEC's streak of BCS titles started in 2006, when Florida made a late and controversial run to get into the championship game against Ohio State. The Gators validated that choice by pounding the Buckeyes 41-14.
The next season, a wild race full of upsets along the way ultimately put LSU in the title game, and the Tigers took their turn beating the Buckeyes.
Since then, though, the SEC has never had to worry about what was going on in other conferences. The SEC championship game in some years was a de facto national semifinal. In others, it was the last hurdle to clear before the BCS title game.
Now the SEC has been relegated to watching and hoping.
To many fans of other conferences, this development has been greeted with great joy. SEC fatigue hit a high-water mark last year when LSU and Alabama played for the BCS national title after playing in the regular season. It was as if college football didn't even exist outside the Deep South — which is what many SEC fans already suspected.
Of course, those basking in the glory of the SEC being at the mercy of teams from the Pac-12 (Oregon) and Big 12 (No. 2 Kansas State) and — gasp! — No. 3 Notre Dame might want to be careful to not spike the ball before the goal line.
"Two of the three national championship teams that I coached lost a game," Tide coach Nick Saban said, counting one at LSU. "This team still has an opportunity to win the West and go to the SEC championship game and win a championship. There's still a lot for this team to play for."
The Ducks, Wildcats and Fighting Irish have potentially tough games on their schedules. There's still a good chance Alabama (9-1) and No. 5 Georgia (9-1) will meet in the SEC championship with only one loss apiece.
If two of those top three drop a game, the SEC is on deck, and there's no reason to think the Tide or the Bulldogs can't win the BCS title game if they get there.
While the 10-team Big 12 seems to be more balanced, no conference has more heavyweights than the SEC.
Florida (9-1) is No. 7 in the AP poll. LSU (8-2) is No. 8 and Texas A&M (8-2) is ninth. South Carolina (8-2) is 12th.
The irony of the SEC's weekend is that while it was pushed to the periphery of the championship chase, it also became the first conference in the history of the AP poll to make up half of the top 12 teams.
What happened this weekend is why SEC Commissioner Mike Slive has been at the forefront of the playoff push in college football. The SEC has six teams that can compete with any in the country, and there's a chance none will get to play for the national title.
Slive finally got his way. The playoff is coming in 2014.
For now, though, the SEC's championship streak depends on Oregon State, Southern California, Texas and the rest of the teams in position to pull an A&M-like upset.
Yes, that's right SEC fans. Lane Kiffin could hold the key to the conference's national championship hopes.
Texas A&M jumped six spots to No. 9 in the rankings with its huge victory, and proved in its first season in the SEC it has no plans of conceding first place in the West to the league's recent superpowers, Alabama and LSU.
First-year coach Kevin Sumlin and Manziel have helped transform an underachieving team that went 7-6 under Mike Sherman in its last year in the Big 12.
The conventional wisdom was the Aggies might need a year or two to get settled into their new home, with a new leader. A&M was picked toward the bottom of the West.
Sumlin has the Aggies ahead of schedule and might just be national coach of the year.
Oregon State lost for the second time this season, this time at Stanford, and dropped two spots to No. 15 in the poll.
The loss could be a devastating one for the Beavers, who have been one of the most surprising teams in the country.
The Beavers (7-2) have not played in the Rose Bowl since 1965 and were in position to get there without even beating Oregon or winning the Pac-12. Just finish 10-2 and have Oregon reach the national championship game. The Rose Bowl is still very much a possibility, but now they'll have to do it the hard way and not lose another game.
Louisville was the other undefeated team to lose on Saturday, falling at Syracuse. The Cardinals dropped nine spots in the poll to No. 20.
Kent State is the latest Mid-American Conference team to crack the AP Top 25. The Golden Flashes (9-1) are No. 25 and in the rankings for the first time since Nov. 5, 1973, when they were No. 19 and the poll only went to 20.
Now let's see if Kent State can stay in longer than its MAC-mates.
Ohio was the first MAC team to get into the rankings this season, and the Bobcats then lost their next game to Miami, Ohio.
Toledo got into the rankings last week and promptly lost to Ball State.
The Golden Flashes are at Bowling Green on Saturday.
Michigan is back in for the third time at No. 23. Also, falling out was Mississippi State.
Oregon is No. 1 for the first time since 2010, when the Ducks had a seven-week stint atop the AP poll on their way to losing the national championship game to Auburn.
That was the first time Oregon had ever reached No. 1.
Kansas State's No. 2 ranking matches the best in program history, accomplished five times previously. The Wildcats were second four times in 1998 and once in 2000.
Oregon received 45 of 60 first-place votes this week. Kansas State got 14 and Notre Dame received one. ... Only two games matching ranked teams this week, both in the Pac-12. Oregon, dealing with a string of injuries to its defense, hosts No. 14 Stanford. The Ducks would clinch the North Division with a victory. No. 21 Southern California is at No. 17 UCLA. The winner wins the South Division. ... Texas Tech tied Michigan for No. 23 in the rankings.
Follow Ralph D. Russo at www.Twitter.com/ralphdrussoap


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The Green Party nominated a Massachusetts physician and a formerly homeless single mother as their presidential and vice-presidential candidates for 2012 on Saturday. They say they are in it to win it, and — at the very least — to expand the electoral conversation to include people they say aren't represented by either Democrats or Republicans.
Amid waving green and white campaign signs in a conference room at a Baltimore Holiday Inn, the room erupted in cheers as Dr. Jill Stein won the delegate count.
She laid out her platform, called the Green New Deal, which she says includes a series of emergency reforms. The plans range from declaring a moratorium on foreclosures to forgiving student loan debt and creating millions of community-based jobs in worker cooperatives, public transportation and in clean energy.
"The Green New Deal ends unemployment in America," she said.
Stein blasted Republicans and Democrats alike, including President Obama. She's accused the Democrat of embracing the policies of his Republican predecessor. She also called his recent relaxation of policy for young undocumented immigrants a "pre-election about-face."
"The Obama White House has been the most anti-immigrant administration in a century," she said.
In fact, Democrats bore the brunt of the criticism here, though folks like Bob Marsh of California think both so-called mainstream parties are to blame for the nation's woes.
"The Democrats are more responsible because we all know that the Republicans represent Wall Street," he says.
Mell Davis of Maryland believes it's the candidate, not the party, that voters should pay attention to, and she thinks Stein's message will resonate with voters once they hear it.
"It's definitely outside of the Republican/Democratic box. We need to get outside of that thinking that nobody besides a Republican or Democrat can get elected," she says.
Davis thinks the party's vice-presidential nominee, Cheri Honkala, will attract single parents. Honkala said she could put a human face on those living in poverty.
"[Poverty is] an issue that hasn't been talked about by either President Obama or Mitt Romney," Honkala said.
Stein has qualified for federal matching funds — the first Green Party presidential candidate to do so in its 11-year history. Party officials are hoping to spend up to $2 million on the presidential race alone.
Stein had an answer for those who worry that the Green Party could tip battleground states against Obama. Many pundits felt 2000 Green Party nominee Ralph Nader's showing in Florida contributed to Al Gore's loss to President George W. Bush.
"It's a convenient scapegoat and it's a convenient public relations campaign to try to suppress the voice of the opposition," she said.
Right now, the Green Party is on the ballot in 21 states. It hopes to make it on the ballot in 45 states by Election Day in November.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

subset: commoncrawl


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Thrifted shirt and yellow slip, and the blue skirt was sent to me from American Apparel. On the plus side it's a great blue and creates the illusion of floating, on the negative, I am tiny for my age and STILL it's too tight around the waist and too long.
Mom's thrifted boots.
Manic Panic wig and Goody barrettes. The wig was well-received at school, often believed to be my real hair ("Oh, thank God it's a wig, for a sec I thought you had actually dyed your hair blue! That would be a bit too far!!") and apparently another girl wore a blue one today and everyone thought we planned it. I don't know who she is and I didn't see her but now I need to find my wig twin.


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Andrew Zimmern is not pleased with Yelp. The Bizarre Foods host and former chef recently slammed the user review site, saying it "essentially gives a tremendous forum for a bunch of uninformed morons to take down restaurants." Defenders of Yelp and other crowdsourced review sites, such as Zagat, Chow and others, say that the range of reviewers — some morons, some not — at least gives a broad spectrum of opinion, which is more than you can say for a traditional restaurant critic.
(MORE: The Top 10 Food Trends of 2012)
But in my experience, Zimmern is right: the reviews are, at best, wildly uneven. In an earlier, more primitive stage of my food-writing career, I had the eye-opening experience of editing a Zagat dining guide for Long Island. I got to see all the reviews for every single place in the book. And guess what? Most of the reviews were utterly misleading. Because the reviewers generally tended to write up only the restaurants they went to frequently, they tended to grossly overrate them. Every strip-mall sushi joint had "the best fish this side of Tokyo!" that "you'd think just came out of the ocean!" The most loved and admired place in the whole area, with four or five times more reviews than anyplace else? The Cheesecake Factory.
(MORE: Restaurant Ratings: Is Michelin Lost in the Stars?)
I'm not trying to be snotty here, anymore than was the menschy Zimmern. I'm sure I grossly overrate my favorite restaurants, and underrate those that aren't to my particular taste, or those that I just happened to catch on a bad night. Most of the Yelp reviews I've read have been detailed, thoughtful, and fair-minded, as far as I can tell. But that's the problem. I can't tell you about all of them. I don't have time to read them all. Consider this analogy: Last night at dinner four very smart people, all of whose opinions I trusted, told me that Skyfall was bad. Skyfall! I was flabbergasted, but if I hadn't seen it myself, I might have missed the greatest James Bond movie ever made. (Disclosure: I am a nerd.) At a table of 10 people, four hated Skyfall. On Yelp, that would decimate a restaurant.
To make matters worse, Yelp has the greatest influence not on the Skyfalls of the world, but rather the Beasts of the Southern Wilds and Moonrise Kingdoms. According to a study published last fall by an assistant professor at Harvard Business School, a one-star increase on the site leads to a 5% to 9% increase in revenue — except for chain restaurants, which spend heavily on branding and do not appear to be affected by Yelp reviews: "The impact of this information is larger for products of relatively unknown quality." In other words, new, small, restaurants, stumbling out into the world on unsteady fawn legs, have the most to gain — or lose — by foodies with starry eyes or an ax to grind.
(MORE: In Praise of the Endangered Restaurant Critic)
So what should a person do? Not use Yelp, or Zagat, or the rest? No, that would be dumb. The sites can be a big help, but you have to know how to use them. Ignore non-specific assertions of goodness or badness; even if you know who wrote the reviews and have reason to trust them, there's no accounting for taste, which is frequently uneven and always subjective. (I, for example, have great taste in hamburgers and terrible taste in Thai food.) But look for believable descriptions of service lapses — not "the waitress was unbelievably rude," but "we stood at the bar for 40 minutes before we were seated, despite having a reservation." Look for specific descriptions of dishes, particularly those that involve texture and temperature, two qualities I find unlikely to be wholly fictive. And, best of all, look at every picture you can. Because, unlike Yelp reviews, love letters, and professions of faith, pictures never lie.


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New Delhi, India - A Hindu nationalist legislator was arrested yesterday after a court pronounced him guilty of playing a major role in the murder of a Christian during anti-Christian carnage in Orissa state's Kandhamal district in August 2008.
The Fast Track Court II in Kandhamal convicted Manoj Pradhan of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the murder of a 30-year-old Christian, Bikram Nayak, who succumbed to head injuries two days after an attack by a mob in the Raikia area of Budedi village on Aug. 25, 2008.
Judge Chitta Ranjan Das sentenced Pradhan to six years of rigorous imprisonment for "culpable homicide not amounting to murder" under Section 304 of the Indian Penal Code and imposed a fine of 15,500 rupees (US$335) for setting houses ablaze.
Pradhan, who contested and won the April 2009 state assembly election from jail representing Kandhamal's G. Udayagiri constituency, was not initially accused in the police complaint in Nayak's murder, but his role emerged during the investigation, according to The Hindu.
One of the primary suspects in violence that followed the assassination of Hindu nationalist leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati on Aug. 23, 2008, Pradhan was initially arrested in Berhampur city in neighboring Ganjam district in December 2008. The violence began a day after Saraswati's killing when Hindu nationalist groups blamed Christians for his murder, although Maoists (extreme Marxists) claimed responsibility for it.
In spite of this week's conviction, the Orissa state unit of the BJP said the case against Pradhan was weak.
"The case is not strong," Orissa BJP President Jual Oram told Compass by telephone. "Pradhan was merely present at the scene of crime."
Pradhan was named in at least 12 police complaints concerning murder and arson. But after he won the election, he was released on bail.
This is the 36-year-old Pradhan's second conviction. On June 29, Kandhamal's Fast Track Court I sentenced him to seven years in jail in a case concerning the murder of another Christian, Parikhita Nayak, also from Budedi village, who was killed on Aug. 27, 2008. Though not convicted of murder, Pradhan was found guilty of rioting and causing grievous hurt in the Parikhita Nayak case.
The June 29 judgment led to his arrest, but the Orissa High Court granted him bail eight days later.
The BJP will challenge the convictions in a higher court, Oram said.
Last month Kanaka Rekha Nayak, widow of Parikhita Nayak, complained that despite the conviction of Pradhan and an accomplice, they were immediately given bail and continued to roam the area, often intimidating her.
Rekha Nayak was among 43 survivors who on Aug. 22-24 testified in Delhi before the National People's Tribunal (NPT), a private hearing of victims of the Kandhamal violence organized by the National Solidarity Forum, a confederation of 60 non-profit groups and people's movements.
Nayak said local politicians, including Pradhan, hit her husband with an axe. Her husband's body was later chopped into pieces, she recalled as she sobbed during testimony at the tribunal, headed by Justice A.P. Shah, former chief justice of Delhi High Court.
The fast track courts set up especially to hear cases related to the anti-Christian violence have acquitted Pradhan in seven cases for lack of evidence. Three more cases are pending against him.
The state BJP's Oram said Christians had created "hype" about the cases against Pradhan to "trouble us." He added, "The state government is not doing anything to arrest and try the killers of the Swami."
The NPT tribunal asserted that between August and December 2008, about 2,000 people were "forced to repudiate their Christian faith."
The tribunal cited government figures asserting that during the violence from August to December 2008, more than 600 villages were ransacked, 5,600 houses were looted and burned, 54,000 people were left homeless, and 38 people were murdered in Kandhamal alone. It also noted that human rights groups estimated that over 100 people were killed, including women, disabled and aged persons and children, and "an un-estimated number suffered severe physical injuries and mental trauma."
While there were reports of four women being gang-raped, many more victims of sexual assault were believed to have been intimidated into silence, the tribunal concluded.
As many as 295 church buildings and other places of worship, big and small, were destroyed, and 13 schools, colleges, and offices of five non-profit organizations damaged, it said, adding that about 30,000 people were uprooted and living in relief camps, with many of them still displaced.
"More than 10,000 children had their education severely disrupted due to displacement and fear," it reported. "Today, after two years, the situation has not improved, although the administration time and again claims it is peaceful and has returned to normalcy."
The Christian community was deliberately targeted by Hindu nationalist groups such as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council), the Bajrang Dal and the active members of Bharatiya Janata Party," the tribunal concluded.
The jury also observed that cries against religious conversions were used as for political mobilization and "to incite horrific forms of violence and discrimination against the Christians" of Dalit (formerly "untouchables" according the caste hierarchy in Hinduism) origin.
"The object is to dominate them and ensure that they never rise above their low caste status and remain subservient to the upper castes," it added.
The jury accused police of complicity, which "was not an aberration of a few individual police men, but evidence of an institutional bias against the targeted Christian community."
"The jury is constrained to observe that public officials have colluded in the destruction of evidence, and there is testimony directly implicating the District Collector [the administrative head of a district] in this misdemeanor."
The jury expressed concern over the lack of mechanisms to protect victims "who have dared to lodge complaints and witnesses who have courageously given evidence in court," as they "are unable to return to their homes."
"There is no guarantee of safe passage to and from the courts. They are living in other cities and villages, many of them in hiding, as they apprehend danger to their lives."
It also noted mental trauma in children.
"There has been no trauma counselling for the affected children and adolescents in Kandhamal. Even today they have nightmares of running in the jungle, with the killers in pursuit, are scared of any loud sound and are afraid of people walking in groups or talking loudly."
Bollywood lyricist Javed Akhtar, who was part of the tribunal, said that incidents such as the Kandhamal carnage against religious minorities continued to happen with "alarming frequency" in India.
"As citizens of this democracy, we should hang our heads in shame," he said.


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Slimmed farm bill reveals waning influence of agriculture
| Washington
A patchwork extension of federal farm programs passed as part of a larger "fiscal cliff" bill keeps the price of milk from rising but doesn't include many of the goodies that farm-state lawmakers are used to getting for their rural districts.
House and Senate Agriculture Committee leaders who spent more than a year working on a half-trillion-dollar, five-year farm bill that would keep subsidies flowing had to accept in the final hours a slimmed-down, nine-month extension of 2008 law with few extras for anyone.
With the new Congress opening Thursday, they'll have to start the farm bill process over again, most likely with even less money for agriculture programs this year and the recognition that farm interests have lost some of the political clout they once held.
"I think there's a lot of hurt feelings, that all of this time and energy was put into it and you've got nothing to show for it," said Roger Johnson, president of the National Farmers Union.
Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., said it even more bluntly on the Senate floor just after she learned that the bare-bones extension would be part of the fiscal cliff deal.
"There is no way to explain this," she said angrily as the deal came together New Year's Eve. "None. There is absolutely no way to explain this other than agriculture is just not a priority."
After Congress failed to pass a farm bill earlier last year, the legislation became tangled in the end-of-the-year fiscal cliff talks as dairy subsidies were set to expire Jan. 1 and send the price of milk to $6 or $7 a gallon, double current prices. The White House and congressional leaders negotiating the fiscal cliff had agreed that the bill would somehow have to avert that "dairy cliff," but it was uncertain how.
Hoping to salvage some of their work, Stabenow and House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., crafted a last-minute extension of 2008 farm law to add to the fiscal cliff package, including help for their own state interests: fruit and vegetable growers plentiful in Michigan, and more than $600 million in emergency money for livestock producers who were affected by drought, a priority for Lucas. In addition to averting the milk price spike, their bill also contained an overhaul of dairy programs, a priority for House Agriculture's top Democrat, Collin Peterson of Minnesota.
The extension Stabenow and Lucas crafted cost around $1 billion — an amount too high and too risky for House and Senate leaders negotiating the broader fiscal cliff deal. According to aides familiar with the talks, the White House and congressional leaders wanted a farm bill extension with no major policy changes or new spending that could subject the entire fiscal cliff bill to opposition.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky added a bare-bones version of a farm bill extension that didn't include money for any of the agriculture leaders' top priorities and renewed other farm programs without any new funding.
The result, the aides said, was a farm bill extension that would keep major programs going but didn't spend any new money. Missing were dollars for some organic programs, environmental programs and several different energy programs for encouraging renewable fuels. Many of those programs were renewed, but without any money.
The reaction from farm-state lawmakers was swift. Stabenow went to the Senate floor called the new bill "absolutely outrageous." Peterson said farm-state leaders had been "disrespected." Stabenow, as well as Lucas, ended up voting for it, Peterson against.
The National Farmers Union issued a statement saying it was "left out in the cold." The long-powerful National Corn Growers Association's statement said the group is "tired of the endless excuses and lack of accountability."
Direct payments, a subsidy that costs $5 billion annually and is paid to farmers whether they farm or not, were retained in the agreement. Both a Senate bill passed in June and a House Agriculture Committee bill passed in July had cut those payments after a consensus in the farm community that those subsidies would be eliminated and redirected.
"That is amazing to me, I have to say. That is absolutely amazing to me. I want to hear someone justify that on the Senate floor," Stabenow said.


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During the four coming weeks, best experts in bitumen will bring you their knowledge and experience to build a strong understanding of today's realities and new perspectives on the future of bitumen.
Total is the European leader on bitumen markets. Innovation has always been the key to sustainability and durability in the products they develop. Their main objective here is to share technical knowledge and experience to insure bitumen are being used in the most effective and efficient ways for their different applications in road works.
Ecole des Ponts, France oldest engineering school, remains very much in the present, as it has always been, in training engineers in order to meet the needs of our society and citizens in key areas such as transport housing and urban services, but also in fields like energy, environment, climate sciences, land-use planning and sustainable development.
Nineteen world recognized experts on bitumen are contributing to this MOOC.
The idea is to provide the broadest prism on this topic area with speakers coming from research, industry and end users.


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When a revolution in Libya erupted last year against Muammar Gaddafi, Colonel Hamid Bilkhayr was among the earliest military defectors to join the rebels. He helped organize civilian volunteers into cohesive brigades and directed units at the front. Civilian leaders used his military expertise for plotting their battlefield strategies. And all the contributions and sacrifices he made for the revolution may have saved his life Saturday, after masked gunmen kidnapped him.
The abduction took place the day after a demonstration of 25,000 to 30,000 people calling for disarming the secular and Islamist militias that overthrew Gaddafi broke out into small groups of men who seized a number of the bases belonging to those militias. Among those ransacked was a compound belonging to Ansar al-Shari'a, an Islamist brigade believed to be behind the Sept. 11 attack on the American consulate in Benghazi that left four dead, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens.
(PHOTOS: Benghazi: Life During Wartime)
Saturday's events appeared to be revenge for the sacking of the militia bases. When a bearded man showed up at the colonel's house at 8 a.m., asking for help, saying his neighborhood was still paralyzed by the violence that had gripped Benghazi on Friday, the officer naturally complied.
But when they took him to the Shari'a Ishrin neighborhood, Bilkhayr quickly learned that he had fallen into a trap. About a dozen armed and masked men covered his head and shoved him into a car. When they reached their destination, the gunmen berated Bilkhayr for his lack of piety. "They said I don't believe in God and the Prophet and that I am a bad person," Bilkhayr said, hours after his release. "They were Islamic extremists who said I am not a Muslim. They said they were giving me another chance to go back to God."
It was not only his kidnappers' line of questioning that led Bilkhayr to conclude that they were Islamic radicals. His abductors used the literary Arabic Muslim fundamentalists known as Salafists speak, because they believe it to be the language of Muhammad and his companions. Most Arabs prefer a colloquial Arabic that no longer has what the pious call the "purity" of the language that dates back to the Koran written in the 7th century.
(MORE: The Revolt of Benghazi's Moderates: Will the Rest of Libya Follow?)
When Bilkhayr's captors set him on his knees, placed a gun to his head and began swearing at him, a dispute broke out between them. "One said I should not be treated like this, that I defended Benghazi when Gaddafi sent his brigades here. He might have saved my life." The ordeal ended when one of the gunmen received a phone call. Minutes later, Bilkhayr was shoved back into the car and dropped off near a traffic circle.
Though Bilkhayr's brush with death was averted, his troubles were far from over. When he returned home, he discovered that six of his soldiers from the First Infantry Brigade had been executed, their corpses dumped in Mashrua Quwasha, a secluded part of town where rows of trees provide privacy for couples and isolation for people seeking solace.
Suspicion immediately fell on Ansar al-Shari'a. Though the group's fighters evacuated their headquarters without a fight, another Islamist brigade linked to it did open fire on their besiegers. Four people died when fighters from the Rafalla al-Sahati brigade resisted attempts to overrun their barracks.
(PHOTOS: Libya's New Regime: The Fight for Gaddafi's Hometown)
The bodies of the six executed soldiers were found less than a mile away, shot in the head with their hands bound. Their deaths lead many in Benghazi to believe that they were killed in retaliation for Friday's protests that left the Islamists battered and bruised. "Ansar [al-Shari'a] killed my brother," Muhammad Sheriff said at the funeral for his sibling Ahmad, one of the soldiers whose bodies were found in a pile of garbage.
Scorn for Ansar al-Shari'a has united together the grieving families at the Hawari cemetery, where the six soldiers were buried. "There is no God but Allah, and Ansar Shari'a is the enemy of God," a family shouted as their pickup truck carrying a corpse slowly meandered through the cemetery. "We don't want any more killing," said a man who only gave his name as Munir. "We just want the government to take over."
But with the Islamists bent on retribution and a central government too weak to impose order, more blood will likely be shed before the violence ends.


text: In sub-zero winter temperatures, these trainees at a derelict army base outside Beijing wake before dawn to practice martial arts and evasive driving. It's all part of preparations to provide security for the growing number of Chinese businesses investing in turbulent regions of Africa and the Middle East. Under the instruction of former Portuguese special forces bodyguard Marco Borges, the 40-strong group, most of whom have military backgrounds themselves, take part in a grueling regimen.


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Here ya go – – a Tutorial on how to make a Birthday Board! I guess it's about time I do a craft post for ya – I've enjoyed the break but am ready to show you some things that I've been up to – and I'm sure you're ready to read actual craft posts, since this is a craft blog and all 🙂
I made this Birthday Board for Trevor's mom as a Christmas gift – Trevor is one of 9 kids, so there's a lot of them! Instead of doing the whole family's birthdays, I just did the grandkids and great-grandkids.
The way it works is each disk represents a child. The number on the disk is their birthdate. So for example the very first disk says "Sunnie 3" – so it's for Sunnie, who was born on January 3rd. It's interesting to see the pattern laid out – tons of Oct and Nov birthdays, and only one in July – who knew!
You can search google or pinterest for "birthday board" and come up with lots of different ideas and variations. My friend Michelle noticed I pinned the board and said we should make them together – I love when people whip me into shape!
Birthday Board
You'll need:
—wooden circle discs (these ones come predrilled!!)
I liked the one with the wooden circle disks, and I found them in a bulk pack at Michaels – here's the package bag in case you go to look for them. Then I had Trevor drill a tiny hole in the top and bottom of each disk. UPDATE: you can just buy these ones from Amazon and they already have the holes predrilled – awesome!!
Then I stained them with some wood stain I found in my garage – half dark (for the boys) and half light (for the girls).
I originally thought I'd print everyone's name and year in vinyl for each disk, but in the end that sounded like it was going to take too long, to layout each name the right size and weed out all the letters, etc. So I went the easy route and just wrote on the name and date with a fine-point sharpie pen. I wrote the whole date (including the year) on the back:
There are tons of ideas on how to hook everything together. I went with jump rings, which are little circles used in jewelry making. They have a slit and you just open them up, slide them through the hole in the disk, etc. To make sure they all face the same way (so they don't twist sideways), you'll need a tiny jump ring inbetween the jump ring on each disk. I think you can see that in this picture if you look close:
Then where they hook to the actual board I used eyehooks, which are little screws with an open circle on the end.
The dark stained disks are readable in real life – in the pictures it looks like they aren't, but really they are. I used my Cameo to cut vinyl for the months and the saying "Grandchildren Birthdays". I really like how it turned out!
Since it's not actually for my wall, I didn't want to make holes in the wall to hang it just for pictures, so I had Trevor hold it – that's why there's hands in the picture 🙂 Normally it'll hang all on it's own!
So go ahead and grab a discarded board and whip yourself up a birthday board. It makes a great gift but I also kind of want to make one for myself 🙂
And if you love VIDEO TUTORIALS, I have those too!


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Are you concerned about your appearance or how others will view them? If you've experienced changes in your body caused by fluctuating weights and/or pregnancy, the appearance of stretch marks is oftentimes hard to avoid. If you're not too keen on embracing it, chances are you're looking for a solution to fix it.
There are many options available today. With the introduction of stretch mark creams, you may worry less about those insecurities getting in your way. There are many options available, but only one cream stands out because of its unique combination of ingredients and amazing benefits for the skin barrier.
This review will introduce Skinception's Intensive Stretch Mark Therapy cream, which is one of the newest products in the skincare industry.
For those of you who prefer a more visual experience, here is a video review from Maria on her Youtube channel Reviews For Life. To get a comprehensive overview of Moon Reading, you may still want to check out our article below.
If you prefer to see the product in action, this video review is from Luna Addams' Youtube channel. To have a more comprehensive overview of Skinception Intensive Stretch Mark Therapy Cream, you may still want to check out our article below.
What is Skinception? Stretch Mark Barbie
Skinception Intensive Stretch Mark Therapy Cream is a specially-formulated ointment that aims to stimulate the production of collagen and elastin in the skin barrier, reducing the obvious appearance of stretch marks in favor of a stronger, youthful, and fully rejuvenated appearance.
Skinception is packed with a unique blend of patent-protected natural peptides, skin care ingredients and a quick fix for stretch marks. Each component has been scientifically proven to wipe out not just the signs of stretch marks but also wrinkles, skin irritation, and even scars. Skinception also levels out skin tone by decreasing purple and/or red discolorations.
Leading Edge Health is the manufacturer of Skinception's stretch mark cream. This company is well-known for making a wide variety of natural supplements and other products. As of this writing, it is yet to be evaluated by the FDA.
Product Details
- Overall rating: 4 out of 5 stars
- Success rate: 70%
- United States, Country of Origin
- Size: 4.0 fl oz (118.3 mL)
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The Pros
- Extensively tested and proven to reduce stretch mark, discoloration, scars, and other skin conditions.
- A reasonable level of transparency regarding how it is made
- Regular use will produce visible results in a matter of weeks
The Cons
- Steady price range
- There is no buy-one, take-one offer
The Ingredients
Skinception is a combination active and foundational ingredients. Let's take a look at the active components mainly responsible for its performance.
- Regestril ™ – Invented by Pentapharm, Ltd., Regestril, which is a special peptide, is made from lima beans extracts, rutin, as well as two other basic proteins. It has been clinically proven to improve the appearance of wrinkles. This makes it ideal for preventing skin elasticity loss from multiple factors.
- Darutoside(tm) – A complex of active ingredients derived from plants such as Centella Asiatica and St. Paul's wort, Darutoside facilitates skin regeneration along the barrier, healing open wounds and scars faster than usual.
- Pro-Sveltyl(r) – Extracted from the Indian lotus leaves, this compound plays a role in stimulating collagen within the skin, further strengthening it. It also has rich anti-inflammation and moisturizing properties.
- Pro-Coll-One+(r) – Another crucial role player in boosting collagen production, Pro-Coll-One+ aids in minimizing roughness and impurities along the barrier in favor of smoother skin.
- Palmitoyl oligopeptide – This man-made peptide, which has the same abilities as retinol, helps bind the skin by making it less elastic. It also aids in the synthesis of not just collagen but also elastin and hyaluronic acid.
Apart from Skinception's active ingredients, other components include lemongrass oil, green bean extract, grapefruit extract, orange peel oil, hydrolyzed soybean fiber, allantoin, stearyl alcohol derived from coconut oil, sodium lactate, panthenol, and beta-glucans, among other things.
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These are the Key Features and Advantages Stretch Mark Barbie
It reduces stretch marks
Skinception claims that it can reduce stretch marks by half in three weeks. Although it sounds too good to be true, clinical trials have supported most of the active ingredients in Skinception's claims. Regestril, for instance, has seen significant results within 60 days by nearly 73%, while the same can be said for Darutoside, this time by 52% within two weeks.
It increases collagen synthesis
Thanks to the incorporation of Pro-Coll-One+ and Palmitoyl oligopeptide into the formulation, Skinception is guaranteed to boost the body's natural production of collagen, further reducing the visibility of stretch marks.
It Balances the Skin Tone
Regardless of skin complexion, stretch marks will make you look like you have zebra or tiger stripes. Some may love it while others may be more aware of how they look. Skinception aims to fade discoloration, redness, and irritation often caused by the existence of stretch marks.
It Also Works on Scars
Scars that evolve from inflicted wounds share the same traits as stretch marks – they're both noticeable, distracting, and very distinct parts of the skin barrier. In addition to its ability to reduce the latter, Skinception may also work to erase signs of scars for a smoother and scot-free surface.
It Should Be Safe to Use
Lastly, Skinception should be ideally safe for most individuals, especially women who have been or are currently pregnant. Some people have experienced skin irritations due to many factors. This is something that you need to be aware of.
Contraindications and Side Effects
Skinception can be used by anyone with stretch marks and fully healed but apparent scars along the skin, except for a select few. Those who may be allergic to soy may have to refrain from trying it as the cream contains hydrolyzed soy fiber. It has been shown that isopropyl palmitate (another component) does not suit those with sensitive skin. Those with highly sensitive skin may also require medical help first.
Skinception has not yet listed any side effects. However, there have been some reports of severe skin irritation in some people who have used the product. Otherwise, it should be generally safe for application.
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Directions for Application
Stretch Mark Barbie
To apply the Skinception stretch mark cream, you must first ensure that the area where stretch marks tend to form is cleaned. Once that's done, apply and massage through the area gently and thoroughly. The amount of cream you'll need will depend on the coverage, size, and depth of your stretch marks.
Ideally, you should use Skinception twice a day. For best results, you should use it consistently and regularly for a minimum of 8-12 weeks or as long as three months.
Pricing and Refunds
An individual jar of the Skinception cream originally costs $79.95, with a supply worth around 30 days. You can get it at a reduced price of $49.95 for a limited period.
While you can easily find it on Amazon and Leading Edge Health's official website, you'll be glad to know that manufacturer-exclusive bundles are available on the latter. You may opt for a three-month bundle, a six-jar package, or a year's worth supply of this stretch mark cream.
All Skinception stocks come with a 67-day risk-free money-back trial period upon purchase. You can return the empty containers to receive a full refund if this cream doesn't work for you within the time frame.
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Customer Reviews
Based on the reviews we've discovered from Amazon, the general reception around Skinception has been positive, with a handful of mixed reviews in between. A majority who have used it said that the results they received were satisfactory at best, though some reported that it took them a little longer than three months for the turnout to appear.
However, some users are critical of the product. This includes issues with skin irritation, quality and results that were not satisfactory. Based on reviews, Skinception has received a solid 4 out 5 stars.
To cap it all off, Skinception Intensive Stretch Mark Therapy Cream has been formulated – and proven – to target any lingering signs of stretch marks (and scars, if you're thinking more creatively). From the blend of powerful ingredients to the generally convincing user reviews, it's no wonder why Leading Edge Health puts so much trust into the products they create, including this special skin cream.
While stretch marks can be a beautiful feature for some, they can also indicate insecurity for others. Skinception is a great way to feel confident about yourself.
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FAQ Stretch Mark Barbie
Is Skinception equipped with a hotline for customer service?
Should you have any concerns or inquiries about the Skinception stretch mark cream, you may contact Leading Edge Health through e-mail (email@example.com), by phone (1-866-269-3487), or by simply submitting tickets through the website at https://www.leadingedgehealth.com/contact-us/.
Skinception offers other products than the Intensive Skin Mark Therapy Cream.
Yes! Yes! It also offers anti-acne products, wrinkle and scar reduction treatments, supplements, and specialty skincare products.
How long does it take for stretch marks to fade?
Stretch marks usually fade in six to twelve months. However, with stretch mark creams, it's much faster.


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The Surface Pro doesn't go on sale for another three days, but reviews hit the airwaves last night. If want check out this post from earlier today summing up what the web is saying. Or I'll just spoil it for you – the Surface Pro is a kick ass device that is really only slowed down by battery life.
Wouldn't that be great if there was an accessory that could help push the device past the 4 ½ hour average? There may be.
Right now Panos Panoy and the Surface Engineering Team are holding an AMA on Reddit. You'll find the team fielding questions and answers on a variety of topics related to the Surface Pro. Some interesting stuff in there that the Verge picked up on, I'll highlight two of the biggest.
One complaint among early reviews is the inability to run independent scaling between the Surface Pro and an external monitor. The Surface Pro powers a 1080p display on a 10.6" screen, so most reviewers have set the scaling to 150% to get a better experience. But when they connect to an external monitor, scaling is still at 150% and can't be put to something independent of the Surface Pro, something more reasonable like 100%. Which is a bit of a letdown seeing as the Surface Pro has the moxie to handle an external monitor all the way up to 2560x1600p!
Don't fret, a solution may be on the horizon. Responding to the Reddit user, Panoy says that "The Windows team is aggressively working on this feature to fix this for all high resolution Windows devices. We don't have a date yet to share, so sorry." While we don't have a date for a solution, it is nice to know that at some point you'll be able to set scaling in Windows 8 independently for different displays.
The second biggest complaint (and probably biggest complaint) has been battery life. The Surface Team has promised battery to be half that of Surface RT, and that seems about right. Averaging out all the different reviews on the web will give you about 4 to 5 hours of battery, depending on usage of course. In the AMA, the Surface Team talks about using a smaller battery to achieve a lighter weight and smaller physical device size. So any hope for longer battery life with the Surface Pro? Probably, maybe, yes?
One eagle-eyed Redditor asked about the new connectors on the bottom of the Surface Pro. Panoy was enthusiast and sly in his reply:
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Look around the rest of the AMA and you'll find a user asking if Microsoft has plans for an external battery or thicker keyboard cover that has an external battery inside. And Panoy responded with:
While he and the Surface Team don't come right out and say, it is really hard to not see a Type or Touch Cover in the future that has an extra battery in it. That could help alleviate most complaints of battery life and put potential buyers in a better position if they're considering picking up the Surface Pro this Friday.
Take that as you will, but I choose to believe we'll see an accessory in the near future that gives you a few more hours of use out of your Surface Pro.
Don't forget to hit up the AMA on Reddit.
Source: Reddit AMA, Display, Battery 1, Battery 2, Via: The Verge


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We offer a Free quote and UK design service, get in touch today.
If you are looking for tennis court paint our experts can install a specialist anti slip paint which can enhance the overall look and play of your facility and improve slip resistance.
The anti slip coating is available in a number of different colours depending on your individual needs and requirements.
The most popular colours for tennis courts are two-tone green, some people may also opt for blue, purple, terracotta and so on.
Unfortunatel with tennis courts there is no DIY kit https://www.products-near-me.co.uk/wetpour-repair-kit/ to fix an area. Instead it is recommend a professional adds binder and stone and then paints over the entire court.
Our team shall be happy to talk you through the various options available. If you'd like to get in touch or ask any questions regarding the paints we use, please complete the enquiry form now and we will reply as soon as possible.
There are a number of things that can affect the tennis court painting costs. One of the biggest factors which will affect the cost of the installation of anti slip paint is the size of the area that needs to be painted.
Obviously if you've got a larger area the overall cost of painting will be more, since more paint will be needed to cover the surfacing.
However, it's often the case that the cost per squared metre would be cheaper due to the economies of scale.
Another factor which will alter the painting prices is the state of your current court.
Courts will always need to be cleaned prior to painting, but if your surfacing is extremely dirty it will need more cleaning and so will cost more. The more dirt is on the court, the more cleaning products and time will be used, therefore the overall costs will need to be increased.
Access is another issue. If our contractors are going to struggle getting to the facility and bringing the equipment and materials, the costs will increase.
This is because more time will be used, as they will need to think of how to get around this problem. If it involves more walking to and from the court, this will make the job a lot longer and so costs will increase.
Overall our team https://www.products-near-me.co.uk/ aim to offer the very best prices when it comes to painting tennis courts. There may be cheaper contractors out there, however they may not use the same materials as us and may not have the same amount of experience.
We have got over 20 years of experience and will not be satisfied unless the job is completed to an outstanding standard.
We use the very best paint for tennis courts to ensure the colour coating remains on the area for as long as possible. We use 3 coats of our specialist anti slip paint, which is different to a lot of other tennis court painters who will only use 2 coats.
Our colour coating is of a top quality and is perfect for sports courts. It is recommended to have your surface cleaned annually and repainted every 3-5 years depending on usage, location and maintenance.
Obviously if you use the court regularly, the surfacing could become worn and may need repainting earlier. If the facility is below trees it's more likely to have leaves, debris and moss on the surface, so will need cleaning more often.
It is highly recommended to keep on top of your sports surfacing in terms of maintenance to ensure the surfacing has a long life span.
If you do not keep on top of cleaning the court, it may get gradually worse and you may end up having to pay for a complete renovation or resurface.
Please fill in our contact box for more information on the best paint for tennis courts.
Tennis court acrylic paint is available in a number of different colours to suit clients individual requirements and needs. The acrylic colour coating is perfect for tarmac tennis courts, because it is permeable meaning that water can drain through easily.
Acrylic anti slip paint is excellent for sports courts, as it can dramatically enhance the overall look and play of your surfacing and improve slip resistance. This is perfect, as it minimises falls and trips on the surfacing which helps to reduce injuries.
We are specialists sports court painters local to you and we have plenty of experience within the industry.
If you're looking for a team of specialists closest to you, please bear in mind our team. We aim to offer you the very best service at competitive rates close to your spending budget.
Our painters are able to discuss the various colours available and the process to you to ensure you are happy with the overall service we provide.
Similar to sports court painting, we can also paint daily mile tracks on playgrounds https://www.products-near-me.co.uk/golden-mile-track/.
We can discuss specifications in detail to ensure we remain within your spending budget. If you 'd like to speak to a member of our team now, please complete the enquiry form provided with all of your details.
We are experts when it comes to painting sport surfaces nearby you. If you are interested in having your sports surface painted to the very best standard, make sure to ask for a price from our team today. We have worked on a number of sports facilities across the UK, including sports club facilities, schools and residential courts.
If you've got any questions or queries regarding having your facility painted, please do not hesitate to speak to our staff members now. We'll be happy to answer any concerns you may have.
If you're looking to get a quote for tennis court paint make certain to complete the contact form provided on this page now. We will get back to you at the very earliest opportunity. Our team shall be happy to answer any questions or queries you may have, so please do not hesitate to contact us now.


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Xfinity Stream Download
Xfinity Stream Download For PC Windows 7,8,10,XP.You can download Xfinity Stream to desktop of your PC with Windows 7,8,10 OS, Mac OS, Chrome OS or even Ubuntu OS. There are a lot of apps for pc download that are offering the great function and tools that will increase the productivity and effectiveness of your PC.If you are looking for the best free download for laptop applications, this article is for you that will tell you about a few good applications that you can use on your device. So let's have look at some of those.
There are many of the application that is not suitable for the pc. If you want to get the trusted application then you have to invest some amount for the applications. You can get the app for pc download from the official sites of many companies that offer you the trustworthy applications. These applications are helpful for enhancing he function and workability of the laptop.
How To Download Xfinity Stream On PC,Laptop,Tablet
1.Download and Install Android Emulator on PC,Laptop,Tablet.Click "Download Emulator" to download.
2.Run Android Emulator on PC, Laptop or Tablet.
3.Open Android Emulator for PC,Laptop,Tablet import the Xfinity Stream Apk file from your PC Into Android Emulator to install it.
4.Install this APP for PC Windows.Now you can run this Apk on PC.
How to uninstall App for pc?
How do I uninstall Xfinity Stream in Windows 10 / Windows 7 / Windows 8
- Click "Start"
- Click on "Control Panel"
- Under Programs click the Uninstall a Program link.
- Select "Xfinity Stream" and right click, then select Uninstall/Change.
- Click "Yes" to confirm the uninstallation.
- Finished


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ActiveSync is the latest software release for synchronizing Windows Mobile-based devices with Windows XP.
Microsoft ActiveSync provides a great synchronization experience with XP-based PCs and Microsoft Outlook right out of the box. ActiveSync acts as the gateway between your PC and Windows Mobile-based device, enabling the transfer of Outlook information, Office documents, pictures, music, videos and applications from your desktop to your device.
In addition to synchronizing with a desktop PC, ActiveSync can synchronize directly with Microsoft Exchange Server so that you can keep your e-mail, calendar data, notes and contact information updated wirelessly when you're away from your PC.


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Yesterday after work, I nervously walked into the salon and watched as big huge clumps of hair fell on the floor. It was a little shocking at first, but I have to say..........
I am absolutely THRILLED with it and wish I would have taken the plunge long ago.
It took me a less than a minute to do my hair for work this morning.
A truly no fuss, wash and go look!!
I couldn't hold my big camera to get the back of my head, so I figured I would use this IPhone shot to show y'all how funky the back looks. I actually used this shot as a Facebook teaser last night:)
Anyway, I am lovin' the fresh new fun look!!!
It was the perfect pick me up and just what I needed to help keep the winter blues from setting in.
I was anxious to get home last night to see what Pat thought, I wasn't too sure he would love it as much as I do, but he really does. Every chance he gets, he tells me how much he likes the "new me".
That one little piece in the front sort of falls in my face and I like to pin it back.
I have a few fancy bobbypins with little doo-dads on the end, but I am going to need to stock up on a few more. If anyone happens to see any fun clips, be sure to let me know!!


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The financial losses for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30 were more than triple the $5.1 billion loss in the previous year. Having reached its borrowing limit, the mail agency is operating with little cash on hand, putting it at risk in the event of an unexpectedly large downturn in the economy.
"It's critical that Congress do its part and pass comprehensive legislation before they adjourn this year to move the Postal Service further down the path toward financial health," said Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe, calling the situation "our own postal fiscal cliff."
Much of the red ink in 2012 was due to mounting mandatory costs for future retiree health benefits, which made up $11.1 billion of the losses. Without that and other related labor expenses, the mail agency sustained an operating loss of $2.4 billion, lower than the previous year.
Donahoe said the post office has been able to reduce costs significantly by boosting worker productivity. But he said the mail agency has been hampered by congressional inaction on a postal overhaul bill that would allow it to eliminate Saturday mail delivery and reduce its $5 billion annual payment for future health benefits.
"We cannot sustain large losses indefinitely. Major defaults are unsettling," said Donahoe, who made clear that the Postal Service would now be profitable had Congress acted earlier this year.
Earlier this year, the post office defaulted on two of the health prepayments for the first time in its history.
The Postal Service, an independent agency, does not receive tax money for its day-to-day operations but is subject to congressional control.
The Senate passed a postal bill in April that would have provided financial relief in part by reducing the annual health payments and providing a multibillion-dollar cash infusion, basically a refund of overpayments the Postal Service made to a federal pension fund. The House, however, remains stalled over its own legislation that would allow for aggressive cuts, including an immediate end to Saturday delivery.
It remained unclear whether House leadership would take up the postal bill in its current lame-duck session. Rural lawmakers are resisting action, worried about closures of postal facilities in their communities. Congress is focused now on a Jan. 1 deadline to avert across-the-board tax increases and spending cuts known as the "fiscal cliff."
While urging quick congressional action, the Postal Service acknowledged the uncertainty in its legal filings on Thursday, which anticipate that Congress will fail to act. But Rep. Darrell Isa, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and sponsor of the House bill, has said he believes postal legislation can be passed this year.
"The U.S. Postal Service is clearly marching toward a financial collapse of its own," said Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., a sponsor of the Senate bill. "I am hopeful that now that the elections are over, my colleagues and I can come together and pass postal reform legislation so that a final bill can be signed into law by the end of the year."
Overall, the post office had operating revenue of $65.2 billion in fiscal 2012, down $500 million from the previous year. Expenses climbed to $81 billion, up from $70.6 billion, largely due to the health prepayments. The annual payment of roughly $5.6 billion had been deferred for a year in 2011, resulting in a double payment totaling $11.1 billion that became due this year. The Postal Service is the only government agency required to make such payments.
The post office also has been rocked by declining mail volume as people and businesses continue switching to email and other online options in place of letters and paper bills. The number of items mailed in the last year was 159.9 billion pieces, a 5 percent decrease. Much of the decline came in first-class mail.
On the plus side, the mail agency reported that its fast-growing shipping services, which include express and priority mail, grew by 9 percent, helping to offset much of the declining revenue from first-class mail. Donahoe said package volume also is expected to jump by 20 percent this holiday season compared to the same period last year, boosted by increased consumer purchases on e-Bay, Amazon.com and other Internet shopping sites.
Joseph Corbett, chief financial officer for the Postal Service, said the mail agency expects to operate for the first half of next year with about four days of cash reserves, a low amount which he described as unheard of for any well-run business. Cash levels dipped perilously close to zero last month before bouncing higher due to a surge in election-related mail. In all, campaign mailings and mail-in ballots helped bring in $500 million, a new high and roughly double the amount in the 2008 election year.
"We are far short of liquidity," Corbett said.
Last month, the post office said it will increase postage rates on Jan. 27, including a 1-cent increase in the cost of first-class mail, to 46 cents. The rate increase, which is tied to the rate of overall inflation, will make only a small dent in financial losses.
The Postal Service also originally sought to close low-revenue post offices in rural areas to save money, but after public opposition, it is now moving forward with a new plan to keep 13,000 of them open with shorter operating hours.
Without legislative changes, it said, annual losses will exceed $21 billion by 2016.
"If Congress fails to act, there could be postal slowdowns or shutdowns that would have catastrophic consequences for the 8 million private sector workers whose jobs depend on the mail," said Art Sackler, co-coordinator of the Coalition for a 21st Century Postal Service, a group representing the private sector mailing industry.


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Did you see Jimi Hendrix in concert? Did you meet Jimi Hendrix or have the opportunity to interview him or have some other unique, first-person encounter with Jimi Hendrix? If so, Experience Hendrix wants to hear from you.
Jimi Hendrix
Did you see Jimi Hendrix in concert? Did you meet Jimi Hendrix or have the opportunity to interview him or have some other unique, first-person encounter with Jimi Hendrix? If so, Experience Hendrix wants to hear from you.
Always privy to hitting the studio to try out some new songs, Hendrix led the group back to New York. Although work on Jimi's own Electric Lady Studios was nearing completion, after a brief test session with Eddie Kramer on piano, it was decided that more tweaking was necessary at the new facility before Hendrix should christen it. Instead, Kramer booked Hendrix and the band into the familiar surroundings of the Record Plant's newly opened "Studio C." Here Jimi lead the band through a number of recordings including three takes of "Come Down Hard On Me," a series of rough instrumentals of "Straight Ahead," the fourth take evolved into a jam of "Night Bird Flying." An abandoned rendition of "Lower Alcatraz" quickly crumbled before Hendrix dove into unique renditions of "Midnight Lightning" and "Keep On Groovin'." Playing around on his guitar Jimi plucked a few chords to "Power Of Soul" before jumping full-speed into "Straight Ahead" which was later followed by a feverish rendition of "Freedom." Jokingly moving forward, Hendrix lightened the mood in the studio with Frankie Laine's "Catastrophe," which caused Kramer to remark on the talkback, "at a hundred and fifty dollars an hour, that's pretty good." When the laughter died down, Jimi frolicked in a hearty version of "Hey Baby (New Rising Sun) before the session came to an end.
Returning to the "Studio C" at the Record Plant, continued work on "Freedom" was the focus of the group's attention, resulting in 19 takes of the song, of which 15 were particularly spirited, although no master resulted from these takes Hendrix moved future studio work on "Freedom" over to his own Electric Lady Studios in late June. The session also featured work on "Valleys Of Neptune," "Peter Gunn," and "Catastrophe," the later two debuting posthumously on War Heroes (Reprise Records, 1972). Making another attack on "Freedom," Jimi was left unsatisfied and turned his attention back to "Hey Baby (New Rising Sun)," which at this point was styled similarly to the rendition that is currently available on First Rays Of The New Rising Sun (Experience Hendrix/MCA, 1997). Before ending the session, he led the band through an energetic rendition of "Lover Man."


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GEO 600 (AW80T webcast)
This webcast, featuring GEO600, the German-British Gravitational Wave Detector, is a recording of part of the live 24-hour webcast "Around the World in 80 Telescopes", which was part of the "100 Hours of Astronomy" project for the International Year of Astronomy 2009. It was webcast live on 03 April 2009 at 12:20 (Universal Time). For more about "Around the World in 80 Telescopes" and "100 Hours of Astronomy", visit this link.
This clip may only be used for news coverage and other movie/television productions about the "100 Hours of Astronomy" and The International Year of Astronomy 2009.
O filmie
Identyfikator: | germanbritishgravitational |
Data publikacji: | 4 grudnia 2009 00:17 |
Czas trwania: | 18 m 24 s |
Frame rate: | 30 fps |
O obiekcie
Kategoria: | Events |


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Anyway, what with everyone being all "THE END OF A DECADE-LET US LOOK BACK" and stuff I realized I should never be uninspired because there are years of style.com that I have never seen! Duh.
I am a very very lucky recipient of the new Prada book (which I will write about later this week-I spent like 2 hours today taking pictures from books and magazines I suddenly felt like writing about, so patience, child) and probably my favorite part is the ad campaign archive. Looking through the whole book page by page gave me an adrenaline rush but this one really stuck out at me:
It's less contrasty/white in real life, sharper and browner. I messed up when editing this photo but whatevs, you get the jist.
It makes the awkward sloppy disheveled office girl cool in every way. Somehow. And we haven't even gotten to the best part yet.
I can't even really say why they're so good, anything I try to word feels cheesy and lame? Somebody please try to read my mind/heart and put into words why I love them so much. I plan on finding one of these skirts and wearing it oversized, bag lady style, to piss everyone off.
More ads (thank you Laia for emailing me these!)God I love how in the first one she's bending down to fix her shoe or scratch her toe or something. Or coming up from bending down! It's great. It's like the ad for AW01 I think it was, where she's massaging her feet? I don't know, I love those kinds of details.
Aaaaaaand I need sleep.
And I also need to buy the January issue of W because Alex White is a genius.
Aaaaaand that was random and I still need sleep.


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Frankfurt Musikmesse 2013: live highlights
Musikmesse 2013, 10-13 April
MUSIKMESSE 2013: Musikmesse 2013, Europe's biggest music equipment gear show, is now in full swing. In Frankfurt, MusicRadar has a team on the floor seeking out the big stories and hottest products, while our UK office is handling the latest news as it comes in.
So where do you get the pick of the Musikmesse 2013 content in one place? Right here: click on for the story so far and keep checking back for the biggest news, most eye-catching photos and revealing videos.
If you want to catch absolutely every Frankfurt-related article as it's posted be sure to bookmark our Musikmesse 2013 event page.
Korg Volca series
Having defined a new product category with its Monotron and Monotribe products, Korg has now taken the compact synth concept a step further with three $150, MIDI-capable analogue grooveboxes. Known as Volca Keys, Volca Bass and Volca Beats, they look terrific.
Fender Cabronita
Fender has something extremely desirable and affordable for Cabronita fans at Musikmesse.
Softube Console 1
A software-modelled analogue-style mixer meets a dedicated hardware controller in this intriguing 'hybrid' release from Softube.
Musikmesse 2013: Softube Console 1 offers complete software/hardware mixing solution
Fender Classic Series
Check out the rather lovely Fender Classic Series guitars - nitro-finished and around £1,000.
Universal Audio Apollo 16
UA has unleashed a 16x16 channel version of the Apollo that's been designed with studio applications in mind.
Jackson Soloist 3-8
8-strings everywhere! Here's the Jackson Guitars X Series Soloist 3-8, around €900.
Ibanez RG9 protoype
Eight strings not enough for you? The Ibanez RG9 9-string prototype is new for Musikmesse - no price yet!
Clavia Nord Lead 4
The successor to the Lead 3 is a 2-oscillator, 4-part multitimbral virtual analogue subtractive instrument that also boasts Wavetable and FM capabilities.
Gibson Chris Cornell ES-335
Good news for Soundgarden fans! Here's the Gibson Chris Cornell ES-335!
Via Total Guitar Magazine on Twitter
Novation Bass Station II
This all-new Bass Station features a pure analogue signal path, two oscillators plus a sub oscillator, two filters, an all-analogue effects section, plus a step sequencer and an arpeggiator.
Orange Crush amps
Orange Amps is expanding its solid-state Crush range, with new 60-watt 1x12, 120-watt 2x12 or head models. Juicy!
Bogner Amps pedals
Huzzah! New Bogner Amps pedals - named Burnley, Wessex, Harlow and Oxford - will be gracing 'boards this summer.
Marshall Amps 1-watt Custom Offset
The final word on Marshall's 50th Anniversary - check out this stunning 1-watt Custom Offset. Want.
SPL Crimson
So is this an audio interface or a monitor controller? Actually, it's both!
Guitar egg slicer
Musikmesse always has its share of music-related tat; we were particularly taken with this guitar-shaped egg slicer.
Nord Drum 2 and Nord Pad
Offering six channels and stereo outputs, the Nord Drum 2 is a step up from its predecessor. And now there's a nice controller to play it with, too.
Here's the revoiced PRS Guitars 1x12 SE30 amp. Now £599 in the UK, this looks like fantastic value.
Pioneer DJM-750
Pioneer's replacement for the 700 mixer upgrades the feature set with new effects, Isolator EQ and a four-channel audio interface.
Something with bite from LTD Guitars
LTD Guitars gets its monster on at Frankfurt.
Detune Korg M01D
If iOS apps don't scratch your mobile music-making itch, how about Detune's Korg M01D for Nintendo 3DS?
Numark Mixtrack Edge
Is this the thinnest DJing controller in the world? If not, it's certainly got to be one of them.
Shadow PanaFlex acoustic pickup
This Shadow PanaFlex undersaddle acoustic pickup has a built-in 5.2GHz wireless system. No more leads - clever!
Pint-sized pedals
Impossibly cute Hotone Audio pedals - yes that is an iPhone 4. Smartphone-sized pedalboard, anyone?
Fender Custom Shop Telecasters
Cool Fender Custom Shop Teles - we think JD McPherson would approve!
Nord number 1
Check out the first ever Nord! Hans Nordelius' analogue synth from 1976.
Schecter PT Fastback B
Here's the retro-tastic new PT Fastback B from Schecter Guitars. Available in metallic red and dark emerald green for €96.
Caparison C2
Caparison Guitars has 'Mid-price' C2 models at Musikmesse. This one comes in at €1184.
Lag Guitars Roxanne
There's something of a racing theme to the Lag Guitars Roxanne - built in France, prices start from €1,499.
Duesenberg Guitars HQ
How cool is this distressed metallic paint-finished Duesenberg Guitars HQ model?


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How to Take Measurements
Worried about selecting just the right size? You've just found the very best way to get it right!
Properly taking your dress measurements.
Buying the right size dress is so crucial for your big day, so we are here to help! It's best to get your measurements taken by a professional seamstress. If you aren't able to do that, grab a friend to help. This definitely isn't a DIY project! Keep in mind that we aren't responsible for measurements taken outside our Utah bridal shop showroom. So, when in doubt, call us for some expertise!
Bust - Be warned: this is not your bra size! Measure the fullest part of your bust across the shoulder blades, keeping the tape level. Keep a thumb inside the tape and take a breath. If the tape slides down, it's too loose, and if it creates an indent in your bra, it's too tight. Go for a Goldilocks "just right" kind of fit!
Waist - Measure the smallest part of your waist, which is actually about two inches above your belly button. When you bend to one side, "little tea-pot style", the smallest part of your waist will be between your rib cage and your belly button. Stand with your stomach at it's natural position. Leave a little room by keeping a thumb on the inside of the tape and again, take a breath. The tape should be snug, but not restricting.
Hips - Measure the fullest part of your hips, which is down around your bum, not where your jeans sit. Make sure your back pockets are empty and the tape measure stays parallel to the floor.
Hollow to Hem - *Not required for prom dresses, temple dresses, or bridesmaids dresses.* Take this measurement from the indent in your collar bone to the hem of the skirt. Be sure to include the heel you'll be wearing with your wedding dress. Look straight ahead while this measurement is taken. Bending over will definitely alter the measurement.
Please include all of the above measurements, regardless of choosing from our selection of modest dresses, sleeveless bridal gowns, strapless wedding dresses, or anything in between.
For some further information, view our video below to see all the ins and outs of measuring!


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Nokia has just announced its Q3 2013 financial results, revealing an operating profit of EUR118 million ($162 million) from EUR 5.66 billion ($7.8 billion) revenue. That's up massively year over year, but nonetheless represents another quarter of middling results. The report is the first since Microsoft agreed to purchase Nokia's phone business, and that division – Devices and Services – performed as expected, posting a small loss of EUR 86 million ($118 million).
So, Microsoft is buying the part of Nokia that is losing money, while the parts that make money remain in Finland. Seems like a good deal for Nokia-proper. In the meantime, Microsoft will be saddled with a devices division that is still losing money, and whose increase in sales consists largely of low-end, low-margin devices (like the 520). Interesting – especially since Windows Phone was supposed to prevent Nokia participating in a race to the bottom. I'm sure Microsoft's super-successful Surface division welcomes Nokia's devices division.
The cold truth: even more than 2.5 years after announcing the switch to Windows Phone, Nokia's Lumia range still cannot make up for drop in sales of Symbian devices and feature phones. This is roughly the same timeframe in which Samsung rose to the top. With Android.
Read into that what you will.


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Below you can calculate the total fees for filing a Montana DBA application. All Montana DBA fees include all state and/or county filing fees.
Choose which of our services you'd like for your Montana DBA application. The total fees for your Montana DBA application will show up at the bottom of this page.
We're sorry but we do not currently offer DBA filings for this selection.
*In , publishing is a necessary step of the filing procedure. You cannot receive your filed document without first submitting a Legal Notice that has been signed and stamped by the County Clerk to a newspaper for publishing.


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Express Your Style Funny Graphic Tees, 100% Cotton Fashion
Sleeve Length(cm): Short
Style: Korean
Material: COTTON
Collar: O-Neck
Hooded: No
Fabric Type: Broadcloth
Pattern Type: Cartoon
Tops Type: Tees
Item Type: Tops
How long can I return the items?
You can return the items within 30 days from the date you received them. Please contact us promptly for the return process. After 30 days from the date of receipt, no returns will be accepted.
1. All items must be in new condition and in the original packaging with all tags attached. Any item that appears to have been worn, washed, or altered in any way will not qualify for a refund.
2. Items can only be returned for size issues, wrong items, and defective/damaged items during shipping.
3. The return shipping fee will be charged to the customer, and it may vary for each country due to different shipping costs.
4. Please provide photos and videos showing the condition of the item (without photos and videos, we will not process the return).
How to submit a return?
1. Please send an email to email@example.com.
2. The email format should include your order number and the issue you are experiencing.
3. Please allow up to 48 hours for us to respond to your email.
4. Refunds via PayPal will be processed within approximately 48 hours.
5. Refunds to credit cards will take approximately 7-14 business days.


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Like the saying goes in his home state, everything about Texas Gov. Rick Perry's presidential campaign was big.
From the start of his candidacy, when he garnered instant front-runner status in some polls, to his embarrassing debate performances and his slide to the back of the pack, Perry's bid for the Republican nomination seemed outsized. So, too, were the expectations.
On Thursday, Perry left the GOP race and strongly endorsed former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, citing his "heart of a conservative reformer."
Perry's endorsement of Gingrich was clearly meant to blunt the momentum of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney ahead of Saturday's South Carolina primary.
Calling Gingrich "a conservative visionary who can transform our country," Perry said his objective is "not only to defeat President Obama, but to replace him with a conservative leader who will bring about real change."
Of his own candidacy, Perry said: "There is no viable path forward. ... I know when it's time to make a strategic retreat."
Once Great Expectations
In a Republican field of candidates with glaring shortcomings, Perry presented a promising mix of attributes when he launched his campaign in August. He was a favorite of evangelicals and the Tea Party, the three-term governor of a large and electorally important state, and a prodigious fundraiser.
He had the charisma and enough of a populist streak that might help him fare well in a general election. And he had a timely campaign message — claiming that his low-tax, low-regulation approach to governing had created more than 265,000 Texas jobs over the past two years.
But, as it turned out, his long public record also provided grist for withering attacks against him. And then there were his gaffes, so many of which piled up that voters quickly cooled on him as a candidate apparently ill-prepared for the scrutiny and rigor of a presidential campaign.
Trouble Spots
An early problem was Perry's moderate position on illegal immigration, a commonly held stance in Texas given that Republicans there tread carefully on the issue to avoid alienating the large Latino population. But he stood out as a target among the GOP contenders, nearly all of whom took a hard line against extending government services to illegal immigrants.
Perry struggled to convincingly defend his signing of a Texas law that gave in-state college tuition to the children of illegal immigrants. Under intense attack during a debate in September, Perry shot back at his detractors: "I don't think you have a heart." The audience erupted in boos.
The following day, Romney pummeled Perry: "If you are opposed to illegal immigration, it doesn't mean you don't have a heart. It means you have a heart and a brain," he told a gathering of the Conservative Political Action Conference.
Perry also took fire for mandating that young girls in Texas receive the vaccine for the human papillomavirus, or HPV, a sexually transmitted disease. Many conservatives oppose the move as government overreach and a tacit approval of premarital sex.
In debates, Perry repeatedly defended his decision as an effort to prevent girls infected with the virus from contracting cervical cancer. But later, and still under heat, he backtracked slightly, saying he "would have done it differently" by working with state lawmakers instead of acting unilaterally.
Perry also took flak when a Washington Post story disclosed that his family owned a West Texas hunting camp with a name that included the N-word. The name was once painted in block letters on a large, flat rock at the front of the property.
The 'Oops' Moment
The more Perry stumbled over his words, the further he sank in the polls. By October, with his campaign foundering, Perry had shaken up his staff, hiring veteran operatives with national campaign experience, including Joe Allbaugh, a longtime aide to George W. Bush.
But they couldn't stop Perry from making his most infamous goof. During the CNBC debate in November, he forgot the name of one of the federal agencies he vowed to eliminate: "The third agency of government I would do away with ... let's see," he said. "I can't. The third one, I can't. Sorry. Oops."
Some observers blamed Perry's stumbles on back surgery that he endured in July. Perry himself first said the surgery and its aftereffects had no effect.
"That was probably too many days on the road. It had nothing to do with medication," he said at one point. But later he admitted it might have taken a toll.
"If there was one thing I would have changed in my campaign, I would have moved that surgery I had the first of July back to the first of January," Perry said in a radio interview with Sean Hannity in December.
But the string of poor debate performances took a toll on Perry's fundraising, too.
In the final days before the Iowa caucuses, Perry's new team had retooled the candidate's message and poured millions into TV advertising to essentially reintroduce the governor to Iowans.
He sharpened his rhetoric and took aim at his opponents. He billed himself as "the only Washington outsider." And he questioned the conservative credentials of other candidates, directly taking on Rick Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator, in a battle for Iowa's evangelical Christian voters.
But it wasn't enough to persuade caucus participants to give Perry another look. Santorum, once at the bottom of the field, already had overtaken Perry in the polls. Once projected to finish in the top three in Iowa, Perry placed fifth, gaining only about 10 percent of the caucus support.
"I've decided to return to Texas and assess the results of tonight's caucus," Perry told supporters late Tuesday, as final results trickled in.
Hours earlier, before caucus results were reported, an unbowed Perry told CNN: "This election is far from decided. ... South Carolina will give us a better clue who will be the nominee."
The Perry campaign decided to skip the New Hampshire primary. Few expected his folksy style and solidly conservative message to resonate in the New England state. And most polls showed as much.
Making His Stand In The South
Perry chose to make his stand in South Carolina, home to the first Southern primary and an electorate expected to be more open to him. His campaign had begun to build a field organization in South Carolina before the Iowa caucuses occurred.
But Perry was never really able to regain his stride. Mired in the low single digits in South Carolina polls, Perry decided to cut his losses just two days before the state's primary.
Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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It started with these different forms of afghan patterns that I didn't love because a lot of it looks very easily thriftable, in fact, I have thrifted a lot of similar afghan stuff (except for that intriguing crocheted leather stuff that was burdened with an awkward color scheme.) I wish that it'd gone more in the direction of the first look which is one of the more adass outfits a person can wear.
BUT THEN! THEN we get to lava lamp MAGIC and it's all too hypnotizing for me to care about the olive green leather that was previously showcased. Do you see the Fruit Roll-Up resemblance? I know it can probably most definitely be considered tacky, but that's why it's so great! These lava lamp streaks know they're supposed to be fun and aren't trying to be anything else, that's why they're squiggly! And it's balanced out with some slick black shapes, for the sophisticated woman.
But that I am not! So the final looks were my favorites:
Back when I shared a room with my sister I earned some major cred among friends because my room had all the hippest stuff that the middle-schoolers were giving away at their Bar and Bat Mitzvahs. This included a lime green inflatable armchair with a frog on it, a fake lava lamp full of glitter, and a lot of smiley face memorabilia. But my favorites were the bead curtains, copied almost EXACTLY above. I have a lot of love for these borderline ugly (in a good way! Always in a good way!) technicolor frocks that accurately represent both how our bedroom looked as well as sounded (regardless of being too young to get to see Josie and the Pussycats, I knew every song.)
Bask in the glory! And please note the collars. I hope they're sold on their own like Miu Miu did that one time.
1) Befriend a nice but hopelessly unhip Jewish family. Wish them a good Shabbos every Friday; attend a Sukkot party if invited. Enter their home with the right kind of Challah. Ask if they prefer Seinfeld or Curb Your Enthusiasm. Mention that a friend of yours has David Axelrod over for Passover every year, and sure, you'd be happy to get them in touch.
2) Make sure that the family contains a kid with an upcoming Bar/Bat Mitzvah. This is key. You should also make sure that the parents are out of touch with both their kid and with what the kidz are into these days.
3) Since you've been Honorary Jew for a few months now, you will be invited to the kid's Bar/Bat Mitzvah. Attend, tear up at the parents' blessing, make small talk with the distant relatives, and be generally polite and tactful -- until the DJ CONTESTS, that is! Whatever your skill may be -- limbo, hula hoop, dance, or catch-the-money-in-the-suffocating-lawsuit-body-bag-not-unlike-that-scene-from-Matilda (we had this game at mine) -- be ready to show off! You'll look stupider than you have in your entire life, but you must throw these insecurities out the window. Remember what you have that the 12 year olds don't -- your body odor is more controlled, you don't have to worry about going to school on Monday to be reminded of your actions (I KNOW WHAT YOU DID AT JONAH'S BAR MITZVAH: movie event of the year), and you don't plan on ever seeing this family again! They're hopelessly unhip, remember? And because of this, they chose prizes for their kid's Bar/Bat Mitzvah that would've been cool when my big sister was BM-hopping, but are now hopelessly dated. Until Christopher Kane's Fall 2011 collection, that is! So when you go to claim your prize after beating a middle-schooler in musical chairs, pride yourself in the Kane-esque lava lamp pencil case purse that, essentially, really only cost you some small talk and a macaroon canister.
And now, reasonably but not completely related moodboard:
Grace Miceli, Rose McGowan and Thora Birch,Versace Spring 2004 ads, sea kay on flickr, Rose in Jawbreaker, Christy Turlington in unknown designer, Jawbreaker, Craig Masson and Andrew McMinn's home, Ghost World, Kate Moss by unknown photographer, Grace Miceli again, and late 90s Comme des Garcons. As always with unknowns, email me if you have an answer!


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MIIS Veterans Organization Hosts Reception Honoring Student Veterans
The Veterans Organization of the Monterey Institute of International Studies held their first Veterans Day social event last night and was honored to welcome Monterey-area Congressman Sam Farr as their special guest. It was just one of many events planned by the ambitious leadership of the recently formed group.
For Congressman Farr, it was a special occasion as he is both a former MIIS student and very active in veterans affairs in Washington, D.C. He told the veterans and their families that they are the "future leaders" of this country, noting that nothing could compare with the experience of military life combined with the education they are getting at the Monterey Institute.
The private setting for the reception gave the congressman, MIIS veterans, and their spouses the opportunity to discuss openly some of the personal challenges of military service and the transition back to civilian life. Responding to the stories told by MIIS student veterans and their spouses, Farr encouraged them: "You can always call your congressman—and please call me!"
For More Information
Jason Warburg
Eva Gudbergsdottir


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The results are in on this spring's high-visibility pilot project to vaccinate 100,000 Haitians against cholera.
Almost 90 percent of the target population – half in Port-au-Prince and the other half in a remote rural area – got fully protected against cholera, meaning they got 2 doses of the oral vaccine.
The results defy the forecasts of skeptics who said in advance of the campaign that it would be lucky to protect 60 percent of the target populations.
The sponsors of the project — the nonprofit medical groups GHESKIO in Port-au-Prince and Partners in Health in rural Haiti — presented the results on Monday at a session with the country's health minister, Dr. Florence Guillaume.
Officials of both groups say the results have changed the discussion about vaccination as a strategy to fight Haiti's ongoing cholera problem. The water-borne disease has struckabout 560,000 people since October 2010 and killed 7,300.
In the past, the Haitian government opposed cholera vaccination, saying resources should be devoted to treating cholera and improving water quality and sanitation. International groups such as the World Health Organization and the Pan American Health Organization have been skeptical of vaccination's role.
"The debate has definitely shifted from whether we should scale up cholera vaccination to how we should scale it up," Jonathan Lascher of Partners in Health told Shots. "The health ministry wants vaccination integrated with the cholera strategy, and now the discussion is how to we do it."
It's a much bigger project, since Haiti's population is about 10 million — 100 times the two pilot projects. "It's a big leap, but we had to do something first or nothing would have happened," Lascher says.
GHESKIO's Dr. Jean William Pape, who also attended the session, confirmed Lascher's report. "The minister of health is convinced that, based on these results, at-risk populations should receive oral cholera vaccine as part of a global strategy," Pape writes in an email, along with improved sanitation and access to clean water.
The pilot project took place from mid-April to mid-June. It involved two armies of community health workers who had earlier gone door-to-door in a huge Port-au-Prince slum and in tiny villages to sign up families and distribute vaccination cards to they could keep track of who had been vaccinated and who needed a second dose. Of those who got a first dose, 90 percent got the second. The vaccine protects for two to three years.
Both groups report near-100 percent acceptance of the vaccine.
The vaccination campaign was supposed to launch in early March so it could be completed before Haiti's rainy season, which floods the slums, makes rural roads impossible — and increases cholera transmission.
But the projects were delayed six weeks by a report that the campaign was basically an experiment to test the vaccine rather than an attempt to see if it could be successfully delivered. A national ethics committee insisted on assurances that the vaccine wasn't experimental.
The delay moved the vaccination project into the rainy season, requiring vaccinators to use canoes in some cases to get to rural villages. It also created a conflict with a long-planned national vaccination campaign against childhood diseases, including polio.
Since cholera vaccine can't be given to children under 9 in close proximity to polio vaccine. That required the groups to defer cholera vaccination in these children, further complicating the logistics.
But in the end, young children had an even higher rates of complete protection than the overall population – 94 percent.
Partners in Health says the vaccine cost $2.13 a dose to buy and deliver, including a 2 percent wastage rate. That puts the price tag at about $175,000 to vaccinate 41,193 rural residents with two doses.
One lucky break: This spring's spike in cholera cases was much lower than feared. For instance, Partners in Health treated 1,583 people for cholera this June compared to more than 14,000 a year ago. Still, this spring's outbreaks have added around 30,000 cases and 250 deaths to the epidemic's toll.
As Haitians now begin to plan how to ramp up cholera vaccination, its allies are plotting how to raise the millions of dollars it would take.
That effort may be abetted by the recent spread of cholera beyond the island of Hispaniola, which Haiti shares with the Dominican Republic, to nearby Cuba.
A cholera outbreak this month in southeastern Cubahas so far affected about 170 people and killed at least three – the first time cholera has been reported on that island since it was a colony of Spain in the 1800s.
No one knows how cholera got to Cuba. But one guess has to do with the several hundred Cuban medical personnel who staff clinics in Haiti, which is 109 miles southeast off the tip of Cuba.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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The Knowledge Transfer Network's online platform intelligently connects you to relevant events, funding, thought pieces and expertise.
The Knowledge Transfer Network's online platform intelligently connects you to relevant events, funding, thought pieces and expertise.
The Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN) has refreshed its online platform to intelligently connect you to relevant events, funding, thought pieces and specialist staff to help your business innovate and grow.
You can discover content using your area of interest, from biotechnology to transport; from space to health – all major UK economic sectors are covered. Once you have selected your interests, using our intelligent tagging system, we will then display rich and relevant content related to your area, often from surprising sources.
An example might be new satellite technology from the space sector that is applicable in the agri-food sector. KTN-UK.co.uk will help you form these unusual and valuable connections.
All content on the platform has been carefully curated by our team of innovation specialists – not by an automated algorithm – so you can be confident that KTN is connecting you to the most relevant cutting-edge information.
Photo galleries are not available for content from the previous KTN website: we apologise for this.
The move also marks a closer alignment with our main funder, Innovate UK, with the website branding making a clear visual link. Knowledge Transfer Network is Innovate UK's innovation network partner, and also works with other funders to provide innovation networking services and fulfil our mission to drive UK growth.
We link new ideas and opportunities with expertise, markets and finance through our network of businesses, universities, funders and investors. From agri-food to autonomous systems and from energy to design, KTN combines expertise in all sectors with the ability to cross boundaries. Connecting with KTN can lead to potential partners, horizon-expanding events and innovation insights relevant to your needs.
Visit our people pages to connect directly with expertise in your sector.