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Gee's Easter Holidays…
As usual, the first week of my holidays mainly consisted of boredom, boredom and a little bit more boredom. I had a few friends over, here and there, but nothing really exciting happened until the second week of the holidays. This is when mum finally had a break off work and I finished cleaning out my room. Geez that was a struggle, finishing it after like three weeks, is a good feeling.
As you know, the four leaders did that small presentation at the Prep Information Evening and as a reward; Mrs Moss gave us movie vouchers for Village Cinemas. On Tuesday 15th, we decided to see Captain America 2, but unfortunately, Riley was too sick to sit in the Cinemas so only Tom, Tilly and I went.
On Wednesday of the second week, my cousin and her boyfriend came for dinner, visiting from Canada. Along with my Aunty, Nana and my cousin and her husband. Now would be a good time to mention that my married cousin is 31 and the other one is 29. We had a beautiful dinner, made up of salads, lamb and potatoes, the usual in this household. Everyone gradually left and my cousin and her Canadian boyfriend stayed the night. They were in Australian for the week visiting the family, usually living in Toronto, but we had lots of fun hearing about what they were up to over there.
Early morning, we had a fruit platter and yoghurt for breakfast and strolled down to the Camberwell Junction for a long walk. We spent most of our morning up there, as we showed them some shops and stopped for a coffee at my sister's work. They are into their fitness so they really enjoyed the relaxing walk down there.
On Thursday, I spent the night at my friend's house; Ruby, you may remember her from last year. She now goes to Genazzano, so it is good to catch up often. We made Easter biscuits and went to Grill'd for dinner. We also happened to bump into Tom, Will, Ed and Alex, which was quite an awkward surprise; but now I am not looking forward to seeing them again at school! We grabbed a movie to watch and ate some of our Easter cookies throughout that!
Every year, we go to my Grandma's house for Good Friday lunch and so that is where we spent our Good Friday. Straight from there, we drove to Rosebud, to stay for the Easter weekend with some family friends. Friday night was pretty relaxed but we did stay up til midnight with music thumping! I regret staying up to hear all this old music, watching my mum disco dance to 'Staying Alive' and hearing some of the things that my dad used to love listening to, EMBARRASSING!
On Saturday, we did a huge walk across the beaches of Portsea and Sorrento. They call it the millionaires walk, as you can actually stroll through the backyards of million dollar mansions! We continued on through the beaches with breathtaking views and the sights of even more beach houses. After we arrived back home, we had lunch, to then head off to some wineries where the parents wine tasted and the kids just stood around looking bored.
We had the usual for dinner but I think the highlight of the night was dessert. I put together a mouth-watering key lime pie and I hate to be so vain, but that pie was amazing!
We woke up to Easter Eggs on the table, to be exact, a Richmond Easter Egg and a Marvellous Creations Bunny! We had an Easter egg hunt in the front yard, as we do every year, to add to the eggs I got on Good Friday. Afterwards, we went to church and came back for a fantastic lunch of lamb and veggies. We needed to come home and so we did, for the over hour long drive. For dinner, we had Tacos, made my sister and her friend, Matt.
Well that's about it, I told you my holidays were nothing special! But I guess you wanted to know about them…


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In context, here is the passage in question:
2 Some Pharisees came up to Jesus, testing Him, and began to question Him whether it was lawful for a man to divorce a wife. 3 And He answered and said to them, "What did Moses command you?" 4 They said, "Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away." 5 But Jesus said to them, "[Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. 6 But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. 7 For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother, 8 and the two shall become one flesh; so they are no longer two, but one flesh. (Mark 10:2-8, NASB)What is this passage about? It is about marriage and divorce. So it should be interpreted as a discussion about marriage and divorce, which I'm not going to do. Which is dumb, right? Yes it is. Well I have to, because the Young Earth Creationists and their, um, scientific foundation as represented by Answers in Genesis consider verse 6 to be proof of a young earth.
The YEC/AiG argument is this: believing there were billions of years between the formation of the universe and Adam and Eve 1 makes a liar out of Jesus is v6 when he says from the beginning of creation. When you look at the AiG "exegesis" of this passage, it is painful to read how they contort to allow the beginning of creation to refer to the end of the six days. It amounts to the computational trick of introducing a slop "fudge factor" into a calculation. Here they grant to Jesus a fudge factor of exactly six days.
For the computer programmers, it is something like this 2
public static final int SLOP = 6; //daysI believe that we sometimes forget that Jesus, like any other "person", is not required to be literally scientifically correct if he is not espousing on science (which, in fact, he never does.) He is entitled, like the rest of us, to converse with all figures of speech often which, taken literally, are not scientifically, mathematically or even historically correct. He is not, for example, divinely prohibited from using hyperbole which by its very definition is never literally true. So blindly taking Jesus "literally and simply" (or rather, doing so when it's convenient) is to tell Jesus that unlike every other speaker, every sentence he utters must hold up under miscroscopic parsing independent of the context and intent.
if (adam.getCreationDay() > SLOP) {
Even in modern peer-reviewed scientific literature (let alone everyday non-scientific conversation) you can find figures of speech that are literally not true scientifically, but the readers, assumed to be intelligent (and the most neglected biblical hermeneutic is that the bible is meant to be read intelligently) do not conclude that this makes liars of the writers. It is not hard to find sentences in physics literature such as "at this point the electron knows to do X" where "knows to" summarizes the fact that the detailed scientific explanation of the electron doing X is not the point of the present discussion, and it would only obfuscate the main point to litter the text with verbiage just to make the sentence scientifically air tight. Nobody speaks that way, and Jesus isn't required to.
Jesus is not talking about science or the details of creation in Mark 10:6. He is saying nothing more than "ever since there were men and women, they were meant to bond together in marriage."
It's that simple.
1 I part ways with those OECs at Biologos who do not affirm a historic Adam and Eve.
2 Although AiG probably programs in COBOL.

subset: commoncrawl


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Location: Corner Brook , NL , P.O. Box 373
2 Carmen Ave
2 Carmen Ave
Type(s) of Advocacy: General Advocacy, Crisis Services, Women
Telephone: 709-639-8522
Website: http://www.cbwomenscentre.com/
Advocacy Description: The Centre provides: * crisis intervention * short term supportive counseling * community education * outreach * professional development * policy consultation * community...
Tags: counseling, crisis assistance, housing support, women's advocacy, women's centre
Location: St. John's , NL , Confederation Building, 1st Floor West Block
100 Prince Philip Drive, P.O. Box 8700
100 Prince Philip Drive, P.O. Box 8700
Type(s) of Advocacy: Addictions, Crisis Services, Health, Mental Health
Telephone: (709) 729–4984
Website: http://www.health.gov.nl.ca/health/
Advocacy Description: The Department of Health and Community Services provides a lead role in policy, planning, program development, and support to the four regional health authorities and other mandated health and...
Tags: government, healthcare
Location: Gander , NL , 61 Elizabeth Drive, Polaris Building,First Floor
Type(s) of Advocacy: General Advocacy, Crisis Services, Employment and Unemployment, Family, Health, Housing and Tenants, Violence, Welfare, Women
Telephone: 709-256 4395
Advocacy Description: The Gander Status of Women Council works towards achieving equality through advocacy, lobbying, public education, providing community leadership and delivering direct services. The Gander Women's...
Tags: women fleeing abuse, women's advocacy, women's centre
Location: St. John's , NL , 360 Topsail Road, Suite 101
Type(s) of Advocacy: Crisis Services, Violence, Women
Telephone: (709) 747-7757
Website: http://www.nlsacpc.com/
Advocacy Description: NLSACPC provides non-judgmental support and essential services to adults impacted by sexual violence. Our members work toward the prevention and eradication of sexual violence in all forms through...
Tags: abuse prevention, crisis line, crisis support, sexual abuse, women fleeing abuse
Location: St. John's , NL , 170 Cashin Avenue Extension
Type(s) of Advocacy: General Advocacy, Crisis Services, Women
Telephone: (709)-753-0220
Website: http://margueritesplace.ca
Monday - Friday, 8:30 am - 4:30 pm
Advocacy Description: The Women's Centre is a non-profit charitable organization that serves women in St. John's and the Avalon Region. We offer a safe and comfortable space where women can meet one another and receive...
Tags: emergency housing, resource centre, support groups, women's centre


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Social media is not just one of the most powerful tools available to an indie author, it is arguably the reason that any indie author could be successful. But with so many options available to you and each with their own niches, how do you even know where to start? How do you know if you're doing it right? Is there even a right?
Welcome to the Indie Author's Guide to Social Media.
In this guide, we will be going through the following social media platforms, how they can help indie authors, common mistakes, and how to most effectively utilize those platforms. This guide will cover the platforms that have the most potential for indie author growth. They include Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, and Instagram.
In this first instalment, we will be covering my personal favourite, Twitter.
Often touted as the greatest social network for aspiring authors, bloggers, and entrepreneurs, Twitter seems to be the single-greatest social media platform for building a network of peers and followers. Twitter can be used for equal parts self-promotion, learning, networking, and just being yourself.
Twitter allows users to follow one another, "tweet" messages of up to 140 characters, as well as like and retweet (share) the tweets of others. Furthermore, users make extensive use of hashtags to highlight keywords in their tweets, making them more likely to come up in searches.
How does it help indie authors?
There is a vibrant and ever-growing community of indie authors on Twitter that are more than happy to connect with one another. This community exists more on Twitter than any other social media platform, so this should be one of the social media accounts you make sure you have.
The use of hashtags also lets indie authors participate in massive weekly chats and games that span continents. These provide opportunities to not only learn from those on the same journey as you but to make a name for yourself among the indie author community.
Twitter also allows indie authors to reach audiences at an exponential rate. Whether you have 20, 200, 2000, or 20000 followers, each follower has the opportunity to retweet your tweets to their entire list of followers. While the ability to share posts is not uncommon among social media platforms, it is more frequent on Twitter than most, and directly links back to your profile.
Common Mistakes People Make on Twitter
There are a few things that you should avoid doing on Twitter that people do way too often. These include:
Promoting your product excessively. One of Twitter's key strengths lies in its ability to network and promote one another. If someone looks at your feed and just sees a list of Amazon ads, then you are not likely to gather many followers.
Follow the Famous. If you want to keep up to date on your favourite band or celebrity icon, consider making a personal Twitter. Keep in mind that we are using social media as a tool, not as a plaything. If the person you follow is not likely to further your goal in some way – either by following you back, retweeting your tweets, or educating you – then they are not worth following on your author Twitter profile.
Don't engage. One of the nice things about Twitter is the ability to engage with people, regardless of whether or not you follow each other. For this reason, it is incredibly easy to engage with everyone, on any interesting post you can see. Be sure to follow up on replies to your tweets, give some thank-you's when people help you out, and throw your two cents in when you can. It is a social media platform, so be social!
How to Get Started on Twitter
Any social media platform can be daunting to get started on. You are a newcomer in a virtual landscape that has the established, the successful, and seemingly exclusive groups of people. Getting started on Twitter is easy though, just make sure you hit all of the following.
- Choose a Twitter handle and name that is recognizable as you. If you already have other social media channels, make them the same if possible. If you are consistently using the name D. William Landsborough, don't make your Twitter handle @KrazeeGamer. Just don't.
- Get a Profile Picture and a Cover Photo. Again, be consistent here, at least with the profile picture. There isn't really a reason your profile photo is not the same on all your professional social media accounts. Make sure that it expresses who you are and has your face in it. As for the cover photo, there are a whole bunch of websites out there when you can make ones with stock images for free, or a small fee. The ideal Twitter cover image is 1500x500 pixels.
- Fill out your Bio. And make sure to fill it with keywords and 1-3 hashtags. You can add a splash of humour, but it is more important to get quality information in that small cluster of words. In a lot of cases, people might only see your profile picture and your bio, so take some time on them both.
- Follow 200 People on Day One. Make sure these 200 people are explicitly related to what you are pursuing: writing, indie authors, publishers, book bloggers, etc. This will generate recommended followers and make you more likely to be retweeted to the right audience.
- Start tweeting and retweeting. You might feel uncomfortable at first, but dive right in there. You can do an awkward, sort of funny first tweet if you want. But bear in mind that a simple hello and introduction does fine. And retweet those 200 people you just followed. Every 1 in 5 tweets should be yours, but retweeting shows the community that you want to be an active member of the indie author Twitterverse.
Take Your Twitter Up a Notch
Once you get up and running on Twitter, maybe with a few hundred followers of your own, it is time to start using some more expert techniques. These five tips are guaranteed to boost your engagement and follower count.
- Pin a Tweet. Statistically speaking, a visitor to your profile will pay more attention to your pinned tweet than your bio (though never ignore your bio). You can pin a tweet by clicking the arrow in the top right and selecting Pin to Profile. Make sure your pinned tweet is either a great reflection of you and your work or has some kind of call to action
- Participate in Hashtag Games. Because the indie author community is so prolific on Twitter, they usually come together to play some pretty fun hashtag games. These could include weekly events that highlight a line from your work in progress, or they could be ongoing chats. For the latter, you use the hashtag to make sure your tweets are included in the conversation. Our own hashtag game is premiering the day after this blog goes live, so check out the #WhoNeedsAHero game starting August 11.
- Link your Website to Your Profile. Don't waste the space in your bio, since Twitter already gives you an option to add your website to your profile. This way people can connect back to your content very easily. Because your Twitter feed can easily be filled with pictures, other links, retweets, etc., you will want a reliable way to bring your fans and your network back to your website.
- Makes Lists. Don't be like me and put this off. Lists are valuable tools that let you group your people you are following (and even those you don't) into categories. This will add some organization to the ever-expanding chaos of your Following list. As an indie author, make lists such as Writers, Bloggers, Publishers, Editors, or any others you can think of. Lists let you see only tweets and retweets from those on the lists. They are very helpful in finding specific content to retweet and share with your followers.
- Use a Third-Party Application. As you get further along in your journey, you will need to start using some tools to make your life a little easier. Some of these are paid, and some of them have free options, but it is tough to dispute the effectiveness of the apps. And there are a countless ones out there. They include Hootsuite, Buffer, and Crowdfire, among many others. I personally use Buffer to schedule my posts on all my social media accounts, while Crowdfire is great for finding followers you want and curating content for those followers. But don't just jump to them; look around for which ones work best for you. Just keep in mind that these tools compliment your own work, it doesn't do it for you.
The journey to being an indie author is complex but enjoyable. Twitter not only lets you build a base and a network, possibly better than any other social media platform, but it lets you have a lot of fun while doing so.
Do you have anything to add to the Indie Author's Social Media Guide to Twitter? I would be happy to include it in a later version of the guide. And let me know which social media platform you would like to see next. And be sure to subscribe to the mailing list for when the Guide gets updated; subscribers will get expanded versions of the Indie Author's Guide to Social Media.
Click here to read Part Two of the Indie Author's Guide to Social Media, where we cover Google+.


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Showing all 3 results
Garmin GSD 24 Advanced Sonar Module$699.99
The GSD 24 features a vastly improved digital sonar design for superior target definition and deep-water performance.
Garmin GSD 25 Premium Sonar Module$899.99
Premium CHIRP and Scanning Sonar Module
Premium remote network sonar solution
Includes true dual-channel 1 kW CHIRP, plus CHIRP SideVü and DownVü scanning sonar for the clearest images on the water (transducers sold separately)
Provides serious sportsfishers outstanding fishfinding and bottom tracking capabilities
Helps distinguish between small and closely spaced fish at key fishing depths
Depth capability to 5,000 feet
The GSD 25 premium sonar module is a remote network solution that provides outstanding fishfinding and bottom tracking capabilities. It offers dual-channel 1 kW CHIRP, plus Garmin CHIRP DownVü and SideVü sonar scanning for the clearest scanning images on the water. The images sent to your compatible Garmin chartplotter have target details so clear and precise, you can actually distinguish between small and closely spaced fish at key fishing depths all the way down to 5,000 feet.
Garmin GSD 26 CHIRP Professional Sonar Module$1,999.99
The GSD 26 digital sonar ushers in the next evolution of sportfishing technology, providing unrivaled target separation at far greater depths than traditional sonar.
Showing all 3 results


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Dean of the College of Liberal Arts
Dean of the College of Liberal Arts
University of Minnesota Duluth
The University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) is seeking qualified candidates for the position of Dean of the College of Liberal Arts (CLA) to commence on July 1, 2019.
UMD is a midsized, comprehensive land and sea grant university with a small-campus feel and large-campus opportunities. UMD offers baccalaureate, masters, and selected doctoral degrees across a broad range of disciplinary and interdisciplinary fields (http://www.d.umn.edu/). As the second largest research university in the state, we are dedicated to integrating liberal education, research, creative activity, and public engagement to prepare students to thrive as lifelong learners and globally engaged citizens. UMD recently received ten-year re-accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission and updated our strategic plan (http://www.d.umn.edu/strategic-planning/strategic-plans).
The successful candidate will have a record of distinguished administrative leadership, teaching, and scholarship appropriate for a senior faculty appointment within an academic discipline represented in the College of Liberal Arts. The Dean will be committed to creating a vibrant academic and intellectual climate in the College, foster and champion a collective vision for the liberal arts, exercise creative and consultative leadership, have experience with budgeting and strategic planning, and work effectively with a multidisciplinary faculty, staff, student body, and other units of the University. The successful candidate will also have a proven record of developing external and internal relations, a successful record of fund-raising, and a sustained record of advancing diversity and inclusion.
Required qualifications include an earned doctorate from a regionally accredited university in a field within the CLA; a minimum of three years of administrative experience at least at the department head or equivalent level; a record of teaching, research, and service that meets the qualifications necessary to be tenured at the rank of Professor in one of the departments within the College; a strong record of administrative leadership and personnel and budgetary management; effective written communication skills; a record of developing external relations with public and private sectors; and a record of commitment to enhancing and maintaining diversity among students, staff, and faculty.
Situated at the western tip of Lake Superior, the international port city of Duluth, winner of Outside Magazine's Best Town 2014 Tournament, offers an enticing selection of adventures for four season outdoor enthusiasts as well as a rich variety of cultural opportunities, including ballet, theatre, symphony, and art galleries. Metropolitan Minneapolis/St. Paul is less than three hours south of Duluth.
Further information is available at: https://humanresources.umn.edu/jobs. Applicants must apply online via the employment system at: https://humanresources.umn.edu/jobs, job ID number 327283. Individuals from underrepresented groups and US Military veterans are strongly encouraged to apply. Applicants in need of disability accommodations need simply contact the search committee chair with those requests. Inquiries may be directed to the Chair of the Search Committee: Dr. Jerry Pepper, Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, by email at email@example.com or by phone at (218) 726-7274.
The search committee will begin review of completed applications December 3, 2018, and will continue until the position is filled. The anticipated start date is July 1, 2019.
The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity employer and educator.


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Gender Discrimination Suits: Cases Against Pharma Continue Even As Payouts Slow
This article was originally published in The Pink Sheet Daily
Executive Summary
Novartis will pay $8m to settle second case; last year Daiichi Sankyo settled gender discrimination class action for the same amount and action against Bayer was dismissed following confidential resolution. Cases are ongoing against Merck and Forest.
Register for our free email digests:


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Curriculum Vitae
Yuzhen Peng holds degrees in Electrical & Electronic Engineering, and Automation in Information Engineering. She was formerly a senior embedded engineer in a Danish company. She is experienced in controls, embedded software, hardware, applications, and product development.
Her current research interests are wireless sensing and advanced controls of building systems, which covers energy- and comfort-optimal reaction of distributed components for cooling, ventilation and dehumidification of buildings. She is also interested in the study of self-learning capabilities that allow building systems to adapt to the environment and the human user.


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Jl. Cideng Barat No. 37Jakarta 10150ph: 62-21-580 firstname.lastname@example.com
Gedung Noah
Jl. Cideng Barat No. 37
Jakarta 10150 - Indonesia
The Jakarta head office has three distribution offices in major cities in Java island to serve the surrounding area and all parts of the country as follows:
Copyright 2008 MITRA KALINDO. All rights reserved.


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Belly Dancing ~ March 22 6:30pm Madison Library
Eat light, wear comfortable clothes and be ready to move. Dance instructor Heather Adler will teach you the fun, exotic dance form. Have fun, get fit, feel fabulous! All ages. No registration necessary. Free. Email firstname.lastname@example.com or call 812/265-2744 for more information.


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YouTube has been a very popular website for years now. People love going to the site to watch trending cat videos, instructional cooking clips and so much more.
But did you know that the site has expanded into a whole new world? It's true.
YouTube is now in the TV streaming service business. You just need to download the YouTube TV app.
The YouTube TV app is cable-free TV with no cable box required. For $40 per month, you get one membership with up to six accounts and you can cancel at any time. You're able to watch shows on your TV, computer, mobile phone, and tablet so it's great for people on the go.
Memberships include your local ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC streams, ESPN, regional sports networks, and more. Add on sports and premium networks like SHOWTIME and Fox Soccer Plus for an additional monthly charge.
There is even a DVR function so you can record programs and watch at your convenience. You're able to record as many programs as you want at the same time, without ever running out of storage space. Recordings are saved for up to nine months and you can stream them from your library anywhere in the U.S.
The app is available to download for free on both iOS and Android. To download it, click on the appropriate link in the blue boxes below. If you're reading this article using the Komando.com app, you won't see the blue boxes. Click here to see them and download the YouTube TV app.


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MAX JOWITT has had to bide his time to get a decent run as Wakefield Trinity's full-back so – now he has it – has no intention of giving up the role easily.
Although he debuted in 2014, and performed terrifically at times, the youngster has found himself largely looking in from the outside since the experienced Scott Grix arrived from Huddersfield Giants ahead of last season.
The Ireland international was a big hit last term so Jowitt found himself loaned to Oxford and on dual-registration terms with Dewsbury Rams. This campaign started out in a similar vein, too.
However, Grix injured his shoulder against Hull KR at the start of last month and could be out for up to 12 weeks.
In the 34-year-old's absence, Jowitt has played four of the five matches since and is expected to do so again tomorrow when Chris Chester's side host Widnes Vikings.
He said: "You never want anyone to get injured but it's been a bit of a blessing for me as it's meant I have had a run of games.
"Hopefully I can carry it on and keep the spot even when Grixy is back fit again.
"That is what I have to do – prove I am worth that place. It has been frustrating at times not playing. I made my debut at 17 against Saints and then in 2016 had a breakthrough season.
"I played around 22 games when I wasn't really expecting to.
"But Grixy came in and I only played three games last season.
"I couldn't really complain given how well he played so I knew I had to bide my time.
"And I learn so much off him as well. I get to train with him, watch him play and pick his brains about the position.
"But Grixy is coming to the back end of his career now and I want to stake my own claim for the spot."
Chester clearly has faith in him to do just that; the West Yorkshire club announced earlier this week that the 21-year-old has signed a new deal until the end of 2020 giving him that security and time to develop.
The homegrown Academy product knows he still has plenty to work on.
"For the last couple of years, Chezzy has asked me to mainly focus on the defensive side of my game and improving my tackling," explained Jowitt, whose father Ian also played for Trinity.
"I'm working on my running lines, too, and you're always looking to get better."
Wakefield were unlucky not to beat high-flying Warrington Wolves last Friday, losing 32-30 despite scoring five tries to four. Chester makes just one change to his 19-man squad with James Batchelor replacing Justin Horo.
Bottom-placed Widnes, on a 10-match losing league run, make seven alterations with ex-Kiwi centre Krisnan Inu and prop Gil Dudson both back from long-term injuries.
The original game in March was abandoned due to a freak snow storm but Jowitt said: "We've spoken about it in training – if we don't turn up with the right attitude for this game Widnes will turn us over.
"They haven't been playing well but have showed in patches what they can do."


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The Grosvenor traditional Pillar outdoor lighting is available with either the "Flemish" contoured clear glass or a wide range of traditional patterned glasses.
This outdoor lighting is particularly suitable for smaller cottages, smaller houses or garden lights for outbuildings.
Lantern size excluding bracket:
height 210mm x Width 160mm
Total height 290mm
(For the various options available please refer to the images on this page. The bracket colour will be the colour you select unless otherwise stated in the notes section when making the purchase.)


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Joe Mortimer is a travel writer, content creator and digital storyteller who specialises in luxury travel, high-end hospitality and outdoor adventure.
He works with a collection of hospitality and lifestyle clients to create bespoke content for various channels: strategic editorial content for newsletters and magazines, branding and marketing copy for brochures and websites, and stakeholder communications for in-house publications, all crafted to drive engagement, loyalty and brand recognition.
Joe has been a journalist and editor for more than a decade, contributing editorial features and branded content to publications including National Geographic Traveler (US), Robb Report, TTG Luxury and Jetsetter. He is also Editor-at-Large for Destinations of the World News, a luxury travel magazine based in Dubai. You can see some of his work here.
His travel photography has appeared in magazines including Open Skies, the award-winning in-flight magazine of Emirates Airline, and some is distributed by Shutterstock.
Joe has visited 60 countries, stayed in more than 100 luxury hotels and eaten in some of the best restaurants in the world, but claims that nothing beats a night under the stars in Patagonia. He has eaten tarantulas (plural) in Cambodia, horse meat canapés in Kazakhstan and flying ants in Mexico City, but prefers a slice of lemon meringue pie and a nice cup of tea.
For a full list of editorial and content services, click here. If you would like to collaborate on a project or discuss an idea, please get in touch via the form below, or the social media channels on the homepage.


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Chuck Pint, president of SFR, inc, comes back on the show to talk about the new kickstarter to reprint Swamp Stalkers, which also kicks off the release of the much anticipated 4.0 rules. FULL DISCLOSURE - TCbH did the official "How to Play Dragon Dice 4.0 Rules" video for the campaign, which was sponsored by SFR, Inc. I have no official affiliation with SFR or Dragon Dice, other than being a long time fan, and I happily asked Chuck to come back on the show to talk about Dragon Dice with me.
SFR Site - www.sfr-inc.com/
Dragon Dice Kickstarter -
How To Play Dragon Dice 4.0 Rules Video - https://youtu.be/oVPzpsk5ovw
Our Site - www.cardboardherald.com
Our Video Channel - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsBLZ33CJXoUffCBF7plpjg
Our Twitter - https://twitter.com/CardboardHerald
Our Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/user?u=9669551


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Tech4T is a leading data analysis and mapping solutions company.
We help companies grow by putting the polish and usability on data to ensure that its true meaning is self-evident and provides a tangible benefit to a business. We deliver the results in Territory Runner, our on-line database driven system for retail location planning, territory design, field force efficiency and customer targeting. Clients range from franchise start-ups to household names such as Costa Express and Muller.
We do not currently have any vacancies but if you consider you have exceptional skills in data manipulation and analysis and an inquisitive mind, focused on solving business and technical problems, please email your CV to email@example.com. No recruitment agencies please.


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During my long corporate career, I hired a lot of senior level individuals. I've fired a few, too.
As a consultant, I have advised a number of Fortune 100 clients on key executive hiring, internal executive promotion, and succession planning decisions.
In any of those situations, if a Human Resources (HR) Department sent me a selected few resumes to choose from which included candidates:
- With no relevant work experience
- A potential to act first and think later
- A record of questionable decisions
- A loose relationship with the truth
- Racial insensitivity
- A track record of pandering to every potentially aggrieved person or group
- An acknowledged affection for marijuana
I would pick up the phone and tell the HR folks to reread the job description before continuing the search for a suitable candidate.
In the case of the 2016 Presidential Election, 62 percent of likely voters agree with me but that's not an option.
To quote Former CIA Director and Defense Secretary, Robert Gates, "we are where we are – not where we want to be."
Imperfect though the 2016 Presidential candidates all are – we, the people, will have to make a decision on November 8, 2016. We're going to vote to hire one of them to manage our economy and national security for the next four years.
Nine Percent of Americans Nominated Clinton and Trump
Barring a cataclysmic event, either Hillary Clinton will be elected the first woman President of the United States or Donald Trump will be the first business billionaire elected President of the United States.
These are the two most unpopular, mistrusted major political party nominees in the history of the United States.
How did we get here?
It is easy – only 28.5 percent of the eligible voters cast a ballot in the 2016 primary contests (14.4 percent of Democrats and 14 percent of Republicans). That amounts to only nine percent of the total population of the country.
It's a sad commentary on the quality and quantity of civic engagement and political participation in our country.
Even more disconcerting, those voters – from both political parties – are zealous partisans unwilling to consider the legitimacy of the other side's argument.
The major political parties love these voters. Their zealotry energizes them. It gets them to the polls in disproportionate numbers.
But that zealotry is the root of partisan gridlock in Washington.
Political zealots see politics as a "zero sum" game, where only one correct position exists, and therefore there can't be compromise – no meeting in the middle.
The result has been more government by Executive Order and (Supreme) Court Order and less government by the people's most direct representatives – Congress.
NOT VOTING is NOT AN OPTION
Broad citizen participation is the bedrock of "government of the people, by the people and for the people."
The fewer people vote the less democracy we have. Lower and lower voter turnout has been the trend for the last two decades.
When 71.5 percent of registered voters (including the forty-two percent of voters who identify themselves as independents) do not vote in primary elections –- well, then, we end up where we are.
To keep the promise of America alive, we've all got to be part of the decision-making.
How to Make the Least Bad Decision
Use the ReimagineAmerica
2016 Presidential Scorecard
To date, the two leading candidates have spent more than $100 million on 30 second television commercials aimed at getting an emotional (gut) voter reaction – 'vote for me or, at least, don't vote for the other (unacceptable) candidate'.
Voting on just your gut in this election is akin to eloping with a beautiful blonde only to learn on your wedding night that she is bald and has a glass eye!!
Like one-third of voters I'll hold my decision in abeyance until at least after the first Presidential Debate.
It's my standard practice in hiring or advising a client on hiring decisions to craft a job-specific-scorecard.
I use the same process in voting. I want to be persuaded objectively – independent of my emotions and against a common standard which candidate is at least not going to make a bad situation worse.
The scorecard I developed for the 2016 Presidential Election is divided into three broad categories intuitive, policy and "follow the money".
- Section 1 scores how you react to each candidate. For example, how do you think each candidate will react to criticism? How will that effect their ability to govern?
- Section 2 scores the candidates' policy positions. Do you think their policy positions will move the country away from the fiscal precipice, improve your lives and the lives of your children and, most importantly, can be executed with Congress?
- Section 3 "follows the money". Who are the campaign contributors each candidate will be indebted to? Are their interests the same as your interests?
- Add all three scores together, for each candidate, and there's your answer.
The Scorecard includes all Four (4) Presidential Candidates
who have qualified for 50 state ballots.
Visit the 2016 Presidential Scorecard
If you have 15 minutes, please download your own copy of the Scorecard and use it to make your own voter decision objectively – by the numbers.
Once you download the form, it is completely yours, completely private and not accessible by any other person, candidate or Reimagineamerica.org.
In return for making this powerful tool available, we ask only one thing — VOTE on November 8!
Graphic courtesy of city of New Haven.Conn.


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The AUP community is invited to a talk by Peter Wortsman, entitled 'Meditation in Translation - Transcending Ego and Transmitting Voice', which will take place next Monday the 24th at 18:30 in the ARC.
In his remarks, translator-author Peter Wortsman will discuss translation as a form of internal travel, an encounter with "the other" in oneself. Jakob Grimm, of 'Grimms' Fairy Tales' fame, wrote figuratively of the translator: "Whoever has the talent for navigation, whoever is able to man a ship and lead it with full sail to the opposite shore, still has to land where the air and the soil are different." And the poet Goethe, who celebrated that different air and soil in his West‑Östlicher Divan, described "the coming together of the foreign and the native, the unknown approximation and the known, that keep moving towards each other." In that spirit of assimilating ostensibly alien influences, Wortsman will reflect on the task of the translator.
The critically acclaimed translator of classic texts by Peter Altenberg, Adelbert von Chamisso, Heinrich Heine, Heinrich von Kleist, Robert Musil and others, Wortsman is also the author of original work in multiple modes. Often composed in one language and adapted in another, or else inspired by travel, or translation, another form of border crossing, his publications include fiction ('A Modern Way to Die'), memoir ('Ghost Dance in Berlin: A Rhapsody in Gray'), drama ('The Tattooed Man Tells All and Burning Words') and prose poetry. His most recent publications are Selected Tales of the Brothers Grimm (Archipelago) and 'Tales of the German Imagination' (Penguin).


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Respectful Approach to Motor Development and Infants (Tea Time Included)
Respectful Approach to Motor Development and Infants (Tea Time Included)
"The way infants instinctively move is safest."
Inspired by the RIE and Pikler Approaches, this interactive workshop shares the most common "natural" gross and fine motor development in infants from birth to 12 months. Understanding how your baby moves in various physical stages can help parents observe, with delight, how remarkable is your child's progress in her first 12 months. We will also discuss how movement milestones relate to brain and socio-emotional development.
In this 45 minute session + tea time, babies are welcome to join, and move freely in the middle of the room, this talk is mainly for adults, and is NOT a parent-child activity.


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Alan Bristow
Condensed Matter Experiment
Prof. Bristow received his Ph.D. from the University of Sheffield in 2004. He was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Toronto from 2003 to 2006, a Research Associate at JILA from 2006 to 2010 and an Adjunct Instructor at the Colorado School of Mines in 2009. He joined the department in Fall 2010. He is currently also a National Institute of Standards and Technology Associate, an Associate Editor for Optical Materials Express and member of the Optical Society of America and the American Physical Society.
Prof. Bristow has taught the following courses:PHYS-112 – University Physics II (with calculus)
PHYS-211 – Introduction to Mathematical Physics
PHYS-321 – Optics
PHYS-479/779 – Laboratory Research
PHYS-772 – Semiconductor Physics
PHYS-774 – Optical Properties of Solids
PHYS-791 (Special Topics) – Laser Physics and Quantum Optics
In addition to teaching lecture courses, Prof. Bristow has mentored undergraduate and graduate students in research activities. He has graduated PhD students whom have gone on to be postdoctoral researchers at top-tier research schools, visiting professors at liberal arts colleges, and employees in industrial and government lab positions.
Prof. Bristow leads the Ultrafast Nanophotonics group, using short laser pulses to determine coherent and dynamic properties of electrons in condensed matter. Light-matter interactions provide insight into new physics at the nanoscale and are useful characterization tools for materials and structures that have potential for electronic, photonic, spintronic and energy-harvesting applications.
Selected Publications (full list @ google scholar)
- H. Esmaielpour, V. R. Whiteside, H. P. Piyathilaka, S. Vijeyaragunathan, B. Wang, E. Adcock-Smith, K. P. Roberts, T. D. Mishima, M. B. Santos, A. D. Bristow, I. R. Sellers, "Original of inhibited hot carrier cooling in type-II InAs/AlAs1-xSbx quantum wells," Scientific Reports 8, 12473-9 (2018).
- D. A. Bas, R. A. Muniz, S. Babakiray, D. Lederman, J. E. Sipe, A. D. Bristow, "Identification of photocurrents in topological insulators," Optics Express 24, 23583-23595 (2016).
- J. Li, S. K. Cushing, F. Meng, T. R. Senty, A. D. Bristow, N. Wu, "Plasmon-induced resonance energy transfer for solar energy conversion," Nature Photonics 9, 601-607 (2015).
- B. L. Wilmer, F. Passmann, M. Gehl, G. Khitrova, A. D. Bristow, "Multidimensional coherent spectroscopy of a semiconductor microcavity," Physical Review B 91, 201304(R)-5 (2015).
- S. K. Cushing, J. Li, F. Meng, T. R. Senty, S. Suri, M. Zhi, M. Li, A. D. Bristow, N. Q. Wu, "Photo-catalytic activity enhanced by plasmonic resonant energy transfer from metal to semiconductor," Journal of American Chemical Society 134, 15033-15041 (2012).
- J. D. Rowley, J. K. Pierce, A. T. Brant, L. E. Halliburton, N. C. Giles, P. G. Schunemann, A. D. Bristow, "Broadband terahertz pulse emission from ZnGeP2," Optics Letters 37, 788-790 (2012)


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DIY Herb-Drying Rack/
For $19.95, you can order this herb-drying rack from Amazon:
Or, you can cut up some old tomato-cage wire, grab some twine, and make your own in about five minutes.
Cut the wire into a length that will give you the perfect circle size for your needs when you bend it. Then make small knots with the twine around the circumference of the circle to hang your fresh herbs from. Finally, take a few pieces of twine to connect the wire circle to your ceiling hook.
To harvest your herbs, cut healthy branches from your herb plants. Be sure to remove any dry or diseased leaves, and shake the branches gently to remove any insects. If you have to rinse the herbs off, be sure to pat them dry with towels (wet herbs will mold!). Cut off the lower leaves along the bottom inch of each branch, then bundle four to six branches together and tie them together as a bunch. Hang these bundles upside-down from your drying rack.
Leave your herbs hanging in a dry, warm, airy location until they are crumbly to the touch (depending on your climate, this could take up to two weeks). When they're dry, your herbs are ready to store.


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It took me quite some time to figure out how to change the Subsites and Pages settings by code. I finally manged to change them. The setting "Show subsites" can be altered in 2 ways. I was only able to… Continue Reading →
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Chapter 1 - Noatun, The City of Genesis
Chapter 1 - Noatun, The City of Genesis is the first chapter of Bayonetta 2. There are eight Journal's Echoes, four Muspelheim Portals, three Crows, and one Angelic Hymn to find and collect.
Bayonetta and Enzo are flying their way over to the sacred mountain Fimbulventr to find a way into the Inferno. This mountain is said to be the only place on Earth that connects to both heaven and hell. You'll first arrive at the base of the mountain in the city of Noatun.
Time to explore. This area is full of collectibles, so take the time to look around. Keep in mind you can hop into the water! If you see any statues with the gold Seal of the Sun, destroy them to find goodies inside.
Journal's Echo: Go to the dock on the left and follow it all the way to the journal at the end.
Crow: As soon as you start the chapter, turn to your right and follow the path all the way to the end. The crow will be on the edge of the last dock.
Verse 1
Journal's Echo and Muspelheim Portal: Head to the main plaza with the glass-like surface. At the end of the left side is a journal entry right next to a Muspelheim portal. This Muspelheim will task you with killing an Acceptance within 30 seconds. Easy!
Crow: Just before the area with the underwater tunnel is a series of columns. On top of the left most column is crow. If you can find a way to get up there, great! If not, purchase the "Crow Within" technique from the shop, then use the nearby shop to jump off of and fly over to the crow.
Journal's Echo: Run up the stairs on the right in the main plaza area. In the middle is a journal, right next to Umbran Resting Place.
Activate the Umbran Resting Place, then jump off the balcony and transform into a panther. Run and collect the shards across the plaza. Jump over to the dock area, then run down the stairs to collect the last one.
Run over to the end of the plaza and hop into the water. Enter the hallway and collect the journal as you enter the next underwater section.
Journal's Echo: This one can be found in the middle of the hallway as you pass into the next section. Don't worry about missing the fourth journal entry, you'll get that later.
Journal's Echo: As soon as you enter the underwater section, the journal will be off to the left. You can't miss it!
Verse 2[edit]
Run over to the large area at the end of the path to start a battle. This time you're facing off with a new enemy, the Cachet & Compassion. Here you will only face off with the Compassions, the smaller enemies. Since there are many and easy to take out, try using your spin move them all at once.
Verse 3
Muspelheim Portal: There is a portal to the left of the stairs after the Verse 2 battle. This Muspelheim tasks you with only dealing damage by going into Witch Time. You have two minutes to complete this, so it shouldn't be a problem!
Verse 4[edit]
With that taken care of, start heading up the stairs to the next area. Once outside, the next battle will begin! Fight off three Acceptance, although this time one of them will be able to shoot arrows. When you see the ground below you glow, evade and stay clear of the arrows.
After defeating the enemies, enter the red portal to enter Rodin's Shop. Here you can buy new weapons, accessories, items, and more.
Return to the normal world and head through the archway. Throughout this entire section, the giant angel you saw earlier will start crashing through the ground, destroying the path ahead. Once you reach the end, jump to the ground below and enter the next area.
Verse 5[edit]
Now in the Cascade Foregrounds, head for the center to meet Loki for the first time.
After watching the cutscene, get ready to battle another Accolade. This Accolade will be surrounded by other Acceptance, including the one that shoots out arrows. After that, a Cachet & Compassion will appear, then another Accolade. If you have the pillars destroyed in the area, you might find some health!
There is an Umbran Resting Place to the left. Collect the pieces by hopping into the water, then wall jumping back up to the surface at the end.
Verse 6
Muspelheim Portal: In the Cascade Foregrounds, hop into the water and enter the portal on the left. This one will have you defeating enemies to earn time to your clock. Defeat all the enemies before time runs out to win. This one can be very tricky. Try to use attacks and combos that grab have a wide range so you can attack multiple enemies at once. Let them bunch up!
Angelic Hymn: After the Verse 5 battle, collect the Angelic Hymn dropped in the square.
Journal's Echo: At the base of the gravitation object is a journal entry.
Verse 7[edit]
Run up the gravitation object to find yourself standing on the side of the church. Here you'll encounter Valiance, a first sphere Cherubim.
The angel's sword is extremely powerful, so avoid it as best as you can! Dodge the swing to enter Witch Time, then jump in the air and attack from above. Most of its attacks will affect you on the ground, so it's a good idea to stay in the air. Whenever it drops the sword, you'll have a chance to attack its face! After you defeat Valiance, Bayonetta will summon another demon to completely take it down.
Now you're inside the church. Before you hop down, find some of the collectibles up here.
Crow: As soon as you land, a crow can be found perched on the railing in front of you.
Verse 8
Muspelheim Portal: This portal is on the right side of the upstairs area of the church. This one will task you with getting rid of the enemies without getting hurt. Simple enough!
Verse 9[edit]
Jump down to the bottom of the church to encounter another Cachet & Compassion, this time complete with the Cachet. The Cachet is a stronger version of the Compassion, and it also has a long range drill attack that you need to watch out for.
After you defeat it, free Loki from the rumble and head on to the next room. There are several collectibles here, so take the time to find them all. This includes a Umbran Resting Place found inside once of the chapels.
Journal's Echo: As soon as you enter the next room of the church, turn to the right to find another journal entry.
Journal's Echo: Remember that missing fourth entry? This is it. You can find it at the end of the second room of the church.
Verse 10[edit]
Exit the church to find yourself outside in a courtyard. Head into the middle to start yet another battle. The fight will start off with Acceptance and an Accolade. Nothing you haven't face before. Soon they will be joined by a Cachet & Compassion.
Just when you think the battle is over, a new enemy will appear. Urbane has two fiery fists and arms that can strike powerful blows. Since his attacks on the ground are deadly, try to perform your attacks and combos in the air.
Verse 11[edit]
After you finish Verse 10, backtrack to the cathedral's main room. Here, a battle will start with two green, sword-wielding Accolades. They appear close together, so make sure you don't get double-teamed.
Verse 12[edit]
With that taken care of, continue forward until you get outside. When you reach the water, hop in to start a battle with an Accolade underwater. If you picked up the remains of Urbane, use his fists to quickly take down this Accolade.
Verse 13[edit]
Head down the next crumbling alley only to find that the giant flying angel wants to start a battle. This fight shouldn't be to bad if you stick to the simple evade and attack concept. Whenever the angel strikes, evade and enter Witch Time, then unleash your attacks.
The fight will move on to the sky where the same tactics should be used.
And with that, the chapter is finally over!
Was this guide helpful?


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I am grateful that MNDFL is able to serve as a safer and braver space for two conversations in the coming weeks that need to be had. On Monday, the Rev. angel Kyodo williams will lead a talk on creating real change and looking at how we can heal ourselves in order to heal the world around us. On September 11, Sebene Selassie picks up the thread for a talk on race, unconscious bias, and mindfulness.
August 21: http://bit.ly/MNDFLangel
September 11: http://bit.ly/MNDFLsebene
Recent reads/listens that have been helpful for me post-Charlottesville:
MNDFL teacher Colin Beavan writes "I Need to Start With the Racist Attitudes in Me"
angel asks "Where Will You Stand?" in regards to Buddhism and white supremacy
and finally (and most poignantly for me) Representative John Lewis is interviewed for On Being; very much worth the listen
May we all live with more love.


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W. T. Draper, born in Sumter County, Ga., September 2, 1844, died at his home, in Franklin County, Tex., on May 1, 1916. He entered the Confederate army at Clayton, Ala., in Company I, 39th Alabama Infantry, as a private and served to the close of the war, being paroled at Greensboro, N. C., May 15, 1865. He was in the battles of Resaca, New Hope Church, Kennesaw Mountain, Missionary Ridge, Chickamauga, Franklin, Nashville, and around Atlanta.
He was married to Miss Seamore Willis, of Barbour County, in September, 1866. A good citizen has fallen. A true Confederate soldier has departed. He was a member of Ben McCulloch Camp, No. 300, U. C. V., and also a member of the Church. He was a living father and a devoted husband. Veterans assisted in his funeral.
SOURCE: Confederate Veteran Magazine, November, 1916.
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Sandy Springs, GASandy Springs Georgia Menu
About SSPD
The Sandy Springs Police Department was created in 2006, and serves the community with 144 sworn officers. Operations are coordinated from two districts; north and south. Each district is commanded by district captains and is comprised of four patrol beats. The patrol division is complemented by specialty units including Street Crimes Unit (SCU), Traffic Unit, Specialized Investigation Unit (SIU), and Criminal Investigation Unit (CID). The SSPD has several specialty vehicles and equipment including the river response boat, river kayaks, a Command vehicle, and an armored vehicle for tactical response.
Police Chief
Ken DeSimone leads the police force. Chief DeSimone worked previously with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and Law Enforcement Executive Development Seminar, and also served as a Colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, retiring from that position in 2014.
Deputy Chief
Keith Zgonc is second in command, serving as Deputy Chief. He has been with the Sandy Springs Police Department since its inception in 2006. His 25-year career in law enforcment began in 1991 with the City of Smyrna Police Department. Deputy Chief Zgonc is a graduate of the University of Georgia and the FBI National Academy.
Districts, Divisions, and Units
Sandy Springs Police Department Operations are coordinated by two districts: North and South. Each district is commanded by district captains and is divided into four patrol zones. The patrol division is complemented by specialized units including Street Crimes Unit (SCU), Traffic Unit, Special Investigations Unit (SIU), and Criminal Investigations Division (CID).
Internal Affairs
Captain Benjie Cain oversees the Internal Affairs Unit. His current assignment is responsible for investigating and/or managing inquiries into all complaints and allegations made against sworn and civilian members of the Sandy Springs Police Department. The unit strives to ensure that the integrity of the Department remains intact. Each investigation is conducted objectively and thoroughly. The goal of the Internal Affairs Unit is to determine the facts of complaints filed against sworn and civilian personnel and make referrals based on if, or if not, the complaint is substantiated. Captain Cain can be reached via E-mai or contact him by phone at 770-551-3309.
Careers with SSPD
Interested in working for the Sandy Springs Police Department? Learn more about what it means to be a member of the SSPD.
2014-2015 Report
The 2014-2015 SSPD Report is available in PDF format.


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For Day 8 of NaPoWriMo, I wrote a fantastical poem. A poem of nine lives and nine deaths.
Arrivals and Departures
in your first life a cobra struck
your back right paw
the poison felt
like bath water
that lost its warmth
when you came back
you danced with
that same cobra and found
that it bled blue in
the afterlife
you painted the world
with its blood to celebrate
your next death
how your lover
fed you to the rats
or your third where
a butcher mistook
you for a meal or the next
when a mortal shaved your fur
until the blade cut bone
you bled blue and your skin
forgot how to make fur
you grew scales instead
and swam and swam
and watched Bastet
drown beside you
in the modern river
asphalt so black
it could be blue
the forth you didn't drown
but you shivered furless
and curled up cold
your fifth you climbed
a great fir tree
to catch your prey
but you never found
a way back down again
your sixth you curled
next to the engine of a car
the seventh a coyote
caught your tail
and ate you whole
your eighth a little boy
dropped you from high up
to see if you landed
on your back
or on your paws
your ninth you ate
your last meal
hunted your last squirrel
and counted down all
your afterlives and inbetweens
and found a cobra
a young one
to let you bleed
blue and depart


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Improving Your Photography/
It's a simple thing to say and difficult to do. Sometimes it's hard to know where to start if you want to improve.
For me the best improvements are small incremental changes and often come with repeated experiences out in the field, they're hard won and change the way you appreciate different scenes and photo opportunities. It's a good idea to look back at older photos and see the improvements you've made over time, it's often only then you can appreciate your own photography journey. But the improvements never stop! I find it inspiring to look forward to other people's work and try to emulate that quality, I regularly look at places like National Geographic for some truly awe-inspiring work.
If you're a beginner then there's a lot to be said for at least understanding the equipment better, but if you've used a camera for a while it might seem like it's difficult to know what else to learn. However, there are always some similar areas and themes where you can look to experiment and improve.
1. Light
A camera is essentially a light capturing device, if you want to really improve as a photographer you need to start understanding light.
Look at the light in your photos. What kind of quality does it have? Look at other photos that you admire and try to identify how that photographer has used the light available to get their shot.
Remember that light affects colour (they don't call it the 'Golden Hour' or the 'Blue Hour' for nothing) but it's not just those two hours, light and colour change all the time from sunrise to sunset and beyond.
For ultimate geek points, it's worth knowing that the word "Camera" comes from the Latin "Camera Obscura" which means dark chamber. It's easy to forget with modern cameras that you are literally holding a little room in your hand with a tiny window onto the world, the angle and direction of light falling into that window will have a dramatic effect on how the light falls on the wall behind.
Here are two photos from Rome of the exact same spot, straight out of the camera with no editing, taken 2mins 30sec apart.
It's sometimes worth waiting that extra few moments to see what happens with the light. Here is the final shot.
(Here's a quick tip: note the top left of the image has a dark curved line in the clouds. This is a hair on the sensor of my camera and was a feature of all 3,885 shots from Rome! So if you don't want to spend hours in the edit like I did, keep your sensor clean!)
2. Subject
I'm an introvert, which is probably why most of my shots are landscapes, but there's a truth I've had to acknowledge that people are interested in other people. If you're a portrait or street photographer, you already know this.
Of course that doesn't mean landscapes and wildlife photography are inferior, far from it, but it is worth pushing yourself out of your comfort zone and trying to photograph people if you don't already. People and characters are interesting and you can take that knowledge back out into the wilderness and look at scenes in a new way. What am I actually photographing here, why would anyone want to see it and how do I tell the story of this place in one shot. Each landscape, animal or building has certain characteristics and trying to draw those out will result in better shots.
Start being more picky about your subjects. From people to landscapes, if you choose something that will be interesting to other people and capture it in great light then you're 90% of the way to a winning photo.
I have started trying to include people into my landscapes and it often helps to provide scale and a focal point, I think these images are normally the most marketable as well. This one was picked up by an Australian travel magazine and I don't think I would have sold it without the person in the shot.
3. Creativity
This maybe what separates out the good from the great. 12 photographers go hiking to the same waterfall and only 1 comes out with the shot that everyone wants.
There are certain famous subjects that are difficult to photograph in any other way than what's been done before, but it's not impossible and there's normally at least one twist you can put on the situation that gives you a different perspective. If everyone is facing one way, what's going on behind you? If everyone is low, can you get high? If everyone is using a tripod, where can you get that they can't? Can you photograph a subject that no-one else has access to? If you haven't got the right gear with you, what else could you do? Are you prepared to change plans?
This affects photographers of all skill levels. If you're out for the day with the family and can't wait for the right light, then what style of shots could you take that suit the location and the weather. If you're always looking for the opportunity and challenge yourself to think creatively you'll almost certainly start producing better photos.
This was taken on a cloudy day, but by taking a completely different perspective it makes an otherwise standard flower shot a bit more interesting.
So those are just 3 broad things to think about next time you pick up your camera. I think all photographers are on a constant journey to improve and I hope that helps spark a few ideas for next time your out and about.
If you want to subscribe to our email newsletter for latests posts and ideas then please do here. It would be great to have you part of the IMG Wild community.


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Buy $500 or more of All-Clad & receive a FREE Stainless Steel Oval Roaster, 2 All-Clad Pot Holders.
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The 14 piece All-Clad Copper-Core cookware set has the right cookware pieces for every day as well as special occasion cooking. Copper-core cookware from All-Clad provides you with the heat control of copper and the easiness of cleaning stainless steel. This cookware set from All-Clad has 5 layers of metal, including a central layer of copper to generate quick and even heat. Since All-Clad was originally designed for chefs, it has many practical features. The cooking surface of Copper-Core from All-Clad is high quality 18/10 stainless steel. You want this for you cooking surface because it is non-reactive with foods. You won't taste those funny, "off" metallic flavors. Reward yourself with great performance, easy cleaning and a lifetime guarantee with All-Copper-Core cookware made in the USA.


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We will be hosting a orientation meeting for all interested parties on Tuesday, April 18, 2017 from 5:30 - 7:00 pm at the Old Orchard Inn. Please click here to register!
AVCC Events
Back to All Events
Earlier Event: March 15Discover China with AVCC
Later Event: June 152017 Tourism Quarterly


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Get to Know Tucker Diedrich
Get to Know Tucker Diedrich
How to make a little extra cash on the Big Game.
Your Team isn't Winning the Super Bowl. Now what?
How To Act When You Watch a Kid Play a Sport
Let's look back one more time.
A look back at the year 2015 in Monday Writes
A helpful guide for your Thanksgiving holiday.
The Art Of Cooking
So there have been a lot of fines in the NFL this year. I figured it would be a good time to go over what you can get fined for in the NFL, that way everyone has a better understanding of the rules and regulations of the league.
Bible Verses:
So any bible verse that is visible on your body is a fine. The way the total is determined by the book times the verse and then throw a 0 at the end. So if you are fond of John 3:16 like so many people in the stands are then that is a $480 fine. But it also matters where you have the bible verse. If you use eye black add another zero to the end. If it's on your helmet add 2 more zeros. If you print out the bible verse on your jersey and have it as your name on the back then you are suspended for the rest of the season.
Why is this such a big deal? Even though 99% of the league is very religious you can't be holier than the Shield. Also, coaches always want to know if you love football, and if you love Jesus more than that cause a conflict of interest.
Pink Articles of Clothing:
Breast Cancer is a serious, it's so serious that the NFL devotes a whole 12 days to it. That is enough for the NFL. If you wear any pink articles of clothing outside of those days than you can expect a hefty fine. It's not even limited to on the field, any player caught giving a press conference or a Make-A-Wish is also fined heavily. Fines are calculated by how many square inches of pink the player is wearing working out to $100 a square inch.
Why is such a big deal? Once again, breast cancer gets it's time in the spotlight, but it can't be in the spotlight too long. It gets a spot on the football for a month, but it can't be on there any longer. The breast cancer awareness that is being strummed up does a great job of forgetting about the brain damage that is being sustained by the players. But once the calendar turns to November, stop thinking about boobs and start thinking about the playoff push.
Touchdown Celebrations:
Players celebrating touchdowns has always led to fines, but this year it is even worse. Players are getting fined $100 for every step that is involved in their dance. They don't get flagged for it in the game, but they feel it in their pocket books.
Why is it such a big deal? Because football is a team sport and any sort of individuality is highly frowned upon. Not only that, but not everyone gets a chance to score a touchdown. Think of the linemen and kickers who have to watch all these guys have fun after scoring touchdowns and can't do dances on their own. The only way to get everyone to enjoy touchdowns equally by giving high fives and giving the football back to the official is by making sure no one celebrates.
Drinking Powerade in the Locker Room
Anyone caught drinking a powerade in the locker room while there are cameras present for the press conferences will be fined $100 for how many ounces the bottle holds.
Why is it important? Powerade is not a corporate sponsor of the NFL so any free advertising done for Powerade is a serious no-no. POwerade didn't pay millions of dollars to the NFL to quench the thirst of its players. People might get confused if there are two athletic drinks in the shot. They won't support the one that is NFL endorsed if they don't know for sure which one it is. People are stupid, so it has to be as clear as possible.
Holding an NFL Game not in a NFL Sanctioned Stadium
The NFL just had it's 134th game in London. This is a sanctioned game for the NFL but if anyone is caught playing a game somewhere other than an NFL stadium will result in suspension from the league. No team has been caught doing this yet, but it is on the books and can get you in trouble.
Why is it important? The NFL needs to know where its teams are at all times. If it doesn't than people could be making money and not be giving it to the NFL. Plus, the NFL wants to take credit for holding games in places where NFL games should never be played. They don't want people to have games in Los Angeles without them knowing. What if a team wants to have their game in Anchorage for one random week? Well, enjoy never being a team again.
Happy Birthday Jen!
Improv, the other comedy thing that I do
From nothing to something in 24 Hours
1 week from my Las Vegas debut
If Buzzfeed can do it so can I
Let's hit the links
Fun Times in Northwestern Wisconsin
The Written Word Should be Written
This is how you'll bring home the ship!


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Ann Pratt has been one of my personal favorites for several years. Unfortunately, I've never had a chance to work with her and thanks to Jeff, I still haven't. *wink* Ann and Jeff did some terrific work here at Muscle Mansion 2007, however, so I'm going to complain too much.
The other galleries
If you do not have a Username and Password for the Galleries, get one here


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What is this adventure all about? Why France? Why a blog?
Our motivation for setting out on this adventure is quite complex. This is the abbreviated version:
Reason 1: Life is too short. Our boys lost both their grandfathers in recent years. Ange's dad passed suddenly in the night and I lost mine after a one-sided battle with cancer. Their passing prompted the realisation for both of us that life is far too short to be wasted away in an office building. Now is the time to live.
Reason 2: We have always dreamed about taking a year off and going somewhere interesting. The south of France has always been at the top of this list. I fell in love with France during my OE adventure in 1988/89. We also toured Southern France on a holiday in 1998 when Ange was pregnant with Jack. Returning to Europe some twenty years on after our first big adventure, where we meet and fell in love, sounded like a great plan.
Reason 3: Our three wonderful boys are growing up fast, too fast. It seems like it was just yesterday when they were just a tiny ball wrapped up in my hands. We felt this would be a great opportunity to spent more time together as a family and share memories that will last forever.
Opportunity: We had been saving for a number of years to undertake major renovations on our home back in Auckland. When the time to act finally arrived and first cost estimates rolled in, it just wasn't worth it. We had already moved on.. we now want more from life than some fresh paint and art deco furniture: Living is an outdoor pursuit.
So we took the leap: quit our jobs, rented our house and here we are.
Blog: The initial intention was that this blog would serve as a record of this adventure, of our memories, for when the kids get older. It is also proving to be very useful for keeping in touch with friends and family. The "Biscuit Bunch" is continually evolving and I'm not sure where it will end up. It is great fun!
If you are visiting this blog for the first time, I recommend having a look at the next menu: "Story so far" which has a high-level, monthly summary of all posts. You should also look at "Highlights" which will list all the most popular posts as selected by our kids and other readers.
Saturday, 23 June 2007
The Adventure
Travel Links
|Moving to, Living in France
|France Property Links
Rentals (Short and Long Term)
Other Rental and Property Sales:
|Other/ Tourist Links
|Draft blog
The Story So Far
|July 2008: Spain, beaches, bulls and visitors galore
July Post Highlights
Two River Beach
|June 2008: France awakens - holidays pending
June Post Highlights
Tuesday Tune-Up
|May 2008: First Visitor, markets and lots of rain
May Post Highlights
|April 2008: Pets, London and more
April Post Highlights
More running around to sort of our residence permits but enjoying the warmer weather. Starting to get to know more people, especially through the kids football.
The highlight was spending 10 days in London, principally to celebrate Angela's 40th birthday. We both met in London around 20 years ago so this trip involved lots of reminiscing for us. While the kids had a exiting time exploring the city, cool museums and the Lady Di Memorial park in Kensington Gardens.
Tuesday Tuneup
|March 2008: Paris Trip, Bikes, Castles and fun
March Post Highlights
We caught the TGV from Bordeaux to Paris, rented an apartment and tried to pass as Parisians for a week. Not that we thought we could succeed, we just wanted to give it a try.
It was a fantastic, full-on crammed-in week. We arranged a baby-sitter so that Ange and I could compete in the Paris half-marathon. We walked up the tower, tramped the streets, paid homage to the great and were generally exhausted at the end of each day.
On our return home we jumped back into our established routine:
For kids: Ecole du France on Lundi, Mardi, Jeudi, Vendredi and NZ catch-up school on Wednesday
Daily Run
|February 2008: Arriving in France, Settling in
February Post Highlights
After an interesting arrival in France we drove south to the Dordogne to meet the owners and see the house where we planned to spend the next year. We were made to feel very welcome by Pavlos and Petra (the owners) and Corine (our agent).. everything was just perfect.
The kids were settling well into their new school and were awe-struck by some of the adventures they went on.
As we started exploring this area it really dawned on me: We were going to have the most amazing year possible.
Disneyland Wrap
|January 2008: Leaving New Zealand
January Post Highlights
January was a hard month. I have two distinct memories:
Its turns out that the Visas were approved in December however a computer fault resulted in a notification delay of 3 weeks. After a postponement we were finally airborne at the end of January.
Paris-Charles de Gaulle
|2007: Planning/ preparing to leave
Although it had been a long time goal the adventure become official in mid-April 2007, as I started telling people about it.
The planning spluttered on for a number of months without getting real traction as we were both busy with work and family. This shifted up a gear in August around the time that I switched to a contracting role. By November I was working almost non-stop on this project. In hindsight we should have started much earlier but we learnt many lessons in the race to the finish.
Most of the planning involved Internet research: where to stay, costs, stories from people who had done this before. By far the toughest task was the French "Long Stay" Visa, without an EU passport this really was a daunting challenge.
Moving House


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Triton Space Helps Boston University Rocket Propulsion Group
Triton Admin
Today we are delighted to announce that Triton Space Technologies, LLC is able to support the Boston University Rocket Propulsion Group, BURPG, by providing them with two of our TS-160Y pyro actuated poppet valves for their Lotus Liquid Engine Program. The TS-160Y provides high (3,000 psi) working pressure coupled with high flow capacity with 1" male AN connections and a liquid CV of 13. With pyrotechnic actuation the valve opens very fast (~75ms, much faster than typical pneumatically actuated ball valves are capable of) thereby allowing for the precise timing required to achieve a repeatable ignition sequence for liquid engines. With high flow rate and precise timing the TS-160Y is ideally suited for liquid sounding rocket applications like the BURPG Starscraper sounding rocket. With Starscraper the BURPG team plans to be the first student group to send a sounding rocket above the 100 km Von Karman line and cross the technical definition of space. This will be a monumental milestone for a university team to accomplish and Triton Space Technologies is delighted to be able to help with this project.
Luke Colby, Triton Space's President and CEO, had the following to say about the deal: "As a BU Alumnus myself and the original founder of the BU Rocket Program many years ago, I am truly delighted to see the team still around after all these years and going strong! It really means a lot to me to be able to give back to the team and the university in this special and unique way. When I started the team back in 2002 I couldn't have imagined that one day I would have my own engineering company and would be in a position to provide the BURPG team with support in the form of flight hardware that my company designed, built and tested. We are truly thrilled to be able to help BURPG and look forward to working with them closely to complete Starscraper and fly it successfully to space." You can read more about the BURPG team efforts on their team website (www.burocket.org) and about the TS-160Y from Triton Space Technologies here: www.Triton-Space.com/TS-160y


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As John Locke said, "Plants are developed by cultivation and men by education"
|Participants at the RIDEAFRICA Press Conference held at Jerusalem Guest House, Fort Portal Municipality, 24th July, 2013
If you are a leader out there and you have not been monitoring the schools in your area of operation, it is absurd to blame the head teachers and teachers for poor performance in schools. Yeah I believe poor service delivery is as a result of leaders who have failed to their work. If you doubt my statement just imagine a parish that has one school having 4 villages and each village has 9 leaders at LC1 which makes a total of 36 individuals, LC2 has 9 leaders, the school has 11 members of the PTA and 12 members of the SMC with the parish having two area counselors ( male and Female) thus total of 70 individuals. If every leader committed him or herself to visit the school at least once a term because a term on average has 72 days without under estimating the work of the CSO including religious leaders, parish chief, sub county authorities and the inspector of schools. Am sure there would be no cases of abseentism of teachers, ghost teachers, and mismanagement of UPE grant, abseentism of pupils and misconduct of pupils which we are seeing today. With this my simple reason is that every day a leader would be at school to supervise and the support the school authorities.
In a case study conducted by RIDE Africa on monitoring and supervision by leaders in 19 primary schools out of 34 primary schools in Burahya county where the RDC had visited only one school yet the Local Government Act 1998 and Education Act 2008 (section 71(b and D and section 5 (1,m and n) respectively mandates the RDC to monitor and supervise the schools. Out of 19 schools only one school was visited by the sub county chief ( Bukuku sub county chief you deserve a credit) yet sub county chiefs are the supervisors of the sub county and sign performance contracts head teachers and are the chief planners of the sub county. On a good not at least 12 schools out of 19 schools were visited by the chairperson LC3 by June 2013. Was there any justification for chairpersons in 7 schools that were not visited as LC3 chairperson are majorly in power to monitor and supervise government programs per the local government act.
Important to note is our very own Members of Parliament who also have a role to play in monitoring schools for improved PLE results as they are facilitated with mileage every month to consult and monitor government programs in their constituencies. In the case study, it was realized that the Kabarole district Woman MP had visited 6 schools by June 2013 and Hon. Stephen Kagwera MP had visited 7 schools by June 2013.
Schools Monitored by District Leaders
In a press conference organized by RIDE Africa a member of RWECO the leaders were argued to take their responsibilities of monitoring school programs serious as it has a direct impact on performance. The leaders act as role models and inspire the pupils to aim higher as well as encourage teachers fulfilling their duties. This evidence at Harugongo primary school which was visited by the MP Burashya four times and scored 144 first grades in 2012 P.L.E results and Kazingo primary school that was visited once got 14 first grades out of 59 candidates in 2012. A census by all members present during the press brief confirmed that monitoring and support supervision has a direct link on other factors like provision lunch to pupils as well as effective service delivery. The DEO's office and CCTs were upheld for the good work in supervising schools as all the schools sampled had been visited by the DEO, District Inspector of schools, County Inspector of schools and CCTs.
Schools monitored by Sub county leaders in Burahya County
RIDE Africa organized a press conference on Wednesday 24th July, 2013 at Jerusalum Guest House, Fort Portal Municipality that was attended by media house from the print and electronic media: print media- The New Vision, Monitor, Red pepper and Observor paper, Radio representative among others who include life FM, Guide FM, VOT FM, Better Fm and HITS FM. Other participants were: The Political Assistant to the MP Burahya County, Ditrict Inspector of schools, Town clerk, representatives of the Civil Society from RICNET, RWECO, KAANA Foundation and Mountains of the Moon University, and Community monitors in Kabarole district. During the question session, the leaders expressed concerns that it was true monitoring and supervision of primary schools had not been given adequate attention due to limited facilitation e.g. chairperson LC IIIs get 290,000= monthly as facilitation despite their tight schedule while others did not know that is was their role to monitor and supervise schools, laxity while others said that sometimes they visit the schools and don't sign in the visitors' books especially when they delegate
Let us take responsibility to monitor education because Education is a systematic process through which a child or an adult acquires knowledge, experience, skill and sound attitude. It makes an individual civilized, refined, cultured and educated. For a civilized and socialized society, education is the only means. Its goal is to make an individual perfect. We need to give importance to education because it is a panacea for all evils and solves the various problems of life thus a developed nation. Together we can make a difference.
Compiled by;
Ms. Sheila Kengingo & Ms. Erina Kahunde


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Sensex up 0.4%; NMDC, Cairn rise1 min read . Updated: 11 Oct 2010, 10:52 AM IST
Sensex up 0.4%; NMDC, Cairn rise
Sensex up 0.4%; NMDC, Cairn rise
Mumbai: Indian shares were trading up 0.4% on Monday, with a sharp rise in global appetite for domestic stocks boosting investor confidence.
Energy major Reliance Industries, which has been a laggard this year, led the gains rallying 1.6% as it sought to catch up with the broader market.
Cairn India rose 2.6% after the Business Standard newspaper reported India-focused miner Vedanta Resources, which is bidding for the energy explorer, was likely to raise the open offer price for minority shareholders.
NMDC was up 1.4% after the Economic Times reported China's Sinochem has approached the Indian state-run miner for a joint bid to buy Canada's Potash Corp.
By 11:04 am (0534 GMT), the 30-share BSE index was up 0.38% at 20,326.97 points, with 24 of its components advancing. It had risen as much as 1% early and is only around 850 points away from its record high.
Kunal Sukhani, manager of institutional equities at Asian Markets Securities, said rising foreign demand and firm regional markets were keeping the undertone upbeat.
Foreigners had pumped $2.7 billion into Indian equities in the week ended 8 October 8, and the country was the preferred destination among its peers, data from Nomura showed.
Portfolio investments in equities by foreigners have exceeded $21 billion so far in 2010, and the main stock index has risen 16.4%.
Neeraj Dewan, director of Quantum Securities, said the market could pause after an initial public offering by Coal India Ltd, the world's largest coal miner that is aiming to raise up to $3 billion around mid-October.
"A lot will also depend on how quarterly earnings shape up," he said. Infosys Technologies, the country's No. 2 outsourcer, is set to kick off the earnings parade on Friday.
Metal producers were firm after base metal futures rallied in Shanghai buoyed by expectations of more stimulus from the US Federal Reserve.
Tata Steel, the world's seventh-largest producer of the alloy, was up 1.9%, while Sterlite Industries and Hindalco climbed 1.6% and 1.4% respectively.
In the broader market, gainers were nearly thrice the number of losers on volume of 163 million shares.
The 50-share NSE index was up 0.4% at 6,128.25.
Elsewhere, the MSCI's measure of Asian markets other than Japan was up 0.5% , while Japanese markets were closed for a public holiday.


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Context: A panels of diverse experts /authors / educators discussed how to became a performance professional and how to advance in performance-related careers. What we have and what we need: university education, vendor and independent training, books and publications, conferences, body of knowledge, certifications. What is the core performance engineering knowledge every professional should have?
Presentation Slides in Adobe Acrobat format.


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It's that time of year—when people decry the war on Christmas. Lately, though, I've been noticing another war, a silent war—on the elderly.
This is not exactly a marginal population, but rather a sizeable chunk of America. Actually world-wide demographics are shifting as young people are delaying marriage, children, often times full-time employment. The recession/depression probably has a lot to do with this. But the Baby Boomers were always going to get older, always going to suck the life out of Medicare and Social Security.
Between the shelter (CCO) and a retirement community where I write up resident's life stories (Friendly Towers), I know quite a few seniors on fixed incomes. There really isn't a lot of extra. This month both of these programs have been impacted by a war on the elderly.
At CCO the director has been very deliberate about going out to the parks, the loading docks of abandoned warehouses, searching under the city's viaducts for people sleeping rough, out in the cold and all kinds of weather. She has had to convince many of these homeless individuals to come to the shelter. I really can't get into all the causes of homelessness. There are many. But suffice it to say that many of these people just want to be left alone. They've been alone for years, and now many are aging out in the parks, out in the dark. Quite a few are dying. Cancer, etc.
After some coaxing Sandy Ramsey recruited a few of these individuals and allotted space at the shelter where they could live out their last days. Literally. Between ignoring health danger signs and the years of sleeping rough, many of these men and women are in frail condition. One problem is that quite a few of them have fallen into the cracks—of a government system set up with safety nets. For one reason or another they've been unable to collect benefits or have no permanent address in which to receive mail. Or have been cut off.
Now this program at the shelter is being shut down. Neighborhood politics, basically Not In My Backyard, has put external pressure on the shelter to clear out the older men. The alderman put a deadline: by the end of the year. Merry Christmas! and, by the way, good riddance. Sandy and other CCO staff have been working tirelessly to find studios, small subsidized apartments for these guys.
That's the other squeaky wheel. Many of the units that once were available for those on fixed incomes has been consistently dwindling in Chicago. In the Uptown neighborhood alone there has been a marked decrease. There are senior buildings with long waiting lists and that require supplemental income. Anyone trying to survive on their SS check alone have very little choice. In addition, a real estate company has been buying up SROs (single room occupancy, perfect for individuals on fixed income, much like a hotel room) and converting them to FLATS. Which is what? It's still just a small studio, literally a 12 x 12 room—for young renters looking for something a step up from a hostel, giving them flexibility without complicated leases and with all the modern amenities—cable and wireless. Some even come furnished. This is a great no-hassle idea—for about $1000 - $1,300 a month. Before the rehab they were maybe $350 – 400 a month—for our clients this was DO-ABLE.
At Friendly Towers many of the residents are seeing cuts in benefits, lose of food stamps. Without getting into particulars, it seems like a shame. Are these really the people to target to reduce government waste?
Now I'm hearing on TV that Congress wants to raise the minimum age for Social Security and Medicare to 67. Why not 70 or 79 or 100? Some of the seniors I know have been waiting years for health care, for dental work, for cost of living increases. They are just getting by. And, of course, I'm not getting any younger either. I'm at the tail-end of the Baby Boomer Boom, and will likely have no place I can afford to live, minimal benefits (if any), and a healthcare system riddled with co-pays and complicated paperwork. Thank God for generics!
So this season say a prayer for older people. The ones whose Christmas is looking a little shaky and the future not so bright.
|Successfully housed


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At least six people, including at least five children, were hospitalized with burns and other injuries Monday after an explosion on board the boat they were riding in near Edgewater, Md., authorities said.
Police and fire officials gave varying information on those hurt, though they said all were expected to survive.
Anne Arundel County Fire Department Division Chief Keith Swindle said six of nine people on board the boat were injured — a 9-year-old boy, a 9-year-old girl and a 13-year-old girl the most seriously. He said another 9-year-old boy, 13-year-old girl and a woman also were hospitalized with injuries, and three other people on board the boat were unhurt.
But Sgt. Brian Albert, a Natural Resources Police spokesman, said in an e-mail that eight of the nine on board were injured, including six children. He said a 9-year-old boy and a girl whose age he did not know were the most seriously hurt, though two 13-year-old girls, a 12-year-old girl, a 9-year-old boy and two women were also taken to hospitals with injuries.
The incident occurred about noon, soon after the group had refueled its 32-foot Wellcraft boat at the Oak Grove Marina and headed out into the South River, Swindle said. He said the boat's engine stalled and, as those on board tried to restart it, the explosion occurred. He said those who were injured sustained mostly burns from the explosion and ensuing fire.
Albert said that when the group left the dock, only one of the boat's twin engines seemed to be functioning.
He said the boat made it about 100 feet into the river before the explosion.
Albert said investigators were exploring precisely what sparked the blast, but preliminarily, they thought the case to be "most likely an accident."
He said it was possible that the boat's blower system, designed to expel fumes from the engine compartment, had malfunctioned or that there was some sort of problem during the refueling.


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Build your Bottom Line
Do you consider joy when you're preparing your year-end financials and medical costs?
Joy may not be on the books, but the amount you have of it is definitely affecting every aspect of your life and business, including your bottom line.
Research has shown that without a firm and enduring sense of balance and joy in our lives it can be difficult to achieve our goals.
These days, the stress of economic uncertainty and rapid change has brought many people to face more challenges than they've ever anticipated.
These conditions make it important for everyone to have enduring tools they can rely on to help them spark and maintain their emotional balance and joy.
About this program
You can rewire your brain to consistently feel more joy and help you live a more balanced life. Whatever your current emotional status, Creating Joy to Build Your Bottom Line will help you learn and make a habit of using these essential happiness-building skills:
- Transforming stress into calm
- Reclaiming humor and laughter
- Planning for and cultivating daily happiness
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In just 3 minutes per day for 30 days, I will teach you how to build and enjoy these workplace benefits that research has proven are positive effects of a balanced and joyful life:
Isn't it time you started following your joy?
Better teamwork
- Better group communication
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