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SY scissors$7.99 Unit price
SY pinking shears$9.99 Unit price
SY sewing thread$3.99 Unit price
SY iron-on hemming tape$1.99 Unit price
KRONILL pleating tape$4.99 Unit price
TREBLAD bag$5.99 Unit price
Sewing boxes and supplies to make your sewing easy
Whether you're an expert at sewing, or just starting out, take a look at our sewing boxes, which will help see you through any sewing project. Take our SY 15-piece sewing set; it contains everything from needles, pins and thimbles to sewing scissors, tailor's chalk and tape measure. The items are packed into a handy case, which is perfect for home and travel. If you just need individual items, take a look at our SY range has scissors that are specially designed for use on textiles, as well as thread and pinking shears.
Sewing boxes for the budding decorator or tailor
As any tailor will tell you, you can do a lot with simple techniques. For people who like to take shortcuts, try our SY iron-on hemming strip, which is an easy way to hem curtains (or long trousers) without using needles. Our sewing boxes and sewing accessories are the ideal gift for any amateur tailors or decorators out there.


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PITTSFIELD -- Sally Aaronson, 97, of 61 Lexington Parkway, died yesterday at Berkshire Medical Center.
Born in New Haven, Conn., on Nov. 9, 1909, daughter of Abraham Morris and Bessie Zweigbaum Golden, she graduated from Hillhouse High School in 1927 and Collegiate College in 1931. While in college Mrs. Aaronson studied voice and piano at Yale University.
She was a licensed real estate broker. She served on the Board of Directors for Camp Witawentin, was secretary of the Girl Scout Board of Directors for six years, and participated in the United Way, the Bobby Kidney Sunshine Fund, the American Heart Association and the Arthritis Foundation.
She was a member of Temple Anshe Amunim and the former Ahavath Sholom Synagogue in Pittsfield. In 1981, Mrs. Aaronson was honored for more than a generation of service to the religious school and congregation of Temple Anshe Amunim. In 1983, at its 113th annual meeting, the temple named her its Person of the Year in honor of her years of dedication to the temple as secretary of its board, treasurer of the Temple Sisterhood, and teacher and program director of the religious school. She also served as soloist and organist for the congregation, retiring in 1989.
She served three terms as president of the Adullam Chapter of B'Nai B'rith of Pittsfield, and in 1981 was named its Woman of the Year. She was a board member of the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires, a life member of Hadassah of Pittsfield and a life member of the Order of the Eastern Star, Collina Chapter 69.
She was a member of the Berkshire Choral Society at Williams College, the Berkshire Music Center and participated in the Tanglewood Festival Chorus and the select Tanglewood Choir for many years.
In 1986, she was selected as one of the 100 outstanding Citizens of Pittsfield.
She and Jacob S. Aaronson were married on March 25, 1934; he died on July 26, 1965.
She leaves a son, Harris N. Aaronson of Pittsfield; a daughter, Brenda C. Aaronson of New York City and Pittsfield; a sister, Marjorie Weiss of Woodbridge, Conn.; two grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.
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subset: commoncrawl


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Boarding info Trapani Airport – Palermo
Boarding info Trapani Airport – Palermo
1 Book your tickets
Tickets to the airport: Please choose a transfer so as to arrive at the airport at least 2 hours prior to your scheduled departure to allow time for check-in and all formalities related to the flight. Terravision is not liable for circumstances beyond its reasonable control such as heavy traffic or traffic accidents. If you do not comply with the deadlines indicated and choose a transfer that does not allow enough time for boarding, you will not be entitled to any compensation.
2 Manage your booking
Using your username and password, you can log in at any time to check or modify your booking. If you need any help, please contact us through the "new request" form in your log-in area.
3 Print your ticket
IMPORTANT: Tickets must be printed and given to our staff prior to boarding. Tickets on mobile phone devices or tablets will not be accepted.
4 Go directly to the bus stop
Show your ticket to the staff at the bus stop
5 Get on board and have a nice trip!
Have a nice trip with Terravision
Passengers are reminded to exchange their travel documents for an official ticket, available from the Trapani staff at our desk in arrivals at Trapani Birgi airport.


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This article is Day #3 in a series called 31 Days of Windows 8. Each of the articles in this series will be published for both HTML5/JS and XAML/C#. You can find all of the resources, tools and source code on our Website.
Today, we are going to talk about a small, but very important part of the application lifecycle: the splash screen. Some of you will see this as a silly topic at first, but it's actually incredibly important from a user experience standpoint, and it's the first thing they see.
Let's say, as an example, that your application connects to the internet to collect some data. Maybe you're a weather app. Every time the user starts your app, they're going to want up-to-the-second data. You know that this will generally take 2-3 seconds to grab the data, the appropriate images, and assemble them on your app's page.
What we see happen in many apps is that the app loads empty, almost to a broken-looking page, only to get populated 2-3 seconds later. By utilizing the splash screen and its events, we can "extend" the splash screen experience, so that our users don't see our application until we're ready for that to happen. A couple of extra seconds looking at a splash screen is _always _preferable to opening a broken-looking app or one that is just hung.
So, what we will be doing in this article is determining where the original splash screen image was positioned, and replacing it with our "placeholder" splash screen image until our application is appropriately populated.
Getting Started
If you recall from our article on Day #1, the splash screen image is always 620 x 300 pixels. For this example, we're going to provide you with two versions of this image. The first is the original red one:
Additionally, we've created an identical version of the image in a but with red and black so that we can see the difference when they are swapped, while still being able to notice if the positioning of the text shifts at all.
Add these two images to your "Assets" folder in a new "blank" project. If you run that project after replacing the images, you should see the red image for a second or two before your applications loads to our default.html page.
Now you should have noticed your image was presented on that dark grey background color yet our image was 620x300. There is an easy fix, that's right,,,,,,, the appxmanifest file. Down at the bottom, right under where we set the image to be displayed we can also set the background color. Set it to #ff0000 and rerun. As you can guess our splash screen logo should be painted over a sea of red. Clearly we're in need of a good designer.
It's also worthy to note, we might really want to use a transparent png here rather than one with a background. We didn't here, just to help illustrate what is all going on.
Extending our Splash Screen
I guess we should start by asking ourselves, why do we even need to extend the splash screen in the first place? Why not just put that call to the ESPN API and let the startup take longer? Simple, you won't pass the store certification. Section 3.8 states, that your app must launch in less than 5 seconds. We can get around this policy by "extending the splash screen", essentially fooling our users to think they are actually on the splash page when if fact they are on our landing page. Sneaky us.
We do this by basically showing and hiding a div on our default page. No really, that's all. Let's create a blank project to get started. The first thing we need to do is create that div. The only purpose for this element is to build up and control the resemblance of a splash screen but on our default page. Below I am creating that div, giving it an id and class that we can control later.
You can see that our div has a reference to our second splash screen image in our case the red and black one. ## The JavaScript Clearly we need some JavaScript to make this all happen. Essentially what we want to do is: * Hook into our app's activation * Grab the splash screen object, so we can to things like the location of it on the screen. * Show our image * Hook into a few events We want to tie into our applications launch and even the blank template has our PLM or process lifecycle management code shelled out. During launch, we're going to grab the splash screen object off the args passed in _args.detail.splashscreen_. Once we have that, then we can grab it's screen coordinates for later. Why? Well we need those coordinates so we can position our image exactly in the place as the old one. Once we have that we show the show the div, more on that in a second.
(function () { "use strict"; WinJS.Namespace.define("ExtendedSplash", { show: show, [publicFunction]: [privateName], [publicFunction]: [privateName] }); })();Get very used to typing that code above. You will be doing it a lot. Snippets FTW!!! ## Show Me The ExtendedSplash splash object in which we referenced earlier is just a little helper object I created to use across my different projects. During activation we called it's show function and passed along the splash screen object. As I mentioned earlier, we have to overlay our image over the splash screens image and we do this through some JavaScript manipulating the DOM's elements and their associated CSS. Simply put: * Get the element of our "extended splash screen" * Using CSS add set that elements top, left, height and with to what the splash image was originally set. * Remove our CSS class that was hiding the div in the first place
function show(splash) { var extendedSplashImage = document.querySelector("#extendedSplashImage"); position(extendedSplashImage, splash); WinJS.Utilities.removeClass(extendedSplashScreen, "hidden"); } function position(element, splash) { element.style.top = splash.imageLocation.y + "px"; element.style.left = splash.imageLocation.x + "px"; element.style.height = splash.imageLocation.height + "px"; element.style.width = splash.imageLocation.width + "px"; }Now that we can show, we of course have to add the ability to remove ( like our starting state ) and update when things are snapped for example. To remove, we're just adding back our CSS class to hide.
function remove() { if (isVisible()) { var extendedSplashScreen = document.querySelector("#extendedSplashScreen") WinJS.Utilities.addClass(extendedSplashScreen, "hidden"); } } function isVisible() { var extendedSplashScreen = document.querySelector("#extendedSplashScreen"); return !(WinJS.Utilities.hasClass(extendedSplashScreen, "hidden")); }Update is really nothing more than calling show again. ## Style It I'm not going to walk through in detail the CSS but I do want to cover it at the high level. Nothing below should surprise you, we're going to hide the div and absolute position things from JavaScript as you have already seen. Simple enough.
.extendedSplashScreen { background-color:#ff0000; height: 100%; width: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0px; left: 0px; } .extendedSplashScreen.hidden { display: none; } #extendedSplashImage { position: absolute; }
Class Splash Dismissed
Our next step is to subscribe to the event handler for when the Splash Screen is dismissed. This allows us to hide our extended splash div and "start" our app. Now we already registered for the dismissed event when your app was activated. Inside of dismissed we could just call our remove method and carry on our way.
function onSplashScreenDismissed() {But what fun is that? We should really show some awesome ad like this. Feel free to use it in your blog posts of course. Royalty free even!
To do so, we're just going to extend our original div just a bit to include that awesome image and let's add a button below it to continue on.
Next we will update our OnScreenDismissed function to account for the new "continue" button.
function onSplashScreenDismissed() {And like that, we have no created one of the worst looking extended splash screens. Why show this? It's your canvas, it's your features and customers. The hooks are there for you to be creative but use your creativity wisely. Forcing a user to click continue just to use your app is terrible. Telling your user your fetching a feed, might be welcoming.
document.querySelector("#learnMore").addEventListener( "click", ExtendedSplash.remove, false);
In short, the splash screen can be your friend and a very powerful tool. It becomes a temporary veil to hide some of your applications startup work until it's ready. It's a highly valuable piece of app real estate, and we definitely think it's something you should consider taking advantage of in every application.
Tomorrow, we're were diving into WinJS and some of the UX controls that it has to offer us. But that's tomorrow. To download the entire sample solution from this article, you can download it from below.


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Biodegradable Polymers - Ring-Opening Polymerization
Biodegradable polymers are of great current interest for many applications. Such degradable polymers are important for the future of sustainable polymers and plastics, e.g. to resolve materials' end-of-life and find recyclability routes. SPECIFIC POLYMERS dedicates a significant part of its internal research to biodegradable polymers in the biomedical field.
Forthcoming BBI Funded Programs
Since April 4th 2019, a list of Bio-Based Industries' calls for tenders are opened for submission on the European portal. Within SPECIFIC POLYMERS, we identified various project calls of high interest and corresponding to our main fields of research.
Custom Services: Tailor-made polymers & materials
Industrial and academic organizations worldwide work to make progresses in their research of innovative solutions that fulfill tomorrow's challenges. To that end, it is simple for those stakeholders to identify their needs, but it is more complex to find the appropriate response. In this way, SPECIFIC POLYMERS offer to its customers various custom services in polymers and materials chemistry to help them reaching their goals.


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- We take care of the customer
- Performed by Qualified Professionals
- Fast on-time delivery & pick-up
- Licensed and fully insured
Understand just what to expect
To put together the best choices for Builders in Grantsboro, NC, you need to be knowledgeable. You should not go into it without consideration, and it is best to know what you should expect. That is why we make every attempt to make sure you are aware of the steps and aren't facing any kind of surprises. Get started by contacting 800-359-7760 to go over your work. We will discuss your concerns and questions whenever you call and get you set up with an appointment. Our company will arrive at the appointed time with the appropriate supplies, and can work with you during the entire undertaking.
To get the best Builders in Grantsboro, Wyoming, choose Home Builder Guys
You will have a lot of reasons to rely on Home Builder Guys to meet your requirements regarding Builders in Grantsboro, NC. Our supplies are of the very best quality, our money saving strategies are realistic and effective, and our customer service scores will not be topped. We understand your requirements and ambitions, and we're available to assist you with our expertise. When you require Builders in Grantsboro, choose Home Builder Guys by dialing 800-359-7760, and we will be glad to help.


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A young Tunisian who set himself on fire last month in a protest over unemployment, sparking a wave of unrest and riots, has died in hospital, his relatives told AFP Wednesday. The death on Tuesday of 26-year-old university graduate Mohamed Bouazizi was also announced by Paris-based rights groups. "Mohamed died yesterday (Tuesday) at 5:30 pm at the hospital in Ben Arous," said his brother Salem Bouazizi.
Despite his education, Bouazizi was forced to sell fruit and vegetables on the street in the Sidi Bouzid region of central Tunisia to earn a living. After police confiscated his produce because he did not have a permit, he burned himself in protest on December 17, rights groups said.
The Paris-based International Federation of Human Rights Leagues, announcing Bouazizi's death, said the underlying causes of the unrest should be looked into. "An investigation or a national commission is needed to determine the causes and the solutions of this social protest which has taken a tragic form," said the leader of the group, Souhayr Belhassen.
It should be mentioned that Tunisia's President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali had visited Bouazizi in hospital late December.


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Welcometo the Guidance & Student Services web page! Here, you will find useful information regarding the many aspects of your school year that are covered under the "umbrella" of our office.
Guidance & Student Services is here to assist students, their family, and our school faculty and administrators. Whether one is making big plans for his or her future career, applying to college or the SATs, or simply in need of a new copy of his or her schedule, the office of Guidance & Student Services is here to help. Please stop by before or after school, or during lunch, to make an appointment. If we are available then, we will be able to see you immediately; otherwise, adding your name to our check-in list will ensure that we will get back to you as soon as possible.
You may also navigate our site using the links to the left side of the screen, to find the following:
Special Announcements:
CLICK here to go to FAFSADAY.org
Slides from the Annual Financial Aid Presentation are here:
MEFA College Financing Presentation
Dear Junior Class Students:
Junior year is a busy year, but the senior year can become even busier! For the remainder of your junior year, you should be thinking about what you would like to do after high school is over. Take this time to begin formulating if you are going to go straight to work, join the military, or apply to college after you graduate. Fall is right around the corner, and at that point, you should know what you are planning to do so that your senior year will start off successfully. If you are looking for work, we can assist with detailing your resume. If you are thinking of going the military route, we would encourage you to take the ASVAB exam (which you can start practicing for now). We host the test right here at NVTHS each year.
If college is your plan, you will need to apply during senior year! Community Colleges do not require that you take the SAT; however, 4-year schools both public & private, do typically expect that you have taken the SAT. There is no reason to wait to sign up for the test, once all the seats are sold out, they are sold. You can sign up for the exam at: www.collegeboard.org They are already registering test takers for this academic year's testing dates (Juniors typically take their first SAT in the Spring of their junior year) – March, May, and June (deadlines to register are one month prior to the exam, but there is no need to wait). If you are having difficulties in registering or are eligible for a test fee waiver, please visit us down at Student Services. We would be more than happy to assist. We recommend if you are going to be applying to schools that require the SAT, that you take it once in the spring of your junior year and then AGAIN in the fall of your senior year – if you are not happy with your first test's scores. If you wait until senior year to take the test for the first time, you may not achieve the results you wanted and have no further opportunities to take the exam.
Finally, if you are thinking about going to college, spend time researching your prospective schools. Look up requirements, check for upcoming admissions events. One great time to actually tour universities in the summer between junior and senior year, when things are less stressful. We can be of assistance in your college search down in Student Services. Additionally, we have many college search tools on our Student Services webpage.
We look forward to planning with you as you move forward in your junior and senior years of school. Throughout the spring we will be calling you down individually to discuss your preliminary plans, please come down and sign our check-in sheet if you need to be seen sooner. Thank you!
The Student Services Department
I would like to apply for co-op, where do I begin?
Co-op applications can actually be picked up in the Library. Eventually, while filling out the paperwork, you will need your teacher and counselor signatures approving your application.
While registering for the SAT and the Common Application, I was asked for the "CEEB code". What is that?
A CEEB code is a standardized ID number that is assigned to a high school, college, or university.
Nashoba Valley Technical High School's CEEB code is: 222333
Nashoba Valley Technical High School does not discriminate in admission to, access to, treatment in, or employment in its services, programs and activities on the basis of race, color, sex, or national origin, in accordance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI); on the basis of sex, in accordance with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972; on the basis of disability, in accordance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504) and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA); or on the basis of age, in accordance with the Age Discrimination Act of 1974 (Age Discrimination Act). Nor does it discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, religion, disability, or homelessness status in accordance with Chapter 622 of the Acts of 1971 (M.G.L. c.76 §5) and Chapter 151B of the General Laws.


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San Diego Convention Center, San Diego, California, USA
WASHINGTON, Feb. 13—The leading conference for the optical networking industry, the Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exhibition/National Fiber Optic Engineers Conference (OFC/NFOEC 2012), taking place in Los Angeles March 4–8, has announced expanded programming and exhibitor participation to include greater emphasis on the growing role fiber optics technology will play in datacom, cloud computing and data center networking to meet bandwidth and power challenges.
The technical conference programming includes highlights such as a keynote address by Google's Milo Medin, vice president, Access Services, who will address attendees on "Bandwidth, Optics and the Age of Abundance," as well as workshops, technical paper presentations and panel discussions with industry leaders from Facebook, NEC Systems and Fujitsu, among others.
"Our industry is seeing a convergence of computing resources and communications infrastructure, which has resulted in an emerging area of optical communication applications driven by data centers and cloud computing," said Keren Bergman of Columbia University, chair of the OFC/NFOEC subcommittee on Optical Networking, Technologies, and Applications for Datacom and Computercom. "At OFC/NFOEC this year, we are bringing together both vendors and systems providers to redirect the efforts toward these emerging applications in order to solve problems related to bandwidth and energy consumption."
As the largest and most comprehensive international event for both the science and business of optical communications, this year's OFC/NFOEC will host the entire scope of optical communications, providing technical and business programming, exhibits and other activities for all audiences from systems companies to service providers and carriers and equipment manufacturers. Datacom products and services will be well represented among the more than 500 exhibitors with participation from companies including Alcatel-Lucent, Ciena, Cisco, Ericsson, Fujitsu Network Communications, Google Fiber, Huawei, Infinera, Nokia Siemens and Juniper.
The complete OFC/NFOEC schedule is available online. A full list of key OFC/NFOEC datacom programming is available on the OFC/NFOEC website. Highlights include:
Tuesday, March 6
Tuesday, March 6 – Thursday, March 8
Monday, March 5
Sunday, March 4 – Thursday, March 8
Sunday, March 4 – Monday, March 5
Press Registration: Credentialed press and analysts can obtain a complimentary press badge to attend OFC/NFOEC. The press/analyst registration form is available on the OFC/NFOEC website.
For more than 35 years, the Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exposition/ National Fiber Optic Engineers Conference (OFC/NFOEC) has been the premier destination for converging breakthrough research and innovation in telecommunications, optical networking and, recently, datacom and computing. Uniting service providers, systems companies, enterprise customers, IT businesses and component manufacturers, along with researchers, engineers and development teams, OFC/NFOEC combines dynamic business programming, an exposition of more than 500 companies and cutting-edge peer-reviewed research into one event that showcases the trends and pulse of the entire optical communications industry.
OFC/NFOEC is managed by the Optical Society (OSA) and co-sponsored by OSA, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers/Communications Society (IEEE/ComSoc) and the IEEE Photonics Society. Acting as a non-financial technical co-sponsor is Telcordia Technologies, Inc. Visit http://www.ofcnfoec.org.


text:
Episode ${ video.episode_number }
${ video.title }
* Your list is public by default.
Alternative Titles
English: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Synonyms: Yuu Gi Ou!, Yugioh
Japanese: 遊戯王VRAINS
Type: TV
Episodes: Unknown
Status: Currently Airing
Aired: May 10, 2017 to ?
Premiered: Spring 2017
Broadcast: Wednesdays at 18:25 (JST)
Producers: TV Tokyo, Nihon Ad Systems
Licensors: None found, add some
Studios: Gallop
Source: Manga
Duration: 24 min.
Rating: PG-13 - Teens 13 or older
Score: 6.631 (scored by 6,486 users)
1 indicates a weighted score. Please note that 'Not yet aired' titles are excluded.
Ranked: #54352
2 based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.
Popularity: #2859
Members: 23,180
Favorites: 173


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Doug Thorsen adds the color to Christmas. Inside his five greenhouses in southern Delaware County, Thorsen grows 30,000 poinsettias to brighten Ohio homes each holiday season.
Doug Thorsen adds the color to Christmas.
Inside his five greenhouses in southern Delaware County, Thorsen grows 30,000 poinsettias to brighten Ohio homes each holiday season.
In white and burgundy, fuchsia and peach, and, of course, classic red, the poinsettias explode in a sea of color on greenhouse tables hundreds of feet long.
Such a display had a modest start in July and August, when Thorsen�s 20 workers planted small poinsettia stems from Florida. Several weeks later, after the stems sprouted roots, the plants were transferred into the pots that will end up in homes, churches, offices and schools.
Thorsen�s Greenhouse is one of 76 poinsettia growers in Ohio. Last year, together, they produced 3.3 million poinsettias � or 10 percent of the nation�s crop.
While poinsettia sales dropped from a recent peak in 2007, poinsettias remain the nation�s most popular potted plant, accounting for $144 million in wholesale value, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Despite their popularity, poinsettias aren�t a particularly lucrative plant, growers say. About 20 Ohio greenhouses have stopped producing the plant during the past seven years, according to USDA figures.
But the plant allows greenhouses to stay active during what would otherwise be the industry�s slowest season.
�A lot of people have quit growing them because there�s not a lot of margin in them,� said David Cuthbert, owner of Cuthbert Greenhouse in Groveport, which expects to grow 130,000 to 140,000 poinsettias this year.
�We look at it: If we do everything right, we�ll make some money if we sell out of the plants, and it keeps year-round employees occupied.�
After the chrysanthemum season tapers off by October, poinsettias take over the greenhouses.
As the days shorten, poinsettias� green leaves begin to turn colors until shortly before Thanksgiving, when the first ones are ready for sale.
Temperature is the biggest challenge to growing poinsettias in Ohio. The plants are native to Mexico and can�t tolerate cold for long. But even this has become easier with new hybrids, which allow the temperature of poinsettia greenhouses to be kept as low as 62 degrees, compared with 70 degrees in the past.
The other challenge for growers: anticipating demand. Growers don�t want to run out of poinsettias too early or end up with a greenhouse full after Christmas.
�Good forecasting is essential in making it a profitable crop,� Cuthbert said. �No one wants to buy a poinsettia after Christmas, no matter how much the discount.�
Poinsettias can be bought in a huge range of varieties such as the mottled red-and-white version called Red Glitter, the marbled white-and-pink Picasso or the peachish Visions of Grandeur.
Still, simple red remains by far the most popular choice, accounting for more than 70 percent of Cuthbert�s and Thorsen�s production.
�People rave about the novelty colors, but at the end they buy red predominantly,� Cuthbert said.
When the holidays are over, the poinsettias are gone, and growers turn their attention to spring.
�March, April and May � those are the 100 days of hell,� Thorsen joked.


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Weak signals emitted by wireless routers, walls and other interferences around the house are common issues disrupting your home wireless network. The Aztech WL590E addresses this problem by repeating your router's wireless signals to various areas obstructed by walls and other interferences.
Extend High Speed Concurrent Wi-Fi Coverage
Designed to enhance your router's wireless coverage, the Aztech WL590E is equipped with a concurrent dual band feature which provides both 2.4GHz and 5.0GHz frequency bands that can be simultaneously accessed by your wireless devices. The 2.4GHz band is able to provide high speeds of up to 300Mbps (802.11n), whereas the 5.0GHz band is best used for online gaming and HD audio/video streaming due to its high transfer rates of up to 450Mbps (802.11ac).
SMART LED Indicator
The SMART LED feature on WL590E allows you to easily determine the best possible location for it to repeat the signal to all your wireless devices. One bar indicates weak wireless signal, two bars indicate moderate while three bars signify excellent results.
WPS Support
The Aztech WL590E supports WPS connectivity, which allows you to connect your WPS enabled devices to the WL590E simply through a press of the WPS button on both devices.
No Wiring
With the Aztech WL590E, there is no need to extend chunky wiring in order to extend the range. Simply connect your WL590E wirelessly to your router's wireless network and it will instantly extend your router's wireless signal.
Hardware Features
WLAN Features
Device Tools and Features
Power Specifications
1. Please DO NOT upgrade your device over wireless connection.
2. If the unit is working properly with the existing firmware, do not upgrade.
3. Firmware release depends from country to country, download the firmware only if you're living in the country/region.


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The latest Survivor Nicaragua outcast to be eliminated, Jill Behm, is now speaking out on her time on the show.
In a new interview with In Touch magazine, the 43-year-old ER doctor from Erie, Pa, talks about Jane's decision to side with the younger tribe, the mistakes she made in the game, and whether Marty's decision to give away his immunity idol was smart or not.
Excerpts from Jane's interview below –
Q: How are you feeling after watching last night's episode?
Jill: I feel okay. I'm not relieved it's over and there is a feeling of angst and annoyance. It's hard, but I'll get through it. I had a small viewing party with my family last night, but last week it was a big party with friends, knowing I'd win individual immunity and food for the tribe. I wouldn't have had as big of a party as I was getting voted off. So last night it was just my husband and children and I sat in the corner sucking my thumb.
Q: Do you feel you played a good game, as you really didn't do anything wrong?
Jill: I did so much wrong. To win Survivor you need an incredible amount of luck, or play a perfect game. I had neither. I had the worst luck in the tribe swap, with Jane being really against me. I made mistakes, too. I basically gave the hidden immunity idol clue to Marty and that cost me a spot in the game.
Q: And Marty gave up the idol last night to Sash. Was that a mistake?
Jill: He had no choice. People have said Marty was pulling the strings when it came to me. It was not like that. We were an equal partnership, there was give and take. Marty asked what he should do with the idol and I told him to give it to Sash, because if he played the idol he'd lose it and it may never come back into play and he might win favor with the others. I didn't think it was that bad of a move.
Q: How bad was it for you out there?
Jill: It was miserable. I am a tough chick and Survivor brought me to my knees. I tell people if you want to do Survivor, do this: Do your job all day and don't eat. Once it's dark, get in the shower fully clothed and then go lay on your floor. Get up every two hours and get back in the shower, then go back to the floor. Do that for a week and see how you feel. But I do have an appreciation for the little things in life now. Like soap, water from the faucet and a salt shaker.
On tonight's new episode of Survivor titled 'Company Will Be Arriving,' the Espada and La Flor tribes will merge together, and the always crazy NaOnka will steal food from her tribemates. At tribal council, another castaway is voted out of the game.


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You are currently browsing the tag archive for the 'seal' tag.
Well, well, well… Happy new year, everybody
I hope that you had a better start into 2010 than I had, and that all that holiday food didn't do too much damage 😉
So, here's my first post in the new decade: The seven deadly sins.
I started working on that theme over a year ago and managed to find some working solutions for all seven sins (wrath, sloth, gluttony, pride, envy, lust, greed), but I wasn't satisfied with the letterforms I created. I wanted them to look gothic and maybe a little bit evil, but they were just plain ugly. So I decided that this would be the opportunity to apply my new black letter letterforms.
Before / After:
This theme was just perfect for black letter. When you need do so many different words, this style is the one that is most likely to fit to all of them.
And it's quite easy to achieve a consistent look, too.
And, of course, it fits the biblical theme…
I think I have to go watch "se7en" now…


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Yesterday, I skied, for the first time, at the Jay Peak Nordic Center in northern Vermont. Or, I could say, northernmost Vermont, as Jay Peak is about 4 miles from the border with Canada/Québec. Jay Peak is primarily known as an alpine resort, but, as the resort has upgraded its facilities (including a couple of new hotels, a golf course, and an indoor water park), they also threw in an improved cross-country area.
Technically, this was not the first time I skied at Jay Peak. In 1988, before the upgrade, I ended up at Jay Peak on a weekend ski trip when it rained everywhere else in Vermont but Jay Peak. This is not too surprising, given that Jay Peak is known for its snowy microclimate that consistently yields the highest snow statistics in the state. Unfortunately, however, during my 1988 visit, they neglected to groom the foot or two of fresh snow, so I did not spend a lot of time on the cross-country ski trails. At the time, your XC trail pass also gave you access to the alpine T-bars, so I played there for a couple of hours until I longed for some uphill skiing. (This is no longer available, if for no other reason than that the T-bars have been upgraded to chairlifts.)
I'm happy to report that they are now grooming the trails. And, even though the trail network is relatively small - just over 20 km - the trails are well-designed, and - I can't think of a better way to say this - a lot of fun. One intermediate-rated trail had, in less than one kilometer, more S-curves than "Mississippi" (the name, that is, not the actual river). As is often the case at cross-country trail networks adjacent to alpine ski areas, the hilly terrain (elevation from 540 to 710 meters, 1770-2330') does not include very much beginner terrain (although Jay Peak has a few beginner trails on the golf course), but it is well-suited for non-beginner skiers. There is one XC trail that takes you to the lower section of an alpine trail, so, even after the demise of the T-bars, you still have the opportunity to be able to say that you have skied on an alpine trail.
They have a good trail map (contour lines and trail distances) and good signage. (Although: one quirk of the trail signage is that they only have signs in one direction, so the trail that goes backwards from the trail sign is indicated by a down-arrow. This took me a while to puzzle out.) The modest "touring center" occupies a small room in the basement of the golf clubhouse, but at least the restrooms are of golf-clubhouse calibre (although not quite at the level of those at the Woodstock XC/golf facility).
Jay Peak is not particularly convenient to get to - unless you happen to live in Montréal, where a significant proportion of the alpine clientele originates. It is significantly less convenient than, for example, Craftsbury. For another example, it is about an hour's drive from Stowe. Nonetheless, if you happen to be in Vermont, and you have some extra time in which to seek varied terrain, or if it is raining and you are desperate to find snow, it's worth the trip.
Jay Peak, Vermont
New England States, NY and anyplace else east of the Mississippi
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Re: Jay Peak, Vermont
Lew -- Is there one particular Nordic Center in Vermont that you would recommend to plan a ski vacation around? I usually take a trip once a year to ski other than where I live. Usually I go to the Tug Hill Plateau are in New York because they get a lot of great snow off of Lake Ontario. So if you were thinking about a once a year trip to Vermont, is there any particular center or area that you think are sort of sure bets? Thanks and I enjoy your trip reports.
Re: Jay Peak, Vermont
Yes: Craftsbury.Pat wrote:Lew -- Is there one particular Nordic Center in Vermont that you would recommend to plan a ski vacation around?
The caveats being that (1) there are few lodging or dining choices in or near Craftsbury, and (2) there isn't a lot to do there other than the skiing. But, just on the basis of skiing, Craftsbury is the clear choice, for the quantity, quality, and diversity of skiing.
As you know, there are no sure things in weather, and cross-country skiing is the most weather-dependent activity there is. But, in Vermont, Craftsbury and Stowe are pretty good bets for having something to ski on. And it's only about 45 minutes between Craftsbury and Stowe. (And if the weather really looks bad, Jay Peak is available as a day trip.)
You do pay a premium for ski-in/out lodging, but that is a nice feature at Craftsbury. If you are only one or two people, you would probably end up in a simple room with a shared bathroom down the hall. The on-premises lodging includes 3 meals a day in the on-campus dining hall, which is decent food if you are amenable to buffet food and eating with strangers (i.e., other skiers).
Stowe has hillier terrain and lots of choices of lodging and food, some of which are significantly less expensive than what you would spend in Craftsbury. The only ski-in/out lodging option, I think, is the Trapp Family Lodge, which is more expensive than Craftsbury.
Both Craftsbury and Stowe have backcountry skiing nearby, Stowe somewhat more so. And Stowe, of course, also has alpine skiing (and, if you get your nordic ticket at the "Mansfield"/Stowe Mt. Resort, you can ride a chairlift with your cross-country skis).
Re: Jay Peak, Vermont
Thanks Lew -- certainly appreciate the scoop.
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4 posts • Page 1 of 1


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Poll: Virginia Voters Strongly Disagree With Forced Ultrasound Law
A new poll out today from Quinnipiac University reveals that Virginia voters are not happy with the recently signed forced ultrasound law, and their confidence in and approval of both Governor Bob McDonnell and the state legislature has declined.
A new poll out today from Quinnipiac University reveals that Virginia voters are not happy with the recently signed forced ultrasound law, and their confidence in and approval of both Governor Bob McDonnell and the state legislature has declined.
In fact, the poll found that Virginia voters disapprove of not only of the forced ultrasound law but also another making it easier to buy a handgun.
According to Quinnipiac, Virginia voters disagree 52 to 41 percent with a the forced ultrasound law, which requires women seeking an abortion to undergo an ultrasound examination at least 24 hours before the procedure. These ultrasounds are not necessarily medically indicated and must be paid for by the woman herself if they are not. Moreover, they increase the delays women experience and the costs of abortion by increasing time away from work and family responsibilities and increase other expenses such as transportation.
Interestingly, disapproval of the law is shown among Democrats and independents, while more men than women disapprove of the forced ultrasound law. In the poll, women disapprove 49 to 44 percent, while men disapprove 56 to 38 percent. Republicans approve of the law 61 to 31 percent, Democrats disapprove 67 to 27 percent and independents disapprove 56 to 39.
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"More men disapprove of the ultrasound law than women," said Brown.
Moreover, Virginia voters said 72 to 21 percent that government should not make laws which try to convince women seeking an abortion to change their minds. [Emphasis in original poll].
The poll also asked about a new handgun law. Voters prefer 53 to 40 percent Virginia's old law which limited an individual's handgun purchases to one per month, over the new law which has no limits. Can you say NRA?
The poll results indicate a decline in approval ratings for both the governor and the legislature. According to Quinnipiac:
Voters approve 53 – 32 percent of the job Gov. McDonnell is doing, down from a 58 – 24 percent score February 9 and McDonnell's lowest rating since the independent Quinnipiac University began Virginia surveys June 29, 2011.
The State Legislature's negative 38 – 47 percent score is a 19-point shift from a 47 – 37 percent positive approval rating February 9 and the first time the legislature has received a negative grade.
The declines are seen among both women and men. Women approve of McDonnell 49 to 34 percent, down from 54 to 25 percent last month. Men approve 58 – 31 percent, compared to 62 to 23 percent last month.
Approval ratings for the state legislature–famous for its attacks on women–have fallen sharply since early February. The legislature's rating in today's poll came out as 38 percent approval to to 47 percent disapproval, down from a 47 to 37 percent positive approval rating February 9, and the first time, according to the poll, that the legislature has received a negative grade.
According to Quinnipiac:
"Virginia had been the only state surveyed by Quinnipiac University in which the State Legislature had received a net positive job approval," Brown added. "The fact that the legislature's approval dropped so much, while approval ratings for other statewide elected officials are basically unchanged indicates that voter dissatisfaction is targeted."
McDonnell's approval ratings are down among Republicans, independent voters and Democrats alike, as well as among both white and black voters. Still, while his numbers are down, Brown points out that overall his approval ratings remain above the 50 percent mark.
The state's other statewide elected officials all retain their net positive ratings:
- U.S. Sen. Mark Warner (D) 62 – 23 percent;
- U.S. Sen. Jim Webb (D) 49 – 28 percent;
- Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling 36 (R) – 21 percent;
- Attorney General Ken Cuccinell (R)i 45 – 32 percent.
According to the poll, people believe viewing their fetus because of the ultrasound law will make many women change their mind about an abortion, 12 percent of voters say, while 45 percent expect some women will change their mind. Another 31 percent say hardly any women will change their mind and 5 percent say no women will change their mind.
This presents a huge educational opportunity as well as an opportunity to campaign for repealing the law. Data show unequivocally, for example, that forced ultrasounds do not cause women to change their mind about terminating an unintended or unwanted pregnancy. Moreover, since the vast majority–over 90 percent–of all abortions happen very early in pregnancy, there is really nothing to "see" on an ultrasound. Many of these laws have been sold based on a set of lies pushed by anti-choicers about the gestational stage of and effects of ultrasound that are not borne out by evidence.
The poll was conducted From March 13the to 18th. Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,034 registered voters with a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percentage points. Live interviewers call land lines and cell phones.


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Sarcastic wrote:Three Stars wrote:RxBandit66 wrote:THe reason they didn't look at teams like the Rangers and emulate the ways they were successful against the Flyers is because it is not in Bylsma's nature. He cannot admit that he, his system, or his players are flawed in any way. Shero's ego is just as bad. They probably felt like "hey, when the playoffs start, we'll just get to our game and play more intense, and we'll win." It's a nice thought, and the team has all kinds of talent, but in reality there is strategy in the playoffs. And discipline. Two things Bylsma and his players lack.
Could you please explain to me and the rest of the board how you know anything about Bylsma and Shero's ego?
With the way we played the series, I am not surprised at any theories that are being throw around and probably will until next season. Maybe it has nothing to with their ego at all. Maybe you're right. But the ego thing is probably as good an explanation as any. I mean, it could also be that they're incompetent. If I saw the team having the weaknesses that were exposed toward the end of the reg. season and in the Flyers series, then why didn't Shero or Bylsma and why didn't they make some changes? All I heard from the team until they lost the final game is that they will be fine and that they're just going to play their game. Well, their game wasn't good enough and neither was their roster. Now they can't believe they actually lost. Like their poop didn't stink. Like they had the Cup in their hands already. Lack of enough desperation for 60 minutes because I really think they felt they were going to win on talent. Or maybe the Flyers were just put together better, but that badly reflects on Shero who maybe wanted to add a player but ran out of time. As I said, we can all guess and make our theories, but in the end, I saw a lot of problems in that series and even before then. Henry was correctly warning well in advance. I'd probably even take the 'ego' explanation rather than an explanation that they just weren't smart enough at their jobs and let the Flyers humiliate us they way they did. Ego is OK, as long as you win.
I could say that they lost the series on purpose. They knew deep in their hearts that the team was flawed, so they utterly tanked it to get it over with as soon as possible. Or, they lost on purpose because they knew it would really piss off the posters of LGP, and there's nothing more entertaining than a bunch of butthurt know-it-alls. Those theories have just as much validity based on just as much appreciation for the inner monologues of the people involved.
Nobody has stepped forward to say that they've actually had a conversation with Dan Bylsma or Ray Shero. The "ego" explanation doesn't hold water at all, mostly because it's derived from nothing. If my car breaks down suddenly, should I speculate about the ego of the guy in the factory who put it together? If my french fries have too much salt, is the McDonalds worker a raging egomaniac?


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Phalaenoptilus nuttallii (common poorwill)
In the summer Common Poorwills call from the hillsides in the southwest US. They are best spotted by driving slowly along the dirt roads in their territory at night, since they like to sit on roads for some reason - they flutter up in front of the lights when you get too close. This one was on the slopes above Peck's Lake [Arizona], 5/19/99, just after sunset.
Douglas Von Gausig (recordist; copyright holder), Naturesongs.com
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.
The Animal Diversity Web team is excited to announce ADW Pocket Guides!
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To cite this page:
Myers, P., R. Espinosa, C. S. Parr, T. Jones, G. S. Hammond, and T. A. Dewey. 2019. The Animal Diversity Web (online). Accessed at https://animaldiversity.org.
The Animal Diversity Web is an educational resource written largely by and for college students. ADW doesn't cover all species in the world, nor does it include all the latest scientific information about organisms we describe. Though we edit our accounts for accuracy, we cannot guarantee all information in those accounts. While ADW staff and contributors provide references to books and websites that we believe are reputable, we cannot necessarily endorse the contents of references beyond our control.
This material is based upon work supported by the
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CUSTOM Silkscreen Platinum Decals for Ceramic, Glass, and Enamel
CUSTOM Silkscreen Platinum Decals for Ceramic, Glass, and Enamel
Do you dream of putting your own designs on your ceramic, porcelain, glass or enamel work? Milestone Decal Art provides artists and designers with high-quality custom decals. We offer both digital and silkscreen decals with very low order minimums.
About Custom Decals
The printable area for the platinum decals is large format 10.75 x.16.75 inches or 27.3 cm x 42.5 cm.
Platinum and metallic decals are silkscreen printed only which means we need to create a screen to print your design- hence the 6 sheet minimum (which is one of the lowest minimums available in the decal printing world).
If you have any questions, please first read the entire listing. Chances are we've got your answer somewhere in there ;-)
For silkscreen decal prints there is a one time $75 screen charge, which we DO NOT charge to you if you were to reprint the exact same design. This screen fee is included in the price. Please contact us directly for a reprint of the same design.
The price listed above also includes a precious metal surcharge (for Gold, Platinum or Copper decals only) which fluctuates with the market rate. Depending on the amount of precious metal in your design there might be an additional fee.
PLEASE NOTE- Discount does not apply to custom prints.
- Since the printable area is 10.75 x.16.75 inches, you would have to work up your layout in Photoshop or Illustrator so that you fit the images you want to print into this space. We can also do this for you for a small fee.
- Files should be sent to info [!at] milestonedecalart.com. If your file is over 10MB you will need to use a free file sending service like DropBox.com or YouSendIt.com.
- 300 dpi file is recommended for the best resolution.
- For silkscreen decals vector art is always preferable if available.
- Adobe Illustrator, Acrobat, Photoshop and ".tiff" are the recommended formats.
If your image doesn't meet these guidelines, don't fret! Send us the file and we'll let you know if we can make it work for you. (Design work requires an additional set-up fee.)
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Yes, we do print with a food safe color palette when required. The gold, platinum (silver), and copper decals (and any metallic decals are food safe, yes.
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Yes our decals are dishwasher safe. The gold, platinum/aka silver, and copper decals are NOT microwave safe.
3. How do I apply the decals?
Visit our FIRING INSTRUCTIONS page or CLICK HERE to watch our "How To" video for more tips on applying decals.
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Michael Rady worked at the docks for 15 years to pay off the mortgage on his Cleveland home.
But when Mr. Rady was injured and could no longer do physical labor, he couldn't find a job and had to live off savings and credit cards. Soon, he owed Cuyahoga County close to $8,000 in property taxes, and the county treasurer sent him a foreclosure notice: His house would go to auction in February.
Nationwide, many counties and cities faced with declining revenues are turning to tax foreclosures – when a homeowner is evicted due to unpaid taxes rather than an unpaid mortgage. For the most part, local officials see tax foreclosures as a necessary evil. But in some cases, tax foreclosures appear to be spiraling out of control, threatening the health of cities. Cuyahoga County, for instance, has recently reversed course and imposed a moratorium on tax foreclosures for the first time since the Depression.
In pursuing tax foreclosures, "We're lowering the prices [of homes] and contributing to wealth destruction," says Treasurer Jim Rokakis.
It can be a wrenching decision. One Maine town is allowing delinquents to stay in their property penalty-free to avoid throwing people out of their homes. But, in many cases, it is local politics that rules the day: Tax foreclosures are most common in municipalities where treasurers are appointed.
"If you're elected, are you going to foreclose on people who voted for you?" says Kathleen O'Donnell, a tax-title attorney in Boston.
Historically, tax foreclosures rise when mortgage foreclosures do, says Nicolas Retsinas, director of Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies. Typically, delinquent residents pay off back taxes by selling their house, but that can be hard in today's housing market.
No one currently tracks tax foreclosures nationwide, though a new nonprofit called the Center for Land Reform in Flint, Mich., was started last year for that purpose.
Anecdotal evidence from across the United States suggests that tax foreclosures are rising.
•Tax foreclosures are up in three-quarters of Washington State's counties, says Bob Lothspeich, president of the Washington State Association of County Treasurers.
•In Michigan's Ingham County, where Lansing is located, the number of people who face tax foreclosure almost doubled, from 822 in 2008 to a record 1,506 in 2009, says Treasurer Eric Schertzing.
•Shirley, Mass., reinstated tax foreclosures after cuts in state aid forced it to lay off more than half its firefighters and shift town employees to a four-day workweek. The last time Shirley made tax foreclosures was 50 years ago. Now, 130 taxpayers in a town of 7,904 owe more than $1.3 million in back taxes and interest, some going back to the 1950s, says Treasurer Kevin Johnston.
"We're going broke," adds Shirley selectman Enrico Cappucci, who supports tax foreclosures.
In most jurisdictions, people have several years between defaulting on their taxes and facing eviction. In Washington State, taxpayers have to be delinquent for three years. In Massachusetts and Michigan, it is approximately two years. The rules vary by state, county, or city.
Millinocket, in central Maine, does not evict anyone. The number of people who lost titles to their homes because they did not pay their taxes doubled or tripled in recent years, says Town Manager Gene Conlogue. But the town did not throw anyone out.
"We have a policy that requires them to pay rent, but we generally waive that," Mr. Conlogue says. "We're not trying to add to people's problems."
Neither is Mr. Schertzing of Michigan's Ingham County. But tax foreclosures are necessary, he says. The best he can do is make it gentler than a mortgage foreclosure. "I go to some of these homes, I knock on the doors, and I talk to the families," he says.
In Ohio's Cuyahoga County, sheer numbers preclude that approach. The county prosecutor filed 2,000 tax-foreclosure cases in 2009 – a 400 percent increase from five years ago. Tax foreclosures in the county accounted for 13 percent of all foreclosures.
This year, the prosecutor expects to file some 2,400 cases.
But delinquent Cuyahoga County home-owner Rady and 160 other residents set to have their houses auctioned in February have gotten a temporary reprieve. Treasurer Mr. Rokakis instituted a six-month moratorium on tax foreclosures a few days before Christmas. "Adding more foreclosures to the thousands of properties that have already been foreclosed is not helping," Rokakis says.
The decision made Rady, who lives on Social Security, feel "somewhat relieved." He has to raise $8,677 in six months. "I don't know how much I'll be able to come up with," he says. "I'm going to try."


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The Village Theatre Main Cast wows you with long-form comedy improv.
Disclaimer: Online ticket sales end right up to the event the start time, so buy away! There are often tickets available for cash/credit purchase at the door. Please email firstname.lastname@example.com for any and all ticket related questions.
VT has a bar that serves delicious beer (draft/bottle) and wine.
Stage: Main Stage
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Michigan calls itself "The Great Lakes State," but the Sierra Club recently gave the Legislature a failing grade on environmental issues. The Sierra Club said the 2011-2012 class of state lawmakers was "by far the most anti-environmental Legislature we've had in Michigan for decades."
I'm not going to cast judgment on the Legislature. Decide for yourself after reading the Sierra Club's legislative scorecard, which you can find here.
I do think it's interesting that one of the Sierra Club members attacking the Legislature's handling of environmental issues — especially the GOP, which currently controls every branch of state government — is a former Republican.
"Why does our Legislature have the wrong priorities when it comes to protecting Michigan's environment?" said James D'Amour, the Michigan Sierra Club's Vice Political Chair, who was once an active member of the Republican Party. "We (Michigan) used to be leaders in making conservation a top priority…
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John Luikart has not received any gifts yet
There are other atheists is Waco? Wow. I moved here from Idaho last June. This place sure is a lot more religious that Boise.
Sorry it has taken me so long-I haven't been on here much this month. Good luck in Waco... I actually just moved to Portland, but was in Waco for around 3 years.
Welcome to Think Atheist, John! It is great to have you here.
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Welcome to the Think Atheist community John! We hope you can join us tonight at 8pm as the Think Atheist Radio Show plays its interview with JAMES RANDI! Click here to listen and welcome again!


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On October 9, 2009, the Nobel Committee awarded Obama the Peace Prize "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." Goldman writes that Obama "was selected, prize committee chairman Thorbjorn Jagland said, not for what he had accomplished but for the promise of what he would accomplish." Former President Jimmy Carter, the 2002 Peace Prize recipient, said Obama was deserving of the prize for his "vision and commitment."
What, then, has Obama done to vindicate the committee's faith in him? Goldman sees a few bright spots: "Obama has withdrawn tens of thousands of troops from Iraq. He rushed to the relief of Haiti after its devastating earthquake and redirected U.S. helicopters and aid to help the millions of Pakistanis whose homes were washed away by catastrophic floods."
On the flip side, Goldman notes, "fighting is escalating in Afghanistan, the war in Iraq continues to smolder and Obama [is struggling] to keep fledgling Middle East peace talks from collapsing. Drones are firing missiles in unprecedened [sic] numbers and confrontations with Iran and North Korea are hotter than ever." "In addition," he says, "wars rage in Somalia, Africa, Asia and South America, fueled by religion, tribal hatreds, poverty and piracy." It is, of course, a good thing that Obama has mostly kept his nose out of these other wars. But he has done little to address the problems in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan and, in the case of Afghanistan and Pakistan, has actually escalated, rather than lessened, hostilities.
The President has committed an additional 47,000 troops to Afghanistan; and though he has stated that he will begin withdrawing troops in July 2011, he has made it clear that the withdrawal is dependent on conditions on the ground and that even if withdrawal does begin at that time, the United States is going to be involved in Afghanistan for years to come. The troop surge has hardly achieved peace: "Nearly 500 U.S. troops have been killed in Afghanistan and nearly another 500 troops from other Western allies since October 2009," writes Goldman. At the same time, the Pentagon is seeking a permanent presence in Afghanistan, with Defense Secretary Robert Gates averring that "we're not ever leaving at all" and Obama meekly acquiescing to whatever the military wants — this according to Bob Woodward's book Obama's Wars.
In Pakistan, as Goldman points out, unmanned drone strikes have greatly increased on Obama's watch. Via these strikes Obama "has killed well over a thousand people inside Pakistan since taking office," according to Jason Ditz of Antiwar.com. "The vast majority of those killed have turned out to be innocent civilians, while large numbers of others remain unidentified but classified as 'suspects.'" Fighting between NATO (read: U.S.) troops and Taliban militants in southwestern Pakistan has also been on the increase lately, with some NATO contractors even suspected of planting bombs in some of the oil tankers that have been blowing up en route to Afghanistan.
Elsewhere, fighting continues in Iraq even though Obama announced the end of combat operations on August 31. The President has ordered drone strikes within Yemen. He has imposed sanctions on Iran. He has failed to close the Guantanamo Bay detention camp despite having issued an executive order calling for its closure by January 22, 2010. He has asserted the right to order the assassination of anyone, even an American citizen, anywhere in the world. The list goes on — and none of it resembles peace by any stretch of the imagination.
Anti-war activism has become much less pronounced since Obama took office, probably because most prominent anti-war groups are on the Left and therefore have a natural affinity for the President. Previous Nobel Peace Prize winners Carter, Al Gore, and the American Friends Service Committee declined to offer comments on the anniversary of Obama's prize when contacted by Goldman.
However, not all anti-war activists are keeping silent. Dana Balicki, National Campaign Coordinator for Code Pink, told Goldman, "Of course we're disappointed with the president. He simply hasn't live [sic] up to [his Nobel Prize]. There was a great deal of skepticism that he deserved the prize in the first place." Balicki added, "We've seen an escalation in Afghanistan. We've seen a withdrawal in Iraq, but with the left hand comes a withdrawal and with the right hand an increase in private mercenary army a [sic] funded with tax dollars. Thousands of people are dead, because of those policies."
Cindy Sheehan, who was feted by the national media when she dogged President George W. Bush's footsteps to demand an audience with him over the death of her son in Iraq, has not given Obama a pass either, writing recently that as far as she is concerned, Obama is Bush "on steroids." Even though Sheehan has continued to turn up on Obama's travels, one would never know this from reading the mainstream press since journalists, too, are by and large Democrat partisans. Sheehan herself noted this phenomenon, observing that "to be anti-war in the age of Obama is not to be tolerated by many people."
What ought not to be tolerated is a President who escalates existing unconstitutional wars and incites new ones, especially after presenting himself as the peace candidate when campaigning for office and accepting the Nobel Peace Prize once in office. Peace activists and voters need to increase the pressure on both Obama and Congress to end the wars, bring the troops home, and then mind their own business. What a wonderful day for America — and the rest of the world — it would be if, when asked, "Where's the peace?" Americans could answer, "It's here."
Photo: AP Images


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Making his much-anticipated arrival to the red carpet, Robert Pattinson took over the spotlight at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival on Friday night (February 17).
The 25-year-old English actor joined alongside co-stars Christina Ricci and Holliday Grainger as the castmates proudly held the debut screening of their upcoming drama "Bel Ami" at the Berlinale Palast venue.
Directed by Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod, "Bel Ami" is "a chronicle of a young man's rise to power in Paris via his manipulation of the city's most influential and wealthy women."
With the motion picture due out in the States on March 2nd, Pattinson was recently asked to share his thoughts on the novel of the same name in which the movie is based upon.
Having nothing but praise for French author Guy de Maupassant's second novel, Rob told, "Amazing. One of my favorites. The script was really good too; Duroy has kind of changed a little bit. He's so cynical in the book, but now he's so convinced that he knows everything and that he's been wronged, that he ends up being very earnest. He realizes that the whole world he lives in is based on a lie; it angers him so much that he basically wants to burn the whole thing down…and in trying to enjoy everything, he becomes what he hates most: a pompous little s**t."
Hollywood Gossip
Enjoy the pictures of Robert Pattinson and his co-stars at the 2012 Berlin International Film Festival (February 17).


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Author Sellars's Book Reviews
Perfect Trust
Willow Tree Press, July 2002, 5.95 369 pp. ISBN 099678219X Ten months have passed since Rowan Gant, a witch, brought down serial killer Eldon Andrew Porter. Everyone else, including the police, thinks Porter is dead, but Rowan knows he's alive and when the time is right he is going to go after him again. In the meantime Rowan and his wife Felicity are doing their best to live a normal life. Up until two months ago, Rowan was largely succeedi...
The Law of Three
Willow Tree Press, July 2003, 18.95, 333 pp. ISBN 0967822173 His sole mission in life is to kill all the witches who live in St. Louis especially Rowan Gant, a follower of Wicca. Rowan is a high profile witch who acts as a police consultant in cases involving the paranormal. Last year Eldon Porter, after successfully torturing and killing witches according to the methods used during the Inquisition, came within inches of murdering Rowan. The w...


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Buzzed Driving: Halloween Edition
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Halloween night is often one of the deadliest nights of the year due to the number of impaired drivers on the streets. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in 2009, 48 percent of all traffic fatalities on Halloween night involved a driver or a motorcycle rider with a BAC of .08 or higher. Halloween means dark streets full of little kids distracted by candy and costumes. That makes it especially important to start planning a safe and sober ride home from whatever fun you'll be having that night — so your evening doesn't take a truly scary turn.
Whether at a Halloween party, a costume contest at a bar or trick-or-treating through the neighborhood, many of us will be on the road this weekend. NHTSA and the Ad Council are reminding everyone that the best way to stay safe is to plan ahead and designate a sober driver before you head out for your Halloween festivities.
Here's some ways that you can avoid being part of this horrible statistic:
• Designated Driver Drink List — One of the most important things you can do before going out is designate a sober driver. If you're throwing a Halloween party, make sure to offer non-alcoholic drinks for the sober drivers. We've compiled a Facebook tab with 50 non-alcoholic party drink recipes.
• Alternative Ride Locator — There's a Facebook tab with a list of nationwide alternative ride programs that can help keep you safe.
• Buzzed Driving is Drunk Driving website — You can sign a pledge not to drink and drive; play "Spot the Difference," an interactive game that simulates the effects of buzzed driving; and watch a real-life video about how buzzed driving changed one woman's life.
Remember: Buzzed Driving is Drunk Driving.
Disclaimer: I am participating in a Public Service Campaign through Global Influence and have not received anything for my participation. I do this because I truly care about this issue.


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The date is January 3, 1954. Pictured in the center is my grandfather Yukio (known to me as Ji-chan, Japanese for Grandpa). My dad (pictured on left) is 9 here, his brother a couple years older. The three of them are getting ready to leave Japan for the first time and emigrate to California. My Japanese-American grandmother (born/raised in Calif.) had earlier left her family in Japan in order to find a job, a place to live, and get settled here. Then she sent over for her husband and kids to come and join her in the States.
This photo of Ji-chan reminds me of a Japanese Indiana Jones with the leather jacket and fedora, ready to go on an adventure in a far-off land. He always looked sharp when he went out.
Ji-chan was always a bit of a mystery to me as there was a language barrier (he spoke only Japanese) and he was a quiet man. But I really loved him. He would sneak behind my grandmother's back and smoke cigarettes in the garage or in the car. I'd always laugh at him becuase it was so obvious. He would awe me with his yo-yo tricks. When I was little I'd hold his hands and he would let me step on his toes while he'd walk around the house. And he was a highly regarded gardener in the Japanese community and won awards for his amazing bonsai plants. He was in his backyard garden, sitting at a chair next to a little table tending to one of his mini-tress when he passed away when I was 14. When my grandmother discovered him she thought that he was simply taking a nap because he looked so peaceful.
When I saw the pictures of my graceful compatriot on your site, I felt the urge to send some of my most cherished family photos too, those of my paternal grandmother Theresa Moreira Reis. She was born in 1903 in Recife, Northern Brazil, daughter to the city's most sought-after tailor. Politicians and other affluent people were part of his clientele, and her father's work influenced her sense of style throughout her life. Grandma Theresa was congenitally chic, and unpretentiously glamorous before fashion was in fashion. Her European taste in dressing must have made her stand out there and then.


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Four million housholds agree - these VeggieTales presentations of the Christmas story are an essential part of every family's holiday library.
Thanks to the unprecedented national ad support, expect your customers to ask for VeggieTales' newest Christmas title both to own and to give as gifts to familyand friends!
Running Time: 45 minutes


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|System: Xbox 360
|Dev: 11 Bit Studios
|Pub: 11 Bit Studios
|Release: April 6, 2012
|Players: 1
|Screen Resolution: 480p-1080p
|Fantasy Violence, Language
by Adam Dodd
Hello, my name is Adam, and I have an addiction. My love for the tower defense genre began with StarCraft, where I spent an inordinate amount of time playing custom maps where your goal was to survive wave after wave of Zerg forces, using only your bunkers or assorted turrets. That was over a decade ago, and the genre has evolved quite a bit since then. We've had more traditional TD games like Defense Grid, slight twists on the genre like Desktop Tower Defense, as well as games that completely flip the script on the genre, like Plants vs. Zombies. Another game that fits snugly into that last category is Anomaly: Warzone Earth, which came out last year for iOS platforms, before getting ported to Android, PC, and XBLA.
Sometimes, when a game is ported from one platform to another with very different control schemes, the transition doesn't always go smoothly. Even great games like Resident Evil 4 can stumble on a different platform, such as it did on PC. On its original platform, Warzone Earth relied on the touchscreen controls to give you direct control over your forces. Because the Xbox 360 doesn't have this feature, a Commander was implemented that you can control and use to spawn, upgrade, heal, and move your troops.
The Commander is a single soldier you can move on the battlefield. He can't attack directly, but he can drop healing auras that repair damaged vehicles, call in air strikes to take out the tougher alien towers, spawn decoys to draw enemy fire away from your convoy, and create a smokescreen to temporarily hide your forces from the enemies. These abilities don't have cooldown timers—you'll have a set amount and the chance to receive more as you progress through the mission—so you'll need to use them sparingly. Some towers will drop them once they've been defeated, offering another incentive to destroy as many towers as you can.
In the iOS versions you were an omnipotent eye in the sky, a mysterious powerful being that nonchalantly tossed soldiers into battle knowing they could so easily be replaced. Now that you're on the battlefield and can be killed fairly quickly by a majority of the alien towers, it's easier to feel like you're a part of the fight. A lot of the time you'll need to use your abilities not just so your units can survive the battles, but so you can as well. This version of the game has a more hands-on approach, and that's a welcome change.
As the story progresses, you'll be introduced to a number of unique alien towers that force you to change up your strategy and the path you take to reach your goal. The towers start off pretty basic, but new ones are introduced pretty often. They're more than just new threats to adapt to; some towers have very unique abilities that'll affect the path you take through the map. For instance, there's a unit that can only fire in a straight line. It can't move at all, it can only fire down a single road. Sounds harmless enough, right? Actually, if your convoy was to accidentally head down a path with one of these towers at its end, there's a very good chance you're going to lose a lot of units as they get taken out one by one by its powerful focused beam.
That's just one example; there are many others that are just as unique. There's a tower that quickly drains shields with its electric attack that also happens to hit a nearby unit, including your Commander. One of the more intimidating towers looks like a Reaper from Mass Effect, and its ability is an area-of-effect attack that can hit multiple units in your convoy. It's a good thing it adjusts its aim incredibly slow, so you can draw fire away from your convoy using decoys or even your Commander. Every tower adds another level of strategy to the game, so it's a good thing you have a decent selection of units to vanquish them with.
To defeat the numerous alien towers that stand in your way, you're going to have to be strategic in how you use your units. Like most other tower defense games where the waves of enemy units move in straight lines, your convoy moves in single file. You can switch up the order of your units as you wish, putting stronger units where most of the enemy fire will be located, etc.


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Is Taco B.M. Monster. Of course it's Taco B.M. Monster.
What were we thinking those scant 13 months ago when we gave Taco B.M. Monster a No. 2 seed? Did we actually believe the Dutch pharmacoepidemiologist bore an inferior name to any of the No. 1's—Monquarius Mungo (a pale imitation of 2009 NOTY Barkevious Mingo), Atticus Disney, stonegarden grindlife or La'Peaches Pitts? Did we?
Did we honestly not foresee that the author of "Oral Contraceptive Use and Hormone Replacement Therapy Are Associated With Microalbuminuria" would be Amsterdammed if he didn't don a clog and stomp the opposition into submission?
We did not. But then we always, foolishly, underestimate the power of a well-placed scatological onomastic reference. And a taco. And a monster. Especially when juxtaposed.
Let's recap. Dr. Monster ran roughshod over the field. Down went Florida murder victim Commie Spead. Then it was retired Lutheran preacher the Rev. Demon Sox. If ever we thought Taco B.M. Monster would be threatened, it was in a Wrestlemania-style Sweet 16 throwdown against wine merchant Monsterville Horton IV. Not even a speed bump. Elite 8: girlfriend attacker Vernon Lee Bad Marriage. Final Four: Neptune Pringle III.
And, finally, the final, a Nixonian 61-39 rout of Florida teen and fellow No. 2 seed Courvoisier Winetavius Richardson.
Welcome to the Hall of Champions, Taco B.M. Monster. Your fellow names stand and applaud.
(NOTY 2012 will commence soon. Or pretty soon. Soon-ish.)


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NEW DELHI, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Scrambling for remedies as investors' faith in India sagged, the government said last week it fast-tracked approval for a slew of infrastructure projects worth $28 billion: but the stroke of a pen in New Delhi will not be enough.
The government hopes that speeding up the launch of hundreds of new power plants, highways and oil exploration blocks will breathe new life into an economy that has fallen off its perch as an emerging market high-flier.
Growth in the latest quarter was the slowest since during the global financial crisis, and the rupee has tumbled ever deeper against the U.S. dollar. Failing to get the projects off the ground would be another blow.
However, there is no evidence to suggest that these projects will somehow sidestep the obstacles that have hobbled construction for years - from red tape and land acquisition battles to banks' unwillingness to lend to a risk-prone sector.
Only a quarter of Indian infrastructure projects are completed on time, according to a 2012 report by Ernst & Young consultants.
Financing will be one of the biggest challenges right now. The infrastructure sector is one of the biggest contributors to banks' growing bad loans, with outstanding debt of about $120 billion, and tight liquidity conditions mean debt-laden companies will find it tough to raise fresh funds.
"These new measures are much too wonderful to be true," said Eric Mookherjee, a Paris-based fund manager at Shanti India, which manages Indian stocks worth more than $300 million, including IRB Infrastructure Developers Ltd.
"Expediting approvals for the projects that were stalled for years is not going to start the machines from tomorrow morning," he said. "The issue with infrastructure in India is financing, and if liquidity is going to be sucked out of the market to support the rupee it will be very hard for the banks to fund these projects."
Anil Swarup, a senior official in the prime minister's office who heads a group that monitors and helps steer projects already cleared, said no companies had complained to his group of a lack of progress. However, he accepted that a fast-tracked project still faced many hurdles, including wrangles over land acquisition and law-and-order problems at a state level.
"We cannot expect an overnight transformation," he said. "In any project, there would be a number of issues and ... until those are resolved, the project does not go on stream."
One beneficiary of last week's project clearances by a cabinet panel was Essar Group, a diversified conglomerate with interests in power, oil and steel. After a 5-year wait, Essar was finally promised environmental approval to develop two coal blocks that will feed a power plant in the state of Jharkhand.
The reaction of one company official, though, was lukewarm. The approval may have come through, but a timeline for when the company can actually start mining was still uncertain.
"Funding is linked to the environment clearance to the coal blocks, and banks will release funds once we have all the clearances. The announcement is a positive development, but we have got nothing in our hands, so we will progress on this once everything has been approved," said the official.
India's track record for infrastructure development is miserable compared with China and most emerging market economies, and its failure on this score has sapped growth.
The government has targeted spending of $1 trillion on new projects over the five years to 2017, but it has fallen short of previous funding and implementation goals, and much of the country is still plagued by power blackouts and bumpy roads.
A land acquisition bill, which is aimed at speeding up infrastructure and industrial projects by giving farmers better compensation for selling their land, was passed in the lower house of parliament on Thursday.
It takes about 295 days to acquire or lease public land in India, more than twice the global average, Standard Chartered wrote in a research note on Friday that cited World Bank data. Getting private land takes 99 days, versus a global average of 61 days.
Despite New Delhi's best efforts to get infrastructure moving, the problem appears to be getting worse. The percentage of total projects delayed on account of land acquisition-related issues more than trebled to 11.3 percent as of March 2013 from six years ago, the note said.
"How can you run through these projects when land must be acquired before financial closure?" said a senior official at the Planning Commission, a powerful government advisory body that helps steer infrastructure policy, on the clearances. "You can't talk things up. Look at the rupee, it's shivering."
The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry was scathing about the bill, which will replace colonial-era legislation, saying that not only will land cost more, the process of acquiring it will be stretched by 4-5 years.
The government's Cabinet Committee on Investment (CCI), set up by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in January, was charged with stopping the rot by solving inter-departmental disputes and speeding up clearances, especially environment and fuel permits.
Among its successes, the committee ended a 14-year saga involving NTPC Ltd, the country's largest power producer, and Coal India Ltd, the world's biggest coal miner, over the construction of a 1,980 MW power project.
NTPC was initially granted permission to build the plant in Jharkhand, but then Coal India claimed the site after coal reserves were discovered underneath it. After years of dispute and the establishment of a committee headed by a top civil servant to look into the case, the CCI ruled in favour of NTPC.
However, NTPC still had more hoops to jump through before it could finally issue equipment tenders. It had to move the construction site by about 300 metres, and because environmental clearances had expired they had to be obtained again.
Such hurdles are typical in India, where the average project needs 56 separate permissions that can take two years to obtain.
Vinayak Chatterjee, head of the Feedback Infra consultancy, said the clearances were a positive step, but resistance from ministries keen to guard their veto rights has watered down the CCI's powers.
"The CCI was originally conceived as a National Investment Board ... and that was supposed to be a far more powerful body which would have been empowered to give clearances," he said. "The CCI does not have statutory powers to override line ministries. So effectively it has become a pressure and coordinating body."
"I think the line ministries felt uncomfortable about their powers being taken away, as usual," he said, referring to those ministries in the line of approvals needed for such projects.
For example, the committee can take a decision to nudge Coal India to provide fuel for a power project, but it cannot force the miner to do so, or stipulate a timeline for the supplies, an official at a major infrastructure group said.
"While the CCI has cleared the projects, there is no clear uptick in activity related to such projects," Barclays said in a June research note. "We believe that activity/investment related to such projects could remain subdued, given the weak momentum and sentiment in the economy - that is, the CCI clearance, per se, is not the 'game changer' the government sees it as being."


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Graduate scholarships
For over two thirds of Oxford scholarships, nothing more than the standard course application is usually required. If you fulfil the eligibility criteria, you will be automatically considered.
To find out more about the scholarships available at Oxford, and how to apply for scholarships which require applications, please use the Fees, funding and scholarships search.
You can also read about external scholarships provided by bodies outside of the University.
Did you know?
fully-funded scholarships are available for new graduate students at Oxford in 2019-20.


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Gallo Displays, a Cuyahoga Heights-based marketing and trade show company, has closed its doors. A representative from CapitalWorks LLC, a Cleveland private equity firm that bought Gallo in 2008, sent a statement to Crain's from John Bambach, Gallo's chief restructuring officer. The entire statement is as follows: "In the face of continuing industry-wide consolidation and financial challenges, Cleveland-based Gallo Displays has ceased operations and is being liquidated. A major industry competitor agreed to assume some of Gallo's current customer contracts and offered positions to a number of former Gallo employees who have already transitioned to serve those accounts." Dick Hollington, the managing partner and CEO of CapitalWorks who sent the statement, declined to comment beyond the company statement and did not respond to a follow-up email or voicemail from Crain's.
Gallo Displays closes its doors
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At university technical colleges (UTCs) however, the picture is different. Nearly two thirds (65 percent) of girls believe they have the same job opportunities as boys in engineering. This trend continues in other male dominated sectors, including technology where three quarters (75 percent) of girls at UTCs believe they have the same job chances. In science the figure is higher still, at 83 percent. The findings are part of two surveys commissioned by Baker Dearing Educational Trust, of 14-18 year old students at university technical colleges and other mainstream schools.
The surveys also show a worrying difference in how confident girls feel about getting a job when they leave education. 90 percent of girls at UTCs felt confident they could get a job compared to just 76 percent at other mainstream schools. What's more, almost double the number of girls attending UTCs (83 percent) felt they had gained valuable practical skills compared to just 49 percent at other mainstream schools. Lord Baker, chair of Baker Dearing Educational Trust, the charity behind UTCs, said: "The UK has the lowest percentage of female engineering professionals in Europe[1]. We have to challenge out-dated ideas that careers in engineering, science and technology are more suitable for boys than girls. Girls at university technical colleges are leading the way, demonstrating the kind of talent, commitment and interest in these subjects that this country so desperately needs. It's vital that this message is championed in other schools as well."
The Royal Academy of Engineering estimates that the UK economy will require 830,000 scientists, engineers and technologists by 2020. Attracting girls as well as boys to study for careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) at school is crucial to meet these skills requirements. Philip Greenish CBE, Chief Executive of the Royal Academy of Engineering, said: "The UK needs many more people with skills in innovation, creativity and enterprise – skills that are fundamental to engineering and key to the UK's competitive edge. University Technical Colleges are superbly positioned to reach out to young people from all backgrounds, male and female, and to bring to life the wonderful opportunities available from a career in engineering."
Angela Barker-Dench, Principle of UTC Swindon, said: "Like other UTC's; Swindon will ensure all its students are employment ready and full of confidence whatever their gender. UTC Swindon is at the heart of its local industry, supported by 68 partners with sponsorship from Johnson Matthey Fuel Cells Ltd and Oxford Brookes University; our students will study GCSE's and A-levels along with vocational Engineering qualifications. The icing on the cake for our students will be real live projects with industry along with work experience at year 10 through to year 13. UTC Swindon's graduates will be well placed for employment, further training or university."


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Homosassa Springs Heating and Air Conditioning Installation, Maintenance and Repair in Citrus County
Back to New Heating & Cooling has provided trusted commercial and residential A/C, heating and air purification system installation, repair and maintenance services to the community in Homosassa Springs since 1997, offering quality maintenance, repair and installation services second to none. If you are interested in learning more about our services and why we receive top honors and service awards, call Back to New Heating & Cooling at 352-746-3606 or our Corporate Office at 1-866-9-NEWAIR today.
Living in Homosassa Springs
We have been providing HVAC services in central Florida since 1997, so we well understand high temperatures well into the upper 80s and 90s during summer along with heavy rain and lots of humidity. For many, staying outside is not an option and they literally rely upon their indoor cooling and air filtration systems to remain alive. For many, a high quality HVAC system isn't a luxury, it's a necessity. Call Back to New Heating & Cooling – we can help.
Air Conditioning
Since your air conditioning is going to be running for for 6–9 months out of each year it needs to be correctly installed, properly sized and as perfectly sealed for efficiency as possible. For these reasons you would do well to call Back to New Heating & Cooling when you need a new air conditioner for your home or for service on your existing system. We offer a full range of A/C services including new component installations or replacement of entire air conditioning systems. Call us today at 352-746-3606 to learn more about what we can do for you, including repair and scheduled maintenance and repair.
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When you A/C dies, there's no question in your mind that you need to call someone about repairs. But what about if it just doesn't seem to be cooling the same as usual, or it's making noises it never made before? People often wait hoping that these issues will somehow go away, but these are often signs of much larger air conditioning problems looming on the horizon. The best policy for you is to call a Back to New Heating & Cooling professional as soon as possible. Taking care of small problems will almost always help prevent much larger repairs or whole A/C system replacements, later. Our EPA certified technicians are available 24 hours a day for A/C repair services so you wont need to go without cooling for long. Call us today if you need air conditioner repair in Homosassa Springs, Fl at 352-746-3606.
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Indoor Air Quality
Indoor Air Quality isn't just a part of the job with Back to New Heating & Cooling – it's an obsession. We're on a mission to help all home and businesses in Homosassa Springs eradicate any and all indoor air pollution suspended particles, dust mites, pollen, dust, spores and more which are the causes of allergies and asthma symptoms. If you or anyone in your family suffers from upper respiratory problems like allergies, asthma or pulmonary disease, call Back to New Heating & Cooling today and ask about our world famous IQAir installation "Better Than Hospital Quality Air" IQAir Perfect 16 whole home air filtration system, and about our dehumidifiers and UV Germicidal Ultraviolet Light Systems to disinfect air borne micro-organisms such as pollen, bacteria, mold, E-Coli and viruses.
Whatever your home comfort needs are, call the experts of Back to New Heating & Cooling today and learn what we can do for you at 352-746-3606 or our Corporate Office at 1-866-9-NEWAIR


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Why are menhaden known as "the most important fish in the sea?" How is its population doing in the Bay? What can you do to help these critical critters persist?
Join us for a film screening of "Menhaden: The Most Important Fish in the Bay," followed by a discussion with CBF Maryland Fisheries Scientist, Allison Colden. All attendees will be eligible to win a goodie basket chock full of fun, fishy menhaden swag.
This event is free and open to the public, but registration is required.