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Interview released by special and exclusive permission from ICSA to ReGAIN, INC.
No reproductions.
Paul Lennon is embraced by Fr. Marcial Maciel,
founder and director general of the Legion of Christ Catholic religious order
on the occasion of Paul's priestly ordination, Our Lady of Guadalupe Basilica, 675 Via Aurelia Nuova, Rome, November 26, 1969, XXV Anniversary of Fr. Maciel's ordination
author J. Paul Lennon (see j.paul lennon amazon self-published books & YouTube videos)
is interviewed by (See following link -)
Executive Director of International Cultic Studies Association re his experience in the Legion of Christ religious order, recently renamed Regnum Christi Association.
Dr. Langone analyzes how Lennon was recruited, retained, controlled and finally left the religious congregation (order) pointing out certain common cult-like elements during that process…
J.Paul Lennon's first edition of his life before, during and after the Legion of Christi, "Our Father (Maciel) who art in Bed", the latest version of which is called "A Naive and Sentimental Dublin in the Legion of Christ… "


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I just finished reading excerpts from Jeannot Volpe's response to the Speech from the Thone yesterday and was reminded of why this blog exists in the first place. For those of you that have not read this thing for a long time, I will give you the thumbnail sketch of why I do what I do.
In 1999, I was toiling away at the Greater Moncton Economic Commission trying to attract industry to this region and having some, measured success. We were continuing to attract call centres and I had just landed OAO Technology Solutions which was a major coup. OAO is an IT firm that has 120 people in their Moncton office. At that time, they were projecting as many as 300-400. Anyway, Moncton was in a battle with Freddy Beach for this project and I got a call from the provincial government rep on the file who told me to 'let it go', that this was a done deal for Fredericton. Maybe not, we had a few tricks up our sleeve and they came here.
At that time, I was also working diligently with Bob Camastro, VP of Virtual Agent Services. VAS had a wacky idea of putting small call centre 'pods' in rural communities all over New Brunswick and linking them together as a 'virtual call centre'. Little did we know they would end up with 17 of these pods throughout New Brunswick and are now the second largest call centre in the province.
But then came the election of 1999. Opposition leader Bernard Lord uttered for me the three most dreaded words in economic development. He called for a "made in New Brunswick" solution for economic development. He decried McKenna's efforts to attract industry and said "we can do better". That was the beginning of the end for me. About 18 months later I had left GMEC in frustration over the lack of interest in any real economic development at the province and started doing some consulting. In 2004, David Jonah convinced me to take the message to the general public through this blog which has evolved into the TJ column and numerous other mass media commentary.
Life is full of little ironies and one of the best for me is that more call centre jobs were created under Bernard Lord than Frank McKenna. Sure, the majority of them were from companies that had decided to come here before Lord arrived on the scene but that didn't matter. Lord supplemented the 10k call centre jobs created during his time in office with another 17-18k public sector jobs and boasted of the success of his economic development policies.
In reality, economic development spending dropped by 50% (as a percentage of government spending) under Bernard Lord and more frustratingly, so did over effort and interest.
I often wonder what would have happened if Lord had come in to office claiming that he could "do better" than McKenna on economic development. That he would be doubling the focus on economic development. That he, unlike McKenna, would finally slay the population decline beast and make New Brunswick a place that attracts people as opposed to repelling them. But he didn't and despite a record level of public sector jobs created and the call centre jobs, New Brunswick slipped further behind.
So, now we sit in 2007. Shawn Graham is almost mimicking the words of McKenna circa 20 years ago. We shall see what he does. Government spending under Bernard Lord went up by an incredible 45% despite a stagnant population growth (from the last budget delivered by the Liberals in 1999 to the current Liberal budget in 2007). The budget has increased by $1.9 billion in that timeframe while economic development spending dropped by $45 million.
So the issue for Graham is simple. If the budget goes up by another $1.9 billion under his tenure (the largest increase during Lord's time came from Equalization), how much of that will go to economic development investments? Will he cut them further?
One thing is for sure. I'll stick around and hold them somewhat accountable to their grand rhetoric.
And back to Volpe for a minute. I have to believe there is a lesson in here for the next leader of the Conservatives. It is clear from the Volpe era that governments can spend money willy nilly. It doesn't matter if population drops. Government spending is almost always going up up up.
What you do with the money, that's what matters.

subset: commoncrawl


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El-Amin Life Productions Cultural Institute Supports the promotion of performing arts in The City of Chicago.
El-Amin Life Productions Cultural Institute Supports the promotion of performing arts in The City of Chicago.
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Mujaahid African Drum Ensemble in America
is a group of some of the premier Master Drummers in Chicago. This ensemble is composed of very dynamic, energetic and exciting griots (African tribal storytellers) that seek to convey the spirit and tradition of our African Heritage through our Drums of Passion. The Mujaahid is a warrior in the cause of Freedom. We are making the Drum Call for African Unity to free our communities from the attack of violence, crime, poverty and ignorance.
The ensemble was founded by Muntheru in 1990 and has performed on the streets, in many of the colleges and night clubs throughout Chicago. Performing Arts of African Drumming in places like in the front of Chicago's Wrigley Field.
Mark Vaughn is Master Drum Craftsmen & Lead Djembe Drummer, Traditional Dancer for the West Indian Dance Company, one of the coordinators of the African Drum Village exhibited at the African Festival of the Arts and the African Caribbean Festival of Life in Chicago.
Olu Shakoor is a Master Drummer, Chief Griot, founder and conductor of the African Drum Village exhibited at the African Festival of the Arts and the African Caribbean Festival of Life in Chicago. Olu is proficient on Djum-DJum and Djembe Drum in many of the traditional and contemporary styles of African drumming. He has a vast knowledge of the African oral history pasted on from generation to generation by way of tribal storytelling using theatrical song and dance .
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text: Pumpkin Dildo September 17, 2017 by Pumpkin Dildo Step 1: Mark two concentric circles on the pumpkin Trace around the base of your dildo, then make a circle around it at least one inch wider in diameter. In the center, mark a circle the diameter of your dildo. Step 2: Make the lid Cut out the center circle, then cut the outer circle at a shallow inward angle to form a "lid". Step 3: Make room for the dildo Insert the dildo into the hole in the lid, mark around the base on the underside, then use a spoon to scoop out the pumpkin flesh to make a niche for the dildo base to fit into. Step 4: Check your fit Make sure the dildo fits in flush with the pumpkin so the lid will sit properly. Step 5: Place the dildo in the pumpkin Fit the dildo into the lid and place on the pumpkin. Situate the pumpkin on the floor, a bed, or sturdy coffee table. Step 6: Ride the orange pony Go for it! Next Toy >>


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The 50th anniversary of President Dwight D. Eisenhower's famous farewell address to the nation has prompted much discussion about the prescience of his message. Has Eisenhower's vision of an America dominated by a military-industrial complex come to fruition? What would he think about our current military missions in Iraq and Afghanistan? Has Eisenhower's address been wrongly interpreted, misapplied, or misunderstood over the decades? Eisenhower's granddaughter, Susan, offered her perspective on the address in an op-ed for The Washington Post:
"While the farewell address may be remembered primarily for the passages about the military-industrial complex, Ike was rising above the issues of the day to appeal to his countrymen to put the nation and its future first. 'We . . . must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering for our own ease and convenience the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow.'"
The lessons that Susan Eisenhower takes away from her grandfather's speech prompted me – as I'm sure it has many others – to read President Eisenhower's address for myself. And like Susan, what I found most insightful and inspirational about Ike's words were his emphasis on the importance of balance in our approach to and expectations of government, the obligations of national identity and intergenerational bonds, and the need to remember and preserve the spirit of faith and democratic values that undergird the American experiment:
"Crises there will continue to be. In meeting them, whether foreign or domestic, great or small, there is a recurring temptation to feel that some spectacular and costly action could become the miraculous solution to all current difficulties. . . . But each proposal must be weighed in light of a broader consideration; the need to maintain balance in and among national programs – balance between the private and the public economy, balance between the cost and hoped for advantages – balance between the clearly necessary and the comfortably desirable; balance between our essential requirements as a nation and the duties imposed by the nation upon the individual; balance between the actions of the moment and the national welfare of the future. Good judgment seeks balance and progress; lack of it eventually finds imbalance and frustration."
Unfortunately, it seems that in the half century that has elapsed since Eisenhower's address we have forgotten – or forsaken – this critical principle of balance and are at risk of becoming the "insolvent phantom" of Eisenhower's tomorrow.
There can be no denying that America has truly become a nation of "spectacular and costly action." We have, both individually and collectively, become a society of blind consumers and reckless spenders that looks to government as the guarantor of our comfort and security. Unable to distinguish between our wants and our needs, we've driven ourselves to the very brink of financial insolvency.
A spirit of greed and a lack of concern for the long-term consequences of our actions was the root of the huge Wall Street/mortgage/banking crisis of 2008 and the subsequent bailouts. Those same attitudes are at work in the funding crises involving entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare. They are evidenced by the reigning influence of a "global corporate" complex that is aided and abetted by Washington, insulated from accountability for wrongdoing, and singularly focused on profits to the exclusion of all other concerns.
Were Eisenhower alive today, he might wonder what has happened to the America he knew – a land of "free and religious people" who still embraced the Judeo-Christian values of piety, thrift, personal responsibility and diligence at the heart of the American spirit. Today's America is increasingly reflecting a rigid secularism fiercely antagonistic to religion and her offspring, morality and ethics. Virtue is being rejected as an antiquated notion, and individualism reigns. Everywhere we turn, we are faced with the looming consequences of our shortsightedness, self-indulgence, and hubris, and we are willing to do just about anything to avoid accountability for our actions. For decades now, the preferred method has been to kick the can of responsibility down the road – leaving the problem for the next generation to solve – rather than do the hard work of changing how we think and how we live in the here and now.
Every election cycle, aspiring politicians ask the American people for their support and promise that they are the leaders who will, once and for all, set America back on the path towards stability, solvency, and success. But even the most honorable and hardworking politician can't do this alone. It requires the support of a nation committed to a revolution in how we think and act, from the blue collar working man to the high-powered corporate CEO. Given the trajectory we are on, unless everyone gets on board, we will inevitably slide into mediocrity and hopeless indebtedness.
Fifty years from now, when America celebrates the 100th anniversary of Eisenhower's speech, I pray that my own grandchildren will be able to rejoice in the fact that their nation was able to change course before it was too late.


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I haven't done an outfit of the day in so long!
There was enough light coming in to the room for me to take one today so I took advantage of it!
F21 Sweater | F21 Leggings
Been really into tans, browns, and camel-color stuff lately. I know it it makes me look very mono-toned with my hair and skin tone, but can't help it~
Also, pros of being short is that I can wear most sweaters as tunics or sweater dresses.
Add me on snapchat: uhhsandy
(Please let me know if you're going to add. I'll only accept usernames I recognize).


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It is getting quite scary out there, but we must go on in unity.
Friday, July 8, 2016
It is getting quite scary out there, but we must go on in unity.
8 comments:
Yes, yesterday was full of stressful news! I'm surprised that protests are still happening in cities tonight after last night's shooting. Won't people ever learn? I do not like protests. I don't think they solve anything but create more negativity and get a bunch of angry people together to spread their message of hatred. I'm glad that my oldest son has decided not to persue becoming a police officer. He is changing his major in college and not considering anything in the criminal justice field now. I think he's going to play it safe in the "business world" now. ha!ReplyDelete
Good evening, Ron. I am not only praying for Dallas but also Baton Rouge and Minnesota. This madness has to stop, I'm praying it does, but I'm not sure it will happen. :( #alllivesmatterReplyDelete
Yes we must pray for Dallas and all of this hostility in our country to stop. :-/ReplyDelete
Good morning, Ron. My heart is heavy for the tragedy in Dallas--I watched in horror as the shootings began. Praying for peace today. Have a great day! xoxoReplyDelete
So much sadness!ReplyDelete
My son has a degree in justice and corrections...and is a responder with a dangerous job. I just hate all of it...So much danger out there to keep our world from completely imploding. I grew up in the fifties and sixties...and part of me just wants to go back to a simpler world. Well, maybe all of me wants to go back. Maybe it was more complicated...but I was a kid and did not know. Children today are growing up with so much stressful news in their world. oh my. like you said...Pray Y'all.ReplyDelete
So much sadness Ron. I am like you and fear turning on the news at night. So overwhelming with all this senseless violence going on. I pray for the families and friends of all the fallen officers. Just so sad.ReplyDelete
Tragic. How horrible for the families. I'm praying for all my police officer friends.ReplyDelete


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This is historical material "frozen in time". The website is no longer updated and links to external websites and some internal pages may not work.
The White House
March 20, 2009
Remarks by the Vice President and the President to Representatives of the National Conference of State Legislatures, 3-20-09
Office of the Press Secrectary
For Immediate Release March 20, 2009
For Immediate Release March 20, 2009
Dwight D. Eisenhower Executive Office Building
Room 350
Room 350
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you all for being here today. When the President signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law, he made it clear to the American people that we're -- he made it clear to everybody that they're counting on us. They're counting on us to get this right. And that's a tremendous responsibility –- and it extends, quite frankly, to everybody in this room, not just the two of us.
You're on the front lines to making sure that these resources are well spent. And you see every day, close up, even more than we do, how this economy is affecting so many people and how many critical needs have to be met. And so the folks who are struggling are your friends, they're your neighbors, they're your constituents. And you see it in your schools, you see it in your grocery stores, you see it in the ball fields, your churches, your communities. It's real. And we can't let them down. We simply can't let them down.
That's why we've said that these resources must be moved out the door not only with record speed, but with transparency and full accountability. There is the letter of the law, and then there is the spirit of the law. And we intend to make sure the spirit of the law is what's actually followed here, in addition to the letter.
The President has made it very clear: We believe this money is being -- if we believe this money is being misused -- and he's asked me to take some specific responsibility -- to actually call it out, make it clear -- us to make it clear it's being misused. That's why we have one of the tougher inspector generals that I've ever served with in my years in the government, Earl Devaney, who is overseeing these dollars. And it's part of the task the President has assigned me.
So let there be no doubt about it. We will take a spotlight and a bullhorn to anything we don't believe is fulfilling the purpose of this legislation: investing in jobs, bringing us out of this economic doldrum we find ourselves in, and laying a foundation for future economic growth. So, together, let's meet this tremendous responsibility. It's up to everyone in this room to get it done.
We've had a similar conversation, not just with the state legislators -- and you're all leaders in your state legislative bodies -- but with the mayors, with the governors, with the country executives, with NACo.
We are all counting on you, and them, to display the leadership this nation needs to get us through one of the toughest economic crises we've ever faced. And only with your help we're going to be able to secure a better future for every state, every district, every community, every family in this country.
We will succeed, but will only succeed with your leadership, and with the leadership of the President of the United States. So please join me in welcoming President Barack Obama. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you so much. Please, everybody have a seat. Thank you so much.
It is wonderful to see so many of you -- a lot of old friends who I saw on the campaign trail, had a chance to meet all across the country, and I'm glad we're now gathered together to try to actually get something done.
You know, over the last two years -- last two years during the course of this campaign one of the things that I saw was how dedicated each and every one of you are to making sure that your states and your constituencies are well served by state government. And part of my job as President is to ensure that we're a good partner with you, because you're where rubber hits the road; you're where people actually see the benefits of a good education and high-quality health care, transportation, energy plans that actually make sense.
And so the purpose, the goal of this meeting is to ensure that we are all on the same page, because our folks are counting on it. And it's helpful for me also to talk to you because you guys see things from outside of Washington. And the more I can break out of the bubble, the better off I am.
Over the last two days I've been traveling in California, talking with Americans about the challenges they're facing as a result of this economic crisis. And these are challenges that all of you know very well. You're on the front lines of this recession. It's your states that are struggling with shrinking revenues, your budgets are being cut, services that your families depend on in a moment of need are being placed under tremendous strain. And as a former state legislator, I know how difficult your work can be, and how important it is to have a strong partner in Washington. I want you to know I'm committed to being that kind of partner.
And that's why we're taking unprecedented steps not just to help your states make it through these difficult times, but to make sure that you come out stronger on the other end, more prosperous than you were before. That's the purpose of the budget that I'm submitting to Congress. It's a budget that makes hard choices about where to save and where to spend. Because of the massive deficit we inherited and the cost of this financial crisis, we are having to go through the books line by line, page by page, so that we can cut our deficit in half by the end of my first term and reduce it by $2 trillion over the next decade.
What we will not cut are investments that will lead to real growth and real prosperity over the long term. That's why our budget makes a historic commitment to comprehensive health care reform. That's why it enhances America's competitiveness by reducing our dependence on foreign oil and building on a clean-energy economy. And that's why it makes a down payment on a complete and competitive education for every child in America -- from the cradle up through the time that they get a career. In short, our budget will strengthen each of our 50 states for generations to come.
And that's also the purpose of the Recovery Act that I signed into law last month. It's a plan that will not only help states and painful budget cuts, but also make a meaningful difference in the lives of Americans across this country. Because of what we did, there will be teachers in the classroom and police on the beat who otherwise wouldn't be pursuing their essential missions. Because of what we did, neighborhood health clinics are creating jobs and providing affordable care to those who need it. And because of what we did, 95 percent of hardworking families will receive a tax cut -- a tax cut that they'll see in their paychecks starting on April 1st. So altogether we expect to create or save 3.5 million jobs -- 90 percent of which are in the private sector.
It's the most sweeping recovery plan in our nation's history, and with a plan of such size comes an obligation to be vigilant with every dime we spend. That will require all of us -- me, Joe, each of you -- to hold yourselves accountable. It will require a new level of transparency in how we invest taxpayer dollars. It will require a new sense of responsibility here in Washington, but also in the 50 states. And that's a standard that we've sought to uphold from the very beginning. That's why I asked Joe to ensure that we are implementing our Recovery Act quickly, and implementing it well.
And that's why I've appointed a proven and aggressive Inspector General to help prevent waste and fraud before it happens and root it out when it does. And that's why, on the very day I signed our Recovery Act into law, we launched a website called recovery.gov -- so that Americans can see where their tax dollars are going and make sure we're delivering results. And 46 states have launched their own web sites -- linked to recovery.gov -- to help people keep track of how money is being spent down to the local level.
Today, as part of our continuing efforts to make government more accountable, we're taking the next step in implementing the Recovery Act. I'm issuing a directive that will provide guidelines to federal agencies for what does and what does not constitute an acceptable use of taxpayer money; guidelines that will help ensure that we are proving ourselves worthy of the great trust the American people have placed in us.
That starts with a fundamental commitment. Decisions about how Recovery Act dollars are spent will be based on the merits. Let me repeat that: Decisions about how Recovery money will be spent will be based on the merits.
They will not be made as a way of doing favors for lobbyists. Any lobbyist who wants to talk with a member of my administration about a particular Recovery Act project will have to submit their thoughts in writing, and we will post it on the Internet for all to see. (Applause.) If any member of my administration does meet with a lobbyist about a Recovery Act project, every American will be able to go online and see what that meeting was about. These are unprecedented restrictions that will help ensure that lobbyists don't stand in the way of our recovery.
And this plan cannot and will not be an excuse for waste and abuse. Whenever a project comes up for review, we're going to ask a simple question: Does it advance the core mission of the Recovery Act? Does it jumpstart job creation? Does it lay the foundation for lasting prosperity?
The initiatives that will get priority will be ones that have demonstrated how they meet this test; initiatives that maximize the number of jobs we are creating so we can get the most bang out of every taxpayer buck; initiatives that help make health care more affordable, and rebuild our crumbling roads and bridges, or provide other enduring benefits to the American people.
Now, no plan is perfect. And I can't stand here and promise you that not one single dollar will slip through the cracks. But what I can promise you is that we will do everything in our power to prevent that from happening -- which is why we're building on the provisions in the Recovery Act to forbid the use of these funds to build things like dog parks. Now, let me be clear: I don't have anything against dog parks. (Laughter.) I intend to get a dog. (Laughter.) What I do oppose is building them with funds from the Recovery Act -- because that's not how we'll jumpstart job creation and that's not how we'll put our economy on a firmer footing for the future.
And because I'm not willing to ask all of you to do what I'm not willing to do myself, we're going to set an example here in the White House. Now, I'll give you an example. Recently, a proposal was submitted requesting Recovery Act funds to modernize old electrical and heating systems in the East Wing of the White House. Now, this is a much-needed project that's long overdue -- and I hope Congress funds it in the future. But because this request does not meet the high standards that I have set -- because it will not create many jobs or advance our recovery -- it will not be funded under the Recovery Act.
So the rules I'm putting in place today will help create a new culture of accountability. And I'm pleased that the U.S. Conference of Mayors has committed to joining us in this effort. I don't need to remind you that the American people are watching what we do. They need this plan to work. They're skeptical -- and understandably, because they've seen taxpayer dollars frittered away before. They expect to see their hard-earned money spent efficiently. And this extraordinary moment requires extraordinary responsibilities on all our part. There's little room for error here -- especially in a time for crisis.
During World War II, a largely unknown senator grew concerned that waste, corruption and scandal threatened to choke off our nation's war efforts before they'd truly begun. Congress didn't think a whole lot of the matter and granted him far less money than he'd asked for. But this little-known member of Congress named Harry Truman had the courage of his convictions. So he traveled all across the country, gathered information, holding hundreds of hearings and issuing dozens of reports. And when it was all over, he had saved billions of dollars and deterred corruption and bolstered America's confidence in the conduct of the war.
What Harry Truman understood was that spending tax dollars wisely isn't just about keeping our books straight, it's about fulfilling our obligations as keepers of the public trust. And while I do not know how long the road to recovery will be, I do know that we're in a fight right now to get this economy back on track. And if we act with the same sense of responsibility that Harry Truman showed during wartime all those years ago, and if we build a partnership that stretches from the statehouse to the White House, then we'll turn this economy around and the American people will emerge from this crisis stronger than we were before.
So thank you very much. I'm looking forward to working with you. Thank you, guys. (Applause.)


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I spent more time that I care to admit figuring out how to reconcile my old Dungeonators code with Apple's Sprite Kit, Retina displays, and iOS 7. Along the way I searched the web for help and ran into tons of tutorials and advice for indy game developers (I highly recommend www.raywenderlich.com for a great set of systematic and well written tutorials). But I learned to be wary of advice on some sites that is confused or actually wrong. For example I came across this macro in one of Ray's tutorials that originated from a Stack Overflow conversation:
#define IS_WIDESCREEN ( fabs( ( double )[ [ UIScreen mainScreen ] bounds ].size.height - ( double )568 ) < DBL_EPSILON )
This macro was written by a floating point math C macro professional. It's used to determine if the resolution of an iPhone screen is 4 inches. iOS 7 only runs on iPhone's with Retina displays but there are still millions of iPhone 4 and 4s models in use with 3.5 inch screens. The iPhone 5, 5c, and 5s has a widescreen of 4 inches.
But why do I need a fancy macro for that? It's code that I'm only going to run once. And it's not a particularly CPU intensive calculation. And really, I want to understand what every line of code in my game does. Copy and paste code is always a bad idea.
It's not hard to figure out what this macro does: It gets the height of the screen, subtracts the resolution of the 4 inch iPhone from it and makes sure the result is less than a number that is as close to zero as the phone's floating point system can represent. However, there is no reason that we have to go to this level of complexity!
My feeling about macros is that you almost never need to use them. And if you do, call in a pro C programmer. Macros can optimize your code but if you don't use the right number of parens you could end up with subtle side effects and bugs that are hard to track down.
As an added bonus this macro is only useful if you have determined that the iOS device your game is running on is an iPhone. Taken out of context this speedy line of code could give your game the wrong idea.
To do it right, as in doing it with code that is safe, maintainable, and as efficient as it needs to be, you have to understand how Apple internally represents the resolution of an iOS device. (I'm assuming you want your game to be universal across the Apple universe.)
So let's say you want to write a universal iOS game in Objective-C using Sprite Kit. Here are the consequences of your decision:
- Your game can only run on iOS devices running iOS7. This fact eliminates the original non-Retina iPhones but not non-Retina iPads
- Your game must support both 3.5 and 4 inch iPhones.
- Your game must support iPad and iPad Retina devices.
- Don't worry about model names! The name of the device (iPad, iPad Air, iPhone 5, iPhone 4s, iPadophone 7xyz) doesn't tell you anything reliable about the number of pixels you have to play with.
Here's the non-obvious part: You're going to create your game with pixels in mind but Apple is going to give coordinates in points. I wish Apple had not done it this way. I guess they were trying to be helpful. At lest let developers turn of the points paradigm if like me, they find it unhelpful. But we can't turn it off so we have to live with it!
Apple says there are 2 pixels in a point. This table should help:
Device Type Pixels Points Models iPhone 3.5" 960 x 640 480 x 320 iPhone 4, 4s iPhone 4" 1136 x 640 568 x 320 iPhone 5, 5c, 5s iPad 1024 x 768 1024 x 768 iPad, iPad Mini iPad Retina 2048 x 1536 1024 x 768 iPad with Retina
Apple gives us a macro of it's own to figure out if we're running on an iPhone or iPad,
UI_USER_INTERFACE_IDIOM() and a way to discover the screen's dimensions in points,
[UIScreen mainScreen].bounds.size.height
Thus, here is a simple method that you can add to your game projects to figure out what sort of iOS device you're running on based on it's screen real estate.
- (NSString *)figureOutScreen { // Call once during initialization! NSString *result; if (UI_USER_INTERFACE_IDIOM() == UIUserInterfaceIdiomPhone) { // iPhone if ([UIScreen mainScreen].bounds.size.height==568.0f) { // iPhone Retina 4-inch result = @"iPhone Retina 4-inch"; } else { // iPhone filename 3.5-inch result = @"iPhone Retina 3.5-inch"; } } else { // iPad (Can't tell if it is mini, standard, or Retina 'cause all the dimensions in points are the same result = @"iPad"; } return result; }


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Women in politics and policy in Latin America and the Caribbean. Conflict prevention and peace forum. / Mala Htun, Jennifer Piscopo-- 1°-- s/l : Social Science Research Council, 201442 pag. ; 30 cm-- (CPPF working papers on women in politics; N° 2)
This work carries a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License. This license permits you tocopy, distribute, and display this work as long as you mention and link back to the Social Science Research Council,attribute the work appropriately (including both author and title), and do not adapt the content or use it commercially.For details, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/.


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Time is like water:
It winds and flows
Changing all it touches
I was going back through my archives earlier tonight and found this photo amongst them. It's from October 2013 and I took it near Tamarama while exploring the Sculpture By the Sea exhibit.
I'm not sure why I never processed it… the composition and light are interesting and I can't imagine not wanting to do something with it. The only thing I can think of is that I took a lot of photos that day and had a lot going on as well so maybe I put it aside meaning to get back to it and never did.
Either way I like the photo and how it came out. The colour of the water is beautiful and it has just the right mix of mood and atmosphere to go with the vibrant colour. I'm glad I went back and processed it.
I have a number of other photos in my archives I haven't processed yet, including some from that day and the trip to New Zealand last year as well. I'll have to go back through them properly… hopefully there might be a few more forgotten gems too.
Photo © CJ Levinson 2013, Haiqua © CJ Levinson 2016


text: Whether you travel a lot or once a year, if you follow a healthy lifestyle, you want to maintain it as much as possible. So much effort you don't want it to go down the drain because of a trip. How do we manage to keep ourselves in line with our lifestyle, yet still enjoy our trip?Continue Reading


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Suncloud Voucher Sunglasses are a wrap style frame with Polarized lenses that are ready to take anything any active lifestyle can throw at them with ease! Suncloud Voucher frames boast everything that Suncloud Polarized is known for including quality contstruction & Polarized lenses at a price that does not leave you gasping for air. Go ahead and pick up a pair of the Suncloud Voucher sunglasses from Action Sport Optics, a trusted leader in sport & lifestye optics.
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The OTC 0307 ankle support retains natural body heat to help soothe aching muscles and maintain flexibility, provide firm, uniform compression to support a weakened ankle and offers moderate protection from bumps and bruises. The high-tech, perforated material "breathes", allowing perspiration and moisture to escape for extended wearing comfort. Handcrafted construction includes invisible stitching and heat seal seam tape for added comfort and durability. Effective support and value to keep you comfortably active. Excellent for use in athletics and occupational activities.
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Friday, January 13, 2012
Jackies Sunpuddles
Shhh don't tell the big dog Reilly I am on his bloggie today. I have been doing some catching up on the all the bloggies and one of the things I love is Phantoms (from the Woos) use of the term sunpuddle. I LOVE LOVE LOVE sunpuddles and when those other two silly furballs are outside enjoying the cold I am inside (like any sane doggie would be) enjoying my warm little spots in the sun. It didn't take me long to remember where all the best ones are. Other Mommy - Reilly and Denny's Mommy - she opens all the blind just for me so there is lots of sunpuddles! Ah...sometimes it is the simplest things that make life so wonderful.
14 comments:
You have the cuties clothes Jackson! I love sun puddles too. Katie? Not so much.ReplyDelete
Jackson, you are very smart - I just love the feel of the sun through the windows with my body resting on the comfy plush carpet.ReplyDelete
Woos, Phantom
We love sunbathing, especially in the winter.ReplyDelete
So cute Jackie! Don't tell Reilly and Denny but I like sunpuddles too!ReplyDelete
Don't winter sunpuddles feel so good, Jackie? We think so too!ReplyDelete
Love ya lots,
Maggie and Mitch
One of the best things, sun puddles.ReplyDelete
Hi Jackie! Sunpuddles are the absolute best!ReplyDelete
Your pal, Pip
Oh Jackie, I think I know what you mean. One of my furbabies, Sugar Plum, just loves sunpuddles. The other one, not so much. I think Sugar would spend all day looking for them if she could, then just hunker down until it gets dark out. You are a real cutie.ReplyDelete
Trudy loves her sunpuddles too, but hers are all sliced up into smaller pieces by the vertical blinds. That works well with her sheltie fur. :)ReplyDelete
Yikers, I can't click on True Color Thursday anymore. Is it blogger being a pain or did you take it down?ReplyDelete
The chihuahuas love sun puddles too! So cute!ReplyDelete
And that is a lovely sunbathing outfit too! :DReplyDelete
- AnonymousJanuary 17, 2012 at 11:25 AM
What a great word! Sunpuddles! Nice pix.ReplyDelete
Aroo, Stuart
That's a great coat ! I love sunpuddles too.... :)ReplyDelete


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Community Engagement
Partners in Mental Health
What does it look like when a community prioritizes mental health? For starters, volunteers come together to pack coping kits, schools make room to talk about mental health, and businesses offer a place for difficult conversations.
When we all come together, we create a place where people feel supported, seen, and validated... and everyone knows they are enough just as they are.
Thank you to all of our community partners who help us put mental health first! We could't do it without you. Here's a look at some of the work we've done together.
My Red Said
Start the Conversation Here
For the second year in a row, CATCH is hosting My Red Said, a public awareness campaign designed to encourage conversations about mental health.
My Red Said stations placed at local schools and businesses offer people the opportunity to read and write messages of hope and compassion.
What does your red say?
Coping Kits
Empowering Students with Tools & Resources
When someone is struggling with their mental health, it's helpful to have a variety of tools at the ready in the difficult moments.
CATCH Mental Health Coping Kits offer young people an assortment of tangible items and a list of strategies they can turn to and discover what works for them.
Since May 2021, CATCH has distributed more than 5,000 kits to students throughout Northbrook and Glenview.
Mental Health Awareness Month: May 2022
Break the Stigma. Share Your Story.
When we talk about our mental health, we discover we are not alone in our struggles and find comfort in community.
Throughout the month of May 2022, CATCH partnered with local businesses to encourage conversations about mental health.
Together, we can break the stigma surrounding mental illness and help one another find the support needed to cope with life's daily challenges.
#MentalHealthMatters #LetsTalkAboutIt
Northbrook Cares, Community Together
Connection is Key for Mental Health
In February 2021, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, CATCH and the Village of Northbrook together delivered a bright and beautiful reminder about the important link between caring connections and mental health.
Banners and posters created by two local artists, including a Northbrook elementary school teacher, went on display throughout the community.


text: Terrain: Anatomical Landscapes is a series of drawings derived from walks around the UK. Walks are documented in photography, drawing and writing. This research informs detailed pencil drawings that each represents a single location. This process creates narrative images that explore the relationship between humans and our rural environment. In combining human anatomy and land, Samuels aims to underline the complicated connection between the two: the extent to which we change the land, the conflicts that arise in land management and the political battles that take place in our woods and fields.


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Saxo Bank ditches anti-doping programme
The Saxo Bank team owned and managed by former Tour de France winner Bjarne Riis has announced that it is to end its independent anti-doping programme run by Dr Ramsus Damsgaard.
The Danish team cites the Union Cycliste Internationale's (UCI) 'biological passport' scheme as the reason - saying that tests were being unnecessarily duplicated.
"The UCI has set a standard which means that we would simply be doubling up," Saxo Bank's Bryan Nygaard said to Danish paper Jyllands-Posten.
However, there seems to be more to the scrapping of the scheme. According to a report from news agency AFP, anti-doping expert Damsgaard has fallen out with Dr Bo Belhage, the head of a Copenhagen hospital where some of the testing took place. Belhage is said to be unhappy with the level of transparency of the results.
The team's internal anti-doping programme was launched in a fanfare in November 2006, when the squad was called CSC. The scheme was over-seen by Damsgaard and came in the wake of the team's star rider, Ivan Basso, being implicated in the Operacion Puerto organised doping scandal in Madrid, Spain.
"Our ambition is to be pioneers in the work against doping, so we are very proud to initiate this programme," said Riis at the time of the programme's launch.
"We have worked closely with Rasmus Damsgaard to develop the programme and we think it gives us a unique possibility to do something for the future of cycling and maybe sport in general.
"I have no qualms about submitting our riders to the most rigorous tests out there, because we want cycling sport to be a clean sport. I have faith in the fact that our riders have the right attitude and I would like for them to be able to show this to the world."
So, what's changed? Do the UCI's tests really replace an in-house scheme devised to shout 'we're doing all we can to prevent our riders from doping'?
It's an odd move for a squad who have continued to suffer from the fall-out of doping investigations.
Information technology company CSC withdrew its sponsorship of the team at the end of 2008, stating that it no longer wanted to be associated with a sport tainted by drug taking.
Riis himself admitted in May 2007 to taking banned blood booster EPO during his cycling career, including the year he won the Tour de France (1996). His statement came after former Telekom team-mates Erik Zabel and Rolf Aldag made similar admissions to taking EPO in the 1990s.
In September last year, the team's Frank Schleck came under scrutiny after it was discovered he made a sizeable payment to the doctor at the centre of Operacion Puerto, Dr Eufemiano Fuentes. He was subsequently cleared, and maintains that the payment was for training advice.
Unrelated to doping issues, the team lost secondary sponsor IT Factory in December, after the company was forced to declare bankruptcy due to its chief executive embezzling £57million from the firm. Which shows the brittle nature of sports sponsorship in the current economic climate.
Surely a squad with such a chequered history, and with a backdrop of the reputation of the sport in tatters, needs to carry on showing the world - fans and sponsors alike - that it is doing all it can to stop riders taking banned substances.
UCI announces details of biological passport scheme
Team CSC launches in-house anti-doping programme
rank Schleck under Puerto suspicion after police raid
Riis: "I took EPO"
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Rating: 3.25/5
I went into Venom with particularly low expectations. Not that I don't have faith in Sony, they did after all have a tiny amount of involvement in Spiderman: Homecoming, and that turned out pretty good. But all of the promotional material I had seen looked very aggressively like a comic book movie from the mid-2000s, which if y'all care to remember, was not a good time for comic book movies. Now usually when I start a review like that, I have come around with being pleasantly surprised, but that is not entirely the case with Venom. I ended up enjoying Venom more than I expected to, but I was surprisingly spot-on with my gut feeling about its style and presentation.
Venom feels like a producer in 2005 had some kind of portent about the success of Deadpool, and then tried to capitalize on that success. What that looks like today is a very glossy and dark-looking film that won't entirely commit to taking itself seriously like a normal Marvel film or to being a cheesy campy mess like Deadpool – think 2008's Incredible Hulk with the quips turned up to 11. I realize that paints a pretty grim image, but despite that I found myself still enjoying the film quite a bit. The promotional material had me feeling pretty grim about the interactions between Eddie Brock, played by Tom Hardy, and Venom, also played by Tom Hardy, interacting as different characters. Some of the humour there still really didn't land for me, especially one that was heavily featured in promotional material, but overall I think it was actually done really well. I think Hardy's performance as both Brock and Venom were really solid, and his chemistry in conversations with himself was surprisingly good. The performances from the rest of the cast were also good, and the parallels between the antagonist Carlton Drake, played by Riz Ahmed, and Elon Musk were rather poignant, recognized and appreciated.
For a big action blockbuster, one of the film's weakest points was the action. While I think they got the look and movement for Venom spot on, none of the action sequences were very interesting and the stakes almost always felt incredibly low. Both of those complaints are sort of addressed in the films closing action sequence which was both visually a bit more interesting, if also a bit messy and hard to follow, and had some actually tangible stakes. On top of that, while the designs for the effects were all quite cool, the effects themselves were not up to snuff. Not much looked outright bad, and the way the symbiotes and suits moved were all really cool from a design-standpoint, but from a fidelity standpoint, a lot of the CGI looked a bit out of date – though I will cut it some slack for only working with a $100 million budget. Actually, that 2008 comic book movie feel applies pretty well here, too.
Nothing in Venom stood out to me as a glaring failure, just a solid film with some cool ideas and a wave of dark mediocrity. The writing was a little all over the place, the effects functional and the performances solid – there was not a lot terrible or fantastic about it, it comfortably rides the line down the middle. That said, I do have to give it props for being a Venom film completely devoid of Spiderman, both in appearances and in universe. With Spiderman normally being such an important part of the characters story and universe, I'll admit I'm impressed they were even able to pull a somewhat faithful story out of it. Whether you're a fan or otherwise, I think you can get away with missing Venom in theatres, though if you are a fan of the character or source material, I'd suggest you check it out when it pops up on your streaming service of choice.


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I was a student at William and Mary from 1957, when I entered as a freshman, until 1964, when I graduated from law school. I wrote for The Flat Hat all four years as an undergraduate, and did a weekly column for three years. I also served as associate editor. After law school, I went to Washington, taught at a prep school for a year and then worked on Capitol Hill. I wrote a column for Roll Call, the newspaper of Capitol Hill, and have been doing a syndicated column ever since.
At no time did anyone ever attempt to censor anything in The Flat Hat, if my memory is correct. These were times of great tension in Virginia, with segregation in force. It would be a number of years before black students would be admitted to the College. In Williamsburg in those days, every aspect of life was segregated. I got into trouble with the College administration when, as Vice President of the Political Science Club, I invited the first black speaker to the college. He was Alonzo Moron, then president of Hampton Institute, now Hampton University, later to serve as Governor of the Virgin Islands and head of the Red Cross.
We always took our speakers out to dinner before our meetings. The question was, where in segregated Williamsburg we could go. I thought our best chance for success was the Williamsburg Inn. Since Dr. Moron was light-skinned, we were seated and served with no difficulty. After a pleasant dinner, our meeting proceeded with no problems.
A few days later, I was called to the office of the College President, Alvin Duke Chandler. He said that since I had a reputation as a conservative, which was reflected in my column, that he was surprised that I had invited a black speaker to the College. I responded that, "I am a conservative, but racism is not one of the things I want to conserve."
After this meeting, the Political Science Club was forbidden to meet on campus. Looking for an alternative meeting place, I spoke with the ministers of the churches in walking distance of the College. I was turned down by all except one. Some expressed sympathy, but feared their congregations would be outraged. The one exception was the Methodist minister, Rudolph Benesh. He was a recent immigrant from Hungary, coming to Virginia after the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. He hated tyranny of all kind. I had promised President Chandler that to show our fairness, our next speaker would be a supporter of segregation. We invited James Jackson Kilpatrick, editor of the Richmond News Leader. His talk supporting segregation had a packed house and, as I remember, most of the questions showed growing dismay with Virginia's racial division.
After living through this period, it pains me when I now hear some critics proclaim that ours is a "racist" society. We may still have problems, as any nation of more than 300 million people of every race, religion and ethnic group, will, but the real story is how far we have come. The definition of American exceptionalism, I think, involves the reality that it is our very diversity which defines us. As Herman Melville once said, "If you shed a drop of American blood, you shed the blood of the whole world."
William and Mary influenced my life in many ways and I have been in close touch with the College through the years. I am happy that two of my children attended the College. Some of my closest friends were made there, including two former Flat Hat editors, Alfred Volkmann '61 and Jerry Van Voorhis '63, both of whom I see regularly. Hopefully, the limits on free and open debate and discussion which are occurring at other colleges and universities, as I discuss in my column, are not occurring at William and Mary.
Several years ago, visiting in Williamsburg, I was having lunch at the Blue Talon Restaurant. I told the waiter, who had never heard this story before, that the building housed the Virginia Gazette (for which I had worked as a reporter) when I was a student, and The Flat Hat had been printed there.
Williamsburg, fortunately, remains recognizable to those of us who lived there many years ago.
One more story. When I was a student, you had to swim back and forth across what appeared to me to be a very large pool to graduate. A weak swimmer, I enrolled in a swimming class. I remember the whole class gathered around the pool cheering me when I finally managed to accomplish this task. Many years later, I heard a sermon by a Presbyterian minister, then a professor at the seminary in Princeton. The subject was something like "Life's Great Challenges." He cited the swimming requirement at William and Mary. We had a nice talk after the service. By the time my son and daughter attended the College, that requirement had been eliminated.
Allen Brownfeld B.A. '61 J.D. '64 recently wrote a column for Communities Digital News, "The 'Heckler's Veto' on America's university and college campuses." Email Allan Brownfield at email@example.com.


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Number of People
Prep time
Cook time
Rest time
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour an 8 x 8-inch pan.
2. Place the walnuts in the bowl fitted with the kneading/crushing blade. Mix at speed 12 for 50 seconds. Add all remaining ingredients and pulse 10 seconds to cut up butter. Launch the P3 pastry program.
3. Spread the mixture into the prepared pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
4. Cool for 1 hour before cutting.


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Spring semester has started, and several extra-curricular activities and workshops are being launched at Rutgers. One that might be particularly interesting for graduate students in Comparative Literature is the Digital Lab Series, hosted by Rutgers Libraries and sponsored by the Digital Humanities Initiative at Rutgers.
The first workshop was held on January 20, at Alexander Library. Titled "Exploring HathiTrust Digital Library" and conducted by Melissa Gasparotto, librarian at Rutgers specializing in African, Latin American Studies & LGBTQ Studies, Spanish & Portuguese, the workshop was meant to introduce students and scholars to HathiTrust, a repository of over 13 million digitized books. Launched in 2008, HathiTrust is a collaborative project involving several research institutions, libraries, and universities from North America, Australia, Spain, and Lebanon (Rutgers has recently joined it). Although English remains the most represented language, comparatists can find precious material in many other languages. Furthermore, the overall high-quality and precision of full-texts and metadata, as well as the immediate availability of books that used to be accessible only trough microfilms, make the collection a true gold mine of research material.
During the workshop, Melissa Gasparotto illustrated different search functionalities: HathiTrust offers basic full-text or catalogue searches and more advanced instruments of text retrieval. Language, format, time period are only few of the multiple categories available to users, who can combine them using Boolean expressions. Although some material is subject to copyright, hence not fully accessible (in these cases only metadata can be consulted), the possibility to download full-texts (when available) differentiates HathiTrust from similar projects, such as Google Books. Being able to download rare, if not unique texts, in PDF format, is not the only interesting functionality HathiTrust offers. Members can in fact build their own collections and eventually share them. They can also access collections built by other scholars who have decided to make them public.
HathiTrust, in fostering collaborative work by making available large collections of documents, can be a very powerful resource for literary scholars, both from a quantitative and a qualitative perspective. In the next workshop, on January 26, Francesca Giannetti will focus on how to develop more complex analyses of documents and will explain how to produce data visualizations by using the algorithms provided by the portal.


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Gill invited to join ASHRAE committee
UK: Steve Gill, leading UK refrigeration consultant and current president of the IoR, has been invited to join ASHRAE's refrigeration committee for 2017/18.
The refrigeration committee is responsible for promoting refrigeration education and development in the field of refrigeration at chapter, regional and international levels of ASHRAE. The committee consists of a chair, vice chair and 10 voting members.
In what is seen as a significant honour, Steve Gill's selection will see him exchanging information and networking with refrigeration experts from around the world for a term of up to three years.
Others on the committee include Martin Dieryckx, general manager of Daikin Europe; Didier Coulomb, director of the International Institute of Refrigeration; refrigerant expert Barbara Minor, senior technical fellow at Chemours; and Rajan Rajendran, vice-president at Emerson Climate Technologies' Helix innovation centre.


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E 170 Actionable Insight into Lifestyle Development with Shape and Foster
4k to 4M in one business, Calum McGuigan now focuses on video and community based lifestyle development focused on 6 aspects of health. He does this with a site and app called Shape and Foster. Scottish man, Calum McGuigan, moved to Canada to play Rugby, loved it so much he stayed, then started Fervent Events…Read More
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 42:04 — 31.4MB)


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2021 is just around the corner, which means businesses need to start thinking about their marketing strategies for the new year. The current year was dealt with unprecedented changes due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Businesses realized the immense importance of online presence, as well as digital marketing, to reach audiences when they lack a physical presence. Besides, the mandatory changes required by the Covid-19 situation created a new phase of business marketing, which will also showcase its effect during the upcoming year.
However, this time, the businesses should be better prepared for challenges by staying ahead of the trends.
In this guide, we will present 5 expected digital marketing trends of 2021. Plus, we will make recommendations for each trend to help business owners understand how they should utilize the trends.
1. Short Videos
With the introduction of curfew in different parts of the world, people started staying at home more than ever. Sure, this requirement made many people bored, and they discovered new ways of entertainment. One of such applications was TikTok, which experienced an explosion in user numbers all around the world during the pandemic. Snapchat also made some changes to the application to increase the engagement level and stay competitive. Instagram, in turn, entered this market and introduced Instagram Reels.
In 2021, short videos as one of the multimedia elements will keep increasing its importance and gain more attention. Hence, businesses should consider giving priority to this digital marketing strategy.
Recommendations: To keep up with the trends, brands can create social media accounts on social media platforms to share business-related short videos. As Gen Z heavily uses these platforms, it will also help businesses get young people's attention. However, issues like the proposed TikTok ban should be considered. Avoiding such threats can be possible through diversifying strategies. For example, instead of focusing on one platform, it is advisable to share short-videos in all possible accounts, like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, etc. Besides, more and more people do online shopping, hence sharing short videos of the products on the website can convince interested buyers to purchase the goods.
2. Voice Search
It is not surprising that voice search is the digital marketing trend of 2021. During 2020, we talked a lot about the growing importance of voice search. However, many businesses still ignore the need for voice search optimization. With the introduction and growing demand for voice-activated devices such as Alexa or Google Home, people started making more queries using voice search. Currently, around 40 million Americans own such gadgets, and it is expected that half of the searches will be conducted by voice. This way of doing a search is easier than typing, and people can do it without hands-free. For all these reasons, it is time for all businesses to integrate this trend into business operations.
Recommendations: a part of the search engine optimization focused on optimizing for voice search. It makes necessary adjustments, so the related websites will appear on top search results when users utilize voice search. For instance, one of the differences between text and voice optimization is using longer keywords. People use only a few words when they make a query in the text while asking full questions in voice search. Hence, it is better to reconsider the SEO efforts. Also, businesses should keep their Google My Business accounts updated because voice searches tend to favor businesses with active GMB presence.
3. User Privacy
Privacy is one of the main concerns in data marketing. Some policies were implemented in this sphere to protect consumers, such as the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). This act created barriers for companies to target shoppers easily in California. As a result, Facebook faced limitations in targeting, which influenced their advertising strategies and Return on Investment negatively. It should come as no surprise that in the future, there will be more acts and policies accepted that will intervene in the data collection and utilization process. The main reason behind this digital marketing change is that privacy is a major issue almost in all parts of the world. Current researches indicate that more than 70% of people think that third-parties know too much about them, while 86% are worried about privacy.
It should also be considered that Apple announced its iOS 14 operating system, which will enable users to stop the collection of data in the background. It is expected that this system will be released in 2021.
Recommendations: as a business owner, you need to make sure that your business is ready to tackle the challenges with data privacy. First, it is necessary to follow digital marketing news to identify any changes or expected developments on time. Second, business managers can discuss this issue with the marketing automation representatives. This discussion is essential to find out how the changes can affect business operations. Lastly, your consumers should be aware of your business's extensive focus on protecting data and addressing concerns in this matter.
4. Personalization
It can be contrary to the previously mentioned digital marketing trend-data privacy, but another expecting trend is the increasing demand for personalization. While customers are worried about data collection, which aims to provide customized suggestions, they also want to only deal with personalized strategies. A huge portion of the customers are complaining about mass mails and do not prefer any generic suggestions. They want to be offered customized ideas based on their preferences and characteristics. Hence, personalization has the utmost importance.
Recommendations: creating personalized messages with the help of copywriters and designers can be one solution. Email marketing with customized suggestions can definitely catch the attention of some customers. Meanwhile, a more sophisticated strategy can be utilizing machine learning, which can create the best messages by analyzing emotions and language used.
5. Micro-Influencers
Influencer marketing has been around for several years. Many brands made agreements with the macro-influencers, and in turn, they made posts related to the brands. Macro-influencers had huge fame in digital marketing, so they demanded a high budget for the sponsorships. However, companies came to realize that compared to micro-influencers, posts of macro-influencers generated lower returns. First, people became suspicious and lost trust in famous people who constantly promote brands. Second, micro-influencers have more homogenous followers sharing interests with the influencer and actively engaging. It should also be noted that micro-influencers are the ones having between 10000 to 100000 followers. A Markerly study also supported this idea and found out that this influencer type achieves the most engagement.
Micro-influencers will be the major focus area in digital marketing strategies in 2021. Besides dominating macro-influencer strategies, this trend will outgrow even traditional marketing channels such as emails. That is another reason why you should consider getting micro-influencers on your side as quickly as possible.
Recommendations: Businesses should find influencers who are relatable to their offerings. For instance, a local business will be better off by finding someone living in the same geographical location and has an impact on others' decisions. Here, the requirement for an influencer should not be a huge level of fame. Instead, the return from the marketing activities should be evaluated constantly.
Top 5 Digital Marketing Trends in 2021


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Author Bio: Nancy Scrofano is the author of True Love Way and writes book reviews for a prestigious book review magazine. Additionally, she is the founder and managing editor of The Chick Lit Bee, a book blog that promotes and celebrates women's fiction. Nancy is at work on her next novel.
Guest Post: Chick lit is my favorite genre by far. These stories provide comedy, support, hot topics, romance, and fun to readers. Authors have the ability to connect with readers and show them, with the words on each page, that their feelings are shared with others. The novels in the chick lit genre represent a united front of strength and courage among women. I love the fact that these stories are mainly for women, by women. Issues that women face are depicted with humor, humility, joy, sadness, and triumph. Since I love reading these books so much, I know it is the right genre for me as a writer, too.
Many people criticize chick lit as being predictable, but for chick lit fans, that is the very reason we love it. It provides comfort to us, like listening to an old friend tell us a story. We know there will be a happy ending, and that's exactly what we want. The stories probably won't change the world but they can change people and affect attitudes and moods through entertainment. The characters remind us of ourselves, our close friends, our families, and our colleagues. It is satisfying to be able to relate to characters so well.
Chick lit is a collection of novels that deals with topics women are interested in by showing character growth through uplifting stories. The genre is constantly changing and evolving as new authors join it. I'm incredibly proud and honored to be a chick lit author. I have received wonderful support from other authors in the genre who have welcomed me with generosity and encouragement. I love being part of a group of intelligent, thoughtful, creative writers who understand the issues women face and who have been given the gift of being able to write about these subjects in ways that truly speak to readers. Simply put: I write chick lit because I love chick lit.
**Visit Nancy at any of the below links:
**Click HERE to read my review of True Love Way!


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Duration: 2.5 hoursOne way to plan a garden involves seeing it as a series of zones that each have specific characteristics and purposes. Zones which need to be accessed more frequently would most naturally be located where they are most accessible. The zones might be concentric rings radiating out from a home or from a central pathway through the permaculture system/garden.1 Lesson
Please note: Course notes are provided in PDF format for your convenience and can be downloaded to print or view on your device.


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Get on the trail
Setting off to blaze a trail in the great outdoors is an exhilarating and accessible prospect
Setting off to blaze a trail in the great outdoors is an exhilarating and accessible prospect. We've teamed up with The North Face to inspire you to get out there and provide some useful tips.
Be prepared
Turn off your phone and embrace your freedom, but follow the example of old-school and explorers and make sure you have a map and compass. Getting lost is only fun if you're able to get un-lost too.
Go near or far
Long-haul trips to exotic locations are amazing, but you needn't break the bank to find adventure. Even if you're based in the heart of city, it's very likely you can reach hiking trails within a few hours of the city, or even within city parks themselves. All you need to do is a bit of research, get on your boots and set off.
Get fit
Adventure isn't just for Olympic athletes. That said, it's important to find out ahead of time what you're letting yourself in for and making sure you're up to the task. No matter your location, you're bound to find something to match your fitness levels with a bit of research.
Team up
While solo hikes provide sustaining doses of peace and quiet, life on the trail is even better when shared with friends. Apart from just having companions to share your experiences with, it's also useful to have extra hands on hand for camping or carrying equipment. Check out hiking clubs such as Ramblers for meet-ups and events.
Equip yourself
The right equipment is essential to making sure life on the trail is challenging but not dire. Check that you have the right amount of layers, as well as more specialised equipment.
Go for it
Following a path is great, but don't miss out experiences that deviate off your chosen trail. Jump in that lake. Scramble over that wall. Turn on your Explore Mode.
Turn on Explore Mode with THE NORTH FACE
The North Face's fundamental mission remains unchanged since 1966: Provide the best gear for athletes and the modern explorer, support the preservation of the outdoors, and dare to move the world forward, through exploration.


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Crow's feet, smile lines, wrinkles—whatever you want to call them, these creases around the eyes are a perennial patient concern. The area around the eyes is often where signs of aging first appear. Botox, fillers, and topical creams are all common solutions that patients will turn to for help, often missing out on the benefits that other aesthetic treatments can have in rejuvenating the appearance of the eye area. Read to learn more about the causes of aging in the eye area and how aesthetic treatments can prevent and resolve crow's feet.
To a certain extent, crow's feet are a positive thing, as they're a sign that someone smiles and laughs a lot. When we smile, the facial muscles draw up, crinkling the delicate skin around the eyes. If repeated often, this motion contributes to the fine lines that resemble the three-pronged foot of a crow. Besides smiling, however, the eye area is more susceptible to early signs of aging because the skin is thinner and more fragile. Here are the major factors that cause or magnify crow's feet:
The eyes are the area of the face that gets the most attention; think about the first place you look whenever you meet someone. We notice people's eyes first and often draw conclusions based on what we see there, including how old a person is, and assumptions about their health and lifestyle. Beyond beauty, most people want their eye area to appear refreshed and youthful in order to reflect on the outside how they feel on the inside. Additionally, even the best makeup has trouble hiding these tell-tale lines, sinking into the creases and making them even more evident. For these reasons, surgeries that address the eye area, such as blepharoplasty, have begun to be one of the most sought-after procedures for both men and women in recent years. However, most patients can benefit from a non-invasive treatment before that becomes necessary.
These treatments are all non-invasive, require no downtime, and are safe for the sensitive area around the eyes. Unlike botox, fillers, and surgery, there is little risk of harmful side effects and the results are dramatic and long-lasting. Furthermore, they can be used safely on people of all skin types to address not only crow's feet, but other signs of aging at the same time, such as hyperpigmentation, skin laxity, dullness, textural irregularities, and more.
Venus Legacy™ and Venus Versa™ offer cutting-edge radio frequency skin tightening and wrinkle reduction treatments. Both state-of-the-art devices come equipped with the DiamondPolar™ applicator for non-invasive wrinkle reduction. Combining Multi-Polar Radio Frequency and Pulsed Electro Magnetic Fields (PEMF), the applicator produces heat under the skin's surface, stimulating the production of collagen and elastin fibers. At the same time, the adjustable VariPulse™ suction technology gently lifts the skin upward, allowing the energy to travel deeper and providing a more comfortable and effective treatment. The result is firmer and more youthful-looking skin and effective smoothing of deep lines and wrinkles, such as crow's feet.
For the effective resolution of mild to severe skin damage, Venus Viva™ MD features two applicators: the NanoFractional Radio Frequency (RF) applicator for procedures requiring ablation and resurfacing of the skin, and the DiamondPolar™ applicator for non-invasive wrinkle reduction. The NanoFractional Radio Frequency (RF) applicator uses tiny pins that safely deliver heat through the skin's surface, triggering the production of collagen to aid the body's natural healing process. The DiamondPolar™ applicator uses Multi-Polar Radio Frequency and Pulsed Electro Magnetic Fields to produce uniform heat under the skin's surface. This process helps to naturally increase collagen and elastin fibers, resulting in smoother, firmer skin that looks noticeably more youthful. Venus Viva™ MD skin resurfacing treatments are effective at treating your patients' crow's feet, as well as other textural issues like scarring, acne scars, stretch marks, and more.
Sun exposure can contribute to decreased collagen and elastin production, loss of firmness, and deepening of the wrinkles around the eyes, all of which lead to more pronounced crow's feet. Intense Pulsed Light treatments from Venus Versa™ are the cutting-edge, non-surgical solution to signs of sun damage and other common aesthetic concerns, including premature signs of aging like crow's feet and other wrinkles and fine lines. A versatile multi-application platform, the device allows you to offer multiple procedures for maximum return on investment, including photorejuvenation using Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) with SmartPulse™ technology, which is ideal for resolving sun damage in the sensitive eyes area with little to downtime. The real-time cooling system monitors the light guide temperature 1,000 times a second for unparalleled patient safety and comfort, and the treatments are safe for all shades of skin.
Speak to us about offering these powerful technologies in your clinic today.


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Each holiday season, we receive queries from our patrons about charitable giving to the ACL—people love to show their ACL love this time of year! Of course, the answer is a resounding "yes"—we happily accept donations. We have our 501(c)3 non-profit designation and donations to the ACLare tax deductible to the extent of the law.
If you would like to remember the ACL in your holiday giving, donations may be securely made online here or you may mail donations to:
The ACL Fund
The ACL Fund
375 Auburn Street
Auburndale, MA 02466
We are so grateful for your support! Thank you!!


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08.30.2007 Author and activist Naomi Klein is soon releasing her new novel, The Shock Doctrine, concerning the rise of disaster capitalism.(Ashley Hutcheson/Toronto Star)
The John Adams Institute provides an independent podium for American culture in the Netherlands. For three decades, we have brought the best and the brightest of American thinking from the fields of literature, politics, history, and technology. Love it or hate it, what happens in the United States is of continuing relevance for the rest of the world. We host a number of public events with the goal of examining cultural phenomena related to the United States, be that of national or international concern.
The John Adams Institute
West-Indisch Huis
Herenmarkt 95A
1013 EC Amsterdam
The Netherlands
E-mail email@example.com
Ready to receive the best and the brightest of American thinking from the fields of literature, politics, history in your mailbox?


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We will be happy to organize wonderful day trips in the Tuscan hills. The trips will be organized in minibuses equipped with every comfort and together we can decide the itineraries and organize visits with our tourist guide to the major Tuscan cities.
For your party we provide the entire structure and our staff, we will provide you with our assistance in welcoming your guests to the major Tuscan airports and the complete organization of your event: anniversary, birthday or any other occasion you want to celebrate.
We have mountain bikes available that we will be happy to lend you and we can organize tours of the surrounding hills and lakes, where you will find cycle paths suitable for each of you, from the simplest to the most demanding. We will also organize full day trips with return in the evening to our facility to relax.
We are in contact with professional masseurs who can give you intense moments of pleasure through Ayurvedic, Thai, relaxing and lymphatic drainage massages.
Our land has always been famous for horses, we have various agreements with equestrian centres, where it will be possible to try your hand in the various obstacle or dressage fields or enjoy beautiful walks between the hills and Tuscan coasts: you do not need to be an expert rider but only have want to spend a wonderful day in close contact with nature!
We can organize business meetings at our facility. If there is a need, we have elegant outdoor structures available that can accommodate several hundred people. In this regard, we will also organize for you the catering service, the welcome and anything else you need for your business meeting.
Dionora produces excellent red wine and the noble of Montepulciano but we must not forget that Tuscany is the mother of some of the most prestigious wines that Italy is able to offer. For this purpose, specialized sommeliers will be happy to introduce you to tastings of local wines in our cellar but also in other Tuscan companies. The tastings can last from a day, to courses of a whole week, during which you will have the opportunity to become connoisseurs of our wines and discover the wonderful cellars of the Tuscan landscape. You can also try your hand at working the vines during the harvest and pruning periods, the same we will be able to offer you in the cultivation of the olive tree. We will offer you the opportunity to participate in the activities of our land.
To achieve maximum relaxation, yoga courses are available directly in our garden, to acquire greater contact with nature, abandoning yourself completely, also thanks to the scents that our land offers us. Our instructor will help you relax in the period of one or more sessions per week and introduce you to the fantastic world of relaxation.
We have many locations nearby where you can try your hand at hydrospeed and rafting in the Tuscan rivers, downhill descents on the slopes of the nearby Monte Amiata, sailing and windsurfing courses in the nearby Lake Trasimeno or in the splendid coasts of the Maremma. Quad rides in the Tuscan hills, trekking and Nordic walking in the Sienese hills, the range of activities of this kind that we are able to offer you is truly wide. While parents relax at our facility, we will take care not to bore the younger ones.
A day in Montepulciano to discover the film set of New Moon and the charm of a city rich in art and history
We will organize a multi-hour flight aboard a modern hot air balloon. In the silence of the wind you will have the opportunity to admire Tuscany as it rarely happens.
We will organize an unforgettable weekend for your woman or him: the structure will be completely at your disposal with a romantic candle light dinner and a relaxing stay.
Your Details
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A Belgian court has jailed the leader of an Islamist group for 12 years. Fouad Belkacem led Sharia4Belgium, which was branded as a "terrorist group"
A Belgian court has jailed the leader of an Islamist group for 12 years.
Fouad Belkacem led Sharia4Belgium, which was branded as a "terrorist group" by a judge in Antwerp.
He was found guilty of recruiting young men to join ISIL militants in Syria & Iraq.
Another 44 members were found guilty of terror-related offences.
Only seven of those were in court.
But most of them were convicted in absentia, believed to still be fighting in region.
An estimated 350 Belgians have made the journey.
Brian de Mulder, the son of Ozana de Rodrigues, is one of those people.
"That man has taken my son, my son has left without saying goodbye and nothing. he has taken son's of many people here in Belgium and now he only gets 12 years – while living in a Belgium prison is like living in a hotel," de Rodrigues told reporters.
Michaël Delefortrie's received a three-year suspended sentence.
His lawyer Ergun Topsaid he deserves a second chance.
"It's a clear signal for youngsters who have gone to Syria, who are there now, that they can come back. that, yes, they will have to take their responsibility, but that clearly those who have no blood on their hands can re-integrate back into this society," the barrister told journalist.
The long prison sentences for some of those convicted are meant to serve as a deterrent, says Olaf Bruns, euronews correspondent.
It is an important aspect in this European country has sent the highest number of jihadists to Iraq and Syria per capita, he adds.


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Sample format of Car / Limousine checklist used in hotels
It is very important to check the car/limousine before sending the same to pick up or drop a guest. Most of the full service or world-class hotels have designated staff members to check their cars at various points before sending them for each guest trips.
Additionally, check the grooming of the driver because they are the first point of contact with the guest and they represent the hotel or hotel brand. The guest will have a negative feeling about the hotel and their services if the car that is sent for pick up is not maintained well and also dirty.
Download Sample Format
Excel Format - Hotel Car Checklist
Sample hotel Car / Limousine Checklist


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Positive psychology offers the world of coaching something very special – an evidence based framework and a rich toolkit of interventions that have been proven in their effectiveness.
Whether you are a manager with coaching responsibilities, or a full time coach, we offer you the chance to broaden your learning, extend your coaching toolkit and understand how to incorporate positive psychology into your day to day coaching. You can choose an intensive programme or take the certified route. Equally, you can take a 2 day intensive course in Strengths Based Coaching. Read below what it entails and what our clients say.
The Foundations Masterclass is our flagship programme, offering coaches and clients a unique and stimulating journey through the world of positive psychology. Run over two days and containing six 'labs' (so called because positive psychology is still in an experimentation mode!), the programme explores:
The programme runs across an intensive 2 days! It is ideal for coaches who want to use the full range of positive psychology interventions, understand the theory behind the exercises and, through a lot of practical work, feel confident, capable and credible with clients.
This 2 day intensive programme explores the link between leadership, performance and positive psychology. An ideal follow on from the Foundations Masterclass, it is designed for coaches who want to help their clients explore their full potential as a leader.
New 1-day Strengths Based Masterclass
[Download agenda as PDF]
A 2 day introduction to strengths based coaching. Coaches will firstly gain a personal insight into their own strengths and then understand how to apply and utilise this learning with clients. Using our unique 'StrengthsREADer' approach, the course covers:
With our in house strengths based coaching model, strengths coaching cards and extensive practice and interactive exercises across the 2 days, you will feel able to immediately incorporate the learning into everyday practice straight after the course.
Read our Strengths Based Coaching case study here.
In the research we have done, here are the top four factors clients have told us they have gained from working with us. For a detailed look at the research, download our dissertation.
"In some ways it is quite difficult to explain how enormously this coaching has positively impacted on my life. In simple terms, it has enabled me to see things in a much more realistic and positive way than ever before, in particular my relationships with people at work."
"Hey, life throws different things at us, so for me this coaching helped me put my mind in a place where you actively look for the positive things around you, things that you've got, and there are plenty of them, you just need to find them. So there is this sort of choice, are you going to find them today or are you going to sit there are think that they are not there?"
"When you read this email please know how by giving your time to working with me, you have so positively touched my life and consequently other people's lives too. It's been what I call a 'starlight' effect..."
"You can go through the mechanics of coaching, but positive psychology and this programme adds an optimism, an energy, a sense of fun..."
"Somehow just knowing that the exercises and interventions had been proven to make a difference, made a difference! It's not just 'looking on the bright side'. The programme gives you valid, credible and useful additions to your coaching toolkit. For me, the philosophy of positive psychology is the philosophy of coaching."


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FlatIron Crossing is proud to be a community partner. We strive to meet community challenges through a combination of employee volunteerism, financial support, in-kind donations and partnerships with non-profit organizations which have missions consistent with our vision and values.
Contribution Requests
Each year, FlatIron Crossing will contribute a preset amount of funds in the form of gift cards, merchandise and use of property to a diverse group of organizations. Hundreds of requests are anticipated each year. Donation recipients may include civil organizations, education programs, food banks, foundations, hospitals and healthcare organizations, youth programs, performing arts and museums, and many more. Each request is reviewed carefully; however, not all requests can be granted.
FlatIron Crossing is proud to partner with the nonprofit TreePeople to create a water-secure and climate-resilient Los Angeles. For 43 years, TreePeople has inspired Angelenos to plant and care for trees, harvest rain to fight drought and transform their homes with climate-appropriate landscapes to keep our cities cool, healthy and to improve local water quality. Visit TreePeople.org.