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CHULA VISTA, Calif. — Arthur Lute's arduous journey from his days as a U.S. Marine to his nights sleeping on the streets illustrates the challenge for the Obama administration to fulfill its promise to end homelessness among veterans by 2015.
Lute has post-traumatic stress disorder from the 1983 bombing of the Marine barracks in Lebanon. He spent years drifting through jobs, two years in prison for assault, then 15 months sleeping in the bushes outside the police department of this city south of San Diego.
Today, he lives in a $1,235 a month, two-bedroom apartment in a working-class neighborhood. The federal government pays nearly 80 percent of the rent and mostly covers the cost of medicines for his depression, high blood pressure, and other health problems. State-funded programs pay for doctor's appointments for his 6-month-old son and therapy for his wife, who he said is bipolar.
Lute receives a Social Security check and food stamps. A Department of Veterans Affairs case manager communicates with him regularly and helps avert crises, like when Lute's electric bill jumped in an August heat wave and he couldn't afford diapers.
A county program provided the crib. The American Legion donated cooking utensils, dishes and other basics.
An upcoming report is expected to show the number of homeless veterans has dropped by at least 15,000 since 2009, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki says, and the drop is the result of an aggressive two-pronged strategy to not only take veterans off the street but also prevent new ones from ending up there.
But Shinseki made a bold promise in 2009: The administration would end homelessness among veterans by 2015. The former four-star general says now they're "on target" to meet the goal.
Officials and outside experts said it would take:
More than doubling of the current, record annual progress.
Billions more in federal money.
More improvements and long-term commitment to programs aimed at the root issues that land people on the streets — mental illness, drug and alcohol addiction, unemployment, poverty.
"It's baloney to say it will end in 2015," said Bob McElroy of the Alpha Project, which has helped the homeless in San Diego for decades. "This needs to be a priority for decades to come."
Others are keeping their fingers crossed.
"It can happen," said Steve Berg of the National Alliance to End Homelessness. He believes the effort on veterans could "lead the way" in showing what can be done about overall homelessness, which is more prevalent since the 1970s because of the loss of affordable housing, changes in mental hospital admissions and the decriminalization of crimes such as public drunkenness and vagrancy.
Of the country's 22 million veterans, an estimated 75,609 were homeless in 2009 when Shinseki announced the campaign. Veterans make up 14 percent of the U.S. homeless population.
"I learned long ago that there are never any absolutes in life, and a goal of zero homeless veterans sure sounds like an absolute," Shinseki said in a November 2009 speech announcing the effort. "But unless we set ambitious targets for ourselves, we would not be giving this our very best efforts."
The number of homeless veterans dropped 12 percent between 2010 and 2011 to 67,497. It's expected to fall below 60,000 when this year's count is released in the coming weeks, Shinseki says.
Rare bipartisanship in Washington is part of the reason. Political consensus among lawmakers and in the administration to do everything possible for troops and veterans has meant a huge increase in the budget for VA health care and other services to the homeless, from $3.6 billion in the 2010 budget year to the proposed $5.8 billion for 2013.
"We can all agree that money spent in that effort has been money well spent," said GOP Rep. Jeff Miller of Florida, chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
The VA spent $9.5 billion in the 2011 and 2012 budget years and is proposing to spend another $11.9 billion in the next two years — meaning the overall cost would be $21.5 billion by September 2014.
Congress also has consistently raised annual budgets for VA's main partner in the homeless effort, the Department of Housing and Urban Development. HUD has sent $350 million for vouchers out to housing authorities across the U.S. who have used the assistance to help house 42,000 veterans since 2008.
Advocates for the homeless also cite programs that they say finally recognize the fact that not all homeless are the same. Chronic cases and those with severe problems need substantial and longer assistance, while others need temporary, emergency help.
Programs also have dropped the requirement that veterans must be sober or on their medications before receiving housing. Susan Angell, who oversees VA's homeless efforts, says having a safe and stable place to live improves veterans' ability to participate in treatment programs and other efforts intended to address the root causes of their problems such as substance abuse or mental illness.
Officials also now have what many believe is a more credible count of the homeless population — a census taken on the same night every January. Experts praise the government improvements in streamlining programs through thousands of local housing authorities, churches, businesses and other partners.
Gary Shaheen of the Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University is optimistic.
"If unemployment dropped by 2 percentage points, we'd all be crowing about that," he said. "Is there dramatic change? I think there is. Is it sufficient? No. I think that we're laying the groundwork."
Mental health issues may be the biggest challenge to the government's effort, according to veterans' organizations. The VA has struggled to keep up with mental health care demands for the overall veteran population due to insufficient staffing and other problems.
"If VA doesn't take a critical look at and correct the serious problems ... most notably, its mental health access issues and rising (disability) claims backlog, we will end up right back where we started," Miller said.
Veterans such as 50-year-old Lute, who served in peacetime after Vietnam and before the 1991 Gulf War, make up a disproportionate number of those in VA homeless programs, according to Congressional Research Service report from February.
Many had problems before going into the military. Lute was physically abused as a child and suffers from depression as well as service-related PTSD.
Another concern is what will happen if needs increase. Roughly 180,000 people leave the military every year; and that number will increase because the Pentagon plans to shrink by 100,000 troops over the next several years now that the war in Iraq is over and the drawdown in Afghanistan has started.
Though few Iraq and Afghanistan vets have showed up at homeless shelters so far, experts worry that homelessness among them may increase later.
"We saw a lot of problems for the guys and gals from the Vietnam war didn't (emerge) for decades," McElroy of Alpha Project said.
The VA hopes its new prevention programs will address that. One started last year has so far helped 32,000 families of veterans who were identified as vulnerable to becoming homeless. The program provides money for child care, rent or utilities to keep them in their homes when hard times hit.
Lute's family moved into the two-bedroom apartment last month after a successful year in their first apartment — a one-bedroom. Visits from social workers will decrease if he continues to take good care of his son Evan.
A 280-pound man with a tattooed neck, he regularly takes Evan to a park, near where he used to sleep at night. He says he's determined to give him the happy childhood he never had.
"I don't know the answers. I've been in homeless shelters, through VA programs, PTSD support groups, etc., but I think it's up to the person," said Lute, as his giggling son rolled on the living room carpet. "I will try everything I can to not become that way because of him. Now I'm not on the streets because there's more in my life to lose."


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WASHINGTON – The United States Senate passed a resolution marking the tenth anniversary of freedom from Soviet rule for the Baltic countries – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – introduced by Helsinki Commission Chairman Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-CO).
"The Senate has duly recognized the bold accomplishments of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania since the restoration of full independence from the former Soviet Union," Chairman Campbell said. "The people of the Baltic countries broke away from the oppressive regime of the Soviets and mounted successful efforts to build democracies. Other nations of the former (de facto) Soviet Union should look to the Baltic States as an example in leadership."
"The successful return of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania into the community of free and democratic nations is a testament to the commitment and perseverance of the Baltic people in overcoming the legacy of brutal Soviet rule," Campbell added.
The Senate unanimously adopted Concurrent Resolution 34 yesterday. Campbell noted the timely passage of the resolution during the United States' commemoration of Captive Nations Week. President George W. Bush has called for the 21st Century to become the "Century of Democracy."
Senate Concurrent Resolution 34 congratulates Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania on the tenth anniversary of the end of their illegal incorporation into the Soviet Union. In 1940, the three sovereign Baltic nations were forcibly annexed to the Soviet Union through a secret deal between Adolph Hitler and Joseph Stalin.
Seized by Hitler during World War II, the Baltic States were forced back under the repressive Soviet yoke from the end of World War II until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Throughout this period, the United States never recognized the illegal incorporation of the Baltic States into the Soviet Union and maintained formal diplomatic relations with the legitimate representatives of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania in exile.
The resolution further calls upon the president "to continue to build the close and mutually beneficial relations the United States has enjoyed with Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania since the restoration of the full independence of those nations."
"This resolution recognizes the struggle of the people of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania against Communist oppression in the past, as well as the great strides they have made over the past ten years," Campbell said. "Since they have regained their freedom, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have demonstrated their commitment to democracy, human rights, and the rule of law while pursuing further integration into European political, economic and security organizations.
Chairman Campbell expressed appreciation for the efforts of Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joseph R. Biden (D-DE) and Ranking Republican Member Jesse Helms (R-NC) to get this resolution out of committee and onto the Senate floor.
The resolution enjoyed bipartisan support and was co-sponsored by Helsinki Commissioners Senator Christopher J. Dodd (D-CT) and Senator George V. Voinovich (R-OH).
Helsinki Commission Co-Chairman Rep. Christopher H. Smith (R-NJ) has introduced a similar measure in the House of Representatives.
The United States Helsinki Commission, an independent federal agency, by law monitors and encourages progress in implementing provisions of the Helsinki Accords. The Commission, created in 1976, is composed of nine Senators, nine Representatives and one official each from the Departments of State, Defense and Commerce.

subset: commoncrawl


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The Libyan militant accused of masterminding the deadly Benghazi attacks that have become a flashpoint in U.S. politics appeared briefly for the first time in an American courtroom on Saturday, pleading not guilty to a terrorism-related charge nearly two weeks after he was captured by military special forces
In a 10-minute hearing held amid tight security, Ahmed Abu Khattala spoke just two words, both in Arabic. He replied "yes" when asked to swear to tell the truth and "no" when asked if he was having trouble understanding the proceeding.
Abu Khattala becomes the most recent foreign terror suspect to be prosecuted in American courts, a forum the Obama administration contends is both fairer and more efficient than the military tribunal process used at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The case is being tried in Washington despite concerns from Republicans in Congress who say he should not be entitled to the protections of the U.S. legal system.
A grand jury indictment handed up under seal Thursday and made public Saturday accuses Abu Khattala of participating in a conspiracy to provide material support and resources to terrorists in the attacks of Sept. 11, 2012, that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.
That crime is punishable by life in prison. The government said it soon would file more charges against Abu Khattala.
During his initial court appearance, the defendant listened via headphones to a translation of the proceedings. He wore a two-piece black track suit, had a beard and long curly hair, both mostly gray, and kept his hands, which were not handcuffed, behind his back.
He looked impassively at U.S. Magistrate Judge John Facciola for most of the hearing. Abu Khattala's court-appointed lawyer, Michelle Peterson, entered the not guilty plea. Facciola ordered the defendant's continued detention, but the judge did not say where Abu Khattala would be held.
The U.S. Marshals Service said it had taken custody of Abu Khattalah, who now was confined to a detention facility in the capital region, ending a harried day for the Libyan.
U.S. special forces captured Abu Khattala in Libya two weeks ago, marking the first breakthrough in the investigation. Officials had been since been questioning Abu Khattala aboard a Navy amphibious transport dock ship that transported him to the United States.
He was flown early Saturday by military helicopter from a Navy ship to a National Park Service landing pad in the city's Anacostia neighborhood, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to discuss the transfer publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
A U.S. official said Abu Khattala had been advised of his Miranda rights at some point during his trip to the United States and continued talking after that. The official wasn't authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation by name and spoke on condition of anonymity. The nature of those conversations wasn't immediately clear.
A criminal complaint filed last year and unsealed after Abu Khattala's capture charged him with terror-related crimes, including killing a person during an attack on a federal facility. A new, single-count indictment will likely be superseded by additional charges, prosecutors say.
The violence in Libya on the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon quickly became a political controversy at home. Republicans accused the White House, as the 2012 presidential election neared, of intentionally misleading the public about what prompted the attacks by portraying it as one of the many protests over an anti-Muslim video made in America, instead of a calculated terrorist attack. The White House said Republicans were politicizing a national tragedy.
The U.S. government accuses Abu Khattala of being a member of the Ansar al-Shariah group, the powerful Islamic militia that officials believe was behind the attack.
A prominent figure in Benghazi's circles of extremists, he was popular among young radicals and lived openly in the eastern Libyan city, where he would be spotted at cafes and other public places even after the Obama administration publicly named him as a suspect in the attacks.
He acknowledged in an interview with The Associated Press in January that he was present during the storming of the U.S. mission in Benghazi. But he denied involvement in the attack, saying he was trying to organize a rescue of trapped people.
During the attack, gunmen fired rocket-propelled grenades and stormed the mission, with many waving the black banners of Ansar al-Shariah.The compound's main building was set ablaze. Stevens suffocated inside and another American was shot dead.
Later in the evening, gunmen attacked and shelled a safe house, killing two more Americans. At the time, several witnesses said they saw Abu Khattala directing fighters at the site.
No evidence has publicly emerged that Abu Khattala was involved in the later attack.
Abu Khattala is one of just a few cases in which the administration has captured a suspected terrorist overseas and interrogated him for intelligence purposes before bringing him to federal court to face charges.


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Vernon Toilets and Bathroom Fixtures
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Since the invention of the siphon flush toilet, the system flushed in one way–a large rush, wasting gallons of water. But great European design brings amazing advancements in technology and function. When conservation laws came into effect, the 3-6 litre toilet came into our world. Today's dual flush eco-friendly toilet means less water needed to get the job done!
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With stylish Single Flush and Dual flush Toilet and Bidet washlets we can revitalize your bathroom from the stone age to the future with our modern bathroom fixtures. Shipped to your door in Vernon, BC.
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- How Do Waterless Toilets Work?
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- What is Amphibian Species of the World?
- How to cite
- How to use
- Structure of the taxonomic records
- Running log of additions and corrections, 2024
- Logs of changes and additions, 2014–2023
- What is the right name?
- Curator's blog
- Amphibian Species of the World on social media
- History of the project, 1980 to 2024
- Comments on amphibian taxonomy relating to versions 3.0 to 6.2 (2004 to 2024)
- Scientific Nomenclature and its Discontents: Comments by Frost on Rules and Philosophy of Taxonomy, Ranks, and Their Applications
- Contributors, online editions
- Contributors and reviewers for Amphibian Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (1985)
- Versions
- Museum abbreviations
- Links to useful amphibian systematic, conservation, collection management, informational, and/or regional sites
- Links to useful FREE library sites
- Copyright and terms of use
Litoria gasconi Richards, Oliver, Krey, and Tjaturadi, 2009
Litoria gasconi Richards, Oliver, Krey, and Tjaturadi, 2009, Zootaxa, 2277: 2. Holotype: MZB Amph. 15839, by original designation. Type locality: "camp near Marina Valen Village (02° 22.230′ S, 138° 12.753′ E), 500 m a.s.l., southern foothills of the Foja Mountains, Papua Province, Indonesia".
English Names
None noted.
Known from two sites in the vicinity of Marina Valen and Kwerba Villages, in the southern foothills of the Foja Mountain Range, north-central Papua Province, Indonesia; also found in the Prince Alexander Ranges of Papua New Guinea.
Geographic Occurrence
Natural Resident: Indonesia, Indonesia - Papua Region, Papua New Guinea
Most similar to Litoria multiplica according to the original publication. F. Kraus In Oliver, Richards, and Tjaturadi, 2012, Zootaxa, 317842, provided the Papua New Guinea record. Kraus, 2013, Herpetol. Rev., 44: 278, provided a record from the Prince Alexander Mountains, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea.
External links:
Please note: these links will take you to external websites not affiliated with the American Museum of Natural History. We are not responsible for their content.
- For access to general information see Wikipedia
- For additional sources of general information from other websites search Google
- For access to relevant technical literature search Google Scholar
- For images search CalPhoto Images and Google Images
- To search the NIH genetic sequence database, see GenBank
- For additional information see AmphibiaWeb report
- For information on conservation status and distribution see the IUCN Redlist
- For information on distribution, habitat, and conservation see the Map of Life
- For related information on conservation and images as well as observations see iNaturalist
- For access to available specimen data for this species, from over 350 scientific collections, go to Vertnet.


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New Condo Listings In Bay Harbor Island
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Listing information © 2024 MLS Real Estate Board. The information provided herein must only be used by consumers that have a bona fide interest in the purchase, sale, or lease of real estate and may not be used for any commercial purpose or any other purpose. Information is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed accurate by the MLS or the Brokerage. Data last updated on 05-30-2024. IDX powered by Realty Net Media


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Puzzle Categories
Download a FREE Solution for your puzzles!
Cast H&H
Object | Separate the H's |
Difficulty | Level 9 - Gruelling |
Brand | Hanayama |
Types | Hanayama Metal Puzzles, Oskar van Deventer |
Dimensions | 1 7/8 in x 1 1/8 in x 1 1/8 in / 4.8 cm x 2.9 cm x 2.9 cm |
Packaging | Cardboard Box |
Watch the video review! Read reviews, and write your own! Request the FREE solution for this item!
Product Info
Note: Our level rating system is different than Hanayama's. Hanayama's level 1 is equivalent to our level 5.... level 6 is equivalent to our level 10.
Just as the name suggest, this puzzle shaped like the letter H is made of two pieces entwined together. At a glance, the pieces that make up the puzzle may appear to be of the exact same shape, but they actually differ slightly. Do you think you can disassemble the two pieces? The movement of the pieces is very tricky, so you also need to be careful that your memory does not play tricks on you.
Designed by Oskar van Deventer
The theme is entwine.
Customer Reviews
Disclaimer: These reviews are written by our customers. Puzzle Master makes every attempt to keep these posts informative and relevant. If you find a post objectionable or inappropriate, please let us know by sending an email to [email protected]
Very difficult. I couldn't solve it. Yet I still had loads of fun. By the way, I was the one who just posted the review for the other 2 (padlock and equa.)
Looks pretty good and has a couple of interesting moves. Basically a compllex 3D maze, but each position has a very limited number of branches. So it comes down to perseverance and memory to get 'er done. Both pieces have a thin bridge of metal in the middle, so handle with a bit of care.
Great puzzle! Very satisfying. Only problem I had with it was I let someone else try it and they forced it a little too hard and it broke. Oh well, still fun. Just be careful with it!
I found H&H harder than the other 8 Cast puzzles I have so far. I would rate it as hard as "Quartet" for example. I managed to solve it by chance in both ways, and then it took me few more times in order to realize what the solution itself is. But still, I have to think every time I go for disassembling or assembling and never do it holus-bolus. I admire the structure of the pieces and how you can just move them around and never solve it unless you do exactly the needed steps.
Took around 1 hour to solve and is a clever puzzle that looks good. Problem is the gaps on either side were different size after the solve so I used vices to reassemble the gap.. which broke the puzzle piece in two. Would not recommend using vices as it's more brittle than it looks.
I have been a fan of Hanayama metal puzzles for a few years, and the H and H is now one of my favorites. The aesthetics of the sculpturing are pleasing when fully it is assembled, and the maneuvering required to solve it is complex enough to be a challenge. One would think that after successful disassembly, the reverse would be easy. But a funny thing about human learning is demonstrated, in that a sequence learned is not easily reversed, as demonstrated by the difficulty of reciting the alphabet backwards. I find I still must treat each sequence, the assembly from the disassembly, as two unique entities, and cannot easily go from one to the other without some difficulty.
Although there are some folks in these reviews who give this puzzle a less-than-9 rating, I feel that it deserves at least that, with a 5 star review rating, knowing that there are other puzzles that surely fit the bill -- without question -- of the ultimate rating of 10. One could probably spend considerable time going back & forth with the clockwise & counter-clockwise movements, but the special 'trick' of all the movements is the middle horizontal shift that takes place (twice), which seems to be the 'middle' of the solution. Great puzzle. I highly recommend it to everyone.
A wonderful little puzzle sculpture with a lot of personality. One of the best. Haven't solved it yet.
This puzzle looks great but it was kinda easy. If you keep working it you'll finally get it. Putting it back together is just as easy.
I've solved this wonderful puzzle with just 10 moves and that more simple than the solution in this website.
Excellent puzzle! Wonderfully secure pieces with an in-depth solution :) highly recommended :D
About 1 hour... But quite nice puzzle.


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Browse AR and 3D experiences below for case studies and inspiration.
For Christmas Bloomingdale's sends Santa and his sleigh running around your head!
PepsiCo and Doritos wanted to incorporate an AR element to their popular Doritos holiday advent calendar.
They approached Poplar Studio to help define the best way to use AR and to produce each of the experiences for users to unlock each day of the December period – 1 experience per day.
Poplar Studio produced 25 WebAR experiences using 8th Wall technology for each of the 25 days leading up to Christmas, all in a digital advent calendar format.
NYX Professional Makeup released a Halloween Cirque Du Soleil-inspired makeup range and approached us to help them produce this year's Halloween AR filter campaign based on the range.
The experience begins with a pair of red curtains opening to introduce six acts, each of which corresponds to a different look. By tapping on the characters corresponding to each act, users can access virtual makeup try-on filters and adopt one of six distinct looks: salty siren, slithering enchantress, angel face, firecracker, dragon baddie and pretty pony.
Maybelline wanted a Snapchat templated solution for lipstick try-ons that could be re-used across their territories, languages and for different products. We created a step-by-step guide to show Maybelline how to easily swap out lip colour shades, names of products and logos with ease so that the filter can be infinitely reused.
Française des Jeux, the operator of France's national lottery games, worked with us to create this addictive mini-game to promote the Tour De France, complete with avatars, leaderboards. The rules of the game are simple: to become the fastest cyclist to complete the Tour.
We worked with Sotheby's on another AR experience focused on pieces being auctioned by the house, in this case a rare Monet masterwork making an appearance at an upcoming biennale. The experience allowed users on Instagram to place the rare masterpiece on their own walls.
Macmillan, the publisher of the Shadow and Bone books, commissioned an experience intended to help users understand the world of the Grisha from the books and TV series.
We created a WebAR experience that brought to life the mystery and story surrounding the Grishaverse world, all laid out on its map.
Using the printed map, users could scan a QR code with their mobile phone to activate the AR experience and then focus their camera on it. Immediately, the map came to life with animations. The user could then focus their camera on different regions of the map to see animated landmarks, which they could tap on to activate voiceover and text.
Owkin, a medical AI company, commissioned this image tracker experience to explore the future of digital pathology. All the user has to do is scan a QR code to activate the experience and then point their mobile device at one of the images provided to learn more about Owkin's AI. The user is then challenged by a series of questions, swiping left or right to answer. Afterwards, the game informs the user of whether they answered correctly and why.
NYX Professional Makeup wanted to take advantage of Halloween, their highest grossing sales period of the year. To do this, we launched an effect on Instagram and Snapchat to promote their new collection, which showcases their partnership with Cirque Du Soleil. This marks the third collaboration between Poplar Studio and NYX Professional Makeup on a Halloween filter.
The experience contains 6 characters behind a pair of red curtains: salty siren, slithering enchantress, angel face, firecracker, dragon baddie and pretty pony. Users can tap on each of the characters to virtually try on their corresponding makeup looks, while also experiencing matching background elements, making it a fun immersive social media filter and not just a try-on.
To showcase Yves Saint Laurent's lipstick 'The Bold' in a fun and engaging way, they decided to commission a TikTok effect.
We produced a Branded Effect that enables users to try on different shades, with the 3D model of the lipstick materialising in front of their mouth and applying colour. After selecting their shade of choice, users are invited to show their boldest moves by posing in a series of photos, to create a collage that can be shared with their followers.
To promote their new Lip Bond Lipstick, Urban Decay wanted to bring the user into the world of their brand.
We created a fun mini-game for Snapchat users which turns the 'try-on' concept on its head by prompting users to 'catch' falling lips to instantly have those shades applied to their own mouths. Users were also able to take snaps of themselves in the true Urban Decay look and feel.
Urban Decay asked us to create an experience that showcased the brand's mini palette products while feeling authentically Urban Decay.
We created a Snapchat and Instagram effect showcasing 3 looks that represent each of the new colour makeup palettes, each with their own theme and storyline. To showcase these, we added a randomiser effect to create an element of surprise, turning the user into one of three characters depending on their result
FERONA are allowing customers to visualise bespoke couture pieces with 3D and virtually try them on with AR, as part of the ecommerce journey.
Louvolite provide a blinds visualisation tool for sales agents and customers using their ecommerce mobile app, to visualise and show off the special features of the blinds.
Shopify found a way to use 3D modelling and AR to showcase editor picks of products at their Berlin Memento Store.


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"Genesis10 is an Equal Opportunity Employer, M/F/D/V"


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This post was updated at 11:45 a.m. ET.
The 73-year-old man accused of killing three people Sunday in a hate-fueled attack at Jewish centers in Overland Park, Kan., awaits a date in court later today. He's to be charged with one count of capital murder and one count of premeditated murder, local prosecutors announced Tuesday morning. Federal hate crime charges are likely at a later date.
But we want to focus on the victims and their survivors.
The Wichita Eagle writes that Terri LaManno, 53, had planned to celebrate her 25th wedding anniversary today. Instead, her husband, Jim, and daughters Alissa and Jennifer and son Gian are mourning her death.
LaManno was killed outside the Village Shalom assisted living facility. She was there to visit her mother. According to the Eagle:
"Brian Fowler, a lawyer and longtime family friend, said Terri LaManno's two sisters were [also] visiting their mother at the time of the incident and didn't realize that their sister had been shot outside the facility.
"Fowler described Terri LaManno as a 'beautiful lady' who was devoted to her husband and children.
"LaManno worked as an occupational therapist at the Children's Center for the Visually Impaired in Kansas City. She worked with children and their families in their homes and provided constant 'support and compassion,' said co-worker and friend Amanda Daniels.
" 'Terri acted out of kindness and gratitude in everything she did,' Daniels said."
The first two people killed, outside Overland Park's Jewish Community Center, were 69-year-old Dr. William Lewis Corporon and his 14-year-old grandson, Reat Griffin Underwood.
Corporon had brought his grandson to the center so that the boy could audition for a singing contest.
On Monday, Reat's mother spoke of the loss of her son and father. "It was a horrible act of violence, and my dad, our dad, and my son were at the wrong place at the wrong time for a split second," Mindy Corporon said. "We want something good to come out of this. We don't know what that's going to be. So we want people to let us know if they think that something good has come from it."
Of her son, she said he had "been wanting to try out for three years. ... He was dressed in a coat and tie and black shirt, and a hat." Reat had recently registered to be an organ donor when he got a driver's permit, his mother said.
Will Corporon, the doctor's son and Reat's uncle, said that "it takes no character to do what was done. It takes no strength of character. It takes no backbone. It takes no morals. It takes no ethics. All it takes is an idiot with a gun. ... That idiot, that idiot absolutely knocked a family to its knees for no reason."
Corporon also told reporters he's sure his father "would have given anything, if it could have just been him. He'd have stood up and just said, 'Take me.' "
"My father leaves behind a legacy of faith, and family and community," Will Corporon said. "I've heard from people today who said 'my children — his hands were the first hands on the planet that touched my children.' ... It touches my heart to hear things like that."
The Associated Press has a video clip with some of the Corporons' comments. The Kansas City Star has longer versions here and here.
Frazier Glenn Cross, who was arrested shortly after the attacks. He's a former grand dragon of the Ku Klux Klan who has been very public for years about his hatred of Jews.
All three of those killed Sunday were Christians. Prosecutors said Tuesday that the capital murder charge stems from the deaths of Corporon and his grandson, while the charge of premeditated murder stems from the death of LaManno.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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From the Pembridge Collection
Our Pembridge Collection combines romantic design schemes and rich colors to create a dramatic style in any decor
Color(s): pewter and barely blue
Machine made medium pile
Dimensions: 7.75' wide x 10.65' long
Material(s): polypropylene
Note: photo shows a 5.15' x 7.5' rug, however this listing is for a 7.75' x 10.65' rug
A portion of the profits from these rugs and pillows goes towards a school lunch program that serves fresh, nutritious daily meals to 1.3 million children in rural India. For many children, this is their only substantial meal of the day. Additional donations are also made to a scholarship program that enhances literacy and learning in Southeast Asia. Nearly 80 percent of children from impoverished families drop out before graduation due to the burden of educational fees, books and uniforms. This program helps compensate for all school expenses in addition to mandating and paying for after-school tutoring for students most in need.
Product Specifications
Weight |


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Heating System Services
Francen & Son Foreign Car Repair Specialist Provides Heating System Service Services To Algonquin, Il, Barrington, Il, Crystal Lake, Il, And Other Surrounding Areas.
The Basics Behind Heating System Services at Francen & Son Foreign Car Repair Specialist
In contrast to the cooling system, which removes heat from the engine, the heating system transfers the engine's heat to the vehicle's interior. Excess engine heat is absorbed by coolant, a mixture of water and antifreeze. Coolant is carried by the heater hoses from the engine to the radiator, which expels some of the heat into the atmosphere. The water pump pushes the coolant through the engine, cooling system, and heating system. The coolant travels to the heater core, located in your vehicle's dashboard. There, the heater fan directs the rest of the warm air into the vehicle's cabin. Once the coolant transfers heat into the vehicle, the coolant returns to the water pump where it continues to circulate through the system. The heating and cooling systems share a number of components, including the radiator, thermostat, and water pump. Other heating system components include the blower motor, heater control valve, heater core, heater fan, and heater hoses. These components work together to regulate temperatures in the engine and cabin compartment.
Why Should You Have Heating System Services Performed at Francen & Son Foreign Car Repair Specialist?
Because the heating and cooling systems work in tandem, problems with the cooling system will affect the heating system. Low coolant levels, for example, can affect the heating system's ability to warm your vehicle's interior. Leaking coolant can be attributed to a damaged heater core, radiator, heater hose, or cooling system. Sweet smells coming from the air vents are a sign of a coolant leak. Other common issues that plague heating system components include a vacuum leak, heater valve failure, fan motor failure, heater core failure, or stuck thermostat. One of the most common causes of breakdowns is overheating, but heating system maintenance can help prevent this from happening. Consult your owner's manual for recommended inspection intervals for the various heating system components, and be sure to seek out heating system repairs when necessary.
We proudly service the Heating System Service needs of customers in Algonquin, IL, Barrington, IL, Crystal Lake, IL, and surrounding areas.


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I'm tired of the blogs vs. magazines debate because they are good for different things and each one has a different goal. There are some blogs I would read over some magazines, of course, and some magazines I would read over some blogs. Obviously blogs are less mainstream and can be more honest because they are less dependent on advertisers. But magazines need advertisers to survive, and the labels they advertise need them. Even though most magazines act really happy about everything, as long as I know to still make my own opinions it isn't a big deal. A lot of them do lack in actual opinion, but that's where some blogs are good. And then blogs lack in the ability to take you to another world, and that's where magazines are good. But this isn't always the case, and not all magazines lack in things blogs have, and not all blogs lack in things magazines have...you can go around in circles forever. It just comes down to the fact that all magazines and blogs are different and you can't compare the two mediums.
I used to have the idea that magazines - just magazines in general - are evil and focused on trends and skinny people, but it is so not true. A magazine is like a public journal with entries written every month, or every other month, or 4 times or twice or once a year. Yeah, some are super lame and bland and really do only like rail-thin people, but not all of them. And when you find those that are more like art books or just simple celebrations of fashion, like the ones below, you become an addict like me. COME TO THE DARK SIDE. WE HAVE CUTOUTS OF LARA STONE AND FANGIRL TIM WALKER.
I treat most of my magazines like bibles. These here are the ones I don't cut out of and that will follow me to college and onward. From left: W, V, Interview, Flaunt, AnOther, 2 Pops, The Journal, Love, 10, another Pop, i-D, 3 Dazed & Confused's, 2 British Vogues, 2 Russh's, 2 Lulas, Vogue Italia, Harper's Bazaar, T, and New York Magazine. Since I took this picture in late September, another i-D, another Vogue Italia, another Harper's Bazaar and a Vanity Fair have been added to the shelf. At night I like to hug them and smell their paper and be creepy.
When I really like scans I see on fashion community sites, I go out and buy the magazine because I want to own it! Call me picky but just scans don't do it for me, and since I take no interest in buying video games or pools or whatever other kids my age buy, I don't mind spending $15 on a magazine as long as it's worth it (Lula, AnOther, and Vogue Italia are special!) There is nothing like that one editorial I was obsessed with for 3 months that I go back to a year later and then am instantly reminded of that time in fashion and in my personal style. Or owning that one issue of Dazed I knew I had to have because they had a feature on Grace Coddington, or the May 2008 issue of British Vogue because those Venetia Scott and Patrick Demarchelier editorials were REVELATIONS! On a more geeky level, I love the smell and texture of magazine paper, and even though they cost money, they're not instant, whatever; you can't compare them to blogs because, for the billionth time, each one is different!
So yeah, it's annoying to me that blogs like mine are supposed to be the Big Bad Anti-Magazines, but this is supposed to be more in defense of magazines than blogs that are supposed to be giving editors "a run for their money!" Not that I'm trying to find a ~cause~ to ~fight for~ or whatever and decided this is a terrible world issue, but unfortunately fashion is an art form that is so dependent on its customers in order to survive. W's number of pages went down 53% this September. And hey, remember that really epic fashion story in the August issue of The Face? OH WAIT NO IT'S DEAD. Yeah, let's not let that happen to any of mah bbs up there. The new September issue of Russh (even though I was stupid and left it in a hotel) is freakishly amazing. And Bazaar's Runway Report is so clean and neat and pretty. You can sure count on me to be counting my quarters at the counter of Barnes & Noble every few weeks. See ya there? Remember: Tim Walker fangirling.


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Please enter your name, email and zip code below to sign up!
The Salvation Army provides year-round programs to help kids in low-income communities thrive.
See Our ProgramsPlease enter your name, email and zip code below to sign up!
you'll find The Salvation Army Corps & Community Center. Find out how you give and receive help.
Salvation Army Programs are led by Salvation Army Officers. These officers are responsible to lead by assessing needs, delivering programs and directing ministries for our local community. From serving food to balancing the books, they function as the Executive Directors and the Pastors for The Salvation Army of Conner Creek.
Why the uniform?


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The Importance of Spaying and Neutering your Pet
Spaying or neutering your pet can help them live a longer, healthier life, minimizes behavior problems, and helps control the population of unwanted pets. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, nearly 12,500 puppies are born in the United States each hour. Spaying or neutering your pet eliminates unwanted litters, contributing to thousands of euthanasia procedures and millions of stray animals.
If you are shopping around for a competitive price on this procedure, be sure to question the type of anesthetic used, the type of pain management provided, and the monitoring equipment and procedures followed. All of our surgery patients have IV catheters placed and receive IV fluids. We use several monitoring devices during your pet's anesthetic. A veterinary technician continually assesses your pet's vital signs during the procedure. Although the risk of an anesthetic death in a normal healthy pet is very rare, our monitoring devices and procedures allow us to respond to an anesthetic emergency faster. Faster responses can save lives. Please call or visit our facility to learn more about our neutering procedures.
Your pet's safety and comfort are our primary concerns when performing a spay or neuter. We use advanced pain management techniques in conjunction with anesthesia to make sure your pet is as comfortable as possible during the procedure and after they are discharged. Our spay and neuter patients receive 2 or 3 different injectable pain medications during the procedure and always go home with oral pain medication. We also perform local anesthetic blocks at the surgical site. Proper pain management makes the procedure as comfortable as possible and allows for faster recovery.
Spaying is a surgical procedure in which both ovaries and uterus are completely removed from your female pet. Also called an "ovariohysterectomy", the surgery is performed while your pet is under general anesthesia. There are many benefits to spaying your female companion. First, you will contribute to the prevention of the dog and cat overpopulation. Second, spaying will eliminate the sometimes 'messy' heat cycles that attract male dogs to your house from miles away. Third, you will help prevent diseases in your pet such as pyometra (infection in the uterus) and mammary cancer. Additionally, research has shown that pets that have been spayed live longer than pets that have not been spayed.
Neutering refers to the surgical procedure in which both testicles are removed. There are many benefits to neutering your male companion. First, you will contribute to the prevention of the dog and cat overpopulation. Second, neutering can help eliminate undesirable and at times, embarrassing behavior in your male companion. Third, you will help prevent diseases in your pet such as prostate disease and testicular cancer.


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Always update to the latest Software / Firmware version to enjoy the latest features & better performance!
Have you updated your product to the latest firmware?
If not, do it now! It's simple and you can enjoy:
- New Functions or Benefits
- Resolves known issues
- Improves Connectivity or Compatibility
Do remember to connect your unit to the internet by setting Auto Update Setting to ON.
If internet access is limited, you can update the firmware via USB storage device. Please refer to Support Page or Instruction Manual for more details.
Alternatively, you can also stay informed for future firmware releases by downloading and bookmarking your product on our Support By Sony mobile app.


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Roof Repairs in Etton – Our company is considered as one of the Best Roofing Contractors in Etton and the nearby areas. We didn't make it to the list of top roofers in Etton in one day, a lot of hard work from dedicated workers, and our passion for the job took us here. But apart from all of these, there is the practical formula we have always followed. Let's talk about that.
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Any roof damage, if found and fixed early can be very beneficial for you as primarily those damages are not so significant and are often overlooked. But by the time, you finally make up your mind to fix your roof, that small minor damage could have spread and created a huge problem that may not be cheap to fix. So checking often and fixing minor issues can save you a lot of money in the long run.
Your commercial or residential roof can develop issues and faults over time. Here are the 5 most common reasons why you might be needing roof repair in Etton:
- Leaking Roof – A leaking roof is very common and you may start by catching those raindrops in a bucket or saucepan. If the faulty roof is not repaired, then the problem can only get worse. This can cause a much bigger problem which in the long run could cost you more money.
- Faulty Roof Installation – A poorly fitted roof can cause several problems sooner rather than later
- Standing Water – Standing water on your roof should be looked at immediately, debris could have built upon the roof or there could be incorrect drainage
- Storm Damage – Wind and storms can cause damage to roofs, we are 24/7 emergency roofers in Etton so get in touch with us at any time.
- Trees – Trees that are over hanging or heavy falling branches can cause roof damage
Our expert roofing team in Etton has over 30 years of experience in all types of roofing repair throughout East Riding of Yorkshire.
Enquire today and we can give you the best roof repair rates during May 2024.
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Saturday, November 29, 2008
Daring Bakers - Caramel Cake with Caramelized Butter Frosting
Actually, making the caramel sauce that gets used in both the cake & the frosting was a lot easier than I expected & I was quite please with my results. I decided to just do half of the recipe, since there is only two of us, & make it into a two layer 4.5-inch cake. I actually ended up having enough cake batter to make the cake & two cupcakes. We ate the cupcakes out of the oven without any frosting & let me tell you this is one good cake! It's a little denser than some cakes & quite moist.
The frosting is made with brown butter, a flavor we just love. Many other Bakers thought it was too sweet but we didn't think so. I added a little extra sugar like a few people suggested & the final flavor was like that of a salted caramel, yum! To decorate the cake I put my caramel sauce back on the stove & let it cook a little while longer. I then drizzled the hot caramel on parchment paper to create different shapes. Once the caramel sauce cooled I had hard candy shapes to use on the cake.
You can get the recipe by Shuna Fish Lyndon on Bay Area Bites. Thanks to Dolores at Culinary Curiosity, Alex at Blondie & Brownie and Jenny at Foray into Food for hosting what has probably been my favorite challenge yet. Natalie at Gluten-a-Go-Go helped out with making the recipe work for Alternative Bakers.
38 comments:
- Stacey Snacks said...
This is mighty impressive! - November 29, 2008 at 8:30 AM
- Renee said...
Great idea on using the caramel syrup for candied decorations. Great job!
- November 29, 2008 at 9:34 AM
- Lori said...
I like your candied decorations. The cake is cute. My thermometer broke, bought a new one, then it broke. So now I am scared to make anything at 300 degrees. One of these days I am going to make hard candy.
It was so very yummy. - November 29, 2008 at 9:53 AM
I love the way you did the caramel embellishment! Very upscale!
- November 29, 2008 at 10:02 AM
- raquel said...
wow! wow! wow! very impressive indeed!
- November 29, 2008 at 10:19 AM
BEAUTIFUL presentation ,nicely done!!
- November 29, 2008 at 11:00 AM
- Lauren said...
Ooo, your cake looks amazing! Love the decorations!
- November 29, 2008 at 11:16 AM
Your decorations look great!
- November 29, 2008 at 11:24 AM
- Jersey Girl Cooks said...
Wow. I love the presentation.
- November 29, 2008 at 11:38 AM
What a beautiful cake! I love the sugar decorations!
- November 29, 2008 at 11:54 AM
I love the caramel sunbursts on top. Very pretty!
(I didn't know you could get cake pans that small. I may have to look into those so that I don't have so much guilt over baking a large cake when there's just 3 of us...) - November 29, 2008 at 12:39 PM
- Diana said...
Your cake is beautiful. It looks like art deco. You are so creative!
- November 29, 2008 at 12:43 PM
- giz said...
my goodness - such a chi chi presentation. I'm glad you enjoyed the cake. Smart to downsize on the portions - big bold sugar.
- November 29, 2008 at 12:45 PM
- Fit Chick said...
Good idea to make half a recipe! Love your decorations.
- November 29, 2008 at 4:53 PM
- vibi said...
Beautiful Kat! The side beads look like glass bubbles and the top splashes like hands coming out of the cake... almost daliesque! Wonderful!
- November 29, 2008 at 5:28 PM
I love the look of the cake and the antlers of caramel. The icing is sprinkled with what? Thanks for the comments on my blog.
- November 29, 2008 at 5:52 PM
- Amy said...
That sounds like the perfect sized cake - enough to enjoy but not overindulge! Wonderful job.
- November 29, 2008 at 6:23 PM
- TeaLady said...
Love the shapes on top. Very impressive.
- November 29, 2008 at 6:59 PM
- allison said...
I love your decorations. Your cake looks great.
- November 29, 2008 at 7:30 PM
The candy shapes is almost like a warning --- this cake has sugar.. lots of it. :)
- November 29, 2008 at 7:50 PM
- Leslie said...
I love your decorations!
More sugar you added??? WOW. sugar coma? - November 29, 2008 at 8:18 PM
- Gretchen Noelle said...
Love the speckled frosting! You did a great job on this!
- November 29, 2008 at 8:26 PM
- Dewi said...
What a beautiful cake. And those caramel decoration on your cake almost look like precious stones. Well done!
- November 29, 2008 at 9:31 PM
- Lot-O-Choc said...
Wow yours is lovely, love the photos youve taken! Looks beautiful. Wonderful job!
- November 30, 2008 at 4:34 AM
addictive to that incredible buttercream frosting as well :) welcome to the club :op
- November 30, 2008 at 10:02 AM
- PG said...
Looks really good! I like the decorations. It's interesting how people vary in their tolerance for sweetness.
- November 30, 2008 at 6:34 PM
- Sandra Le Petrin said...
lovely decorations!
you wrote "I added a little extra sugar".. I guess you meant salt..!! - December 1, 2008 at 7:45 AM
- Jen said...
Your caramel decorations look great but I'm sort of wondering what consistency they were. My extra caramel stayed soft and extremely sticky so I'm wondering how you got your to actually hold a shape.
- December 1, 2008 at 8:52 AM
- kat said...
Thanks everyone for all the great comments & those of you who caught it are right, I made a typo & meant we added extra salt to the frosting not sugar!
Jen - I cooked the caramel sauce a little more which seemed to make it harden for me. - December 1, 2008 at 9:36 AM
Very nice. I wish I had followed what you had done and made half the recipe. Alas, there is sits, not being eaten. Oh, well. I think your cake looks amazing. I wish I could decorate a cake or at least have an idea of what to do. Well done.
- December 1, 2008 at 11:22 AM
- Deborah said...
I love how you used the extra caramel to decorate - beautiful!
- December 1, 2008 at 1:28 PM
- Unknown said...
I'm jealous, I must admit. I tried to do that with the caramel and mine never hardened! Would have been so cute! Oh, well. I'm with you on the icing...I loved it. :-) Great cake!
- December 1, 2008 at 5:40 PM
- Esther said...
Great looking cake and I love the caramel decorations.
- December 1, 2008 at 6:16 PM
- Ingrid_3Bs said...
What a fabulous looking cake. I love the caramel candy you made along with the yummy specks in the frosting!
Terrific photos, too!
~ingrid - December 1, 2008 at 7:08 PM
- Bex said...
Your cake came out great. I love the caramel splashes on top!
- December 1, 2008 at 8:02 PM
- Namratha said...
This is very unique, a piece of art! Very nice!
- December 5, 2008 at 5:03 PM
- Dolores said...
Artistic expression through burnt sugar... I love it! Great job. Thanks for baking with us.
- December 8, 2008 at 3:12 PM
- Bruce said...
Thanks for a great Recipe
Christmas Candy Recipe - November 17, 2011 at 12:37 AM


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Red Sox - 013 300 200 - 9 16 0Colon did well (6-7-4-2-5, 103), working quickly and generally staying around the zone with all of his pitches. Manny and Lowell hit back-to-back home runs in the fourth; Drew donged in the seventh.
Orioles - 010 200 100 - 4 10 0
Ramirez finished with a single, double, HR and three RBI; Drew had a single, walk, HR and three RBI; Lowell had a double, HR and 2 RBI; Youkilis singled twice and scored twice; and Bailey walked three times.
Lopez relieved Colon, and then Hansen and MDC finished up. Hansen looked magnificent, striking out two and retiring the Orioles in order in the eighth on eight pitches.
Tampa Bay -- 18-6 since May 8 -- won yet again, beating Chicago 4-3 in 10 innings. The Twins beat the Yankees 5-1.
Bartolo Colon (2.25, 190 ERA+) / Brian Burres (4.15, 100 ERA+)
Cafardo has some news:
Brad Mills will manage the Sox with Terry Francona away at his daughters high school graduation. ...
David Ortiz is out of the lineup with a right wrist strain. He had an ice pack on it in the Sox clubhouse moments ago. ... Ortiz said he will have an MRI tomorrow or Tuesday.
Jeff Bailey gets a start in left field. ... J.D. Drew [is] back in right ... Mills said Jacoby Ellsbury pretty much has the green light, but is given the red light at times in certain situations.


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Lavonne "Pepper" Paire-Davis, a star of the All American Girls Professional Baseball League in the 1940s and an inspiration for the central character in the movie "A League of Their Own," has died, her son said Sunday.
Paire-Davis died of natural causes in the Van Nuys section of Los Angeles on Saturday, her son, William Davis, told The Associated Press. She was 88.
Paire-Davis was a model for the character played by Geena Davis in the 1992 hit "A League of Their Own," which also starred Rosie O'Donnell, Madonna and Tom Hanks as the crusty manager who shouted the famous line, "there's no crying in baseball!"
In 1944, Paire-Davis joined the league, created out of fear that World War II would interrupt Major League Baseball, and played for 10 seasons.
She was a catcher and shortstop, and helped her teams win five championships. She chronicled her baseball adventures in the 2009 book "Dirt in the Skirt."
"I know what it's like for your dream to come true, mine did," Paire-Davis said in an AP story in 1995, when she was 70. "Baseball was the thing I had the most fun doing. It was like breathing."
After graduating from high school, she enrolled at UCLA as an English major, worked as a welder's assistant at the shipyards in Long Beach, and spent every spare moment playing in local softball leagues.
Her heart, however, belonged to hardball.
"Don't get me wrong, I was glad to be playing softball," she said in 1995. "But I'd rather have played competitive baseball."
The All American Girls Baseball League was founded in 1943 by Chicago Cubs owner Philip K. Wrigley. Most of the league's talent came from greater Chicago, but Paire-Davis was one of a half-dozen players scouted and chosen from California.
The players wore skirts and the teams often had cutesy names, but the players maintained a genuine big league lifestyle, playing 120 games over four months.
"We played every night of the week," Paire-Davis said, "doubleheaders on Sundays and holidays."
She won championships with the Racine Belles, the Grand Rapids Chicks and the Fort Wayne Daisies, but she never actually played for the team featured in the film, the Rockford Peaches.
"That's Hollywood," she said. "They had to take 10 teams and 12 years and make it into two hours."
The league was "temporarily suspended" in 1954. Play was never resumed.
Davis said his mother spent much of the rest of her life as a sports fan -- she rooted for the Dodgers, Angels and Lakers -- and an advocate for her favorite game.
"She taught me how to switch hit when I was 3 years old," said Davis, one of two sons, a daughter, four grandkids and an older brother who survived Paire-Davis. "She touched a lot of people around the world with her baseball exploits. She was a great ambassador for the game."
Paire-Davis said, looking back from 1995, that she couldn't "honestly tell you I knew the history we were making back then."
But, she said, "I can tell you we knew we were doing something special."


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About the Design
Cilantro, you love him or hate him.
Let's be honest, you can hear this picture.
Art by Kathy Hauser
Product Information
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Close100% Happiness Guarantee. Free and Easy Returns.
Your Happiness, guaranteed.
We want to be sure you're satisfied with your order, which was custom made especially for you. If your order is wrong, you're not happy with the prints, or it isn't what you expected for any reason, our Customer Support will gladly replace or exchange any items free of charge.
CloseProduct Information: Sticker |
Stickers are printed on either 3 mil. glossy white vinyl or 4 mil. glossy clear vinyl with an eco-solvent printer & ink. Available in 2", 3", 4", and 6" sizes for variety. Kiss cut resulting in the perfect color & finish for delicate designs. Calendered vinyl surface with permanent acrylic adhesive so they stick around for a long time. |
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Have you just installed a new conservatory and want to leave your own special mark on things – or are you in need of giving your existing installation a little bit of TLC?
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August 30, 2017
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Taylor Jacobson
Productivity scientist, reformed procrastinator and creator of Focusmate. Featured in Forbes, CNN, GQ, Huffington Post. I believe that most global problems would get solved if everyone could do their best work. My mission is to make that happen.
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This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Neal Conan in Washington. Later this hour, we'll talk about women in combat. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced today that the Pentagon will lift the military ban on women serving in combat roles. So we want to hear from women in the Armed Forces. What changes now?
800-989-8255 is the phone number. Email us, firstname.lastname@example.com. But first, the changing nature of diplomacy. After her testimony yesterday on the terrorist attacks in Benghazi, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton returned to Capitol Hill this morning to introduce the man nominated as her successor, an entirely ceremonial service since John Kerry served on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for 28 years, the last four as its chairman.
As he took his turn in the witness chair, Senator Kerry intoned administration policy on the Middle East, on China and on Iran.
SENATOR JOHN KERRY: We will do what we must do to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. And I repeat here today: Our policy is not containment, it is prevention. And the clock is ticking on our efforts to secure responsible compliance.
CONAN: So far, sanctions have failed to change nuclear policies in Iran or for that matter North Korea. U.S. policy toward the Taliban lies mostly in the hands of the military and the CIA. And while the United States talks with Egypt's new president, the Palestinian branch of his Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, remains off-limits, while the Middle East peace process remains moribund.
Does the second Obama administration provide an opportunity for a breakthrough? Joining us now is Ambassador Dennis Ross, now at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. He's on the phone from his office. Nice to have you back.
DENNIS ROSS: Nice to be with you. Thank you, Neal.
CONAN: And New York Times columnist Roger Cohen. He wrote a piece titled "Diplomacy is Dead" in Monday's New York Times. He joins us on the phone from Jerusalem. Welcome to you, too.
ROGER COHEN: Thank you, Neal.
CONAN: And Ambassador Ross, a Secretary Kerry would be in charge at the State Department, but would he be in charge of policy: Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Middle East? Other portfolios were assigned to special envoys. And some say you ran a lot of the Iran policy when you worked for President Obama at the White House.
ROSS: Well, I do think that you're in a phase right now, both with Iran and I think also at least with the Israelis and the Palestinians, where I think the White House would be quite happy to have the new secretary take on more of a role because you may well be at a point where, in the case of the Israelis and the Palestinians, you're going to need some effort to try to get a new dynamic, new talks, something happening to end the stalemate there, a stalemate that only deepens the disbelief on each side, a stalemate that basically only builds a, you know, more frustration more than anything else.
And I think in the case of Iran, if you hear what Senator Kerry said today in his testimony, if the objective is prevention, and you look at the way the Iranian nuclear program is continuing, something is going to have to happen this year diplomatically, or the prospect of the use of force goes up very dramatically.
So I think in each of these areas you're likely to see the secretary, the new secretary, if anything be given a kind of encouragement from the White House to do more.
CONAN: And just to - we'll get to Roger in just a minute, but in his piece, he said in order to do that, well, you actually have to talk to these people. Both sides have to be willing to talk, of course, but that requires taking some political risks.
ROSS: Well, I think in the case of the Iranians, there's never been a reluctance on the part of the administration to engage them directly. There's been a reluctance on the part of the Iranians to engage in any kind of bilateral talks with us. But I do believe that there 'will be more of an effort, whether under the guise of the 5-plus-1 or in terms of our own efforts at outreach, again, against the backdrop of the objective being prevention. And with the nature of the Iranian program continuing, unless something changes in terms of their behavior, the likelihood that force goes up as a possibility is becoming greater if in fact you don't have some kind of diplomatic breakthrough.
So I think - I do think that you're going to see some diplomatic initiative on our part, just given the context, and I think between the Israelis and the Palestinians, you know, in effect after our election and after the Israeli election and after the formation of what will be a new Israeli government that almost invariably is going to have a stronger, centrist party in it, this will be the time to explore something.
CONAN: Roger Cohen, let us turn to you. You concluded in your piece that effectively any kind of a breakthrough by American diplomacy hasn't happened for 20 years or more.
COHEN: That's right, Neal. Well, it's been almost that since the peace in Bosnia, which I would call the last major U.S.-led diplomatic breakthrough that put an end to a war that had taken 100,000 lives in Europe. I guess I started thinking about this during a conversation with a friend, Bill Luers, who used to be the U.S. ambassador to Venezuela, among other places. He was telling me that when he's on Capitol Hill, he's worked a lot behind the scenes on Iran to try and build bridges. Now he said he feels he can't even use the word diplomacy or diplomatic on Capitol Hill. It somehow feels wimpy. It feels like diplomacy is about concessions. And he talks certainly of political solutions when he's there.
And I think the atmosphere has become very difficult for the kind of patient, persistent, discretion, boldness at times that you need for successful diplomacy. And there's a lot of name-calling. There's a lot of changeableness. And there's an unwillingness, often, to talk to bad guys. You don't do diplomacy with your friends.
CONAN: You quoted Richard Nixon, 100 years old just recently, but in his breakthrough, he's - you say you quoted him as asking about the Chinese, what do we want, what do they want, and what do we both want.
COHEN: Well, yeah, I think if you look at the Shanghai communique, the breakthrough between U.S.-Chinese relations now, what, 40 years ago, there wasn't a whole lot that the U.S. and China agreed on. All they agreed on was that, in essence, was that we'd be better off having relations, starting a relationship, than not having one. And look at what came out of that.
And I think with Iran, you know, we've piled on the pressure. We've wielded the cudgel. We've - and it's hard. It's very hard to get these guys to the table. But I think there have been one or two opportunities over the last few years where with more flexibility and with a political atmosphere not dominated by this atmosphere where our representatives in Congress feel they have to score points, whether it's on Cuba or in Iran or on Israel-Palestine, if there's a little more space, we could - political space, we might not find ourselves where we are today.
CONAN: Dennis Ross, political space, does that provide a problem?
ROSS: Well, I think, you know, I definitely think that there has not been the kind of political space that any administration would like when it comes to dealing in diplomacy. I mean, the fact is we've seen a lot of issues highly politicized. That said, I also do think that the administration now, you have a certain reality, at least with regard to Iran. I think the administration has built its credibility, in a sense, by having an objective of prevention, which is to say we're not prepared to accept or live with an Iran that has a nuclear weapons capability. You put yourself in a place where that's your objective, and it's simply reasonable, if you're trying to achieve this through non-military means, to see what diplomatic possibilities exist.
I do think it's almost inconceivable that we would end up using force without having demonstrated to ourselves and to others unmistakably that we had exhausted, credibly, all possibilities. And that means, I think, including putting something very serious on the table that would make it clear we are prepared to accept an Iran with a civil nuclear capability but not one that can be converted into nuclear weapons.
And if that's put on the table and the Iranians respond, that's one thing. And if that's put on the table and they reject it, then you're in a position to sort of say look, we tried everything. But to put yourself in that position, you actually have to be prepared to put that kind of a proposal or that kind of an initiative out there in a way that is clear for everybody to see.
CONAN: And you know, and I'm sure Roger Cohen knows as well, if such an offer were made, there would be plenty of people in Congress to say that's giving in.
ROSS: Well, you know, I think if you're able to demonstrate unmistakably that what you're putting on the table is something that allows them to have a civil capability but not to convert it because of the limitations and restrictions that are part of this, I suspect that you'd find more support.
I don't think anybody's enthusiastic about the idea that you want to use force. The idea is to achieve a particular objective. If you can achieve that objective through peaceful means, I think everybody would accept that.
CONAN: And let me turn back to you, Roger Cohen. Ambassador Ross said a Secretary Kerry, presuming he's confirmed, would have more scope, more influence over policy. Why is that important?
COHEN: Well, I think when we've had a strong secretary of state, whether it's Jim Baker or Kissinger or others, we're in a stronger position to - generally to achieve things. At least that's the historical record. I think President Obama started out the first term with a number of envoys, the late Richard Holbrook to Afghanistan, Mitchell to the Middle East. It didn't really work.
And I think Senator Kerry knows the world very well. He's got some strong ideas. And I think if he can be given some space to go to work, then, you know, let's see. I mean, one of the difficulties, as I mentioned in the column, is that the United States is not as dominant as it was. But nobody has really taken America's place. It's kind of nobody's world.
And I think we saw that somewhat with Iran, where at one point the administration sort of pushed Brazil and Turkey to take a prominent role, and some of the goals that Dennis was just describing were met, not entirely, but, you know, the general scheme was a scheme that was just outlined there.
And we had Iran seemingly getting on board to that. And then there was this, you know, tilt toward what I call the cudgel, toward sanctions. So, you know, that feels to me like one of those opportunities in this - to me it would have been a good thing to show that emergent powers like Brazil and Turkey now can play a constructive role.
And it didn't work out in that case, but I think more and more I look at Syria. You know, more and more we're going to have to work very closely not only with our allies in NATO, Japan and our traditional allies but with the emergent powers of the world that are not yet ready to lead but want to feel that their voice is heard and that they're contributing.
CONAN: More with Ambassador Dennis Ross and New York Times columnist Roger Cohen about the nature of diplomacy in some of the immediate crises that loom as the secretary of state, would be, John Kerry, begins his testimony on Capitol Hill. Stay with us. A little bit later in the program, we'll be talking about the new policy on women in combat. I'm Neal Conan. It's the TALK OF THE NATION from NPR News.
CONAN: This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Neal Conan in Washington. Just in the past 24 hours, North Korea threatened another nuclear weapons test, senators grilled Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on what happened in Benghazi, and John Kerry, likely the next secretary of state, addressed diplomatic efforts on Iran, Syria and other challenging areas.
We're talking today about the changing nature of diplomacy and whether or not a second Obama administration could provide an opportunity for a breakthrough. In a few minutes, we'll switch topics and talk about the end of the Pentagon ban on women in combat. We'll want to hear from women in the Armed Forces. What changes now?
800-989-8255. Email us, email@example.com. Right now back to diplomacy. Our guests are Ambassador Dennis Ross, a diplomat with more than two decades' experience in Soviet and Middle East policy, currently counselor with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. And Roger Cohen, the columnist for The New York Times. His column, "Diplomacy Is Dead," ran on Monday. We've posted a link to that at npr.org.
Ambassador Ross, in his piece, Roger Cohen points to Syria as a place where, when U.S. policy does not have a definitive goal or take the lead, not much gets done.
ROSS: Well, I think he's right. I think, you know, it's a reminder. We can talk about the diffusion of power, we can talk about more constraints on us, but there remains a kind of unmistakable reality that when the U.S. is not seen as being kind of the lynchpin, either in terms of action or at least in terms of mobilizing others to join with us, very little tends to get done.
And in the case of Syria, you know, you have what is a humanitarian disaster, tragedy, but it also asks you to look at what is - what's at stake there. One of the things about Syria, when there's a conflict in Syria it's not likely to stay within Syria. It's likely to radiate outwards. And the last thing wants to see or should want to see is a failed state in Syria.
And I'm afraid that the longer this conflict goes on, the longer it takes to get Assad to leave, the greater the likelihood that you're going to have an outcome where the state itself at best is fragmented, where the nature of conflict, which is primarily sectarian, becomes so deep and so unbridgeable that you're looking at what is likely to be not only a conflict, as I said, that stays within Syria, but it begins to radiate outward against all of its neighbors, and that should be a source of real concern because it has a regional set of implications.
CONAN: Yet you hear the administration spokesmen, and they say, well, we have problems arming the rebels because, well, we don't know in whose hands those weapons could end up. And there's the signal case of Libyan weapons ending up all over the place to provide an example of what can go wrong.
We have China and Russia blocking any action in the Security Council.
ROSS: That's all true, and it's - the concerns are fair, but you have to look not only a the cost of action, you have to look at the cost of inaction. And you have to look at the balance of forces in the opposition and who's in a position to influence that balance of forces. If we rely on others to be providing the means, it is going to be others who have some potential for influencing it, and today you look at who seems to be getting most of the weapons and most of the money, and it's not those who would represent those groups that would represents a more secular outlook, a more inclusive outlook, a more tolerant outlook.
And so I think we have to think pretty hard about whether or not there is more that we will need to do.
CONAN: Roger Cohen, let me turn back to you, and you're in Jerusalem today, just after the Israeli elections, and there's a civil war underway in Syria that spilled over into Lebanon, political unrest in Jordan, as well. Of course the Muslim Brotherhood has just taken charge in Egypt, and there was just an election pretty much on domestic issues.
COHEN: Yeah, well, you know, under Prime Minister Netanyahu since 2009, I believe there has not been one single Israel killed by a suicide bomber in Israel, and that has a lot to do with the strong cooperation between Israel and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank on security.
It also has a lot to do, of course, with the separation, barrier wall, whatever you want to call it, and other factors. Nonetheless, Israelis, while they know they're living in a hostile, difficult, environment, I think they feel as a result of what I've just described probable more comfortable than they've felt in a long time, comfortable enough, anyway, to focus very hard on domestic issues in this particular election and to push forward a relatively unknown Yair Lapid, ex-TV anchor, to a position of considerable influence.
So, you know, that is the reality behind that. Nevertheless, of course, as we all know, cycles of violence keep returning to Israel, to this neighborhood, in the absence of a peace agreement with the Palestinians. And I think looking ahead a few years, there's no reason to believe that that wouldn't once again be the case if the Palestinians feel that the considerable strides they've made in the West Bank do not result in progress towards statehood.
CONAN: As you look at the various crisis areas in the world, I'm going to ask you both and being with you, Roger Cohen: Where is the point of greatest need for a breakthrough, and where is the point of greatest opportunity?
COHEN: Well, I think without question the point of greatest need is Iran. Another war with a Muslim country, and in this case a very large Muslim country, a war that would drag Israel for the first time into a war with the Persians - Israel's been at war with Arabs, it has never been at war with Iran.
This would have an absolutely devastating effect, I think, on all kinds of fronts: in Afghanistan, in Iraq and elsewhere. And of course it would be absolutely radicalizing and polarizing at a moment when, as you describe, Neal, and as Dennis Ross was saying, the Middle East is in a moment of delicate transition.
So I think that's where the greatest need is, and I would have to say that that's probably - you know, because there's such a great need, there has to be an absolutely relentless search for opportunity there, also, however difficult that may be.
And we're seeing right now Iran procrastinating. Iran loves to procrastinate, loves ambiguity, loves opaque zones, hates clarity, and once again we're seeing that in a silly argument over what the location of further talks should be.
So I don't underestimate the difficulty, but we have to be creative about looking for opportunity in order to avert what would be a devastating third conflict for the United States in a Muslim nation so soon after the president has worked so hard to try and extricate us from Iraq and Afghanistan.
CONAN: And Ambassador Ross, the greatest need and the greatest opportunity?
ROSS: I do think it's had to see areas outside of the broader Middle East that are presenting the same degree of need, although I guess maybe there are places in Africa, where you look at the Congo, I mean, there are places where you can see a need outside of the broader Middle East.
But in terms of conflicts that have the greatest potential to escalate both vertically and horizontally, it probably remains in the Middle East. And I do think that the - I think the reality of the Iran nuclear program, as I said, the combination of the pace of what they're doing in terms of development and our objective of prevention, that puts you in a place where I think it creates a need.
If you're going to avoid the use of force, then this is the year to try to do it. So I would say, you know, it's - the need is clearly there. It's harder to find places where there's an opportunity that you know is going to be something that you can exploit. I do think, however, sometimes when the need is great enough, then that gives you a reason to try to see what you can do and see if you can turn it into an opportunity.
I think - I do think Iran is sort of number one. I think number two probably relates to Syria again because, as I said, I am - it's not just the sheer disaster of what's happening from a humanitarian standpoint, which if anything is really a blight on the international conscience, but I also think the danger of this radiating outward and becoming a broader regional conflict should also not be underestimated. So I think that's number two.
And number three I would say is the Israelis and Palestinians. Again, I just -w hat I worry about more than anything else is that the two sides become so convinced that nothing can be done, and that's what you see in the polling. It's not that either the mainstream in Israel or the mainstream among Palestinians have rejected the two-state outcome. They both embrace it. They just don't believe it'll ever happen.
And the longer that goes on and the deeper the disbelief, at a certain point, failure will become a self-fulfilling prophecy. And that will not serve Palestinian interests in terms of his desire to have a state. But it will also not serve Israeli interests because there's a demographic clock that is ticking. And so I think that those three - I guess I would list them in that order. There are needs. And the question is: How much can we do to create an opportunity out of the needs?
CONAN: Ambassador Dennis Ross, thanks as always.
ROSS: My pleasure.
CONAN: Dennis Ross, currently a counselor with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Roger Cohen, thanks to you as well.
COHEN: Thank you very much, Neal.
CONAN: Roger Cohen, a columnist for The New York Times, with us on the phone from Israel.
Women in combat coming up. You're listening to TALK OF THE NATION from NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


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Judo is a sport of leverage, strength, tactics and cunning. These attributes can appear to the uninitiated to be two people attempting to grab each other, without success, for five minutes. And then when no points are scored, they try to grab each other for another three minutes of overtime.
One of these gripping contests — the men's quarterfinals at 66 kg — has become the source of international indignation over a perceived injustice. But with the sport of Judo, an apparently firm set of circumstances can flip in an instant.
International media, or really, the international media that pays any attention to Judo, has been condemnatory in its coverage of the result in the quarterfinal match between Masashi Ebinuma of Japan and Cho Jun-Ho of South Korea.
The judges on the mat awarded the decision to Cho — but then they were called over by sideline officials. After a brief consultation, Ebinuma was awarded the victory.
Of that reversal, The Japan Times wrote, "In what looked like a parody of The Three Stooges, the three judges then overturned their initial ruling after a short conference." And keep in mind, the Japanese fighter won the bout.
Agence France-Presse used the word "farcical" in its headline; a writer at the iconoclastic sports site Deadspin began a story with the admission, "I am not going to act like I know what the hell it is I am writing about here, but this sounds pretty ridiculous."
Anyway, while the decision certainly looked fishy, and while the word "unprecedented" was correctly applied to what happened, it doesn't mean that it was an improper ruling, or even an extrajudicial one.
Twelve years ago at the Sydney Games, judo's heavyweight final was seen as incorrectly decided. So the International Judo Federation took steps to correct their scoring system.
The 2012 Olympics mark the first time that video review would be employed to determine which throws should score points, and which should be judged as having just missed the mark.
What videos of Cho's, Ebinuma's and their coaches' alternatively pained-then-exultant reactions don't show is that in Golden Time of their match, a point was awarded to Ebinuma — but then, after a review, it was taken away.
It was a close call, obviously, because after the match ended, and Ebinuma declared the loser, the sideline officials called the referee and side judges over to say that the detracted point was close enough to have made the difference.
Such a judgment hadn't happened in these games, making it yes, unprecedented, but it seems to be in the rules — as detailed by the IJF.
Copyright 2016 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.


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