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tl;dr Record companies screwed over Lester Chambers of The Chambers Brothers for decades and as a result, today he's poor. My social enterprise, breadpig, is working with Lester and his son Dylan to organize this Kickstarter to back a new album by (and entirely owned by) Lester Chambers himself so the man can finally get his due. The open internet can make right what the music industry has done so wrong.
As seen on r/videos and the frontpage of YouTube, this trailer of Lester's story has now had over 500,000 views!
Read Lester's reddit Ask Me Anything interview from Dec 13th.
Last spring, we saw the story of Lester Chambers bubble up on the internet. The lead singer of 1960s soul music group The Chambers Brothers posted this photo:
"I am the former lead singer of a 60′s band. I did not squander my money on drugs or a fancy home. I went from 1967-1994 before I saw my first royalty check. The music giants I recorded with only paid me for 7 of my albums. I have never seen a penny in royalties from my other 10 albums I recorded. Our hit song was licensed to over 100 films, TV & commercials without our permission. One major TV network used our song for a national commercial and my payment was $625 dollars. I am now 72, trying to live on $1200 a month. Sweet Relief, a music charity, is taking donations for me. Only the 1% of artists can afford to sue. I am the 99%."
The music industry may have screwed Lester Chambers for decades, but we the internet public can right their wrong.
Thanks to the open internet (things we fought for against SOPA, PIPA, ACTA, etc.), sites like Kickstarter and other innovations that are being worked on by entrepreneurs right now, we have the opportunity to do right by artists and cut out those who'd mistreat them. We have the opportunity to create solutions that will support artists in the digital world.
Lester Chambers is putting together a new album titled "Lester's Time Has Come." With this project, we have the opportunity to support not only the awesome work of a storied and talented musician, but we have the chance to stand up against the tyranny of the record industry. Stand with Lester, and stand for innovation that supports artists' rights.
A note from Lester: "I thank God for the opportunities I have been blessed with and when Alexis Ohanian called all I could say was WOW. All the times I sat hoping and wishing I could make another record had finally come true. In this record I promise to have some of the worlds GREATEST songs from your past and some Great New songs for your new year to come!"
Read more about Lester in his interview with Vice.
Even with a daunting list of illnesses and a life of hardship at the hands of the music industry, Lester is not a beaten man, far from it, and it's clear that his son is a big part of that.
"My son, Michael Dylan, said 'Dad don't worry. I'm never gonna leave you. Always stay by your side.' He slept on the floor with me.... Every father in the world should have a son like I have."
"Fathers be aware, if your son is not what Michael Dylan is to me, to you -- straighten him out."
Funds from this project will go to Lester via the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund, which provides financial assistance to career musicians who are struggling to make ends meet while facing illness, disability, or age-related problems. Sweet Relief has been supporting Lester and other musicians in need, and they will be helping produce Lester's album.
This project is managed by Breadpig, an online publisher headed by Alexis Ohanian. Breadpig gives a majority of its profits to its artists (in this case 100%).
We cannot thank Lester and his son Dylan for opening up to us and taking a day to tell their story. May this kickstarter campaign let us all finally say that Lester's Time Has Come.
Special thanks to Lerone Wilson of Boondoggle Films for all video work, as well as Maneli Jamal, who generously rocked the music on said video.
Here is Lester's detailed budget for this album, Lester's Time Has Come.
Rehearsal costs: $3,800
Producer: $8,000
Musicians (Band): $8,000
Five Weeks Studio Time: $10,000
Mastering: $2,400
Musician fees (including Tower of Power Horns, Lenny Williams, Zakiya Hooker, Ant Dog, & Marin City Choir): $6,200
Risks and challenges
The Christmas songs are all set, and we'll be sending those along to all our backers on a rolling basis.
The album "Lester's Time Has Come" is a work in progress. We'll be working on the album, and the art as this campaign rolls along. We hope to keep you as looped into the process as much possible. We'll send updates your way, and let you know if there are any delays in production.
And of course if you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to any of us.Learn about accountability on Kickstarter
Funding period
- (30 days)


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Isobel King flew round the world at the pointy end to road-test China Southern and Aerolineas Argentinas.
Having settled comfortably into our business-class surrounds, chablis in hand and menu sorted, a bewildering challenge awaited: how to adjust the seat. Or more importantly, how to look cool while desperately trying to decode 11 control buttons sporting a maze of arrows. My colleague beside me looked equally bamboozled, as footrests, backrests, neck rests, lumbar supports and even a pulsing massager all fought it out to deliver the ultimate drinking position.
It was a comical start to our whirlwind navigation of the globe, road-testing business class on two airlines: China Southern to Amsterdam, with a stopover in Guangzhou; and then Argentina's flag carrier, Aerolineas Argentinas, from Rome to Buenos Aires and back to Sydney. Rocketing through six countries in 10 days is a recipe for permanent jet lag, so seat comfort became the deal breaker; the difference between eight hours' straight sleep and half a day of interminable wriggling.
China Southern Airlines
With heavy marketing of the "Canton route" to Europe via its headquarters in Guangzhou (formerly Canton), China Southern - the country's biggest airline - is challenging the traditional "Kangaroo route", offering competitive fares, including return business-class flights from about $5500. At that price, the value for money is hard to argue with.
Both legs of our run to Europe were on an Airbus A330. There was plenty of room to move around the cabin and when we eventually mastered that control panel, the seats proved exceptionally comfortable, reclining back to an almost-flat position that ensured most of our contingent got a solid stretch of sleep on both flights.
The food hit the spot, except for a lukewarm pumpkin soup that had to go back for reheating. More memorable was a pungent beef noodle soup, with lashings of fresh chilli on the side, served as a snack. The menu is a mix of Western and Chinese, with a range of choices for entree and main, and best of all, you can lock your order in at the start of the flight and then decide when you want it served to you. No prodding or bright lights to signal it's mealtime.
The real disappointment came when I plugged in for a few hours of distraction on the small screen. Inflight entertainment comprises a handful of ageing blockbusters, some random Euro flicks and - predictably - a rich assortment of Chinese films. The airline has employed a number of foreign crew, including Dutch and Australians, to cater for a more international passenger list. A little more diversity on the entertainment front would be a smart addition.
Some language issues aside, the ever-smiling Chinese crew on our two flights were attentive to a tee, to the point I had to clamp hold of my glass of water to stop it being whisked away. In the end I gave up and simply asked for a big bottle of water that I wedged down beside me.
China Southern has a spanking new VIP lounge at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, with a dining area downstairs and massive lounging area upstairs; all chic and state of the art.
Its membership of the SkyTeam alliance (which links it with airlines such as KLM, Alitalia, Delta, Garuda and Air France) gives VIP passengers access to SkyPriority: basically a fast-track service, available at most airports, which whisks you past tedious queues - a godsend after a long flight.
Overall, the business-class experience on China Southern, for the money, gets a big tick.
Aerolineas Argentinas
Less impressive was my AA experience but, to be fair, even the airline's officials we met in Buenos Aires acknowledged there were problems they were chipping away at. The airline was nationalised in 2008, and the fleet is gradually being renewed and the notorious delays are apparently improving - though there was a lengthy one on our Auckland stop.
In a nutshell, the airline food was average, both the Airbus A340s we flew in were in desperate need of a refurb, the seats in business class didn't recline flat and the inflight entertainment was pure vintage - a total of four movies changed monthly, and you had to chance where in the plot you landed as they were on auto-run. Economy class still has communal overhead screens. One word of advice: iPad.
On the upside, service up the pointy end was excellent.
A big factor in its favour is that Aerolineas Argentinas introduced direct Sydney-Buenos Aires flights this month, abandoning its long-standing Auckland stop. The move follows Qantas's termination of direct flights to Buenos Aires in March, replacing it with flights via Santiago, in partnership with Chile's national carrier, LAN.
Locals I spoke to in Buenos Aires - from taxi drivers to guides and hotel staff - commented on the recent surge in Aussie tourists and they're sure not arriving by boat. Flying direct will always win over some; convenience over comfort.
Aerolineas Argentinas also officially joins the SkyTeam airline alliance on August 29, so passengers will be able to tap into the global network of airlines and VIP benefits.
So it's a matter of taking the good with the bad.
The writer flew around the globe courtesy of SkyTeam and Accor.
Trip notes
China Southern, a SkyTeam alliance member, flies twice daily to Guangzhou from Sydney, with return business-class fares from $3860. In Europe, it flies to Amsterdam, London and Paris. Sydney-Amsterdam return business-class fares from $5506.
Aerolineas Argentinas has three direct Sydney-Buenos Aires flights a week, with business-class return fares from $5702.

subset: commoncrawl


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Thursday, 2 September 2010
The post-baby body - more than I bargained for
I got pregnant with Nugget in July 2004. He was born in April 2005 and was breastfed for 13 months, until May 2006. I got pregnant with Doo Dah in March 2006. He was born in December, 2006 and was breasfed for 15 months (March 2008). I lost a baby in February 2008 (10 weeks) and got pregnant with the twins in April 2008. They were born in December 2008 and I weaned them 3 weeks ago (19.5 months).
Six years of breastfeeding or pregnancy (sometimes both at the same time).
My body is still adjusting to being on its own again. No dependents. No parasites. Just me again.
I weigh the same now that I did when I first got pregnant. I am still the same height too, but otherwise my body is no longer recognisable to me. I have three distinct areas of my body that paint me as a mother. They give away my new life-role without me having to say a word.
Firstly, there is my Caesarian scar, just above the underpant line. It is barely noticable and sometimes I marvel at the fact that 4 human beings made their way into the world via what is essentially a very small incision. "The sun roof" as I call it when I joke that I was "too posh to push". Oh I tried to push all right, I just wasn't built right for a baby's head. I thank my stars that I had my babies in the 21st Century, in Australia. I may have died without modern medicine.
Then there is my stomach. It was previously my 'best bit'. I was the type who wore midriff tops (when it was fashionable) because I had a flat tummy with a six pack. I always had a big bum, but my tum was coverted by many. Not too many would be lining up for it now! It is hard to descibe just how awful it now is.
It is not just the "twin skin" that bothers me. What is it you may ask? "Twin skin" is the unofficial term for the saggy, droopy, stretch-marked skin which some twin-Mums find themselves faced with after the delivery. If you hear of any cure short of plastic surgery, let me know!! ;-) Not all twin-Mums get it of course, and I had hoped it wouldn't happen to me, but unfortunately, I do sport my own version of it. For me though, it is my umbilical hernia that causes me more grief.
My twins were both normal size babies when they were born (3.24kg and 3.365kg, or 7'1" and 7'4"). I was huge when I was carrying them and my stomach muscles separated down the middle. I had a bit of an abdominal separation after Doo Dah was born, but it was nothing in comparison to the chasm I had after the twins (more than 10cm wide). I had to wear a stretchy brace for about 8 weeks because I literally could not sit up without it on.
More than 20 months on, my stomach muscles still do not function properly and I have a gaping hole around my belly-button.
All of this means that my stomach sticks out a lot (especially if I have had a big meal). It is my new problem zone*.
My final 'Mummy' body part is my breasts. I was never a perky breasted arrangement, but I did have a 'fine rack' (as my husband put it). My cleavage was decent and I wasn't afraid to display my assets when I was out on the town. Nowadays, after all those years of breastfeeding, my breasts practically sag to my knees and resemble something out of a National Geographic magazine.
All of this does little for a girl's confidence.
On a good day, I wear this body, with all of its changes and flaws, as a badge of honour. Four beautiful, healthy children. It is worth it, right? I worked bloody hard for this body.
On a bad day, it makes me cry.
* I will be seeing a surgeon again in the new year to try to sort out my hernia/separation.
15 comments:
- x0xJ said...
i think what needs to be realised by society is that the aftermath of something wonderful like procreating is how our bodies are made to look. Have saggy and wobbly bits is normal!
Now only to convince the rest of the world that...
- 2 September 2010 at 10:28
- Rebecca said...
I miss my flat tummy and I too suffer from the separation. It's horrible. My OB sewed the lower abs together during the c-section, but the upper part still sticks out every now and then (i.e. when I'm not violently sucking it in). My boobs still look pretty good, but that's only b/c I failed miserably at breastfeeding. We are machines...now we need a tune-up!
- 2 September 2010 at 11:35
- MMBB said...
Oh my, my body will never be the same. In my first pregnancy I got stretch marks everywhere boobs, stomach,bum, thighs, even the back of my knees; and each time I was pregnant I was so huge that everyone thought I was having at least twins.
My youngest is 1 1/2yo and I'm still 15kg heavier than my 'before babies' weight. At my heaviest I got up to 25-30kg heavier than my original weight!!
- 2 September 2010 at 11:48
- Kristy said...
Aww, I'm sorry you are feeling down about it. I'm sure you know that you are not alone. I, too, had a stomach as my best feature - little waist, flat tummy. I wore bikinis to show off that very area. It has never been the same since pregnancy. I'm working at it, but sometimes there is only so much you can do.
- 2 September 2010 at 11:54
- Maxabella said...
Oh Coo, don't worry about what you're body looks like. You're an amazing, intelligent, witty, fun-loving, awesome mother who takes excellent care of herself. Your body has functioned beautifully for your children and yourself. It's done you proud. Besides, you still look great in clothes!!
- 2 September 2010 at 12:31
- MandyE (Twin Trials and Triumphs) said...
I think this is a really accurate post. And I think you were very fair in saying our bodies are so beautiful for all they've given us, but it doesn't stop us from wishing they were a little more "physically" beautiful.
I am about 10 pounds below pre-pregnancy weight (as I had gained a few pounds with the IF treatments over the years)...the same weight as when I was in high school. I know I'm the healthiest I've ever been, with exercising and eating right. Overall, I feel really great about myself.
But I could certainly do without the twin skin (even though I'm sporting some pretty nice obliques), and my once "nearly A's" - never my strong suit - are basically concave. I don't think much about it, but it was pure torture shopping for a swimsuit this year!
There are days when I seriously consider cosmetic surgery (within the next five years), but then I feel selfish for considering elective surgery, as there are always risks.
At the end of the day, I don't get too caught up in my appearance...I just try to avoid the full-length mirror when I'm undressed. :)
- 2 September 2010 at 13:35
I'm hearing you girlfriend! I think all we need to do is look after ourselves abit and we will again be comfy in our own skins - Probably not rockin' Size 8 bikini bodies, but none the less happy!
Oh, and well done on all that breastfeeding! Amazing! I am in awe!
- 2 September 2010 at 14:55
- Yvonne said...
I had a bad day not long ago and cried in the shower after I washed my mummy tummy. After having 3 kids and keeping a little weight after each one, I don't recognize myself anymore either. But after my little cry I wiped my tears and went and snuggled with my newest baby. They really are worth it, aren't they?
Kudos on breastfeeding! I haven't been able to make it past 10 months. 19.5 months with twins. Wow!
- 3 September 2010 at 13:57
- Tenille said...
As mums, our bodies do some wonderful things. We should be proud and wear our 'war wounds' with pride. It is difficult though, especially when faced with the Giselle Bundchen's of this world who present their freak-of-nature post-baby bodies as perfectly normal. She isn't. We are.
- 3 September 2010 at 15:16
- Frog, Goose and Bear said...
I have just come across your blog via the wonderful Maxabella and this post just about sums me up, apart from the extra child and having twins, but I have an umbilical hernia and diverification of the stomach muscles. I am a little over looking like I'm six months pregnant all of the time. But it really is all worth it! I tell myself that every time I look in the mirror!
- 5 September 2010 at 08:50
- mummabear1970 said...
what a beautiful & honest post! I have had 3 single pregnancies (all successful) & have a great big saggy baggy bit belly that looks like I carried a multiple pregnancy! My boobs can be held up with a great fitting bra but golly it's hard to find something to hold the tum in! I just figure I have earned this body - it was never perfect to start with but it is real. And that's what life's about! Being real.
- 5 September 2010 at 23:51
- Lucy said...
I cannot believe I missed this!
It is so amazing - the changes are so evident, despite the weight and height being the same.
I will be fascinated to see how you go when you look into the surgery options for your abdominal muscles.
- 8 September 2010 at 12:38
I'm visiting via the Kid's Spot Top 50. I think this is your best post ever. So raw, honest and beautiful. Wow.
- 11 May 2011 at 23:57
- foxinflats said...
Hi, came across this post via 50 Top Bloggers. OMG I so hear you. My 'mummy tummy' is a spanx covered shocker. I did a survey with 150 women for my blog and 65% claimed to be unhappy with their bodies, and 53% said their 'mummy tummy' was their least favourite body part.
You are not alone. We are all in this together. Best we can do is be kind to ourselves, and each other...and share tips on how to feel better about ourselves too. x Andrea, she of the spanx
- 20 May 2011 at 14:45
- Cathy said...
I love this post - I feel the same way! I've had 3 boys, all naturally delivered without drugs (not my choice, they were just super quick)! I tore etc and I have an umbilical hernia as well (after my 2nd pregnancy). I'm short and well, my body never went back to its original shape (perhaps my fault...as I have a passion for food not matched by a passion for exercise)! Most days I think to myself, this body gave birth to 3 beautiful boys...this is the way it is. But on bad days, well I feel yuck. Didn't help on an emotional day a couple of weeks ago when I was out shopping and a stranger asked when my bub was due...my last was born 1 and a half years ago!
- 3 June 2011 at 12:37


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His family were by his side, the first team squad had assembled, and stars from across the world – among them Cantona, Van Nistelrooy and Yorke – had flown in just for the occasion. You might have thought that it was Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement party, such was the pomp and ceremony surrounding the event, and the star-studded nature of its guest-list.
But Ferguson was instead receiving a tribute that, despite his countless honours in the game, evidently ranked among the greatest. "It's fantastic - a really proud moment," he told the assembled crowd after seeing a statue of himself unveiled by his wife, Cathy, outside Old Trafford. "Normally people die before they have a statue, so I'm outliving death!"
*Living legends *Ferguson's comment raised a chuckle, but while the erecting of a posthumous tribute remains the norm, football provides plenty of exceptions to this particular rule. Indeed, it's just four years since United also honoured Denis Law and Bobby Charlton – both still going strong - with a statue in which they appear in celebratory pose with the third member of the Red Devils' 'Holy Trinity', George Best. "This is one of the greatest things that has ever happened to me," Charlton said at the time.
A rival and respected adversary from that era, Eusebio, has been honoured in a similar way at Benfica's Estadio da Luz, and – like his United adversaries in the 1968 European Cup final – has seen his statue become something of a tourist attraction. Similarly, a trip to Dynamo Moscow's stadium would not be complete without a photograph beside a bronze sculpture of the great Lev Yashin, in which the legendary Soviet keeper is captured mid-dive. A majestic representation of Bobby Moore also looms large on the walk to the new Wembley, while Feyenoord legend Coen Moulijn - described by Robin van Persie as "the Lionel Messi of his day" - is an ever-present figure outside the Rotterdam club's De Kuip arena.
Alfredo Di Stefano is a similarly revered figure at Real Madrid, of course, although his statue – a depiction of 'La Saeta Rubia' celebrating a superb free-kick in the 1958 European Cup semi-final – stands not at the Bernabeu, but in the club's training centre, as an inspiration to aspiring Merengue stars. Not every club has immortalised their heroes in traditional form though. Hamburg's tribute to Uwe Seeler, for example, is not a statue of him in action, or standing imperiously, but rather a giant four-ton, 5.30 metre-high bronze sculpture of his right foot, scars and all.
In 2004, Azerbaijan bucked another trend by honouring not a player, but a linesman. Tofik Bakhramov became famous around the world – and infamous in Germany – when he declared that Geoff Hurst's hotly contested effort in the 1966 FIFA World Cup final had crossed the line, setting England on the road to glory. And though often erroneously described since as 'the Russian linesman', Bakhramov – whose statue stands in the capital, Baku - was considered by Azerbaijan's authorities to have greatly boosted their nation's global profile, so much so that they also named the national stadium after him too.
*Giants of the dugout *More often, it is managers and coaches who are immortalised in stone or bronze. Sir Bobby Robson, in fact, has been honoured with statues at both Ipswich Town's Portman Road Stadium, and Newcastle United's St James's Park, while Brian Clough – just as he would have wanted, you suspect – has gone one better with sculptures at Derby County's Pride Park, in Nottingham city centre and in his home town of Middlesbrough. It is fitting, meanwhile, that Anfield should be guarded by Bill Shankly, while further north at Celtic Park his great friend Jock Stein – European Cup in hand – is flanked by statues of the Bhoys' founder, Brother Walfrid, and its most beloved player, Jimmy Johnstone.
"I'm delighted every time I walk up to Celtic Park and see that," said Sean Fallon, Stein's assistant, and a man who worked closely with Johnstone and hailed from the same Irish county as Walfrid. "They couldn't have picked any better men to sum up what's made the club great, on and off the park."
Racing Club, the Argentinian outfit that once enjoyed a notorious World Club Championship duel with Stein's Celtic, have honoured one of their own coaching legends, with Reinaldo Merlo – who led them to their first title in 35 years – immortalised in a famous pose in which he is attempting to ward off bad luck. China, meanwhile, built a monument to one of their own, celebrated former captain and coach Lee Wai Tong, but have also recently unveiled an eye-catching v-shaped tribute to Bora Milutinovic in Shenyang, marking the tenth anniversary of the Serbian leading them to the 2002 FIFA World Cup™.
*Hair and headbutts *Though such monuments can often seem the preserves of the old and, as Ferguson suggests, the deceased, there have been plenty of men honoured while stile pulling on their boots. Boca Juniors, for example, erected statues to both Martin Palermo and Juan Roman Riquelme alongside the one and only Diego Maradona in the club's museum, while Arsenal have honoured Thierry Henry and Tony Adams outside the Emirates Stadium. Colombian artist Amilkar Ariza, meanwhile, sculpted a 22-foot-high representation of Carlos Valderrama – even adding colour for that unique hairstyle – in 'El Pibe's' hometown of Santas Marta in 2006.
Yet no matter how great and revered the subject, not every statue is treated with awed adoration. Officials in Veracruz, Mexico were staggered last October when they saw that their depiction of Hugo Sanchez, in trademark scissor-kick mode, had been left swiping at thin air after the ball – which had been welded to his foot – was stolen. A statue of the great Pele suffered an even worse fate in Salvador, in the Brazilian state of Bahia, when its arms were sawn off along with a replica of the FIFA World Cup™ in 2007. And while Zinedine Zidane might have been gratified to hear that a sculpture of him was being erected in Paris, he may have been less pleased to learn that it depicted the most notorious moment of his glorious career: that headbutt on Marco Materazzi.
While the statue of Zizou and his Italian nemesis was doubtless aimed at raising a smile, other carry more poignancy. Rangers, for instance, commemorated the 1971 Ibrox disaster – in which 66 people lost their lives – with a statue of John Greig, their captain on that tragic day. And a particularly moving example is to be found at Sevilla's training ground, where the tragic Antonio Puerta – who died five years ago at the age of 22 – is immortalised in bronze.
The men listed above may differ greatly, as do the monuments that honour them. But whether it be Fergie or Puerta, the motivation behind these statues remains the same: to honour, and to remember.
Have Your SayThese are just a selection of the many football statues out there. Which one do you think is best?


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Lisa Marie Presley has confirmed the announcement that was made last week stating that she is in fact, pregnant. It was reported last week in US Magazine but recently the magazine has updated itself to bring to us the confirmation. From US, "Her mom Priscilla has confirmed it to Entertainment Tonight. "She wanted it really […]
Entries Tagged 'Elvis Presley' ↓
Lisa Marie Presley Announces she's almost Due
August 6th, 2008 — Elvis Presley, Lisa Marie Presley, Michael Lockwood, Priscilla Presley


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Difference between revisions of "Main Page"
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== Other Cool Groups in Bloomington ==
== Other Cool Groups in Bloomington ==
* [http://www.
* [http://www..org/ Collective] -- a non-profit community print shop.
* [http://ifnbloomington.blogspot.com/ Indiana Filmmakers Network] -- provides support, camaraderie and resources to filmmakers.
* [http://ifnbloomington.blogspot.com/ Indiana Filmmakers Network] -- provides support, camaraderie and resources to filmmakers.
* [http://www.bloomingtonradio.org/ Bloomington Amateur Radio Club]
* [http://www.bloomingtonradio.org/ Bloomington Amateur Radio Club]
* [http://www.indiana.edu/~k9iu/ Indiana University Amateur Radio Club]
* [http://www.indiana.edu/~k9iu/ Indiana University Amateur Radio Club]
Revision as of 15:57, 14 December 2011
Welcome to Bloominglabs, Bloomington's very own hackerspace!
Bloominglabs is Indiana's first (and so far only!) hackerspace also known as a makerspace. We are a group of community members that have commonly rented a place where we can collectively build projects. We are open to the public on Wednesday evenings from 7pm until 10pm and are family friendly.
Who are we?
Bloominglabs was forged from the Bloomington Hackerspace Initiative and the former IU Robotics Club. We are a bunch of people that want to do interesting things and explore the world and technology around us.
Stay informed
- Sign up to the announcement mailing list to keep up with our group.
- Follow us on Twitter @Bloominglabsand Facebook.
- Checkout photos from past events on Flickr
- Our IRC server is at irc.bloominglabs.org:6667, #hackerspace.
- We can also be reached via old fashioned email at contact (]at[) bloominglabs dot o r g.
Our Location
We have 1,000 sq ft of which 750 sq ft is unfinished, cement floor workspace and 250 sq ft is finished office space for hanging out. There's also a full bathroom. The address is 3927 W. Roll Avenue which is just north of 2nd Street up Curry Pike. Come check it out!
Come join us from 6:30 to 9pm on Tuesday, December 6th 2011 when Bloominglabs presents our Annual Holiday Mini-Workshops. The mini-workshops will consist of: touchscreen gloves, soap molding (make a mold of almost anything with our vacuum former), shopping bag sewing, bean bag sewing, and making popup cards and bows. Or bring your own project to work on and collaborate. See some pictures of the fun we had last year: http://thecollaborationroom.org/enter/2010/12/st-nicks-holiday-workshop-was-rad
$10 for adults, $5 for kids. Personalize your holiday gifts by making them yourself!
Current Events (PastEvents)
- Every Wednesday from 7pm until 10pm
- Public hack meetings!
- Come build projects, ask questions, teach things, and learn stuff
- All ages and everyone is welcome
What is a hacker space?
It's a physical location where people can share resources for their own creative pursuits. It's also a resource where people can come in off the street and advance their own knowledge. In urban locations it can often be hard to find places to weld/build/make noise and keep projects on-going without having to tear down and put-up your work each evening. With a hacker space people can work on their projects and not worry about annoying their neighbors or spouses. The social aspect is also incredibly important component. Having people to bounce ideas off of and discuss your projects with when you get stuck is a great thing.
We are accepting memberships! Please see the Membership Manual for details.
Currently we meet every Wednesday at 7:00pm at 3927 W. Roll Avenue, Bloomington, Indiana. These meetings are open to the public, anyone is welcome to attend. We usually meet for 2-3 hours and have a lot of fun. Having access to tools is only part of the equation, socializing with people and learning from each other is another large benefit from our group. Pretty much whatever people want to work on or learn is fair game. We currently have an electronics and robotics focus but there's also interest in general science and astronomy as well. If it's cool and interesting then we are all interested.
Current Projects
What needs to be done yet?
Check out the Todo list to see the latest things we need to get done.
Also see who else is working on this project: Special:ListUsers
Uploaded files: Special:ImageList
Nearby Hacker Spaces or initiatives:
- Hive13 (Cincinnati, OH)
- LVL1 (Louisville Kentucky)
- Vault404 (Louisville Kentucky)
- Collexion (Lexington Kentucky)
- Pumping Station: One (Chicago)
- Dayton Diode
- Detroit Facility
- i3 Detroit
Other Cool Groups in Bloomington
- The Bloomington Print Collective -- a non-profit community print shop.
- Indiana Filmmakers Network -- provides support, camaraderie and resources to filmmakers.
- Bloomington Amateur Radio Club
- Indiana University Amateur Radio Club


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Garry Collings, @Large:
Strategically and operationally, I have been on both sides of that table, and I must say they are uniquely different. They both hold different challenges. I believe if you're the company being acquired, your focus must instantly be on the people because anybody with half a brain knows that the true intellectual property resides in their heads. Not in the documentation, not in the system that it sits on. And if you are the person making the acquisition, it's vitally important to get close to the people yet again to make sure that they don't panic and jump ship. You could lose some very serious intellectual property overnight by people's disheartenment and their fear that they're going to be taken out... No matter which side of that table you're on, your foremost importance must be the people.
Ed Saul, Tower: The first question that we need to answer when we're faced with mergers or acquisitions is the business reasons behind that. Because the way IT responds to that, it is key to first of all understand the drivers. A lot of the mergers that we have had in Tower have been about, 'Well let's bring these businesses together so we can generate synergies.'
What we've got to look at in a merger, where you're trying to drive synergies is, where's the overlap? If there are overlaps in technology or if you get duplication, how do you get rid of that duplication quickly so you can get costs out? The next one was about merging Tower companies, and in all of those, the starting point for us was, 'Let's get the leadership right.' So immediately, appoint the appropriate new business and IT leadership, and then drive it from the top down.
Make some very quick strategic and tactical decisions around which systems are going to be the go forward systems, which ones are we going to shut down, which ones are we going to integrate versus which ones are we going to rationalise and switch off.
Nigel Bonser, Vector: Our problems were not technical. It was simple from the IT perspective - they had two systems so you move into one of them.
It's no different to having one system and moving to another one. You're still migrating data. You're still training people and you're still working through business processes in really close detail... The big problem which needed to be carefully managed was the fact that as people think that they're number is up and they won't be around, they start to leave or they stop doing what they're doing.
And when the company's focus is all about maintaining standards and keeping the customer happy, and in our case keeping everything safe, that's a serious issue... In the IT space, we have a situation where somebody would make a decision without considering the bigger picture and so you're locked into something which shouldn't really ought to have been done, and so that needs to be undone over time.
But worst than that is people ought to make a decision and don't, and you don't know it's not been done because you don't really understand their environment... So it's just like walking a knife-edge for a little while, being a little bit uncertain about how secure you are.
Anyway, it worked. We finished the merger. Our last bit was to get rid of a legacy system which they were having problems supporting, and that's gone live.
Pat O'Connell, Carter Holt Harvey: Carter Holt has a long history of lots of changes... The company has grown through acquisition - merger and investment - so I'm not a stranger to any of that... So all we have to do at the moment is be prepared to be flexible whichever way it goes.
Probably our initial challenge around the due diligence phase and so on is more making sure we have our contractual position in order. And that is actually something we're pretty good at now because we've had to do that with divestments in the past.
Chris Quin, Gen-i/Computerland: We're an organisation of 1400 users sitting on a mix of Telecom's SAP, Computerland's PeopleSoft and Gen-i's PeopleSoft, and in a variety of customer service management or help desk tools. How you move through the last nine months of that without breaking anything?
Integration of some of these things is valuable, how do you do that? Carefully, slowly. We started the merger of Advanced Solutions and Gen-i last year, so we kept Computerland deliberately separate for a period of nine months in the end, and it was because we felt two things.
One, there was enough to do just pulling together two companies without going to the third one. Secondly, Computerland is a little bit different, a bit more of a medium enterprise and [with a] regional focus as well. With the Gen-i and Advanced Solutions focus, we purchased an IT company because we believed in a number of things, like the way it manages customers, the way it manages service, the sort of capabilities it had. So what we are trying to do is become like it rather than make it like Telecom.
M&A as opportunities
Garry Collings: Treat it as an opportunity to renegotiate all the contracts, and then concentrate on the technology. It's an opportunity to address everything that exists today.
Nigel Bonser: You may actually have the disadvantage of having systems you didn't want and couldn't get rid of, for various different reasons. And now you have the excuse you needed, and so some good could come of it quite easily.
War stories
Anne Buzeika, University of Auckland: The discussion about systems is quite interesting because that's probably been the biggest challenge. The Auckland College of Education was a much smaller entity that had home grown systems. It had systems that worked specifically to the needs of that business and they were systems that had been developed alongside the users and alongside the people who wanted the information from those systems.
Of course we've merged with the university [of Auckland] which uses PeopleSoft, and there's no intention or there was never even thought of taking the university's systems and putting them into ours, which were a lot smaller. So we were going to merge our systems into theirs. What we've done is we've come up with a compromise to ensure that the users have to buy into it.
There's no question we'll put all of our information into PeopleSoft and that's currently being processed through at the moment, but what we're going to do is look at a feedback to a faculty system where some of the faculty specific functions can still be carried out... So we feel that is sort of a compromise that keeps the users quite happy that we've made the change. We've moved into PeopleSoft's environment, but they can still have all of those things that they wanted.
Garry Collings: At Mainfreight we were the acquirer and we went through 300 per cent growth in two years. From a strategic perspective, my role was to identify synergies between the acquired company, recognise talent and make sure that we didn't lose it in the process. From an operational perspective, my role was to cut out the cost as much as possible, as quickly as possible and get rid of duplicated systems as quickly as humanly possible.
Then fold it all back in together as fast as humanly possible. Now, in some cases that was rapid fire. Mainfreight was built on methodology of ready, aim, fire, and when you have that sort of autonomy to get on with the job, it makes the job easier.
When I was at TranzRail a number of years later and we were acquired by Toll, all of a sudden I found myself in a situation where I'm sitting down thinking, okay strategically how should I be acting? I'm now the people being taken over. So I found that strategically I was focused on retention of skills.
I was focused on putting people's minds at rest that they had nothing to be worried about. I got the team together as a group, sat down with them, and said, 'Look if you're looking for some guarantee that you're going to all keep your jobs, you can forget it. I'm not going to give that.
All I will say at this point is back yourself, and if you don't understand what that means then let me elaborate for you - if you're any good at your job you're still going to be here, and if you're not you're probably not. So if you're one of those people then I suggest you start looking in the market now.' I felt that that was so important that I didn't give them a false sense of expectation, I didn't give them a group hug and give them a feeling that I was going to look after them because I didn't have that power, I was not the person making the decisions.
But operationally I found myself focused on a whole different area. I found myself in the situation of sell your product to your new owner. Make sure they fully appreciate what they have just acquired. Make sure that they ascertain where the skills are and where your skills perhaps are stronger than the ones that they have in their own camp.
Kim Gordon, Glaister Ennor: My experience has been two-fold. One is externally, as the lawyer buried in the due diligence room, and in a commercial or legal role negotiating new licences. Software vendors are getting more sophisticated in how they structure licence fees to capture 'inorganic' growth which is any increase in use of their software through mergers or acquisitions. This has to be kept in mind for any organisation that is subject to M&A activity, particularly on a frequent basis, as this can add substantially to the cost of the merger or acquisition.
Licences and contracts
Pat O'Connell: On licensing you'd be surprised how much you've got... If you're into M&A I couldn't advise you more strongly to make sure you get a real good handle on your licensing and contractual situation and keep that tight... Part of the problem about due diligence is actually getting the stuff in the data room.
Kim Gordon: The key when negotiating contracts, whether they're licences or any other type of agreement, is to watch for the traps and triggers... If you think you [would be] in an M&A type situation in the near future, how can you get out of the contracts quickly? Also traps in them in terms of, if you do acquire - are you going to get caught out in pricing, particularly on tiered licence fees?
Also, as I said before, [there is] the risk of the vendor changing ownership. I've had clients who have been caught out by their selected provider being acquired by an organisation that they rejected in their selection process.
Working through different cultures
Chris Quin: Well there are two implications that could be interesting to discuss. One is the technology linked to people and culture is actually quite strong. So we have two procurement businesses that supply hardware and software customers. One in Gen-i and one in Computerland - both running on PeopleSoft, but quite different developments of PeopleSoft, and fiercely independently proud of what they've done with those systems within each of those businesses.
You had to work through it as a cultural issue as much as a technology issue, because you had to think about, how do I come out the other side of this with the very best procurement account managers, general managers and those people proud of their work from the past not feeling it was rubbished in a merger?
That one worked well because we were able to take what Computerland had built with their system and apply Gen-i software development to it, and build something that everyone saw as the best of the best in terms of every one at stake... There's also another link that's interesting.
We just did an engagement survey and one of the key things that came back on it a good six or seven months into the merger was, 'What's the strategy?' That was number one in the list of things they wanted to understand. I guess that's the thing in IT. We don't employ any blue collar people.
They're all white collar, reasonably intelligent workforces who we pay to think, and the problem with that is they do. So the time spent on strategy we think is the most valuable time, because they're smart enough to then make that context for their own decisions... The other one is you've got to keep communicating to the mother ship because they think you're up to something.
Tracking IT costs
Nigel Bonser: I think the scariest thing is understanding the budgets that you're about to assume, because you don't know what it is, and then you may find that IT is in one place and therefore you go and look at their IT in one place.
And you think you've got the whole picture, and then you discover that they've actually got IT people all over the place and therefore cost centres, and then who's paying for them?
Implications on architecture
Chris Quin: There are some quite big implications at architecture level too when you think about flexibility, scalability in terms of, how do I build an IT environment for this organisation that can cope with being half as big or twice as big or in different locations or in different countries, without having to throw everything out and start again?
For Telecom overall, I think it's got itself into a relatively modern fairly flexible architecture that can be deployed pretty easily. So the issues now are not about whether Telecom's approach to basic tools could be employed into these organisations, it's more about what is best for this business ... Then you've got to look at, so where are the management systems and the reporting systems that we need to run the business?
Pat O'Connell: We tend to go in with a three-stage approach to an integration of an acquisition. The first one is doing the bits like putting a piece of string between you so you can actually email and do your financial consolidation.
The second phase is probably the full infrastructure and consolidation where you roll your standard desktop and put your proper server and structure through and so on. And then the final one is the longer term stuff which you probably don't want to do on day one, which is all your systems, all your integration putting on SAP or whatever it happens to be... You've got to have that on the horizon on day one so they don't say down the track, 'Oh I didn't know about that, or don't want to do that anymore.' You've got to get them to sign off on all that upfront otherwise you're going to build yourself a headache later.
Good communications
Anne Buzeika: You've got to know where you're going. You have to have a very clear idea as to what you are trying to achieve out of it. For us the biggest thing was making sure that we kept the communication channels flowing within the process, but also with both our customers and particularly our users, and our stakeholders. Our stakeholders needed to know where we were going because they needed to feel confident.
Ed Saul: You need to identify who are your right leaders and who are your right people. You need to also pick out who possibly don't fit the new model going forward, and you need to deal with the hard calls on that, as quickly as possible.
There's so much uncertainty that comes into these things, you need to take as much of the uncertainty out as possible, and that means making calls and not delaying decisions. Just get the changes, clarify the changes, communicate the changes, and make the changes. People will respect that and follow that.
In the panel
Pat O'Connell, chief of information technology, Carter Holt Harvey
Anne Buzeika, general manager IS, faculty of education, University of Auckland
Chris Quin, group general manager, Gen-i/Computerland
Ed Saul, group chief information officer, Tower
Garry Collings, director, @Large and ex-group general manager of IT, TollNZ
Nigel Bonser, information services manager, Vector
Kim Gordon, partner, Glaister Ennor
Join the CIO New Zealand group on LinkedIn. The group is open to CIOs, IT Directors, COOs, CTOs and senior IT managers.


text: Graphic designers in Northway are the professionals belonging to the graphic design and graphic arts industry involved in assembling together images, typography or motion graphics to create a piece of design. These individuals can create the graphics primarily for published, printed or electronic media, such as brochures and advertising. Graphic designers are also sometimes responsible for typesetting, illustration, user interfaces, and web design, or take a teaching position, although these specialties may be assigned to specialists in various graphic design occupations. A major responsibility of the designer's job is to present information in a way that is both accessible and memorable.


text:
Williams Sonoma Curing Salt
- Free Fast Shipping
- Exclusive
Easy, hassle-free returns online and in-store for eligible items.Learn More
Earn 5% Back in rewards4 plus free standard shipping3every day when you shop with your Williams Sonoma credit card at Williams Sonoma.Apply Now Learn More
- Summary
Salt has been a culinary essential since ancient times, when it as used to cure meats and preserve foods. Today, salt rubs to are the secret to savory specialties like cured ham and bacon. Our traditional curing salt blend makes it easy to prepare artisanal cured meats in your own kitchen. Traditional curing agents in the salt help develop rich color and flavor.
- A savory salt blend for making classic cured meats, including sausage, bacon, ham and jerky.
- A traditional ingredient in Italian salumi, which includes such savory classics as prosciutto and sopressata.
- Use the versatile salt blend for curing poultry, game, salmon and shellfish.
- This specialty salt should be used only for curing foods and cannot be substituted for table or sea salt in other recipes.
- The premium salt is sourced from around the world and expertly blended by a family-owned artisanal spice company in California's Napa Valley.
- 3.6 oz.
- Made in USA.
- Ingredients
- Ingredients: Salt, 6.25% sodium nitrite, propylene glycol, sodium bicarbonate (processing aid), red #3.
- Product of USA.
- Shipping
Shipping Information
UPS can deliver most in-stock items within 3–5 business days. UPS is unable to deliver to P.O. boxes.
Shipping Rates
The shipping rate varies depending on your order total and shipping destination. View Shipping Options and Charges.
Next Day Delivery
For an additional charge of $26 per address, we can expedite delivery to most destinations. This service is not available for some oversize items, items shipped directly from the supplier (including perishable and custom-manufactured items), out-of-stock items and items to be shipped outside the contiguous 48 states.
Orders received by 9:00 p.m. ET Monday through Thursday will arrive the next business day; orders placed Friday through Sunday will arrive on the following Tuesday.
Return Policy
At Williams Sonoma, we take great pride in the quality and craftsmanship of our products. Attention to design, materials, safety and construction are our priority. Upon receipt, please inspect your purchase and notify us of any damage; we will arrange for a prompt replacement.
If within 30 days, you are dissatisfied for any reason, you may return your purchase for a refund of the merchandise value. An original receipt or gift receipt is required for all returns and exchanges. Returns with a gift receipt will be refunded in the form of a Merchandise Credit for the amount indicated on the gift receipt. Returns with original receipt will be refunded in the original form of payment, cash and check refunds over $100 will be issued as a company check (may take 14 business days from time of request).
For all cutlery returns (knife sets, single knives, cutting boards, knife sharpeners and knife storage), please contact us at 888.922.4108 to initiate the return.
We cannot accept returns on monogrammed, personalized, special-order items, custom upholstery, food, items shipped direct from the vendor or on items damaged through normal wear and tear. Final sale items ending in .97 or .99 cannot be returned.
Made to Order and Final Sale Furniture items are non-returnable and cannot be cancelled once the order is placed.
For returns of items purchased from your Williams Sonoma Gift Registry, we will gladly provide a refund or exchange for the merchandise within 90 days of your event or within 90 days of purchase, whichever date is later. View Full Returns Policy.


text:
Barbie Goes Cruising!by Paul Motter | 09.07.12
Royal Caribbean just announced a major collaboration with Mattel to offer the "All New Barbie Premium Experience" aboard its ships.
Barbie was first introduced in March 1959 Royal Caribbean is rolling out a "Premium Barbie Cruise Experience for young girls who love all things Barbie.
The new offering will become available fleetwide between January and March of 2013. Bookings for the experience will begin as soon as October through travel agents or the Royal Caribbean web site. The cost is $349 per person, but boy what you get for that money!
Barbie fans young and old will jump for joy when they enter their wildly pink-decorated staterooms containing the souvenir Barbie blanket, tote bag, tiaras and teacups, toothbrush and toiletries, pillowcases and specially designed (by Mattel) nautical outfits for your very own Barbie. I certainly hope you remembered to pack her.
You will then squeal with delight as you read about all of the Barbie related activities you will enjoy during your cruise; the Barbie design workshop where you create your own outfits for your Barbie and show them off on the "pink carpet" in the Barbie Fashion Show.
The program is mostly targeted to little girls, with possible plans for something similar for boys in the future. Your little Barbies will join in the "Tiaras and Teacups Party" - an invitation only affair with a "whimsical" palate of pink pastries and pink lemonade. It's enough to make Mary Kay mad with envy! Then they will join in a Barbie "Mermaid Dance Class" to learn the "latest dance moves" from the hit movie Barbie in Mermaid Tale 2.
The "Win a Barbie Cruise Vacation" Sweepstakes has already started at an interactive website by Royal Caribbean. Barbie Cruise SweepstakesVicki Freed Barbie-manic and Collector
Masterminding this Barbie cruise mutiny of Royal Caribbean ships is SVP of Sales and Marketing for Royal Caribbean, Vickie Freed, who personally admits to owning over 200 Barbie dolls, with a stake in collecting both the Christmas and the Barbie Travel (of course) editions that come out every year.
Barbie was created by Ruth Handler in 1959 and she modeled and named the doll after a German adult toy doll called Bild Lilli. The Barbie Cruise Vacation doll was already developed and sold by Mattel and is the same doll that will be sold aboard Royal Caribbean ships.
Would you take this Barbie cruise? Tell us here: Royal Caribbean Forum


text:
Showstopper necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 149 diseños de 42 diseñadores freelance.
900 Pharmacy
We sell pharmaceutical products or medicine to the general public. Our specific target audience are Senior Citizens.
This pharmacy is a local corner pharmacy in an undeserved area. It is attached to a medical clinic. The pharmacy will open within the next 30 days.
We would like the logo to communicate a high end professional look but also economical, affordable, and inviting. We would like a logo that promotes trust in the service and trust in the staff. Please keep in mind that (although we serve the general public) our target audience are senior citizens, thus, the logo should be easy for senior citizens to read, understand, trust, and develop brand loyalty. Remember, that senior citizens are old people and may have trouble with their eyesight.
One more important fact that might help is that we want to be different from our competitors which are Target pharmacy, Cvs Pharmacy, Walgreens pharmacy, and another local Pharmacy.
Lastly, Uptown, Chicago is diverse community with a mixture of Latino, African American, Africans, Indian/Pakistani and White. The senior Citizens are also as diverse as the community.
The clinic 900 Pharmacy is attached to is Midtown Medical Center. You can check the website at http://www.MidtwonMedicalCenter.net to see where 900 pharmacy is located.
The link below shows where the other pharmacies are, just FYI:
Thank you! and Good Luck!!
900 Pharmacy Management
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


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2 Comments
Might the Cahill mentioned be this CAhill?
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The code is actually painfully simple. Just define the amount of radius you want for a given corner of a container's style declaration:
#inner { width:200px; float:left; margin-right:2%; border:3px solid #D6D6C2; background:#E0E9F8; padding: 3px; font: 12px Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; -moz-border-radius: 15px 0 15px 0; }
Of course in the
you would attach the #inner declaration to a DIV:

Here is some content
or other container element.
In this instance, we've defined an ID declaration called "inner" with a certain width, floated it left, gave it a bit of a margin all around, a border, padding and a font. But if you look closely at the last item, you'll notice a definition for the amount of radius for the border. The convention here for the 4 numbers is: upper-left, upper-right, lower-right, lower-left. In this case, we've got a nice 15px radius on the upper-left and lower-right corners. Cool! To see this in action, take a look at the following page:
RRHS B & E Academy
Be sure you're looking at this in Firefox to see the effect. In IE, it just ignores the code and renders nice square corners. Very imaginitive Bill.
Anyway, have fun with this and keep hoping IE will catch up some day!
This post has been edited by Speechist: 25 February 2006 - 02:13 AM


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Luxembourg, with a population of approximately 453 thousand, is a constitutional monarchy with a democratic, parliamentary form of government. The role of the Grand Duke is mainly ceremonial and administrative. The prime minister is the leader of the dominant party in the popularly elected parliament. Free and fair parliamentary elections took place in June 2004. The civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of the security forces.
The government generally respected the human rights of its citizens, and the law and judiciary provided effective means of dealing with individual instances of abuse. The following human rights problems were reported:
- prison overcrowding
- trafficking of women for sexual exploitation
Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life
There were no reports of that the government or its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful killings.
b. Disappearance
There were no reports of politically motivated disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
The law prohibits such practices, and there were no reports that government officials employed them.
Prison and Detection Center Conditions
Prison conditions generally met international standards, but overcrowding was a problem. The government permitted visits by independent human rights observers. There were no visits of international human rights observers during the year.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention
The law prohibits arbitrary arrest and detention, and the government generally observed these prohibitions.
Role of the Police and Security Apparatus
The grand ducal police and its investigative branch, the judiciary police, are responsible for law enforcement and maintenance of order within the country. The police force is under the direction of the Ministry of Justice. Neither corruption nor impunity was a problem. A special police body is in charge of investigating cases of police abuses. Police officers are required to attend training at the police academy, at least every two years.
Arrest and Detention
Warrants, issued by a duly authorized official, are required for arrests except in cases of hot pursuit. Within 24 hours of arrest, the police must inform detainees of charges against them and bring them before a judge for a determination of the legality of the detention, and these rights were generally respected in practice. There is a functioning bail system, which judges freely employ. Detainees are given immediate access to an attorney, at government expense for indigents. Detainees are allowed prompt access to family members.
There were no reports of political detainees.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
The law provides for an independent judiciary, and the government generally respected this provision in practice.
The judiciary is headed by the Supreme Court, whose members the grand duke appoints. One of the country's three justices of the peace has jurisdiction over minor criminal, civil, and commercial cases, and one of two district courts heard more serious cases. The youth and guardianship court ruled on matters concerning the protection of young persons. An administrative court system reviewed citizen challenges to legislation. The Superior Court of Justice is composed of the cour de cassation, a court of appeal, and a department of public prosecution. The defendant or prosecutor may appeal verdicts in criminal cases to the administrative court and the administrative court of appeal before going to the Superior Court of Justice.
Trial Procedures
The law provides for the right to a fair trial, and an independent judiciary generally enforced this right. Trials are public except for those involving sexual abuse or child abuse. There are no jury trials. Defendants have the right to be present and to consult with an attorney in a timely manner. An attorney is provided at public expense if defendants face serious criminal charges. Defendants need to ask the judge for permission to confront or question witnesses against them or present witnesses and evidence on their behalf. Defendants and their attorneys have access to government-held evidence relevant to their cases. Defendants enjoy a presumption of innocence; and have the right of appeal.
There were rarely used military and religious courts, which respect the aforementioned rights.
Political Prisoners
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence
The law prohibits such actions, and the government generally respected these prohibitions in practice.
Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
The law provides for freedom of speech and of the press, and the government generally respected these rights in practice and did not restrict academic freedom or the Internet. An independent press, an effective judiciary, and a functioning democratic political system combined to ensure freedom of speech and of the press.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
The law provides for the freedom of assembly and association, and the government generally respected these rights in practice.
c. Freedom of Religion
The law provides for freedom of religion, and the government generally respected this right in practice.
There is no state religion, but the government provided financial support to some churches. Specifically, it paid the salaries of Roman Catholic, some Protestant, Greek, Russian, Romanian, and Serbian Orthodox, Anglican, and Jewish clergy, and several local governments maintained sectarian religious facilities. The Muslim community, desiring to receive similar government funding, named a national representative and single interlocutor for negotiations with the government; however there was no final agreement at year's end.
Societal Abuses and Discrimination
There were no known acts of violence, or discrimination against religious minorities during the year.
There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts during the year, and there were approximately 600 members of the Jewish community.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2005 International Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement within the Country, Foreign Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation
The law provides for these rights, and the government generally respected them in practice.
The law prohibits forced exile, and the government did not employ it.
Protection of Refugees
The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status in accordance with the 1951 UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 protocol, and the government has established a system for providing protection to refugees. In practice, the government provided protection against refoulement, the return of persons to a country where they feared persecution. The government granted refugee status or asylum.
The law provides for the possibility to grant temporary protection to individuals who may not qualify as refugees under the 1951 convention and the 1967 protocol and provided it to no one during the year.
The government cooperated with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees and asylum seekers.
Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to Change Their Government
The law provides citizens with the right to change their government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of universal suffrage.
Elections and Political Participation
National parliamentary elections are held at least every five years. The most recent national parliamentary elections, held in June 2004, were considered free and fair.
There were 13 women in the 60-member parliament and 3 women in the 14-member cabinet. There were 15 women in the 32-member Supreme Court.
There was one citizen member of a minority in the 60-member parliament, and one citizen member of a minority in the government.
Government Corruption and Transparency
There were no reports of government corruption during the year.
The law provides for public access to government information and the government freely provided access on its website and the Internet.
Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human Rights
A number of domestic and international human rights groups generally operated without government restriction, investigating and publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials were very cooperative and responsive to their views.
Section 5 Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The law prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, disability, language, or social status, and the government effectively enforced it.
Domestic violence occurred. The law prohibits domestic violence, and the government effectively enforced it. The law is gender neutral and provides that a batterer will be removed from the house for 10 days; this can be extended an additional 3 months. Police are responsible for pursuing the charges so that a victim cannot be intimidated into dropping charges. Penalties may include fines and imprisonment. If a person asks an NGO for assistance, the police must act proactively and to speak with the person. There were approximately 300 cases of police intervention relating to spousal abuse and 154 expulsions by the police of the abusing spouse.
There is a hotline for battered women. During the year government-sponsored NGO shelters provided refuge to approximately 450 women and 500 children. In addition, the government provided financial assistance to domestic violence victims. Information offices set up to respond to women in distress reported that they received 1,056 telephone calls during the year. The government funded organizations that provided shelter, counseling, and hotlines.
The law specifically prohibits rape, including spousal rape, and stipulates penalties ranging between 5 and 19 years' imprisonment; the government enforced these laws effectively. There was a reported average of about ten rape cases per year.
Prostitution is legal, but the activities associated with organized prostitution, such as profiting from, aiding or abetting prostitutes are punishable by law. There have been no reports of police targeting prostitutes for abuse.
There were reports that women were trafficked to the country for sexual exploitation (see section 5).
Law prohibits sexual harassment, and the government generally enforced it.
Under the law, women enjoy the same rights as men, including rights under family law, property law, and in the judicial system. The law mandates equal pay for equal work; however, according to government reports, women were paid 20 to 30 percent less than men for comparable work. The Ministry of Equal Opportunity is responsible for protecting the legal and social rights of women.
The government was strongly committed to children's rights and welfare. The law mandates school attendance from 4 through 15 years of age, and school attendance is universal through that age. Schooling was free through the secondary level, and the government provided some financial assistance for postsecondary education. Most students complete high school.
The government provided free medical care, and boys and girls had equal access.
Child abuse occurred. A physicians' organization estimated that approximately 200 cases of child abuse were reported during the year, resulting in 60 children receiving medical treatment. The government's hotline for young persons in distress received 370 calls during the year.
Trafficking in Persons
The law prohibits trafficking in persons; however, the country was a destination for women trafficked from Eastern Europe for the purpose of sexual exploitation. There were two confirmed reports of trafficking reported during the year. The law provides penalties from six months' to three years' imprisonment and monetary fines for trafficking. If there are aggravating circumstances, prison sentences can range from 1 to 10 years' imprisonment. The government effectively enforced the antitrafficking statutes. The Ministry of Justice with the involvement of the ministries of foreign affairs and equal opportunity as well as NGOs was responsible for the government's antitrafficking efforts. The prosecution of the one 2004 trafficking case was ongoing at year's end.
There were no government services specifically for victims of trafficking; however, two NGOs, which were fully financed by the government, provided shelter and counseling assistance to women in distress.
There were no government prevention programs specifically targeting trafficking at year's end.
Persons with Disabilities
The law prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, or in the provision of other state services, and the government effectively enforced these provisions. The law does not require accessibility for persons with disabilities, but the government paid subsidies to builders to construct "disabled‑friendly" structures. Despite these government incentives, only a small proportion of buildings and public transportation vehicles have been modified to accommodate persons with disabilities. Aid for Handicapped Children, an NGO, is in charge of protecting the rights of persons with disabilities.
The government acknowledged that laws establishing quotas requiring businesses that employ over 25 persons to hire workers with disabilities and pay them prevailing wages were not applied or enforced consistently, and there was a particular problem in the case of persons with mental disabilities.
Section 6 Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association
The law provides for the right to form and join unions of their choice without previous authorization or excessive requirements, and workers exercised these rights in practice. Approximately 50 percent of the workforce (including the trans-border workers) was unionized.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively
The law allows unions to conduct their activities without interference, and the government protected this right in practice. The law provides for the right to collective bargaining, and workers exercised this right freely. Approximately 66 percent of workers are under collective bargaining agreements. The law provides for the right to strike, except for government workers who provide essential services, but no strikes occurred during the year. Legal strikes may occur only after a lengthy conciliation procedure between the parties. The government's national conciliation office must certify that conciliation efforts have ended for a strike to be legal. There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Bonded Labor
The law prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by children, and there were no reports that such practices occurred.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment
The government effectively implemented laws and policies to protect children from exploitation in the workplace. The law prohibits the employment of children under the age of 16. Apprentices who are 16 years old must attend school in addition to their job training. Workers under the age of 18 have additional legal protection, including limits on overtime and the number of hours that can be worked continuously. The ministries of labor and education effectively enforced the child labor laws.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
The national minimum wage for a single worker over the age of 18 was approximately $1,390 (1,670 euros) per month for unskilled workers and approximately $1,475 (1,770 euros) per month for skilled workers. The minimum wage was not sufficient to provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family; however, most employees earned more than the minimum wage.
The law mandates a maximum workweek of 40 hours. Premium pay is required for overtime or unusual hours. Sunday employment is permitted in continuous-process industries (steel, glass, and chemicals) and for certain maintenance and security personnel; other industries must request permission for Sunday work, which the government granted on a case-by-case basis. Work on Sunday, allowed for some retail employees, must be entirely voluntary and compensated at double the normal wage, or with compensatory time off on another day, equal to the number of hours worked on Sunday. The law requires rest breaks for shift workers and limits all workers to a maximum of 10 hours per day including overtime. If employers did not honor the law, workers may successively ask for assistance at the labor inspection court and then the Superior Court of Justice
The law mandates a safe working environment. An inspection system provided severe penalties for infractions. The labor inspectorate of the ministry of labor and the accident insurance agency of the social security ministry carried out effective inspections. No laws or regulations specifically provided workers with the right to remove themselves from dangerous work situations without jeopardy to their continued employment; however, every worker has the right to ask the labor inspectorate to make a determination regarding workplace safety, and the inspectorate usually did so expeditiously.


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The Dairy Times
e-Magazine, November - 2014
l Ready-to-browse digital edition that will give the true colour and spirit of print edition l Flip through the pages l Zoom-in on articles or view in text-mode l Search through the entire edition l Share it with friends lPersonalise it the way you want
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Extremely frequently right after straightforward cold, when patient begins recovering, a sudden worsening begins; typically it is a sign of bacterial illness which has joined, even though organism was weakened by an additional issue. Typically human body having a support of organic defensive system fights with foreign factors and invisible malignant beasts and as a result it may protect itself, but as a result of naturally low immune system or weakened in some circumstances or because of receiving into epidemic atmosphere, individuals can get ill because of bacteria and they need to have proper treatment by medicines that are in a position to kill all dangerous bacteria within the physique. Antibiotics have been developed for this objective. Antibiotics are medicines that kill little one-celled organisms in human body. The most common are respiratory bacterial ailments, virtually every person knows what exactly is it and how does it hearts. Any illness ought to be examined by the doctor then individual approach in treatment should be assigned. There are a lot of different antibiotic medicines; some have been created with narrow effectiveness, for killing only distinct malignant bacteria and a few were created with wide spectrum of effectiveness for successful remedy of bacterial ailments when a sort of bacteria is tough to recognize and to choose up corresponding antibiotic. The truth is, doctors frequently prescribe medicines with wide selection of effectiveness due to the fact they may be the most effective. Zithromax is amongst the most advised medicines which can be typically utilized for successful therapy of bacterial illnesses. Right now a lot of folks buy Zythromax, because they trust it.
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Is there more to Kylie Jenner and Jaden Smith's friendship than they're letting on? It sure looks like it!
The teen twosome has been inseparable for the last six months, but has insisted their relationship is a platonic one. However, things seemed a little cozier than "just friends" on Wednesday night when they were photographed exiting a movie theater holding hands.
The "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" star, 15, had on some short shorts for her movie night with the 14-year-old "After Earth" actor in Calabasas, California. After watching a flick, the young Hollywood stars emerged from the theater hand in hand as they walked through the lobby to the exit. When they noticed photographers, they seemed to loosen their grip.
While hand holding may be considered minor on the PDA scale, it was a public display of affection nonetheless – and their first official one. Friends for several years, the kids have been spending a lot of time together over the last few months – including trips to London and New York, the latter of which included a silly shopping outing with Jaden wearing an Iron Man costume.
And while they're still so young, they've already become well versed at denying any type of romantic relationship to probing reporters (no doubt a skill inherited by their famous parents and siblings). In an interview with Ryan Seacrest in May, Jaden was asked if there was anything going with either Kylie or her sister Kendall, and he replied, "They're just really good friends."
In a subsequent interview with Wonderland magazine, he served up a similar line, but was quite complimentary about the youngest Jenner.
"She's one of my best friends," he replied, adding that she's "pretty awesome."
Well, it sure looks like a mutual admiration society!
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Neill 2010 Outdoor education theories: A review and synthesis
From Wilderdom
A review and synthesis
A presentation to the
2010 Outdoor Recreation Industry Council Annual Conference (ORIC),
Novotel Hotel, Sydney Olympic Park, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia,
August 21-22, 2010
This 50-minute keynote will summarise and review outdoor education theory to date
and then propose a dynamic model to synthesise the main theoretical elements.
Outdoor education theories are rich and diverse, but they are also ad hoc and lacking in cohesion. This presentation will critically review major outdoor education theories to date. It will sugggest a dynamic synthesis, using a systems theory approach. This proposed model combines Deweyian theory about experiential education with seven domains of outdoor education: individual, group, facilitator, environment, program, activities, and culture. Practical and theoretical applications will be suggested.
Presenter biography
James Neill is an Associate Professor in the Centre for Applied Psychology, University of Canberra. James' PhD thesis (2008) investigated the changes in life effectiveness skills for 3000 outdoor education program participants, the largest study in the field to date. James currently teaches survey research methods, motivation, and emotion. His research expertise is in program evaluation and instrument development, experiential and challenge-based learning, and educational technology.


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PORTLAND, Ore. — Authorities say one student and a gunman are dead at a high school in the Portland, Oregon, area, and the situation is stabilized.
The Multnomah County sheriff's office said there were reports of shots fired about 8 a.m. Tuesday at Reynolds High School in Troutdale.
Students were evacuated from the school, hands on their heads, to be reunited with their parents in a supermarket parking lot.
Students inside the school were texting with their parents. A parent interviewed on TV said she had heard from her son inside the school that he was OK, but she was worried.


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Tagged: Roger Goodell
But Do We Really Want Another Tony Kornheiser?
Word on the street is that the NFL is seriously discussing holding the Super Bowl in London sometime in the near future. Now, this should probably be taken with a grain of salt since the commissioner apparently has no knowledge of these negotiations. However, to be fair, the amount of stuff that Goodell doesn't know could fill a couple oceans.
It just goes to show how global sports have become, though, even sports that we consider inherently American. The World Baseball Classic illustrated this a couple months ago and the coverage of Olympic basketball last summer outshone everything except Michael Phelps.
But if you ever had any doubts about the true worldwide saturation of sports, perhaps this will change your mind:
Yep, "Stick a fork in them, the run is over." I couldn't have said it better myself.
-Video via Deadspin


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800 x 600 screen resolution
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JonnyEFC1878 wrote:You mean like every winter since 2010? Yep. Thats exactly where we at. Serious deja vu already. The eternal optimists on here will reply saying winter hasnt begun etc but, its the same every year. Watch and learn and i'll see you this time next year for the same conversation..StefanAnderton wrote:Are we at the stage of the models where it keeps showing promise but then fizzles out? Always 10 days away from something good happening.
Winter 2017/18 moaning/despair/mild wins topic
Come and have a cosy chat in here about anything autumn or winter related, including #uksnow (UK Snow)
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darkobres necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 88 diseños de 20 diseñadores freelance.
Ta Ethne Christian Church
We are an Orthodox Christian Church interested in world and cultural unity under Christ.
Christians of any ethnicity, race or country.
Ta Ethne: means all ethno-liguistic groups of people (ethnicities/peoples, not nationalistic/man-made territories)
Christian: shouldn't need explanation, but Christ-centered should suffice. We'd like to avoid traditional imagery such as crosses, doves, praying hands, etc. We want a modern, unique logo.
Church: God's people gathered together in unity.
The logo should reflect an international perspective (again, all peoples) and be understood by most people regardless of location. Yet the logo should not be so generic that it becomes incommunicable.
Communicate orthodox Christian theology, particularly the Trinity since we are trying to emphasize the relational aspect of God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) and God's people together. Our hope is to model the kind of relationship that exists in the Trinity within this congregation.
Format: Every entry should be on a black background, white background, and show a one color example as well.
Colors: nothing flashy (e.g. neon colors)
Overall: distinct and unique; simple, but elegant.
We also want to ensure that the logo can be used in multiple settings (website, facebook, print media, billboards, etc.); that it remains crisp and clear regardless of size. Finally, we would like to include the phrase "A Ministry of the Church of God" in very small print in the logo.
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


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HIV/AIDS News
Treatment With IL-2 Plus HAART Markedly Reduces HIV in Immune System 'Hiding Places'
Individuals treated with interleukin-2 (IL-2) plus highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) have significantly fewer resting CD4+ T cells in their bloodstream which harbor HIV than patients receiving HAART alone, according to a study of 26 patients conducted at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). Resting CD4+ T cells are among the "safe havens" where HIV may persist for years - sewn into the cells' genes - despite aggressive three-drug antiretroviral therapy.
In resting CD4+ T cells taken from the bloodstream ("peripheral blood") of a small number of study patients receiving IL-2 plus HAART, the researchers have been unable to find HIV capable of replicating, even when they have looked for the virus in millions of cells with sensitive laboratory procedures.
Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., NIAID director and chief of the NIAID Laboratory of Immunoregulation (LIR), plans to present these new findings at the 36th Annual Meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America in Denver, Colo., on Sunday, November 15 at 8:30 a.m. Mountain Time. The lead LIR scientist on the new studies is Tae-Wook Chun, Ph.D., who, with Dr. Fauci and other colleagues, has published several seminal papers on latent reservoirs of HIV.
The NIAID team studied two different groups of HIV-infected patients, 12 receiving HAART (generally a combination of at least three antiretroviral drugs including a protease inhibitor) and 14 receiving HAART plus IL-2, administered either intravenously or subcutaneously. IL-2 is a regulatory protein of the immune system produced in the body by T cells. IL-2 has potent effects on the proliferation, differentiation and activity of a number of immune system cells, notably T cells. The 14 patients on HAART plus IL-2 received doses of IL-2 totaling 3 to 18 million international units per day during five-day treatment cycles, followed by a rest period of at least eight weeks before the next treatment cycle.
At the time samples were taken from the study patients, all 26 had plasma viral loads that were less than 50 HIV copies per milliliter (ml) of blood.
In six of the 14 HIV-infected individuals receiving IL-2 plus HAART, the NIAID researchers did not detect any HIV capable of replicating when they cultured 10 to 20 million peripheral blood resting CD4+ T cells from each patient. When they cultured much larger numbers of peripheral blood resting CD4+ T cells from these six individuals - up to 330 million cells per person - the researchers still could not find any replication-competent virus in three patients. In contrast, the investigators consistently have found replication-competent HIV in peripheral blood resting CD4+ T cells from each of 12 patients who received HAART alone.
The researchers then performed a lymph node biopsy on one of the three patients treated with IL-2 plus HAART in whom no virus was found in peripheral blood resting CD4+ T cells. Replication-competent HIV could not be isolated from the lymph node tissue that they examined.
Our new data suggest that in HAART-treated patients, interleukin-2 may have a role in reducing this "reservoir" of virus, where HIV would otherwise remain sequestered from the immune system," says Dr. Fauci.
Scientists believe that other hidden reservoirs of HIV exist, and may include the brain, testes, CD4+ T cells in other lymphoid organs such as the gut, and other immune system cells such as macrophages. Together, these potential viral sanctuaries pose a formidable obstacle to the ultimate control or eradication of HIV from an infected person's body. Investigators at NIAID and elsewhere are developing strategies to diminish the amount of virus in these hiding places, speculating that a smaller pool of latently infected cells would more likely be controlled by the immune system of the patient.
"We look forward to extending and elaborating on these observations," says Dr. Fauci. "In particular, we hope to determine the mechanisms of the observed effects, which currently are unclear. It will also be crucial to determine the clinical relevance of reducing the size of the latently infected resting CD4+ T-cell pool.
"The final proof of the feasibility of effectively controlling replication-competent HIV in latently infected cells will be discontinuation of HAART and long-term follow-up," Dr. Fauci notes.
NIAID is a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). NIAID conducts and supports research to prevent, diagnose and treat illnesses such as HIV disease and other sexually transmitted diseases, tuberculosis, malaria, asthma and allergies. NIH is an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
HIV-infected individuals interested in AIDS clinical trials at NIH, including studies involving IL-2, may call 1-800-AIDS-NIH.
Press releases, fact sheets and other NIAID-related materials are available on the NIAID Web site at http://www.niaid.nih.gov.


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Floral leggings (on model Sasha Pivovarova) are in full bloom this season.
Photo: Imaxtree
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