text:
Here then, are just a few of the highlights from the last year and a half . . . we'd really like to hear from you in the comments. What memories do you have?
Strand of Oaks
So everyone's prepared for Joe Pug because of all the videos but then I introduce Strand of Oaks which must be confusing. Tim comes out all trucker hat and quiet and simply kills everyone with that sound and that voice – all hushed urgency and dread with underlying hope. A friend comes up to me after the set and just stares at me for about three beats then says "Holy Shit". Exactly, I say.
Joe Pug
On a Tuesday night in April Joe Pug kicks off The Billsville House Concert series. Yeah, we hear "the new Bob Dylan" once a week but there are few who can draw close to that comparison – Joe's one of them. He closes the show by asking me "Doug, is there something you want to hear?" The question jolts me out of the trance I've been in for the last 90 minutes induced by having one of my Top 5 performers of the last year playing music in our living room. I request "Call It What You Will" and Joe delivers an effortless, beautifully nuanced version that I'll remember always.
Call it what you will, I'm heartbroken still, words are just words.
Dan Mangan
Dan Mangan is "Big in Canada" but relatively unknown here. He agrees to play a show on the day before he is booked at the Albany Tulip Festival ($!!) and proceeds to literally kill it in front of a crowd who has no idea who this supremely talented guy is. A rousing "Robot's" ALMOST ends a set that brings us a batch of new songs off the record that quite a few critics will put in their top 10 releases of the year. We say ALMOST because Dan follows it up with an amazing rendition of Elliot Smith's "Waltz #2" that Dan calls a "kind of a perfect song". Dan's final on stage words are, essentially, praise for house concerts and music fans as he quotes Margaret Mead " Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
We stay up until 3AM learning more about the intricacies of Canadian politics (while drinking copius amounts of red wine) than I might have thought possible. In the morning, Dan leaves with his very own robot made from cardboard and duct tape and plays in front of a hometown crowd of 12,000 people a week later.
Guggenheim Grotto
What needs to be said about a perfect Berkshire night that ends like this? Other than it did not end until we sang a song by EVERY IRISH MALE SINGER until 3AM in the barn.
David Wax
So David and Suz show up and the crowd gets the feeling they are going to take off. Which they do. They connect with the crowd immediately (the donkey jawbone sure doesn't hurt) and lead everyone around the hallway and back into the living room for a crazy dance off. They'll go on to play the main stage at the Newport Folk Festival in just a few weeks.
Sarah Borges
What needs to be said about Sarah Borges – at 8 1/2 months pregnant she can bring it like no one else. Sarah puts everyone in the room at ease with her self-deprecating humor and that rare ability to make you feel like you've known her for years in about 30 seconds.
Maryse Smith drove down from Burlington, VT after I harass her into performing. I'd only read about her and listened on her Bandcamp page. Lots of folks I respect up in Burlington are talking about her and I convince her to come and play for tips. Here's a woman with a lot to say and she does so with such an offbeat delivery that you can't help but pay attention. Sometimes Maryse shoves what should be too many syllables into a single line only to have them come out sounding fantastic on the other end. We're excited to see where Maryse goes.
Anais Mitchell brought her voice, guitar and songs to a eager and loving crowd on a muggy July night. I'm not exaggerating when I say the audience was transfixed the entire night. Anais played songs from "Hadestown" – one of the records on my "Best of 2010" list as well as a few new amazing tunes from her new record tentatively set for a February release. We basked in music, lyrical poetry and good spirits for almost two full hours. The night ended as one of these special evenings often does, with a full participation sing along to "Goodnight Irene".
Brown Bird
I introduce Brown Bird to a house full of about 45 people, hear one song, and then leave. Caroline misses most of the show as well because of what we'll call "kid logistics". I return to hear the final two songs and Caroline makes it back for the dying applause on the last song. David and MorganEve then steal our hearts by playing a seven song min-set for us after everyone has gone home including letting Kai sing all the words he has learned to "What Do You Do With A Drunken Sailor" thanks to the Williamstown Theatre Festival's outdoor theater.
Brown Bird becomes out "Go To" band and has performed twice more in Williamstown to even larger crowds.
Ethan and a few of the Circus Smirkus kids jam with the band into the night.
Sarah Lee & Johnny
I confirm the gig with Johnny via a cell phone call in the parking lot of Stop & Shop. Fitting, for a show that is the closest to "local" that we've had. Sarah Lee & Johnny arrive humble, professional and then proceed to slay us with their close harmonies and dynamics.
Kingsley Flood
We poach Kingsley Flood for an afternoon show before their late night appearance in Pittsfield. First show with the local Taco Truck in attendance and on a beautiful summer day we get the rollicking vibe and good time fun that only happens in these settings. Hey, Magic Hat is selling #9 in cans! And it's good!
The Mommyheads
Some of the Mommyheads were skeptical about this performance, this "barn show". They aren't anymore.
Jenny Owen Youngs
Jenny sent us Gorilla coffee from Brooklyn after the show – which is a HUGE WIN FOR ME. From time to time we log into StageIt to watch Jenny perform a few songs from her living room and she always has something charming to say to the kids.
Swear and Shake
Swear and Shake filled the house to the brim and delivered a sweet set of indie folk tunes that ended with some charming piano songs. I forced Kari to play "Do Right Woman" – to all of you who heard it, you're welcome.
Caroline Smith and the Good Night Sleeps
Pre-show warmup
We thought we'd do this show and then take a little break from the house concert thing. When Caroline stood on the table and delivered a walloping version of "Drown In My Own Tears" I could of ended the whole thing forever on an up note. Thankfully, I got an email the next day from . . .
Sonya Kitchell // Elizabeth and the Catapult
So much talent in our little house. So much. Elizabeth played "Thank You For Nothing" as the first song of the night. I think the whole room held their breath the entire song and we were all stunned at what we had just witnessed. Sonya was hypnotizing and her voice, her voice! Holy everything.
Later Kai shot Elizabeth in the eye with a nerf gun and scratched her cornea. This is what memories are made of.
Spirit Family Reunion
In the middle of this show we thanked our contractor for shoring up the floor joists in the basement. The crowd sat in their chairs for all of 30 seconds and we danced the rest of the evening in a joyful sweaty mess.
Liz Longley
It's hard to miss Liz's songwriting talent as she delivers lyrical wonders song after song. We got a special version of "Unraveling" on the Steinway to end the evening.
Joe Fletcher
We knew we liked Joe going in, we liked him more as the night progressed. Lyrical, sardonic and witty – Joe captivated us all that evening.
Jonah Tolchin
We convinced Jonah to stop by on his way to another gig and we're glad we did. Here's a kid whose talent is hidden behind polite humility. When he stands up to sing . . .
Plume Giant
Ethan puts up a web cam and pulls the sound from the mixer. Techy!
Ellis Paul / Peyton Totchterman
Ellis Paul at our house? With his career? How lucky were we? Radoslav Lorkovic turns our $50 piano into a million dollar machine.
Spirit Family Reunion // Hurray for the Riff Raff // Broken Wing Routine
Was this the show of shows? 175 people in a beautiful barn – this is what a night of music should be all about.
Joe Fletcher
Joe warms up for his richly deserved debut at the Newport Folk Festival
- Post title from the lyric's to Joe Pug's "Hymn 101"
Yeah I've come to know the wish list of my father
I've come to know the shipwrecks where he wished
I've come to wish aloud among the over dressed crowd
Come to witness now the sinking of the ship
Throwing pennies from the sea top next to it
And I've come to roam the forest past the village
With a dozen lazy horses in my cart
I've come here to get high,
To do more than just get by.
I've come to test the timbre of my heart
Oh, I've come to test the timbre of my heart
And I've come to be untroubled in my seeking
And I've come to see that nothing is for naught
I've come to reach out blind
to reach forward and behind
For the more I seek the more I'm sought
Yeah, the more I seek the more I'm sought.
And I've come to meet the sheriff and his posse
To offer him the broadside of my jaw
I've come here to get broke
Then maybe bum a smoke
We'll go drinking two towns over after all
Oh, we'll go drinking two towns over after all.
And I've come to meet the legendary takers
I've only come to ask them for a lot
Oh they say I come with less
than I should rightfully posses
I say the more I buy the more I'm bought
And the more I'm bought the less I cost
And I've come to take their servants and their surplus
And I've come to take their raincoats and their speed
I've come to get my fill
To ransack and spill
I've come to take the harvest for the seed
I've come to take the harvest for the seed
And I've come to know the manger that you sleep in
I've come to be the stranger that you keep
I've come from down the road
And my footsteps never slowed
Before we met, I knew we'd meet
Before we met, I knew we'd meet
And I've come here to ignore your cries and heartaches
I've come to closely listen to you sing
I've come here to insist
That I leave here with a kiss
I've come to say exactly what I mean
and I mean so many things.
And you've come to know me stubborn as a butcher
and you've come to know me thankless as a guest
but will you recognize my face when gods awful grace
strips me of my jacket and my vest
and reveals all the treasure in my chest


text:
Sports News of Thursday, 28 February 2019
Source: GHANAsoccernet.com
Nkana FC Chief Executive Officer Charles (CEO) Chakatayza has indicated that Nkana FC have accepted a challenge from arch-rivals Hearts of Oak to defeat Asante Kotoko on Sunday in the CAF Confederation Cup match day four to be played at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium
According to Charles, they were met at the Kotoka International Airport by some Hearts of Oak supporters who challenged them to beat arch-rivals Asante Kotoko in Sunday's game. Nkana FC arrived in Ghana on Wednesday
"Hearts of Oak supporters met us at the Kotoka International Airport and told us to beat Kotoko for them. We accepted the challenge and told them we will do that for them, he told Oyerepa FM.
Meanwhile, the Public Relations Officer of the National Chapters Committee of Hearts of Oak has publicly voiced out that his outfit will support Nkana both physically and spiritually to defeat arch-rivals on Sunday
"When Nkana FC arrived, they wanted someone who can lead and direct them so they called on me; because they have the likes of Ben Adama and Richard Okran who are Ghanaians, I accepted to lead them" he told Kobby Stone on Asempa FM
"Ali Maradona in our champions league game in Obuasi did the same thing by leading officials of Eyimba FC. He advised them to the extent that, they rejected the bus which we gave them and defeated us in addition.
"For now I will be helping them [Nkana FC] with the spiritual aspect because, we don't want to reveal our identity in Kumasi; we have been tasked to work underground."
"By all means NKana FC must qualify because Kotoko are playing in the CAF Confederations Cup by default. They are in Africa because we aren't playing any competitive football in Ghana; so they they have to join us [Hearts of Oak] at home.
"Every club is paying salaries so one club should not get that monopoly and raise shoulders, by all means Kotoko have to come home."
Asante Kotoko lost the first leg to the Zambia side in Kitwe as the game ended 3-1.
A win on Sunday will keep their chances of qualifying out of the group

subset: commoncrawl


text:
I wanted to take a stab at depth of field, I had a few goals in mind:
- The bokeh should be a natural part of the algorithm, I didn't want to use draw indirect to layer a bokeh effect on top.
- The algorithm should be fast enough to use in a 16ms or 33ms production environment
- It should not have artifacts or halos in the near blur or the far blur, it should look much like reference DOF shots
- The algorithm should work in HDR space and be compatible with other post effects such as SSR
I call it Practical Edge Preserving Depth of Field because I feel it's descriptive to what is going on:
- Practical: It's easy to implement, understand, and it runs at ~0.5ms on current GPUs
- Edge Preserving: Nothing fancy here; I wanted to make sure the near blur, focal range, and far blur did not incorrectly halo or bleed into each other. For the most part I accomplished this.
Overall I'm happy with the results – you can judge for yourself. I did the majority of profiling on an Nvidia 1080 Ti; the entire DOF time is ~.45ms at 1080p and ~1.8ms at 4K. I was hoping to keep it under 1ms at 4K but…oh well, maybe I'll revisit it later.
I'll start with the results and I'll follow up with the algorithm…
Near Blur
In the first screenshot, pay attention to where the foreground blurred leaves bleed into the focal range. Notice the focal range in this area stays perfectly in focus and does not suffer from unnatural darkening or lightening.
I believe this behavior closely matches these reference picture I found:
Notice how the rock in the foreground has a subtle blur which bleeds into the focal range.
Similar to the rock, notice how the blurred leaf bleeds into the focal range of the strawberry.
Far Blur
The next set of screenshots are to show off the far bokeh variants you can get by adjusting the kernel size. The kernel sizes for the images are 5, 10, and 20.
These are similar to an indoor restaurant shot I found:
Overall I think it turned out well, but it's not perfect. I'd like it to be customizable so it can have a more hexagonal shape if desired. I'll touch on that later in my "Areas for Improvement" section.
Finally, it seems every depth of field technique has an extreme screenshot – which is what you see here, I flew far away from the bistro:
Very close to this reference shot, I just wish I had more colored lights 🙂
The Practical Edge Preserving Depth of Field works in three stages:
- Circle of Confusion (CoC) / Split – For each texel the near/far CoC is computed from the depth buffer, then two quarter resolution color buffers (near/far) are computed, and finally the far CoC is saved to a full resolution buffer.
- Blur – A custom bokeh blur is performed on the near and far field, then a two pass Gaussian blur is performed to smooth out the bokeh. I say custom because there is some additional logic to prevent incorrect bleeding and haloing.
- Composite – The near/far blurs are composited onto our HDR buffer
Stage 1: CoC/Split
First part of the stage is computing the CoC – I compute a floating point value for the near and far plane's CoC. The second part is saving the color buffer data out to two 1/4 resolution color buffers, one for the near plane, and one for the far plane. However there is a key part here; these color buffers include an alpha channel, and that alpha is set to the respective CoC value. The subsequent blur passes will use this value to decide how much a texel should contribute to the blur. I'll cover this in detail during the blur description. Finally, the far CoC value is written out to a full resolution R8_UNORM target which will be used during the blur and composite steps.
Here's the code for that logic:
// write to full resolution coc
g_coc[ d_pixel ] = coc.y;
// write to quarter res color buffers
if ( (d_pixel.x & 0x1) == 0 && (d_pixel.y & 0x1) == 0 )
const float2 uv = (d_pixel + .5) / (float2) dispatch_res;
const float3 color = g_hdr.SampleLevel(g_sampler, uv, 0);
int2 dof_res;
g_dof.GetDimensions( dof_res.x, dof_res.y );
float2 dof_pixel = d_pixel * .5;
// near coc
g_dof[ dof_pixel ] = float4( color, coc.x );
// far coc
g_dof[ dof_pixel + int2(dof_res.x * .5, 1) ] = float4( color, coc.y );
Stage 2: Blur
There are two separate blurs, a bokeh blur and a two pass Gaussian blur; however they are handled differently depending on whether they're blurring the near field or the far field. The goal of the near blur is to correctly bleed the blurred texels into the focal range without incorrect lightening, darkening, haloing, or smeared focal range texels. The goal of the far blur is to not include any texels in the focal range or bleed into the focal range; otherwise there would be unnecessary haloing, blurring, or smearing around objects in focus.
For the near blur, I use a bokeh blur pattern to sample the texel. This pattern was created offline by using sin/cos to generate sampling points at an increasing frequency as their distance to the center increases (this pattern was inspired by Unity's bokeh). When blurring I ignore any texels with 0 alpha values, these texels have no CoC and should not be included in the blur. If we included them it would cause smearing of focal range texels as part of the bokeh.
// only use pixels which should have some blur (alpha > 0)
// this prevents smeering of focal pixels in the foreground blur
float4 blur_color = color[ 0 ];
int valid_count = 1;
for ( i = 0; i < total_colors; i++ )
if ( color[ i ].a > 0 )
blur_color += color[i];
blur_color /= valid_count;
blur_color.a = 1;
return blur_color;
After the near blur bokeh I perform a 2 pass custom Gaussian blur to smooth out the bokeh, I say custom because I use a standard Gaussian blur routine to sample each texel in the near field, but I compute the average color of all the texels which have an alpha > 0 (anything with a non-zero alpha value should contribute to the blur). Then, when computing the final blur color with the Gaussian weights, I use the color at that texel if it is an alpha > 0 or the average color (discussed previously) if that texel shouldn't be in the blur. This allows each texel to maintain the color energy of the original texel but prevents texels outside of the near blur field from being included in the blur. Technically the sampler will do a bilinear blend so we will blur a small amount of focal texels, but because we also use the alpha as our 'bleed amount' over the focal range (see the composite section), there aren't any apparent artifacts.
// replace 0 alpha colors with color at sample 0
//(prevents bringing in unwanted focal colors)
float3 avg_color = 0;
int i;
for ( i = 0; i < total_colors; i++ )
avg_color += color[ i ].a > 0 ? color[ i ].rgb : color[ 0 ].rgb;
avg_color = avg_color / total_colors;
float4 blur_color = 0;
for ( i = 0; i < total_colors; i++ )
blur_color += (color[ i ].a > 0 ? color[ i ] : float4(avg_color, color[i].a)) * weights[ i ];
return blur_color;
The far blur is very similar to the near blur, with a few notable exceptions:
First, if the CoC is 0 I early out and perform no blurring, whereas the near blur will still perform a blur if any texels sampled should be included in a blur. This is because the near blur should have some bleeding into the focal range whereas the far blur must stay distinct from the focal range (refer back to the reference shots).
Second, for both the bokeh and guassian blurs; the far blur weights the texels by their CoC (the alpha value), basically how much the energy from those texel should "spread" to the texel we're blurring. This will prevent unnecessary bleeding or haloing. You'll see from the two code snippets below…
So.. for the bokeh blending:
float4 blur_color = color[ 0 ];
float valid_count = 2;
// a little extra wait for our center color
// helps prevents holes in the middle
blur_color *= valid_count;
for ( i = 0; i < total_colors; i++ )
blur_color += (color[i] * color[i].a);
valid_count += color[i].a;
blur_color /= valid_count;
// this pixel has blur
// mark it as such (with the alpha) so the gauss blur passes
// will make sure to incorporate it
blur_color.a = 1;
return blur_color;
And for the Gaussian blending:
// replace colors with alpha != 1 with color at sample 0
// (prevents haloing of unwanted focal colors)
float3 avg_color = 0;
int i;
for ( i = 0; i < total_colors; i++ )
avg_color += color[ i ].a == 1 ? color[ i ].rgb : color[ 0 ].rgb;
avg_color = avg_color / total_colors;
float4 blur_color = 0;
for ( i = 0; i < total_colors; i++ )
blur_color += (color[ i ].a == 1 ? color[ i ] : float4(avg_color, color[i].a)) * weights[ i ];
// this pixel has blur
// mark it as such (with the alpha) so the gauss blur passes
// will make sure to incorporate it
blur_color.a = 1;
return blur_color;
Stage 3: Composite
Composite is pretty straight forward, first I sample the current HDR texel and the far CoC value at the current texel and then I blend in the far blur texel based on the CoC value.
Finally, I sample the near blur and blend based on its alpha and the far CoC. The alpha allows the near blur to bleed into the focal range (correct behavior) and the CoC allows the far blur to always trump the near blur. This prevents the near blur to focal transition range (e.g. the soft edges on the leaves) from drawing over the far blur, thus causing a weird brief 'in focus' halo at the edges of the near blur when it overlaps a far blur. Unfortunately this has the negative trade off of near blur not bleeding and fading out over the far blur, you can see that in these two plant screenshots. In the first one the leaves correctly blur over the focal range:
But in the second on the far blur is behind the plant and the leaves do not correctly fade into the far blur – they have a more abrupt cutoff. This is because the 'fading' part of the leaves also contain the focal range texels and this would cause the weird 'in focus' halo:
Here's the composite:
float coc = g_coc_map[ d_pixel ];
float4 dof_near = g_dof_map.SampleLevel( g_input_sampler, near_uv, 0 );
float3 color = g_hdr[ d_pixel ];
if ( coc > 0 )
float4 far_color = g_dof_map.SampleLevel( g_input_sampler, far_uv, 0 );
color = lerp( color, far_color.rgb, coc );
float alpha = dof_near.a * (1.0 - coc); // fade the more we're going into far blur territory
color = lerp( color, dof_near.rgb, alpha );
g_hdr[ d_pixel ] = color;
Areas for improvements
There are some performance and visual improvements I'd like to explore in the future:
- Preblur: There is shimmering during slow movement due to the near and far buffers being quarter resolution (1/2 x 1/2), this can be mostly resolved by slightly softening (i.e. blurring) the color buffer before writing to the near and far buffers. I've done this in a separate implementation but haven't had the time to do it here.
- Performance: The blur texture is twice as wide as the scene, the first half holding the near blur and the second half holding the far blur. In theory the far blur doesn't need an alpha value so I could try separating the textures which would allow the near blur to be R11G11B10 instead of the current R16G16B16A16.
- Visual: It bugs me that the near blur doesn't bleed into the far blur (see the leaves in the last screen shot); I'll probably investigate some sort of smarter near/far logic when splitting the blur planes.
- Visual: A more customizable bokeh blur, I'd like to have the option of having a more hexagonal look with hard edges. I might need to do some sort of indirect draw and specify specific bokeh locations.
- Visual: Customize the bokeh kernel size based on the CoC values. I attempted this but in practice it didn't look any better and was more expensive, however it's worth revisiting in the future.
If you're interested in checking out the results, you can find the code+data+binaries here:
The shaders I described here are in the Game/Shared/Shaders directory:
- DofCoC.hlsl <- CoC calculation and splitting up the planes
- DofNearBlur.hlsl <- near field blur routines
- DofFarBlur.hlsl <- far field blur routines
- DofComposite.hlsl <- composite back to HDR
The readme.md will have most of the details.
These are the DOF techniques I read up on before diving in myself:
- https://bartwronski.com/2014/04/07/bokeh-depth-of-field-going-insane-part-1/
- https://www.ea.com/frostbite/news/more-performance-five-rendering-ideas-from-battlefield-3-and-need-for-speed-the-run
- https://mynameismjp.wordpress.com/2011/02/28/bokeh/
- https://catlikecoding.com/unity/tutorials/advanced-rendering/depth-of-field/


text:
Escaping the Storms
I shared an essay recently on the wonder and beauty of snow days … and was called out by a good friend. "I call foul! You cannot blog about snow if you are not in it!!"
Ok, that's fair. I will come clean.
It's true. I launched that essay from the warmth of sunny Florida. There. I said it.
Getting off a plane from Cleveland and stepping out into the warmth and greenery of Florida is like Dorothy opening the door from black and white Kansas to colorful Oz. It's like being in a different reality, a different planet. "How could I have been in a heavy winter coat this morning and a bathing suit this afternoon?" I thought as I stared blankly at the ocean.
My first trip to Florida was when I was in middle school and my dad had a business trip to Disney World. Rather than leave a twelve year old behind with four teenage brothers, they (wisely) chose to bring me with them. Big Jack was on the board of Geauga Lake Amusement Park in Greater Cleveland and he and his colleague, Dale and his wife, Bonnie were going to learn from Disney World how to make Geauga Lake better.
So there we were, Marge, Jack, Dale, Bonnie … and twelve year old me at Disney World. While Jack admired the gorgeous landscaping and efficiencies of the park, Dale, Bonnie and I tackled Space Mountain together. (Marge would sooner stand on her head than get on a roller coaster). I only remember the screaming. Of course I had to scream on the roller coaster, but It felt so strange to do so with complete adult strangers. It felt awkward and creepy. (Not as creepy as "It's a Small World After All," but still.)
While Jack loved the sun, the flowers and the fresh fish in Florida, Marge didn't like it much. "Florida is full of old people," she would say, herself an old person at the time. "And all they ever talk about is the weather, what they just ate, and when they're eating again." I have to say, she was right about all of that.
While I do, indeed, enjoy a good warm weather escape, I have a complicated relationship with the beach, Florida, the sun. After all, I'm an Irish gal, so, you know … the sun and I don't really get along. I love her warmth, I love the ocean … but the idea of laying oneself down in a back yard in Ohio in the middle of a humid summer day to bake in the sun? No, that never appealed to me. Not even in my youth, but that was mostly because if my father ever saw me outside in the yard, he'd give me a chore to do out there. "Mary! Weed that back acre while you're out there! And go ahead and plant those begonias. And water them, too!" Anyway, just laying there? Sweating? Burning? Getting more … and more … and more freckles, and weak from dehydration. No thank you.
It is a full time job for an Irish gal on the beach. Constantly moving the umbrella, shifting the towels, reapplying factor 100 after swimming, sweating, breathing. I learned my lesson years ago about the importance of reapplying sunscreen. I burned the living snot out of my entire body because I was having such a gosh darned good time playing in the waves for hours. That night, I was up all night with chills and vomiting. It was ugly.
Never again.
So consequently, for the rest of my adult life I have looked like either a toddler or a paranoid senior citizen on the beach, with my rash guard, SPF shirt, wide brimmed hat and all. Every year I am amazed at the power of sunscreen. Unfailingly, somewhere on my body there is a bright red, blazing sign of the patch of pasty white skin that I missed: a shoulder, the top of a foot, the small of the back. Sometimes it's a fetching imprint of a hand or finger somewhere on my body that I didn't quite rub in well enough. Secret scarlet Memento-like messages emblazoned all over my body. This year, the missed real estate was the back of my thighs, right under my butt cheeks. A special look, indeed.
I was never going to be that sexy girl on the beach. After all, when I lived in Spain for a while, my nickname was "La Blanca Muerta" (the dead white girl). When I first started going to Miami with my husband and in-laws, I was in awe of the beach babes there. Bronzed to a fair thee well, scantily clad. I was mesmerized by the cavalier manner in which they just … hung out on the beach. No frantic, fearful cowering from the sun. Only the occasional spritzing of themselves with water, sipping some diet soda or whatever, casually brushing their pert fannies free from sand. While I'm forever picking my wedgie, pulling my suit down to cover my ass, tugging my top to keep myself decent, and picking my own hair out of my mouth, these dames are … just sitting there. They turn their faces turned TOWARDS the sun, hair gently tickling their face and shoulders. I would stand there, staring, thinking, "It's like we are completely different animals. Like a cat and a dog. Or a gazelle and a turtle." Then a little old woman would come rushing up to me and say, "Honey! You've gotta be careful out here! This sun is very strong you know … I'm just sayin …"
"Yep, I know …"
A few years ago I was invited to a fancy schmancy event and decided I would try a spray tan. Timid, I went for the lightest tint they had available. "I just want my legs to not look like cadavers," I told the technician as I stood before her naked, but for a paper doily covering my crotch area. Sadly, I ended up looking like I had a liver condition. "Oh the hell with it," I thought to myself after the soiree. I am what I am.
I'm back in The Great White North now, the swaying palm trees and the roaring ocean just a distant memory. While it is still frigid on the North Coast, it is relaxing on a different level to be back in my element, to let my guard down. No sunscreen sprays, no hiding from the sun, no doing hourly skin checks for signs of burning.
Lord knows, I won't see the sun in these parts until about June.
Good thing I've got leftover sunscreen.


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The basis of volunteer work is to do work that requires to be done for the benefit of society or the environment without any financial recompense. It is a socialist concept and one that isn't tremendously popular in our predominantly capitalist society. Whilst living in north-eastern France for the last three and a half years, I discovered that the concept of volunteering is at the heart of their society. I too participated and was a member of a particular group that organised music festivals and cultural events in the local area. There was no financial reward and if you were to break it completely down we were typically out of pocket due to travel expenses and such. But the sense of achievement and fun we had typically made up for losing our weekends and evenings to long hard days of cooking food, pulling beer and being on our feet for 15 hours at a time. But this article isn't about the wonders of volunteering in France but what we were astounded by when we went to Southern Africa this year. My girlfriend and I have just returned from a three-month trip in Southern Africa. We hitch-hiked from Namibia to Zimbabwe and continued through Zambia into Malawi. Our journey covered thousands of kilometres, meeting hundreds of people along the way. The cultures and languages within countries and across borders are fascinating and vary to a greater extent than those between neighbouring European states.
What we found in southern Africa was that 'volunteering' is a massive industry. But the definition of volunteering is different. What we discovered was that the premise of most 'volunteer' projects is that the locals are incapable of developing themselves because they are inherently incapable or culturally inept in making the necessary changes. This premise has to be true in order to justify, say, an eighteen year old, with no previous experience of development work nor knowledge of African culture or history to start telling communities what to do in teaching or health or construction or whatever projects he might be involved in. It is quite simply absurd to think that untrained westerners have a better idea of how people from a different continent, culture, lifestyle, climate should live their lives than they do, or what is best for them in terms of development. Even the experts are continually getting it wrong.
I have seen 'volunteer' projects advertised for teaching assistants, sport teachers, medical projects, helping to build a school/hospital or helping to look after animals. Expertise required to join these projects? None. The volunteer does not have to be an expert in his field. The teachers do not have to have any previous teaching experience, the medical helpers no medical or nursing experience and the one helping to look after animals, no zoo-keeping experience or zoology knowledge.
These projects are funded by the volunteer who makes a payment of between hundreds to thousands of pounds to attend a project of duration of typically two weeks to two months. I find that a simple way of determining who is the real beneficiary is by following the money. Whoever is paying is the ultimate beneficiary.
The volunteer benefits from learning about a new culture, experiencing a different lifestyle or close interaction with children or animals. In comparison, the communities that the volunteer has come to help in put up with the westerners with bemusement and with the infinite politeness that is common in these parts.
One day, we inadvertently overheard a conversation between a volunteer agency and leaders of the local community. The volunteer agency stated that they had X number of volunteers arriving soon who want to be involved in teaching sports. They asked the local community leaders whether they could accommodate this. It seems that the 'need' for volunteers has not come from the community but rather it is suggested to them from savvy volunteer tour agencies. The link between supply and demand has been lost somewhere in the world of business.
I believe it is important to think about what sort of volunteers are required for a particular need. Wouldn't, for example, asking a group of professional teachers to lead a course to train local teachers who will stay in the community their whole lives be more beneficial for the long-term development of a school?
Nevertheless I must finish by saying that most of the volunteering programmes are not inherently bad. From my point of view they are tourism trips and should be labelled as such. They are rewarding to the participant and if managed properly the projects may benefit the local community. However they can be detrimental to development when communities stop doing things for themselves: We came across one village chief who mistook us for volunteers. After greeting us he declared that it is good that we are there and that he is relying on us to develop their country for them.


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come and be an archaeologist! Learn to decode the Museums Roman tombstone inscriptions including the recently discovered Bodicacia tombstone. Have a go at using the Roman alphabet to write your own name. Included in admission Free for season ticket holders.
Back to All Events
Earlier Event: 26 OctoberBreastfeeding Encouragement & Support Team in Cirencester
Later Event: 26 OctoberTour of Cirencester Parish Church


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There is one thing that every small business owner has in common.
Every single one strives toward growth: whether it's growth in their sales, their team, their range or their online presence, it's the driving factor behind all their decisions. It's what makes them who they are and it's crucial to success.
We understand that always having your mind focused on growth can mean you don't always have time to research ways to make things more efficient. So we've done the hard work for you and collated a list of online tools that have completely changed the way we work. Isn't technology great?! They can help you improve your brand, be more efficient in your time and increase your quality of work. And – the best part – they're all FREE!
1. Slack
We use Slack all the time! It is very common for our team to be based at different sites throughout the week, so we use Slack to stay in contact. In our humble opinion, it's the best team communication tool available.
The best part about Slack is that it sorts and stores conversations in separate channels. You can make a channel for a certain team, project, topic, etc. Go ahead – try it out! And see how quickly it improves your efficiency and company communication.
2. Wunderlist
Essentially, Wunderlist is a to-do app, but it also allows you to share lists with others and assign them tasks too. At MIC, we use it to remind each other of tasks, to keep each other accountable, and to help keep us all sane. And anyway, who doesn't love that satisfying feeling of checking something off a list?
3. Canva
Our belief is that Canva is one of the best online tools in the world. It's a graphic design platform that can transform even the least creative person into a graphics genius. With simple tools and countless templates to choose from, Canva can change the quality of your social media/marketing content overnight.
4. UnSplash
High quality photos, available to use commercially, ready to be downloaded, copied and distributed, and no requirement to credit the owner – all for free. This website is full of amazing images that can be used for your unique marketing purposes.
Every day you should do at least one thing that helps you toward further growth. Let today be the day you sign up for these tools. Tomorrow, you can discover how they work and by next week I guarantee you'll be using them daily like we do.
Looking for more ways to grow your small business? Check out our upcoming workshops and events on our Events page to learn how to continue building your brand.


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Return to Headlines
Fourteen WPS teachers receive grants
Fourteen WPS teachers receive grants
Fourteen Wichita Public Schools teachers have received grants from Credit Union of America's TGIF grant (Teacher Grants…Ideas Financed) program.
This semester's awards total $9,410 distributed to 22 teachers within eight communities in south central Kansas. Grants ranged from $150 ‐ $500.
CUA has distributed $204,112.99 to 579 Kansas teachers for classrooms over the life of the TGIF program. The grant applications are blindly evaluated for classroom creativity, need, and number of students reached.
Teachers can now apply for the next round of grants at CUofAmerica.com/TGIF. Application deadline is midnight, central time, June 30, 2019.
- Debra Anderson, Riverside Leadership Magnet Elementary School, Building our FUTURE – One Block at a Time
- Angie Bolster‐Epps, Jardine STEM and Career Explorations Academy, It's Electric
- Brandon Bench, Mueller Aerospace and Engineering Discovery Magnet Elementary School, Problem Solving & Reasoning with Robotics
- Julie Dunkelberger, East High School, Spanish Novels for High School Free‐Reading
- Connie Foster, Levy Special Education Center, Counting Down to Transitions
- Carrie Kessler, Robinson Middle School, Encouraging Movement While Learning
- Kymberly Milne, Beech Elementary, Earbuds for Dreambox
- Hannah Podschun, Brooks Center for STEM and Arts Magnet Middle School, Student Ambassadors
- Angela Qintana Oropeza, Stucky Middle School, Stories with Senor Wooly
- Debra Southworth, Wells Alternative Middle School, High Interest Low Level Reading for Middle School Students
- Jennifer Talkington Sy, Jardine STEM and Career Explorations Academy, Project Clean, Fresh and Ready to Learn
- Kaitlyn Wall, Pleasant Valley Elementary, Clay Art Project
- Sarah Westbury, Franklin Elementary, Getting Groovy with Google Chromebooks
- Megan Westfahl, Earhart Environmental Magnet Elementary School, Bringing Disc Golf to School


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13 Places to Sneak In a Desk/
There's no need to work at the kitchen table with so many other spots for a workstation at home
By Michelle Gage / Courtesy of Houzz.com
If you don't have the luxury of designating an entire room in your house as an office, don't worry: You have other options. Whether it's a closet or a corner of the laundry room, there are plenty of places where you can squeeze in a desk. Here are 13 of our favorite spots for locating a workstation at home.
1. Bedroom. Large closets in a bedroom can leave you without a need for a dresser. Use that area for a desk instead. In such a soothing space, you can work in serenity.
2. Kitchen. The hub of the home, the kitchen is a natural place for a desk, but don't expect to get a ton of work done while the family is buzzing about. When dinner is over and people retreat to their quiet spaces, this desk is all yours.
3. Laundry room. Find a nook in your laundry room that can be dedicated to bill paying or homework, and get extra use out of a space that isn't frequented all that often. Even if you run three loads a week, this room is still usually a quiet place to slink off to.
4. Living room. Don't overlook the living room. Sneak a little desk action into an empty pocket of space. High shelves above can be decorated with both office supplies and decor.
5. Nursery. Share the nursery with your little one. If you don't need a ton of paper storage, consider keeping clothes in the desk drawers.
6. Playroom. If you pay most of your bills after the kids are asleep, think about putting a desk in their playspace. They can use it at homework time, but once they hit the hay, the room is yours.
7. Closet. Convert an unused coat or game closet into a mini office. Remove the door and add shelving. A little wallpaper and colorful accessories go a long way toward helping this closet feel more like a real room.
8. Dining room. If you're in no need of a china cabinet, consider adding a desk to your dining room. You can always keep dishes in the drawers.
9. Basement. If you're lucky enough to have a large finished basement, you can have a game room and a workstation to boot. It's the perfect place to take a break from a grueling game of table tennis.
10. Bookshelves. Turn your built-in bookcase into a desk without adding to its footprint by converting what you have to do double duty.
11. Mudroom. Among the cubbies that keep your coats organized in the mudroom, there may be space to fit in a small desk. Differentiate it from the rest of the area with a chalkboard wall. You can glance at your agenda, grab your stuff and go.
12. Entryway. Instead of putting a conventional console table in your foyer, consider going all out with a desk setup. It'll give you a place to drop your keys and catch up on correspondence.
13. Unused space. Long shelving can turn an awkward nook into a home office. Walk around your home in search of unused space. If you've been struggling with how to fill it, think no further: You just found your new office.


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Moscow Public Schools
The 50States Moscow school directory. Find Moscow , Maine school addresses, phone numbers and other school info.
Go To: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Moscow Elementary
Students/Teachers: 101 / 8
Grades: Pre-School - 3
PO Box 649
Moscow, ME 04920


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I love the Courtyard Marriott chain, and this location is no exception. You always get a consistently good experience, and know you can count on a high standard for cleanliness and service. As always, they have an in-house restaurant available for breakfast and dinner, which serves Starbucks drinks such as lattes, cappuccinos, etc. The lobby lounge area is a social space with lots of seating nooks and comfortable couches.
The Courtyard has lots of couches and almost all the rooms have Courtyard-facing balconies overlooking the pool. The gym at this location is special because the room has floor-to-ceiling windows to take in the green. If you enjoy being able to get some green and peace in on your travels, this is the place to stay. A big plus: this hotel is a lot quieter than most in the area.
This Marriott Courtyard hotel is an ideal place to stay for business travelers or families on vacation. The lobby has modern, bright furnishings that will be welcoming after a long day of exploring Orange County. Their lobby Bistro Bar has full meals or quick snacks if you're going to be on the go all day, and they have a full-service Starbucks so you can still get your beloved vanilla latte each morning. There isn't a whole lot going on in the direct vicinity of the hotel in terms of dining, nightlife or local culture, but everything you'll want to see and do in Orange County is just a quick 15-minute drive away. Guest rooms are spacious and comfortable, and you'll love plopping down on the plushy beds at the end of the day.
Hilton Garden Inn is basically a copy of Courtyard by Marriotts.
Courtyard's were long ago advertised as hotels designed by and for business travellers. And they did start to change the hotel business by offering something more practical for business travelers, such as a large desk/work area, lower room rates, less service, self-parking, easy in and out access, but still offer a stripped down restaurant. It really was one of the first to offer this efficient style accomodations.
But that was then, about 30 years ago. Now, there are a plethora of highly segmented and nuanced variations of a business person's hotel.
I stayed at this Courtyard because I came early for a local trade show, and the Hilton Garden Inn was sold out that the event was taking place. So, since HGI and CBM are similar, I stayed here.
It is a basic Courtyard. Same typical layout, with 4 stories, an outdoor pool, small excersize room, snack kiosk for those late night munchies, etc.
There are a few good things though. Free Internet wired or wireless, is useful. It is also only about 5 miles from John Wayne Airport (SNA).
If you are not here just for business, It is also near South Coast Plaza, one of the OCs most popular Malls for shopping. Your also a short drive to Huntington Beach, where you can enjoy the sand and surf, and good seafood. Or if you like Asian food, Little Saigon and K-Town OC are only about 5 mintues drive away. And Disneyland isn't that far either.
It's not a bad no-frills choice for this part of the OC. I got a good $129/nt rate in the middle of July. You'll pay $100 more in Huntington Beach.
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text: Godman + Hawker Family Gary Bieler August 16, 2010 About two weeks ago, Sheena and I visited the Godmans and Hawkers at their cottage in Port Severn, ON. We know how hard it is for extended families to get together due to everybody's different schedules, so it is not often that we have the opportunity to photograph larger family groups. Sheena and I knew that we were requested to take a large group portrait of 15 people so our first challenge was finding a location to place everybody. The stairs to the main cottage were perfect. Grouping everybody into their family units was next followed by Sheena providing our on-location lighting (yes, she is very pregnant so I didn't have her stand anywhere too dangerous). After the large group portrait, we moved to the dock where we took individual family portraits and had some fun. The weather was great, however, taming the strong glare from the water meant that we were using all our lighting on max power so that we would be able to shoot and have the background expose properly (so that it wouldn't be blown out). Most people tend to think that using a flash is 'bad' or to be used only at night, however, flash mimics the colour of daylight so it allows you to add light where you need it so that you are not stuck relying on available light (in this case, the sun, which popped in and out and was not the most consistent lighting that day). The families were so much fun to work with and it was so nice for Sheena and I to get out of the city and enjoy the outdoors for a day. [nggallery id=18]


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How to Answer Grid-ins on the SAT
Twelve of the most fun questions on the SAT (kidding — they're as boring as anything else on the exam) are grid-ins. Sadly, you don't get four convenient multiple-choice answers for a grid-in.
This figure shows a sample blank grid-in.
The grid-in problems are normal questions of any type but tend to be in the higher difficulty range. The last question of the long Math section, Question 37, is an especially challenging grid-in and worth 4 points, unlike the other questions, which are worth 1 point each.
After you solve the problem, you have to darken the ovals that correspond to your answer. Before you start filling in those little ovals, you need to take note of some built-in traps. Beware of the following:
- Write your answer and then darken the ovals. Grid-ins have little boxes in which you can write your answer, but the scanner doesn't read the boxes, just the darkened ovals. But even though only the bubbles are scored, don't skip the writing part, because you may "bubble" inaccurately.
- You can't grid in negative numbers. The grid has no minus sign. Hence, all answers are positive or zero.
- Don't grid in a mixed number. If you grid in 5 1/2, the scanner reads "51 over 2," not "five and one-half." Solution: Convert your answer to an improper fraction. Grid in 11/2 (11 over 2), as shown in Figure a. You may also grid your answer as a decimal: 5.5.
- You can start from the left, right, or middle. Just be sure that you have enough boxes for the answer you want to record.
- Don't place zeroes before a decimal point. If your answer is .5, darken the oval for the decimal point and the five, not 00.5 (Figure b).
- If your answer is a repeating decimal, fill in all the boxes, rounding off the last number only. In other words, darken the ovals for .333 or .667 (1/3 and 2/3 expressed as decimals), not .3 or .67 (Figure c).
- If your answer isn't a repeating decimal (.4, for example), you don't have to fill in all the boxes. Just darken a decimal point followed by a 4.
Don't agonize over the perfect, correct answer. Some grid-ins have several possible right answers. (Usually those problems say something like "one possible value of x is . . .") Just find one answer and you're all set.


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Two half-day tutorials, Help! Everyone Hates Our IT Department (And How To Change That) and Time Management for System Administrators will be taught by Tom Limoncelli at the IT360 Conference in Toronto, Canada, on April 7 (entire conference and Expo runs April 7-9). These presentations have received accolades when presented at other conferences. They've been updated and sharpened with new material. This is Tom's first appearance at the IT360 conference. Website: www.it360.ca (full workshop listing here)
Awesome Conferences
- Oct 17, 2018: All Day DevOps 2018, Online
- Oct 22-24, 2018: DevOps Enterprise Summit 2018, Las Vegas, NV
- Oct 29-31, 2018: Usenix LISA '18, Nashville, TN
- March 25-27, 2019: SREcon19 Americas, Brooklyn, NY
Tom @ IT360, April 7, 2008, Toronto, CA
Apr. 07 2008
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Have your dream wedding ceremony in Central Park!
Our wedding planners will work with you from start to finish to create your dream wedding, from securing the permit to booking your photographer, musicians, flowers and more.
Our ceremony package is fully customizable – please contact us to create your own custom wedding package!
Ceremony Package Includes:
- Central Park wedding permit*
- Walkthrough of wedding ceremony
- Wedding Day Coordination: secure ceremony area, escort guests to location, coordinate with vendors and ensure that everything runs smoothly
- Officiant to perform ceremony
- Two hours of professional photography
- Online gallery of wedding photos: all edited, print-quality images delivered via digital download
- Seasonal round bridal bouquet
- Matching seasonal boutonniere
For customizable options, see add-ons below.
Secure your package with a fully refundable deposit:
Package Total: $2,950
*Permit for the Conservatory Garden location is an additional fee of $500
Optional Package Add-Ons
The following services can be added to customize our signature package:
- Hair & Makeup
- Transportation
- Add'l Photography Hours
- Videography Services
- Acoustic Musicians
- Custom Wedding Cake
- Reception Centerpieces
- Hotel Accommodations
If you have an idea that you don't see listed, please contact us to discuss!
How it Works
Step 1: Book your wedding date!
Ryo and Junko Wed at Ladies Pavilion by Rev. Will
Click Book Now to choose your preferred date and secure your package with a deposit online (if your date is in less than 30 days, a phone number is provided).
A $500.00 deposit* secures our wedding planning services for your preferred wedding location, date and time. This deposit is fully refundable up to 30 days after initial booking.
Step 2: We'll send you an email confirmation and contact you within 24 hours to discuss the details of your wedding
Once you've decided on your package details, we'll provide you with a contract that includes your custom package and our services. A signed contract and 30% retainer secures our planning services. The remaining balance will be due 30 days before your wedding date.
All payments can be made safely and securely through our online reservation system using a credit card.
*Your final deposit price will be determined by the package and options you select.
Ceremony Location Ideas
Have your wedding ceremony at the perfect spot! Choose from iconic locations like Bow Bridge, Bethesda Terrace, Cherry Hill, and more.
The maximum number of guests is 150 and each location has its own specific guest limit.
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British Airways cabin crew are set to go on strike for two weeks this July, giving the airline another major headache while it is trying to recover from the detrimental IT meltdown in May.
Unite members working for British Airways' mixed fleet, who have joined the airline in recent years and are said to be paid less than other BA crew, announced the walkout on Friday. They said the airline refused to accept the union's "final compromise position" on the ongoing dispute over pay.
In addition to the strike, which will take place from 00:01 on Saturday July 1 to 23:59 on Sunday July 16, the union also confirmed it would "vigorously" pursue legal action against the airline on behalf of 1,400 cabin crew, who say they were "sanctioned" for taking strike action previously.
"Sanctions have included cabin crew seeing bonus payments worth hundreds of pounds taken away and the removal of staff travel concessions," the union wrote in a statement.
The strike announcement comes after a planned four-day strike that was due to start on Friday was suspended last week, in a bid to resolve the dispute. However, the union accused BA of failing to send important decision makers to the talks.
"The refusal by British Airways bosses to meaningfully consider our compromise offer is deeply disappointing," Unite assistant general secretary Howard Beckett said
"A resolution to this long running dispute was within the grasp of British Airways, but instead of grabbing that opportunity, bosses rebuffed it. It now means British Airways faces an entirely avoidable two week strike and prolonged legal action on behalf of over 1,400 mixed cabin crew."
Beckett added: "We would urge British Airways' bosses to come to their senses and think again."
There has been a total of 26 days of strike action since the beginning of January and if the two-week strike goes ahead, this could be the longest ever walkout by the airline's staff.
However, British Airways has assured passengers that they will still be able to reach their holiday destinations this summer.
"As for previous periods when Unite called strikes of Mixed Fleet cabin crew, we will fly all our customers to their destinations," a spokesperson for the airline told Cosmopolitan.
"This proposed strike action is extreme and completely unnecessary. We had reached a deal on pay, which Unite agreed was acceptable. Unite has already confirmed it is pursuing the non-pay issues in this dispute through the courts. We urge Unite to let its members vote on the pay proposals."


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Methodologies for capturing the economic, social and environmental impact of co-opsApril 10th, 2013
The webinar featured research by two researchers currently working on projects related to measuring co-op impact, George Karaphilis of Cape Breton University and Nicoleta Uzea of the University of Western Ontario. Dr. Fiona Duguid, Research Officer at the Canadian Co-operative Association presented on behlaf of Nicoleta Uzea who was unable to join and Fiona also provided an overview of the new National Study on the Impact of Co-operatives.
Webinar Documents


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Natalia Rotenberg, the former wife of billionaire Arkady Rotenberg, decided to register the Rotenberg and Rotenberg trademarks. The ex-wife of a businessman launched her own confectionery line.
SMP Bank and Rossiya Bank, which are under sanctions, will be able to work with state-owned companies and the budget.
Arkady Rotenberg's Stroygazmontazh will get a contract for the construction of a bridge to Sakhalin Island, says Bloomberg. At present, the company is already executing a contract for the construction of the Crimean bridge across the Kerch Strait.
The bank belonging to the oligarch Arkady Rotenberg stopped indicated in its reporting 169 billion rubles received from the DIA for the financial recovery of Mosoblbank.
Forbes has been ranking the most successful entrepreneurial dynasties for four years consequently. The cumulative wealth of the ten richest families of Russia over the past year has increased by $2 billion, up to $27 billion. In three of them, newcomers appeared who received shares in business.
Positions of Igor Sechin, Vyacheslav Volodin and Arkady Rotenberg as the president's close associates may weaken after the elections of 2018. Dmitry Medvedev has the most stable position, a new report by "Minchenko Consulting" says.
The Anti-Corruption Foundation of Alexey Navalny has published an investigation into the "business" activities of the brothers Boris and Arkady Rotenberg, as well as other members of this family.
The multi-billion government contracts are obtained by mysterious contractors without tenders.
The businessman told about his new hockey club, business interests in China and disclosed his family's share in Stroytransneftegaze.
Businessman Gennady Timchenko told RBC that together with his family he owns "at least half" of one of the largest Gazprom contractors, Stroytransneftegaz. Previously it was known that 31.5% of the company belonged to Timchenko.
This industry may soon have serious defense orders.
This amount includes the costs of the bridge itself and its approaches.
The airport restructured the loan from VEB.
Where did the banker Ilya Kligman hide 35 billion rubles from the double-entry bookkeeping in Arksbanka?
After 12 years, FC Dynamo returns from VTB to the Dynamo society.
Why the bank would need such papers and who could buy them is not clear. Previously, such papers were placed only by VTB, Gazprombank and Alfa-Bank.
Alko king and developer ir is unable to combine his subsidiaries in the United States, the businesses in Switzerland, the Crimea, and Russia.
The entities of Arkady Rotenberg's son Igor and friends of top-managers of Russian Railways now work for the state monopoly.
Why the authorities want to flood the country with cheap vodka and what billionaire Vasily Anisimov has to do with that.
Viktor Vekselberg's move with Rusal crossed the road of Timchenko and Rotenberg.
Marina Sechina, former wife of the CEO of Rosneft Igor Sechin, continues to collect assets.
Another 18 billion rubles were paid in advance for construction of the Kerch bridge to Stroygazmontazh owned by Arkady Rotenberg, says the customer's representative in the Kerch bridge project, PKU "Uprdor Taman" (the entity of Rosavtodor).
Chairman of the Board of Directors of SMP Bank, Artem Obolensky, has created a company that wants to keep track of all the turnover of medicines in Russia
There were times when Russian VEB (Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs) was a proud bearer of a State Development Corporation title. Nowadays, however, that organization has become one of the primary sources for crime news.
Strange things happen with the construction of the Kerch bridge, which is conducted by Stroygazmontazh owned by Arkady Rotenberg.
As it became known to Forbes, the transfer of the contract for the construction of the bridge to the Crimea to treasury support, which caused the suspencion in funding the bridge, is delayed.
All the building materials for the construction of the Kerch bridge are purchased through intermediaries, which increases their value three times, said Dmitry Kozak during the meeting of the State Council on the construction.
How the head of Russian Technologies, Sergey Chemezov, was preparing Eureka for his son


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One of the world's biggest (and most expensive) challenges today is mopping up the disease that results from eating too much food. For the first time in human history we live in a world where there is more obesity than there is starvation. Some would have us think that weight loss is simply a matter of calories in versus calories out but we now know that it's the nutritional composition of those calories that have the biggest implication to health.
Gluten - Problem Protein or Fad Food Fear?
Until the introduction of agriculture, roughly 10,000 years ago, grains were virtually non-existent in the human diet. Since that time, the cultivation of wheat has literally served as an anchor for the expansion of civilisation as we know it. In Roman times, wheat was the primary fuel used to power the Roman army and every man in the republic was entitled to a wheat dole equivalent to 3,000-3,500 calories a day.(1) Bread has been considered "the staff of life" since biblical times ("give us this day our daily bread") and today it is one of the most widely consumed staple foods in the world. So can something so pivotal to human civilisation actually be bad for us?
Can you do without? - The latest on Fasting
With the festive season behind us some of us may be carrying a few more pounds than we were during our summer holidays. The run up to Christmas can be a minefield of overindulgence. According to the British Dietetics Association the average person consumes 6,000 calories (kcal) on Christmas day itself and it's not uncommon for people to average an extra 500kcal per day throughout the holiday period, amounting to a potential weight gain of 5lbs by the time January rolls around.(1)
Sugar - What's the alternative?
You don't have to look far these days to find a headline about how sugar is bad for our health. This universal sweetener has come under heavy fire of late and appears to have earned the position of public health enemy number one. We've known for decades that sugar promotes tooth decay but with the spotlight now on the scientific evidence linking sugar with obesity and the top chronic diseases of type-2 diabetes, heart disease(1), stroke(2), dementia(3) and cancer(4), governments around the world are starting to take action by taxing sugary drinks, placing limitations on advertisers and simple labeling to show consumers just how much sugar they're consuming.
Starvation Mode - unravelling facts from fiction
Human beings did not evolve on three square meals a day. As hunter-gatherers we ate what we could find when we could find it. We used considerable energy to obtain food and as it wasn't always accessible, we developed a dynamic metabolism that enables us to survive extended periods without eating. However, in today's developed world with food never far from reach, we don't often put our ancient metabolism to the test and we treat momentary hunger as something to be crushed, urgently.
Looking Good from the Inside - Cosmetics vs Nutrition
The UK cosmetic industry was worth over £8b in 2014 and making up nearly half of the market (49.9%) was the sales of skincare, haircare and deodorant products1. Globally, the male demographic accounts for 1/5th of this market and is expected to continue growing through 20202. Although many men still don't want to admit to using skincare products, the sales growth speaks for itself and suggests that the moisturizing man is coming out of the closet.


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Spring Peas, Flowers and Sores
"Oh man," Tony commented, as we all groaned while getting up from the dinner table, "it must be spring time." The weather allowed us to work outside for most of today. As the spring days fly by the list of projects and things that need to get done seems to be getting longer. And even the daily to-dos are hardly achievable before the sun gets low on the horizon and your stomach starts to tell you dinner should be ready.
I for one was groaning more than most at the dinner table. I spent the morning seeding in the greenhouse and then preparing the hoop house for some planting, then plating some early peas. I've quickly become accustomed to both the solitary nature of life here, where you enjoy the long walk back from a far corner of a field, or the comfort of working with someone and the things you can learn by just listening.
Fran gave me a thorough lesson in weed identification as we ripped up old dead ones and thwarted the new ones as they attempted to secures some of the most valuable real estate on the farm. Then we hoed the patch we had cleaned to level it out and loosen the soil, and it was time to plant our peas.
The peas were planted in one-twenty-eights, which are trays with, yep, one hundred and twenty eight little squares. When the plants get mature enough, and have sufficient root mass to hold a little soil from their square, they are plucked from the tray and thrust into the real world. In this case it is a pretty cushy "real wold." The hoop house provides shelter from the wind, raises the average soil temperature a few degrees and controls the amount of precipitation (sometimes snow) the plants get. And there are these nifty strings that hang down and are used to encourage cucumbers and tomatoes to grow vertically, rather than staking.
Then it was time for a little chain sawing. Tony and I took the horses into the bush to cut up some firewood. We took down two hemlock trees and cut up a few recent dead falls. With the wagon loaded and the horses itching to go we headed back to the house for some much needed lunch. I've included below a video of Tony with the horses and the wagon. At the end of the video Tony says "Woo" which is how he gets the horses to stop, it always astonishes me how well the horses listen (when they want to) and often Tony can drive them soley on voice commands.
After lunch Tony took me down to the south fields and he showed me how to pull up some electric fencing with their nifty "Reelbarrow." (Pictured to the right) Rigged with a bike chain and sprocket the front wheel winds the galvanized steel wire as you walk along. Then when you come to a stake, it fits conveniently on the handles. Genius. I got far enough away that I could barely see the house and it was time to lug my reelbarrow back and deposit my stakes and wire.
Before the sun was to go down there was one last "short" little project. Last weekend I wrote about how we removed a large rock from one of the fields. It also left a large hole behind. My job, and I chose to accept it, was to pick up bits and pieces of sod and soil that the plowing left around the field.
Lesson number one: clayey soil that is wet weighs more than you think. Lesson number two: a wheelbarrow that is too full will fall over one hundred percent of the time. Lesson number three: let the wheel barrow fall over, you can't stop it, it is just the natural self emptying process you will have to do anyway. Lesson number four: momentum is your friend when trying to conquer bumpy, soggy, clayey soil.
By the time I made it up for supper I was exhausted. I must have looked like some drunken gopher running about with a wheelbarrow picking up pieces of dirt and then running them up to a hole in the ground and dumping them in. And so, it seems, spring brings more than just crocuses.
April 2, 2009 7:31 am
Cool. Here, spring is coming too. At night it's freezing cold, but during the day we're reaching 25ºC. And, well, no snow is forecasted, but… you never know. 😉
mcquaka permalinkApril 2, 2009 5:28 pm
Nathan, I egarly await your posts of your experience of living and working on the farm. It is great to get your perspective on the place I grew up. I can't wait…
Boro permalinkApril 6, 2009 1:43 pm
How did you horses feel about the chainsaw?


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KLM Laboratories
KLM Laboratories: multi-crore company with impressive, sustained performance higher then industry. KLM-the fifth largest dermatological company with innovative products having presence in pan-India & International market. We are looking for following candidates for our new WHO, EU GMP formulation plant, getting ready for global market situated at Vadodara (Near Por)
Executive - Assistant Managers/ Manager
Requirement: A good theoretical understanding of formulation manufacturing, testing and quality assurance process. Knowledge of cGMP and compliance. Leadership qualities.
Qualification: Graduate in Science, Pharma, Engineering or Higher
Industry: Pharmaceuticals
Functional Area: Quality Control
Experience: 5 to 15 years.
Location: Baroda (Vadodara) (Gujarat,India)
Interested candidate should send their resume by email.


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The winners of Wednesday's The Buildbase FA Trophy Third Round Qualifying tie between Farnborough and Hartley Wintney will host Bromley in the First Round Proper.
A place in the First Round Proper is up for grabs for either Farnborough and Hartley Wintney, with the winning team going on to play The National League's Bromley at Home.
Ties in the First Round Proper will take place on Saturday 16 December 2017, with winning clubs collecting £6,000 from the FA Trophy prize fund.
The full First Round Proper draw:
1 Solihull Moors v Tranmere Rovers
2 Blyth Spartans v AFC Telford United
3 Boston United or Kidderminster Harriers v York City
4 Chorley v Marine
5 FC Halifax Town v Macclesfield Town
6 Spennymoor Town v Gainsborough Trinity
7 Chester v AFC Fylde
8 Wrexham v Harrogate Town
9 Leamington v Bradford (Park Avenue) or Stourbridge
10 Lancaster City v Stockport County or Southport
11 Tamworth or Warrington Town v Altrincham
12 Gateshead v Guiseley
13 Nuneaton Town v Barrow
14 Glossop North End or Workington v Hartlepool United
15 Haringey Borough v Leyton Orient
16 Dover Athletic v Eastbourne Borough or Royston Town
17 Wealdstone or Chelmsford City v Wingate & Finchley
18 Billericay Town v Havant & Waterlooville
19 Chesham United v Weston Super Mare
20 Sutton United v Truro City
21 Woking v Maidenhead United
22 Whitehawk v St Albans City
23 East Thurrock United v Aldershot Town
24 Hendon or Slough Town v Bath City or Margate
25 Ebbsfleet United v Eastleigh
26 Hereford v Dagenham & Redbridge
27 Torquay United v Maidstone United
28 Farnborough or Hartley Wintney v Bromley
29 Braintree Town v Brackley Town
30 Taunton Town v Hemel Hempstead Town or Bognor Regis Town
31 Hampton & Richmond Borough v Kingstonian or Heybridge Swifts
32 Dartford v Boreham Wood.
The updated Fixture list can be viewed here.
Keep up to date with your Club on social media:


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Pine Ridge Trail Head
The Pine Ridge Trail is a popular hiking route in the Ventana Wilderness of the Los Padres National Forest. It can be hiked both ways, most popular route is China Camp to Big Sur Station since it is the dowhill direction. This is a moderate hike.
No reservations
First come, first served.
- Winter
- Spring
- Summer
- Fall
- $10.00 day use fee per vehicle
- Parks Management Day Use Annual Pass
Pine Ridge Trail, Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA 93923, United States


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Hello my name is BELLE ❃
My hobbies include playing the piano, playing basketball and netball, and looking at health and fitness blogs. In the future I aspire to study something within medicine. I enjoy watching Grey's Anatomy and I love the television series Teen Wolf!
Have a wonderful day beautiful people ♥


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I was recently reading an article by The New York Times written in 19o4… There was a debate in Paris between a brain specialist and a physician about the dangers of driving automobiles at high speeds. Reading on, I was wondering what was "high speed" in 1904, and what could be so dangerous to the brain? Crashing was my thought.
Lack of brain speed
Their argument was simple. "The brain can't keep up." They stated that, "It remains to be proven how fast the brain is capable of traveling." "If it cannot acquire an eight-mile per hour speed, then an auto running at the rate of 80 miles per hour is running without the guidance of the brain and the many disastrous results are not to be marveled at."
Little did they know in Paris that a land speed record was already over 80 MPH. Seems in 1903 Belgium was the home of high speed cars . There was an American driver who set that record and there were no reports of brain loss, but looking at the cars of those years you can't help but wonder if he had one to lose.
Reference and image source; New Atlas
July 17, 1903 | Ostende, Belgium| First car over 80 mph
American, Arthur Duray, was the first man to drive at more than 80 miles per hour, when the veteran professional driver covered the flying kilometer in 26.8 seconds at Ostende, Belgium on 17 July 1903
Here's another interesting tidbit from New Atlas
AEG Electric Railcar | 130.7 mph (210.3 km/h)
October 28, 1903 | Marienfelde, Germany | Outright land speed record
With the car speed record fast closing on the steam train's speed record, the next contender came from left field, as experimentation with the electric train pushed the world land speed record out of reach of the automobile once more.
A 23 km section of electric rail infrastructure was created from a former military railway by the German Society for the Study of Electrical Rapid Transit, a consortium led by General Electric, Siemens & Halske, the industrial giant Krupp and several major German banks.
The test track played host to two competing electric drive systems for the 50-person trolley cars that were constructed – one railcar was fitted with three-phase AC electrical equipment supplied by AEG and the other with similar equipment supplied by Siemens & Halske. Both vehicles exceeded 124 mph (200 km/h), with the Siemens & Halske railcar setting an initial record of 126 mph (203 km/h) and eventually reaching 128 mph (206 km/h). On 28 October 1903, the AEG railcar was timed at 130.7 mph (210.3 km/h), a new absolute land speed record.


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Isn't it good to avoid unnecessary debates and trivial issues? Yes! Absolutely… but politics, religion, and philosophy are not trivial or unnecessary.
Category: Biblical Worldview
The Christian Relationship
I believe the only biblical way to have a relationship is through biblical courtship, with the intention of marriage.
College Christianity
During these long four or so years of college, we are tempted to do things that we would have never thought would happen. Based off what I have seen, there are three prominent groups of college Christians who react in an environment such as this.
A Nation Transformed By Tragedy
The American people had a moment where God became necessary and national pride was not an option.
Why Do School Shootings Keep Happening?
If we want to be unbiased human beings, we have to recognize the faults in our modern society, and I believe that there are three faults we have committed as a nation against our youth for the past few decades.
The Joy of Motherhood
Christians are not just to be against abortion because we think it is morally wrong, but because it goes against the Gospel!
Why You Should Live: Materialism is a lie.
People are told that they have been created with no purpose in mind. If we deny people their purpose in life, we open the door for suicide.
'Tis So Sweet
There is nothing more precious to me than to see a child delighting in the majesty of God.
The Beauty of Age
What do I mean by beauty? I mean a person's being made in the image of God, shining through in different ways at different ages.


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Sex in relationships can often cause difficulties. There can be issues between the couple around performance and anxiety, different levels of sexual drive, issues around porn or even around boundaries with different desires and preferences. Or it can be difficulties cause by illness, age or lack of privacy in the home.
Here at The Relationship Centre, we help couples explore what is often a sensitive subject to find a more positive place for this in their relationship.
Now We are 3
A relationship has many tests throughout its life. Moving from that heady early in-love feeling to adapting to a more steady relationship, then the changes in jobs, homes, and the effects of illness and loss can all impact on the relationship in different ways.
Others are more dramatic and harder to overcome. Affairs can be one of these.
But there is another situation which will change and challenge the relationship to the full. Bringing home your first child (and others that arrive later) will test your relationship, and often because of the joy your child brings, the struggling parts of the relationship are not noticed, or if they are, there's hope it will 'go back to what it was' once the baby starts sleeping or is not so demanding. So often thoughts can be;
We'll be more loving again I'm sure
Sex will become better again
We'll be how we were
He/she won't be as moody once they get more sleep
I'm sure they still love me
Sometimes the relationship does adapt and find a place, but for others it starts to struggle and it's the beginning of a downward spiral. Our Now We Are 3 Therapy is tailored to help the couple develop a new and better relationship, capturing all the positives from before, but also developing and growing a better relationship now, so you can be parents, but also lovers and feel close and in love.
In this will will explore;
How to ignite your sex life
How to reintroduce romance again
How it's natural for the man to feel jealous of the new child (and how to deal with this)
How to avoid post natal depression for both partners.
How to manage new conflicts in the relationship
How to organise and share 'those chores' in a positive way
How to learn 'soft start-ups' so you can get what you need from your partner
How to understand and deepen your relationship with your partner and your child.
How to change a disaster relationship into a master relationship
The therapy is in 1 hour sessions with occasional catch-ups between session if needed. In an ideal world, each session is with you as a couple, but as child-care can be a problem, occasionally seeing you individually can also be a positive way forward.
Its suggested that a minimum of 6 sessions is a good figure for a chance to put in place some of the learning, and to review and support from that point.
What Is An On-Line Affair?
What is an on-line affair?
Cheating online – also referred to as an online affair or Internet infidelity – is any behaviour conducted through any digital communication device (e.g. phone, tablet, laptop) that someone believes betrays their relationship.
But different people have different values over this. Is just talking on-line OK? What constitutes an affair?
The counselling will explore this with a couple to help them move beyond this and rebuild their relationship.
Read about our Affair Recovery Counselling which works with affairs that are physical, emotional or on-line.
Relationship Counselling for the Over 60's
Relationships play a critical role in dealing with the pressures of old age, but can fracture if they are not nurtured. Illness, retirement and financial burdens, as well as worries about getting older or even death, can all impact on this new phase of the relationship.
This relationship counselling is designed to work with the over 60's and the special circumstances of their life and relationship.
Men in Counselling
Men are sometimes resistant to coming into relationship counselling. The reasons can be many, but generally men find the thought of counselling as a negative thing, whereas a woman sees it as positive, and a chance to improve the relationship. Men sometimes are not comfortable in opening up about their feelings or vulnerabilities and worry about this. Of course most find the counselling much more positive than they imagined and are glad they attended the counselling once they start. If you are a man and you're worried about the counselling, speak to us first or even make an appointment (can be a 25 min consultation appointment) to talk over your worries.
Single & Lonely?
Although not relationship counselling with two people, this therapy helps someone come to terms around a lost relationship, either one that has ended, or one that has never happened. It looks at the loss, the loneliness and the implications in society of being in a non-relationship.
Gradually through the therapy, these issues are worked through and a new way of feeling about yourself and your current circumstances can be discovered.
Relationship MOT's
Many couples come to counselling in crisis to save their relationship, but for some, the visit is to explore how they can make the relationship even stronger, not seeing that they have major issues, but more about becoming even better at doing a relationship.
Ben Fogle, the TV presenter is someone who uses this approach.
"I had always assumed counselling was something for those whose marriage was in jeopardy, not for those who have just had a ridiculous argument."
Read about Ben's and Marina's approach to their relationship…


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IF YOU NEED TO CONTACT US ESPECIALLY IF ITS TIME SENSITIVE. OR IF YOU JUST NEED TO CHECK ON YOUR ORDER STATUS. Please DO NOT Email, instead call us. IT COULD BE A FEW DAYS BEFORE WE GET TO ANSWER THE MANY MANY Emails WE GET DAILY. Please do not rely on social media to get in contact with us. we always do our best but sending a message on Instagram or facebook are not guaranteed ways to contact us. Thank you. PHONE NUMBER: 417-. BUSINESS HOURS ARE MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY 9 AM-4 PM Central Time (CT)
Processing time and Shipping Time
What is Processing time??
The time I need to prepare an order for shipping varies. For details, see individual items. Processing time will always be on the banner at the top of the page. Please check that before placing your order.
please understand that our turn around time is merely an estimate. There is absolutely no way to know how long each order will take since each order is very different from each other. We print around the clock 7 days a week.
What is Shipping time??
The time from when the post office receives the package to the time they deliver it. This is not included in the processing time.
MOst Cookie Cutters are made to order. Please check your receipt for your ship by dates. If you have any questions please feel free to call us during business hours or send us an email. Thank you
Estimated shipping times
North America: 1-5 business days(after current processing time)
Care instructions
Hand wash only in lukewarm soapy water
NOT dishwasher safe - keep away from heat
I don't accept returns, exchanges, or cancellations
But please contact me if you have any problems with your order. We will always make it right.
Custom and personalized orders
yes, we do them! Check out with the custom listing and email us or call us with your details. We pull custom orders first daily.
Lifetime Warranty
We believe in our product so much that we offer Lifetime protection for your cookie cutters. If they arrive in the mail broken because the postal service decided to do a tap dance on your box, as frustrating as that is Please Don't panic. we will replace your order immediately. If the post office looses or delivers your package to the wrong address ( yes this has a happen to me) again please don't panic. we will get your order reprinted and shipped immediately. If your house keeper/husband accidentally throws some of your cutters in the dishwasher and warps them. we will replace those too. To get an replacement just send us an email and provide a photo of the cutter or cutters that need replacing, and we will get that replaced as soon as possible.
Sizing Information
Sizing details
Most of our cutters come in an assortment of sizes starting at 2 inch up to 6 inches, but you can request any size from 1 inch to 12 inches.
"From one cookier to another"
A personal rule of thumb i like to share with all of my customers is if you are purchasing a size that is very round and very open, 3.5 in is usually the perfect size. If the shape is very narrow & Thin 4 in and up is usually the perfect size. Now this is just a tip I've picked up over the years. Please know that every cookier has their own personal taste when it comes to the size of their cookies.
When designing our cookie cutters. I get each shape as close to the size horizontally and vertically as possible without warping the shape. for example if its a 2 in cutter. It will be as close to 2 in by 2 in as possible and so on.. if you have any questions always feel free to call during business hours or send us an email.
Round and open shapes vs narrow and thinner shapes


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Contact Us
Rendering equipment
With the growing consumption for beef,sheep, hogs and poultry meat, the further processing is becoming more and more important especially the utilization of by-products. For most animal and poultry farms and slaughterhouse, large amount of dead carcasses and wastes are throw away, or fire it with incinerator, or only very small amount transfer it into profit, which create a big available resources wastes as well as cause environmental pollution. CONNECT rendering equipment with its high technology and quality standard, turn these waste into profit and recycling business for all users, the equipment is environmental friendly system, no any odor release to the air. The production of bone mill, blood meal, viscera or meat mill , feather mill can be the additive to feed as the protein meal. The rough protein, fat, ash, and digestible protein and water contains is higher than the single single element, can be directly add to feed mill without mutual match which reduce the production costs and labor intensity.
CONNECT protein rendering plant equipment is the package solution for animal slaughterhouse, poultry slaughterhouse, animal and chicken farms' wastes. Our equipment including the raw material handling, cooking, drying, oil pressing, cooling, packing and odor processing. The capacity start from 1Ton/Batch rendering capacity to each day 80, 100 Ton wastes. Our successful projects is in many countries in the world, like Peru, Columbia, Canada, Russian and Middle east countries.
We have variety of technical designs for clients to meet the requirement of production,investment, and land and building restrict. Our products is warmly welcomed by many clients by its high standard quality and competitive price. Don't hesitate, connect with us if you want to start this golden business which turn from wastes into profit.


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Neal, Flames seek bounceback vs. struggling Panthers
When the Calgary Flames visit the Florida Panthers on Thursday, James Neal is looking to smile again -- even though he has several teeth missing.
Neal, a 31-year-old left winger with 268 career goals, took a shot to his mouth on Saturday against the Vancouver Canucks. Neal took a high stick from Canucks defenseman Alex Biega, and replays showed teeth flying out of the mouth of the Flames forward.
It was the sixth time in his career that Neal has lost teeth as a result of a hockey hit, a swinging stick or a flying puck.
"I can't even explain the amount of hours I've logged in the dentist's chair," Neal told The Calgary Sun. "For whatever reason, sticks tend to hit me in the mouth."
Neal missed practice on Monday, but he returned to face the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday and is all set to play the Panthers.
Both the Flames (34-16-6, 74 points) and Panthers (23-24-8, 54 points) are slumping at the moment.
The Flames, who are safely in the playoff picture in the Western Conference, are on a three-game losing streak, picking up just one point during that stretch.
It's Calgary's longest skid since losing three in a row Dec. 18 to Dec. 22. Since then, they are 12-4-3, including this recent dry spell, while the surging San Jose Sharks have jumped into the Pacific Division lead.
The Panthers have lost two consecutive games, both of them at home. They have five consecutive home games remaining before they hit the road, and this was supposed to be the stretch that lifted them back into playoff contention.
So far, it hasn't happened, and the Feb. 25 trade deadline is looming. Tumors are swirling around Panthers players such as DerickBrassard and Riley Sheahan -- both recently acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins -- and Jonathan Huberdeau, a core piece for Florida for several years.
At least seven NHL scouts were in attendance for the Stars-Panthers game, including one for the Columbus Blue Jackets, which is a rumored possible destination for Huberdeau.
The Panthers, who up until recently had the No. 1 power play in the NHL from Nov. 1 forward, have slipped in that regard lately. In the past two games, including Tuesday's 3-0 loss to the Dallas Stars, the Panthers went 0-for-8 with the man advantage.
"Our power play, with the personnel we have, we should be scoring, just like we have the rest of the year," Panthers second-line center Vincent Trocheck said.
Tuesday's loss made the Panthers the last NHL team this season to get shut out.
One positive was the return of third/fourth-line center Jamie McGinn, who had been out all season due to back surgery.
"I felt fine," McGinn said after his season debut on Tuesday. "I'm trying to work and get my game back -- contribute any way I can."
McGinn did not register any shots on goal in 9:42 of ice time on Tuesday, and he was on for one of Dallas' scores.
Still, it was an amazingly quick recovery considering he had back surgery in mid-September, his second such operation since 2014. McGinn, who had 13 goals and 16 assists in 76 games last season, said being out was frustrating.
"I was in a lot of pain," McGinn told the team's website. "It was something that had to be done, but I was determined to come back this season."
--Field Level Media
Updated February 13, 2019


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We've discovered there are more people that need help and support than individuals to provide it. That's where we come in. Call us to obtain additional information.
We have a large enough staff
to provide care, all while providing individualized services, tailored to each individual need.
For peace of mind, we offer
continued independence, with security. All of our services are accessible and affordable.
We are bonded by a highly rated insurance company. We do not represent any other companies, sell products, or receive commission for providers of any services.
We're large enough to provide the services needed, but still a small enough company to alter our services to provide personal attention to all of our clients.
We provide assistance to individuals who may not have family members able to assist them, or be able to qualify for or rely on government assistance. Quite often, family members have busy lives and may simply not have the time to help or may live too far away in order to provide the needs you may require. Government agencies just cannot tailor their services to individuals.
Contact The Sterling Care Group Inc for:
Continued independence with security | For family peace of mind | Professional yet personal services | Accessible and affordable services
We provide financial management services that are uniquely customized to your individual needs and altered as circumstances change.
Our reasonable hourly fees are based ONLY on the time and services you request, rather than a percentage of assets or net worth.
We are bonded by an extremely high-rated insurance company. Our officers are accountants and CPA's with many years of experience, who are licensed by the NJ Division of Consumer Affairs. In order to ensure independence, we don't represent any other company, sell products, or receive commissions from providers of any service.


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Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA
André Zehetbauer
Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt[*] holds the world record for the 100 m sprint, covering that (straight-line) distance in 9.58 s in Berlin, 2009. Assume that his acceleration starting from rest to when he crosses the finish line is constant, and always points in the same direction as his velocity. During this race, the magnitude of his acceleration was:
(A) 1.09 m/s2.
(B) 2.18 m/s2.
(C) 10.4 m/s2.
(D) 20.9 m/s2.
[*] wki.pe/Usain_Bolt.
Correct answer (highlight to unhide): (B)
The following quantities are given (or assumed to be known):
(x0= 0 m),
(t0= 0 s),
x= +100 m,
t = 9.58 s,
v0x = 0.
So in the equations for constant acceleration motion in the horizontal direction, the following quantities are unknown, or are to be explicitly solved for:
vx = v0x + ax·t,
x = (1/2)·(vx + v0x)·t,
x = v0x·t + (1/2)·ax·(t)2,
vx2 = v0x2 + 2·ax·x.
With the unknown quantity ax to be solved for appearing in the third equation, with all other quantities given (or assumed to be known), then:
(1/2)·ax·(t)2 = x − v0x·t,
ax = 2·x/(t)2 − 2·v0x/t,
ax = 2·(+100 m)/(9.58 s)2 − 2·(0)/(9.58 s) = +2.17920947 m/s2,
or to three significant figures (which follows from the three significant figures in 9.58 s, and assuming that the 100 m distance must be exact (or presumably measured with more precision than to the nearest meter!)), the acceleration has a magnitude of 2.18 m/s2.
(Response (A) is x/(t)2; response (C) is x/t; response (D) is 2·x/t.)
Sections 70854, 70855
Exam code: quiz02Bo74
(A) : 18 students
(B) : 23 students
(C) : 6 students
(D) : 1 student
Success level: 40%
Discrimination index (Aubrecht & Aubrecht, 1983): 0.57


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Army sergeant
"Life is difficult for them and it's difficult for us, but at the end of the day, we are all people, we are all human, we should all help each other.
Sergeant Antonis Deligiorgis is a member of the Hellenic Army who was involved in the rescue of several migrants and asylum seekers from Syria and Eritrea whose boat was wrecked off the island of Rhodes.
The boat, carrying people from the Turkish coast, hit a reef at Zephyros beach and disintegrated, forcing its occupants to jump off. Antonis was at a local cafe at the time. As soon as he saw what had happened, he ran to the beach, took off his shirt and shoes and leapt into the sea. With the help of the skills he had learned in the army, he single-handedly helped 20 people to the shore, including women and children. With the help of other rescuers who arrived at the scene, 90 of the 93 shipwreck victims were saved from drowning.
One of the women that was rescued, an Eritrean named Elizabeth, was heavily pregnant at the time. A few days later she gave birth to a boy, whom she named Antonis George after his saviour and the patron saint of the Greek Army. Antonis visited Elizabeth in the hospital, bringing her flowers, and although she was later granted asylum in Sweden, he kept in contact with her. The two still occasionally talk over the phone.
Photos from the rescue were published in news media throughout the world. A week later, Greece's Defence Minister awarded Antonis the Cross of Excellency.