text:
For Mboweni's growth plan to succeed the ANC has to give up certain dogmatic positions that were formulated when 7% growth was the status quo, writes Adriaan Basson.
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The imperative to restorate the integrity of key state institutions dictates that by the end of this year at the very least, cases must have been brought to court and convictions obtained, writes Serjeant at the Bar.
Two interviews were conducted recently which prompted this column. David Lewis, the admirable head of the important NGO Corruption Watch spoke of the annual corruption report which his organisation produces. He noted that, unlike in previous years, some positive change had occurred, in particular the appointment of people of ability and integrity to the head of two key institutions, the NPA and SARS.
Lewis suggested that Shamila Batohi of the NPA and Edward Kieswetter of SARS should be meeting. The Al Capone strategy of holding crooks to account by way of tax evasion prosecutions is always an effective strategy, once the two organisations, as is now the case, are headed by dedicated people.
Lewis noted that those who were (are) involved in corrupt activities are by definition tax evaders as they are unlikely to have disclosed their nefarious activities to SARS. He warned that the public needed to see action being taken to deal with the scourge of corruption and this was particularly the case with so much low hanging fruit available to the law enforcement agencies.
Given the almost daily revelations of the degradation to governance over the past decade in particular, the imperative for the restoration of the integrity and legitimacy of these institutions dictates that by the end of this year at the very least, cases must have been brought to court and hopefully convictions obtained.
A second discussion involved an economist who contended that, unless the investor community saw the reversal of the widespread practice of corruption and the end of the apparent immunity from any investigation/prosecution enjoyed by high profile politically connected individuals, the expectation would continue that no new dawn would emerge, and that no change would take place of any materiality to break decisively with the current political deadlock. This was imperative if investor expectations are to change which is necessary for the inducement of the investment to ensure that economic growth is higher than population growth, an essential condition for the achievement of a better life for millions who continue to suffer the indignity of grinding poverty.
Inaction threatens economic growth
In short, the present inaction outside of commissions of inquiry threaten not only democratic politics but also inclusive economic growth. In the case of SARS, a number of independent people including chair of the Davis Tax Commission Judge Dennis Davis have expressed the view that under Kieswetter, SARS can and will be turned around into a formidable tax collecting agency. By contrast there is less confidence with regard to the NPA.
For starters, it must be hugely difficult for Batohi to know whom to trust, such was the scale of the capture of this crucial institution over the past decade. In addition, there is a clear lack of forensic ability to prosecute complex financial crimes. And finally, as if that was not enough of a challenge, there is a possibility of the return of advocate Nomgcobo Jiba and Lawrence Mrwebi to active duty at the NPA.
Last week this publication reported on the desire of Batohi to appoint a "heavy hitter" to the position of head of the newly created investigative directorate which is to focus on crimes that flow from state capture. Names were mooted, all sound and sensible but one is surely excused from feeling that none of those mentioned would put the fear of the Almighty into the hearts, for example, of the Guptas in the highly unlikely event that they stand trial or the Watsons or Markus Jooste. And that is what the public is entitled to demand: an experienced litigator who understands the intricacies of litigation strategy, accounting, finance, company law and tax evasion.
Surely the time has come to tap someone from private practice on the shoulder and ensure such a person takes on this job for at least three years.
Public Protector provides little reason for optimism
Sadly, the other key institution in this area, the Public Protector, holds little ground for optimism. Her office has managed in a short time to prompt some 20 court reviews of her recommendations and she is also the recipient of a punitive cost order, albeit that this awaits a final determination by the Constitutional Court. But like British Prime Minister Theresa May, she is determined to be determined.
Publicity about an increase in complaints to be investigated by the office of the Public Protector, her own complaint about lack of adequate resources and a wall to wall set of accusations of mal administration/corruption of the public purse notwithstanding, she decides within this troubling context to institute an investigation into the so-called rogue unit at SARS.
Leave aside the fact that the NPA finally decided that there was no criminal case to be brought in this connection or that a commission headed by a hugely experienced judge assisted by the ex-chair of a tax commission commissioned by President Mandela found not only that there was no merit in these allegations but that any revenue service would and does have a similar kind of unit to deal with the tax consequences of contraband, the Public Protector considers this to be a priority for her office.
As the office of the Public Protector uses public money perhaps she should attempt to explain why this particular issue which was previously employed by the Zuma regime to attack Pravin Gordhan enjoys such priority in her office.
On all available evidence therefore much still needs to be done if the country is to turn the corner and become the kind of accountable and transparent state promised in the constitutional text.
- Serjeant at the Bar is a senior legal practitioner with a special interest in constitutional law.Disclaimer: News24 encourages freedom of speech and the expression of diverse views. The views of columnists published on News24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of News24.
24.com publishes all comments posted on articles provided that they adhere to our Comments Policy. Should you wish to report a comment for editorial review, please do so by clicking the 'Report Comment' button to the right of each comment.
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Restaurants By Cuisine
Greek Food Restaurants In Albuquerque
Mapped Restaurants Albuquerque
The Pita Pit
2106 Central Ave SE
(505) 242-7482
Gecko's Bar & Tapas
3500 Central Ave SE
(505) 262-1848
Olympia Cafe
2210 Central Ave SE
(505) 266-5222
Mykonos Cafe
5900 Eubank Blvd NE
(505) 291-1116
Greek Restaurants Albuquerque
There's so much more to Greek cuisine than the olives and olive oil, feta cheese and lamb that automatically come to mind. Albuquerque Greek restaurants usually feature a wide array of healthy yet delicious dishes that represent the different cultures that have influenced Greece, from Southern Europe to the Middle East. Other popularly-used ingredients include tomatoes, aubergine, potatoes, okra, beans, goat meat, mutton, and seafood aside from the traditionally liberal use of fragrant herbs such as thyme and dill. First-timers will be tantalized by a smorgasbord of mezedes or appetizers that most restaurants offer. Follow this up with a bowlful of thick stew, a hearty salad, or a platter of grilled meat or seafood. Sweet and rich desserts, such as the honey- drenched baklava, will round off a satisfying meal in any of Albuquerque's authentic restaurants.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
KilImanjaro Hike
Machame Route
Kilimanjaro Hike with Safari Extension Option
An amazing opportunity to reach the Top of Africa, one of the World's Seven Summits! Often called the "Whiskey Route," the Machame Route is one of the most beautiful trails to the Kilimanjaro summit. It is longer and gentler route than the Umbwe or Marangu (aka "Coca Cola Route"), allowing for much greater odds of success due to increased acclimatization time. Still, this route is considered difficult, and is best suited for adventurous folks with hiking or backpacking experience. Our itinerary maximizes acclimatization by having extra, but shorter walking days during the trek.
Day 1: Arrive at arusha
Day 2: arusha free day
Day 3: arusha and begin hiking, overnight at forest camp
Day 4: hike to shira one camp
Day 5: hike to moir camp
Day 6: hike to barronco camp
Day 7: hike to Karanga Valley camp
Day 8: Hike to barahu camp
Day 9: summit day! descend to mweka camp
Day 10: complete the hike, return to arusha for departure or opt to extend your stay!
Day 1
Arusha Arrival
Arrive into Kilimanjaro International Airport, after clearing customs and Immigration formalities you will be met by your driver and transferred to Kilimanjaro Mountain Resort for overnight.
Day 2
Arusha Free Day
We recommend including a free day in Arusha to allow for any travel mishaps such as lost luggage, flight delays, etc.
Day 3
Arusha – Forest Camp
We depart after an early breakfast for transfer to Lemosho Gate, an arduous three-hour journey through the colonial grazing lands between Mt Meru and Mt Kilimanjaro. This area is inhabited by Maasai families and has spectacular scenery. We complete formal registrations at Londorossi Gate before commencing our hike. We enjoy a packed lunch as the team inspects and co-ordinates luggage and then we set off on our hike.
Hike: 2.5 mi, 7,710 - 9,150 ft, 3-4 hours
Day 4
Forest Camp – Shira One
We set out from camp this morning through magnificent forest areas to emerge onto the Shira Plateau, an area where the volcanic activity of Kilimanjaro initially began. The scenery transitions to an open savanna grassland and our view across to our goal on Kibo is superb. We will enjoy a packed lunch at a scenic point along the trail.
Hike: 4.4 mi, 9,150 - 11,450 ft, 5-6 hours
Day 5
Shira One – Moir
Our focus today begins after a hearty English style breakfast along with fresh fruits and breads. We start by crossing the plateau area, passing Shira Cathedral. The 'cathedral' area was an ancient sacrificial area for the Chagga tribe of Kilimanjaro and demonstrates the commitment the tribe had to the traditional god. We once again enjoy lunch en route as we make our way across a sparsely vegetated habitat.
Hike: 6.6 mi, 11,450 - 13,620 ft, 6-7 hours
Day 6
Moir – Barranco
Today is an excellent opportunity for acclimatization as we make our way up and over into the Barranco area, with a more challenging hike with volcanic matter underfoot. It is an exciting day, taking in spectacular views once again as we near our summit departure point.
Hike: 5.5 mi, 13,620 - 15,210 - 12,980 ft, 7-8 hours
Day 7
Barranco – Karanga Valley
Today's hike takes us through rugged and awesome terrain – especially after breakfast as we ascend the grueling Wall of Barranco. As we reach the top, we are able to view our route thus far, providing great motivation to continue on our trekking adventure. We enter the Karanga Valley after lunch and set up camp away from the chilly winds frequent at this altitude.
Hike: 3.1 mi, 12,980 - 13,190 ft, 4-5 hours
Day 8
Karanga Valley – Barafu
Following our departure from the sheltered cliffs of Karanga, we begin to reach the open volcanic flats near Barafu. We are surrounded by a lunar-esque landscape with the peak of Kibo visible above.
Hike: 2.1 mi, 13,190 - 15,090 ft, 3-4 hours
Day 9
Barafu – Summit - Mweka
We begin our summit day with a midnight start, as we slowly make our way up the Crater wall and reach Stella Point, in time for an unforgettable sunrise over the African continent. We struggle at times catching our breath and with the loose volcanic scree underfoot, but we are so close now and we are eager to reach the summit point of Uhuru. The lunar landscape is contrasted with the snows of Kilimanjaro, stunning glaciers and if we are lucky, an uninterrupted view across to Mt Meru and the surrounding plains. We relish in our summit triumph before beginning a new route for our descent through Barafu and our last night camping on Kilimanjaro.
Hike: 10.9 mi, 15,090 - 19,340 (Summit Elev.) - 10,900 ft, 14-16 hours
Mweka – Arusha
We enjoy a more leisurely morning and are able to take a final glimpse at Kibo peak before disappearing into the forest for our final descent to the National Park gate at Mweka. We complete our signing out formalities and say good-bye to our team before embarking in our awaiting vehicle for the return journey to Arusha for your flight home or to begin the next phase of the adventure, an optional safari extension!
Hike: 5.5 mi, 10,900 - 5,400 ft, 2-3 hours
Optional Safari Extension
Day 10
Return to Arusha for Overnight Stay
After your thrilling accomplishment of summitting Kilimanjaro, you will return to Arusha to your hotel for well-deserved rest and dinner before embarking on the next adventure.
Day 11
Arusha - Tarangire
After breakfast we drive to the Tarangire National Park for game drives and lunch. As the sixth largest National Park in Tanzania, Tarangire is located slightly off the main safari route and is a lovely, quiet park in northern Tanzania. It is most famous for its high population of elephants and its rich birdlife. Furthermore, the park is abundant in plants and other animals such as the Greater Kudu, which cannot be found in any other National Park.We continue to explore this wilderness as we learn animal behavior and natural habitats from expert local guides.
During migration season you can expect to see large herds of thousands of zebra, wildebeest and cape buffalo. Other common resident animals include waterbuck, giraffe, dik dik, impala, eland, Grant's gazelle, vervet monkey, banded mongoose, and olive baboon. After enjoying our game driving we transfer to our Camp located inside the park for dinner and overnight.
Day 12
Tarangire - Serengeti
We depart after breakfast to the endless plains of the Serengeti, via exploration of the Ndutu area. We enjoy a picnic lunch en-route. Upon entering the Serengeti, we are able to game drive all the way to our special camp area. This camp is located in the Central Serengeti and allows us to explore the resident and Migratory wild game all year around.
Day 13
Early morning game drives within Serengeti provide the perfect opportunity to get up close to Africa's incredible animals. We are lucky to experience a migration and spot a great variety of wildlife including cheetah, bat eared fox, black rhino, Maasai giraffe, lion, elephant, buffalo, leopard, zebra, crocodile, elephants and others. We'll have the chance to learn about the animals' behavior. In the afternoon, we set off to see the nocturnal animals beginning their night before returning to our intimate camp for the evening.
Day 14
Serengeti - Ngorongoro Crater
After breakfast we drive back across the grasslands and up to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Ngorongoro is collapsed volcano - an incredible natural amphitheater, 25 km across and is home to a large assortment of animals including zebra, buffalo, warthog, wildebeest, hippo and elephants; and an amazing population of predators - lions, hyenas, jackals, cheetahs and the elusive leopard.
We descend into the crater for spectacular scenery and game viewing in what has been described as the eighth wonder of the world. Approximately 2.5 million years ago, the Ngorongoro crater was a huge volcanic mountain, rivaling Kilimanjaro in size. This changed when the mountain collapsed in on itself, creating the largest volcanic caldera in the world and teeming with all of the African big game.
Afterward our exploration of the park, we return to Arusha for our departure flight home.
Price quoted includes:
All transport - 4WD Land Rovers or safari vehicles
Accommodation as detailed - 3 person tents shared by two people when camping
Camping equipment (except sleeping bags and insulation mats)
Services of guides and porters
All National Park entrance and camp site fees
All food as indicated - breakfasts, packed lunches and evening meals
Donations and payments to local community project
Prices quoted exclude:
International flights
Travel and personal accident insurance
Visa, passport, vaccinations, medicines
Expenditure on personal bar bills, souvenirs, personal items
Optional excursions/activities not detailed in itinerary
Any additional services requested


text:
This article is about the Android app. Not to be confused with Patch (computing).
Lucky Patcher is a hacking application and PUP designed for Android devices, designed to patch applications to be able to remove ads or license verification, redirect billing to get items or subscriptions for free, create custom patches or create modified APKs with or without root access.
Lucky Patcher analyzes the list of installed apps on the user's device and indicates the actions the user can carry out, including the ability to remove the license verification included on many apps that requires them to be downloaded from Google Play to work; modify the associated permissions; extract apps' data or the APK file to do backups; and other illicit actions like removing Google Ads, unlocking paid apps to be able to install them on other devices. It is recognized as malware by Google Play Protect and a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Program) by Malwarebytes, likely because it allows users to make patches to the Android system or delete it in addition to being illegal. It is popularly used for hacking games as it can allow users to gain the items from in-app purchases for free.
Several options are available in a slider at the bottom of the screen, which include the "switches", for enabling or disabling some of the features of Lucky Patcher, the Toolbox (features listed below), "Search", to search the list of apps, "Backups", to show apps backed up with Lucky Patcher, "Rebuild and Install", which browses the Lucky Patcher directory to find modified .apk files, and "Options Menu", which opens a small list of options allowing the user to view and download custom patches for apps, view the settings, troubleshooting or About menus.
Although the app does not require root access for basic functionality, more features are unlocked if the user has root access. Lucky Patcher also claims that it needs root access in order to work, despite still working perfectly fine without it.
If users have superuser access, on clicking an application inside Lucky Patcher nine options can be selected:
- "App info", which opens specific information about the app inside Lucky Patcher, including the package name, permissions and more.
- "Launch App", which simply launches the selected app.
- "Close application", which will stop the app running in the background until reopened.
- "Menu of Patches", which opens a selection of what the user can use to patch the app.
- "Tools", opening a popup window that allows the user to clone the app, disable it, use it as a system app, backup the app, ODEX it, reinstall it or share it.
- "Uninstall App", which will delete the app along with any data.
- "Clear Data", which will clear all data saved from the app.
- "Move to /sdcard" (if the application is in the internal memory) or "Move to internal memory", which will move the app to the respective location.
- "Manage the app", which will open the Android application info for that app.
With root access, Lucky Patcher allows users to access more features in the 'Toolbox' which include:
- Being able to perform several batch operations:
- Select apps to extract and backup .apk files.
- Select apps to move to the external storage or SD card.
- Select apps to move to the internal or emulated storage.
- Select apps to uninstall.
- Select apps to disable.
- Select apps to enable.
- Select apps to integrate update to the /system folder.
- To view apps in the bootlist (that will begin on the device booting up)
- Methods of universally removing ads across the device without having to individually patch apps:
- Turning off the Google Ads service, which has the disadvantage of sometimes resetting the Google Advertising ID.
- Blocking ads on device, which attempts to completely remove ads across the device.
- Unblock ads on device, to reverse the above patch.
- Clear the local 'hosts' file.
- Remove all saved purchases, to remove any purchases that were done illegally by Lucky Patcher.
- Directory Binder
- 'Patch to Android', which allows the user to apply several patches to the Android operating system:
- "Signature verification Status always True", necessary for the InAPP and LVL emulation for hacking in-app purchases.
- "Disable .apk Signature Verification", allows the modification of an application without creating a new signature, so that the developer's signature will remain.
- "Disable signature verification in the package manager", for allowing the installation of older versions of applications on top of the one already installed.
- "Remove all patches from core.jar"
- "Remove all patches from services.jar"
- To install and test the modified Google Play Store, allowing for users to be able to universally use the Lucky Patcher billing across all apps without having to individually patch them.
- To ODEX all system apps, allowing for more free space on the internal storage.
- To Remove all ODEX files.
- To clear the dalvik-cache and reboot.
- To Select the default install location for new apps.
- To simply reboot.
If the user does not have root access or has not granted access to Lucky Patcher, there are only two methods available for attempting to hack the application:
- Recompiling the target application with the support patch for InApp and LVL emulation and reinstalling it. The user must enable the switches "Google Billing Emulation" and "Proxy server for Support Patch to InApp and LVL emulation".
- The method used in CreeHack, enabling the switch "Mirror of original InApp of service for emulation of purchases". This method only works on older apps or older versions of apps, due to this method being very old.
When the user grants superuser access to Lucky Patcher, the methods that Lucky Patcher offers for hacking or emulating in-app purchases include:
- Applying a patch to the Android operating system 'Signature verification always True', and then installing a modified version of the Google Play Store which redirects all purchases to Lucky Patcher, automatically allowing the user to attempt to purchase items in apps without having to patch them individually. According to the app, this is the most effective and desirable method.
- Applying the patch to the Android operating system 'Signature verification always True', and then enabling a proxy server for Google Play, which redirects all purchases to Lucky Patcher, automatically allowing the user to attempt to purchase items in apps without having to patch them individually. This method has the disadvantage that the Google Play Store will not be available until the proxy server is turned off, and if it is turned off all the purchases made will be reset.
- A module in the program Xposed which redirects all purchases to Lucky Patcher, automatically allowing the user to attempt to purchase items in apps without having to patch them individually.
- Applying a patch to the app wanted to be hacked 'Support Patch for InApp and LVL emulation' and enabling the switches 'Proxy server for support patch to InApp and LVL emulation'.
When the user attempts to complete a purchase in an application that was patched with Lucky Patcher or when they have installed the modified Play Store or enabled the proxy server, a purchase window will appear from Lucky Patcher, showing three options that the user can select:
- Send response unsigned - sends false data about the purchase to the application. According to the app, users with root privileges should not use this method as it may not work.
- Save to restore purchases - Saves the purchase information to Lucky Patcher and attempts to ensure that the purchase will remain the next time the app is launched, as sometimes applications will revert the purchases after being closed.
- Autopurchase with current settings - saves the current purchase settings and automatically purchases the item upon pressing the purchase button and will not show the Lucky Patcher dialogue.
The Lucky Patcher purchase window will also contain some information about how it works and how to deactivate the automatic purchase.
Due to Lucky Patcher's popularity, many unofficial websites offer downloads of Lucky Patcher that may contain ads or viruses. The official website can be found at luckypatchers (dot) com.
In April 2019, 'chelpus (dot) co', a fake site claiming to be the original site, filed several complaints against other clones and the official site. They were accepted by Google causing the official site to be removed from the search page.
It can be easily identified as a clone site due to it having an old version of Lucky Patcher as the 'Latest Version'.
The developers of Lucky Patcher recently designed an installer which can be downloaded from the same page.
It allows the user to download custom patches for apps as well as downloading and installing Lucky Patcher itself, in the hopes of circumventing antivirus software which blocks the regular installation of Lucky Patcher.
The old method of circumventing antivirus software for Lucky Patcher was simply to compress the .apk file into a .zip but antiviruses began to detect it.
The VirusTotal scan result for the latest version of Lucky Patcher can be found here.
AhnLab-V3Z - Android-AppCare/LuckyPatcher.7cb8f
Jiangmin - Trojan.AndroidOS.dav
Symantec - AdLibrary:Generisk
Trustlook - Android.Malware.General (score:9)
Sophos AV - Android Lucky Patcher (PUA)
Babable - PUP.HighConfidence
K7GW - Trojan ( 00533df21 )
MaxSecure - Virus.RiskTool.AndroidOS.SMSreg.pf
Trivia and other information
- Lucky Patcher along with almost every similar hacking application that gets free purchases is based on the original billing hack by Dominik Schürmann.
- The logo is a smiley face with black eyes and a smile on a yellow face, however, the launcher icon can be changed to a few other icons inside the app's settings.
- It is recognized as malware by Google Play Protect and a PUP by Malwarebytes, likely because it allows users to make patches to the Android system or delete it in addition to being illegal.
- It is popularly used for hacking games as it can allow users to gain the items from in-app purchases for free.
Similar apps
Lucky Patcher is not the only app for hacking the in-app purchases of Android apps. There are many other alternatives to it too, although some of them require root or use old methods that have been patched in most apps. Some of them are mentioned below:
- Freedom
- CreeHack
- GameCIH
- Leo Playcard (based on CreeHack)
- AppSara (based on CreeHack)
- URET Patcher (made by Jaspreet Singh (Jasi2169), former developer of Lucky Patcher. URET Patcher was succeeded by Jasi Patcher.)
- Jasi Patcher (made by Jaspreet Singh (Jasi2169), former developer of Lucky Patcher)


text:
Pruning is the science of removing growth to achieve one or more goals: keeping the plant healthy, making it more productive, controlling its size, or encouraging it to grow in a particular shape or direction. Pruning stimulates new growth, an important factor in flowering because many varieties of roses produce flowers only on new canes.
Continue reading "National Rose Month – Vol. 3/4 – Pruning"


text:
Kerbed platform cairn and prehistoric house platform 370m NNW of the Pest House, St Helen's
- Heritage Category:
- Scheduled Monument
- List Entry Number:
- 1014552
- Date first listed:
- 21-May-1996
The above map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. For a copy of the full scale map, please see the attached PDF - 1014552 .pdf
The PDF will be generated from our live systems and may take a few minutes to download depending on how busy our servers are. We apologise for this delay.
This copy shows the entry on 20-Oct-2019 at 04:14:46.
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- Isles of Scilly (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- Tresco
- National Grid Reference:
Reasons for Designation
The Isles of Scilly, the westernmost of the granite masses of south west
England, contain a remarkable abundance and variety of archaeological remains
from over 4000 years of human activity. The remote physical setting of the
islands, over 40km beyond the mainland in the approaches to the English
Channel, has lent a distinctive character to those remains, producing many
unusual features important for our broader understanding of the social
development of early communities.
Throughout the human occupation there has been a gradual submergence of the
islands' land area, providing a stimulus to change in the environment and its
exploitation. This process has produced evidence for responses to such change
against an independent time-scale, promoting integrated studies of
archaeological, environmental and linguistic aspects of the islands'
The islands' archaeological remains demonstrate clearly the gradually
expanding size and range of contacts of their communities. By the post-
medieval period (from AD 1540), the islands occupied a nationally strategic
location, resulting in an important concentration of defensive works
reflecting the development of fortification methods and technology from the
mid 16th to the 20th centuries. An important and unusual range of post-
medieval monuments also reflects the islands' position as a formidable hazard
for the nation's shipping in the western approaches.
The exceptional preservation of the archaeological remains on the islands has
long been recognised, producing an unusually full and detailed body of
documentation, including several recent surveys.
Platform cairns are funerary monuments of Early Bronze Age date (c.2000 - 1600 BC). They were constructed as low flat-topped mounds of stone rubble, up to 40m in external diameter though usually considerably smaller, covering single or multiple burials. Some examples have other features, including peripheral banks and internal mounds constructed on the platform. A kerb of slabs or edge-set stones sometimes bounds the edge of the platform, and a peripheral bank or mound if present. Platform cairns can occur as isolated monuments, in small groups or in cairn cemeteries. Current evidence indicates that nationally, but excluding Scilly, there are under 250 known examples of this monument class. On the Isles of Scilly, platform cairns form one of the recurrent types of small cairn represented in cairn cemeteries - an unusual and distinctive expression of this monument class, which forms a high proportion of the 387 surviving cairns recorded on the islands. By contrast, house platforms are one of several known types of settlement site dating from the Neolithic to the early medieval periods (from c.4000 BC to c.AD 1000). Individual house platforms may be dated by excavation or by their association with other monuments of known date. They consist of levelled stances, variously circular, ovoid or sub-rectangular in shape, on which similarly varied shapes of building were constructed. This broadly defined class of monument exhibits considerable variety of form nationally, largely depending on the nature and context of the buildings they supported and whether the platform was wholly or only partly occupied by the floor of the building. On the Isles of Scilly, house platforms tend to survive as rounded or oval levelled stances cut into hillslopes or into the scarps of field terraces. The stances are often provided with a bank or wall along the outer lip of the platform, thereby creating a hut circle built in an economical manner by using the levelling backscarp as a major part of the wall. Indeed a gradation can be drawn on Scilly from non-freestanding house platforms to fully freestanding hut circles. Excavations have confirmed the dating of house platforms on Scilly from at least the Bronze Age to the early medieval period, concurrent with more conventionally-built hut circles of round and ovoid forms on the islands. House platforms on Scilly may occur singly or in groups, unenclosed in the open or intimately associated with broadly contemporary field systems. House platforms form a significant proportion of the 140 hut circles and related forms of settlement site recorded on Scilly and by their nature they form the normal expression of prehistoric to early medieval settlement in steeper slope locations. The platform cairn and house platform in this monument have survived well and neither has been excavated. The close proximity of these respective funerary and settlement elements emphasises the varied uses which this exposed terrain has served from the prehistoric to medieval period, while the physical relationship between the cairn and the nearby prehistoric field systems typifies the organisation of land use during the Bronze Age.
The monument includes a prehistoric kerbed platform cairn and a nearby
habitation site, called a house platform, situated on the north western
coastal slope of St Helen's, an uninhabited island in the north of the Isles
of Scilly.
The cairn and the house platform are situated 20m apart on a north-south axis.
The southernmost of the two, the cairn, survives with a circular mound of
heaped rubble, 5.5m in diameter and up to 0.25m high on the north west side.
The mound rises to a flattened platform, 4m in diameter and tilted slightly to
the west in conformity with the surrounding slope. The platform perimeter is
defined by a kerb of at least seven spaced slabs, most of which lie flat but
they include two edge-set slabs: the largest on the west is 0.6m long and 0.3m
high; the smaller slab, on the south, is 0.25m high.
To the north of the cairn, the house platform is visible as a distinct ovoid
hollow measuring 7m north east-south west by up to 6m north west-south east,
cut into the fairly steep north west facing slope. The south eastern, rear,
edge of the platform is cut 0.4m deep into the slope while a bank of similar
height extends along the platform's north western edge.
Beyond this monument, another kerbed platform cairn is located 35m to the
east, while a further two similar cairns are located 110m to the SSE and a
large round cairn containing a funerary cist is situated on the island's
summit. Prehistoric field systems also occur on the island's lower western
slopes and on the upper slope to the east of the summit. These broadly
contemporary features are the subject of separate schedulings.
MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract. It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features, considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 15433
- Legacy System:
consulted 1988, Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7114, (1988)
consulted 1988, Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7266, (1988)
consulted 1988, Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107s for Scilly SMR entries PRN 7112-3, (1988)
consulted 1995, Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7114, (1988)
consulted 1995, Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7267.04, (1988)
consulted 1995, Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107s for Scilly SMR entries PRN 7112-3, (1988)
Title: 1:10000 Ordnance Survey Maps: SV 81 NE & SV 91 NW Source Date: 1980 Author: Publisher: Surveyor:
This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
End of official listing


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With the company's development, ZOLO company is planing to attend more and more national and international exhibitions for potential customers to know more about ZOLO and its products.
We hereby sincerely invite you and your company representatives to visit Shenzhen International Logistics and Transportation Fair which will be held at Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center from October 12th to 14th, 2017.
The details are:
Exhibition Center: Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center
Address: Convention and Exhibition Center, Futian district, Shenzhen, China.
Booth Number:C1728, 1st Hall, ground floor
Date: October 12th to 14th, 2017
ZOLO is one of the best manufacturers specialized in security VOID label & material, hologram sticker & holographic film, self-destructive sticker & material, water-sensitive label, etc security products, focused on the new anti-counterfeiting and security technology development and application.
It would be a great pleasure to meet you at the exhibition. We expect to establish long-term business relations with your company in future.


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Cougar Athletics Holds End Of Year Celebration of Excellence
COLUMBIA -- The Cougar Athletic Department held their annual Celebration of Excellence on Wednesday night to honor the accomplishments of Columbia College's student-athletes in their respective sports as well as in the classroom and the community.
Men's basketball guard Taylor Evans was the recipient of the Virginia and Stanley Williams Senior Athlete Award for having the highest GPA among all senior student-athletes.Junior volleyball Libero Aleah Hayes and the men's soccer team were the winners of the NAIA Champions of Character Award for successfully embodying the five core values of respect, integrity, servant leadership, sportsmanship and responsibility.
Banquet host Nick 'Cosmo' Schudel announced the start of a new award next year. The award was created by Vice Presendent and Dean for Academic Affairs, Dr. Terry Smith and will be named the Dean's Team Academic Achievement Award (DT3A). The award will be presented to the women's varsity and men's varsity program with the highest GPAs from the previous calendar year.
Junior basketball player Jordan Dressler received the Male Athlete of the Year Award. Jordan finished his second season with the Cougar men's basketball team. He is a starting forward for the Cougars and led his 2011-12 team to a regular season and tournament conference championships and made his second appearance in the NAIA National Championships. He averaged over 15 points and almost 8.5 rebounds a game. On the court Jordan was a First Team All-Conference member and AMC Player of the Year as well as an NAIA Second Team All-American. Junior volleyball player Paula Ferreira received the Female Athlete of the Year Award for the second season in a row. Paula played in every match for Columbia this season, helping her team to a 39-4 overall record and a final four finish at the NAIA Volleyball National Championships. Along the way, Paula has dished out 1,450 assists, pounded down 195 kills and served up 44 aces. For her efforts she was named First Team All-Conference, AMC Player of the Year, AMC Setter of the Year, First Team All-American and was named the CoSIDA College Division Volleyball Academic All-American of the Year.
Cougar Club founding members Jim and Linda Peterson was the recipient of the Athletic Director's Award for their continued support of the Cougar Athletic Department.
Athletic Director and head men's basketball coach Bob Burchard was honored as the first Cougar to be inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame earlier this spring.
The Fran's Fan award is a new award this year. It was created in honor of Fran Koepke, a long-time supporter of Columbia College and the athletic department. This award is meant to honor the student who best exhibits the qualities of Fran and the entire Koepke family. Students were chosen from the following characteristics; attendance of athletic contests, willingness to bring others to athletic events and the spirit and enthusiasm that Fran shared with all of us. The inaugural winner of this award was Spencer Alexander.


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Sometimes we get a glimpse of glory and the only thing we can do is praise God! The other day on our evening walk, I saw the most beautiful sunset. The colors shone through the trees with such brilliance, that I thought – "If I saw a picture painted with those colors I would think the artist was making it up." No sunset could have those depths of color. But there it was and I could only say praise God!
Holy Adventure
by Pastor Linda Skinner For many years now our church has selflessly sent youth teams to Honduras to work amongst the poorest of poor. I've had the privilege of leading the amazing team on our annual auction supporting our mission projects. As part of the auction, the youth team kids work hard. They procure items for the auction and help on auction night as part of their preparation for the trip. It has been one of the highlights of my ministry at Washington Cathedral watching the kids who go on these trips come back with such a heart for Jesus and the "little ones" he loves in all parts of the world.
This year, for the first time since we have been working in Honduras, I had the honor and privilege of going on the Youth Mission trip with the team. That means I got to work with the team in preparation for the auction, in preparation for the trip and taking part in all aspects of the trip. For all of us on the team, our hearts were stolen by the children we served in La Paz, Honduras. But in addition, my heart was stolen by the young people from our church who went on this trip.
Every step of the way, I watched them courageously step out of their comfort zones and do things they never imagined they could do. As the time to go on the trip approached, there was the combination of excitement mixed with a little trepidation. For some, this was their very first mission trip experience--and they had no idea what to expect. In preparation, they had to have vaccinations not necessary in this country. And we had to brief them on health hazards and dangers of entering into a third-world country where you do not know the customs or speak the language well. I know this all added to their sense of apprehension.
John says these words in 1 John 4:18 "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear…." I witnessed this phenomenon the minute our kids stepped into the San Jose Orphanage and met the children of the orphanage. Despite age, language and cultural differences, they were drawn to one another. The love of Christ shone on the faces of our kids. Before I knew it, they were had a soccer game going, they were playing "go fish" and teaching one another "clapping songs". Loved reigned supreme in the hearts of all.
Every day, they grew closer and closer to one another. We learned one another's names. We even visited homes of some of the children in the NiCo Tutoring center. God worked in our hearts and none of us wanted to leave. But the day came that we had to say "good bye," and again that beast of fear entered in our hearts. Fear of leaving and letting go. Pastor Rey asked us to be brave and not to say or do anything to hurt the hearts of these children who have suffered their entire lives with feelings of abandonment. We needed to be strong to hold back the tears and leave them with joy and laughter.
I think this was the hardest assignment our kids faced. I was so proud of all of them. They showed such maturity and compassion. They were crying inside because they didn't want to say "Adios", but outside they were filled with joy for the time God had given them with these precious little ones. As our bus drove away, they shouted one another's names saying "Adios", some of the kids ran alongside our bus, waving, laughing and calling our names. It is a picture of "Love and Courage" that will forever be emblazoned on the hearts of all of us. We went on a Holy Adventure and God changed us all.
This weekend Pastor Josh, our Youth Pastor and Mission Team Leader, is going to preach on his life verse Joshua 1:9 and he will be interviewing some of the team members. You don't want to miss this opportunity to celebrate what God is doing in our midst through the youth of our church.
Living Worship
"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world." Psalm 19:1-4
To my recollection, I think my first "Empowering Encounter" of worship was when I was about 12 years old. It was on a beautiful summer night in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of Northern California.
Summer vacation for our family was always a trip to our cabin in Calpine, California. Being farmers, my parents had few vacations in the summer, but they had a co-op deal with another farmer who would look after our chickens and animals while we were gone and then we'd look after their turkeys and animals while they were gone. However, the vacations we had were always memorable. Early morning trout fishing in the streams of the Sierra Valley, delicious trout and egg breakfast, games and swimming in the heat of the day, and bonfires at night.
One evening, we were having a bonfire at the reservoir above our cabin. I walked up the levy with one of my girlfriends, Susie, and we laid down in the soft grass and looked up into the sky. It was the most spectacular sight I had ever seen. It was a hot August night, the moon was just a sliver, and the only light was the glow of the bonfire in the distance. The stars seemed to be so bright and the sky was full of stars of all different sizes layered for millions, upon millions of miles. I could only say "WOW, God is big!" We both laid there in absolute awe of the majesty of our Heavenly Father. I never felt so small and yet so filled with the sense of God's deep and abiding love for me. Amazed that the creator of everything, would love and care about "little ol' me".
I don't think I realized at the time what an incredible act of worship I had just experienced. But from then on, I was much more aware of the how God's creation shouts His Glory to all.
Join me this Sunday as we explore together "Living Worship" in our everyday life. When we can do that, it takes everything to a new level of excitement and joy.
Pastor Linda Skinner
The Attitude You Bring
Sunday is my favorite day of the week. Rich and I have a routine -- get up at 6:45 am, shower, dress, drive to PCC Market on Avondale, get a cup of coffee (or tea), go through their breakfast buffet line, stop at bakery section and get a mini croissant (that's for me), sit down in their little eating area and enjoy our breakfast, leave at 8:10 to arrive at the church in time for music rehearsal, run through the songs with Eliot and Rhonda (laugh a lot – Eliot is really funny in the morning), greet people who are coming to worship and then spend an hour worshipping with the 9:30 congregation. I love that time. I can't think of anything more fulfilling or exciting than worshipping our Almighty God with a group of people I love to be with.
For several years of my life, I didn't have the same excitement and enthusiasm that I have now. To get up early Sunday morning and get ready to go church to worship with my friends. Sleeping in or riding my horse or bicycling to Folsom Lake to swim, had a bit more appeal to me than going to church to worship. But in my mother's household there was no other option available to me. So, when I moved out on my own, Sunday morning became a time of sleeping in (I mean it was my only sleep in day). I worked and went to school and Sunday was my only day off. Dr. Phil might ask "And how did that work for you?" Let's just say it was not my wisest move. I fell into the "I can worship God anywhere" trap (which is true, but there is something about worshipping God in community that is irreplaceable by individual worship time.)
What I discovered is that for me my enjoyment and my enthusiasm for worship has direct correlation to my attitude toward God. When my relationship with Him is strong then my enthusiasm for worshipping with others is high also.
When Rich and I travel we always find a place to worship with other believers. That has been a great experience and a great way for us to understand that worshipping God really is not about what is happening in the service, but what is happening in your heart. One of greatest times of worship was in a small Catholic Church in Florianopolis, Brazil. We were not familiar with Catholic forms of worship, we don't speak Portuguese and we didn't know a soul. However, we entered this beautiful little church which was filled to standing room only. The priest was leading the singing and he was a bit off key but everyone was singing out. They were all dressed like we were in their summer shorts and t-shirts and you could tell they were very excited about being there. We just got caught up in their enthusiasm and it was a bit like Pentecost. I told Rich, I think I know what they are saying. When they sang words, we hummed along. It was a great experience. I realized then what true worshipping "in spirit and truth" was all about. It's about my heart and where it is at. It's about my relationship with God.
This week I look forward to sharing with you what God's word teaches us about the "attitude you bring" to worship each week.
Look forward to seeing you.
Blessings on your life,
Pastor Linda Skinner
Sojourners In A Strange Land
I was raised in a small Northern California community outside of Sacramento. My family had a farm and their main crop was eggs – so we raised chickens for our livelihood. It was really a small family farm, not like some of the big commercial farms you see today. My mom and dad and my brothers were pretty much the workers on the farm. I can't remember any time that we had a hired hand on the farm. If we did go on a short vacation to our cabin in the mountains, one of my dad's friends who had a turkey ranch would come take care of our chickens and livestock and then we'd do the same for him on his farm.
On our farm, we did not have a need for migrant workers, but several of the farms around us did. Especially the farms that had harvest times – especially in the tomato fields and rice patties in our area. So in my elementary school we often had children of migrant farm workers come to school for a few months out of the year. I always felt sorry for them, because they weren't with us long enough to get to know us. Some of the kids in school were even kind of mean to them because they looked different, dressed different and usually they were even one or two grades behind, so some kids called them stupid.
When I told my mom about how mean the kids were to the "visiting" kids, she (as she often did) pulled out her Bible and read..."When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him/her wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God." (Leviticus 19:33-34)
Then she explained to me that these "visiting" kids' parents worked on farms and they had to go where there was work so they could feed their family. Because of moving around so much, it was hard for their kids to keep up with their studies like those of us who had parents who worked in one place. So, she said, God wants you to help them and encourage your friends to help them feel welcomed in your school.
Now I live in a neighborhood full of people who might be considered "strangers sojourning" in our land. People who are here on job assignments from countries and lands far off. They are much better off than the migrant workers from my childhood, but many of them feel lonely and out of touch. Our native languages are different, our cultures are different, some dress different than we do, but I always remember – "you shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself." Whether in the grocery store, the bank, or walking down the sidewalk let's greet all with enthusiasm and respect, because we have all been or will be "sojourners in a strange land."
Pastor Linda
The Open and Closed Door Myth
"Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For I know that when our faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow…." James 1:2-4 NLT
For many years I operated under that assumption that when I was "walking in God's will," and things would go smoothly that "doors would open". I discovered that God can use "closed doors" to also get me to the right place. As a matter of fact, those "closed doors" shouted much louder to me than "open doors."
As I shared this past weekend, I felt my business career seemed to be a big open door. I was proceeding under the assumption that God was going to use me in the business world to honor Him. I had great success in that area. I was advancing and, at a time, when very few women achieved the level of Vice President, I was being groomed for that position. We had moved to Seattle for a job opportunity for my husband, Rich and I was able to transfer to the Bellevue Office.
About 2 years after working in the Seattle office and getting rave reviews, my boss, the Vice President of the NW Region, decided to move back to his home state of Alabama. I felt I was ready and he felt the same. As a matter of fact, he recommended me for the position. In my mind, it was a "done deal" and I was preparing myself for the new task at hand.
Shortly, I received a call from the Western Regional VP informing me that the decision had been made and they decided to hire a new young guy who lived in Texas. He had no experience with our products and services (or with marketing for that matter) and he hoped I would be available to help train the guy. As a mature business woman, I thanked him for the call, told him I was disappointed and would have to think about the training thing. I hung up the phone; went into the bathroom and bawled my eyes out--and then I called my "mommy."
After much prayer and talking to people of wisdom in my life (Pastor Tim for one), I decided not to stick around to train the new guy. I gave up my career with that company and quit my job (Something I most often advise people not to do, by the way). That was an event that was a changing point in my life, and through a series of events it brought me to my new career as God's sales and marketing person at Washington Cathedral. Which is where, I know now, God was getting me ready for and pointing me to become.
I only know this as I look back at the series of events in my life. I had no idea at the time, instead I had to claim in faith the words God gives us in James "when trouble comes your way, consider an opportunity for great joy." I have come to believe with all my heart in soul the words of Proverbs 3:5-6: "Trust in the Lord with all you heart and lean not on your own understand, acknowledge Him in all you do, and he will guide your path." It doesn't really matter whether the door is open or closed, when you are walking with your Lord he will guide you through, around or turn you the other way.
May you find His joy even in the face of troubles.
Pastor Linda Skinner
Alone No More
Have you ever had a slightly (or maybe not so slight) irrational fear of something? I think we all have something that frightens us and we really can't quite figure out why, but it is still there. My fear was of being alone. It did start when I was a child, but as a child I can't think of one time that I did not have either my mom or my dad in the house with me at night. Even in college I had a roommate asleep in the other room at night. When I was a live-in nanny, I had the family I worked for with me. So it wasn't until I got married that I had my first experience of being totally alone.
My husband, Rich, was in the Air Force and he had times that he would need to travel and I would be left in our apartment alone. This was in Forest Hill, Maryland, and I knew no one. My parents were 3,000 miles away (literally) and I had not had time to get acquainted with our neighbors. I laid awake all night tossing, turning, and crying. It was so bad that Rich finally called my mom and dad, unbeknownst to me, and arranged to have my dog flown out to live with us. That was really sweet and I will love him forever for his kindness, but Gidget weighed all of 15 lbs and was not what you would call a watch dog.
Even after Rich was discharged from active duty and took a job at an advertising agency in Philadelphia, he still traveled. My fear kept me awake most of the nights he was gone. This continued for about 30 years of our marriage. I could not seem to shake it. It was so bad that even installing an alarm system did not help me sleep.
I kept telling myself it was not rational and I needed to get over this. But all the self-talk in the world was not making a difference. I loved my life, I knew I had many loving friends, I knew that I was loved by God, but being alone haunted me.
One night I was crying out to God to take away my fear and I opened up my Bible to Psalm 91. The entire Psalm spoke right to my heart, but the words that jumped out to me were "You will not fear the terror of night…If you make the Most High your dwelling – even the Lord, who is my refuge – then no harm will befall you….For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways." I felt a peace come over me. That night I slept so soundly and awoke refreshed and renewed.
From that point forward, if I ever felt anxious, I recalled God's angels standing guard. I thanked Him that He was with me. It became real to me at that time, that I am never alone. You are never alone either. God's loves you. He designed you specifically to live in relationship with Him and He will never leave you. That is not my promise to you. That is His.
Pastor Linda Skinner
The profound beauty of God's world
Interview and post by Pastor Linda Skinner with artist Kathleen Henderson "Creation and creatures applaud you, God; your holy people bless you. They talk about the glories of your rule, they exclaim over your splendor, letting the world know of your power for good, the lavish splendor of your kingdom." Psalm 145:10-12 (The Message)
Recently I had the privilege of interviewing a very special lady in our church, Kathleen Henderson. Kathleen is a painter and right now her art is being displayed in our very own Inscape Gallery located in the Spirit Falls building. (Inscape Gallery is a part of Washington Seminary one of the 5 non-profit organizations affiliated with Washington Cathedral.)
Kathleen has been a part of the Washington Cathedral family for many years and she has been painting under the instruction and mentoring of Kay Barnes for the last 5 years.
She feels that God planted a seed in her life when at the age of seven she received a Christmas gift of watercolor paints and paper. Later in college she dabbled in painting with Acrylic.
A few years ago, and after experiencing loss, she saw some paintings that a friend had done. She liked the style of painting, she called it a "realistic style", and she wanted to give it a try herself. She wanted to try creating something beautiful.
She got in touch with her friend about an art instructor, Kay Barnes, and she signed up for weekly classes. Kay has been a wonderful mentor and friend to Kathleen as she has helped her discover the gift she had buried deep inside.
Kathleen told me that she found painting very challenging and hard. So I asked her "Why do it?" She passionately answered that it brought her satisfaction and she liked learning and seeing the progress she was making.
When I asked her what she did if she finished a painting and looked at it and just didn't like it, she immediately replied, "I throw it away." "How many have you thrown away?" I asked. Her reply was "Very few." Then she added, "But when I'm painting I pray to God." I responded back, "Maybe that is why you don't throw many away." She looked and me nodded her head and smiled. Kathleen brings God into her paintings and it shows.
Kathleen paints the two things she loves most – flowers and dogs. She loves using exciting colors, and painting from a very up-close perspective. Her hope is that her paintings will urge viewers to stop and look closely. When they do, her prayer is that they will see the profound beauty of God's world.
While I looked around her house, I saw many picture hangers with no pictures hanging on them. Curiously I asked, "Is that where all your paintings normally hang?" And with a little sadness in her eyes, she nodded her head. So I inquired of her if she missed her paintings while they are display. And she responded "Very much, they are my friends." She said "People ask me why I don't sell them. I can't sell my friends." But if someone commissions me, I love to paint their dog or flowers that mean something to them."
I hope Kathleen doesn't mind me sharing this, but she started painting in her 60's. She's had a number of very serious health challenges and I think God has used her painting to help her through. At the same time, He blesses us through her.
If you would like to see Kathleen's beautiful art. Come by Spirit Falls building on a Saturday night or Sunday morning and you will experience some beautiful paintings. On March 11 at 7:00 pm there will be a "Closing Conversation" in Spirit Falls Sanctuary and you can meet Kathleen and let her know how much you appreciate her using the gift God has given her and for sharing "her friends" with us.
Lessons from the Farm
By Pastor Linda Skinner
Growing up on a farm taught me so many important life lessons. I didn't appreciate it fully when I was a child, but as I have experienced more of life's up and downs I have come to cherish the many lessons I learned. One lesson I learned is that worldly riches are very fleeting, but the richness of God's Love and of family and friends is what is most important.
Farm life is full of "ups and downs." Our product was eggs and chickens. At one time I remember my dad saying we had 2000 laying hens. Now that is a lot of egg production. However, chickens only lay eggs when they are healthy and happy. So our income depended on many conditions – no disease or sickness, good weather, and well fed and cared for chickens.
Now the care was under our control, but the disease and weather not so much. We lived in Citrus Heights, California, which is outside of Sacramento. If you know anything about that area, you know that summers get really hot. However, usually it cools off a bit at night. I remember one summer it was well over 100°F for days in a row and it at night it only cool by a few degrees. It was a heat wave. If there is one thing chickens don't like, it is a heat wave. A picture I'll never forget is my dad, hose in hand, spraying cold water on hundreds of chickens laying on the ground suffering from too much heat. Not many eggs that year. And several chickens didn't make it.
As a child I didn't understand all the implications of that heat wave, but my mom started working for JC Penney's making custom curtains. She'd used remnants of those fabrics to make dresses for me for school. We ate more out of our garden and freezer than we did normally. It was lean times.
What amazes me as I think back on it, I never remember complaining or moaning about our bad luck or anyone playing the "blame" game. I just remember we adjusted. Mom would say, "This is what the Lord has for us this year."
On the other hand, my fondest memories are from those times. I don't remember many of the Christmas presents I received as a child, but I remember the gift I got that year. My mom made a big rag doll that stood about has high as I did. She put elastic straps on the bottom of her feet so I could strap her feet on top of mine and we could dance. And we danced and danced around for hours. I didn't fully appreciate that gift of love. I didn't know it came to me because we didn't have the money to buy things from the store. I didn't know how many sleepless nights mom must have spent on that doll between making curtains, housework and her farm chores. I just enjoyed a wonderful Christmas with a family I loved.
I look back and this I realize how fortunate I was growing up. My parents were never "rich" in worldly goods, but they were rich in love and generosity. There was always laughter and concern and care for others in our household. I learned that no matter how much or how little you have, to always be thankful and enjoy what you do have. My mom always told me, "God will provide" and I have always found that to be true.
My prayer for you is that wherever you find yourself, with much or little, that you can come to appreciate that God has provided what you have for your enjoyment. You are blessed.
"Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life." 1 Timothy 6:17-19
Photo Credit
Our New Year needs Christmas
By Pastor Linda Skinner Christmas Eve was a glorious time this year. How I loved sitting in the choir chairs on Christmas Eve and watching the faces of people enjoying the lore of Christmas. A message that comes through the music, the beauty of the manger in the rain, the dancer with the little cherubs and Pastor Tim's unfolding of the Christmas story once again.
I watched the excitement of parents and grandparents, when their little angels, some with dangling halos, danced on the stage in front of the manger. We were blessed to have one of our high schoolers play the most beautiful cello solo and I couldn't help but notice his dad sitting on the front row, eyes closed, a smile on his face, enjoying every stroke of the bow on the strings. I almost missed my entry cue on the song (don't tell Rhonda, ok?). So many people thanked our church for making their Christmas Special.
Pastor Tim shared that in his over 30 years of ministry he has never known a time where we need Christmas more than now. It got me to thinking about how important Christmas is to us 365 days of the year. Some of us celebrate only on Christmas Day with family and friends, other traditions celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas beginning on Christmas Day and ending on January 6, but no matter how you celebrate Christmas is a celebration of New Birth. Not only our Saviors', but our own as well.
Wednesday night, December 30 (the 6th day of Christmas), our Women's Ministry at Washington Cathedral cooked and served a holiday meal for the Camp Unity Community-- a tent community currently located at a church in Woodinville. What a feast it was!
Two months ago when I signed up for that night, I was a little concerned about how many ladies would be willing to cook a meal between Christmas and New Years Day. How many would even be in town? What kind of support could we rally? Well, I wish you could have been there. First, everyone was prepared to serve the meal outside in the freezing cold. Our helpers came bundled in layers of cloths, scarfs, hats, and gloves. Ready to face the freezing cold. Our first miracle was that the church opened up their fellowship hall and kitchen for us to use. Allowing us to be in, out of the cold, but more importantly allowing the residents to enjoy a delicious meal in the beautiful warm area.
Second miracle was the food. I had this crazy idea that I wanted everything to be home cooked. My mom taught me years ago that you give your best to those who have the least. Well it was beyond my wildest imagination. Turkey, Ham, Potatoes, Dressing, Gravy, Cranberry Sauce, Sweet Potatoes, Soup, Cooked Vegetables, Salads, Pies, Cakes – all delicious and lovingly cooked by the ladies of our church. I was blown away (it brings tears to my eyes as I'm typing this). One lady brought some delicious whipped sweet potatoes (enough to feed an army) and she told me her kitchen is being remodeled and she had to cook the sweet potatoes a few at a time in her micro-wave--plus she has a broken arm.
Third miracle was the amount of food. We had enough food for twice the number of people whom we served. I spoke to Chris who runs the kitchen at the church we were using and he said that on New Year's Eve they were planning to serve Camp Unity and they'd love to use the food to serve that meal. I couldn't believe that what our ladies prepared was not only so delicious but it was so plentiful that it would bless this community for New Year's Eve.
The fourth miracle was the people. What a blessing to see our church spending time enjoying food and fellowship with the people of Camp Unity. One family drove all the way from Seattle to a place they had never been, driving in the dark--even getting a little lost--to serve in the name of Jesus.
All of these miracles are a result of people living Christmas in their hearts and lives. As we enter this New Year 2016, maybe in place of all the resolutions that seem to fade by January 15, I'd like to challenge you to think about what you might do differently in 2016 to live out Christmas for the next 365 days.
Take a few minutes and meditate on Romans 12:1-5.
And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don't think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ's body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.
God Bless You and Those You Love.


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An $8 billion consumer products company was facing intense price pressure passed down through the supply chain due to increased competition from low cost manufacturers in other countries. Prices were being continually driven down and results had moved into the red. An industry expert's report stated that "The company cannot continue to be the high quality industry supplier and remain price competitive." Without significant cost improvements the company faced the potential for drastically reduced profits and market share.
The company's original strategy to overcome this was to look for many small improvements in variable costs across the operations. Unfortunately, this was only creating small, incremental gains that were being outstripped by the rising price pressure. This plan was falling short of making the company competitive again.
In addition, even though effort was being applied at a strenuous rate there was little to show for it. This caused frustration and anger within the supply chain, and there was the mindset that it was a hopeless endeavor. The organization looked for a an alternative strategy, and Stroud was brought in to deliver rapid, step-change improvements in the performance of the operations.
Stroud took a strategy opposite to the small distributed wins previously tried. Instead, they focused on larger targets that had been considered already optimized. Stroud saw the opportunity to improve the bigger, higher performing facilities and to then consolidate the smaller facilities and dramatically reduce costs. This meant going into one of the top facilities in the company to increase output substantially.
While benchmarks showed there was little opportunity to improve, a zero-based approach looked past them to the fundamental physics of how a line or machine could operate and highlighted much more of the true opportunity. From there, strategies for increasing output and problem solving were applied to realize these previously hidden gains.
The possibility of dramatic improvement in any facility changed the client's entire business strategy. This alternative focus resulted in the closure of 4 plants in a 20 plant division and supplied significant additional cash through capital avoidance. It also moved high value resources from under-performing areas of the company into areas where they were given a greater chance to contribute to the success of the company.
After working with Stroud, the company realized $63 million in labor productivity savings, $17 million raw material savings, and over $100 million in overhead costs. They even reduced customer complaints by over 50%. By approaching the situation with a results focused approach and putting the big buckets of opportunity back on the table, Stroud was able to make a dramatic improvement to the company's bottom line. According to the director of operations at the company, "The Stroud team brought a concept of structure and accountability to our organization that is helping us take our business to the next level. The result is an action-based culture that is committed to continuous process improvement in all our operations."
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text: Share: Comments Print March 8, 2012 at 10:49 AM Oregon State live game thread Posted by Percy Allen IT'S OVER — OSU 86-84. HERE WE GO AGAIN — Wroten missed two more. OSU 84-83, 6.2. MISSED — Wroten missed both free throws. OSU 84-83, 17.5. OH MY — Cunningham drove for a layup and got a foul on Gaddy. UW timeout. He'll shoot one when play resumes. OSU 84-83, 31.8. HERE WE GO — UW 83-82, 42.9 seconds. ANYBODY'S GAME — UW 77-73, 2:59. BYE, BYE N'DIAYE — N'Diaye fouled out. UW 77-71, 3:22. POOR FT SHOOTING — Ross missed two gimmes. Before that, Wilcox missed the first of a one and one. UW 73-69, 4:34. DOWN THE STRETCH — UW 67-60, 7:53. ROLLING NOW — Wilcox missed a layup, but Wroten flushed the putback dunk and screamed. UW 66-58, 8:39. CHARGE — Wilcox stepped in front of Cunningham for a charge. On the other end Ross drained a mid-range jumper. UW 61-56, 9:55. UP AGAIN — Wroten gave the Huskies a 55-54 lead with a free throw at the 12:04 mark. The Huskies are going to the line after the media timeout. GADDY AND GANT — Who would have thought the Huskies would make a comeback with Gaddy and Gant. Wilcox tied the score with a three-pointer. UW 54-54, 12:32. GADDY HURTING — Gaddy walked off holding his right elbow. Maybe he hit his funny bone. He's being looked at by the trainers. Looks like he'll be OK. OSU 54-49, 13:56. FOUL TROUBLE — N'Diaye has four fouls. He's out. Simmons is in. OSU 52-49, 14:15. MOMENTUM TURNING — UW has gotten a few stops and the small contingent of fans are in it now. Gaddy and Gant just drained three-pointers. The Huskies are on a 7-0 run and it's been 11-5 for UW since halftime. OSU 51-44, 15:41. IF NOT NOW, WHEN? — The Huskies are trading baskets, but they need stops. OSU 51-39, 17:04. SECOND HALF — Same starters. HALFTIME OBSERVATIONS — The score was tied 24-24 when the Beavers closed the first half with a 22-9 run. It's not as if the Huskies fell apart, but OSU simply began to execute offensive and UW couldn't stop it. The Beavers scored inside with Moreland, Burton and Cunningham and they peppered UW with perimeter shooting from Starks. It was quite the offensive display. OSU is shooting 48.6 percent from the field, UW 39.4. Starks is 3 of 3 on three-pointers and leads all scorers with 11, Collier and Cunningham each have 10. Wroten has 10. The Huskies need to take something away, either the inside game or the perimeter. They may have to live with Starks bombing away just to stop Collier and Moreland from getting to the basket. OSU is the highest scoring team in the conference and it shows. Washington must also avoid the careless turnovers. By my unofficial count, at least half of their 12 turnovers are unforced. OSU has scored 12 points off of turnovers. Washington is 4 of 13 on three-pointers while OSU is 3 of 5. The Huskies are 3 of 5 at the line and OSU is 7 of 11. HALFTIME STATS — Click here. HALFTIME — OSU 46-33. DOUBLE BONUS — Every foul sends the Beavers to the line for two shots. OSU 44-33, 53 seconds. BIG UH-OH — Ross is defending 280-pound Burton in the post. Just mismatches all over the place in favor of the Beavers. OSU 43-31, 2:06. UH-OH — The Huskies are in a bad stretch and can't seem to get a hold of OSU's shooters. The Beavers are starting to hit on the outside and Starks has drained a few shots, including a three-pointer that gave OSU a 34-25 lead. On the next possession, Gaddy drained a much-needed three-pointer. But seconds later, Collier got loose for a layup despite being fouled. OSU 36-28, 3:58. OSU RUNNING — The Beavers are on a 7-0 run. The Huskies have missed on their last three possessions. OSU 31-24, 5:00. BE AGGRESSIVE — Cunningham is playing like a POY candidate. He's taking it strong to the rack. OSU 29-24, 5:29. NOT A PASSER — Ross made an ill-advised pass on a fastbreak to N'Diaye. On the next possession, Ross took it himself to the basket for a layup. UW 24-24, 5:44. ALL SQUARE — UW 22-22, 6:40. RUNNING — The Huskies are on a 6-0 run thanks to Wroten who scored two layups and Ross who drained a mid-range jumper. Looks as if UW is starting to find its offensive groove. UW 21-19, 7:45. PICKING UP — The action and energy is starting to increase. Both teams are getting into it. Cunningham has gotten free for two dunks and the Huskies have to keep a body on him. The Beavers are torching the Huskies inside. OSU 17-15, 11:03 SUBS — C.J. Wilcox and Austin Seferian-Jenkins are in. UW 12-11, 12:39. SLOPPY — UW has four unforced turnovers. Wroten threw a lazy pass intercepted by Cunningham who flushed a dunk. OSU 11-10, 13:24. GP ARRIVES — Gary Payton walked in and he doesn't look happy. UW 8-7, 15:18. FIRST SUB — Desmond Simmons is in for Gant. UW 8-7, 15:24. MORE MATCHUPS — Gaddy has Cunningham. MATCHUPS — N'Diaye is on Moreland, Gant has Brandt, Wroten has Starks. Ross rejected Starks layup attempt which sparked Wroten's layup. UW 3-0, 19:02. GREEN, NO GP — A.C. Green is sitting courtside. Still no sign of Payton. STARTING LINEUPS — No change for UW: Abdul Gaddy, Tony Wroten Jr., Terrence Ross, Darnell Gant and Aziz N'Diaye. OSU: F Eric Moreland, F Devon Collier, C Angus Brandt, G Jared Cunningham and G Ahmad Starks. LATE-ARRIVING CROWD — I'm counting 1,000 or so folks in the stands. Seriously. PONDEXTER IN THE HOUSE — Quincy Pondexter just walked in. ON THIS DAY 25 YEARS AGO — Compliments of Gary Dougherty. On March 8, 1987 UCLA knocked off Washington 76-64 in the first Pac-10 tournament championship game. The top-seeded Bruins were led by Pooh Richardson and Reggie Miller. UW's Chris Welp led all scorers with 25 points. Washington (#3 seed) had swept UCLA 2-0 in Conference play. For more info, go to his blog Horse Racing/Seattle Sports. FORMER SONICS IN THE HOUSE — Former Sonics Gary Payton and Brent Barry are expected to attend today's game. Both starred at OSU. FIRST ON THE FLOOR — Martin Breunig and Terrence Ross were the first out of the locker room and on the floor as always. The rest of the team arrived a few minutes later. They're going through stretching exercises. No Oregon State players on the court just yet. Comments | Topics: Abdul Gaddy, C.J. Wilcox, top 25


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Overwhelm is the difference between what you expect out of yourself and what you actually do. It's that disagreement between what you wanted, and what came to be. The static between reality and fantasy. Making it, methinks, pretty important to sort out your expectations.
Most of us have vague notions of things we would like to be better in our lives: save more money, lose some weight, have more time for the fun stuff, feel better on the whole. We humans also generally have a sense of optimism about these things and tend to plan as if things will get better sometime in the future, like next-year-you will somehow be better equipped to deal with the stuff today-you would rather ignore. {Someday I'll sort out my finances...someday I'll stick to the diet...someday the schedule will clear up...someday I'll be ridiculously happy and carefree.}
But I don't know that many of us spend too much time, or effort, in connecting these fuzzy hopes to our subconscious expectations. And the subconscious can be pretty hardcore about it's presumptions.
First things first, and this is a biggie. Let's not try to figure everything out at once. Aka, one thing at a time. Just pick one. You can come back later and tackle the rest. For now, one. {Side note: another part of overwhelm is picking 72 things to do at once. Don't do that.}
Look at the vague thing that you want and try to really understand it. Make it more specific. To get super-duper clear on it, quantify it. Then there'll be no question about achieving it or not. Math doesn't lie, but our subjective sense of "more" or "less", "better" or "worse" is dangerous territory.
Ask yourself why. Why do you want what you want? What's your reason behind the desire? Keep asking ,"Why?" until you can't ask anymore. Drill down to the essence of it. And then...
Make sure you like your intentions. Let's say that part again: Make sure you like your intentions. The importance of this cannot be overstated. If you like the looks of your intentions, nice. Keep on keepin' on. If you don't like your intentions, then it's time to reconsider what you're up to. A serious overhaul may be in order. Getting a new job; trying something for the first time; making a radical change in your diet. There's no better catalyst for dramatic shifts than clarifying your intentions.
Connecting your wild expectations to how you're actually feeling and behaving in your life is an exercise in trading empty wishes for hardcore substantiation. This is a gift only you can give yourself. Much as your partner/mom/BFF/brother/co-worker/cat would like to make your biggest dreams come true, they are wholly incapable of doing so. They'd love to do it, and if they had the power to do it for you, chances are it'd already be done. Suffice to say you have to hire *you* for the job and let your tribe off the hook.
Pick one. Get clear. Ask why. Be sure you're in love with your intentions...or clean. them. up. From there, overwhelm starts to scatter. Overwhelm simply cannot exist in the face of such clarity and connection.
Bonus round: when you truly give yourself one aspect of your life to focus on, you'll see something uncanny begin to show itself. How you do anything is how you do everything. Connecting your expectations to your behaviors in one avenue will create a mold of how you do things. You'll be able to apply that mold over here and over there and way over there. The habits you have will show themselves and you'll see that you've created a blueprint for *who you are*. Which is a handy thing to have...


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erinhue wrote:I just didn't think it was right that Meneldor had to be shut out of the memorial due to size.... so I fixed it. Hope no one objects.
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Mike's Camera
Corporate Office
2500 Pearl Street, Boulder, CO 80302
(303) 443-1715
Danielle is a master at taking pictures with her smartphone. Her passion for photography has her now growing into bridge cameras and exploring different exposure possibilities. Helping others with their cropping and printing possibilities on a daily basis has helped her take her art to the next level. Being a passionate photographer recently brought her to the next level where she teaches others what she has learned.


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Coloring in the Gaps of Title VI: Clarifying the Protections Against the Skin-Color Caste System
Written By: Sonika R. Data
In its April 2018 issue, National Geographic featured a pair of biracial twins on its cover with diametrically opposite traits: Millie with dark skin, black hair, and brown eyes, and Marcia, with pale skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes. The coverage of this pair raised a perplexing question: what does it mean when two people of the same race could be treated and seen differently? What happens when skin color—traditionally used as a proxy for race—becomes an independent basis for categorizing and treating Marcia and Millie? What happens when race is no longer a "perfect" schema by which we can classify, understand, and presume?
The answer to these questions has always been in the background: color. "Colorism"—the act of discriminating against a person due to differences in skin color—has been used to advance and oppress individuals for centuries, but has been masked by conversations of race. Colorism is the reason why the film Black Panther garnered high acclaim for shattering norms and showcasing dark- skinned Black women, and the purported reason why sisters Beyoncé and Solange Knowles have been so successful . . . This Note's colorism discussion focuses on Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI) because of the breadth of entities and programs the statute influences. Interestingly, legal scholars have yet to discuss colorism claims under Title VI, instead focusing their energy on other civil rights statutes. Unlike its sister provisions, Title VI affects a wide range of entities. Title VI prevents people from being discriminated against on the grounds of race, color, or national origin by "any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance," which includes state departments of public safety, colleges, boards of education, medical centers, and private corporations.
This Note serves as an introduction to this burgeoning Title VI color discrimination doctrine and provides an analysis of the litigation trends that perpetuate the cycle discussed above. Part I dives into colorism's past and present to demonstrate that colorism has long been a problem that must be resolved. Part II pro-vides an overview of observations from current Title VI color discrimination case law. Lastly, Part III provides recommendations for how courts, plaintiffs, and civil rights lawyers can establish and expand this important body of law.
Continue reading Coloring in the Gaps of Title VI: Clarifying the Protections Against the Skin-Color Caste System.


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Little Errol has been with us now for exactly two weeks and it feels almost like he has always been part of the group. We are incredibly relieved and thankful that he integrated himself so smoothly into the household. But it did take a little work to ensure everyone involved was and stayed happy during the process which is why we wanted to tell you a bit more about it.
In our previous blog post we already discussed the "Why" of getting a third cat. Today I would like to discuss the "How" in terms of introducing little Errol to his sisters.
First Thoughts:
Before we even decided we wanted a third cat we had to be very honest with ourselves and answer questions that would determine whether a third cat was right for us or not. These included:
Do we have the time to introduce a third cat? - introduction processes can take anything from a few days to months
Does our financial situation allow for a third cat? - A third cat means more food, litter and medical costs
Do we have enough space for a third cat? - This does not necessarily mean floor space. Vertical space is just as important for cats as are places to hide and go to to be alone and away from everyone else
Do we think our resident cats would accept a third cat? - Now this one is difficult to answer usually. Cats are individualists and their characters change and adapt with age. You will have to know your cats very well to make a judgement on this question.
We could answer all these questions with a "yes" so we decided to start thinking about the next questions we needed to consider.
Kitten or adult?
We were thinking long and hard about this one, but decided that a male kitten would be the safest route to go, especially since Xafi and Auri, our resident girls, are still fairly young. Older cats can sometimes find kittens a little annoying but overall they do not pose a threat to the "top cat" position when joining a cat household and are often more easily accepted than adult cats. That is not always the case however and every cat owner will have to judge for themselves what they think their resident cat would be more likely to accept.
The first thing we did once we knew Errol was going to join us in a few weeks was preparing for his arrival. We decided to make the office into "his" room and ensured nothing the girls needed was in there anymore about a week before he arrived.
We also bought extra resources for him that we kept away from the girls so he could mark them as his once he arrived.
This included not only his kitten food, but also his own cat bed, scratcher (which they use to mark their territory), litter tray with fresh litter, food and water bowl or fountain and his own selection of toys.
The day of arrival:
We do not have any photos from the first couple of encounters between Errol and the girls. We made sure our entire focus was on them and making the experience as stress free as possible.
We brought Errol home on a Sunday afternoon and put the carrier into "his room" that we prepared with the above mentioned items. We opened the carrier and he came out purring, demanding cuddles and then explored his new home. We ensured he was happy and relaxed before going out to the girls to greet them properly and make sure they were okay. We also took the blanket that was in Errol's carrier and that he used the past days with us to give the girls to sniff.
Luckily Errol is a very confident kitten and the girls seemed so relaxed we gave them a first chance to meet that evening. The first meeting has to be timed right and should only happen when you are sure the new cat or kitten seems relaxed, confident and eager to explore beyond his designated room. This can take a little while for some new arrivals. Errol was extremely confident which is why we chose to do this so early. Equally the resident cats need to be relaxed, happy and curious about the new addition.
When first Errol met the girls they were absolutely fascinated by him. Errol on the other hand was a little scared and growled and hissed at them when they were near. However as long as the girls kept their distance he was happily exploring the rest of the house tail up and purring.
After about half an hour we put him back in his room, played with him for an hour or so until he fell asleep and then went to our usual evening routine with the girls. For us it was very important that the girls didn't feel like anything would change for them because of Errol. They still got their cuddles and playtime as usual and both slept in our bed as always.
Day 2 and beyond:
For us everything moved very fast. The next day we let Errol out in the morning and that was it really. He was still growling and hissing at the girls a little who stalked him at a safe distance. Auri gave a few hisses back, but Xafi seemed quite eager to adopt the little baby if Errol would have let her. Because all three seemed quite content we did not close Errol back into "his" room. It might have only caused confusion for him and the girls: One second he is there, the next he isn't etc.
Of course we did not leave them unsupervised all day and the next days to ensure they were all playing nice. And they did. On day three we already witnessed a few nose bumps
They tentatively started to play with each other and even Auri (who is still a little wary) made a few awkward attempts at playing with Errol. In the past days we have even seen first cuddles between Xafi and Errol. We never expected to see those in just a few weeks and are over the moon that both girls seem to have taken really well to Errol.
We were amazed at how quickly everything went and I know that this is not always the case in introductions. But what I think really helped us make the process easy were the following things:
So really my most important advice is: Stay calm, listen to your cats, don't be an "uber-mum" and trust your gut.
Lastly I wanted to address one of the questions many of you asked us on Instagram: Did the relationship between Xafi and Auri or between them and us change? The answer is no.
The girls are still as close as they were before Errol joined. They still go about their daily routine as usual and seek time with us as well as each other. They don't currently cuddle because it's 30 degrees outside, but during the first days of Errol's arrival we saw some very sweet moments between the two girls. Auri was a lot more put our by the whole situation than Xafi. Everytime Auri seemed to get a little worried she hid in the bedroom. Shortly after that Xafi would seek her out and check on her to make sure she was okay. They'd share a quick headbutt or lick and Auri visibly calmed down.
We were really surprised and warmed by our girls and are so proud how they handled the whole process. We are now a very happy three cat household. Not something for everyone, but for us it definitely was the right decision.
I probably forgot to answer a load of questions so please feel free to ask those in the comments below.
Lastly I would like to say a huge thank you to Marjan, cat mum behind the wonderful Instagram account @lillmanlulu_luigi_and_co. She was a huge help in the entire process and a fantastic, knowledgeable and supportive friend. Marjan's account featuring the four cats that rule her home is also one of our absolute favourites. But be warned - these four cuties will steal your heart!
Thank you all again for reading and big kitty kisses from us all.


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The Data Discovery Challenge was organised to look for innovative solutions to help open Singapore's wealth of data and discover new insights! The Challenge sought to encourage the use of a wide range of private and public datasets to discover new value and benefits towards enabling smarter enterprises and improve how we live, work, learn and interact in Singapore.
Participants accessed useful datasets and resources such as capability building workshops and industry experts advice. The participants included members from the business community –
data scientists, analysts, enthusiasts, application developers and technology solution providers.
For this challenge, participants were required to create data mash-up using at least one private dataset from this registry and integrate it with public or private datasets from the registry or any other sources to develop useful applications, innovate new products and services, or even foster new business models.
The broad themes of this challenge were to increase efficiency or productivity of an enterprise or an industry vertical, develop a new revenue stream or business model, or to improve the way we live, work, learn and interact.


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Online: Office Excel App
As with other Office Web applications Microsoft is trying to make the Web version of Excel look and feel like the software version of Excel, but with reduced functions. As you would expect the Office Excel Web application allows you to create, edit and, save Microsoft Excel workbooks via Web browsers. Other functions:
* Multiuser co-authoring - more than one person can edit data at the same time.
* The ability to use the same Excel formulas on online and in the client version of the program.
Microsoft Office Reaches for the Clouds
One paper Microsoft Web strategy is compelling. For now, we'll have to take Microsoft at its word when it comes to cloud-based versions of its Office applications. One thing for sure Redmond can talk a good game. All indications are Google is in for some stiff competition when it comes to Google Docs & Spreadsheets. Other online office suites such as ThinkFree Office Online and Zoho Office Suite will also want to watch their backs.
Until Microsoft offers more than press releases for its Office Web Apps there is not much we can say. But given its dominance in the office software market we can assume Microsoft's entrance into this space to make huge waves in the nascent market of cloud-based office productivity applications.
Next Page: A First Look at Software Improvements to Office 2010
While there's lots of room for Office to expand into online functionality and real-time collaboration, there's not much new territory to be explored within the traditional applications themselves. Rather than introduce dozens of new features, Microsoft has tried to make some of the existing capabilities work better, tweaked and extended the Ribbon design introduced in Office 2007 and added a few new bells and whistles.
Word: Is there anything more to add to Word? Not much, according to Microsoft developers, and most users would probably agree. So they focused on making common tasks smoother and existing tools more powerful.
Microsoft developers have data on what thousands of testers do with their products and they noticed one worrisome trend: People very frequently cut-and-paste text into their documents, but in many cases their next act is to undo. The problem is that the text they pasted, whether from another document, a Web page or a spreadsheet, doesn't show up the way they want it to in their file. So a new box appears when you paste text that gives you options for how to format it. Hover over the button for an option and the text changes to preview what it'll look like if you choose that option.
The new version of Word also makes it easier to insert pictures. Instead of being stuck with essentially how the picture looked when you inserted it, you can now make significant edits once it's in your document: adjust the brightness and contrast, change the image to greyscale, add drop shadows and more.