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Waukegan Beach Directional Signage
Grantee: City of Waukegan
Grant Award: $5,000.00
Matching Funds: $5,000.00
Project Total: $10,000.00
The City of Waukegan will further develop and implement the 2015 Waukegan Harbor AOC Sustainable Shoreline Plan to improve nearshore water quality and public access to the beach. The City of Waukegan will design and create wayfinding signage to designate public access routes to the recreational beach to eliminate trampling through the wetlands and dunes.
Southeast Side Coastal Zone Initiative
Grantee: Friends of the Parks
Grant Award: $5,000.00
Matching Funds: $5,000.00
Project Total: $10,000.00
Friends of the Parks will undertake a community planning process for Chicago's Southeast Side to foster greater engagement with the lakefront and Calumet River areas as community assets. This process will facilitate formation of Park Advisory Councils, help articulate resident's desires for parks, beaches, and open space, and promote environmental stewardship.
Lake Michigan Beach Assessment and Access Guide – Lake County Public Beaches
Grantee: Lake Forest Open Lands Association
Grant Award: $5,000.00
Matching Funds: $5,000.00
Project Total: $10,000.00
Lake Forest Open Lands Association will undertake an assessment of the Lake Michigan shoreline beaches in Lake County. Public access and amenity information for each beach will be collected and published in a comprehensive shoreline guide for community members and visitors.
2017 Mighty Acorns Nature Camp for Students from Illinois Coastal Zone
Grantee: Dunes Learning Center
Grant Award: $5,000.00
Matching Funds: $7,816.00
Project Total:$12,816.00
Dunes Learning Center will fund 32 students from Cook and Lake Counties to attend Mighty Acorns Nature Camp at Dunes Learning Center in the summer of 2017. The Mighty Acorns Nature Camp is a 5 day retreat for third through sixth graders to continue and sustain the hands on environmental stewardship learning they receive throughout the year with the Mighty Acorns program.
Winnetka Park District Lake Michigan Water Trails Signage (Tower & Lloyd Park)
Grantee: Winnetka Park District
Grant Award: $4,900.00
Matching Funds: $7,700.00
Project Total: $12,600.00
Winnetka Park District will install informational signage at Tower Park and Lloyd Park that link the parks to trails and waterways. The educational and interpretive signage will allow the Winnetka Park District to communicate with the public and inform them of activities at the parks and provide maps and educational and environmental information about sites in the area.
High School Student Education and Stewardship in Chinatown
Grantee: Friends of the Parks
Grant Award: $5,000.00
Matching Funds: $2,267.00
Project Total: $7,267.00
The Chinese American Service League, in collaboration with Friends of the Parks, will offer a 3-day training course for 15-20 year olds during the summer of 2017 on ecology along the Chicago River, conservation, and environmental stewardship. The program will also include hands-on stewardship experience in the form of a clean-up event. Bilingual resources will be also created and distributed to educate area families about their environment and ways they can help.
Watershed Demonstration Tools
Grantee: League of Women Voters of Illinois
Grant Award: $5,020.00
Matching Funds: $5,547.00
Project Total: $10,567.00
League of Women Voters will acquire two portable watershed models that will be used to educate the public about climate change impacts, nonpoint source pollution, and green infrastructure. The models will be offered as a component of the small and large meetings League of Women Voters are already engaged in and will help people better understand the factors involved in planning, investing, and adapting to the water issues the region faces.
Green Infrastructure Template Training
Grantee: Delta Institute
Grant Award: $4,800.00
Matching Funds: $600.00
Project Total: $5,400.00
Delta Institute will design and host two training sessions to educate civil engineers and urban planners on how to use the open-source green infrastructure templates Delta Institute previously developed. The trainings will address a number of requests Delta Institute has received from city and community officials and will result in both more communities utilizing the templates and higher quality green infrastructure installations.
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Awesome Ways to Stimulate Engagement Through Mobile Marketing | How Webs | United States | USA
Mobile Marketing | Mobiles nowadays have become an important platform for marketing. However, in order to make the most of your presence on mobile phones, you need to take into account a number of sound strategies. Here are three proven mobile marketing strategies that are known to improve the user experience and boost sales:
|Awesome Ways to Stimulate Engagement Through Mobile Marketing | How Webs | United States | USA
Focusing on micro moments | Mobile Marketing
Mobile devices are not used for in-depth research on any topic. On the contrary, users turn to their mobile phones for quick advice or information about something. If they want to dive deep into a problem, they use their laptop or desktop. On mobile phones they appreciate accurate answers with which they can take immediate action.
Here is an example. If someone wants to know the nearest childcare, he needs bite-sized information. Graphs, graphs or a detailed comparison of different nurseries will not give the praise of your users. Users simply want to know about childcare that is closest to them.
Micromoments, which every entrepreneur must know about, are divided into four types:
Know - b. "What is the currency of Country?"
Go - e.g. "Where is the nearest hospital?"
Do - b. "How can I make a soup?"
Buy - b. "Nike sneakers"
To connect with users you need to anticipate the kind of information your prospects may need and develop content that matches their requirements. This kind of content must be offered to them inaccurate bite-sized pieces and they will like it.
Use QR codes to provide relevant information | Mobile Marketing
QR codes can be used effectively for quickly and seamlessly providing relevant information to users. Consumers usually use QR codes to compare. They use their mobile device to scan the QR code of an item and compare the prices online and in the store. By using a QR code for product comparisons, users can benefit from these lucrative 'buy' micro-moments; so it is not that you value their value too much.
Experts call QR codes as shortcuts with which you can give valuable information to your prospects. Make sure that QR codes take your customers to very specific and targeted content and not to the home page.
QR codes on a website can be used for different purposes, such as taking users to a campaign-specific landing page, providing in-depth information about a specific product or a specific group of products, in the same way as a Facebook-like button for your company page, a discount voucher offer or take users to a contact page.
Come to Hyperlocal Marketing to Connect at Neighborhood level | Mobile Marketing
Consumers are increasingly using their smartphones to find location-specific information. Hyperlocal is not limited to a city. It indicates very small and specific geographical locations that may consist of neighborhoods or even a number of specific streets.
Hyper-local marketing can be used to improve the position of mobile sites or apps based on location-based keywords. You must be listed in local folders and view sites such as Google My Business and Yelp. Focus your ads geographically on mobile users in your area and promote your products / services in local publications. Getting listings, links and reviews on locally popular blogs will also help you achieve your marketing goals.
Mobile marketing enables you to reach your customers and prospects even when they are on the move. Well executed mobile marketing strategies generate direct and positive results.
Awesome Ways to Stimulate Engagement Through Mobile Marketing | How Webs | United States | USA

subset: commoncrawl


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All Our equipment is free to use
Yep, you read that right... all the equipment here is included in the £15 an hour for Studio Hire. It is generally geared towards fashion/artistic shoots with a Bowens' Hi-Glide suspended flash lighting system, our white Infinity Curve, Bowens' professional 500w flash lights and radio transmitters, Lenarta wind tunnel out ready to use and various reflectors, coloured paper backgrounds, soft boxes, fashion items and props on stand by.
We don't charge for the use of the equipment, but if you borrow clothes from our fashion rail we do ask for a nominal fee of £2 for dry cleaning. You will also be held responsible for any damage/breakages that occur during your time in the Studio. For a full set of Terms and Conditions, please ask a member of staff.


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I was studying the book of Hosea and in chapter two I came across the verse,
"I will stop all her celebrations: her yearly festivals, her New Moons, her Sabbath days – all her appointed feasts." (Hosea 2:11, NIV)
Which is interesting.
Israel was in terminal religious decline. She had embraced the pagan Baal worship of the surrounding nations in a syncretistic mish-mash with the worship of Yahweh.
The regular religious festivals which had been ordained by God were now an admixture of Baal worship (often licentious) and the true worship of Yahweh.
This unholy mix had got to the point that Yahweh disassociates Himself from them. Note that the verse describes the religious feasts as "her" celebrations, "her" festivals, "her" New Moons, "her" Sabbath days. That is to say, God says, these are no longer that which I ordained and intended – these are your creation, your affair, I have nothing to do with them.
I was struck by the parallelism with the contemporary situation. We still celebrate Christmas, Easter, All Hallows Eve but these celebrations have become paganised. Their religious content and meaning stripped away. They have been separated from any religious dimension or component.
I watched a recent political T.V. show in which someone commented that they had received many Christmas cards from MPs. They noted that only a single digit percentage of them had any religious reference.
We are now more likely to wish each other "Happy Holidays" rather than "Merry Christmas". A bland, unspecific phrase, devoid of any vital meaning.
The festivals, once the high points of the religious year, celebrations of the transcendent, of the possibility of human salvation and flourishing, have now mutated into a mere frenzy of consumption.
Empty vessels. Hollow. Much noise, no meaning.
Hosea's message was that God's response would be to bring to an end these shambolic, syncretistic, shameful abominations of His holy festivals.
However, a society's cultural calendar can only be stopped by bringing that society to its knees.
Which meant the military and economic destruction of the country. Which God brought to pass.
So that Israel could start again. Get back on the right track.
I wonder what God's response will be to our paganisation of His ordained festivals…


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Responsive Website Designs
Tailored to each device
Nowadays, mobile users represent more than 61% of the total internet users. This is the reason why we realise responsive websites and offer comprehensive web development services: now, people navigate the web through different devices. For example, they look for restaurants from their pc, read the menu on their smartphones and book dinner from their tablets. Don't be left out, adapt your online communication to each device with responsive website development.
User Experience
We always put ourselves in user's shoes. This, in fact, is the only way to provide an excellent user experience. Those who land on your website or app, will gladly come back if they are able to find all the information they are looking for, quickly.
Information Design
How do you present your services and mission? Our role, at the beginning, is to analyze how your digital assets match with the objectives of your brand, in order to compare them with newest best practices and trends. We achieve the best compromise between development, design and marketing whilst finding the most cost effective solution.
E-Commerce Development
Magento, Prestashop, Woocommerce, Shopify… which one to choose for the development of your E-Commerce website? We implement the best cms for your products and clientele. We help you from the strategy definition and the design of your E-Commerce platform, to the release of your digital store. We integrate your online shop with the principal payment gateways, couriers, pre-existing crm and with logistic and storage software, so your customers will enjoy an hassle-free buying experience on your online store


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This is just a reminder that RJO' Brien's Company Health Fairs are two days away: Wednesday November 12th, 2014 from 11:30 am - 1 pm and Tuesday November 18th, 2014 11:30 am - 1 pm.
Set up will be at 11 am.
Location: 222 S. Riverside Plaza in the
Main Floor Lobby
There is a total of 373 employees at RJO' Brien.
There is no fee involved in participating in these health fairs.
If you have any questions, you may ask via e-mail or may call our office at 312-642-1138.
Thank you!


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S2 EPISODE 30 - IBS: Does It Exist? Insights, Testing & Solutions w/ Ben Brown ND/
Season 2 Episode 30, Dr. Bubbs sits down with Ben Brown ND to talk about IBS and pose the question "Does It Really Exist?" Ben will outline the classic definition for IBS and why many experts believe now is the time to rethink the classification of IBS as a syndrome. He'll then discuss the true root causes of irritable bowel-like symptoms; functional imbalances, lifestyle and environmental factors, as well as nutritional factors. Ben also shares the limitations of standard testing, if there is value in functional medical tests and what clients and practitioners can do to resolve chronic digestive complaints.
Lay-Ups In This Episode
1) The traditional definition of Irritable Bowel Syndrome is disorder of the large intestine that leads to cramping, abdominal pain, bloating, gas, and diarrhea or constipation, or both.
2) Expert now belief IBS is not a syndrome, but rather a collection of Irritable Bowel-like Symptoms.
3) The root causes of Irritable Bowel-like Symptoms are varied. Ben Brown ND categorizes them as functional imbalances, lifestyle/environment factors and nutritional factors.
Links to Research Article
Diarrhea Predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS-D): Fact or fiction
About Benjamin Brown ND
Ben is a naturopath, nutritionist, science writer and speaker. He is author of The Digestive Health Solution and contributes regularly to industry magazines and scientific journals. Ben is Editor of the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine, Contributing Editor of Integrative Healthcare and Applied Nutrition, Director of Clinical Education for Pure Encapsulations (UK), and is on the Advisory Board of the BCNH College of Nutrition and Health where he is also a lecturer. He regularly features at public speaking events and international conferences. Ben founded timeforwellness.org as a way to connect people with free evidence-based health information focusing on natural and lifestyle medicine for chronic disease prevention and the promotion of optimal health.


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Dear Dr. Gott: I would like you to give us interested readers your opinion on the vegan diet.
There are members of my family who have taken on this way of eating for well over a year now. Yes, indeed, they have lost a lot of weight on it, but my concern is what it is doing or rather not doing for the body. Their color seems pale to me, for one thing, and when they come to my house, they eat whatever I have with gusto.
Dear Reader: I'm a bit confused. If they eat whatever you prepare, they are either being kind or they aren't true vegans. This diet excludes all animal-derived ingredients such as meat, eggs and dairy products. Many vegans prefer not to eat any foods that use animal products as part of the processing, such as refined white sugar.
The diet includes soy milk, tofu, peanut butter, rice, beans, fruits, nuts, vegetables and grains. Almost all foods, with the exception of alcohol, fats and sugar provide some necessary protein to the daily diet. Keep in mind that because the habit is so popular, producers are now manufacturing hot dogs, cheeses, mayonnaise, iced cream and countless other items - all without the use of animal products.
People may make the decision to become vegans for a variety of reasons, such as health, weight loss or for the environment. Because the diet is relatively free of saturated fats and cholesterol, it's an easy way to lose weight. The diet lacks vitamin D. A simple means of combating this is through exposure to sunlight. Calcium can be obtained through the inclusion of fortified orange juice, dark leafy green vegetables, tofu processed with calcium sulfate and more. In fact, orange juice fortified with calcium will provide 300 milligrams in one 8-ounce glass. The Recommended Daily Allowance for adults between the ages of 19 and 50 is 1,000 milligrams per day, an easy goal to achieve when dairy is part of the diet.
The key to a successful diet is variety. Those who follow it religiously can enjoy stir-fried vegetables, whole-wheat breads, dates, apples, frozen fruit desserts, tofu lasagna, soy iced cream, veggie burgers and a great deal more. I don't know about you, but it sounds good to me.
Therefore, while it's not my choice, I must accept that some people prefer to follow veganism. I do recommend a person check with his or her physician before making the dramatic change. People should make sure that they receive adequate vitamins and minerals daily and should undergo blood tests periodically to determine that they are neither anemic nor vitamin deficient. If so, dietary modifications or supplements might be appropriate. A physician or nutritionist can answer any questions.
Write to Dr. Gott, c/o NEA-United Media, 200 Madison Ave., Fourth Floor, New York, N.Y. 10016.


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Applicable Location(s):
Bondi Junction, Brighton Le Sands, Eastgardens, Macquarie, Parramatta, Top Ryde City
You can now purchase Gift Cards in every Bondi Pizza restaurant location. These are such a great gift idea for friends, family, colleagues - yourself!
The gift cards can be used at any Bondi Pizza restaurant and are also reloadable, you can add funds to your gift card and use it over and over.
Terms & Conditions:
Valid for Twelve (12) months from the date of purchase.
The certificate can be redeemed at any Bondi Pizza location.
The voucher is not redeemable for cash.
No change given.


text: Redesign for Momofuku cookbook. Inspired by David Chang's modern take on Asian cuisine while honoring the integrity of it's history. Momofuku is written in a bold ink typography to reference the artistic writing of Japanese calligraphy. Chang's known for his creative ramen recipes that honor the true origin of the dish. In this vein, the graphic style honors the ukiyo-e technique, or Japanese woodblock printing, while highlighting Chang's most famous ingredient.


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Racing Report Card: A horse on the up at Haydock, a cracking ride from Jamie Spencer and one for the tracker at Chester
Don't miss Sun Racing's review of the action on Saturday where there was plenty you may have missed
THE racing on Saturday was top-class whichever way you looked.
We've been keeping a close eye on the action here at Sun Racing HQ and picked out some snippets you may have missed.
A horse on the up 📈
Munhamek (2.50 Haydock) may have finished second in the Silver Bowl, but he is a horse with a bright future.
Ivan Furtado's lightly-raced three-year-old attempted to make all but he was pestered for the lead in the early stages.
Jockey Duran Fentiman kicked in the straight and looked to have the race won, but the petrol light began to flicker and he was nailed by Beatboxer in the final strides in an agonising finish.
He will win a big one this year.
Ride of the day 💪
Jamie Spencer has balls of steel, and he displayed them once again aboard Mr Lupton in the Group 2 Greenlands Stakes at the Curragh.
The top jock was sat stone last approaching the final two furlongs in the big sprint, and he held his nerve for as long as he possibly could.
With the furlong pole in sight, he let the six-year-old loose and he ran down the favourite Speak In Colours to win going away. Lovely stuff.
One for the tracker 🔭
Hero Hero (1.45 Chester) opened his account with a jaw-dropping performance at Chester.
The Andrew Balding-trained colt, who was third behind the hugely exciting Jubiloso at Chelmsford last time, was out of the gates like a greyhound under Silvestre De Sousa.
And I don't think the champion jockey will have had many easier rides, as the colt coasted clear to win by eight lengths hard held. Stick him in your notebook.


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Tag: post-mining regions
Church removal: coal mining, cultural heritage and social cohesion
Heuersdorf was a village in the Leipzig lowlands, Saxony, Germany. The area of the village belongs to the city of Leipzig since 2004. After a long but ultimately futile resistance of the inhabitants since 1935 the village was evacuated and devastated. See bellow the description, taken from www.heuersdorf.de, illustrates the struggle:
The villagers were forced to accept financial assistance offered by MIBRAG to move from Heuersdorf, since they did not have the monetary resources for resisting the evacuation by legal means. For many years, younger adults refused such enticements to leave their homeland. They were raising families and wanted to preserve the village and its community values. However, any further refusal to give up their homes would now lead to forced eviction and unendurable financial losses. Contrary to the declared intention of the state government of Saxony to keep the village community intact, people from Heuersdorf have been resettled at more than a dozen different locations. The singular interest of MIBRAG over the years was directed at coercing individual families out of the village, eroding human bonds and heightening the insecurity of those inhabitants remaining
In 2007 the regional legislature approved plans to dig up the remaining town to get at some 50 million tons of lignite, or brown coal, to supply a nearby power station. Village authorities fought the plan for years but lost their appeal in Germany's Constitutional Court in 2005. Most of Heuersdorf's 320 residents were resettled, most of them farmers and/or retirees. In addition to individual compensation, one important fact deserve to be remarked. An important element of the local cultural heritage was also relocated: a 700-year-old Romanesque-style stone church. As part of the negotiations, the Mibrag mining company spent $4.2 million to move the church from their original location in Heuersdorf to the near town of Borna.
This operation represents a good example of engineering masterpiece, but also of cultural heritage conservation. It is also an example of how social cohesion is linked to such heritage. Any threat to this heritage is, therefore, a threat to the community itself:
Die große Reise einer kleinen Kirche; The long journey of a little church" (2007). Leipziger Universitätsverlag. Leipzig.
A Holy Journey: Church Moved to Make Way for Coal Mine. (2007, October 24). Spiegel. Retrieved August 24, 2015, from http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/a-holy-journey-church-moved-to-make-way-for-coal-mine-a-513286.html
Conversation with Prof. Dr. Sigrun Kabisch, Head of the Department of Urban and Environmental Sociology, Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung (UFZ).
Heuersdorf. Geschichte und Abschied eines mitteldeutschen Dorfes. Pro Leipzig Verlag, Leipzig 2009, ISBN 978-3-936508-36-9
Socio-spatial differentiation in southern Leipzig post-mining area
Bellow it is showed the three types of communities (Kabisch, 2004) adjacent to the coal mine, now pit lakes, in the southern leizig.
Rural villages: Dreiskau-Muckern (469 inh. in 2014), Oelzchau (610 inh. in 2014), Pötzschau (374 inh. in 2014), Mölbis (515 inh. in 2014), Störmthal (512), Auenhain , Wachau, Güldengossa (394 inh. in 2014): High satisfaction with the housing conditions regarding the apartment, very high satisfaction with the local living conditions (share of respondents who would recommend a good friend to move to their community), quiet location, attractive surroundings, pleasant social atmosphere, close to future recreation areas. (TOTAL POPULATION. APPROX: 4.000 inhabitants)
These communities are characterised by a relatively large proportion of farmers and farming employees, the other inhabitants working in the mining industry. The level of qualification is relatively low, while the average age is relatively high. Others: out-migration of younger, well-educated inhabitants during the last few decades. The main burden affecting these communities was their classification as "mining protection areas". Although this classification was abolished after 1990, the local population suddently had to face new worries such as unemployment and early retirement.
Suburbs: Markkleeberg-Ost, Grossstädteln: hight satisfaction with the local housing conditions regarding the apartment, very high satisfaction with the local living conditions (share of respondents who would recommend a good friend to move to their community), quiet location, close to the city of Leipzig, varied infraestructures, good transport links, close to future recreation area.
Relatively high level of qualifications and higher household income among the inhabitants. Urban morphology: detached family housing. Most of the employees work in the city of Leipzig. Consequently, the collapse of the brown-coal industry did not affect these inhabitants to the same extent as the residents of the other community types. No out-migration tendency.
Small towns affected by industry: Gaschwitz (671 inh. in 2014), Grossdeuben, Rötha (3,704 inh. in 2014), Espenhain (2,267 inh. in 2014): Low satisfaction with housing conditions, very low satisfaction with the local living conditions (share of respondents who would recommend a good friend to move to their community), close to the city of Leipzig, good transport links, poor infraestructures, vehicle pollution, devastated landscape, buildings in bad state of repair. TOTAL POPULATION: APPROX: 7.000 inhabitants.
Most of the inhabitants worked in the former brown-coal industry. The majority of the residents rent flats in three-or four-storey blocks owned by the industrial enterprises. In this small towns, the collapse of the brown-coal industry led to social disaster, with unemployment suddenly mushrooming. High unemployment has persisted, despite the migration of sections of the population.
"The shrinking mining city: urban dynamics and contested territory" by Martinez-Fernandez (2012)
Shrinking mining cities — once prosperous settlements servicing a mining site or a system of mining sites — are characterized by long-term population and/or economic decline. Many of these towns experience periods of growth and shrinkage, mirroring the ebbs and flows of international mineral markets which determine the fortunes of the dominant mining corporation upon which each of these towns heavily depends. This dependence on one main industry produces a parallel development in the fluctuations of both workforce and population. Thus, the strategies of the main company in these towns can, to a great extent, determine future developments and have a great impact on urban management plans. Climate conditions, knowledge, education and health services, as well as transportation links, are important factors that have impacted on lifestyles in mining cities, but it is the parallel development with the private sector operators (often a single corporation) that constitutes the distinctive feature of these cities and that ultimately defines their shrinkage. This article discusses shrinking mining cities in capitalist economies, the factors underpinning their development, and some of the planning and community challenges faced by these cities in Australia, Canada, Japan and Mexico.
Tagebau Hambach, a large scale mine in Elsdorf (Germany)
Open pit located in Elsdorf is a town in the Rhein-Erft-Kreis, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated approximately 5 km south-west of Bergheim and 30 km west of Cologne.
30.000 people were displaced
170 km2 were recovered for agricultural use
Reference: Aréchaga Rodríguez, F. (2013) "La influencia de la actividad extractiva de materias primas en el desarrollo económico y social de un pais". Jornada de reflexión (Galicia). Confedem. Santiago de Compostela
Largest Open-pit Mines in The World
Sinking money into a pit
The Miner Plan showered tens of millions of euros on the struggling mining regions
But it failed to foment job-generating alternatives to coal of in León, Teruel and Córdoba
The Marta harks back to better times. This locomotive, built in France in 1884, should be pulling a period train right now, taking tourists through the Valley of Guadiato (Córdoba) and reverting the economic decline of this mining area.
In 2008, the Socialist mayor of Peñarroya-Pueblonuevo, Luisa Ruiz, presented the train project and claimed it would be operational by 2011. The Industry Ministry funded the restoration with a 1.4 million-euro subsidy – and that was just for phase one of the project. The money came from the Miner Plan, a fund for the economic reconversion of mining areas following the decline of coal. The Guadiato Valley tourist train was going to create 10 jobs, at a total cost of 14 million euros.
But these days, the Marta is gathering dust inside a municipal warehouse, itself a vestige of a time when the French Mining and Metallurgy Society of Peñarroya (SMMP) extracted coal out of this mountainous area in Córdoba province. There is no longer any mining activity in the town and coal production in the province as a whole has dropped from 1.1 million tons in 1997, when the subsidy plan began, to 520,000 tons in 2010. But there are no alternatives.
Peñarroya-Pueblonuevo, which is now governed by the conservative Popular Party (PP), says there is no money to complete the train restoration, and officials have filed a complaint with the Civil Guard over the alleged wrongful use of the mining subsidies. Three arrests have been made and around 10 people are under scrutiny in a court investigation into the case.
The Civil Guard has also expanded its investigation to other mining subsidies in Peñarroya. Not far from the warehouse that holds the Marta, there is a residence for people with psychological disabilities. It was built by the city using three million euros in mining funds. Construction work was completed in 2010, but the building is empty: there are no patients and no caregivers. The grey, modern-looking center sticks out like a sore thumb among all the classic stand-alone homes that housed the French engineers a century ago.
On the outskirts of town, there is yet another example of a useless investment of public funds. Inside the Antolín III industrial park, the only green shoots in sight are those growing on the brambles that cover the lots. Not a single company has ever settled down here. Next door is a tire recycling plant that also received financial support from the Miner Plan, but subsequently shut down. There is graffiti on the walls about employees not getting paid.
The recycling plant and the residence both sport a sign with the emblem of the Institute for Coal Mining Restructuring and Alternative Development of the Mining Regions, an agency that answers to the Industry Ministry.
Since the late 1990s, this government body has showered millions of euros on Spain's mining areas. Figures to 2006 (the latest year available on its website) show that 227.9 million euros was spent on building industrial parks. Many of them have no tenants. Meanwhile, the number of coal miners has declined from 50,000 in the 1980s to around 5,000 today. During that time, coal production fell from 36 million tons to six million tons in 2012.
"Transportation infrastructure and collective equipment were created, but they are lying idle. Industrial parks are empty and mining museums barely get any visitors," notes Paz Benito, a geography professor at León University who has studied the effects of the Miner Plan in the area. "Investment has been random, with short-term vision."
Some 750 kilometers from here, in Teruel province, a small town called Andorra built an industrial park made to measure for two businesses that were going to create much-needed jobs for its 8,000 residents, following the closure of the mines. The companies set to open here were a cement plant owned by the multinational Cemex and a branch of Castelo, a maker of prefabricated architectural elements.
On a recent day, a loud group of construction workers were taking the Castelo plant apart – it was operational for no more than a few months. Metal parts are scattered around the red-and-white building that briefly contained state-of-the-art facilities. Meanwhile, the cement works cost 84 million euros to build (of which seven million were subsidies) and currently employs a maintenance crew of two. The plant never actually opened. A Cemex spokeswoman said that, given the situation, there are no current plans for this concrete giant.
Andorra has had no mines since 2005, but it continues to live off coal. And it has failed to find alternative activities despite the public funds. The cement works was stillborn, and the dozen or so businesses that went up with public money have all left. The industrial park of La Estación, so named because it is located in the same place where the coal-filled wagons used to stop, has become a training field for all the local sports clubs.
Of the 22 billion euros in public funds handed out to the mining sector since 1990, according to the Industry Ministry, most has gone to mining companies and early retirement packages. But the 2006-2012 coal plan also financed "the transition of mining areas toward economic activities with greater added value and greater quality of human resources." This involved investing 250 million euros a year in infrastructure (including new industrial parks) and 150 million for entrepreneurial projects. All sources consulted by this newspaper agreed that the project has met with little success and lacked proper oversight.
Jesús Magadán is sitting in his office at the Comisiones Obreras (CCOO) labor union headquarters in Ponferrada (León). He figures that in 20 years, the number of miners in this area has declined from 2,800 to 650. He also talks about companies that were created with Miner funds: "Comonor and LM [makers of wind turbines], Inoxidables del Noroeste… I can't recall any one business that is doing well."
The solar panel maker Cel Celis opened in 2010 after a 35-million-euro investment (six of which was public money). The inauguration was attended by the deputy premier of the regional government of Castilla y León, Tomás Villanueva. On January 19, the Industry Ministry published a note in the Official State Gazette indicating that it was revoking the aid. The decision was published here after authorities found it impossible to contact the company, which is still operational although production has ground to a halt. No solar panels are being sold.
The same issue of the gazette included 15 other cases of subsidies that were being revoked from Teruel-based businesses whose managers could not be contacted. There was a ham de-boning firm (400,000 euros in aid), a three-star hotel that was never built (393,000 euros), and a sausage factory that only functioned for two years (527,000 euros).
In the last year alone, the ministry has opened inquiries on around 100 companies whose owners have gone missing, and who had either received or were set to receive a collective 50 million euros between 2007 and 2010.
There are infrastructures, decent roads that reach remote locations and industrial parks around every corner ready to accept new corporate tenants. But there are few actual jobs.
In 2011, CCOO published a report assessing the investment plan during the 2006-2008 period: "Of the 8,789 jobs promised nationwide, only 514 were created, while 4,215 were lost [due to the drop in coal production]."
Magadán insists that the program was not poorly designed, but it just failed to work because of the crisis and the energy policies of the PP government. "The wind energy firms once employed thousands of people in León and now they barely have a few hundred workers," explains this 49-year-old who spent a quarter of a century working in a mine. He adds that it is not easy to attract businesses to geographically isolated locations.
Thirty kilometers south of Ponferrada, in Brañuelas, Benjamín Geijo, mayor since 1979 of a village that now has 400 residents, complains about the "feeling of helplessness watching my village go downhill, and knowing that it is very hard to do something about it. There used to be 17 bars and now there are just two left."
Funded projects that failed
The following are some of the failed projects that received millions of euros in funding from the Industry Ministry to transform the economies of mining areas.
– Six million for solar panels. The Cel Celis solar panel manufacturer opened in 2010 in San Román de Bembibre (León), after an investment of 35 million euros (six million of which came from the Miner Plan). The company is now negotiating with creditors to avoid filing for bankruptcy. On January 19, the Industry Ministry announced in the Official Gazette that it was initiating proceedings to revoke state aid from a company that was originally going to create 150 jobs in the area.
– 3.5 million for medicine. In 2002 the ministry approved 3.47 million euros in aid to the pharmaceutical company Diasa Pharma, which was going to invest 8.67 million in a new plant in Turón (Asturias), providing jobs for 90 people. The company committed to maintaining those jobs through to October 2010, but in May 2009 it had a meeting of creditors and is already being liquidated, according to the local press.
– 31 million for a photovoltaic plant. Silicio Solar, a unit of a Ukrainian company, received 20.9 million euros in 2007. The plant, which was located in Puertollano (Ciudad Real), also secured 10 million in regional funds released by the Economy Ministry. It became the largest photovoltaic manufacturing plant in Spain, with nearly 500 employees. Industry sources said it shut down last December.
– 2.1 million for prefabs. In 2009, the Galician company Castelo, which makes prefabricated architectural elements, opened up its most modern plant in Andorra (Teruel) and shut it down in December 2010. It received 2.1 million euros in aid in 2007 and only created 25 out of the 100 jobs it promised.
Geijo speaks inside a restaurant near the A-6 motorway, a favorite stop for truck drivers. Brañuelas never had any mines, but it did have the train station for the coal that came out of the mountains.
Geijo, a Socialist, recalls that the mining funds allowed him to build a seniors' residence, a business incubator and an industrial park. The only tenant in it is a company owned by Magín Fernández Feliz, 63, who treats granite and slate for use in cemeteries and roofings. "I didn't get Miner funds, and I almost prefer it that way," he says. Although he once had up to 12 workers, the staff is now down to himself and his business partner. But Fernández Feliz hopes that an upcoming deal to send slate panels to Germany will reactivate production.
"What should be getting reconverted around here are the people, rather than the region. The miners are retiring early with good pensions and they don't like to take any risks. They pay for their children's studies and help them leave the area, but they don't invest their money. If someone wants to get this land back on its feet, it's got to be us – we can't wait for the Japanese, the Germans or the Americans to come do the harvest in our place," he says.
The region of Aragón has received 350 million euros in state funds for infrastructure and 76 million more for business ventures over the course of 15 years. The regional industry commissioner, Arturo Aliaga of the nationalist Aragonese party PAR, says matters have been conducted "exquisitely" and blames the crisis for wiping out the businesses that came to Teruel through the Miner Plan.
But he underscores another hurdle to reconversion: social pressure from the mining areas to bring projects to their villages. "Did Andorra need three industrial parks? If we hadn't built them, they would've killed us. Ask the man who was mayor then, from the United Left."
In Ariño (Teruel), with a population of 900, it has been 10 years since the first stone was laid for the spa that was going to turn the local economy around. But the wellness center was never finished, and the village is still dependent on coal. Mayor Joaquín Noe goes down to the mine every day. Carlos Luna, a Socialist councilor and a miner until he recently retired, still has his hopes pinned on the spa project, which is supposed to employ around 30 people once it is up and running. "The Miner Plan was not shared out properly; it was every man for himself, and things can't work that way," he says.
Yolanda Casaus, a Socialist councilor for Andorra and a congresswoman for two terms during which she focused on coal issues believes that the main problem was "planning, which was more aimed at individual villages than at the whole."
The subsidies are handed out by a group of around 20 individuals representing the regional and local governments and the unions. This group, known as Mesa de la Minería, meets at the request of the regional government, after projects have been run through a technical committee.
But Casaus feels that these meetings, which could go on for hours, were never fully transparent, leading to the approval of a few initiatives "that did not make a lot of sense for a territory like Teruel. Aragón has built industrial parks to grow poppies."
Naturally, not all subsidized companies have collapsed. Casting Ros, in Utrillas (Teruel), makes auto parts and has become the driving force in the region. In this case, subsidies – including some from the Miner Plan – were essential to its survival. In 2008, Casting Ros had 500 workers, but a drop in production has reduced the staff to around 300.
"The funds did not produce an obvious result," says Paz Benito, the geography professor from León University. "While I wouldn't say they were a failure, it is obvious that they did not stem the economic apathy or the depopulation drive."
Julio Lago, who teaches economics at the same university, had this to say to anyone attempting to obtain hard data on the Miner Plan's results: "I tried to do a study, but when I asked the Coal Institute for figures, they didn't give them to me. So good luck with that."
Fermín Rodríguez, director of a center at Oviedo University, also came up with a project to evaluate the subsidy program, but says the ministry did not seem overly enthusiastic. He remembers that at the beginning of the Miner Plan, mayors would ask and the Industry Ministry would provide: "One wanted a bowling alley, another a drinking trough. It hasn't been a model of good management."
A source who worked at the ministry a few years ago explains how the Miner Plan was viewed from the inside: "The regions and the unions would present their projects, and the ministry would pay and look the other way. Nobody wants an assessment of that program because it is not in anybody's interests that one be carried out."
But the United Left coalition in León insists on an audit. "There have been subsidy hunters; companies that opened up, operated for the shortest possible time, then shut down without any control," says Santiago Ordóñez, the coalition coordinator in the province. "Neither the Socialists nor the PP nor the unions want to analyze what happened to the money."


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Plastic surgery has long been the traditional solution for improving wrinkled, saggy faces and necks due to aging. However, there is now a new therapeutic option that is noninvasive and without the complications associated with surgery. It is Ultherapy®: an ultrasonic face and neck lifting treatment.
Approved in September 2009 by the FDA, Ultherapy®: precisely focuses ultrasound waves into the skin's deepest connective tissue layers. The ultrasound energy heats and tightens collagen as well as activates your own cellular regenerative response to produce new, healthy collagen. The treatment leaves the skin surface undisturbed. The collagen foundation of the face and neck is firmed and tightened during the next 3 months. Clinically, these changes will manifest as an improvement in skin tone, elasticity, and firmness. The result is a natural and youthful appearing facial and neck lifting.
Ultrasound is a well-established modality that has been used for decades in the medical world. It has been employed in a variety of ways, from imaging studies of the abdomen and pelvis to physical therapy treatments for healing tissue injuries. Ultherapy® uses this time honored technology in an exciting new way: to visualize beneath the skin surface the fibromuscular foundation layer and precisely direct placement of acoustic energy into this layer. This identical tissue plane is surgically tightened by plastic surgeons in a face or neck lift.
Ulthera® is ideal for faces and necks with mild to moderate laxity. Treatment takes about 60-90 minutes depending on the areas treated. There is virtually no downtime.
"The following photographs are of individuals who received one Ulthera treatment. The "after" photos have been taken 3 months later. This is the time interval, which the maximal collagen response to the treatment is fully appreciated."
Click play icon to play slideshow of before and after photographs.Or navigate by clicking arrows. Mouseover the smaller thumbnails to see preview of next photo. Click thumbnails to view large photo.
In an FDA clinical trial, 8 out of 10 patients had a noticeable, significant lifting in the areas treated. There was improved definition of the jaw and neck contour, reduced laxity on the eyelids and a more open youthful look to the eyes. Although Ulthera® is not a replacement for plastic surgery, currently it is the only noninvasive treatment that tightens skin and stimulates collagen production using ultrasound technology. Treatments can be customized to treat all skin types. There may be some mild temporary redness and swelling immediately after treatment. Make-up can be applied if desired and normal activities can be resumed without restrictions.
The following are actual patients treated by Dr. Patricia Wong


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Outdoor gathering Saturday at Renners St. Paul
Renners St. Paul United Church of Christ will hold an outdoor gathering on Saturday, June 29. There will be games, fellowship and food 6-7 p.m. The menu includes grilled hot dogs, coneys, sloppy joes, chips, cookies and a beverage.
At 7 p.m., relax and listen to guest musical performers High Country Bluegrass Gospel Singers and vocalist Kathy Stevens. From state Route 36, go 6.5 miles north on County Road 93. From Baltic, take state Route 93 south, turn left on County Road 88, then turn right on Renner Road. Take lawn chairs or a blanket. In case of rain, activities will be moved inside.
Victory Trio to sing the Gospel on Saturday
The Victory Trio from Nashport will be singing the Gospel at Gospel Hill Ministry, 27610 Township Road 45, Warsaw on June 29 at 7 p.m. A food stand will precede the sing with serving beginning 5:30-6:45 p.m. Take a lawn chair for best seating; in case of inclement weather the sing will be held inside. For further information go to www.victorytrio.com; www.gospelhill.org or call 740-824-3300.
VBS at Millersburg UMC
Millersburg United Methodist Church will present HayDay VBS: Growing in Friendship with Jesus July 12-14 at the church, 5395 Township Road 336. VBS is for preschoolers through fifth-grade students and will be from 6-8:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday with a Sunday morning Celebration Service at 10 a.m.; lunch will follow the service.
Register online at millersburgumc.org or call 330-674-2641.
Take bus trip to Creation Museum
The Millersburg Church of God Women's Ministry is sponsoring a fundraising one-day bus trip June 29 to the Creation Museum near Cincinnati, leaving from Millersburg.
Journey back in time and visit this state-of-the-art museum, a ministry of Answers in Genesis that brings the pages of the Bible to life with 160 exhibits featuring depictions of people, plants and animals (including life-sized dinosaurs) from ancient times.
See Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and follow the story of the Fall, watch dinosaurs as they move about in a re-creation of the natural habitat, visit the work site of Noah's Ark, wander the botanical gardens, take a camel ride, enjoy the petting zoo and experience all the sights and sounds via media presentations in the special effects theater or planetarium, and look forward to experiencing much, much more.
Cost for the trip is $75 per person and includes transportation and admission to the museum and the planetarium. Lunch is on your own at the museum. Dinner will be at Golden Corral on your own after departing the museum.
Make reservation now to guarantee your seat at www.millersburgchurchofgod.com/Heart-of-Fellowship-Tours or by phone by calling 330-275-8527 or 330-600-0346.
Donations needed
Donations are needed to help troubled boys. The Trading Post Thrift Store is located at 7703-B state Route 241, just west of Mount Hope. All proceeds will go to support the Ohio Wilderness Boys Camp. Call 330-857-5516 or 330-464-1261.
Join trip to Israel
Pastor Bob Fetterhoff of the Wooster Grace Brethren Church will lead a tour of Israel and Jordan. For information, call 330-264-9459, Ext. 220, or email firstname.lastname@example.com.
The 12-day trip features first-class hotels, round-trip airfare, two daily meals and admissions to sites like the Temple Mount, Garden Tomb, a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. The price is $4,895 per person based on double occupancy from Cleveland including taxes and tips.


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The Graham Thomas Lap or Rutland Ride is a an unsupported bike ride round the border and/or countryside of Rutland in memory of founder member Graham Thomas and in aid of Myeloma UK. The ride is open to any cyclists whether members or not.
Date - Sunday 26th of August 2018
Choice of 3 Routes - Long (74 miles), Short (36 miles), Family Off-Road (19 miles)
All rides depart from Lands' End Car Park, Lands' End Way, Oakham, LE15 6US
Route 1 registration from 8.15am and depart from 9.00am
Routes 2 and 3 registration from 9.15am and depart from 10.00am
All participants over 16 to make donation to Myeloma UK on registration. Minimum donation £5.00
Ride ends at Grainstore Brewery, Station Approach, Oakham, LE15 6RE


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Friday night football has been the small town staple in Pikeville, with a population of about 700, since the 1960s. Whether its with their halftime hotdogs, ice cream truck, the little league team throwing the pigskin behind the bleachers, or the spirit of the Golden Falcon will always bring an unrelenting spirit to the town despite winning or losing.
Preparing to kick off C.B. Aycock's first home football game at Hardy Talton Stadium September 3, John Powers, 11th grade, turns to talk to his fellow color guard and classmate, Jamme Hines.
The defensive line of Greene Central High School holds back Craig Murdock, 5, of the Golden Falcons. At halftime, the Golden falcons were down 21-0.
After an intense play on the gridiron, Elijah Murray, 25, watches his team on the field. A fan on the sidelines said he was "very disappointed" in how the Golden Falcons were playing that night.
Since the 1970s, Luke Vail has announced most football games at C.B. Aycock. Chuck Covar runs the scoreboard as Josh Overton reacts to a play by the Golden Falcons. The game, which was uneventful, kept the fans fairly subdued throughout the night, unless the cheerleaders were throwing out plastic footballs.
Marching band members Casey Scarboro, Bailey Daniels, Alex Vanmeir, Christy Spears, Jessica Hensley talk about their halftime performance of Jerry Lee Lewis' "Great Balls of Fire," who their new crush is, and about their friends while sitting on the back end of the band booster club's ice cream truck. The ice cream truck makes homemade ice cream and the funds go to help the band compete.
Captain Jarrod James, 12th grade, listens to head coach, Randy Pinkowski, after the Golden falcons loss of his team's first home game. "We will keep working until we get our swagger back," Pinkowski said to his team. "Now go find yourself a honey and go home."
Josh Overton of Fellowship of Christian Athletes leads a team prayer after the game in hopes of keeping their faith in their game and their religion.


text: Submissions Looking to be featured on Rarenorm.com ? We accept content of all kinds from all walks of life. Please submit your work to be reviewed by the Rare Norm Staff and give us 3-5 business day upon each submission. For Press and PR Contact [email protected] Your Name (required) Your Email (required) Subject Description URL (required)


text: Getting to work with David through our years at DBU and seeing his strength in leadership, and his joy for life made it even more special when he asked me to shoot his wedding. The type of man that David Reyes is shows so much to the woman he chose to walk with him. Madison and her bridesmaids were beautiful in their pink gowns while the men wore grey suites and held on to the pipes for a few photos.


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Before the next chapter of life begins with a toddler and a new job, I'm taking the week for myself. Really though, who are we kidding, this entire week will be dedicated to our house and J's birthday.
As we're less than a week away, I've come to find out that apparently my entire family has prior obligations for the date of J's party. As in, my billion people family that I had been planning in my head to attend won't be here. This means all the details, all the food, all the everything is kinda pointless.
Don't get me wrong I still plan to throw J a lovely Up themed party filled with photos, friends, food and lots of balloons. But I'm scaling back big time. Turns out there will most likely just be about 10 people here. And although I cried over it the other day, I'm quite alright with it now.
The people who will be here are the most important. They're the ones who love J unconditionally, who saw B and I through this year and who wouldn't miss this day for anything.
Really, this was a bit of a blessing in disguise. As we're in transition from one job to the next our budget is seriously tight until my next paycheck. And crafting? It's freakin expensive. We walked around Michael's yesterday as I priced the things I'd wanted to do and I quickly realized its just not worth it for me right now.
So long as we've got some of J's grandparents, uncles, aunt and even his great-grandparents in attendance I will be so happy with the day. Now that half my week is cleared from the crafting time I'd carved out, I'll have plenty of time for my other plans....
Yep, spring cleaning will commence Monday morning {or in the next five minutes}.
From the loneliest corner of our house to the everyday areas, no couch cushion or kitchen cabinet will be left untouched.
I've got lists galore, ideas aplenty and more cleaning to do than I can wrap my head around.
It's been a while since I've done a major cleaning like this, and I'm actually a little excited to have our house fresh for the spring and summer seasons. I can't wait to get all of our windows open and let this beautiful spring breeze flow through the house. It'll be rejuvenating.
Post-spring-cleaning I'll be back with charts, tips and tricks that I learn through what will surely be a couple failed attempts and hopefully a few successes from the week.
So what can you expect in regards to this lil blog next week? Oh you know, birthday celebrations! I'll be revealing J's actual name* {for real! I've never actually told y'all his name!!}, we'll be sharing his birth story {which I failed to ever do} and hopefully there will even be a post from the husband!!
The next eight days will most certainly be manic, but my excitement to celebrate our first year with J is taking over and I love it!
*note: in regards to me revealing J's real name, this girl would like me to point out that I have in fact displayed his name on the blog before. Examples? A too cute monogrammed Christmas shirt and oh you know his party invitations! Thanks, Sean :)*
The In-between
March 17, 2012
Labels: 11 months, birthday, first birthday, spring, spring cleaning


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As previously mentioned in my last blog post, I had every intention of participating in the 2014 run of National Novel Writing Month, or as the I've been informed the kids are calling it these days, The NaNos.
And, uh, so I am participating in the 2014 run of National Novel Writing Month. Huh, that worked out nicely didn't it? Look at me and my holding to a promised action! I'm like some kind of functioning human being! PRAISE ME.
Anyways. We're at the mid-point of National Novel Writing Month and so far, so good-ish. I'm about four thousand words behind at the moment due to missing a few days because that whole Life thing insists on continuing even when I ask it nicely to pause for a month. But only a few thousand words isn't that bad in my NaNoWriMo history! It's practically on schedule except for the part it isn't! This upcoming week is going to be my mad push to reach 40k before Thanksgiving so I can, for once, not have to worry about frantically pushing out twenty-three thousand or so words in the last four days of November.
So far this has been my most successful NaNoWriMo. Honest to gravy this is the first time I have actually and factually pinned down an ending to a story before working on anything else and woah dang howdy, I will never attempt another story without doing so. The fact that I have an end point to work towards, or at the very least an end conflict, makes it a lot easier to piece together the fiddly middle bits that have to connect the beginning with the end. I've got myself a main character, she's got herself a little sister, there are class mates and magical abilities and categorical divisions that eventual fans will be able to identify with and buy merchandise based on them. It's going to be brilliant, I tells ya, and I'm enjoying the process so far.
But let's jump back a month, shall we? Travel back to October with me when everything was beautiful and I could fart around making sure a 500 word piece of flash fiction was just so for days on end. O, the halcyon days!
Back in October I bought a Humble Book Bundle [see note at the end of this post for a correction], which if you're not aware of this being a thing that exists, OH MY GOODNESS LET ME TELL YOU A THING. The Humble E-Book Bundle offers you, go figure, a bundle of themed books for a price that you name. There is a base price (which is going to be stupidly cheap for the amount of books you get) that will net you a handful of e-books in various, DRM free, format or as the case is right now, a bunch of audio books. However, if you pay above the median price you unlock another handful of books that often include a big name author to help sweeten the pot. When you pay you can choose how much of your money goes towards the authors, towards the selected charity that has been connected to the bundle, and how much goes as a "tip" back to the Humble Bundle makers themselves. If you're feeling flush with cash and make a big donation you even get your name on a leader board! Whee, recognition!
The first bundle I bought was a collection of what I think of as "Writer's Self Help Books" and which for the love of all things adorable I cannot find right now on the Internet @#$%!!! I've perused these books and their promises to teach me to write a novel in 30 days/Three Weekends/Fifteen minutes but I've never taken them seriously.
Until now.
*cue dramatic music*
From now until I've read them all, I will be trying out each of these writing aid books and seeing what shakes out from following their direction. Some are more literal step-by-step guides to produce a manuscript while others are more tips, tricks, and viewpoints from an already successful author. I'll have a review up each month to let you know my experience with each book.
First up is going to be No Plot? No Problem! A Low-Stress, High-Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days by Chris Baty. Technically this wasn't part of the Humble Bundle, but hey, I wanted to be thematic for the whole National Novel Writing Month thing I've got going here.
(Yeesh, six hundred words to get to the review. It's almost like I'm trying to pad some sort of word count or something…)
Chris Baty is the head-honcho of NaNoWriMo. He started the event among a close group of friends and developed it into an international event that invites all comers to bang out a fifty-thousand word novel just to prove that they can reach into themselves. It gives people the excuse to dust off the story that they had always promised they would write "one day" but never thought they could really write, and lets them write it out in full. No Plot! No Problem? Gives readers the history and ideas behind what NaNoWriMo has become today as well as giving loads of guidance on how to accomplish a fifty-thousand word novel in a single month.
If it helps your personal journey, Baty is not totally beholden to the month of November. If that time frame doesn't work for you then he would be delighted if you picked a more preferable month and held your own, personal NaNoWriMo. The whole theme of the book is that all one needs to do for a successful NaNoWriMo experience is to simply sit down and write. Hit your daily word requirement with no excuses and to the exclusion of your normal daily life. Tell your inner editor to hush and get the story out.
No Plot? No Problem! Itself is a light-hearted collection of advice on how to NaNoWriMo including where to write, how to set a writing mood, how to prepare without burning yourself out, how to put aside any attempts at editing, and how to manage real life responsibilities whilst churning out 1,667 words a day. There are tips from former NaNoWriMo participants and a week by week guide to lead you through the month.
It's a surprisingly funny book. I wasn't expecting to laugh out loud (or as the I've been informed the kids are calling it these days, lol) at a book about NaNoWriMo, but Baty has a sharp wit when relating his own writing experiences.
"Things went awry almost immediately. With nothing to do all day but write, I found myself doing everything but writing. Essential errands were run. Laundry was done. The bathroom was cleaned. Less essential errands were run. The bathroom was re-cleaned. A complex rooftop Habitrail system designed to make tree-to-tree transitioning easier for the neighborhood squirrels was built and nearly installed before the county's animal services intervened. And so on.The mounting guild I felt each evening over accomplishing so little writing during the day would then force me to cancel the plans I had made with friends that night. So I could stay in and get some writing done.Night, of course, simply involved more work on the Habitrail."
Per my own personal preferences, the advice offered in No Plot? No Problem! Neatly skirts the line between Solid, Practical Writing Advice and Tripping the Muse Fantastic nonsense. I have absolutely no patience with the idea of my character running away with the plot I have designed for them because oh goodness, don't those characters have a mind of their own~! No. They don't. They are mine, wholly and totally, and will serve the purposes I set out for them. Perhaps I am not a very whimsical person? Maybe I need to buy a prism or something. That being said, it's very easy to heed the advice you want and skip over the advice that doesn't apply to you. My eyes flitted over the small section about how to choose a Writing Totem but I lapped up every bit of the time management tips offered.
The week by week advice is my favorite portion of the book. It's 75% carrot and 25% well-applied stick. Baty will cajole, encourage, and praise NaNoWriMo participants for making it this far and do his best to convince readers that if they just keep putting one foot ahead of another, they'll make it through the month with their fifty thousand word count complete. He gives little booster exercises and both accepts writer's frustrations while offering paths to move past them. This section is very similar to the weekly encouragement emails that NaNoWriMo participants receive and I've always found them to be a nice little life line. After your NaNoWriMo summit has been reached there is even a little bit of guidance in regard to editing that beast of a manuscript.
Overall, I recommend No Plot? No Problem! As a read. If you're a serial NaNoWriMo participant than buy it, and if you're a writer just seeking overall advice then I super-duper-recommend you get it from the library at the very least.
OH HEY WAIT I FOUND THE BOOK BUNDLE! Okay, turns out it is a Story Bundle, which is different from a Humble Bundle even though they both work the exact same way with their you-name-it price levels and donations to charity. The National Novel Writing Month bundle is still available at the time of writing this entry (click here) if you wish to partake. I would keep an eye on the Story Bundles for sure because they are a super cheap way to beef up your e-book collection. Now that I've scanned over both it looks like Humble Bundles are more games and comic selections.
Buy both? Both. Both is good.


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Economic Impact: Virginia receives a grant to create a Defense Department contract spending impact tool
Virginia's dependence on defense contracts puts it in both an enviable and awkward position. It's enviable because firms in the state received more revenue from defense contracts performed than any other state, except California, in the federal fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2017. It's awkward because with 4.4 percent of Virginia's gross domestic product dependent on defense contracts, the state's economy can take a hit during defense downsizing — as it did in 2013. During that year, employment stalled in Virginia and grew only 0.7 percent, compared with 1.6 percent growth nationally.
- Categories:
- Richmond Times Dispatch Articles


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Despite the promise of a paperless universe run entirely on mobile phones and laptops and tablets, the humble business card is still with us. When we're out in the real world, the fastest way to reliably get our contact information to another human being is to hand them a piece of paper with our info printed on it. Business cards don't crash or require an upgrade, or autocorrect our names into gobbledygook.
But the challenge then becomes making use of the information we gather by way of business cards. The proverbial shoebox full of business cards that gets ever more full. The stack of cards from the last conference. The loose card you picked up by chance after a short conversation at a coffee shop.
I don't know about you, but for me, the percentage of cards that I'm handed that make it into a usable digital format is lower than I'd like. But recently, Wendy Forsythe of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate tipped me off to an iPhone app that solves this problem: Cardmunch.
Cardmunch is an iPhone app (a BlackBerry app is coming soon, according to the company's site). It uses the phone's camera to take a picture of the business card. That image is then uploaded to the Cardmunch server, where actual human beings transcribe the information.


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Boeing Co. has donated $3 million to the Field Museum to continue conservation efforts in the Chicago area -- and as far away as the Amazon River and eastern Andes mountains.
"We are proud to present this gift, which advances our mutual interests in improving quality of life in our communities and supporting global environmental protection and preservation," said Boeing Chairman, President and CEO James McNerney Jr. in a press release announcing the gift. He is a Field trustee.
The museum is in the quiet phase of a $250 million capital campaign, which it declines to elaborate on. A museum spokeswoman said the Boeing gift is part of the capital campaign.
Richard Lariviere, president and CEO of the Field, praised the company for its generosity.
"Partnerships with companies like Boeing, allow us to apply the full scientific force of a natural history museum to 21st-century challenges," he said in the release. "The result will be vast conservation corridors with improved quality of life for people and biodiversity."
Steve Strohmeier, the director of the Field's capital campaign, said in a statement, "For nearly a decade, Boeing has generously supported The Field's conservation programs. We share a commitment to improving quality of life and this recent gift is an extension of Boeing's previous investments at The Field."
In 2008, the company announced a five-year, $5 million donation to the Field's environmental conservation program, focusing on Peru. It has funded projects ranging from $8,000 to $15,000 in Chicago neighborhoods, including Forest Glen, South Chicago, Pilsen and Bronzeville. And last year, Boeing gave a $50,000 grant to Deb Moskovits, science and education vice president at the Field, for her work in environmental stewardship in Chicago and Peru.


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*New Price*Spectacular home offering approximately 10,481sqft total living area, professionally decorated - updates galore including newer gourmet kitchen & newer luxurious master bath, situated on 2 private manicured acres in Town & Country. Main level: two story entry, two story great rm w/fireplace & wet bar, dining rm w/marble floors, paneled library w/box beam ceiling & built-in bookcases, vaulted kitchen w/granite counters, center island & breakfast area open to vaulted hearth rm w/fireplace, master suite w/sitting room, master bath w/double vanities, whirlpool tub & stall shower, laundry rm, 2 half baths. Second level: 3 add. bedroom suites, homework area or home office, 2nd laundry rm. Finished lower level: recreation rm w/fireplace & wet bar, TV rm, exercise rm, 5th bedroom & full bath, pool bath w/shower, additional half bath. Outdoor living rm w/fireplace & kitchen, pool, hot tub, putting green. 4 Car garage. Generator. Close to highways & hospitals - this home has it all!
Listing courtesy of Gladys Manion, Inc.. Selling Office: Coldwell Banker Gundaker .
Listings displaying the MARIS logo are courtesy of the participants of Mid America Regional Information Systems Internet Data Exchange. Information From Third Parties, Deemed Reliable But Not Verified


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I have a passion for creating infographics. Presenting complicated information in a clear, visually-arresting manner is a challenge I never tire of. Here are a few of my favorites from my portfolio.
Suite of graphs for the article "Vast Majority of Seattle Voters Support $15 Minimum Wage" by Goldy for The Stranger.
Suite of graphs for article "Debunking the So-Called Bike Backlash" by Dominic Holden in The Stranger.
Map for the article "The Good News and the Bad News About Bike Share" by Cienna Madrid for The Stranger.
One of a suite of graphs for the article "What Will It Take to Stop Locking Up Kids?" by Steven Hsieh in The Stranger. Click the link to see more.
One of a series of social media posts for Nick Hanauer / Civic Action about the unemployment rate in Seattle.


text: A/B split tests are excellent tools to discover which page or feature that performs the best. However; most A/B split tests are done wrong -- learn whyWhat is an A/B split test?With A/B split tests you discover which of two different versions of a page, feature, etc. that performs the ... Read more


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Gabrielle "Gabi" Garcia, 32, was supposed to face Shinobu Kandori, 53, at "Rizin World Grand Prix 2017: 2nd Round" on Dec. 29, Friday, at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. However, the undefeated Brazilian MMA fighter missed weight by 28 pounds so the bout was cancelled.
This angered Kandori and Garcia was brought into the ring to apologize during the event. She told the audience that she respects Kandori who is a legend in Japan and apologized to all of her fans.
"I challenge you for next year," Garcia said referring to Kandori. " I hope you accept fight with me next year. I'm so sorry Japan. I love you, guys, and I'm back more strong than ever."
Garcia went on to drop to her knees in the middle of the ring and express regret over the weigh-in mishap. On Dec. 30, Saturday, she took to Instagram to explain the entire situation.
Captioning a photo of herself with a bloody towel, Garcia explained that she had high blood pressure and menstrual period while trying to cut weight but she "chose to live." She then thanked Rizin Fight Federation (Rizin FF) for "cherishing" her life.
Rizin FF was founded by former Pride Fighting Championships (Pride FC) president Nobuyuki Sakakibira in September 2015. The "Rizin World Grand Prix 2017: Final Round" is scheduled on Dec. 31, Sunday.
Kandori was supposed to make her Rizin FF debut at "Rizin World Grand Prix 2016" with Garcia. However, the veteran Japanese martial artist had to pull out of the fight because of a rib injury and was replaced by Yumiko Hota, who was knocked out by Garcia.


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FSIoffice Affinity Program
FSIoffice is a privately held WBE certified company offering single source distribution of office supplies, furniture and space planning, equipment, break room and facilities supplies, promotional products and printing. We live local, shop local and support local businesses!
Maximize your savings with the North Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce and FSIoffice Savings Program:
- Save on 1700+ Deep Discounted items in our First Source Catalog – Average 62 – 65% off
- Full Line Supply Catalog Offered
- Order via phone, fax, email or our website SMARTNET
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- Toner programs for OEM and Recycle cartridges
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- LOCAL Account Manager and CSR - NO call center
- "One and Done" - We strive for 1 order, 1 delivery, 1 invoice
Sign up and use your First Order Coupon and start saving today! Click here for the June Digital Catalog. If you already have an account you can log in here.
Your local account manager, Sharon McGill, can be reached at 800-532-0335, ext. 2195 or email@example.com.


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High-tech climate change centre planned for Powerscourt estate
Cool Planet Experience, due to open in 2017, has backing of several top Irish companies
Artist's impression of the dripping glacier at the Cool Planet Experience, which is due to open at the Powerscourt Estate in early 2017. Picture: Martello Media
Dripping glaciers, extreme weather rooms and trees with pulsating hearts are among some of the high-tech exhibits planned for a climate change centre at Powerscourt estate in Co Wicklow.
The Cool Planet Experience gives a glimpse into what the planet will look like in 50 years' time if we continue burning fossil fuels and clearing rainforests at the current rate.
It is being modelled on London's Science Museum and Belfast's W5, albeit on a smaller scale and with a climate focus.
The centre, which aims to open in early 2017, is the brainchild of Norman Crowley, serial entrepreneur and founder of energy firm Crowley Carbon.
"Since the beginning of this century, the world has recorded 15 of the hottest years in terms of global temperatures. It is now clear that climate change is the biggest threat to our children," said Mr Crowley. One of the main goals is to educate children on this, he said.
As well as Crowley Carbon, the centre has the financial backing of some of Ireland's leading companies, including NTR, Vodafone and Calor.
It will be in a two-story building beside the Powerscourt Gardens and the Avoca store and restaurant, which receive nearly 500,000 visitors a year.
Cool Planet curators hope to drum up a footfall of close to 45,000 in their first year.
They have employed Dublin-based Martello Media, the firm behind the GPO's 1916 exhibition, to develop a series of high-spec exhibits and interactive games to give visitors an "experiential journey" through climate change.
"Visitors will get to feel different extremes of weather from severe drought to the howling winds and raging waters and hear the stories of those affected directly," they said.
The Slazenger family, which owns and runs the Powerscourt estate, are understood to be strongly supportive.
"This is one of the most exciting ideas we have seen in relation to educating the public on climate change and the action that's required," NTR boss Rosheen McGuckian said.
A landmark deal to tackle climate change was agreed by 195 countries at UN talks in Paris last year. It commits the EU to cutting its own greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40 per cent on 1990 levels by 2030.
The respective cuts applied to each member state have yet to be decided. Ireland is known to be lobbying hard to have its relatively large agricultural sector, the chief generator of carbon emissions here, taken into account.


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Why have Alcohol in skin care products?
Alcohol is used in skin care products to help other ingredients to penetrate your skin, for example it helps retinol and vitamin C penetrate into the skin more effectively. Unfortunately it does that by breaking down the skin's barrier! Alcohol acts as a preservative, can make a thick skin care product feel weightless offering a pleasing texture to your skin. Fast Drying because alcohol evaporates quickly it gives skin a 'cooling effect'. Alcohol in toners can tighten the skin and refine pore size acting as an astringent – alcohol acts as a solvent to assist with solubilising ingredients that do not mix with well with water to create a smooth cream, or moisturiser that doesn't separate.
- Dryness [skin is no longer effective at keeping moisture in]
- Erosion of the surface of skin [protective barrier] causing:
- Irritation – makes redness worse
- Breakouts [stimulates oil production]
- Oily skin – produces more oil
- Triggers free-radical damage – Small amounts of alcohol applied to skin cells in lab settings 3% alcohol [skin-care products contain amounts between 5% to 60%] over the course of two days increased cell death by 26%. It also destroyed the substances in cells that reduce inflammation and defend against free radical damage.
What to AVOID
Always check the ingredient list on everything you intend applying to your face and or body. If you see the names of alcohol [listed below] among the first six ingredients on an ingredient label, they may aggravate skin:
- D alcohol
- Benzyl Alcohol
- Denatured alcohol
- Ethanol
- Ethyl alcohol
- Methanol and
- Isopropyl alcohol
Fatty Alcohols are derived from vegetables [coconut oil, palm oil, olive oil or a mixture of] and are non-irritating and can be very beneficial for dry skin, and in small amounts are well tolerated by most skin.* They are used to help emulsify skin care products, emollients help protect your skin and help keep moisture in. Look for:
- Cetyl
- Glycol
- Stearyl
- Cetearyl alcohol
- Behenyl alcohol
- Oleyl alcohol
CONCLUSION: In a 1990 study – researchers applied emulsifying agents, including cetyl stearyl alcohol, to real human patients. A total of 54 out of 737 experienced reactions —redness, inflammation.
2011 study also referred to the possibility of reactions with coco- and lauryl glucosides, which are mixtures of fatty alcohols and glucose. These ingredients can be found in cleansing products and some sunscreens.
Aromatic alcohols – Skin care products that contain fragrances may contain aromatic alcohols such as benzyl alcohol or components of essential oil concentrations. These ingredients may cause skin irritation or dryness, especially for those with sensitive skin. To avoid this type of alcohol, choose fragrance-free products.
If you have sensitive or reactive skin it is wise to avoid all alcohol in skin care products. A 'skin patch test' is always recommended prior to using any new product to check for possible reactions.*
Until next time
be human | be kind | be you
Gabrielle is the founder and creator of Human & Kind {Organics} The aim of my blog is to share information to educate the reader with the latest research on skin health. I believe we can all achieve beautiful, radiant, healthy, glowing skin without using products containing toxic chemicals which will damage your skins microbiome. Certified organic (ACO) skin care is better for your skin health and the planet Earth.
SIGNUP to my Weekly Love Letter monthly topics are explored, with links to WATCH– Documentaries // LISTEN Podcasts // READ Blog covering all thing cosmetics // EAT Recipes to try. Come along and give it a go – you can unsubscribe at any time! Join Here
- Experimental Dermatology, October 2009
- International Journal of Toxicology, Volume 27, 2008
- Lachenmeier DW, "Safety evaluation of topical applications of ethanol on the skin and inside the oral cavity," J Occup Med Toxicol, November 13, 2008; 3(26): http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19014531.
- Tosti A, et al., "Prevalence and sources of sensitization to emulsifiers: a clinical study," Contact Dermatitis, August 1990; 23(2):68-72, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2145129.
- An Goossens, "Contact-Allergic Reactions to Cosmetics," Journal of Allergy, 2011, Article ID 467071, 6 pages, http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ja/2011/467071/.
- Tosti, A., et al., "Contact dermatitis from fatty alcohols," Contact Dermatitis, November 1996; 35(5):289-9, http://www.researchgate.net/publication/14201921_Contact_dermatitis_from_fatty_alcohols.


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vice_president needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 210 designs submitted by 59 freelance designers.
Llama Association of Australasia Inc.
We are an association of llama farmers and enthusiasts across Australia and New Zealand.
We are updating our existing logo and would like to see a modern, clean, professional design that can be easily embroidered on shirts and used on signage. We are not interested in caricature designs but would rather see a simplistic, stylised representation of a llama in the design. Please make sure that you represent a llama and not an alpaca. They are two very different animals. It would be great to see something 'Australiana' about the design too.
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.