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In the current issue of Science, Michigan State University researchers led a study that revealed how a bacteria flips a DNA switch to go from an upstanding community member in the gut microbiome to deadly killer in insect blood.
Todd Ciche, assistant professor of microbiology and molecular genetics, has seen variants like this emerge sometimes by chance resulting in drastically different properties, such as being lethal to the host or existing in a state of mutual harmony. Even though human guts are more complex and these interactions are harder to detect, the revelation certainly offers new insight that could lead to medical breakthroughs, he said.
"Animal guts are similar to ours, in that they are both teeming with microbes," said Ciche, who worked with researchers from Harvard Medical School. "These bacteria and other microorganisms are different inside their hosts than isolated in a lab, and we're only beginning to learn how these alliances with microbes are established, how they function and how they evolve."
The bacteria in question are bioluminescent insect pathogens. In their mutualistic state, they reside in the intestines of worms, growing slowly and performing other functions that aid nematode's survival, even contributing to reproduction.
As the nematodes grow, the bacteria reveal their dark side. They flip a DNA switch and arm themselves by growing rapidly and producing deadly toxins. When the worms begin infesting insects, they release their bacterial insecticide.
"It's like fleas teaming up with the plague," Ciche said.
The question remains: What causes this dramatic transformation?
"If we can figure out why the DNA turns on and off to cause the switch between Jekyll and Hyde, we can better understand how bacteria enter stages of dormancy and antibiotic tolerance – processes critical to treating chronic infections," Ciche said.
Part of Ciche's research is funded by MSU AgBioResearch. Additional MSU researchers who contributed to this study include Rudolph Sloup, Alexander Martin, Anthony Heidt and Kwi-suk Kim. Scientists from the University of California-San Diego, Harvard Medical School and Yale University also contributed to this study.
Michigan State University has been working to advance the common good in uncommon ways for more than 150 years. One of the top research universities in the world, MSU focuses its vast resources on creating solutions to some of the world's most pressing challenges, while providing life-changing opportunities to a diverse and inclusive academic community through more than 200 programs of study in 17 degree-granting colleges.
Contact: Layne Cameron, Media Communications, Office: (517) 353-8819, Cell: (765) 748-4827, email@example.com; Todd Ciche, Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Office: (517) 884-5359, firstname.lastname@example.com


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The Zürcher Kantonalbank (ZKB) is lowering yield rates across its accounts in reaction to the negative interest decision taken by the Swiss National Bank (SNB).
Changes to interest rates will take effect on February 15, 2015.
ZKB checking accounts will no longer deliver any yields at all.
Young customers will only receive half of the yields previously earned on their youth savings account, or 0.5% per annum instead of the former 1% per annum.
Yield rates will also be halved for the standard ZKB savings account for adults, with rates dropping to 0.05% instead of 0.1% per annum.
The largest Swiss cantonal bank is reckoning with further insecurity in financial markets and corresponding low revenues for banks. On the whole, the bank predicts a difficult year for bankers.
Comprehensive Swiss savings account comparison
Swiss business account comparison
Swiss checking account comparison
Negative interest rates: Any alternative for savers?

subset: commoncrawl


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I'm addicted to The Walking Dead. Or am I? I still haven't decided whether to break my self-imposed "all content comes from Netflix discs, no matter how long I have to wait" rule (again) and stream the new episodes the day after they come out via Amazon, like I did with the second half of season three. I did this because my lovely wife and I simply had to see what happened next in this soapiest of operas of the undead and the near-dead, but also because I had an Amazon gift certificate, so the expense factor for streaming high-def episodes at $3 a pop was lessened considerably. I guess I have a couple weeks to decide how addicted I really am, as season four begins on Sunday, October 13.
I suppose a zombie fiction addiction is preferable to quite a few other addictions I could be saddled with. Following The Walking Dead comic book and its eponymous television series doesn't require copious amounts of money, result in ruinous relationships or shirked responsibilities, cause my body grievous harm or require illegal transactions with nefarious characters in dark and potentially dangerous locales. It doesn't make me fat, stink up the room or require injections to enjoy. Well, I guess if I watched or read enough of it from a sedentary position instead of from a treadmill, it might make me fat.
Uh-oh. I don't have a treadmill. I guess if I did, I'd be in a lot better shape for the real-life zombie apocalypse. Hmmm. Do you think the Doomsday Preppers watch their show from a treadmill instead of from a couch? I haven't seen the show, but it seems like they should, if they're as serious about prepping as they seem to be.
The Walking Dead is not the greatest show ever, but it is the most popular. I think there are two primary reasons for this: Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore and Charlie Adlard's compelling, perpetual cliff-hanger-generating source material and an American obsession with post-apocalyptic survival scenarios. However, obsession is probably the wrong word for me. My interest in the comic and the TV show does not begin to approach the universe of those fans who are so obsessed with The Walking Dead and other apocalyptic scenarios that they are literally preparing for what they are thoroughly convinced is the actual, (coming soon!) end of civilization.
While I love reading gritty, harrowing, epic adventure and post-disaster survival against-all-odds tales of both fiction and non-fiction and enjoy movies on those same subjects, I'm not a paranoid obsessive prepping for the impending "Barackalypse." I have not secured and stockpiled an elaborately outfitted bunker with canned goods, weapons, water, medicine, body armor and freeze-dried meals-ready-to-eat (MREs). I have not reorganized my entire life around my survival plan. I'll admit that if TSHTF, I will wish that I had.
Okay, I so do keep a few MREs handy for camping trips, but I haven't designed elaborate defensible fortifications and escape routes or initiated plans for self-sustaining aquaculture and sniper towers around my castle walls, but maybe I should. You never know. I don't have any castle walls either, but again, maybe I should. Take it from the Boy Scouts' classic motto: Don't Be Gay, but Be Prepared. It's something like that, right? Even the CDC released a zombie-apocalypse survival guide.
There's nothing wrong with being ready for trouble when trouble arrives, but many of us remain unconvinced that the End Times are upon us, can't afford all this expensive prepping stuff anyway and kind of want to just focus on the present and not worry so much about the apocalypse. Life is tough enough without prepping for armageddon, right?
The zombies will most likely eat we, the unbunkered masses, first. But maybe that's okay. Who really wants to live in a never-ending horror movie wherein your friends are torn apart before your very eyes, nothing works (including lights, toilets, showers and phones) and you're perpetually fleeing in terror before being eaten alive yourself, or--perhaps worse--you are forced like our man Rick Grimes and his crew of survivors to face down the human monsters that rise from the ashes of society--monsters that are inevitably, exponentially more despicable, unpredictable and deadly than the zombies--who do their worst to use and abuse you and those you hold dear?
Don't get me wrong, if it happened, whatever "it" was, I would fight to survive, protect my loved ones and go down swinging until my last breath, but for now, let's have popcorn and a movie instead of AR-15 practice and a moat-digging party. On second thought, maybe I should at least pack that bugout bag. There's a fine line here. I really like some aspects of prepping. I admire the ideals of self-sufficiency, homesteading, working your own plot of land, being "off the grid" to whatever extent possible, using solar power, gardening organically, perhaps even with aquaponics, and escaping the chaos of the caustic urban milieu and the masses of people, pollution and noise.
All those things sound really good. So does being ready for emergencies. You can't really fault someone for being prepared when you're not. So as I write about preppers, there's a little poking fun, but there is also a degree of reverence and respect. It's kind of like heavy metal: Metal is fun, and metal is funny. Metal is absurd and fun to make fun of. But metal can also be incredibly awesome. Simultaneously brilliant, awe-inducing and hilarious. Epic and ridiculous. Transcendent and absurd. Badass and jackass. I think prepping exists in a similar realm, in a comfortable dichotomy between practical and obsessive.
But why are so many of us fascinated by these tales of The End? Plenty has been written about the popularity of zombies and apocalyptic fiction, attributing their surge to well-founded, real-world fears of everything from financial insolvency, economic collapse, crop failures, famine, natural disasters, disease pandemics, chemical attacks, nuclear armageddon, terrorist attacks and perpetual warfare to slightly more kooky "threats" like electro-magnetic pulses, solar flares, a rise of the machines, gamma-rays, gray goo and nefarious government plots to make health insurance affordable or to confiscate everyone's guns.
Take your pick of which of these sounds plausible and you may have your reason to get busy on that bunker. I think it's pretty simple, really. We fear what we cannot control, and we do whatever we can to thwart those fears. I'm not saying that being a prepper or building a bunker is crazy. Maybe it's the smartest subculture around and everyone else is an idiot. Maybe we'll find out how right they really are. But maybe we won't. Everyone has these fears, but some of us simply choose to worry less about them than others or choose not to worry at all about the doom that is whatever you think it's going to be. Some see a coming zombie nightmare scenario that Max Brooks (son of Mel) called World War Z.
I think the fun of reading or watching survival stories is basically about putting ourselves in the shoes of the characters and asking ourselves "what would I do?" There's a base thrill in experiencing this stuff vicariously, but that's nothing new. When every day--almost every moment--proves to be a life or death situation, everything is elevated: the drama, the relationships, the stakes, our ability to overlook boring side-plots in between zombie battles; everything is on the line at every turn, and every decision is crucial. Placing characters into a scenario like this inevitably creates suspense, and it's often exhausting, except when it's not, like when characters argue about silly crap or make terrible choices that are painfully obvious to the reader or viewer.
So I watched Brad Pitt's "adaptation" of World War Z. It was decent, if you like zombie movies. I didn't think it was "garbage," as one friend claimed, but I agreed with another who said that it "wasn't the best zombie movie ever, but it was entertaining." I had read Brooks' excellent novel on which the film was very loosely based, and I knew going in that the film's approach would differ quite a bit from the book. I couldn't help thinking that WWZ would have been a perfect candidate for adaptation into an HBO mini-series like Band of Brothers or The Pacific. Both were amazing.
Since WWZ is set all over the world in a succession of well-developed vignettes focused on different characters, settings and situations, the high-budget, unrated mini-series format would have been a perfect choice, but instead, those in charge of the film focused on one character and crammed what they could into a single feature. As a result, there is little time for character or plot development between massive, CGI-fueled action set pieces, and the re-shot ending seems tacked on and inconclusive. The folks at Screen Junkies totally nailed this "honest trailer."
That said, in a post-9/11 Hollywood era glutted with airline disaster scenes, the movie featured the best one I have seen since the opener from The Dark Knight Rises. Well, the crash in Flight was pretty good too, but fast zombies ratchet up the terror quotient considerably in already-terrifying airline disaster scenes because let's face it: faster zombies are scarier zombies. Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later proved this, and Zack Snyder's remake of Dawn of The Dead re-confirmed it. Why fast zombies are still relatively rare in zombie fiction remains a mystery. Despite the less than five-star response, it appears Mr. Pitt is not through adapting Mr. Brooks' zombie omnibus. There is already talk of a trilogy, despite WWZ's modest box office haul, and officer Rick Grimes and company will return to the smaller screen soon, along with a Walking Dead spinoff show set in the same universe with different characters, so I guess the zombie craze still has legs. And teeth. Pack your bugout bag.


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The last of the Farmer's Market bounty until next year.
The Ignacio Farmer's Market was quite the success, especially for its first year. It was such a great addition to our community. Tay and I are talking about growing a market garden for next year in order to be able to participate in it.
Hand spun yarn drying indoors.
I have been one obsessive drop-spindling mofo lately. I have so much hand spun right now, which completely rocks. I love to knit and spin year-round, but when the weather cools down it becomes something of a seasonal imperative to start churning out hats and mittens and scarves. Warm socks. Blankets. The list goes on. (Also, Anne, if you're reading this, I have your mitts 90% done. I just need to finish the thumbs.)
Ice ring around the sprinkler. We've been trying to give everything one last good soak before we run out of irrigation.
I love this time of year. The feel of autumn is just so peaceful. The quality of the sunlight is just a little more golden, which seems to bathe even ordinary days in a kind of nostalgic glow. It's hoodie weather, which works for me, since they're my favorite item of clothing next to a comfortable bra. You can stash your phone, keys, and a drop spindle in that front pocket if you don't mind looking a bit bloated.
There's the smell of woodsmoke in the air, which I love. I haven't lit a fire yet, because our house stays pretty warm and I'm holding out for that morning when I just can't stand the cold, which will have to be pretty extreme. I'd like to hold out until November, but we'll see. I'm really used to being cold. We froze our asses off last year in that glorified tent of a trailer and our firewood supply ran out, so we spent a lot of time huddled over space heaters. I woke up one morning and found that my water bottle had fallen to the floor and frozen solid. Taylor and I spent a lot of time at coffee houses, with their seductive combination of central heat and wifi. Now that we've moved home, we have central heat, wifi, and two wood stoves. It's kind of like heaven only with out the clouds and harps and such.


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The bronzer: what is it, how it works, and our selection
The bronzer is a must-have for those who want to emphasize the facial features. From the free or compact powder – but also the liquid version – it aims to warm the complexion. The most common error? Fading it all over your face. There are, however, application techniques that allow the best use of the product to choose in one or two darker shades than the complexion.
For a sun kissed effect look
Apply the bronzer to the forehead, nose, cheekbones and chin by slightly fading to create a natural effect. Be careful not to make the colour uniform. No to the mask effect as well: do not forget to put a little product on your neck.
The famous method of 3
The most popular method is to fade the colour from the temples to the cheekbone and end up on the jaw line to form a 3. Use the same blush brush. We prefer this application technique because it is the simplest.
The contouring
Fundamental to realize the contouring, in this case the bronzer is generally used in a matt and cold version. Where to shade it? Under the bones of the cheekbone, on the temples and under the jaw line.
Are you at a loss on the product to choose? We give you a hand.
NARS Sun Wash Diffusing Bronzer
Melting, lightweight and velvety, this powder has a rich and soft texture that brighten the skin with a natural tan and a matt finish. You can use it for a glowing look fading it on your face or to donate volume and sculpt your face by applying it under the cheekbones, along the hairline, and along the oval face.
This burnished tanning powder contains two distinct shades that give depth to coloration, making the skin appear brighter and healthier.
elf Aqua Beauty Blush & Bronzer
This bronzer, with a cream-to-powder formula that moisturizes and smoothes the skin contains vitamin E.
If you want a perfect matte finish, this is the powder for you! It gives a glowing sun kissed finish and it is great for contouring too.
This palette contains three shades to combine to create contouring with the colour and to brighten to give three-dimensionality.
Bronze Drops Sandstone Heat by & Other Stories
A liquid bronzer that infuses a delightful "sun-kissed" effect to any complexion. It can be applied after the moisturizer or overlapped to the foundation.
Opaque powder that creates the beautiful appearance of tanned skin as if one has just come back from a Caribbean escape.


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English | Espańol
All Issues > Volume 29, Issue 3
Judas had just left the upper room to betray Jesus (Jn 13:31). Jesus knew He would be dead in a matter of hours. He said to His apostles: "My children, I am not to be with you much longer" (Jn 13:33). Then Jesus gave us the new commandment, to love one another as He had loved us (Jn 13:34). Jesus repeated this commandment two more times and said we would be recognized as His disciples because of this unique love (Jn 13:34-35). Within a few hours after saying this, Jesus died on the cross because of His love for us.
Jesus has clearly commanded us to crucified, sacrificial, unconditional love. He calls us to love the Judases in our lives. He calls us to lay down our lives (1 Jn 3:16) in love, even for our enemies. This new commandment of love is the essence of salvation, the meaning of life, and the way to the Father.
Jesus suffered for thirty-three years of life, three years of public ministry, and over three hours of agony, crucifixion and death because of His love for us. Let us live the new commandment and love one another as Jesus has loved us.


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a theatre of masks…
The Second Voyage will take place in London between September 9 and December 13, 2019 for fourteen weeks.
All the topics in the Second Voyage can be taken separately.
Parallel to the Second Voyage, Embodied Poetics offers a Pedagogic Training to those who already have significant pedagogic experience.
the geodramatic territories of the second voyage
1 9/9/19 – 20/9/19 (2 weeks) Theatres of Gesture: Pantomime and Gestural Expressionism
Grounding our work in the tradition of Pantomime Blanche, we will apply these skills in gestural language and image-making to new material. Both dramatic and comedic outcomes may result from this territory of creation as we generate miniaturised versions of big spaces, and gestural grandeur from intimate dramas.
2 23/9/19 - 4/10/19 (2 weeks) Epic Storytelling: Constructing and Deconstructing Narratives
Epic theatre evokes big spaces, long distances, chronological sweeps and grand narratives, carried forward by a musical score. While exploring the construction of this popular and versatile dramatic form, we will also engage in a practical deconstruction of linear and predictable melodramatic formula.
3 7/10/19 - 18/10/19 (2 weeks) Theatres of Assembly: The Tragic Chorus, Flocks and Mobs
Theatres in which the group holds the text, the image, the movement, and the drama will be explored. This territory of creation, often associated with the tragic space, finds new iterations in flash mobs, guerrilla theatre and happenings. We will explore multiple reference points, both practically and theoretically.
4 21/10/19 - 1/11/19 (2 weeks) The Bouffon Part 1: Mystery and Prophecy
Through transforming the body with a full-body mask, the performer-creator gains access to the mysterious forces of the tragic struggle, expressing them with pleasure and without opposition, and revealing the mysterious darkness hidden behind the pretences of light. The Bouffon and its tribe both embody and transcend drama. We will explore this territory with an eye to discovering its fresh potential for generating post-dramatic forms.
5 4/11/19 - 15/11/19 (2 weeks) The Bouffon Part 2: Social Grotesque and Theatres of Excess
When truth is outstripped by untruth, the hyperboles of fiction are an antidote. Social grotesque mocks the powerful and the perverse, exaggerating the distorted logic of the "real" world and revealing the surreal. Grand Guignol transforms the horrors of reality into poetic terror. A trenchant response to the world, this form of theatrical writing ranges from the satirical to the apocalyptic.
6 18/11/19 - 29/11/19 (2 weeks) Modern Commedia: Half-masked Comedy and Cartoon Worlds
The masks, techniques, skills, narrative and comedic construction of Commedia dell'Arte will be explored in order to reinvent a modern version. We will also use cartoons as narrative and stylistic reference points for modern masked comedic theatre.
7 2/12/19 - 13/12/19 (2 weeks) Comic Worlds:
First Week: The Clown - Red Nose, White Clown, Black Nose
The naïf, the sadist, the poser: these three clown stances are equally innocent, equally vulnerable, and equally intimate encounters with the audience. By reveling in our clown-downfall, we liberate a profound state of play and creativity. In this intensive we will focus on the clown state rather than the clown number, with an eye to discovering what theatres may arise from this powerfully personal territory.
Second Week: Comic Varieties - Absurd, Surreal, Outrageous
With provocations from every comic direction, this most eccentric territory of theatrical creation is also the most exploratory, constantly throwing us off balance. Tried and true comic structures will be referenced, while understanding that a rulebook is just another form of banana peel: a classic way to slip up.


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"At less than 350 yards from the back tee those unwary golfers may anticipate an easy opportunity, not so my friends, this is a little stinker. You must hit a long straight drive to carry the brook and gain perfect position for a shot to the green between big trees, indeed the gap to go through for your second is only twenty yards wide. If you are unsuccessful you will be chipping sideways. The second shot is short, but must carry cavernous traps, even then your trials are not ended as this green presents the most devilish breaks and borrows with a big rise from front to back."
Hover over the above image to zoom in
Floor Restorations
Specialists in all aspects of flooring
Tel 0121 443 5503


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2019 ScheduleAll times ET
2019 Schedule
5-0-3, 3rd in UEFA European Championship Qualifying
- SWESWE211/1FT2IcelandISL
- IcelandISL015/1FT0ESTEST
- ANDAND022/3FT2IcelandISL
- FRAFRA425/3FT0IcelandISL
- IcelandISL18/6FT0ALBALB
- IcelandISL211/6FT1TURTUR
- IcelandISL37/9FT0MDAMDA
- ALBALB410/9FT2IcelandISL
- IcelandISL011/10FT1FRAFRA
- IcelandISL214/10FT0ANDAND
- TURTUR014/11h:mm a z, US/Eastern0IcelandISL
Giroud puts injury-hit France on brink of Euro 2020
Olivier Giroud's lack of club action proved no handicap as the Chelsea striker's penalty earned France a 1-0 away win against Iceland,
Mbappe, France turn on style in rout of Iceland
Kylian Mbappe notched a goal and two assists as a stylish France continued their perfect start in Euro qualifying with a 4-0 hammering of Iceland.
Belgium see off Iceland with Batshuayi double
The hosts, number one in FIFA's world rankings, were missing several players due to injury, with striker Romelu Lukaku ruled out a day before.
Switzerland relegate Iceland from Nations League
Switzerland kept their Nations League semifinal hopes alive and sent Iceland down to the second tier with a 2-1 win in rainy Reykjavik.
Mbappe rallies France to draw against Iceland
Kylian Mbappe scored a penalty in the final minute to rally France from a two-goal deficit and draw Iceland on Thursday night.
Lukaku scores a pair in Belgium win over Iceland
Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku scored twice and won a penalty that Eden Hazard converted as they crushed Iceland 3-0 in their Nations League clash.
Hallgrimsson steps down as Iceland coach
The 51-year-old guided Iceland to their first World Cup in Russia where they were eliminated in the group stage.
World Cup fan faces in photos
The World Cup has been superb on the pitch but equally brilliant off it thanks to the rich, vibrant and merry travelling fans who came to party.
'Proud' Iceland's 'batteries' on empty - Hallgrimsson
Iceland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson admitted his 'proud' team's 'batteries' were on empty following a 2-1 World Cup-ending loss to Croatia.
Croatia end Iceland's knockout-round dreams
Iceland had the faintest hope of the knockout stages, but Croatia's 2-1 win put those to bed and secured Luka Modric & Co. a top spot in Group D.
Croatia win Group D after win vs. Iceland
Milan Badelj and Ivan Perisic scored in the second half for Croatia, who secured their place in the knockout stages with a 2-1 victory over Iceland.
Messi ends 11-hour drought; Moscow ends 36-game goal-fest
More drama, late goals, heartbreaks, and one great escape. Here are the best numbers from the thrilling final round of games in Group C & D.
World Cup LIVE: Argentina need a miracle
Argentina have to beat Nigeria and hope Iceland don't beat top team Croatia if they are to stay in the World Cup.
Win or bust for Iceland against familiar foe Croatia
Nothing less than a win will do for Iceland against Croatia if they are to emulate their Euro 2016 success by making it to the knockout stage.
What's it like to experience the Viking Clap?
Jayaditya Gupta experiences the Icelandic Viking clap at the Volgograd Arena while also being impressed by the attendance figures so far in Russia.
Nigeria's tactical change paid dividends - Rohr
Nigeria's top players needed persuasion to change positions in a tactical shake-up but coach Gernot Rohr's plans paid dividends as they beat Iceland
2019-20 ECQ Standings
2019-20 Team LeadersUEFA European Championship Qualifying
- Goals
- Assists
RankingsUEFA European Championship Qualifying
Goal Difference2Tied-24th
Goals Scored12Tied-25th
Goals Conceded10Tied-27th


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A & M // Connemara
Aoife & Mark were married in the beautiful surroundings of Connemara this summer. One of the perks of this job is having the opportunity to explore these gorgeous areas of the country. It was important to Aoife & Mark to get married in the west of Ireland as they have a deep connection to the area. They loved the light and landscape and wanted this captured in their photos.
In particular, they were keen to prioritise getting out at sunset for photos, despite the fact that sunset fell in the middle of dinner, a bride after my own heart, as they say! It had been a bright sunny day, so the light was beautiful at sunset, and the results were worth nipping out for those 15 minutes!
The style of their day was wild and romantic, perfectly suited to the landscape. Aoife opted for a separate top and skirt, and chose a stunning and unique blue tulle skirt, designed by Kirsty Doyle, in Liverpool, where the couple live.
Aoife wanted ballet elements incorporated into what she wore, so she also chose beautiful ballet style tie-up heels. The bridesmaids complimented this with their ethereal blush tulle dresses.
The evening's festivities kicked off with a fun bouquet toss on the dance floor, ahead of a fantastic first dance! Scroll on down to get a glimpse of it all.


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|The documentary "Dream Empire" explores the rent-a-foreigner business in China.
Foreign faces are still in demand to create an international veneer for Chinese firms by posing as executives, musicians and even mechanics
By Alice Yan
That's when an online job ad caught her eye: "Chinese-speaking foreigner wanted for part-time position."
So Katie, a 25-year-old American who speaks fluent Putonghua, applied and got the job with the government-backed firm. Her business card says she is the assistant to the director of the firm. Her job involves accompanying the director to dinner with clients once a week.
"I don't know much about this company and we never talk about business at dinners," said Katie, who didn't want to give her real name.
"There's a lot of fun at the dinners and the pay – 1,000 yuan (US$145) each time – isn't too bad for me."
Katie said she had never asked why a foreigner was needed for the role, but she believed it had to do with creating an "international" image for the company, and her ability to add an "exotic" element to the dinner conversation.
Perception of success
It's not uncommon for Chinese companies to hire foreigners, especially white Westerners, to represent them in public relations-type roles. Many Chinese equate Caucasian faces with business success and a global outlook.
For decades, products made in China but associated with foreign elements – such as a Western-sounding name or being endorsed by a Caucasian model – have been seen as superior.
That perception has made China a lucrative place for foreigners to pick up work on the basis of their appearance, regardless of their skills.
Companies hire foreigners to step into the role of musicians, athletes, architects, lawyers and many other professionals for their marketing activities – a common ruse to win more Chinese customers.
The business of "renting" a foreigner has been going on for well over a decade, and even as foreign faces become more commonplace – there were more than 900,000 foreigners working in China in 2016, up from just 10,000 in the 1980s, according to official data – it remains popular.
Last month, for example, a car repair firm in Nanling county, Anhui province posted an ad on a Shanghai WeChat group for foreign expatriates seeking "Western actors to perform as mechanics" at its opening ceremony on May 1.
The practice is explored in Dream Empire, a 73-minute documentary by Denmark-based American director David Borenstein. It follows a young rural migrant, Yana, who sets up a foreigner rental agency in Chongqing to help her clients market their products and project an international image that she says people believe is reality.
It premiered at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam late in 2016 and won the Thessaloniki Golden Alexander award in Greece for best film in March, but has yet to be screened in China.
"Audiences are watching you for your skin colour, not for what you are doing. It's kind of like being a monkey in a zoo," Borenstein told the South China Morning Post. Foreigners in his film call themselves "white monkeys" because that's how they felt in these roles, he said, adding that he had received considerable interest to distribute his film in China and the chances of it being released in the country were high.
Country music stars
Borenstein, a Miami native, directed the documentary largely based on his experience of living in Chengdu, Sichuan province in his 20s as a Fulbright scholar majoring in anthropology. He took dozens of jobs as a rented foreigner from 2011 to 2013.
The first job came when he was approached by an agent on the street and asked if he wanted to perform as a band member at the opening of a real estate project.
He was curious and when he turned up to the event the next day, he was part of a band whose members had never met. With background music blaring, the "band" mimed before a large crowd of potential homebuyers.
"Later, I found out that the keyboardist had been doing this for five years – pretending to play the keyboard," Borenstein said, adding that the man did not even know how to play the instrument.
At a property forum being held in the next room, a "foreign architect" was introduced as a partner of the developer, but he turned out to be a fake as well, he said.
Borenstein recalls the "craziest" task, a gala show for a real estate project in rural Chengdu with a "countryside night" theme. He and several other foreigners were introduced to some 2,000 people, including local officials, as "America's top country music band called Traveller".
"I play the clarinet, but the event organiser didn't even know that the clarinet doesn't match country music," he said. "The singer was a Spanish woman who didn't know how to sing and couldn't speak English."
Five Africans dressed in traditional costume joined them on stage to dance.
"It was so crappy," he said.
In his nearly three years with the agency, Borenstein took gigs in more than 50 cities. Most of the events were organised by property developers, which were seeing tremendous growth as the market flourished. "Foreigners were used to turn remote rural ghost towns into 'globalised booming cities' on days that outside investors and political leaders visited," he said.
Who's real and who's fake?
For many Chinese, the international veneer is still desirable. Xie Fengyun, a Shanghai resident in her 50s, said she felt products that were promoted by foreign models and companies with foreign executives were more trustworthy.
"It means they are international," Xie said, but noted she had never come across a foreigner performing at a marketing event.
But white-collar worker Lily Zeng, who lives in Guangzhou, didn't see the appeal. She said she once saw a group of foreigners singing and dancing at the launch of a property project and their performance was "awful". "These activities aren't interesting at all. And for the audience, it doesn't do anything to improve their impression of these projects," she said.
It's just advertising, according to American video game designer Mike Ren, who didn't mind the idea as long as it didn't affect the quality of the service.
"There can be a misconception that foreigners are rich, skilled or educated, but that's not always the case," Ren, who lives in Shanghai, said. "The more educated the customer, the easier it is to tell who's real and who's fake."
But for expatriate professionals who have lived in China for many years, the phenomenon is not so harmless. Canadian John Lombard has been based in China for more than two decades. "For me, and most other expats who are serious businesspeople in China, these people are an annoying irritant," Lombard wrote on knowledge-sharing platform Quora.
"They damage the reputation of expats in general, and make it harder for me to generate trust and credibility when I'm meeting potential clients and partners. It's an industry built on a platform of dishonesty and deceit."
It also reflects society's general lack of confidence in the cultural identity, according to analyst Li Bochun, director of Beijing-based Chinese Culture Rejuvenation Research Institute.
Li said that using foreign faces to embellish the image of a company highlighted the prevailing "foreigner-worship" mindset.
He suggested the authorities improve the situation by educating Chinese about the importance and value of the country's cultural history in modern society.
"For example, I've written a book called The Chinese Art of Business. I explored how ancient Chinese did business and I found that the wisdom of ancient Chinese is beyond what is taught at Harvard Business School," he said.
Li agreed with Lombard's view of the rent-a-foreigner business. "On many occasions, the practice is pure cheating."
But for Katie, who is now an event organiser in Beijing and still attends dinners with the company director once a month, her role does not constitute cheating since she never discusses business with the clients. She said they only ever engaged in small talk over dinner.
"This rent-a-foreigner phenomenon is strange, obviously. But for a young foreigner here who needs the money and is confident of herself, it's no problem."
She added that the job had been an eye-opening opportunity that had helped her to better understand Chinese society.
"There's no harm in it. I've never felt uncomfortable or nervous or unsafe in attending any of these dinners. It's always worked out for me."


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Source: 007: Licence to blog (nonsense)
Mix n match
Source: Mix n match
Sri Lanka
Hi all,
just a quick plug for a new blog about Sri Lanka…! Full of food, colour, elephants (I assume*), penguins (I'd like to think**) and a lot of fun***.
Take a look 🙂
*= no promises
**= come on… really?
***= see *
42. The End Of The Chinese Miracle
Looking back only a few years, the Chinese economy was growing at a tremendous rate. Labour was plentiful and the ability to change jobs quickly was possible. These labourers came from afar, from t…
42. The End Of The Chinese Miracle
Looking back only a few years, the Chinese economy was growing at a tremendous rate. Labour was plentiful and the ability to change jobs quickly was possible. These labourers came from afar, from the villages and helped the formation of China's newest metropoles.
This had began to fuel a new mentality on spending, an entrepreneurial spirit and a radical change of outlook regarding employment for China's high streets.
The video below explains China's migrant problem now….
Career flexibility is not a given in China. Many families crave what is traditionally seen as employment's ultimate aim: the iron rice bowl. This figurative rice bowl is managing to get a job which ensures job security for life and pays the bills handsomely. This can be a big event in a Chinese worker's life- ascending into the middle classes and few employment concerns for the rest of their career. Family celebrations are commonplace for these lucky workers.
However, recent attitudes during growth were perhaps challenging this view, with chopping and changing more common. Many of my friends, on losing a job, were completely nonplussed and were happy to take the extra time off knowing full well that jobs were not in short supply. Freedom in economic growth.
Yet, with the Chinese population due to explode, the idea that lack of labour may stunt Chinese growth is certainly puzzling. Nevertheless, this is where we are.
Small businesses, which form the bedrock of the Chinese economy like no other country. Being less developed than some super economies, family and street business has always been the staple. In growth, the transition to factory work was full of opportunity, provided a stable wage and gave many a chance to spend outside of essentials for the first time. With work drying up in the city for migrant workers, the economy is now grinding to a halt.
(Image, one of Changchun's 'western-style bars')
The boom years saw entrepreneurs in China try all manner of ideas, relatively new to a traditionally guarded culture. Signs of the slowdown are most obvious here, with innovative business falling foul of decreased expendable income and being forced to close within the first 6 months. The care-free and occasionally extravagant middle class are beginning to look at tightening their belts, reigning in spending and reverting type.
Instead of new start-ups such as trendy new bars, a la mode clothing lines and western-style shopping centres, which appear at least superficially in decline, traditionalism is returning to the fore. Migrants are settling, or returning despondent. With harvest festival reminding many of village life, crisis point may be reached. Perhaps the economy is staring back at manufacturing and production to help out- the recent steel dump around the world may say much about China's economic struggle between past and present.
Is it that China can overcome its migrant labour issues, and we could soon see a new generation of migrants holding their own trusty iron rice bowls?
To find out more about the Financial Times' series on the End of the Migrant Miracle, visit the link below! Until next time!
About Crashing a Bike in Politics
41. Travels- Guilin
Hi guys….
Sorry for not being with you for a weekly dose of fun in a while. As I said, I've been traveling around China again to see a little more of the country. This week is Guilin- a beautiful southern city in Guangxi province famous for its stunning natural scenery. I have been told off repeatedly for using a potato of a camera and this has still not got any better, but I'm in the fortunately position of being able to not take this criticism to heart, so I'll apologise again and move on!(I have been shamed into searching the internet for a more accurate picture of the area, however… so the first picture is just that).
Guilin is famed for it's incredible backdrops and it seemed best doing a spot of climbing in order to see some of them from above. For an extremely reasonable sum in the nearby town of Yangshuo we armed ourselves with the aforementioned potato, a cheap of chips bag of exotic fruit and a rope. Donning a pair of climbing shoes tighter than an Olympic diver's Speedos., we set about scaling a nearby rock. This one, actually.
Although I was pretty much a novice to climbing rock, oppose to the indoor/ artificial ones that I did at scout camp in my youth, I was slightly disappointed with my efforts. I have literally no idea how I got into this position, but I do know that it was uncomfortable, as well as having my left knee and right elbow in my own mouth at one point.
After creating makeshift viewing platform using my harness and tree branch, I wedgied myself in for a look at the scenery. Boy was it worth it…
Back in Guilin, the locals pride themselves on a rich culture, which is being exploited by the touring masses. In fact, there are new villages muted for taking over from Guilin as the new untouched areas of natural beauty, once Guilin has been overrun by tourism. It's a shame, as the city itself is charming and really rather romantic, which is difficult to appreciate in any sense when traveling with your brother… The city is pleasant enough to simply stroll around mindlessly without doing anything really, the area does all of the serious touristing.
The spectacular scenery continues in the shape of the Dragon's Backbone Rice Terraces in Longji, just North of Guilin. Cultivating a wide range of crops , the terraces stretch out for as far as the eye can see, comprising of 3 sets and rising to 1000m in some places. There's very little point in my wasting your time by explaining more, so let's just get to the pictures.
The mountain folk are gentle and welcoming, offering beds for the night and woven local produce. They work for sunup to sundown in most parts of the terraces in order to supply crops and they have become much more than subsistence farmers, with the same families working the fields for generations, dating back roughly 650 years. A truly remarkable lifestyle and one of my favourite parts in China.
So, a little on the South of China this week… Next week the Yellow Mountains as we made our way Eastward towards Shanghai.


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- Amatory Pleasures: Explorations in Eighteenth-Century Sexual Culture by Julie Peakman
Peakman collects eight previously published articles and book chapters, plus two new articles based on earlier shared material, in this new volume of her writings. The work, all produced in the last fifteen years, combines to paint a portrait of British sexual culture in the eighteenth century as various and shifting. "There was no one coherent attitude to sex in the eighteenth century," Peakman argues (147). Old and new beliefs, the enlightened and the bawdy, the normative and the perverse coincided and competed.
Peakman's focus on sexual culture leads her to explore a wide range of sources, which in turn substantiate her argument about the diversity of eighteenth-century attitudes. Individual chapters examine whores' biographies, courtesans' memoirs, erotic gardens, medical texts, manuscript letters, and pornography. Peakman describes her work as taking a "multidisciplinary approach," although all the chapters fit comfortably within the framework of cultural history (xiii).
Despite the diversity of the chapters, certain themes recur through-out the text. Peakman is centrally concerned with the role of gender in [End Page 255] eighteenth-century sexual culture. Her analysis emphasizes the agency of eighteenth-century women. "Far from being meek inhabitants of an ideological straightjacket of gendered roles, eighteenth-century women did on occasion use opportunities to secure new forms of power and authority," Peakman argues, concluding that women engaged in a form of "practical feminism" even in the absence of feminist rhetoric (51). This approach frequently leads her to counter arguments that diminish women's power. She rejects those literary critics who have dismissed the genre of courtesans' memoirs as written by men for men's titillation, insisting instead that the works capture "the world of female sexuality as understood by the women themselves" (82). In another example, whereas Trumbach reads scenes of female tribadism in pornographic literature as instructional to readers at a time when no conception of lesbianism existed, Peakman argues that these narratives drew from readers' extant knowledge of female same-sex sexual practices.1 While Peakman takes a broad view of women's agency, she balances that approach with clear recognition of the misogyny of the era under study. Her chapter about women's defloration, which discusses the period's fetishism for bloody devirgination, makes for tough reading.
If the collection has a weakness, it is that the chapters seem a little cobbled together—unsurprisingly for a book that began as separately published articles and chapters. The book also contains some repetition and lacks a consistent voice. Nonetheless, it is a fun read that should have wide appeal. There's great pleasure to be had from reading Peakman's knowledgeable explorations of whores' biographies, or her insights into the intimacies of Emma Hamilton and Queen Maria Carolina of Naples. This collection has appeal for lay readers and undergraduates, not just specialists.
1. Randolph Trumbach, Sex and the Gender Revolution. I. Heterosexuality and the Third Gender in Enlightenment (Chicago, 1998).


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Machine vision
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It's a fact of life. Most emails that we receive are junk. Just look at your Spam folder some time and see how much of that junk Gmail is filtering out for you. But if a junk message gets through to your Inbox, what should you do? The answer to that depends on what you see.
In this series of articles, we'll address several kinds of unwanted email. It's important to understand the differences and how to handle each.
Spam | Spoofing | Phishing | Spear Phishing | Gmail Warnings
A spoofed email is one that comes to you from an email address that does not actually belong to the sender. The sender actually forged the sender name and email address in the message, so that it looks like it came from a particular person, but it didn't. Spoofing is one of the most difficult things to prevent and it's even more difficult to explain. Suffice it to say that just because an email says that it came from "John Smith", it doesn't mean John Smith actually sent it.
The best way to recognize a spoofed email is that the message just doesn't seem right. Here's an example of a real spoofed message:
Subject: amazing
It is amazing what one can invent! You're going to love it, I swear! Read more here open link
Speak to you later, john.smith
Practically everything about this email is suspicious:
- The subject line says simply "amazing". That's not a normal subject line that this person would have used.
- The person is telling you about an invention. Again, that's not a normal thing for this user to email you about.
- The email is signed "john.smith". Most people will simply sign their emails with their first name, and sometimes first and last, but usually never with their first and last in all lower case with a dot in the middle.
- Perhaps the most important thing to notice is that the action the email is proposing is that you click a link. But they ask for it by saying "read more here open link". That just doesn't sound right. And the fact that they want you to click a link at all should cause you to question it.
There are some technical resources that ITS has available to help us prevent this from happening. But it's not an exact science.
What To Do
DON'T just delete the email. This can make the situation worse, because a spoofed email got through without being filtered, and the senders will then continue to send more. We recommend marking the message as spam, as described in this article:
≫ Mark or unmark Spam in Gmail
Suffice it to say that marking an email as spam should be a small task that you're very familiar with and can do without thinking twice.
Additional Resources
Here is another article from Google with more information on the subject:


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Despite their being in the majority, there's nothing particularly weird about the Democrats surrendering to the Republicans on civil liberties. I mean, that's what Democrats are good at. If Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer woke up one morning and realized that they were in the majority, it would throw everything out of whack.
You know what is weird, though? That Democratic leadership thinks that lying down and letting the White House bone the US Constitution once again is cause for a victory dance.


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Located on the ever popular Lisburn Road in South Belfast, this period mid terrace home is beautifully presented by its current owners and requires little to do other than move in. The spacious accommodation can be adapted as required and currently comprises four spacious bedrooms, open plan living / dining, modern kitchen and newly fitted bathroom. Outside, the property benefits from an enclosed yard and easily maintained front. Gas fired central heating and PVC double glazing are both in place. With many shops, restaurants & other amenities all within easy walking distance, this home will appeal to a range of buyers and early viewing is highly recommended.
* This information does not contain all of the details you need to choose a mortgage. Make sure you read the key facts illustration provided with your mortgage offer before you make a decision.


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The annual subscription fee is $96.00 for a full member and $48.00 for a spouse member. Click for a Membership Application Form. Weekend bookings and weddings have minimum a $500 spend on the bar. Or just use of the club to meet friends, have functions or join in the sections activities.
Download a Membership Application Form:


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A Wondrous Way to Spice up Your Resume!/
I hear the disbelief now! "The words 'spice' and 'resume' in one phrase? Really?"
Yes! A resume can be spiced up - it can be downright spicey!
The problem is this: most Canadians are way too humble. They don't speak up about their abilities and refrain from tooting their own horn (they would certainly never blast it, no, a small toot is all they can muster!). And their resumes, which are supposed to be marketing documents, are b-o-r-i-n-g!!! Most resumes inspire a snooze-fest, not interest.
Here's an idea that might just rev things up a bit.
Give yourself permission to talk about yourself. This is in private, just you and a Word document or a piece of paper. And make yourself be a bit braggy. Don't panic, it's just for a while!
List that great job you did in catching up mounds of filing that no one wanted to tackle. Recall how your boss thanked you for saving his a** when you saved a major corporate account with your particular knack for schmoozing, listening and problem solving. Hear your mom's voice telling you how good you are at fixing stuff and how you're the one who gets assigned the toughest computer issues. (And thank mom while you're at it, won't you?)
Challenge yourself to come up with a long list. These are your accomplishments! Yes, we all have these. They are related to the accountabilities in our jobs and when captured on paper, they provide the sizzle to the steak.
Embrace this challenge and give yourself permission to brag, boast, and self-congratulate. Once you begin writing your resume, I guarantee you'll lose the boastfulness. But what will remain will be wondrous! Your resume will have a sprinkle of spiciness by communicating that you're a valuable employee!
- transforming resumes from mediocre to spicy snapshots of wondrous careers! - Stephanie


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Maxim Conrad
maxim conrad, clarinet
The clarinettist Maxim Conrad was born in Würzburg in 1990. He began playing his instrument at an early age and gathered first experiences in orchestra-playing with the Bavarian Youth Orchestra and, being of both German and French origin, the Young German-French Philharmonics. In the course of his work with these orchestras, he came to play concerts in – among others – France, Italy, the Czech Republic, the Munich Gasteig and the Berlin Philharmony. After graduating from school, he prepared for his studies intensively, for instance participating in Thomas Lindhorst's master class at the European Academy for Music and Performing Arts in Montepulciano. In 2011, he began his studies at the "Franz Liszt" School of Music Weimar, currently continuing them at the "Hanns Eisler" School of Music Berlin in the class of Martin Spangenberg. Since the beginning of his studies, he played with conductors such as Christian Thielemann and Marek Janowski.


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I did not count my chickens before they hatched. But I did count on chickens.
The latter was clearly no less foolish than the former. We incubated 25 eggs and 15 lovely exotic chicks emerged. When they were about a month old it became clear we had a rooster in the henhouse, Alonso. Alonso crowed his lonely doodle mornings and evenings. Eventually he was joined by Attila, and soon the duet went to Yonkers. Once they had departed, Tux started crowing and a while later he was joined by Snowflake. They too went to Yonkers to grace a stewpot. Once they were departed yet another rooster started crowing, a shy black and white thing (to remain unnamed for obvious reasons) that had not previously emitted a peep. And another and a third. About 2 weeks later they were named Sopa, Empanada and Rosti-Pollo.
Only then, in our depleted henhouse, did yet another rooster proclaim his masculinity, only then did he trumpet the testosterone flowing through his avian veins. He has handsome too, with a black and white striped scarf and iridescent green feathering.
He's now gone, with 2 more cohorts. So from 15 eggs that hatched, we are left with 5 chickens of the hen-variety. And that is wishful thinking.
Alternative titles:
And No Cock Crew
With one Fell Swoop, from the Harem to the Nunnery
All's Quiet in the Henhouse
They Call me Sopa
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Posted by Christine Lehner at 8:31 AM
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There's a lot of misconception surrounding positioning. Everyone has differing ideas and opinions about what it is.
Which is why it's important that we firstly define what we mean by positioning in marketing.
Positioning in marketing is very similar (sometimes the same) as positioning in business.
For a company that sells a solitary product or service (eg. web hosting), positioning is the same regardless of the product or business.
However, if you're a company with multiple brands and sub-brands (such as Coca-cola), then positioning will be different for each brand as well for the company itself.
Why? Because the company has different products, but more importantly, they have different customers.
Commonly, there's also confusion about what positioning is and what its not. For instance, it's irrelevant whether you have a positioning strategy or not: positioning exists regardless.
Hence the need for a positioning strategy, rather than letting your market position happen by accident.
Your positioning will form the foundation of your marketing.
So what exactly is positioning?
Positioning is about: What you're offering, who you're targeting, your competitive advantage, and how you're communicating your position in the market.
Essentially, it's about your customer's perception of your brand and position in the market.
Not only that, positioning is about all of these components in relation to competitors and their products or services.
Which is why positioning happens with or without you. Customers will have an opinion about your brand whether you're aware of it or not.
Needless to say, you need to get your positioning strategy right.
Especially when you consider that every customer has slightly different perceptions of your brand.
Identity and image are important aspects of positioning. Identity is who your brand actually is: the people, values, language, logo, colours and imagery. Whereas, image is how your brand is actually perceived by your customers and the marketplace.
It's this interplay between what you project as a business and how your customers perceive you.
Brand identity and image should be the same. But, this isn't always the case.
If we take a local example, Vodafone have the message on their site, "Our customers are at the heart of what we do."
Then why did they top the list of most complained about companies last year?
Could it be that Vodafone's brand identity is not aligned with their brand image? I can see thousands of Kiwis nodding their heads right now.
The point of this example is not to poke the finger at Vodafone, but to illustrate how important it is for brand identity and brand image to be aligned.
In order to align both your identity and image, you'll need to be able to answer these difficult questions:
What's your company's purpose?
Who are your customers?
What's your business's point-of-difference?
How do you communicate your value proposition?
Good marketing focuses on benefits and features. Great marketing focuses on pain-points, values and the why.
Simon Sinek is famous for saying, "People don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it."
No quote better illustrates the importance of positioning.
In a world where every sector is competitive, companies are competing less on product differentiation and more on values, solving real pain-points and storytelling.
In other words, the why and quality storytelling are being used as competitive advantages.
The why is an answer to these key questions: Why does your organisation exist? Why do you do what you do?
Look at Apple, they have as many competitors as most businesses. However, Apple don't position themselves as an electronics company. They position themselves as a values and human-centred company.
They lead all of their marketing and advertising with their why. What they believe, why they are in business, what they want for their customers etc.
Apple communicates a clear and simple proposition that is easy to understand. They then communicate their why utilising great storytelling.
Likewise, smart marketers get their positioning right before they begin any marketing activities.
What is a positioning strategy?
A positioning strategy is a deliberate attempt to position a brand/product/service in the marketplace.
So far we've discussed the theory behind positioning in marketing. That's all fine and dandy, but how do you actually create a positioning strategy?
We outline the positioning process below:
What is your position in the market? What do customers like most about your offering/s? Your offering is any product or service that you're selling in the market.
Now, let's not kid ourselves into thinking that our customers love us 24/7... What do customers complain about the most?
Things you need to consider include product, pricing, customer service and branding.
You need to remove all assumptions from this process. It's what your customers think about you, not how you perceive what they think about your brand.
Is the feedback largely positive or negative? What are the specific words and phrases they use to describe you?
This is your current positioning.
Now, is this how you want to be known in the market? Will this positioning help you increase or decrease revenue?
If it's the latter, you need a new positioning strategy.
Next we need to define the business's why.
Why does your company exist? It could be for a number of reasons.
For example, an ice cream company could exist to bring joy and happiness to kids. Or a university could exist to develop the leaders of tomorrow. A tire shop could exist to keep cars on the road and smiles on people's faces.
Notice how we didn't mention generating profit, achieving KPIs or winning industry awards? Your purpose should go deeper than that.
Why are you in your organisation and not another? Why do people work for your business and not a competitor?
There are a number of ways to collect responses to these questions.
For large organisations, you could send out a company-wide survey and keep it anonymous - so employees are more compelled to be honest.
For smaller businesses, gather your office together and share each other's thoughts. It's important to accept differing opinions without judgment from other staff or from management.
Otherwise, fellow employees will be less likely to answer truthfully.
The significance of this activity cannot be ignored. Your purpose is your organisation's why. And this collective purpose will form the foundation of your brand for years to come.
This is arguably the most important activity in the positioning process. Because this is where your positioning strategy either flourishes or falls flat.
It's important to sit down and define your best customers. Because you can't be everything to everyone.
In other words, by identifying your best customers, you are also stating who you don't want to work with.
Your targeted buyers need to not only have the purchasing power to buy your offering, but your offering must also fill a need or solve a problem.
This solution could be psychological or physiological, but it needs to give the buyer group enough motivation to buy your product or service.
In other words, the perceived value must overcome the cost and difficulty of accepting your market offering.
Now that you've identified your best customers, you need to create customer profiles.
We call these profiles, buyer personas. These buyer groups make up a segment of like-minded customers.
You'll likely have more than one customer segment you're targeting. In this case, you'll need to develop multiple buyer personas.
Needless to say, choose your target buyer groups carefully.
Next, we need to identity core competencies.
What do you do better than competitors? Which products or services offer the most value to your customers?
Another way to think about it is: If you only had one offering, what would it be?
Without core competencies, you'll find it incredibly difficult in today's competitive landscape.
There is a lot of noise, not a lot of differentiation in the marketplace. Differentiation is the key.
Are your customers aware of your core competencies? Your competitive advantage? Point-of-difference?
It's crucial that your customers understand your differentiation. If not, they'll choose your competitors over you, or at least show less loyalty towards your business.
Next, we need to define your organisation's culture.
Start with your people: Who works at the company? What are their stories?
Now, thinking about where else you've worked: What's different about your current organisation?
Do you have a different way of thinking? A unique philosophy or working processes?
What's one thing you'd never change about your culture? Perhaps, how could your culture be improved?
Lastly, regardless of role: What does it take for someone to truly succeed in your organisation?
Now try and collate all of this information into a paragraph. The more succinct, the better.
Now we're ready to craft your positioning statement. Here's some positioning statements to spark your imagination:
"To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world." - Nike
"Saving people money so they can live better." - Walmart
"Organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful." - Google
Now you might have some ideas swirling in your head? Well, before you start crafting your positioning statement, we need to understand the purpose and significance of positioning statements.
A positioning statement, "is an expression of how a given product, service or brand fills a particular consumer need in a way that its competitors don't."
The two keys here are: fulfilling a customer's need and differentiation.
A good positioning statement should clearly demonstrate a need as well as a unique promise to customers.
Easier said than done, your positioning statement should also summarise, or at least illustrate your positioning strategy.
A positioning statement should be a roadmap; an arrow that steers your organisation into the future.
Positioning statements should provide direction and a clear focus as employees arrive at work each day.
You've completed the other six steps. Nice!
Now it's time to document your positioning strategy. This is to ensure that all of your hard work is not wasted - placed in the trash can... never to be seen again.
Create a doc. Either static or utilising a collaborative platform such as Google Drive or OneDrive.
Now separate each theme into logical sections. There is no 'one way' to do this.
But here's an idea:
1) Company Purpose
2) Company Culture
3) Target Customers
- Buyer Personas
4) Core Competencies
5) Positioning Statement
6) Communication Strategy
Now, the communication or messaging strategy is one aspect of positioning that we haven't touched on.
Your communication strategy is very important. You've just invested a lot of time and effort into crafting your organisation's positioning strategy. Now you need to tell your customers about it!
However, how you communicate this positioning with your customers is crucial.
The first thing you need to do is identify your marketing channels. Below are some common ones:
Website (sub-websites)
Email Newsletters
Social Channels (LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram etc.)
Paid Channels (Google Ads, Facebook Ads etc.)
Now we've identified channels, we need to outline our messaging strategy for each channel.
We've hopefully already identified what we want to communicate (brand values, core competencies, positioning statement etc.). Now we need to define how we'll communicate these messages across each channel.
Considerations include: tone, adjectives, phrases, grammar and context for each medium.
Ultimately, your goal should be to communicate your value, in your customer's language.
Communication at a human-level is important. No one likes being 'talked to'. They want to be listened to, and engaged with.
Otherwise, your marketing messages will be lost in the competition and ignored by the majority of consumers.
If you're offering a diverse range of products or services, it might be worthwhile to develop different communication strategies for each brand/product-line. Especially if these offerings are for different buyer groups.
For the sake of simplicity, however, you could outline a generic communications strategy.
You could start with a generic guide, and let managers and their teams further develop strategies for their brands/product-lines independently.
However, it's important that these strategies are adjusted depending on the channel being used.
For example, the messaging for a Google Search Ad will likely be 'more salesy' than a traditional blog article.
You need your communication strategy to convey the same ideas, but adapt the tone and messaging depending on the platform.
This is to ensure that customers receive non-conflicting messages and build positive perceptions of your brand.
Get it right, and your brand will be a powerful force in the market.
Gee, that was a lot of information to take in all at once... If you want this article as PDF, feel free to download it here. Or perhaps you want help crafting your positioning strategy? Download your free guide here.


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Dead by Daylight System Requirements: Dead by Daylight is a Survival horror video game. The game was developed by Behaviour Interactive and published by Starbreeze Studios. Dead by Daylight game is a where one player takes on the role of the savage Killer, and the other four players play as Survivors, trying to escape the Killer and avoid being caught, tortured and killed.
Latest Dead by Daylight System Requirements and its Specifications:
Dead by Daylight Minimum Requirements:
- Operating System: 64-bit Operating Systems (Windows 7, Windows 8 & Windows 8.1)
- Processor: Intel Core i3-4170 or AMD FX-8120
- Graphics: DX11 Compatible GeForce GTX 460 1GB or AMD HD 6850 1GB
- DirectX: Version 11
- Storage: 15 GB
Dead by Daylight Recommended Requirements:
- Operating System: Windows 7, Windows 8 & Windows 8.1 or above
- Processor: Intel Core i3-4170 or AMD FX-8300 or higher
- Graphics: DX11 Compatible GeForce 760 or AMD HD 8800 or higher with 4GB of RAM
- DirectX: Version 11
- Storage: 15 GB
Related Articles:
- Mass Effect Andromeda System Requirements
- Details of DOOM System Requirements
- Total War WARHAMMER System Requirements
- Details About Minecraft System Requirements
Dead by Daylight was released on June 14, 2016, And the game is designed for Microsoft Windows
PlayStation 4, Xbox One. The game supports Multiplayer modes.


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First of all, as I understand it variable identifiers are called symbols in common lisp.
I noted that while in languages like C variable identifiers can only be alphanumberics and underscores, Common Lisp allows many more characters to be used like "*" and (at least scheme does) "?"
So, what I want to know is: what exactly is the full set of characters that Common Lisp allows to have in a symbol (or variable identifier if I'm wrong)? is that the same for Scheme?
Also, is the set of characters different for function names?
I've been googling, looking in the CLHS, and in Practical Common Lisp, and for the life of me, something must be wrong because I can't seem to find the answer.


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JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging
Volume 5, Issue 2, February 2012 DOI: 10.1016/j.jcmg.2011.11.010
Letter to the Editor
T2-Weighted CMRBut Where Is Elvis in the End?
Nathan Mewton, Franck Thuny and Pierre Croisille
Full metrics information requires a subscription or purchase to view. If you are a subscriber or member, click the login link or the subscribe link in the top menu above to access this article.
Statistics from Altmetric.com
** Usage data for articles will be available starting in late January 2017. Please note that data will only reflect usage on a monthly basis from December 15, 2016 forward.


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Skilled Work (Often Goes Unnoticed)
Paul Mulhern
We spotted this fascinating video on Vimeo and loved seeing the largely unappreciated skill that goes into shaping the perfect street lettering that we are constantly informed by but rarely 'notice'.
The film was made by London designer Tom Williams in the early hours of the morning outside his flat.
He could see them moving down the road painting some other road signs, and knew there was supposed to be a BUS STOP sign in that spot, so he set the tripod and camera up and waited for them to start.
And the work is genuinely amazing. You'd think that street painting would be a pretty basic process requiring little specialized skill or technique, but if this clip is any indication, that is far from the case.
With the help of his assistant, this painter confidently applies perfect yellow lettering onto the street freehand. No stencils and no mistakes…
If you had to list everything that fascinates you, it's safe to say that footage of city workers painting lines on the road wouldn't make it on the list. But maybe it should…
How much wonderful, useful & creative work of this kind goes on in the world unnoticed?
Look up, look around, take notice!
Talk to us about our work - SPACIOUS Architects.


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Ipswich Choral Society: Mozart's Requiem
Saturday 6 Apr 2019 7:30pm
Robin Walker conductor
Cem Mansur guest conductor
Gillian Keith Soprano
Natalie Davies contralto
Tom Randle tenor
Trevor Eliot Bowes bass
ICS Festival Orchestra, leader Michael Dolan
Presented by Ipswich Choral Society
Mozart Requiem; Ave verum Corpus; Laudate Dominum
Tom Randle The Affirming Flame (world premiere)
Ipswich Choral Society with Music Director Robin Walker return to Snape following their hugely successful performance of Mendelssohn's 'Elijah' in 2017. The concert on 6 April features a mostly Mozart programme including his famous 'Requiem' and a world première of 'The Affirming Flame' by Tom Randle.
Shrouded in mystery, the commissioning of the unfinished Requiem written at the time of Mozart's death in 1791 has always fascinated the musical world. Mozart's 'Requiem' is a choral masterpiece and hugely popular with performers and audiences alike. For their performance at Snape, Ipswich Choral Society is delighted that their President, the international conductor Cem Mansur, will be joining them as guest conductor.
Inspired by the 'Ipswich Remembers' performance when he was invited to sing with Ipswich Choral Society last March, Grammy award winning tenor and composer Tom Randle is thrilled that his new oratorio 'The Affirming Flame' will be premièred at Snape on 6 April. The five part oratorio uses text from poets such as Siegfried Sassoon and Carl Sandburg, and 'The Parcel' from local poet Pam Job of the Suffolk Poetry Society.


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Briefly, tell us who you are and where you are from.
I am Ashish Kumar from Chattishgarh state (India). I am from middle class family. What I am I can't describe. That you can get better from my friends.
How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
I am dedicated. I believe in hard work and loyalty towards my work.
When is your birthday? What is your favorite color? Favorite activity?
My birthday is 29 September 1988. I like all bright colors.
If you could do or be anything in the world, what would it be?
Without film or cinema, I can't imagine my self.
What is a dream that you have? What is something that you are passionate about?
I want to be a successful human being in my life. This is my dream and passion so yes I love making films. I love acting. I love analyzing people. I love collecting characters in my mind.
Tell us your RISE story. What are you RISE-ing from? What are you RISE-ing to?
My rising story, I'm from lower middle class family, a small town boy where people are not thinking about cinema or any kind of art. They don't even like those people who are working in film industry because at the same time our India society is hypocrite. They don't want their kids work on film industry but they like entertainment. They like to watch it. So I'm belonging from such kind of society but I'm happy my family, my parents, my friends are always there with me to support me in any cause. Now I want to work for cinema because I want to change the society and hope will get success. Though money is important, I cant deny it, but eventually I have to be a good human being as well.
How did you first become involved with acid attack survivors?
I was trying to connect myself with current affairs or with society. In 2014, I was reading about one acid survivor's news and I was surprised whatever is going on in our society is not good. Then I started reading a few more news and then I thought I should make a film to create awareness. I was not an established filmmaker so can't support them on monetary basis but I could do something for our society through film making.
I started reading about acid attacks, about laws, then started reading universal news as acid attack is universal problem seen in many films. These were all my research work.
Why do you think you had a passion for helping acid attack survivors in particular?
When you can analyse what is right and wrong, then you can easily understand to whom you have to advocate. But I think acid survivor's life is more herculean than others.
What is one thing you want people reading this to know?
Be a good human being and loyal for everything whether for relationship or for work or for anything.
What would you say to those who think they can't make a difference in the world?
See everything is possible in this world if you are thinking then definitely it can be possible but you need to be focused and you should have proper planning so that you can march towards the goal and execute in appropriate way .
What does RISE mean to you?
When you are rising, you are not rising alone. You are rising with your surrounded people. They may be in your life or may not be and if you are growing and people are happy, it means you are in right path and steadily marching toward your target. So your rising can effect to others as well so be loyal to whatever you want to do.
Final thoughts?
Yes I want to work for society, for my family parents and friends. For that I am working and trying to make good cinema, good films so that I could connect with maximum people through my film.
Trailer for Ashish's film:


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Travel Guides To Destinations About The Planet
Its continued existence nonetheless sparks national debates on corruption, a broken correctional system and tourism in Bolivia. There are also travel agencies that serve as common sales agents for foreign travel businesses, permitting them to have offices in countries other than exactly where their headquarters are positioned. The advised arrival time at the airport is 3 hours prior to departure when traveling to an international destination. Get all of the newest organization news and service updates for Thames Travel bus routes in Oxfordshire and Reading. Eligible travel purchases do NOT contain vehicle reservations, FINE HOTELS & RESORTS bookings, other non-prepaid hotels, ticketing service or other costs, or interest charges. Platinum Cardо Members get 5x Membership Rewardsо points on flights at Amex Travel.
A travel agency is a private retailer or public service that gives travel and tourism associated solutions to the public on behalf of suppliers such as activities , airlines , car rentals , cruise lines , hotels , railways , travel insurance coverage , and package tours In addition to dealing with ordinary vacationers most travel agencies have a separate department devoted to producing travel arrangements for business travelers and some travel agencies specialize in commercial and enterprise … Read More


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Regular price
Big, bold, beaded Beetles - what more could a girl want! Chunky recycled glass beads in sophisticated black and gray tones, and one of our sterling silver big Beetles! These statement necklaces don't have to be saved for special ocassions, use them to spruce up your everyday white t-shirt. Fitted with our custom made sterling silver clasp, they are very easy to wear.
Approximately 42cm Long
*Please note that some items are made to order and may take up to 20 working days to be manufactured*


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Phones: (57) (5) 667 2055 / (57) (5) 667 2056 Cell Phone: (57) 315 731 1484
"SPECIALIZED DIVING AND TECHNICAL SERVICES" Sebute SA, is a company that provides specialized offshore marine and underwater engineering services, maritime and fluvial rescue, inspections, repairs, maintenance and repairs, hydroelectric plants, water collection systems in thermoelectric plants, pipelines marine and subfluvial crosses, removal of marine organisms to the live works of boats, docks, oil terminals (single buoys SPM), gas platforms, oceanography and hydrography and dredging. Supply of boats, tugboats, floating cranes, barges, as well as specialized personnel, photography and video filming systems (CCTV) underwater, equipment for autonomous and semi-autonomous diving with air and gas mixtures, equipment for non-destructive testing (NDT), corrosion studies and other services such as, distribution and sale of equipment for use in extreme conditions, biological and chemical, as well as operations illicit tactics, personal protection, commercial diving, scientific, salvage elements, equipment operated by remote control (ROV) and sports.
Additionally Sebute S.A., supplies and gives local logistic support and international companies that carry out offshore activities, such as geochemical exploration in the seabed, geotechnical extraction, environmental assessments, meteorological and oceanographic studies, laying of submarine fiber optic cables and search projects and salvage.
(57) 315 731 1484


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Got a 3DS? If so, make sure that you get on the case with downloading the latest system update as soon as possible. It gives you access to the new Nintendo eShop, which allows you to download 3D games, classic 2D remakes that have been brought into 3D, as well as some classic Game Boy and Game Boy Colour titles. You'll also now be able to use the 3DS as a web browser.
To find out how to update your 3DS, click here.
Watch the Nintendo 3DS eShop trailer here:


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With an understanding of the anatomical consequences of these fighting and subduing skills, practitioners become more efficient in the various techniques, and instructors become better teachers. The objective of this study is to investigate the physical mechanism underlying the arm-lock, a effective subduing and grappling technique.
SOURCE: Journal of Asian Martial Arts, Vol. 8 No. 2 (1999): 8 pages.


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Minimum requirements:
- Minimum 1500 Hrs PIC
- Current NZ MEIR with 500 hrs Multi
- 100 Hrs on type or similar performance turbine aircraft
- 200 Hrs IFR operational experience
- 100 Hrs Night
- 100 Hrs Air Transport Operations experience
- 150 Hrs PIC/ICUS X-Country
The experience requirements for Captains are as per the current AA/ASAR standard.
Please note we will not be considering or responding to applicants who do not currently hold the right to live and work in New Zealand or meet the experience criteria.
Previous applicants who meet the criteria and who are interested in the above position are invited to reapply.
If you are interested in this job APPLY HERE
As a sign of your professionalism, apply only when you comply with all the requirements and if you have or can obtain a work permit that allows you to be employed in this country.
You'll also be interested in other Aviation Jobs


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Kyle Brooks (AKA Black Cat Tips), Mixed Media Artist
What is a BlackCatTips? A BlackCatTips is a painter and muralist. A BlackCatTips is a poet and
a thinker— a teller of tales. A BlackCatTips is Kyle Brooks, a streetfolk artist from way
down in the American South.
In addition to his studio and mural work, Brooks creates street poems and whimsical roadside art installations. With his brush, bright colors and a few found materials, he paints the world happy.
Brooks lives in Arabia Mountain USA, Georgia with his wife and old dog. He also likes hot drinks, biscuit houses and growing orchids.


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These are my Curing brines for pork, beef (corned and dried), poultry, and so on.
Regular Curing Brine:
1 gallon of clean water
1 cup plain, regular non-iodized table salt
1 cup sugar or sucrolose
1 cup brown sugar or sucrolose equiv.
1 tablespoon of Cure#1
Lo-Salt Curing Brine:
1 gallon of clean water
½ cup plain, regular non-iodized rable salt
½ cup sugar or sucrolose
½ cup brown sugar or sucrolose equiv.
1 tablespoon of Cure #1
mix in food-safe container, stir until clear.
Add meat. Do not add different species of meats, but you can add pieces of the same species.
Refrigerate 7 to 30 days, depending on thickness of meat.
Up to 2 inches, 7-10 days.
2 - 4 inches, 5 - 17 days, may require injecting to cure from the inside-out as well as from the outside-in.
4 inches and larger. 17 - 30 days, requires injecting.
Injecting - use a Morton's injection 4 oz. manual injection pump with the Broadcast needle.
or equivalent.
Brine can become frothy (ropy). It has both salt and sugar in it. It also is inputting curing ingredients into the meat and oozing out blood and plasma. Just dump the brine and make up fresh and continue curing should that happen. Make sure you keep it at 38° - 40°.
Weigh down meat into curing brine with half-filled ziploc bags of water on top.
No further mixing or stirring required, let it cure until done. Meats will come out of the brine wish a distinct grayish look. This is normal.
Cure #1:
I use this as reference:
Computing equivalency, for 100 gallons of curing brine, you add 24 lbs. of curing salt to 100 gallons of water and mix.
That is .24 lbs, or 3.84 oz. of curing salt to 1 gallon of water maximum.
My recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of curing salt to 1 gallon of water. A level tablespoon is .88 of an ounce. Heaping is approx. 1 ounce. Either is fine. Neither comes close to the maximum amount allowed, but just enough to do the job. Curing at Maximum, plus with injection, requires 48 hours of cure time maximum. This process uses less than one third the curing salt and a longer curing time to tenderize and flavor the meat.
You must cover the product until it floats off the bottom of the container, then weight it down to stay submersed in the brine, leaving no area to be exposed to air. You must keep at 38° to 40° until curing time is over. Remove from brine, put or hang in smokehouse or smoker. I personally go from refrigeration to heat with no wait time myself. There is different thoughts, whether to allow a pellicle to form or not.
A pellicle is mainly, to my knowledge, allowed to form on fish prior to smoking. We were only 30 miles from Salmon River in Pulaski, NY, a very well known salmon run. We had many bring us their salmon to process and usually allowed a pellicle to form But, pork and beef are not tender like fish.
Anything I have left out or any questions, be sure to PM me! Don't hesitate!
Some of the links on this forum allow SMF, at no cost to you, to earn a small commission when you click through and make a purchase. Let me know if you have any questions about this.
Pops6927's Curing Brines - Regular and Lo-Salt
By pops6927, Oct 27, 2014 | | |
To make a comment simply sign up and become a member!


text: Mrs. Joan Klein Didold, Founder and OwnerSenior Hotel Casa KleinCamino Veijo de Velez-MalagaSpainDear Joan:I am writing this letter to share how delighted I am with your international convalescent and retirement home where my father, Dr. Kaj Bering now resides. Your staff are delightful, hard working and very dedicated to the well being of all your residents who range from folks requiring a great deal of care, several wheelchair bound, to others who are more independent. When my Dad first came to Casa Klein I was fortunate enough to be able to stay with him for a couple of days to help him settle in.Casa Klein's property has the most beautiful gardens with enormous palm trees, cactus gardens and roses, many roses and there is a wide path around the gardens that enables a wheelchair resident to view it from all aspects and take in the vistas of the mountains and the Mediterranean Sea in the distance. In the morning you are awakened to a gorgeous sunrise with the various species of birds singing, such a peaceful tranquil location with the fresh air. Since my father arrived here he has blossomed and is so happy that he is being cared for and raves about the layer cake. He is getting stronger every day and is determined to spend less time in a wheelchair and I am confident he will succeed with the exercises he is enjoying and the friendly and encouraging staff members. The Spanish chef, Tony one night came out to the veranda with 4 plates of dinner on his arms singing and serving the residents. One could not help but have a huge smile. I was able to travel back to my home in Canada and feel confident that my father is in the best place possible and that he will enjoy many wonderful layer cakes with his coffee. My father has his sense of humour back, and his dimple in his cheek has appeared once again. What could be better. Thank you.Sincerely,


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WASHINGTON — When he met President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia in April, President Obama sought to open an important new supply corridor for Afghanistan by flying American troops and weapons through Russian airspace. Visiting Moscow in July, he sealed a deal for as many as 4,500 flights a year, in what he called a "substantial contribution" to the war and a sign of improving relations with Russia.
Seven months after the idea was raised and four months after the agreement was signed, the number of American flights that have actually traversed Russian airspace?
One. And that was for show.
The failure so far to translate words into reality amid bureaucratic delays, including one involving a Russian agency insisting on charging air navigation fees that the Kremlin had said would be waived, underscores the challenges of Mr. Obama's effort to transform ties between Washington and Moscow. For all of the lofty sentiments expressed at high-profile summit meetings, actual change has never been easy to deliver.
The need to break through the logjam will soon take on fresh urgency if Mr. Obama decides to deploy tens of thousands of additional troops to Afghanistan. For eight years, the American military has struggled to find and maintain reliable supply routes into Afghanistan, but Mr. Obama may send more troops in a single order than at any point in the war, straining the system.
Because of the difficulties in getting supplies to Afghanistan through Pakistan, the new Russian air corridor "would be fairly important," said Ronald E. Neumann, a former ambassador to Afghanistan and now president of the American Academy of Diplomacy. "This doesn't answer the question of how much we'll be able to rely on the Russian connection, and that will be a big part of how much of a difference it can make."Continue reading the main story
Anthony H. Cordesman, a military expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington who has advised Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the commander in Afghanistan, said the United States "needs as many options as it can get" to send troops and equipment.
"There is no way to predict how reliable any given route will be during a war that seems nearly certain to last for three to four more years," he said. "There is no way to guarantee Pakistani stability, and almost any major base could be the subject of a large-scale Taliban bombing. The U.S. can live without a Russian option, but it would be much better off with one."
The uncertainty comes at a tenuous moment in Russian-American relations, as Mr. Obama seeks more support from the Kremlin in pressing Iran to scale back its nuclear program, and as the United States and Russia race to agree on a new nuclear arms treaty before the current one expires Dec. 5.
The problems with opening the air corridor as part of a so-called northern distribution network stem from a variety of technical issues that American officials are working to resolve, among them a dispute over who will pay. Under the pact that Mr. Obama and Mr. Medvedev sealed in July, the Russians agreed to waive air navigation fees typically charged for right of passage and air traffic control.
American officials said the new route would save $133 million a year in fuel, maintenance and other costs. But the Russian agency that collects the navigation fees has so far refused to exempt the Americans.
The Obama administration is sending a technical team to Moscow to try to work out what standards should apply to the flights, and spokesmen for the two governments played down the problem.
"We are working through procedural delays on the Russian side and hope to begin regular flights soon," said Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon press secretary.
Aleksei Pavlov, a spokesman for Mr. Medvedev, said the Kremlin had every intention of fulfilling the agreement. "We are eager to resolve this issue in the nearest future," he said.
But such seemingly minor complications have bollixed Russian-American agreements before. President Bill Clinton and President Boris Yeltsin agreed in 1998 to open a joint early warning center in Moscow, where Russian and American personnel would work side by side to detect missile launches and avoid misunderstandings that could lead to accidental war.
Their successors renewed the agreement, but the center has been delayed for 11 years amid disputes over issues like construction liability. Mr. Obama and Mr. Medvedev vowed to try again last summer, but in the latest holdup, the Russians have delayed allowing American inspectors into the country to examine the still unopened facility.
The idea of sending American forces through Russia to a war zone is fraught with a complicated history and mutual suspicion. For years, the idea was out of the question. Then in 2008, Russia agreed to open a land corridor, but only for nonlethal supplies.
The agreement to allow American troops and weapons to fly over the territory of Russia, its onetime cold war enemy, was seen as a symbolic breakthrough as much as a logistical one, and administration officials argued that it was a triumph even if no planes actually ever used the route. Still, just as some people in Moscow appear apprehensive about American forces in their airspace, some American officials are wary of putting too much faith in the Russians, who could easily close down the corridor if political tension rises again.
The latest transit agreement formally went into effect Sept. 4. A week later, the Pentagon sent Moscow a general description of cargo and personnel that would be shipped under the agreement, as well as the regular destinations of the planes, according to an administration official. The Russians accepted the request, and the two sides arranged for a single test flight on Oct. 8, just before Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton visited Moscow.
But the dispute over the air transit fees has yet to be solved, complicated by whether the planes used will be American military craft or contracted civilian planes. Moreover, the American side is still working to amend its overflight agreements with Poland and Kazakhstan so the flights can traverse those countries as well.
Administration officials said that they remained confident these issues could be worked out, and that they had requested a second test flight to try to advance the program. They said that they did not expect Mr. Obama and Mr. Medvedev to talk about the issue when the presidents meet in Singapore on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit meeting, but that they hoped to resolve it at lower levels.Continue reading the main story


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Consider the following statistics about health care coverage in Colorado:
Total Colorado Residents5,509,200
Total Colorado uninsured residents 10%
Total Colorado HMO enrollment 847,855
Avg annual employee premium in CO employer-sponsored plan (after employer contribution): $1,385
Avg CO hospital cost per inpatient day (before insurance) $2,721
Source data according to the Kaiser Family Foundation:
Health Insurance Coverage of the Total Population, states (2007-2008), U.S. (2008); Total HMO Enrollment, July 2008; Average Single Premium per Enrolled Employee; For Employer-Based Health Insurance, 2008; Hospital Adjusted Expenses per Inpatient Day, 2007
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