text:
Oregon Desert Photography
Warner Lakes Wetlands, Oregon #60942 Purchase
Oregon Natural Desert Association is a grassroots organization that promotes awareness and protection of unique environments of the Oregon Desert. Several years ago I was approached by Jim Davis, one of the founders of ONDA, to contribute photos for their yearly promotional calendar. Until then I wasn't even aware of ONDA, but I quickly jumped at the chance to have my photography help with their conservation efforts. Being a lifelong landscape and nature photographer I always look for opportunities to give something back to the environment, and also help others appreciate the natural world we live in.
So when ONDA asked if I was interested in sharing some desert photography tips for their blog I didn't hesitate to join in. The post has numerous tips from a variety of photographers that have contribute to the ONDA calendar. Many tips can apply to all landscape and nature photography subjects, but some are specific to desert environments.
You can check out the article here: How to Take Better Images of Oregon's High Desert
Below are a few more tips I'd like to share.
Oregon Desert Photography Tip: Lighting
Full moon over Warner Lakes Wetlands, Oregon #60939 Purchase
The two photos above illustrate two important tips for all landscape photography. The first being, make sure to scout out locations with potential for good compositions in advance. That way you'll know just where to go when the light gets good later on. Here at Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge I wanted to find a good spot to make some photographs of Warner Lakes. While spending the afternoon hiking the slopes of hart Mountain, I looked an elevated view along with a foreground that included some features native to the area. Here I included ubiquitous sagebrush and basalt boulders.
Secondly, photograph in the best light. There are many types of lighting conditions to work with and not all are suitable for every subject. I already photographed both of the above images the previous evening. However clouds had diminished the quality of light. The next morning I awoke early, ready to work in the soft saturated light present during the Blue Hour. Many photographers pack it in as soon as the sun goes down, but it's worthwhile to keep working. The hour following sunset can offer a soft colorful glow with low contrast. Not all Blue Hour light is equal though. Wispy high clouds directly above can reflect warm light down on your subject. However, those same clouds can cancel out any color if they are situated on and below the horizon where the sun set or rises.
Oregon Desert Photography Tip: Be Patient
Sunset over Owyhee Canton, Oregon #56352 Purchase
The photos above and below illustrate another important tip, be patient. Watch the weather, and wait it out until the light is gone. In both photos I experienced good light at the last minute. The weather had been dismal and grey for the entire day, and it didn't look good for evening light. Both locations were very remote, especially Owyhee Canyon. Meaning there was no cell signal, so I couldn't check weather forecasts. With nowhere else to go it just made sense to wait and see what happened, in these instances I was lucky.
When photographing the immensely popular Painted Hills, I was the only photographer that stayed. Everyone else gave up on the light and left. I also had my doubts until a tiny clearing in the clouds opened up on the horizon. Fortunately this clearing was were the sun would be setting. When the sun poked through this clearing I had less five minutes of good light to work with, but it was enough.
Painted Hills, Oregon #44747 Purchase
Oregon Desert Photography Tip: Midday Light Creativity
Another tip, and one that many photographers scoff at, is don't neglect midday light. While not as common, making good photos during the middle part of the day is possible. Interesting cloud formations or approaching storms can add an often overlooked dimension to a landscape. Also, this is a good time to get a bit creative. Experiment with minimalism, low saturation or black and white. The image below of Alvord Lake may not have the dramatic qualities to make it on the cover of Landscape or Outdoor photographer, or garner thousands of likes on Instagram or 500PX. However, it does illustrate the barren aspect of the Alvord Desert.
Painted Hills Oregon #44704 Purchase
Clouds over Alvord Lake, Oregon #60973 Purchase
Oregon Desert Photography Tip: Enjoy Your Surroundings!
If you're photographing in the Oregon Desert, and especially the southeast corner, check out the many hot springs. After a job well done there's nothing like a soak in a natural hot spring. Just sit back and enjoy the view!
Willow Creek Hot Spring, Oregon #61026
Oregon Desert Photography


text:
How to Prepare Today for a More Fulfilling Tomorrow Envisioning Your Retirement
Retirement has often been viewed as an end to a working career, but today's retirees and pre-retirees are more likely to see it as a new beginning — an opportunity for new adventures and to pursue their dreams. Whether retirement is many years away or right around the corner, it might help to envision your expectations for the future. Here are five key questions to consider: • When do you want to retire? • Do you want to stop working completely, or would you prefer to work part-time or in a different career? • Where do you want to live? • What activities do you look forward to enjoying? • What level of medical expenses do you expect? 65% Travel
What Kind of Lifestyle Do You Hope to Enjoy? With the freedom of retirement, the possibilities could be almost limitless. But keep in mind that some retirement activities cost more than others, and develop your savings strategy appropriately. 52% Spend more time with friends & family Volunteer 25% Pursue hobbies 45% Paid work 24% Hopes and Aspirations Percentage of workers who expressed the following hopes and aspirations for retirement (multiple responses allowed) Source: Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies, 2023
Before age 60 60–64 65 66–69 70 or older (or never retire) 32% 14% 22% 38% 28% 12% 13% 13% 23% Source: Employee Benefit Research Institute, 2024 Workers' expected retirement ages Retirees' actual retirement ages The age when you retire is a fundamental starting point for determining your retirement needs. If you are planning to retire in the next 10 years or so, you may already have a target date in mind. If retirement is further down the road, it might be difficult to identify a specific timeline — but it's never too early to consider the challenges and opportunities that come with different retirement ages. When Will You Retire? 6% Current workers typically anticipate retiring at a later age than what is actually reported by retirees (see chart). People are living longer and staying healthy and active later in life. And many people may need to work longer to build assets after a late start or to make up for investment losses. It's also important to consider the possibility that your career could be cut short at any time. Almost half of retirees say they left the workforce earlier than planned, with many citing health problems or company changes.
Early, Late, or Somewhere In-Between Retiring early could be a rewarding experience, but it typically requires a more aggressive saving and investment strategy in order to accrue sufficient assets in a shorter period of time. Don't forget that the earlier you retire, the longer your retirement savings may need to last. Retiring later could give you a longer period of time to build your assets. But even if you are able and willing to work longer, you might be in a stronger position if you use an earlier target date for planning purposes.
Timing of Retirement and Social Security Social Security benefits could be a key component of your retirement strategy. You may want to consider how your claiming age could affect the size of your benefit. Age 62 — You will receive a benefit that is permanently reduced by 25% to 30% (depending on birth year), and your benefit may be further reduced if you continue to work. Full retirement age (66 to 67, depending on birth year) —You will receive your full benefit (Primary Insurance Amount), and any earnings from working will not affect your benefits. Age 70 — For each year you delay filing after reaching full retirement age, your benefit will increase by 8%. At age 70, you would receive your maximum benefit. Note: If you're married, your claiming age could affect your spouse's Social Security survivor benefits.
Average monthly Social Security benefit (2024) $3,033 Married couple, both receiving benefits Widow(er) receiving survivor benefits $1,773 $1,907 Retired worker Social Security Expectations It is generally wise not to place too much emphasis on Social Security in your retirement planning. The income you might receive is intended to supplement retirement savings, not to replace it. And Social Security faces serious fiscal challenges. The most recent trustees' report (released in March 2023) indicates that Social Security should be able to pay current benefits until 2033. After that, the program might be able to pay about 77% of scheduled benefits, unless Congress takes action. To estimate your monthly Social Security benefit, go to socialsecurity.gov/estimator/. Source: Social Security Administration, 2024
Will You Continue to Work? Retirement has traditionally meant leaving the workforce altogether, but 75% of workers expect to continue working for pay after retiring. However, there is a large disparity between workers' expectations and the actual experiences of retirees. Source: Employee Benefit Research Institute, 2024 75% 30% 73% 79% 74% 70% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% 2016 2018 2020 2022 2024 27% 34% 27% 27% Percentage of workers who expect to work for pay in retirement Percentage of retirees who actually worked for pay in retirement
It might be wise to look at the potential for working in retirement as a bonus rather than a necessity. Here are a few ideas to consider. Part-time work could be pleasant after a long career of working full-time. Consulting could be an option if you have skills or knowledge that you can utilize on a freelance basis. A second career could be exciting if you have the opportunity. Starting your own business is a popular retirement dream. (Be careful about investing capital that you may need to live on in retirement.) Nearly nine out of 10 retirees who work during retirement say one reason they do so is to remain active and involved. Source: Employee Benefit Research Institute, 2024
Where Will You Live? Source: Council for Community and Economic Research, 2023 (data through Q3 2023) Owning a home can be a smart financial decision for many reasons, and you may have a valuable asset when you retire. But don't place too much emphasis on your home value in your retirement planning. Housing prices are unpredictable, so selling your home should be an option, not a requirement, when you retire. Here are some ideas to consider. Cost of Living Your money might go further in some cities and states than in others, so do your homework before relocating. Take into account not only the cost of housing, food, and utilities but also taxes. States have different rules for taxing pension and Social Security income. Property taxes and sales taxes may vary by state and by county. Cost-of-living index for selected U.S. cities (U.S. average = 100.0) 239.6 179.2 145.3 Manhattan Honolulu Washington New York Hawaii District of Columbia
Aging in Place Like many seniors, you may want to remain in your own home for as long as possible during retirement. Moreover, if your mortgage is paid off, staying in your home might be a wise financial move. You might use the money you once spent on your mortgage to travel, remodel to better meet your changing needs, and/or hire help to perform necessary maintenance tasks, such as landscaping. Downsizing Selling your home to buy a smaller, less expensive one could make life simpler and enable you to add some of your home equity to your retirement assets. Of course, this assumes that market conditions are conducive. If you do downsize, there are many options for where you might live: a small house or condo closer to your children and grandchildren; a vacationstyle home on the beach, in the mountains, or on a golf course; a home in a college town with cultural activities; a home in a retirement community; or even a home in a foreign country. 141.7 119.3 108.8 101.7 95.2 91.8 99.6 San Diego Portland Denver Phoenix Nashville Tampa San Antonio California Oregon Colorado Arizona Tennessee Florida Texas
Medicare offers valuable benefits, but retirees still have some out-of-pocket costs, including premiums, deductibles, copays, and prescription drug expenses not covered by Medicare. Then there are costs for uncovered services such as vision and hearing exams, eyeglasses, hearing aids, and dental care. It's estimated that a 65-year-old couple who retired in 2023 might need $351,000 to cover their out-of-pocket medical expenses in retirement. Health Expenses in Retirement Man Woman Married couple These are the estimated savings amounts needed for 65-year-olds to have a 90% chance of covering their Medicare (Parts B and D), Medigap (Plan G), and median out-of-pocket prescription drug costs in retirement. Source: Employee Benefit Research Institute, 2024 How much might you need to save for medical care? $351,000 $217,000 $184,000
With increasing life expectancies, there is a good chance that you will spend 20 or more years in retirement. Your retirement savings strategy should include the possibility of a long life. Will Your Assets Last Throughout Your Lifetime? Source: Society of Actuaries, 2024 Probability that a healthy 65-year-old will live to the following ages Age 85 Age 90 Age 95 55% 66% 85% 64% 35% 23% 45% 34% Man Woman One member of a couple 15%
There is no great mystery to saving for retirement. If possible, start as early as you can and save as much as possible throughout your working career. Of course, life is often unpredictable, and your earnings must cover competing needs and wants. But keeping the basic principle in mind — save as much as you can as early as you can — may help you stay on track. For some people, procrastination could be the greatest enemy toward building retirement savings. Establishing a Savings Strategy $500,000 $400,000 $300,000 $200,000 $100,000 $0 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 Age Amy $451,745 Tina $278,393 Assumptions: 6% annual salary contribution 3% annual salary increase 6% average annual return Advantage of an Early Start Amy begins saving at age 25 and earns a $30,000 salary. Tina begins at age 40 with a $60,000 salary. At age 65, Amy's savings total would be more than 60% higher than Tina's total because Amy started saving 15 years earlier.
These hypothetical examples of mathematical compounding are used for illustrative purposes only and do not represent the performance of any specific investment. They assume a monthly deferral of salary and monthly compounding of earnings. Fees, expenses, and taxes were not considered and would reduce the performance shown if they were included. Actual results will vary. What Percentage of Salary Should You Contribute? Financial professionals often suggest that you save at least 15% of your salary throughout your career. For those who start late, higher contribution rates may be necessary. Remember that if you are behind schedule, any savings increase is better than none. Many employer-sponsored plans offer an option to have your contribution rate increased automatically each year, typically by 1%, which could make a big difference over time. The Power of 1% Mark and Jason are hired at the same time with a $50,000 starting salary, and they both start contributing 6% to their retirement plans right away. Mark maintains the same 6% contribution level throughout his career, whereas Jason increases his contributions by 1% annually until he is contributing 15% of his income each year. After 30 years, Jason would have accumulated more than twice as much as Mark. $351,760 $757,502 Mark Jason Assumptions: 3% annual salary increase 6% average annual return 30-year time frame
How Much Do You Need to Save? A common guideline is that you may need to replace 70% to 80% of your pre-retirement income. This typically assumes that you will have paid off your mortgage, will be in a lower tax bracket, will no longer be saving a percentage of your income for retirement, and will not have work-related expenses such as commuting and business clothing. Of course, the amount you need to save will depend on many other factors, such as: • Years in retirement • Income sources • Lifestyle desired • Medical expenses
Retirement-Needs Analysis Only 52% of workers have tried to calculate how much they would need in order to live comfortably in retirement. It's probably not surprising that those who have calculated their needs typically have higher savings goals than those who "guess." Moreover, workers who have done a retirement-needs calculation tend to be more confident in their ability to achieve their goals. Source: Employee Benefit Research Institute, 2024 Your financial professional can help you develop a comprehensive and systematic retirement-needs analysis. Here's a simplified example to help you get started. Try it with your own numbers. *Assumes a 3% after-tax rate of return; the 20-year factor is rounded. This hypothetical example is used for illustrative purposes only. Rates of return will vary over time, particularly for long-term investments. Investments seeking to achieve higher rates of return involve a higher degree of risk. Actual results will vary. There is no assurance that working with a financial professional will improve investment results, but a professional who focuses on your overall objectives can help you consider strategies that could have a substantial effect on your long-term financial situation. Example 1. Annual retirement income desired $70,000 2. Subtract expected retirement income from other sources such as Social Security or a pension – $25,000 3. Income you need to generate from savings and investments $45,000 4. Savings needed to provide desired income for 20 years (line 3 x 15)* $675,000 5. Savings needed to provide desired income indefinitely (line 3 ÷ 0.03)* $1,500,000
About 72% of U.S. households have tax-advantaged retirement savings accounts. These accounts generally fall into two categories: IRAs and employer-sponsored plans such as a 401(k) and a 403(b). Tax-Advantaged Retirement Accounts Percentage of U.S. households with tax-advantaged retirement savings plans IRA and employersponsored plan 37% IRA only 5% No IRA or employersponsored plan 28% Employersponsored plan only 30% Source: Investment Company Institute, 2023 (2022 data; most current available)
The Power of Tax Deferral Contributing to a tax-deferred account has two key advantages that may help you accumulate more for retirement. $90,191 $1,148,334 $794,752 $586,612 $451,089 $272,949 $231,062 $97,801 Assumptions: $7,000 annual investment 6% rate of return Taxable (24% rate) Tax deferred 10 years 20 years 30 years 40 years This hypothetical example is used for comparison purposes only and does not represent any specific investments. Investment fees and expenses are not considered and would reduce the results shown if they were included. Lower maximum tax rates for capital gains and dividends, as well as the tax treatment of investment losses, could make the taxable investment return more favorable, reducing the difference in performance between the accounts shown. Rates of return will vary over time, especially for long-term investments. Actual results will vary. 1. When you contribute to a tax-deferred account, you might be able to contribute more without reducing your cash flow because of the current-year tax savings. 2. Your pre-tax contributions and earnings have the opportunity to accumulate tax deferred, potentially increasing long-term savings growth. Even though you will be liable for income taxes when you make withdrawals from a tax-deferred account, you might be in a lower tax bracket when you retire. You should consider your investment time horizon, risk tolerance, and income tax brackets, both current and anticipated, when making investment decisions. Typically, a 10% federal income tax penalty may apply to distributions from a tax-deferred account prior to age 59½.
Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) IRAs typically have more investment options than employer-sponsored plans. However, IRAs have lower federal contribution limits: $7,000 combined annual limit, or $8,000 for those age 50 and older in 2024. If you file a joint return, you and your spouse can each make an IRA contribution even if one spouse has no earned income, as long as joint earned income exceeds the combined annual contribution. You have until the April tax filing deadline to make IRA contributions for the previous tax year. There are two basic types of IRAs: traditional and Roth. If you want a current-year tax deduction and expect to be in a lower tax bracket in retirement, a traditional IRA might be an appropriate choice. If you prefer a tax-free source of retirement income, you might contribute after-tax dollars to a Roth IRA. Roth IRA Conversions Assets in a traditional IRA (or in a former employer's retirement plan) can be converted to a Roth IRA to benefit from tax-free distributions in retirement. The amount converted is taxable as ordinary income in the conversion year, which might move you into a higher tax bracket. Although the tax liability could be significant, under current law (and if all conditions are met), the Roth account will incur no further income tax liability for the rest of your lifetime or the lifetimes of your account beneficiaries, regardless of how much growth the account experiences.
More than 3 in 10 American households own at least one traditional IRA. About 1 out of 4 own at least one Roth IRA. Many households own both. Source: Investment Company Institute, 2023 (2022 data; most current available) Withdrawals from either type of IRA prior to age 59½ may be subject to a 10% income tax penalty, with certain exceptions. No age restrictions, but you must have earned income (from wages) to contribute to a traditional IRA. No age restrictions, but you must have earned income (from wages) to contribute to a Roth IRA. No income eligibility phaseouts except those discussed below regarding deductibility of contributions. Income eligibility phaseouts to contribute to a Roth: $146,000–$161,000 for single filers in 2024 $230,000–$240,000 for joint filers in 2024 Contributions are generally tax deductible. But if you are an active participant in an employer-sponsored retirement plan, the deduction is phased out at higher income levels: $77,000–$87,000 for single filers and $123,000–$143,000 for married joint filers in 2024. Contributions to a Roth IRA are not tax deductible. Because they are made with after-tax dollars, your contributions can be withdrawn tax-free and penalty-free at any time, for any reason. Distributions are taxed as ordinary income. Qualified distributions of earnings after age 59½ and meeting the five-year holding requirement are tax-free. You must begin taking required minimum distributions starting in the year you turn age 73 (75 for those who reach age 73 after December 31, 2032). If you are the original Roth IRA owner, you are not subject to required minimum distributions. Traditional IRA Roth IRA
In 2023, 63% of American workers had access to a defined contribution plan such as a 401(k), 403(b), or 457(b) plan. Source: U.S. Department of Labor, 2024 Employer-Sponsored Retirement Plans Employer-sponsored retirement plans such as Section 401(k), 403(b), and 457 plans offer higher contribution limits than IRAs. In 2024, you can contribute up to $23,000, plus an additional $7,500 if you are age 50 or older. You generally contribute a percentage of your salary using pre-tax funds (or after-tax funds to a Roth account), and you don't have to pay current taxes on contributions or any earnings until you take withdrawals in retirement. Employers may offer to match a percentage of your employer-plan contributions with additional funds. Distributions from tax-deferred employer-sponsored retirement plans are taxed as ordinary income. (Roth employer plan distributions are tax-free.) Withdrawals taken prior to reaching age 59½ may be subject to a 10% federal income tax penalty. Generally, required minimum distributions (RMDs) from employer-sponsored plans must begin for the year in which you reach age 73 (75 for those who reach age 73 after December 31, 2032).
Rollovers If you leave your employer, you can generally keep your vested assets in your former employer's plan as long as your account meets minimum balance requirements (typically $7,000). You may also have an opportunity to move the assets to a new employer's plan, roll them over to a traditional IRA, convert them to a Roth IRA, or withdraw them.* If you choose a traditional IRA rollover, be sure it is executed correctly to preserve the tax-deferred status of the funds. To avoid current taxes, penalties, and withholding, you can generally arrange a direct rollover (also called a trustee-to-trustee transfer) by contacting the administrators of your old employer-sponsored plan and your IRA. You are limited to one indirect IRA-to-IRA rollover in a 12-month period, regardless of how many IRAs you have. The once-per-year rule does not apply to rollovers/transfers from an employer-sponsored plan to an IRA, Roth IRA conversions, or trustee-to-trustee transfers between traditional IRAs. *Distributions taken prior to age 59½ may be subject to a 10% federal income tax penalty, with certain IRS exceptions.
Investing your retirement savings offers the potential for growth, but it also involves risk. Your risk tolerance may depend on your personal preference, your overall financial situation, and the time frame you have before retirement. Building Assets Through Investment A typical approach is to invest more aggressively earlier in your career and gradually shift to more conservative investments as you approach retirement.
This hypothetical example is used for illustrative purposes only. The returns shown do not include taxes, fees, and other expenses typically associated with investing. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Actual results will vary. Source: London Stock Exchange Group, 2024, for the period 1/1/2004 to 12/31/2023. Stocks are represented by the S&P 500 composite index total return; bonds by the Citigroup Corporate Bond Composite Index; and cash alternatives by the Citigroup One-Month Treasury Bill Index. The performance of an unmanaged index is not indicative of the performance of any specific security. Individuals cannot invest directly in an index. T-bills are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government as to the timely payment of principal and interest. The return and principal value of an investment in stocks and bonds fluctuate with changes in market conditions, and, when sold, these securities may be worth more or less than the original investment amounts. Keep Expectations in Check Because your financial strategy depends on the performance of your investments, it's important to be realistic about the return your portfolio may yield from one year to the next. Inflated expectations may cause you to fall short of your goals. As you can see from the 20-year performance below, the aggressive portfolio experienced a 29.65% loss in its worst-performing year, compared with a 15.76% loss for the conservative portfolio. Younger investors who experience losses during their accumulation years may have a better opportunity to recover. However, losses experienced as you approach retirement could have a significant impact on the longevity of a retirement portfolio. Sample Portfolio Performance, 2004 to 2023 Best year 20.22% Worst year –15.76% Avg. annual 6.19% Best year 28.33% Worst year –29.65% Avg. annual 8.70% Stocks Bonds Cash Aggressive Moderate Conservative Conservative portfolio 50% 30% 20% Older investor Younger investor Aggressive Moderate Conservative 20% 75% Aggressive portfolio 5%
Overcoming Retirement Challenges Like many of life's journeys, the road to retirement is seldom smooth. No matter how carefully you prepare, it's likely that you will encounter obstacles that may derail your retirement savings plans. Here are four potential setbacks with suggestions on how to get back on track. Saving too little or too late If you are behind schedule, remember that any savings increase is better than none. You may need to adjust your lifestyle and spending in order to save more for retirement. Handling market volatility Though a declining market can be scary, markets tend to be cyclical, and the wisest approach may be to keep making regular savings contributions regardless of market conditions. Remember that all investments are subject to market fluctuation and the potential for loss. Experiencing a traumatic event A job loss, unexpected medical expense, death of a loved one, or divorce might make it difficult to save for retirement. Having an emergency savings account could put you in a stronger position. Try to avoid tapping your retirement savings before retiring, especially tax-deferred IRAs and 401(k)s. Balancing college and retirement A variety of college funding options are available, but there is no "scholarship" for retirement. The key is to balance your children's needs with your own retirement goals and find an appropriate strategy.
Common Obstacles When Saving for Retirement Failure to save early enough Health problems Divorce Job loss Paying for college
Preparing for retirement requires commitment, perseverance, and a plan. Taking the appropriate steps today could help make your retirement vision a reality. Prepared by Broadridge Advisor Solutions. © 2024 Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTEyOTYzNw==

subset: commoncrawl


text:
After years of working onerous at your job every day, you have simply been laid off. Psychological Remedies: Psychological treatments or speak therapy" works by helping your brain better control your thoughts and emotions. National Hopeline Community, 1-800-442-4673 : This 24-hour depression hotline is for people who find themselves depressed and serious about suicide. Talk in regards to the risks and advantages of natural or different different treatments along with your health care supplier and make sure they know all the different treatments you're making an attempt.
Individuals who dwell far from the equator are inclined to experience SAD in larger numbers — 9 p.c of Alaskans versus 1 p.c of Floridians, in accordance with the National Institute of Psychological Well being (NIMH). 15 Discuss to your physician about different therapies for depression that don't contain medicine if you're making an attempt to get pregnant. Psychotic depression happens when a person has extreme depression plus some form of psychosis, resembling having disturbing false fastened beliefs (delusions) or hearing or seeing upsetting things that others can't hear or see (hallucinations).
Normally' about 1 out of each 6 adults will have depression at a while of their life. A number of efficient treatments can lead to optimistic and significant adjustments in symptoms and high quality of life. The psychotic symptoms usually have a depressive theme," akin to delusions of guilt, poverty, or sickness. Folks with SAD suffer the signs of a Main Depressive Dysfunction only during a selected time of yr, usually winter.
Someone with MDD will expertise episodes of intense depression (lasting weeks to years), separated by periods of comparatively stable mood. Your doctor may prescribe antidepressants , antianxiety, or antipsychotic medicines. Individuals with moderate to extreme depression would possibly want a kind of medication called an antidepressant along with therapy. You are at the next risk for developing depression when you've got a household historical past of depression or one other temper disorder.
Individuals with bipolar disorder may experience important temper swings. Practice Guideline for the Remedy of Patients With Main Depressive Disorder. Depression is assessed as a mood dysfunction. Situational depression could also be brought on by problems at work, faculty, sickness, the demise of a loved one, transferring, relationship issues or different life-altering situations.


text:
The ALU 320 + PFA is our stable, extendible aluminum probe with PFA assembly system. It has the same features as our ALU 240 PFA probe, but is 320cm long and extendible. The tip is also replaceable.
Thanks to the optimized PFA system, the ALU 320 + PFA is now MORE COMPACT while also offering better handling. The quick-assembly strap makes immediate opening and assembly possible in one motion. In order to determine burial depth and select an optimized shoveling strategy, all our probes have highly legible DEPTH MARKERS and a clear 1 METER MARKER. The bottommost segment in neon orange provides visual notification of the proximity of the buried person during shoveling. The ALU 320 + PFA's new and improved RUBBERIZED GRIP also ensures safe, ice-free handling in all conditions.
That's what it's about. In every detail. We develop high-grade specialized probes for the widest range of needs and user groups. The pursuit of PRECISION and SPEED is our goal. Because these can save lives in an EMERGENCY. We deal with detail-focused solutions that make rescues even more intuitive and, together with an avalanche transceiver and shovel, lead us more quickly to the buried person.
The successor to our oft-copied quick-assembly system is even SLIMMER and MORE COMPACT, while still offering the same proven smooth clamping performance. Thanks to the NEW QUICK-ASSEMBLY STRAP, the probe can be assembled straight out of the cover. It can be collapsed by pressing the system cap with your thumb.
ERGONOMIC GRIP The thin and light rubber coating provides the perfect grip for quickly assembling the probe.
The intuitive visual guide system provides you with quick and clear information about the victim's depth at all times. You can perfectly ADAPT YOUR SHOVELING STRATEGY and save important time thanks to the clear 1m marker, CONTRASTING DEPTH SCALE and COLORFUL END SEGMENTS. The bottommost segment in neon orange indicates when you are approaching the victim.
The quick-assembly strap makes immediate OPENING AND ASSEMBLY possible IN ONE MOTION, without first having to take the probe out of its cover.
The significantly larger diameter of the probe tip compared to the probe elements ensures improved penetration.


text:
The skeletal remains found in a cave on the island of Flores, Indonesia, reported in 2004, do not represent a new species as then claimed, but some of the ancestors of modern human pygmies who live on the island today, according to an international scientific team.
The researchers also demonstrate that the fairly complete skeleton designated LB1 is microcephalic, while other remains excavated from the site share LB1's small stature but show no evidence of microcephaly, since no other brain cases are known. Microcephaly is a condition in which the head and brain are much smaller than average for the person's age and gender. It can be present at birth or develop afterwards and is associated with a complex of other growth and skeletal anomalies.
"Our work documents the real dimensions of human variation here," says Dr. Robert B. Eckhardt, professor of developmental genetics and evolutionary morphology, department of kinesiology, Penn State. He notes that "LB1 looks different if researchers think in terms of European characteristics because it samples a population that is not European, but Australomelanesian, and further because it is a developmentally abnormal individual, being microcephalic."
Teuku Jacob, laboratory of bioanthropology and paleoanthropology, Gadjah Mada University, Indonesia, was granted permission to study the original bones by Radien P. Soejono, National Archaeological Research Center, Jakarta, Indonesia. The analysis by Jacob's full research team, including Eckhardt and others mentioned below, demonstrates that claims of a new species – "Homo floresiensis" -- commonly called hobbits, are incorrect.
Jacob and colleagues found four major areas of evidence where the 2004 evaluation was wrong: geographical factors, craniofacial asymmetry, dental traits, and postcranial abnormalities. They discuss these areas in today's (Aug 21) online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Those proposing a separate species had claimed that early human ancestors, Homo erectus, traveled to the island about 840 thousand years ago and evolved into "Homo floresiensis," based on the discovery of stone tools on the island. This claim assumed that there was no subsequent human migration to the island until after "Homo floresiensis" died out about 15,000 years ago. Jacob and colleagues contend this is false since pygmy elephants (Stegodon) arrived on the island at least two separate times, and during periods of low sea levels Flores was isolated from other islands by only a few kilometers, as shown by K. Hsü, National Institute of Earth Sciences, Beijing. Repeated influxes by later humans were not only possible, but likely.
For LB1'S cranium, face, dentition, skeleton, they find that many of the key features previously said to be diagnostic of a new species still are present in the Rampasasa pygmies on the island today, along with evidence for growth abnormalities.
One error made in the earlier proposal of a new species was that "comparisons of LB1 were made mostly with Homo sapiens from other geographic areas of the world, principally Europe," the researchers note. "Yet it would have been logical even for a supposedly novel human species from the Australomelanesian region to have been compared with other human populations, present as well as past, from that region," they added.
"To establish a new species, paleoanthropologists are required to document a unique complex of normal traits not found in any other species," says Eckhardt. "But this was not done. The normal traits of LB1 were not unique, and its unusually small braincase was not normal."
To study LB1's traits, 94 cranial features and 46 features of its mandible were compared to values for modern humans. All fell within the normal range of variation for Australomelanesians. Two anatomical details, particular grooves in the cranial base singled out as "not seen in modern humans," in the 2004 new species announcement are, according to Alan Thorne, archaeology and natural history, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University, Canberra, commonly found in Australian and Tasmanian crania.
Dental configuration also can be used to designate a new species. The original researchers argued that a CT scan showed the absence of a third molar and that there was some atypical positioning of other teeth. However, Maciej Henneberg, anatomical sciences, University of Adelaide, Australia and Etty Indriati, laboratory of bioanthroplogy and paleoanthropology, Gadjah Mada University, found an existing socket and a tooth fragment in the space where the molar supposedly was missing. The unusually positioned teeth were there, but such teeth also are found in a sample of Rampasasa pygmies who still live on Flores.
LB1 is short in stature and has a small brain, but rather than a sign of a new species, the researchers consider this to represent microcephaly. The ratios of LB1's cranial capacity and stature are similar to ratios found over several generations in some 20th-Century families of microcephalics.
Understanding normal biological development may be the key to showing that LB1 really is pathological. Of 184 syndromes that include microcephaly, 57 also include short stature; some also include facial asymmetry and dental anomalies. Henneberg notes that "while we do not in this paper diagnose the specific syndrome present, many characteristics point to an abnormal developmental disorder."
To visualize the facial asymmetry, David W. Frayer, professor, department of anthropology, University of Kansas, composed split photographs of LB1's face, combining two left or two right sides as composite faces. The dissimilarities from the original face and between the two left or right composites were striking. To quantify these differences the researchers compared left and right side measurements on the original face.
"I was looking for a standard of how much asymmetry was normal and eventually found a review article covering dozens of papers, some published nearly a century ago in England's prestigious Galton Laboratory" says Eckhardt. "While most faces are not perfectly symmetrical, asymmetry of the facial skeleton that exceeds about 1 percent is unusual."
He and Adam J. Kuperavage, graduate student, kinesiology, Penn State, found that six of seven measurements were larger on LB1's right side by as much as 40 percent, while the seventh was 6 percent larger on the left. LB1's craniofacial asymmetry indicates that this individual was not developmentally normal.
Another supposed indication of a new species was the unusual robustness of the leg bones. "CT scans show that the cortex, the outer solid bone, is very thin, not robust at all," says Henneberg. "The bone is thin and straight. The attachment of the muscles suggests muscle paralysis."
Eckhardt found that the low degree of humeral torsion – twisting of the upper arm bone between the shoulder and elbow – also was not a sign of a new species, but of developmental problems. The normal humeral torsion for a human is about 142 degrees, but LB1 has only 110 degrees of torsion. However, humeral torsion is influenced by both genetic and developmental factors, with about two thirds coming from inherited programming and one third from use. With disuse, torsion is usually only about 110 degrees. Both humeral torsion in the arm and the muscle markings on the femur and tibia in the leg indicate an individual with movement disabilities.
While other skeleton parts were found with LB1 in the same cave, no other cranial parts attributed to this population were unearthed and LB1 is the only reasonably complete skeleton.
The researchers conclude that "The LB1 individual exhibits a combination of characteristics that are not primitive but instead regional, not unique but found in other modern human populations, particularly some still living on Flores, and not derived but strikingly disordered developmentally."
"LB1 is not a normal member of a new species, but an abnormal member of our own," says Eckhardt.
Photo available at http://www.psu.edu/ur/2006/nothobbitphotos.htm
The National Research Center of Archaeology, Gadjah Mada University, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, and the College of Health and Human Development at Penn State supplied funding for this project.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences


text:
'You just never know what is going to grab interest'
By Pat Winters Lauro
Kean University
Drake University student Rachel Weeks was midway through spring semester when a blog post she wrote for a magazine writing course about turning a T-shirt into a tank top hit Internet gold – 60,000 hits.
"She posted a picture to Pinterest and it just exploded," said Jill Van Wyke, assistant professor at Drake's School of Journalism and Mass Communication in Des Moines. "It was eye-opening. You just never know what is going to grab interest."
Now that even the Pulitzer Prize has been bestowed on a blog — The Huffington Post for investigative journalism — it begs the question: what makes a good blog?
First, blogging is not journalism; it's a delivery system. Many blogs are promotional in nature or advocacy blogs, an important distinction for students. But within the profession, what makes a good journalistic blog depends on the type of blog it is, which can be as different as the sports page is from the op-ed page in a newspaper. Still, Weeks' post, the blog equivalent of a service feature, possessed common blog elements that resonated with its audience: it was concise, targeted a specific audience and it was interactive.


text:
The popular online pinboard Pinterest has been hit by a series of spam ads. Pinterest user Craig Fifield found that a strange image had been posted on of of his wife's boards. It was something she would never pin on the site, an ad for Wal-Mart. The same thing was noticed by Om Malik on Gigaom:
"Earlier this evening, some kind of spam-exploit injected javascript code that started replacing many Pinterest photos with ads for Best Buy. (see photo.) The actions resulted in disgruntled users blaming Pinterest."
Fake gift cards for well known brands such as Wal-Mart, IKEA, iPad and others are suddenly all over Pinterest.
They all seem to be pointing to the site facebook-goodies.com and some spammer has probably posted several photos and then after they were repinned, the image changed to an ad through some kind of script. The original images seem to have been posted to boards themed "party ideas", "beauty" and "quotes" to name a few.
Some of the spam ads have been repinned more than 6,000 times.
This is of course quite serious for Pinterest, since it is a blow to the very heart of the site. If we can no longer trust that images we repin aren't going to turn into spam ads, dare we use the site at all?
Another form of spam that has been emerging is that the same image is posted multiple times on multiple accounts, but with the exact same text.
Update: one of the accounts that seemed to be the origin of some spam ads have now been deleted: http://pinterest.com/ElisabethCarla/


text:
Welcome to www.girardmedicalcenter.com
.....enjoy your visit
As you can see, the Girard Medical Center web site has changed! We have been working internally for the past few months to redesign the web site, and we will be making additions over the course of the next several weeks and months. The site will continue to evolve and keep you up to date on important information.
One of the reasons we chose the SOCS network was because the site itself is very dynamic; in other words, it has the ability to change... a lot! While the site won't be a daily newspaper, by any means, it is certainly our goal to keep the content fresh and exciting in an effort to entice you to return often.
So, we invite you to take a look now, and then keep checking in with us from time to time; hopefully you'll notice the changes, the new features, etc. Also, we encourage you to sign up for the News Update to get the latest news forwarded directly to you. Click here to find out how to subscribe.
Be sure to visit the calendar component of the web site. Sign up for weekly or monthly reminders for the events and activities you are interested in. Click here for more details, including instructions for clipping events.
Thanks for visiting and come back again, soon!


text:
Embed Instagram Post Code Generator
No posts with label Chris Marker. Show all posts
No posts with label Chris Marker. Show all posts
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
**Mild spoiler warning for both versions of Cinema Paradiso** Was watching the director's cut version of Cinema Paradiso (called th...
If you had of asked me on a given day whether I'd one day end up passionately defending fanfiction, I would have given you a strange l...
Mishima is a writer associated with scale and grand gestures. Apart from his colorful life and the obviously theatrical nature of his publi...


text:
Credits | ||
Using Our Data |
Non-commercial useNon-commercial scientific and technical publications using SDSS data should include the following acknowledgment of our funding sources and participating institutions: Please make use of IAU designations for SDSS sources in you publications. Commercial useData from the SDSS public archive may not be used for any commercial publication or other commercial purpose except with explicit approval by the Astrophysical Research Consortium (ARC). Requests for such use should be directed to the ARC Corporate Office via ARC's Business Manager as follows:Michael L. Evans |


text:
Ubuntu Live Streaming to Twitch.tv!
Good news for Linux users, the popular application for live streaming on Windows "Open Broadcasting Software" commonly known as OBS has been rewritten and now supports Linux. Ubuntu Live Streaming is now a thing with OBS.
First off, you will need a more up to date ffmpeg, found at the very common ppa:jon-severinsson/ffmpeg PPA.
sudo apt-add-repository ppa:jon-severinsson/ffmpeg
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ffmpeg
Then you will need the PPA provided by the OBS developer for almost daily updates:
sudo apt-add-repository ppa:btbn/obs-studio
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install obs-studio
You will now have OBS installed. Newest builds should have an Application Icon added for you, so find it under Audio/Video.
If your new to using this app – a quick run down of the terminology:
- Scene: Configuration of multiple video/image sources to be output. You can have multiple scenes, such as 1 for left monitor, 1 for right monitor, 1 for ONLY a game, 1 for only a webcam, etc. You can switch between these while streaming to change what you are broadcasting.
- Sources: Actual video and imagery sources. You add sources to a Scene such as your entire desktop or a single app, or your webcam, or a static image.
Play around with sources, each one should be obvious as to what it does, and build you a setup. When you add a source, you can resize and move it around the screen.
One issue I am having is that it does not work for my Webcam. Webcam works fine for other apps, so this has to be an issue with OBS, and another user also reports the problem.
To put my webcam into my stream, I opened up the Cheese application, then added a new Source that targets only that window, and crops off window parts and other non camera feed parts. I did have to invert Red/Blue.
Since its targeting a window and not the full desktop, you can safely minimize it and it works fine.
Now to stream to Twitch, you need to simply go to settings, go to the Streaming section, and put in your Stream key and select which server is closest to you.
Oh and one final detail (hopefully it hasn't gotten you yet) The app likes to crash a lot when changing settings, so be sure to close the app after making a few changes to make it save them incase it crashes. I haven't had any mid-stream crash issues though.
Good luck!


text:
Portability | portable to Hugs and GHC. Requires the FFI and some flexible instances |
Stability | unstable |
Maintainer | Lennart Kolmodin <email@example.com> |
Safe Haskell | Trustworthy |
Binary serialisation of Haskell values to and from lazy ByteStrings.
The Binary library provides methods for encoding Haskell values as
streams of bytes directly in memory. The resulting ByteString
then be written to disk, sent over the network, or futher processed
(for example, compressed with gzip).
The Binary
package is notable in that it provides both pure, and
high performance serialisation.
Values are always encoded in network order (big endian) form, and encoded data should be portable across machine endianess, word size, or compiler version. For example, data encoded using the Binary class could be written from GHC, and read back in Hugs.
The Binary class
The Binary
class provides put
and get
, methods to encode and
decode a Haskell value to a lazy ByteString. It mirrors the Read and
Show classes for textual representation of Haskell types, and is
suitable for serialising Haskell values to disk, over the network.
For parsing and generating simple external binary formats (e.g. C structures), Binary may be used, but in general is not suitable for complex protocols. Instead use the Put and Get primitives directly.
Instances of Binary should satisfy the following property:
decode . encode == id
That is, the get
and put
methods should be the inverse of each
other. A range of instances are provided for basic Haskell types.
Encode a value in the Put monad.
Decode a value in the Get monad
To serialise a custom type, an instance of Binary for that type is required. For example, suppose we have a data structure:
data Exp = IntE Int | OpE String Exp Exp deriving Show
We can encode values of this type into bytestrings using the following instance, which proceeds by recursively breaking down the structure to serialise:
instance Binary Exp where put (IntE i) = do put (0 :: Word8) put i put (OpE s e1 e2) = do put (1 :: Word8) put s put e1 put e2 get = do t <- get :: Get Word8 case t of 0 -> do i <- get return (IntE i) 1 -> do s <- get e1 <- get e2 <- get return (OpE s e1 e2)
Note how we write an initial tag byte to indicate each variant of the data type.
We can simplify the writing of get
instances using monadic
get = do tag <- getWord8 case tag of 0 -> liftM IntE get 1 -> liftM3 OpE get get get
The generation of Binary instances has been automated by a script using Scrap Your Boilerplate generics. Use the script here: http://darcs.haskell.org/binary/tools/derive/BinaryDerive.hs.
To derive the instance for a type, load this script into GHCi, and bring your type into scope. Your type can then have its Binary instances derived as follows:
$ ghci -fglasgow-exts BinaryDerive.hs *BinaryDerive> :l Example.hs *Main> deriveM (undefined :: Drinks) instance Binary Main.Drinks where put (Beer a) = putWord8 0 >> put a put Coffee = putWord8 1 put Tea = putWord8 2 put EnergyDrink = putWord8 3 put Water = putWord8 4 put Wine = putWord8 5 put Whisky = putWord8 6 get = do tag_ <- getWord8 case tag_ of 0 -> get >>= \a -> return (Beer a) 1 -> return Coffee 2 -> return Tea 3 -> return EnergyDrink 4 -> return Water 5 -> return Wine 6 -> return Whisky
To serialise this to a bytestring, we use encode
, which packs the
data structure into a binary format, in a lazy bytestring
> let e = OpE "*" (IntE 7) (OpE "/" (IntE 4) (IntE 2)) > let v = encode e
Where v
is a binary encoded data structure. To reconstruct the
original data, we use decode
> decode v :: Exp OpE "*" (IntE 7) (OpE "/" (IntE 4) (IntE 2))
The lazy ByteString that results from encode
can be written to
disk, and read from disk using Data.ByteString.Lazy IO functions,
such as hPutStr or writeFile:
> writeFile "/tmp/exp.txt" (encode e)
And read back with:
> readFile "/tmp/exp.txt" >>= return . decode :: IO Exp OpE "*" (IntE 7) (OpE "/" (IntE 4) (IntE 2))
We can also directly serialise a value to and from a Handle, or a file:
> v <- decodeFile "/tmp/exp.txt" :: IO Exp OpE "*" (IntE 7) (OpE "/" (IntE 4) (IntE 2))
And write a value to disk
> encodeFile "/tmp/a.txt" v
The Get and Put monads
The Get monad is just a State monad carrying around the input ByteString We treat it as a strict state monad.
Useful helpers for writing instances
Binary serialisation
encode :: Binary a => a -> ByteStringSource
Encode a value using binary serialisation to a lazy ByteString.
decode :: Binary a => ByteString -> aSource
Decode a value from a lazy ByteString, reconstructing the original structure.
IO functions for serialisation
encodeFile :: Binary a => FilePath -> a -> IO ()Source
Lazily serialise a value to a file
This is just a convenience function, it's defined simply as:
encodeFile f = B.writeFile f . encode
So for example if you wanted to compress as well, you could use:
B.writeFile f . compress . encode
decodeFile :: Binary a => FilePath -> IO aSource
Lazily reconstruct a value previously written to a file.
This is just a convenience function, it's defined simply as:
decodeFile f = return . decode =<< B.readFile f
So for example if you wanted to decompress as well, you could use:
return . decode . decompress =<< B.readFile f
After contructing the data from the input file, decodeFile
if the file is empty, and in doing so will force the associated file
handle closed, if it is indeed empty. If the file is not empty,
it is up to the decoding instance to consume the rest of the data,
or otherwise finalise the resource.
module Data.Word


text:
bruce lawson
@Alex Morris
nice stuff, for webkit and Opera (which gets the small version that's not specified in the img-set).
But IE and Firefox don't support foo {content:} so they get nothing at all as the CSS doesn't fill in an unresponsive fallback image, and there isn't a src specified on the img element itself. If you do specify a src on the img element, then it's prefetched before the CSS is downloaded, and you can end up downloading two images and only displaying one – exactly the use case for <picture>.


text:
Visit ASI Engineers as they present on Alternative Load Path Analysis (ALPA), which is becoming the most common technique for performance based design of structures to resist disproportionate collapse. This has coincided with an increased ability of high fidelity numerical analysis tools validated by experimental work. This paper presents the results of analysis of reinforced concrete flat plate subsystems tested at the University of Missouri and modeled using the Applied Element Method. The experiment analysis shows the importance of modeling membrane action of slabs when performing alternate load path analysis. The results also show that is important to take into consideration brittle failure modes such as the punching shear failure of slabs and the debonding of deformed steel bars.
Where: Structures Congress 2017, Denver, Colorado
Date: Friday, April 7, 2017
Time: 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM
Track: Blast & Disproportionate Collapse


text:
Most cost-effective Days to Fly and Finest Time to Buy Airline Tickets. Ebook home flights with Webjet and examine low cost airfares to all of Australia's travel hubs. By providing your quantity, you comply with receive a one-time automated text message with a hyperlink to get the app. Uncover a world of vacations with Expedia's packages and journey ideas. It is simple to book a low-value flight wherever on the earth with Travelocity.
WOW air is introducing low cost flights to Iceland and Europe from the United States for as little as $99. On this collection of guides, our freelance Hipmunk journey writers detail one of the best time of year to fly into a city, what are the preferred airlines and airports, how one can get to the airport easily, and even what to do whereas in your trip in among the most popular US cities.
Early-morning or late-night time flights are cheaper as a result of fewer individuals want to journey then (who wants to get up early?!). With providers departing all of Australia's main airport hubs, discover the correct flight and flick through low cost out there flights to America. Please select a different destination from origin. With Expedia's automobile rental offers, you possibly can drive from coast to coast with out breaking the bank.
Expedia has you lined on your subsequent take-off wherever your vacation spot could also be. Please edit or reset your filter options to view accessible fares, or alternatively begin a flight search to view all fares out there to e-book online now. In case you are useless-set on visiting Paris, go to Paris within the spring or fall when fewer folks visit and airfares are cheaper.
Departing from all of Australia's major airports, view out there flights by departure date or airline, and choose the best flight for you and your journey group. We understand Canada higher than large American journey manufacturers and we all know the best way to concentrate on getting the top deals at the lowest costs to the destinations and airways that Canadians love probably the most.


text:
"America's Forever Wars Will Go On Without Me" – A US Army Major Says "Goodbye To All That"
Authored by US Army Major Danny Sjursen (ret.) via TomDispatch.com,
"Patriotism, in the trenches, was too remote a sentiment, and at once rejected as fit only for civilians, or prisoners." — Robert Graves, Goodbye To All That(1929).
I'm one of the lucky ones. Leaving the madness of Army life with a modest pension and all of my limbs intact feels like a genuine escape. Both the Army and I knew it was time for me to go. I'd tired of carrying water for empire and they'd grown weary of dealing with my dissenting articles and footing the bill for my seemingly never-ending PTSD treatments. Now, I'm society's problem, unleashed into a civilian world I've never gazed upon with adult eyes.
I entered West Point in July 2001, a bygone era of (relative) peace, the moment, you might say, before the 9/11 storm broke. I leave an Army that remains remarkably engaged in global war, patrolling an increasingly militarized world.
In a sense, I snuck out of the military at age 35, my early retirement an ignominious end to a once-promising career. Make no mistake, I wanted out. I'd relocated 11 times in 18 years, often enough to war zones, and I simply didn't have another deployment in me. Still, I wouldn't be honest if I didn't admit that I'll mourn the loss of my career, of the identity inherent in soldiering, of the experience of adulation from a grateful (if ill-informed) society.
Perhaps that's only natural, no matter how much such a hokey admission embarrasses me. I recognize, at least, that there's a paradox at work here: the Army and the Global War on Terror (GWOT) made me who I now am, brought a new version of me to life, and gifted me (if that's the right phrase for something so grim) with the stories, the platform, and the pain that now make my writing possible. Those military deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan in particular turned a budding neocon into an unabashed progressive. My experiences there transformed an insecure, aspiring dealer-in-violence into someone who might be as near as a former military man can get to a pacifist. And what the U.S. Army helped me become is someone who, in the end, I don't mind gazing at in the mirror each morning.
Should I thank the Army then? Maybe so, no matter the damage that institution did to my psyche and my conscience over the years. It's hard, though, to thank a war machine that dealt so much death to so many civilians across significant parts of the planet for making me who I am. And no matter how much I told myself I was different, the truth is that I was complicit in so much of that for so long.
In a way, I wonder whether something resembling an apology, rather than a statement of pride in who I've become, is the more appropriate way of saying goodbye to all that. Nonetheless, the story is all mine, the burdensome, the beautiful, the banal, and the horrific. War, violence, and bigotry — as I've written — are America's original sins and, looking back, it seems to me that they may be mine as well. In that context, though I'm now officially retired, I think of this as my last piece authored as an active military dissenter — a clearing of the air — before moving on to a life of activism, as well as an unarmed life of words.
What I Won't Be Missing
It's time to wave goodbye to a litany of absurdity that I witnessed in the institution to which I dedicated my adult life. Some peers, even friends, may call this heresy — a disgruntled former major airing dirty laundry — and maybe in some way it is. Still, what I observed in various combat units, in conversation with senior officers, and as a horrified voyeur of, and actor in, two dirty wars matters. Of that, I remain convinced.
So here's my official goodbye to all that, to a military and a nation engaged in an Orwellian set of forever wars and to the professional foot soldiers who made so much of it all possible, while the remainder of the country worked, tweeted, shopped, and slept (in every sense of the word).
Goodbye to the majors who wanted to be colonels and the colonels who wanted to be generals — at any cost. To the sociopaths who rose in the ranks by trampling on the souls of their overburdened troopers, trading lives for minor bumps in statistics and pats on the shoulder from aggressive superiors.
Goodbye to the generals who led like so many lieutenants, the ones who knew the tactics but couldn't for the life of them think strategically, eternally proving the Peter Principle right with every promotion past their respective levels of incompetence.
So long to the flag officers convinced that what worked at the squad level — physical fitness, esprit de corps, and teamwork — would win victories at the brigade and division level in distant, alien lands.
Farewell to the generals I served under who then shamelessly spun through Washington's revolving door, trading in their multi-starred uniforms for six- and seven-figure corporate gigs on the boards of weapons manufacturers, aka "the merchants of death" (as they were known once upon a distant time), and so helped feed the unquenchable appetite of the military-industrial beast.
Farewell to the senior generals, so stuck in what they called "their lane" that they were unwilling (or intellectually unable) to advise civilian policymakers about missions that could never be accomplished, so trapped in the GWOT box that they couldn't say no to a single suggestion from chickenhawk militarists on the Hill or in the Oval Office.
Goodbye to the devotees of American exceptionalism who filled the Army's ranks, stalwart evangelists of a civic religion that believed there was a secret American inside every Arab or Afghan, ready to burst forth with the slightest poke from Uncle Sam's benevolent bayonet.
Ciao to staff officers who mistook "measures of performance" (doing lots of stuff) for "measures of effectiveness" (doing the rightstuff). I won't miss the gaggles of obtuse majors and colonels who demanded measurable "output" — numbers of patrols completed, numbers of houses searched, counts of PowerPoint slides published — from already overtasked captains and the soldiers they led and who will never learn the difference between doing lots and doing well.
Goodbye to battalion and brigade commanders who already had their hands full unsuccessfully "pacifying" entire districts and provinces in alien lands, yet seemed more concerned with the cleanliness of troopers' uniforms and the two-mile-run times of their units, prioritizing physical fitness over tactical competence, empathy, or ethics.
Godspeed to the often-intolerant conservatism and evangelical Christianity infusing the ranks.
See ya to the generals who lent their voices, while still in uniform, to religious organizations, one of whom even became the superintendent of West Point, and at worst got mere slaps on the wrist for that. (And while we're at it, here's a goodbye wave to all those chaplains, supposedly non-denominational supporters of every kind of soldier, who regularly ended their prayers with "in Jesus's name, amen." So much for church-state separation.)
Farewell to the still-prevalent cis-gender patriarchy and (strangely erotic) homophobia that infuses the ranks of the U.S. military. Sure, "don't ask, don't tell" is a thing of the past, but the Army remains a (straight) boys' club and no easy place for the openly gay, while the president remains intent on banningtransgender enlistees. And even in 2019, one in four women still reports at least one sexual assault during her military tour of duty. How's that for social progress?
So long to the adrenaline junkies and power-obsessed freaks atop so many combat units, folks who lived for the violence, the rush of nighttime raids without a thought for their often counterproductive and bloody consequences. It's a relief to leave them behind as they continue — prisoners of counterinsurgency, or COIN, math — to feed the insurgencies the U.S. fights far faster than they kill "terrorists."
Goodbye to officers, especially generals, who place "duty" above ethics.
Sayonara to those who canonize "martyrs" like former commander James "Mad Dog" Mattis, a hero for resigning as defense secretary rather than implement (gasp!) modest troop withdrawals from our endless wars in Syria and Afghanistan. (As for a Pentagon-backed war in Yemen that starved to death at least 85,000 kids, he was apparently fine with that.)
Toodle-oo to the vacuous, "thanks-for-your-service" compliments from civilians who otherwise ignore soldiers' issues, foreign policy, and our forever wars, who never give a thought to placing the country's disastrous conflicts up there with healthcare on anyone's election-year priorities list.
Parting is such sweet sorrow when it comes to the neo-Confederate backgrounds and cheerleading of far too many troopers and officers, to a military academy that still has a Robert E. Lee Road on which you drive from a Lee Housing Area to a Lee Barracks, part of an Army that has named at least 10 of its stateside bases after Confederate generals.
Farewell to rampant Islamophobia in the ranks and the leaders who do so little to counter it, to the ubiquitous slurs about Arabs and Afghans, including "hajis," "rag-heads," "camel jockies," or simply "sand niggers." What a way to win Muslim "hearts and minds!"
Ta-ta to the paradox of hyper-capitalism and Ayn Randian fiscal conservatism among the officers of the nation's most socialist institution, the military. Count me in as sick of the faux intellectuals reading books by economists Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman in Iraq or their less sophisticated peers toting around Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, or Glenn Beck volumes, all the while enjoying their publicly-financed, co-pay-less government healthcare.
Adieu to a military justice system that boots out soldiers who commit "alcohol-related" offenses or "piss hot" for marijuana while rarely investigating the Army's role as a catalyst for their addictions — and so long as well to a discipline-over-treatment model for dealing with substance abuse that's only now beginning to change.
Goodbye to infighting among the Army, Navy, and Air Force over funds and equipment and to those "Pentagon Wars" that prioritize loyalty to your service branch over fealty to the nation or the Constitution.
See you later, when it comes to the predictable opinions of a legion of semi-retired generals on 24-hour cable news who count on their public stature to sell Americans yet more guns and militarism.
So long to the faux-intellectualism of men like former "surge" general David Petraeus and his sycophantic army of "warrior monks" and COINdinistaswho have never seen a problem to which slightly improved counterinsurgency tactics wasn't the answer and are incapable of questioning the efficacy of force, intervention, and occupation as ways to alter complex societies for the better.
Farewell to the pride and value military leaders place on superficial decorations — patches and badges and medals — rather than true mission-accomplished moments. (Don't hold your breath waiting for even a single senior commander to ever admit that his forces wasted their time, or worse, during their year-long deployment in one of America's distant war zones.)
Cheerio to the prevailing consensus among U.S. officers that our NATO allies are "worthless" or "weak" because they aren't aggressive enough in taking on certain missions or types of patrols, while fighting and sometimes dying for Uncle Sam's global priorities. (This is the nonsense that led to French fries being banned and "freedom fries" served in the congressional cafeteria after France had the gall to oppose Washington's invasion of Iraq in 2003.)
Goodbye to the colonels and generals who speak at the funeral ceremonies of soldiers they hardly know in order to "rededicate" the mourning survivors to the never-ending mission at hand.
Farewell to the soldiers and officers who regularly complained that the Army's Rules of Engagement were too strict — as if more brutality, bombing, and firepower (with less concern for civilians) would have brought victory — as well as to the assumption behind such complaints that Americans have some sort of inherent right to wage wars of choice overseas.
So long to the chauvinism in the senior ranks that asserts some sort of messianic American right and mission to police the globe, dot it with bases, and give its military men license to strut around the villages and alleyways of sovereign states as if they were their own.
America's servicemen have taken to believing in their own myth: that they really do constitute a special caste above all you measly civilians — and now, of course, me, too. In this way, military men actually reflect a toxic society's values. Few ask why there aren't teachers, nurses, and social workers honoredlike U.S. military personnel in America's vaunted sports stadiums. True servants — as we soldiers, in my years of service, were so fond of dubbing ourselves — should stick to humility and recognize that there are other, far nobler ways to spend one's life.
And here, finally, is what I can't say goodbye to: a society that's come to value its warriors above all others.
A Farewell Coda
So what should this now-retired Army major make of it all? The inconvenient truth is perhaps very little. It's unlikely that anything I'll write will change many minds or affect policy in any way. In the decade following World War I, when Major General Smedley Butler, the most decorated Marine of his time, took up the pen to expose the ills of American-style corporate warfare, he (unlike me) made a true splash. As today, however, the American intervention machine just rolled on. So what chance does a former Army major have of moving the needle on U.S. militarism?
I'm active now in what little there is of an antiwar movement in this country. That was part of the genius of President Richard Nixon's cynical decision in 1973, following years of large-scale antiwar activity in this country and in the U.S. military itself during the Vietnam era, to end the draft. He replaced a citizen's army with an all-volunteer force. By turning the military into a professional caste, a kind of homegrown foreign legion, rather than a responsibility of every citizen, by transforming its officers into an isolated, fawned-upon caste, he effectively ensured that the public would look elsewhere and that antiwar movements would largely become things of the past.
Maybe it's hopeless to fight such a beast. Still, as the child of a blue-collar, outer-borough New York City family, I was raised on the romance of lost causes. So I hope to play a small role in my version of a lost cause — as a (lonely) response to the pervasive stereotypes of modern American soldiers, of the officer corps, of West Point. I plan on being there whenever the militarists insist that Army types are all politically conservative, all model patriots, all devout "moral" Christians, all… you name it and I'll be there as an inconvenient counterpoint to a system that demands compliance.
And here's the truth of it: no matter what you may think, I'm not alone. There are a precious few other public voices from the forever wars speaking out and — as various supportive texts and emails to me have made clear — more silent dissenters in the ranks than you might imagine.
So count on this: I'll be hoping that more serving officers as well as troops gather the courage to speak out and tell the American public the score when it comes to our brutal, hopeless, never-ending wars. Sure, it's just a dream for now, but what would those at the top of that war system do if the troops, officers, and commanders they've so consciously placed on a pedestal begin doubting, then questioning, then dissenting? That would be a problem for a war machine that, even in the age of AI and drones, still needs its obedient foot soldiers to hump a ruck and patrol a block.
I was, until recently, one of them, the obsequious grunt at the pointy end of the spear fashioned by a warlike government ruling over an apathetic citizenry. But no longer. I'm only 35 and maybe it won't make a difference, but I must admit that I'm looking forward to my second act. So think of this goodbye to all that as a hello to all that as well.
* * *
Danny Sjursen, a TomDispatch regular, is a retired U.S. Army major and former history instructor at West Point. He served tours with reconnaissance units in Iraq and Afghanistan. He has written a memoir of the Iraq War, Ghost Riders of Baghdad: Soldiers, Civilians, and the Myth of the Surge. He lives in Lawrence, Kansas. Follow him on Twitter at @SkepticalVet and check out his podcast "Fortress on a Hill," co-hosted with fellow vet Chris 'Henri' Henriksen.
Original source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/zerohedge/feed/~3/He1d336vvl0/americas-forever-wars-will-go-without-me-us-army-major-says-goodbye-all


text:
We have been working on an application for the iPhone based on the Firefox Sync (formerly Weave Sync) technology. The app is called Firefox Home, and it gives iPhone users instant access to their Firefox browsing history, bookmarks and the set of tabs from their most recent browser session. What's more, it provides Firefox "Awesome Bar" capability that enables people to get to their favorite web sites with minimal typing.
Firefox Home provides an amazing "get up and go" experience. It's encrypted end-to-end. It's your home on the Web, wherever you are. And, of course, it's free.
Firefox Home for iPhone is part of a broader Mozilla effort to provide a more personal Web experience with more user control. For devices or platforms where we're unable to provide the "full" Firefox browser (either technically or due to policy), we aim to provide users with "on the go" instant access to their personal Firefox history, bookmarks and open tabs on their iPhones, giving them another reason to keep loving Firefox on their desktops.
Why is this useful?
- Left work in a hurry? You can pick up where you left off with access to the list of tabs you just had open on your desktop.
- Need those directions to that restaurant you were just reading about on your desktop? The confirmation code for your flight? Just start typing in the Awesome Bar and those pages will be right at your fingertips.
- Does it drive you crazy to have to enter the full URL on your iPhone that you've visited several times from your desktop? You won't need to anymore with this app.
Check out a preliminary, non-branded sneak peek of Firefox Home in action.
There will be more to come as we polish this off and submit it to the App Store.
If you want more information, or want to help out, the project information is here: https://wiki.mozilla.org/Mobile/firefoxhome
Stay connected with what we're up to:
- Get our mobile newsletter!
- Join us on Facebook
- Follow us on Twitter
Community member Martha Ruszkowski has translated this post to Belorussian.


text:
Opportunity For All
Founded by Al O'Connor, Kjell Spangberg and Leo Joseph
We build schools in places where most people we know have never been...
What are we? We're not a charity and we're not an NGO.
So why do we build these schools in faraway, remote places and how do we do that?
It's simple. What we ARE is group of friends with a passion for travel, the outdoors and education. We like to get off the beaten path, and we've trekked in some of the most remote parts of the globe. We've been amazed at the beauty around the world and aghast at the lack of opportunities available to children in many of the spots we've visited.
We've all been lucky in life and have enjoyed some small amount of success as entrepreneurs. But we know that while some of our success can be attributed to our own efforts and hard work, much of what we have been able to accomplish in our own lives was made possible by the opportunities that have been available to us. Simply put – we were lucky to be born into good families who lived in the right place. Our parents valued education, and we had access to education. We had opportunities that were not available to all.
Much of the world exists in poverty. Things we take for granted simply do not exist in their world. The cycle of poverty can trap families for generations.
As avid trekkers, we have seen it in our many travels around the globe. One of us, raised in third world poverty, grew up with it.
We have decided to help a cause that we think can have a profound impact on breaking the cycle of poverty around the world -- education.
The mission of Opportunity For All is to help break the cycle of poverty through education.
There are many ways to tackle the education problem and there are many good people and organizations around the world that work on making things better every day. On our treks, we've seen the abysmal state of schools in some places and the complete absence of schools in others. We think we can do something about that. So we've decided to build schools.
We're thinking big – we each hope to fund 100 schools over the next 10 years and have challenged our partners to match each school we give through their own fundraising efforts. That's 600 schools. We hope others will get involved and help that number grow. The number of 1,000 schools does not seem out of reach.
We're not going at this alone – our families, spouses and partners support what we are doing 100%. Actually, they offer more than support – they are all heavily involved. That's important. We're a team.
We are focused on what we do best – we figure out how to provide the funding to meet our objectives. We partner with organizations that know how to operate in the places we want to work and have the teams in place to get the schools built. We look for lean organizations that are effectively run and well managed. We believe that people place no value on things that are simply given to them, and so we work only with organizations that require the villages where they build schools to make a major contribution to each school as well. We've partnered with some of the best non-profits in the world and are working with them daily to achieve our goals.
Al, Kjell & Leo


text:
Welcome to the new online home for two company names that have joined forces under one new name. Keystone Film Productions and NET/W Imagery have been working together for years, delivering our clients custom commercial photography and digital printing solutions. These powerful images rendered in ink are the inspiration for our new name. Welcome to IMG_INK.
What We Do
We exist to serve as an extension and realization of your creative process. IMG_INK is a generator of custom imagery. We have decades of experience making unique photographs, fine tuning image files, and printing images for use in a wide range of graphic applications. We provide a full range of expertise and experience that will help you deliver a solution that is unique, meticulously produced, and is exactly what you need. Artists come to us for our quality. People with a notion come to us for our problem solving capabilities.
Architectural, Fine Art Reproduction, Commercial Still Life, Formal Portrait
The photography team at IMG_INK travels extensively to capture the photographs desired by their diverse range of clients. We also work in our two studios on projects large and small, from a fleet of SUV's to fine gemstones. Our studios are spacious and accommodating. We have two large rooms to work in where we can handle all manner of shapes, sizes and quantities. The studios are also available for rent to creatives who need a space to realize their own projects. Our big space is 44 x 26 and our bigger studio 50 x 75 with a 38 ft. cyc wall and drive in access.
We use Hassleblad and Horseman Technical cameras utilizing Phase One Digital Backs for the highest image fidelity available.
Fine Art Printing, Graphic Display Printing, Vehicle Wraps & Graphics, Custom Solutions
If you want to put an image on it, we will help you do it. We put ink on a range of surfaces including, fine art prints, graphic displays, banners, wallpapers, menu boards, and vehicle wraps. We cover sports arenas and buses. Our retouching is second to none, we take source materials and transform them into compelling images that can be subtle and sublime, or amped up to be loud and in your face.
We use a variety of Epson Printers for both indoor and outdoor applications. Materials are available up to 60 inches wide.
Studios are available by the day, $500 for the big room and $1000 for the bigger room. Rental gives you access to our common areas of kitchen for lunch and a small conference room if someone needs to work separately or get in touch with their home base. If you need to stay longer, we can make arrangements for one of our staff to be here so you can continue to work on your schedule.
Who We Are
IMG_INK is a small group of creative heads dedicated to producing the highest quality imagery and custom solutions for our clients. Biff Henrich and Kevin Whipple lead a team of dedicated professionals who can help realize your project in the best possible manner.
Our Clients
We have been working in the industry for more than 25 years. Over the course of that time we have had the privilege of working with many amazing people, and collaborating on some very unique projects. Here are a few:
- Printing portfolios and exhibitions for the George Eastman House in Rochester NY.
- Photographing and digitizing the collection of the Albright Knox Art Gallery.
- Printing wall graphics and suite images for the Buffalo Sabres and their home arena, First Niagara Center.
- Photographing installations across the country for a major window and door manufacturer.
Give a call and we would love to tell you more about our collaborations, and exactly how we can help you.
Contact Us
We're always interested in having a conversation. So give us a call (716 881 4047), come on by (825 Main Street, Buffalo, New York 14203) , or shoot us an email firstname.lastname@example.com. — We'll look forward to it.


text:
I heard Carla Bruni's new album playing in some shop or other last week, instantly recognizable, as it sounded so much like her first album. I almost bought it there and then anyway, cuz she always sounds, well, nice, in a mellow, sexy kind of way, but I didn't. However, when I heard she'd put to music a poem of Michel Houellebecq's, I had to give it a closer listen.
I'm still intrigued by what it is other people, particularly smart, self-assured women, might see of worth in Houellebecq, in hopes that it holds a clue to my own fascination with him.
The song is La Possibilité d'une île, the poem being one featured in Houellebecq's novel of the same name.
Ma vie ma vie ma très ancienne
Mon premier voeu mal refermé
Mon premier amour infirmé,
Il a fallu que tu reviennes.
Il a fallu que je connaisse
Ce que la vie a de meilleur,
Quand deux corps jouent de leur bonheur
Et sans fin, s'unissent et renaissent.
Entrée en dépendance entière,
Je sais le tremblement de l'être
L'hésitation à disparaître,
Le soleil qui frappe en lisière
Et l'amour où tout est facile,
Où tout est donné dans l'instant;
Il existe au milieu du temps
La possibilité d'une île.
Sadly, it is, I think the weakest song on this CD. (I don't think it's a particularly remarkable poem either; I post here as an oddity.) The song has been described as having a Twin Peaks kind of vibe, which it does — and suddenly I see similarities between Julee Cruise and Carla Bruni... that breathy, whispery style — only, the mood of it just doesn't sit well on Bruni.
Review, in which it is argued these songs "treat life as a fatal game. The lyrics regard the blood sports of love and possession with the focused detachment of someone who has retired from the field only long enough to jot down the score." In spirit, this plays as a suitable, quiet accompaniment to my own current midlife crisis.
Now, it just happens that, the last few days, even before buying this new CD, I was feeling compelled to be listening to a lot of Bruni. This is maybe a mistake, actually, because it's been making me cry!!! and I can't stop myself!
There's no denying Bruni has a poetic sensibility.
Bruni's second album I don't care for so much, musically, but its ambition is admirable, and through it I've come to know and appreciate poems that I might otherwise have discounted. (Do you know this one, by Christina Rossetti?)
And here we are: third album. Kind of crappy, but the more I listen to it, the more it dissolves into inoffensive background music.
So. What affinity exists between Bruni and Houellebecq? The dream of an ideal of free love? Or the dream of outgrowing that desire?
And love, where all is easy,
Where all is given in the instant;
There exists in the midst of time
The possibility of an island.


text:
Modern casino is a fabulous accepted position where addictive game titles love casino and texas hold'em take on position. The important idea is pretty far the same as it was years back in vintage slot machines you've first observed in brick-and-mortar casinos. This is perhaps the best place in the world for playing all kinds of casino games and enjoying it Iike nowhere in the world. The iPhone runs the i0S operating process and has continued to maintain a significant stronghold in the cellular casino industry. The online casinos can be accessed by you at a accepted place without the interference of any kind of agent. Maladministration and ineptness inside of the ANC functions the gamut: From the Us president to the lowly area officers inside of the ANC-led federal.
Problems: Look & texture and consistancy varies depending on the level of quality of the clay surfaces composite resin cash. Possessing the ANC inside run provides benefitted Southerly Camera investment around quite a few techniques, in particular around presenting it obtain for you to the snooze connected with Cameras and building the beginning approach connected with exchange with Tiongkok, Brazil and India easier. There is a significant shift that players see while playing modern casino game titles and just about all players convert their preferences from the conventional gambling den to the online gambling den for these purposes.
In real time gambling house on the subject of the Sbobet web-site features a large variety of gambling house bets that are usually offered at normal casinos many of these as Baccarat, Blackjack, Sic Bo, and Roulette. Video tutorial port models feature all 5 or whole lot more reels usually, various vayuputrabuilders.com paylines, and benefit features many of these as free of cost re-writes awards, winning prize models, and jackpots. It is a good mobile-friendly video game and will turn out to be played using your iPhone and Google android equipment. Cell gaming differs from land-based and traditional forms of gaming inside that the chance to location bets and engage with casinos is constantly current and easily accessible.
The people can play these games on any of their clever phones, tablets, or iphone and have a pleasure of casino gambIing. Casinos used to end up web 2 . activities, which loaded and nobles constructed in destinations like annexes and savored societal parties. Tx Holdem is an fascinating sport that is almost all well-known amongst both- online and offIine gambling establishment lovers and you will be astonished by the popularity of this sport. A good review carried away at the College of Nottingham tracked contributors using a simulated cellular playing app.
We possess listed most of the best National on line casinos In this case. We are the most extensive internet site devoted to position models inside of special and various other 100 % free gambling house game titles inside of a fabulous whole on the Net. On the other hand, the internet casino poker snacks altered inside the 50's to snacks with logos, and house models, plus quite a few kind of tape or place in the ends, to recognize the internet casino inside which they had been being applied. Of the day or when a bettor comes to an end his or her day at the casino At the last part, he or she can get cash of same amount by producing these bridal party at the specified counter in the casino.
Participating in brand-new matches regarding enjoyable, of real money instead, reduces your probabilities of spending big loses because you might be knowing the match just. We did not have to sign up at the gambling establishment, We simply used my aged login and security password, but generally the sign up is held on their web-site, after which you may use 1 and the exact same login for betting at bookmaker, and wagering their gambling establishment and texas holdem video games. Happen to be you shopping for the internet site where you will have free of cost gambling den spots with little money needed and where you shouldn't possess to work with the bad download, time-consuming and invasive sign-ups?
Also, the match shall be playable all over Xbox 360 and Glass windows 8, with individuals able to begin a match over an individual program and continue about another. Goldfish video poker machines is where you'll find all the Iucky position game titles, bonus offer models, 100 % free moves & a good big triumph that will have you from bored to riches. Some game titles also feature an adjustable camera split-screen and angle, building that attainable to get an individual for you to have fun with on a few records all together. Yet, around modern casino game titles many of these such as blackjack, poker, and sports betting even, for illustration, day if you rely stringently along rising up in your lucky, you would finally end way up losing.


text:
About the product:
- Viigo Sweet Grape
- 3 Disposable Devices per pack
- 5% Nicotine
- 1.6 ohm | 360 MAH | Up to 500 Puffs
Sign in
Sign up
A password reset email has been sent to the email address on file for your account, but may take several minutes to show up in your inbox. Please wait at least 10 minutes before attempting another reset.
Registering for this site allows you to access your order status and history. Just fill in the fields below, and we'll get a new account set up for you in no time. We will only ask you for information necessary to make the purchase process faster and easier.
Create an Account LoginAbout the product:
Shipping | Free Shipping For Over $200 |
Share: |
Free Shipping For Over $200
Estimated between Monday 04/20/2020 and Monday 04/27/2020
Will usually ship within 1 business day.
Adults only (21+)
You must be at least 21 years old to purchase products on truedistro.com. By entering this website, you agree that you are of legal age in your state to purchase electronic cigarette products. Falsifying your age for the purpose of purchasing products from this website is illegal and punishable by law!
It is illegal to sell or resell our products to minors. For more information on truedistro.com products, contact our team.


text:
About MG House Painting
MG House Painting - The Number One Choice in Residential Painting
If you're looking for a friendly, fast, and affordable residential painting company, MG House Painting has everything you need. As a locally owned business, we understand the unique needs and expenses that are associated with home ownership. We're homeowners ourselves and we want you to be happy with our services, no matter what the job!
If you're looking to refinish your exterior deck or want to revamp the interior of your home with a new paint job, our team of professionals has the necessary experience, equipment, and attitude to get the job done right—every time!
Reliable Painting for Your Home
At MG House Painting, customer satisfaction is our top priority. We know it's sometimes difficult to let people into your home. It's an intimate space and not many homeowners want strangers walking around their space. Our team is comprised of friendly, honest, reliable and hardworking people who you can count on to properly do the job. We respect your home and strive to make our footprint as minimal as possible. We are true to our word and will maintain open communication with you every step of the way.
Our professional painters are efficient and provide top-notch residential painting services with minimal disruptions to your home and daily routine. All our jobs are done on time! We also provide full estimates and consultations, guaranteeing no surprises in cost or delays. For us, our number one concern is customer satisfaction. We care to make sure all our bases are covered to ensure you are the happiest with MG House Painting's residential painting service.
Local Painters and Their Mission
Here at MG House Painting we perform the highest level of quality service at fair prices and ensure complete customer satisfaction. We deliver professionalism, integrity and honesty with every job we take on. We have maintained and continue to develop trusting relationships with our suppliers and customers. We strive to always provide an efficient service that will increase the lifespan of your walls and furnishings so that you, your family and friends can enjoy the living space you have always wanted. We only use the most advanced, high-grade paints and materials. You can rest assured that all jobs are handled with care; whether big or small. To us, all painting projects are important, and we strive to provide results that exceed your expectations.
The Best Professional Painters
MG House Painting offers the best and most specific solutions for each job we encounter. We can paint interior walls just as well as exterior furniture. Some of our services include:
- Interior Residential Painting
- Exterior Residential Painting
- Deck and Fence Staining
- Epoxy Coating
- Drywall Repair
- Brick Painting
- Faux Finishes
- Siding Painting
- Barn Painting
- Interior Repainting
We use state-of-the-art techniques, our products are innovative, and we go the distance to continually surpass our clients' expectations.
Contact Us for Your Painting Services
Contact us today for a free estimate or consultation. If the walls of your house have seen better days or if you simply want to revamp an old space, you can trust the residential painting professionals at MG House Painting.