text:
How Does a Christian Do His Very Best In an Atmosphere Where One Person's Success Means Another's Failure?
How does a Christian do his very best in an atmosphere where one person's success means another's failure?
That's a good question. I haven't thought about that for a long time. I used to think more about those kinds of things back when I was in school, about how the free market economy functions.
The reason I advocate for a kind of principled capitalism—if you were to ask me what I think (I don't preach it)—is not that this sort of thing doesn't happen. In other words, I don't deny that Wal-Mart sometimes puts mom and pop grocery stores and mom and pop hardware stores out of business. However, all things considered, I believe there is more blessing, more prosperity at the social level when there's freedom than when there is government control.
Maybe one of the reasons the Lord allowed 70 years of communism in Europe was to show us the price of government control, totalitarian centralized control. It's devastating! It's devastating to human creativity. It's devastating to human achievement. And it is exalting to the powers of the people who have the power. And it has produced the greatest wickedness in the history of the world.
The 20th century was the bloodiest century in the history of the world. And the blood was shed by those who said, "Give us the power to run everything, and we will be your saviors." Well, they saved this tiny little group and they killed everybody else.
And so, when I look at the world, I agree with C. S. Lewis that the best argument for democracy is original sin, not righteousness. In other words, it's better to have everybody checking everybody in their freedom rather than giving power to one little oligarchy to try to control everything and present themselves as your savior. It never works.
So, all that to say, I come at this question as one who am willing to take the risks of business successes making life harder for others for the larger good of culture, the larger good of people in culture.
So on the personal level, I would think that a Christian businessman would not have a narrow, small, competitive attitude, slashing and burning, that says "I'm going to succeed no matter what." He's trying to conceive of a way of doing business, and a kind of product to make, a kind of service to provide that's going to be good for people, really good for people. The product is going to be good, the service is going to be good.
He is a blessing in his city, and he is not eager to put anybody out of business. He wants very much to help things rather than hurt things.
And yet, as he sees his own personnel policies, pricing, efficiencies, and energy making his store grow on the corner, he notices that he is taking customers away from the folks who don't have the same energy, policies, savvy, wisdom, and hard work. It's cheaper at his store, the service is better, the products he sells have better warranties. It's a service that he's giving, and yet it's hurting others.
I suppose if I were that man I would, I hope, go down there and talk to the owner and say, "I don't want to put you out of business. I'll show you everything I know about how to do business and why I think they're coming to me."
In the realm of business, does "love your enemy" or "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" or "turn the other cheek" mean that you'll just close up the shop to keep from putting the other guy out of business? Does it mean that you don't do business, because that would be the loving thing to do?
I don't think that's implied, because I think there are different spheres of life: there's the family, with parents and children; business, with employees and employers; education, with teachers and students; and government, with police and citizens and leaders. In each of these four spheres "turn the other cheek" is not what the Bible intends to be the norm. The government bears the sword, parents spank, teachers give Ds and Fs, and police carry billy clubs.
And so, in the business world, the same set of principles of how to do your business in relation to another business isn't identical to how you do your personal life in relation to others.


text:
Passionate Veterinary Care for Dogs, Cats & Exotics in La Crescenta & the Foothills
Pet owners in our community have voted us 'Best of Glendale/Best of the Foothills' every year since 2001!
Your pets deserve special care. The value we place on our relationship with pets and their owners is unparalleled.
We offer comprehensive veterinary services to a variety of species: dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, reptiles, small mammals, and other exotic pets. In addition, we are certified by the American Association of Feline Practitioners as a Cat Friendly Practice. Our professionals strive to provide memorable care, exceeding your expectations at each visit.
Crescenta Valley Veterinary Hospital: raising the bar for family pet care.
Best vet ever anywhere."
- Michael D.
I not only like the Crescenta Valley Vet Hospital, I like the people who run it!!"
- Elizabeth G.
You folks are the best, thanks for taking such good care of our 4 legged children"
- Helen L.
THANK YOU to the doctors and staff at CV for being so caring and patient, with animals and humans!! :) We love u!!"
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CVVH not only strives to provide the best medical care for your pets, but they also educate pet owners on how they can be proactive in creating a quality lifestyle for their pets."
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Thanks so much for the years of care & treatment for Buddy & Bruin. You and your staff are the best!"
- Chris L.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
434: xkcd Goes to the Airport
xkcd Goes to the Airport |
Title text: Under three ounces, but it stains panties. |
The various characters of xkcd cause problems at the airport due to their various quirks.
- Beret Guy and Megan are lost, following each other in a loop. Beret Guy displays his obsession with baked goods as he also does in later comics: 442: xkcd Loves the Discovery Channel and 452: Mission.
- Cueball tries to carry a lockpick set (a tool able to unlock doors without the original key) through security. The security guard tells Cueball that he has to come with him, but Cueball wants to tell the guard about "this hacker girl" before going with the guard (interestingly Cueball doesn't resist the arrest at all so long as he can tell his story). This may be spoofing the incidents where someone has been manipulated into smuggling drugs or other contraband by a romantic interest they met on the Internet. Alternatively, it may reference the fact that lockpicking is a common hobby among hackers, suggesting that Cueball's interest in the girl led to his current interests in hacking, lockpicking or both. The hacker girl could be Help I'm trapped in a driver's license factory Elaine Roberts from the 1337-series.
- On the plane, Cueball has been instructed to disable the wireless transmission functionality of his device. Many airlines require passengers to disable mobile phones on aircraft as well as other radio transmitting devices, because they may interfere with the radio-based navigation and communication equipment of the aircraft. However, his laptop is running Linux, and he doesn't know how to change the wireless settings; he's reading the manual for the program that controls the wireless radio. This is probably not an ideal situation, as the airplane is about to take off. Man pages were also referenced in 293: RTFM. Much later, a plane was again linked to a man page in 912: Manual Override.
- Black Hat tries to carry a container of liquid through security. According to US law, the maximum amount of liquid that can be taken onto a plane in a container is three ounces (89 ml), a security measure taken to prevent terrorists from taking explosives onto planes. When the guard has doubts about the amount of liquid in the vial, Black Hat implies that the liquid is actually blood from a churchmouse. This is referred to later in 526: Converting to Metric, which claims that a fieldmouse has much less blood than that. The guard is visibly uncomfortable and clearly does not want to deal with the issue any further.
The title text continues off the final panel, saying that there are less than three ounces of blood in a churchmouse, but it "stains panties," an undesirable scenario. However, this undesirable scenario is paralleled by the implied undesirable scenario of a terrorist attack due to explosive liquids, the possibility of which caused the law. The title text seems to parody the prospect of an explosion with the relatively insignificant staining of panties, a term for women's underwear. This may also be a menstruation joke.
From xkcd: volume 0:
If it's unimportant enough to basically work on the honor system, it's not gonna crash the plane.
- [Standing outside the Airport. There is a sign saying "Airport" and a plane in the background.]
- Megan: Okay, what airline?
- Beret Guy: I'm following you.
- Megan: ...I'm following you.
- Beret Guy: I assumed we were walking to the bakery.
- Megan: You always assume that!
- [Presumably the security checkpoint. The Security guy is digging through Cueball's bags.]
- Security guy: Lockpicks? These are... illegal, actually. Where did you get them?
- Cueball: Oh man, it all started with this hacker girl.
- Security guy: You need to come with-
- Cueball: Sure, sure. But man, let me tell you about her!
- [On a plane. Cueball is on a laptop.]
- Announcement: If your device has a "Transmit" function, please disable it.
- Cueball: Okay - hang on, I'm halfway through the iwconfig man page.
- [Security checkpoint. Security guy is examining a vial of dark liquid.]
- Security guy: Sir, is this container under three ounces?
- Black Hat: Not sure, how much blood is there in a churchmouse?
- Security guy: . . .Why don't you just go.
I do not understand the "churchmouse" in this context? This needs an explain. Thanks.--Dgbrt (talk) 20:39, 26 August 2013 (UTC)
- A churchmouse is a small rodent. Look it up on Wikipedia. Davidy²²[talk] 02:23, 27 August 2013 (UTC)
- That's not true: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/church+mouse Xhfz (talk) 23:24, 13 October 2013 (UTC)
- Alice in Wonderland creates the door mouse. A church mouse is either ameek but faithful church-goer or referencing the idiom "poor as a church mouse." Either way, I don't get it, either, Dgbrt.07:42, 18 December 2014 (UTC)Nix
- Later, Converting to Metric informs us that a fieldmouse contains 3 mL of blood.--Rael (talk) 05:29, 6 September 2013 (UTC)
- According to my calculations, it's closer to 1.5 mL/0.05 oz. This is based on a house mouse with 80 ml/kg of blood. 184.108.40.206 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)
Maybe I'm just dirty minded, but I thought the "stains panties" line had to do with simulating either defloration or menstruation.--22.214.171.124 17:16, 28 September 2013 (UTC)
- I believe it's a reference to the "underwear bomber" who brought a liquid explosive onto a plane by sneaking it in his underwear
184.108.40.206 04:23, 19 July 2016 (UTC) I was under the impression that the "hacker girl" either gave him the set as a gift, or he just learned how to lock-pick from being around her so much that he acquired his own. It seems weird that it would have anything to do with smuggling. 184.108.40.206 01:12, 22 October 2013 (UTC)
Am I the only one who thought the second panel was a reference to '147: A Way So Familiar'? Mostly based on the character's enthusiastic obsession with a girl who is probably a very bad influence, or at least a bad match. - Pennpenn 220.127.116.11 05:44, 14 January 2015 (UTC)
They tell you to turn the devices off because the airplane travels very quickly. The devices will try and connect to the towers on the ground, but it will have to change towers. This messes up the network (hundreds of phones connecting and disconnecting). 18.104.22.168 00:22, 11 September 2015 (UTC)
- Given the altitude would most phones even be in range to attempt to connect? Anyway, I was always under the impression it was to prevent to off-chance of the transmissions from messing with the plane's systems. -Pennpenn 22.214.171.124 05:16, 20 November 2015 (UTC)
Interestingly enough, google searches for "blood in a churchmouse" spiked the day this comic went up. http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=blood%20in%20a%20churchmouse 220.127.116.11 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)
"Much fewer blood"? And it was required for electronics to be turned off long before portable phones became ubiquitous, so it's not only the cell connections freaking the network out. --126.96.36.199 02:16, 17 January 2017 (UTC)
Lockpicks aren't actually illegal though. I have a set myself. -- Nerd Sniper (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)


text:
A study that tested paper money from 30 big cities in five countries—including the U.S., Brazil, Canada, China and Japan—found that big metropolitan areas in both Canada and the U.S. have an alarmingly high presence of cocaine on their currency, with traces of the narcotic on 85-90% of bills. Brazil, coming in just behind the North American nations, had contamination on 80% of paper money. On the other end of the spectrum, in China and Japan, cocaine was present on a much lower 12-20% of banknotes.
The findings, presented Sunday at a meeting of the American Chemical Society in Washington, D.C., suggest that the prevalence of cocaine-laced bills in U.S. cities has jumped about 20% since just two years ago. University of Massachusetts chemistry professor Yuegang Zuo, the lead author on the current study, conducted a similar analysis in 2007 which found that 67% of U.S. banknotes had some traces of cocaine. The study authors speculate that the increase of residue on bills is likely in step with an increase in cocaine consumption—already as much as a $70 billion annual industry in the U.S., according to the researchers. An estimated 6 million Americans use cocaine each year, consuming somewhere between 259-447 tons of the stuff.
As anyone who's seen the Johnny Depp movie Blow knows, bills are often contaminated when they are rolled up and used to snort cocaine. (According to the study, bills for $5, $10, $20 and $50 tended to have higher amounts of cocaine compared to $1 and $100 notes.) But, as the prevalence of drug-dusted dollars conveys, it isn't just people snorting and selling cocaine who might have some residue in their wallets. Once a small amount of the substance is introduced, it can spread among bills as they intermix in cash registers, day to day transactions, and bank counting machines, meaning, if you live in a city, you've probably had a laced bill mingling with your money at some point. Yet, don't worry, you're not likely to face any legal trouble or fail any company drug tests as a result: the amounts of cocaine found on bills ranged from a minuscule .006 micrograms to 1,240 micrograms—an amount comparable in weight to about 50 grains of sand, according to the researchers.


text:
Laws, Regulations and Annotations
Business Taxes Law Guide—Revision 2024
Motor Vehicle Fuel Tax Law
Revenue and Taxation Code
Division 2. Other Taxes
Part 2. Motor Vehicle Fuel Tax Law
Chapter 7. Overpayments and Refunds.
Article 2. Claim for Refund
Section 8127.5
8127.5. Excess tax reimbursement. When an amount represented by a person who is a taxpayer under this part to a customer as constituting reimbursement for taxes due under this part is computed upon an amount that is not taxable or is in excess of the taxable amount and is actually paid by the customer to the person, the amount so paid shall be returned by the person to the customer upon notification by the Board of Equalization or by the customer that the excess has been ascertained. If the person fails or refuses to do so, the amount so paid, if knowingly or mistakenly computed by the person upon an amount that is not taxable or is in excess of the taxable amount, shall be remitted by that person to this state. Those amounts remitted to the state shall be credited by the Controller on any amounts due and payable under this part on the same transaction from the person by whom it was paid to this state and the balance, if any, shall constitute an obligation due from the person to this state.
History—Added by Stats. 1996, Ch. 1087, in effect January 1, 1997.


text:
Surgery Center an Efficient Option
Tucked deep on the campus, past NorthBay VacaValley Hospital and the doctors offices of the VacaValley Health Plaza stands a gleaming tan building with a dramatic red tile roof slanting down.
It's the 12,000-square-foot Surgery Center at NorthBay VacaValley that has served the needs of thousands of patients since it opened in 2007. Whether it be a cataract surgery, a colonoscopy, a tonsillectomy or knee surgery, patients can have it done and be on their way before the sun sets.
"My patients really appreciate the ability to come to this facility instead of the hospital," explains Mounzer Al Samman, M.D., gastroenterologist, "because their surgeries can be scheduled more efficiently, and they can get in and out more quickly."
The Surgery Center is a joint venture between NorthBay Healthcare and 10 local physicians, including Dr. Al Samman, as well as podiatrists, urologists, a general surgeon, ENTs, ophthamologists and orthopaedists.
When the Surgery Center was built, it was designed to offer more comfort and privacy for less serious surgical cases, because hospitals are geared to treat the sickest and most injured patients first, explains Elnora Cameron, vice president of Strategic Development for NorthBay Healthcare and chairman of Surgery Center's operating committee. "The building has a lot of natural light, which also helps patients feel more relaxed."
The Surgery Center has three operating rooms, two gastro-intestinal procedure rooms and two rooms specifically designed for pain management procedures. Pre-op rooms are completely private.


text:
Two days before the deadly Sept. 11 attack on Americans in Libya, three U.S. officials met pro-government militias working to provide security in the city of Benghazi.
In that meeting, which included the American economic and political counselors, Mohammed el Gharabi, a leader of a prominent militia, says he warned the Americans that the security situation in Benghazi was deteriorating.
Assassinations are becoming rampant; no one is safe, including militiamen like himself, he says he told the Americans.
He asked for help to secure Benghazi and suggested scaling back or possibly closing diplomatic missions until conditions were more secure. He didn't cite any specific threat, but reminded the Americans that there had been an attack in June on the fortified U.S. Consulate, which is enclosed by a high wall, topped with concertina wire.
They didn't heed his warning, he says.
So far, the U.S. government has been tight-lipped about the security procedures that day when a two-pronged attack on the consulate and a safe house left four Americans dead, including Ambassador Chris Stevens.
Spontaneous Or Planned?
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Thursday she was forming a panel to investigate the attack. Much of the current debate centers around whether the attack was spontaneous or planned.
Libya's President Mohammed el-Megarif says he believes the attack was planned, but U.S. officials have said they have not seen any such evidence so far.
Clinton has also said that the mission in Benghazi was secured properly and that there was no indication of an imminent threat.
"Let me assure you that our security in Benghazi included a unit of host government security forces, as well as a local guard force of the kind that we rely on in many places around the world," she said.
But Libyan witnesses are asking why Stevens was apparently left alone at the consulate. When the attack by heavily armed men was over, fires raged and people looted the compound.
Video Footage From The Consulate
Libyan Fahed al Bakkosh took video of events that night and has posted the footage on YouTube. His video shows Libyans pulling a man — who appears to be Stevens — from a room at the consulate.
Bakkosh says he walked into the consulate after midnight. There were no Americans and no visible security as Libyans looted the compound. He then heard a young man scream, "Dead body."
Libyans were pulling the man out of a smoke-filled room, and the man was still breathing, Bakkosh says. The Libyans took him to the hospital, and only later, Bakkosh says, did they discover it was Stevens.
The doctor who treated Stevens says he died of asphyxiation, and his heart had stopped by the time he reached the hospital.
Where were the bodyguards? Bakkosh asks. There wasn't even an ambulance, he says.
Hours after the consulate attack, Libyan authorities sent security forces to the Benghazi airport to meet a U.S. team sent to evacuate the Americans.
One of those Libyans, Fathi Obeidi, described the U.S. group as seven Marines in civilian clothes. Using a GPS, they went to a secret safe house inside a walled compound.
There, they found three villas, one of which was occupied by more than 20 Americans who had fled the consulate, says Obeidi.
Within 15 minutes, that house came under fire by either RPG or mortar fire, he said. The assailants, he said, appeared to have been lying in wait. They fired from a distance, and it was impossible to identify them.
Copyright 2016 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.


text: TRICARE Reimbursement Manual 6010.61-M, April 1, 2015 General Chapter 1 Section 14 Ambulance Services Issue Date: August 26, 1985 Authority: 32 CFR 199.4(d)(3)(v), 32 CFR 199.14(j)(1)(i)(A), and 10 USC 1079(h)(1) Revision: C-41, September 20, 2019 1.0 APPLICABILITYThis policy is mandatory for reimbursement of services provided by either network or non-network providers. However, alternative network reimbursement methodologies are permitted when approved by the Defense Health Agency (DHA) and specifically included in the network provider agreement. 2.0 ISSUEHow are ambulance services to be reimbursed? 3.0 POLICY3.1 For coverage policy on ambulance services, refer to the TRICARE Policy Manual (TPM), Chapter 8, Section 18.104.22.168.1 In contractor service areas where suppliers routinely bill a mileage charge for ambulance services in addition to a base rate, an additional payment based on prevailing mileage charges shall be allowed. Charges for mileage must be based on loaded mileage only, i.e., from the pickup of a patient to his/her destination. It is presumed that all unloaded mileage costs are taken into account when a supplier establishes its basic charge for ambulance services and its rate for loaded mileage. 3.1.2 When there are both Basic Life Support (BLS) and Advanced Life Support (ALS) ambulances furnishing services in a state, separate prevailing profiles shall be developed for each type. 3.1.3 BLS versus ALS. There are situations when an advanced life support ambulance is provided but, based on hindsight, it appears that a BLS would have sufficed. In such cases, the question is whether ALS should be billed (since it was provided) or whether BLS should be billed (since that was the minimum service that would have met the patient's needs). 3.1.4 In localities which offer only ALS ambulance service, the type of vehicle used, rather than the level of service, is normally the primary factor in determining TRICARE payments. Therefore, ALS may be billed for all transports if only ALS is offered in the locality. However, if the provider has established a different pattern of billing for the level of service provided, then the contractor shall recognize the difference and allow payment to be based upon the level of services rendered rather than the type of vehicle and crew. In other words, in an all ALS environment where the provider has established different billing patterns based on the level of care (e.g., emergency vs. non-emergency), the contractor shall allow one amount for emergency and another for non-emergency. 3.1.5 If the company has only ALS vehicles but BLS and ALS vehicles operate in the locality, then it is the level of service required which determines the amount allowed by the TRICARE Program. Thus, even though the provider transported via ALS, it may be paid ALS or BLS rates, based on the following: • If local ordinances or regulations mandate ALS as the minimum standard of patient transportation, then ALS reimbursement shall be made. • If the ALS was the only vehicle available, then the transfer may be reimbursed at the ALS level at the discretion of the contractor. • If the company receives a call and dispatches ALS, although BLS was available, then BLS shall be paid if the patient's condition was such that BLS would have sufficed. There shall be justification on the claim supporting the use of the ALS ambulance in those areas where both ALS and BLS ambulances are available and no state or local ordinances are in effect mandating ALS as the minimum standard transport. 3.1.6 Information shall be shared among the contractors regarding local and state ordinances/laws affecting payment of advanced life support ambulance transfers within their respective jurisdictional areas/regions, the sharing of this information among contractors should allow for the accurate processing and payment of beneficiaries traveling outside their contract areas. 3.1.7 For ambulance transportation to or from a Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF), the provisions in Chapter 8, Section 1, paragraph 126.96.36.199.4 will apply to determine if ambulance costs are included in the SNF Prospective Payment System (PPS) rate. 3.2 ReimbursementFor ambulance services provided on or after October 1, 2013. DHA adopts Medicare's Ambulance Fee Schedule (AFS) as the TRICARE CHAMPUS Maximum Allowable Charge (CMAC) for ambulance services, in accordance with 32 CFR 199.14(j)(1)(i)(A). DHA will follow Medicare Claims Processing Manual, Chapter 15, and reimbursement will be based on Medicare's AFS, except as provided under paragraph 3.2.1 during DHA's transition to the fully phased-in Medicare AFS or as found in paragraph 3.5.3 (reimbursement of joint response where there is no agreement between the BLS and ALS provider) and in paragraph 3.6.6 (treat-and-release). The AFS is provided on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) web site at http://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Medicare-Fee-for-Service-Payment/AmbulanceFeeSchedule/afspuf.html. 3.2.1 TRICARE Program Transition to Medicare AFS for Air Ambulance ServicesAir ambulance services on or after October 1, 2014, shall be paid the greater of the Medicare AFS or the TRICARE provisional air ambulance CMAC. For the initial transition period of October 1, 2014 through December 31, 2015, the TRICARE provisional air ambulance CMAC shall be calculated as 85% of the base year rate. For each subsequent year of transition, the TRICARE provisional air ambulance CMAC shall be calculated by reducing the base year rate an additional 15% per year until the TRICARE provisional CMAC equals the Medicare AFS. (For example, the provisional CMAC beginning January 1, 2016, shall be 72.25% (0.85 x 0.85) of the base year rate; beginning January 1, 2017, 61.4% (0.85 x 0.85 x 0.85) etc.) Once the provisional CMAC equals the AFS, the transition period is over and air ambulance services shall be reimbursed based on Medicare's AFS. 3.2.2 Payment Under the AFS • Includes a base rate payment plus a separate payment for mileage; • Covers both the transport of the beneficiary to the nearest appropriate facility and all items and services associated with such transport; and • Does not include a separate payment for items and services furnished under the ambulance benefit. Payments for items and services are included in the fee schedule payment. Such items and services include but are not limited to oxygen, drugs, extra attendants, and Electrocardiogram (EKG) testing (e.g., ancillary services) - but only when such items and services are both medically necessary and covered by the TRICARE Program under the ambulance benefit. 3.2.3 Components of the AFSThe mileage rates provided in this section are the base rates that are adjusted by the yearly Ambulance Inflation Factor (AIF). The payment amount under the fee schedule is determined as follows: 188.8.131.52 For ground ambulance services, the fee schedule amount includes: • A money amount that serves as a nationally uniform base rate, called a "Conversion Factor" (CF), for all ground ambulance services; • A Relative Value Unit (RVU) assigned to each type of ground ambulance service; • A Geographic Adjustment Factor (GAF) for each AFS locality area (Geographical Practice Cost Index (GPCI)); • A nationally uniform loaded mileage rate; and • An additional amount for certain mileage for a rural point-of-pickup. 18.104.22.168 For air ambulance services, the fee schedule amount includes: • A nationally uniform base rate for fixed wing and a nationally uniform base rate for rotary wing; • A GAF for each AFS locality area (GPCI); • A nationally uniform loaded mileage rate for each type of air service; and • A rural adjustment to the base rate and mileage for services furnished for a rural point-of-pickup. 3.2.4 Zip Code/Point of PickupAll claims for services shall include the zip code for the point of pickup. The provider shall report one valid and accurate zip code on each claim. Refer to the Medicare Claims Processing Manual, Chapter 15, for zip code requirements at http://www.cms.gov/manuals/downloads/clm104c15.pdf, and the zip code file at https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Medicare-Fee-for-Service-Payment/AmbulanceFeeSchedule/. 3.2.5 Effect of Beneficiary Death on TRICARE Payment for Ground Ambulance TransportsIn general, if the beneficiary dies before being transported, then no TRICARE payment shall be made. Thus, in a situation where the beneficiary dies, whether any payment under the TRICARE ambulance benefit shall be made depends on the time at which the beneficiary is pronounced dead by an individual authorized by the State to make such pronouncements. Figure 1.14-1 shows the TRICARE payment determination for various ground ambulance scenarios in which the beneficiary dies. In each case, the assumption is that the ambulance transport would have otherwise been medically necessary. Figure 1.14-1 Ground Ambulance Scenarios In Which The Beneficiary Dies Time of Death Pronouncement TRICARE Payment Determination Before dispatch. None. After dispatch, before beneficiary is loaded onboard ambulance (before or after arrival at the point-of-pickup). The provider's/supplier's BLS base rate, no mileage or rural adjustment; use the QL modifier when submitting the claim. After pickup, prior to or upon arrival at the receiving facility. Medically necessary level of service furnished. 3.2.6 Effect of Beneficiary Death on TRICARE Payment for Air Ambulance TransportsIn general, if the beneficiary dies before being transported, then no TRICARE payment shall be made. Thus, in a situation where the beneficiary dies, whether any payment under the TRICARE ambulance benefit shall be made depends on the time at which the beneficiary is pronounced dead by an individual authorized by the State to make such pronouncements. Figure 1.14-2 shows the TRICARE payment determination for various air ambulance scenarios in which the beneficiary dies. In each case, the assumption is that the ambulance transport would have otherwise been medically necessary. If the flight is aborted for other reasons, such as bad weather, the TRICARE payment determination is based on whether the beneficiary was on board the air ambulance. Figure 1.14-2 Air Ambulance Scenarios in Which The Beneficiary Dies Time of Death Pronouncement TRICARE Payment Determination Prior to takeoff to point-of-pickup with notice to dispatcher and time to abort the flight. None. Note: This scenario includes situations in which the air ambulance has taxied to the runway, and/or has been cleared for takeoff, but has not actually taken off. After takeoff to point-of-pickup, but before beneficiary is loaded. Appropriate air base rate with no mileage or rural adjustment; use the QL modifier when submitting the claim. After the beneficiary is loaded onboard, but prior to or upon arrival at the receiving facility. As if the beneficiary had not died. 3.2.7 Air Ambulance Transport Cancelled Due to Weather or Other Circumstances Beyond the Pilot's ControlFigure 1.14-3 shows the TRICARE payment determination for various air ambulance scenarios in which the flight is aborted due to bad weather, or other circumstances beyond the pilot's control. Figure 1.14-3 Air Ambulance Scenarios in Which The Flight is Aborted Aborted Flight Scenario TRICARE Payment Determination Any time before the beneficiary is loaded onboard (i.e., prior to or after take-off to point-of-pickup). None. Transport after the beneficiary is loaded onboard. Appropriate air base rate, mileage, and rural adjustment. 3.2.8 Multiple Patient Ambulance Transport220.127.116.11 If two patients are transported to the same destination simultaneously, for each TRICARE beneficiary, DHA will allow 75% of the payment allowance for the base rate applicable to the level of care furnished to that beneficiary plus 50% of the total mileage payment allowance for the entire trip. The GM modifier shall be used for reporting multiple patients on one ambulance trip. 18.104.22.168 If three or more patients are transported to the same destination simultaneously, then the payment allowance for the TRICARE beneficiary (or each of them) is equal to 60% of the base rate applicable to the level of care furnished to the beneficiary. However, a single payment allowance for mileage shall be prorated by the number of patients onboard. This policy applies to both ground and air transports. 3.2.9 Special Payment LimitationsIf the determination is made that transport by air ambulance was necessary, but ground ambulance service would have sufficed, payment for the air ambulance service is based on the amount payable for ground transport, if less costly. If the air transport was medically appropriate (that is, ground transportation was contraindicated, and the beneficiary required air transport to a hospital), but the beneficiary could have been treated at a nearer hospital than the one to which they were transported, the air transport payment is limited to the rate for the distance from the point of pickup to that nearer hospital. 3.3 No separate charge is allowed for personnel manning the ALS. ALS personnel costs are included in the base and mileage charges with the exception of ALS Paramedic Intercept (PI) services (see paragraph 3.4) and Joint Response (see paragraph 3.5). 3.4 PI3.4.1 PI services are ALS services provided by an entity that does not provide the ambulance transport. This type of service is most often provided for an emergency ambulance transport in which a local volunteer ambulance that can provide only BLS level of service is dispatched to transport a patient. If the patient needs ALS services such as EKG monitoring, chest decompression, or Intravenous (IV) therapy, another entity dispatches a paramedic to meet the BLS ambulance at the scene or once the ambulance is on the way to the hospital. The ALS paramedics then provide services to the patient. This tiered approach to life saving is cost effective in many areas because most volunteer ambulances do not charge for their services and one paramedic service can cover many communities. These PI services shall be payable separate from the ambulance transport, subject to the requirements specified below: • Furnished in a rural area; • Furnished under a contract with one or more volunteer ambulance services; and • Medically necessary based on the condition of the beneficiary receiving the ambulance service. 220.127.116.11 In addition, the volunteer ambulance service involved shall: • Meet the Program's certification requirements for furnishing ambulance services; • Furnish services only at the BLS level at the time of the intercept; and • Be prohibited by State law from billing anyone for any service. 184.108.40.206 The entity furnishing the ALS PI service shall: • Meet the Program's certification requirements for furnishing ALS services; and • Bill all recipients who receive ALS PI services from the entity, regardless of whether or not those recipients are TRICARE beneficiaries. 3.4.2 For the purposes of the PI benefit, a rural area is an area that is designated as rural by a State law or regulation or any area outside of a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) or in New England, outside a New England County Metropolitan Area as defined by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The current list of these areas is periodically published in the Federal Register. 3.5 Joint Response (BLS/ALS)3.5.1 In situations where a BLS entity provides the transport of the beneficiary and an ALS entity provides a service that meets the fee schedule definition of an ALS intervention (e.g., ALS assessment, PI services, etc.), the BLS supplier may bill the TRICARE Program the ALS rate provided that a written agreement between the BLS and ALS entities exists prior to submitting the TRICARE claim. Providers/suppliers shall provide a copy of the agreement or other such evidence (e.g., signed attestation) as determined by the TRICARE contractor. DHA does not regulate the compensation between the BLS entity and the ALS entity when there is an agreement between the two entities. 3.5.2 Prior to September 13, 2018, if there is no agreement between the BLS ambulance supplier and the ALS entity furnishing the service, then only the BLS level of payment shall be made. In this situation, the ALS entity's services are not covered, and the beneficiary is liable for the expense of the ALS services to the extent that these services are beyond the scope of the BLS level of payment. 3.5.3 Effective for services provided on or after September 13, 2018, if there is no agreement between the BLS ambulance supplier and the ALS entity furnishing the service, then only the BLS level of payment shall be made to the BLS ambulance supplier. In this situation, the ALS entity's services shall be payable separate from the ambulance transport, subject to the requirements specified below.18.104.22.168 The ALS provider meets the Program's certification requirements for furnishing ALS services and is otherwise a TRICARE-authorized ambulance company. 184.108.40.206 The ALS provider bills all recipients who receive ALS services from the entity, regardless of whether or not those recipients are TRICARE beneficiaries, with exception of ambulance membership programs. ALS entities which offer ambulance membership programs may bill the TRICARE Program for ALS services provided the beneficiary has not purchased a subscription (see paragraph 4.1 for more information on ambulance membership programs) and provided the ALS entity bills all non-subscribing recipients who receive ALS services from the entity, regardless of whether or not those recipients are TRICARE beneficiaries. 184.108.40.206 The services of an ALS provider were medically necessary based on the condition of the beneficiary receiving the ambulance service. 22.214.171.124 The ALS provider bills using either Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) code S0207 or S0208, as appropriate. 188.8.131.52 The BLS ambulance supplier bills at the BLS rate. 3.5.4 The contractor shall reimburse HCPCS codes S0207 and S0208 at a rate equivalent to Medicare's rate for HCPCS code A0432, and shall update that rate every time Medicare updates the rate for HCPCS code A0432. Prior to reimbursement, the contractor shall verify that all requirements of paragraph 3.5 have been met, to include that no other entity has been paid for ALS level-of-service for the episode-of-care and that the ALS entity is not entitled to payment under paragraph 3.4. 3.6 The cost-sharing of ambulance services and supplies will be in accordance with the status of the patient at the time the covered services and supplies are rendered (32 CFR 199.4(a)(5)).3.6.1 Ambulance transfers from a beneficiary's place of residence, accident scene, or other location to a civilian hospital, Military Treatment Facility (MTF)/Enhanced Multi-Service Market (eMSM), Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA)/Veterans Health Administration (VHA) hospital, or SNF shall be cost-shared on an outpatient basis. Transfers from a hospital or SNF to a patient's residence shall also be considered an outpatient service for reimbursement under the Program. A separate cost-share does not apply to ambulance transfers to or from an SNF, if the costs for ambulance transfer are included in the SNF PPS rate (see Chapter 8, Section 1, paragraph 188.8.131.52.4). 3.6.2 Ambulance transfers between hospitals (acute care, general, and special hospitals; psychiatric hospitals; and long-term hospitals) and SNFs shall be cost-shared on an inpatient basis. 3.6.3 Under the above provisions, for ambulance transfers between hospitals, a nonparticipating provider may bill the beneficiary the lower of the provider's billed charge or 115% of the TRICARE allowable charge. 3.6.4 Transfers to an MTF/eMSM, DVA/VHA hospital, or SNF after treatment at, or admission to, an emergency room or civilian hospital shall be cost-shared on an inpatient basis, if ordered by either civilian or military personnel. 3.6.5 Medically necessary ambulance transfers from an Emergency Room (ER) to a hospital more capable of providing the required level of care shall also be cost-shared on an inpatient basis. This is consistent with current policy of cost-sharing ER services as inpatient when an immediate inpatient admission for acute care follows the outpatient ER treatment. 3.6.6 Effective for services provided on or after September 13, 2018, DHA added coverage for "treat-and-release" services. Treat-and-release occurs when an ambulance responds to a call and provides medically necessary services, but transport is not provided due to patient stabilization or patient refusal of transport. Treat-and-release coverage is provided when all of the following conditions are met.188.8.131.52 The ambulance entity meets the Program's certification requirements for furnishing ambulance services and is otherwise a TRICARE-authorized ambulance company. No payment shall be made to paramedics or other first responders independent of the responding ambulance. 18.104.22.168 The ambulance supplier bills all recipients of treat-and-release services, regardless of whether or not those recipients are TRICARE beneficiaries. 18.104.22.168 Treat-and-release services were medically necessary based on the condition of the beneficiary receiving the ambulance service. No payment shall be made if medically necessary services were not provided. 126.96.36.199 Failure to provide transport resulted from either a determination that the patient's condition had stabilized and transportation to the hospital was no longer required, or the beneficiary refused transport after receiving services. 184.108.40.206 The ambulance entity bills using HCPCS code A0998. 3.6.7 The contractor shall reimburse HCPCS code A0998 at a rate equivalent to the BLS non-emergency HCPCS code A0428, which does not include mileage. The contractor shall update the reimbursement rate for HCPCS code A0998 each time Medicare updates the rate for HCPCS code A0428. The contractor shall be responsible for determining the medical necessity of the treat-and-release call. 3.6.8 Cost-share amounts for ambulance services are included in Chapter 2, Section 1. 4.0 POLICY CONSIDERATIONS4.1 Ambulance Membership Programs4.1.1 Ambulance membership programs typically charge an annual fee for a subscription to an ambulance service. The ambulance provider agrees to accept assignment on all benefits from third party payers for medically necessary services. By paying the annual fee, the covered family members pay no additional fees (including third party cost-shares and deductibles) to the ambulance service. 4.1.2 When a beneficiary pays premiums to a pre-paid ambulance plan, the premiums are considered to fulfill the beneficiary's cost-share and deductible requirements. Under this arrangement, the ambulance membership program becomes analogous to a limited supplemental plan. 4.2 When an ambulance company bills a flat fee for ambulance transport within its service area, reimbursement shall be at the lesser of the billed amount (flat fee) or the statewide prevailing for HCPCS codes A0426 through A0429 subject to applicable beneficiary cost-sharing. 4.3 The CMAC reimbursement methodology used to reimburse professional services does not apply to ambulance claims. The above reimbursement guidelines shall be used by the contractors. 4.4 Itemization requirements are dictated by the particular HCPCS codes used in filing an ambulance claim. - END -


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Welcome to my writing blog. My name is Johnny Ray and as the writer of many novels, short stories, poems, blogs, screenplays, speeches, commentaries on breaking news, etc. I hope this blog will help to show the frustrations and joys of the work behind the scenes, and hopefully attract many people that will become friends, and maybe even fans of my work. Like all of life, it will be an adventure none the less. Thanks for joining me on the ride, and being a part of my life.
Sunday, December 07, 2014
Wednesday, November 05, 2014
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Our Single L Hook is great for all sorts of stuff & so much more...
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Welcome to ChooseToInfuse.com, an online shop where you can purchase a large variety of Infuser Water Bottles, Quality Fruit Infusion Drinkware and other Great, Unique Items! We now have a diverse selection of Infuser products. We will also be adding more as we go along.
Each Infuser purchase will include a FREE 'Infused Water' Recipe Guide, filled with delicious ideas for fruit infused beverages along with other great ideas. Recipes submitted to us will also be added to the Guide. So, as time passes, we expect the number of recipes to increase. Submit your infused water recipes here. Enjoy!
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Now that the "Lost Mammals of Zealandia" pilot project is completed - a project devoted to scouring various Paleogene formations of the South Island for elusive remains of terrestrial mammals - the lab has moved on to the next grant-funded project, which we just refer to as the "Triage project". We've got a rather large backlog of unprepared plaster jackets from a single quarry - the Hakataramea lime quarry - mostly with fossil cetaceans.
Our lead preparator - Sophie White (right) and two temporary preparators (Diane and Simone, left) work on what appears to be the world's most complete Oligocene odontocete, a little tusked dolphin with nearly complete skull, mandibles, tympanoperiotics, teeth, hyoids, complete vertebral column, ribs, and parts of both forelimbs. I will gleefully admit that Sophie and I are responsible for digging this one up in the field and finding it's skull.
Three specimens already completed early on in the project - another small dolphin with partial skull and axial skeleton, in two blocks (left, and right). The middle block is a partial skeleton of a Platydyptes penguin including both humeri, radius, ulna, synsacrum, a bill, vertebrae, and I believe a femur and tibiotarsus (and maybe a tarsometatarsus?). Believe it or not, these two specimens and the very complete odontocete above were all found not only in a single day, but within an hour or so of looking around at the quarry.
A quick jacket doodle I did in the field about a year and a half ago on a putative eomysticetid from the uppermost levels of the quarry. This specimen was found by Te Papa paleornithologist Alan Tennyson and Monash University Ph.D. student Travis Park, who had driven down from the North Island for the Southern Connections conference in Dunedin in January 2013. Jacket doodles like this are a tradition at Montana State University and Museum of the Rockies - but mostly feature unseemly beasts like dinosaurs. We fortunately don't have many dinosaurs in New Zealand, so I decorated our jacket with a far more appropriate animal. For the uninitiated, chainsaws are used in our program to quickly excavate large specimens: the rock is soft, and a chainsaw can cut through it like proverbial butter and reduce the amount of time spent at an excavation by 60%.
Here's that jacket. It has since been opened, and had a well preserved atlas (first vertebra), some ribs, a possible squamosal, two scapulae, and a partial mandible. Not terribly exciting, and fortunately not something I'll need to include in my thesis.
Master's student Nichole Moerhuis takes some time off from thesis work to relax in the lab and help do some therapeutic fossil preparation. The vertically challenged often discover elegant solutions to frustrating problems.
Thursday, July 31, 2014
Monday, July 21, 2014
Eodelphis kabatensis illustration on the cover of JVP
Last year I was contacted by my friend and colleague Mizuki Murakami (now Dr. Murakami), who wanted to commission an illustration of a fossil odontocete from Japan for a manuscript he was working on and planning on submitting to the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology in the hopes that it would be accepted and selected as the feature article. To make a long story short, it was. The illustration depicts "Eodelphis" kabatensis - a fossil delphinid and possible ancestral globicephaline or orcinine (think "blackfish" in general) that was originally named in the late 1970's by Hideo Horikawa from the late Miocene of Japan. Horikawa originally named it as Stenella kabatensis, recognizing its delphinid affinities - but subsequent workers have noted it doesn't belong in the genus Stenella, referring to it with scare quotes as "Stenella" kabatensis. Mizuki's new study redescribes this fossil (consisting of a well preserved braincase, periotic, tympanic bulla, partial mandible, and hyoid) and gives it a new genus name: Eodelphis. Unfortunately as it turns out - Eodelphis is a preoccupied name for Cretaceous marsupial. So, it will require an additional paper proposing yet another replacement name.
The cover of JVP with my illustration of "Eodelphis" kabatensis.
Eodelphis was found by Murakami et al. to be the earliest diverging member of the Orcininae, a tenuously supported group also including the modern killer whale Orcinus (and the fossil Orcinus citoniensis), the miniature killer whale-like dolphin Arimidelphis, and the robust bottlenose-like dolphin Hemisyntrachelus. Further work is needed to tell if this clade is genuine; other analyses of molecular data have been pretty variable in the placement of Orcinus. To reflect these relationships and the fact that Eodelphis would have probably been somewhat more generalized, Mizuki requested a dolphin with a body shape similar to the more "primitive" living globicephalines like the pygmy killer whale (Feresa attenuata), Risso's dolphin (Grampus griseus) and the melon headed whale (Peponocephala electra). The end result was essentially a mix of sorts of these three species - a plausible "look" for an ancestral large bodied delphinid (whether orcinine or globicephaline).
I was pretty damned happy to see a physical copy once it arrived here in Dunedin. I think this is my labmate Cheng-Hsiu Tsai's copy. I've had art show up in press releases before, but this is the first time my artwork has made it onto the cover of a journal.
And, here's the original illustration.
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How Islamic vigilante justice, which enjoys almost complete impunity in Muslim countries, keeps dissidents and apostates of Islam in submission, which, although help keep the integrity of Islam intact, but creates chaotic society of fear, terror and violence in the Islamic world. Courageous Egyptian lawyer and women's rights activist Nagla Al Imam's declaration of apostasy is a perfect case in point and what it portends to the West amidst it growing Muslim population...
From Frontpage Magazine on 03 August, 2009
Very few people in the West know what is going on inside the Muslim world and what it portends for them. The fact is that through the dominant media, such as CNN, Americans are subjected to much of the same misinformation with regard to Islam that I grew up with inside the Muslim world. The result is that Americans are in the dark attempting to formulate their strategy of how to defend themselves against the threat of terror, domestic jihad and Sharia. While Americans get ridiculed for being "Islamophobes", the Muslim world itself is undergoing a huge and painful awakening.
Courageous Nagla Al Imam declared her apostasy from Islam. |
Ms. Al Imam's incredible courage was on display in an internet chat room, where she announced that she is not afraid, will stand up for the human rights of apostates and refuses to leave her homeland, Egypt. This was immediately followed by attacks and calls ('fatwas') for death of the 36 year-old graduate of Al Azhar Islamic University.
Egyptian media not only reported the threat but also participated in the attacks. Ms. Al Imam was literally entrapped by a TV station 'Al Mihwar' with the pretext of inviting her for an interview. Upon arrival to the TV studio she was told that the show, she was to appear on, was cancelled. She was then taken forcibly to a room where she was held against her will for hours inside the studio. She was assaulted, threatened and insulted by several people. She was able to escape, and went to her internet chat room telling the world what happened and said she will demand protection from the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
Such action is common not only against apostates but anyone who deviates from the dictates of Islam or demands reform. Many Muslim journalists, intellectuals and feminists, who consider themselves Muslims but are critical of Sharia, are often intimidated, threatened or even killed for the slightest independent views using the apostasy card to keep them quiet.
Another recent case in Egypt is that of a brilliant intellectual by the name of Sayed Mahmoud El Qemany. He was recently accused of apostasy even though he denied it on TV and insisted that he is still a Muslim. But fatwas of death were immediately issued against him. Mr. El Qemany recently wrote the following:
I was granted the State Award for Social Sciences on June 25th 2009. The hard-line radical militant groups considered that the state has adopted this intellectual secular trend officially, infuriating the mentioned group, which called on the State to withdraw the prize with the declaration of my defection from Islam and excommunication, which means, in our country, I could be slain; any citizen is allowed to kill me and be awarded by God in Paradise. The following parties have participated in the statements of atonement:
1 – Al-Azhar Scholars Front headed by Yahya Ismail Habloush, which issued the first statement of atonement on July 10, 2009.
2 – The Islamic Group (condemned terrorist group) issued a statement of atonement on July 10, 2009.
3 – The Muslim Brotherhood hailed the atonement, and were presented at the parliament by Hamdi Hassan requesting the withdrawal of the award and the declaration of religious-defection and excommunication on July 7, 2009. The Muslim Brotherhood also declared my excommunication on Mohwar Channel on July 11, 2009 and on Al Faraeen Channel on July 13, 2009.
4 – The Salafi (Fundamentalist) Group (condemned terrorist group) dedicated its Internet site named "The Egyptians" for excommunicating me and incitements to kill me, since the date of obtaining the prize until today.
5 – Al Nas channel, which represents the theoretical side of bloody terrorism which declared excommunication and demanded "all citizens who can" to kill me immediately, on July 24 and 25, 2009.
6 – The Hisbah Sheikh Youssef Al Badri in Egypt declared on the channel "ON TV" on July 3, 2009 that I have cursed God and the Prophet Mohammad in my books even though I have challenged him and others to refer to a single text written by me where such claims were made. Due to this proclamation, he has issued an incitement to kill me.
7 – A member of the Al-Azhar scholars, Sheikh Mohammed El Berry, on Mihwar TV Channel on July 11, 2009 announced my atonement as he also said that he did not read any of my writings since he does not read "garbage". He repeated the same words on the channel "ON TV" on July 22, 2009.
8 – Sheikh Ali Gomaa, the former Chairman of the "State Religious Affairs Advisory Board", issued a statement declaring my infidelity and calling for slaying me for "insulting the Prophet of Islam, the God of Islam" on July 24, 2009.
9 – The Sheiks of more than 5000 mosques on Friday prayers on July 24, 2009 declared the incitement to kill me, especially in my hometown, which led to the rampage against my family and relatives, and that could possibly evolve to some serious consequences in the coming weeks.
Due to the above, I call upon the conscience of all humanity in the free world to come to me and my children's rescue by providing moral support and the condemnation and denunciation of the radical thinking with quick solutions to save us from the danger that is luring around us. This is a distress call to all bodies and individuals. A call to the consciences of every free individual in the world.
Signed: Sayed Mahmoud El Qemany- Researcher.
In spite of the cover up, this is perhaps the first time in the history of Islam that Muslims finally have access to the truth about their own religion, thanks to the Internet and satellite dishes (invented by infidels). There are daily news reports of heart-broken Muslims, who say they cannot believe what is written in Islamic scriptures and that Muslims have been living under the greatest lie in human history. Others simply deny and say that it can't be so. While Saudi Arabia is spending billions to Islamize the West, many Muslim prisoners of Islamic submission are dying or leaving the religion quietly.
The relatively few number of Muslims, who dare to convert to Christianity, do it in extreme secrecy. That is because the penalty for leaving Islam is death in all schools of Sharia, both Sunni and Shiite. Those, who wrote Sharia centuries ago, knew that keeping Muslims in total submission would be very difficult to maintain; thus, they established barbaric laws condemning Muslims to death for exercising their basic human rights to choose their own religion. Sharia never entrusted its enforcement only to the formal legal system. Islam promises heavenly rewards to individual Muslims, who take the law into their own hands. Sharia also states that the killers of apostates and adulterers are not murderers; therefore, they are not to be punished. That is why, for Islam to achieve 100% compliance to Sharia enforcement, Muslim individuals are encouraged to take matters into their own hands.
The end result is a chaotic society where everything happens behind closed doors but at a very heavy price to interpersonal relationships. Fear and distrust of others exists in all Muslim societies. Muslims are not just distrustful of the West, they are distrustful of one another too. In Muslim society, people are often more afraid of their neighbors and family members than of the police. Thus, we see husbands or fathers pressured to apply Sharia by killing an adulterous wife or daughter, or a perfect stranger participate in the killing of an apostate in the public square. Very few get arrested or punished for such crimes across the Muslim world. The ingenious Sharia uses vigilante street justice to bring about Islamic submission. That is why civil unrest and honor crimes go wherever Islam goes. The power of Islam comes from turning Muslim against Muslim -- with a reward in heaven.
The above two examples of Islamic tyranny are not unique to Egypt, but exist in all Muslim countries. Islamic tyranny is encapsulated in a law that some Muslims claim to be their religious right in America. Many American citizens who left Islam are living in constant fear from Islamist individuals and groups right here, in the land of the free and home of the brave. I am one of them.
Nonie Darwish is an American of Arab/Muslim origin. A freelance writer and public speaker, she runs the website www.ArabsForIsrael.com. Her new book is Cruel and Usual Punishment: The Terrifying Global Implications of Islamic Law.


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Using VoiceThread to Create a Presentation for a Spanish Project
Samanta de Frutos García, an Instructor of Spanish at CSU Channel Islands, created a final project assignment for SPAN 102: Elementary Spanish II. The template provides guidelines for students to create a VoiceThread presentation using vocabulary, grammatical constructions, and cultural knowledge learned in this course using the free Spanish textbook Libro Libre. This project assesses students' ability to answer questions and report orally to demonstrate basic functional proficiency in Spanish, talk about familiar topics, compare and contrast cultural similarities and differences between the United States and Spanish-speaking countries, and present the information and cultural insights gained through the TalkAbroad sessions. This can be modified to fit any class.
QLT Objectives Met
QLT Section 3: Instructional Materials and Resources
- Objective: 3.3 The instructor articulates the purpose of all materials as to how they are related to the course and module learning objectives.
- Objective: 3.5 There is a variety of instructional material types that lead to more UDL/access and student engagement, while not overly relying on one content type such as text.
QLT Section 4: Student Interaction and Community
- Objective: 4.4 Learning activities facilitate and support active learning that encourages frequent and ongoing peer–to–peer engagement.
QLT Section 5: Facilitation and Instruction
- Objective: 5.2 The instructor clearly helps students make connections between the content and the course activities, and how their life experience and mastery of concepts gained in the course will integrate into their college degree, future career, and role as a global citizen.
Additional Information
- Material Type: Assignment
- Author: Samanta de Frutos Garcia, Instructor
- Institution: California State University, Channel Islands
- Date Created: 2023-05-01
QM Standard Equivalents
- QM General Standard 4: Instructional Materials
- Standard: 4.1 The instructional materials contribute to the achievement of the stated learning objectives.
- Standard: 4.2 The relationship between the use of instructional materials in the course and completion of learning activities and assessments is clearly explained.
- Standard: 4.5 A variety of instructional materials is used in the course.
- QM General Standard 5: Learning Activities and Learner Interaction
- Standard: 5.2 Learning activities provide opportunities for interaction that support active learning.


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#1 New York Times bestselling author Tom Clavin's Dodge City tells the true story of their friendship, romances, gunfights, and adventures, along with the remarkable cast of characters they encountered along the way (including Wild Bill Hickock, Jesse James, Doc Holliday, Buffalo Bill Cody, John Wesley Hardin, Billy the Kid, and Theodore Roosevelt) that has gone largely untold — lost in the haze of Hollywood films and western fiction, until now.
Dodge City: Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, and the Wickedest Town in the American West
by Tom Clavin
(440 Reviews)
Genre: History
The instant New York Times bestseller!
Dodge City, Kansas, is a place of legend. The town that started as a small military site exploded with the coming of the railroad, cattle drives, eager miners, settlers, and various entrepreneurs passing through to populate the expanding West. Before long, Dodge City's streets were lined with saloons and brothels and its populace was thick with gunmen, horse thieves, and desperadoes of every sort. By the 1870s, Dodge City was known as the most violent and turbulent town in the West.
Enter Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson. Young and largely self-trained men, the lawmen led the effort that established frontier justice and the rule of law in the American West, and did it in the wickedest place in the United States. When they moved on, Wyatt to Tombstone and Bat to Colorado, a tamed Dodge was left in the hands of Jim Masterson. But before long Wyatt and Bat, each having had a lawman brother killed, returned to that threatened western Kansas town to team up to restore order again in what became known as the Dodge City War before riding off into the sunset.
Click here to get this book for $1.99
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12 Card Purse
Assembly Guide
This video instruction is a step by step guide on how to assemble your brand new 12 Card Purse!
If you haven't had experience with saddle stitching before, we recommend that you start with our how to guide.
Note on applying glue: to apply glue to your project, you can use any flat or pointed instrument. We use an art edging paddle, however other items like paddle-pop sticks, paint brush, scissors, or even your stitching needles will do the trick. Just be sure to clean them off after use.
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Updated at 6:40 a.m. ET on Friday
Hurricane Florence was making landfall on the North Carolina coast, bringing with it life-threatening storm surge, heavy rain and sustained winds of 90 miles per hour. Although downgraded to a Category 1 storm, the hurricane has grown larger and slowed its march inland — factors likely to contribute to potentially catastrophic flooding.
More than 320,000 power outages were reportedacross North Carolina and nearly 4,400 in South Carolina.
"A storm surge of 10 feet above normal levels was reported by the National Weather Service office in Morehead City, North Carolina," reported the National Hurricane Center,citing transportation officials in that state.
Hurricane #Florence is producing a life-threatening storm surge and hurricane conditions over portions of eastern North Carolina. The threat of freshwater flooding will increase and spread inland over the next several days. https://t.co/tW4KeGdBFb pic.twitter.com/3OokbkFeb7
— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) September 14, 2018
"Threat of freshwater flooding will increase over the next several days," read the NHC announcement, which followed warnings issued earlier in the day.
" #Florence is expected to bring a life-threatening storm surge to portions of eastern North & South Carolina, and catastrophic flash flooding and prolonged significant river flooding are likely over portions of the Carolinas and the southern/central Appalachians," the National Hurricane Center said in a Thursday evening tweet forecasting how potentially damaging the storm will be.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper urged his state's residents to expect significant and lasting damage.
"The worst of the storm is not yet here, but these are warning signs of the days to come," said Cooper in a news conference. "Conditions will continue to deteriorate with strong winds, heavy rainfall and extreme storm surges."
The city of New Bern, N.C., reports that some 150 people were awaiting rescue there.
Currently ~150 awaiting rescue in New Bern. We have 2 out-of-state FEMA teams here for swift water rescue. More are on the way to help us. WE ARE COMING TO GET YOU. You may need to move up to the second story, or to your attic, but WE ARE COMING TO GET YOU. #FlorenceNC
— City of New Bern (@CityofNewBern) September 14, 2018
Sarah Risty-Davis, a resident of New Bern, tells NPR she had water up to the second floor in her 1920s-era home near Neuse River.
Risty-Davis said the water then started to go away and that she was now "just enjoying this moment before the water comes back."
Meanwhile, the city of Jacksonville, N.C., says about 70 people have been rescued from a hotel whose structural integrity was threatened by the hurricane, according to The Associated Press.
After making landfall near Wilmington, Florence is expected to head west across South Carolina before making a turn toward the north over the next few days.
A rush of ocean water invaded the streets on the southern end of North Carolina's Hatteras Island on Thursday, according to The Virginian-Pilot's Jeff Hampton, who said arterial roads were at risk of being impassable after water overwhelmed the dunes.
The storm's sheer power is visible in live video from Frying Pan Tower, a onetime Coast Guard light station some 34 miles off the coast of North Carolina. The force of the wind has damaged the U.S. flag on the tower and is causing the ocean to churn.
"Little change in strength is expected before the eye of Florence reaches the coast, with weakening expected after the center moves inland or meanders near the coast," the National Hurricane Center said.
Despite the drop in wind strength, the most dangerous threat comes from Florence's rains and storm surge, which could bring flooding far inland.
"The larger and slower the storm is, the greater the threat and impact, and we have that here," NHC Director Ken Graham said Thursday. He added later, "Most of the fatalities in these tropical systems is water."
According to the hurricane center's 6 a.m. Friday bulletin, Florence was about 10 miles east of Wilmington, N.C., and about 80 miles east-northeast of Myrtle Beach, S.C. The storm was moving west -northwest at 6 mph with sustained winds of 90 mph.
Florence's large wind field will add to the perils as the storm grinds over beaches and inland. Hurricane-force winds extend out for 80 miles and the tropical-storm-force winds reach 195 miles out from the center.
"You're going to have damaging winds for a longer period of time," senior hurricane specialist Stacy Stewart said in an update from the NHC. "So instead of maybe 120 mph winds for 30 minutes, you might end up with 90-100 mph winds for a couple of hours, or three or four hours. And that will produce a lot of damage as well as prolong the beach erosion."
A hurricane warning is in effect for a big chunk of the Carolina coast, from the South Santee River below Myrtle Beach, S.C., to Duck, N.C. — part of the Outer Banks. The warning also includes Albemarle and Pamlico sounds, large bodies of water in North Carolina that could see significant flooding.
Despite the drop in maximum sustained winds, forecasters stress that this hurricane is not to be taken lightly. Hundreds of thousands of people have already evacuated. Officials are urging others in its path to follow suit or to prepare for the worst.
"Do not focus on the wind speed category of #Hurricane #Florence!" the National Hurricane Center said Thursday morning. "Life-threatening storm surge flooding, catastrophic flash flooding and prolonged significant river flooding are still expected.
Eight entire counties and portions of others in North Carolina are under mandatory evacuation orders. Gov.Cooper said he has activated 2,800 National Guard troops to help with storm relief with more personnel on reserve.
In South Carolina, Gov. Henry McMaster said some 421,000 people have evacuated in his state. Virginia has also issued evacuation orders.
Vicki Moulson, who teaches at a local community college in the Outer Banks, said she was planning to ride out the hurricane because she wants to be near her home and her friends.
"We're ready; I've been through probably 20 or more hurricanes living down here," she told NPR's Sarah McCammon. "I've been living down here for a really long time, so this one's OK."
Moulson said she initially planned to leave, but as the forecast for Florence weakened and shifted southward, she decided to stay. She said she is worried that if she evacuates, she'll get caught up in the massive flooding that's expected to affect the region. Emergency managers say people in evacuation zones should leave while they can.
The storm surge — often the most perilous risk to life posed by any hurricane — is expected to inundate areas along the coast with saltwater that's 7 to 11 feet deep, from Cape Fear, N.C., to Cape Lookout, N.C. A surge of at least 4 feet is predicted for a much larger area.
Calling the storm surge prediction "incredible," Graham said that because Florence is likely to nudge its way onto the coast, giving its hurricane winds lots of time to force water inland, he wouldn't be surprised "to see storm surge a mile, a mile and a half inland — maybe even 2 miles or more, in some cases."
The latest rainfall projections warn of 20 to 40 inches of rain from coastal North Carolina into northeastern South Carolina — amounts that could bring "catastrophic flash flooding," the hurricane center said. The rest of South and North Carolina, including cities from Charlotte to Raleigh, can expect 6 to 12 inches of rain — and up to 2 feet in isolated areas, the NHC warned. That forecast area also includes part of southwestern Virginia.
In addition to the hurricane's obvious risks, the National Weather Service says, "A few tornadoes are possible in eastern North Carolina through Friday."
Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
#Florence is expected to bring a life-threatening storm surge to portions of eastern North & South Carolina, and catastrophic flash flooding and prolonged significant river flooding are likely over portions of the Carolinas and the southern/central Appalachians. pic.twitter.com/j6HZco1Tsc
— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) September 14, 2018


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Concrete is pretty amazing stuff. It can be poured, shaped and made into just about anything you like. But even though it's incredibly strong, it's not indestructible. So, when you see cracked concrete or a driveway or patio that has sunken or broken slabs or is pitted, flaked and stained, there are reasons why these things happen.
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When the top layer flakes away, the concrete surface is left patchy and pitted.
Moisture is concrete's strongest enemy. It seeps into the pores of untreated concrete, and when temperatures drop, especially during freeze-thaw cycles, that trapped moisture expands as it turns to ice. This expansion destroys the pores and weakens the concrete. This results in concrete slabs that can pit and flake. Concrete's porous nature also makes it susceptible to staining when left untreated.
As a homeowner, you don't just have to worry about your own concrete slabs; you should be concerned with the slabs that make up the street that goes past your house.
During colder months, your street's slabs contract, opening up the joints between them. Those joints then become filled with pebbles and other debris. Then, when the warm weather returns, the slabs expand again - only the joints that were designed to absorb this expansion are now filled with material that won't compress. This leaves the expansion pressure nowhere to go except up your driveway. This "street creep," as it is known, exerts incredible pressure on your home and can cause all sorts of problems.
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A Huawei company logo is pictured at the Shenzhen International Airport in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China July 22, 2019. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo
SINGAPORE/WASHINGTON (Reuters): The U.S. Commerce Department is expected to extend a reprieve given to Huawei Technologies that permits the Chinese firm to buy supplies from U.S. companies so that it can service existing customers, two sources familiar with the situation said.
The "temporary general license" will be extended for Huawei for 90 days, the sources said.
Commerce initially allowed Huawei to purchase some American-made goods in May shortly after blacklisting the company in a move aimed at minimizing disruption for its customers, many of which operate networks in rural America.
An extension will renew an agreement set to lapse on August 19, continuing the Chinese company's ability to maintain existing telecommunications networks and provide software updates to Huawei handsets.
The situation surrounding the license, which has become a key bargaining chip for the United States in its trade negotiations with China, remains fluid and the decision to continue the Huawei reprieve could change ahead of the Monday deadline, the sources said.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to discuss Huawei in a call this weekend, one of the sources said.
Huawei did not have an immediate comment. China's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a faxed request for comment.
When the Commerce Department blocked Huawei from buying U.S. goods earlier this year, it was seen as a major escalation in the trade war between the world's two top economies.
The U.S. government blacklisted Huawei alleging the Chinese company is involved in activities contrary to national security or foreign policy interests.
As an example, the blacklisting order cited a criminal case pending against the company in federal court, over allegations Huawei violated U.S. sanctions against Iran. Huawei has pleaded not guilty in the case.
The order noted that the indictment also accused Huawei of "deceptive and obstructive acts".
At the same time the United States says Huawei's smartphones and network equipment could be used by China to spy on Americans, allegations the company has repeatedly denied.
The world's largest telecommunications equipment maker is still prohibited from buying American parts and components to manufacture new products without additional special licenses.
Many Huawei suppliers have requested the special licenses to sell to the firm. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told reporters late last month he had received more than 50 applications, and that he expected to receive more.
Out of $70 billion that Huawei spent buying components in 2018, some $11 billion went to U.S. firms including Qualcomm, Intel and Micron Technology.
The Commerce Department late on Friday declined to comment, referring to Ross's comments to CNBC television earlier this week in which he said the existing licenses were in effect until Monday.
Asked if they would be extended he said: "On Monday I'll be happy to update you."


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The Summer Olympics in Tokyo were supposed to start Friday.
The Games were, of course, postponeduntil next July because of the coronavirus outbreak. It forced thousands of athletes to pause and re-order their training schedules.
Butsome decided a year was too long to wait.
And now those athletes share a bond with U.S. Olympians 40 years ago. Their dreams also ended because of factors they couldn't control, when the U.S. boycotted the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics after the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan.
A career cut short
Wrestler Frank Molinaro, 31, was ready for Tokyo.
"Y'know I felt like I was firing on all cylinders," he said, "I felt the same way in 2016."
That's when the compact, muscular Molinaro won the U.S. Olympic Trials in the 143-lb weight class, and almost won a bronze medal at the Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro.
He believed 2020 would have been better.
"I had a clear mind and a light heart and I was in a state of zen. And, I just felt like my tactics and my techniques and moves were crisper and, y'know, just sharper than they've ever been.
"When you get [to the Olympics]," he said, "it's like everybody's an unbelievable athlete and you only have one or two days to be at your best. So some of it is timing and luck and destiny and faith. [But] I knew just being there ... it [would've been] my second time there ... I think I was definitely going to place to be honest."
But going for bust, as he puts it, ended amidst a pandemic and postponement.
For the father of three young boys, another year of preparing was daunting.
"Y'know [it meant] committing to another seven, 800 workouts," Molinaro said, "the weight management, the stress on my family."
After announcing his retirement, he was offered a job coaching college wrestling. He took it, and it helped take off some of the sting of ending a long competitive career without an Olympic medal.
"You try to plan," Molinaro said, "four years ahead, y'know, and sometimes you try to plan 10 years ahead and there's really no guarantee for your next breath. [Or]the next day. Things can get turned upside down."
The Olympics in sight and then vanished
Forty years ago, Craig Beardsley was locked in to his plan.
"When I was swimming, back in 1980," the now 59-year-old Beardsley said, "that's all I was doing. Swimming. And school."
As a freshman at the University of Florida, Beardsley finished second at the NCAA Championships in the 200 meter butterfly. In 1979, a year before the Moscow Summer Olympics, he won a gold medal at the prestigious Pan American games.
He was a rising star, with Moscow in his sights.
"My focus was myopic, my world was insular," Beardsley said.
But soon enough, the larger world forced its way in.
In late December of 1979, the then Soviet Union invaded neighboring Afghanistan. It was the first Soviet invasion of a country outside the Eastern Bloc, since World War II. U.S. President Jimmy Carter responded with talk of an Olympic boycott. Pulling American athletes from a global event the Soviets were bound to use as a propaganda tool.
In a 2014 Politico Magazine article adapted from his book "Dropping the Torch: Jimmy Carter, the Olympic Boycott, and the Cold War," author Nicholas Evan Sarantakes writes a boycott was popular; 55 percent of the American people supported the idea.
"But Olympians fervently opposed it," Sarantakes wrote. "Any boycott isn't going to change the Soviets' mind and isn't going to get troops out of Afghanistan," complained Julian Roosevelt, an American member of the International Olympic Committee. "I'm as patriotic as the next guy, but the patriotic thing to do is for us to send a team over there and whip their ass." Al Oerter, a four-time gold medalist in the discus who was trying to make a comeback at age 42, agreed: "The only way to compete against Moscow is to stuff it down their throats in their own backyard."
But by March of 1980, Carter was resolute when he spoke to a roomful of grim looking Olympic athletes at the White House.
"I can't say at this moment what other nations will not go to the Summer Olympics in Moscow," Carter said, "ours will not go."
Beardsley couldn't believe it would actually happen.
"I was like, why would they ever do something like that?" Beardsley said, "Don't people care about the importance of the Olympics and what it stands for? What it means to all these athletes around the world?"
Not even a miracle would help
In early 1980, people in the U.S. cared a lot after the stirring men's hockey victory over the Soviets at the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid.
The Adminstration worried the so-called Miracle on Ice might lessen support for a summer boycott. But intense pressure by Carter and top officials forced a bitter U.S. Olympic Committee to vote in favor.
The U.S. was the most prominent of nearly 70 nations that skipped the Games.
Beardsley kept swimming and aimed to qualify for the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, which the Soviets, bent on payback, would boycott. He was still training in Florida but not part of a team – he'd graduated from college in 1982. Many of his friends had moved on – back then, athletes often didn't have the lengthy careers they do now.
"In the back of my mind, I'm thinking am I really doing the right thing [by continuing to train]?" Beardsley said. "Shouldn't I be going out and getting a job?"
The doubts took their toll.
"Going into '80 it all was very natural and organic," he said. "Going into '84 it was all work."
Beardsley failed to qualify, and he walked away from the sport.
But it wasn't long before he returned to swimming, in a different way. In 1987, he got involved with an event that ultimately became the organization Swim Across America, which raises money for cancer research. Beardsley has stayed involved to this day, currently serving as Director of Partnerships. He says it rekindled his love for swimming and it's helped him deal with 1980.
Beardsley said some of his teammates who were forced to boycott are still "incredibly mad." But he's made peace with it.
"I put it into perspective," Beardsley said, "I didn't have to risk my life or make a sacrifice greater than just not going to an event."
Still, the experience remains unsettling at times. The hardest part of being on the 1980 team? In his words, "we don't know who we are."
The team with no result
That lost identity was a topic of a Zoom town hall in April for athletes who boycotted the 1980 Olympics. They discussed the boycott and also passed on advice to today's Olympians who were dealing with similar challenges related to the 2020 Games.
Former medal-winning rower and longtime International Olympic Committee member Anita DeFrantz recalled being at a gathering where they were honoring past Olympics.
There was nothing to show for Summer 1980.
"And I said 'oh my God,' " DeFrantz said, "that's it. We are the team with no result. They don't know our names. They don't care about us. Nobody knows what sports we're in. Our glory days do not exist. We are forever, the team with no result."
DeFrantz and other team members find it particularly galling that the boycott, in their words, didn't save a single life. The Soviets stayed in Afghanistan until 1989. But Rita Buck-Crockett, a top volleyball player on the 1980 team, said with the coronavirus, today's Olympians have a much different opportunity, as they deal with forces beyond their control.
"What you have to understand is," Buck-Crockett told current athletes on the Zoom call, "you are saving lives by not going to the Olympics this year. As hard as it is, you have only one year [delay] hopefully, and you're going to save a million lives."
If the Tokyo Olympics begin next July, those who delayed and then competed undoubtedly will be celebrated for taking part in one of the most memorable Games in history.
In a recent letter to the athletes of the 1980 team, Sarah Hirshland, CEO of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, wrote, "We can clearly state, you deserved better." And she announced they'll be part of the new USOPC Olympic museum, scheduled to open next week in Colorado Springs.
The team with no result, at least, will have a permanent tribute.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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Eight Arizona State University alumni are CEOs of companies named to Deloitte's 2013 Technology Fast 500™ list, according to information released by Deloitte on Nov. 12.
The ASU alumni whose companies made the list include:
- Sean Barry '93 B.S., of Bridgevine, Inc.
- Thomas R. Evans '76 B.S., of Bankrate, Inc.
- Diana P. Friedman '84 M.A., '89 M.B.A., of Sesame Communications
- Brian Gentile '92 M.B.A., of Jaspersoft Corporation
- Chet Kapoor '90 B.S.E., of Apigee Corporation
- John McDermott '83 B.S., of Endologix, Inc.
- Tim Miller '89 M.B.A., of Rally Software Development Corp.
- James Triandiflou '92 M.B.A., of Relias Learning
The Deloitte Technology Fast 500 is the pre-eminent technology awards program in United States and Canada. Combining technological innovation, entrepreneurship and rapid growth, Fast 500 companies – large, small, public and private – span a variety of industry sectors, and are leaders in hardware, software, telecom, semiconductors, life sciences and clean technology.
For more information on the Technology Fast 500 list, visit www.fast500.com.


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Body positive events for fat babes, BBW, fat liberation, fat activism and all round plus size party animals! Join us for club nights, speed dating, karaoke, theme nights and more! Plus size dating, BBW dating, BBW party, plus size events, plus size London, plus size speed dating, plus size karaoke, plus size quiz nights. BBW speed dating, BBW London.
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Click on the pictures to enlarge. Spotted someone you like? Then you'll have to come to our events to meet them!
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Review by The Enthusiast
Cubix was a largely undistinguished Korean CGI cartoon from the turn of the century. After two seasons, a few videogames, and a handful of mediocre Trendmasters toys, Cubix quietly disappeared forever.
Or did it? Last month a new, legitimate Cubix toy began popping up on eBay with some frequency, only available directly from Korea. Why did I notice? Why did I care? The magic word: magnetic. Youngtoys of South Korea has cranked out a new, deluxe magnemo version of the character. I have always found the neo-Tomy design of Cubix appealing, but the Trendmasters toys were lame. Now I have no excuse.
Cubix comes in a sturdy, respectable window box.
Accessories include an instruction sheet, decals, helicopter prop, and assorted kibble.
Cubix stands a solid 8" tall. While his marshmellows-embedded-with-skittles design may not appeal to everyone, I really dig it. All of those "skittles" in the limbs? Tin plates. Everything is solid, quality ABS, and the magnets give the figure real heft.
You can plug the helicopter prop into the head to rotate an interior cylinder with three different sets of eyes.
Like most magnemo toys, Cubix is weak in the posing department. Not terrible, but weak nonetheless.
The shoulders have notches in the magnets to create detantes.
Those magnets, though, boy. These are, hands-down, the strongest magnets I've ever encountered in a magnemo bot. Modern American and Japanese toys use anemic magnets which barely hold together. If some poor Korean kid swallowed Cubix, his gastrointestinal tract is done for.
Here are the constituent pieces. Notice all of the limb blocks stuck together? Yeah, I couldn't keep them apart.
So the gimmick here is that Cubix is reconfigurable into exciting alternate modes. Most of these end up looking like vague mounds of blocks.
This mode seems the most developed, with little bits of kibble to round it out. It still looks more like a conceptual sculpture than any kind of motorcycle, though.
Despite it's shortcomings, I really enjoy this thing. It's fun, funky, and totally unexpected.
Posted 19 March, 2011 - 15:29 by The Enthusiast |
3 comments postedOh hey, Cubix! I remember this. Only thing I can remember is seeing a few episodes and finding it utterly dull at the time unfortunately :(
Funny you.mention it being "tomy-esque" they indeed held the license for this show. I have the Tony version of this bots and it is mostly gokin, magnet, and some plastic and PVC. Pretty common a couple of years back on YJ. I got one cheap and I love it.
This was released in the UK. I had one but it was a floppy mess.


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If you lose your passport abroad
If your passport is lost or stolen
- Immediately report the offence in the online service of the Finnish Police(Link to another website.) if you can. If you are unable to report the offence in the online service, you should report the lost or stolen passport at the local police station and deliver the report to the nearest Finland's mission. Many countries have special tourist police officers who can receive your report.
- Ask for a copy of the report or the investigation document. You will need it later when you apply for a new passport or file an insurance claim, or if your lost passport is misused. The Finnish authorities do not file official reports of lost passports based on information provided over the phone.
- You can apply for a new passport at any Finnish mission abroad that issues passports. Check the nearest mission at the website finlandabroad.fi. If Finland does not have a diplomatic mission in the country where you are travelling, you can ask for assistance at a mission of another EU Member State(Link to another website.) to get an Emergency Travel Document (ETD) for your journey home.
What if your lost passport is found?
If your passport is found later, the local authorities usually deliver any found passports to the Finnish mission. The Finnish mission will send any found documents back to Finland, either to the issuing authority or to the police in the document holder's municipality of residence.
Once a passport has been reported to the Finnish authorities as lost or stolen, you can no longer use it.


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And not a nice dry, party balloon type pop either.
But a horrible, muffled, wet kind of pop.
I know this for a fact because last Thursday I saw it happen up close and personal right in front of me.
I was on my way home after a shitstorm of a day at work and, quite frankly, the last thing I wanted to see was a pigeon playing chicken on the main road that runs through the south part of town. But there he was (I'm assuming he was male, as females tend to have more sense). Strutting his stuff in the middle of the road. Damned stupid when nature had provided him with the means to make an instant airborne means of escape.
But no. He seemed determined to walk his way out of trouble.
I put it to you, my learned friends, that it is nigh on impossible to walk your way out of trouble when a double decker bus is turning 45 degrees and heading right on top of you at 25mph. The first wheel missed and the turn of the bus took the pigeon well underneath the undercarriage. When he emerged again into the light it was plain that the back wheel of the bus had crushed the pigeon's left wing.
The pathetic crawl-flap-crawl-flap commenced.
I felt decidedly green at this point and wanted to rush out and pick the pigeon up. Unfortunately the lights had changed and the through traffic was now starting to come the other way. Not one of them seemed intent on stopping or slowing down. And I confess a little voice in the back of my head was asking what difference any intervention I could possible make would ultimately have. Even if I got him to the vet did I really think they'd waste good money saving one pigeon out of the millions that were already lined up to take his place? The chances are they'd nod sadly and administer a lethal injection as soon as I was out of the door (electric chairs being so costly to run these days) and Mr Pigeon would be off to the incinerator. And all that would cost money too.
As it was there was no time to act anyway. The fourth car along completed the job the bus had started. I had to turn away before impact but could hear the moment of death plainly enough. When I turned back around there was a mass of mangled feathers and raw spaghetti spread all over the road. I felt sick. And I felt sad. And cross with myself for not leaping into the path of the oncoming traffic to save this poor suicidal pigeon. Ridiculous, I know.
Next day only a few feathers and a stain on the macadam remained. I'd like to say we will not see his like again but it just wouldn't be true.
To end then, I'd like to present you with a poem I wrote in my twenties (back in '92) about just this kind of pigeon centred demise. I no longer think the glib tone of the poem is at all fitting but it is all I have. Enjoy.