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Mineraluxe 3 Month Brominating Granules System
Item #: UML09708
This item is TEMPORARILY OUT OF STOCK
Usually Ships Within 1 Business Day
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Item Details
Mineraluxe Brominating Granules System - (3) Month
The Mineraluxe hot tub water treatment system is simple to use and provides luxurious, crystal clear water. The (3) Month Kit provides enough brominating granules, Mineraluxe Cubes and Mineraluxe Oxygen to treat your hot tub to the Mineraluxe system for a month in an average sized hot tub. It is a great way to get started when switching sanitizing systems or buying a new hot tub
Kit Includes:
- (1) 1.3 Pound Bottle of Brominating Granules
- (13) Mineraluxe Cubes
- (16) Mineraluxe Oxygen Pouches
Mineraluxe Brominating Granules:
- Mineraluxe Bromine Granules contains a blend of bromide salts and a chlorine activator for the production of active bromine in hot tub water for controlling harmful micro organisms. Ideal for regular hand feed applications, periodic shock treatments and to boost bromine levels when low.
Mineraluxe Cubes:
- The Mineraluxe Cube is the star of the Mineraluxe system. It's an advanced weekly mineral treatment, featuring a blend of natural minerals fused with advanced cleanse and repel technology. It will leave your hot tub squeaky clean and will dramatically reduce the scaling of heaters, jets, surfaces and equipment.
Mineraluxe Oxygen:
- Mineraluxe Oxygen provides a deep cleanse for your hot tub. This once a week application will oxidize your water and bring it back to an ultra clean and clear state. Conveniently packaged in pre-measured 1.5 ounce pouches for ease and convenience.
- Standard water maintenance chemicals such as Alkalkinity, pH, Calcium Hardness adjusters and test kit/strips are sold separately. This treatment system does however make maintaining your spa much easier with less fluctuations and hassle.


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A few feminists (mostly regular trolls of r/mensrights, but a few well-meaning ones) have already stormed off in a huff, citing the "rabid MRA spittle" of anger that "already permeates" the subreddit, after only being open for business a week or two, and others have retreated to r/egalitarian or r/equality after being forced to hear their beloved feminism maligned.
Some MRAs, on the other hand, accuse some posters and the head moderator of bias, intellectual dishonesty, intentional skullduggery, sock-puppetry, and an agenda of distract/divide/appropriate and thus conquer the MRM.
There have been complaints by MRAs regarding the name of the subreddit, indicating a degree of worry that an "ism" is, sorta by definition, based on ideological and advocacy concerns that don't necessarily conform to equality of rights between men and women. "Will masculism become like feminism, which has arguably become a movement with nothing much left that needs doing, but which doesn't know how to stop advancing women's interests for fun and profit?" Unlike feminism, the MRM's stated goals are right there in its name--and many members look forward to a day when they can declare "mission accomplished" and cease their work. (Personally, considering the state of things now and the natural, cultural and legal obstacles in the way, I'm neither holding my breath nor dreaming of drinking pina coladas on some beach anytime soon.)
I myself did not have high hopes for r/masculism, though it was difficult for me to articulate exactly why. Given that my SO was called on board to help moderate the forum, has had long discussions with its creator, and that he seemed cautiously optimistic about finding some common ground, I was really bothered by my misgivings, especially since it was very difficult for me to determine their exact source. He is...well, much more forgiving of wrongheadedness in others than I am, and has characterized me as antagonistic at times. And while this is certainly true--I can antagonize like whoa and like damn when someone is being obtuse or intellectually dishonest--I don't agree that allowing bullshit to stand is in any way correct or helpful.
My intuition was that I would not be able to participate on the subreddit in any meaningful way without having to don the mantle of "bullshit-caller" constantly, and after perusing some of the posts and participating in the comments, this intuition seems to have been accurate.
But it wasn't until I briefly discussed it with my SO yesterday morning, that I finally pinpointed the source of my doubts. When I mentioned that r/masculism was losing credibility with MRAs, he told me, "Seems to me that what MRAs want from feminists is an apology, and what feminists want is to not have to admit that feminism has fucked up or that they're wrong."
And while I think there is a grain of truth in what he said, I don't believe it's a true or complete picture of the situation. I don't think MRAs want an apology. I don't think they're that petty. What they do want is for feminists to acknowledge their fallibility, that they got it fundamentally wrong right from the start, and that they are continuing to get it wrong.
A quick look at some of the links and comments posted on r/masculism reveals that this is not something feminists seem prepared to do. Many links go to seemingly supportive articles on feminist blogs--blogs with other articles that are altogether different, such as this one, purporting to be supportive of helping male victims of domestic violence, which states:
I wish they had done a fourth ad showing a boy child as a future victim. Men are a minority of victims of intimate violence, but "minority" doesn't mean "nonexistent." There are male victims of intimate violence who require assistance, and there seems to be virtually no outreach to abused men. (The Family Place provides assistance to both female and male victims of violence.)
But the best evidence we have indicates that most intimate violence — and in particular, the most severe and harmful cases — are typically cases of men abusing women. Given that context, it's ridiculous that Glenn objects to the depiction of women suffering from male abusers. It's notable that Glenn didn't work to have a new ad added to the campaign, reaching out to male victims of abuse; that's a goal I could support. Instead, he campaigned to have these adsremoved. Whatever his intent, what Glenn's demands called for wasn't inclusion of male victims, but the erasure of female victims and male perpetrators....and which decry the efforts of the MRM as "anti-feminist", the tone being that "anti-feminist" is synonymous with being anti-woman, or with tearing down battered women's shelters, or with being against equal rights.
What MRAs want from feminists is an acknowledgement of empirically proven reality, and the above quote falls WAY short of that. What MRAs want from feminists is full concession that feminist interpretations of DV, rape and patriarchy itself are, and always have been, completely wrongheaded.
Yet when I mentioned to one commenter in r/masculism:
The entire feminist line of thought wrt rape being about power rather than sex is analogous to their views on domestic violence as evidenced in VAWA. The entire thing is constructed on the premise that both rape and domestic violence are patriarchal crimes--society-wide patriarchal oppression of women enacted on a microscale.
Both DV and rape (feminist interpretations thereof, I mean) have been held up as supporting evidence for the more general feminist Patriarchy Theory that formed the basis of feminist discourse on gender and power structures, privilege/disadvantage, gendered oppression, etc, and even helped to develop what many call "intellectual tools" for examining those issues (otherwise known as the feminist lens).
If there is mainstream acceptance that rape is NOT primarily about patriarchal power structures or views of women, and DV is NOT patriarchal oppression and violence on a microscale, it serves to discredit the entirety of feminist thought on gender, and on the nature of the tools we must use to examine it.
Feminist academics have a vested interest in dismissing all evidence that their supporting evidence is inaccurate or flawed, which makes their efforts to dismiss, discredit, disregard, manipulate and ignore the mountains of evidence wrt DV being essentially ungendered, very understandable (though no less malfeasant).
When you look at child abuse PSAs, the abuser is almost inevitably male, despite the empirically proven fact that mothers abuse and kill their children at a much higher rate than fathers do. While male child abusers do indeed exist, this mainstreaming of only one side of the problem poisons social perceptions of maleness and leaves women completely unaccountable for their (larger) share of the problem.
This is what we're talking about....what I get in response, over and over, is the same tired reasoning that it is "useful to examine" the different gendered motivations men and women have to hit each other, and how cultural views of women inform them--such as a woman who hits may feel like she's standing up for herself, or may not actually be trying to strike fear into a partner. Just more of the same--that men must be hitting for reasons consistent with the patriarchal terrorist paradigm, and that who knows (or cares) why women hit, so long as we can make excuses for them?
The CTS studies on domestic violence point to ungendered motivations for hitting. The only aspect of domestic violence that seems to be gendered to any degree is in the reporting differences between men and women--men are less likely to report being victimized (for a variety of reasons), men are more likely to understate both their own and their partners' perpetration (possibly indicating shame wrt both, or a desire to protect a female partner from consequences), and women are more likely to overstate both their own victimization (heh) and their own perpetration (wowza).
If domestic violence is gendered at all, it is in that as a culture, we teach boys and men that it is always wrong to hit girls and women, and we do not teach girls and women the inverse--in fact, we teach them that hitting boys and men is hunky dory, even funny, and an avenue to empowerment for which they will face no consequences, not even getting hit back. And we teach them that it is never okay for anyone to hit them, ever, for any reason, and if someone does hit them they are being victimized and deserve protection.
Is it any wonder then that woman will happily overstate their own perpetration? With the culture telling them men are fair game for a beating, and the law letting them off the hook for any bad behavior so long as they cry "victim", is it any wonder that they will overstate their victim status?
But no. The feminist paradigm of domestic violence as inherently gendered in its perpetration (wrt both rates and motivations) is entrenched in the hearts and minds of feminists. Men hit women because they view women as "less than". Men hit women more often than the inverse. If women do hit men as often, then men are less harmed by it.
How do you deal with someone like that? How do you find common ground? How do you attempt to do this and reconcile it with any sort of personal integrity or ethical dedication to truth? How do you attempt to find common ground with someone who refuses to set down the faulty tools they've been taught to use when examining what society, and gender's place in it, looks like?
Here's a snippet of conversation I recently had with a feminist man on reddit. His sally:
So what about 'women's lib'? not even 60 years later and I'm supposed to believe that everything[sic] that not only did they already achieve equality but they were the ones actually causing the oppression the entire time?
You have a long history of claiming that, and I can't imagine how you convinced yourself that. Trading protection from work, war, hunger, etc for being a sex object? Seems like a fairly one sided deal, no? Women get all these things and only have to give up one. That would be pretty oppressive if it was women who were forcing men to protect them. Is that what you think is happening? Women are wielding sex as a weapon to get what they want?My reply:
Is that because sex is a powerful weapon, or because it's the only agency that traditionally woman has?
I've never said that women caused the oppression. Only that they benefited from it and encouraged and enforced it, because the nature of the world up until recently would have rendered the alternative far more oppressive to them.His response:
Wait, so you actually agree with me that women's power in a 'traditional society' is derived sexually?
my head just exploded.My riposte:
Women certainly had other forms of agency available to them. Those forms of agency, however, had significant downsides and obstacles.
Listen, monogamy was a model of human interaction that springs from the cave, and could be rendered down to a very simple and powerful exchange:
A man got a shot at fathering children. In return for that shot, he provided resources and protection to his woman and children.
The majority of human behavior--especially, but not exclusively, wrt male/female interactions--can be inevitably reduced to a few primary motivators--individual survival, the ability to successfully pass on one's genes (generation and survival of offspring), and tribalism (bonds of family, community, etc).
For women, sex wasn't the only avenue to agency. It was just the one with the best cost/benefit ratio for most.
And that was pretty much the end of the conversation. He had nothing more to say. In light of our subsequent conversations, he's not convinced, but there was no logical argument with which he could refute my own.
There is no room in his feminist worldview for him--even as a man--to examine the issue from the other side of the gender fence, or through a different lens but that of feminism. For him, a woman was a sex object, and this was the worst thing ever (even if it was her best option at the time and improved her quality of life--not because of men or society, but because she could not realistically bring up children without being dependent on a man's resources).
There was no thought in his mind for where exactly this arrangement left a man, wrt sexual and reproductive agency. How this transaction objectified HIM. While it is sad that 400 years ago a woman's primary value was her ability to provide a man with children, it is equally sad to me that a man's primary value to a woman (and to the perpetuation of society) was his ability to provide a woman (and her children) with resources.
Warren Farrell called it "success objectification", and it is every bit as terrible and restricting and dehumanizing as sexual objectification, and just as much still with us today. If a woman had to sell access to her body in return for a living, then a man had to sell a living for access to a woman's body, didn't he? If either party wanted to procreate, this was the best deal available to each of them, even if it objectively sucked.
And all feminism's talk of historical male agency...well, yeah, I'm willing to concede that on the surface, men had more options--a million different forms of wage slavery (in a coal mine or a foundery or a factory or a forge or a barrister's office or a barracks) to choose from if they wanted a ticket in the genetic lottery. But if they wanted a ticket, they had to pay for it with cash on the table.
It isn't agency if you have to do it. It's only a choice between one form of slavery or another, a choice to either make horseshoes or plough a field all day, instead of writing poetry like you really wanted to, because writing poetry might keep your own belly full, but wouldn't bring you a "marrying wage".
My adversary on the internet is wearing very special glasses, and those glasses only allow him to see certain things from very specific angles. Those things all have to do with how women have always had things awful compared to men. Those glasses make him believe that it was obviously much worse to derive power with respect to the opposite gender through sexuality than through being seen as a walking ATM. He doesn't even see the men who sacrificed their health and their lives, the hours upon hours upon hours of labor when they'd rather have been doing something else, in order to spare their women the need to make those sacrifices themselves.
Those glasses make him believe that even though women initiate violence more than men do in relationships, that women are still more often the victims of violence in relationships because their reasons for hitting are different than men's. They make him believe that poster campaigns like this one and this one are better than nothing, instead of worse than nothing because they are lying to us about the nature of the problem, about the nature of society--both pre and post-feminism--and about the nature of men.
And while many would insist that any help--even wrongheaded help--is better than none, that if a feminist believes men are "the minority" of victims of severe DV still deserve support then we should bring that feminist on board...it just leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
Because that is not alliance--it's conditional assistance, and it is conditional upon them being allowed to go on believing the same lies as before, and spreading them, and feeding the problem even as they're supposedly trying to solve it. And someone who cannot or will not see truth, who is lying even when he believes he's telling the truth, isn't someone you can trust as far as you can throw him.

subset: commoncrawl


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The Vedas tell us that life exists everywhere in creation. Scientists looking for life on other planets may never find it, because their criteria for life-supporting environments are too restrictive. Life, being spiritual, doesn't depend on a certain mix of chemicals. The soul, or the life force, can exist within subtle forms imperceptible to scientific instruments. (We have some experience of this at night, when we exist in a subtle dream world.)
The total material energy contains many universes, which float in a relatively small space in the unlimited spiritual sky. Each universe is shaped like an egg, the shell being made up of seven elemental layers, each ten times thicker than the previous one, beginning from the innermost.
Each universe contains millions of planets, situated within fourteen systems, with earth in the middle region. The planets above the earth are realms of heavenly pleasure and are reached by souls who properly execute their religious duties as human beings on earth. The lower planets are places of darkness and are the destination of materialistic persons who reject the guidance of revealed scriptures.
The Vedas state the earth is the best place for spiritual advancement because it is relatively free of the extreme happiness or suffering found on other planets, making it suitable for focusing on spiritual thoughts.


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Many AFSCME members work in high-stress fields such as public safety, health care, emergency medical services and firefighting. Their jobs have become even more stressful since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced many of these workers to put their and their families' well-being at risk while serving their communities.
But when these everyday heroes face mental health issues as a result of the high-stress environment and duties that expose them to trauma, they are often expected to deal with such challenges on their own.
It's time to change that.
AFSCME supports an amendment to the Mental Health Matters Act (H.R. 7780) that would direct the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to study and make recommendations for workers whose mental health is affected by their work. The legislative proposal is based on AFSCME-endorsed legislation introduced by Rep. Frank Mrvan (D-Ind.) that the House of Representatives approved last month.
"This amendment recognizes the need to address mental health at an organizational level," AFSCME wrote to members of Congress.
AFSCME's letter adds that the amendment "recognizes that it is time we stop adding to the burden of probation officers, correction officers, public safety workers, health care workers and others by demanding that they 'deal with it' outside of work or figure out how to provide self-care when the nature of the work leaves them burnt out, stressed, or in despair that they do not want to share."
The amendment would require NIOSH to conduct research and fund training to identify workplace interventions that make a difference and achieve better mental health outcomes for workers. It calls on the agency to consult with other federal departments and agencies to research strategies and interventions for occupations with an elevated risk of workplace stress, post-traumatic stress or suicide attempts.
The need for federal research to address mental health in the workplace couldn't be more pressing. Rates of suicide among correctional officers are higher than that of the general population. For instance, a recent study in Massachusetts found that the average suicide rate of COs in the commonwealth between 2010 and 2015 was at least seven times higher than the national suicide rate and almost 12 times higher than the suicide rate for Massachusetts. Three out of four health care workers report exhaustion and burnout and feeling overwhelmed. Those are but a few examples.
AFSCME also supports legislation that would end the option for some health care plans to avoid providing parity for state and local government workers regarding behavioral health care benefits versus traditional medical care benefits. The House passed this legislative proposal with overwhelming bipartisan support in June as part of Restoring Hope for Mental Health and Well-Being Act of 2022 (H.R. 7666).
Workers in high-risk professions put their well-being on the line every day to protect us and make our communities better. It is time that our country protect them as well.


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Here at Fox Pest Control company, we have years of experience controlling bugs and rodents. We use this experience both professionally and at home.
We created our blog to share some of the tips and tricks we've learned for controlling pests in and around your home.
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DMC Eco Vita Wool Thread 701
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Projects can be hand washed at 30 degrees, so it's ideal for visible mending, darning, weaving or embellishing cherished textiles. There are over 60 luminous shades to choose from. From soft neutrals to bold vibrant hues, the natural dyes give the thread a gently mottled appearance that adds a touch of authenticity and organic beauty to your makes.
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Add some personality to your car or truck with these Occupation Decal Stickers! These vinyl decal stickers are perfect for adding a unique flair to your car, laptop, or any other flat surface. The stickers come in an array of fun and creative designs, featuring job titles such as nurse, teacher, fireman, and more. Made from a high-quality material, these decal stickers are UV and waterproof, so they won't fade or be affected by rain or bad weather. They are easy to apply to smooth surfaces and comes off without leaving any sticky residue. Personalize and customize your job title with these eye-catching Premium Decal Stickers and show off your profession with pride!
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Contact: Suzanne Trimel, 212-633-4150, [email protected], [email protected]
(New York) — Egyptian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release a detained blogger who has been on hunger strike for over a month and has lost 26 pounds, Amnesty International said today, as the bloggers health deteriorates.
The health of Maikel Nabil Sanad, 25, who has been on hunger strike since August 23, has greatly deteriorated since prison authorities took away vital heart medication, his family says.
"It is deeply worrying that Egypt's treatment of dissenters seems to have changed little since President Mubarak was in charge," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty International's deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa.
"Maikel Nabil Sanad must be released immediately and unconditionally. In the meantime, he must be given the medical attention he requires," she said.
The blogger was arrested on March 28 at his home in Cairo, tried in a military court in April and sentenced to three years' imprisonment over comments he made on Facebook, and for allegedly spreading lies and rumors about the armed forces on his blog.
He criticized the military's use of force against peaceful protesters in Tahrir Square, and described how he was detained and tortured by the Egyptian military in February.
His appeal against the court ruling is set for next Tuesday, October 4.
When his family visited him in the prison hospital on September 19, he told them the prison authorities had removed vital medication for his heart condition, arguing that since he is on hunger strike he cannot take his medication without being supervised by a doctor. He has not been seen by a heart specialist, however.
He has lost 26 pounds since he began the hunger strike and now weighs about 105 pounds.
"Doctors are telling us that people on hunger strike don't survive more than 40 days. Today is Maikel's 34th day. The most important thing for us right now is that Maikel receives appropriate medical care from a private hospital at least until his next court session on October 4," his brother Mark Nabil Sanad told Amnesty International.
"Maikel has vowed not to end his hunger strike until he's released. We've made several requests to the Egyptian authorities and we hold them responsible for anything that happens to Maikel," he added.
His brother told Amnesty International that Maikal claimed the prison authorities planted drugs in his bag in an apparent attempt to scare him into ending his hunger strike.
He handed the drugs to an official from the public prosecutor's office, who visited him in prison, and explained that there had been an attempt to frame him, his brother told Amnesty International.
Amnesty International considers Maikel Nabil Sanad to be a prisoner of conscience, detained solely for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression.
"Since protests began in Egypt at the beginning of the year, at least 12,000 people have been referred to military trials," said Mark Nabil Sanad.
"Nothing has changed since the 'revolution'."
"In fact, things are getting worse," he added.
Mark Nabil Sanad was recently threatened with prison by the authorities for his public support of his brother Maikel.
"Mark Nabil Sanad is being targeted simply for seeking to defend his brother from injustice," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui.
"The Egyptian authorities must immediately stop intimidating him. Any threats or abuses by security officers against him must be investigated and those responsible held accountable".
Amnesty International opposes the trial of civilians by military courts and considers these courts as fundamentally unfair, as they deprive defendants of some of the basic guarantees of fair trial, including the right to appeal.
In the Egyptian military court system, appeals are limited to legal points and do not include a review of the facts of the case and the evidence.
Amnesty International is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning grassroots activist organization with more than 2.8 million supporters, activists and volunteers in more than 150 countries campaigning for human rights worldwide. The organization investigates and exposes abuses, educates and mobilizes the public, and works to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied.
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Yesterday, Marie Colvin asked her friends and colleagues to break her newspaper's firewall and post her last report from the besieged Syrian enclave of Baba Amr, where she was the only British journalist. Today, she is gone, a victim of the government attack on the makeshift shelter for the foreign press. As per her wishes, here is her heartrending final report from Homs:
They call it the widows' basement. Crammed amid makeshift beds and scattered belongings are frightened women and children trapped in the horror of Homs, the Syrian city shaken by two weeks of relentless bombardment.
Among the 300 huddling in this wood factory cellar in the besieged district of Baba Amr is 20-year-old Noor, who lost her husband and her home to the shells and rockets.
"Our house was hit by a rocket so 17 of us were staying in one room," she recalls as Mimi, her three-year-old daughter, and Mohamed, her five-year-old son, cling to her abaya.
"We had had nothing but sugar and water for two days and my husband went to try to find food." It was the last time she saw Maziad, 30, who had worked in a mobile phone repair shop. "He was torn to pieces by a mortar shell."
For Noor, it was a double tragedy. Adnan, her 27-year-old brother, was killed at Maziad's side.
Everyone in the cellar has a similar story of hardship or death. The refuge was chosen because it is one of the few basements in Baba Amr. Foam mattresses are piled against the walls and the children have not seen the light of day since the siege began on February 4. Most families fled their homes with only the clothes on their backs.
The city is running perilously short of supplies and the only food here is rice, tea and some tins of tuna delivered by a local sheikh who looted them from a bombed-out supermarket.
A baby born in the basement last week looked as shellshocked as her mother, Fatima, 19, who fled there when her family's single-storey house was obliterated. "We survived by a miracle," she whispers. Fatima is so traumatised that she cannot breastfeed, so the baby has been fed only sugar and water; there is no formula milk.
Fatima may or may not be a widow. Her husband, a shepherd, was in the countryside when the siege started with a ferocious barrage and she has heard no word of him since.
The widows' basement reflects the ordeal of 28,000 men, women and children clinging to existence in Baba Amr, a district of low concrete-block homes surrounded on all sides by Syrian forces. The army is launching Katyusha rockets, mortar shells and tank rounds at random.
Snipers on the rooftops of al-Ba'ath University and other high buildings surrounding Baba Amr shoot any civilian who comes into their sights. Residents were felled in droves in the first days of the siege but have now learnt where the snipers are and run across junctions where they know they can be seen. Few cars are left on the streets.
Almost every building is pock-marked after tank rounds punched through concrete walls or rockets blasted gaping holes in upper floors. The building I was staying in lost its upper floor to a rocket last Wednesday. On some streets whole buildings have collapsed — all there is to see are shredded clothes, broken pots and the shattered furniture of families destroyed.
It is a city of the cold and hungry, echoing to exploding shells and bursts of gunfire. There are no telephones and the electricity has been cut off. Few homes have diesel for the tin stoves they rely on for heat in the coldest winter that anyone can remember. Freezing rain fills potholes and snow drifts in through windows empty of glass. No shops are open, so families are sharing what they have with relatives and neighbours. Many of the dead and injured are those who risked foraging for food.
Fearing the snipers' merciless eyes, families resorted last week to throwing bread across rooftops, or breaking through communal walls to pass unseen.
The Syrians have dug a huge trench around most of the district, and let virtually nobody in or out. The army is pursuing a brutal campaign to quell the resistance of Homs, Hama and other cities that have risen up against Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, whose family has been in power for 42 years.
In Baba Amr, the Free Syrian Army (FSA), the armed face of opposition to Assad, has virtually unanimous support from civilians who see them as their defenders. It is an unequal battle: the tanks and heavy weaponry of Assad's troops against the Kalashnikovs of the FSA.
About 5,000 Syrian soldiers are believed to be on the outskirts of Baba Amr, and the FSA received reports yesterday that they were preparing a ground assault. The residents dread the outcome.
"We live in fear the FSA will leave the city," said Hamida, 43, hiding with her children and her sister's family in an empty ground-floor apartment after their house was bombed. "There will be a massacre."
On the lips of everyone was the question: "Why have we been abandoned by the world?"
Ban Ki-moon, the secretary-general of the United Nations, said last week: "We see neighbourhoods shelled indiscriminately, hospitals used as torture centres, children as young as 10 years old killed and abused. We see almost certainly crimes against humanity." Yet the international community has not come to the aid of the innocent caught in this hell.
Abdel Majid, 20, who was helping to rescue the wounded from bombed buildings, made a simple plea. "Please tell the world they must help us," he said, shaking, with haunted eyes. "Just stop the bombing. Please, just stop the shelling."
The journey across the countryside from the Lebanese border to Homs would be idyllic in better times. The villages are nondescript clusters of concrete buildings on dirt tracks but the lanes are lined with cypresses and poplar trees and wind through orchards of apricot and apple trees.
These days, however, there is an edge of fear on any journey through this area. Most of this land is essentially what its residents call "Syria hurra", or free Syria, patrolled by the FSA.
Nevertheless, Assad's army has checkpoints on the main roads and troops stationed in schools, hospitals and factories. They are heavily armed and backed by tanks and artillery.
So a drive to Homs is a bone-rattling struggle down dirt roads, criss-crossing fields. Men cluster by fires at unofficial FSA checkpoints, eyeing any vehicle suspiciously. As night falls, flashlights waved by unseen figures signal that the way ahead is clear.
Each travelling FSA car has a local shepherd or farmer aboard to help navigate the countryside; the Syrian army may have the power, but the locals know every track of their fields.
I entered Homs on a smugglers' route, which I promised not to reveal, climbing over walls in the dark and slipping into muddy trenches. Arriving in the darkened city in the early hours, I was met by a welcoming party keen for foreign journalists to reveal the city's plight to the world. So desperate were they that they bundled me into an open truck and drove at speed with the headlights on, everyone standing in the back shouting "Allahu akbar" — God is the greatest. Inevitably, the Syrian army opened fire.
When everyone had calmed down I was driven in a small car, its lights off, along dark empty streets, the danger palpable. As we passed an open stretch of road, a Syrian army unit fired on the car again with machineguns and launched a rocket-propelled grenade. We sped into a row of abandoned buildings for cover.
The scale of human tragedy in the city is immense. The inhabitants are living in terror. Almost every family seems to have suffered the death or injury of a loved one.
Khaled Abu Salah, an activist who took part in the first demonstrations against Assad in Homs last March, sat on the floor of an office, his hand broken and bandages covering shrapnel wounds to his leg and shoulder.
A 25-year-old university student, who risked his life filming videos of the slaughter of Baba Amr residents, he narrowly escaped when he tried to get two men wounded by mortar fire to a makeshift clinic.
He and three friends had just taken the wounded to the clinic, which was staffed by a doctor and a dentist, and stepped away from the door when "a shell landed right at the entrance", he recalled last week.
"My three friends died immediately." The two men they had helped were also killed.
Abu Ammar, 48, a taxi driver, went out to look for bread at 8am one day last week. He, his wife and their adopted daughter had taken refuge with two elderly sisters after their home was hit by shells.
"When I returned the house was obliterated," he said, looking at all that remained of the one-storey building. Only a few pieces of wall still stood. In the ruins a woman's red blouse was visible; bottles of home-made pickled vegetables were somehow unscathed. "Dr Ali", a dentist working as a doctor, said one of the women from the house had arrived at the clinic alive, but both legs had been amputated and she died.
The clinic is merely a first-floor apartment donated by the kindly owner. It still has out-of-place domestic touches: plasma pouches hang from a wooden coat hanger and above the patients a colourful children's mobile hangs from the ceiling.
The shelling last Friday was the most intense yet and the wounded were rushed to the clinic in the backs of cars by family members.
Ali the dentist was cutting the clothes off 24-year-old Ahmed al-Irini on one of the clinic's two operating tables. Shrapnel had gashed huge bloody chunks out of Irini's thighs. Blood poured out as Ali used tweezers to draw a piece of metal from beneath his left eye.
Irini's legs spasmed and he died on the table. His brother-in-law, who had brought him in, began weeping. "We were playing cards when a missile hit our house," he said through his tears. Irini was taken out to the makeshift mortuary in a former back bedroom, naked but for a black plastic bag covering his genitals.
There was no let-up. Khaled Abu Kamali died before the doctor could get his clothes off. He had been hit by shrapnel in the chest while at home.
Salah, 26, was peppered with shrapnel in his chest and the left of his back. There was no anaesthetic, but he talked as Ali inserted a metal pipe into his back to release the pressure of the blood building up in his chest.
Helping tend the wounded was Um Ammar, a 45-year-old mother of seven, who had offered to be a nurse after a neighbour's house was shelled. She wore filthy plastic gloves and was crying. "I'm obliged to endure this, because all children brought here are my children," she said. "But it is so hard."
Akhmed Mohammed, a military doctor who defected from Assad's army, shouted: "Where are the human rights? Do we have none? Where are the United Nations?"
There were only two beds in the clinic for convalescing. One was taken by Akhmed Khaled, who had been injured, he said, when a shell hit a mosque as he was about to leave prayers. His right testicle had had to be removed with only paracetamol to dull the pain.
He denounced the Assad regime's claim that the rebels were Islamic extremists and said: "We ask all people who believe in God — Christians, Jews, Muslims to help us!"
If the injured try to flee Baba Amr, they first have to be carried on foot. Then they are transferred to motorbikes and the lucky ones are smuggled to safety. The worst injured do not make it.
Though Syrian officials prohibit anyone from leaving, some escapees manage to bribe their way out. I met refugees in villages around Homs. Newlywed Miriam, 32, said she and her husband had decided to leave when they heard that three families had been killed and the women raped by the Shabiha militia, a brutal force led by Assad's younger brother, Maher.
"We were practically walking on body parts as we walked under shelling overhead," she said. Somehow they made it unscathed. She had given an official her wedding ring in order to be smuggled out to safety.
Abdul Majid, a computer science student at university, was still shaking hours after arriving in a village outside Homs. He had stayed behind alone in Baba Amr. "I had to help the old people because only the young can get out," said Majid, 20, wearing a leather jacket and jeans. He left when his entire street fled after every house was hit.
"I went to an army checkpoint that I was told was not too bad. I gave them a packet of cigarettes, two bags of tea and 500 Syrian pounds. They told me to run."
Blasts of Kalashnikov fire rang out above his head until he reached the tree line. He said the soldiers were only pretending to try to shoot him to protect themselves, but his haunted eyes showed he was not entirely sure.
If the Syrian military rolls into Baba Amr, the FSA will have little chance against its tanks, superior weaponry and numbers. They will, however, fight ferociously to defend their families because they know a massacre is likely to follow any failure, if the past actions of the Assad regime are anything to go by.
The FSA partly relies on defections from Assad's army because it does not accept civilians into its ranks, though they perform roles such as monitoring troop movements and transporting supplies. But it has become harder for soldiers to defect in the past month.
Abu Sayeed, 46, a major- general who defected six months ago, said every Syrian military unit was now assigned a member of the Mukhabarat, the feared intelligence service, who have orders to execute any soldier refusing an order to shoot or who tries to defect.
The army, like the country, may well be about to divide along sectarian lines. Most of the officers are members of the Alawite sect, the minority Shi'ite clan to which the Assad family belongs, while foot soldiers are Sunni.
The coming test for the army will be if its ranks hold if ordered to kill increasing numbers of their brethren.
The swathe of the country that stretches east from the Lebanon border and includes Homs is Sunni; in the villages there they say that officers ordering attacks are Alawites fighting for the Assad family, not their country.
The morale of Assad's army, despite its superiority, is said to be low as it is poorly paid and supplied, although this information comes mostly from defectors. "The first thing we did when we attacked the house was race to the refrigerator," said a defector.
Thousands of soldiers would be needed to retake the southern countryside. Hafez al-Assad, Bashar's father and former president, crushed his problems with Islamic fundamentalists in 1982 by shelling the city of Hama into ruins and killing at least 10,000 men, women and children. So far his son appears to have calculated that a similar act would be a step too far for his remaining allies of Russia, China and Iran.
For now it is a violent and deadly standoff. The FSA is not about to win and its supplies of ammunition are dwindling.
The only real hope of success for Assad's opponents is if the international community comes to their aid, as Nato did against Muammar Gadaffi in Libya. So far this seems unlikely to happen in Syria.
Observers see a negotiated solution as perhaps a long shot, but the best way out of this impasse. Though neither side appears ready to negotiate, there are serious efforts behind the scenes to persuade Russia to pull Assad into talks.
As international diplomats dither, the desperation in Baba Amr grows. The despair was expressed by Hamida, 30, hiding in a downstairs flat with her sister and their 13 children after two missiles hit their home. Three little girls, aged 16 months to six years, sleep on one thin, torn mattress on the floor; three others share a second. Ahmed, 16, her sister's eldest child, was killed by a missile when he went to try to find bread.
"The kids are screaming all the time," Hamida said. "I feel so helpless." She began weeping. "We feel so abandoned. They've given Bashar al-Assad the green light to kill us."
Loyalties of 'desert rose' tested
Asma, the British-born wife of President Bashar al-Assad, may well be feeling a sense of divided loyalty as the violence continues in the Syrian city of Homs. Her family are from the area, which has been a focal point for many of the recent protests against her husband's regime and the Syrian army's brutal response.
Despite growing up in Acton, west London, Asma visited her family's home in Homs every year throughout her childhood. She is also a Sunni Muslim, unlike her husband, who comes from the country's minority Shi'ite community.
Asma, 36, has been criticised for displaying an "ostrich attitude", keeping a low profile as the conflict has intensified. She has refused to comment on the way her husband's regime has used tanks and other lethal means to crush protesters. In an email sent earlier this month, her office merely said: "The first lady's very busy agenda is still focused on supporting the various charities she has long been involved with as well as rural development and supporting the President as needed."
The daughter of a consultant cardiologist and a retired diplomat, Asma was born in London. She attended a Church of England state school in Acton and gained a BSc in computer science and a diploma in French literature from King's College London.
She went on to work for Deutsche Bank and married Assad in Syria in 2000. Now a mother of three, she was once described by Vogue as a "rose in the desert". In Homs, the beleaguered people may now take a different view.


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TV Wall Mounting Service Bulwell
Here at TV Wall Mounting Service Bulwell we are a local family run business that can help you with all your TV wall mounting and Aerial installation needs. We also offer a range of services from CCTV to phone line repairs.
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For Complete information click on above SCHOLARSHHIP link
The American Legion offers a number of scholarships and other resources to assist young people in their pursuit of higher education. Each year, the Legion facilitates the awarding of millions of dollars in scholarships to high school students. There are opportunities for everyone, including kin of wartime veterans and participants in Legion programs. The Legion also publishes a valuable resource in "Need a Lift?" – a comprehensive guide to seeking and obtaining scholarships.
NOTE: Each Post has it's own list of Scholarships and other Programs. Encourage your Legionnaires to place a high priority for the further education of our children. List the scholarships your Post sponsors. Use below as a model.
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Boys State Scholarship
American Legion Boys State is among the most respected and selective educational programs of government instruction for high school students. It is a participatory program where each participant becomes a part of the operation of his local, county and state government.
Boys State has been a program of The American Legion since 1935 when it organized to counter the Fascist inspired Young Pioneer Camps. The program was the idea of two Illinois Legionnaires, Hayes Kennedy and Harold Card, who organized the first Boys State at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield.
The American Legion Auxiliary sponsors a similar program for young ladies called Girls State. At American Legion Boys State, participants are exposed to the rights and privileges, the duties and the responsibilities of a franchised citizen. The training is objective and practical with city, county and state governments operated by the students elected to the various offices. Activities include legislative sessions, court proceedings, law enforcement presentations, assemblies, bands, chorus and recreational programs.
High school juniors are selected by local American Legion Posts to attend the program. In most cases, expenses associated with attending this program are paid by a sponsoring American Legion Post, a local business or another community-based organization.
American Legion Boys State is currently conducted in 49 Departments of The American Legion. Hawaii does not conduct a program. As separate corporations, Boys States vary in content and method of procedure, but each and every Boys State adheres to the basic concept of the program - that of teaching government from the township to the state level.
The Stanley Johnson Nursing / Health Science Scholarship is awarded to the student who continues his/her higher education pursuing a degree in nursing/medical or health science fields.
Stanley Johnson came to the United States from England at the age of 15. He worked for many years at the U.S. Challenge Company in Batavia, Illinois and later at Burgess-Norton in Geneva, Illinois. Stanley Johnson so loved this country that he joined the United States Armed Forces in World War I.
After being honorably discharged Stanley married Hattie Swan and together they worked tirelessly for the American Legion and the American Legion Auxiliary. Stanley served 52 years as Treasurer American Legion Post 504.
This scholarship was established by the Johnson's in honor of his niece, Jean Johnson, who was a British nurse. Because of the importance of encouraging our youth to become future doctors, nurses or other health related professionals American Legion Post ___ has continued awarding this scholarship to date.


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sentix Euro Break-up Index News
On this page we provide information about the latest development of the sentix Euro break-up Index. This indicator shows over time, how likely individual and institutional investors rate the probabilty of a breakup of the euro area (leaving at least one country) within 12 months time. Also it reflects which countries are particularly affected.


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Weight – 3 gm's
Dimensions – 1.02″ long (2.60 cm's)
Country of Origin – Mexico
This all Natural Vera Cruz Amethyst Pendant has great clarity and color. This pendant has sterling silver 725 fittings. This pendant comes with an adjustable waxed nylon cord – however a Sterling Silver 725 chain may be added at the shopping cart itself.
In stock
Weight – 3 gm's
Dimensions – 1.02″ long (2.60 cm's)
Country of Origin – Mexico
This Amethyst runs at a higher vibration than most other varieties. It has a strong spiritual focus. Used on the third eye, it activates the pineal gland – connecting you with your higher self, while also bringing balance and conflict resolution between the left and right hand hemispheres of the brain.
Working with Vera Cruz Amethyst helps to accelerate ones personal and spiritual growth exponentially, while at the same time keeping you humble and aware that there is always more to learn on the spiritual journey of life.
The clarity, luster and Laser Wand focus this crystal projects makes it a good candidate to use for crystal protection purposes. Vera Cruz Amethyst helps people that have traditionally struggled to achieve meditative states. This crystal helps one attain and stay in the "Beta" state. This special variety of Amethyst activates the heart chakra promoting universal love within oneself bringing a deeper sense of appreciation of seemingly non-important every day activities.
Read more regarding Vera Cruz Amethyst Properties at the link below (will open in a new tab/window)….


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The National Rifle Association of New Zealand (NRANZ) was founded in 1878 under the banner of the New Zealand Rifle Association (NZRA).
A regional-based national shooting competition of militia and volunteers had been taking place in New Zealand annually from 1861 and from then until 1877 was run by the Government Volunteers organisation. During the period 1878 - 1922 the organisation continued with two more name changes and in 1923, the National Rifle Association of New Zealand (NRANZ) was formed and has continued to this present day.
NRANZ administers the sport of Long Range Full Bore Rifle Shooting in New Zealand with its main aim to encourage and promote competitive target rifle shooting as a sport and the safe handling and use of firearms. The national office of the Association is sited on the Trentham Rifle Range Reserve and services the needs of its member clubs situated throughout New Zealand.
NRANZ actively promotes a junior shooter development programme which provides a pathway for young and new shooters to compete at national and international level. As well as the development of junior shooters, NRANZ participates in international competitions both at World Championships and Commonwealth Games events with considerable success.
NRANZ actively promotes the safe conduct of community-based rifle club shooting, a sport where all who participate do so on an equal footing. A sport that also teaches young and old alike the art of self control and determination though the development of the mental skills needed to succeed as a top marksman or woman.
Copyright © 2024 NRANZ | powered by Silverstripe | website by Rio Bravo Consulting


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Marzyeh Ghassemi, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Institute for Medical Engineering & Science
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Canadian CIFAR AI Chair at Vector Institute
Title: Designing Machine Learning Processes For Equitable Health Systems
Dr. Marzyeh Ghassemi focuses on creating and applying machine learning to understand and improve health in ways that are robust, private and fair. Dr. Ghassemi will talk about her work trying to train models that do not learn biased rules or recommendations that harm minorities or minoritized populations. The Healthy ML group tackles the many novel technical opportunities for machine learning in health, and works to make important progress with careful application to this domain.
Hoifung Poon, PhD
General Manager at Health Futures of Microsoft Research
Affiliated Professor at the University of Washington Medical School.
Title: Advancing Health at the Speed of AI
Abstract: The dream of precision health is to develop a data-driven, continuous learning system where new health information is instantly incorporated to optimize care delivery and accelerate biomedical discovery. In reality, however, the health ecosystem is plagued by overwhelming unstructured data and unscalable manual processing. Self-supervised AI such as large language models (LLMs) can supercharge structuring of biomedical data and accelerate transformation towards precision health. In this talk, I'll present our research progress on biomedical AI for precision health, spanning biomedical LLMs, multi-modal learning, and causal discovery. This enables us to extract knowledge from tens of millions of publications, structure real-world data for millions of cancer patients, and apply the extracted knowledge and real-world evidence to advancing precision oncology in deep partnerships with real-world stakeholders.
Despina Kontos, PhD
Matthew J. Wilson Professor of Research Radiology II
Associate Vice-Chair for Research, Department of Radiology
Perelman School of Medicine
University of Pennsylvania
Title: Radiomics and Radiogenomics: The Role of Imaging, Machine Learning, and AI, as a Biomarker for Cancer Prognostication and Therapy Response Evaluation
Abstract: Cancer is a heterogeneous disease, with known inter-tumor and intra-tumor heterogeneity in solid tumors. Established histopathologic prognostic biomarkers generally acquired from a tumor biopsy may be limited by sampling variation. Radiomics is an emerging field with the potential to leverage the whole tumor via non-invasive sampling afforded by medical imaging to extract high throughput, quantitative features for personalized tumor characterization. Identifying imaging phenotypes via radiomics analysis and understanding their relationship with prognostic markers and patient outcomes can allow for a non-invasive assessment of tumor heterogeneity. Recent studies have shown that intrinsic radiomic phenotypes of tumor heterogeneity for cancer may have independent prognostic value when predicting disease aggressiveness and recurrence. The independent prognostic value of imaging heterogeneity phenotypes suggests that radiogenomic phenotypes can provide a non-invasive characterization of tumor heterogeneity to augment genomic assays in precision prognosis and treatment.
Daguang Xu, PhD
Senior Research Manager
NVIDIA Healthcare
Title: Industrial Applied Research in Healthcare and Federated Learning at NVIDIA
Abstract: As the market leader in deep learning and parallel computing, NVIDIA is fully committed to advancing applied research in medical imaging. Our goal is to revolutionize the capabilities of medical doctors and radiologists by equipping them with powerful tools and applications based on deep learning. We firmly believe that the integration of deep learning and accelerated AI will have a profound impact on the life sciences, medicine, and the healthcare industry as a whole. To drive this transformative process, NVIDIA is actively democratizing deep learning through the provision of a comprehensive AI computing platform specifically designed for the healthcare community. These GPU-accelerated solutions not only promote collaboration but also prioritize the security of each institution's information. By doing so, we are fostering a collective effort in harnessing the potential of deep learning to benefit healthcare.
During this talk, I will showcase remarkable research achievements accomplished by NVIDIA's deep learning in medical imaging team. This includes breakthroughs in segmentation, self-supervised learning, federated learning, and other related areas. Additionally, I will provide insights into the exciting avenues of research that our team is currently exploring.
Negar Golestani, PhD
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Department of Radiology
Stanford University
Title: AI in Radiology-Pathology Fusion Towards Precise Breast Cancer Detection
Abstract: Breast cancer is a global public health concern with various treatment options based on tumor characteristics. Pathological examination of excised tissue after surgery provides important information for treatment decisions. This pathology processing involving the manual selection of representative sections for histological examination is time-consuming and subjective, which can lead to potential sampling errors. Accurately identifying residual tumors is a challenging task, which highlights the need for systematic or assisted methods. Radiology-pathology registration is essential for developing deep-learning algorithms to automate cancer detection on radiology images. However, aligning faxitron and histopathology images is difficult due to content and resolution differences, tissue deformation, artifacts, and imprecise correspondence. We propose a novel deep learning-based pipeline for affine registration of faxitron images (x-ray representations of macrosections of ex-vivo breast tissue) with their corresponding histopathology images. Our model combines convolutional neural networks (CNN) and vision transformers (ViT), capturing local and global information from the entire tissue macrosection and its segments. This integrated approach enables simultaneous registration and stitching of image segments, facilitating segment-to-macrosection registration through a puzzling-based mechanism. To overcome the limitations of multi-modal ground truth data, we train the model using synthetic mono-modal data in a weakly supervised manner. The trained model successfully performs multi-modal registration, outperforms existing baselines, including deep learning-based and iterative models, and is approximately 200 times faster than the iterative approach. The application of proposed registration method allows for the precise mapping of pathology labels onto radiology images, thereby establishing ground truth labels for training classification and detection models on radiological data. This work bridges the gap in current research and clinical workflow, offering potential improvements in efficiency and accuracy for breast cancer evaluation and streamlining pathology workflow.
Jean Benoit Delbrouck, PhD
Research Scientist
Department of Radiology
Stanford University
Title: Generating Accurate and Factually Correct Medical Text
Abstract: Generating factually correct medical text is of utmost importance due to several reasons. Firstly, patient safety is heavily dependent on accurate information as medical decisions are often made based on the information provided. Secondly, trust in AI as a reliable tool in the medical field is essential, and this trust can only be established by generating accurate and reliable medical text. Lastly, medical research also relies heavily on accurate information for meaningful results.
Recent studies have explored new approaches for generating medical text from images or findings, ranging from pretraining to Reinforcement Learning, and leveraging expert annotations. However, a potential game changer in the field is the integration of GPT models in pipelines for generating factually correct medical text for research or production purposes.
Bram van Ginneken, PhD
Professor of Medical Image Analysis
Chair of the Diagnostic Image Analysis Group
Radboud University Medical Center
Title: Why AI Should Replace Radiologists
In this talk, I will provide arguments for the thesis that nearly all diagnostic radiology could be performed by computers and that the notion that AI will not replace radiologists is only temporarily true. Some well-known and lesser-known examples of AI systems analyzing medical images with a stand-alone performance on par or beyond human experts will be presented. I will show that systems built by academia, in collaborative efforts, may even outperform commercially available systems. Next, I will sketch a way forward to implement automated diagnostic radiology and argue that this is needed to keep healthcare affordable in societies wrestling with aging populations. Some pitfalls, like excessive demands for trials, will be discussed. The key to success is to convince radiologists to take the lead in this process. They need to collaborate with AI developers, but AI developers and the medical device industry should not lead this process. Radiologists should, in fact, stop training radiologists, and instead, start training machines.
Andrey Fedorov, PhD
Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School
Lead Investigator, Brigham and Women's Hospital
Title: NCI Imaging Data Commons:Towards Transparency, Reproducibility, and Scalability in Imaging AI
The remarkable advances of artificial intelligence (AI) technology are revolutionizing established approaches to the acquisition, interpretation, and analysis of biomedical imaging data. Development, validation, and continuous refinement of AI tools requires easy access to large high-quality annotated datasets, which are both representative and diverse. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) Imaging Data Commons (IDC) hosts over 50 TB of diverse publicly available cancer image data spanning radiology and microscopy domains. By harmonizing all data based on industry standards and colocalizing it with analysis and exploration resources, IDC aims to facilitate the development, validation, and clinical translation of AI tools and address the well-documented challenges of establishing reproducible and transparent AI processing pipelines. Balanced use of established commercial products with open-source solutions, interconnected by standard interfaces, provides value and performance, while preserving sufficient agility to address the evolving needs of the research community. Emphasis on the development of tools, use cases to demonstrate the utility of uniform data representation, and cloud-based analysis aim to ease adoption and help define best practices. Integration with other data in the broader NCI Cancer Research Data Commons infrastructure opens opportunities for multiomics studies incorporating imaging data to further empower the research community to accelerate breakthroughs in cancer detection, diagnosis, and treatment. The presentation will discuss the recent developments in IDC, highlighting resources, demonstrations and examples that we hope can help you improve your everyday imaging research practices – both those that use public and internal datasets.
Roxana Daneshjou, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor, Biomedical Data Science & Dermatology
Assistant Director, Center of Excellence for Precision Heath & Pharmacogenomics
Director of Informatics, Stanford Skin Innovation and Interventional Research Group
Stanford University
Title: Building Fair and Trustworthy AI for Healthcare
Abstract: AI for healthcare has the potential to revolutionize how we practice medicine. However, to do this in a fair and trustworthy manner requires special attention to how AI models work and their potential biases. In this talk, I will cover the considerations for building AI systems that improve healthcare.
Mildred Cho, PhD
Professor of Pediatrics, Center of Biomedical Ethics
Professor of Medicine, Primary Care and Population Health
Stanford University
Title: Facilitating Patient and Clinician Value Considerations into AI for Precision Medicine
For the development of ethical machine learning (ML) for precision medicine, it is essential to understand how values play into the decision-making process of developers. We conducted five group design exercises with four developer participants each (N=20) who were asked to discuss and record their design considerations in a series of three hypothetical scenarios involving the design of a tool to predict progression to diabetes. In each group, the scenario was first presented as a research project, then as development of a clinical tool for a health care system, and finally as development of a clinical tool for their own health care system. Throughout, developers documented their process considerations using a virtual collaborative whiteboard platform. Our results suggest that developers more often considered client or user perspectives after changing the context of the scenario from research to a tool for a large healthcare setting. Furthermore, developers were more likely to express concerns arising from the patient perspective and societal and ethical issues such as protection of privacy after imagining themselves as patients in the health care system. Qualitative and quantitative data analysis also revealed that developers made reflective/reflexive statements more often in the third round of the design activity (44 times) than in the first (2) or second (6) rounds. These statements included statements on how the activity connected to their real-life work, what they could take away from the exercises and integrate into actual practice, and commentary on being patients within a health care system using AI. These findings suggest that ML developers can be encouraged to link the consequences of their actions to design choices by encouraging "empathy work" that directs them to take perspectives of specific stakeholder groups. This research could inform the creation of educational resources and exercises for developers to better align daily practices with stakeholder values and ethical ML design.
Ifeoma Okoye MBBS, FWACS, FMCR
Professor of Radiology and Director
University of Nigeria Centre for Clinical Trials
College of Medicine, University of Nigeria
Title: Deepening Collaboration with Stanford & Pennsylvania, Toward Developing Joint Strategies to Close the 'Cancer Care' & 'Clinical Trial Volume' Gap in LMICs
In this seminar I will be addressing the dire cancer survival outcomes in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), with a particular focus on Sub-Saharan Africa. Cancer survival rates in Sub-Saharan Africa are alarmingly low. According to the World Health Organization, cancer deaths in LMICs account for approximately 70% of global cancer fatalities. In Nigeria, the five-year survival rate for breast cancer, one of the most common cancers, stands at a disheartening 10-30%, compared to over 80% in high-income countries. This stark disparity highlights the urgent need for sustained comprehensive cancer interventions in our region.
Here, I will discuss the pivotal role in the cancer control sphere, of a new software, ONCOSEEK, capable of early detecting 11 types of Cancers! It's particular emphasis on the Patient Perspective, which aligns with our ethos of need for holistic patient care. In addition I will discuss recent developments on collaborative effort with the Gevaert lab at Stanford University and the University of Pennsylvania.


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Thursday, September 18, 2014
As I mentioned in my earlier post on Tungareshwar, this is the first time I tried my hand at lifeforms photography. I loved the output I got from my camera. All photos are clicked by Panasonic Lumix TZ11. Clicked photos of Worms, Crabs, Butterflies, Moths, Chameleon, Grasshopper, Cricket, Dragon Fly and a Dead Frog.
The dead frog, which Johnson fooled us, stating that it is alive :) |


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By Thomas Hillier
Real property development reveiew
Davis Dwight & Tremaine LLP
Oregon business law firm
A little context is in order.
In 1959, to remain competitive for loan dollars, Oregon adopted the Oregon Trust Deed Act to establish trust deeds as a real estate security instrument. For lenders needing to foreclose, the act created a summary, nonjudicial procedure that bypassed the courts and allowed no redemption rights for borrowers. Foreclosure previously was a judicial process taking two years or more to complete; now it could be done in six months with the summary procedure.
Lenders were happy because the time to liquidate a non-performing loan was substantially reduced. Borrowers benefited because there was no right to a deficiency if the debt exceeded the value of the property and borrowers could cure defaults during the foreclosure process by paying only the amount in arrears rather than the full loan balance.
Trust deeds quickly became the favored real estate security instrument.
In 1993, in part to respond to a growing practice wherein lenders were bundling loans secured by trust deeds and selling them in secondary markets, a group of mortgage industry participants formed MERS and the MERS system.
Anytime a loan is sold from one member of the MERS system to another, the sale is tracked using the MERS system. MERS, the named beneficiary as nominee for the original lender and its assigns, remains the beneficiary as the loan is sold and becomes an agent of the new note owner. With no change to the named beneficiary, there is nothing to publicly record, an administrative convenience accomplishing a central purpose of MERS.
As MERS grew in acceptance, so did its popularity. Nationwide, there are more than 3,000 lender members of MERS that account for approximately 60 percent of all real estate secured loans nationwide.
The onslaught of the Great Recession resulted in a tremendous spike in foreclosure activity. To defend foreclosure proceedings, borrowers challenged the authority of MERS, in its own name, to foreclose non-judicially.
Because the trust deed is a creature of statute, the statutory elements allowing a nonjudicial foreclosure must be followed strictly. One such element is the requirement that the name of the beneficiary and any assignee be in the public record. Niday argued that the lender, not MERS, was the beneficiary. MERS countered that it was the named beneficiary in the trust deed and had the contractual right to foreclose as nominee of the lender and its assigns.
The court sided with Niday, holding that MERS is not a "beneficiary" as defined by the act. The court wrote that the beneficiary is "the person to whom the underlying, secured obligation is owed." It reasoned that because the lender is owed the money, that party is the beneficiary. Only the person to whom the obligation is owed and whose interest is of record may legally prosecute a nonjudicial foreclosure.
What does all of this mean? Maybe nothing if the Supreme Court finds that the Court of Appeals defined "beneficiary" too narrowly.
Short of that, many issues arise. What is the effect on completed nonjudicial foreclosures of MERS trust deeds? Such sales may be void, in which case the ownership and right to possession of thousands of foreclosed properties fall into legal limbo. Perhaps the sales are only voidable, requiring a lawsuit by the borrower within a limited time to challenge the foreclosure sale.
Titles may now be in doubt for people who bought properties either at a foreclosure sale or further along the line. Also, no market may exist for these properties if title insurers choose not to insure titles until there is some clarity.
Going forward, will MERS lenders do business in Oregon? And if so, at what cost? Loans may be more expensive to administer because they either require that all assignments be documented and recorded or foreclosure via the more expensive judicial method. As such, loans in Oregon could demand higher interest rates.
Courts will see a sharp increase in the number of judicial foreclosure filings; it's happening in Multnomah County already. An already overcrowded judicial system will gain additional burdens.
The Legislature could step in to fix the issue by clarifying the definition of "beneficiary" to include a nominee of the lender, such as MERS. But is there political will to legislate a solution that, on the surface, seems to benefit lenders?
A practice that for many years roamed freely under the radar has suddenly exploded to the surface, leaving the mortgage industry in limbo. Quick answers to the numerous issues now pending are imperative to restore certainty to real estate markets.
Disclaimer: Articles featured on Oregon Report are the creation, responsibility and opinion of the authoring individual or organization which is featured at the top of every article.


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So. I've talked about things not to say to a depressed person before. People have often asked me how, then, one should go about it instead.
One of the nicest things that ever happen to depressed people is when one of our close friends or family members tells us emphatically that they want to "be there" for us. This is great. Depressives aren't easy to deal with, and anyone who chooses to do so deserves respect.
There are right ways to go about being supportive, and there are wrong ways to go about it. I'm going to try to illuminate some of the right ways here. Don't worry, it's not hard.
- Be honest and specific about the extent to which you are able and willing to help.
- If you're not, one out of two things will happen–the depressed person won't take you seriously and won't come to you for help anyway, or they will overestimate the extent to which you can help them, and this leads to extreme frustration for both of you.
- If you're very busy most of the time, tell them a specific time when you're free to talk. This is important because depressed people often feel even worse at the thought of there being nobody available to talk to them, or of people being busier than they are.
- If you're available to listen but have no idea what to say in response, tell them that. They might be able to suggest ways to respond, or they might tell you that just listening helps.
- If you don't really like hearing depressing things for personal reasons but still want to help, explain that, and offer to help them do things to take their mind off of their depression, such as watch movies or cook together. Sometimes, that helps as much or more than just listening to someone.
- Depressed people are, for lack of a better word, very fragile. They get upset by things that "normal" people don't get upset by.
- This is not the time to make "constructive criticism" or point out mistakes that the person has made. For instance, some depressed people have substance abuse problems. Do not say "You need to stop drinking or else you'll only get worse." All that does is make the person feel guilty and ashamed. First of all, you're (I'm assuming) not a therapist, so you're not an expert on how to cure depression. Second, if you'd like to make suggestions for improvement, frame them them very carefully. Perhaps, "I've noticed that you tend to feel worse after you've been drinking. Have you thought about trying to stop?"
- If this sounds like sugarcoating or handling people with kid gloves, maybe it is. Maybe it seems silly to you. But remember that this isn't about you. It's about someone else.
- In relation to the first point I made, be really sensitive about how you tell the person that you're busy/otherwise unavailable and can't talk to them or help them. Don't just be like, "I have to go to bed now. Bye." Say something like, "I need to go to bed because I'm really tired, but I hope you feel better and I'll talk to you again soon." Remember that unless you specify that you're tired but that you wish you could help, a depressed person is likely to assume that you're just trying to give them the slip. Try not to be offended by this. It's not because you haven't been a good enough friend; it's just how their brain works.
- If you're not comfortable listening to someone talk on and on about really sad things, that's perfectly understandable and okay. If you still want to help them, there are other ways.
- As I mentioned earlier, one thing that really helps depressed people is getting them out of bed/off the couch and doing something. Offer a pleasant but engaging activity that doesn't require too much social interaction or new situations–watching movies, cooking, exercising, going to see a lecture or exhibit, going to a small social gathering (NOT a huge party with lots of drinking), taking a walk, going shopping, etc. If you're both students and have a lot of homework/studying to do, you can invite the person to do that with you. Even if you're not actually interacting, it's nice to be around people.
- You can also help in very small but practical ways. Get notes for them if they miss class (but encourage them to try to go next time), tell mutual friends that they're going through a hard time and need extra support, help them search for a therapist or psychiatrist, that type of stuff.
- I can't stress this enough. Honestly, the shit that can come out of a depressed person's mouth is pretty ridiculous at times. I'm obviously not proud to admit this, but I have occasionally been known to scream (electronically or otherwise) things like "FINE GO AHEAD AND HATE ME" and "I GUESS YOU WON'T CARE IF I DIE" at people.
- This, I'm sorry to say, is just part of the package. Depression really fucks with people's ability to process things rationally. Although there are things you can do to avoid such a reaction (see "Be a bit kinder than you would normally be," above), it may still happen, and it's not your fault. Don't make this about yourself, don't react defensively, don't accuse the person of not appreciating your friendship.
- If they say something that really does bother you, it's perfectly fine to bring it up when they're calmer and less upset. But don't do it while they're freaking out about something.
- The reason I say this is because this is where I've most often seen things go terribly wrong. Written communication has a way of seeming much more curt, rude, and inconsiderate than it really is. Depressed people are already overly sensitive to things like this, so communicating in writing can make it even worse.
- That's not to say that you should rule texting and the internet out entirely. Just take care to make up for the lack of body language. You can't smile reassuringly, touch someone on the shoulder, or hold their hand over the internet. So if you're saying something that can be interpreted ambiguously, be very cautious. With depressed people, there's a certain Murphy's Law–if it can be interpreted negatively, it will be.
- Some ways to combat this are to use emoticons to help convey emotion, to express things more clearly, and to ask the person how he or she is interpreting what you're saying as a way of checking in.
- This is a big one. I've written before about the tendency of people to want to "fix" others by immediately offering them advice, but this really fails when it comes to depressed people.
- First of all, depression is different from ordinary sadness in a qualitative, not quantitative, way. In other words, it's not "more" sadness, it's a "different" sadness. What works for you when you're feeling a bit down probably isn't going to be what works for someone with a clinical disorder. This is why all those entreaties to "just put yourself out there!" and "just smile!" and "just get some sleep!" really, really fall on deaf ears when it comes to depressed people. Trust me, we've tried all of that, and much more.
- Second, advice probably isn't what they're looking for (unless they tell you so). When people are upset, not only are they not in the right frame of mind to evaluate your suggestions accordingly, but what they probably really want is for someone to agree that things are hard for them and to sympathize with that. In other words, don't be like, "Oh, that's no big deal, you can just try x, y, and z." Try "Wow, that must be really hard for you, but I believe that you'll get better."
- This is rarely done maliciously; I think it's usually by accident. Sometimes people who are close to a depressed person become frustrated or resentful, which is natural. However, just because it's natural doesn't mean you should necessarily express it–at least not in the way that most people do.
- If you find that helping the person is taking up too much of your time and energy, that's absolutely a fair conclusion to come to. But that doesn't mean you have the right to blame the depressed person for it. You choose how to spend your time, not they.
- The correct way to address this, in my opinion, is to explain calmly that you feel like you've been putting too much of yourself into helping this person. Explain that, since you're not a therapist, you can't devote as much time and energy as the person might need. Clarify that you still care about them, but that you need to focus on yourself more.
- The reason this is so important is twofold. First of all, depressed people can't help the fact that they need support. They just do. Making them feel ashamed of that does no good. Second, some depressed people are suicidal, and one of the biggest causes of suicidality is feeling like a burden to others. This is why you should try not to make a depressed person feel like a burden to you.
So there you go. I'm sure there will be a followup post to this because it's such a big issue for me. Feel free to ask if you have any questions!


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Our Cricket Books and Memorabilia October 2017 Catalogue
Roger Page Cricket Books and Memorabilia October 2017 Catalogue has now been released with a new range of cricket books for everyone. The catalogue is available every two months. It contains a large range of cricket books on a wide variety of subjects relating to cricket.
Roger's cricket book catalogue is available in a number of formats.
- Online via the Internet
- Electronically via a pdf document through email
- By hardcopy through the post.
If the book your are looking for is not here, send me an email or fill out the inquiry form at Contact / Order Roger Page Cricket Books. To learn more about Roger himself visit the about page. Check out the Roger Page Cricket Books Facebook page. We look forward to hearing from you. If you would like an electronic copy (soft copy) of Roger Page Cricket Books, please email Roger or complete the enquiry form on this website.
This List is a selection of current sock in the following categories:
A: Annuals and Periodicals – October 2017
B: Cricket Anthologies – October 2017
C: Cricket Autobiographies – October 2017
D: Cricket Biographies – October 2017
E: Cricket History Books – October 2017
F: Souvenir Brochures and Booklets – October 2017
G: Cricket Tour Books – October 2017
H: Miscellaneous Cricket Books – October 2017
I: Collectors' Cricket Books – October 2017
J: New Cricket Books – October 2017
To read a recent review of Roger Page Cricket Books can be found at the Cricket Couch.
Terms and Conditions
Unless otherwise stated, all books in good condition and bound in cloth boards. Books once sold cannot be returned or exchanged. G.S.T. of 10% to be added all listed prices for purchases within Australia. Please carefully read the postage and handling charges on the right sidebar. Overseas Remittances – bank drafts in Australian currency – should be made payable at the Commonwealth Bank, Greensborough, Victoria, 3088, Australia. Mastercard and VISA accepted.
Enquiries for all other items are welcome.
Cricket books and collections purchased.


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Apr 17, 2015
#CMKY2015 Spotlight: Feminism + Techno, A Shifting Paradigm
"I've spent my entire life being a minority in male-dominated fields. I was the only girl with a modem in my area code in 1987,… More
Communikey (CMKY) is a Boulder-based interdisciplinary organization dedicated to social, cultural and ecological innovation through creative process. We facilitate forward thinking cultural experiences that emphasize the intersection of sound, design and technology in artistic forms that are under-represented. Communikey forges a creative exchange across cultures, backgrounds, and mediums while fostering the development of the local arts community.
CMKY presents Prism // Sat 6 Oct 2018
Abby Echiverri (Live / The Bunker New York)
Auscultation (Live / 100% Silk, 1080p)
Haustier (DJ + Installations / Vague Terrain)
Experimental Housewife (DJ / Perfect Location Records)
Rose Cherami (Visualist / True Indigo)
21+ // 9:30p – 2:00a
Cafe Du Nord // 2174 Market St. San Francisco CA 94114
The once Boulder-based Communikey (CMKY) will re-launch its one-off series beginning in San Francisco under the name "Prism". Now with members rooted in various cities across North American, CMKY's Prism will be devoted to bringing new collaborations and intersections to the dance floor while maintaining its already celebrated curatorial excellence.
The first official date of the series will be SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6 at CAFE DU NORD with special guests AUSCULTATION (100% Silk, 1080p) and ABBY ECHIVERRI (The Bunker New York). Both prolific producers in their own right, Echiverri's recent debut, Ab Initio, is a breath of fresh air in sea of standard issue dance tracks; the record bears only a taste of her live presence. Melody-centric musician Joel Shanahan of Auscultation weaves lofty bedroom jams that can be turned around into transformative dance floor magic. He has released works on 100% Silk, 1080p, and Tree Tapes.
These live hardware performances will be complemented by Bay Area-based artists HAUSTIER (Vague Terrain) and EXPERIMENTAL HOUSEWIFE (Jacktone, Perfect Location), and visualist ROSE CHERAMI (True Indigo).
Prism wishes to offer a type of crucial reclamation: CMKY is focused on community building, storytelling, emergent artforms and colorful exuberance. In the wake of current events, Communikey members new and old share a matured mission for the collective. CMKY now bears specified value in inclusivity, safer spaces, and effort in dismantling monopolized practices.
Apr 17, 2015
"I've spent my entire life being a minority in male-dominated fields. I was the only girl with a modem in my area code in 1987,… More
Apr 15, 2015
Whether you're coming in from out of town or have lived in Boulder your entire life, Festival participants should use the #CMKY2015 guide to get around town… More
Apr 14, 2015
Communikey Festival 2015 begins this Thursday, April 16 in Boulder, Colorado with our first DJ Boutique downstairs at eTown Hall, which serves once again as… More
Apr 14, 2015
The 2015 Communikey Festival goes down next week in Boulder, Colorado. From April 16-19, artists and visitors will descend upon the small Front Range community… More
Apr 13, 2015
Communikey would be nothing without our sound providers; and for this year's edition, we've enlisted the help of the Seattle-based Starborne Sound to keep the… More


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As President Donald Trump attempted to sow doubt on this week's presidential election during a Thursday news conference, several Republican lawmakers criticized Trump for his comments.
Currently, Joe Biden is projected to be ahead in the Electoral College vote. Biden is ahead by a 264-213 margin, according to the Associated Press.
Trump made a multitude of false and misleading statements to sow doubt into the legitimacy of the election. Among them, Trump said that he won the state of Michigan. Biden won Michigan by a 150,000- vote margin.
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan was among those who offered the strongest criticism of Trump.
There is no defense for the President's comments tonight undermining our Democratic process. America is counting the votes, and we must respect the results as we always have before. No election or person is more important than our Democracy. https://t.co/BOO2iaTsEf
— Larry Hogan (@LarryHogan) November 6, 2020
Among those who also spoke out was Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, who was the only Republican to vote to impeach Trump earlier this year. Romney was more muted with his response, not mentioning Trump directly.
— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) November 6, 2020
Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., who just won re-election for his sixth term, referred to Trump's comments as "insane."
We want every vote counted, yes every legal vote (of course). But, if you have legit concerns about fraud present EVIDENCE and take it to court. STOP Spreading debunked misinformation... This is getting insane.
— Adam Kinzinger (@RepKinzinger) November 6, 2020


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Your school may begin your application for recognition and complete it by the end of the school year. Get Started navigateright
Tree Campus K–12 inspires the next generation of tree stewards through experiences that bring the benefits of trees to life both inside and outside the classroom. The program fosters positive connections between youth and the trees in their community and cultivates within its participants a lifelong respect for trees on a global scale.
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