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I sometimes wonder if the events that happen on the national stage are real or imagined. This has been occurring with much more frequency in the past five years than ever before, so much in fact, that I have begun to question my own sanity. Certainly so many hundreds of thousands of people could not be this absurd!
Perhaps I am living in some sort of computer program that is set to have events become more and more bizarre until the subject (me) either has a breakdown or realizes that what is occurring simply cannot be reality.
This fast food restaurant has been all over the news lately and if you haven't heard of them, well, you should read more news.
No, I take that back. The news is what propagates the stupid. Better to read a good magazine instead.
I thought about how I would explain this news to one of my former English students in Japan. They would ask what it is about and I can imagine the conversation going something like this. (Level 2 or so in the NOVA ranking system) 🙂
Student: Why so many people at fast food restaurant?
Me: They don't want gay people to get married.
Student: eh?
Me: Yes, the owner of this restaurant gives lots of money to political campaigns against gay marriage.
Student: So many people want to eat his chicken?
Me: Yes.
Student: Why?
Me: It is America.
Student: Americans not like gay people so want to eat the chicken?
Me: No, they just don't want the gay people to marry. And they like chicken.
Student: Why eating chicken stop gay people from marry?
Me: They can buy the chicken and the owner of Chick-fil-a will get richer and can give more money to stop gay marriage.
Student: I cannot understand.
Me: Me neither.
After a while it is just funny to think about. It is funny somehow a fast food restaurant has become the focal point AGAINST a social movement! The focal point is not a politician, it is not a murder or violence, it is a FAST FOOD PLACE AND A CHICKEN ONE AT THAT!
That is SO AMERICAN! I tell you we Americans must look like absolute philosophers with absolutely stellar minds to be making our arguments by EATING! And it could not have come at a better time!
It is the Olympic season, the time when we look up to our role models, the absolute best of our athletes and marvel at their exquisitely sculpted bodies. It is at this time that the cream, the absolute best of our corporations have convinced us that sugary, fatty foods are synonymous with athletic prowess.
Only in America.
It is perhaps only here that completely contradictory messages have the ability to become one and to be accepted by a relatively educated population.
Protecting Freedoms = Attack another country
Olympics = McDonalds
Private sector economic crisis = the fault of the (public) President
Sarah Palin / Michelle Bachmann = Intelligence and great leadership
I could go on, but I'm getting silly. If you're reading this and are a conservative, you would probably think I'm a liberal. That has been more true than not lately but you wouldn't be entirely right. I've jumped on the liberal train as of recent but often change my mind and could easily swing into the libertarian camp completely bypassing the Republicans.
Why bypass the Republicans? Because Republicans have gone bat shit crazy in the past decade. I'm sorry but I cannot put it any more eloquently than that. But this does not mean I cannot see the conservative point of view. I spent 12 years in Catholic school so of course I can see the conservative view as clearly as I can see the tree in my yard!
Without further delay, let's have some fun! It has been a while since I've debated myself and let's do it about Chick-fil-a.
Before I do however, what the HELL does "Chick-fil-a" mean? This is the dumbest name for a fast food joint that I've ever heard! Now being a constant foreign language student I'm used to figuring out words and meanings that might be new to me. I can quickly deduce that "chick" is just a shortening of chicken. I don't think they mean chick as in a baby chicken. Baby chickens have very little meat so it would not make sense to want to "fil-a" a baby chicken although I cannot be sure. I would also imagine that fil-a means fillet except was written by someone who was illiterate?
Now, why would this be a good name for a fast food joint? If I was on the Chick-fil-a board I probably would have voted this name down unless of course we were targeting the the less well off areas.
I'm not trying to be snooty here at all, it is my guess, without knowing anything about Chick-fil-a, that this is the reason they chose that name. I'm being completely honest.
*Side Note: I couldn't resist looking up fillet which I know comes from French as the t is silent. The French spell it differently (filet) and I was curious how they came up with that word. Apparently it comes from "fil" which means "wire" or "thread." Thus, when we "fillet" something it has all those burn line marks in the meat just like a thread.
Wasn't I going to debate myself? Let's get started for REALZ this time. Well do it in a stream of consciousness format because I'm lazy.
Those against gay marriage have an absolute right to their opinions. They also have the right to eat as much chicken as they like in support of their beliefs. After all, the Liberals like to push everything down everyone's throat. The "liberal" media is just that, liberal. The main outlets except for Fox rarely print the conservative point of view and liberals on the overall are snotty people you wouldn't want to drink a beer with.
By eating chicken the conservatives can finally make a non-aggressive point that NOT everyone supports gay marriage and this is a rather easy (and tasty!) way to express their feelings.
The liberals are always comparing this to the civil rights movement and interracial marriage.
*Now, if we went back in time it would be the conservatives who are against interracial marriage. BUT, we are not going back in time, we are staying in the present! Gay marriage just AIN'T the same thing as interracial!!!!! Two people of the same sex just AIN'T natural and the Bible says so!
Now hold on conservative me! Perhaps your problem is that you just don't know any gay people. If you did you would realize that, as Lady Gaga says, they were BORN this way, no matter how gross what they do in bed is. (did I just say that?) Well, no matter, it is gross and I've expressed the same to my gay friends while hanging out in the Castro at the Lookout bar which of course is as queer as a gay bar could possibly be. One night they were selling porn where two guys box each other then get it on.
I was absolutely grossed out. I mean how can those guys do THAT to another DUDE? I think doing THAT is gross when straight people do it so maybe I'm just more of a traditionalist?
Wait, where was I? Wasn't I supposed to be arguing the liberal point of view? Or perhaps someone's views cannot simply be placed in this camp or that. Perhaps they can be mixed! And you know we Global Citizen types certainly like to be seen as complex/mysterious/unique and many other adjectives that make us seem sophisticated.
BUT, as I was saying, gay people were born that way, it happens in other species, it happened in Rome and it probably happened in the Catholic Church down the street so what's the big whoop? It is part of nature and these people should not be discriminated against so let them marry!
Besides, what is marriage anyway? Is it a right conferred by the State or is it a religious thing? If it is a religious thing then what if they don't belong to that religion? Last time I checked married people get benefits from the State so if being queer is part of nature and is thus "natural" then why is the State being so stubborn? Oh yes, conservative people.
Didn't I mention something about protecting freedoms above? We have freedom = war = no gay marriage. I don't even know what to do with that last sentence. I suppose we could just throw it to Sarah Palin and she could come up with something.
And where the hell has she been anyway? Is her show about Alaska still on? I'd like to check it out.
Ah but Conservative me makes a comeback!!!!! Well, I still don't agree as I think it is not natural and I don't care what you say liberal me. Besides that, we now have public officials saying they will not let Chick-fil-a operate in their cities? What is this, Russia?
*Liberal me interjects* – You mean Soviet Union?
Conservative me – Yea Russia! Since when has a politician been able to block economic activity only based on a social issue????
Liberal Me – Civil rights era.
Conservative me – You're a snooty asshole liberal me! It AIN'T the SAME THING!
Well, I've made myself angry. I guess the moral of the story is that liberal people are a bit snobby and try to ram all their new and crazy ideas down everyone's throats. This is very uncomfortable for the conservative types who like things THE WAY THEY ARE and really haven't wanted to change anything since the Middle Ages AND been dragged kicking and screaming decade after decade, century after century until at last we arrive in modern times.
It would be interesting to point out that a "conservative" society is Saudi Arabia, Iran and just about everyplace where the women have to cover themselves completely. These are the countries that never ever let someone like Elvis get away with hip shaking and still go to church every week. Hell, sometimes they pray 5 times a day!
Well, maybe it wouldn't be so interesting to point out so I won't do it. I just do not want to make conservative me any more angry than he already is.
Maybe I'll go eat some chicken. Wait!!! I actually just had chicken tikka masala for dinner! Sorry conservative me, that sounds very suspiciously like liberal food. I promise you, conservative me, that next time I'll make some chicken prepared in the "fil-a" style.
Love you.


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subset: commoncrawl


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GENEVA – A historic agreement between IEC, ILAC and IAF will help significantly reduce cost, time and complexity for the reassessment of certification bodies and testing laboratories that are accredited by IAF and ILAC Member ABs (Accreditation Bodies). One of the most important outcomes of the tripartite MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) that was signed in Shanghai, China, last month will be that henceforth a single reassessment – instead of three – will suffice and be accepted by all three bodies.
This type of cooperation agreement is unprecedented in the conformity assessment world and builds on years of collaboration between the IEC CA (Conformity Assessment) Systems, ILAC and IAF. It directly and positively impacts the certification bodies and testing laboratories that are accredited by IAF and ILAC Member ABs and operate as registered members of the relevant IEC CA System(s).The three bodies have already put in place a successful pilot program to test this new approach, and have set up a dedicated website (www.iec-ilac-iaf.org) to implement the tripartite agreement.
Under the MoU a common steering committee was created and held its first successful meeting under the chairmanship of Pierre de Ruvo, IECEE Executive Secretary. Regina Robertson, ILAC AIC (Accreditation Committee) Chair has been named secretary. The steering committee will be responsible for developing cooperation strategies, providing support and dealing with project issues and deliverables.
Another objective set out by the MoU is to facilitate a coordinated application of ISO/IEC standards and guidance documents for the purpose of assessment of certification bodies and testing laboratories operating in the IEC CA systems. This includes a common understanding of the technical issues and the harmonization of the respective assessment procedures. Provisions are also made for joint training and workshops for lead assessors, and when possible, joint work on the development of harmonized procedures and policies.
The IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) is the world's leading organization that prepares and publishes international standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies. The IEC also manages Conformity Assessment Systems that certify that equipment, systems or components conform to its International Standards.
IECEE is the IEC flagship System for Conformity Assessment of Electrotechnical Equipment and Components. It operates the CB Scheme and the Full Certification Scheme including factory inspections. IECEE provides third-party conformity testing and certification for safety and performance of home and office equipment, home entertainment, medical devices, cables, lighting, portable tools and solar photovoltaic. The IECEE website provides a complete list of product categories.
This system relates to equipment for use in explosive atmospheres. Coverage includes certification of electrical and electronic products and systems in explosion protection and certification of personnel competencies (maintenance and repair). This includes all areas where inflammable gases, liquids and combustible dusts may be present, i.e. the oil and gas industry, mining, refuelling stations for cars, trucks and planes, printing and paint industry, grain storage and handling, and sugar refineries.
The IEC quality assessment system for electronic components covers the supply of components and associated materials and processes, the business-to-business supply chain management systems for avionics, management of electrostatic discharge and use of hazardous substances in manufacturing processes.
ILAC (International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation) is an international cooperation of laboratory and inspection accreditation bodies formed more than 30 years ago to help remove technical barriers to trade. ILAC counts as its members laboratory and inspection accreditation bodies representing more than 90 economies and regional organizations. ILAC provides a focus for developing and harmonizing laboratory and inspection accreditation practices and for promoting laboratory and inspection accreditation to industry, governments, regulators and consumers.
IAF (International Accreditation Forum, Inc.) is the world association of Conformity Assessment Accreditation Bodies and other bodies interested in conformity assessment in the fields of management systems, products, services, personnel and other similar programmes of conformity assessment. Its primary function is to develop a single worldwide program of conformity assessment which reduces risk for business and its customers by assuring them that accredited certificates may be relied upon.


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Israeli whistle-blower indicted over release terms
Israeli nuclear whistle-blower Mordechai Vanunu has been indicted for violating his release terms.
Vanunu has been subject to a series of restrictions since he was freed from prison in 2004. But Israeli prosecutors say he has broken some of them in recent years. They say the 61-year-old man met two Americans in Jerusalem al-Quds three years ago without permission and also revealed classified information to a TV interviewer last year. The former nuclear technician was jailed for 18 years back in 1986 on charges of disclosing details of activities at Israel's Dimona nuclear plant to Britain's Sunday Times newspaper. He spent more than ten years of his sentence in solitary confinement.
Israel's nuclear weapons: the open secret
Israel, Vanunu and the Bomb (2007 BBC FULL 1 HOUR DOCUMENTARY)
Propaganda Warning! Beware this BBC documentary makes claims about the Holocaust that have been proven wrong. There is no way 6 million Jews died under Hitler and the NAZI party, Red Cross documents confirms numbers of total death toll was 271,301 at work camps and that included non-Jews. Most died toward the end of WW2 because supply lines were cut and people were starving even outside of work camps. The reality of the matter was that Stalin and his Bolschevick Jews Killed 100 Million Mainly White Christians before WW2. Learn More
Important Real History – Hellstorm – Exposing The Real Genocide of Nazi Germany (Full)
Are Satanic Zionists The Biggest Mass Murderers In History? Learn More
'Israel may have one of biggest nuclear stockpiles in the world' – whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg
The Samson Option – How Psychopathic Megalomaniacs Blackmail The World With Nuclear War
JFK Assassination Israel and Nuclear Weapons Theft
9/11 was more evil done by Israel
Israel's Samson Option: the Real Nuclear Threat
Israel's massive nuclear arsenal is one of the world's worst-kept secrets. Former Prime Minister Olmert blurted it out in an interview with German television.
President Obama refused to answer when asked point blank by Helen Thomas if he "knew of any country in the Middle East with nuclear weapons."
Mordechai Vanunu revealed details of Israel's nuclear weapons program to the British press in 1986. Yet surprisingly few American are even aware of it.
What is even more alarming is that American leaders, along with those of Germany, France, Britain, and other countries continue to actively aid and abet Israel's nuclear weapons program while turning a blind eye to Israel's espionage, theft, and threats of nuclear blackmail against them.
John Kennedy was the last American president with the luxury of worrying about whether Israel would get the bomb, as firm evidence that they had done so emerged not long after his assassination.
Moreover, once Israel acquired nuclear weapons, it became clear that they were not intended solely for adversaries in possible Arab-Israeli war. Israel let it be know that was willing to take down the entire world rather than allow the Zionist dream to come to an end. This is what is known as "the Samson Option," named after the biblical character who destroyed his enemies by pushing down the columns of a temple, killing himself in the process.
In a paper published by the Federation of American Scientists, Lt. Col. Warner D. Farr of the Air War College describes Israel's acquisition of a massive nuclear arsenal with long-range and second strike capabilities. He says that Israelis feel that their ability to cause a modern holocaust is the best way to guarantee never having to be subjected to one again.
The Israeli push for nuclear weapons started with David Ben Gurion, the countries first prime minister, and by the 1967 Six-Day War Israel had acquired rudimentary weapons and reportedly the willingness to use them. During the 1973 Yom Kippur War Golda Meir used Israel's nuclear potential as leverage to persuade Richard Nixon, via Henry Kissinger, to airlift badly needed convention weapons to Israel, which saved Israel from defeat and preserved its hold on territories occupied in 1967.
But the Samson Option is more than simple deterrence, and the potential targets are not restricted to its wartime enemies.
Martin Van Creveld, a prominent professor of military history at the prestigious Hebrew University in Jerusalem, told a Dutch magazine the following in 2002: "We possess several hundred atomic warheads and rockets and can launch them at targets in all directions, perhaps even at Rome. Most European capitals are targets for our air force." He went on to say "Our armed forces, however, are not the thirtieth strongest in the world, but rather the second or third. We have the capability to take the world down with us. And I can assure you that that will happen before Israel goes under." (The original interview appeared in the Dutch weekly magazine:Elsevier, 2002, no. 17, p. 52-53, April 27th, 2002).
In 2002, David D. Perlmutter, a professor of Mass Communication at Louisiana State University and a senior fellow at the Reilly Center for Media & Public Affairs, wrote the following in a Los Angeles Times op-ed: "What would serve the Jew-hating world better in repayment for thousands of years of massacres but a Nuclear Winter. Or invite all those tut-tutting European statesmen and peace activists to join us in the ovens?"
Pamela Geller is not a professor of anything and possesses no credentials that make her worth quoting other than being representative of a tragically common and quite hysterical Jewish-American mindset.
She wrote in her blog: "Israel is essential. And I pray dearly that in the ungodly event that Tehran or its jihadi proxies (Hez'ballah, Hamas etc) target Israel with a nuke, that she retaliate with everything she has at Tehran, Mecca, and Medina….Not to mention Europe. They exterminated all their Jews, but that wasn't enough. Those monsters then went on to import the next generation of Jew killers."
But this fanaticism is not limited to academics and bloggers. Numerous prominent journalists and news outlets have reported the willingness of Israeli leaders to invoke the Samson Option.
Alan Hart interviewed Golda Meir for the BBC's Panorama programme in April 1971 and asked her "Prime Minister … You are saying that if ever Israel was in danger of being defeated on the battlefield, it would be prepared to take the region and even the whole world down with it?" Meir replied "Yes, that's exactly what I am saying."
Prime Minister Begin used information provided by Jewish-American spy Jonathan Pollard to target Soviet cities. Ariel Sharon, Moshe Dayan, Yitzhak Shamir, Shimon Peres, and others have made public comments in support of the idea of using Israel's nuclear arsenal to blackmail the world.
So how did the world reach this insane situation develop? Zionists have inculcated a severe paranoia in Jews in Israel and around the world. There is the myth of eternal Jewish victimhood, which conveniently edits from history all crimes that Jews have committed against others over their long history while exaggerating and removing from context the crimes that have been committed against the Jews.
It is a great irony that the State of Israel was founded as insurance against a future Holocaust by Zionists who had on many levels collaborated with Nazis. Zionist Jews forged the "Transfer Agreement" with Adolf Hitler to promote the emigration of German Jews to Palestine, something that furthered the interests of both parties.
This helped lay the foundation for a Jewish state in Palestine, was done in return for Zionist assistance in ending of a global Jewish boycott of Nazi Germany.
In a revealing glimpse of the attitude held by Israel's founders for non-Zionist Jews, David Ben Gurion famously stated soon after Kristallnacht that "'Were I to know that all German Jewish children could be rescued by transferring them to England and only half by transfer to Palestine, I would opt for the latter, because our concern is not only the personal interest of these children, but the historic interest of the Jewish people." This was in response to Britain's offer of refuge to 10,000 German Jewish children.
A second myth is that Israel faces a hostile world and a persistent existential threat. Here the irony is that no nation in history has benefited from more charity and good will than Israel.
It has received more foreign aid than any other country, and not just from the United States. Germany has provided massive amount of aid, including nuclear-capable submarines that form a key component of the very Samson Option that would no doubt target Germany heavily.
Moreover, far from being surrounded by hostile countries, Israel has one-sided peace treaties with its two closest neighbors — Egypt and Jordan — that effectively turn the two countries into collaborators in the genocide against the Palestinians. Numerous other Arab and Muslim governments have traditionally had cooperative relations with Israel, including but not limited to the Saudi Arabia, the smaller Gulf States, Turkey, and even Iran until the 1990s.
(Remember, it was the Israelis who acted as the intermediaries when President Reagan started selling weapons to Ayatollah Khomeini in the Iran-Contra Affair.)
And let's not forget that the U.S., Europe, and their various allies and satellites have provided Israel with a permanent "get out of jail free card" in the form of diplomatic immunity and exemption from international laws and norms of behavior that very literally allow Israel to get away with murder.
In summation, Jews world-wide have been brainwashed to think that Goyim throughout history have persecuted them for absolutely no reason other than irrational and congenital hatred and that Israel is the only thing standing between them and the gas chambers.
They have the power through their domination of finance, the media, and other key sectors of society to force Western leaders to provide Israel with the very tools that it then uses to blackmail them.
And this paranoia combined with religious ideas of "chosenness" and secular ideas of racial superiority create just the kind of psychosis that makes this blackmail more than just an empty threat.


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Hundreds of Afghan women protesting a new Shia family law that would severely restrict women's rights were outnumbered by hundreds of the law's supporters today in Kabul. Some of the women were pelted with small stones. Afghan civil rights and women's rights activists organized the protest, according to the The Guardian. In a statement, the groups said that the law "insults dignity of women as fellow human beings and increases ethnocentrism and inequality."
Masuma Hasani, a 14-year-old protester, told the Associated Press that "I am concerned about my future with this law…We want our rights. We don't want women to just be used." A counter-protester, 24-year-old Mariam Sajadi, told the Associated Press "we don't want foreigners interfering in our lives. They are the enemy of Afghanistan."
According to The Guardian the law contains provisions that would restrict women from leaving their homes, working, going to school, or obtaining medical care without their husbands' permission. The law also includes a provision that women cannot refuse their husbands sex and a provision that grants child custody only to men. Ustad Mohammad Akbari, leader of the Hazara party, told The Guardian that the law gives women the right to refuse sex with their husbands if they are ill or have a "reasonable excuse" and allows women the right to leave their homes without permission in an emergency.
This past weekend, Afghan Ambassador to the US Said Jawad told Bloomberg that the law "will not become the law because it contradicts some important principles of the Afghan constitution" and that President Karzai does not plan to publish it. Jawad also said Karzai signed the law without being aware of all of its provisions and has sent the likely unconstitutional law to be reviewed by the Afghan Ministry of Justice and the Afghan Supreme Court.


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Every theatrical venture is a triumph of the improbable over the impossible. None more so than a theatre in northern Maine where I've just had an intense few days.
The Bagaduce Theatre lives in a large barn where swallows nest at the end of a long driveway on a peninsula where seals frolic in the swift flowing tidal inlets.
Here I am with an actress that I know well, Patricia Conolly of Broadway fame:
It was like one of those European whirlwind tours — if it's Thursday it must be Prague — The centre piece this season was an adaptation of The Tempest by Shakespeare, but also including segments from all your Bardic favorites! Other programs took in: Checkov, Durang, Shanley, Bennett, all the way up to and including a reading from that little-known British/Australian author C. McPhillamy.
I would have posted earlier so that you could have come to see a show if you were passing, but the days were full, hopping in and out of various costumes, brewing the excellent coffee available from the nearest town, Blue Hill, and grappling with the local mosquitoes which in that locale are special forces trained.
Here are some of the company: Monique Fowler who is the driving force behind this splendid effort is center. She gives us a delicate Prospero aided by all the actors seen below and that redoubtable man of theatre craft John Vivian, who when not operating lights and sound, was everywhere, performing in one body the work of three men with behind the scenes support.
And this is the company at a lobster dinner given by the producers: The lobster flowed (there's no other word for it), the wine flowed. We laughed, then there was singing. We all ate and drank more than would be advised by a doctor. I've said it before, in my line they pay you in fun.
It was a theatre fest of the kind that reminds you why you joined.


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If you're a horror fan, you're probably familiar with the trope of the demon child — you know, the sweet little kid who undergoes a horrible transformation and terrorizes everyone in his or her path (or is just born evil, like Rosemary's titular baby).
But the new novel Breed turns that trope on its head because in this tale of baby lust and body horror, it's the parents who end up becoming monstrous. "On a realistic level, everyone says having kids changes everything," author Chase Novak tells NPR's Audie Cornish. "So you take that idea and you marry it to ... undergoing some really outre medical procedure, and you see how far those changes can go."
Novak is actually author Scott Spencer in disguise. Best known for 1970s literary megahit Endless Love, Spencer has adopted a pseudonym to explore pulpier tales like that of Alex and Leslie Twisden, the doomed couple at the hert of Breed.
The Twisdens have everything — money, a Manhattan mansion, solid careers — everything, that is, except children. After conventional fertility treatments fail, Alex talks his wife into trying one last thing: injections from a mysterious Slovenian doctor. The injections work, but with terrifying side effects.
"They become beasts, they become dangerous, they become capable of hideous violence and even cannibalism" as the book progresses, Spencer says. Caught in the chaos are 10-year-old twins Alice and Adam, who know there's something not right about the way their parents lock them in their rooms every night. "[The parents] don't want them to get out, and they don't want to get in," he adds.
Spencer says Breed is based on the struggles of friends he's seen go through round after round of fertility treatments. "The pathos and the difficulty of that, and the toll that it took on their personal lives ... stuck with me forever," he says.
Horror doesn't have to be silly, Spencer says; in fact, serious issues like infertility make great fodder for horror. "It pushes it to the edge, and you explore the darkest possibilities of the story ... in any good story, something important should be at stake."
And there's another component: Spencer's childhood fear that he just wasn't safe in his own house. "I hate to say it because my parents are completely blameless, they're just as sweet as could be and they did love me," he says. "But there's a time in a child's life ... when you realize that a) they're separate people, and b) that they have a life that doesn't include you, and c) they're very strict about your bedtime, and why are they so interested in getting you out of there? And my imagination just started to spin and spin and spin."
Spencer says he also wanted to write a comic take on the narcissism of parenting. Alex and Leslie Twisden have enough money to go to the ends of the earth to get pregnant — and they do just that, when adopting closer to home could have solved their problem. "The idea that they wanted some extension of themselves is the roots of their undoing," Spencer says. "I wanted to keep this whole highly privileged world of Manhattan parenting very realistic."
There are some parallels between Breed and the literary tales of romantic obsession Spencer has written under his own name. But Spencer says he needed to create a second identity. "Who wouldn't want to be someone else," he asks, "and also remain yourself and able to travel back and forth between these two people?"
More importantly, Chase Novak was willing to go places Scott Spencer couldn't. "Spencer's limited by the fact that ... he's buried beneath this tottering stack of pages he's already written. And Novak had nothing on his mind but this sort of mania to follow the nightmare logic of these thoughts and memories. In other words, Spencer couldn't have written Breed. It was up to Chase Novak."
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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Let's ring in the New Year by celebrating beginnings and endings!
If it's true what they say – that what you're doing on New Year's Eve is a precursor to what lies ahead in the following year, then doing art and having fun doing it seems like a good idea for a couple of artists' New Year's Eve plans. It's what we've done for many years now, and I don't think it will ever get old.
This year, we will be making art again, and we thought we'd share the experience with all of you on our last post on Muddy Colors for the year because it happens to fall on New Year's Eve! We put together a video (at the end of this post) of a collaborative painting we did together on New Year's Eve-Eve-Eve (in order to be able to post it on New Year's Eve). It's not necessarily a 'finished' painting – we painted for a few hours in one afternoon – but it's not about the finish. We wanted to test out some equipment and the function of the setup, and see how it goes. And really, it was about the experience and the enjoyment of painting together, and in this case actually working on a collaborative painting together(!)
We did have fun, and we did have some oops moments too (like every time I'd bump the stand with the boom for the camera. grrr!) Overall, it was a good time and we learned some new things from the experience as well. Our idea for the subject or theme of the painting was simple – we wanted to paint something upbeat and colorful, depicting people having a good time in a group environment – and all of this sort emerges from chaos. We didn't have too much of a plan other than that. We didn't necessarily want to focus too much on trying to get a finish done. We gave ourselves a pretty small window of time, and just wanted to enjoy the experience. Doing a collaborative painting is something that isn't unfamiliar, but it is relatively rare for the two of us, and we'd like to do more of it in the next year and years to follow. We've done a couple in the past, and thought that this would be a perfect time to do it – while ushering in the New Year! (The fur-kids helped out too).
We set up an area in our kitchen using our dining table, and the counter space for extra stuff. We used several extra studio lights at all angles to try to minimize cast shadows on the painting, and had a boom for the camera overhead. There was enough space around the table to work from all angles (but yes, I did bump the boom stand a few times..). We worked in acrylic, which isn't either one of our most frequently used media, especially on a 20×32" painting, but we wanted to allow for drying time within the limited time we knew we'd be working. The dining table was covered in freezer paper (palette paper), and by the way, a dining table-sized palette is a pretty nice thing. Also, this painting is laying flat on the table, and we both usually work with a painting at an easel, upright. Laying flat to do splatters is great, but I do prefer to paint at an easel.
I started the painting off by covering the white of the surface (illustration board with a couple coats of gloss medium/varnish) using various colors in varying consistencies, making abstract marks and texture to build the next layers onto. The painting evolved from abstract shapes of color into figures dancing in colored light. As far as completion goes, this would take a few more passes to resolve forms, color, details, and overall focus – it is definitely a WIP at the video's end.
The year 2016, for us, has had its highs and lows and craziness, as all the years before it have in some way or another, and we anticipate that the years to come will be similar in that way. This NYE, we wanted to focus on the celebration of beginnings and endings as we ring in 2017. Happy New Year, everybody! We hope you enjoy the video (below) – cheers to a New Year filled with things you enjoy!


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A SurveyMonkey solution helps Holiday Extras improve customer experience.
When it comes to hospitality, customer experience is everything. Without detailed feedback from customers, those in hospitality are flying blind when it comes to how their offerings compare to others. Peter Mooney, new products project manager at Holiday Extras, which helps travellers find the best deals for airport parking, hotels, and travel insurance, needed a better way to empower key stakeholders to collaborate on getting customer feedback.
Mooney and his team also needed an automated solution that would enable them to gather actionable customer feedback at scale. They wanted a way to ensure that they weren't missing opportunities to improve the customer experience, as well as a way to help them gather customer feedback that complements personal customer interactions.
According to Mooney, SurveyMonkey makes it easier for Holiday Extras to measure how they're tracking against customer-oriented goals and work cross-functionally to measure and improve customer experience. SurveyMonkey also helps reduce the time it takes to get actionable customer feedback and helps him better complement personal interactions with customers with measurable insight.
SurveyMonkey makes it easy for Holiday Extras to work cross-functionally in measuring and improving customers' experiences.
Mooney and his team typically send surveys after a purchase. Mooney says SurveyMonkey has the features he and his team need to measure, helping them understand:
Mooney strongly agrees that the SurveyMonkey team plan provides Holiday Extras with measurable and actionable data about how his customers feel and helps him feel confident that he is asking the right questions.
He also says his team uses SurveyMonkey, "in a variety of ways, as we create mostly tailor-made surveys to fulfil specific needs. SurveyMonkey has that flexibility, so it's a great fit for those needs."
We have been able to set up surveys, obtain answers, adapt surveys, resend and test key elements of our processes — SurveyMonkey is very useful for this!
Peter Mooney, New Products Project Manager, Holiday Extras
Would Mooney recommend SurveyMonkey? "Yes," he says: "It allows multiple users on the platform and is priced competitively with other providers (we have assessed that!)."
This case study was sourced using TechValidate by SurveyMonkey.
SurveyMonkey 的線上評量表單能讓意見回饋發揮強大力量。立即使用我們的表單建立器!
探索 Box 如何使用 SurveyMonkey 建立 360 度的客戶歷程視角,並在同一處收集意見反應。
Learn more about our plans and pricing.


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Simulate the scheduling and availability impact of a potential order on the rest of the backlog.
Oracle Supply Planning delivers robust planning features for a wide variety of manufacturing strategies—from build-to-forecast to engineer-to-order—and any type of fulfillment method.
Watch the plan to produce overview video (2:28)
Fill your most important orders first. Dynamically prioritize and reschedule your open orders to reduce your delivery delays, achieve your margin targets, and keep your customers happy.
How to fulfill your most important orders first
Effectively plan across today's complex, multi-tiered supply chains. Align your plan with external suppliers and contract manufactures to execute your operations strategy.
LiDestri Innovates with Oracle Planning Cloud (1:50)
Determine the global impact of changes and reduce disruptions. Evaluate the impact of changes, automatically considering business urgency and ease of execution.
TaylorMade drives customer service higher with Oracle Fusion Cloud Supply Chain Planning
Daniel Bachar, Director of Product Marketing, Oracle
Organizations are taking big steps ahead of their competitors, investing in new supply chain planning solutions to help them improve their operations and processes.
Moving supply chain planning to the cloud is a shift that every organization is either thinking about, or already doing. No matter how synchronized your supply chain planning is on-premises, having your supply chain planning solution in the cloud will provide many new benefits.
Read the full articleReview readiness material to learn what's new in your Cloud Supply Planning service and plan for quarterly updates.
Oracle Help Center provides detailed information about our products and services with targeted solutions, getting started guides, and content for advanced use cases.
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People who thrive in a team environment where members are challenged to take initiative, encouraged to explore new ways to get their work done, and ultimately are given the opportunity to create their own future – they're the kind of people who make Charter Manufacturing a world-class leader in the metals industry. Join a privately held company that provides opportunities to grow and excel. Charter Manufacturing offers competitive salaries and comprehensive benefits within a corporate culture that promotes teamwork, empowerment, and gainsharing for all employees.
We pride ourselves on our rich history, union-free status, and our strong foundation of accomplishments, and we attribute much of this success to our employees. We believe the talent, dedication and commitment of our employees set us apart from our competitors.


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Oxfam commends TAC on receiving Human Rights Award
TAC receives human rights award
Annie Lennox applauds 'extraordinary achievement'
International agency Oxfam today welcomed the prestigious Human Rights Award given to the South African HIV and AIDS organization the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung/ Foundation.
The TAC has been an Oxfam partner in South Africa for several years.
Oxfam ambassador and TAC supporter Annie Lennox said: "I am absolutely delighted that the TAC have been awarded the prestigious FES Human Rights Award 2009 for the extraordinary achievement they have accomplished so far.
"There is so much to be done, but we are making progress. With proper treatment, nutrition, and medical care HIV does not have to be a death sentence. Mothers can live to take care of their children, and those children do not have to end up as orphans. Working together through education we can help to break the cycle of stigma, ignorance and fear."
Emma Seery, Oxfam's health and education campaign manager, said: "The TAC's work mobilizing thousands in the fight against the HIV and AIDS pandemic has saved lives. We are proud to count the TAC as a partner, and warmly congratulate them on this award.
"Today, International Human Rights Day, is a fitting moment to remind world leaders that HIV and AIDS is a disease fuelled by poverty – and in turn is a major threat to development, devastating family and community efforts to build better lives.
"Nine years ago, 189 governments promised to deliver universal access to HIV and AIDS treatment by 2010. But the New Year is almost here, and of nearly ten million people in developing countries who need treatment, only 3 million are receiving it.
"The TAC is doing their part – world leaders must step up and do theirs."
For information: Caroline Hooper-Box
firstname.lastname@example.com / +1 202 321 2967
Note to editors:
In 2006 multi-award winning British musician Annie Lennox teamed up with 23 of the world's most acclaimed female voices to launch her Campaign SING, to raise money and awareness for the TAC.


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LONDON, March 24 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Two former child brides have taken Zimbabwe's government to court in a ground-breaking bid to get child marriages declared illegal and unconstitutional.
In a ground-breaking move, South African prosecutors will investigate President Robert Mugabe's political party for crimes against humanity for an alleged campaign of mass rapes in Zimbabwe's last election.
The decision, following a request by Canadian activist Stephen Lewis and others, marks the first time an African government has used domestic laws to investigate another African country under the emerging doctrine of "universal jurisdiction."
Nous représentantes de diverses organisations de la Société Civile Africaine réunies au Forum Mondial pour la Revue de Beijing 15 ans après et représentant les voix des millions de femmes et jeunes filles Africaines, Apres avoir eu des consultations avec différents acteurs avant et pendant le Forum Mondial des ONG sur les progrès enregistrés dans la mise en œuvre de le Déclaration et la Plate Forme d'Action de Beijing en Afrique,
29 March to 27 April 2010 (Global): The witchcraft epidemic in Africa is fueled by religious extremism. Practitioners of traditional African religions, traditional healers, witch-doctors and Christian missionaries and religious leaders incite witch-hunts on this continent. There are comparisons to be made between Africas current witch-craze, European Inquisitions and American witch-hunts. Perhaps the lessons to be learned in Africa are the same as those that needed to be learned by Europeans and Americans; there is no culture without human rights. All men and women, including Witches, have the right to live without being falsely accused, assaulted, persecuted or murdered.
Secular campaigners in the Irish Republic defied a strict new blasphemy law which came into force today by publishing a series of anti-religious quotations online and promising to fight the legislation in court. The new law, which was passed in July, means that blasphemy in Ireland is now a crime punishable with a fine of up to €25,000 (£22,000). It defines blasphemy as "publishing or uttering matter that is grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters sacred by any religion, thereby intentionally causing outrage among a substantial number of adherents of that religion, with some defences permitted".


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Red Oak IRS Tax Settlement
Any problem a person has with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) must be dealt with seriously. It might be a source of stress and fear to you, but it doesn't have to be this way.
With the right experts by your side, you can have a smooth process in settling any type of tax problem with the IRS. Defense Tax Partners can provide you with a Red Oak IRS tax settlement lawyer who is a bona fide veteran in the realm of tax law. Just tell us your problem, and we'll be ready to present to you all the options available and recommend the best solution.
No matter what problem you have with your taxes or with the IRS, our attorneys, who are experts in federal and state tax laws, can find the best ways to fix them. For all financial legal needs you have, expect that we can provide you with top-notch services. Let us be your Red Oak, NC IRS tax settlement firm.
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Settling Tax Debts
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"Currently Not Collectible" Status
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Filing for Bankruptcy
If your finances are really in a tight spot, you can take advantage of the bankruptcy system. A Chapter 7 bankruptcy allows you to exchange some valuable property to pay for the debts. A Chapter 13 allows you to negotiate a payment plan with the IRS, reducing your entire debt amount by a significant portion. Your Red Oak IRS tax settlement lawyers from Defense Tax Partners can help you file for bankruptcy and decide which type is best for your situation.
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The statute of limitations provides a maximum time limit within which legal proceedings can take place. So if your tax debt situation began a long time ago, we could take the chance to use this law to fix your debt situation.
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Defense Tax Partners is a leading law firm specializing in tax cases. We can provide all the legal services needed in getting the best legal solutions for problems in tax and issues with the Internal Revenue Service.
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Hear Luke Bryan's Rendition of 'O Holy Night'
The holiday season is still a few weeks away, but Luke Bryan is helping fans get into the Christmas spirit with his newly released rendition of "O Holy Night." Readers can press play above to hear Bryan's version of the holiday classic.
"O Holy Night" is the definition of a challenging song to sing, but Bryan deftly handles the classic Christmas carol's highest notes. Released on Nov. 9, the song has already racked up more than 150,000 views, a number that will definitely grow dramatically as the Christmas season really kicks off in earnest once Thanksgiving is over.
Bryan's take on "O Holy Night" is his second foray into recording beloved holiday songs: In 2008, Bryan covered "Run Run Rudolph" as part of the collaborative Country for Christmas album. Ahead of the release of his version of "O Holy Night," Bryan told fans that he "thought it was about time for another Christmas tune."
Bryan and his family have a unique Christmas Eve tradition: chili dogs for dinner.
"[It] kind of presents a whole other set of problems," Bryan jokes. "Glade air freshener in the stockings. Let's just say the tree is dead by Christmas."
Bryan is currently taking a break from touring after spending much of 2017 out on the road on his Huntin', Fishin' and Lovin' Every Day Tour. He'll head back out in January for his four-night Crash My Playa festival in Riviera Maya, Mexico.
10 Must-Own Country Christmas Albums


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Basement Waterproofing Near Manhasset Hills
Top Signs You Should Install Waterproof Basement Walls in Your Manhasset Hills, NY Home
When it comes to basement waterproofing services in Nassau County, there's one company that stands above the rest, and that's Boccia Brothers. Since 1955, our family-owned and operated company has been protecting the homes of Manhasset Hills, NY from the damaging effects of water. Over the more than 65 years that we have been in business, we have provided basement waterproofing for thousands of property owners throughout the area. Using the most advanced tools, state-of-the-art technologies, and proven techniques, we deliver effective results that you can rely on to keep your home dry and safe.
Rain, snow, storm surge, septic tank overflows, grading issues; there are so many reasons why Manhasset Hills, NY basements can experience moisture damage. If you're like a lot of homeowners, you're probably under the assumption that it's normal for your basement to be a little damp. While it may be common, basements shouldn't be damp; in fact, if your basement is, it's a sign that there's an underlying issue and it needs to be properly addressed before you have a major problem on your hands.
By addressing moisture intrusion in your basement early on, you can save a significant amount of money; not to mention the major headaches and upheaval you can avoid. If you notice any of the following, you should seriously consider installing basement waterproof walls.
A Musty Odor
Contrary to popular belief, basements shouldn't be musty. While must is an odor that's commonly associated with basements, it's a sign of water intrusion. That must-like odor is usually associated with mold. Mold thrives in moist, warm places, making a damp basement the perfect location for the fungi to flourish, and just because you can't see it, that doesn't mean it isn't there. Mold can grow in inconspicuous locations, such as behind walls and underneath floors, and if left unchecked, you could end up having a massive problem on your hands.
At the first whiff of must, you should consider contacting an expert to discuss installing waterproof basement walls.
Visible Mold Growth
If you can actually see mold growing in your basement, it's a surefire sign that you have a moisture problem. Mold is a fungus, of which there are numerous strains, and each type thrives in moisture-laden areas. As mentioned above, damp basements are the ideal location for mold growth.
If you see greenish, blackish, or even white or pink spots growing on your basement walls, floors, ceiling, or any other surface, waterproofing is an absolute must. Mold spreads fast and can have devastating effects. It eats away at organic materials, such as wood and concrete, and can eventually damage the structural integrity of your property. Some strains can be toxic, too, and exposure can be a serious health hazard. As soon as you spot mold in your basement, you need to act fast and contact a reputable Nassau County basement waterproofing company.
Water Spots
Have you noticed any water spots on the walls, floors, and/or ceiling of your basement? If so, chance are you've got an active leak and it needs to be corrected as soon as possible. From grading issues to improper sealing, there are several reasons why water can leak into a basement, and when it does, the source needs to be identified and corrected as quickly as possible. The longer the leak continues, the worse the damage will become. Installing waterproof basement walls can remedy the problem and prevent future water intrusion.
Cracks in the Walls
Hydrostatic pressure, which results from the combination of water and soil, can cause hairline cracks in your basement walls. While these cracks may be thin, they can allow enough water penetration to create massive problems. Though the cracks may not be leaking yet, over time, they'll continue to progress and water will eventually seep through.
Leaking Water
And lastly, active leaks are the most obvious sign that you have a water intrusion issue on your hands. The leak doesn't have to be massive; even just a minor trickle can cause destruction. If you spot puddles of water on the floor or see water dripping out of the ceiling, call in an expert right away!
Boccia Brothers: Nassau County's Basement Waterproofing Experts
Whether you've noticed any of these signs of water intrusion or you just want to be proactive and protect your home from potential water damage in the future, installing waterproof basement walls is highly recommended.
Waterproof walls are designed to create a tight seal that will lock out water and prevent your basement – and your entire home – from the dangers of moisture. If you're looking for basement waterproofing near me and you live in the Manhasset Hills, NY area look no further than Boccia Brothers! With more than 65 years of experience, our extensively trained and highly experienced technicians will design a basement waterproofing system for your home that will be completely customized for your specific needs. Using superior tools, advanced technologies, and state-of-the-art equipment, you can count on us to make sure that your walls are watertight.
Delivering fast, affordable, and highly effective results, when you entrust your basement waterproofing needs to Boccia Brothers, you can rest easy knowing that you'll receive the best care possible. To learn more about our waterproofing process or to schedule a consultation, please dial 516-747-7727. We look forward to working with you and protecting your Manhasset Hills, NY home from the dangers of water intrusion.
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- Manhasset Hills, NY is located in Nassau county in New York State


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Once again I feel that I have to apologise for the lack of updates through 2014. At this point last year you would have had 17 updates, this is only this year's 8th! In fairness, last year was busier than usual mainly due to the birth of Ezra but you have to admit I am normally more prolific than I have been this year. I have always said that this is a window into our world and it is more important for life to get in the way of this website than vice versa. There have been plenty of jobs to do around the house and garden, it has been the traditional end of the season business and there has been something that has been overhanging the family (or not overhanging the family – a little joke that you may understand when you read about it) over the last six weeks but more about that in the next update. Ah well, there are the excuses on with the update!
So what has been going on the in the Bagnall household?
Easter has come and gone since the last update and with it school holidays. Yes, Easter marks the end of the second term and a fortnight break from school for both of the girls. This came at an opportune time for Éowyn as she was beginning to get a little tired and was in need of the break. It is hard enough as an adult doing a full week of work, week after week without a break (I know I have not used an of this year's annual leave as yet!), it must be ten times as hard for a five year old. Unfortunately we could not take full advantage of this hiatus from school because Easter is also a traditionally busy time in the football calendar and thus it is difficult for me to take time off work. (It has to be said that the busy points in my work calendar: Christmas, Easter and August unfortunately coincide with the term breaks and thus school holidays, that's what you get for being the Head of Operations of the World's largest independent sports production companies!).
A week off work was therefore out of the question but a tip to the seaside was still in order. The weather hadn't truly warmed up but nevertheless this has not stopped the Bagnalls in the past and it certainly isn't going to stop the Bagnalls in the future. So the S-Max was packed, a DVD loaded to keep the girls entertained and we headed to one of Lucinda's favourite places, in probably her favourite county: Hengistbury Head in Dorset.
We arrived in good time and parked the car at Mudeford Key before heading across Christchurch harbor on the ferry to Hengistbury Head. Our arrival coincided with a heavy downpour and unfortunately we were on the open top ferry when it hit. As you can see from the photo below there was nothing we could do except grin and bear it.
It was no surprise then that we didn't head straight to the beach, but rather the cover of the beach café and lunch. The rain clouds blew away while we were indoors and we headed to the beach; if not in bright sunshine at least it was more 'cloudy with occasional breaks for the sun to peak through'.
The girls love playing on the beach (as I am sure that most kids do) and they do not feel the cold as much as adults. While Lucinda and I barely took our coats off they wanted to strip off (thankfully managed to dissuade them from that!) and paddle in the sea. Despite Daddy trying to convince them that the sea would be cold (it has barely had chance to warm up since the winter) it wasn't until they had run in that they believed their Daddy.
Despite the weather, fun was had by all and three very tired kids reluctantly were convinced to return to the car for the journey home. Éowyn and Amélie both protested the return but both (indeed Ezra too) were asleep before we made it to the M27 and the journey home.
The Easter holidays also saw a visit from Nanny Fran and Auntie Liz. Nanny Fran's birthday fell on Easter Sunday this year (a day that both Lucinda and I were working!) and so she came down on Good Friday to stay for the weekend. Her visit wasn't just to get her present and deliver Easter Eggs.; it was to finally take advantage of last year's present a ride over London in a helicopter. This was, if memory serves me correctly, the third time that she had tried to take to the skies. The previous two times the weather had put pay to the experience. This time however it was successful and she had a great time viewing the sites of our Capital City from an unusual vantage point.
Before we let her take to the skies though both she and Auntie Liz had to be roped into an Easter egg hunt. You may recall that a couple of years ago Lucinda and I organized an Easter Egg Hunt around Lucinda's parents' garden for our friends children, unfortunately without having weekends off and not quite the time to prepare that remains the first and only time (so far) that we have managed to organize such a big event, however that doesn't mean that Éowyn, Amélie and Ezra should miss out. Therefore, while we were talking to Nanny Fran and Auntie Liz, Lucinda nipped outside and hid Easter Eggs around the garden for the girls to find.
With Éowyn paired up with Nanny Fran and Amélie with Auntie Liz they headed into the garden armed with Easter baskets. All but one of the eggs were found (I am sure the local foxes will have found it by now) and divided evenly – you have to be fair! These were then added to their, not too unreasonable, hoard of eggs and other assorted chocolates. I would like to know whose idea it was to associate Easter with chocolate; I don't recall Jesus telling us all to eat chocolate in memory of his resurrection.
As you may have guessed from the above, the Easter term break also saw Lucinda's return to work. Not great timing on our part but she has had nearly 14 months off and you can't put off the inevitable. As avid readers and friends will know this return was going to be more emotional than her previous returns as the end of April saw Air Canada cease ground control of their flights at Heathrow Airport, responsibilities now undertaken by ASIG a general handling company. Therefore Lucinda returned for her half a dozen or so last shifts for Air Canada.
Change is sometimes good and sometimes beneficial. Time will tell if this change is good, but it has certainly been beneficial with Air Canada offering V.S.P. (redundancy for want of a better phrase – which Lucinda took) and ASIG requiring a large influx of staff trained in Air Canada procedures (which Lucinda obviously is – if a little rusty). Thus redundancy was taken and a new job at ASIG applied for and got. A little Brucie Bonus that doesn't happen very often in life and thus one that should certainly be taken advantage of when the opportunity arises. It neatly concludes where 2013 left off, with new house, car, child etc.
So with Lucinda returning to work and with me in full time employment we are in need of an alternative child care facility when grandparents are in need of a rest and when we can't manage between ourselves through holidays and shift swaps. This makes it difficult to arrange child care. Most nurseries and child minders want a set number of hours a week and set days, then they can plan other children around the slots in availability that they have. This is understandable but very frustrating from our point of view. However, a friend of ours uses a child minder literally around the corner from us, someone who only wants a few extra days a month. An ideal scenario.
After meeting her we took Ezra around for a one hour taster session to see how he got on. He was fine, thoroughly enjoyed himself and so we were happy to book some dates with her.
Lucinda's shifts tend to be earlies. This can be anything from a 0500 start! This means a few things. Lucinda needs to go to bed not long after the kids in order to get a decent amount of sleep. Lucinda has to get up about 0345 (at the latest) in order to get ready and out for work. This means that I have to rise a little earlier in order to get myself and three kids washes, dressed and fed. Bags packed and out the door ready for three different drop-off points before heading to do a full day's shift at work. Indeed I feel like I have done a full day's shift before I get there. It doesn't help with the little inter-sibling squabbling that tends to happen and when your youngest starts to cry and try and hold on to you when you drop him off at the child minders for the first time. By all accounts he soon settled down and was fine for the rest of the day (and in that respect was no different to Éowyn or Amélie on their first days too!) but when your enduring image is of your little one in floods of tears reaching out to you it doesn't set the day up very well.
Ezra is still tending on the lazy side (Lucinda would disagree). He crawls at lightning speed and is on his feet whenever there is something to support him but he still is not interested in walking. If you encourage him to take a few steps he immediately sits down. Legs are for standing so that your arms can stretch to reach whatever it is that you are not allowed to have. They are also useful for climbing. He has been able to climb the stairs for a while but now his little mind has worked out that if there is something shiny out of reach that climbing may just help. He started off by pushing his walker or Lego table towards the settee and using it as a ladder to climb higher. Now anything that gives him a little extra lift is fair game. Indeed Lucinda left him in his high chair momentarily to find upon her return Ezra sitting on the kitchen table. He had seen the biscuit barrel on the table and thought to himself while there is no one around I'll have a couple of those. For that is exactly how Lucinda found him, sitting crossed legged on the table with two malted milk biscuits!
That is a bit of an epic but there a few more stories I would like to regale so pop by in the next few days for another snippet (or two) on our world. In the meantime enjoy some of the photos of the past month or so.
Love and Peace
We would also like to take this opportunity to welcome Olivia Lynn Eccles to the world,the first child of my 2nd cousin Charlotte and her husband Paul. Congratulations to them both.


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Subliminal Stuff: Teeth Grinding and TMJ
Sensitivity to heat and cold. Loosened teeth, fractures, and a debilitating headache. All this can occur while you sleep - from grinding your teeth. Dentistry calls it bruxism.
Talk about shell shock. Dentists see evidence of life in the fast lane everyday. As many as 90 percent of us grind our teeth each night, on the average of five episodes per evening. The bite force is so powerful - over 200 pounds per square inch - and the noise so fearful, you cannot physically duplicate this phenomenon when you're wide awake. While you're sleeping, a lot of damage is being done that could be causing TMJ symptoms.
Bruxing seems to be associated with the REM stage of sleep, that never-never land where dreaming and rapid eye movement occur. There is some evidence that a bite out of alignment contributes to bruxing, but most agree stress is the problem. Or, even more alarming, the anticipation of stress.
Most people learn about a bruxing habit from the spouse who has to put up with it every night. More clues; waking up in the morning with jaw pain, jaw popping, jaw clicking, migraine or muscle fatigue and loose teeth.
Physical therapy, muscle relaxants and, sometimes, a custom dental appliance can help. But learning how to handle the stress in your life could salvage more than your teeth and help eliminate TMJ syndrome.
«« Back to Dental Information Center


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The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) is composed of 18 independent experts who are elected for a term of four years by States parties. It monitors the implementation of the provisions of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) by the States parties. The Committee meets in Geneva and normally holds two sessions per year, consisting of a three-week plenary and a one-week pre-sessional working group.
Main rights protected by the ICESCR
Individual complaints (not yet possible)
Schematic representation of state reporting procedure
The ICESCR was adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession by General Assembly resolution 2200 A (XXI) of 16 December 1966. It entered into force on 3 January 1976, in accordance with Article 27.
Text of the ICESCR (Website of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights)
As of February 2012, the following African states have ratified the Covenant:
Algeria, Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, The Congo, The Democratic Republic Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Egypt, Ethiopia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Namibia, The Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Swaziland, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, The Sudan, Tunisia, The United Republic of Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Last change: 21.02.12 - 16:10


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Add titles, captions and more to photos in Photos on Mac
You can view and add information about your photos. You can:
Assign titles and captions to photos
See the date and time a photo was taken
See the date and time a photo was taken
See badges that indicate the state of the photo
Add or change the location of photos
Change the date and time information for photos
View and add information about photos
Use the Info window to view or change information about a photo or a group of photos.
In the Photos app on your Mac, click a photo to select it (or Command-click to select multiple photos), then click the Info button in the toolbar or press Command-I.
Edit any of the following:
Title: Enter a name in the Title field at the top of the Info window.
Tip: To quickly add titles to photos right in the main Photos window, choose View > Metadata > Titles, click the field that appears under a photo when you hold the pointer over it, then type a name.
Caption: Enter a caption in the Caption field.
Favourite: Click the Favourite button to mark the photo as a favourite (the photo appears in the Favourites album). Click the button again to unmark it.
Keywords: Enter keywords in the Keywords field. As you type, Photos suggests keywords that you've used before. Press Enter when you've finished a keyword.
To remove a keyword, select it and press Delete.
People and pets: Click the Add button and type a name to identify a person or pet.
To identify multiple people in a photo, click the Add button and drag the face identifier over each person you want to identify.
Location: Enter a location in the Location field. You can also copy and paste location information. To change the location, search for a different location or drag a pin on the map. (You can't assign a location if your computer is not connected to the internet.)
To copy location information, choose Image > Location > Copy Location. To paste location information, select the photo, then choose Image > Location > Assign Location.
Tip: You can add text captions, dates, arrows and other shapes directly to a photo using the Markup tools. See Use Markup to write or draw on a photo.
Display titles, other metadata and badges
You can display the title you assign to photos, metadata such as a filename and badges that identify whether the photo has been edited.
In the Photos app on your Mac, choose View > Metadata > [metadata name].
Badge | Meaning | ||||||||||
Photo has been edited. | |||||||||||
Photo has had keywords applied. | |||||||||||
Photo's location has been identified on a map. | |||||||||||
Photo has been marked as a favourite. | |||||||||||
Item is a video, slo-mo or time-lapse clip. | |||||||||||
Original photo is stored in another location (not in the Photos library on your Mac). | |||||||||||
Original photo was taken as a High Dynamic Range (HDR) photo that combines three photos taken at different exposures. | |||||||||||
Original photo was taken as a RAW photo. The badge appears as JPEG + RAW when the photo was taken as a RAW photo that includes a JPEG version. | |||||||||||
Item is a Live Photo. | |||||||||||
Item is a Live Photo taken in Portrait mode. | |||||||||||
Item is a Live Photo set to Bounce. | |||||||||||
Item is a Live Photo set to Loop. | |||||||||||
Item is a Live Photo set to Long Exposure. | |||||||||||
Item is a portrait photo. | |||||||||||
Item is a spatial photo or video. | |||||||||||
Item is in the iCloud Shared Photo Library. |
Change a photo's date and time
In the Photos app on your Mac, select the photos you want to change. Command-click to select more than one photo.
Choose Image > Adjust Date and Time.
Tip: You can also double-click the date that appears in the Info window to change the date. To show a photo's Info window, double-click the photo, then click the Info button in the toolbar.
Enter the date and time you want in the Adjusted field.
Click a time zone on the map and choose the closest town/city, if necessary.
Click Adjust.
Remove or restore a photo's original location
In the Photos app on your Mac, select the photos you want to change.
Choose Image > Location, then choose Hide Location or Revert to Original Location.
If you manually assigned location information to a photo that did not have it, Revert to Original Location removes the location information you assigned.


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Courtney. Mickles
Marriage & Family Therapist, LMFT and LPCCHello, my name is Courtney Mickles. I am a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and a licensed Professional Clinical Counselor and I am passionate about working with couples who are having communication challenges and with individuals who are working through trauma. My goal is to join along side you during your time of need as well as your time of comfort so that you don't have to work on these issues alone. I hope to teach healthy communication styles, problem solving skills, and to release y
Online Therapy


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THE DAY AT Brockwood Park School begins with ten minutes of silence. All sixty students and thirty staff gather at 8.00am in the school's octagonal assembly hall to share the quiet moments. Silence plays an important part in the school day. Further moments of quiet are held before classes, meetings and other activities.
The school, which occupies an eighteenth-century house and several outbuildings set in forty acres in the Hampshire countryside, was set up in 1969 by the philosopher and educationalist J. Krishnamurti. Brockwood is one of a handful of schools established by him round the world, each with its own structure and role.
Brockwood is an international school, fully residential, catering for students from fourteen to nineteen years of age. They come from thirty different countries, and the mix of nationalities is kept deliberately broad.
Brockwood only takes older teenagers partly because of its aim of creating a small supportive community where the students learn to take responsibility for themselves and others, and where they feel sufficiently secure to engage in a serious exploration of issues that concern young people, such as fear, identity, sexuality and death.
Between the moments of silence, Brockwood is a lively, vibrant place. Students study a range of subjects, from languages to physics and fine art, with music particularly popular. Krishnamurti spoke about two streams of learning - one concerned with the accumulation of knowledge and skills necessary to live and make a living in the world, and the other to do with "the understanding with sensitivity and intelligence of the whole problem of living; the whole structure of human existence". Brockwood aims to ensure that the two streams flow in harmony.
Meanwhile, Brockwood attempts to implement two of Krishnamurti's other founding principles: that it should encourage a sense of the sacred - not in the sense of formalised religion, but in being open to what is beyond the limits of thought - and being close to nature, and learning to observe and care for the Earth.
Brockwood is blessed with being surrounded by glorious English countryside - fields, woods and rolling hills, and, right by the school building, an extended grove of exotic trees and shrubs. Brockwood also has a large organic vegetable garden - the school is vegetarian - and it puts much time and effort into growing fresh food to meet its needs.
All students take the course called Care for the Earth - a ninety-minute session a week where students study ecological and environmental principles, but where most activity is out of doors, either planting and caring for their own small garden plots, or in projects that the students devise for themselves, such as extending the grove, raising owls, or building shelters out of natural materials.
Just recently, three students have been converting an old storeroom into an 'eco kitchen' in a project sponsored by the Millennium Awards Commission and the Young People's Trust for the Environment. The students won a grant of £10,000 for their proposal for the kitchen, which uses solar panels for water heating and photovoltaic cells to generate electricity. They have built the cupboards out of recycled teak desktops, and the worktops out of wood from a cherry tree that had fallen in the grounds. They hope to supply the gas cooker with methane or ethanol generated on site some time in the future.
"The project has given me a lot of experience in things such as conservation and design, but also in things like how to apply for grants," says Peter Spence, one of the students who is studying geography, art and English literature.
CARE FOR THE environment extends to the school buildings themselves. Brockwood doesn't employ any cleaners - instead a half-hour per day is devoted to the cleaning and tidying of the school, with all members of the community taking part.
Some students have been so inspired by the study and experience of the natural environment that they have gone on to devote their lives to environmental activities. Suprabha Seshan came to Brockwood from a Krishnamurti school in India at the age of seventeen. She was already interested in ecology when she arrived, "but my interest in nature deepened while I was at Brockwood - there was a lot of space to explore it, and support from staff who are passionate about the natural world," she says.
After travelling and working on a number of environmental projects around the world, Seshan went back to India to work at the Gurukula Botanical Sanctuary in the tropical forests of Kerala where she is now the education and research co-ordinator. "But for me it began at Brockwood where I experienced an opening of the senses, and learnt the importance of being out in the wild," she says. Seshan maintains her links to Brockwood, and to other Krishnamurti projects in India, and the Sanctuary has become part of the Brockwood network.
Around seventy per cent of Brockwood students go on to higher education, both in the UK and in their home countries. Although the school does not make academic results its priority, many students achieve good grades, while in other cases students who have not achieved the required grades for certain courses have been able to persuade universities that the self-reliance, maturity and independence of thought they have learnt at Brockwood make them good candidates for college success.
Of Brockwood's 1,200 or so graduates over the past thirty-five years a significant proportion have gone into healthcare (either mainstream or complementary), education, and the performing and fine arts. Fewer have ended up as scientists, and still fewer have made their fortune in big business.
Krishnamurti believed that if through education young people could discover their talents and what they enjoyed doing, they would avoid much of the conflict and depression that can torment adult life.
Brockwood offers such opportunity. As former student Ashvin Kumar says, "Brockwood is a school where the arts are as important as the sciences, and where planting a tree is as important as solving an equation."
For further information tel: 01962 771 744 or visit www.brockwood.org.uk.


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The tax industry partners who make up the Security Summit are urging practitioners to take a page out of the medical books in order to keep their computer systems healthy: to cure an infection, you first have to know your patient is sick.
In other words, tax pros have to know the signs of data theft if they expect to move quickly to protect their clients.
The Security Summit, which is comprised of IRS officials, state tax agency representatives, and tax industry leaders, says time is critical when there's a question of identity theft surrounding their data systems. That means immediately contacting the IRS if there's evidence their data has been compromised, and enlisting insurance or cybersecurity experts to help determine the cause and extent of a possible loss.
"There are tell-tale signs of identity theft that tax pros can easily miss," said IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig. "Identity thieves continue to look for ways to slip into the systems of tax pros to steal data. We urge practitioners to take simple steps and remain on the lookout for signs of data and identity theft. They are a critical first line of defense against identity theft."
Security Summit partners have adopted the theme "Boost Security Immunity: Fight Against Identity Theft," aimed at urging tax pros to try harder to secure their systems and protect client data. This is reflected by a common comment from tax pros to IRS investigators after data theft: They didn't immediately recognize the signs they'd been compromised.
What are the signs of possible data theft?
Tax professionals should know the critical signs of data theft:
- Client e-filed returns rejected because client's Social Security number was already used on another return.
- More e-file acknowledgements received than returns the tax pro filed.
- Clients responded to emails the tax pro didn't send.
- Slow or unexpected computer or network responsiveness such as:
- Software or actions take longer to process than usual;
- Computer cursor moves or changes numbers without touching the mouse or keyboard;
- Users unexpectedly locked out of a network or computer.
Sometimes, the signs of data theft come to the tax pro from their clients. These "red flags" may come in the form of IRS Authentication letters (5071C, 4883C or 5747C), even though the client hasn't filed a return. Other signs are a refund when the client hasn't filed, or a tax transcript they didn't request.
More warning signs can include:
- Emails or calls from the tax pro that they didn't initiate.
- A notice that someone created an IRS online account for the taxpayer without their consent.
- A notice the taxpayer wasn't expecting that:
- Someone accessed their IRS online account; or
- The IRS disabled their online account.
There could, of course, be other examples. Data thieves are a relentless and creative lot. This means tax professionals should have the highest security possible and should not hesitate to contact authorities if they suspect or find something that isn't right.
What should I do if my data is stolen?
There are steps that tax professionals can take if they—or their office—fall victim to a data theft. But speed is critical; these steps should be taken immediately to mitigate further damage.
Report the theft to the local IRS Stakeholder Liaison.
Liaisons notify IRS Criminal Investigation and other agency officials on behalf of the tax pro. The IRS can take steps to block fraudulent returns in the clients' names and assist the local practitioner through the process. But speed is vital; data theft must be reported quickly.
Email the Federation of Tax Administrators at firstname.lastname@example.com.
This will get the tax pro information on how best to report the facts of the data theft to their particular state. According to the IRS, most states require that the state attorney general should be notified of data breaches and in some states, this could involve multiple state offices.
For more information on reporting a breach, see Data Theft Information for Tax Professionals.
For help with security recommendations, tax professionals can look over IRS Publication 4557, Safeguarding Taxpayer Data, which has been recently updated. Another good source is Small Business Information Security: The Fundamentals from the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
On the IRS website, IRS.gov, their Identity Theft Central pages have additional details targeting tax professionals, businesses and individuals. Also on IRS.gov, Publication 5293, Data Resource Guide for Tax Professionals, has a full set of compiled numbers on data theft.
Source: IR-2021-170