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Are You Buying The Right Health Insurance Plan? Read This
It is rightly said that necessity is the mother of invention. This applies to health insurance also. Deteriorating lifestyle patterns and the rising cost of health care in India has paved way for health insurance services. This need has further aggravated by the fact that unlike the West, the social security systems are non-existent in India. The governments have made all the provisions to extract tax from the citizens at all possible points but when it comes to health care and social security, it has not done anything at all.
Thus, it is the responsibility of the citizen to secure himself. But it is not that smooth to get the right health insurance policy. There are over two dozen general insurance companies which are offering different types of health insurance plans in India. Many times, people end up buying health insurance plans which are not relevant for them and which do not help them during the time of need.
Therefore, it bears crucial significance that you understand the nuances of health insurance plans and then only make a decision. Here is a quick list for you.
What all do health insurance plans cover?
Health insurance plans are primarily meant to provide you coverage against hospitalisation and critical diseases. Most plans cover this. But, there are many plans, which do not cover certain types of health ailments. For instance, you can find several mediclaim plans which do not cover blood pressure and diabetes related issues.
The scope of coverage can be different too. For instance, not every plan covers post-hospitalisation expenses. In some the coverage period can be as large as 45 days and in some the period could be as little as one week.
It is your responsibility to check on these matters. If you are relying on the insurance agent who is pursuing you, it can cost you dear at later dates. Agents are interested in making sales and commission. They may show their concern and tend to offer you the best plans, but they reality can be very different. So, just take care of these aspects.
The development of health insurance industry in India has motivated insurance companies to introduce comprehensive plans. A wide range of riders are also available at your disposal. Thus, if you buy a standard policy, you can add on riders which can provide you cover against many other risks such as permanent disability benefit, diabetes coverage, etc.
Do they cover pre-existing conditions?
Most mediclaim plans in India do not cover pre-existing conditions unless specified. Do not assume on this matter. If you are looking for coverage against a pre-existing medical condition, then clarify it at the very first instance. You can compare health insurance plans online and consult with customer care centre through online chat option or telephonic call.
There are plans which cover pre-existing ailments at certain conditions. Generally, there is a pre-specified period under which pre-existing conditions are covered. The cost of such plans is naturally higher than the standard ones.
Can multiple family members be covered under one plan?
Yes, it is possible. You can simply opt for a family floater plan and get your family members covered under a single plan. There are myriad benefits of these plans. The premium is a bit higher but quite less if you go for different health insurance plans for various family members. The collective cost for various plans is much higher.
Family floater plans, at the other end, are cost effective. The most frequently asked question about family floater plans is what happens if one member consumes the coverage limit and another member falls ill. There are solutions to these conditions.
You can top-up coverage limit during the policy period. Of course, you need to pay some additional premium to get the extended coverage.
Can you switch from one health insurance plan to another?
Portability is not limited to the telecom sector only. The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has made portability possible in the health insurance sector.
If, due to any reason whatsoever, you wish to change your health insurance service company, you can file an application for the switch. Health insurance is offered by general insurance companies, so far and they cannot reject your claim for portability.
They can try to retain you but at the end, it is your prerogative to make the final decision. If you come across any issues pertaining to your health insurance plan, you can file a complaint at IRDAI's online consumer grievance redressal system. It is amazingly efficient and you can expect an action within a 15-45 day period.
Nonetheless, the IRDAI has taken tough measures to protect consumer rights and there are all the possibilities that your grievances are resolved by the insurance company itself at the first stage and you do not need to approach IRDAI in that case.
What about tax exemptions?
In the current fiscal year ending March 2015, you can claim for a tax deduction to the limit of Rs 15,000 towards payment of health insurance premium, under Section 80D of the Income Tax Act. From the next fiscal year, this limit is set at Rs 25,000 a year.


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The words "hot tub" and "spa" are often used interchangeably. When it's time for you to buy a hot tub, you'll want to consider the best value for your budget within the "portable" hot tub or spa category. Portable means a self-contained freestanding unit that can be moved (if circumstances make it necessary or desired) from one location to another.
Size: Spa size is typically affected by the available space for the hot tub in your desired location, and by the number of people you want your hot tub to hold.
Comfort: The comfort of the hot tub's seating is very important. To ensure that your comfort level is met, be sure to sit in the spa before purchasing. It's also highly recommended that you "wet test" the spa; this will give you the best indication of how comfortable it is for you and other intended users. You can schedule a wet test with your local Caldera dealer to see (and feel) what we mean.
Comfort factors include seating depth and variety, footwell space, lounge fit, access to hot tub controls, ease of entry and exit, and cushioned headrests.
Hydrotherapy: This area is highly subjective. Some people want a powerful hydromassage experience while others intend to use their hot tub primarily for soaking. If you're looking to maximize your hydromassage experience, consider the types of jets and the jet placement. Don't be fooled by jet count alone. What's more important is jet variety and how the jets are positioned within the seats/lounges throughout the spa. A hot tub that maximizes the hydrotherapy experience will address all of the body's major muscle groups. You'll also want to consider jet flow adjustability, the features that allow you to customize the massage by regulating the amount of air and/or water supplied to the jets.
Air Jet System: Many hot tubs feature an air jet system that produces air bubbles from fittings throughout the spa to provide a very gentle soft–tissue massage. While this isn't an essential feature, many people enjoy the sensation it provides.
Reliability: Buying a hot tub that will last over time is an important consideration for most potential spa owners. Look for a spa that is well-built, uses high-quality materials and components, and is backed by a reputable dealer and spa manufacturer. Length of time in business and reputations can tell you a great deal. Read reviews online. Finally, ask for a copy of the warranty, and determine if the dealer and hot tub manufacturer are willing and prepared to support it.
Safety: Check to be sure that the hot tub you are considering is listed by a recognized independent testing agency such as UL or ETL. Also, make sure that you use a qualified electrician to connect the electrical service to the spa. Other considerations: a locking spa cover, always apply common sense when using the spa and adhere to the safety recommendations in the spa Owner's Manual.
Ease of Maintenance: Most likely, you're looking for a hot tub that won't require a lot of your time to keep the water clean and clear, and that will preserve its appearance over time.
To maintain good water quality, consider a Corona Discharge (CD) ozone generator. This type of ozone generator will reduce the amount of sanitizer needed, and help keep the water crisp and clean. CD systems last longer than alternative ozone systems. Also, consider the type of filtration system and square footage of filtration. Generally, "premium" spas feature small circulation pumps that continuously filter the water and provide the necessary flow to allow the heater to constantly maintain the set temperature.
When considering preservation of the exterior appearance, look for a spa that features a "simulated" wood exterior. These require much less maintenance time and effort than real wood. You'll also want to check the warranty for the cabinet to ensure that you're covered should it not hold up over time.
Energy Efficiency: Your spa's operating cost will be primarily determined by its ability to retain heat. Ensure that the hot tub has effective insulation for the shell and plumbing. Full foam insulation surrounding the shell, combined with a custom-fit spa cover that forms an insulated barrier around the bar top, are essential to keeping heat in and cold out. Learn More about Maintaining a Caldera Spa.

subset: commoncrawl


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Information graphics or infographics are visual representations of information, data or knowledge. These graphics are used where complex information needs to be explained quickly and clearly, such as in signs, maps, journalism, technical writing, and education. They are also used extensively as tools by computer scientists, mathematicians, and statisticians to ease the process of developing and communicating conceptual information.
They can present a rich amount of information without intimidating you. Or sometimes they intimidate you, but make the digesting of the information much more bearable. Here in this article below, we are going to discuss best practices for designing infographics followed by some examples which might help you learn a thing or two.
You may be interested in the following related articles as well.
Feel free to join us and you are always welcome to share your thoughts that our readers may find helpful.
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What is InfoGraphics?
Infographics are traditionally viewed as visual elements such as signs, charts, maps, or diagrams that aid comprehension of a given text-based content. Often more powerful than words or imagery alone, infographics utilize visual elements of design and words to convey a message in such a way that context, meaning and understanding are transcended to the observer in a manner not previously experienced. However, visual representation of information can be more than just the manner in which we are able to record what has been discovered by other means. They have the potential to become the process by which we can discern new meaning and discover new knowledge. The observer becomes enlighten, having learned from the visual feast and is motivated to seek out more knowledge in this medium.
Since the days of the fire evolution, we've been using infographics, as visual shorthand to convey information to the viewer or readers that might take paragraphs or pages to explain in words. It's not easy to represent the whole story in one single page or paragraph but it's far more effective then reading entire book. There are number of infographics out there on every street. Infect, we interact with infographics on a daily basis, from the stick figure telling us when to cross the street, to icons in a web navigation designs.
In prehistory, early humans created the first information graphics: cave paintings, later maps and now charts. Throughout most of this history, image and text have remained inextricably mixed. Later map-making began several millennia before writing, and the map from around 7500 BCE. After that icons were used to keep records of cattle and stock. The Indians of Mesoamerica used imagery to depict the journeys of past generations. Illegible on their own, they served as a supportive element to memory and storytelling.
Wow… That's enough for history unless you really want to get die with boredom. Let's move further.
Because "A picture is worth a thousand words". Information graphics can be done for several reasons. Along with them we can highlight the following important ones to enlighten the mystery.
There are many theories available by which you can identify number of entities that can be considered as the elements of infographics but the basic and key material of an information graphic is the data, information, or knowledge that the graphic presents with limited resources. However, In the case of data, the creator may make use of automated tools such as graphing software to represent the data in the form of lines, boxes, arrows, and various symbols and pictograms. The information graphic might also feature a key which defines the visual elements in plain English. A scale and labels are also common.
There are many types of InfoGraphics available out there. Many information graphics are specialized forms of depiction that represent their content in sophisticated and often abstract ways. In order to interpret the meaning of these graphics appropriately, the viewer requires a suitable level of understanding. In many cases, the required understanding involves comprehension skills that are learned rather than innate. At a fundamental level, the skills of decoding individual graphic signs and symbols must be acquired before sense can be made of information graphic as a whole. However, knowledge of the conventions for distributing and arranging these individual components is also necessary for the building of understanding. Here we are conceding some major type of InfoGraphics to understand its usability.
Information graphics are visual devices intended to communicate complex information quickly and clearly. The devices include charts, diagrams, graphs, tables, maps and lists. Among the most common devices are horizontal bar charts, vertical column charts, and round or oval pie charts, that can summarize a lot of statistical information. Diagrams can be used to show how a system works, and may be an organizational chart that shows lines of authority, or a systems flowchart that shows sequential movement. Illustrated graphics use images to related data. The snapshots features used every day by USA Today are good examples of this technique. Tables are commonly used and may contain lots of numbers. Modern interactive maps and bulleted numbers are also infographics devices.
Timelines are another type of infographics uses where visual representation of information and events that happen over time. A timeline is the presentation of a chronological sequence of events along a drawn line that enables a viewer to understand temporal relationships quickly. Sometimes it is also referred to chronology that is in tabular, year-by-year paragraphs, or other form.
These types usually can be seen in workspaces of factory or offices. You can also catch them in cooking magazines which shows their recipes using graphics. Have you ever wonder why most of the food products have InfoGraphics instead of detailed procedure at the back side of their cover or box. Out of many there is one important reason is to give you understanding about its uses in limited space. Using images to related data it can produce a good example of particular process so it's easy to understand.
It's the most common type of infographics which you can find everywhere starting from your school map to complicated astronomical graphs. City and country maps can also consider as a good example of geography based infographics. These types of graphics include symbols, icons, diagrams, graphs, tables, arrows and bullets. You must be remember that there are many types lines (parallel, dotted, straight) used in maps to define subways, streets, highways, and railway tracks. Also many symbols and icons used for specific landmark like school, church, hospital, bank etc. scale is the important parameter here as everything marked according to particular scale or ratio.
Three main Questions needs to be answered before start making any information graphics which is Why?, How?, Does it Work? Making good information graphic consist of facilitating the understanding of complexity, instead of complicating what is simple. And this cannot be achieved without the clear understanding of what goal we pursue, who our audience is and a good deal of work and reflection.
It's the most important question out of three that why you want to create InfoGraphics? What is it for? What is the goal? Is it for research, for discovery, Or for monitoring the data?
If you can able of answer these queries then only you can able to collect the relevant data. This determines the type of relative data to gather and about which we have to ask what type it has to be (quantitative, sequential, categorical, analytical etc.) and more importantly: are they relevant for what we want?
If you done with "why?" part then you need to think about How you going to refine your data and in what way we will represent the data. A fundamental aspect of this section is that information graphics are interesting because they reveal differences. For this reason refining them and representing the data derived from their statistical treatment often reveals aspects that otherwise would result confusing which often leads to wrong conclusions.
Once data is refined now you have to choose the most effective visual metaphor. Mostly, for a little data, a table or even a sentence can be clearer that a chart. In certain occasions changing the color palette or the type of chart can clarify the situation enormously.
Now this is a critical section where you have to identify if the outcome is fit the goal or not. if it doesn't fit the goal that we have defined in the first step, we will have failed and again start with first step. There is no documented rule which says how to verify your results but after thoroughly answering all three questions you must able to judge if the result is favorable or not. The key resides in revising and experimenting with what we have done until we find an improvement.
A perfect layout, a good selection and nice resource can produce a creative output. Layout, textures and typography are used more often than one may think but the outcome of different combination can result verity of designs. Professionalism is built upon knowledge and experience. Typography is one of the most important key aspects of any design project. Among other things, effective typography always manages to achieve some of the important objectives of projects like corporate identity, attractiveness of the project, enrichment of visual appearance, trust and interest of viewers etc. Also it's helps you to represent the bound emotions of your graphics.
Varying the colors, reducing the saturation of what is less important and increasing it for the most relevant data, modifying the typography, the size of fonts, eliminating everything that doesn't contribute to showing and clarifying the data (irrelevant grids, redundant data, and unnecessary labels) without losing relevant information sometimes provides surprisingly improved results.
While compiling this list, it's always a possibility that we missed some other great resources. Feel free to share it with us.
I can´t see the images. Is it my computer?
no, i can't see them too
I'm a great fan of info Graphics. I use to create infoGraphics for my base at Huston. I like the way how peoples think creatively to put tons of information into single piece of paper.
I like these. thank you for the roundup.
@Pablo Lara, @jim – Everything seems fine to me… i can see images with no problem.
@Anders – Nice article… i like the overview part. Looking forward to see more like these.
Have a look at this gallery. Many of the quoted ones of this amazing post are visible here! http://www.closr.it/show/J8ifPmksieM
Great collection!!!
It will be interesting to see how quickly more intelligent graphics are incorporated into culture. It's bound to happen. Too bad culture has been indoctrinated to not expect much value or information from visuals.
A great collection with marvellous works, or should I say pieces of art? Thanks for sharing!
Nice article …. really informative …
Thanks nice collection!
Wow… That's enough for history unless you really want to get die with boredom
That's incorrect grammar. It should be "unless you really want to die from boredom"
Thanx. 2favorites.
And do you have exampels of simple infographics?
Like this one for example:
whoa!!!! this is amazing!!!! thanks for the inspiration :)
Great article and resources. Thx !
There's a fourth and maybe fifth type of infographic that I think is missing from your categorisation schema. There are 'Concept' infographics which depict a subject or idea or phenomenon, but don't rely on statistics, timelines or process to communicate.
Here's a few good examples: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bryce/58299511/
The other is the 'anatomy' infographic, which shows the makeup of an object or environment.
Examples here:
This is the best post about Infographics that I¨ve seen so far, :) I would like to see the design process I think the first step is researching and then sketching the Infographic ??
Infographic designs are very trendy nowadays:)
But these are really good choices
Wow. This is perfect.
Wow! what a nice thinking. Thanks for your nice collection
Great stuff. It would be nice if we could read the detail
Thanks so much for this amazing selection, some of these were completely new to me, and I was very happy to see so many works from South America.
As a suggestion for everyone who loves infographics, Visual Loop ( http://visualoop.tumblr.com/ ) has about 6.000 (!) infographics, and adds at least 25 new ones every day, so it's worth checking out.
Keep up the great work!
You have a lot of really great resources and tips here. Thanks for sharing.
Oh this is an absolutely wonderful presentation. Thank you for putting this together! I can't wait to hone some of my skills towards data representation – this is such a useful and beautiful talent.
Great information. I got lucky and found your site from a random Google search. Fortunately for me, this topic just happens to be something that I've been trying to find more info on for research purpose. Keep us the great and thanks a lot.
Thanks, great article!
I'll send this at my clients
AFAICT you've covered all the bases with this anwsre!
Is there any sowtware to generate cool infographics?
It's amazing how the classic designs show up over and over…tanagrams every day…
I am a math teacher, and I really think infographics are a brilliant way of communicating data. It brings it to life. Does anyone know the tools that people are using to create these infographics? If I wanted to try to design these or have my students try, are there resources for us, amateur infographic designers.
I am really upset with the last graphic posted, how dare u make fun of any country. And they call it a inspirational graphic? I pitty u guys
The resources are very interesting. It gave me a great example for my school project
Massive collection of infographics, we especially like the coffee one, take a look at our latest infographic designs here infogr8.com hopefully some of them will make it onto your list one day.
it was a great collection, but after reading it all i feel like i need a nap. and to all of those that i offended its nothing personal i just have a very short attention span + im doing this for my english class
I always wondered how these amazing infographics are made. First I thought they use photoshop for everything. But there are tools such as creately that I've found you can create these graphics in a very interesting way.
This is one of the most informative articles on the internet about Infographics. Infographics and Animated Video increase the traffic and viewers more than of simple text at the website. It, s really awesome technique to engaged viewers in what we wants to describe.
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Kellog Stages 'Mock Marathon' to Promote Granola Bar
Kellogg Co. knows many people don't have time for breakfast at home, so the cereal maker is trying to serve it up during their morning dash to work -- literally.
As part of a new advertising campaign for Kellogg's Nutri-Grain granola bars, actors dressed as commuters but with marathon race numbers pinned to their suits will mingle with real commuters to hand out free samples of the food bars.
The 'mock marathon,' which will take place in eight U.S. cities, will also feature cheering onlookers behind barricades, rooting for the commuters and their Kellogg counterparts.
This approach makes perfect sense in the increasingly crowed media marketplace where consumers simply tune out marketing messages because there are so many of them. Along with this type of street marketing there will be an increase in product placements within television shows as well as the creation of entire television shows centered around an advertiser's product.


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Submitted by PRWatch Editors on
For Immediate Release: Wednesday, July 26, 2017
Contact: Dr. Jonathan Latham, firstname.lastname@example.com,
Carol Van Strum, email@example.com,
or Mary Bottari, email@example.com
The Poison Papers Expose Decades of Collusion between Industry and Regulators over Hazardous Pesticides and Other Chemicals
Watchdog Groups Digitize and Release 20,000 Documents for Public Review
The Bioscience Resource Project and the Center for Media and Democracy today are releasing a trove of rediscovered and newly digitized chemical industry and regulatory agency documents stretching back to the 1920s. The documents are available at PoisonPapers.org.
Together, the papers show that both industry and regulators understood the extraordinary toxicity of many chemical products and worked together to conceal this information from the public and the press. These papers will transform our understanding of the hazards posed by certain chemicals on the market and the fraudulence of some of the regulatory processes relied upon to protect human health and the environment.
"These documents represent a tremendous trove of previously hidden or lost evidence on chemical regulatory activity and chemical safety. What is most striking about these documents is their heavy focus on the activities of regulators. Time and time again regulators went to the extreme lengths of setting up secret committees, deceiving the media and the public, and covering up evidence of human exposure and human harm. These secret activities extended and increased human exposure to chemicals they knew to be toxic," said Dr. Jonathan Latham, Executive Director of the Bioscience Resource Project.
The Poison Papers are a compilation of over 20,000 documents obtained from federal agencies and chemical manufacturers via open records requests and public interest litigation. They include scientific studies and summaries of studies, internal memos and reports, meeting minutes, strategic discussions, and sworn testimonies.
The majority of these documents have been scanned and digitized for the first time and represent nearly three tons of material. The regulatory agency sources of these documents include: the EPA, the USDA Forest Service, the FDA, the Veterans Administration, and the Department of Defense. Chemical manufacturers referenced in the documents include: Dow, Monsanto, DuPont, and Union Carbide, as well as many smaller manufacturers and the commercial testing companies who worked for them.
The Poison Papers catalogue the secret concerns of industry and regulators over the hazards of pesticides and other chemicals and their efforts to conceal those concerns.
Most of the Poison Papers were collected by author and activist Carol Van Strum.
"In total, the stark truth revealed by these 50 years of documents is that the entire pesticide industry could not exist without lies, coverups, rampant fraud, and government enablers," said Van Strum, who authored the 1983 book "Bitter Fog: Herbicides and Human Rights."
Corporate concealment is not a new story. What is novel in the Poison Papers is the abundant evidence that EPA and other regulators were often knowing participants or even primary instigators of these cover-ups. These regulators failed to inform the public of the hazards of dioxins and other chemicals; of evidence of fraudulent independent testing; and of widespread human exposure. The papers thus reveal, in the often-incriminating words of the participants themselves, an elaborate universe of deception and deceit surrounding many pesticides and synthetic chemicals.
The chemicals most often discussed in the documents include dioxins, herbicides and pesticides (such as 2,4-D, Dicamba, Permethrin, Atrazine, and Agent Orange) and PCBs. Some of these chemicals are among the most toxic and persistent ever manufactured. Except for PCBs, almost every chemical discussed in the Poison Papers is still manufactured and sold today, either as products or as product contaminants.
"The Poison Papers will be a tremendous resource for researchers, the media, and everyday Americans worried about many of the chemicals used on farm fields and in common consumer products," said Mary Bottari of the Center for Media and Democracy.
EXPLORE: Some of the 20,000+ documents in this repository have surfaced over the years. Many have never been seen online or publicly written about. The Poison Papers therefore offer a unique opportunity for researchers, the public and the media to discover much more about what was known about chemical toxicity, when, and by whom.
ACCESS: You can access the papers at PoisonPapers.org. Important instructions on how best to search these old documents are also available here and on the website.
Poison Papers Reveal:
Secrecy — They disclose EPA meeting minutes of a secret high-level dioxins working group that admitted dioxins are extraordinarily poisonous chemicals. Internal minutes contradict the agency's longstanding refusal to regulate dioxins or set legal limits.
Collusion — They demonstrate EPA collusion with the pulp and paper industry to "suppress, modify, or delay" the results of the congressionally-mandated National Dioxin Study, which found high levels of dioxins in everyday products, such as baby diapers and coffee filters, as well as pulp and paper mill effluents.
Deception — They provide important new data on the infamous Industrial Bio-Test (IBT) scandal. By the late 1970s, it was known that more than 800 safety studies performed by IBT on 140 chemicals produced by 38 chemical manufacturers were nonexistent, fraudulent, or invalid. The Poison Papers, however, show that EPA and its Canadian counterpart, the Health Protection Branch (HPB), colluded with pesticide manufacturers, to keep invalidly registered products on the market and covered up massive problems with many IBT tests.
Cover-up — The papers also show that EPA staff had evidence that this IBT scandal involved more independent testing companies and more products than ever officially acknowledged.
Concealment —Show that EPA concealed and falsely its own studies finding high levels of dioxin - 2,3,7,8-TCDD - in environmental samples and human breast milk following routine use of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T (Agent Orange) by the federal Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management.
Intent — Show that Monsanto chief medical officer George Roush admitted under oath to knowing that Monsanto studies into the health effects of dioxins on workers were written up untruthfully for the scientific literature such as to obscure health effects. These fraudulent studies were heavily relied upon by EPA to avoid regulating dioxins. They also were relied upon to defend manufacturers in lawsuits brought by veterans claiming damages from exposure to Agent Orange.
Links to the above documents and more can be found on the website here.
The mission of The Bioscience Resource Project is to provide the highest quality scientific information and analysis to enable a healthy food system and a healthy world. The Bioscience Resource Project is an educational nonprofit based in Ithaca New York, USA. It is the publisher of Independent Science News.
The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) is a public interest watchdog group based in Madison, Wisconsin. CMD is the publisher of the websites ExposedbyCMD.org, ALECexposed.org, PRwatch.org and Sourcewatch.org.
Ann Griffin replied on Permalink


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Well, here we go again. It's Christmas! This year I am hosting the festivities and was given the challenge to make a gluten-free dinner for a guest that has a medical reason for eating gluten-free. Making a gluten-free main course is easy, I'll be making sous vide leg of lamb, roasted veggies and some type
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National Initiative Advances Integration of HIV in Primary Care Settings
In response to the persistent and disproportionate impact of HIV on racial and ethnic minority communities in the United States, last fall the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services with the mission of advancing culturally competent, comprehensive, quality HIV care for racial and ethnic minority communities severely impacted by HIV/AIDS.
In May, the AETC NCHCMC announced the selection of 24 diverse community health centers to participate in the HIV in Primary Care Learning Community initiative. Last month representatives from those health centers convened in Washington, DC to launch the project. For two days, participants discussed how best to integrate HIV services into community health centers, and became familiar with the initiative's innovative curriculum – designed, in part, to support them in becoming a Patient-Centered Medical Home for people living with HIV.
Over the next year, participating health centers will engage in a peer learning community, receive training and technical assistance from expert faculty, and work to integrate HIV prevention and treatment into their primary care services. As a result of participating in this program, these community health centers will enhance their capacity to provide primary medical care to ethnic and racial minority individuals living with, at risk for, or affected by HIV.
The benefits of the HIV in Primary Care Learning Community will not be limited only to the participating health centers and their patients. Through the NCHCMC website, other health centers from across the country can follow the progress of the Learning Community, learn about successful strategies which address multiple health needs, access the most relevant elements of the curriculum, and download tools designed to support the integration of HIV services into community health center settings.
At the learning community launch meeting on June 9, Dr. Ronald Valdiserri, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health, Infectious Diseases at HHS, addressed the attendees. He observed, "What is the role of community health centers in addressing the goals of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy? Simply put, the role of community health centers is critical. We have come to realize that we are reaching the limits of addressing HIV/AIDS solely through categorical approaches. Treating HIV infection is not just a job for Infectious Disease specialists; we need to enlist the skills, compassion and know-how of primary care providers—especially primary care providers who work in community health centers."
As the newest AETC, the NCHCMC is one of the federal government's efforts to expand HIV services for racial and ethnic minority communities. By developing the HIV services capacity of health centers not directly funded through the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, the AETC NCHCMC contributes to the achievement of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy's goals of:
- Reducing the number of people who become infected with HIV by building on existing health center testing and screening programs;
- Increasing access to care and improving health outcomes for people living with HIV by delivering clinical technical assistance to primary care providers that increases the number and diversity of available providers of clinical care for people living with HIV; and
- Reducing HIV-related health disparities by improving access to HIV care in racial and ethnic minority communities.
The NCHCMC is part of the AIDS Education and Training Center networkExit Disclaimer, which is comprised of 11 regional, five national, and one international AETC, all administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration's in collaboration with the National Association of Community Health CentersExit Disclaimer and is funded through the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program and the Minority AIDS Initiative.
The opinions expressed in this post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official positions or policies of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services or other Federal agencies.


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Few people understand that "the Occupation" by Israel of the Palestinian people translates into regular violent assaults by jewish settlers on Palestinian civilians. This story from Ha'aretz by widely respected journalist Amira Hass gives us part of the picture.
Lambs to the settlers' slaughter, screaming and unheard.
There were more than 50 reports of Israelis assaulting Palestinians in the West Bank last month. In the start of a regular series, Haaretz (Israeli newspaper) details one particularly violent attack.
By Amira Hass | Aug.05, 2012
More reports from Israel and Palestine can be found at "Reports from Journeys to Israel and Palestine."
There is still a bruise under Ibrahim Bani Jaber's left eye. The blows his brother Jawdat received to his right ear didn't leave any marks, but they still make his head feel heavy. During our meeting at their home in the West Bank village of Akraba last week, they did not spend much time describing the fear and pain they felt when they were attacked. Instead, they spoke about the family's sheep, that they had rushed to try and save that day, July 7, when they heard that settlers were attacking them.
The violent confrontation – between settlers from Itamar and Giva 777, and Palestinian residents of Akraba – was the worst such incident last month. But it was, nevertheless, merely part of the daily routine of assaults, attacks and incursions. It is only on rare occasions that these incidents become news. In most cases, if there is an investigation there is no indictment.
The map presented here shows the various assaults from last month alone, but it is not complete because it does not include Jerusalem. It is based on reports that have been cross-checked, and eyewitness testimonies from the Ta'ayush Arab Jewish partnership, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and the B'Tselem: The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories. Haaretz will continue to follow events on a regular basis and the way they are handled by the authorities.
On Saturday July 7, when the Bani Jaber brothers were working in a wheat field, their brother Jihad – who was tending the sheep – telephoned them in a panic. "Settlers have arrived at the spring and they are slaughtering the sheep," he shouted. The two brothers were some three kilometers from the spring and orchard, east of the village of Yanun. Jawdat, 44, went to speak with the soldiers who had accompanied the Palestinian farmers to their fields.
About six months ago, the Israel Defense Forces began revisiting plans for its dormant firing range there – which contains farmers' fields, orchards and a number of homes belonging to families from Akraba. When it was decided to use the firing range again, the IDF began forbidding the Palestinians from going to their lands there. Giva 777, an offshoot of the Itamar settlement, is in that same firing range (known as 904A ). Dror Etkes, who has been tracking the way the settlers are gaining control of lands in the West Bank, states that most of Giva 777's tended fields are on private Palestinian lands and in the firing range.
In the past few months, Rashed Fahmi – the head of the Yanun local council; the Israeli-Palestinian group Lohamim Leshalom (Fighting for Peace ); and Rabbis for Human Rights have been waging an exhausting and prolonged campaign to get the authorities to uphold the Palestinians' rights to work their lands. The efforts bore bitter fruit: the Palestinians were permitted to go to their fields accompanied by soldiers for one week, between July 3 and July 10. Most of the wheat had already dried up by then.
Awaiting his death
Two military jeeps joined around 40 farmers who went to their fields that Saturday. After Jihad telephoned, at around 2 P.M., Jawdat told a soldier who spoke Arabic that something bad was happening at the spring. His impression was that the soldier brushed him off contemptuously. Meanwhile, Ibrahim, 42, hurried down the hill toward the spring. He was carrying a walking stick that he uses when tending the sheep. Jihad had already fled from the scene. Some of the sheep had wandered off. The settlers were standing among the sheep that remained and, according to Ibrahim, were hitting them. There were perhaps 10 or 20 settlers. "What have the sheep done to you?" Ibrahim shouted to them in Arabic.
At this point, other family members joined him. In the meantime, three or four soldiers arrived at the scene and prevented them from approaching the sheep. The number of settlers increased. Most of them were wearing white shirts. Two of them were, apparently, armed.
Ibrahim says he waved his stick to chase a settler away from a sheep. A soldier grabbed him, he says, and hit him with the butt of his rifle, below the eye. He fell and got up, bleeding. He saw the soldier taking out plastic handcuffs to detain him. Ibrahim ran away, "out of fear they would leave me to the settlers, who would beat me" – as had happened the previous month in Orif. There were shots, he says, as he began walking toward the south, bleeding.
The soldiers who prevented Jawdat from going to his brother handcuffed him and sat him forcibly on the ground. One soldier hit him with a baton on his ear, he says. Another soldier kicked him in the same place. As he was sitting with his hands secured behind his back, he saw some of the settlers approaching him and had the impression that one was holding an ax. At that point, he says, he shut his eyes and awaited his death.
Jawdat believes he was hit with the blunt edge of the ax and lost consciousness. Eyewitnesses say that some two hours elapsed before the soldiers would allow the residents to rescue him. He remembers waking when he was transferred from an Israeli ambulance to a Palestinian one, on his way to a hospital in Nablus.
The confrontation took place in a number of spaces. No one saw the entire picture. The Akraba residents who were being attacked had the feeling that the number of settlers was constantly growing, and that there were many dozens of them. The two sides began throwing stones at each other. The soldiers fired into the air, and stun grenades and tear gas were employed against the villagers who wanted to help their fellow residents. A fire broke out in the fields, either through arson or because of the stun and tear-gas grenades. One of the villagers was wounded by a tear-gas canister. Another was hit in the arm by a rubber-coated bullet, which left a deep wound and required hospitalization.
Another relative, Adwan Bani Jaber, 58, was also in the fields. "At a distance of some 800 meters from the orchard, I came across soldiers and a settler," he says. "A soldier began shooting and I asked him, 'Why are you shooting? This is my home.' And he shouted, 'Go back!' I asked him: 'Where should I go? This is my home.' The soldier then told me there was no problem, and that there were no injured."
Adwan says he suddenly felt a blow to his head. It was a stone which, he says, was thrown by a settler, in the presence of the soldiers.
The IDF spokesman said that the army had no reports about the injuries to the three family members. He says that on July 7, "a confrontation developed between a number of settlers and a number of Palestinians. A large number of Palestinians continued to arrive at the scene of the confrontation and there was stone throwing from both sides. The Palestinians started some conflagrations. The security forces began acting to disperse the confrontation and used means for the dispersal of demonstrations. During the incident, one settler and two Palestinians were lightly injured. The injured were treated by army medical personnel at the scene, and they then evacuated the Palestinians to hospital for further treatment. The event was investigated by senior officers and the required lessons were learned."
Jihad reported that 14 sheep were killed – four died that day and the remainder in the next few days. He no longer takes the sheep to drink at the spring.
The entire agricultural area was once again closed to residents of Akraba and Yanun. From afar, they can see the settlers who live in firing range 904A, tending their fields.


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Colonialism in India is what first introduced the flavors of the sub-continent to the rest of the world. The rich ingredients and spices used in the kitchens of the Indian aristocracy were incorporated into the recipes brought by the European settlers and officers. "Memsahib's cooking"is a hybrid style that evolved when the British "Lady of the House" asked her Indian household cooks to prepare traditional British dishes. Over time, the cooks incorporated rich ingredients and spices used in the kitchens of the Indian aristocracy into the recipes brought by the European settlers.
Through almost two centuries colonial rule, the British, French, Dutch and the Portuguese all had adapted variations of many of their own dishes which resulted in a distinct new cuisine – collectively referred to as 'Anglo-Indian cuisine' – by carefully blending European cooking techniques and recipes with local spices, ingredients and methods.
Set apart from the most often seen "curry house" or "family buffet" styled formats, artisanal cocktails and authentic cuisine aim to provide an experience noted for its energy, hospitality and aesthetic design. Our menu reflects the rich heritage of Indian cooking
influenced by the frontiers of the royal Northwest down to the fishing villages of the coastal south and showcases the best of this culinary tradition in an attractive 45-seat bistro format.
Here at The Drunken Munkey, we strive to recreate, and pay tribute to the legendary flavors, style and the ambience reminiscent of the famous cafes, bistros and music and supper clubs of 'Old Bombay' from the 1910's through the 1940's, while showcasing a touch of the old Raj.
Highlighting the dining room and our semi-open kitchen, the full-service cocktail bar
as our center stage. Classic artisanal cocktails lie at the heart of the 'East India Cocktail Program'. An exceptional variety of these specialized cocktails are prepared using proper mixing techniques, incorporating fresh juices, tinctures, bitters, etc.
And many ingredients are freshly prepared daily in our kitchen. The Drunken Munkey
ice-program further highlights the art of the cocktail, enhanced by frosted crystal
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We also highlight the most dynamic rum and whiskey selections including select Indian distillations; as well as exciting aperitifs, fine wines and champagnes, satisfying ports
,agreeable digestifs and a limited but quality selection of craft style beer
The semi-open kitchen will prepare classic and authentic recipes. Along with "old favorites", Diners will have the opportunity to taste some unique to the Colonial-era dishes. Some of these Anglo-Indian recipes are family secrets, passed down since independence in 1947.
An all-day dining menu serving till the late hours will include an extensive selection of appetizers and shared plates. Poultry and game, lamb and mutton, beef and pork, and seasonal vegetables will be prepared as an array of curries, stews, roasts, broths, etc.- all served with appropriate choices of sides. The bar will offer full dining options in addition to shared plates on a separate bar menu. A rotating list of daily specials will complement in-house dining as well as an exceptional home delivery service for catering to the neighbourhood.


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Autism Diagnosis
Yale Searching For More Objective Way To Diagnose Autism
Getting an autism diagnosis can take months, even years of doctor's visits, and the diagnosis depends largely on watching a child play. As a result, who gets put on the spectrum and who doesn't can depend on who and where the doctor is. "Your likelihood of receiving an autism diagnosis, unfortunately, is very much dependent on where you live and which clinic you're able to get to—if you're able to get to a clinic at all," said Alison Singer, president of the Autism Science Foundation, an advocacy group that supports autism research. Activists like Singer have been trying to address this lack of consistency for years. But science has worked against them.


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Tambra Momi has been eagerly awaiting the promise of guaranteed health insurance. Since 2011, she has battled Dercum's disease, a rare and painful condition in which non-cancerous tumors sprout throughout her body, pressing against nerves. Jobless and in a wheelchair, Momi needs nine different drugs, including one costing $380 a month, to control the pain and side effects. No insurer has been willing to cover her, she says, except a few that have taken her money and then refused to pay for her medications.
Yet her effort to sign up for the health law's coverage has been painful in its own way. Momi, a resident of Fort Mohave, Ariz., hasn't been able to complete an application on the federal healthcare.gov website. Three attempts to submit an application over the phone haven't panned out. Once when she called back, she says she was told they had no record of the application. Another time, officials told her they could see the application but couldn't open it.
"I was so elated with this whole thing," Momi, 46, says about the health insurance marketplace, "and now I'm praying to God that I'll be able to get something."
Enrollment has been open since Oct. 1, but hitches such as those that Momi encountered have put many people behind schedule. The next three weeks are critical for consumers keen on getting health coverage as soon as the health law allows it on Jan. 1. People who desire coverage by then need to sign up in the new marketplaces no later than Dec. 23. Consumers can still enroll up to the end of March, but their coverage will begin later.
For people in the states with well-functioning insurance websites, such as California, New York and Kentucky, this appears to leave plenty of time. But making the deadline could be dicier for people in Arizona and the 35 other states where the federal website healthcare.gov is the path to coverage, as well as Oregon and Hawaii, which have struggled to get their sites functioning. On Sunday, the government reported progress in improving healthcare.gov, saying the site now allows more than 800,000 visits a day with the rate of timeouts or crashes reduced to below 1 percent. Officials said repairs continue.
The technological trials for these websites have turned an enrollment period that was supposed to be a leisurely three-month stroll into a last-minute sprint for millions of Americans. "The challenge ahead is you have a lot of people who need to get into the system," said Sarah Lueck, an analyst with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a Washington think tank that focuses on issues related to low- and moderate-income people.
Prompt Enrollment Threatened
Within the Obama administration, concern is great enough about accommodating everyone who wants coverage by the first of the year that officials pushed back the deadline from its original date of Dec. 15.
Prompt enrollment is urgent for people in several circumstances. Some have no coverage, either because they haven't been able to afford it or, like Momi, because they have pre-existing medical issues that led insurers to reject them in the past. Some have insurance that is going to expire. That group includes people whose health plans have been canceled and those in a high-risk pool that is closing. For people with serious medical issues, such as cancer patients in the middle of treatment, the loss of coverage could be medically and financially devastating.
Sara Collins, a vice president at the Commonwealth Fund, a New York health care foundation, predicts two waves of people will try to sign up for plans in the first half of December: those who had tried to shop on the websites but were stymied by technological glitches and those who were able to look at plans but didn't settle on one.
For those who wait until the Dec. 23 deadline — either by choice or because they encountered difficulties—insurers will have just a week to process the applications before people can start filing claims. Robert Laszewski, an insurance industry consultant, says insurers generally need two weeks to add newly covered people into their computer systems. "The chances are we're going to see lots of customer service problems," he says.
'Nobody Knows What Accident They Can Be In'
Sandra Fox, a psychiatric social worker in Pittsburgh, has been trying to buy insurance through the marketplace since the day it opened at the beginning of October. After many failed attempts to get on healthcare.gov, she succeeded. But the website said she and her husband, an artist, are not eligible for a government subsidy while she believes they are. (Based on information she provided, KHN calculated they are eligible for a $292 monthly subsidy.) She was told to mail a written appeal, but despite sending it off Nov. 1, her case remains unresolved.
Fox's husband goes to a pain clinic and uses medication for his spinal stenosis. She fears if they are not enrolled in new insurance when their current policy lapses at the end of the year, they will have to pay out-of-pocket. "It would be extremely expensive," she says. "And nobody knows what accident they can be in tomorrow. I don't think it's wise to be without insurance for one day, frankly."
Early mix-ups occurred in the launch of the last major federal health expansion, the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit. People were supposed to sign up by Dec. 31, 2005, to start using the benefit when coverage began on Jan. 1, 2006. But that turned out to not leave enough time for Medicare to process all the enrollments. "There were all these stories about people showing up to pharmacies and the pharmacies not having the seniors in the systems," said Sabrina Corlette, who directs the Health Policy Institute at Georgetown University. "And the seniors walked away empty handed because Medicare hadn't transferred the information."
Momi's pain is so intense from her disease, formally known as adiposis dolorosa, that any delay would be agonizing. "I have lipomas, fatty tumors that grow throughout my body," she says. "They're attacking through my spine, my internal organs. My nervous system is actually growing through them. You can see them."
She drives monthly to Las Vegas, more than 100 miles north of Fort Mohave, to see her doctor. He wants to install a pain pump for a new medicine from sea snail venom, but it's so expensive she has had to delay the surgery. "My doctor is helping me so much I can't even begin to tell you," she says, crying. "I pay him what I can pay him."
No one knows how many people might still be clamoring for coverage at the cusp of Christmas. When Massachusetts launched its health insurance exchanges, the big spike in enrollment did not occur when the program began in 2007; it occurred when the financial penalty for not signing up kicked in that December, according to a study by Harvard professor Amitabh Chandra and other researchers.
For the federal law, the comparable time is the close of the enrollment period at the end of March. After that, people without health coverage face tax penalties of $95 or 1 percent of income, whichever is greater, unless they meet the criteria for exemptions. Chandra, however, notes that there are differences from Massachusetts' experience that make it less than a perfect comparison. For one, the Massachusetts penalty was higher than the federal health law's penalty in the first year. On the other side, he noted that more people in the United States are aware of the health law's penalty "because we've had a four-year fight about [the law]; nothing like this had happened in Massachusetts."
Laszewski says the political controversy over the rules may have left consumers confused. "Is my policy really canceled? What do all these objections from insurance commissioners really mean? The consumer is left in the lurch trying to figure out what is going on," he says.
Kirsten Sloan, a policy director for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, says that is not the case with those most desperate for medical care. "Many people living with cancers and survivors who have been waiting, they know these deadlines," she said.


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The Burning Star
Jessie Lane, M.L. Pahl
(Star, #1)
Genres: Paranormal, Young Adult
Seventeen-year-old Kay's journey of a lifetime started in the woods where she met a beautiful man … along with a monster. The chance encounter led her to an unbelievable world that shouldn't have existed, a place where myths and fairytales were real and, in some cases, deadly.Kay knew she would have to brave this new world if she hoped to find a cure for her terminal cancer.With a strange yet beautiful cast of characters, Kay uncovered truths that would change her life forever. However, before it was all over, she discovered she wasn't the only one with problems.Yet another seventeen-year-old young woman was fighting for her life.Kira had grown up in a magical world. Despite this, her life had not been filled with many good things. She considered her empty, emotional solitude the only positive aspect of her life and fought daily battles to escape abuse and torture.Trained to be an expert assassin, she was charged with kidnapping Kay and delivering her to Kira's master, Lord Donovan.As the two young women set forth on their journeys, their paths would cross in unimaginable ways. There was only one question that remained: who would come out alive?
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The Frozen Star
Jessie Lane, M.L. Pahl
(Star, #2)
Genres: Paranormal, Young Adult
The journey continues …Kay discovered secrets, lies, shocking truths, and even love in a strange new world hidden from humans. Everything she thought she knew was turned upside down when she found out three things: she wasn't human; she had a power she couldn't control; and there was a possibility she might have found a way to cure her deadly cancer by using that very same power.Just when she was on the precipice of gaining everything she wanted and saving her own life, tragedy struck. Would she be able to fight her way back to Ryan and save herself in the process?Kira had lived a terrifying life of servitude and abuse under Lord Donovan and his son, Cole. It was an existence that had stripped away her emotions and reasons to keep fighting.Just when she thought freedom was within reach, Lord Donovan struck again, ruining her plans and almost killing her. When she awoke from her injuries, it was to stunning revelations that would change her life forever, changes she wasn't entirely sure she wanted.Persistent individuals, such as Prince Kane, refused to let her walk away, though. Would she embrace all of her sudden fortune? Or would she walk away from those who needed her most, forsaking their acceptance and love?WARNING: This is a upper ya/young adult/new adult fictional story that includes some explicit language, graphic violence, and mild sexual situations. Recommended for ages sixteen and up.*This book is a re-release and revision from the original book published in 2012. Please be aware that some things have been added, deleted or changed.*
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I stood there frozen, knowing that I would probably die because of this wretched creature, when all of a sudden I saw the quick movement of an arm bringing down the point of the knife, slicing towards the large creature's skull. The animal's enraged screams ripped through the woods surrounding us.
My brain tried to analyze what was happening before me as I stood still as a statue and watched as the monster started to crumble away like something that had been burnt from the inside out and then fell apart.
This can't be real.
I looked up from the ashes into the face of an angel.
He's not an angel; he's just a guy. Right?
He was staring at me as if he had just seen me sprout a second head. I was staring back at him like he was somehow related to those alien birds outside my window. My mouth flapped open to scream again, but before a sound could escape, the world faded to black, and I fainted.
At least I didn't scream again.
When I opened my eyes, two ethereal blue eyes were staring back at me. My head was throbbing like a bass drum in a marching band, and it felt like my head might split in two from the pounding headache.
"Are you okay?" he asked me, his voice strong but sweet.
Before I could stop my mouth from saying anything ridiculous, I replied, "Are you an angel? Did I finally die and go to Heaven?"
He bellowed a laugh while I blushed a shade that was more than likely lobster red. I smacked myself in the forehead and tried to hide my face behind my hand. What a brilliant way to make a first impression on an extremely hot guy. That's when it hit me.
The past few moments of events flooded my brain again and I started to panic.
"Wait a minute! What was that thing and how in the world did it just, just—"
"The dog? I had to cut it with my knife to scare it away. It wasn't a mortal wound though. He took off through the woods to escape. Sorry if you're one of those animal lovers, but I was afraid it might kill one of us."
I shook my head to try to clear it. "No, no, no, no. That was no dog. Well, it was at first, but then it became something else. It was black and huge and had those red eyes…"
Before I finished my sentence, I looked up at him to see complete shock and amazement on his face. I had never seen anyone look so bewildered.
"Don't look at me like that! I know what I saw! Now what was that thing and what happened to it? It didn't run off; I saw you kill it. And I would point to the body to prove it, but it, well, it fell apart or something."
In a split second, the shock had disappeared from his handsome face, replaced by something more masked and calculating. "I'm sorry, but you're quite mistaken. I didn't kill it. I only wounded it. And it was a dog. Are you sure you didn't hit your head or something? I'm afraid you might be having some kind of hallucination." Somehow, when he said it, it didn't seem as scary or grotesque as it did when I played what I saw back in my head.
Author Bio:Jessie Lane is a best-selling author of Paranormal and Contemporary Romance, as well as, Upper YA Paranormal Romance/Fantasy. She lives in Kentucky with her two little Rock Chicks in-the-making and her over protective alpha husband that she's pretty sure is a latent grizzly bear shifter. She has a passionate love for reading and writing naughty romance, cliff hanging suspense, and out-of-this-world characters that demand your attention, or threaten to slap you around until you do pay attention to them. She's also a proud member of the Romance Writer's of America (RWA).M.L. Pahl grew up in coastal North Carolina. With the Marine Corps at her back and the sandy beaches beckoning her, she learned nothing could hinder her imagination. Not wanting to be stuck in one genre, she decided to dabble in everything from zombie apocalypses to romance and even paranormal. She currently resides in the frozen north of Minnesota with her family and those cute dogs she always tweets about.
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Now that's not to say that I've accomplished even half the lists I've started! My very first travel list was my "Top Five Before 25" destination list, composed when I was fifteen. Unfortunately, I only went to one place on that list before I turned 25, and that was our honeymoon trip to Germany in 2010. However, I've made some progress, and by my 27th birthday this August, I will have visited three more places on the list: Italy (July 2014), London (February 2014), and Prague (August 2012). Wish-lists don't have to be realistic - they're just fun to make and give you a general goal!
Up until recently, Mr. Gypsy and I have only been able to afford one international trip every other year with several regional or domestic trips each year, but that doesn't stop me from adding more destinations to my list. My current wish-list is quite extensive (pretty much the whole world is on it!), but I've been narrowing it down for my "Top Five Before 35" lists - an international version and a domestic one. I'll write about my domestic list in a later blog post. For now, here is my wish-list for international destinations!
"Top Five Before 35 - International"
Source. |
Jerusalem - Picture from http://blog.pe.com/political-empire/2013/08/03/congress-ruiz-takano-visiting-israel/ |
2. Israel: The Promised Land. History. Culture. Where do I start? As both a Christian and a history buff, there are so many reasons for me to put Israel high on my wish-list. I want to see the Temple Mount, walk in the Gardens of Gethsemane, reflect at Golgotha, and rejoice at the empty Garden Tomb. I want to float in the Dead Sea, experience the vibrancy of Tel Aviv, and marvel at the fact that I am standing in the same places where so much history took place!
3. The United Kingdom & Ireland: What can I say - the United Kingdom is the mecca for English majors (such as I was!). My weekend trip to London this past February merely whet my appetite to see and experience more of what the UK has to offer. From the lochs and highlands of Scotland, to the mountains of Wales, to the castles of England, and the green allure of Ireland, I want to see it all.
4. Greece: Whenever I think of Greece, I envision white-washed houses perched on a cliff overlooking an azure sea. How stunning. Again, the history factor draws me to Greece; I studied classics in college as a minor, and I'd love to see Grecian ruins in person rather than just in my history books. The Parthenon. The Temples at Delphi. Myrtos Beach. There is something just divinely exotic about Greece. Besides, Mr. Gypsy really wants to stand in Sparta and proclaim: THIS IS SPARTA!!!
Picture from Adventures by Disney. |
5. New Zealand: Adventure is the name of the game for New Zealand's placement on my wish-list! (And visiting the film sites for The Lord of the Rings may also be a contributing factor.) New Zealand has such a wide variety of natural beauty, and invariably any "most beautiful places in the world" list features at least one place from New Zealand. My ideal trip to New Zealand would include back-packing, camping, kayaking, boating, and maybe even a horse-back tour (if I can convince Mr. Gypsy!). Unfortunately, New Zealand is one of the most expensive places to reach from the east coast of the U.S., but a girl can dream, can't she?!
Bonus Destination: Caribbean
Because... beach!
"Some beach....somewhere." Dreamstime.com |
Linking up with Van for #TravelTuesday! |
Updated July 29, 2014