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1 Adam, Seth, Enosh, 2 Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, 3 Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, 4 Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
5 The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. 6 The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Diphath, and Togarmah. 7 The sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Rodanim.
8 The sons of Ham: Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan. 9 The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabta, Raama, Sabteca. The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan. 10 Cush became the father of Nimrod. He began to be a mighty one in the earth. 11 Mizraim became the father of Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, 12 Pathrusim, Casluhim (where the Philistines came from), and Caphtorim. 13 Canaan became the father of Sidon his firstborn, Heth, 14 the Jebusite, the Amorite, the Girgashite, 15 the Hivite, the Arkite, the Sinite, 16 the Arvadite, the Zemarite, and the Hamathite.
17 The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, Aram, Uz, Hul, Gether, and Meshech. 18 Arpachshad became the father of Shelah, and Shelah became the father of Eber. 19 To Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided; and his brother's name was Joktan. 20 Joktan became the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, 21 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 22 Ebal, Abimael, Sheba, 23 Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan. 24 Shem, Arpachshad, Shelah, 25 Eber, Peleg, Reu, 26 Serug, Nahor, Terah, 27 Abram (also called Abraham).
28 The sons of Abraham: Isaac and Ishmael. 29 These are their generations: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebaioth; then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 30 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, 31 Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. These are the sons of Ishmael.
32 The sons of Keturah, Abraham's concubine: she bore Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. The sons of Jokshan: Sheba and Dedan. 33 The sons of Midian: Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the sons of Keturah.
34 Abraham became the father of Isaac. The sons of Isaac: Esau and Israel. 35 The sons of Esau: Eliphaz, Reuel, Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. 36 The sons of Eliphaz: Teman, Omar, Zephi, Gatam, Kenaz, Timna, and Amalek. 37 The sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah.
38 The sons of Seir: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. 39 The sons of Lotan: Hori and Homam; and Timna was Lotan's sister. 40 The sons of Shobal: Alian, Manahath, Ebal, Shephi, and Onam. The sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah. 41 The son of Anah: Dishon. The sons of Dishon: Hamran, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran. 42 The sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Jaakan. The sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran.
43 Now these are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom, before any king reigned over the children of Israel: Bela the son of Beor; and the name of his city was Dinhabah. 44 Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his place. 45 Jobab died, and Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his place. 46 Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad, who struck Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his place; and the name of his city was Avith. 47 Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his place. 48 Samlah died, and Shaul of Rehoboth by the River reigned in his place. 49 Shaul died, and Baal Hanan the son of Achbor reigned in his place. 50 Baal Hanan died, and Hadad reigned in his place; and the name of his city was Pai. His wife's name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab. 51 Then Hadad died. The chiefs of Edom were: chief Timna, chief Aliah, chief Jetheth, 52 chief Oholibamah, chief Elah, chief Pinon, 53 chief Kenaz, chief Teman, chief Mibzar, 54 chief Magdiel, and chief Iram. These are the chiefs of Edom.


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My mouth dropped open.
My boys love the cute, lighted, wire sculpture reindeer at our neighborhood entrances. One morning, at the crack of dawn, I saw those cute little reindeer posed in a compromising position.
I burst out laughing.
Everywhere I go, every store, has holiday music playing. And before I even realize what I'm hearing...I find myself singing along, in my head. And it's darn addictive. AND, I notice other people singing OUTLOUD. And wiggling or dancing. It's infectious.
I can't help but smile.
And the craziest part of all? I imagine myself baking all kinds of holiday goodies to wrap and give to people. I have visions so strongly that I can smell the cookies, taste the chocolate turtles in my mouth...and then I realize I'll be lucky if I can make one batch of holiday cookies, much less bake enough that look good and are edible to give to people!!
My mouth waters.
What holiday craziness have you seen out and about? Good or bad.
I've seen cars decorated with Rudolph noses and antlers.
I've seen blow-up Santas on motorcycles.
Do you have decorations in your yard or on your house?
I haven't put up our lights yet. We're fairly low key on decorations but we like to do something.
I see some houses with no decorations at all, and I wonder why.
I see some houses with decorations out the wazoo, all chaotic and crazy, and I wonder why.
Gotta love a little holiday madness.
As long as it's harmless.

subset: commoncrawl


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If Adrian Peterson is going to run for 2,500 yards this year, he'll have to do it without his Pro Bowl fullback for the first three games.
The NFL announced Monday that Jerome Felton has been suspended without pay for the first three games of the 2013 regular season for violating the NFL's Policy and Program for Substances of Abuse. The exact violation was Felton's arrest last summer on a charge of driving while impaired, later reduced to reckless driving, NFL.com's Ian Rapoport reported, per a person informed of the suspension.
Another reason for the three games, Rapoport reported, was because of Felton's previous DWI charge four years ago.
Felton re-signed with the Vikings this offseason for three years and $7.5 million. He underwent an emergency appendectomy earlier this month and wasn't going to play again in the preseason. The Vikingsplay the Detroit Lions and Chicago Bearson the road to start the season before a home opener against the Cleveland Browns.
The NFC North division preview is next up on "The Around The League Podcast" this week.


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Vanzator en-gros
Balkan Luxury Supply is a wholesaler offering wide variety of luxury items. We are reliable supplier of Beauty products such as Perfumes (branded perfumes and niche perfumes), Cosmetics (full variety of skin-care products, creams, make-up, etc.), Eyewear (branded Sunglasses, luxury Frames, Optics), Watches, Jewelry and Fashion for retailers and wholesalers all around the globe. We import-export worldwide (Europe, Asia, USA, etc.). Streaming items directly from stock makes us rapid and credible partner. Balkan Luxury Supply is offering not only beauty products at great prices, but also a thorough solution for our customers including freight, drop-shipping, customs services and insurance. We hold higher stock levels to meet periods of seasonal demand of brands such as: Calvin Klein, Chloe, Diesel, Dolce & Gabbana, Paco Rabanne, Trussardi, Hugo Boss, DKNY, Joop, Shiseido, DSQUARED, Giorgio Armani, Elie Saab, Lancome, Elizabeth Arden, Narciso Rodriguez, Issey Miyake. We also supply a wide variety or niche brands, including Serge Lutens, Penhaligon, Escentric Molecules, L'Artisan and Montale.
Vanzator en-gros
Business Centre Serdika Boulevard ak. ivan e. geshov 2e
1330 Sofia - Bulgaria


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Event details
Digital Technologies Workshops are offered through 2018 by DLTV on behalf of the Australian Computing Academy (for the University of Sydney).
The workshop is a full-day training session to prepare teachers F-10 to teach the Australian Curriculum: Digital Technologies. The workshop provides an introduction of the concepts and goals of the Digital Technologies curriculum, as well as providing teachers with practical programming assistance to deliver the new curriculum in their classrooms.
The workshops will involve a curriculum overview, followed by a programming introduction using the Australian Digital Technologies Challenges being developed by the ACA.
Attendees are asked to bring a laptop computer and power supply.
Example Activities
Crypto unplugged DiC activity (rot cipher)
ACA Challenge - Cookie Clicker
ACA Challenge - Python Turtle (Flags or Snow HoC)
Visual and text programming
Blockly Turtle
Python Biology
Resources and Activities Roadshow
Who Should Attend?
Primary and secondary teachers looking to improve their understanding of the Digital Technologies curriculum
Teachers and technology leaders seeking resources to support the implementation of the curriculum
Nathan Alison, Professional Learning Coordinator, DLTV


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On March 26, 2012, the Supreme Court will begin hearing five and a half hours of argument on the constitutionality of President Obama's health-care law. The court will be deciding on no fewer than four separate constitutional and policy issues relating to the law. At the end of this marathon session, the nine Justices will spend several months pondering whether the so-called Affordable Care Act will survive and serve as testimony to President Obama's ideological boldness—or become a cautionary lesson in the foolhardiness of pursuing large-scale change without an ideological consensus across party lines.
The court is taking this question very seriously, as it should, given the scope of the law and the kinds of changes it represents, not only to the health-care system but also to matters as grand as the separation of powers and the very structure of our constitutional republic itself.
The case could easily have been limited solely to the examination of the constitutionality of the individual mandate—the requirement that every citizen purchase health-care insurance or be brought under the state health-care umbrella provided by government. The Court has chosen, and chosen wisely, to go beyond that and consider the questions of when in the course of its implementation the law can be challenged; whether it can survive if some of its parts are deemed unconstitutional; and the legal implications of the law's vast expansion of Medicaid, the health-care program for the poor.
The first and most far-reaching question concerns the individual mandate. The issue is whether the federal government can compel an individual citizen to act in a specific way and do so, moreover, at a specific financial cost to himself—absent any behaviors that directly affect the body politic. It has been determined that states can require an individual to purchase car insurance as a precondition for owning and driving a car. But can the federal government require every person to purchase health insurance, regardless of one's health, economic standing, or private beliefs? As Federal District Judge Roger Vinson memorably posed this question in his opinion, were the mandate to stand, "Congress could require that people buy and consume broccoli at regular intervals, not only because the required purchases will positively impact interstate commerce, but also because people who eat healthier tend to be healthier, and are thus more productive and put less of a strain on the health-care system."
The central constitutional issue has to do with the Commerce Clause, a provision in Article 1 that has been interpreted in a way that has allowed for the considerable expansion of federal power since the New Deal. The Commerce Clause—which gives Congress the power "to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes"—does not appear to contemplate to the imposition of a mandate by the federal government to compel citizens to buy a product sold in the private marketplace, to put it mildly. And yet the scope of what now falls under the rubric of "interstate commerce" is startling. In 1942, the Supreme Court (in Wickard v. Filburn) upheld a New Deal law that limited the amount of wheat a farmer could produce, even if it was for personal use, because it might in some inscrutable way affect interstate commerce. This is the seminal case supporters of the health-care law cite in demonstrating the expansive reach of the Commerce Clause.
They ask why the Court would stop the continued expansion of the Commerce Clause in this instance, especially given that health care undoubtedly has an impact on interstate commerce. But in the case of this law, Congress has essentially invoked the Commerce Clause to regulate an "inaction"—a person's refusal to engage in the economic activity of purchasing health insurance. Opponents argue that if this does not go beyond the scope of the clause, it would be hard to find any form of private business activity that would not fall under Congressional regulatory sway.
A second critical question the Court must address is severability—whether the law's provisions depend on one another and must stand together, or whether the mandate can be held to be invalid without also negating the other pieces of the law. If the latter, the court will have to determine which pieces will remain and which will have to be dropped. The plaintiffs in the case, a group of 26 states and the National Federation of Independent Business, believe that the whole bill would have to be invalidated, while the Obama Justice Department will argue for maintaining almost all of the rest of the law.
The third issue would result in one of the biggest anticlimaxes in American history on the day the Court delivers its opinion in June. It has to do with the applicability of an ancient piece of legislation called the Anti-Injunction Act, which holds that a tax cannot be challenged before it has been imposed on the taxpayers. The mandate is scheduled to go into effect in 2014. If the Court rules that the mandate is a tax, then it can refuse to issue any decision on the law's constitutionality until the penalty for not complying with the mandate is upon the American people—in 2015.
The fourth issue concerns the imposition the law makes on the states. It requires states to expand their Medicaid services in order to continue receiving Medicaid funding from the federal government. The grandest claim in behalf of ObamaCare is that it will lead to an additional 32 million people getting insurance coverage. Half of those—16 million—are to be covered by adding them to the Medicaid rolls. The federal government historically provides slightly more than half the money to pay for Medicaid. The Obama health-care law does feature additional federal spending to help pay for this expansion, but only in the short term. Many governors, such as Indiana's Mitch Daniels, have expressed the entirely plausible fear that the additional federal aid will be only temporary, leaving already strapped states to pay for Obama's expansive Medicaid ambitions. As it stands, Medicaid is one of the reasons states are going broke at an alarming clip. According to a report by the National Association of State Budget Officers, Medicaid obligations on states grew 10.1 percent last year alone—faster than debt owing to education, corrections, or infrastructure repairs and improvements.
All of these legal and policy issues have created a dog's breakfast of possible outcomes. Here are the four scenarios the Court has to choose among:
1. Uphold the entire law.
2. Invalidate the individual mandate and/or the Medicaid expansion, but keep the rest of the law intact.
3. Strike down the entire law.
4. Refuse to rule until 2015 when the mandate penalty is first applied.
The uncertainty regarding the outcome means that a significant number of states have implicitly chosen not to carry out the law's requirements until after the Supreme Court rules. This complicates an already disastrous implementation process that is placing undue pressure on the existing system. According to Stuart Shapiro, a professor of public policy at Rutgers, the mean time for completing a regulation is about two and a third years. The Congressional Research Service estimates that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has missed more than one-third of its mandated implementation deadlines for the Obama health-care law. Remember: This massive and wildly complex law goes into full effect in fewer than two years. This means it may kick in without a completed rule book.
Implementation delays are a problem at the state level as well. Some states, most of them red, are not inclined to build the health-care "exchanges"—the regulatory entities that will govern the new system—and are instead using this period of legal uncertainty as an excuse not to proceed.
What happens substantively if the Supreme Court rules in favor of the Obama health-care law? First, states that have until now been holding off on developing health-care exchanges will have one less excuse for delay. They can, of course, make the case that political uncertainty justifies additional waiting, but that is a tough argument. For the Republicans to repeal ObamaCare after a favorable Supreme Court ruling would require the November 2012 election to feature an overwhelmingly positive result for them, with the GOP winning the White House, taking over the Senate, and retaining the House of Representatives.
Then, assuming all of that happens, a repeal bill would have to pass the House and Senate, and be signed into law by the new president. The House passage and presidential signatures are not difficult to imagine in this scenario, but unless Republicans can craft a 60-seat majority for their view in the Senate, Republicans will have to rely on a very complex strategy involving the backdoor legislative process of reconciliation to succeed.
This scenario seems so unlikely that even governors sickened by the thought of implementing Obama-Care might find it prudent to go ahead anyway, because if they don't, they will have a "health-care exchange" imposed on them by the Obama administration. Under the law, if a state does not comply with the requirement to create one of these exchanges on its own, then the federal government must intervene and develop a federal exchange for that state. Although the Department of Health and Human Services has been understandably quiet about its plans on this front, it appears likely that HHS will have to build federal exchanges in at least three states (Alaska, Florida, and Louisiana) that have openly stated they will not comply.
If widespread implementation of the exchanges takes place after the Supreme Court decision, then a clean repeal of the Obama legislation becomes that much harder to achieve, even if Republicans score a total victory this November. Furthermore, a Democratic victory in November in any of the three overall federal contests—retaking the House, holding the Senate, or Obama being reelected—means the likelihood of the law's going into effect becomes overwhelming. Once in effect, the law will lead exactly to the results conservative health-care experts have been warning against for the past three years: Costs will continue to rise; innovative technologies and procedures will dwindle; significantly more citizens will become dependent on the federal government for their health coverage; and the American people will be burdened with one more entitlement that will be a political nightmare to fix.
Perhaps even more important, a Supreme Court win for the Obama health-care law would have a ripple effect that goes beyond the health-policy realm and touches on the question of the unprecedented reach of the federal government. The current Supreme Court is generally called a conservative one, at least by the standards of mainstream media and Washington elites. Yet if even this Supreme Court agrees that an individual mandate is constitutional, the Commerce Clause will have been fundamentally breached, and Congress will be able to act almost without limit.
It is clear, then, that a straight-up victory for the Obama health law would be a devastating blow to the prospect of creating an alternative to our inefficient and costly health-care system—one that is consumer-oriented, doctor-focused, innovation-driven, and market-based. It would also become much less likely for the courts to rein in future policy excesses in almost any sector of the economy. For the Obama administration, this is the best-case scenario, and it is a chilling one for advocates of limited government and free markets.
But what of the other potential legal outcomes: a split decision, a win for the law's opponents, or a punt until 2015? Here the crystal ball becomes clouded. Republicans would certainly welcome a Supreme Court invalidation of the entire law, and they should—not only because it would deliver the country from a disastrous policy, but also because it would provide a devastating argument against the president in the upcoming election. If his signature accomplishment is found unconstitutional, he will face the voters with almost nothing to show for his first term.
At the same time, Democrats, and particularly the Obama administration, might find complete invalidation preferable to the unholy mess of a mixed result, in which the individual mandate or the Medicaid expansion is overturned, but with the rest of the law in place. The Obama administration acknowledged this in their brief for Florida et al v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, arguing that the mandate was the core element of the law. As Judge Vinson wrote in his opinion, striking it down entirely: "The defendants concede that [the individual mandate] is absolutely necessary for the Act's insurance market reforms to work as intended. In fact, they refer to it as an 'essential' part of the Act at least 14 times in their motion to dismiss."
The flawed premise of the Obama law is that the administration can use its regulatory powers to force the insurance companies into doing what it wants—covering a vast array of services for all individuals regardless of their condition and being unable to drop individuals. These are undoubtedly noble goals, but they come with high costs, and insurance companies will need to increase rates considerably to pay for the type of open-ended coverage the Obama administration envisions. The sweetener in the deal is the mandate, the notion that every individual must purchase health insurance regardless of whether it is in his economic self-interest to do so.
The mandate is such an essential factor because the insurance model is based on risk, which is mitigated by paying careful attention to actuarial calculations regarding the participant pool. Insurance companies use these calculations to calibrate the costs of whom they can insure and the premiums they need to charge to provide coverage. These calibrations lead insurers to create politically unpopular but economically necessary features, such as higher costs for higher-risk individuals, rules against covering individuals with preexisting conditions, mandatory checkups before signing up, and the like, in order to have a sustainable business model. Of course, viewed from the outside, these are the very features that make insurance companies convenient targets for demagoguery.
Low-risk individuals, in contrast, often choose not to purchase insurance. According to the Commonwealth Fund, Americans between the ages of 19 and 29 are disproportionately uninsured, making up about a third of the total uninsured population. Estimates of the soi-disant young invincibles range as high as 14 million. From the perspective of many of the young and uninsured, the high cost of premiums at a time when their earning power has yet to take off is often not worth their relatively low level of usage of health-care services. This is precisely why insurance companies desperately want those millions of customers. The individual mandate would force them, and their dollars, into the arms of the insurance companies.
Without the mandate, however, the insurance companies will be caught in a bind. They would face the prospect of being forced to take on high-cost individuals without the compensation of a broader pool to make that financially possible. Such a scheme cannot and will not work, and the Obama health plan would collapse of its own weight. Even the Washington Post's Ezra Klein, one of the law's proponents, observed: "Kill the individual mandate and you're probably killing the bill, too."
The country faces a similar quandary with respect to the Medicaid expansion. From the Obama administration's perspective, though, a court ruling that limited the Medicaid expansion would mean that they face a significant limitation on their mechanism for covering half of the individuals that the plan means to cover. In this sense, as well, a complete loss in court could potentially be better than a partial loss.
Indeed, from a political perspective, a complete defeat at the hands of the Supreme Court coupled with the reelection of Obama could open the path for the Obama administration to push for a single-payer health system in the second term. That is, after all, the desideratum of many on the left—including a pre-presidential Barack Obama. In fact, Obama admitted in 2008 that a single-payer system was his preferred approach: "I happen to be a proponent of a single-payer universal health-care program….A single-payer health-care plan, a universal health-care plan. And that's what I'd like to see. But as all of you know, we may not get there immediately." Unlike the mandate, and despite all its policy weaknesses—among them unambiguous health-care rationing—a single-payer system would probably not be unconstitutional.
The Supreme Court's fourth option—the punt to 2015—is worth considering as well. For a variety of reasons, there is a real chance that the Supreme Court could aim to avoid political controversy by doing this. In this scenario, both sides would claim some kind of victory. The Obama administration would use the decision to compel resistant states to begin the implementation process. The law's opponents would see an opportunity to fight another day and, if the Republicans take back the White House, a potential for an improved Supreme Court configuration to examine the issues.
What a mess.
It was not always a given that we would reach this pass. Many on the American left scoffed at the notion of a significant legal challenge to the health-care law when the subject was first discussed during the year it took for the law to get through both houses of Congress and make it to the president's desk and after its signing. When former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was asked about the possibility of a constitutional challenge to the individual mandate, she dismissed it. "Are you serious?" she scoffed, and then repeated herself: "Are you serious?"
It is understandable that those on the left might think that passage of the law would mean the end of the conversation on the subject. Over the past century, bipartisan expansions of the welfare state have tended to be absorbed rather quietly by the body politic. Some expansions, like Medicare, were initially opposed and long postponed but later garnered votes from both Democrats and Republicans, which muted the calls for constitutional consideration. The Obama health law stands in stark contrast to this history of bipartisan compromise. It was passed on a strictly partisan vote; only the opposition was bipartisan, as some Democrats joined the Republicans in standing against it.
As a result of the ideological strong-arming that accompanied the law, the lamb-like acceptance of expanded federal power did not follow, which caught liberal elites and Team Obama by surprise. The Supreme Court now has it within its power to decide whether that partisan power grab was an ideological masterstroke or one of the greatest political and policy mistakes in American history.


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After completing a four year course at Canterbury College Of Art, I embarked on a career for 24 years as an illustrator- visualizer based in the West Country. As a freelance I was able to work for diverse range of Advertising, Design and 3 D companies in Bath, Bristol as well as London and Europe. I had the opportunity to work on many campaigns for many different companies Hasbro, Mattel, Cadbury's, Saga, Corgi Toys to name just a few. In many cases I worked closely with the designers producing visuals and taking the project right through to the finished illustration stages. I latter went on to illustrate for publishing, on teaching books, magazines, posters as well as being commissioned by The Guinness Book Of Records.
I now am a fine artist producing mainly one subject, being street scenes of the world. I like to evoke a sense of atmosphere and the feeling of being their through a loose style taking my influence from the Impressionists and Fauvism, using my visualising ways to produce the work. I take on commissions and along side this I also teach workshops and give live demonstrations.
My work is mostly influenced from the Impressionists, although I like all forms of painting. I love to paint in a way that is free and loose, not being constrained by detail. I want to convey a sense of atmosphere and as if the painting was a fleeting moment in time. I concentrate on the light as being the most important thing within the painting and only adding the detail to knit the scene together, when needed.
Having been as a Visualiser in the past as well as an Illustrator, it is from the visualising that I draw a lot of my technique today. I have the one style and like to try different things within it. I love all forms of art, but one of my biggest inspirations is Monet and the way he used paint and the single strokes of applied colour. I also like to make every stroke count and to be seen. This can give a great sense of movement.
I am really excited to see what 2020 has to offer and to progress my artist Journey with Buckingham Fine Art.


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Lately, I've had a lot of bad luck with my luggage while traveling on long-haul flights. My bags were delayed three trips in a row – reaching my destination only 1 to 3 days after I had arrived. After these three consecutive luggage mishaps, I was confident the airlines could not mess up a fourth time.
They didn't – but my bout of bad luck did not end with that fourth flight. Arriving at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, I was relieved to see my distinctive gray-with-orange-border suitcase appear on the luggage carousel. But while lugging it off, I noticed it was a lot heavier than when I had checked it in in Bangalore. I checked the luggage tag, only to see that it was not mine! When no other gray-with-orange-border suitcase showed up, I realized that there must have been a mix-up.
This litany of luggage mishaps came full circle a week later with another unfortunate mix-up when a fellow passenger mistakenly took my trolley from the hold of a shuttle bus on arrival at the airport!
Fortunately, despite these unlucky incidents, I was eventually reunited with my luggage each time, and since then have learned one or two things about traveling with luggage.
How can you make sure your luggage is not delayed or goes missing? You can't. But you can cut the risk by following these helpful tips:
1. Travel light. The best way to avoid your bag being delayed or lost is to travel with hand luggage only. This is usually only possible for short 1- to 3-day trips. Make sure you carefully check the airline's size and weight restrictions and its policy regarding liquids or you may be required to check in your bag.
2. Stand out. Black is cool but when buying luggage, choose colors that stand out so that your bag is easily identifiable. Be aware that many other people will have the same suitcase as you! Avoid a mix-up by tying a bright ribbon, handkerchief or scarf to your bag so that you can easily identify it.
3. Label it. Always attach a secure luggage tag with your name, local address, local contact number, and email address to each piece of check-in and carry-on baggage. Update these details each time you take a flight and perhaps even include the date and flight number(s). Luggage tags can easily be torn off or removed, so put your contact details inside your bags too.
4. Always check the tag. Even though the bag you pull off the carousel may look just like yours, always check the name on the luggage tag. If your personal luggage tag was torn off somehow, you can find your name printed on the destination tag affixed by the airline.
5. Insure it. If you're traveling with expensive items like laptops, tablets, and cameras, it's a good idea to take out baggage insurance. If your bags are lost or delayed, your insurance should also cover the cost of any essential emergency purchases.
6. Lock it. Using a lock does not guarantee your luggage is tamper-proof but it does make it more difficult to open and may deter a potential thief. Beware that traveling with an unlocked suitcase could invalidate your baggage insurance. Avoid locks with keys that can be easily lost or misplaced. If traveling in the US, use a TSA-approved lock (identified by a logo of a flame or diamond) to avoid it being broken by security inspectors.
7. If it's important, carry it with you. Avoid putting any valuables in your checked-in luggage and always carry your travel documents, cash, credit cards, jewelry, medical prescriptions, and tickets for onward travel with you in your carry-on bag. It's also a good idea to carry any essentials you need with you in case your luggage is delayed.
8. Pack carefully. Never overstuff your suitcase – this can cause it to burst open. You don't want to find your personal belongings scattered across the luggage carousel!
9. Make a list. Always make a list of the contents of your baggage. You will need to supply these details if your luggage gets delayed or lost, and to make an insurance claim.
10. Report it. If your luggage has not appeared on the carousel by the time it stops, contact the lost luggage desk and fill in a delayed/lost luggage report. Airline staff will be able to trace your bag and tell you when you can expect to receive it. Ask about their delayed luggage policy: they may be able to immediately offer cash compensation, a kit of basic amenities, or provide a refund for any essential purchases. Make sure to keep the receipts to be able to claim the cost of these.
Happy travels!


text:
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Three Things Thursday
1. This past Monday night, Brian and I had dinner with my best friend Kaylie and her fiance Mark! We had the most delicious meal of steak-spinach salad with sour cream potatoes followed by a dessert of blueberry crumble with cornmeal-almond topping! It was a great evening filled with great stories and lots of laughter! Yum, Yum!!
2. While on vacation I hope to get in a long run, like 12 miles long, and to top that off, I want to run it in my running skirt. If all goes well I think I will run in it for the half marathon in September too!
3. Brian and I have set a date for our wedding!! Since we are both engineers we are very into numbers and such. We will be getting married on September 10th, 2011 (also written as 9.10.11) We just love the consecutive numbers!
20 comments:
Oh what an awesome wedding date!!! Congrats- that is the biggest thing to nail down in my opinion :)
- August 12, 2010 at 9:52 AM
- Marlene said...
GREAT choice in wedding date. Very cool that it will be 9-10-11, but also... I got married on Sept 10th! :) (Our 5 year is next month)
Hope you are enjoying the lake! - August 12, 2010 at 9:52 AM
- Molly said...
that is the greatest date! You should engrave it in your wedding bands : )
- August 12, 2010 at 10:08 AM
- No Longer Using said...
double engagement date!!!! :)
YAYYYYYYYY setting the date!!!! ALL my family weddings/anniversaries are in september!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it's such a great month in New England to get married.
have a great weekend!!!!!!!!!!! - August 12, 2010 at 11:35 AM
- Being Robinson said...
i'm so behind. CONGRATS on the engagement! so exciting. and that is an awesome wedding date, so exciting.
have fun at the lake! - August 12, 2010 at 12:10 PM
- The Laminator said...
9/10/11...Haha...that is awesome! So easy to remember. Have a great vacay!
- August 12, 2010 at 12:15 PM
- Lisa from Lisa's Yarns said...
As a math major, I love that your wedding date is 9.10.11. :) Makes me grin.
I hope your long run on vacation goes well! I am doing 11 miles on Sunday at my parents cabin. That feels short after doing 17 last weeekend so I am really looking forward to it. : ) - August 12, 2010 at 12:29 PM
- Nicole said...
ahhhh i am jealous of your date! i am INLOVE with numbers like that! i saw on the news today that a little girl was born on 8/9/10 at 11:12 pm and her last name was really! BAHAHA isnt that sweet?!?!?!? i wish i had a cool birthdate like that!
- August 12, 2010 at 1:13 PM
- teacherwoman said...
Congrats on setting your wedding date... I remember when my sister was engaged and her and her hubby wanted to use 7-7-07, but there was no church avail...
enjoy your time on vacay at the lake! - August 12, 2010 at 2:15 PM
- Suzy said...
9.10.11 sounds like the perfect date to get married! Emjoy your vacation!
- August 12, 2010 at 2:27 PM
- Julianne said...
Omigosh congratulations!!! 9/10/11 is an awesome date!!! Did I mention we got married 8/8/08? :-)
And enjoy your vacation!! - August 12, 2010 at 3:03 PM
DSalut' on setting the date.
- August 12, 2010 at 3:25 PM
yay for a wedding date. too cute! hope you can get in your lr. i bet you will find a way :)
- August 12, 2010 at 3:26 PM
- Amber said...
That's the day after my 23rd bday :) YAY!
Also the number thing is very cool! I'm into numbered dates as well and very excited to run my first marathon on 10.10.10!! - August 12, 2010 at 5:16 PM
- MCM Mama said...
Awesome wedding date! Love it!
- August 12, 2010 at 11:56 PM
- Mel -Tall Mom on the Run said...
That is the BEST WEDDING DATE EVER!!
- August 13, 2010 at 12:40 AM
- Bethany + Ryan said...
great date!! i'm surprised that date is still available, i would think that would be a high demand date. SOOO fun tho and easy to remember!! i love it!! i'm planning a wedding now, it's a lot of fun and NOT stressful AT ALL...i don't get why people always say how stressful it is. ENJOY!!! :-)
- August 13, 2010 at 2:16 PM
- Chelsea said...
Awesome wedding date. BTW I love doing long runs in my running skirt. It's especially great when it's humid outside.
- August 13, 2010 at 3:45 PM
- Glenn Jones said...
Woo hoo! Congrats on choosing the big day! Great date - especially since you missed 8/9/2010.
- August 15, 2010 at 8:28 AM
- Christine said...
LOVE The wedding date!! I'm an engineer and there for a "number geek" as well :) Good luck on your run
- August 15, 2010 at 2:41 PM


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The North Carolina Utilities Commission wants to hear from you: On Tuesday, March 5, the commission will hold a local public hearing on Progress Energy Carolinas' request to raise residential, commercial and industrial electricity rates by an average of 12 percent.
The company says it needs to fund capital improvements, such as new natural-gas plants and transmission lines, to provide "reliable and reasonably cost-effective service," according to Len Green, senior staff attorney for the commission. In a fact sheet about the increase, Progress also notes, "Approximately 84 percent of the [request] reflects … investments made to modernize our system," and cites the resulting improvements, such as a 62 percent reduction in nitrogen oxygen emissions produced by its plants.
But Consumers Against Rate Hikes — a coalition of groups from across the state — says that Progress Energy customers have already seen monthly electricity bills rise by 25 percent since 1993 as the company raised rates to cover higher fuel costs. "Progress has been making 12.75 percent [profit] at the expense of low- and middle -income people, and now they want to raise residential rates," says Carley Ruff, policy and outreach coordinator for the N.C. Housing Coalition, one of the coalition members. Other CARH members include the AARP of North Carolina and the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League.
"This will mean more foreclosures, more disconnects in the winter, more small businesses failing and tighter school budgets," says Ruff.
Progress — which merged with Duke Energy last year — serves much of Western North Carolina, including Asheville. Duke is also requesting hikes in other parts of the state, but the commission is considering the proposals separately, Green reports. The March 5 hearing in Buncombe County is the only one scheduled for this area, and the commission is expected to make a decision later this spring.
Progress Energy wants the new rates to go in to effect in June.
Says Green, "The commission wants to make sure that they hear from the Progress Energy customers."
WHAT: A North Carolina Utilities Commission public hearing on Progress Energy's rate-increase request. The commission regulates the rates and services of public utilities.
WHEN: Tuesday, March 5, at 7 p.m.
WHERE: Buncombe County Courthouse, District Courtroom #1, 60 Court Plaza
HOW: There will be a signup sheet at the door for those who want to speak. Once commission members know how many attendees would like to weigh in, they'll determine how much time each speaker is allotted.
MORE INFO: Go to Progress Energy's website. Or here for more information about the CARH coalition.


text:
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WASHINGTON — Yale Law School Dean Harold Hongju Koh entered the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations conference room this afternoon with a huge smile across his face. Whether he left the room feeling the same way is another matter entirely.
The Foreign Relations Committee met Tuesday to discuss Koh's nomination as legal adviser to the Department of State. While praise for Koh's academic career and prior public service came from both sides of the aisle, Republican senators grilled Koh on how he would reconcile international statutes with American law, a reflection of the intense criticism from the political right that Koh has received in recent weeks.
[ydn-legacy-photo-inline id="10509″ ]
Five Democrats and six Republicans on the Foreign Relations Committee sat in at one time or another during Tuesday's debate. Connecticut's senators, Christopher Dodd — a member of the committee — and Joseph Lieberman '64 LAW '67, introduced Koh to the panel.
Sen. John Kerry '66, Democrat of Massachusetts and the committee's chairman, said Koh's commitment to upholding the United States Constitution was "indisputable."
"Accusations that [Koh's] views on international or foreign law would undermine the constitution are simply unjustified," Kerry said.
Several days after President Barack Obama nominated Koh on March 23 to serve as legal adviser, conservative commentators started to attack Koh for comments the dean purportedly made at a 2007 Yale alumni dinner that implied Sharia law could apply in U.S. courts. When the truth of the allegations was cast in doubt, debate refocused around earlier Koh statements that the United States should adhere to international norms.
Throughout the confirmation hearing, Koh insisted that the U.S. Constitution — not international law — remains the supreme law of the United States.
"I believe the Constitution is controlling law," Koh said. "There is no campaign [on my part] to shrink any provision of the Constitution."
Nonetheless, Republican senators asked how Koh would reconcile international statutes with American law in specific situations. Sen. Johnny Isakson, Republican of Georgia, asked about Koh's views on the Eighth Amendment, which prohibits "cruel and unusual punishment."
Koh referenced the 2002 decision in Atkins v. Virginia, wherein the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that states could not execute mentally retarded persons. Koh said while there was no international law that prohibited such executions, its rarity made it unusual and therefore illegal, in his opinion, under the Eighth Amendment.
"The United States is the only country in the world that engages in this practice, and only a minority of [U.S. states] at that engage in this practice," Koh said.
Sen. John Barrasso, Republican of Wyoming, confronted Koh on the Second Amendment and asked how Koh could support global gun control without violating the Constitution. The dean said his intention was to prevent situations where child soldiers could obtain arms, not to interfere with the rights of ordinary American citizens.
Koh added that any treaty that he would present before the Senate would not contain provisions that infringe upon the right of the individual to bear arms.
Another Republican, Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, questioned whether Koh could keep his personal views separate from his public role as top legal aide to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton LAW '73.
"As an academic, I certainly exercised my freedom of speech rights," Koh said, drawing laughter from the audience here. "But as a government official, I play the role of a counselor to a client [and] look to the client to give direction to me."
Corker also attacked Koh for his inclusion of the United States in the "axis of disobedience," a term Koh coined in a 2004 article for the Berkeley Journal of International Law, used to describe countries that disregarded the international rule of law.
Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin — a personal friend of Koh's for over 30 years — shot back at Corker, and said Koh meant the statement as a "patriotic reminder" to Americans about the nation's recent decline in international stature.
"The notion that somehow Harold Koh would cite these examples as a way to denigrate the United States is frankly absurd," Feingold said.
The committee will meet again — most likely within a week — to vote to send Koh's nomination in front of the full Senate. The sudden defection of Sen. Arlen Specter LAW '56 of Pennsylvania from the Republican Party's ranks on Tuesday gives the Democrats a 59-40 edge in the Senate, one vote shy of a filibuster-proof majority.
If confirmed by the Senate, Koh will resign immediately from the deanship and take a leave of absence from Yale Law School.


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MediaNoche presents
CINE_REAL: Two exhibits about film
Judith Escalona's "Bx3M: A work in process"
Hector Canonge's "IDOLatries/IDOLatrias"
November 8 – December 20, 2007
Opening Reception: Thursday, November 8, 6 – 8PM
1355 Park Avenue (entrance on East 102nd Street)
New York, NY 10029
For info: www.medianoche.us or 212-828-0401
Take the IRT Lexington Avenue Local #6 train to 103rd Street and
Lexington Avenue. We're one block South and one block West.
ADMISSION: Free
Project Descriptions:
Judith Escalona's "Bx3M: A work in process"
Witness firsthand the ongoing editing of this New York City epic. The
director and invited guests (Director of Photography Ted Ciesielski
and Actor Jaime Sanchez for starters) go through a performative
process of editing. Visitors watch and interact with
them. Behind the scenes footage also on display.
Hector Canonge's "IDOLatries/IDOLatrías""
An interactive new media work utilizing barcode and readers to bring
attention to yet another way women are objectified. Barcode takes us
one more step away from seeing these luscious Latinas on boxes,
cans,and jars as anything other than their use value. Consumer heaven
or hell, depending on which side of the supermarket aisle you're on.


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There are so many Things to Do in Victoria, there are attractions and tours all over the state. Whatever your preference might be, like touring the Great Ocean Road or visiting the wine regions, VIC is the perfect destination.
The best way to find attractions and tours in Victoria is to narrow your search to an area or specific location. We have suggested a few of the popular destinations below to help out but if you know where you want to go just enter it by using the search field above.


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Today, the behavior of duplicate close votes was changed so that a question can only be a duplicate close vote target if it has an upvoted or accepted answer. I think that this change is not a good one and that it should be reversed, for the following reasons:
The purpose of being able to close questions as duplicates is to aggregate all answers to a question in one place. This new change makes that more difficult because if a duplicate question is asked and the original does not have an answer, neither will be closed. And as @BenBrocka points out:
what happens when one of the questions gets an answer? The effort to find the duplicate earlier goes wasted and someone else has to find the dupes yet again after one is answered, and know which one is answered just to be able to close.
Whether a question is a duplicate of another is entirely independent of whether it has an answer.
This change is open to abuse. As @fbueckert points out, one could
Ask question, get no answer, ask same question with sockpuppet, continue until answered.
Abusive behavior obviously isn't allowed, but if someone is even a little clever it could take two or three iterations to realize that this is what's happening and that it's not just different people asking the same question around the same time (That happens sometimes on Arqade when new popular games are released).
This change provides minimal benefit. It's true that new users have trouble getting old questions attention, and asking another question is often their only recourse. But if a question is old an unanswered and the new question really is identical, it would probably take a bounty to get the question answered anyway. And if the new question is not identical to the old one, this shouldn't be a problem anyway.


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You can follow @skmurphy to get these quotes for entrepreneurs hot off the mojo wire or wait until the end of the month when they are collected on the blog. Enter your E-mail if you would like new blog posts to your inbox.
Quotes For Entrepreneurs–July 2010
+ + +
"Americans claim a psychic strength: hard times create a collective response."
Peter Goodman "The Great Rupture" quoted at length in Fourth of July 2010
+ + +
"Remember, the customer will usually forgive any mistake you admit, except a lie."
Ken Robbins on twitter 5:35 PM May 13th
+ + +
The good news is that unemployment has fallen to "only" 9.5 percent. The bad news is that the jobless rate is down only because so many people have given up hope of finding work. Perversely, the jobless who aren't actively looking for jobs are not counted as "unemployed."
Perhaps there should be a new category titled "mired in existential despair."
Let me put it in terms that Washington understands: The party that begins to treat the unemployment crisis with the hair-on-fire urgency that it deserves is the party that will do well in November.
Eugene Robinson in "Fiddling While Economy Burns"
+ + +
"Can the US re-energize the real mainsprings of American power: technological innovation and entrepreneurship?"
Niall Ferguson in "The Future of America's Economy"
More context:
"Unlike Britain in 1945, which was crushed by debt and slow growth, doomed to imperial decline, I think there is a way out for the United States. I don't think it's over. But it all hinges on whether you can re-energize the real mainsprings of American power. And those two things are: innovation, technological innovation, and entrepreneurship. Those are the things that made the United States the greatest economy in the world, and the critical question is: Are we going to get it right? Can we revive those things in such a way that, in the end, we grow our way out of this hole the way the United States grew its way out of the 1970s and, of course, out of the 1930s?"
Niall Ferguson in "The Future of America's Economy"
+ + +
"There is no such thing as a self-made man. You will reach your goals only with the help of others."
George Shinn
With a hat tip to Jordy Mont-Reynaud
+ + +
"If you have the same problem for a long time, maybe it's not a problem. Maybe it is a fact."
Yitzhak Rabin
h/t Disruptive Library Technology Jester Quoted by Clay Shirky in "It's Not Information Overload, It's Filter Failure" For an extended discussion see Columbia Journalism Review "Interview with Clay Shirky" Part 1 and Part 2
+ + +
"Ability is a rare article. But there is something that is much scarcer, something finer far, something rarer than this quality of Ability. It is the ability to recognize Ability."
Elbert Hubbard
+ + +
"Success, like happiness, cannot be pursued. It must ensue. And it only does so as the unintended side effect of one's personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself."
Viktor Frankl
+ + +
"It's amazing how long it takes to complete something you're not working on."
R.D. Clyde
Use as a section quote in "By Sunday Night Your Chips Are Down For the Week."
+ + +
"Community precedes commerce."
John Hagel in "It Takes a Village to Make a Mall"
Highlighted in Kevin Kelly's "Predicting the Present, The First Five Years of Wired"
+ + +
"Base your strategy on things that won't change in the next five to ten years."
Jeff Bezos
More context from "Jeff Bezos on Strategic Planning"
- What I have found—and this is an empirical observation; I see no reason why it should be the case, but it tends to be—is that when we plant a seed, it tends to take five to seven years before it has a meaningful impact on the economics of the company.
- It helps to base your strategy on things that won't change. When I'm talking with people outside the company, there's a question that comes up very commonly: "What's going to change in the next five to ten years?" But I very rarely get asked "What's not going to change in the next five to ten years?" At Amazon we're always trying to figure that out, because you can really spin up flywheels around those things. All the energy you invest in them today will still be paying you dividends ten years from now.
- Whereas if you base your strategy first and foremost on more transitory things—who your competitors are, what kind of technologies are available, and so on—those things are going to change so rapidly that you're going to have to change your strategy very rapidly, too.
+ + +
"If you behave like a disease, people develop an immune system"
Kevin Marks in "How Not To Be Viral"
+ + +
"That thud of the back against the wall is a fantastic motivator."
Christopher L. Smith
Used as a section quote in "Busyness Won't Build Your Business"
+ + +
"Waste anything but time. Time is the one thing we do not have."
From When Worlds Collide
Hat tip to Rafe Needleman's post "The Most Valuable Resource" where he noted:
The business lesson of the camp Sci Fi classic, When Worlds Collide, was this sign at the spaceport where the plucky humans were building the ship that was supposed to rescue humanity before the Earth was destroyed: "Waste anything but time. Time is the one thing we do not have."
The Internet Movie Database credits Edwin Balmer (writer on screenplay), Sydney Boehm (writer on screenplay), and Philip Wylie (for novel).


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MONDAY, Aug. 23, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- While every worker would prefer a fun, mentally stimulating job, new research reveals an added bonus: Such work could help prevent dementia in old age.
On-the-job intellectual stimulation appears to lower levels of certain proteins that block brain cells from forming new connections -- and doing so could help prevent or postpone dementia, the study's authors said.
"This is an important study and adds to the body of research that suggests cognitive stimulation is good for the long-term health of the brain," said Claire Sexton, director of scientific programs and outreach at the Alzheimer's Association, who reviewed the findings.
Exactly how lifestyle and work can help lower dementia risk isn't clear, she said, but keeping your brain active might well be a part of keeping it healthy.
For the study, an international team compared levels of dementia in people with highly stimulating jobs to those whose jobs provided less of a workout for the brain.
Based on those comparisons, a mentally stimulating job may postpone the onset of dementia by about two years, said lead author Mika Kivimaki, a professor of social epidemiology at University College London.
His team cautions that this study doesn't prove that having a mentally stimulating job prevents dementia, only that the two factors seem to be linked.
What jobs are mentally stimulating? Researchers said they're those that involve demanding tasks and decision-making. Non-stimulating jobs have low demands and little job control.
Sexton welcomed the findings.
"While the jury is still out on the exact lifestyle recipe for dementia risk reduction, there are things we can do today that may decrease our risk of cognitive decline as we age," she said. "Eating a heart-healthy diet, exercising regularly and staying cognitively engaged are just a few."
Kivimaki's team collected data on nearly 108,000 men and women who took part in seven studies from the IPD-Work consortium, which includes 13 European groups.
They also looked at mental stimulation and proteins in more than 2,260 participants from one study and at proteins and dementia risk among more than 13,600 participants in two other studies.
Researchers measured mental stimulation at work at the outset and tracked participants for an average of 17 years.
They found that people with mentally stimulating jobs were less likely to develop dementia than those with whose jobs were not stimulating -- a finding that held true for men and women alike. And the association was stronger for Alzheimer's disease than for other types of dementia, the study found.
Mental stimulation was also associated with lower levels of three proteins linked to dementia risk.
These findings remained even after researchers accounted for dementia risk factors, as well as sex, education and lifestyle. The benefits of education were less than the other factors.
Serhiy Dekhtyar, an assistant professor at the Aging Research Center at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, wrote an editorial that accompanied the findings, which were published online Aug. 19 in the BMJ.
He said the need to understand the biological basis of these findings is urgent.
"However, the effect size of work stimulation is not large, and appears to be weakened when educational attainment is further taken into account," Dekhtyar said, adding that dementia is not inevitable.
"There are modifiable aspects of our lives that have the potential to reduce our risk of the disease," he said. "Continued engagement in mentally stimulating activities, starting from education and through occupational life, could be one such preventive strategy."
Dr. Sam Gandy, director of the Mount Sinai Center for Cognitive Health in New York City, said he isn't sure the new findings can be directly tied with a reduced risk of dementia.
This study is the first pass aimed at identifying associations between work stimulation, circulating proteins and brain function to see if work stimulation can be "prescribed" the same way that physical exercise has been to reduced dementia risk, he said.
Ultimately, the problem is far too challenging to be solved on the first try, Gandy suggested.
"But this provides a glimpse of what might be possible as we seek to characterize our work environments and as we have already characterized our diets and lifestyles, linking them to blood biomarkers and healthy brain outcomes," he added.
More information
For more on dementia, head to the Alzheimer's Association.
SOURCES: Mika Kivimaki, PhD, professor and chair, social epidemiology, University College London.; Claire Sexton, PhD, director, scientific programs and outreach, Alzheimer's Association, Chicago; Serhiy Dekhtyar, PhD, assistant professor, Aging Research Center, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden; Sam Gandy, MD, PhD, director, Mount Sinai Center for Cognitive Health, New York City; BMJ, Aug. 19, 2021, online


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A Langley nurse and doctor, scheduled to be married in June, tied the knot "just in case" this month in a socially distant wedding.
Sarah and David Hogarth pushed up their date for tying the knot, admittedly, because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"In case this gets worse, let's do it now," Sarah told her sister, maid of honour Esther Moerman, who photographed their special day.
The wedding was thrown together in just four days, the sister said.
David works as doctor. Sarah is currently working as a nurse.
"They were preparing for things to get worse," said Moerman. "David's hours are already crazy with COVID-19."
As a professional photographer, most of Moerman's clients postponed their summer nuptials. But her own sister couldn't resist getting married even sooner than originally planned.
It was not a typical ceremony, the sister noted.
With eight guests in total, chairs were spread more than six feet apart, grouped into sections of people from the same household.
David's family, who live in Alberta, were not able to attend the wedding as his father works as an ER doctor and is essential amid the pandemic.
The Moerman father officiated the wedding, held in Agassiz at Fraser River Lodge, overlooking Mt. Cheam.
[Story continues below]
After the pair said "I do," the bride and groom took to Zoom – via a laptop – for a virtual receiving line.
"There were 30 people in different chat rooms that congratulated the bride and groom," Moerman retold. "It was magnificent."
Out of the several people that did attend in-person, no one except the happy couple hugged – to prevent potential COVID spread.
Prior to the date, the Hogarths had 175 confirmed guests for a June 20 wedding.
READ MORE: Young B.C. couple tie the knot in wake of COVID-19
The uncertainty of the pandemic and seemingly-tightening provincial health ban on events made the Hogarths value the lifelong pledge they made to each other, more than a large-scale reception.
"I was teary eyed," Moerman said.
"Sarah didn't care about the details and hosting a big party and being the centre of attention; she was marrying the man of her dreams."
The newlyweds ate pizza, in suit and dress, while practising social distancing with guests following their ceremony.
It was nothing at all what the bride had envisioned for her big day, "but she told me that it was her dream wedding."
The most important part – for the bride – being that David was now her husband.
The pair can now fight on the frontlines of COVID-19 – as husband and wife.


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Who can benefit from SkinMedica® Peels?
SkinMedica® Peels address the visible skin imperfections that result from skin aging and sun exposure, such as fine lines and wrinkles, uneven skin tone and texture. Peels also address skin tone unevenness that can be caused by acne scarring or pigmentary changes. SkinMedica® offers a range of different strength chemical peels that licensed medical professionals can select to provide the optimum treatment for their patients.
How do I decide which particular peel is most beneficial for me?
During the initial consultation, your skin care professional will evaluate your skin condition and recommend the appropriate peel regimen based on your needs.
Who is the ideal candidate for a Vitalize Peel®?
Vitalize Peel® is appropriate for patients with mild-to-moderate skin imperfections that result from skin aging and sun exposure, such as fine lines and wrinkles, uneven skin tone and texture. Vitalize Peel®treatments also address skin unevenness that can be caused by acne scarring or other pigmentary changes.
Can Vitalize Peel® be performed on patients with dark skin?
Vitalize Peel® is appropriate for all skin types.
How do I prepare for this peel?
Any procedures and products that may increase skin sensitivity should be avoided before your Vitalize Peel® treatment. Ask your physician or skin care specialist for details.
What should I expect during the Vitalize Peel®procedure?
The complete treatment is expected to take 45 minutes, which includes ample time to address any questions you may have, and a discussion on your post peel care. The actual application procedure is approximately 20 minutes. Tolerance to the procedure varies from patient to patient. Tingling or burning sensations are normal and expected reactions. A handheld fan can be used during the procedure to minimize discomfort, which usually subsides in a few minutes.
How will my skin look right after the Vitalize Peel®?
Vitalize Peel® can leave a yellowish tinge on the skin which is expected to last no longer than 2-3 hours. Mild to moderate redness is expected after any type of chemical peel procedure. The extent of redness varies from patient to patient. The face may appear redder than usual for some time after the treatment and completely resolves after the peeling is complete.
Will I peel after receiving a Vitalize Peel® treatment?
Your skin care professional will provide you with in depth post-procedure instructions. Your post-peel regimen will include SkinMedica® Sensitive Skin Cleanser or Facial Cleanser, moisturizer appropriate for your skin type, and Essential Defense sunscreens (tinted or untinted).
How can I protect my skin post peel?
Since the new skin is more susceptible to sunburn, extra precautions should be taken to limit sun exposure for at least one week after the peel. It is imperative to use a broad spectrum sunscreen product with an SPF of 30 or higher.
After the Vitalize Peel® treatment, when can I resume my regular skin care regimen?
You can resume the use of your regular treatment products after you have completely finished peeling.
What results can I expect after the Vitalize Peel®?
After the Vitalize Peel®, patients will notice an improvement in the appearance of overall skin condition, diminishment in the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, smoothness of skin texture, more even skin color, and improved skin clarity.
How often can I have the Vitalize Peel® treatments?
Vitalize Peel® treatments can be repeated every 3-4 weeks.
How many treatments are required?
Multiple treatments may be required to achieve desired results. The number of treatments is based on initial level of skin damage, and can vary from 3 to 6. The effect of the peel is cumulative and results are favorable when the peels are used in conjunction with SkinMedica® daily product regimen.
How do I maintain optimal results following Vitalize Peel®?
Vitalize Peel® is part of a skin management program that includes SkinMedica® home-use products. To maintain optimal results achieved with the Vitalize Peel® treatments, patients should use a daily skin care regimen recommended by a physician or skin care specialist.
Can pregnant or lactating women receive a Vitalize Peel®?
SkinMedica® peels should not be administered to pregnant or lactating women.
*Results will vary with each individual


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Ed Sheeran Left Twitter Partly Because of Little Monster Wrath
Don't expect to find Ed Sheeran replying to your tweets anytime soon.
The "Shape of You" singer-songwriter, who recently combatted lip-syncing claims following his Glastonbury Festival set, is stepping away from social media following a comment he made in an interview that has inspired vitriol from Lady Gaga's fiercely devoted Little Monsters.
"I've actually come off Twitter completely," he told The Sun over the weekend. "I can't read it. I go on it and there's nothing but people saying mean things. Twitter's a platform for that. One comment ruins your day. But that's why I've come off it. The head-f--k for me has been trying to work out why people dislike me so much. Lady Gaga's fanbase read an interview in which they assumed I was talking about her and they all f--king hate. And it wasn't anything to do with that at all. So I think Twitter gets on a massive steam roll of assuming things and then you get in the s--t."
The interview in question was his sit-down with Zane Lowe for Beats 1 back in January.
"I do not want to be the kind of artist who has had two successful albums and then feels invincible," he told the radio host.
"I have to know when to listen to people, or I'll end up like those artists you've interviewed in recent years. You've seen them become the biggest artists in the world, and then suddenly they will say, "I know everything!" And just after, they are no longer at the top. The smartest thing to do is listen to people who know I do not want to do the Super Bowl years later, after my biggest success, just to prove I'm still relevant."
Sure, it was a fairly indirect attack on certain artists — but that Super Bowl dig, in particular, seems pointed considering Gaga's then-forthcoming halftime performance in February.
Regardless of who he was referring to — if anyone, specifically! — Little Monsters dug into Sheeran on Twitter.
Evidently, Lady Gaga saw the headlines coming out of Ed's exit over the weekend, which was partially inspired by her own fans, and decided to speak out on Instagram with a (very on-brand) call for peace and online kindness.
"What an incredible talented artist I LOVE ED @teddysphotos deserves all our love and respect like all humans do. I wish all people on the internet would be positive and loving and apart of creating an online community that is kind and empowering, not hateful and mean. No reason to tear down an artist simply because they are on top. Work harder to be kinder everybody. That should be your first duty to humanity," Mother Monster wrote.
Here's hoping everyone involved takes Gaga's sage words of wisdom to heart.
18 Songs You Didn't Know Ed Sheeran Wrote:


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As the year winds down, business owners can be thankful for the gift of perspective (among other things, we hope). Assuming you created a budget for the calendar year, you should now be able to accurately assess that budget by comparing its estimates to actual results. Your objective is to determine whether your budget was reasonable, and, if not, how to adjust it to be more accurate for 2019.
Identify notable changes
Your estimates, like those of many companies, probably start with historical financial statements. From there, you may simply apply an expected growth rate to annual revenues and let it flow through the remaining income statement and balance sheet items. For some businesses, this simplified approach works well. But future performance can't always be expected to mirror historical results.
For example, suppose you renegotiated a contract with a major supplier during the year. The new contract may have affected direct costs and profit margins. So, what was reasonable at the beginning of the year may be less so now and require adjustments when you draft your 2019 budget.
Often, a business can't maintain its current growth rate indefinitely without investing in additional assets or incurring further fixed costs. As you compare your 2018 estimates to actuals, and look at 2019, consider whether your company is planning to:
• Build a new plant,• Buy a major piece of equipment,• Hire more workers, or• Rent additional space.
External and internal factors — such as regulatory changes, product obsolescence, and in-process research and development — also may require specialized adjustments to your 2019 budget to keep it reasonable.
Find the best way to track
The most analytical way to gauge reasonableness is to generate year-end financials and then compare the results to what was previously budgeted. Are you on track to meet those estimates? If not, identify the causes and factor them into a revised budget for next year.
If you discover that your actuals are significantly different from your estimates — and if this takes you by surprise — you should consider producing interim financials next year. Some businesses feel overwhelmed trying to prepare a complete set of financials every month. So, you might opt for short-term cash reports, which highlight the sources and uses of cash during the period. These cash forecasts can serve as an early warning system for "budget killers," such as unexpected increases in direct costs or delinquent accounts.
Alternatively, many companies create 12-month rolling budgets — which typically mirror historical financial statements — and update them monthly to reflect the latest market conditions.
Do it all
The budgeting process is rarely easy, but it's incredibly important. And that process doesn't end when you create the budget; checking it regularly and performing a year-end assessment are key. We can help you not only generate a workable budget, but also identify the best ways to monitor your financials throughout the year.
© 2018


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5 Signs You Have High Emotional Intelligence
A hard look at your emotional skills and weaknesses is the first step to improving EQ, which is highly correlated with business success.
Just how important is high emotional intelligence to business success? When L'Oreal started hiring sales people based on emotional competency, the high EQ reps outsold the traditionally chosen ones by over $90,000. Another company found emotionally skilled sales sold $54,000 more each. If you're more convinced by research, study after study after study has linked EQ and career success.
Which is all fine and good, but these findings are only useful to you personally if it's possible for you actually improve your EQ.
Thankfully, it appears that it is. "Whereas IQ is very hard to change, EQ can increase with deliberate practice and training," Dr Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, a professor of Business Psychology at University College London explained earlier this year on the HBR Blogs. "The most important aspect of effective EQ-coaching is giving people accurate feedback. Most of us are generally unaware of how others see us," he added.
Which means the EQ is important and it can be changed, but only if you're not clueless about your baseline — you need to exactly how well developed your emotional skills are, and what areas are most in need of improvement. The Huffington Post can help with a recent post offering an in-depth run down of 14 signs you have high EQ. These include:
You're curious about people you don't know. Do you love meeting new people, and naturally tend to ask lots of questions after you've been introduced to someone? If so, you have a certain degree of empathy, one of the main components of emotional intelligence.
You know your strengths and weaknesses. A big part of having self-awareness is being honest with yourself about who you are — knowing where you excel, and where you struggle, and accepting these things about yourself. An emotionally intelligent person learns to identify their areas of strength and weakness, and analyze how to work most effectively within this framework.
You know how to pay attention. Do you get distracted by every tweet, text and passing thought? If so, it could be keeping you from functioning on your most emotionally intelligent level.
When you're upset, you know exactly why. We all experience a number of emotional fluctuations throughout the day, and often we don't even understand what's causing a wave of anger or sadness. But an important aspect of self-awareness is the ability to recognize where your emotions are coming from and to know why you feel upset.
You've always been self-motivated. Were you always ambitious and hard-working as a kid, even when you weren't rewarded for it? If you're a motivated self-starter — and you can focus your attention and energy towards the pursuit of your goals — you likely have a high EQ.
Intrigued? Check out the complete post for more details on these five signs, as well as the remaining nine indicators of high EQ.
And what if you've taken a hard look at the complete list and have to admit to yourself you have some areas of weakness? Chamorro-Premuzic's post also offers tips on what sort of coaching generally works best to improve EQ.
Have you found EQ to be a good predictor of success in your business?


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The speakers of plenary lectures are:
- Prof. Manijeh Razeghi (Northwestern University): Nanophotonic Structures Materials and their applications, Center for Quantum Devices , Northwestern University, USA.
- Prof. Santiago Gomez Ruiz (Novel Nanosystems for the Treatment of Bone Tumours (Rey Juan Carlos University, Móstoles (Madrid), Spain.
- Prof. Hanafi, The prospective of fuctionalized nanorubber Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia.
- Prof. Suparmi, Nano quantum topics Relativistic and Pelatistic Quantum system Method.
- Prof. Neng Sri Suharty, Degradable biocomposite based recycle polyropylene
- Prof. Nantakan Muensuit, Piezoelectric nano material for energy generation (Prince Songkla University


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Use the search box under "Click here to search by key words" below to find the type of service you would like. If you are unable to locate it, click "Can't find it" and we will forward your information to the appropriate staff.
For downed trees, search "trees"
For potholes, search "potholes"
For flooded streets, search "Flood"


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London and Theale, Berkshire, 16th February 2010: Electronic Frontier Ltd (EFL) has been appointed UK distributor by 3CX, the award-winning IP PBX software manufacturer. EFL will promote the complete range of 3CX products and offer full support and training for UK based dealers and resellers. At a strategic level, the agreement will allow EFL to offer 3CX as a bundle with a range of approved products, including Patton VoIP gateways and IP Phones.
Conor McCann, EFL's General Manager, commented on the agreement, "We are delighted to be working with 3CX who we see as a pioneering player in the software-based IP PBX market. It offers great synergy with our existing VoIP portfolio and will allow us to offer even greater value to channel partners seeking best of breed VoIP solutions."
To read more on this article, please click here.


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While being interested in the British Royal Family over many years I always wondered about the ribbon "badges" worn with miniature portraits pinned to the evening gowns of the female members of the Royal Family. So, I set about researching the history and tradition of the British Royal Family Orders.
The Royal Family Orders are customarily given by the British sovereign to the female members of the Royal Family and are considered a personal item rather than the state commemorative medals worn by the male members of the Royal Family. The Order is decorated with a miniature portrait of the sovereign which is suspended from a ribbon bow and on the reverse side of the portrait frame there is an engraving of the sovereign's monogram. Throughout the years the color of the ribbon has been changed with each sovereign selecting their own distinctive color.
The Order is customarily worn on the left side of the lady's evening gown but there has been the occasional exception to this rule. If the lady has received more than one of the Royal Family Orders from various sovereigns the Orders are worn layered with the most recent one on the top. In the photo below on the left shows the Queen Mother wearing the Order of her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II, on the top and the Order of her husband, King George VI, on bottom. The photo on the right shows Queen Elizabeth wearing the Order of her father, King George VI, on the top and the Order of her grandfather, King George V, on the bottom. (Special Note: A female sovereign, such as Queen Elizabeth, does not wear their own Royal Family Order)
Historical Note: It seems that Queen Mary was one of the most honored women of the Royal Family having receiving five Royal Family Orders. The Orders were given by Queen Victoria, King Edward VII, King George V, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II. The last Order she received was to her given in December 1952 which was after her grand-daughter, Queen Elizabeth's accession but before her coronation. Sadly, Queen Mary did not live to see the coronation and died a few months before in March 1953. In the photo below, Queen Mary is seeing wearing two of her Royal Family Orders.
A History of the Royal Family Orders
Listed below are the Royal Family Orders starting with King George IV to the current Queen Elizabeth II. There will be a brief description of each Royal Family Order issued by the sovereign and a partial list of recipients during their reign. (Special Note: There was no Royal Family Order issued for King Edward VIII who abdicated in 1936 less than a year after his accession to the throne and prior to his coronation)
Royal Family Order of King George IV
During Prince George's regency as the result of the madness of his father King George III, the Prince is noted to on special occasions give his personal badge of honor as a memento to the gentlemen and ladies of the court. After the death of his farther and his accession to the throne as King George IV he reserved the honor of the first official Royal Family Order to be given exclusively to female members of the Royal Family. Attached to a white silk bow was a miniature portrait set in a gold and silver frame decorated with diamond oak leaves and acorns with a diamond embellished crown at the top of the frame (as shown in the photo below, the right photo shows the reverse side of the portrait frame). Some of the recipients of the Royal Family Order of King George IV included his sister Queen Charlotte of Wurttemberg, his sister-in-law Princess Augusta the Duchess of Cambridge and his niece Princess Victoria of Kent who was later to become Queen Victoria.
King William IV
During the reign of King William IV he did not create a formal Royal Family Order but instead issued a set of square jeweled buckles featuring the crowned monograms of King William and Queen Adelaide, as shown in the photo below.
Queen Victoria
During Queen Victoria reign, her Royal Badge was initially given as her personal honor to her eldest daughter Princess Victoria on the solemn occasion of her confirmation marking her religious commitment and most notably her status as a young adult. In the following years Queen Victoria bestowed the badges on her other daughters also at the time of their confirmations.
Then after the death of her beloved husband Prince Albert, the Queen decided to formally create the Order of Victoria & Albert as another one of her numerous ways of honoring the Prince. Unlike the other Royal Family Orders, the Order of Victoria & Albert was divided into four classes, the first being given her daughters and later her daughters-in-law and grand-daughters with subsequent classes issued to other members of the Royal Family and the Royal Household including honored servants and couriers.
The Order of Victoria & Albert was established in 1862 and features an ivory colored cameo of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert set in brown onyx with a silver gilt frame accented with diamonds, rubies and emeralds with a diamond embellished crown at the top of the frame which was attached to a white silk bow , as shown in the photo below on the left. Lesser class badges were decorated with pearls instead of diamonds. (Special Note: The second and the third photos below show Queen Victoria's personal badge with the profiles set in reverse order with Prince Albert in the front and the Queen behind)
Historical Note: Both Princess Alexandra, Queen Victoria's daughter-in-law (later to become Queen Alexandra in 1863) and Princess May of Teck (later to become Queen Mary in 1893) wore their Order of Victoria & Albert badges on their wedding days to the future Kings of England.
King Edward VII
The Royal Family Order of King Edward VII was established in 1901 and features a diamond surrounded miniature portrait of King Edward painted on enamel with a diamond embellished crown at the top of the frame, this would set a precedence for future orders which would be created in this style with a single portrait of the sovereign painted on enamel. The King Edward portrait frame is attached to a bow in blue, yellow and red stripes which were coincidentally used as King Edward's horse racing colors, the order is shown in the photo below. The King's wife Queen Alexandra, his sisters, daughters and daughter-in-law were recipients of King Edward's Royal Family Orders.
King George V
The Royal Family Order of King George V was established in 1910 and features a miniature portrait of the King painted on enamel surrounded by diamonds with a diamond embellished crown at the top of the frame which is attached to white silk bow. The recipients of the Order include the King's wife Queen Mary, his daughter-in-law Princess Alice the Duchess of Gloucester and his two grand-daughters, Princess Elizabeth (later to become Queen Elizabeth II) and Princess Margaret.
King George VI
The Royal Family Order of King George VI was established in 1936 and features a miniature enameled portrait of the King surrounded by diamonds with a diamond embellished crown at the top of the frame which is attached to a rose pink bow. The recipients of the Order include the King's wife Queen Elizabeth (later known as the Queen Mother) and their eldest daughter Princess Elizabeth (later to become Queen Elizabeth II) and their youngest daughter Princess Margaret (later known as the Countess of Snowdon).
Queen Elizabeth II
The Royal Family Order of Queen Elizabeth II was established in 1952 features a miniature enameled portrait of the young queen surrounded by diamonds with a diamond embellished crown at the top of the frame which is attached to a chartreuse yellow bow. The reverse side of the Order has the Queen Royal cipher and St. Edward's Crown in gold and enamel.
(Special Note: The portrait of Queen Elizabeth used for the Royal Family Order is the 1952 painting by Dorothy Wilding)
The Queen Elizabeth's Royal Family Order recipients is the longest list and includes Queen Mary (her grandmother), Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, Princess Margaret (her sister) and Princess Diana (her daughter-in-law) who are all deceased. Shown in the photos below are Princess Margaret on the left wearing three of the Royal Family Orders (King George VI, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth) and Princess Diana on the right wearing the Queen's Order.
Current recipients include Princess Anne (her daughter) and her daughters-in-law Sophie the Duchess of Wessex and Camilla the Duchess of Cornwall. Three Royals are shown wearing the Order in the photos below.
To end this post, there has been long term speculation as to when Katherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, would receive Queen Elizabeth II Royal Family Order. In past years most brides marrying into the Royal Family have received the Order within five years after the wedding, these times are all hearsay since the Order is a personal honor bestowed by the sovereign and there is no official press announcement. The first indication is when the recipient wears the Order at a public function, such as a State Banquet. So far this has not happened for the Duchess of Cambridge and we will continue to wait in anticipation.
UPDATE: The Duchess of Cambridge was reported to have received the Royal Family Order in December 2017 and wore it for the first time at a Diplomatic Corps Reception that year. Shown below is a photo of the Duchess wearing the Royal Family Order in September 2018 at the State Banquet for King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands. It is also interesting to note that the Duchess requested that her Royal Family Order be made of glass instead of ivory because her husband, Prince William, has is a Royal Patron of Tusk which is dedicated to the survival of African endangered wildlife.


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ABC Pulls 'Proposal' Episode After Contestant Is Accused of Enabling Date Rape
ABC has pulled the second episode of its divisive new dating show, The Proposal, after a male contestant was accused of enabling sexual assault.
"An allegation has been made against a contestant on next week's episode of 'The Proposal,' said a joint statement from ABC and Warner Horizon, per Deadline. "While the accusation was not related to the contestant's appearance on the program, we take it very seriously. ABC and the producers of 'The Proposal' are pulling the episode while this matter is under review."
In a Facebook post on Thursday (June 22), a Wisconsin woman named Erica Denae Meske posted publicly that contestant Michael J. Friday was "directly responsible" for her alleged date rape in November 2017. She claims that, after meeting on Tinder, Friday invited her to the entertainment room of an apartment complex. She says he then left her there with two older men, saying he'd be back, and, after consuming a drink she now believes was spiked, one of the older men allegedly sexually assaulted her in a nearby apartment. Friday has not yet commented on Meske's accusations.
The Proposal is the latest effort from the producers of The Bachelor and its creator, Mike Fleiss. The franchise has come under fire for similar controversies before, including last week, when news broke that Bachelorette contestant Lincoln Adim had been convicted of assault and battery in May from an incident that took place in 2016. ABC also temporarily suspended the fourth season of Bachelor in Paradise in June 2017 folllowing allegations of sexual misconduct, but resumed production after an investigation found no wrongdoing.
See Meske's full post above.