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Shawn Olson Creative Arts
Art, Poetry, Photography, Writing and 3D
Greetings Earthling. Welcome to my creative portal. My name is Shawn Olson. I'm a creative jack-of-all trades who has years of experience in 3ds Max, game development, web development, journalism, photography, graphics and parenting. You may know me as a technical artist for Black Mesa or as the developer of Wall Worm if you came here as a game developer. I now also work on USD workflows and capabilities in 3ds Max and Maya at Autodesk. All opinions here are my own.
If you need help with any of these things, then I'm your guy:
- Problem Solving
- 3D Environments
- 3D Assets
- 3ds Max pipelines
- Game Design
- Documentation
- Journalistic Coverage
- Application Education
- Web Application Development
If you must know more about me, feel free to read A Short Biography. But more importantly, enjoy the various photos, poems, editorials and scripts across the site.
I always enjoy feedback from visitors. Feel free to send me an email with any comments, ideas, praise, criticism or corrections. Of course you can always interact with me on the Wall Worm forums or other 3D forums where I haunt.
Latest Articles
Information Overload
An Over-Abundance of Information in the Information Age
An essay on the trends on the Internet that cause an explosion of information that is often antithetical to the ideals of democracy and progress. This essay cautions parents, teachers and community leaders to be wary of every emerging media outlet.
CorelDRAW & PHOTO-PAINT Colors
A brief overview of the color tools in CorelDRAW and PHOTO-PAINT, including a video tutorial and new features in CD X5.
This article demonstrates some of the new color features in CorelDRAW X5. The video demonstrates the basic methods of selecting colors in CorelDRAW and PHOTO-PAINT. New and experienced users can benefit from the video.
New CS:Source Map de_tension
My return to mapping is official with the remake of de_tension for CS:Source. This new map includes a novel mapping technique developed by Andrew Penry and myself called Dynamic Mapping.
Software Activation, Licensing and Piracy
The problem with software activation systems in the Internet Age and the inflated claims that piracy costs billions of dollars a year.
Well Shark
A cartoon about the infamous well shark--a creature that is not as benign as is commonly thought.
Filter XML Data Based on Dates in ActionScript
You can filter your XML data based on dates in ActionScript to limit results in a component's data provider to one that is relevant to the given task.
Dragon Maze
A maze challenge featuring dragon art. Try to sneak past the dragon and escape the maze.
Obama's Health Care Reform
A skeptical view on the political debate on health care reform in America. This article questions the entire premise of forcing health care insurance on the public.
Ambush Bugs
Photos of ambush bugs waiting for prey, posing oddly and eating bees.
Green and Orange Jumping Spider
These are photos of a large multi-colored jumping spider eating a bug. The spider has distinctive orange, brown and green patterns. Shot in Ohio.


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When you're in the market to buy a mobile home, it takes more than just luck to invest your money wisely. Protecting your investment requires a step-by-step process to perform due diligence. Your planning strategy should educate yourself about the problems to avoid, which will help save your precious time, money, and unnecessary stress.
You'll want to include a checklist covering these five things to watch out for when buying a mobile home Huntsville.
Park Fees
You may be responsible for several additional fees when buying a mobile home in Huntsville in a park. You'll want to ask if there is a homeowner association (HOA) and how much are the fees or any other additional costs, such as property taxes, added to your monthly invoice from the park, in addition to the lot rental fee. By working with a professional buyer at Home Buyers of Alabama, you can rest easy because you'll know everything upfront, including exactly how much your monthly living expenses will add up to in your new mobile home.
Park Rules
When buying a mobile home in Huntsville, you carefully review the park's rules and regulations, which you may find restrictive. First, the mobile home park should provide you a prospectus and any bylaws of the HOA. Then, after checking with state and local ordinances regarding permitting, should you want to make specific changes, you should understand the park's approval process before buying. The professional buyers at Home Buyers of Alabama and their team of experienced pros are familiar with local mobile home parks and can help you navigate their rules and processes.
Any time is a good time for buying a mobile home in Huntsville; however, you should be aware that pricing can fluctuate seasonally. Being familiar with the mobile home market trends and buying during the off-season may help you realize a discount. Because the experts at Home Buyers of Alabama live and work here in Huntsville, you can be confident they will work to get you the best price possible while meeting any time constraints you may be facing. If financing is holding you back, the professional buyers at Home Buyers of Alabama can work with you to find the funding you'll qualify for, even if your credit history is less than perfect.
You must carefully check the location, including crime rates, when buying a Huntsville mobile home. You or a representative should personally walk the property and park before the purchase. Pay attention to the condition of the roads, signage, and the general appearance of the mobile home park overall. Check out the amenities, such as the pool, to ensure everything is in tip-top condition. The professional buyers at Home Buyers of Alabama have a long track record of success in selecting the best location for your budget will help the mobile home hold value over decades.
Understand Your Goals
Unless you're a full-time mobile home investor, you need a reliable professional to help you achieve your goal of getting a great deal on the perfect Huntsville mobile home for you. You can rely on the team at Home Buyers of Alabama to help you find your mobile home by developing a plan and working with you every step of the way. When you work with a professional buyer at Home Buyers of Alabama, we know through years of experience about all the red flags to watch out for when you're buying a mobile home in Huntsville.
At Home Buyers of Alabama, we will take the time to listen to any questions or concerns you have. As a bonus, if you're ready to buy, Home Buyers of Alabama has a steady inventory of the best mobile homes available in Huntsville. Call Home Buyers of Alabama at (205) 379-8185 or send us a message to learn more about how we can help you.

subset: commoncrawl


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OK. I'm fine with that theme you just heard. It begins this segment every morning. But this morning, how about this?
LIONEL RICHIE: (Singing) All night long, all night, all night long.
GREENE: That is Lionel Richie, the prince of R&B. OK, no, maybe that title belongs to Prince himself. Well, both of those positions are annual headliners at the largest gathering of R&B fans in the country - the Essence Music Festival. It's in its 20th year, and it kicked off last night in New Orleans.
Jason King hosts NPR's story 24-7 R&B and Soul Music stream. He's also a musician and producer and a professor at the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at New York University. He's on the line with us from New Orleans. Jason, good morning to you.
JASON KING, BYLINE: Good morning.
GREENE: So tell us about this festival, for people who don't know it.
KING: Sure. So the Essence Music Festival is held every Fourth of July in New Orleans. And it focuses mostly on music, but there's also empowerment and career seminars. It was started by "Essence" magazine in the mid-1990s. For those who don't know, "Essence" is a long-running, successful magazine aimed primarily at black women.
So the mid-1990s, "Essence" produced a one-off music festival in New Orleans. And it's now become a kind of recurring festival that attracts huge audiences. I mean, we're talking about big numbers - hundreds of thousands of people a year - largely black audiences. And it's all about a kind of celebration of rhythm and blues and black music, in general. And it was even so important that in 2007, when Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton were running for president, they both made strategic stops to the festival.
GREENE: It sounds like quite an event. You know, over the 20 years of the Essence Music Festival, has R&B changed? Has the demographic of its fans changed at all?
KING: I think it has, for sure. I mean, on one hand, R&B doesn't really have the hold on black music that it once did. And that's partly because hip-hop about 35, 40 years ago started to become the dominant youth music. And for a while, the term R&B also became something of a dirty word for certain musicians because the genre, in the last 10 years or so, has not been as commercially popular as used to be, certainly not compared to styles hip-hop or dance styles, like electronic dance music or EDM.
And that's changed as of late. So some listeners will recognize the success of music by the artist Pharrel or Robin Thicke or Daft Punk in the last year. Those have been R&B songs. So R&B is decidedly back. But it's been kind of shrouded in a lot of debates about race and whether white artists have kind of appropriated the style.
So I think what the Essence Festival does is it celebrates kind of traditional, mature R&B. And by that, I mean R&B that's performed largely by black artists who come from the church, who perform structured songs, who pull notes deeply out of their experience to produce a kind of soulfulness. You don't see that as much anymore in R&B, but it's still there.
GREENE: Who are you looking forward to seeing the most?
KING: Well, for sure on my list of exciting artists to see is Prince. I've just been a fan for such a long time. He's such a singular master of his craft.
GREENE: An enduring force in R&B.
KING: Absolutely. Since the late 1970s, he's been a - you know, just a virtuoso singer. This year - it's interesting - he's asked everyone to wear purple to his Friday night concert in honor of the fact that it's the 20th year of the festival.
GREENE: Nice.
KING: And so just today, riding around New Orleans, we saw a women walking with purple hair - purple dyed hair. So I can definitely confirm that Prince's request has been met on - met head on.
GREENE: Are you going that route, too? Are you dying anything purple?
KING: I will not be dying anything purple, but I might wear a purple T-shirt. I could rock that.
GREENE: Fantastic. Well, Jason King will be in a sea of purple at the Essence Music Festival. He joins us from New Orleans. He hosts NPR's R&B and Soul music stream. Jason, thanks a lot.
KING: Thank you.
GREENE: And you can hear music from the artists who have played at Essence going all the way back to 1995 at our website, NPRMusic.org.
PRINCE: (Singing) So tonight I'm going to party like it's 1999.
GREENE: This is NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


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Hybrid Cannabis Strains
Hybrid cannabis strains provide the best of both worlds. Expert breeders select the top sativa and indica strains and combine them into super strains that maintain the best aspects from both parents. Hybrids can be sativa or indica dominant and have the effects to match.
Showing 1–9 of 46 results


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Peter Robbins is an investigative writer, author and lecturer best known for his UFO related papers, columns, articles, editorials, commentaries, lectures and media appearances. He is a regular fixture on radio and has appeared as a guest on and been consultant to numerous television shows and documentaries.
He is also co-author, along with Larry Warren, of the highly acclaimed British bestseller "Left at East Gate: A First-Hand Account of the Rendlesham Forest UFO Incident, Its Cover-Up and Investigation". His new book, "Deliberate Deception: A Case of Disinformation in the UFO Research Community," was published in August 2014 and is available at no cost by going to Phenomena Magazine and downloading the seven book icons.


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Make The Most Out Of Your Art Shop
Make The Most Out Of Your Art Shop
The best part of owning your art-shop with Printshop by Designhill lies in the endless possibilities, empowerment, and potential that is already unfolded for you with a vast market at your disposal. Now, what you choose to do with it and how well you market your art to make the most of your art shop is up to you. But not quite yet, as we'll try and help you with that too.
Printshop lets designers open up art shop and sell their artwork through their online stores on our site. We literally eliminate your need to create your own separate online shop. You can create a market for your art, host them on thousands of products and merchandise and make it accessible to millions worldwide, along with a wide range of design tools to create art, artist empowerment, hassle-free services, and the most secure payments.
We take care of everything from product shipping to logistics for you. The first and foremost advice to make the most of your art shop with us is this. Take advantage of Printshop's massive traffic and never let a single potential customer out of your own art market.


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Web of Science Core Collection is a multidisciplinary bibliographic database offered through the Web of Science interface, covering the most valued journals and conferences worldwide in the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities.
It includes Science Citation Index Expanded, Social Sciences Citation Index and Arts & Humanities Citation Index. Also includes Conference Proceedings Citation Index- Science and Conference Proceedings Citation Index- Social Science & Humanities.
Backfiles available to 1900.
The database offers cited reference searching; Analyze Tool to identify trends and patterns; Citation Mapping that enables visual representation of citation relationships; and Citation Report to capture citation activity and trends graphically.
TAU community only


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Wednesday, January 31st, 2018 by Holey Moley at www.swordofmoonlight.netExit: 2018
I've prepared a new release in 3 days flat, and am rushing it out to make this January 31 blog post.
I am very eager to work on Sword of Moonlight again. I've been absent since mid December, working on various things, some tangential to Sword of Moonlight, but mostly I've been very frustrated, feeling as if I was not being productive, whether or not I have been, the feeling persisted. Ostensibly I was working on a difficult problem to do with writing XML like documents and accoutrements to ZIP archives, within a framework of my own devising that is — as it turns out — perhaps too transparent for its own good. I cannot say why that work drug itself out for so long, other than it's highly conceptual and because it was in service of a "software library" its bar is much higher than Sword of Moonlight's. Adding insult to injury is the feature itself is more a logical gap than a pressing matter — no one really needs it, but logically it should be part of the feature set. It's refreshing to be able to turn out a new and important feature in 3 days in comparison.


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New Moms Support Group!
New Moms Support Group!
Navigate the Beautiful Chaos of Motherhood Together: A space for Shared Wisdom, Laughter, and Unwavering Support.
Group is tailored for moms with newborns and babies up to 18 months old.
Start Date: within next 3 months
Start Date: within next 3 months
4 Zoom sessions | 75 minutes
4 Zoom sessions | 75 minutes
Confidential | Small group, 6-8 people
Confidential | Small group, 6-8 people
Group Type: Support Group
Group Type: Support Group
75-minute online Zoom video conversations
75-minute online Zoom video conversations
Led by a therapist
Led by a therapist
Early Bird Fee (at 50% off) - INR 2000 (India) | INR 3500 (Outside India) | Get 30% off if you buy for two
What to Expect?
Why Join?
What will we talk about?
Learn from us & from each other
Meet your Facilitator
What are soulUp groups?
At SoulUp, you'll meet people who get what you're going through and might be living some of the same realities. People looking for extraordinary conversations, just like you.
✔ Small group, 6-8 people
✔ Every meeting led by a world-class facilitator
✔ Weekly 75-minute online video sessions
What happens in a group session?
While the format can vary as per topic, here's a flow that most sessions follow
Check In. Participants check-in with each others' feelings and answer the prompt given by the facilitator if any.
Conversation. Your facilitator will guide the group in a free-flowing conversation—with the goal of sharing openly, talking honestly, and deep emotional connection.
Check Out. Participants share what they're taking away from the session.
What am i going to get out of this?
Participants say that they feel heard, understood, more in control, and a feeling that you've got people rooting for you. By talking about your emotions and what's going on in your life, you'll realise that you're not alone and get ideas for how to improve your situation.
What's SoulUp's refund policy for Groups?
1. After you have registered for the group and you'd like to opt out:
- Full refund if you cancel 30 days before the group start date.
- 50% refund if you cancel 16-30 days before the group start date.
- No refund if you cancel 0-15 days before the group start date.
2. If SoulUp cancels a group, we will refund the entire signup fee.
3. If SoulUp reschedules a group by more than 2 weeks, we will inform you and give you an option to opt out and get a full refund.
4. SoulUp reserves the right to remove participants from a group if found unsuitable to the group. In such cases participants are given the option of claiming the pro-rata amount left as a refund or using it for another service on SoulUp.
What is the frequency of Peer calls I can book as part of the 'Unlimited offer'?
You can book 1 Peer call per week during the duration of the group. This will prevent fatigue and give you time to process information discussed in any Peer call.
Can I use multiple discounts while signing up for a group?
You can use only 1 type discount while signing up for a group. Cash backs cannot be coupled with discounts either.
How long has SoulUp been around?
SoulUp was founded in Feb 2022 by Punita Mittal and Mahak Maheshwari - a team of IIT Delhi and IIT Bombay with more than 20 years of combined healthcare experience. SoulUp is redefining mental health through groups that are effective, but also fun, social, and challenging.
Find multiple groups relevant? Bundle up & save!
Save on 2 Groups
What you get:
- Sign up for ANY 2 SoulUp groups (except for those priced INR 4000 or more)
- For users in India, price of 2 group pack is INR 5500 (instead of INR 7000)
- For users outside India, price of 2 group pack is INR 8000 (instead of INR 10,000)
- Valid for 6 months: Book slots in any 2 groups within 6 months once you purchase the pack.
Save on 3 Groups
What you get:
- Sign up for ANY 3 SoulUp groups (except for those priced INR 4000 or more)
- For users in India, price of 3 group pack is INR 7500 (instead of INR 10,500)
- For users outside India, price of 3 group pack is INR 11,500 (instead of INR 15,000)
- Valid for 12 months: Book slots in any 3 groups within 12 months once you purchase the pack.
Unsure which group to join?


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By John Gruber
WorkOS, the modern identity platform for B2B SaaS — free up to 1 million MAUs.
Command-line interface to BBEdit's Find Differences command on Mac OS X.
bbdiff 1.1 (3 KB) Updated 5 Dec 2002
bbdiff [-b -i -s] oldfile newfile
bbdiff is simply a Perl script which communicates with BBEdit via AppleScript. To install it, download the source file, or copy and paste it into a new text document (with Unix-style line endings). Move it to a location in your PATH, such as /usr/local/bin/. Set the permissions on the bbdiff file such that the executable bits are turned on. For example:
chmod 755 bbdiff
1.0: Sat Nov 30, 2002
Initial release.
1.1 Wed Dec 4, 2002
Copyright (c) 2002 John Gruber
This program is free and open software. You may use, copy, modify, distribute, and sell this program (and any modified variants) in any way you wish, provided you do not restrict others from doing the same.
Copyright © 2004 John Gruber.
Daring Fireball is powered by Movable Type.


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No Turning Back
Monday of Holy Week
The sun rises just before 6:30 A.M. in Bethany, the small village on the southeastern slope of the Mount of Olives, just a mile and a half east of Jerusalem. It is Monday morning, March 30, A.D. 33. Jesus of Nazareth is staying in the humble home of his friends Martha (whose anxiety-driven hospitality had received his gentle rebuke), Mary (who chose the good portion), and Lazarus (whose body would still be in the grave apart from the wonder-working of the Christ).
Just the day before — the first day of the last week of his life — Jesus had made his Triumphal Entry into the Holy City, riding on a donkey over a royal "red carpet" of palm branches and cloaks, hailed by his disciples and the Galilean pilgrims as the messianic king.
But Monday would be different than Sunday. Jesus knew the heart of man (John 2:24–25). He knew the acclaim of the disciples and the crowd was built on a messiah of their own imagination. Despite his many efforts at teaching them otherwise, they couldn't shake their wrong expectations. They were excited about a national savior who would overthrow the despised Romans once and for all. They had no categories for the idea that victory would come through experiencing, rather than inflicting, wrath and degrading shame.
Judgment Begins at Home
As Jesus and the Twelve awoke the next day, gathering at their appointed meeting place in Bethany to make their short trek back to Jerusalem, Jesus's agenda was the same as it remains today: to strip away misunderstandings of who he was and what he was going to accomplish so that our expectations could be confounded. This was not going to be a meek and mild Monday. Jesus was about to show them that judgment begins at home, with Israel.
As they walked together over the rocky terrain of the Mount of Olives, and as the hunger in Jesus's stomach grew, he spotted a fig tree off in the distance. From external appearances, it looked healthy, the perfect place to grab some fruit and to meet his need. But on closer inspection, the tree was barren of fruit, with nothing on it but inedible leaves.
The disciples could not have expected what Jesus did next. He called down a curse on the fig tree, declaring that it would never bear fruit again (Matthew 21:18–19; Mark 11:12–14). Jesus would expound on this visual parable tomorrow. But if the disciples were viewing the tree through spiritual eyes, they would remember that in the Old Testament Israel was often referred to as a "fig tree" (Jeremiah 8:13; Hosea 9:10, 16; Joel 1:7). Judgment must begin at home.
Cleansing the Temple
They continued walking, the disciples undoubtedly unnerved by this unexpected behavior. But Jesus was just beginning.
When Jesus entered the Temple Mount later that day, he was surrounded by pious Jews who had made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem for Passover. Not only would they have to pay the Temple tax (a Tyrian shekel), but they would also have to purchase an unblemished sacrificial animal in the Court of the Gentiles. As Jesus looked at the moneychangers and merchants, a holy zeal and righteous indignation welled up within him. They were turning his Father's house of prayer for the nations (Isaiah 56:7) into a den of thieves to prey upon the poor Passover pilgrims and to pervert true worship (Jeremiah 7:11). Jesus began overturning the tables and chairs of the moneychangers, throwing out the merchants and their scurrying customers, refusing entrance to any who carry goods for sale.
Face Like Flint
From the perspective of the chief priests, scribes, and Jewish leaders, it was one thing for this teacher from the backwaters of Nazareth to share his stories and make his claims and do his miracles with his followers. But now he was inside the Holy City. He had entered the gates like he was the new David or the new Solomon. And now he has the audacity to declare that the Temple in essence belongs to him and his Father? Who is he to suggest that the Jewish system was enabling sin rather than worship? And how dare he argue that the Jewish authorities were ignorant of true godliness and piety?
From this point forward, there would be no turning back. Jesus is not shrinking back. In fact, he is accelerating the sentence of death.
Evening approaches. The sun will set around 7:00 P.M., beginning the new day according to the Jewish calendar. Jesus and his disciples make their return to Bethany. Tomorrow will be a new day to confound, to turn things upside down, as Jesus continues to fulfill the eternal plan that will take him to Calvary.


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Swiss Federal Fast SoupHome >> Experiences
We Valaisians have a healthy mistrust for governmental authority. The national hero of Valais, Farinet, was a counterfeiter shot down by the Federal police. His life and times are still celebrated in Valais a hundred years later. If Valaisians were French, they would be Corsicans. If British, they'd certainly be Irish. Or Sicilian. Or Texans. Although I've never seen one Swiss not eat on that day, I assume there must be some who do, as an act of respect for our Federal government. It will then be little surprise to hear that in my Valaisian family, we meet every year on Swiss Federal Fast Day, the third Sunday in September, to eat soup at my uncle Harvey's. But this year, I offered him to help out with the soup and take a few pictures for you guys. The recipe for this peasoup encore is found in the serious pea soup article. I arrived on Saturday night at uncle Harvey's chalet. Years ago he had bought a tiny traditional barn we call here mazot and converted it into a large chalet. Harvey likes to invite people for parties and has a large outdoor kitchen and covered gallery - the whole thing is designed to receive guests. If he were an American gentleman, this would be called a club house. But the original building is centuries old and in Valais most families have one were they retire on the week end. They just call it le chalet.This is not a sign of special wealth, as 50 years ago most Valaisians had a nomadic lifestyle in the sense that they spent the warmer part of the year up there in the mountains with their cattle and wintered down in the valley. Nowadays very few people do that, but the same moutain shacks have been turned into places of leisure to get away from the town's hustle and bustle. Aunt Danielle had cooked up foie gras and fondue bourguignonne, the one with the vats of boiling oil on the table where you dip pieces of meat. This barn has come a long way! Under uncle Harvey's intense gaze, ... ... we started peeling the root vegetables carrots, potatoes and celeriac with my aunt Danielle. Then the most important part, washing and rewashing the split peas until the water comes clean. We used 3 kg (6lbs) of peas and we have to leave the water running for a good 30 minutes before it became clear. We left the peas soaking for the whole night, which is not really necessary. But the washing rids them of the acquae fartorum, and that is not an option. You need to discard the soaking water too. The next day, we woke up early to start our soup. Guests were due for noon, soup would be served at 1PM and it needs to cook for at least 3 hours. Uncle Harvey always makes his soup into an old converted copper wash boiler. He had the inside lined with tin to avoid any copper poisoning, and somebody made him an oil bath in a false bottom between the burner and the soup, to prevent any hotspots that might burn the food. Capacity : 80 liters / 20 gallons. We positioned the cooker back against a huge moss-covered rock right outside his chalet, and we started cooking with the gentle ring of cowbells from the cattle grazing next door - a very peaceful kitchen. After adding a glass of oil into the hot cooker, I direct uncle Harvey to start making some serious pea soup. In go a kilogram of onion and 3 leeks. We toss them for about 10 minutes untilt they are soft and start to brown. Harvey adds the carrots, potatoes and celeriac we prepared the night before... ... filling up the pot slowly ... ... until a shower of split peas covers everything. Water from the garden hose generates clouds of steam. Sage, savory, tyhme and parsley. Half of it was neatly tied into the washed outer leaves of leeks, making little bundles that could be easily plunged into the soup and later removed. 15 minutes before serving I snipped the other half and added it to the soup. We tie all four herbs-and-leeks parcels to a single string before they are plunged into the pot... ... and then add the cook-in ham bone with its meat on. A much larger ham will come later, but as it is already cooked we'll cook that one only for an hour. This here ham will be overboiled and liquefied with the soup to add taste and body. Uncle Harvey turns the heat up until, half an hour later, the soup starts to boil. � We boil 500grams (1 pound) of Parmesan with the soup to improve its body. Uncle Harvey being a fiend for garlic, I bought him fresh garlic from Lautrec, the best we find in Europe. We put 2 whole heads, peeled and crushed, into the boiler. While the soup cooks, we prepare the starter. As a starter we prepare 40 beignets de Vinzel, those delicious Swiss cheese fritters I wrote about last year. That's two fritter per guest on average. I had spent quite some time the day before at the cheesemonger's to select a four kinds of unpasteurized milk cheeses from alpine meadows that would melt nicely. We use 1.6kg of cheese (3 pounds). The cheesemonger grated them coarsely, otherwise it will jam our machine, he had said. We add 12 eggs ... ... then some nutmeg, white pepper, flour, baking powder and a good dose of kirsch (cherry brandy). A local baker made me some circular toast bread on special order, much better than the wrapped crap you buy in the supermarket. I enlisted my father's twin sister's help to make the cheese fritters, under my watchful eye. Christiane - that's her name - protested as I sent back most fritters for lack of cohesion. You can't have a single crack between cheese and bread, or they will break up during frying, I said. There you go, it's a privilege to work with skilled apprentices, I added. Christiane had a restaurant for 30 years and we all laughed. We started frying the beignets de Vinzel in Uncle Harvey's built-in deep fryer (he really has everything but a tandoor up there), and served then by batches of four every five minutes. Kids only ate one, but my father had four pieces and came back for more. Very tasty. Next page see uncle Harvey with the gigantic 'chopper' mixer and the soup served with garlic bread and smoked ham. ... Article continues NEXT PAGE...


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Who Uses IBNREG?
- Consumers looking for more product information than is printed on the packaging.
- Consumers looking for more manufacturer information than is printed on the packaging.
- Buyers in retail stores, hardware chains and supermarkets looking for contact information when sourcing new products.
- App designers looking for accurate sources of information about retail barcode numbers.
- Distributors checking the legitimacy of products they are considering distributing.
- Online retailers (e.g. Amazon) wanting to check the accuracy of information about products listed for sale.


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Roger Muraro: Liszt
December 2024 | ||||||
Mo | Tu | We | Th | Fr | Sa | Su |
Liszt is synonymous with virtuosity. As instrument-making developed, the Hungarian composer attempted to vie on the keyboard with the devilish violin of the Italian Paganini. In short, "He experimented and became the precursor of modern piano technique engaging the entire body, shoulders and arms, using the wrist as a shock absorber, and making very clever use of the pedal," according to Roger Muraro. "But he was first and foremost a deeply emotional man who could be moved by a painting, sculpture or reading a poem – with God in the mix too!," notes the Lyon-born pianist, for whom "Liszt has been, and will continue to be as far as possible, my travelling companion". Tonight they are setting off on a pilgrimage through Liszt's travel memories.
Program and cast
Roger Muraro | piano
Les Années de Pèlerinage, complete (1st year - Switzerland S. 160, 2nd year - Italy I S. 161 and Vengia e Napoli S. 162, 3rd year - Italy II S. 163)
Théâtre des Champs-Élysées
The Théâtre des Champs- Elysées is undoubtedly one of the finest venues in Paris . Built in 1913 , it has the distinction of having been designed by a group of artists architects Henry Van de Velde and Auguste Perret , the painter and sculptor Antoine Bourdelle , the painter Maurice Denis , and the crystal- René Lalique to do mention the main ones . He was the first Parisian theater to be built entirely of reinforced concrete.
Restoration of the Great Hall devoted to operatic performances , symphony concerts and dance was decided in 1985. Two years later , on 23 September 1987, the theater reopened its doors , completely renovated. Fifteen years after this important work it was decided to undertake a new renovation campaign , but to prevent the complete closure of the theater for an entire season , work is now carried by step during the summer . Then it is to replace aging equipment , to remedy wear certain parts of the theater and improve spectator comfort and artists during their visit . Thus in recent years, including the work involved the renovation of marble facade, replacing the carpet in the room with wooden floors , installation of a new fully decorated wooden concert to a significant improvement of acoustics, the orchestra pit and stage below .
The Théâtre des Champs- Elysées is now a modern working tool receiving each year nearly 300,000 spectators and a few thousands of artists and collaborators.
The Théâtre des Champs- Elysées , the jewel of French architecture of the twentieth century, was in 1953 one of the first buildings of contemporary architectural heritage to be classified as historic monuments . Since 1970 the Caisse des Dépôts owns the entire building 15 avenue Montaigne and principal patron of the theater.
For over a century, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées has been the place where the most celebrated artists have come to make their names in Paris. The world's finest orchestras and world-class soloists have always been a fixture at the Theatre. Théâtre des Champs-Elysées presents more than 200 concerts each year and is renowned for its outstanding performances of all genres, from classical music concerts and staged opera to contemporary dance and jazz.
How to reach us:
Subway: Alma-Marceau (line 9), Franklin D.Roosevelt (line 1), Pont de l'Alma (RER line C)
Bus: n° 42, 63, 72, 80, 92
Taxi station: Place de l'Alma, corner of avenue George V
Car park: Alma George V. The entrance is in front of n° 19, avenue George V
Fixed rate depending on the length of the performance. Payment upon entering.
Performances: Th 25 Jul 2024,
Performances: Th 25 Jul 2024,
Performances: Th 25 Jul 2024,
Performances: Th 25 Jul 2024,
Performances: Fr 20 Dec 2024,
Performances: Fr 30 Aug 2024,


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Senator KENNEDY. Congressman Kastenmeier, Governor Nelson, Senator Proxmire, Mayor Nestigan, Mr. Lucey, Mr. Evjue, ladies and gentlemen, I want to express my appreciation to your Congressman and to your State officials. Bob Kastenmeier has been a distinguished Congressman, an able spokesman for this district. Mr. Nixon said the other day that he could endorse any Republican running for office with the greatest enthusiasm. I endorse Bob Kastenmeier with the greatest enthusiasm. [Applause.] And I am proud to be associated on this platform with the candidates the Democrats of Wisconsin have put forward, your Congressman, your Governor, your Lieutenant Governor, your attorney general, your U.S. Senator - they speak for progress in Wisconsin and progress in the Nation. They are part of the Wisconsin idea and I am proud to be here with them. [Applause.]
We are involved in the last 2 weeks of a hard-fought campaign. I must admit that there is some difficulty running against Mr. Nixon. I never know whether I am running against the Republican Mr. Nixon who goes to Arizona and who says that he stands as a Republican from top to bottom, or the Mr. Nixon who goes to Jacksonville, Fla., and says that party labels don't mean anything, what counts is the man, or the man who goes to New York it and strikes a blow for civil rights, or the man who goes to Virginia and informs them that he knows their problems as he went to school in the South once himself. But I know what the issue is. It is an old issue that has been fought in this country year after year, political generation after political generation, and that is between the happy and the content and the fat, and the concerned and those who look forward. I believe in 1960 the American people are going to move forward again. [Applause.]
I think this is an important election. I believe that the next President of the United States and the next Congress are going to have to deal with three sets of problems, all of them different. One is the longest problem, which is most continuing, which is a problem and an opportunity which has been with us since our country was founded, and which was with us in 1960, and that is to make good on the commitments of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that they are entitled to fairness and justice and equal opportunity, and it is the responsibility of the people speaking through their National Government, speaking through their President, to accord them those rights. That is the first opportunity and the first responsibility of the President of the United States. [Applause.]
I said on the first debate that I was concerned as an American when two children are born in two houses next door to each other, one is white and the other is a Negro. That Negro baby has one-half, regardless of his talents, statistically has one-half as much chance of finishing high school as the white baby, one-third as much chance of finishing college, one-fourth as much chance of being a professional man or woman, four times as much chance of being out of work in his life, one-third as much chance of owning his own home, about one-fourth as much chance of putting his child through college.
I believe that there are, of course, people who are not equal in talent, people who are not equal in motivation. But if there are going to be inequalities, it should be on the grounds of their ability and dedication, not on the grounds of their color. That is what we wish to wipe out. [Applause.]
The second set of problems that the President will face are the traditional ones. They stem from the administration of Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman. They are the efforts which Democratic Presidents and Democratic Congresses have made to write into law a whole platform of social legislation, which permits all Americans to participate in our standard of living, minimum wage, social security, unemployment compensation, housing, aid to education, medical care for the aged, all of the great litany of pieces of social legislation for which we are distinguished which make it easy for a Democratic candidate to run for the Presidency, and which Mr. Nixon's party has opposed. It is our function, however, not to merely invoke the names of Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman, not to merely live off what they did, but to bring these old programs up to date. Franklin Roosevelt proposed a 25-cent minimum wage, back in the middle thirties; 90 percent of the Republicans voted against it. We proposed this summer a minimum wage of $1.25 and 90 percent of the Members of the House of Representatives voted against it. These are the traditional issues, old but still new, and I believe that the next President and the next Congress must meet their responsibilities in this field.
We are talking, however, about two sets of problems which are familiar, with which we dealt in the past, the solution of which is easy, to get a President and a Congress that believe in progress. But there are a third set of problems which are entirely new, and it is this third set of problems that will most disturb the sleep of the next President of the United States and the next House and the next Senate. And it is to their solution that we must begin to address ourselves in this campaign, because unless the next President of the United States is prepared for action when he gets elected, then he will lose January, February, March, April, and May of 1961, which should be his best and most vigorous months.
Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt made their greatest contribution to the advancement of this country in their first 2 years, and we as Democrats, those of us who are committed to progress, should now be considering the solutions of the new problems that will face the United States in the 1960's.
One, how is it possible for a free society, operating with a free enterprise economy - how is it possible for that free society to double its rate of economic growth? We have talked a good deal about economic growth. Mr. Nixon has dismissed it as growthmanship. But it goes to the heart and survival of our free society. We are going to have to find 25,000 jobs a week every week for the next 10 years if we are going to maintain full employment in the United States. Our average rate of economic growth in the last 8 years was about 2 1/2 percent; that of Western Germany 5 to 6 percent, that of Italy, 4 to 4.5 percent, that of France, nearly 5 percent. In the last 8 years overall, the United States has had the lowest rate of economic growth of any major industrialized society in the world. We have an economic growth of about one-third that of the Soviet Union, less than Japan. How is it going to be possible for this country to maintain full employment with a low rate of economic growth, especially at a time when machines are taking the jobs of men. I would consider that to be the No. 1 domestic problem which the next President of the United States will have to meet. He will have to use monetary and fiscal tools far more effectively, far more vigorously, than the present administration has been willing to do.
In the last 9 months of 1960, the United States had no economic growth. We lost minus 0.3. This goes to the question of whether the students at the University of Wisconsin will have jobs, whether we will be able to maintain full employment, whether we are going to drag along with 50 percent of our steel capacity unused, as we are today, with 100,000 steelworkers out of work, with our other industries beginning to go part-time because we cannot consume what we are producing.
This is a new problem, entirely different from the kind of problem that Franklin Roosevelt met in the 1930's. But on its solution goes the survival of our free economy and our free system. We need to use our facilities to the utmost. We need the revenues which come from full use of our economy, in order to meet our obligations at home and abroad. We need a strong economy, or gold will continue to flow out of the United States. We need a strong economy if we are going to meet our obligations to the underdeveloped world, to maintain our defenses, to meet our needs in education and health and housing. I consider this to be, tied to the problem of agriculture, which is entirely different, to be the No. 1 domestic problem. the next President will face.
Secondly, how is it possible for the United States and the Soviet Union and France and Britain to come to a conclusion to cease nuclear testing with some worthwhile inspection system? How is it possible for us, who initiated the first atomic advance - how is it possible for us to make a decisive breakthrough in this area? Because of experiments now going on in Western Germany, it appears likely that almost 20 countries will have an atomic capacity by 1965. China, Egypt, Cuba - all the rest of them, all possessing atomic weapons, all possessing a hydrogen capacity perhaps all possessing ballistic missiles, and the means of delivering them.
When we realize that war has been the constant companion of mankind through the ages, we are about to move into a period of history when any country or combination of countries can destroy themselves, their adversaries, and perhaps the human race, all in the next 10 years. And this administration has failed to recognize the decisive nature of what science is doing to our hopes for the future. This administration has had less than 100 people working in the entire national administration on the subject of disarmament. We have gone into every conference unprepared. This administration, a year ago, in order to get a position on disarmament, appointed a lawyer from my own State of Massachusetts, Mr. Coolidge, who had had no previous experience in the field. After 3 months, his report was dismissed and so was he, and a New York lawyer, after 5 weeks of preparation, was sent to head up our mission to the Disarmament Conference. One hundred people working on one of the most important, involved, specialized fields the subject of disarmament, nuclear control. I believe we can do better, and I believe we must do better. [Applause.]
The third new question and the last one I wish to mention goes to the problem of the globe to the south of us. Here in these countries where the average income may be $100 a year, it may be $25 a year, as it is in Libya, in these countries, with the tremendous increasing population, with inadequate resources, in many cases - can these countries make an economic breakthrough under a system of freedom? Or is it necessary for them to follow the example of the Communists, the Chinese, and the Russians? They see Russia, which 40 years ago was the most backward country in Europe, now moving steadily up on the United States. They see China. Ten years ago China and India started from the same economic base, with the same economic problems, and yet China, by methods repugnant to us has be an to move its industrial growth forward at a faster rate than that of India through freedom.
What role can we play? What role can Western Europe play? Does the plan that this administration puts forward really offer hope to Latin America and Africa and Asia? What decision will they make in the next 5 or 10 years as to how they shall mobilize their resources?
This administration has remained almost indifferent to the great challenging problem of the 1950's. Not one Spanish program to all of Latin America; the Soviet Union has 10 times the broadcasts we do to Latin America, the foreign service. We are the 14th country in radio broadcasts to Africa. Even Indonesia has more than we do. There were more students from those countries 10 years ago in the United States than there are today. Guinea asked for 500 teachers last year. We gave them one.
We offered 300 scholarships to the Congo last June, more than we offered to all of Africa the year before. We had more people stationed in Western Germany in 1957 than in all of Africa. Out of a foreign service of 6,000 men and women, 26 are Negroes. I think we can do better, and I believe we are going to have to do better, or otherwise the United States is going to cease to lead.
Mr. Nixon pointed to the United Nations as evidence of our great program. The next day the question came on the admission of Red China. How many African nations voted with us? Not one of the newly admitted nations of Africa voted with us. The only two countries in Africa to vote with us were Liberia and the Union of South Africa. I believe that this administration by its failure to recognize the great questions which disturb our life has demonstrated its unfitness to lead us in the 1960's. I believe that before you can have the answers you must have the questions, and I don't think this administration has recognized the changing and revolutionary nature of the world in which we live; its solutions have been archaic, its proposals have been outdated. It has failed to recognize the change in circumstance in Africa or Latin America or Asia. [Applause.]
Mr. Nixon, speaking in September, said if we had proposed a program of economic aid to Latin America in 1955 Castro might never have happened. Why didn't we do so? The only statement that was made in 1955 was made by Mr. Nixon in Havana when he praised, and I quote him accurately, "The competence and stability of the Batista dictatorship."
These are the questions that you have to determine. Does this record give you confidence for the future? Are the kinds of men that have been appointed to ambassadorships, men who cannot even pronounce, not only the language, but can't even pronounce the name of the head of state, men who have been given ambassadorships as a reward for party contributions, who are sent to sensitive areas, students who have never been given a chance to study, sudden emergency programs put forward of 300 offers to the Congo? Do you know how many Congo students got to the United States? Seven. How many college graduates in the Congo? Twelve. Did we ever show any interest in their problems? Do you know the next part of Africa that will be free? The Portuguese colonies. Do you know how many students are studying in the United States from the Portuguese? None. They are going to become suddenly independent and we will offer them scholarships, as if you can turn out a man or woman as you do an automobile. It takes years. [Applause.]
The spokesmen for this administration spoke for many years about how we lost China. I would like to hear them talk about how India is going to be maintained as a free society. If India should fail in the third 5-year plan, the balance of power in the world would shift against freedom. India has within its borders 35 percent of all the underdeveloped people of the world. They are a free country, with sound economic planning, a chance to succeed, and yet when has Mr. Nixon in this campaign ever talked about a program which would assist India, not only by the United States, but by others who might be interested, particularly in Western Europe, to hold out the hand at the crucial moment? What we need is not hindsight. We need foresight. [Applause.] And we need men and women who will look beyond the next crisis and make a judgment.
Six countries now in Africa, members of the United Nations, have not a single American diplomatic residence in any of them. It took us 8 months to recognize Guinea and send an ambassador there. The Soviet Union took 1 day. And Guinea now votes with the Soviet Union.
I do not suggest that any of these problems are easy. I do not suggest that we have complete answers to any of them. But what I do suggest is that at least we have some concern, some recognition, some idea of the changing nature of our times. The whole problem in Cuba is not a dialogue about Mr. Castro. The whole problem in Cuba is what is going to happen in the rest of Latin America, whose side is going to be successful in those areas, which system offers the hope to these people. Bolivia, where the average annual income is about $100 a person - are they going to be more impressed by Castro and what he says, or are they going to be impressed by us? Franklin Roosevelt impressed them not so much because he poured out American money, but because he was a moving, compassionate figure, moving his own society at home, identifying himself with people around the world who also wish to live in the sun. I believe it is our function and our opportunity and our responsibility in the 1960's to identify ourselves with the cause of freedom, not only with the cause of freedom, but with a better life for these people. [Applause.] Franklin Roosevelt put it in 1936 in accepting his second presidential nomination before 100,000 people, and in that speech he said:
Governments can err, Presidents can make mistakes, but the immortal Dante tells us that Divine Justice weighs the sins of the coldblooded and the sins of the warmhearted in a different scale. Better the occasional faults of a government living in the spirit of charity than the consistent omissions of a government frozen in the ice of its own indifference.
I believe that 4 years of Mr. Nixon would be a government frozen in the ice of its own indifference, and I don't think the world can afford it. [Applause.] Other men who have led that party have tried to remake it and they all failed. Theodore Roosevelt, Wendell Willkie, Robert LaFollette, George Norris, and even Nelson Rockefeller before he began to graze contentedly in Mr. Nixon's pasture tried to remake the Republican Party. They all failed. Mr. Nixon basks in the sun. He sends Senator Goldwater to campaign in the South in an old Confederate uniform telling them he does not mean anything he says on civil rights, while Senator Scott of Pennsylvania travels through the North and assures he is with them all the way. What kind of a party is that? What kind of leadership is that? [Applause.]
The Chicago Sun-Times this morning carries an interview with Mr. Nixon's ex-adviser, Murray Chotiner, who advises Mr. Nixon to become the old Mr. Nixon, start hitting again in this campaign. What kind of a country will we have with a candidate who cannot make up his mind whether he is going to be old or new? [Applause.]
I do not run as a candidate who says that party labels are unimportant. The significance of the party is its philosophy and the kind of candidates it puts up for office. I do not have to run with leap-year progressivism, which says every 4 years, "We are for progress" and votes against it in the Congress day in and day out. I run as a Democrat. I run as a believer in progress. [Applause.] I stand in the tradition of Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman, and in my judgment, in 1960, the people of this country are going to say "Yes" to the 1960's and they are going to start this country moving again. Thank you. [Applause.]
John F. Kennedy, Speech of Senator John F. Kennedy, Fieldhouse, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/274572


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Sri Lanka on Wednesday assured the United Nations and the international community that it will implement all transitional justice mechanisms in accordance with the country's Constitution.
Leading the Sri Lankan delegation to the UN Human Rights Council's 37 session in Geneva on Wednesday, Foreign Affairs Minister Tilak Marapana said Sri Lanka does not consider the reconciliation process in the country as a "box-ticking exercise" and the judiciary and law enforcement mechanisms are fully capable and committed to the processes of advancing justice to all concerned.
"We are deeply committed to uphold the rule of law and to ensure the equal protection of the law to all individuals without discrimination as guaranteed under the Constitution of Sri Lanka," he said in response to the written update presented by the UNHRC deputy High Commissioner Kate Gilmore to the Council on the progress in implementing the recommendations of the consensus resolution promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka.
Highlighting the most important achievements since Sri Lanka last addressed the Council at the 34th Session on 28th February 2017, Sri Lanka's envoy said much progress has been made throughout the course of last year as well as previously, demonstrating Sri Lanka's firm commitment, willingness and ability to advancing truth, justice, reparations and guarantees of non-recurrence of conflict.
Formally operationalizing the Permanent Office on Missing Persons (OMP), releasing over70 percent of private land held by military to civilians, operationalizing Right to Information Act, establishment of an Office for Reparations, passing legislation to give effect to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, and acceding to the Ottawa and Oslo Conventions were among the achievements highlighted by the Minister.
Full text of the speech by the Minister Tilak Marapana:
Agenda item 2
37th Session of the UN Human Rights Council
Geneva, 21 March 2018
Mr. President,
Madam Deputy High Commissioner,
Distinguished Delegates,
It is an honour for me to be here today at the 37th Session of the UN Human Rights Council representing the Government of Sri Lanka.
I am joined today by my Cabinet colleagues, the Minister of Special Assignments, Hon. (Dr) Sarath Amunugama, and the Minister of Provincial Councils and Local Government, Hon. Faiszer Musthapha. My colleagues and I represent the two main political parties that form the coalition government. We are here before this Council together in unison, to speak with one voice, demonstrating the Government's firm commitment to the advancement of reconciliation, the rule of law, good governance, human rights, justice, equality, and dignity for all our citizens, based on the 100 Day Programme on which President Maithripala Sirisena was elected in January 2015.
Mr. President,
We would like to express our sincere appreciation to the High Commissioner, the Deputy High Commissioner and the staff of the OHCHR for their consistent and constructive engagement with Sri Lanka, the invaluable technical support extended to us, and for their support and encouragement at all times.
Mr. President,
We do not consider the reconciliation process in our country as a box-ticking exercise. We are deeply committed to uphold the rule of law and to ensure the equal protection of the law to all individuals without discrimination as guaranteed under the Constitution of Sri Lanka. We also recognize that we owe our citizens equitable socio-economic development, which can only become possible through the establishment of durable peace and reconciliation. We are making every effort, therefore, Mr. President, despite the socio-political and economic constraints and challenges that we face, to realize our vision of a reconciled, peaceful, stable and prosperous Sri Lanka for all our citizens. In this context, and in response to the High Commissioner's observations on progress made by Sri Lanka thus far, we wish to place on record our most important achievements since Sri Lanka last addressed this Council at the 34th Session on 28th February 2017. Much progress has been made throughout the course of last year as well as previously, demonstrating Sri Lanka's firm commitment, willingness and ability to advancing truth, justice, reparations and guarantees of non-recurrence of conflict.
We are mindful, Mr. President, that the reconciliation, judicial and reparation processes are for all affected communities irrespective of race, religion, and gender, including the families of missing security forces personnel.
On Sri Lanka's Independence Day in February 2015, just a few weeks after President Maithripala Sirisena was elected, the Government made a formal Declaration of Peace, which said Terrorism and violence have ended. The time and space required for healing and building sustainable peace and security for all is upon us. It is now for us to seize this opportunity to ensure that the fruits of democracy and citizenship can be equitably enjoyed by all. Mr. President, this continues to be our vision of all our citizens united, irrespective of ethnicity and religion, working together, overcoming the legacy of tragic conflict and guiding our nation towards durable peace and prosperity.
Mr. President,
As you are aware, the action by the Sri Lankan security forces during the conflict was against a group designated as a terrorist group by many countries, and not against any community in our country. The operations of the terrorist group, which for the first time in recent history have deliberately targeted innocent civilians have now been adopted by terrorist groups all over the world. All communities in Sri Lanka were united against terrorism in my country, and now that terrorism has been defeated, all communities today work in unison towards reconciliation and economic progress of the country.
Mr. President,
A comprehensive list that demonstrates the progress Sri Lanka has made in the advancement and protection of human rights, reconciliation, and good governance since January 2015 to-date has been distributed to all members of the Council. I will therefore set out some of the most important steps we have taken.
• In September 2017, the President formally operationalized the Permanent Office on Missing Persons, pursuant to the enactment of the Office on Missing Persons Act in August 2016, as amended in July 2017. On the recommendations made by the Constitutional Council, the President appointed the Chairperson and members of the Office on 28 February 2018. At a meeting with the Chairperson and members on 28 February, the President assured them of the fullest support of the Government to ensure the effective functioning of the Office. Sri Lanka Rupees 1.4 billion (approximately 9 million USD) has been allocated in the National Budget for 2018, for this Office. The members selected, in accordance with the provisions of the Act, represent the pluralistic society of Sri Lanka. The appointed members are currently receiving training and studying practices of similar mechanisms elsewhere which will help them to discharge their mandate effectively.
• Over 70% of private land which had been with the security forces during the conflict period has now been released to be given to their original and rightful owners. A Committee chaired by the Secretary to the President was set up in January 2018, which will continue to meet frequently with all relevant local stakeholders to oversee and monitor the process of land release, the payment of compensation, and address connected issues.
• The public is already benefitting from the Right to Information Act which was operationalised in February 2017. The Right to Information Commission is currently functioning effectively, and has disposed of a large volume of appeals.
• Demonstrating its firm commitment to a zero-tolerance policy on torture, Sri Lanka acceded to the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture in December 2017, and the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka is designated as the National Preventive Mechanism.
• The Cabinet of Ministers, on 6 March 2018, approved the formulation of legislation by the Legal Draftsman, for the establishment of an Office for Reparations. Once the draft legislation with translations into local languages is finalised, the draft Bill will be presented to parliament.
• Legislation to give effect to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance was passed by the Parliament on 7 March.
• Continuing its active engagement with the Special Procedures, in July 2017, Sri Lanka received the Special Rapporteur on 'Countering Terrorism while Promoting and Protecting Human Rights'. In October 2017, the Special Rapporteur on the Promotion of Truth, Justice, Reparation, and Guarantees of Non-recurrence visited Sri Lanka, and in October 2017, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention visited the country.
• Demonstrating our firm commitment to reconciliation and ensuring non-recurrence, Sri Lanka acceded to the Ottawa and Oslo Conventions (Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-personnel Mines and on their Destruction and the Convention on Cluster Munitions) on 13 December 2017 and 1 March 2018 respectively, and also received the Special Envoy on the Ottawa Convention earlier this month.
• Sri Lanka participated in reviews of its periodic reports by the Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in February 2017, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) in June 2017, and the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in January 2018.
• The Prevention of Terrorism Act is proposed to be repealed and replaced with a counter-terrorism law that conforms to human rights safeguards and other international standards. In terms of our Constitution and legal processes, this legislation will be finalized after due parliamentary procedures are followed.
• Amendments were brought to the Local Authorities Election Act and the Provincial Councils Election Act, ensuring a quota to elect female representatives to the Local Government and Provincial Councils, which are important grass-root-level decision-making bodies. At the recently concluded Local Government Elections held on 10 February 2018, the legislation ensuring 25% quota for women was implemented ensuring the election of a record number of women to local government bodies for the first time.
• For the effective implementation of the National Human Rights Action Plan 2017-2021, a three-tier mechanism was established in December 2017, to regularly monitor progress being made by all the relevant line ministries and agencies, and to give necessary guidance and direction.
• Sri Lanka participated in the 3rd cycle of the Universal Periodic Review in November 2017, and its report was adopted on 19 March.oThe draft legislation on a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, taking into account relevant recommendations made by the Consultation Task Force, is now in an advanced stage of consultations and will be submitted, at the earliest, for approval by the Cabinet of Ministers.
As we proceed on this important yet challenging journey, we are conscious of the need for the participation of all sections of our society to ensure that these important transformative steps through legislation and administrative means are well entrenched and duly institutionalised. Our firm commitment is reiterated to all stakeholders to reach consensus on a sustainable basis.
Through our firm resolve to ensure non-recurrence of conflict, we are committed to fulfilling the agenda on reconciliation. This agenda is unprecedented. We have undertaken to implement a vast agenda in a very short time. Such measures have taken most other countries, several decades to implement. Despite challenges, our commitment remains firm because we fully recognize that it is the duty of the State to all victims on all sides, to all communities and most of all to future generations to ensure that we lay the foundation for a stable, peaceful, reconciled and prosperous society. We recognise that we must not leave the burden of having to deal with the difficult legacy of our past, to our future generations.
Mr. President,
As a nation we are pained by the recent incidents in a few areas of Sri Lanka targeting members of the Muslim community who represent an integral part of the pluralistic society of Sri Lanka. Such acts which go against our shared vision of a Sri Lanka where equal rights and rule of law are guaranteed for all, have no place in a democratic, pluralistic society. The Government has taken swift action against perpetrators of these incidents and is investigating any lapses that may have taken place. Stringent measures will be initiated to ensure non-recurrence. A victim compensation programme has already commenced. We have reason to believe that certain interested parties were behind this, to tarnish our image at a time when this Council is in session.
Following investigations, as it was discovered that social media and messaging platforms were being used not only to incite and spread hate and false messages but also to organise attacks, the Government was compelled to impose temporary restrictions on the use of social media. All these restrictions have now been lifted. The Government as a result of this experience has entered into active engagement with social media operators, to work with them on the prevention of hate speech. The emergency regulations which the Government was compelled to impose on 06 March 2018 as a measure to protect communities, were rescinded on 17 March 2018.
Mr. President,
The reconciliation and development agenda cannot be successfully achieved by Government working alone. The participation of political parties, civil society, academia, the business community, the media as well as the international community are essential for this important national endeavour.
Mr. President,
We would like to stress with sincerity and conviction that we will not be deterred by anyone in fulfilling the undertakings given by us to our people, which will lead to building a peaceful, stable, reconciled and prosperous Sri Lanka for all our citizens.
Sri Lanka's judiciary and law enforcement mechanisms are fully capable and committed to the processes of advancing justice to all concerned. It has a long history of integrity and professionalism and since January 2015, steps have been taken to further strengthen its independence. And may I add, Mr. President, that all reconciliation mechanisms will be implemented in accordance with our Constitution.
Mr. President,
The legacy of conflict in Sri Lanka is heavy, and it permeates our society to this day. Extremists constantly strive to take advantage of this situation to achieve political gain. This realization only makes us even more determined to ensure that we never return to the violent days of the past. It is our intention to ensure the fulfilment of our commitments to all our people and bring closure to a sad and disturbing period of our recent history.
Thank you.


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A complete pipeline engineering tool that delivers rapid and accurate offline pipeline management design, planning and hydraulic analysis for natural gas and liquid pipelines through advanced simulation techniques.
Engineers and planners are able to use reliable and accurate information to make decisions, leading to improvements in pipeline design, performance, and throughput. Achieve optimum system performance and create emergency plans without interrupting online production.


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In the last few months we have been greatly expanding our catalog of cello ensemble scores, in no small part thanks to editors like Charles Jacot. Now, Mr. Jacot has collaborated with Ovation Press to publish our first arrangement for string trio: the Fugue from Le Tombeau de Couperin by Maurice Ravel.
Hans Erik Deckert has added to his selection of arrangements with the "vocal" works of two composers primarily known for works on other mediums: Rachmaninoff's Vocalise (arranged for cello sextet) and Wagner's Zug zum Münster (arranged for cello quartet) enhancing the melodic essence of the original works with the rich sound of multiple cellos


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The Future of Product and Service Innovation
Are you looking for a way to differentiate your company from the competition? A new product or service might be just what you need. But what if your industry is already crowded, making it difficult to come up with something new? What if the timing isn't right due to changing regulations or market conditions? In this article, we'll explore how data-driven collaboration can help product and service teams generate innovative ideas. We'll also share some best practices for working together across borders and time zones in order to bring those ideas to life.
The product management perspective
Product management is the process of managing products. A product manager is responsible for the overall success of a product or service, and they have many responsibilities:
- They must ensure that their team has all the resources they need to do their jobs effectively.
- They must ensure that customers are receiving what they expect from the company's offerings.
- They must understand how well each feature in a given release works, so that it can be improved or removed as needed (or even completely scrapped).
The service management perspective
The service management perspective focuses on the customer experience and the role of service management in product innovation. Product and service innovation are closely linked, and both can benefit from a strong focus on customer experience.
Service management is an essential part of digital transformation because it helps organizations manage change effectively by supporting rapid delivery of new products or services, improving efficiency through automation and analytics, measuring performance against key performance indicators (KPIs), aligning employees across functions around shared goals–and much more.
A new way to work together
Collaboration is key. Data is the new currency. Global teams are the new norm.
Innovative companies across industries are embracing these changes and working together in new ways to design, develop and deliver products and services that delight customers around the world–and change their lives for the better.
The future of product and service innovation is collaborative, data-driven and global.
The future of product and service innovation is collaborative, data-driven and global.
As we look ahead to the next decade, we see a shift from a single-minded focus on products to an integrated approach that includes services. With this change comes opportunities for greater collaboration across all aspects of business activities: marketing, sales and operations management; research & development; manufacturing; supply chain management; customer service; etc. The key is finding ways to leverage technology so you can communicate with your customers at scale while also integrating your internal operations seamlessly across all departments – this means you'll need software solutions that are flexible enough for whatever changes may come down the line (and there will be many).
The future of product and service innovation is collaborative, data-driven and global. We believe that this new way of working will be a catalyst for continued growth and success in the digital economy.


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Book Subjects
Death Comes to Marlow by Robert Thorogood
Product Description
Death Comes to Marlow by Robert Thorogood is available now for quick shipment to any U.S. location! This book is in good condition or better. Over the years we have learned how to provide students with cheap prices on books with fast shipping. We know how overpriced books and textbooks can be so we ensure that our customers have access to those same books at affordable prices. Just complete the checkout process for this book and it will be shipped to you for immediate use.


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An Illinois beekeeper whose bee hives were stolen and allegedly destroyed by the Illinois Department of Agriculture has stirred up a hornet's nest with his questions on why the state did this, and most importantly, what they did with his bees.The Ingram Case
The state claims the bees were destroyed because they were infected with a disease called foulbrood.
But when the 58-year apiary keeper had his hearing - three weeks after the removal of his bees without his knowledge - the state's "evidence" had disappeared, leaving more questions than answers about the raid on the beekeeper's hives.
Some people, including the beekeeper, Terrence Ingram, suspect the raid has more to do with Ingram's 15 years of research on Monsanto's Roundup and his documented evidence that Roundup kills bees, than it does about any concerns about his hives.
Interestingly, the state's theft targeted the queen bee and hive he'd been using to conduct the research.
A recent article by Tom Kocal in the Prairie Advocate retells the full story of how Terrence Ingram's bees and hives wound up being taken by the Illinois State Department of Agriculture (IDofAG)i.15 Years of Research Destroyed
While the state claims the removal of the property was due to Ingram's failure to comply with the Department's notice instructing him to burn the affected hives, they have been less than open about why the inspectors came in and took the bees and hives without due process.
At a time when the Ingram's were absent from the property. Ingram claims the Department also conducted three out of four inspections on his private property while no one was home.
While Department inspectors claim his hives had foulbrood - an allegedly highly contagious disease - Mr. Ingram believes he could prove that this was not the case. As reported by the featured Prairie Advocate article:"Ingram knew that the inspectors could not tell what they were seeing and had warned the Department that if any of them came back it would be considered a criminal trespass. Yet they came back when he was not home, stole his hives and ruined his 15 years of research."Ingram initially reported the missing bees and hives as having been stolen on March 14, unaware that they'd been removed by the IDofAG. News of the theft was published in the Prairie Advocate on March 21.
As a result of that article, an area County Farm Bureau manager called the reporter, stating he knew the equipment hadn't been stolen, but that it had been "destroyed" by the Department of Agriculture because they were infected with foulbrood and Ingram hadn't disposed of them as instructed.
The most nonsensical part of this story is that Ingram didn't get a hearing to determine whether his hives were affected by the disease until three weeks after they were removed and destroyed.
Kocal quotes Mr. Ingram as saying:"I own four businesses. I am here all the time. Yet they took our bees and hives when we were not home. What did they do, sit up on the hill and watch until we left? We had not yet had our day in court to prove that our hives did not have foulbrood!"Making matters worse, during that April 4 hearing, the Department couldn't produce any evidence of what they'd done with the bees and the hives. Meanwhile, Ingram ended up being ordered to pay the $500 fine for violating Sections 2-1 of the Illinois Bees and Apiaries Act. According to Kocal:"There are 2 questions that Ingram wants answered:
1) Did the IDofA, a state agency, have the right to enter Ingram's property and confiscate a suspected "nuisance," before Ingram had his day in court?
2) Where are his bees? The "evidence" has disappeared, and the IDofA refuses to tell Ingram where they are, before, during, and after the hearing.
"I have been keeping bees for 58 years," Ingram said during an interview at his home and apiary. "I am not a newcomer to beekeeping, and I definitely know what I am doing. I have been teaching beginning beekeeping classes for 40 years..." At the April 4 hearing, Ingram said he felt he was able to show the court that the inspector could not tell the difference between "chilled brood" and foulbrood. He also proved to the court that the inspectors did not know the symptoms of foulbrood."
Ingram believes the destruction of his bees and hives is more likely to be related to his research into the effect of Roundup on honey bees. He claims some 250 of his colonies have been killed off over the years by Monsanto's broad-spectrum herbicide, used in large quantities on both conventional- and genetically engineered crops. Ingram's research shows that Roundup can lead to what's called chilled brood, which is an entirely different scenario.Monsanto is the New Owner of Leading Bee Research Firm
According to Ingram, quoted from Kocal's article:"When Round-Up kills the adult bees there are not enough bees left in the hive to keep the young bees (brood) warm, and the young bees die from the cold (chilled brood). I tried to prove that just because foulbrood can be detected once the hive has been disturbed, doesn't mean the hive has foulbrood.Ingram has studied the effects of Roundup on honeybees for the past 15 years, and he believes he had built up sufficient amount of data to show that the herbicide causes not just bee die-offs, but also Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) - a mysterious phenomenon that has decimated an estimated one-third of all honey bees since 2006. While some bees inexplicably die, many simply vanish and never return to their hives. Ingram told Kocal that:
Inside a honeybee hive is one of the cleanest places you can find. Anything that is a problem, if the bees can't remove it, they cover it with propolis, which is an antiseptic... When you go into the comb and cut it up, disturb it like the investigators did, then send it to a lab, it exposes foulbrood to the world. In the beehive, it's covered up. The bees aren't affected by it. But you can find it by sending it in to a lab.""CCD is a calamity that is affecting honeybee colonies across the nation. In fact, I had one queen, which had survived three summers of spraying and three winters. I was planning to raise daughters from that queen to see if she may have had some genetic resistance to Roundup. But she and her hive were taken during the theft. I don't even know where the bees and my equipment are. They ruined 15 years of my research."... "I asked Rep. Sacia to take the teeth out of the current law, preventing untrained inspectors from doing sneak inspections without the beekeeper present, killing their bees and burning their equipment, or forcing organic beekeepers out of business, telling them that they have to use chemicals to keep bees in Illinois. Are the chemical companies really running our food supply?"
... "Is Illinois becoming a police state, where citizens do not have rights?" Ingram asked in desperation. "Knowing that Monsanto and the Dept. of Ag are in bed together, one has to wonder if Monsanto was behind the theft to ruin my research that may prove Roundup was, and is, killing honeybees. Beekeepers across the state are being threatened that the same thing may be done to their hives and livelihood. I was not treated properly, I don't want to see this happen to anyone else in this state, and I want this type of illegal action to end."
Ingram is quite correct about chemical companies like Monsanto - they are seeking to take nearly full control of the food supply by controlling virtually every aspect of crop production. So he has cause to be suspicious when it comes to the question of who ordered the theft and destruction of his bees. It wouldn't be the first time the biotech giant has used questionable tactics to get rid of its adversaries. And research implicating Monsanto as the cause of CCD could definitely cause some harm to the company's bottom line.What Can You do to Help the Honeybees?
One of the forerunning theories of colony collapse disorder (CCD) is that it's being caused by genetically engineered crops - either as a result of the crops themselves or the pesticides and herbicides applied on them, such as Roundup. Ingram's research could potentially have strengthened this theory. Monsanto's Roundup herbicide is one of the most widely used herbicides there is. As a result, Monsanto has received increasing amounts of bad publicity over their potential role in the devastating demise of bees around the globe.
There's no doubt that CCD is a serious problem. To get an idea of the magnitude of the importance of bees, the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) estimates that without bees to act as pollinators, the United States alone could lose $15 billion worth of crops.ii Research into the phenomenon is therefore absolutely crucial, to identify the sources of the problem.
Monsanto however, keeping true to form, appears to have taken measures to control the direction of the research into their products' effect on bees. As I recently reported, Monsanto has purchased one of the leading bee research firms - one that, conveniently, lists its primary goal as studying colony collapse disorder! Monsanto bought the company, called Beeologics, in September 2011, just months before Poland announced it would ban growing of Monsanto's genetically modified MON810 maize, noting, poignantly, that "pollen of this strain could have a harmful effect on bees."iii
The ongoing blight of genetically engineered crops has been implicated in CCD for years. In one German study,iv when bees were released in a genetically engineered rapeseed crop, then fed the pollen to younger bees, scientists discovered the bacteria in the guts of the young ones mirrored the same genetic traits as ones found in the GE crop, indicating that horizontal gene transfer had occurred.
But Roundup is not the only herbicide that has come under scrutiny. Newer systemic insecticides, known as neonicotinoids, two prominent examples of which include Imidacloprid and Clothianidin, are also frequently used on both conventional- and genetically engineered crops and have been implicated in CCD. In fact, bee colonies started disappearing in the U.S. shortly after the EPA allowed these new insecticides on the market. Even the EPA itself admits that "pesticide poisoning" is a likely cause of bee colony collapse as these pesticides weaken the bees' immune system.
If you want to learn more about bees and CCD, I highly recommend watching the documentary film Vanishing of the Bees. The film recommends four actions you can take to help preserve honeybees everywhere:References: Dr. Mercola is the founder of the world's most visited natural health web site, Mercola.com.If you are interested in more information about bee preservation, the following organizations are a good place to start.
- Support organic farmers and shop at local farmer's markets as often as possible. You can "vote with your fork" three times a day. [When you buy organic, you are making a statement by saying "no" to genetically engineered foods]
- Cut the use of toxic chemicals in your house and on your lawn, and use organic pest control.
- Better yet, get rid of your lawn altogether and plant a garden. Lawns offer very little benefit for the environment. Both flower and vegetable gardens provide good honey bee habitats.
- Become an amateur beekeeper. Having a hive in your garden requires only about an hour of your time per week, benefits your local ecosystem, and you can enjoy your own honey!
- Pesticide Action Network Bee Campaignv
- The Foundation for the Preservation of Honey Beesvi
- American Beekeeping Federationvii
- Help the Honey Beesviii


text: The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam houses the largest collection of artworks by Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) in the world. The permanent collection includes over 200 paintings by Vincent van Gogh, 500 drawings and more than 750 letters. The museum also presents exhibitions on various subjects from 19th-century art history. For more information on Vincent van Gogh, please visit the section Vincent van Gogh's Life on the museum's website.


text: The University of Birmingham Observatory (UBO) was established in 1982 as a teaching laboratory for the Physics and Astrophysics undergraduate degree programme offered by the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Birmingham. We are commissioning an exciting new telescope at UBO. It is a Ritchey Chretien Cassegrain with a primary mirror of diameter 50cm, supplied by Alluna Optics. It is the largest optical telescope within easy reach of central Birmingham and the surrounding West Midlands region. Observations with the new telescope began in mid-September 2013. Our students use the observatory in the second and third years of their studies. They work in small groups to design, perform, and write-up an observing project as part of their weekly lab activities. These projects require students to plan and execute their own astronomical observations. Many students create their own projects based on their own ideas. Our programme of public activities, our Astronomy in the City events, at UBO began in January 2014. This programme is aimed at celebrating our new telescope, and introducing the public to both the telescope, and astronomy more widely. Details of the programme are available here and via our social media and e-mailing list. Please visit here or email us at firstname.lastname@example.com if you would like to join our mailing list. |


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Use the provided links to help you find the information you need.
Most Frequently Asked Questions
- How can I sell Circle E Candles?
We have extreme pride in our candles and how they are sold is a direct representation of our company. If you own a store, you may qualify to sell our candles by submitting a Wholesaler Application. We have pretty strict guidelines that must be met for you to sell our candles. (Ex: type of store, minimum amount of candles to be sold, store location.) We do not currently approve of retailers who sell only through catalogs, the Internet or by direct sales. In other words, we require you have a retail store location and a Tax ID number.
If you're a merchant that meets these basic requirement, please go to our Wholesaler Application page and fill out the form. Once you submit this form, we will contact you within 3 business days.x close
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All of our candles are well equipped to help with masking odors. We mix only the finest fragrances with the smoothest of waxes to ensure that the fragrance level at the bottom of a Circle E Candle is as strong as it is when the candle is first burned. Some candles may be stronger than others, but they all give out a wonderful smell to help with those pesky odors. x close
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Our most popular fragrances change with the season, like everything else! So we've made our most popular fragrances a special category in our candle shopping section! Just click on candle shopping at the top of any page and click on the "Most Popular" link! This is updated frequently, so check often to see if your favorite shows up! x close
- Is there a proper way to burn Circle E Candles?
Yes. For best results in burning your candle, keep wick trimmed to 1/4 inch, allowing the wax pool to extend to the outside rim before extinguishing the flame. Wax has a "memory" so at subsequent burnings, the candle will melt out to the edge and burn evenly. Many of our candles are uniquely designed to allow the candle to set on its lid while burning. Always place on a heat and stain resistant surface. If glass becomes chipped or broken, do not continue to burn. Remove any foreign objects in jar before relighting. Never extinguish by placing the lid on a burning candle. Do not continue to burn when the wax content is less than 1/2 inch from the bottom of the container. Never leave a burning candle unattended. The seller and/or manufacturer is not responsible for misuse. Now sit back, relax, create that special mood and ENJOY! x close
- What's the difference between your candles and other brands?
Circle E Candles puts a lot of love and care into each and every candle we make! We've been doing this for 12 years and we don't ever plan on using anything but the very best in materials. We research long and hard before developing any new fragrance and only use the most intense, aromatic oils possible. We take these fine fragrances and carefully blend them with our special high quality waxes for optimum burn time and fragrance. We then pour them under the strictest guidelines into premium containers to make Circle E Candles. The result of all of this, along with other details that are not overlooked, is the very best candle on the market. We go that extra mile because quite frankly, we enjoy the satisfaction that comes with doing our very best. x close


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AFO Leaf Spring
AFO Leaf Spring
by Ossur
AFO Leaf Spring is a pre-fabricated polypropylene ankle-foot orthosis designed to support flaccid drop foot. It provides a semi-rigid section for toe clearance and support, yet has a thin, flexible foot plate for easy trimming. The absence of a heel section makes the Leaf Spring more comfortable to wear and provides a better fit in shoes.
Indications for Use
Drop foot secondary to CVA
Mild drop foot secondary to other neurological pathologies
Injection-molded polypropylene is lightweight
Variable thickness throughout the orthosis provides strength
Provides good toe clearance and support
Thin, flexible foot part is easy to trim with a pair of scissors
Excellent fit for most types of shoes
Absence of heel section for improved comfort
Product Details:
- Body Part
- Uprights
- Double
- Style
- Spring Leaf AFO
Additional information:
- Base L Code
- 1930
- Additional L Codes
- Combined Stability
- No
- Available in Custom
- No
For more information visit http://www.ossur.com/americas
360 product photography created with Arqball Spin technology visit www.arqspin.com for details.