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Croatia Population: 4,313,7071 VISITOR FROM HERE!
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|The lands that today comprise Croatia were part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until the close of World War I. In 1918, the Croats, Serbs, and Slovenes formed a kingdom known after 1929 as Yugoslavia. Following World War II, Yugoslavia became a federal independent communist state under the strong hand of Marshal TITO. Although Croatia declared its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, it took four years of sporadic, but often bitter, fighting before occupying Serb armies were mostly cleared from Croatian lands, along with a majority of Croatia's ethnic Serb population. Under UN supervision, the last Serb-held enclave in eastern Slavonia was returned to Croatia in 1998. The country joined NATO in April 2009 and the EU in July 2013.
Controls most land routes from Western Europe to Aegean Sea and Turkish Straits; most Adriatic Sea islands lie off the coast of Croatia - some 1,200 islands, islets, ridges, and rocks
|Southeastern Europe, bordering the Adriatic Sea, between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia
|Geographic coordinates:
| total: 56,594 sq km
land: 55,974 sq km
water: 620 sq km
Size comparison: slightly smaller than West Virginia
|Land Boundaries:
|total: 2,237 km border countries (5): Bosnia and Herzegovina 956 km, Hungary 348 km, Montenegro 19 km, Serbia 314 km, Slovenia 600 km
|5,835 km (mainland 1,777 km, islands 4,058 km)
|Maritime claims:
| territorial sea: 12 nm
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
|Mediterranean and continental; continental climate predominant with hot summers and cold winters; mild winters, dry summers along coast
|geographically diverse; flat plains along Hungarian border, low mountains and highlands near Adriatic coastline and islands
|Elevation extremes:
|Natural resources:
|oil, some coal, bauxite, low-grade iron ore, calcium, gypsum, natural asphalt, silica, mica, clays, salt, hydropower
|Land use:
| agricultural land: 23.7% arable land 16%; permanent crops 1.5%; permanent pasture 6.2% forest: 34.4%
other: 41.9% (2011 est.)
|Irrigated land:
|240 sq km (2012)
|Natural hazards:
|destructive earthquakes
|Current Environment Issues:
|air pollution (from metallurgical plants) and resulting acid rain is damaging the forests; coastal pollution from industrial and domestic waste; landmine removal and reconstruction of infrastructure consequent to 1992-95 civil strife
|International Environment Agreements:
| party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
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| noun: Croat(s), Croatian(s)
adjective: Croatian
|Ethnic groups:
|Croat 90.4%, Serb 4.4%, other 4.4% (including Bosniak, Hungarian, Slovene, Czech, and Roma), unspecified 0.8% (2011 est.)
|Croatian (official) 95.6%, Serbian 1.2%, other 3% (including Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, and Albanian), unspecified 0.2% (2011 est.)
|Roman Catholic 86.3%, Orthodox 4.4%, Muslim 1.5%, other 1.5%, unspecified 2.5%, not religious or atheist 3.8% (2011 est.)
|4,313,707 (July 2016 est.)
|Age structure:
| 0-14 years: 14.22% (male 315,971/female 297,339)
15-24 years: 11.4% (male 252,285/female 239,634)
25-54 years: 40.75% (male 878,971/female 878,707)
55-64 years: 14.83% (male 312,621/female 326,929)
65 years and over: 18.81% (male 320,418/female 490,832) (2016 est.)
|Dependency ratios:
| total dependency ratio: 51.1%
youth dependency ratio: 22.5%
elderly dependency ratio: 28.6%
potential support ratio: 3.5% (2015 est.)
|Median age:
| total: 42.7 years
male: 40.8 years
female: 44.8 years (2016 est.)
|Population growth rate:
|-0.5% (2016 est.)
|Birth rate:
|9 births/1,000 population (2016 est.)
|Death rate:
|12.1 deaths/1,000 population (2016 est.)
|Net migration rate:
|-1.9 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2016 est.)
| urban population: 59% of total population (2015)
rate of urbanization: 0.11% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)
|Major urban areas - population:
|ZAGREB (capital) 687,000 (2015)
|Sex ratio:
| at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 1 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.69 male(s)/female
total population: 0.93 male(s)/female (2016 est.)
|Mother's mean age at first birth:
|28 (2013 est.)
|Maternal mortality rate:
|8 deaths/100,000 live births (2015 est.)
|Infant mortality rate:
| total: 9.5 deaths/1,000 live births male: 9.2 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 9.8 deaths/1,000 live births (2016 est.)
|Life expectancy at birth:
| total population: 75.9 years male: 72.7 years
female: 79.2 years (2016 est.)
|Total fertility rate:
|1.39 children born/woman (2016 est.)
|Health expenditures:
|7.8% of GDP (2014)
|Physicians density:
|2.84 physicians/1,000 population (2011)
|Hospital bed density:
|5.9 beds/1,000 population (2014)
|Drinking water source:
| improved:
urban: 99.6% of population
rural: 99.7% of population
total: 99.6% of population
urban: 0.4% of population
rural: 0.3% of population
total: 0.4% of population (2015 est.)
|Sanitation facility access:
| improved:
urban: 97.8% of population
rural: 95.8% of population
total: 97% of population
urban: 2.2% of population
rural: 4.2% of population
total: 3% of population (2015 est.)
|HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
|HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
|HIV/AIDS - deaths:
|Obesity - adult prevalence rate:
|25.6% (2014)
|Education expenditures:
|4.6% of GDP (2013)
| definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99.3%
male: 99.7%
female: 98.9% (2015 est.)
|School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):
| total: 15 years male: 15 years
female: 16 years (2014)
|Unemployment, youth ages 15-24:
| total: 45.5% male: 44.9%
female: 46.4% (2014 est.)
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|Country name:
| conventional long form: Republic of Croatia
conventional short form: Croatia
local long form: Republika Hrvatska
local short form: Hrvatska
former: People's Republic of Croatia, Socialist Republic of Croatia
etymology: name derives from the Croats, a Slavic tribe who migrated to the Balkans in the 7th century A.D.
|Government type:
|parliamentary republic
| name: Zagreb
geographic coordinates: 45 48 N, 16 00 E
time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October
|Administrative divisions:
|20 counties (zupanije, zupanija - singular) and 1 city* (grad - singular) with special county status; Bjelovarsko-Bilogorska(Bjelovar-Bilogora), Brodsko-Posavska (Brod-Posavina), Dubrovacko-Neretvanska (Dubrovnik-Neretva), Istarska (Istria), Karlovacka (Karlovac), Koprivnicko-Krizevacka (Koprivnica-Krizevci), Krapinsko-Zagorska (Krapina-Zagorje), Licko-Senjska (Lika-Senj), Medimurska (Medimurje), Osjecko-Baranjska (Osijek-Baranja), Pozesko-Slavonska (Pozega-Slavonia), Primorsko-Goranska (Primorje-Gorski Kotar), Sibensko-Kninska (Sibenik-Knin), Sisacko-Moslavacka (Sisak-Moslavina), Splitsko-Dalmatinska (Split-Dalmatia), Varazdinska (Varazdin), Viroviticko-Podravska (Virovitica-Podravina), Vukovarsko-Srijemska (Vukovar-Syrmia), Zadarska (Zadar), Zagreb*, Zagrebacka (Zagreb county)
|25 June 1991 (from Yugoslavia)
|National holiday:
|Independence Day, 8 October (1991) and Statehood Day, 25 June (1991); note - 25 June 1991 was the day the Croatian parliament voted for independence; following a three-month moratorium to allow the European Community to solve the Yugoslav crisis peacefully, parliament adopted a decision on 8 October 1991 to sever constitutional relations with Yugoslavia
|history: several previous; latest adopted 22 December 1990 amendments: proposed by at least one-fifth of the members in the Assembly, by the president of the republic, by the Government of Croatia, or by petition of 10 percent of total number of voters; proceedings to amend require majority vote of all Assembly members; passage requires two-thirds majority vote of all Assembly members; passage of amendments by petition requires a majority vote in a popular referendum; promulgation by the Assembly; amended several times, last in 2014 (2016)
|Legal system:
|civil law system influenced by legal heritage of Austria-Hungary; note - Croatian law was fully harmonized with the European Community acquis as of the June 2010 completion of EU accession negotiations
|18 years of age, 16 if employed; universal
|Executive branch:
| chief of state: President Kolinda GRABAR-KITAROVIC (since 19 February 2015)
head of government: Prime Minister Andrej PLENKOVIC (since 19 October 2016); Deputy Prime Ministers Davor Ivo STIER, Damir KRSTICEVIC, Martina DALIC, Ivan KOVACIC (since 19 October 2016)
cabinet: Council of Ministers named by the prime minister and approved by the Assembly elections/appointments: president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 28 December 2014 and 11 January 2015 (next to be held in 2019); the leader of the majority party or majority coalition usually appointed prime minister by the president and approved by the Assembly
election results: Kolinda GRABAR-KITAROVIC elected president; percent of vote in the second round - Kolinda GRABAR-KITAROVIC (HDZ) 50.7%, Ivo JOSIPOVIC (Forward Croatia Progressive Alliance) 49.3%
|Legislative branch:
| description: unicameral Assembly or Hrvatski Sabor (151 seats; members directly elected by party-list proportional representation vote using the D'Hondt method with a 5% threshold: 14 seats in each of 10 districts; 8 seats in a single nationwide district for minorities; 3 seats in a single special district for the Croatian diaspora, members elected for 4-year terms)
elections: last held on 11 September 2016 (next to be held in September 2020) - Assembly voted on 20 June 2016 to dissolve on 15 July 2016, resulting in snap elections
election results: percent of vote by party/coalition - NA; number of seats by party/coalition - HDZ coalition 61, People's Coalition 54, Most-NL 13, Only Option 8, minorities 8 (includes SDSS 3), other 7 note: as of December 2016, seats by party - HDZ 56, SDP 37, MOST-NL 14, HNS 9, HSS 5, IDS 3, SDSS 3, HDS 2, PH 2, Human Blockade 2, other 7
|Judicial branch:
| highest court(s): Supreme Court (consists of the court president and vice president, 25 civil department justices, and 16 criminal department justices) judge selection and term of office: president of Supreme Court nominated by president of Croatia and elected by Croatian Sabor for a 4-year term; other Supreme Court justices appointed by National Judicial Council; all judges serve until age 70
subordinate courts: Administrative Court; county, municipal, and specialized courts; note - there is an 11-member Constitutional Court with jurisdiction limited to constitutional issues but is outside Croatia's judicial system
|Political parties and leaders:
|Bloc of Pensioners Together or BUZ [Milivoj SPIKA] Bridge of Independent Lists or Most-NL [Bozo PETROV] Croatian Christian Democratic Party or HDS [Goran DODIG] Croatian Democratic Congress of Slavonia and Baranja or HDSSB [Dragan VULIN] Croatian Democratic Union or HDZ [Andrej PLENKOVIC] Croatian Laborists - Labor Party or HL [Tomislav KONCEVSKI] Croatian Party of Rights - dr. Ante Starcevic or HSP AS [Ivan TEPES] Croatian Peasant Party or HSS [Kreso BELJAK] Croatian Pensioner Party or HSU [Silvano HRELJA] Croatian People's Party - Liberal Democrats or HNS [Ivan VRDOLJAK] Croatian Social Liberal Party or HSLS [Darinko KOSOR] Forward Croatia Progressive Alliance [Ivo JOSIPOVIC] HDZ Coalition [Andrej PLENKOVIC] (includes HDZ, HSLS, HDS) (temporary electoral coalition) Human Blockade [Ivan SINCIC] Independent Democratic Serb Party or SDSS [Vojislav STANIMIROVIC] Independent List of Stipe Petrina or NLSP [Stipe PETRINA] Istrian Democratic Assembly or IDS [Boris MILETIC] Istrian Democrats [Damir KAJIN] Let's Change Croatia or PH [Ivan LOVRINOVIC] Milan Bandic 365 - Party of Labor and Solidarity or BM365-SRS [Milan BANDIC] Movement for Successful Croatia or HRAST [Ladislav ILCIC] People's Coalition [Zoran MILANOVIC] (includes SDP, HNS, HSU, HSS] (temporary electoral coalition) People's Party - Reformists Party [Radimir CACIC] Social Democratic Party of Croatia or SDP [Zoran MILANOVIC] The Only Option Coalition (includes Human Blockade, PH, Always Frankers, Youth Action, Alphabet of Democracy)
|Political pressure groups and leaders:
|other: human rights groups
|International organization participation:
|Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CD, CE, CEI, EAPC, EBRD, ECB, EMU, EU, FAO, G-11, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, MINURSO, NAM (observer), NATO, NSG, OAS (observer), OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, SELEC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMIL, UNMOGIP, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
|National symbol(s):
|red-white checkerboard; national colors: red, white, blue
|National anthem:
| name: "Lijepa nasa domovino" (Our Beautiful Homeland)
lyrics/music: Antun MIHANOVIC/Josip RUNJANIN
note: adopted 1972; "Lijepa nasa domovino," whose lyrics were written in 1835, served as an unofficial anthem beginning in 1891
|Diplomatic representation in the US:
| chief of mission: Ambassador Josip "Josko" PARO (since 20 April 2012)
chancery: 2343 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 588-5899
consulate(s) general: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York
|Diplomatic representation from the US:
| chief of mission: Ambassador Julieta Valls NOYES (since 5 October 2015)
embassy: 2 Thomas Jefferson Street, 10010 Zagreb
mailing address: use embassy street address
telephone: [385] (1) 661-2200
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Though still one of the wealthiest of the former Yugoslav republics, Croatia's economy suffered badly during the 1991-95 war. The country's output during that time collapsed, and Croatia missed the early waves of investment in Central and Eastern Europe that followed the fall of the Berlin Wall. Between 2000 and 2007, however, Croatia's economic fortunes began to improve with moderate but steady GDP growth between 4% and 6% led by a rebound in tourism and credit-driven consumer spending. Inflation over the same period remained tame and the currency, the kuna, stable. Croatia experienced an abrupt slowdown in the economy in 2008 and has yet to recover; economic growth was stagnant or negative in each year since 2009. Difficult problems still remain including a stubbornly high unemployment rate, uneven regional development, and a challenging investment climate. Croatia continues to face reduced foreign investment. On 1 July 2013, Croatia joined the EU, following a decade-long application process. Croatia will be a member of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism until it meets the criteria for joining the Economic and Monetary Union and adopts the euro as its currency. EU accession has increased pressure on the government to reduce Croatia's relatively high public debt, which triggered the EU's excessive deficit procedure for fiscal consolidation. Zagreb has cut spending since 2012, and the government also raised additional revenues through more stringent tax collection and by raising the value-added tax. The government has also sought to accelerate privatization of non-strategic assets, with mixed success.
|GDP (purchasing power parity):
| GDP (purchasing power parity): $94.24 billion (2016 est.) $92.48 billion (2015 est.) $90.98 billion (2014 est.)
note: data are in 2016 dollars
|GDP (official exchange rate):
|GDP (official exchange rate): $49.86 billion (2015 est.)
|GDP - real growth rate:
|1.9% (2016 est.) 1.6% (2015 est.) -0.4% (2014 est.)
|GDP - per capita (PPP):
| GDP - per capita (PPP): $22,400 (2016 est.) $21,900 (2015 est.) $21,500 (2014 est.)
note: data are in 2016 dollars
|Gross national saving:
|21.8% of GDP (2016 est.) 23.5% of GDP (2015 est.) 19% of GDP (2014 est.)
|GDP - composition, by end use:
| household consumption: 59.1%
government consumption: 19.3%
investment in fixed capital: 19.1%
investment in inventories: -0.4%
exports of goods and services: 50.8%
imports of goods and services: -47.9% (2016 est.)
|GDP - composition, by sector of origin:
| household consumption: 59.1%
government consumption: 19.3%
investment in fixed capital: 19.1%
investment in inventories: -0.4%
exports of goods and services: 50.8%
imports of goods and services: -47.9% (2016 est.)
|Agriculture - products:
|arable crops (wheat, corn, barley, sugar beet, sunflower, rapeseed, alfalfa, clover); vegetables (potatoes, cabbage, onion, tomato, pepper); fruits (apples, plum, mandarins, olives), grapes for wine; livestock (cattle, cows, pigs); dairy products
|chemicals and plastics, machine tools, fabricated metal, electronics, pig iron and rolled steel products, aluminum, paper, wood products, construction materials, textiles, shipbuilding, petroleum and petroleum refining, food and beverages, tourism
|Industrial production growth rate:
|3.5% (2016 est.)
|Labor force:
|1.61 million (2016 est.)
|Labor force - by occupation:
| agriculture: 1.9%
industry: 27.6%
services: 70.4% (2014)
|Unemployment rate:
|15.8% (2016 est.) 17.1% (2015 est.)
|Population below poverty line:
|19.5% (2014 est.)
|Household income or consumption by percentage share:
| lowest 10%: 3.3%
highest 10%: 27.5% (2008 est.)
|Distribution of family income - Gini index:
|32 (2010) 29 (1998)
| revenues: $21.47 billion
expenditures: $22.72 billion (2016 est.)
|Taxes and other revenues:
|43.1% of GDP (2016 est.)
|Public debt:
|88.3% of GDP (2016 est.) 86.7% of GDP (2015 est.)
|Fiscal year:
|calendar year
|Inflation rate (consumer prices):
|Inflation rate (consumer prices): -1% (2016 est.) -0.5% (2015 est.)
|Current account balance:
|$1.514 billion (2016 est.) $2.551 billion (2015 est.)
|$12.41 billion (2016 est.) $11.91 billion (2015 est.)
|Exports - commodities:
|transport equipment, machinery, textiles, chemicals, foodstuffs, fuels
|Exports - partners:
|Italy 13.4%, Slovenia 12.5%, Germany 11.4%, Bosnia and Herzegovina 9.9%, Austria 6.6%, Serbia 4.9% (2015)
|$19.98 billion (2016 est.) $19.28 billion (2015 est.)
|Imports - commodities:
|machinery, transport and electrical equipment; chemicals, fuels and lubricants; foodstuffs
|Imports - partners:
|Germany 15.5%, Italy 13.1%, Slovenia 10.7%, Austria 9.2%, Hungary 7.8% (2015)
|Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
|$14.46 billion (31 December 2016 est.) $14.97 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
|Debt - external:
|$48.11 billion (31 December 2016 est.) $50.88 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
|Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
|$41.17 billion (31 December 2016 est.) $39.74 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
|Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:
|$8.484 billion (31 December 2016 est.) $8.05 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
|Market value of publicly traded shares:
|$36.29 billion (31 December 2014 est.) $33.75 billion (31 December 2013 est.) $33.44 billion (31 December 2012 est.)
|Exchange rates:
|kuna (HRK) per US dollar - 6.971 (2016 est.) 6.8583 (2015 est.) 6.8583 (2014 est.) 5.7482 (2013 est.) 5.85 (2012 est.)
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|Electricity - production:
|13 billion kWh (2014 est.)
|Electricity - consumption:
|16.97 billion kWh (2014 est.)
|Electricity - exports:
|2.866 billion kWh (2014 est.)
|Electricity - imports:
|6.592 billion kWh (2014 est.)
|Electricity - installed generating capacity:
|4.4 million kW (2014 est.)
|Electricity - from fossil fuels:
|37.1% of total installed capacity (2013 est.)
|Electricity - from nuclear fuels:
|7.7% of total installed capacity (2013 est.)
|Electricity - from hydroelectric plants:
|48.5% of total installed capacity (2013 est.)
|Electricity - from other renewable sources:
|6.6% of total installed capacity (2013 est.)
|Crude oil - production:
|12,420 bbl/day (2015 est.)
|Crude oil - exports:
|0 bbl/day (2014 est.)
|Crude oil - imports:
|37,300 bbl/day (2014 est.)
|Crude oil - proved reserves:
|71 million bbl (1 January 2016 es)
|Refined petroleum products - production:
|56,650 bbl/day (2014 est.)
|Refined petroleum products - consumption:
|70,000 bbl/day (2014 est.)
|Refined petroleum products - exports:
|29,060 bbl/day (2014 est.)
|Refined petroleum products - imports:
|32,890 bbl/day (2014 est.)
|Natural gas - production:
|1.363 billion cu m (2014 est.)
|Natural gas - consumption:
|2.81 billion cu m (2014 est.)
|Natural gas - exports:
|422 million cu m (2014 est.)
|Natural gas - imports:
|1.089 billion cu m (2014 est.)
|Natural gas - proved reserves:
|24.92 billion cu m (1 January 2016 es)
|Carbon dioxide emissions from consumption of energy:
|19 million Mt (2013 est.)
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|Cellular Phones in use:
|total: 4.416 million subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 99 (July 2015 est.)
|Telephone system:
| general assessment: the telecommunications network has improved steadily since the mid-1990s, covering much of what were once inaccessible areas; local lines are digital
domestic: fixed-line teledensity has droped somewhat to about 35 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular telephone subscriptions now even with the population
international: country code - 385; digital international service is provided through the main switch in Zagreb; Croatia participates in the Trans-Asia-Europe fiber-optic project, which consists of 2 fiber-optic trunk connections with Slovenia and a fiber-optic trunk lin (2015)
|Broadcast media:
|the national state-owned public broadcaster, Croatian Radiotelevision, operates 4 terrestrial TV networks, a satellite channel that rebroadcasts programs for Croatians living abroad, and 6 regional TV centers; 2 private broadcasters operate national terre (2012)
|Internet country code:
|Internet users:
|total: 3.117 million percent of population: 69.8% (July 2015 est.)
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|69 (2013)
|Airports (paved runways):
| total 24
over 3,047 m: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 6
1,524 to 2,437 m: 3
914 to 1,523 m: 3
under 914 m: 10 (2013)
|Airports (unpaved runways):
| total 45
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 6
under 914 m: 38 (2013)
|1 (2013)
|gas 2,410 km; oil 610 km (2011)
| total 2,722 km
standard gauge: 2,722 km 1.435-m gauge (985 km electrified) (2014)
| total 26,958 km
(includes 1,416 km of expressways) (2015)
|785 km (2009)
|Merchant marine:
| total 77
by type: bulk carrier 24, cargo 7, chemical tanker 8, passenger/cargo 27, petroleum tanker 10, refrigerated cargo 1
foreign-owned: 2 (Norway 2)
registered in other countries: 31 (Bahamas 1, Belize 1, Liberia 1, Malta 6, Marshall Islands 12, Panama 2, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 8) (2010)
|Ports and terminals:
| major seaport(s): Ploce, Rijeka, Sibernik, Split
river port(s): Vukovar (Danube) oil terminal(s): Omisalj
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|Military branches:
|Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia (Oruzane Snage Republike Hrvatske, OSRH) consists of five major commands directly subordinate to a General Staff: Ground Forces (Hrvatska Kopnena Vojska, HKoV), Naval Forces (Hrvatska Ratna Mornarica, HRM; includes coast guard), Air Force and Air Defense Command (Hrvatsko Ratno Zrakoplovstvo I Protuzracna Obrana), Joint Education and Training Command, Logistics Command; Military Police Force supports each of the three Croatian military forces (2012)
|Military service age and obligation:
|18-27 years of age for voluntary military service; 6-month service obligation (2012)
|Military expenditures:
|1.38% of GDP (2015) 1.41% of GDP (2014) 1.47% of GDP (2013) 1.7% of GDP (2012) 1.77% of GDP (2011)
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|Transnational Issues
|Disputes - International:
|dispute remains with Bosnia and Herzegovina over several small sections of the boundary related to maritime access that hinders ratification of the 1999 border agreement; since the breakup of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, Croatia and Slovenia have each claimed sovereignty over Pirin Bay and four villages, and Slovenia has objected to Croatia's claim of an exclusive economic zone in the Adriatic Sea; in 2009, however Croatia and Slovenia signed a binding international arbitration agreement to define their disputed land and maritime borders, which led to Slovenia lifting its objections to Croatia joining the EU; Slovenia continues to impose a hard border Schengen regime with Croatia, which joined the EU in 2013 but has not yet fulfilled Schengen requirements
|Refugees and internally displaced persons:
stateless persons: 2,873 (2015) note: 658,036 estimated refugee and migrant arrivals (2015 - March 2016)
|Illicit drugs:
|transit point along the Balkan route for Southwest Asian heroin to Western Europe; has been used as a transit point for maritime shipments of South American cocaine bound for Western Europe (2008)
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Source: CIA - The World Factbook


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The Blow Monkeys are unique. The original four members still together after a roller-coaster career spanning over 35 years. Always making new music, always stretching musical boundaries.
With worldwide hits such as the classics "Digging Your Scene" and "It Doesn't Have To Be This Way", they became household names but there was always so much more going on with these simian soulsters.


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Miss Constable
This half term we are reading The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C S Lewis. As part of our work on the story we went through the wardrobe and experienced Narnia during the time of the White Witch and as Aslan returned. We will use this experience to help us write our own portal stories.
Over the last few days we have been preparing for a Victorian Christmas! We decorated the classroom with traditional greenery and paper chains and this afternoon we made a whole range of decorations including baubles and salt dough ornaments. We are looking forward to seeing "A Christmas Carol" tomorrow and a fun filled last few days of term.
The children have a half term homework in their books; we have asked them to choose and learn a poem to perform to the rest of the class in the new year. This is not compulsory but it is something they will all have to do at some point through the year so it would be great if we could have lots of performances in the first few weeks back! We will give them a chance to have a look at some poems to choose from this week so they might bring one they have chosen home!


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3 responses
Fantastic shot od the park! I really like how you captured the bright green grasses around the pines.
June 1, 2011 at 4:59 am
Good scene. Love You, Mom
June 4, 2011 at 11:36 am
I feel like a bear peeking through the trees making sure it's safe to come out and frolic.
June 23, 2011 at 1:30 am


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Time's Klein pushed ANWR drilling as a remedy to high gas prices
In his Time magazine column, Joe Klein advocated drilling for oil in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Reserve (ANWR) as a means of lowering gasoline prices. Contrary to Klein's suggestion, however, a U.S. Department of Energy study found that oil production in ANWR would have a relatively insignificant impact upon crude oil prices.
In his column in the May 15 edition of Time, Joe Klein advocated drilling for oil in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Reserve (ANWR) as a means of lowering gasoline prices. But contrary to Klein's suggestion that oil from ANWR would help to alleviate high gas prices, a U.S. Department of Energy study, conducted by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) to assess the potential impact of drilling in ANWR, found that oil production in ANWR would have a relatively insignificant impact upon crude oil prices.
From Klein's Time column:
A wonderful thing happened in Washington last week. Both political parties tried to bribe the American people past their anger over high gasoline prices, and the public response was a collective guffaw. The Republicans' $100- rebate bribe -- yet another indication that Senate majority leader Bill Frist has become the central clearinghouse for cheesy political ideas -- received most of the ridicule. But the Democrats were equally craven, proposing a two-month "holiday" from the 18(cent)-per-gal. federal gasoline tax. This is not to suggest that we have suddenly become a nation of policy connoisseurs with a well-honed sense of energy wonkery. But Americans do have a well-honed sense of baloney when they hear it. Which suggests that there might be an opportunity for political honesty, and for leadership, on this issue. "You're not going to get anywhere without doing something hard," Peter Orszag, a Brookings Institution domestic-policy analyst, told me. "You're not going to solve this with incentives -- by giving tax breaks for research on alternative fuels, or to people who buy hybrid cars, or by encouraging more drilling, which are the only things the politicians are willing to talk about right now. You have to discourage the use of energy by raising the price."
You're thinking, Uh-oh, here comes another high-minded argument for pain. Yes and no. Tax incentives for hybrid cars certainly won't hurt. And while I'm a big fan of caribou, drilling for oil on a patch of their Alaskan stomping ground doesn't seem an eco-disaster. There's also a new generation of safer nuclear-power technology that could replace oil- and coal-fueled electric power plants. But some sort of price jolt will also be necessary to wean the public away from fossil fuels, and it's going to have to be a big one.
As Media Matters for America noted, the EIA's 2004 analysis estimated that oil production in ANWR would reduce oil prices by a relatively insignificant 30 to 50 cents per barrel by 2025, "relative to a projected 2025 world oil price of $27 per barrel (2002 dollars)." The report also noted that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) "could countermand any potential price impact of ANWR coastal plain production by reducing its exports by an equal amount."


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Vera Zvonareva Interview - Wimbledon, June 29Posted on June 29, 2010
Vera Zvonareva Interview
Tuesday, 29 June 2010
Q. Looking at your balance and your movements, the way you do splits quite elegantly, is this something you trained for particularly? Do you have a past as a gymnast or a dancer?
VERA ZVONAREVA: No, just actually happens naturally. I never train. I think I'm pretty flexible. I always work on my flexibility since I was a kid.
Then I think tennis is getting quicker and quicker. Sometimes when you try to chase the balls, it just comes naturally. I don't really train it.
Q. Mentally you seemed to manage the match very well. Can you talk about what you were feeling inside?
VERA ZVONAREVA: You know, I was just trying to play one point at a time. I was not looking around. I was trying to stay concentrated, keep my concentration on all the time, trying to think what I will do in my next point. That's about it.
Nothing else was bothering me around. I wasn't noticing anything around. I think that helped me a lot, because I was able to play pretty good tennis from the beginning till the end. You know, there is a couple unforced errors there and there, but I managed to, yeah, overall to play pretty even from the beginning till the end.
Q. Why were you able to do that today when maybe earlier in your career you might not have?
VERA ZVONAREVA: I don't know. I think it comes with experience. You grow up. You're more mature. You know you've been in different situations and you know how to manage them better. You know that it is important just to forget what was before and try to concentrate on the next point.
I think, uhm, right now I have learned a lot from the past, and I can do it much better now.
Q. What do you know about your semifinal opponent? Must be rather a surprise that you're not playing Venus, that you're playing Pironkova.
VERA ZVONAREVA: You know, obviously Venus is going to be always one of the favorite players here at Wimbledon. But if Tsvetana beat her today, she deserves to be in the semifinals. She played great tennis.
I played her in Moscow last year and I lost to her. I will try to remember that match. I know I was not playing my best tennis over there. I will just have to, you know, think about it a little bit and prepare myself the best I can.
I'm gonna try my best over there, just the way I was trying today, and then we will see what's going to happen.
Q. What were her strengths when you played her in Moscow?
VERA ZVONAREVA: I think she's all‑over‑the‑court player. You know, it's hard to predict what she's doing on the court. Sometimes she can slice; sometimes she can hit the ball; sometimes she can play slow; sometimes she can play fast. You never know what to expect, so you lose your rhythm. Then you start thinking maybe too much on the court.
I just know that in that match I will have to concentrate on myself and execute my game no matter what the score, no matter what she's trying to do. Just try not to look on the other side and try to concentrate on myself.
Q. You had some really strong results a while back in your career, then there were some tough results and your injury. What was it like when you were really struggling, trying to get over your injury? Did you imagine relatively quickly you'd reach the Wimbledon semifinal?
VERA ZVONAREVA: Well, you always dream about it. You always want to be there. Like I always say, I always believe in myself and I believe I can be here.
But obviously when you go through a lot of injuries in your career, it sort of puts a lot of doubts in your head. It is very difficult to come back after an injury. You lose a lot of confidence.
But, uhm, I think, I don't know, I always believed in myself. I always believed I could do it. I was just maybe frustrated that my injuries are not going away. But I know as soon as I feel hundred percent, I will be able to play good tennis again. It's just matter of time.
Because I can work hard. I can work hard every day. I believe that, you know, if you work hard, you will achieve.
Q. This was your first victory against Kim Clijsters today. What made the difference today?
VERA ZVONAREVA: Uhm, I think I was able to play one point at a time today. I was able to keep my concentration from the beginning till the end of the match. Also I'm much more experienced right now, much more mature. I think I played tactically better, and I was able to hang in there, not to pay attention to what was going on around.
Even after I lost the first set, maybe there were a couple unforced errors that could have put me back, but I was trying not to think about it. I was trying to think about what I have to do next to win the next point.
I think it helped me a lot.
Q. You are a promoter of gender equality. What have you achieved, and what are your goals with that job?
VERA ZVONAREVA: It is very important to give the same opportunities to everyone in the world. If we are lucky here, in Russia, there are so many countries, where girls, they don't have the possibilities to achieve their dreams.
And I think, uhm, us tennis players, we could be role models for the girls. No matter what they want to do in their lives, they should believe in themselves. They should believe they can achieve great things.
It's not more about of gender equality, it's more about equality for opportunities for everybody, so everyone has the same opportunities. I think our examples, where we are, we should be able to make, you know, a lot of girls around the world to believe in themselves more.
Q. You spoke about concentration. You always had your towel over your head. Is that one part of your concentration? For instance, did you see what the score was between Pironkova and Venus?
VERA ZVONAREVA: No. Like I said, nothing matters on the court besides thinking of what you're going to do next.
I think, yeah, I put the towel because it just helps me to relax and not to see what is going on around. Because in my game, I think I'm capable to do a lot of different things. For me, it's very important that my head is relaxed because then I know what I want to do in the next point.
And if you see all the things around, noticing all the scores, it just takes your concentration a little bit away, and then maybe you will make a wrong decision on the court.
And for me, if I know what I want to do, I think I'm capable of, you know, beating anyone on the other side. So for me it's very important just to keep my concentration.
Q. So you didn't know about Venus?
VERA ZVONAREVA: No.
Q. Pironkova is one of the younger players left here. Why do you think we're not seeing more teenagers breaking through at these big tournaments?
VERA ZVONAREVA: Well, to break through as a teenager, it's very difficult. There were some great examples in the past.
But I think to be able to reach this stage of a Grand Slam, you need an experience. You need the maturity. It comes with years on the tour.
I think it is very difficult to play unbelievable tennis and reach the Grand Slam semifinal, final very early. Only few girls were able to do it. Uhm, those girls became great players.
But, yeah, I think you need that experience to be here.


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SharePoint 2013 Farm setup–and we are off!
Applies to: SharePoint Server 2013
Like many other SharePointies, I've decided to setup a lab environment so I can play around with the new features first hand.
Lucky, my mate Andrew Connell has an excellent guide on getting setup for a development environment. This takes you through the process from end-to-end.
I already have a Hyper-V environment and a dedicated SQL server, so I could skip stright to installing SharePoint.
I created a new vm using Windows Server 2012 as the OS. I still don't get why MS do not include buttons instead of requiring the mouse to be in specific location of the bottom left/right corner. The majority of admins remote to their servers, so this is nothing but a pain. Anyways, enough about that, Microsoft probably spent millions over this very topic, so I'll just suffer until popular demand forces them to add them in an a service pack .
My plan is to follow best practices and use an install account and a farm account to get started. The install account has dbcreator and security admin roles in SQL.
After successfully running the pre-config and getting all the required roles and bits in place, I ran the installer. All is good so far. Next I get to configure SharePoint 2013. For 2010, I would skip to using PowerShell at this point, but I want to see what the config wizard does for SharePoint 2013.
Oh look, you can define your Config database name. how novel! I do that, and provide the rest of the configuration values and of I go.
Configuration Failed
An exception of type Microsoft.SharePoint.SPException was thrown… This SQL Server instance does not have the required "max degree of parallelism" setting of 1. Database provisioning operations will continue to fail if "max degree of parallelism" is not set to 1 or the current account does not have permissions to change the setting.
See my other post on this issue and how to get over it.
The configuration wizard takes several minutes to run (more than 10 for me). Yay. Configuration completed without error. Lets see what databases it created:
Configuration database: SP2013_Config
Admin contnet db: SharePoint_AdminContent_93725166-c75a-4e48-8bae-445bab7ffad7
Ugh. Again with the GUIDs. Ok, back to Central Admin.
First Question: Do I want to sign up for the customer experience Improvement Program. No.
Second Question: How do you want to configure your SharePoint farm? Wizard or manually?
Again, I'd normally do this with PowerShell, but I want ot see how te wizard does, so wizard it is.
The following services are configurable using the wizard:
- Access Services 2010
- Access Services
- App Management Service
- Business Data Connectivity Service
- Excel Application Service
- Lotus Notes Connector
- Machine Translation Service
- Managed Metadata Service
- PerformancePoint Service Application
- PowerPoint Conversion Service Application
- Search Service Application
- Secure Store Service
- State Service
- Usage and Health Data Collection
- User Profile Service Application
- Visio Graphics Service
- Word Automation Services
- Work Management Service Application
I also specify a dedicated services application account. Though the services wizard only allows you to specify one service account, in a production environment, I would use several.
Other than Access, BDC, Lotus notes Connector, Machine Translation, PerformancePoint, PowerPoint conversion, and Word Conversion, I am going to have the wizard create the rest.
I click Next and get this:
SharePoint 2013 is now working on it and is sorry to keep us waiting.
Glad to see the following hasn't changed from 2010. My buddy James Sturges crack us every time he sees this.
It take a while for the wizard to complete. But you will know it's working as you watch several database with GUIDs in the name get created. Lovely.
Eventually, you are asked to create a site collection. I'm going to go ahead and create one at the root site. I'm going to use the 2013 experience and use the publishing portal template.
After the site collection wizard is complete, I am brought back to Central Admin home page.
I browse to the new site collection to make sure it's up…
Ok, that's it for the Farm configuration. 'til the next SharePoint 2013 post…
SQL Server instance does not have the required "max degree of parallelism" setting of 1
Applies to: SharePoint Server 2013
When setting up a SharePoint 2013 lab, I ran into the following error while running the configuration wizard:
An exception of type Microsoft.SharePoint.SPException was thrown… This SQL Server instance does not have the required "max degree of parallelism" setting of 1. Database provisioning operations will continue to fail if "max degree of parallelism" is not set to 1 or the current account does not have permissions to change the setting.
Ok then. So what is "max degree of parallelism" that has SharePoint all bent out of shape? Well, according to Mat Stephen:
This option sets the maximum number of processors SQL Server can use for one query. If SQL Server has to bring back a lot of data (lots of rows) for a query it sometimes makes sense to break the query down into a number of smaller queries, each query returning a subset of the total rows. This way SQL Server can make use of more than processor and hence on multi processor boxes it can potentially return a lot of rows more quickly, for a given query, than it can on a single processor box.
The default value of 0 will allow SQL to use all of the processors for parallelism. Setting this value to 1 will basically disable parallel planning, with only one processor being used.
Ok, so lets' set it to 1 and get back to business.
From SQL server management Studio, right click your server in Object Explorer and click Properties. Under the Advanced group modify the property "Max Degree of Parallelism".
Because the database was already created, I will need to delete and re-create it and run the config wizard again.
Note: Were I using a highly privileged account (like farm, or domain admin) I would not have come across this error as SharePoint would simply have changed the value for me without me knowing. This is why I follow least privilege practices even in my lab.
Setting this to 1 got made SharePoint happy and the configuration continued normally.
Maintaining a hybrid licensing model in a single farm
Applies to: SharePoint 2010
When installing SharePoint, one of the first things you have to do is enter a license key. For most companies this is not even a consideration, it's either a standard license or an enterprise license.
Check out the Microsoft SharePoint 2010 feature matrix to see what enterprise gets you.
So, what if you want to deploy a hybrid model and have some users on standard and some users on enterprise? Well it gets tricky. For large companies this is a situation that is not as uncommon as you might think.
Once you active the enterprise license, you cannot revert your farm to a standard license. With that in mind, how do you maintain both sets of licenses?
I won't get into the details of licensing and cost – that's for you to work out with your Microsoft account manager . I will however touch on how can you govern it technically.
So how are enterprise features implemented?
A Site collection feature called SharePoint Server Enterprise Site Collection features will enable all the additional features that comes with Enterprise for that site collection.
By default this is disabled, unless you chose to have it enabled through Central Admin (Upgrade and Migration > Enable Enterprise Features).
Service Applications
Enterprise includes several service applications including excel services, access services, etc. Web applications that are associated with these services can put them to use. See the feature matrix for all the services that are included.
So how to make the most of a hybrid deployment and stay in compliance?
Well this is where it gets tricky. There are several configurations you can consider, but you also need the support and compliance of your site owners.
Technical Governance
Web Applications – To maintain a hybrid license model, you need to do so at the web application level. Target your features per web application. i.e. A web application can have standard features or enterprise features. By doing so you can restrict the service applications available.
Proxy Groups – Separate your service applications into proxy groups. do not mix features that are enterprise with standard in the same group. Apply the proxy groups to the web applications accordingly.
Site Collections – Do not enable the site collection feature to automatically enable enterprise features. Enable this only for sites that need it.
Policy Governance
Technical governance will only get you so far, users are smart and can often find ways around your limitations.
Site Collection Administrators – Consider restricting the SA admins to the IT group. Educate your admins on licensing and feature enabling. If you do give over SA admin to your users, ensure they know that if they go outside their license, it may be revoked. Or if they really need the enterprise features, they provide a case for it.
And of course there's always custom solutions to ensure enterprise features are never enabled.
Brian Edwards has a great article that gets into much more detail. You should check it out.


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Pennsylvania collected $3.1 billion in General Fund revenue in June, which was $67.2 million, or 2.1 percent, less than anticipated, Secretary of Revenue Eileen McNulty reported Tuesday.
Fiscal year 2015-16 General Fund collections totaled $30.9 billion, which is $29.9 million, or 0.1 percent, above estimate.
Sales tax receipts totaled $918.2 million for June, $45 million below estimate. Year-to-date sales tax collections total $9.8 billion, which is $29.5 million, or 0.3 percent, less than anticipated.
Personal income tax (PIT) revenue in June was $1.3 billion, $51.5 million below estimate. This brings year-to-date PIT collections to $12.5 billion, which is $201.9 million, or 1.6 percent, below estimate.
June corporation tax revenue of $561.4 million was $16.2 million above estimate. Year-to-date corporation tax collections total $5.1 billion, which is $101.9 million, or 2 percent, above estimate.
Inheritance tax revenue for the month was $110 million, $8 million above estimate, bringing the year-to-date total to $962.2 million, which is $34.7 million, or 3.7 percent, above estimate.
Realty transfer tax revenue was $54.6 million for June, $3 million above estimate, bringing the fiscal-year total to $481.7 million, which is $3.6 million, or 0.8 percent, more than anticipated.
Other General Fund tax revenue, including cigarette, malt beverage, liquor and table games taxes, totaled $127.2 million for the month, $2.8 million above estimate and bringing the year-to-date total to $1.4 billion, which is $18.6 million, or 1.4 percent, above estimate.
Non-tax revenue totaled $29.7 million for the month, $700,000 below estimate, bringing the year-to-date total to $643.8 million, which is $102.5 million, or 18.9 percent, above estimate.
In addition to the General Fund collections, the Motor License Fund received $245.2 million for the month, $11.2 million above estimate. Fiscal year-to-date collections for the fund – which include the commonly known gas and diesel taxes, as well as other license, fine and fee revenues – total $2.7 billion, which is $22.6 million, or 0.8 percent, below estimate.The 2015-16 fiscal year General Fund revenue collections reported above are preliminary, pending a final revenue deposit and year-end adjustments.


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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Tens of thousands of Mexicans took to the streets in January to protest tortilla prices as they soared to their highest levels in a decade as demand for corn -- a key ingredient not only of tortillas but ethanol -- surged. Such fervor is unlikely to sweep the streets of American cities any time soon, even if the domestic food supply is already beginning to be affected by climate change.
The unrest in Mexico highlighted the crucial role corn plays in the modern food-supply chain. It can be found in candy, soda, prepared food, a McDonald's burger and a host of other common comestibles.
That single grain's central role in our diet suggests that Earth's temperature fluctuations, and concerns over emissions that are believed to affect the climate, will become a more intensive focus for the companies that put food in our mouths, as they seek to meet demand with steady supplies and at prices that preserve, or even improve, profit.
"Medium- to long-term, it's clear that climate change presents a challenge to the profitability of any company in the sector," said Aron Cramer, president and chief executive of Business for Social Responsibility, a nonprofit entity that works with companies to implement socially responsible practices.
Corn-based ethanol has been touted as an answer to an overreliance on greenhouse-gas-producing fossil fuels for energy, but the frenzy to produce it has shown how a dramatic change in demand for one essential commodity can disrupt food supplies. And the interconnected nature of the food-supply chain means that a shift in any one factor affecting it, such as regional weather patterns in the long term, or, as demonstrated by spiking in corn prices, short-term demand, can have a far-reaching and tumultuous effect.
"We've been living in a world where, for the last 40 years, there was too much food," said Ken Cassman, a professor of agronomy and horticulture at the University of Nebraska. "We're probably going to be abruptly going into a period where supply is much more balanced with demand so that small perturbations can cause a significant impact on food supply."
That impact will be felt first and foremost by food companies, said Todd Mann, senior vice president of business development at the National Restaurant Association. "Every company -- no matter where you are on the supply chain, at the start or at the retail side -- you have to be looking at sources of supply and the effect on pricing."
Immediate impact
Directly and indirectly, climate change is already making what we eat more expensive. Severe weather has been having a marked effect in recent months, and, combined with the diversion of corn-crop production away from food for people and livestock and toward ethanol, it's led to food prices that as of April were up 3.7% -- their fastest acceleration in three years. See full story.
The push to wean the United States off oil and reduce its contribution to climate change has sent the price of corn to record highs in recent months, with corn futures topping $4.49 a bushel in March, up 66% from early September.
In 2006, an estimated 5 billion gallons of ethanol were produced, utilizing about 20% of the corn harvest, according to the USDA. By 2010, 30% of U.S. corn production could be used for ethanol, producing 11.5 billion gallons. See full story.
The result, in all its intricacy: Fewer cattle and chickens are being raised because it costs so much more to feed them, pushing up their prices, as well as the price of dairy products. Farmers are diverting more of their acreage to the planting of corn, reducing space previously devoted to the growing of other foodstuffs such as soybeans, making them, too, more expensive. And more water is needed to run the ethanol plants -- another upward cost pressure.
Never mind that corn-based ethanol uses up roughly as much energy as it produces. In the meantime, the net result is food-price inflation.
"Almost all of the food companies expect that costs will be a big challenge" throughout the year, said Argus Research analyst Erin Smith. Across the board, beverage and food companies are raising prices. "Even so," she said, "the increases aren't enough to offset the rise in [commodity] prices."
Cost spikes are starting to show up in the income statements of many companies.
Meat producer and packager Smithfield Foods Inc. SFD recently reported a lower third-fiscal-quarter profit because of higher costs and warned that expenses, particularly for corn, are likely to weigh on its bottom line for the foreseeable future. Tyson Foods Inc.'s TSN grain-price hedging, meanwhile, wasn't enough to offset a leap in chicken-feed prices in the latest quarter. Nestle SA NSRGY warned of higher input costs as well, pointing to a double-digit percentage rise in milk prices.
And the costs are being passed on to consumers, Prudential Securities' Howard Penney said. "People are paying more for food; they are going to pay more for food, period."
A grocer is almost required to pass higher food costs on to consumers, said Harry Balzer, who collects data on the food-consumption patterns of Americans for consumer market research company NPD Group. "Of the $1 spent at a grocer, 80 cents to 85 cents is for the food itself, while at a restaurant 30 cents is for food, 30 cents is for preparation, 10 cents is for the energy, 10 cents is for the building, etc."
Restaurants, however, are far from immune to the sting of higher costs. In fact, analysts who watch the sector agree that costs are likely to be the single biggest factor affecting restaurants next year. A higher minimum wage, meanwhile, will only add to the profit pressure. "It's going to be bad times for the restaurants coming up," said A.G. Edwards analyst Steve West.
Many consumers, industry watchers point out, are choosing to forgo a meal at a casual-dining establishment to get essentially the same one at a fast-food restaurant at a significantly lower price -- and without requiring a tip. "The quality isn't that much different," West said. Rather than a table-service restaurant, "you can go to Burger King BKC or [CKE Restaurants Inc.'s] CKR Hardee's and get a nice, Angus premium burger."


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Blue skies, smilin' at me,
Nothin' but blue skies
Do I see!
Man, this is February, and we have every single window in the house wide open. What is going on here? The West Coast is getting hammered with rain such as they haven't seen in over ten years. One of their artificial, man-made lakes looks like somebody pulled the plug in the giant bathtub, and what had been a pipe for skateboard dudes now looks more like a surfer's paradise. The temperature here in the east has been in the 60s the past couple of days and may remain darn near that high through the weekend. However, I want you to know that there is no such thing as climate change…oh, really?
Chunks of glaciers the size of the state of Rhode Island are breaking off. The polar bears are struggling to find food because there are no ice floes on which they can walk. The number of penguins in the Antarctic has shrunk from twelve thousand to five thousand, but word out of Washington is "Climate change is a hoax." Oh, and, according to a highly placed Washington source, all of the people who are speaking up at these Republican Congressmen's Town Hall Meetings are paid, professional agitators who are just trying to cause trouble. What I'm waiting for right now is for Mr. Trump to tweet that he is responsible for the wonderful weather we're experiencing on the East Coast and that Hillary and the DNC are responsible for the downpours and the snowstorms on the West Coast. Can't you just hear him speaking publicly…"Yes, we worked very, very hard to make up for Mike Flynn's terrible mistakes by bringing good weather to the East. We wanted very, very badly to bring good weather to the entire country, but professional agitators, led by Crooked Hillary and the Democratic Party snuck in to the West Coast before we could get there. I've sent my very, very best man – he's very, very intelligent and hard working – he's Scott Pruitt, the head of the environment protection agency, and he's going to stop in South Dakota to shoot a few 'injuns' (Oh, I'm not supposed to say that?) before he swings over to speak with Jerry Brown my good, good friend and the governor of California, and together they're going to straighten this rain and snow thing out."
It seems rather strange to me that Trump would nominate for the position of EPA head, a man who, as Attorney General for the State of Oklahoma, repeatedly sued the EPA in an attempt to block the previous administration's rules intended to protect the nation's air and water. According to a couple of sources, "In all but one of these 14 cases, regulated industry players also were parties. And these companies or trade associations in 13 of these cases were also financial contributors to Mr. Pruitt's political causes." As an example, Pruitt sued to block a standard that limits emissions of mercury from power plants, which the EPA has estimated will prevent as many as 11,00o premature deaths per year. Oh, did I forget to mention that he also received campaign contributions from the co-petitioners in this lawsuit? In fact, it appears that all of the Pruitt lawsuits were connected in some way to his campaign contributors. I don't know about you, but I cannot imagine putting someone as anti-EPA in charge of that particular organization…can you say, "Let's allow the fox to guard the henhouse?"
It doesn't matter. What will be will be. Who really cares if we have a Secretary of State who has no diplomatic training of any kind? Who gives a damn that the United States Attorney General is a racist? Does it really matter that our Secretary of Education has no background in public school education? No, none of these things matter, because in four years, we'll probably all be dead because our head of the Environmental Protection Agency will have poisoned our air and water by rolling back all of the rules and restrictions that have been keeping us reasonably safe since its founding on December 2, 1970.
In the meantime, I fully intend to enjoy the beautiful warm days of February. I'll go to the beach and get my tan, although the 36 degree water may be a little too cool for my liking. I will not put away my winter coats because I figure I may need them come July. Wonder what the next chapter will bring?


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Dr Maria Zweig MD
The Number ONE cause of death by women is Heart Disease and by a lot more than you would think.
When asked, most women will give a different answer to this question, most of the women we have asked say some type of cancer, homicide, and even drunk driving, but heart disease kills more women than all cancers combined, the 2nd largest cause of death among women. Cancer is followed by respiratory disease, stroke and Alzheimer's disease. Although most headlines recently are filled with news about infectious disease, the number one killer of people throughout the world was and still is cardiovascular disease. We believe the media does not put enough focus on cardiovascular disease, especially because unlike most other diseases our life styles contribute a lot to its prevalence.
Cardiovascular disease includes:
- Heart disease
- Hypertension
- Stroke
Diabetes is a key risk factor for heart disease.
Women are more likely than men to die of a heart attack.
So, what puts us more at risk?
- Smoking
- A worse risk factor for women than men.
- Pregnancy is a window in to the future – so, beware if you developed hypertension or diabetes during your pregnancy. You are at higher risk to develop these diseases later in life.
- Loss of estrogen – naturally at menopause, surgically or by any means puts us at risk. Adding it back in whatever form, if created by man does not lower the risk down and sometimes increase it.
- Unhealthy life style – poor nutrition, being overweight, lack or little exercise, indulging in toxic substances.
- Depression and stress are true killers more so with women than men.
- High bad cholesterol (LDL > 100), especially if accompanied with a low good cholesterol (HDL <55).
- Metabolic syndrome – increased belly size, high blood pressure, high triglycerides and high blood sugar.
- Family history of heart disease.
All women are at risk, its never to early or too late to start lowering your risk.
What can you do?
- Quit or don't start smoking
- Exercise 30 to 60 minutes a day most days a week, more if you need to loose weight.
- Maintain a healthy weight. Stay in the green shaded areas of the table below.
- Eat a diet that is low in saturated fats, cholesterol and salt.
- Get a check up and have your blood pressure, blood sugar and blood lipids (cholesterol and triglycerides) examined.
- Get chronic diseases under control. Follow your doctors advise on taking prescribed medications. Follow parameters placed by your physician. It is especially important to get diabetes (HgA1c <7) and high blood sugar under control.
- Ask your doctor if you should be taking aspirin.
Be aware of the symptoms of heart disease. Women often present differently than men. Any painful or pressure-like sensation on the left side of your chest, neck, or arm should be seen to right away. Other worrisome symptoms include:
- Weakness in half of your body
- Difficulty speaking, walking or standing
- Worse headache of your life
- Fainting sensation
If they're new symptoms happening now go to the nearest emergency room. If you have noticed these symptoms in the past with exercise, at rest, or with stress go see a cardiologist and get tested. Sometimes it feels like indigestion. Shortness of breath or profuse sweating can be present.
Hypertension and diabetes often don't give early symptoms so you need to be checked.
Cardiovascular testing is available but you need to be referred by a physician to get them done. Be pro-active and discuss the possibility with your primary physician or gynecologist. Make an appointment with a cardiologist. This is not a disease of older women only; all women need to be vigilant in detection, prevention and treatment


text: NOTE: Only the following Nseries models support music streaming with the network music player: * N78 * N85 * N95 * N96 If you have one of the above Nseries models, please follow the steps below: (Note: The following are steps for the Nokia N85; other N*series users should use this for reference or consult their User Manual.) 1. Select and play a song through the Music Player on the cell phone. 2. Go to "Options" and select "Player." 3. Select "Home Network," and select your wireless network. 4. Select the device (e.g. NP2500) that you want to stream your music to.


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Sugaring Classes
& Special Events
Back to All
When 04/28/19 - 04/29/19 WhereOgden, Ogden, UT
Advanced Body Sugaring Certification
About this Event / Contact Details
Kate Blake at 801-391-3681 or use the form below.
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Eleven days into the new year, and my one word is already proving to be more difficult than I had anticipated. I'm learning, soft and slow, that resting in the Lord is really only possible when you trust Him.
Trust that He is making this, making you, beautiful.
I struggle to find the words hiding deep within my bones, because trusting is a process and truly seeing takes intention. Seeing takes slowing down, opening my hands + my soul to appreciate the mystery of grace. He leaves fingerprints behind as he molds us, tiny evidence that we belong.
Study God as Creator, because if He made you, then He can keep you, and if He can keep you, then He can always reach you. He is strong enough to love you. -- Andy Kerner
My friend's words resonate loud, conviction thundering as I work to put the pieces together.
It's right there: He who has promised is faithful. He's trustworthy, even when we can't see beyond our doubt. And when we bring our burdens to him, we find rest for our souls.
He is unequivocally for us. At our darkest hour, hiding in the Garden, He came to find us. And ever since, He has been drawing us back. Have my clenched fists suffocated the glory from the gift?
Beauty needs room to breathe. I feel the Spirit say, "can you trust enough to just let go?"
At the end of the day, its all so intricately woven together.
Linking up with some of the most gorgeous women over at Lisa-Jo's place today for Five Minute Fri(Sun)day.


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Additional roles at Brookwood: Coordinator of Teacher Licensure; mentor teacher to teaching apprentices; faculty co-representative for Parent's Association Faculty Grants program; videographer/archivist of School Meetings and plays
Faculty Member since: 1989
Education: Creighton University, B.S.; Boston College, M.Ed.; Lesley University, M.Ed.
Favorite children's book: I was an avid reader as a kid and would read anything and everything several times over. A Richard Scarry treasury comes to mind as being a regular read, and I have a vivid recollection of my appetite for The Hardy Boys series, by Leslie McFarlane. I read every one I could lay my hands on.
Favorite lesson to teach: My favorite classroom lessons are those that, regardless of subject or intent, result in an "aha!" moment for one or more of my students. It's often seen as a look on a child's face and in the eyes, as if some unformed thoughts suddenly coalesced.
Beyond Brookwood: After nearly twenty years of teaching at Brookwood, I got back in touch with my mentor teacher, Abbie White, who had since left teaching in North Reading and had started her own school on Culebra, an island off the cost of Puerto Rico. Our relationship renewed, I've since visited "Abbie's School" twice in the past four years (thanks, Brookwood Parent's Association!) and plan to visit again in March with my family. Each time I travel she puts me right to work in her school and I feel like a student teacher all over again.
On risk-taking: Risk-taking is essential to learning. It is not, however, an individual endeavor. At school, support for taking positive risks must come from peers as well as teachers. Quick story: I had a student many years ago who took the kind of risk kids take every day at school--he raised his hand. It was math class, I had asked a question, and he dared to answer. I called on this young boy and he offered his solution to the posed problem. His answer was incorrect. In and of itself, this is the type of common learning opportunity a teacher takes and leads to a positive outcome for all. Something happened, however, before I could begin that conversation. A couple of his peers laughed at his error. Like a rock tossed into a pond, a ripple of giggles spread throughout the room. Just as quickly they subsided, but it was months before the boy would raise his hand again. At the beginning of every school year I remind myself that I have to put as much or more explicit teaching into creating a supportive classroom as I do teaching subject material. Risk-taking behaviors can be built, but it's a group effort.
What at Brookwood makes you a better teacher? My colleagues. Also, most of my closest friendships originated at Brookwood, either with colleagues or with parents whose children I've taught. I also love the reconnecting with former students; my first students are now starting families of their own. I've attended weddings and other celebratory events at the invitation of former first-graders or their parents. The history we share is important to me.


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Criminal Law
Facing criminal charges is a stressful experience with dire personal and financial consequences for an accused upon conviction.
Obtaining the right legal representation is critical in order to ensure that your rights have not been infringed and to ensure that you are aware of all your options, including any potential defences available to properly fight the charge.
The criminal lawyers at Devry Smith Frank LLP ("DSF") are experienced in handling criminal, quasi-criminal and regulatory offences from the time an accused is charged through to trial. We pride ourselves on obtaining the best possible result for our clients, whether it is obtained through negotiation with the Crown Attorney's Office or involves fighting any and all charges in their entirety.
At DSF, we have particular expertise in driving related offences such as Impaired Driving and Over 80, however we handle all manner of criminal charges and offences including:
- Drug Offences
- Assault
- Sexual Assault
- Domestic Assault
- Fraud
For more information, please call our office at (416) 449-1400


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When we began the search for our brewing system, we know that we wanted an American-made, semi-automated, 15 BBL brewery, capable of producing high gravity beers, and sized for easy scaling of our operations for distribution. After months of research, we decided to go with American Beer Equipment's semi-automated, direct-fire, 15 BBL system, with a custom enlarged mash tun. ABE's friendly and helpful staff worked closely with us to custom design the system to meet our specifications, and they proved to be a perfect fit for us.
ABE also provided four 15 BBL fermentation tanks, and one 15 BBL bright tank for our cellar. Since we knew that we would have limited floor space and wanted to ensure that we would have plenty of room to add future tanks as needed, our fermentation and bright tanks were custom fabricated to stand taller and narrower than standard design.
Our hot liquor tank (HLT) is a 30 BBL vessel. We use the HLT in the brewery for water profile adjustments, heating up to batch temperatures and any hot water needs, such as for cleaning our tanks and other equipment via CIP (clean-in-place) processes.
ABE also provided our malt mill, flexible grain auger, and grist case, along with their Keg Commander keg washer.
After working with ABE and our excellent subcontractors, we were able to get everything up and running with minimal issues and are now proudly brewing on our new system.


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Aim throwing, UI additions, and ownership
6/29 @ 1:25pm EST - The ownership functionality is now on the prerelease branch! I also added a picture below of the new quick craft screen on the inventory view.
6/28 @ 9:05am EST - With the launch of the XP system just over a week away, the team is rocking out commits. As mentioned in last week's devblog, don't expect much of (if any) update launching to main this week. That said, there are some exciting things happening on the prerelease branch…
Bullet hitscan
Garry has made bullets hitscan for the first X meters of travel (exact distance unknown at this point, but it's probably small). If you're not familiar, hitscan means the bullet travels in the straight line immediately instead of having a speed / arc over time (a.k.a. projectile - which is what the game currently has). This could have a huge impact on close range combat, hopefully improving hit registry.
Aim throwing is in!
After several weeks in the works, Alex has completed the first implementation of the new aim throwing system. Throwing weapons and tools now behaves similar to the bow: hold right click to aim, left click to fire. Not only will this make it much easier to time your shots, it'll drastically cut down the accidental throwing of items.
UI additions
Garry has been tinkering with the user interface, cleaning up several things with the crafting menu and adding notifications for when you increase levels. Now, when you increase a level, a big star pops up followed by the items which just became available. Watch your ears, however, the 8 bit placeholder sound effects which accompany these notices can take you by surprise.
Edit: A quick craft screen has also been added to the right side of the inventory that shows the items which you currently have the resources to craft.
Ownership progress
Helk is still trucking along on the XP ownership functionality - exploring new ways of gaining XP by adding gains from cooking and eating other people's food. Although this branch is not yet merged into the prerelease branch (meaning you can't play it), I think it's likely we'll be playing with ownership by later in the week.
Edit: The ownership functionality has been merged in along with a small indicator bar underneath the item name, telling you who owns what part of the item you're using.
New admin commands
Andre has added a couple of handy new commands for admins to determine location and teleport to a specific location. Here they are:
- teleportpos - teleport to a specific location
- printpos - print a specific location
- printrot - print rotation (not confirmed)
Dungeon art
Vince has been cranking on some more dungeon art. Along with continuing to skin out existing dungeon parts, he's also started work on a couple new dungeon elements including an airfield carpark and industrial ruins. It's not clear at the moment how much of this will make it in by the next forced wipe, but stay tuned as we get closer to July 7th.
Horse riding re-confirmed
Holmzy tweeted an interesting image earlier today. Although horse riding has been confirmed by the devs in the past, we've never seen as much as an icon. Well, now we have... Don't get your hopes up too much, there is absolutely no word on when this will be added.
Graphical overhaul
Petur is continuing his work on graphical overhaul. First introduced in last week's devblog, this body of work aims at improving the overall outdoor environments (trees, biomes, weather, etc.). Although none of this is in the game yet - and probably won't be for some time now - Petur did post a couple teaser videos in response to a reddit post calling for thicker forests. Here are some of the video links:
- http://files.facepunch.com/petur/2016/June/23/2016-06-23_08-52-20.mp4 Blurred because I had the UI "open"
- http://files.facepunch.com/petur/2016/June/23/2016-06-23_08-45-23.mp4 Night lighting test. This is another big polarizing can of worms, and it makes me wonder whether we should just make individual servers choose either pitch black nights, or nights that are bright enough to make gamma unnecessary. Or perhaps tie it into the moon cycle and simply not have any in-betweens -- because that's where people tend to gamma crank.
- http://files.facepunch.com/petur/2016/June/23/2016-06-23_08-00-29.mp4 More of the same
- http://files.facepunch.com/petur/2016/June/22/2016-06-22_20-12-40.mp4 Five minute fantasy fireflies I added mostly to troll Helk. I don't think we'll have these, but maybe if we do a medieval sword & sorcery spinoff sequel some day?!
- http://files.facepunch.com/petur/2016/June/21/2016-06-21_11-12-42.mp4 Also, because somebody mentioned rain in the thread. It doesn't clip as badly into the ground anymore, nor does it simply follow the camera.
Misc fixes
- Fixed XP bar covering screen after client stall
- Fixed mushroom prefabs
Rustafied Bi-weekly servers wiping
The wipe cycle for our bi-weekly servers is a bit wonky this month because there are 5 weeks between forced wipes instead of the normal 4. Given the current entity counts of our servers, I'm choosing to wipe all Rustafied servers (except Low Pop) when the update hits. This does mean the normal 2 week wipe cycle servers will only have 1 week this time. If there is no update to main on Thursday, we will wipe at 5pm EST.
6/29 @ 2:00pm EST Update - The prerelease branch just had a save++ meaning the map was forcibly wiped. Given this, we will not wipe the prerelease servers again tomorrow.


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An architect and 3D animation specialist, Michał Szulik is the mastermind behind the House of Dunes project. The beautiful interior and exterior design of this home is a shining example of minimalism, using accent pieces such as walls and hardware to contrast the white negative space that dominates the home. Utilizing a black and white color scheme and reclaimed wood throughout, this home is brilliantly thought-out and decorated. And the most interesting part of this home? It is 100% computer-rendered and not the least bit real. Enjoy the video at the end of the blog which shows a rendered walkthrough of this lovely concept home.
Cozy Cotton
Specializing in furniture, art, cooking products, linens, and other home accessories, Cozy Cotton is a Korean online shop focused on home furnishing. Tom Jueris spearheaded this beautiful packaging and branding project for the company. His elegant combination of all-caps serif, italic, and handwritten fonts create a personalized and upscale feeling, further propelled by the simple yet luxurious photography.
World Cup 2018 - France Illustrated
In the wake of France taking the victory in the 2018 World Cup Final, French artist Yann Dalon created these stunning illustrations to honor and commemorate this year's champs. Yann combines traditional painting styles such as watercolor and acrylic with digital techniques using Photoshop and a tablet to create his masterpieces, and has a clear mission with his work: he draws and paints with the desire to transcribe movement, with the ambition of 'moving a fixed picture.'
DekoRatio Branding & Design Studio
Located in Budapest, Hungary, DekoRatio Branding & Design Studio is a mecca for interior design, epitomizing the intersection of influence and inspiration. From their basic identity to their sliding doors that cleverly change messaging written on the wall behind it, no stone was left unturned in this beautifully and brilliantly designed space.
The DekoRatio office not only provides an experience to its visitors, but also acts as a showroom for interior design. The space is divided into two parts in the angle of a "K": an industrial space and an all-white office space. This division speaks to the studio's ability to execute brand strategy and also to produce signs and prints.
Hypebeast 20 - The X Issue
Sporting a 90's vibe, Hypebeast 20 - The X Issue is a uniquely retro editorial project designed by Hybrid Design studio out of San Francisco. Combining a classic editorial feel with graffiti-esque hand drawings, the style and feel are reminiscent of Raygun and the work of David Carson. Showing its face more and more lately, this 90's feel is even recognizable in the upcoming film Captain Marvel.
Red Bull Music Academy BASS CAMP
Ben Ali Souheil created this stunning poster series for Red Bull Music Academy BASS CAMP. Using geometric shapes interwoven with musical iconography and elements, Ben created a series that spoke to the event's fusion of medieval and modern inspiration.
New York City Ballet Art Series: Geronimo
Amazing work form Turkish American visual artist Jihan Zencirli, also known as Geronimo. This current work is comprised of thousands of compostable, biodegradable balloons joining together to form amazing installations living inside the New York City Ballet's home at Lincoln Center.


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Current Open Positions
For a list of current open positions, click here.
Harvest Preparatory School seeks talented individuals who share in our Mission and Vision for educating our scholars.
Our philosophy is that our children's innate genius will be brought forth by guiding them on a path that connects to their culture, heritage, and community. At Harvest Prep, parents, school, and community are all responsible for the development of a healthy, productive child.
Are you up to the challenge of nurturing the next generation of leaders?


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Follow @Western_Online
The submission period for The Western Online is now open. Send us your stories and artwork. See our Submission Guidelines.
"You must keep sending work out; you must never let a manuscript do nothing but eat its head off in a drawer. You send that work out again and again, while you're working on another one. If you have talent, you will receive some measure of success - but only if you persist." -Isaac Asimov (1920 - 1992)


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Tax Reform Comments Submitted
April 19, 2013
The American Sheep Industry Association joined more than 20 other national agriculture groups in sending a letter to the Ways and Means Committee Small Business Working Group offering comments on tax reform issues of concern to farmers and ranchers.
For many farmers and ranchers, the appraised value of rural land is inflated when compared to its agricultural value. Many operations are able to utilize the Special Use Valuation (Section 2032A) giving owners the ability to reduce their estate taxes by allowing a limited amount of business property to be valued for its actual use rather than for its highest value use (up to $1 million) for estate tax purposes. The letter recommended that there be no limitation on the amount that property values can be reduced.
The committee's draft proposes setting the Section 179 Small Business Expensing limit at $250,000, which would be reduced dollar-for-dollar when expenses exceed $800,000 indexed for inflation. The signators to the letter support maintaining the current $500,000 Section 179 small business expensing limitation reduced dollar-for-dollar by the amount that expenses exceed $2 million.
A complete report on the proposals to reform small business is available at http://waysandmeans.house.gov/taxreform.


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Since Zuffa first purchased Strikeforce, UFC president Dana White has made it clear that he has been taking a hands-off approach to the company with UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta taking the lead instead, but with the promotion's future now hanging in the balance White has suddenly done a u-turn and is now leading the negotiations.
The reason? It appears that the fact that a long-time enemy of White's, Showtime Sports head Ken Hershman, has now left for HBO helped pave the way for him to get on-board.
"He's an idiot and the rest of the guys aren't," White stated bluntly during a conversation with reporters following yesterday's UFC 137 pre-fight press conference.
Currently Strikeforce's deal with Showtime ends in the first quarter of 2012 and if they don't exercise their right to extend that deal for a further year then it's been widely predicted that would lead to the promotion being disbanded and the fighters joining the UFC instead.
White had a meeting with the Showtime team earlier this week and says that talks went well, but it's not clear what that means for the promotion's long-term future.
Everything White's done thus far would indicate that he is keen on shutting down Strikeforce – bringing over it's biggest stars such as tomorrow night's headliner Nick Diaz along with other champions such as Alistair Overeem and Dan Henderson while also actively pursuing Gilbert Melendez provide ample evidence for that.
With the UFC set to extend the number of events they are doing in 2012 and having their hands full launching the UFC on FOX it's hard to see where continuing to run Strikeforce would fit into their plans, but there may still be light at the end of the tunnel for fans of the promotion.
Yesterday White appeared to be hinting that perhaps there was still a chance that Strikeforce could survive, so this is a story that's still worth keeping an close eye on with further developments expected to emerge sooner rather than later.


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Toyota Estima with Swing Out Seat
- 7
- Swing out Seat Vehicle
7 Seater MPV with rear located swing out seat than can be used as a wheel chair for short distances.
- 7 seater MPV
- Swing out seat in middle row than can be used as a wheel chair for short distances
- Left foot accelerator
- Room for luggage, roof box available for additional luggage
- Petrol, automatic transmission
- Central locking
- Vehicle has a rear crane rated to 150kg
We have over 170 vehicles including other similar vehicles to this available – ask us!
All vehicles subject to availability. Book early to avoid disappointmentEnquire about this vehicle
Enquire about this vehicle
Vehicle Specifications
|Mobility Equipment
|Left Foot Accelerator
Swing Out Seat
Vehicle has a rear crane rated to 150kg
|Seating Arrangements
|2 upfront, 2 in the middle (one is the swing out seat) and 3 in the rear
|Engine Size


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From exclusive site I am Eighteen
After I.T repairman, John Strong fixes Emma Hix's computer problems, he naturally asks to get paid for his services. But this young hottie doesn't have any money but she knows she can always offer up her nubile 18-year old body for him to manhandle and fuck! Just to be sure, John demands to see her I.D and can't believe he gets to stick his dick in her tight, teen pussy. He watches her suck his thick cock, running his fingers though her golden blond hair. Then, he folds her long legs together and pushes all eight inches of his engorged dick in her cunt and plows her hard and fast. Watch Emma open wide and catch John's hot cum in her mouth!Read more
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Nestled 4118 feet above sea level, in the southern end of the Appalachian Mountains, Highlands offers an array of activities. The adventurous person may want to partake in activities such as hiking, river rafting, biking, mountain climbing, or horseback riding. For those that have a quiet, relaxed trip planned, may want to consider golfing, fishing, viewing the area waterfalls, or browsing through the local shops on Main Street.
Come stay with us at the Mountain High Lodge. Located ideally in the southern end Appalachian Mountains in North Carolina, at the Mountain High Lodge Hotel you'll be able to enjoy all of the adventurous outdoor attractions and rustic charm with genuine hospitality.


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Research and Publications
Found 29 resultsAuthor Title Type [ Year]
Filters: First Letter Of Title is D [Clear All Filters]
Distribution of cattle-visiting Muscidae (Diptera) in Great Britain. Entomologist, v. 107(1) p. 57-67.(1988)
Distribution maps for Dixidae in Great Britain and Ireland. Dipterists Digest, 3, 8-26.(1990)
Drought reduces breeding success of the butterfly Aglais urticae. Ecological Entomology, 22, 315-318.(1997)
The distribution, abundance conservation management of butterflies on Magnesian Limestone grassland sites in north-east England,. Transactions of the Natural History Society of Northumbria,, 59, 149-168.(1999)
Declines in forage availability for bumblebees at a national scale. Biological Conservation, 132, 481-489.(2006)
The distributions of a wide range of taxonomic groups are expanding polewards. Global Change Biology, 12, 450-455.(2006)
Direct and indirect effects of climate and habitat factors on butterfly diversity. Ecology, 88, 605-611.(2007)
Delivering Alien Invasive Species Inventories For Europe (Daisie). Final Report For The Framework Vi Strategic Targeted Research Project Sspi-Ct-2003-511202. Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Huntingdon.(2008)
Developing A Uk-Wide Butterfly Monitoring Scheme: Integrating The Wider Countryside. Centre for Ecology and Hydrology and Butterfly Conservation.(2008)
Do urban areas act as foci for the spread of alien plant species? An assessment of temporal trends in the UK. Diversity and Distributions, 15, 338-345.(2009)
Daltonia splachnoides in Irish conifer plantations - another epiphyte on the move. Field Bryology, 100, 16-21.(2010)
Developing and launching a wider countryside butterfly survey across the United Kingdom. Journal of Insect Conservation, 15, 279-290.(2011)
The development of butterfly indicators in the United Kingdom and assessments in 2010. Journal of Insect Conservation, 15, 139-151.(2011)
Distribution patterns in British and Irish liverworts and hornworts. Journal of Bryology, 3-17.(2011)
Data Accuracy and Citizen Science: Lessons Learned from Studying Lady Beetles in the US and UK. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 10, 471- 476.(2012)
The dawn bat, Eonycteris spelaea Dobson (Chiroptera : Pteropodidae) feeds mainly on pollen of economically important food plants in Thailand. Acta Chiropterologica, 15, 95-104.(2013)
Developing and enhancing biodiversity monitoring programmes: a collaborative assessment of priorities. Journal of Applied Ecology, 52, 686–695.(2015) Pocock et al 2015 - Developing and enhancing biodiversity monitoring programmes - a collaborative assessment of priorities.pdf (263.7 KB)
Defining invasiveness and invasibility in ecological networks. Biological Invasions, 18, 971-983.(2016)
Dynamic Models for Longitudinal Butterfly Data. Journal of Agricultural Biological and Environmental Statistics, 21, 1-21.(2016)
The dark side of street lighting: impacts on moths and evidence for the disruption of nocturnal pollen transport. Global Change Biology, 23, 697-707.(2017)
Developing a biodiversity-based indicator for large-scale environmental assessment: a case study of proposed shale gas extraction sites in Britain. Journal of Applied Ecology, 54, 872-882.(2017)


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More than just a stuffed animal... It's the amazing, incredible Pillow Pets!
It's always nice for children to have nice, soft, and cute toys that they can bring to bed with them without getting hurt. The Pillow Pets are soft, stuffed animals that can be a companion for your children to sleep with. They are cute little stuffed animals and transform in to a fluffy sleeping pillow for the child by opening a simple hook and loop.
Watch the video to learn more!
There are so many choices - the friendly but Cowardly Lion, the purple Magical Unicorn, the big Splashy Whale, the stripped Tiger, the sweet Lovable Lamb, the blue and Squeaky Dolphin, the pink Wiggly Piggy, the fat and Cozy Cow, and cute Snugly Puppy and so many more! These children's pillows are something that both boys and girls will love for many years. It's easy to make it into a pillow and back to a toy again, and you will love the way the child will be thrilled when you give them their new Pillow Pets.
A child will love playing, hugging, and sleeping with their adorable Pillow Pets. These children's pillows are ideal to be brought along for road trips or for when they get sleepy in the airplane. It might be difficulty trying to figure out what kind of toy is fun, cuddly and soft, and one that can be used a kid everyday - and you will discover that these children's pillow might be the best ever presents a child can get.
The Pillow Pets come in over two dozen choices and is hard for them and even you to just pick one. These Pillow Pets are a great sleeping aid so bedtime will become a better experience for them. These children's pillows are one of the hottest selling items this and are considered as one of the best stuffed animals. Why not give a child good quality toys and sleeping aids like these Pillow Pets?


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Leather gloves from Marlboro, pinch me box-unisom sleep gels, pure leaf tea, vagisil wash, sensodyne toothpaste, Gillette deodorant for men,scotch brute lint roller and dog food with coupon for free bag!! Good day! 😊
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Dramaturgie im zeitgenössischen Tanz ist ? positiv gemeint ? ein heißes Eisen. Idealerweise sind Dramaturginnen und Dramaturgen während der Erarbeitung eines Stücks die besten Freunde der Choreografen. more
Süddeutsche Zeitung, 07.12.2005
In a full-page interview on conflicting political models in the USA and Europe, British historian Tony Judt has absolutely nothing good to say about either the USA or Britain. And as for the new German government which is seeking reconciliation with the USA, he comments: "I think Angela Merkel distorts the picture because she's an Ossi. It makes no difference whether you take the daughter of an East German pastor, a Polish intellectual like Adam Michnik or the son of the Czech bourgeoisie like Vaclav Havel â they all have the same instinct, and this is basically the reversal of the old communist instinct. It was clearly observable in the Iraq War. In the East, there is this instinctive desire to believe in the good in Washington and to presume that anyone who is critical of Washington has dishonourable motives. The argumentation is always that if you believe in human rights and freedom, you have to be for the invasion of Iraq. Havel insisted that it was an inseparable unity, he had to support the overthrow of dictators as a matter of principle, otherwise he would be betraying Prague's own past."
Die Welt, 07.12.2005
German artist Gregor Schneider first wanted to show his huge black cube, which looks like the Kaaba in Mecca, at the Venice Biennale. But he was prevented even from exhibiting the exchange of letters between himself and the city's authorities. Schneider's latest plan is to erect the cube in front of the Hamburger Bahnhof art museum in Berlin. But Peter Klaus Schuster from the Prussian Cultural Heritage Association is opposed to the idea, and it looks as if Schneider's project will be vetoed again. Uta Baier asks: "A museum which is prepared to show the collection of the Flick heir Friedrich Christian Flick for seven years despite massive protest, attacks and calls for resignations (news story), shouldn't shy away from a few religious discussions. Or is it as Schneider assumes: that fear of terror influences artistic freedom?"
Frankfurter Runschau, 07.12.2005
With all the zeal of the avant-garde, Peter Weibel, the curator of the "Lichtkunst aus Kunstlicht" (light art from artificial light) exhibition in Karlsruhe's ZKM museum, pronounced the show to be "the largest, probably the most beautiful and most poetic exhibition on light art ever". Mirja Rosenau agrees that it is the largest: "You get the impression that they simply asked all the galleries and collectors to send anything they had that had something to do with light and lighting. And the lamps by Jorge Pardo, Jeppe Hein, Tobias Rehberger, Zaha Hadid and Simon Starling, or the neon texts by Tracey Emin, Peter Friedl, Cerith Wyn Evans or Sylvie Fleury might in themselves, when seen individually, convey a delightful something that is more than just lighting. But when they are hung without any apparent order and with no curatorial commentary, you just get the feeling of being lost in a light shop."
Die Tageszeitung, 07.12.2005
Esther Buss writes a lengthy piece on the major Dada exhibition in the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Delighted at the "fat, multilingual encyclopaedia of one of the most radical, and above all most expansive avant-garde movements of the 20th century", Buss comments: "The often absolutist character of Dadaism is reflected in the movement's preferred genre: the manifesto. The absolute determination of the Dada members to divest themselves of their thoughts led to a true publishing fever. (...) Hundreds of graphic designs, sketches and notes on the planned 'Dadaglobe' are assembled in a vitrine that seemingly never wants to end. Somehow, in the veritable swarm of letters and typographic characters, you suddenly get the feeling that everything is in movement. There is nothing at all dusty or fusty about the documents here on display."
Berliner Zeitung, 07.12.2005
Sebastian Preuss reports on a show of paintings by Swiss artist Frank Nitsche at the Max Hetzler gallery in Berlin. "You have to look deep into Nitsche's paintings and follow his strokes sweep for sweep, leaving no trace or scratch, no drops of colour unstudied. Nothing here is content, all is form... The Veronese Green that appears so often in Nitsche's newest paintings is a calculated reflection on the history of art. 'Green was frowned upon in the modern era, an unwanted, disrespected colour. That's why I find it so interesting.'" Although void of narrative elements, the works reflect images collected by the artist. "Nitsche shows photo albums he's carefully compiled over 15 years. They show car accidents, people in crises, bodily abnormalities, details from science and industrial design, grotesque images from Pop and the world of consumerism. From these impressions, as well as from his huge running shoe collection and the absurd plastic kitsch objects he's brought back from his travels, he develops swinging, crumpled, compressed or bursting formations of colour."