text:
Purchase this article with an account.
Ignacio Benedicto, Guillermo Lehmann-Mantaras, Michael Ginsberg, Daniel J. Nolan, Olivier Elemento, Nazia M Alam, Glen T. Prusky, Arvydas Maminishkis, Sheldon S Miller, Shahin Rafii, Enrique J Rodriguez-Boulan; Choroid endothelial cells regulate RPE tight junctions through modulation of Bruch′s membrane assembly. Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 2016;57(12):241.
Download citation file:
© ARVO (1962-2015); The Authors (2016-present)
Purpose :
A hallmark of terminal retinal differentiation is the coordinated maturation of RPE, Bruch′s membrane (BM) and choroid vasculature. Recent studies demonstrate that endothelial cells (ECs) play key instructive roles in the differentiation and maintenance of parenchymal cells. We tested the hypothesis that choroid ECs regulate terminal differentiation of RPE and the outer blood-retina barrier by modulating BM assembly, which in turn triggers remodeling of RPE tight junctions (TJs).
Methods :
We co-cultured in Transwell chambers human fetal RPE (hfRPE) and either human umbilical vein ECs or mouse choroid ECs isolated by in vivo labeling of VE-cadherin and flow cytometry cell sorting. We assessed the effect of ECs on hfRPE TJs by measuring transepithelial electrical resistance (TER) and occludin subcellular localization by cell surface biotinylation and quantitative microscopy. We studied extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition by hfRPE by scanning electron microscopy and immunofluorescence assays. Lysyl oxidase activity, which catalyzes collagen and elastin crosslinking, was inhibited in EC-conditioned media by β-aminopropionitrile (BAPN) treatment. We carried out RNAseq analyses of choroid ECs from developing (P5) and adult (P30) mouse retinas. We evaluated newborn mice treated for 30 days with BAPN for visual function by optomotor response and for BM maturation by transmission electron microscopy.
Results :
EC-conditioned media induced a specific increase in hfRPE TER and the accumulation of occludin along hfRPE TJs. These effects were significantly impaired by BAPN treatment and EC lysyl oxidase-like 2 (LOXL2) knockdown. ECs enhanced the appearance of bundled collagen I-positive fibers in the ECM deposited by hfRPE, and increased the levels of active β1 integrin at the hfRPE basal plasma membrane. RNAseq analyses showed that several ECM-related genes were differentially expressed in developing versus adult choroid ECs. In particular, LOXL2 was significantly more expressed in P5 than in P30 choroid ECs. In vivo, BAPN treatment during mouse terminal retinal differentiation induced defects in BM structure and visual function.
Conclusions :
Our results suggest that the regulation of BM composition and structure by choroid ECs is key for the maturation of RPE TJs and the establishment of the outer blood-retina barrier, essential for proper vision.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2016 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, Wash., May 1-5, 2016.
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The Red River Waterway Commission has reopened some of the area boat ramps in Pool 5 on the Red River now that water levels have started to recede. These include the ramps at the Stoner Avenue and Bishop Point Recreation Areas in Caddo Parish and the downstream ramp at the Teague Parkway Recreation Area in Bossier Parish.
Boaters should use caution when launching into the current and be highly aware of submerged and floating obstacles such as trees and sandbars while navigating the river.
Additional cleaning and repairs on the docks may be necessary to accommodate the launching process. Boaters may experience delays in launching caused by temporary closures of the ramps during these periods. Cooperation from boaters is appreciated during the clean-up efforts.
The Red River Waterway Commission observes defined river stages within its district to determine the status of public boat ramps. For a complete listing of the status of all boat ramps and recreation areas, visit www.redriverwaterway.com.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Here are some wonderful cult classic movies in Sci-fi and Horror. Be safe, don't watch them all in the dark... Alone.
House 1977
Baskin 2015
Raw Meat 1973
Repulsion 1965
Vampyr 1932
Monk is the son of an alchemist and the archivist of his people's history. On his thirteenth birthday following the tradition of his people, Monk sets off on an inner journey to find himself on the way to becoming a man. Along his spiritual odyssey, he discovers his worst nightmares that challenge his inner strength. Using the knowledge of his people that was passed down through generations, he learns who he really is, but at great personal sacrifice.


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M anager of the Cambodian Genocide Program
BOTH in Cambodia and among
Khmer of the Cambodian diaspora abroad, when Cambodians discuss genocide in
Cambodia, the word "genocide" is sometimes translated from French or English
into the Khmer language as "killing the Cambodians."
This is a clear and
concise definition from the point of view of those who suffered the horrors of
the Pol Pot regime.
It is what one might call the "Cambodian cultural
definition" of genocide.
Thus, for many Cambodians, it is self-evident that
the Pol Pot regime committed "genocide" against the Cambodian people, because
the Pol Pot regime did kill a million or more of their relatives and loved
No one disputes the fact that very many Cambodians lost their lives
during the Pol Pot time, under unjust circumstances, and that this was, or
should be, a crime.
The word, "genocide," was invented after World War II
to describe what happened to the Jews of Europe under Nazi Germany. It was
intended to describe an attempt to destroy an entire people, in that case, all
European Jews.
This word was subsequently enshrined in international law,
in the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of
Genocide, or the Genocide Convention.
The Genocide Convention gives a very specific definition of genocide, and
this is the "legal" definition of the word. According to the Genocide
Convention, "genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to
destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group,
as such: a) killing members of the group; b) causing serious bodily or mental
harm to members of the group; c) deliberately inflicting on the group conditions
of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
d) imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; and e)
forcibly transferring children of the group to another group."
There are three key concepts in this legal definition of genocide. First,
there is the idea of a "protected group." There are four kinds of groups which
are protected under the genocide convention: national, ethnical, racial and
religious groups. Other kinds of groups, for example political groups, are not
protected under the Genocide Convention. Thus, although some people argue that
the killing of intellectuals, or Lon Nol supporters, under the Pol Pot regime
was genocide, in fact, however, neither intellectuals nor Lon Nol supporters by
themselves qualify as a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.
The second key concept in the legal definition of genocide is "prohibited
acts." The most obvious of the prohibited acts is simply to kill the members of
the group. The four other categories of prohibited acts listed above are part of
the definition because all of these methods might also be used to bring about
the destruction of a protected group.
Finally, the third key concept in the definition of genocide is the question
of "intent." Was there an intention to destroy the group? Intent can be
difficult to prove, because intent is something that is inside someone's mind.
However, by establishing a pattern of behavior, or by refering to verbal or
written statements, one can infer intent.
For example, the Democratic
Kampuchea slogan, "one against 30," was used on DK radio to popularize the idea
that by sacrificing two million soldiers, Cambodia could exterminate sixty
million Vietnamese.
This kind of statement might form part of a pattern
demonstrating intent to commit genocide.
There are some ambiguous phrases in
the legal definition of genocide, and one of them is particularly troubling: "in
whole or in part." One person is a "part." Does that mean that if a criminal
intended to kill all the members of a protected group, but succeeding in killing
only one single member of that group, that this single killing could constitute
Most legal scholars seem to think that this extreme case would
not qualify as genocide.
But where does one draw the line? How many
members of a group must be killed before those acts rise above the threshhold of
the definition of genocide?
There is no clear answer to that question,
because there have been very few actual prosecutions for the crime of genocide,
and so we do not know how judges and courts would interpret this phrase in
Lawyers would say there is no body of "case law" on
Thus, when teaching about genocide, scholars sometimes describe
a "three point test" to determine if genocide has been committed: a protected
group; prohibited acts; and intent to destroy the group.
All three
criteria must be met in order for a particular crime to qualify under the
definition of the crime of genocide.
Consider the case of the "Khmer
people" under the Pol Pot regime.
The Khmer people are a national group,
an ethnic group, and perhaps also a racial group. Clearly the first criterion is
met. It is also clear that some of the prohibited acts were perpetrated against
the Khmer people: for example, obviously many members of this group were killed.
But was there intent to destroy the group as a whole? Very few people
argue that the Khmer Rouge intended to destroy the entire Khmer race.
Did the Khmer Rouge regime kill a sufficient number of Khmer people to
qualify as "in part," and for those acts to therefore constitute genocide?
This is a difficult question, and at the present time there is no clear
legal answer.
When Cambodians listen to lawyers and scholars talking
about genocide in Cambodia, they often hear talk only of the Vietnamese, the
Chams, the Lao, the Thai, the Chinese, and perhaps the Buddhists who were
That is because these groups qualify as protected groups under
the genocide law, and there is good evidence that Pol Pot may have intended to
entirely eliminate those groups from Cambodian society by committing prohibited
acts such as killing members of the group.
But when lawyers and scholars
discuss genocide in Cambodia, some of them do not mention all of the Khmers who
died or were killed in the Pol Pot time. Sometimes they will mention only the
Khmers who were Buddhist monks, but not the untold numbers of others who lost
their lives. This angers Cambodians, who sometimes accuse scholars and lawyers
of not caring about the Khmers, only about the Chams, Vietnamese, etc.
This is an emotional reaction, and it is entirely understandable. But it
is not a fair reaction to the lawyers and scholars, who are talking about the
legal definition of genocide, not the Cambodian cultural definition of
This does not mean that the lawyers and scholars do not care
about the Khmers who lost their lives in the Pol Pot time. It simply means that,
legally, it is unclear whether or not most of the Khmer deaths in Democratic
Kampuchea meet the criteria laid out in the Genocide Convention.
It does
not mean that no crime was committed. Killings of massive numbers of Cambodians
may in fact constitute a crime against humanity.
"Crimes Against
Humanity" is another extremely serious category of criminal human rights
In international law, crimes against humanity are distinguished
from mere domestic crimes by virtue of their "scope," or their "mass nature."
Mass nature is defined by two criteria: 1) a large number of victims; and/or 2)
a systematic state policy.
In addition to having the character of a mass
nature, in order to qualify under international law as crimes against humanity,
it must be shown that the targeted groups - social groups, political groups,
racial groups, religious groups, or other groups - were targeted for mass murder
because of their status as a group.
Examples of this in Cambodia during
the Pol Pot time might be "New People," the Buddhist monks, Chams, or possibly
even residents of the Eastern Zone.
There are many different types of
abuses which qualify as crimes against humanity.
The following acts,
when conforming with the above criteria, are crimes against humanity: 1)murder
and extermination; 2) enslavement and forced labor; 3) deportation outside of
the country; 4) imprisonment without due process of law; 5) torture; 6) rape; 7)
"inhuman acts," including: a) medical experimentation; b) mutilation; c) food
deprivation; d) sterilization; e) violation of cadavers; f) other serious mental
or physical harm; 8) persecution, including: a)removal of children from school;
b) forced wearing of distinctive clothing; c) closure of religious institutions;
d) banning of religious leaders; 9) property crimes, including: a) destruction
and plunder of private property (e.g., homes, cars); b) destruction and plunder
of cultural property (e.g., mosques, holy books).
Those who survived the
Pol Pot time will probably recognize many things that they experienced in this
list of acts which constitute crimes against humanity.
In addition to
genocide and crimes against humanity, another grave category of international
human rights violations is war crimes.
Although the laws of war are very
complicated and lengthy, many of the protections provided by the laws of war are
summarized in Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions of 1949. Common Article
3 says, "Persons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members of
the armed forces who have laid down their arms and those placed (outside of
combat) by sickness, wounds, detention or any other cause, shall in all
circumstances be treated humanely..."
In other words, according to the
laws of war, civilians and captured or wounded soldiers must not be
Common Article 3 applies both in the case of international war
and in the case of civil war.
It is clear from the records left behind at
Tuol Sleng that the Pol Pot regime violated the laws of war.
tortured and killed soldiers captured in civil war - i.e., in the conflict
between the Party Center and the Eastern Zone - and they tortured and killed
soldiers captured in international war - i.e. in the war with
Virtually all of the legal scholars who have studied the events
of the Pol Pot regime have come to the conclusion that genocide, crimes against
humanity, and war crimes were committed by that regime.
Not all of those
killed qualify as victims of genocide under the legal definition of that
concept. Not all of those killed qualify as victims of crimes against humanity.
Likewise, not all of the victims qualify as victims of war crimes. But it is
clear that all three of these categories of crimes were perpetrated upon the
peoples of Cambodia by the Pol Pot regime.
Genocide, crimes against
humanity, and war crimes have emerged as concepts over the course of the last
one hundred years as ways to describe, to condemn, to punish and, hopefully, to
prevent the most heinous, terrible acts that human beings can inflict upon
Almost everyone who understands the content of these laws and
who has examined their application to the Pol Pot regime agrees that Pol Pot and
his fellow leaders of the Khmer Rouge - Nuon Chea, Mok, Khieu Samphan, Ieng
Sary, Ieng Thirith, Son Sen, Ke Pauk and Yun Yat - should be found guilty of
committing these most heinous of crimes.
These Khmer Rouge leaders are
the very same individuals who today continue to lead the Khmer Rouge in making
war against the new Cambodian democracy, and who continue to commit the most
heinous criminal acts of which the human imagination is capable.


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Death to ... Mark Zuckerberg?
Britain's Register reports that the Facebook founder might be indicted.
What's happening?
Pakistani authorities are investigating the Facebook founder after discovering the "Draw Mohammad" contest that was posted to the social networking site last month. In Pakistan, any action deemed sacrilegious against Mohammad is punishable by death. Muhammad Azhar Siddique, a Pakistani lawyer, alleged that the owners of Facebook violated section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code and has pushed for an investigation into the alleged crime.
But don't update your Facebook status yet -- no charges have officially been filed. And to clarify, it wasn't Zuckerberg who launched the contest, but rather a German woman who used the pseudonym "Andy."
It was Comedy Central's censorship of a derogatory South Park episode that sparked the brilliant idea for the contest. In April, the famously offensive program mocked Muslims who threaten to kill non-Muslims for depicting the Mohammed. It also presents a cartoon of Mohammed disguised in a bear suit. According to reports, the "Draw Mohammed" contest was a reaction to the controversy stirred up by the show. It attempted to show Muslims that they -- and their prophet -- were not immune from satire protected by freedom of speech.
That tactic didn't work so well. Now, Sidiqque is waiting for Pakistani police to contact Interpol about arresting Zuckerberg in California. Authorities are even considering a complaint to the UN General Assembly. If Zuckerberg is arrested, he'll await his punishment in Pakistan.
But Zuckerberg isn't the only target. After the South Park show aired, its producers--Trey Parker and Matt Stone-- were threatened on Twitter and Revolutionmuslim.com. Zachary "Abu Tallah al-Amrike" Chesser reportedly tweeted: "May Allah kill Matt Stone and Trey Parker and burn them in Hell for all eternity."
Revolutionmuslim.com, a website based in New York, posted a "warning" shortly after the episode aired: "We have to warn Matt and Trey that what they are doing is stupid and they will probably wind up like Theo van Gogh for airing this show." Van Gogh, a Dutch filmmaker, made a short TV film called "Submission" which documented the stories of four Muslim women. While praying, each woman tells God of the sexual and physical abuse she has endured from men. According to The New York Times, the film's protagonists have "traces of lashings" and Koranic verses about women inscribed on their bare skin.
In 2004, van Gogh was murdered by an Islamic extremist.
What's next?
According to Brookings Institution Fellow Vanda Felbab-Brown, probably not much. Siddique may be pursuing the case because both anti-Americanism and extreme Islamic values are fairly popular in Pakistan. "Islam is very much a political tool to be played with," Felbab-Brown says. "There is a lot of support to be gained by those who espouse extreme values.... Capitalizing on anti-Americanism is a good political move." Still, she'd be surprised if the case reached Pakistan's Supreme Court. If it did, the executive office--despite its weak influence among Pakistanis--would quash the case before Zuckerberg could be summoned. Despite the tense relationship between the U.S. and Pakistan, proceeding with the case would be "a frivolous move" for the administration, which "has a lot to lose by antagonizing the U.S. administration."


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William Ellery Channing (1780-1842), an American minister, was a key Unitarian theologian for the mid-19th century.
William Ellery Channing came from what is known as "the best New England stock." That is, his ancestors arrived in New England early and soon distinguished themselves by their industry and decorum. He was born on April 8, 1780, in Newport, R.I., to William and Lucy Ellery Channing. He graduated from Harvard College in 1798. He spent some time as a tutor, and in 1802 he returned to Harvard to study for the ministry. Because he showed great promise, Harvard appointed him regent, a less lofty post than the title suggested. He acted as a proctor to the students, but the job left him time for books and helped him support himself. The next year he was ordained as minister of the Federal Street Church in Boston, where he remained until his death. He married his cousin Ruth Gibbs in 1814.
In a sense, leadership and eminence came to Channing not through aggressively seeking it but because he was born at the right time. Theology was in crisis during Channing's prime. Almost from the beginning there were two warring parties in New England. The Calvinists believed in a jealous God, the depravity of mankind, and the absence of free will. The anti-Calvinists believed in a merciful God, the potential redemption of all mankind, and the existence of free will. As the 19th century proceeded, the fight between the parties sharpened. Channing, after much deliberation, sided with the anti-Calvinists.
In Baltimore in 1819 Channing preached a sermon entitled "Unitarian Christianity." It was a masterly manifesto for the Unitarian cause and formulated the creed of Unitarianism; it consequently consolidated Channing's leadership. Other influential sermons followed. "The Moral Argument against Calvinism" was delivered and printed in 1820. "Unitarian Christianity Most Favorable to Piety" (1826) emphasized the relevance of the movement and its personal basis: "We regard Unitarianism as peculiarly the friend of inward, living, practical religion."
In 1820 Channing organized a conference of Unitarian ministers, which 5 years later fathered the American Unitarian Association. He helped found the Unitarian journal, Christian Register, and became one of its outstanding contributors.
For his increasing audience Channing prepared some essays which discussed the social and cultural questions of the time. He especially campaigned for a genuine American literature. In his essay "The Importance and Means of a National Literature" (1830) he called for cultural independence from England and for a new literature which would reflect the hopeful, expansive attitude that he himself took in theology. The tract was read the more respectfully because Channing himself had written on English literature in both English and American magazines and was friendly with some of the best British writters of his period.
Channing grew increasingly interested in politics, believing that political reform, like religious reform, had to start from within. He aimed his political efforts at humanitarian causes: the abolition of slavery, the crusade against drinking, and the improvement in the conditions of the poor. In the slavery dispute he appealed to the conscience of Southerners instead of attacking them. He believed a harmonious and happy nation could be achieved through appealing to man's innate goodness. Though his own congregation disagreed with his stand against slavery, his last public address, in August 1842, was on behalf of emancipation. He died the following October.
Further Reading on William Ellery Channing
A satisfactory modern biography is Arthur W. Brown, Always Young for Liberty: A Biography of William Ellery Channing (1956). Other works include Channing's Life … with Extracts from His Correspondence, edited by W. H. Channing (3 vols., 1848); J. W. Chadwick, William Ellery Channing, Minister of Religion (1903); and Madeleine Hook Rice, Federal Street Pastor: The Life of William Ellery Channing (1961).
Additional Biography Sources
Delbanco, Andrew, William Ellery Channing: an essay on the liberal spirit in America, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1981.
Edgell, David P., William Ellery Channing, an intellectual portrait, Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1983, 1955.
Eliot, Charles William, Four American leaders, Philadelphia: R. West, 1977, c1906.
Mendelsohn, Jack, Channing, the reluctant radical: a biography, Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1980, 1971.


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End-to-end multilingual customer care to support international customers
Customers are always more likely to buy online when the website and aftercare are presented in their own language. But securing multilingual services can be expensive – excellent customer service requires an understanding not just of language, but also culture, colloquialisms and nuances of tone. Often, achieving this with additional service centres just isn't feasible in terms of costs and economies of scale.
Our end-to-end modular multilingual solution blends the latest digital services and technology with our behavioural science capabilities and experienced multilingual advisers to provide an enhanced experience for your international customers.
From translating and localising your digital content for your target market, to optimising your content for a seamless purchasing journey, to implementing the latest artificial intelligence (AI) technology, we provide a positive self-service experience for your customers.
When an agent interaction is needed, you can either move the conversation to our technology enabled, native quality speakers in our remote and on premise contact centres across the UK, South Africa, Europe and India, or utilise our multilingual conversational AI software. This provides real time translation, enabling high quality human conversations across 50 languages without recruiting multilingual speakers.
And you can be reassured that we know what we're talking about: we're the largest provider of customer management in the UK and Switzerland, a leading player in Germany, and trusted by major brands with a reputation for great customer relations – including The National Trust, O2 and Tesco Mobile.
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U.S. will pay for Trump's global unpopularity
Judging by a just-released poll from the Pew Research Center, President Donald Trump is heading to next week's G-20 meeting in Germany with a resounding global vote of no confidence.
Only 22 percent of more than 40,000 respondents from 37 countries had confidence in Trump doing the right thing regarding world affairs; 64 percent felt that way about Barack Obama at the end of his presidency. The only countries preferring Trump were Israel and Russia.
Nine out of 10 countries posting the biggest drops in confidence were U.S. treaty allies. Respondents in seven of them -- including NATO members Italy, Germany and Spain -- put greater confidence in Russian President Vladimir Putin than in Trump.
So much for the assertion by Republican candidates on the 2016 presidential campaign trail that, under Obama, our friends no longer trusted us.
On the other hand, these poll results validate President America First. As Trump told a joint session of Congress: "My job is not to represent the world. My job is to represent the United States of America."
Trump could argue that our allies are upset because the U.S. won't play the global patsy anymore, giving them a free ride on defense, allowing them to practice unfair trade and saddling ourselves with treaty obligations that reduce our competitive advantage.
Winning a global popularity contest isn't synonymous with defending U.S. national security and advancing U.S. economic interests. And it's true that the Pew survey shows that the public in many of these countries don't expect relations with the U.S. to change fundamentally under Trump, and that Americans in general remain well-liked.
But being seen as unreliable and "arrogant, intolerant and dangerous" -- three qualities attributed to Trump by a thumping majority of all respondents -- is more than a perception problem. It can have concrete policy consequences. If other leaders know that their publics dislike, distrust and disrespect Trump, they have more political incentive to thumb their nose at him and spurn U.S. demands and entreaties.
Consider recent developments with newly minted French President Emmanuel Macron, embattled British Prime Minister Theresa May, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is facing a potentially tough re-election campaign. Macron got domestic mileage out of snubbing Trump and giving him a man-grip handshake at last month's NATO summit. Concern over public protests in the U.K. prompted Trump to postpone his planned visit there, and gives May good reason to keep her distance. Merkel -- seen more favorably by Pew respondents than Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Trump -- was recently attacked by challenger Martin Schulz for not standing up to an "erratic" Trump, notwithstanding her earlier declaration that the era of reliable relations with the U.S. "are to some extent over."
That erosion of goodwill and re-alignment of domestic political incentives among trans-Atlantic stalwarts may not blow up treaty alliances or shatter the postwar liberal international order. But it can spell the difference between compromise and conflict in trade and investment, regulatory cooperation, and even security interests. A U.S. president reluctant to affirm the mutual defense commitment at the heart of the NATO charter may find himself getting a less receptive ear on troop requests for Afghanistan. Over-the-top bluster about raw deals on trade and investment can raise the political stakes in unrelated commercial and regulatory disputes.
Moreover, while the Pew results suggest that the U.S. global brand is resilient, it's not indestructible. Favorable views of America are in decline, down from a global median of 64 percent in the final years of Obama to 49 percent in 2017. Respondents in 30 out of 37 countries had a less favorable view of the U.S.; the only countries to register a more favorable view were Hungary, Jordan, Nigeria, Greece, Vietnam and Russia, whose inhabitants gave Trump a big "Da" (up 26 points since Obama's last years). That's not great company to be keeping. Favorable views about U.S. democracy have also dropped, especially in Africa and Latin America -- a troubling decline at a time when autocracies are on the march.
Opinion polls are a far cry from policies and actual results. Although previous Pew polls showed a dramatic rebound from the years of George W. Bush to those of Obama, all the world's problems hardly went away, and many U.S. voters expressed reservations about Obama's foreign policies. As the Middle East scholar Shadi Hamid archly asked at a Brookings Institution event on this year's survey, "What is the relationship between people hating our president and the world falling apart?"
Hamid got a good laugh. Even with Trump in office, after all, the world is likely to hold together. But for those Americans who care about their nation's hard-won place in it, the joke is likely to be on us.
James Gibney writes editorials on international affairs for Bloomberg View. He was features editor at the Atlantic, deputy editor at the New York Times op-ed page and executive editor at Foreign Policy magazine. He was a foreign service officer and a speechwriter for Secretary of State Warren Christopher, National Security Adviser Anthony Lake and President Bill Clinton.


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|From Firefall Vision's Etsy Page
So my sister needs to go back to the lab to get the AMH test redone, because somehow the lab messed up the sample. And she didn't feel that she could do that until the weekend because she already was late to work once due to getting the baseline ultrasound and antral follicle count done.
In response, I wondered wryly (but refrained from asking) how in the world she could do a whole IVF cycle for us, which would require daily bloodwork and almost-daily ultrasounds and would surely make her risk lateness to work if her boss is already raising objections.
But why say this? Because really, it looks like we may not get to the place of her doing an IVF cycle for us.
We aren't ruling it out, either. Will and I are waiting on the AMH results and then will have a regroup with Dr. Schl. in Denver and get his thoughts. But I have to say, things don't seem overly promising.
Not dismal, maybe either, but not overly promising.
In the meantime, we're taking a few steps back and reconsidering our options.
Could we take the donor we already fell in love with, the one with the rare chromosomal abnormality, to another clinic, do CCS testing on her embryos, and use her despite the inversion on chromosome 9? Would we want to? Would any clinic let us? (Interestingly, the agency is still listing her as available to donate... now also saying she has "proven" fertility and has been a "prior donor." Seems a bit disingenuous to me). She is perfect in every way but for the slight chromosomal issue, so mildly thinking about it.
Do we want to just proceed with a transfer of our embryos into my body and hope for the best? Leaning toward this at the moment. This is a surprise, as I thought we would never do this. However, originally, our NYC RE and Dr. Schl. suggested that trying another transfer of our embryos in my body was the most reasonable option. It's just that we didn't think we could take another loss - and what if those are the last chromosomally normal embryos that I could ever make? Can we survive another loss now? Maybe. Can we tolerate it if we try this and fail and then have nothing left for a gestational carrier? Thinking on this.
I'm in month two of Depot Lupron. It would feel good not to "waste" these two months of Lupron I've been on. It has not been easy, and I hope it hasn't been for nothing.
Perhaps if transferring our embryos into my body didn't work, we could throw a huge IVF stimulation party, cycle my sister, the donor, and me all at the same time and see just how many embryos we could make.
I'm kidding.
These are the fertility-related things rattling around in our brains. Today, at least. Tomorrow brings another AMH test for my sister. We've requested the results stat. Not sure how fast that will bring them, but we are hoping for quickly.
We're tired of waiting in limbo.
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Wushu is popular ancient Chinese martial arts that used as an exhibition as well as a contact sport. This style of traditional martial arts was developed in in China after the year 1949. Wushu is a Chinese term that means 'martial arts'. In the modern age, Wushu has achieved the status of being an international sport, and there are several institutes spread across China and other parts of the world to train people on this form of martial art. If you live in Singapore, you will also find several Wushu Singapore institutes that offer courses for this style of martial arts.
Wushu is basically composed of two different disciplines – taolu and sanda. Read on to find out the basic characteristics of these two disciplines.
Taolu is a popular form that comprises of different patterns and maneuvers for which the participating players are judged as per the rule. This usually comprises of the basic movements such as kicks, stances, sweeps, balances, punches, jumps and throws. These competitive forms usually have a time limit which may vary from 1 minute to 20 seconds. Some of the internal and external styles may last as long as 5 minutes. You may learn the Taolu form at any Wushu Singapore coaching center.
Sanda, also known as sanshou, is a contemporary style of fighting and this form is influenced by the traditional sport of Chinese boxing. It comprises of various forms of Chinese wrestling methods that is known as Shuai jiao and various other Chinese grappling techniques called Chin Na. Sanda is very much like Muay Thai or Kickboxing, which are popular forms of martial arts played in various parts of Asia.
As one of the oldest and long lasting sports, Wushu has evolved as a popular martial arts form in different schools. It displays amazing techniques and colorful features that gratify the diverse needs of people.
If you would like to learn Wushu then check out the various Wushu Singapore training institutes and coaching centers for more details.


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Tsiteeri:"SS Norman 530 tons
Built 1853.
Maiden voyage to South Africa 1857 (arrived at Cape Town Dec 24th).
One of the original vessels of the Union Steam Collier Company.
The NORMAN inaugurated the unsuccessful Union service to Brazil (September 1856). She was the third Union liner to reach the Cape, and came out in 1857 with Captain Boxer in charge. (Captain Boxer had originally commanded the G.S.S. Company's coaster SIR ROBERT PEEL, and was well known between Table Bay and Durban.) After the Rennie steamer WALDENSIAN was wrecked in October 1862 the Union Line decided to enter the coasting trade, and the NORMAN inaugurated the new service from Capetown early in 1863. She remained on the coast for nearly two years, returning to England finally in November 1864. She was then sold and became the property of Bremer, Bennett and Bremer, of London, who had also acquired the first SAXON. (Both the former Union names were retained by the new owners.) The NORMAN was eventually wrecked off Seaham in July 1881."


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kidzsearch.com > wiki
Niigata Prefecture
Lua error in Module:Unicode_data at line 290: attempt to index local 'data_module' (a boolean value). is a prefecture in the Chūbu region of Japan on the island of Honshū.[1] The capital city is Niigata.[2]
Until after the Meiji Restoration, the area that is now Niigata Prefecture was divided into Echigo Province and Sado Province.[3]
Niigata is next to Yamagata Prefecture, Toyama Prefecture, Nagano Prefecture, Gumma Prefecture and Fukushima prefecture.
Niigata is the fifth largest prefecture in Japan by area.
In winter, it snows a lot in Niigata, and winter sports are popular.
National Parks
National Parks are established in about 25% of the total land area of the prefecture.[4] including
Shrines and Temples
Yahiko-jinja, Kota-jinja, Amatsu-jinja and Watatsu-jinja are the chief Shinto shrines (ichinomiya) in the prefecture. [6]
Related pages
- Provinces of Japan
- Prefectures of Japan
- List of regions of Japan
- List of islands of Japan
- Albirex Niigata
- ↑ Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Niigata-ken" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 711.
- ↑ Nussbaum, "Niigata" at p. 711.
- ↑ Nussbaum, "Provinces and prefectures" at p. 780.
- ↑ Japan Ministry of the Environment, "General overview of area figures for Natural Parks by prefecture"; retrieved 2012-3-13.
- ↑ Japan Ministry of the Environment, "Bandai-Asahi National Park" Archived 2014-09-09 at the Wayback Machine retrieved 2012-3-19.
- ↑ "Nationwide List of Ichinomiya," p. 2; retrieved 2012-3-13.
Other websites
Media related to Niigata prefecture at Wikimedia Commons
- Niigata Prefecture website Archived 2015-09-08 at the Wayback Machine


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Carmel pays $142,000 for planters along protected Range Line Road bike lanes
CARMEL — Reaction has been mixed to the city's $142,000 purchase of steel planters for the initial stretch of its first protected bike lane, a recently opened half-mile track along Range Line Road.
Carmel bought 40 decorative, heavy-duty planters for $3,550 each. City workers have placed the objects — each of them 6 feet long, 2-1/2 feet high and 2 feet wide — along the east side of the road to block traffic from cutting into the bike lanes.
While the city has hundreds of miles of multi-use pathways similar to sidewalks used by walkers, joggers and casual bicyclists, this is the city's first stretch of roadside bike lanes protected from traffic. There's also a bike lane along part of 116th Street that's delineated by striping.
Some see the protected lanes as another sign of the city's willingness to invest in infrastructure and aesthetics. Others wonder whether the city could have found a less expensive option to separate cars from bikes and are less than impressed by how the planters look.
Adam Nisley, who owns Adam's Flooring along Range Line, initially thought they were trash bins. As they're black, he thinks it's only a matter of time before they'll be hit by cars at night.
"I think there are better ways to spend $142,000," he said.
Midtown Carmel: City pays $42,000 for mural on parking garage
About Midtown : 8 projects totaling $231 million
City Engineer Jeremy Kashman said the city considered less expensive options, but decided the steel planters would provide the sturdiest barrier if hit by a car while offering the city the flexibly to move them if necessary. And he thinks they look great.
"It's like with anything here," he said. "We focus on high quality of life in Carmel."
Planters can cost anywhere from $80,000 to $400,000 per mile, putting Carmel's investment on the upper end of the spectrum, according to widely cited research compiled by a transportation official in Austin, Texas.
Less expensive options such as flexible bollards, which are poles that rise from the ground like those at Gray Road just south of 146th Street, can cost $15,000 to $30,000 per mile, according to the Austin official's research. More expensive ideas, such as precast barrier curbs that run the entire length of bike lanes, can cost $400,000 to $600,000 per mile.
Kashman said Carmel's planters were manufactured by Indianapolis-based Bo-mar Industries.
The cost was included in the city's $4,979,000 contract with Carmel-based Gradex Construction to convert a stretch of Range Line from a four-lane thoroughfare to a two-lane, landscaped boulevard with a bike lane, decorative crosswalks and a roundabout at Executive Drive.
The contract also includes nearly $200,000 for the fountain near the Graeters ice cream shop.
Kashman said the city wanted removable rather than permanent barriers for the bike lane to accommodate events such as the Fourth of July parade, and so it settled on planters rather than curbing. The city also wanted something more substantial that bollards to block cars.
The city considered industrial-strength concrete planters, he said, but he thinks they would have cost more than $1,000 each while providing less protection and durability if hit by a car.
"'We wanted to give people on bicycles a feeling of safety," he said. "That feeling of having something solid between them and the cars."
The city has painted portions of the bike lane green that are not protected by planters, small stretches where cars may have to cross into businesses or to turn onto another road.
The city will extend the bike lane a half-mile north to Fourth Street during the second phase of Range Line Road's reconstruction in 2019. Kashman was unsure how many additional planters the city would purchase.
Matt Tanner, 44, an avid local cyclist who helps to organize the annual Carmel Rollfast Gran Fondo, said he's already seen folks riding their bikes in the lanes.
While a half-mile certainly isn't long enough for a tough workout for serious cyclists like himself, he thinks the protected bike lanes will add safety and comfort for more casual riders heading to local businesses along the road. His teenage son, he said, likely will use the lane to get to his job on Main Street.
He thinks the bike lanes needs a catchy nickname. He suggested "the Green Dragon." And while he realizes such infrastructure is expensive, he thinks it's a good investment.
"It serves a purpose and it looks nice," he said. "I think that'll be the perspective in five years."
Carmel plans to spend an estimated $13.4 million through 2019 to transform Range Line Road into a pedestrian friendly, tree-lined roundabout corridor through its emerging downtown.
In a separate project, the city is spending about $4 million to turn Range Line between Main Street and U.S. 31 into a two-lane, landscaped corridor this year. A roundabout will be added just south of U.S. 31 to link to a future connection to Lowe's Way.
Both projects will be paid for through proceeds from the $257 million bond package the City Council approved for infrastructure work in January 2016.
Call IndyStar reporter Chris Sikich at 317-444-6036. Follow him on Twitter: @ChrisSikich and at facebook/chris.sikich.


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We pick every product that we think you'll love the most. We may earn money from the links on this page.
12 Must-Have Pregnancy Apps for Every Mom-To-Be
Congratulations, you're pregnant! Now what? Download these 12 apps.
Congratulations, you're pregnant! Now what? Download these 12 apps to track and monitor your baby bump right at your fingertips.
free, available for iOS and Android
Best for Traveling Light
The trusted name in pregnancy prep is now on your smartphone — so you can leave the popular reference book at home when you're on the go. Access author Heidi Murkoff's reassuring advice anytime, any place on the feature-filled app, which also includes a daily newsfeed of health tips and pregnancy-related news. Weekly videos bring the book's pages to life, illustrating your changing body and fetal development.
free, available for iOS and Android
Don't forget about you in the midst of all the excitement over the bun in your oven. Ovia's pregnancy app puts the focus on your health and wellness during these critical 40 weeks. Get personalized feedback based on your age, BMI, and history, and sync it with your [link href="http://www.bestproducts.com/fitness/electronics-gadgets/g675/wearable-fitness-trackers/" target="_blank" link_updater_label="external"]fitness tracker to import activity and sleep data. Use the food log to help keep your weight gain under control and get reminders to take your prenatal vitamins.
free, available for iOS
Best for Middle-of-the-Night Medical Advice
When your doctor's office is closed, these Redwood City, Calif.-based obstetricians — Jan Rydfors, M.D. and Aron Schuftan, M.D. — are always on call. The only app written and developed by board-certified OB/GYNs, get 24-hour medical advice with every swipe. Skip Google and search hundreds of pregnancy topics and get answers to your most pressing questions any time of day or night.
$3, bellybump.co
Best New App
Available May 16 on iOS, Belly Bump is the brain child of two celebrity dads: Justin Baldoni of Jane The Virgin and Travis Clark of the band We The Kings, along with their partner, Travis Van Winkle of The Last Ship. This high-tech app provides a unique 180-degree angle for belly bump photos, which are then transformed into a time-lapse video customized with a choice of three exclusive songs written by Clark. Export the video to your social media networks to share with family and friends near and far.
Best for Hearing Your Baby's Heartbeat
You don't have to wait for your next doctor's appointment to hear your baby's heartbeat. Simply lie down and hold your phone's microphone over your bump to eavesdrop on your baby anytime you want. Not sure what to listen for? The app includes sample mom and baby sounds to distinguish whose heartbeat the heart monitor is picking up. You can also save recordings so your partner can listen, too.
free, available for iOS and Android
Best for Community
Commiserate with other moms-to-be experiencing the same excitement and joy, as well as the aches and pains of pregnancy, through the social network built in to this comprehensive app. Global forums connect moms-to-be from around the world, where you can ask questions, share stories and advice, and compare notes and experiences.
Best for Pregnancy and Beyond
Based on the research of Thomas Hale, Ph.D., an expert on medication safety during pregnancy and nursing, this reference app allows you to search by name or scan the barcodes of thousands of prescription and over-the-counter drugs to find out whether or not they're safe to take while expecting. Nursing moms can also learn about the possible side effects of medicines passing through breast milk to their newborns.
free, available for iOS and Android
Best for Baby Names
Loaded with more than 30,000 baby names, finding a moniker for your impending arrival is just a swipe away. Sort names based on popularity, first initial, gender, and origin, and create a list of favorites to save and refer back to until you decide. The historical data spans from 1880 to 2014, and graphs each name to show its popularity over time. With so many names to choose from, we bet it'll be hard to pick just one.
free, available for iOS and Android[link href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sprout-pregnancy/id441977097?mt=8" target="_blank" link_updater_label="external"]
Integrated tabs make it easy for you to preserve special memories during your pregnancy. Capture belly photos, and pair them with your ultrasound pictures to create pages you can download and print to add to your [link href="http://www.bestproducts.com/parenting/baby/g751/baby-memory-books-albums/" target="_blank" link_updater_label="external"]baby's book or photo album. Once pregnancy brain forgetfulness kicks in, helpful extras give you a place to jot down questions for your doctor and remind you of upcoming appointments.
free, available for iOS and Android
Best Contraction Counter
Since labor isn't the time for fancy interfaces, Full Term's simple screens let you time contractions with just the touch of a button. Press green when a contraction starts and red when it stops. The app automatically calculates and tracks the frequency and duration of contractions so you can let you doctor know exactly how far apart they are to determine how quickly (or slowly) you need to head to the hospital for delivery.
$4, available for iOS and Android
Best Visuals
Did you know what at seven weeks pregnant, your baby is the size of a blueberry? This beautiful app compares the size of the fetus to a similarly sized food at each stage of growth. Check the daily dashboard to learn what your baby's up to, through images of real fetuses from every week of pregnancy. The stunning images appear as a 2-D or 3-D ultrasound, or you can opt for an animated video to watch the fetus float in a golden glow.
$3, available for iOS[link href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/whos-your-daddy-pregnancy/id843714656?mt=8" target="_blank" link_updater_label="external"]
Here's an app for first-time dads. The usual pregnancy tracking tools — weekly updates, development timeline, [link href="http://www.bestproducts.com/parenting/maternity/g637/what-to-pack-in-hospital-bag/" target="_blank" link_updater_label="external"]hospital bag checklist, and contraction counter — are injected with lighthearted bits of humor written by dads for dads. Helpful hints tell the dad-to-be exactly what to do (hello, foot rub!), while daily reminders give him insight into what his pregnant partner is going through every step of the way.
From: BestProducts


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Crossposted with TheGreenGrok.com, the blog by the dean of Duke's Nicholas School
Scientific mistakes of mythic proportions.
For the record, it should be noted that Fox News is not my primary outlet for keeping abreast of the news. So normally I wouldn't have seen this August 6 "Fox and Friends" piece on global warming (sorry -- you'll have to view a commercial to see it). But the media watchdog group Media Matters for America contacted me for my comments on it. So I figured I'd watch and what I saw compelled my comments here.
Out of the Gate: Fox Takes on Climate
Fox News called the three-and-a-half-minute segment "Climate Change Myths: Separating Fact From Fiction" -- an apt name because as far as the science is concerned, there's very little that could be characterized as fact, and a whole lot that could pass for fiction.
The segment was pegged to what the morning hosts called a new NASA study which, in their words, "seems to debunk whether [global warming] is actually manmade." Since that paper [pdf] (by Roy Spencer and William Braswell) has been pretty thoroughly debunked in places like RealClimate and ClimateProgress, I will focus on the rest of the segment.
Next up was a Rasmussen poll finding that 69 percent of Americans believe scientists have lied to support their theories about global warming. Viewers, I suspect, are intended to receive this result as an indictment of global warming science. But hold on a minute. Suppose you're convinced that global warming is "manmade" and that
skeptics are cooking the books to advance their viewpoint, would you not
answer yes to that question? And so I'm not at all sure what this poll means.
Meteorologist Bastardi Takes Center Stage
Following the brief poll discussion the really good stuff begins. For the "real story" and "the facts" the morning hosts bring on meteorologist Joe Bastardi, the chief forecaster of the consulting firm WeatherBell.
After a quick recap of the recent record-breaking hot weather and why it's not a sign of global warming (with Bastardi making note of what he claims was the "far worse climate" of the '30s-'50s), the meteorologist makes his case for "Why CO2 Can't Cause Warming."
Bastardizing the First Law
Bastardi advances arguments by beginning with basic science and then tortuously applying it to support his own unscientific point of view.
For one example, he argues that:
Carbon dioxide (CO2) can't warm the atmosphere because it would violate the first law of thermodynamics.
Wow. The first law of thermodynamics -- that's heavy stuff. Far be it from me or any other self-respecting scientist to go against this law, arguably the most basic in all of physics, which says that energy can neither be created nor destroyed.
Bastardi correctly points out that this law (also known as the conservation of energy) requires that if the atmosphere is heating up, there must be an external source of energy. So far, we're on the same page. But then he slips up, arguing that CO2 cannot cause warming because it is not a source of heat.
Can this man really have that poor an understanding of atmospheric physics or is something else at play? You be the judge.
Of course CO2 is not the "source of heat." The heat source is the Sun. CO2 causes the warming by trapping more of the Sun's energy in the atmosphere, causing the temperature to rise.
Consider this analogy. It's a cold night (hard to imagine with this summer) and you're chilly so you add a blanket to warm up. The blanket doesn't create heat; it's not the source of energy. It merely acts as an insulator, trapping your body's heat. CO2, via the greenhouse effect, does a similar thing.
Reversing a Hundred or So Years of Science
Realize that Bastardi's essentially arguing that the greenhouse effect does not exist. This effect is something we have known about for more than 100 years, the basic physics of which were worked out by some of the 19th century's greatest scientists, such as Fourier, Tyndall, and Arrhenius. Without the greenhouse effect, simple thermodynamics, including the first law, predict that the Earth's temperature would be at or below the freezing point of water. Without the greenhouse effect, we could not explain the high temperatures of Venus.
You gotta hand it to the guy -- trashing the work of Arrhenius and Fourier takes chutzpah, not much smarts but lots of chutzpah.
An Unprincipled Application of a Principle
Next up is a discussion of Le Chatelier's principle which begins with an embarrassing exchange that makes clear that nobody on the show bothered to research the pronunciation of the French chemist's name -- including, it would appear, Bastardi.
Le Chatlier's principle states that a system at equilibrium that is disturbed or pushed from that equilibrium will oppose the change and act to restore the equilibrium.
So, Bastardi argues, the atmosphere will inevitably return to its pre-global-warming temperature -- he in fact boldly predicts that on the basis of this principle, global warming has already ceased and temperatures will shortly return to the temperatures of the 1970s. Why the temperatures of the 1970s and not the Ice Age temperatures or the extremely warm temperatures of the Eocene? Alas, he does not say.
Folks, this is total nonsense.
Le Chatlier's principle applies to an isolated system at equilibrium. If perturbed, that system will tend to oppose the perturbation, and if left alone, it will tend to return to its original state. It does not say that the system will actually return to its original state, and if continuously perturbed, the system clearly will not. The principle also does not rule out the possibility of the system moving to a completely different state if the perturbation is large enough.
Looking at Le Chatelier's Principle Through a Rubber Band
Let's consider another analogy -- in this case a rubber band. Apply an outward force on a rubber band (i.e., stretch it), and its shape will change. Let go of that stretched band, and it will relax more or less to its original shape. A nice application of the principle. But now imagine that you don't let go of the band but continue to stretch it. It will contract against your fingers, trying to get back to its original shape but it will not actually contract.
In the case of global warming, we are continuously adding more CO2 to the atmosphere, effectively stretching and stretching that climate rubber band. Under those conditions, Le Chatelier's principle does not predict that the atmosphere will return to temperatures before the warming occurred. Now, if we suddenly stopped emitting CO2, the atmosphere would slowly (as it turns out, extremely slowly -- see here and here ) relax back to cooler temperatures. But that's a big if and not exactly the context for Bastardi's comments.
And there's another important aspect of this. If you keep on stretching that rubber band, it will eventually break. And if that happens, the rubber band will never return to its original shape.
Could the same snap happen to the climate if we keep adding CO2? Probably. When will it snap? We're not sure; we'll have to wait and see. But there's one loud snap that has already been heard: Joe Bastardi has stretched his scientific credibility beyond the breaking point.
Correction: August 12.
This post was corrected to clarify that it was Fox News who characterized Roy Spencer's study as a NASA study.


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When you are pregnant, often your body behaves much differently towards many common things and everything that you do in this period might have an impact on your baby too. So, during this period it is absolutely necessary that you consider the pros and cons as well as any risk or expected side effects of coloring hairs, before you actually opt for it.
Commonly, different types of colors are used for hairs; some of which are chemical based dyes and some are vegetable based. The effects of the chemical based hair dyes on the fetus and on the pregnancy as a whole are not very clear till now. According to one study the chemicals present in chemical hair dyes can cause serious long term conditions in the unborn baby, however, other studies did not find anything significant to support the claim. Few of the chemicals, that are commonly used in chemical hair dyes might cause birth defects in the child, however, to have this impact, very high dose of these chemical compound is necessary, which is very unlikely for a pregnant mother to use during the 9 months span of pregnancy.
So, coloring your hairs 3-4 times during the whole span of the pregnancy might be safe, and if you take proper precautions you can ensure that the dye actually does not come into direct contact of your skin, from where the chemicals can be absorbed into your body.
Now let us come to the topic of using Henna for coloring hairs during pregnancy. If you color your hairs regularly and not being able to do so during pregnancy can actually hamper your self-confidence, it is best to stick to coloring your hairs with natural henna. Henna is a plant with some herbal properties and if you are using the leaves of this plant directly for coloring your hairs, you can be assured that it will not harm your pregnancy or the unborn baby.
Normally, the paste of Henna leaves are mixed with a number of other ingredients at home to make a hair color that not only gives the hairs a suitable shade but also fights a number of scalp problems and hair conditions. In many homes, tea concoction, coffee, hair oil, lemon juice, eggs and many other ingredients are mixed with the henna paste to get better coloring and hair care results. These ingredients are usually considered safe for pregnancy and you can use them with your pure Henna hair color to get the desired effect. However, if you are using raw eggs with the henna, it is vital to ensure that they do not carry Salmonella bacteria, which can infect you. So, if you want to stay at the safe side, it is better to not to use raw eggs with your henna while coloring your hairs during pregnancy.
So, it boils down to the fact that if you are using pure henna leaves for coloring your hairs along with a few common organic kitchen-ingredients except eggs, this is most expected to not to have any effect on your pregnancy or on the unborn baby.
However, in case you are living in a metro, it might be next to impossible to get your hands on the original Henna leaves. In such cases, you are left with no other option but to buy the packed Henna powders available in the market. When it comes to Henna hair colors that are marketed by different brands, one thing is important for you to know that many of these hennas actually include many other chemical ingredients than the original Henna leaf powder to give a more prominent result.
The production of these henna powders is not well regulated and there is no confirmation about the actual percentage of original Henna and other chemical based dyes present in these products. So, when you buy Henna powder from a shop, even if the brand claims it to be original henna, always check out the composition list with minute care. However, the problem here is that, in most of the henna powders available in the market you will not find a proper composition list. Also, often only the herbal compositions of the products are mentioned on the packaging and the chemicals in the composition are fully omitted. So, getting a clear idea about the real composition of a Henna powder available in the market can be really difficult.
The only option for you in such cases is to opt for the pure henna powder from the well -known and prominent herbal brands that you can trust. Even these henna powders might have other ingredients along with the original henna leaves, but it is most likely that those compositions will also be herbal in nature and hence they will not have harmful effects. Always check for any cautions or precautions mentioned on the packaging of a henna powder available from a good herbal brand.
The other hair color product that is commonly available in the market under the name of "Kali Mehendi" or "Black Henna" is not actually a Henna composition rather it includes chemicals like para-phenylenediamine or PPD in short, which is a common ingredient in the synthetic hair dyes. Normally it is considered that using PPD on the hairs is safe, but in many countries including U.S. and European Union, PPD is banned from being used in products that can be used directly onto the skin. According to studies PPD can cause severe allergy or even dermatitis on the skin. So, during pregnancy staying away from "Kali Mehendi" in any form is the best option.
Even if you are not allergic to these compounds and you have been using them for long, it is better to not to try them out during pregnancy, particularly because during this time the immunity system of your body is naturally weakened and hence something that might not have been a trouble for your body earlier, can cause even severe symptoms during this stage.
When it comes to using pure henna paste for coloring your hairs during pregnancy, even then too, it is better to keep the following suggestions in mind,
- Always make the Henna paste and apply it onto your hairs wearing gloves. So that the color never comes in direct contact of your skin.
- While applying the henna also make it a point to not to paint your skin with the mixture but try to stain the hairs only.
- Before you start applying henna onto your whole hairs, do a patch test on a small part of your skin just to ensure that you are not getting allergies from it. During pregnancy, even the most common things can cause allergy on your skin because at this stage the skin becomes really sensitive.
- Always wash your hands and any other area of the skin that might have got the henna stain right after you have completed the application.
- While washing off the henna, use sufficient water and a proper cleanser so that it is completely washed off and there is no trace of the product in your hairs.
During pregnancy it is important to feel good about yourself, so if coloring your hairs make you feel good you can surely try that out. However, try to use the natural Henna leaves for the purpose and maintain the above measures while application.


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FINALLY!! After what's been a Long Road to BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0, it's finally here and available for download! If you own a BlackBerry PlayBook, just go to Settings > Software Updates > Check for Updates and you should find PlayBook OS 2.0 available for wireless download. Follow the instructions on screen for the easy installation process. When a new PlayBook OS update becomes available it sometimes takes a little while for it be accessible by all users, so if you check and it's not there just yet, have patience. It will be there soon. We promise.
BlackBerry PlayBoook OS 2.0 is a MAJOR software update to the operating system of Research In Motion's first tablet, and it brings with it a ton of upgrades that owners have been waiting for. In addition to a revamped homescreen experience, native email, calendar and contacts along with social service integration (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn) are onboard. Behind the scenes, the introduction of the Android App Player in OS 2.0 will broaden the selection of apps available via BlackBerry App World. And for those who own a BlackBerry Smartphone, combined with an update to the BlackBerry Bridge app you'll unleash some useful and fun functionality, like the ability to use your phone's keyboard to enter text on the PlayBook or use your phone as a remote control for your tablet.
PlayBook OS 2 offers a ton of other feature enhancements as well, and we'll bringing them all to you here on CrackBerry this weeek and beyond. We have a ton of great coverage planned, so you'll want to be visiting often. In the meantime, get that software update going and be sure to jump into CrackBerry's BlackBerry PlayBook forums, the hub for BlackBerry PlayBook owners worldwide!
Visit CrackBerry's BlackBerry PlayBook Forums
CRACKBERRY 2.0 UPDATE: Crazy People and Real Plans!
CrackBerry 2.0 is here – I have an awesome Co-Captain, we have a Plan and we're ready to KICK IT!


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Food Vendors
Merthyr Tydfil Global Village Festival is a celebration of different cultures; an opportunity to bring people together to celebrate, to learn and to share. We attempt to offer people the chance to taste food from a variety of countries and cultures as well as showcasing locally sourced and prepared produce.
If you would like to become a food vendor please fill out the form below.
Please also make sure you download and sign our Terms & Conditions form (here)


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I don't know about you, but I just can't seem to simply sit down in front of my computer monitor and come up with ideas for posts here at RJsCorner. In the cold weather months I post daily here, so where do all the ideas come from? That is the topic of this post.
Ideas for posts pop into my brain on a regular basis. I learned long ago that I can't just push a button to make them happen. I will let you in on a little secret of mine, many of my post ideas come during my morning shower. At my age, the morning shower is one of the highlights of my day. It is a time when I am not distracted by all the intrusions that clutter my mind. It is a time when my mind is free to roam wherever it wants, and it certainly WANTS. I'm sure my most productive half-hour of the day is when I am naked and wet! 🤣
Another reason for this spurt of creativity is probably because my brain has been free to roam wherever it wants during the previous eight hours. Since I am an old guy who has to get up at least once every night I get a quick glimpse of what my dreams are. They usually involve me getting lost but that is another topic. They are almost always kind of out-there, if you know what I mean. So, when I wake up and am not occupied with stuff around me my brain lets me know what it has been doing.
I don't know if this has anything to do with my Aspie traits, but I wouldn't be surprised if it does. As soon as I am out of the shower My desk gets regularly filled with post-it notes of ideas waiting to be fleshed out. By the time noon comes around my brain finally settles down, or maybe I should say shuts down. I seldom touch my computer in the evening hours. I guess I just have to give myself some shutdown time for the coming nightly activity.
How about you? When are you the most creative?


text: Hi everyone, hope you're all keeping safe and well! I've decided to document my quarantine looks since I've been trying to drive my blog back to the outfit inspiration platform I had initially made it to be. This look was worn on Easter, and I love how girly and kind of shabby chic it looks- a side of me that exists but people rarely see. This dress is from one of my favorite independent brands and Topshop "Lace and Beads". If you're into girly, romantic, frilly clothing or pastels it's definitely a brand I'd check out. Then I just paired it with some nude strapped Jessica Simpson heels.


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Follow this link to my review of the U.S. band Calexico from Tucson, Arizona, who are currently on tour in Australia and New Zealand. I was lucky enough to see them twice, at Hamer Hall in Melbourne and Meeniyan Town Hall in South Gippsland, Vic.
Additionally, a slightly shorter version appeared on:


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Nowadays people buy groceries, order pizza, call a cab, and do basically everything using the apps they've got installed on their smartphones.
In this age of constant technological advancement, it certainly is no wonder, with over 179 billion mobile apps downloaded per year, that mobile app development is probably the fastest-growing sector with it expanding even more in the coming future.
The latest thing in this technological age is the development of wearable devices. We already have the Google Glass, Microsoft Hololens, and the Apple Watch, but things are gonna get even better.
High tech technological gadgets monitoring health, surroundings, and even other devices will be seamlessly integrated into wearable clothes, shoes, etc, becoming not just another gadget, but also an extension of you!
This opens up tremendous new opportunities for companies, app developers, and accessory makers, with wearable devices becoming a complete hub of a personal-area network.
They will learn, communicate, and interact with mobile applications to provide relevant information in new and innovative ways about sport, fitness, news, fashion, your surroundings, hobbies, and healthcare, all customized to your preferences.
So, we are looking at the future of mobile app development.
Soon, using Cloud Computing the internet is going to be interconnecting each and everything in our lives.
From LED bulbs to Refrigerators to thermostats, we already have intelligent gadgets that monitor the surroundings, your preferences, and a host of other factors to automatize itself the future of mobile app development is slow and steadily growing.
This is going to get even better with each and every one of these gadgets interconnected with each other, and controllable using your smartphone apps.
With all of these together, soon you will even have something close to an A. I butler of your own, which will take care of most of your household chores without you even having to raise a finger!
Mobile ECommerce is another booming industry rising and expanding more and more each day.
Each and every company is running behind building a smooth, attractive, and user-friendly app for their own company or brand because the world is rapidly switching to mobile shopping, on the go, in this fast-paced life and the future of mobile app development looks bright.
The increasing popularity of applications like Google Wallet, Paytm, and Apple Pay is facilitating users to make purchases using their mobile phone apps, instead of Credit/Debit cards or even cash.
Coupled with this, wearable devices able to process transactions directly are also going to play a huge role in the development of ECommerce in the near future.
With thousands and thousands of apps being developed and released every year, developers constantly face a monstrous race against time. Building a mobile app can be strenuous and extremely time-consuming as loads of different factors need to be considered, including the platform, the size of screens, etc.
This is why, in the future, more advanced developer tools, especially ones that make cross-platform app development easier, are going to be designed and built to shorten the amount of time needed, the resources needed, and the expenses incurred the future of mobile app development is evident.
Even with the rise of mobile apps and our smartphone-centric life, a large number of users still remain skeptical and unsure about using these apps.
This is a result of the constantly evolving security threats of internet-based devices and applications. Security is a huge concern for users, who are worried about the vast amounts of sensitive personal information that gets stored on our phones.
As hackers and cybercriminals become more and more advanced, high-security modules and encryption services are being advanced and perfected so as to prevent loss of data and safeguard users from danger.
However, mobile security is currently still at a very nascent stage as it is quite a challenging task for developers, owing to the varied number of 3rd party apps and malware floating on the internet.
However, the new age developer tools, added with the vast number of skilled developers and programmers will bring about a much more robust and extensive means of reinforcing mobile security and enhancing the future of mobile app development.
Already on the way to advancing both in scale and technology, app development is and will continue to be, an ever-expanding and progressing industry that will completely revolutionize our lives. In fact, very soon, apps themselves are going to cease to exist separately as we know it!
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U.S. Equestrian Team eyes potential reining team members at APHA World Show
FORT WORTH-Young equestrians interested in one day representing the United States in reining competitions around the world can move a step closer to their dream on June 28 during the American Paint Horse Association's (APHA) 2001 World Championship Paint Horse Show in Fort Worth, Texas. At that time, reiners between the ages of 16 and 21 will have the opportunity to compete in a Young Rider Reining Medal Class, which is being hosted by APHA in conjunction with the United States Equestrian Team (USET).
The event is designed to help USET test the abilities of individual reiners and identify future international riders. Through their participation in the Reining Medal Class, exhibitors will gain valuable horsemanship experience.
This is the first year USET is holding the Young Rider Reining Medal Class competition at select shows across the country. The competitions will take place from May 21, 2001 through May 20, 2002. The overall top 20 riders from USET competitions around the United States, plus those tied for 20th place, will go on to the "Festival of Champions" finals in Gladstone, N.J., next year.
"Holding this qualifying event at our World Show presents a great opportunity for us to help the United States Equestrian Team discover the talents of our members," said Tina Anderson, APHA director of shows. "We support what the USET is doing to encourage young riders to strive for excellence and we hope to see a large turnout of participants at our World Show."
Eligibility requirements. In order to participate, competitors must be USET members prior to the start of competition. They may take part in the Young Rider class competitions and championships from the beginning of the year they reach the age of 16 until the end of the year that they reach age 21. In addition, exhibitors at the APHA World Show must be current members of APHA, and horses must be registered in the association's Regular Registry or Breeding Stock Registry.
Judging and prizes. The class at the
APHA World Show will be conducted and judged in accordance with American Horse
Show Association (AHSA) Reining Rules and Guidelines, with the exception that
Young Riders will be permitted to ride stallions and do not need to own the
Future finals competition. The overall top 20 riders from USET competitions around the United States, plus any ties for 20th place, qualify for the finals at the USET Festival of Champions, based on points from qualifying classes held May 21, 2001 through May 20, 2002.
USET gold, silver and bronze Young Rider medals. Special awards will be given to reiners who have achieved outstanding competition records in qualifying classes. Winners of five USET Young Rider Reining Medal classes will receive a bronze medal, winners of 10 classes will receive a silver medal and winners of 15 classes will earn a gold medal.
APHA World Show and entry information. If you are interested in participating in the Young Rider Reining Medal Class at the APHA World Show, be sure to have your entry form postmarked by May 15 to avoid late fees. For complete entry information on the World Show, as well as details on the Young Rider Reining Medal Class, contact Ginger Theis, APHA director of youth activities, at (817) 834-2742, extension 248. The 2001 World Championship Paint Horse Show will be held June 24-July 7, at the Will Rogers Equestrian Center in Fort Worth, Texas.
On-line information. See http://www.aphaworldshow.com/ for more facts about the APHA World Show, including a complete show schedule.
Additional information about the United States Equestrian Team is available at the USET Web site at http://www.uset.org/.
Equiworld.Com Copyright Equiworld 2005. Equiworld is a registered trademark in the UK and/or other countries. Equiworld, Hayfield, Aberdeen, Scotland, AB15 8BB
To submit equestrian news items to Equiworld please visit, www.equiworld.com/horses/
To submit links to horse web sites please visit, www.equiworld.net/links/
Updated: October 2005.


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"Oh, how my soul praises the Lord.
How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!
For he took notice of his lowly servant girl,
and from now on all generations will call me blessed.
For the Mighty One is holy,
and he has done great things for me.
He shows mercy from generation to generation
to all who fear him.
His mighty arm has done tremendous things!
He has scattered the proud and haughty ones.
He has brought down princes from their thrones
and exalted the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away with empty hands.
He has helped his servant Israel
and remembered to be merciful.
For he made this promise to our ancestors,
to Abraham and his children forever."
Mary's Reaction to the News She Would be an unwed pregnant teenage Mother of God
Luke 1:46-55
New Living Translation (NLT)


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On the Days of Awe we stand humbled before God. Our belongings and our accomplishments do not ultimately protect us. We are mortal, finite and dependent. In our daily live, we often avoid facing this reality. We seek security through our work, our acquisitions, our power. The Days of Awe call us to strip ourselves of externals and to confront our humanness. We pray, "Shema Koleinu," or "Hear our prayer," for in our vulnerability we long for connection to the merciful one, to be held in the divine embrace. We exhort God, "Do not forsake us in our old age. When our powers fade, do not abandon us." The poignancy of this plea is overwhelming, for in it, we give voice to our darkest fear: that we will be abandoned in our moment of greatest weakness. We dread the prospect of being old, helpless and neglected, even more, perhaps, than dying.
This year, we don't need the prayer to remind us of this fear. For untold numbers of older people in New Orleans, the nightmare came to pass. Far from being revered and protected, elders were abandoned and victimized. The residents of St. Rita's Nursing Home, in St. Bernard Parish, waited for days for help that never came. Despite their frantic efforts to save themselves, barricading doors with wheelchairs and bureaus, at least 31 drowned in the raging waters. Older people waiting on highway overpasses were left behind as younger, stronger evacuees rushed past them to fill buses headed toward safety. Elders in shelters became prey for thieves and attackers. The safety of elders could not be assured, as was so tragically evidenced by the explosion of a bus carrying elderly evacuees fleeing Hurricane Rita.
Amid the darkness and chaos, there were acts of heroism and compassion, including the near-miraculous evacuation of all of the residents, staff and family members of Woldenberg Village, New Orleans' Jewish home for the elderly. With the help of Jewish communities around North America, all have been resettled in Dallas. Yet sadly, these sparks of goodness seem to have been the exception, not the rule.
We are so tiny and frail in the face of nature's unyielding force. Even more shattering, though, is the realization of our nation's moral frailty. Hurricane Katrina laid bare the vast poverty, racism and deprivation so many of us manage to routinely ignore; it challenged our basic sense of the fairness and humanity of our society.
In these Days of Awe, as we take stock, we ask, "Ma anu, me chayenu," or, "What are we? What are our lives? It is a truism, attributed variously to Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav; Gandhi; and the 19th-century women's rights advocate Elizabeth Cady Stanton, that a society can be judged by the way it treats its eldest and most vulnerable members.
Among the shameful horrors we must now confront is our shocking neglect of the old. If we can forget elders in a crisis of this magnitude, it can only mean that they are forgotten every day. We must acknowledge that our society has failed this basic test of humanity.
How far we are from realizing the biblical commandment, "Rise up before the gray-haired, and bring splendor, "hiddur," to the presence of the old." (Leviticus 19:32)
What can we learn from this tragedy? How can we look toward the future? The Shema Koleinu prayer asks, "Aseh imanu ot l'tovah, or "Make us a sign of goodness." Out of this shattering, may we become agents of repair. Let us confront blindness and insensitivity to poverty, age and frailty. Let us attend to the nearly one in four American Jews over 60 years old. Let us resolve that no older person should be abandoned or neglected. Let us reach out to the elders in our families, our neighborhoods, our synagogues, and our communities. Let us devote our personal and communal resources to ensure that our older parents, grandparents, neighbors and friends will be connected, honored and treasured.
We pray that God will be "our help and our comfort" as we ourselves must help and comfort. "Ki licha Adonai hochalnu," "For in You, God, we place our hope."
Rabbi Dayle A. Friedman is director of Hiddur: The Center for Aging and Judaism of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and the editor of the revised second edition of "Jewish Pastoral Care: A Practical Handbook from Traditional and Contemporary Sources."
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.