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Increases in airborne pollutants due to vehicular and industrial emissions pose a serious threat to wildlife and ecosystems. Plants and wildlife exposed to pollutants such as nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide can develop serious health problems. Amphibians or other species with thin skin are especially vulnerable to absorbing these chemicals.
Pollutants inhaled by animals can hurt them in several ways:
Sulfur dioxide released into the atmosphere combines with water, oxygen, and other chemicals to form acid rain. Exposure to acid rain can damage plant communities by disrupting the processes involved in photosynthesis. Plants weakened by acid rain are more likely to develop root rot and suffer from insect damage and disease. The weakening of plant communities is very detrimental to the overall health of the ecosystem and the animals that inhabit it.
Air pollution and global warming
Another serious environmental threat caused by air pollution is global warming. Even slight increases in temperatures can drastically affect sensitive ecosystems like coral reefs. Carbon dioxide is the main culprit behind global warming, and is a by-product of burning fossil fuels. The main sources of carbon dioxide include cars, planes, factories and power plants.
Have a great animal video we should know about? Want to contribute content to Jeff Corwin Connect Email us here


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"Never Should Have" chanteuse Ashanti stopped by Arsenio, a show that I did not know had been revived until just now (finger on the pulse, folks!), to plug her Christmas EP A Wonderful Christmas With Ashanti and promote Braveheart, arriving in spring 2016. (Just kidding! It's coming out next year, guys. Swear.)
That said! Her jazzy rendition was a delight, and during an interview, she talked at length about her relationship (and breakup) with rapper Nelly and how she's found a new life as an actress on various Lifetime original programming franchises. She also dodged questions about her current romantic life by explaining: "What's special in my life is my album Braveheart." Solid #braveheartpromo.
Watch her performance up top, then see the interview below.
Get an eyeful of even more pop music coverage, from artist interviews to exclusive performances, on Idolator's YouTube channel.
You might also like

subset: commoncrawl


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Brand:Damier Ebene Canvas
Description: A reinterpretation of the Keepall travel bag,the rounded shape of the Speedy 35 Ebony N41523 reveals a very spacious interior.Louis Vuitton is absolutely the epitome of eternal fashion and exquisite craftsmanship.
Damier Azur canvas,textile lining and natural cowhide trimmings;
Shiny brass pieces;
Zipper closure with a padlock;
Inside patch pocket;
Hand held;
Supplied with a padlock.
13.8' x 8.3' x 6.7'
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Audio-Technica AT-LP120-USB Professional Turntable
A professional stereo turntable featuring a high-torque direct-drive motor
Product Code: at-lp120-usb
Sale £209.00 (inc. VAT)
Was: £279.00
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The AT-LP120-USB from Audio-Technica is a professional turntable featuring a 3 speed, reversible, direct-drive motor with gives unprecedented torque for a turntable in this price bracket. Its platter is high-grade cast aluminium and the turntable is supplied with an Audio-Technica branded slip mat. The tonearm, with its anti skate mechanism, has a look and feel that is reminiscent of the classic Technics 1200. The pitch slider has a pleasing well-engineered feel, ranges from +/- 10 % or +/-20% and has a LED to indicate when you're at zero.
The AT-LP120-USB has a party piece in the form of an in-built pre-amplifier which swaps between line level and phono signals negating the need for an external pre-amp and making it incredibly 'plug and playable'. Whilst the AT-LP120-USB is compatible with all cartridges it is supplied with Audio Technica's AT95E, as well as a copy of Audacity and a USB cable for digitising your ever growing vinyl collection.
AT-LP120-USB Direct-Drive Professional Turntable
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Recent Comments
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- Jim Geelen, Bert Gerards, and Geoff Whittle Solved Rota's Conjecture on Matroids
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- Next Week in Jerusalem: Special Day on Quantum PCP, Quantum Codes, Simplicial Complexes and Locally Testable Codes
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Tag Archives: Yael Karshon
Symplectic Geometry, Quantization, and Quantum Noise
Over the last two meetings of our HU quantum computation seminar we heard two talks about symplectic geometry and its relations to quantum mechanics and quantum noise. Yael Karshon: Manifolds, symplectic manifolds, Newtonian mechanics, quantization, and the non squeezing theorem. … Continue reading


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Spectators were stunned as a MINI Cooper S lost control all of a sudden on the 6th turn of the final lap of the 2010 Ipswich 300 event at the Queensland Raceway. The driver, Kain Magro, couldn't pinpoint what caused him to lose control, but the car ended up rolling towards and ultimately barreling over the protective barrier that stood between the track and the fans. Thankfully, only two spectators were taken to the hospital and they were released with no serious injuries.
This was 23-year-old Magro's first time competing at the Ipswich event and was doing so alongside his brother, John Magro who stated that both men will be returning to the racetrack soon. Miraculously, Kain Magro was able to walk away from the Mini completely unharmed even though the video shown above will demonstrate a dramatic crash that shows the car rolling and flipping as if it were a piece of paper getting blown away by a breeze.
The fact that no one was seriously injured during this catastrophe is an absolute miracle in itself.


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Paul & Christi's Lindy Boot Camp – 09 Aug
Join Paul & Christi for a full day of Lindy Classes during the Fringe Festival!
Venue: Carlton Centre; Saturday 09 Aug
11am-1pm Aerial Attack (air steps & tricks)
2pm-5pm Ground Assault (int adv / adv lindy)
Plus an evening dance with a military theme!
£18 for all-day pass / £30 per couple – Partner needed for air steps.
Classes / dance also priced separately.
To book, please contact firstname.lastname@example.com and join on facebook to stay up-to-date


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Washington Papers Consolidated Index | R | Rice, John (2)
From Major General John Armstrong, 19 December 1777 [Revolutionary War Series 12:633]
– id. [1 reference]
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Brian Bosworth will forever be remembered as an outspoken and opinionated football player whose pro career ended far too soon. Today, he's making movies like Revelation Road—with TNA wrestler Sting—out now on DVD. We caught up with "The Boz" to talk about movies, steroids, and the biggest problems facing the NFL and NCAA.
See our complete interview with Sting >>
Muscle & Fitness: Are you aware of how you're remembered? Does it bother you that you're often called a bust?
Brian Bosworth: Usually the people who are saying he's a bust are people who have their own agenda, they either didn't like me or had a preconceived notion of who I was. They didn't like "The Boz". I would be surprised if any of those guys have any knowledge of what a bust truly is. If you go back and chronologically look at the career that I had, albeit short, I came in late, came in at a different position than I had in college, played two games then went on strike for four weeks, came back played another seven or eight games, was defensive player of the game on a couple of different occasions. And under intense scrutiny and intense pressure, on a very old football team, still made the playoffs for the first time in seven years, was second on the team in tackles, and dislocated my shoulder against the Houston Oilers and continued to play on it anyway. If anyone took the time to look back and see what really happened to Boz, what was the undoing of him physically as a football player—having all of those interruptions as a first-year player… when we went to the NY Jets to play my rookie year, it wasn't the Seattle Seahawks against the Jets. It was Brian Bosworth. So it was a complete clown show.
Then you get into year two, I was told before the season even started by my doctor, "Don't play. You need surgery. If you play on it, there's a good chance you can end your career." Then you have the Seattle Seahawks, who, the owners, the Nordstroms, they wanted to be as popular as possible because they were trying to sell the team. So if you take the only player who has name recognition and you put him on the sidelines, then suddenly they've become the same old Seattle Seahawks, that team up there in the Northwest. So by playing that second year, and being encourage by the coach and the GM that, "Oh, it's a minor injury and we'll take care of it after the season and we'll just continue to shoot your shoulder up with pain medication, and by the end of the season, because we're so close to the Super Bowl and you're going to lead us there, and oh, by the way, we're going to take you from that position we were going to play you in last year…"
You're talking to a kid who's 22 years old and was raised in the atmosphere with his father who coached me when I was 8, 9 years old in the pup leagues—and I'm bleeding out of the eyes and ears, hurt, and your dad is screaming at you "You're not hurt, get back out there!" You're programmed to turn pain off. So I'm turning pain off and ignoring my body. I'm 75% at the beginning of the year, and my play diminished. They said, "Oh, he can hit the guy, but he doesn't wrap him up." Well, I can't wrap anybody up because my shoulder doesn't work. Are you going to define me as a bust based on the fact that I broke my shoulder? Bo Jackson is another great example. He pulls his hip out, and now he can't run as fast, hit as hard, get around corners. If that had happened in his first or second year, they'd call him a bust, too. So they say, "Oh, well his injury caused him to have a joint replacement." Well, guess what? I've got two joint replacements.


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Definition of Sorbian in English:
SorbianSyllabification: Sorb·i·an
Pronunciation: /ˈsôrbēən /
Of or relating to the Sorbs or their language.
More example sentences
- Many Sorbian graduates of Wittenberg later evangelized among the Slovaks because their languages were so similar.
- Over the course of centuries, Sorbian population was often decimated (almost half of the population died during the Thirty Years War), and Sorbs came to be discriminated against in many ways.
- The 500 or so Sorbian immigrants who arrived in Galveston, Texas, in 1854 were primarily bilingual, speaking German and Wendish, and called themselves German Wends.
nounBack to top
The West Slavic language of the Sorbs, which has been revived from near extinction and has around 70,000 speakers. Also called Wendish or Lusatian.
More example sentences
- The surprise is all the more mysterious because the poetry that he wrote is not available in English; the five-volume critical edition of his works being published is in his native Sorbian.
- These include Faroese, Modern Hebrew, Irish, Upper Sorbian, Urdu, and Welsh.
- Ladin and Sorbian (not Serbian) are alive and well in Germany.
Definition of Sorbian in:
- The British & World English dictionary
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Word of the day flagitious
Pronunciation: fləˈjiSHəs
(of a person or their actions) criminal; villainous


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Visit our other websites:
As many of you will know, John Housecroft has provided us with IT support for many years. Due to our continued growth we now need a full-time IT Manager and I am delighted to confirm that John has accepted this position.
Please join me in welcoming John into his new role.
General | MMCG
© Maria Mallaband Care Group 2010


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Walmart Fires Back at Tracy Morgan
Searching for Survivors in Japan After Mt. Ontake Volcano Erupts
GoPro Billionaires: Why Didn't I Think of That?
Instant Index: George Clooney's Wedding Finale
Mysterious Respiratory Virus Striking Children May Have Links to Paralysis
Forensic Evidence in the Missing UVA Student Case Linked to Another Mystery
Threat of Severe Weather Still Looming
University of Michigan Football Coach Under Fire
Life Changing Moment for NASCAR Great
How Far Did the Armed Intruder Get at the White House?
Derek Jeter's All Star Life
Real-Time Carjacking Caught on Tape


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From CES: Retrevo Gang, Day 2 - Apple and more
Every day at CES last week we met with the Retrevo Gang - folks from Retrevo, the consumer electronics search engine, who held court and talked about the latest news - Apple iPhone and other gadgets. On the second day, San Jose Mercury News tech columnist Dean Takahashi dropped by for a chat with Vipin Jain, Retrevo's CEO, and Andrew Eisner, Retrevo's biggest gadget freak.
Tags: CES, Retrevo Gang, iPhone, gadgets, Dean Takahashi, Vipin Jain, Andrew Eisner


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Power back on for most after stormThe Associated Press | June 24,2013RUTLAND - An intense thunder storm and high winds have swept through central Vermont, knocking out power to thousands of homes and businesses, mostly in the Rutland area.
The National Weather Service says the fierce storms began around 5:30 p.m. Sunday and quickly caused outages.
Green Mountain Power reported 10,000 customers without power. By this morning, that number was down to about 300.
Company spokeswoman Dorothy Schnure said in a statement this morning that the storm brought down many power lines and trees. She said since much of the damage was concentrated in Rutland, crews were able to come together in one area and restore power quickly.
Weather reports indicate the potential for more storms this week.MORE IN This Just InCASTLETON - Police have released a picture of a man who robbed a convenience store Monday night. Full StoryBy Gordon Dritschilo Full StoryStaff Report Full Story
- Most Popular
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- RICHARD'S POOR ALMANACK: Dutch father of microbiology Antonie van Leeuwenhoek discovers the existence of one-celled organisms; in 1967, The Doors are booked to play the Ed Sullivan show; in 1858, freedom fighter Dred Scott dies on this day in St. Louis.
- TOMORROW'S HEADLINES TODAY: No money this year for western rail project, Lola Aiken memorialized in Montpelier, Supreme Court Castleton murder suspect will remain in jail, Shaftbury man fires shots from his AK-47 into neighbor's home.
- RICHARD'S POOR ALMANACK: On this day in 1959, Soviet Premier Nikita S. Khrushchev arrives in U.S. for historic 13-day visit; in 1987, Secretary of State George Shultz and Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze sign nuclear reduction agreement.
- TOMORROW'S HEADLINES TODAY: City celebrates completion of its newest mural, on West Street opposite the post office, more than $2 million in federal grants will bolster Vermont's health centers, Patrick McArdle reports on pending sale of Vermont papers.
- RICHARD'S POOR ALMANACK: Henry Hudson sails up the Hudson River as far as present-day Albany, Leo Szilard has epiphany waiting for the light to change, 3 kids report a West Virginia close encounter in 1952.
- TOMORROW'S HEADLINES TODAY: Who will run for mayor in Rutland next year? Has Bennington overcome its fear of twerking? Documentary 'Hungry Heart' packs the Paramount, and the city's Creek Path scores another million-plus dollars.


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I am epileptic
I suffer from petite-mal seizures. If I am speaking, I stop mid sentence. I will stop whatever it is I am doing. It looks as if I'm staring off into space and have lost focus.
It is difficult to explain what I experience in my mind. I am transported to another reality. Sometimes it is frightening, other times not. When it is frightening, I may quickly walk away into another room, as if to escape danger.
These seizures never last for more than a few minutes. They can be brought on by stress or anxiety, or come out of nowhere.
I recently have experienced a few while serving tables at my restaurant. That can be embarrassing. But usually, I deal with this just at home.
I am epileptic.


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Team X: The Thundercats!
From time to time, a group from CEE431: Construction Contracting stops by to use Design Lab 1 facilities. They have been working since the beginning of the semester on preparing a construction bid for Fire Station No. 6 in Ann Arbor. This building has already been built, but the exercise is meant to help students develop skills including but not limited to scheduling, quantity takeoffs, critical path analysis and budgeting.
The students, also known as "Team X: The Thundercats!" work in Design Lab 1 because it is able to accommodate their unusual needs–they require workshop height tables to examine construction documents as well as computing programs and monitors available in the Digital Media Commons. They also utilized the projection system to rehearse their Case Study presentation earlier in the year. Good luck Thundercats!!
The course, taught by Professor Rasha Stino is available in both the Fall and Winter semesters.


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Heart and Mind is much more about coming out with a campaign and showboating with promises and rewards.
People like Colin Powell, Michael Jordan, Ong Teng Cheong and Chiam See Tong are people who went beyond the call of duty. Their conviction to win, their abilities to stand up again failures after failures. Their humility to admit that they have failed, and willingness to try harder. They work hard, not relying on fancy gadgets, marketing campaigns or even to sabotage their adverseries.
In real life, we face struggles constantly, even daily. Like a caterpillar that is transforming to becoming a butterfly, it creeps out slowly, building muscle to fly later. When we face trials, lets know that there are many others who have faced the same challenges, in work, studies, or relationships, and have passed the tests, in betterment of themselves. Likewise, lets try to be strong, and when we fail, lets examine the points of failures and not blame others.
On a personal note, certain organisations may wind our minds with certain campaigns. When the truth is uncovered, there are much questions with ethics practices and mindsets. THUS, be careful who you select to be models. Those who do well in status and have deep pockets, and losing trust and family bonds, these are REAL LOSERS….


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Mel Gibson joined Anthony Pettis cageside to watch UFC Fight Night live this past Saturday and show off his biceps. Mel joined Octagon girls Rachelle Leah and Chrissy Blair for a picture during the event. Check it out below.
Shouted out after victory to the UFC masses, BJPENN.COM is the home to multiple time champion BJ Penn. After a decade of on-line operation BJPENN.COM has evolved into the most reliable destination for all your fighter interviews, fighter blogs and MMA/UFC news stories.
Download Media Kit


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did you know that prior to owning this blogging empire i was very poor and at one time almost died from common influenza? the world moves faster than you can blink. where would you be in 2010? what will you do? if you're just a grain of sand on the beach of information?
in the beginning there was the cloud. then the cloud evaporated and a new cloud formed above it. and the new cloud is.. *drum rolls* zumodrive!!
the idea is the same, super awesome cloud storage accessible from anywhere, regardless of device or storage space. in simple terms, your 16gb netbook could tap into a mammoth of a 250gb file stash, and your 8gb pda or smartphone could stream 500gb of videos.
it's all free up to 1gb (the other cloud offered 2gb free) and monthly subscriptions start at $2.99. see how it all works after the jump.
update: apparently dropbox syncs, zumo doesn't. while zumo allows you to free your local harddrive and stream from your online storage, with slow internet connections this is an overkill. so i'm sticking with dropbox since it allows me to have offline copies of all my files and only sync the incremental differences between my other computers and devices.
i'm tasting a slice of cloud data storage with dropbox now. this is a good example of a new technology executed well and simple in a very easy and straightforward fashion. first you download the app. then on your first launch you will be asked to open a new account. and then.. that's it! your own personal cloud storage, all 2gb of it, free. you can drag and drop files and folders like it was on your own computer. if you need more space they offer 50gb at $9.99/mo but i'm just gonna play around with my 2gb until i get comfortable.
what i like the most about dropbox besides the intuitive user interface (and web interface) is the team — comprised of mixed individuals from all walks of life. this gives me that warm and fuzzy feeling that my data stored with them will be safe.
in search for a cure for cancer, a retired tv station owner discovered instead a potential free energy source, saltwater. using radio waves he heats saltwater and 'burns' it into flames at 300 degrees fahrenheit. his invention could run a small engine and he hopes that one day it could fuel cars.
this is great news for the world, but i bet my ass the oil companies will hit him up with all they got. so i hope the government would fund his further research and 'protect' him because free energy could be the end to one of the world's biggest problems today.
I don't video chat cuz my connection is crap but this makes me wanna move to a foreign country where the pipes are wider and people can see each other's facial expression from miles apart.
Following the invention of Repliee Q1 the Japs are on it again with a new toy for those lonely dudes out there.
Introducing Actroid, a female, life-like robot that doesn't quite move – yet. There's nothing really special about her except the fact that she's actually cute, and they wrapped her with more sex this time. So guys if you're an utter failure in relationships, you might want to learn from the Japs.
From Akihabara News via Gizmodo.
The rumors about broadband over power lines is as old as my misery in motion, but it's not ever going to happen. Now Matsushita brings it up again. They claim to have built a chip that enables you to use your traditional power plug to relay data. I guess we'll just have to wait and see, but my doubts are high since the entire world is evil and people are totally agains't cheap efficient technology.
This is a nifty idea Matsushita (manufacturer of Panasonic) has come up with. And if it's for real, I'm really psyched to see it in action. Seems the Japanese-based company is developing a technology that will let you use a household plug to connect to broadband Internet. Goodbye networking hassles, hello electric socket. Basically, the socket will relay not only electricity, but data as well. Though this actual technology isn't new, Matsushita's tech lets them deliver broadband information at up to 170 mbps—which is even faster than Ethernet. So all you'll have to do is attach a special device with an embedded chip (made by Matsushita of course) into a socket, plug in a product and you'll be connected to broadband. Imagine the home networking you could do with this? Kitchen of the future? Hell yeah! The hope is to sell products with the chips already embedded, so you won't have the extra attachable device to worry about.
This is speculation but I can't help to think that this will embrace our future.
What if Google (GOOG) wanted to give Wi-Fi access to everyone in America? And what if it had technology capable of targeting advertising to a user's precise location? The gatekeeper of the world's information could become one of the globe's biggest Internet providers and one of its most powerful ad sellers, basically supplanting telecoms in one fell swoop. Sounds crazy, but how might Google go about it?
What about Asia? Some multi million dollar company out there should consider this. I like Google, and nothing beats FREE, but any one person or company with too much power is prone for disaster.
What do you think?
He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name. ~ Revelations 13:15-17
President Bush's former Health and Human Services Secretary, Tommy Thompson is getting an RFID implant. Thompson is on the board of Applied Digital, owner of RFID vendor VeriChip and he claims to volunteer for the Mark of the Beast for promotional reasons.
Thompson said people will eventually get beyond any queasy feelings about having a chip implanted.
"It will prevent babies from being picked up by the wrong people in a maternity ward and make sure people in nursing homes don't walk away," Thompson said.
So far, about 7,000 chips for people have been sold, with about 2,000 implanted worldwide, said Scott R. Silverman, chairman and chief executive of Applied Digital, which owns VeriChip.
I don't care what his real intentions are, the chip is pretty useless:
Once Thompson gets chipped, chances are it won't help him in an emergency. Only two hospitals – Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston – read the chips, Silverman said.
Besides, this isn't quite what I had in mind for my future:
The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land, and ugly and painful sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshipped his image. ~ Revelations 16:2
Link via BoingBoing.
I haven't felt like blogging much but there were rather interesting things I had been meaning to post and simply found myself too lazy to. So here they are:
- Metabrains in select Aibos to artifice learning and curiosity
- EFF Legal Guide for Bloggers: Know your rights!
- Apple switches to x86: Time for a new revolution against Microfuck
That's all until I get my blogging mood back.


text:
Item Description :
Brand: Salvatore Ferragamo
Style: Brooch
Length (cm): w3.3cm h3.3 (approx)
Length (inches): w1.3" h1.3" (approx)
Main color: Gold
Comes with: None (NO BOX BROOCH ONLY)
Item Condition :SA
Good used condition.
Please check with photo.
Item Condition Grade:
NS : New or new without tag
S : Like new,used only a few times.
SA : Excellent condition,Pre owned but no noticeable damage.
A : Very good condition,Used several times has a bit of signs of gentle use.
AB : Good condition,Slight signs of use such as minor scratches or stains.
B : OK condition,Pre owned with normal signs of use.
BC : Used condition,Pre owned with signs of use,But not heavily damaged.
C : Vintage,Pre owned with visible signs of use and have some damage.
D : Very Vintage,Pre owned,badly-damaged.


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A journal comic of my gay and flamboyant life.
-Me and my friends swearing like sailors
-Family drama
-Hopeless romance
-Ridiculous things you wouldn't expect most people to do
15 Apr 2013 05:18 am
Author's Comments:
Reply moosefroos, 15 Apr 2013 05:18 am
The beginning starts off with me going on vacation(China) to meet my stepfamily.
Reply Advertisement, 02 Oct 2014 02:20 am
User's Comments:
Reply MegaAnimeFreak7, 16 Apr 2013 12:20 am
Reply Such and Such, 16 Apr 2013 02:43 am
LEE, YOU'RE BACK!!! I MISSED YOU AND YOUR COMICS SO MUCH!! I hope you're doing well, in a way. :D
Reply moosefroos, 16 Apr 2013 04:00 am
@Such and Such: THANK YOU SO MUCH DEAR
Reply kawaii blackrose, 16 Apr 2013 01:16 pm
you're back!! i would always look forward to your updates on mcdonalds mishaps but was soo sad when out of the blue( had no internet for 2 months) -boop- you disappeared i was soo confused and now you're back.... you make me soo happy
Reply moosefroos, 16 Apr 2013 01:43 pm
@kawaii blackrose: Aw I'm so sorry honey ;____; I be sure to not go away anymore
Reply ItzyBitzyDitzy, 18 Apr 2013 05:31 am
Welcome back! We've all missed you bunches! <3
Reply kattriella, 26 Apr 2013 06:10 pm
Lee! Yay! You're back! I was really sad when I realized McDonalds Mishaps was gone a while back . . . So it's great to find you again, and with a new comic! :)
Reply Jae (Guest), 14 May 2013 06:40 am
YAY I read your old comic religiously and it made me laugh more than anything else on this site! I was so sad that MM was gone, I used to click on my dead bookmark every once and awhile and frown. But now that you're back I'm insanely happy! I'm glad you're alive bro!
Reply DraculinaMarcelle, 23 Jul 2013 03:23 am
Marcy Bro... I just realized- I can rate this comic like "1-5 stars" but they're flames... I rate this 5 flames because you're fantastic and because you described it as a journal of your gay and FLAMboyant life. I'msosorry......
Reply cry*aotic1715 (Guest), 01 Aug 2013 11:30 pm
LOL, Lee you were like, so happy until your mom said that...God Mom... haha
Reply Cryingblujay, 02 Aug 2013 07:58 pm
Oh my god please tell me there's somewhere I can read McDonald mishaps!;-; It's not gone from the web everywhere right?! ;A; I see fan art of it. It looks amazing. ;A;
Reply moosefroos, 02 Aug 2013 08:09 pm
@Cryingblujay: It's been deleted long ago :'D I'm sorry
Reply Cryingblujay, 04 Aug 2013 05:14 am
D..Darn it... D': Okay... Was it about your life as well? ;-;
Reply moosefroos, 04 Aug 2013 02:55 pm
@Cryingblujay: MM was about my life yes but only at the place I work. FML is anything in general.
Reply Bloody-Rose97, 28 Aug 2013 03:30 pm
You're back! :D
Reply A. R. Valentina, 04 Sep 2013 07:37 pm
Panel 2 is so cute! :3
Reply Cute2KnowU, 15 Apr 2014 10:02 pm
OMFG! You draw and color soooooo DAMN CAH-UUTE~ Just +Faved this!
Reply moosefroos, 19 Jul 2014 03:23 pm
@Guest: LMAO chill
Post A Comment


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The 2013-2014 APSA MSRP Recruiting Graduate Departments in the Minority Student Recruitment Program are located at the following universities. Please click on the links below to visit each APSA Recruiting Graduate Department's homepage.
If your graduate department is not yet a participant in MSRP and you would like to join, or find out about the benefits of your department becoming a Recruiting Graduate Department, please login to your DSPonline account to sign up or update your departmental contact information. You may also contact APSA at [email protected] with any questions.
2013-2014 Participating Political Science Graduate Departments:
Indiana University, Bloomington
University of California, Davis
University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, Riverside
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Maryland, College Park
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Washington University in St. Louis


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I ALWAYS PUT CREDIT ON MY ORIGINAL POSTS, since usually the pictures are taken from DeviantArt, and I have a LOT of respect for the artists. Also, I have permission to post them, since I always ask the artists on dA for permission.
The posts that have no credit are reblogged from other blogs.
I'm sure her body's photoshopped; lots of cosplayers retouch their photos. But I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't. I...
When I cosplayed mistress 9. I WANTED TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT. FUCK


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Sicco Mansholt
|This article needs additional citations for verification. (February 2014)
|Sicco Mansholt
|Sicco Mansholt in 1967
|4th President of the European Commission
|In office
22 March 1972 – 6 January 1973
|Vice President
|Wilhelm Haferkamp
|Preceded by
|Franco Maria Malfatti
|Succeeded by
|François-Xavier Ortoli
|1st European Commissioner for Agriculture
|In office
1 January 1958 – 21 March 1972
|Walter Hallstein
Jean Rey
Franco Maria Malfatti
|Succeeded by
|Carlo Scarascia-Mugnozza
|Minister of Agriculture, Fishing, and Food Supply
|In office
24 June 1945 – 1 January 1958
|Prime Minister
|Wim Schermerhorn
Louis Beel
Willem Drees
|Preceded by
|Hans Gispen (Agriculture)
Jim de Booy (Fishing)
|Succeeded by
|Kees Staf
|Personal details
|Sicco Leendert Mansholt
13 September 1908
Ulrum, Netherlands
|29 June 1995
(aged 86)
Wapserveen, Netherlands
|Political party
|Social Democratic Workers' Party (1937–1946)
Labour Party (1946–1995)
Sicco Leendert Mansholt (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈsɪkoː ˈleːndərt ˈmɑnsɦɔlt]; 13 September 1908 – 29 June 1995) was a Dutch politician of the Social Democratic Workers' Party and Labour Party. He was the Dutch Minister of Agriculture, Fishing, and Food Supply (1945–1958), European Commissioner for Agriculture (1958–1972), and fourth President of the European Commission (1972–1973). He is one of the architects of the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union.
Early life and studies[edit]
Sicco Leendert Mansholt was born on 13 September 1908 in Ulrum, Groningen, Netherlands.[1]
Mansholt came from a socialist farmer's family in the Dutch province of Groningen. Both his father and grandfather were supporters of early socialist leaders such as Multatuli, Domela Nieuwenhuis and Troelstra. His father, Lambertus H. Mansholt, was a delegate for the socialist SDAP party in the Groningen provincial chamber. His mother, Wabien Andreae, daughter of a judge in Heerenveen, was one of the first women to have studied Political Science. She organised political meetings for other women, usually in their own homes.
Mansholt attended the HBS-school in Groningen and after that went to Deventer, to the School of Tropical Agriculture,[1] where he studied to become a tobacco farmer.
He moved to Java in the Dutch East Indies, nowadays Indonesia, and started work on a tea plantation.
He returned to the Netherlands in 1936, unhappy with the colonial system. He wanted to become a farmer and moved to the Wieringermeer, a polder, reclaimed in 1937. There he started his own farm.
He married Henny J. Postel in 1938, and they had two sons and two daughters.[1]
In the years of the Second World War he was an active member of the Resistance. He helped people who were in acute danger to hide in the Wieringermeerpolder; he organised clandestine food distributions for the western provinces.
Local politics[edit]
Mansholt became a member of the Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP) in 1937,[1] as a secretary of the local party. He had several public functions for the SDAP in Wieringermeer, including that of acting mayor of the Wieringermeer community.
Minister of Agriculture[edit]
Immediately after the war, in June 1945, socialist PvdA Prime Minister Schermerhorn asked him to take a seat in his cabinet as minister of Agriculture, Fishery and Food Distribution. He was the youngest member of a cabinet, aged only 36.
He was a member of 6 cabinets in total: Schermerhorn-Drees in 1945; Beel in 1946; Drees-Van Schaik in 1948, and another three Drees administrations: 1951, 1952 and 1956. As Minister of Agriculture during this time, he was one of the key architects of the EC's Common Agricultural Policy. In 1954 the parliamentary debate about the budget for the Department of Agriculture was postponed: the Minister was ice-skating the 200 kilometer long Elfstedentocht in the Dutch province of Friesland, which he skated twice in his life.
European Commission[edit]
In 1958, he became one of the Commissioners of the new European Commission. He was Commissioner for Agriculture and vice-president of the institution. He modernized European agriculture.
He became President of the European Commission on 22 March 1972 (Mansholt Commission) and continued in that position until 5 January 1973. It was around that time he was heavily under the influence of Club of Rome.
Life after politics[edit]
Mansholt published his autobiography De Crisis (The Crisis) in 1974.[1]
He lived his last years in on an old historic farm in the quiet village of Wapserveen in the province of Drenthe (north-east Netherlands), where he died there on 29 June 1995.[1]
His daughter Lideke also died in 1995, aged 53.
Further reading[edit]
- Johan van Merriënboer: Mansholt: A biography, Brussels: Peter Lang, 2011, 642pp., ISBN 9052017573
External links[edit]
- Media related to Sicco Mansholt at Wikimedia Commons
|Political offices
|Preceded by
Hans Gispen
as Minister of Trade, Industry, and Agriculture
|Minister of Agriculture, Fishing, and Food Supply
|Succeeded by
Kees Staf
|Preceded by
Jim de Booy
as Minister of Shipping and Fishing
|Preceded by
Gerardus Huysmans
|Minister of Economic Affairs
|Succeeded by
Jan van den Brink
|New office
|European Commissioner for Agriculture
|Succeeded by
Carlo Scarascia-Mugnozza
|New office
|Vice-President of the European Commission
Served alongside: Robert Marjolin, Piero Malvestiti, Giuseppe Caron, Guido Colonna, Lionello Sandri, Fritz Hellwig, Raymond Barre, Wilhelm Haferkamp
|Succeeded by
Wilhelm Haferkamp
|Dutch European Commissioner
Served alongside: Maan Sassen
|Succeeded by
Pierre Lardinois
|Preceded by
Franco Maria Malfatti
|President of the European Commission
|Succeeded by
François-Xavier Ortoli
- 1908 births
- 1995 deaths
- Dutch European Commissioners
- Dutch farmers
- Dutch politicians
- Dutch Resistance members
- Labour Party (Netherlands) politicians
- Mayors of places in the Netherlands
- Members of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands
- Ministers of Agriculture of the Netherlands
- People from De Marne
- Presidents of the European Commission


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Definition of Esophagogastroduodenoscopy
Esophagogastroduodenoscopy: Also known as EGD or upper endoscopy. A procedure that enables the examiner (usually a gastroenterologist) to examine the esophagus (the swallowing tube), stomach, and duodenum (the first portion of small bowel) using a thin flexible tube (a "scope") that can be looked through or seen on a TV monitor. (A great crossword puzzle/trivia term!)Source: MedTerms™ Medical Dictionary
Last Editorial Review: 8/28/2013
Medical Dictionary Definitions A - Z
Search Medical Dictionary
From WebMD
Digestive Disorders Resources
- Could Your Symptoms Be Lactose Intolerance?
- How to Save Money on Health Care
- Heartburn & Indigestion: Expert Answers


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Interaction design, branding & creative solutions in both digital & print.
About Me
With over 12 years experience, I'm now joint director of '
Brown & White Creative Ltd', setup by Susannah White and myself offering a freelance service of interaction design, branding and creative solutions in both digital and print. We will work independently or as a creative team. I specialise in interaction, conceptual and visual design, applying a work process to suit the clients requirements.
If you're an agency and require some outside creativity or need help with work overspill, I'm always looking for new exciting projects and to work on with new clients, so please get in touch.
- Interaction design, typography & layout
- Creative thinking & conceptual design
- Visual design
- Online brand implementation
- User experience (UX, UI, IA, Usability, user-centered design)
- Marker pen visuals and wireframes
- Mobile Applications
- Art direction
My Flickr
Selected for the 2013 Awwwards Jury
I have been selected as 1 of the 65 jury members from over 600 applicants for 2013.
My Work Published in Web Design Index Vol 9
Sick City Club and Zaum & Brown sites have both been published in Web Design Index Volume 9.
Interview on Web Designers Interviews
My first ever interview can be found on Web Designers Interviews.
Work Published in The Web Designers Idea Book Vol 2
My work has been published in the upcoming book, both zaum.co.uk and sickcityclub.net has been included.
Rich Brown on Netdiver
My website has been featured on the prestigious NetDiver, same day as Andy Ward... 2 features in 1 day!
Andy Ward on Netdiver
Andy Ward's website has also been featured on NetDiver.
The CSS Awards — Site of the Day
Thanks to the jury, I was awarded site of the day by The CSS Awards.
Featured on Strangefruits
Andy Ward & Rich Brown sites have been featured on Strangefruits.
My Work Got Published
My flyer design has been featured in a double page spread of the Japanese publication 'The image of business cards today.'
My Work Featured on Site Inspire
The Skyline has been featured on Site Inspire...
I'm a CSS All Star
I've been featured in the UK Web Designer magazine, the article is about CSS All Stars!


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pacific-northwest Subscribe to Feed
Wins for Wildlife
Thank you for all the actions you've taken to help protect wildlife! Here are some victories from 2013 that wildlife advocates like you helped make possible. Breaking Through on Climate Change Answering the call of wildlife advocates and the hundreds of […] Read more >
The Dangers of Dirty Coal for Wildlife in the Pacific Northwest
Whale watching off the coast in Puget Sound is one of the most spectacular and time-honored traditions in the Pacific Northwest. But the beauty of seeing some of the world's largest animals in their natural habitat could become a spectacle […] Read more >
A Crucial Few Days to Help Orca and Speak Out Against Dirty Coal
Critically endangered orcas in the Pacific Northwest rely on a diet almost exclusively of salmon that swim into the Puget Sound from fresh waters like the Columbia River. Sadly, the once thriving Pacific salmon that return every year to the […] Read more >
Coal Exports Travel Too Close to Our Wildlife and Iconic Places
Coal, once a keystone to the American identity, is having trouble staying competitive. With natural gas prices low and the demand for responsible energy options high, coal no longer has a solid place in the American market. So now coal […] Read more >
The Latest Dirty Coal Threat to Endangered Orcas
As another proposal for a massive coal export terminal in the Pacific Northwest barrels through the review and approval process, officials are hearing a force of voices from across the region warning of threats to the environment, wildlife and important […] Read more >
Continuing the Fight to Save Orcas in the Pacific Northwest
Today, less than 90 orcas live in Puget Sound. Known as Southern Resident Orcas, these cetaceans rely on salmon and other fish for their primary source of food. The population is not stable, dipping down by 30% over the last […] Read more >
Video: The Beautiful Life of Orcas
Yesterday a friend sent me this three minute video of orca whales traveling through a pass near Vancouver Island. It is so beautiful and such a rich glimpse into how orcas live, right along the Pacific shoreline. It made my afternoon — sparkling deep blue […] Read more >
The Survival of the Salmon is at Stake
Guest post by Michael O'Leary With coal pollution already contributing to ocean acidification, rising stream temperatures, and toxic pollution from mercury and chemicals that wreck havoc on the fragile food web, there's no doubt that the plans of the coal […] Read more >
Keep Up the Fight to Stop Coal Exports in Oregon
Good news came last week in the battle to protect Oregon's fish and wildlife from toxic coal pollution. Thanks to support from wildlife advocates like you, multi-billion dollar coal giant Ambre Energy experienced a major setback in its plans to […] Read more >
Arizona Mine Threatens Endangered Jaguar
There are very few Jaguars left in the United States, which explains why recent photographs taken by Arizona Game and Fish using motion sensor trail cameras are causing such a stir. Jaguars are the third largest species of cat after lions […] Read more >


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Unsecured loans are the type loans which can be protected by a good thing or collateral of some kind. That purchased, for instance a home or perhaps a car, may be used as collateral, along with a lien may be placed on such purchases. The finance company or bank holds the deed or title before loan continues to be paid completely, including interest and all sorts of applicable fees. Other items for example stocks, bonds, or personal property may be put as much as get a loan too.
Unsecured loans are often the ultimate way to obtain huge amounts of cash quickly. A lender just isn't more likely to loan lots without greater than your word the money is going to be repaid. Putting your property or other property exactly in danger is a pretty safe guarantee you will try everything within your capacity to repay the borrowed funds.
Unsecured loans usually are not simply for new purchases either. Unsecured loans can be hel-home equity loans or home equity credit lines as well as second mortgages. Such loans provide the quantity of home equity, or perhaps the price of your house without the amount still owed. Your property is used as collateral and failure to create making payments in time may result in having your home repossessed.
Other forms of secured personal loans include debt consolidation loan loans in which a home or personal rentals are used as collateral. Instead of getting many –usually high interest– payments to produce monthly, cash is loaned to cover the initial lenders off, and also the borrower then just has to settle the main one loan. This is not just easier nonetheless it may also save lots of money with time, since interest levels for secured personal loans are lower. A debt consolidation loan loan usually supplies a lower payment too.
However, quick unsecured loans would be the the complete opposite of secured personal loans you need to include things such as charge card purchases, education loans, or bank notes, which often demand higher interest levels than unsecured loans, because they're not backed by collateral. Lenders take really a risk by looking into making this type of loan, without property to keep onto in the event of default, and that's why a person's eye rates are considerably higher. If you've been refused for unsecured credit, you might still manage to obtain unsecured loans, if you have something worthwhile or when the purchase you intend to make can be utilized as collateral.
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Farewell, 2013. We hardly knew ye. You were a good year for some, a horrendous year for others, and yet you kept marching on. Your next of kin, 2014, has been notified of your pending demise at the end of the day this New Year's Eve. It's almost a shame that you years have such short life spans. Even the leapers among you die exactly one full day later.
But 2014 is already here for people to start making plans, myself included. Here's what you can expect to see from me in the coming year.
From Science Fiction: This January will bring a kicking start to the new year with the release of my fourth novel, Interstellar Dad. I'm closing in on the halfway point of the final read-through to my fourth novel. Then it's just a matter of cleaning up the final glitches, getting the cover art together, and releasing it into the internet wild. I'm trying to get this done by the 7th. Later in the month, I'll do a five-day blog tour to help spread the word of Interstellar Dad. I haven't sent out the request for help with Interstellar Dad, so if you want to help me out with the tour, by all means let me know.
From Fantasy: By far the prequel to Spell of Entrapment, my debut fantasy novel, will be my biggest release of the year. A Mage among Trolls takes a look at the back story behind one of the most mysterious characters in Spell of Entrapment. I'm aiming for a May/June release time frame for this one. I always set a high bar for all of my stories, but this one may have the highest bar yet as it will be the first time a second entry into a series work is added.
From Horror: I'm an author who writes science fiction, fantasy, and horror. It wouldn't be fair of me to publish books in the first two and neglect the last one altogether. Once A Mage among Trolls is out there, I'll switch gears and round out the year with a horror novel involving vampires. Yes, I decided to tackle them despite their possibly dwindling popularity in an overly saturated market. Don't worry. I'll make my vampires differ from what's out there. And my vampires won't sparkle.
Aside from these releases, I plan to delve deeper into audio books with 2-3 releases there. I'll eventually get around to putting my work out in print. It'll just take a while still to get there.
Before I close out this post, I still have the matter of picking the winner of my Optical Osmosis giveaway from the 'Tis More Blessed event this past Friday. Congratulations to Michelle Wallace! I'll be in touch to get that copy of Optical out to you.
So what are your plans for the New Year? I hope you make it a safe and happy one!


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Category — Parenting
Expanding the play kitchen
There's a lot of activity shaking down in our neck of Ottawa these days and as much as I want to just focus on food writing and cooking, my inner community activist is being consumed by the completely foolish reconstruction plans of an arterial highway/main street not far from us. Yes, highway and main street! That's Ottawa planning for you.
I've been putting together some items for Alden's expanded "play kitchen 2011." Last year, the husband crafted a lovely tabletop cooktop for him out of spare Ikea shelves and now we'd like to build an oven and shelf unit for the cooktop to sit on. My role was to find some new playfood to use. As much as he's loved all the crochet foods I made last year, I just didn't have time to dedicate to crafting more food. I relied on the internet and found some super cute Erzi and Haba playfood on the Baby Naturopathics website.
I really like the Haba felt noodles: fettucine, bow ties and ravioli. They were sort of ridiculously priced for felt and my inner "crafty mom" is still feeling a bit guilty for not making my own. If you are crafty, you could easily whip these up with some felt at home. But alas, time was of the essence.
Some things, were just too amazing to resist. The coffee beans in the little tin? He is going to love putting those in the mini espresso maker for "coffee". The roast chicken with the removable legs? I think he's going to love roasting it up in his oven.
I looked at many play versions of coffee makers but they were so expensive! The mini espresso maker is the perfect size and essential for the kid who likes playing with the "real" thing.
I also picked up some tea bags, sausages, fish filets, olive oil, balsamic vinegar and jam.
The clincher? The mini chef hat. I found this one at J.D. Adams in the Glebe (but they also have them at the Glebe Emporium).
Three wheeling Centretown vegetable delivery
We made our first deliveries of veg over the weekend courtesy of my three-wheeled vegetable delivery man. His tricycle trunk was overflowing with baby bok choy and snow peas. Good news neighbours, the tomatoes are coming along and we'll soon have some zucchini and broccoli! Herbs, as always, are plentiful. Delivery hours can be arranged around outings to the splash park.
It's Easter, not Eatster. Celebrating spring without food.
You don't notice how much Easter is defined by chocolate bunnies and chocolate eggs until you can't eat them. And after multiple stops at multiple grocery stores, there was not a single treat to be found without eggs, milk or nuts. Not even jelly beans.
I know that I could order some allergy friendly candy online, but this year, I didn't feel it was necessary to go that route.
This year again, we are shunning the chocolates and marshmallow peeps for non-food items. I've been tucking away little surprises for a solid month (ever since the Valentine/Easter swapover). It has taken a bit of work, but I'm happy to report that I have an Easter basket full of goodies ready and waiting.
Here's what's in the basket:
- Play-doh – comes in cute egg containers and a little basket. (Found these at Toysrus in the checkout aisle)
- Frog basket, bunny cookie cutters, small bubble wand, Easter dishcloth and toy bunny – Loblaws
- Plastic empty eggs (reused from last year) – also from Loblaws
- Bunny stickers – Hallmark
- Small Easter puzzle – Hallmark
A friend told me that Zellers sells Easter eggs with cars in them (although, I couldn't find them at our nearest store) and there are lots of other ideas forallergy-friendly Easter baskets all over the web.
And if all this fails… I have backup Duplo in the basement. Always have a Plan B.
A cheery start to the day
Ah yes, there's nothing like being yelled at by your son's daycare director first thing in the morning because she decided to change the rules about the "food free" party the day of the party. Apparently, it's for the "greater good" of the children. It's so frustrating that she's breaking her own rules without giving me any notice and second, her manner of breaking the news was so rude. There I was unpacking Alden's belongings from the stroller and getting yelled at in front of Alden, other parents etc. Cheery.
There will be no jam gift for her today!
ETA Friday: So, there was no food in Alden's classroom. I have no idea why the director bothered to tell me about the cookies in another classroom or make such a big deal out of it all. Bizarre. I did hear from another parent that the cookie classroom decorated gingerbread houses with candy from the bulk store. The bulk store. *head slap* And yes, that classroom has at least one nut allergic child.
Our evening ended with a trip to CHEO (not food allergy related!) to remove a small pompom from the boy's nose. They were doing a Christmas craft and the boy stuffed it up his nose and before I could get to some tweezers to remove it, he jammed it up even more. While the staff seemed to say that it would "work itself out", Telehealth had a different opinion – go to CHEO. Indeed, we ended up needing to see an ear, nose and throat specialist since the attending doctor in emergency could not remove it. After a lot of suctioning and precarious tweezing, they were able to remove the pompom.
So, tip of the day: check that your daycare is using age appropriate craft materials and if your toddler jams something up their nose and you can't remove it easily with tweezers and they can't blow their nose, you will need to go to emergency. These things don't "work themselves out"… they get inflamed and infected.
Karma threw me a bone this morning to make up for the sucktitude of yesterday – the barista at Starbucks made me the wrong order so I ended up with two lattes. Which I was then able to gift to a coworker. Nice.
Ho ho hold the food
In theory, our daycare centre is nut free and is aware of other food allergies. But, parents are free to bring in treats for their children for birthdays with only a reminder that it be "nut free". Essentially, to an allergy parent, this means that there is no guarantee that these treats are truly nut free. (Not to mention our other food allergies.) Parents are not restricted to buying items from nut free bakeries. And at our daycare, the goodies brought in are normally from higher end bake shops where the treats carry no ingredient list. I have come to hate the birthday celebrations. I hate them. I carry my cell phone close all day.
So, when the note was sent around for the centre's holiday party – I scanned it and saw "food", "party", "parents" and instantly jumbled up the facts that it was an open invitation for parents to bring in treats. (Actually, the centre was going to provide the snacks… oops.) The husband and I drafted a very direct email listing why store bought and homemade treats were risky, that we would keep our boy home and wanted to be compensated for that time because of the unacceptable dangers of having a crowded classroom of parents and children, crumbs, travelling food and sticky fingers.
It was pretty direct.
The director responded and came up with a solution to have only fruits and veggies. To us, it was a great compromise. Although, I wish we didn't have to write a ranty email to find a solution that makes for an inclusive party. At any rate, problem solved. And hey, could parents really complain about the availability of healthy snacks?
So, when the party reminder email was sent around today – it included a message that "unfortunately" due to so many allergies, there would be no food at the party. Great! But the word "unfortunately" made me frown. Sure, it is unfortunate to have food allergies, but it's not fair to place blame on preschool children for their illnesses. Because, I think that having every allergy kid feel included and go home at the end of the party instead of CHEO is fortunate.
Fortunately, the party will be food free so that no children will be excluded and there will not be any allergic reactions. It's a good thing. For everyone.
Into every kitchen, a little mess must fall
When it comes to cooking, I've created a bit of a monster. The mere mention of the word "cook" or "bake" sends the little dude scrambling to pull a chair up to the cupboard to help. I can't really complain. I sort of melt when he comes up and says, "helper". He's my helper. I love that he wants to cook. (He does have a bit of a meltdown when he can't help with the meatballs. Sigh.)
This week we baked a batch of oatmeal cookies together from the Vegan Cookies Take Over the World cookbook. It was a stellar toddler success. Even if you kid doesn't have a food allergy, it's nice to know that they can eat the cookie dough without any raw egg nasties. (I know, we all totally did it growing up and hey, look who's still living. Still.)
To avoid having the boy hoover the cookie dough before I can get it on the cookie sheet, I give him some ingredients to mix together. On this particular night, he had some leftover kamut puffs. And, as you can see, he decided to use his head as the mixing bowl. Clever. It was such a puffy crumby mess that we could only stop, grab the camera and laugh at his crumbtactual hairdo.
We gave him a bath and cleaned him up so that birds would not peck at his head. Parenting at its finest I tell you.
This post does not have a recipe – or much of a point other than to say sometimes cooking with a toddler can be messy. The floor can be swept (or mopped), the puffs collected and the hair washed. Are there nights when I would just like to cook without a sous-chef? Sure. But then I wouldn't get cute photos like the ones above.
The food revolution hits the toddler lunch box
I'm writing this as part of Scattered Mom's lunch revolution party. Woo hoo! Party on!
I've been packing Alden's lunches for daycare for almost a full year now, so I thought I'd share some of his favourite meals and take some of the mystery out of the toddler lunch box.
First. Pay attention to any food restrictions you get from your child's school or daycare. Find out if it's a nut-free facility. Take any message about food allergies seriously. If your school is nut free, that means that no one should be eating nuts in the school or daycare.. no matter what time of day. (Yes, this is from personal experience.) If there is a request to refrain from sending certain items to school, please treat it with respect. It's not meant to throw a wrench into your life, it's meant to reduce the chance of someone else's child ending up in the ER. These kids rely on the compassion of the people around them to stay safe.
If your child loves peanut butter, there are peanut and nut free options such as Sunbutter that you can use instead. Or pumpkin seed butter. There are alternatives. And they are easily found at the grocery store.
Second. Cute lunch boxes are optional. I sent Alden to daycare with a boring old black insulated box for almost a full year. There were no complaints. Then I lost it. And yes, I replaced it with a very cute owl lunch box. It makes us both feel good. In the beginnings, choose a box that suits your needs and is large enough for milk, bottles, jars of baby food, applesauce etc. You can see my lunchbox roundup for more ideas.
Third. Figure out what kind of containers you'll be using to store the food and drinks. I switched up our plastic containers for glass ones and I use a mason jar for Alden's drink. His food gets heated and plated at daycare, so I am not worried about a glass bowl being pitched onto the floor and shattering.
Fourth. Fill that lunch box! Some of my favourite things to pack in Alden's lunch are:
- veggie sticks
- meat balls
- rice shaped with cute rice molds
- fruit
- bean patties
- chilli
- banana or zuchini bread
- homemade pizza
- hummus
- Nooooooooodles!
- Kamut puffs
- risotto
- rice pudding
- falafels
- graham crackers
- stand by recipes like: crackers, sunbutter and jelly sandwiches, wheat squares etc.
Five. Don't underestimate the power of peer pressure. If you think your nubbin doesn't like veggies, try sending them anyway. If they see their friends eating carrot sticks, your kid may just take a nibble or two. And nibbles count in the beginning. Don't count success by how much was consumed. A taste counts. Spitting it out counts.
Six. If at first you don't succeed try and try again. Take for example Alden and his apples. He loves applesauce, but I couldn't convince him to eat an apple slice. The apple offer was made on many occassions (with and without a dip or Sunbutter). Then last night he looked at the apple peeler and said "apple apple!". I cut up an apple and he ate the slices. Peel and all. Out of the blue. Miracles do happen. The same thing happened with berries. He hated them until I convinced him to try one from the garden. He has been hooked ever since. Don't get frustrated. Kids are on their own food discovery schedule… despite our best efforts to turn them into instant foodies.
Seven. Get the kids involved. On the weekends, I bake snacks for the week. This is a perfect time for little fingers to start seeing how to cook without any of the weekday stresses.
Eight. Final tip. Pack lunch the night before. It saves SO MUCH hassle in the morning.
Keeping the kid entertained
After seeing how much Shutterbean's little boy loved his train set that his mama bought for him, I knew exactly what to buy Alden for his upcoming birthday. I scoured the internet for wooden trains and decided upon the Sevi village train set. It came with a ton of train pieces, cars, trucks, and even an airplane and the best part? The city play mat.
While my plan was to save this gift for his birthday, the weekend's rainy weather left me scratching my head at how to entertain a toddler indoors. (Sure, we could have gone to a museum, but I wasn't in the mood for crowds.) Out came the birthday present. Naturally, it was a hit. Score one for mom.
Now if I could only convince him to eat the corn chowder I made last night.
*Note: it is recommended for kids over 3 because of small parts. I put the small pieces away for safe-keeping, but with some force, the little wheels can still come off, so it's a toy that requires a bit of supervision for the younger set.
Search for the perfect lunch box
After leaving Alden's very plain and boring, yet irritatingly perfect-sized Joe Fresh lunchbox behind somewhere in Ottawa, I've been hunting for a replacement lunchbox. I figured that with Joe Fresh selling peacoats in July they would also have some back-to-school lunch boxes by August. Not so. (Or at least, not at the Baseline/Woodroffe Loblaws.) The other grocery stores options included a $15 super fugly cooler bag or girly Elle lunch sac. No no no. No.
I started searching around online for some stylish lunch boxes. And wow – there some kyuuuute lunch boxes out there. Ultimately, I let my wallet decide and chose the very cute owl Zoo Lunchie by Skip Hop ($16).
The boy flipping adores it. He carried it around the house all evening, waved and yelled "bye bye." He was ready to hit the road and leave mom and dad at home in the dust. It was a major toddler win. He clutched it in his stroller all the way to daycare today too. It would be the perfect lunchbox except… it's about an inch and a half too small. Duh duh.
You see, I need to pack a main dish for lunch, drink and two snacks each day and it's a pretty tight squeeze once you add in a drink container and a main dish container.
Maybe I'm meant to have a separate thermos for the drink or perhaps use baggies instead of containers. I'm not sure. All I know is that that it's just slightly too small for my toddler's daily food rations. Sigh. Boys. At this point, I'm not sure what to do. Order another lunch bag or keep trying to cram everything into Mr. Owl.
Here is a list of the lunch boxes that I had on my shortlist:
- Beatrix Lunch Box (available at Raspberry Kids): $37. Yes, $37 for a lunch box. Outstandingly cute. Expensive.
- Goodbyn (available from many different online shops in Canada) : $35. I like this a lot, but I needed something that could accomodate small containers.
- BuiltNY Munchler $14 – Major cute points, but decidedly petite. I could see using this for short outings. And I ADORE the built-in placemat.
- Lunch Boxes for Kids – Cute, understated and great for my lunch. But linen + toddler = nightmare. Also, it looks small.
- Neoprene lunch bag $36 – I still love this one. I regret not buying it. I think the size is probably perfect for my needs. Washable and non toxic. Darn. Next stop: Regret City.
Little Mr. Snow
The little guy wasn't feeling himself, so we kept him home from school. Of course, at home he doesn't act sick at all. He zips around, he teases the cat, he scarfs bananas like a monkey and dances around to his favourite Wizard of Oz tunes.
While the snow was a bit wet yesterday, I took him to the local park to burn off a bit of energy and watch some dogs at the dog park. He still can't really manage walking in the snow without face planting, but he was soooo happy to sit on the toy tractor and drive the "snow-bus." (He's perfecting his 'wave on' in the above photo.)
I think he might just be starting to not totally hate the snow.


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Cool Job Opening at Bioware
The state of the virtual economy is such that we now see the following kinds of job openings. Oh to be 20-something again! Check out this one:
Monetization Analyst
The BioWare Label is a division of EA which crafts high quality multiplatform role-playing, MMO, social, play-for-free, and strategy games, focused on emotionally engaging, rich stories with unforgettable characters and vast worlds to discover. Since 1995, BioWare has created some of the world's most critically acclaimed titles and franchises, including Baldur's Gate™, Neverwinter Nights™, Star Wars®: Knights of the Old Republic™, Jade Empire™, Mass Effect™, and Dragon Age™. BioWare currently operates in eight locations across the world, including Edmonton (Alberta, Canada), Montreal (Quebec, Canada), Austin (Texas), Fairfax (Virginia), San Francisco (California), Los Angeles (California), Sacramento (California), and Galway (Ireland). BioWare Austin is located in the vibrant city of Austin, Texas. This city is known as the 'Best Place for Business and Careers', the 'Live Music Capital of the World', the 'Best City for Relocating Families', and 'Best Cities for Singles'.
BioWare's Analytics and Reporting team aggregates, analyzes, and reports data in order to inform decisions and track KPIs. The Austin studio is looking for an experienced, energetic, full-time Monetization Analyst (Digital Merchandising Specialist) to work with our development team. This person will focus on analyzing, managing, growing, and optimizing the in-game item catalog to maximize monetization potential for Star Wars®: The Old Republic™. This job requires previous experience working with item catalog management systems, high-data volumes, and monetization optimization.
More details inside.
- Work with development colleagues to define, measure, inform, and optimize an in-game item catalog system
- Inform and drive the day-to-day implementation, pricing, and optimization of in-game revenue streams
- Optimize catalog assortment (item mix/overlap) and maximize the efficiency (entry/exit timing) of the item portfolio
- Work with design and development to formulate strategies to enable individualized, player-behavior based offers
- Design, implement, and validate statistical models and A/B testing for catalog offerings, campaigns, and promotions
- Analyze and report spending behavior, buyer segmentation, and behavioral trends
- Keep abreast of competitors, providing intelligence reports on new developments within this space
- 2+ years performing quantitative analysis in a metrics-driven, digital product management environment; free-to-play micro-transaction store management experience preferred
- B.S. degree (or equivalent experience) in Statistics, Economics, Marketing and/or Computer Science
- Experience in defining, developing, testing, and optimizing digital item catalog systems
- Experience with digital product campaign and promotion design and evaluation
- Proven ability to develop hypotheses, sift through and identify critical data, analyze, report and recommend actionable insights to and collaborate with team members, stakeholders and senior leadership
- Solid grasp of finance, economics and pricing models
- Familiarity with online game design, launch and operations for MMO or social internet gaming preferred
- Ability to effectively manage time and prioritize tasks in a fast-paced, high-volume, deadline-driven environment
- Strong analytical and problem solving skills combined with business acumen and a passion for data-driven decision making
- Excellent written, verbal, and presentation skills that translate data into decision support; high attention to detail
- Excellent SQL skills; familiarity with data warehousing structures and best practices preferred
Due to the volume of applications we receive for our job postings, we are unable to respond personally to phone or email inquiries regarding the status of an application. Only candidates being considered for an interview will be contacted at this time.
Location: Austin, Texas
Starting Date: Immediate
Reports To: Studio COO
Compensation: Salary and benefits commensurate with experience
Comments on Cool Job Opening at Bioware:
hmm... so is the product(game) designed to be fun? or to maximize impulse purchases?
SEO and its new meta cousin VOO (virtual object optimization)
Posted Aug 30, 2012 2:15:56 PM | link
Valve's job listings are more interesting. Currently, they are looking for an economist, psychologist, and statistician.
Posted Sep 1, 2012 3:05:44 PM | link
I don't remember seeing those job descriptions on any film or tv "program" produced by the "evil" old non gamer creatives over the decades.
Posted Sep 1, 2012 4:56:49 PM | link
They must be really desparate following the failing of SWTOR to retain subscribers. A monetization expert 1 year after the game is released is like calling 911 a few weeks after the funeral.
Any contemporary online game should have a monetization expert right from the start, just as it has a producer and lead designer.
Posted Sep 1, 2012 5:38:42 PM | link
Riftstalker>Any contemporary online game should have a monetization expert right from the start, just as it has a producer and lead designer.
I can see how a lead designer might seek the advice of a monetisation expert during the design phase, but no joy would come of having a monetisation expert telling the lead designer what will and won't be for sale and making the lead designer work round that.
Posted Sep 3, 2012 6:56:57 AM | link
The generation who BELIEVED what happened in LAS VEGAS, stayed in LAS VEGAS. Welcome to the Future. Kiddies. You equal your KLOUT and ROI. Throw the girl babies into the volcanoes. Win MEGA LEVEL ONE. Your'e too late Bartle, your children have mutated.
Posted Sep 3, 2012 2:35:46 PM | link


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Personal Listening
Improve your listening experience
Filtering Posts By: "earphones"
04.22.2014| By Shure Notes|
Making the Right Earphone Choice: What You Need to Know
When Apple began packaging earbuds with their iPods in 2001, music lovers abandoned their Walkman® and Discman® portable music players along with whatever headphones they were using at the time and a new consumer market was born. Soon people wanted better sound from their portable players and that meant something …
06.10.2013| By Shure Notes|
Understanding Earphone and Headphone Specifications
What specifications are important to understand when you're getting ready to upgrade or replace your earphones or headphones? If you're not a sound engineer, understanding the difference between frequency range and frequency response – or even the impedance requirements of your iPod or DJ rig – can have an impact …tagsChris Lyonsearphone specificationsearphonesheadphone specificationsheadphonesMatt Engstrompersonal listening
08.20.2012| By Shure Notes|
Noise-Cancellation or Sound-Isolation: What's the Difference?
By: Shure Notes Editors, Contributor: Chris Lyons Noise cancelling headphones have become very popular in consumer markets over the past few years. Especially around the holidays, TV spots featuring de-stressed travelers in headphone Nirvana seem to dominate the airwaves. This has caused a little bit of confusion about the difference between sound isolation (as used in Shure earphones) and noise cancellation headphones like the ones you see advertised on television. Noise cancellation is an electronic process. It was originally developed to improve radio communications in noisy environments like aircraft cockpits. There's a microphone built into …tagsChris Lyonsearphonesheadphonesnoise cancellationpersonal listeningSalman AshraftShure Earphonessound isolation
04.29.2010| By Shure Notes|
Shure Sound Isolating Earphones
How to Get the Right Fit Shure earphones are not worn in the same style as headphones or standard earbuds. To enjoy the superior sound isolation and audio quality of your earphones, it is very important to get a proper fit. Situating the Cables Note the difference between the right (R) and left (L) earphones and insert earphone into each ear. Wrap the earphone cord over the top and down the back of the ear. The earphone cord can also be worn hanging straight down (see figs. 1 and 2 below). Use the adjustment tube …
12.17.2007| By Shure Notes|
Sound Isolation vs. Noise Cancellation
A Shure Educational Podcast Ever wanted to know the difference between sound isolation and noise cancellation? In this episode, along with guest Chris Lyons, we explore the characteristics of both technologies, complete with real-world audio samples.


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Elephant Cakes for Indian Celebrations
|Elephants are one of the most popular symbols in Indian cultures and often an integral part of Indian parties, birthdays, weddings and celebrations. You will often see elephant symbols incorporated into floral arrangements, party decorations, centerpieces, favors and even into birthday or wedding cakes. We have gathered a collection of amazing cakes by a few creative and talented cake decorators to hopefully inspire your party planning. Related Resources: Indian Party Supplies
Elephant Cakes for Indian Weddings and Birthdays
The cake is one of the focal points of a party and one of the many ways to set the mood for an event. It helps pull together your party theme, colors and style – into one physical element – and is often the first item people look for when they enter a party room.
Typically, for Indian birthday and wedding cakes you will see some of these elements incorporated:
- Multiple combinations of vibrant colors
- Mehndi designs
- Elephants symbols or toppers
- Taj mahal style buildings
- Tufted pillows
- Gold colors and accents
- Paisleys and scrolls
Wedding Cakes
Wedding Cakes Collection 1: (top left to bottom right)
1. Elaborate designed trunks stacked on 3-D Elephant Grooms cake by Heather Barranco of Dreamcakes / 2. Four-tiered stacked Orange And Gold Mehndi Design Cake with 2 gold elephants on top via Deviantart / 3. Stacked pink and orange Decorated Tiered Ornamental Box Cake topped with one golden elephant topper by Butterfly Bake Shop / 4. Indian Wedding Couple Elephant Cake by Crosby Cakes.
Originally I stumbled upon this stunning 3-D Elephant Grooms cake (pictured above, top left) by Heather Barranco of Dreamcakes and was so inspired and in total awe that I decided to research and find more elephant cakes! Take a look at the detail of the luggage trunks and the work that went into creating that amazing cake! Do check out her blog and see this cake up close! Totally insane!
Another favorite is the cake pictured next to that, the Orange And Gold Mehndi Design Cake. This cake just exudes opulence with its elaborate golden Mehndi piping and elephants toppers, contrasted against the red fondant background — it just makes the gold colors pop! Love it!
Wedding Cakes Collection 2: (top left to bottom right)
1. Elephant, Monkey and Crane Cake decorated with edible gold leaf by Elizabeth Hodes Bakery / 2. Silver and Tiffany Blue 4-Tiered Cake in Mehndi designs topped with two silver elephants via Best For Brides / 3. Ivory elephant Cake with gold and purple accent via Flickriver / 4. Two-tiered Floral Cream Cake with two Golden Elephants topped with Taj Mahal-inspired roof.
A twist to a favorite — is the Silver and Tiffany Blue 4-Tiered Cake (Collection 2 – top right corner). It is actually the same cake as the grouping above (Collection 1 – top right corner as well) but done in different colors. The Tiffany blue and silver colors gives this cake a fresh, modern look while keeping the traditional elegant designs intact. A creative way to incorporate the old and the new!
Birthday Cakes
Birthday Cake Collection 1: 1. Elephants On Stacked Pillows by Cakes By Rose / 2. Elephant On Stacked Jewelry Boxes by Alliance Bakery / 3. Baby Elephant Red Paisley Cake by Cakesdecor.com / 4. Pink Cake Gold Mehndi Cake with Elephant Toppers by Butterfly Bake Shop.
Love all these birthday cakes but one of my favorite is the Two Elephants On Stacked Pillows. The stacked pillow cakes looks like they are teetering on top of each other and sooo real!
Does the Pink Cake Gold Mehndi Cake look familiar? It is a smaller version of the popular 4-tiered wedding cake above and perfect for birthdays or smaller events. This style of cake seem to be one of the most popular ones and still one of my favorites as well. The repetition of the scroll work from layer to layer is ornate, yet comforting and slowly draws your eye to the top, ending at the focal point — the two golden elephants.
Birthday Cake Collection 2: 1. Magic Indian Cake by Konditor and Cook / 2. Hexagon Elephant Birthday Cake by 1MakesCakes / 3. Birthday Bonanza Cake by The Cake Empire / 4. White Bombay Elephant Cake by Heather Barranco of Dreamcakes.
Another fun favorite is the Magic Indian Cake perfect for a kids birthday. Love the colors and the whimsical feel created by the smiling elephants sitting in each corner.
This White Bombay Elephant Cake is another stunning piece created by the talented Heather Barranco from Dreamcakes. Her work is amazing (see the detail on the Elephant Grooms cake above – Wedding Collection 1) and just a work of art!
So there you have it! Lots of amazing cakes by talented folks! Be sure to check them out and see for yourself!
Indian Theme Party Links
- Indian Theme Party Supplies Supplies
- Indian Women Tunics and Saris
- Indian Party Supplies – Invitations, Decor, Favors
- Indian Recipe – Mango Raisin Chutney
- Indian Recipe – Curry Lentil with yogurt
- Indian Recipe – Coconut Chicken Curry with Vegetables
- Indian Recipe – Stir Fried Cauliflower and Peas
- Basmati Rice Topped With Saffron
- Yogurt Cucumber and Garlic dip
- Middle Eastern and Indian Dessert – Baklava
- Indian Drink – Mango Lassi
- Elephant Shaped Sandwiches
- Indian Elephant Cakes – Birthdays and Weddings
Other Posts Similar to this Elephant Cakes for Indian Celebrations Post


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Ultimate Game Card
A top selling pre-paid game card, supported by hundreds of quality online, F2P, MMO, and MOBA games, that allows game publishers to monetize cash paying gamers.
Why Accept Ultimate Game Card?
Widely Distributed
The Ultimate Game Card is distributed in over 100,000 retail outlets and countless top-up kiosks worldwide.
Marketing Campaigns
Marketing campaigns are launched regularly throughout the year with our top partners, encouraging gamers to redeem the Ultimate Game Card for their favorite games. Channels used to promote these campaigns include:
The Proof is in the Numbers
Participants in our seasonal campaigns historically benefit from a 2x-4x lift that non-participants tend to miss out on!


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Date: Thursday, July 12, 2007
Contact: Chris Kilcoyne, Sports Information Director
Former R-MC Standout Travis Beazley Promoted by Boston Red Sox
ASHLAND, Va. --- Former Randolph-Macon College All-American pitcher Travis Beazley
was promoted by the Boston Red Sox Thursday to its Advanced Class -A affiliate in
Lancaster, California.
Beazley earned the called up after posting six victories in 15 starts with the Greenville
Drive of the South Atlantic League. At the time of his call up, Beazley led the
Drive in wins, innings pitched with 101.2 , and his 92 strikes out was tops on the
team and ranked fifth in the league.
2007 marks Beazley's second season in professional baseball after being taken in
the 38th-round of the 2006 Major League Draft by the Sox. A native of Beaverdam
Va. and a graduate of Patrick Henry High School, Beazley made 14 appearances with
13 starts on the mound last season for the for the short-season Lowell Spinners
squad, recording a 3-2 record with a 2.39 ERA in 67.2 innings pitched. Beazley struck
out a team best 59 batters while walking just 19 during the season. Beazley's ERA
and strike outs ranked eighth and 17th, respectively among pitchers in the New York-Penn
League this season.
As a senior at R-MC in 2006, Beazley's numbers included a program single-season
record 108 strikeouts, a 1.94 earned run average, and a 9-3 record in 88.0 innings
pitched. He struck out an ODAC and R-MC single-game-record 17 batters in the season
finale against Newport News Apprentice School on May 2nd, picking up a win over
8.2 innings in the 9-2 affair, and also broke the school career strikeout record
that day, finishing with 216. His nine victories tied the program's record for wins
in a season.
For his efforts, he was named a 2006 American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)
second-team Division III All-American, becoming Randolph-Macon baseball's first-ever
All-American on the Division III level. He was also named the ABCA Division III
SouthRegion Pitcher of the Year, first-team all-region and first-team all-state
by the Virginia Sports Information Directors.
For more information on Beazley, the JetHawks and the California League, log on
to http://www.milb.com/index.jsp?sid=t491
-Yellow Jackets-


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How to Make Your Business Stand Out In Your Industry
In business, you need to be unique. You must stand out from the crowd, be noticeable and memorable to prospects and clients so that they chose you amongst the others.
If you don't, your prospects will go to someone who is.
The rule in business is quite simple, if they don't see you they won't come to you. Unfortunately, as easy as it sounds in theory, in practice standing out in business is one of the most difficult things to achieve.
And, part of the problem is you. For you, your business is already different. You see all the little things that make you better from your competition, like a slightly more advanced technology you use. In your eyes, these are enough to make a great first impression in business.
Here is the catch though, to your prospects all those things don't matter a bit. Even worse, they don't notice them at all. In business, in order to be unique, or perceived as one, you need to stand out with big things. Price, USP, unique approach to business are amongst the things that your potential clients will notice.
Here are some ideas to consider if you are looking for ways to make your business different from your competition.
Look at your competition
You may often find a gap that no one else is filling. See if there is a service or a product your competitors don't offer but your potential clients might be interested in. Or if you can approach some aspects of your services in a slightly different way.
Ask your best clients
They may drop a hint of a service they lack and no one is providing them with. I am a huge advocate of asking clients for help. No one knows the needs of your market better than the very people who avail of your services. Invite 5 of your best clients to lunch and talk to them about it. They may share a lot of their insights on your industry with you and give you some ideas of where your unique position might be.
Analyze your industry
Try to find areas where companies start making money but no one fully specializes in yet. In other words, look ahead. What services or products in your area might be profitable in short period of time? Try to find them and start offering them straight away, market them heavily. Be known for offering those services as soon as possible, once they become really sought after you will already be known as a provider.
Develop a Unique Selling Proposition
An USP defines what makes your business unique from your competition. Develop a unique benefit of using your company, something that no one else is offering. The braver you are with it the better.
Break the rules
This is not the advice you hear very often however I believe that sometimes you simply have to stop playing by the rules to stand out. Sometimes it is good to be talked about, publicity always helps. And as long as it is not a negative feedback from clients, it will work perfect for you. So, break the rules in marketing, use strategies your competition considers as ones you should never be using. Create a buzz around yourself. It always helps. And if you combine it with the other advice above – you have a winning formula.
It's not easy to be unique, it's a fact. And I see many business owners giving up very quickly and blending with the crowd. What they lose however is a distinction in the marketplace, that small, hard to identify thing that makes prospects thinking of you whenever they have a problem to solve or a need to buy.


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The BioBus is a mobile science laboratory. Students on board explore the world around them with research-grade microscopes, and make their own discoveries under the guidance of professional scientists.
Awesome Foundation NY have awarded January's $1000 grant to Ben Dubin-Thaler's Cell Motion BioBus.
They'll be celebrating with Ben at the First AF-NY Award Ceremony on Monday February 8 at 8 pm, at the Apple Bar, Waverly at Greene.
More on the BioBus
Steve Nash Lights Olympic Flame, then B Lines it to NBA All-Star Weekend. Vitamin Water hit the nail on the head - Steve Nash IS the most ridiculous man in the world (video below).


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I'm here! I'm here. I promise, I'm here.
I told myself (and you guys) I would post something every day for a week. I didn't do too well. Every single day the thought crossed my mind: What can I post about today? Nothing immediately came to mind, but while I was thinking about it someone would spill their sippy cup or need a diaper change, or a customer would walk up to my window, and I would forget all about my SparkBlog brainstorming. Before I knew it, the day was over and with no blog to show for it.
So I'll try it again.
One more week of water and blogging.
I'm GOING to get this.
Confession is good for the soul, right?
Well, I have a confession.
I would even say I'm addicted to it. My brain tells me I need it when I'm stressed. If I have a headache, I can drink a soda and it will go away. I'm not sure how much of that is psychological, but I would imagine at least 50% is only in my head.
I have tried to stop drinking it, and I did really well for a while. I hardly drank any soda at all when I was pregnant with Clare in 2012. Then, after she was born, I suddenly began craving it.
Mountain Dew Baja Blast that is only available at Taco Bell is my favorite. (Taco Bell is another confession for another day.) But I also really like Fresca, Diet Coke, and Diet Pepsi.
I like the bubbles. I like the syrupy flavor. I like the way it burns the back of my throat. My favorite thing to do is stick a can in the freezer for about an hour and let ice crystals form inside.... then crack it open and..... AHHHHHHHH....
I have this thing where I stress eat. And for a while, I could make myself not stress eat by having a soda instead. So, stress soda drinking. I use it the way other people use alchohol. (I don't drink alchohol at all, ever. TEETOTALER.) When I was having a busy day at work, I would grumble to myself that I was going to get a soda. It would make me feel better. And it did.
But I know it's bad. My head tells me I need to quit. I know it makes me crave sweets more. I also have issues with bladder infections and acid wear on my teeth. You would think that would be enough to keep me from drinking it....
So I went looking for articles against drinking soda. There are plenty of those!!
You may not be able to read that. Here's a link to the page where you can see it bigger.
And some others that came up in my Google search results:
Here's one with 9 steps for quitting:
So, here we go.
Actually, I did pretty well this weekend. I did have my Baja Blast with my Taco Bell on Saturday. That's like a tradition. Gonna be hard to break. Also, Diet Pepsi at Grand Pacific on Thursday night. Another tradition. But I DID drink more water! And water is all I've had today at work when, normally, I would have stuck a soda can into the freezer for an afternoon pick-me-up. So, that's good, right?
I'll tell you the thing that brought me back yesterday. It was the Featured Blog Post, "Mourning the Loss of a SparkFriend" by TINAJANE76
Here's a link if you missed it.
I realize after my UGH post yesterday, and the encouraging responses I got, (no one offered to come hit me over the head) that I went about things the wrong way back in February when I attempted to (re)Start my program.
My so-called Baby Steps weren't so baby-ish!
Tracking: EVERY DAY, within my target AT LEAST 4 days a week.
Freggies: AT LEAST 4 servings of fruits or vegetables EVERY DAY.
Water: 64oz of water EVERY DAY.
Exercise: 10 minutes, EVERY DAY.
Those might have been baby steps two years ago, but they're HUGE FROG LEAPS for me now.
Time to rethink some things. A little self-examination.
CELEBRATELIFE, BJPENNY70, and GORIANA got it right in their comments to my last blog. I am in a different time of life right now. I need a different strategy.
I have two small children. I work three part time jobs. I am EXTREMELY BUSY. I can only juggle so much at once. I can't adapt to huge schedule changes right now.
Baby baby baby steps.
How about this for the next two weeks?
Water: 64oz of water EVERY DAY.
SPARK: read and post something EVERY WEEKDAY
Eventually, I will be back to posting, tracking, eating well, exercising, running, strength training, and whatever else needs doing on this journey, but for today.... I'm here.
If I give you my address, would someone drive to my house and hit me over the head with a heavy, blunt object?
Why can't I do what I know needs to be done??
Why do I give up so easily??
Why am I making this so difficult??
I've been toying with the idea of returning to SparkPeople, but, honestly, the reason I'm doing it at this very moment is because I'm procrastinating a freelance design project.
I have a client who hosts a bodybuilding competition, and I guess looking at pictures of all these really fit people has finally broken me down.
Yes, I've been gone for over a year.
But I have a good reason.
This is Clare. She's 4 months old today. I was newly pregnant with her when I completed the Disney Princess Half-Marathon last February.
I have to pause here and pat myself on the back for a few things. I continued running up until 7 months. I continued tracking my food. I gained only 20 pounds while pregnant with Clare (versus the 50 I gained with Jeffrey). A week after her birth, I was back to my pre-pregnancy weight. I'm very, very proud of this.
I am not, however, particularly proud of myself since then. I've let the whole "I'm breastfeeding" thing go to my head.... or my stomach, rather. My portions are completely out of control. I feel hungry ALL. THE. TIME.
Part of this is the raging metabolism breastfeeding creates. Part of it is exhaustion. I use food as a substitute for the sleep I'm not getting. But most of it is willful, unabashed "I want this, dangit, and so I shall have it!"
I've been deleting Spark emails for months and feeling shame every single time. I knew I needed to come back, but mentally I wasn't ready. I'm still not 100% committed, and I have a list of excuses I will probably try to fall back on, but something needs to change. I don't want to get up where I was when I started back in 2010.
I'm going to try some baby steps and allow the motivation to build slowly. That's the Spark way, after all.
Tracking: EVERY DAY, within my target AT LEAST 4 days a week.
Freggies: AT LEAST 4 servings of fruits or vegetables EVERY DAY.
Water: 64oz of water EVERY DAY.
Exercise: 10 minutes, EVERY DAY.
I'll report back within 2 weeks.


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Armillo: The Parallel Universe Mystery is a fun to play action puzzle platformer where you control Armillo, a space armadillo; rolling, jumping, and boosting around spherical worlds. Play through various obstacle-filled spherical worlds including grass, desert, ice, and fire. Solve puzzles, navigate obstacles, engage in battles, defeat bosses, and more! This game has tonnes of different game mechanics to keep you on your toes!
Here's the WIP of the critter store that is to be the focus of character development in Armillo. It's a rough start, but it's coming along.


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The clinic will be closed from 15th to 26th September. During these dates the phone line is still open for bookings.
Are feet getting bigger? Click here and find out.
With the hope of an Indian summer in the next few weeks, we will keep our summer footwear out just in case we need it.
However, during warm weather, feet are often exposed and more vulnerable to irritation and injury, with many of these problems caused by our choice of footwear.
One of the most common summertime foot problems is cracked heels. These are normally caused by open-backed shoes such as sandals and flip flops rubbing around the edge of the heel, as the fat pad under the heel expands sideways on weightbearing, and this along with dry skin can increase the likelihood of the heels to 'crack' as the skin loses it's tensile ability - it doesn't stretch very well, so it fissures.
A podiatrist (chiropodist) is trained to prevent, diagnose and treat conditions associated with the foot and ankle.
The following are some of the conditions podiatrists treat:
Corns & Callus (thick skin)
Warts & Verrucaes
Ingrowing Toenails
Thickened Nails
Cracked Heels
Athlete's Foot and Fungal Nail Infections
Conditions requiring arch supports and insoles
Foot & Ankle Injuries/Pain (heel pain/spurs)
Foot conditions associated with systemic diseases (diabetes, arthritis, neuropathy, circulatory problems).
Much of our work is aimed at prevention and education. If you are diabetic you should be having an annual diabetic foot check with your Doctor/Practice Nurse, although we will carry out a diabetic foot check automatically and provide you with necessary diabetic foot care advice.
Appointments are available between 8.00am and 6.00pm, and Friday 8am to 12.30pm
Video - Feet First in the NHS, am proud to be part of this programme
Are feet getting bigger? Radio 4 Woman's Hour
Is the sky the limit for sky high heels?
Hear me on Radio 4 Woman's Hour talking about fitness shoes with Jenny Murray and Omega Douglas from Healthy Living Magazine
Call 078123 69150 or email firstname.lastname@example.com
The Bedford Park Pharmacy, 5 Bedford Park Corner, Chiswick, W4 1LS
(right next to Turnham Green tube)


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Do you, as a parent, get involved when a feed you're following through your child looks like a modern day Mean Girls? Instagram is today's digital diary with one big difference -- everyone CAN read it and you can't throw it away.
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To tweet, or not to tweet? That is the question not enough people are asking.
According to a recent study from the Pew Research Center, daily adul...
Although the topic of personal branding has the word "personal" right up in front, most advice still warns against sharing too much of who you are with your customers and clients.
I don't want to know when you're going to sleep or if you sweated up a storm in your latest workout. I don't want to hear about your baby's poop habits, or the tiff with the neighbor. On social networks I want five things.
Thanks to social media and the Internet, we have the means to offend or upset people on an unprecedented scale. With every new technology, there are new ways to make an absolute fool of yourself. What is your netiquette?
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Harlan Coben
Adult Fiction COBEN
Harlan Coben
Adult Fiction COBEN
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Myron Bolitar mysteries: for mystery readers who like a lighter touch.
posted Sep 20, 2011 at 1:47PM
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Myron Bolitar
Ex-basketball player
Wise-cracker; injury ended playing career; loves to drink Yoo-Hoo.
Sports agent