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me trying to do anything
My lovely followers, please follow this blog immediately!
(Source: therealhamster)
kalau betul la tu tipu;
Sebelum terlupa, ada benda aku nak cerita ni. kejadian ni berlaku masa aku baru turun bas dari TBS and tengah jalan kat bridge yang nak ke stesen KTM. Masa tu aku nak attend majlis kahwin cousin aku kat Subang. Tapi ada detour sikit lah, aku pergi KL sentral lepas tu naik LRT ke Jelatek, jumpa tunang dulu kejap lepas tu hantar aku ke Subang terus lepas keluar dari ofis.
Kalau betul la tu tipu,
Cerita dia macam ni, based on memory aku lah sepanjang kejadian yang berlaku dalam lima minit je lebih kurang. Tengah jalan kaki kat bridge tu, ada seorang lelaki cina tahan aku and bagi satu keping kad yang boleh koyak and tengok apa dia tulis kat dalam tu. Dialog kitorang lebih kurang macam ni. Aku tak lah ingat the whole conversation sebab aku punya soul, body, and mind dah ada dalam kereta saga dia. Hewhew
LC (lelaki cina tu) : halo kak, ni ada satu kad. Kak koyak tengok apa dalam dia. Kalau tulis 'terima kasih, boleh pulang balik pada saya.
Aku: apa ni? (sambil try koyak kertas tu) macam mana nak koyak?
LC: koyak ikut garisan ni. (okey memang obvious ada garis putus2) lepas tu ah tengok apa dalam dia. Kalau 'terima kasih' means kak tak dapat apa2. Kalau ada kaler hijau kak refer sini ah ada macam2 hadiah ma. (sambil tunjuk reference apa entah aku pun tak ingat sangat. Reference tu lebih kurang macam ni: hijau – rm100, biru – rm500, merah – rm1000, kuning – rm5000, kelabu – hadiah misteri)
Aku: okey dah koyak. warna kelabu. (nada tak ada perasaan)
LC: warna kelabu. Wow! Kak you taw ah you orang pertama yang dapat warna kelabu. Tak ada orang pernah dapat oh. You sangat bertuah ah. (nada excited yang obvious dibuat2). Ini ada list nombor and hadiah yang you boleh dapat. (okey ada reference lagi. Banyak gak hadiah aku tengok. List hadiah tu lebih kurang macam ni: 1 – barang electric macam peti ais, 2 – kereta apa ntah, 3 – percutian ke japan, 4 – 12 apa ntah lagi tak ingat gamba2 barang2 yang die tunjuk) You tengok dekat bulatan kelabu ada nombor berapa? (sambil tu ada la dia tanya aku dari mana, kerja apa).
Aku: tak ada nombor pun.
LC: mesti la tak ada. You kena pegi scan kat jusco tengok die kelua nombor berapa. Kalau keluar no 3 boleh pergi melancong ke japan maa. (and apa lagi ntah dia bebel2 pasal bercuti tu…and tunjuk gambar2 customer dia yang 'bertuah' tu tayang2 hadiah yang diorang dapat, maybe nak emphasize pasal company tak perlu bayar tax) nanti u ambil gambar macam diorang yang dapat hadiah ni maa. Sangat bertuah (sambung membebel lagi…)
Aku: (terus potong cakap dia) okey now apa I kena buat?
LC: okey now jom pergi ofis ambil rm7000.
Aku: now? alaa mana ada masa (sambil tengok jam, dah bazir 5 minit. Menyesal pulak ambil kad tu) I tak nak lah.
LC: kalau tak nak u boleh bagi orang lain. Tapi rugi la u.
Aku: (sambil bagi balik kad tu) ha ok bagi lah orang lain. (terus blah dari situ)
Kalau betul la tu tipu,
Aku malas nak fikir apa2 lepas tu. Bila dah sampai UTM baru teringat balik. Maybe masa tu aku pakai baju kurung polkadot and tudung bawal, dia ingat aku orang kampung yang tak taw apa2 kot. Lagi2 bila dia offer macam2 hadiah and cash money. Bila die buat2 excited konon-kononnya aku pemenang bertuah, belum pernah orang lain menang yang 'warna kelabu' tu, dia ingat aku tak ada experience kot. Mak pernah kena, abah pon kena. Both my parents ditawarkan 'hadiah' lebih kurang macam tu la. Bila dengar betul2 explanation diorg, memang ada 'product or hadiah' yang diorg offer tu, tapi kena bayar mahal gila. Aku pon tak faham, kalau betul la nak bagi hadiah kepada customer, kenapa nak suruh bayar? Masa abah kena tu, diorg siap cek duit dalam akaun lagi. Lepas tu senang2 hati je naikkan nilai yang nak kena bayar tu. Alasan diorg, taknak bayar tax mahal hujung tahun nanti, tu yang diorg bagi hadiah kat customer. Okey yang tu logic jugak. Tapi yang kena bayar tu? ribu2 pulak tu. Masa mak kena pon, diorg taw mak tak kerja tapi stil suruh mak bayar certain amount sebelum dapat hadiah tu. Aku bukan pandai economy and bisness pon. Tapi macam berbau 'phishing' lah. Tapi lastnye parents tak nak ambik risiko and just tinggalkan je orang2 tu.
Kalau betul la tu tipu,
Aku yang dah memang tengah rushing masa kat bridge tu, memang tak teringin langsung la nak investigate or try mana taw memang dapat pergi ke jepun. Heh.
Apa yang dapat aku simpulkan dari peristiwa2 tu, okey diorg memang ada marketing skill yang bagus. Tapi lagi bagus kalau gunakan skill diorg tu untuk majukan company2 kat Malaysia ni, instead of tipu orang macam aku ni. Tapi tu pon kalau betul la tu tipu.
as usual; after i post these here i don't really like to talk about these any more.
1. Got the chance to meet supervisor. Our weekly appointment is on Wednesday 9.30am. I still need to re-review my research title.
2. mybrain15 vs MARA. I have to cancel one of these. Still considering about which one I should take.
3. Recent blood test shows Thyroxine, T4 reduced from 16.0 to 6.3 ug/dL while TSH still 0.00 where it should be in the range of 0.30-4.64 mlU/L. after two months I need to do the test again.
4. Mirra and I are partnering for a presentation. She chose the topic of Illuminati & Freemason.
5. What is still inside my head is that for the past 2 months I have been visiting him and his family. During those 'quality time' I spent with his mom while having breakfast, lunch, dinner, and cooking together, she emphasized so many times that I have the fullest responsibility in making the family happy. I need to have a job, wake up early in the morning to prepare breakfast for husband, do all the laundry and keep the house clean, do all the work in the kitchen very2 quickly because I will have children and husband who prefer to have dinner at home, and for now I need to learn so many recipes and be very good in the kitchen. *sigh… plus there are so much tips about taking care of family that I could not recall for now. I already have anticipated all the challenges of being a wife and mother but sometimes I feel that I'm not ready yet. I need support but sometimes it is not the right 'support' that I received thus makes me feel the pressure which is I'm not sure when to exactly experience it, whether now or long time ago or one month before we get married.
6. I would like to present a suggestion (at least for now that I'm thinking about this) when we have children. I want to split the responsibilities where I do ALL the things that mothers usually do (laundry - cooking - housecleaning - send kids to school - take care of every family member's tummy and clothing - get everyone satisfied with the meal and love from me) *I'm not sure where is the part of me working* while he work – manage the money – take care of every family member's safety & health – kids education (all academic, moral, sense of patriotism, fardhu ain) – prepare a place to live.
Both of us don't have any experience and skills and I think it is the time to work very hard towards building a happy family. I know it is tiring to think about that and even to read this.
7. …
there are so much things that i want to spill out of my head right now. i prefer talk to him but he seems busy. i just don't want to fill in his head with my problems. not necessarily problems but some issues that i have i do need his opinion and his words are usually comforting which lead to rational belief and action.
i'll just write everything here then; when i have the mood to do so.
I want to be with you~
Marriage is not a simple thing. Everyone has been talking about that. Yes I know that marriage needs full commitment and cooperation. I have been seeing how my parents live through it. They were independent and strong. I really hope that I will survive no matter what happen to us.
Talking about being independent; how do you define it? Is it referring to being free or working hard on your own effort without depending on other people's help? Why am I saying about this is that I have been thinking about us. I'm not wondering if we are making a good decision. I'm not asking for anyone's opinion. I'm just hoping that we are doing it at the right time and with the right intention.
I believe that nobody knows when the right time to do anything big in their life is. They have doubts and thoughts whether to further study abroad or getting a job or getting married. They pray and sometimes they just do it with some force from parents or some other party. Anyhow they manage to accomplish it.
» About transportation and place to live; his parents has taken care of those. In fact; that is the place for us to live in after we are married. Before this he studied abroad in pursuing his bachelor degree with the direction provided by his parents. It seems that his parents did all the decision-making for the where when which and what; including the date of our wedding day. I could not say anything about that since my parents agreed with every decision made. Most people who read this will get the idea that his parents have a full authority for making all decisions for and about his life.
As a future wife of his; I see that situation from a different angle. I mean; I have to be grateful that I don't have to work hard to get money for our wedding preparation. My parents are kindly helping. They renovate the home; add more furniture; and allocate a master bedroom for us. About the "hantaran" they never mention the exact value that he needs to give to us for the preparation of the event. They do not even mind if we get married early with no job yet. They welcome us warmly whenever we want to live in that house.
About his parents' effort; I see that as a blessing. Even though I will live with parents-in-law; I will be very grateful since they have already acknowledged me as their new family member. The good thing about this is that we don't have to buy a new house and new car and work very hard in order to start a new life. No; I never had the intention to be a gold digger. Before we started our relationship; I never know that his parents have these houses and those cars. I love him for the way he is. I never expect anything other than his love for me.
Most of my girl friends will say this "no need la duduk dengan mak mertua. Macam2 masalah nanti"; when I tell them about our plan. Like I said earlier; I will see this situation from a positive angle. I keep telling myself that he has only one mother and one father. Those persons raised him in a very good way from he was a kid until now; that he lives and get the chance for us to meet and love. I feel really bad if I 'take' him away from his parents since his responsibility to his parents are vastly greater than his responsibility to me. He and his only brother are the babies of their parents. I already accepted the fact that one day I will be helping them to take care of their parents. Just like my mother has been doing.
Actually the case is about the same. My father has three all-male-siblings. After my grandfather passed away; it seemed like the other siblings did not want to take care of my grandmother. At that time we have already moved to a new house (that one in Taman Mewah). After a couple of years ulang-alik from home to kampung finally my parents made a decision to bring grandmother to live together in our house; after a series of slow talks and renovation of the room.
I already have a mind-set that I will participate in taking care of his parents. I will be with him when he makes his parents happy just like what they did to him when he was small. I will accompany him when he stays at the hospital taking care of his parents just like what they did when he was hospitalized at a very young age. I will support him when he buys something for his parents just like when they bought him toys and gadgets. I won't mind if he invests some money for his parents' health just like they did for his studies. My parents will be proud if I can be a good wife just like my mother.
Hopefully I won't perceive this responsibility as a burden. I just want to see him satisfied after he fulfils all the responsibilities. I want to help him to be a good son. I believe that most good husbands to their wives are good sons to their parents. I just hope that we have those mental strength and physical health to face the future challenges together.
post status pelik2 kt fb: ada yang tak suka. tweet pelik2: ada jugak yang tak suka. thanks tumblr sudi faham perasaan ni. wuhuuu~
btw button coma macam rosak je. so tak boleh coma. either stop or terus je huhu
Take-home test Question 2: discuss how life triangular diagram in managing our life view the danger of artificial sweetener among the work force.
<dari 20 markah, agak2 dapat berapa ni, huehue>
Life triangular diagram describes on how we manage our life, by considering three aspects of what (goal), who (human), and how (system structure). Before we go deeper to those aspects, there are series of discussions and debates about clarifying the meaning of 'life'. One of our friends in class defined 'life' as the situations that we face every day, which contribute to learning process and gaining experience from those situations. The situations include attending lectures, helping elderly, and teach our children to cross the road safely. The definition of 'life' might differ from other people's view, due to the different level of education and experience they have. Young people would define 'life' as a learning process, where they will learn new things every day to gain experience, and use the experience to gain and spread new knowledge. The matured old people would say that 'life' is a basis of preparing ourselves to meet the Creator.
Based on their experience, old people tend to realize that this 'life' is just temporarily lent to us. We should prepare ourselves with enough knowledge and good deeds that we deliver to other people, so that we are ready to leave this 'life' and continue the journey to meet the Creator. Yes, 'life' is best defined as 'journey' based on those statements. It is supported by the Holy Quran that our life begins at Loh Mahfuz, where we are not born yet, but everything is written there. Our fate, career, love, future, and the moment when we die are all written during this stage.
After we are born, the world is perceived by some people as it is forever. They will work hard to get so much money so that they can live in luxury. After all the luxury and 'happiness' they have, they will forget the main purpose of living in this world, which might make them turn against the religion and moral value. After death, we will gather into the other world namely 'Alam Barzakh', 'Makhsyar' and later 'Akhirat'. 'Akhirat is the final destination where we are judged and granted Jannah or Hell according to our deeds while we are alive. By knowing this, human should have set their goals, whether it is short term or long term.
The goal-settings are intended to manage their life, so that they can achieve both success in this world, and the world hereafter. The significance of this is that, short term goal has a relationship with long term. This means, we must do our best in every stage. Otherwise, we will fail in the next stage. For example, we must be good in understanding and practicing all Rukun Islam and Rukun Iman. By knowing, understanding, and practising these principles, we will become a good Muslim and carry the responsibility as a Khalifah in this world. By being a good Muslim in this world, we are promised to be placed in Jannah during the Akhirat stage. So the short term goal here is practising Rukun Islam and Rukun Iman to be a good Muslim in this world, and the long term goal is getting a place in Jannah. It is very important for all Muslims to aware of this situation.
However, some people fail to distinguish between short and long term. This happens especially when they all nowadays have been doctrinized to achieve success. They focus on achieving success in everything they do. In industry, they tend to focus on productivity and profitability. Their success is measured by quantity of their production and high revenue, to support their survival in industry. The 'survival' and 'continuity' of making profit is seen as long term goal in their point-of-view. One example of this situation is in the industry of making artificial sweetener. They take the opportunity of the way of consuming food by people. Nowadays, people very like to consume food with extra sugar. They believe that the sweeter the food, the better taste it will be. The opportunity makes the producers and businessmen become greedy. They want to achieve success in terms of profitability, without concerning the health consequences for the consumers.
The 'Human', which is the second aspect of life triangular diagram, needs to be taught or 'Tarbiyah' in correspondence with Ukhuwah. They must understand that they represent the soul that possessed by the Creator. Whether they are in the state of rational soul (Nafs Mutmainnah), army soul (Nafs Lawwamah), or animal soul (Nafs Amarah), they must be educated that there are ways to transform the soul through the spiritual-development process. One of the scholars, Rohana (2009) found that the stages of the self-development levels have a relationship with the intellectual potential. This can be described as, when the individual has achieved self-conscience (Mutmainnah), he possesses angelic power, where it is characterized by good heart and moral to describe it as the purest stage of spiritual development. This purest stage has the highest intellectual level compared to the level of Lawwamah and Amarah.
The final aspect of life triangular diagram is 'System Structure'. System structure prepares a basis for approach to get a balanced life. The approach must comply with fundamental principle, where it is known by Muslim as Sunnatullah, God's Law, or Law of Nature, as a reference. If human does not follow these Laws, they will get lost without guidance. The approach must embed a value of Hikmah, which means that, it is good and giving benefit to all people. In the case of artificial sweetener, the producer might not think of this. The benefit of the business can be enjoyed all by him, while the consumer suffers from dangerous disease such as diabetes, cancer, and malfunctioning body system.
If he believes with the Law of Nature, where bad deeds will be repaid with bad things, he will not run the business to benefit himself. He will help people with his knowledge and skills in business. To make this happens; the businessman must first understand the concept of Ikhlas, which is being the foundation of the life triangular diagram. Ikhlas or Sincerity is defined as cleansing the mind, purifying the heart, sanctifying the soul, in doing one thing from the beginning to the end for the sake of Allah SWT. By having sincerity in that individual, he will run the business to get profit, but in the same time he will help other people and get blessing from Allah SWT. All of these aspects; goal, human, and system structure; if they are understood and perfectly practised, the individual will be granted a blessed balanced life.
As a conclusion, everyone must understand the importance of getting a balanced life by following the guidance from the life triangle diagram. The approach which is based by Ikhlas, Hikmah, and Ukhuwah will assist the individual to better practice the management of life in order to get blessing from Allah SWT. A new education system should be established as an approach to educate all people, within young and old age, including all level of education to spread the awareness about the danger of artificial sweetener in food. The education approach must first cover the purpose of living in this life, biological body system, and socio-cultural effect of the sweetener industry and it is hoped that the awareness of this knowledge is spread out and passed through generation. Further research about healthy substitutes for artificial sweetener must be emphasized so that our community's health will be sustained and further, everybody has good health which allows them to pray, work, and achieve success to get blessing from Allah SWT.


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Rehab does a body good ... as evidenced by this picture of Lindsay Lohan looking less like a blowfish and more like a completely regular human.
The pic was snapped Saturday in L.A. while LiLo was out shopping with sister Ali. Photogs almost missed the shot ... mistaking her for a happy, healthy girl ... then realized it was in fact the rehabbed starlet.
I never realized how many idiots come on this site! Can't believe some of these comments. Hopefully she gets her act together this time and does well. She was close to death before.
So being pasty white and bald is the new "hot"?
I don't think I got that memo.
She looks a lot better than she has in a long time! Keep it up girl! She might make a comeback after all.
She looks a lot better than she has in a long time! Keep it up girl! She might make a comeback after all.
I would still split that ginger ass...
So obviously she called the paparazzi because she wanted the world to know or else no one would give a flying ****. And why is she behind the wheel of a car? Any drivers in LA better stay off the road.
She looks healthier. Wishing her the best
Where are 'Susan' or 'Jill' to tell us this is a LIE, Milo's selling bull sh!t again, etc?
Turkey arms, cellulite thighs, and so on and so forth. She should contact the coward Barack Obama for some tips on staying thing.
Can't believe all the negative comments.....JK, YES I CAN lol
I effin effin effin truly effin hate her
She looks great
Ha, ha...the NY Post caption to their story with these shopping trip pics:
"Lilo looks jolly without Stoli"
Rol is running the same story, except they slammed her. I also see the hate force is out in force today. Means we are doing something right.
My god you can still see the glue strips that look like bad hair plugs. These extensions do look somewhat washed. Thats new.
Lohan either has a very high forehead or her eyebrows are getting lower.

subset: commoncrawl


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Colorectal Cancer Health Center
High-Fiber Diet Linked to Lower Colon Cancer Risk
Second Opinion
"There are a few things that are important for people to understand here," says Lona Sandon, MEd, RD, assistant professor at the University of Texas Southwestern and a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association.
She reviewed the findings for WebMD but was not involved in the study. "Colon cancer does not happen overnight," she says. It can take many years to develop. "So starting to eat whole grains in your 50s may not prevent colon cancer in your 60s."
"A poor diet is not the only reason colon cancer might develop, although it may encourage its growth and spread," she says. Other triggers for colon cancer, she says, include chronic inflammation, such as having inflammatory bowel disease.
"This does not prove cause and effect," she says of the study.
Even with the caveats, however, Sandon says the message is simple: "Eat more whole grains." While not all the answers are in on how they might reduce colorectal cancer risk, they and other sources of fiber have other health benefits.
Among them:
- Better cholesterol levels
- Better blood sugar levels
- Less constipation


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Creation of Constituencies And Gerrymandering in Ghana: A Legal Opinion
I have been following with keen interest the on-going debate on the intended creation of 45 new constituencies since its announcement by the Electoral Commission (EC). A cursory survey of the debate would depict that the arguments have been hinged on two main legs: legality of the intended creation and the timing of the exercise. It is in the light of these that I seek to share an opinion on this topical issue. I argue that the current practice of creating new and additional constituencies is unconstitutional, unsustainable and, above all, has the potential of engendering gerrymandering or malapportionment, which are abhorred in republican governments. On the issue of timing I have come to the conclusion that such a line of argument is not sustaining hence untenable.
The EC argued that its decision to create additional 45 constituencies is in compliance with its constitutional mandate provided for under Article 47(5) of the 1992 Constitution.
When one follows closely the line of argument in this whole debate, it would be realised that proponents and supporters of the creation of the new constituencies have argued mainly that the creation of new constituencies is a fulfilment of a constitutional obligation and that it also engenders development. In the opinion of this group, development is tied to the creation of more constituencies.
Opponents of the creation of the new constituencies on the other hand cite the timing, resources and legal basis among the reasons for their opposition to the creation of the new constituencies.
Another observation is that the debate is being championed by the main political parties: The National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP), for and against respectively.
A similar incident occurred when the EC based on the 2000 census decided to review the number of constituencies by increasing the numbers from Two Hundred (200) to Two Hundred and Thirty (230). The then opposition NDC vehemently opposed the EC's decision arguing inter alia, that it was an attempt by the EC to rig the election in favour of the NPP; it could however be gleaned from some comments made by leading members of the then ruling NPP that the party was favourably disposed to the action of the EC.
Significantly even though there was some perception that the creation of additional 30 constituencies would favour the NPP, the decision was heavily criticised by the former chairman of the NPP, Mr. B.J. daRocha.
The EC, in spite of the various criticisms, went ahead with the creation of the new constituencies. From the debate, it is apparent that the authority of the EC to create new constituencies is not being challenged. What is being questioned is the procedure (methodology and timing of the exercise).
To begin the analysis, it is significant to quote the relevant constitutional provisions regarding the creation of constituencies which are at the centre of this debate. Articles 45(a) (b) and 47 (2); (3); (4) and (5) state as follow:
45 "The Electoral Commission shall have the following functions –
a) to compile the register of voters and revise it at such periods as may be determined by law;
b) to demarcate the electoral boundaries for both national and local government elections
47 (2) "No constituency shall fall within more than one region."
"(3) The boundaries of each constituency shall be such that the number of inhabitants in the constituency is, as nearly as possible, equal to the population quota."
"(4) For the purposes of clause (3) of this article, the number of inhabitants of a constituency may be greater or less than the population quota in order to take account of means of communication, geographical features, density of population and area and boundaries of the regions and other administrative or traditional areas.
"(5) The Electoral Commission shall review the division of Ghana into constituencies at interval of not less than seven years, or within twelve months after the publication of the enumeration figures after the holding of a census of the population of Ghana, whichever is earlier, and may, as a result, alter the constituencies"
Article 45 is so clear and equivocal to the extent that any average literate Ghanaian can understand the provision which is to the effect that the EC is responsible for electoral boundaries when it comes to the conduct of elections at both local and national levels.
What is at the centre of the on-going debate is clause 5 of Article 47. What poses the problem in clause 5 is the construction placed on the word 'review' by the EC. The EC has construed the word 'review' to mean increase and to that extent sought to interpret the clause as requiring increasing the number of constituencies in an interval of not more than 7 years or within 12 months of the publication of census figures.
The current construction of clause 5 and hence the practice of creating additional constituencies following the occurrence of any of the above two scenarios is unsustainable and above all unconstitutional.
First of all, the current practice has the potential of creating absurdity if not checked; the reason being that if a ceiling is not placed, there is the potential for having hundreds if not thousands of members of Parliament who may be representing each community or not more than five communities put together. This practice cannot continue; as such, either the EC takes a second look at its current interpretation of the word 'review' in Article 5 of the Constitution 1992 or the Supreme Court makes a definitive pronouncement on the proper meaning of the provision.
I daresay that this may be overstretching the argument, but this point is being made to underscore the fact that the Constitution did not contemplate the current practice as a rule of constitutional interpretation because constitutional interpretation advocates the avoidance of interpretation that renders a provision of the constitution absurd.
It is my respectful opinion that the review requirement of constituencies in Article 47(5) may be an increase or re-demarcation of already existing constituencies without necessarily increasing the number of constituencies, all based on the population quota. The Constitution lays down population as the main determining factor in demarcating or creating constituencies by stating in clause 7 of Article 47 that constituency boundaries should be that the number of inhabitants is as nearly as possible equal to the population quota.
However – being mindful of gerrymandering or mal-apportionment and the difficulties that may rise in using population quota as the only determinant – the Constitution made provision for the EC to consider other factors such as geographical features, areas and boundaries of regions and other administrative or traditional areas. This is recognition of the fact that it is virtually impossible to achieve absolute population equality or precise mathematical equality in the creation of constituencies and therefore, some small population disparity ought to be acceptable in the absence of obvious gerrymandering.
It is on the basis of ensuring transparency that Article 296 places a duty on any person or authority vested with discretionary power to be fair and candid and forbids such a person or authority not to use the power in a manner that is arbitrary, capricious, or biased. Article 296 further mandates that the exercise of discretionary power be in accordance with due process of law. Both Article 296 (c) and Article 51 require the EC to, by Constitutional Instrument, publish the parameters of its discretionary power; something the EC has failed to do. Article 51 categorically mandates the EC to make regulations to guide it in the performance of its functions including the creation or demarcating of electoral boundaries. This is to ensure that Ghanaian would be able to monitor compliance with the constitutional provisions as major stakeholders in our political process.
The EC, we are told, initially had planned to create 20 constituencies in compliance with its mandate pursuant to Article 47(5) of the 1992 Constitution. It then revised the number to 47 by the addition of 27 more constituencies. The reason ascribed to by the Chairman of the EC was to avoid gerrymandering after the government created new district assemblies. This is recognition by the EC that it has a mandate to avoid creation of constituencies in an unfair manner to favour one group as against others by way of deliberate and arbitrary distortion of constituency boundaries and population for partisan purposes.
Gerrymandering, simply put, is the manipulation of an electoral area, usually by altering its boundaries, in order to gain an unfair political advantage in an election. The word is derived from the Massachusetts Governor, Elbridge Gerry and the salamander-like district he created.
A close cousin of gerrymandering is malapportionment, which involves the creation or preservation of electoral constituencies of different population sizes, so that the ratio of representatives to voters varies across constituencies.
It appears that the creation or even preservation of constituencies could result in gerrymandering or malapportionment if the ratio of representatives to voters varies across constituencies or they are created to result in giving one political party advantage over the other.
Gerrymandering or malapportionment usually results in the compromise of the core principle of republican government which is to say voters should choose their own representatives, not representatives choosing their voters. It is for the avoidance of this that the EC decided to add 27 more constituencies to the 20 constituencies it had initially decided to create.
The EC over the years has tied the creation of constituencies to the creation of districts. This is because the EC has taken the position that one constituency cannot fall within more than one district, hence whenever there is a creation of a new district the EC must necessarily create a new constituency to fall within the new district. The EC and the proponents of this position have always cited the Local Government Act, 1993 (Act 462) specifically sections 5(1) (c) and 6(7) to support this. The sections read as follows:
S: 5(1) "A District Assembly shall consist of the following members –
(c) the member or members of Parliament from the constituencies that fall within the area of authority of the District Assembly, except that member or members shall have no voting rights; and"
S: 6(7) "A person shall not at any one time be a member of more than one District Assembly."
It is these provisions of the Local Government Act, 1993, (Act 463) that have largely, I believe, influenced the position of the EC, hence the creation of a new constituency whenever there is a new district created. This position as alluded to earlier in all deference is unconstitutional. The Constitution specifically states in Article 47(2) that:
"No constituency shall fall within more than one region".
The Constitution did not state that no constituency shall fall within more than one district. It specifically mentioned region and in that respect it stands to reason that it is only when it comes to regions that one constituency cannot fall within two regions and not districts. In my humble opinion, if the framers of the Constitution wanted to bar constituencies from straddling or falling within more than one district they would have expressly said so as they did for regional straddling. This is supported by the expressio unius exclusio alterius rule, which means that "the express mention of one thing excludes all others".
I am of the view that the framers of the Constitution, being mindful and well aware of the existence of regions and districts decided to specifically mention region and excluded district and so no stretch of interpretive arguments can include what was expressly excluded. What this means is that section 6(7) of the Local Government Act that seeks to incorporate districts in this provision runs counter to the letter and the spirit of the Constitution.
It must be borne in mind that the reason for leaving out districts in Article 47(2) was to avoid gerrymandering or malapportionment. This is because the current interpretation of the relevant constitutional provision and the Local Government Act is very susceptible to gerrymandering. This could easily be realised by an incumbent government wanting to engage in gerrymandering, would just create new districts to cover areas where it has majority of votes within a particular constituency and the EC would be compelled to create constituencies to cover it. This will give an unfair advantage to such a government and will amount to representatives choosing their constituents, rather than constituents getting to choose their representatives. Therefore, any construction of the constitutional provision or any law that engenders gerrymandering or runs counter to the Constitution would be null and void.
The second aspect of the debate is centred on the timing of the creation of the 45 new constituencies. Having established the unconstitutionality of the proposed new constituencies it is important to take a brief look at the timing argument. The argument has been that the time frame for the parties to engage in internal contest to elect their candidates is too short; barely three months for such exercises to take place. It may be conceded that by the current C.I. 78 matures on or about October 3, 2012. Barring any irregularities or fundamental mistakes, the parties would have about approximately one month to put their houses in order and campaign for election if they want. It is evident that there isn't to a large extent much time to campaign. This is where it is important that other parties take a cue from the NDC which has elected its candidates in preparation for the creation. The NDC is positioning itself in anticipation of the creation of the new constituencies. It would therefore, not be out of place for other parties to prepare in anticipation of the creation. I do not see any difference between when political parties elect their candidates sometime not less than six months to election in anticipation of the EC opening nominations for parties to file for both presidential and parliamentary candidates. The Constitution does not forbid election of candidates pending the creation of constituencies. In any even one is only recognized as a candidate only after one has filed his or her nomination with the EC and for a particular constituency. It does not really matter whether a candidate is elected one year or a day before the Election Day on the December 7.
The argument that Article 112(6) which bars a by-election to fill a vacancy created by the death of a member of parliament from taking place within three months of a general election supports the limited time argument is unsustainable. In my respectful view, the three month limitation is not because the EC and the parties would be unable to prepare for the election because of short time, but rather such an elected person would have to spend resources to contest in the general election.
In conclusion, I am of the view that we can learn from the United States of American, the citadel of democracy. The U.S. with a population of about 311,591,917 as of 2011 has 535 members of congress comprising 435 voting members of House of Representatives and 100 Senators.
Congressional districts, the equivalent of constituencies in Ghana, are then distributed among states, with California, the most populous state, currently having 53 representatives and 7 states currently having only one representative. Each state in the union must have at least one representative in the Congress. The Senate is made of 100 senators with each of the 50 states having two senators regardless of the population.
The US in a bid to avoid continuous increase in congressional district in every ten years passed Apportionment Act, 1911 (Public Law 62_5) in August 8, 1911. This law fixes the number of representatives for the US Congress. If a country of 311,591,917 population size with a GDP of US$ 15.09 trillion has a total of 535 representatives, it is not reasonable, rational and prudent for Ghana with a population of 24,965,816 and a GDP of $39.2 Billion to have 275 representatives and keep adding. We must put a ceiling and strictly comply with the constitutional provision of using population as the main determinant in constituency demarcation.
Although I am opposed to the creation of the new constituencies on legal grounds, I am of the view that the current process should be allowed to go on and at the same time recognising the constitutional right of those who go to court to challenge the decision of the EC. I urge all stakeholders to support the EC and the political parties to be able to go through the process, unless a definitive decision of a court of competent jurisdiction clarifies the position of the law on this issue.
The writer, Kwesi Baffoe Intsiful esq. is a legal practitioner.
Constituency, Election 2012, Elections, Gerrymandering, ghana, GhanaDecides, Law
The opinions expressed on this website, except specifically stated, are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Ghana Decides team. Ghana Decides will not be responsible or liable for any inaccurate or incorrect statements contained these articles or liable for prosecution based on those views.
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text:
In a business climate characterized by change, Vent Vue Window
Products Co., Inc. has remained at the forefront of the Los Angeles
window and door industry by focusing on quality and service while
keeping abreast of market trends.
The company began life in 1950 as Coor-Pender and Long Co., resulting
from a collaborative entrepreneurial effort between Howard Coor-
Pender, a pioneer in shop manufactured door and window frames,
and Ralph L. Long, the designer and patent holder of Sava-Space
pocket door hardware which he manufactured in El Cajon. Joining
Coor-Pender to assist him and manage the office was daughter, Marceil.
read more...


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Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 1: Launch of the Screaming Narwhal
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|The Political Economy of Grain Double-Track System in China
【Abstract】 Double-track system is an institutional arrangement adopted by China during its transition from planned economy to market economy. Compared with the 鎻僫g Bang? reforming model, it has the characteristics of gradualism, marginality, path- dependence and reversibility. This process of institutional change is an exchange of rights and obligations between government, producers, and consumers. Although the implementing costs were high, it reduced friction costs through Pareto Improvement and therefore brought about a successful and smooth economic growth in China. Double-track system widely existed in every sector of China鎶economy. The most typical ones in the industrial sector were in the production and marketing fields of means of production such as steel, electricity and natural gas. The most typical one in the agricultural sector was in the production and marketing fields of grains. After over 20 years of market-oriented reform, the markets of all industrial products and most agricultural products have been totally opened. The double-track system survived, however, in the production and marketing fields of grains, which reflects the complexity and uniqueness of this reform. Unfortunately, relevant theoretical and empirical studies on this topic were rarely done, and there have always been debates on the effects of double-track system on grain production, which made it difficult to correctly understand this process of institutional change, not to mention to put forward theoretical reference and policy recommendation for deepening the reform of grain marketing system. This paper focuses on the double-track system in the fields of grain production and marketing, and analyses quota allocation, farmers?grain supply response and the effects of market intervention. There are, all together, eight chapters. Chapter 1 briefly introduces the background, scope and objectives of this paper. Chapter 2 comprehensively reviews the emergence and evolution of the double-track system in grain marketing. Moreover, it describes data resource and statistical analysis. Chapter 3 reviews and evaluates relevant articles. Chapter 4 describes different roles of government departments at different levels in the grain double-track system, and explores the determinants of quota allocation and their relationship with policy objectives by the construction and implementation of a grain quota allocation model. Chapter 5 analyses farmers?grains supply response under the double-track system by way of a supply response model incorporated with price expectation. Chapter 6 examines the effects of market intervention by the construction and implementation of a grain market intervention model and compares them with relevant countries. Chapter 7 analyses the ending conditions, transitional proposals and periods of the double-track system, as well as makes comment on current grain and agricultural policies. Chapter 8 presents the conclusion of this paper, and briefly points out the directions for further studies. 151 Using the panel data from 25 rice-growing counties in 3 provinces (Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Sichuan), the empirical studies show the following findings: I. Central and local governments play different roles in the grain double-track system. Generally speaking, quota quantity and quota price were set by the central government, and allocated top-down. Great differences exist between counties in quota quantity, whereas the difference of quota price bet
|and Market Intervention, China, Double-Track System, Grain Marketing System, Quota PriceQuota Allocation, Quotn Quantity, Supply Response,
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Submitted by Lisa (not verified) on Thu, 12/20/2012 - 9:04pm.
Just so you know I am close to this family and I am shocked and appalled at how some of this was handled with the school. People are cruel and making comments but since when do you question a young person and do so for 2 hours with a sherriff present and not inform him of his rights, do not contact his parents, nor realize that many students have been talking about this then tell the student if he just admits it he can go back to class. I am totally aware that we as a nation are sensitive to this subject matter due to the events in CT last week but serously this is one where if the school did nothing they would be in trouble they have questioned and bullied him into this. Scared him out of his mind. The kid wouldn't hurt a fly and unlike a lot of young people his parents are very involved and trust me they know their son. So those that want to say cruel things do not have the facts and trust me they will be coming and so will many other things. It just amzes me that their was no common sense if it can happen to Merten it can happen to any child. Protect our child by all means but this action here is way over the line with this student I call BS! It is nice to see someone on here trying to be rational which is more than what the head staff member did when he took his action. I can't imagine the job he has is easy but this is just wrong. A rumor is only a rumor if repeated if that is the case half the scholl should be sent home! Suspend I can see but to have him arrested just boggles the mind.


text:
Gypsy Modular Startup: Ikea Meets Lego
We love finding new products, and there's nothing quite so new as a startup that's trying to get off the ground. Even better? A startup with cool kids' furniture and a design that, by their own admission, marries the aesthetics and functionality of Ikea and Lego.
The concept behind Gypsy Modular rests on interlocking furniture pieces that require no tools for assembly. The pieces use pressure, friction, and a unique design to slip together and stay put. Products are meant to be mixed, matched, and reconfigured: turn a chair into a bench, a desk into a shelf.
Gypsy Modular isn't quite up and running yet, and that's where interested consumers come in. Currently, the company is taking pre-orders through KickStarter. You choose a "pledge," which serves as a pre-order; if they get enough orders, the company can start production. If not, your credit card is never charged.
It's an opportunity to support innovative design for kids and, hopefully, get a great new product for your family.
Learn more at Gypsy Modular.
Via Design Milk.
1 Comment
it's creepy to see kids sitting like grownups
with their legs crossed. just saying.
the modular furniture is cool enough if you can get past the creepy kids.


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5 Concerns About Electric-Car Batteries
Electricity may be the auto fuel of the future, but a lot remains to be answered about the batteries that house it.
The Chevy Volt's advanced battery pack, which contains 288 cells, is based on lithium, a mineral that some analysts believe will be in short supply.
If you believe the headlines, electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids are about to take over the world. Soon we'll all be silently gliding around in Trader Joe's parking lot, free from foreign oil, climate-change anxiety and all other earthly cares. This year's North American International Auto Show in Detroit drove the point home as Ford, Tesla, Porsche, Mercedes-Benz and others flaunted electric cars of all species. More importantly, the first real EV offerings, the Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt, recently hit the streets to much fanfare.
Indeed, it seems that electricity is winning the alternative-fuel war, which makes us both excited and a bit concerned. Carrying all those electrons around requires big, high-voltage batteries. And many questions are yet to be answered about these oversized copper tops — some good, some not so good.
Here, we examine five of the most troubling concerns about EV batteries.
Bing: Vehicle Battery Technology
1. Will This Thing Die on Me?
People don't like being guinea pigs, and many would-be EV owners are wondering if the large, pricey batteries that power electric cars are going to last. The bottom line: Nobody knows yet. Makers of plug-in hybrids and EVs tell us their batteries will last "the life of the car," but that is vague. Both the Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt carry an 8-year, 100,000-mile warranty on their battery packs, which is encouraging. Also, the track record for conventional hybrid batteries has been strong, with Toyota Prius batteries easily living beyond 200,000 miles.
But the lithium-ion batteries used in plug-ins like the Volt and pure EVs like the Leaf are different from Prius batteries. They are composed of different chemistries and are much larger. They also endure greater punishment during daily use. A Prius battery delivers power in short bursts as it helps the gasoline engine along, and is then recharged as the car brakes. EVs and plug-in hybrids, on the other hand, deplete their batteries nearly all the way — a process called "deep discharge" — which is significantly more taxing on the cells and can diminish their life span.
However, your primary concern with these batteries should not be their outright death, but rather a gradual drift into senescence. Lithium-ion batteries lose storage capacity over time; how long does your 5-year-old laptop battery hold a charge? This means your EV's range will decrease as it ages — and the more aggressively you drive, the faster that happens. Nissan and GM both acknowledge that their high-voltage batteries will hold less and less electricity over the years, and that their battery warranties cover only what they deem abnormal decreases in range. This means that if you buy a Leaf, which has a 100-mile range, and your commute is 50 miles each way, you might have to move in a year.
Reviews: Find expert and user reviews
2. Will There Be Enough Lithium to Support EVs?
News headlines like "Will Afghanistan become the 'Saudi Arabia of lithium'?" have appeared in the press a lot recently. As the name suggests, lithium-ion batteries, of the sort favored for electric cars and plug-in hybrids, are based on lithium, a mineral mined from the earth or extracted from brine. The world's current supply of lithium comes from very few countries. A third of the current supply comes from Chile, but Bolivia and Afghanistan also have massive deposits. If Americans start driving electric cars in earnest, the question naturally arises: Will we be at the mercy of the world's producers? It's a question that sounds eerily familiar, right?
At least for the foreseeable future, it seems we're in good shape. A recent research paper from the Argonne National Laboratory in Argonne, Ill., concludes, "It appears that even an aggressive program of vehicles with electric drive can be supported for decades with known supplies." Analysts also argue that as the demand for lithium ratchets up, new deposits will be unearthed. Greg Cesiel, engineering group manager for the Chevy Volt, says General Motors isn't worried: "There's a lot of lithium out there. We don't anticipate any shortages."
Watch Video: Chevy Volt Wins Top Honors at the Detroit Auto Show
Must-See on MSN
What this article failed to mention is how practical are all-electric vehicles for the average American? Sadly only people who live in the city and only commute 40mi will buy them, you can't charge them quickly on long trips. I think hybrids are better because they give the best of both worlds.
To those who think there are no emissions on all-electric vehicles you are wrong, most electricity in America is produced with coal.
Natural gas may be the best answer. It is less expensive than electricity or gasoline. It is so plentiful that it can almost be considered inexhaustible. It can be created from any organic source including our own grabage and sewage, in fact it is so easy to make that all trash dumps give off natural gas. It already exists in most homes, so cars can be refeuled at home. Natural gas refeuling stations already exist.
The engines are cleaner throughout their operating lives than electric cars, no electric power from coal, no environmentally unfriendly and expensive batteries to manufacture, wear out, replace or recycle.
Natural Gas vehicles are less expensive than electric cars, in fact several car companies already make all Natural Gas powered cars. Look at the Honda CiviC G. The Honda Civic G, in my opinion, is our best option for living and driving greener...
I'm not exactly a rocket scientist but where are we going to get all this electricity to run our cars? Nuc fuel, coal burning? I'm thinking this will do nothing but run up our electric bill for home heating and cooling, something most people can barely afford now. (supply and demand)
When will someone come up with a better mousetrap on this thing? It has to be self contained either through solar panels on the top or some kind of recharging apparatus on the wheels themselves to keep up the charge.
Plugging in only trades one problem for another, IMO.
My girlfriend and I have a Honda Hybrid and even though the gas mileage is great, they don't tell you the down side to things. Like there are two catalytic converters on the car and they have to be constantly changed, they are notorious for going out. The Big Battery when it finally dies, will cost $3000. That the electric in the car is super sensitive. Or anything in that car when it breaks down will cost at least $1000 or more and they have made it to where you have to take it back to the dealer. When the warranty runs out is when things start breaking down. When the car was under warranty, and just a few years old the one catalytic converter had to be changed, shortly after the other catalytic converter, now another one has to be replaced. Catalytic converters use to last a good ten years. We had a flood and had the water go into the engine we would have been at a serious loss. I know this may sound bad, but I honestly think we should stay with gas power.
In December I made a road trip from Phoenix to Denver in a 2004 Prius. It is my buddies car. It had 75k miles and the battery was in excellent shape. This car is a POS. We could not carry any speed up long hills. We were at 15mph at the top of some of these hills on the highway with a speed limit of 75mph. How safe is this? It also took us 20 hours!! 20!! I could do that trip in my Suburban in 11 hours. We only got 30mpg on the trip to. My Suburban gets 17mpg all day and it is 4 wheel drive with big rims. Someone explain to me how a hybrid is good? I just don't see it. Also we will run out of Nickel before oil at the pace we are on. What does this solve? Changing one natural resource for another? Doesn't make sense to me. I am all for better technology but it needs to be for the future and not to be cool and hip right now.
Also the desiel's in Europe has really bad emissions compared to ours. There standards are way different from ours. However if they get 75mpg in a full size sedan (jaguar) and we get 25 mpg in one over here it would make sense in the long run the diesel could be better.
More on MSN Autos
Suck the verve right out of your drive with these yawn-inducing rides.


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Before & After: Home Office Gets a Light & Lively Makeover
Designed to Dwell
Wendy from Designed to Dwell had a perfectly nice formal study, yet she came to a realization I think we've all had at some point: sometimes what we think we like isn't our style after all. Check out how Wendy lightened and brightened to create a completely fresh new room that's much more her.
After living with the formal study for a few years, Wendy realized her study needed a makeover. There wasn't anything wrong with the old room, but as Wendy writes, "I realized this was not 'us'. We are definitely not formal people! I decided a lighter, happier look would fit our personalities a little better."
Using their existing furniture, Wendy and her husband created a bright new look by painting the pieces a crisp white, making an X-base desk using the original L-shaped desk, and adding a sleek new office chair. Wendy's husband also built new frames for their portraits and Wendy updated the smaller touches to add vibrant notes of color around the room. I'm a huge fan of their new study!
Have you ever tried a style only to realize it wasn't really 'you'? I just did that with the purchase of some Troopa Boots. A fashion choice that was cool in theory, but not working for me at all in practice (womp womp). In the words of my 2-year old daughter, "You look silly, mama". Too true, my friends, too true. Now if only Wendy could work her magic and turn my trooper boots into some rain boots...
Head on over to Designed to Dwell for all the details on this makeover.
(Images: Designed to Dwell)
34 Comments
Quick, everyone start commenting about how she shouldn't have painted that wood piece!
Me on the other hand, I love it.
If she likes it, it's good. It certainly looks nice in that style.
Just once, however, I would love to hear someone say they decided they weren't really casual people and wanted to make a space more formal. As a rather formal person myself, I would find it so refreshing.
Love the colors in the "after" photo!
The after is still kinda formal for me :) If you check out her blog, you'll see the new space fits really well with the rest of the house now. Hard to figure out how they ended up with that study in the first place.
Love the final result, and I'm usually in the "don't paint it" camp. But then the original style doesn't do much for me. I do think it would be possible to lighten up the look without paint. Getting rid of that chair was a great first step.
I always hate when my chair arms don't fit under my desk.
And I love that this was done by simply updating pieces they already had, rather than buying everything new. I can't believe they made that x-base desk! Very cool.
I agree with you Gwendolyn. I like posts where people reuse or reinvent what they had before instead of throwing it all out and starting over with new.
Sweat equity (or something like that) instead of conspicuous consumption.
Also, I am sick of that reddish wood finish--the white paint really freshens this up. Also agree with posters who point out the difference the new desk chair makes.
If it's an older or really nice piece of wood I say don't paint it, but this looks like it wasn't anything special. I like the new desk!
Great before and after! I love that she used her existing furniture.
That white paint really makes the space feel lighter & cleaner. (The darker study was a bit Thurston Howell)! Love the result on the x-base desk.
Is that really where she'd work on the computer though, or does she move everything over to the x-base desk? To work where the monitor is in the pic, the bottom cabinets would need to be opened up for a place to put her legs. That's the only part that doesn't make sense to me in these pics.
Half the time I fall in the "shouldn't have painted that wood" camp, but this is definitely not one. I think it looks great, sort of Martha Stewart-y which I love. The before looked a little like any generic bank branch, so I can see why they didn't feel at home with it. Excellent work!
Much friendlier and young looking.
From stodgy to fresh. I love it.
So much better! If you can make some changes to something you already have so that it works better in your life, then by all means make the changes.
Sometimes wood just begs to be painted. It looks great. I didn't even realize at first that it was the same piece.
I'm normally in the don't paint camp, but this looks great.
I really wish folks would take their before and after shots from the same angle.
I love it all. The desk conversion makes me crazy happy and I want to find something like it.
A bazillion times better! Great job!
there are a lot of things you can do to get a different look from your boots. Colorful laces? Glue glitter on the heels? Paint the toe cap a different color? Bedazzle? Paint freehand designs all over? Wear them with the tops of the boots turned down? Wear them with cool socks folded over the tops of the boots?
It looks amazing!
Did anyone notice, though, that the large piece is reversed in the two photos? OP, if you check back, could you say whether you flipped the photos or if you were able to change up the piece itself?
Regardless, nice work. Bet that was a beast to paint all of that wood (and esp. veneer!).
This is one of those instances where it really pays to paint the wooden furniture! And I love the reconstructed desk.
Sorry guys - the darker wood makes me think of coffins! Love the re-do!
Love this! Great improvement putting the desk in front of the window and making space for the extra seating. For me, the perfect office chair would have shorter arms or no arms to avoid bumping the desk, but I have been looking for such a chair (with wheels, comfortable, and reasonably priced) and keep coming up empty. This one looks nice and hopefully won't beat up the desk too much.
I know! Wish I would have opted for the chair without arms!
Thanks! It wasn't anything special... After using it for just 4 years, the wood veneer looked awful... The new paint covers up all those worn spots now!
Thanks! The drawer front under the cabinet pulls down & that's where the mouse & keyboard are at. I didn't paint the insides, so that's why you don't see them in the pictures! The desk by the window is great for my husband to work on his laptop or tablet.
Thanks! Yes, it was pain to paint! (I just realized the word "pain" is actually in the word paint!) Anyway, yes, the bookcase is three separate pieces that were bolted together. We removed the bolts when I painted the bookcases & I decided to switch the two end pieces after they were painted.
Sorry but how do you even use the computer there? Or is the draw below it a keyboard tray that pulls out?
Eek. The Before is so ridiculously suburban. Nice work!
All the before needed was a new wall color paint. A cheery cream would have done wonders for the natural wood unit. So would a champagne color carpet.. The chair did need to take a hike. The bookcase unit just needed a pretty backing of your favorite print material which could have been applied to foam posterboard reversible to the next favorite shade of your choice. Top of the desk could have been covered with the same fabric backing as the wall unit with glass.
Yes, I'd never buy the first one. Moving the desk to the window makes the space in the room much more useful. The desk chair had to go, though I also would have picked something different for the new one. I like the way the after looks better, though I'm also usually in the camp of DON'T paint. I likely would have lightened it up by changing the chair, the wall color, the back of the inside of the shelves, and placing something more durable on the desk surfaces, if that was the part with the worn veneer, perhaps something colorful covered by glass, because, well, I'm lazy, and like some wood in a room, though not oppressively dark scads of it.
This went from, dare I say it, what's considered a formal masculine look to what's considered a formal, more feminine look. I do think the after would look better if one ripped up that carpet and installed hardwood floors, if they aren't already there under the carpet, and put a more interesting paint color on the walls. Because, except for the curtains, this is just too white and beige, so ultimately as boring to me (who loves color) as the before brown and beige (the carpet) and whatever that ugly color was in the before wall, just lighter. Still, it is an improvement, and color can always be added if one wants to later.
As to the flipped furniture, these things do come in sections, and with doors that can be positioned on various shelf spaces. And the "drawers" in front on the credenza are likely really a pull-out keyboard tray, since the monitor is there in both before and after photos.
I like both, both I am torn on the chairs. I love to be able to tuck my chair in under the table, but I also love a nice, big, full backed chair.
The drawer front below pulls down & there is a flat pull- out computer tray. The desk was intended for the computer to be there. :)


text:
Men's Health
Alpha-Blocker Medicines for Prostatitis
|Generic Name
|Brand Name
These medicines are available in pill form. A low dose is used at first, then the dosage is gradually increased until the medicine has the greatest effect on reducing symptoms with minimal side effects.
How It Works
These medicines relax the muscles in the prostate and at the base of the bladder. This reduces muscle tightness and spasms that may prevent normal urine flow.
Why It Is Used
These medicines may be used to treat symptoms of chronic prostatitis/pelvic pain syndrome, noninflammatory, a type of prostatitis, when muscle tightness and spasms are suspected to be the cause of symptoms and pain.
How Well It Works
Most men who take alpha-blockers for prostatitis have fewer symptoms, but it takes awhile for the medicine to give results. Alpha-blockers work best in men who haven't already tried many different kinds of medicines for prostatitis and who have moderate to severe symptoms.1
Taking an antibiotic and an alpha-blocker together helps to improve symptoms of chronic prostatitis and chronic pelvic pain better than either medicine alone.2
Side Effects
Alpha-blockers can reduce blood pressure to less than normal. This can result in lightheadedness, especially when you stand up abruptly after sitting or lying down (postural hypotension).
See Drug Reference for a full list of side effects. (Drug Reference is not available in all systems.)
What To Think About
Because this medicine can cause lightheadedness, it may be given at night and started at a low dose that will be gradually increased.
Complete the new medication information form (PDF)(What is a PDF document?) to help you understand this medication.
Nickel JC (2007). Inflammatory conditions of the male genitourinary tract: Prostatitis and related conditions, orchitis, and epididymitis. In AJ Wein et al., eds., Campbell-Walsh Urology, 9th ed., vol. 1, pp. 304–329. Philadelphia: Saunders Elsevier.
Anothaisintawee T, et al. (2011). Management of chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome. JAMA, 305(1): 78–86.
|Healthwise Staff
|Primary Medical Reviewer
|E. Gregory Thompson, MD - Internal Medicine
|Specialist Medical Reviewer
|J. Curtis Nickel, MD, FRCSC - Urology
|Last Revised
|December 3, 2011
WebMD Medical Reference from Healthwise
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Dunkirk Travel Guide
Photos from DunkirkPictures of Dunkirk (5)
Hotel Deals in Dunkirk
Hotels in DunkirkDunkirk Accommodations (4)
Clarion Hotel Dunkirk
30 Lake Shore Drive East, Dunkirk, United States
BEST WESTERN PLUS Dunkirk & Fredonia Inn
3912 Vineyard Drive, Dunkirk, United States
Comfort Inn Dunkirk
3925 Vineyard Dr., Dunkirk, United States
Dunkirk Motel
310 Lake Shore Drive, Dunkirk, United States
Travel Blogs from DunkirkDunkirk Travel Blogs (5)
Bob Evans Restaurant, Dunkirk NY, 4 June ...
Major packing today. The kids are playing with friends before we leave tomorrow. Hope everything goes as planned and we are able to get on the same plane as Kevin. ...
Great Lake Erie
After dealing with the border patrol it was late and we didn't make it to much further down the road. A huge thunder storm was building and we pulled into a Walmart in this little town around 9pm. We had a real good show from the lightning. A lot of it ...
Day 56
Erie to ...


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There's something about Oscar de la Renta's clothing that brings out the very best in the women who wear it — and lots of famous ladies, from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to actress Lea Michelle, are among his devoted customers. But on the runway, de la Renta manages to talk to women of all stripes by making the most richly beautiful versions of the things they really need: suits that are professional and playful, coats that are warm and whimsical, and gowns that inspire envy wherever they appear. De la Renta loves classic proportions almost as much as he loves decoration, which means his collections often blend midcentury shapes, lots of embellishments, and plenty of colorful spirit.
Source: Getty