text:
I want to be Jon Stewart when I grow up
So, while we're all waiting for the entertainment that will be the upcoming 3 weeks*, how bout taking a little time out to laugh your ass off with The Daily Show?
Jon Stewart does Zell Miller
Watch the whole thing 'cause it's all good, but the truly transcendental stuff starts around 3:15. Oh, and I recommend keeping some tissues handy. And don't drink anything while you watch or you might have to replace your monitor.
(if you have any trouble with the link, go here and click on the "Headlines: Zell on Earth" video link)
*Among some of the big ass chickens that're coming home to roost:
- Senator Bob Graham's new book, which discusses the Bush Administration cover up of Saudi funding of the 9/11 hijackers
- Bush's Guard service, including Ben Barnes' admission that he pulled strings to get the young lad into the Guard, bumping him ahead of candidates who'd been on the list for years, as well as Jerry Killian's documents of running interference for Bush during those years (and we'll just ignore the fact that all of this has been pursued by the blogosphere for more than a year, and that anyone the media has had multiple opportunities to put the lie to the Administration's repeated assertions that Bush fulfilled his service requirements)
- The mysterious, complicated, and still-unraveling story connecting Larry Franklin (a neocon underling in Doug Feith's office, one of the chief architects of the "case" for the Iraq war) to the Israeli/Iranian spy infiltration and possibly, links to the Plame investigation
- Indictments in the Plame investigation, possibly including Scooter Libby, Cheney's chief of staff
- And probably the most likely to get real media coverage, the allegations in Kitty Kelley's upcoming release on the Bush family, most of it sensationalist claptrap, some of it probably true, and all of it likely to captivate our media for weeks since they seem so easily entertained by shiny objects
Too bad the really horrific scandals -- among them, record deficit numbers, anemic job creation, the eternal FUBAR that is Iraq, Bush's gross incompetence -- won't get the same attention. But one way or the other, these guys are going down. Preferably in handcuffs, but I'll take what I can get.


text:
Something strange happens when you announce to friends and family you're pregnant. All of a sudden, you're bombarded with advice about what you should and shouldn't be doing during those nine months. I don't blame you if you find it all confusing, especially considering the establishment can't seem to agree what's best for the health of a pregnant woman and her baby.
Case in point…a new study recently published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health finds mothers-to-be who drink 1-2 servings of alcohol per day, won't be putting their babies at risk for developmental disabilities down the road. In fact, the study found the children born to light drinkers were less likely to suffer behavioral problems and scored higher on cognitive tests.
And yet…doctors are still advising women to avoid alcohol, especially during the first trimester.
Confused yet?
So who's right?
I guess it's really up to the individual, but I'm in the belief that it's better to be safe than sorry. Giving up the drink for nine months (or at least the first three) is really a small sacrifice considering the negative alternatives.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
(Originally posted by Pat on 9/7/10)
There is a famous philosophical paper entitled "The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences"
which argues that we should be surprised and amazed at how well
mathematics—even very abstract mathematics like topology and number
theory—works in our most precise scientific theories, like general
relativity and quantum mechanics. The paper begins by noticing that pi,
the ratio of circumference to diameter in a circle, appears in the
formula for a normal distribution, which has innumerable applications in
practical science. (Indeed the paper says "natural sciences", but we
use normal distributions most often in social sciences!) It speaks of
this as something marvelous and surprising, even suggesting that perhaps
this should lead us to a spiritual sort of reverence for mathematics.
Yet, I must ask, what other possibility was there?
suppose there is indeed something marvelous about the fact that the
universe is at all intelligible to us. I am quite certain that the
universe is not so intelligible to most other species. I doubt that
insects ever reflect upon the universe's causal structure at all—I doubt
they even wonder why it rains or why the sun sets at night. Reptiles
may reflect upon a few things, perhaps wondering how mating leads to
laying eggs or why the sun sets. Most mammals probably think about these
things, but don't really understand them. Primates surely reason about
many things, and I would guess that they have theories about astronomy,
biology and meteorology not too different from our own common-sense folk
We humans—some of us at least—are capable of far deeper
understanding of a far wider variety of phenomena; our sharp senses and
plastic brains allow us to develop detailed theories of the world. Even
our instincts and emotions support us in this endeavor: human folk
psychology is by far the most powerfully predictive scientific theory
ever devised, and all the great scientific geniuses will report that
many of their discoveries started with an intuitive "hunch" that only
later could be confirmed by data. Given the huge variety of life forms
on Earth and the even vaster variety that in all probability exists
elsewhere in the universe, we are indeed fortunate to be among the lucky
few with brains powerful enough to grasp, even as poorly as we do, the
fundamental laws of nature. Quantum mechanics is baffling to us—but it is quite simply inaccessible to
the vast majority of life on this planet. It may be difficult for us to
comprehend how the universe could be guided by waves of probability—yet
for an ape, let alone an earthworm, it would be impossible to even
formulate the notion of "waves" or "probability". There is in fact
something marvelous about that.
Yet for this, we have an
explanation in the Weak Anthropic Principle (the only true anthropic
principle—saps who endorse SAP should feel a slap that would sound like
WAP). Only a species advanced enough to have a fairly deep understanding
of reality would ever be concerned about whether and why it had a deep
understanding of reality! Ants don't know, but they also don't care.
we cannot but presume that the universe is intelligible. A completely
unintelligible universe is one in which we could never make any correct
predictions at all. Even the theory "the universe is random and
unintelligible" would be no more applicable than any other theory, even
if was really true in some philosophical sense. So really I don't see
why there is anything problematic about the presumption that the
universe is at least somewhat intelligible; it wouldn't hurt us in a
random universe, and it clearly does help us in this universe. I doubt that everything about
the universe is intelligible, for various reasons; but I have no idea
how far the reaches of our minds extend, and I would venture a guess
that they extend far further than what we know now.
And once we
accept that the universe is to some degree within our understanding, I
don't see why it's at all problematic to infer that mathematics is
likely to be one of the means we use to understand it. The structure of
mathematics is based only upon a formalization of logic; it is what
happens when logic is made abstract, formal, precise, and consistent.
The application of mathematics rests upon the structure of mathematics and the evidence upon which mathematical models were based.
essence, mathematics is a system of logical arguments. The observed
data provide the premises, and the mathematical operations are the
logical steps that allow us to infer a conclusion. To ask "why does the
universe obey logic?" strikes me as something close to meaningless—how
could it not? There is simply no possible world in which noncontradiction and modus ponens
fail to hold. One does not need a causal account to explain the
nonexistence of phenomena that cannot possibly exist. When you start
asking "Why is logic true?" you have surpassed the bounds of questions
that it makes sense to ask. A lot of people like to imagine that God is
the reason logic is true; but that makes no sense at all. A thing cannot be such that it makes contradictions true. A contradiction simply can't be true. The
very concept is vacuous. Even if there is a God, logic is more
fundamental than God—God must obey logic, not the other way around. Our
minds are evolved to think that all that is true is true because of some
thing that makes it so—for so it is, with most of the ideas we
have reason to consider, like "Why is the sky blue?" or "Why doesn't
she love me?". If we are not satisfied by the fact that logic is
inherently and necessarily true, then it seems to me it must be our
brains which are defective—there simply could not be an explanation for what is necessarily so, for what is explained is
by definition contingent upon the thing that explains it, and what is
necessarily true is by definition not contingent upon anything.
to say that it is abstract higher mathematics that we apply to the real
world is to completely misunderstand what mathematicians mean by
"abstract, higher mathematics". Topology and number theory seem abstract
to most of us, but to mathematicians they are just a step above
elementary. Moreover, we really don't use topology and number
theory very often in science. Calculus strikes most people as very
advanced, but mathematicians regard it as elementary. Calculus
is derivable from Peano arithmetic by means well-known to any student of
real analysis—which is to say that insofar as 2+2=4 and 3*4=12, the
Chain Rule and the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus are true.
guess it seems a little weird that we use pi in the equation for the
normal distribution, but I think this is because we think of pi as "the
ratio of circumference to diameter" when on a deeper level it is really
more like "-i ln(-1)". Then we would ask, "why is the ratio of
circumference to diameter equal to -i ln(-1)?" but that is something
that we can actually derive with calculus. Integrate over the arc length
of the unit circle, and you will indeed come out with the value -i
ln(-1), which we call pi. (Actually if you use the typical way, you will
get something in the form of an arcsin, but that's all right, because
the arcsin is fundamentally just a funny way of expressing complex
natural logarithms. We can prove that 2 i sin(x) = e^{ix} – e^{-ix}.)
It's just that we discovered circles (and hence named pi) long before we
understood calculus, complex numbers, or natural logarithms. Once you
realize that on a fundamental level pi has nothing to do with circles
but instead is a compact representation of "-i ln(-1)", asking why it
appears in the normal distribution is like asking why the square root or the number 2 appears
in the normal distribution. We can show you the derivation; it follows
logically. If that doesn't satisfy you, well, that's your problem, not ours. It's certainly not math's problem.
get me wrong; I do think that mathematics is beautiful, and that the
universe is a marvelous, amazing place. I think we are incredibly
fortunate to be the sort of being that has even a tiny sliver of
understanding in this vast and unfathomable cosmos. I think it is
wonderful that we share kinship not only with the apes and the dogs (who
we always suspected were our cousins), but indeed with the pine trees
and the jellyfish and the tuberculosis pathogen. I wish more people had a
better understanding of all this.
I do in fact think it is
incredibly fortunate that our tiny, limited minds are capable of
glimpsing the fundamental order of the universe. I just don't see how
there's anything unreasonable about that, or why we should be surprised or looking for an explanation for it. I certainly don't think we have any reason to doubt that it will continue to be true.


text:
I have relatives on both sides of the family living in the United States who periodically send niceties from Hickory Farms: excellent hams (the sweetly smoky spiral-cut ones are particularly delish), summer sausages, and really good cheeses. And queen among these cheeses is one recent discovery: the smoked Cheddar.
This particular cheese comes in a small, narrow bar about the size and heft of a stick of butter (about 120 – 125 grams). The outside literally looks burnished with some serious caramelization of the lactose going on and it smells deliciously of bacon.
Tastewise, a single bite actually has several layers of flavor. The barbecue-like nuance of hickory smoke is the first thing that hits the tongue and one's nostrils. This is followed by the typical sharpness of classic Cheddar tempered by the addition of mild, nutty Swiss cheese into the mix. The final flavor is the sweetness that lingers in one's mouth: an almost caramel-like taste that I find most appealing.
While the smoked Cheddar is delicious enough on its own – indeed, I find myself slicing off a bit to nibble from time to time – it is an excellent partner for the sweet taste of raw almonds or with sliced apples and/or pears. Or, better yet, if you've quite an appetite, grab a slice of whole wheat bread, some butter, some finely chopped ham, and a good chunk of smoked Cheddar. Spread the butter over the bread, sprinkle the ham evenly over the buttered surface, then just as evenly grate the cheese over all. Pop into your toaster oven for about three minutes and voila! You have an utterly delectable little tartine to go with a London fog for the perfect afternoon nosh.


text:
My first street stall as an MP in Chippenham high street
Great to chat to local residents in Chippenham High Street today. Thank you for the support and wishes. I will follow up on all the issues raised and get back to people on the specific cases as soon as possible. If you did not make it but need help or simply want to share your opinions and thoughts please email email@example.com


text:
In October of 2011, Kyle returned to college to finish his degree. He had started his Bachelors Degree after High School but was unable to finish. Well he went back, with a new degree plan in management, signed up to be a full-time student, with just under 3 years of work left. A week and a half ago, he finished! DONE!
I couldn't be more proud of him. He has been working full-time, going to school full-time (2 classes every 8 weeks, year round), and being a full-time daddy! He managed to juggle it all and still get great grades in school and transition into different jobs and positions at work. It has been a long road for him, but he got to the finish line!
We will be heading to Colorado to his graduation in June and for a family vacation after to celebrate! We all can't wait to get there and to celebrate with him! I know, he wanted to do this for himself, but even more for his little mini-me, Lennox.
Congratulations Kyle, we are so proud of you!


text:
|Raila, daughter Winnie and wife Ida
The autobiography is set to give a personal account of Mr. Odinga on his life and political journey and perhaps answer most questions transcending the four decades that he has been in Kenya's politics and conceivably mirror on his future endeavours.
The book is expected to be launched on 6th October 2013 before Mr. Odinga embarks on a two week trip to the United States.
Mr. Odinga is expected to travel to South Africa on Wednesday this week where he is expected to open a conference on democracy. He will return to Nairobi where he will launch his personal story before leaving for the US.
Currently his team is working on the list of guests to grace the launch.


text:
Alpine villages, chocolate, Swiss Alps, mountains, hiking, walking, cheese, Lucerne, St Moritz, skiing, fondue, cowbells, Gruyere, Bern, Zurich, rock climbing, snow biking, ice diving, Jungfrau Railway, Chillon Castle, Basel, Matterhorn, watches, mountaineering, spas, Mt. Pilatus, St. Gallen, Rhine Falls, Zermatt, glaciers, Lake Geneva…
Medical and Health
Some healthcare providers offer both public and private treatment in Switzerland. The European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) doesn't cover private treatment, so make sure you're treated by a state-funded healthcare provider.
Documents needed: EHIC and passport
Doctors and Dentists
Doctor: You can consult any doctor registered with the Swiss health insurance scheme. Remember to show your European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), previously known as the E111 form. A consultation can cost from 90 CHF (£60). You'll normally have to pay the full cost for treatment and claim a refund afterwards.
Dentists: Dental treatment isn't covered by the EHIC unless for serious illness or accident. Routine treatment is very expensive.
Hospital Treatment and Ambulance Costs
Except for emergencies, you must get a doctor's referral for hospital treatment. Show your EHIC on admission. Inpatient treatment in a public hospital is covered but there's standard fee for each 30-day period of treatment - CHF 92 (adults) and CHF 33 (age 18 and under) - plus a daily contribution of CHF 15 for adults (26 and older).
Ambulance: Transport isn't free with the EHIC, so comprehensive travel insurance is vital, especially if you need air ambulance rescue from the ski slopes.
The EU medical card covers 50% of ambulance costs up to a max. 350 CHF and up to CHF 3,500 for emergency medical evacuation per year. There's no financial assistance for search and recovery costs so make sure your travel insurance covers you for repatriation and medical emergency expenses.
You'll pay more for medicines bought from an out-of-hours pharmacy (Apotheken). Unless the doctor advises otherwise, save money by asking for the generic medicine as opposed to the original – cheaper and just as effective for pre-existing medical conditions.
With the EHIC, you still need to pay 10% towards the costs of generic medicines, and up to 20% for the original if a generic version is available.


text:
Over halfway done!
How far along?: 24 weeks
Maternity clothes?: Not wearing maternity clothes this time around! They are too big and frumpy. My regular jeans don't fit anymore, so I'm rockin' the b-band, but everything else still fits because I'm all belly again. Lucky me!
Stretch marks?: No. Cocoa butter works miracles.
Sleep: I can't sleep with all the acid reflux and the endless bathroom trips. And then I have a toddler who makes sure I'm out of bed by six in the morning. Oh, well. It's not like I'll get any sleep once the new baby gets here anyways. *Sigh*
Best moment this week: Kamryn kissing his little brother by giving my tummy a smooch and getting to roll around in a wheelchair at the zoo for Kamryn's birthday. My doctor has restricted all my activities because of the placental issue, so even moderate walking is a no-no.
Movement: He sleeps during the day and then he's up all night. The kicking usually begins as soon as I lay down in bed. And the kicks are getting pretty powerful. He also hiccups...alot.
Food cravings: Drumstick Ice Cream Cones. And PB & J. And frozen Cokes. So weird.
Gender: Another bouncing baby boy! I am so outnumbered.
Labor Signs: I am happy to report that I have not had any contractions for a week now. Let's hope it stays that way for awhile.
Belly Button in or out?: On the verge of being completely popped out. Yikes!
What I miss: Being able to eat without burning my esophagus.
What I am looking forward to: Getting the nursery completed! We're so close. And I'm anxious to talk to our doctor again about getting some of these restrictions lifted. Well, one in particular...
Milestones: Now that we've made it to 24 weeks, the baby's chances for survival have gone up to about 50% if he were to be born now. Hopefully he'll stay in there for at least another 12 weeks or more.


text:
- freely available
- re-usable
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2014, 11(7), 7045-7059; doi:10.3390/ijerph110707045
Abstract: Since reforms carried out in the late 1970s, China has experienced unprecedented rates of urban growth. Remote sensing data and surface observational data are used to investigate the urbanization process and related environmental consequences, focusing on extreme heat events and air pollution, in Zhejiang Province (ZJP, East China). Examination of satellite-measured nighttime light data indicates rapid urbanization in ZJP during the past decade, initially forming three urban clusters. With rapid urban sprawl, a significant Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect has emerged. During extreme heat events in summer, the UHI effect significantly exacerbates nocturnal heat stress in highly urbanized areas. Taking a long-term view, urbanization also causes additional hot days and hot degree days in urban areas. Urbanization also imposes a heavy burden on local and regional air quality in ZJP. Degraded visibility and an increase in haze days are observed at most meteorological stations, especially in the three urban clusters. The results show that urbanization has led to serious environmental problems in ZJP, not only on the city scale, but also on the regional scale. Maintaining a balance between the continuing process of urbanization and environmental sustainability is a major issue facing the local government.
1. Introduction
China has been undergoing a period of economic reform and expansion since the late 1970s. Concurrent with economic growth and industrialization is rapid and widespread urbanization. The demographics and physical landscapes of China are increasingly urban. From 1978 to 2011, China's urbanization level rose from 18% to 51% [1]. While rapid urbanization has greatly accelerated economic and social development, it has also engendered numerous environmental problems, manifested in local climate alteration [2,3,4,5], carbon storage [6], increased air and water pollution [7,8,9], increased energy demands [10], a major reduction in natural vegetation production [11,12,13,14], and decreased ecosystem services [15]. Thus, identification and assessment of climatic and environmental impacts resulting from contemporary urbanization in China have become a top priority and have attracted increasing attention in recent years [8,16,17,18].
The urban heat island (UHI) effect is a well-documented phenomenon wherein a thermal anomaly exists in urban areas in comparison with proximate rural landscapes. Although a large effort has been devoted to the study of the UHI phenomenon, relatively little information is available in the literature about the impact of urbanization on extreme heat events. Air pollution is another environmental consequence of rapid urbanization that is associated with a wide range of adverse health outcomes. However, a common problem in conducting air pollution research in developing countries like China is the scarcity of quality long-term air monitoring data. Degraded visibility is the most direct side effect of high atmospheric particle concentrations. The resulting visual haziness is closely related to air quality. Visibility data are routinely collected at airports or meteorological stations, and are thus available for interpolation of missing pollutant measurements in developing countries [19]. It is worth noting that efforts to understand the environmental consequences of rapid urbanization have focused on the single-city scale, such as Shanghai [20,21,22], Beijing [23], Shenzhen [18,24], and Iskenderun [25], but little is known about to what extent the development of urban agglomeration influences the environment, such as climate and air quality, at the regional scale.
Zhejiang province (ZJP) is located on the east coast of China. As a representative of the eastern-coast developed provinces of China, ZJP has experienced rapid economic development and a dramatic growth in its urban population and urbanized areas since the late 1970s. To date, however, long-term and spatially explicit monitoring of the urbanization of ZJP, together with comprehensive studies of the environmental consequences, have not been conducted. The aim of this study is to explore the urban growth in ZJP and focus on the impacts of the rapid urbanization process on extreme heat events and air quality which are closely related to human health in cities. To this end, observational data from satellite measurements and ground station records were used. As a representative of rapid urbanization at the regional scale in China, the findings of the present research in ZJP provide significant evidence on the association between regional environmental deterioration and urbanization and have important implications for Chinese policy-makers in regional urban development planning.
2. Study Area and Data
2.1. Study Area
Zhejiang province (ZJP) is located in the southern part of the Yangtze River Delta on the east coast of China (Figure 1). The province faces the East China Sea to the east and covers a total land area of 101,800 km2. ZJP has a complex terrain, with hills and mountains accounting for 70.4% of the total area. Plains and basins make up 23.2%, and the remaining 6.4% is water bodies (rivers and lakes). Under subtropical and monsoon conditions, ZJP has four distinct seasons, and plentiful sunshine. It has an average annual temperature ranging from 15.3 °C to 17.9 °C, 230–270 frost-free days and an average annual rainfall from 1000 to 1900 mm.
The GDP of ZJP ranks fourth in the whole country although the total area ranks only 25th out of 34 provinces and municipalities. Entering the new millennium, there was a breakthrough in GDP increase (Figure 2). In addition, ZJP has also experienced a significant increase in urban population. The registered non-agricultural population has increased continuously from 4.29 million in 1978 to 15.02 million in 2011 [26].
2.2. Material and Methods
2.2.1. DMSP/OLS Nighttime Light (NTL) Imagery
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) generates annual stable light composites with 30 arc-second resolution. The stable light composite represents the average intensity of NTL in terms of digital number (DN) values ranging from 0 to 63. These stable NTL composites from 1992 to 2010 can be freely downloaded from the NGDC website [27]. The DMSP/OLS NTL data have been widely used to monitor the growth of built-up areas at regional scale [28,29,30,31] and high DN values in the NTL images generally indicate high fractional settlements. The stable NTL data were created using data from different sensors on different satellites. Therefore, the raw data cannot be used directly for temporal analyses due to the lack of inflight calibration [32,33,34]. Relative radiometric correction was implemented using the approach of Elvidge et al. [34]. The inter-calibrated NTL data for 1992 and 2010 used in this study were then clipped for ZJP.
2.2.2. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) Data
The moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) NDVI data (MOD13A3) in 2001 and 2011 at a resolution of 1 km were downloaded from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) website. The MODIS Reprojection Tool (MRT) was used for image mosaic, format conversion and reprojection. A maximum value composite (MVC) method was used to generate annual maximum NDVI images for 2001 and 2011.
2.2.3. Meteorological Data
Data on the observational meteorological elements, including temperature, relative humidity (RH), precipitation, visibility, and weather phenomena of 62 routine meteorological stations in ZJP were used in the study, covering the period 1960 to 2011. In addition, a dense network of automatic weather stations (AWSs) was deployed in 2005 across ZJP. The hourly temperature data from about 1000 AWSs in ZJP were used for the period of 2008–2012. All these data were acquired from the Zhejiang Meteorological Bureau and had undergone extensive automated quality control to eliminate many of the random errors found in the original data.
2.2.4. Census Data
Census data of population, GDP, and the number of motor vehicles were obtained from the Zhejiang Provincial Bureau of Statistics [26].
2.2.5. Air Quality Data
Monitoring data on nitrous dioxide (NO2) in Hangzhou City, the capital of ZJP, were provided by the Zhejiang Environmental Monitoring Center, a government agency responsible for air pollution data collection in ZJP.
2.2.6. Classification of Stations
Based on DMSP/OLS NTL data, the non-agricultural population census data in 2010 and the method developed by Yang et al. [3], the 62 weather stations with long-term observational records were classified into 31 urban and 31 rural stations.
2.2.7. Correction of Visibility
Surface visibility was recorded four times daily at each station; observation times were 02:00, 08:00, 14:00, and 20:00 (Beijing time). As observations at 02:00 and 20:00 were at night and at dusk, respectively, the selected reference objects are different from those of the daytime and cause the data discordance. Visibility at 08:00 was easily affected by radiation fog, as well as the surface inversion formed at night, which might impact the visibility at this time. Consequently, only visibility at 14:00 was used in the analysis to refiect annual visibility changes accurately. Moreover, only stations with continuous records after 1980 are presented within this paper, due to different methods of data collection before 1980. In order to reduce the effect of RH on visibility, the method from Rosenfeld et al. [35] was used for correction of visibility. RH values greater than 40% and less than 99% were converted to the equivalent visibility in dry conditions. The correction formula (1) is expressed as below [35]:
2.2.8. Definition of Haze
A haze day is defined by the following conditions: (1) visibility at 14:00 was less than 10 km; (2) visibility measurements were screened for natural events such as precipitation, dust, fog, mist, and gale using the present weather code; and (3) RH at 14:00 was less than 90% [36]. In line with the visibility analysis, the haze change was analyzed for the period 1980–2011.
2.2.9. Definition of Hot Day
Based on work by Della-Marta et al. [37], the threshold of extreme temperature is defined as the long-term daily 95th percentile of daily maximum temperature (TX95). For each day of the 92 days in the period June to August, a 95th percentile is calculated from a sample of 15 days (7 days either side of the day) using data over the 1961 to 1990 period. This gives a sample of 450 days from which a 95th percentile is calculated. A hot day is defined as a day where the daily summer maximum temperature exceeds the 95th percentile. An index of extreme heat intensity was defined by calculating the total degrees-days of exceedance (DD) [38], obtained using the following expressions formula (2):
3. Results
3.1. Urban Expansion in Zhejiang Province during 1992–2010
ZJP has been undergoing a period of rapid urbanization since the late 1970s. The DMSP/OLS NTL data reflect the spatial expansion of urban areas from 1992 to 2010. During the past two decades, central cities, such as Hangzhou, Ningbo, and Wenzhou, have dominated the process of urban expansion in ZJP (Figure 3a) and urban growth has followed the law of "small scale agglomeration, large scale dispersion" [39].
In 2010, three urban agglomerations initially formed, namely, around Hangzhou Bay, the Wenzhou-Taizhou coastal zone, and the Jinhua-Quzhou Basin (Figure 3b). According to previous studies by Zhao et al. [33], a NTL DN threshold value of 10 was chosen for delimiting urban areas in ZJP. Based on the continuous observation of DMSP/OLS, the number of pixels with DN values larger than 10 increases from 10,596 to 22,653 from 1992 to 2000, and then increased to 40,846 in 2010. At the same time, the sum of all NTL DN values are 0.27, 0.67, and 1.32 million for 1992, 2000, and 2010, respectively, indicating that the urbanization process intensified after 2000 (Figure 4), which is in line with the rapid economic development after 2000 shown in Figure 2.
Urban growth has great impacts on vegetation coverage in ZJP. Figure 5 shows the annual maximum NDVI of 2001 and 2011. The decrease of NDVI mainly occurred around the urban areas and towns in the three urban clusters which is consistent with the increase of NTL in Figure 2. The number of pixels with annual maximum NDVI less than 0.6 accounted for 4.2% in 2001 and increased to 8.2% in 2011.
3.2. Urbanization Impacts on Extreme Heat Events
Extreme heat events have increased in both frequency and intensity during the past four decades under global warming. During 1971–2011 the mean hot days for the 31 rural stations have increased by 2.0 day/10 a and the mean extreme heat intensity (hot degree days) has increased by 2.3 °C·day/10 a. However, both the hot days (Figure 6a) and the extreme heat intensity (Figure 6b) show that the UHI effect caused additional hot days and heat stress in urban stations compared to rural stations. The mean hot days and extreme heat intensity for urban stations have increased by 5.3 day/10 a and 4.2 °C·day/10 a, respectively. The most significant increase occurred in the highly urbanized areas with high NTL DN values, including the city belt around Hangzhou bay, and the Taizhou–Wenzhou and Jinghua-Yiwu city belts. The UHI effect resulting from rapid urbanization in ZJP has significantly increased the duration and magnitude of heat stress within cities. With global warming forecasted to continue into the foreseeable future, the potential exposure of urban residents to extreme heat events will be further enhanced by local factors (especially the UHI) with the development of urbanization.
Observational data from the dense AWS network were then used to analyze the relationship between summer extreme heat intensity and urbanization level at a regional scale. Figure 7a shows the accumulated daily minimum temperature above 26 °C obtained from the dense AWS network during summer (average for 2008–2012) in ZJP. There are three distinct warming centers in highly urbanized areas, with the most intense values around Hangzhou Bay, the second-highest values in the coastal areas of Wenzhou-Taizhou, and the lowest values in the Jinhua-Quzhou Basin. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first assessment of the nighttime UHI effect during extreme heat events at a regional scale using such a dense AWS network over China. Comparison with the NTL data in Figure 3b shows that the brighter the NTL, the larger the nocturnal heat stress during extreme heat events. The spatial correlation coefficient between the NTL image and the sum of minimum temperature above 26 °C, calculated by ArcGIS software, reaches 0.72. Previous studies suggest the UHI is most pronounced at night and under synoptic high pressure systems with calm and clear conditions [40,41]. Therefore, large cities do not cool off at night during heat waves like rural areas do because of the UHI effect [42], and inhabitants of urban areas may experience sustained heat stresses both day and night during heat waves [43]. Recent satellite monitoring of the heat wave in Paris in 2003 suggested that the highest mortality ratios matched the spatial distribution of the highest nighttime land surface temperature, but were not related to the highest daytime LSTs [44] and supported the influence of night temperatures on the health impact of heat waves in urban areas [45]. Our analysis based on a dense AWS network supports the results from the aforementioned studies that higher nighttime temperatures occur during extreme heat events in urbanized areas in ZJP and inhabitants in urban areas may experience sustained heat stress both day and night during extreme heat events. Recent modeling study by Chen et al. [46] during a long-lasting heat wave in Hangzhou, the capital of ZJP, indicated that urban areas have higher near-surface air temperatures during extreme heat events, specifically during the nighttime. Therefore, high-temperature forecasts for large cities must consider the occurrence of abnormal UHI conditions.
In the daytime, the maximum temperature was strongly controlled by latitude, altitude, and distance to the ocean. Therefore, there are no obvious signals of the UHI impact on daytime heat stress indicated by the accumulated daily maximum temperature above 35 °C during summer (Figure 7b) and the spatial correlation coefficient between the NTL and the sum of maximum temperature above 35 °C is only 0.06.
3.3. Urbanization and Degraded Visibility and Air Quality
Figure 8a shows the spatial distribution of annual mean visibility in ZJP. Low visibility was observed in urbanized areas in the Hangzhou-Huzhou plain, the Jinhua-Quzhou Basin, and Wenzhou. In addition, degraded visibility occurred at most meteorological stations in ZJP during 1980–2011. Huang et al. [19] suggested that visibility can be used as a surrogate for air quality, and decreased visibility was significantly associated with elevated death rates in Shanghai. Therefore, the degraded visibility in urbanized areas in ZJP implies poor air quality and increased health risks for inhabitants of urban areas. In line with the degraded visibility in urbanized areas, more haze days were observed in Hangzhou, Huzhou, and the Jinhua-Quzhou Basin, and annual haze days have increased in most stations, especially in highly urbanized areas (Figure 8b). The average visibility for ZJP has decreased by 1.8 km/10 a and the annual mean haze days have increased by about 7.8 days/10 a during 1980–2011 (Figure 9).
Motor vehicle emissions are one of the major sources of air pollution in urbanized areas. The total number of motor vehicles in ZJP showed exponential growth from 1995 to 2011(Figure 10a). By the end of 2011, there were 6.58 million vehicles registered in ZJP, compared to 0.36 million in 1995, an increase of almost 6.22 million vehicles or 1828%. The ever-increasing number of vehicles has become an important contributor to the increasing air pollution. Taking Hangzhou as an example, there were 91,616 motor vehicles in the downtown in 2000, which increased to 821,376 in 2011. Therefore, the increased NO2 concentration between 1996 and 2011 in Hangzhou city was mainly attributed to the huge increase in the number of vehicles (Figure 10b). This result is consistent with a previous study in Shanghai [21].
4. Discussion and Conclusions
Since China's economic reforms in the late 1970s, ZJP has experienced rapid urban expansion. This phenomenon has been responsible, to a large extent, for various environmental problems, not only at the city scale but also at the regional scale. In the present study, we focused on the major environmental problems related to human health caused by rapid urbanization in ZJP, namely, exacerbation of extreme heat events, degraded visibility, and air pollution.
During the past two decades, rapid urbanization has occurred in the areas around Hangzhou Bay, the Wenzhou-Taizhou coastal zone, and the Jinhua-Quzhou Basin in ZJP. Along with the dramatic urban growth, a substantial UHI effect during summertime was found in ZJP. The nocturnal UHI effect significantly contributes to the nocturnal heat stress during extreme heat events in the three urban agglomerations. During the daytime, the UHI effect is not a dominant factor for extreme heat intensity. Built-up areas absorb heat during the day and progressively raise minimum nocturnal temperature, which intensifies nighttime heat stress during the extreme heat events. There is a high spatial correlation coefficient at a regional scale between nighttime heat stress and urbanization level with a value of 0.72. Taking a long-term view, the UHI effect caused additional hot days and heat stress intensity in urban stations compared to rural stations over the past four decades in ZJP. As global warming is predicted to continue into the foreseeable future, extreme heat events are very likely to increase in both frequency and intensity. The combined effect of global warming and urbanization will potentially increase the magnitude and duration of extreme heat events within cities. Therefore, the UHI effect should be determined and incorporated in preparing high temperature forecasts in urban areas.
Urbanization also places a heavy burden on local and regional air quality in ZJP. Low visibility can be observed in the three urban clusters, and during the past three decades, degraded visibility was observed at most stations, especially in highly urbanized areas. Meanwhile, more haze days were observed in Hangzhou, Huzhou, and the Jinhua-Quzhou Basin, and the number of annual haze days has increased at most stations, especially in the three urban clusters. During the past three decades, the average visibility for ZJP degraded by 1.8 km/10 a and the mean annual haze days increased by 7.8 days/10 a. Furthermore, the NO2 concentration in Hangzhou has increased substantially since 1996, which can be mainly attributed to the rapid increase in motor vehicle emissions in urbanized areas. A previous study indicated that more than three-quarters of the urban population is exposed to air quality that does not meet the national ambient air quality standards of China [8]. Therefore, air pollution problems in mega cities and their immediate vicinities will continue to be one of the top environmental concerns in the next decade in China [47].
In summary, ZJP, as a representative of regional rapid urbanization in China, is facing many environmental challenges as its urban growth rate continues to accelerate. Urban residents have experienced an overall decline in quality of life. Managing the tradeoffs between urbanization and environmental protection will be a major challenge for local policy makers. There is an urgent need to incorporate environmental issues into planning China's urban areas, to reduce the risks of further environmental degradation.
This study was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants No. 41371068, 41001023), the "Strategic Priority Research Program (B)" of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. XDB05020403), the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation under (Grant No. LY12D05001) and Urban Meteorology Research Fund (Grant No. UMRF201212) of the Institute of Urban Meteorology, CMA.
Author Contributions
Wenze Yue and Xuchao Yang had the original idea for the study and, with all co-authors carried out the design. Honghui Xu were responsible for recruitment and follow-up of study participants. Jingsheng Wu was responsible for data collection and Yue He carried out the analyses. Xuchao Yang drafted the manuscript, which was revised by all authors. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
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Microblogging News
All about Microblogging
Seesmic gets a Flickr plugin
July 30, 2011Posted by on
As you may know Seesmic has a gallery of Plugins for its desktop app that you can use, now they add one more big one: Flickr.
Seesmic announced this launch with a tweet containing a link to a blog post about the Flickr add-on and according to them its very slick.
I don't use Seesmic but its a pretty cool looking add-on that has a full list of Flickr contacts and new photos, as well as a "My photos" feed, like a timeline.
The feeds are in timeline form with 3 divisions, each photo has the ability to add to set, get info, add to group and add a tag. You can also comment.
This could become a very popular client on Seesmic, aside from Twitter, Facebook and their 3rd party services it could become a very popular one.
Screen shout of the plugin:
One response to "Seesmic gets a Flickr plugin"
DJH August 24, 2011 at 2:57 am
But then everyone realized it was a half-assed implementation.
First off, it doesn't work if you are using flickr with a facebook/gmail account.
Second, if you link it to your account, the app integration name is 'test'.
This looks like someone's 20% time was thrown into production without very much testing.


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Blog Archives
CHS Harbor Deepening Approved by Corps'; Next: Funding
David Wren of The Post and Courier reports the Army Corps of Engineers has approved the deepening of the Port of CHS from 45′ to 52′ to handle post-Panamax ships so they can carry up to 14,500 cargo boxes thru the Port at any time of the day (instead of waiting on incoming high tides). It was unanimously approved by the Corps' Civil Works Review Board in Washington; next step is for the Corps' Chief of Engineers to sign off (expected in September) to present to Congress for funding this Fall. Total cost – about $509M. At 52′, CHS would offer the deepest harbor on the East Coast. The port is a huge component to the CHS economy, handling some $60B of cargo, including some 800-1000 BMWs each week coming from the Upstate, and Mercedes-Benz Sprinter vans and Volvo cars would be next.
N CHS Terminal Work To Create More Flexibility and Heavier Cargo Loads
According to a staff report from the Charleston Regional Business Journal, some modest renovations at the North Charleston terminal, totaling a little over $600k, will help the SC Ports Authority to build a 4th crane, some re-paving, electrical work, and demolishing some old rail tracks on the site.
On a related note, SPA handled 1.56M TEUs fiscal year-to-date, up 13.9% from the same period in 2014, and containers volume for April was up 12% from a year ago while the Inland Port in Greer in the Upstate had its highest-ever monthly rail moves.
Port of CHS Ranked Fastest-Growing In U.S. and #7 In U.S. in Recent Logistics Study
The Port of CHS has grown 52% in the past six years, double that of other ports in the nation, thanks to new leadership at the ports and SC's manufacturing boom, significant capital investments, and a new intermodal container transfer facility and an inland port in the Upstate. And the Southeast will be a good place to be in the port business. David Wren has the story for The Post and Courier.
The bottom line is East Coast ports are growing at a faster rate than their West Coast counterparts, according to CBRE Group, Inc.'s inaugural North American Ports Logistics Annual Report. The top 15 ports, ranked in terms of infrastructure and the strength of the local industrial real estate market:
- Los Angeles
- Long Beach
- New York/New Jersey
- Seattle/Tacoma
- Oakland
- Savannah
- Vancouver
- Norfolk
- Houston
- Baltimore
- Ft. Lauderdale (Everglades)
- Miami
- Montreal
- Jacksonville
While the largest ports are the usual suspects, note that eight of the 15 are on the East Coast and six are in the Southeast.
CHS Port Volume Up 7% in 2013
Container volume was up a strong 7% at the five area port terminals. The article goes on to report, "Since 2010, the ports authority has captured nearly half of all container volume growth in the South Atlantic market through the addition of new customers and cargo from discretionary markets, inland-favorable freight and growth of bulk transload operations." Liz Segrist of the Charleston Regional Business Journal has the report.
More Big Tires Getting Exported out of CHS Ports
Big tires are big business in CHS. And more tires will be coming from the Upstate to be exported from the Port of CHS to Europe and South America. See the article from Tyrone Richardson of The Post and Courier. By the way, SC is the #1 exporter of tires in the nation, with nine manufacturing sites in the state.
Update on $2B of CHS Port Related Projects
Another article from The Post and Courier's Tyrone Richardson on an update of the Port of CHS' multiple projects, from harbor deepening to opening of the new port facility at the old Navy base and rail service to the port, all expected to be delivered in about 2018.
Port of CHS Grew at 9% that's 4-5x the U.S. Avg
The Post and Courier's Tyrone Richardson reports the Port of Charleston grew at 9% over the past fiscal year, versus 2% growth for the average U.S. port.


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READ ALSO: PM Modi ropes in celebrities for his 'Swachh Bharat' challenge
Modi yesterday appealed to people to dedicate 100 hours a year towards cleanliness, and as a part of which he also invited Bollywood stars Salman, Priyanka Chopra and Kamal Haasan to help clean public places.
The 48-year-old 'Dabangg' star took to Twitter to accept the PM's invite.
"Me and my Foundation accept the invite from our honourable Prime Minister for Swachh Bharat and will give our 100 per cent for My Clean India," he tweeted.
READ ALSO: 'Swachh Bharat' campaign is beyond politics, PM Modi says
Priyanka Chopra also showed her support for the cause yesterday by tweeting, "I humbly accept respected Prime Minster Narendra Modiji's challenge. This is an idea that is long overdue CleanIndiaCampaign.
"If we don't get involved and support this campaign, nothing can happen. But if we come together we can make a difference. Every action we take will be important. I want to make the change. I want a clean India. It's time to clean up our act."
Modi with actor Aamir Khan at a walkathon after the launch of the nationwide cleanliness campaign, the 'Swachh Bharat Mission', at Rajpath (PTI Photo)
'Dhoom 3' star Aamir Khan also joined Modi's mission by taking the pledge with him at the India Gate to thousands of people, including schools children and government employees at Rajpath for remaining committed to cleanliness to make the country clean.
Stay updated on the go with The Times of India's mobile apps. Click here to download it for your device.


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A guy on Reddit made it for me. It's steamroller style, there is about a 3/8" hole on each end for the carb and mouthpiece. Hits like a bong. It's a beast.
Jump to content
Posted 22 April 2017 - 08:38 PM
A guy on Reddit made it for me. It's steamroller style, there is about a 3/8" hole on each end for the carb and mouthpiece. Hits like a bong. It's a beast.
Posted 22 April 2017 - 09:21 PM
thats a sweet pipe, and if it hits good all the better. i had a pipe that hit awesome years ago until i dropped it on cement one day.
Posted 22 April 2017 - 09:35 PM
Posted 03 June 2017 - 02:16 PM
Posted 05 June 2017 - 08:31 PM
Edited by SteampunkScientist, 05 June 2017 - 08:32 PM.
Posted 05 June 2017 - 10:00 PM
Posted 05 June 2017 - 10:01 PM
Posted 07 June 2017 - 12:40 PM
Posted 07 June 2017 - 02:04 PM
I wish! But no, not currently.
Very cool
Just love gadgets especially if it involves a wee bit of
Ganga involvement
Steampunk do you make your own shatter/dab..
Edited by SteampunkScientist, 07 June 2017 - 02:06 PM.
Posted 09 June 2017 - 12:54 PM
Posted 10 June 2017 - 05:49 AM
Edited by SteampunkScientist, 10 June 2017 - 05:49 AM.
Posted 10 June 2017 - 09:56 AM
Actually took a few hits in a airplane bathroom
I love getting away with stuff
Posted 10 June 2017 - 11:15 AM
I think its my "middle child" status
plenty of blending in with the wall paper
as a kid I would stop doing things I knew I shouldn't be doing
because the thrill of getting away with it lost its fun
in my high school annual I'm only mentioned under
not pictured..
I think its that same attitude that compels me to grow
things and hide them in plain sight
Posted 10 June 2017 - 11:34 AM
Nice pipe dude..........
I love it when you folks walk out/in of places just stinking of bud to high heaven............
Just the other day I was standing in line at a store behind a dude with foot long braids.........he smelled heavenly...........
After we checked out he was outside on the sidewalk..........I walked past, smiled, and said "Thanks for the buzz....."
He fucking cracked up and said "You're welcome"......... see what a cool world we could have......except for the fucking assholes!
We should tackle them and blow massive shotguns at them until they turn cool...........fucking uptight jerk-wads and their prescriptions......
Edited by Arathu, 10 June 2017 - 11:37 AM.
Posted 10 June 2017 - 07:27 PM
Posted 11 June 2017 - 07:41 AM
Posted 11 June 2017 - 02:45 PM
I'm in a medical state, and there's so many vapes out there....here's just a small portion of my collection...
The top one is a dab pen with quartz coils, the QX-5, and can be had for about 20$ off amazon/ebay.
the second down is a kind pen with cartridge (ceramic wick), made using rosin tek and terpenes reinserted...amazingly close tasting to the real thing...
The third one is a muv pen with cartridge (ceramic wick)....lemon, tangerine, or original are the only flavors that comes in...
4th is Sublime pen with cartridge (ceramic wick)....I love this one...extremely potent, and crazy good flavors like strawberry bubblegum, and pineapple.
the last one is a dos pen, takes cartridges (fiber wick), or can be converted to dry herb or wax vape with attachments......
The thing that sux, is not just one battery can be used for all the varieties of cartridges....Some cartridges use a fiber wick, some use a ceramic wick, they all have different voltages, and so each individual battery that goes with each brand of cartridge must be purchased as well....
On the plus side, some of these cartridges are very high quality, and refillable, so if I ever start up growing again, my extracts can be made into vape juice, and I can refill these....
Edited by fungi2bwith, 11 June 2017 - 02:59 PM.
Posted 13 June 2017 - 07:25 PM
Looks just like my old roommates! Silver fumed or just blue in color? Either way sick piece! I used to have one that was all white except with black beads and the one I picked was placed perfectly to form a panda face! Ex ended up keeping that one though
Posted 19 June 2017 - 01:21 PM
Trhe guy that made it said it was a 'fumed blue wrap and rake' whatever that means =).
Posted 20 June 2017 - 09:02 PM


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Tuesday, December 15, 2009
HOLY SHIT. I am fucking on Christmas break. Such a weight off, I finally have time to really work. It's funny how much school keeps me from actually working, and by funny, I mean pathetic.
Anyhoo, this is a diptych I finished a few weeks ago but only just got it properly documented. The first part is screen printed with a little bit o' india ink wash over the top. The second part is (obviously) a photograph, but the head was constructed out of wire/mesh frame and then paper mached and then painted. My lovely girlfriend was kind enough to model it for me in this photo, she's a trooper and a pretty super gal (/faggotry). Both were 12x16 inches. It was a fun project, and gave me an excuse to make a giant wearable head which, chances are, I will be making more of in the future.
And I'm just gunna include this because it's super adorable. YEah. SUPER. I repeat words a lot.
3 comments:
I think it should be a triptych because that last one is pretty awesome too. Alternatively, it'd also be neat to put the second photo in another drawing and that drawing in another photo until you go insane.ReplyDelete
super. :DReplyDelete
I'd like to see another couple o those heads mounted on a wall.
Milwaukee is cold, did you figure out what animal that's supposed to be yet?ReplyDelete
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Love that little teal desk! And that counter top in the kitchen is great, great photos!!
I love these photos, these remind me of my own home in a way..although I have nothing as cool as that blue cabinet,lovely!
Thanks! I was playing around with the hipstamatic app-so much fun! I'm planning on doing another post this week about the counter top and desk with some before and after pics =).


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chainz-old Veteran
Saturday 26/01/2008, 08:41
I have all of them for sale of for 1 good cr
What Cr? I have All the All Stars. Tell me your Crs, and I'll see which is worth them.
Force Majeure Imperator Open Casket
Saturday 26/01/2008, 09:34
I'm interested..what Cr in terms of value in clintz are we talking about here..? I mean..which specific Crs are you after?
Oops, I thought you were buying the All Stars. Sorry.
Buld Hero !!!The Guild of Winners!!!
Saturday 26/01/2008, 11:29
Do you sell or only trade or cr?
Buld Hero !!!The Guild of Winners!!!
Saturday 26/01/2008, 12:34
What do you sell for 1.5k?
chainz-old Veteran
Saturday 26/01/2008, 14:49
I dont mind trading or selling tell me what you want and we can make a deal
Fatlax Titan <=Chaos-Knights=>
Saturday 26/01/2008, 21:34
Striker for Don + 1,000 Clintz
chainz-old Veteran
Sunday 27/01/2008, 09:02
Have don
skillz_4_u Veteran
Sunday 27/01/2008, 09:26
Eryton for 1200 please
Clint City, day.


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I am running an i7 3.6 processor, i have updated my nvidia 670 drivers, there are no viruses on my machine (ran malware antivirus etc.), I have looked at the Rift cfg file and it is already at zero, my machine is clean inside, and i ran the Heaven gpu benchmark tool for an hour with no problem. I also have auto update drivers turned off for my gpu to avoid win 10 conflicts. And i ran a hardware scan tool that did not detect anything amiss. I also have GPU-z and i ran it while killing monsters around Lantern Hook i get screen crashes at only 77 degrees. The game crashes at least once an hour on this machine and it is getting more and more annoying. What else can i do?
Regarding drivers: Windows should be updating drivers when it spots new ones, whichever vendor your graphics card is from should have come with some bundled software and it should be also alerting you to any new available drivers, e.g. Nvida Geforce experience software.
If those don't quite do it then its worth trying some other software like Glary utilities or similar that can interrogate the system and identify any out of date drivers.
It's less likely to be a driver issue, unless you have never permitted automatic updates, ever...


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The home of the innovation of the Logarithm of Time as applied to the Markets. We also watch for and correlate with major Bradley dates and Fibonacci Time and Price sequences.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Russell 2000 end of day charts
Same color scheme protocols as the $SPX charts in the previous post...Notice that the $RUT has been a little better behaved relative to the lower side of it's channel then the $SPX (see earlier post) which has briefly broken down below it's channel and has been trying to climb back into it....The Russell 2000 channel is also a little wider then it's $SPX counterpart....
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Sunday, January 02, 2011
I was feeding Scarlett, and she missed the mouse. Now, those who think they know everything would tell me "This is why you need feeding tongs." And they would be right. But the irony of this situation is that I have feeding tongs, and was using them. That crazy snake still managed to dive right past the mouse and get ahold of my finger. I didn't take her but a few seconds before she realized, "Hey, this doesn't taste like rodent" and let go, but those needle sharp teeth managed to draw blood.
Be that as it may, I've still had more blood drawn by fluffy little kittehs than by all of my nakeumses put together.
I got my hat washed and blocked today,
but that is all the knitting I've done. Or I should say, all the knitting related activity I've done, since I didn't actually knit anything.
I've gotten most of the Christmas decorations taken down, and the house looks just a little bit forlorn without them. I was putting them away, when I found these.
I made these in Sunday School.
when I was six years old. They hung on our Christmas tree every year, until I was grown. They had started to get a bit bedraggled, so I decided it was time to put them away. I've only gotten them out this once, so I could show you.
It's nice to have those little treasures from our childhood.
2 comments:
- Dale said...
Wow, I don't know how you do it! I would be letting that snake go back into the wild. He sounds pretty aggressive, but then again I don't know a thing about snakes other than the rattlesnakes I used to kill in north central Texas or the copperheads of Arkansas. I know not to kill a king snake or a black snake because they keep the poisonous snakes away. My grandsons had a cornsnake and that one seemed pretty calm and would let the boys hold him without too much of a fuss. Of course he didn't get as big as your boy has gotten before he passed away.
- Becky said...
Well, first of all, I would never let her go "back into the wild" because she never came from the wild. She is a captive bred bloodred morph corn snake and has never been in the wild a day in her life. She would die out there, and that would make me terribly irresponsible, wouldn't it? Secondly, she is not aggressive so much as she is clumsy. All of my snakes are calm and let me hold them with no fuss at all --even the pythons. Would you shoot your dog if it were trying to grab the tennis ball you were holding and nipped your finger instead? This is no different. The only difference is that you have been taught to hate snakes just because they are snakes-- much like people in certain areas have been taught to hate those of other races simply because they are of other races.
You would do well to leave all wild snakes alone-- even the venomous ones. An estimated 85% of snakebites in the US occur when people are trying to kill or capture venomous snakes.


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Well this week started out pretty nice I must say. Despite the fact that I sound horrible, cough a lot and use plenty of tissues it's been a good week. Thankfully I'm slowing down with the tissue count. We had two great services Sunday. I spent the afternoon clipping coupons and working on my Bible lesson. Derek spent it finishing up his studying, he is teaching the Adult class this quarter. All three kids took a good nap. Whew! We did eat lunch at a new Mexican restaurant call Las Agave's. It was just as good as our favorite here in town, Las Maracas. I'm sure we will go back.
Monday I went to the doctor. I told her of my list of ailments, migraines, digestion issues and a head cold that I thought had turned into a sinus infection. Thankfully I was wrong. She prescribed Zyrtec for my head, Nexium for my digestive issues and some Mat-a-somethin' for my migraines. I'm to take it when one starts. I can't say for sure the Nexium is working. I'm supposed to take it once a day before my largest meal. However my mother has done lots of research and says I really shouldn't take it if I don't have too. So instead I am chewing Papaya. It's a dietary enzyme I purchased at the local Health Food Store. It tastes like mint and I chew 3 around each meal time. (I'm not sure what the bottle says, but this is what I do) Anyway. I did take the Nexium Tuesday night when I starting having all the gas in my chest again. I also took the Papaya. So far so good. Let's hope the Papaya does the trick and I don't have to be on Nexium.
As you all know, if you read the previous posts, I've been very busy picking patterns, fabrics and sewing that adorable new bag. I'm very, very excited about it!!!! Now if only the ordering process actually WORKED on the website. If any of you know a website designer that is good and won't go poof hook me up! Girl is havin' issues, if you know what I mean.
I've been asked about making diaper bags and I have found a cute pattern. Here it is: Diaper Bag Pattern All you mommas out there share your thoughts. We still have got to come up with a new line of names to go with all the new bags I plan on adding. I need your help, my creative juices are dry in the name picking area. I also would like to offer one more fabric combination. I will be happy to post maybe 5 more and let you vote on your favorite? Let me know what you think. Even color combinations are fine and I can find some fabric combinations to include with those color combinations. Did that sentence even make sense? Oh well, maybe you got it.
I'm finishing up a cute burp cloth order from Stephanie H. Most of you know her and her adorable little girl. I'll post pictures of the adorable burp cloths when they are done. I'm also finishing up the big order for my friend Kelly.
Last night I managed teach the baby class without too many coughing fits. Let me say though, definitely NOT the best singing I've ever done. At least the babies aren't tellin'. Today was a busy day of sorts. My friend and neighbor, Leigh, had her gal bladder removed today, OUCH! I kept her two year old from 8-4:45 ish. He's sweet and bigger than Levi and not talking too much yet. Then again he doesn't have two older siblings talking his ear off! I managed to keep them from making each other black and blue over things like balls, toy computers and wooden puzzles. The real accomplishment came however when I got both of them down for a nap at the same time! And they both slept for over three hours! Yipee!!!! When Derek got home all four kids were playing, chicken fingers and okra were frying and apple dumplings were in the oven. BTW if you haven't tried these you must!!! You cannot, I mean, CANNOT live your life without having tried them. They are phenomenal. And easy to boot! I can't wait to eat more, I'm holding back till tomorrow....... tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya, tomorrow, you're only a day away...... Sorry I broke out in song there for a minute, Little Orphan Annie, right?
So on top of all this business this week I have to tell you about the biggest deal I got this week. Walgreens has Oscar Meyer Bacon on sale, 2 for $6. I had a coupon for 1.50 off of one package and another .75 cents off coupon. You also earned $1 RR (register rewards, walgreens money) when you made this purchase. So $6 - $ 3.25 = $2.75 for TWO Packages of bacon!!!! Whoo, Hoo! Sorry but I LOVE bacon, most especially good and cheap bacon!
So that's my week. How's yours been? Don't forget the ideas for bag names and color combinations!


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My last week via Instagram.
|Mom's backyard.
|Graduation flowers from sister Christine--Delivered to work no less!
|Master picture with my mentor!
|Celebration lunch at La Tarasca!
|Honeysuckles in the backyard.
|Peanut on a rare outside adventure.
|Monday crafting.
|Carrots for the horse.
|New desktop background at work. It might be my favorite yet. Genevieve is such a weirdo!
Follow me at @cnic why don't you!?! Then I can follow you and we can be instagram BFFs!


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A COMMUNITY OF ARTISTS DRAWING TO A THEME. We draw from life, our imaginations, photos we took ourselves, or for which you have permission to use. We are being ultra careful to stay away from using anything that might be copyright. THIS IS AN OPEN BLOG TO NEW MEMBERS: email us in sidebar
Thursday, March 13, 2014
"Kitchen" Banana Bunch by Elisa Choi
11 comments:
This is lovely Elisa. What a sensible dad to have bought bananas for after dinner. I like bananas, but my fav. are apples :-)ReplyDelete
These look great! Bananas and strawberries are my favorites. I love how easy bananas are. No washing or knife needed. They are delicious sliced and sauteed in butter with a little cinnamon. They caramalize! Atop a piece of peanut butter toast, this is super yummy.ReplyDeleteReplies
wow never thought of cooking bananas! Thanks Melisa!Delete
Wow, these bananas are awesome Elisa. Great workReplyDelete
Lovely bananas! I love bananas too,also apples, strawberries, blueberries, and... almost everything.ReplyDelete
You've really captured their glowing yellow goodness! If I had to pick one fruit, it would probably be grapes. But I like most of them! :)ReplyDelete
Elisa you did a great job on the peels!!! This is great! I don't like bananas, and they are probably my least favorite fruit. I love berries, especially blueberries and strawberries when they are in season.ReplyDelete
Beautifully drawn and painted these bananas. I love all fruit so not sure I can pick a favorite. I eat a lot of berries, bananas, citrus, pineapple, apples, oranges, grapefruit, kiwi, mango, grapes, SEE I like them all.ReplyDelete
Thank you everyone! It's nice to hear about your fave and not fave fruits!ReplyDelete
Your plump bananas look so fresh and real, just the right tempting colours. They are such clever fruits, easy to peel and easy to eat in the hand as well as for meals, and they make a gorgeous banana cake.ReplyDelete
Thanks so much for dropping in and leaving your reactions to our art! We appreciate your comments! They are now being moderated however, to weed out spammers!


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Samantha Harris is leaving DWTS:
Samantha Harris has left the ballroom!
The Dancing With the Stars co-host will not return to ABC's celebrity dance competition when it returns for its tenth season on March 22. Harris, who has co-hosted with Tom Bergeron for the past eight seasons, told PEOPLE Thursday that the decision to leave the show wasn't easy.
"[DWTS] could not have been more of a dream job," she says. "I loved every single second of it and I've made lifelong friends at the show."
But Harris, who majored in journalism at Northwestern University, says that she is focusing on other projects like her correspondent duties at The Insider, which she says have expanded in the past year, and her gig at Entertainment Tonight Weekend.
"I interned at Entertainment Tonight 15 years ago, the summer after my sophomore year at Northwestern and I dreamed of working in the same space as hosts Mary Hart and Mark Steines and now I'm living that dream," says Harris.
"Samantha has been a brilliant part of [DWTS] and we wish her the best of luck on The Insider," Dancing executive producer Conrad Green says, noting that he has begun the search to fill Harris's slot. "She's done an incredible job. Some of the most memorable moments on the show have been facilitated by Samantha. I think we'll all walk away with enormous happy memories of working with one another."
Bergeron says he is sad to see his co-host move on.
"I'm going to miss Samantha. We had a nice rapport off-camera and on," he tells PEOPLE. "I could see that her workload was picking up on The Insider and then she started doing Entertainment Tonight Weekend. As somebody who's been known to juggle a few jobs myself, I know that that can pull you in eight different directions."
Since joining DWTS in 2006, Harris has simultaneously held jobs at E!, The Insider and ET Weekend. In 2008 she co-hosted the official Oscar pre-show with Regis Philbin, and in 2009 she guest hosted for Meredith Viera on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. She also made her Broadway debut in July 2009 playing Roxie Hart in the musical Chicago.
Still, if Bergeron has his way, he will try to get Harris to return to the ballroom. "I've been known to try to twist arms behind the scenes," he says. "I'm hoping this frees her up for us to have her as a contestant." – Monica Rizzo
I can't say I'm surprised but at same time I am… However I don't want them to bring Drew Lachey back either. Wasn't really a fan of his and I honestly don't understand why they have a second host… The interviews that happen "backstage" are lame and don't add anything to the show.


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Airline Reservation System - Paper
The Discussion2
The FDD diagram (functional decomposition diagram)3
The Pseudo code5
The implementation of the code7
This report will be based on a program that was created for an airline company. The program will be designed in Microsoft Visual Studio 2008. The airline company had stated that they required a program that allows users to book seats upon their ten seat plane. The plane is divided into two classes, first and economy class. Both of these classes hold five passengers each. First class is designed as seats 1-5 and Economy class is seats 6-10. The main objective originally was for the program to assign a seat to the user, but for a more advanced program, the program should allow the user to book the seat they require. If the seat has been booked the program should prompt the user informing them that the seat is booked. If either or both classes are full, the program should also prompt this message. Lastly, if the user does not require booking anymore seats, the program should end with the message "The next flight leaves in three hours". Purpose
The purpose of the SHARMA AIRLINE reservation system is to make the lives of users wanting to book seats on a plain, a smooth and easy process. It will reduce the amount of customers that queue up on travel agency to reserve seats on a plane, when it can all be done at home with ease. The Discussion
The approach towards the development of this program is vital. There are many techniques that need to be taken into consideration to help the development of the program, the assignment states that there are two classes, First class (seats 1-5) and Economy Class (seats 6-10). It also states that a technique called "one dimensional array" must be used. An array is blocks of elements, these blocks of elements are placed into memory locations that are close to each other. This...
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Ghosts of Georgetown
Elizabeth Huntsinger Wolf
Publisher: Blair
Georgetown County, located between Myrtle Beach and Charleston, South Carolina, is steeped in tales of dynamic men and women who once lived and prospered here. Though these men and women have now passed away, many of their spirits still remain. There are rumored to be over a hundred ghosts in the area, making Georgetown County one of the nation's most haunted locations. Ghosts of Georgetown tells the stories of twenty of these apparitions. The ghosts in these tales range from the woman who died a horrible and tragic death on her wedding day, to the daughter of a former lighthouse keeper who warns sailors of impending storms, to the phantom choir whose voices can still be heard coming from the ruins of its former church. The stories tell of scorned lovers, innocent children, and wealthy plantation owners who have all returned to Georgetown long after their natural lives on earth were over. These tales weave the history of Georgetown's colorful past with the eerie spirits who roam the region in the present.


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I came home to a pleasant surprise tonight, I received the Liebster Blog Award from Amanda @ Amandalandish!!!
I've been following Amanda's blog for a couple of weeks now, and just the fact that she nominated me is an honor - since her nails are P-E-R-F-E-C-T. After I read up on the Liebster Blog Award, it came to my memory that I received this in September from Meghan @ Pinupcherrymakeup and I never got around to returning the favor, so I sincerely apologize Meghan!
A little background on the Liebster Blog Award is it goes to newer blogs with less than 200 followers (I chose under 300, I couldn't help myself lol). You're only supposed to pass it on to 5, but I love the following blogs and honestly think they each deserve some love. In no particular order:
Strictly nail polish:
Alexandra RC
I Drink Nail Polish
Lacquer Ninja
The Lacquer Lounge
Nail polish, Perfume, etc:
Bubbles & Baubles
Nail polish & Make up:
Here are the guidelines for the Liebster if you would like to participate and pass this on. If not no hard feelings, I'm happy to just look at your swatches and read your posts :)
Here are the "rules" for winning this award:
-Copy and paste the award on your blog.
-Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.
-Reveal your top 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
-Hope that your followers will spread the love to other bloggers.
Thank you to all of my followers who have stuck with me! I plan on having a giveaway for the holidays, so stay tuned! XoXo


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Opioid dependence
báo cáo khoa học: " Non-medical use of opioids among HIV-infected opioid dependent individuals on opioid maintenance treatment: the need for a more comprehensive approach"
Tuyển tập báo cáo các nghiên cứu khoa học quốc tế ngành y học dành cho các bạn tham khảo đề tài: Non-medical use of opioids among HIV-infected opioid dependent individuals on opioid maintenance treatment: the need for a more comprehensive approach
23p panasonic04 19-12-2011 17 2 Download
This manual has been prepared by Corrado Barbui, Andreas Cipriani (both from the University of Verona, Verona, Italy) and Shekhar Saxena (WHO, Geneva). These contributors have reported no conflict of interest related to this work. Overall vision and supervision for this work was provided by Michele Tansella (University of Verona, Verona, Italy) and Benedetto Saraceno (WHO, Geneva). José Bertolote, Tarun Dua, Mark van Ommeren, Michelle Funk, (all from WHO, Geneva) provided inputs at various stages of the project.
82p loaken_1 16-11-2012 18 0 Download
Báo cáo khoa học: Regulation of ERK1/2 phosphorylation by acute and chronic morphine – implications for the role of cAMP-responsive element binding factor (CREB)-dependent and Ets-like protein-1 (Elk-1)-dependent transcription; small interfering RNA-based strategy
Extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERKs) have been shown to be acti-vated by opioids and functionally linked to addiction. Morphine-associated changes in ERK activity seem to be the characteristic features of opioid action. In this study, we observed a rapid and severe increase in ERK1⁄2 activity after a 5 min morphine treatment of HEK-MOR cells (transfected with the ratl-opioid receptor MOR1) expressing l-opioid receptor.
14p galaxyss3 07-03-2013 13 2 Download
Antinociceptive effects of morphine and naloxone in mu-opioid receptor knockout mice transfected with the MORS196A gene
Opioid analgesics such as morphine and meperidine have been used to control moderate to severe pain for many years. However, these opioids have many side effects, including the development of tolerance and dependence after long-term use, which has limited their clinical use. We previously reported that mutations in the muopioid receptors (MOR) S196L and S196A rendered them responsive to the opioid antagonist naloxone without altering the agonist phenotype. In MORS196A knock-in mice, naloxone and naltrexone were antinociceptive but did not cause tolerance or physical dependence.
6p toshiba23 18-11-2011 32 1 Download
Another CAM and TM modality that has considerable accept- ance is acupuncture.Many pain management clinics, hospitals, and academic centers in the West now provide acupuncture services, and some insurance companies reimburse for acupuncture services. Rigorous clinical trials have demonstra- tive positive efficacy in two areas: (a) management of postop- erative nausea and emesis (Shen and others 2000) and (b) ame- lioration of the pain of chronic osteoarthritis (Ezzo and others 2001; Soeken 2004; Tukmachi and others 2004).
18p thangbienthai 17-11-2012 18 0 Download
The gene encoding the mu-opioid receptor (OPRM1) has been reported to associate with a range of substance dependence and HRH2 is the gene coding histamine H2 receptor, the site of action for various compounds, e.g. amitriptiline and mianserin, used in the treatment of psychiatric disorders. Both OPRM1and HRH2 genes contain some single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), including +118A/G in OPRM1 and +398T/C in HRH2, which were reported to change in protein sequences and result in affecting the therapeutic response. ...
6p tuanlocmuido 13-12-2012 20 4 Download


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|45 m²
|Ligging vakantiehuis
|3 - 4 nachten
ons 1slaapkamer appartement "Den Moeder" heeft op de begane grond een ruime woonkamer met volledig ingerichte keuken, een badkamer met goede douche en toilet. op de eerste verdieping is de slaapkamer.
het appartement beschikt over een eigen terras met uitzicht over de weilanden en de boomgaard.
De appartementen zijn ruim opgezet en heeft toch een knusse en authentieke uitstraling.
In het appartementen bevinden zich 2persoons slaapkamers die beschikt over twee uitstekende, opgemaakte, eenpersoons boxspring bedden van 2.10 mtr. lang. eventueel zijn er extra bedden bij te plaatsen. Elk appartement heeft een eigen schone douche/toilet, een ruime woonkamer met een open keuken die van alle gemakken is voorzien zoals magnetron, afwasmachine, koelkast met vriesvak en kookplaat.
Overal is draadloos internet.
De Sint Nicolaashoeve ligt honderd meter van het dorp Nieuwveen. In het dorp zijn o.a. een supermarkt, diverse winkels, snackbar, bank, fietsverhuur en bushalte te vinden.
Restaurants zijn er op 2 km. afstand.
De Sint Nicolaashoeve is aangesloten bij Groene Hart Logies. Een keten van kwalitatief hoogwaardige logeeraccommodaties.
Het appartement is rookvrij.
Huisdieren zijn helaas niet toegestaan.
wij zijn Eveline en Gerard Hartveld.
Gerard is de 3de generatie op de Sint Nicolaashoeve.
wij hebben gastvrijheid hoog staan en ontvangen ontzettend graag leuke mensen. dus wees welkom!
Het jaar van aankoop is 1858
de Sint Nicolaashoeve is een echte boerderij in een echte Hollandse polder.
de boerderij is erg toegankelijk voor onze gasten. zeker kinderen vinden het geweldig. de kinderen kunnen helpen op de boerderij, spelen met onze zeer kind vriendelijke hond Jackie. ook staan er (kinder)fietsen die op de boerderij gratis te gebruiken zijn.
en uiteraard de appartementen zien er prima verzorgd uit en voldoen aan de kwaliteitsnormen van Groene Hart Logies.
A wonderful stay and exceptional host and hostess. We recently spent 11 nights on the farm - taking day trips to the tulip fields, nearby towns & villages, and a day in Amsterdam (having been there previously and our main interest this trip was the tulips.) The farm location was perfect for our trip: plenty of parking, quick walk to the village for groceries and the friendly folks @ the pub, easy access to Park and Ride lots for a tram ride into Amsterdam and a bus into Alkmaar. The apartment had everything we needed and was very clean. The grounds were beautiful and we enjoyed watching the sheep outside our door, the cows, and "our" big heron! Gerard even had a special treat for us on King's Day - a very yummy traditional cake iced in orange. This was a very relaxing place to spend our time. The kiddos that were also guests were having so much fun around the farm. The use of the washer and dryer was also a big plus. Thank you, Gerard!
I enjoyed the most amazing trip to the Netherlands and want to thank Gerard for being a fantastic host and providing such a lovely, relaxing apartment for my stay! It was perfect for me-- beautiful rural setting, peaceful and relaxing yet withing easy drives of all the towns/sights that I wanted to see (Keukenhof/Delft/Haarlem/Amsterdam/tulip fields). After busy days spent sightseeing, it was great to come "home" to the farm with its beautiful gardens and grazing cows. I hope to visit again next year! Highly recommended!!....
My family just spent 10 days at De Sint Nicolaashoeve farm and it was more than we expected it to be, in a vary good way! Gerard was an incredible host, he welcomed us and even allowed my wife and son to milk one of his cows, that is an experience that you cannot get staying at a hotel! The apartment was clean, quiet and comfortable and the grounds were beautiful with a very short walk to the village where there is a Coop and bakery which was very convenient and the people are very friendly. The property is very close to the airport and all the sites that you would want to see, a car however is a must to have but there is plenty of parking. I would highly recommend a stay here when visiting the Amsterdam area. We will be back, unfortunately for us not soon enough. Thank you Gerard for your wonderful hospitality!
This was our first stop during a 1-month trip to The Netherlands. We were traveling with our 2 children (2 and 6 years old) and this was a highlight for them. We had many memorable experiences during our trip, but this was at the top of the list for all of us! My children continue to talk about our time at the farm and ask when we can return. Gerard went above and beyond to make our stay fun and comfortable. Our only regret is not staying there longer. We can't wait to plan our next visit!
We have stayed at this property for 8 days and can recommend it very highly. We stayed with our daughter and her family, two children aged 8 and 11. They loved the farm animals, the cows, the sheep,the bunnies and the dog,Jackie. We found the home very spacious and well equipped and the owners most helpful and very friendly. We didn't want to leave!,
I'm not sure words can exactly describe the experience our family of 5 had on Gerard and Evelyn's farm! It was truly a wonderful experience and one which was perfect for our family. Central to much of the Netherlands, we were able to easily travel to places such as Leiden, The Hague, Utrecht, Amsterdam, Haarlem, etc. Also, being located in a great Holland village town, we were able to truly embrace the culture, enjoy the country, explore the vast miles of bike paths and experience the local food. For us, what was most special and really gave us and our children (11, 8, 4) memories we'll remember for a lifetime was the experience of being on the farm. Very soon after arriving, the children quickly built a routine of visiting Gerard in the barn each evening to milk the cows. After fun days of exploring the wonderful sites of Holland, the kids always wanted to make sure we'd be home in time to milk the 'girls'. The younger children even began joining Gerard in the barn in the morning (in their pajamas) before my wife and I had awoken for the day. It is a very special place and we loved the safety we felt. The apartment was very clean, kitchen well equipped (we cooked most our meals at apartment) and overall very relaxing. Gerard and Evelyn were excellent hosts and great with our children! A stay (short or long) at the farm will absolutely provide you memories for a lifetime..!
Andere Activiteiten: geniet van onze eigen Sint Nicolaashoeve boerderij en haal uw boerendiploma


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[Click on pictures to enlarge]
St. Basil Cathedral, landmark of Moscow, encompasses several chapels, one under each coupola and doesn't function as church anymore.
Years ago, I was Director of the Analytical Division of an environmental company. I supervised a staff of chemists performing analytical tests and worked on various government contracts. A monotonous predictable life that suddenly changed when I won a contract to refurbish a military laboratory in Belarus.
I traveled fifteen times to Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. In Minsk, capital of Belarus I was well received by everyone, officers, directors, chemists, journalists. I worked with colonels and generals, was invited to theirs homes and became friend with their wives.
TO LOVE A HERO highlights the hospitality and warmth of the gorgeous and gallant Belarussians officers who sing, toast with vodka and make a woman feel like a goddess.
- Let me take you to the heart of Moscow, Red Square, the Kremlin and its churches, St. Basil Cathedral....
Stalin wanted to destroy St. Basil to allow his army to parade on Red Square. When the Mayor of Moscow resigned and the Russian people dared to protest, Stalin changed his mind.
It's a tradition for the young married couples in Moscow to take pictures at Red Square. We saw seven wedding parties on the Saturday we visited Red Square and the Kremlin.
And here against the Kremlin wall, the tomb of Lenin. Lenin's statue was removed in 1991 after the fall of the communist regime.
This fountain has a story. It's dedicated to the two architects that Ivan the terrible contracted to design and build St. Basil Cathedral. The Czar was so pleased with the cathedral that he had his guards poke the architects' eyes so that they could not build another church as beautiful as his cathedral!!
The University of Moscow on top of a hill overlooking the city of Moscow, is a superb building constructed by the Germans during the Nazi occupation.
Below Moscovite students celebrating the end of the school year at University Hill.
Tomorrow I will announce the winners of contest 3.
Meanwhile here is contest 4:
Wha's the favorite drink of Russians? You can't miss it if you read my book TO LOVE A HERO!!!


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from PMU farms. They will be having an open
house again Sept. 26 from 10:00 to 3:00 pm.
PMU stands for Pregnant Mare Urine.
women requires pregnant horse urine in its production.
In the next few blogs I will be discussing this process and why I think that the rescue of these horses is important.