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A single plug TRRS headset with mic is designed for use by tablets, iPods, iPads, Chrombooks, computers, phones. Devices that have one headphone jack that supports both the speaker and the microphone and this is called a TRRS plug. If you are a teacher or educator looking for school headsets for these kinds of devices, these headsets are perfect. Many teachers and students prefer School Headsets with Mic since they present tremendous convenience and they can help to make the learning experience more enjoyable and fun.
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One example is the Advanced School Headset with Mic at Learning Headphones. It is a single plug TRRS school headset designed with a chew resistant cord for increased durability. They are created to be lightweight and they offer a comfortable design. They are also available in a number of different colors that help make them stylish and attractive.
|Advanced School Headset at Learning Headphones
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There are several additional options and models of school headsets that can be found at Learning Headphones. The important thing is making sure that the product is meet or exceed your needs and be compatible with your existing devices.
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Learning Headphones is dedicated to helping teachers and educators find the perfect school headsets. We accept purchase orders and work with schools, libraries and businesses around the world.


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The legendary Milk Race event returns to Nottingham on Sunday 24 May 2015.
With public rides, elite races and a festival of activity in The Milk Race Village, the event has something for everyone.
Find out more about the day's schedule and activities below.
You can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook for up to the minute Milk Race news.
Find out what treats will be in store in Nottingham on 25 May
Don't miss out on your chance to ride The Milk Race circuit. Sign up for one of the Public Rides now
The cream of British cycling talent will compete in The Milk Race this year. Find out more here
The Milk Race 2014 will take in some of Nottingham's most spectacular sights. See the 1.2km circuit here
The Milk Race Village in Nottingham's Old Market Square will offer fun and excitement for the whole family
See the latest news about the Milk Race here

subset: commoncrawl


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At first, other writers like Loomit, Daim, and Esher inspired him. Later on, Erosie, Roger, and Relax impressed him. Today, he pulls from all sorts of disciplines, from old graphic design and typography to geometry and architecture. "When I started, I wanted to do complicated murals," he explains. "At the time, I was doing both characters and letters. Later, I realized that I'm better at graphics than figurative stuff. The Bulgarian writer RAKE indirectly led me to roller and Latex paintings in 2004/2005. After that, I continued my journey into the world of letters."
In addition to changing up his style, XPOME loves traveling to new places and collaborating with others. "For me it was always about friendship and having a good time," Together with his crew, he smiles, "I am still looking for the ultimate place." By keeping the scene fresh, he's able to experiment and learn. "Sometimes, I do related-to-the-place pieces that have some special message. Otherwise, I am just trying to re-invent my name every time I go out, experimenting with forms, letters and colors or optical effects."
Pushing the boundaries of his medium means casting off any labels and their limitations. "Classical graffiti is a bit conservative," he argues. "But I also don't want to be labeled as a street artist. I just do what I do, no matter what other people call it. I use different techniques, from posters, cans, and rollers to foam and rope." Perhaps XPOME derives joy from his work because he doesn't expect anything in return. "I am doing my work mostly for pleasure," he insists. "I don't want to get rich out of it. I just want to travel, keep myself young, and live!"
Best of luck, XPOME! For more projects, visit his Flickr.


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Zoya Berber, Nyusha, Maria Sharapova, Elena Zakharova and Alina Artz are some attractive and well-known Russian women. Russia is among the top two countries with the most beautiful women in the world, claims UCityguides.com.
Alina Kabaeva, Lisa Boyarskaya, Anna Kournikova, Glukoza and Kseniya Sobchak are some other attractive and well-known Russian women.
Zoya Berber is a TV star popular for the series "Realinie Patsani." She placed fifth on the Maxim's 2011 list of "100 sexiest women in the country." She was born in Permi on Sept. 1, 1987.
Nyusha is the stage name of singer-songwriter Anna Vladimirovna Shurochkina. She was born in Moscow on Aug. 15, 1990. Nyusha started her career as a singer at the age of 3 and released her first song at the age of 5. At age 12, she performed at her first concert.
Maria Sharapova is a professional tennis player. Born on April 19, 1987, Sharapova is the most-searched tennis player on the Internet, as of 2015. Sharapova won silver in the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Elena Zakharova is a popular theater and film actress. She appeared on reality show "Empire" in 2005. As of 2015, she is married to Sergei Mamontov and has a daughter, Anna Maria.
Alina Artz is an actress and a popular radio and TV host. She was part of the band "Sirius" and has won the "Miss Russian Night" competition.


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Welcoming a newborn child into the world can be the most exhilarating and terrifying event that two consenting adults can suffer. Between the hours (or days) of labor, the spontaneous leaking of body fluid, and the always dependable fainting of your significant other, birthing is one hell of an ordeal.
But it's not all sour grapes. Just look at the world's greatest parents in 'Exhibit A' below.
Upon hearing that his ladyfriend was totes preggers, Cole Bradburn dedicated the rest of his free days to creating the most incredible, Legend of Zelda themed room in the world.
I can only imagine the look of "i just pooped myself" levels of excitement on their little human chestburster's face when he first gazed upon the glory of Hyrule in his very own abode (assuming he's the world's most intuitive newborn, of course).
Check it out in full detail below.
Now excuse me as I don my pink onesie, hop inside of a wicker cradle, and abandon myself in front of their oddly Hylian house.
It worked for Moses!
SOURCE: ColeBradburn
S#!T Talking Central


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Review: The Slaves of Solitude, at Hampstead Theatre
03 November, 2017 — By Howard Loxton
Daon Broni and Fenella Woolgar in The Slaves of Solitude
BASED on Patrick Hamilton's novel, one of his best, Nicholas Wright's play is set in 1943 in a boarding house in Henley-on-Thames, where bombed-out Enid Roach is escaping the Blitz and an affair with her married boss. He ended it but she is still reading manuscripts for his publishing house.
It's an establishment where people take their meals at separate tables – though chat goes on between them they have little in common except their isolation. The residents include an elderly widow with her knitting, an archaeologist forced to retire at 60 and missing her Oxford life, a superannuated entertainer, a blustery reactionary prone to flowery archaisms and later a flirty, fun-loving German woman.
Into this environment Edna introduces Dayton Pike, an African-American lieutenant who sees her home one night when her torch conks out.
This begins as a slyly funny picture, a world where, as Amanda Walker's archaeologist says "life is not remotely exciting," and where daily contact requires tolerating people you don't like, a sure recipe for things to eventually boil over.
Miss Roach may look prim and proper but she rapidly responds to Pike's amorous advances, though it turns out Daon Broni's heavy-drinking soldier isn't singular in his attentions. Clive Francis's offensive man, drunkenly lecherous, sparks a frustrated outburst with disastrous results. Fenella Woolgar beautifully captures Edna's soul-baring honesty as well as her hurt.
Jonathan Kent directs a fine cast that includes Richard Tate as entertainer Mr Prest and Gwen Taylor as two very different natured identical twins.
Loneliness is at the core of this play, even for a young soldier, a past pupil when Edna was once a teacher. There's a ray of hope as he tells how much the class liked her, but as he talks of plans for a big push you wonder if he will have a future.
020 7722 9301


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What It Costs To Be Different
When I was growing up, America was very prosperous. We lived in rural area, dotted with successful dairy farms that were well-kept and orderly. I went to a central school; all the grades from kindergarten through high school were all in the same building.
Everyone else seemed very rich to me; we lived very poor. My dad, though he worked hard and was generally speaking successful, was a miser of sorts. He saved everything for his retirement. So I grew up very much poorer than the rest of my class.
I was set apart from my peer group also, because of the obscure religion my parents practiced, and compelled their children to practice. My parents belonged to a fundamentalist sect called the Church of the Pilgrim Fathers. It is a harsh, joyless religion. No dancing, no cards, no movies. Mortify the flesh to exalt the spirit. We couldn't have a Christmas tree--that was idolatry.
I really suffered at school, from being so "different". I think the worst thing was the clothes, that's what really put me outside the fence with my peers.
Girls couldn't wear blue jeans, according to my parents' religion. Girls had to wear dresses: only boys wore pants. So, while everyone else was clad fashionably in blue jeans and bell bottoms, I wore long, dowdy dresses that were hand-me-downs, goodwill clothes, or factory seconds. Mini skirts and go-go boots (like everyone else had) were out of the question! Prostitute clothes on sixth grade girls! Shameful! An abomination to the Lord! Sometimes my sister and I would roll our skirts up at the waist to make them shorter after we got on the school bus.
It didn't matter. I still looked awful. I was wearing "grandmother clothes" that didn't fit and were definitely the opposite of "cool".
I definitely walked to a different drummer.
I did have a couple of friends in the neighborhood, though. I had a rusty old monster of a bicycle that was handed down to me from my oldest brother Jerry. I loved that thing. I'd ride for miles and miles, the creaky old bike underneath me and the blue sky above. I'd visit my friends, who were outcasts, too, but for different reasons.
One of my friends was a foster child. This set her apart in ways that weren't fair. Remember, this is a small, closed, rural community. I don't think she would have been an outcast in a more cosmopolitan system.
Another of my friends was the daughter of a dairy farm laborer. He just worked on one of the big dairy farms around where we grew up. He didn't own any land....ergo, you guessed it, his daughter was "different", not accepted. I don't think she would have been outside the fence in a more cosmopolitan community either.
We formed our own small clique of outcasts. We rode the school bus together; we survived gym class together; we sat together in the cafeteria. The only thing we really had in common was being outsiders, but it was enough. Three was better than one. We could trade stories of our home lives. We could tell the truth to each other and be ourselves. It was ok.
I liked school anyway, even though I sometimes got picked on unmercifully and all the time felt shut out. I was good at school; I read a lot; I got good grades, and that made me feel successful. Sometimes the teachers were so kind to me it'd move me to tears. I wasn't much used to kindness.
My classmates rejected me for all kinds of reasons during grade school: not only my clothes, but everything else about me seemed to bug my classmates. I had my nose in a book all the time. I knew all the answers in class. (Believe me, that can make you a very hated person--no one likes a know-it-all, and I'm afraid I was one.) I looked so differently and dressed so differently and badly that it isn't a surprise I was shunned and harassed. I was definitely not "in"; not "cool".
We had a dysfunctional household. Dad beat us unmercifully at the smallest infraction. Part of mortifying the flesh, I suppose. He could rationalize anything he did as right. The rest of the world was wrong. He broke the stick on me one Sunday, for laughing on Sunday. I didn't even know that was against the rules until he got angry and started beating on me with a cane.
Mom tried to cover for him, but people knew. Dad discouraged any socializing; we always visited our friends at their houses, they never came to ours. No one was encouraged to visit us. But people knew, anyway. It was a small community and word got around.
People knew, and generally speaking, they shunned us. We were too "different". It was an unpleasant situation that made people uncomfortable. It was also a situation where people didn't feel entitled to interfere or do anything about it. Family matters are delicate issues. And, you know, people have their own problems and concerns; they have their own families to raise and take care of . So, if the community turned a blind eye to what was happening and just stayed away, I can understand it.
If my peer group at school was quite cruel in their ways of showing me I was an outcast, I can understand that too. They didn't know what it was like. They were brought up in a much more conventional manner. And it made them just as uncomfortable with us as their parents were.
I still liked school. I had my friends--our tiny little group of three expanded to five or six people by the time I reached 6th grade. I absorbed information like a sponge. Being an outcast made me a better student. I felt safe from Dad at school, too, and I can tell you, that was a big digit on the plus side for school.
As time went on, the harassment seemed to die down. Maybe I lost a little of the know-it-all thing. Maybe we all just got used to each other. Maybe we were slowly becoming more civilized as we grew up. Gym class was still torture but the snide comments seemed to abate and no one pulled my hair anymore. It wasn't so bad.
Until the 8th grade. I made a new friend. His name was Pete. He was new in school; he had a great voice and was a good singer; he was really a nice guy--very open, very friendly. He was one of the very few people (at the time) that could make me laugh. He was a lot cooler person than me, and he liked me anyway. He was friends with me anyway. I was so glad to have him for a friend and so flattered by his friendship! We weren't boyfriend and girlfriend. We were just friends.
I was oblivious to what was going on behind my back, until one day I walked into school and looked at my locker and saw "Nigger Lover" spray painted on my locker in black spray paint. i got pushed around in the hall, that same day, by five big jocks. They dumped my books from my arms and shoved me back and forth, making threats, pushing me back and forth between them like a rag doll.
It just never occurred to me before then that we'd get harassed because Pete was black and I was white. It seemed to make so little difference as a person. Pete made some friends of his own, and was quite popular, even though he was one of only three black people in the whole school and his father drove a school bus and didn't own any land, and he was new. It didn't make that much difference before, people seemed to like him anyway because he was such a great guy.
It was 1972, in America. The American Civil rights movement had come and mostly gone; leaving behind it a national awareness of the mistreatment and abuse of our black citizens; a national guilt on the part of white people in America for having been a party to this gross injustice; and an underlying groundswell of bitter resentment on both sides.
It is so hard to eradicate bigotry once it is socially entrenched. People may pay lip service to the current trend of what is socially acceptable or politically correct, but underneath, something else is going on. It takes a new generation, or maybe two, or maybe even three to look at bigotry and see it for what it actually is, and to reject it completely.
I had already learned in grade school how to cope with being "different". I felt rejected by most of my peer group but there was peace, or at least a truce, until this incident. I had got used to being picked on for things I had no control over and weren't my fault. This seemed like more of the same to me, except I knew it wasn't.
Still, I ignored the situation as best I could and went about my business. The janitor re-painted my locker door. The jocks got a talking-to by the school principal after the coach had come along in the hall and broken up the party.
People didn't say too much to me directly. As far as I could tell, Pete was being treated OK and just about the same. He wasn't taking too much flak on my account--or, at least he said he wasn't.
Pete and I stayed friends until we both graduated from high school. We lost track of each other then; we both went on to college in different states.
I sometimes wonder about Pete and about a couple of people, friends from high school. But I have really good reasons for not wanting to go back there.
It costs me a lot to be different. There were many sad times and many tears; there were a lot of hurt feelings. The pain of rejection by your peer group never quite leaves a person completely.
If you can stand up to it at the time, there are some compensations. It makes you stronger. It makes you less afraid of public opinion, it makes you less afraid to espouse unconventional views.
I'm more tempted to dig out what facts I can gather rather than go by public opinion or what other people say on an issue, and then make up my own mind.
As an adult, I find I gravitate towards open-minded people. Many of these people are from more conventional backgrounds than my own. You don't have to go through what I went through to be open-minded or to think independently. Sometimes I think this quality is also formed from education; or it's a function of exposure to a variety of places, people and situations. Sometimes I think reading opens one's mind to a terrific extent. I feel a lot safer with open-minded people.
I'm also attracted to artists, musicians and writers. People with these gifts tend to naturally think outside the box. That's part of their gift, being "different".
It's part of their curse, too. So many gifted, talented people in different fields of the arts are tortured souls. Some even commit suicide! These beautiful gifts they leave behind for all of us to enjoy have come at great expense to the individual who created them, often.
Yet, these people are so much admired and respected, often. Sometimes artists are hero-worshipped and recognized as not only "different", but special, too.
It seems there are two opposite internal forces at work: we want to be different and assert ourselves as individuals; yet we want to be accepted by our communities and our peers. We want to conform enough to fit in and be liked; yet we want our individual uniqueness appreciated.
Centripetal and centrifugal forces find a balance; we seek a balance, find some common ground, and we get along.
You can vote for this story, or one of the other terrific stories of the HubNuggets nominations, here:
I totally agree, I think being different is the spice of life. Although given the experiences that made you different and more open minded, I'm sure you would have liked a kinder upbringing. It's amazing how communities feel they have the right to judge, yet never have the guts to intervene or help those who are suffering. It amazes me, to witness what hypocrites most people are, and yet they feel they are somewhat superior when they are just not given challenging circumstances to face, like those they feel they have the right to put down.
Hold your up, you are an amazing woman. You have not only survived, but you also have loved and cared deeply for those who have touched your life. I have truly enjoyed reading your body of work. You are very gifted writer. Fascinating hub.
Congrats on the hubnugget nomination....
This is one reason i dislike organized religion. My father was a minister, and an ex marine so i know a bit of what you went through....i didn't have the luxury of liking school though. It sucks that kids are wired to pick on what's different....but to me, i'm SOOO much better being myself than one of the sheep.....because it's MY turn to laugh.
Loved this, and welcome to hubpages.
You are a strong soul to endure so much, I sincerely appreciate your candidness here.
Idolization and hero worship can go too far, as you point out. Those who need that extra bump in courage need only to look within their hearts.
hi it is great!!!, great writing , sometimes we thing about our life, and we think is not good, but then you see around you, and you see that it is more difficult for others.
At once time a person told me, God only gives you all that you can support, I believe we have a mission in this life, we need to find out what is it? I think your mission is share your stories that will help you grow up in your soul and you will find also good persons around you that love you just for the way you are.
A very emotional recap, I felt it through your writing. You are a true soldier that has survived much, hold you head up high, my friend, you earned it.
A touching and sensitively written account of your childhood, P7. You're proof of Piet Hein's advice to Vikings : "Anything that doesn't actually kill you just makes you grow stronger!"
In Hubpages a lot of us are different, one way or the other; you're amongst friends.
Hi Paradise7. I'm another that can really relate to your story and upbringing. I agree with what some others have posted, about it making you stronger and all, although it also leaves scars as well. Being different is good, though. I firmly believe "being different" gives you a much broader perspective on life - and a much richer life - than if you grew up with everything being easy.
every one is different from other on their own... so it's rather people are always trying to be superor to others.. i guess
Thanks for the article, Paradise7. Many people suffer abuse for being unacceptably different, and some have died for it. I am reminded of the police brutality victim, Duanna Johnson, a transgender person. People in the GLBT community are often subjected to discrimination for being "different."
Also, consider the plight of mentally ill inmates. They are frequently abused by other inmates and sometimes the guards. They usually endure much harsher incarceration conditions, as the most acute ones are secured in solitary confinement - not because their offenses were so horrible, but because of their mental states. Mentally ill people in solitary confinement are kept naked to prevent self-harm, and they may be deprived of mattresses. Those psychiatric patients sleep on the floor or a cold, bare bed frame. Sometimes, they are gassed, Tasered, or put in dangerous restraint chairs to control their behavior. These people belong in hospitals, of course. Instead, they comprise 60% of those in solitary confinement tonight. Around 25,000 people live in solitary long-term. Many more inmates are ordered into solitary confinement for short periods, but some stay for decades! The longest case on record that I know about is a man who was in solitary for around 36 years. Can you imagine? And what do you think this does to a mind that is already damaged?
Some call solitary confinement a type of prison torture. Yet, this is how mentally ill people are often treated for being "different." We've regressed to the Dark Ages in dealing with mental health problems. In fact, 1.25 million mental patients are imprisoned here. I recommend that people who are interested should see a film on YouTube called, "Stop Torture in U.S. Prisons!"
Paradise 7
This is a beautiful story! Your writing style is free flowing and glides along as the Truth unfolds! It is unfortunate but true; "it costs to be different." Along with being different comes a certain humility that lets you know that your self worth is not in the way others perceive you! Their actions show how hard they must be on the inside. How could one find pleasure in mistreating someone?
Just know in the eyes of the Lord you are precious! God never intended for His Word to be used as a harsh legalistic doctrine. He always gives us the Freedom of choice even if its not right. As we become aware of His Word we are held accountable. The Lord has blessed you to see what His Love is not! With God you do not have to fit in because when He created you He has a place especially for You!
Beautiful job!
Thanks for the reply.
"I never quite managed to blame the religion."
Never worry about blaming religion, for The Lord did not come to this earth to start a religion. He showed people love, understanding and compassion, not legalistic tyranny - the Pharisees did that. That was and is the problem, for we still have Pharisees today in the 21st century and they run organised religious Christianity and give The Lord a very bad name.
The Christian Religion is a curse, I know, for I suffered under it in adulthood. You don't have to be born into it in order to suffer the consequences of it. What I have to deal with is that I chose to get involved so my experience was self inflicted.
Thanks for sharing your tragic experiences.
An excellent hub. I also felt like a fish out of water in elementary and junior high school, but did not have the strikes against me that you had. I had the stigma of having gone to a private school for a semester and then skipping half a grade when I returned to public school. That's what made me different. All my old friends were one grade lower and I was a stranger in my new grade, making it harder to fit in. I did not have to face abuse at home.
Glad to hear you made it by being you. I know it because people will treat you different and some are very disrespectful. Thanks for sharing.
Dearest Paradise7!!
I, too feel you were writing my story!! I related to each and every word!! I would not wish my childhood on my worst enemy!! Yet, it did contribute greatly to who I am today!!
I find often that the more specific/authentic we are with our sharing, the more universal appeal it has!! You have certainly stuck a sensitive and timely nerve with us all!!
Thank you sooooooooooooooo much for the depth of your writing!! I am touched beyond measure!!
Blessings always, Earth Angel!!
I liked your hub,I'm sorry you had a tough childhood. I was different too but that was by choice. I never like being like everyone else I like to be my own person so sometimes I probably didn't fit in with the fashion and all the current whatever but I really didn't care because that's not what I was about. However your difference was not by choice and I wish people would teach their children to be a kinder better person but it seems that it's all gone down hill. Not all kids are cruel but the ones that are do a really good job at it. thank you for sharing and I'm glad you did good in school though because that would help you greatly in the end. you sound like a very kind and wonderful person I'm happy this cruelty did not change that. God bless you
Great hub ... I went trough alot like you only difference is i'm still going trough it but it's ok.
I like meeting people like you that know what it's like to be in constant mental pain! :)
Hi Paradise7;
I grew up in a rural area and I can relate to your story quite well in many of the examples! Especially about having to wear the 'hand-me-down clothing' and being called names...Just wanted to say hello and congrats, on making Shirley Anderson's HubNugget Roundup!
You just flashed us! With your soul that is. WOW! Great work!
I'm glad you found the positive in your rough upbringing. Thanks for telling your story. Yes, I agree with what you said everyone wants to be different...one-of-a-kind, but accepted at the same time.
You write beautifully Paradise, and the calm tenderness with which you express what happened shows that you've come a long way in your healing process. I can relate to your experiences, although things happened differently for me. It's not something I think I ever want to share in a public way. I do believe, however, that if you were to write a book about what happened to you, you would reach a lot of people and help them to heal as well. Someone above said it took a lot of courage to write what you did. I agree :)
I feel your pain,but nothing have really changed with me. I will remain the outcast, renegade,stranger.its comfortable now much like an eagle sitting on a ledge watching down below.
Great Hub. It must have been hard to write it all down and be so honest about the way it was. Glad that you are now happy and have great people in your life.
Im voting for you because I gotta soft spot for kids who become adults before their time. I truly hope you write more as Im sure there are hundreds still who suffer in silence and you will like a candle for them strengthen their hearts n souls.
Thankyou for sharing, Im honored to have been able to read it.
You're such an inspiration to those who have felt the way you have. I'm so sorry you had to go through what you went through. People can be cruel and I commend you for being so strong and standing tall through it all. I am now a lifetime fan of yours.
Great story! I've been in like shoes. Born a genius, never thought like others, had a lisp when I was young, didn't dress like my peers, and was in the 2% minority in my schools.
What other outcasts thought was weird about me though is that I never cared that I wasn't part of the in-crowd and never felt any need to be like anyone.
These days, I feel a strong need to be liked and connect with people more and I have no intentions of being a follower or trying to fit in, so I definitely understand when you say you gravitate towards open-minded people, artists, musicians, writers, etc. I found the same. But as far as the rest of the world, I still have to find the common ground. It's like trying to speak a different language that I can never fully grasp.
It's great you had the guts to share this story with the world. I can see life has been rough on you. But judging from your story I can see it made you a very bright person, which is great. I'm sure lots of people are inspired by your story and can identify themselves with you. There are a lot of different people in the world - I'm one. You've shown with this story that their not alone. Again, great story. Thanks for sharing.
You're so much bravier than I. I have written a piece about the racism of my loving Southern relatives, but don't dare publish it.
This is such a powerful piece and I have bookmarked one of your others. I agree with so many of your conclusions and reflections.
I can see where writing more on this in the context of a book seems mentally exhausting to you. This is one of the reasons I like HubPages so much. It helps me take small pieces of a bigger whole, in no particular order, and get it out there.
Keep doing what you do!
Your fellow HubNuggets WannaBe and newest fan,
Rose Mary
Paradise, I thank you for sharing so much of yourself. We all need to learn from each others experiences. It is tough feeling odd and different. And yet when I read your comment about being okay now, I celebrate with you and to wish you well. Keep on sharing your light. :)
Congratulations for being a Hubnugget Wannabe! Vote and promote: https://hubpages.com/hubnuggets10/hub/cirque-du
Rarely am I engrossed by a hub as much as I've been engrossed by yours. Growing up as an outcast myself, I felt as if I were reliving my school days experience. There is so much of "you" in this piece, that I feel we know you intimately - your soul, and everything that encompasses it. You have definetly got my vote, for rarely am I so moved! Thank you for sharing your experience with us (although it may have been painful).
What a fantastic read! Thank you for sharing such a personal part of your phsyche.
I, personally, believe we all feel somewhat outcast (or maybe that's just a personal trait?). If we were all accepted without question we would all evolve into very dull people.
I have always believed that my family life was unconventional as well. Even though most folks don't have to deal with such as extremes as you had to endure, there is always something that makes any family a bit disfunctional. Even what seems to be the perfect family life can sometimes backfire in the form of rebelious children or even what I call the spoiled brat syndrome. Children who are totally loved and pampered sometimes turn into horrible adults who do not know how to deal with typical troublesome problems that every-day life brings.
I am grateful for my unusual upbringing. I think it has made me into a very strong adult with a pretty good value system. I get the feeling you, too, are somewhat grateful that you were not with the "in" set. Of course, I (we) can say that now, but it doesn't change the feeling you portray in your story. There is hurt underlying the mostly happy soul and I'm sure that this is the same for you and me as much as it is for say "miss popularity".
Thank you once again for putting this all into words.
Great Hub! I was raised Seventh Day Adventist, so my up bringing was similar to yours. Even though, I must say that my parents were very loving. The abuse that I went though came from the Privet Christian School I went to. I was considered very different than the rich kids I went to school with since my parents were poor. This drove me away from Christianity for many years. I became a filled with hate until I learned to forgive. I have not forgotten though. I hope that never happens for my childhood taught me so much!
Hey - congrats on another hubnugget nomination! This one so deserves to win. It's one of the best hubs I have read since I've been here. I'm still seeing a book coming out of you!
What a wonderful piece of work. I was moved to tears, I'm so sorry for your experience. No doubt I can tell you're a survivor. You are a very courageous person, this must have been difficult to put to words. But, you did it brilliantly. I voted for you in the HubNuggets. Congratulations for a nomination well deserved.
From the comments, it sounds as if many had challenging childhoods- some worse, some better but all unique. I guess this is what gives perspective and what helps us empathize with others? Your story of hardship must have strengthened you or you couldn't have written it so well. Congratulations on becoming a compassionate person.
Courageous of you to come out with this. You never turned into a serial killer either and no hatred came out of the writing either. I'm an instant fan. Thanks for sharing.
I relate to your story quite a bit. We have somewhat similar upbringings. You are a very talented writer. An old friend of mine use to say,"When life kicks you down, get up, smile and say....is that all you got!" Thanks for sharing your story. :)
a good share
It takes a great deal of courage to write about this. As you can see from some of your comments, putting thought and personal experience in a clear and honest way does not come easy for most of us. I give you credit and persevering through such difficult times during your early years. Thank you so much for sharing this with all of us, Paradise. I feel like you are a friend :D Good luck on your Hubbnugget ;)
This was an excellent hub. I relived some of my childhood reading that. Of course, my life was nowhere as near hard as yours was. I'm glad you came out the other end and that you wrote about it.
I had to come back and congratulate you on being chosen as a HubNugget Wannabe. Way to go!
You've had it really rough Paradise - it could have destroyed a soul, but I think it strengthened you ... and that speaks volumes for your character. You have obviously been able to put all that behind, have understood and forgiven the major characters behind those unpleasant days. Kudos to you for having overcome and to have become the open hearted, open minded and truly educated - not with just bookish knowledge - person that you now are.
It's really commendable that you lived through such a difficult childhood and can talk about it so objectively. There are always like minded people out there...we just have to find them. All the best! :)
Paradise, I read this with very mixed emotions. So much of your story is similar to my own, but I would not want to tell the world about it. That takes some serious intestinal fortitude. This was a very sensitive hub and you shared some very personal history with honesty. I have to add my vote to the whole book thing. You should seriously consider it.
Thanks for sharing
I thought this was a great hub. Beyond anything else, you write with honesty. That is difficult and rare, and you did it beautifully here.
Yes - I am with SoftCornHippo. I think I have told you this before - there is definitely a very interesting book in you! Of course our experiences make us who we are and perhaps you would not be the same compassionate and open minded individual if you hadn't had these experiences. I always tell my children that the so called 'weirdos' in their school are probably the most interesting kids. Heaven only knows what dull adults a lot of the 'popular' kids from my schools turned into. Still it made me really sad to read about you in your frumpy skirts - how cruel children can be and how strong the desire to fit in is. I find your writing style is brilliant in drawing an emotional response from the reader and so I urge you to continue with your life stories.
Thanks so much for another great hub.
This is all ver innerestin. I'm wonderin' if you have a book in you or somethin - possibly another great Amer novel! no for real! Ever read Saul Bellow? Thanks for sharing your story!
I could have written this! My childhood was similar to yours.
It makes a person stronger in some ways, but in other ways it can be bad. For example, in relationships with men. I wouldn't be surprised if you gravitated toward abusive men in your adult life (that is what has happened to me) or if you reject men altogether.
If you cannot locate Pete using conventional methods, you may find him on zabasearch.com, but remember that people you remember are no longer the people you remember. We all change throughout life. I contacted people from my past, expecting the same people I remembered. I am only still friends with a couple of them.
Always remember that we are exactly where we are supposed to be in life. It's all part of God's plan: the synchronicity that brings us the experiences we have, the compassion we feel as survivors of abuse, and the stubborn way we resent what happened to us.
We have to learn to forgive. What your father did was probably a result of abuse that happened to him. It was that way with my father. It wasn't until I forgave him for the torture he put me through that I began to feel that I had been healed.
And so it will be with you.
good hub and I am sorry that you had it so rough. Your a true survivor and I admire you for that. Your a very strong and nice person.


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Separate names with a comma.
Discussion in 'Current Events' started by Abstract, Mar 30, 2005.
Another market MS will lose out to.......Cambodia!!
This could be an odd situation, an university selling a mass-market product.
Not really... the Media Lab won't be selling the $100 laptop in the US and other First World countries. For that matter, they won't actually be making or selling them, either. They're doing this to see if it can be done, and to help people in developing countries have access to the same information technologies that we have here. You have to remember that $100 is more than a lot of these folks earn in a year, so Western/Japanese technology is WAY out of their reach.
The laptops themselves will probably be built under contract... the funds to pay for them will come from the governments of those countries, from the Media Lab, and (I'm sure) from Western philanthropic organizations.
Nice, I want one too. But 100$ is still a fortune in many places, and if you don't have electricity... or food it won't be of much use. So I guess the market for it will only be around 1 billion people.
Article had them as being potentially windup.
ok so it seems like a good idea windup and all but why don't the just dontate all the old laptops that people get rid of and give them that ? all they need to do then is develope a windup power adapter that powers the lappy ?
in the UK there is talk of all the waste old PC and Laptop kits that are being put into land fill sites why not kill 2 birds with 1 stone
I think the problem with that would be making sure that all the old crap was going to work and run properly, also it would be very hard to make all the laptops roughly the same as the others...one kid might get a 486 @ 66mhz and the next a pentium 2 @ 400mhz or something. Also, I think that regular laptops wouldn't hold up to being dropped and stuff like that, and it sounds like this one is suppose to be super rugged. I like how they mention Maine as showing how important laptops are for kids. Right now we (I live in Maine) have a program so that all 7th graders get a iBook to keep through High School. All the school districts are a little bit different in how it works, but for the most part it is the child's computer and they can bring it home with them etc.
the implication of $25 screens is huge.....because if you can get ones that are a little larger and have decent specs, they'd bring down the price of all the laptops.
another problem is the illusion that you are dumping in disguise on to a 3rd world country, more to your benefit than theirs. And with computers that are failing. Just a thought not an accusation.
Maybe the old laptops could be gutted to take out their best/most functional parts. That would be cheaper than manufacturing new ones, and you could have a greater level of quality control. Also, then you are still making a new product, you are just recycling older but still useful parts.
...and they'd all be force to deal with windows - like they don't have enough problems allready. A robust portable with a basic system makes sense in a place with not too many shops to bring it back to and have it fixed.
sorry, what is meant by "windup" - that they're just on their way up?
Seems to mean that rather than being powered by an electric socket like most electronics it will have a capacitor/battery powered by a manual hand crank like and old phonograph.
Thanks stoid. I wonder how much manual labor it would take to charge the batteries then. You could probably make one or two goats pull the mechanism though.
What a good idea!
When you think about it, today's laptops are overly complex...After all, Apollo got us to the Moon and back on a computer that would get toasted by a TI36X solar calculator.
My prediction is that the hardest part wil be getting that first order - once they're on the market they will sell themselves. The problem will be finding a third-world country that can afford $100 million for a bunch of laptops.
This is a cool initiative, but it will face the same problems as other "thin-client" projects. By the time it's in production, in early 2007, an iBook will cost $500 and the low-end Dell laptop will cost $350. The economies of scale of the computer market make it really hard for a stripped-down product to maintain a price advantage over gear that was cutting edge last year but now has to be sold at a deep discount. I know MIT plans to take advantage of their own economies of scale, with million-machine minimum orders; it will be interesting to see how well that works.
One to watch.
Give the ill-reputed build quality of many laptop pc's costing several times as much, what happens when you get a poor kid emotionally dependent on one of these things and then it breaks? I bet these things cost more to repair than to manufacture. Not to mention that many of these kids would first and foremost want to see the laptop's guts more than its software.
MIT has picked Taiwan's Quanta to produce the $100 laptop. The first million laptops will be distributed in 4Q 2006.
Oh. And Intel has nothing nice to say about the initiative ...
Rebuilding the older ones will cost more than building from scratch. Amazing but true. Not only that but the ones that are built from scratch can be built better to be more rugged and long lasting.
I'm amazed to even see a prototype. I'm still skeptical of the whole project, Quanta must be extatic seeing as 5-15 million units would be 5-15% of the company's total sales to date.
Oh and this has been previously discussed here:
Actually, I posted this thread in March. I'm all over it, baby.
And Quanta couldn't possibly be making a lot of money on each laptop, so the only benefit for them is publicity? How about bragging about the number of computers they produce?


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Egypt has had its share of dilemmas over the past couple of years and the country proceeds to perform to obtain its political residence in-order. Some overseas writers who refused to heed advice and headed out into rowdy crowds with cameras were attacked in isolated situations through the Innovation, and some Developed individuals in Egypt who foolishly chose to take part in several of the protests and who themselves engaged in illegal conduct (like throwing boulders and bottles from roofs) went afoul of the law and wound-up introuble using the regional authorities.
Actually, consumers on our recent women's group excursion that visited Egypt from middle- to delayed-July noted they felt fully secure, pleasant, and warmly received while they traveled around however you like with Middle Eastern Ventures and our very attentive National team on a lawn in Egypt. The truth about Egypt is the fact that its current restlessness is more about about a pleased and awakened desire for pride and freedom and internal domestic troubles.
The funny thing to those folks actually on a lawn in Egypt every month is that we discover these same news accounts and reports on TV from our rooms in hotels, then we look-out NILE CRUISE the screen and find out living around the streets of Cairo going on as usual – comfortably and peacefully. That the streets are just dangerous because of the normal chaotic traffic and youare set for a goody.
The wonderful mausoleums' occupants, dead and living, are being among the most exciting inhabitants in the exceptional metropolis of Cairo. An enormous Thankyou and I experience genuinely honored to have had you as a guide to the old wonders of Egypt. The entire world of medicine in Egypt; examination, forecast, methods, methods and remedies that at times surpass our condition-of-the-art contemporary medicine. Advancement of railway originally catalysed later and business travel vacation.
Travel back to the striking smells, modern Egypt and looks of ancient Cairo, the fabled connection between old Egypt and places in time. We describe Olyra praestigiosa, a new anguilliform bagrid catfish, in northeastern and Bangladesh India in the Brahmaputra Water drainage. Leisure tourism's most early form may be traced far back because the Egyptian and Babylonian empires. The Europeans attempted to discover a route to Asia for trade functions and in this fashion uncovered America and researched elements of Africa. From the early seventeenth-century, there was of vacation a new kind developed being a direct upshot of the Renaissance.
Some overseas correspondents who declined to follow advice and headed out into rowdy crowds with cameras were assaulted in remote incidents during the Innovation, and a few European learners in Egypt who foolishly decided to participate in several of the protests and who themselves involved in illegitimate behaviour (like throwing stones and containers from rooftops) went afoul of the law and wound-up introuble with all the local authorities.


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Tonight while vegging out watching some "must see TV" (well, at least Lost is finally on again), I caught again the Kate Winslet American Express commercial. I appreciate commercials like this — smart and subtle. It wasn't until the very end (when Kate picks up a hook) that I figured out who it was.
A little digging on IMDB helped me piece together (I think) the movies with the dialog:
"At 17 I went to prison for murder" (Heavenly Creatures, 1994)
"By 19, I was pennyless and heartbroken" (Sense and Sensibility, 1995)
"I almost drowned at 20" (Titanic, 1997)
"My mind started to go at 24" (Iris, 2001)
"Then I had my memory erased at 28" (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, 2004)
"And by 29, I was in Neverland" (Neverland, 2004)
For more celebrity commercials, check out the American Express site.
Update 2005-10-20: The Fort Worth Star-Telegram just published a column mentioning my breakdown of this commercial.


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3479 Bethlehem Pike
Souderton, PA 18964
New 2018 Winnebago Industries Towables Minnie Plus 31BHDSMANAGER SPECIAL!
NEW 2018 Winnebago Minnie Plus 31BHDS Travel Trailer Camper RV
We are the premier dealer for all new Winnebago trailers in the Philadelphia, Lancaster, York, Harrisburg, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware and New York Areas. We carry all types of RVs Travel Trailers, Fifth Wheels, Toy Haulers, Pop Ups, Hybrids, Tear Drops, and Folding Campers. They are in the top of their class. Some of the RV floor plans come with anywhere from zero to 5 slides. Most can be pulled with a half-ton truck, SUV or Minivan. If you are not sure if you can tow certain weights, you can contact us or you can get tow ratings from Trailer Life. We also carry Jayco, Starcraft, and Crossroads travel trailers.
This unit includes Minnie Plus Pkg., 15.0M BTU A/C upgrade, 10 gal. gas/electric DSI water heater, 8 cu. ft. refer & RVIA Tag.
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Stock# H13626
Exterior Color: CHAMPAGNE
Interior Color: GRAPHITE
|35 ft 6 in
|Ext Width
|8 ft
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|10 ft 10 in
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|6 ft 9 in
|Interior Color
|Exterior Color
|Hitch Weight
|860 lbs
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|Fresh Water Capacity
|50 gals
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|69 gals
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|28 gals
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|35000 btu
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|30 lbs.
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|10 gal.
|Water Heater Type
|DSI Gas/Electric
|13500 btu
|Awning Info
|17' Power
|Axle Count
|Number of LP Tanks
|Shower Type
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An entirely new kind of digital SLR
The DMC-L1 benefits from a new LEICA D VARIO-ELMARIT 14-50mm/F2.8-3.5 lens, equipped with an aperture ring, focus ring and zoom ring, for easy, direct aperture setting.
This new and inspiring digital SLR also features a shutter speed dial on top of the camera body, to enhance the sense of camera control. These features, combined with a classic design that will remind users of traditional analogue cameras, ensure the Panasonic Lumix DMC-L1 is distinct in both design and operation.
Outstanding image quality at low energy consumption
Panasonic has proudly developed the new Live MOS sensor using its original Maicovicon technology. The 4/3 type Live MOS sensor with 7.5 million pixels helps capture the beautiful images of a CCD sensor with delicate gradation and a wide dynamic range, whilst suppressing energy consumption as only a CMOS sensor can do. Noise is also minimised thanks to a special processing technology that runs on voltage as low as 5V.
The power of the Venus Engine III LSI
The Venus Engine III is an image processing LSI, newly developed to maximise the performance of the Live MOS sensor. Offering high resolution, superior colour reproduction and detailed gradation, the Venus Engine III also reduces noise to the level expected from a digital SLR, thus achieving stunning picture quality. The Venus Engine III also improves camera responsiveness supporting high-performance consecutive shooting and a short shutter interval. Despite offering superior performance, the Venus Engine III consumes only 80% as much power as its predecessor, the Venus Engine II. This combines with the Live MOS sensor's low energy consumption to provide longer battery life.
Full-time Live View for a whole new style of Digital SLR shooting
The heart of a digital SLR is the mirror box unit, which integrates a quick-return mirror, viewfinder, and AE sensor. This, combined with the full-time image output function of the Live MOS sensor, achieves a full-time Live View function that displays the image on the LCD directly from the sensor signal. This incredibly useful function can be selected in both Auto Focus and Manual Focus modes. In Manual Focus, photographers can enlarge an image within the frame and then select the area focusing, making it easier to check the focusing condition on the large 2.5inch, high resolution, 207,000 pixel LCD. It is also possible to check the depth of field by pressing the Aperture button.
Shake off dust with the Supersonic Wave Filter system
The most critical and annoying problem with digital SLRs with interchangeable lenses is the possibility of dust getting inside the camera during the lens changes, thus contaminating the image sensor. If this happens, professional cleaning is often required. The ingenious DMC-L1 effectively manages this problem by incorporating a Supersonic Wave Filter dust reduction, which uses supersonic vibration to instantly shake off dust that might otherwise affect the image.
A Digital SLR offering home networking capabilities
Consistent with all Panasonic Lumix cameras, the DMC-L1 is compatible with the SD memory card. It is also compatible with mass-storage SD standard based on FAT32, including the upcoming super-high-capacity SD Memory Cards of more than 2GB (SDHC).
The SD memory card opens up a world of home networking opportunities. Photographers can take photos with the Lumix, and view the images on a Panasonic Viera flatpanel; save them onto disk with a Panasonic DIGA DVD Recorder, and print them with a photo printer connected to your television.
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-L1 is a finely crafted camera designed to give beginners and professionals alike a powerful tool for creating truly outstanding photographic masterpieces. Following additional development efforts, Panasonic plans to shake the market with the DMC-L1 later this year. The best in the digital SLR market is clearly yet to come.
Review source: panasonic.co.uk
[back to reviews]


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American Flags around Hockessin.
100% Made in America!
Just how did the American flag become exactly what it is today?
Folding the American flag.
The American flag is a solid icon of American identification as well as national pride. Additionally called Old Glory, the U.S. flag has a colorful history as well as has undertaken lots of adjustments from the initial official flag of 1777.
Today the U.S. flag contains thirteen straight stripes, seven red alternating with six white stripes. The stripes represent the initial 13 colonies; the stars represent the 50 states of the country. The colors of the flag are symbolic also: red signifies hardiness as well as valor, white signifies pureness and also innocence and also blue represents vigilance, perseverance and also justice. The reason the Continental Congress originally chose the red, white, and also blue colors was not made clear in the resolution adopting the flag. Chroniclers believe it was probably a shade selection based upon the British Union Jack, which had formerly flown over the colonies.
In time, some have associated a little various definitions to the three colors, for example, the shade red representing the blood spilled to protect our freedoms, but the essence of the original significance has been rather consistent from 1782.
Just how did the American flag turn into exactly what it is today?
It is a lot greater than the 3 colors or a "design". Think about the areas around the world that the American flag has actually flown, think of the improvement it has gone through throughout the years on American territory. It is really humbling to think of all that was given and also sacrificed so that the American flag could fly easily across this nation.
The flag that started with just 13 stars grew to 50 with the addition of other states to the Union. The variety of stars on the flag gradually increased to its present number today wherein a brand-new star would be included in the blue field on the 4th of July after the date of each new state's admission.
The variety of rotating horizontal red and also white stripes has continued to be at thirteen except from 1795 to 1818 when fifteen stripes appeared on the flag to note the admission of Kentucky and Vermont to the Union. In 1818, it was determined that adding a stripe to the flag for every new state would certainly not take place as it will make the flag appear crowded as well as it would make the flag unwieldy. It was agreed then that the flag would go back to including only thirteen stripes to stand for the initial colonies.
The American flag is a symbol not only of hardiness, valiance, pureness, innocence, vigilance, perseverance and also justice; it is a sign of liberty. Freedom that has actually been battled so hard for over the years. Liberty that has cost this country and also the households within a lot, but it is still a beacon to those wanting they had the liberty that the country has.
Folding the American flag.
Typical flag etiquette suggests that prior to an American flag is stored or flown, its handlers ought to twice fold it in half lengthwise; after that (from the other end opposite the blue area) make a triangular fold, continuously fold it in a triangular patter up until the other end is reached. This makes a triangular "pillow" of the flag with only the blue starred field revealing outside, and also it takes thirteen folds to generate: two lengthwise folds and eleven triangular ones.
The flag isn't really folded in this fashion since each of the folds has a unique symbolic definition; the flag is folded in this manner since it gives a sensible ceremonial touch that distinguishes folding a flag from folding a common object such as a bed cover, and since it results an aesthetically pleasing, easy-to-handle shape. This thirteen-fold procedure was a typical practice long before the development of a ceremonial assignation of "meaning" to every of the actions.
A sophisticated flag folding event incorporating these definitions has actually from then on been developed for unique celebrations such as Memorial Day and also Veterans Day. These associations are "real" in the feeling that they imply something to the people that participate in the ceremony, but they are not the reason a flag is folded up in the typical thirteen-step fashion.
This is America and also its symbol is the American Flag. This honorable symbol has been shot at, burned, spew on and stomped on, but she rises over and over. Despite the fact that many Americans in the state of Delaware proudly fly the flag outside their homes and businesses on a daily basis, it is fitting that we, as a country, have actually reserved one certain day each year to recognize our flag and also to keep in mind that it stands for the beliefs and also values that we must aim to support. May God honor America and those who protect her.
Hockessin ZIP codes we serve: 19707


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Bryan Fuller's Star Trek will chart its course for deep space in 2017. Might Next Generation icon LeVar Burton be a part of that journey?
The legendary actor - who played the Enterprise's chief engineer Geordi La Forge in Star Trek: The Next Generation - recently opened up to Digital Spy about the possibility of a comeback while chatting about Ubisoft's Star Trek: Bridge Crew Virtual Reality experience.
"I think the visor - no matter what happens - it's retired," he joked, adding: "Whether I'm involved either in front or behind the camera, time will tell.
"It's not like I've been asked, but we'll see what happens!"
Even though it's been 16 years since a Star Trek live-action series has aired, Burton always suspected that the sci-fi franchise would find its way back to television.
"I felt that it would eventually [return] and I'm encouraged that they've waited a proper amount of time," he told us.
"Paramount and CBS, they learned from when there was an over-proliferation of Trek in the universe. I think that they are more mindful of how important it is to be a mindful steward of this very unique brand."
Burton added that he expects new showrunner Bryan Fuller's Star Trek to blend traditional themes of tolerance with bold storytelling.
"I'm encouraged that Bryan is a fan of Star Trek. That bodes well," he said. "I have a feeling that he will be incredibly respectful of not just the canon, but of the core values that Star Trek has always represented. I'm encouraged by that.
"I believe that [Wrath of Khan's] Nicholas Meyer is also involved. Nick is not only a Star Trek fan, but he's a genius so that doesn't hurt the storyline either."
The actor went on to say: "I'm looking forward to what kind of storytelling Bryan brings to the franchise. And what are the subjects that the writer's room tackles?
"Star Trek has always been about commenting on our present condition through that safe distance of the future. I would expect that Bryan would continue that tradition."
Bryan Fuller's Star Trek premieres first on CBS early next year, before airing exclusively on the CBS All Access digital subscription service for the remainder of its first season.


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Miley Cyrus adopted a new dog, y'all. The shorn singer tweeted a photo of her adorable new chihuahua-mix, Bean, and I think everyone will agree that this is one cute little puppy. Miley just picked her up from Spot animal shelter in Los Angeles and exclaimed that the pocket-sized pooch has already brought her a lot of "sunshine."
Miley's pets have been in the news a lot recently -- you may recall that her dog Ziggy tragically (and accidentally?) killed her other dog Lila just a few weeks ago.
Miley was evidently so upset about it that her mom took to her blog on December 17 to explain to fans that Miley "still isn't ready to talk" about what happened, and feels as if she just lost two dogs, since Lila was killed and Ziggy was placed in a home without other pets or children, lest the accident wasn't a one-time thing.
Now, less than three weeks later, Miley's opened her heart and her home to another dog. I admire that she's an animal lover and frequents shelters over those terrible breeders, but tough love time: you can't fill the space Lila and Ziggy left in your heart with a Bean. Sad. Face.
Even though two of her dogs left the Cyrus-Hemsworth zoo, like, a second ago, I guess she's dealt with it enough so that a new addition to the menagerie doesn't feel like a rushed replacement.
Bean brings the total number of Miley and Liam's dogs to six -- they've got a Rottweiler-beagle mix named Happy; a German shepherd called Mate; an Alaskan Klee Kai dubbed Floyd; a rescue dog, Mary Jane; and another rescue, Penny Lane.
Oh, and by the way, Miley hasn't denied that she and Liam got married over Christmas ... maybe Bean is a wedding present they got themselves? Aw, wouldn't that be sweet.
How long did it take you to get over the loss of a pet?
Photo via Miley Cyrus/Twitter


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News Sections
Rabies Clinics Offered In Jackson County
Updated May 8, 2014 9:47 AM
(UNDATED) - Two rabies clinics will be offered Saturday in Jackson County.
Area dog and cat owners can have their animals vaccinated from 10 a.m. to noon at Brownstown Animal Hospital in Brownstown and from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Reddington Township Fire Station in Reddington.
The cost is $10 per animal.
Have a question or comment about a news story? Send it to email@example.com
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Check out our advertisers www.getmybelt.com www.pornfidelity.com www.risingstarpr.com www.auditionporn.com/tour1, www.galaxypublicity.com and www.vantagedist.com/page/manufacturers/id/1895/manufacturer/Brandxxx_Pictures.html
Follow Gene Ross at [email protected]; Follow AdultFYI at [email protected]
I don't know how many of you remember The Honeymooners, one of the great all-time TV series. There was always a moment when Jackie Gleason as bus driver Ralph Kramden gets hissed off at his wife Alice [Audrey Meadows] and would bellow, 'You've got a big mouth, Alice….a biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig mouth."
Which brings me to the subject of Shy Love, who's got a big mouth. A big mouth to match her big teeth. I can't tell you how many times over the years Shy Love has called threatening me with "legal repercussions."
Love did it again yesterday only this time she stuck her big foot in between her big teeth. If Love wants to deny making any of the comments she made, she's welcome. Except one thing I learned from all my years running AVN, performers will use the "I was misquoted" gimmick. That's when I got into the habit of recording such conversations.
In the course of said conversation, Love began discussing the medical blotter of performer Alex Chance whose name gets dragged into this because some John sent a letter to AHF alleging that he got syphilis from Chance in an escort encounter at The Roosevelt Hotel last year.
Love, by the way, admits that Chance was an escort. And since Chance is on Love's talent roster, one might draw the conclusion that Love is a pimp.
No matter. People I know, who know people in Sacramento, saw this whole drama unfold. Shy, in that phone conversation, like some little schoolyard snitch, told me she was telling Diane Duke on me. Wow. That's okay. I just told Sacramento. Stick that in your big mouth with your terroristic phone threats.
Another AB 332 vote is coming up today. And the way I see it, from some exchanges I got Tuesday night, Love is the straw man now in the AB 332 issue. Why? Because she's got a biiiiiiiiiig mouth.
I could paraphrase, but I will submit the findings that have been sent to me. If you have the patience to wade through the language, it's simply saying hell's coming to breakfast for the adult industry and you can blame Shy Love for it.
Here's what I got from the horse's mouth which is how Shy Love was described in her performing days, by the way. All the following is an email that was sent to me. None of the following are my words:
"Just a few little paragraphs from the law book.
'All record owners shall develop and implement policies, standard, and
procedures to protect the confidentiality and security of the medical
records. Employees of record owners shall be trained in these policies,
standards, and procedures.'
'Records owners are responsible for maintaining a record of all disclosures of information contained in the medical record to a third party,INCLUDING the purpose of the disclosure request. The record of disclosure may be retained in the medical record. The third party to whom the information is disclosed is prohibited from further disclosure of any information in the medical record without the express written consent of the patient, or the patients legal representative.'
'The Attorney General is authorized to enforce the provisions of this
section for records owners not otherwise by the state, through injunctive relief and fines not to exceed $5000, PER VIOLATION.' [Ouch.]
"So what do these three little paragraphs mean for a few people in the adult industry? And there are many more paragraphs, but you get the drift.
"First, the multiple violations by agents, producers, and possibly APHSS
will be enough to bankrupt what is left of the industry.
"Shy Love has been talking about confidential medical information about an individual. It is no secret that employers, and agents in the adult
industry receive confidential medical information from some employees, that are actors. The industry will claim that this access is legal and for a good cause, and they might be right. And that's the problem. It now makes them 'Records Owners.'
"Why do I not think Shy Love has copies of all those written authorizations for every single disclosure of information, AND, the reason for that disclosure. To all the agents, producers, directors, FSC, whoever, immediately go to Best Buy and get the best paper shredder you can find.
"Every single one of you reading this knows you come no place close to being in compliance with this, and the AHF just got a whiff of this yesterday.
"Of course it will be pretty hard for any agent to say under oath that they never accessed or forwarded any medical information.
"The climate has changed a bit lately. The industry has been given a pass on these types of regulations for a long time. Proper authorities just turned a blind eye, but there's a new crop of politicians who aren't.
"Wasn't the Mr. Marcus thing discovered when a guy was preparing the paperwork to forward to someone else. I wonder if he documented that as a records owner. Wasn't this guy directly quoted in some article right here. He's going to wish he kept his trap shut.
"So here is the Catch 22. Either you are a legal records owner, and you
violated all of those statutes, or you aren't a legal records owner, and
that just opens up a whole new can of worms. And when you start throwing around the legal relationship between a performer and the legal agent, dang does it get messy.
"It is going to be very hot in Porn Valley this summer. And don't be so sure APHSS isnt going to take a hit. While they do not directly disclose specific medical information, they do disclose information
based on a patients medical record.
"The clinic gets written permission from the performer to forward info to APHSS. Is APHSS a 'records owner' will be a big question. There is no denying that APHSS is all about medical records, and they do disclose information about a person, based on that person's medical record. So, if, actually when, APHSS is declared a records owner they too will be subject to the regulations mentioned above, and many more not specified here."
So, the way I'm reading this, is that besides imminent fines presented by the breaking of AB 332, the state will be closely monitoring medical disclosure violations, and the money could really add up.
So getting back to the argument I made that the state www.adultfyi.com/read.php?ID=58421 is going to see all of this as a new revenue stream, remember, your own statistics are ultimately going to do you in.
After all, this is a multi-billion dollar a year porn industry that represents thousands and thousands of jobs. Thank you Diane Duke. You and Shy Love will have a lot to talk about in the unemployment line.


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The best soldiers are not warlikeChinese Proverb
Don't waste good iron for nails or good men for soldiersChinese Proverb
An army of principles can penetrate where an army of soldiers cannot.Thomas Paine
In war the heroes always outnumber the soldiers ten to one.John Gay
The Wedding March always reminds me of the music played when soldiers go into battle.Heinrich Heine
When soldiers have been baptized in the fire of a battle-field, they have all one rank in my eyes.Napoleon Bonaparte
When we assumed the Soldier, we did not lay aside the Citizen.George Washington
The soldier who retreated 50 paces jeered at the one who retreated 100 pacesChinese Proverb
There exist only three beings worthy of respect: the priest, the soldier, the poet. To know, to kill, to create.Charles Baudelaire
Soldiers have many faults, but they have one redeeming merit; they are never worshippers of force. Soldiers more than any other men are taught severely and systematically that might is not right.G. K. Chesterton
There are few men more superstitious than soldiers. They are, after all, the men who live closest to death.Mary Stewart
A handful of soldiers is always better than a mouthful of arguments.Georg C. Lichtenberg


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HONG KONG, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Trade in shares of Wynn Macau Ltd were suspended on Wednesday, the Hong Kong stock exchange said without providing further details.
Last week, Macau's gaming regulator met with representatives of U.S. mogul Steve Wynn in the Chinese controlled territory over claims in a newspaper report that he routinely subjected women who worked for him to unwanted sexual advances.
Wynn has denied the accusations published by the Wall Street Journal as "preposterous" and said they were instigated by his ex-wife to seek advantage in their divorce lawsuit.
The boards of Wynn Resorts and Wynn Macau have said they have formed a special committee to investigate the allegations of sexual harassment. (Reporting by Donny Kwok; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)


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Spiked pumpkin pie in a glass.
Recently, as I sat on my back porch eating breakfast, I looked around my yard and realized we were truly blessed to be in Central Florida. The colors here were different but beautiful.
These are just amazingly decadent Brownies. They are THE simple, quick and fabulous dessert that will wow your guests.
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Pumping Needs To Be Easier
Silicon Valley, CA (PRWEB) February 14, 2014
In October, 2013, weeks before a planned announcement, word leaked out on Facebook that a new product called the "Freemie" would soon be available that would effectively allow a woman to pump breast milk without taking her shirt off. The website wasn't even finished before thousands of inquiries a day began pouring in from potential customers and resellers around the world.
Moms working hard to provide breast milk for their babies knew that two of the biggest impediments to pumping - finding the time and an acceptable place - might be removed any day. Everyone at Dao Health, the California company that developed the Freemie system, worked overtime to get the company's website, Freemie.com completed ahead of schedule, while some women begged, pleaded, and a few even demanded to be allowed to pre-order their Freemie cups before the website could take orders. In the US, where the company first began taking orders online, women stayed up late one night in November to be among the first to pre-order.
Sales have been growing ever since. During this winter of record low temperatures, sales have been noticeably higher, relative to population, in the states most affected by snow and ice. Dan Garbez, co-founder of the company, points out the obvious, "We do have the only viable breast pump system that does not require a woman to take her clothes off to use it. And it has been cold…" Garbez says some of these customers have even referred to themselves as "parka pumpers."
At the heart of the Freemie pumping system are cup-shaped devices with specially integrated breast funnels. The old horns and milk bottles are no more. The Freemie cups fit inside a woman's regular bra, connect to her breast pump for suction, and collect her milk in the cups – right there inside her bra, underneath her clothes. It is the breast pump rethought for modern life.
The Freemie system is the brainchild of Garbez's wife, Stella Dao, an emergency physician who delivered the couple's twins prematurely. Dr. Dao was dependent on a pump for several months to help her make the milk her 3 pound preemies so desperately needed. "I could not use the equipment that was available at that time and go back to work in an emergency room. Having to undress and find a private room in such a chaotic place, and be unavailable to nurses and patients was - to put it kindly - completely impractical," said Dr. Dao. After developing the concept, the couple then recruited a world class team of medical device and startup professionals to perfect the idea and bring it to the world.
The cups have to be big enough to hold the milk, and to accommodate a breast funnel in order to be effective at extracting milk. But for the user, the Freemie cups and her milk are secure in her bra, and she can keep her shirt on. With the right attire, many women are able to pump in public environments, and nobody's the wiser. Since the concept is so new to a mass audience, the company believes it is important to help potential customers visualize this new style of pumping. They have developed a visually instructive website with videos and graphics, and are working on videos with fashion industry pros to help women identify what they call "Freemie Friendly Fashions."
In truth, the company's concept had already been around for a few years before the October hysteria, but it was not widely known. The first generation of the Freemie system was introduced in 2009. The original product had only one breast funnel size and cups that held only four ounces of milk each. It got good reviews. It was a great start. But after that initial market launch, principals at the company heard some feedback, and decided they could do better. So rather than focus on marketing the first generation design, they focused on some basic functional and design improvements. The results: The cups are a little smaller, even while capacity doubled to 8 ounces per cup, assembly is simpler with less parts, and two more funnel sizes were added to the original size.
The Freemie cups are available with a quiet electric pump (Freemie Freedom) and the world's only concealable, one-handed, double manual pump (Freemie Equality). But the biggest surprise - in a market where almost every company's pump and milk collection systems are proprietary, and not interchangeable - is that these revolutionary collection cups are compatible with the most popular pumps on the market. Garbez said, "A lot of companies make a pretty decent vacuum pump that will extract breast milk. It's pretty basic technology, and has been in use for more than a century. It doesn't need to get too complicated. What was missing was a modern user interface. Not anymore."
Garbez continued, "We're happy to work with these companies, so that moms can make the most of the money they have already invested in those pumps. We are giving moms the ability to actually pump as much as they had hoped, so that they can achieve their feeding goals for their babies. What we've done is like adding an app-based touch screen to a computer that was running on DOS. It's easy to set up and use, and more versatile and practical in most situations."
The company's confidence in their second generation design has been reinforced by user reviews on social media sites. Women have been openly professing their love for their Freemie cups. Moms exhausted from the sleepless days and nights of caring for a newborn have been recounting with glee the routine tasks they can now easily handle that were difficult or impossible to manage before. Some pump and nurse their babies at the same time, or help older children with homework while pumping. Moms can comfortably hold and soothe their babies while pumping. Women are pumping around their male bosses. One grateful mom simply summed it up this way: "The best invention since chocolate."
Many women also seem surprised that they found the Freemie cups more comfortable than their old pump equipment. But the Freemie Team isn't surprised that this observation occurs over and over. Ben Sutton, one of the co-founders, who now oversees product development and engineering, points out some factors that might not be so obvious. "Our patented system enjoys a unique advantage that no other product can match. It's simple physics. Our cups are very lightweight, yet still connect to the most powerful pumps. They collect and hold the milk right around the breast, secure in a woman's bra, just as her breast is supported by that bra. The center of gravity that her bra is supporting barely moves as the milk collects, so the shifting weight of her milk is insignificant. The cups don't contain any heavy motors or batteries that add weight and downward pressure on the breast, like some tried and failed concepts. And we are not hanging a bottle that is filling with milk several inches away from and below a woman's nipple, hinged on the thin edge of a funnel that is pulled into the underside of her breast." All the other hands free pumping systems on the market do just that. There are rubber bands, straps, combinations of hooks, clips and straps, and crazy looking tube tops, bras and corsets with holes cut out over the nipple areas. Garbez added, "Each of these 'hands free' contraptions simply jury rigs the traditional horns and bottles, which were designed to be held by hand. And then many women still end up having to support the milk bottles with one hand or an arm, or rest them on a table when the milk starts collecting. We've heard from countless women that these contraptions are uncomfortable."
Dr. Dao is quick to point out that pumping is a very personal endeavor, and the company is only providing one set of tools among dozens in the market for customers to choose from. "Mom still has to do all the work. And some women have routines or habits or other needs that may require a different set of tools than the hands free tools we're focused on. But for the vast majority of women around the world and across cultures, where electrical power may or may not be available, or where cultural norms require modesty, pumping can be a whole lot easier. We are helping thousands of moms meet their breastfeeding goals who couldn't continue lactation without us. Soon, we will be helping millions. It's humbling. But it's also exciting!"
Whether a woman uses the Freemie cups exclusively or occasionally, Dave Paul, another co-founder, estimates the company's new product line already has a solution that could help between 60 and 75 percent of all new mothers worldwide. For the Freemie Team to realize that potential, these Silicon Valley startup veterans know a lot of work lies ahead. But the prospects are bright, as inquiries continue to pour in from around the world. Paul said, "We welcome inquiries and are exploring opportunities globally with companies big and small, to make the Freemie system available everywhere. With the help of new partners in new lands who share our passion, we will make pumping easier, help advance breastfeeding rates and make an important contribution to global health. Women from the Mekong, to Manhattan, Milan and Mumbai all want their babies to be well nourished. We are going to help them."


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This new little bakery just opened on Austin St Fri so a couple of friends & I decided to try it over the weekend. They offer several types of brownies, macarons & homemade ice cream. We tried a sample of everything that they offered. Ordering both macarons, trying several of the brownies, and both flavors of their homemade ice cream (They have several flavors but currently only the coffee and cheesecake are homemade.)
The retail space is small and plain.
The Good:
The staff was very nice and helpful had smiles even though it was hectic now and again.
I really enjoyed the macarons - especially the Nutella version. They currently have two: Nutella & raspberry. According to the staff they will soon have more flavors. Both were nice & crunchy & soft on the inside. The fact that I enjoyed them is saying something. I recently spent my honeymoon in France and made a visit to Pierre Herme and a couple of other places and determined that I am really not a macaron fan.
The Bad:
The brownies. If you name begins with the word brownie they better be good. They were not. Beside being pretty small (not a problem if they are rich), they were very dry and had no real chocolate flavor. We tried 4 of the 6(?) varieties and all were extremely dry and flavorless- even the raspberry one which looked like it was going to be nice & gooey. The s'mores version didn't even taste like s'mores. It tasted like toffee - a flavor that I like, but this still was too dry to enjoy. You can get a better brownie out of a box of Ducan & Hines. All the brownies went half eaten, which is extraordinary considering their bite-size.
Ice cream. The second part of their name is "Cream" so you would expect something good. Not so. The coffee ice cream flavoring was good, but it was a scoop of coffee flavored ice crystals. Nothing creamy about that. The cheesecake had the opposite problem in that it was very gummy and the flavors were not well mixed. I am a HUGE fan of ice cream and make a lot of it at home, so the fact that we dumped both half-eaten, again, says something.
If you are going to name your store Brownies & Cream, make sure both are great - or at least good. Both were major disappointments. Perhaps they should change their name to Macaron
Brownies & Cream
72-40 Austin St, Queens, NY 11375


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- 1 hit to a death and 2 spawns, so players essentially get 3 lives including the one that they started the round with
- semi-automatic only - we've found it's too easy to get pinned on full
- tennis ball grenades are a kill if they land within a 10 foot radius and upon landing have a direct line of site to the victim (ie the effect of a grenade does not go through cover)
- a new rule we tried out and ended up liking a lot: gun hits ACTUALLY matter! If your gun gets hit it is counted as "broken". To "repair" it, you must bring it back to spawn without getting hit. If you get hit going back to spawn, it counts as a kill, and then you continue back to spawn and lose one life. After dying, your gun is "repaired". If you choose not to repair your gun, you may not use it unless you respawn. You can still use any secondaries or pistols you may be carrying, however.
Notes about the video:
- At 0:42 there is an outdated picture of me with the thompson. I now have a G36c, as the text states.
- At 2:04 I begin to quickly duck down into the trench after slowly raising my gun up over the sandbag. I didn't know someone was sighted in on me and I soon as I was exposed three BB's wizzed past my left ear. It was an EXTREMELY close call. But it sounded awesome.
- At 2:12 you can see my team mate, Sam, get 'naded.
- Billy has a bit of a fence-hopping fail at 2:32.
- I had an epic slide to get behind cover after respawning. John caught the end of it and chuckles at the overdramatic-ness of it at 3:34.
- I curse at a mis-feed at 3:56. Cover your ears.
- I get trigger happy at 4:15.
- At 4:20 Sam (my team mate) calls himself out after his gun stops working. Something weird happened with the trigger plate and made the gun stuck on full auto even if he wasn't pressing the trigger, the safety was on, or any other reason. We had to quickly remove the battery to stop it from wasting the clip. The video continues after he gets a new gun to finish the round with (John's tan M16).
- At 4:35 something pretty funny happened. I had asked if we were going and couldn't hear the response. I yell, "What?". I then start getting shot at and yell, "Oh sssshit, we're going". John pans the camera over to me and says, "Nice one, Luke".
- At 4:43 I announce that I'm going to go reload. I meant to say repair, because my gun had been chipped, which is why I then ran behind the garage to the spawn area.
- I get hit in the wrist at 5:03. The round is over.
- Starting at 5:10 Billy has an epic victory high five sequence.