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Message from our Community Director for June 2019
Message from our Community Director for June 2019June 3, 2019 Comments Off on Message from our Community Director for June 2019
'Heal our wounds,
our strength renew;
On our dryness pour your dew;
Wash the stains of guilt away:'
Greetings dear sisters and brothers
As we welcome the month of June we welcome the time of Pentecost.. Alleluia.
This verse from the Pentecost Sequence, said or sung at Pentecost, shows us a little of the amazing work of the Holy Spirit. Which one of us can't relate to the need for healing our wounds, renewing of our strength, washing away the stain of our sin and shame…in a sentence, being doused with the dew of the Holy Spirit. Jesus was so clear in his discourse before he died. Do not be afraid, I will be with you till the end of time, he says and this is through the power of his Holy Spirit. In these difficult and trying times, dear sisters and brothers, what a gift from our Lord. But how many of us avail ourselves of this grace? We are usually so consumed with our will, our world and the 'things' we think are good for us, we just don't seek God's will and the path he has set out for us. The Sequence addresses this too..
'Bend the stubborn heart and will;
Melt the frozen, warm the chill;
Guide the steps that go astray.'
Why not spouses, family, friends, help each other this month seek the gift of the Holy Spirit. Can I suggest a little mission for us all. Share, with at least one person, your need for the Holy Spirit in your life and your desire to let God's Spirit guide your steps. Then step out in faith and pray for each other. Don't be afraid, but trust in the Holy Spirit who empowers you to do more than you can ask or imagine. He wants us and empowers us to be that community of disciples on mission…and that's what it's all about. Being on mission for Christ in this world.
Which one of us can deny that daily we are faced with many challenges, as families and as a country and without question, the challenge of the refugee crisis in our country…this is going to cause us to dig deep into our souls for what we need to deal with this situation. The welcome and integration of all these thousands of refugees is an unprecedented challenge for us as a Nation, but together as a people, all sections of our national community, Government, business, NGO's, faith based groups, service and community groups, families, all of us, we can and must face this serious challenge together. God has not left us orphans, His Holy Spirit is with us to guide our steps. If we believe that the stone has been rolled away and Jesus is Risen, we need to open our hearts to His grace and be the guiding lights that our nation needs at this time.
"We are not selling a product. We have a life to communicate: God, his divine life, his merciful love, his holiness! It is the Holy Spirit who sends us, accompanies us and inspires us. He is the source of our mission….(Pope Francis)……..Blessings Rhonda


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News outlets report jurors ruled Friday that Superior Care Home must compensate the patient's relatives for medical costs, pain and suffering. The nursing home was sued in 2017 over the death of Mary Opal Moore, who lived at the center from December 2014 to March 2015.
The lawsuit says Moore wasn't properly treated during her time at the facility and was kicked out over switching to Medicaid. She died weeks after leaving the facility.
Attorney Eddie Jones represented the nursing home and its owners. He says the jury's ruling isn't supported by evidence including witness testimony.


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The Good Summit part I
Saturday 27th October 2018 @ 1:46 pm
What an experience the first The Good Summit was.
Full of wonderful and passionate speakers who care about the state of the world and the state of humanity.
We heard so much that was positive – from world changing health care design, to a local social enterprise making bags for kids in the social care system, to politicians saying 'of course I would do some things differently if I could do it again,' to some of Ireland's most successful business leaders talking about the unsustainability of the system, to care for the homeless the hungry the immigrant and the elderly … to … to … to …
It was a delight to be in the midst of such wonderful people who know the world can work differently.
The speakers were light. Each of them spoke at the event at their own expense – no–one was paid to attend and present. It was true giftedness on the part of those who spoke. I wrote to them afterwards to thank them most sincerely for their vital part in bringing The Good Summit to birth. And I pointed out that what they witnessed, was a massive collaborative effort between a small army of volunteers and speakers from an incredibly wide variety of backgrounds, experience, learning, skill, age, race and language. Among all of those volunteers and speakers (numbering c.55 people in all) we witnessed over a dozen nations represented, with ages ranging from 18–70, among whom were folks who are gay / straight / wealthy / living on the line / university professors / no college degree / European / African / Asian / North American / national mangers / entrepreneurs / NGO workers / film makers / match–makers and much more besides.
Something worthwhile came into being … and maybe the same serendipity and good favour that brought us to this point will offer some bridges to something sustainable worthwhile beautiful and Good in the future.
It was inspiring to listen to the keynotes, and even more inspiring to watch the interactions and conversations afterwards between different people. What captivated me most, was the energy and vibrancy that became palpable so very quickly into the event. People wanted to meet people. There was a massive desire for connecting and participating, and there are today networks being refreshed while new networks are being created. I don't know much about social media, but on the day of the Summit on Twitter we had 115K impressions, and on Facebook a reach of over 10k. Not bad for a first attempt.
It has been a value of The Good Summit from the start that things such as goodness, kindness, generosity and well–being are things which need careful cultivation, things which need to be tended to carefully so as to not destroy them. It can be tough to stick to such positive virtues, but we are determined to keep the conversation going.
It might well be, that when all is said and done, all we were really trying to do, is spread some real love around the island and around the globe.
Let the cultivating of the seeds sown begin …
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The reason it will be hard for me to ever write a book on Jesus Shaped Spirituality is I won't be able to surpass the absolutely finest book on Jesus shaped discipleship I have ever read, David Augsburger's Dissident Discipleship.
This is, without doubt or second guessing, one of the five finest books on what it means to be a follower of Jesus I've ever read. Whatever is the maximum endorsement one can give a book, I'm giving to this one, plus ten points. Dissident Discipleship is a book that you will savor almost sentence by sentence. This is must-read, disturbing, world overturning Christianity. Don't even sit this book on the shelf near the average Christian book. It needs a shelf of its own.
Dissident Discipleship is Augsburger's effort to write an Anabaptist spirituality text in a way that will communicate the depths and power of Anabaptist insights on Jesus and discipleship to a popular audience. I fold pages where there are major portions of a text that I want to reread. I have forty folds. I have a marking system for key passages. I've gotten at least 50 passages marked. Every page was exciting to read. The opening fifty pages are pure dynamite to lukewarm evangelicalism.
The book is full of secondary sources and quotes, accompanied by a large bibliography. There are extensive devotional aids and Anabaptist prayers and liturgical resources. The book is just over 200 pages in the main chapters and is organized at every point for memorization and presentation.
If you can get a Bible study or support group through this material, you will have exposed your students to a kind of Christianity that most of them will have never thought about. At every point, Augsburger is careful to make this paradigm shifting presentation an interesting read. It is a finely organized, tight presentation that preachers and teachers will love.
Rarely can I read a book and feel that Jesus would say, "Now that's what I was talking about!," but this book is singularly convincing as an imitation of how Jesus thought and lived, and what it means to actually follow him.
Yes, the influence of John Howard Yoder's Politics of Jesus is everywhere in this book, and there is an apperndix summarizing Yoder's work. But this book covers theology, community, relationships, self-image, the church and service to others. It's a book you will be reading, quoting, pondering and rereading a year from now.
If you want to debate the usual menu of theological controversies, this isn't your book. If you want to light a fire under your own sense of being a follower of Jesus Christ, there is no better book I can recommend.
My highest recommendation, and no one gave me a book to say that. It's simply an amazing, explosive, Jesus shaped book.


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What is the difference between a "field" probe and a "lab" probe?
In some standards, field probes were conceived and designed to measure thermal resistivity of a large representative sample of soil. Field probes are large needles (~ 1 meter long) that put out a lot of heat. Unfortunately, their temperature resolution is rather poor. Thus, the measurement takes a lot of power and time to create enough temperature change to get accurate results. "Lab"-type needles have amazing temperature resolution (0.0001 °C) and with a couple of 5-minute measurements can accurately characterize the thermal resistivity of most soils. Small needles also require a lot less power (4 AA batteries) than a field probe. Keep in mind that field measurements only give you the thermal resistivity of soil at its current moisture content. Lab testing is needed to get a complete picture of a soil's thermal resistivity.
How can I access the soil of interest in the field?
The two primary ways to access soil for testing are pulling drill core samples or digging a test pit. Core samples pulled from the depth of interest can be tested on site or sent to a lab. A test pit allows for testing in the field or pulling samples to send in for lab testing. Also, it is a good idea to observe the soil of interest to look for strata layers and inconsistencies in the soil. Remember that field testing does not give the complete picture of a soil's thermal resistivity like lab testing can.
Can I take field measurements with a small (e.g., 100 mm long) needle?
Small "lab" probes can be used in the field as long as the soil of interest is accessible. Consider it the same as removing a soil sample and taking it to the lab. Multiple measurements are suggested to check for variability across the sample of interest.
How long should I wait after needle insertion to start the reading?
2 to 5 minutes. However, this answer is very much dependent on the size of the needle and the temperature difference between the soil/material of interest and the needle. Needles are typically stainless steel and thus have a high thermal conductivity and can come to temperature equilibrium with the surroundings very quickly. But temperature drift (other than needle heating) during a reading can cause errors. It is best to be safe and wait the 5 minutes to ensure the needle and sample are at equilibrium.
How long do I need to wait between readings?
Treat each reading like a new test. Wait 2 to 5 minutes before taking a reading. If taking multiple readings, some users have found it advantageous to use a couple of needles (spaced appropriately), moving the controller from sensor to sensor.
What is the largest grain size I can test with a small heated needle?
A small (~100 mm length, ~2.5 mm diameter) heated needle can test soil grains up to about 2 mm. At that point, the air gaps start to provide more thermal resistance than the soil itself. Thermal grease and longer read times can help overcome the error caused by air gaps. However, do not ignore air gaps in soil as the line-heat source method, which the heated needle design is based on, mimics the heat dissipation of an underground power cable. If there are air gaps in the soil, it will impact the heat flow from the power cable.
Can I test frozen soil with the heated needle technique?
Frozen soil can be tested with a heated needle as long as the temperature is within the specifications of the instrument. Do not attempt to measure soil thermal resistivity right around freezing as the phase change invalidates the measurement.
Are the calculations for computing thermal resistivity difficult to do?
The mathematical computations for computing soil thermal resistivity are not overly complex, but doing any computation by hand can lead to errors. Most commercially available heated needle instruments do all the calculations and give you the resistivity number. The same can be said for soil water content measurements.
Does METER's TEMPOS meet the requirements in the IEEE Standard?
The TEMPOS is classified as a "lab" probe in the eyes of the IEEE 442 standard. However, much has changed since the IEEE standard was written in 1981. The IEEE standard is being revised, and the smaller "lab" needles are being considered for fieldwork. As long as the soil of interest can be accessed and the user follows the instruments precautions for field measurements, a "lab" probe can actually be more accurate than a large field probe.
The ASTM standard does not require specific needle lengths for specific applications.
Are the small "lab" needles fragile?
All heated needle probes have an internal heater and temperature sensor that is filled with a thermal epoxy, but the strength of the needle is in the stainless steel "tube." Forcing the needle could cause it to bend, which may damage the circuitry in the sensor. If faced with a hard soil, it is possible to use a pilot pin or a drill to create a small pilot hole. If doing so, make sure the needle fit is snug. If not, create a new hole or use some thermal grease to fill air gaps.
Why are my thermal resistivity numbers so high?
Soil particles have a wide range of resistivities (~15 to 700 °C-cm/W), whereas, water (172 °C-cm/W) and air (~4000 °C-cm/W) have more finite values. The soil particle, water, and air mixture that makes up a soil's characteristic have a large impact on thermal resistivity. Increasing soil moisture typically decreases soil thermal resistivity. On the other hand, the more air in the soil-air-water mixture, the higher the resistivity. Air in soil pores is part of the natural soil makeup, so it should not be eliminated from consideration. If thermal resistivity readings of the natural soil are high due to air, you may want to consider engineered backfill.
What "numbers" should I report?
When reporting thermal resistivity, it should always be reported with a moisture content. If the means are available, the density/compaction of the soil should also be reported. For more on reporting see "Thermal resistivity: real rho values for the professional power engineer".
Have more questions?
METER scientists have over 100 years combined experience measuring thermal properties. Contact us if you need application-specific expertise. And, if you don't have time to make your own measurements, METER also offers Thermal Properties Testing Services.


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Showing all Professional Development education news in Bits & Blogs
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Bits & Blogs
In the inaugural episode of ArtsHub's new podcast, we chat to choreographer and festival associate Gideon Obarzanek.
The great artists and thinkers of our time can offer solace and motivation when we reach the end of year slump
What inspires an arts manager whose work is tied up in frameworks and strategies?
In ArtsHub's Inspire60 video series, we distill the passion that drives the arts down to 60 seconds of inspiration. Catch-up here with a 15 minute power boost or bookmark it for on-tap motivation.
The subversive nature of the arts in conservative times is one of the things that inspires freelance theatre and festival director Ian Pidd.
VIDEO: The Director of the Melbourne Writers Festival tells us what inspires her in the arts.
Can habits really improve our creativity? No-nonsense approaches to dealing with procrastination and self-doubt by writers prove useful for all creatives.
Now is the time to be nice in the arts. We find out how.
The Australian Centre for Contemporary Art's new Artistic Director & CEO tells us what he finds inspiring about his work.
Feeling the pressure for your organisation be more entrepreneurial? What is blocking creativity and innovation might not be what you think.
Sometimes you just don't want to feel better. We take a leaf out of 'The Book of Uninspiring Quotes' for the days when you feel working in the arts is too tough.
Letting your art speak for itself is a luxury you probably can't afford. Confident public speaking on and offstage increases your opportunities to work.
You are not alone feeling stressed in today's workplace, so why not turn our great Masterpieces for tips to smoothing the frayed ends?
'Contemporary art's job is to wreck what came before. Is there a better job description than that to aspire to?' asks John Waters in his commencement speech at RISD.
Knowing the jargon lifts your industry credibility, and provides a quick test of how well you belong. Swot up before your next job interview with our quiz.
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Become an Australian arts industry insider by joining ArtsHub - the one-stop-shop for the latest industry news, jobs, what's on and much more.
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text: Families – Ellis/Smith Click any image to enlarge and see names, and then use the arrows to scroll left-right through the gallery. Download an individual image by clicking on the down-arrow in the bottom left corner of that image. On left is Arthur F. Smith (Smith Bros. Hardware)4 People posing by shed in their yardLloyd EllisLloyd Ellis off to WarVirginia Ellis at WorkVirginia Ellis High School PictureVirginia Ellis at 5 Years OldVirginia Ellis as a toddlerRalph A. Smith – Civil War?Phyllis (Ellis) Collins as a toddler.Horace RogersGrandma Smith's HouseEdith (Smith) Ellis Baby Please share!TwitterFacebookLinkedin


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The next meeting of FABtalks will be held on February 15 at 19:00 at Technopark, the main topic of which is – design thinking and generate ideas.
Invited guest is an industrial designer with international experience – Lado Kobakhidz. He will discuss about design thinking and review specific examples of how to implement design/novelty.
Design-thinking is a process that allows modern companies to find new ways. Its use is not limited to any particular industry or field.
FABtalksis one of the FabLab project of Technopark, aiming at organizing public lectures and discussions for FAB community.
Attendance is free, follow the link for registration.


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Here are four ways to rebuild your emergency fund savings.
1. Clean out and sell
Cleaning out your house, garage, and yard can be a lot of work if your accumulated much, but it is a great way to bring in some quick money. Look to bundle lower priced items such as: books and everyday used clothes. Either use an online auction site or take your clothes to your nearest consignment shop.
Believe it or not, there is an underground coffee mug collectors arena online. For example, eBay auction site yields some of the most prolific sales. Coffee mugs that sell really well include anything Disney, vintage restaurant mugs, Starbucks, vintage Pyrex, and mugs with famous people, places, and TV shows themes.
2. Take on a weekend job
If your regular job is on a Monday-Friday schedule, you could look for a part-time weekend job. Retailers and restaurants are often on the search for dependable staff. You can also look for weekend positions in janitorial work or temp staffing positions. There are often various part-time positions available at any business or service that has to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For example, elderly care homes, emergency services, and gas stations all need part-time help.
You won't make big bucks at most of these jobs, but if you put 100 percent of your weekend paychecks into your emergency fund, you can rebuild it fairly quickly: If you net $150 per weekend, you can save $3,600 in six months of consistent weekend work.
3. Offer your services
Most of us have these incredible talents that are not being put to good use. For those of you with specialized skills or services, make the most of it and take on a side gig. Artists, writers, legal skills you name it.
Whether it is an child in school or adults struggling with their continuing education/ returning to college often need someone to tutor them. Choose a public location (such as a cafe or a library) to meet for your tutoring sessions. StudyPool offers tutoring sessions in over 30 subjects. Online tutors can set their own deadlines and prices. Tutor.com connects you with students of all ages for tutoring sessions covering subjects such as: accounting, economics, and college essay writing. VIPKid specializes in connecting Chinese students with English language instructors. Children are between the ages of 4 and 12. All sessions are one-on-one with an individual via webcam.
4. The Minimalist Lifestyle
Take a hard look at your spending over the course of three to six months, and dedicate an amount to rebuilding your emergency fund. We found Acorns helps us save without breaking a sweat. Invest spare change from everyday purchases.


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Welcome to a new school year!
My name is Mr. Freddy Camarena and this is my 16th year teaching Spanish at the Orange District. I look forward to working with each one of the students and my goal is to make learning a second language as fun and easy as possible.
Below are some of my expectations that I have for you along the school year:
- I want you to have and increase your enthusiasm for the curriculum.
- I hope you maintain active communication between school and home when it comes to what you are learning.
- I expect you to treat your peers the same way you wish to be treated.
- I expect you to adhere to all school rules while in my class and school.
I am really looking forward to meeting and working with each one of the students and their families!
Syllabus 8th Grade: Syllabus 8th Grade
Syllabus 9th Grade: Syllabus 9th Grade


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We're no strangers to The Dutch, the cool American restaurant inside W South Beach. Over the years, we've popped in for Miami Spice, summer barbecues and a bevy of other special events. It's been a while since our last visit, though, and things have changed for the better since Chef Josh Gripper took over as Executive Chef late last year.
His name should be familiar to anyone who knows anything about the local food scene. He oversaw the pastry program at The Dutch and is now trying his hand at savory fare — with fantastic results.
Full disclosure: Our visit coincided with the tail end of this season's menu. By the time you make a reservation, odds are some things — or many things — might be different. With that said, we don't see our conclusion changing: Chef Josh Gripper is creating some amazing dishes. Selections like the Crab-Stuffed Deviled Eggs and Grilled Octopus with 'nduja vinaigrette are not to be missed, as they're brimming with flavor. Entrees like Smoke Ricotta Pasta, Red Snapper and Jerk Pork Chop (Coca Cola rice ftw) overshadowed anything we ate during our previous visits; complemented with tasty (and healthy-ish) sides like Broccolini and Brussels Sprouts, these plates had us in heaven.
Unsurprisingly, dessert didn't disappoint. It's a tough choice between the Cuban Flan with blood orange sorbet and the Chocolate Peanut Crunch with vanilla chantilly, so just say f— it and get both. Honestly, just throw caution to the wind and get the whole menu — we would if we had two stomachs. To say our latest Dutch experience was enjoyable would be an understatement. Chef Josh Gripper has truly transformed the restaurant and we look forward to seeing what else he comes up with. Keep an eye on this place.


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Website Cookies – Testing
Abhilash Gopi
Dated : 6th Mar., 2008.
– Most web applications generate a cookie.
– Cookie- also referred to as the HTTP Cookie.
– Are parcels of text sent by a server to a web browser and are sent back unchanged by the browser each time it accesses the server.
Why are cookies used?
– Used for authenticating, tracking, and maintaining specific information about users. (typically site preference).
– It was first associated with the Unix computing and was called "magic cookie".
The flip side– There are a lot of concerns as regards cookies.
– It has been the subject of debate for "Internet Privacy".
– A hacker could create an application with cookies designed to know more about the user's browsing behavior.
Other concerns– Most modern browsers allow users to decide whether to accept cookies.
– In this case, a rejection may render a site useless (e.g. a shopping site).
What are we gonna discuss?
– What exactly are cookies?
– How they work?
– How to test cookies?
What is cookie?
– A small information stored in text format on the user's hard disk by the web server.
– This information is later used by the web browser to retrieve information from that machine.
Why cookies are used?
– Cookies are basically the user's identify and are used to track where the user navigated throughout the web site pages.
How cookies work?
– The HTTP protocol used to exchange information files on the web is used to maintain the cookies.
– Two types of HTTP protocol
• Stateless HTTP
• Stateful HTTP
Stateless HTTP– Does not keep any record of previously accessed web page history.
Persistent Cookie– Have an expiration date and lie on the machine until expiry.
Non-persistent cookies– Stored in the web browser's memory and is destroyed on closing the browser.
Stateful HTTP– Does keep some history of previous web browser and web server interactions and is used by cookie to maintain the user interactions.
Cookie Format– Whenever user visits a site or page that is using a cookie, small code inside the HTML page writes a text file on the user's machine called cookie.
– E.g
Set-Cookie: NAME=VALUE; expires=DATE; path=PATH; domain=DOMAIN_NAME;
Cookie Format
– Set-Cookie: Password=D3Br0y3Utr3; expires=DATE+50; path=; domain=eShopping;
Revise (Cookie identify)
– Name
– Expires
– Path
– domain
Where are cookies stored?
– When any web application writes cookie, it gets saved in a text file on the users disk drive.
– The path where the cookies get stored depends on the browser.
Where are cookies stored?
– IE stores cookies in
C:Documents and SettingsDefault UserCookies
C:Documents and SettingsDefault userLocal SettingsTemporary Internet Files
Applications implementing cookie
– Shopping cart sites
• Cookies track what the user wants to buy.
– Personalized sites
• When user visits certain pages they are asked which pages they don't want to visit. User options are stored in cookie until the time the user logs out.
Applications implementing cookie
– User Tracking
• To track number of unique visitors online
– Marketing
• Cookies can be used to display advertisements on user machines. Cookies control these advertisements. The type of advertisement is generated by the cookie.
– User sessions
• Cookies can track user sessions to particular domain using user ID and password.
Test a Cookie
– To devise test cases for testing a cookie, ensure the following
• As a cookie privacy policy make sure that no personal or sensitive data is stored in the cookie.
• If sensitive data do need to be saved in cookie, ensure that the cookie is saved in encrypted format.
• Ensure no overuse of cookies on the site exists.
• Disable the cookies from the browser settings. Ensure that the site works without any exception. See if appropriate messages to enable the cookie are visible. (In this case, you will need to close all browsers, delete all cookies before performing the test)
• Accept/ reject some cookies
• Set browser option to prompt whenever a cookie is being written. Check for major functionality for all combination of cookie enable/ disable.
• Delete cookie
• Allow site to write the cookies and then close all browsers, manually delete the cookie and check behavior of the pages.
• Corrupt the cookies.
• Manually edit the cookies and change the parameters to some vague values.
• In some cases, the cookie refers to some other site.
• Checking deletion of cookies from the web application.
• Sometimes a cookie that is created by a domain will be deleted by same domain
• In case of site implementing action tracking, the cookie should get deleted (e.g. purchasing)
• Testing cookie on multiple browsers
• Test for same user on multiple browsers on different machines
• Test on different browser environments
• IE, FireFox, Netscape, Opera etc.
• Change the querystring for logged in user and verify if access is provided.
Suggestions as a Tester
Suggestions you can provide
– The security measure suggestions you can provide:
• Use non-persistent cookies instead of persistent cookies.
• If you must use persistent cookies, then specify a short duration for the cookie's life. The longer the time until cookie expiration, the larger the risk.
Security Suggestions
• Use the secure tag, so that the cookie is sent only if a secure channel (https) is being used.
• Encrypt the information in the cookies. Some web sites split one cookie into many cookies that are further encrypted.
• Avoid application features that use persistent cookies to store privacy-related information. Example: Sites that say "Please check to remember user name and password."


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Silver Dollars Linden*
Tilia 'Sildozam'
Silver Dollars Linden
(Photo courtesy of Lake County Nursery)
Silver Dollars Linden foliage
(Photo courtesy of Lake County Nursery)
* This is a "special order" plant - contact store for details
Height: 45 feet
Spread: 30 feet
Hardiness Zone: 4
A highly ornamental shade tree with a symmetrical pyramid shape, features an abundance of fragrant cream flowers in early summer when few trees bloom; very tidy and low maintenance, adaptable, makes a perfect lawn or street tree
Ornamental Features
Silver Dollars Linden features showy clusters of fragrant creamy white flowers with tan bracts hanging below the branches in early summer. It has dark green foliage with silver undersides throughout the season. The serrated heart-shaped leaves turn an outstanding gold in the fall. The fruit is not ornamentally significant.
Landscape Attributes
Silver Dollars Linden is a dense deciduous tree with a strong central leader and a distinctive and refined pyramidal form. Its average texture blends into the landscape, but can be balanced by one or two finer or coarser trees or shrubs for an effective composition.
This is a relatively low maintenance tree, and is best pruned in late winter once the threat of extreme cold has passed. It is a good choice for attracting bees to your yard. Gardeners should be aware of the following characteristic(s) that may warrant special consideration;
- Insects
Silver Dollars Linden is recommended for the following landscape applications;
- Shade
Planting & Growing
Silver Dollars Linden will grow to be about 45 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 30 feet. It has a high canopy with a typical clearance of 6 feet from the ground, and should not be planted underneath power lines. As it matures, the lower branches of this tree can be strategically removed to create a high enough canopy to support unobstructed human traffic underneath. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for 70 years or more.
This tree should only be grown in full sunlight. It is very adaptable to both dry and moist locations, and should do just fine under average home landscape conditions. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid.
* This is a "special order" plant - contact store for details


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With a voice as comfortable as well-worn jeans, Walt Wilkins knew his calling was music at an early age. His story-telling songs, hard-edged vocals and plaintive guitar have made him a fixture of the Texas music scene. Walt has been writing and playing music since the 1990s; sometimes alone, sometimes with his wife Tina, and sometimes with The Mystiqueros, a living art collective, a Hill Country jukebox and one of the bands destined to be on the bill in honky-tonk heaven. Together since 2007, their sound has been called "highly reminiscent of 1970s country/rock" with quality songwriting and vocal arrangements.Levitt Pavilion General Information:
Concerts are family friendly and free! If a concert requires a ticket, it will be indicated. The Levitt Pavilion is located at 100 W. Abram St. in Founders Plaza on the corner of Abram and Center streets. For directions and parking, please see Directions & Parking. The Levitt is an open-lawn seating, outdoor concert venue. Visitors to the FREE concerts should bring lawn chairs or blankets to sit on. Picnics and coolers are welcome to the FREE concerts. Please do not bring glass containers to the Levitt. Concessions are sold at the Levitt, including beer and wine. For additional information, please visit our FAQs, call the 24-hour information line at 817.543.4301, or email [email protected].


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We're a group of dedicated folks who build websites, applications, and campaigns that tell meaningful, compelling stories for our clients. We're always looking for talented people to join our team. If you are passionate about crafting great digital experiences, enjoy working in small teams with people who know their stuff and want to live in a small college town in the mountains while working for world-class clients, then we'd love to hear from you. Check out our postings, or send questions to firstname.lastname@example.com
Current Open Positions
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NewCity is headquartered in downtown Blacksburg, Virginia, a college town nestled between the Blue Ridge and Allegheny mountains. Why are we here? Well, the quality of life is hard to beat. The area offers cultural and outdoor activities galore and has regularly been ranked among the nation's best places to live and to raise children. We're proud to call Blacksburg home.


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Kenneth Gravois, Hoy, Jeffrey W., Bischoff, Keith P., Reagan, Thomas E.
Kenneth Gravois, Keith Bischoff, Jeff Hoy, T. Eugene Reagan and Collins Kimbeng(Editor's Note: The St. Gabriel Research Station referred to in this article is now called the Sugar Research Station. The Department of Agronomy and Environmental Management is now called the School of Plant, Environmental & Soil Sciences.)
Kenneth Gravois, professor, and Keith Bischoff, assistant professor, St. Gabriel Research Station, St. Gabriel, La.; Jeff Hoy, professor, Department of Plant Pathology and Crop Physiology; T. Eugene Reagan, professor, Department of Entomology; and Collins Kimbeng, assistant professor, Department of Agronomy and Environmental Management, LSU AgCenter, Baton Rouge, La.


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A Rebozo is a traditional Mexican scarf/shawl, commonly used throughout life from birth to death. Whether as a tool to soothe and relax, keep warm, carry or for one of its many other uses, they were seen as a staple item in any woman's life.
I offer this technique as part of my services, and also run workshops for birth workers to share my knowledge (book here). In these workshops you will be shown and have chance to practice all the techniques I discuss.
I demonstrate and use the rebozo in a number of ways:
- As a massage tool by gently supporting, sifting and encouraging the body to relax and adopt favourable positions. This may be in pregnancy, labour or postnatally, and is a great way of relieving any tensions and helping women to relax at this important time.
- In labour by assisting women into supported positions, allowing the muscles to relax and letting the body work effectively.
- To help the baby into a favourable position prior to labour, by gently encouraging relaxation of uterine muscles/ligaments and allowing baby to manoeuvre themselves with support.
- As part of a Closing the Bones ceremony after baby is born – the sooner the better, but this can be beneficial at any time (even years later!). This can also be used to heal people after other stressful periods in life, and is not just associated with childbirth. The rebozo is used in this ceremony to massage and relax women, and also to gently ease bones and ligaments back into their pre-pregnant state. This is often combined with an abdominal massage to further release tensions, and encourage the bladder and uterus to return to their pre-pregnant positions.
- To carry baby after birth in a similar way to using a wrap or ring sling.
You can click here to watch some external videos showing the techniques I may use (these are for information only and not intended for training purposes)
If you are interested in using the rebozo during pregnancy, birth or postnatally, contact me here or email email@example.com


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Landlord immigration checks
Landlords are required by law to check that anyone renting a new property or entering into a new tenancy agreement from 1 February 2016 has a 'right to rent'. Right to rent checks should also be made where a:
- new joint tenancy is granted to one or more of the original joint tenants and new tenants
- tenancy is assigned with the landlord's consent
- tenancy agreement is varied to allow new adults to occupy the property
Student halls of residence which are owned and managed by a further or higher education institution are exempt from landlord immigration checks. There are some other limited exemptions - these are explained on the UKCISA website.
A right to rent means that the tenant either does not require immigration permission to be in the UK, or requires it and has it, and it has not expired. A person who is not lawfully in the UK has no right to rent, unless the Home Office has explicitly given that person permission to occupy premises. Landlords who rent to a tenant who doesn't have a right to rent can be fined £1000.
The landlord or letting agent will ask to see original documents that show a tenant or prospective tenant has the right to rent. The landlord is required to make and keep copies of the documents provided. The Home Office has produced 6_1193_HO_NH_Right-to-Rent-Guidance.pdfa guide to document checks for landlords, [PDF 7,507KB], but tenants can also use it to see what they need to provide.
Landlords can request a right to rent check from the Home Office if a tenant can't provide the required documents because they are waiting for a decision on an immigration application or an appeal. This service is free and landlords should get a response within two days.
If you have limited immigration permission to be in the UK, for example Tier 4, then your landlord must check your immigration permission again after 12 months, or before your immigration permission expires, whichever is later. If your right to rent expires, for example if you overstay your immigration permission, then your landlord should report this to the Home Office. Your landlord is not required to evict you, but the Home Office may take action against you.
There is more information on the Shelter website. International students may find it useful to read the UKCISA web page which explains more about the landlord immigration checks, and what documents you will need to provide.
If you need further advice about this, please contact Queen Mary University of London Housing Services, or the Advice and Counselling Service.


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|Photo: Matt Baldelli
In late June, I was assigned to instruct Kaf Adventures 9-day Alpine Climbing Course. I sat down with the owner of Kaf Adventures, Mick Pearson to develop the curriculum. We decided on Boston Basin for this particular course because it is a true alpine arena. The climbs within reach of the basin are not just rock routes, nor are they snow slogs. Boston Basin is a beautiful, rugged area with a burly approach and legitimate alpine climbs all around your camp. Below are some photos that were taken during our 9 day course along with a brief write up of where we went and what we learned. Enjoy!
Day 1 :
I picked Jason up from his hotel, we swung by the Kaffice (Kaf Adventures Office) to do a quick gear check and to load up nine days worth of food, fuel, and group gear. Within an hour we were eastbound on our way to vantage to work on our rock skills. The forecast was calling for rain just about everywhere in Western Washington including our intended destination of Index. It isn't necessary to point out that Vantage is a far cry from a true alpine arena, but with plenty of steep climbing, loose rock and cracks to place gear in, we made it work while we reviewed basic rock craft.
|Day 1 – Welcome to Washington
We reached the crag around noon and got down to the Sunshine Wall to climb a few of the classic routes before the masses arrived for the weekend. Jason and I enjoyed several pitches of easy climbing on fun routes while reviewing belaying, clipping, rope handling, rappelling, footwork, and leading technique. We had the place to ourselves for the most part and got a chance to get acquainted. We finished the day in the shade out in The Feathers area before heading over to set up camp and eating some Pad Thai, one of my favorite course menu options.
|Anchor Cleaning & Rappelling
|Cleaning active/passive gear and Chimney Technique
|Vantage provides some pretty great sunsets.
Day 2 :
We started off with a couple of quick sport routes before moving into our curriculum for the day. After a couple of pitches we went into Traditional Climbing Fundamentals and Anchor Building. We covered the nuts and bolts (cams) of the hardware used in the alpine environment, discussing weight, weaknesses, pro & cons, and applications. We moved into an Anchor Building session, discussing several options and where they're best applied, along with a little slingcraft.
|Jason displays his equalette, a bomber self-equalizing anchor.
After lunch, we covered belaying from above, belay transitions and rope management. On longer multi-pitch rock climbs, efficiency is key to finishing with enough light to descend safely. Recently I've come to discover how saving time at belay transitions can be critical when spending long days in the mountains.
After we were finished practicing Anchor Building and Transitions, we went on to short-roping and short-pitching techniques for use on less difficult terrain. Agathla Tower had some 4th class routes that worked well for practicing these skills. We spent the rest of the day building leader confidence until dinner.
|Jason Tops out on Agathla Tower via the 4th Class route
Day 3 :
Jason and I got up early and ate a couple of bagels before hitting the road enroute to Mazama, WA. Our forecast was clearing, and the goal for the day was to get a longer Multi-Pitch rock route in. I chose Methow Inspiration (5.9) as a fun 5 pitch route that would afford us the opportunity to work on transitions and rappelling while climbing on some dry rock.
We arrived to a very wet Mazama, but decided to make the approach anyhow, and hope that we would stay dry for the day. We left the car quickly and started climbing around 10am with a grey ominous sky above and winds coming in heavy from the west "Well, we're here! We might as well try" I said to Jason. We climbed the 5 pitches in just over 2.5 hours.
|No rain!
|Jason Leads his pitch
|Washington pass getting precip in the background
|Jason following up the crux pitch
|On the top!
|Nice and clear on the way down
With the clouds getting lighter and the sun high above, we short-roped and short-pitched our way to the top of the formation before descending back down to the truck. Our splitter weather later in the day demonstrated the value of "Just Trying".
Day 4
We woke up in Mazama and headed for the Marblemount Ranger station. The forecast didn't hold out, and we had some light precip, but it made permits easy to come by! We worked hard to get 5 days of equipment and food into our bags along with clothing, a rack, an alpine rope, and a bear can each!
|Real Wet
We made it to camp in about 4 hours and got set up for our time in the basin. When we arrived we couldn't see a single peak other than Johannesburg with the clouds that were surrounding us. Once established we cooked dinner and packed our bags for the next day. We had a brief clearing just before bed, enough to see one or two peaks at a time. Jason seemed stoked to finally see something we might climb.
For our 5 nights in Boston Basin I chose the Mega Light / Mega Bug combo from Black Diamond, Using my trekking (ski) poles rather than the carbon fiber pole that is included with the Mega Light. This combo is roomy for a team of two, and knowing that we would be wet and had a lot of gear we would want to store inside the tent, it made a great choice at a minor weight penalty. The combination, less trekking poles and ski straps weighs less than 6lbs, the bug heavier than the tarp. It sleeps 2 with luxury, 3 comfortably, and presumably 4 reasonably, though I have yet to use it with that many partners.
Day 5:
We awoke to similar scenery as the day before; socked in, grey, misty, damp. I felt the need to remain upbeat and motivated enough for the both of us. We packed our bags to climb the Sharkfin tower, with the contingency of a Crevasse Rescue day if the weather refused to provide the opportunity to climb.
|Packed up and ready to go for the day
After ascending the slabs and loose rock up to the Quein Sabe Glacier we started to get some light precipitation and decided to go with Plan B: Crevasse Rescue. I covered a block of instruction on Snow Anchors and the application of Pickets before moving into the Canadian Drop Loop system.
|Deadman anchor construction
|Wet and Socked in
I taught Jason a 2 man glacier travel/crevasse rescue system, which utilizes a Garda Hitch for the progress capture. Of the rope team setups i've used, this has been one of the most effective and simple systems for a team of two and it utilizes the same gear a team would already have for pretty much any cascadian alpine rock route. Jason picked it up very quickly and we ascended the glacier for a little while before moving into a practical exercise.
|Jason arrests as I take advantage of a prime photo opportunity
|Heading down after a successful day of learning new skills
We descended into rolling whiteouts until we reached the lower basin and got back to camp in the early afternoon for some hot drinks and dry clothes. The planning for the next day took place over dinner.
Day 6:
With the weather improving, but still not a safe bet, we decided to try a low commitment rock route that we could do if poor weather persisted. The formation has recently been named the Aiguille de I'M and has two routes on it. The formation is beautiful and offers great exposure while remaining less challenging technically. We chose the 4th class route that follows the North Ridge, which was incredibly narrow in places. This route was a perfect choice to simulate the climbing that would be encountered if we decided to try one of Forbidden Peak's ridge routes.
|Pre-climb foot care
|The Aiguille de I'M behind me, a brief weather window
As we approached, the weather improved. We met a party camped at the high bivy, and chatted with them a bit about their plans. They were visiting from the Northeast and had plans to climb the West Ridge of Forbidden when the weather improved the next day. I offered some beta about the route and its many places to burn a lot of time before Jason and I made our way up to our objective for the day.
|Jason starts out toward the beginning of the route
The route was fairly easy climbing over 3rd class rock for a majority of the route. We reached the 4th Class step which we would later rappel on our descent. The exposure was fantastic, and climbing in the clouds gave the feeling that we were much higher up.
|A little exposure!
|Jason on the Summit! Only large enough for one at a time.
I reached the summit puzzled. It was about the size of a pizza box, and I had was having trouble deciding if it was solid enough for both of us to sit on. I wrapped the rope through a notch and descended a few feet to build an anchor before belaying Jason to the summit. It was awesome to watch Jason tag a summit after two days of hanging out in the wet and cloudy weather.
|Rappelling the route
We descended the same route, making one rap down the steep and now slippery 4th class section. The route had no shortage of lichen and loose rock, maybe with some more attention and traffic this will be a more classic objective for poor weather days in the basin.
|Descending back to camp in better weather.
We descended and debriefed our day in detail. Following our debrief, Jason was asking a lot of questions about Forbidden's West Ridge route and eventually expressed that he would be most interested in that route if we only had one good weather day. I told Jason that it would definitely be a long day, and we would have to start very early to get off of it before the sun went down. After talking about other options, we decided to go for it on the West Ridge, with a 2:30 wake up. We slammed some calories and went to bed pretty early.
Day 7:
|The warmth of a whisperlight at 2:30am
We woke up and I was instantly in "Go-Mode". I don't think I said more than a few words to Jason as I racked my brain about every part of the climb and what I might be forgetting. Forbidden Peak is a big objective, more so if one decides to pitch out the entire route. The route has a couloir at the base that is climbed to reach the notch on the West Ridge. The couloir can vary considerably this time of year, from firm 40-50 degree neve to impassable and slushy with a bergschrund. Taking a client up such terrain without much experience was a major consideration. Alternatively, in late season, one can ascend the "Cat Scratch gully" a loose, hard to protect grassy and muddy 5th class gully for 600 feet. I told Jason the night prior that we would have to decide when we reached the base, and we would take the safest route, considering speed as part of our decision making process.
We started up the trail at a slow pace, trying to move as efficiently as possible taking a break just above the high camp to put on crampons to help with the firm and slick snow. We reached the base of the couloir just after sunrise, and met the east coast fellas at the base whom we had met the day before. We decided to stay behind them and pitch out the couloir, which was in fantastic shape.
In the party above us was Matt Baldelli, an amazing photographer. He took several of the photos posted below. Here is a link to his website. Thanks Matt for letting me use these amazing photos.
|Photo: Matt Baldelli
|Photo: Matt Baldelli
|Photo: Matt Baldelli
|Jason starting out on the couloir
|Front pointing in 40 degree snow
The couloir was firm neve, prime conditions by any standards. I'm not sure Jason had any idea how lucky we were to catch it in such fine shape. I led the couloir, climbing up, placing an axe and picket anchor, then bringing Jason up and having him replace my axe with his before I led the next section.
|Photo: Matt Baldelli
|Photo: Matt Baldelli
|Matt Baldelli climbing up the couloir after the rock and ice step.
|Jason finishing up the couloir
|Big smile for a good reason
After the couloir we took a moment to transition and take off our crampons and stow our axes for the rock section that would take us to the West Ridge Notch. A full rope length later we were at the notch and putting on our rock shoes, stashing snow gear at the notch since we would descend the route we would climb.
We started up the West Ridge behind our east coast friends for the first couple of pitches. Jason was moving quickly and our transitions were dialed thanks to the practice from the previous days. We negotiated the first couple of obstacles including a large air step and a horn that needed to be down climbed for a few steps.
|Photo: Matt Baldelli
|Photo: Matt Baldelli
|Jason somewhere near the middle of the rock portion of the route
Our east coast friends let us pass them around the 3rd pitch of the route and we moved quickly to keep from slowing them down. We reached the Summit at 2pm as the clouds moved in for the weather change. SUMMIT! My 3rd time topping out on Forbidden Peak!
|Jason on the false summit, with some of the best scenery that the North Cascades have to offer behind him.
We took a very short break on the summit, and began our descent. We rappelled from about mid route onto a loose ledge system on the north face and traversed for several hundred meters, regaining the route around the top of the second pitch where it was more level and easy to down climb. Our descent took 3 hours to get to the notch. Jim Nelson says in one of his guidebooks "There is no easy way off of forbidden peak". What an understatement.
The east coast guys waited for us at the notch like true gentlemen and we descended together down the catscratch gullies, encountering choss, stuck ropes, and 3 full length raps to the glacier. Having 5 people to descend, we reached the glacier at dark around 9:30pm in whiteout conditions with visibility fluctuating between 100 and 200ft. It was cold, windy and we could hardly see. We met about 1000 feet below the bottom of the rap station on the snowfield and navigated back to camp together. We were wiped out; Jason and I didn't reach camp until nearly midnight. We high five'd for the last time that day, he went strait to bed, and I ate about 1000 calories of mashed potatoes and tuna before crawling into bed.
|Photo: Matt Baldelli
|Photo: Matt Baldelli
Day 8:
Day 8 was a recovery day, after going for more than 20 hours the day before, we needed to sleep in and eat our way back to health. We debriefed our Forbidden climb in great detail, exchanging feedback and discussing techniques that I used that hadn't been taught during our previous days together.
We ate lunch and practiced rock rescue for the rest of the day until we were getting soaked with rain. We nailed a short weather window, and I couldn't be happier to have delivered the full Cascade Alpine Climbing experience to Jason, who is from Wisconsin and doesn't have the pleasure of climbing these peaks every week of the summer.
We got into our tent for the evening and listened to a couple of podcasts from The Enormocast (a climbing podcast) while we rested and sat out the rain in the hotel de mega light.
Day 9:
We awoke to rain on the tent walls and got up for breakfast. We decided not to linger, and packed up camp quickly. The descent from Boston Basin is grueling with careful footwork and wet slabs, it takes almost as long as it does to ascend.
|A nice break in the weather in Boston Basin
Boston Basin is one of my favorite places in the Cascades. Every time I return I feel closer to it, despite the mice, the marmots, and the burly approach. Walking down the trail back to the car, Jason and I both took some quiet time to reflect on the previous 8 days together and all we had learned. I feel fortunate to have a job where I get to teach important skills in such beautiful places. While I am teaching, I have the opportunity to learn more about myself, the mountains, and Alpine Climbing; What a gift.


text: We went to what is probably the best car museum I have ever visited today. If you ever get to Den Haag make sure you visit the Louwman Museum. Click on any photo below to be taken to the gallery of photos. The quality of some are marginal due to having to use a high ISO in the camera but I think the subjects trump any technical issues.


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After posting my adjusted defensive impact metrics yesterday, I said this on Twitter:
One surprising thing I learned from this–interior defenders affect opposing shot location. Wing defenders don't.
— Austin Clemens (@AustinClemens2) May 22, 2014
I was referencing the bars at the bottom of each player's chart. Before I continue, let me explain how to read these. Here is Al Horford:
This means that when Horford is on the court as a defender, the probability that any given shot will be a close shot (which I define as <8 feet from the basket) is increased by 2%. The probability that any given shot will be a midrange shot is increased by 4%, and the probability that any given shot will be a 3 is decreased by 6%. These should sum to 0, although occasionally they may not due to rounding. Now take another look at the adjusted defensive impact charts and compare, for example, Roy Hibbert to Paul George or, as @gswhoops mentions, Andrew Bogut to Andre Iguodala. The results show pretty consistently that big men tend to alter where an offense takes its shots. Wing defenders don't. @WhrOffnsHppns asked if this might be a consequence of the method and as I sat at my work computer, with no access to my code, I realized that I couldn't even really remember what the method was. I implemented this weeks ago and then just kinda forgot about it. So below the cut I outline the method in detail and look at some descriptives to buttress the big man findings. The short version though is that I do not think these results are just an artifact of the method and I want to double down on what I think is a true finding: "Interior defenders affect opposing shot location. Wing defenders don't."
The Method1
Close shot indicator = Defensive_P1 + Defensive_P2 + … + Offensive_P1 + Offensive_P2 + …
Like I said there are three regression, one for close shots, one for midrange shots, and one for 3-point shots. OLS was largely chosen for convenience. I could have used logistic regression or even a multinomial logistic regression (in which case I could have had just one regression for all three locations). I actually ran the multinomial logit last night and it does not significantly change the story: big men still have big coefficients, wing defenders have small coefficients.
Is this result an artifact of the method? I'm not sure how. While OLS isn't theoretically perfect, I doubt that logit or multinomial logit would change the story. It's not clear to me what else I could control for. The comparison group is all players with <1,000 possessions,3 which doesn't strike me as unreasonable.
That said, the magnitude of some of the results is surprising. Hibbert, for example, is shown as having a +11% effect on midrange shots. I don't include errors on the chart (maybe in a future version) but that result is significant. The 95% confidence interval is 6.4-14.4%. With a surprising result like this, it's useful to look at some descriptives and see if the estimate has face validity.
Some Simple Descriptive Support
So here's something much simpler: a few tables the tell the same story. League-wide, 32% of shots come from the midrange (again, >8 ft) according to my data. What about when Paul George or Roy Hibbert is on the floor?
|% midrange shots taken by offense
|Roy Hibbert Defending
|Paul George Defending
Both produce midrange %s much higher than league average. These guys play together a lot though (57% of defensive shots taken according to my data), so we can't really tell which one of them is causing this effect. Next let's look at situations where one is on the floor, and one isn't.
|% midrange shots taken by offense
|Hibbert defending, George sits
|George defending, Hibbert sits
|George defending, Hibbert and Mahinmi sit
When George sits, Hibbert's number barely budges. The Pacers are still forcing a huge number of shots into the midrange. When Hibbert sits and George plays, however, midrange shots drop considerably. When both of the Pacers' centers sit, opposing midrange shot volume plummets. That makes sense–these are small lineups that make it easy to punish the Pacers near the basket. But this provides some simple descriptive evidence for my point: big men have a big impact on where opponents take their shots, wing defenders not so much.
Here's another one of the league's dynamic defensive duos: Andre Iguodala and Andrew Bogut. Both these guys are excellent defenders, but we can see the same pattern regarding midrange shot volume.
|% midrange shots taken by offense
|Andre Iguodala Defending
|Andrew Bogut Defending
|Iguodala defending, Bogut sits
|Bogut defending, Iguodala sits
- I'm trying something new–click the arrow to hide all the methods crap and skip to the layman's explanation. ↑
- I keep meaning to write a data caveats post but for now I'll just note that my data set is not completely perfect. It is scraped and there are some errors, including a few games that were not scraped because the nba.com data for them was corrupted or unavailable. I think it was only 3 or 4 games though. Generally these data errors shouldn't affect the results. ↑
- There's actually a small, weird bug in my data to do with this, the threshold is more like 1,100 for some players. It only affects these 3 regressions so I've been too lazy to change it. I doubt it has a big effect on the regressions. ↑


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Help, guys, please?
My fridge took on a bad smell. It smells like chemicals or like what a bottle of sulfa antibiotics smells like. My husband claims he can't smell it. I think it's making all my butter taste like shit.
I cleaned the fridge last weekend and it seemed to go away but now it's back I've put everything in ziplock bags but it still seems to be leeching. WTF? Is this all on me? Is there something else I can do? FTR, I'm pregnant and can smell through walls.


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Big coloring Paris
1 paper poster
A lovely stroll around Paris to discover the charm of its monuments, streets and people.
Endless possibilities as a tablecloth, wallpaper, on the floor, and so on.
- Categories
- Lifestyle, Stationery, Kids, Arts and crafts, MUSEES, Musée Carnavalet - Histoire de Paris
A question?
Secure payment (HSBC)
Free shipping from €200 (France)
Shipping under 48h
At your disposal monday to friday from 10h to 18h (France)


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Children, Youth, & Families
Number of Programs: 7
Breslin Student Events Center
534 Birch Road, East Lansing, MI 48824
The Breslin Student Events Center is a facility for students and the greater MSU community, sponsoring major educational and entertainment events. The Breslin Center is also home to Michigan State Basketball. Hold your next event at the Breslin Center. Find the perfect space among our five private meeting rooms, two auxiliary gymnasiums, concourse and 15,000-seat arena. Whether you're planning a small meeting or large corporate event, the Breslin Center will make it unique.
James B. Henry Center for Executive Development
3535 Forest Rd, Lansing, MI, 48910.
MSU's Eli Broad College of Business manages the James B. Henry Center for Executive Development. The Center enhances and supports the executive educational experience and offers a variety of state-of-the-art amenities, including two 100-seat high-technology amphitheaters, two 49-seat tiered classrooms, two 48-seat flat-floor rooms, 21 flexible-configuration break-out rooms, an executive board room, a dining atrium with seating for 320 people, and a casual, four-seasons lounge overlooking a 3,400-square-foot raised terrace with outdoor seating. Housed in the Center is MSU's Executive Development Programs, offering top-notch business education programs for professionals. The Center's goal is to expand and create leadership programs that raise the expertise of MSU's faculty and the multidisciplinary resources of the MSU community. The complex includes the University Club and the 128-room Candlewood Suites, as well as nearby access to MSU's Forest Akers Golf Course.
Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center (East Lansing, MI)
219 South Harrison Ave, East Lansing, MI, 48824.
MSU's Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center, located on campus, displays a unique atmosphere, with cultural and sporting activities right at its back door. Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center offers state-of-the-art conference facilities, including a 300-seat auditorium and 30 multi-function meeting rooms accommodating groups of 10 to 1,000. When planning an event, the Conference Services department provides personal assistance from beginning to end. The Audio-Visual department also provides equipment and technical assistance. Each of the 165 hotel rooms is beautifully furnished and offers the finest quality accommodations.
MSU Community Music School (East Lansing and Detroit)
- CMS East Lansing: 4930 S. Hagadorn Rd., East Lansing, MI 48823
- CMS Detroit: 3408 Woodward Ave., Detroit, MI 48201
The MSU College of Music is actively engaged in bringing music education to communities in Greater Lansing and Detroit/Southeast Michigan, reaching thousands of children and adults each year.
Community Music School (CMS) East Lansing: For more than twenty years, CMS–East Lansing enrolls an average of approximately 3,000 students annually. Classes offered in collaboration with the College of Music included piano pedagogy, early childhood music education, teaching instrumental music, and string methods. A partnership with the Residential College in the Arts and Humanities included CMS-taught folk music classes for members of the MSU community and local residents.
Community Music School (CMS) Detroit: CMS-Detroit, in its 3rd year of operation, enrolled 462 students. The new center represents the College of Music's commitment to Southeast Michigan and is an extension of the popular CMS–East Lansing. The new Detroit facility offers jazz for youth, band and orchestra for adults of all ages, the Aspiring Musicians Program for youth in grades 5-8, summer camps, adult group lessons, early childhood music education for children from birth through age 5, and music therapy clinical services.
MSU Libraries
Main Library: 100 Library (on West Circle Drive), MSU, E. Lansing, MI, 48824.
The MSU Libraries collections include more than 4 million volumes, 28,000 serial subscriptions (in print and electronic form), 5 million items in microfilm and microfiche, 200,000 maps and 40,000 sound recordings. The Libraries include extensive holdings in history, the social sciences, languages and literature, area studies, medicine, agriculture, and general sciences as well as several specialized, interest-specific collections.
MSU Surplus Store and Recycling Center
486 Green Way, East Lansing, MI, 48824
The MSU Surplus Store and Recycling Center is rethinking the way the MSU Community disposes of its unused materials – including our own take on REDUCE, REUSE & RECYCLE. The surplus store sells items in the following categories: Art, Antiques and Collectibles; Audio/Visual; Bicycles; Bid Items; Books; Computers; Farm & Garden; Furniture; Household and Home Decor; Industrial and Manufacturing; Kitchen and Restaurant; Laboratory; Land/Property; Media; Office; Printer & Copier Supplies; Recycling Containers; Sporting Goods and Clothing; Vehicles & Trailers.
Tollgate Education Conference Center (Novi, MI)
28115 Meadowbrook Road, Novi, MI, 48377. (Northwest corner of Twelve Mile and Meadowbrook Roads in Novi, MI.)
The MSUE - Tollgate Education Conference Center functions as a full service meeting facility ideal for the business and educational community. Situated on a beautiful 160 acre farm, the gardens and pastures at Tollgate provide a natural and peaceful setting for business meetings, receptions, retreats, conferences, workshops and educational classes. The Center includes the Tollgate Conference room which accommodates up to 140 people; the Activity Center, a more casual setting accommodates up to 60 people; the Americana Boardroom, an executive-style formal meeting room for 12 or less; and the Bassett Boardroom for 10 people. Tollgate's main site feature is the historic Tollgate Barn which is available for rental for various functions offering it's unique charm and atmosphere.
Tollgate offers a complete range of support services to make every event a success:
Our caterers provide an excellent variety of breakfasts, lunches, dinners or outdoor barbecues to suit your budget and tastes.
All meeting rooms have wireless internet and a complete inventory of audiovisual and communication equipment.
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Bangladesh has made significant development gains since independence and made greater progress more rapidly in the last decade. Per capita income has increased manyfolds while the poverty rate has been reduced significantly, from nearly 60 percent in 1990 to 31.5 percent in 2010 and approximately 24.8 in 2015. Further, Bangladesh has demonstrated high degree of achievement in vast majority of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). Bangladesh has been duly recognised globally for these achievements.
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and climate change
For Bangladesh, the next fifteen years (2015-2030 periods) of development will be dominated by the serious commitment to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs). The Government of Bangladesh (GoB) has taken this seriously and has set up an innovative mechanism of allocating different SGD targets to different ministries and agencies, and distributed roles, as principal, associates and supporting, to complete the tasks.
The seventeen SDGs are all consistent with Bangladesh's sustainable development. The first eight SDGs are central to all the vision and planning exercises of Bangladesh, particularly the Seventh Five Year Plan (FYP7). These SDGs are: No Poverty (SDG 1); Zero Hunger (SDG 2); Good Health and Wellbeing (SDG 3); Quality Education (SDG 4); Gender Equality (SDG 5); Clean Water and Sanitation (SDG 6); Affordable and Clean Energy (SDG 7), Decent Work and Economic Growth (SDG 8). SDG 13 has been for Climate Actions. The others are equally important, and achieving the first eight will enable people to harness the others more easily. But, one of the greatest threats to attain the above goals is the scourge the country faces from the increasing impacts of climate change, particularly mediated by climate induced disasters.
A set of twelve well-identified complex and reinforcing impacts of climate change on Bangladesh are as follows:
1. Sea level rise
2. Cyclone (intensity and frequency)
3. Deeper penetration of saline water
4. Erratic rainfall
5. Flood (intensity and frequency)
6. Drought
7. River bank erosion
8. Health
9. Food security
10. Water security
11. Land slide in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT)
12. Migration
Global challenges and great convergence
In the last decade, the science of climate change has become more robust. Policy prominence of climate change has increased rapidly, and entering the global and national policy discourse, are included in the early stages of national planning.
In the last decades, the global economy was coming out of a recession, mainly in the advanced economies. Middle East was engaged in wars in Iraq, Libya and Syria resulting in huge human toll, misery and displacement. Europe was experiencing mass migration and also rises of ultra-right views. Brexit added to the political complexity. All these were further complicated by the rise of unconventional approaches to governance and challenges to the two party political paradigms in the politics of USA.
Despite all these negative developments, there has been a major positive development globally. The year 2015 experienced a unique convergence of three important global processes following from the Earth Summit of 1992. These include: (1) The UN summit on SDGs at the 70th UN General Assembly resulting in universal agreement on 17 SDGs; (2) the UN high-level meeting on the Sendai Framework for integration of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) in sustainable development; and (3) the universal agreement on Paris Climate Conference known as COP 21 under the UNFCCC which its complement, SDG 13 on Climate Action.
There is a huge scope for building synergies among the three processes and outcomes to strengthen the national policies and strategies on development. This would increase resilience to climate change and reduce risks from natural disasters and climate change impacts. These may have long term implications on international, regional and national policies of economic growth, social development and environmental conservation. For Bangladesh, the convergence of these three processes offers an ideal opportunity of meeting the development, environment, social and climate change challenges simultaneously.
Climate change, disaster and development linkages
Despite the convergence in global thinking and achievements in adopting the Paris Agreement on climate change (CC), Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and sustainable development (SD) agenda 2030, it is strongly felt that if urgent actions are not taken to address climate change, it will undermine most of the development gains, increase poverty and inequality in different regions of the world, particularly in Asia and Africa. Climate risk reduction is becoming central to the planning processes of Bangladesh.
This was reflected in the report of the World Economic and Social Survey, 2016 of the United Nations. The report says, 95 percent of the poor people living in the coastal areas of Bangladesh are experiencing the severe negative impacts of climate change that affect their agriculture, food security, water, sanitation, health, employment, income, houses, communication, infrastructure, habitat and livelihood. One of the top three reasons for failure in poverty alleviation globally is climate change. The report reiterates that the conditions of low-income people, who already face inequity, will worsen with impacts of climate change.
Vulnerability and exposure to climate variability and extremes are closely linked to existing inequity and poverty. Restricted and differentiated access to physical, financial and social capitals, and unequal opportunity of access to government supports and services enhance vulnerability.
A total of 6,457 extreme weather related disasters occurred during 1995-2015, which claimed more than 600,000 lives across the world, mainly in the developing countries, and affected another 4.2 billion people. The climate variability and extremes affect women, children and elderly people disproportionately. Bangladesh is facing many of the negative impacts of climate change due to its location (in between the great Himalayas in the North and turbulent Bay of Bengal in the South) and geophysical conditions. The country and the people are facing high level of social vulnerability which is associated with high population, decreasing land, wide spread poverty, some weak policy, meeting the needs of institutional integration and lack of investment in science, and technological innovation.
The country has to incur significant economic, social and development costs due to climate change impacts and natural disasters. The global average annual cost of climate disasters has increased because of climate change induced frequent and devastating floods, storms, droughts and heat waves. The economic loss and damage due to climate change has increased substantially recently due to inadequate adaptation actions, particularly in the developing world, where the climate change impacts are very high. The recent climate scenario by the UNEP suggests that tropical regions will be highly at risk of climate hazards which will not only eat-up the development gains, but will threaten the future potential of development in the South Asian region including Bangladesh. Bangladesh envisions being a middle income country by 2021 and an economically developed country by 2041. To meet these dreams we will need to address climate change impacts and adapt rapidly to the changes in climate patterns and consequent impacts on the economy, the climate vulnerable populations and ecosystems.
Growing poverty and inequity in the climate change world
It is felt that the impacts of climate change, degradation of natural resources and the ecosystem, and structural inequity are locked in a vicious cycle. Vulnerability and exposure to climate variability and extremes are closely linked to existing inequity and poverty. Restricted and differentiated access to physical, financial and social capitals, and unequal opportunity of access to government supports and services enhance vulnerability. Uneven access to health services, education and employment (particularly of the poor, women and communities living in hard to reach areas) and perpetuation of discrimination under the existing institutional and cultural norms create social conditions for greater vulnerability. These are being again aggravated by climate change, natural disasters and other externality like market shocks in Bangladesh.
Further, the areas and habitats of the poor and marginal communities are exposed to climate hazards and they are highly sensitive to the impacts and shocks. Thus the economic activities and livelihood of the poor living in both rural and urban settings (mainly in the slums and fringe areas) are severely affected by climate change and natural disasters. To address this, the government has increased their attention towards the poor and marginal groups through social safety nets in Bangladesh. These are again influenced by power-elite politics and poor governance resulting in sub-optimal outcomes.
Multiple shocks and displacement
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report (AR5, 2014) assessed the climate change impacts on ecosystems and livelihood of the people and showed how poverty, livelihood and inequity interact with climate change. The livelihood assets and options of the poor are directly affected by climate change induced impacts, such as floods, cyclones, salinity, water logging and droughts in Bangladesh. These are evident in coastal zone, floodplain, upland and in the hilly regions.
The groups whose livelihood depend on climate sensitive natural resources like agriculture, fisheries, poultry, and forestry are severely exposed to climate change impacts. There are many efforts of government, local government agencies, NGOs and development partners for diversification and intensification of livelihoods of the poor and marginal communities, which are being affected by climate variability and natural disasters.
Because of repeated shocks and emerging vulnerabilities, the achievements and outcomes of such initiatives are often limited. In extreme cases, some may turn into maladaptation by increasing further risks and vulnerability.
People are then forced to migrate to cities, where they live in sub-human conditions in slums and socially vulnerable areas. Their lives are dominated by the paradigm of competition over limited resources for their living. The lives and livelihoods of the slum dwellers are again affected by flood, water logging, heat stress, cold wave and many social and political shocks in Bangladesh. The need to break this vicious cycle is crucial.
Therefore, it is strongly suggested that addressing root causes of discrimination, deprivation and inequity, (which mainly lie in the society, culture and institutions) may build capacity of the poor and vulnerable community. This would enhance adaptation and build resilience of the community to address climate change in Bangladesh as well as in the developing world. This may also reduce displacement potential.
Resilient development through adaptation and mitigation
The government, people and other actors in Bangladesh are aware of the risk and vulnerability due to climate change which are affecting all the development and livelihood efforts in the country. People are coping with the adversity of climate change and taking measure for adaptation in agriculture, water, health, infrastructure, economy and their livelihood with limited resources, using their accumulated and increasing experiential knowledge. The government, NGOs and development agencies are supporting community adaptation and sectoral adaptation as well as disaster risk reduction activities. The government has prepared NAPA and BCCSAP, created climate change trust and climate change resilient funds, developed the climate change Fiscal Framework and initiated the Inclusive Budgeting and Financing for Climate Resilient Project.
Over 400 projects of varying sizes are being implemented by the government departments, development agencies and communities to address climate change in the areas of adaptation, mitigation and disaster risk reduction in different climate affected zones. These are inadequate compared to the greater risks, vulnerability and adaptation needs of the community and sectoral development. But the adaptation and disaster responses are giving the basis for resilient building and sustainable development for local communities and regeneration of ecosystems. It has to be noted that the poor and vulnerable communities are using their initiatives, indigenous knowledge and social networks to confront many of the climate change impacts.
Integration of Paris Agreement outcome and SDG 13
Paris Climate Agreement (2015) has provided a good basis for climate actions by all member states of the United Nations. The Paris Climate Conference and its universal outcome have saved the multilateral negotiation and decision process. This offers a framework, principles and a decision process. The conference has agreed on five-year pledge cycles for mitigation, adaptation, technology and finance. A new mechanism for mitigation called Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) was agreed in Paris although it was widely criticised as a non-binding treaty. Paris has also agreed to create a fund of USD 100 billion per year from 2020 for adaptation (at least 50 percent) and mitigation although it is felt inadequate compared to the huge need for adaptation. The government of Bangladesh has prepared a road map for implementation of NDC which has been already submitted in the COP 22, held in Marrakech in December 2016.
The commitments of the Paris Agreement could be achieved through immediate and urgent actions in: i) integration of adaptation in national economic, social and sectoral development policies and strategies including in the Five Year and Annual Development Plans; ii) development and implementation of long term mitigation strategy; iii) allocation of finance; and iv) monitoring and measuring the outcomes climate actions.
The SDGs formulation process has rightly included Goal 13 for taking urgent climate action, which will again influence positive outcomes for all the key goals.
Conclusions and recommendation
Let us remember that climate change is a reality. 2016 has been the warmest year in 250 thousand years. The decade 2005-2015 has been the warmest decade on record. Little changes in global temperature can initiate processes having increasing impacts on precipitation shift, changes in wind velocities resulting in extreme weather or climatic events. It is not necessarily the average value but often the extremes that have the highest impact on society and the ecosystem.
The first objective to manage climate change was to mitigate or reduce greenhouse gases rapidly. The major industrialised countries have failed to do that. Hence the impacts are high and require massive adaptation actions.
Climate change induced impacts generate extreme events resulting in huge adaptation needs. When society,
groups or individuals are incapable of adapting, the load of loss and damages increases. This is being investigated and included in the Paris Agreement.
When loss and damage is not adequately managed or addressed people and communities will be displaced, causing gradually massive migration needs. Human displacement and migration will result in social and geopolitical instability challenging the domains of peace. Hence it is in the best interest of all to mitigate rapidly and then enhance adaptation capacity and actions. Sustainable development of a nation or a society is the best response to climate change impacts. Following are the recommendations for immediate implementation in Bangladesh:
1. Localising SDGs: In order to ensure the highest level of participation and achieving the SDG objective of Leaving no one behind, it is vitally important to ensure that in developing SDG methodologies and solutions, the perceptions, experiences, innovation and creativity of local communities, local government tiers and agencies remain a most important focus. The variation in the ecosystems, local socio-economic responses and impacts of climate change must be incorporated in developing SDG solutions and strategies. Hence localising SDGs should be a central plank in achieving SDGs.
2. Integrating SDG and FYP7: Bangladesh should maximise its opportunities of integrating its Seventh Five Year Plan initiatives with SDG actions, particularly reducing disaster risks and potential climate change impacts. A process should be initiated to optimise these processes for best sustainable development outcomes.
3. Mainstreaming adaptation: Adaptation must be integrated in the development process, sectorally, regionally and by impact types and vulnerable regions or climate change hot spots and vulnerable populations.
4. Mitigation efforts: Bangladesh must address its mitigation activities which are inclusive and complementary to its own Sustainable Development Strategy and plans. Initiatives such as solar energy, improved stove, biogas plants, fertiliser efficiency, increasing efficiency in the power sector, enhancing air quality by stopping traditional brick fields and going for improved system, enhancing water use efficiency.
5. Loss and damage: Serious research efforts must be supported so that loss and damage issues can make progress in the global debate and Bangladesh can become a champion and leader in this aspect of climate change and lead the Paris Agreement Process.
6. Fund mobilisation and capacity building: It is unfortunate that in the Rio initiatives process Bangladesh has lost out in mobilising adequate and deserving international funding from both the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). We must make utmost efforts for effective mobilisation from the Green Climate Fund (GCF). For that we must mobilise appropriate government agencies, private sector, research institutes and climate change leaders with due support and collective national efforts.
7. Adaptation funds for local level: Utmost efforts must be taken to push all climate investment to the local levels through local government, NGOs, social and local communities. Significant adaptation funds – at least 50 percent – must be forwarded to the local level of investment in adaptation and must reach the most vulnerable.
8. Learning from vulnerable communities: All actors must focus to learn from vulnerable communities, affected population and ecosystems. Bangladeshi people have demonstrated many indigenous technologies and practices which reduce their risks and enhance coping strategies. The climate change planners, local scientists and NGOs must learn from these practices and incorporate the appropriate ones in the adaptation planning and the implementation process.
The writer is Executive Director, Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies (BCAS)