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Attorney Matthew B. Harrison explains how to best contact local government agencies for non emergent situations along with how to create or update your voter registration profile.
Springfield Massachusetts
Radio Show #39 – Mayor Domenic Sarno
Mayor Dom Sarno joins Brad Shepard for an unflinching look at the road ahead, its challenges and potential.
Radio Show #10 – James Woolsey, Superintendent of the Springfield Armory
James Woolsey, Superintendent of the Springfield Armory, talks about the effort to get this wonderful historic clock working again!
Radio Show #9 – Tim Rooke, City Councilor, City of Springfield
Who keeps the bus shelters clear and safe in this weather? The answer might well surprise you!
Join us for a conversation with City Councilor Tim Rooke for that and more!
Radio Show #8 – Chris Cignoli, Director of Public Works, City of Springfield
Springfield Director of Public Works Chris Cignoli answers every possible snow related question you may have – and sheds new light on the city's attack against the snow!
Radio Show #4 – Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno Interviewed on Debut Show on Pioneer Valley Radio
Brad Shepard goes one-on-one with Springfield Mayor Dom Sarno in a candid conversation about his view of the city and its future. Topics include the war on violent crime in Springfield, the city's finances, improvements in education (with much more needed) and the problem of regional homelessness, among others.


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I'm sick. I've been sick for a few days but today it knocked me out. Last week was a bit of a wash and I'm scared this week will be too. I had to skip today's run. Maybe I can start tomorrow. I have given up my internal fight against being sick and against losing my death grip on my run schedule. I'm just going to go with the flow and hope it turns out ok by the end of this week.
I'm tired and I can't think too straight. Good thing school hasn't started yet. Oh wait… Yep, tis the season… when full time work + marathon training + grad school combine in a giant A bomb of fun. Sprinkle in unreasonable toddlers and it's a party. It's making me pretty bummed over marathon training. Like I said a million times last year, when things get rough, running is always the first thing on the chopping block. It can't be school or the toddlers, after all.
Only 60 days left til the marathon. Instead of dreading that timeline I'm actually relieved. All I can think of right now is that in 60 days this will all be over, for better or for worse. I really shouldn't judge the marathon based on the last however many days of training and being sick though. I'm sure there will be an upswing again. *fingers crossed*

subset: commoncrawl


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Have A Pepperoni Pizza Party | MF Guide
If you clicked on this, then there's no doubt that you've got a thing for pizza. Every hour of the day is pizza o'clock, and every weekend calls for a pizza party. Welcome to the club.
With a childhood influenced by western pop culture, I believed that pepperoni pizza was the ultimate pizza, way before I'd ever even eaten it. Perhaps I could blame it on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, or Joey from Friends, but there's no doubt that from my first bite, pepperoni pizza met all my expectations, and then some. The simplicity of this Italian favourite is what makes it so delicious for me. Hot, salty cheese grated over flavourful tomato sauce, topped with a large helping of spiced pork. I think I may need a slice to get me through writing this article!
Joey's Pizza
Arguably, Joey's Pizza is one of the best pocket friendly pizza places to order from. Their pizzas are just in the middle of greasy and divine. If you're trying to watch your waistline, this isn't where you should be looking! Like any pizza here, their pepperoni pizza is especially cheesy and is ideal for a weekend cheat day meal.
Cost: INR 330 for a small, INR 560 for a medium, and INR 625 for a large.
Pizza Express
Pizza Express is an oldie but a goodie. One time, a friend of mine who prefers vegetarian pizzas, ate the pepperoni pizza at Pizza Express, and was forever converted. That's the power of this pie! I like the pizzas here for their thin, crisp crusts and the generous helping of pepperoni in every bite.
Cost: INR 540 for a classic size, and INR 640 for a Romana, or a larger size.
Ray's Cafe and Pizzeria
Ray's Café and Pizzeria is tucked away on Hill Road, behind the hustle and bustle of Bandra's busiest street. The quaint interiors and large menu makes this one of Bandra's best hidden gems. Ray's has done a great job at consistently serving up great pizzas, with their pepperoni variety being their most popular. The crust here is extra crispy while the pies aren't too greasy, making it a slightly less guilt-inducing option.
Cost: INR 540 for a classic size, and INR 640 for a larger one.
Get transported to Italy at this BKC restaurant. What to expect from here is: delicious food, accompanied with great wine and an ambience that pulses with the vibe of fresh energy, appreciation and casual chatter. We love their wood fired, delectable pizzas and the Piccante Pepperoni, features a distinctive Napoli style pizza with a crisp crust and a saucy centre and is everything your pepperoni pizza dreams are made of.
Cost: INR 630.
Pizza By The Bay is an iconic location for pizzas in Mumbai. It's all about the old-school dining style at this seaside haunt. Being such a famous restaurant, Mumbaikars have bene feasting on pizza here for decades, making Pizza By The Bay one of the pioneers of the pepperoni pizza. Although their pizzas are quite decadent, we don't mind because you really can't beat that view of Marine Drive!
Cost: INR 275 for an 8", and INR 380 for a 10" or 12".
Pi Pizzeria
Pi Pizzeria has a casual pick-up style location in Bandra, and a more elaborate, sit-down outlet in Andheri. Whenever we go to Pi Pizzeria, our first order has to be a pepperoni pizza! A perfect pizza is judged on the basis of its crust, the nuance of the sauce, the flavour of the cheese, and how the toppings work together. The pepperoni at Pi Pizzeria ticks all the right boxes and is as close to perfection as it can get in Mumbai. Pi Pizzeria is so underrated, I need more people to know about it!
Cost: INR 545 for a 10" and INR 785 for a 14".
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Ah pepperoni, you turn every meat lovers Monday into a funday Pic courtesy @miss.isaac #❤ #eatdrinklove #eat #drink #love #picoftheday #mumbai #bombay #somumbai #sunday #eeeeeats #terttulia #foodgasm #pizza #chef #instafood #truecooks #foodstagram #meat #pepperoni #pizzaporn #brunch #food #foodporn #foodies #potd
Hidden away in Shivaji Park, the menu here is varied with a great little patio for a cozy Sunday brunch. The crispy thin pizzas at Tertullia are a local classic. I keep going back here for their friendly vibes and quirky interiors. For me, comfort food is a pepperoni pizza, which they serve with a sublime scamorzella cheese.
Cost: INR 495
1441 Pizza
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🍕Pump up your Thrusday with our super delicious Chicken Pepperoni and Olive Pizza. . . . #1441Pizzeria #WoodFired #MakeYourOwn #Pizza #Authentic #Italian #UnlimitedToppings #ChickenPepporini #Mumbai #PizzaLove #PizzaPorn #FoodPorn #FoodBoss #MumbaiFoodie #InstaFoodie #MumbaiFoodBlogger #CheesyDelight #PizzaThursday #PizzaForLife #PizzaIsBae🍕
At 1441 Pizzeria, you can do with your pizza what your heart desires. The customizable nature of this chain of restaurants allows you to mix and match toppings and spoils you for choice. While it's easy to be tempted by the unlimited topping options, trust us when we say sticking to a simple pepperoni and cheese is never a bad idea!
Cost: INR 345 for an 8", and INR 695 for 11".
1 Tablespoon Pizza Kitchen
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Tick Tock, Check The Clock. It's Midnight Munching Time!! Our Americano Pizza always hits the spot. Always the freshest sauce made from 100% Italian Tomatoes & Imported Pork Pepperoni. Delivering up to 3am!! Bandra- find us on swiggy! Lower Parel call 8080807790 or find us on zomato, swiggy or scootsy! #livetoeatbombay #fromwhereistand #hoggers #foodislove #foodisfuel #vscofood #buzzfeedfood #foodstagram #things2doinmumbai #pizzalovers #pizzaisbae #foodtalkindia #instamumbai #foodmaniacindia #foodofmumbai #foodbeast #picoftheday #pizzalovers #mumbaifoodie #mumbaifoodcrush #keepitreal #simplepizza #newyorklove #lowerparelphoenix #pizzabytheslice #nystylepizza #lowerparel #palihill #matunga #latenightmumbai #latenightmunchies
We love this place specifically for their pepperoni pizza. They serve single slices as well as whole pies. One thing that stands out for me at 1 Tablespoon, is the great quality of their cheese. It never gets chewy, and is always soft with just the right amount of toughness.
1 Tablespoon Pizza Kitchen has three outlets in Bandra, Matunga and Lower Parel.
Cost: INR 290 for a single jumbo slice, INR 660 for 11".
Francesco's Pizzeria
Take a shot every time I mention the word "underrated" or the phrase "hidden gem". But seriously, Francesco's does a really mean and simple pepperoni and we're here for it! Apart from their great pepperoni pizza, Francesco's uses lots of exotic ingredients and has a great menu of starters and sides for the most well-rounded pizza experience possible.
P.s – don't miss their cheesy garlic bread!
Cost: INR 410 for 7", INR 525 for 10" and INR 720 for 13".
Now, whether pepperoni pizza is the best kind of pizza is a whole other debate, but you can't deny that it's right up there with the classics. The charm of a simple pepperoni pizza is a saviour on gloomy days, which is why I had to bring you this list of the pepperoni pizzas I've tried and tested!


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Today Bowie had to go to the pediatrician for his 5 year check up, which also involved getting shots and tests done so his doctor could fill out this very official looking yellow sheet of paper for the school district.
My first plan of attack when I made the appointment was to stay mum on the subject of shots until the moment of truth, so he wouldn't get scared and nervous and all of that. But then yesterday during summer preschool circle time, it was announced that a fellow Kindergarten-bound classmate had gotten her shots that very morning, and could everyone please be extra gentle today.
Bowie asked me, "Do I have to get shots too, mom?"
Oh geez.
"Well yes, buddy, actually tomorrow."
And then he commenced to completely freak out for the rest of the afternoon, through the night, and into this morning.
"I'm NOT getting shots!"
"I'm sorry, but you have to."
"No I DON'T!"
"Well, then I'm sorry, you won't be able to go to Kindergarten."
"Ok, fine, I don't want to go to Kindergarten anymore!"
Over and over. Lather, rinse, repeat.
This morning, after long talks about bravery and camaraderie (all his friends will also be getting shots) and hugs from mom and permission for Fox to accompany us to the doctor, he finally announced about 3 minutes before we had to walk out the door that, "Ok. I will go."
He did great while getting his blood pressure taken, and getting measured, and getting poked and prodded. He told her he was nervous about the shots, and they talked a bit about it. Up until this point, I thought there were only 2 shots, but he also needed a TB test, which counts as a shot I suppose. So, he was a bit perturbed that there were three pokes and not two.
She's like, "Oh, I see here he needs some lab work. He hasn't had any done since he was a baby so I suppose we should take care of that today too."
We leave her exam room, and she gives him a book as a special reward, and she tells me to sit in the waiting area and the lab technician will call us back in very soon.
So we go back out and he's on cloud 9, thinking he's done. But, I say no, we have to wait, hang on. We read his new book, and then they called us back in. And he asks with a very worried look, "Why are we going in here?"
I sat in the chair and put him in my lap, as she requested I do, and then I whispered, "You need one more shot."
It was an unexpected poke in an unfamiliar room from an unfamiliar (albeit very friendly and sweet) medical professional and suddenly…he was sobbing on my shoulder. "I don't want this shot mom, I REALLY don't want this shot."
Oh my good HEAVENS was my heart breaking for him. (And also secretly I was loving that he was needing me so much in that moment!) But then, she inserted the needle, he sat back, and even had a LOOK at it (something I've never been able to do) and he said, "Well, that didn't hurt so bad. I guess I was really brave!"
He's sad and sore, but he went to school today. And it's all over now.
And my brave boy gets to go to Kindergarten.


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Degree Type
Date of Award
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
Educational Leadership and Policy Studies
First Advisor
Scott Mcleod
Nine states have enacted education tax credit laws in the last 14 years, four states in just the past five years. More states are currently considering enactment of tax credit laws. This study provided data on enrollment trends in public and private schools in five of these states before and after education tax credits were made available. The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a relationship between education tax credits and school enrollment in K-12 public and private schools.
The study of the relationship between tuition tax credits and student enrollment in public and private schools is important for at least two reasons. First, federal, state, and local governments spend a large amount of money to fund public education. If tuition tax credits lead to a shift of students away from public schools and toward private schools, it is possible that this will have far reaching effects on government funding of education. Second, if tuition tax credits shift student enrollment from public to private schools, both public and private schools will compete for students in order to maintain their budgets. This will mean more educational choices for parents and perhaps an overall improvement in school quality for both public and private options. Tax credits are meant to improve the quality of service in the public schools by introducing competition.
Vouchers, tax credits, and tax deductions have been implemented in a number of states with the intent of providing students in low achieving public schools the option of attending a private school instead. The debate about public funding and private schools is part of a larger discussion about the role of government-funded education in the United States.
Copyright Owner
Joel Bohlken
Copyright Date
Date Available
File Format
File Size
129 pages
Recommended Citation
Bohlken, Joel, "Tax credits for private school tuition and the relationship to private school enrollment" (2011). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 10444.


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The story so far: in 2018 I made bi-monthly visits to the River Wear, my local river and tried to capture, in my posts, the changes in the algae that occurred over the course of 12 months (follow the links in "A year in the life of the River Wear" to learn more). It was an interesting exercise, partly because last summer's exceptional weather led to some intriguing changes over the course of the year. Consequently, as 2019 dawned, I thought I should find a different type of stream within a short drive from my home and try again. So, bearing in mind that Wolsingham is south and west from where I live, I turned in the opposite direction and drove due east instead, stopping on the edge of the brutal concrete housing estates of Peterlee, a most unprepossessing location for a National Nature Reserve.
My journey has brought me right across the Permian limestone that dominates the eastern Durham landscape. Its escarpment rises up close to my home, and I have written about the algae that live in the ponds at the foot of it (see "A hitchhiker's guide to algae…"). On the other side, however, the limestone ends in a series of cliffs overlooking the North Sea and small streams have cut into the limestone to create a series of wooded valleys, or "denes". I've come to Castle Eden Dene, the largest of these: if you want a cultural reference point, watch the film "Billy Elliott", set just a few miles further north along the coast, or read Barry Unsworth's The Quality of Mercy.
We made our way down the footpath into the dene on a crisp and very cold winter morning, past the old yew trees from which the name is derived, and myriad ferns. A deer bounded across the path ahead and disappeared into some scrub, and then we turned a corner and looked into Castle Eden Burn, which runs along the bottom of the dene. To my surprise, the stream was dry. This is a valley that cuts through limestone, so it is common for the stream to be dry in the summer, but I had not expected it to be dry in the middle of winter. Thinking back, however, I realised that there has not been much rain for some weeks, and this may have meant that the water table, still low, perhaps, after last summer's dry weather, is too low for the stream to flow.
Diatoms and cyanobacterial colonies in Blunt's Burn, Castle Eden Dene, January 2019. The top photograph shows diatom growths on bedrock; the lower image shows Phormidium retzii colonies, each about two millimetres across. The photograph at the top of the post shows a yew tree overhanging Castle Eden Burn.
A few hundred metres further down the dene, we finally heard the sound of running water where a small tributary stream, Blunt's Burn, joined the main burn. Judging from my OS map, it drains a good part of Peterlee so it might not have very high water quality. It was, however, a stream and it did, as I could see with the naked eye, have some distinct diatom-rich growths. These, I discovered later, were dominated by the diatoms such as Navicula tripunctataand N. lanceolata which are typical of cold weather conditions (see, for example, "The River Wear in January"). A closer look showed that the orange-brown diatom growths were, in places, flecked with dark brown spots. Somehow, I managed to get my cold fingers to manipulate a pair of forceps and pick up a few of these spots for closer examination.
Diatoms from Blunt's Burn, January 2019: a. Navicula tripunctata; b. N. lanceolata; c.Gyrosigma cf. acuminatum; d. Nitzschiacf. linearis (girdle view); e. N. linearis(valve view). Scale bar: 10 micrometres (= 1/100thof a millimetre).
I had a good idea, when I first saw these spots, that they were colonies of a filamentous cyanobacterium and, peering through my microscope a few hours later, once I had warmed myself up, I was relieved to see that I was right. I picked out a dark patch and teased it apart before putting it onto a slide with a drop of water. Once I had done this, I could see the tangle of filaments along with a mass of organic and inorganic particles and lots of diatoms. The filaments themselves were simple chains of cells (a "trichome") of Phormidium retzii, surrounded by a sheath. There were also, however, a few cases, where I could see the sheath without the Phormidium trichome, and in some those I could also see diatom cells.
There are some diatoms that make their own mucilage tubes (see "An excuse for a crab sandwich, really …") but Nitzschia is not one of those most often associated with tube-formation (there are a few exceptions). On the other hand, there are some references to Nitzschiacells squatting in tubes made by other diatoms. Some of those who have observed this refer to Nitzschia as a "symbiont" but whether there is any formal arrangement or is just a by-product of Nitzschia's ability to glide and seek out favourable microhabitats, is not clear. There are, as far as I can see, no references, to diatoms inhabiting the sheaths of Cyanobacteria, though Brian Whitton tells me he has occasionally seen this too.
We made our way back along the dry bed of Castle Eden Burn. Many of the rocks here were quite slippery, suggesting that there had been some water flowing along it in the recent past. That encouraged me to scrub at the top surface of one with my toothbrush and I managed to get a sample that certainly contains diatoms though these were mostly smaller than the ones that I found in Blunt's Burn, and there was also a lot of mineral matter. I'll need to get that sample prepped and a permanent slide prepared before I can report back on just what diatoms thrive in this tough habitat. Watch this space …
Cyanobacterial filaments from Blunt's Burn, Co. Durham, January 2019: a. a single trichome of Phormidium retzii; b. and c. empty sheaths colonised by cells of Nitzschia; d. aPhormidiumfilament with a sheath and a trichome but also with epiphytes and adsorbed organic and inorganic matter. Scale bar: 10 micrometres (= 1/100thof a millimetre).
Carr, J.M. & Hergenrader, G.L. (2004). Occurrence of three Nitzschia(Bacillariophyceae) taxa within colonies of tube-forming diatoms. Journal of Phycology23: 62-70.
Houpt, P.M. (1994). Marine tube-dwelling diatoms and their occurrence in the Netherlands. Netherlands Journal of Aquatic Ecology28: 77-84.
Lobban, C.S. (1984). Marine tube-dwelling diatoms of the Pacific coast of North America. I. Berkeleya, Haslea, Nitzschia, and Navicula sect. Microstigmaticae. Canadian Journal of Botany63: 1779-1784.
Lobban, C.S. & Mann, D.G. (1987). The systematics of the tube-dwelling diatom Nitzschia martiana and Nitzschia section Spathulatae. Canadian Journal of Botany. 65: 2396-2402,


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Jack Hermansson didn't use any wrestling in this slugfest where the Swede used striking to beat the always tough Ion Pascu Friday at CWFC Fight Night 11 in Amman, Jordan.
"The Joker" was stunned twice by the Romanian with big left hands. The Frontline Academy fighter showed he has a chin of granite in both the first and second round where crushing punches from the southpaw landed.
The story of the bout however, was Hermansson using the best striking performance of his career to take another Cage Warriors victory. He just had an exciting fight at Cage Warriors 66 less than a month ago, where he was victorious with a third round stoppage.
Again, it was the stamina of perseverance of Hermansson that enabled him to take over round three. He used a variety of combinations to the head, stopping all offence from Pascu and wearing down the Romanian as the fight moved to the later rounds. The end of the fight saw Hermansson on top, landing huge punches and big right elbows to end the fight, and secure the victory.
29-28 was the unanimous decision score for the Swede, and he celebrated with Cage Warriors fighter and cornerman Mohsen Bahari.


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Thursday, July 11th is Cheer Up The Lonely Day
Here is your chance to make someone who is lonely smile. The purpose of this Holiday is to make people aware of the problem of being lonely and how you can help by sharing some of your time to bring happiness to someone who is lonely.
How to Celebrate this Holiday:
- This is one holiday that is easy to celebrate. All you need to do is make someone feel loved. If you know someone who could use your company, spend some time with them, make them their favorite meal, give them some encouragement, and let them know that you enjoy your time with them.
- If the person lives far away, send them a note to tell them that you miss them and that you think about them. Or what about sending them a little gift – perhaps their favorite candy or a bunch of flowers?
- Volunteer your time to work with the elderly in a nursing home – not only will you be bringing cheer in their lives, you may get to hear some amazing stories about their past.
- Learn more about the connection between mental health and loneliness and what you can do to ward off loneliness in your life and in the lives of others.
- Invite someone who has just moved to your town for coffee and cake and get to know them better.
Text taken from https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/fun/cheer-up-the-lonely-day.


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Manufacturer History
Cantine Pellegrino was founded in 1880 by a family of notaries with a passion for wine, and rapidly established itself as one of the leading winemakers in the Marsala area of Sicily, a status it has maintained and enhanced to the present day. The Pellegrino family have continued to play a fundamental role in the company, and each successive generation has committed itself to carrying forward the heritage of perfumes, tastes and excellence that has always distinguished Pellegrino wines. The focal point of the company's strengths is its land: Pellegrino owns 150 hectares of highly varied terrains in Western Sicily, where differing virtues of climate, soil and grape variety guarantee a wide range of superb wines.


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Have you Nominated Her Yet for #TheWAwards?
Every Wednesday, many of us come up with heart touching pictures and posts on our Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, Whatsapp and BBM, telling the world how wonderful our WCW is, how much of an inspiration she is, and how she has touched our lives.
Well it's time to take the social media commendations to a higher level of grace, as Access Bank's W initiative is about to recognize successful and deserving women in our society and celebrate them with The W Awards.
But first, who is a successful woman? Find out from spectacular women like Adesuwa Onyenokwe (Publisher of TW Magazine), Abimbola Jayeola (First Female Helicopter Captain in Nigeria) and others in this short video below.
#TheWAwards is an opportunity for you to show that woman whose life is an inspiration, that indeed she deserves to be recognized and awarded. Just go to www.thewawards.com and nominate her in the category she fits best.
For more information, check out @MyAccessBank on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Advertorial– Sponsored Content


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PI Practitioner, May 2019
16/05/19. Each issue a particular topic is highlighted, citing some of the useful cases and other materials in that area. You can also receive these for free by registering for our PI Brief Update newsletter. Just select "Free Newsletter" from the menu at the top of this page and fill in your email address.
This month we consider the Court of Appeal decision in Christopher Goldscheider v Royal Opera House Covent Garden Foundation and (1) Association of British Orchestras (2) Society of London Theatre (3) UK Theatre Association [2019] EWCA Civ 711.
In this case, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden Foundation ("ROH") appealed the decision which found that it was liable for breach of statutory duty causing injury to the hearing of a viola player in its orchestra...
Image ©iStockphoto.com/EmiliaU


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Posts Tagged Saudi Arabia
Syria: Standing Steadfast or Slippery Slope?
Posted by Dan Godzich in Economics, Egypt Revolution, Libya, Middle East, Syria, World Affairs on August 29, 2013
Mark Salter, who used to write for Sen. John McCain, is advocating that President Obama get tough on Syria.
Bill O'Reilly advocates a strike on Syria even though two of his guests, both retired military officers disagree.
The point being made is that if President Obama does nothing, then the "Red Line" of chemical weapons use that was drawn a year ago will mean nothing. President Obama and the US will lose respect around the world.
Okay, that is a valid point. But what credibility does the US have in the Middle East right now anyway?
We abandoned Egypt's President Mubarak after decades of mutual support. Mubarak was a dictator for sure, but he was co-operating with US interests. We abandoned him to the famed "Arab Street" in the Arab Spring.
It led to the Muslim Brotherhood being elected to power, and now overthrown by the self same Egyptian military we supported with training, weapons and financial aid for years. Only now they don't trust us. (Proof of who is behind the military crackdown in Egypt is the fact that Mubarak was released from prison – these are the folks who propped up Mubarak for decades.)
A side note – the military crackdown in Egypt included invading a Mosque to capture a leader in the Muslim Brotherhood. This is precisely that type of action that the US military was forbidden in Iraq or Afghanistan for fear of arousing the "Arab Street." What result in Egypt? The "Arab Street" has quieted down. US diplomats have been more afraid of the "Arab Street" than the Arab leaders.
The Saudi Arabians are now backing the military in Egypt – which puts us at odds with the single Arab county with real clout that has been quietly been backing our policies for the past twenty years.
We bombed Libya to achieve regime change – even though Dictator Kaddafi had given up his WMD programs and started giving us intelligence in the war on terror. What did that get us? It got us Libya as a no-man's land and a dead US Ambassador in Benghazi.
Meanwhile, Russia has stayed faithful to Assad. Yes, they are backing an unsavory character, but they are showing themselves to be a faithful ally. Plus, they have the reason of having a port in Syria – a legitimate strategic interest. If I were a Middle-Eastern leader, I would place more stock in Russia as an ally, than the US.
This, along with the Snowden affair, has put a damper on US-Russian relations. It is really a shame. Right now, the Middle East tensions are shooting up the price of oil – the whole reason the entire world cares about the region.
With the recent advancements in Shale Oil production and discoveries in the United States and elsewhere (along with the political will to create infrastructure such as the Keystone pipeline and ports that can support large Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) tankers) the US can become a large exporter of energy.
With Russia and the US cooperating – as large energy exporters – they can make the Middle Eastern oil states much less important. Together, Russia and the US cooperating on energy strategy can also hold the ambitious Chinese in check. But those considerations seem not to be considered by the media and Washington.
Humanitarian concerns are important. But this is a civil war. There are bad people on both sides (Al Qaeda partisans are a large part of the Assad opposition.) As crass as it seems, aren't we better off with them focusing their violence on each other instead of us or Israel?
If we just launch a few cruise missiles (at the cost of several million dollars and possible civilian casualties) and Assad survives, then what was the point? If we go all in to remove Assad's regime we risk igniting the region. A third war in the Middle East in twelve years. And all we have to gain is the respect of President Francois Hollande of France?
It does not seem worth it.
A World without Exile…is it wise? Update: Middle East Revolutions, Gaddafi and Berlusconi
Posted by Dan Godzich in Egypt Revolution, Exile, Middle East, World Affairs on December 14, 2010
Generally, I don't want to make a habit of reissuing old posts. Recent events have made a strong case for the premise of this piece and it deserved a revisit. This post was originally written weeks before the Tunisian Revolution, the Egyptian Revolution and the Libyan Revolution. President Zine El Abadine Ben Ali of Tunisia wound up in exile in Saudi Arabia. Hosni Mubarak of Egypt has peacefully retired to a palace along the Red Sea. Yet that did not happen in Libya. According to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi:
"Once someone put forward the idea of bringing Gaddafi before the International Criminal Court, I think the idea of staying in power became entrenched with him and I don't think anyone can make him change his mind," he told reporters.
Granted Berlusconi certainly has his own share of political and legal problems. But of all the European countries Italy has been the closest to Libia and Berlusconi probably has the best read of the Libyan strongman's mindset. His statement gives credibility to this post that I originally made last December.
Why haven't the two Korean nations united as did East and West Germany?
Perhaps it is because there is no way out for North Korea's ruling Kim family. If the Korean nations unite, who can doubt that a prosecutor or judge in Europe will indict them for crimes?
This was the same dilemma that faced Saddam Hussein. He knew the US invasion was coming. Days before the start of military action in 2003, Saddam was offered a life in exile. Why not live out his days with his wealth and Viagra?
But Saddam only had to look at the situation of his friend, former Serb strongman Slobodan Milosevic. Four years earlier Milosevic, after having left power in Serbia, was arrested and held in a jail cell. He was placed on trial. He died in prison.
Saddam knew Milosevic well. The Iraqi's had their bunkers built by the Serbs who had learned from the US bombing in the 1990's.
They were kindred spirits. So when Saddam was offered exile, he had only to look at Slobodan's fate and conclude that he was better off trying to stick it out in Iraq. We all know the rest.
Contrast this to the Exile of Chilean General and dictator Augusto Pinochet several decades earlier. Pinochet was allowed to live in exile in Spain with some of his ill-gotten gains. The transition in Chile to democracy was relatively smooth and peaceful when compared to the invasion and occupation of Iraq.
The Kim's of North Korea have no doubt watched what happened to Milosevic and Saddam Hussein. They knew them both. People who are used to leading entire countries can conceive of retirement with their wealth, but living in a prison cell is worse than death.
The European courts and judges mean well. The idea of dictators living out their years in the lap of luxury without being brought to justice is distasteful. No civilized human being likes that idea. Part of the idea is making sure that dictators and others know that there is an international watch on their doings and that this would encourage good behavior.
But reality has us working in a world with paranoid dictators at a time that nuclear technology is achievable. Dictators and repressive regimes are turning to the Korean model of buying time and respect by acquiring nuclear weapons. Wounded dictators with nowhere to go are as dangerous as cornered animals. They will fight to the finish. Now they can do so with nukes.
The exile option is far from perfect (Europeans know this from the Napoleon experience, where his return from exile led to another war.) The alternative, attempting regime change against dug in despots with atomic weapons (think North Korea, and soon Iran) and suddenly exiled dictators playing in their retirement palaces doesn't seem so bad.
The world and European courts need to reexamine their prosecutorial zeal and allow the exile option to reemerge.
After the recent events in Lybia and Berlusconi's remarks the last sentence above is more relevant than ever.
DreamHost Codes


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While I've been interested in astronomy for over forty years, it's only in the past year and a bit that I've returned to that interest in any sort of "serious" way as an amateur. I've been poking around at various telescope shops, getting to know some other amateurs in my area, and taking a lot of nightscape photos. I've even started taking a few photos of the moon and Jupiter with the equipment I have. Now what?
The sky is a big place. A simple calculation gives you an idea of just HOW big it is – and I'm not talking about how deep it is in time/distance. Consider first the moon. The moon is pretty big. It has a surface area about the same size as the continent of Africa, although we only can see about half of it from Earth of course. With the existing small telescopes I have I can make out features perhaps 5 km across if the lighting is right. The surface of the moon is about 38,000,000 km^2 (km^2 means "kilometer-squared or square kilometers) so if I can see half of it (in total) that's about 19,000,000 km^2. A crater 5 km across has a surface area of about 19.6 km^s – so that little crater is just about 1/100,000 of the visible face of the moon. The whole visible surface is a lot of territory (or lunatory) to consider. Of course, it might be better to consider the visible disk of the moon, not the near hemisphere for a comparison like this. A disk with the radius of the moon would have a surface area of about 9,500,000 km^2, so the ratio would be about 50,000 craters-worth of area to explore. Still a lot! A purist would try this with angles but the answer would be the same as the disk area sketch.
The thing is, the moon is actually SMALL compared to the visible celestial sphere. Our eyes are drawn to the moon at night, but the reality is that it's only about a half a degree across. The whole celestial sphere, encompassing 360°, has an area of approximately 41,253 °^2 (according to a Wikipedia entry on the angular area of the celestial sphere). The moon's disk as an angle is about 0.2 °^2 – so it would take 206,000 moons to fill up the visible area of the sky! (The sun as virtually the same angular diameter as the moon – that's why we can have such stunning total solar eclipses – so the same thing holds. The sun, so dominant in our sky, covers only about 1/200,000 of the visible celestial sphere. From the surface of the earth only about half of the celestial sphere is visible as the sky, and the sun is about 1/100,000 of it).
The sky, then, has room for 200,000 moon-faces, and my little telescopes can show me details 1/100,000 of the moon's surface. It's overwhelming – and full of rich detail. From massive galaxies to wispy nebulas and sparkling star clusters, space beyond our little solar system is one of the richest treasures in nature. How luck we are that we can actually see it! If our solar system was within a more complex part of space we might not have as good a view as we do. Then again, it's a fair bet that the more "interesting" places in space are far more risky too. Our fair wee planet has had less than five billion years of life so far, and only a few major boo-boos (like the asteroid impact that killed the dinosaurs – Ooops!).
So, back to the point of this ramble. As a (re)budding amateur astronomer, where do I start? I'm faced with this question because I'm looking seriously at upgrading some of my equipment, and different telescopes do different things. Do I make use of my existing optics and improve my ability to point and shoot, with a better mount and camera? Do I invest in a better optical tube (the actual "telescope" part)?
To some degree a telescope is a telescope. There are some basic characteristics everyone needs to consider when they are thinking about this kind of thing. One of the most important is portability. Like a lot of people, I live in a small apartment; I don't have a garage or basement for storing large pieces of kit, and I don't have my own space for a shed or observatory. So, compact and rugged is good. I'm also watching my budget (gulp). And, of paramount importance to me, I want to embark on something of a path in learning astronomy, not just grabbing at big telescopes because they're cool! (and they are cool, and I'm a telescope geek).
I'm thinking I'll start in the neighborhood this year, seeing what I can see – and photographing what I can photograph close to home in the "planetary" range – the sun, moon, and planets. This narrows things a bit, and is also a good choice for an urban dweller. Despite light pollution in cities, our own solar system is still quite observable from our sidewalks and parks because the objects are so bright. The existing 'scopes I have – an old 80 mm refractor and a 130 mm "starter" Newtonian reflector – will do for now. What I need to do is to consider in the short term is what's under the telescope and what's attached to it.
Telescope mounts are important and perhaps underappreciated parts of the whole "system." A heavy, capable mount makes viewing anything much easier. A lightweight mount only has the advantage of light weight. Small mounts shake. If you adjust a small telescope on a light mount it can take five or ten seconds or more for the resulting vibration in the camera to dampen out. So, I'll be paying attention to mounts.
Cameras are at the other end of the process. There are some things I can do with my dSLR cameras, but the best images today are actually being taken with cameras that are much simpler than a dSLR but are designed to be used with a telescope – and a computer. Derived essentially from webcams, most cameras that work brilliantly for planetary photography by amateurs have small-seeming sensors – often less than a megapixel. They are also specialized in two other ways. They often have a built-in cooler, to help control internal camera noise – and they are often monochrome. Yes, black and white. You can do a lot in black and white, and you can get colour images by taking a series of monochrome images through coloured filters. The image files (often actually captured as short video segments in AVI format) are then processed with some ingenious computer software to create stunning, sharp images. So, I'll also be looking at a small, specialized camera designed for planetary imaging. By starting with a camera and a sturdier mount, I can get going and will consider upgrading the optics a little later.
I'm also sure that there will be lots of opportunities to peek out past our solar system in the coming year. I'm going to be making visits to observatories, star parties, and other events to soak in more of deep space – and of course to be able to make reports here at Pine River Observatory! And I'll be spending time under the night sky doing wide-field photography and just wandering around the stallar back-yard with binoculars and a good star guide. There are many lifetimes of space out there to enjoy.
© 2012, David Allan Galbraith


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Athletics and bodily education are both important, but they are not the same. As for youths who're already 9+, my opinion is that the InnoTab or LeapPad might not probably the most suitable choice – but it does rely on the educational wants of the person. In my opinion these shape sorting toys aren't solely fun to play to your baby, but additionally they're great developmental toys. Ni Hao, Kai-Lan: Super Game Day was one of many first household celebration video games designed for preschoolers. It can be a bookmarking tool that helps you bookmark pages based on quotes and not titles.
They should spend much less on regular" education applications and will be unlikely to assist all students efficiently prepare for college or careers. But if we give it some thought we'll come to the conclusion that every one of this paths are imaginary and due to this fact they should not be part of our education. Many of probably the most superior classical civilizations corresponding to Greece didn't have a formal education system, let alone a compulsory one. At the Making level, the Function of Education is related with 'Policy Formulation' associated to the Meaning and Aim of Education. Some political points in the education system require rapid consideration of the policy makers.
These data present that equality of opportunity in obligatory education continues to be an issue in the OECD. But certain video games seem to perform properly with a majority of children and oldsters and it could be attention-grabbing to seek out out which of them. Besides the Masters program the net school also provides certificates in grownup education and English language educating, extension educator, motion ability evaluation, program evaluation, rehabilitation, leadership and administration. When one isn't happy inside themselves, nothing and no one, could make h/im/er completely happy regardless the education level.
Because kids with Down syndrome have been included within the mainstream classroom for only 40 years, few research have been finished displaying how mainstream education compares with inclusion. In addition to the content that you would be able to retailer on board the machine, the LeapPad is compatible with the full library of Leapster Explorer cartridge games for extra play on the go.
The examine indicates that youngsters included within the mainstream classroom don't excel in studying and math over their friends taught in the special education classroom. So.. as we are no longer hunter gatherers.. I declare men and women as equals, each deserving of a superb education. Yet, enormous gender variations in the decisions of subjects pursued in larger education, mixed with highly effective and persistent gender stereotypes in work places and along career paths, prevent ladies from reaping the complete benefits of their greater education. The advances in know-how have had a tremendous impact on the educational system.


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The Commerce Department is offering buyouts and early retirement to employees in several agencies within the department.
Government Executive reports Scott Quehl, chief financial officer and assistant secretary for administration, notified Commerce employees in eight agencies of the offers in an e-mail Thursday.
The department's authority to offer buyouts and early retirements is in effect between Aug. 9, 2011 and Dec. 31, 2012.
The department is seeking approval from the Office of Personnel Management to offer the early exits to more employees and agencies.
The Government Accountability Office and Education Department have announced similar initiatives within the past month.


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ASU Karsten Golf Course
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Whether you're planning a corporate meeting, teambuilding event, holiday party or golf tournament, we have the facilities that provide a perfect backdrop. Our friendly staff provides superior service and a commitment to address the many details, both large and small, which will ensure you remember your event with pride and happiness. Wonderful food, reasonable pricing and quality service is what you'll find at the ASU Karsten Golf Club.
With the ASU Karsten Golf Course conveniently located just minutes from downtown and Sky Harbor Airport, it's the perfect retreat for out-of-office meetings and events. And, with plenty of meeting space in the Sun Angel Clubhouse few meeting sites can beat the view!
Additional Info
- Phone: 480-784-4834
- Website: http://asukarsten.com/
- Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
- Address: 1125 E Rio Salado Pkwy
- City: Tempe
- State: AZ
- Zip: 85281
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Meditation Instruments | Sound Therapy | Crystal Singing Bowls
Click on an Author below to view their latest posts & Articles
5 day Tuning Fork Sound Practitioner Course
MAY Monday 20th - Friday 24th 2019 (5 DAY)
AUGUST Monday 12th - Friday 16th 2019 (5 DAY)
NOVEMBER Monday 4th - Friday 8th 2019 (5 DAY)
NEW 6 day Tuning Fork Sound Practitioner Course
JANUARY Friday 24th - Wednesday 29th 2020 (6 Days)
MAY Monday 11th - Saturday 16th 2020 (6 Days)
AUGUST Monday 3rd - Saturday 8th 2020(6 Days)
NOVEMBER Monday 2nd - Saturday 7th 2020(6 Days)
Who is this course for?
This course is for anyone who wishes to go on a deep and profound journey with sound vibration, life changing for many who attend
Science and Research meets Spiritual Aspects in the course
You may wish to bring sound into your work as it complements ALL other therapies - Reiki, reflexology, massage, crystal healing, angel healing, spiritual healing, colour therapy, shaitsu and many many more
Can also be used as a stand-alone therapy
Mind, Body, Spirit and Soul Nurtured and Soothed
Spiritual awareness and intuition enhanced
Plus much much more.
*TUNING FORKS TAUGHT ON THE COURSE ARE: (please note not all are taught per course - I go with what is needed for optimum experiential for the attendees)
Solfeggio, Cosmic, OM, 528, Egyptian*, Celestial Gate*, Divine Feminine*, Divine Masculine*, Chakra, Sound of Nature*, Ganesh*, Dragon*, Ancestor
*denotes bespoke to Suara Sound Academy and are channelled frequencies
Course content variable
You will learn how to use the tuning forks on yourself for deep vibrational healing and release any stuck chi that is not serving you at this time
You will learn how to do full and comprehensive treatments on other people
You will work with nature and the elements
You may enjoy a process of change and self awareness
You will spend 5-7 days with like minded people being immersed in Sacred Sound
What are sacred sounds?
Highly sensitive people
What are energy centers? (chakras) and our auric field? What do/can they do?
Vibrational energy
DrEmoto (thoughts, words and actions on water)
Vibrational energy healing - energy density
Meditation, Relaxation and Breathing
DNA and how it works with frequency
12 strand DNA awareness
The relationship of the energy centres to the endocrine system and the physical organs associated to each chakra, ill health, dis-ease
Importance of the pineal and thymus gland
What are tuning forks? What do they do and who uses them?
OM and 528 uses
Other uses for the tuning forks
How to do healing on oneself, others, using all the forks in the programme
The Sacred Solfeggio Scale and the history
Full Sacred Solfeggio Tuning Fork frequencies and uses
Releasing past life, karmic blocks and ancestral memory patterns using sound
Chime bars and chime pipes
Using the voice
How to check the energy centres using a pendulum
Use of pendulums and reading results
Using colour and crystals in a healing session
Connection with nature, the elements and elementals
Singing Bowls for Chakra Blessings
Heartbeat Drumming
Percussion Symphony
Sound Journeying Performance
5-7 day intensive course plus 1 assessment day (one to one - included in investment)
Case studies need to be completed * All learning needs will be met
Courses held at Polhilsa House Retreat, Polhilsa, Near Callington,
Residential option available (NOT included in the course investment)
"Before I came on the course I was muddling through life as best I could, really struggling..but now, after working with these wonderful ancient healing codes of vibration I feel like I have my power back and my sail is up, I can sail through what ever life throws at me. I'm so fired up and ready to share this with others in my work, to help them see that life can be so free. Debbi Walker you really are a blessing to us all ?? I personally feel that we still have a lot more to see from you yet! Very exciting! Thank you both for a lovely stay at your beautiful home. Lots and lots of love to you and the ladies whom I now call sisters. ?? ?? ?? have you ever eaten so many choccy biscuits! We must have got through ten packets at least haha xxx" KM
Wow I have had an incredible journey. My heart was starting to struggle, where I couldn't possibly give any more and now it is so big and open and I have more love than ever to give. I have cried and laughed with the most beautiful ladies and loving doggies. I have a felt safe and held the entire time. I'm sad this week has come to an end but very excited about what the future brings. I am pleased I have found the tuning forks. My life has already changed, may that continue. I cannot remember a time when I felt such calmness. Thank you. LC
This course is truly 'forking amazing'. Debbi gives everyone a really warm welcome. A scientific background and clear explanations gives a solid grounding to how the tuning forks work…and then there are the tuning forks. The sounds which are the second teacher on the course. Einstein said 'You cannot solve a problem with the same level of consciousness that created it'. Well these forks alter consciousness, each fork has a different effect. Now I feel anything is possible. I feel reborn. What amazing tools these are. This course should be taught in every school, we will have a different society if they were. Thank you Debbi it's been an honour and a privilege. Transformational. The soup is delicious. Also if you're thinking of doing this course, do not hesitate its 'forking amazing' CB
I have enjoyed learning all about the healing power of the various tuning forks. I've also enjoyed giving and receiving treatment. I had no idea so many different tuning forks existed. I have enjoyed spending time with other healers on their personal journey. I particularly enjoyed meeting sound practitioners who have already completed the course and are learning how to use it in their everyday life. The class size is nice as is the space, the classroom. The course is very well put together and everything it's explained clearly and slowly. I loved having the journal and the purple pen the pendulum and the manual and I'm looking forward to reading it. It was a pleasure to share your home and meet your dogs. I'm looking forward to taking the sound healing to Lupton House and supporting those who visit us with cancer diagnosis and bereavement and supporting those who visit us with depression and anxiety at the drop-in healing centre where I work as a volunteer healer and therapist. Thank you Debbi for enabling me to move on from my grief. I feel more at peace with myself and aware home let go of all my bags to move forward. Bless you. FD
I am so grateful to have attended this course. I knew it be powerful work and I wasn't wrong! Being immersed in the love of you, Debbi, and the group being so very tender with each other it brought so much peacefulness to my little world. I now value silence more than I ever did, that silence of just sitting with no mind is very hard for me having such an active mind. The sounds have taught me to switch off. To be in the joy of just sitting quietly. I feel more open now than before this with more sure connection to all that is, without the need or the desire to speak, almost as if we can hear words and needs et cetera without them leaving our mouths. I'm very in love with the coming months ahead, to share the sounds with others and see what arises in my life. I am really very happy to have my sound toolkit for healing our fractured Soul family. Thank you so much, I love you. PR
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CHELCEE GRIMES – New single – Just Like That!
Chelcee Grimes has released her debut new single 'Just Like That' via RCA UK/Sony. Co-written by Chelcee along with Tim Suby, the video was shot in Joshua Tree, California, and sees Chelcee causing chaos in a trailer park with some randy pensioners! She said: "The lyrics are quite sexual and thought it would be a unique take to get them to be the ones acting out instead of me!! It's such a fun, tongue-in-cheek video and is the perfect way for people to hear the song for the first time."
Citing P!nk, Bruno Mars, Avril Lavigne, Katy Perry and Lady Gaga as her influences, 25 year old Chelcee has her sights set high. Having already written tracks for the likes of Kylie Minogue, Dua Lipa, Olly Murs, The Saturdays and Louisa Johnson, Chelcee now wants to change the current pop trend. She said: "There aren't many straight up pop stars playing instruments at the moment, so I wanted to break the mould. If you watch Gaga, she'll play piano and then do a dance break – that's so fucking cool."
Check out the video for the brand new single here.


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Far-right activity on university campuses is rising and Holocaust denial is becoming more prevalent among the younger generation, experts say. The Independent reports.
As the number of Holocaust survivors continues to decline, and their first-hand testimonies will no longer be heard, the situation is likely to get worse, anti-racist researchers have warned.
Holocaust denial leaflets and posters, as well as antisemitic graffiti including swastikas, have emerged on campuses across the UK in recent years as more far-right activists target students.
The warnings come as data, collected by The Independent, shows that antisemitic incidents were reported at 19 UK universities between 2015 and 2017, with the number nearly tripling in two years.
Joe Mulhall, a researcher at anti-racism organisation Hope Not Hate and a trustee of charity Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, said: "There was a time when Holocaust denial in the UK was an increasingly ageing pursuit. It was elderly men in duffel coats.
"With the internet, we have started to see a younger, newer generation of Holocaust denial emerging, which ties into things like the alt-right, and that is really really concerning."
After monitoring far-right forums, including neo-Nazi forums, the researchers have seen a growth of younger people denying the Holocaust in a "jokey style" through social media and online forums.
But students are also concerned about antisemitism and far-right extremism on campus – including swastika graffiti and Holocaust denial leaflets – rather than just online.
Last year, a group of men who spread neo-Nazi stickers around Aston University campus and performed a Hitler salute were found guilty of attempting to incite racial hatred.
A Union of Jewish Students spokesperson said they had seen "increasing trivialisation" of the Holocaust, with graffiti on campuses and students using Nazi imagery as jokes at parties.
They added: "It is the job of all of student society to counteract antisemitic language and imagery."
A Universities UK spokesperson said: "Universities take all forms of hate crime extremely seriously and all students and staff are entitled to a safe and positive experience at university."
Read more Far-right activity at universities rising as more young people deny Holocaust, experts warn
Please tell us your thoughts in comments or via Twitter ~ Tamsin
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Three little words. (tlw.)
A little company making big waves - in hair and retail alike.
Better Hair Days
Six multifunctional products make up Three Little Words (TLW) - a hair care range, developed using only the best naturally-derived ingredients to ensure the best hair.
Laughter Is Best Shampoo & Winter Is Coming Conditioner to cleanse. Let's Get Tacos Treatment Oil & Let's Get Naked Frizz Fighter to tame. I'm Really Busy Texturizing Volume Spritz & Hair Shot Ampoule to style. All to treat.
Leaving behind the not-so-good ingredients, like SLS and parabens, the range is made exclusively in Melbourne, Australia, and never tested on anything fluffy, like bunnies.
With a focus on making life easier for the modern woman, each product is designed to prolong the life of your blowdry, while reducing drying time, leaving more time to do the important things; like scroll through Instagram in bed, or actually have breakfast before work.
Further, the range promotes a healthy scalp and hair growth, while repairing split-ends and improving the overall condition of your hair for the long term.
Award Winning Design
Three little words was announced as a finalist for Best New Professional Packaging and Design in the Australian Hair Fashion Awards 2017. Make your bathroom look as good as your hair does. The product packaging features a minimal black and white design, experimenting with transparency, and a playful set of three little words designed to put a smile on your face. Perfect for selfies.
Have a question?
Or two? You can direct them to Angelika Pereira at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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June 03, 2014 – OMNITEC Solutions, Inc., announces the recent award of two contracts for continuing work supporting the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD): a five-year contract with the Defense Media Activity (DMA), Defense Enterprise Media Systems (DEMS) Office with a value of $49 million, and a five-year contract with the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs (A/SD [PA]) with a value of $6 million.
OMNITEC's technical and program management services supporting the Public Web Program will continue to help reduce infrastructure costs by deploying a Web Content Management System throughout every military service in support of the Defense Media Activity, Defense Enterprise Media Systems Office. Automated work-flow processes are embedded in the overall IT architecture supporting news and information reported on, and approved by, public affairs officers and shared via defense.gov, navy.mil, af.mil, etc., across the world instantaneously. OMNITEC's expertise in rapidly evolving internet-technologies enable clients to stay ahead of communication advances by providing new capabilities that support information sharing, while significantly reducing costs.
The Office of the Secretary of Defense contracts also support the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, the principal staff assistant and advisor to the Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) and the Deputy Secretary of Defense (DEPSECDEF) on news media relations and public communications. OMNITEC subject matter experts will provide timely, in-depth knowledge of media research and analysis methods, and the ability to rapidly collect, collate, and effectively present research and analysis results to senior leaders in Department of Defense (DoD). This requires OMNITEC personnel executing the work for Office of the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs to conduct time-sensitive DoD news and information activities with national and international media representatives, while working collaboratively with the OSD, Combatant Commands, Joint Staff, and the Military Services.
"We are very grateful for this opportunity to continue providing the best use of the latest technologies to consolidate and integrate the military's web presence, using OMNITEC-produced and government-owned web-based Content Management System (CMS)," said Morris Brown, President/CEO of OMNITEC Solutions, Inc. "This reduces government infrastructure costs, while supporting rapid access to critical news and information from across the world, for all military services."
Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., OMNITEC Solutions, Inc., provides a diverse range of expert support in IT content management, Health-related Big-Data Analysis, Web-based solutions, Broadcast engineering and communications support, and Business management consulting services. Clients include multiple federal agencies, with a deep presence throughout the DoD.
For more information about any of our business services and solutions, please contact OMNITEC Solutions, Inc. headquarters at 301.896.9704, email firstname.lastname@example.com or visit us on the web at www.omnitecinc.com.


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Areas of Study
Pinkston Preparatory Collegiate Academy seeks to empower students who want to position themselves on the forefront of emerging business and technology fields. A curriculum focused on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) will encourage students to discover solutions to real-world challenges. By exploring and designing creative solutions, students will acquire the communication, teamwork and problem-solving skills that are necessary for success in the 21st century workplace.
The following pathways offer students a head start on technology and business-related professions of the future:
- Business Administration/Management
- IT Computer Information Technology
- Health Science
IT Computer Information Technology
Business Administration Management - Mocktail Networking Reception
Haynes and Boone Hosts "Mocktail" Reception for Pinkston Students
Press Release


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What are the Common Alternatives for "Monetizing" IP?
The Market for IP "Commercialization" is populated with organizations representing a spectrum of IP "strategies."
|Mass Patent Aggregators
|Patent aggregators aim to benefit their membership by taking IP off the market, and thereby providing a kind of insurance against a nuisance of unspecified value.
|IP Brokerages
|Offering catalogs of hundreds or thousands of patents, IP brokerages aim to achieve a quick sale, and to minimize their investment of individual patents. The serious research and analysis that informs perception of value is avoided, and generally left to bargain-hunting buyers.
|Litigation-Centric Organizations
|The allure is a network of contingency relationships enabling a patent owner to feel empowered via quick litigation. Ultimately these firms are playing a numbers game in which patents they undertook no risk to develop are subjected to all-or-nothing litigation as soon as possible.
These are all popular paths that might be appropriate in certain circumstances — for example, where the IP owner is looking for an early "cash out" opportunity. However, they each tend to reflect a two-dimensional thinking born from a "Licensing is Plan B" mindset, in which short-term considerations prevail.
More remarkable however, is that their big-picture effect on the IP Marketplace is a distinct tendency to de-value individual patent portfolio estates.
In the end, the time-honored maxim holds true: you reap only what you sow.
The Best Path to Achieving Maximum Value, And Funding the Next Generation of Innovation …
Alliacense is a multi-disciplinary organization focused intensely on the big picture:
- Identifying Fundamental IP Assets
- Investing in the Careful Protection of IP Assets
- Guiding the Further Development of IP Assets to Achieve Maximum Demonstrable Applicability to Important Trends in Global Product Markets
- Communicating the Value of Access to Well-Managed IP Assets
- Closing Transactions Via its Network of Global Licensing Business Decision-Makers
Key to success at Alliacense is the strategic integration and disciplined orchestration of all these competencies under a single roof.


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The City
The city of Mannheim has a very prominent baroque palace with one of the world biggest palace garden. Several centuries ago the city was divided squares, this can be seen in the structure of the city till today. Cultural important institutions are the "Nationaltheater", which is tightly connected with the person of the famous poem Friedrich Schiller, and the "Popakademie Baden-Württemberg", which trains young pop musicians on a high level.
The Residence
The accommodation will be in 2- till 4-bed-rooms, bathrooms and WC ensuite. The residence offers: baby football, table tennis (indoor and outdoor), a sports field and a play ground directly beside the residence, sunbathing fields, a washing machine. Nearby are also a tennis court, a fitness jumping course, swimming pools (indoor and outdoor), museums, etc.
Program highlights
- Guided city tour incl. historical city
- Swimming pool
- Water tower Mannheim
- Baroque palace incl. palace garden
- "Cultural Mile"
- Schillerhaus
- "Technomuseum" and observatory
- Ilvesheim incl. palace
- Heidelberg Castle and cable car
- Roman city Ladenburg
- Schwetzingen
- Wood park with "Reißinsel"
- Zoo Heidelberg
- Full day excursions to Frankfurt, Technical museum Sinsheim, Speyer with cathedral, etc.
Dates, Prices and Services
The course in Mannheim is running from Sunday, 28th of June till Saturday, 8th of August 2015. The minimum stay in Mannheim is one week, the maximum stay is 6 weeks. Arrivals are always on Sunday, departures are always on Saturday.
Arrival is possible on the following dates:
Sunday, 28.06.15
Sunday, 05.07.15
Sunday, 12.07.15
Sunday, 19.07.15
Sunday, 26.07.15
Sunday, 02.08.15
1 week – 6 nights 625,– €
2 weeks – 13 nights 1.250,– €
3 weeks – 20 nights 1.875,– €
4 weeks – 27 nights 2.500,– €
5 weeks – 34 nights 3.125,– €
6 weeks – 41 nights 3.750,– €
These services are included in the package prices:
AccomodationAccommodation in a more-bed-room (up to 4 beds), bathroom and WC ensuite.
CateringFull board – breakfast, lunch and dinner
Classes20 lessons a 45 minutes German lessons in a group with a maximum of 15 students.
Entrance test, teaching material, certificate
ActivitiesDaily activities: leisure time program in the afternoon and in the evening.
ExcursionsSaturday: 1 full day excursion (this means if you are there for 2 weeks you will have 1 full day excursion, if you are there for 3 weeks you will have 2 full day excursions)
InsuranceHealth insurance for the period of your stay with us.
Options to be booked additionally:
Airport transfer – Airport Frankfurt Rhein-Main
Price for airport transfer (Shuttle-Service) – one way 75,– €
Supplement fee for service for "Unattended Minors" – one way 30,– €


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Shell Becomes First International Oil Company to Build Lubricants Blending Plant in Russia
Shell is starting construction of a major new lubricants blending plant - the first to be built by an international oil company in Russia.
The plant, which is being built in Torzhok in the Tver region, north-west of Moscow, will have a capacity of 200 million litres a year (about 180,000 tons), making it one of the largest in the Shell network worldwide. Commercial operation is expected to begin by the end of 2010.
As a supplier of lubricants and greases to Russia, Shell will bring advanced technology to the local market and ensure high quality products through stringent quality control. Bringing world-class production capacity closer to customers will allow Shell to supply a full range of high-quality motor oils, transport oils and industrial lubricants to the Russian market, with the potential to expand distribution to neighbouring countries in the future. Large industrial customers will benefit from the bulk delivery of technologically advanced products, speeding up delivery times and reducing storage costs.
David Pirret, Executive Vice President for Shell Lubricants, said: "Russia is a country of strategic importance for Shell, and today's announcement is further evidence of our commitment to grow our business here, not only in upstream but also in downstream. Russia is the third largest lubricants market in the world and it is vital that Shell, as the leading global lubricants supplier has a significant presence here. Shell Lubricants has seen seven consecutive years of profitable growth in Russia and we believe that setting up lubricants production facilities will help us capitalise on further growth opportunities."
Dmitry Zelenin, the Governor of the Tver region, noted: "We are glad that Shell is building a lubricants blending plant in the Tver region. The plant will use advanced operational and organizational technologies, employ Russian workforce - from maintenance to managers, and create around 150 new jobs. The regional administration will continue supporting our foreign partners. I am confident that there will be no difficulties to hinder the project implementation, and commercial operation will start by the end of next year as planned."
Published 31/08/09
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Masefield Crescent field
February 3, 2019
Another sunny day with snow. The snow reminded me of the rippled sand as the tide goes out. This is the view from the field south of Masefield Crescent, looking towards the new Morland Gardens development in South Abingdon. The field (or possibly the adjoining field ) got a mention in a recent Town Council meeting as being a possibility for the new cemetery – subject to the Vale of White Horse District Council giving or selling the land, and access and ground being OK.
The field slopes gently from a ploughed farm field to the Drayton Road. About twenty years ago the field was designated an open access field where people could walk. The grass is cut in June to make hay, and people walk their dogs all the way round, or across the top.
Filed under: cemetery
6 Comments Leave a Comment
1. ppjs | February 4, 2019 at 2:14 pm
Leaving aside the not unimportant question of the public access use of this field, it would be interesting to know how many funerals a cemetery might attract each week/month and what traffic circulation problems might arise. There is only one access road onto the estate and it is comparatively narrow.
I ought to declare three interests: I am a resident in Mill Road; I am an advanced driving coach and have an interest in road safety; my PhD thesis addressed funeral rites and I am a published author on this subject. These factors may influence my views…
2. Daniel | February 4, 2019 at 5:00 pm
Ppjs, it sounds to me like you could be the sort of person who's knowledge could be tapped, for a very low cost or maybe even free.
However if there is an opportunity for a consultant to be paid vastly more, for worse insight; I think we know how our money will be spent.
But we mustn't grumble. "We wouldn't need these bloomin cemeteries if it wasn't for all those living people becoming dead people". I'll consider myself part of the problem.
3. Sarah | February 4, 2019 at 6:13 pm
Strikes me as an excellent place for a cemetery.
4. Daniel | February 4, 2019 at 7:33 pm
…better than than the dead center of town Sarah? I
5. Sarah | February 4, 2019 at 7:56 pm
Tee hee!
6. Gerald | February 5, 2019 at 1:55 pm
At least the neighbours will be quiet!
Suspect they would build access in from the Drayton Road, perhaps using the traffic lights at Morland Gardens? Or is that too sensible.
(I'm ever hopeful for the application of common sense)
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In the interest of fostering an open and welcoming environment, we as speakers, attendees and organizers at Open House pledge to making participation in our event and community a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of age, body size, disability, ethnicity, gender identity and expression, level of experience, nationality, personal appearance, race, religion, or sexual identity and orientation.
Examples of behavior that contributes to creating a positive environment include:
Examples of unacceptable behavior by participants include:
Event organizers have the right and responsibility to remove, edit, or reject content, posts, examples and other event contributions that are not aligned to this Code of Conduct, or to ban temporarily or permanently any contributor for other behaviors that they deem inappropriate, threatening, offensive, or harmful.
This Code of Conduct applies both within event spaces and in public spaces (physical and virtual) when an individual is representing the project or its community. Examples of representing a project or community include using an official project e-mail address, posting to, sharing or referencing official social media channels.
Instances of abusive, harassing, or otherwise unacceptable behavior may be reported to the Code of Conduct committee of Open House event by emailing firstname.lastname@example.com. Code of Conduct committee members for each event will be identified at the event and information on how to contact some of them individually will be available at the registration desk.
All complaints will be reviewed and investigated and will result in a response that is deemed necessary and appropriate to the circumstances. Event organizers are obligated to maintain confidentiality with regard to the reporter of an incident and will consult with the reporter if further action on the report is likely to make it known to anyone who they are.
Event organizers who do not follow or enforce the Code of Conduct in good faith may face temporary or permanent repercussions as determined by other event organizers.
This Code of Conduct is adapted from the Contributor Covenant, version 1.4.


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There's something about the light in August. It's richer, more soft. It carries with it the mellowness of the summer months now past. It's the same with sea at our English coasts. Its cold does not bite as it did in April and May. I recall an early September day at the Isle of Wight when, with the scar of a major operation still raw, I swam out and waved to Mrs Llew in her deckchair. And I shouted aloud with joy at the sheer sense of well-being.
Often, when I swam in the sea I would, in thanks, tread water and say the Gloria out loud as I looked out to the horizon. In London I would cycle to the Highgate ponds and float beneath overhanging chestnut trees, as the morning mist rose from the water.
A couple of days ago I said here that the present is the only thing that we old people have. But the present, I realise, does include all that we are, up to now – including our memories. We have our memories. Not all of them will be happy. But they all are part of us. Perhaps we should take into ourselves the good ones and, in peace, leave behind the bad ones. May all our memories be resolved into peace, in the light of this Autumn sun, our years' Autumn and our lives' Autumn … and, through the intercession for us, of the Light of the World.
I remembered today our returning from our summer holidays in Wales. The golden light was mellow. The London roads were quieter. There was a warmth, even the hint of heaviness in the air, as the taxi took us home through the dusk of Primrose Hill and Camden Town.
And in my mind's eye I saw a paved footpath across some playing fields near our home. It had wine dark stains on it, from the damson plums which had fallen, unharvested, from the neighbouring garden..
Every year they were there as my family wandered out for our brookside walks.


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World's #1 Blog Platform designed for book bloggers, reviewers, writers - all Book Lovers. Your Reading Life. Redesigned.
We're planning some more maintenance works on BookLikes on Tuesday, Feb.20, 2018, CET.
We'll do all to make BookLikes available during the updates, however, some hiccups and temporary interruptions may happen.
Sorry for all the inconveniences!


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Another song about the "gold time." When I think of the color gold, I think of wisdom, benevolence, and justice. When the gold time comes, people will be seen for who they really are, good deeds will finally be rewarded, and nice guys will (maybe) finish first.
But, unfortunately, gold is omega of colors, the most stable in value but the slowest to accrue, so it will probably be a while before the gold time gets here. In fact, the gold time will probably be the very last period of time to exist. It may be a little like the Last Judgement- a period where the wheat gets separated from the chaff in preparation for eternity.
But that doesn't mean a person needs to wait till the end of time to receive their just rewards- mini-gold times happen much more frequently. These are the times when the faith, hard work, and persistence of years finally pay off. Even these mini-gold times can take a little longer to arrive than we wish they would, but still, if you hang on long enough, you can be sure one will roll around eventually. And, since gold is the color of lasting value, the golden harvest you reap will stay with you forever.
Download MP3: Pink & Yellow Sky


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Research references
We include research which is directly relevant and useful to family therapy and systemic practice, and to the families, individuals and communities with whom we work.
We have curated research papers, dividing references into the following categories, with some references included in more than one category.
TopicsResearch has been categorised under the following topics listed alphabetically Some general books on systemic research. Ochs, M., Borcsa, M. &...
Evaluation and outcome studiesWe have listed research studies which provides evidence for the effectiveness of systemic and family therapy, which should be useful for families,...
Process researchThese studies research therapeutic change processes, addressing questions of 'how therapy works', and can be considered to produce 'practice-based...
MethodologiesHere research studies are categorised according to the methodology used. These can be helpful to see what kind of analysis different methodologies...
Type of systemic approachStudies here have been categorised according to the type of family therapy and systemic approach that is being researched.
This list of references is by no means
exhaustive. Family therapy and systemic research is continuously being
undertaken. We try to update these pages regularly and circulate details of recent
publications via our distribution list.
The journals found on the right side publish systemic therapy, family therapy, narrative therapy and constructionist therapy research regularly.
The following journals regularly publish systemic and family therapy research, and are worth checking regularly (some allow you to sign up for new content alerts):
Australia and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy
International Journal of Collaborative-Dialogic Practice
Journal of Marital and Family Therapy
Murmuration: Journal of Transformative Systemic Practice
The American Journal of Family Therapy


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Micos FTTx underground solution
The installation of the network under the ground is among the most widely used solutions in the construction of FTTx networks, especially for its durability and invisibility. Duct systems are used for the construction as they facilitate the construction itself and the subsequent installation of cables. The blowing of the cables can be performed gradually and modified according to the network requirements with no additional costs of ground work. At the network distribution points, there are ground chambers installed with boxes allowing connection of fibres in various configurations.
Micos FTTx underground solution offers a comprehensive approach to the mutual compatibility of all elements in the network. It shows the use of the chambers, ducts and cables on actual examples of the connection of the central office from the metropolitan network, to large housing units or family houses. The solution is intended for operators, installers and designers who can use it as a model when designing a network.


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With the advent of technology, education has undergone a lot of change for the better. From schools and colleges to vocational institutes and other organizations working towards educational empowerment, the use of various tech gadgets has become prevalent today. iPads have emerged as one of the top contenders when it comes to being the ideal learning companion and facilitator. With the presence of interactive educational resources, powerful creative tools and extensive pools of apps, iPads creates almost endless learning opportunities. Since it's a gadget that almost everyone loves to use, iPads are enjoying a steady rise in popularity in the field of education. Let's see how the device is used in various educational settings.
iPads in Schools
Teaching kids and holding their attention is often a tough job for teachers. With iPads, teachers can now make the lessons more interactive and immersive through the power of motion, touch and sound. This will not only make students engrossed in them but also ensure they retain the concepts for a longer period than when they study with textbooks. However, before walking this path, schools should make sure they have the adequate bandwidth for a number of iPads to work seamlessly. At the same time, kids should be taught to keep their devices safe with kids' iPad cases. Teachers can help in this by using iPad keyboard cases and iPad cases, thus making the kids realise how important it is to safeguard the device.
From taking virtual field trips and understanding the concepts behind various topics to completing and sharing assignments easily, a lot can be done by students with iPads, who would start enjoying the process for sure.
Here are some ways iPads can help in school education:
Explaining concepts and processes: From using a racing game to teach students how to calculate averages, to using colourful presentation for photosynthesis and leveraging the catapult game of Angry Birds for teaching constant velocity and acceleration, iPads bring concepts and processes alive in the classroom, thus making them easy to understand and remember.
Taking virtual field trips: Letting their students take a field trip to regions within or beyond the national boundaries is not possible for most schools. Yet, teachers can use the Skype app for iPad to take students on a virtual tour. So, even when you are sitting in Australia, you can tour the Yellowstone National Park in US or the Royal Navy Museum in England's Portsmouth and interact with the park or museum guides.
Getting everyone engaged: Fun games and learning apps on iPads can make the students, even the ones who mostly stay disconnected in the class, to participate and enjoy the lessons. For example, students can be engaged in reading with iBooks and Marvel Comics apps.
Making interactive presentations: With Nearpod (an iPad app for creating interactive slide presentations), teachers can fill their presentation with images, texts, surveys and videos and share it with the students to let them interact with it, while controlling the flow and speed of the lesson. Book Creator – a digital storytelling app can also be used to create multimedia e-books which you can then share with or send to your students.
iPads in Colleges and Vocational Institutes
Despite some hurdles with support and infrastructure, mobile devices like iPads are increasingly adopted in higher learning for an improved educational experience. Here are some ways students and teachers in higher education and vocational streams can benefit from iPads:
Quick and easy note taking: Be it free iPad apps like Evernote or paid apps like Notability, GoodNotes and Notes Plus, students can now take notes easily without needing any paper. Whether they are sitting in the class listening to the professor's lecture, need a quick note to write in between experimenting in the laboratory, or just want to jot down some ideas while being on the road, they just need their iPad to do it. Those planning to use keyboards for taking notes shouldn't forget about iPad keyboard cases to protect the keyboards.
Collaboration and sharing: Higher studies often involve sharing and collaboration between groups. iPads make such tasks easy, fast and secure, where students can share and collaborate on their projects and assignments in real time without the need of being in the same room.
Easy access to resources: With a lot of educational resources now available in the digital format, accessing, short-listing, sharing and retrieving them with a few clicks is made easy with the use of iPads.
Better clarity and understanding of lessons: Teachers can use the interactive whiteboard app for iPad to make their presentations better, engaging and easy for students to understand. Since you can also use various multimedia elements with iPad apps, teachers can create interesting demonstrations to show how the elements of a machine works or teach students, say of a biomedical course, about how a disease affects the internal organs and what symptoms to look out for.
Better organisation of study materials: Rather than leafing through stacks of books and sheets, students can segment and store the required information on their iPads which they can retrieve, as and when required, even when they are on the move. This makes organisation of study materials a breeze.
Final words
Though iPads have proved to give students an improved educational experience, the adoption of this technology isn't yet widespread due to some technical and network management issues. Still, in schools and colleges where iPads are being used, it becomes important for students and teachers alike to know how to use the devices the best way. From choosing the right apps and learning to use them to the best way of storing and retrieving information, a lot needs to be learnt and practiced to make the transition from text lessons to digital lessons seamless. At the same time, using the right accessories like kids iPad cases, iPad covers, iPad keyboard cases and stands etc also become important to ensure the device doesn't get damaged by sudden falls, spills, scratches etc.
If you have been planning to use iPad for education, jump right in and experience how it can change education for the better.


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Create a Winter Survival Kit for Your CarJanuary 14th, 2014 by The JetSetter Team | Comments Off on Create a Winter Survival Kit for Your Car
It's all over the news—flights are being canceled because of extreme cold, people are entering a state of hibernation, and those who can afford to travel to warmer climates almost certainly are. But for many of us, this just isn't possible. If you're living somewhere cold, you'll probably see a fair amount of snow. And if you're commuting back and forth in your attempt to create wealth (your portfolio is undoubtedly diverse if you've listened to Jason Hartman), your car is probably feeling the cold too.
Especially in bad or otherwise inclement weather, it's important to keep your car happy and yourself safe. One way to do this is by putting together a simple survival kit to leave in your car during winter months. First, gather a large plastic tub to store the items you are going to acquire. Next, get a shovel, windshield scrapper, and flashlight. You should put the flashlight batteries in backward to avoid accidentally turning on a flashlight and wearing them out. Also, find a small battery-powered radio to include.
Next, consider food items that might be helpful. You'll want to have water, small snacks that are high in protein, and maybe a few candy bars. Similarly, include some medications—particularly important are prescriptions that you need to stay healthy. Also include aspirin or ibuprofen and a first aid kit.
You'll also want to keep warm in the event of an emergency—bring extra cold weather gear that includes hats, socks, and gloves. Bring blankets or a sleeping bag, if you've got room. Pack a car charger for your phone, matches and candles, and something that can be used as a distress flag.
Finally, pack a few things to help your car out. A tow chain or rope may prove useful, as will sand, which can be used for traction, booster cables, and reflectors.
Should you become trapped in bad weather and need to leave your car to seek help, write down your name, address, phone number, and intended destination, including any details you can provide about your potential route. If weather allows, leave the note on the windshield. Otherwise, make sure it is visible.
During the winter, you should also try to keep your gas tank at least half full, and be sure to inform people of your whereabouts if you're going far. Never attempt to walk anywhere in a storm, and keep dry at all costs.
Follow these tips and have a safe and happy winter! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmiers2/6717226759/)
* Read more from Jetsetter
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Tags: cold weather survival, Jason Hartman, The Jetsetter Show Team, winter survival kit, winterize your car


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The first time I ever used nipple clamps, I was pretty nervous: the ones we had were quite hefty, and came with a heavy chain connecting them. The harder you pulled on the chain, the tighter the clamps would tug against you and the more it'd hurt – ouch!
I'm not a masochist particularly. That sounds like an odd thing for a submissive woman with loads of spanking equipment to say, but it's true. What gets me off is the endurance and hotness of BDSM, not specifically the pain. So the first time I used nipple clamps I was trembling with nerves and ready to tap out if it got too much.
But something about the pleasure/pain combination of nipple clamps was so hot that I couldn't tap out: the pain lay just on the edge of delicious pleasure, and at the same time I couldn't help but notice that the guy who was using them on me had a sexy look in his eye that pressed my buttons so hard I thought I'd faint. Nipple clamps are amazing.
How to use nipple clamps
Let's start with the basics: when you first try nipple clamps you need to start off slowly. As with any new BDSM sex toy, your fun is going to depend heavily on your pain threshold and it's a good idea to gradually build up tolerance.
Begin with a bit of light nipple play – pinching, sucking, biting, and generally giving the nipples a whole load of sexy attention. Then once they're hard, feeling good, and you think you're ready, put the clamps on very gently and slowly.
When you put them on, what you're aiming to do is attach them as close to the body (the back of the nipple) as you can – try to avoid clamping directly on the tip, because the closer you get to the tip the more it hurts and the harder the nipple clamps can be to remove. You might want to use one finger and thumb to pull the nipple out, then use the other hand to attach the clamp. Let go of the clamp very gently and slowly, so you can squeeze it again (thus releasing the nipple) if the pain gets too much.
Once you've got the clamps on, a bit of extra nipple stimulation is always fun: licking around the nipple where the clamp is locked on can be super-intense and really fun. And if you still want more? Well, I can tell you that one of the hottest things a guy's done to me involves ordering me to hold the chain which ran between two nipple clamps in my mouth while I shagged him. Going on top doesn't have to be dominant: I've rarely felt more sexily submissive than when I was riding him while holding the nipple clamp chain between my teeth, getting a jolt of sexy pain every time I jiggled too hard.
Which nipple clamps should you try?
There are plenty of different kinds of nipple clamps, but I'm going to start with my very favourites:
These squeezer nipple clamps by Bound to Please are the ones I use most often. They're fairly heavy-duty and they pinch you tight so they're probably not the best for beginners or those who are a little nervous. But what I love about them is that the harder you pull on the chain, the tighter they pinch, which makes for some excellent 'predicament BDSM' like the sex scenario I described above.
These tweezer-style nipple clamps are much better for beginners: they give you much more control over how tightly the clamps will pinch the nipple, so you can start off gently and then get a bit harder if you feel you'd like to later on in play.
These Fifty Shades separate clamps are great if you'd rather not have the chain hanging between the two clamps themselves. And the nice thing is they still have little weights (they're not heavy, don't worry!) on them so they'll tinkle delightfully while you're shagging.
If you're after something a little more sensual and stimulating, you can also get wonderful vibrating nipple clamps. Full disclosure: I haven't actually tried these yet but they're very much on my wish list for the future! And maybe if I become a bit more of a masochist, then I'll even get a go with something more hardcore like these adjustable heavy duty nipple clamps from Bound to Please.
So whether you're a nipple clamp beginner or a long-time lover of nipple clamps, hopefully there's something here for you to either get started or take your sexy play to the next level! And best of all, nipple clamps are the piece of bondage equipment that can hurt your submissive but never hurt your wallet – everything recommended above comes in at under £20!


text: Microsoft's president is calling on the U.S. Government to regulate facial recognition technology, which is used for everything from unlocking some iPhones and identifying people in photographs. Brad Smith warns of the ability of governments to track people's movements and the ability to compile databases of people who attend political rallies. He also said industry alone cannot regulate the technology. "The only effective way to manage the use of technology by a government is for the government proactively to manage this use itself," he wrote.