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Lion Uniform Group
But Lion's offering goes beyond the apparel. The company provides a program that includes services to help companies streamline how they communicate their expectations to each employee, starting with how the uniforms are purchased.
Uniforms may be issued to employees, there may be an allowance program where employees can pick and choose which styles they want to wear, or there may be a payroll deduction option. Either way, Lion pulls the pieces together to service the full spectrum.
"We offer a multitude of tops and bottoms," said Jeanna Peifer, vice president and general manager. "We handle whatever is required from a program perspective, and from a corporate perspective, we provide the reporting, usage, and compliance requirements for employees and outline the guidelines they must follow."
Implementing innovation
Lion is the direct-purchase division of G&K Services, a rental and facility supply services company. The company's product assortment is fairly simple and includes tailored, casual, military, and work wear uniforms, but product innovations and service evolutions better illustrate Lion's understanding of the industry.
Employee expectations of uniform apparel have changed in the past decade. Rather than being satisfied with old-fashioned polyester pants and polo shirts, employees want to wear something to work that's similar to what they wear at home. As a result, uniforms now use performance fabrics and innovative designs comparable to what employees in retail wear.
"Uniform trends don't move as fast as retail trends because fabrics have to be sustainable and able to be worn over and over," said Peifer. "On the other hand, uniforms tend to be more closely related to the retail environment than they were in the past."
Lion's inhouse design capabilities give it leeway to work with manufacturers and mills around the world to bring the latest innovations in fabric and style to its customers while working closely with customers to ensure their brand integrity is still in place. The company sources globally with key suppliers it uses on a regular basis, which means while Lion is looking to make improvements to uniforms, its suppliers are looking for new opportunities as well.
"We work with our factories and key suppliers to be strategic, to have what we need on a timely basis, and to provide the right price for the customer," said Peifer.
Lion has also upgraded its marketing techniques by moving away from an entirely print-based catalog of products to an e-catalog that customers can view and order from online. Peifer said this move has opened up the lines of communication, not only between Lion and its customers but also with those wearing the uniform.
An upgraded ERP system enables Lion to process orders in a more timely fashion, with orders being placed and shipped on a same-day basis and instant shipment feedback going to the customer. "The ability to put an order in and for us to monitor and provide feedback guarantees those uniforms get out the door on time," said Peifer.
"The system has given us more flexibility to work with our customers and meet their expectations while improving efficiency," she continued.
Superior service
For many companies, the way the uniform is worn is as important as the uniform itself. When a new employee is hired, Lion ensures there is no question as to whether or not employees' shirts should be tucked in when they arrive for their first day of work. "We help corporations with the image they are trying to portray by communicating their expectations to employees," said Peifer.
To do this, Lion offers two types of e-stores on its Web site. One is a traditional e-store where employees find the items they're looking for and purchase what's needed. The second e-store, which is how Lion partners with its corporate clients, is a portal designed specifically for the client and its employees.
"For our corporate clients, it's important that only their employees can see the uniform," said Peifer. "If you're an airline, you don't want someone off the street being able to purchase a uniform. When employees log in, we check their identification before letting them proceed."
Another difference between the e-store services Lion provides versus those of a typical retailer comes from being a direct-purchase uniform company. From a safety and security standpoint, Lion must ensure employees only have access to uniforms that are appropriate for their specific jobs.
In addition, Lion streamlines the process behind introducing a new uniform product to its customers' employees, even going so far as to visit a customer location and help employees with fit. "Just as if we were a retail store, customers come to us, and we help them determine which size fits for each employee and what products would work best for the company as a whole," said Peifer.
Also similar to a retail store, Lion helps employees understand what they need to choose for their job and responsibilities. The company is then able to provide feedback to the corporate client on what to purchase and guide clients to the products that employees are happy to wear.
"In the retail environment, you would look to forecast and have the right plan for the right merchandise on the store floor," said Peifer. "We work with corporate clients to make sure we have the right merchandise in the uniform program for their employees and the changes in their employee base."


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Become a Minister
of the Universal Life Church
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subset: commoncrawl


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"ISTTF" stands for Internet Safety Technical Task Force, the result of an agreement last January between 49 state attorneys general (minus Texas) and MySpace. The emphasis is on the word "technical," because the attorneys general basically charged the task force, of which I'm a member, with reviewing technical solutions to online youth risk – "age verification" technology being their stated predetermined solution of choice. Why? Because they're law enforcement people. They deal with crime – not all these other subjects that have come up in online-youth and social-media research – so they probably feel that this is all about crime and technology, so some technology that separates adult criminals from online kids, or that somehow identifies every American on the Web, is what will make the Internet safe for youth.
The problem is, we now know – via a growing body of research – that young people's use of technology for socializing is not limited to MySpace, to social networking in general, or even to the Web. Youth don't even focus on what technology or device (phone, chat, blogs, IM, Skype, computer, Xbox Live, Club Penguin, World of Warcraft, etc.) they use when they're socializing. They just communicate, produce, and socialize. So the "problem" is not technology. We're dealing with behavior, learning, adolescent development, social norm development, and identity formation, here. What technology is going to give adults (those who want it) control over that, or somehow sequester American youth into American sites that are compelled to verify ages, or separate adults and children across the entire universe of increasingly mobile, device-agnostic communications, media-sharing, and social activity?
Besides, we also know now that only a tiny percentage – well under 1% – of US youth are at risk of being victimized by the kinds of crimes the attorneys general put the Task Force together for, and this minority is, unfortunately, already at risk in "real life." Technology probably doesn't have much of a chance at curing the age-old struggles of troubled youth – certainly not ID verification technology.
The other thing we know, though we adults don't think about it a whole lot, is that the "problem" is changing – fast (it actually won't be that long before our teenagers are parents!). Because nobody's brains are fully developed till their early 20s, teens need our input, but so do we need theirs. For the most part, youth understand what's happening with tech and the social Web, they're the drivers of it, they're changing (growing up), and technology is changing faster than we can keep up with it, so we don't have anything close to a static "problem" to get a fix on, much less to fix.
Which leads me to the chicken/egg question. The first day we heard at least a dozen presentations by purveyors of various technologies, many of them focused on verifying either ages (very hard with US minors, who under federal privacy law have very little verifiable personal information in public records) or identities. By the end of the day I couldn't shake off the unnerving picture of a roomful of baby boomers (digital non-natives, including me) – many of whom barely understand the "problem," much less the full picture of young social Web participants, and some of whom stand to gain a great deal from selling the Task Force on a particular technology for nationwide adoption – trying to assert control over the unruly social Web. The understanding is growing, not least because the Task Force has a research advisory board as well as a technical one, and the former is right now completing a review of all research on youth online safety to date – the first of its kind. This is brilliant! So what's wrong with this picture? Seems to me the research comes first, then – as we understand the problem – we begin to look at what the solutions should be.
The second day we heard from a Rochester Institute of Technology sociology professor with a background in law enforcement. It's an important study (I'll blog about it more next week) because it looks at Internet use by more than 40,000 Rochester-area students all the way from kindergarten up through 12th grade, and it offered the Task Force insights into the peer-on-peer, noncriminal but negative and sometimes unethical and illegal side of the online-safety question. But youth were referred to in an extremely negative adversarial way, first- and second-graders referred to as "perpetrators" and "offenders." For example, the "four types" of middle-school "online offenders," he said, are "generalists, pirates, academic cheaters, and deceiving bullies." As useful as the data is, I don't feel this is productive language to use when trying to change behavior or inspire children about digital citizenship (see my description of an amazing such project at Bel Aire Elementary School in Tiburon, Calif., here).
So there you have one person's (rambling) perspective. There are others available now – that of Adam Thierer of the Washington, DC-based Progress & Freedom Foundation and a more radical one from CNET blogger and Berkman fellow Chris Soghoian. [The Task Force is hosted and chaired by the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School.]
Your views are always welcome – in our forum here, posted in this blog, or via anne[at]netfamilynews.org. With your permission, I love to publish your views for the benefit of all readers.


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Now you can go from garage to a cool, bright, pest-free space in seconds.
When you're done enjoying the great outdoors, simply retract your Lifestyle garage screen system and close your garage door as usual. It's just that easy!
The Lifestyle Garage Door Screen is a fully retractable garage screen door that works with your existing garage door. The Lifestyle features an industry first, fully retractable passage door for ease of entry and exit without having to retract the entire system. The Lifestyle garage screen is fully spring loaded, making opening and closing quick and easy.


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The taxpayer-funded, $10 billion public-education bailout moved one step closer to reality today when the Senate voted 61–38 on a cloture measure, clearing the path for bill consideration toward the end of the week. Since the House has already left for recess, Speaker Nancy Pelosi will have to call members back for a vote, which she has promised to do.
Do teachers need lawmakers to leave the beaches and head back to Washington? Not if we're to believe reports from school districts about their summer hiring. Mike Antonucci of the Education Intelligence Agency reports that schools have begun rehiring teachers despite the pink slips doled out earlier this year (and despite cries from the teachers' unions and the Obama administration of catastrophic teacher layoffs if the bailout fails). According to Antonucci:
- In Indiana, 148 of the 284 teachers laid off by the Fort Wayne Community School District have been rehired.
- The Hesperia Unified School District in California decided to rescind the pink slips of 77 teachers that had been laid off earlier this year.
- The Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District in North Carolina conceded that the state's budget woes were overblown, and has decided to hire back 141 teachers that were previously laid off. The district also noted that 120 more teachers could also be rehired after budget talks conclude.
- In Ohio, a budget deal reached with the Cleveland Teachers Union will likely mean that a majority of the 545 teachers laid off in the spring will get their jobs back.
- The Broward County School District in Florida will be rehiring 465 teachers who were laid off earlier this year.
These pink-slip rescissions likely represent a larger trend nationwide. It's common practice for school districts to overestimate the number of teachers that will be laid off in advance of budgets being set, and in advance of the school year. What is less common is the federal government stepping in to bail out state budgets to "save" public-education jobs.
But when the largest political contributor to Congress asks members to jump, they catapult their way into more deficit spending. The two national teachers' unions — the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) — contributed more than $70 million to campaigns during the 2007–2008 season, with 95 percent of contributions going to Democrats and left-leaning causes.
Teachers' unions, members of Congress, and the Obama administration claim that the $10 billion public-education bailout would save 100,000 teaching jobs. That means taxpayers will be paying $100,000 per job — nearly double the national average for teacher salary, $54,000. Moreover, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates that about 57 percent of teachers are unionized. Using a conservative estimate of $300 in annual dues paid, the NEA and AFT have a minimum of $24 million in dues at stake.
To recap: School districts are rehiring teachers without a federal bailout, but the administration and certain members of Congress claim catastrophic layoffs will occur if Washington doesn't do something. Teachers' unions are huge contributors to campaigns, and likely have about $24 million in dues at stake in the debate.
To give this effort a little perspective, the $10 billion bailout comes on the heels of the $100 billion in "stimulus" money that was appropriated to the Department of Education last year. That effectively doubled the agency's budget from 2008 to 2009, and President Obama hopes to increase it by another 10 percent in 2011.
Congress and the Obama administration have lobbied nonstop for increases in education spending since they came into office, and this $10 billion bailout is their latest attempt. Yet the tiny $13 million D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, which is successfully providing vouchers to low-income children in the nation's capital, is being phased out.
Anyone who doubts the power of organized labor in education should just follow the money trail.
— Lindsey Burke is a policy analyst in domestic-policy studies at the Heritage Foundation.
Cross-posted from National Review Online


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After the end of The Loaf in a box, the pop up Dan Lepard and Ibán Yarza were a part of and which I'd visited last august; I felt nostalgic for the magic I'd felt there, and decided to make the signature loaf called "Extreme". It's one of the breads I'd helped shape while I stopped in to see my friend Dan Lepard and met Egoitz Fernández (Fagus), a young Basque baker. Egoitz and I chatted about the "extreme" recently, he gave me the parameters of the loaf and I just took it up and failed first try! Second came out better though and I mustered a smirk and just relished that at least I'd been there to see the real "Extreme"!
Amy Hedyatpour repost#
read more
I first came to know Amy Hedyatpour through baker Brad Preznant. That was over 20 years ago. Also known as Amy Glaze,...


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Claw Culture 115 Russian Fox Gel Polish
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Size 8ml
All ingredients and CI numbers on the back of the bottle


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laurent olivier makes fun barettes
Posted by Mackenzie on Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Until recently I would have told you that barettes were soooo over. But then I found these oversized Laurent Oliver ones that I'm just nuts about. They really curve around your head in a most comfortable way. I got mine, in the image above, from Neda in Brooklyn. You can also find them at Hair Boutique online. Next on my list is a big orange one, or maybe white, I can't decide.


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A federal judge brought long-awaited clarity and common sense last week to the state's age-old practice of pumping polluted water into South Florida's Lake Okeechobee. U.S. District Judge Kenneth Karas' finding that the practice violated the Clean Water Act is a victory for public health and Florida's environment, and it should prompt South Florida water managers to quit wasting the tax money spent cleaning up the Everglades basin by continuing to contribute to its pollution.
For decades, the South Florida Water Management District has pumped water from canals along sugar-farming areas near the shoreline into Lake Okeechobee, both to prevent flooding and to boost levels in a lake that serves as a drinking water source for millions in South Florida. While water management district officials say the pumping is rare, environmental groups sued, seeking to force the district to obtain federal permits before pumping fertilizer-laden farm runoff back into the lake.
Friday's ruling from New York's Southern District came in a consolidated case that had grown from a decade of litigation in Florida. In his ruling, Karas held that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was required to regulate the practice under the Clean Water Act. The judge said that EPA had no authority to issue a blanket exemption to the permitting process. Though he invited the EPA to narrow the rules for allowable discharges, the judge nonetheless affirmed the public purpose behind the Clean Water Act — and the need for the federal government to enforce it.
The ruling puts the water management district and the EPA on notice that their first obligation is to public health, not to agribusiness. The excessive nutrients wouldn't flow to the lake without the state pumping them there. And recirculating these excessive nutrients hurts the entire basin. The ruling affirms the role the federal government needs to play in ensuring state compliance with the Clean Water Act. And it should crack down on future abuses by clarifying when operators must seek a discharge permit.
The district and the EPA should respond in good faith and not seek to appeal the ruling or delay the impact on procedural grounds. The state has already lost more than a decade on what should be a shared public goal of removing these chemicals from the South Florida watershed.
Officials should instead craft a permitting process that seeks to keep this pollution from public water bodies — a solution more in keeping with the simultaneous and costly effort by the state and federal governments to clean up and restore the Everglades. The environmental community can be a partner. These agencies need to reach beyond the lawyers and chart a course for improving the state's ecosystem and drinking water supply. And it shouldn't take another lost decade.


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I've had a long dream to put all my related information in place, where bots and friends find some bit info on me, but It won't happen for the past. Now time allows me to happen my dream.
I prefer VEG , but I'm not 100% .My selfish genes need some proteins somehow and take it by scarificing some aquatic lives.
I'm sorry , if you don't get response from my side via Facebook and/or someother social networks , as I'm some how lazy and don't want to get into that virtual world.I still belive in real world system and love the way it designed.
But you may find G+ and Y!Pulse updates myside , because they're enabled for me from their side, and I want to be part of them.
I even annoyed with my
N900 (retired) powered by Mameo GNU/Linux & LG E400 (retired) powered by CM9 Android (GNU?/Linux) ICS 4.0.4 sometimes , because either it's battery run out so earlier before I call somebody or kernel might under deadlock with threads & process .The same applies to my another device
Nikon S3000 Coolpix
Nikon DSLR 3100
Canon Rebel EOS T5i aka D700.
Now playing with my Nexus 4 (LG E960) , powered by CM12.XX plus 4 more operating systems including FirefoxOS , Ubuntu Mobile.
But Here are some of my Social link(s):
But Here are some of my Social link(s):
Wanna see my resume? here it is.
Return to Kesavan Muthuvel's home page.
Please send comments on these web pages to email@example.com (or) Feedback here
CopyLeft (Ͻ) 2008 - 2023 Kesavan Muthuvel More on CopyLeft


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Extrovert Jeff Barrett says he enjoys making connections because you never know where a new relationship may lead. Photo by Michael Buck
Jeff Barrett thrives on being an extrovert and forming relationships, yet he's possibly best known for his Twitter handle.
Barrett has earned various awards and honors connected to his social media work, from Business Insider's No. 1 Ad Executive on Twitter, to Forbes Top 50 Social Media Influencer and PRNewswire's Earnie Award for Best Use of Video in Social Media for "The Grand Rapids LipDub."
"It's definitely weird being an extrovert who works online," Barrett said, noting that these days, it's not hard to display one's personality and establish trust through technology.
The ability to work from anywhere has helped Barrett and his company, Status Creative, thrive in its first two years on a national level. Barrett said the company is poised to break seven figures in 2014.
Status Creative's success is based on taking older, established companies that are willing to make a distinct shift in their public relations models and take a risk. He said the companies that choose to work with Status Creative often know their current approach is a little stale.
"We create that amount of attention it takes to get noticed on the Internet," Barrett said. "We look at what are relevant, recognizable elements, and define a relevant reason to cover something.
"There's tons of noise out there; it's just (about) making it more noticeable."
Although the way to create notice varies by company or project, Barrett has a preferred method. And it has worked.
"There are just so many outlets out there, and you have to do something to get noticed," he said. "For me, it's just by being as goofy as possible."
His status as a Twitter star and running a successful public relations company took some time. As a young entrepreneur receiving lots of social buzz from viral videos, it required patience on his part to understand why the monetary "success" took time to build.
"Even if you kill it, it doesn't go as fast as you want it to," Barrett said. "It's something they don't teach in business school — and they should."
As he has built relationships, he has begun to work with bigger PR companies on bigger social media projects, knowing his firm can expand the company's knowledge and skill set.
According to HootSuite, more than 280,000 people call themselves social media experts or some variation of the term.
"It's easy to give (someone) a title, but it's hard to validate it," he said. "A lot of it has to do with the quality of who you've worked with and the product you've put out."
For Barrett, much of his validation comes from being named a Forbes Top 50 Social Media Influencer. He said those ratings come from a system that looks not at how many people follow you, but how many follow your followers. Still, he has well more than 120,000 followers.
"That was a nice form of validation from a reliable source," he said. "That allows me to go to bigger brands, and they can see I know what I'm talking about."
His biggest tip for using social media —especially Twitter —is to use trending hashtags creatively and to be vigilant in posts so followers know what to expect. He's also not about ratios, so he likes to follow people back.
In person and on the Internet, Barrett likes to build relationships. That's a good thing because his job depends on it, whether or not those relationships are ever put to use. Barrett said forming those connections should never stop because it's impossible to say where a new relationship will lead.
"I like making connections with publications or clients, even when it might not matter," he said. "It's fun to try to make the connections — to find a way to connect the dots."
It's taken Barrett and Status Creative a while to create the right connections and see where they fit together, but they keep coming now. He drives those relationships not only through social media but through writing guest columns for The Washington Post and Mashable, which according to its website is "a leading source for news, information and resources for the Connected Generation."
"Relationships are why I write," he said. "It's more than just personal branding. The articles help me meet new clients and push the agenda further."
Although Barrett works from Grand Rapids, Status Creative has offices and employees in locations across the country and overseas. That's the "beauty" of doing work that doesn't require being tied down to a geographic location, he said.
Barrett might be in Grand Rapids, but he doesn't like to focus on local companies or media. There are other companies and specialists who know the market better than he does, and he respects that, he said.
"The connections I have aren't super-relevant to Grand Rapids companies," he said. "There are plenty of established people that concentrate just on Grand Rapids, and I wouldn't want to mess with that."
As the technology becomes more familiar —and sometimes scary —it's becoming easier to tell who is trustworthy on the Internet, Barrett said. That makes it easier to work with people across the globe. All the various forms of social media, along with Skype and other video chat sites, help establish and verify clients' trust, he said.
Barrett got to where he is now by doing projects with friends. That included making the highly popular "The Grand Rapids LipDub" with Rob Bliss and Scott Erickson. The music video garnered massive amounts of national attention, and although it was a catalyst for his career, Barrett doesn't see it as his big career break. "At the end of the day, you don't want to be a viral video guy."
Bliss and Erickson co-founded Status Creative with Barrett, but have since split off to do their own ventures and focus on their individual passions. Barrett is sticking with what he knows best, which is being creative with technology. It's been a natural fit for him — as with many in his generation — because social media has become a way of life and he grew up with it, playing with social networks since Friendster.
Those skills translated to creating marketing campaigns for companies. Now, Status Creative is trying to switch its model from individual campaigns to having long-standing clients by putting all those relationships to use.
"You start with campaigns because you're not around enough to be trusted," he said. "It takes time to develop that brand. 2014 is about building those retained clients for this year and beyond."
Barrett said he likes to focus on one thing outside of work each year. This year, he'll focus on helping the Grand Rapids Young Professionals group promote its 10-year anniversary.
Splitting his focus isn't the way to success, he said, and staying involved for too long with one organization can lead to stale ideas. But he did say some organizations — like LaughFest — hold his attention longer than others.
Barrett grew tired of not being noticed by large companies, so in 2011, he took the plunge into doing the kind of business he loves.
"It's incredibly fun — that's why I got into it. It wasn't a monetary pursuit," Barrett said. "It's all about making your personal life and job match up. That's the blueprint for a good life."


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Right-Wing Media Stoke Islamophobia With Dubious Story About "Necrophilia Law" In Egypt
The right-wing media continued their pattern of encouraging people to fear Muslims by hyping a thinly sourced column in an Egyptian newspaper about a supposed proposal to legalize necrophilia. Al-Arabiya has reported that members of the Egyptian parliament are denying that any such law was ever proposed.
Al-Arabiya Reports Claim That Law Was Being Considered
Al-Arabiya: Report Came From "Egyptian Columnist." From Al-Arabiya:
Egypt's National Council for Women (NCW) has appealed to the Islamist-dominated parliament not to approve two controversial laws on the minimum age of marriage and allowing a husband to have sex with his dead wife within six hours of her death according to a report in an Egyptian newspaper.
The appeal came in a message sent by Dr. Mervat al-Talawi, head of the NCW, to the Egyptian People's Assembly Speaker, Dr. Saad al-Katatni, addressing the woes of Egyptian women, especially after the popular uprising that toppled president Hosni Mubarak in February 2011.
She was referring to two laws: one that would legalize the marriage of girls starting from the age of 14 and the other that permits a husband to have sex with his dead wife within the six hours following her death.
According to Egyptian columnist Amro Abdul Samea in al-Ahram, Talawi's message included an appeal to parliament to avoid the controversial legislations that rid women of their rights of getting education and employment, under alleged religious interpretations. [Al-Arabiya, 4/25/12]
Daily Mail Picks Up Al-Arabiya Report
Daily Mail Asserts "Egyptian Husbands Will Soon Be Legally Allowed To Have Sex With Their Dead Wives." From the Daily Mail:
Egyptian husbands will soon be legally allowed to have sex with their dead wives -- for up to six hours after their death.
The controversial new law is part of a raft of measures being introduced by the Islamist-dominated parliament.
It will also see the minimum age of marriage lowered to 14 and the ridding of women's rights of getting education and employment.
Egypt's National Council for Women is campaigning against the changes, saying that 'marginalising and undermining the status of women would negatively affect the country's human development'. [Daily Mail, 4/26/12, via Gateway Pundit]
Others In The Media Questioned Story's Legitimacy
Christian Science Monitor: Chance Of Such A Law Passing "Is Zero." From the Christian Science Monitor:
Today, Egypt's state-owned Al Ahram newspaper published an opinion piece by Amr Abdul Samea, a past stalwart supporter of the deposed Hosni Mubarak, that contained a bombshell: Egypt's parliament is considering passing a law that would allow husbands to have sex with their wives after death.
It was soon mentioned in an English language version of Al-Arabiya and immediately started zipping around social-networking sites. By this afternoon it had set news sites and the rest of the Internet on fire. It has every thing: The yuck factor, "those creepy Muslims" factor, the lulz factor for those with a sick sense of humor. The non-fact-checked Daily Mail picked it up and reported it as fact. Then Andrew Sullivan, who has a highly influential blog but is frequently lax about fact-checking, gave it a boost with an uncritical take. The Huffington Post went there, too.
There's of course one problem: The chances of any such piece of legislation being considered by the Egyptian parliament for a vote is zero. And the chance of it ever passing is less than that. In fact, color me highly skeptical that anyone is even trying to advance a piece of legislation like this through Egypt's parliament. I'm willing to be proven wrong. It's possible that there's one or two lawmakers completely out of step with the rest of parliament. Maybe.
But extreme, not to mention inflammatory claims, need at minimum some evidence (and I've read my share of utter nonsense in Al Ahram over the years). The evidence right now? Zero. [Christian Science Monitor, 4/26/12]
Foreign Policy Blogger Calls Story "Too Good To Check." From a Foreign Policy blog post by David Kenner:
It has not been a banner week for media coverage of the Arab world. Blame it on journalists unfamiliar with their subject matter, the demands of an ever-quicker news cycle, or simply salacious stories that were "too good to check" -- a number of stories that have made it into major media outlets recently are simply not true, or omit essential details of the tale.
First, and most infamously, we have the "farewell sex" episode. The story, which was reported in al-Arabiya and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Huffington Post, goes like this: Islamists in the Egyptian parliament were contemplating a bill that would allow husbands to have sex with their wives for six hours after death. The only problem? As the Christian Science Monitor's Dan Murphy writes, the story is "utter hooey." The rumor was initially advanced in an opinion piece by a partisan of deposed President Hosni Mubarak's regime, and caught fire in the international media from there - without anyone doing a basic fact-check. [Passport blog, Foreign Policy, 4/27/12]
Nevertheless, Right-Wing Media Run With Story
Limbaugh Reads Daily Mail Account, Adds: "Who Provides The Contraceptives When An Egyptian Guy Has Sex With His Dead Wife?" From Rush Limbaugh's radio show:
LIMBAUGH: The UK Daily Mail is reporting that the Muslim Brotherhood has passed a law granting husbands permission to have sex with their wives up to six hours after the wife has died. It's exactly right. "Egyptian husbands will soon be legally allowed to have sex with their dead wives -- for up to six hours after their death. The controversial new law is part of a raft of measures being introduced by the Islamist-dominated parliament," under the control of the Muslim Brotherhood. I read this, and I said, "The NAGs are coming after me. The NOW gang is coming after me, and, meanwhile, in Egypt husbands will be able to have sex with their wives up to six hours after the wife has died." (interruption) What do you mean a widespread problem? No, no, no. Look, I'm not an expert here on Sharia law. I'm not an expert in this. I don't know if this is new or if it's been practiced and they just finally had to codify it because it's been going on for so long.
The Daily Mail, the UK Daily Mail, which reports the story, is holding out the possibility that this could be bogus. That's what I mean seeded by pro-Mubarak forces to embarrass the Brotherhood, which, of course, has a very, very tight relationship with Obama. The Brotherhood was here. The Brotherhood had White House meetings. I mean, before they were elected heads of state. The Brotherhood is more welcome in the White House than Boehner is, for example. By the way, lest you think that this is sexist, wives also have permission to have sex with their dead husbands in Egypt for six hours after he has died, but nobody has figured out yet how to successfully perform sex on a male corpse. I'm told that engineers are working on it. Dawn's shaking her head. "This can't be true. It can't."
I know, that's the initial knee-jerk reaction to this. But it hit, I first heard it yesterday afternoon when I got home and immediately started working on today's program. The new law, which allows all this post-death sex, "will also see the minimum age of marriage lowered to 14 and the ridding of women's rights of getting education and employment." The law will now make it possible for women to be prohibited from getting an education or a job. Meanwhile, the NAGs are coming after me. "Egypt's National Council for Women is campaigning against the changes, saying that 'marginalising and undermining the status of women would negatively affect the country's human development.'"
LIMBAUGH: Folks, I will never forget this. We had this video, in fact, on the Rush Limbaugh television show back in the nineties. Back when Bill Clinton was president, they discovered a mummy. I think it was a Peruvian mummy, and they named the mummy Juanita. It was an Incan mummy, newly discovered on the display at the National Geographic Museum. And when they first discovered this, somehow Clinton made reference to it. I will never forget, he actually said this, folks. And this ties into the necrophilia story, Muslim Brotherhood. Clinton said, (imitating Clinton) "You know, if I were a single man, I might ask that mummy out. That's a good-looking mummy." Dawn, you weren't with us then, but don't doubt me. This actually happened. And nobody was surprised that Clinton would look at a hundred-year-old mummy and see a sex object. So I'm wondering if Clinton's been to Egypt.
LIMBAUGH: I shoulda suspected this. I didn't. I should have. I wasn't thinking. All of the reaction, e-mails I'm getting to the story out of Egypt, Muslim Brotherhood now permitting sex with your dead wife for six hours after her death, one question I had of my own was, "Who provides the contraceptives when an Egyptian guy has sex with his dead wife?" I got an e-mail from a guy who said, "How did the Egyptian men know that their wife is dead when they're having sex with them?" I shoulda known that I was gonna get this kind of stuff. And now all the wizards of smart are saying, "Hey, Rush, ever heard of rigor mortis? I mean, that could be a way for the wife to continue the coital relationship post-death." I don't know enough about rigor mortis and how long it lasts and what all it affects. But it sounds good to me. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 4/27/12]
Daily Caller Picks Up Daily Mail Account. From the Daily Caller:
Mum's the word.
The Islamist majority in Egypt's parliament introduced a bill this week that would legally allow husbands to have sex with their deceased wives up to six hours after their death, the Daily Mail reports.
Consideration of the issue began when Moroccan cleric Zamzami Abdul Bari said marriage remains valid after death, pointing out that women have the right to indulge in sexual pleasures after the death of a husband.
Bari is known for starting controversy. Two years ago he said it was permissible for women to drink alcohol while pregnant. [Daily Caller, 4/26/12]
Hoft Takes False Account Even Further, Claiming "Egyptian Lawmakers Approve Sex With Dead Wives." Under the headline "Yippie. Egyptian Lawmakers Approve Sex With Dead Wives Up to 6 Hours After Death," Gateway Pundit's Jim Hoft wrote:
It's part of the grieving process.
Islamist Spring--
Egyptian husbands will now be allowed to have sex with their dead wives up to 6 hours after their death.
The Daily Mail reported, via Free Republic: [Gateway Pundit, 4/26/12]
Geller Picks Up Daily Mail Account, Calls It "Another Unprecedented Obama Failure." Pamela Geller wrote at her Atlas Shrugs blog:
I told you so, but even I couldn't predict this.
More of the colossal fallout from Obama's "cosmic wager" on Islamic groups taking over Egypt. This is the left's idea of "freedom." How they loved this revolution. Media mea culpa? Never. Don't expect the media to clue America in on another unprecedented Obama failure. [Atlas Shrugs, 4/26/12]
CNN Contributor Dana Loesch Reads From Daily Mail Article. From Loesch's radio show:
LOESCH: Well, listen, here's how crazy it is. "Egyptian husbands will soon be allowed to legally have sex with their dead wives -- for up to six hours after their death. The controversial" -- this is the Daily Mail -- "The controversial new law is part of a raft of measures being introduced by the Islamist-dominated parliament. It will also see the minimum age of marriage lowered to 14, the ridding of women's rights of getting rid of women getting education and employment." So glad that you all went out there and protested, right? Yay. [KFTK, The Dana Show, 4/26/12]
Hannity Reads From Daily Mail Article. From Sean Hannity's radio show:
HANNITY: Anyway, so the new Egyptian parliament from this point forward, Egyptian husbands -- now, remember I predicted too that Shariah law would become the law of the land. Why? Because I looked at public opinion polls. I said this in the middle of the Arab Spring. I was called at the time Muslim Brotherhood-obsessed. Maybe, based on this news today, it's a healthy obsession because now the Egyptian parliament says that Egyptian husbands will now legally be able to have sex with their dead wives. "Hannity, you made this up." Nope. It is all part of the new Islamists that have taken power to end rights, frankly, for women almost entirely, which is in keeping with their interpretation of Shariah. And our president -- we've given $1.5 billion to Egypt, federal tax dollars.
I'll read it directly from the UK Daily Mail. "Egyptian husbands will soon be legally allowed to have sex with their dead wives -- for up to six hours after their death. The controversial new law is part of a raft of measures being introduced by the Islamist-dominated parliament." What happened to the democracy? "It will also see the minimum age of marriage lowered to 14 and the ridding of women's rights of getting an education and employment." Sounds like the Taliban. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 4/26/12]
Huckabee: Women's Groups "Have Been Silent As A Corpse On This Stuff." From Mike Huckabee's radio show:
HUCKABEE: Now, the next proposal is one that is so outrageous, so goes against everything I think most of us in a civilization would think to be acceptable, even tolerable, that I want to warn you before I tell you what it is this is not for the faint of heart. And I'm not doing this for shock value, this is actually being proposed as a package of laws in the reconstituted Egypt. The most controversial part of is a proposal called the "farewell intercourse law." And as Dave Barry says, you can't make this stuff up. Now, this is crazy. It would allow men to have sex with their dead wives for up to six hours after their deaths. Did you hear? They would be able to have sex with their dead wives for up to six hours after their wives have died. Defenders say that it's based on a Muslim religious principle that marriage remains valid even after death. They also claim that women would be able to have sex with their dead husbands as well. Because you know a lot of women would love to do that, right?
The proposals have clearly sparked outrage among non-Islamist Egyptians and protests by Egypt's National Council for Women. But what I don't understand is, so far women's rights groups like the National Organization for Women have been as silent as a corpse on this stuff. I simply do not understand it. Where are the women who we're used to saying this is wrong? I mean, I can remember -- and nobody's roaring. Hillary Clinton has gone all over the world talking about women's rights. Is she going to say something? And if not, why not? You know, the Democrats have been talking about a war on women -- there is a war on women. It's going on in Egypt. [Cumulus Media, The Mike Huckabee Show, 4/27/12]
Daily Mail Alters Its Story After Questions Are Raised
Poynter: Daily Mail Story "Now Includes A Bit Of Hedging." From the Poynter Institute blog Regret the Error:
The Daily Mail's story has also been updated, though it still carries a declarative headline: "Outrage as Egypt plans 'farewell intercourse law' so husbands can have sex with DEAD wives up to six hours after their death."
The Mail piece now includes a bit of hedging in the lead: "Egyptian husbands will soon be legally allowed to have sex with their dead wives for up to six hours after their death, local media is claiming."
But that wasn't there when it was published yesterday morning.
"Egyptian husbands will soon be legally allowed to have sex with their dead wives -- for up to six hours after their death," was how it read.
The story also now includes these details at the bottom of the piece:
Although reported in local media, there are some suggestions from within Egypt that the plans do not exist and were merely seeded by journalists loyal to ousted President Hosni Mubarak.
MailOnline has contacted the Egyptian Embassy and Consulate in London for comment on the claimed proposals, and is yet to receive a reply.
[Regret the Error blog, Poynter Institute, 4/27/12]
Al-Arabiya Follows Up, Finds No Evidence Any Such Law Was Proposed In Parliament
Al-Arabiya: "Members Of The Egyptian Parliament ... Denied Existence Of Any Such Draft." From Al-Arabiya:
Members of the Egyptian parliament responded to the uproar caused by Egyptian and Arab media reports about a new law that would allow a husband to have sex with his dead wife within six hours after her death and denied existence of any such draft.
"This is indecent and nonsense. The whole issue is unacceptable. It is even unacceptable to give any statement to media about this issue," Islamist MP Mamdouh Ismail told Al Arabiya.
The news about passing the so-called 'Farewell Intercourse' law by the country's Islamist-dominated parliament was first reported by Egyptian state-run al-Ahram newspaper and Egyptian ON TV on Tuesday. It was picked up and analyzed by Al Arabiya English a day later, following which international media picked up the story.
The People's Assembly Secretary General, Samy Mahran, denied to Al Arabiya the existence of such draft law. "I have never heard of anything in this regard," he said.
Egyptian MP Hisham Ahmed Hanafi told the London-based Asharq al-Awsat on Saturday that "such reports are completely false and aim mainly to deform the image of the Egyptian parliament."
Egyptian Islamist MP Ashraf Agour of the Construction and Development Party also denied the reports and said that "the issue has never been discussed in the parliament," according to Asharq al-Awsat.
Egypt's al-Ahram had published an opinion piece by columnist Amro Abdul Samea on Tuesday reporting that the National Council for Women (NCW) had appealed to the parliament not to approve the controversial laws of minimum age of marriage and 'Farewell Intercourse'.
The appeal came in a message sent by NCW chief, Mervat al-Talawi, to the Egyptian People's Assembly Speaker, Dr. Saad al-Katatni, addressing the woes of Egyptian women.
The message was referring to the two specific laws of legalizing the marriage of girls starting from the age of 14 and permitting a husband to have sex with his dead wife within the six hours following her death.
Despite attempts to contact Abdul Samea, Al Arabiya was not able to get through to him to discuss the contents of the message.
Analysts have said the news was a hoax planted by supporters of Hosni Mubarak to defame Egyptian Islamists.
Egyptian prominent journalist and TV anchor Jaber al-Qarmouty on Tuesday referred to al-Ahram's article in his daily show on Egyptian ON TV and criticized the whole notion of "permitting a husband to have sex with his wife after her death under a so-called 'Farewell Intercourse' draft law."
Qarmouty seemed shocked and posed several questions on the issue: "This is very serious. Could the panel that will draft the Egyptian constitution possibly discuss such issues? Did Abdul Samea see by his own eyes the text of the message sent by Talawi to Katatni? This is unbelievable. It is a catastrophe to give the husband such a right! Has the Islamic trend reached that far? Is there really a draft law in this regard? Are there people thinking in this manner?" [Al-Arabiya, 4/30/12]
Right-Wing Media Regularly Promotes Islamophobic Attacks
Anti-Muslim Activists Attack TLC's All-American Muslim As "A Little Taqiyya On The Prairie." Anti-Muslim activists attacked the TLC reality show All-American Muslim as "propaganda," "a video version of jihad," and "A Little Taqiyya on the Prairie." Television critics, meanwhile, have praised the show for portraying the diversity of the American Muslim community. [Media Matters, 11/29/11]
Right-Wing Media Respond To Park51 Grant Application With Islamophobia. The right-wing media responded to reports that the proposed Park51 Islamic center in New York City was applying for a federal grant with anti-Islamic smears and baseless accusations. [Media Matters, 11/23/10]
Dick Morris Uses Fox To Push His Anti-Muslim Petition. Fox News contributor Dick Morris repeatedly used his Fox appearances to promote a petition on his website opposing the Park51 Islamic community center. Morris has a history of inflammatory attacks on Park51, including the outrageous claim that the community center is "designed to celebrate the attacks that killed 3,000 Americans." [Media Matters, 9/1/11]
Fox News Mainstreamed Pam Geller's Islamophobic Hate Speech. In the aftermath of the tragic shooting in Oslo, Norway, the manifesto of accused killer Anders Behring Breivik is being examined, and commenters are noting that he frequently cited fringe, so-called "antijihad" writers including Atlas Shrugs blogger Pamela Geller. Geller has long been a reliable source for Fox when the network needs or wants to highlight far-right, fringe, and extremist opinions -- and Geller has only benefited from the exposure. [Media Matters, 7/25/11]
Report On Islamophobia Highlights Role Played By Right-Wing Media. A revealing report by the Center for American Progress describes the network of anti-Muslim "experts" who relentlessly promote Islamophobia in America, as well as the sources of their funding. Many of these "experts" are also familiar figures in the right-wing media. [Media Matters, 8/26/11]


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By now, it's well known that massive sums were poured into Wisconsin's recall elections, from the candidates, parties and outside groups. But little attention has been paid to where this money went.
Television commercials, you say? That's a big part of it. But perhaps not as big as dazed viewers suspect.
The state Government Accountability Board tracks expenditures by payer, filing period and purpose. For the two filing periods this year, covering from Jan. 1 to May 21, various players spent a total of $63.7 million on the six recall races that culminated in the June 5 election. This includes about $20 million in reported independent expenditures from outside groups.
Some caveats: There may be omissions and duplications in the data, and not every expenditure is itemized. This analysis is a snapshot, not a panorama. It doesn't include, for instance, the $8.4 million that Gov. Scott Walker spent in 2011, before most recall race candidates even left the starting block, or spending after May 21, for which detailed breakdowns have not been reported.
Total spending on the governor's race alone could reach $80 million, according to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, a nonpartisan watchdog.
These caveats noted, here are some observations on how the $63.7 million in reported spending breaks down:
Television advertising was the largest spending category, at $26.1 million. But this was only 41 percent of the total. Radio ads cost nearly $1.1 million (1.7 percent), with $1 million going for online ads.
Meanwhile, advertising in newspapers — arguably the most thorough and authoritative source of political campaign coverage — totaled $46,310, or less than one-tenth of 1 percent. Ouch.
The various players spent $10.4 million on mailing lists and service during these two reporting periods, or about 16 percent. Walker spent $6.8 million on mailings; his Democratic challenger, Tom Barrett, spent $95,318.
Printing of all kinds — brochures, copies, yard signs, buttons and bumper stickers — cost $1.3 million, or 2 percent of the total under review. Spending on fundraisers, including donated auction items, totaled $227,445. Phone banks and robo calls cost $841,076.
Nearly $2.4 million went for consulting fees, and another $1.3 million for research and polls. Legal fees totaled $523,425, with Walker's campaign paying nearly two-thirds of this amount.
Campaign staff wages and employment taxes cost $5.1 million, or 8 percent of the total. Staff expenses including benefits, travel, lodging, gas, mileage and parking, came to just $293,651.
The various players also reported spending just over $1 million on administrative expenses, $534,776 on office rent, furniture and supplies, $350,253 on postage, $146,828 on meeting expenses, $82,693 on utilities including Internet and phones, and $9,858 on meals for volunteers.
Some available GAB spending categories showed little or no activity. There were no reported gifts or forfeitures. No legal fees were spent on "Plaintiff Libel Suits" or "Campaign MisInformation," and no money reportedly went for "Capitol Office Expenses" or "Wages – Capitol Office Staff."
A total of $319,295 was earmarked as "Charitable Donation." Of this, $306,200 was charity bestowed on May 18 by the Greater Wisconsin Political Independent Expenditure Fund, a pro-Democrat group, to the Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin Political Fund.
Finally, there was a single outlay for "Candidate Expense – Clothing." The campaign for Arthur Kohl-Riggs, a young Madison man who challenged Walker in the GOP primary, spent $104.45 at the Jazzman on State Street. He says he bought a shirt and tie for a public appearance.
Overall, Kohl-Riggs spent $1,933 and snared 19,939 votes (3 percent of the primary total), an economical 10 cents per vote. In all, about 3,830,000 votes were cast for governor in the primary and general elections. If $80 million was spent, that's more than $20 per vote.
The nonprofit Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism (www.WisconsinWatch.org) collaborates with Wisconsin Public Radio, Wisconsin Public Television, other news media and the UW-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication. All works created, published, posted or disseminated by the Center do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of UW-Madison or any of its affiliates.


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We're pleased to announce that we'll be holding a series of Display Ads API Workshops in April 2017. These workshops are a half-day of tech talks, group discussions, networking activities, and one-on-one time with Googlersgeared toward developers who use the DoubleClick for Publishers API, Interactive Media Ads SDK, or Mobile Ads SDKs.
These workshops offer you the following:
- A great way for you to meet with the display ads API team to ask questions in person and give feedback directly to us.
- A great opportunity to meet and exchange ideas with fellow developers in the community.
- Previews of API and SDK roadmaps and select upcoming features.
- For the first time, one-on-one office hours with ads API Googlers. Sign-ups will be available on-site on the day of the workshops.
The workshops will be held in the following cities:
- New York - April 20, 2017
Register here
Location: Google New York (Chelsea Market)
- San Francisco - April 25, 2017
Register here
Location: Google San Francisco
For more information on the agenda and a preview of our talks, please see our workshop page.
As always, if you have any questions, feel free to drop us a line on the DFP API forums, IMA SDK forums, Mobile Ads SDK forums, or the Ads Developer Google+ page.


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|Llewellyn's 2019 Daily Planetary Guide
|Yoga for the Creative Soul
|The Pure Heart of Yoga
Curiosity is a great cure-all because it generates energy and enthusiasm. Even if you don't have much control over your present circumstances, you can nevertheless indulge your curiosity with simple tarot readings. The following is a "card search" technique that gives you something to look forward to.
As you shuffle your deck, pose the request, "Please show me the next new thing in my life, and the next piece of news coming in." Or, more simply, "What's new, and what's news?" When you have shuffled and cut your deck in your preferred manner, place your deck face up, with the pictures showing. (I find that card search readings are easier when you place the deck face up and start from there, although this is the opposite of what you might normally do in a Tarot reading.) Starting from the top, go through your deck until you come to the first Ace and the first Page. As you come across them, pull the Ace and the Page, as well as the cards which flank them on either side.
The Ace tells you of the next new matter to manifest in your life, while the Page deals with significant information coming in to you, and can also tell you something about what kind of messenger will be involved. The flanking cards provide additional information on the nature of the new matters and news coming your way. As for the particulars of layout and interpretation, it doesn't matter whether the Ace or the Page comes up first. If you encounter several Aces before you get to a Page, or several Pages before you get to an Ace, just concern yourself with the first Page and the first Ace for the purposes of this simple reading. The news that the Page represents and the new matter that the Ace represents do not have to be related to each other. However, if your Ace and Page are of the same suit, the concerns of that suit are doubly emphasized, and they are likely to be connected. Also, if the Ace and the Page come up fairly close together, say within five cards apart, the news to be received and the new situation are likely connected; in this case, you would also look at the cards between them.
Briefly, the Ace of Pentacles can denote new responsibilities or financial matters; the Ace of Cups, new emotional experiences, which could lead to a friendship or even a love affair; the Swords can foretell the emergence of a new cause or conflict; the Wands tend to predict a new project or creative venture. If your Aces are flanked by cards that appear to represent other people, the new development in question may be brought about by others; however, if the Ace is accompanied by your significator or some other card that you identify with, this is likely something that comes out of your own initiative.
In many ways, the Pages are similar to the Aces just described, because they also tend to represent the arrival of something new. However, in this context, we are concerned with them more as messages and message bearers. So, the Page of Pentacles may denote a serious person, possibly a student, bringing news of practical or financial matters. The Page of Swords has traditional associations with gossip and spying, though in less negative circumstances, he or she could be a clever, observant person bringing strategic information pertaining to the solution of a problem. The Page of Cups could especially turn out to be a sensitive child, or bear news pertaining to children's matters and the things of youth, or even news of a pregnancy. The Page of Cups could also bring a message of affection, possibly a love letter. As communications are a particular concern of the Wands cards, the Page of Wands could bring news that involves some new communications medium. There is also a tarot tradition that if the Page of Wands comes up alongside a card denoting another person—and the other indicators are favorable—there will be a good report of that person.
If your Ace comes up reversed, it can mean that the new matter in question will be developing in a behind-the-scenes sort of way, so you may be slow to take notice of it. A reversed Page may denote some problems in getting the news across, such as delays or miscommunications. However, reversed cards may also be graphically significant if the reversal affects the direction in which people or objects in the illustrations are facing, moving, or gesturing.
Knowing that Aces stand for the emergence of new things in your life, you can help materialize the things they represent by trying something new, as inspired by the graphics and symbolism of their suits. For example, to activate Wands energies, start a creative project or small-scale enterprise doing something you enjoy. Alternatively, as a symbolic act, you could plant a tree, inspired by the idea of new life and the fact that some card decks portray the wands sprouting leaves. To bring out some of the most positive potentials of the Swords, you could identify a new cause and volunteer some time to it; as a symbolic token, you could buy yourself a fancy letter opener. Because the Ace of Pentacles can denote money coming into your life, you could help your money grow by setting some aside for a special savings account; for symbolism, you could obtain a pendant in the form of a pentacle, commemorative coin, or medallion. Because the Cups pertain to the inner life, you could seek out new emotional experiences by attending some sort of spiritual session, such as a retreat; you could indulge the sensual qualities of the Cups by treating yourself to something like massage therapy. As a symbolic activity, you could try some new drink; for example, go to a juice bar and quaff some new sort of health-food concoction.
Taking the initiative in these ways not only helps to activate any positive events the Aces predict, it also redirects the potentially negative. So, if your Ace was reversed or flanked by cards of hardship or disappointment, implementing some good things associated with that Ace changes your future by changing your experience of that Ace.
You can also act on the Pages' symbolism, to prime the pump for good news and get something positive out of potentially disruptive news, by sending some good news out and generating other positive communications. In the case of the Page of Cups, you could send tokens of affection to your loved ones and renew contacts with old friends. For Wands and Swords, you could share information about new ideas and ideals. For Pentacles, you might want to send some practical or financial advice, or even send money to help some worthy individual in a practical way.
This card search technique using the Aces and Pages is something you can do often, because there is always something new coming along. Having a glimpse of the future, as well as some ideas for bringing out its best potentials, helps make our world come alive, because it puts us into a state of hopeful expectancy. This enhances our ability to find meaning in the smallest incidents of our mundane lives, opening us to serendipitous coincidences and other magical synchronicities.
Janina Renée is a scholar of folklore, psychology, medical anthropology, the material culture of magic, ritual studies, history, and literature. Her books include Tarot Spells, Tarot Your Everyday Guide (winner ...


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On February 7-8, 2018, Christ Fellowship Church based in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida is hosting an exclusive conference to equip and empower pastors, ministers and church leaders to bring their churches to the next level in all areas of church life.
Power packed with 6 General Sessions and 10 Breakout Sessions over two days, leaders will go home with an array of tools to elevate their churches and congregations to the glory of God and building of His Kingdom. Special Speakers include Dr. Tom Mullins, Christ Fellowship Church Founding Pastor; Todd and Julie Mullins, Christ Fellowship Senior Pastors; Chris Hodges, Founding Pastor, Church of the Highlands in Birmingham, AL and Lead Pastor Rich Wilkerson, Jr. of Vous Church, Miami, FL.
Breakout Sessions available to attendees include detail-rich information on: Leadership, Stewardship, Discipleship, Culture, Creative, Operations, Multi-Site, Missions, Students, and Children Ministries.
Each breakout is packed with information on every aspect imaginable in that particular category. For example, the Missions breakout covers everything including creating a Missions strategy, congregation engagement, cultivating donors, elevating social justice and much more.
Children's Ministry includes information on creating a strategy, elementary, family integration, special needs, and volunteers. Stewardship includes information on going beyond the tithe to build personal stewardship, church family stewardship, campaigns, donors, and more. Creative and Operations takes attendees behind the scenes on creating worship culture from equipment, systems, multi-site coordination, events, production, collaboration, execution, and more.
The Christ Fellowship Conference is for all church leaders of all sizes to elevate their game in building and discipling the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. Each aspect is a fountain of wealth for everyone.
Pre-Conference Connect on February 6th is specifically designed for Student and Young Adult Pastors featuring Rich Wilkerson, Jr. from 1:30pm (conference registration)-9pm.
Registration is open and more details can be found at http://christfellowshipconference.com.
Christ Fellowship Church 5343 Northlake Boulevard Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33418 (800) 323-5743
Single Registration is $140/per person or Groups at $99/person


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General Surgery
You might have surgery, whether you need it or you elect to have it, for many reasons. Ideally we exhaust all other treatment options, then we explore surgery together. Surgery can help you keep your active lifestyle. It will get you back to enjoying the best quality of life possible.
General surgery treats several parts of the body. Abdominal surgeries present the highest amount of general surgeries including:
- Abdominal surgery, for the appendix, gallbladder, liver, spleen, and pancreas
- Digestive tract, including the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, colon and anus
- Hernia repairs
We also use general surgery to treat:
- Skin
- Soft tissue diseases throughout the body
- Thyroid and parathyroid glands in the neck
General surgeons rarely treat the kidneys / urinary bladder, the male prostate or female reproductive organs.
We use surgery as a treatment for both cancerous and non-cancerous conditions.
Surgery options
We can, and like to, complete most surgical procedures using minimally invasive techniques. However, some conditions may require a more traditional treatment approach, like open surgery. Whenever possible, we do our surgeries as outpatient procedures, so you can go home the same day.
Depending on your diagnosis, you and your doctor will discuss which of the below surgeries are right for your condition:
Optional or elective surgery
These surgical procedures are those you choose to have and they may not be essential to continue your quality of life. We can schedule this surgery in advance as it isn't a medical emergency. Examples of optional surgery might be breast implants or the removal of skin tabs.
Required surgery
Required surgery is one that needs to occur to ensure your quality of life in the future. However, the surgery does not need to be completed immediately. This means that we can schedule your surgery in advance, giving you plenty of time to prepare. An example would be hernia surgery, joint replacement or a mastectomy for breast cancer.
Urgent or emergency surgery
We use this surgery in reaction to an urgent medical reason, such as acute appendicitis, gallbladder issues or a trauma event.
Trauma surgery
Trauma surgery focuses care for those injured in a traumatic event. This might be in car, bicycle or motorcycle accident,a severe trip or fall as well as a skiing or snowboarding incident.


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Lancaster Tour 2014
For the first time in more than 50 years, two Lancaster Bombers flew together, on the 13th August 2014, at RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire. These are the only two airworthy Lancasters in the world, one based at Coningsby and one in Canada, flown over specially to tour for a few weeks through the summer. To any aviation enthusiast, this was a truly remarkable event and these images were captured during the weeks the two spent together in August and September 2014.Read More


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This is the perfect small event space for meetings, workshops, yoga, fitness & dance classes, spa parties, book clubs and so much mor...Read more
North Bowl Lanes71 E Washington St, North Attleboro, MA★Featured ListingNorth Bowl Lanes is located in North Attleboro, MA, only 15 minutes from Providence, RI.
We features 40 state of the art bowling lanes with lounge seating. With an all new upscale look, this is defi...Read more
Games2U BostonBoston, MASpecialties
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Art School 9999 Franklin Street, Allston, MAWith special programs, classes and workshops Art School 99 is dedicated to helping all students, both old and young, to discover themselves as artists, creators and thinkers. Art school 99 is especiall...Read more
KinetiCreations800 Boylston St, Boston, MAKinetiCreations is a game building workshop for kids grades K-8 where imagination gains momentum! In our Prudential Mall location, or at your home we up cycle every day materials to help children dream...Read more
Imagine: A Center for Community and the Arts23 Bay State Rd., Cambridge, MAWe are a playspace, birthday party venue, art gallery, and much more! We are located in Cambridge, MA. Our birthday parties are appropriate for boys and girls of all ages. We have private party room...Read more
Empow Studios1776 Massachusetts Ave, 2nd Fl, Lexington, MALet's Party!
Ever dream of having a birthday were you create animations, build robotics, program video games, play Minecraft and more? Well look no further, Empow has what you need.
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Dalby Farm59 Grove Street, Scituate, MADalby Farm in Scituate MA is a great place to host birthday parties for boys and girls! Dalby Farm has various rare farm breeds ranging from rare poultry to rare livestock. We are actively involved in ...Read more
Plaster Fun TimeView details25 Austin Street, Charlestown, MA
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I am not specialist on Topological Group Theory, I apologize if this is a trivial question.
Question. If $G_1=G_2$ are amenable topological groups what additional hypothesis we have to consider on the group, in order to prove that $G_1\times G_2$ is amenable ?
Following Leinster, in this question Why are abelian groups amenable?,
"The direct product of two amenable groups is amenable. This isn't exactly trivial, but the measure on the product is at least constructed canonically from the two given measures."
So discreteness of the $G_1$ and $G_2$ are enough to prove that $G_1\times G_2$ is amenable and also we do not need to suppose that $G_1=G_2$.
Looking for a proof, in more general cases, I found the following statement:
"... direct product $G_1\times G_2$ of two countable amenable groups can not be amenable."
in the paper, On Subadditive Processes on Direct Product of Countable Amenable Groups by Seyit Temir - Publications De l'Institute Mathématique (2002), 119-122.
Since the author did not mention if the example needs two different groups and I have no access to the paper containing this information, I decided to post this question.
I would be grateful if you could point me out some references discussing about this problem.


text: Add to Cart CabinetNow Angled Upper Cabinet - Walnut Assembly Required: This product is flat-packed for shipping and will require assembly. Check out our assembly guide for more information. Left Stile: 1.5" Right Stile: 1.5" Top Rail: 2.25" Bottom Rail: 1.5" Toe Kick: N/A Divide Rail:... Product Details Starts at $139.15 Add To Cart


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This is the place where God gave to Moses Ten Commandments. We were lucky to come there on the sunset, and spent unforgettable night on the top, one of incredible views from there is this VR. Comming more ;)
Egypt ; Arabic: مصر, Miṣr or Máṣr) is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia. Covering an area of about 1,010,000 square kilometers (390,000 sq mi), Egypt borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west.Egypt is one of the most populous countries in Africa and the Middle East. The great majority of its estimated 82 million live near the banks of the Nile River, in an area of about 40,000 square kilometers (15,000 sq mi), where the only arable agricultural land is found. The large areas of the Sahara Desert are sparsely inhabited. About half of Egypt's residents live in urban areas, with the majority spread across the densely-populated centres of greater Cairo, Alexandria and other major cities in the Nile Delta.Egypt is famous for its ancient civilization and some of the world's most famous monuments, including the Giza pyramid complex and its Great Sphinx. The southern city of Luxor contains numerous ancient artifacts, such as the Karnak Temple and the Valley of the Kings. Egypt is widely regarded as an important political and cultural nation of the Middle East.


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Employee Self-Service (ESS)
ESS is a web-based service, which allows employees to log into a web portal to view and update their own data in the Human Resources/Payroll Systems of SAP. The level of security is similar to accessing commercial sites such as your bank and requires secured password access.
ESS allows employees to view:
- Payroll statements (Current and past)
- Benefit plans, coverage, dependents and contributions
- Leave Balances
- Banking Information
- TSA and other saving plans contributions
- Addresses and other personal data (dates of hire)
ESS allows employees to update:
- Emergency contact information
- W4 withholding information
Logging into ESS
To log into ESS, use your full email address as the username and your regular network account password as the password. This is the same password used to log into your office computer or webmail.
Password Assistance
If you are unable to log in and need password assistance, please review the password information page for important password information, including how to change or reset a password.
Quick Start Logging In
How to Enter Leave in ESS
PASSHE Training Materials


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About the "Lab Test Price Review Chart"
There are a number of companies which offer direct to the customer (DTC) medical laboratory testing. Self ordering online lab testing is a useful and valuable tool for healthcare consumers to help better manage their care. With these services patients can self-order lab tests online and doctor orders are not required. One big benefit of ordering your own lab tests are the cost savings offered compared to having lab tests ordered by a doctor and testing performed through their clinic or hospital. The companies which offer these services and lab tests work with CLIA certified labs that most doctors use and offer deep discounts (sometimes up to 80%) direct to the health consumer. This is good news for consumers who are uninsured, under-insured, or those simply wanting to know the status of their health.
This independent online review was performed on September 5,2014. It was done by simply comparing the prices listed at internet websites for each of the following tests; Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH), Luteinizing Hormone (LH), Progesterone, Estrogen, Estrone, Estradiol (E2), Testosterone Free & Total, Sex Hormone Binding Globulin (SHBG), Testosterone Free & Total With Sex Hormone Binding Globulin (SHBG), DHEA,s, Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) With Free T4, Inhibin B, Anti-Mullerian Hormone (AMH), Homocysteine, Complete Blood Count (CBC), Complete Metabolic Panel (CMP), Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA), Fibrinogen, Vitamin B-12, Iron And Total Iron Binding Capacity (TIBC), Cortisol, Cholesterol, Lipid Panel, Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), C-Reactive Protein (CRP), and Urinalysis, Macroscopic (dipstick).
*Note, a recent review performed November 15, 2019 found Ulta Lab Tests still to be the best value.
Diagnosis of medical conditions are not made at this web site. This website is an informational site only. It is suggested that consumers who order their own lab heath tests online forward and discuss the results with their personal physician.
Search terms for this page include: lab tests, blood tests,blood testing, lab testing, lab test info, laboratory test information, laboratory tests, laboratory testing, medical tests, medical test information, clinical lab tests, patient education, healthcare education, health care management, health care information, lab news, testing news, screening tests, hormone tests, menopause test, menopause, peri menopause, liver blood test, men's blood tests, discount online blood tests, psa blood test, thyroid blood test, TSH blood test, Wellness blood testing, Women's blood tests, Food allergy testing, Diabetes Blood testing, STD, Sexually Transmitted Diseases Testing, Anti aging blood test, lab test, blood test, metabolism test.
Information made available from MedLabTesting.net


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is mymoney777 safe or legal? is mymoney777 scam or fake?
Reputation rating
reputation score: 0
Danger ! Low Reputation Rating. mymoney777.ru May Not Be Safe to Use.
More Check Info
Site Details
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* This website is deemed to be popular by Alexa.


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Make Web Not War, the conference on how Microsoft and open source tools and technologies can work together takes place in a week! Because we're feeling pumped about this event and got an advance shipment of swag, we thought we'd share the wealth. If you've already registered for Make Web Not War (which you can do here, for free), here's how you can win some cool stuff before the event next Thursday.
How Do You Win Swag By Bringing a Friend?
Invite a friend to register to attend Make Web Not War, which takes next Thursday, May 27th, in Montreal at "Reunion – Ambiance A La Carte" (6600 Hutchison).
On the registration form, one of the questions in the optional section is "Where did you hear about this event?" Ask your friend to answer this question by selecting "Friend" from the drop-down menu and specifying your name in the field below it, as shown below:
This offer is available only to those friends who haven't yet registered.
What Will You Get?
If you get a friend to register and specify that you made the referral before Friday, May 21st, you and your friend will each get this cool 2GB Make Web Not War USB key:
If you're among the first 25 people to bring one friend, you'll get a Make Web Not War T-shirt:
If you're among the first 25 people to bring two friends, you'll get a $25 Jump Card, which is good for discounts at major stores across Canada:
The first person to bring five friends gets a special Make Web Not War bundle that includes a token for an MSDN Premium Subscription, which is valued at $2,500:
What are you waiting for? Go invite a friend to Make Web Not War!


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State Farm Likely To Move Some Bloomington Jobs
State Farm Insurance Co. says it will probably move its claims services employees out of Bloomington.
State Farm spokeswoman Holly Anderson said Friday that the company told employees this week that the potential move is being studied.
The Bloomington-based company wouldn't say how many workers the move would involve, where the jobs could be moved to or when.
The Pantagraph newspaper in Bloomington reported that as of 2011, 1,600 people worked at the center where the claims workers are based.
State Farm has raised concerns in Bloomington this year by planning new operational hubs in Phoenix, Dallas and Atlanta.
Anderson said Friday that the company expects to maintain what she calls "a very large presence'' in the city.
State Farm is Bloomington's largest employer with about 15,000 jobs.


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PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Iman Shumpert scored 18 points and rookie Tim Hardaway Jr. had 10 of his 16 in the fourth quarter, including the go-ahead basket with less than 10 seconds to play, to lead the New York Knicks to a 103-102 preseason victory over the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night.
Metta World Peace scored 13 points and Andrea Bargnani had 12 for the Knicks, who led by as many as 23 points with 8:13 to play in their preseason opener.
Phil Pressey led the Celtics (0-2) with 13 points, while Avery Bradley and Chris Babb added 12 apiece.
Babb scored all of his points in the fourth quarter on 3-pointers, including one with 2:03 to go that brought the Celtics within 101-98. A dunk by Vitor Faverani and a layup by Pressey put Boston ahead, but Hardaway drained a 3 with 8.2 seconds remaining to put New York on top for good.
Babb tried to drive to the hoop in the final seconds but had the ball ripped out of his hands.


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Student employees must complete tax forms (W-4 Withholding Allowance Certificates) and proof of work eligibility (I-9) before beginning work as an Albion College Student Employee.
You may print the required forms from the following link(s) but you must turn them in personally (bringing the required documentation) in the Human Resources Office which is located at 611 E. Porter St. 2nd Floor in Ferguson Hall within the Business Office Suite. All forms should be completed in ink, not pencil and students should use the permanent address on all forms unless the permanent address is an international address.
It is your responsibility to decide how you want to complete the W-4 Form and withhold taxes. You may wish to speak with whoever does your taxes in order to best determine how much you would expect to owe and how much you would therefore want to have withheld from your paychecks. Please use your permanent address when completing all tax forms.
The U.S. government has strict requirements about the acceptability of documents for establishing work eligibility that vary with each person's circumstance. Page 3 of the I-9 Eligibility Form includes a full list of acceptable documents; for U.S. citizens, the most common documentation provided is either a U.S. passport or the combination of a driver's license plus a social security card. Eligibile documents must be unexpired, originals or a certified copy, photocopies are not acceptable. Please use your permanent address when completing your I-9 form.
I-9 Form Completion Instructions
Completing the form is only the first step, you will then need to report in person to HR staff with your ORIGINAL document(s) that prove you can legally work in the US. International students should report to the Human Resources Office to complete this form. Failure to present your documents BEFORE your first day of work will result in suspension and/or termination from your position.
Students are encouraged to have their paycheck deposited directly into their savings or checking account. This allows a student to be away from campus on payday and still receive their pay check. This also eliminates the possibility of lost or misplaced paychecks.
To prevent fraud, direct deposit forms are available by request only (via email or in-person from the Human Resources Office located at 1003 E. Cass Street (enter through Campus Safety). A voided check or other verification of Routing and Account numbers must accompany the Direct Deposit form.
Unless your supervisor provides you with a specific form, you can use this form to submit your class and other time commitments for consideration toward a work schedule.


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Desiccant is ideal to use if you're planning to keep your ammo stored for a long time as it helps preserve your rounds by eliminating moisture and keeping them dry. Basically, desiccant packs or silica gel blocks tossed in your ammo cans will help ensure humidity, wetness, or anything else that might cause problems with your ammunition won't be as much of a concern.
Go to Parent Category: Ammo Cans / Desiccant
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Desiccant - 5 Gram - 10 Cotton Packets
- Buy 5 for $5.00 each
106 In Stock
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text:
Camel's back, meet the straw.
Storyline: Myopic Amore
Leave a comment...
© 2015 Matt McCray, all rights reserved. No animals were harmed in the making of this comic strip.
Well, OK. Not harmed much anyway.
Only you can prevent forest fires.
That and artist poverty.
To be completely honest, I'm really more worried about the second one right now.
Any help is truly appreciated!
Have updates sent directly to your inbox!
This service is provided by FeedBurner, so you don't have to worry; I won't be sharing your email address.


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Competitive Analysis is a foundation of digital marketing. If you know who your biggest competitors are, you can gather insights into what they do well and build your own strategy to outperform theirs. This article will show you how to quickly identify your top competitors using Semrush.
Semrush offers 6 main reports to find competitors based on the following criteria:
- Organic Competitors Report (based on shared organic keyword rankings)
- Backlinks Competitors Report (based on shared backlinks)
- Advertising Competitors Report (based on shared paid keyword rankings)
- PLA Competitors Report (based on shared Google Shopping keyword rankings)
- Position Tracking Competitors Discovery (based on a custom list of target keywords)
- Market Explorer (based on common website categories and audience interest)
For this article, we will use the site swimmingpool.com and poolsupplyworld.com for our example domains.
1. Organic Competitors
Use the Organic Research Competitors report to see all of the websites that frequently compete with your site for website traffic on organic search results.
If you want to improve SEO, this will show you your site's top SEO competitors that you need to worry about.
The report is simple - just enter your domain name in the search bar (making sure you are under Organic Research and find the Competitors tab) and Semrush will list all of the sites that compete for the same keywords as the queried domain - based on common keywords and having a similar total organic keyword count.
For more info on how to use this report, read the user manual. To compare the exact similarities and differences between these competing domains' organic keywords, you can use the Keyword Gap.
If you are working on a new website and don't have any keyword rankings yet but you have a list of target keywords, you can use Position Tracking's Competitors Discovery report to find the top competitors based on your keyword list.
2. Backlinks Competitors
Use the Backlinks Competitors report to find the websites that have the most shared referring domains in their backlink profile as your site.
The reasons you would want to know your competitors based on backlinks is if you want to improve your SEO with link building.
The report works very simply - go to Backlinks Analytics, enter your domain, and click on the "Competitors" tab. This will present the queried domain's top competitors based on shared backlinks and referring domains.
Once you find out your site's top competitors, you can look for new link building opportunities to build links to your own site based on who is linking to your competitors. For more on this report check out the user manual.
If you want to find the exact similarities and differences between backlink profiles from all of these sites, you can enter them into the Backlink Gap. Here you can identify the backlinks that your competitors have that you don't and make plans to acquire your own unique backlink from those sites.
3. Paid Search Competitors
Go to the Advertising Research Competitors report to find the websites that are competing with your site the most among Google's PPC Google Ads results.
This report works very similarly to the Organic Research Competitors report in that it measures competition level of websites by their shared paid keywords and similarity in total paid keyword count. Enter your domain name under Advertising Research and click on the Competitors tab to get the report.
If you want to improve the performance of your PPC campaigns, this report will show you the competitors you can analyze in Semrush to get more ideas and build your own strategy to outperform theirs. For more, check out the user manual.
Once you've found your top advertising competitors, you can also compare keyword profiles and find gaps using the Keyword Gap tool and adding the filter for paid keywords.
4. PLA Competitors
Another way to find advertising competitors is with the PLA Competitors report. PLA stands for Product Listings Ads and this report will show you which sites are competing with your site the most among Google Shopping results. Make sure you are under PLA Research when you query the domain and select the Competitors tab.
For more on how to use our PLA reports to improve your Google Shopping campaigns, check out the user manual.
You can also compare PLA keyword profiles and find gaps in your competition's Google Shopping strategies using the Keyword Gap tool and adding the filter for PLA keywords.
5. Position Tracking Competitors
Now, if you don't have any rankings yet but you have a list of target keywords, you can find out who your top competitors for those keywords will be by setting up a Position Tracking campaign.
- Create a Project for your domain
- Go to Position Tracking and start a new campaign
- Add your target keywords and location to start the tool. For help with configuration, read Configuring Position Tracking.
- Navigate to the Competitors Discovery tab and monitor the domains that appear in this report over time. These are the sites currently with the most visibility for your list of target keywords in the selected location.
For more help on using the Competitors Discovery report in Position Tracking, read the user manual.
6. Industry Competitors
A great way to see how your competitors in your industry are performing is by utilizing the Market Explorer tool. This tool gathers data using our Traffic Analytics database and third party data-providers to display estimated traffic and demographic information about a market's audience.
Start by entering your own domain into the search bar. Once the data is pulled, navigate down to Growth quadrant and Domain vs Market dynamics sections of the tool.
This will provide you with a list of the top websites in the industry of the queried domain. When you click on your competitor's domain, you will see the metrics to the right reflect their traffic estimations.
You are able to see the total traffic of a domain, the total traffic trends, the domain's top traffic sources, and the target audience's age and gender.
After identifying your competitors, take the next step of your analysis with another how-to article: