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Hazel and Holly — Milled Messages, Part One
Previous: Through the Keyhole, Part Two
Holly ran over to Hawthorn as he lay on the ground. She fell to her knees and scrabbled at his coat and gently patted his cheek.
"Hawthorn? Wake up. Please, wake up." She looked up at Hemlock, who had also hurried over, and felt a pang of panic at Hemlock's distressed expression.
"How do we wake him up?" she said.
Hemlock shook his head as his mouth hung open. "I… I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know? Do something!"
Hawthorn groaned and put a hand to his head.
Holly helped him sit up. "Are you all right?"
Hawthorn stared at her and mumbled something incoherent.
"He's cooked his brain!" Holly said.
Hemlock said, "Just… give him a minute." He squatted down and put a hand on Hawthorn's shoulder. Looking into his eyes, Hemlock said, "You've ruined your best jacket, brother."
Hawthorn's expression remained vacant as his jaw slackened.
Hemlock tightened his grip on Hawthorn's shoulder. "Not to worry, though. I'm sure Holly can sew you a new one out of the curtains."
Hawthorn continued to stare at his brother for several heartbeats when his brow finally furrowed. "Curtains?" he murmured, his voice raspy and strained. "On me?" He let out a sharp wheeze that might have been an attempt at laughter. "Only if you put it on my cold, turgid corpse."
Hemlock smiled and gave Hawthorn's shoulder another squeeze. "He's fine."
Holly wrapped her arms around Hawthorn and hugged him tight. Then she shoved him. "You stupid idiot! What were you thinking, doing a spell like that?"
Hawthorn grinned. "I was magnificent, wasn't I?"
"No, you were creepy. Don't do it again."
"Creepy because I was magnificent. You've never seen anything like it before, have you?"
"No, and I don't want to. So promise you won't do it again."
"I'll do no such thing."
Holly grabbed one of his ears and twisted it.
"Ow!" he cried. "Let go, you torturous harpy!"
"Fine, I promise! Now unhand me."
Holly pursed her lips and let go. "Well, all right, then."
Hemlock hid a smile behind his hand.
Hawthorn smoothed his hair and attempted to brush his jacket clean, but he gave up and sighed.
"Come on," Hemlock said as he clasped Hawthorn by the forearm. "Let's find you some clean clothes." Hemlock helped his brother to his feet and led him inside the house.
Hazel walked out of the little tincture room with the latest drawer-full of bottles as Hemlock and Hawthorn walked in. Hawthorn was filthy and he dragged his feet as they moved towards the sofa, his head hanging as if it were too much to bear.
"What happened?" she said. "I heard commotion out there. I've been trying to pack up everything I can find so we can leave."
"Resplendent victory happened," Hawthorn said in a sudden display of renewed vigor. "Victory!" He stumbled over his feet and fell onto the sofa.
"Is he drunk?" Hazel said.
Hemlock chuckled and shook his head. "He just cooked his brain a little, but he'll be fine." At Hazel's perplexed look, he added, "I'll explain it all later, but the townspeople have gone and I don't think they'll be coming back. So we should have some time."
Hazel let out a long breath as she set down the drawer of tinctures on the floor near the door along with two others. "I can't say I'm not thankful for that. I have no idea what I'm looking for here. My only plan was to grab everything not nailed down to take with us and sort out later. I could really use the extra time."
Hemlock smiled. "Well, you have it." He nodded towards Hawthorn. "I'm going to go find him some new clothes. I'll be right back." He walked out the door as Holly walked in. She started for Hazel, but then noticed Hawthorn curling up on the sofa, and headed towards him instead.
Holly pushed Hawthorn's legs aside as she sat next to him and started prodding his arm. "I don't think you should lie down, in case you fall asleep. You probably shouldn't fall asleep so soon after cooking your brain."
Hazel said, "Why does everyone keep saying he's cooked his brain?"
"Well, he didn't actually cook it, but it's not like he didn't give it a good go."
Hazel opened her mouth to reply when Hemlock came back in with a bundle of folded clothes. He took them over to Hawthorn, which roused him out of his half-asleep stupor.
"What took you so long?" Hawthorn murmured.
"Sorry," Hemlock said, "but I'm unable to summon your cherished vestments with a snap of my fingers."
"Do work on that."
Hemlock rolled his eyes.
Hawthorn got to his feet and swayed as he began to unbutton his coat. Hemlock reached out to steady him. Holly just stood there, looking on.
Hazel said, "Holly, I could use some help searching the mill outside."
Several moments passed before Holly started and turned to look at her. "What?"
Hazel sighed. "Come help me outside. Hemlock can help Hawthorn get dressed without you looking on like a creepy window-lurker."
"I wasn't lurking," Holly said as she headed towards the door, casting one quick glance back at Hawthorn as he peeled off his dirty jacket.
"No, but you have the creepy part covered well enough."
Holly opened her mouth again, but Hazel said, "Oh, just come on."
Once they were outside, Hazel said, "I thought you said you weren't interested in Hawthorn anymore."
"I'm not, but," Holly lowered her voice to a whisper, "he's still very pretty."
Hazel shook her head as she opened the door to the mill. Inside, the few narrow windows were shuttered and the room stood dark. Holly spoke a spell and a little flame blossomed in her cupped hands.
The darkness receded to show a cramped circular interior that was dominated by a pair of great millstones, one stacked atop the other. A great wooden shaft that turned the bottom stone—when the mill was functional—disappeared into the low timber ceiling that also served as the floor of the second level, accessed by a narrow set of stairs along one part of the wall. The air smelled stale and dusty, but also slightly nutty in a way that wasn't entirely unpleasant.
"Well," said Holly, "what are we looking for?"
"I don't know," Hazel said. "Let's just see what we can find."
Holly ran a finger along a hopper that fed grain into the stones and frowned. "Why would Father come here?"
"I don't know, Holly. The reasons why Father has done anything in his life are well beyond me."
The two sisters poked around the ground floor of the mill, searching for anything that looked out of place. But all they found was dust and remnants of old flour and various tools of the milling trade hanging from pegs. They took the stairs to the second floor, but didn't find anything there, either.
"There's nothing here, Hazel," Holly said as they ascended to the third, and final, floor. The space in which they had to stand was narrow and cramped as the low ceiling arced to a point a few feet above their heads. They had to keep near the wall, as the great wooden shaft that came through the floor was capped at calf-height by a great wooden gear, perpendicularly connected to an even greater gear pinioned by a smaller shaft that led to the windmill sails outside. Holly peeked through the little window that accommodated the shaft connecting to the sails.
"It's starting to get dark outside," Holly said. "Are we going to spend the night here? Because, you know, I'd rather not."
Hazel said nothing as she looked around the cramped chamber. There were no tools or cupboards or anything else that looked out of place. There wasn't even so much as a scuff on the floor to indicate their father had ever come here. Hazel sighed as she peered out the tiny window alongside Holly. What was she supposed to do, now?
The sun sank towards the horizon, turning the sky golden and sending the shadows from the trees to stretch across the wild, untended grass. As the fading light slanted across the windmill sails, a small, box-like object cast a little shadow of its own.
Hazel narrowed her eyes as she tried to get a better look. "What is that out there?"
"What's out where?" Holly said as she craned her neck and brought her head closer to Hazel's. "I don't see anything."
"There's something on one of the sails."
"On the uppermost one to the right." Hazel pointed. "There, near the edge."
Holly wrinkled her nose as she squinted out the window. "I don't see it."
"Never mind about that. How do we get that sail down within reach?"
"Um, I don't know. Get it to turn. With some wind. We need wind."
A slight breeze stirred outside. Hazel spoke a spell that intensified it, but the sails remained still. "They didn't even budge."
"Try it again."
Hazel did, but with the same result. She sighed and turned around to eye the machinery in the mill. "Is there a brake that's keeping the sails from turning?"
She and Holly poked around the gears and shafts.
"Here's a lever," Holly said, and before Hazel could stop her, she pulled on it. There was a clanging sound, and a wooden band raised up from the great gear that joined the smaller one just above the floor. Outside, the sails lazily rotated about an arm's length before they stopped again.
"Closer," Holly said.
"But not close enough." Hazel summoned more wind, but the breeze was sill too gentle.
"You need to step it up a bit."
"I thought I was," Hazel said. "Obviously the nuances of conjuring wind intensity is a skill I've yet to master."
"Go get Hemlock," Holly said. "Maybe he can help."
"Help with what?" Hemlock said as he walked up the narrow set of stairs into the tiny little loft.
"Hazel needs help conjuring up some wind."
Heat crept into Hazel's cheeks and she straightened her back. It was silly, feeling so defensive about such a trivial matter, but she couldn't help it. "I can conjure the wind just fine. I just need more of it."
"There's a little box or something on one of the sails," Holly said. "I can see it now, right there." She pointed.
Hemlock adjusted his glasses and nodded. "All right. Sounds simple enough. Go outside and get ready to grab whatever's on that sail as it goes by."
"If they get going too fast," Holly said, "here's the brake." She patted the iron lever.
"Good to know."
Hazel and Holly made their way outside the mill and positioned themselves inside the sails' arc. The sails themselves were massive—the bottom-most ones ended just above the knee-high grass.
The wind kicked up, and, after a few moments, the sails eased into motion. The joints of the sails creaked and groaned. After a few seconds, the one with the box swung low to the ground. The sail wasn't moving particularly fast, but even so it swung by and out of reach before Hazel had a chance to grab the box.
"It's moving too fast!" she shouted up to Hemlock.
"Right!" came Hemlock's distant reply.
She waited for the sail to come around again. Holly hunkered down as she readied herself. The wind died down, but the sails kept on at the same speed. When the sail with the box made its way back down, a groaning sound resounded from within the mill, and the sails shuddered before slowing to a stop.
The box on the sail was about as wide as a ring box but twice as long. It looked to be built into the wood of the sail itself and didn't want to come off.
"I can burn it off," Holly said.
"Not when we don't know what's in it," Hazel said.
Hemlock left the mill and joined them outside, but he remained silent as Hazel poked around the box.
There was no way in, not that she could tell. The sails were massive slats of wood, and the little box looked to be a natural part of that.
"Maybe it's not supposed to come off," Holly said. "Maybe it belongs there."
Maybe she was right. Hazel's stomach sank. She had been so certain that she would find something here.
The sun continued its descent and sank below the horizon, lighting the sky on fire in brilliant shades of orange and red.
"We should go," Holly whispered.
Hazel shook her head. "Where? We've nowhere to go."
Holly said nothing. She put a hand on Hazel's shoulder, but Hazel couldn't bring herself to meet her sister's eyes. Then Holly turned and headed back inside the house.
Hemlock stood next to her but remained silent, for which Hazel was grateful. She just needed a moment to clear her head.
The fire in the sky faded, cooling to a deep, pristine blue. A few stars winked into existence, studding the fabric of the young night like luminous pearls.
On the box, a faint, silvery script began to glow. Hazel drew closer to it, squinting her eyes as she tried to make out its meaning.
"What is that?" Hemlock said.
She shook her head. "I don't know. It looks like a symbol of some sort." It was a circle intersected with a cross and topped with a tiny star. "Have you ever seen anything like it before?"
"No, never."
What could it mean? Did it mean anything? Maybe it was like the Witness mask—a relic from a bygone age that only held superstitious significance for those who cared to remember it. Was it a mark of protection? Or maybe a spell to bring bountiful harvests?
She stared at the symbol, fixating on the cross that separated the circle into four parts. Four was a significant number in magic. There were the four elements of fire, water, air, and earth. There were four Divinities—the Ladies of the Sky and Sea, Lords of the Trees and Sun. Yet if Hawthorn was to be believed, there was also a fifth element, a fifth divinity. Was that what the little star meant? Outside the realm of nature yet still belonging. A Lord of Ether. A Lady of Night and Stars. A siphoner of souls.
A chill crawled up Hazel's neck. This couldn't be a coincidence—finding a symbol that referenced necromancy in a place similar to what she had seen in her vision. Once again she tried to remove the box, but it remained immovable. Growing frustrated, she spoke a Weaving spell that altered the sail behind the box. The wood cracked as it softened, but the box itself began to darken as if it had taken to rot. The glowing symbol began to fade. Fearful she might destroy it—and whatever it might contain—Hazel stopped her spell, and the symbol regained its muted glow.
Necromancy. Leave it to a rotten art to rot perfectly sound wood. She tried her spell again, only this time she altered it, souring the wood herself, twisting it into something ugly, something dark. She focused her spell directly onto the box. The circular symbol glowed brighter, and the box fell to the grassy ground.
Hazel picked up the box and opened it. Inside was a lock of golden hair, tied together with a stiff white ribbon. Underneath it lay a slip of paper. Hazel took the paper and unfolded it, but it was too dark outside to read.
Hemlock summoned a glowing moth that fluttered around her hands, illuminating in its soft light the following message:
It is time.


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The Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity (RPI) is hosting an event, "Peace and Prosperity 2017: Where We're Going And How We'll Get There?" that will take place next month. Organizers were proud to announce yesterday that Julian Assange will be introducing a whistleblowers roundtable during the program.
"The CIA has been deeply humiliated as a result of our ongoing publications so this is a preemptive move by the CIA to try and discredit our publications and create a new category for Wikileaks and other national security reporters to strip them of First Amendment protections," Assange said in an interview with Ron Paul from earlier in the year on his liberty report.
Assange and Paul have shared mutual admiration for years, as both men wage separate wars against the evils of statism. In the era following the Ron Paul revolution, Assange has taken the banner as leader of the resistance, and the work of his organization has exposed and damaged the deep state like never before.
"Julian Assange, along with the whistleblowers who reveal to us the evil that is being done in our name, are heroes. They deserve our respect and admiration, not a prison cell," Paul said in an op/ed released earlier this year. Paul has been one of the most consistent and prominent defenders of Wikileaks since its inception.
Assange will give a video address to the conference and set the stage for the whistleblowers roundtable to commence. The folks appearing in person to address conference attendees include: Thomas Drake, former NSA senior executive prosecuted by Obama under the Espionage Act; John Kiriakou, former CIA officer who was imprisoned for telling the truth; Peter Van Buren, long-time State Department employee turned controversial author; Philip Girardi, former CIA military intelligence officer who defected and began exposing the agency; and Jesselyn Radack, an attorney who represents many prominent whistleblowers.
The event will take place on Saturday, September 9, 2017 from 9:00 AM to 2:30 PM at the Washington Dulles Airport Marriott located on 45020 Aviation Drive, Dulles, VA 20166. Tickets are still available right now, and can be purchased on their Eventbrite page.

subset: commoncrawl


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From Communism to the European Union: A Case Study of Agricultural and Economic Development in Poland
This paper explores the Poland's agricultural value added per worker as an indicator of economic success post-Soviet era and into its transition to the European Union. Holding GDP and other factors constant, our model shows that Poland's value added per worker is superior to most other countries in Europe. This success is attributed to Poland's private agricultural system, which was retained despite Soviet influence. We further conclude that countries that produce a high quantity of potatoes and rye, Poland's top crops, on average have lower value added per worker.
First Advisor
Matt Warning
Date of Completion
Winter 12-16-2015
Degree Type
Degree Name
Bachelor of Science in Economics
Date of Award
Spring 3-7-2016
Recommended Citation
Anders, Samantha Anuszewska, "From Communism to the European Union: A Case Study of Agricultural and Economic Development in Poland" (2015). Economics Theses. 103.


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Programmes for Schools
Faust International Youth Theatre (FIYT) provides challenging and creative workshops that engage our students in the world of theatre and performing arts.
We introduce students to a world of theatre and creativity, helping them to develop performance skills, theatre knowledge, teamwork, individual expression and confidence. All groups are led by experienced and highly trained drama teachers, with emphasis throughout on providing high-quality workshops that our members enjoy.


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Utility Beauty
EZ Pleasy Conditioner
For all hair types, all seasons.
DESCRIPTION: An effective conditioner made for all hair texture. Strengthens and softens, Great for year round use. Excellent slip for curls!
Suggested Use: apply generously after cleansing. rake or comb through. Rinse, style as usual. Or use as your curl styler! This one is multipurpose at its best.
Aroma Ginger, Nutmeg, Sage, Eucalyptus.
- Water
- Cetyl Alcohol
- Stearyl Alcohol
- Stearalkonium Chloride
- Dimethyl Stearamine
- Hydrolyzed Silk Peptides
- Pea Peptide Protein
- Vitamin B5
- Vitamin E
- Omega's 3 and 6
- Aloe Vera
- Chamomile
- Castor Oil
- Phenoxyethanol
- Caprylyl
- Aroma
- 355 ml
Organic & natural ingredients.
Shelf life from purchase: 1 year
SLS, sles, paraben, silicone, dye, formaldehyde, and phthalate FREE. They are biodegradable and septic safe.
Products not for ingestion. Avoid eyes. Patchtest for allergies.


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QuayWest Residence – The Luxury View
QuayWest Residence, a luxury residential development by Asia Green Group, located next to Penang World City at Bayan Mutiara. It sits on a 7.4 acres land with a sea frontage and a view of Pulau Jerejak. In addition to the attractive photos that you may have seen, be amazed with this exclusive aerial video taken from the actual site. (Available in Full HD)
Click here to find out more about this project and the exclusive package with FREE GIFT for our readers.
Project Location:


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Discover over 35 Bangkok attractions and tours with one digital pass that saves you money. Choose between a 2, 3, 4, or 5-day all-inclusive pass and visit as many attractions as you like.
About this activity
- Free cancellation
- Cancel up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund
- Reserve now & pay later
- Keep your travel plans flexible — book your spot and pay nothing today.
- Duration 2 - 5 days
- Check availability to see starting times.
Select participants and date
Meeting point
Activate your Bangkok All-Inclusive Pass at any of the attractions or tours included.Open in Google Maps ⟶
Important information
Know before you go
- - Some attractions may be temporarily unavailable, have reduced opening hours, or require advanced reservations before your visit. Please check the included digital guide as well as attraction websites for the most up-to-date information and make reservations, where needed, well in advance
- - Your pass(es) will be instantaneously delivered to you in pdf format, which you can either save on your phone or print off. This pdf will include your individual QR-coded pass(es) along with the guide
- - All passes are valid for 2 years from purchase date and only become activated with your first attraction visit
- - After activation, your pass will be valid for the number of consecutive days purchased (not 24-hour periods)


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Galaxy Quest Quotes
Check out these Galaxy Quest quotes and it becomes clear why the film is a comic cult classic.
Gwen DeMarco: No, the Commander and I never had a... thing.
Jason Nesmith: Well, that's HER story.
She's not a fan! This is a... this is a termite!Jason Nesmith
Jason Nesmith: Okey dokey, Okey dokey. Lets fire blue particle cannons full, red particle cannons full, gannet magnets fire them left and right, and let 'em run all chutes. And while you're at it, why don't ya toss that at 'em killer
Jason Nesmith: That should take care of old lobster head shouldn't it?
It's like throwing gasoline on a flame.Sir Alexander Dane
That was a hell of a thing.Fred Kwan
Gwen DeMarco: Fred, you had a part people loved. I mean, my TV Guide interview was six paragraphs about my BOOBS and how they fit into my suit. No one bothered to ask me what I do on the show.
Fred Kwan: You were... the umm, wait a minute, I'll think of it...
Gwen DeMarco: I repeated the computer, Fred.
Sir Alexander Dane: [Guy is grinning at Alex] What?
Guy Fleegman: I'm just jazzed about being on the show, man.
Brandon Wheeger: I just wanted to tell you that I thought a lot about what you said.
Jason Nesmith: It's okay, now listen...
Brandon Wheeger: But I want you to know that I'm not a complete brain case, okay? I understand completely that it's just a TV show. I know there's no beryllium sphere...
Jason Nesmith: Hold it.
Brandon Wheeger: no digital conveyor, no ship...
Jason Nesmith: Stop for a second, stop. It's all real.
Brandon Wheeger: Oh my God, I knew it. I knew it! I knew it!
It's the simple things in life you treasure.Fred Kwan
I see you've managed to get your shirt off.Sir Alexander Dane
Guy Fleegman: Hey guys, there's a red-thingy moving toward the green-thingy.
Jason Nesmith: What?
Guy Fleegman: Red-thingy moving toward the green-thingy. I think we're the green-thingy.
Whoever wrote this episode should DIE.Gwen DeMarco


text: Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Pinterest GooglePlus Email Design, Events May 18, 2012 Ian Wharton: Media Future Conference Ian Wharton recently shared some thoughts about the mobile industry at the Media Future conference in Dublin. "My talk focussed on the impact mobile devices have on media brands and why we should pay attention to behaviour," wrote Ian on his blog. To find out more about the conference and its speakers, click here. Follow Ian @ianwharton -TP


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Disclaimer: "How To Monetize A Site" is a guest post.
From Give it a Spin
We are going to talk about how to monetize a site. Since we are talking about a money site and not a blog that allows us to vent on our hobby every weekend, we have to think about what our future source of income will be.
Monetizing a blog is not as easy as some people think. In many cases it comes unintentionally, you have a quality project and a company is interested in you …
Why is monetization important?
- Costs of maintaining a blog such as hosting, domain, payment plugins, images…
- Hours of work of the blogger. Training, writing, content promotion, creation of images…
- Copywriters or professionals who collaborate sporadically.
- Costs of external services, such as SEO or web design, digital marketing, advertising…
For these reasons and especially because everyone who works deserves a reward for their work, it will be necessary to monetize a blog. It is important to be clear about the difference between "monetizing a blog" and "getting rich with a blog", they are very different things.
Can all the blogs be monetized?
The first thing to know is that a blog always starts with losses (without visits there is no advertising but costs). To know that the time has come to monetize your blog you have to get a monthly number of visits between 30,000 and 50,000. Afterwards, manage to maintain it. An objective that belongs to the digital marketing team in many marketing agencies.
Symptoms that tell us about when a blog can be monetized
1. Traffic to the website. Let it be enough and continued in time.
2. Ensure the update of the page in the medium term.
3. Have a series of loyal followers, who read us always, no matter what happens.
4. Have a good organic position (SEO) for the keywords that interest us (which give money go).
5. THAT IT IS A USEFUL BLOG. The most important without a doubt.
How To Monetize A Site?
There are many ways to monetize a blog. Let's see some examples of how to sell or monetize a blog:
Google Adsense
It is the best known way to monetize a blog. Part of the basis that a greater number of visits higher income. To me the experience tells me that for a personal blog it is not the best formula.
Sale of products or services
Selling a product or service on a relevant and already positioned website is a great way to get money. However, this is one of the most complex options to achieve in the short term. To get to sell something on our site we need more than time and dedication. Here we could talk about:
1- Drop Shipping: It is a type of sale in which the retailer does not store the orders, simply acts as an intermediary with the wholesaler. Let's say you "pass the order". Very interesting today.
2- Training courses.
3- Events.
4- Webinars: In short, it is something like offering online conferences.
Affiliation with brands
We recommend certain products to visitors to the site, and if they buy the product through a link on our website or through a cookie that has been inserted into your computer, we will obtain a percentage on the purchase. Here the interesting thing is to know which keywords offer the most money …
System that allows inserting advertising links in some keywords of the page.
Payment content
With tools like Shoplocket to sell your products.
1- Templates
2- WhitePapers
3- E-Books
4- Podcast
Advertising banners
That we locate in the "hot" places of the web or the blog.
Consulting sale
Professionals that offer their low cost services and online.
Agreements with advertising platforms for bloggers
As for example E-Buzzing, Adlemons, Bloguzz, …
If you enjoyed "How To Monetize A Site" read more from Give it a Spin by clicking here.
And don't forget to check out their social media pages:
For more posts about blogging click here.
For more guest posts click here.
If you enjoyed this post don't forget to like, follow, share and comment!
Enjoyed this post? Then follow me on social media:
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Email me on(guest posts welcome!): email@example.com


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Furious councillors were left baffled by plans to build 32 new homes on the edge of Newton Abbot – with the only access to it down a narrow country lane.
Plans for a development of 32 homes, public open space including areas for biodiversity enhancement and wildlife corridors on land north of Howton Road, are included in both Teignbridge's Local Plan and in the NA1 Houghton Barton site for which a Development Framework Plan has been approved.
But when councillors went on a site visit, they found themselves having to dive into the hedges any time a car came past.
And despite there being no objection from Devon County Council's Highways team, Cllr Jackie Hook revealed that just three years ago, highways officers say that only ten houses could be supported on the site.
The scheme for 32 new homes on Howton Road site was recommended for approval, saying: "Overall the proposed development represents a sensible proposition in an established and sustainable urban location. It will provide much needed new housing as well as many identifiable, tangible and long lasting benefits for the local area and the town."
But councillors deferred a decision until February to allow negotiations to take place around improving the highway.
Peter Symes, objecting on behalf of residents of Howton Road, said: "We accept that the NA1 is going ahead as it is a necessary evil, but this development has no suitable infrastructure for the development of it, and HGVs will only be able to access the site by going through Highweek village."
Councillors had been on a site visit, and Cllr Mike Pilkington said: "We saw one or two cars pass when we were there and had to dive into the hedge to let them pass. I don't believe that this road is capable of doing what it is supposed to do so for this development. It is too narrow and when cars are passing, you have to dive into the hedges, so I am not happy about this."
Cllr Mike Hocking said: "My problem is the junction between Howton Road and Mile End Road as it is very narrow and there is a wall on one side. I am not sure how you can improve it other than by widening it, and I don't know how you can widen it.
"Highways have sat on the fence here and they say it will be 20mph on this stretch, but everyone knows that no-one travels on county lanes at those speeds. And by taking away the overgrowth it will make the road wider, but that will increase the speed of the vehicles on the road. It is in the local plan, but this isn't the right place and we need to look at this again."
Cllr Jackie Hook said: "I do understand the applicant does want to achieve the best outcome for the site, but the big issues that can't be addressed is that all traffic will have to come and go on a narrow lane that is difficult to access, and the applicant themselves knows this
"Three years ago highways officers did think that this site could only allocate 10 houses, so I just don't see how we can allow this number of houses on that land."
Cllr Rosalind Prowse added: "This road is simply not fit for this number of houses."
Nick Davies - Business Manager - Strategic Place at Teignbridge District Council, said: "We should be looking to build as many houses as we can on allocated land that has come forward. We allocated this site in the local plan and reaffirmed it in the NA1 framework plan. No-one ever suggested restrictions on the number of houses here, and highways say that the impact would not be severe."
But Cllr Chris Clarance asked: "Could we have a deferment to see if we can sort this road out and do something about the planning of it, or can we reduce the number of houses to just 10? What can be sorted out on the road to make it better? The road that we saw... it speaks for itself."
Councillors voted by 12 votes to two to defer the application until February to try and sort out if improvements can be made to the country lane.


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VITAMIN A 3,000 mcg RAE (10,000 IU) 120 Softgels
Serving Size: 1 Softgel
Servings Per Container: 120
Amount Per Serving
- Vitamin A 3000 mcg RAE (10,000 IU)
(from retinyl palmitate and fish liver oil)
Other Ingredients: Soybean Oil, Gelatin, Vegetable Glycerin, Water, Fish Liver Oil.
Contains: Fish (Cod, saithe, haddock and pollack).
Contains No: Artificial color, flavor or sweetener, preservatives, sugar, starch, milk, lactose, gluten, wheat, yeast or shellfish.
Not suitable for vegetarians
For adults, take 1 softgel daily, preferably with a meal.
Warning: Not intended for use by pregnant or nursing women. If you are taking any medications or have any medical condition, consult your doctor before use. Discontinue use and consult your doctor if any adverse reactions occur. Keep out of reach of children. Store at room temperature.


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You thought we forgot, didn't you? Last year, we got a jump start on the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale and shared our favorites even before the sale was live to the general public. OK, so yes, we are a little behind the 8 ball this year, but technically, the sale starts tomorrow, and there are still plenty of amazing things to make your COVID Summer a little brighter and happier. You'll notice it IS a COVID friendly selection; no high heels, no binding clothes, nothing too "fancy". We know most of us are still staying somewhat close to home but I mean, those sneakers you've been wearing ARE wearing out and how cute would your summer charcuterie dinner be on this adorable pineapple cutting board?
1. Dash & Ash Pineapple Cutting Board Worthy of a display space on your kitchen counter.
2. Voluspa Pink Citron 2 Wick Candle Spicy and sweet, it's the fragrance of summer.
3.Eileen Fisher Lace Espadrille A step up from sneakers but just as comfy. Assorted colors.
4. Colors of Morocco Art Print We can all use a virtual vacay!
5. Work Hard Graphic Tee Words to live by. Today and every day. Captain Casual would be all in.
6. Textured Dot Duvet Cover A bedding refresh does wonders for lifting your spirits.
7. Tulip 139 Perforated Sneaker From Ilse Jacobsen, these are Shauna's latest go-to sneaks.
8. Madewell Fringe Hoop Earrings Glam up that white T you find yourself wearing at least once a week.
9. FRAME Les Second Mini Crossbody Bag The perfect size for all your essentials in an easy to carry crossbody.
So, the details:
Nordstrom Anniversary Sale runs Aug 19-30 in store and online. New merch added daily so be sure to shop often.
This post contains affiliate links and we are compensated for purchases made via these links.
Leave a Reply.
August 2023


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The collection comprises of correspondence with Robert Falcon Scott regarding the British National Antarctic Expedition, 1901-1904 (led by Scott) and the British Antarctic Expedition, 1907-1909 (leader Ernest Henry Shackleton).
Sir George Goldie collection
- For more information, email the repository
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- Cite this description
- Bookmark:http://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/data/gb15-sirgeorgegoldie
- This material is held at
- ReferenceGB 15 Sir George Goldie
- Dates of Creation1901-1907
- Name of Creator
- Language of MaterialEnglish.
- Physical DescriptionCorrespondence (Circa 4 leaves)
Scope and Content
Administrative / Biographical History
George Dashwood Taubman Goldie was born on the Isle of Man in 1846. He entered the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, obtaining a commission in the Royal Engineers in 1865, which he resigned two years later. In 1877, he entered the Niger River Trade and two years later formed the United African Company, which soon dominated trade on the lower river. Goldie later launched the National African Company. In 1886, this was renamed the Royal Niger Company Chartered & Limited and given political and economic control over Nigeria under royal charter. Goldie successfully repelled French and German attempts to establish posts in Nigeria and extended British control over the Niger River. He was knighted in 1887 and, in 1905, was elected president of the Royal Geographical Society. He died in London in 1925.
The correspondence is arranged chronologically.
Access Information
By appointment.
Some materials deposited at the Institute are NOT owned by the Institute. In such cases the archivist will advise about any requirements imposed by the owner. These may include seeking permission to read, extended closure, or other specific conditions.
Anyone wishing to consult material should ensure they note the entire MS reference and the name of the originator.
The term holograph is used when the item is wholly in the handwriting of the author. The term autograph is used when the author has signed the item.
Descriptions compiled by N. Boneham, Assistant Archivist with assistance from R. Stancombe and reference to Dictionary of National Biography, 1922-1930, with an index covering the years 1901-1930 in one alphabetical series, Oxford University Press, London (1937) and Encyclopedia.com and Robert Keith Headland Antarctic Chronology, unpublished corrected revision of Chronological list of Antarctic expeditions and related historical events, (1 December 2001) Cambridge University Press (1989) ISBN 0521309034
Other Finding Aids
Clive Holland Manuscripts in the Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge, England - a catalogue, Garland Publishing New York and London (1982) ISBN 0824093941.
Additional finding aids are available at the Institute.
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Copying material by photography, electrostat, or scanning device by readers is prohibited. The Institute may be able to provide copies of some documents on request for lodgement in publicly available repositories. This is subject to conservation requirements, copyright law, and payment of fees.
Copyright restrictions apply to most material. The copyright may lie outside the Institute and, if so, it is necessary for the reader to seek appropriate permission to consult, copy, or publish any such material. (The Institute does not seek this permission on behalf of readers). Written permission to publish material subject to the Institute's copyright must be obtained from the Director. Details of conditions and fees may be had from the Archivist.
Further accessions possible.


text: For anyone that has this amp, as I, do you know how comfortably this amp will handle a 2 ohm load? Right now I'm running the amp into two 4 ohm Acme low B2 cabinets in parallel of the A and B channels, giving me 750W into each cabinet. To get a little more juice going through the Acme's and give myself some more headroom, what If I daisy chained the two Acme cabs and ran the amp out in bridged mono mode off the "A" channel? Too much stress on the Yamaha?


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COLUMBUS, OH—A ravenous caterpillar escaped from captivity today, wreaking havoc as it devoured everything in its sight and carved a half-centimeter path of destruction across the city, horrified sources reported.
Confined to a glass viewing chamber since late May, the savage creature reportedly broke free from its bedside enclosure before slithering out of an open window and charging wildly toward the city's unsuspecting commercial district.
"I came back home and it was gone," said 8-year-old resident Daniel Bogen, whose hubris and reckless abandon has unleashed a terror of immeasurable proportions onto the community. "I thought I twisted the lid on the jar real tight. Where did it go?"
Stretching out to a monstrous 75 millimeters, the beast's segmented body left behind a swath of devastation as it uprooted entire blades of grass, snapped whole clover stems in half with a single bite from its jaws, and marauded past residential structures helpless against its larval fury.
At press time, authorities remained no closer to locating the caterpillar.
While many Columbus residents avoided peril by staying indoors, the multi-legged creature continued to quench its insatiable hunger for the flesh of foliage. In fact, the rapacious insect was said to only momentarily pause its mindless pursuit of nutrients when it climbed atop a branch and coldly surveyed the city with its unfeeling eyelets. One terrified onlooker said he watched the creature use its razor-sharp mandibles to tear through the leaf of a 100-foot-tall oak tree as though it were paper.
"That thing is a menace," said resident Derek Kriesel, who noted that his 25-foot chain-link fence provided little defense against the caterpillar's feeding frenzy. "It ripped through an entire stem of my basil and consumed almost two whole buds from that one tomato plant. There's nothing left. Nothing."
With little regard for life or private property in the crowded urban area, the raging caterpillar instantly rendered dozens homeless when it knocked over an anthill, its three pairs of legs crushing everything beneath them into the dirt. Although the full extent of the damage caused by the .250-foot creature is not known, many estimate it will take more than 10,000 ant-hours to rebuild.
Though the caterpillar left a chewed-up trail of leaf remnants in its wake, numerous Columbus residents admitted they had not personally witnessed the voracious pest's reign of horror.
"Was it one of those fat-furry ones or the green ones?" Columbus native Andrea Barlow said. "Those furry ones give me the willies. They're so creepy."
How long the creature's destructive rampage will continue, or what—if anything—can stop it, remains to be seen. A unit of plastic army men and tanks, stationed on the edge of a local sandbox, proved no match for the insectoid, as it lumbered through the group with terrifying speed, knocking a half-dozen infantrymen onto the ground below.
Shortly before press time, the caterpillar began to exude a translucent and stringy discharge, which it wrapped around itself until it had completely disappeared inside the alien casing. While few know what is occurring inside the hanging structure, some speculate that the creature has entered a horrifying state of mutation, one that may transform the ungodly caterpillar into an even more deadly and revolting organism.
"Whatever is happening inside of that thing, it's far from human," said Columbus police chief Keith Morgan, who predicted that if the creature gains the power of flight, nothing will be capable of standing in its way. "Once again the folly and ignorance of man has unleashed nature's fury. May God help us all."


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father dave
The Western media continues to portray Palestinians as bomb-carrying militants, and yet this is the essence of Palestinian resistance – marches and hunger-strikes. Certainly Israel's so-called 'security fence' functions to keep the protesters out of sight of the Israeli public.
Father Dave
source: rt.com…
3,000 Palestinian prisoners go on hunger strike to aid Prisoners Day protest
Thousands of Palestinian prisoners have declared a hunger strike to support Prisoners Day, an annual event dedicated to 4,713 prisoners being held in Israeli jails. Fierce rallies demanding their release have reportedly been met with tear gas.
Palestinians across the West Bank and Gaza attended marches and rallies on Wednesday, urging the international community to intervene and for pressure to be put on Israel in order to release some of the Palestinian prisoners.
Nearly 600 relatives of prisoners gathered for a sit-in in the rain at Arafat Square in central Ramallah after which some of them marched towards the nearby military prison at Ofer.
As activists reached the Ofer prison perimeter they tore down 50 meters of the prison fence, mounting a Palestinian flag on prison grounds.
"After around four minutes of being at the fence, Israeli soldiers showed up. They fired tear gas, rubber bullets, and sound bombs at the protesters," al-Akhbar newspaper quoted spokesman of the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee, Abdallah Abu Rahmeh as saying.
"It is necessary to pressure Israel to release the Palestinian prisoners and hunger strikers," he added.
In Gaza, hundreds of people marched from central Gaza City to the offices of the International Committee of the Red Cross, AFP reported.
Another rally was being held in the northern city of Nablus.
Events to mark Prisoners Day began on Tuesday in Gaza City where youngsters released thousands of balloons into the air, each bearing the name of a prisoner.
Primarily Palestinian activists are calling for the release of those on the hunger strike that has been lasting for more than 250 days. Already dubbed one of the longest strikes in history, it stirred mass outrage and weeks of street protests.
The fates of at least five of the prisoners, including Samer Issawi, are now central to the protesters.
Samer Issawi, a 32-year-old from an Arab suburb of Jerusalem, is said to be in a critical condition with his low heart rate meaning he could die at any time.
As Israel seeks to end the Palestinian prisoner's hunger strike, Issawi was offered to stop his fast in exchange for commuting his decades-long sentence to one year behind bars, Reuters reported Wednesday citing a Palestinian official.
"We don't want to see this man commit suicide," an Israeli official was quoted as saying. "There are elements on the Palestinian side who are eager to exploit a tragedy."
Earlier an Israeli official said they were ready to deport Palestinian Essawi to an EU or UN country, but allege the prisoner has refused.
Issawi was initially convicted of opening fire on an Israeli bus in 2002. He was released in 2011 along with over 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for an Israeli soldier held hostage by the Hamas Islamist group in Gaza.
But last July, he got re-arrested for what Israel called a violation of the terms of his release by crossing from his native East Jerusalem to the West Bank. Now he might face his original term behind bars and stay in jail until 2029. The prisoner has been struggling to regain his freedom by July this year.
Palestinian officials have called on Israel to send Issawi to Ramallah to receive a year of medical treatment after which Israel would allow him to return to neighboring Jerusalem. However, Jerusalem rejected the offer.
Rights group B'Tselem puts the number of Palestinians held by Israel at 4, 713 with most of them Palestinian men from the West Bank and Gaza convicted of participating in terror attacks. According to the group, 169 of them are held under administrative detention, without formally being charged.
The Palestinian Prisoners' Society says more than 215 children and 14 women are in jail.
Filed under israel and palestine conflict by on Apr 19th, 2013. Comment.
This is indeed a landmark decision, even if it was only "a low-level proceeding at an employment tribunal".
The separation of Jewish identity from political support for the state of Israel is at the heart of the confusion between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism. As has been said, only two types of persons insist that all Jews are the same – Nazis and Zionists. All Jews are not the same. They do not all share the same political perspectives. They do not all support the actions of the state of Israel. Indeed, an ever-increasing number of Jews around the world are becoming vocally opposed to the actions of the state that presumes to speak in their name!
Father Dave
source: www.haaretz.com…
British Jewry in turmoil after tribunal blasts pro-Israel activist for bringing harassment case
By Anshel Pfeffer
Ruling in case brought by mathematics lecturer was meant to be culmination of 11 years of pro-Israel activism, but ruling that 'attachment to Israel… is not intrinsically a part of Jewishness' has caused shock waves in the Jewish community.
LONDON − It was only one private citizen suing Britain's largest academic union, but it seemed as if all the country's Jewish establishment was standing behind him in court. It was only a low-level proceeding at an employment tribunal, not a high court adjudicating on matters of state, but the judgment seemed to be trying to say something profound about what it means to be Jewish − that love for the State of Israel is not an intrinsic trait among all Jews in Britain, or anywhere else for that matter.
Delivered two weeks ago on the eve of Passover, the ruling in the case of one Ronnie Fraser against the University and College Union soured the holiday mood for a number of influential British Jews, and it has been slowly causing shock waves in the community's upper echelons.
The case was to have been the culmination of 11 years of pro-Israel activism by Fraser, a mathematics lecturer who had been fighting against what he saw as a virulently anti-Israel tide, with a distinct tinge of anti-Semitism, rising in the union to which he belongs.
Alongside him was Anthony Julius, one of the most prominent Jewish lawyers in Britain and a tireless opponent of anti-Semitism. Supporting the two were a cast of witnesses including Jewish and sympathetic non-Jewish activists, academics and politicians.
The lawsuit was backed both financially and in terms of considerable research resources by organizations linked to the central British Jewry leadership forums, the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council.
The case against UCU was complex, including 10 separate complaints, but the gist was that the officers of the union representing more than 120,000 staff members at Britain's universities and colleges had allegedly exhibited "institutional anti-Semitism" and caused its Jewish members to feel harassed in a way considered illegal according to Britain's anti-racism legislation.
They had done so, the complainants claimed, through their relentless campaign over the years calling for a boycott of Israel in general and of Israeli academic institutions and trade unions in particular.
UCU has long been identified as one of the main bastions of anti-Israeli activism in the British mainstream. Both as a trade union and as an organization representing academics, it is a hub for supporters of boycotts targeting Israeli universities as well as Israel's business and social sectors.
The case assembled by Fraser and Julius was impressive. It challenged, among other things, the way supporters of Israel were treated at union conferences, the way anti-Israel and anti-Semitic remarks on the UCU members' private Internet forum were moderated, the union's rejection of the European Union Monitoring Center on Racism and Xenophobia's working definition of anti-Semitism (which includes disproportionate criticism of Israel), and an invitation extended to a known anti-Jewish trade unionist from South Africa to speak at a union conference.
UCU denied any anti-Semitism within its ranks, and responded that its officers had not conducted themselves in any way that could be construed as harassment of Jewish members.
But beyond the factual disputes in the case, the fundamental basis of the Fraser's accusations was that Jews possess a strong feeling of affinity toward Israel that is an intrinsic part of their Jewish identity. Therefore, he claimed, when an organization to which they belong constantly attacks Israel in a manner they deem unfair, it constitutes a direct attack on their identity.
Among the long list of witnesses Fraser called were two non-Jewish members of parliament who testified about the manner in which UCU had rejected the EU definition of anti-Semitism, which they had championed.
The defendants also had their own Jewish supporters. Fifty Jewish UCU members signed an open letter praising their union and denying that there was any sort of institutional anti-Semitism within its ranks. Julius responded that it was simply a standard anti-Semitic ploy of dividing Jews into good-Jew/bad-Jew categories.
But the well-built and detailed case was shattered by the tribunal's ruling. The panel, headed by Judge A.M. Snelson, accepted UCU's version of all the events in question, and found that most of the claims were no longer valid in any case, due to a change in the laws.
Beyond that, it fundamentally disagreed with the central claim underpinning the complaints. The tribunal wrote in its judgment that "a belief in the Zionist project or an attachment to Israel or any similar sentiment cannot amount to a protected characteristic. It is not intrinsically a part of Jewishness."
And while many Jews would agree with that ruling, the tribunal did not stop there. At the end of its 45-page ruling, it launched into an extraordinarily hostile invective against the very nature of the case brought before it. Though the panel was generally sympathetic to Fraser himself, it stated that as an activist "he must accept his fair share of minor injuries. … A political activist accepts the risk of being offended or hurt on occasions."
With regard to his lawyer, Julius, the ruling scathingly referred to the case's "magnificent prose" and its "gargantuan scale." And it blasted the two members of parliament, whom it described as "glib," as well as the chief executive of the Jewish Leadership Council, Jeremy Newmark, who took the stand as a witness.
In fact, Newmark's testimony about his attempt to enter a UCU conference was "rejected as untrue." His claim that he was being stereotyped as a "pushy Jew" was called "preposterous." And his characterization of the UCU as "no longer a fit arena for free speech" was found by the tribunal to be "not only extraordinarily arrogant but also disturbing."
UCU, meanwhile, received only very mild admonishments from the tribunal for inviting a known anti-Semite to a conference, and for referring a case in which a pro-Israel union member complained about online censorship to a pro-Palestinian activist. The tribunal otherwise found the union had acted in an honorable manner.
The claimants, on the other hand, were criticized for having filed the suit at all, which the tribunal described as an "impermissible attempt to achieve a political end by litigious means." Underlying the case, it said, was "worrying disregard for pluralism, tolerance and freedom of expression."
A more damning indictment of Fraser and his supporters' motives could not have been written, and UCU was quick to celebrate its total exoneration.
General secretary Sally Hunt said in a statement that she was "delighted that the tribunal has made such a clear and overwhelming judgment in UCU's favor" and that it "upholds our and others' right to freedom of expression."
She made sure to add that the union will "remain opposed to discrimination of any kind, including anti-Semitism."
Within the Jewish community meanwhile, as Passover ended and the implications of the ruling sunk in, the finger-pointing began.
In Friday's Jewish Chronicle, prominent Jewish lawyers lined up to say it should have been clear from the start that the case wasn't legally strong enough to have been brought, and that the ruling should have been foreseen.
"To be honest, we weren't extremely confident," said one executive in a central Jewish organization, "and we would have preferred to go to court with a different case. But when Fraser and Julius decided they were going to do it, we had no choice but to give them all the support. It would have been a scandal had the Jewish community not supported them."
Julius declined to comment.
A spokesman for Fair Play, a body set up by the Board of Deputies and the Jewish Leadership Council to fight anti-Israel boycotts, said that "When Ronnie and his legal team decided to bring their case against UCU, we felt that it deserved whatever support we were able to provide. Years of campaigning inside UCU had convinced us and many union members that the union was incapable of fairly tackling complaints of anti-Semitism by itself."
Regarding the judge's accusations against Newmark, the Jewish Leadership Council said that his "evidence was backed up by a leading non-Jewish trade unionist who witnessed the incident."
And so it was left to Fraser, who had championed the case for so long, to respond to his critics. He called them "armchair critics [who have] no idea what it's like to be out there," and added, "They were silent when I was fighting and I don't have to justify myself to them."
Fraser said he will probably not appeal the judgment to a higher court, so as not to risk making it a legal precedent. But he called upon the leadership of British Jewry to establish "a definition of anti-Semitism that includes belief in Zionism and an attachment to Israel which should amount to a protected right of Jews. It's what we have been praying for for 2,000 years."
Is this Mahmoud Abbas' attempt to rescue his credibility after years of submissive acquiescence to his Israeli and US overlords? However we understand it, Abbas' demand – the the Israeli Prime Minister provide an outline of his vision for a two-state solution – was entirely reasonable, and Netanyahu's refusal to comply exposed his government's peace talk as entirely disingenuous.
Father Dave
source: en.trend.az/regions/met/palestine/2136463.html…
Palestinian president slams Israel for not presenting negotiations' vision
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday slammed Israel for refusing to present its vision regarding the borders of the future Palestinian state.
Abbas made his protest during a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in the West Bank city of Ramallah, a source told Xinhua.
"This doesn't help prepare for new peace negotiations between the two sides," Abbas said, adding that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "seems to be blocking the peace process and destroying the two-state solution through settlements."
Abbas stressed that the negotiations should resume.
The source said Kerry's efforts faced the first obstacle when Netanyahu refused to show his government vision for the process of the talks and halt settlement constructions in East Jerusalem.
Earlier in the day, a Palestinian official said the Palestinian leadership halted plans to join any UN organization to give time for Kerry's mission.
"Kerry asked for two months appointed time to move forward the peace process before we go to the UN organizations, and we have agreed on this," said Palestinian Foreign Affairs Minister Riad Al- Maliki.
"If Kerry fails in this, we will not abide by our commitments and will start moving toward the international organizations and specialized agencies" for membership and to sign international treaties, Al-Maliki told Voice of Palestine radio.
This is a tragic situation, and we can appreciate the frustration all round. The people of Gaza are frustrated because they are desperately poor. The managers of the UN relief work are frustrated because they fear for the safety of their staff when the frustration of their clients boils over into violence. The authorities in Gaza are frustrated because they know their people badly need the assistance that the UN relief agency gives them.
Evidently what is required here for everybody concerned is a concrete political solution. Even so, this doesn't make the short-term welfare needs any less serious.
Father Dave
source: www.voanews.com…
Palestinian Tensions Simmer Ahead of Kerry Visit
GAZA — Islamist group Hamas on Friday urged a United Nations agency to resume its operations in the Gaza Strip, accusing the world body of over-reacting by shutting down after its headquarters was stormed by demonstrators.
The main U.N. humanitarian agency for Palestinians closed all its offices in Gaza on Thursday after protesters stormed its headquarters to demand it reverse a decision to cut an annual $40 handout to the poorest Gazans.
The dispute comes against a broader backdrop of growing Palestinian unrest in both Gaza and the occupied West Bank, with no end in sight to the decades-old Middle East conflict.
- April 6: Istanbul, Turkey for talks with senior officials
- April 7-9: Jerusalem and Ramallah for talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders
- April 10-11: London for the G8 Foreign Ministers Meeting
- April 12: Seoul, South Korea
- April 13: Beijing, China
- April 14: Tokyo, Japan
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is due to return to Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy on Sunday, with meetings scheduled in both Ramallah and Jerusalem from April 7-9, just two weeks after President Barack Obama's first visit to the region.
Like Obama before him, Kerry is not expected to bring any new initiative to revive peace talks, which broke down in 2010.
The past week saw violent clashes between youths and Israeli security forces in the West Bank, which raised fears that a new uprising, or Intifada, might be brewing. There were reports of sporadic confrontations on Friday, but not on the same scale as earlier in the week.
In another sign of the tensions, rockets were fired out of Gaza for three days running this week, while Israeli warplanes carried out their first strike on the territory since November.
The storming of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) compound in Gaza on Thursday was part of a dispute that has been brewing for weeks and was not tied to diplomatic events, but it laid bare the frustration brewing amongst Palestinians.
UNRWA provides assistance in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Gaza and the West Bank to Palestinian refugees and their descendants — now put at some five million spread across myriad camps.
The agency has said it will not resume work in Gaza, including food distribution to 800,000 Palestinians — nearly half the enclave's population — unless it receives assurances from Hamas over the safety of its staff.
"People are demonstrating because they're frustrated and the situation in Gaza just seems to be getting worse," said Robert Turner, the director of UNRWA operations in Gaza.
"We respect everyone's right to peaceful protest, but what happened yesterday was unacceptable," he told Reuters, saying initial reports suggested up to 200 demonstrators, some carrying iron rods, had forced their way into the UNRWA compound.
Hamas called the closure of UNRWA offices "unjustified."
"When UNRWA's administration called Palestinian security they arrived, restored calm and ended the state of chaos," said Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri. "Therefore, we urge UNRWA to rethink its decision."
Turner said UNRWA faced a $68 million shortfall in 2013 and took the decision to cut the $40 annual handout to 106,000 Gaza refugees to save some $5.5 million. To soften the blow, the agency was offering job schemes to help the poorest families.
News that food centers had been shut down shocked Gaza.
"If UNRWA closes down the food distribution centers, it would lead to a disaster," said Fathi Al-Seidi, 30, who lives in a refugee camp. He added that locals were dependent on the UNRWA aid and cash from Western-backed authorities in the West Bank.
"Without this, life will be equal to zero," he said.
U.N. officials said UNRWA appeared to be bearing the brunt of disillusionment in Gaza that followed a short-lived spurt of optimism last November when a ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel raised hopes of an easing of restrictions on the enclave.
Israel, supported by Egypt, imposes a partial trade blockade on Gaza, saying it is needed to prevent arms reaching Hamas, which does not recognize Israel and has not renounced violence.
Since the November truce, which ended eight days of fighting, the restrictions have barely changed while Egypt has launched a crackdown on illegal smuggling tunnels into Gaza.
Underscoring Hamas's difficulties, the group's leader Khaled Meshaal said on Thursday it faced a "financial problem," suggesting Arab allies were not providing sufficient aid.
Filed under Israel and Palestine by on Apr 8th, 2013. Comment.
This brilliant and brief documentary well reflects the irrepressible strength and creativity of the Palestinian people.
Regardless of what politicians say, people will dream and express their hopes, frustrations and fears one way or another. Graffiti art has always been a voice that cries out from the base of the community. In the West Bank that base runs broad and deep.
Father Dave
If you can't view this video, click here
Filed under israel and palestine conflict by on Apr 6th, 2013. Comment.


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Seismic upgrade delays fault of Vancouver School Board: Education Minister Peter Fassbender
Fassbender says funding is in place, but school board says government adding costs it can't afford
B.C.'s education minister is blaming the Vancouver School Board for delaying seismic upgrades to schools, saying without recent changes the process might have taken until 2045.
On Friday morning Minister Peter Fassbender responded to an unconfirmed report that the upgrades are now expected to take a decade longer than previously anticipated.
In 2005, the province committed to upgrades to dozens of older schools in the city, and set a deadline of 2020 to finish the work.
According to an unconfirmed report, that deadline was pushed back to 2030 for schools in Vancouver, and to 2025 for schools outside Vancouver,
Speaking at a news conference called to respond to the report on Friday morning, Fassbender denied the timeline was accurate and that the province was to blame for Vancouver's extended delays.
"The accusation that has been made is false," he said.
Funding in place says minister
Fassbender said there is money for the upgrades, but he blamed the school board's "inability to bring forward project definitions that meet its requirements," for the delays.
If the VSB had continued with its past strategy, the upgrades for about 69 Vancouver schools deemed to be high risk would not be finished for another 30 years, he said.
"At the pace the Vancouver school board was working before, it would have taken to 2045 to complete all the projects.That is unacceptable," Fassbender said.
"The money has been there — is there — to do all of the projects in Vancouver. The funding has never been an issue. What has been an issue is the inability of the Vancouver School Board to bring forward good initiatives that are bathed in good science and good engineering."
That is why he created a joint project office with the Vancouver School Board to move the projects forward faster, he said.
"I have every confidence that we are going to get it done," Fassbender said. "I believe the new administration and the new school board is going to work through the project office ... to get the projects going."
Fassbender said in order for projects to go ahead, school boards need to be prepared to move students to existing schools, rather than house them in portables.
He also said if school boards want to expand the scope of any seismic upgrade to include other elements — a problem suggested is at the root of delays in Vancouver — they need to find the additional funding in their existing budgets.
"I can tell you that every other school district is doing that and we are not having the delays we have had with Vancouver in the past."
Trustee says minister trying to shift blame
Vancouver School Board trustee Patti Bacchus claims the government's constant changing of the funding requirements has been causing the delays.
"They used to fund portables if we needed to move students around during construction. They've now changed that," said Bacchus.
"A year ago, Mr. Fassbender came out and said that school boards would be expected to pay up to half the cost of their seismic upgrades and sent everybody into a panic because we just don't have that money."
"They don't seem to have a plan. We have asked for several years, since George Abbott was the minister, to help us establish a dedicated office. We could see the pace is far too slow.
"It's taken them until now to allow us to set that up. So to suggest we have been delaying is absurd. They are trying to shift blame."
Despite a decade of upgrades, Bacchus said there are still more than 40 Vancouver schools that are still deemed at high risk of collapsing during a major earthquake.
"We're not talking moderate risk, these are all high risk, H1 and H2 buildings that are expected to have significant structural failure in the event of an earthquake," said Bacchus.
A rating of H1 means a school is at the highest risk of widespread damage or structural failure during a major earthquake.
A 2012 survey found that there were more than 150 schools across the province at high risk of substantial damage during an earthquake, and pegged the cost of upgrading them at $1.3 billion.
Last year the government announced that school boards would have to pay half the cost of seismic upgrades.
"They find different reasons, to say gee, here we are 10 years into the program and now they're saying this a problem," said Bacchus.
"I don't buy that. Parents certainly shouldn't accept that. These children's lives should not be put at risk."
Budget doubled since 2005
Fassbender said when the seismic upgrade plan was announced a decade ago the budget was set at $1.1 billion, but much has been learned since then about the difficulty of the projects and so the budget has been doubled to $2.2 billion.
Fassbender also highlighted the work the government has funded:
- 145 projects have been completed.
- 11 are underway.
- 9 are in development.
- 48 are in planning.
After Fassbender spoke, his ministry released a statement clarifying the timeline for completion of the remaining seismic projects in the province and in Vancouver.
"The engineering and scientific partners in the program, feel that work can be accomplished in all districts (23), excluding Vancouver, by 2025. Only 24 of B.C.'s 60 school districts have high-risk schools."
"The 2030 revised APEGBC [Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of B.C.] completion timeline is for Vancouver alone," said the statement.
In Vancouver:
- 20 projects have been completed.
- Four are under construction.
- Two are proceeding to construction.
- 23 are in planning/supported.
- 40 have not yet been supported
With files from Farrah Merali


text:
FAANG stocks can be tail wagging Nasdaq dog writes, Zack Mannes.
We generally chart the regular NASDAQ— the NDX, QQQ, and the futures— but when you consider that a mere five momentum names, affectionately given the acronym FAANG: Facebook (FB), Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), Netflix (NFLX) and Google (GOOG), comprise nearly 40% of the weighting of the entire index, a glance at the equal weight version is not a bad idea. I prefer the First Trust NASDAQ Equal Weight ETF (QQEW) to the Direxion NASDAQ 100 Equal Weighted ETF (QQQE) as it seems to chart slightly cleaner.
Watching for nuanced differentiation in the patterns between the QQEW and NDX, it is possible to see the potential for the former to lead a bit. For example, back in August/September of 2018, QQEW marked a divergent high. More recently, the QQEW began to count more like the blue 5th wave extension of (5) of Primary Wave 3 before the NDX shifted from its "(B)" wave (see charts below).
More importantly, though, is that fact that the equal weight does not get pulled to such price extremes by the disproportionate momentum of a scant few stocks. The Primary Wave 3 in NDX has stretched all the way to the 223.6% Fibonacci extension as measured in log-scale off the July 2010 low for Primary 2. By contrast, the QQEW hit a more perfect 161.8% Fibonacci extension for its Primary wave 3 top.
The disproportionate extension, though, also appears to affect the downside corrective moves. The Primary Wave 4 for NDX can easily be an approximately -40% slide into 2020, while QQEW can be a bit less severe at only -30-35%.
In our Charts of the Day video from this past Wednesday evening, we look at the likely "A/B/C" in QQEW as well as the similar projections for the FAANG names that are likely to drag the regularly weight NASDAQ even lower.
While Amazon is the heaviest of the FAANGs as a portion of the NDX at 10.2%, we went in acronym order starting with Facebook. Facebook has a clear 5 waves up complete at a Primary degree off the 2012 low. Since December also counts more cleanly as only a corrective ABC up for the orange "B-wave," the proportionate move down can easily see FB shave off around 50%.
Apple has the longest history of our group and can therefore have topped at a larger degree. It counts complete with all attendant subwaves and with multiple Fibonacci and Elliott Wave confluences as a Super-Cycle wave (III) top. The rest of its Primary C-wave down inside a larger cycle a-wave should coincide with the rest of Primary 4 in Markets. The C-wave points to targets more than 40% lower.
AMZN like AAPL and FB looks much more like only three waves off the December low consistent with a corrective bounce as a B-wave inside the larger correction despite NDX and QQEW stretching to new highs over 2018. The orange C-wave measured move project about 40% lower here too, but the possible targeted support for Primary 4 in the 725 region is closer to a 60% fade with another bounce in the middle.
Netflix is certainly still a momentum name, but at only 1.9% weight in the NDX, it is by far the lightest of the FAANGs and at only $160 billion it is dwarfed by the market caps of the others. NFLX is the only one with a potentially strong setup for further extension in its cycle degree wave III, if it can hold a corrective pullback into the 280 region. That green extension for One More High can target 660s. But there is still room for a further 19% slide in the green 2 and failure to hold can have this easily dropping 60% or even 75% to the first larger degree support region.
Lastly, we have the stock formerly known as Google, Alphabet Inc (GOOGL). GOOGL is the only one that clearly stretched to the alt 5 of (5) of Primary 3 as we saw in the QQEW into its earnings, but the strong drop is in-line with the initiation of the Primary Wave 4. The remainder of which targeting the ideal 38.2% retrace of Primary Wave 3 equates to just over 40% of further downside. Again, pulling disproportionately harder on the regular NDX than on the QQEW.
Zachary Mannes is a senior analyst at ElliottWaveTrader.net covering U.S. stocks.
See our Charts of the Day video providing additional analysis on these stocks.


text:
3 million geocaches: the infographic.
A major milestone like 3 million geocaches is the perfect excuse to make an infographic. Who doesn't love infographics?!
In all seriousness, this achievement is thanks to efforts by people all around the world. Collectively, they contributed millions of hours of time — time spent researching hiding spots, making containers, reviewing caches, hosting events, cleaning up the environment, and more. The result is more than 3 million geocaches. It's 3 million experiences as interesting and varied as the people who created them!
Here's a look inside 3 million geocaches:


text:
Export SOAP project with swagger in soapui
Hy ,
I am trying to Export one SOAP projekt with swagger. Until now i got only the error Project is missing REST API.
My final scope is to Import this projekt in Postman.
Did anyone has similar experience or hint?
Thanks ,
Solved! Go to Solution.
Hey @oanamay
Just to clarify - you're trying to export an existing SOAP project from within ReadyAPI! and save the export file as swagger - is this swagger v1.2, v2. or openapi v3.0?
What format are you trying to save as? .json? .xml? .yaml?
What version of ReadyAPI! are you using?
All these questions could be relevant and allow other forum members to attempt to reproduce your issue?
Hy richie,
Thanks for your help,
I am trying to Export SOAP projekt using SOAP-UI-5.6.0 and the swagger in this Version.
Actual Format from Project by export ist XML.
I am trying to saved it as json format so i can Import later in Postman.
Hey @oanamay
I just realised - i know what the problem is
your project is SOAP right - its not REST. I don't think you can export to swagger a SOAP project - so I think youre stuffed.
you can export to swagger a REST project fine, right?
Thank you Richie for the investigation! Let's see if this is the solution.
Hi @oanamay, did the suggestion help?
Sonya Mihaljova
Community and Education Specialist
Hy richie,
Thanks for your help you just Confirm my knowledege. We are now investigatting if we can use other Tools to achieved our Goals,


text:
Perhaps you remember the 1965-67 television sitcom about a calvary troop that just could not do anything right. One of the largest and most violent gangs in California took its name from this sitcom.
The gang, which was formed in the Santa Ana area by primarily Hispanic members, was known as Fx Troop or F-Troop, and claims that the original roots of the street gang stretch back from the 1940s, but it adopted its new name in the mid-1960s.
In August of 1992, the local Mexican Mafia leader and local heroin hype, Peter "Sana" Ojeda, called a meeting in El Salvador Park (east of the Santa Ana River at Civic Center Drive and Raitt Street) of representatives of more than 50 rival Hispanic gangs. Leading the meeting of several hundred gang members was Mexican Mafia members Peter "Sana" Ojeda, Mike "Musclehead" Salinas, Raymond "Champ" Mendez, Ambrose "Sporty" Gil, and La Eme associate Arturo "Art" Romo.
Art Romo was an F-Troop gang member and supporter of fellow drug dealer "Sana" Ojeda. Art Romo had drug contacts in other gangs, such as Logan, Delhi and the Alley Boys. He also had contacts with Mexican and Columbian drug cartels. Art Romo ran a T-shirt screening operation called A&G Exquisite Designs (or "Maldito") with his fellow F-Troop homeboy Gomercindo "Gomer" Rios.
After the infamous El Salvador Park meeting, Art Romo organized the "United Gang Council" to support La Eme and "Sana" Ojeda's gang edicts. This ordered "peace treaty" was actually the enforcement of the Mexican Mafia rules of engagement and taxation. These edicts did not stop gang murders; they only prohibited the drive-by shooting tactic. But the gullible politicians and the media ate it up like piranhas on a pork chop. They treated the Mexican Mafia's gang truce leaders as if they were neighborhood heroes.
A few months after the meeting in El Salvador Park, Art Romo was arrested for laundering $59,900 for a Columbian drug cartel in a cocaine sting. U.S. District Judge Gary L. Taylor was impressed by the 125 letters of support for Romo; he felt that the letters expressed "true, heart-felt praise" for Romo's "really wonderful assistance to the community." However, the judge imposed the maximum sentence allowable in federal prison, but within a couple of years Romo was back in the F-Troop barrio.
In 1992, the DEA arrested Ojeda on federal weapons charges in Operation Green Ice. Following Ojeda's arrest, DEA Agent Santos Miranda received death threats from the Mexican Mafia. Ojeda was eventually convicted and sentenced to federal prison. In 1995, the other Mexican Mafia members who were also present at the El Salvador Park meeting were indicted and convicted in a RICO conspiracy.
Art Romo continued doing the Mexican Mafia's business with his front organization, called the United Gang Council. However, Santa Ana's Community Policing Team, Sgt. Dan Beaumarchais and Det. John Hibbison were not fooled by the good-guy media version of Art Romo. The DEA and Mexican Army Maj. Felipe Perez-Cruz in Tijuana's Office of the General Prosecutor (Procuraduria General de la Republica, PGR) were also looking for Art Romo because of his connections to drug cartels in Tijuana and Columbia.[PAGEBREAK]
In March of 1998, the DEA and Orange County task force requested the assistance of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department to take down an F-Troop drug operation. LASD's Major Narco and, later, Prison Gang Unit assisted in the take down of this operation, seizing over 260 kilos of cocaine. F-Troop members Fernando Melendrez, David Ramirez and Art Romo were arrested and charged with drug-trafficking conspiracy.
This wholesale $5 million cocaine seizure brought out the Mexican Mafia's legal "dream team." From the high-powered Osajima Law Office, Glenn K. Osajima himself took the lead. His second was defense attorney Shirley MacDonald, whose ex-con husband Albert "Babo" Juarez was a validated Mexican Mafia associate and a suspected made member. In the past Shirley MacDonald Juarez represented Mexican Mafia Godfather Joe "Pegleg" Morgan in lawsuits against actor Edward James Olmos involving the movie, "American Me" (1992).
Attorney Shirley MacDonald and her husband were listed as assistant director and director of "The Cause: Cultural Awareness Uniting in Special Efforts." This was, in my opinion, another front organization of La Eme. Other members of the board of directors included La Eme attorney Daniel Guerrero, and Paul A. Sharp — the program director of the American Recovery Center (American Hospital) in Pomona, Calif. Sharp's son, a La Eme associate, was convicted for the "taxation" and home invasion robbery of a drug house in Whittier in 1994.
Like Art Romo's United Gang Council, the Mexican Mafia infiltrated community organizations such as "No Guns," "The Cause" and various drug rehab programs all are used to establish an appearance of legitimacy. They generated letters of support, "counseling," and drug program certification for individuals favored by the Mexican Mafia prison gang. Romo's "125 letters of community support" were meant to flood the courts, probation and parole with false positive reports that could influence the justice system, as well as genuine community and civic organizations.
I testified as the Mexican Mafia gang expert during Romo's trial. As the trial progressed, I noticed a diminishing effort to defend Romo's interests. As the case closed, I received information from an informant that Romo's co-defendant Melendrez and Gomez had been given orders to hit their own homeboy. Romo was convicted and placed in protective custody but remained at the Orange County jail for several years, appealing his case and delaying sentencing.
In July of 2000, Mexican Mafia veteran Roland Berry was arrested for meth trafficking in San Bernardino and Orange County. He had travelled to Southern California from his home in Hawaii to secure sources for his "ice" dealing.
Hearing that Berry was to be moved from San Bernardino to the Orange County jail, Romo offered to relinquish control of a portion of the Orange County jail to Berry. Roland Berry replied in his typical bravado fashion, "I've been a brother since the early '70s, was part of the Famosa (Famous) in Tracy (the Mexican Mafia was founded at Deuel Vocational Institution in Tracy, Calif.). Now are you a brother? Yes or no?" He then signed the kite (written message), Roland-EME.
This Berry kite was disrespectful and questioned any control Romo might have thought he had. Romo's association with high powered La Eme members, his loyal service as a liaison to the drug cartels, his close association to Mexican Mafia lawyers, and his usefulness as a front man, meant nothing when challenged by a real made member.
This began this pawn's fall from grace. Art Romo was just another example of an F-Troop member who just couldn't get anything right.


text:
3 Common Legal Issues Nonprofit Boards Experience
Many laws that impact the commercial industry are still applicable to nonprofit organizations. Good intention doesn't justify a lapse in protocol, and board members should take meticulous care to research regulations that might affect their operation. Let's take a look at three common legal issues that nonprofit boards experience, so that you can identify and avoid them.
1. Misclassification of Employees
This legal issue most commonly manifests as misclassification of employees as "independent contractors." These groups are two very different classifications that require their own distinct protocol, and the terms of the initial contract signed between an employer and the employee have no bearing on the matter.
A worker's classification as an independent contractor depends on the following:
- The contracts and benefits of the person performing the work.
- The tools and expenses involved in the person's responsibilities.
- The manner in which they get their work done.
If an employee receives the treatment of an independent contractor, they may not enjoy the benefits of workers' compensation. This problem has the potential to lead to a lawsuit in the event of an injury, in addition to other misclassification problems involving payroll tax liabilities and penalties.
In the case of Marie v. American Red Cross, the nonprofit misclassified their employees as volunteers. Even a seemingly inconsequential misnomer can lead to serious legal trouble, which you can avoid with a nuanced understanding of different worker classifications.
2. Political Campaigning and Lobbying
No board member may use their operation as a platform on which to publicly support or oppose any candidate running for public office or already elected. Violation may result in the imposition of excise taxes and denial or revocation of tax-exempt status. The penalties are steep.
Nonprofit organizations are likewise not permitted to contribute to political campaigns or intervene in any way on behalf of a candidate. Repurposing a charitable operation to benefit a member, or misappropriating funds in any way, is inherently immoral. The guilty party will face serious repercussions if funds are improperly used.
Board members that speak for their nonprofit must show discretion, and under no circumstances can they issue a public statement on behalf of a candidate. Any politically charged public statement, either verbal or written, is against regulations and will likely result in the aforementioned consequences.
The Sierra Club, an environmental organization, received $26 million from one of the country's largest gas companies, which represents a significant conflict of interest. You can avoid these kinds of legal issues very easily by keeping your profession and affiliations separate.
3. Compliance with State Laws
Different states have different legal requirements that nonprofits must adhere to. Board members should closely inspect the regulations of a new state before moving their operation elsewhere, as a failure to understand proper conduct can result in serious consequences for everyone involved.
If a nonprofit's activities qualify as "doing business" within a certain state, they have to register as a foreign corporation. All of the money that they earn in these areas will later need detailing in their annual reports, so careful record-keeping is essential to maintain the legality of an operation.
Payroll and workers' compensation are important to review, and employees active in the new state may require special consideration. If board members have more pressing concerns, they should take care to delegate this important responsibility to a trusted professional.
The Red Cross received criticism for misrepresenting facts and figures for their work in Haiti, a danger that nonprofits face operating outside their state of domicile. You can avoid this legal issue if you review state laws before you begin soliciting in a new place, maintaining accurate reports in the process.
Ignorance of the Law Is Not a Defense
Startup nonprofits might benefit from legal consultation with a professional who can guide them in the right direction. Poor planning and research on the part of inexperienced board members often results in legal trouble that more established corporate boards don't face.
Either way, educating yourself can help prevent the issues listed above.
Kayla Matthews writes about AI, the cloud and retail technology. You can also find her work on The Week, WIRED, Digital Trends, MarketingDive and Contently, or check out her personal tech blog.


text:
Pardon this spin-terruption, but we have exciting news. Phenomenex has officially been fidget-ized! …Spin-terized? …Spin-sonified? Whatever you want to call it, we have joined the continuing fad of fidget spinners, or as we like to call them, Phegit™ spinners!
At first, many were reluctant. Having never spun the spun, it was hard to join the obsession with these new toys. But then we had our scientists give them a whirl.
After dropping some knowledge on this "young persons" fad, our scientists couldn't wait to get their hands on their very own fidget spinner. See their reactions below:
Sure, these magnificent distractions are addictive, but what is behind the obsession? What is the science behind these mesmerizing toys? It might not be one of the most complex inventions, but that whirling sound really makes you wonder, how did the fidget spinner come to be?
This gadget that is nothing more than three weighted prongs that just spin and spin, has been around in some form since 1993. However, in the last few months, the fidget spinner has taken off at an alarming rate. It dominated Amazon's top-selling toys and games list, stores couldn't seem to keep them on their shelves, and Toy "R" Us supposedly charted jets to ship spinners to their stores.
Fidgeting is not a new human behavior. Attention deficit hyperactive disorder, or ADHD, is a condition characterized by inattention, hyperactivity, impulsiveness, or a combination according to Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA).
"About 60 percent of children with ADHD in the United States become adults with ADHD; that's about 4 percent of the adult population, or 8 million adults." It turns out that less than 20 percent of adults with ADHD have been diagnosed or treated, and only about one-quarter of those adults seek help.
That leaves millions of adults with ADHD going through their days without help. That is where the fidget spinner whirls in to action. Some retailers claim that the fidget spinner has health benefits such as easing stress, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety and ADHD. However, it has a lot of people questioning the legitimacy of these claims.
The momentum of the toy is supposed to provide a pleasing sensory experience in order to allow for greater concentration for people with the conditions listed above. Occupational therapists often use sensory toys to soothe kids who have sensory-processing issues.
One scientific theory is that body movements are actually part of the thinking and expression process. Think back to when you were writing an important paper, getting ready for a big speech or presentation, or just trying to decide on where to eat, now try picturing those actions, but sitting exceptionally still. It isn't easy, almost feels unnatural.
Another theory is that fidgeting can occupy the parts of your brain that would otherwise be distracting the rest of your brain with random thoughts and actions. This thought believes that fidgeting can potentially prevent your mind from being occupied by obsessive and unhealthy thoughts.
Some studies have even published theories on how fidgeting helps to prevent disease. According to a study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, fidgeting may reduce the risk of all-cause mortality associated with excessive sitting time. From a sample of women in the United Kingdom, fidgeting seemed to counteract these dangers. This is not to say that fidgeting will save you and that you shouldn't work out, but it is just an added benefit to these addictive past times.
The science behind fidget spinners is still not exceptionally strong, but that is usually the case with new products on the market. With a shortage of funding for many science studies, fidget spinners have most likely fallen to the bottom of the pile. However, with the studies that have already been done on the act of fidgeting and the benefits it can provide to those who are diagnosed with ADHD and post-traumatic stress disorder, we can draw a conclusion that fidget spinners are not harmful to them.
But are they a good thing for those not dealing with a condition? Schools across the globe have begun to ban fidget spinners from the classroom claiming that they are a distraction. A kid tapping their foot or spinning a pen is barely noticed, but trying to take off with a mini propeller in their hands might distract both kids and the teacher.
Whether you find them annoying or the best way to stay focused, fidget spinners will be with us for at least a little longer. So why not give them a try?
Make those wait times in the lab whirl by with your very own spinner! Check out www.phenomenex.com/spin for a chance to get your hands on one.


text: The wilds of nature on a frigid sunny day can be a magical place. Red squirrels leap from low branches and tunnel under snow. Red-tailed hawks perch on tree limbs above frozen marshes, perhaps waiting for the tempting movement of rabbits. Rivers flow and shoreline ice sparkles and crackles. That was nature's welcome to me on the first day of the New Year. I breathed deeply from the evergreen scented air and headed for a large stand of towering red pine trees that were planted in neat orderly rows during the Great Depression. The pines created an image very much unlike what one expects in wild nature; yet to the naturalist spirit within me, they beckoned to be explored. Continue reading


text:
This Clear Diamond Collection diamond design key chain is one favor that's bound to rock your guests' world
Talk about a big rock! The diamond-inspired charm on this fun key chain favor is off the carat charts! And your guests will be happy to accept this glistening ring as their event memento. From Advantage Bridal's Clear Diamond Collection , each measures 3.5" x 1.25" and has a clear, crystal-like, multifaceted acrylic diamond shaped charm attached to a sturdy silver metal chain and ring. Each comes packaged in a shiny silver box tied with a white organza ribbon and an attached "For You" tag in a round silver design.
Final Sale - This product can NOT returned or exchanged. Please select carefully.


text:
Balvenie 25 Year Old Rare Marriages
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text:
and Dependability Symposium
Chair:Felicita Di
GiandomenicoISTI-CNR, Pisa, Italy[email protected]Major
aspects of our society and our daily life are increasingly dependent on
networked information systems. As the complexity of these computing and
communication systems grows, it is more and more challenging to
guarantee their healthy operation, especially in terms of performance
and dependability (and their interaction). Therefore, modeling,
measuring, testing, benchmarking and verifying performance and
dependability (including security, safety and reliability) are critical
for the design and the deployment of these systems. The Performance and
Dependability Symposium (PDS) brings together academic and industrial
researchers in these two related areas, with emphasis on integrating
theory and practice, and exchanging ideas and
experiences.We welcome regular research papers,
practical experience papers, tool descriptions/demonstrations, and
panel proposals related to performance and dependability assessment,


text:
Join us for Bollywood at the Castro – one of the most popular events at the festival! This year's interstellar offering takes Bollywood exuberance in a whole new direction apt for the 21st century! Superstar Aamir Khan shines as the titular PK, an inquisitive space alien who lands on Earth and shakes up society, in director Rajkumar Hirani's (3 idiots) subversive comedy. Deftly poking fun at the foibles of earthlings – especially their warring religions, PK shines a light on the contradictions of social mores with humor and compassion. A runaway hit in India, the film features a wealth of top actors including Anushka Sharma as a plucky TV journalist, Saurabh Shukla as a wealthy Hindu mega-swami, and most memorably, Munnabhai MBBS star Sanjay Dutt as a ruffian wedding band musician.
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