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Here's a version of Klinschor, yet another character from Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival:
His name appears as Clinschor in the manuscripts, but it's commonly spelled with a K in modern German, so that's my excuse for drawing him this week. Fair warning: this will not be the last time I use spelling variations to fudge my way through the Arthurian alphabet! (And incidentally, on the subject of names: Richard Wagner further changed Klinschor's character, his role, and his name in creating the part of Klingsor for his opera Parsifal; a final change for the wizardly knight came with his transformation into Corporal Klinger in M*A*S*H*. Ha, I kid! Moving on...)
Klinschor was a knight and Count of the Terra di Lavoro in Italy, but he had the misfortune to be castrated by his lover's husband. (Nevertheless, the part of Klingsor in Parsifal is sung by a bass.) Thereafter Klinschor turned to the arts of magic and created threatening traps for other knights in his Castle of Wonders (Schastel marveile), until the spells therein were defeated—or at least survived—by Gawan (Wolfram's version of Sir Gawain / Gauvain).
The technique this week is a bit of an experiment. I did a very quick pencil sketch from life, as a guide to the shadows, principally; then I put down the vellum and attempted to ink the image with a minimum of outlines, hoping to build up the shapes out of hatching (not unlike the way John Totleben might ink, though very unlike his way in the care taken and the effects achieved):
That turned out okay, but it lost a lot of the shadowy contrast I'd been hoping for. So I tried again by inking the pencils directly with a bias toward direct black and white opposition instead of gradations of shade (though not exclusively, as you can see below):
I liked that one better, overall, but just for fun I decided to lay the vellum over the original inks and see how that composite would look when scanned. And lo, that's how I got the version I submitted to Alphabooks and that appears at the top of this post. Not exactly the best of both versions, but I think the overlaid image is more interesting than either of its layers alone. And to spare you any scrolling up for a recap, here it is again just before the post ends:
Next week: a foregone conclusion for the letter L...
Monday, July 30, 2012
Arthurian Alphabooks: K is for Klinschor
Labels: Alphabooks, Arthurian Alphabooks, working methods
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Text by Sofia Lundegårdh
Photos by Chiew Lin May & Seng Yen Wah
My name is Sofia Lundegårdh, I am 18 and from Sweden. For my entire life I have known that I want to work with animals, which is why I chose to study animal care and am now in the final year of my 3 year education. It was only recently that I found more interest in animal rehabilitation, so when I got the opportunity to volunteer at the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre thanks to a scholarship from my school I was so happy I almost could not believe it. Therefore, as part of the internship that is included in my education, I travelled to Borneo for 5 weeks together with my classmate Jonas.
It was my first time ever going to Asia and working in such a warm and humid climate, which took some time to get used to after coming directly from the snow in Sweden. Sometimes it got tough, but the staff was great at making sure that were okay and considerate when you needed breaks. In the end, knowing that what I did was to help the bears made all the work very rewarding.
The daily routines at the BSBCC consisted of cleaning cages and preparing food for the bears which was given to them both inside the bear house as well as the outside forest enclosures. One of my favourite things to do, however, was making enrichments. Every day all the bears had to be stimulated to keep them entertained and encourage their natural behaviours to help them learn about the forest. Enrichments were usually made out of whatever materials we had available such as leaves, sticks and fire hoses and filled with hidden treats like peanut butter or honey. But we also got the chance to test our creativity and make something bigger and more advance, in my case a hammock and a ramp! Later watching the bears play with whatever you gave them always made me happy, but I also began noticing the different behaviours and characteristics between individuals. Before I came here I did not know much about sun bears, but their charming and unique personalities made them the most wonderful animal that I have ever worked with. It saddens me deeply that their backgrounds are filled with so much trauma caused by humans after having been kept as pets under horrible conditions.
As I slowly got to know the bears, I also got to know the staff of the centre. Everyone has been so friendly, welcoming and helpful from the very start, and working next to them has taught me a lot about animal rehabilitation as well as given me insight into the operation of the work place. I also found it incredibly inspiring to see how passionate, dedicated and caring for the bears all the keepers are.
I really do not want to go home yet, but these 5 weeks have gone by way too fast. I am so grateful for my school sending me here, as this experience has been one of the best things I have ever done in my life, and though I am sad to leave I also made so many great memories. To the staff of BSBCC, thank you all so incredibly much for everything you do for the bears and for everything you did for me during these 5 weeks. I am already planning my next visit here, as I definitely want to come back in the nearest possible future!
Lastly, I would like to share a quote from Jane Goodall that I was shown by Dr Wong. It has meant a lot to me during my time here and will continue to inspire me for the rest of my life, so I hope that it might do the same for anyone else who reads this: "Only if we understand, can we care. Only if we care, will we help. Only if we help, shall they be saved."
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PH authorizes Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use
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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 14) — The Philippines has approved the use of Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine, the first one to be granted emergency use authorization in the country.
The Food and Drug Administration granted the application of American pharmaceutical giant on Thursday, Director General Eric Domingo confirmed. An EUA issuance from the regulators is required for the vaccines to be legally rolled out in the country.
"The interim data from the ongoing phase 3 trial shows that the vaccine has an efficacy of 95% in the study population and at least 92% among all racial groups," Domingo said in a briefing.
He added that the adverse events were transient and mostly mild to moderate similar to common vaccine reactions, and no specific safety concerns were identified. However, monitoring is still required after immunization for other possible side effects, he noted.
Pfizer has already secured EUA approval from United States and United Kingdom among other countries and emergency use listing from the World Health Organization after its phase 3 clinical trial showed that it was 95% effective in preventing infections after a person received two shots.
Under the terms of the EUA, the vaccine can only be administered by vaccination providers to individuals 16 years old and above. Also, Pfizer shall only supply the vaccine to emergency response stakeholders including the Department of Health, the National Task Force Against COVID-19, or other authorized designees like public and private hospitals, local government units, and the private sector.
The country has not yet formally secured doses of Pfizer's shots, but vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said the Philippines may receive more or less 40 million doses from the US biopharmaceutical company this year as they continue to finalize negotiations. Pfizer doses could also arrive this quarter if the Philippines' application for an early rollout under the World Health Organization's COVAX facility is granted.
Unlike other brands, Pfizer's vaccine needs to be stored in ultra-cold minus-70 degrees Celsius freezers, which are not yet widely available nationwide. Adhering to the temperature requirements during storage and distribution is crucial to ensure the efficacy of the vaccines.
Domingo said under the authorization, Pfizer shall provide the required cold chain requirements for storage, transport, and handling until vaccines are delivered to inoculation sites, unless a different agreement with the DOH or the task force is formulated.
He also said that government authorities will determine areas that will receive the Pfizer vaccine to ensure proper storage and cold chain management
Galvez earlier said distribution of Pfizer vaccines may be limited to Metro Manila, Cebu City, and Davao City for now as these urbanized areas can meet the storage requirements. The national government is also in talks with private firms to establish cold storage rooms and walk-in freezers.
The EUA application of AstraZeneca and Sputnik V made by Russia's Gamaleya Research Institute are pending at the FDA. Domingo told CNN Philippines on Thursday the agency may decide on AstraZeneca's application before the end of January. He pointed out that the British-Swedish drugmaker has already secured EUA from a stringent regulatory authority from the UK, which would "help (the FDA) evaluate a little faster."
The government aims to vaccinate 50 million to 70 million Filipinos this year.


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LabCloud has NO ACCESS or RIGHTS to your data. All information is your own and LabCloud staff has access to the data only with your consent. If you would like more details, please refer to the LabCloud Customer Terms and Conditions.
Well good question. We are the only FREE platform to offer ...Read More
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Affirmations are positive words or sentences that may assist you to stay focused in an encouraging manner. If you repeat an affirmation every day, throughout the day you may notice an optimistic transformation in your attitude towards yourself and others. This may help improve your relationships at home, in the workplace and may even increase career opportunities.
Affirmation for today: I achieve my goals
Exercise: Try practicing this affirmation today and tomorrow reflect on how it made you feel.


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A new year brings new goals, new projects, and new opportunity. There is no better way to get these important messages across than bringing your team together. We all know what your employees are thinking… please not another meeting! However, you can avoid the eye roll, the hunched shoulders and sluggish pace to the conference table by making the decision to host your next meeting at one of Columbia's most unique venues. Riverbanks Zoo & Garden is the impressive venue you need to deliver your important message! Riverbanks offers inclusive packages that cover more than just the basic meeting requirements.
Our Half-Day Meeting Package Includes:
- Entry into the zoo and garden for you and your meeting guests
- Breakfast, lunch, and refreshments from our on-site caterer
- Use of our podium, interactive screen, mic and sound system and basic Wi-Fi
- Standard tables, chairs, and linen
- Professional Event Staff
- Room set up and clean up
- Service charge and tax
With a minimum of 25 guests, you get all of this for just $38.95 per person plus the venue rental.
The 4 hour package is available Monday – Friday from 9:00am – 1:00pm allowing plenty of time for you and your staff to explore the park once your meeting concludes. If you prefer a later start, just ask about converting this package to fit your afternoon meeting needs.
Our Meeting Package is just the start! We have lots of additions to personalize your visit and create a memorable experience that is sure to excite your staff and gear them up for a successful year. For the thrill seekers, Riverbanks offers a Climbing Wall or the Sky High Ropes Course. For those that prefer to keep their feet on the group, options range from an animal encounter to a scavenger hunt. More into food than fun? We have many additional food items to upgrade your current package and create the perfect spread for you and your guests. Looking for more of an adult feel? Add a cocktail hour post meeting!
Need more than 4 hours to get your message across? With a minimum of 50 guests, we have a full day package option that includes everything mentioned above plus an afternoon snack and stationery for just a little bit more.
With two daytime spaces to choose from, we have the perfect facility for your event:
- The rustic Ndoki Lodge is undoubtedly the most unique meeting space in South Carolina with high beam ceilings and panoramic foliage views. You and your guests may even get the opportunity to see an elephant visiting its nearby watering hole or a meerkat peering in at you!
- The Magnolia Room, located in the Botanical Garden is by far the most versatile space we have to offer. You'll be blown away by the array of seasonal and themed gardens once you step through the Magnolia Room's French doors and out onto the bricked terrace.
If you're looking for a way to build camaraderie amongst your team, provide career-enhancing training, or promote creativity, Riverbanks Zoo & Garden is the perfect venue for you! To find out more about our package and venue options, please visit our website or contact our Private Events Department at (803) 602-0900.
Fun Fact: Riverbanks Zoo & Garden was recognized as Columbia's Best Conference Venue, in the Best of Columbia 2017 awards.


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Should You Poly Bag Media Items for Amazon FBA
I get this question asked to me a lot and its do I poly bag my media items? Everyone has different approaches to this but I only poly bag media items if the packaging is loose and if the media can fall out or if it is a certain dollar amount. Poly bagging can take some time and if you are sending in large volumes of inventory to Amazon this can eat up a half a day or so. Its the old saying time is money and if you find yourself spending too much time on tasks that aren't making you money or that are even required you will find yourself really just wasting time. Below I have provided some of the tools I use for poly bagging.
Impulse Sealer
I use a poly tubing with my impulse sealer which I use for majority of my packaging including CD's, DVD's, VHS, Clothing, Bundles, etc. I purchase this from a local landscape company in huge rolls for about $80.
Record Sleeves
All of these items can be purchased from Amazon or eBay. You can also visit my Tools section for direct links to the products.


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The Catholic Youth Organization crowned its girls' swimming champions April 1 at the Eisenhower Park Aquatic Center, East Meadow, L.I. The results are as follows:
A Division
First Place: TRI-M (Our Lady of Mercy, Forest Hills) – 309 pts.
Second Place: St. Sebastian, Woodside – 303 pts.
Third Place: OLAN (Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Sunset Park/St. Andrew the Apostle, Bay Ridge) – 234 pts.
B Division
TIE for First Place: ANSOLA (St. Anselm/Our Lady of Angels, Bay Ridge) & VICAM (St. Virgilius/St. Camillus, Rockaway Park) – 294 pts.
Third Place: STEP (St. Ephrem, Dyker Heights/St. Patrick, Bay Ridge) – 285 pts.
C Division
First Place: LIAM (Our Lady of Lourdes, Queens Village/Incarnation, Queens Village/American Martyrs, Bayside/Our Lady of the Snows, North Floral Park) – 317 pts.
Second Place: Divine Ladies (Our Lady of Blessed Sacrament, Bayside/St. Anastasia, Douglaston) – 301 pts.
Third Place: FLUKES (Holy Family, Flushing/St. Luke, Whitestone) – 278 pts.


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Cantona Colour Block Art Print
Our Lord and saviour: Eric Daniel Pierre Cantona. Rendered in a suitable artistic fashion.
Our Art Prints are printed on beautifully thick, smooth, 230gsm, high quality matt poster paper. the frame is for display only, all prints come unframed.
Our Canvas Wraps are printed on a high-quality 280gsm matt canvas, then mounted on a quality 38mm chunky, pine box frame, ready to hang.
Please note:
- unfortunately, due to shipping costs we are unable to deliver prints outside the UK.
- these prints will be dispatched separately from any other items ordered at the same time, usually within 1-2 days.


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Businesses can use the CenPOS Quickbooks integration for einvoicing and payment from text or email. The CenPOS electronic bill presentment and payment, or EBPP, also known as electronic invoice presentment and payment, or EIPP, will improve your customer experience and boost cash flow, as an alternative to the Intuit PaymentNetwork.
Intuit PaymentNetwork is an electronic invoicing and payment service to accept credit cards, debit cards and ACH payments. CenPOS is a univeral payment processing network that streamlines the payment experience for merchants and customers through all sales channels, and multiple payment types. The CenPOS Quickbooks plugin is easy to use increases profits and cashflow vs Intuit einvoicing solution.
CenPOS vs Quickbooks Intuit EIPP Core Differences:
- Easier for customers to buy- proven to reduce DS, and increase satisfaction
- Easier for customers to buy- proven to increase business to business sales
- Agnostic to financial partners- non-disruptive if you change them
- Does not create a new customer if the cardholder name does not match the name on the invoice (big complaint for Quickbooks users)
When comparing CenPOS vs Intuit's Quickbooks EIPP solutions, CenPOS is a far more robust and powerful solution to maximize profits. Contact us for the free plugin and CenPOS services.


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Updated | President Donald Trump fired the remaining members of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) Wednesday, reportedly informing them without explanation with a letter delivered by FedEx.
The mass dismissal of the advisers marked another nadir in the administration's dealing with the council. In June, six members resigned from PACHA writing in an open letter, published in Newsweek, saying the Trump White House was pushing for legislation that would harm people living with HIV.
Related: Donald Trump said he passed more laws than any other president in his first year. He didn't.
Scott A. Schoettes, a Chicago-based HIV/AIDS activist and one of the members of the advisory panel who resigned over the summer, tweeted yesterday that the remaining council members had been fired for calling President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence "dangerous."
"Remaining #HIV/AIDS council members booted by @realDonaldTrump. No respect for their service," Schoettes wrote on the social media site. "Dangerous that #Trump and Co. (Pence esp.) are eliminating few remaining people willing to push back against harmful policies, like abstinence-only sex ed," he added.
Sources with knowledge of the terminations told the Washington Blade that council members had been fired despite having more time on their appointments.
Gabriel Maldonado, CEO of the LGBT and HIV/AIDS group Truevolution and a remaining member of PACHA said the reasons for the firings remain unclear but may have been borne of a desire by the Trump administration to clear out appointments made by his predecessor Barack Obama.
"I can only speculate," Maldonado said. "Like any administration, they want their own people there. Many of us were Obama appointees. I was an Obama appointee and my term was continuing until 2018."
The decision by an administrator to clear house at PACHA is not unprecedented. The Obama administration eliminated all of George W. Bush's appointees in the same way.
However, HIV/AIDS activists have been deeply critical of the White House's approach over the past year. In the 2018 fiscal year budget Trump has sought huge cuts to programs including $150 million on HIV/AIDS at the Centers of Disease Control. The administration has also sought more than than $1 billion in cuts from global programs like the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
Just under a year into his first term, Trump has yet to appoint an HIV/AIDS chief, the first time since Bill Clinton created the position in 1993 that a president has failed to do so.
Impulse Group DC, a Washington-based HIV awareness and advocacy group, told Newsweek via email that to lose the expertize of the existing council threatens to unravel years of progress and efforts to end HIV. Sources close to the decision explained they suspect the charter for PACHA will be re-written with renewed focus on abstinence and religious, non-evidence based public health approaches.
"Now is not the time for complacency," President of Impulse Devin Barrington-Ward said. "Every organization serving people living with HIV and fighting to end this epidemic must galvanize their networks of clients, staff, and volunteers to resist and fight back against these dangerous HIV policy decisions," he added.
This article has been updated to include additional infromation from Impulse DC and comment from its President Devin Barrington-Ward.


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Charlottenborg Art Talks
Wednesdays Charlottenborg Art Talks presents talks, performances, readings and debates about art by Danish and international artists, writers, curators and professors. The programme is arranged in collaboration with The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts.
Wed, 1 Feb, 5pm
Sara Gebran
Wed, 8 Feb, 5pm
Luis Berríos-Negrón
Undisciplinary Learning and the Social Pedestal
Wed, 15 Feb, 5pm
Uffe Elbæk & Thomas Agergaard
Forgotten Beats
Wed, 22 Feb, 5pm
Mette Hoffmann Meyer & Nick Fraser (talk & film)
World Stories at Kunsthal Charlottenborg
Wed, 1 Mar, 5pm
Angela Dimitrakaki
Wed, 8 Mar, 5pm
Birgitte Pontoppidan & Sanne Kofod
Kvindeudstillingen XX, 1975
Wed, 29 Mar, 5pm
Toke Lykkeberg (talk & film)
Extemporary Art
Wed, 5 Apr, 5pm
David Musgrave & Peter Adolphsen
Ten Small Stories
Wed, 19 Apr, 5pm
Goldin & Senneby
Zero Magic
Wed 26 Apr, 5pm
Joachim Hamou (talk & film)
United Israel Palestine UIP27
Wed 3 May, 5pm
Søren Lose (talk & film)
Tales from paradise


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Stormy Daniels released a composite sketch of the man she says threatened to harm her if she discussed her alleged tryst with Donald Trump.
Daniels is the adult-film star who claims she had sex with Trump in 2006 and took a $130,000 hush payment from Trump lawyer Michael Cohen shortly before the 2016 election. She has recounted a 2011 episode in Las Vegas in which an unidentified man threatened her while she was with her young daughter if she revealed the affair.
Appearing on ABC's "The View" on Tuesday, Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, showed a sketch by a forensic artist based on her description of the man she says told her to keep quiet about Trump.
"The thing I remember so clearly about him was that nothing was alarming about how he looked," Daniels said. The sketch includes details of his appearance: He's between 5-foot-9 and 6 feet tall, in his 30s or early 40s, and appears "lean but fit."
Daniels said she didn't report the parking-lot encounter at the time because she didn't want her husband to know about it or to think she'd put her daughter in danger.
"I'm tired of being threatened," Daniels said. "The intimidation and saying you're going to ruin my life and take my house. I'm done being bullied."
Daniel appeared on the talk show with her lawyer, Michael Avenatti, the day after the two attended a hearing in New York about documents seized from Cohen during an FBI raid last week. Avenatti said the judge in the case recognized their right to be present because the search warrants "stemmed in significant part from what happened with my client."
Avenatti said they're offering a $100,000 reward for information that helps them identify the man. He wouldn't say who else has seen the sketch, which is dated April 8, the day before the search of Cohen's office, home and hotel room.
Follow the Bangor Daily News on Facebook for the latest Maine news.


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International Sports Therapist
Originally from the u. k. moved to Cape Town South Africa in 1992 - set up a private practice as an international sports therapist. So in love with the culture nature and the people - decided to study to become a professional qualified tour guide in order to combine both sides - the sports therapy and the passion for showing people the magic of cape town and surrounding areas SPORTS TOURS Looking after sports teams - pre match training sessions, first aid and sports massage during the matches, organising the right medical care in the event of injury, rehabiliation exercise sessions. Organising specialised tours to combine training sessions and sight seeing (hiking up table mountain) etc . Arranging match /sports fixtures with local teams etc. MEDICAL TOURS Pre/ post operative rehabilitation exercise - a lot of people are coming to cape town for various operations and combined this with specialised tours Individual or small group specialised tours to suit your needs RELOCATING - considering moving to cape town - or surrounding areas - having gone through the process - advice / assistance and specialised tours to assit you in making the right decission. VIsiting different areas - schools - communities - sports facilities - advice on travelling distances and time for work location. Most of my work is motivating people to improve their life style - encouraging a posssive way of thinking and living - ADVENTURE TOURS From your extreme sports to organising work shops - adventure means different things to different people - so whatever your adventure is. Be it having a individual - small group etc. , experience - this can be arranged PERSONAL TRAINING / LIFE CHANGING SKILLS Finding yourself on your own -for whatever reason - or needing a change from your current life style -time away to rethink things over - time to decide what changes you would like to. With cape town being a sport / activity loving place - no matter what your sport or activity is - novice to professional there is the opportunity to learn or improve in your choice of sport or activity - Allowing you to have that experience of enhancing your life the natural way. Specialised fitness programs - prior to your holiday - online training to allow you to enjoy your holiday - goal setting to motivate you to get fit to do the things that you want to participate in whilst on hollidays Life changing holidays - wanting to change your life / learn a new skill / see what a change in invoriment / country can do for you. Take yourself out of your current rut and learn to live life to the full - You only have once chance. 50 PLUS 50+ tours - do not write yourself off due to age - Opportunity to have tours designed to your needs and requirements. CONFERENCES Conference pacakges - for delegates and or their partners - With cape town being one of the top destinations to hold conferences - Here is an opportunity to have your own tour guide / organised and specialised tours from city walks - hiking/walking up table mountain - peninsula tours craft work shops etc. , WEDDING / SPECIAL OCCASSIONS With more people looking to have a unique experience for that very Special Ocassions - where better to come to. Get a tailor made package to suit your occassion.
Service details
- Available
- Duration: Flexible
- From 1 to 40 people
- Starts at Traveler's Location
- Transportation available
Travel pro profile
- Visit website
- Speaks English
- Private Individual


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In the main building there was an exhibition of work by artists who have been part of the residence project, collectively showing the results of their investigations. The rest of the A. Farm complex was opened up to local artists to showcase their work both indoors and outdoors.
I submitted two of my filmed performances to be included in the collective artist film screening that took place during the day.
After discussion with the organisers the two chosen films presented my performance 'One Step Forward, Two Steps Back' that had been filmed in East Yorkshire, UK and District 7 in Ho Chi. Minh City respectively.
Unfortunately I could not attend the event in person as I had previously arranged to be in Hanoi for the opening of the Vietnam Festival of Media and Design: Hanoi 2019. However, it was a great opportunity for me to show my work locally for the first time since moving here in May 2018. I really hope there will be more opportunities in the future.
'One Step Forward, Two Steps Back', Sewerby Steps, Bridlington, UK
'One Step Forward, Two Steps Back', District 7, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam


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Reflection on the impossibility of perpetual motion
In folio 1062r of the Codex Atlanticus, Leonardo examines four different types of perpetual wheel, which help us reconstruct how his ideas on this type of device evolved. This is an analytical treatment that is then reworked in a more systematic way, specifying the operating principles of the various wheels in folios 90r to 92v of the Codex Forster II in which he is finally convinced of the impossibility of perpetual motion with this type of devices. In fact, in folio 92v of the Codex Forster II, after having illustrated the operation of this and other mechanically overbalanced wheels, he concludes that
«Whatever weight will be attached to the wheel, which will be the cause of the wheel motion, undoubtedly the centre of this weight will stop under the centre of its pole; and no instrument manufactured with human genius [...] can remedy this effect. Speculators of continuous motion, how many unnecessary designs you have created in this quest! Get your partners with gold prospectors»..


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Posted on June 9, 2014 by Jarred Taylor
BP Exploration and Production, Inc. ("BP") was recently dealt another blow in its fight to reinterpret its multibillion dollar settlement for economic and property losses arising from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster when the Fifth Circuit refused to rehear BP's appeal of a prior district court ruling on "causation nexus" requirements in the agreement. In December 2013, U.S. District Court Judge Carl Barbier ruled that individuals and businesses do not have to prove that they were directly harmed by the oil spill in order to get paid under the terms of the settlement agreement.
In 2012, nearly two years after the spill, BP reached a settlement with the Plaintiffs' Steering Committee (which acts on behalf of individual and business plaintiffs in the multi-district litigation proceedings) to resolve hundreds of thousands of private economic, property damage, and medical claims stemming from the Deepwater Horizonexplosion and oil spill. BP has disputed many of the economic and property damage claims brought pursuant to the settlement agreement. BP argues that the claims administrator was incorrectly interpreting the meaning of the settlement agreement, particularly with respect to whether or not a claimant must submit evidence that its losses were directly caused by the spill.
Judge Barbier, who is presiding over the multidistrict litigation stemming from the Deepwater Horizon disaster, ruled that the settlement agreement did not contain a causation requirement beyond the revenue and related tests set out in the agreement, opening BP's checkbook to economic loss claimants who may not be able to trace the cause of their damages back to the 2010 disaster. BP already had revised its original $7.8 billion estimate of its potential costs under the settlement agreement up to about $9.2 billion. Later, as it began challenging economic loss claims, BP proclaimed it could no longer provide a reliable estimate of the ultimate cost of the deal.
BP appealed the district court's ruling to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, claiming in December that it had to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to businesses and individuals that exaggerated losses from the disaster. The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's ruling in March 2014, and on May 19, declined to rehear BP's appeal. In a strongly worded dissent joined by two other justices, though, Judge Edith Clement argued that the district court's rulings would "funnel BP's cash into the pockets of undeserving non-victims" of the 2010 spill, adding that the appeals court had made itself "party to this fraud" by rejecting BP's arguments. Judge Clement concluded that "another court surely must resolve this." BP clearly agrees and has vowed to appeal its case to the U.S. Supreme Court, declaring that "no company would agree to pay for losses that it did not cause, and BP certainly did not when it entered into this settlement."
Ted Olsen, BP's lead attorney, said in a 60 Minutes segment in May that the company would take its argument "as far as it is necessary to go to make sure that this settlement agreement is construed properly." The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports that some experts following the case expect that the Supreme Court will not take up the case, but suspect that BP's true motive may not be to win on appeal, but to simply prolong the litigation and delay paying claims. The Fifth Circuit lifted its stay on payout of settlement claims, and the Supreme Court just rejected BP's request that the Supreme Court reimpose the stay pending filing and disposition of its petition for writ of certiorari.
Meanwhile, in the midst of its attempt to walk back from the economic and property loss settlement it negotiated and—at the time—happily agreed to, BP rejected a $147 million claim from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ("NOAA") demanding additional funds to conduct its ongoing Natural Resource Damage Assessment ("NRDA") activities related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. NRDA is the process created by the Oil Pollution Act ("OPA") and its implementing regulations that authorizes natural resources Trustees to assess injuries to natural resources caused by oil spills and spill response activities, and to restore the injured resources. OPA requires that the party or parties responsible for the oil spill pay for the reasonable costs incurred by the Trusteesto carry out the NRDA and restoration.
Last July, NOAA submitted a claim to BP for the estimated costs of NRDA activities that NOAA planned to implement in 2014. NOAA's claim includes $2.2 million for research on the recovery of coastal wetlands, more than $10 million to remedy damage to dolphin and whale habitat, and $22 million for oyster habitat restoration. The Financial Times(free subscription required) reports that BP rejected the majority of NOAA's requests, saying it was concerned by "the lack of visibility and accountability" in the process, and the unwillingness of the Deepwater Horizon NRDA Trustees (a handful of U.S. federal agencies and five Gulf Coast state governments) "to engage in technical discussions of the substantive issues." The Financial Times reports that "BP said it had paid for work that was not done or done properly, been double-billed for the same study, and not been allowed to see research findings that it had been told would be shared"—evidence BP argues could be used at the trial over civil penalties to show that ecological damages from the spill are much less than once feared.
According to an April 30 report on BP's website, BP has already paid nearly $1.5 billion to federal and state government agencies for spill response, NRDA activities, and other claims related to the Deepwater Horizon spill, and over $11 billion to individuals and businesses. I need to disclose, too, that my firm is assisting several claimants to the BP settlement fund.
Tags: BP, Deepwater Horizon, natural resource damages, Fifth Circuit, settlements
Energy | Litigation | Natural Resource Damages


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Stepping Stones, a collection of recipes, stories and words of wisdom from our parents, grandparents and friends. This book was compiled by the 5th and 6th class, Rockmount National School, Miltown Malbay, Co. Clare as part of the Junior Entrepreneur Programme.
'Stepping Stone's' is a compilation of the very best recipes passed onto us from parents, grandparents and very good friends. In addition to a delicious collection of recipes, it also includes stories and words of wisdom.
The book was launched by President Michael D. Higgins during a celebration of the school.


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7 Ultra Modern Staircases
If you are looking to rejuvenate your home then a modern staircase can certainly do so. It may require a lot of time and patience on your part, but it is definitely worth it. Take a look at seven of the most contemporary staircases….
1) Back-lighted staircases.
This feature will give your home the celeb treatment. You cannot deny how impressive this looks and just imagine how stunning the stairs will look at night time as well. Turn the lights off and let the beautiful back-lighted staircase lead you to your room.
2) Glass act.
A glass staircase is a surefire way of achieving a contemporary and classy look. There aren't many other styles of staircases with such a striking appearance as this one.
3) Floating stairs.
Floating stairs bring a magical quality to any home. The design itself is simplistic, yet the effect is dazzling. It manages to achieve the perfect blend between being bold yet elegant at the same time.
4) Add some colour.
If you don't want the hassle of replacing your stairs then you should get your paint brush out and add some colour. This is an easy way of creating a modern look without going through the cost and the hassle of a new staircase. Not only this, but your stairs will look new once you've gave them a lick of paint.
5) Cantilevered staircases.
These staircases look like they are floating and the one in the picture has a particularly modern vibe to it. Typically wooden staircases are more associated with traditional designs. Thus, this is a great option for those who want a wooden staircase yet still want to keep the style fresh.
6) Divided staircases.
Creating a divide in the middle of the stairs is highly innovative. It's unlikely that you will see many homes boasting this style of staircase – which is what makes it so great.
7) Concrete stairs.
Concrete stairs are great for those who are looking for something modern yet do not want to take too many risks. They look immaculate, contemporary, and will fit into any style of home.


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The current situation
Due to Britain's decision to leave the European Union and the financial turmoil this has caused, including fluctuating currencies and volatile markets, a whole host of opportunities has opened up for you to exploit – and we want to show you how with expert analysis from Google.
In the short-term there are opportunities within the EU to explore and longer-term there are many more markets to crack including the US and Australia.
There has been a lot of debate about what is going to happen in the future, and what the lasting impact will be. However, we want to focus on how these events provide opportunities for international expansion for businesses worldwide. But we need to act fast.
Why is this important?
Despite this period of uncertainty, there are gains to be made online in international markets. Through digital marketing tactics, businesses can leverage the opportunities provided by the fluctuations in currency. Key considerations to think about:
- Why should you invest in overseas territories, and where is the investment best spent?
- How should you adapt your digital marketing strategy to make the most out of these new opportunities?
These are questions that need to be answered for businesses who are thinking of, or are already exporting to overseas territories in Europe.
What we're doing
International expansion needs careful planning and expertise, and Search Laboratory has abundant experience when it comes to taking businesses global online. From tips on translation and localisation to marketing your entire business in a new territory, there are plenty of ways we can help you to make the most of the weakened pound.
We are hosting a webinar on Friday 12th August at 11am to discuss how to make the most of short-term export opportunities through digital marketing and invite you to join us.
Our guest speaker from Google, Account Strategist, Andres Valencia, is responsible for managing and growing a £15 Million p.a. portfolio by consulting clients and digital agencies on all aspects of their digital activity. He will be joining the discussion on the importance of digitalisation in global growth and how to maximise the international potential of your business.
Our own paid media expert, Pete Whitmarsh will also be on hand to demonstrate how Search Laboratory's international credentials will help you build your brand presence overseas.


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Leadership and governance
As an ambitious young university focused on embedding excellence, strong leadership and governance is our bedrock. It supports the smooth functioning of a complex organisation, allowing the many layers of leadership and multiple departments to work effectively together to deliver the best outcomes for students, staff and the wider community.
And ours is a more complex university than most. ACU is a public institution, recognised and funded by the Commonwealth Government, but also a public company. Our incorporation allows us to conduct ourselves as a Catholic university, and means we are governed in accordance with our constitution.


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Title: PIVX Instagram and PIVXcommunity Twitter Social Media Management
Name: PIVX-IG-Twitter-Social-201906
Term: 4 cycles
Cycle Amount: 162.5 PIV
Total Amount 650 PIV
Author: @LeacyMcK
Receiver: @LeacyMcK
Address: TBD
Created: Jun 23, 2019
Status: Pre-Proposal
Hello PIVX world,
This is my first proposal.
In September 2017, not knowing much about crypto but being introduced to PIVX and liking what it stood for, I started up a PIVX Pinterest acct. Each time I learnt something new I would post it on a board in hopes that others might get interested also. (Plus to share my growing love of PIVX). https://www.pinterest.ca/pivxorg/
In April 2018 I took over running the official PIVX Instagram account where the total followers at that time were 1,820, and have grown the account organically to 2,338 consistent followers thus far. I utilized areas of IG that hadn't been used as much previously which helped increase our engagement and organic steady growth. PIVX posts with updates, news and such were promoted on our feed but were also broadcasted thru 24-hour storyline. This being a place where with the IG story tools, one can enhance the photos or videos with various cameral like filters, emoticons and gifs of which our younger, predominant audience are a big fan of.
Screenshots of Twitter posts from PIVX and the community members are shown in the stories to reach even further than our 'followers' audience.
Engaging our audience with questions that are then promoted.
As our following is of a younger age bracket, utilizing the story tools has shown to be of benefit in increasing awareness to this demographic globally. We also use 'highlights' where we showcase the best of PIVX continuously at a quick glance. This stays on the homepage of the PIVX IG account continuously making it easy for others to access when wanted. The total followers is now is 2,330, an increase of 500 loyal Pinions, organically grown. No bots! Engagement is up over 60-70% during this past year. More engagement has resulted in followers sending their ideas, photos etc of which are used at times to showcase their abilities.
I have recently started to run the PIVXcommunity Twitter account, using the analytic data results to help guide our growth organically without bots that wreak havoc on our stats as they give a false positive report in our analytics. Though it is in its infancy, we are attracting more followers with PIVX posts and community-minded posts. Our images and polls are giving us a great return on engagement from followers.
Below, an example of our Friday just for fun Polls, that are building momentum.
Impressions: 228,666
Total engagements: 323
Votes: 304
Comments: 30
Retweets: 10
New followers: 27
I use what is trending the week of the poll and utilize the hashtags in posts.
#Dogs being #1 that week. This being done once weekly.
We encourage community members to share their world with us with their tweets, and at times we promote these as well as retweeting PIVX tweets to keep our global community aware of the tech advancements and other events occurring within our PIVX community.
Contests I have run:
-Valentines Day -2017 of which was successful and ended with close to 90 PIV being given away. via Pinterest
-Milestones giveaways for IG. eg. - 300th post, 2,000 followers, 100th story.
-Promotions for followers to send their images, stories, weekend vibes is rewarded randomly with 5 - 10 PIV, depending on whether we reuse their content.
-PIVXcommunity Twitter - Poll Friday~ 'Tip with PIV' where I dispense PIV via Coinkit to ones that submit comments/photos as part of promoting PIVX and getting others to upload the wallet.
Except for the 3 months of which I was paid 50 PIV a month in the middle of 2018 from another proposal put out, I haven't asked or received any remuneration for the contests or the 7/7 days I promote PIVX globally through these social media accounts. I spend time regularly in keeping contact with other IG crypto influencers and community members and now with our PIVXcommunity following. This includes anything from sending them to the area that best suits their questions/needs, supporting their endeavours and listening to their thoughts to keep our accounts updated and positive.
I am asking for 100 PIV a month for myself, and 50 PIV a month for tipping, for 4 months. I am also asking for the 50 PIV submission fee to refunded. (650 PIV total) With this amount I will continue growing our IG and PIVXcommunity audience with time spent engaging with them, new contests and more 'PIV tips' to encourage others that don't have a PIVX wallet yet.
This is a pre-proposal, voting details will be added here once community feedback is received and incorporated.
Thank you for taking the time to read my 1st (pre) proposal.


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Owing to our expertise in this domain, we are engaged in manufacturing and supplying a supreme quality of Cascade Fountain. Uniquely designed with the use of excellent quality raw materials and modern technology by our skilled professionals, we are offering this fountain in different specifications as per needs of clients. This fountain is widely used in various homes, offices and other places to enhance the beauty of garden. We offer this Cascade Fountain at highly competitive price to the clients.
Features of Cascade Fountain


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I'm always on the look out for new recipes to try. I get bored baking with the same old ingredients. When I came across this I just had to try it. Chocolate chip cookies with a little extra protein? Sounded good to me. It was difficult to find crickets around here this time of year, but I finally tracked some down at a local bait shop.
Cricket Cookie Recipe
2 1/4 cup flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
1 12-ounce chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts
1/2 cup dry-roasted crickets
Preheat oven to 375. In small bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt; set aside. In large bowl, combine butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla; beat until creamy. Beat in eggs. Gradually add flour mixture, mix well. Stir in chocolate chips, nuts and crickets. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes.
I had to figure out how to dry roast my live crickets. I found a recipe for that at NYWorms. It was pretty simple. You put them in the fridge for a bit to slow down their metabolism so that they lay still on the baking sheet. Then you put the critters in a 200 degree oven for about an hour or until completely dry. Test by crushing one of the baked insects with your fingers. A well-done cricket crumbles easily.
April Fool's! I didn't really make these cookies, wouldn't even consider it. However, this is a real recipe. Find it and other strange foods at Wild Recipes.


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What Happens to CBD in the Body?
From Istvan Ujvary, March 24
A new paper by Ujvary and Hanus reviews what has been published about the metabolites of cannabidiol. CBD itself scarcely becomes bioavailable after its passage through the liver. It breaks down into derivatives about which surprisingly little is known.
Ujvary, a Hungarian chemist, notes that "Cannabidiol has been around since the 1940s, and has been tested in the lab and in the clinic as a treatment for various diseases. One of the important things in developing an effective medicine is to look into the mechanism of action and pharmacokinetics and metabolites. Whenever a new synthetic drug is found to have some activity, the first thing you do is look into how it is metabolized, how other drugs influence its metabolism, and how the drug influences the metabolism of other drugs." He assumes that GW Pharmaceuticals is studying CBD's metabolites —it is a stated objective of their clinical trials— but "they wouldn't disclose any research results at this point."
"Part of the CBDA molecule (and THCA, the genuine biosynthetic products of the plant), resembles salicylic acid —"the OH and the COOH next to each other"— which Ujvary suspects might contribute to the anti-inflammatory effect exerted by the unheated plant preparation. (Salicylic acid joined to an acetyl group is the basis for aspirin. Salicylic acid is found in willow.)
A graphic from a study reviewed by the authors shows the chemical structures of the major metabolites detected in the urine of one patient, and lists their relative amounts.
• A recent patent described 7-OH- and 7-COOH-CBD as anti-inflammatory substances in the mouse and as dose-dependent inhibitors in vitro of the generations of nitric oxide and reactive oxygen species as well as the production of TNF-α.77
• Fride et al. reported84 that CBD was inactive that reflects its lack of affinity to central CB1 and CB2 receptors (see Bisogno et al.72); 7-COOH-CBD caused slight hypothermia (−1.1°C) and a minimal inhibition of intestinal motility (defecation). Interestingly, unnatural (+)-CBD and its 7-OH and 7-COOH derivatives potently inhibited defecation indicating peripheral activity perhaps through a CB receptor-independent mechanism; furthermore, weak antinociceptive effects for 7-OH-(+)-CBD were also noted.73,77As mentioned before, antinociceptive as well as anti-inflammatory effects in mice of 7-OH-CBD and 7-COOH-CBD have been described in a patent but these experiments used chemicals as noxious stimuli.77
• In general, the most abundant metabolites are hydroxylated 7-COOH derivatives of CBD (Fig. 2) that are excreted either intact or as glucuronide conjugates. The route of administration affects the pharmacokinetics of CBD and high intra- and intersubject variability is common in humans.
• In five individuals each smoking a single cigarette containing ∼19 mg [2H]CBD, the average peak blood plasma level of CBD was 110 ng/mL recorded at 3 min postdose; it was undetectable after about 60 hours.
• In 12 subjects, oral administration of chocolate cookies spiked with a blend of 40 mg CBD+20 mg THC resulted in low peak plasma levels of ∼5 ng/mL for each drug at 1.5–3 h.33 Similar low peak plasma levels with a mean of 0.93 ng/mL (range: 0.3–2.6 ng/mL) were noted in 24 volunteers 1 h after oral ingestion of gelatin capsules with cannabis extract containing 5.4 mg CBD+10 mg THC.34 (1.24 ng/mL at 1.17 h vs. 0.30 ng/m
• Interesting results were obtained from experiments in which capsules filled with either unheated or heated cannabis extracts containing 10 mg THCtotal (THC+THCA) and 10–15 mg CBDtotal(CBD+CBDA) estimated when fresh: pharmacokinetic analysis of the blood of patients ingesting two such capsules showed mean peak plasma CBD concentrations four times higher in the unheated extract than in the heat-treated extract. The results suggest that the use of unheated cannabis extract rich in acidic phytocannabinoids may beneficially affect the uptake and metabolism of CBD or other phytocannabinoids.
CBD was neither helpful nor harmful for Huntington's patients in the paper cited by Ujvary and Hanus.
• As a part of a series of trials with "Cannabis Based Medicine Extracts" such as Sativex®, the pharmacokinetics of a total dose of 20 mg CBD in sublingual drops was studied in six healthy subjects.40 In a representative experiment, the mean of the peak plasma concentration of CBD was 2 ng/mL at 130 min postdose. Similar values were obtained for a mixture of 20 mg THC+20 mg CBD applied either in sublingual drops or as aerosol; when applied through a nebulizer (10 mg THC+10 mg CBD), however, the peak plasma level was 9.5 ng/mL at 36 min after administration and the half-life of CBD in plasma was 66 min.
• The human skin permeation of CBD solutions was investigated in vitro and CBD concentrations as high as 6.1 mg per gram skin preparation could be achieved under certain experimental conditions. Various CBD formulations for transdermal and intranasal delivery have also been studied in rodent models.
• Being a good substrate of CYP450 mixed function oxidases, CBD undergoes extensive hydroxylation at multiple sites and further oxidations result in a complex metabolic pattern; altogether, some 100 CBD metabolites have been identified from various organisms.26 In general, the major metabolites of CBD were derivatives of CBD-7-oic acid (7-COOH-CBD) further oxidized at the side chain (Fig. 2a, b).
• Following initial excretion studies,32,58 about 40 oxygenated human Phase I metabolites have been characterized.
• Δ2(E)-Valproate is the major active metabolite of valproic acid, and unlike the parent saturated acid, its anticonvulsant properties are not compromised by hepatotoxicity and teratogenicity, and is well tolerated in humans.61 Whether the 7-COOH-CBD metabolite species with a Δ2(E)-valproate-like structure are involved in the antiepileptic activity of CBD remains to be established
Valproic acid may be "well tolerated" by some humans, but according to the Epilepsy Foundation the "most common complaints (usually not too severe) are: tiredness (sometimes with slower thinking), dizziness, upset stomach, vomiting, tremor, hair loss, weight gain."
• The enzymatic processes responsible for the formation of the metabolites involve CYP450 oxidases, glucuronyl transferases and sulfotransferases, of which the CYP450 enzyme family has only been thoroughly studied.
• interindividual differences in the expression and function of CYP450 enzymes may considerably affect the pharmacokinetics of CBD and its metabolites, and this could be relevant in the therapeutic action and any possible adverse effects of CBD-containing preparations. For CBD, essentially no relevant information is available and we are aware only of one publication that deals with the genetic polymorphisms in CYP2C9 and CYP3A5 as related to THC metabolism in humans.
• CB receptor binding studies72–74 with CBD enantiomers and their derivatives revealed that (−)-CBD (natural enantiomer) and its 7-OH and 7-COOH metabolites were devoid of receptor affinity (Ki > 10,000 nM); however, synthetic (+)-CBD was a modest receptor ligand
• Upon i.v. administration to rabbits, CBD (1 mg per animal) had no activity in lowering intraocular pressure but 10-OH-CBD (2 mg per animal) was effective with a slow onset of action; nevertheless, THC was more potent at the 1 mg dose in the study.85
• There are no publications describing the biological activity of CBD metabolites in humans.
• Already in 1942, it was noted by Adams91 that "cannabidiol, which is devoid of the marihuana effect upon man, showed the highest potency in this [mouse sleep prolongation] test" (that is extending the hypnotic effects of certain barbiturates); such a synergism was later shown to be related to the inhibition by CBD of mouse hepatic microsomal metabolism as demonstrated for phenazone (antipyrine).92 In young men with marijuana use experience, however, CBD at the low acute smoked dose of 0.5 mg/kg failed to affect the plasma level of secobarbital.93 Yet, a subsequent human pharmacokinetics study found that upon oral administration in a 6×100 mg daily dose regimen, CBD significantly increased the bioavailability and prolonged the elimination half-time of hexobarbital.94 It has also been proposed that the observed interference with drug metabolism in vivo could be due to one or more metabolites and not to the parent CB.55
• It has repeatedly been demonstrated that CBD is not only a substrate but also an inhibitor of CYP450 enzymes, and thus, it could interfere with the metabolism of other xenobiotics, including THC and medicinal products.27,34,76,90,95Moreover, prolonged CBD administration may induce specific CYP450 isoenzymes, as it has been shown in mouse liver CYP3A and CYP2B1096 as well as for human CYP1A1 in vitro.97 Also, 6α-OH-CBD, but not 6-oxo-CBD, was found to be an effective inducer of CYP2B10.96 The resorcinol moiety apparently plays a pivotal role in CYP450 induction.
• During a Phase I study with healthy male subjects, potential drug–drug interactions of THC/CBD oromucosal spray (Sativex, nabiximols) in combination of CYP450 inducers and inhibitors were assessed using various dose regimens.99The antibiotic rifampicin, an inducer of CYP3A4 involved in the metabolism of CBD, significantly reduced the peak plasma concentration of CBD, while the antifungal ketoconazole, a CYP3A4 inhibitor, nearly doubled the peak plasma concentration of CBD; however, the moderate CYP2C19 inhibitor omeprazole, a proton-pump inhibitor used to treat gastroesophageal reflux disease, did not significantly alter the pharmacokinetics of CBD. The presence and role of CBD metabolites in the observed drug interactions have not been reported.
Several drugs used in therapy are metabolically converted into active metabolites and interindividual variations in the generation and pharmacokinetics of such active species may cause variability in the response to treatment by different individuals.126 The use of relatively high daily doses of CBD in human clinical trials as well as in self-medicating patients is not uncommon. For example, in a 30-day CBD monotherapy study, an escalating oral dose reaching 1280 mg/day was administered.127 Although information is lacking, the metabolites formed from CBD are assumed to be present in the body at pharmacologically relevant concentrations. Pharmacological studies with such metabolites are scarce yet suggest interesting biological activities, which are unrelated or not directly related to CB receptors. Thus, intriguing questions arise:
Could any of the pharmacological effects observed for CBD be attributed to its metabolites?
Are there any drug–drug interactions that affect the outcome of the therapeutic effects of other, non-CB medicines used concomitantly with CBD?
Could any of the metabolites be used as templates for the development of novel therapeutic agents?
The pharmacological characterization of CBD metabolites both in vitro and in vivo is timely and necessary to shed light on the multifaceted, perplexing, or sometimes even contradictory biological properties observed for the parent CB. The understanding of the clinical significance of these abundant metabolites in the proven therapeutic effects of CBD-containing preparations warrants further studies.


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Both Novak Djokovic and Andy Roddick advanced in third round action at the 2012 U.S. Open on Sunday. The second-seeded Djokovic defeated Julien Benneteau in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2. Roddick, who recently announced his intention to retire from tennis, took care of Fabio Fognini in four sets. Both players advanced to the quarterfinal round with their respective victories.
Elsewhere on the men's side, No. 4 David Ferrer defeated Lleyton Hewitt, and No. 7 Juan Martin Del Potro and No. 8 Janko Tipsarevic also advanced.
Related: U.S. Open 2012 Scores: Andy Roddick Advances To Quarterfinals
On the women's side, defending champion Samantha Stosur won her match in straight sets on Sunday. No. 1 Victoria Azarenka and Marion Bartoli also advanced. The match between Maria Sharapova and Nadia Petrova was delayed by weather and remains in progress. Sharapova leads four games to three in the decisive third set.
For updates on the 2012 U.S. Open, stay tuned to SB Nation Cleveland. For more comprehensive coverage, visit SB Nation's tennis hub as well as the U.S. Open's website.


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Love, Relationship, and Life conselling advices online.
Saturday, May 16, 2015
My sister-in-law, my headache.
I got married to the best and loving husband in the world..we lived in a two bedroom flat,I and my husband sleep in one room..my problem is my sister-in-law who always show me attitude for no reason and a guy who is not related to my husband live with us in the same flat took a room too.we share the same toilet and this guy can spend one hour inside the toilet.
There are times I always urinate inside a plastic cos i cant wait for him to finish inside the toilet. My sister-in-law don't help at all in house chores and am older than her. I do it alone because am the wife. If we meet each other in the morning, if i greet her good morning she will reply in yoruba"bawoni" (how are you) as if am her slave. I cook for them.
Now that am pregnant i still do but am getting tired of it. No privacy at all. I discussed with my husband about it and he said he CANNOT send his sister away and the guy because when he was nobody he squatted with someone too that i should learn how to tolerate them and he got me angry..
I want to start buying my baby things and there is no space inside my room to store it.
Its really giving me heartbreak.Please advice me on what to do.sorry for any errors
Dear Sender,
I understand how frustrating it can be for you to put up with your sister-in-law and your husband's friend.
But do not let these temporary inconveniences weigh you down.
Every marriage comes with peculiar challenges and the way we handle them can either make or mar a beautiful home.
Be patient with them and be encouraged by the fact that it is only temporary and with the arrival of your baby, your husband will be forced to make some adjustments for your baby.
Be at peace with them, do not exchange word with any of them.
Do the little that you can and please ensure that you do not engage in strenous activities that will put you and your baby in danger.
Also commit everything to God in prayers and ask him for the grace, wisdom and the patience to enable you manage the situation with maturity.
8 comments:
Hence hour husband has said he can't send them out. The only thing now is to pray for wisdom & understanding to follow them o. So your husband won't see it the other way round. The Lord is ur strength & he will see u through.ReplyDelete
hmmmm.dis case tie wrapper.ReplyDelete
Pray them out of your home so they don't cut short your happiness.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousMay 17, 2015 at 10:23 AM
Fromm your mind from stress, and do the once you can do.ReplyDelete
This comment has been removed by the author.ReplyDelete
Hmmm... It is well, ur case is quite pathetic but prayer is the master key. Do not relent in praying it really works. Pray your sister inlaw out of your house by asking God to give her a husband and God should provide a job for the other guy far away from your town. It is well once againReplyDelete
Do not worry they will not live with you forever just a matter of time they will move out.ReplyDelete


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THURSDAY, Sept. 19 (HealthDay News) -- Maintaining fidelity to both facilitative group processes and content during administration of the CenteringPregnancy group prenatal model significantly reduces intensive utilization of care, according to a study published in the August Issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
Gina Novick, Ph.D., from Yale University in New Haven, Conn., and colleagues studied fidelity to process and content of the CenteringPregnancy group prenatal care model among 519 women receiving CenteringPregnancy group prenatal care. Process fidelity was assessed by how involved facilitative leaders and participants were in each session. Content fidelity was based on whether recommended content was discussed in each session. A trained researcher rated each session. Outcomes were assessed using medical records and participant self-reports.
The researchers found that, when controlling for important clinical predictors, greater process fidelity was associated with significantly lower odds of both preterm birth and intensive utilization of care. There were significantly lower odds of intensive utilization of care associated with greater content fidelity.
"Clinicians learning to facilitate group care should receive training in facilitative leadership, emphasizing the critical role that creating a participatory atmosphere can play in improving outcomes," the authors write.
One author is the chief executive officer of the nonprofit entity the Centering Healthcare Institute, which promotes the CenteringPregnancy model of care.


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Night Crawler Tactical Knee Pad is the best knee pad available for crawling and tactical maneuvers. This knee pad is designed with utmost comfort as well as durability. This knee pad wraps around your knee and stays secure in place for heavy crawling and running. The soft neoprene and elastic band are virtually weightless for extraordinary comfort.
Made of durable material for rough training/gaming.
This is a must have gear for all out-door players.
Customer Reviews
If you have any questions, please drop us a line with your question.


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Property taxes are overused in Michigan to handle local needs, from public safety to infrastructure. Another way to spread the pain of paying would ease the burden on property owners.
Contact: Nancy Derringer, firstname.lastname@example.com, 734-548-0033; or Eric Lupher, firstname.lastname@example.com, 734-542-8001
Debate over "fixing the damn roads" has generally split into two general paths forward – the remedies offered by the governor's office and the legislature. But a new Citizens Research Council paper on road funding suggests another solution: Local-option taxation.
With over 120,000 miles of roads, most of which are county roads and local streets – and in pretty rough shape, too – the state should consider allowing local units of government to tax residents for repair and maintenance of the roadways they drive on every day.
As it stands, road funding in Michigan involves Lansing collecting state taxes and returning a portion to local governments, what we know as revenue sharing. This is done to ensure and maintain the quality of certain government services across the state. However, the philosophy behind revenue sharing violates a core ethos of good government: the misery of raising taxes should accompany the pleasure of spending them. And the misery of driving on terrible local roads suggests residents might be willing to fund them locally – which would enable property-tax relief as well.
"Rather than moving from one problem to the next," said Eric Lupher, President of the Citizens Research Council, "We are thinking about addressing multiple issues. While the roads need to be fixed and some of that will be addressed with new revenues, it is also necessary to address Michigan's overburdened property tax system and the problems inherent in collecting the majority of revenues at the state level and sharing them with local governments."
Here's how changing the taxation structure could work to enable property-tax relief: Michigan local governments have limited options to increase road funding; the only choice most have available for addressing road needs with new tax revenues is to increase property taxes. And property taxes are, as we've pointed out in the past, overused, regressive and inadequate to support all the services we expect them to.
But transferring road funding to a different local option would enable local governments to collect taxes on income, fuel sales, registration fees or a general sales tax, depending on local preference. This would allow resort communities, to use but one example, to levy taxes on the visitors who use local infrastructure during vacation visits but have no permanent ties, to individual towns, villages or counties.
To enable such taxation, the legislature would need to pass a law authorizing more local options in such collections. Local sales-tax options would require an amendment to the state Constitution. And finally, authorization of local taxation would require voter approval.
"Because every type of local government is left to rely on the property tax as the sole (or majority) source of local revenue, the cumulative tax rates in Michigan are high when compared to other states," Lupher continued. "Alternative taxes could provide property tax relief, lessen the need for state taxes to yield revenues sufficient for both the state and local road systems, and provide resources to mend the local road systems that are heavily traveled as part of our every day lives."
Highlights of the new report:
- Michigan's road funding system, with the state primarily responsible for levying taxes and sharing the revenues with local governments to maintain the roads, violates a core ethos of good government: that the misery of raising taxes should accompany the pleasure of spending the revenues.
- As the state has been slow to fulfill its revenue raising responsibilities, local governments have filled the void by levying property taxes, the only option available to most of them. More than 700 local governments levy a road tax and more are likely to follow, thus placing more strain on the already overburdened property tax.
- By considering the authorization of local-option motor fuel, vehicle registration, income, or sales taxes, the Michigan legislature would be following the practice of other states, including many of our neighbors, to meet local road funding responsibilities.


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The most challenging part about running a nonprofit is sourcing for funds. Most of the day-to-day activities of a charity are geared towards finding more donors in a bid to fund pending projects. Online fundraising can help you reach a wider audience base and offer your organization new ways of sourcing for funds.
Below are a few ways to fundraise online:
- Create a Well-Maintained Website
Some charities do not have a website and others only a blog that is never updated. Before you start of raising money online, a good website is key. The moment you initiate online fundraising, donors (some who may never have heard about you) will want to know more about your organization. Your website is the best place for these donors to find information about you.
However, the website is not just a source of information but you can also use it to source for donations using online donation forms. A donation form on the homepage of your website allows donors to offer any amount they afford either monthly or as a one-off donation. A good form allows donations through different platforms such as PayPal, Stripe, Authorize.net, and through a Credit Card.
Because the website is your base of operation when you are running online fundraising, picking one among the many online platforms should be a carefully thought out decision. Take your time to compare web building platforms such as GoDaddy, Wix, and Squarespace so you can have the best website. Once you have your website, keep it updated for donors to read.
- Crowdfunding
This is the oldest means of fundraising online. Crowdfunding sites have access to a large audience and are able to take advantage of established networks. If you choose to use this means of fundraising, you can engage with your supporters on the platform, on your website, and on your social media accounts. Granted, it is advisable to have fundraising campaigns running on your website and your social media accounts to complement the crowdfunding.
You will have a chance to market your fundraising on many platforms. Choose the best fundraising platform such as GoFundMe and you will have the largest network.
- Peer-to-Peer Fundraising
These platforms involve people who donate on your behalf. You will run a campaign on the platform for a given period and a set target and your peers set their own mini targets to help you achieve your main target.
Peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns are based on activities such as no-shave November, running, cycling, walking, or swimming , or any other activity that helps raise funds.
- Fundraising Emails
This goes back to the importance of a good website. If you can capture emails of your supporters, you can send them emails asking for donations. The best way to do this is segmenting your subscribers so your fundraising campaign emails only go to those who show interest in your business. Although this might be the least effective of all online fundraising drives, there is still a chance you will get lucky one day and get huge donations from the option.
If you do not want to send regular emails asking for money, consider a one-day campaign blast. Choose a day that means the most to your organization, such as an anniversary and send out the emails. End your emails with a call-to-action telling your supporters to donate as much as they can afford.
- Selling Merchandise Online
You can sell merchandise online through your website to raise funds for your projects. T-shirts and caps are the most common but that should not limit you. The merchandise should have motivation quotes or statements that make the wearers proud. The merchandise will help raise money even as it promotes your course.
- Other Platforms
There are so many other platforms to help you fundraise. Some of these include Pinterest Boards, Facebook Fundraising, Donation Matching platforms, and Amazon Smile among others.
Social media fundraising drives come in handy when you already have a strong social media presence. As such, work on garnering followers and supporters and then launch your campaigns. Donation matching platforms give you a dollar for every dollar you manage to raise through fundraising. These are great when you have a huge target.
Amazon Smile relies in your supporters shopping on Amazon. For every purchase, Amazon gives you 0.5 percent. The funds are released quarterly. It would help if you created strong networks to raise funds and the first place to start that is on your website.
Conclusion: With the above tips, you should be inspired enough to start raising funds online to complement what is coming in already. Start with the website and social media accounts and diversify later.


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Based on the gender someone is attracted to defines their sexual orientation. Sexual orientations are generally described as:
Straight/Heterosexual -attracted to the opposite sex
Gay/Lesbian/Homosexual -attracted to the same sex
Bisexual -attracted to members of both sexes
Is Sexual Orientation Something We Choose?
Most kids don't start to feel any sexual arousal until they reach adolescence. Puberty is responsible for the hormonal changes—these changes involve the mind as well as the body. Physical arousal can occur by simply thinking of someone attractive. Dealing with these new feelings can be traumatic; they can be confusing, intense and overwhelming. Part of this discovery includes recognizing their sexual orientation. Most teens today are aware of LGBT—however, being straight, gay, or bisexual is not a choice people make consciously. There are gay people throughout ethnic backgrounds, all social, economic groups and nationalities. Researchers now believe that biological and genetic factors may be responsible to a certain degree. ... Read more
Two of the largest medical organizations, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the American Psychological Association (APA) posit that sexual orientation is just another aspect of a person's nature. It is neither an abnormality nor a mental disorder. There appears to be no evidence to support that parenting styles, how one is raised nor childhood experiences attribute to sexual orientation. Conversion therapy, efforts to change gay into straight has proven to be ineffective, and even harmful in some situations.
When do Kids "Know" their Orientation?
Kids and teens recognize their sexual orientation early --it's an abrupt awareness. Heterosexual and gay individuals experience crushes in much the same way. By the time they reach middle school, gay kids are aware of their sexual orientation, or at least aware that they are "different"; they may or may not reveal this to anyone.
Coping with one's sexual orientation can be daunting and may take time. Kids are trying to sort it all out and make sense of their raging hormones and their emerging sexual feelings, often experimenting with both sexes to explore their sexuality. Despite how some people think, feminine or masculine traits don't necessarily determine someone's orientation. Some kids have difficulty coping with their sexual orientation; other accept it more easily.
How do Gay Teens Feel?
Stressing about grades, sports, activitie3s, friends, college, sports, activities, friends, and fitting in, are all part of a teen's life, regardless of their sexual orientation. However, they have to deal with an additional stress i.e. whether or not to hide their orientation, whether or not they will be hassled about being gay. They worry about being rejected, people being disappointed in them, discrimination as well as violence. Many keep their sexual orientation a secret.
Coping with their sexuality and sexual orientation may take time for gay teens. They will need to accept this facet of their identity before they can share it with others." Coming out "takes courage, again for fear of rejection. However, many gay, and bisexual teens who are totally accepted by their families and are not shunned by their communities. A recent survey revealed that gay teens who had come out were happier and much less stressed than others who have kept it secret.
How Parents Transition
An adolescent's emerging sexuality can be confusing for parents as well as their kids. Dealing with teen stresses as they leave childhood and start to enter adulthood is stressful in and of itself—dealing with gay sexual orientation introduces new concerns and challenges. Some parents feel that they may have done something in their teen's childhood causing their child to be gay. As stated earlier, there is no evidence to support these concerns.
Some parents are unable to cope; they are often disappointed and upset, having difficulty in accepting their teen's sexual orientation. Some may even react with hostility, anger and even rejection. However, most parents of gay kids just need time to assimilate and adjust. There are many support groups that can help with this assimilation.
Typically, kids don't spend a lot of time thinking about their gender. What feels normal for most kids, may not be true for everyone. Some kids may be born one sex, but "feel" like they should be the other—they are transgender. They feel" trapped" in the "wrong" body.
On Being Transgender
We all have a gender identity. Mostly, we feel what we are—male or female. However, transgender people feel different from their anatomical beings. Society plays a big role in how we feel; there are rules and expectations of men and women and "acceptable" behavior; these vary in every culture.
Expectations regarding clothing, hairstyles, and jobs are evident. Transgender individuals possess a totally different sense of self and start sensing at the onset of puberty, perhaps later. Once transgender people become aware of the "mismatch", they may become confused and conflicted. Some may choose to transform their bodies through surgery. Some simply choose to cross-dress and use the feminine or masculine variation of their name. Transgender people face many challenges—those who live their lives as the other gender face such things as which restroom to use or whether to check "female" or "male" on a form.
Sexual Orientation vs. Gender Identity
Being transgender is about gender identity — the gender someone identifies with
Being gay or lesbian is about sexual orientation — the gender someone is attracted to
Transgender people can be straight, gay, or bisexual
Helping Your Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Teens
Support – that is the single best thing you can offer a child who has sexual orientations that don't align with your belief system. It's important for parents to react with love and understanding even when the news is unexpected or difficult to hear. Even if you can't provide 100% support, even slight acceptance is beneficial.
Support your child
In an article in Psychology Today, Tips on Coping with Your Teen's Sexual Orientation, Dr. Erlanger A Turner Ph.D. states, "The world can be a rough place, particularly for adolescents whose parents have rejected them. Having supportive, accepting parents is often best antidote for the mental health challenges that LGB youth face. Parental rejection can exacerbate depression among LGB youth and is a significant risk factor for suicide and risky sexual behavior among this population. Regardless of parents' personal and religious beliefs, behaving in ways that avoid or minimize rejecting their gay, lesbian, or bisexual child is critical to helping these teens avoid harm. Parents may also wish to seek therapeutic support for their gay child who is being bullied, depressed, or facing other negative circumstances because they are gay."


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Blog of cartoonist Terry Beatty. Terry's credits include THE BATMAN STRIKES, MS. TREE and SCARY MONSTERS magazine. Recent work includes THE ADVENTURES OF UNEMPLOYED MAN, RETURN TO PERDITION and King Features' THE PHANTOM. This blog is devoted to his work and whatever pop culture imagery he finds of interest. Visit his website at www.terrybeatty.com
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
JOHNNY DYNAMITE TV show in the works
The mini-series/graphic novel by Max Collins and me is now in pre-production as a TV pilot! You can read more about it here: Variety article
And yes, they did manage to leave any mention of me out of the article -- but rest assured that Max and I are both involved in the project. Hey -- my book cover illo is there.... (and here, too).
Who will play Johnny? Your guess is as good as mine!
Posted by Terry Beatty at 10/03/2007 07:53:00 AM
Labels: Dick Wolf, Johnny Dynamite, Max Allan Collins, TV pilot
1 comment:
Bill Alton Will play Johnny Dynamite!!!!
- June 9, 2009 at 1:35 AM
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


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The 3rd generation of Apple TV (ATV 3) devices boosts the internal processing power and provides long-overdue 1080p HD playback. On this basis, we are allowed to stream higher quality movies to Apple TV 3 for playback on our TV set. With the popularity of TiVo in the world, more and more people use it to record TV shows that match their interests by title, actor, director, category, or keyword. After recording finished, some users may also want to watch TiVo movies on Apple TV 3 with their friends and family at home. Yeah that's a great idea.
However, from TiVo official website you will learn that TiVo videos are protected, you will need to enter TiVo key before converting or playing them and since the format of TiVo recordings can not be supported by Apple TV 3, you need to end up the incompatibility with the help of the third-party software Pavtube Tivo to Apple TV 3 Video Converter for Mac (Reach the Windows version here: Apple TV 3 Video Converter).
It is a dynamic video convert tool that can help users convert TiVo to Apple TV 3 supported video format MP4/MOV/M4V files encoded with MPEG-4 or H.264 with high output video quality and fast encoding speed. Besides, you are allowed to edit the videos by trimming, cropping, adjusting video effects, etc. to get the wanted part and effects as you like. Moreover, this Apple TV 3 Video Converter can also enable Apple TV 3 play various HD Videos (such as: MKV, AVI, VOB, MPG, WMV, WebM, MTS, EVO, VRO, MXF, FLV, F4V videos, Internet torrents movies, etc.).
Tutorials: Converting Tivo to Apple TV 3 friendly format on Mac
Step 1: Load TiVo videos to Apple TV 3 Converter
Launch the TiVo to Apple TV 3 Converter; click the top left two icons to load your TiVo video files. When first loading, the program will ask you to input your Media Access Key. Simply enter your Media Access Key and click "OK" to confirm.
Step 2: Choose Apple TV 3 supported format as output format.
Hit the menu bar of "Format", choose "Apple TV" category and find the optimal video format for Apple TV 3. "Apple TV 3 1080P Dolby Digital Pass-through(*.m4v)" is recommended here.
- Read how to solve No 5.1 Surround Sound from Apple TV problem.
Tip: If the default settings do not fit your requirement, you can click "Settings" icon to enter "Profile Settings" panel to adjust video size, bitrate, frame rate and audio channels.
If the TV shows you recorded by TiVo have some advertisements during the video and you want to get rid of it, the "Trim" function in "Edit" may help you.You can cut the part that you do not need.
You also can merge videos into one complete file for output with the help of "Merge into one file" function.
Step: 3 Start TiVo to Apple TV 3 conversion on Mac
Click the "Convert" button to start the conversion. Once finished, you can get the output files for your Apple TV 3 via clicking on Open button effortlessly. Afterwards, connect Apple TV 3 to Mac, and then sync video files to Apple TV 3 via iTunes.
Additional tip:
Once you've recorded your favorite shows on your TiVo box, you can transfer them to your Mac with certain software as long as your TiVo box is connected to your home network. Although the TiVo Desktop software for the Mac (supplied by TiVo) does not allow user to transfer TiVo recordings to Mac, there are other freeware can accomplish this task, like the TiVoDecode Manager.
Run the app, enter your TiVo's IP address in the TiVo IP Address box. Next click the Prefs button in the lower-right corner. Fill in the Media Access Key. A list of shows on your TiVo will appear in the Now Playing list. Select the show and click Add Show To Queue. The selected show now appears in the Download Queue list. Click Download Location to select where you want to save it. The app allows you to convert TiVo shows to MPEG-4 video for iPod. Of course you can play these TiVo shows with QuickTime Player.
If you are disc lovers, read how to rip your Blu-ray and DVD to play on Apple TV 3.


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Buckhault v. United States of America
Filing 7
REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS re 1 Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus filed by Clifton D. Buckhault, recommending that this action be dismissed without prejudice pursuant to Rule 41(b) for failure to comply with the Court's order. Objections to R&R due by 7/16/2009. Signed by Magistrate Judge Bert W. Milling, Jr on 6/18/09. (copy mailed) (cmj)
Disclaimer: Justia Dockets & Filings provides public litigation records from the federal appellate and district courts. These filings and docket sheets should not be considered findings of fact or liability, nor do they necessarily reflect the view of Justia.


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4. Have a Table Service Meal Even if you are doing Disney on a budget, or on the Quick Service meal plan, treat yourself to at least one table service meal. Disney has some of the best restaurants with incredible food, and fantastic theming. Disney restaurants are more than just a meal. Character dining offers guests a magical experience, the restaurants in the World Showcase take guests to a different country through food and atmosphere, and wherever you choose to dine, a sit down meal with friends and family forces you to stop for a short period of time and reflect on your trip so far and what's to come.
11 Things You Must Do on Every Disney Trip


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The Devil wears Prada
Margarida Ferraz Dias - Graphic and Media Design
As my second week working at Condé Nast for Vanity Faird & Tatler, I could not agree more that I am indeed reliving The Devil wears Prada but (*spoiler alert) I am not Andrea Sachs ( luckily!). Not more surprise than you are, I must say Condé Nast is an amazing place to really boost the editorial skills to a whole other level. From new keypad shortcuts, to understanding new perspectives on how magazines works, the relations between company and client and the real deal of real life deadlines. Not only these 2 past weeks have been great but they have revealed another passion of mine (which honestly I thought it had disappeared) fashion. I have been loving working in the fashion world, and really understand how brands communicate in a printed feature.
As a short internship this will be, I am very lucky to be able to work in such an inspiring and harworking place like Condé Nast. Not only a great place for interning but a perfect spot to build my network of contacts and connections for any future partnerships. Also a great thing, dogs are allowed!! So imagine one of the things you like to work the most aligned with a puppy by your desk...it couldn't be better.
I guess The Devil wears Prada is not that bad if you actually know a bit about fashion.
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I noticed a few sites that would have thousands of 404 errors looking for the following files.
It turns out that it's not a misconfiguration but rather how IOS devices look at the page. If you are on an IOS device and you save the page to your home screen it will basically be a thumbnail screen shot of the page. Once you create these files however, it will be your logo or whatever image you choose.
For my www.uniquemotorsports.com site, I took my favicon and re-sized it to 100×100 and saved it as a png with these files names. Once this was done it was a simple matter of uploading the files to the root directory of my website.


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The taiko: a traditional Japanese drum with limitless rhythmic possibilities. Kodo's mission is to explore these possibilities, and in the process forge new directions for a vibrant living art-form.
Since the group's debut at Berliner Festspiele in 1981, Kodo has given over 6,500 performances in 52 countries on five continents. This figure includes 4,000 performances under the "One Earth" banner, a theme that embodies Kodo's desire to transcend language and cultural boundaries, all while reminding their audiences of the common bonds we all share as human beings. In addition to its theater schedule, Kodo enjoys working with thousands of school children across Japan through its ongoing "School Workshop Performance" tours. The ensemble also participates in a wide range of projects and events, which includes headlining major international festivals, contributing to motion picture soundtracks, and collaborating with a wide variety of global performing arts leaders.
About the Session
Journey to Kodo Village
Kodo, Japanese taiko performing arts ensemble, has been thrilling audiences across the globe with their powerful and precise drumming and since their inception in 1981. When not touring, the company is home on Sado Island where they have created Kodo Village, a compound that includes an administrative building, a residential building and a practice hall that houses Kodo's astounding collection of drums and percussion, including their signature 882 pound o-daiko. In this presentation, members of Kodo will give a virtual tour of Kodo Village and demonstrate a wide range of traditional Japanese instruments, rhythms and performing arts styles.
New York-based artist and former Kodo member Kaoru Watanabe will host this session.


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In following Pope Francis' visit to the United States, I was moved by a report of New Yorkers moved to tears after just a brief moment of seeing Francis on the popemobile passing by.
The last time I saw such a cheering, adoring, tearing, screaming and selfie-ing crowd was for a One Direction concert in Sydney, Australia.
While one could view Pope Francis as just another celebrity, those teary-eyed New Yorkers weren't the teens and tweens idolizing One Direction. Rather, the reaction of these adults points to something significant — something of the heart — in all that Francis is doing.
In my own experience, I have similarly found his latest encyclical, Laudato Si': care of our common home, to be a matter of the heart.
In mid August, we Jesuits in Timor-Leste (East Timor)1 were given parts of Laudato Si' to pray with during our eight-day retreat together. We were asked to consider that Francis is giving us a personal invitation, a call to care for our common home.
Francis' words stuck with me as I read the beginning parts of the encyclical. He says, "I urgently appeal, then, for a new dialogue about how we are shaping the future of our planet. We need a conversation which includes everyone, since the environmental challenge we are undergoing, and its human roots, concern and affect us all" [Laudato Si', 12].
While I previously had an intellectual understanding of the need to respond to what we then called 'global warming,' I did not have an affective understanding — a feeling in my heart — of my inherent relationship with my human family and our common home, the earth.
As an architect, I advocated for sustainable design, but my interest in sustainable architecture and effort to reduce my own carbon footprint was essentially a kind of exercise to reassure myself that I was 'doing' my part and could get on with my life. In many ways, it was also a kind of resignation that the problems of climate change were so much bigger than what I can personally solve.
Feelings of compassion, grief and hopelessness started arising, however, when I learned of how my friend's country of Kiribati is sinking in the rising water in the ocean. Where will all the people of this country go?2
Now, being in East Timor, I am brought much closer to the struggles of the poor and the environment. I have felt the sense of loss when seeing trees cut down for "progress." In this country, it is not difficult to see the inherent relationship between people and their land.
I believe the appeal of Pope Francis is a call for conversion of the heart. In the last chapter of his encyclical, he refers to an "ecological conversion." My feeling after reading Laudato Si' was that Francis was speaking to me "heartfully,"3 or from the heart.
I could feel this because of our separate, but not too dissimilar, experiences of being with the poor: Pope Francis (then Cardinal Bergoglio) in Argentina and I in Timor-Leste. When I previously lived in Australia and the United States, struggles of the poor and environmental degradations were largely hidden by beautiful and prosperous cities. In Timor-Leste, however, the poor are large in number and the effects of climate change make it even more difficult just to survive.
In our views of one another, it is often easy to emphasize the differences between human beings, but Francis calls us to consider the inherent connection we have with one another as members of the human family living in this common home — each endowed with inviolable dignity.
Conversion of the heart is enabled — the heart is open to change, and open to one another — when we see in one another this inviolable dignity of the human person. On that basis rests Francis' call for us to be in touch with the matter of the heart, to discern together what is the deepest common desire of the human family. Francis takes us even further by including all living creatures on this earth in what he calls a "communion of creatures." Conversion then is a change in how we see one another as human beings, and how we see our relationship with nature.
An encounter between two hearts, as Adam Rosinski, SJ says, is an encounter in which we are open to one another as we truly are. In this encounter something changes in us. That's a conversion. That is the stuff of the heart which propels us to be a bit more of what we deeply desire to be.
Laudato Si' is a call for the conversion of our hearts, the heart of humanity. The science has already spoken loudly about the degradations we have inflicted on the earth. A dialogue about how we are shaping the future of our planet cannot begin when our hearts are detached from one another and from mother earth. When we experience personal and communal conversion of heart we can have hope that humanity together can help care for our common home.
Pope Francis says, "Young people demand change" [12]. Is this a real change of heart, one that propels us to change our ways? Or is it more a change in preference, like a shift from following Backstreet Boys to One Direction? Only the former, true conversion, will help make our common home a livable earth and peaceful world for the future. If it is the latter, then we are merely shifting deck chairs on the Titanic.
Cover image by Lawrence OP from Flickr Creative Commons can be found here.
- Timor-Leste is the official Portuguese name of the country. Check out a bit of East Timor's history here. ↩
- … and, rising sea water as the result of "global warming could impact the Miami club scene." More young people at church? ↩
- In a video message to a conference of American Pentecostal Ministers on Christian unity, Pope Francis apologizes for having to speak to them in Italian instead of English. With that, he wishes to speak "heartfully" to them. ↩


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The Secretaries of the Departments of Interior and Agriculture, for the purpose of eliminating private holdings within the Yosemite National Park and to preserve intact timber along and adjoining the roads in the scenic portion of the park on patented lands, are empowered in their discretion to obtain and accept for the United States a complete title to any and all patented lands within the boundaries of said park by the exchange of timber or timber and lands within the Yosemite National Park and the Sierra and Stanislaus National Forests for such lands and the timber thereon within the park, necessary conveyances of park and national forest timber or timber and lands to be made by said secretaries, respectively. The secretaries of the said departments are authorized to acquire title in fee by the exchange of lands of the United States for patented lands not exceeding six hundred and forty acres in the Sierra and Stanislaus National Forests, adjacent and contiguous to the Yosemite National Park, and when such patented lands are thus acquired, said lands shall become a part of the Yosemite National Park and be subject to all the provisions of sections 55, 61, 471c and 471d of this title.
Yosemite National Park; exchange of privately owned lands in park
through Pub. L. 116-344, except Pub. Ls. 116-260 and 116-283