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- China said it confirmed 15,152 new cases and 254 additional deaths and that those figures include the ones reported earlier by Hubei province.
- China's Hubei province reported an additional 242 deaths and 14,840 new cases as of Feb. 12.
- The province said it is starting to include "clinically diagnosed" cases in its figures and that 13,332 of the new cases fall under that classification.
All times below are in Beijing time.
6:03 pm: Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi warns of first-quarter smartphone hit
"Due to the outbreak of (the) virus, this year's first quarter smartphone sales will face an impact, but we believe that in the second and third quarters they will strike back. Overall, the impact might not be that serious," the CEO said, according to a translation of his comments from the company provided to CNBC's Arjun Kharpal.
5:48 pm: Japan will spend 10.3 billion yen ($93.9 million) to fight the coronavirus, Abe says
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Thursday that the cabinet will decide on Friday to spend 10.3 billion yen from the country's budget to respond to the coronavirus, Reuters reported. Steps to tackle the outbreak will total 15.3 billion yen, he added after a meeting of a task force.
5:26 pm: Travel slump spreads from China to Asia-Pacific region, data shows
The coronavirus is causing travel demand to slump across the whole Asia-Pacific region, according to data released by travel analytics firm ForwardKeys on Thursday, with the region seeing a 10.5% slowdown in outbound travel bookings for March and April (excluding trips to and from China and Hong Kong).
As of February 9, the setback looks likely to be most marked in northeast Asia, where outbound bookings for March and April, are 17.1% behind where they were at the equivalent moment last year.
Global oil demand is now expected to see its first quarterly contraction in over a decade, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), as the new coronavirus and widespread shutdown of China's economy hits demand for crude.
Demand is now expected to fall by 435,000 barrels a day in the first quarter of 2020, down from the same period a year ago, and marking the first quarterly contraction in more than 10 years, the IEA said in its monthly oil market report Thursday.
4:12 pm: China confirms 15,152 new cases, 254 additional deaths
In a Thursday press conference, China said it confirmed 15,152 new cases and 254 additional deaths. Those figures include the ones reported earlier by Hubei province under its new diagnosis methodology. (See 7:55 a.m. and 10:40 a.m. updates).
That brings the country's total death toll to 1,367 as the number of people infected hit 59,804, according to the government.
A spokeswoman for the Shanghai Health Commission said at a press conference that the methodology for diagnosing coronavirus has not been changed in any Chinese provinces or municipalities except for Hubei.
Health workers in Hubei province began using a new method to diagnose the virus this week.
Previously, infections were only allowed to be confirmed with nucleic acid tests, which can take days to process, but Hubei province is now using CT scans which can diagnose the virus more quickly. — Wang, Cheng, Taylor
3:13 pm: China says no new confirmed cases of foreigners with coronavirus
China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said there are no new cases of foreigners infected with the virus. It also said another foreign national had been discharged, bringing that total figure to eight cases. — Cheng
3:07 pm: Chinese autos sales plunge in January, industry association says
Reuters reported that preliminary data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers suggests that China's January auto sales dropped 18%. The news agency noted that local governments began imposing travel restrictions in the last two weeks of the month.
2:57 pm: Hubei province extends work shutdown again
Hubei, the Chinese province hardest hit by the virus, extended shutdowns in the region, telling businesses to not resume work before Feb. 21. Authorities also said that school reopenings have been postponed, but did not specify a date.
1:25 pm: China's national-level infection and death numbers delayed again
As of 1:25 p.m., China's National Health Commission had not yet released the death toll and number of infections nationwide.
This is the second day running that the numbers have been delayed. On Wednesday, the data was reported about two hours later than the usual release time of just before 8 a.m. Beijing time.
Figures published on Wednesday showed the nationwide death toll in the country from the coronavirus outbreak topped 1,100 as of Tuesday night.
12:30 pm: 44 new cases on Diamond Princess cruise ship
Another 44 people on the Diamond Princess cruise ship have tested positive for the coronavirus, according to Japan's health ministry. That brings the total to 218 infected among people on the ship.
The ship, currently docked off the coast of Japan and carrying more than 3,700 passengers and crew, has been quarantined since early February after a previous guest tested positive for the disease six days after disembarking.
A shakeup is occurring among senior ranks in the virus epicenter of Hubei, amid heavy criticism on how officials there have managed the outbreak.
Shanghai's mayor Ying Yong will replace Jiang Chaoliang as party secretary of Hubei province, Chinese state news agency Xinhua said Thursday.
It was a decision made by the central committee of China's Communist Party, according to the report.
The Party Secretary of Jinan, Wang Zhonglin, is also set to replace Ma Guoqiang, the party secretary of Wuhan municipality.
11:15 am: China's military sends more medical personnel to Hubei
China's military is sending 2,600 additional medical personnel to Hubei to help primarily with virus control efforts in Wuhan, state news broadcaster CCTV said Thursday.
The first batch of 1,400 personnel arrived in Wuhan on Thursday, the report said, adding the military has dispatched a total of three batches of more than 4,000 medical personnel. — Cheng
11:00 am: Hong Kong extends school closures for third time
Hong Kong extended a suspension of schools for the third time since the Lunar New Year, with the exact date of resumption still unconfirmed.
Schools will use online learning platforms in the meantime, said Kevin Yeung, Hong Kong's secretary for education, adding that students should try to stay home, and avoid crowded places.
Hong Kong's tally of infected cases stands at 50, as of Wednesday. — Kam
10:40 am: Hubei changes method of reporting cases
Health authorities in Hubei province said Thursday that "clinically diagnosed" cases accounted for much of the increase in the "confirmed case" count, resulting in a surge in new confirmed cases for the prior day. (see 7:55 am update)
The change was made so that more patients could receive the same treatment as a confirmed case would, according to a CNBC translation of the official announcement's Chinese text.
The online release cited a national-level virus response plan issued last week, which expanded the definition of clinically diagnosed cases in Hubei province to include suspected cases for whom CT scans showed indications of the disease. It was not immediately clear why Hubei was implementing the measures this week. — Cheng
United Airlines on Wednesday said it would extend cancellations of its China service until at least April 24, about a month later than the carrier previously planned, as coronavirus cases continue to climb. United normally operates 12 flights a day from its U.S. hubs to Beijing, Chengdu, Shanghai and Hong Kong and the carrier has more service to China than any other U.S. airline.
The extension follows a similar step American took a day earlier. "We will continue to monitor the situation in China and evaluate our schedule as we remain in close contact with the CDC and other public health experts around the globe," United said in a statement. — Josephs
9:20 am: Shunned cruise ship finally docks in Cambodia
A cruise ship which was turned away by five countries on fears that someone aboard might be infected, was finally accepted by Cambodia. It landed in the country on Thursday, according to Reuters citing ship tracking data.
The MS Westerdam was rejected by Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, the Philippines and Guam, and has spent around two weeks at sea.
The case of the Diamond Princess cruise ship, where thousands have been quarantined, had stoked fears. Diamond Princess is currently quarantined off the coast of Japan, and more than 170 people onboard have been found to be infected as of Feb. 12.
8:55 am: 14th coronavirus case in US confirmed
The CDC confirmed a new case in California, taking the total number of cases in the U.S. to 14. The patient is among a group under quarantine after they returned to the U.S. on a chartered flight from Hubei.
7:55 am: Hubei province reports 14,840 new cases
China's Hubei province reported an additional 242 deaths and 14,840 new cases as of Feb. 12 — a sharp increase from the previous day. The province said it is starting to include "clinically diagnosed" cases in its figures and that 13,332 of the new cases fall under that classification.
The government said that a total of 1,310 people have died in the province and that 48,206 people have been infected in the region.
Singapore's health ministry said as of Feb. 12, noon, the total number of confirmed infection cases hit 50, with three additional ones reported. The city-state has one of the highest number of reported cases of the virus, next to China and Japan, as well as more than 170 cases onboard a cruise ship that's quarantined off Japan's coast.
All times below are in Eastern time.
2:12 pm: Mobile World Congress canceled after major tech companies pull out
Organizers of Mobile World Congress, the world's largest trade show for the mobile phone industry, have canceled the conference slated to start in Barcelona in less than two weeks. Facebook and other major companies have pulled out of MWC in recent days amid growing fears over the outbreak.
"With due regard to the safe and healthy environment in Barcelona and the host country today, the GSMA has cancelled MWC Barcelona 2020 because the global concern regarding the coronavirus outbreak, travel concern and other circumstances, make it impossible for the GSMA to hold the event," GSMA said in a statement. — Browne
12:29 pm: IMF chief says coronavirus 'clearly more impactful' on global growth than SARS
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva told CNBC's Sara Eisen on Wednesday the new coronavirus that started in China is "clearly more impactful" on the world economy than the 2002-2003 SARS epidemic. "China was different [then], the world was different," said Georgieva, in an interview with Ivanka Trump from a State Department event on economic empowerment for women.
During the SARS outbreak, China was only 8% of the global economy, Georgieva pointed out. "Today, China manufactures 28%, with possible impact through value chains on other countries." — Belvedere
11:50 am: CDC prepares for community outbreaks in US
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is preparing for the coronavirus, named COVID-19, to "take a foothold in the U.S.," Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, told reporters.
"At some point, we are likely to see community spread in the U.S. or in other countries," said Messonnier. "This will trigger a change in our response strategy." — Lovelace
Read CNBC's coverage from the U.S. overnight: Mobile World Congress canceled, CDC prepares for outbreak in US.
— CNBC's Christine Wang, Chloe Taylor, Vivian Kam, Evelyn Cheng, Leslie Josephs, Saheli Roy Choudhury, and Berkeley Lovelace Jr. contributed to this report.


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- Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who in presence am base among you, but being absent am bold toward you:
- But I beseech you, that I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence, wherewith I think to be bold against some, which thin of us as if we walked according to the flesh.
- For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:
- (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
- Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.
NOTE: These verses are from the King James Holy Bible Continue reading SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY (2 CORINTHIANS 10:1-5: PAUL DEFENDS HIS AUTHORITY)

subset: commoncrawl


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With the Blackberry company scaling down its phone business and WhatsAPP ceasing to support Blackberry phones from end December, many BB users are looking for the next most comfortable phone. If you are a BB lover, you are not alone. Out-going President Obama loved it so much. Android and iPhone brand are the most available options.
The use of iPhone or Android gives away your personality in a way you never could have imagined. Until recently, I really didn't know the difference between the two, and I believe I have the company of many others who will know the difference now.
According to records, iPhone is a line of smartphones designed and marketed by Apple Inc. They run Apple's iOS mobile operating system. The first generation was released on June 29, 2007; the most recent iPhone model is the iPhone, which was unveiled at a special event on September 7, 2016.
The user interface is built around the device's multi-touch screen, including a virtual keyboard. As of June 2016, Apple's App Store contained more than 2 million applications available for the iPhone.
Apple has released ten generations of iPhone models, each accompanied by one of the ten major releases of the iOS operating system. The original 1st-generation iPhone was a GSM phone and established design precedents, such as a button placement that has persisted throughout all releases and a screen size maintained for the next four iterations.
The iPhone 3G added 3G network support, and was followed by the 3GS with improved hardware, the 44 with a metal chassis, higher display resolution and front-facing camera, and the 4S with improved hardware and the voice assistant Siri. The iPhone 5 featured a taller, 4-inch display and Apple's newly introduced Ligthening connector. In 2013, Apple released the 5S with improved hardware and a fingerprint reader, and the lower-cost 5C, a version of the 5 with colored plastic casings instead of metal.
They were followed by the larger iPhone 6, with models featuring 4.7 and 5.5-inch displays. The iPhone 6S was introduced the following year, which featured hardware upgrades and support for pressure-sensitive touch inputs, as well as the SE—which featured hardware from the 6S but the smaller form factor of the 5S.
In 2016, Apple unveiled the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, which add water resistance, improved system and graphics performance, a new rear dual-camera setup on the Plus model, and new color options, while removing the 3.5 mm headphone jack found on previous phones.
The iPhone's commercial success has been credited with reshaping the smartphone industry and helping to make Apple one of the world's most valuable publicly traded companies by 2011. The original iPhone was one of the first phones to use a design featuring a slate format with a touchscreen interface Almost all modern smartphones have replicated this style of design.
An Android phone is a smartphone running on Google's open-source Android operating system. Many different manufacturers make Android phones, including HTC, Motorola, and Samsung. All of the major cellular carriers in the U.S. offer Android phones.
Originally derived from the Linux desktop operating system, Android is a customizable platform that can look and feel very different on very different handsets.
That means that an HTC Android phone will look and operate differently from an Android phone made by Samsung. It also means that an HTC Android phone from T-Mobile won't be exactly like an HTC Android phone that runs on Sprint's network.
Still, all Android phones do share some common features. All of them have touch screens. Some also have hardware keyboards, but not all of them do. All come with a desktop that is made up of a certain number of screens (some Android phones have 3, others have 5, while still others have 7) that you can customize to your liking. You can populate screens with shortcuts to apps or widgets that display news headlines, search boxes, or more.
All Android phones also offer access to the Android Market, where you can download Android apps. Over150,000 apps are available in the Android Market.
Apart from their different makers, the major difference between Android and the iPhone is that with Android you get choice, while the iPhone is one uniform platform.
Experts have however observed that when deciding between an iPhone and an Android, it really comes down to whichever feels best in your hands.
Every modern smartphone does the basics: They've got high-speed Internet, they run apps and play movies, they take pretty good pictures and videos, they let you Snapchat silly pictures to your pals. And for the most part, every major feature on an Apple device has an equivalent feature on an Android phone, and vice versa.
What the phones say about your personality
It may sound harsh but the study says users of iPhones are more interested in their phone as a status object; while users of Android are generally more honest and also less interested in wealth and status.
The results from a survey of 530 smartphone users by Heather Shaw and her team also revealed the following differences.
iPhone users are:
- Younger
- More than twice as likely to be women
- More likely to see their phone as a status object
- More extraverted
- Less concerned about owning devices favoured by most people
Android phones users are more likely to be:
- Male
- Older
- More honest
- More humble
- More agreeable
- Less likely to break rules for personal gain
- Less interested in wealth and status
Dr David Ellis, one of the study's authors, said: "In this study, we demonstrate for the first time that an individual's choice of smartphone operating system can provide useful clues when it comes to predicting their personality and other individual characteristics."
And according to Shaw, the study's first author, "It is becoming more and more apparent that smartphones are becoming a mini digital version of the user, and many of us don't like it when other people attempt to use our phones because it can reveal so much about us."
She is, however, quick to add that it's still not fair to assume anything about a person based solely on their smartphone choice. "Humans are very complex, and you can never truly understand what a person is like from one piece of information alone," she explains.
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Alviso, CA — TiVo and Netflix are teaming up to provide Netflix and TiVo Series3, TiVo HD, and TiVo HD XL subscribers with the ability to have thousands of movies and TV episodes instantly streamed from Netflix directly to their TVs.
The two companies said they are initiating a test of the new capability today in several thousand U.S. households and expect it to be broadly available in early December, in time for the holidays. The ability to instantly watch content from Netflix on the TV via TiVo DVRs will be offered at no additional charge to customers who subscribe to both services.
The agreement provides Netflix with an important new technology partner to instantly stream a growing library of more than 12,000 choices of movies and TV episodes directly from Netflix to the TV. It also solidifies TiVo's leading position for simple navigation and delivery of the best entertainment content to the TV.
"For Netflix and TiVo subscribers, this collaboration offers a fabulously easy way to enhance the enjoyment of watching movies in the comfort of their living rooms," said Reed Hastings, co-founder and CEO of Netflix. "Subscribers to Netflix and TiVo are avid movie watchers and this combination gives them immediate access to all of the great content available through TiVo and the thousands of additional choices available to be streamed instantly from Netflix."
"Joining forces with Netflix creates the ultimate video on demand service and solidifies TiVo's leading position as the one-box solution for aggregating, searching, and delivering the best content available anywhere right to the TV," said Tom Rogers, president and CEO of TiVo Inc. "Adding Netflix to our already vast library of content differentiates TiVo even further from any other offering in the market today."
Integrating the Netflix streaming functionality into the TiVo experience will result in quick and easy access to a growing list of movies and TV episodes that can be watched instantly at Netflix. Movies streamed from Netflix via specified TiVo DVRs is done through a wired or wireless broadband connection and a Netflix Queue-based user interface. Members visit the Netflix Web site to add movies and TV episodes to their individual instant Queues. Those choices will automatically be displayed on subscribers' TVs and available to watch instantly through the TiVo service. With the TiVo remote control, users will be able to browse their instant Queue, make selections right on the TV screen, and also have the ability to read synopses and rate movies. In addition, they will have the option of pausing, fast-forwarding, rewinding and re-starting whenever they wish.
Visit www.tivo.com/netflix


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I was placing an order for some office supplies through work today. We've recently switched supply companies and I had to get a new account with which to place the order. As part of the process, you are prompted to put in a password, and then, as many places do today, you are prompted to select a "security question" in case you forget your password. This is something like, "What is your mother's maiden name?" or "What was the name of the first school you attended?"
One of the questions was the following: What was the name of your first spouse?
What with the divorce rate as high as it is, I suppose it was only a matter of time before this question showed up on the list. I wonder how many people actually pick this one?


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A shocking report from England today is provoking alarm and outrage worldwide. The report indicates the remains of as many as 15,000 aborted babies were incinerated by British hospital as a heating source.
While the pro-abortion movement frequently condemns pro-life advocates who draw comparisons between abortion and the Holocaust, the report of babies burned to heat UK hospitals is a shocking reminder of the callous way human life was treated by the Nazi regime. According to the report in the London Telegraph newspaper, the aborted babies were incinerated as "clinical waste" in "waste to energy" plans at British hospitals.
The hospitals, funded by the British government's NHs health care program, admitting burning the babies' bodies along with legitimate medical waste and trash. The Department of Health has reportedly issued a ban on the practice, prohibiting the hospitals from exploiting the bodies of babies victimized by abortion any further.
The 15,000 babies whose bodies became fuel for heating hospitals were incinerated at 27 various hospitals and clinics across the U.K. and the parents were not consulted about burning the babies.
One of the country's leading hospitals, Addenbrooke's in Cambridge, incinerated 797 babies below 13 weeks gestation at their own 'waste to energy' plant. The mothers were told the remains had been 'cremated.'
Another 'waste to energy' facility at Ipswich Hospital, operated by a private contractor, incinerated 1,101 foetal remains between 2011 and 2013.
They were brought in from another hospital before being burned, generating energy for the hospital site. Ipswich Hospital itself disposes of remains by cremation.
"This practice is totally unacceptable," said Dr Poulter.
"While the vast majority of hospitals are acting in the appropriate way, that must be the case for all hospitals and the Human Tissue Authority has now been asked to ensure that it acts on this issue without delay."
Sir Bruce Keogh, NHS Medical Director, has written to all NHS trusts to tell them the practice must stop.
The Chief Medical Officer, Dame Sally Davies, has also written to the Human Tissue Authority to ask them make sure that guidance is clear.
And the Care Quality Commission said it would investigate the programme's findings.
Prof Sir Mike Richards, Chief Inspector of Hospitals, said: "I am disappointed trusts may not be informing or consulting women and their families.
"This breaches our standard on respecting and involving people who use services and I'm keen for Dispatches to share their evidence with us.
"We scrutinise information of concern and can inspect unannounced, if required."


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Some months ago a client of ours while talking to one of the Gartner analysts who covered them, learned, to their delight, that the analyst had recently given a particular prospect a clear steer in their direction.
"They're a mid-sized company and they asked for my advice on relevant vendors, so I told them you guys were definitely relevant for small and mid-sized enterprises," the analyst said.
But nothing happened. Our client didn't hear from the prospect. And it was only later that we discovered our client had even been removed from a previously compiled short list as a direct result of this brief conversation.
The client was mortified. The analyst was baffled. The prospect, of course, missed the opportunity of acquiring what may well have been the best possible solution for his particular set of requirements.
Nobody had done anything wrong. In fact, everyone had acted in utterly good faith. But the result pleased no-one. And it arose from a problem that I believe to be causing a good deal of mischief at the moment.
The problem is simply this: what does the term mid-sized mean?
In this particular instance, the prospect was convinced he was being warned off the vendor, when the Gartner analyst was actually trying to give him a firm and helpful recommendation to consider our client.
It's all a bit too much like looking-glass logic for my liking
"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less."
"The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many different things."
"The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master – that's all."
There's no denying the Gartner dominant position as the biggest and most influential of the technology research organizations. We all know that the company's recommendations, assessments, comments, and even hints colour buyers' views of vendors, directly influencing thousands of vital purchase decisions.
So it is a matter of critical importance if companies keen to hear the Gartner views and act on its advice are misunderstanding what its analysts are saying.
In their research and guidance, the analysts are continually using terms like SMB and mid-sized, or medium-sized, in the belief that everybody understands what they mean. But that's not necessarily true.
There is simply no standard definition. The US Small Business Administration states that a midsized enterprise can have as many as 1500 employees. Industry Canada defines midsize as less than 500 employees. The European Commission defines midsized as up to 250 employees OR revenue of 10-50 Million euros. To some degree, of course, that all makes some sense, as where you are certainly makes a difference. A big company, as perceived in China (population 1.35bn) is most certainly not the same as a big company as perceived in Australia (population 22m).
Add to this though that each technology company has its own definition. For example, Microsoft has traditionally classed firms with 50 to 1000 employees as mid-sized, while SAP, for example, preferred a range from 101 to 2,500. Xerox has offered a narrow definition of 101 to 500, while analysts at Info-Tech are on record as defining medium-sized as being between 50 and 5000 employees.
If Microsoft sees a 50-person firm as mid-sized and Info-Tech uses a similar term to cover a 5000-person company, it's not surprising that wires get seriously crossed sometimes.
the Gartner own definition (http://www.gartner.com/it-glossary/smbs-small-and-midsize-businesses/) provides little more real clarity. "Gartner defines SMBs by the number of employees and annual revenue they have. The attribute used most often is number of employees; small businesses are usually defined as organizations with fewer than 100 employees; midsize enterprises are those organizations with 100 to 999 employees. The second most popular attribute used to define the SMB market is annual revenue: small business is usually defined as organizations with less than $50 million in annual revenue; midsize enterprise is defined as organizations that make more than $50 million, but less than $1 billion in annual revenue". How many people are aware that is their definition? More to the point, how many of their analysts know that this is their definition? And/or stick to this definition?
Of course there is no simple answer to this problem. Or perhaps there is. Why be vague when you can be specific? Every analyst would be doing their clients a favour, and certainly ensuring fair treatment of the suppliers they cover, were they to state, for example, "this company mainly targets companies with revenues of between $500m and $1B" versus confusing people by saying "this company mainly targets midsize firms".
Next time this happens to your firm press the analyst to be explicit and let's work collectively to eradicate this lazy terminology and the lost opportunities it creates.
Note: this entry was originally posted by us on the IIAR blog in November 2012


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There is a major construction and renovation project coming up. It goes under the name of a New Heaven and New Earth. Who knows, It's possible that this cosmic remodeling may expand heaven to encompass the entire universe of creation.
In the new universe, New Jerusalem will be the focus of almost everything. Other names for this city are "the Jerusalem above" (Gal. 4:26), "the city of living God, the heavenly Jerusalem" (Heb 12:22), "the holy city" that "comes down out of heaven from God"(Rev, 21:10).
Some believe that the New Jerusalem will constitute a celestial temple that is both physical (Rev. 21:12-21) and spiritual (Rev. 21:22).
Isaiah 65:17-19 For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing, And her people for gladness. I will also rejoice in Jerusalem, and be glad in My people; And there will no longer be heard in her The voice of weeping
and the sound of crying.
2nd Peter 3:13 But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.
Revelation 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.
Who knows, It's possible that this cosmic remodeling may expand heaven to encompass the entire universe of creation.
The New Heaven and Earth is so great that memories of the Old Earth will fade away and be forgotten.
The New Heaven and New Earth will last forever.
Is there water in the New Heaven?
The only water mentioned flows directly from the throne of God.
Revelation 22:1 And he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. And on either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
In the New Heaven there will be no more tears, sorrow or crying. There will be no sickness, no hunger, no trouble and no tragedy. Just absolute joy and eternal blessing.
The Popular Encyclopedia of Bible Prophecy by Tim Lahaye.
John MacArthur.


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Customer Day Nepal 2017
Nepal is blessed with significant hydropower resources, providing a large surplus to promote regional energy trade.
Nepal's government declared the years 2016 to 2026 as the "Electricity Development Decade", having ambitious plans to drive forth the development of the hydropower sector.
Energizing Nepal has been a priority for ANDRITZ HYDRO for the last 20 years. With the grand success of the Nepal Customer Day held in November 2016 and the opening of the new office in Kathmandu ANDRITZ HYDRO confirmed the company's commitment to "Hydropower solutions for Nepal"; aiming at supporting our esteemed customers to achieve the goals of 10,000 MW in Nepal within the next 10 years. Currently 718 MW of hydropower capacity is under construction, of which about 97% is contracted with ANDRITZ HYDRO The latest successful projects are the hydropower plants Middle Bhotekoshi (105 MW) and Upper Tamakoshi, with 465 MW the largest hydroelectric project in Nepal to date.
On November 1st and 2nd, 2017 the local Nepalese Managing Director of ANDRITZ HYDRO, Mr. Dibesh Shrestha, was pleased to welcome more than 250 customers, investors, partners, governmental institutions and interested companies to the ANDRITZ HYDRO Customer Day in Kathmandu, Nepal. The Customer Day Nepal 2017 highlighted the state-of-the-art technology solutions of ANDRITZ HYDRO for hydropower plants and offered ample opportunities for an interesting exchange of information about the market, global trends and experience among all participants and with ANDRITZ HYDRO experts.
The Customer Day Nepal once again demonstrated the strong position of ANDRITZ HYDRO as a reliable partner in developing the Nepalese hydropower potential and strengthened the company's position is this very dynamic region.
Close before the customer day the 1st Austrian Federal Economic Chamber business delegation was visiting Nepal. During the three day WKO business mission, the delegation met with high ranking Nepali government officials and the Nepal Chambers of Commerce.


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From July 27 to 28, 2015, the president of Modern Cancer Hospital Guangzhou Wang Huaizhong and his team went to National University Hospital of Singapore to study the courses of hospital bed management, quality management etc. They deeply understood that the improvement of quality management process played an important role in promoting the economic benefits of the hospitals.
The team members of MCHG were concentrating on the course.
It was reported that on the afternoon of July 27, experts of National University Hospital of Singapore gave a lecture of hospital bed management knowledge from the angles of beds arrangement, distribution process etc. Meanwhile they introduced the practical experience while visiting the hospital on the spot. On July 28, the experts mainly introduced the knowledge of quality management, and focused on the improvement of quality management process. Except for the theories, they combined the relevant knowledge with a simulation game of hospital management, making the courses more intuitive, vivid, and understandable.
The team members of MCHG were playing a simulation game of hospital management.
After listening to the courses, the team of Modern Cancer Hospital Guangzhou expressed that the content not only had theoretical significance, but also the guiding value for practical hospital management. Through the study, they were deeply impressed by the economic effects of bed management, improvement of quality management process, etc.
Photo of the team of Modern Cancer Hospital Guangzhou
As an international medical unit, Modern Cancer Hospital Guangzhou was accredited by American JCI (Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations) in 2014. Because it paid much attention to medical service quality management and got improvement by learning advanced experience from other international hospitals.
According to the report, this exchange and study would last until July 31.
If you have any questions, please contact us via online consultation, email or phone call. If you find our website useful, please follow our FaceBook and YouTube, health information will be updated regularly.
Let's Have A Healthy Life!
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Metro Medellin Debuts Colombia's Biggest Shopping Mall: 'Viva' Envigado
Medellin-based multinational retail giant Exito announced October 5 the long-awaited opening of Colombia's biggest shopping mall: the "Viva" center in the Medellin suburb of Envigado.
"With an investment of approximately COP$660 billion [US$217 million] and a commercial area of 137,000 square meters, Viva Envigado — the largest commercial and business complex in the country — opened its doors to the public," according to Exito.
One-third of the commercially leased area is dedicated to entertainment and gastronomy, while 6,000 new jobs are created at the center, according to Exito.
"Global trends show us that shopping centers must evolve from a commercial building to a 'human place' where customers have experiences," according to Exito's Juan Lucas Vega, vice president of real estate.
Via a free internet connection, the mall also delivers a "digital layer that transmits segmented content and commercial 'scoops' directly on customers' smart-phones, complemented by digital, interactive screens that allow customers to know locations and marketing activities," according to Exito.
The shopping center includes four anchors:
1. Cine Colombia, with 16 movie theaters, including the first IMAX theater in Antioquia;
2. A renewed 'Homecenter' hardware super-store;
3. Exito's 'Wow' hypermart, including office co-working spaces; and
4. Decathlon, "one of the largest sports stores in the world," making a first-ever appearance in metro Medellin.
In addition, for the first time, Grupo Éxito's private-label clothing lines "Arkitect" and "Bronzini" will have an exclusive store, while Exito's "Finlandek" line of kitchen and home accessories – together with "Electrodigital" appliances – likewise will have a dedicated retail outlet.
"These two [clothing and home-appliance] stores, totaling more than 300 square meters, are the start of an innovation laboratory with which we want to reach our customers in a different way and provide a more personalized, superior experience," added Jacky Yanovich, Exito's vice president of sales and operations.
The new shopping center also includes "Viva Park," described as "the largest amusement park located within a shopping center, with 6,000 square meters outdoors that will become a place of entertainment for the whole family," according to Exito.
A "Bistró Street" section includes 21 open-air restaurants, in addition to a food court with 18 brands.
A "Viva Sports' section includes a "Smartfit" gym, five synthetic soccer fields, a jogging track, a multifunctional play-court, a beach volleyball court and a climbing wall.
The building complex also incorporates a photovoltaic array covering 1,700 square meters, generating approximately 451 kilowatt-hours of power or around 20% of common-area power requirements during peak solar-radiation hours.
Besides having a direct connection to the zero-emissions "Metro" rail-line station, "the construction of Viva Envigado is environmentally responsible thanks to saving 35% of water in the bathrooms;130 bicycle parking lot spaces; 140 exclusive parking spaces for low-emission electric vehicles; and 70 carpooling parking spaces," according to Exito.


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There are thousands of styles for your home designs available in the magazines, market and online market yet if you want to have a perfect home design; it should start it with yourself as this is always what you want and need.There are lots of other home designs you can choose from that go well with your house. However, the most popular would be the contemporary or minimalists style. Always remember that selecting your home style or designs for your house or business can sometimes be a tricky job. Buyers many times feel perplexed because of the huge selections around the market today. Also, they are, at times mislead by low quality home designs and style that attract consumers with their low costs.At this moment, when you come to a decision on doing a house design, the first thing that you must consider is to have a clear idea about your needs and wants, and the things that you must have with your house. Making a list will surely help you use this list as a direct when you go shopping for your house designs and style in the market or online. It is very important to do your homework first to avoid wasting your money with something that you can never use in the long haul. Be cautious not to get puzzled by the diversity of products accessible in the market and online. The answer is to put your head down, take your time, and focus your consideration in the general picture.
Want to Give a New Look to Your Home Designs?
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4 cups Flav-R-Pac Fruit Favorites Apple Cubes
1 ½ cups Unsalted Butter
½ cup, 4 tbsp Granulated Sugar
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
½ tsp Salt
2 ½ cups, 4 tbsp All Purpose Flour
1 ¼ tsp Cinnamon, ground
½ tsp Kosher Salt
1 cup Old Fashioned Oats
¾ cup Brown Sugar, packed
1 cup Caramel Sauce
Preheat the oven to 300° F. Line the bottom and sides of a 9 x 13 inch baking pan with parchment paper, leaving enough overhang on all sides. Set aside.
Make the crust: Melt 1 cup of butter. Combine with ½ cup granulated sugar, vanilla, and salt in a medium bowl. Add 2 cups flour until combined. Press the mixture evenly into the prepared baking pan. Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.
Make the apple filling: Combine Flav-R-Pac Fruit Favorites Apple Cubes,
4 tablespoons of all purpose flour, 4 tablespoons of granulated sugar and
1 teaspoon of cinnamon in a large bowl. Set aside.
Make the streusel: Combine oats, brown sugar, remaining ¼ teaspoon cinnamon, and remaining ½ cup flour together in a medium bowl. Cut in ½ cup butter (chilled) with a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside.
To assemble: Remove crust from the oven, and turn the oven up to 350° F. Evenly layer the apples on top of the warm crust. Sprinkle the apple layer with streusel and bake for 30 – 35 minutes or until the streusel is golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 20 minutes at room temperature.
Cut into 16 smaller bars. Once cut, drizzle salted caramel sauce on top of each.


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It's time for the fashion industry to wake up! How many viral movements and articles do we have to write to impress upon the decision makers that the consumers of the world want to see real women plastered across billboards and magazines. Our mission, alongside many others, is to see women in the 10-14 size category be considered normal, and not 'plus sized'. If only the fashion industry would realize they are calling the majority of women in the world plus size by alienating those few sizes!
Saffi Karina, 27, is a British model who has worked for some of the world's biggest brands, but it hasn't always been a shiny happy ride to where she is today. 7 years ago, when she was 21, Saffi was dumped from a high profile modeling agency in London after being told she was "too fat". Instead of trying to go on a crash diet and dangerously lose weight, she signed with a new agency, Storm Models who are also one of the biggest in the UK, and she hasn't looked back. Since then she has gone on to model for brands like Speedo, Body Shop, Marks & Spencers, and UK Department store giant Debenhams.
But it hasn't stopped there. Saffi has realized there is a huge need for more women to stand up for curves and tell young women that they are healthy and normal the way they are. Her change in body happened at every point for women, during puberty, but instead of trying to change that, she embraced it.
"As you grow older, you become more womanly and I actually didn't want to change that, so I started looking for what else was out there. I began working as a plus-size model and it is a very positive and happy industry. I still got to do what I loved and travel the world." She tells the Evening Standard in the UK
"I had only been working for a couple of years, and really loving it, when they dropped me. But I have 41-inch hips — they are pure bone, there is nothing I can do about them, they aren't going anywhere. I had to work with what I've got."
In fact, Karina has been more successful as a plus size model and wants to help other women in the industry to see you don't have to be skeletal to succeed. She founded the Curve Project London campaign last year after being contacted for advice by "ordinary girls" unable to achieve the skeletal look described recently as "Paris thin".
"I started thinking there was more I could do with all my contacts in the industry. I thought up Curve Project London — it is more than a workshop, it's a movement to empower women, to give them confidence and skills for life." The organization conducts workshops for models with top fashion executives where they teach catwalk skills, how to put together a portfolio, what to expect in a casting, how to do hair and makeup and all the essentials for being a successful fashion model. In fact you don't have to be an aspiring model to join, on their website they offer their services to women who are simply looking for a boost of confidence when it comes to body image.
It is currently the only plus-size model workshop, but we hope this will start a growing trend around the world. It is clear Saffi is passionate about changing the way the industry works. If being a plus-size model is a happier more positive environment for models, then what does that say about the cut-throat skeletal side of the industry?
"There is no A-class guidance for plus-size models. I wanted to offer that in London. There is a real thirst for 'normal' sized women, especially for commercial brands. I want to strive to endorse a positive body image and act as a role model to young women who previously thought 'thin' was the only way to get a foot over the fashion threshold."
Curve Project London is more than just a model workshop. It's a movement, it says on their website. They aim to empower, educate and encourage young women to love and embrace the skin their skin.
Catwalk choreographer Les Child, involved in the masterclasses, said: "Plus-size women are more realistic and it gives other women an image they can relate to."
We are sure that Saffi Karina is not the only woman or model to have experienced something this. There is a generation of women who are rejecting the notion of 'heroine chic' that came about in the 90s, to create their own version of fashion relating to reality. With the rise of social media, reality TV and instant gratification of consumerism, fashion brands and companies can no longer afford to be projecting unhealthy, unrealistic images onto women and men. It's time they wise up and get real.
If you have ever experienced a job loss, negativity or backlash because of your body shape tell us why and how you overcame it.


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Two Top-Tier Defiance Degrees for Future Behavior Analysts
Defiance College is also featured in our ranking of the 30 Best Colleges for Students on the Autism Spectrum.
At Schauffler Hall, the Science & Mathematics Department grants a Psychology Major (B.A/B.S.) for Defiance College Yellow Jackets to learn the basics of human behavior for optional BCaBA certification. Chaired by Dr. Deborah Dalke, the 120-credit, four-year curriculum blends courses like Behavior Modification with opportunities to join Psi Chi, declare the Hench Autism Studies minor, mentor in the ASD Affinity Program, intern at Mercy Health, and become McMaster School for Advancing Humanity Fellows. Since 2016, the Master of Arts in Education (M.A.Ed.) has delivered Intervention Specialist Mild to Moderate Licensure for K-12 teachers to better understand disabilities from autism to dyslexia. Directed by Dr. Clarissa Barnes, the 33-credit, CAEP-accredited path mixes online Moodle with in-person components for 500-level courses like Advanced Educational Psychology and the master's capstone project.
About Defiance College
Defiance College originated in 1850 when industrialist William Curtis Holgate donated Ohio land to the Disciples of Christ Church for building the Defiance Female Seminary. By 1885, the inaugural single-sex class finally arrived at Defiance Hall for Christian liberal arts instruction. In 1902, the United Church of Christ acquired it and chose the Defiance College name. After World War II, Defiance became coeducational to welcome men with GI Bill veteran benefits. In 1967, Defiance College notably merged with the Schauffler College of Cleveland. Three decades later, Defiance joined the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference. In 2002, Helen and Harold McMaster donated $6 million to develop the School for Advancing Humanity. In 2007, Eric and Deb Hench launched the Autism Studies Program at Defiance. In 2016, Defiance claimed the Autism Speaks Grant to expand its ASD Affinity Program.
Endowed for $16.2 million, Defiance College now employs 75 faculty teaching 522 undergrad and 23 post-grad Yellow Jackets online on Moodle or on its 150-acre Northwest Ohio campus outside Toledo with 25+ clubs like Project 701 for 57 percent freshman retention. In 2019, Defiance won the Ohio Campus Compact David Hoch Memorial Excellence Award. In 2017, Defiance College made the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. The "College of Distinction" had the 2019 CoSIDA 25-Year Award recipient too. The U.S. News & World Report ranked Defiance College the 46th best Midwest school with the 66th top social mobility. On Niche, Defiance boasts America's 357th most liberal academics and 545th hardest admission. College Factual picked Defiance 315th for special education and 153rd for social services. PayScale calculated a median mid-career salary of $84,200 for Defiance College. Washington Monthly named Defiance the 47th best baccalaureate institution.
Defiance College Accreditation Details
On February 26, 2013, the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association (HLC-NCA) Institutional Actions Council notified Defiance College that the Level II accreditation status was extended through the next 2022-23 evaluation under President Richanne C. Mankey, PhD, who earned the Bernice Poss Women in Higher Education Award. Located 213 miles west via Interstate 90 in Chicago, Illinois, this giant 19-state Great Lakes Region accreditor is recognized by the U.S. Education Department to review Defiance's three associate, 32 baccalaureate, and two master's degrees. Further, the Master of Arts in Education with Intervention Specialist Mild to Moderate Licensure was reaffirmed by the Council on Accreditation for Educator Preparation (CAEP) in August 2018. Defiance College is also approved by the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA).
Defiance College Application Requirements
Enrollment at Defiance College is classified "moderately difficult" by Peterson's because only 710 of the 1,257 Fall 2018 applicants were chosen for competitive 56 percent acceptance. First-year Yellow Jackets seeking the Psychology Major (B.A./B.S.) must meet the high school or GED preparation requirements. At least B cumulative averages since 9th grade are preferred. The Class of 2022 presented a mean GPA of 3.22. The middle 50th percentile had SAT scores of 400-540 for Reading and 390-470 for Math. Mid-range admitted ACT scores were 18-23. The Carolyn M. Small Honors Program requires a minimum 3.5 GPA and 25 ACT score. Science & Mathematics Department transfers generally have 12+ accredited credits graded C- or higher. International learners demonstrate English proficiency with at least 550 TOEFL pBT or 6.0 IELTS scores. The M.A.Ed. for Intervention Specialist Mild to Moderate Licensure requires bachelor's GPAs above 2.90. Entrants must have passed the Ohio Assessments for Educators to earn K-12 certification. Preference is given for two years of classroom experience.
Defiance College runs its admission process on a rolling basis to apply anytime. Freshman priority dates are May 1st and October 1st. International students must apply by June 1st for Fall, November 1st for Spring, or March 1st for Summer. Final test scores are due August 25th. Housing applications must be filed before August 1st. Accordingly, complete the Defiance Application online with the $25 non-refundable fee or waiver. Have registrars mail transcripts to 701 North Clinton Street in Defiance, OH 43512. Forward official test results using SAT/TOEFL code 1162 or ACT code 3264. Attach program-specific materials, such as the two recommendation forms, two-page goals statement, valid teaching credential, current resume or CV, guarantor's certificate, and clean FBI background check. Contact (419) 784-4010 or email@example.com with questions.
Tuition and Financial Aid
For 2019-20, Defiance College is charging full-time Psychology Major (B.A./B.S.) tuition of $16,250 per semester or $32,500 annually. Undergrads cover the $350 activity fee, $410 technology fee, and $60 parking permit fee each year. Studying part-time incurs $515 per credit. Only senior citizens pay the $165 course rate. The ASD Affinity Program has a $6,000 supplemental fee. Living at the Northwest Ohio campus' dorms like Whitney Hall adds $5,580 for yearly rent. Standard 19-meal plans for McMaster Dining Hall are $4,960 extra. Defiance budgets $1,400 for textbooks and $2,400 for miscellaneous. Annual bachelor's attendance equals about $46,720 on-site or $37,700 at home. Master of Arts in Education cohorts spend $545 per credit. Graduate programs bill a $115 student fee and $205 technology fee each semester.
According to the NCES College Navigator, the Office of Financial Aid in Serrick Center Room 204 connects 99 percent of new full-time Defiance Yellow Jackets to mean tuition assistance of $19,238 each for $2.84 million combined. Institutional funds include the Richard Stroede Scholarship, United Church of Christ Award, Alumni Legacy Award, Discover Defiance Grant, eSports Scholarship, Service Leadership Award, Pilgrim Scholarship, Trustee Scholarship, Achievement Scholarship, Presidential STEM Scholarship, Touchstone Energy Cooperatives Scholarship, Lisa Yoder Scholarship, and Melton Family First Generation Scholarship. The Dean's Scholarship gifts $20,000 annually to exemplary freshmen meeting the 25 ACT or 1200 SAT score minimum. The $15,000 Transfer Scholarship helps current undergrads with GPAs above 3.5 and 30+ previous credits enroll. Federal resources, such as the Pell Grant or Direct Unsubsidized Loan, require FAFSA applications coded 003041. Buckeyes could also claim the Choose Ohio First Scholarship, Ohio Opportunity Grant, Ohio War Orphans Scholarship, Horatio Alger Scholarship, OEA Aspiring Teacher Scholarship, and more.
Continue reading about Defiance College at the Hench Autism Studies Program website.


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Watch this webinar on demand by filing out the form below.
Communication preferences have changed a lot in healthcare. With online portals, email, and the convenience of smart phones, patients are desperate for modern communication that caters to their convenience-focused, consumer mentality.
In this webinar, RCM expert Andrew Harding will help you develop a communication strategy that meets the patient where they are, using their preferred channel to improve patient engagement. Trust us, it'll be great for your patients and even better for your bottom line. He'll cover:
• Adopting modern use of communication platforms
• Segmenting customers by preferred communication method
• Using communications to improve revenue and the patient experience
• And more...
Watch the webinar on demand by filling out the form below.


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Andrew Curry at National Geographic has posted a review of sites in Syria and Iraq that have been attacked with bulldozers, explosives, sledgehammers, or is being extensively looted. The list includes:
Syria: Palmyra, Mar Elian Monastery, Apamea, Dura-Europos, and Mari
Iraq: Hatra, Nineveh, Mosul Museum and Libraries, Nimrud, Khorsabad, Mar Benham Monastery, Mosque of the Prophet Yunus, and Imam Dur Mausoleum
The article includes details about the significance of each site and its destruction along with several photos and a map.
HT: Agade


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Samad, Abrams Ayunan is running for Municipal Vice-Mayor in Kabuntalan (Tumbao). He is running under the United Bangsamoro Justice Party party. He will appear on the ballot as #2 SAMAD, ABRAMS (UBJP).
This candidate is running for the position of Municipal Vice Mayor. The vice mayor is responsible for presiding over the sangguniang bayan (municipal council) and signing warrants for expenditures appropriated for its operation, appointing officials and employees of the sangguniang bayan, with exceptions provided in the Local Government Code, exercising the powers and perform the duties and functions of the municipal mayor in cases of temporary vacancy, and assuming the municipal mayor's office in the event of a permanent one.
This profile was generated with the help of OpenAI GPT-3 and reviewed by Rappler Research for accuracy.


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A new statewide campaign is trying to spur parents into action with this
message: Your child is not learning as much in school as you think.
A new statewide campaign is trying to spur parents into action with this message: Your child is not learning as much in school as you think.
At an enthusiastic rally of about 300 people Friday, a group of teenagers presented their report called "When good is not good enough in Illinois public schools." The report focuses on the deficiencies in schools, both in Illinois and the United States, as compared to the rest of the world.
Some points made in the report are that the average school year in the U.S. is 62 days shorter than high-performing countries; teachers here spend less time on math than Asian teachers and the U.S. has low expectations for students.
This event kicked off the Statewide Action and Grassroots Education (SAGE) Campaign, involving 20 organizations across the state. The grant-funded effort has a variety of member organization from Advance Illinois, which is pushing for school reform, to the Inner-City Muslim Action Network.
Patricia Watkins, longtime executive director of the community organization Target Area Development Corporation, is spearheading the effort, which she said will draw people from Bloomington to Oak Lawn.
Watkins said a large part of the problem is that Illinois' elementary standardized test, the ISAT, is too easy and gives parents a false sense that their child is fine. But then students struggle to do well on the high school test, which is nationally normed and includes the college entrance exam, the ACT.
And when students get to college, the classes are difficult.
"Parents aren't recognizing or realizing how far our kids are behind," Watkins said.
Another thing that misleads people about what is going on in classes are teacher evaluations.
Tim Daly, president of The New Teacher Project, said it doesn't make sense that most teachers are getting good ratings on their teacher evaluations while students are dropping out and failing.
"We need an evaluation system that is based on whether or not kids are learning," Daly said.
Daly said good teachers aren't being rewarded and bad ones aren't being punished.
Watkins said parents need to collaborate with business people and research groups to learn how to analyze the quality of education that their children are receiving.
"We do the training on how to become advocates, how to assess schools and how to compare schools," Watkins said.
Once parents are more knowledgeable about education issues, they are expected to speak out about policies and official decisions.
"I think what's been missing is the critical voice of the parent," Watkins said.
Robin Steans, executive director of Advance Illinois, stresses how important parents are in education.
"Parental involvement is critical. It's an absolute. It puts rocket fuel in anything else going on at the school," Steans said. "I'm not sure there is a more important policy priority."
Steans added parents are going to be excited about being more informed and getting more involved.
"The sense I get over and over again is people don't feel like they get enough information,' Steans said.


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It's been a while since we have talked about bikesharing since our major 2016 update, an important aspect of the shared mobility landscape, so we've decided to provide a bikesharing 2018 update. Here's a recap of what you might have missed in the global bikesharing community this year.
Bikesharing 2018 Update
New Cities for Bikesharing
Since the start of the year, bikesharing has continued to climb, in spite of some tragic news you may have heard about graveyards of dockless bikes. Here are some of the cities to watch out for, with growing bikesharing programs:
- Pune, India: The first giant to enter the Indian market early this year, Ofo is a Beijing-based bikesharing app created by five students at the Beijing University in 2014, which has grown to 250 cities and 21 countries. In March, Ofo launched in the township of Pune and has now expanded to seven Indian cities including New Delhi, Indore, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Pune, Coimbatore and Chennai.
- Bangalore and Delhi, India: Mobike has big plans in India, against their rival Ofo, and is working with city planners and governments of India to cut down on traffic congestion with the use of a new bikeshare program. A sustainable transport system is needed in pollution-heavy India, so Mobike intends to grow its dockless bikeshare program to up to 12 cities across India over 2018 and 2019.
- Chicago, Illinois: Three bikeshare operations including Pace, LimeBike, and Ofo have launched pilots that will run for six months in the South Side of Chicago. In order to avoid bike theft and the "dockless debate," these programs feature a "lock-to" feature requires dockless bikes to be locked to racks or street signs when not in use. The city will allow companies that meet that "lock-to" condition to operate with 250 bikes, while the free-floating companies will be limited to 50 bikes until July.
- St. Petersburg, Florida: May marks a year of Coast Bike's bikesharing program in St. Petersburg, Florida, and a review shows that residents are using them to commute: 55% of trips taken are by users who live in the city of St. Petersburg, says Coast, and a whopping 79% of trips taken are by residents of Florida.
New Features for Bikesharing
- Lock-to features: Dockless, sure, but in order to avoid the "dockless graveyards" as seen around the world, such as in China, dockless bikeshare programs are now requiring riders to lock their bikes to a post before taking off.
- Electric bikes and charging stations: It was only a matter of time, and we are now seeing electric bikeshare programs popping up – such as BYKKO in Newcastle – which offers 100 electric bikes and 19 charging stations for tourists and commuters.
- Technologies to power electric bikesharing: Superpedestrian recently raised 16.5 Million from investors to launch technologies to power electric bikesharing programs. These technologies include sensors, embedded motor controllers, and software to undergo onboard diagnostics to identify maintenance problems and alert the fleet operator of needed repairs.
Over the course of the last year since our 2016 update, there have been many learnings of what not to do in bikesharing, such as technology hacks and dockless bikeshare nightmares. But we are happy to report that primarily we are seeing positive growth in bikesharing.
Interested in learning more about bikesharing statistics globally? Contact us here for a downloadable report.


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We all know how uncomfortable it can be to have an oily face. Especially when you just can't stop sweating, or you're wearing makeup, this becomes an annoyance. But you don't have to let this narrate how you look and feel. Instead, you can take actions to get rid of the problematic oil. Continue reading 10 Skincare & Makeup Tips for Oily Skin
Tag Archives: oily skin
How To: Get Rid of Blackheads
A lot of you ladies found my advice on blackhead prevention and removaluseful, but what if you really need to rid your skin of the tricky little buggers you've already got? Not to worry! I've created a guide specifically meant to get rid of the blackheads that plague your face already. Here are a few different methods of removing blackheads yourself at home:
DIY Beauty: Make Your Own Exfoliant
It's tough to find an exfoliant on the market that satisfies me. Either the beads are too squishy to really slough off anything, the formula is too creamy, or my skin ends up feeling like I've tenderized it into beef carpaccio.
Naturally, I take my typical bootstrapping approach and create my own exfoliant! Here are a few of my favorite recipes for all natural, cheap exfoliants you can create in your own kitchen:
How To: Prevent Blackheads
I have had problems with blackheads since middle school, and I imagine a lot of you have faced the same issues. (Well, maybe you haven't, but I'd feel better if I weren't the only one, so humor me.) As you might assume, I've learned a trick or two over the years for ditching these little buggers.
Here's some tips on both how to prevent your skin from getting blackheads, and how to rid yourself of some of the ones you have now:
How To: Avoid Oily-Looking Skin
If you're young, in a humid climate, or just have naturally oily skin, you know the pains of a greasy, unwashed-looking face. Heck, even living here in the desert, by the time 5pm rolls I'm usually glinting off the bathroom lights like nobody's business. There's nothing wrong with a little "fresh from the beach" glow, but when people have to shield their eyes from the glare when looking at you, your mug's gone way beyond dewy and entered downright drippy.
How can you solve oil problems and beat excess shine? Easy! Simply check out these great tips and affordable! products that you won't want face the humidity without.


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Oct 18, 2020
Unilever's makeover: 'woke-washing' or the real thing?
Oct 18, 2020
Unilever, the maker of brands ranging from Ben & Jerry's ice cream to Dove soap, is trying to win over customers with a socially responsible makeover, but activists say that some of it is just cosmetic.
The Anglo-Dutch consumer giant has introduced a series of initiatives aimed at making it, in its own words, the world's most sustainable company, while also taking a position on issues such as racism.
The firm, which releases third quarter results this week, has recently promised to halve its use of plastic by 2025, eliminate the use of fossil fuels in cleaning products by 2030, and achieve carbon neutrality by 2039.
But the multinational behind Marmite yeast spread, Lipton tea and Knorr soups is "still a big polluter", says Meike Rijksen, campaigner for plastic at Greenpeace Netherlands.
"We recognise that Unilever is doing more than most companies, but it is by far not enough," she told AFP.
Unilever remains the fourth biggest producer of plastics polluting the planet, behind Coca-Cola, Nestle and Pepsico, according to a report in 2019 by Break Free from Plastics, a global coalition of NGOs.
Greenpeace urged the firm to invest in renewable materials across its activities and to eliminate single-use plastics.
'Take action'
Unilever has argued that "responsible" corporate behaviour is good business, since it will attract young, more environmentally-conscious customers.
"We make sure that our brands take action on the issues that consumers care about," Marlous den Bieman, media relations manager for Unilever Benelux, told AFP.
Chief executive Alan Jope has himself said that "woke-washing is beginning to infect our industry", warning against companies promising action on social and environmental causes without following through.
Unilever was one of the first major firms to joint a boycott on advertising on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram in the US until the end of 2020 due to the "polarised election period" there.
That same month Unilever said its Indian and Bangladeshi arms would rename their locally marketed "Fair & Lovely" skin-lightening cream in the face of the global "Black Lives Matter" protests.
Meanwhile the group has also been adding some more "green" to its stable of 400 brands.
It has recently bought the eco-friendly US detergent maker The Laundress and the Dutch "vegetarian butcher" De Vegetarische Slager.
"Climate action is mainstreaming, and companies prioritising it today can gain a competitive advantage," said Steven Tebbe of CDP, a London-based organisation which runs a platform for companies and cities to share environmental information.
'Broken system'
"Not only consumers, but also investors and big corporate buyers are increasingly expecting companies to be transparent and take more urgent responsibility for their environmental impacts," Tebbe told AFP.
Unilever has also announced a zero-deforestation policy and a "responsible" method of choosing suppliers for meat, palm oil and soya, three products notorious for contributing to the problem.
"Their commitment to environmental disclosure and ambitious emissions target shows that climate action is deeply integrated into their overall strategy," Tebbe said.
Greenpeace, however, feared that Unilever was effectively "greenwashing" its image.
"Their whole business model is still based on environmental destruction. In the meantime, they are being praised internationally for their action on sustainability -- that is worrying," said Meike Rijksen.
As one of the world's biggest producers of food and consumer goods, Unilever had to set a genuine example in bringing about a "fundamental change in the broken system."
"They can and they should take this responsibility," added Rijksen.
Copyright © 2023 AFP. All rights reserved. All information displayed in this section (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the contents of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presses.


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¿Necesitas ayuda? Llámanos al 967 225 863
de VICTORIA CHARLES
de VICTORIA CHARLES
Vincent van Gogh's life and work are so intertwined that it is hardly possible to see his pictures without reading in them the story of his life, a life which has been described so many times that it is by now the stuff of legend. Van Gogh is the incarnation of the suffering, the misunderstood martyr of modern art, the emblem of the artist as an outsider. "When one lives with others and is bound by feelings of affection, then one realises that one has a reason for living, that one may not be utterly worthless and expendable, but is perhaps good for something, since we need one another and are journeying together as compagnons de voyage. But our proper sense of self-esteem is also highly dependent upon our relationship with others. A prisoner who is condemned to solitude, who is prevented from working, etc., will in the long run, especially if the run is too long, suffer from the effects as surely as one who has gone hungry too long. Like everyone else, I need friendly or affectionate relationships or intimate companionship, and am not made of stone or iron like a pump or a lamppost…"
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text: Arigato Wall Double Grupa The Arigato family of fixtures has appreciation built into its very DNA given its name means thank you in Japanese. According to its design team, Tihana Taraba, Ivana Pavic and Filip Despot of Grupa, this was intentional, as they meant for the simple design to express a humble gesture of gratitude through its minimalist profile. Request A Quote Download Spec Sheet


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Earlier this quarter, we made demands to UW to take concrete steps to support and protect individuals affected by the travel bans. Thanks to action by UAW 4121 members – through thousands of ratification votes and direct actions during our bargaining session – the University has responded.
First the international student fee was indefinitely suspended! This was a huge victory, several years in the making; and you can read more about it here.
Today, we learned that the University intends to reach out to affected students in the next week about another of our key demands: the provision of funding over the summer for people who are not able to travel and can't work off campus.
This is an important step! A few days after UW came to the bargaining table with no proposals, we're seeing signs of movement. But we're not done yet. We will hold the University accountable to following through on this critical issue, and to find funding for everyone who is unable to work and travel this summer.
If you are among the individuals in this situation, please contact your union representative or the international solidarity work group immediately so someone can help assist and support you while this process develops.
We will convene tomorrow (Thursday 5/25] at 12:00 noon on the HUB lawn to provide updates and for a short action to keep the visibility high around this critical issue. Please join with other UAW members, and forward this email to everyone you know!
In Solidarity,
Theresa Aliwarga
Douglas Avella-Castro
Andrea Canini
Anthony Castanza
Ying-Yu Chen
Monica Cortes Viharo
Kristen Garofali
Arshiya Hoseyni Chime
Katya Kolesova
Dylan Mayer
Elizabeth Mills
Chelsea Pagan
David Parsons
Michelle Pham
Shua Sanchez
Viral Shah
Sam Sumpter
Arash Tarkhan
Judy Twedt


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PLAN X by Rory Tate
It should have been simple, this finding the next-of-kin. But for Officer Cody Byrne the explosion that injures the Shakespeare professor is more than suspicious. So begins the unraveling of a man's life, a man's secrets, his loves and birthright, as Cody follows his trail to Washington, DC, then London, trying to glean something of his shadowed past from the Renaissance documents he left behind.
It begins in Montana, but soon takes her on a global journey, as well as a psychic one, after an Iraq tour as an Army Reservist leaves her shaken. Eager that no one finds out about her PTSD, she toughs it out, even while grieving for her brother lost in Afghanistan. A challenge coin he left behind is another mystery, the blank side and the side that says: PLAN X: Always with you, Wherever you go. Cody's journey takes her back to the family she hardly knows, and the surprising revelations of a professor's past.
PLAN X is available from Amazon.
PLAN X is both thrilling and sophisticated. In a serpentine story that races from small-town Montana to the vaulted halls of Windsor Castle, nothing is as it seems, including the works of the great Shakespeare himself. Former military and current police officer Cody Byrne is unforgettable– a heroine you want to root for. I love this book! –New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author J. Carson Black
"Exciting, spellbinding and riveting. One of the best crime/mystery novels I have ever read and I've read a lot of them. The action begins in the first chapters and continues up to the end." — Ruth Ann Hixson, Book Pleasures blogger
"A thrilling police procedural as Iraqi war veteran turned police officer Cody Byrne investigates the death of a Montana professor who may have been hiding one of the biggest secrets in academia–or perpetuating one of the biggest frauds–one that could scandalize the royal family of Great Britain. An entertaining read!" — Robin Burcell, award-winning author of THE BLACK LIST
Rory Tate is a penname for Lise McClendon, author of ten novels including Blackbird Fly (2009) and Jump Cut (2011). She lives in Montana.
- The Big Thrill Recommends: DEATH AND THE SISTERS by Heather Redmond - September 21, 2023
- The Big Thrill Recommends: THE GIRL IN THE EAGLE'S TALONS by Karin Smirnoff - September 21, 2023
- All that Glisters with Topper Jones - September 21, 2023


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Yao Nationality
|Yao Minority in Guizhou
Similar to the other 54 ethnic groups of China, they have their unique religious and cultural characteristics.
Their language belongs to the Miao-Yao sub-group of the Sino-Tibetan language family. Most people speak the Yao language, some speak a language similar to the Miao language, and a few even use the Zhuang and Dong languages. Their language differs so much between regions that people from different areas have difficulty communicating with each other. They can also speak Han and Zhuang languages. As to the written characters, Nv Shu (a special written language in South China used only by women), are used. Han characters are widely used among Yao people, but written words were created by Central University for Nationalities in 1982. Thus, the written words are also used universally now.
People living in different regions have differing beliefs. Some of them worship nature, some idolize their ancestors, and some adore the totem. Taoism (one of the accepted Chinese religions) also plays an important role in their lives, which includes the following of sacrificial ceremonies. Some people believe in wizardry.
Long Hair Yao Minority in Guangxi
They are master at handicrafts. These crafts not only come in many variations, but also have special meanings. The ones they are most proud of are batik, sculpture, painting, and printing and dying.
Clothes differ according to the regions where they live. However, their clothes are mainly made of blue cloth with various pictorial designs on the fabric. Men wear short shirts without collars, and trousers or pants with the lower part wrapped. Women wear trousers, short skirts or pleated skirts decorated with unique embroidery. Also their special hair adornments are dazzling and attractive.
Long Hair Yao Minority in Guangxi
Other culture and arts are also worth appreciating, such as the ballads and legends with rich content and multiple styles that depict the nation's history, glorify the hard revolutions, or express their sweet love, with their distinctive music and songs as tambourine dance and timbal dance.
All in all, the moralities of diligence, faithfulness, hospitality, and braveness have been handed down from generation to generation , and have become their representative characteristics.
More Ethnic Groups in Hunan, Yunnan and Guizhou Area:
Miao Tujia Yi Bai Hani Bouyei Zhuang Dong


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Using JDBC with Postgres and MS SQL Server
JDBC (Java Database Connectivity) is the generalised Java to RDBMS interconnection layer, analagous to ODBC in the Windows world, or Perl's DBI framework if you prefer. Using JDBC with an appropriate RDBMS-specific driver .jar file, you can write highly portable Java programs that retrieve records (or, for that matter, create tables, insert or update records) from any RDBMS tables using standard SQL statements. Any Java program can use JDBC (although applets typically run into difficulty with the applet security model if they try to open network connections to any machine other than the webserver the applet came from).
Here we show how to write Java programs which use JDBC to connect to databases on both the supported DoC databases:
- The DoC installation of Postgres.
- The DoC installation of MS Windows SQL Server.
Throughout this document, we'll use a single Reference Problem described in more detail below, and show how to solve it in:
- A bog-standard Java application, with a main method.
- A JSP (Java Servlet Pages) Webpage, accessed through Tomcat. See our Servlet and JSP document for an introduction to JSP.
- A Java Servlet, accessed through Tomcat. Again, see our Servlet and JSP document for an introduction to Servlets.
The Reference Problem
The dataset we have chosen to illustrate the principles of JDBC is called the Film Example. It comprises a single test table called films containing information about selected feature films and their directors. This table was created by the following SQL create statement:
create table films ( title varchar(40), director varchar(40), origin varchar(10), made datetime, length int );
After creating the above table, we then inserted specific 23 film records into it. If you're interested, here's the whole set of 24 SQL statements that we used - the above create statement and 23 inserts. You could even use this dataset to recreate the films table on your favourite RDBMS on your home machine - but beware, not all SQL implementations implement the datetime type - you might have to change that..
Having created the above dataset, our problem is extremely simple:
- To execute the SQL statement SELECT * FROM films
- To format each returned record as a row of a table.
The Generic Java Structure of the Solution
Ok, let's show the basic Java structure of the solution to our problem:
import java.sql.*; ... // Load the relevent RDBMS JDBC driver try { Class.forName( "RDBMS_specific_driver_name" ); } catch (ClassNotFoundException e) { System.err.println( "Driver not found: " + e + "\n" + e.getMessage() ); } // Use the driver to connect to the database try { Connection conn = DriverManager.getConnection ( "RDBMS_specific_connect_string", "Database_Username", "Database_Password" ); Statement stmt = conn.createStatement(); // Now execute our query ResultSet rs = stmt.executeQuery("SELECT * FROM films"); // foreach result record while ( rs.next() ) { String title = rs.getString("title"); String director = rs.getString("director"); String origin = rs.getString("origin"); String made = rs.getString("made"); String length = rs.getString("length"); // print the row PrintRow( title, directory, origin, made, length ); } conn.close(); } catch (Exception e) { System.err.println("Exception: " + e + "\n" + e.getMessage() ); } ...
The Postgres specific Details
- For Postgres, the driver class is called "org.postgresql.Driver", and is contained in the jar file /usr/share/java/postgresql.jar on DoC's Ubuntu Linux systems. See the CLASSPATH note for more detail on this.
- The connect string is "jdbc:postgresql://db.doc.ic.ac.uk/DATABASE", where DATABASE is the specific database you wish to connect to. You might have your own database (named after your username, or a group project groupname), or you might be using a pre-existing database like films. For our purposes here in this FAQ, we will use the connect string "jdbc:postgresql://db.doc.ic.ac.uk/films".
- If you want readonly access to the films dataset, you can use "lab" as both the database username and the database password.
Alternatively, when you joined DoC, we generated you a Postgres database and Postgres user account on our teaching database server (db.doc.ic.ac.uk), and automatically emailed the details to you. This could be a perfect time to use this Postgres database. If you've mislaid the postgres email, you can contact us on firstname.lastname@example.com to regenerate the postgres email for you.
The Microsoft SQL Server specific Details
- For SQL Server, the driver class is called "com.microsoft.jdbc.sqlserver.SQLServerDriver", and is contained in three "ms*.jar" files found in /usr/share/java on DoC's Ubuntu Linux systems. See the CLASSPATH note for more detail on this.
- The connect string is "jdbc:microsoft:sqlserver://db-ms.doc.ic.ac.uk:1433".
- Just like Postgres, if you want readonly access to the films dataset, use "lab" as both the database username and the database password.
Alternatively, contact CSG to obtain a MS SQL Server database password, by emailing email@example.com.
A Note on Classpaths
Both the Postgres and Microsoft SQL Server JDBC drivers are installed on all DoC's Ubuntu Linux machines. The drivers are automatically placed on the Tomcat classpath for JSP and Servlet programming, but you may need to ensure that they are on your personal classpath for testing purposes. For Linux, we strongly recommend that you edit your ~/.cshrc file and add:
set want_classpath_share
to the top of the file, save the file and leave the editor and then type
source ~/.cshrc
into the command shell to re-execute the commands in the file without needing to log out and in again. Having done this, if you now type
echo $CLASSPATH
into the command shell, you should now find a nice big classpath has been set, including the above support classes and some other useful classes, such as classes to parse XML. After doing this, any precompiled java program that loads postgres or MSSQL JDBC classes should run fine.
Running on Windows (Vista or XP)
On Windows Vista (and XP), we don't currently have a classpath maintenance system like /usr/share/java on Linux. However, we have verified that the plain versions below work fine on Windows XP if you copy the ms*.jar files and the postgresql.jar files from Linux's /usr/share/java into the directory where the class file lives, and run java setting the classpath explicitly. You may find the following one line runwin.bat batch script helpful (although you may need to modify the java.exe path on some versions of Windows):
"C:\Program Files\Java\bin\java.exe" -cp mssqlserver.jar;msutil.jar;postgresql.jar;. %1
Copying that batch file into the same directory as the .jar files and the .class files, you can then run (for example) Plain_MSSQL.class by saying:
runwin Plain_MSSQL
in the Windows command shell (cmd).
The Solutions
Now we will present the 6 solutions to our reference problem. The plain Java version formats the output as simple Comma-Separated Values, whereas the Servlet and the JSP versions produce a nice HTML table.
Microsoft SQL Server
Plain Java
Java Servlet
Note that in the JSP examples, to import "java.sql.*" you need to write:
<%@ page language="java" import="java.sql.*"%>
To keep us honest, here are the automatically generated (and hence up to date) differences between the Postgres and MSSQL versions of all 3 versions:
Postgres vs Microsoft SQL Server Differences
Plain Java
differences between Plain_Postgres.java and Plain_MSSQL.java
Java Servlet
differences between Servlet_Postgres.java and Servlet_MSSQL.java
We hope that this worked example is useful to everyone. Please let us know if it's not clear enough..
We've just rewritten the JSP and Servlets tutorials to use our new Personal Tomcat setup, and we've included the above JSP JDBC examples in the JSP tutorial, and the Servlet JDBC examples in the Servlet tutorial. Have a go!