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Name: The Altai Mountains
Height: 4,506 m (14,783 ft)
Location: Central and East Asia
First Climbed: in 1914 by the Tronov brothers
Climb Time: 7- 10 hours
Best Time to Climb: July- September
INTRODUCTION TO THE AlTAI MOUNTAINS
The Altai Mountains are a mountain range in Central and East Asia, where Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan and China join forces together with the headwaters of the Irtysh and Ob rivers. From the northeast to the east, the Altai Mountains combine with the Sayan Mountains, while on the southeast the range becomes lower and joins the high plateau of the Gobi Desert. All the languages of this vast territory, Mongolian, Chinese and Turkic, have the same meaning for their own version of the word ''altai'', meaning "gold". These Golden Mountains host some real hidden treasures, which will stay unknown till the end of time.
Thanks to their mystifying beauty, they are also named Russian Tibet, Siberian Switzerland, North-Tchuya Alps, the Katun Alps .
Mount Belukha, or Belucha, is part of the snow coated Russian mountain ranges known as the Kayun Mountains. This twin-peaked mountain massif rises along the border of Russia and Kazakhstan. Altaians call it Kadyn Bazhy, but is also named Uch-Sumer. In the Russian part of the Altai Mountains, Belukha is the highest peak. The eastern peak is higher than the western one, 4506m (14784 ft) in comparison to 4440m (14567 ft). The glaciers cover around 70 square kilometers, with the largest named Berel, at a height of 1950 meters (6397 ft). The most famous glacier is eponymous with the peaks. The region in which Mount Belucha lies receives snowfall all year round. The largest river in this region, the Katyn river, runs down the Belukha slopes.
Compared to its neighbours, like the Pamirs or the Caucasus, Belukha does not stand out for its height.
Mountain Belukha is a particular natural object, full of contrasts of diverse natural complexes, still little known, attracting attention of scientists, ministers and followers of different cults, nature lovers, mountain climbers and tourists. Mountain Belukha is raising high above the neighboring watershed ranges and ties the Katun range system of spurs into one knot. Rocks, screes and moraines occupy big parts of the mountain massif. Around 60 per cent of the glaciers on Katun can be seen on the valleys and slopes of Mout Belukha.
The most visible aspect of the glaciers are the feeding reservoirs that are located at high altitudes, elevated glacier fields, and low position of glacier end points.
There are two types of meadows covered with alpine low-grass and sub alpine high-grass meeting below a glacier line, moraines and stony spurs mixed with mosses and lichens and some rare multicoloured flowers. Surprisingly, at the same time you can find some bushy tundras where dwarf brush trees and willows grow. They are replaced by the belt of upper sparse woods in the form of larch and Siberian pine. The upper forest line is at the elevation 2,000 - 2,200m above the sea level, depending on the slope exposition. The plant world is characterized by a great variety of species and variability of associations. Some of them are edible, medicinal or rare.
HISTORY OF THE AlTAI MOUNTAINS
Blue rivers feeding the meadows, forming one of the greenest mountains of the region; bustling horses aiding the tribes, shaping the history of many distant places by their fearsome horsemen. Altaic people, back then and now, well accepted the fact that these mountains have something holy in them. Only the choosen ones could get closer to them and climb them, while the simple mortals were predestined to worship them in silence. This was one of the reasons why they called these mountains dispreading through the sky the Mountain of Gold, or Golden Mountain - Alt-tai.
The first people who arrived to the region had been dominated by the harsh nature. They needed special human beings, brave ones, who can ascend up into the lands of Gods and talk to them, bargain with them, and seek their help in times of need. Shamans, beating their drums, forecast the future, healed the sickness, chased the evil spirits away and encouraged the warriors. The tribal organization of the society helped them to empower their free lifestyle. And, of course, encouraged the warriors to plunder the neighboring territories.
The disorder they caused forced the neighbors to take action against this frightening people who could mount their horses on day and night. Even though annexed by the Qing Dynasty of China, and then by the Mongols, the Altaic people had been less likely to be ruled over by foreign people for they hold freedom dear, something they had learned from their rivers, horses, and mountains, until the Russians came with their superior guns and mighty Tsars. The demographic structure on and around the mountain was changed by the Russian Empire, and later by the Soviet Union. Forced migrations and heavy industrialization took place, yet, the mountains remained intact along with the culture of the people who have been living there.
The ancient people who lived in the Altai Mountains are called Pazyryk and are in the direct connection with special archeological findings that include mummies found frozen in the permafrost. The ancient custom incredibly resembles the tomb mounds of the legendary Scythian people. The Siberian Ice Maiden, also known as the Siberian Ice Princess, and other archaeological finds, were located at sites on the Ukok Plateau.The current location of the artifacts is in Novosibirsk.
Today, the Altaic people, having been influenced by Buddhism, Orthodox Christianity, and Shamanism, live mostly in Altai Krai and Altai Republic in Russia peacefully with the Russians and the Kazakhs side by side. However, within the last century, due to excessive migration of the ethnic Russians, the percentage of the Altay, the Altaic people of the region, was slightly reduced, but the traditional lifestyle has been preserved by the indigenous people of this harsh territory.
North of the Altai Moutains and west of Lake Baikal lies South Central Siberia, also known as Southern Siberia. As part of the region, we can name different federal subjects of Russia like Altai Republic, Altai Krai, Kemerovo Oblast, Tuva Republic, Tomsk Oblast.. Kmereovo Oblast is penetrated with a belt of mountains, followed by the plains on the both sides. The mythical Trans-Siberian Railway stops in the cities of Novokuznetsk creating a parallel line to the one that goes from Novosibrsk to Krasnoyarsk.
In the north of the region is the Kolyvan Altai, extending to the Sayan Mountains. Their elevation is between 1500 to 1750m (around 5000ft). Some of the mountain passes are : Ulan-daban (2,827m) and Chapchan-daban (3,217m), both quite demanding . On the east and southeast the terrain progressively changes into minor plateaus and valleys like Ukok with Pazyryk Valley, Chuya, Kendykty, Kak, all of them set at the altitude of around 2500m (8202 ft).
The region is dotted with big, salt lakes like Uvs, whose tiny part lies in Russia and the rest in Mongolia, making it the largest lake in Mongolia. Khyragas, Dorgon and Khar also salty lakes, parts of western Mongolia's Great Lake Depression. The territory is crisscrossed with diverse mountain ranges, the main one being Tannu-Ola Mountains, stretching alongside with the the Sayan Mountains to the Kosso-gol in the east. The Khan Khökhii mountains also extend in this region, in the west and east parts.
Khuiten Peak 4374m (14350 ft) is the second highest peak of the range, falling within the borders of Mongolia. The Chuya Alps have an average elevation of 2700m (8858 ft) and its summits are located at 3500m (11482 ft) and 3700m (12139 ft). There are also, The Katun Alps, with average elevation of about 3000m (9842 ft), the Kholzun range, the Korgon, Talitskand Selitsk ranges and the Tigeretsk Alps. All are spotted with wide lakes, numerous spurs and snowy peaks which forms a harmonius paysage full of unexpected details. Matching in their diversity the landscapes immerse into one another.
The slopes of Belukha host The Katun Valley which begins as a wild gorge. After the Katun river penetrates the Katun Alps and enters a wider valley, at the elevation of 600 to 1100m, the river follows it untill it appears in the Altai Highlands to join the Biya River which flows out of Teletskoye Lake. Those two rivers together form the Ob, the seventh longest river in the world and the westernmost one that flows into the Arctic Ocean. The Biya River is 301 km long. The Teletskoye Lake is the largest lake in the Altai Mountains and in the Altai Republic and has a depth of 325m and a surface of 233km. It lies on the junction of the Sailughem Mountains and the Western Sayans and between mountain ridges Korbu and Al-tyntu. The lake contains no less than 40 km (9.6 cubic miles) of fresh water. The lake is included into the Altaisky Nature Reserve which was listed as one of UNESCO World Natural Heritage Sites under the name ''Golden Mountains of Altai.''The Altai people have a legend about the name of the lake which in their language means Golden Lake. Once upon a time, there was a rich man who had an ingot of gold, which he wanted to use to buy food. He was travelling around the region in order to buy some food but he couldn't find any. He decided to throw the gold into the lake. The Altai Nature Reserve is recognized as an area of high biodiversity and isolation from human intrusion. It is also part of UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves. In other words, this region is accepted as a biosphere reserve which means that it shows a balanced relationship between people and nature and encourages sustainable development. The Chulyshman River runs into the lake, with the Chulyshman valley forming part of the western border of the Altai Reserve. Plains and alpine ridges of the Chulyshman Highlands form the most of the reserve. Over 20% of the territory is rock, scree and gravel. On the high plateaus there are over a 1,000 alpine lakes greater than 1 hectare in size.
Katun Nature Reserve is based in the highlands of the Altai Mountains of South Siberia. The headwaters of the Katun River arise on Mouth Belukha, on the far eastern edge of the preserve. It is internationally recognized center of biodiversity, a part of the Golden Mountains of Altai, UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Reserve is located in the Usk-Koksinsky District, which occupies the area of 12,960 square kilometers (5,000 sq mi). The topography of the reserve includes glaciers, alpine tundra, meadows and forests. Much of the terrain has been formed through glaciation, creating small lakes, streams, waterfalls, and steep slopes.
Ukok Plateau Nature Refuge is a distant and pure grassland, occupying the Russian part of the Altai Mountains region. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site providing a habitat for many endangered species including one of its least studied predatory animals, the snow leopard. The Ukok Plateau is currently exposed to a danger of plans for building a gas pipeline between China and Russia. The danger is also coming from an idea to build a road through it, as well as the depletion of the steppe by ranchers. The word uheg literally means box, elongated cabinet, massive mountain, big hill with a flat top. According to the oral testimony, the word ukok in Kyrgyz refers to flat-topped mountains, plateaus. The plateau is at 2,200–2,500 m (7,200–8,200 ft) with mountain peaks that rise up to 600 metre high above the plateaus.
The Charysh River, a 547-kilometre (340 mi) long river in south-western Siberia in Russia, flowing from the Korgon mountains in the Republic of Altai, descends into the pre-altaic depression in the Altai Krai, and flows into the Ob 100 kilometres (62 mi) upstream of the regional capital of Barnaul.
The Altai seen from the valley of Charysh River offers idyllic scenes complete with small but deep Kolyvan Lake, surrounded by fantastic granite domes and towers.
The valleys of Uba, Ulba and Bukhtarma rivers in Kazakhstan open towards the Irtysh river. The lower valley of Uba is densely populated. The Bukhtarma valley follows the Bukhtarma river for about 320 kilometres, and rises at the foot of the Belukha and the Kuitun peaks, falling for 1500m in 300km, from an alpine plateau at an elevation of 1900m to the Bukhtarma fortress (345m), offering the most extraordinary variety of landscapes and vegetation. The upper parts are dominated by the glaciers, the best known one being the Berel, coming down from Byelukha. The upper courses of Bukhtarma and the Katun rivers are separated by the Katun glacier that changes from two ice-falls to 700-900m wide river course, from attractive grotto to a stormy river.
The lower and middle parts of Bukhtarma river valleys were inhabited by Russian pesants, serfs, religious schismatics, who created a free republic on this Chinese territory, which after Russian annexation became rapidily colonized. Little known is known about the higher part, even today, and they are regularly visited only by the Kyrgyz shepards.
The valleys of Bashkaus, Chulyshman and Chulcha rivers, all of them flowing into the lake of Teltskoye, are populated by Telengit people. The shores of the lake rise almost to 1800m. The Biya river, as a tributary of Katun river, joins with it at Biysk city, and then meanders through the prairies of the north-west of the Altai.
Up north, The Altaii highlands continue into the Kuznetsk district. On the western shoulder of the Sayan mountains is the Abakan River, located in the Republic of Khakassia, a part of the system of the Yenisei, the largest river system flowing to the Arctic Ocean. The Kuznetsk Ala-tau range, on the left bank of Abakan, the capital of Kahkassia, runs to the government of Yeniseisk, the town in Krasnoyarsk Krai, while on the other hand a complex of Chukchut, Salair and Abakan mountains spreads towards the Trans-Siberian Railway in the north, and towards the Ob river in the west.
The Ek-tagh, or Mongolian Altai, which separates the Khovd basin on the north from the Irtysh basin on the south, is a steep and lofty escarpment from the Dzungarian depression, but descends on the north by a relatively short slope to the plateau of north-western Mongolia. The range is continued by a double series of mountain chains, all of which exhibit less sharp geographical features and have lower elevations. The slopes are inhabited by nomadic Kyrgyz.
The freedom-loving people of the Altai Mountains live not only side by side with the newcomers to the region, but are also used to sharing their territory with wild animals as well. Some of those animals are endemic to the Altai Mountains, giving the character to the region and forming a highly dynamic ecosystem in this rough terrain.
Argali Sheep
This is the largest sheep in the world. An average male Argali can weigh up to 180 kilograms, and the heaviest male Argali recorded weighed over 210 kilograms. This species prefers to live in the high peaks of the Altai Mountains, far away from humans, but due to the highly valuable horns of these sheep, they are endangered in most regions.
Golden Eagle
This sacred bird of prey has always been an eminent part of the people who lived in this region. The Altai people have sought the help of Golden Eagles when they went hunting. It is known as the fastest animal in the world with the speed of 300 kilometers per hour, the speed they reach when they target their prey.
Snow Leopard
Without the existence of the Argali Sheep in the Altai Mountains, the Snow Leopard would not have survived the cold winters nor the breezy springs. This elegant animal with highly developed hunting skills and charming fur would prey on any animal they would come into contact with. Unfortunately, due to their preferences on their living spaces, high elevations and uneven terrains, it can be quite a challenge to see one of them in the wildlife.
Siberian Ibex
An animal with long, curved horns and beard of the old wise men of Asia. Both sexes of the Siberian Ibex have these fascinating horns and beard which make them highly recognizable. They prefer to live well above the tree line, in rocky valleys, and even in deserts. Even though they are known for their climbing skills and agility, the young members of a Siberian Ibex family can be preyed by small animals such as foxes or eagles.
Corsac Fox
Foxes are known for their cunning characters in the region. In order to understand why the locals attributed such a trait to these small but agile animals one needs to see a Corsac Fox, sitting over a rock, gazing the territory as if it is conspiring its master plan against its preys. These animals can weigh around 2 to 3 kilograms, and can change their thickness and the color of their fur in accord with seasonal changes.
Eurasian Lynx
Cats are adored in many cultures for their playful characters, yet the Eurasian Lynx, whose homeland can stretch from Northern Europe to the eastern most tips of Asia, is not one of those lovely domestic friends of ours. They even compete with the wolves, which can prey on large animals, and their eyes become sharper as the sun continues its journey further into the West.
What makes the Altai Mountains interesting in terms of the flora is the fact that this mountain range includes four highly distinct vegetation zones: the mountain sub-desert, the mountain steppe, the mountain forest, and the alpine regions. These layers of zones accommodate different types of floras, thus, different types of faunas.
The Mountain Sub-desert
The first layer, which is basically an arid land, has hot summers and very low precipitation. The plants that can survive such harsh conditions, such as drought-tolerant and salt-tolerant plants, can be seen in this zone.
The Mountain Steppe
This is the layer that gives most of the characteristics to the Altai Mountains - the vast green meadows. This zone rises up to 600 meters in the north and 2000m in the south, and accommodates steppe shrubs, herbs, and different types of grasses.
The Mountain Forest
The forests are the main vegetation of the Altai Mountains. It covers more than half of the whole region, and rises up to around 2500 meters. Pines, firs, and larches can be seen along with aspen forests and birch with lesser frequency. The breezy springs and cool summers in the forests of the Altaic Mountain make a big contrast with the lower parts of this mountain range.
The Alpine Regions
The meadows for summer pasture for the local people and the fauna, icy bare rocks, covered by mosses here and there. The visitors can also see different types of sub-Alpine shrubs, accommodating buzzy bugs enjoying the short period of relatively warmer seasons. This layer can be seen only on the highest peaks and the ridges.
Since the beginning of time, the tribes settled in Altai treated Belukha with respect and admiration. First written mention of Belukha is from 1793, while the first traveler who saw Belukha was European traveler Gebler. The first scientist who used to research Belukha thoroughly since 1835. was Russian professor V.V.Sapognikov. He tried to climb Belukha for the first time. Nevertheless it was the Tronov brothers who first climbed Belukha in 1914. Most ascents of the eastern peak follow the same southern route as that taken in the first ascent.
The summit climb is characterized by different terrains, and accordingly hikers and climbers should be in a perfect physical condition and are expected to have basic climbing skills and full mountaineering equipment. Hikers and climbers can carry their own luggage or request horses at the base camp, or discuss this option with their travel agency or guide. The weather conditions can be harsh. Waterproof clothing, sleeping bags, light boots and warm jackets are just a few items that are needed to hike the terrain.
East Summit of Belukha is far more accessible and climbed more often than the West one. The most used route to the this top of Belukha is from Russia, being graded as PD+ .Since it's quite a remote place, arriving to the location will require some time.
Once in Barnaul, a city reachable by a five hour long flight from Moscow, it is possible to take a minibus or taxi for the next 800km, somewhat of 400 km the road will be bad mud one, leading to Tungur (Belukha Natural Park, Altai Republic), the settlement located on the bank of impressive Katun river. Tungur, which means tambourine or shamanic drum, is the outset for popular hiking, equestrian or water routes. After the long ride, you will probably need to rest for a night. You can check the accommodation info here. Usually people take a two-day horseback ride to Akkem lake where the trail to the base of Belukha starts. Usually the road from Akkem lake to the Tomsk bivouac, at the foot of Belukha, lasts for one day. Don't forget that you need some documents for crossing the Russian border from Kazakhstan, although that rule does not apply in the other direction.
There are many others peaks that can be climbed such as Khüiten Peak on the border between China and Mongolia.
Although the region is quite popular, the tourist infrastructure is very poor.
From Tungur, hiking tours can be organized to Kucherlinskoe Lakes, Akkem Lake, passing Kuzuyak and up the Akkem river.
Akkem lake is located in Akkem river valley, on the northern slope of Mount Belukha. "AK" means "white", "dull white". The nearest village to Belukha is Tungur, located 45km from the lake. It is located on a 2000 meters high plateau, extending from north to south for 1350 meters and is wide approx. 600 m. Beaches unexpectedly go down and reach a maximum depth of about 15 meters. Average depth of the lake is -7.8 meters. The basin of lake is a typical glacier shaped through mountain valley. Lakesides are composed of loose glacial deposits and covered with tundra moss shrub. Akkem lake water color is murky, gray-white, and dark blue in evening. The lake has a break made from the solid material, which is carried by the Akkem river from glacier, so there are no fish. The bottom of the lake is glacial silt. In calm weather, without ripples, surface mirrors two-kilometer ice wall (Akkem Wall) of the snow-white mountains which is truly majestic.
Kucherlinskoye (Kadzhur-ly or Kudyurlu – "With soils") Lake/ Lake Kucherla is located in the upper reaches of Kucherla River at the foot of the northern slope of Katun ridge. The nearest town is Kucherla Village and Tungur village. Equestrian trail with a length of 34 km runs from Kucherla village. Kucherlinskoe Lake extends in the direction south-north for 5220 meters. The average width is 575 meters. The basin of the lake was formed by ancient glacier moving. The maximum depth of Kucherlinskloe Lake is 54.8 meters. At the source of Kucherla River, lake is shallow. On the coastal strip, there are a lot of honeysuckle plants and cranberries. Kucherlinskoe Lake is one of the largest water basins of glacial origin. The lake is located at an altitude of 1790 meters. On the right slope of the lake, at an altitude of 2300 meters, one of the most beautiful lakes is located. Blue Lake feeds Kucherlinskoe together with glaciers. Average January temperature on the shores of the Lake is -18 C, while July temperature is around +11, but night frosts are possible even in July. The annual rainfall is 550 mm.
Outskirts of the Lake are mostly subalpine and alpine meadows, often visited by the Siberian mountain goats and snow leopards.The turquoise color of the water, high cliffs, forested slopes, mixed with the noise of falling water makes the beauty of this place surreal. In the morning and in the evening, when the sunrays fall down from certain angles, surface of the Lake mirrors image of the blue sky, mountain slopes covered with larch and cedars. Kucherla Lake is located 100 meters above the Kucherlinskoe Lake at an altitude of 1795 meters. It has 480 meters in length and 200 meters in width. It looks like an expanded bed of Kucherla River. Kucherlinskoe Lake is part of the territory of the Natural Park "Belukha". For some additional information, check http://travel-altai.com/regions/belukha/kucherla-river.html .
As one has already understood, hiking and trekking in this vast territory can be as demanding as one would like it to be. The scenery fulfills the dreams.
The most popular parts of the Altai are in the east.
The Katon Kargai Valley with many side valleys offers gradual change from the valley to the steeper terrain that leads to the ascent of Mount Belukha. The Rachmanov springs are near, with the lake Markakol being the biggest attraction. For further information check https://caravanistan.com/kazakhstan/altai/katon-karagai/.
Hiking to the foot of Belukha is also an option, using a ghost town of Kokkol as a base. Kokkol was built in 1930 under a thundering cascade to mine for quartz, molybden, wolframite. A hike to Rachmanov springs takes around 2 days.
The Altai is also very attractive destination for sking, and for any further information check https://caravanistan.com/things-to-do/skiing/kazakhstan/altai/
I quit the rat-race to live a more adventurous life. This is my journey.


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Auckland could find itself with too many waterfront venues and not enough events to fill them when the hoop-la of the Rugby World Cup is over.
The $32 million Viaduct Events Centre faces competition from two venues at Party Central on Queens Wharf - the $9.8 million Cloud and the refurbished century-old Shed 10.
Waterfront Auckland chief executive John Dalzell said the council-owned body was wrestling with the issue of "balancing" events and activities at the three venues once the cup was over.
It would be no use having the 178m prefabricated Cloud if the purpose-built Viaduct Events Centre could not be filled, he said.
Adding to the problems are what to do with Shed 10 for the 200 days of the year it will not be used for a cruise ship terminal.
"There is only so much activity in terms of people wanting to use the space [on Queens Wharf] for markets, Melbourne Cup function days or exhibitions," Mr Dalzell said.
The Cloud is a Government-funded project that Rugby World Cup Minister Murray McCully has said the Auckland Council can have "for as long as they need it".
Waterfront Auckland chairman Bob Harvey said the temporary structure could stay on Queens Wharf for up to 15 years, while Auckland Mayor Len Brown is waiting until after the cup to determine its future. The venue could cost about $1.4 million a year to run.
One option is to move it to Christchurch as an indoor venue in the quake-damaged city.
The Viaduct Events Centre, at the end of Halsey St, with its undulating, wave-like roof, opens next month.
Its first major event is the Auckland Art Fair, followed by New Zealand Fashion Week. It will host the Boat Show and other marine events.
Mr Dalzell said that if the Cloud did stay, the big question was for how long and how it would work with other facilities.
"We have invested money in these legacy projects so we need to make them work, but at the same time we don't want to displace activities from other areas.
"The only way you will get the balance right is being able to consider the whole of the waterfront, not just the development aspects but how it is managed, used and activated."
The future of Queens Wharf will be a key issue in a draft waterfront masterplan that goes out for public consultation in September.
Another consideration is who will manage the different venues.
Waterfront Auckland is overseeing the development of the waterfront, but Regional Facilities Auckland has the job of running the Viaduct Events Centre, another council-owned body, Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development, has an interest and Ports of Auckland has a role with the cruise ship terminal.
* $32m Viaduct Events Centre.
* $9.8m Cloud on Queens Wharf.
* $1.4m a year to run the Cloud.
* 200 days a year it will not be used as a cruise ship terminal.
Auckland could find itself with too many waterfront venues and not enough events to fill them when the hoop-la of the Rugby World Cup is over.
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Pitta is composed of fire + water, governing transformation in the body. Pitta is in charge of metabolism, body heat, temperature, digestion, perception, hunger, thirst and intelligence.
Everyone has pitta dosha, but some people will have more of it. People who are mainly pitta are usually very organized, driven, hardworking, and confident. Pitta is associated with the season of summer, so if you are already dominant in pitta, you'll want to make sure to keep cool this summer. (everyone will but especially those who already have a lot of pitta energy).
Questions to ask yourself:
Do you easily become frustrated and angry (think traffic, waiting in lines..)
Do you get hangry (hungry + angry) when you haven't eaten?
Do you feel uncomfortable when it's really hot and sweat easily?
Are you organized and a perfectionist?
Do you get irritable and impatient?
If you answered yes to a few of these, you might be dominantly vata!
Pitta: Balanced
love challenge,
more life of the party
makes their presence known
Average, Muscular build
Don't do well in the sun
Hair and skin color are light
Captivating eyes
Sweats a lot
Good digestion
Pitta: Out of Balance
anger, impatient
more loud and aggressive
acid reflux
Kidney stones, ulcers
skin hot, rashes,
inflammation in the body
acne or inflamed skin


text: Anti-Trump protesters took to the streets of San Francisco, Calif. Saturday, April 15, 2017 for Tax March, demanding that President Donald Trump release his tax return. Meanwhile, pro and anti-Trump demonstrators violently clashed in Berkeley, Calif. during a planned "Patriot Day" rally organized by Trump supporters. Eleven people were injured and 21 others arrested during the clashes. Photos by Joel Angel Juárez/Special to S.F. Examiner.


text:
On June 13, the Philadelphia Inquirer weighed in on the feeding frenzy against AR-15s with a column that claimed a waiting period could have prevented Adam Lanza from opening fire on Sandy Hook innocents.
The immediate flaw with this argument: Lanza stole his guns. In so doing, he circumvented any and all gun controls. So a waiting period would not have made a bit of difference.
On the other hand, the Inquirer column contends that a waiting period might have prevented Omar Mateen from allegedly killing around 50 innocents in Orlando. The problem with this suggestion is that Mateen did submit to a waiting period for the handgun he used in the attack. In fact, Mateen complied with all gun control laws to acquire his guns and even possessed a Florida Security Officer license and a Statewide Firearms License on top of everything else.
The Inquirer somehow missed this.
Moreover, the Inquirer lamented the fact that a person who passes a background check can — by federal law — take possession of their firearm immediately, barring any state-instituted waiting periods to the contrary. Think about it — the columnist is upset over the fact that a person who passes an FBI-conducted background check gets to take possession of his or her gun immediately.
What other scenario would one expect under the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS)? The key word is "instant." And what justification would there be for doing it any other way? Why should a citizen with no criminal record be forced to wait days to exercise his or her God-given Second Amendment rights?
Seriously. Adam Lanza blew past all gun control by stealing his guns, and he killed 26 people. Omar Mateen submitted to every gun control on the books — including a waiting period for his handgun — and he allegedly killed about 50. Can the Inquirer explain the advantage of a waiting period?
AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at email@example.com.


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September 16, 2015 |Categories: More Disruption Please
As our More Disruption Please (MDP) Accelerator program continues to grow and expand to our Austin and San Francisco offices, we wanted to give the health care community an opportunity to meet the startups joining this exciting program. – Michelle Mangino, Blog Editorial Manager
Company Name: Hale Health
Founded: 2013
Funding status: Confidential
Maturation stage: Early Growth Stage
Number of employees: 7
What's your story?
Prior to starting Hale Health, I was on the iPhone team at Apple and then joined a small consulting company where Chris Lintz, Hale's Co-Founder and product lead, and I worked together on product marketing strategy and creative projects for clients including Jawbone, Square, Twitter, Rdio and more. After working hard to help other small companies be successful, we struck out on our own and determined that there was an important role for intuitive and beautifully designed products in the healthcare space – not only to improve the provider and patient experience, but to reduce costs.
How did you go about assembling such a rockstar team?
Having spent our careers around creative and product design teams at some of the best and most innovative technology companies in the bay area, we were fortunate to develop a network of people who wanted to join the team both full time and as advisors. We all share the idea that there are plenty of lessons from the consumer technology world that can be applied to improving healthcare delivery – and fortunately, we view the additional constraints of working with regulated customers and partners as fuel for creative thinking. It's inspiring to work on a problem that hasn't yet been solved.
What does your company do?
We've designed software that connects clinical teams and their patients between visits. It's that simple. Providers can send and receive messages, videos, photos, structured questionnaires and connected device data related to any condition at any time.
How does your solution address a key pain point for health care providers?
There are massive inefficiencies in relying on analog communication to reach patients and patient portals have notoriously low adoption rates. We're delivering a set of tools that help providers eliminate workflow inefficiencies while providing a product experience that patients actually want to use. Without adoption, the potential of remote care as a way to drive engagement and reduce costs will remain out of reach.
What makes Hale Health different? What's your competitive advantage?
We're constantly challenging the status quo to make things easier – healthcare is complicated enough without the additional challenge of a lousy user experience. And we believe that in order to impact the cost and quality of care we can't just design great clinical tools; we need to make our products available to everyone. Which is why Hale is available to all providers and their patients – for free.
Why did you join the athenahealth MDP Accelerator?
We don't put MDP in the same category as most accelerator programs – we wanted more than just a roof over our heads and a short list of warm introductions. Because of athenahealth's deep experience selling to providers we sought to establish a strategic partnership that allows us to push our product further, deliver a better integrated experience for our shared customers and scale.
What's next for Hale Health?
We're focused on growth – and delivering product features that enable it. Next up we're enhancing clinical customization so practices can author their own questionnaires, launching pediatrics and rolling out additional languages beyond English and Spanish.
Best Accelerator moment?
Our best MDP Accelerator moments happen each and every time we notify a customer that their athenahealth + Hale integration is live. When patient data can flow to and from athenaNet, athenahealth's cloud-based network, we're able to deliver on the promise of a seamless workflow and create material value for practices and patients alike.


text:
LA queer pop duo TWINKIDS is Tokyo born Gene Fukui and Floridian Matt Young, two songwriters and producers whose unabashed lyrics tackle the anxieties of being young and queer. Gene and Matt first met while studying at Oberlin College and the Conservatory of Music, whose alumni include Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Mars Volta, and Liz Phair. Their first two releases, "Dreamer" and "ACBTY," showcased their clever blend of soulful vocal acrobatics, unexpected harmonies, and sparse percussion, capturing the attention of San Francisco based label Om Records. In 2017 the released their debut EP "Boys Love" featuring the single "Overdressed" which has accumulated over 3 million Spotify streams.
In 2018, TWINKIDS earned a #1 on Hype Machine with their Spring single "Jigoku Tengoku," a twisting, syncopated pop electronica number taking its name from the Japanese meaning for "heaven or hell." TWINKIDS also wrapped their debut tour around the same time, a 15-date North American run supporting Matt & Kim.
Today the pair share another new cut "I'm Sorry" with an accompanying music video. Working with long-time collaborater Dakota Light-Smith and Ines Alpha, who the band found on Instagram from her AR 3D makeup designs, TWINKIDS plays with glossy animation, texture, and dizzying perspective in the "I'm Sorry" clip. "Rather than put a green screen behind us, Dakota wanted to build a dolly and have us physically moving in front of different backgrounds," TWINKIDS says of the video. To me the video is beautiful and aesthetically pleasing, but I hope people watching also relate to those bloody moments and the heartache running through it all."


text:
Don't Quit Your Day Job by Michael Fedo/
Don't Quit Your Day Job: Adventures of a Midlist Author
By Michael Fedo
Holy Cow! Press, 2018
At one point in his latest book, Don't Quit Your Day Job: Adventures of a Midlist Author, Michael Fedo mentions an interview he did while he was an up-and-coming writer hoping to be a full-time freelancer. He talks with Wisconsin writer Michael Schumacher about "his efforts to sustain a reasonable lifestyle as a full-time writer." Thinking back on that interview, Fedo remembers Schumacher saying "he refused almost no assignments, including creating advertising copy for matchbook covers, and filing book reviews for several regional weekly newspapers for five or ten dollars a pop." Even though Schumacher at the time was earning about $30,000 a year from his writing, it wasn't an easy life. "Michael said he'd pay off credit cards and the significant accrued interest when flush, and endured home foreclosure threats several times when his bank account hit bottom."
It's one of the most sobering moments in a book filled with such moments. Fedo, who's written hundreds of articles for outlets like The Christian Science Monitor, the New York Times, and Runner's World and authored ten books you've never heard of, has been a working freelance writer for five decades, and in Don't Quit Your Day Job, he shares with his readers some of his favorite stories from that long history of bashing out words for money at a host of venues and on a host of subjects. He works as a stringer; he writes up society events; he secures contributing editor gigs for magazines that take all his piece-ideas and allow him to make a fairly steady living. He marries, he travels, and he keeps his wits about him.
For all readers interested in the workaday writing life, it's fascinating to follow Fedo through his many adventures, from writing an authorized biography of Garrison Keillor vehemently opposed by its subject to interviewing Cloris Leachman about starring in a play about Grandma Moses (which flopped).
Fascinating, but also cautionary. Freelance writing is a game of slow accumulations that can be wiped out at any time by circumstances entirely beyond the writer's control. Fedo writes of a time in 1985, for example, when his publishing landscape abruptly changed - and the stark real-world consequences:
There were also editorial changes at other publications in which I was at least occasionally publishing, and within a few months my contacts disappeared. At this state in my career, I just did not want to go through the laborious process of becoming re-established with new editors who didn't know me.
During that first year my freelance income dropped from nearly $6,000 to $761. The next year, it plummeted even lower: $394, as my slump continued.
Throughout the book, Fedo pays his readers the unspoken and refreshing compliment of never instructing them (indeed, one of the book's only explicit pieces of advice is its title). This is a writing life - very much the rule rather than the exception - laid out in detail: the high points, the thrill of publication (even in little weeklies that promptly go out of business), the frustration of having editors simply stop responding, and the uncertainties of breaking into the book-writing world on any level. Smart, determined would-be writers will learn a great deal from this veteran's favorite stories. And - writers being hopeless quixotic types - many of them will persist regardless.
Steve Donoghue was a founding editor of Open Letters Monthly. His book criticism has appeared in the Boston Globe, the Wall Street Journal, The Spectator, and the American Conservative. He writes regularly for the National, the Washington Post, the Vineyard Gazette, and the Christian Science Monitor. His website is http://www.stevedonoghue.com.


text:
This requirement and definition presume that students registering in W courses have met a basic competency standard. Foundations of Academic Literacy (FAL X99) has been developed to address the writing needs of students not ready for W courses.
A W course is one that fulfills the following conditions:
- Students have opportunities to use writing as a way of learning the content of the course and are taught to write in the forms and for the purposes that are typical of the disciplines and/or professions, in ways that are clearly distinguished from remedial and foundational skills courses.
- Examples of writing within the disciplines are used as a means of instruction about typical structures, modes of reasoning, styles of address, and the use of technical language and of evidence.
- Students receive appropriate feedback and response to their writing that is based on explicit criteria and is directed at improving the quality of their writing.
- Revision is built into the process of writing for formal assignments, usually in terms of revisions of the same paper, or alternatively, in revisions accomplished through successive similar assignments.
- At least half the course grade is based on written work for which students receive feedback (see Criterion 3).
On these criteria, courses that require written assignments but do not provide explicit instruction on writing would not qualify as W courses.


text:
west widdershire
Sometimes I see you alone. You frown at your stack of notebooks, look back at your laptop, punch out a few keys. You heave great sighs that you think no one can hear because you have headphones in.
Sometimes I see you with someone else. You never look terribly comfortable, or happy. I never see you with that person again.
You don't see me.
A Relationship, In Text Messages
Had a great time last night. 🙂
Me too. 🙂
I don't want to be weird, but I'd love to see you again. Coffee sometime?
I'd love that.
Hey babe, miss you
Miss you too. Three weeks feels so long.
I know.
I just want to jump through my phone to see you
That would be amazing.
We'll make it, right?
Of course we will. Amor vicit omnia.
Love you.
Hey, it's today!
I can't wait. 🙂
I thought you were going to sleep in! I didn't wake you up, did I?
No, I'm too excited to sleep.
Me too. Wanna make out?
Yes, but I'm pretty sure someone would notice if I took the car. 😛
I'm outside. 😉
OMG. I'll be right there.
Running late
Need anything?
Where the hell are you?
Sorry, I'm outside
Are you coming?
Be right there
Getting coffee. Want one?
God yes
You left your fucking underwear on the floor again.
Sorry babe
Don't call me babe. I'm pissed off at you.
Love you babe
Fuck off. I love you too.
Seriously, where are you?
Sorry, running late
You can't be running late. You were supposed to be home an hour ago. I need you here now.
Still wrapping up
Wrapping up work? Or wrapping up with some chick?
FFS, wrapping up work.
You're late every day. What am I supposed to think?
You're supposed to trust me.
I trust you to get home when you say you will.
You know it's crazy here right now.
You fucking forgot, didn't you?
Yeah, shit.
Fuck. I'm so sorry.
Not good enough.
I'm leaving now.
It's too late, they gave away our reservation. My fucking mascara is ruined anyway.
I'm really sorry, babe.
Don't fucking call me babe, asshole.
I'll be home in 10.
Hey babe
Love you
To The Sea
And the day came when at last she took to the sea.
She stood in the prow, spray in her face, hair streaming out behind her, a proud warrior filled with purpose and strength. Behind her, the fortress lay wasted, men lying on the sand, calling and crying for her to come back, to turn, to acknowledge them in some way.
"We did this for you!" they cried. "We are broken here because of you!"
But she would not turn. She faced the wild unknown, the open ocean, dreams ahead of her and nightmares behind.
She would not go back to that land, where she was expected to stay in her tower, to stay pure and perfect and never age, never fail, never cease to do the things asked of her. She would find a new land.
She had heard stories ever since she was a child, stories of a land where a woman could be free. The stories were myth, untrue, only told under cover of darkness to women and children. Only told to the weak.
But the stories gave her strength. They brought a fierce light to her eyes and a new vigour to her muscles as she laid her plans.
They laughed long after she was gone. She was held up as an example. Her fate was that of one who heard fairy stories and believed them. She was a freak, a Jezebel, a betrayer.
Those she left behind never heard from her again. No one learned whether or not she found the mystical land of freedom, or whether she drowned alone at sea, her hair tangling in the seaweed and her body becoming food for carnivorous sea-beings.
But the young girls of the land she had left told new stories. They told stories of the woman who had single-handedly torn down her pedestal, her tower, her prison. How she left men bleeding and calling for her. How she revealed that there were deep cracks in the way they understood the world. In some stories, her ship was torn apart by storm and she was transformed into a mermaid, a symbol of the freedom that comes in death. In others, she survived, she found the new world, and she lives there still as an equal to all.
zoom out
She falls to the floor, weeping.
He looks down at her, tears in his own eyes, turns away. He walks around the apartment, taking a few things. A phone charger. A few shirts from the closet. A toothbrush. Some books and DVDs. A mug from the kitchen.
She cries harder.
He goes back to her, tries to hug her. It is awkward. He says something, then puts a key on the counter and walks out.
Zoom out. The neighbours hear her sobs. One rolls his eyes and hopes it doesn't last too long. Another puts a few cookies on a plate and wraps them in plastic, to leave outside her door.
Zoom out. He pushes past people in the street as he walks, then runs away from the building. He is trying to hold his tears until he gets to his car. He fumbles with the lock, then gets in and yells, making the passersby turn and stare. He thumps his steering wheel. He waits until he is calmer before he drives away.
Zoom out. The city bustles. She calls in sick to work, and her boss warns her that she had better be in tomorrow or risk the consequences. He nearly misses a stop sign, and a mother pushing a stroller yells at him. He takes a deep breath.
Zoom out. She calls her mom, two thousand kilometres away. They weep together, the tiny wire tenuously connecting them. He drives to his college roommate's house in the next province and asks to sleep on the couch.
Zoom out. There is a tragedy in a faraway country. The news, grasping at the human angle, repeats the story of a young woman who lost her husband and the father of her miscarried child over and over. The woman cries and cries. Both women cry and cry.
Zoom out. The earth from space looks the same as ever. Turquoise, swirled with white. Lit up by constellations of community at night. One tiny pinprick in a sea of stars. And yet, the universe is subtly altered.
two touching poems
My Teacup: In Memoriam
by Annemarie
O proud and glorious vessel of tea,
You did your duty valiantly.
And ne'er shall pass another day
Where by my side you deign to stay.
Your curving sides, your graceful lip
Fit perfectly within my grip.
Leaf and bag, in water steeped
A splash of milk into the deep.
Each day a perfect cup you gave
A legacy now for your grave.
Though many may make their appeal,
No other cup my heart shall steal.
The Sounds of a Silence (in the Morning)
by Jan
Hello coffee, my old friend,
I've come to drink you here again,
Restless nights that were so fleeting
The darkness left, now I am bleating
for the coffee that will now restore my brain
once again.
Bring me the sounds of silence.
Cookies and Stories
She lives on two things: cookies and stories.
The best afternoons are the ones where she comes home to a fresh batch, eats three, then dashes up to her room to read. She sneaks down again after a few chapters, while her mother is occupied elsewhere, and sneaks three more.
She reads entire books in one sitting, then flips to the front and starts over.
Stories fill her mind; stories she's read, stories she's watched, stories she's written. She has dozens of beginnings written, and she keeps sketchbooks and journals everywhere. Her desk drawers are full to overflowing.
She goes to university and graduates with an English degree, the fancy way of saying she spent four years studying stories.
She goes a bit nuts with the cookies.
She gets married; works a bit; has some babies. She feeds her babies cookies, and stories. It's hard, spending her days with pre-rational creatures who have no qualms about driving her to the brink and back day in and day out. They steal her stories, for a while.
The darkness is awfully dark. On their own, the cookies are powerless.
One day she looks back at the stories she wrote. The ones she put on a shelf in her mind while she dealt with school and marriage and babies and figuring herself out. She remembers the feeling of getting lost in the words, feeling them leak and bubble and gush and pour, keys and clues to the stories that unfolded in her mind while she walked to school, while she sat in the car on road trips, while she lay in her bed in the dark. She wants that feeling again.
The words are terrible. The story is not good.
She starts over. The words come. She eats cookies while she writes, and feels alive.
Starting Fresh
Thank goodness I brought knitting, I think. I sit in my pew, keeping the yarn taut, feeling my gauge tighten. At least it's just another horrible prayer shawl. It doesn't matter. None of this matters.
It's been two weeks. Two weeks that I've been back in this town, coming to this building on Sunday, feeling it stifle me and suck the life out of me. Four years away at university and one more to try and make it work with my boyfriend. Four years of heaven and one year of a new kind of hell. He dumped me; I moved home. Back to the old hell.
I sigh; my mom jabs an elbow into my ribs. Keep it together.
If only it had worked out with Jayden. I tried so hard. But he said the desperation was the worst part, in the end. He said he couldn't solve my problems for me. It hurt so much; I wasn't trying to let him solve my problems. I was trying to solve them myself. But in that last agonizing month before our lease was up, when I spent hours on the phone trying to find a place I could afford, after we had broken up but before I had fully given up, something clicked and I saw more clearly than anything that I was using him. He was right. I thought I would shrivel up from all the tears I cried.
I hate it here. I hate that my dad is the pastor and everything I do has to be so careful and perfect, because he is careful and perfect. He screwed up once; he thinks he'd never get a second chance. I think his god is an asshole if that's true, but I already know that people are assholes and god is more or less a fabrication by people as far as I'm concerned, so he's right too.
What's with all these guys being right? I hate that they're right.
Dad drones on and on about the blood of Jesus and the way it solves all the problems. I could probably preach his sermon for him, just as emphatically. I could pretend to be that holy.
I want to walk out, but I've got nowhere to go, and as much as I hate church and God and this town and having to live here again, I love my parents and it would hurt them too much, so I keep my mouth shut and my knees together and my eyes down, glaring at my boring knitting.
Finally church is over and we all file out. I shake hands with my dad in the foyer with overenthusiastic pomp, our pathetic running joke that I do because it makes him smile, and he always looks so tired on Sundays.
I do so much to keep everybody else happy. I should get over it; nobody does a damn for me.
I step out into the bright June sunshine and breathe a sigh of relief. I feel closer to some sort of higher power just two steps out of the church than I have ever felt inside.
I jump when I feel a hand on my shoulder, then feel a blush pour over me. It's Anna, my childhood best friend. We stopped seeing each other when our friendship changed and we were both terrified of being found out. I didn't know she was back. I didn't know my feelings hadn't changed.
"Welcome home," she says, and her voice strikes a chord that vibrates in my soul. "What's new with you?"
Everything, I think. Everything.
The Thing About Fantasy Worlds Part 2
Hi! You came back! I wasn't sure I would see you again. You looked pretty green after that idiot tried to get his sword back last time and I was forced to hack him to bits. Good thing this sword is so sharp or he wouldn't have died so quickly. Anyway, I'm glad to see you. It's nice to have someone normal to talk to, you know? I'm afraid I don't have long today though. I've been invited to a banquet tonight at the castle of the evil wizard nearby. Oh, don't worry. I know it's a trap. But he's been pissing me off lately. At first it was lots of little things, like changing the forest so I'd get lost, or casting spells to make ordinary mushrooms poisonous, stuff like that. I didn't eat the mushrooms – even I know that mushrooms shouldn't be giving off sparks. But then the asshole tried to cast a spell on me. I have no idea what it was meant to do. It didn't take, thank goodness. It wasn't strong enough. It only took my clothes. Which, let me tell you, was bad enough! It is no picnic to walk around a forest naked, you know. Although I have to say that the whole Renaissance Faire getup I ended up with is actually a lot more comfortable than my jeans. I guess they know something about functional fashion that I didn't.
Oh hang on, mail's here.
<loud flapping and a strong gust of wind as a maelstrom of wings swoops through, leaving one fluttering letter behind>
I want to go to this banquet tonight because I want to see what I'm up against. I'm not planning to take on the wizard or anything, just get a feel for him, see how arrogant he is, you know. I won't eat anything, and in case I'm forced to, I got this antidote thing. It's called a bezoar. I'm glad I read Harry Potter as a kid so I knew what to get. And you do not want to know how I got it – they don't use money here so I had to resort to… well, never mind. It was awkward.
<ziiiiiing thwap>
Ugh, that was terrible. I'm useless at archery. It's really hard to hit a stationary target, much less something moving erratically. But I'm sick of rabbits and shitty oatmeal. Whatever. Everything here is so stupid and hard.
<throws bow and arrow into a bush>
I guess I should read my letter. Oh, excellent! My application has finally been accepted to fight in the tournament. They think I'm a dude, of course. I think I mentioned that I have some serious issues with their attitude towards women here – I will get to that rant one of these days, I promise. Anyway, I did a bit of digging around when I was in town for the bezoar. Turns out that the misogyny goes deeper than I thought. They have a habit of sucking young women like me over here to basically be virgin sacrifices.
<snorts derisively>
They're not too picky about actual virginity; it's mostly the look of the thing – and they got more than they bargained for with me. The top brass is actually paying off this wizard to take me out, because they're worried that since I slipped through their net I'm going to wreak havoc on their whole shady system. Well, they're dead right. I plan to tear them to shreds. So if you'll excuse me, I've got to change into this dress I stole when I got the tunic getup and go do some recon.
<she strips, revealing a nasty scar across her chest>
Thanks for the chat! It's nice to get a touch of normalcy. Stop by again sometime.
Two pink lines.
Nine months.
Fifteen hours.
Seven pounds nine ounces.
When Alana thought about the numbers, she was shocked by how small they seemed now. All of them. Nine months? That's not very long. Seven pounds? A bag of flour is way bigger than that. But the implications of all of them were so heavy she could barely stand up.
She looked at Elliott, lying in his swing, like a tiny pendulum marking off the seconds of his life. He was two months old, and just barely over his birth weight. He looked so fragile. She felt so fragile.
She didn't want to take her eyes off him for even a second. He was clipped in, blankets away from his face, the cat locked in the furnace room and meowing his head off at the indignity. But she couldn't handle the thought that he might hurt her baby somehow. She knew someone, or her girlfriend knew someone, whose cat had scratched a baby and the baby had to go on antibiotics. She couldn't handle the thought of giving her baby antibiotics. She couldn't even handle giving him formula, even though she had to use it. Stupid useless sacs of fat on her chest.
She couldn't stand seeing herself in the mirror. She'd taken them all down, and put paper over the one in the bathroom. She only opened the curtains a minute before James came home, and then closed them again as soon as the sun began to set.
She'd found a piece of paper lying on the kitchen counter by the coffee maker. James must have left it there. It was some sort of quiz for postpartum depression, and it had made her so angry, those accusatory words that James had to leave lying around passive-aggressively, that she had screamed out loud. It had woken Elliott, and he'd cried. She'd held him for the rest of the day, and James had given her such a look when he came home and realized that not only had she not dressed or showered or swept the floor, she hadn't even eaten.
She was fine. Everyone had told her that the first few weeks were hard. She just had to hang in there and it would get better. She didn't spend much time thinking about the future, though, because probably at some point someone would get her to leave the house, and James would probably want to have a more serious conversation, and maybe even have sex. Sex made her whole body want to shrivel up in revulsion. Sex made babies and babies made hell, and now her body wasn't her own anymore, even though it didn't even work properly.
Alana hadn't even realized she was crying, and that Elliott was crying. She didn't remember picking him up. She looked down at him in her arms, squirming and flailing and rooting around, still trying to latch even though it wouldn't do any good, even without a shirt in the way. She could feel her panic mounting as she dashed into the kitchen to mix a bottle. It took so long, and he was already so upset, that it was going to be another disaster feeding, with him throwing up and wasting all that liquid money.
Someone knocked, and she startled so violently she nearly dropped Elliott. She curled up on the floor, shushing him and praying the person would go away. They knocked again, and she whimpered, rocking back and forth over Elliott's body, both of them crying.
She had an awful moment of clarity, her first in two months. Who was she? What had happened to make her so afraid? Slowly she became aware that her brain was trying to steer her down a terrible, awful path. She shuddered. How could she have come to this place? How did she get so far from the person she imagined herself to be?
The person at the door was gone. Elliott was screaming, his little face red and furious, his little fists flailing. She lurched to her feet and stumbled into the kitchen. She remembered that James had brought home premixed formula, and she'd had yelled at him for spending the extra money. But right now, relief flooded her. She grabbed a tiny bottle out of the fridge and screwed a nipple onto it, then jammed it in Elliott's mouth. They both went limp as the screaming stopped and was replaced with frantic sucking.
She carried him over to the couch and sat down. She pulled out her phone and dialled James. No answer. She hung up and took a deep breath, looking down at Elliott, gulping his bottle so hard that it would undoubtedly all come right back up again. Her eyes welled up again; he deserved so much better than a mother who was falling apart. She dialled another number. It rang four times, five times, six times. She was about to hang up in despair when the line connected and she heard her mother's breathless "Hello?"
"Mom?" she whispered, feeling the tears charging back. "Mommy? I'm not okay. I – I need you."


text:
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text:
Monday to Saturday – Recovery
Madame Chiang Kai-shek was bedridden in her suite for most of the week following her Hollywood Bowl appearance, exhausted after a whirlwind tour of the United States. Originally supposed to return to New York on a private train following her speech, the departure date was pushed back to Tuesday, and again until Saturday in the interest of the Madame's health.[1]
This time was not all wasted, however. On Tuesday morning, Madame Chiang Kai-shek spoke briefly by telephone to women workers building Liberator cargo aircraft at a plant in San Diego. In her address, she encouraged these "Rosie Riveters" to continue contributing to the cause of freedom, with Liberators being key to supplying the Chinese military.[2]
That night, the Madame also received some guests, including two Chinese airmen being trained in the United States.[3] A physician visited soon after, but the strain of her responsibilities eventually led to a nervous breakdown that would keep her recovering in Los Angeles until Saturday, when she could finally summon the strength to board a train back east to New York, where her sister lived.[4]
[1] Laura Li, Madame Chiang Kai-Shek: China's Eternal First Lady (New York: Atlantic Monthly Press. 2006)
[2] "Mme. Chiang Has Collapse; Washington Trip Canceled," Los Angeles Times, April 7, 1943.
[3] "Chinese Flying Cadets Given Flag By Madame," Los Angeles Times, April 7, 1943.
[4] "Mme. Chiang Has Collapse; Washington Trip Canceled," Los Angeles Times, April 7, 1943.


text:
Time for some predictions for tomorrow's elections — many of which will probably be wrong.
U.S. Senate – Rick Scott. Quite simply, I've learned not to bet against the man. He has repeatedly defied expectations, winning, even when he had cruddy poll numbers. That's partly because he spends a boatload of his own money and isn't afraid to play fast-and-loose with the truth ("Politifact vets 9 Rick Scott ads, finds all 9 are false"). Also, Scott leaned heavily into the hurricane cleanup image, trying to use the aftermath of the deadly storm to soften his image. Nelson has run an unexpectedly strong campaign, hitting back as hard as he got and surprising pundits in the polls. But Scott always seems to pull it off in the end.
Governor – Andrew Gillum. Even if I get this one right, I'll be wrong. I thought Gillum had no chance in a general election; that Republicans would use the FBI investigation to make him toxic. But Gillum seems to be doing something Democrats haven't done in two decades – actually getting his base excited. He doesn't run from bold ideas … or to the center.
Cabinet races (Attorney General, CFO, Agriculture Commissioner) – All Republican, continuing a trend. Once again, the state Democratic Party and the news media have largely ignored these three races — which has given the better-funded GOP candidates the chance to spread their messages unchallenged. Interestingly, this may be the weakest crop of cabinet candidates the GOP has fielded in years. For example, the only incumbent, CFO Jimmy Patronis, has made embarrassing headlines in office. ("State Clemency Official to Black Applicant: How Many Kids Do You Have? By How Many Different Mothers?" and "Ex-Patronis staffer sues, saying she was fired after not donating to campaign") But Patronis and his kids have been a constant presence on TV and YouTube, while most voters probably couldn't even tell you the name of his Democratic opponent. (It's Jeremy Ring.) And while Democrat Sean Shaw has bold ideas and impressive legal credentials, he has been drowned out by Republican Ashley Moody and her cadre of GOP sheriffs telling voters they want her as attorney general.
Supreme Court Justice Alan Lawson – retained with overwhelming support
Court of Appeal Judge Eric Eisnaugle – retained with lower support. Eisnaugle has received some of the worst reviews by the Florida Bar of any judge in recent history, based on things like impartiality, legal knowledge and integrity. (The Bar raved about Lawson, by the way.) And people seem to be noticing. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel called on voters to reject him, and the column I wrote about his inexperience and low Bar rating was was one of the most-read pieces on orlandosentinel.com last month, meaning people were seeking out the info before casting ballots. That said, never in the history of Florida have voters actually booted a judge in a retention vote. So it's hard to see that happening this time either.
I think most will pass.
I recommended no votes on most — and yes votes on 4, 12 and 13. (You can read my rationales – and hear the cases for each side – here: "Florida Amendments: When to vote yes, when to say no.")
But I do not expect state voters to agree with me. For instance, amendments 1 and 2 are both tax cuts. And I can't remember the last time voters voted NOT to give themselves tax relief … even though tax watchdogs have described No. 1 as bogus.
I think Nos. 10 and 11 will go down. (Too much junk crammed into each.)
And I fear No. 4 – restoration of rights for felons – will get popular support, but not clear the 60 percent threshold. That would be a real shame – not just because passing this amendment is the right thing to do, but because Florida's current laws are so messed up that, if voters don't fix this, the courts will force the politicians to try again … and they will probably resist (again). ("Your money, their war. Bondi, Scott fight judge's order to follow Constitution on voting rights."
Really, though, I'm struggling to make predictions here. Many of the amendments have least one thing that sounds appealing. At the same time, these amendments are collectively such a bundled mess, people may be more inclined to just vote no on the whole batch of them.
Other races worth watching
Orange County sheriff. OPD Chief John Mina was the runaway favorite in this race. But Mina — a Republican who switched parties to run as a Democrat in this deep-blue county — switched too late to be listed as a "D" on the ballot. So he's listed as an "NPA" along with candidate Joe Lopez, who did the same thing. That means the only guy listed as a Democrat in this Democratic stronghold is Darryl Sheppard … a guy loaded down with baggage. I still think Mina wins with relative ease. He has super-high name ID. But if the Blue Wave materializes, there's an outside chance Sheppard could provide the shock of the cycle. I've heard from many voters who are unenthusiastic about all three choices here. I'm one of them.
Cortes vs. Goff-Marcil. Democrats should've been able to pick off a seat here. Republican Bob Cortes is serving in a blue-leaning district and isn't well known for doing much. And he ran odd campaign ads claiming to be a big supporter of health care coverage (even though he voted against Medicaid expansion) and teachers (even though teachers panned him for supporting a mammoth education bill that most public-ed supporters loathed and several districts sued over). But Cortes is also largely affable in person. And more importantly, the Democratic Party didn't muster up much of an effort for its candidate, Maitland Council member Joy Goff-Marcil. So the Republican Party's TV ads blasting her have been largely met with silence.
Eskamani vs. Reeves. This race is interesting. Democrat Anna Eskamani is generally viewed as one of her party's rising stars — young, outspoken and unapologetically liberal. For all those reasons, the Republican Party really wanted to take her down and spent gobs of money trying to portray her as an extremist with a foul mouth. In fact, the attack ads spent as much time going after her character as it did issues. But Eskamani had plenty of money as well. And she hit back, accusing Republican Stockton Reeves of basically being a mindless cog in the GOP apparatus. I think Eskamani wins this one. She has had a grassroots campaign rarely seen before in legislative races. The results here may be a referendum on the effectiveness of character attacks.
Smith vs. Mangold. This may be the first time you've heard about this race. (Race profile here.) Republican David Smith ran a solid campaign in traditionally Republican district, and I expect the retired Marine Corps colonel to prevail over Democrat Lee Mangold. What makes Smith interesting is that, despite being a solid conservative, he has also bucked the party line on gun issues – saying, for instance, that he supports universal background checks. While that position is certainly in line with most Americans, it's extremely unusual for elected Republicans in Tallahassee. So, assuming Smith prevails, it will be interesting to watch Smith after the party (and gun lobby) starts applying pressure.
Beto O'Rourke. OK, so this race isn't even remotely local. But it's been talked about so much nationally, I thought I'd throw this out there: I think O'Rourke will not only lose to Ted Cruz, but Republicans will mockingly use his name in the future to refer to a candidate who Dems love and who commands media attention … but who has little chance of actually winning.
Of course, if I'm wrong on that last one, and O'Rourke wins, that would might be a sign of a blue wave bigger than anyone expected … and my R-heavy predictions could go belly up. (Did I mention before I often get these wrong?)


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Until I was an adult, and in the army, I really didn't know there was much in the way of seasons. In Los Angeles, it's largely hot most of the year. Yeah, it gets cold, but their idea of cold and what Virginia was like this last year … well, that's apples and oranges. It was a really, really big deal when it got cold enough to actually freeze the water pipes,which happened once.
This photo is very typical of how Southern California looks. It was taken during the winter:
I didn't even see snow until I was 25, and that was also while I was in the army. It gets cold enough in Los Angeles for snow maybe once every 25 years or so. Maybe.
My first year after I transferred to Washington, DC, we had a blizzard. I'd seen some snow in Washington State, but not a blizzard. I locked my keys in my car while I was trying to shovel snow off it. I got stuck multiple times in the snow (the army said, "Come to work in the snow."). I had to wear Class B uniforms in the snow, and it wasn't made to keep warm … exactly how is snow fun?
We had 56″ inches of snow one year, which was a record. People were leaving cars parked in the middle of the street because they got stuck. No one shoveled off the sidewalks, so pedestrians walked on the streets, competing with the cars. Pedestrian paths on the sidewalks were human foot wide, so it was easy to fall and get snow onto my clothing, which now meant wet and cold. Then my heat went out during the coldest time and I was freezing! Exactly how is this fun?
So by the time I'm nearing the end of winter, I just want it to be warm again, so I can go around in tank tops and shorts and soak up the sun.
Mmmmm. Hot. Sun.
This was from a writing prompt at The Daily Post.


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Therapist Engagement and Outcomes
Jeb Brown, Ph.D, Center for Clinical Informatics
Christophe Cazauvieilh, Ph.D, IRPPSY and University of Bordeaux, France
The purpose of this brief report is to present findings observed on the relationship between clinicians engaged in feedback informed treatment and patient outcomes within the same time period. Clinician engagement was measured by the frequency with which clinicians logged into the ACORN Toolkit to view their data.
The report is intended to present findings in a simple format with easy to interpret graphs to assist is visualizing the distribution of results. More detailed reporting on results are available upon request.
The report is primarily geared towards participants within the ACORN Collaboration and assumes a familiarity with the web bases application ACORN Decision Support Toolkit and the metrics used to report clinical outcomes.
Prior analyses conducted in collaboration with the ACORN Scientific Advisory Committee has revealed an association between the frequency with which a clinician views their data and the distribution of the patient outcomes as evaluated using the Severity Adjusted Effect Size (SAES). SAES is a metric that controls for differences in severity of distress at intake, diagnostic group, and session number of the first assessment. (Brown, Simon, Cameron & Minami, 2015)
Tracking clinician effectiveness as well as the frequency of Toolkit usage over a period of several years has revealed that outcomes tend to vary with the concurrent use of the Toolkit. For example, a clinician with excellent results in one year who then tends to log in much less often the the following year is more likely to see results go down compared to a clinician who continues to log in with adequate frequency.
The present set of analyses is intended to demonstrate this and other phenomenon through use of easy to understand results supported by graphs.
Selection criteria
A sample of therapists was identified based on two criteria:
those associated with a sample of at least 100 clinical range cases with multiple assessments prior to January 30, 2018
at least 15 similar cases in the 12 months following.


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mobile - desktop
Available Now at New York Worms!
News & Events:
Posted by Mechelle on August 24, 2000 at 21:42:38:
"The 8th Annual St. Louis Reptile Breeders Expo and Auction"
Hosted by The Exotic A.R.C. and the St. Louis Herpetological Society.
This event will be held at the Holiday Inn in St. Peters, MO,
4221 South Outer Road (Cave Springs exit off I-70).
The auction will be held on Saturday (8/26) at 7:00 p.m. and is
open to the public. Admission is $4 per day or $6 for a two day
pass. Children 10 and under - $1 with a paid adult.
Animals will be allowed with paid vendors only.
For more information call Jim Brumley at (314) 631-7272 or
e-mail at email@example.com.


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Communication & Conflict Resolution
Communication isn't always the most important issue that causes problems in a person's life, but it's often the issue that needs to be dealt with first. The simple reason is because nothing constructive can be accomplished without good and effective ways to communicate. So, while most people can understand and appreciate the need to address their communication issues, it is often the first area to address that grants us clarity and understanding on the other areas that need to be addressed. This is why out of all the Core Four Skills, the communication and connection skill is usually the first one we evaluate and develop.
The Good: Speaking Vulnerably and Listening Empathetically
People don't care what you have to say until you are careful in how you say it. Likewise, people won't feel like you understand them until you understand what it feels like to be them. The idea here is to create a deep and intimate connection. When we speak to others we care about, we are ultimately looking to be understood. I might say, "Why didn't you think to tell me about that decision?" but what I really mean and what I really need understood is, "When you decide on things without talking to me, I feel like you don't think about me, consider me, or think I must be important enough for you to ask me what I think."
To speak vulnerably means to cut to the heart of what needs to be said and where we long to feel understood. It takes insight, courage, and grace to speak with such vulnerability. Being able to do so is half the equation to achieving connection.
The other half? Well that's on the listener's end. When we listen and respond, we're looking to be understood too, or perhaps simply to not be misunderstood or treated unfairly. I might think, "Where does she get off questioning my decision?" However, to listen empathetically requires a keen ability to understand the meaning and emotion behind what's being said. "It sounds like I hurt you a lot, and though I wasn't thinking about how it'd impact you at the time, I can understand why you'd feel like you weren't very important to me. I think I'd feel like that too."
You might wonder, who talks like that? The answer: people with strong and healthy relationships. It's not easy, and like anything else, it requires practice and repetition. Just like any new skill, it's awkward and clumsy and even feels silly at first. But in time, the ability to speak vulnerably and listen empathetically will be your lifeline when the going really gets rough in relationships.
The Bad: Why People Don't Speak and Listen This Way
So, what makes doing this so hard? People don't speak vulnerably because either:
They lack the insight and awareness to know what they're actually feeling and what they need to say.
They're too afraid to say what they really feel, believing the listener might not care about how they feel, or worse, that they'll ridicule them for feeling that way at all.
Because of this, people speak with guardedness and aggression. This tends to look like one or more of the following:
Being critical
Using "parental" tones in their communication
Speaking in terms of "you" instead of "I"
It's feels like a safer and stronger bet to attack another person's behavior than to divulge what they really feel and think. Sometimes, it just feels better and more cathartic to speak that way than to do so with vulnerability. But speaking vulnerably is the only path to connection and resolution. You just have to work up the skill and courage to do so.
How about the receiving end? People don't listen empathetically because of an auto-reflex that kicks in when there's a perceived attack or insult. People either:
Become defensive
Withdraw or shutdown
Try to fix and make things better as fast as possible
The common denominator is that these are all ways to deflect a perceived attack, and the result is the inability to sense and engage the emotions that are being conveyed. Put simply, it's just hard to feel sorry for someone who's hurting you. Whether it's an intentional attack or just a perceived attack, the empathetic listener has to learn to connect emotionally with the speaker. Doing this will require developing a slew of other skills and capabilities, but doing this is a necessity in order to create connection and resolution in a marriage.
The Ugly: How to Know When Your Communication Is Destructive
The first red flag when it comes to destructive communication is fighting when you're flooded. Nothing good is ever said when emotions like anger and anxiety overrun all your sensibilities. Of course, it's not reasonable or realistic to not feel these emotions in conflict. The objective isn't to not feel them, but rather to know how to stabilize them and understand what they're trying to tell you about what you really feel. Good communication depends on the ability to know how to manage the flood of these intense emotions and to uncover the deeper reasons for why you're feeling them.
Another easy way to spot destructive communication is looking out for one of these four patterns.
Withdraw: Shutting down emotionally, verbally, or physically
Escalation: Ramping up the intensity of a conflict using aggressive words or actions
Negative Interpretation: Filtering words or actions of another through a negative lens
Invalidation: Communicating words that minimize or belittle the listener
Hire a Translator
Learning how to communicate well is a lot like learning a new language. In some ways, it's harder because at least when you're learning a new language, you assume you know nothing and you can learn fresh and from the ground up. There's nothing to unlearn. In other ways, it can be easier once you learn a few basics and get over the initial learning curve.
In the beginning, it helps to have a counselor to help you evaluate your communication patterns and start making adjustments. A trained counselor can help adjust the way you speak and how you listen and respond. At first, you'll start off with simple techniques and changes to your form. You'll start with smaller conflicts as points of practice and exercise. Over time, however, your counselor will begin to push the limits of your new-found skills by allowing you to engage in more complicated and potentially heated conflicts.
This is all part of a very intentional and structured process aimed at helping you to develop and grow in your communication and conflict-resolution skills. If you're ready to get to work on this and other areas of your life, reach out to us and we can help you find success in these areas.


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Saudi Arabia Accelerators Map has 2 accelerators, and the highest ranked accelerators in Saudi Arabia are Upscale and Flat6Labs Jeddah.
Saudi Arabia is ranked 36 globally, based on the number of startup accelerators it has. The 3 cities with the biggest number of accelerators in Saudi Arabia are Riyadh. See complete country rankings in table below.
Want to explore the Saudi Arabia Accelerators Map? Here are some of the ways you can get started:
Once you've found an accelerator you wish to connect with, click through for detailed information!
Do you run an accelerator program? Add it to the map by clicking the green "Add accelerator" button!


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DTX400 Touch
by: Yamaha Corporation • 0
All iPhone applications categories
by: Yamaha Corporation • 0
Take control! DTX400 Touch offers an innovative way of interacting with the Yamaha DTX400 series. It's now even easier to customise the sound that you want!
Swipe to select any of the 10 Preset Kits. Control an extensive range of parameters from the rich graphical user interface, allowing you to fine tune the Yamaha DTX400 series to precision.
Create new kit configurations, assign new drum voices to each pad. Then take total control by customising the parameters of each individual pad.
Enables access to previously unavailable parameters such as pad tuning, cymbal and hi-hat size. Access the Tempo and Metronome settings with a single touch.
Includes a Firmware update utility to ensures your Yamaha DTX400 series has the latest firmware.
Connection with MIDI terminal: Core MIDI compatible interface (e.g. Yamaha i-UX1)
Download DTX400 Touch
Free - 1.1.1 - 12M
Share this app


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Sydney Academy of Chess
Level 1, 30A George St, Burwood
$30 per player
- 60 players maximum due to space limitations
$40 if paid after 5.00pm Friday before Tournament
9:15 am Registration
9:45 am Round 1 begins
1:30 pm Prize giving
There are short breaks between the rounds.
This tournament is an individual and not a team event. The tournament is restricted to players under 18 years of age. The tournament is a 8-round 'Swiss' competition. This means that all players play 8 games and no-one is 'knocked out' of the tournament. The time limit is 15 minutes per player per game. This tournament will be JCL rated.
Trophies will be given for 1st Place, 2nd Place, 3rd Place, 4th Place & 5th Place.
Age performance trophies will also be awarded.
To enrol please pay online with your credit or debit card at
enter the code 80VE9ZZOBC and fill in the electronic form, with your child's details.


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If you are planning to travel to home games at the start of the season, there will be disruption from 12-26 August.
Bolton station will be closed from Saturday 12 to Sunday 27 August and there will be no services to Horwich Parkway at weekends (on weekdays a shuttle is available from Preston to Horwich Parkway).
More inform from The Bolton News.


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Source : The Year-Long, Undercover Plot To Blow Up EVE Online's Most Notorious Space Station
In theory, anything can happen in EVE Online, but some things are considered impossible. Well, last month, one of the "impossible" things happened: The destruction of the game's first-ever Keepstar battlestation, which was kept in a wormhole. Of course, it took 11 months of meticulous planning.


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Charities Institute Ireland Academy
Our Academy provides a series of training and events that has been designed to provide you with the tools to ensure your charity is well governed, transparent and engages in ethical and impactful fundraising.
Certificate in Best Practice
Rebuilding trust in the charity sector in Ireland today means that anyone working in the not-for-profit sector needs to adhere to best practice standards in fundraising, financial reporting and governance.
All of our members are encouraged to carry out the Certificate in Best Practice.
This online course has been designed to increase your knowledge of the importance and best practice for governance, transparency and accountability. It provides a benchmark to reflect a commitment to compliance with the expectations of all stakeholders including government, regulatory authorities and the general public.
Organisational members can access the course through their subscription. For professionals working in the charity sector that do not have access to an organisational subscription, you can apply for Academy Membership to avail of this Course. Academy Membership is €150 per annum.
Certificate in Fundraising 2019
Adopting new thinking, new ideas and new initiatives is crucial in the world of fundraising.
Certified by the European Funding Association, this Course will support and develop an understanding of professional best practice in fundraising.
€1375 - Member Rate (Organisational or Academy)
€1675 - Non-member Rate (includes Academy membership)
Next Course:
Starts September 2019
Location(s): Dublin or Cork
Diploma in Fundraising Management
Keen to advance your strategic fundraising and management skills? The Diploma in Fundraising Management builds on your existing experience to consolidate and expand your knowledge in all key aspects of fundraising, including strategic planning and innovative techniques involved in managing fundraising for your organisation.
The Diploma in Fundraising Management is certified by the European Funding Association and Cii are honoured to announce that the 2019 Academic Course Director is Adrian Sargeant PhD, CEO at The Philanthropy Centre.
€1800 - Member Rate (Organisational or Academy)
€2100 - Non-member Rate (includes Academy membership)
Next Course:
Starts January 2020
Location: Dublin
Training Workshops
Charities Institute Ireland runs a number of full day workshops and masterclasses throughout the year. Examples of the topics covered are:
Charities SORP Compliance workshop (CPD certified)
Corporate Fundraising
Data Protection
Grant, Trust & Foundation Fundraising
Advanced Digital Fundraising
Bereavement Training
Leadership in Not for Profit
Cost: Prices range from free for members to €200 per workshop for a member.


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My name is Christian Wohlford. I am 20 years old and was locked up on July 5 of 2016 and get out on march 9 2020. Im a funny, laid back , and easygoing person. I was born and raised in Wichita KS and have lived there for most of my life. my contact information for those interested is, Jpay.com then enter my id number and name.
Christian Wohlford
Categories: Christian Wohlford


text: In Most Likely to Murder, Adam Pally plays Billy, a semi-washed-up guy who used to be the big man on campus back in his high-school days. Back then, Billy used to date Kara (Rachel Bloom), and when he sees her walk into a bar one night and into his adult life, his parade gets rained on when her boyfriend Lowell (Vincent Kartheiser) shows up. Determined to prove himself to Kara once again, Billy launches an investigation into Lowell's life when he thinks he sees him commit a murder (hard to say, though, since Billy was pretty sauced when the alleged crime took place). Can Billy protect Kara? Is Billy going to end up on Lowell's kill list? Is Lowell even a murderer at all? Find out when Most Likely to Murder starts streaming on May 1.


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After more than a month of breathtaking incompetence in response to the nation's worst off-shore oil spill, President Barack Obama desperately tried to convince the American public exactly the opposite was true during a rare White House news conference Thursday.
The fact the president felt compelled to face public questioning on the still burgeoning disaster stands as glaring proof of the administration's ineptitude. If things had been done right from the beginning, the president would never have felt the pressure to emphatically "assume responsibility" and return to the Gulf of Mexico coast Friday for a second first-hand look and photo opportunity.
"Those who think that we were either slow on our response or lacked urgency don't know the facts," a defensive president proclaimed. "Make no mistake, BP is operating at our direction."
Well, count among the ignorant the governor of Louisiana, hundreds of Gulf coast business owners, and a majority of Americans. If all those people don't know the facts then just whose responsibility is it to communicate what a great job the government is doing?
The public isn't stupid. Americans know the government doesn't have the expertise or the resources to plug a mile-down hole in the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. But they do know the administration appears to be little more than British Petroleum's happy toady.
Americans are appalled the administration has allowed BP to call the shots on determining the flow of oil into the Gulf and what, if any, dispersants are used to attack the spill. The public has not been adequately informed about what the government has done and is doing to contain oil floating in the Gulf and clean up oil washing up on shore.
Contributing to the government's perception problem is that the prominent sources of public information about the spill have been BP officials and non-government "experts." The resulting appearance is that the administration has surrendered authority to BP.
Some good news came out of the president's performance. It was refreshing to hear him denounce "the oil industry's cozy and sometimes corrupt" ties with government regulators" and to admit a "sense of complacency on the government's part in planning how to deal with the worst-case scenario" before it happened.
Akin to the Three Mile Island disaster's effect on the nuclear power industry, the BP oil rig blow out will have dramatic impact on drilling for oil and gas off America's shores. Recognizing the country could not withstand total off-shore shutdown, the president suggested numerous reforms are on the way — some that can be accomplished administratively, others that will require new legislation.
If the president has learned from the missteps of the past month, he will ensure his administration does a much better job communicating to the public its future efforts in the Gulf and on Capitol Hill, and that truly is in charge.
Obama's oil spill response nothing to be proud of
After more than a month of breathtaking incompetence in response to the nation's worst off-shore oil spill, President Barack Obama desperately tried to convince the American public exactly the opposite was true during a rare White House news conference Thursday.


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Arabella Express Hijab | 9 Cinnamon
On sale $18.00
Made from high-quality fabric that is meticulously sourced to produce the perfect express hijab, Arabella Express Hijab will give you comfort. It is made slightly loose with a relaxed fit suitable for daily, casual and sporty activities. It has an awning that suits all face shapes and sizes. Simply adjust the tightness of the face circumference by securing the chin area with a small pin and you are good to go with your daily activities in total comfort with Arabella Express Hijab!
Front Length: 43cm approx. (from chin)
Rear Length: 68.5cm approx.
Front Length: 48cm approx. (from chin)
Rear Length: 74cm approx.


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BMM Law
Working as an outsourced marketing department, The BROAD REFORM is responsible for brand development, communication material,
content videos, digital development, and analytical insights.
Working as an outsourced marketing department, The BROAD REFORM is responsible for brand development, communication material,
content videos, digital development, and analytical insights.
Let's take a look at an example:
Channels: Instagram | Facebook | Linkedin
Website: bmmlaw.com
"If you want to catch fish, fish where the fish are"
During the discovery phase with the client we identified the opportunity to increase awareness, engagement & lead generation via the use of Social Media.
Using a well-defined Social Strategy (a mix of Facebook, Instagram & Linkedin), we succeeded in driving both traffic to key website pages + increasing user engagement on-site.
As a result, the client has experienced not only more traffic, but also a higher quality of traffic.
'Turning prospects into leads'
The key to any businesses success is the ability to generate quality leads. We worked closely with BMM Law to define the Lead capture points on the website & create Lead Tracking to effectively monitor campaign success.
Utilising Google Search Tools we worked to incrementally increase BMM's Search Visibility, & target prospective customers with intent.
The results were impressive:
+ 65% Increase in Search Views
+ 22% Increase in Actions
This resulted in a measurable increase (+150%) in Goal Completions (Business Leads).
'Connecting to real life examples'
The client had identified the need to create authentic & relevant video content to support website messages & increase engagement on the site.
From concept to execution, we owned the content process for the client; filming, editing & distributing authentic & high quality customer stories to strengthen BMM's brand.
Why The BROAD REFORM?
We design, build and support digital marketing systems that are founded in values-driven branding.
The result?
- Quality Lead Generation
- Long lasting & Authentic Customer Experiences
We are a specialised, lean bolt on team with a combined 50yrs experience in Brand Culture, Creative Execution and Digital Marketing.
Use the form below to schedule a 15-20min catch up.


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Snowballs are items that are obtained when Snow is destroyed with a Shovel or when a Snow block is destroyed with a shovel. Snowballs can only be contained in stacks of 16 in your inventory.
- Snowballs can be used to craft Snow Blocks.
- Can be thrown at players or Mobs.
- When fighting other players snowballs can be very useful. If an almost defeated enemy tries to tower up high into the sky to escape, you can simply throw snoballs at him until he falls down. If you are fighting some one, especially if you are on higher ground and you no longer want him to be able to approach you, then you can just throw snowballs at him knocking him away.
Note: Snowballs do no damage to Mobs outside of Blaze and Enderdragon (1.5 Hearts and .5 hearts respectively).
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Baron Corbin is one of the emerging superstars in the World Wrestling Entertainment industry and one of the graduates of its NXT program. This classic design leather clothing highlights the WWE wrestler's abilities week in and week out. He is a tough and competitive athlete who is looking to make it to the top of the ladder in the wrestling entertainment business, seeking to overthrow the likes of John Cena.
This black Baron Corbin Vintage Style Vest is a rugged piece of attire for tough people including bikers and is made of PU leather. This vest consists of 2 pairs of pockets, with a pair inside and a pair traditionally place around the wait on the outside. It comes with strong button closure and complements the viscose internal lining, which provides relief from sweat and ensures a comfortable experience.