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One family member says the "found" photo has changed their lives forever. The family's LOST ad read:
Ranger is a 5 year old sweet, gentle, long haired Retriever/Aussie Shep mix. He's got brown eyes and mostly black hair with a patch of white on his chest and bits of white between his toes. He had a blue collar with a tag for his Vet on it out of Bacliff, TX. The rabies code is 4 digits. Ranger weighs about 65 pounds. We really miss him and want him to come home.
A third wave, twelve feet high, parted them in the dark as the young man had to let go and swim for his life. He was hit by debris, by alligators, by the dead. Swimming for his life, he endured the horror of being hit by bodies of the drowned.
Escaping the surge, he reached safety, but alone. He found a fire truck whose crew took him to shelter.
"With each question, I felt they were trying harder and harder NOT to reunite him with his family. The final straw was telling me that he was about to be put up for adoption this week if he passed the personality test."
She begged them; "Please, as a personal favor, please hold the dog until he can be picked up."
What is it about a disaster that brings out the best and the worst? Why do some people, confronted with a stranger who has nothing, open their homes? And why do other people look down from a position of power and make them plead?
Even if you have no empathy with people, how can professionals, who choose to work with animals, care so little about them?
Dogs grieve. Lost dogs mourn their lost families. (If you do not know this from your own experience, see the literature of Jack London or Charles Dickens.)
Why would the SPCA be so eager to adopt out an animal the family is coming to claim?
And if Ranger goes home, doesn't it mean another dog will get lucky and be adopted? And then somewhere down the line, there will be shelter space for a dog that would otherwise be put to sleep?
Shouldn't that be what an organization called the "Society for the Prevention and Cruelty to Animals" is all about?
Here is why. And it is not just the Houston SPCA. The ten days were up. No exceptions.
Ten days after rescue, all rescued animals were available for adoption. (Some desirable little dogs didn't even last ten days, more on that in a future blog.)
The focus of the rescue effort was to save animals to re-home them. It is easier and cheaper to adopt out animals than to hold them and reunite them.
Ranger's ten days were up and that's why the SPCA could say Ranger was not their dog. They meant, he is no longer your dog.
But against all odds, there was a happy ending. Surviving a hurricane makes you strong and the family went to the SPCA to get their dog and would not be denied.
The home he stayed to board up has vanished.
The family has to start over. But now, thanks to Ranger's improbable return, they are not starting over from scratch.
Hope is talked about a lot these days and in a conventional sense. Red or blue, you can have your own ideal of Hope. Neither party holds the copyright. But for this family, Hope is a sweet, gentle, long haired Retriever/Aussie Shep mix.


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In this episode we talk about the indie horror film 'Hunter' and chat with the main character of the film, Jason Kellerman. Stay tuned for the interview at the end of the episode! Thanks again Jason for chatting with us!
Booze Pairing: Smirnoff alcoholic seltzer water and Back from the Dead Red wine by The Buccaneer
Redrum Room: Chris Benoit
Slam Dance Poetry: Death is the Hunter by The Crown
No short film or Outro music this time

subset: commoncrawl


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Archive for September 2010
Ed Ruscha's Los Angeles
It's hard to see in this photo, but the body type of this book is set in Archer. I find this a very odd choice, do you agree?
Third Row, Second In
One of many enviable posters from The Small Stakes.
Are you ready for some football?
Looks like the folks over at NFL have discovered Archer. This was a large flash ad on top of YouTubes homepage today.
I'm so in love with these
Archer sprinkled throughout Galison's products and website.


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Canadian STANLEY No.3C Corrugated Smoothing Plane *SOLD*
Code: 2276a
A good Canadian STANLEY No.3 C corrugated smoothing plane.
Fitted with a good length 13/4 inch Canadian STANLEY blade iron with the Sweetheart 'MADE IN CAN.' trade mark and matching cap iron. 15/8 inches remain below the slot.
The iron is also stamped '142' on the back indicating that it was produced in the first quarter of 1942.
The lever cap is not plated and is marked 'U PAT. NO.1918750' on the back. There is a tiny chip to the bottom right corner.
Marked 'BAILEY' behind the front knob with 'MADE IN CAN.' in front of the rear handle.
Dismantled, cleaned, checked, oiled and reassembled.
Retains almost all of its original black finish.
Good hardwood handles with plenty of their original black finish.
A few minor knocks and scratches.
All parts move freely and tighten securely.
93/16 inches overall length.


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New D6900 website
District Governor Alicia Michael is pleased to announce:
Our district is kicking off the new Rotary year with a brand new website. With our new site comes a new district domain name: www.rotary6900.org. By adopting a new domain name we have avoided a number of issues in dealing with our previous provider and besides, it's shorter. Please delete the old URL from your bookmarks and replace it with our new URL.
The new site does not replace DacDB (aka the district database). There is some overlap in functionality, so you can use either one, depending on your need. On the home page of the new district website there is a blue button that will take you directly to DacDB.
Our new site includes functionality to make it easier for you to interact with the district and manage your club:
- Strong privacy controls. We have established a very robust password policy, which is protected by SSL encryption, to protect the personal information we have about members, which is pretty limited to begin with.
- Global search box. Enter what you are looking for and the site should find it.
- Resources, including lists of clubs, club officers, district officers, contact information, and an easy-to-access library of documents.
- Club Summary and Directory. A page summarizing your club and providing links to additional club-level tools. Choose PDF Directory from the Club Finder menu for a directory of all the clubs in PDF form. Choose District Leadership, then click the PDF Version button for a PDF listing of the district leadership.
- Attendance Reporting. You can track and report your attendance at the club or individual level. We've included a badge scan capability for those clubs who would like to have their members check in electronically by scanning their badge.
- Email Blasts. The site allows you to send emails to your members. (Talk to Alec first if you wish to try it out.)
- Governor's Citation. Use the Governor's Citation quick link at the bottom of your club page to track your progress as you go through your year.
- Club Directory. Ability to generate a pdf directory of your members. You can also generate a vcard to add a member to your computer's address book.
- Calendar. Several calendars showing key district events throughout the Rotary year.
- Online event registration. Register for district events using the new website. Find the event on the calendar and click the Reserve button.
- Quarterly dues invoicing. Bill your members for their quarterly dues right from the district website and have them pay by credit card.
To get the full power of the new website, you will need to establish login credentials. If you have not already done so, click the Login link, then click the Forgot Password? link. Put in your username and your email address, click Submit and you should get an email with a reset password link which you can use to set your password. For most of us our username is first initial lastname, e.g. 'amichael'. If that doesn't work you can use the Forgot Username? link to get the system to send your your username. If all else fails, don't hesitate to contact Alec Smythe, our webmaster, at firstname.lastname@example.com and he will take care of you.
There's more functionality coming over the course of this year, but I think we are off to a good start. As with any new website, you are bound to run into glitches. Please contact Alec and let him know the problem you encountered. He will get it fixed for us.


text: rasputin1963 22 Posted June 19, 2013 Hey, gang: I used to make my own SoundFonts... It was easy. Just take about 10, 44.1 recorded samples--- e.g., your own vocal "Oohs" and "Aaahs"--- and plug them in to be distributed over your keyboard's range. I used ALIVE!, which made it pretty straightforward. How are YOU creating your own, personally recorded, multisampled patches these days? (Of course, it's easy to simply plug in one single WAV, and have a softsynth distribute that one WAV over the key-range, replete with chipmunks and Darth Vader, but I'm talking about a multisample). What software do you use? Is it easier now, or harder to do? Thanks, ras Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites


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Luke Tipple grew up swimming off the coast of southern Australia and knows how to get the upper hand with a shark. He just finished guarding Diana Nyad during the long distance swim attempt she made from Cuba to the Florida coast. He tells producer Phoebe Judge what the waters were like - day and night. You can listen to an earlier interview with Diana here, and an earlier interview with Luke here.
Daily Story Update
Get daily updates and special announcements about The Story.


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Coach 599 Project 3
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Business Research Paper The Walt Disney Company Pranay Kumar George Batah Shuxian Shen Sheng Hao Koo " We now have complied…...Read
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Student IDENTITY: 1244604 College student name: Rubbish bin Wang Proper Marketing and Consulting Why boardroom should…...Read
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Asthma Jennifer Martinez Asthma Case Study Mister. Vargas, a 45-year-old male patient is usually rushed into the emergency room by simply his partner. The patient…...Read
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п»їDespite obtaining the same settlement's origin, both the areas within the east seacoast of America, New England and Chesapeake, had progressed into two unique societies by simply 1700, whether regarding economy…...Read
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tomato end rot
Can you buy spray on fertlizer with calcium for tomato end rot?
Certified GKH Gardening Expert
Some people say that foliage spraying with epsom salts will help with blossom end rot, and it may. But in most cases, blossom end rot happens because the plant is not getting quite enough water - and therefore can't draw up quite enough calcium from the soil.
Spraying with epsom salt water can only help, but increase water to the plants as well.
You must be logged into your account to answer a question.
If you don't have an account sign up for an account now.


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Defense is now second nature to you, and your blade punishes those who try to attack and fail.
Prerequisite(s): Dueling Style, Dueling Style Aegis, Alertness, Combat Reflexes, Exotic Weapon Proficiency (dueling sword), Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus (dueling sword).
Benefit(s): When you attempt to parry an attack using Dueling Style Aegis, you do not take any penalties on the attack roll incurred from using Combat Expertise or fighting defensively.
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Adventurer's Guide © 2017, Paizo Inc.; Authors: Benjamin Bruck, John Compton, Crystal Frasier, Tim Hitchcock, Jenny Jarzabski, Isabelle Lee, Joe Pasini, Jessica Price, David Schwartz, and Josh Vogt.


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Red, White & Blue Garden WhimsyJuly 5th, 2012 in member junk
gardenwhimsiesbymary, member
Photo: Red, white and blue plate flower
Garden whimsies can make the perfect accent for your outdoor holiday decor. Just think of all the holiday possibilities!!
Pattern or design used: My own design - Mary Mirabal
posted in: member junk, cottage, artwork, glass, funky, country, fun, outdoor spaces, white, red, blue, crystal, ceramic
Comments (3)
AuntieJo writes: Great!! Do you use a glue gun,or that 6000 stuff? Posted: 6:59 pm on July 15th
annebell writes: That is so cute! I could use some of those for late summer when most of my flowers are starting to look a little tired. :) Posted: 10:23 am on July 14th
LloydsLandingofSears writes: Love the red-white-blue in the "flower." These are so fun! ~Mary~ Posted: 4:59 pm on July 6th
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I am also happy to report that yesterday, as I took some out-of-towners on a tour of Manhattan, I saw a booth of the NY City Atheists in front of the Time Warner Center. I had no time to stop and chat, but I was happy to see them conversing with a curious young man. They even have literature now, they are evangelizing. Weird, but whatever works.
Anyway, in my fantasy world, even though it seems that this country is going to the gods (Bush, Palin, people who don't believe in evolution, etc), at the same time there seems to be a healthy counter-reaction to all this nonsense. Bill Maher, bless him, is one guy who really has a hair up his ass about religion and has decided to do something about it. Good for him.
I was looking forward to this movie like some people expect the Second Coming of Christ. I am sorry to say I was underwhelmed.
The movie is funny, but I think it is intellectually dishonest. I know it's supposed to be comic and that is why Maher skewers the silliest, most outrageous representatives of some of the religions. He finds mostly easy targets. I think you can make a point about some of the most ridiculous aspects of organized religion without going to the most extreme nutcases. For instance, he interviews this ultra-ultraorthodox putz rabbi who is against the existence of the State of Israel. Yes, the one who wears the Palestinian flag on his lapel and who is best friends with Ahmadinejad. The one who went to Iran for the Holocaust denial conference. That one. This guy and the three idiots who follow him are really the fringe lunatics of the lunatic fringe. I can understand that he is a good example of how faith can distort everything to extremes, but I like much better Maher's visit to the place in Israel where they invent contraptions so that Jews can dial a phone on the Sabbath. That is also as loony, but it is much more mainstream. Religion needs to be challenged in what is commonplace, not in the fringe.
But my main beef with Maher's point of view is that it is very simplistic. He ridicules faith as being illogical and impossible and absurd, which is exactly what it is. Faith is by nature the opposite of fact or science. Theologians know it. Nobody denies it. That is it's raison d'etre, to believe in something more powerful, more miraculous, more ineffable than what reason or the eye can see. The nature of faith is precisely a belief not grounded on evidence, but on belief itself. Making fun of faith is useless. There is nothing wrong with having faith, as long as you don't confuse it with fact.
Maher makes fun of the Bible and the Koran, and he does not allow himself to think that there is anything of value in these books. I strongly disagree. I think the Old Testament is a fundamentally civilizing book, let alone a major work of literature, law and ethics. I'm sure there is plenty of that in the Koran as well. There may be a lot in these books that does not make sense in this day and age, and a lot that is the product of ancient mindsets, but I think that it behooves Maher to separate the merit of the books from the people who interpret them literally. It is not Genesis' fault that people like Sarah Palin think the world was made in seven days. Genesis is an amazing interpretation of the origins and the nature of man, it's not just a story about a snake that talks, like Maher puts it. Not acknowledging the symbolic, ethical, literary power of the Bible seems unfair and limited to me. Even worse is his comparing the tenets of Scientology to the Bible. Scientology is a cult. Nothing in it has anything of literary, cultural or ethical merit or value. It's like a ponzi scheme. To compare the ridiculousness of Scientology myths to that of the Bible is a gross oversimplification and it is spurious.
Maher tries to prove to evangelical Christians that the story of Jesus is not original. There are many prophetic myths in ancient cultures that resemble the Jesus myth. There is nothing wrong with recognizing that many creation myths echo across cultures, and the fact that the Egyptian god Horus is a forerunner of Jesus doesn't make faith in Jesus any less relevant to those who believe in him. So what?
As for Islam, it is really the weakest part of the film. I heard a member of the audience, one who I assume by her accent may have been Muslim, complaining that Maher's portrayal of Islam as a violent religion is totally unfair. Again, I don't know enough about Islam to agree or disagree, but I do know that not all Muslims can be equated with fundamentalist Muslims, as not all Jews are ultra-orthodox.
Where I do agree with Maher is on the abuse of religion by the people who rule it and even by those who follow it. Had he made a clear distinction between organized religion and faith, he'd have made a more convincing argument for our need to separate religion from politics and from public life. Faith and religion should be deeply private choices that nobody should try to impose on other people, much less through political coercion.
The best parts of the movie are those in which he bemoans what is happening in America today. Mainly, that the religious right is dangerously dumbing down this country. He reminds us that many of the Founding Fathers (John Adams, Jefferson, Ben Franklin) were fiercely anti-religious. He says that 16% of Americans are not affiliated with any religion. I think the number is much higher if you include secular catholics, protestants and Jews; people who are in touch with their religious background but don't really practice religion. I agree with Maher that it is time that Americans demand total separation of church and state.
But if you are going to fight religion, you need better arguments.


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Another word for mow
mow Synonyms
mow Synonyms
WEBSTER'S NEW WORLD® ROGET'S A-Z THESAURUS by Charlton Laird and the editors of Webster's New World dictionaries. Copyright © 1999 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Link to this page
Cite this page
MLA Style
"Mow." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. thesaurus.yourdictionary.com/MOW.
APA Style
Mow. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://thesaurus.yourdictionary.com/MOW


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The United States maintains a military force primarily to protect the homeland from attack and to protect its interests abroad. There are secondary uses—for example, to assist civil authorities in times of emergency or to deter enemies—but this force's primary purpose is to make it possible for the U.S. to physically impose its will on an enemy when necessary.
It is therefore critical that the condition of the United States military with respect to America's vital national security interests, threats to those interests, and the context within which the U.S. might have to use "hard power" be understood. Knowing how these three areas—operating environments, threats, and the posture of the U.S. military—change over time, given that such changes can have substantial implications for defense policies and investment, is likewise important.
Each year, The Heritage Foundation's Index of U.S. Military Strength employs a standardized, consistent set of criteria, accessible both to government officials and to the American public, to gauge the U.S. military's ability to perform its missions in today's world. The inaugural 2015 edition established a baseline assessment on which each annual edition builds, assessing the state of affairs for its respective year and measuring how key factors have changed from the previous year.
What the Index Assesses
The Index of U.S. Military Strength assesses the ease or difficulty of operating in key regions based on existing alliances, regional political stability, the presence of U. S. military forces, and the condition of key infrastructure. Threats are assessed based on the behavior and physical capabilities of actors that pose challenges to U.S. vital national interests. The condition of America's military power is measured in terms of its capability or modernity, capacity for operations, and readiness to handle assigned missions successfully. This framework provides a single-source reference for policymakers and other Americans who seek to know whether our military power is up to the task of defending our national interests.
Any discussion of the aggregate capacity and breadth of the military power needed to protect U.S. security interests requires a clear understanding of precisely what interests must be defended. Three vital interests have been specified consistently and in various ways by a string of Administrations over the past few decades:
- Defense of the homeland;
- Successful conclusion of a major war that has the potential to destabilize a region of critical interest to the U.S.; and
- Preservation of freedom of movement within the global commons (the sea, air, outer-space, and cyberspace domains) through which the world conducts its business.
To defend these interests effectively on a global scale, the United States needs a military force of sufficient size, or what is known in the Pentagon as capacity. The many factors involved make determining how big the military should be a complex exercise, but successive Administrations, Congresses, and Department of Defense staffs have managed to arrive at a surprisingly consistent force-sizing rationale: an ability to handle two major wars or major regional contingencies (MRCs) simultaneously or in closely overlapping time frames. This two-war or two-MRC requirement is embraced in this Index.
At the core of this requirement is the conviction that the United States should be able to engage and decisively defeat one major opponent and simultaneously have the wherewithal to do the same with another to preclude opportunistic exploitation by any competitor. Since World War II, the U.S. has found itself involved in a major "hot" war every 15–20 years while simultaneously maintaining substantial combat forces in Europe and several other regions. The size of the total force roughly approximated the two-MRC model, which has the inherent ability to meet multiple security obligations to which the U.S. has committed while also modernizing, training, educating, and maintaining the force. Accordingly, our assessment of the adequacy of today's U.S. military is based on the ability of America's armed forces to engage and defeat two major competitors at roughly the same time.
This Index's benchmark for a two-MRC force is derived from a review of the forces used for each major war that the U.S. has undertaken since World War II and the major defense studies completed by the federal government over the past 30 years. We concluded that a standing (Active Duty component) two-MRC–capable Joint Force would consist of:
- Army: 50 brigade combat teams (BCTs);
- Navy: 400 battle force ships and 624 strike aircraft;
- Air Force: 1,200 fighter/ground-attack aircraft; and
- Marine Corps: 36 battalions.
This recommended force does not account for homeland defense missions that would accompany a period of major conflict and are generally handled by Reserve and National Guard forces. Nor does it constitute the totality of the Joint Force, which includes the array of supporting and combat-enabling functions essential to the conduct of any military operation: logistics; transportation (land, sea, and air); health services; communications and data handling; and force generation (recruiting, training, and education), to name only a few. Rather, these are combat forces that are the most recognizable elements of America's hard power but that also can be viewed as surrogate measures for the size and capability of the larger Joint Force.
The Global Operating Environment
Looking at the world as an environment in which U.S. forces would operate to protect America's interests, the Index focused on three regions—Europe, the Middle East, and Asia—because of the intersection of our vital interests and actors able to challenge them.
Europe. Overall, the European region remains a stable, mature, and friendly operating environment. Russia remains the preeminent threat to the region, both conventionally and nonconventionally, and the impact of the migrant crisis, along with continued economic sluggishness, the terrorist threat, and political fragmentation, increases the potential for internal instability. If the U.S. needs to act in the European region or nearby, there is a history of interoperability with allies and access to key logistical infrastructure that makes the operating environment in Europe more favorable than the environment in other regions in which U.S. forces might have to operate.
The past year saw continued U.S. reengagement with the continent both militarily and politically along with modest increases in European allies' defense budgets and capability investment. Despite allies' initial concerns, the U.S. has increased its investment in Europe, and its military position on the continent is stronger than it has been for some time. NATO's renewed focus on collective defense resulted in a focus on logistics, newly established commands that reflect a changed geopolitical reality, and a robust set of exercises. NATO's biggest challenges derive from continued underinvestment from European members, a tempestuous Turkey, disparate threat perceptions within the alliance, and the need to establish the ability to mount a robust response to both linear and nonlinear forms of aggression.
For Europe, scores this year remained steady, with no substantial changes in any individual categories or average scores. The 2019 Index again assesses the European Operating Environment as "favorable."
The Middle East. For the foreseeable future, the Middle East region will remain a key focus for U.S. military planners. Once considered relatively stable, the area is now highly unstable and a breeding ground for terrorism. Overall, regional security has deteriorated in recent years. Even though the Islamic State has been seriously weakened, what its successor will be like is unclear. Iraq has restored its territorial integrity after the defeat of ISIS, but relations between Baghdad and the U.S. remain uncertain in the wake of the recent election victory of Muqtada al-Sadr. The regional dispute with Qatar has made U.S. relations in the region even more complex and difficult to manage. The Russian, Iranian, and Turkish interventions in Syria have greatly complicated the fighting there.
Countries like Iraq, Libya, Syria, and Yemen are being challenged by non-state actors that wield influence, power, and resources comparable to those of small states. Decades of U.S. military operations in the Middle East have resulted in an extensive network of bases and substantial operational experience in combatting regional threats. However, many of the United States' partners are hobbled by political instability, economic problems, internal security threats, and mushrooming transnational threats.
Despite an improvement in regional political stability from "very poor" to "unfavorable" as scored in the 2019 Index, the region (and thus its scores) remains highly volatile. The 2019 Index accordingly assesses the Middle East Operating Environment as "moderate."
Asia. The Asian strategic environment is extremely expansive, with a variety of political relationships among states that have wildly varying capabilities. The region includes long-standing American allies with relationships dating back to the beginning of the Cold War as well as recently established states and some long-standing adversaries such as North Korea.
American conceptions of the region must therefore start from the physical limitations imposed by the tyranny of distance. Moving forces within the region (never mind to it) will take time and require extensive strategic lift assets as well as sufficient infrastructure, such as sea and aerial ports of debarkation that can handle American strategic lift assets, and political support. At the same time, the complicated nature of intra-Asian relations, especially unresolved historical and territorial issues, means that the United States, unlike Europe, cannot necessarily count on support from all of its regional allies in responding to any given contingency.
For Asia, we therefore arrived at an average score of "favorable."
Summarizing the condition of each region enables us to get a sense of how they compare in terms of the challenge the U.S. would have in projecting military power and sustaining combat operations in each one.
As a whole, the global operating environment currently maintains a score of "favorable," meaning that the United States should be able to project military power anywhere in the world as necessary to defend its interests without substantial opposition or high levels of risk.
Threats to U.S. Interests
Our selection of threat actors discounted troublesome states and non-state entities that lacked the physical ability to pose a meaningful threat to vital U.S. security interests. This reduced the population of all potential threats to a half-dozen that possessed the means to threaten U.S. vital interests and exhibited a pattern of provocative behavior that should draw the focus of U.S. defense planning. This Index characterizes their behavior and military capabilities on five-point, descending scales.
All of the six threat actors selected—Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, and terrorist groups in the Middle East and Afghanistan—remained actual or potential threats to U.S. interests over the past year. All amply demonstrated a commitment to expanding their capabilities to pursue their respective interests that directly challenged those of the U.S.
Collectively, the threat to U.S. vital interests remains "high" in the 2019 Index despite a decrease in the assessed threat level for Af-Pak terrorism from "high" to "elevated." Although this was the only full score change among the six threat actors, scores for both Russia and China come close to being elevated to "severe" from their current "high."
Russia and China continue to be the most worrisome, both because of the ongoing modernization and expansion of their offensive military capabilities and because of the more enduring effect they are having within their respective regions. Russia has maintained its active involvement in the conflict in Ukraine, has been more assertive in the Baltic Sea region, and has reduced its presence in Syria—but only because of its success in salvaging the Bashar al-Assad regime. China's provocative behavior continues to include militarization of islands that it has built in highly disputed international waters of the South China Sea. China also continues its aggressive naval tactics to intimidate such neighboring countries as Japan and the Philippines and continues to bully other countries that try to exercise their right to navigate international waters in the region.
North Korea maintains its nuclear arsenal, and past tests have hinted at the ability of North Korean missiles to reach targets in the United States. Although little demonstrated progress has been made on denuclearization, Kim Jong-un's regime has decreased the frequency of its missile tests and toned down hostile rhetoric toward the West as it appears to pursue increased engagement with the current U.S. Administration.
Terrorism based in Afghanistan continues to challenge the stability of that country. To the extent that various groups based in the region straddling the border with Pakistan remain potent and active, they also remain a threat to the stability of Pakistan, which is a matter of concern given Pakistan's status as a nuclear power and its sustained frictions with India, also a nuclear power. However, fatalities resulting from terrorist attacks within Pakistan have declined steadily and significantly since 2009.
In addition, Iran's efforts to acquire more advanced military capabilities have been supported by increased cooperation with Russia. Iran's growing military presence in Syria and active support of the various terrorist groups operating in the Middle East continue to undermine regional security conditions and therefore to threaten the regional interests of the U.S.
With these threats taken together, the globalized threat to U.S. vital national interests as a whole during 2018 remained "high."
The Status of U.S. Military Power
Finally, we assessed the military power of the United States in three areas: capability, capacity, and readiness. We approached this assessment by military service as the clearest way to link military force size; modernization programs; unit readiness; and (in general terms) the functional combat power (land, sea, and air) represented by each service. We treated the United States' nuclear capability as a separate entity given its truly unique characteristics and constituent elements, from the weapons themselves to the supporting infrastructure that is fundamentally different from the infrastructure that supports conventional capabilities.
These three areas of assessment (capability, capacity, and readiness) are central to the overarching questions of whether the U.S. has a sufficient quantity of appropriately modern military power and whether military units are able to conduct military operations on demand and effectively.
As reported in all previous editions of the Index, the common theme across the services and the U.S. nuclear enterprise is one of force degradation resulting from many years of underinvestment, poor execution of modernization programs, and the negative effects of budget sequestration (cuts in funding) on readiness and capacity in spite of the limited and temporary relief from low budget ceilings imposed by the Budget Control Act of 2011. While the military has been heavily engaged in operations, primarily in the Middle East but elsewhere as well, since September 11, 2001, experience is both ephemeral and context-sensitive. Valuable combat experience is lost as the servicemembers who individually gained experience leave the force, and it maintains direct relevance only for future operations of a similar type: Counterinsurgency operations in Iraq, for example, are fundamentally different from major conventional operations against a state like Iran or China.
Thus, although the current Joint Force is experienced in some types of operations, it lacks experience with high-end, major combat operations toward which it has only begun to redirect its training and planning, and it is still aged and shrinking in its capacity for operations.
We characterized the services and the nuclear enterprise on a five-category scale ranging from "very weak" to "very strong," benchmarked against criteria elaborated in the full report. These characterizations should not be construed as reflecting the competence of individual servicemembers or the professionalism of the services or Joint Force as a whole; nor do they speak to the U.S. military's strength relative to other militaries around the world. Rather, they are assessments of the institutional, programmatic, and material health or viability of America's hard military power.
Our analysis concluded with these assessments:
- Army as "Marginal." The Army's score rose from "weak" to "marginal" due to an increased number of ready brigade combat teams. The Army has constrained end strength and modernization to improve readiness. However, accepting risks in these areas has enabled the Army to keep roughly half of its force at acceptable levels of readiness. The Army now relies more consistently on its Army National Guard component to reinforce its ability to respond to crises. While the increased funding for training and readiness is good both for the Guard and for the Total Army, it does reveal shortfalls in the Active Army.
- Navy as "Marginal." The Navy's overall score for the 2019 Index is "marginal," the same as in the 2018 Index. The Navy's emphasis on restoring readiness and increasing its capacity, enabled by increased funding in 2017 and 2018, signals that its overall score could improve in the near future if needed levels of funding are sustained. However, budget instability resulting from continuing resolutions and a return to Budget Control Act limits will negate these improvements and cause future degradation in the Navy's score. While maintaining a global presence (slightly more than one-third of the fleet is deployed on any given day), the Navy has little ability to surge to meet wartime demands. The Navy's decision to defer maintenance has kept ships at sea but also has affected its ability to deploy. The Navy remained just able to meet operational requirements in 2018. Continuing budget shortfalls in its shipbuilding account will hinder the ability of the service to improve its situation, both materially and quantitatively, for the next several years—an even larger problem considering that the Navy has revised its assessment of how many ships it needs to 355, which is much less than the 400 ships called for in this Index.
- Air Force as "Marginal." The Air Force is scored as "marginal" overall. This score has trended downward over the past few years largely because of a drop in "capacity" that has not effectively changed and a readiness score of "weak." The shortage of pilots and flying time for those pilots degrades the ability of the Air Force to generate the amount and quality of combat air power that would be needed to meet wartime requirements. Although the Air Force could eventually win a single major regional contingency in any theater, the attrition rates would be significantly higher than those sustained by a ready, well-trained force.
- Marine Corps as "Weak." The Corps continues to deal with readiness challenges driven by the combination of high operational tempo and the lingering effects of procurement delays. Aviation remained one of the largest challenges for the Corps in 2018, driven by high demand for Marine Air-Ground Task Forces and sustainment challenges within its legacy fleet of aircraft, and the Corps has cited modernization of its aviation platforms as the single most effective means to increase readiness within the service. Select units and platforms have seen mild readiness improvements as a result of increased funding for spare parts and maintenance requirements. However, Marine operating forces as a whole continue to average a two-to-one deployment-to-dwell ratio. At this pace, readiness is consumed as quickly as it is built, leaving minimal flexibility to respond to contingencies. Although increased funding for readiness and an emphasis on modernization give strong support to the Corps' readiness recovery efforts, the effects will take time to materialize. The combination of capacity shortfalls and the lack of a "ready bench" maintains the Marine Corps' overall strength score of "weak."
- Nuclear Capabilities as "Marginal." The U.S. nuclear complex is "trending toward strong," but this assumes that the U.S. maintains its commitment to modernization and allocates needed resources accordingly. Without this commitment, this overall score will degrade rapidly to "weak." Continued attention to this mission is therefore critical. Although a bipartisan commitment has led to continued progress on U.S. nuclear forces modernization and warhead sustainment, these programs remain threatened by potential future fiscal uncertainties. The infrastructure that supports nuclear programs is aged, and nuclear test readiness has revealed troubling problems within the forces. Additionally, the United States has conducted fewer tests of launch vehicles than in previous years. On the plus side, the 2018 Nuclear Posture Review articulates nuclear weapons policy grounded in realities of international developments and clearly articulates commitment to extended deterrence. The commitment to warhead life-extension programs, the exercise of skills that are critical for the development of new nuclear warheads, and the modernization of nuclear delivery platforms represent a positive trend that should be maintained. Averaging the subscores across the nuclear enterprise in light of our concerns about the future results in an overall score of "marginal."
In the aggregate, the United States' military posture is rated "marginal" and features both positive and negative trends: progress in bringing some new equipment into the force, filling gaps in manpower, and rebuilding some stocks of munitions and repair parts alongside worrisome trends in force readiness, declining strength in key areas like trained pilots, and continued uncertainty across the defense budget.
Overall, the 2019 Index concludes that the current U.S. military force is likely capable of meeting the demands of a single major regional conflict while also attending to various presence and engagement activities but that it would be very hard-pressed to do more and certainly would be ill-equipped to handle two nearly simultaneous major regional contingencies. The limits imposed on defense spending and the programmatic volatility created by continuing resolutions, passed in lieu of formal budgets approved on schedule, have kept the military services small, aging, and under significant pressure. Essential maintenance continues to be deferred, the availability of fewer units for operational deployments increases the frequency and length of deployments, and old equipment continues to be extended while programmed replacements are either delayed or beset by developmental difficulties.
The military services have continued to prioritize readiness for current operations by shifting funding to deployed or soon-to-deploy units while sacrificing the ability to keep non-deployed units in "ready" condition; delaying, reducing, extending, or canceling modernization programs; and sustaining the reduction in size and number of military units. While Congress and the new Administration took positive steps to stabilize funding for 2018 and 2019 through the Bipartisan Budget Agreement of 2018, they have not overturned the Budget Control Act that otherwise caps defense spending and, absent additional legislative action, will reassert its damaging effects in 2020. Without a real commitment to increases in modernization, capacity, and readiness accounts over the next few years, a significant positive turn in the threat environment, or a reassessment of core U.S. security interests, America's military branches will continue to be strained to meet the missions they are called upon to fulfill.
As currently postured, the U.S. military is only marginally able to meet the demands of defending America's vital national interests.


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NYC Winter Outing: A Budget-Friendly Visit to the Big Apple
There's never a bad time to visit New York City, but right now might be the best time of all, thanks to NYC Winter Outing. For the first time ever, NYC Restaurant Week, NYC Broadway Week and NYC Must-See Week are taking over the Big Apple together.
Now through February 10, the programs will offer considerable savings to only-in-New-York adventures including Broadway shows, culinary experiences and iconic museums and attractions. Tickets and reservations are ongoing, and there are even themed mini itineraries featured on the Winter Outing site. Check out what each program has to offer and begin planning your incredibly economical getaway to the world's greatest city.
NYC Restaurant Week
Now in its 27th year NYC Restaurant Week serves up the opportunity to savor two-course prix-fixe lunches and brunches for $26 and three-course prix-fixe dinners for $42, the kind of prices that are seldom seen at New York City eateries.
Nearly 400 establishments across all five boroughs are serving up the deal, including 26 new participants, such as Brooklyn Chop House, which opened in September in the Financial District.
Or, hit up a legend like The Russian Tea Room, founded in 1927 by members of the Russian Imperial Ballet, and a favorite since of the most glittering stars in the world, including Madonna, who once worked there as a coat check girl.
"NYC Restaurant Week Winter 2019 epitomizes the quality, variety and hospitality that makes New York City one of the restaurant capitals of the world," said Tracy Nieporent, partner and director of marketing for Myriad Restaurant Group and chairman of the Restaurant Committee for NYC & Company. "We look forward to welcoming our guests with warm greetings as they enjoy over 33 hearty international cuisines in 41 neighborhoods this winter."
NYC Broadway Week
No other city in the world has anything quite like The Great White Way, and the biannual NYC Broadway Week is now giving New Yorkers and visitors alike the chance to snare two-for-one tickets to 24 acclaimed shows. Since its launch in January 2011, the program has sold a total of more than 1,225,000 tickets, generating nearly $84 million in revenue for the 87,000 strong Broadway community.
"Broadway is synonymous with New York City and NYC Broadway Week is an exciting way to discover and experience the world's best theater at an extraordinary value," said Fred Dixon, president and CEO of NYC & Company.
Along with long-celebrated plays like Sam Shepard's Pulitzer Prize-nominated True West, now starring performing powerhouses Ethan Hawke and Paul Dano, there are a wealth of musicals offering two-for-one tickets. New LGBTQ favorite The Prom, which opened on Broadway in October, is a good bet for a good time, with Tony Award- nominee Brooks Ashmanskas, Tony Award-winner Beth Leavel and two-time Tony Award-nominee Christopher Sieber leading the 27-person cast.
NYC Must-See Week
New York City is more than incredible restaurants and brilliant Broadway shows — it also offers can't-miss attractions. NYC Must-See Week, now in its third year, has blown up big-time and is now dishing out 2-for-1 admission to 57 unique experiences, including historical locations, culturally diverse museums, amazing tours, sightseeing cruises, various performances and more.
"NYC Must-See Week gives locals and visitors inspiration and motivation to get out and explore the City's leading attractions, cultural organizations, performing arts and more," said Dixon. "Fifty-seven 2-for-1 deals across the five boroughs provide world-class offerings at an unbelievable value."
Visit must-see museums like the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), considered one of the most influential such institutions in the world, which houses masterworks from Matisse, Monet, Kahlo and Pollock. Or, take a different view of the city, with a boat trip aboard the beloved
NYC Winter Outing offers an affordable way to experience the bounty that the Big Apple has to offer, proving that New York City is, indeed, the city that never sleeps.


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Welcome to Dreamswork Counseling
I have been working as a counselor and psychotherapist for over 15 years. My life experience and my professional training has been instrumental in my choice of career paths. For me, personally, learning that I can create more of what I want by following my own "wise mind", despite old beliefs and habits, is the path to a happier and more fulfilling life. My hope is that each person I work with will also find their own wisdom and strength to create the life they are looking for.
~ Katherine Harriman
My professional training has been in the following areas:
- Master of Social Work (MSW)
- Registered Social Worker (RSW), #2976, Saskatchewan Association of Social Workers.
- Saskatchewan Professional Fire Fighter's Association's Occupational Awareness Training for Treating First Responder Trauma
- Certified Integrative Body Psychotherapist (IBP)
- Using Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT); Mindful Therapies; Reality Therapy, Solution-Focused Therapy


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Need high-quality photos at a low price?
All sessions have a base price of $100 for an hour or $125 for an hour and a half. Sessions include 10 retouched images. Extra images are $10 each.
Schedule an appointment by filling out the form below or calling us at 303-862-0919.
Get in Touch
Fill out the form and we'll be in touch with you within the next 24 hours.*
*Please call if we haven't returned your email within two business days.


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Please note: You only need to register / login if you wish to make representations.
OBJECT Haulfryn Group Ltd represented by Lambe Planning & Design Ltd (Mr Jeremy Lambe)
Paragraph 7.3.64 refers to no increase in caravan or chalet numbers. A minor increase in the number of units should be permitted when the proposal is part of a scheme to improve the range and quality of tourist accommodation and facilities on the site. Without a minor increase to the number of pitches, it may not be possible to fund the significant investmment required to pay for upgrading proposals.
Where Holiday Parks are located within the Coastal Change Management Zone (within the AONB),and relocation of pitches are required due to a "rollback" position from the shoreline, a minor increase in the number of pitches should be allowed to assist with funding the re-location of holiday pitches and the significant investment required.
POLICY TWR3 paragraph 7.3.64
change to allow a minor increase in units provided it can be demonstrated thatsignificant site improvements and reduced landscape impact would result
OBJECT Cadnant Planning (Mr Rhys Davies)
This should be deleted as set out in our response to TWR3


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"Nothing will work unless you do"
Maya Angelou
The brand experience is happening right in front of us. Delivered on our devices (of which there are plenty), we demand great content, experience and service. Getting the UX and UI right is key to any digital strategy.
Ensuring the future means digital services. Single source content injection pushing information to all manner of devices through blogging, social application, e-commerce and many other add-on digital services. A user needs to move smoothly between devices through a seamless brand experience.


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Back to list
Taipei, March 15 (CNA) Taiwan's Legislature on Friday voted to send a draft bill that would limit the use of the words "marriage" and "spouse" to heterosexual couples to a second reading, where the bill will be reviewed together with another one that would legalize same-sex marriage.Entitled "The Enforcement Act of Referendum No. 12," the bill was proposed by Kuomintang lawmaker Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆). The New Power Party attempted to block the bill by proposing sending it back to the Procedure Committee but failed to secure enough votes.Bills in Taiwan have to complete second and third readings by the full Legislature before becoming law.Under the Legislative Yuan Functioning Act, the high-profile bill will first be "frozen" for one month during which time the ruling and opposition parties will engage in negotiations before the bill's second and third readings.The bill was drafted in response to the passing on Nov. 24, 2018 of referendum No. 12, which asked, "Do you agree to types of unions, other than those stated in the marriage regulations in the Civil Code, to protect the rights of same-sex couples who live together permanently?"The bill, deemed by many to run counter to "The Enforcement Act of Judicial Yuan Interpretation No. 748," maintains the concept of marriage as defined in the Civil Code as being between a man and a woman.Under the bill, same-sex couple can apply for joint guardianship over the child of one partner.The Legislature on March 5 voted to send "The Enforcement Act of Judicial Yuan Interpretation No. 748" to a second reading, which would allow gay couples to register their marriage or divorce at any household registration office.The bill was drafted in line with a Constitutional Court ruling issued on May 24, 2017, which stated that the prohibition of same-sex marriage is unconstitutional and that the relevant authorities must amend or enact laws in accordance with the court's interpretation within two years.The draft legislation also prescribes that the rights and duties granted to married couples, as stipulated in the Civil Code, also apply to married same-sex couples.Gay couples will be allowed to adopt the biological children of their partner, the bill states.Anti-same-sex marriage campaigner Tseng Hsien-ying (曾獻瑩) held a press conference outside the Legislative Yuan giving her recognition to the new bill, while urging the ruling party not to go against the results of the 2018 referendum by insisting on pushing forward a bill that legalizes same-sex marriage.Meanwhile, the Marriage Equality Coalition Taiwan said "The Enforcement Act of Referendum No. 12" diverges from the Constitutional Court ruling in 2017.The coalition called for legislators to act in accordance with the Constitution and support "The Enforcement Act of Judicial Yuan Interpretation No. 748." (By Wang Yang-yu, Chen Chun-hua and Chung Yu-chen)Enditem/AW
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Your course fee includes instruction, dive trips, gas fills and tanks, manual, and certification. Please be aware that you are not paying for certification. You are paying for instruction. The certification is earned through the development of proper skills, attitude, control, and awareness. Some people do not pass these courses on their first attempt. Divers who come to class prepared, are welcome to return at no cost to finish their course if minimal additional instruction is required. We do not produce rubber stamp divers, we truly believe in quality education and quality divers.
What is not included in my course fee?
- Use of personal dive equipment: Backplate, Harness and Wing, and Regulators.
What should I bring to class each day?
- TDI Student Manual
- All required equipment- see Required Equipment List
- Notebook and writing utensil


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So I noticed a bug in the moodle language pack. I'm using the lt and lt_uni 3.4 language packs.
Literally everything is fine, except month selection translated text.
The month selection manu array is displayed as "sausis,vasaris,kovas,balandis,,birelis,liepa,rugpjtis,rugsjis,spalis,lapkritis,gruodis" (the the 5'th month is missing completely (May)).
The translation in the files is "Sausis,Vasaris,Kovas,Balandis,Gegužė,Birželis,Liepa,Rugpjūtis,Rugsėjis,Spalis,Lapkritis,Gruodis".
I suspected that moodle somehow cant parse LT symbols/alphabet or something. But thats weird because everywhere else the symbols are fine and displayed correctly. So I tried everything in my power to find and fix this issue:
1. Download/Update language packs
2. Completely delete language packs (and they did, didnt even show in the language menu)
3. Added brand new ones (3.4), and they appeared alright. (but the month selection was still in broken Lithuanian)
4. Cleared cache
5. Modified the files myself (moodledata\lang\lt_uni\editor_tinymce.php & moodledata\lang\lt_uni\attendance.php)
6. Edited the "moodledata\lang" files and the "moodle\lang" also.
7. Grep'ed the entire moodle and moodledata fodlers for the correct and broken strings (only found some arrays in the files listed above).
8. Queried the SQL server with no luck...
9. Restarted the server and cleared temp/cache dirs...
10. Nothing helps... the month string arrays is still broken....and I have no clue where it's getting the data from, because I tried to replace every month in that array with "test" of the language pack files and moodle didnt update the translation....so weird.
11. Modyfing in the Site administration -> Language -> Language customisation shows that the changes have been made and they are saved, even the "lt_local" files are created, but the month array still shows old broken strings :D


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Today's card is being featured on Stylin' Stampin' Inkspiration. The challenge was to CASE the catalog. I scoured the pages for inspiration. What should I do? I narrowed the list down to 10 different cards, then down to 5, then to 3. From the last three contenders I decided to go with a card that caught my eye, but isn't my usual style. I've been trying to stretch my crafting into areas and designs that I are not my go-tos. The card below definitely falls into that category.
Taking the card from the catalog I started to recreate the look. Obviously I made a few changes to the card. First of all, I added a layer of Very Vanilla and changed the colors. I love Wisteria Wonder but don't use it very often. So I went with Wisteria Wonder, my new favorite color Mint Macaron, and a great neutral in Tip Top Taupe. From there, I wanted to tackle the background splatters. How to recreate it? Simple solution: use my Tip Top Taupe marker to "dot" the card. Using both ends of the marker, I created varied spots. It looks even better in person! I stamped and punched my hexagons and arranged them onto the base and then added a sentiment. Finally I cut out my butterfly (way easier than the large butterfly framelit) and finished the card with a pearl.
- Stamps: Six Sided Sampler
- Inks: Wisteria Wonder; Mint Macaron; Tip Top Taupe
- Cardstock: Wisteria Wonder; Very Vanilla
- Accessories: Pearls
- Tools: Bold Butterfly Framelits; Hexagon Punch


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Simon Greene
Simon has a honours degree in Podiatry from Glasgow Caledonian University. He also holds a honours degree in Physiotherapy from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. Working within both clinical and private settings for the last 16 years.
In recent times he has been mentored by world renowned physiotherapists from Australia, UK & Canada. He has been heavily influenced by the Integrated System Model under the tutorage of Diane Lee & Dr. L.J. Lee. He has also been fortunate to tutor under the Discover Physio banner which includes clients such as Manchester City F.C., the MOD and English Institute of Sport.
Eugene is a Chartered Physiotherapist specialising in musculoskeletal disorders and spinal dysfunction. Eugene has gained a wide range of experience working in acute hospital settings and private clinics. He has extensive experience working in the management of chronic pain disorders. As a keen sportsman, Eugene understands the demands of sports and the goals of athletes. He also has wide range of experience working with athletes in GAA, soccer, rugby and golf as well as athletics. Eugene is dedicated and passionate about his profession and enjoys working with all types of clients from everyday sedentary back pain to elite athletes.


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Assalamualaikum, There Is Something We Can Help
On Wednesday (24/4), Yatim Mandiri Lampung held a free health service for orphans and poor people, located at the residence of Mulyadi (Bubur Mulyadi), on Jalan Beruang No. 19 Sukamenanti, Kedaton, Bandar Lampung.
On this occasion, Yatim Mandiri Lampung also opened a study center for orphans and poor people, Sanggar Genius. A total of 50 orphans and poor people attended the opening of the Sanggar Genius and the free health service.
Later, around 15 orphans and underprivileged children will take part in learning at Sanggar Genius. And in the future, Yatim Mandiri Lampung will open a Sanggar Genius in several places. In order for more orphans and poor people to receive the benefits of the Sanggar Genius Program.
Click Donation: http://yatimmandiri.org/index.php/Welcome/donasi
Program Info and Donations
Yatim Mandiri Lampung
Jalan Sultan Haji No 36, Kota Sepang, Labuhan Ratu, Bandar Lampung
Tel: (0721) 5613 878/085321121988/089656651712


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SEATTLE, (CBS.MW) -- Shares of Network Commerce climbed 6.8 percent Monday as a result of the company's positive outlook for its third quarter.
"We have had a very good quarter to date and are confident we will exceed consensus analyst expectations for financial results in the third quarter," said Dwayne Walker, chairman and chief executive officer.
Walker expects the company's third-quarter loss to be narrower than the previous quarter's loss and better than analysts expected. Analysts currently expect the company (NWKC) to lose 29 cents in the third quarter. The second quarter showed a loss of 30 cents a share.
The technology infrastructure provider expects revenue for the quarter to reach $30 million. The company generates revenue from its Network Commerce Consumer Network and the Network Commerce Business Network, which include online business services. In addition, gross margins are expected to continue to exceed 50 percent for the third quarter.
The third-quarter report is due out on Oct. 23. Shares traded up 41 cents to close at $6.38.


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Advice for Making a Career in GIS
andrew homka,GIS Specialist
The world of geographic information is an exciting and ever changing one, and an area of study that I am glad to have stumbled upon during my college years. I am a recent college graduate originally from Pennsylvania and newly relocated to the Bay Area. I have about three years of real-world work experience in a few different roles, along with a few unique internships. I thought it would be a great idea to write an article to reach an audience that is either curious about transitioning into the GIS field, just starting in the field, or maybe is a bit stuck and would like some advice and examples from one of their peers. With this article, I will present an overview of my career while detailing the most useful and important experiences, along with ways to network and stay current with the industry.
First, let me tell you a little bit about how I got into GIS! I started as a Geoscience major at Penn State University. In the latter part of my freshman year, I realized I wanted to study something with more of a focus on computers and databases, but still with an emphasis on problem solving and the natural world around us. I found out about an exciting path in the Geography program, called Geographic Information Science, from a pamphlet in the library. So I took a chance and signed up for some geography classes. From learning about cartography, to spatial analysis, to remote sensing and doing labs outside and in the computer lab, I knew I had found an exciting path forward.
While I had a number of great teachers and classes in college, perhaps I learned just as much during my internship experiences. My first internship came from attending a career fair at Penn State, and was with a company called TerraSim. TerraSim is based in Pittsburgh and works on building cutting edge training and simulation products. TerraSim was originally looking for a GIS intern that had more experience, but they decided to give me a chance for the summer. I got to work on many interesting projects, including a project for the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base in Southern California. We spent time gathering extensive amounts of satellite imagery and performing material classifications with a new product TerraSim was designing. The end result was a very thorough and visually stunning 3D terrain of the Camp Pendleton area.
This internship taught me so much because it was the first time I had lived in a large city and worked for a software company selling complex products. I was able to use many of the GIS and scientific concepts I had learned in school to perform analysis and suggest improvements in the software. This type of experience using highly technical software while working on real-life projects with changing requirements is what really separates academia from the real world. It also confirmed that I picked the right major and was building the skills I needed to go forward. Another important thing I learned was there is great benefit to interning with a smaller company for your first experience. You get to really know the company you work for and their products, along with the people you work alongside. My experience at a larger company was quite different from my first internship.
Back at school after the TerraSim internship, I was getting exposure to advanced remote sensing, spatial statistics, and LIDAR. I knew that I wanted another summer internship, but this time I looked for larger company to see the differences. I found a job posting on a university job board for an oil and gas industry GIS summer internship at Noble Energy in Denver, Colorado. After several rounds of interviewing, including a Skype call and some test questions, I was excited to spend the summer in Denver interning for a company that used GIS in a different way. I think a big point is to be as proactive as possible in looking for jobs and opportunities. Reach out to your peers, professors, alumni, career service center, and go to career fairs. Make sure you have a polished resume and take the time to write a nice cover letter. Read up on the company and do your research to be as prepared as possible for interviews. Putting in this extra work can set you apart.
My responsibilities at Noble Energy were structured more formally. I worked on one summer-long project with ArcGIS to accurately map out acreage grid areas of company land for many important pieces of data. We looked at everything from owl habitat to competitors to geologic factors and tons more! I spent many hours seeing a lot of different ArcToolbox tools in action, while making some fascinating maps.
At the end of the summer all of the interns had to give formal presentations in front of multiple departments of the company, including company executives. Another GIS intern and I were tasked with presenting the value of GIS to personnel that knew nothing about GIS or why it was important. I spent a lot of time thinking about how to simply explain concepts that I had originally found confusing. I crafted a presentation heavy in visual examples of the importance of GIS, how interesting and useful it can be, and how it could save the company time and money at the end of the day. The feedback our GIS group heard after the presentation was that many people left with a better understanding of the basics of GIS and were excited to learn even more. That gave me a great feeling of accomplishment. I discovered that many people are not familiar with GIS, or are just starting to learn about it. But when GIS is presented with lots of visual examples and specific scenarios, people can appreciate its usefulness. I use the same approach now when I talk to others about GIS.
Towards the end of my college career I decided to take on two minors as another way to differentiate myself. "Energy, Business, and Finance" covered everything from economics, to investment analysis, to trade, to trading my own stocks. I also minored in "Information Science and Technology for Earth and Mineral Sciences" where I had exposure to SQL, relational databases, and networking/telecommunications. Combining a concentration of GIS and another subject is the way to go. Whether it be programming, web mapping, environmental science, business analytics or something else, finding your specialization with GIS is what can set you apart. Doing this also sets you up to potentially transition into customer support, sales, business development, or project management.
After graduation, TerraSim was the ideal place to start my full-time career. Starting the permanent role of course brought much more responsibility. I was involved in meetings about software development, supporting customers, and even got SCRUM/Agile training that I believe will help me as my career progresses. The job taught me so much about communication, teamwork, deadlines, and how to interact with customers in a way I never learned in school. Ultimately, customers and product innovation are what drive businesses within the GIS field, and how well you perform your job simply comes from experiences that build on what you have learned in school.
Finally, the position also allowed me to expand my writing skills by creating several chapters of a new tutorial. The complexity of the software program that needed the documentation coupled with simplifying GIS concepts presented a new writing challenge, but one in which I grew in over time. My teachers had stressed the importance of technical writing, and this first job showed me I still had a lot to learn. On a daily basis as a GIS specialist you might be composing technical emails, performing customer support, documenting tasks in JIRA or other project management software, writing reports, or proposing new ideas. Demonstrating your ideas clearly and concisely requires great technical and business writing skills.
Most recently, I joined a company called Quantum3D in the South Bay that also works in the training and simulation industry, but specializes in flight simulation and making synthetic environments for airport areas. In this role I am the company's go-to GIS person. I figure out the best tools to use, find more efficient workflows, educate others on GIS, and perform quality assurance on geospatial data for our projects. The role is a nice progression from what I had done so far in my young career and has allowed me to see how another small company operates.
A big difference in this role is the amount of open source software being used. Instead of defaulting to Esri software, we use ArcGIS in combination with QGIS, PostGIS, and a few other programs. This lowers the cost of our workflow and allows us to be more creative and adaptive in coming up with solutions. QGIS 3.0 has just recently come out and I am now finding myself using that even more than ArcGIS! There are so many great features and plugins available. I was almost exclusively taught to use GIS on Esri products in my college classes, but I have learned that there are other options to explore and learning these can increase your skill set.
In the ten months that I have been in the Bay Area I have met many intelligent, dedicated, and inspiring people trying to come up with the next great idea or invention. I connected with a Penn State Alumni Association group early on after moving here that made me some great new friends, and I found out about BayGeo shortly thereafter. BayGeo is exactly the kind of organization I had hoped existed out here. I wanted to find a way to get involved with the group, so after talking with some BayGeo board members they asked me to help with social media. I helped to promote the GeoMixer held in March 2018, where I met many great people from the BayGeo community. It was a great event and reassuring to me that I had made a good decision to come out here. I look forward to helping with more BayGeo events in the future, particularly trying to host some South Bay events! Networking in ways like I did with BayGeo is extremely important since GIS is a relatively small field. I've made an effort to meet peers in my geographic area, attend conferences, listen to speakers, and build a LinkedIn network of connections. I can't wait to see where BayGeo goes moving forward.
Since I have been out here I have also been inspired to take more online classes in my free time (when I'm not hiking on the beaches and redwood forests) and learn more programming and project management skills. I am working on expanding my python skills and learning more web mapping for instance, along with more open source programs. There are some really great online classes that are either free, or very low cost such as classes on Udemy, Coursera, and other similar websites (don't forget YouTube!). For example, I have found classes for under 50 dollars that teach web mapping, PostGIS, and advanced spatial database concepts. Maybe in a few years I will pay the higher cost for official graduate level courses when I want to specialize in another area. Don't forget that there are GIS workshops being offered in connection with BayGeo! In the future, I hope to become a product manager for a geospatial software product as I think it will be a great way to tie together my technical, communication, and writing skills.
Thanks for taking the time to read my article and I look forward to meeting members of the BayGeo community at upcoming events and writing technical articles about my work in the future!
You can contact Andrew at firstname.lastname@example.com or on https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-homka/
Spring 2018 Volume 11 Issue 1
Connect with BayGeo on Twitter, Meetup, LinkedIn, Flickr Pool, Facebook, and the BayGeo homepage.


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Desperately under the Radar of State Censorship: Chinese LGBTQ* Communities and Social Media Usage
Love Out Loud
re:publica 2017
Short thesis:
China is mostly known for its restrictive Internet censorship, but a unique ecosystem of apps has been sprouting in lieu of all the European services that are inaccessible. One group that has been making use of these services is China's LGBTQIA* community, which navigates a highly conservative society using smartphones.
This talk will be based on research conducted in Shanghai in April 2016 and in Beijing in January 2017. After an overview of the situation of Chinese LGBTQIA* individuals in cities and rural areas, it will focus on the institution of "xinghun" (fake marriages between women and men identifying as lesbian, gay or bi) and how the community has been using technology to facilitate them.
Stage L2
Wednesday, May 10, 2017 - 11:15 to 11:45


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When Intel bought the technology behind Compaq's Alpha processor last week, it may have done more than simply eliminate a potential competitor.
The deal includes the transfer to Intel of Compaq engineers whose expertise working with a non-proprietary chip technology could speed processor performance -- a constant Intel goal. But what remains to be seen is how long it will take Intel to integrate the technology, Simultaneous Multithreading (SMT), into its chip lines.
SMT technology makes a single processor act as multiple processors, spreading and handling the workload more efficiently. For example, when a standard processor multitasks, it has to drop everything from one task before it can pick up the next task, but a multithreading processor can take multiple streams, or "threads," of information simultaneously. Using these threads of data, an SMT processor can process from four to 10 instructions per clock cycle, while a standard processor would only be completing between one and four instructions per cycle. There is also no need to port applications to take advantage of SMT technology.
Compaq is largely viewed as much further along in its work on SMT than are other vendors. The company planned to add SMT technology to the EV8 version of its Alpha processor, but with Intel's purchase of the Alpha technology, what would have been the EV8 will now be built into Intel's Itanium architecture. Intel is so far along in developing future versions of its Itanium 64-bit processors that contributions from Alpha engineers may not show up in its chip families anytime soon -- soon, that is, in chip time. It could be a couple of years at least before Intel begins using SMT in Itanium, analysts said.
"That's something we'll start talking about somewhere further along this year," Otto Pijpker, a spokesman for Intel said. "We're not disclosing where and when you'll first see it, but we'll talk about it."
Ongoing industry talk has it that Intel wants to add SMT technology to its 32-bit processor series. Many in the processor community expect Intel will roll out SMT with its next Pentium 4 release. Intel has remained mum on the topic, but following last week's purchase of Compaq's Alpha technology, Intel confirmed that it has been working on SMT.
One of the theories behind Intel's code of silence on SMT is that the company was worried that SMT on its 32-bit architecture would take a bite out of its long-delayed 64-bit Itanium rollout. That theory doesn't hold water because one of the key advantages of 64-bit over 32-bit is that the former can access more than 4G bytes of RAM, said Nathan Brookwood, principal analyst with Insight 64.
"The difference between what Intel's doing with Itanium and what it's doing with the 32-bit line is not one where absolute levels of performance are going to make any difference in what people are going to buy long term," Brookwood said. "I don't think they'd downplay (SMT) on 32-bit just to keep Itanium looking good."
At least one analyst thinks that Intel's acquisition of the Compaq engineers and technology may not be useful to the chip maker and its Itanium architecture.
"Frankly, I'd be surprised if the Alpha guys add any value here, I don't even know how many of these guys are going to transfer to Intel," said Linley Gwennap, principal analyst at the Linley Group. When Intel purchased the StrongARM technology and engineers in a similar deal with Digital Equipment Corp. in 1997, all of the engineers involved in the deal decided to walk, rather than work for Intel, Gwenapp said. He estimated the team was made up of about 20 engineers.
Even if the Compaq engineers do transfer to Intel, SMT technology might not work as well as planned with the architecture Intel has chosen for its 64-bit processors. "I'm not even sure that SMT is a good combination with the VLIW (very long instruction word) architecture they have adopted," Gwenapp said.
Although the exact numbers are not known, Intel will likely gain "several hundred" Alpha engineers in the deal, estimated Intel spokesman Bill Kircos. "There's not an exact number, it's kind of a gradual move," he said. "Some of them will be working (at Compaq) on Alpha for a year or two."
The first group of engineers transferred to Intel will be those who were working on the Alpha EV8, a Compaq spokesman said. Although the complete transfer of Alpha to Intel will not be final until 2004, aspects of the technology and certain employees will move over between now and then.
As Intel has become more talkative about SMT technology, it is somewhat downplaying the significance of Alpha engineers who will be working on SMT for Intel. "Our engineers are already looking at that, it wasn't something we weren't looking at before," Kircos said of SMT.
If Intel does plan to introduce SMT to its 32-bit processors, you can bet that the company will quickly follow with SMT on Itanium. Compaq has said it will release one more version of the Alpha processor, the EV7, before it completely transfers the technology to Intel. The following processor, the EV8, which was to offer 4-way SMT, will now be part of Itanium's future, as part of the deal between the two companies.
"I think they'll be taking SMT technology and incorporating it into their 64-bit line," Brookwood said. "Who better to do that than people who have been doing that a long time with Alpha?"
However, Intel's current engineers and those involved in the project on the next generation 64-bit chip, code named McKinley, might not welcome the Alpha crew with open arms, Gwennap said.
Currently, Santa Clara, California-based Intel has most of its key designers at its headquarters, while most of the work being done on McKinley is taking place at Hewlett-Packard Co.'s (HP's) campus in Fort Collins, Colorado. Itanium is a joint project between Intel and HP. Neither of those teams is likely to sit back and let the Alpha team take over, Gwenapp said.
When all things are said and done, end users probably won't see the first products from Intel's newly acquired engineers and technology for some time. McKinley is already sampling, and much of the work has also started on the followups, code named Deerfield and Madison, so it's not likely that the Alpha team will have much input on those products either, Kircos said.
"There is a chance, but likely it will be after those two processors -- and we haven't even provided code names for those yet," he said of the successors to Madison and Deerfield.


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Student visa applications on slide in Australia: Report
Student visa applications on slide in Australia: Report
Australia has recorded a drop of almost 63 per cent in offshore international student visa applications from India in the last financial year, according to latest official data...
Source: [ www.2classnotes.com ]
Australia, International Student Visa Applications from India, Student Visa Applications, Immigration Department, Student Visa Programme, China, Melbourne University Higher Education Expert Simon Marginson, India
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Afrozaar was responsible for streamlining the VOD workflow process and moving all Kent Media Group's video processing, hosting and streaming to AWS.
Kent media group were dissatisfied with flexibility and cost they were offered by their existing video streaming provider. Most commercial video streaming providers lock you into their service by not giving the client direct access to their raw video files after the video has been uploaded into their system.
In the case of KMTV the video capture and upload process was also a very manual one which proved to be very time consuming. The channel broadcast live programs at fixed times during the day, and once these live broadcasts were complete, the editor had to pull the raw video file from the camera hardware and upload 4K video to the video streaming provider.
- Afrozaar started a project in late 2017 to firstly migrate all the existing video files into S3.
- Once all the files were migrated they needed to be transcoded into HLS to allow our adaptive bitstream video player to stream the video to web and mobile. This was achieved at the time using AWS Elastic transcoder by means of a simple iterative script. This effectively replaced the VOD solution that was in place. The results can be seen at https://www.kentonline.co.uk/kmtv
- Afrozaar then provisioned a WOWZA streaming engine instance from AWS marketplace and configured the KMTV video hardware to stream to this server providing on-the-fly transcoding and streaming for live broadcasting.
- By means of a number of lambda functions and making use of CloudWatch rules to trigger the start and end of a program recordings, KMTV programs are now automatically published to their website minutes after the live broadcast is complete without any manual intervention.
Of late we have moved the transcoding process from ElasticTranscoder to make use of MediaConvert.
All video assets are also served through CloudFront leveraging AWS's high speed global infrastructure. KMTV currently stream about 8TB of video content per month and are currently the UK's fastest growing regional news website.


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Together, Dwelling Depot and Lowe's comprise a digital duopoly in the residence improvement retail industry. Lowe's has gone after the skilled customer, who spends much more than individual do-it-yourselfers, arduous with new manufacturers, however many analysts really feel Home Depot has extra renown on that entrance, that means Lowe's might must step up its advertising in one more potential blow to profits.
"We don't do these exclusive partnerships with every vendor." In doubling down on a deal with Sherwin-Williams, Lowe's will section out different paint brands in stores over time. In case you get additional playing cards for workers you control their line of credit, and once they use playing cards your account earns the rewards.
Next-Day Delivery for In-Retailer Purchases or Purchases Made Through Our Customer Care Name Centers: Subsequent-day delivery could also be out there on any in-stock major equipment for in-retailer or Customer Care Name Middle purchases solely. Seinfeld also mentioned that Lowe's Home Enchancment is trying to take over both of these storefronts and open up a new location at the shopping heart.
To view their design, customers walked into the Holoroom holding an iPad and experienced their room in 3D house, at full dimension. 5{30ef19e0eda523b7713372f0be49a9d955a8504ec1d9116fe6a14b7f6dfa86ef} off every single day while you use Lowe's Business Credit. Cellphone rings for 15m with nobody selecting up. Name lowe's customer support third time.
The expertise is a continuation on Lowe's augmented, virtual and combined actuality testing in its stores, beginning with the Holoroom debut in 2014, followed by the launch of Lowe's Vision app last November, to the latest introduction of its In-Retailer Navigation app in March.


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LANCASTER, Pa. – Franklin & Marshall's Rachel Wylie and Lindsey Powers were named to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division III All-Region Team for the Mideast Region.
Both earned the honor for the first time with Wylie being named in the 400m Hurdles and Powers for the Shot Put. The top-five individuals in each event from each region earned All-Region distinction.
To view a complete list, click here.
Wylie (State College, Pa. / State College) delivered her fastest finish in the 400m Hurdles during the preliminaries of the Centennial Conference (CC) Championships, with her time of 1:02.57 earning the junior a bid to the 2019 NCAA Championships this weekend.
Powers (Jupiter, Fla. / Peddie School) notched a record-breaking performance to close out her career, resetting the program record in the Shot Put at the ECAC Championships with a toss of 12.72m on May 16.


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On 16 January, the EU donated equipment to improve the waste management system in the Puchavičy District near the Belarusian city of Marjina Horka. A new bulldozer, among other equipment received from the EU, will enable local housing and communal services to eliminate spontaneous landfills in the district and organise the collection of electronic and electrical waste in rural areas.
According to an EU press release, the Puchavičy District has a large number of garden associations, whose members often contribute to the creation of unauthorized landfills next to their partnerships. All this equipment will help to remove garbage, clean up littered areas and plant forests.
The equipment was donated as part of the EU-funded project "Strengthening Waste Management Services for the Rural Population of Puchavičy District".
Since it began in January 2016, the project has helped develop an integrated waste management strategy in the Puchavičy District, and seven educational institutions have installed containers for composting organic waste. The project has also supported awareness raising about waste management among local residents.
Source: EC


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The LIRN© Core Collection contains millions of articles, television and radio transcripts, photographs, video and audio clips, encyclopedias, ebooks and reference titles.
To access these resources off campus, login to Moodle. Click "Library Online". Then click "How to Access Research Databases". You will be provided with the login and passwords for each database.


text: logging in or signing up designeer shop shop Download Post to : URL : Related Presentations : Let's Connect Share Add to Flag Embed Email Add to Channel Copy embed code: Embed: Flash iPad Dynamic Copy Does not support media & animations Automatically changes to Flash or non-Flash embed WordPress Embed Customize Embed Use HTTPS URL: Copy Thumbnail: Copy The presentation is successfully added In Your Favorites. Views: 242 Category: Business & Fin.. License: All Rights Reserved Like it (0) Dislike it (0) Added: July 20, 2008 This Presentation is Public Favorites: 1 Presentation Description a shop of fancy sarees dresses Comments Posting comment... Premium member Presentation Transcript Slide 1: ANJALI SILK SELECTION KURTI : KURTI Long kurti of cotton material with beautiful neck . M.R.P.450/- You do not have the permission to view this presentation. In order to view it, please contact the author of the presentation.


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If you take a peek into my closet (or last week's fashion round-up), it's obvious that gray is my favorite neutral for winter. It's also a great color for decorating because it's a chameleon color - depending on whether it has brown or blue undertones, gray can be completely cozy and warm, or cool and peaceful. Here are a few inspirational rooms from around the web that demonstrate how versatile gray can be in creating just the right atmosphere.
The blue undertones in the gray bookcases, ikat pillows, and furry pouf give this room a peaceful feeling. It's traditional with a lot of modern touches to keep it fun. I especially love the simple leaves in glass vases on each side of the mantel.
The gold wall color and rug in this room keep the gray sofa from seeming too modern or cool. There's a nice mix of patterns and I like the assymetrical grouping of frames above the desk. What a great space for living and working!
This office reminds me of my friend Lizzy - I think it's the owl lamp and cute rug, but the exposed brick wall is also very Charlottesville to me. The star here is the chair! The brick wall and natural wood keep the gray touches from being too cool.
This office is really more brown than gray, on the "French Roast" end of the spectrum. I love how warm the mix of painted and wooden finishes is.
I love this bedroom - check out that antiqued, mirrored nihtstand!
The cozy factor here doesn't come from the shades of gray so much as the texture. I just want to lean against that tufted headboard and read a book! This is the look that I strive for in our bedroom.
The wall color in this dining area is beautiful and unexpected, and I like the painted chairs. My favorite detail is the teal birdcage in the corner!
This is a very traditional room, and I love the idea of using a sofa as dining room seating!
For more ideas for using grays in home decor, check out my post on last year's Pantone gray, Orchid Hush.


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Ebony, our newest female music sensation from Ghana, popularly known as the "90's bad girl" has been phenomenal in the Ghanaian Music Industry within a short space of time.
We have a curated list of songs she's released below. Check them out and download your favourites.
1. Ebony – Dancefloor (Prod by Guilty Beatz) – Download
2. Ebony – Kupe (Prod by Peewezel) – Download
3. Ebony – Haters Anthem ft Rudebwoy Ranking (Prod by Tom Beatz) – Download
4. Ebony – Poison Ft Gatdoe (Prod By B2) – Download
5. Ebony – Ediot (Prod. by K'oporate Beatz) (Dirty) – Download
6. Ebony – Ediot (Prod. by K'oporate Beatz) (Clean) – Download
7. EBony – Scream (Prod By Hypelyrix) – Download
8. EBony – Sponsor (Prod By Willis Beatz) – Download
9. Eno x Ebony – Obiaa Ba Ny3 (Prod. by Mix Masta Garzy) – Download
10. Ebony – Sponsor (Remix) ft. Shatta Wale (Prod. by Willis Beatz) – Download
11. Ebony – Twerk (Abra Gyal Riddim) (Prod By Jusa Dementor) – Download
12. Ebony – Date Ur Fada (Prod. by Danny Beatz) – Download
13. Willis Beatz x EBony – Sponsor (House Remix) – Download
14. EBony – Hustle ft Brella (Prod By DannyBeatz) – Download
15. Ebony – Aseda (Prod. by Kasapa Beat) – Download
Abi you like am? You feel am? Jams!
Now Sharelam!!!


text: Joan is passionate about biodiversity and has been for many years. She has created several gardens to support and encourage wildlife. She is a Garden Club of Toronto and Stouffville Garden Club member, a Toronto Master Gardener and a Royal Botanical Gardens Certified Horticulture Judge. She has given several lectures and demonstrations about a variety of subjects over the past 10 years.


text: On Tuesday I drove up to a hillside park to get above the clouds and look for the comet. I arrived just a few minutes before sunset and found a large group of people with telescopes, binoculars and cameras lined up along the western side of the hill. The sun set, the moon came out, and the comet slowly came into view. I left just after the moon set a little over an hour later. More photos and write-up at K-Squared Ramblings.


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I Just Graduated with My Graphic Arts Degree – Now What?
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text: Greetings weary travelers and welcome to another episode of The Bard's Tavern! , This week we got a special episode for you guys , we have been saving this interview for a good bit and it is finally going live on our podcast! We got to interview Par Sundstrom of the Swedeish power metal band " SABATON" one of the favorite bands of many of us here in the tavern. We talk about the bands music, their love of touring and writing process of the music. We hope you guys will enjoy this episode as it is our first live recorded ! So take a eat and grab a drink and enjoy this interview.