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As pioneers of digital transformation, we deeply understand legacy institutions, new network models, and how to marry old power with new.
Our Story
Formerly digital strategy firm Communicopia, our expertise was honed over twenty plus years leading digital innovation projects for nearly a thousand non-profits, from start-ups to grassroots orgs to large global institutions.
Long ago we noticed the transformative opportunity a digital project offered as senior leaders asked big questions about what their story, audience, and offering means today. Many who embraced our "whole systems listening" process realized they were refreshing much more than their digital strategy.
Together we were co-creating 21st Century upgrades for their institutions. The long term impacts on organizational focus, morale, and campaign success were phenomenal.
NetChange Consulting takes this approach a step further. With a team of some of the most experienced change-leaders in the space, our unique blend of digital strategy, campaign planning, organizational change and leadership development helps institutions, networks, and teams get un-stuck and find fresh purpose, focus, and direction for our radically changed world.
Jason Mogus
– Principal Strategist
Tom Liacas
– Senior Strategist
Meredith Horowski
– Strategist
Keegan McEvoy
– Executive Assistant
Our Impact
- Exclusively worked for social change organizations, always + forever
- Donated $750,000+ of pro bono services or cash to grassroots non-profits
- Founded + managed for 14 years the Web of Change conference + community
- Created world's first report on Non-profit Digital Teams (2011 + 2014)
- Executive produced over 1,000 websites, videos, or social campaigns for change
- Work covered in three books, dozens of newspapers, online, TV


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Variation in Milk Fatty Acid Composition with Body Condition in Dairy Buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis)
Journal title :
Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
Volume 23, Issue 3,
2010, pp.340-346
Publisher :
Asian Australasian Association of Animal Production Societies
Title & Authors
Variation in Milk Fatty Acid Composition with Body Condition in Dairy Buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis)
Qureshi, Muhammad Subhan; Mushtaq, Anila; Khan, Sarzamin; Habib, Ghulam; Swati, Zahoor Ahmad;
Buffaloes usually maintain higher body condition and do not produce milk at the cost of their own body reserves under tropical conditions. The mobilization of body reserves for fulfilling the demands of lactation has been extensively studied in dairy cows while limited work is available on this aspect in dairy buffaloes. Therefore, the present study was conducted to examine variations in milk fatty acid profiles with body condition in Nili-Ravi buffaloes. A total of 24 Nili-Ravi buffaloes within 60 days after parturition, were selected from a private dairy farm in the district of Peshawar. All animals consumed the same diet during the experimental period. A total of 576 raw milk samples were collected for laboratory analysis. The study continued up to 6 months during 2008. Body condition score (BCS), milk yield and composition were recorded once a week. Means for milk fatty acid profile were compared for various levels of BCS. The mean milk yield and fat content were 9.28 kg/d and 5.36%, respectively. The total saturated fatty acids (SFA) were 64.22 g/100 g and the unsaturated fatty acids (UFA) were 35.79 g/100 g. Of the SFA the highest amount was recorded for
, followed by
, and
. The total sum of hypercholesterolemic fatty acids (HCFA,
) was 43.33 g/100 g. The concentrations of UFA were greater for moderate BCS followed by poor and highest BCS while SFA showed the opposite trend. The correlation analysis showed that milk yield was negatively affected by BCS and milk fat positively affected, though non-significantly. The present study suggests that Nili-Ravi dairy buffaloes produce similar milk to dairy cows regarding availability of cardioprotective fatty acids, with the highest concentration of
. Two HCFA (
) were associated with higher body condition. Buffaloes with moderate body condition yielded milk containing healthier fatty acids.
Body Condition;Saturated Fatty Acids;Unsaturated Fatty Acids;Hypercholestrolemic Fatty Acids;Dairy Buffaloes;
Cited by
1time(s) in
Milk fatty acid profile from grazing buffaloes fed a blend of soybean and linseed oils, Arquivo Brasileiro de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia, 2015, 67, 3, 927
Banks, W. 1987. Opportunities for varying the composition of cows' milk. J. Soc. Dairy Technol. 40:96
Bath, D. L., F. N. Dickinson, H. A. Tucker and R. D. Appleman. 1985. Dairy Cattle: Principle, Practices, Problems, Profits. 3rd ed. Lea and Febiger, Washington Square, Philadelphia
Belitz, H.-D. and W. Grosch. 1999. Food chemistry. In milk and dairy products. 2nd edition. Spinger-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp. 470-472
Bemelmans, W. J. E., J. Broer and E. J. M. Feskens. 2002. Effect of an increased intake of linolenic acid and group nutritional education on cardiovascular risk factors: The Mediterranean Alpha-linolenic Enriched Groningen Dietary Intervention (MARGARIN) study. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 75:221-227
Chillard, Y., A. Ferlay, R. M. Mansbridge and M. Doreau. 2000. Ruminant milk fat plasticity: nutritional control of saturated, polyunsaturated, trans and conjugated fatty acids. Ann. Zootech. 49:181-205
Chouinard, P.Y., L. Corneau, A. Saebo, and D.E. Bauman. 1999. Milk yield and composition during abomasal infusion of conjugated linoleic acids in dairy cows. J. Dairy Sci. 82:2737-2745
Christie, W. W. 1981. The composition, structure and function of lipids in the tissues of ruminant animals. Pages 95-191 in Lipid Metabolism in Ruminant Animals (Ed. W. W. Christie). Pergamon Press, Oxford, UK
Christie, W. W. 1982. A simple procedure for rapid transmethylation of glycerolipids and cholestrol esters. J. Lipids Res. 23:1072-1075
Clandinin, M. T., S. L. Cook, S. D. Konrad and M. A. French. 2000. The effect of palmitic acid on lipoprotein cholesterol levels. Int. J. Food Sci. Nutr. 51:S61-S71
Corl, B. A., D. M. Barbano, D. E. Bauman and C. Ip. 2003. cis-9, trans-11 CLA derived endogenously from trans-11 18:1 reduces cancer risk in rats. J. Nutr. 133:2893-2900
Djousse, L., J. S. Pankow and J. H. Eckfeldt. 2001. Relation between dietary linolenic acid and coronary artery disease in the national heart, lung, and blood institute. Family Heart Study. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 74:612-619
Enoch, H. G., A. Catala and P. Strittmatter. 1976. Mechanism of rat liver microsomal stearoyl-CoA desaturase. J. Biol. Chem. 251:5095-5103
Feng, S., A. L. Lock and P. C. Gansworthy. 2004. A rapid method for determining fatty acid composition of milk. J. Dairy Sci. 87:3785-3788
Fernandes, S. A. A., W. R. S. Mattos, S. V. Matarazzo, H. Tonhati, M. A. S. Gama and D. P. D. Lanna. 2007. Total fatty acids in Murrah buffaloes milk on commercial farms in Brazil. Ital. J. Anim. Sci. 6(Suppl.2):1063-1066
Garnsworthy, P. C. and J. H. Topps. 1982. The effect of body condition score at calving on their food intake and performance when given complete diets. Anim. Prod. 35:113-119
Grummer, R. R. 1991. Effect of feed on the composition of milk fat. J. Dairy Sci. 74:3244-3257
Ha, Y. L., J. Strokson and M. W. Pariza. 1990. Inhibition of Benzo (a)-pyrene-induced mouse forestomach neopalasia by conjugated dienoic derivatives of linoleic acid. Cancer Res. 50:1097-1101
Hayes, K. C. and D. R. Khosla. 1992. Dietary fatty acid thresholds and cholesterolemia. FASEB J. 6:2600-2607
Ip, C., M. Singh, H. J. Thompson and J. A. Scimeca. 1994. Conjugated linoleic acid suppresses mammary carcinogenesis and proliferative activity of the mammary gland in the rat. Cancer Res. 54:1212-1215
Lake, S. L., T. R. Weston, E. J. Scholljegerdes, C. M. Murrieta, B. M. Alexander, D. C. Rule, G. E. Moss and B. W. Hess. 2006. Effects of postpartum dietary fat and body condition score at parturition on plasma. J Anim. Sci. published online Oct 23, 2006; http://jas.fass.org. dowloaded on 17th August 2009
Lock, A. L. and K. J. Shingfield. 2004. Optimising milk composition. In: Dairying-Using Science to Meet Consumers' Needs (Ed. E. Kebreab, J. Mills and D. E. Beever). Occ. Pub. No. 29, Brit. Soc. Anim. Sci., Nottingham University Press, Loughborough, UK. pp. 107-188
Lock, A. L. and P. C. Garnsworthy. 2003. Seasonal variation in milk conjugated linoleic acid and Δ9-desaturase activity in dairy cows. Livest. Prod. Sci. 79:47-59
McNamara, J. P., D. C. McFarland and S. Bai. 1987. Regulation of bovine adipose tissue metabolism during lactation. 3. Adaptations of hormone sensitive and lipoprotein lipases. J. Dairy Sci. 70:1377-1384
Mihaylova, G. and T. Peeva. 2007. Trans fatty acids and conjugated linoleic acid in the buffalo milk. Ital. J. Anim. Sci. 6(Suppl. 2):1056-1059
Palmquist, D. L., A. D. Beaulieu and D. M. Barbano. 1993. Feed and animal factors influencing milk fat composition. J. Dairy Sci. 76:1753-1771
Pascal, G. 1996. Les apports quotidiens recommandes en lipides et en acides gras. OCL, 3:205-210
Payne, E., T. E. Trigg, P. V. Rattray, G. B. Nicoll and D. C. Smeaton. 1979. The biochemical assessment of energy status in the grazing lactating ruminant. Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production 39:233-241
Pedron, O., F. Cheli, E. Senatore, D. Baroli and R. Rizzi. 1993. Effect of body condition score at calving on performance, some blood parameters, and milk fatty acid composition in dairy cows. J. Dairy Sci. 76:2528-2535
Peters, A. R. and P. J. H. Ball. 1987. Reproduction in cattle. Butterworths, London. 167-168
Pryce, J. E., M. P. Coffey, S. H. Brotherstone and J. A. Woolliams. 2002. Genetic relationship between calving interval and body condition score conditional on milk yield. J. Dairy Sci. 85: 1590-1595
Qureshi, M. S., S. Khan and N. Ahmad. 2007. Pregnancy depresses milk yield in dairy buffaloes. Ital. J. Anim. Sci. 6(Suppl.2):1290-1293
Smith, T. R. and J. P. McNamara. 1990. Regulation of bovine adipose tissue metabolism during lactation. 6. Cellularity andhormone-sensitive lipase activity as affected by genetic merit and energy intake. J. Dairy Sci. 73:772-783
SPSS, Inc. 1999. SPSS, Models 10.0. Chicago
Steel, R. G. D. and J. H. Torrie. 1980. Principals and procedures of statistics-A biometrical approach. 2nd ed. McGraw hill Book Company, New York
Talpur, F. N., M. I. Bhangera, A. A. Khooharob and G. Zuhra Memon. 2008. Seasonal variation in fatty acid composition of milk from ruminants reared under the traditional feeding system of Sindh, Pakistan. Livest. Sci. 118:166-172
Turpeinen, A., M. Mutanen, A. Aro, I. Salminen, S. Basu, D. Palmquist and M. Griinari. 2002. Bioconversion of vaccinic acid to conjugated linoleic acid in humans. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 76:504-510
Veerkamp, R. F. 1998. Selection for economic efficiency of dairy cattle using information on live weight and feed intake: A review. J. Dairy Sci. 81:1109-1119
Veerkamp, R. F. and S. Brotherstone. 1997. Genetic correlations between linear type traits, food intake, live weight and condition score in Holstein Friesian cattle. Anim. Sci. 64:385-392
Williams, C. M. 2000. Dietary fatty acids and human health. Annales de Zootechnie. 49:165-180
Yin, D., M. J. Griffin and T. D. Etherton, 2001. Analysis of the signal pathways involved in the regulation of fatty acid synthase gene expression by insulin and somatotropin. J. Anim. Sci. 79:1194-1200
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Japanese Horse-Drawn Carriage Table Lighter, 1959
This nice figural table lighter was manufactured between 1959 and 1961 in Japan. The base of the lighter is made of ceramic and is hand-painted. It depicts a Japanese horse-drawn carriage. Two people are sitting on the carriage – one person on each…Read More Here! 0


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Mario de Armas joined Walmart in January 2011 as the Senior Director of International Payments where his job is to leverage Walmarts scale and global relationships to lower the cost of accepting payments in the 23 countries outside the US where Walmart operates. Prior to joining Walmart, Mr. de Armas spent seven years a The Home Depot where he managed their private label business for Canada, Mexico and China as well as working to address The Home Depots cost of bankcard credit and debit in the United States. In recent years, Mr. de Armas has been active in pushing for swipe fee reform both inside and outside the US as he lobbied congress in support of the Durbin Amendment and testified at the Canadian Competition Bureaus tribunal against Visa and MasterCard. Mr. de Armas has also been active in pressing for interchange reform at the state level and has met with several state Attorneys General and has testified in hearings in both the Georgia and Florida State Houses. Prior to moving to the retail industry, Mr. de Armas spent over ten years in the credit card industry working for First USA / Bank One, (now JP Morgan Chase), Metris (now HSBC) and Juniper Bank (now Barclay Card) with a focus on Partnership, Event and Internet Marketing. Mr. de Armas is a native of South Carolina and he holds two undergraduate degrees from the University of South Carolina and an MBA from the University of Minnesota. He has been active and held leadership roles in several organizations including Big Brothers /Big Sisters, National Society of Hispanic MBAs and HOGAR. Mario has recently relocated to Northwest Arkansas.
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Salad Spinner or two clean kitchen towels
Small Kitchen Bowl
Chopping Board
Kitchen Shears or Good Chopping Knife OR Food Processor
Wooden Spoon or Spatula
Set of Measuring Spoons
Wax or Parchment paper
Ice cube trays or small muffin tins
1 Stick (8 Tablespoons or 1/4 Pound) of Sweet butter, softened
1 1/2 to 2 1/2 Tablespoons of chopped Chives
1. Set the stick of butter out on the counter to warm up and soften.
2. Wash and spin dry to remove as much moisture as possible from the Chives, picking through the leaves to remove woody stems and damaged, discolored leaves.
3. Gather the herb sprigs into small bunches and finely chop with the chopping knife or snip in small pieces over a piece of wax or parchment paper.
4. In a small bowl, combine the soft butter and the chopped Chives with a wooden spoon until well blended.
3. Place 3 to 5 sprigs of Chives into the bowl of the processor and pulse several times to chop fine, scraping the bowl down with the wooden spoon or spatula between each pulse to assure even chopping.
4. Add the softened butter to the processor bowl and pulse, again, scraping the sides of the bowl between each pulse to mix ingredients well.
5. Divide the butter by Tablespoons into the ice trays (for cube shaped butter patties) or small muffin tins (for round butter patties) and freeze in the freezer.
6. Once frozen, remove the butter patties from the trays or tins and store in an air-tight container such as a freezer bag or glass jar in the freezer.
NOTE: You can also remove the butter from the bowl onto a sheet of wax paper, and, as it starts to set up, gently roll it into a roll with the help of the paper. Once the roll has formed, add another layer of wax paper and twist the ends to seal tightly. Place the roll on the freezer shelf to freeze. To serve, these rolls can be unwrapped and sliced into discs for serving with savory toasts, over mashed or baked potatoes or new potatoes and a variety of other applications requiring butter.


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Ashland Coffee & Tea has been serving delicious food and beverages for over twenty years, and has been a live music venue hosting some of the best local and national artists of many genres, including folk, roots-rock, jazz, bluegrass, rhythm and blues, country, and Americana.
Check out our food menu!
During performances you can order food from our show menu and enjoy a variety of wines, beer, coffee drinks, and desserts. As always, visit this site for information about upcoming shows and ordering tickets!
Visit us on Facebook!


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On a summer day that flip-flopped between sun and rain, Julie Bragg was surrounded by children in the pool at her north Macon swim school, also her home.
As she tried to get them into the swing of the day's swim lesson, a few were crying. Or at least not cooperating.
"Is there anything wrong with Turner, other than his head?" Bragg asked the mother of one fearful child.
It's a common scene for Bragg, who's been known to throw uncooperative children into the pool and was even once called the "Swim Nazi" by her own son.
It all began 44 years ago with the novel luxury of a backyard pool when her family was living in Monroe, Louisiana. Bragg not only was worried about the safety of her children but also for the safety of the neighborhood kids. One class in water safety later and she was on what turned into a lifelong path.
In fact, her teaching career may have begun even earlier. She remembers trying to teach her neighbors to swim by a kiddie pool when she herself was only 9 or so.
"I stood on a stool and dived into their sidewalk and knocked myself out," she said, "But I was teaching them how to dive."
These days, a lot of the kids in the pool are the children of children she taught way back when. Susan Watson was a student as a 2-year-old. Her son has been a Bragg Swim School student since he was 11 months old.
"I remember the big metal circle ring she still uses today when you would jump off the diving board. Or in my case sometimes be thrown off the diving board," Watson said.
What about that tossing kids in the pool and the rest of the no-nonsense Bragg teaching style? Watson, an elementary school teacher, has made up her mind.
"There are plenty of friends of mine that, you know, said, 'Oh, I could never take my child there, I couldn't let her throw him in the pool, ' " she said.
For them, Watson offers this advice.
"Then you don't need to be here," she said.
Bragg sums up her style simply.
"Brain or pain, yeah, that's my thing," she said. "Brain or pain, take your pick."
It came up with a group at the diving board.
"We learn by brain or what?" she asked.
"Pain," the children responded, without hesitation.
Bragg says that the rule works on land, too.
"You could say think or feel," she said. "If you didn't have that lesson in life, you'd keep burning your fingers on the stove. You'd keep sticking a knife in your hand."
The older kids are easier. Most of them have been with Bragg long enough to be well past any innate fear of water. With them, she can work on advanced strokes. The atmosphere is relaxed, less charged.
Near the end of their class, she arranged them in a circle. Together they leaned back and chanted in sing-song unison.
"Now we're going to do the Backfloat Flower. Arms on the water, ears on the water, tummy on the water," they said.
Bragg and the children float away from each other like petals on the water.
For Bragg, the road of teaching has always run both ways.
"I've learned more than I could ever teach," she said.
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Grants for Nonprofits
This compilation focuses primarily on grants or funding sources for nonprofit organizations. A few categories (marked with an asterisk) are also of interest to individuals. If you are interested in academic support or financial aid, you should also take a look at Grants for Individuals.
Phone: 1-800-500-1554 and 1-517-355-2345. 100 Library, East Lansing, MI 48824 USA. Email us: firstname.lastname@example.com
© 2006 Michigan State University Board of Trustees. MSU is an affirmative-action, equal-opportunity employer.
Michigan State University Acceptable Use Policy of Computing & Digital Networks


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Looking to add a decent sound system to your laptop -- or perhaps even a small TV? When you're doing an end run around tiny built-in speakers, there's nowhere to go but up.
For a limited time, and while supplies last, Meritline has the refurbished Logitech Z313 2.1-channel speaker system for $19.96 shipped. That's after applying coupon code MLCSUMMER20 at checkout. (Meritline's codes do expire after a fixed number of uses; as of this writing, it was still working.)
Update: Apologies, folks. Looks like the coupon has expired and Meritline has jacked the price up to $30.99.
This 25-watt system includes two satellite speakers and a subwoofer. As even novice audiophiles know, the latter makes a huge difference in the overall depth and quality of the sound you'll hear.
If you're putting the Z313 on a desk alongside a laptop or monitor, you'll appreciate the wired volume control, which includes a headphone jack for those times when you want to listen on your own.
I think these would make an especially good match for a den or bedroom TV. Just plug them into the TV's headphone jack and you're good to go. And because they have their own power supply, you don't have to worry about whether your TV has a powered USB port.
Even if you miss out on the coupon code, the regular price of $24.99 is pretty excellent for a three-piece speaker system -- especially considering that it sells new for $50.
The only downside is the warranty: there isn't one, only a 30-day replacement policy. Sometimes that's the price of scoring a particularly sweet deal.
Bonus deal: Game time! Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7 for iOS is on sale for just 99 cents. It was $4.99 when I previewed it just two months ago. Since then, I've had the chance to actually play it -- and it's a blast. Oh, I mean, my kids think it's a blast. Yeah, that's it.
Deals found on The Cheapskate are subject to availability, expiration, and other terms determined by sellers.
Curious about what exactly The Cheapskate does and how it works? Read our FAQ.


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Chicago: "I'm not sure how to approach 2014 business planning," Martin said before explaining his reasoning, "I don't think anyone is taking this as seriously as they should and it's aggravating. I'm leaning towards setting personal targets and changing the bonus structure."
With business planning an annual affair, it's a sad commentary that Martin is so upset with his teams buy-in that he's prepared to exclude them and lower, possibly eliminate, bonuses. A bit radical, yes, but our advisor research tells us that Martin has a lot of company.
Before making such a radical move, I suggested that Martin follow the following 5 Steps to Improving Your Team's Business Planning; all of which are best initiated at a team offsite …
Step 1: Review 2013 team goals with the entire team – In order for team members to take team goals seriously, progress must be tracked and an annual review conducted. And of course this must involve the entire team. This review will highlight the importance of achieving targets that have been established, as well as how seriously you, the team leader, view these annual team goals.
Step 2: Revisit Individual Areas of Responsibility – Your job as team leader or senior advisor, is to make absolutely certain that everyone recognizes how their area of responsibility is connected to achieving the team's goals. This goes beyond simply performing their job. This is about each individual "stepping up" within their areas of responsibility and making certain they are contributing to annual goal accomplishment. Each individual should have a clear understanding of what is required of them, where they must "step-it-up," in order to assist the team in reaching their goals.
Step 3: Establish 2014 Goals – It is important to link annual goals to a long range business plan, or a lofty future target such as the Project $1 Billion (assets under management) or Project $5 Million (annual production) set by teams we coach. These long-range targets become the mantra for reinforcing the seriousness of hitting the 2014 goal targets. This is a command performance as every team member needs to be fully aware of the 2014 goals and where they are committing to "step-it-up" (see Step 2) in order to contribute. Individual bonuses should be linked to individual performance that includes their "step-it-up" action plan.
Step 4: Quarterly 2014 Goal Inspection– Whether it's raising children or leading a team, it's critical to inspect what is expected. A quarterly team meeting that has one purpose: assessing progress towards 2014 goal achievement. To set the tone and get everyone's attention, this meeting is best held off site for 2-3 hours. This establishes the seriousness of your 2014 goals, everyone is accountable, and either you're on track or not. Are we on target? If not, why? What adjustments need to be made and by whom? If on target – what's working, how do we maintain the momentum?
If not, you make the necessary adjustments in order to get back on track. Quarterly bonuses linked to progress and individual contributions are very helpful during this inspection step.
Step 5: Encourage Collaboration – Healthy teams are those where team members pitch-in without being told to help out whenever necessary. This "helping a fellow team member" is a mindset that must be instilled by the team leader through both actions and words. A good starting place is Step 2 when identifying individual "step-it-up" action plans for each individual. We have also found that daily huddles encourage this type of goal-focused collaboration.
There is no guarantee that Martin will take the time and effort to execute these 5 steps – but you can. And if you do, you're likely to dramatically impact your team's business planning and 2014 goals.
If you have any good ideas on business planning, I'd love to hear them – let us know.
The Oechsli Institute does ongoing research and coaching for nearly every major financial services firm in the US. To take the first step towards coaching with The Oechsli Institute, complete the pre-coaching business profile for a complimentary consultation.


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The Westin Virginia Beach Town Center Hotel is Committed to Green Meetings
We are undergoing a full renovation of our meeting and event space. Come experience our fresh new look starting mid-February 2018.
The Westin Virginia Beach Town Center is a proud participant in both the statewide Virginia Green program and EarthPact, a Crestline Hotels & Resorts green initiative focused on sustainable hotel practices. From lighting and temperature controls to green meetings, The Westin Virginia Beach is one VA Beach hotel that is committed to reducing its carbon footprint and improving sustainable practices at every level of operations. Currently rated Silver (3) in the 4-level program, this hotel is a certified member of Virginia Green Lodging, and participates in green meeting practices, such as:
- Clean-up crews are trained to recycle all recyclable materials from conferences, receptions, etc.
- Recycling areas are well marked and displayed throughout the facility and are easily accessible.
- Reusable serving containers and table cloths are used.
- Reusable dishes, silverware, and napkins are provided for conference participants.
- Provide water and other beverages in pitchers or other bulk dispensers.
Certified member of Virginia Green Lodging
- Recycling bins added to all guest rooms
- Recycling practiced property-wide
- Eco-friendly housekeeping, cleaning chemicals
- Hold quarterly energy audits
- Hybrid Car Parking Spaces
- Use of CFL Bulbs
- Align with a local charitable organization to donate used, linens, bath amenities and unexpired food
- Recycle Printer Cartridges, cell phones and batteries
- Stock Paper contains 30% recycled materials
- Toilet Tissue, facial tissue and paper hand towels property wide are made from recycled materials
- Regular scheduled preventative maintenance on HVAV and kitchen maintenance
- Hold quarterly energy audits
- Minimize and consolidate deliveries between Food & Beverage and Housekeeping
- Furniture donation
- Eliminate paper-based local telephone directories
- Temperature setting and drapery standards in guest room and office space
- Transition to motion detector light switches in all closet, offices and ice machine landing on the floors
- Green Meetings initiative: E-Communication, paperless billing, sustainable menu items


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Welcome to Towntalk.org.uk
TownTalk are the leading experts in the development and hosting of web sites for town centres, shopping centres, communities and independent organisations and businesses. With over 800 web sites created, we have the experience and software to design everything from a bespoke micro-site to a complete, interactive city centre gateway.
TownTalk also specialise in town centre consultancy providing a wide range of essential services for the busy urban regeneration team; from base-line assessments and auditing to comprehensive marketing and regeneration proposals.
Of course, it´s the multi award-winning TownTalk network for which the TownTalk name is best known. More than 100 towns and cities working together to promote the attractions and unique appeal of their urban heartlands helping to restore the status of the traditional 'town centre' brand.
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Nearby the dollhouse is our old fashioned table top Christmas tree like my Grandmum always had! The tree is surrounded by an old fashioned fence; it looks like a park in the distance from the house.
In front of the dollhouse are little trees and another fence.
A festive Christmas wreath is hanging from the wooden latch that shuts the two doors. Like Beatrix Potter's doll's house at Hill Top this dollhouse has two large doors in front that open up to see the inside.
Click Here for Lovely Music.
Return Here to Read the Corgyncombe Courant.
The music is so delightful whilst reading!
Two little mice nibbling crumbs beside the English teapot, similar to one at Old Sturbridge Village.
Hunca Munca at the door of the doll's house.
Along with the dust in the dustpan is swept up Corgi hair.
Beatrix Potter wrote and illustrated the adorable book "The Tale of Two Bad Mice", published in 1904.
Beatrix Potter wrote and illustrated the adorable book "The Tale of Two Bad Mice", published in 1904.
Beatrix Potter was inspired to create this book by her pet mice Hunca Munca and Tom Thumb, the doll's house that Norman Warne was making for his niece and the doll's house pieces and miniature food that he sent for her to draw.
Some of the furniture and small foods illustrated in the story are now in the doll's house at Hill Top.
Tom Thumb and Hunca Munca went into the doll's house, and after becoming frustrated at finding the miniature foods to be inedible, started wrecking things and then decided some of the things in the doll's house would go quite well in their own mouse house. In the end, because they had caused havoc in the doll's house, the mice slipped a "crooked six-pence" into the dolls' Christmas stocking. Also, Hunca Munca came back to the doll's house, every morning and cleaned and swept for the dolls.
This enchanting dollhouse may look familiar to our dear readers.
We first read about it on author and artist Susan Branch's blog.
Susan had found the dollhouse on her trip through Autumnal New England at an antique shop, thought it charming and shared photographs of the dollhouse on her blog.
I loved the dollhouse the minute I saw it!
So we made an Autumnal visit to the antique shop, ourselves.
There we found the dollhouse tucked in a corner, setting on the floor.
So we made an Autumnal visit to the antique shop, ourselves.
There we found the dollhouse tucked in a corner, setting on the floor.
Tillie Tinkham, the seamstress mouse for the dolls at Corgyncombe, looks out from the door of her shoppe "Tillie Tinkham's Frocks & Fashions" at 863 Park Avenue.
Tillie has a country shoppe, too.
As we were loading the dollhouse into the vehicle, out into a better light where we could see it better, I tried the little door to see if it would open; it did and it has a little latch to hold it shut!
That is when I said "Oh, look it has has an address number above the door, 863 Park Avenue", which of course, we would have to look into later.
We asked about the provenance and the kind people at Rustology Antiques said that the dollhouse was found at an old estate in Connecticut. The estate was the family's summer home, the rest of the year they lived in Manhattan, New York.
We had a feeling that whoever had the dollhouse had also lived at 863 Park Avenue.
863 Park Avenue, built in 1908, was known as one of the "earliest luxury apartment buildings" on Park Avenue.
In hoping to find more information about the dollhouse, we found the estate sale that had first sold the dollhouse, then we did some research of the genealogy of the family who had the estate. We discovered the Parsons family had lived at 863 Park Avenue near the time when it was first built, with their first child, a little girl named Alice.
An interesting note also discovered was that amongst the other families who lived in the apartments at 863 Park Avenue, was William Taylor, the man who had the real apartment house built.
At the Parsons family's beautiful stone summer house at their Connecticut estate they entertained many prominent people. The Parsons' Connecticut estate was featured in House & Garden Magazine.
We were even fortunate enough to find a photograph of the little girl with her mother.
Little Alice Parsons in ribbons and lace, with her Mother, who looks like a fairy godmother as she holds a little slipper.
Perhaps Alice had Beatrix Potter's book "The Tale of Two Bad Mice", as it had been written several years before.
The clear sparkly lights of the Christmas tree are reminiscent of starlight, candlelight, and snowflakes.
Tucked in by the teapot on the shelf one can see the little mice.
Two of the dollhouse windows have curtains with lacey like snowflakes.
Two of the dollhouse windows have curtains with lacey like snowflakes.
Old music box music playing is so nice whilst looking at the Christmas tree and the dollhouse.
In this fairytale like scene, the Mother's gown and the little slipper take on a radiant luster as little Alice holds a book and looks intently at the little satin slipper.
Perhaps her Mother was telling her the story of Cinderella!
Perhaps her Mother was telling her the story of Cinderella!
The photograph was taken on Alice's birthday.
Tillie Tinkham, holding forget-me-nots from the banks of Corgi Creek, stands by her Park Avenue door and Susan Branch's book "A Fine Romance, Falling in love with the English Countryside". Susan takes us along with her lovely handwriting, artwork and photographs of her travels to England during the lovely months of May and June.
How we love England and so does Susan!
Susan Branch's book "A Fine Romance" led us about the English countryside with its sheep, hills and dales, stone walls, quaint old villages, shops, cottages, and gardens! Susan Branch's book has all these things and more! When Susan Branch visited England, the country was decorated in a festive manner in honor of the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. Amongst our favorite stops were her visits to Beatrix Potter's Hill Top Farm and Jane Austen's Chawton Cottage. Susan delightfully captured a wonderful variety of lovely landscapes and architecture of Kent, the Lake District, the Peak District in Derbyshire, the Yorkshire Dales, and the Cotswolds. The book has a red grosgrain ribbon bookmark at hand ready to mark where ever you left off reading.
Susan Branch spent time in Kent, England, just a hop, skip and a jump from my 10th great grandfather's church, St. Dunstan's, the parish church of Cranbrook, also known as "The Cathedral of the Weald". He was William Eddye, the Vicar of Cranbrook from 1591-1616. Some of William Eddy's descendants were early settlers in the 1600's on Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts, the same island that Susan Branch makes her home.
At Christmastime I took some photographs of some of the old things and Beatrix Potter figurines on my cupboard. You can see the reflection of the sparkly Christmas tree lights in the glass and china. On the old apothecary jar filled with bay leaf, it looks like a twinkly waterfall coming down the jar between Rebeccah and Drake Puddle-Duck.
Susan Branch also has a collection of Beatrix Potter figurines and she talks about them in her book, and sees a group of them on the window of a particularly charming cottage in England. Back at home on Martha's Vineyard she has her own delightful Peter Rabbit room.
Whilst in England, Susan Branch stayed at a friend's cottage decorated inside with twinkle or fairy lights.
"According to Season", written by Frances Theodora Parsons, is about flowers throughout the seasons.
We were thrilled to discover that little Alice Parsons' Aunt was Frances Theodora Parsons who studied and wrote about botany. Her first book "How to Know the Wildflowers" was met with resounding acclaim from Theodore Roosevelt and Rudyard Kipling. In "A Fine Romance", Susan Branch writes about visiting Bateman's, Rudyard Kipling's home in England. Rudyard Kipling and his wife lived in Vermont about the same time as Frances Theodora Parsons wrote her book "How to Know the Wildflowers". Kipling told her that the book would be most useful in discovering the wildflowers around and about his Vermont home.
Amongst the old books on the table are several by our cousin Louisa May Alcott.
In "A Fine Romance", Susan Branch illustrated Fred Astaire, a favorite actor/dancer/singer of her and Joe's, in a top hat and tails.
Fred Astaire opened a dance studio on Park Avenue, just a few twirls and taps down the Avenue from the dollhouse!
Tillie herself has a millinery shoppe and tea room at 863 Park Avenue. Tillie is helping the little dog decide on a hat.
Inside Tillie's in town Shoppe at 863 Park Avenue, "Tillie Tinkham's Frocks & Fashions" with Millinery and Tea Room.
The blue and silver scenes on the walls are like diamond shaped windows looking out to fashionable folk walking about on cobbled streets. The rows of close buildings with their steep roofs and chimneys are reminiscent of the charming old English villages Lacock and Bibury in the Cotswolds. Susan Branch visited Lacock and Bibury and there are photographs of those places in the book. Susan Branch enjoyed many tea rooms and whilst in the Lake District Susan stopped at a shoppe and tried on some hats. What fun!
One of Tillie Tinkham's favorite views in Corgyncombe Country.
The Turret at Castle Corgyncombe.
The Tailor of Gloucester
"The Tailor of Gloucester", written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter, is a story of mice who help the tailor at night to finish his work.
Whilst the cat was away, the curious Tailor, upon hearing tip, tap, tip, tap, sets free the mice that the cat had captured under tea-cups.
In the photograph above, there is a charkha spindle of my handspun silk. In the small bowl is cochineal for dyeing the silk a pleasant shade of cherry. Do you hear a tip, tap, tip, tap, tip?
Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit with postbag.
At Finch Post, 863 Park Avenue Branch, top floor, the Tweet Sweets are holding a
Valentine Banner of Love!
Even as a baby my daughter Sarah would study and analyze detail. Dolls and their houses have been always amongst her favorite things. When she saw this old dollhouse she got so excited and started chattering up a storm. I have always loved dolls, dollhouses, and playhouses, too.
Miss Elsie Pricklish the Hedgehog makes an apartment above Tillie's shoppe at 863 Park Avenue her home during the winter. In the summer she lives in a mossy hollow log down by Corgi Creek.
Debbie Dibble Dabble (one of many Dibble Dabble sisters) is quacking and bouncing on the bed, as the mattress goes up and down. Boing, boing, quack, quack, boing.
Miss Elsie Pricklish is to soon set about making clapbread, a traditional English flat bread made from oat flour.
With her cap and apron she looks like a Lady of Cranford!
Elsie has a surprise guest for tea...
Draw the latch, sit by the fire and spin, take a cup, and drink it up, then call a Spinstress in...
A tussie mussie was made using larkspur, lavender, thyme, winter savory, rosemary, wild marjoram, rose geranium leaves, and baby's breath all gathered from the Corgyncombe Garden of Herbs.
The little mouse knitting figurine is based upon Beatrix Potter's illustration of the "Old woman who lived in a shoe" in "Appley Dapply's Nursery Rhymes". It is one of our favorite Beatrix Potter illustrations! "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" book on the table is a limited edition reproduction of Beatrix Potter's first privately printed Peter Rabbit book and has the original illustrations with Beatrix's own handwriting. The dust jacket is a reproduction of calico printed by Beatrix's grandfather's calico printworks. It is such a sweet book!
We found out about this book on Susan Branch's blog when she had a giveaway. Included in the giveaway book was a sweet drawing of a lamb in an apron. Alas, I did not win the giveaway, but found another copy for my own library. We just love that print on the dust jacket!
In her book "A Fine Romance", Susan Branch has illustrated a similar lamb gathering flowers in a bowl.
In Jemima Puddle-Duck, Jemima is sent by the fox Mr. Tod, to look for the herbs for stuffing..
In Beatrix Potter's "The Tale of The Pie and The Patty-Pan", Ribby, with a pitcher of milk and a plate of butter, is returning from the farm on a path crossing the pasture where the cows are grazing.
A photograph I took several years ago of some of my Beatrix Potter figurines Tabitha Twitchit and Miss Moppet, Flopsy Bunny, and Peter's Mum Mrs. Rabbit.
Beyond the tea table, through the window there is Mr. Darcy walking in his top hat and coat!
The diamond shaped "windows" are looking out on the old cobbled streets of England edged by old buildings and there are people of old England going about their business, out for a walk, perhaps some from a Charles Dickens novel and some from a Jane Austen novel.
The scenes remind us of the English village of Lacock and the Arlington Row weaver cottages of Bibury in the Cotwolds.
Lacock, England was used for villages in the movies Cranford and Pride and Prejudice (1995).
Why is that Elizabeth Bennet or perhaps even Jane Austen herself?
This Regency lady is charmingly similar to Cassandra's portrait of her sister Jane Austen, below.
Above, "The Illustrated Letters of Jane Austen", edited by Penelope Hughes-Hallett, is a wonderful book to read Jane's letters and of the time and places she lived in.
The small bouquet of feverfew, lavender, baby's breath, and forget-me-nots was picked from Corgyncombe Garden of Herbs. The combination of herbs is very fragrant all together.
Tillie Tinkham, the seamstress mouse for the dolls at Corgyncombe, descends from the Tinkham mice of England. One of her Brown mouse family ancestors came over on the Mayflower and his daughter married into the Tinkham mouse family.
Tillie holding forget-me-nots.
The dollhouse reminds us of Beatrix Potter's doll's house!
Like Beatrix Potter's doll's house at Hill Top this dollhouse has two large doors in front that open up to see the inside.
Here is a link to:
Here is a link to:
Here is a link to:
A video of "The World of Beatrix Potter and Friends: The Tale of Two Bad Mice" with a charming introduction of Beatrix Potter riding in a cart through narrow, curvy cobbled streets and arriving at Hill Top.
The scenes on the dollhouse walls remind us of the English village of Lacock and the Arlington Row weaver cottages of Bibury in the Cotwolds.
Here is a link to a photograph of:
Here is a link to:
The Parsons' Estate in Connecticut
in House & Garden Magazine
which reminds us of the stone house in
"Christmas in Connecticut"
Here is a link to:
Rustology Antiques
Here is a link to our post
about the Large Golden Dollhouse:
Tasha Tudor Birthday Celebration 2013!
Pumpkin House!
copyright © 2013 Diane Shepard Johnson and Sarah E. Johnson
about the Large Golden Dollhouse:
Tasha Tudor Birthday Celebration 2013!
Pumpkin House!
copyright © 2013 Diane Shepard Johnson and Sarah E. Johnson


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Scan any Lincoln classifieds or look into any books of such cars. You may think the Mark III and IV were the main cars the marque turned out in the mid Seventies. If we will base it from the sales figures, they almost were. Only 10,408 Continental cars were manufactured in 1972. While for Mark III cars, there were more than 45,000 units sold. That was a decent year for the Continental.
Marks did a little better compared to Continentals for 1972. It's because Mark IV was new in the eyes of the public. Since the Continental was first launched in 1970, only a couple of minor changes were made. Both cars were not cheap but the Continental cost at around $7,000 in 1972. That is $1,500 less than the Mark IV.
This is the Lincoln car owned by Bob Blevins of Yuma, Arizona
The entire line was significantly surpassed by Cadillac, as it had always been. As Bob Blevins of Yuma, Arizona says "Every time a Continental Coupe sold, nine Coupe de Villes went out the door." He is the owner of a Lincoln car right above. Even during 2009, the Mark IV was an attractive collectible, unlike the Lincoln which remained not in demand.
And, it is just hard to accept that.
This car has ultra-long hood and rear deck lid. You can also notice that it features a low greenhouse and recessed seating position in it. This is just enough to describe the car as beyond elegant. Furthermore, Lincoln has a typical subtle, complimentary color schemes.
If you are planning to buy a 1970-'74 Lincoln, it is most likely that your choice will be based on a car's aesthetics, colors, and options. You should keep this in mind that on top of all the said considerations, the car's condition should matter the most.
Generally, there's only a few vintage Lincoln on the market. This is because these cars have been affected by the oil crisis during late 1970s.
If you are searching for a large luxurious cruising vehicle, only few cars can equal the Lincoln.
During that time, the engine in the Lincoln lineup was the 460-cu.in. V-8. For 1970-'71, the Continental V-8 produced a generous 360- hp. Also, there had been a change in the net rating and smog controls. The compression ratio has to be lowered from 10.1:1 to 8.5:1. That is why, its power rating dropped to only 212 hp back in 1972. Looking on the bright side, the engine can readily be used with regular gas rather than the premium.
The only transmission present throughout the run of Lincoln Continental cars was the Ford C6 3-speed automatic. This was already used in Lincolns way back 1966. It was also used among the Ford car and truck lineup during the 1990s. All parts can be found everywhere and all the transmission shop repairs on a regular basis. Also, they are very dependable and upgradable.
The two very alike rear differentials that were used in Continentals were a 9 1/2-inch through 1972, and the standard Ford 9-inch from 1972. The two of them were same 10-bolt units which could be confusing because of their same housings. The difference which sets the other apart was the "WGA" that is stamped on the 9 1/2.
The Ford 9-inch differential is the hot rodder's choice for a single reason. This is because during normal driving, they are practically unbreakable.
Suspension And Brakes
There should only be minimal worries regarding the suspension. It's a conventional independent front/solid axle rear design. There's an anti-roll bar up front and transverse stabilizer in the rear. This helps make the big car corner to be relatively flat. One should be aware of the sagging coil springs though.
The necessary brakes were 11.72-inch front discs and 11-inch rear drums.
Wheels & Tires
Michelin radials were standard equipment, 225R-15 wide whites, or no-cost optional JR70-15, on conventional 15-inch steel wheels with a few optional wheel covers available.
From an Owner's Point-of-View
Bob Blevins says that his Lincoln car boasts incredible power, a large trunk and a quiet ride. That's why this is perfect for long trips. It is over 5,000 pounds and 19 feet long without the giant bumpers. He liked the dashboard, its interior and semi-fastback look and especially that the quality is great.
Reference and Photo Credits


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After nine months of firing up its members for a possible strike amid rancorous contract talks, Chicago Teachers Union leaders may be hard-pressed to secure a deal that satisfies members.
"If you're preparing teachers for a strike, you have to create a sense of militancy and a sense of expectation," said Rod Estvan, education policy analyst with disability rights group Access Living. "Once you create that sense of expectation, you may have created thresholds below which you cannot go."


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Hibertia Flower Esesnce is for people who are strict and regimented or even fanatical with themselves or for whose who use their knowledge to gain an upper hand. They constantly devour information and philosophies purely to make themselves better people but often without truly integrating it. In the positive mode these people will be accepting of themselves and their own innate knowledge and experiences, without wanting to be superior to others.
Negative Condition:
Positive Outcome:
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"'Crazy' mistresses, nameless strippers, randy hookups, disgruntled daughters, dismayed wives."
That's how TV critic Maureen Ryan sums up most of the female characters we see on True Detective and other "quality" shows comprising our so-called Golden Age of Television.
Ryan's explanation for why we see so many white-male anti-heroes and, correspondingly, so few interesting female and/or nonwhite characters on HBO, FX, AMC, and their ilk is simple, straightforward, and incontrovertible: we're living in a Golden Age of Discrimination.
Here's Ryan's breakdown of the creators behind the one-hour dramas and the miniseries on the most prestige-associated networks, from 2002 to April 2014:
HBO: Women 6.5% (2 of 31); People of Color 0%
Showtime: Women 26% (6 of 23), People of Color 0%
FX: Women 4.5% (1 of 22), People of Color 0%
AMC (2006-2014): Women Women 9% (1 of 11), People of Color 9% (1 of 11)*
Netflix (curent): Women 33% (1 of 3), People of Color 0%*
Total: Women 12.3% (12 of 97); People of Color 2% (2 of 97)
Ryan explains that she focused on one-hour dramas and miniseries because "dramatic fare from these five entities represents the major pillars of popular culture: Their programs not only capture the public imagination, but often cement or increase the power of the people who make them."
With one exception over the course of four decades, HBO has not aired an original one-hour drama series created by a woman.
With one exception over the course of four decades, HBO has not aired an original one-hour drama or dramatic miniseries creatively led at its debut by a person of color. That exception is more than 21 years old….
Guess how many women or people of color have been a creator or narrative architect on a one-hour HBO drama or miniseries since 2008 (the year after The Sopranos ended)?
None. Not one.
That means that, as its reputation has grown (and presumably more profitable), HBO became more and more pernicious in its discrimination against female and nonwhite writers and in its myopic focus on white men. Overall, television writing as a field still has a lot of progress to make, with women making up 30.5% and people of color 15.6% of writers' rooms according to the WGA. But compared to those stats, the numbers at the prestige networks are truly embarrassing, like something you'd expect to find in the Eisenhower era.
We wonder why women are too often depicted as nags, flunkies or side salads. We wonder why women often get less to do, have less to say and so often feel the impulse to take off their shirts. We wonder why people of color aren't often depicted with compelling emotional lives or as complicated characters. We wonder why non-white men and women are hardly ever the protagonists.
But, of course, there's nothing to wonder about at all. Writers tend to write what they know, just as execs tend to hire people who look like them.
If HBO ever wants to take any real risks, it could try a lot harder than wantonly showing off unknown and/or struggling actress' breasts.
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Please feel free to contact Hastings College admissions team with any questions you may have.
You can reach us at 402.461.7315 or firstname.lastname@example.com. You may also fax us at 402.461.7742.
To reach a counselor that's specific for your area, check out our Meet Your Counselors page.
Admissions: @BeABronco Admissions: @BeABronco


text:
Seymour Duncan APH-2b Slash Bridge Humbucker (Black)
Seymour Duncan APH-2b Slash Bridge Humbucker (Black)
Seymour Duncan APH-2b Slash Bridge Humbucker (Black)
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Seymour Duncan
Though he has dozens of amazing guitars, since 1986 Slash has used pretty much one very special Les Paul ® for all recording. The Alnico II Pro Slash was designed to give Slash's other Les Paul guitars-what he calls his "live guitars"-the exact tone of this legendary instrument.
Warm, moderate output humbucker. Recommended for jazz, blues, and classic rock.
Like the standard APH-1 Alnico II Pro, this pickup uses an Alnico 2 magnet. However, the Slash model is wound with just enough boosted output to push a stock Les Paul toward the sweet sustain and rude crunch that characterizes Slash's sound as heard on hundreds of tracks. In addition, it comes with some of the same appointments found on the Seymour Duncan pickups in Slash's '86 recording axe, including single-conductor cable, long-legged bottom plate, and wooden spacer. For the true fan, or the player who wants to capture Slash's recorded tone, this pickup is a critical part of the tone chain. This is same pickup found in the newest Gibson® Slash model Les Paul.
Seymour Duncan APH-2b Slash Bridge Humbucker (Black)
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text:
Mario Balotelli showed off his strength and rapidly developing talent by scoring the winner in Italy's 2-1 victory over Mexico yesterday at the Confederations Cup in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
In the 78th minute, Balotelli collected a perfectly placed acrobatic pass from Emanuele Giaccherini and muscled in between two defenders to break a deadlock in the first official match at the renovated Maracana Stadium.
Celebrating his 100th appearance with the national team, Andrea Pirlo had given Italy the lead with one of his trademark free kicks in the 27th. Mexico equalized in the 34th, when Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez converted a penalty kick after Andrea Barzgali tripped Giovani Dos Santos.
Spain 2, Uruguay 1
In Recife, Brazil, Spain dominated its Confederations Cup opener against Uruguay, winning with first-half goals by Pedro and the team's newest striker, Roberto Soldado. Luis Suarez scored with a free kick for Uruguay in the 88th.
World Cup qualifying
Ivory Coast, Egypt and Ethiopia became the first three teams to qualify for the final round of playoffs in World Cup qualifying in Africa, with the Ethiopians trying for their first appearance ever at soccer's top tournament. Bernard Parker's own goal in the 70th minute delivered a come-from-behind 2-1 win for Ethiopia over South Africa in a stadium packed with roaring supporters in Addis Ababa.


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Has your partner recently been exhibiting some 'sneaky' behaviour? Are you getting all worked up because you have doubts as to whether or not he or she is faithful?
Worry no more, read on for five sure* signs your partner is 'playing the field.'
1. His/Her Phone is Suddenly Off-Limits
This is one of the easiest signs to catch. All of a sudden, your partner is extra 'jumpy' when you need to get a number from (or do anything else for that matter with) his/her phone, they hold on to it for dear life, and/or there's an unexpected password change.
2. He/She Seems Uncomfortable Around You in Public
All of a sudden going out with you in public is a 'no no,' maybe because he/she does not want people to see both together? (In this case, you may even be the side chick/dude)
3. He/She Frequently Picks Fight With You
Your partner quickly flairs up at the slightest disagreement. Typically, for a cheating partner, a fight is the perfect excuse to shift blame and keep cheating.
4. Sudden Late Nights
Your partner suddenly starts keeping late nights and has a 'mysterious' project he or she is always working on. Strangely, you'd never heard about this project before. Hmmmm…suspect
5. He/She Suddenly Needs Privacy ALL the Time
Everyone needs privacy, but if suddenly, he/she is on a privacy crusade for no apparent reason and ALWAYS wants 'alone' time, it may be time to start investigating.
* Disclaimer:
We are assuming here that you are rational and don't go 'snooping' through your partner's phone(s) and/or invading their space constantly; if this sounds like you there may be a bigger problem, we have two guesses;
a) For some reason, you are really insecure about your relationship, and there are trust issues (sometimes due to your partner's past transgressions, you're better than that)
b) You're a tad bit '….cray cray'
But hey, we're not mental health professionals, like with all guides apply common sense when using any of the tips above. Good luck!


text: September 2, 2006 - 15.15 GMTPretec announces a new 8GB High Capacity SD card, fully compliant with the SD 2.0 specification and with access speed up to 20MB/sec. Currently only sampling units are available, mass production is scheduled by Q4/2006. Pretec also announces a 16GB USB Flash Drive, the highest capacity thumb drive in the world, today at IFA 2006. The 16GB i-Disk II is sampling now with mass production planned for at Q4/2006. Earlier this week, Toshiba announced the TransMemory 16GB Limited Edition USB drive...More


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After eight albums of chart-devouring material, Joe Diffie had an adequate reserve of hits to choose from in assembling Greatest Hits. Although a simple by-the-numbers collection would have been fine ...
Subjects: Music.
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Retirement benefits expected to decrease over next decade
As companies reduce costs, health and retirement benefits for U.S. workers will decrease over the next decade, especially for retirees, according to an American Benefits Council report. The holds true regardless of wage increases, the report says.
The percentage of companies that offered retiree health benefits decreased to 11% in 2000 from 20% in 1997, according to the report. Fewer companies over the next 10 years will offer workers older than age 55 health benefit extras for retirement, the report also notes.
American Benefits Council lobbies lawmakers on behalf of Fortune 500 companies.


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Instrumental Music
Learning an instrument and studying music has been proven by extensive research to benefit students at secondary schools both academically and socially. By learning an instrument students will join an ensemble that will provide a great way to make friends and can help them interact with students from many different year levels in what can be a difficult transition from primary to secondary level.
Bentleigh Secondary College has had great success with its music program over the past twelve years, and the standard of our ensembles continues to improve. There is something for everyone in our vibrant music program: from the year 7 band for beginners, through to the senior symphonic wind ensemble, vocal group as well as jazz and rock bands.
A recruitment night is held at the beginning of term one. All year 7 students and parents are strongly encouraged to attend the night to learn about the music program, try out all the instruments on offer and meet instrumental music teachers. Parents can also familiarise themselves with the music department and meet the Head of Music.


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The Salk Institute
The Sheraton La Jolla Hotel near The Salk Institute is an ideal choice for visitors to the facility. Enjoy the convenience of a quick, 4 minute drive from the hotel to The Salk Institute.
The Salk Institute conducts its biological research under the guidance of 61 faculty investigators, employing a scientific staff of more than 850, including visiting scientists, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students. The institute is focused on the understanding and discovery of cancer, aging, Alzheimer's, diabetes, and more.
10010 N. Torrey Pines Road
La Jolla, CA 92037
Phone: (858) 453-4100
Book your next visit, preview Sheraton La Jolla Hotel special offers or book our best available online rates.


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Team Canada beats Norway to win Group A at hockey worlds
Canada's Joel Ward (R) celebrates his goal as Norway's goalie Steffen Soberg (L) reacts during the second period of their men's ice hockey World Championship Group A game at Chizhovka Arena in Minsk May 20, 2014. REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko
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MINSK - Canada sealed top spot in Group A at the world ice hockey Championships in Belarus after two goals and an assist from Joel Ward inspired a 3-2 victory over Norway on Tuesday.
Canada dominated the opening period, outshooting their opponents 15-5, but Anders Bastiansen gave Norway a surprise lead with an unassisted powerplay goal on 13 minutes.
Having had a goal disallowed late in the first spell Canada tied the match three minutes into the second as Ward scored while Norway were a man down, deflecting a Ryan Ellis slap shot past Steffen Soberg.
The Norwegians were coming under extreme defensive pressure in their own zone, but despite creating little in the way of offense, they reclaimed the lead through Mads Hansen on the breakaway as he fired the puck high to James Reimer's glove side.
Canada drew level for the second time courtesy of Mark Scheifele and despite the heroics of goaltender Soberg, who stopped 39 shots, Norway went behind for the first time in the match when Ward grabbed the winner on a powerplay 10 minutes into the final period.
"It was a long game. We weren't down and out or anything," said Ward, who has six goals and three assists in seven matches.
"We felt good about ourselves. We had a lot of chances, a lot of shots. We had some power plays. We just gotta capitalize on special teams."


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El Hijo del Santo Wrestles Enemies of the Sea
Mexican professional wrestler, El Hijo del Santo, recently announced plans to support WiLDCOAST, a U.S.-based environmental organization. The organization's current campaigns include: stopping sea turtle consumption in Mexico, defending protected areas on California's coast, and working to save the gray whales in Baja California. The 7-time WWA World Welterweight Champion has pledged to devote the majority of this year to raising awareness about how human actions are threatening the ocean. Subsequently, El Hijo del Santo will visit coastal communities in northern Mexico and distribute educational comics featuring his character confronting threats to the ocean. Furthermore, the wrestler will travel to Latino communities in California to promote conservation and will head a petition effort in Mexico City demanding that lawmakers create more protected marine zones. Apparently, El Hijo Del Santo's efforts mark a continuing tradition in which Mexican wrestlers participate in numerous public awareness campaigns. Enemies of the sea beware!


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After decades of colleges sweeping rape under the rug, activists are "cautiously optimistic" that there may be a shift on the horizon.
On Tuesday afternoon, Vice President Joe Biden will hold a press conference with campus activists and rape survivors to announce the new policy recommendations that resulted from the White House's 90-day probe into colleges' sexual assault policies. The guidelines are the culmination of a new federal task force that was created in January to address the campus rape crisis — and they signal an important step forward in a movement that has captured national headlines over the past several years.
The task force's first report focuses on tactics to improve colleges' policies in four different areas: better identifying the scope of the sexual assault issue on campuses, effectively preventing assaults before they happen, adequately responding after a student does report an instance of sexual violence, and making the federal government's enforcement efforts more transparent. Some of the guidance included in the new report, like implementing bystander intervention programs and conducting surveys on students' experiences with sexual assault on campus, falls in line with policies that activists on the ground have endorsed.
We know there is a long road ahead of us, but today sends an important message.
"Today's recommendations are a critical step in addressing the needs of campus survivors," Lindy Aldrich, the deputy director for the Victim Rights Law Center, a nonprofit that's dedicated to serving sexual assault survivors, said in a statement. "We know there is a long road ahead of us, but today sends an important message that change is necessary to ensure all students can access an education free from sexual violence."
However, the White House's recommendations are in sharp juxtaposition with the news coverage of this issue over the past week. The report comes on the heels of sexual assault controversies that recently came to a boiling point at four prominent universities — the latest installment in a long line of public failures that have sparked protests at colleges across the country.
At American University, students are outraged about a series of leaked emails sent by members of an unrecognized fraternity at the school, detailing the young men's casual conversations about date rape, physical assault, drug use, and other illicit activity. Brown University students are demanding reform after an undergrad found guilty of raping and strangling a classmate was given just a one semester suspension and was initially given permission to return to campus in the fall. A group of 23 Columbia University students filed a federal complaint against their school, accusing administrators of discouraging victims from reporting incidences of sexual assault, doling out punishments for rapists that are far too lenient, and failing to address the needs of LGBTQ students. And the Department of Education is threatening to remove federal funding from Tufts University for failing to comply with the federal gender equity law Title IX.
Reading the recent headlines, it can seem like the situation is just getting worse and worse. But several student activists who spoke to ThinkProgress don't feel that way. They're glad to see the negative press, they welcome federal action on the issue, and they're increasingly hopeful that their time has come.
Why colleges might finally start cleaning up their acts
Higher education institutions' concern about their reputations has been one of the biggest barriers to improving sexual assault policies on campus. College administrators don't want to do anything to communicate to prospective students that their school is an unsafe place to attend, and many of them worry that publicizing efforts to reform the way they handle rape will send that message.
It gives them a unified opportunity to avoid that bad press and really frame this in a positive way.
But now that campus sexual assault is an issue that's gained federal attention, it's clear that it's not contained to a small handful of bad actors. The White House's task force is setting the stage for universities to get in front of the news cycle by taking a proactive approach.
"Colleges taking a stand on it won't be saying 'we have a problem' — rather, they'll be one of many voices, coming from the federal government down, saying that we want to do this better," Daniel Rappaport, the sexual assault prevention coordinator at American University, said. "It gives them a unified opportunity to avoid that bad press and really frame this in a positive way."
There's already some evidence of this dynamic unfolding in the Ivy League.
After Dartmouth College was plagued with sexual assault controversies over the past year — including massive student protests and national petition drives — the applications to the prestigious New Hampshire school dropped 14 percent. "That really brought awareness to the Ivies, at least, because a fellow Ivy lost a bunch of applicants," Lena Barsky, an activist who attends Brown, noted.
In response, Dartmouth administrators have launched a campaign to strengthen the school's sexual assault policies, including creating a sexual assault prevention center and a bystander intervention program. The school's president has pledged to make changing the campus culture a top priority. Although some students are skeptical of the PR move, the school is certainly not running away from talking about the issue anymore. The administration is running a series of targeted online ads to direct prospective students to a page detailing the steps Dartmouth is taking to improve its rape policies.
"Dartmouth's president is essentially saying, anyone who's smart knows there are problems everywhere, and prospective students will want to see that we're recognizing those problems and taking steps to fix it. I think more and more administrators will start realizing he's totally right about that," Harpo Jaeger, another Brown activist, said.
Another elite school, Cornell University, recently revamped its sexual assault policy proactively, before the campus was plagued with a high-profile controversy.
I don't want that to happen here, I don't want our campus to be viewed as somewhere that's hostile to survivors.
"At the end of the day, these very well-respected institutions that tried to cover it up, or did not acknowledge it, or did not take proactive steps, are now essentially having their names dragged through the mud because they didn't do the right thing," Tracey Vitchers, the communications coordinator for SAFER: Students Active For Ending Rape, said. "In a lot of ways, that peer pressure is helping other institutions look back and reflect and say — I don't want that to happen here, I don't want our campus to be viewed as somewhere that's hostile to survivors."
Federal attention from all angles
If some members of Congress get their way, that type of peer pressure will help continue to push this issue forward. Led by Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA), a group of lawmakers is pressuring U.S. News & World Report to update its influential college rankings to include data on how schools are handling sexual assault. They hope that will make it even more obvious to prospective students which schools are taking this issue seriously — and which aren't. "I think when it starts to affect your rankings on the U.S. News and World Report 'bible,' as it's received by both universities and parents evaluating colleges with their kids, then we'll see things change," Speier recently pointed out.
U.S. senators are getting involved, too. Sens. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) and Kirstin Gillibrand (D-NY), who recently introduced competing measures to change the way the military handles rape cases, are now turning their attention to college campuses. McCaskill is gathering information about colleges' current sexual assault policies, and both lawmakers have hinted that they're preparing to introduce national legislation in this area.
"McCaskill and Gillibrand seem like they really get it, which is really exciting," Jaeger said.
That may be because they're soliciting input from activists on the ground. Vitchers will meet with Gillbrand on Wednesday to talk over potential forthcoming legislation in this area. And John Kelly, a sexual assault survivor at Tufts University who worked with other activists to create Know Your IX, a series of resources to empower students to file federal complaints against their own colleges, is meeting with McCaskill's staff on Tuesday.
I hope that all colleges can rise to the occasion, and won't want to be behind the curve on this one.
"Having any sort of support within the Senate is huge," Kelly said. "And this is the kind of thing that's close to home for the people who are working on it. It's the same people who were at the forefront of conversations about sexual violence in the military — they've been looking at these really problematic institutions in America where sexual violence is sort of rampant, and doing pretty great work. I'm excited to see it's the same people. I'm hopeful."
Like the White House's attention to the issue, the lawmakers who are getting involved can help brand the campus rape crisis as a national epidemic.
"If they make big moves, it will really give big weight to what students on the ground are doing," Rappaport said. "This is such a huge opportunity to make significant, meaningful change in the long term. I hope that all colleges can rise to the occasion, and won't want to be behind the curve on this one."
Moving the conversation away from Title IX
Obviously, there's still a lot left to be done. The string of negative headlines hasn't abated. Activists continue to accuse administrators of paying lip service to the issue of sexual assault reform without actually making any substantive changes. The students whose campuses are currently embroiled in controversy are frustrated.
Some of those issues stem from the emphasis on complying with the federal laws in this area.
Under Title IX and the Clery Act, colleges are required to adequately respond to sexual assaults among students and accurately report how many assaults are occurring on campus. If they violate the Clery Act, they can be subject to fines. If they're charged with failing to comply with Title IX, which requires schools to keep their academic settings free of sex discrimination by addressing any type of violence that's creating a "hostile environment" for a student, they can lose all of their federal funding. Students who file federal complaints are alleging that their college administrations aren't in compliance here, typically triggering an investigation into the matter.
Although Title IX and the Clery Act are powerful tools to help students push for change, the threat of federal investigations can lead colleges to fixate on making sure they're following those laws — without much of a consideration for the other factors involved in creating good policies in this area. Students aren't always satisfied with schools' persistent focus on eliminating any chance of liability, which involves how they respond to rape reports, at the expense of effective prevention programs to lower the number of assaults happening in the first place.
If we're also not taking the steps needed to prevent assault before it occurs, we're only doing half the battle.
"Given that campuses are very concerned with compliance, they focus almost all of their energy on response and little attention is given to prevention," Emma Halling, a student activist at the University of Kansas, said. "The offices charged with Title IX compliance are often overburdened and understaffed, so attention goes almost exclusively to the responsive mandates in VAWA and Clery and not to unmandated prevention efforts."
"It's one thing to have laws or memorandums or calls to action that focus on supporting survivors after they're assaulted — that's incredibly important and incredibly necessary — but if we're also not taking the steps needed to prevent assault before it occurs, we're only doing half the battle," Vitchers pointed out.
Every activist who talked to ThinkProgress said that universities should expand their prevention programs. Most cited the same types of policies to accomplish that goal, like mandating sexual assault prevention education, hiring victim advocates, training staff about these issues, and funding accessible and effective rape crisis centers.
The White House has indicated that it's listening to those concerns. "Participants in our listening sessions roundly urged the Task Force to make prevention a top priority," the new report notes — before going on to outline evidence-based strategies for implementing good prevention programs, a national public service campaign to emphasize enthusiastic consent, and a commitment to work with the Justice Department the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to develop additional resources in this area.
Thanks to amendments to the Clery Act that were included in last year's reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, all colleges will soon be required to provide sexual assault prevention programming, too. The Department of Education is negotiating the final rules for that new provision, and hopes to complete that process next year.
A national student movement
Week after week of coverage of college administrations' failures doesn't necessarily feel like something to celebrate. But activists emphasize that the issue isn't necessarily getting worse; it's just getting more press attention.
"Just because it hasn't always been discussed doesn't mean it hasn't been happening. We know that one in five women and one in 71 men have experienced rape or attempted rape. Those are really incredibly shocking statistics," Elizabeth McElvein, an activist at Scripps College, pointed out. "The fact that wasn't front page news before was a huge part of the problem. Now that people are concerned about it — in my mind, that's positive."
"A friend from another school texted me this morning and said, 'Are you upset that all this stuff is coming out about Brown? Do you feel unhappy and wish this had been kept silent?' And it's like, of course not!" Barsky recounted in an interview with ThinkProgress last week. "We're lucky this is happening at Brown because now our school gets to become safer."
Making colleges safer certainly doesn't happen overnight. Nonetheless, sexual assault activists are encouraged by an emerging movement that's made significant strides in a relatively short amount of time.
This is an issue whose time has come…It's not insurmountable.
The wave of federal complaints filed over the past two years resulted from highly coordinated student action that hasn't really been seen before. Students banded together to work across campuses to help each other navigate the federal complaint process. The Office for Civil Rights is currently about halfway through its fiscal year, and it's already received 33 different Title IX complaints related to schools' sexual assault policies — more than it received during all of 2013.
"There's a potential for a national student movement to emerge out of this. I think it's too soon to say exactly to say what it will look like, but the sense I've been getting is that this is an issue whose time has come, and we're at kind of at a historical moment," Jaeger said. "Social norms are evolving. The people making decisions understand that rape is a problem. The question becomes, how do we show them that they have a role to play in fixing this problem? If they act, they can make a difference — it's not insurmountable."


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Where are the Results?
Reasons? We've heard a few:
- The testing company lost at least a box of tests or the test results. We've heard this one a couple of times. As the rumor appeared around the time of the most recent Sergeant's exam, some people started spreading the rumor that it was a box of Sergeants test results that had gone walking. That rumor fizzled very quickly, but who's to say there wasn't an element of truth to it?
- Fraud - certain persons testing from remote locations were not actually the people who had registered to take the test. We heard that some persons living out of state or serving overseas had hoodwinked the testing company by having stand-ins take the test for them.
- Bad test - computer glitches or human error contributed to numerous different versions of the test being administered.
What about the testing company? Did they still get paid? Are they still running tests? Why would anyone trust them at all with any sort of civil service type entrance exam and ... oh wait, the City That Works. Right. We forgot who we're dealing with. We've been told it costs something in the neighborhood of two to four MILLION dollars to develop and administer a promotion test. Figure there is some sort of standard civil service type entrance exam and we might be talking the neighborhood of $1 million dollars at some point.
Any watchdogs in the press listening?


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The New Britain Chapter of the NAACP, in conjunction with Cosborn Entertainment, is presenting the locally created Gospel stage play "A Song of Life in the Key of Pain".
The performance will be on Saturday, June 10, 2017, at the Torp Theater on the campus of Central Connecticut State University. There will be 2 shows at 2:00pm and 7:00pm.
"A Song of Life in the Key of Pain", written by local artist and NAACP member, Colin Ivan Osborn, "is an emotional story about Edward Charles and the renowned praise team of High Praise Church," as the play's promotion page says.
"As the leader of this famed group of singers, Eddie's personal life and struggles are put on blast forcing him to deal with his reality. Having to deal with the conflicts within the praise team, a strained relationship with his family, financial/economical struggles and the church for what it really is all at the same times causes Eddie to ask questions that he has never asked before. But the success of everyone connected to him is determined by Eddie's ability to overcome. Does Eddie break and give into all that he is dealing with or does he stand on his faith and lead his group into the next level of ministry? Does the Praise Team get the record deal? What happens with his family?"
The play is directed by Osborn and stars Douglas Charles, Joshua Daniel, Trinene Davis, Christina Williams, Brittney Robinson, Justise Hariston, Latarsha Starling, Reginald Robinson and Anthony Ligon.
The goal of the June 10th production is to increase the visibility of the New Britain NAACP by promoting the organization's mission and registration and to building and developing the New Britain NAACP's youth department and creative arts program. Funds raised from this production will go directly to the New Britain NAACP towards this goal.
Advance tickets are currently on sale online for $15 and can be purchased by visiting: cosbornentertainment.ticketleap.com. Ad space may also be purchased in the playbill, by Saturday, June 3


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Diane designs her patterns for a completely different figure than mine so I haven't had much success making one yet. When I was at the Design Outside The Lines retreat in June, I tried on Helen's version of Diane's Faultlines vest - bottom pattern in the above picture - and it looked surprisingly good on me so I'm making it using the fabric below that I bought from Marcy Tilton a few years ago. LOVE the texture. It's black black but very hard to photograph. It typically comes up some shade of grey.
I've been thinking about the sweater to shrug refashion. In the past - with RTW or sewn garments - I've had far more success with cropped designs that close across the front and are short enough to show off my waist than with ones that open at the front and - seemingly - draw a line straight to my tummy. This vest is the later type with a softer, asymmetrical hemline.
I sewed the muslin in a really busy print so it's hard to see all the edges unless you click on the picture. In the instructions, each piece is sewn and lined separately and then overlapped to join together - I think - they are not the clearest of instructions since there are a lot of you could do this or this or this design possibilities included, which are fabulous, but it takes some reading through to find the actual instructions.
I pieced the back, sewed the shoulder seams, and overlapped the front the way I wanted, and then pinned the sides in a configuration that worked.
The left side is a bit too long so I may change that angle. The fabric doesn't flap from the bust on me as much as it does on Millcent. She's smaller. At some point - hopefully soon - I plan to buy another - larger - mannequin so I have my complete range of sizes but for now, Millicent does her best.
With this vest, I want to incorporate more than one fabric. Far left is a light-weight woven stripe that may become bias. Next to it is a ribbed knit that I'm auditioning for the bottom edge. The zipper has crystal teeth and is too long but if I could find a shorter one, it would be great for closing center front. My mind is bubbling with ideas and I'm telling myself not to dumb them down. That's another thing I wrote in my answers to Diane - that I want to create the ideas in my head and stop simplifying them all the time, to risk more.
There won't be any time to sew today. I'm off to journal and then coffee with my other mother and then an hour and a half drive to meet a friend for lunch. She's visiting her daughter three hours away and we're meeting in the middle.
Talk soon - Myrna
Grateful - friends who will meet you in the middle


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A £750 million commercial development on the former site of Middlesex hospital is to be developed by Aviva Investors and Exemplar Properties.
The firms will be collaborating with the committee managing the assets of Kaupthing Bank, which own the site.
It was planned that the space, in London's Fitzrovia, was to be incorporated into an upmarket scheme, according to The Independent. However, plans were aborted after the collapse of Kaupthing Bank.
The University College London Hospital had applied for permission to build on a nearby site, where the last remaining edifice is an old Georgian work house. Houses, shops and Euston office space may be constructed.
A spokesman said: "The site has been identified for redevelopment for a long time now, to provide affordable housing as required through the Trust's Section 106 obligations. Affordable housing south of the Euston Road is very scarce, and the Trust has focused on the long-term, designing a high-quality mixed-use scheme which delivers over 50 per cent by area as affordable housing".