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Short Takes…and Dogs, Again….
We Could Use Brother Dave Now.
Brother Dave Gardner anticipated our current moment years ago. The self-avowed redneck comedian of the 1960s was a regular listen for me in the only album of his my Dad bought (Brother Dave called them "ablums"). My favorite story was of a promoter who "went around promoting shows." Somehow it seems to fit our reality TV, bizarro news, political circus sideshows of the moment. Listen and laugh. Any resemblance to current politics or media frenzies are purely worth thinking about.
Thank You, Ethics Daily.
Ethics Daily asked to do a short bio about Yours Truly so here it is. A number of pieces from this blog have wound up in the Ethics Daily website. It was started by my late classmate and friend, Robert Parham. It's worth your time to go there.
Profiles in Goodwill: Gary Furr
"Healing in the Shadow of Iniquity" A piece written in the aftermath of the Las Vegas Shooting.
"Being Thankful, Even in Times of Great Adversity" A piece that originally appeared on these pages.
Dogs Still Have a Leg Up On Humans, Metaphorically Speaking
Baptist News Global carried a recent piece on the virtues of dogs. At the end, they reference my well-liked piece titled, "Do Dogs Go to Heaven," that was picked up in a newspaper or two and on various websites. You can read the original here. I agree that if the world is going to the dogs, it would be a step up, not down.
In an article (one of the kind preachers and scholars read and that laypeople would never find, nor would they want to), a professor writes an entire piece on what the apostle Paul meant when he told the Philippians, "Beware of dogs. Beware of evil workers. Beware of the mutilation." (NKJV) Since mutilation is a reference to circumcision, it came to be seen as a swipe at Jewish people and in most of history interpreted, apparently, as a reversal of Jews calling Gentiles "dogs," which were "unclean" animals. Besides that being part of a whole ugly history, it is one more blind spot in the human self-assessment.
The author says that the reason for this negativity about our four-footed friends is understandable:
Because dogs parade about naked, defecate, conduct sexual behavior,
and generally carry on without regard for human conventions of modesty
or prudence, they are characterized to be shameless in terms of the
prevailing social terms for proper conduct in human society (Nanor, Mark, "Paul's Reversal of Jews Calling Gentiles 'Dogs'
(Philippians 3:2): 1600 Years of an Ideological Tale Wagging an Exegetical Dog?")
However, that had to be prior to this year, when modesty, respectful language and couthy-ness (opposite of uncouth?) went, well, to the dogs. Dogs, in their defense, are neither circumcised nor require it for one another to be acceptable as a canine. While they travel in packs, their tribalism would never lead them to call one another names like, "Crooked Dane" or "Lyin' Terrier." And they NEVER tweet at one another, since high frequencies bother their ears. They don't send drones to kill each other anonymously, have no nukes, never imprisoned a single one of their own and could care less about money. Don't do drugs, booze or snuff and don't go to the doctor ever without a human making them.
No, good old dogs have a lot to commend them. Yes, they have fleas, and they are a bit oblivious about public behavior and have a deplorable lack of potty training. On the other hand, they defend their pups to death, and don't gossip, hack websites, or spread fake news. I think we owe them an apology. And while we're at at it, maybe we could say I'm sorry to one another, that we don't seem to be able to rise to the level of a dog in our treatment of one another, public or private.
When the poet Francis Thompson wanted to characterize the haunting love of God that will not let us go, what image did he choose? Not a person. It was "The Hound of Heaven." "Hound of Heaven" is about a man running from a hound, pursuing him. No matter where he goes, he hears the steps behind him. In the second stanza, he hears that the hound is not out to get him, but is the very One he seeks.
But just that thou might'st seek it in My arms.
All which thy child's mistake
Fancies as lost, I have stored for thee at home:
Rise, clasp My hand, and come!'
I'm sorry, Paul. You should have found another metaphor.
Remembering 9-11
Posted by Gary Furr
[Now it has been ten years since I first published this piece. It remains, by far, the most read piece I have ever written on here, not because of any brilliance on my part, but because of the solemnity of the event and the somber reality of loss. Since the original 9-11, the world has only underlined the pain, conflict and brokenness embodied in that day. Walter Brueggemann once wrote that before Israel in ancient times could hear God's word, they had to grieve in order to understand what they had lost. Forgetting 9-11 dishonors that day. It was a terrible day, not in the way the deluded anarchists intended, but a day that caused the world to stop and consider itself. We should never forget the dead, one or three thousand. They have much to tell us, if we will listen. I hope this might speak to you, to all of us, as we remember today. Perhaps, also, in this moment when the Gulf coast is reeling from two batterings by hurricanes and humankind has been humbled before it that we might reconsider whether we can afford to be one anothers' worst enemies much longer.]
So what are you readers doing to remember 9-11? A few weeks ago our church led in a community wide presentation on a Sunday evening with joint choirs and full orchestra as a remembrance of 9-11. It was inspiring, somber, reflective and hopeful. I expect that this year will be an especially somber time for our nation as we mark a decade since that terrible day. It has been one of the most challenging decades of our nation's history.
One of the most intriguing books I have read in recent years is Rodney Clapp's Johnny Cash and the Great American Contradiction. It really is not, mostly, a book about Johnny Cash. It is about the religious, cultural and political ambiguities of the American psyche that were embodied in the life of Johnny Cash. One of the points he made was that whereas the center of community life in New England was the public square, as expressed in the parade, in the South, the center of life became the church, and the great public event was the revival.
The result of this caused the church to bear all the weight of life, public and private. It was the center of its members' lives in a way that did not play out the same in the Northeast. Therefore, patriotism also had to find its way into the church and live there. I have thought about this a great deal since reading it, wondering if we do not suffer greatly from the diminishment of shared public life so well-chronicled in recent years. More and more, we live disconnected from our fellow citizens, isolated into interest groups, religious ghettos and our homes with their entertainment centers. It's hard to get us all together. Even churches need to get out in God's wider world sometimes…
In 2009, I saw Washington, D.C. for the first time in my life (I know, how DID it take so long!). I was truly inspired by the experience. In these cynical times, it is hard to find places to connect to a larger sense of e pluribus unum anymore, butlooking at the Lincoln Memorial , close to the spot where Martin Luther King called us to our better selves, I felt something powerful in my heart. I looked up at the tragic, larger than life statue of President Lincoln, and read the two inscriptions on either side of him—one of the Gettysburg Address and the other the Second Inaugural Address. I felt a sense of the "hallowed," one of the few spaces where I have seen public and religious come near one another without either losing itself.
So as we come toward the tenth anniversary of 9-11, we truly need public places to come and remember together. I wonder what our remembering will be? It is still so recent that it might tempt us to re-engage the anger and harder emotions, the disbelief and outrage and fury at human evil.
Or we might just be enervated. Last year, I read Don Delillo's novel Falling Man, which tells of various characters who were in the buildings that day and cannot seem to get past the tragedy that has suffocated their past and replaced it with a spiritual limbo. At a critical moment, the main character comes upon a performance artist in a harness who re-enacts a man falling from one of the buildings repeatedly, reminiscent of the terrifying photograph of the same name that so defined the horror of that day.
There is another place to go—and it is remembering. Remembering in the sense I speak is not sugarcoating or forgetting the pain, but neither do we let the loss become the entire narrative of a lost life. If there is value in living with the end of our lives in view, it is also necessary that we not merely remember lives by the way they ended.
I once shared this perspective with a friend whose dear aunt had been murdered by a yardworker she had hired, a drug addict who broke into her home at night and stabbed her to death. She was a caring, devout Christian who taught literacy, helped the poor and gave her life to the unfortunates, only to have one of them take her life. My wife, a friend to his wife, went over and cleaned up the terrible scene once the police had finished, and it haunted us all. I said to my friend, "I hope you will be able to not merely remember this terrible end. However long it went on, whatever horror she went through, it was over in a while. But her life of more than eighty years far outweighs those few terrible moments." He was comforted by this.
We do not have forever freeze the dead of 9-11 in those burning buildings, or falling to their deaths, or the horror of crashing planes. To do so is to provide the psychopathic fanatics who did it their hollow little victory. Remembering must stretch out, farther and deeper and wider, to remember all that those 3,000 lives meant. Neither do we have to sink into endless rage against the sinners. They're God's problem now. I remember an extraordinary quote from Elie Wiesel, the Nobel prize winning writer who survived Auschwitz. He said something to the effect that "it is a greater sin to forget our sins than to have committed them." Remembering is the path to forgiveness, ironically, not forgetting. Forgetting is denial and it's not the same as choosing to relinquish our right to hold on to our resentment.
Ritual and worship are powerful, too. When times are hard, they can lift us and sustain us. Many years ago in our little book, The Dialogue of Worship, Milburn Price and I wrote this:
Sometimes people are in crisis when they come to worship. Their faith is weak, or their life is one of defeat and discouragement. The writer of Hebrews warned early Christians not to "neglect to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another" (Hebrews 10:25, NRSV). The very act of gathering is an act of mutual encouragement. We allow ourselves into the presence of others. We leave behind our solitary troubles and connect with like-minded believers. We cannot overestimate the power of this fellowship. But there are mercies of God offered to all, not merely the church. There was a time when we talked about "General Revelation" as the goodnesses that God revealed to all people–nature, morality, and all the traces of Godself that hint at the divine being at every turn to help us find our way to grace.
I think, somehow, that on this occasion of 9-11 remembrance that we are most in need of this, too. As a nation, perhaps we could reconnect to that deep resolve, unity of sorrow, and spirit of generosity and kindness that flowed for a while in that moment.
Some events are transcendent, even larger than the church. They are part of the human condition and its tragic anguish in the cosmos. God is mysteriously working in this larger picture, but it cannot be neatly explained or rationalized. It must be simply offered to us, where we can weep, remember, and find some sense that this is not empty in the universe.
I will go to all the 9-11 gatherings I can attend to be with my fellow citizens, forget whether they are a Tea Party Republican or Yellow Dog Democrat, rich or poor, black, white or recent immigrant, Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, agnostic.
It ought to comfort, not threaten, us who are Christians that God is not just in the place where we come every week, but here, too, and in the terrible, cruel and merciful turns of history. We will leave our churches, synagogues and mosques, even our agnostic lake houses and condos, and gather together to weep and remember. And the remembering will help heal our souls.
I close with this beautiful rendering of Barber's Adagio for Strings, performed on September 15, four days after the attacks, which says what only music and tears can say. The grief of all humankind, the follies of hate and domination and the thirst for revenge, wars and rumors of war and all the pain and suffering they bring, often to those least intended, is contained in the naked emotion of this piece. Remember, so that we might be one day healed.
Down the Dirt Road, Aunt Johnnie!
I am continuing a series on the lyrics of my new CD, "Uncle Vance's Guitar" (listen to samples and buy downloads or CD here. See and buy all my CDs here
Aunt Johnnie is a real person. She was my "cool Aunt" growing up. Meaning, she was just barely older than all the cousins. She was Grandmaw's little late gift in life, the final of eight children. One time during a visit, she got Grandpaw's old car, I seem to remember it was a Dodge, but I may be wrong, and loaded all us kids up and off we went, down a little dirt road that ran beside the country store my grandparents ran. It had those old gas pumps (Gulf brand, regular and premium only, leaded all) where white numbers on a black background turned slowly while your gas went in. Johnnie was maybe 13, 14, years old, but off we went. Crazy. That we survived was a miracle. Anyway, this is one of those songs that sort of "came out" one day, and it has been a lot of fun in concert for the crowds, who remember those less-regulated, more life threatening days! Johnnie had a birthday this week. Happy birthday, Aunt Johnnie!
Down the Dirt Road With Aunt Johnnie
with Brent Warren, Don Wendorf, Rachel Turner and Mark Weldon
Hop in the Dodge, pedal to the floor
Down the old dirt road next to Grampa's store
Hole in the backseat floor and the road flies by
Aunt Johnnie starts laughing and so do I
Riding Down the Dirt Road With Aunt Johnnie
Jump the railroad tracks with Aunt Johnny
Its three fourths scary and one half funny
Better hold on for your dear life, honey
Riding Down the Dirt Road With Aunt Johnnie WATCH THE LIVE VIDEO
Hey, as you get home from vacation and get ready to get the children back in school, you're going to need tunes for the carpool, to take your mind away or calm 'em down. As a public service for everyone stressed out about getting back to routine, going to work, wearing out with the daily news, or just like some good songs, I have a deal! ALL FOUR CDS OF MY MUSIC WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD FOR THE LOW PRICE OF $5.99 EACH! That's four albums of original music for less than $24!
It's easy! Just go to the store at for UNCLE VANCE'S GUITAR, WHAT IT IS and OVERLOAD OF BAD NEWS BLUES.
permanent world of pretend is available here
That's a pretty good deal. I'm leaving the sale on until August 31, so grab your music now!
Come to the Virginia Mountains With Me! Sept. 28-30
Vickie and I are leading a Fall Senior Adult Trip to the Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia September 28-30, 2017. We will leave Birmingham on Thursday and return on Saturday eveningt. I'll be doing a little playing and singing of old time music and gospel songs as we travel to the beautiful setting of the birth of country music and the location of the State Theatre of Virginia to see some topnotch plays by an outstanding professional ensemble. We have traveled there before and had a great time.
Your payment includes:
• Three Plays at the Barter Theatre! "Sherlock Holmes and the
American Problem", "Clementine" and "The Music Man".
• Backstage tour of the Barter Theatre by Katy Brown
The Barter is the State Theater of Virginia and opened on June 10, 1933 making it the nation's longest running professional theatre. In 1946,
Barter Theatre was designated as the State Theatre of Virginia. Today, Many well-known stars of stage, screen and television have performed early in their careers at Barter, including: Gregory Peck, Ernest Borgnine, Patricia Neal, Ned Beatty, Hume Cronyn, Gary Collins, Frances Fisher, Larry Linville, and Jim Varney Katy Brown is an
Associate Artistic Director of Barter Theatre and is pleased to be in her eighteenth year at the theatre. She has directed more than 90 Read the rest of this entry
Down in Bethlehem
Today I am beginning a series of blogs about songs, more specifically songs I have written. I want to write a little about their "births," as for me, songs are like children, or at least like the ugly ash tray I made out of clay at camp. They are mine, they mean something to me, and I still love singing them. Today, I'll start with the first cut on my new album, "Down in Bethlehem." I actually came up with the idea while writing a sermon, I guess it was during Advent of 2015. It's a bit weird, really, to think of a third of humanity gathering every week to reflect on a two thousand year old set of texts, but in a time when we obsess over the latest thing, it's a little comforting to me that we can mull over the same writing again and again, and like some prism being slowly turned in daylight, new colors of insight come.
I was struck by the commonality of the major stories about Bethlehem, that of Ruth, a Moabite widow who came as a foreigner immigrating back to her husband's home' David, the youngest of eight, who was selected by the prophet Samuel to replace Saul as king, and Jesus, born to a young couple shrouded in unimportance. Again and again, in the Bible, God "chooses" to work with the "Most Likely Not to Be Chosen." First I wrote a short poem to use in the sermon, then was haunted by it until this song came.
I was thinking about U2, Springsteen, music that is simple, driving, repetitive and building over time. Brent Warren does some really fine electric guitar work on this cut. Take a listen and enjoy! BUY or listen to it here. It still is true, I believe, that hope is a powerful and inexplicable reality, one that rises up unexpectedly and in the most unpromising of moments. That is when I suspect God might be up to something. (see Ruth, 1 Samuel 16, Matthew 2 for the stories behind the song). I've posted the whole song on my website for a week or so. https://www.reverbnation.com/garyfurrmusic
Blessed Are the Meek?
How did a meek and mild Jesus fashion a whip and scald the hides of the buyers and sellers in the temple? How did meek and mild Jesus get angry and denounce the Pharisees as "whitewashed tombs?"
Currently I am preaching a series on the family, around certain words that seem to me both important biblical words for Christians and important skills for families in this current weirdest of times. I have preached about family a lot through the years and if I thought the need was done, I only have to listen to some of the arcane mental gymnastics of a fellow preacher still trying to hammer 21st century people into tiny first century cultural forms. The point of biblical study does not end when we ask, "What did something mean in the first century when the text was written?" Otherwise, we'd simply have to stand up and read ancient texts and proclaim, "Ok, go do that." It has to be interpreted. Always.
That said, last week's word was "Meekness," which is a word not much in vogue, of course. It is one of the Beatitudes in the sermon on the Mount: "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."
We have tended to look at the meek as doormats or docile, weak persons without any power. We equate power with physical strength, domination, authority "over" others. You can see why we equate "meekness" with "Weakness."
The word shows up in the New Testament a few interesting places. This is the Greek word πρᾳΰτης ("prautes.") It is often rendered "meekness." As in "gentle Jesus meek and mild." Yet this is indeed a central remembrance of the church about Jesus. I've always wondered, "How did a meek and mild Jesus fashion a whip and scald the hides of the buyers and sellers in the temple? How did meek and mild Jesus get angry and denounce the Pharisees as "whitewashed tombs?"
I think "meek" and "mild" need to be permanently separated. Prautes actually means strength, not mildness. It is a word that means "having the right tone, soothing the other when they are angry, keeping the conversation the right way." It is also a word that is used of the training of animals. It means "teachable."
You know people who are proud and hard-headed. They think they always are right. No one can tell them anything. They are virtually unteachable. And their lives and relationships are miserable for it. Psalm 147:6 uses the Hebrew of this word. In the NRSV it says, "The LORD lifts up the downtrodden; he casts the wicked to the ground." But the old KJV keeps this sense of the word when it says, "The LORD lifteth up the meek: he casteth the wicked down to the ground." Read the rest of this entry
Dugger Mountain Update
My apologies to fans who tuned into APTV last night to hear Shades Mountain Air on "Dugger Mountain Music Hall" and saw an older episode instead. Our recorded performance was to play last night but the station changed the program. I will try to find out about the last minute change and give an update about when our show will air. I apologize to our friends and fans, especially if you sat up past your bedtime!
Thank you for your understanding. UPDATE:
Got an update from APTV, who decide about shows on the schedule change. The producers could not get the program ready in time for last night's broadcast. They have to edit an hour aand a half show down to 30 minutes, and it was not quite ready. Therefore, Shades Mountain Air's episode has been rescheduled for July 25, 2017.
Meanwhile, those of you who watched last night got to meet Chris Golden, who is the son of William Golden of the Oak Ridge Boys (the one with the long beard!). He is a wonderful drummer and musician in his own right. Here is Chris' song called "Thank God for Kids"–worth hearing.
Thanks for your interest!!
Gary Furr
COMING UP SMA on Dugger Mountain Theater
Shades Mountain Air on "Dugger Mountain Music Hall,"
ALABAMA PUBLIC TELEVISION (APTV) Tuesday, June 27 at 10:30 pm
Back in May, Shades Mountain Air (myself, Nancy McLemore, Don Wendorf, Greg Womble and Melanie Rodgers) loaded up and traveled to Dugger Mountain Music Hall in Piedmont, Alabama. It sits in as unlikely a spot as the crossroads where the boys in "O Brother Where Art Thou" picked up Tommy Johnson on the way to Tishomingo. DMMH came from the vision and ministry of Bob McLeod, a talented and charismatic former professional musician and studio engineer. Following a profound personal spiritual crisis, Bob McLeod began to seek to minister to people in trouble–in prisons, jails, streets, and those caught in addiction.
Eventually he established Dugger Mountain Music Hall as the public face of Our Father's Arms, where they take in people in need of help. He describes the place as "a Christ centered family." It is located in the middle of open country north of Anniston, Alabama in a former Baptist church that had ceased to exist. The building was given to him for a ministry, and he brought together his love of music with the ministry. Fast forward, now the facilities include a 30 acre farm with a home for men; a 3 acre home nearby for women, mothers and their children known as Eagles Nest; and a state-of-the-art recording studio, offices, fellowship hall and the Dugger Mountain Music Hall. In 2010, the television program was born. On the nights of performances, they open the doors to welcome the community, enjoy supper and bands and performers, some touring through and others from nearby places in Alabama, perform. Read the rest of this entry


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Welcome to our new Series, ROCK AROUND THE WORLD! Just for fun, we will highlight a few of our favorite stones from a part of the world.
10 photos, a blurb or two, links to more.
Short. Simple. Awesome. RIGHT!?!
{Yeah, we think so too}
Velluto ~ Red Onyx ~ Canyon
Mexican Onyx is a name given to a fine-grained variety of calcite formed in caves and waterfalls. The material forms in a number of different colors and is sometimes dyed. Since calcite is dissolved with hydrochloric acid, pieces are often given their final polish by immersing them in acid. ~ The Crystal Cache
Verde ~ Green ~ Baja ~ Fantastico
Insider Tip: Since onyx is soft and calcium-based, be very aware of all acids. Both cleaning and natural. Be sure your onyx is properly sealed as well. This will assist in maintaining the longevity of your material.
Pina ~ Dragon
This isn't enough beauty? Check out our Facebook Page for weekly picks and our Pinterest Board for all of these and bonus photos!
{Basically, we want to spoil you.}
*Photo Credit: stone contact, payanini, alibaba

subset: commoncrawl


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Midway Rental is a provider of construction and industrial equipment for rent as well as used equipment for sale. Midway is owned by Rental Equipment Investment Corp (REIC). REIC was formed in 2014 by Kevin Fitzgerald, an experienced rental equipment executive, along with other private investors and investment funds.
REIC is a holding company established to invest its capital in purchasing well run small to mid-sized rental equipment companies as well as opening new rental locations. In December of 2014 REIC purchased Midway Rental based in Kalispell, Montana. In July of 2015 REIC purchased Reliable Equipment Rental based in Wheatland, Wyoming. Also in June of 2015 REIC opened a new Midway Rental store in Bozeman, Montana. In 2016, REIC acquired Hillside Rental in Evans, Colorado and Pro Rentals and Sales in Oregon, Idaho and Montana.
Midway Rental is the contractors' and homeowners' choice for equipment rentals and quality used equipment sales.
Serving you with all your rental equipment needs since 1978!
Phone: (406) 557-1338
© Copyright 2018 MidwayRental.com, all rights reserved.
Store Locations


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Assembling an office can be pricey. However, you searching for the ideal devices to obtain your company working. So how do you develop a convenient workplace with a restricted budget plan?
Purchasing a Computer
The most pricey product for your office will frequently be a computer system. Prior to you purchase, choose precisely what you'll be doing on your computer system. If you require email, Skype and a method to compose files, you will not require as much memory as somebody who does graphic design. Do not spend for bonus you do not require. If you're unsure exactly what you'll searching for in the future, make certain your computer system has the choice for you to include more memory at a later date.
Check out the testimonials about computer systems you are thinking about. See if previous purchasers are having any issues with a particular design or brand. If so, did the business back up their item?
You might have the ability to discover an utilized laptop computer, however store thoroughly. A brand-new design may be simply as low-cost. If you do purchase utilized, ask if there is any kind of warranty for a minimum of a couple of months.
Expect sales, specifically at the start of the academic year. Laptop computers and printers typically go on sale throughout that time. This can likewise take place around Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Purchasing Furniture and Office Equipment
Go to second hand shops to search for bookshelves and desks. Yard sale and flea markets are another great alternative for workplace furnishings. You can often discover complimentary products on Craigslist that simply require a couple of repair works.
A company that is closing its door might have simply exactly what you require for a low rate.
Try to find imaginative concepts on Pinterest. An old door can end up being a special desk. A board put throughout 2 little filing cabinets can be a convenient desk.
At the end of each academic year, university student typically offer utilized desks and book racks when they leave school. Enjoy the classifieds or Craigslist.
Look for regional rates for web service. You can frequently discover affordable initial rates that last approximately a year. When they jack the rate up at the end of the year, switch to a brand-new carrier (or call and threaten to change and they may lower your rate).
You might wish to get a charge card to purchase workplace devices. If so, buy the very best rate of interest. Although you're utilizing credit, you still have to work out due diligence and purchase just exactly what you searching for and at the very best rates. Pay it off as rapidly as possible to lower interest charges. This will enhance your capital since you will not need to invest a lot cash in advance. However utilize the credit carefully; do not overextend.
Raising Extra Cash
Discover methods to raise additional start-up cash. Run an unique for a minimal time. Reveal that these are your "Grand Opening" costs and just great for a minimal time.
Offer any additional products you have around your home on eBay on Craigslist. This will clear area and raise money. If you have enough things, hold a yard sale.
If a space has to be painted to refresh it up, do the work yourself and you'll conserve a great deal of cash. The very same chooses setting up shelving.
Gearing up a workplace with a little spending plan is possible with a little preparation and imagination. You can constantly contribute to your workplace, gradually, as your earnings increase.


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Can't see the Full Screen puzzle? Your pop-up blocker probably prevented it from opening. Click here to relaunch the pop-up.
Still can't get it to work? Please contact us for additional help
Jigsaw of a field of bluebonnet flowers. Bluebonnets are native to the southwestern United States.
bluebonnets • field • flowers


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Winding, curving channels are a universal landscape pattern, from the Amazonian floodplains to the Aeolis Planum–a ridged region of Mars. Wriggling groves are cut into the bedrock of Utah and the volcanic valleys of the lunar surface. Despite their ubiquity, … Continue reading
Journal Club
Highlighting recently published papers selected by Academy members
Monthly Archives: April 2013
Meandering curves: A new understanding of channel sinuosity
Mystery of pulsating corals solved
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp5ZTdmuScU] The way pulsating corals open and close their soft, feathery tentacles in a rhythmic grabbing motion is what earned them their name. First described nearly 200 years ago by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck—the naturalist most noted today for his ideas … Continue reading
Bats found to host hepatitis C family of viruses
Bats can be hosts to a host of dangerous viruses, such as Ebola, SARS, Marburg, Nipah and Hendra. Now researchers in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences report that bats are reservoirs of relatives of the hepatitis C … Continue reading
Toward "cyborg tissues" with self-assembling 3D circuits
Just as a ten-floor apartment building can offer more living space than a one-story house for the same amount of real estate, so too could microchips that stretch up into three dimensions instead of just the conventional two lead to … Continue reading
Making vaccines not need refrigeration
Millions of deaths happen each year from vaccine-preventable diseases because vaccines break down from heat and developing countries often lack ways to properly refrigerate them. Now researchers suggest eggshell-like coatings can make vaccines more thermally stable. Vaccines against polio, smallpox, … Continue reading
Fog Bridge: Making San Francisco foggier–for art's sake
San Francisco's beloved hands-on science institution, the Exploratorium, founded by physicist Frank Oppenheimer in 1969, will be reopening this month at Pier 15 after closing doors at the Palace of Fine Arts. A host of artworks harnessing the marine and … Continue reading
Planets' magnetic fields come from more complex inner flows than thought
The magnetic fields of Earth and other planets result from their dynamos—vast oceans of electrically conductive fluids such as liquid metals in their innards that roil turbulently due to convection of heat left over from the birth of those worlds. … Continue reading
Dams not cause of salmon decline, study suggests
In their first months at sea, salmon that have migrated through the eight dams of the Snake River are no more likely to perish than juveniles that traversed fewer dams, according to a new PNAS Early Edition paper. The finding … Continue reading
Flatly opposed: Squeezing through a channel turns objects sideways
One might naturally assume that whatever is within a fluid lines up with that fluid as it pours through a channel. However, scientists now find disks, tubes, and many other particles don't always go with the flow at all, sometimes … Continue reading
Primed for language–Babies able to separate sound from emotion
As any parent knows, a laughing baby is a happy one, a crying baby is sad. A baby's coos, squeals, and growls, however, are the soundtrack of many occasions. They may be bubbly, upset, or feeling just about average. This … Continue reading


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Open Thread: It Happened to You
This is your place to talk about the funny, sad, outrageous things that are happening in your life -- whenever you're ready.
On a cold day in late December, I was in an unusually good mood; I had woken up on the right side of the bed, my coffee was strong, and Spotify's "Have a Great Day" playlist blasted through my headphones sending my brain messages to be positive and stay cool! HECK YES! THIS WEDNESDAY IS GOING TO R-O-C-K!
As I strutted through the streets of New York, I couldn't help but compliment the surrounding strangers. Internally compliment them, of course; I'm not crazy, I was just cheerful.
Fierce hat, Lady With the Hat!
Hey, Kid! Those braces really bring out your eyes!
Hey, Mr. Man I really — oh! You're blind and you're crossing the street. HERE, LET ME HELP YOU!
Yes, I know. I hate myself, too.
Mr. Man was on the shorter side; he wore a long, brown coat, dapper-looking shoes, and sunglasses that implied he was a fashionista of sorts.
"Excuse me, sir?" I began, beaming with charitable thoughts and selfless intentions. "Can I help you get to where you need to go?" The man smiled, and raised his hand to politely refuse.
"No, thank you, dear. I'm just trying to get to the bus stop, and I have a feeling it's just up the next block."
I wasn't going to let Mr. Man get off that easily.
"Please, it's no bother! I can walk you there!" I insisted.
"Well . . . okay," Mr. Man reluctantly agreed, and with that I looped my stupid arm through his, and we walked.
We talked as we walked. And by "we talked," I mean I talked at him. I wouldn't shut up. I told him about my schooling ("I graduated from the University of Michigan — GO BLUE!"), why I moved to the city ("to be an actor, or well, really, I just want to make a living by making people laugh!"), and where I lived ("the east side of Manhattan, but it's too expensive, so I have a feeling I'll be in Brooklyn by the spring"). I told him about how being single and 25 in New York was nothing like Sex and the City made it out to be, and that my survival job was really bringing me down.
"It's just . . . life should be about happiness, you know? Not serving douche bags from the tristate area overpriced popcorn shrimp." Short of giving Mr. Man my social security number, I really opened up.
As I was midway through telling him the story of my parents' separation, Mr. Man stopped me.
"Sweetheart, have we passed the 68th Street bus stop?" We had because we were now on 75th.
"Uh . . . we . . ." I panicked slightly. Fuck! This is not how I wanted my philanthropic efforts to go! "Yes, yes we have. But that's okay because I can take you to the next one!"
Mr. Man exhaled. "Okay, just look for the nearest lamp post that has the MTA bus logo on it, okay?"
I cheerfully agreed as I kept my eyes out for the "lamp post."
Now, unfortunately the lamp post I was imagining was something à la The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. You know, an English-looking device with a glowing white bulb and a Mr. Tumnus character playing the lute trying to coax Lucy into eating more Turkish delight. So it makes sense that I completely passed three (four) more bus stops.
After 10 more minutes of walking, Mr. Man's patience was entirely thinned.
"Look, I need to get on the bus now. Where are we?"
I was wildly embarrassed. "82nd Street," I whispered.
"Where is the nearest bus stop from here?" he demanded. "I'm going to find out RIGHT now!"
I pulled out my smartphone to ask Siri where the next nearest station was. To my dismay, my phone was dead. Damn you, Spotify and your battery-drowning ways!
"Um, sir . . . I actually, don't know."
Mr. Man came to a full stop, turned his face to mine and said, "You've got to be shitting me."
"I know, I'm sorry, sir. I just — I don't live up here and . . ." he cut me off.
"And you thought you would just help me because I'm blind and you think I need help?"
"No! I was just trying to be . . . well, helpful."
"Well, you're not being very helpful."
So I did the next most helpful thing I could think of: I started asking other New York City strangers if they knew where the closest bus stop was.
"Oh, my God. Now you're asking other people?!" Mr. Man was not happy.
Eventually, a nice Older Woman told us we were a half a block away from the nearest uptown stop. "I'm headed there now, do you want me to take the two of you there?" Older Woman looked me and Mr. Man up and down; I think she thought I was trying to abduct him.
"No," said Mr. Man, "she's staying here, but you can walk me there."
I was stung.
"Are you sure?" I asked hopefully.
"One-hundred-percent positive. Let me tell you something, young lady." Mr. Man lowered his voice and spoke with a seriousness only young children being reprimanded can truly empathize with: "I have been blind my whole life. And at times, I do need help, but when I need it, I ask for it. Don't assume that just because you can see and I can't that you know where you're going. Maybe before you help other people you should help yourself first."
My intentions were pure, but the execution was desperately pathetic and extremely inconvenient for the innocent man.
As I watched Mr. Man and Older Woman walk away, I just sort of stood there. Ouch, that was . . . rude. And actually very honest and truthful. You know those moments in your life where the universe tells you to "sit the fuck down"? Well, this was my sit-the-fuck-down moment.


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Mill Valley fire Chief Tom Welch acknowledges that tougher fire prevention regulations for vegetation might face some opposition, but he vows to persist after his experience as a North Bay fire victim.
In the aftermath of the devastation in Sonoma and Napa, Mill Valley fire officials say it's time to refocus their energy on vegetation management.
"And that means doing better education," said Mill Valley fire Battalion Chief Michael St. John. "That means encouraging residents to be more aware about clearance, and defensible space."
As part of a new Mill Valley fire prevention program introduced this week, fire officials are looking to update the city's code to regulate vegetation that can be planted near homes. The proposal would require plants to be removed 5 feet from a home, and highly flammable vegetation, such as bamboo, acacia, cypress and juniper would have to be pulled back 15 feet from a residence.
"We really have the public's attention to make changes," said Welch, who lost his Coffey Park home to the Tubbs fire that ripped through Santa Rosa in October. "Some of this will be painful, and the community won't like it. But we want to be prepared."
The North Bay fires claimed more than 40 lives and destroyed thousands of homes and businesses.
Welch said cleanup in his neighborhood was completed about three weeks ago, and he and his family are now looking at rebuilding.
Only days after the firestorm, Welch was fortunate enough to have a friend offer a rental home in the Montgomery Village neighborhood of Santa Rosa, where they have been since, he said.
"Some folks haven't been so fortunate; they've been in hotels, not having a place of their own," Welch said. "It's heartbreaking to think about."
Welch said that the six-part plan that he proposed to the Mill Valley City Council on Monday is a comprehensive approach that will fill in the gaps that fire officials learned were missing in the Sonoma and Napa fires.
There are about 5,000 Mill Valley homes in the wildland urban interface, which is the highest fire risk zone where residents are surrounded by vegetation. These homes cover about 1,800 acres across the city.
In addition to the home vegetation management, the program will focus on updating building codes, accessibility for fire vehicles, public education, emergency communication and staff training.
"That's a pretty complete package," Mayor Stephanie Moulton-Peters said. "It was my No. 1 priority as mayor this year and it's just essential that we tackle this and get to the next level."
The update to building codes would apply to homes within the urban interface zones. As an example, if a homeowner replaced the windows of a house, those windows would have to be up to the zone construction standard, using ignition resistive materials and techniques.
Welch is also proposing that chief officers and key staff be equipped with satellite-capable phones, and that the city consider installing Long Range Acoustic Devices that can be used as a siren and emergency alert system.
Welch said this spring there will be five or six neighborhood specific meetings in place of the annual evacuation drill to help roll out the program.
Welch said that there is no way to reduce the fire risk to zero. But he said when it comes to wildfires, history repeats itself, and studying what went wrong and preparing for that is the best defense.
Residents of the Magee neighborhood, north of downtown Mill Valley, are happy to see the program. A group of about 50 homeowners there have been seeking a Firewise certification through Firewise USA, a program overseen by the National Fire Protection Association, designed to mobilize community members to work with firefighters and other experts to reduce fire risks in their neighborhood.
The group has made T-shirts that read, "The best way to preserve Mill Valley is to protect it from fire," said resident Bob Emrich. "Our neighborhood is really gung-ho about it."
Councilwoman Sashi McEntee said she is pleased to see how engaged the Magee community is.
"This is our dream," she said. "I'm really excited to see that there are more communities ready to take these steps that we've all been so excited to finally do."
For more information, go to cityofmillvalley.org/fire/emergency/default.htm. Sign up for the county emergency alert system at alertmarin.org.


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Driving Sales from Twitter parties
To celebrate Jurlique's latest product range launch; Nutri-Define, a new natural discovery for ageless beauty, we hosted a Twitter party with partner retailer Look Fantastic. #AgelessBeauties discussed all thing beauty, age-defying secrets and shared insider tips from Jurlique.
Top beauty influencers were sent Nutri-Define to review ahead of joining our Twitter party including top beauty blogger Georgina Grogan and TV presenter and beauty journalist Olivia Cox.
Through out the party links were shared to Jurlique products to answers all skin care questions on Look Fantastic and to end the party a surprise social only discount was revealed.
#AgelessBeauties campaign saw a Twitter exposure of 1.5 million and a 188% increase of revenue to Look Fantastic!
The next Twitter party is just around the corner so keep up to date with @JurliqueUK


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Construction House is a programme of exhibitions and events by S1 Studio Holders to explore the current role, possibilities and responsibilities of collective artist activity today. This project will specifically reflect upon the philosophy and relevance of the influential Bauhaus movement to address important issues for today's practicing artist and contemporary society.
Over the duration of the project, the studio holders will programme a series of exhibitions and events – including talks, performances, film screenings and workshops – to further explore these issues in relation to their own practice and interests.
A literal translation of the term Bauhaus, Construction House will reflect on the work and philosophy of a number of influential Bauhaus Masters, from Marcel Breuer, Laszlo Moholy- Nagy and Anni Albers to Oskar Schlemmer, Johannes Itten and Mies van der Rohe.
The Bauhaus which celebrates its centenary in 2019, was the most influential modernist art school of the 20th century, one whose approach to teaching, and understanding art's relationship to society and technology, had a major impact both in Europe and the United States long after it closed.
At a time when artistic practice and the role of cultural organisations is becoming ever more critical, Construction House provides a framework for artists to explore their work and approach to artistic practice in relation to this widely acknowledged and influential movement through connections and collaborations across the broadest spectrum of creativity.


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The Mayor's International Business Programme is a new initiative set up to help high-growth businesses from London's Life Sciences, Technology and Urban sectors, to expand internationally.
What makes this programme different?
The Mayor's International Business Programme is tailored to fit your specific global growth ambitions. The programme matches high-growth companies with sector-specific, market-specific expert mentors and runs targeted workshops and trade missions to help companies establish valuable links in their chosen markets.
The programme already has a number of exciting companies on board including Azimo, Blaze, Blippar, Pavegen, Technology Will Save Us and TrialReach. See the full list of cohort members >>
Register Here. There is no cost to the company for joining; the programme simply asks for member companies to stay on to mentor other scale ups coming into the programme after a 12 month period.


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RuffleButts Purple March Madness! - Free Grape Baby Bloomer
For a limited time, if you purchase RuffleButt's
, they'll throw in a
FREE woven grape Bloomer
! This is a can't miss kinda deal, so be sure to order early, as this promotion is only available while supplies last. Add a coordinating Spring Floral Swing Top and have a whole new Spring Ruffle Butts wardrobe!!
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When we last heard from Lithuania-based food-delivery startup Foodout, just last week, they had announced that they were making a move into the Iranian market. But it seems that this was not the only significant bit of news that they had, as they have now revealed that they have closed a deal to join with Estonian competitor Mychef, in order to create a larger presence in the Baltics.
The deal, which involves Foodout taking a stake in Mychef, will allow the Lithuanian startup to follow their Estonian partner's model, which includes focusing on B2B and B2C customers, as part of a move into the Finnish market. They also intend to build up their presence in Tallinn by offering access to a wider array of restaurants and delivery services. As a result of this partnership, Foodout says that they will operate in each city in the Baltics (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) that has a population of 100,000 or more, while Mychef intends to cement its position as the market-leader in Estonia.
Mychef, which was launched in 2012 by a group of Estonian and American investors, says that they have tripled their revenue in each year of operation and currently offers access to 60 restaurants through their web and mobile platforms.


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Varan Bhaat recipe step by step
Varan is Traditional dish from Maharashtra. Varan Bhaat is an important dish which is made during Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Maharashtra. It is such a great comfort food. There are many variations of making this recipe.
View recipe by Dhwani Mehta
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Varan Bhaat recipe step by step
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Shipping is now FREE AUSTRALIA WIDE for orders above $100, otherwise a small flat shipping fee of $8.50 will apply.
New Zealand orders are calculated based on weight.
If you're issue is URGENT please call +61 3 8391 9300 NOW and we'll sort out your order as soon as possible. The phone lines are available from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM (AEDST). Or send a direct email to email@example.com.
Looking for General Enquiries?
Please email firstname.lastname@example.com - the form above is order issues only. If you have any other questions email us here.
Contact our Customer Care team by email at email@example.com
Or call +61 3 8391 9300 between 9am & 5pm Monday to Friday
Contact our Customer Care team by email at email@example.com
Or call +61 3 8391 9300 between 9am & 5pm Monday to Friday
It's time to capture the moment.
Kazuya Maeda plans to make his second year in high school a memorable one. Armed with a new camera from his dad, Kazuya is hoping to turn his social life around when he joins the school's photography club. But new friends aren't the only things in development as Kazuya has caught himself in a tangle of emotions with one of his female classmates.
Release Date: 11 Aug 2016
Product Code: HB0168 / 317
Barcode: 9346315007213 / 4723
Episodes: 13
Run Time: 312 MIN
Number of Discs: 2
Language: Subs Only
Genre: Romantic, Drama
Studio: Madhouse
Bonus Feature: Clean OP & ED
Year of Production: 2013


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Midwest Renewable Energy Association
Like most good things, the idea of the MREA began in the kitchen. After reading a call to action by Richard Perez in Home Power Magazine, a group of friends took to the local farm kitchen and organized the first annual Energy Fair to be held at the fairgrounds in Amherst, Wisconsin in 1990.
Soon after the MREA was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with a mission to promote renewable energy, energy efficiency, and sustainable living through education and demonstration.
We grew steadily, and in 1999 moved to our permanent headquarters, the ReNew the Earth Institute, in Custer, Wisconsin. In 2009, we opened a second office in Milwaukee to better serve the urban and suburban areas of southeast Wisconsin and northern Illinois.
The MREA now manages education programs and partnerships through the Midwest in an effort to expand the market for renewable energy, making this once 'alternative' energy our foremost option. The MREA is a member-supported organization.


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Berkley Rattan Fishing Creel
Product Info Item# 44896
- Comfortable, easy-to-wear design
- Woven wicker design provides ventilation
- Adjustable nylon strap
- Sturdy buckle closure
- Easy-access hinged lid
More About Berkley
Berkley's ongoing experimentation over the next few years would lead, in 1959, to the introduction of the infamous Berkley® Trilene® monofilament line. Since that time, the company has added rods, baits and countless other product innovations to become one of the world's leading tackle companies.
For lures, line, fishing accessories and more, you can count on the Berkley line of products.
1153524More Info
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Berkley Rattan Fishing Creel


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Loud and Local Podcast for January 14th, 2018
Sunday, January 14th
Sunday, January 14th
Sunday January 14th 2018
Infinite Flux – Odin
Lo' There – Pound for Pound
The Big Wheel Stunt Show – Draygun Raygun
The Big Wheel Stunt Show – Livin' and Everything
Grindline The Band – Speed Freak
Snail – Smoke The Deathless
Rest, Repose – Oh, Gravity
Rest, Repose – Lock and Key
Burn Burn Burn – Chasing Hornets
Burn Burn Burn – Amber
Burn Burn Burn – For Whodie
Substratum – Pain God
Substratum – The Source Of All Creation
Devils Hunt Me Down – I Am That I Am
Heck Yes – Pining For The Fjords
Heck Yes – Jesus Gave Up His Weekends For Your Sins
Chastity Belt – Joke
Ten Miles Wide – The Mothership
Supercrush – Brutal Honesty
Earth –There Is A Serpent Coming
Harkonen – Baristas Get Stalked
Himsa – Skinwalkers
Dust Moth – Space Legs
Transcript - Not for consumer use. Robot overlords only. Will not be accurate.
Oh. An armed man is actually from being surrounding him media metropolitan area got. I was noticeably northwest's good evening rockaholics. Thanks for joining. This season Lao. Featuring music ball. Great Pacific northwest. 99.9. It's another episode of loud in local and yet here. I'm 99.9 KI ESW. My name is Kevin gears and tonight. Much like every Sunday at 10 PM he's celebrate all of it is northwest you can virtually this weekend coming to an end but at least. We've got loud and local food enjoy. Sit back relax for a drive around do whatever you need to do as long as you have crane tonight I'd start off with two. Awesome band from Tacoma represented in the 253. Is infinite wealth with something pretty Yorvit. Let's go kind of atmosphere with a low bear. It's infinite what's been low there with the former 12 punch to start us off on loud and vocal on the idea of what I ai is W. The rock of Seattle. I. Sears. ISW. Loud and local bank here on 99 point nine KI SW Caracas Seattle till midnight where rocking it. Bringing you everything in the north west in the 360206. The 145 the final nine yes 253 started off the show with two dance from Tacoma. I'm making noise down there in the south end and I decided he'd he'd keep with that theme for just a little bit that have been called big wheels don't feel put out a record called. Drink during the great guys you can pick it up on their being camp. Big big will stunt should O'Dowd became so common belief belief you can always Google big wheels dug shelf. Are some really interesting band. I'm gonna let the music speak for itself is two songs off. Reagan Reagan and the self taught order ansari the title track of the record and then Livan and everything. More music from Tacoma he will stunt show on my mobile. This is loud and local. He's on the run 99.9. AI DSL. You listening to loud and local the soothing sounds of this mail. Nail smoke the death list. My name's Kevin gears and you're listening to two hours of the best northwest rock. Music before snail you've heard of physical grind the lines of being straight up ski core. Steep rock speed freak is the name of the song you heard in and that is all about skateboarding. All about it. Consulate's gate going on right now because. Unfortunately it's raining all the time if if you had an indoor park. Thumbs up to that. A ban that was just on the road this week with the home team with the rest repose just got back. And congratulations on another successful toward god for breast repose wanted to play a couple songs for the rest of those guys. One of the best northwest fans keep it real and dad doing huge things. They're sell a ton of copies of their record and couldn't happen to a bunch of the better guys seriously good dudes great band wonderfully couple songs off their record low gravity and lock and key. Back to back from rest repose. On my mobile. So it's. Bag here on loud and local server and you up the loud and local the end of the week every week we team up with BJ inmates morning's. To present to you. The loyal loud and local lovers. And listeners. The the end of the week go to KI SW dot com you can give prime real estate for your local band and he did he air play not only on myself. While local sunny nice power fail. Rather. Also you get mentions and you get play airplay Friday's. On BJ and meets morning's. Very cool position to be in for a local band a lot of commotion there so if you want your being to be considered. Ford that gonna KI SW dot com there's only fifteen submit your being in those submit your music or you can do it the old fashioned ways and new discs and music. A final either way whatever you wanna deal I would love to hear your tunes this week we have a bit by the name of burn burn burn. Brad punk band and they are going to be recording their brand new record. They're full length this year they put out a few records and rad stuff so I want to feature them this week burn burn burn. No other reason than just dig in and chasing hornets. Amber and for Rudy after that the devil look out for the new burn burn burn this year. I'm sure all he told you all about it in the weeks leading up to its release. It's a loud vocal Ben weeks burn burn burn. You're on the Iraq. And. ID. 99.9. KI DS. She. Aren't. Wow. This is allowed in the smuggled. 99.9. KI ES. Yeah. I sort of tell you that record came out in 19868584. You wouldn't even second guess but they are that would my current favorite old school sounding. Heavy metal bins here in the northwest at sub strata. Here and I mean I point nine KI SW loud locals to show we're on for another hour. We bring you all northwest rock and sub strata of the came off their self titled record on soared in chains records from. Records from last year. Golf team god now they have a new album coming out. It's called permission to rock on the same label and the record really show is actually the 27. And it's going to be super awesome I'm I'm very much looking forward to this one what the lord is also playing. In RIP as well is gonna get the highlands bar on Capitol Hill within this January 27. So definitely put that one on your calendar. Also pick up the record because then it can be awesome I'm gonna play a song from that album the source of all creation. New music here by some strategy takes me at 77999. Let me know what you think. You dig in his new sub strata I sure hands while local. On the rocks. I. And Sears home. Yes W. Back here are loud and local I'd love debuting Britney music here on the show and just a few months back. And then by the name of heck yes. The navy's makes me smile hajj yes. They debuted there EP. Four songs you can check it out and heck yes music not in camp dot com. Can play a couple of them EPA is called get jazz. And Hickey hey yes not again. Not even a hell yes thick yes I know the name dim it. Pine for the fjords. In Jesus gave up his weekends for your sins are also gave up my weekends. But I'm not Jesus nor did I do for you since I did it because a local local music in this some of the its tech yes two sons back to back. Local punk rock. Allowed local. Loud and local continue. It's 99.9. KI ESW. Some ten miles wide here on loud and vocal opponent. West at 77999. Brine into politics out there. And ten miles wide so it endemic. And did. Chastity belt before that's. Get a lot of buzz. To a big thinks Jesse self congratulations. Flown a lot heck yes before that he songs off their new. EP and did Hank yesterday and got big hit dot com chicken mountainous support that do an awesome. Awesome stuff there there's a lot of Oscar stuff going on here the local scene. One of such bands is super crash featuring mark Palma of devotion to go it alone formerly of black breath. He's in this new kind of power pop rock band called super crash in the agony planet killer show February 10. To Valentine's week shelved. So bring your sweetie she's a crash and hit criminal code casual sex and is that the valley over by the Tacoma dome. Again that's February 10 which is the Saturdays he knows he's got to make it out got a new super crests and right now it's brutal honesty followed by another request. Some of heavy and slow the beautiful. Earth right after super crushed to 12 punch you wanna do is. Allow local. About ten minutes to list of loud and local wanted to tell you about northwest terror. Going on memorial. The weekend that he's a little bit later this year it's at the end of may. And the beginning of June through Thursday may 31 Friday June 1 in Saturday June 2. At numerous Barbosa and high line some huge band play in this one he hee-seop scored integrity. Which Mallon primitive man enough to time. A gore for the nose bleed now. So last week Kris Burd czar from Tacoma and the reuther rumble of feather in bone. And something I'm really looking forward to. Hands. Himself is gonna be playing in this one did it. Includes so awesome and it is fifteen years since the release of their ground breaking records. According tragedy and disaster very much looking forward to him so we'll be playing Saturday after party at the high line started about 1130 self. No rest for the wicked and who certainly as we could think we're listening to loud and local that it CIA is W dot com. And over we get to the podcast stuff you can tune in in Casey just like hurt only a few songs from it for a few bands played north. Mom check it out I got some recognition. Then maybe something of myself. For her and that one you know. We've got some himself then does moth and it on the killer knows it's well local. Barack even local. It's. News.


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An interactive digital version of International Squash Magazine has been introduced to expand the reach of the publication to thousands of additional squash fans, enthusiasts, players and consumers. To launch the interactive digital version of the latest issue of International Squash Magazine, please visit: www.isportgroup.com/InternationalSquashMagazine-September2013
The September issue of International Squash Magazine covers many of the latest happenings of one of the world's most exciting sports, including:
AJ Bell World Squash Championship – Manchester 2013
International Squash Magazine previews the AJ Bell World Squash Championship to be staged in Manchester in October
Sweating Blood: My Life In Squash by Nick Matthew
Nick Matthew will launch his official autobiography later this year. In a selection of exclusive excerpts from Sweating Blood: My Life In Squash, Nick remembers growing up in Sheffield, reveals some of his pre-match preparation techniques, comes clean about scrapes on the PSA World Tour and recalls his greatest match ever
Olympic Games 2020: The Final Act
Squash has moved beyond the two year mark since the sport secured a place on the initial shortlist of eight sports fighting for a place in the 2020 Olympic Games. World Squash Federation CEO Andrew Shelley explains why squash is very much in contention for the place it feels it deserves as the only new sport in the mix
British National Championships – Manchester 2014
The 2014 British National Squash Championships will be staged at the National Squash Centre in Manchester, England from the 12th to 16th February and promises to be among the most eagerly contested in the event's history
Courtcare: Squash Court Specialists
Richard Ingle, co-founder and owner of Courtcare UK, discusses all things 'squash court' with International Squash Magazine.
Question & Answer: Simon Rosner
German No.1 & World No.12 Simon Rosner talks with International Squash Magazine
Coaching & Instruction: Cool Down Properly To Recover Faster & Avoid Injury
Brad Walker, author of The Anatomy of Sports Injuries, explains how many people dismiss the cool down as a waste of time, or simply unimportant when in reality it is just as important as the warm up if you want to stay injury free
World Rankings
Men's & Women's World Rankings at a glance
International Badminton Magazine provides an invaluable and sought after quarterly review of the world of badminton, appealing to a diverse and dynamic audience of badminton consumers, enthusiasts and players of all standards from recreational and club players to professionals.
internationalSPORTgroup™ Ltd
24 Church Road
Cheadle Hulme


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Even the ice cream trucks are melting.
It's been hovering around 95 degrees here in Chicago, so it's definitely ice cream time.
Awesome sculpture from the streets of Adelaide, South Australia. "Hot with the Chance of Late Storm" was created in 2006 by the art collective Glue Society.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
You Know It's Hot When...
Labels: funny
2 comments:
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text: Keep the Faith T-shirt New Keep the Faith T-shirt Size: [Choose]SmallMediumLargeXtra Large Quantity: at £20.00 each Add To Basket Keep on keep on keeping on. You may be behind the sticks but you won't be behind in the style stakes with this Northern Soul inspired t-shirt. This 100% ringspun cotton fashion fit tee is emblazoned with a stylish gold insignia over maroon and carries the message all wicketkeepers believe, 'Keep the faith'


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So after telling myself 'NO NO NO' a bazillion times, these babies arrived at my house this morning
I've officially sinned against fashion - But I love them... Gah.
Call the fashiona police!
where when how ?!ReplyDelete
These are SO cute.
OMG..Love those shoes..Where did you get them from.I would love a pair of my own..They're so beautiful!!
Where are these from?
I totally thought they were Miu Miu at first.
Where are these from? They pretty good copies!
xx Aleisha
Hey Guys!
So sorry for the late reply... I didn't see all these comments on the post!
They are from River Island! I know total sin against fashion... but I had to have them. Check the website.
Lots of love,
Thanks for all your sweet comments.


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Nature and images around the web offers the best color combination inspirations. Drawing inspirations from fashion to farming, you should not be afraid to play with colors and mixing them up, because you will be surprise at the beautiful effects that mixing colors give.
Dress Inspiration: girl baby shower
Combination: pink table cover, peachy-orange chair bow, or we can do the bows in both color on white chair covers.
Umbrellas Inspiration: rainbow kids party or a fun outdoor corporate family event
Balloons could represent the different colors for kid party a colorful bounce house. For corporate, colorful water bottles, towels, or pens with the company's logo.
Flower Bloom Inspiration: Wedding. We can use the white and pink as floral centerpieces with beautiful green stems
Side Street in China Inspiration: wedding! fuchsia and gold/yellow. The gold could be use as your table and a universal gold chair cover and the fuchsia could be part of the centerpiece
What inspires you?


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The old Darlinghurst gaol is one of Sydney's oldest and best preserved examples of colonial sandstone architecture, which over the last two centuries has transformed from a place of abject misery to one of Australia's premier arts institutes.
According to legend, the building is haunted by the restless ghosts of some of the 76 people who were executed at the gaol's gallows. Among those who met their demise at the end of a rope were bushranger Andrew George Scott, better known as Captain Moonlite, in 1880, and the last woman to be hanged in NSW, Louisa Collins, in 1889.
The massive exterior walls were built between 1822-1824 using convict labour with sandstone quarried from the nearby Barcom Glen. The completed walls became known as the Woolloomooloo Stockade and were used to house convict work gangs. Due to lack of funding, work did not commence on the gaol buildings themselves until 1836. Along with royal engineer George Barney, the Colonial Architect Mortimer Lewis completed the plans for the gaol and based it on the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia.
In June 1841, 119 male and 50 female manacled and chained prisoners were marched from the old George St gaol through the Domain escorted by 50 guards. They were jeered and pelted with rotten fruit along the way. The first execution at Darlinghurst Gaol, a hanging on the scaffold inside the Forbes St Gate, took place on the 29 October 1841 and the last one took place on the same date in 1907. 76 prisoners were hanged at Darlinghurst during this time.
The conditions in the gaol were constantly criticised by the end of the 19th Century. Originally built to house 420 prisoners and staff, by 1900 there were 732 prisoners, air circulation was poor, there was little drainage and suburbs were by then surrounding the gaol. In 1912 Long Bay Correctional Centre was established and by 1914 all prisoners moved there from Darlinghurst.
During the First World War, the site was used as a military detention camp. A lot of the original carvings and woodwork were destroyed during this time, including the chanticleer weather vane on top of the Chapel, which was replaced during the 1970s.
In 1921-22 the gaol was converted to a Technical College. Most of the cells were removed, the windows enlarged and some of the exercise yards removed to allow for landscaping. The National Art School was moved from Sydney Technical College at Ultimo and has remained at the Darlinghurst site since then.
We offer Gaol tours twice a month see here for more details
The National Art School is committed to the responsible management and conservation of the historic Darlinghurst Gaol site while the buildings are maintained and adapted.
Download the Conservation Management Plan


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Choosing the right wedding vendors is important because these are the people who are going to bring your vision to life. With so many options and opinions, it's hard to know where to begin. Add in the idea of a destination wedding with vendors in a different city or country and your head starts to spin! But it doesn't have to be such a daunting task with these helpful tips on picking the right vendors for your destination wedding.
Lauren Kinsey Fine Art Weddings
Hire a wedding planner.
There's a certain appeal to hiring someone who planned the perfect wedding for one of your close friends in your hometown. You know what you're getting and you feel confident about the referral but if that planner has never been to your wedding location, it might pose a few problems.
"Picking a planner who knows the location is important as they can guide couples on vendors in the area that will work well," says Peggy Russell, Principal Designer and Owner of Destination Wedding Studio.
Do your research and set a budget in advance.
Talk with your fiancé and family to determine a budget you're comfortable with. Your wedding planner can also help you set a realistic budget and will be able to give good advice based on the vendors they know in the area. Don't schedule meetings with vendors who are well outside of your budget or already booked on your wedding date. You don't want to fall in love with vendors that are out of your price range or can't accommodate your wedding.
Have as many in-person meetings as possible. FaceTime and Skype are great options, too!
You may fall in love with the vendor's style but you also need to make sure your personalities mesh well, especially with vendors like a photographer who will be with you most of the wedding day. Try to schedule a few trips to the location before the wedding date if possible so you aren't booking anything sight-unseen. Ask for client referrals in the meantime. Most vendors will be happy to provide you with feedback from their past clients.
Greg Finck Photography
Get everything in writing and review all contracts.
If the vendor doesn't provide it for you, ask them for an itemized list of everything that is included in the quoted price. At a destination wedding, it's especially important to make sure things like pick up and drop off are being handled by the vendor. Ask for clarification if anything is unclear.
Michelle Boyd Photography
Once you feel confident with the team of vendors you've selected, be sure to give them clear instructions throughout the planning process so that you can relax on the wedding day. Allow them to do their jobs while you enjoy this special day with your family and friends.
Style Me Pretty Contributor – Kristen Lauck is the owner and lead planner at Marie Rose Events based in Oklahoma City. When she isn't working, you'll find her spending time outside or enjoying a glass of wine and cooking dinner at home with her husband.
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Coupons?! Studios mull free DVD with VOD
Goal: calm retailers anxious over early PPV releaseHollywood is cooking up a batch of proposals for hastening the release of pay-per-view movies, and that could prove heavenly for coupon-clippers.
Theater operators hate any narrowing of their traditional release window, but DVD retailers could be hurt worse if consumers are able to watch films on their TVs more quickly than on disc. So under one idea under consideration, those paying $25-$50 to watch a movie on their cable or satellite PPV service would qualify for a coupon redeemable at disc retailers for a free DVD of the same title.
"There's been some discussion of that as a way to calm retailer fears," Adams Media Research's Tom Adams said Tuesday. "The other reason for doing it is that they would be asking consumers to spend a lot of money for the initial rental."
Dubbed "premium video-on-demand," the accelerated-release plan has been mulled by execs at most of the studios during the past year and also could include Internet-based VOD. (PPV and VOD are essentially interchangeable terms, though the former tends to indicate cable-delivered content.)
There's an outside chance that one of the most aggressive studios -- meaning Disney or Warner Bros. -- might experiment with premium VOD by year's end, but most expect the first rifle shot in a sure-to-escalate war of nerves to come in the first quarter. There's mixed opinion whether it will be fired Stateside or somewhere else, perhaps Canada.
For years, exhibitors have fought any encroachment on the traditional theatrical window, a roughly four-month span between a movie's release and its debut in home video. The VOD window lagged the DVD/Blu-ray Disc window until studios recently began releasing some or all of their home-entertainment titles simultaneously on disc and VOD, citing studies showing minimal impact on consumers' willingness to buy discs.
But the premium VOD plan would be even more jarring for traditional home-entertainment retailers, whose partnership with Hollywood is projected to register $16.1 billion in DVD and Blu-ray sales and rentals in the U.S. this year. The corresponding reaction from retailers also could be dramatic.
After all, would Wal-Mart help Paramount Home Entertainment move hundreds of thousands of copies of "Iron Man 2" this week if customers of In Demand -- the three-way venture of Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Cox -- were able to watch the movie via VOD?
Now consider that five mega-merchants -- Wal-Mart, Target, Best Buy, Costco and Amazon -- control about 60% of the DVD market, and the prospects of a major blowup over premium VOD would seem at least equally as likely in the retail community as among theater operators.
Given the market sensitivities, some suggest the first experiment with premium VOD will be with a non-tentpole release made available not 30 days after the film's theatrical opening but 60.
"The 30 days proposal may be getting thrown around so that there will be a sense of relief when something longer is tried," a exhibition insider said. "But even 60 days still would be too short."
Indeed, even less dramatic moves by studios have triggered big blowback. The nation's three largest circuits pulled Sony's "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" from theaters last year after Sony released the animated comedy on disc 88 days after its theatrical bow.
Meantime, studios approach release windows from a dizzying array of perspectives. For instance, though all other studios release most DVD titles either simultaneously on VOD or within several days of their disc "street date," Sony clings to an average 33-day interval between disc release and VOD as its movies skew more heavily to the rental market.
At Warner Home Video, execs are more sales-minded and thus refuse to give dollar-rental operations movies for their first month on disc, a policy emulated by a handful of other studios. Yet Warners -- though no longer connected to Time Warner Cable -- is among those most bullish on premium VOD.
"We simply don't believe there will be any cannibalized disc sales as a result of a carefully approached premium VOD window," a Warners insider said.
Several versions of premium VOD are being discussed with cable operators. Under one plan, consumers would have to pay a whopping $50 to see a movie just a month after its theatrical release, or $25 after two months.
Yet the question remains: If the idea of consumer coupons does assuage home-ent retailers, what to do about theater operators?
"There's not a lot you can do, other than to say at four weeks into a film's theatrical run they're not doing much business anyway," Adams said. "But the counter argument from the theater owners is that you are demotivating people from going to the theater at all, as opposed to just waiting to watch the movies in their homes. So you might have to give the theaters a bigger split of the boxoffice, maybe a couple more percentage points."
Whatever strategy develops, studios are certain to limit the premium service to owners of high-def TVs after an FCC ruling allowing studios to disable the recording capability of such sets. Older televisions --- including even some first-generation HDTVs -- would not be included in premium VOD plans, as their recording capability cannot be disabled.
"They're playing with fire for what's a very small market right now," an exhibition insider mused. "If they do it, there will be a big reaction."


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Q: I recently sold my house for a profit. I want to avoid paying capital gains taxes on the money. What are my options? Can I purchase a piece of undeveloped land, or do I have to buy another dwelling to avoid paying the capital gains taxes?
Lisa Haglauer, Baltimore
A: To defer the payment of capital gains taxes after the sale of a home, you must buy or build your new home and occupy it within two years after the settlement of the sale of your old house.
For a new house, the construction must be completed and you must move into the house within the two years. The purchase of a lot or an undeveloped piece of land alone will not defer the payment of the capital gains taxes on the sale of your old home. In addition, to defer the taxes, you must buy or build a house at a cost that is at least equal to the sales price from the sale of your old house.


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3 instruments by Giovanni Battista Gabrielli
Giovanni Battista Gabbrielli was working in Florence at a time when Stainer's influence was strong in central Italy. David Tecchler was probably responsible for importing Stainer's style into Italy in the early 18th century, and this vogue was taken up by Michael Platner and Francesco Emiliani in Rome, and by all the major Florentine makers.
The trio of instruments featured here show Gabbrielli's individual, and slightly exaggerated, interpretation of Stainer's f-hole. However, his archings are seldom extreme in the way that one often sees in the work of his contemporaries, and this was a major contributory factor to his success. Today he is considered to be the leading Florentine maker of his day and was probably the teacher of the Carcassi brothers.


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House of Troy T14-81 Classic 14" Picture Light
Price: $74.00
House of Troy, based in Hyde Park Vermont, makes Mission style picture lights the old fashioned way, one at a time, by hand, and by real craftsmen and women. The picture light is made from heavy gauge brass with an hand rubbed Mahogany Bronze finish. The large light is 14" wide, has an adjustible extension arm so you can set the light between 5" and 7" from artwork or picture. The shade itself is set on a ball swivel so you can position the light exactly where you want it. Comes complete with House of Troy's exclusive Frame Attachment Bracket for easy hanging. Takes 2 x 25-watt t-tyle bulbs not included. Plug-in, inline roll switch about 4" from socket. #HT1481 Bright Spot Price Including Free UPS


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1215 E Northern Avenue Phoenix, AZ 85020
Phone : 602-944-9661
Fax : 602-997-6647
In an effort to save you time, we offer our client forms online for you to complete at a convenient time. This will help make your visit with us go smoother. Please print and bring the completed forms below with you on your visit.
If you do not already have AdobeReader® installed on your computer, Click Here to download.


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6 Tips for a Great Strategic Alliance
I had a great breakfast business meeting this week with two leaders who are energized and focused on growing a line of business within their company. Through our discussions we realized that our service offerings were complementary and that I had an expertise that would add value to their competitive advantage and that their niche and client base could create prospects for my business. We had the makings of a 'win win' situation and decided to discuss further if there was truly a mutually beneficial strategic alliance in our working together.
A strategic alliance is an agreement between two or more parties to pursue a set of agreed upon objectives while remaining independent organizations (Wikipedia). There are many different types of alliances that businesses can make some are conventional and others are strategic. An alliance can be between colleagues, peers or businesses.
Alliances are very important for business success as they allow a business to expand its product or service offerings without having to invest or take a risk in developing this expertise or niche on their own.
What Makes an Alliance Strategic in Business?
Jason Wakeam's article in the Ivey Business Journal defined an alliance as strategic if any one of the following criteria are met:
The alliance is:
- 1. "Critical to the success of a core business goal or objective or [personal goal]
- 2. Critical to the development or maintenance of a core competency or other source of competitive advantage.
- 3. Blocks a competitive threat.
- 4. Creates or maintains strategic choices for the firm [or manager].
- 5. Mitigates a significant risk to the business [or manager]."
Personal Strategic Alliances in the Workplace
Alliances between colleagues need to be in the best interest of the company's goals and the manager's goals. These alliances can be helpful and supportive as they can take the form of mentoring. They can also be beneficial for moving action plans forward and improving cross functional team alignment. Alliances are not a 'cliques' which are solely self-serving and can breed gossip or other negative behaviours and have a negative effect on company culture.
6 Tips for a Successful Strategic Alliance
- 1. There must be executive support and sponsorship from both companies
- 2. The values and cultures of the 2 businesses need to be aligned – without value alignment the alliance will struggle. Trust and transparency are very important for a successful alliance
- 3. There has to be open sharing between the 2 businesses as to the objectives of the alliance
- 4. A balanced contribution to the value proposition of each company is very important – this is where the win-win comes in
- 5. With a great strategic alliance – there is a 3rd win and that is for the customer or client as they will reap the benefits of this alliance
- 6. The alliance needs to leverage the strengths of each person, business unit or company.
An Alliance in the Making
Through my discussions at my breakfast meeting we discussed how our alliance would contribute to our core business objectives (for both of us to grow our business), development of a competitive advantage for them and development of a core competency for me. Based on the criteria above we have the beginnings of a great "strategic alliance"!
Please share your thoughts on great or not so great alliances you may have been involved in…
Stay tuned for an upcoming blog on how to identify which types of people or businesses to form strategic alliances with…


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Have you heard of Healthy Wage? This is a new site dedicated to rewarding those who can stick to their weight loss plan. I thought this was a pretty great idea. Everyone usually waits until the new year to start their weight loss plans, while a great percentage of us usually fall behind and give up. This website will help you stick to it!
Everyone loves winning, right? Why not prove to yourself that you can drop that weight and win some extra cash at the same time? It's literally a win-win!
Here's what to do:
1) Calculate Your Prize Use our calculator to enter your goal and calculate your winnings.
2) Make Your Bet Increase your winnings by adjusting your goal weight, how much you contribute, the time you expect it to take! Find a prize you like and make your wager!
3) Lose the Weight Stay on track throughout the contest with weekly weigh-ins and support from other contestants.
4) Win Money! Meet your goal and win your prize! It's that simple!
Sound like something you're interested in? You can sign up here. Good luck and I hope you all have a blessed new year and reach all of your goals!!


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Christopher Pitcher is a world traveler, content creator, and complex problem solver. His purpose is to empower a world of abundance, freedom, and love through science, technology, personal development, and storytelling.
After getting his Master's degrees in Design and Business Administration at Illinois Institute of Technology, he traveled around the world for 15 months documenting how different cultures expressed joy through ritual and celebration. He has since became the head of a creative production agency focused on creating social impact through thoughtful storytelling for two years in Los Angeles and recently has rebranded it to Empact Labs to be focused on creating uplifting actionable stories through traditional and Virtual Reality campaigns. His continual dive into understanding how human beings experience life is his entry point into telling transformational stories.


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August 19, 2016
Crashing Waves: Security Breaches, Fraud Detection and What's Next for CNP
CardNotPresent.com presents a three-part series stemming from a conversation with industry executives about the recent spate of massive security breaches that have exposed the payment-card information of more than 40 million U.S. consumers. The breach did not occur in a vacuum—there were warning signs. And, the story is not over. While news from Target, Neiman Marcus and Michael's is devastating, the next 18 months could be worse. And, beyond that are even more waves that will rock the CNP industry. Part I of the series will examine the increase in fraudulent activity in advance of the breach disclosures—what some knew, when they knew it and how they came by the information.
Part I – The Storm before the Calm
By D.J. Murphy, Editor-in-Chief, CardNotPresent.com
When news of the Target security breach first reached the ears of the public, it confirmed rumors that many in the security community were hearing and what Boise, Idaho-based antifraud technology provider Kount had been seeing for months. There had been a huge uptick in e-commerce transactions the company was able to identify as fraud, but that were utilizing very high-quality information that would confound most fraud filters and rules-based engines. As they moved into the holiday season, what Kount was seeing made it apparent that a huge breach had occurred. They weren't, however, able to identify where the tsunami of data causing these fraudulent transactions were coming from, just that their merchant clients were at risk.
"The analogy that I used to explain it to our customers was: we've walked into the kitchen and there's an inch of water," says Don Bush, vice president of marketing at Kount. "We don't know where the leak's coming from, but we know that there's a problem and we have to protect our customers from it. The fact that the leak turned out to originate with Target, well, we really don't care. It doesn't matter where the bad actors come from, we just know it's fraud."
Kount was able to identify the fraudulent transactions despite the fact that the data fraudsters had lifted from Target was of very high quality. What they knew to be fraudulent purchases were getting approved by issuing banks at a very high rate. But, if the quality of the information being used was good, how could Kount ascertain these transactions they were seeing—transactions that were growing more numerous by the hour in the days leading up to Christmas—weren't legitimate?
"If you're a merchant acting by yourself it's near impossible to catch because the data's good," says Bush. "One of the things that's unique about these recent breaches is they're selling this data now in custom packs. And those custom packs are distributed by geography, quality of credit based on the card and things like that. The banks don't know they're compromised, the clients don't know they're compromised, the cardholders don't know they're compromised. So if you're a merchant, it would be next to impossible to figure this out by yourself."
As part of its comprehensive fraud prevention solution, Kount had introduced a feature called Persona Technology. To create a persona, Kount looks for indirect deep linkages between transactions that seem fine and others that are known to be fraudulent across its entire network of thousands of merchants. As Kount's overall system collects information about individual transactions, it compiles and assesses hundreds of variables to create a persona.
"Say one transaction uses a particular credit card and we find another transaction that uses the same card," explains Rich Stuppy, vice president of operations at Kount. "But, the second transaction that used that same credit card is related to three transactions that used the same device. And of those three transactions that used the same device, they relate to many other transactions in some other way. The end result is end-to-end, indirect linking in real-time. This is a very challenging computational task."
Then, no matter how many transactions Kount has linked the original transaction to through the persona, the system analyzes all of them in real time giving the original merchant a data profile that is hundreds or thousands of times larger than what they could have done on their own, Stuppy says. And, when the data from Target, Neiman Marcus and Michael's started hitting the street, the personas Kount was seeing exploded.
"Normally, these personas are indicative of people working together to commit fraud," Stuppy says. "They can contain twenty transactions, a thousand transactions, or, a hundred thousand transactions. The bigger the persona gets, the more indicative of rapid and organized fraud. So if I've got a hundred thousand transactions and new ones are rolling in every second across multiple merchants, that's fraud happening with tremendous size and tremendous speed. And over the past several months we saw the personas grow immensely in number of transactions and velocity."
Combined with the fact that the quality of data being used by the personas was so good, it made detection difficult and it was an incredibly dangerous environment for merchants. For Kount, though, it was obvious there was a huge problem brewing.
"When you distill it down and you're able to see the linkages, the fraud just kind of jumps out at you," Stuppy says. "That's what we really started to see when these breaches started happening, and we've been tracking them for quite a while, but it really started to get big when the Target stuff started weaponizing."
For a merchant community hoping for relief, however, what Kount is seeing in the near-to-medium term is not reassuring. Stuppy says Kount watched the activity emanate from Eastern Europe where it has been reported that not only the individual credit-card numbers scraped from Target and Neiman Marcus were being sold and used, but copies of the malicious code were being sold as well. And, it's not slowing down. The storm may have broken for now, but Bush says wave after wave of chaos is still waiting to unfold.
One of the ways Kount can determine this is by "disintegrating" the personas. When they break the links between the transactions, if the persona isn't reestablishing the linkages with new fraudulent transactions, the problem has passed its peak. Unfortunately, according to Bush, the opposite is happening now.
"Once a persona gets to a certain size—we're talking over 100,000 connections—we disintegrate it to measure the rebuild rate," he says. "In this case we've watched them rebuild in a matter of about 48 hours almost back to their full size. What that means is there's still lots of activity. They're still doing bad things."
In Part II of the series, as our conversation with Kount continues, see what's in store for the next year and a half. A recent FBI report distributed to retailers estimated up to 20 undisclosed breaches may still be out there waiting for discovery. See if Kount agrees and hear what's driving the increase in illicit activity.