text:
The Lantern of Guidance
Chapter 3
Section 5
Ma'refat (Gnosis) of the Rooh (Soul, Spirit)
Allah Almighty has said, "
They ask you concerning the Rooh (Soul, Spirit) say the Rooh (Soul, Spirit) is under the command of my Lord
" (Koran [17:85]). Know that the foundation of the Rooh's (Soul's, Spirit's) Ma'refat (Gnosis) and the summit of its cognition are endlessly lofty & unreachable. The lasso of 'Aql (Intellect) cannot catch it. It is a Simorgh nesting aloft the mighty mountaintop of Quf. The bird-decoys of words cannot entrap any comprehension or imagination about the Rooh (Soul, Spirit). A pearl risen from the depth of the ocean of Divine Azima (Exaltedness & Sublimity); there is no scale capable of measuring the Rooh's (Soul's, Spirit's) Sifaat (Attributes). The masters of the Kashf (Unearthing Secrets) and the companions of the hearts who are the trustees of the secrets of the Ghayb (Transcendental Unseen)—manumitted from the bondage of desires and 'Ubudiate (Serfdom & Servitude) of the Nafs (
)—failed and avoid the Kashf (Unearthing Secrets) of the Rooh (Soul, Spirit). And other than the language of Ishaarat (Paradigms to hint at) nothing else can come upon the tongue describing it, "A mere hint suffices for a glittering jewel".
(Note: From this point on, what you read is only a bunch of paradigms to hint at the concept of the Soul & Nafs in relation to each other, since the last sentence of the paragraph above teaches us that there is no understanding of the Soul unless by paradigms. So we are not talking about truth, proof or description. We are talking about exemplifying some paradigms to point to 'a' concept of the Soul.)
Know that the noblest beingness and the nearest witness to the Divine Presence is the Rooh (Soul, Spirit), which the Haqq (Absolute & True Reality, The Lord) associated that with Itself and paraphrased as follows,
My Rooh
: "
When I have fashioned him (in due proportion) and breathed into him of My Rooh (Spirit)
" (Koran [15:29]) and
Our Rooh
And (remember) her (Mary) who guarded her chastity: We breathed into her of Our Rooh (Spirit)
" (Koran [21:91]). The Great Adam, the Divine Khalifah (Deputy), the Divine Translator
, the key to the Creation the (design?) pen and the Paradise of Souls, for the souls of everyone can be described by means of his Sifaat (Attributes). The first unsuspecting prey trapped within the net of Creation was Adam's beingness. And the Qadim (Preexistent Time Immemorial) "Divine Will" appointed him as Its Khalifah (Deputy) in the Realm of Creation (Physical World) and the keys to the treasures of secrets delegated to his trust i.e. he was granted permission & ready-access to the treasures of secrets. A giant river was stretched, exclusively for him, from the Ocean of Life so constantly Adam could ask for extension & prolonging of the flood of life to splurge abundantly upon the cosmos. (Perhaps this means many things in the cosmos were created for Adam's sake or Adam had huge appetite for things he desired and this river was given to him to extract what he wished in form of life. This interpretation of Adam's appetite would come into play further down.)
And Adam delivers/copies the illustrations & likeness of the Divine Kalimah (Words) from their resting place in Divine & Sanctified Jam' (Collective) to the place of Tafreqah (Concrescence) i.e. this created universe, (Adam) from the essence of Ijmaal (Abstract Wordlessness) manifests to the essence of Tafsil (Detailed Analysis & Verbiage). (Our bodies our world are corpuscular made up of components & particles all inter-related in a very vast detailed way and the Sufis call that Realm the Tafreqah (Concrescence). The origin of the word is Farq (Separation, Partition) the further we get away from the Divine Presence the more there is Farq (Partition) the closer we get to the Divine Presence there is less Farq due to the Tawhid (
Divine Oneness
)—everything approaches to One (words are many). The closer we get to the Divine Presence less and less words can be applied, the further away we get and closer to this world, more and more words describe things. The first is Ijmaal approaching abstract & wordlessness and the latter Tafsil approaching detailed descriptions. Therefore the closer to the Divine Presence the words are less capable to describe anything.)
Divine Karaamat (Generosity & Munificence) bestowed upon Adam two visions: First to observe Jalaal (Momentous Glory) of the Azali (Sempiternal) Divine Qudra (Power & Capacity). Second to observe the beauty of Lam-Yazel (Ceases Not!). (Lam-Yazel perhaps means Adam had access to the Lord's benevolence that was never ending for him as a sign for his appetite that was the prelude for Nafs (?) requires more research INSHALLAH)
The meaning of the first one is the innate (human essence) 'Aql (Intellect), which draws near to the Lord—the Mahab-bat (
Divine Love
). (This 'Aql belongs to the Realm of Amr (Divine Governance) where the Soul resides and true love is related to this form of intellect)
The meaning of the second is the created 'Aql (Intellect) i.e. intellect dealing with the physical world as a leader or someone who directs, ponders and demands as has been mentioned in the Hadith (Prophetic Narration), "The first thing Allah Almighty created was the 'Aql (Intellect) then Allah told It to come and it came and then Allah told it to go back and it went back". (Best I can understand to "come" & "go back" means this creation can either be close to Allah or by its own volition be far like Nafs and this would be necessary for directing things that are needed for physical existence i.e. greed, hate, violence that are far away from Allah and the Soul does not or cannot deal with them e.g. the material desires. Or you can say in this creation man has will power to push back from Allah and be afar while the Soul can not (?) need more research here INSHALLAH)
Anything EXTRA that the Rooh (Soul) requires from the Divine Jam' (Collective), Universal-Nafs (Psyche) becomes its reception and the place of its Tafsil (Detailed Analysis & Verbiage). (These extra things are necessary for completion of human life in this world e.g. greed, desires, anger… which are not for Soul to deal with so Nafs as a next-to-Soul or a sidekick handles them.)
And due to the commixture and coupling of the two i.e. Rooh (Soul) & Nafs (
), action & reaction, power & weakness, some form of male-female relationship appears that establishes the loving: Attraction and adhesion between the two. And the marriage of these two begets all the beingness in the universe. And the midwife of the Divine Fiat delivers these new creatures from the Realm of the Ghayb (Transcendental Unseen) to the Realm of Zohoor (Manifest & Observable Universe).
In conclusion all creation is the result of commixture of Rooh (Soul) & Nafs (
, Essence). Nafs (
) is the byproduct of Rooh (Soul) and Rooh is the byproduct of Amr (Divine Governance). Allah Almighty created the Rooh (Soul) independent of all things and without any intermediary cause or instruments, and the word Amr (Divine Governance) is an/a Ishaarat (Paradigm or hint) towards that.
And all creatures were created by the intermediary instrumentality of the Rooh (Soul) and the Creation is entirely derived from this Rooh
, "
Is it not 'Its' to create and to Amr (govern)? Blessed be Allah, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the worlds!
"(Koran [7:54]).
Since It is the case that all Khalifahs (Deputies) to have the attributes of their appointer, the Divine Fadhl (Excellence & Virtue) & Infinite Karam (Generosity) appointed the Rooh (Soul) as the Khalifah (Deputy) enrobed it with the gown of beautiful & glorious
Divine Names & Attributes
whereat placed it upon the acme of the Creation. (Creation being likened to a circle) And since the circle of the creation came near to a close, indeed reached the first & beginning (primordial) point i.e. the Rooh (Soul) whereat Rooh reflected off the mirror of the Adam's beingness, thus all
Divine Names & Attributes
manifested within him. Therefore the call, "
I (Allah) will create a vicegerent on earth
." (Koran [2:30]) echoed throughout the "
Exalted Assembly
" (Koran [37:8]). And upon the writ of this vicegerency there is the signature, "Indeed Allah created Adam upon Its own shape & form" and upon the flag of Its Karaamat (Generosity) this emblem appeared, "
And 'It' taught Adam the Asmaa (Names, Nature) of all things
" (Koran [2:31]). The harness of subjugation and rein of control was placed at his disposal.
The angels prostrated to Adam. Since the angels could not assemble within themselves the same combinations of attributes like Adam could. Some of the angels are the paragon of beauty and nothing else. Some are just for Lotf (Grace) & Rahma (Mercy) and nothing else. Some others solely embody the attribute of Jalaal (Momentous Glory) and nothing else and these are the angels of subjugation and torment. But Adam was the embodiment of beauty, glory, grace, mercy yet subjugation and anger, all immixed within him, "
one whom I (Allah) have created with my hands
" (Koran [38:75]). Beyond doubt Adam became cognizant of the Lord with all the Asmaa (
) and in contrast the angels who narrowly understood Allah with the Esem (Name, Knowledge) that they were the epitome of, "
They said (angels):
Glory to Thee, of knowledge We have none, save what Thou Hast taught us
" (Koran [2:32])—Ishaarat (A Paradigm hinting) towards that argument.
As Adam's beingness within the Realm of Shahaadat (Observable Universe) was the epitome of the Rooh (Soul) within the Realm of the Ghayb (Transcendental Unseen), the beingness of Eve within the Realm of Shahaadat (Observable Universe) was the epitome of the Nafs (
) within the Realm of the Ghayb (Transcendental Unseen). And her birth through Adam, "
O mankind! Reverence your Guardian-Lord, who created you from a single person, and from him (Adam) 'It' (Lord) created his mate (Eve)
" (Koran [4:1]) is similar to the birth of the Nafs (
) from the Rooh (Soul). And the phenomenon of the coupling of the Rooh (Soul) & Nafs (
), likened to male & female, is the similitude of the Adam & Eve. And again the similitude of the coupling of the Adam & Eve and Adam's carrying the seed for all the progeny, is the extraction of objects out of the coupling of Rooh (Soul) & Nafs (
Therefore the beingness of the Adam & Eve is the transcription/copy of the beingness of Rooh (Soul) & Nafs (
) and within every human being there is a new copy of beingness of (both) Adam & Eve due to the coupling of the segmented-Rooh (Soul) & segmented-Nafs (
) and the consequent birth of the Qalb (Heart). (Segmented means a part of the Universal-Rooh or Universal-Nafs from the other universe)
The birth of the male progeny of Adam while benefited from the Universal-Rooh (Soul), it is however intermixed with the attributes of the Nafs (
). The birth of the female progeny of Adam although originated from the Universal-Nafs (
), definitely intermixed with the attributes of the Rooh (Soul).
For this reason no prophet appeared as female. Since the prophethood is for impacting the Nafs (
) of the progeny of Adam in the Realm of Creation (this world), thus relating to the male progeny (i.e. they are enrobed with the attributes of the Nafs, women are not). Furthermore the intermediary instrument of the prophethood is indeed the Rooh (Soul) (which is attracted to the Nafs attributes of the male) therefore the Rooh (Soul) is beneficial for the male progeny—Allah knows best.
Divine Translator means a creature that has the ability to bring to this world news and meanings from the other world. No other creature you can think of other than human being can do that.
What presented here are just paradigms attempting to point at the difference between the spirituality of the men vs. women. Today we believe that they are the same and that is not true.
Men have certainly come from or benefited from the Rooh (Soul), but in this world they have retracted to the opposite i.e. men's attributes are that of the Nafs (
) inciting them towards evil behavior. This reversal has the name
that has a place within the Sufi thinking as was portrayed by Araqi about Faqr (
). Any object going to the extreme, it reverses its attributes. Men are coming from the extreme of the Rooh (Soul) therefore reversing towards the attributes of the Nafs (
)—the opposite.
Women on the other hand, originated from the nature of Nafs (
) that was the spirit extension of the Rooh (Soul), but by coming to this world they went through the extreme of the Nafs that got reversed into the attributes of the Rooh (Soul).
So the prophets had to come as men to the men, in order to crack the hard shell of the Nafs's (
's) attributes that veiled the Rooh (Souls) of the men. This is done through prayers, remembrance, worship, fasting, charity and etc. Prophets came through the conduit of the Rooh (Soul) therefore they get attracted to their opposite i.e. the Nafs (
) which is presently in this world the attribute of the men. If people do becalm man's chaos within the attributes of the Nafs (
), he shall for sure fall back upon his serene characteristics of the Rooh (Souls).
Women are adorned by the attributes of the Rooh (Soul). They do not need to be exercised or given to the hardships of meditation, for they have to be left unmolested undisturbed and serene i.e. naturally are given the serene state & attributes of the Rooh (Soul). If people do disturb her equilibrium within the attributes of the Rooh (Soul), she shall for sure fall back upon her chaotic characteristics of the Nafs (
The best example is that of Mary the mother of Jesus peace be upon them both. She was just left alone in a room in the Jewish temple devoted to worship and every time her care taker came to visit her to bring provisions, he would find that she already had food delivered to her from the heavens, "
Right graciously did her Lord accept her: He made her grow in purity and beauty: To the care of Zakariya was she assigned. Every time that he entered (Her) chamber to see her, He found her supplied with sustenance. He said: "O Mary! Whence (comes) this to you?" She said: "From Allah. for Allah Provides sustenance to whom It pleases without measure.
" (Koran [3:37]). This is an indication that total serenity of sincere women, unmolested by the worldly presence of other men or women alike, allows the woman to attain highest ranks of spirituality. While for the attainment of a much lower goal men have to fast, long hours of worship, learning and so on to get them away from their unstable attributes of the Nafs (
) into the serenity of the Rooh (Soul).
INSHALLAH lots more research on this subject.
2004-2002, Dara O. Shayda


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Over the years, Igor Krivoruchko has built a solid reputation in real estate development, especially in multi-family real estate where he's become an authoritative voice on the subject. Below, he shares a few critical signs that boomers should downsize their homes and look to multi-family developments instead.
Igor Krivoruchko helps boomers improve their lifestyles and find more excitement while shedding some of the traditional responsibilities of owning a home. For decades, he's specialized in multi-family units and has been recognized as a national leader in the field. Krivoruchko is dedicated to building only the most state-of-the-art facilities that provide plenty of benefits to those looking to move over from single-family homes.
"As adults, our goals used to be finding the perfect job that could help us afford our own home in a nice neighborhood with a yard and fence," says Igor Krivoruchko. "Today, adults' priorities have shifted to less responsibilities at home and more opportunities for adventure. Even older generations like the baby boomers are looking to leave single-family homes behind."
Boomers, born between the 1940s and the 1960s, make up a tremendous amount of single-family home buyers today and in the recent past. In total, they make up nearly a fifth of the country's entire population. This generation has already retired (or else are very close to retirement) and are looking for a change of pace.
Igor Krivoruchko believes multi-family housing like apartment communities and condominiums are the answer. Apart from meaning less immediate responsibilities at home, these types of properties offer a more practical and affordable approach to living, with plenty of streamlined resources that draw in new residents all the time.
Below, he shares three signs boomers should downsize their homes and leave the life of the yard and the picket fence behind:
Money is Tighter than Before
Living through retirement means cutting back on spending due to the limited checks received throughout the year. If money is tight, boomers should understand that selling their house not only puts funds back in their pocket, but it can save them exponentially each month. They won't have to budget out the cost to keep up a home or improve components. Plus, at multi-family complexes, there's a good chance that water bills are covered, electric bills will be lower, lawn care will be included, and free maintenance will be available on-site.
You're Fed Up with Maintenance
Homeowners usually must dust surfaces, vacuum floors, mow lawns, wash the sides of their houses, apply paint, repair gutters and a lot more. Living at a multi-family complex usually comes with the bonus of maintenance crews who do all the hard work for residents. Today, boomers don't have to waste time and funds making their homes look good inside and out.
The Kids Live Elsewhere
Things can feel lonely for homeowners after their kids move out and the house seems a lot bigger and less used than before. In addition, the work to upkeep the home probably doesn't come with as much gratification as it used to. This is the perfect time for boomers to transfer over to a smaller unit in a multi-family complex, which feels more suited for retiring couples or empty nesters than larger homes do.
"Boomers have plenty of multi-family units to choose from today, and the cost of upkeep and living from month-to-moth is undoubtedly a more affordable option for retirement at such locations," says Igor Krivoruchko.

subset: commoncrawl


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Rethinking Oncology Development: Master Protocols May Shorten Time To Approval
This article was originally published in RPM Report
Executive Summary
Master protocols that allow for the simultaneous study of multiple agents will shave more time off in the clinic than one-off studies in small groups of patients, FDA's Janet Woodcock predicted. The current timeframes in oncology development are "unacceptable," and can be shortened, she said, by "doing things differently."
You may also be interested in...
Master Protocols Are Both Welcome And Inevitable – US FDA's Woodcock
Center for Drug Evaluation and Research Director Janet Woodcock continues to promote innovation in clinical trial design with a review of master protocols in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Genentech Wants Other Firms' Compounds For Mass Pediatric Cancer Screening
Master protocol for Phase I/II screening trial could make development more efficient, but concerns about regulatory obligations, lack of registrational intent and infrastructure complexity – as well as firms' willingness to share – may be hurdles to participation.
I-SPY 2 Helping To Normalize Adaptive Trial Designs
Publication in NEJM of results from Phase II of master protocol study of breast cancer combinations also helps build support for Bayesian statistics.


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Idyllic escapes
From today until Sunday, the local travel agency will hold its 30th anniversary celebration roadshow at Our Tampines Hub Festive Walk.
Get discounts of up to $1,000 a couple for selected group departure tours to Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, Vietnam and Bhutan; the best deals on your next cruise trip aboard Genting Dream, Royal Caribbean and other cruise liners and a free two nights in Dubai for selected Europe package purchases.
As part of Club Med's promotion, save up to 40 per cent plus $300 off a couple, receive complimentary one-way transfer to Changi Airport with any Maldives package purchase, an additional 5 per cent rebate and a free umbrella with every booking (while stocks last).
Our Tampines Hub PAssion card members and Tampines residents enjoy an additional $10 off a person on group departure bookings and a free pair of Skytropolis tickets with Genting Highlands room package purchases.
Plus, stand a chance to win over $18,000 worth of prizes with every $200 purchase.
There are also onstage festivities - hosted by 88.3Jia FM DJ Jia Ming - taking place tomorrow from 5pm to 7pm.
Soak in a performance from The Very Special Choir, develop your Power Memory with certified International Master of Memory Wellon Chou and enjoy a free slice of cake at WTS Travel's birthday celebration at 6.30pm.
Lux North Male Atoll introduces The Lux Break, its very own surf point with ideal conditions for surfing and kitesurfing between May and October and just five minutes from the Maldives resort. In collaboration with Best Dives Maldives, the highest standard of equipment are available for rent, as well as board binding, fins, harnesses and pumps.
For beginners, experienced instructors are on hand for one-on-one instruction.
Book a stay at Lux North Male Atoll (from US$792 or S$1,099 a night on half board for two) by Sept 30 and get 35 per cent off with free meal upgrades.
Caravelle Saigon – the landmark property in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City – has unveiled its newly renovated guest rooms (from US$158 or S$219).
They feature stunning views, spacious walk-in vanities and beautifully finished bathrooms, while soundproof windows provide refuge from the bustling city.
The Signature Premium and Signature Studio rooms boast a larger floor area, couch and working space – perfect for longer leisure or business trips.
Until Sept 30, enjoy 10 per cent discount on the lowest room rates by using the code NEW2019 on www.worldhotels. com/hotel/caravellesaigon.
Discover Europe's hidden gems with carefully crafted itineraries that balance structured sightseeing with free time to explore.
The 10-day Imperial Europe (from US$1,875 or S$2,604 a person) visits six Unesco World Heritage sites and covers five Central European countries – Germany, Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Meanwhile, the eight-day Simply Italy (from US$1,675 a person) lets you gain VIP admission into the Vatican Museums, visit ancient sites of Rome and discover the magical waterways of Venice.
Save up to 20 per cent with Trafalgar (Booth D8) at Travel Revolution 2019 – happening from today till Sunday, 11am to 9pm, at Marina Bay Sands B2 Expo Hall F – and enjoy airfare savings when you fly with Etihad Airways with fares from $888.
The luxury tour operator has curated bespoke vacations with experiential excursions to the world's most inspiring destinations, taking guests on a multi-sensory journey to discover a country and uncover its culture, history and landscape with uninterrupted panoramic views from high up or up close on foot.
From traversing the high-altitude peaks of the vibrant Rainbow Mountain in Peru to the undiscovered corners of the Himalayas of India and through the remote mountain system of the Fann Mountains, Scott Dunn's walking itineraries (from $4,300 a person) are also coupled with a range of accommodation offerings, from the comfortable hillside havens in the heart of South America to the luxurious camping within the Fann Mountains.
The famed Margaret River region in Western Australia offers a picturesque coastline, idyllic countryside, seasonal gourmet cuisine and some of the country's best wines.
The Australian travel company's best gourmet getaway deals there include Cape Lodge ($912, three nights for two) in the middle of Margaret River wine country, where you can indulge in a four-course chef's tasting menu at the on-site restaurant.
Pullman Bunker Bay Resort (under $500, two nights for two) is for those who fancy a beachfront holiday with gourmet food and wine, and larger groups may upgrade to a two-bedroom villa ($768).
Or opt for the self-contained villa at Bayshore Beachside Resort ($381, three nights for two) in the town of Dunsborough, home to quiet sandy coves, national parks and a plethora of quaint cafes.
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now


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Government tourism partnership strategy welcomed, but we need visa improvements too
The Airport Operators Association (AOA), the trade body for UK airports, today responded to the launch of a new tourism partnership strategy, involving Government, the travel industry, and key public and private sector bodies, which aims to boost tourism by 23% by 2020.
Darren Caplan, Chief Executive of the AOA, said: "We welcome the Government's commitment to increasing the number of overseas visitors entering the UK by 23% by 2020, which if realised would provide a vital boost to UK plc in terms of job creation and increased economic growth.
"However, there are simple steps the Government could already take to make the UK a more welcoming destination for would-be visitors. In addition to ensuring the UK has excellent aviation connectivity right across the country – air travel in the UK accounts for 84% of all inbound visitors' spending – the Government should go further in simplifying the visa process for inbound visitors to these shores. The current process by which foreign nationals from countries such as China are granted a visa is a real deterrent at the moment.
"We acknowledge that Ministers have taken steps in the past few months to improve the visa process, but believe the Government should go further. For example, it should consider introducing longer-duration, multiple-entrance visas which allow visitors an opportunity to come to the UK over a longer period without having to apply for a visa every time they want to come here.
"The Prime Minister is right when he says that the UK is engaged in a global race to succeed, a race for the economic prosperity of the future. We see boosting tourism as a vital part of this – improving the UK's connectivity with the rest of the world, and streamlining the country's visa system, will help us succeed in this challenge."
For further information please contact Tim Alderslade on 0207 340 0992 or firstname.lastname@example.com.
Notes to Editors:
The Airport Operators Association (AOA) is the trade association that represents UK airports. Its mission is to see UK airports grow sustainably. It represents the views of UK airports to Government, Parliament and Regulators to secure policy outcomes that help deliver our mission. The AOA represents some 50+ UK airports and general aviation airfields in the UK. For more information, please visit www.aoa.org.uk<


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Guadalupe Bass
The Guadalupe bass is a feisty little fish that makes its home in the cool, clear-running waters of Hill Country streams and rivers. It's the State Fish of Texas, and we explore how what's good for this fish is also good for our rivers. We also visit South Llano River State Park and meet the park supervisor who works and plays in this natural wonderland.
Guadalupe Bass
Season 1 Episode 7
Under the Texas Sky: S1:E7: Guadalupe Bass | Park Life | Shout Out
Major support for this podcast comes from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation: Conserving Our Wild Things and Wild Places for Over 25 Years.
We receive additional support from the Sport Fish restoration program, funding sport fish conservation and restoration in Texas.
[Courtney and Brandon Robinson]
[Courtney] Agh, Dang it!
[Brandon] That a fish?
[Courtney] Yes, He was right in that foam line!
Courtney and Brandon Robinson love to fish the South Llano River…
[Courtney] We have kind of two branches of the river converging right here.
They're fly-fishing for Guadalupe Bass. And they're just two of the folks you'll meet in the podcast—which is a fish tale of passion for the clear running streams of the Texas Hill Country…from people who love those rivers…and that fish.
Stay with us…
From Texas Parks and Wildlife…this is Under the Texas Sky …a podcast about nature…and people… and the connection they share…I'm Cecilia Nasti.
The Guadalupe bass is a feisty little fish that makes its home in the cool, clear-running waters of Hill Country streams and rivers. It's the State Fish of Texas, and Courtney and Brandon Robinson fish for it whenever they can.
[Courtney and Brandon]
[Courtney] We're not looking at a whole lot of deep pools, it's more shallow water, skinny water.
[Brandon] Fish on! This is why I love catching Guads, they're little fish, but they use the river to fight!
The Guadalupe bass gets its name from the Guadalupe River, a stronghold stream for this lone star native, which the legislature dubbed the state fish of Texas in 1989. Catching Guads hasn't always been easy.
It's taken decades, and a whole lot of dedicated work. Yet today, our state fish is coming back. What's more, the beautiful rivers it lives in have a new army of passionate advocates, people working to keep our waters clean and healthy.
Tom Harvey reels out our story…
Why do some people love to fish so much? And if I don't fish, why should I care?
Well, there are lots of reasons, actually. In the case of the Guadalupe bass, this fish is moving people to save our rivers. And rivers are the lifeblood of Texas. They bring the water to fill our reservoirs, for people in cities, for farmers and ranchers, for jobs and businesses. And, for wildlife and wild things. Every living thing needs clean water, and the little Guadalupe bass helps keep the good stuff flowing.
[Courtney] Um so we're gonna see little bass in the shoal's area like in that little rapids area over there. Oh, there we go! Just a little guy!
There are bigger fish to catch, for sure. But this one is special, and some anglers just go ga-ga to catch 'em. To learn why, I drove up to Round Rock north of Austin, where Chris Johnson owns a store called Living Waters Fly Fishing. He's also a fly-fishing guide.
[Chris Johnson] I don't like to fish; I love to fish. For me, fishing is just a way of life. It's what I do when I work, it's what I do on my days off, it's what I'm thinking about in between then, and I love to do it.
I actually used to tournament bass fish. When I graduated from high school I took all my yard mowing money and got a Ranger bass boat. That's the first thing I did; and I wanted to fish tournaments and run lakes and do all that sort of stuff… and it was fun, but my heart was still on the river. I like moving water. I like a place where I can sight fish.
[Chris Johnson] We're really blessed in Central Texas because we can chase everything. We have largemouth bass, Guadalupe bass, a wide array of sunfish. We have the really popular Rio Grande cichlid, which is the only native cichlid in the US, and we've got 'em all throughout the Hill Country. So, we have people coming into the fly shop now that are targeting that fish from all across the nation, just cuz they see it on social media. I can post a 40-inch king salmon from Alaska and then I'll post a 10-inch cichlid, and I'll tell you which one I'll get more comments and likes on.
Just five minutes from the fly shop is Brushy Creek, a beautiful spring-fed stream that flows past city streets and country lanes…
We roll into a little city park on the creek, and there, at a low water crossing where clear water rushes over the road, is a guy on the bank fly fishing. It's 84-year-old Pat Blessing from nearby Pflugerville.
[Chris Johnson and Pat Blessing]
[Chris] How it'd fish?
[Pat] I was trying one of your crayfish jobs, an…uh… it's in the tree.
[Chris] It's in the tree. (Laughs)
[Pat] It's in the tree.
[Chris] Brushy Creek comes by its name honestly.
[Pat] But that's…uh…you know that's the way you learn to tie flies anyhows. You're supposed to tie one, hang it in the tree and then go tie another one. So that's, uh…
Even here, in urban Round Rock, a mile from the freeway noise of Interstate 35, there are Guadalupe bass swimming in Brushy Creek.
[Chris Johnson] The Guadalupe bass, I feel, is really one of the Texas treasures, if you will. You know, a lot of people know what our state flower is…a lot of people know what our state bird is…
… but when you ask what the state fish is, a lot of times you're gonna get blank stares…or questions…or things of that sort… and…uh… the Guadalupe bass is very unique in the fact that it only exists in the Hill Country of Texas…that's the only place that it is: is right in the middle of the state. The fish is aggressive, it's got a great personality as far as fish goes. If it wants your fly, there's no way you're going to get it away from it...
…they are just entirely aggressive. I've watched them kill stuff just for fun. They really wake up every morning of their life in a bad mood—and that's a great thing for a fish…uh… that you want to chase with a fly rod.
And they're beautiful. The markings are unique; they're very special—they look like Texas. When I think Hill Country, I think the Guadalupe bass.
Yet it wasn't long ago that our state fish was in trouble. In the 1970s, state biologists stocked non-native smallmouth bass in Texas rivers. They didn't expect smallmouths would cross-breed with native fish. But they did, producing hybrid offspring that were no longer pure Guadalupe bass. And by the 1980s biologists feared that our state fish seemed headed for extinction.
[Preston Bean] We're on the South Llano river and we're electroshocking Guadalupe Bass. There's some fish in there! Seeing how the population here that we've been working on the last few years is doing…
It's been a heavy lift, but it's not just about one species. Efforts to bring back the Guadalupe bass have helped many other wild things.
[Tim Birdsong] Guadalupe bass is sort of representative of that whole set of species and some of those are considered imperiled; they may only occur in one river and nowhere else in the world. And it's a little bit more difficult to get enthusiasm around conserving a minnow or conserving af mussel but what's good for Guadalupe bass is generally good for those other species.
Tim Birdsong once played pro baseball for the Cincinnati Reds, from 1998 to 2001. But he hung up his glove to go back to school and get a graduate degree in fisheries biology. Today he leads Texas Parks and Wildlife efforts to restore and protect river watersheds for fish, wildlife and people. He describes how they came up with a simple yet novel approach to save the state fish.
[—Tim Birdsong] We would just stock so many pure quality bass that hopefully those numbers would just flood the system and you would be left with a higher percentage of guads that remain and persist compared to hybrids, and that was really successful over a 20-year period….
[Unknown Biologist] Yep. There's a large one there.
[Tim Birdsong] From the early 1990s through roughly 2010 almost a million Guadalupe bass were stocked in the river and it drove down the hybridization rates dramatically…
After the Guadalupe River, the team focused on the South Llano River near Junction. Here they found a big opportunity. They could work with a river that was more pristine, to restore it and rally people around it while it was still in great shape.
[04—Chris Johnson] When you get to the South Llano, there's literally nothing out there. I mean you float that river and it's you, and the fish, and the birds, and that's it. It's also a spring-fed river…the water color can be really clear, sometimes it has a little bluish tint… it's just amazing. If you've never been on that river and anyone's consider it, it's a must-do.
[Brandon & Courtney Robinson]
[Brandon] Good size Guad!
[Courtney] Nice!
[Brandon] That's why the Llano River is such a great river to fish, because these fish are here!
[Tim Birdsong] I remember our very first paddle trip--we put in at the Llano Springs Ranch and paddled downstream and spent the entire day on the river. All these different organizations talking about what could be accomplished in just trying to develop a shared vision for where we could go and implement this collaborative elaborate stewardship approach. And it was just really The Perfect Storm of events that occurred…
Besides stocking fish, they planted along the streamside, working with landowners who owned the river banks to reduce erosion and improve water quality.
[Tim Birdsong] So in a really short time we went implemented close to 10,000 acres of habitat restoration projects, we stocked over 700,000 Guadalupe bass in that system. We by 2018 had achieved our genetic restoration target for Guadalupe bass. We had also just really moved the needle on habitat restoration.
So, we have committed real similar approaches in the Pedernales River Watershed, Blanco watershed. And just kind of continue to progress across other focal watersheds in the Hill Country. And every time we step into a new a new sub-Watershed we've continued to find very willing partners and a lot of interest. And so it's almost as if we just came move forward quick enough.
What's good for fish is good for people too. It all comes back to conserving rivers, the natural and economic lifeblood of the Lone Star State.
[Tim Birdsong] Texas has moved from a rural state to this decidedly urban state, and with that comes a whole new set of strategies to try to maintain the health of these natural systems. And we're just starting to see this really strong interest and participation in river-based recreation.
And rivers more so than just about any other landscape are affected by what's happening in the uplands and what's happening around them. The health of these streams is going to be dictated by the management actions that we implement on the land.
For sure, conserving our land and water is important. But for a lot people, it's about the pure joy of being outdoors, the peace of mind that brings, and the fun of casting a fly rod. More and more people are finding out the water's fine. Chris Johnson.
[Chris Johnson] Take Brushy Creek…all the parks up and down it, San Gabriel River through Georgetown, same thing, parks all along it. Those are places people go on weekend, with their kids, take a picnic basket or grab a fishing rod, and they'll use it as a rec center and as a place to just blow off steam and be with the family. And if there wasn't a river running through it, in many cases it wouldn't be a park, and if that river was dry or mossy or stank, people wouldn't go.
And that's the important part to me, that we're fighting to keep something beautiful for the sake of the fish, but also for the sake of the community at large. It's just the right thing to do.
At end of the day, lovers will always work harder than workers. And if you love what you're doing, and you love what you're about, you love your fish, you love your water, you love your state, you love the ground that it flows through, then you're going to fight to protect it.
I want my kids to catch Guadalupe bass, I want my kids' kids to catch Guadalupe bass. And I want them to be able to do it in the same places that I do.
So, we've done the rivers a favor by creating an army of conservationists who are in it for the love of the fish and the enjoyment it gives them, and that's the part where giving back now matters more than ever.
If you want to learn more about the Guadalupe Bass, you can find information on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.
Better yet…get out to one of our beautiful Hill Country rivers and cast for this feisty state fish of Texas.
This is Under the Texas Sky from Texas Parks and Wildlife…I'm Cecilia Nasti…with a quote from American essayist, poet and naturalist, Henry David Thoreau. He said: Many men go fishing all of their lives… without knowing that it is not fish they are after. That's one of my favorites. Do you have a favorite quote or poem about the outdoors? Share it with us at underthetexassky.org.
Support from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation allows us to bring you stories from Under the Texas Sky. In fact, since 1991, the Foundation has raised more than $190 million to conserve the lands, waters and wildlife of our state. You can help by becoming a member. Find out how at WeWillNotBeTamed.org
Earlier in the podcast we waded into the waters of the South Llano River with Courtney and Brandon Robinson as they fished for Guadalupe Bass—the state fish of Texas. We have a park named for that river, and that's where we're headed next.
When you visit a Texas state park and have the good fortune to meet one of our uniformed park personnel, have you ever wondered: do any of them actually live here? Fact is… it's not uncommon for state park managers to live on site.
Abe Moore, one of my colleagues from the award-winning Texas Parks and Wildlife Television series wondered what it would be like if your home sweet home was a Texas state park….
[Abe Moore] I did a story at South Llano River a while ago.
[Scott Whitener] The main draw is probably the river, which is why it gets its namesake.
[Abe] And I met the park manager here Scott Whitener.
[Scott] And even though you can be sitting in the campground with fifty other campers, you only walk a hundred yards and you are going to be all alone in the woods.
[Abe] And his passion and energy was just amazing, and I just thought, what a character, he lives here at the state park, he works here, he plays here, so I just thought he might be a fun story. So that's what we're doing.
[Scott] It is a, seven forty-five am, and it's time to go to work.
[Abe] Scott's the kind of guy that would be right at home in the pages of any outdoor catalog.
{Door creaks}
[Scott] Leaving home and open the gate, I think I can count the paces, about twenty-five feet.
{Gate opens}
[Scott] And we're at work.
[Abe] The parks headquarters is an old ranch house
[Scott] Morning Regina!
[Abe] And Scott manages a staff of seven to nine folks depending on the time of year.
{Computer turns on}
[Scott] Open the office up so we can start getting everybody checked-in.
{Door opens}
[Scott] How you doing sir!?
[Camper] How are you?
[Scott] I'm doing great thank you!
[Camper] I'd like to make a reservation.
[Scott] All right!
{Computer clicking}
[Scott] You gotta make sure you are there for your people, sometimes that means I'm the front desk guy, last week it was when I got a sick, sick employee, I'm the only one here, it doesn't matter how busy it is you still gotta serve people that walk through the door.
{Computer clicks}
[Scott] So, would you prefer something on the back side? Like over here where the bird blinds are. Ok let me see if I can move you somewhere over there.
{Birds flap around at bird blind}
[Abe] I'm surprised you're not a birder Scott, how come?
[Scott] I didn't start out a birder,
{Birds flap around at bird blind}
[Scott] I've learned more about birds in the two years I've been here than I think I knew from my first forty-three years of life. And, I learned the hard way by thinking certain birds weren't real.
What do you mean?
{Yellow-billed Cuckoo calls}
Somebody said that we had a Yellow-billed Cuckoo, and I said nah, that's not a real bird! And then they showed me on the list, and then showed me pictures of the Yellow-billed Cuckoo and said you're an idiot.
{Yellow-billed Cuckoo calls}
[Abe] Scott's road to South Llano River State Park was a windy one.
[Scott] Well I moved to Austin when I was nineteen I guess. I finally got a job on an Alaskan fishing boat.
{Boat hits waves}
{Scott] Went to Lake Tahoe…
[Scott] Trim all the trees on these forest roads.
{Shoveling dirt}
[Scott] A job working on an organic farm in upstate New York. Drive cross country.
{Car drives by}
[Scott] And hit a bunch of national parks.
[Scott] Spent three months travelling in Guatemala by myself. Kinda all building up to one thing which was, I'm gonna have to figure out something eventually that I'm going to do for the rest of my life. And I did all this before I turned thirty.
[Abe] He eventually went back to college, got a degree, and started teaching.
{Kids at school]
[Scott] I taught kids with autism, cerebral palsy, and ugh, I won teacher of the year.
[Abe] You did?
[Scott] Yeah, I won teach of the year, and then the next year I quit cause of stress.
[Abe] So, at thirty-nine. He took a nine dollar an hour seasonal clerk position at Enchanted Rock State Natural Area.
[Scott] Literally the day I started at Enchanted Rock, it was like I want to know how you are doing this, and I want to learn every aspect of how this works. My former supervisor just said, ya know, Scott this isn't rocket science. It's about how you deal with people, I stopped letting all the technical stuff get to me, and started well I can work with people.
[Scott] So were walking towards the camping loop where everybody down in this one little section of the park of fifty-eight some camp sites.
[Abe] And who's the dog?
{Dog whines}
[Scott] The dog is Lulu, Lulu the wonder dog.
[Abe] Lulu…
{Dog whines}
[Abe] Say hi!
[Scott] Kind of my nightly thing is just to take the dog, gives me an excuse, not only to walk the dog, but to check on people that are staying with us.
[Scott] Ah, Steve! What's going on Steve, how are you sir! Welcome back, welcome back dear!
We're glad to be back.
[Scott] Karen and Steven Grasty, they are veteran park hosts.
[Abe] Veteran huh!
{Scott] Veteran.
[Steven] Got a lot of experience under our belt. Ha-ha,
[Scott] Just a little!
[Abe] So, tell me for someone that's new to this park, what's this park like?
[Steven] It's fantastic, fantastic park.
[Karen] Beautiful
[Steven] Beautiful, in the spring when the birds start coming back and all that it's, it's beautiful, and you've got some deer coming in, ya know in and out, so!
[Scott] Oh yeah!
[Karen] We'll see ya later.
[Abe] All right, thank you for your time.
[Scott] Bye ya'll, welcome home!
[Abe] Nature calls to Scott…
{Dog whines}
[Abe] That's a big one!
[Scott] Lulu,
[Abe] And on this walk it calls to Lulu, too.
[Scott] Ya know, this is the worst part about walking the dog and having to follow your own rules.
[Abe] That was a big one.
[Scott] Out of that little dog, I'm telling you man! This dog is regular.
{Trash lid closes}
[Scott] Whew, nasty!
{Abe] Whew, nasty!
[Abe] And tonight, even after a quick dog walk there's still enough time to get in a bike ride.
[Scott] It takes ten seconds to get to the trailhead from the back door.
{Mountain bike tires on dirt}
[Scott] That's one of those nice things about living in the park, that's how far I have to get to get on the trail.
{Mountain bike tires on dirt}
[Abe] Is this the way to your favorite spot?
[Scott] Oh absolutely, as soon as we pass one trail you're in my favorite spot I'd say.
[Abe] These trails twist and turn and seem to go for miles.
[Scott] Ya know if you've got 18-19 miles of trail in the backcountry, you rarely see a person which is what it's all about.[Abe] Which is good for Scott, he needs the miles to prep for ultramarathons.
{Mountain bike tires on dirt}
[Abe] I guess you're not training now are you or you are?
[Scott] I guess you're always training, you're just training to finish. People ask me before, it's like so how does it feel like running fifty miles. Well it hurts, it hurts. I will admit I've never come in dead last but, uh, I will always finish. It just might not be pretty.
[Abe] And as the sun sets on my visit, we finally arrive at one of Scott's favorite spots.
[Abe] How far if you wanted to do the primitive would you have to walk to get back here, a mile, mile and a half?
[Scott] A little over a mile and a half, yeah. I always tell people to do bike in camping. If you can fit a backpack with a tent on your back, just ride everything in it's much faster. Most people look at primitive as the afterthought, cause they couldn't get anything else that's more convenient. And I would say this would be my ideal campsite, it's peaceful back here.
[Abe] I hadn't thought about that, but yeah, this is the perfect bike in camp spot. I don't want to tell anybody.
[Scott] The wonderful thing about South Llano River State Park and why people should care about this place, it's uh, you can go to the river and I think that's what people think is the draw, they don't think about the other twenty-one hundred acres that's back there, that's just waiting to be tapped into. That's what's so special about. Because there is space to be had out here, and its solitude and to me that's nature.
Want to experience the peace and solitude that Scott's talking about? Then check out the South Llano River State Park page on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website and learn about all the park has to offer…and make your camping reservations online, too.
Meanwhile, I hope you'll have no reservations when it comes to contacting us at underthetexassky.org to share your feedback…story ideas…or your Shout Out to the Wild…like my friend Doretta Conrad of Round Rock, Texas did.
[Doretta Conrad]
Hi there. I'm Doretta Conrad from Round Rock, Texas. I'm a local artist who makes handmade, natural stone jewelry. And I'd like to send a Shout Out to the Wild about the South Llano River State Park.
We found this lovely state park while on one of our road trips recently. This beautiful park is on the South Llano River as you can tell from the name of the park. But what impressed me the most about this state park is its birding area.
They have well-marked trails, with a variety of viewing stations. And I also found that the state park rangers know a whole lot about birding, and they're very helping in helping you to determine what birds are in the area when you're there, and when you should come back to see birds when they are migrating through.
It was very cool, and I very much enjoyed it. I plan to go back, and you should plan to go check it out.
Be like Doretta Conrad of Round Rock, Texas and tell us what you love about the Texas outdoors…whether it's spending time our state parks…natural areas…being on the water boating or fishing…or doing some wildlife viewing…whatever it is… Go to underthetexassky.org and tell us your story. We'll be in touch.
And so, we come to the end of another podcast. Under the Texas Sky is a production of Texas Parks and Wildlife and is available at UndertheTexasSky.org or wherever you get your podcasts.
Thanks to Tom Harvey for enlightening us about the state fish of Texas: the Guadalupe Bass…and to Abe Moore for his "day in the life" segment about what it's like to live at a Texas State Park.
We record the podcast at The Block House in Austin, Texas. Joel Block does our sound design.
I'm your producer and host, Cecilia Nasti, reminding you that life's better outside when you're Under the Texas Sky.
Major support for this podcast comes from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation: Conserving Our Wild Things and Wild Places for Over 25 Years.
We receive additional support from the Sport Fish Restoration Program…funding sport fish conservation and restoration in Texas.
Join us again next time for Under the Texas Sky.


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A photo of the Ahmet Hamdi Akseki Mosque in Ankara that shows a group of children playing with toys in a special area went viral a few days ago, and more initiatives will be undertaken to increase the number of child-friendly mosques across Turkey.
Families that visit the Ahmet Akseki Mosque for Tarawih prayer, a voluntary prayer observed during the holy month of Ramadan, can now find play areas to use and enjoy their time. The mosque is situated near a service building operating under Turkey's Presidency of Religious Affairs (DİB) and hosts between 50 and 100 children, as they accompany their parents for Tarawih prayers.
Mansur Sağır, the mosque's muadhdhin, who calls the daily prayers, said that Ahmet Hamdi Akseki Mosque is just the first step of a project that will make such facilities more common in the near future. "We have not yet met any negative feedback. While parents observe prayers, their children can either play here or accompany their parents during the prayer. What we are trying to do is make mosques more child-friendly. Children make new friends here and play together. The mosque draws people from remote districts," Sağır said.
Ahmet Yasin Faslı, a small child visiting the mosque, said that he comes from Ankara's Yenimahalle Neighborhood and quite likes the play area. Yağmur Buruk is another child that comes to the mosque with her parents. Her father Bahri said that the new facility shows great thinking.
In the past, child and female-friendly mosques were not very common across Turkey. Many mosques used to offer worshippers, especially women, secluded, stuffy and segregated quarters with their children. This was mostly because more men made use of the mosque and therefore got priority, while many women's needs were overlooked. But a younger generation is now arguing that mosques should be equally accessible for both sexes. Newly constructed or renovated mosques like the Çamlıca Mosque or Marmara University's School of Theology Mosque in Istanbul are more female-friendly. In the near future, child-friendly mosques are expected to become widespread around Turkey.


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NEW- Handmade Wooden Garden Planters. These are made from quality pressure treated 32mm x 125mm decking boards and are handmade by a time served joiner with over 30 years experience. Please note this advert is for a 1200mm x 300 x 250mm planter, if any other size is required please message for price and availability. Please Also note these are made with 32mm Boards.
The item "Wooden Garden Decking Planter- Handmade size 1200mm x 300mm x 250mm" is in sale since Tuesday, April 7, 2020. This item is in the category "Garden & Patio\Plant Care, Soil & Accessories\Baskets, Pots, Window Boxes & Saucers".The seller is "paulf9499" and is located in Wigan. This item can be shipped to United Kingdom.


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What Are The Benefits Of Psychotherapy?
3 min readTable of Contents
A large percentage of individuals worldwide suffer from mental health issues every day affecting their life qualities. It's unfortunate that most people do not seek treatment or help for fear of stigma or feel they do not need it. Psychotherapy is a mental health treatment that can promote your wellness.
San Pedro psychotherapy specialists at Harbor Community Health Centers offer compassionate care to treat different mental health issues and restore your health and life quality. Contact the practice today to schedule your psychotherapy treatment.
What is psychotherapy?
Psychotherapy involves various types of therapy for mental health issues treatment, including anxiety, anger issues, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. The common psychotherapy techniques include cognitive behavioral therapy that allows you to learn new behaviors and psychoanalytic therapy.
A psychotherapist may combine different treatments with helping you overcome your issues. The mental health specialists have training on various psychotherapy approaches to provide patients with specific advice based on their concerns.
It involves talking with a psychiatrist, psychologist, or any other mental health provider. It allows you to learn about your moods, thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Through psychotherapy, you learn healthy coping skills to take control of your life and respond to challenging situations.
Are psychotherapy treatments under insurance covered?
Most people use medical covers for their medical treatments; most people cannot afford the medical costs. However, at Harbor Community Health Centers, psychotherapy treatments are at low costs and sometimes no cost. The practice aims at providing patients with the care they need to recover from their mental health problems.
What to expect during a psychotherapy treatment?
Your provider begins the treatment by reviewing your medical history and the concerns you have. Every session involves working with your therapist to identify negative thoughts patterns and behaviors. Your provider teaches you strategies to change the behaviors and thoughts to help you overcome your problems in due time.
What mental health issues does psychotherapy treat?
Psychotherapy involves using different approaches to address various mental health issues, including
- Anxiety disorders, like post-traumatic disorder, panic disorder, phobias, or obsessive-compulsive disorder
- Addictions, alcoholism, gambling, and drug dependence
- Mood disorders, depression, bipolar disorder
- Personality disorders, borderline personality disorder, or dependent personality disorder
- ·Eating disorders
- Schizophrenia
- Anger management
- Substance abuse issues
Besides managing your mental health issues, psychotherapy helps manage your daily issues that may come up at school, home, work, and in your relationships.
What are the benefits of psychotherapy?
Psychotherapy helps with the following.
- Enhances better sleep
- Helps cope with sexual problems
- Resolves conflicts
- It helps you to cope with major life changes, such as the loss of a loved one.
- Relieves anxiety or stress
- Enhances recovery from physical or sexual abuse
- Managing unhealthy reactions
- Allows you to come to terms with an existing physical health problem
Besides talking with a mental health provider, psychotherapy may also involve medications and other practices such as yoga and meditation.
Talk to a psychotherapist today
Your mental health affects a major part of your life, including responding and dealing with life issues. Seeking medical help is the first step towards your healing journey. Contact Harbor Community Health Centers today to start your psychotherapy treatment.


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The first is always the most exciting (or it's supposed to be), but at the same time it's usually the hardest one.
So even if the people @ Nobrow are well known for publishing some of the best current artists in the comic scene, organizing such an ambitious festival is a completely different thing. But this is what they have in mind for this summer so… we won't be the ones spoiling their ambition.
In fact, we're here to remind you that ELCAF (East London Comic & Arts Festival), as still in the "building" phase, are looking for partners, artists, shopkeepers (you can be both at the same time) and whoever can provide & sell not only amazing material but also a few funny stories to tell entertain potential customers while flipping through your weird comics, and a big big smile (although you'll have to pay a fee if willing to have a desk of course).
The whole festival program, details of the artists, talks and more have yet to be unveiled, but one thing is sure… they're be reviving the cartoon jamming exercise that the TV series Tac Au Tac put in place in the 70s for some of the most famous Belgian BD artists… André Franquin, Morris, Peyo & Jean Roba.
We're anxiously awaiting for the full details of the program, so as soon as we know more, will give it an events posting and let you know… for now (or more info for being part of the event), just head to their page.


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Hugh Shine
I graduated from Goldsboro High School in Eastern North Carolina in 1950. My heart was set on Notre Dame, but we couldn't afford it. Fortunately my brother Jack was just finishing his freshman year at the Abbey, and he sold me on the school. We even roomed together my freshman year.
The school was very small then, but it was perfect for me. I couldn't get over the wonderful teachers like Fr. Cuthbert, Fr. John, Fr. Raphael, Fr. Walter and others.
Another great bonus for me was starting on the Abbey basketball team under the fabulous Humpy Wheeler. I was also humbled and proud to be elected Captain of the team.
My education continued at Notre Dame where I joined the seminary the second semester of my junior year. I did leave the seminary in 1957 and had a diverse career path of teaching, theatre four years including appearing in "Oliver" on Broadway, then a Masters in English at Fordham, then publishing sales for twenty-five years and now writing fiction.
This may sound like a Walter Mitty life, but I'm sure the confidence, in large measure, has come from my two great years at the Abbey. Ergo, I'm leaving a bequest in my Trust for dear old Abbey.
Donor Story--in his own words
Hugh Shine, Class of 1952


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Anjoola's Website Version Fourteen - Legendary
For You
Think you are up to snuff in the world of brawling? Then challenge me to a battle and see who wins! You can check out my info below, and see which characters are my favorites. Also, check out some of the checklists available for Brawl!
Name: Anjoola Friend Code: 3995 6173 4404 If you want to challenge me to a brawl, click here to go back to the Wi-Fi Info page. There you can fill out a form to request a brawl!
I have many favorite characters, but my two most favorites ones are Pikachu and Meta Knight. I prefer non-human characters, because for some reason, I'm really bad at controlling the human ones. An exception to this is Pit, although he's not really a human. Below is some information about Pikachu and Meta Knight.
Pikachu Pikachu is my most favorite character. I've used him since the first Super Smash Bros. game. The obsession with him started with the Pokémon games, and it slowly transferred over to the different Smash games. Pikachu is strong, speedy, and cute, which is a deadly combination! I usually use Pikachu when fighting others, or when trying to (cheaply) beat the 100-Man Brawl.
Meta Knight Meta Knight is another one my favorite characters. He's fast, lightweight, and tricky. His attacks are strong, especially his Special moves. However, Meta Knight's weaknesses are his slow recovery and terrible Final Smash. Anyway, that doesn't matter, as Meta Knight helped me throughout my journey in all of the different modes of the game.
Brawls Back to Top Since I am rather amateurish to the Super Smash Bros. series (Brawl being the only game that I have), don't expect much of a challenge from me if you are one of those hardcore types. However, I have some tricks up my sleeves, and it's up to you to get out of them! I would like to have an honorable battle - that in which the loser doesn't quit, even though he or she is losing, and the winner doesn't gloat. I might seem modest, but it usually is because I'm usually the loser of the game. That doesn't dishearten me though - so let's brawl!
Layout and Design by Anjoola


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Searchable.ai, a San Francisco, CA-based creator of a new class of "Conversational Search" technology, raised $4M in seed funding.
The round was led by Susquehanna International Group and Omicron Media with participation from Defy Partners, NextView Ventures, and angel investors.
The company intends to use the funds to hire additional scientists and engineers, and further build out the product.
Led by Brian Shin, co-founder & CEO, Searchable is a new kind of Conversational Search engine for work—leveraging patent-pending Neural Indexing technology to cut through the clutter and find the exact file, information, or answer users need.
- Processes natural language questions to find the answer in any file regardless of format or location
- Anticipates and indexes all possible "answers" and insights in documents so that this information is available at fingertips
- Understands context and meaning to surface contextually relevant and personalized results that improve over time


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Digital stores will never replace physical stores in the luxury segment: Francois Arpels
The founder and managing director of private equity fund Brands and Beyond on India's contribution to the luxury industry
François Arpels, 51, comes from the third generation of the family that founded the jewellery house Van Cleef & Arpels in 1906. After a short stint at Christie's in New York, he trained in making jewellery and cutting diamonds. His father's death in 1980 prompted him to join the family business sooner than he had expected.
In 2000, Van Cleef & Arpels—where he was a member of the board—was sold to the Richemont Group. François Arpels has since been advising lifestyle and luxury brands. He has been involved with India for more than 15 years and now lives in New Delhi.
Arpels is also the founder and managing director of Brands and Beyond, an India-based private equity (PE) fund which is looking to invest in home-grown luxury and lifestyle brands. He was one of the speakers at The Timeless Legacy of Indian Jewels, a conference on Indian jewels hosted by Saffronart in October in Mumbai. He spoke to Lounge about the luxury market in India and the business of luxury. Edited excerpts:
There must be multiple kinds of pressure on old, family-owned businesses, pressures of being competitive and reinventing themselves...
I don't think pressure is the right word. The business had been part of my raising. The entire family was involved and the knowledge, the know-how and the reins were passed from one generation to the other, seamlessly.
Having said that, the only way for brands to sustain and grow is through innovation in all aspects: design, marketing, expansion, personnel training and client services.
Van Cleef & Arpels has always been innovative. Some of the techniques my family invented are there even today. The invisible setting, a technique in which the prongs on which gemstones are mounted are invisible (also known as Mystery Set, and patented in 1933 by Van Cleef & Arpels), remains in very high demand today. We were the first jeweller to set up a boutique in Japan in 1974.
In the late 1950s, my family understood that luxury, as it was perceived in those days, was evolving. It was the time of the hippie movement in Europe and people were looking for more easy-to-wear apparel and jewellery. Van Cleef & Arpels came up with the La Boutique collection, which was initially intended to offer a younger and more accessible line of jewellery to a broader range of clientele, such as the Alhambra that remains one of the brand's best-sellers today. It was much before Cartier came out with the Must (Les Must de Cartier) jewellery range in the 1970s.
In 1976, Van Cleef & Arpels became the first jeweller to launch a fragrance.
It demonstrates the agility of the brand in being a front-runner in understanding the consumer's preferences and adapt to them.
What do people need to understand about the business of luxury?
Let's first differentiate between luxury and lifestyle—lifestyle is more mainstream and luxury is more exclusive.
For luxury, legitimacy of the product is key; what's behind the product, who has made it, does the brand control and improve the craft of the product, these are extremely important factors.
It is very important for a luxury brand to be able to rely on a know-how that is communicated to the clients. So it is important for the brands to own or control that aspect. Then the communication, the storytelling, must be coherent with the brand's history and values. And the service part; salespeople have to be informed and trained particularly well to be able to speak with consumers as knowledgeable ambassadors of the brand.
The brand must be protected from all directions; it takes a long time to build a luxury brand, although today communication tools can shorten that time, so consistency and reliability are key.
The stores are essential too. For a consumer, beyond the product, the experience matters.
So there is no alternative to the brick and mortar store?
Digital stores will never replace physical stores when it comes to the luxury segment. Social media, e-commerce complement the physical stores. They might help customers learn more about a brand and its offering, and facilitate the brand to interact with them, but most of the time, some hands-on experience with the products is essential.
If you are buying a limited-edition watch, for example, you would want to see how it looks and feels on your wrist—that is impossible to replace.
What are the future plans for Brands and Beyond?
Brands and Beyond is a PE firm which brings strategic guidance and will help brands in value addition. Our goal is to invest in made in India, non-ethnic lifestyle to luxury brands, and guide them to scale internationally where there is the largest potential for growth and strongest interest for emerging disruptive brands, while consolidating them selectively, locally. We are targeting beauty, apparel, jewellery, accessories, gourmet foods and hospitality verticals among others.
Our business model is to help our portfolio companies improve their value cycle, put in place the best processes, and work with them in devising and implementing a successful international rollout strategy.
It has been three years since my partners and I have started working on the project that was codenamed IndEU Capital and one year since we have been marketing Brands and Beyond. We will be making our first two investments in the next weeks.
Our objective is to invest in about 12 businesses for a medium term, say about five years per investment, contributing $1-4 million (around Rs6.4-25.7 crore) per transaction in one or multiple tranches, in companies generating from $1-5 million in revenue.
Why an India-dedicated fund?
As far as I am concerned, India has always been a part of the global lifestyle and luxury story in many different ways. From centuries ago, with trading—of the rarest fabrics, gold, diamonds and other precious stones, spices, a lot of these fine materials would come from India. And if they didn't, they passed through India at some point during the trade.
In the 20th century, India inspired a lot of international brands; from jewellery to perfume makers to fashion designers. Look at Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels, for example: their creations have largely been influenced by India in terms of styles, designs, colours, techniques, etc. Also the likes of Chanel and Hermès, they were all inspired by India. Almost every international brand would have an India-inspired product in a collection.
Also, brands have been relying on India for its many crafts, such as embroidery, gold application, and its know-how. Now is the right time for Indian brands to go international capitalizing on its history.
People in India are slowly understanding India's value in global brands' histories. Saffronart recently organized a conference in Mumbai on The Timeless Legacy of Indian Jewels and it is time more such events are promoted in India to put the country back on the luxury world map.
It seems like India always had the potential, both as a market and as an incubator for luxury brands. Why hasn't the country lived up to expectations then?
From where I stand, the reasons are relatively straightforward. India doesn't offer the right environment for the development of international brands and the addressable market remains narrow. Taxes are extremely high, resulting in Indians travelling outside the country and buying luxury products at more competitive prices. They might also find a larger variety to choose from and a much better overall shopping experience outside the country.
Infrastructure in India is still not at an international level. Where does a brand open a store here? And even if they do, where do they go beyond a second store? The education system doesn't offer any real curriculum for the management of luxury yet, with the exception of rare instances such as crafting luxury and lifestyle businesses (course) at IIM (Indian Institute of Management), Ahmedabad. The local ecosystem is still rather unprofessional. So luxury brands don't come to India and have only a couple of stores here.
As far as Indian brands going international is concerned, it is a bit different. I'd say there has been a lack of conviction and confidence from Indian designers, creators and promoters that they are capable of going international, and they have been relatively sheltered in the local market to worry about globalization. It is not easy to build a brand and even more difficult to maintain that brand name. Groups like LVMH, Richemont and Kering have been so successful because they have implemented, similar to any other industry, the best processes and have access to a large pool of skills and professional talent—managerial and creative. This has been lacking in Indian brands.
This said, brands from emerging markets Brazil, India, Lebanon, Bali, Singapore, China, Australia have been paving the way. Look at Elie Saab, Carlos Miele, John Hardy, Rahul Mishra, Royal Enfield, Skin Inc., Nappa Dori, Pashma, Amrut, Shiatzy Chen, Aesop, etc., they are either currently rolling out or already highly successful internationally. So things are happening and soon you will see a wave of brands from emerging countries establishing themselves on the international stage.
How has the luxury industry changed over the years?
Well, some things have happened during the last four decades. Countries like Japan and, more recently, China have contributed to the development of the industry. For luxury brands, that has translated into double-digit growth. The rise in the number and diversity of brands, the circulation of information thanks to the internet and social media, and the development of travel have resulted in more knowledgeable, sophisticated and volatile consumers. Moreover, the new and younger generation doesn't purchase for status but for experience and emotion. As a result, demand for brands that carry legitimacy based on customization, artisan and craftsmanship, and uniqueness is growing. As the market expands, smaller and innovative brands from emerging countries have the potential to be a disruptive and attractive proposition in the market beyond the global brands.
- For all the latest Fashion News, Lifestyle News, Food News, Smart Living, Health Tips, and Relationships, only on Mint Lounge.


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Easy Rudolph Gift Jar
An adorably easy Rudolph Gift Jar, perfect for your gift-giving this holiday!
I'm kind of in love with these super cute gift jars. They are SERIOUSLY cute and festive, and even more so in person! Best of all, they take just a few minutes to put together, which in my book, makes them perfection. They're perfect for neighbors, teachers, friends, and more!
Affiliate links are included below for your convenience.
-Whoppers candy
-brown cardstock or pipe cleaners
–black vinyl or cardstock (or google eyes)
*Fill your jar or milk bottle with Whoppers. I found my cute jar with the red lid at Target's One Spot, and they often have cute jars for $1. It's a great place to look! You can also spray paint your lid red, or even use a cute red patterned washi tape around the ring.
*I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut out antlers out of brown cardstock, and washi tape to attach them to the back of the lid. You could also use brown pipe cleaners instead, or trace your child's handprints on brown cardstock and cut them out.
*The red nose is cardstock, and the eyes are black vinyl dots that I used a hole punch to cut them out with. Other alternatives for the nose are red vinyl or even a red pom-pom, and you could use google eyes or black cardstock instead of the black vinyl for the eyes. It really is a great project in that way, because there are so many different options and you can use what you have.
And that's it! So simple and easy, and SO darling. That's my favorite combination, especially during the busy holidays.


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Support & Maintenance
Once you launch a website, it doesn't mean that you have a huge weight lifted off your shoulders. In fact, you're even more pressured to ensure everything goes right. One of the most basic ones is to ensure your website remains running for 24 hours 7 days a week.
Not only that, you also need to continuously update it with relevant content so it always looks fresh in the eyes of Google or any other search engine for that matter. As you know, the freshness of your site can create a huge impact when trying to rank high in search engine results pages.
Apart from content, you also need to update features or tweak certain design elements to remain a visually pleasing site to both potential and existing customers. Continuously improving your site ensures a great user experience, which has a positive impact on your site's chances of topping search results.
So, whatever you need – be it a concern over security, adding a feature or changing a design – you can be rest assured that we will be there to cater to your needs. Not only that, you're also ensured that the services we provide are delivered on time and meet your expectations.
Completed Projects
Happy Clients
Qualified stuff
We love What we do


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Enchanting Agender Pride Earrings, Teardrop Earrings with Sterling Silver Ear Wire and Howlite Bead
Shipping calculated at checkout.
You'll fall in love with these "Because I'm Enchanting" Agender Pride Earrings.
These lightweight teardrop earrings are designed using an abstract design and the Agender Flag colors.
They are constructed using our secret formula of recycled paper and acrylic, with original one of a kind art on the front and back. They are sturdy and water resistant, but please do not wear them in the rain or in the shower!
Measuring 2" from the top of the sterling silver ear wire, these "Because I am Enchanting" earrings are great to wear all year round and are so lightweight you will want to wear them every day!


text: Several modifications were made for the 1972 model year Panteras. A new 4 Bolt Main Cleveland Engine, also 351 cu in, was used with lower compression ratio (from 11:1 to 8.6:1, chiefly to meet US emissions standards and run on lower octane standard fuel) but with more aggressive camshaft timing (in an effort to reclaim some of the power lost through the reduction in compression). Many other engine changes were made, including the use of a factory exhaust header. The "Lusso" (luxury) Pantera L was also introduced, in August 1972 as a 1972½ model. It featured a large black single front bumper for the US market, rather than the separate bumperettes still used abroad, as well as a 248 hp (185 kW) Cleveland engine. During 1973 the dash was changed, going from two separate pods for the gauges to a unified unit with the dials angled towards the driver. The U.S. version 1974 Pantera GTS featured GTS badging but not the higher compression, solid lifter engine of its European GTS "cousin".


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How to Play Satta King Game
Satta king is the best favored framework to play online satta. Satta King is generally an extremely straightforward game and fundamentally is a sort of lottery. We give you the specific best point of interaction to figure alongside to win gigantic sums by means of us. How about we become dpboss of India's generally mind … Read more


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Every week there are new releases in gaming either it be for consoles, handhelds, PC, or mobile phones. This week it seems to be one of the most packed in 2015, at least until the fall. Here this weeks video game releases:
Batman: Arkham Knight
Available on: PS4, Xbox One, and PC
Rocksteady Studios is back with one last entry in this groundbreaking superhero gaming franchise. After a lackluster and bug ridden Arkham Origins (which was done by another studio), Rocksteady decided to up the anty. This time around gamers will play as Batman on the supposed night he dies. Scarecrow has taken over Gotham with the help of many other Batman rogues including Harley Quinn, Two-Face, and Penguin. Even better: you can finally drive the Batmobile.
If early reviews are any indication, fans are definitely in for a treat.
Available on: PC, PS4, and Ps3
With the re-release of Final Fantasy XIV in the Realm Reborn, Square Enix finally got it right. I personally never played Final Fantasy A Realm Reborn, but I have friends that do. Despite having a subscription plan, the MMO that released last year has held strong and steady number of players. Square Enix hopes to boost those numbers, or at least bring new players in, with its first full expansion: Heavensword.
Available on: PS4, Xbox One, and PC
For those who might have missed the critically acclaimed Devil May Cry 4, like myself, will finally be able to play it. Re-releasing as a digital download (you can pre-order and load on the PSN now), players can revisit or play for their first time what was the final installment in the DVM franchise before the reboot from a few years ago. New graphics and revamped controls, for a $25 price tag, it might be worth it.
*Planetside 2 – a free-to-play online multiplayer game available on the PS4
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Negative attitudes 'hindering' China GM commercialisation
- Details
Incidentally, it's hard to know what to make of Yang's statement that "there is no scientific evidence of 'gene pollution'". There is indisputable evidence of GM contamination and it is already affecting the trade in goods from China - witness the Chinese rice products that have been found to be contaminated by the illegal experimental GM rice - Bt63. This has led the European Commission to adopt an emergency measure requiring imports of products from China to be certified free of Bt63, while trade authorities in member countries hunt down contaminated products that have already been imported.
Negative attitudes 'hindering' China GM commercialisation
Jia Hepeng
SciDevNet, 24 July 2008
[BARCELONA] European nations should take a more positive attitude towards genetically modified (GM) food because their negative stance is seriously affecting developing world policies regarding commercialisation of GM crops to feed hungry people, says a leading Chinese scientist.
"The attitudes of Chinese policymakers are deeply influenced by your views and I appeal to you to reconsider your stance so that modern agricultural technologies can benefit more people in China and other developing countries," said Yang Huanming, director of the Beijing Genomics Institute and China's leading researcher of human genomics and rice genomics projects.
Yang's remark was made on 18 July at a session organised by European Action on Global Life Sciences (EAGLES) during the Euroscience Open Forum.
It came days after the Chinese government approved a gigantic seeding research project that focuses on using a GM approach to improve plants' nutrition, yield, and tolerance to drought and floods.
Details of the research project were not revealed, but the China Daily newspaper reported that the funding for the long-term research programme (2006 2020) could be up to 20 billion Chinese yuan (US$2.92 billion), around 20 per cent of which would be used for biosafety inspection of new species and infrastructure construction.
Yang believes that this project will make the approval of GM crops easier, especially GM rice of which several varieties are under pre-commercialisation trials in China.
But environmental organisations, like Greenpeace, say that GM food poses a danger. They say there is risk of 'gene pollution' "" where the inserted gene of GM plants affects non-target plants of similar kinds via pollination. Earlier this year, Chinese scientists developed a strategy that could potentially minimise this (see New method 'prevents spread of GM plants').
Yang told SciDev.Net that claims made by environmental organisations have posed a major barrier to commercialisation.
"[Environmental groups] say the majority of Chinese agricultural products will be polluted by the modified genes, seriously influencing Chinese exports to Europe [as the continent will ban Chinese exports due to the risk of gene pollution]," Yang says.
"This claim is threatening enough to some policymakers although there is no scientific evidence of 'gene pollution'."
David McConnell, a professor of biotechnology at Trinity College, Dublin and co-vice chairman of EAGLES, welcomes Yang's appeals. "These voices from the developing world help European scientists to deliver more correct sounds, such as scientific basis of GM foods, to European public," he told SciDev.Net.
"The GM-free organic farming in Europe [cherished by environmental groups] relies on huge government and financial support and cannot be realised among small farmers in the developing countries with urgent need for modern agricultural biotechnologies to improve their productivity."


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The Pitney Bowes DM100 franking machine from Pitney Bowes in a low volume franking machine suitable for small businesses. It can process letters at a speed of 30 per minute, has a 2.5kg integrated scale and is compact so will fit well in any sized office. The DM100 could be the solution to your mailing needs; it is efficient, flexible in its abilities and simple to use. Pitney Bowes suggests the DM100 can be used by small to medium businesses who spend around £100 a month on postage.
Pitney Bowes DM100 Franking Machine Benefits
- PIN code protected
- Intellilink makes online services easy to access and use, this includes: envelope message downloads, software updates and tariff changes.
- Refill postage at any time with one touch top ups
- 5 job presets
- Low ink and low postage warnings
The DM100 is an ideal franking machine for businesses who send mainly letters and small packages, it can weigh items up to 2.5kg and can frank letters as thick as 9.5mm. By franking instead of using stamps your postage will also have a more professional appearance and the DM100 gives you the opportunity to advertise you business by adding a promotional message onto the envelopes – this is extra promotion with no extra cost!
As well as these features the DM100 will automatically go into a low-power mode when it has been inactive for a certain amount of time, this helps to cut down energy bills! The exact postage calculation will ensure you do not over or underpay for postage, it's a lot more effective, efficient and avoids unwanted charges for incorrectly priced items.
DM100 Specifications & Cost
To rent the DM100 could cost £45 – £60 a month, to receive an accurate quote on the DM100 fill out our form and we will help you find the perfect franking machine for your business at the right price.
- The DM100 is a small but powerful machine.
- Length: 33cm
- Depth: 25cm
- Height: 21cm
- Speed: 30 letters per minute
The Pitney Bowes DM100 is a brilliant first franking machine for any small business, it has an impressive selection of features that are designed to save you time and money. The ease of use combined with the low ink and low postage warnings makes the DM100 a very straightforward franking machine that helps you to keep the post ticking along nicely without taking much of your time or effort. Intellilink software comes as standard with all Pitney Bowes machines, it is a great addition and helps you to make full use of online services.
You can even put received mail into the franking machine to have it date and time stamped, all of these features are present to make sure you and your employees are able to focus your time on what matters to you while the franking machine sorts the post for you.
The ability to add a promotional message also helps give a more professional and personal approach to mail, this makes it more likely that the mail will be opened by the recipient too! This is a perfect first time franking machine created by respected and popular manufacturer Pitney Bowes.


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At InstanteStore, we try to keep things simple for our merchants so they can concentrate more on the marketing aspects of their store. A simple shopping cart not only saves time, but helps improves productivity as well. However there is only so much a simple shopping cart can do to help merchants improve their bottom line.
The following are a few free online shopping cart tips to help merchants get the best out of their site.


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One of the country's longest-running Black-owned gay bars wants you to know it has a sister business… for pizza lovers.
Jamal Junior is the owner of Jeffrey Pub in Chicago's Southside. The pub was established in the 1960s and has stayed a staple to the city's queer Black community. For Jamal Junior, a Chicago native, it's been an honor to support his community by upholding the establishment. He does so by not only running the bar but also holding food drives, toy drives, and other community support initiatives.
"Everytime I see them, they say: 'Hey, man. Thank you for keeping this place open for us,'" Junior told Block Club Chicago in June. "Because a lot of a lot of them don't feel comfortable in other places. And they feel that they're not respected in other communities. But I try to let them know this is a safe haven for them."
But now, Junior is looking to serve even more people. And even better, he's looking to serve them his family's pizza recipe too. Junior is putting more of his focus on the Williams Inn Pizza and Sports Bar in Chicago's South Loop. The restaurant is named after a former business run by his grandmother, the William's Inn Pizza. It's there that Jamal Junior learned about running a business. And it's also there that he learned how to cook a delicious pizza pie.
"I was, like, the grandchild she kept around," Junior said. "I'd get out of school. She'd pick me up. If she had to make a business run, I was with her."
According to WGN9, Junior's latest restaurant has been receiving a lot of press in the past month. This is, in part, because Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who is openly gay, visited the business during her re-election campaign trail. She also gave Jamal Junior a shout-out on her Instagram page.
"With roots that stretch back to the 1960s, the Jeffrey Pub has served as a safe haven for countless LGBTQ+ residents in the South Shore community and beyond." She wrote. "It proves that our city's LGBTQ+ communities stretch beyond Boystown and Lakeview and enrich each and every one of our 77 neighborhoods."
But is the newer establishment LGBTQ-inclusive? It's not specifically a gay bar, but Jamal Junior has continued to insist that the business be as inclusive as possible.
"One reason we chose the south loop is because it is a very diverse community we want everyone to be comfortable," he said.
Source: Block Club Chicago, WGN9,


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Pax Britannica
European history
Learn about this topic in these articles:
place in European history
- In 20th-century international relations: Industry, technology, and trade
…(with some exaggeration) as the Pax Britannica. The pound sterling became the preferred reserve currency of the world and the Bank of England the hub of international finance. British textiles, machinery, and shipping dominated the markets of Asia, South America, and much of Europe. The British Isles (again with some…
Read More


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The hotel has brought a realistic change in residential hotel in Rajshahi. It will be charm at her own extravagance learned comfortable to moving from around the world visitor. Providing impeccable service and excellent accommodation for all travelers be it business or pleasure. Anjum is located core point of Rajshahi apposite of railway station. The largest river of country Padma blowing beside few distance of this grand Anjum.
Anjum Hotel is private, self-contained and offer service at the highest possible quality.
Facilities & services:
- Welcome drinks or Tea/coffee
- Wide lobby
- Wide corridor
Star standard Room - 16 channel C.C camera for security
- Largest iron remover plant for water
- Stand by generator
- Restaurant
- Conference hall
- Car parking
- Round the clock room service
- Complimentary breakfast (AC room only)
- Doctor on call
Location/Address: Godhuli Market Road (2nd Floor), Station Road, Rajshahi, Bangladesh
Phone/Mobile: +880 1719-750914
Book Now


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Knowledge Resources (KR), announced the winner of the 2019 Learning and Development Team of the Year Award at the annual Learning and Development Conference, 9-11 September at Emperors Palace.
The award sets out to honour and recognise industry leaders who demonstrate excellence, innovative learning practices and make a significant contribution to the learning and development profession in Southern Africa.
Now in its 7th year, the 2019 winners were placed as follows:
Winner – Standard Bank Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB)
2nd place – Ucademy (WNS)
3rd place – Discovery Institute of Training
This year's judges included industry leaders such as S'ne Magagula (Chief HR Officer, Tiger Brands), Jeanett Modise (Chief Executive: HR, Sanlam), Siphiwe Moyo (Author and Chief People Officer, Twice Blue Consulting), Dr Shirley Zinn (Author and Non-Executive Director of Boards), Linda van der Loo (Chief Learning Disruptor, Blue Pebble Consulting) and Wilhelm Crous (MD of Knowledge Resources).
The judges were looking for innovation in L&D and evidence of how the learning function contributes to the performance improvement and overall bottom line results of an organisation.
Standard Bank CIB won the 2019 awards for demonstrating strong leadership and passion for continuous learning in the L&D industry. They also indicated a comprehensive approach to learning using modern agile methodology, gamification, experiential learning and digitisation. The implementation of their L&D strategy meets both learner development needs and business requirements, with the employee experience at the centre of the approach.
Vish Sanghani, Global Head of Learning (CIB) accepted the award on behalf of the team. Judy Robison, Executive Director: Ucademy, accepted the award on behalf of the Ucademy Team and Marian Clark, Head of the Discovery Institute of Training accepted for her team at Discovery.
Congratulations to all the winners and the organisations who entered this years awards.
For any questions relating to this award and future nominations, please contact Debbie Atwell of Knowledge Resources (083 651 1664) or email: firstname.lastname@example.com


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Sekulić Icon Collection
Sekulić Icon Collection | Informations
- Place: Belgrade
- Address: Uzun Mirkova 5
- Phone: +381 11 263 08 25
- Web address: www.mgb.org.rs
- Email: email@example.com
Moreover, the Belgrade City Museum contains the Sekulić Icon Collection in 5 Uzun Mirkova Street, in the apartment of Pava and Milan Sekulić, the architect who designed the building in which his family home was located. In addition to the largest collection of icons that can be seen in Serbia in one place, this couple of avid collectors bequeathed a large collection of paintings and works of applied arts to the city of Belgrade.
The collection contains 165 icons from the period between the 15th and the 20th centuries in Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Italy, Greece and Russia. The most beautiful icons offer a rare opportunity to observe and trace the main directions in the development of the Greek icon painting in the post-Byzantine era. In addition to icons, its authentic interior houses a collection of paintings of the most eminent Serbian painters of the 19th and the 20th centuries.


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Here is an interactive infographic showing US Per Capita Personal Income since 1969. These figures have been adjusted for inflation and provide some insight on the relative economic health/performance of each state.
It will be most interesting if you switch from the bubble graph to the bar graph — see the tabs at the top right-hand corner of the chart.
To start, click the box for the "nation" on the right-hand side for a good frame of reference.
Now, just click the states you want to see and hit play to see how they change over time.
1969-2008 State Annual Personal Income, U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Here are a few basic observations:
Perhaps the most noticeable trend is the dramatic increase in personal income in Washington DC. The nation's capital began to rise above all other states in the early part of this decade. By 2008, the last year for our data, DC's per capita income ($66,119) is nearly $10,000 more than the second state on the list, Connecticut ($56,272).
When the Rust Belt states (e.g., Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Wisconsin, etc.) are isolated, there's a somewhat steep decline in income compared to the nation.
Alaska is an interesting state to follow. By the mid-1970s, it dwarfed all other states in terms of earnings (as high as almost $46,000 in 1976). But it has since fallen to No. 9 on the list.
Half of the bottom 10 states on this list are in the South. Mississippi is ranked last with 2008 personal income at $30,399.


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Howard Marks of Oaktree Capital discusses the market's record highs on CNBC's "Closing Bell."
Howard Marks On Market's Record Highs, Potential Risks
Q1 hedge fund letters, conference, scoops etc
Well I mean the mere fact of record high shouldn't be a problem. The economy and most corporate profits do better over time so most things should gain over time. I think that on the one hand the economy and the bull market are old. But on the other hand the economy still appears to progress and the valuation of the stock market is not.
Egregious. But it is at levels I guess that led to pullbacks late last year and early last year.
Well that's right. You know look the market can do anything anytime. And it certainly did. Did so in the fourth quarter. I thought the fourth quarter move was overdone and unwarranted. And.
It's not back. When you say not egregious valuations what you mean. Well you know the long term history of the.
P E ratio on the S&P is 15 or 16. We've got up to 18 which is a little high. That got down to 14 which is a little low now it's barely on the high side. But I mean you know you look at ninety two thousand. The PE ratio is 32. That's egregious. 16 or 17 is not egregious.
When you look out there at the moment and you try and work out how much risk to be taking. What are the key factors that you look at.
Well there's a lot as so much to look at. You know there's that there's the length of the recovery and bull market. The how far they've moved the valuation levels the economic outlook the geopolitical factors. And then there's psychology. What kind of psychology is factored into prices. You know the. The relationship of price to fundamentals is determined by psychology. When psychology is too euphoric and too bullish then the price will be too high relative to the fundamentals and vice versa. So we want to know how much euphoria is incorporated in. Security prices.
So what is all that thinking. Tell us about where we are today.
Well today we're a little on the high side. I don't see a lot of euphoria. I don't see. People saying you know this is your last best chance to go to getting the stock market because it's going to the moon. The market has been doing something that when I was starting in this business we used to call climb climbing a wall of worry you know people have people say Oh I know it can't go on forever what could stop it. That's healthy. If people are cautious in their expectations. So I don't think that I don't think that the. Psychology is nuts and it hasn't been really throughout the whole bull market. What's a little challenging is that it's all caused by low interest rates because the ultra low interest rates. Caused people to desert cash Treasuries and money market and high grades and move out the risk curve in pursuit of what they consider acceptable returns something you've been warning about for a long time.
And I'm not going to and I'm not going to tell you I don't see a credit bubble developing. Well I see. Because of. The low.
Returns on safe instruments I see competition to get into aggressive instruments. And when people. Compete to put money out. They do so by being willing to. Receive low prospective returns and high risks. And if that's the case we should know about it and act accordingly.