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Being quite well documented on the rich culinary heritage of Turkey as well as being a sucker for the foods of that country, it was not hard for me to write down a detailed list (big cevze, sahlep, Turkish delights, a traditional turquoise plate, pastirma, etc...) of what I was hoping that she would find in that magnificent place which I'd love to visit one day.
"Pastirma" is a distinctively spicy, air-dried cured beef treat originating from Armenia that is made by pastirmacilik (pastirma butchers) all around Turkey and which is thinly sliced with a massive razor-sharp cleaver. In certain ways, it is a bit similar to our Swiss dry meat (Bündnerfleisch), the difference being that the pressed meat nuggets are covered with a very fragrant oxblood-red paste called çemen (lit., 'fenugreek') prepared with ground cumin, fenugreek, paprika and garlic.
Apparently, there are more than twenty types of "Pastirma". The most expensive pieces are cut from the fillet and sirloin as well as from the leg, shank and shoulder. The less expensive pieces are cut from the flank, neck and brisket. No matter the cut, all the meat is treated the same way (air-dried first, them smothered in çemen and left to cure). Nowadays, various meats are also used, including camel (the most prized), pork, lamb, goat and water buffalo.
The "Pastirma" that we tested was delicious. We really loved that unique tasting dried meat that somehow reminded us a little of Pastrami (the word pastrami, although used for a differently prepared type of meat goes back via Yiddish - פּאַסטראָמע pastrómeh - to "Pastirma") as it has a similar spicy flavor (The comparison stops there, though since texture-wise it has nothing in common with the Jewish speciality). Imagine eating Bündnerfleisch (Swiss dry cured meat) together with highly seasoned paste, well that's exactly how it tastes!
Make your own "Pastirma" (Greek: Pastourma):
Peter M. at "Kalofagas" shares his recipe with us.


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Gratitude Essential Oil
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An experimental drug from the biotech company Genentech failed to slow mental decline in mid-stage studies on more than 500 people with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease, but showed some promise in the least-impaired participants who received a higher dose.
Pneumonia and deaths were more common among those receiving the drug, but researchers downplayed that. Study leader Dr. Jeffrey Cummings of the Cleveland Clinic said none of the deaths seemed due to the drug and pneumonia occurred at a rate to be expected in older people.
"We're very encouraged" by the hint of benefit for patients with milder dementia and will talk with regulators about next steps for the drug, crenezumab, said a Genentech scientist, Dr. Carole Ho. The results fit with other evidence suggesting that treating earlier in the course of the disease is better, she said.
Results were revealed Wednesday at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Copenhagen.
They are the latest mixed bag on treatments aimed at clearing away the sticky amyloid plaques clogging Alzheimer's patients' brains. About 35 million people worldwide have Alzheimer's, the most common form of dementia. There is no cure and current treatments only temporarily ease symptoms.
Last year, an Eli Lilly & Co. medicine, solanezumab, that also sought to clear away amyloid missed main goals in two studies but combined results suggested it might help people with milder disease. It's in further study now. Before that, bapineuzumab, a similar drug being developed by Pfizer Inc. and Johnson & Johnson, showed promise in mid-stage testing but flopped in larger, more definitive trials.
The Genentech drug has been closely watched because it targets amyloid more broadly than the other drugs do, and the California-based company has a long track record of success with many biological medicines against cancer.
Mid-stage studies aim to give some idea of safety and whether the drug is effective enough to advance to larger, more definitive studies aimed at winning market approval.
In one study, 431 patients ages 50 to 80 with mild to moderate Alzheimer's were given crenezumab or dummy drug as shots every two weeks, or as a higher dose in infusions every four weeks for 17 months. No significant difference was seen among the groups on two widely used measures of thinking and functioning skills.
However, the 70 most mildly impaired participants who received the higher dose declined 35 percent less on the cognitive measure than the 33 mildly impaired people given dummy infusions. The difference was about 3.5 points on the roughly 70-point scale — "equivalent to six or nine months" of delay in decline, Cummings said.
This result isn't definitive, though, and can only be considered a signal worth exploring in future research because it didn't involve the whole group tested. And even in this mildly impaired group, the drug did not improve the second measure, ability to function in daily life.
In the second study, 73 people who showed amyloid plaques on brain imaging also were given crenezumab or dummy shots or infusions. The main outcome — levels of amyloid seen on brain imaging after treatment — will be presented at a medical conference in November. Results on cognitive function seem to mirror those in the larger study, Cummings said.
Five people given crenezumab died — one from sudden death, two from respiratory failure, one from pneumonia and one from worsening Alzheimer's.
"We believe that the safety profile is acceptable," because deaths do not seem related to the drug, Genentech's Ho said. "It is not a show stopper."
Genentech and its corporate parent, Switzerland-based Roche Holding AG, paid for the study and Cummings is a paid adviser to Genentech.
In a statement Wednesday, the Alzheimer's Association noted that crenezumab was being tested in another study aimed at preventing the disease, and said the new results give hope it will be more successful in that setting.
MARILYNN MARCHIONE, AP Chief Medical Writer


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Paul Rusesabagina is a figure from history — a terrible history.
He was the manager of the Diplomat Hotel in Kigali, Rwanda, 20 years ago, when the genocide of Rwanda's Tutsi people began. More than 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus would be killed in just three months.
While most of the world took no action to stop the killing, Rusesabagina sheltered more than 1,000 people inside his hotel. He gave them water from the pool so they wouldn't die from dehydration, smuggled in food so they wouldn't starve, and held off the militia who came to the hotel by bribing them with alcohol and cigars.
His story was turned into an award-winning movie in 2004, Hotel Rwanda, starring Don Cheadle as Rusesabagina.
Today, Rusesabagina lives in San Antonio, Texas. He's the founder of the Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation, which advocates for human rights internationally.
Rusesabagina tells NPR's Scott Simon that he no longer lives in Rwanda because after speaking out against people doing evil, he became a target of that evil. "Having no other choice, I just fled the country," he says.
Interview Highlights
On what drives people to commit genocide
There are many reasons why people kill each other. One of those reasons is, of course, bad leadership. When leaders teach the people they lead to kill others, then people go ahead and do what their leaders tell them. A second reason is because people are poor and are not educated well enough. They always, as I said, tend to trust their leaders.
The worst reason, this is impunity. In Rwanda, for instance ... since I was a young kid, late '50s, early '60s, we saw people killing their neighbors and getting their cars, getting their properties — houses, plantations and so on. Until just recently, in the late '90s, immediately after the genocide, those people were still living in houses they never built, they were still living in plantations which were never theirs, with the cattle which never belonged to them.
On his anger at the Western world for not doing more to stop the genocide
History always keeps repeating itself. We saw this happening with the Armenians, the Armenian genocide, the Holocaust. I remember in 1994, I was very angry with ... everybody in the international community, because when people were being butchered, they were there, and they never did anything.
On recent violence in Syria, Darfur and the Central African Republic
This recalls exactly what we were going through in 1994. This recalls what also has been going on in the Congo, on our own watch. That recalls me that history repeats itself, and does not teach human beings any lessons.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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Years ago when I adopted my little savage, Sox, I called a dog trainer to help me tame my wild puppy. During one of the first training sessions, her trainer, Chris, said something along the lines of "dogs are superstitious."
It took me a second to process the statement, and it's taken me years to fully understand what he meant. Now years after working with animals on a daily basis, I completely agree. I'm certain dogs, and all other animals for that matter, are superstitious. It's just one more way in which humans and animals are alike.
Superstitions stem from misunderstanding. For example, many cultures believe women should not put their purses on the ground because, if they do, their money will disappear. Well, I believe this superstition found its way into our lives because centuries ago thieves would steal money from chatty, old women who were distracted by stories of their neighbors' dirty laundry. Easy explanation, right?
But the ladies swore their money vanished without a trace, resulting in a superstition many of us continue to adopt in our everyday lives. Just to be on the safe side, even when I'm alone in my home, I refuse to put my purse on the floor. I work hard for my money and don't want it to disappear!
The point is superstitions stem from the unexplained. And there is a lot our pets don't understand about our world, causing them to develop rationalizations of sorts.
For example, one of Sox's "tricks" while transitioning from beast to beauty was counter-surfing. Titan never even sniffed a counter, so I was completely unprepared when Sox gobbled up two-dozen chocolate chip cookies I had baked for out-of-town guests. Yes, I said, "chocolate chip." It was not a great experience.
I was similarly stunned when, only a couple nights later, my chunky monkey downed almost an entire pizza in the two seconds I left her alone. This is where her trainer, Chris, entered the picture.
Chris recommended I use a spray bottle of water (add some vinegar to sour the taste if you have an aqua-loving dog but watch the eyes because that stuff stings) and spray her in the mouth when she approached the counter. Or squirt her if there was anything else I wanted to keep her from doing — climbing, approaching, destroying, etc.
Eventually, he said, she would come to believe the counter was spraying her, thus developing an aversion to it. The only catch was I had to be ninja-like in my approach: She could not see the bottle or me spraying it. If she did and was smart enough, she would believe "the counter" only was spraying her when I was there, yielding the technique useless.
There are animals convinced dancing in front of their food bowls makes food appear. They don't see it as a form of effective communication; they see it as worship.
And you really can't blame them. The animal gets hungry, goes to the bowl to check if there is food, picks up the bowl and tosses it a few times. The owner realizes it's past dinnertime and feeds the starving pet. Thank you, food gods! The pet develops a belief twirling the food bowl like a baton will produce food. Voila, a superstition is born.
Training and superstition ultimately go hand in hand. And by hand in hand, I mean we should use our pet's superstitious tendencies to our training advantage. You will never be able to explain to your pets the Persian rug in your living room is worth a serious sum. But you will be able to convince your silk-spoiled pup the rug is evil by dusting a bit of cayenne pepper on it. Your pup will avoid that rug like the plague. That stuff does not feel good up your nose, let alone taste good.
Open your eyes and watch your pets. You will see your superstitious little monsters in action and maybe get a little laugh out of it. But always be good to your pets. Only use the cayenne technique when absolutely necessary!


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I've also really wanted to experiment with adding colouring to it, and I can officially say, it doesn't work! * We used nearly half a bottle of purple and then one third of a bottle of pink colouring, and it mixes in just a tiny amount but won't distribute throughout the whole. I'm guessing this is because of the oil since food colouring is water based and therefore won't combine easily. Any other guesses? Interesting for experimentation! We DID add plenty of purple and red glitter and that dispersed beautifully, making the whole tub shimmer and shine as they played.
* edited to add:
We have since coloured it very successfully using powdered paints! See our pink cloud dough cup cakes here for how-to!
- 7 cups any type of flour (we used economy plain flour)
- 1 cup vegetable oil or baby oil (we used vegetable this time)
- as much glitter as you wish!
We tipped it into a large, shallow tub (we got some "boot boxes" in the supermarket this week that are a great size for sensory tubs!) Then we found some large and small shells of different shapes and colours, pebbles and driftwood.
Because of the nature of the sand/ dough, it is possible to make beautiful imprints from the shells.
And you can make gorgeous sand castles which can be decorated with shells, just like really being at the beach! C has been obsessively making little sandcastles ever since the tub was put together, and has been making up some wonderful stories about buried treasure and pirates!
Cakie: 3 years 4 months
Pop: 21 months


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Volume 5 Number 1
Humanities Approaches to Graphical Display
As digital humanists have adopted visualization tools in their work, they have borrowed methods developed for the graphical display of information in the natural and social sciences. These tools carry with them assumptions of knowledge as observer-independent and certain, rather than observer co-dependent and interpretative. This paper argues that we need a humanities approach to the graphical expression of interpretation. To begin, the concept of data as a given has to be rethought through a humanistic lens and characterized as capta, taken and constructed. Next, the forms for graphical expression of capta need to be more nuanced to show ambiguity and complexity. Finally, the use of a humanistic approach, rooted in a co-dependent relation between observer and experience, needs to be expressed according to graphics built from interpretative models. In summary: all data have to be understood as capta and the conventions created to express observer-independent models of knowledge need to be radically reworked to express humanistic interpretation.
Data as capta: from information visualization to graphical expressions of interpretation
Time as Temporality
Space as Spatiality
- Modelling phenomenological experience in the making of humanities (data as capta, primary modeling, the representation of temporal and spatial experience);
- Modeling relations among humanities documents i.e. discourse fields (a different metric is needed to understand dates on diplomatic documents in the spring of 1944 than one needed to constitute understanding of those dated to the same period of the spring of 1950 etc.);
- Modeling the representations of temporality and spatiality that are in humanities documents (narrative is the most obvious);
- Modeling the interpretation of any of the above (depicting or graphing the performative quality of interpretation).


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How to Select a Sofa
When decorating a living room or family room, the sofa is usually the largest single piece of furniture in the space and is considered the "anchor" of the room. Befitting its "largest" designation, the sofa is also usually the most expensive, while also taking the biggest beating. Suffice it to say, the sofa is an important purchase and usually the starting place when purchasing furniture for the living room.
While we all start with how a sofa looks and how big it is, these are not the most important considerations. The most important elements of a sofa are largely unseen. A well-made frame will support all normal usage for decades. Poorly made frames quickly start to deteriorate under average use and may require replacing in as little as five years. The wood frame should be made from kiln-dried hardwoods as opposed to cheaper chemically treated woods. Natural woods need treating to rid them of unwanted pests and microbes. Kiln drying is a slow process that also creates a moisture equilibrium with standard indoor environments so there is no warping due to humidity. Chemically treated woods may be free of unwanted pests, but they are more subject to warping in the future and the chemicals can easily "off-gas" into your home. Kiln-drying is more expensive which does add to the price tag of the furniture, but doesn't need to be replaced as frequently.
In addition to the wood frame, sofas have a system of webbing, springs and coils for a supportive and comfortable sitting experience. The industry standard for good quality furniture includes 8-way hand tied coil springs which are installed into the base of the sofa and then anchored into place with twine that is strung in eight directions off of each coil. Each coil is therefore connected to all its neighboring coils resulting in a continuous movement in concert with the body. A well tied coil system will not be lumpy or allow for dips. Less expensive webbing stretches over time and serpentine springs pull apart under the weight of use. This hand tied coil system adds to the price of the sofa, but it will last many more years than cheaper pieces. A quality sofa can be reupholstered when the outer fabric wears out and will last for decades under normal use, which is ultimately less expensive and better for the environment. It is also worth checking out second hand furniture stores for older pieces that have good "bones" and just need to be reupholstered. It is a double win.
The final "hidden" element of a sofa is how the corners and edges are wrapped. The hard wood frame needs to be well cushioned under the exterior fabric. Check the side corners, the back wall and the arm rests for any hard edges. If you can feel a sharp, hard edge it means that there isn't sufficient wrapping. This is more than just a comfort issue. The wood frame without sufficient wrapping will eventually wear down the outer fabric fibers from within and cause fraying and eventual tearing.
In addition to the interior aspects of a sofa, it's important to note that size does matter. The sofa should be long enough to comfortably seat three or four average sized adults without overwhelming the room. When at all possible, it should have prime placement for viewing of the focal point of the room, which could be either a fireplace, television set or view, or perhaps a combination thereof. Select the depth of the sofa for comfort of all those who will be using it. If you're a tall family, then a 40-45" deep sofa will be very comfortable (space permitting). Those who are not so tall will find a 36-40" deep sofa the most comfortable. Finally, always measure the space you want to install your sofa. If it's going on a wall, be sure to measure, both for width and depth, how much space you have available for the sofa and make sure to use the outer dimensions of the piece when checking on size. If space is tight, purchase a sofa with a straight back and arms. Rolls and curves at size to the outside of the piece. To paraphrase "This Old House's" Norm Abram, measure twice, buy once.
Linda Merrill is a Boston-area interior designer who works with Boston painters and flooring contractors.
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Pita bread is a great bread for beginning bakers or for making with kids. The entire process of making them only takes about two hours too, so it is also a great one for people on a tight schedule.
Flat Breads
Flat breads can be made in dozens of different ways. They can be made from grains other than wheat, such as corn in corn tortillas. They can be made with no leavening, such as matzo or flour tortillas, with chemical leavening (baking soda or baking powder) such as pancakes or crepes, or with yeast, such as naan or pita bread. They can also be made from a starter. And they can be baked (pitas), fried (fry bread), grilled (zebra bread), and, I would imagine even steamed (I'm drawing a blank... anyone?). Flat breads of some sort exist in just about every culture on the globe.
Anyone who grew up in a household where flat breads are an essential part of every meal knows will attest that they are a hundred times better when baked fresh than when bought from the store wrapped in plastic and already two or three days old.
I wasn't brought up in such a house, actually, but a year or two ago I started going to a local Lebanese restaurant solely for the fresh pita bread that they baked. After draining my wallet by eating lunch there every day for a week, I realized pita bread must be pretty simple to make at home. So I tried it and was extremely pleased with the results. I still visit the Lebanese restaurant for their pitas every few weeks, but I've cut back and saved myself a ton of money.
About The Ingredients
There are only 6 ingredients in this recipe for pita bread, and you even have quite a bit of flexibility in choosing which of those to include. I'll go through the ingredients one-by-one:
- Flour - I like to use one cup of whole wheat flour and 2 cups of all purpose unbleached flour. It gives the pitas a heartier flavor than using all white flour. You can use any combination of the wheat flours you have around the house, from 100% white flour to 100% whole wheat flour. You could probably even use flour made from other grains, though I'd suggest trying it with wheat flour the first time before getting too crazy.
- Salt - Salt is necessary to retard the yeast (slow it down) and to flavor the bread. Without salt bread is pretty... blah. I used kosher salt for this, but any type of salt you have in the house will work just fine.
- Water - Plain old tap water, assuming your water is drinkable. If not, bottled or distilled water. Something close to room temperature (warmer than 50 degrees fahrenheit, cooler than 100 degrees) works best.
- Sugar - A touch of sugar or honey provides a little more food for the yeast and will make the bread brown faster when it caramelizes. It also can add a touch of sweetness to the dough. You can safely omit it from the recipe and it will turn out fine, or add more if you like it sweeter.
- Yeast- I use instant yeast, which is also know as Rapid Rise or Bread Machine yeast. Instant yeast is a little more potent than active dry yeast and can be mixed directly in with your dry ingredients and will have no problem waking up when the water is added. Active dry yeast works just as well as instant yeast, but requires being activated in a little bit of warm water before being added to the rest of the ingredients. If you are using active dry yeast, read the instructions on the package to figure out how to activate the yeast before adding it to this recipe and reduce the amount of water you add later in the recipe by the amount of water you proof the yeast in (i.e., if you activate the yeast in a half a cup of water only add 3/4 to 1 cup later).
- Oil - Oil or fats soften the bread and keep it fresher longer. Olive oil is the most traditional oil to use in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cooking, but if you do not have any you can use whatever you have in the house. And, in the worst case, you can even omit it.
Pita BreadMakes 8 pitas
3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 Tablespoon sugar or honey
1 packet yeast (or, if from bulk, 2 teaspoons yeast)
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups water, roughly at room temperature
2 tablespoons olive oil, vegetable oil, butter, or shortening
If you are using active dry yeast, follow the instructions on the packet to active it (see the note on yeast above). Otherwise, mix the yeast in with the flour, salt, and sugar. Add the olive oil and 1 1/4 cup water and stir together with a wooden spoon. All of the ingredients should form a ball. If some of the flour will not stick to the ball, add more water (I had to add an extra 1/4 cup).
Once all of the ingredients form a ball, place the ball on a work surface, such as a cutting board, and knead the dough for approximately 10 minutes (or until your hands get tired). If you are using an electric mixer, mix it at low speed for 10 minutes.
(The purpose of kneading is to thoroughly combine the ingredients and to break down the flour so that the dough will become stretchy and elastic and rise well in the oven. A simple hand kneading technique is to firmly press down on the dough with the palm of your hand, fold the dough in half toward you like you are closing an envelope, rotate the dough 90 degrees and then repeat these steps, but whatever technique you are comfortable using should work.)
When you are done kneading the dough, place it in a bowl that has been lightly coated with oil. I use canola spray oil, but you can also just pour a teaspoon of oil into the bowl and rub it around with your fingers. Form a ball out of the dough and place it into the bowl, rolling the ball of dough around in the bowl so that it has a light coat of oil on all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel and set aside to rise until it has doubled in size, approximately 90 minutes.
When it has doubled in size, punch the dough down to release some of the trapped gases and divide it into 8 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball, cover the balls with a damp kitchen towel, and let them rest for 20 minutes. This step allows the dough to relax so that it'll be easier to shape.
While the dough is resting, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. If you have a baking stone, put it in the oven to preheat as well. If you do not have a baking stone, turn a cookie sheet upside down and place it on the middle rack of the oven while you are preheating the oven. This will be the surface on which you bake your pitas.
After the dough has relaxed for 20 minutes, spread a light coating of flour on a work surface and place one of the balls of dough there. Sprinkle a little bit of flour on top of the dough and use a rolling pin or your hands to stretch and flatten the dough. You should be able to roll it out to between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick. If the dough does not stretch sufficiently you can cover it with the damp towel and let it rest 5 to 10 minutes before trying again.
If you have a spray bottle in the kitchen, spray a light mist of water onto your baking surface and close the oven for 30 seconds. Supposedly this step reduces the blistering on the outside of your pitas. I've skipped it many times in the past and still been pleased with my breads, so if you don't have a bottle handy it isn't a big deal.
Open the oven and place as many pitas as you can fit on the hot baking surface. They should be baked through and puffy after 3 minutes. If you want your pitas to be crispy and brown you can bake them for an additional 3 to 5 minutes, but it isn't necessary (in the batch pictured here I removed them at 3 minutes).
That's it. They should keep pretty well, but we almost always eat them as soon as they come out of the oven.
If you have any tips on baking pitas or have a recipe you'd like to share, please add a comment below.


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With the balance payment window now open, we've been receiving a few questions. Here are the answers to the most common ones.
I'm trying to pay my balance but my contact details have changed since I registered, how can I update my details?
If you need to edit the address or email address on your registration you can do so online at https://glastonbury.seetickets.com/Registration/Edit. If you no longer have access to the original email account you will need to contact Seetickets customer services online or on 0844 412 4626 or email the Festival office. (Or if you have not yet booked a ticket simply re-register online at www.glastonburyregistration.co.uk with your new details.)
Please note when paying your balance you will be given the option to provide a different delivery and email address for your booking to the one you are registered with.
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No, as in previous years, you can only pay your balance with a debit card or Bankers Draft/Postal Order.
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If you have not yet received confirmation of your balance payment you can retrieve your booking details at https://www.seetickets.com/customerservice (where you can also contact See if there is an issue). NB: You will need to enter your booking reference number, rather than your Glastonbury registration number. If you didn't make a note of that, then use the Forgotten Your Details feature to be emailed them.
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Sorry no, the tipis for 2013 have all been booked since the balance payment window opened, but alternative accommodation is available at Worthy View.
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Yes. Any tickets for which the balance has not been paid will be refunded £40 (a £10 admin fee will be retained) automatically onto the card on which they were booked within 5 working days of the balance payment period. If you already know that you won't be able to come to the Festival, and would like to get your £40 back before the automatic refund, then please call Seetickets on 0844 412 4626. Please note if your card details have changed since you placed your deposit you will need to contact Seetickets to arrange your refund.
My friend can no longer come to the Festival, can I transfer their ticket to someone else?
Sorry, no. Tickets (including deposits) are entirely non-transferable. If one of your party is no longer able to attend the Festival they can obtain a refund of £40 for their deposit (see above); however you cannot reserve that deposit for someone else. Cancelled tickets will be put back on general release for the ticket resale on April 21.
Can I still book a ticket?
Possibly, yes – don't give up hope! There will be a resale of any cancelled tickets on April 21st at 9am. You will need to be registered in order to book tickets. If you are not already registered, please register by 15th April.
I've seen tickets advertised online, are these legit?
No! Please don't be tempted to buy tickets from anywhere other than Seetickets. Glastonbury tickets are only available through one agency – Seetickets.com – who support our unique Glastonbury registration system, which means we can make sure that all our tickets are sold at face value, to genuine Festival goers. (Some of the campsites local to the Festival are authorised to offer hospitality tickets as part of their accommodation packages. If you are in any doubt as to the legitimacy of a company, please contact the Festival.
For more ticket information please visit our 2013 Ticket Information page.


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Published: Nov 11, 2013
CHICAGO (AP) - Although only a few hundred middle-class Illinois residents were able to sign up for health insurance last month on the crippled federal HealthCare.gov website, the poor appear to be having an easier time enrolling in an expansion of Medicaid - and are doing so by the thousands.
Illinois is among states expanding Medicaid under President Barack Obama's health care law. It's the state, not the federal government, that's overseeing efforts to enroll new clients, and state officials have come up with some effective ways to do it - especially for people already getting food stamps.
(AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)
In late August, Illinois offered express enrollment" to people already receiving food stamps. The state sent a letter to 123,000 food stamp recipients, and received 46,000 Medicaid applications in response.
Separately, health advocates say a new Illinois online enrollment site called ABE has been working well. Illinois has received more than 44,000 applications for Medicaid since Oct. 1 when the site launched.
For unemployed construction worker Jerome Davis Jr., signing up through ABE was easy.
"I made an appointment. Bada bing bada boom," Davis said about the ease of completing an application. "Unbelievable."
The expansion of Medicaid means he'll be able to see a doctor without fear of medical bills he can't pay. The 36-year-old Chicago resident knows he has high blood pressure, but has been unable to afford treatment. He completed an application Friday at Westside Health Authority in Chicago after hearing about the opportunity from an outreach worker distributing pamphlets on the street.
Coinciding with the launch of HealthCare.gov, Illinois unveiled its upgraded online application system for Medicaid, called ABE after the 16th president and standing for Application for Benefits Eligibility, and began actively enrolling people through the site. The $160 million upgrade is being financed mostly with enhanced federal matching funds, which have been claimed by most states.
The contrast between Illinois' working technology and the botched rollout of the federal marketplace isn't lost on the state's top Medicaid official, Julie Hamos.
When the health law passed in 2010, the federal government urged states to update their information technology "and really get ready," Hamos said. "I wish they had told that to themselves," she added glumly, "but never mind."
And in a third Medicaid expansion effort, Cook County received federal approval to get an early start on offering Medicaid to adults without dependent children, a year before the rest of the state. That effort has generated 115,000 applications. The state enrolled 52,000 of those applicants and is processing the rest.
Obama's health care law was originally written to expand Medicaid to people making up to 138 percent of the federal poverty line, or nearly $15,860 for an individual.
It's not clear yet how many new Illinois Medicaid recipients there will be in 2014 under the law's expansion of the state-federal health program for the poor. State officials are still verifying the applicants' eligibility and they say there may be some overlap in the reported numbers.
About half the states, including Illinois, are expanding Medicaid under Obama's health law, which in effect became optional for states after a Supreme Court ruling last year.
The federal government is operating Illinois's new insurance marketplace, leaving middle-class residents subject to the website's technical problems. It also means some people who may be eligible for Medicaid are trying to apply through HealthCare.gov.
Hamos said she doesn't know how many Medicaid applications may be on hold in the federal system.
While health advocates in Illinois are frustrated with the federal website, they report the ABE system, designed by Deloitte, is working well. It allows electronic signatures and electronic submission of documents.
However, it's unclear for now whether the tally of 44,000 applications differs in any significant way from the normal volume of applications, Hamos said.
"It's not that different from recent online application history" of 35,000 to 40,000 applications per month, Hamos said. "I don't know if we're seeing a big uptake at this point. We don't know who these clients are."
She said they eventually will analyze how many applicants are newly eligible for Medicaid and how many were already eligible.
In a separate effort, Illinois offered "express enrollment" to people who already were receiving food stamps. The state sent a letter in late August to 123,000 food stamp recipients. In response, the state received 46,000 Medicaid applications and has so far enrolled 32,000 of the applicants.
Illinois is among five states with federal approval to target food stamp recipients for Medicaid enrollment. The other states, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, are Arkansas, Oregon, West Virginia and New Jersey.
Last year, Illinois sought and received federal approval for Cook County to expand Medicaid early, a year ahead of the national health law's expansion, in order to bring millions of federal dollars into the county's struggling health system.
Cook County so far has submitted 115,000 applications to the state's Medicaid program. The state has enrolled 52,000 of those applicants and is processing the rest of the applications.
Associated Press Medical Writer Carla K. Johnson can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/CarlaKJohnson .
© 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Illinois Department of Human ServicesJB Pritzker, Governor · Dulce Quintero, Secretary
IDHS Office Locator
IDHS Help Line 1-800-843-6154 1-866-324-5553 TTY
© 2023 Illinois Department of Human Services


text:
Rhythm USA Careers and Employment in Irvine, CA
Rhythm USA
Rhythm brings together a unique group of individuals with a shared dream of creating a livelihood doing what they love. Drawing on influences from art, music and surf culture - past, present and future. Rhythm speaks to creative self-expressionists who yearn for new frontiers off the well-worn path. This is Rhythm. The Sound of Change.


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Two, maybe three pounds of grayish-white goop. It's not even solid in a living person. More like Jello that floats around in it's vault.
But it's amazing. From that sloppy goop has come remarkable stuff. It's sent a robot to land on a moon of Saturn. It's explored the bottom of our deepest oceans. Built the Taj Mahal. The Great Wall of China. Painted the Mona Lisa.
Go listen to the remarkable Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D minor". Not just the famous opening 30 seconds or so, but the whole 9-10 minute thing. That all came from the goop, long before it was heard or played on an instrument, it was just a series of electric signals jumping from nerve to nerve. The piece is over 300 years old. The mind that created it has been dead for over 250 years. And humans will likely be listening to it long after my great-great-great-grandchildren are dust.
The soul is there. The heart is amazing, but for all our romantic beliefs about it, who we really are is floating around in the goop. It's where hate, love, and everything in between comes from.
It's capable of terrible evil, such as the Holocaust, and remarkable good. Look at the outpouring of altruism that follows disasters. I love my dogs, but if something bad happens to a dog on the next street, they're not going to care. Yet the goop wants to help people who we've never met and have no direct impact on our own lives
My regular readers know I'm interested in maritime history. Why? I have no idea. It's just been a subject I've loved as long as I can remember. I've never been in the navy. The family military history consists of grandparents who served in the army, but never were sent overseas. I can only assume there is some particular molecular structure in my goop that makes me interested in it. Or that made me want to treat other people's goop for a living.
Twin and biological studies have shown that most of who we are is how we came here. Yes, life experiences and background count for something, but the goop is most of it. People with conservative beliefs raise kids who turn out to be liberals, and vice versa, no matter how hard they may try to pass on their beliefs.
Coke vs. Pepsi. Dogs vs. Cats. Mac vs. Windows. I suspect whatever makes us fall on one side or the other of these great philosophical issues is 95% or more in the goop, and we just come that way.
Everything you are, have been, and will be. Have desired, dreamed of, and done. Have felt. It all comes from a few pounds of goop.
And this fascinates me. Because, let's face it, we're just another part of the planet. A collection of complex molecules, electrical impulses, and chemical reactions. That's all people. Anatomically, all humans are pretty much the same. And we're not that different from other mammals. The difference in our genetic sequence vs. that of a mouse ain't much.
And yet that small amount of difference has led to amazing results. The ability to think beyond our own biological needs and to see the world around us for the beauty it contains. To watch a sunset and be in awe, even though we understand the science behind it. And to look up at the night sky, and wonder.
And that never bores me.


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Blocked Drains Service Pagham
Blocked drains in and around Pagham for a fixed price 0791 7852384 Chris.Over 28 years drain clearance and cleaning experience of blocked drains in Pagham PO21 and clearing blocked sinks / toilets / sewers.
We actually enjoy unblocking all types of blockages and also carry out drain inspections with our drain camera.
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There are lots of drainage companys that charge per hour/half hour which is fine but there are a lot that try to get as much money as they can out of customers by hanging/stretching the job out, some advertise set prices like us but have clauses on their website we don't have any clauses.
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When it comes to blocked drains and toilets in Pagham we can unblock any blockage we come across, as we have perfected our methods over the years and offer this service at a fixed price.
Chris Peters plumbing & drainage services unblocking blocked drains,toilets and kitchen sinks as a small drainage company we offer a fast reliable service at fixed prices were possible for all drainage services, and we can provide you with a emergency service for drain clearance 24 hour 24/ 7 unblocking,many drains over the years we have cleared lots of blockages at night especially were there is a blocked toilet and it is they only one in the property.
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We can provide you with a drain cctv camera survey inspection using our scanprobe camera which will provide you with a very good quality picture, and as we have years of experience as drainage engineers your drains are being inspected by well trained eyes.
Thank you for reading our details.
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France, Rhone, Chateauneuf-du-Pape
Additional Information
Available |
end AUGUST 2024 |
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U.S.A. California family organically grown. These almonds are rare in that they are not chemically pasteurized. Rich tasting and perfectly roasted with their nutritious skins intact. A beneficial delicious snack. Ideal for cooking and baking too. Rich in magnesium and cholesterol free. No salt added, a good source of fiber and protein. Wheat free and Gluten free.
Organic Eden Roasted Almonds are California family certified organically grown whole almonds, gas fire roasted at Eden's AIB rated Superior, Michigan facility.
Organic Eden Almonds are an excellent source of magnesium and a good source of fiber and protein. They are cholesterol free. Although high in fat, they are low in saturated fat and offer 8g of beneficial monounsaturated and 2.5g polyunsaturated fats.
Roasted nuts are usually highly salted with poor quality refined salt, and/or oil roasted in very bad quality oil. Organic Eden Almonds are dry roasted with their skins intact and there is absolutely nothing added to them. They are non-pasteurized and contain no added oils, coloring agents, or preservatives.
There are notable health benefits associated with almonds. Tufts University in Boston found that most of the nutrients in whole almonds and their skin, when taken together, offer significantly higher protection than when the skin and meat of the almond are not consumed together. University of California, Davis confirmed this, showing antioxidant compounds in almond skin and their vitamins provide positive health benefits when eaten with the meat of the almond. At Kings College in London research shows we get less fat from almonds than was previously thought. The study shows the cell wall of the almond may play an important role in the way the body absorbs the fat of the almond, since chewing almonds breaks down the cell wall, but at the same time leaves some of the almond intact. Dr. Karen Lapsley, senior nutritionist for the Almond Board of California says, 'This is exciting new research. Because some of the almond remained intact, not all of the fat was released for digestion. This suggests that almonds may be a lower calorie food than suspected because not all of the calories from fat are absorbed.'
Organic Eden Roasted Almonds are great snack food and more. Ground or chopped they are common in and on desserts, breads, and pastries. Coarsely chop and toss a handful into pasta stir fries, pasta salads, raw salads, fruit and Waldorf salads, pilaf, tabouli, wild rice, grain dishes, and hot and cold cereals.


text:
This is not an offer for credit and should be used for estimation purposes only based on the information you provided. You should not base your decision on this estimate alone. Title, registration, tax and other fees, and personal circumstances such as employment status and personal credit history, were not considered in the calculations.
For the rider who wants to let loose and ride hard, Sport Chief is packed with premium components that enhance performance and style.
Front - Dual Brembo® / 320 mm Semi-Floating Rotor / 4 Piston Caliper
Rear - Single / 300 mm Semi-Floating Rotor / 2 Piston Caliper
Front - Sport Cast Black 19 x 3.5 in.
Rear - Sport Cast Black 16 x 5 in.
Front - Pirelli® Night Dragon 130 / 60B19 61H
Rear - Pirelli® Night Dragon 180 / 65 B16 81H
As Shipped - 665 lb. (302 kg)
Running Order - 685 lb. (311 kg)
GVWR - 1,160 lb. (526 kg)
5.9 in. (149 mm)
Lean angle - 29.5°
Infotainment - 4 in. Touchscreen powered by RIDE COMMAND. Model year 2023 bikes include a complimentary 1-year trial of RIDE COMMAND+ (after which, fees apply) which includes features like live weather/traffic and intuitive destination search,. Touchscreen display includes real-time clock; ambient air temperature; heading; audio information display; map/navigation; Bluetooth status for phone and headset; vehicle status (voltage, engine hours, oil change); vehicle info (speed, fuel range, RPM, gear position); current ride data (distance, moving time, stop time, altitude, altitude change); trip meters; ride mode selection; screen brightness; and vehicle trouble code readout.
Gauges - Speedometer, Tachometer, Odometer, fuel gauge, compass, ambient temperature, Gear indicator
1st - 9.403 : 1
2nd - 6.411 : 1
3rd - 4.763 : 1
4th - 3.796 : 1
5th - 3.243 : 1
6th - 2.789 : 1
KYB® Inverted Telescopic Fork
Travel - 5.1 in. (130 mm)
Dual Fox® Piggyback Shocks
Travel - 4 in. (100 mm)
Ghost White Metallic Smoke
Granite Gray
Black Smoke
Sunset Red Smoke
We are in the process of adding model data for the new 2024 Indian models and the variations. We do everything we can to ensure that all of our information is correct; however, during the initial entry process, we reserve the right to make additions, deletions, or modifications to model specifications, features, images and prices displayed on this and any associated webpage at any time without prior notice. Please contact your local dealer to confirm the information.
Due to continued challenges across supplier networks as well as increasing logistics costs, product pricing, freight charges, specifications, and features are subject to change at any time without prior notice. Please confirm all information with your local dealership.
Images, where available, are presented as reasonable facsimiles of the offered unit and/or manufacturer stock images. Non-standard options or features may be represented. No guarantee of availability or inclusion of displayed options should be inferred; contact the dealer for more details.
Price, if shown and unless otherwise noted, represents the Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) or dealer unit price and does not include government fees, taxes, dealer vehicle freight/preparation, dealer document preparation charges, labor, installation, or any finance charges (if applicable). MSRP and/or final sales price will vary depending on options or accessories selected; contact dealer for more details.
Images, where available, are presented as reasonable facsimiles of the offered unit and/or manufacturer stock images. Non-standard options or features may be represented. No guarantee of availability or inclusion of displayed options should be inferred; contact dealer for more details.


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The top ten items you should buy for your newly separated friend who moved out of her house cause the other person wouldn't. (aka The Divorced Woman's Christmas List)
38 comments:
- That gentleman's lady said...
Vodka for preference?
- December 4, 2011 at 7:59 AM
- Brian Miller said...
you know, you are turning into a regular bad a$$...picture in my head of you on porch, cigar as the sun goes down, glass in hand with a monkey wrench across your lap...smiles...
- December 4, 2011 at 8:05 AM
- (Single)Mommy said...
Great list I second the vodka!
- December 4, 2011 at 8:17 AM
- noexcuses said...
Your list is not missing a thing! Thanks for sharing your great wisdom!
- December 4, 2011 at 8:24 AM
- Irish Gumbo said...
You said tool (snicker).
What Brian said! I think you are going to be just fine, my dear. Great list. - December 4, 2011 at 8:26 AM
- Knot Telling said...
Great list! I'd only add duct tape and 3-in-1 oil. (As in "If it moves and it shouldn't, tape it. If it doesn't move and it should, oil it.")
- December 4, 2011 at 8:32 AM
- Actuary Mom said...
I'm thinking #1 is the most important.n
- December 4, 2011 at 8:49 AM
- Marinka said...
I can send my cat! On loan only, of course!
- December 4, 2011 at 9:35 AM
- Vodka Mom said...
crap- HOW could I forget DUCT TAPE?? Must have been too much #1.
- December 4, 2011 at 9:48 AM
- Karen Harrington said...
Oh, what a list! I hope Santa brings plenty of your #1 item. xo (And btw, this could be parlayed into a pretty funny book, you know! You already have the chapter headings!!)
- December 4, 2011 at 9:51 AM
- Lynn MacDonald said...
One year later and see what you've learned! When I went to college my dad bought me a toolkit and I gave one to both my girls for college!!,
Lots of love girl!!! You're doing great - December 4, 2011 at 10:11 AM
- SkylersDad said...
What's the story with the hunky neighbor? (pops popcorn and sits back waiting to hear)
- December 4, 2011 at 10:25 AM
- LPC said...
I'd add a new, small, Le Creuset pot. To make stews and soups that one person can eat in one week:). Wishing you well.
- December 4, 2011 at 10:33 AM
- Sue said...
You said "it" absolutely perfectly! Enjoy the chair and vodka, cheers!
Take care, Sue
PS I had to pay the ex too! It sucks! - December 4, 2011 at 11:28 AM
- Dawn said...
I didn't move after my divorce, he did... but he must have known about this list because he took every tool, every flashlight,the circular saw, the shop vac. Heck. Who knew I would miss those things??
- December 4, 2011 at 12:11 PM
- That Janie Girl said...
Why didn't I think about all that? I could have helped. Can you ship liquor intrastate?
- December 4, 2011 at 12:51 PM
I think #10-- is as important as #1.
Really and truly-- distraction is the key.
Friends. Cocktails of choice and something to look forward to doing.....
You are an amazing woman-do not forget it. - December 4, 2011 at 2:33 PM
- Suzy said...
"Lovingly tended for 16 years" got me, and you know why. (mine was 20)
- December 4, 2011 at 4:28 PM
- Sharyn said...
What a funny, clever and useful way of starting to turn your own lemons into lemonade for everyone.
- December 4, 2011 at 5:12 PM
You are very clever maybe you could open your own web business you could sell gift baskets for tough times. :) I am always trying to figure out how to help someone in need and I don't or shouldn't cook for otehrs lol. This seems like an awfully sarcastic comment but it is not meant to sound this way. <3
- December 4, 2011 at 7:10 PM
- Casey Freeland said...
Very sweet, but I think #1 is the only one of any importance. :)
Casey - December 4, 2011 at 8:37 PM
- MysteryChick said...
Sorry you're going through this. I left the family home as well. Three years later I'm still discovering the things I left behind.
- December 4, 2011 at 10:28 PM
- Gayle said...
This is an important list....I walked out the door without any of it either and have had to start over. If I only knew then what I know now.You've done a great public service letting women know what to take with them.
- December 4, 2011 at 10:38 PM
- Pseudo said...
Ah Vodka, get the cat. You are crazy fun and not crazy crazy, and you will never be lonely if we can help you.
Someone from Tightwad's side of the family needs to tell him to man up, get a job, and stop collecting child support from a teacher. I am amazed with what we get paid that you found a place yo could afford on your own and have no idea how you can pay child support. - December 5, 2011 at 12:09 AM
- chocolatecovereddaydreams.blogspot.com said...
I love the list, especially the tool box. I needed that when I was a single woman once again. I also needed to know how to fill my car with radiator fluid, change the wiper blades and so on.
The cigar cracked me up! - December 5, 2011 at 1:20 AM
- Leslie said...
You also forgot a plunger. :(. And Goo-Be-Gone and WD-40.
But so much of this list is a HUGE yes! I puffy heart love my Shopvac. Sad, right? And why aren't we neighbors. That is one huge cosmic mistake, because I SOOOO would be on that porch with you. - December 5, 2011 at 7:18 AM
- Ivanhoe said...
Hey I'm married and I need all of those too! Except the mouse traps that is :)
Hugs to you from Ohio! - December 5, 2011 at 7:57 AM
- Fragrant Liar said...
I'm gonna go out on a limb and posit that you might have left off a little thing called a vibrator.
Yeah, I said it. - December 5, 2011 at 12:10 PM
- Deb said...
-->My dear, you need THIS kind of toolkit.
Trust me. - December 5, 2011 at 12:26 PM
- Air Purifiers said...
Lol, I love this! Those really are good things for a newly single woman to have...I especially like the part about cigars- not all women like them, but I do! And booze is always helpful with, well...anything. I think Toilet Paper should be on that list too. And a...um, thing that uses batteries...and is like a man but better because it doesn't talk and can get turned on with a literal push of the button.
- December 5, 2011 at 2:41 PM
- Trooper Thorn said...
New Towels. She probably left with the shitty, threadbare ones that had been used to clean up kid puke in the old house.
- December 5, 2011 at 3:13 PM
- RottenMom said...
Oh, I can just picture you smoking that cigar..totally bad ass for sure!
- December 6, 2011 at 8:44 AM
- Cora said...
And don't forget the chocolate!
- December 6, 2011 at 10:43 AM
- Emily from Beauties and the Feast said...
This is hilarious and oh so true! I have a friend who will soon need everything on this list!
- December 6, 2011 at 12:12 PM
Brilliant post Vodka Mom! I did this a year ago...left because he wouldn't even consider it. But just this week realized I didn't have a tire pressure gage! You're an inspiration and a kindred spirit. Love your blog! Happy Holidays! Freedom is a good thing... amazingly difficult but good.
- December 7, 2011 at 7:38 PM
- ♥ Braja said...
Whaaaat??? Honey I LOVE cigars. Why didn't we have cigars when I was there? Besides the fact that it was WAY too cold to sit on that damned verandah....
- December 8, 2011 at 10:49 AM
- Taradharma said...
excellent list. i am in need, as the recently separated who moved out because the spouse wouldn't. Geez.
Only thing I would add: DVDs of really silly comedies. Lots of them. Laugh Laugh Laugh!~
Found you via Anna's blog. - December 8, 2011 at 6:11 PM
- Amy W said...
Damn, woman. I would've left behind the big stuff and taken all this little stuff with me JUST TO SPITE THE BASTARD. We brought all this stuff with us to the UK just because I refused to have to deal with it... Of course, if I was fed up and ready to go, I can also imagine just walking out the door. Gah. I admire your grit so much. Chin up and I hope all the things on your list appear! xoxo
- December 11, 2011 at 10:31 AM


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Tokyo Brown Tabby's latest translation/captioning project, in which Tabby translated three lines (getting lazy, eh?):
If radiation was visible, if radiation was red dots, this is how it would really look like.
This movie was played at the event on peace and radiation held at a high-school in Harlem, NY, on December 2, 2011.
For the overview of this event, please go to: http://youtu.be/OzPRAZcRTec
Drawings by Misato Yugi.
Misato Yugi's blog: http://www.mikanblog.com/
original video: http://youtu.be/A5zVWSy-RGk
Misato Yugi is a super-hyper-positive artist whose "red dot" radiation drawings have become widely known in post-Fukushima Japan.
But the video is rather disturbing. I stopped when a small child is made to sit in front of the heap of red dots, and a fork and a knife materialize in her hands, with black figures towering over her. Just like Koriyama City schools and elsewhere, force-feeding children with food as long as the radioactive material density is below the provisional safety standard.


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Seattle Humane Achieves National RecognitionShelter reaches third highest save rate in the nation
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 12, 2011
Seattle Humane Society, which shelters more than 5,000 homeless pets per year, has achieved one of the highest life-saving rates in the country, according to a new database of shelter statistics. The Maddie's Fund database shows that Seattle Humane Society had the third-highest "save rate" in the nation – 91.4 percent -- among shelters placing more than 5,000 animals in 2009, the most recent year for which statistics were compiled. "This achievement is impressive, especially because we are an open-admission shelter that accepts every animal who comes to us," said David Loewe, CEO for Seattle Humane. "We are very proud of this milestone, and even prouder that our records show our 2010 save rate is even higher – 94.1 percent."Loewe attributes the agency's high save rate to its commitment to providing medical care and behavioral training to pets in need of rehabilitation, helping them to become wonderful, adoptable family pets. The Seattle Humane Society also has no time limits on a pet's stay at the shelter, giving them as long as it takes for the agency to find them a loving home."This milestone is also a reflection of our community – including our donors, volunteers and staff -- and their commitment to the care and placement of the pets who come to us," Loewe said. "We could not achieve this significant recognition without the support of our community – especially the more than 1,400 volunteers who donate their time, energy and even their homes for foster care."Among animal shelters, the "save rate" is the percentage of surrendered, stray and abandoned animals who leave a shelter alive and are placed into adoptive homes, rescue groups, or returned to their owners. Maddie's Fund is a family foundation devoted to creating a nation in which all healthy and treatable pets are guaranteed a loving home, and fewer pets are euthanized. The survey and database are the first large, reliable data sampling of statistics among 474 shelters and 56 communities nationwide, tracking the intake, adoption, and euthanasia of shelter pets and tracking trends and progress.The shelters ranking 1st and 2nd among agencies which admit more than 5,000 pets per year were Nevada Humane Society in Reno and Oregon Humane Society in Portland.
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However, many people have been posting their muslins in the Flickr pool (where we are 189 members strong!) so now is a good time to talk about fitting issues that people are encountering. The fit problem that we're seeing a lot of is the need for a swayback adjustment. This simply means that the wearer's lower back is slightly curved in (resulting in a sexy dip at the waist!), and extra fabric pools in that area. Here are a couple examples from the Flickr pool.
From K.Line |
From Erika Jean |
From Emmy-Seamstress (who's using a different pattern) |
Now for the second step: check to see if your hemline looks uneven now. Often, you will need to take the amount you took out at the lower back and add that amount back at the hem, tapering it the way you did with the wedge in the lower back. Make sense?
Update: as a couple commenters have pointed out, extra fabric in the back waist could also point to a too-long bodice all around. Test this by seeing where the pattern's waist sits in relation to your natural waist. (Though the waist on this pattern is not marked, it's easy to see because it nips in so dramatically.) If it's too low all around, you can take out a horizontal tuck out all the way around.
Okay, on to the next topic: making the lapels smaller. This is a concern that I've seen with some of the petite ladies, who feel that the large lapels look oversized on their frames. This is a super easy adjustment. Here's how I would do it: Press in the seam allowances on your lapel, so you can get a sense of the true size. Now, while you're wearing it, stick pins in around the lapel where you'd like the new edge to be. Taper it down to the bottom of the lapel (as well as to the top of it) so that you don't mess with the fit of the coat elsewhere. (The arrows point to the pins.)
Now, take the muslin off, mark where the pins were placed with a Sharpie, and connect the marks smoothly with a French curve. Try it on again to make sure you're happy with the shape.
You can make your collar smaller this way as well.
That's it! And hey, I forgot that I haven't shown you my fabric. Here it is:
The coat fabric is a thick navy and white wool tweed. I love this particular navy color; it seems to have a bit of purple in it. To coordinate, I chose a deep purple rayon Bemberg for the lining. The buttons are blue velvet flowers from M&J.


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Five years ago, a subprime mortgage firestorm was melting down the U.S. economy, but most analysts didn't see it happening.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, testifying before Congress in February 2007, said the housing sector "is a concern, but at this point we don't see it as being a broad financial concern or a major factor in assessing the course of the economy."
If he and the vast majority of economists were blind to the economic and financial calamity taking shape then, could they also be missing the start of a huge economic boom now?
A boom? Really?
Maybe. On Friday, the Labor Department said employers added 243,000 net jobs – about 100,000 more than most economists were predicting. The unemployment rate fell to 8.3 percent, dropping two-tenths of a point to the lowest level in three years. As recently as August, the jobless rate was 9.1 percent.
In recent months, economists have been consistently wrong about the strength of hiring. In fact, the Labor Department said it had been too negative. It revised previous months to show that the economy gained a total of 60,000 jobs more than originally reported for November and December.
So if they were so wrong in seeing the Great Recession coming, it's possible they are blind to the "Great Recovery" that might be under way. If there is indeed a boom taking shape, it's being led by the new strength in the energy sector, agriculture, technology and even manufacturing.
Yes, manufacturing. Friday's report confirmed factories have been on a roll, adding 50,000 jobs for the month. A lot of that growth reflects the rebirth of the U.S. auto industry. Chrysler, for example, said Thursday that it plans to add 1,800 workers at its Illinois plant this year.
When people get jobs, they spend money. So companies involved in health care, leisure and hospitality added lots of jobs in January.
Maybe the surprising gains were just a fair-weather fluke last month. Temperatures were exceptionally warm in much of the country, so that might have boosted hiring. But the upward revisions for November and December suggest this could be a powerful trend.
Most economists have been predicting overall economic growth of only about 2 percent to 2.5 percent this year. Are they misunderstanding what's happening?
Here are some experts on why economists got it wrong, and whether there are reasons for optimism — or pessimism — today.
Why did Bernanke get it wrong five years ago?
ANSWER: The Fed had no experience with the kind of recession that unfolded in 2007, the root cause of which was massive private borrowing.
"I think they got it wrong because they thought of it as a recession instead of what it was — a financial crisis," says Jeffrey Keefe, a professor at Rutgers University's School of Management and Labor Relations.
When the housing market went bust, he says, the credit markets ground to a halt because the economy was shot through with leverage based on the sector's continued growth.
Joseph Gagnon, an economist who was at the Federal Reserve when Bernanke was making his less-than-clairvoyant forecasts in 2007, says he and many of his colleagues did foresee a housing crisis, but they thought it would be a small one.
"What we thought would happen when it popped was a similar mild recession to the one we had in 2001 when the stock market bubble burst," says Gagnon, now a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
"We were surprised by how serious the recession ended up being," he concedes.
The cause of the Great Recession almost guaranteed a slow and difficult recovery. In the past, the Fed had always lowered interest rates to spur the economy, but with this recession, that tool lost much of its effectiveness, Gagnon says.
"It wasn't just that you could lower interest rates and that people would suddenly spend again," he says. Individuals and institutions "had to repair their balance sheets and that was going to take some time. Lowering interest rates does help, but it doesn't help as quickly as it would in a normal recession."
Are financial experts missing signs of a major upswing?
ANSWER: It depends on whom you talk to. Even the most optimistic economists are unwilling to break out the champagne — even with an unemployment report as good, relatively speaking, as this one released Friday.
You can count Brian Wesbury, chief economist at First Trust in Wheaton, Ill., as one of those on the cautiously optimistic list.
Everything about the latest employment report, he says, "shows that the economy is strengthening and should continue to get stronger in 2012." Retail, manufacturing, construction, mining — it's all looking better.
But even Wesbury, who expects the unemployment rate to be about 7.8 percent by Election Day, acknowledges that it's "very difficult right now for people to feel optimistic about the economy."
Keefe of Rutgers University worries about the situation in Europe. He says it's muddling through for now but could take a turn for the worse and throw the world back into a serious crisis.
And the U.S. residential housing market is still in pretty miserable shape, he says.
"There's enormous inventory," Keefe says. "I am pretty confident we're not going to have a real recovery until that real estate piece is straightened out."
Which U.S. sectors are likely to see strong growth and which might lag?
ANSWER: Friday's jobs report showed gains in nearly all sectors.
"The most impressive thing is that it's really hard to find any weak figures in this report," says Stephen Bronars, senior economist with Welch Consulting in Washington, D.C.
Keefe sees a brighter horizon for some sectors: "Financial services, I suspect, will recover fully. Health care continues to grow, retail continues to grow and business services will continue to grow."
Even though there was growth in construction, housing remains in the doldrums.
Gagnon is more optimistic about the housing sector than some of his fellow economists. He thinks we've been building too few houses lately and that "demographic trends that are going on regardless of the recession will lead to pent-up demand."
He's also willing to make what he describes as a risky prediction.
"I think exports might be a surprising help to the economy," Gagnon says. "But that depends a lot on the policies of other countries. It depends on how the Europeans react to their crisis, because our exports will be hurt if they have a serious crash there. I am not expecting that. But it is a risk."
What have we learned from this recession?
ANSWER: "I learned the importance of leverage, but I can't speak for all my colleagues," says Gagnon. "The importance of that caught me by surprise."
He says individuals and institutions will be more on guard against financial fraud and unsustainable borrowing.
But Keefe thinks we've missed opportunities to revisit the Glass-Steagall Act, the Depression-era law aimed at keeping banks from engaging in risky financial practices. Many economists believe that its repeal in 1999 contributed to the financial crisis.
"We also completely missed the boat on 'too big to fail,' " says Keefe, referring to a congressional push to try to put limits on massive banks and financial institutions.
"Instead, they are bigger than ever," he says.
Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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Common Dolphins spotted enroute to Santa Cruz Island
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Get in touch with us today for a FREE quote and UK design service.
We have a range of surfaces available for sports court construction in Abson BS30 5 that we can also maintain for you. We install surfacing in a variety of specifications; each different surface type has its own qualities which are ideal for a multitude of sporting events. Every construction that that we do is of a high standard and quality which improves the performance of the game and also the safety of each game.
If you're having a multi-use games area sport facility construction carried out at your school, club or leisure centre, depending on the sports you want to include, there are a number of different surfacing types you can choose from for your MUGA. There is Polymeric Rubber which is an ideal surfacing option for basketball, tennis and netball. Macadam is also a popular surface in schools for sports such as tennis and netball. Each of these hard court specifications can have specialist anti slip paint applied to add better safety qualities and also a coloured design. To learn more about line-marking please click here http://www.sportscourtcontractors.co.uk/line-marking/gloucestershire/abson/
If you would like to speak to us about the costs of a sport court construction project at your organisation, please fill in your details on our quick enquiry form. We will offer a cost estimate for the work and also send you over some previously completed case studies of similar projects.
Artificial 2G grass is used for hockey and multisports, whereas 3G synthetic grass is a more suitable surface for football and rugby. The very first steps to carry out a sport court construction on a football and rugby pitch is to do the ground works. This includes laying the foundation down for the sport pitch to be constructed on. There are a variety of sub bases that are mainly used for these two pitches, the one used the most is an engineered sub-base and dynamic sub-base. Then a shock pad is installed between the sub-base and the turf carpet. The shock pad has impact absorbing properties and it helps reduce the risk of the carpet slipping and it also extends the product's life span. It is necessary to have a shock pad installed in a rugby pitch because it is a contact sport and the shockpad will prevent injury. After the foundations are complete the next stage is to install your desired carpet onto the sport pitch near me.
If you're having sports surface installations on your surface and you're building a tennis facility, the first thing you do is the groundworks and then you chose the type of surface that you want which is ether Macadam, Polymeric rubber, Synthetic sand filled turf or Artificial clay. The chosen tennis surface type will then be installed onto the prepared sub base and anti slip paint coatings and line markings will be applied. The more popular sporting surfaces utilised for netball surface installations are type 2 macadam surfacing and type 3 polymeric EPDM, these provide the most suitable playing environments and slip resistance qualities for netball. If you're building a basketball court the surface which is used the most is type 1 macadam as this provides the appropriate ball bounce and non slip capabilities for basketball as well as multisports. As the specification and design of each MUGA will vary, the costs to build sports surfaces in Abson BS30 5 also differ based on a few different factors such as surface type, dimensions and chosen activities. To learn more about costs please click here http://www.sportscourtcontractors.co.uk/costs/gloucestershire/abson/ Our team aim to offer the best prices and top quality installations.
If you are interested in how to install a sport court in Abson and surrounding areas, you may find the steps that our contractors follow to be of use:
Our sports court contractors can carry out the entire installation process for you at a reasonable price. If you're interested in having a new sport facility installed, it is recommended to think about the different activities you wish to play on the facility first so that you know what kind of budget you're looking at. Our specialists can offer help and assistance wherever necessary, so don't hesitate to get in touch with us.
Please use our contact form to get in touch with us to discuss any enquiries you have with regards to sport surface installations for a variety of specifications and designs. We can assist you with the whole project including designing an area to fit in the space you have whilst also making it possible for a range of activities to be played on the same MUGA. A member of our experienced team will be able to give you some professional advice about costs, quotes and sports court construction in Abson BS30 5 for your artificial facility.


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Drug reps aren't allowed to take us to ball games anymore (I'm okay with that). In fact, this year they've actually been banned from bringing us even cheap pens and post-it notes.
BUT they are still allowed to bring us oddball stuff which falls under "patient education". Like this thing:
What is it? An art deco cactus garden? A model of Bikini Bottom (the home of Spongebob Squarepants)?
Nope. It's a model of the nerve endings of your skin, showing how painful post-shingles pain can be. When you turn it on, notice how the nerves glow red (it's pain, get it)?
And HERE! When you push down on the Lidoderm patch (get it? you're applying it to the skin?) they now glow soothingly blue (ah, that feels better). Thank you, Craig, for the hand cameo.
Isn't this useful! Isn't this revolutionary! Isn't this a great use of your medication money!
The kids and I have now taken out the batteries, and this weekend will study the feasibility of turning it into a new home for Ed, my office fish.


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Raw Ceramic Wall Light - BF2014 Domus Lighting
Product Description
- Wall light
- Item can be painted with any water-based paint
- Accommodates: Max 2 x 75W G9 halogen globe (not included)
- Projection: 9 cm
- Overall dimensions: 16.5 cm H x 35 cm W
- 12 Month Manufacturer Warranty
Delivery Info
How much does shipping cost?
We are committed to keeping shipping costs as low as possible. The cost to ship your items will depend on where in Australia your items will be shipped, how big they are and how many items you've ordered. Your shipping cost will be caculated and displayed to you BEFORE your payment. Alternatively, a freight estimator is available at check out page. i.e. your shopping cart page
Who do you use to deliver the goods?
We either use Australia Post or a network of Couriers depending on the delivery destination and the size of the order.
How long will it take for me to receive my order?
Most orders will be received within 5 - 7 Business Days, however some of our products are highly customisable or are imported from Europe and for these products delivery can take between 4 - 6 weeks. Where this is the case, we will contact you before processing your order to confirm the expected delivery date.
Stock Availability
Stock Availability
This product is usually in stock.
Can I check product availability before I purchase?
Yes, of course, send us email and we will confirm the stock availability for you immediately.
What if I made the payment but realize the product is out of stock?
We will contact you immediately. An estimated time of arrival will be given. We can put a back order for you or you could choose to get full refund.


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Thirty months after she was shot through the head, former Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords sits in a New Hampshire restaurant facing parents of children killed in the nation's latest school shooting.
They are here to talk political strategy, but Giffords doesn't say much. She doesn't have to.
The 43-year-old Democrat has become the face of the fight for gun control — a woman now known as much for her actions as her words as she recovers from a 2011 attack that forever changed her life and ended six others. Giffords has already traveled more than 8,000 miles this week, her husband, retired astronaut Mark Kelly, at her side, encouraging political leaders from Alaska to Maine to have the courage to defy the National Rifle Association.
"I don't think any of us thought this was going to be easy," Kelly tells three parents of children killed in the Newton, Conn., school shootings, with Giffords next to him, nodding her agreement. "This is not going to be a quick fix. But we're trying."
The couple is in the midst of a seven-state-in-seven-day tour across America, meeting with allies and opponents alike to generate momentum for federal legislation that would expand background checks on gun purchases. It's a scaled-back version of a broad legislative package to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines proposed in the aftermath of the Newtown shooting rampage that left 20 children dead. It was defeated in the Senate in April and has stalled in a divided Congress now preparing for its summer recess.
Giffords' cross-country trek is the centerpiece of a summertime campaign designed to pressure elected officials in their own backyards. At the same time, her recently formed super PAC and related nonprofit group have ambitious plans to expand their political clout through the 2014 midterm elections and beyond. Organizers say that the group, known as Americans for Responsible Solutions, is expected to raise at least $20 million to fuel paid television ads and political activities to coincide with the next election, the next gun control vote or both.
So far, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has bankrolled much of the campaign to expand background checks through his own organization, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, pouring more than $12 million into advertising designed to pressure lawmakers in places like New Hampshire, Arizona and Arkansas.
But this week, Giffords and Kelly are playing a more personal role. They are eating pie, sharing hugs and having frank conversations to connect with voters in traditional gun-owning states whose leaders have been largely reluctant to support expanded background checks in the face of NRA opposition.
And they are shooting guns to help make their point.
Kelly, a former Navy pilot whose parents were police officers, purchased a new rifle — he said it was his sixth or seventh gun — at the Village Gun Shop in New Hampshire's north country on Friday. He waited less than five minutes for a background check and later tested his Savage .30-06 bolt-action rifle at a nearby shooting range. Giffords joined him at a Nevada shooting range earlier in the week, firing a gun for the first time since a mentally ill man took aim at her and opened fire in a Tucson, Ariz., shopping center as she met with constituents. Jared Lee Loughner, 24, was sentenced in November to seven consecutive life sentences, plus 140 years, after he pleaded guilty to 19 federal charges in the case.
It's an attack that Kelly refers to often, using phrases like, "what happened to Gabby" and "when my wife was shot." The couple is traveling with a handful of guns packed in a suitcase — all for personal use on their trip.
Sandy Holz, the shop's owner in Whitefield, N.H., says she's reluctant to endorse broad gun control legislation but would support a bill to requiring background checks for sales at gun shows and on the Internet, as the failed Senate bill would have done.
A Washington Post-ABC News poll in mid-May found that 67 percent of Americans felt the Senate wrongly rejected the background check bill.
A Pew Research Center poll conducted in early May found 81 percent favor making private gun sales and sales at gun shows subject to background checks, support that transcends party lines. Another 73 percent of respondents said that if the background check bill were brought up for another vote, Congress should pass it.
But there is little sign of movement in Washington.
Despite Giffords' and Bloomberg's continued lobbying, none of the bill's proponents report winning a single new vote since the measure's April defeat. If anything, their task may have grown more difficult since the death last month of Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., who supported the checks. He has been replaced by Republican Sen. Jeff Chiesa, whose view on the subject is unclear.
Giffords and Kelly say they will not give up despite obvious health concerns.
More than two years after the attack, Giffords travels with nurses and a speech therapist, a rarely used wheelchair in tow. Her right leg and arm are partially paralyzed. She walks on her own, her right leg dragging slightly, and she climbs stairs, often with Kelly or a staff member holding her left hand.
The brain injury has also affected her ability to speak.
Giffords offers enthusiastic, but slightly slurred stump speeches on the tour, in a halting style that sometimes brings tears to the eyes of her audience — and her staff.
"We must never stop fighting. Fight. Fight. Fight. Be bold, be courageous, the nation is counting on you," she said at a Friday press conference joined by New Hampshire law enforcement officials.
The entire speech, just 62 words, lasted less than a minute.
The cross-country tour is run with the efficiency and detail of a presidential campaign, with schedules planned down to the minute. Surrounded by a handful of young staffers and her service dog, Nelson, Giffords and Kelly use private planes and at times helicopters, visiting venues usually frequented by politicians.
After her Friday speech, Giffords and Kelly stopped for ice cream. As she often does, Giffords expressed herself more with body language than words as they decided what to eat. She tapped her finger on the menu and said, "Apple pie."
She was greeted warmly by a steady flow of customers and restaurant staff, offering them a hug and responding to their praise with a simple "Thank you very much."
They visited New Hampshire to help remind voters that Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte opposed the background check measure. They spent Saturday in Maine and end their tour Sunday in North Carolina.
"Sen. Ayotte respects Congresswoman Giffords and her brave recovery," Ayotte spokesman Jeff Grappone said, adding that Ayotte favors a Republican-backed bill that emphasizes improvements to the mental health system.
Giffords and Kelly know they will face continued opposition, although it sometimes has come in more intimidating forms on the tour.
Giffords exited one event through a back entrance to avoid a small group of protesters, including one carrying an AR-15 assault rifle. Shortly before they left, the man appeared to be napping in the shade with his gun at his side.
"Apparently, he got tired," Kelly later said at the dinner with Newtown parents. "You can't sleep when you've got your loaded AR-15 next to you. This is not responsible."
Associated Press writer Alan Fram and Director of Polling Jennifer Agiesta in Washington contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2013 Capitol Hill Blue


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