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What constitutes usability best practice for e-commerce? In fact, what makes something/anything 'best practice'?
I'm the first one to say that I regularly refer to 'usability best practice' and best practice is certainly a phrase used often enough by Econsultancy. I thought it would be worth starting a discussion on what you think when they hear this term, and what you feel justifies having the label 'best practice'.
Or perhaps you feel it should just be banished from our industry!
How I have formed opinions on 'usability best practice'
In the world of usability and user experience, particularly within the e-commerce sector, my opinions and recommendations on best practice have been formed through a variety of ways:
- By working within the e-commerce usability field for over 12 years.
- By facilitating a range of user testing sessions, particularly on retail websites.
- By evaluating the user experience of both market leading and up and coming e-commerce websites.
- By benchmarking retailers.
- By planning and observing split and multi-variate e-commerce testing projects.
- By observing what segmented web analytics data is saying about a sites performance.
- By learning from my industry peers.
Of course all of this doesn't mean that what I use as best practice will be the same as others who have similar or different experiences to myself, and I'm interested to find out how you form opinions on 'what is best practice?'.
A few examples of e-commerce best practice
To get the ball rolling I thought I would provide a few examples of what I use as best practice tips and recommendations for retailers, along with providing a few links to relevant articles.
Navigation best practice
For retailers, particularly those that have large product sets, below are a few key best practice tips when it comes to product navigation:
- Provide attribute filtering, or faceted navigation as we like to call it.
- Provide a breadcrumb to clearer show where you are within a product catalogue.
- Provide a prominent link back to the homepage.
- Provide flyout navigation menus.
If you're interested there is more information on attribute filtering for e-commerce, as well as insights from e-commerce user testing on what real users feel about large flyout navigation menus (see point two).
Shopping basket best practice
I have talked about this in quite a bit of detail on my post 'Shopping basket best practice from ASOS' and if you haven't seen it I recommend you take a look. The comments provide additional insights, particularly from James Hart, e-commerce Director at ASOS.
Below is quick summary of some shopping basket best practice elements:
- Only one prominent call to action, the proceed to checkout button.
- Visibility and transparency of delivery options and standard costs.
- Individual stock availability made clear.
- Secure shopping emphasised.
- Payment options available made clear.
Checkout best practice
The first time I wrote on here about checkout best practice was just over two years ago on a post titled 'Are retailers following best practice to improve conversions?' Over the last two years much more has been written and discussed when it comes to checkout best practice, not least with Econsultancy's comprehensive 'Checkout optimization guide'.
You might also be interested in reading my post on best practice tips for handling new customer checkout.
I'll save my keyboard by not repeating lots of what has been written already on this subject, but one thing remains true at the time of writing – there are many retailers, big and small, who would benefit from adopting more of what I and others recommend as checkout best practice.
When insights from lab based user testing support best practice usability tips
There are two recent articles for homeware retailer Lakeland which provide an example of how insights from user testing supports what is put forward as usability best practice. The user testing article '9 women x 9 hours = 9 usability insights' was followed soon after with this article: '10 best practices from the new Lakeland website'.
So what does 'best practice' mean to you?
The purpose of this post (which is pretty short compared to my usual efforts such as this one!) is to hopefully generate some debate & comments on the following questions:
- What does usability best practice, in particular for retailers, means to you?
- How do you form opinions on what constitutes best practice?
- Do you agree or disagree with some of the best practice points I've put forward here?
- How important is best practice in your particular field, irrespective of what this is?
- Have I overdone the use of the phrase best practice in this post…?!
Comments (22)
I believe, generally, that best practise isn't a set of rules to be followed, but rather a best guess.
So, you would take what has been learnt to work for others as your opening gambit when designing your site. Whether those guesses are right for your site is something different altogether, and shouldn't be adhered to simply because everyone else does them.
I can think of 2 examples from my own work history where the site performs better when flouting best practise.
1) It's considered that a single page, enclosed checkout is the way to go nowadays. There's a great post on Get Elastic about it http://www.getelastic.com/single-page-checkout/
However - and as I commented on that article - in usability testing for a niche I was working in, the single page performed less well than the multipage. Anecdotal evidence pointed out that users preferred to have "save points" throughout the process, and were afraid to press the Big Button at the end in case they had done something wrong and had to start again.
2) UCG, especially reviews, are great for reinforcing the buying mentality of visitors, says Best Practise. However in a recent usability test, we found that product reviews put "newbie" visitors off. The level of detail and frankness (remember what I'm selling here) was alarming. A key quote was "Who would write this sort of thing?!"
So, I would say, follow best practise up to a point. It will certainly get you part of the way there to a well performing site. However this HAS to be followed by specific and regular user testing and multivariate testing to find out what is best practise for your particular ecommerce segment.
Aside from the obvious "general best practices" which mainly require you to use your common sense, I think the real best practice that applies to all businesses is to use split testing, research and find out what works best for your customers.
E-commerce is so diverse that what works for one industry may not necessarily work for another.
It is all so varied that not every best practice listed out there necessarily fits the business model.
I have to agree I get a little exasperated by the banding around of the best practice term.
Very often the best practice advice needs to go with a bucket load of assumptions and caveats under which its applicable best practice. Much best practice tends to suggest you can do marketing with a painting by numbers approach. This isn't the case. I wrote about this in context of email marketing here http://dmaemailblog.com/2010/08/12/email-best-practice-is-dead-long-live-best-practice/
I see best practice should be broken into
- Legal compliance
- Must do rules
- Guidelines and principles
Legal compliance is obvious as not only best practice but something you have to do.
Guidelines and principles is the rest, such as use flyout navigation menus. These are things generally found to be good but this best practice can be ignored with positive results.
I think this articles makes very relevant usability points. Often a bad example helps illustrate these for the end user - I have been frustrated and read many frustrated comments about the (sorry to say) GoDaddy site. Navigation and purchasing from this site has been described as both frustrating and counter-intuitive. I would agree that this an example of NOT applying 'usability best practice' for the end user.
There are some well defined best practices followed in usability that span everyday life. Take the humble washing machine. Best practice washing machine design dictates amongst other attributes, a certain width (to fit most kitchen units), a door (without which you can't get clothes in), a recommended drum size (to fit most wash baskets) and some controls (with which to operate it) - beyond that is what defines each brand.
In the same way, online/e-commerce usability is just that, a few core items that you must get right and the rest is what defines your website, brand and customer experience.
One point that doesn't really get emphasized too much in the realm of 'best-practices' is just that the best practices are kind of what Tim is saying.
The way I think about a best practice is, this is the best possible method, assuming perfect conditions. Now, apply it to my situation, which is not perfect. No ones is. Yet, the value of the guideline is something to work from in order to feel like you're not guessing and that you can systematically track what you're doing, and now you know why.
This makes tuning and adjustment easier. The biggest mistake people can make is taking their environment from a non-best-practices conformed environment and switching it over to a wholly best-practices conformed environment without thinking about how their situation might be unique and thinking through mitigating circumstances. Which, unfortunately tends to be the practice of the under-informed.
Great article. It is sometimes all too easy to get caught up with the look and feel of a site and forget about the user experience.
I always find that a heavily planned and commented wireframe ensures that key areas of engagement are not missed.
As mentioned in a previous comment cross browser functionality is vital but we must progress at the same time.
The implication with the phrase 'best practice' is that it is interpreted as 'guaranteed results generator', i.e. If you do ABC you will reap the rewards.
It's not a term that I like as it is all too often used as a discussion-ender, "We're doing it this way because it's best practice" can kill debate and exploration before it has even started and kill off the chance of a better idea coming through.
Best practice is a constantly evolving and moving target. Being overly dramatic, if it didn't evolve we'd all still be building the sites we did ten years ago and the web would be a very stagnant place.
For me it's about keeping an eye on what people respond to, what supports, reassures and enhances a customer's visit. Then it's about understanding where your own site and its audience fits and making a call on what you are going to try and how it needs to be implemented.
For example, if you have had reviews on the site for years and they haven't really taken off, is it pertinent to keep including the feature and pushing it in listings just because others deem it be 'best practice'.
If your site is broad but not very deep, is it worth putting in a breadcrumb because of all the articles saying it's 'best practice'.
There are lots of things that you should do under any circumstance - clear signposting, obvious calls to action - but that's just 'common sense' isn't it? The rest is always up for grabs and should always be revisited with an eye to improvement.
Discovering what might be the next 'best practice' is the interesting part. It's about people rocking the boat of existing preconceptions and having the brave new ideas, not being afraid to try them out, not being afraid for something to be 'wrong' or underperform, and - perhaps most importantly - having clients that trust the process enough that they are willing to potentially sacrifice some revenue, sales, conversions in order to do so.
Some excellent points here. Matthew Curry's examples show that best practice shouldn't be blindly followed, testing and experimentation is the key.
As Paul points out in the article, we use the term a lot on this blog, but it does come with the 'bucketload of assumptions and caveats' that Tim refers to.
First off thanks to everyone who has commented so far, your thoughts, observations and personal insights are very much appreciated and just the kind of stuff I was hoping to see.
Special mention must go to Matthew Curry for commenting comprehensively within 11 minutes of the post going live!
@Matthew - thanks for the 2 interesting examples. I must say that 'best practice' being relabeled as 'best guess' seems a bit too 'finger in the air' to me!
As you rightly say user testing & customer research coupled with on-going testing and optimisation, along with 'best practice', will ensure that retailers are best catering for their own, however mainstream or niche, audience.
There are however best practices, or common sense elements as they may be seen by industry folk, which apply for all retailers, and therefore following/implementing these shouldn't be seen simply as a guess. For sceptical retailers they can of course still split test the changes just to make sure they will have a positive impact on their site performance.
@Nick - yep agree, research and testing is the way forward and I fully expect more and more retailers will be embracing this approach over the next 1-2 years.
@Tim - thanks for your comments and link. Out of interest could you expand on what you would see fitting in to the 'must do rules' category, or in what sense you are meaning?
@Darrin - thanks for your comments and site reference.
@Depesh - I appreciate your comments and the reference to usability in everyday life. I'm not sure how sizeable you see the list of 'a few core items that you must get right'? In my experience, when you start to look at individual pages of the buying journey on e-commerce sites you can soon build up a decent size list of best practice items on which to move forward and, if necessary, test with.
On the customer research and testing & optimisation front I take it these are key elements of how the Tesco online experience is delivered & improved?
@Joshua - thanks for your considered and insightful comments. Your example of a retailer jumping from one end of the spectrum to the other is very interesting. Your comment 'systematically track what you're doing' is spot on too.
@Will - I appreciate your comments and wireframe learnings.
@Graeme - thanks for your very comprehensive comments. I particularly like your reference to whether best practice is merely common sense! I've got to say I can't see Econsultancy updating their guides anytime soon to replace the term 'xxx Best Practice Guide' with 'xxx Common Sense Guide'.
I like your idealist approach to discovering the next 'best practice' too - do you find many of your retail clients are genuinely comfortable with it, especially when it comes to potential revenue/conversion sacrifices?
One way to look at this discussion is also to investigate the value of best practices, or when to use it:
Web design best practices serve primarily as a decision tool to reduce time for agreement on the new site design. Best practices allow the Web steering committee to explore proven and successful design options. At this discovery stage, the value of best practices is to sensibilize the Web team about successful design practices. The sensibilization phase targets to eliminate the individual team member's visions, which deviate too radically from proven design implementations (for example: usage of animations on the home page or providing mainly information on the home page instead of linking to the information, see PracticeByte, "Common Mistakes: Home Page Design", available on www.effinfo.com").
Once the majority of the team member – ideally everyone – buys into the acceptance of leveraging best practices for the new Web site, the next and final step consists of negotiating and agreeing on the various design options. During the negotiation phase, the Web team needs in many cases to compromise best practices. Rejecting best practices is not critical as long as the Web team understands the associated risk and is willing to accept it. Compromises dramatically reduce time to find agreement on site design. Especially, if an external and neutral facilitator assists the Web team to find compromises, several months lasting discussions can be successfully concluded within less than one session. Further, for new site development, a best practice workshop can even avoid to start such long internal debates.
I am a fan of the phrase "usability best practice".
It's a convenient way of saying (for me at least) in meetings:
"The application of user centred design to the human computer interface that takes into account the specific and differing needs of users based on the context, product, industry, location, device and user location. It is designed to ensure the optimal website effectiveness for users delivering commercial value."
It also neatly allows HIPPO conversations to be moved nicely along.
I don't take my car for a Ministry of Transport test. I take it for an MOT. Same thing. Life is too short for spelling things out in long hand.
Just my two cents.
I'm a fan too - I think Usability best practice is about recommending ways of doing things that have been proven to work well for users, validated by a mixture of your own experience and research and others research. Most of the time this will produce good results but not always - a good usability practitioner will be flexible as best practice is not set in stone but constantly changing with people, culture and technology.
@Paul Re 'must do rules'.
Must do rules are the things that are unequivocally the right thing to do.
Could there ever be a case when usability testing is not appropriate? How about:
- Test that the website works as intended.
- Test in different browsers and devices used by customers.
- Ensure usability under highest traffic load expected.
- Make pages and functions respond to the customer quickly.
- Ensure there is sufficient size and contrast for legibility.
- Split test and optimise for usability.
How about bigger picture thoughts:
- Do design for usability (ever seen a site that didn't?)
- Make it fast for a customer to achieve their objective
- Make it obvious what a customer should do next
- Don't have clutter that distracts from your objective or your customers
This is without doubt a great summary of key items:
* Only one prominent call to action, the proceed to checkout button.
* Visibility and transparency of delivery options and standard costs.
* Individual stock availability made clear.
* Secure shopping emphasised.
* Payment options available made clear.
Whilst I've never seen anyone suggest you shouldn't always do these things, I have seen many curious and counter expected results in marketing, so I'd be prepared to believe they aren't always all critical. Hence are these guidelines and principles. That is do them unless you know why you aren't doing them.
Considering stock availability; is a customer interested in stock level, or are they actually interested in how quickly they can have the item in their hands? Stock level is used as a proxy for being able to have the item quickly.
To be clear, my main experience lies in email and marketing 'best practice' rather than eCommerce usability best practice. I found your post interesting in some parallels to use of 'best practice' phrase in email marketing and the Zen like quality sometimes attached to something best practice. Its declared best practice and it must be so. I'm not looking to challenge your eCommerce wisdom.
I agree with Ed Longley about it being a useful way of smoothing over crazy ideas from the CEO or others who swoop in at the final stages of a project and want to make changes without understanding the thinking. However, reading these other comments I wonder if perhaps we do all just use it as a pompous way of saying "In my experience, what you are suggesting is a crazy idea and won't work because [insert sensible, verifiable, politely worded reasons]". And isn't that what people pay us to know and to say? Are we just being lazy or cowardly? Oh dear, I think I am going to have to work harder. Thanks for that Paul.
Of course the notion of best practices implies thorough testing; during which test the best practice emerges via a process of elimination based on success rate.
For anything web/mobile-content related, "usability" is only guesswork at best unless supported by robust web analytics metrics about what users actually did.
Based on a careful study of successful visits (per your KPI definitions), plus a healthy use of A/B or multivariate testing, a semblance of usability "best practice" can be determined.
Without those critical numbers? Not so much.
It's a great question Paul.
Isn't best practice something that we can't improve on? Like having a door handle, roughly half way up the door within reach of the average person (thank you Le Corbusier). After all, if it was at the bottom, we'd all have bad backs, right?
I still have to think twice about opening our office door as the button you have to press to unlock it, is right next to the fire alarm…
The fact is, online, designers are still putting the door handles in all sorts of places. Indeed, some don't even look like door handles.
We've got a long way to go before we can say there's nothing to improve on our websites, so 'best practice' has to evolve from what we know today, to what we'll discover tomorrow.
We need to respect what we agree is best practice today, but constantly test and challenge current thinking in order to innovate.
This is what keeps this field interesting, but eventually, all our handles will be in the same place. I'm hoping that by that time, someone will invent open plan living and we won't need doors at all…
At times second best practice is good enough. It's cheaper, quicker and gets good enough results.
@Nicolas - thanks for your detailed views on when you feel best practices should be used and how as part of a redesign project. You make some great points on how time can be saved during the early part of a redesign project by referencing and applying certain best practices. In the last few months I have been involved in an e-commerce redevelopment project where I was brought in to bring to the table key best practice principles which were used to progress the early design phase quicker than it may have been.
Of course customer insights through user testing are still very much apart of what I would always recommend is a user-centred design project.
@Ed - I really like how you've packaged that up, and thanks very much for your two cents!
@Tracy - thanks for your input, it appears that your views of best practice are fairly similar to my own as described in the post.
@Tim - thanks very much for your very comprehensive comments following by question on must do rules. Your comments serves as an excellent addition to the top level information I provided in my post, and I wasn't for a minute suggesting you were questioning me in any way!
@Sarah - my pleasure!
@Andrew - thanks for your comments. I suppose what is coming to the surface with the post and comments is how 'best practice' applies (or not) both during the design/build process and once the website/app has launched.
I think the reality is that when businesses choose to consider/apply what are being proposed as best practices, it isn't always possible (for resource, budget and time reasons) to support this with concrete analytics and testing for the website in question - although of course this would be a great environment to work in!
@Brett - great to hear from you, I hope the transition from Debenhams to AXA has been kind to you? I really like this 'We've got a long way to go before we can say there's nothing to improve on our websites, so 'best practice' has to evolve from what we know today, to what we'll discover tomorrow.'
Your thoughts on constantly testing and challenging current thinking is also going down the same path as what many of the people commenting on here are saying.
Here's to many more years of door handles that can be improved, although I look forward to your vision of open plan living in the years to come!
Since we track everything in %,call it best % rate instead of best practice, ie doing X will have the best % thus best action (practice).


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subset: commoncrawl


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After the plethora of new motorcycle announcements at the German Intermot and the Italian Eicma motorcycle exhibitions, you have got to ask yourself "why".
It's not the amount of new motorcycles that is making me ask this deep thought-provoking question, but what is happening at the top-end of the super sportsbikes; the search for more and more power.
If you consider that many sportscars have around 200 hp, a motorcycle weighs 2 or 3 times less. So the performance these bikes have nowadays is impressive, that's for sure, but they are also incredibly high. Maybe too high.
Apart from some German motorways, there are no places on earth where you can use the power these bikes have, legally that is. So unless you spend most of your time on tracks, you would not be using the power these bikes generate. But you will have paid for it.
So the question remains, why? Why would manufacturers start a race to who has the most power. And it's exactly what it has become; a marketing race for the manufacturers so that they can say their motorcycle is the most powerful one; bragging rights.
Some countries have limited the amount of power a motorcycle is allowed to have. France for example, power is limited to 100 hp. Granted, it's a stupid law, since as we know, hp is nice but torque is far more important. Obviously a higher horsepower equates in general to a higher torque, but still….
If you had all the money in the world and your name is Jay Leno, would you still buy a motorcycle that has 200+ hp? Knowing that you can't really use it (legally). Would you?


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Acute Alterations of Body Composition after Open Intracardiac Operations
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The body composition of patients with heart disease is acutely altered by surgical intervention. Interrelations and causes of the alterations have not been clear. Twenty patients were studied preoperatively and again 2 to 4 days after open intracardiac operations. In nine, measurements were made of the volumes of total body water, extracellular water, plasma, and red cells, and of the amounts of total exchangeable sodium and potassium. In an additional four patients total exchangeable sodium and potassium were measured, and in another seven only exchangeable sodium was measured. Calculations were made of the intracellular and extracellular distribution of water and potassium. The significant changes (P < 0.05) occurring during the interval between studies were increase in extracellular water (7%), interstitial water (12.5%), and exchangeable sodium (9.4%), decrease in total exchangeable potassium (8.5%) and amount (8.7%), and concentration (6.9%) of calculated intracellular potassium. Uptake of sodium and water by the patient during cardiopulmonary bypass and postoperative loss of intracellular potassium with its secondary renal excretion are postulated as being etiologic. These findings imply that sodium intake in the early postoperative period should be low, water intake no more than urinary and insensible losses, and that potassium should be administered.
- Received February 17, 1969.
- Accepted October 20, 1969.
- © 1970 American Heart Association, Inc.
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- Acute Alterations of Body Composition after Open Intracardiac OperationsALBERT D. PACIFICO, STAN DIGERNESS and JOHN W. KIRKLINCirculation. 1970;41:331-341, originally published February 1, 1970https://doi.org/10.1161/01.CIR.41.2.331
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The DENFAC project is a "teach the teachers" educational program
that has been designed for less wealthy nations as judged by World Bank data and/or the United Nations Human Index. DENFAC is available to IAPD member nations requiring assistance to advance paediatric dentistry teaching in their countries.
A major strategy of DENFAC is to work with the host country to identify their needs and tailor a program specifically for them.
- A host nation contacts the Secretary General to express interest in participating in DENFAC.
- A preliminary visit occurs to discuss current teaching needs, assess the facilities, establish goals and determine the methods of evaluation. A workshop plan is designed.
- The volunteer leaders-speakers hold a one-week workshop. If the workshop is well received, the plan calls for a return visit for the following year.
- IAPD will cover airfare and hotel expense for speakers
Since its introduction, DENFAC has made good progress. Workshops have been held in Romania, Turkey, Poland, China, Senegal and Peru.
Those interested in participating in DENFAC, to receive the project in your nation, to participate as workshop speakers-leaders, or to gain information about being a corporate sponsor should write or e-mail to the IAPD.


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Well, the garden is cranking out the butternut squash. And, our seafood delivery is waiting to be eaten. So, after a long dog walk on a cold fall night, how nice to come home to something warm. These spicy garlic prawns and heirloom tomatoes over bowtie pasta are a perfect weeknight dinner.
First, cook the prawns over medium-low heat, with some canola oil, chili flakes, and chili oil. You'll know the prawns are done when they turn pink.
Chop up a yellow onion, 2 cloves garlic, a red bell pepper, and 2 heirloom tomatoes. In a frying pan over medium high heat, saute the onions and garlic until translucent. Add the tomatoes and red bell pepper and cook those down for a bit. If you have saffron on hand, add a few threads now. Let this mixture cook down for ten minutes or so on medium-low heat. (Add a splash of white wine if either you or the pan look like it's about to run low on liquid.)
While all this is happening on the stove top, roast some butternut squash in the oven. Here's how.
Cook up your bowtie pasta, and then combine it in the tomato and garlic pan to marry the flavors. Put the pasta mixture in a bowl, top with the prawns, and serve with roasted butternut squash. Delightful!
Related articles
- Butternut Squash and Roasted-Garlic Bisque (pastaprincessandmore.wordpress.com)


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This weekend was very productive, but I have zero finishes to show you! I do have a couple of finished tops and a couple of finished blocks... and a couple of new windows.
First, here are place mats that are ready for quilting. I found this pattern in the February 2011 Quilter's World magazine. I used fabrics from my stash for this one. I had told myself I would get going on the quilting on these this weekend, but then I really wanted to work on something else... Quilting is most definitely my least favourite part of the whole process so I tend to put it off until I can longer put it off.
Next, here is McGuffey. I used two of my Recipe for Friendship charm packs for this one as well as white fabric I had in my stash. For the backing, I used the Recipe for Friendship panel that came with the fat quarter bundle. McGuffey is a Schnibble designed by Carrie Nelson and which can be found in her book "Schnibbles Times Two".
Third, here are two blocks from my next project: Spin City. This is another Schnibble designed by Carrie Nelson (also from the Schnibbles Times Two book). I'm using the Recipe for Friendship charm packs for this one as well and so far, I'm loving it! The blocks are fairly easy to do, but I'm using a technique I've never used before: quilting with a template.
And finally, here's something else I worked on this weekend: two new windows for the mud room at the cottage. (I only took a picture of the last one.)
And how was your weekend?
Sunday, September 18, 2011
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All rights reserved Richard P Swift Publishing, Ltd. December 1,2010 ......................................................................................................... Follow along with us in the One Year Bible with commentary for almost each and every day and add your own comments too!
Tuesday, March 7, 2017
HEAVEN pass away, did I read right? And perhaps if it had come from another source, then it might be debatable as to whether that statement or prediction was to be worth listening to, but I'm pretty sure (correct me if I'm wrong) that Jesus is a valid source when it comes to the subject of Heaven. How can Heaven pass away? Where am I supposed to go when I die? Where will we say people have gone to, when we do funerals? Perhaps some don't really care; maybe the thought of them playing a harp on some celestial cloud, never quite appealed to them anyway (where people get this notion I don't know). Where will the people in Heaven go to when Heaven passes away? If there's not going to be a Heaven what is my hope, after I die? Okay, perhaps I have dragged this on a little to far, especially for those that already know where I'm going with this, but I am just trying to make a point...okay, maybe two points. The first point is how we can read over very serious statements in the bible and be completely oblivious to what we just read. I just asked an individual to read that verse before I wrote this blog. I asked him, "did you read anything odd or peculiar? He said, "no". I asked him, "you don't' think Jesus saying, "there's not going to be a Heaven is peculiar and if that is the case, where will we go?" He answered, "yes, that is odd and I don't know where we will go then....". My 2nd point is, for a species of creation that seems to talk so much about HEAVEN, we really are clueless about Heaven. Every funeral speaks about Heaven, speaks about a better place, but better than what and what "constitutes better?" I wonder if there are some billionaires that might be really curious for us to present to them our definition of "better". Is sitting on a cloud playing a Harp better? Is going without my fine Cognac and Cuban cigars your definition of better? Is your definition of better, going to beat my mansion on a private island in Fiji? It's sad that most people don't have a clue of what Heaven is; except it's the default option if you don't want Hell, but some, given the choice, would choose earth, as their eternal abode. People are very misguided on eternity, which is sad, considering how much of our lives will be spent there. Make fun of Heaven if you want, draw funny cartoons of some Angel on a cloud playing a Harp, asking "and how many more billion years....?" However, all we do is show are true ignorance when we do so. Because Heavan is not our eternal abode, Heaven will not last for eternity, it will pass away. All Heaven is, is a temporary housing until the end of the dispensation of The Church has come, the end of Grace and the time of the Gentiles, in plain English, it's over, the rapture has come, the tribulation has passed, the millennium has come and gone and Jesus comes and conquers once and for all. Then HEAVEN passes away and the New Earth and The New Jerusalem comes down, out of HEAVEN (before it's destroyed) and that is where we spend eternity, not on cloud. So for those that were choosing earth, you weren't so far off. So for those that thought their private island in Fiji, was quite Heavenly, you weren't so far off. So what is the "true Christian's hope? That we will live for eternity, with Jesus, in all that is pure and all that is good, in a new and even better, revamped earth, with all of the universe thrown in. That sounds pretty good to me, that sounds a whole lot better than "well, I guess it's better than Hell", no it's a whole lot better than Hell and 1000x1000 times better than the current earth. There will be banquets and feasts, no more tears, sorrow or suffering. It will be with people you love, no enemies, no evil, no murder, no hate, it will be the best and most euphoric day/experience you ever had on earth, x 1000 and more. It will be the place you don't deserve, but in the midst of the City, will be Jesus, with his nail pierced hands and his nail pierced feet, to remind you, why you are there.
Posted by Richard P Swift at 7:14 AM
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About Me
- MommyFrazzled
- Mother, Daughter, Sister, Aunt, Friend, Business Woman, etc. means I am diverse, I am not defined by any one group, I am at all times everything I need to be.
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
New Music: Story of My Life One Direction
Posted by MommyFrazzled at 11:06 AM
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The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is now in dilemma over the fate of President Goodluck Jonathan's bid to get re-elected in 2015, as the status of the Acting Chairman of the party Alhaji Adamu Mu'Azu remains uncertain due to a litigation challenging his eligibility as Chairman.
The dilemma by the PDP is anchored on a litigation challenging the eligibility of Mu'Azu to superintend over the PDP's affairs in respect of its preparations for the 2015 elections since he was not elected as the party's chairman.
The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has fixed next Wednesday for ruling on the litigation challenging Mu'Azu's eligibility to hold on to office as preparations for the 2015 elections draws near.
It was gathered that some top members of PDP even in the Presidency have started getting weary of Mu'Azu, most especially on his resolve to subdue the litigants against him, a development said to be prolonging the court case which by now should have been resolved.
Mu'Azu had asked his lawyers to seek a reprieve of the court to join him in the case challenging his eligibility as the Acting Chairman of PDP, a process said to have been preventing the court ruling on the case against him, to the detriment of the expectant PDP and the Presidency.
Fresh reports indicate that the action by Mu'Azu in prolonging the case with the assistance of some PDP governors was being viewed with suspicion by the Presidency on the basis that such may affect the chances of the President's bid to seek re-election in office.
Mu'Azu, according to reports, no longer enjoys the confidence of President Jonathan and elders of party on alleged misdemeanors and misconduct in office as reports detailing his alleged misconduct were said to have been brought to the notice of the President.
During the declaration of President Jonathan to run for second term in office at the Eagle Square some days ago, Mu'Azu was denied an opportunity to make a speech, although he was present at the venue of the event.
The Acting PDP Chairman is said to have been finding it difficult of late to have a good audience with the President, having been meeting brick walls in that regard each time he reportedly made the move so seek a one-on-one with Jonathan.
There have been reports that the Acting Chairman of PDP had been placed under surveillance by the PDP amid suspicion that he is not a party leader the President could trust, while he is reported to have an Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) case pending against him.
The former governor of Bauchi state had also been widely reported as having eyes on the seat of vice President Namadi Sambo, who has in turn been safeguarding his interest in vying with President Jonathan in 2015 as he bids to retain his top job.
Aliyu Ayoba Gubrin, a member of the PDP and House of Representatives aspirant from Adamawa State, had challenged Mu'azu's appointment as the acting PDP Chairman, which he noted was in order since he was picked to head the ruling party.
Gubrin, in the substantive suit against Mu'Azu is seeking, among others, an order sacking the Acting PDP Chairman.
He had argued before the court that Mu'azu cannot legitimately preside over the affairs of the PDP because the process leading to his emergence as the National Chairman violated the party's constitution.
All the same, the former National Chairman of PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur who was joined in the suit against Mu'Azu had told the court through his lawyer that he was stampeded into resigning as the Chairman of the ruling party, thus arguing for his re-instatement.
In the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/821/2014, Gubrin faulted the process leading to the resignation Tukur, Mu'azu's predecessor.
Named as defendants in the suit include the PDP, Tukur, Mu'azu and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Gubrin had also sought an order to restrain Mu'azu from further parading himself as the party Chairman.
He had asked the court to determine whether or not Tukur's resignation on January 15 complied with Section 47(5) of the constitution of the party.
The plaintiff also asked the court to declare that Tukur's resignation is invalid as it did not comply with the constitution of the party and the Electoral Act 2010.
He is equally praying the court for an order setting aside the resignation of Tukur as the party Chairman.
Gubrin also wants an other restraining INEC from recognizing Mu'azu as the Chairman of the party.


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Deep-Dish Cookie Pie
- 2 cans white beans or garbanzos (drained and rinsed) (500g) - WHAT?!?!?
- 1 cup quick oats
- 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 3 T canola oil
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 and 1/2 cups brown sugar
- 1 cup chocolate chips
Blend everything (except the chips) very well in a food processor. Mix in chips, and pour into an oiled pan (I used a 10-inch springform pan, but you can use a smaller pan if you want a really deep-dish pie.) Cook at 350F for around 35 minutes. Let stand at least 10 minutes before removing from the pan.
As usual, ignore the horrible picture. It doesn't have to be pretty to taste good. Garbanzo beans? Seriously? I ate several servings and I still can't believe it!


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Friday, July 29, 2011
lake george
west elm
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
geronimo balloons/100 layer cake
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
sunday sweets {chocolate pie}
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 large eggs, beaten
3/4 cup evaporated milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
Whipped cream, for serving
- Directions:
- 1.Preheat the oven to 350°. Ease the pie crust into a 9-inch pie plate and crimp the edges decoratively. Prick the crust lightly with a fork. Line the crust with foil or parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 15 minutes or until set. Remove the foil and weights and bake for about 5 minutes longer, just until the crust is dry but not browned.
- 2.Meanwhile, in a bowl, whisk the sugar with the cocoa powder, butter, eggs, evaporated milk, vanilla and salt until smooth.
- 3.Pour the filling into the pie shell and bake for about 45 minutes, until the filling is set around the edges but a little jiggly in the center. Cover the crust with strips of foil halfway through baking. Transfer the pie to a rack and let cool completely before cutting into wedges. Serve with whipped cream.
Friday, July 22, 2011
happy {hot} weekend!
the row and toms collaberation
duvel artist series glasses
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
design shows you should be watching
day dreams {new england summer}
Monday, July 18, 2011
sunday sweets {pineapple upside-down cake}
For pan schmear:
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon dark rum
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla paste or pure vanilla extract
Kosher salt
1 Gold (extra -sweet) pineapple
For the cake:
1 1/3 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste or pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon milk
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle, combine the butter, honey, rum, sugar, and vanilla, and beat until smooth and well blended. Spread 1/3 cup of the schmear over the bottom of a 9-inch silicone cake pan. Sprinkle lightly with salt. (The remaining schmear can be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks or frozen for up to 1 month; bring to room temperature before using.)
Cut top and bottom from pineapple, and cut away peel. Cut pineapple lengthwise into quarters, and cut off core from each section. Cut each piece crosswise into 1/8-inch-thick slices. Beginning at the perimeter of the pan, make an overlapping ring of pineapple slices with the curved side facing out. Make a second ring inside the first one, overlapping the slices in the opposite direction, working toward the center of the pan. Reserve any pineapple for another use.
Sift flour and baking powder together; set aside.
Put butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle and mix on low speed to combine, then beat on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until light and creamy, stopping to scrape down the sides as necessary. Mix in vanilla. Add eggs one at a time, beating until the first one is incorporated before adding second and scraping down the sides as necessary. Beat in milk. Add flour mixture in 3 batches, beating just until combined.
Pour batter into pan and spread over pineapple. Bake for 15 minutes. Rotate the pan for even browning and bake for another 20 to 25 minutes, until a cake tester or wooden skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool cake in the pan on a cooling rack for 20 to 30 minutes.
Run a knife around the edges of the cake, invert onto a serving platter, and serve warm.


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She looks up at me, that sexy confident look in her eyes. She knows exactly what she is doing to me as her tongue snakes out and tickles my sensitive flesh. I whimper softly as she teases me with her tongue, smiling as my body begins to shudder. I moan loudly as she sucks me into her mouth, pulling gently with her lips.
I could easily be describing what it's like getting a blowjob from My Lady, only this time I'm not. With my cock locked up 24/7 until the end of July, it will be quite a while before I feel ML's wonderful mouth on my cock. What I described above is ML's new favorite form of oral sex – licking and sucking my nipples.
Lately, I've been finding that, since my cock is unavailable to receieve the sexual pleasure sensations that my body craves, other areas have stepped up to provide these sensations. In layman's terms… my nipples are hella fucking sensitive all of a sudden. It seems as if they are almost constantly hard, and I can feel them rub against my clothing. Sometimes at work, when I go to put a pen in my pocket, I accidentally graze my nipple through my shirt and it gives me a small full-body shudder. And it's not just my nipples; my balls are also extremely tender from being so full and being stretched so often when the cage pulls on them.
Don't think ML hasn't noticed this. She now takes any opportunity to tease me with these newfound sensitive areas. She has already taken a liking to flicking them with her fingernails or pinching them through my shirt whever she gets the chance. And when she gets me alone (and shirtless), she loves using her mouth on them – licking, sucking, and even biting them – and watching my uncontrollable reactions. The intense sensations shoot down my chest and build right behind my throbbing cock, increasing my desperate need for release.
My Lady knows that teasing these areas of my body have a strong effect on my horniness. And when I say she takes any opportunity, I mean she takes any opportunity. This morning, ML went out for some errands while I slept. I woke up while she was still out; I checked my phone and found a text message from her waiting to be read:
When you get this, I want you to pinch your nipple with one hand and roll it between your fingers, massage your balls with the other. You're going to do that for 7 mins… because that's my favorite number!
I love it when she teases me from afar. 🙂
It only took a few minutes before I was moaning and writhing in the bed. I took a moment to text her that I was awake and how it felt; she responded:
Love it!!! Since you stopped in the middle, now you have to start over. Hehe 🙂
Serves me right for not following My Lady's instructions to the letter!


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36 mini cream puffs (store-bought)
24 strawberries, washed and hulled
approx. 1/4 c. whipping cream
approx. 1/2 c. chocolate chips
12 wooden skewers
On each skewer, put 3 cream puffs and 2 strawberries (alternating). Heat whipping cream in the microwave and then stir in chocolate chips until melted. Lay skewers on a serving platter and drizzle with melted chocolate. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Sorry, I didn't take a picture of these. But they looked so fancy, and they were delicious! I can't wait to make them next time I have friends over.


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Faye Hunter, the founding bass player with '80s jangle-pop band Let's Active, died Saturday night of an apparent suicide, according to various reports. She was 59.
A friend of Hunter's told the News & Observer newspaper, "I'm not shocked, but I am surprised about the timing," adding, "She'd been talking about this for quite some time. The past three or so years were really bad."
Jeebus, that was one great band.
To paraphrase Nick Tosches -- this wonderful woman and musician dies and yet Justin Bieber walks the streets a free man?
I don't get it.


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Jot: Chinese IPR Park No Disneyland
Shanghai has an Intellectual Property Rights park and it celebrates its 1st birthday with a week of activities with the theme....intellectual property rights. First I thought this was like a Disneyland for the Chinese IPR enthusiast, but then the article proved me wrong. Still, would have been great: Grokster on Ice. Or, Grokster Iced, as MGM might prefer.


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I belong to an e-group, newsgroup, or whatever they're called, devoted to the subject of gay Mexico. Not unexpectedly, a string began a debate on the current legislative push for criminalization of illegal border breaking and other stringent, even draconian measures. One group contributor, who uses the screen name of "vanycle2000," said: "I'm for an open border with Mexico and Canada. This road to nationalism is well trod and perilous." The following is my response:
If you mean by "open borders" unchecked, unmonitored crossings, I am afraid I cannot disagree more. Unfortunately, the one good argument the hardliners have in this national debate is the spectre of 9/11. Just because bin Laden has not attacked people or places on our soil since the initial Al Qaida airplane suicide doesn't mean the terrorist group (and possibly others) have no plans for other hits or means of carrying them out.
It is characteristic of fundamentalist Islamic terrorists that they can and do lie in wait with the patience of Job until "just" the right time to hit. Many of the 9/11 loony-thugs who brought down the Twin Towers crossed over the Canadian-U.S. border on their way to Boston, where they boarded the planes. And, given that not only the smugglers but organized crime is involved in the border breaking, few questions are asked, *dinero* being the only consideration. A mideasterner or two with terrorism on their minds are not going to have *that* much trouble finding someone to help them make it across the Rio Grande into one of the border states. My bet is that it has already happened -- more than once.
Yes, I know, 9/11 has been used as an excuse to plan such silly ass actions as building a wall across the Mexican border and stationing National Guard troops on the Rio Grande. Fear is a potent weapon when wielded by the bigots who want all illegals charged with a felony offense (where do they think they'll find prison space for those of the 11 million illegals they now routinely return to their native soil?!), but if you were living in a place like Corpus Christi, as I am, you would be frightened with or without the fear mongering of the Mitch McConnells, Bill Frists, and Tom Tancredos.
Our seaport is the nation's fifth largest, and just happens to be the primary port for onloading of military materiel bound for Iraq. I get spooked every time I hear an airplane go over the city. It's depressing as hell, a kind of perpetual rendition of what Americans went through in October of '62, without the empty shelves at the local supermarkets, only now it is bin Laden instead of Khruschev. In my idyllic liberal youth I saw borders as necessary evils at best, thinking it silly that when my train passed from Germany to Switzerland, customs inspectors boarded my wagonlit to inspect passports and stamp them with visas. I held more or less the same bemused skepticism until 2001, but I can hold it no longer.
I get tired of hearing that dumb-ass clown from Crawford go on about 9/11's having "changed everything." But guess what? He's right about that one thing. (Not that he can legitimately use it to justify such a pre-emptive use of force as the invasion of Iraq!) No, I am afraid I cannot agree that policing of U.S.-Mexican and Canadian borders should be abolished. Those Border Patrolmen help me sleep better nights.
Thursday, April 13, 2006
"Open Borders"? Really, Now!
Posted by FlamingLib at 5:05 AM
1 comment:
- davidfisher0851332319 said...
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text:
Title: Anchored
Author: Rachel Haimowitz
My Rating: A+
Genre: Alternate Universe (m/m)
Series: Belonging #1
Main Characters: Daniel and Carl
Release Date: September 2014
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Links to Purchase:
Sexual Intensity: erotic with non-con and violence
Daniel's not stupid; he knows there's only one reason someone would pay so much for what little free time he has. But dark memories of past sexual service leave him certain he won't survive it again with his sanity intact.
He finds himself in the home of Carl Whitman, a talk show host whose words fail him when it comes to ordering Daniel into his bed. Carl can't seem to take what he must want, and Daniel's not willing to give it freely. His recalcitrance costs him dearly, but with patience and some hard-won understanding, affection just might flourish over fear and pain. Carl holds the power to be an anchor in Daniel's turbulent life, but if he isn't careful, he'll end up the weight that sinks his slave for good.
My Review:
This book is responsible for the worst book hangover I've had in a very long time. This book is dark and horrific and Daniel is so haunting. I spent much of the book shaking with emotion over what he was having to go through. Wow...so emotional.
This book is set in an alternate universe where slavery was never outlawed. Daniel is one of those slaves. For the first 11 years of his life, he had a cruel master and was raped repeatedly. That's left him deeply scarred, but for the last 25 years, he hasn't had it so bad. He was bought by a media company and now anchors the nightly news. He's still a slave...lives in a dorm, is beaten when something goes slightly wrong on set, is not allowed any sexual freedom...but overall it's better than what most slaves have. That all changes when the media group runs into money troubles and decides to "lease" away his free time...all his evening hours and weekends went up for auction and were bought by a mystery buyer for $6 million. Daniel is terrified. He knows his new master will probably want sex, but all Daniel knows about it is that it's incredibly painful and frightening. His only true experience were his childhood rapes.
It turns out that his new owner is Carl, a talk show host on a rival network. Carl is naive when it comes to slaves. He has a couple, but treats them as family. He doesn't understand how petrified Daniel is especially when Carl has made it obvious that he's interested in him sexually. Carl is not a bad guy...he just doesn't know and watching Daniel and him flounder was so excruciating especially when Daniel is the one horrifically punished for their awkwardness. The media network is NOT going to allow his lease to fail. They need the money too badly and they are not above doing ANYTHING to make sure he cooperates with ANYTHING that Carl wants him to do.
I'll admit that this is a hard book to read just in that the scenes and subject matter are so dark. In this world, slaves are thought to be lesser than...they don't feel things as deeply as others. They aren't at the same level of humanity, but the book shows how Daniel's harsh treatment changes the minds of those around him...most specifically, Carl and then Daniel's handler, Ted. The book is a huge political statement about the treatment of other human beings and how we all feel the same pain, humiliation, and degradation despite our backgrounds. It doesn't matter who you are...humanity is humanity and everyone deserves a certain level of respect for that.
The book was amazing and the story was riveting. I'll be haunted by it for a long, long time to come.
Warning...there is violence including a horrific non-con scene in this. Don't read this one if you have any triggers with those kind of situations. I usually can handle reading violence, but this book left it's mark on even me.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in return for an honest review.


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For me last week was long, hard and filled with problems that I had to overcome. So it is natural to think on what Gandhi said :
"It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err."


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With the winter months typically slow for Destin's charter boat captains, some of them use this time of year to prepare for future fishing seasons.
With the winter months typically slow for Destin's charter boat captains, some of them use this time of year to prepare for future fishing seasons.
They deploy artificial reefs in the Gulf of Mexico in the hopes that they'll develop into a location that will attract fish.
"It's just good business," said Kelly Windes, captain of the charter boat Sunrise. On Tuesday, he took a boat-load full of reefs into the Gulf.
Windes, a long-time charter boat captain, has been deploying his own artificial reefs for several years. In November 2004, he and several other captains teamed up to purchase a barge for the sole purpose of transporting artificial reefs into the Gulf.
Tuesday's trip aboard the Michael Scott was to deploy concrete truck drums some 35-40 miles into the Gulf, Windes said. He figured the slow moving boat would need about four hours to reach the deployment site.
In about a year, Windes said, the reefs would be producing reefs.
When an artificial reef is deployed, its exact coordinates must be reported to Okaloosa County, but those sites are not posted.
For the locations of other reefs, such as those deployed by municipalities, anglers can go online to http://www.co.okaloosa.fl.us/ reefs.html.
Deploying artificial reefs has changed quite a bit in the past several years, said Harold Loeffler, captain of the charter boat Un Reel. In the past, captains dumped old automobiles into the Gulf, he said. Now, with environmentally stringent regulations, reefs must be made of concrete or steel.
The permitting process is now much more involved, Loeffler said.
After Okaloosa County officials inspect the reef 's materials, the person deploying the reef must wait five business days to allow the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to inspect the reef if they choose.
Loeffler received county approval to deploy 20 chicken coops and two 3,500-pound concrete hoppers last week and today is the final day he has to wait to see if the other agencies want to inspect before he deploys. He said the other agencies have never asked to inspect his reefs.
In the past, Loeffler has had to take many trips to deploy his reefs using his boat. Last year, he partnered with the Construction Service Company of Florida in Niceville, which owns the charter boat Mother Lode, to purchase a barge to deploy reefs.
Loeffler estimates it will cost him about $3,000 to deploy his reefs by the time he's finished. That includes purchasing the materials, storing them until he can deploy them, securing the permits, using a crane to place the reefs on the barge, and the cost of fuel to reach the drop site.
Yet the cost and time pays off, Loeffler said.
"I like to have my own private spots," he said. "It helps our customers and it gives us more places to fish."
The Destin captains are not the only ones who are deploying reefs to give anglers more options.
The city of Destin partnered with Valparaiso, Niceville and Okaloosa County in the late 1990s to create an artificial reef program to deploy public reefs. The Destin City Council will vote to approve a bid by Walter Marine to deploy 30 modules for Destin's part in a larger reef project. The city hopes to have their reefs deployed by March, said Lindey Chabot, grants and projects manager for the city.
Source: Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Contact Info:


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❝ Who do you belong to princess? ❞ ❝You, daddy....
oh....i forgot to tell you ....i was pregnant (harry styles fan fiction)
- by smolsized
- Rating:
- Published: 3 Dec 2014
- Updated: 11 Feb 2015
- Status: In Progress
Alexei was a very good girl with very bad habits.she makes a mistake when she sleeps with her boyfriend one drunken night only to be left alone the next day .he only called to conformer that they were no more.little did they both know that when you have unprotected sex it only takes 12 hours to conceive a baby and well thats what happened .read to find out the rest
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Well we have been here almost a week now. The weather has been a mixture of sun and showers but they are very heavy! It is difficult to judge when the next one might be so walks have been short or in some cases dodging from one building to the next. I have had another good swim and this time a jacuzzi. We have decided to stay until Monday when the weather forecast promises a more settled day or two. It could be a worse place to stop and is unlikely there are many hardstanding places to go that you wouldn't run the risk of getting stuck in the mud. Tavira apparently had a tornado the other day so maybe it is a good thing the Mayor has banned motorhomes! We decline an invitation to join in the quiz night at the the 'English' Bar but judging by the revellers when they finally returned early hours, we missed a good night.
Saturday we shopped still keeping in budget - just! The campsite, laundry and swimming twice has hammered the cash a bit but we manage to buy veg for Saturday's meal (already in the freezer) and a meal for Sunday and still have about 6 euro in the kitty. So this is not bad and as an extra start this coming week we were not hungry enough to cook last night (Sat) and Margot has kindly invited us for dinner Sunday night! Two meals in the bag before starting next week.
We also managed between showers to have a good look round Silves. Wandering up to the fortress and church and through the winding and steep streets.
One of the many storks posed on its chimney pot nest and it was an enjoyable afternoon.
Missing entirely any showers. Also missing the opportunity to get a birthday present of a cork handbag. Sounds a little strange but the cork shop sells the most amazing cork items; baseball caps, wallets, ties, to name but a few. You will not be surprised to learn that we missed the Saturday opening hours by about an hour and with no Sunday opening my dilemma of whether a cork handbag is sensible, needed, tasteful, (well you know how some things seem like a good idea when you are on holiday but when home you think, whatever next!) simply disappeared. Oh well I guess it was not meant to be.
On return to the van I finally had a real go at the Psychology downloads I had prepared for this trip. Not entirely surprised, I was to fail miserably at the math aspect getting only about 66%. On marking I realised that in part it was rushing and not paying enough attention to detail. So already a good lesson or reminder at least of studying.
Last night the rain returned and seemed bent on driving its way through the roof! I spent the night sleep walking between opening and shutting the roof lights.
Sad as we were about Robert we are alarmed to notice that there is a man and his dog living in the car park now. He is apparently living in a fiesta size car and simply sits all day and night. I am becoming troubled by this although he does now seem to have made friends with some of the motorhomers and maybe they will be able to assist in his plight as they are clearly speaking a common language!
After a lazy start (well it is Sunday) we do a little housework. Still love that you can do it all, hardly moving more than three paces. The sun has just started to shine again so a walk is on the cards and I am pretty sure that we will move on tomorrow.
We enjoy a great evening with Margot and her Spag Bol - including tablecloth, napkins, sideplates and the works. Thanks Margot - I wonder if you ever ate the leftovers? Lovely as it is in Silves, a week is long enough in a car park however so this will be our final night here!
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Dealing With Puncturevine In Nuts
Some may think I am a little crazy to harvest a puncturevine (PV) plant and count all of the seeds that it produces; however, that is what I did last year to make a point about puncturevine weevils.
Growers may recall back in the 1960s and 1970s when puncture-vine weevils (Microlarinus lareynii) were available for release in fields where PVs were a problematic weed. These parasites were native to India and Europe, and were introduced into the U.S. in 1961. They did a very good job of becoming established and parasitizing PV seeds. The question keeps arising, though: "Why aren't PV weevils available to release or purchase?"
Actually, there still are commercial companies that offer PV weevils for sale; however, close examination of existing PV plants in the late summer will reveal that the weevil populations are doing quite well. There is another PV weevil (Microlarinus lypriformis) that feeds on the bottom side of the PV stems, but it is the seed-feeding weevil that does the most to suppress the PV populations. The key word is suppress. This weevil on its own cannot eradicate PVs.
Female PV seed weevils chew through the side of green PV seed capsules and deposit eggs. The larvae develop inside of the seed and pupate. The adult emerges in about three weeks in central California. There are multiple generations per year based on local temperatures. So why don't these weevils eliminate PVs? The answer is all in the numbers, and this gets back to me counting seeds.
I have read in the literature that a typical PV plant can have up to 5,000 seeds. The particular plant I counted had a 4-foot diameter and had 28,896 seeds. Of that, 45% (13,003) were parasitized by PV seed weevils. That means that of the original 28,896 seeds, 15,893 were still viable. If each seed produced a plant that yielded the same number of seeds as the mother plant, that would mean this plant could yield more than 459 million seeds. We all know that 100% of the seeds won't grow into the same 4-foot diameter plant. However, even if only a few do, it illustrates how rapidly PV can proliferate, even when 13,000 seeds on the original mother plant were parasitized by the weevil.
The reality is that PV seed weevils are widely present and doing a good job of feeding on PV seeds. Examination of mature plants in late-summer will reveal their activity. It's just that, as with most parasites, they only suppress the target to levels that require additional management. Cultivation or herbicides are necessary to complement the PV weevils in their effort to control PV.


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UPI: Tehran plans nuclear weapon test by March!
Debka: Tehran plans a nuclear weapons test before March 20, moves Shahab-3 missiles within striking range of Israel
The Neocon believes that the public is completely unprepared for the virtual certainty that military action with profound implications will be necessary in the near future (2006 at the latest) to prevent Iran from obtaining the nuclear bomb. It is hard to imagine that we in the West will sit back and watch the radical Islamic Republic of Iran obtain an arsenal of nuclear weapons which will put it in a position to dominate the immediate oil-rich region and blackmail the entire world. Not to mention the ability to clandestinely hand over nuclear weapons to shadowy, loosely-affiliated proxy terror groups who can then dictate political realities through declared or undeclared threats against entire Western population-centers such as New York, Washington or London. Nuclear weapons in the hands of Iran, and its notoriously unstable leader will represent a nightmare greater than the threat Soviet Communism represented in the Cold War era. Radical Islam, with its passion for suicidal martyrdom will be far less containable though the doctrine of MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction), and will present the kind of ongoing dangerous challenge the likes of which this world has never experienced. The Neocon believes that it is highly unlikely that Western leaders will have any other choice but to eventually execute a massive air bombing campaign against multiple Iranian nuclear targets, possibly employing nuclear bunker-buster bombs in order to penetrate deep underground facilities. In any event the only way to slow Iran in its relentless march toward the Bomb is to, at the very least, impose immediate sanctions and employ the threat of military action with the readiness to execute on these threats at the appropriate moment. The consequences of military action against Iran are unknown, but possibly very serious. Iran will likely halt oil exports, causing skyrocketing energy prices and global economic stress for a period of time. There may be an attempt to shut town the Straits of Hormuz which is the world's most vital waterway for oil transport. Such a move could be effectively countered by the US Navy. Reprisal actions are also likely in the form of international terrorism. Certainly, rocket attacks against Israel from Hezbollah of Lebanon and possibly even from Iran itself are almost a given. But all of these potential consequences and other unforeseen fallouts surly will be dwarfed the negative consequences of Iran acquiring a nuclear arsenal which will radically alter world affairs, for the worse, for generations to come. Barring a sudden and complete Iranian move to halt its march towards nuclear armament, an unlikely scenario, military action on this front seems inevitable to the Neocon.
Joe Gelman
Iran presents a pressing new challenge for the U.S.
Saturday, January 21, 2006
3 comments:
This is message being sent to thousands of sites by a robot.ReplyDelete
Have you asked the liberated women and children in IRAQ and Afghanistan
some of whom have been blown straight to the next kingdom how they view there situation i suppose its ok its only collateral damage.
How would you like sanctions on USA that kills millions of children then someone comes to liberate you from your despotic regime kills 100's thousands of people and says we dont do nation building or body counts.
The way of Christ does not need Nuclear Weapons to destroy its enemies. Reason and logic are the ultimate weapons and no amount of WMD's possessed by Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Israel and the USA can touch it. If you think that having nuclear weapons will save you then you must belong to the camp of the anti-christ, just search your soul for the answer.
PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING PASSAGES FROM THE BIBLE AS IT HAS IMPLICATIONS ON THE WAR AGAINST TERROR/ISLAM and the claim of Israel that god gave them the land. If the child is an infant than the Judeo-Christian version becomes null and void and we are wasting our time and resources i.e. we could save trillions of dollars and create a more peaceful world rather than fighting against Islam the religion of Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad (peace be upon them all).
The COVENANT with Abraham and his DESCENDANTS is central to islam/chritianity/judaism.
Please note this is not a competition between faiths but an attempt to decipher fact from fiction.
And Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.
Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
At Genesis 22 Abraham had only 2 sons others came later. The Quran mentions that it was Ishmael that was sacrificed hence the reference in genesis 22:2 your only son can only mean someone has substituted Ishmael names for Isaac!!
NOT ROMAN NUMERALS (I, II, III,IV,V,VI,VII,VIII,IX,X) NB no concept of zero in roman numerals.
100 years old – 86 years old = 14 ADD 3 YEARS FOR ISSAC'S WEANING
Carefully read several times the above passage and then tell me the mental picture you get between the mother child interactions what is the age of the child. If the mental picture is that of a 17 year old child being carried on the shoulder of his mother, being physically placed in the bush, crying like a baby, mother having to give him water to drink, than the Islamic viewpoint is null and void.
I have shown the passage of Genesis 21 to my two elder children of good reading ages now and without influencing them asked them what mental picture they got about the age of Ishmael in that passage and they thought he was about 5 years old. I have also tried the same thing with my work colleagues some of whom are qualified with PhD's and have the ENGLISH language as their mother tongue and they also said they thought Ishmael was 5 years or younger because some of them stated by themselves that there was no verbal interaction between mother and child. i.e. If Ishmael is not of talking age then he must be less than a year old.
So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beer-Sheba. When the water in the skin was gone, she cast the child under one of the bushes. Then she went, and sat down over against him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot; for she said, "Let me not look upon the death of the child." And as she sat over against him, the child lifted up his voice and wept. And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, and said to her, "What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not; for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is. Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him fast with your hand; for I will make him a great nation." Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the skin with water, and gave the lad a drink. And God was with the lad, and he grew up; he lived in the wilderness, and became an expert with the bow. He lived in the wilderness of Paran; and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
For background info on the future religion of mankind see the following websites:
http://www.al-sunnah.com/muhammad_in_the_bible.htm (MUHAMMAD IN THE BIBLE)
http://www.witness-pioneer.org/vil/Books/MB_BQS/default.htm (Quran and Science)
HOLY QURAN CHAPTER 37 verses 101 - 122
101. So We gave him the good news of a boy ready to suffer and forbear.
102. Then, when (the son) reached (the age of) (serious) work with him, he said: "O my son! I see in vision that I offer thee in sacrifice: Now see what is thy view!" (The son) said: "O my father! Do as thou art commanded: thou will find me, if Allah so wills one practising Patience and Constancy!"
103. So when they had both submitted their wills (to Allah., and he had laid him prostrate on his forehead (for sacrifice),
104. We called out to him "O Abraham!
105. "Thou hast already fulfilled the vision!" - thus indeed do We reward those who do right.
106. For this was obviously a trial-
107. And We ransomed him with a momentous sacrifice:
108. And We left (this blessing) for him among generations (to come) in later times:
109. "Peace and salutation to Abraham!"
110. Thus indeed do We reward those who do right.
111. For he was one of our believing Servants.
112. And We gave him the good news of Isaac - a prophet,- one of the Righteous.
113. We blessed him and Isaac: but of their progeny are (some) that do right, and (some) that obviously do wrong, to their own souls.
114. Again (of old) We bestowed Our favour on Moses and Aaron,
115. And We delivered them and their people from (their) Great Calamity;
116. And We helped them, so they overcame (their troubles);
117. And We gave them the Book which helps to make things clear;
118. And We guided them to the Straight Way.
119. And We left (this blessing) for them among generations (to come) in later times:
120. "Peace and salutation to Moses and Aaron!"
121. Thus indeed do We reward those who do right.
122. For they were two of our believing Servants.
Therefore the claim that god gave the land to Israel is destroyed without the need of any WMD's.
Amazing so Hagar in Genesis 21:14 – 21 was carrying a 17 year old retard on her one shoulder for maybe 10 – 100 miles (Mrs. Swarzniggar) who later grew up to become an archer, married into an Arab tribe and learned Arabic and went onto have several children. One of the descendants of this retard with his genetic defects passed on his bad DNA to Muhammad the illiterate whose religion is now violently spreading by the sword and soon to overtake the whole planet.
How could this happen like you I am also confused.
The oil found in recent history belongs to the west, its unfortunate it is under lands inhabited by Muslims and not only Arabs. Having oil and economic success then to die and go to hell is not my idea of a great nation.
By the way SCREW BIN LADEN, AL-QAEDA, SADDAM HUSSAIN and who is this Zackarwee all trained by that humanitarian organization called the CIA.
A brief lesson on Islam.
It is the oldest faith on the planet it starts of with Adam and Eve, and continuous through revelations given to Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Moses, David, Solomon, Jesus (many others too numerous to mention) until its completion under the messenger ship of Muhammad (pbuta). Islam is not an exclusively an Arab faith as there is no scriptural evidence that Muhammad (pbuh) said that he is the founder of Islam. One cannot quote the Quran as it is not the work of Muhammad as he could not read or write in any language including Arabic. Just as Jesus has himself not ever said that he is the founder of Christianity or Moses has not stated that he is the founder of Judaism.
ISIAH 29 verse 12 "And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned".
Below are verses from the Quran, where GOD/SATAN himself says that the scriptures were changed by the scribes.
Quran Chapter 2 verse 75
75. Can ye (o ye men of Faith) entertain the hope that they will believe in you?- Seeing that a party of them heard the Word of Allah, and perverted it knowingly after they understood it.
Quran Chapter 2 verse 79
79. Then woe to those who write the Book with their own hands, and then say:"This is from Allah," to traffic with it for miserable price!- Woe to them for what their hands do write, and for the gain they make thereby.
Quran Chapter 4 verse 46
46. Of the Jews there are those who displace words from their (right) places, and say: "We hear and we disobey"; and "Hear what is not Heard"; and "Ra'ina"; with a twist of their tongues and a slander to Faith. If only they had said: "What hear and we obey"; and "Do hear"; and "Do look at us"; it would have been better for them, and more proper; but Allah hath cursed them for their Unbelief; and but few of them will believe.
I suppose SATAN said the following about the Israel.
Quran Chapter 2 verse 40 - 83
40. O Children of Israel! call to mind the (special) favour which I bestowed upon you, and fulfil your covenant with Me as I fulfil My Covenant with you, and fear none but Me.
41. And believe in what I reveal, confirming the revelation which is with you, and be not the first to reject Faith therein, nor sell My Signs for a small price; and fear Me, and Me alone.
42. And cover not Truth with falsehood, nor conceal the Truth when ye know (what it is).
43. And be steadfast in prayer; practise regular charity; and bow down your heads with those who bow down (in worship).
44. Do ye enjoin right conduct on the people, and forget (To practise it) yourselves, and yet ye study the Scripture? Will ye not understand?
45. Nay, seek ((Allah)'s) help with patient perseverance and prayer: It is indeed hard, except to those who bring a lowly spirit,-
46. Who bear in mind the certainty that they are to meet their Lord, and that they are to return to Him.
47. Children of Israel! call to mind the (special) favour which I bestowed upon you, and that I preferred you to all other (for My Message).
48. Then guard yourselves against a day when one soul shall not avail another nor shall intercession be accepted for her, nor shall compensation be taken from her, nor shall anyone be helped (from outside).
49. And remember, We delivered you from the people of Pharaoh: They set you hard tasks and punishments, slaughtered your sons and let your women-folk live; therein was a tremendous trial from your Lord.
50. And remember We divided the sea for you and saved you and drowned Pharaoh's people within your very sight.
51. And remember We appointed forty nights for Moses, and in his absence ye took the calf (for worship), and ye did grievous wrong.
52. Even then We did forgive you; there was a chance for you to be grateful.
53. And remember We gave Moses the Scripture and the Criterion (Between right and wrong): There was a chance for you to be guided aright.
54. And remember Moses said to his people: "O my people! Ye have indeed wronged yourselves by your worship of the calf: So turn (in repentance) to your Maker, and slay yourselves (the wrong-doers); that will be better for you in the sight of your Maker." Then He turned towards you (in forgiveness): For He is Oft- Returning, Most Merciful.
55. And remember ye said: "O Moses! We shall never believe in thee until we see Allah manifestly," but ye were dazed with thunder and lighting even as ye looked on.
56. Then We raised you up after your death: Ye had the chance to be grateful.
57. And We gave you the shade of clouds and sent down to you Manna and quails, saying: "Eat of the good things We have provided for you:" (But they rebelled); to us they did no harm, but they harmed their own souls.
58. And remember We said: "Enter this town, and eat of the plenty therein as ye wish; but enter the gate with humility, in posture and in words, and We shall forgive you your faults and increase (the portion of) those who do good."
59. But the transgressors changed the word from that which had been given them; so We sent on the transgressors a plague from heaven, for that they infringed (Our command) repeatedly.
60. And remember Moses prayed for water for his people; We said: "Strike the rock with thy staff." Then gushed forth therefrom twelve springs. Each group knew its own place for water. So eat and drink of the sustenance provided by Allah, and do no evil nor mischief on the (face of the) earth.
61. And remember ye said: "O Moses! we cannot endure one kind of food (always); so beseech thy Lord for us to produce for us of what the earth groweth, -its pot-herbs, and cucumbers, Its garlic, lentils, and onions." He said: "Will ye exchange the better for the worse? Go ye down to any town, and ye shall find what ye want!" They were covered with humiliation and misery; they drew on themselves the wrath of Allah. This because they went on rejecting the Signs of Allah and slaying His Messengers without just cause. This because they rebelled and went on transgressing.
62. Those who believe (in the Qur'an), and those who follow the Jewish (scriptures), and the Christians and the Sabians,- any who believe in Allah and the Last Day, and work righteousness, shall have their reward with their Lord; on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.
63. And remember We took your covenant and We raised above you (The towering height) of Mount (Sinai) : (Saying): "Hold firmly to what We have given you and bring (ever) to remembrance what is therein: Perchance ye may fear Allah."
64. But ye turned back thereafter: Had it not been for the Grace and Mercy of Allah to you, ye had surely been among the lost.
65. And well ye knew those amongst you who transgressed in the matter of the Sabbath: We said to them: "Be ye apes, despised and rejected."
66. So We made it an example to their own time and to their posterity, and a lesson to those who fear Allah.
67. And remember Moses said to his people: "(Allah) commands that ye sacrifice a heifer." They said: "Makest thou a laughing-stock of us?" He said: "(Allah) save me from being an ignorant (fool)!"
68. They said: "Beseech on our behalf Thy Lord to make plain to us what (heifer) it is!" He said; "He says: The heifer should be neither too old nor too young, but of middling age. Now do what ye are commanded!"
69. They said: "Beseech on our behalf Thy Lord to make plain to us Her colour." He said: "He says: A fawn-coloured heifer, pure and rich in tone, the admiration of beholders!"
70. They said: "Beseech on our behalf Thy Lord to make plain to us what she is: To us are all heifers alike: We wish indeed for guidance, if Allah wills."
71. He said: "He says: A heifer not trained to till the soil or water the fields; sound and without blemish." They said: "Now hast thou brought the truth." Then they offered her in sacrifice, but not with good-will.
72. Remember ye slew a man and fell into a dispute among yourselves as to the crime: But Allah was to bring forth what ye did hide.
73. So We said: "Strike the (body) with a piece of the (heifer)." Thus Allah bringeth the dead to life and showeth you His Signs: Perchance ye may understand.
74. Thenceforth were your hearts hardened: They became like a rock and even worse in hardness. For among rocks there are some from which rivers gush forth; others there are which when split asunder send forth water; and others which sink for fear of Allah. And Allah is not unmindful of what ye do.
75. Can ye (o ye men of Faith) entertain the hope that they will believe in you?- Seeing that a party of them heard the Word of Allah, and perverted it knowingly after they understood it.
76. Behold! when they meet the men of Faith, they say: "We believe": But when they meet each other in private, they say: "Shall you tell them what Allah hath revealed to you, that they may engage you in argument about it before your Lord?"- Do ye not understand (their aim)?
77. Know they not that Allah knoweth what they conceal and what they reveal?
78. And there are among them illiterates, who know not the Book, but (see therein their own) desires, and they do nothing but conjecture.
79. Then woe to those who write the Book with their own hands, and then say:"This is from Allah," to traffic with it for miserable price!- Woe to them for what their hands do write, and for the gain they make thereby.
80. And they say: "The Fire shall not touch us but for a few numbered days:" Say: "Have ye taken a promise from Allah, for He never breaks His promise? or is it that ye say of Allah what ye do not know?"
81. Nay, those who seek gain in evil, and are girt round by their sins,- they are companions of the Fire: Therein shall they abide (For ever).
82. But those who have faith and work righteousness, they are companions of the Garden: Therein shall they abide (For ever).
83. And remember We took a covenant from the Children of Israel (to this effect): Worship none but Allah. treat with kindness your parents and kindred, and orphans and those in need; speak fair to the people; be steadfast in prayer; and practise regular charity. Then did ye turn back, except a few among you, and ye backslide (even now).
I publish the above rambling comment so folks can judge for themselve. Wow, scary stuff.ReplyDelete
Visualize mushroom clouds over Tehran.ReplyDelete
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This proves to be surprisingly difficult to do and perhaps the chief battle is that to get the balance between the right between careful planning of your time and making time for the unexpected. The danger is that without careful planning of your time you end up not doing some of those things which you view as important. Meeting with people, playing sport, enjoying corporate times of studying the Bible and worshipping God together requires planning. Basically everything which involves other people is going to involve some organisation and the use of some calendars.
However, the danger with this is you so carefully plan everything and you manage your time so closely that you don't actually leave time for people. You actually find it impossible to make time for a friend who's going through a difficult time. You can't make the time to get the rest, or the time alone, or the relaxed time with close friends you need or the extra investment your children or family or friends find themselves in need of. You see the problem with life is how do you plan for the unexpected?
I have no real answers for this. I guess I will constantly be battling this and be getting it wrong however, I write this to force myself and maybe to encourage a few other people to at least think about these issues.
God has given you a certain number of hours. No more and no less and often these are wasted and not enjoyed to their full simply because we haven't thought about how we are going to use the life God has given us. Perhaps thinking about these issues is a helpful starting point when it comes to thinking about these things. However, all too often we fail to make it even to the starting point.