text:
At UW-Green Bay, students experience hands-on learning from award-winning
faculty on a naturally beautiful campus. Learn more about academics,
campus life, affordability, and how to apply.
Federal regulations require that institutions monitor students taking repeat coursework and determine financial aid eligibility based on that review.
Information found on the Registrar's website will address institutional policy regarding repeats. The regulation does not affect institutional policy, but it does restrict when a student can receive aid for the repeated course.
The regulation states only one repeat of a course can be funded by financial aid if the student has previously passed the course. This applies regardless of whether or not you received aid for any of your previous attempts.
I took a class once and failed (or withdrew from it), can I get aid to attempt it again?
Yes you can receive aid. Failing a course or withdrawing from a course is not affected by this regulatory change. However, you may be affected by the Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) policy.
My first attempt I received a "D" in my course. I need a "C" for my major so I am taking it a 2nd time. Will it count for financial aid purposes?
Yes, it will count since it is just your second attempt of a previously passed course.
I took a class once and received a "D" so I took it again. The second time I took it I received an "F". I need this course to graduate (or I need it to get into my major, etc). Can I get aid for the 3rd attempt?
You cannot receive aid for that 3rd attempt because you had already passed it once and you are allowed funding for one repeat. Although you failed in the 2nd attempt, that was the "one repeat" that was allowed.
I never received financial aid before so when I received the "D", and the "F", I had paid for those. Now I have applied for aid. Why does that affect me now?
The regulation makes no distinction between whether aid was or was not received. Therefore, the basic rule applies – You have previously passed a course and have repeated it once after that. You cannot be funded for any future attempts.
If I have to take the course but I am not eligible for aid, how big of an impact will that be for me?
The impact will vary from student to student and it is suggested that you speak with a Financial Aid Advisor.


text:
Big Yellow
Sponsors Off-Site Storage Facilities for
The Vitiligo Society
© All Content Copyright The Vitiligo Society
except where stated
The Vitiligo Society is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England and Wales No. 3542195 and a Registered Charity No. 1069607
Registered Address: 24 Greencoat Place, London SW1P 1RD
Cookies | Site Map
Some of these cookies are essential to make our site work and others help us to improve by giving us some insight into how the site is being used. Click here for more information

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Still time to plan to celebrate Preservation Week
For Immediate Release
Tue, 04/08/2014
Christine McConnell
ALCTS Publishing
Association for Library Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS)
312 280 5037
CHICAGO — Preservation Week, a presentation of the Association for Library Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS), will be held April 27–May 3, 2014. Two free webinars will offered during that week: on April 29 affordable ways to preserve family keepsakes will be highlighted and on May 1, the session will cover the best ways to preserve scrapbooks. The webinars will each begin at 1 p.m. CDT and will last about one hour. Registration is required. Learn more at ALCTS Events.
Low-Cost Ways to Preserve Family Archives (Tuesday, April 29). Presented by Karen E. K. Brown, preservation librarian for the University at Albany, SUNY University Libraries. What can we do to protect our collectables from damage even if we don't think we have a perfect place to keep them? Learn about possible risks from handling and the environment, and practical, inexpensive ideas to keep collections safe to help ensure what you have can be shared for many years to come. ALCTS thanks Archival Products for sponsoring this webinar an supporting Preservation Week.
Preserving Scrapbooks (Thursday, May 1). Presented by Melissa Tedone, conservator at Iowa State University Library. Scrapbooks can be challenging to preserve since they often contain a diversity of materials. Learn about common problems with long-term preservation of scrapbooks and identify the most stable materials and bindings for new scrapbooks. ALCTS thanks Gaylord for sponsoring this webinar and supporting Preservation Week.
There's still time to learn how to create a Preservation Week event at your library. The recording of the Feb. 12, 2014 webinar, "How to Host a Preservation Week Event" is available at no charge any time. Simple ways to celebrate include:
invite your patrons to watch one of the two live webinar sessions or the webinar recording (which will be made available immediately after)
download and print bookmarks and flyers from our online Event Toolkit.
Be sure to share the details about your event by posting to our Event Map and Speaker Locator.
Or pose your most commonly asked preservation question to a preservation professional in our Dear Donia preservation advice column. Every question becomes an entry in our raffle for a free Document Preservation Kit from Hollinger Metal Edge.
ALCTS is a division of the American Library Association.


text:
In 2012, China opened its first capsule hotel in Xi'an.
Less is more? Henan's first capsule hotel attracts thousands
A #capsulehotel - an idea initiated in Japan featuring a large number of extremely small "rooms" - providing cheap, and basic overnight accommodation for guests has now taken off in #China.
In fact, thousands of youngsters have been seeking accommodation at the first such hotel in north China's Kaifeng city, Henan Province, after it opened recently.
At a price of 50 yuan (approx. $8.2), customers will be guaranteed a comfortable night with basic facilities available in the room, including TV sets, lighting, air conditioners, ventilation devices and even Wi-Fi.
https://www.facebook.com/cctvnewschina/ ... 8223238999
See also:
http://www.booking.com/capsule-hotel/co ... fgodhyQATw
http://www.agoda.com/xian-capsule-hotel ... A7w&cklg=1
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/artic ... obots.html
The Chinese hotel run by robots: From doormen to waiters, all your needs are met by cyborg staff
The Pengheng Space Capsules Hotel in Shenzhen, China has robot staff
Waiters, reception desk staff and doormen all machines
Skeleton staff of humans oversee operations at £6.80 per night inn


text:
Did you know? NLCS Game 7: Giants 9, Cards 0
By Mike Fiammetta and Jake Kaplan / MLB.com
martes 23 de octubre de 2012 01:28 AM ET
The Giants are just the second team in Major League history to win six consecutive elimination games in the same postseason. The 1985 Royals were the first.
San Francisco is just the seventh team -- and only the third in the National League -- to win an LCS after trailing 3-1 since the best-of-seven format began in 1985.
The defending World Series champion Cardinals snapped their six-game winning streak in winner-take-all games, a streak that dated to their 2006 NLCS Game 7 win over the Mets.
Monday's win was the Giants' first victory in a winner-take-all Game 7 in franchise history. They had been winless in five Game 7s, the most losses without a win in Major League history.
This will be the Giants' 19th World Series appearance and fifth -- including twice in the last three years -- since they moved to San Francisco in 1958. The Giants and Tigers will be meeting in the World Series for the first time. They haven't played each other since the 2011 regular season, when the Giants took two out of three games in a series at Comerica Park.
The nine runs the Giants scored in Game 7 are the most the club has scored in a winner-take-all game in franchise postseason history. Their previous high came in Game 5 of the NLDS against the Reds, when the Giants scored six runs.
Each of the Giants' four wins in this NLCS included an inning in which they scored at least four runs. The 1945 Tigers were the only other team to accomplish that in a postseason series when they did so in the 1945 World Series vs. the Cubs.
Monday's margin of victory tied the largest postseason shutout in franchise history for the Giants. They also won 9-0 in Game 3 of the 1905 World Series against the Philadelphia Athletics and in Game 2 of the 2010 World Series against the Rangers.
It was tied for the fourth-largest Game 7 shutout in Major League history. The Braves' 15-0 win over the Cardinals in the 1996 NLCS holds the record.
Marco Scutaro, who hit .500 (14-for-28) with three doubles and four RBIs in the NLCS, is the Giants' fifth NLCS MVP, joining Jeffrey Leonard (1987), Will Clark (1989), Benito Santiago (2002) and Cody Ross (2010).
Scutaro's 14 hits matched the LCS record set by Hideki Matsui (2004 ALCS), Kevin Youkilis (2007 ALCS) and Albert Pujols (2004 NLCS). Scutaro's 11 singles set an LCS record.
Scutaro is the seventh player in Major League history, and first since Youkilis in the 2007 ALCS, to hit .500 or better in a seven-game postseason series.
Scutaro's six multi-hit games in the NLCS set a new LCS record. His 10-game hitting streak in a single postseason is the second in Giants history after Ross in 2010.
San Francisco has won each of its five postseason series since Bruce Bochy became manager.
Matt Cain is the fourth pitcher to win the All-Star Game and a Game 7 in the same season. Roger Clemens, Sandy Koufax and Paul Derringer also accomplished the feat.
The Cardinals' 11 all-time Game 7 wins are still the most of any Major League team.
Pablo Sandoval's streak of five consecutive postseason games with an RBI tied the Giants' record set by Barry Bonds in 2002.
Cain's second-inning RBI single marked the third straight game in which the Giants' starting pitcher had an RBI. Cain is the first pitcher to have an RBI in a postseason Game 7 since the Cardinals' Jeff Suppan in the 2004 NLCS against the Astros. Cain, Barry Zito and Ryan Vogelsong are the first trio of pitching teammates to contribute an RBI in three straight postseason elimination games in MLB history, according to Elias Sports Bureau.
Overall, Monday's game was the fifth this postseason in which a pitcher had an RBI, marking just the second time (1958) that has happened.
Cain is the second pitcher in Major League history to win multiple winner-take-all postseason games in a single postseason. In addition to Game 7, Cain also won Game 5 of the NLDS against the Reds. The Cardinals' Chris Carpenter first accomplished that in 2011.
St. Louis' Yadier Molina finished the NLCS with 11 hits, giving him 67 career postseason hits. That is second in Cardinals history, trailing only Pujols (88).
In the Giants' five-run third inning, they sent 11 batters to the plate.
The Cardinals ended the NLCS with one hit in their last 21 at-bats with runners in scoring position.
St. Louis used seven pitchers in Game 7, tying an NLCS record. It's been done 10 other times, including by the Cardinals in Game 1 of this series.
Carlos Beltran's first-inning stolen base made him 11-for-11 in his postseason career, the most of any player to have never been caught.


text:
The Ducal Transparent is an excellent quality push button plastic ballpen designed and manufactured in Italy by Stilolinea. It has a transparent body, in a choice of coloured and Black Ink Refills.
Hugely popular plastic push button ballpen made by Stilolinea in Italy. Great printing area, available in a wide range of colours in an attractive ice finish. Blue ink refills.
Paper barrel pen set which includes a push type ball pen and mechanical pencil presented in a recycled paper pouch. Blue ink.
Twelve small, plastic felt tip pens in a polyester (70D) zipped pouch with belt clip attachment.
White presentation case containing a blue, black, red ballpen, yellow highlighter and a mechanical pencil.
Plastic case containing a pencil, text marker and three ballpens with caps that indicate the ink colour.
Four piece pen set complete in case. Black, blue and red ink pen plus highlighter.
Bamboo barrel pen set which includes a stylus push button pen and a mechanical pencil presented in a paper box. Blue ink.
Belfast Pen Set. Ballpoint pen and mechanical pencil in plastic gift case. Polypropylene.
Jupiter Pen Set. Ballpoint pen and mechanical pencil with click action mechanism in a matching paper gift box. PVC.
The cookie settings on this website are set to 'All Cookies' so that you have the best online experience possible from our site. Without changing this setting you consent to this. If you wish to opt out click on the 'change cookie settings' link.


text:
Small D-ring Leather Wallet
All orders will be fulfilled by Burberry Limited and shipped from the UK. When you place your order, you accept Burberry's Terms and Conditions and confirm that you have read our Privacy Policy.
Size Guide
Use the Size Guide to choose the best fit for your measurements.
In this window, you can find out the shipping and returns options for the selected item.
In this window, you can contact customer service for further assistance.
- A folding wallet with card slots in contrasting leathers detailed with a polished D-ring detail.
- 11.5 x 2.5 x 8.5cm/4.5 x 1 x 3.3in
- Outer: 100% goat leather
- Inner: 100% leather
- Foldover top with press-stud closure
- 9 card slots
- Hand-painted edges
- Engraved Burberry lettering on the D-ring
- Made in Italy
Item 80053521


text:
In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, there are cars all over the place that were severely wounded by the storm and are now being towed to mechanics and homes around the tri-state area.
The problem is that some tow truck operators aren't really doing it with much care. Take this poor Bentley. Please. Take it away from this guy.
The driver is dragging the Continental GTC by the rear-wheels and is letting the fronts just go whatever way they will. The big problem is that the Conti is all-wheel drive, and towing is usually a big no-no for cars like that.
Now, the owner of this car is probably pretty upset that it was damaged in the flood and would be even more upset if he saw this video. Or he may be the person that drove a Bentley GTC right into the floods during the storm.
If that's the case, we doubt he cares.
(Hat Tip to Erzhik!)


text:
There's now a way to support the ministry of Shine.FM all year round. America's Christian Credit Union and Shine.FM have teamed up to create the Shine.FM Platinum Visa Card.
A portion of every purchase goes back to support Shine.FM and the ministries they are providing to the community.
A listener writes:
"I have never suffered so much devastation in such a short time. I was close to losing my mind. There was a song on the radio. I don't even know how it got on Shine.FM, but I heard, "why is life so messy", and "even when it hurts, even when it's hard, even when it all just falls apart." Those were the words that I needed to hear. I have been listening ever since and for the first time I donated to Christian radio. I actually feel like things will be okay. I don't know how, but they will. Bless you all."
That's the impact you can make by applying now.


text:
Orthopedic Memory Foam Dog Bed w/ Stain Repellant LiveSmart Technology
In stock
Do you have questions about this product?
Our experts are here to helpCall Us
Product Overview
- Soft and warm pet bed
- Removable, machine washable cover
- Stain-repelling LiveSmart Technology
- Fully assembled
- Three-sided zip closure
- Small: 22" x 26" x 5"
- Medium: 26" x 36" x 5"
- Large: 36" x 45" x 5"
Allow Your dog to feel calm and relaxed on our Thick Soft/Firm Reversible Comfort Natural Latex Orthopedic Dog Bed. These comfy dog beds are made for pets of all shapes and sizes. They are designed with calm neutral colors to match any decor. They feature two layers of memory foam: a top layer of gel memory foam and a bottom layer of supportive base foam. Featuring size options of small, medium and large. Usable both indoors and outdoors, the Orthopedic Memory Foam Dog Bed with LiveSmart Fabric Technology will quickly become your dog's favorite hangout.
eLuxury offers Free Shipping to all of the contiguous United States and military post office boxes on orders $50 or more, but may charge additional shipping fees for Alaska, Hawaii and other U.S. territories. Any orders under $50 are charged a flat $5 shipping fee.This includes American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands. International orders may also be subject to shipping costs. Handling times at our warehouse is usually 1 - 2 business days. Transit times for domestic orders range from 1 to 5 business days for domestic orders and 5-10 days for International Orders. Unless specifically stated on product pages, all items sold are being shipped from the United States and MAY be subject to import taxes in the destination country. eLuxury will not be responsible for paying any import taxes or tariffs that you may be asked to pay when receiving the item.
Gift Shipping: If you would like part of your order shipped to an alternate address, please provide the alternate address in the order notes along with which items you would like shipped separately.
eLuxury.com Return Policy
You have our word that we will do everything that we can to make sure returning your product is not necessary. However, should the need arise for any reason, please call us at 1-800-977-7433 or email us at email@example.com to obtain authorization for a full refund or exchange. Please request this refund or exchange within 30 days of receiving your order.
For all returns within the 30 day return period, with the exception of mattresses* and personalized products**, eLuxury will provide a prepaid return label, but the customer is responsible for fitting the item back into the box provided or finding a suitable box to send the item back in. eLuxury will not be responsible for providing a second box for returns. We will take appropriate action via refund or replacement immediately upon receipt.
*We offer a 120 Day return policy for mattresses and a free pick up. Item will not be required to fit back into the box.
**Personalized items, such as the Monogrammed Robes and Personalized Dog Beds, will only be eligible for returns in cases of product defects or quality issues.
International Returns
Our international policy varies slightly due to the high cost of global shipping. Thus, for all international orders, we can only honor free returns for full refund/exchange requests that result from an error on our part. However, we remain committed to ensuring all customers are ultimately satisfied. Please note that not all international locations permit prepaid labels. In this case, eLuxury will refund any shipping costs that the customer is forced to pay to return products in the case of a mistake or misship made by our company. In cases of accidental orders made by the customer or customer errors during the initial ordering process resulting in an incorrect order, eLuxury will not be responsible for the cost of return shipment. But, we will process the return for a refund or exchange when received if it is within the 30 Day window as listed above. (Shipping times not included in this 30 day period)


text:
The new Microsoft Office for Mac ribbon helps you find the features and commands you want to complete tasks quickly.
You'll find the commands you already know how to use in an intuitive, easy-to-use interface, right at the top of the application window. Your home base is the Home tab, which holds the most frequently used tools, such as font and paragraph formatting. The tools for other presentation design elements, such themes, transitions, and animations, can be found on their own tabs.
In addition, specialized tools appear on the ribbon when you need them. For example, when you click a picture in your presentation, the Format Picture tab appears. Clicking the tab reveals robust photo editing tools. When you click a text area of your presentation, the Format Picture tab closes, and the tools on the Home tab appear again.
Want to adapt the ribbon to your particular style of working? You can customize it by rearranging tabs and showing or hiding group titles in the tabs.
Read more: Familiarize yourself with the ribbon
Watch video: Up to speed with the Office for Mac ribbon
The new PowerPoint Presentation Gallery provides professional quality templates that you can make uniquely your own by adding your own words, iPhoto pictures, and favorite themes. Templates make it easy to produce great looking presentations.
The PowerPoint Presentation Gallery displays templates in a large format that lets you see layouts, graphics, and fonts at a glance. And you're not limited to the colors and fonts of the built-in designs. The color and font menus in the Presentation Gallery provide an array of choices so that you can customize and create a document that reflects your style.
Don't see what you want? Use the search tool to quickly locate the type of document that you want to create and then preview it with the colors and fonts you prefer without even opening the document.
Read more: Start with a template to create a new document
Microsoft PowerPoint for Mac 2011 makes complex slide layout a breeze. You can place a text box, shape, or picture anywhere on the page intuitively and easily. Want that text in front of the picture instead of behind it? The new Reorder Objects tool allows you to move and reshuffle the order of objects on your slide simply by dragging the layers.
Read more: Reorder overlapping objects
Watch video: Manage objects and layers easily
The Media Browser provides handy, instant access to your photos, music, and movies, as well as images such as shapes, clip art, and symbols. The Media Browser integrates with your Mac. It displays photos from your iPhoto or Photo Booth libraries, music from your iTunes playlists, and movies from iMovie, Photo Booth, and iTunes. Add your own pictures and sounds to your presentation with just a click.
Read more: Insert media into your document
PowerPoint for Mac 2011 offers new, dramatic, silky smooth transitions that will keep your audience riveted on you and your presentation from slide to slide. As you create your presentation, you can view and choose transitions right in the ribbon. Add transitions to one, two, or all slides.
Use animations to jazz up entrances and exits of text and images on your slides. Or apply emphasis effects to draw the eye to important slide content. Animations in PowerPoint 2011 are easier than ever to use. In addition, you can now create motion paths for objects on your slides to follow. You can use the pre-defined lines and arcs, or create your own custom paths.
Read more: Add, edit, or remove transitions
You can edit photos directly in PowerPoint 2011. Click any picture in your presentation to open the Format Picture tab on the ribbon, where you'll find robust photo editing tools. Enhance and customize graphics by adjusting exposure or by adding color. Apply special artistic filters, crop to remove unwanted artifacts, or remove a background by using the powerful new background removal tool. Use the enhanced offerings of Picture SmartArt to create presentations that convey your unique message. Compress photos to make presentation files easier to send, post, and share.
Read more: Change the color, transparency, or recolor a picture
Watch video: Retouch your photos
You can group slides that share related content into sections. After you've inserted sections, you can move whole groups of slides by dragging the section. Sections also create an easy way to assign different parts of a presentation to different team members.
Read more: Organize your slides into sections
Presenter view helps make presenting easier by providing great tools all together in one place. The notes pane displays your slide notes clearly and helps you to deliver a smooth narration while presenting slides. The clock helps you to begin and end on time, while the timer shows you the duration of the presentation. And the progress bar keeps you oriented so that you always know right where you are in your presentation. Presenter view tools help you stay focused on what's important.
Presenter view can help improve your skills even before you stand before an audience. Rehearse your presentation, check the timing of slides and transitions, or take notes during a meeting. You can also record a voice-over narration for a presentation that loops continuously, for example, while it plays in a kiosk.
Read more: Use presenter view
Watch video: Perfect your presentation
The new coauthoring tools in Microsoft PowerPoint for Mac 2011 make it easy for teammates to work together. Whether you're separated by an ocean or a dorm room wall, you can compose your own thoughts, see what sections and slides other people are working on, and comment on other authors' work, all in the same presentation at the same time. You can use collaboration tools to merge changes and review updates from others, so that no one's work is lost.
You can even communicate instantly as you work, directly from PowerPoint for Mac. When you and your team members have instant messaging accounts (such as Microsoft Lync for Mac 2011 or Microsoft Lync 2010 or the free Windows Live Messenger) you can all see who else is working on the presentation, and whether they are available for an instant messaging conversation.
Read more: Simultaneously edit a presentation with other authors
Watch video: Edit a presentation with multiple authors
You know that with your purchase of PowerPoint 2011, you have a professional, creative, and powerful application for the desktop. But did you know that PowerPoint now also gives you access to your documents anywhere, anytime? PowerPoint Online, an online extension of PowerPoint on your computer, extends your workspace to the Internet. Now, whether you're in the office, at home, or on the road, you can use PowerPoint Online to easily post, access, edit, and share your documents—all in one place. You can share documents with anyone, anywhere, even if he or she doesn't own PowerPoint. All you need is a computer with an Internet connection and a supported browser.
From the browser, you can check spelling as you type, apply font and paragraph formatting, and use other familiar tools, such as AutoCorrect. Make and save your changes, and you're done!
Read more: Save a document to SharePoint or OneDrive
Watch video: Access your presentations anywhere
Use PowerPoint for Mac 2011 to broadcast your slide show to anyone, anywhere, over the Internet. (Your audience doesn't have to have PowerPoint to view your presentation.) You send a link to your audience, and they follow along in their browser while you present. As you move through your presentation, the audience sees the slides change right in their browser.
Read more: Broadcast your presentation to a remote audience
Watch video: Broadcast your presentation to anyone, anywhere


text:
Issue 29, Autumn/Winter 2016
A sand sculpture, photographed by Violetta
She Changes Everything She Touches
Articles & Fiction
by Jill Smith
In the Spring 2012 edition of Goddess Pages I wrote of my visits to the Amazon House on St Kilda, which lies at least 60 miles to the west of mainland Scotland.
This archipelago has an almost mythical hold on many people, drawing them to visit, and in the past was almost legendary, as the islands disappear and re-appear faintly on the horizon like some version of Tir nan Og, tantalising viewers in the Western Isles of Scotland. I too was 'called' by them over several decades before finding an affordable way to physically reach them.
These remains of an ancient volcano, whose cliffs rise sheer from the clear deep bottle-green ocean, were inhabited from prehistoric times, being a likely stopping-off point as people hopped round the coasts from Scandinavia to Ireland. There is little early evidence as stone used in buildings was continuously re-used for later development, but advances in archaeology enable finds which push back the dates of habitation. (read more...)
Healing sweets: herbal honeys, syrups and cough drops - Part 2
by Susun S Weed
Herbal Syrups
Herbal syrups are sweetened, condensed herbal infusions. Cough drops are concentrated syrups. Alcohol is frequently added to syrups to help prevent fermentation and stabilize the remedy. Cough drops and lozenges, having less water, keep well without the addition of alcohol.
Bitter herbs, especially when effective in a fairly small dose, are often made into syrups: horehound, yellow dock, dandelion, chicory, and motherwort spring to mind in this regard.
Herbs that are especially effective in relieving throat infections and breathing problems are also frequently made into syrups, especially when honey is used as the sweetener: coltsfoot flowers (not leaves), comfrey leaves (not roots), horehound, elder berries, mullein, osha root, pine, sage, and wild cherry bark are favorites for "cough" syrups. (read more...)
Until quite recently, if you wanted anything but a standard Church of England wedding in the UK, you were out of luck unless the registrar could also come along, and even then only if the building were recognised for marriages.
In many churches and other recognised locations, the "ceremonial" part of the wedding is then followed by the legally required registration. And it's not uncommon in the UK for even Christian clergy not to be qualified to perform this part of the wedding.
If you were pagan, or wanted to join with your beloved in sacred space before the goddess, you were out of luck altogether, and most people had to be satisfied with a handfasting and a quick trip to the registry office for the legal bit.
How wonderful, then, not only to have a Goddess Temple – Britain's first for thousands of years – recognised as a legal place for marriages and but also two trained Priestess Registrars!
Goddess Pages interviewed Dawn Kinsella, Sharlea Sparrow and Iona Jones, the women behind Goddess Temple Weddings. (read more...)
by Stuart McHardy
In his book Egyptian Myth and Legend the great Scottish folklorist Donald Mackenzie mentioned that one of the stories of the Scottish Cailleach, or Hag, has her as the 'chief of eight old women or witches.' He goes on, "This group of nine suggests Ptah and his eight earth gnomes, the nine mothers of Heimdall, the Norse God, and the Ennead of Heliopolis." Here he is clearly thinking about Egyptian mythology but his reference to Scotland and Norway is merely scraping the surface of a theme in myth and legend that is effectively world-wide.
My interest in what is best described as the Nine Maidens comes from the fact that a story of them survives close to where I was raised, on the north side of Dundee in Scotland. In this local tale the nine are sisters who were the victims of a dragon-like creature who was later killed by the betrothed of the eldest sister and the site is marked by a Pictish Symbol Stone, Martin's Stone. The Picts, often cited as a mysterious, painted people, seem in reality to be the indigenous peoples of Scotland1. They left no literary records of their own and much of what we think we know of them relies on Roman sources. What has survived in Scotland from the time of the Picts - in previously accepted thinking the 3rd to 10th centuries of the Christian era - and been the cause of much discussion, and fantasy, is a vast corpus of carved standing stones with intriguing symbols, a considerable number of which are clearly pre-Christian. Some of the later Christian stones continued to use some of these earlier symbols. Just as Christianity spread by utilising previously sacred locations in many places so it seems that the early missionaries in Scotland co-opted an already established tradition of carving sacred stones to help spread their new message. (read more...)
by Carolyn Lee Boyd
For one glorious week each year, the rose and white-showered magnolia trees lining Main Street transformed the potholed, two-lane road into a processional as elegant in its own simple way as any gracing a medieval European or an ancient city. The town did festoon the street with flags and balloons for parades with the Mayor and town council, high school band, and Boy and Girl Scouts on special occasions. "But, it goes nowhere," Mary reflected as she drove home on a Friday evening during that magnificent week one year, and, indeed, it ended in an empty concrete courtyard of buildings long since abandoned.
As the sun warmed her arm through the car window for the first time that spring, an unexpected memory came to her of summer Saturdays when she and her mother would gather in her grandmother's kitchen to make jellies and jams from the fruits of her grandmother's farm. The thought "I'm almost the age my mother was then. She had my grandmother and me. How did I get to be so old and end up so alone?" came into Mary's mind unbidden.
Tucked into a strip mall at the corner where Mary waited for a green light was Demeter's Supermarket, a small grocery that had been established by Greek immigrants decades ago when the neighborhood was mostly families who had immigrated from there. Their children had moved out a generation ago, but a few of the original businesses still served the surviving elders. (read more...)
Poetry & Reviews
by Annelinde Metzner
by Penn Kemp
by Penn Kemp
by Susa Silvermarie
by Annelinde Metzner
by Lynne Sedgmore
by Susa Silvermarie
by Lorraine Pickles
by Maria Duncalf-Barber
"The language of Ma the primal mother: The evolution of the female image in 40,000 years of global Venus Art" by Annine van der Meer
Reviewed by Geraldine Charles
"Goddess and God in the World: Conversations in Embodied Theology", by Carol P. Christ and Judith Plaskow
Reviewed by Carolyn Lee Boyd
Reviewed by Geraldine Charles
Reviewed by Laura Slowe


text:
Of the many outreach programs run here by Germany's Heinrich Böll Foundation, one caused special alarm for an official new Ethiopian agency that is starting to block and restrict the promotion of civil society ideas.
The Böll program, "SurVivArt: Art for the Right to a Good Life," dealt with notions of healthy, intelligent, and successful living, and illustrated differing concepts of home, food, and choice consumer goods – all done through sculpture and video arts.
To a Western-oriented eye, it seemed harmless.
But officials at the "Charities and Societies Agency" fairly flipped when they saw a word implying "rights" in the program title.
"'Why has this got right in it?' they asked," remembers Patrick Berg, the foundation's former Ethiopia director, who just returned to Germany after deciding that the agency and its zealous application of a restrictive new law made meaningful work impossible.
For years, Heinrich Böll's activities included training regional parliamentarians, running a forum to discuss gender issues, and organizing a model African Union for students. But no more.
The new law, adopted several years ago but only now being enforced, bars charities that receive more than 10 percent of overseas funds from engaging in the promotion of a panoply of human rights ideas, including for children and disabled, for democratic education, and for other staples of civil society.
"First we were forced to abandon rights-based work, now even art has become suspicious," says Mr. Berg of the law, called the "Charities and Societies Proclamation," or CSO law.
Foreign charities and NGOs in Ethiopia are all currently undergoing an annual audit to weed out funding and ideas that break the law.
The law is a legacy of the late prime minister Meles Zenawi who wanted to curb foreign groups unaccountably advocating their own values in sensitive areas. The Ethiopian leader of 21 years, who died in August, said that Western societies evolved without external meddling, and so should Ethiopia.
But critics, while commending Ethiopia's desire to be independent, say in fact the law is being used as a political sledgehammer to thwart and crush dissent. Amnesty International argued in 2009 the law was hostile to freedom of expression and association and was harmful to Ethiopia's fledgling civil society.
One of world's poorest nations
Some NGOs and donors say the zeal of the new agency threatens to drive off assistance that likely helps the nation and, more particularly, vulnerable people. (The Monitor also reported today on Egyptian government efforts to clamp down on foreign-funding of NGOs.)
Some one-third of Ethiopia's 90 million people live on under $1.25 a day, making it one of the world's poorest nations and one of the top aid recipients. It received $3.6 billion in 2011 from donors, over 11 percent of national income, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Part of the complaint against the new official restrictions are that they are applied willy nilly and are confusing. Many NGOs use "rights" as a standpoint of civil society virtue, such as a right to education, or clean water.
But one executive in a NGO that wished not to be named said the agency told his outfit not to promote the rights of girls and women not to be circumcised or forced into marriage – but that advocating for other rights seemed acceptable.
"Charities like ours are here to work with the government on improving the lives of Ethiopians," he says. "The uncertainty surrounding the law wastes time and prevents us from focusing fully on developing and delivering good programs."
The British government this month however was promised a written assurance that all organizations working on violence against women and issues like female genital mutilation will be allowed to continue.
Stringent budget controls
Another major complaint is that new laws stipulate that only 30 percent of budgets go to administration, interpreted in 2011 to include most travel and training cost. This is proving unworkable. Some 80 percent of groups defaulted on these terms last year.
Of 29 charities funded by US Agency for International Development, 27 can't comply, according to knowledgeable sources.
Nigist Haile, an Ethiopian, runs the Center for African Women's Economic Empowerment (CAWEE) in the capital, Addis Ababa. The aim of the organization funded by Canada's development agency and the United Nations and WTO's International Trade Center is to help female entrepreneurs access international markets.
CAWEE is assisting Hilina Enriched Foods Processing Center develop a marketing strategy to export spicy peanuts to the Middle East by providing consultants. Boosting sales abroad is a crucial objective of a foreign-exchange starved country. Ethiopia's imports cost $7.5 billion more than exports last year.
"I think they are the only one who are working with women very practically," says Deputy General Manager Hilina Belete about CAWEE.
Ms. Nigist also hires consultants to train businesswomen. The law classifies the consultants' fees as an administrative cost, giving CAWEE a "very serious problem" in meeting the 30 percent administration rule. Unless special consideration is granted, sessions will be stopped, Nigist says.
"Again the women are suffering," she says. "We should be considered a development partner, but they are not seeing it that way."
Ethiopia's government has been popular with donors such as the US, EU, and UK partly because it's seen as prioritizing the poor and spending on them effectively. It is also seen as a reliable ally in the unstable Horn of Africa.
Daniel Bekele, director of Human Rights Watch's Africa division, says the agency and laws are not a rejection of international partners for Ethiopia, but about domestic politics and a response to the power shown by civil society groups in previous elections.
"I believe the CSO law was a response to 2005 [elections]," Mr. Bekele says, a time when voter education campaigns led to huge turnouts, civil society monitored polls and mediated disputes. "Unfortunately it was perceived as a political activity … or as a politically-biased activity."
Getachew Reda, a government spokesman says the law is needed to stop corrupt charities "running amok" and using "per diems for vacations in Honolulu."
If training is a "stock in trade" and done in a cost-efficient manner to benefit Ethiopians, then it won't be classed as an administrative cost, he says. But he adds that if charities make it their business to "criss-cross Africa paying all sorts of stipends to employees, then it will be."


text:
There's no doubt, through Apple, he changed the way we interact with our world and each other. The iMac, iPod, iPad and iPhone were all game-changing inventions from Apple. Could it be that Jobs wasn't done with his world-changing ideas before he died in October 2011?
According to Apple board member Mickey Drexler, in an interview with Fast Company, Jobs had his sights on bringing his intuitive style and innovative technology beyond the computer industry and into the automotive industry.
"Look at the car industry; it's a tragedy in America. Who is designing the cars?" Drexler said. "Steve's dream before he died was to design an iCar."


text:
"Indian taco"
New Mexico
guides you to the best local dishes & drinks in
125+ cities. See map now
EYW wants your food photos!
New Mexico
EYW wants your food stories!
I remember going to Pittsburgh for a marketing event my friend was hosting after a long day, and my friend and I decided to have dinner at this real fantasy restaurant. We tried their seafood platter... Read more
NEW! Let us do the heavy lifting on your next trip to NYC: Check out our new downloadable one-day NYC eating itineraries, or email us for a custom multiday itinerary.
©2019 Eat Your World, LLC - All Rights Reserved


text:
DUBLIN — Volunteers put together 125 bikes in one day for Morgan Stanley's Bikes for Tots campaign last week.
Morgan Stanley workers and the staff of Livermore Cyclery in Dublin put together the bikes in a one-day session. The bicycles will be donated to Bay Area organizations this week and next.
In the past eight years, since it began its Bikes for Tots giveaways, Morgan Stanley has built and donated nearly 1,500 bikes.
Among groups that have received donated bikes are The Boys' and Girls' Club of San Francisco, the Mckenley House of Concord and the Oakland Village Shelter.
–Kelly Gust, Staff


text:
ORLAND PARK, Ill., Jan. 11, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- On January 7, a tragic fire caused by a Christmas tree swept through a single-family home in Rockford, killing four people: a 10-month-old baby, 13-year-old boy, a special-needs man in his 20s, and a woman in her 60s. Two other family members were able to escape, however, they had to be taken to a hospital to be treated. The fire marks eight total residential fire deaths in Illinois already this year.
Tom Lia , executive director of the nonprofit Northern Illinois Fire Sprinkler Advisory Board (NIFSAB) says the fire is an unfortunate example of a home fire where high-risk individuals are present, citing reports from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) that state those at highest risk from fires include young children, the elderly, and those with disabilities.
"The fire is the second multiple-fatality home fire involving high-risk populations this year, and it's still only the first two weeks of January," notes Lia. He mentions a house fire that occurred on New Year's Day and claimed the lives of two paralyzed brothers in Randolph County in southern Illinois. "Individuals in high-risk categories may have trouble comprehending a fire and may not be able to escape a fire on their own. Home fire sprinklers can prevent fires from spreading and, in these cases, allow for others to help the occupants safely escape."
Last year alone, the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) reported at least 95 residential fire fatalities in Illinois.1 Meanwhile, requirements for fire sprinklers in one- and two- family homes have been present since 2006 in national model fire and building codes from both of the major code-governing bodies, the NFPA and the International Code Council.
"Home fire deaths in Illinois and across the nation are occurring at an alarming rate, yet we now have the ability to adopt these national model codes that include fire sprinklers, preventing future fire deaths," says Lia.
Currently, 88 individual municipalities and fire protection districts throughout Illinois have home fire sprinkler ordinances, however, Rockford does not. In an effort to protect citizens statewide, Illinois State Fire Marshal Larry Matkaitis and other Illinois fire service leaders are aligning together to update the State's current edition of NFPA 101 Life Safety Code to the 2012 edition. The code update would require fire sprinkler protection in new construction one- and two-family homes and townhomes across the State.
"California and Maryland have already adopted statewide legislation," states Lia. "By adopting the latest fire and building codes here in Illinois, we can ensure that residents are protected in their own homes and prevent horrific fires such as the fire in Rockford from occurring in the future. It will also move Illinois to the forefront of fire protection technology nationally."
Lia also reminds the public that the winter season can be a dangerous time for residential fires with an increase in cooking fires, electrical fires caused by improperly used decorations, and fires caused by space heaters.2
"We offer our sincere condolences to the family and friends of the fire victims in Rockford," he adds.
About the Northern Illinois Fire Sprinkler Advisory Board (NIFSAB)
NIFSAB is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting progressive legislation, raising public awareness, and educating code officials and governmental policy makers by demonstrating the proven performance of fire sprinklers in saving both lives and property. For more info, visit www.firesprinklerassoc.org.
SOURCE Northern Illinois Fire Sprinkler Advisory Board
PR Newswire (http://s.tt/1ykkB) | Tags: residential fire protection, home fire protection, residential fire sprinklers, home fire sprinklers


text:
Two of the key "tools" used by Mentalists are the Claim(s) they make such as what ability they work with be it precognition or being a human lie-detector; and of course their Persona/character. In many ways one will help define the other but at the same time it is probably to one's personal advantage to weigh the sort of persona that fits who you really are, first.
I have a strong esoteric persona due to the things I found out about my personal past; family traditions & religious influences, personal interest & related accomplishments, and of course, personal beliefs & perspectives. All things we should each take into consideration as we build-up this image of the self. For an example, if you seek to become a Rationalist type performer you would want to focus on academic and intellectual highlights in your own life as well as familial parallels. . . you might be the first member of your family to get a college degree e.g. you are as prone to buy into certain beliefs held by your family; this is one of two routes one can take BUT there is one element when it comes to this path few ever weigh -- personal academics. If you are a moron in class and sport a C or D average grade score playing the intellectual just won't fly; you'll not display the word skills and grammar let alone the thinking process allied with such a character e.g. you have reason to either reconsider such a persona or knuckle down on developing proper grammar, diction and other habits that are common to the academic type you see yourself portraying.
By all means this can apply to the occultist and mystic; you have to know the jargon that is typical to your market base so you can sound intelligent and learned to them which means that you understand the difference between Telepathy & Clairvoyance and so don't confuse your effects; you pay attention to which effects sustain your claim and further more, you keep your claims minimal; something Bob Cassidy has pointed out a few times . . . just as Dunninger pointed out that the more "props" you use on stage lessens your perceived value and sense of validity so too the more claims you make decrease the audiences' ability to both, believe you and believe in you i.e. the more you start looking like a magician, which is the last thing any Mentalist wants.
Look at your personal interests; I've been writing for religious and spiritual publications since my teens with special focus going towards Pagan & New Age type sources. When we couple this with the amount of people in my family that held similar views and practices it only made sense that I ride on said coat tails or else, had I not been that writer of note, take on the more vindictive and antagonistic mode of naysayer, such as some have done. It's beyond me to understand why someone would do this, but it happens.
There are other considerations of course, such as what is viable for you as a performer within your market region. Getting a gig as a Mind Reader is no easy task but there are proven paths of action that will give you work but there's a rub, it means that you need to be an accomplished and honest Reader. This opens up the Home Party market, tea & Coffee Houses, Lectures & Workshops, etc. To do otherwise means you will suffer the same frustrations every variety artist suffers; the constant hustle to get shows, having to travel a great deal so as to chase the gigs, and to sit by the phone constantly in the hope someone calls. You lose a great deal of advantage in other words as well as credibility . . . as Dunninger also pointed out "Nobody wants to pay to see a fake Mind Reader".
Help Me Get to Doomsday 2015 -- www.gofundme.com/doomsday2015 --


text:
Happy holidays and a tease for 2012
So my end of year blog to machine builders, and the loyal followers from whatever company.
The model is changing. Think about how personal electronics have changed your life. Do you listen to a CD in your car anymore? I remember back when I drove a "company car" but they allowed me to add things, and I added a 6 CD changer. It was in my trunk. This was in 1996. Do they even put CD changers in cars today? My wife just bought a new 4DSC, and ya know, there is no CD slot. So if we go for a trip I have to listen to her music. Fortunately we have a mesh.
So, huge changes in the music business model. Same for the book industry. Witness this: when we leave for a weekend I take my iPad. I have several books I want to read stored there. Are they on my iPad or the Cloud? I don't care. I want them when I want them. And before today's technology existed I would have needed to carry many different books with me. In my case today they are on my iPad, but tomorrow? Who knows? Can I get instant response from the cloud? I bet I can.
In the factory can you afford to ignore the cloud? You know your employees in the plant are going to be using devices that are far more advanced than what they have in the factory. Soon they will be suggesting that they can do "this" (whatever this is) better if they could only…. More on this topic early in 2012.
You cannot ignore technology in your factory operations or in the design of your machine. Take a look under your Christmas tree after all the presents are opened and think of all the technology represented there that didn't exist 5 years ago, or even last year. Your machines need to keep pace with that same race of technology and that means you need to be able to modify them (either on site or remotely), you need to make them easy to operate with more intuitive displays and controls, you need to make them more efficient and sustainable, and you need to do it with less expense.
A factory and a machine need to operate like a very tight set of meshing gears. One small upset and everything starts to slow and eventually breakdown. With Cisco Borderless Networks, with an open standard infrastructure you have a far better chance of remaining profitable and sustainable.
I and the rest of my peers in the Cisco Manufacturing marketing team send our best wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year to you and yours. Thanks for all the reads and thanks for making us one of the most popular blogs in Cisco.
In an effort to keep conversations fresh, Cisco Blogs closes comments after 60 days. Please visit the Cisco Blogs hub page for the latest content.
1 Comments


text:
IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) and Holcim have decided to renew a partnership agreement set up to protect biodiversity at Holcim's quarries around the world. The partnership, which began in 2007, has been extended for a further three years.
Extraction of mineral resources in quarries can impact biodiversity in surrounding areas, meaning that protecting biodiversity is a constantly evolving challenge. Recommendations from a panel of IUCN experts following numerous site visits led to the development of a Group strategy and a biodiversity management system. In a number of countries, Holcim has also worked together with IUCN at a local level – including in Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Spain and China.
The partnership is also intended to further the exchange of experience with third parties. Holcim and IUCN have made the recommendations public with the aim of stimulating discussion and encouraging other companies to follow Holcim's example.
An independent review has found that the main objectives of the partnership agreement between IUCN and Holcim have been fulfilled. The further cooperation aims to ensure that by 2013, Holcim will achieve its target of having a plan to protect biodiversity at 80 percent of its quarries in environmentally sensitive areas. Additional topics of the cooperation include defining indicators for measuring the success of the biodiversity management system, and developing a water management program.
For more information or to set up interviews, please contact:
Nicki Chadwick, IUCN Media Relations Officer, t +41 22 999 0229, m +41 79 528 3486 e [email protected]
Holcim Corporate Communications, t +41 58 858 87 10


text:
Everyday IPA Beer Making Kit
With their apartment-friendly beer-making kits, Erica Shea and Stephen Valand of the Brooklyn Brew Shop make it easy to craft artisanal beer – right in your own kitchen. Showcasing the finest barley, hops, yeast and spices, your all-natural home-crafted brew will taste as great as the premium artisanal beers served at the best brew pubs.
- Step-by-step instructions guide you through every stage: the mash, the sparge, the boil, fermentation and bottling.
- Includes the specialty equipment and ingredients you'll need for home-brewing, including enough grain, hops and yeast for your first batch.
- Additional equipment and ingredients required: 6-qt. pot, fine-mesh strainer, funnel, honey and ice.
- The entire brewing process takes approximately 30 days.
- Each mix produces 1 gal. beer.
- Equipment can be reused over and over to make more additional batches of beer.
- Made in the USA.
Dimensions & More Info
Kit includes:
- 1-gal. glass fermenting jug.
- Screw-cap stopper.
- 3-piece chambered airlock.
- Racking cane.
- 4' tubing.
- Tube clamp.
- 12" laboratory thermometer.
- Sanitizer packet.
- Ingredient mix.
Shipping Information
UPS can deliver most in-stock items within 3–5 business days. UPS is unable to deliver to P.O. boxes.
Shipping Rates
The shipping rate varies depending on your order total and shipping destination. View Shipping Options and Charges.
Next Day Delivery
For an additional charge of $26 per address, we can expedite delivery to most destinations. This service is not available for some oversize items, items shipped directly from the supplier (including perishable and custom-manufactured items), out-of-stock items and items to be shipped outside the contiguous 48 states.
Orders received by 9:00 p.m. ET Monday through Thursday will arrive the next business day; orders placed Friday through Sunday will arrive on the following Tuesday.
Return Policy
At Williams Sonoma, we take great pride in the quality and craftsmanship of our products. Attention to design, materials, safety and construction are our priority. Upon receipt, please inspect your purchase and notify us of any damage; we will arrange for a prompt replacement.
If within 30 days, you are dissatisfied for any reason, you may return your purchase for a refund of the merchandise value. An original receipt or gift receipt is required for all returns and exchanges. Returns with a gift receipt will be refunded in the form of a Merchandise Credit for the amount indicated on the gift receipt. Returns with original receipt will be refunded in the original form of payment, cash and check refunds over $100 will be issued as a company check (may take 14 business days from time of request).
For all cutlery returns (knife sets, single knives, cutting boards, knife sharpeners and knife storage), please contact us at 888.922.4108 to initiate the return.
We cannot accept returns on monogrammed, personalized, special-order items, custom upholstery, food, items shipped direct from the vendor or on items damaged through normal wear and tear. Final sale items ending in .97 or .99 cannot be returned.
Made to Order and Final Sale Furniture items are non-returnable and cannot be cancelled once the order is placed.
For returns of items purchased from your Williams Sonoma Gift Registry, we will gladly provide a refund or exchange for the merchandise within 90 days of your event or within 90 days of purchase, whichever date is later. View Full Returns Policy.
Everyday IPA Beer Making Kit
|Delivery Surcharge
|Beer Making Kit, Everyday IPA


text:
So I know I need to use the partial fractions method to solve this integral. However when I split it as:
$$\frac{4x}{(x^2-1)(x-1)} = \frac{Ax + B}{x^2-1} + \frac{C}{x-1}$$
I find that I can't solve for the values of A, B, C. The question actually hints that first I need to 'factor the denominator completely'.
I thought it was already factored, but the solution I have factors it to:
$$\frac{4x}{(x^2-1)(x-1)} = \frac{4x}{(x-1)^2(x+1)}$$
Can someone please explain the thought-process behind this transformation, why it is more 'completely factored', and why my initial set-up is incorrect?
Question and solution originally from:


text:
- Home
- News
- Sports
- Opinion
- Obituaries
- Features
- Special Sections
- Classifieds
- Public Notices
The 20th annual Crenshaw Oil Company golf tournament is April 29 at the Lancaster Golf Club.
All tournament proceeds will go toward the Lancaster County Partners for Youth Future Teaching Scholarships Program.
The tourney features $5,000 in prizes, plus a $100,000 shootout following the event.
The tournament is a captain's choice format, with each team getting a handicap deducted from the team's score based on total team handicap.
Check-in begins at 8 a.m. with a cookout and awards ceremony following play.
If you currently subscribe or have subscribed in the past to the The Lancaster News, then simply find your account number on your mailing label and enter it below.
Click the question mark below to see where your account ID appears on your mailing label.
|ZIP Code:


text:
Outpost duty near Shelbyville, Tenn.
May 28th 1863
My own Sweet darling wife,
Your letter written on the 4th inst is
the last I have received from you and I am exceedingly sorry
there has been any interruption in the mails, for I Know you
are as anxious to hear from me as I am from you. I had
I had several letters on the road at the time the Yankees took possession
of Jackson, which I fear you will never receive and I have
my doubts about this getting to Oxford, but I feel as though
I wanted to write you and I shall keep writing until I
know definitely that there is no mail communication."
Times look to me rather gloomy in Mississippi, yet I hope
Genl Johnson will get reinforcements sufficient to drive Grant
back to his gunboats. It looks to me as though the fate of
the Confederacy depended on our holding our position at
Vicksburgh. One thing is certain, if they get possession of that
point, it is going to prolong this war and to great disadvantage
on our side. I eagerly watch for the news in every paper and
am satisfied that Johnson is being reinforced and trust we
shall yet be able to gain a complete victory over them."
I fear the Yankee army must have been in close
proximity to your pa's place and am afraid he has suffered
from their depredations. It is astonishing what little time
it takes them to remain in a place, to do an immense
amount of damage – Jackson and Yazoo City for example –


text:
This weeks events include AJ's Women in Architecture Awards Luncheon
iCity exhibition
When: 18 - 19 March, 9am - 5pm
Where: Hackney Services Centre, 1 Hillman Centre, London
Public exhibition presents plans for the transformation of the Olympic media centre into a 'digital quarter' for London.
People, place and value: the golden triangle?
When: 20 March, 6pm
Where: Central St Martin's College, London
Speakers including Kevin Murray, director of KMA and Pam Alexander of Crest Nicholson will discuss the evolving concepts of community involvement in planning and development.
World Water Day
When: 22 March, 9am - 5.30pm
Where: Roca London Gallery, Station House, London
In celebration of World Water Day Roca will donate £5 for every visitor to their We Are Water Foundation Exhibition.
AJ Women in Architecture Lunch
When: March 22, 6.30pm
Where: RIBA Portland Place
The AJ's Women in Architecture Luncheon will feature a pre-recorded introduction by Denise Scott Brown, exclusive speakers and winner announcement's for the Jane Drew Prize, Women Architect of the Year, and Emerging Women Architect of the Year. Remaining tickets available here.
Shrewsbury green doors
When: 23 - 24 March, 1pm - 5pm
Where: Shrewsbury
Organised by Shrewsbury Transition Towns, properties with energy improvements open their doors to the public.
Have your say
You must sign in to make a comment
Please remember that the submission of any material is governed by our Terms and Conditions and by submitting material you confirm your agreement to these Terms and Conditions.
Links may be included in your comments but HTML is not permitted.


text: 30 Dec 2015 13:00 Etihad Airways is deeply disappointed by the German court's decision handed down today. We are reviewing the judgement and will file an appeal against the decision early next week.In the meantime, all previously booked codeshare flights will operate as planned. Get in touch with us. Contact us


text:
HENRIETTA, N.Y., Sept. 3 (UPI) -- Workers at a New York state auto shop said a kitten survived a 6-hour trip inside the plastic undercarriage of a couple's car.
Employees at Smitty's Transmissions in Henrietta said the couple told them they had heard cat sounds outside of their vehicle when they left Connecticut and heard the purring again in New York state, where they were traveling to drop off their son at the Rochester Institute of Technology, and decided to stop to see if an animal was stuck in the car, The (Rochester) Democrat and Chronicle reported Monday.
Workers said they found the kitten curled up in an alcove above the vehicle's gas tank.
"It was pretty mind-boggling," said Chuck Evert, one of the workers. "We thought if there's a cat in there, it's not alive. Somehow it climbed up in that little spot and was shielded from the heat and the gasoline fumes."
Evert said he took the kitten home to his wife, Barbara, who works for the foster kitten organization Lollypop Farm. Barbara Evert said the kitten is being cared for until it gains enough weight to be spayed and adopted.
Karin Forte, foster care coordinator for Lollypop Farm, said the kitten, which has been dubbed Connecticut, appears to be about 6 weeks old and was likely feral before stowing away in the car.


text:
Search Results
Mobile Phone & Computer Repair, Specializing in iPhones, iPads & Macs
716 Main Street Suite A
Oregon City, OR 97045
- (503) 387-6292
The original elevator in Oregon City built c 1912. The current elevator, built in 1954-55, is a 130 foot vertical street connecting two neighborhoods. OC Elevator is the only outdoor municipal elevator in the US and one of only four in the world.
Good Morning Oregon City (GMOC)
Quality networking during GMOC at Geeks & Games. Fast paced, fun and plenty of opportunity to build those valuable business relationships! Read more.
2019 Oregon City
Around Town Magazine
Around Town Magazine


text:
Donna Karan Spring 2013 | Runway
Donna Karan Spring 2013
Donna Karan Spring 2013
If DKNY was all about young women moving through the city that never sleeps, Donna Karan's Spring 2013 line for her grown-up eponymous label examined what happens far above the streets of the bustling metropolis at sunrise and sunset.
A muted palette of morning's dove gray and pink, dusk's pale gold, and midnight's dark blue set the stage for a languorous array of garments cut from crinkly cotton that had a well-worn feel. The dresses that weren't loosely draped around the body took a modern approach to the empire silhouette or surrounded the legs in soft pleats. Jackets ranged from trim bias-cut toppers to floaty, trapezoidal arrangements, but none had buttons or snap closures. Instead, they made loose and sometimes tenuous connections predicated on shape alone.
In true Karan fashion, the gowns were draped almost effortlessly: two with asymmetrical necklines caught the breeze the models created coming down the runway. The final look, a strapless blue work, featured pale orange whorls that called the setting sun to mind.


text:
By Robert Dixon
Primerica has replaced The Shaw Group in the Standard & Poor's MidCap Index. The change became effective after the close of trading on Feb. 12, according to S&P. Companies included in the S&P MidCap 400 must have a total market capitalization between $750 million and $3 billion. Primerica currently has a market capitalization of approximately $1.9 billion.
"Inclusion in the S&P MidCap Index marks another important milestone for Primerica as a publicly traded company," Rick Williams, chairman of the board and co-chief executive officer of Primerica, said in a company release. "Our addition to this esteemed index will provide outstanding exposure for Primerica among both institutional and retail investors."
Separately, Primerica has announced that Warburg Pincus will sell 2.5 million shares of its common stock in an underwritten public offering. The offering is expected to close on Feb. 15.
Upon completion of the offering, Warburg Pincus will own approximately 4.4 percent of Primerica's outstanding common stock. All of the shares are being sold by Warburg Pincus, which will receive all of the net proceeds from the offering. Citigroup is acting as book-running manager for the offering, which is being made under an existing shelf registration statement previously filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
On Feb. 7, Primerica reported fourth quarter net income of $40.3 million, or 67 cents per share, compared to $37.2 million or 51 cents per share in the comparable quarter of 2011. Total revenues for the quarter were $304.50million, up from $275.8 million, in the same period a year earlier. Primerica posted total revenues of $1.1 billion for the full year; net income was $173.8 million or $2.71 per diluted share.
S&P Dow Jones Indices, a subsidiary of the McGraw-Hill Companies, is a global resource for index-based concepts, data and research. Along with the S&P MidCap, it is home to iconic financial market indicators, such as the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
Primerica, headquartered in Duluth, Ga., distributes financial products to middle-income families in North America. Primerica's products include term life insurance, which the company underwrites; as well as mutual funds, annuities and other financial products distributed primarily on behalf of third parties. Primerica has more than 4.3 million life insurance policies in force and approximately 2 million investment account clients. Traded on the New York Stock Exchange, Primerica's stock is also included in the Russell 2000 stock index.
© Entire contents copyright 2013 by InsuranceNewsNet.com, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reprinted without the expressed written consent from InsuranceNewsNet.com. Please contact the editor at [email protected] with any questions or comments.


text:
The recent announcement of record increases in the prices of rail season tickets could explain the current boom in scooter sales. During August registrations of new scooters jumped by 29.8%, as half a million rail passengers faced the prospect of the biggest leap in ticket costs since privatisation in 1995.
Sales of scooters were already running at 20% above the previous year, but the spike in August would appear to underline concerns that cash-strapped commuters could no longer afford the "eye-wateringly expensive" rail fares, as described by Transport Secretary Philip Hammond, and were seeking alternative ways to get to work.
Richard Davies of Peugeot Scooters reports that sales in Greater London have trebled so far this year; "Over the past couple of years Peugeot have introduced several new 50cc and 125cc scooters aimed specifically at customers looking for affordable everyday transport and as a direct result our sales in general are up 75% and in the London area we're looking at a 211% increase."
Peugeot's 125cc Vivacity scooter sells for £2099, costs just £16 per year to tax and can get a commuter to work and back for a week on just one gallon of fuel (based on an average UK commuting distance of 8.5 miles).
Richard Davies adds; "It's not only the cost of public transport that's driving customers into Peugeod Scooters' showrooms, it's also the attraction of being able to ride from door-to-door without the hassle of queues, cramped conditions or cancellations."


text:
Dr. Paul Rexton Kan
PAUL REXTON KAN is Associate Professor of National Security Studies and the Henry L. Stimson Chair of Military Studies at the US Army War College. He is the author of the books Drugs and Contemporary Warfare and Cartels at War: Mexico's Drug-Fueled Violence and the Threat to US National Security. He is also the author of numerous articles on the intersection of drug trafficking, crime and modern forms of armed conflict including: "Drugging Babylon: The Illegal Narcotics Trade And Nation-Building in Iraq"; "Criminal Sovereignty: Understanding North Korea's Illicit International Activities"; and "Cyberwar in the Underworld: Anonymous vs. Los Zetas in Mexico". His work has been cited in Forbes, and the Christian Science Monitor. In February 2011, he served as the Senior Visiting Counternarcotics Adviser at NATO Headquarters in Kabul, Afghanistan.
*The above information may not be current. It was current at the time when the individual worked for SSI or was published by SSI.
SSI books and monographs by Dr. Paul Rexton Kan
Mexico's "Narco-Refugees": The Looming Challenge for U.S. National Security
October 03, 2011
Authored by Dr. Paul Rexton Kan.
Due to the ongoing and brutal drug cartel violence that has gripped portions of Mexico, there has been a rise in the number of Mexican nationals seeking political asylum in the United States to escape the ongoing drug cartel violence in their home country. This monograph focuses on the asylum claims of these "narco-refugees" who are unwillingly leaving Mexico, and it reviews the special challenges that these asylum seekers pose to U.S. national security interests and public safety.
Criminal Sovereignty: Understanding North Korea's Illicit International Activities
April 12, 2010
Authored by Dr. Paul Rexton Kan, Dr. Bruce E. Bechtol, Jr., Mr. Robert M. Collins.
North Korea's criminal conduct—smuggling, trafficking and counterfeiting—is well known, but the portion of the government, Office Number 39, which directs it, is understudied or overlooked. This shadowy part of an already opaque government is examined to reveal how it conducts its activities and supports the longevity of the regime.
Drug Intoxicated Irregular Fighters: Complications, Dangers, and Responses
March 12, 2008
Authored by Dr. Paul Rexton Kan.
The presence of drugged fighters is not unknown in the history of warfare. Irregular fighters have found a ready supply of narcotics for a variety of combat purposes. Such consumption has led to unpredictable fighting, the commission of atrocities, and to the prolongation of internal violence.


text:
In the race to convert crops into energy, all eyes are on giant reed, a fast-growing and hardy grass species found throughout Texas and the southern United States.
Yet, the very qualities that make the species, also known as arundo donax, attractive to the federal government as a renewable fuel source make it a noxious weed, capable of choking native plants, clogging rivers and streams and draining wetlands.
Some scientists and environmentalists say the ecological and economic risks are greater than the reward and want the Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider a nearly finalized rule that would encourage farmers to grow giant reed and other invasive grasses for biofuels production.
"We think the idea of cleaner fuels is great," said Janice Bezanson, executive director of the advocacy group Texas Conservation Alliance, "but we do not want to create a monster."
Invasive species
The conflict illustrates the complexity involved in reducing the nation's dependence on oil and gas with a new generation of biofuels that are made from algae, rice hulls, wild grasses and wood pellets rather than corn and other food crops.
The government also is counting on such fuels as a way to reduce emissions linked to global warming, a goal usually lauded by environmentalists.
This time, however, activists are warning that the use of invasive species may bring unintended consequences. Exotic species already cost the nation at least $120 billion each year, according to the National Wildlife Federation, and nearly half of the threatened or endangered plants and animals in the United States are at risk, in part, because non-native pests have altered their habitats.
Can't plant it in Texas
As benign and even lovely as it may seem, giant reed has menaced several states, including Texas, which classifies it as a noxious weed – a designation that means it cannot be planted in the state. Even then, the thirsty perennial, which can grow in dense stands as high as 30 feet, has taken hold, consuming large amounts of water from the Rio Grande and Pecos River and blocking the flow of the Nueces River.
The problem became so acute along a 30-mile stretch of the Nueces that landowners and other volunteers spent 11 weeks last year pulling arundo sprouts by hand. State and local officials also employed a helicopter to spray herbicide over nearly 200 acres.
In California, which also is battling giant reed, officials estimate the cost of eradication is between $5,000 and $25,000 an acre.
Giant reed is native to India and was introduced into the U.S. in the 1800s for erosion control. The plant can spread from a single underground stem or stalk fragments that grow roots and form new clones, typically along streams and irrigation canals.
Those opposed to the government's plan to grow the wily weed say the plant could escape and overrun nearby farms and natural lands. Instead they want the government to encourage the use of native plants and grasses that also provide habitat for wildlife.
"Arundo was designed to survive," said Wilfred Korth, a park ranger near Victoria and member of the Texas Aquatic Plant Management Society. "Every bit will create a new plant, and it chokes everything else out."
'Legitimate concerns'
Ironically, climate change could contribute to the spread of giant reed and other invasive species, which may have a competitive advantage in places disturbed by droughts, floods and other extreme events that scientists say will increase in intensity and frequency as the planet warms.
Joshua Yuan, a plant pathologist at Texas A&M University, said growing giant reed as a biofuel crop still could be safe if introduced under the right conditions.
"There are legitimate concerns because there is no natural enemy to mitigate the growth of arundo," Yuan said. "How you manage the crop is important."
The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded a $1.8 million grant to Yuan to create a tobacco plant packed with terpenoids, a hydrocarbon that can be used for fuel. If the project is successful, he will receive $2 million in additional funding to do the same with giant reed, a higher-producing species.
The research effort is part of the federal push to meet requirements set by the Bush administration, including the production of 21 billion gallons of biofuels a year by 2022. Analysts, however, say it is unlikely that goal will be reached, in part, because no one has shown that fuels from biomass, plant matter grown for energy use, can be made profitably.
Regardless, a group of more than 200 biologists and botanists urged the Obama administration last week to avoid using invasive species in the production of biofuels. Their concerns include the use of federal dollars to incentivize farmers to grow giant reed and even expand its cultivation into new areas.
"It is much cheaper and easier to take the steps to prevent an invasive escape than it is to deal with it after it has occurred," the scientists wrote in a letter to federal officials.
firstname.lastname@example.com; twitter.com/mtresaugue


text:
Belize Population: 353,85832 VISITORS FROM HERE!
« Previous Country | Next Country » Back to Flag Counter Overview
|Belize was the site of several Mayan city states until their decline at the end of the first millennium A.D. The British and Spanish disputed the region in the 17th and 18th centuries; it formally became the colony of British Honduras in 1854. Territorial disputes between the UK and Guatemala delayed the independence of Belize until 1981. Guatemala refused to recognize the new nation until 1992 and the two countries are involved in an ongoing border dispute. Tourism has become the mainstay of the economy. Current concerns include the country's heavy foreign debt burden, high unemployment, growing involvement in the Mexican and South American drug trade, high crime rates, and one of the highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rates in Central America.
Only country in Central America without a coastline on the North Pacific Ocean
|Central America, bordering the Caribbean Sea, between Guatemala and Mexico
|Geographic coordinates:
| total: 22,966 sq km
land: 22,806 sq km
water: 160 sq km
Size comparison: slightly smaller than Massachusetts
|Land Boundaries:
|total: 542 km border countries (2): Guatemala 266 km, Mexico 276 km
|386 km
|Maritime claims:
| territorial sea: 12 nm in the north, 3 nm in the south; note - from the mouth of the Sarstoon River to Ranguana Cay, Belize's territorial sea is 3 nm; according to Belize's Maritime Areas Act, 1992, the purpose of this limitation is to provide a framework for negotiating a definitive agreement on territorial differences with Guatemala
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
|tropical; very hot and humid; rainy season (May to November); dry season (February to May)
|flat, swampy coastal plain; low mountains in south
|Elevation extremes:
|Natural resources:
|arable land potential, timber, fish, hydropower
|Land use:
| agricultural land: 6.9% arable land 3.3%; permanent crops 1.4%; permanent pasture 2.2% forest: 60.6%
other: 32.5% (2011 est.)
|Irrigated land:
|35 sq km (2012)
|Natural hazards:
|frequent, devastating hurricanes (June to November) and coastal flooding (especially in south)
|Current Environment Issues:
|deforestation; water pollution from sewage, industrial effluents, agricultural runoff; solid and sewage waste disposal
|International Environment Agreements:
| party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
|^Back to Top
| noun: Belizean(s)
adjective: Belizean
|Ethnic groups:
|mestizo 52.9%, Creole 25.9%, Maya 11.3%, Garifuna 6.1%, East Indian 3.9%, Mennonite 3.6%, white 1.2%, Asian 1%, other 1.2%, unknown 0.3% note: percentages add up to more than 100% because respondents were able to identify more than one ethnic origin (2010 est.)
|English 62.9% (official), Spanish 56.6%, Creole 44.6%, Maya 10.5%, German 3.2%, Garifuna 2.9%, other 1.8%, unknown 0.3%, none 0.2% (cannot speak) note: shares sum to more than 100% because some respondents gave more than one answer on the census (2010 est.)
|Roman Catholic 40.1%, Protestant 31.5% (includes Pentecostal 8.4%, Seventh Day Adventist 5.4%, Anglican 4.7%, Mennonite 3.7%, Baptist 3.6%, Methodist 2.9%, Nazarene 2.8%), Jehovah's Witness 1.7%, other 10.5% (includes Baha'i, Buddhist, Hindu, Morman, Muslim, Rastafarian), unknown 0.6%, none 15.5% (2010 est.)
|353,858 (July 2016 est.)
|Age structure:
| 0-14 years: 34.41% (male 62,139/female 59,611)
15-24 years: 20.71% (male 37,333/female 35,960)
25-54 years: 36.26% (male 64,968/female 63,346)
55-64 years: 4.84% (male 8,445/female 8,666)
65 years and over: 3.78% (male 6,291/female 7,099) (2016 est.)
|Dependency ratios:
| total dependency ratio: 56.8%
youth dependency ratio: 50.9%
elderly dependency ratio: 5.9%
potential support ratio: 17% (2015 est.)
|Median age:
| total: 22.4 years
male: 22.2 years
female: 22.6 years (2016 est.)
|Population growth rate:
|1.84% (2016 est.)
|Birth rate:
|24.3 births/1,000 population (2016 est.)
|Death rate:
|6 deaths/1,000 population (2016 est.)
|Net migration rate:
|0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2016 est.)
| urban population: 44% of total population (2015)
rate of urbanization: 1.93% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)
|Major urban areas - population:
|BELMOPAN (capital) 17,000 (2014)
|Sex ratio:
| at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.89 male(s)/female
total population: 1.03 male(s)/female (2016 est.)
|Maternal mortality rate:
|28 deaths/100,000 live births (2015 est.)
|Infant mortality rate:
| total: 19.3 deaths/1,000 live births male: 21.6 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 16.9 deaths/1,000 live births (2016 est.)
|Life expectancy at birth:
| total population: 68.7 years male: 67.2 years
female: 70.4 years (2016 est.)
|Total fertility rate:
|2.9 children born/woman (2016 est.)
|Contraceptive prevalence rate:
|55.2% (2011)
|Health expenditures:
|5.8% of GDP (2014)
|Physicians density:
|0.83 physicians/1,000 population (2009)
|Hospital bed density:
|1.1 beds/1,000 population (2012)
|Drinking water source:
| improved:
urban: 98.9% of population
rural: 100% of population
total: 99.5% of population
urban: 1.1% of population
rural: 0% of population
total: 0.5% of population (2015 est.)
|Sanitation facility access:
| improved:
urban: 93.5% of population
rural: 88.2% of population
total: 90.5% of population
urban: 6.5% of population
rural: 11.8% of population
total: 9.5% of population (2015 est.)
|HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
|1.52% (2015 est.)
|HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
|3,600 (2015 est.)
|HIV/AIDS - deaths:
|100 (2015 est.)
|Obesity - adult prevalence rate:
|20.6% (2014)
|Children under the age of 5 years underweight:
|6.2% (2011)
|Education expenditures:
|6.2% of GDP (2013)
|School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):
| total: 13 years male: 13 years
female: 13 years (2013)
|Unemployment, youth ages 15-24:
| total: 25% male: 18%
female: 35.6% (2012 est.)
|^Back to Top
|Country name:
| conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Belize
former: British Honduras
etymology: may be named for the Belize River, whose name possibly derives from the Maya word "belix," meaning "muddy-watered"
|Government type:
|parliamentary democracy (National Assembly) under a constitutional monarchy; a Commonwealth realm
| name: Belmopan
geographic coordinates: 17 15 N, 88 46 W
time difference: UTC-6 (1 hour behind Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
|Administrative divisions:
|6 districts; Belize, Cayo, Corozal, Orange Walk, Stann Creek, Toledo
|21 September 1981 (from the UK)
|National holiday:
|Battle of St. George's Caye Day (National Day), September 10, 1798; Independence Day, 21 September (1981)
|previous 1954, 1963 (preindependence); latest signed and entered into force 21 September 1981; amended several times, last in 2012 (2016)
|Legal system:
|English common law
|18 years of age; universal
|Executive branch:
| chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Governor General Sir Colville YOUNG, Sr. (since 17 November 1993)
head of government: Prime Minister Dean Oliver BARROW (since 8 February 2008); Deputy Prime Minister Gaspar VEGA (since 12 February 2008)
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister from among members of the National Assembly elections/appointments: the monarchy is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or majority coalition usually appointed prime minister by the governor general; prime minister recommends the deputy prime minister
|Legislative branch:
| description: bicameral National Assembly consists of the Senate (12 seats; members appointed by the governor general - 6 on the advice of the prime minister, 3 on the advice of the leader of the opposition, and 1 each on the advice of the Belize Council of Churches and Evangelical Association of Churches, the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Belize Better Business Bureau, and the National Trade Union Congress and the Civil Society Steering Committee; members serve 5-year terms) and the House of Representatives (31 seats; members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote to serve 5-year terms)
elections: House of Representatives - last held on 4 November 2015 (next to be held in or before 2020)
election results: percent of vote by party - UDP 50.52%, PUP 47.77%, other 1.71%; seats by party - UDP 19, PUP 12
|Judicial branch:
| highest court(s): Supreme Court of Judicature (consists of the Court of Appeal with the court president and 3 justices, and the Supreme Court with the chief justice and 2 judges); in 2005, Belize ceased final appeals in civil and criminal cases to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (in London), replacing it with the Caribbean Court of Justice, the judicial organ of the Caribbean Community judge selection and term of office: Court of Appeal president and justices appointed by the governor general upon advice of the prime minister after consultation with the National Assembly opposition leader; justices' tenures vary by terms of appointment; Supreme Court chief justice appointed by the governor-general upon the advice of the prime minister and the National Assembly opposition leader; other judges appointed by the governor-general upon the advice of the Judicial and Legal Services Section of the Public Services Commission and with the concurrence of the prime minister after consultation with the National Assembly opposition leader; judges can be appointed beyond age 65 but must retire by age 75; in 2013, the Supreme Court chief justice overturned a constitutional amendment that had restricted Court of Appeal judge appointments to as short as 1 year
subordinate courts: Summary Jurisdiction Courts (criminal) and district courts (civil)
|Political parties and leaders:
|Belize Progressive Party or BPP [Patrick ROGERS] (formed in 2015 from a merger of the People's National Party, elements of the VIP, and other smaller political groups) People's United Party or PUP [vacant] United Democratic Party or UDP [Dean Oliver BARROW]
|Political pressure groups and leaders:
|National Trade Union Congress of Belize or NTUC/B [Marvin MORA]
|International organization participation:
|ACP, AOSIS, C, Caricom, CD, CDB, CELAC, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (NGOs), ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ITU, LAES, MIGA, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, Petrocaribe, SICA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
|National symbol(s):
|Baird's tapir (a large, browsing, forest-dwelling mammal), keel-billed toucan, Black Orchid; national colors: red, blue
|National anthem:
| name: "Land of the Free"
lyrics/music: Samuel Alfred HAYNES/Selwyn Walford YOUNG
note: adopted 1981; as a Commonwealth country, in addition to the national anthem, "God Save the Queen" serves as the royal anthem (see United Kingdom)
|Diplomatic representation in the US:
| chief of mission: Ambassador Patrick ANDREWS (since 17 September 2015)
chancery: 2535 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 332-9636
consulate(s) general: Los Angeles
|Diplomatic representation from the US:
| chief of mission: Ambassador Carlos Roberto MORENO (since 24 June 2014)
embassy: Floral Park Road, Belmopan City, Cayo District
mailing address: P.O. Box 497, Belmopan City, Cayo District, Belize
telephone: [501] 822-4011
|^Back to Top
Tourism is the number one foreign exchange earner in this small economy, followed by exports of crude oil, marine products, sugar, citrus, and bananas. The government's expansionary monetary and fiscal policies, initiated in September 1998, led to GDP growth averaging nearly 4% in 1999-2007. Oil discoveries in 2006 bolstered this growth and oil exploration continues, but production has fallen in recent years and future oil revenues remain uncertain. Growth slipped to 0% in 2009, due to the global economic slowdown, natural disasters, and a temporary drop in the price of oil, but growth grew to 2.2% in 2015. Although Belize has the third highest per capita income in Central America, the average income figure masks a huge income disparity between rich and poor, and a key government objective remains reducing poverty and inequality with the help of international donors. High unemployment, a growing trade deficit and heavy foreign debt burden continue to be major concerns.
|GDP (purchasing power parity):
| GDP (purchasing power parity): $3.088 billion (2016 est.) $3.088 billion (2015 est.) $3.056 billion (2014 est.)
note: data are in 2016 dollars
|GDP (official exchange rate):
|GDP (official exchange rate): $1.77 billion (2015 est.)
|GDP - real growth rate:
|0% (2016 est.) 1% (2015 est.) 4.1% (2014 est.)
|GDP - per capita (PPP):
| GDP - per capita (PPP): $8,200 (2016 est.) $8,400 (2015 est.) $8,600 (2014 est.)
note: data are in 2016 dollars
|Gross national saving:
|7.6% of GDP (2016 est.) 13.7% of GDP (2015 est.) 11.5% of GDP (2014 est.)
|GDP - composition, by end use:
| household consumption: 72.1%
government consumption: 17.2%
investment in fixed capital: 20.3%
investment in inventories: 0.8%
exports of goods and services: 52.6%
imports of goods and services: -63% (2016 est.)
|GDP - composition, by sector of origin:
| household consumption: 72.1%
government consumption: 17.2%
investment in fixed capital: 20.3%
investment in inventories: 0.8%
exports of goods and services: 52.6%
imports of goods and services: -63% (2016 est.)
|Agriculture - products:
|bananas, cacao, citrus, sugar; fish, cultured shrimp; lumber
|garment production, food processing, tourism, construction, oil
|Industrial production growth rate:
|-1% (2016 est.)
|Labor force:
|120,500 note: shortage of skilled labor and all types of technical personnel (2008 est.)
|Labor force - by occupation:
| agriculture: 10.2%
industry: 18.1%
services: 71.7% (2007 est.)
|Unemployment rate:
|12.9% (2014 est.) 14.1% (2013 est.)
|Population below poverty line:
|41% (2013 est.)
|Household income or consumption by percentage share:
| lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%
| revenues: $500 million
expenditures: $650 million (2016 est.)
|Taxes and other revenues:
|28.2% of GDP (2016 est.)
|Public debt:
|86.3% of GDP (2016 est.) 82.4% of GDP (2015 est.)
|Fiscal year:
|1 April - 31 March
|Inflation rate (consumer prices):
|Inflation rate (consumer prices): 0.9% (2016 est.) -0.9% (2015 est.)
|Current account balance:
|-$220 million (2016 est.) -$172 million (2015 est.)
|$519.5 million (2016 est.) $537.9 million (2015 est.)
|Exports - commodities:
|sugar, bananas, citrus, clothing, fish products, molasses, wood, crude oil
|Exports - partners:
|UK 30.8%, US 18.7%, Nigeria 6.7%, Trinidad and Tobago 4.8%, Ireland 4.2%, Jamaica 4.2% (2015)
|$895.5 million (2016 est.) $961.3 million (2015 est.)
|Imports - commodities:
|machinery and transport equipment, manufactured goods; fuels, chemicals, pharmaceuticals; food, beverages, tobacco
|Imports - partners:
|US 26.6%, Mexico 11.7%, Cuba 10.2%, Guatemala 9%, China 7.5%, Trinidad and Tobago 5.6% (2015)
|Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
|$409.3 million (31 December 2016 est.) $437.2 million (31 December 2015 est.)
|Debt - external:
|$1.327 billion (31 December 2016 est.) $1.309 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
|Market value of publicly traded shares:
|Exchange rates:
|Belizean dollars (BZD) per US dollar - 2 (2016 est.) 2 (2015 est.) 2 (2014 est.) 2 (2013 est.) 2 (2012 est.)
|^Back to Top
|Electricity - production:
|300 million kWh (2014 est.)
|Electricity - consumption:
|400 million kWh (2014 est.)
|Electricity - exports:
|0 kWh (2013 est.)
|Electricity - imports:
|200 million kWh (2014 est.)
|Electricity - installed generating capacity:
|200,000 kW (2014 est.)
|Electricity - from fossil fuels:
|46.9% of total installed capacity (2012 est.)
|Electricity - from nuclear fuels:
|0% of total installed capacity (2012 est.)
|Electricity - from hydroelectric plants:
|27.3% of total installed capacity (2012 est.)
|Electricity - from other renewable sources:
|25.8% of total installed capacity (2012 est.)
|Crude oil - production:
|2,000 bbl/day (2015 est.)
|Crude oil - exports:
|3,000 bbl/day (2013 est.)
|Crude oil - imports:
|0 bbl/day (2013 est.)
|Crude oil - proved reserves:
|6.7 million bbl (1 January 2016 es)
|Refined petroleum products - production:
|33.05 bbl/day (2013 est.)
|Refined petroleum products - consumption:
|3,700 bbl/day (2014 est.)
|Refined petroleum products - exports:
|0 bbl/day (2013 est.)
|Refined petroleum products - imports:
|3,638 bbl/day (2013 est.)
|Natural gas - production:
|0 cu m (2013 est.)
|Natural gas - consumption:
|0 cu m (2013 est.)
|Natural gas - exports:
|0 cu m (2013 est.)
|Natural gas - imports:
|0 cu m (2013 est.)
|Natural gas - proved reserves:
|0 cu m (1 January 2014 es)
|Carbon dioxide emissions from consumption of energy:
|700,000 Mt (2013 est.)
|^Back to Top
|Cellular Phones in use:
|total: 170,000 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 49 (July 2015 est.)
|Telephone system:
| general assessment: above-average system; trunk network depends primarily on microwave radio relay
domestic: fixed-line teledensity of only about 6 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular teledensity approaching 50 per 100 persons
international: country code - 501; landing point for the Americas Region Caribbean Ring System (ARCOS-1) fiber-optic telecommunications submarine cable that provides links to South and Central America, parts of the Caribbean, and the US; satellite earth station - 8 (Int (2015)
|Broadcast media:
|8 privately owned TV stations; multi-channel cable TV provides access to foreign stations; about 25 radio stations broadcasting on roughly 50 different frequencies; state-run radio was privatized in 1998 (2007)
|Internet country code:
|Internet users:
|total: 144,000 percent of population: 41.6% (July 2015 est.)
|^Back to Top
|47 (2013)
|Airports (paved runways):
| total 6
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 2
under 914 m: 3 (2013)
|Airports (unpaved runways):
| total 41
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 11
under 914 m: 29 (2013)
| total 2,870 km
paved: 488 km
unpaved: 2,382 km (2011)
|825 km (navigable only by small craft) (2011)
|Merchant marine:
| total 247
by type: barge carrier 1, bulk carrier 33, cargo 156, chemical tanker 2, liquefied gas 1, passenger/cargo 4, petroleum tanker 9, refrigerated cargo 30, roll on/roll off 10, specialized tanker 1
foreign-owned: 152 (Bulgaria 1, China 61, Croatia 1, Estonia 1, Greece 2, Iceland 1, Italy 3, Latvia 9, Lithuania 1, Netherlands 1, Norway 2, Russia 30, Singapore 4, Switzerland 1, Syria 4, Thailand 1, Turkey 16, UAE 3, UK 4, Ukraine 6) (2010)
|Ports and terminals:
|major seaport(s): Belize City, Big Creek
|^Back to Top
|Military branches:
|Belize Defense Force (BDF): Army, BDF Air Wing (includes Special Boat Unit), BDF Volunteer Guard (2011)
|Military service age and obligation:
|18 years of age for voluntary military service; laws allow for conscription only if volunteers are insufficient; conscription has never been implemented; volunteers typically outnumber available positions by 3:1; initial service obligation 12 years (2012)
|Military expenditures:
|NA% (2012) 1.08% of GDP (2011) NA% (2010)
|^Back to Top
|Transnational Issues
|Disputes - International:
|Guatemala persists in its territorial claim to half of Belize, but agrees to the Line of Adjacency to keep Guatemalan squatters out of Belize's forested interior; both countries agreed in April 2012 to hold simultaneous referenda, scheduled for 6 October 2013, to decide whether to refer the dispute to the ICJ for binding resolution, but this vote was suspended indefinitely; Belize and Mexico are working to solve minor border demarcation discrepancies arising from inaccuracies in the 1898 border treaty
|Illicit drugs:
|transshipment point for cocaine; small-scale illicit producer of cannabis, primarily for local consumption; offshore sector money-laundering activity related to narcotics trafficking and other crimes (2008)
|^Back to Top
« Previous Country | Next Country » Back to Flag Counter Overview
Source: CIA - The World Factbook