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Thursday, 24 May 2012
I'm a Little Tea pot...mini album
33 comments:
- Doreen said...
This is beautiful,love the image and great colours.xxx
- 24 May 2012 at 09:36
- Rosietoes said...
Sassy that is an absolutely beautiful keepsake and I'm sure your lovely resident will adore it and totally treasure it- you have made it with so much love.
Edna x
- 24 May 2012 at 10:30
- Christine said...
Ohhh Sassy how stunning this sweet T.pot album is so soft & dreamy looking am sure your lady friend will treasure it..what a lovely kind thought, there will be a few tears shed when she sees it..lol
smiles Christine x
- 24 May 2012 at 10:37
- Moni said...
Stunning tea pot album, great colour combo. Hugs,moni
- 24 May 2012 at 10:52
- Heidi said...
This is stunning!
Beautiful details:)
Hugs, Heidi:)
- 24 May 2012 at 11:16
- Sonia said...
lovely creation Sassy! Romantic and full of pink elegant details I love :)
- 24 May 2012 at 13:23
- Annette said...
oh your sweet resident will love this teapot. What a wonderful idea and inspiring also. Love the roadmap legs, me too. xoxo
- 24 May 2012 at 14:39
- McCrafty's Cards said...
Fantastic Sassy! I like all the embellishments.
Kevin xx
- 24 May 2012 at 15:08
- Inkypinkydelights said...
Sassy this is beautiful! I absolutely loke it! Thanks for stopping by my Blog tody too. judy x
- 24 May 2012 at 18:07
- KathR said...
This is Absolutely Beautiful, wish I had that much talent...
hugz Kath...xx...
- 24 May 2012 at 18:31
- Viv said...
This is pretty cool Sass.. yer gettin on me nerves now.... rofl. x
- 24 May 2012 at 19:02
- karen said...
Really gorgeous Sassy, hugs, Karenx
- 24 May 2012 at 20:21
- Janette said...
Sassy this is stunning, love, love, love it, so beautiful....
Hope your Lady will be ok, such a huge age, bless her.xx
- 24 May 2012 at 20:49
- Diamond Doll said...
In a word Gorgeous Sue i love it you are so clever,i,m sure your lady will just love it.
Trish (-:
- 24 May 2012 at 22:59
- Sue B said...
Wow! this is SO beautiful !! aww bless, she is going to love it so much!! so many wonderful details - it's a stunning creation and I'm sure she will treasure it and love looking back at the photos!!
Hope you are having a good week hun
Thanks for all your lovely comments!
Big Hugs
Sue xx
- 25 May 2012 at 00:41
- Tonya said...
Oh my goodness, Sassy! This is so gorgeous. I love the teapot shape and the soft pinks and white are so stunning. This should be in a magazine! I adore it.
- 25 May 2012 at 00:48
- Inky Angel said...
This is just stunning. So many details to look at, such an eye candy. Last time I made a mini album, it took me 3 days to do. I can't imagine the work you put in this teapot album.
- 25 May 2012 at 01:25
- Cheryl Walker said...
Omgosh your Tea Pot is BEAUTIFUL!!! Sassy you did an amazing job on this, and of course your tea pot is Beautiful!!! I love it and LOVE LOVE LOVE the color PINK you used, its my favorite color, and thats the color i will be doing mine in. hehehehehee I LOVE all the details and im soo glad my tea pot inspired you, its nice to know that my work inspires others, as you all inspire me too!!! Again Beautiful Tea mini, and your dear friend is going to LOVE this gift!!! You will be able to spend time with her still i hope, Im sooo sorry to hear that she is changing residents, that is hard on them, but I know she is going to love your kindness, and it sounds like you 2 have become very very close, that is wonderful and what wonderful memories you both share together.
I hope you have a wonderful weekend, and Im soo happy to see your tea pot mini!!!
Hugs to you,
- 25 May 2012 at 05:18
- Jackie said...
What a gorgeous creation Sassy, so you :o)
Jackie xx
- 25 May 2012 at 06:20
- La Vikinga said...
Your tea-pot is absolutely fantastic!
Have got the feeling that I already have said that...
La Vikinga
- 25 May 2012 at 08:09
- Pop's Cards said...
Absolutely Stunning sweetie x x x
- 25 May 2012 at 09:00
- Exclusively by Mel said...
Hi lovely xx
Just been catching up on your last few posts, you have a fantastic way of making fun of the horrid things you go through. I know just how you feel, getting tests done and being prodded has become a big part of my life lately too.
Your Tea Pot is wonderful!! your lady will so love it!
Your mega clever lovely.
melly. xxx
- 25 May 2012 at 10:33
- Sue B said...
Hi hun... sorry I forgot to say...
Thanks for joining us at MAWTT and Good Luck in the Challenge!
Big Hugs
Sue xx
- 25 May 2012 at 13:07
- Ally said...
what a wonderful experience to share someones life and being honoured to be a part of it. She will miss you too but maybe it's destiny that you don't have to see her pass away one day, or she doesn't want you to see her pass away. Sorry, it's a nasty thing of me to talk about that, but it was the first thing that popped in my mind when reading the story: she doesn't want you to bother you on her last bit of an adventurous journey. The teapot album is the loveliest thing of you to do. She will treasure it forever and will love you even more for giving her such a wonderful memory of a wonderful time with you!
Biggest of hugs to my lovely friend in UK, love you lots!! So glad I found you.
- 25 May 2012 at 19:56
- Laura said...
So so pretty.
- 25 May 2012 at 20:41
- Donna said...
Oh my goodness! This is the most beautiful, gorgeous tea pot card I've ever seen! Your work is fantabulous!!!!
I'm thinking of sending off an order for Wild Orchid, do you use their items a lot?
The sentiment behind the tea pot I think is so beautiful. Your friend will treasure this forever and most likely display it for her new friends to oogle at!
- 26 May 2012 at 05:56
- Kim. said...
Oh wow this is quite simply stunning.Thanks for sharing with us this week at Moving Along With The Times.
Kim xXx
- 26 May 2012 at 14:10
- *Alison* said...
wow.. this is stunning.. Thanks so much for entering the DYSU DT Call.. it is going to be hard to narrow it down.. not an easy task.. Good Luck!
-owner of
The Alley Way Stamps
DYSU CHallenge blog
Free digital stamps
- 27 May 2012 at 16:29
- Wendy L said...
Just gorgeous. xxx
- 27 May 2012 at 18:24
- ~♥~The Navy Wife~♥~ said...
OMG! This is amazing! Wow so much to look at and it is all so pretty! Such a darling creation! Thanks for playing with us this week at Moving Along With The Times :)
- 28 May 2012 at 11:54
- Heather said...
This is adorable Sussy, beautiful colouring, I love the shade and I'm blown awasy with so many awesome details.
Heather xx
- 28 May 2012 at 18:26
- Donna said...
Oh my gosh - Sassy, girl ~ I did go visit your inspiration for this card, but yours, Sassy, 300 x's more love, runs through and fills the heart! This card is a favorite of mine, guess because I'm a tea drinker!
What a wonderful woman you are to go and see this elderly lady that thinks so much of you she called as she did. This must have some to do with the bub that got you so down today. pssst on him! So much love in your heart and I bet she just will treasure this card for the rest of her days!
My Auntie is 106 this September. She's a wonderful woman, but slowing a bit as of late. Why - well, I guess being 106 is it!! Her sons are both in their 80's kicking life in the buttski! Pretty cool, love the longevity in the family!
Have a wonderful new week, dear Sassy!
- 29 May 2012 at 05:14
- Lisa Jane said...
wow this is stunning - so pretty
Thanks for joining us at MAWTT this week
Lisa x
- 29 May 2012 at 16:05


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SPARKLE X 2: Call it one of the first lessons of childhood: water reflects light. You might be in a pool or standing next to a puddle, and all of a sudden the light from the kitchen shimmers along the surface. We adults haven't forgotten that, but when it comes to maximizing holiday decorations and all-out seasonal beauty, we don't always use water elements to go for the maximum pow (especially if we don't happen to live near a small pond or fountain or lake). But boat owners? People who live on or near the ocean and row a kayak or pilot a yacht or steer a schooner? They get into the whole lights-on-water at Christmas time. So much so that several boat parades sail up and down the Golden State coast come December. (Okay, not the *whole* coast, which would take a heck of a long time for a kayak.)
INDEED... the grandparade of the bunch, the one that is 105 years old, is in Newport Beach each mid-December. But several other H20 processions occur in places along the coast, like Morro Bay, Santa Barbara, and Ventura. Morro Bay sails out on the evening of Saturday, Dec. 7. and we can only imagine that Morro Rock looks especially dramatic as it grows darker and the vessels' lights start to twinkle on. Santa Barbara's Pacific parade is the next day, on Sunday, Dec. 8, and there are fireworks to boot. Er, to boat? Yes. And Ventura's harbor-close celebration lands on Friday, Dec. 20 and Saturday, Dec. 21. It, too, has fireworks, as well as on shore holiday to-dos. Could you do every boat parade in California? Maybe, or you could come close, at least. Call it a special perk of living alongside a vast, ready-to-reflect body of water.

subset: commoncrawl


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Part 1 here
Initial plans to eat upstairs al fresco are called off because of a slight drizzle. We sit at the long banquette and wait expectantly. I chat with T House Chef Emi Mendoza about the menu she's created for the boutique hotel. "It's all about health here," she begins. "We serve food that's healthy and nourishing. All organic products and good fats like olive oil, everything that's good for the body." "And large portions too," pipes in April. "We don't like those big plates with tiny portions."
Admittedly, I have feelings of trepidation about the forthcoming meal. T House serves as a sanctum for healthy living and I have no doubt that its food will reflect that. I certainly can't expect country fried chicken and biscuits awash in gravy. "And the dessert!" I wail inwardly. "What's to become of the dessert?" I can only pray that I won't be served a plate of pineapple (I'm not too fond of the fruit, and Tagaytay is teeming with them.) While I practice tenets of clean living, when I'm at a restaurant, I want to eat food that's as satisfying as it is plentiful. Perhaps this isn't the place for that, so I have to wait and see but in my experience, "spa food," as I call it, is anything but. "Don't worry Lor, if you're still hungry after the meal we can go to another restaurant," my Bin whispers in my ear.
T House offers a four-course meal for P550 (all charges in) that include two choices of soup, salad, an entrée, and dessert. Shooters of soup, as the restaurant calls them make their debut on our table. I look quizzically at the little containers and wonder how to eat the soup properly. "You sip from them," Emi says kindly, noticing my confusion. There's a tiny spoon meant for dessert that I use gingerly at first but the shooter appeal is lost so I ditch the implement and sip away. Wild Mushroom and Fresh Tomato are paired on one plate and on the other, Broccoli and Almond and Carrot and Corriander. The latter pairing is thin and watered-down, true models of what I consider to be spa food. I hurriedly transfer to the other plate and feel much better. The tomato soup is vibrant with a blush of sweetness to temper the tomato's acidity. My favorite is the wild mushroom "" do I detect cream? Hooray!
Immediately following are salads, two kinds: the T House Signature Salad with Honey Dill Dressing and Tuna Citrus Salad with Roasted Capsicum Dressing. I'm enamored with the former's chunks of laguna cheese (kesong puti), and the sweet dressing that plays off of the dried mangoes' sweetness. This is only the second time that I've encountered the dried fruit in a salad and it bolsters my belief that it's a rightful addition. The menu states that there's also a sprinkling of roasted coconut present but I don't detect it either by sight or taste.
Two courses in and two more to go, it's going as I expect in terms of healthy (spa) food. I don't know what's to be served next but I'm already imagining a portion of steamed fish glazed in a teriyaki-miso sauce, "˜cause that's healthy, yes? Food aside, I'm thoroughly enjoying the company and the conversation with my Bin, T House owner April Inocentes, and of course, Chef Emi, who's especially endeared herself to me when we start comparing cookbook collections.
I also listen in rapt attention to April, whom I've discovered is vegetarian. Though I don't think too kindly of people who are such, I admire them for their decision to take a stand on not eating meat; in the same way, I hope they'll accept my decision to have steak. Live and let live, after all. I listen as April recounts "that moment" when she realized that she would swear off meat. "But don't you even miss it sometimes?" I ask in horror, visions of roast beef and lamb cutlets dancing in my mind. "Not at all," she replies cheerfully, spearing a lettuce leaf. "It was a decision I made." Lordy, I know I could never be that mighty of mind.
As if on cue, a server sets down a plate of Spiced Grilled Chicken and Vegetables with pesto dressing. It comes with a side of noodles bathed in aioli sauce (if I remember correctly), a foil to the curry top notes of the chicken. Bites of the roasted ratatouille-like vegetables are already leaving me feeling virtuous. I'm eating healthy!
A rather dark dish is brought on, this one a Roast Rack of Ribs with Caramelized Honey Onions. I almost can't believe my eyes that there's actually a blatant meat dish here "" I thought all beef and pork were verboten. Chef Emi says they're baby back ribs. So dark (almost too dark) are the onions and sweet that I can only assume that they've been slow-cooked for an hour. There's a smell of rich burnt-ness about them that liven up the pork. On this visit however, the meat is overcooked, thus dry.
Two drinks that we're urged to try are T House specialties: April's Mint — named after guess who? — and the House's Signature drink, a sprightly four-fruit blend that tastes dominantly of guava. It's a heavy drink, almost a dessert. April's Mint however, is more suited to accompany a meal and while I'm no fan of mint, its revivifying flavor and color encourages one sip after another.
Save the best for last is my motto, although I didn't expect it to apply here at T House. Salmon Meuniere with Wasabi Mash is a dish that obviously has Japanese influences. As is typical of that cuisine, flavors work as complements or counterpoints to each other as opposed to blending and orchestrating. The salmon is cooked just "˜til it's opaque; it's painfully tender, rendering teeth almost unnecessary. Its characteristic flavor blooms in my mouth and I feel myself getting giddy with joy. The mashed potatoes, despite their color, aren't that peppy "" just a hint of wasabi is noticeable and they're smooth through and through. "I love this dish! It's my favorite!" I proclaim at the table. "It's our favorite too," April and Emi echo.
So far, I'm happy with the way the meal has progressed. None of my fears came true: plates overflowing with cave-pungent herbs, dishes with a dire lack of flavor, and food so dietetically pure that they seek to show me, a food sinner, the way, the truth, and the "lite." I thank the food gods that I didn't have to mime a performance of a woman eating. How little I know about healthy food, mostly because I choose to be ignorant about it.
It's time for dessert and I feel dread. Do I see pineapples in my dessert future? No, but what arrives is a fruit just the same. Rather anemic in appearance, it's a Banana-Nangka (jackfruit) crumble. It stares forlornly at me and I feel the same, although I try to mask how I feel. I'm expecting this dessert to be rather chalky and dry since bananas have a lower water content than any other fresh fruit. Nangka also doesn't take too well to being baked unless it was parboiled beforehand to release its sugars and liquid. My hosts are watching me expectantly, though I'd really rather skip this course. I force myself to pick up a spoon and try it. Surprisingly, the dessert is moist not dry. It's sweet enough too, but two spoonfuls is all I will take. Whatever the dessert question is, this banana-nangka curiosity is not the answer. It doesn't do justice to the high-flying meal that even I, healthy food atheist, give kudos to. Dessert here needs to be re-thought.
Thank the food gods for breakfast and thank you Emi and April for giving me something anti-healthy to drown myself in: pancakes with peanut butter. A three flapjack stack over three inches high, these saucers are the zenith of pancake-dom. Pancake House, eat your heart out. My joy at this breakfast can't be contained. And there's native hot chocolate too "" furious with notes of nutmeg, it offers itself to be dipped into with some of the house wheat rolls. I don't get to try Boo's chicken tocino but it's clear the little girl is happy too.
T House
3195 Calamba Road, Tagaytay City
For inquiries and reservations: (046) 483.0011, (046) 483.0012
mobile: 0922-8THouse
email: firstname.lastname@example.com
website: www.thousetagaytay.com
Breakfast is included for T House guests.
Walk-in diners may be accommodated but reservations are highly appreciated and recommended.


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One of my favorite bloggers/writers is Tami Winfrey Harris. She's brilliant, and she can be found at What Tami Said and at Anti-Racist Parent. Here is just one of the many posts that I love:
written by Anti-Racist Parent editor Tami Winfrey Harris
Diversity is important to personal and community development. Diversity is not organic.
Kathleen Parker's article two week's ago in the Washington Post helped me to crystalize my thoughts on diversity, its importance and how community's can achieve successful and beneficial diversity. You may remember that Parker wasn't sold on new radio commercials celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Fair Housing Act:
Lately, the fine intent of eliminating discrimination seems to have morphed into diversity advocacy.
Before I proceed, let me say that I prefer a world in which not everyone is the same. I like that my neighbors include a gay couple and a single mother and that several languages are spoken on my street.
But happy diversity is an organic process that results when like-minded citizens congregate around shared values and interests. Often those interests and values have evolved from racial and ethnic identities, but not necessarily. Sometimes neighbors of diverse backgrounds share affection for old houses, or window boxes, or pet-friendliness.
That not all people have access to all the same housing opportunities is called life in a free-market society. But the fair-housing folks want life to be more fair, and the ads are warming us up for some really fun social engineering. Read more…
One of the ads that so disturb Ms. Parker:
The wormiest of three ads posted online features a mother and daughter just home from visiting mom's workplace. Daughter is breathless with wonder at how diverse Mom's workplace is, but wants to know why everyone in their neighborhood "looks just like us?" Dum-de-dum-dum.
I tend to think those who disdain proactive encouragement of diversity are really poor students of human behavior and that they don't really believe in diversity's importance. It feels more secure to be surrounded by people who look and think and eat and worship and work and live and parent the way you do. The echo chamber of homogenity is comforting in the way it tacitly approves of your life and choices. Who wouldn't want this? Like seeks like–it is easiest that way. It is the rare person who likes to be uncomfortable.
Diversity done correctly is almost always uncomfortable–at least a little. Living or socializing or working around people who are different–racially, ethnically, politically, religiously, etc.–requires compromise, requires empathy, requires withholding judgement, requires being open to learning. Being confronted with difference can mean having your way of looking, thinking, eating, worshipping, working, parenting and living challenged. It means having your biases and bigotry challenged (and we don't like to think we have any of those, do we?). But these are good things, yes? The discomfort of diversity yields better people and better communities. Diversity done correctly is also almost always rewarding. But it should be clear why it isn't and never will be "organic."
Anti-Racist Parent columnist Susan Lyons-Joell also weighed in on the article:
What do people want in their neighborhood? How about affordable housing, access to decent hospitals, grocery stores and businesses, a police force on your side, and a good public education and the careers that come with it. It's no coincidence that neighborhoods where those things are missing are those that overwhelmingly are minority-dominated. That's not the "free market," that's institutional racism held in place by economic disparity. Where one grows up can be a burden or a blessing, and it is not easily negated after the fact. Contrary to what Ms. Parker claims, diverse neighborhoods are not produced deliberately and intentionally – they are more often than not a product of economic and social circumstance. For that matter, so are the non-diverse neighborhoods, like the 1950s white-only enclaves that have only recently begun to have ethnic diversity, as those neighborhoods decline and the white people MOVE OUT.
It must be so nice to be able to pretend that a diverse environment is something willfully chosen or unchosen based on your own personal preference and needs. But it's not. It's a social justice issue, showing the inequalities, often along color lines, that still exist in America. There's nothing "free-market" about a social stratum that is stacked against you from day one because of where you live. Ms. Parker, if you're not committed to fixing it, you're part of the problem.
Readers, what do you think?
Thanks to Tami for allowing the cross-post!


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These homes have already been built, saving you time on your journey to homeownership. Whether you're relocating to a new state, moving with children, or just aren't in the mood to manage the construction process, you can move into your brand new dream home today!
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Your Sacramento dream home is more affordable than you think. Quick move-in homes in Sacramento start at just $288,000, giving people from all walks of life the chance to buy a home they love at a price point that works for their budget.
Use NewHomeSource to find the right inventory home for your lifestyle in Sacramento. Your dream home is closer than you think.


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Get a dose of Celebrity Style with Bobby Flay and Stephanie March's Hampton Dream Kitchen
Celebrity chef Bobby Flay's and wife actress Stephanie March recently invited Elle Decor into their dream Hamptons kitchen. This bold celebrity kitchen includes 2 ovens, a 10 burner commercial range, a griddle, a deep fryer. It's not surprise that Bobby's Flay's house is set up kind of like a restaurant. It holds 2 cafe tables and a large island.
The bold cabinets painted majestic blue by Benjamin Moore dominate the interior and set the tone for the overall space. Even if your not willing to go the extreme with a wall full of turquoise. There is still plenty to take a from this celebrity space. Keep reading to see how to get the look…
Benjamin Moore's Majestic Blue Paint – A wall full of turquoise cabinets is a lot for anyone to commit to, but try just a few accents in this bold blue hue would go a long way.
Antiqued Metal Drum Pendant, Restoration Hardware– Hung in a pair over an island these drum pendants from would cast the perfect glow.
Riviera Side Chair, Serena and Lily – I've been obsessed with the French style bistro chairs since I first laid eyes on them.
Adjustable Iron Table, West Elm, What's not to love about this industrial and adjustable iron table?
Maple End Grain Cutting Board, Overstock – Every good chef needs a large wood cutting board that's as stylish as it is functional.
Wicker Trays, Decorative Things – You can never go with wicker tray to catch all the things that seem to accumulate on kitchen counters.
*inspiration photo styled by Gregory Bissonnette; Photography by William Waldron for ELLEDECOR.com


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1646 - Isaac COLTON born in Springfield, Hampden County, Massachusetts. Isaac was the son of George COLTON and Deborah GARDNER. Isaac was my 8x-great grandfather.
1721 - Caleb MAXSON born. Caleb was the son of Jonathan MAXSON and Content ROGERS.
1724 - Benjamin FESSENDEN died in Cambridge, Middlesex Count, Massachusetts. Benjamin was the son of William FESSENDEN and Martha WYETH.
1730 - Ezekiel CRANDALL born. Ezekiel was the son of Joseph CRANDALL and Ann LANGWORTHY.
1765 - Johann Jurgen KAHRE died. Johann was Corinne's 8x-great grandfather.
1821 - Isaac LEMASTERS married Hannah Elizabeth COLEMAN in Shelby County, Ohio. Isaac was the son of Jacob LEMASTERS and Hannah ________.
1828 - Sarah BEALS born in Clinton County, Ohio. Sarah was the daughter of Nathan C. BEALS and Elizabeth CHEW.
1836 - Elizabeth BOTTS married George CHAMBERS in Monroe County, Indiana. Elizabeth was the daughter of Benjamin BOTTS and Frances PUTMAN.
1838 - Hannah LEMASTERS died in Shelby County, Ohio. Hannah was the daughter of Luman Walker LEMASTERS and Nancy YOUNG.
1838 - Nancy Ann LEMASTERS died in Shelby County, Ohio. Nancy was the daughter of Luman Walker LEMASTERS and Nancy YOUNG.
1853 - Joseph Garrett CROCKETT born. Joseph was the son of Joseph CROCKETT and Elizabeth JAMES.
1869 - Rachel Emma Pernina HALEY born in Medina County, Ohio. Rachel was the daughter of George Washington HALEY and Mary Jane SHERRICK.
1874 - Friedrich Heinrich WILD died in Evansville, Vanderburgh County, Indiana. Friedrich was the son of Johannes Heinrich WILD and Emilie DEUTSCH.
1883 - Frederick R. McVAY born in Shelby County, Ohio. Frederick was the son of James McVAY and Sarah FREDERICK.
1903 - Wilfred R. LEWIS married Ethel SONNER. Wilfred was the son of Jacob LEWIS and Marietta COOK.
1909 - Hallie BOYER born. Hallie was the daughter of Otis BOYER and Bessie RUSSELL.
1909 - Edward J. SAUER died. Edward was the son of George F. SAUER and Agnes Barbara HOFFHER. Edward was Corinne's 3x-great grandfather.


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Summer Youth Programs
2013 Mikwendaagozi - To Be Remembered
When: 3-week time period from 9am - noon
July 8-11; July 15-18; and July 22-24
Where: Center for Native American Studies, Whitman Hall
Presque Isle Park
Rock Street Community Darkroom
Who: local American Indian high school students
How: No cost to participate. Students will have schedule of drop-off and pick up points.
View Mikwendaagozi photo highlights.
2012 Creating and Learning Art in Native Settings (CLANS) Project
When: July 16 - 20
Where: Lac Vieux Desert Pow wow Grounds
Who: American Indian students grades 4-12
How: No cost to participate. Students must be dropped off and picked up at the LVD pow wow grounds
Contact: April Lindala (906) 227-1397 or Giiwe Martin (906) 358-0137
Students learned a variety of traditional arts and crafts during their 5-day program.
See the CLANS webpage.
2011 Science, Technology, Engineering, & Math Program (STEM)
When: Monday, June 20 - Friday, July 1, 2011
Where: Camp Nesbit & on the campus of Northern Michigan University
Who: Students going into grades 7, 8, or 9
How: No cost for students, but they must have transportation to Camp Nesbit near
Sidnaw, MI and be picked up from NMU campus
Contact: Rich Sgarlotti, Hannahville Indian School (906) 466-2952 x124
April Lindala, Center for Native American Studies (906) 227-1397
Heather Naigus, Great Lakes Indian Fish &Wildlife Commission (906)
The STEM portion of our summer youth program had 38 student participants from Michigan Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, and Wisconsin. They participated in teambuilding, leadership, and service-learning activities at Camp Nesbit (near Sidnaw, Michigan). On Saturday, June 25, they traveled to Baraga to assist at the KBIC Fish Derby. Part of those activities included planting trees and flowers to help beautify the bay area.
They then traveled to the campus of Northern Michigan University to learn about life at a college campus. Students stayed in the dorms, ate in the dining halls, and attended workshops in the college classroom setting. They also got to experience various activities off campus, such as: climbing Sugar Loaf, visiting Lakenenland, playing Warrior Games, and going into the field to learn about quarrying.
You can view their activities by clicking on 2011 STEM Highlights.
View Past STEM Program Highlights
2010 STEM Highlights
2009 STEM Camp Highlights
2009 STEM camp highlights
2008 STEM Camp Highlights
2011 National Indian Youth Leadership Program & Onji-akiing
Watch video highlights from Native Report.
When: NIYLP: Monday, July 25 - Thursday, July 28
Onji-akiing: Thursday July 28 - Sunday, July 31
Where: Both programs take place at Camp Nesbit
Who: Students going into grades 5-6 may apply
How: No cost for students, but they must have transportation to and from Camp Nesbit near Sidnaw, MI
Contact: Rich Sgarlotti, Hannahville Indian School (906) 466-2952 x124
April Lindala, Center for Native American Studies (906) 227-1397
Heather Naigus, Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission (906)
The younger middle school students participated in their program at Camp Nesbit. They were able to share the same teambuilding, leadership, and service-learning activities as the STEM participants.
2011 NIYLP/Anji-Akiing Highlights
View Past NIYLP Program Highlights
2010 Program Highlights
2009 Program Highlights
2011 Anishnabe Future Leaders Camp
According to the Inter-Tribal Council website:
AFL Camp for 2011 has been CANCELED


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Star Trek – Voyager (1995)
CategoriesFree Classic Movies
The first Season of Star Trek Voyager is available on Hulu. It's the adventures of the first Star Trek franchise based around space mom. Space has turned into Southern California and somebody took a wrong turn. But space mom will get em' home.
Mom is tough. She'll toss you out an airlock or blast you with a bunch of tri-cobalt devices. Her taste in clothes can be a little strange. And Voyager is a real piece of junk. It can't make it to the 7-11 for a gallon of milk without having a warp core breach. Voyager must be a BMW.
I'm sure glad J.J. Abrams is on the case.


text: Salem Health Foundation |---Your contributions at work |---Board of Directors |---Foundation staff |---Donate online |---In the News |---Donors |---Wellness Classic Salem Health West Valley Foundation |---1914 Society |---West Valley Foundation Gala |---Donate online |---Healing Garden Salem Health Foundation Your contributions at work Board of Directors Foundation staff Donate online In the News Donors Wellness Classic Salem Health West Valley Foundation 1914 Society West Valley Foundation Gala Donate online Healing Garden Home> About us> Make a donation> Salem Health Foundation> Donate online Make a gift At the Salem Health Foundation, our mission is to help our community improve its health and wellness. This means better access to information, education and training. It also means access to new equipment, new services and new ideas. Thanks to your ongoing support, our vision for a healthy community gets closer every day. Remember, together, we can make it happen. Thank you for your interest in donating to the Salem Health Foundation. Please select one of the following methods. Online (credit card donations using a secure form) Monthly donation Print a donation form Make a gift of securities Call the Foundation Office at 503-814-1990 E-mail the Foundation office Again, thank you for your interest and support! Learn about tribute giving. Learn about special recognition and benefits at the $250, $500 and $1000+ levels. Salem Health employee giving portal (Salem Health intranet) Tribute giving When you make a gift in honor or in memory of a loved one, we'll send a letter acknowledging the gift to whomever you wish. Learn more


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ALMOSTBLACK's self-described 'Post Japonism' channels the spirit of traditional Japanese aesthetics across a dynamic range of punk and streetwear-infused menswear collections. Active since 2015, the label has served as a platform for designers Shunta Nakajima and Masaki Kawase to invoke a sense of timeless poetry within the framework of global contemporary fashion. The name ALMOSTBLACK itself references the deep indigo 'kachiiro' dyes used for samurai uniforms, said to bring good luck and victory. Dark monochrome pieces appear in geometric, voluminous cuts with strong unexpected accents like elongated, bold zippering that runs well across conventional boundaries, from shoulders to sleeves, or down the length of a trouser leg. Dynamic patternings and abstract imagery, from glitched floral graphics to rust detailing, add a splash of tactile and sensory interest. Embroidery, layering, graphic appliqués and post-war Japanese art prints combine for a true eclecticism, mirroring the unique balancing act of adaptability and aestheticism that characterizes traditional Japanese clothing.
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A Shirtless Jared Padalecki Will Be Back for More 'Supernatural' – Hunk of the Day
The CW's shows have been biting their nails the past couple of weeks, just waiting to hear the news that they've been canceled — it definitely happened to 'The Secret Circle' and 'Ringer' — but one show we won't have to worry about never seeing again is 'Supernatural.'
Thanks to the often shirtless Jared Padalecki (no, not really, but we sure like to think he had some sort of impact), the hit show will definitely be returning for season 8.
We're confident that most of network's pre-teen viewers can't stop watching because of this guy's out-of-this-world abs. Seriously, we need to get his workout routine and give it to our boyfriends and husbands. If you need convincing, check out his best shirtless moments from 'Supernatural.'


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In this post, I will present an integration of FLIR Lepton Long-wavelength Infrared Camera to an Android application over Bluetooth Low Energy connection. Long-wavelength IR (LWIR) cameras are not new. Previously, however, they were priced in the thousands of dollars range (if not higher). Lepton is still pricey (currently about 300 USD) but its price is low enough so that mere mortals can play with it. FLIR sells a smartphone integration product (called FLIR One) but it is currently only available for iPhone and locks the camera to one device. Our prototype allows any device with BLE connection to access this very special camera.
The prototype system presented here needs a relatively long list of external hardware components and it is also not trivial to prepare these components. This list is the following:
- An Android phone with Bluetooth 4.0 capability. I used Nexus 5 for these experiments.
- An FLIR Lepton module. My recommendation is the FLIR Dev Kit from Sparkfun that has the camera module mounted on a breakout panel that is much easier to handle than the original FLIR socket.
- A BeagleBone Black card with an SD Card >4GB.
- A BLED112 BLE dongle from Silicon Labs (formerly Bluegiga).
- This package contains the stuff for the embedded computer.
- This package is the Android application that connects to it.
1. Hook up the FLIR camera with the BeagleBone Black
Fortunately the BBB's SPI interface is completely compatible with the Lepton's so the "hardware" just needs a couple of wires. Do the following connections (P9 refers to the BBB's P9 extension port).
2. Prepare the BBB environment
I use Snappy Ubuntu. Grab the SD card and download the image as documented here. Before flashing the SD card, we have to update the device tree in the image so that the SPI port is correctly enabled. Unpack bt_ircamera.zip that you have just downloaded and go to the dt subdirectory. There you find a device tree file that I used for this project. Beside the SPI1 port, it also enables some serial ports. These are not necessary for this project but may come handy.
Compile the device tree:
dtc -O dtb -o am335x-boneblack.dtb am335x-boneblack.dts
The output is the binary device tree (am335x-boneblack.dtb) that needs to be put into the kernel image file. Let's suppose that the downloaded image file is ubuntu-15.04-snappy-armhf-bbb.img and you have an empty directory at /mnt/img. Then do the following:
fdisk -l ubuntu-15.04-snappy-armhf-bbb.img
Look for the first partition and note the partition image name and the offset:
ubuntu-15.04-snappy-armhf-bbb.img1 * 8192 139263 65536 c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
Note that the actual partition image name may differ depending on the Snappy image you downloaded. Calculate the offset as 8192*512=4194304
Now mount the partition:
mount -o loop,offset=4194304 ubuntu-15.04-snappy-armhf-bbb.img /mnt/img
Then copy the dtb into the image, unmount and write the image to SD card (on my computer the SD card interface is /dev/sdc, check before you issue the dd command!):
cp am335x-boneblack.dtb /mnt/img/a/dtbs
umount /mnt/img
dd if=ubuntu-15.04-snappy-armhf-bbb.img of=/dev/sdc bs=32M
Now you have an SD card that you can insert into the BBB and boot from it. Once you reached the Ubuntu prompt and logged in (ubuntu/ubuntu), there's one thing more: the Snappy prototype application depends on the libpng package which is not part of the default Snappy image. But before you do it, check whether the SPI device was enabled correctly:
root@localhost:~# ls /dev/spidev1.0
Now about the png library. Download the armhf image from this location:
wget http://ports.ubuntu.com/pool/main/libp/libpng/libpng12-0_1.2.50-1ubuntu2_armhf.deb
Copy it to the BBB (update your card's IP address according to your network policies):
scp libpng12-0_1.2.50-1ubuntu2_armhf.deb email@example.com:~
Then go to the BBB console and install the deb package:
sudo mount -o remount,rw /
sudo dpkg -i libpng12-0_1.2.50-1ubuntu2_armhf.deb
sudo mount -o remount,ro /
3. Prepare the BLE dongle
The BLED112 stores the GATT tree in its firmware, hence in order to provide the GATT services that connect the BBB with the Android device, a new firmware needs to be generated and installed in the dongle. The config files are located in the config subdirectory in the bt_ircamera.zip archive. Follow the steps in this post to generate and install the new firmware. Once you are done, you can simply plug the dongle into the USB port of the BBB.
4. Install the prototype applications
The prototype system has two parts. The application running on the BBB acts as BLE server, fetches images from the FLIR camera and transmits them over BLE. The Android application acts as BLE client, fetches images from the BLE server and displays them. The BBB part is located in bt_ircamera.zip and the Android part is in IRCamera.zip. The latter is just the source part of the Android Studio project tree - I omitted all the garbage that Android Studio generates into the project folders. For the BBB installation, follow the instructions in this blog post. Launch the BBB application like this as root:
/apps/ircamera.sideload/1.0.0/bin/ircamera /dev/ttyACM0
and you are ready to go. On the Android side, select the BLE node with the name "test", connect, click the "Take picture" button, wait for the image to download and there you are. Note that the images are saved on the SD card, which means that they also appear in the stock "Photos" application.
Now at last we can get to the technical issues with this prototype. One interesting aspect is that there is no standard BLE service that provides the functionalities - image capture triggering, image fetching - our system needs. That's not a problem, we defined our own BLE service. It is easiest to follow this service in irc_gattBLED112.xml (bt_ircamera.zip, config subdirectory).
The service has a custom UUID, generated randomly:
<service uuid="274b15a3-b9cd-4e5e-94c4-1248b42b82f8" advertise="true">
Also, its 3 GATT characteristics are in the non-standard UUID domain:
<characteristic uuid="00000000-b9cd-4e5e-94c4-1248b42b82f8" id="irc_len">
<characteristic uuid="00000001-b9cd-4e5e-94c4-1248b42b82f8" id="irc_offs">
<characteristic uuid="00000002-b9cd-4e5e-94c4-1248b42b82f8" id="irc_pic">
The interaction goes like the following. The BLE client connects and reads the irc_len characteristic. This characteristic is tagged as "user" on the BLE server side meaning that the BLE application must generate the value on the fly, when the attribute is read. In our case, reading this attribute fetches an image from the FLIR camera, converts it into PNG format and stores it in the apps' data folder, returning only the PNG file size. The Android application now can fetch the image piece by piece. First the Android application writes the irc_offs characteristic to inform the BLE server, what is the starting location of the fragment it wants to fetch. Then it reads the irc_pic characteristic which returns a maximum of 20 bytes of image data. This makes the image download very slow (takes about 10-20 second to download a general 5-6 Kbyte image to the Android application) but the restriction comes from a BLE protocol layer. Maybe the old RFCOMM from Bluetooth Classic would have been actually a better option for this application.
Update: I updated the client/server application to make the download faster (it is still quite slow). In order to speed up, I removed the explicit setting of the file offset (so the irc_offs characteristic is not used anymore). This made the download faster but there's still room for improvement.
Other than the issue with fragment size, both applications are pretty straighforward. Maybe the colors of the IR image are worth discussing a bit. The FLIR camera returns a matrix of 80x60 pixels, each pixel has a depth of 12 bit. Grayscale presentation is the most evident option but most displays have only 256 gray colors. In order to make the IR shades more visible, I used fake coloring. The algorithm is very simple: after the image is fetched, the maximum and the minimum IR intensity is calculated and the range between the two are mapped into a rainbow gradient of 400 colors.


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Casey Defense Team Reviewing 100 Items
Defense Attorney Says Inspection Will Take All Day
Members of Casey Anthonys defense team are inside of the Orange County Sheriffs Office this afternoon reviewing some of the key physical evidence that prosecutors will rely on to seek the death penalty against her.
Attorney Cheney Mason said he and the rest of the defense team will be reviewing close to 100 items of evidence. Mason said they will only be taking a look at the evidence not testing or analyzing it. He said many of the items come from the scene where Caylees remains were found.
He acknowledged that he filed an objection to Judge Belvin Perry in regards to his releasing a list of evidence the defense team plans to inspect.
Inside the sheriffs headquarters, Jose Baez shook hands with Yuri Melich, the investigator who has been on the case since the beginning.
| | Special Section
Henry Lee, the defense forensic evidence expert, deflected prosecutors concerns that he misplaced a key piece of evidence in the recent Phil Spector case.
Well, I was just in Washington, D.C., testifying and no one said, nobody mentioned that, said Lee.
Also in attendance this morning was Richard Eiklenbloom, a Dutch trace evidence expert; his wife, Thelma, a Dutch coroner and defense evidence expert; and Jeff Ashton, a prosecutor.
Mason said that the first inspection will take all day, and if there is anything the defense team wants to examine further or test, they will have to make another request to the judge to do so.


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Daily News/CUNY Immigration Hotline
Citizenship NOW!, believed to be the largest program of its kind in the nation, was co-launched by the Daily News and CUNY in April 2004 to address the systemic lack of access to free immigration information for the people who need it most
[Immigration News]
As the Obama administration discusses steps forward for comprehensive immigration reform, many immigrants in the New York City area are faced with a pressing need to understand current immigration law and policy.
Beginning Monday, April 26, the New York Daily News and City University of New York (CUNY) are launching their eighth free annual Citizenship NOW! hotline to help immigrants navigate the complex path to citizenship.
Citizenship NOW!, believed to be the largest program of its kind in the nation, was co-launched by the Daily News and CUNY in April 2004 to address the systemic lack of access to free immigration information for the people who need it most. Since its
inception, the program has helped more than 70,000 people.
This year's week-long hotline will operate from Monday, April 26 to Friday, April 30, between 9am and 7pm, with nearly 400 trained counselors available by telephone over the course of the week. Calls will be answered in English and Spanish. We also
have counselors who speak: Mandarin, Cantonese, Russian, Korean, Italian, Haitian Creole, Bengali, Polish, French, Yiddish, and Arabic. The Citizenship NOW! hotline will have immigration counselors who speak Mandarin or Cantonese, Russian, Korean, Italian, Haitian Creole, Bengali, Polish, French, Yiddish, and Arabic for pre-event interviews.
Prior to the event, on April 8, the cast of the Tony Award winning Broadway musical, In The Heights, will perform for more than 400 volunteers at a day long training seminar at the CUNY Graduate Center, on 34th Street and 5th Avenue.
Participating volunteers come from the CUNY School of Law, the Legal Aid Society, the New York Immigration Coalition, the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the CUNY Immigration Centers and the 20 CUNY campuses, and many other community based organizations and elected officials offices.
Citizenship NOW! is led by Daily News columnist Allan Wernick, an attorney and Chair of CUNY's Citizenship and Immigration project. Wernick is also a Professor of Law at Baruch College; he writes the weekly "Immigration Advice" column for the Daily
News, as well as the nationally syndicated column, "Immigration and Citizenship."
"Immigration is one of the most important issues facing this country and is a subject that affects the lives of many New Yorkers," said Martin Dunn, Editor-in-Chief and Deputy Publisher of the Daily News. "It's our mission with Citizenship NOW! to provide New Yorkers, their friends and family members who seek citizenship, with the most comprehensive information and assistance on the many complex immigration issues they face today."
Professor Wernick said, "Immigration has become one of the most important issues on the political scene. Each year some 100,000 permanent residents settle in the city, and approximately the same number qualify for naturalization annually. In addition, there are an estimated 11.5 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S., with some 800,000 in the New York area. In the current economic environment, the need for immigration and citizenship application information and assistance is great and
growing, despite existing federal and state resources for these services."
"The Daily News and CUNY partnership is an outstanding public service that helps tens of thousands of families gain access to the American Dream," said CUNY Chancellor Matthew Goldstein. "We are proud to be the leading urban public university in the
country in offering free quality citizenship services to its students and the immigrant communities of our City and State."
On Monday, April 26, the call-in numbers for the Citizenship NOW! Immigration hotline will be available in the New York Daily News, at nydailynews.com, and at cuny.edu/citizenship. TTY/TTD is also available. Univision 41 and WADO 1280 AM Radio
will also provide extensive coverage as our Spanish media partners.
"Speaking Truth To Empower."
Latest comments
- Ann GarrisonFebruary 22,2018 @ 08:03 PM
I think you have "Filtered HTML" turned on here. If you switch to "Full HTML," it will probably...
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Dear Nick,
I use these quite a bit; For some reason mine chip all the time. I buy them from Sport aid. IF no one buys them, let me know.
Email me at email@example.com. Best Regards,
Passages Malibu
cheap holidays to menorca
After breakfast in our hotel we continue our trip towards Tam Coc. Tam Coc is situated in a wonderful and spectacular setting of lime stone rocks rising between the magnificent green rice paddies. This place is also called the \"Halong Bay of the Land\". While making a site-seeing tour per boat downstream the river, you will immediately recognize why this place deserves this name.
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Philadelphia Police Brutality Lawyer
We return to Hanoi by car and drive via Hai Phong to Ninh Binh. Hai Phong is one of the most important economic centers of the north. During a trip around town we will visit the impressing Communal House and the Du Hang Pagoda.
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Ha Long Bay was recognized as Natural World Heritage by UNESCO in 1994 and is worldwide known for its unique landscape endowed by wind and water.
I visited your myspace page, small world I work in Tinley Park!!
Hi Nick, You look like a cool guy to know. My name's Brock, PT wheeler and full time jock.
Yeah, I really wanted to say Hi! But was in a rush. I promise I'll make up for it next time I see you down there. I"ll say Hi. OK!! Wow, those blisters were bad, I would of popped them also, so don't sweat it. Yeah, Joyce is excellent, I like seeing and chatting with her. I've had Dr. Roth for 5 years now. Had Naussbaum before him.
Sorry it took me so long to respond to this, didn't realize until now you responded.
Enjoy your week,
Yea, I saw you roll past the door, and thought you looked familiar. I thought... hey, isn't that....? You heard them all bitching about my having blisters popped? lol seems everyone had different opinions for me. They look mainly bruised now. Joyce is great. I've had Dr. Roth for 20 years now. Hope your appointments went well. Thanks for the note. Maybe we'll actually say "hi" next time our paths cross. Enjoy!


text: for a long time I didn't update my iTunes cuz I would always dislike the newest version, but since my laptop crashed and I had to buy a new one, well, I had to give in. I ripped a lot of my music onto my iPod and before I just popped in a cd and I clicked/marked the songs that I wanted. Now in this new version, I can only seem to import the whole bloody cd - I don't like it. Or am I just doing something very wrong ?


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Follow RFF News on your cell phone. Text follow rff to 40404 you will receive txt messages with RFF News
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Brianna could be a sleeper. I think she's a little cutie as well. I'm just waiting to see when she has an impact, because I don't see her as the quiet/under the radar type. I don't think Steph can win for the simple fact that everybody has her on their hit list. At some point the decision will be made to get her out because she is too strong.
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Ashland, Massachusetts
|This article is a stub. Help us to expand it by contributing your knowledge. For county and town page guidelines, visit U.S. County Page Content Suggestions.
Ashland is a town in Massachusetts. It was formed in 1846 and was previously called Framingham/Holliston/Hopkinton. It can be found in Middlesex county and is a part of the Southern registry of deed district. For more information, contact the county at 101 State St., Ashland 01721. On the attached map, Ashland is shown as 51 in Middlesex county.
For information about the state of Massachusetts see Massachusetts Family History Research.


text: Bjork stopped by the Colbert Report last night to talk about her new album "Biophilia," which has an interactive iPad component that lets listeners manipulate the music with various on-screen elements. The interview wasn't without the obligatory technical difficulties, but thanks to some expressive gestures we all came away enlightened as to the difference between a mouse and a touchscreen. [The Colbert Report]


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Smarter access means Kaba and Dorma joining forcesRümlang,
Kaba offers high-quality, innovative access and security solutions to protect people and property. We give our customers security through local presence and by developing, implementing, and managing needs-based, integrated solutions that provide optimum benefit in terms of security, organizational efficiency, and convenience. It is important to us that you feel comfortable with our products, solutions, and services.
The vision of smart access solutions connects us with Dorma, a leader in our business. Since its founding in Ennepetal (Germany) in 1908, Dorma has developed into a worldwide reliable partner for premium access solutions and services. From office buildings to hospitals to stadiums, Dorma always strives for the smartest access solution to contribute to better buildings worldwide. Dorma succeeds in combining tradition and technology to form one philosophy and to develop exceptional solutions with its portfolio, service, and individual advice. We at Kaba share this vision and intend to continue to develop it together with Dorma.
Smart access solutions for your satisfaction
Dorma and Kaba are becoming dorma+kaba. A merger that offers added value at every stage of the collaboration. As a company, we jointly stand for more than 150 years of security and reliability. Our merger strengthens our companies in many ways. For example, the complementary ranges of both companies allow us to offer a comprehensive portfolio of products, solutions, and services around doors and secure access to buildings and rooms from a single source.
Visit www.dormakaba.com and see for yourself.
We share our vision with you and invite you to share your vision with us! Details on why our merger offers added value specifically to you can be found in our brochure.


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On the day that Worldwatch Institute launched State of the World 2013: Is Sustainability Still Possible? 69,578 cyclists crossed the Dronning Louise Bridge into the centre of Copenhagen providing a very simple answer to that very weighty environmental question. Of course sustainability is possible, if we make sustainable choices. In the Danish capital, hundreds of thousands of people have chosen the bicycle as their main mode of transport, turning Nørrebrogade, a main thoroughfare into the city, into Europe's busiest road in terms of bicycle traffic.
Worldwatch president Robert Engelman kicked off the launch event by talking about the concept of "sustainability". He asked whether the word itself is "sustainable" – coming to the conclusion that yes, it is possible, but that a lot of work needs to be done. In the spirit of the first section of the State of the World 2013 report, which he authored, Engelman explains that the book examines if there are market indicators that show us when we are surpassing sustainability in the different resources that we use, and in the second section whether we can use those methods to develop policies for a more sustainable state. The third section asks how we will have to adapt if we don't manage to achieve a sustainable society.
Is there a way to bring real prosperity and real quality to the world without having to overuse the earth's resources, he asks. He explains the importance of moderating the amount of fossil fuels that are responsible for increasing temperatures which may potentially make the world uninhabitable by humans.
Engelman gave the example of Cuba becoming truly sustainable when it lost its main patron in 1989 - after the collapse of the Soviet Union - and was forced to become more self-sufficient and less dependant on fossil fuels. Cuba also started creating municipal gardens, and improving life and health indicators.
He said that we can not have environmental sustainability without social sustainability because it will not last. He highlighted the potential of using natural methods to absorb carbon and added that we cannot solve the problem of sustainability if we do not have national, international, and local governance. "Get the government to prioritize public interest over private well-being." Engelmans says. The real question Engelman raises is how to make people think of the welfare of future generations when they live so well today, and concludes that the real work in sustainability will be made in the social sphere. "Time is the scarcest resource of all, but our minds, brains, hearts, and souls are the most abundant natural resources of all. We need to use them for this cause".
The Danish Development Minister Christian Friis Bach followed by also talking about the importance of cutting down on fossil fuels. "If we got rid of fossil fuel subsidies we could cut global emissions by 13%", and gave the example of the World Bank who offered Egypt a social protection scheme in return for cutting fossil fuel consumption. He says that the combination of less fossil fuels, energy efficient measures, together with tariffs for renewable energies and a social protection scheme would result in lower CO2 emissions, less poverty, more growth, and improved welfare for the country. "That's how one needs to tackle sustainability and it can be done", he said.
The General Secretary of the Nordic Council of Ministers Dagfinn Høybråten pointed out ways in which leaders can move the sustainability road from "babble" to action. "If there is political will to stay on the goals and stay on the action, we can do it", He says that it's not about scarcity but about access to resources. He also outlined the importance of teamwork and showcased a number of joint projects. He said that in the decision making process, there needs to be more content, and not just minor improvements.
Questions from the audience to the speakers on pension funds, de-growth, and de-population, and whether the world is moving away from sustainability sparked vigorous debate. The President of the Worldwatch Institute, Robert Engelman, said that what we need to achieve is a higher standard of living with more quality, and that this in no way implies reducing the population to do that.
The second session of the conference, Getting to True Sustainability, examined policies and perspectives that could build a truly sustainable society if implemented. Ed Groark, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Worldwatch Institute, set the tone for the discussion asking how we came to live in a society that is exploiting all of its resources to make products that we dispose of. "It takes a hundred cans of water to make aluminum for one can" was just one of the examples he gave to show that we do not really think about where these products go once we no longer need them. Is it possible that corporations evolve in a way that they can support our grandchildren's society indefinitely and sustainably? He suggested five principles in order for a corporation to become sustainable - recycle materials, renewable energy, waste free production, resource productivity, non-linear productivity. He concluded that companies will get a competitive advantage over time and will evolve to become more profitable through sustainability.
Jasper Steinhausen, Chief Market Manager of Sustainability at COWI, a leading northern European consulting group that provides state-of-the-art services within the fields of engineering, environmental science, and economics, responded positively to the question of whether businesses can function as a driver of sustainability. He suggested a shift to renewable energy and biodegradable materials. "Reuse of second or third-hand products might create local jobs" he said and concluded that companies should challenge existing structures and routines in order to survive.
Katherine Richardson, Professor in Biological Oceanography at Copenhagen University, took the debate to a different level by talking about the climate and about how the human species can actually affect the whole way that the planet functions. She pointed to the different stages the earth has gone through in the past, where at some point the human species understood its course, and thrived, and underlined nine different points where scientists wouldn't want to intervene but let nature and humans take their course.
On the question of whether sustainability is still possible she said that this is not the question we should ask ourselves because "We've only just developed the tools for sustainability and there is no definition for the environmental and social components". "Who has the right to use the last half of a certain resource?" she asked and concluded by saying that if we are going to use that resource we should use it properly. "We have an important role as human beings and we should not ask how to take care of the planet but how to take care of ourselves", Richardson said.
Last but not least, Martin Ågerup, Director of CEPOS (Centre for Political Studies) appeared in the role of the devil's advocate, and challenged the previous three speakers by saying that he does not consider sustainability an emergency - he said it's all about adapting because "society was never sustainable is a steady state but we're still around because we have adapted to new situations". Instead he defended the free market by saying that it has been quite capable of dealing with scarcity and environmental problems. "Most of us are better off than 20 years ago and we are solving environmental problems by recognising that we can adapt" he said. He questioned certain aspects of the book such as working time policies, minimum and maximum wages, progressive tax rates approaching 100%, rewriting our cultural narrative and copying New Guinea and Cuba as an example of sustainability saying that all this is utopian stuff and not the kind of thing that will move us forward. He agreed with the idea of a common tax system.
Katherine Richardson responded by saying that there is a labour, economic, and resource limited market, we need to make the transition and it's not certain that the market can do that on its own. She also argued that some things the market and technology can not change in the natural system such as phosphorus which cannot be replaced. Technology can't make energy either. There will be a transition to other forms of energy, Martin Ågerup says but the question is how and when.
Can businesses find ways of using resources more efficiently? Is sustainability a useful term? Should we be limited to how much we earn or how many crops we grow? "No, I don't want that", Martin Ågerup says. But in Richardson's opinion, "Businesses will take it where they want to go". Groark is keen to point out that. "Corporations will start responding to a little bit of scarcity but unless it is hurting them economically they will not have the motivation, but they are quite adaptable. We just have to give them the motivation to do that", he adds.
"We are not talking about picking the winner. All we are saying is where society wants to go in the future." Richardson concludes.
A lot of ideas, a lot of different opinions, and a lot of intellectual passion did not always agree. But where the experts DO agree is that as human beings, we need to collectivley get on our bikes and make sustainability a practical reality. Copenhagen's thousands of cyclists would surely approve.


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Hi, my name is Victor, I'm 21 and I live in Dublin - Ireland. I enjoy pc games, It's where I mostly spend my free time. I believe I am trustable, fun and, most important, friendly. I have lots of games, you may not believe (in fact not even I believed when my mother told me) but I started playing computer games when I was 2 years old, the first game I played was Doom Shareware (DEMO), believe or not I still play it. My favourite games are: Dungeon Keeper (hated 2 though, and cant wait for 3!) all Valve and Id Software games (never played Commander Keen though), Killing Floor, Roller Coaster Tycoon (1 and 2), Duke Nukem 3D (All Expansions), Age Of Empires (2 and The Conquerors), and many others.
Only registered members can share their thoughts. So come on! Join the community today (totally free - or sign in with your social account on the right) and join in the conversation.
i finnally owned hoe (kf-biohazzard solo support specialist lvl 5)


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Diversity Mission Statement
Branch of Equal Opportunity & Diversity (EOD) manages the Equal Opportunity Program for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) in compliance with the Titles VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended in 1991; the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) of 1967; the Equal Pay Act of 1963; the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended, particularly Sections 501, 504, and 508; various Executive Orders and directives from the Department of the Interior (DOI), Department of Justice (DOJ), Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC); minority higher education requirements, and other related statutes, orders and court decisions.
The Equal Opportunity Program staff work to ensure a discrimination/harassment-free work environment for all employees, and to ensure that all employees and applicants for employment are provided a full and fair opportunity to contribute to the fullest extent of their abilities in pursuing a career at the FWS. We also strive to recruit potential applicants from diverse backgrounds into FWS.
Some of our responsibilities include:
- Developing and delivering Equal Employment Opportunity related training for managers, supervisors, and employees;
- Providing guidance and assistance on EEO related matters to managers, supervisors, and employees;
- Managing the discrimination complaints programs including providing EEO Counseling, investigating complaints of discrimination, ensuring implementation of settlement agreements, tracking complaints activities, reviewing reports of investigation for completeness, and coordinating hearings and appeals with DOI, EEOC, and the Office of the Solicitor;
- Collecting, analyzing and disseminating workforce data, conducting analysis of workforce trends, issuing reports on workforce-related data, diversity and complaints trends, and other types of EEO-related information; and
- Developing and monitoring implementation of the EEOC, MD-715 affirmative programs of equal employment opportunity under Section 717 of Title VII and effective affirmative action programs under Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act.
- Working with FWS supervisors to recruit potential applicants from diverse backgrounds.


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Have you ever deployed a change to production and thought "All went well – Systems are operating as expected!�? but then you had to deal with users complaining that they keep running into errors?
We recently moved some of our systems between two of our data centers – even moving some components to the public cloud. Everything was prepared well, system monitoring was setup and everyone gave the thumbs up to execute the move. Immediately following, our Operations dashboards continued to show green. Soon thereafter I received a complaint from a colleague who reported that he couldn't use one of the migrated services (our free dynaTrace AJAX Edition) anymore as the authentication web service seemed to fail. The questions we asked ourselves were:
- Impact: Was this a problem related to his account only or did it impact more users?
- Root Cause: What is the root cause and how was this problem introduced?
- Alerting: Why don't our Ops monitoring dashboards show any failed web service calls?
It turned out that the problem was in fact
- Caused by an outdated configuration file deployment
- It only impacted employees whose accounts were handled by a different authentication backend service
- Didn't show up in Ops dashboards because the used SOAP Framework always return HTTP 200 transporting any success/failure information in the response body which doesn't show up in any web server log file
In this blog I give you a little more insight on how we triaged the problem and some best practices we derived from that incident in order to level-up technical implementations and production monitoring. Only if you monitor all your system components and correlate the results with deployment tasks will you be able to deploy with more confidence without disrupting your business.
Bad Monitoring: When Your End Users become your Alerting System
So – when I got a note from a colleague that he could no longer use dynaTrace AJAX Edition to analyze the web site performance of a particular web site I launched my copy to verify this behavior. It failed with my credentials which proved that it was not a local problem on my colleague's machine:


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Making Of | Wynton Marsalis On Music
Preview: Season 1 | 1m 22s
Wynton Marsalis talks about composing original music for "The War."
Aired: 09/22/07Video has closed captioning.
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Corporate funding is provided by General Motors, Anheuser-Busch, and Bank of America. Major funding is provided by Lilly Endowment, Inc.;PBS; National Endowment for the Humanities; CPB; The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations; The Pew Charitable Trusts; The Longaberger Foundation; and Park Foundation, Inc.


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In last week's impressions of the NCAA Football 11 demo, we reported that EA Sports and the game's longtime analyst Lee Corso had mutually parted ways for this year's game. That's not the case.
Corso, 74, is not a part of the booth team in NCAA Football 11's PS3 or Xbox 360 versions. But he has in fact renewed his contract with the studio, and still reprises his role in the PS2 version. Corso also appears in the game's new iPhone version, and his voice will still be heard in parts of the Xbox 360 and PS3 version, such as some Dynasty features.
We've been told that while Corso is a fixture in ESPN's College GameDay studio show, he hasn't called a live game in years, so his retirement from the NCAA Football booth squad was made for reasons of realism. That said, Corso remains one of the traditional voices of college football for many fans, and EA Sports wanted to preserve that association in its game too.
This year's announcing team of Brad Nessler and Kirk Herbstreit are in their 10th year of calling the virtual action, and are joined by sideline reporter Erin Andrews. Corso had been in the booth with Nessler and Herbstreit since all three began with the series back in NCAA Football 2002 on the PlayStation 2.


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The restaurant and food-and-wine scene/appreciation has grown exponentially in the last decade in the Jupiter area so it's no surprise that restaurateurs, chefs and sommeliers from the Palm Beach area would want in on the Friends of Jupiter Beach Food & Wine Festival, not to mention the cause it benefits.
Buccan's and Imoto's Chef Clay Conley, for one, will be participating (he did last year, too, as seen right) in the 3rd-annual festival, which takes place Saturday, 3-6 p.m., along Jupiter's waterfront Riverwalk events plaza (beneath the east span of the Indiantown Road bridge).
Others from Palm Beach slated to demonstrate or share their good food, drink and/or expertise include Cafe Boulud's Sommelier Mariya Kovacheva and The Breakers' Master Sommelier Virginia Philip, owner of a 7-month-old eponymous wine shop/academy in downtown West Palm Beach.
They're among dozens of area restaurants, chefs and wine-and-spirits purveyors who will set the waterside stage for the festival, which raises funds to support the Friends of Jupiter Beach's mission to, via volunteerism and education, enhance the area's marine environment and keep the area's beaches clean.
Among them: Buonasera, Casa Mia Trattoria & Pizzeria, Cod & Capers Seafood Marketplace & Cafe, Coolinary Cafe, Cordon Bleu Catering, Guanabanas, PGA National's Ironwood Steak & Seafood, Chef Lindsay Autry, Joseph's Classic Market, Jupiter Island Grill, Kilwin's Chocolates & Ice Cream, La Scaletta Ristorante & Pizzeria, Little Moir's Food Shack, Little Moir's Leftovers Cafe, Pelican Cafe, Pita Grille & Bar, Schooners, Sharkbite Grille, Spiro's Taverna, Tabica Grill, Talay Thai, The Bistro, The Wine Dive, Verdea Restaurant & Wine Bar, and Whole Foods Market.
Others: Brown Distributing Company, Florida Wine Company, Frederick Wildman & Sons, Heirloom Wine Group of Treasury Wine Estates, Leblon Cachaca, Monk in the Trunk, Noble Wine Estates, Oceana Coffee, Onli Beverages, Strategic Imports, Tequesta Brewing Company, Tito's Vodka, Transatlantic, Vinecraft, and WJ Deutsch & Sons.
General admission tickets for the Friends of Jupiter Beach Food & Wine Festival are $35 in advance and $40 at the event; $15 for children 12 and younger. VIP tickets, $100 apiece, include a Food & Wine Festival-branded wine glass, a Whole Foods reusable shopping tote, and exclusive access to tastings from In The Kitchen, a kitchen store and demonstration kitchen in Tequesta, and wine tables in a tented VIP area. VIP guests also will be privy to guided wine tastings, plus an opportunity to judge a "Bartender Slam" drink contest.
Festival tickets can be purchased in advance at http://www.friendsofjupiterbeach.com. For more information, call or e-mail festival co-chairs Denise Mariani at firstname.lastname@example.com, and/or Pat Melleby at email@example.com.


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With the coming of spring, and this being an important election year, I have noticed many invisible politicians popping up at events and rallies recently, and definitely not like in previous years. That could be that all the Big Democrats feel a wee bit threatened this year. So out come the game faces and the smiles and all the bloviating about the things they have done.
I am rest assured that the voters are catching on to these phony tactics. But the Republicans and conservatives really need to capitalize on the golden opportunity to send all of our Big D's on their swan song by helping to get them voted out. Abandoning districts and not cultivating candidates to oppose the Big D's only serves to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
Most of these Big D's say and do things that can easily be viewed as nonsense. When they march in gay rights parades scampering for votes, they may get the 1% they were looking for, but we could easily turn around and be gobbling up the silent majority because our values are theirs.
I have learned much in the past 2 years, but the way to alter the landscape is not to water their tree but to shake them from it. Trying to work with the Big D's on being more conservative is a waste of time and effort, so putting the R's in will level the playing field and bring a fresh breath of air.


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Mediation Skills for the Justice Sector
- Category: Mediation Skills for the Justice Sector
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MEDIATION INTERNATIONAL offers a wide range of training courses (both in-house and online) tailored to meet the needs of our clients.
Mediation is a method of dispute resolution in which parties to an action attempt to reach an agreement with the assistance of a mediator.
MEDIATION INTERNATIONAL offers a wide range of conflict related services locally, in-house and internationally.
MEDIATION INTERNATIONAL has brought together some of the most experienced and knowledgeable professionals in the field...
MEDIATION INTERNATIONAL is one of the few international mediation training organizations approved as a Qualifying Assessment Program (QAP) for IMI Certification. As such, graduates from our rigorous program have the opportunity to receive international certification and be listed on IMI´s roster of mediators.
Requirements to participate in the IMI approved course are listed on our website.
MEDIATION INTERNATIONAL is a leading mediation and ADR training service provider operating throughout Spain, across Europe and internationally. We provide mediation services, basic-advanced training, mentorship and coaching, qualifications and mediation competency assessments for experienced mediators.
MEDIATION INTERNATIONAL offers Competency Assessments to successful and select graduates of MEDIATION INTERNATIONAL and other mediation programs. These Competency assessments are offered to individuals based on assessed competency and are designed to assess the levels of competency and performance of practicing mediators.
Competency assessments are offered twice annually in select regions internationally and are organised collaboratively among MEDIATION INTERNATIONAL and local mediation associations. Further information may be obtained by contacting the organiser at kevinbarrybrown (at) gmail.com
The advanced training programmes of MEDIATION INTERNATIONAL are detailed under each of the IMI criteria. As the IMI criteria evolves further, MEDIATION INTERNATIONAL will evolve its own program to remain consistent with the IMI criteria and the MEDIATION INTERNATIONAL website will be updated to reflect these changes.
QAP Approved 2012
1 Mediator Experience.
The Qualifying Assessment Program (QAP) must include a methodology for ensuring that Applicants have demonstrated to the satisfaction of the Program's Assessors a substantial level of experience as a mediator. The QAP must include clearly identified criteria on this requirement.
To pursue an advanced ADR training course with MEDIATION INTERNATIONAL and achieve IMI certification, a candidate must have completed a minimum of 5 mediations (either as a sole or a lead co- mediator). Of those mediations, at least 2 must have been remunerated either on an individual case basis or salaried.
Additionally, MEDIATION INTERNATIONAL requires candidates to have completed at least 20 hours of continuing professional development in mediation through attendance of courses, workshops or seminars on ADR, mediation or related subject matters.
For a MEDIATION INTERNATIONAL accredited mediator to be qualified for IMI Certification, MEDIATION INTERNATIONAL will require that each candidates experience exceeds 200 hours (the equilavent of 20 mediations) as recommended by IMI in the 2 years preceding the application. To track the requisite experience, an applicant must produce a time log that addresses the following for each mediation conducted:
2 Mediation Knowledge.
The QAP must include a methodology for determining that Applicants have demonstrated a strong understanding of general mediation theory and practice which may be based on written tests, essays, reports, theses interviews and/or other testing platforms.
All MEDIATION INTERNATIONAL Accredited Mediators have undertaken 60 hours of mediation training and 60 hours of theoretical study before accreditation. In addition, to be eligible to be qualified for IMI Certification, a candidate must complete a series of written and oral exercises that evaluates the candidate's knowledge of mediation theory and practice as well as a self assessment. These exercises are completed prior to as well as post training.
For the initial written exercise, the candidate is assessed on mediation theory including;
For the post training exercise, the candidate is assessed on advanced mediation theory practice and negotiation including;
MEDIATION INTERNATIONAL requires its candidates to pass both written exercises prior to proceeding to the oral/practice component of the assessment process.
The oral assessment is categorized into 4 components:
1) Overall knowledge of mediation, negotiation and conflict management
2) Self assessment of the candidates strengths and challenges
3) Understanding of theories for identification of areas of potential agreement between the parties
4) Visual assessment of the candidate conducting a mediation
3 Mediator Skills.
The QAP must include a methodology for the evaluation of candidates' performance in terms of the occurrence and effectiveness of mediation process and mediation techniques, against high competency benchmarks. The Evaluations/Assessments may be based on roleplay or live action assessments, and may include videotaped and online assessments such as web dramas, self-assessments, interviews, peer reviews, user feedback and other in-practice skill evaluations.
MEDIATION INTERNATIONAL candidates are required to complete and pass a five-day programme in advanced mediator training. This programme includes an assessment by two qualified assessors, one being external to MEDIATION INTERNATIONAL. The practitioner must clearly demonstrate a high level of competence and knowledge in mediation theory, process and skills.
The applicant will undertake a minimum of 6 role-plays during the advanced training programme, one of which will be evaluated by two qualified assessors, one being external to MEDIATION INTERNATIONAL. A written analysis will be provided to each candidate as well as to MEDIATION INTERNATIONAL critically assessing the candidate against the anticipated outcomes.
All MEDIATION INTERNATIONAL advanced candidates are encouraged to attend monthly held peer review and organized role-play opportunities to hone their own skills while assessing and peer coaching other candidates in a supervised environment.
Role Play Assessment Benchmarks
Two assessors evaluate a candidate's performance in a role play across six areas of competency:
In situations where the evaluators significantly differ in their assessments, a third assessor will be assigned to consider the assessments.
4 Program Transparency.
The benchmarks and criteria applied by the QAP must be published and be openly accessible on the organization's website. Details of all approved programs will be listed on the IMI web portal www.IMImediation.org and will include a direct link to the credentialing organizations' websites.
Upon successful acceptance of this application, MEDIATION INTERNATIONAL will publish on our website the benchmarks and criteria to qualify for IMI Certification. They will be available for public scrutiny, query, and feedback at:http://www.mediationinternational.eu
5 Program Integrity.
Each Assessor must have substantial experience of assessing the performance of mediators. At least one of the Assessors on each Program must be independent of the QAP.
All Assessors of the MEDIATION INTERNATIONAL Qualifying Assessment Programme for IMI Certification are approved by the MEDIATION INTERNATIONAL Accreditation Committee. Approval is granted only when a potential assessor has clearly established to us that he/she has substantial experience both in mediation and the assessment of mediator skills.
At least one of the appointed assessors will be independent of MEDIATION INTERNATIONAL. Our assessors have varied backgrounds including academia, mediators, lawyers and social workers thus affording MEDIATION INTERNATIONAL the ability to provide well rounded assessments from both theoretical and practical perspectives.
The criteria to qualify as an assessor with MEDIATION INTERNATIONAL are, as follows;
An independent assessor is neither an employee nor a paid consultant of MEDIATION INTERNATIONAL in the training programme in which the assessment takes place.
6 Ongoing monitoring of Programs.
The QAP must include a process for the ongoing monitoring of the performance and practice of the Assessors. IMI will liaise closely with all recognised program organizers to maintain a sustainable quality control system.
The ongoing performance and quality of assessments is consistently monitored and reviewed by MEDIATION INTERNATIONAL's principal's and observers in order to ensure application of the high standards we adhere to.
Observers participate in oral exercises and our assessors meet regularly to ensure consistency of application of standards and expectations. MEDIATION INTERNATIONAL observers often attend these meetings.
Upon completion of each MEDIATION INTERNATIONAL training programme, a member of the accreditation committee meets with the lead assessor for a debriefing.
MEDIATION INTERNATIONAL is subject to and welcomes independent monitoring from IMI with regards to adherence to the IMI certification process.
7 Commitment to Diversity.
The QAP must be accessible on an equal basis to experienced mediators regardless of their professional affiliations, gender, race, ethnicity, age, religion, sexual orientation or other personal characterization.
MEDIATION INTERNATIONAL offers our programmes to experienced mediators regardless of their professional affiliations, gender, race, ethnicity, age, religion, sexual orientation or other personal characterization.
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When an object is retrieved from the datastore by JPA typically not all fields are retrieved immediately. This is because for efficiency purposes only particular field types are retrieved in the initial access of the object, and then any other objects are retrieved when accessed (lazy loading). The group of fields that are loaded is called a fetch group . There are 2 types of "fetch groups" to consider
JPA provides an initial fetch group, comprising the fields that will be retrieved when an object is retrieved if the user does nothing to define the required behaviour. You define this "default" by setting the fetch attribute in metadata for each field/property.
As mentioned above, JDO allows specification of users own fetch groups (for enabling at particular times) and DataNucleus makes that flexibility available for JPA via annotations. For example, if we have the following class
class MyClass { String name; HashSet coll; MyOtherClass other; }
and we want to have the other field loaded whenever we load objects of this class, we define our annotations as
@PersistenceCapable @FetchGroup(name="otherfield", members={@FetchMember("other")}) public class MyClass { ... }
So we have defined a fetch group called "otherfield" that just includes the field with name other . We can then use this at runtime in our persistence code.
JPAEntityManager dnEM = (JPAEntityManager)em; dnEM.getFetchPlan().addGroup("otherfield"); ... (load MyClass object)
By default the FetchPlan will include the default fetch group. We have changed this above by adding the fetch group "otherfield", so when we retrieve an object using this EntityManager we will be retrieving the fields name AND other since they are both in the current FetchPlan . We can take the above much further than what is shown by defining nested fetch groups in the MetaData. In addition we can change the FetchPlan just before any PersistenceManager operation to control what is fetched during that operation. The user has full flexibility to add many groups to the current Fetch Plan . This gives much power and control over what will be loaded and when. A big improvement over standard JPA!
The FetchPlan applies not just to calls to EntityManager.find() , but also to EntityManager.createQuery() , as well as detaching.