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U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration https://www.onetonline.org 12m 2,904 #insights
The views of this article are the perspective of the author and may not be reflective of Confessions of the Professions.
Sample of reported job titles:
Chief Learning Officer, Coordinator of Online Programs, Director of Distance Learning, Distance Education Faculty Liaison, Distance Learning Coordinator, Distance Learning Technician, Distance Learning Unit Leader, Head of Academic Technology, Online Facilitator, Program Facilitation Director for Distance Learning
Tasks | Technology Skills | Tools Used | Knowledge | Skills | Abilities | Work Activities | Detailed Work Activities | Work Context | Job Zone | Education | Credentials | Interests | Work Styles | Work Values | Wages & Employment | Job Openings
- Communicate to faculty, students, or other users availability of, or changes to, distance learning courses or materials, programs, services, or applications.
- Develop distance learning program goals or plans, including equipment replacement, quality assurance, or course offering plans.
- Supervise distance learning support staff.
- Assess distance-learning technological or educational needs and goals.
- Train instructors and distance learning staff in the use or support of distance learning applications, such as course management software.
- Prepare and manage distance learning program budgets.
- Troubleshoot and resolve problems with distance learning equipment or applications.
- Analyze data to assess distance learning program status or to inform decisions for distance learning programs.
- Prepare reports summarizing distance learning statistical data or describing distance learning program objectives and accomplishments.
- Purchase equipment or services in accordance with distance learning plans and budget constraints.
- Create and maintain web sites or databases that support distance learning programs.
- Monitor technological developments in distance learning for technological means to educational or outreach goals.
- Evaluate the effectiveness of distance learning programs in promoting knowledge or skill acquisition.
- Provide technical or logistical support to users of distance learning classrooms, equipment, web sites, or services.
- Develop or provide technical resources, such as course management and videoconferencing systems, networking, and webcasting, for distance learning programs.
- Review distance learning content to ensure compliance with copyright, licensing, or other requirements.
- Select, direct, and monitor the work of vendors that provide products or services for distance learning programs.
- Prepare and distribute schedules of distance learning resources, such as course offerings, classrooms, laboratories, equipment, and web sites.
- Communicate technical or marketing information about distance learning via podcasts, webinars, and other technologies.
- Negotiate with academic units or instructors and vendors to ensure cost-effective and high-quality distance learning programs, services, or courses.
- Direct and support the technical operation of distance learning classrooms or equipment.
- Write and submit grant applications or proposals to secure funding for distance learning programs.
Technology Skills
- Education and Training — Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
- Customer and Personal Service — Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- Communications and Media — Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
- Computers and Electronics — Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
- English Language — Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
- Administration and Management — Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
- Telecommunications — Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
- Personnel and Human Resources — Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
- Clerical — Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
- Active Listening — Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Speaking — Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Writing — Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Critical Thinking — Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
- Learning Strategies — Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Reading Comprehension — Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
- Coordination — Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Instructing — Teaching others how to do something.
- Social Perceptiveness — Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Active Learning — Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Judgment and Decision Making — Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Complex Problem Solving — Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Monitoring — Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Persuasion — Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Systems Analysis — Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Systems Evaluation — Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
- Service Orientation — Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Time Management — Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Management of Personnel Resources — Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Negotiation — Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Oral Comprehension — The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
- Oral Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
- Problem Sensitivity — The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
- Speech Clarity — The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
- Speech Recognition — The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
- Written Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
- Deductive Reasoning — The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
- Inductive Reasoning — The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
- Written Comprehension — The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
- Near Vision — The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
- Fluency of Ideas — The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
- Information Ordering — The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
- Category Flexibility — The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
- Originality — The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
- Selective Attention — The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
Work Activities
- Interacting With Computers — Using computers and computer systems (including hardware and software) to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information.
- Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates — Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
- Getting Information — Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
- Training and Teaching Others — Identifying the educational needs of others, developing formal educational or training programs or classes, and teaching or instructing others.
- Making Decisions and Solving Problems — Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
- Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships — Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time.
- Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge — Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job.
- Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work — Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work.
- Scheduling Work and Activities — Scheduling events, programs, and activities, as well as the work of others.
- Thinking Creatively — Developing, designing, or creating new applications, ideas, relationships, systems, or products, including artistic contributions.
- Communicating with Persons Outside Organization — Communicating with people outside the organization, representing the organization to customers, the public, government, and other external sources. This information can be exchanged in person, in writing, or by telephone or e-mail.
- Developing and Building Teams — Encouraging and building mutual trust, respect, and cooperation among team members.
- Developing Objectives and Strategies — Establishing long-range objectives and specifying the strategies and actions to achieve them.
- Processing Information — Compiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, or verifying information or data.
- Performing Administrative Activities — Performing day-to-day administrative tasks such as maintaining information files and processing paperwork.
- Documenting/Recording Information — Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.
- Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards — Using relevant information and individual judgment to determine whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.
- Guiding, Directing, and Motivating Subordinates — Providing guidance and direction to subordinates, including setting performance standards and monitoring performance.
- Interpreting the Meaning of Information for Others — Translating or explaining what information means and how it can be used.
- Coaching and Developing Others — Identifying the developmental needs of others and coaching, mentoring, or otherwise helping others to improve their knowledge or skills.
- Coordinating the Work and Activities of Others — Getting members of a group to work together to accomplish tasks.
- Provide Consultation and Advice to Others — Providing guidance and expert advice to management or other groups on technical, systems-, or process-related topics.
- Resolving Conflicts and Negotiating with Others — Handling complaints, settling disputes, and resolving grievances and conflicts, or otherwise negotiating with others.
- Analyzing Data or Information — Identifying the underlying principles, reasons, or facts of information by breaking down information or data into separate parts.
- Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events — Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.
- Monitor Processes, Materials, or Surroundings — Monitoring and reviewing information from materials, events, or the environment, to detect or assess problems.
- Monitoring and Controlling Resources — Monitoring and controlling resources and overseeing the spending of money.
- Judging the Qualities of Things, Services, or People — Assessing the value, importance, or quality of things or people.
- Estimating the Quantifiable Characteristics of Products, Events, or Information — Estimating sizes, distances, and quantities; or determining time, costs, resources, or materials needed to perform a work activity.
- Performing for or Working Directly with the Public — Performing for people or dealing directly with the public. This includes serving customers in restaurants and stores, and receiving clients or guests.
- Selling or Influencing Others — Convincing others to buy merchandise/goods or to otherwise change their minds or actions.
- Staffing Organizational Units — Recruiting, interviewing, selecting, hiring, and promoting employees in an organization.
Detailed Work Activities
- Communicate organizational policies and procedures.
- Develop educational goals, standards, policies, or procedures.
- Supervise employees.
- Conduct employee training programs.
- Prepare operational budgets.
- Develop computer or information systems.
- Analyze data to inform operational decisions or activities.
- Prepare operational progress or status reports.
- Purchase materials, equipment, or other resources.
- Evaluate program effectiveness.
- Maintain knowledge of current developments in area of expertise.
- Advise customers on technical or procedural issues.
- Review documents or materials for compliance with policies or regulations.
- Monitor performance of organizational members or partners.
- Present information to the public.
- Schedule activities or facility use.
- Direct organizational operations, projects, or services.
- Negotiate sales or lease agreements for products or services.
- Prepare proposals or grant applications to obtain project funding.
- Manage inventories of products or organizational resources.
Find occupations related to multiple detailed work activities
Work Context
- Indoors, Environmentally Controlled — 95% responded "Every day."
- Electronic Mail — 91% responded "Every day."
- Telephone — 77% responded "Every day."
- Contact With Others — 73% responded "Constant contact with others."
- Spend Time Sitting — 50% responded "Continually or almost continually."
- Work With Work Group or Team — 59% responded "Extremely important."
- Freedom to Make Decisions — 64% responded "Some freedom."
- Face-to-Face Discussions — 41% responded "Every day."
- Structured versus Unstructured Work — 59% responded "Some freedom."
- Duration of Typical Work Week — 55% responded "More than 40 hours."
- Time Pressure — 41% responded "Once a week or more but not every day."
- Coordinate or Lead Others — 36% responded "Extremely important."
- Importance of Being Exact or Accurate — 55% responded "Very important."
- Letters and Memos — 41% responded "Once a week or more but not every day."
- Responsibility for Outcomes and Results — 41% responded "High responsibility."
- Importance of Repeating Same Tasks — 41% responded "Very important."
- Deal With External Customers — 32% responded "Very important."
- Frequency of Decision Making — 36% responded "Every day."
- Impact of Decisions on Co-workers or Company Results — 55% responded "Important results."
- Level of Competition — 50% responded "Highly competitive."
- Spend Time Making Repetitive Motions — 23% responded "Continually or almost continually."
- Deal With Unpleasant or Angry People — 36% responded "Once a week or more but not every day."
- Frequency of Conflict Situations — 50% responded "Once a month or more but not every week."
- Spend Time Using Your Hands to Handle, Control, or Feel Objects, Tools, or Controls — 32% responded "Continually or almost continually."
- Public Speaking — 64% responded "Once a month or more but not every week."
Job Zone
|Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed
|Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
|Related Experience
|Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.
|Job Training
|Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.
|Job Zone Examples
|These occupations often involve coordinating, training, supervising, or managing the activities of others to accomplish goals. Very advanced communication and organizational skills are required. Examples include pharmacists, lawyers, astronomers, biologists, clergy, neurologists, and veterinarians.
|SVP Range
|(8.0 and above)
Interest code: EC
Want to discover your interests? Take the O*NET Interest Profiler at My Next Move.
- Enterprising — Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.
- Conventional — Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.
Work Styles
- Dependability — Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
- Integrity — Job requires being honest and ethical.
- Cooperation — Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.
- Initiative — Job requires a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges.
- Innovation — Job requires creativity and alternative thinking to develop new ideas for and answers to work-related problems.
- Adaptability/Flexibility — Job requires being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace.
- Attention to Detail — Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.
- Persistence — Job requires persistence in the face of obstacles.
- Leadership — Job requires a willingness to lead, take charge, and offer opinions and direction.
- Stress Tolerance — Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high stress situations.
- Analytical Thinking — Job requires analyzing information and using logic to address work-related issues and problems.
- Achievement/Effort — Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.
- Self Control — Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.
- Independence — Job requires developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done.
- Concern for Others — Job requires being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job.
- Social Orientation — Job requires preferring to work with others rather than alone, and being personally connected with others on the job.
Work Values
- Relationships — Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment. Corresponding needs are Co-workers, Moral Values and Social Service.
- Achievement — Occupations that satisfy this work value are results oriented and allow employees to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment. Corresponding needs are Ability Utilization and Achievement.
- Working Conditions — Occupations that satisfy this work value offer job security and good working conditions. Corresponding needs are Activity, Compensation, Independence, Security, Variety and Working Conditions.
Wages & Employment Trends
Median wages data collected from Education Administrators, All Other.
Employment data collected from Education Administrators, All Other.
Industry data collected from Education Administrators, All Other.
|Median wages (2018)
|$39.83 hourly, $82,850 annual
|State wages
|Employment (2018)
|47,000 employees
|Projected growth (2018-2028)
Faster than average (7% to 10%)
|Projected job openings (2018-2028)
|State trends
|Top industries (2018)
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics 2018 wage data
and 2018-2028 employment projections
"Projected growth" represents the estimated change in total employment over the projections period (2018-2028). "Projected job openings" represent openings due to growth and replacement.
Source: https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/11-9039.01


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Stroke, which happens when blood flow is cut off to the brain suddenly, can happen to anyone. But if you have a chronic condition, your stroke risk may increase, and that's all the more reason you should talk to your doctor. Because of its rapid onset, stroke can be scary—and deadly. In fact, it's the fifth most common cause of death and a leading cause of disability in the United States.
If you have a health condition that impacts your blood flow, you may have an increased stroke risk. These conditions include:
- Hypertension (high blood pressure)
- Coronary artery disease
- Atrial fibrillation
- Diabetes
- Obesity
- High cholesterol
Even if you don't have a chronic health condition, you may be at risk for a stroke, especially if you have a family history of it. Other risk factors include smoking, stress, eating an unhealthy diet, not getting enough physical activity, using nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory.
If you think you or someone else is having a stroke, immediately call 911. Remembering the word "FAST" can help you identify the symptoms of stroke:
F: Face drooping: Does one side of the face droop or is it numb? Ask the person to smile. Is the smile uneven?
A: Arm weakness: Is one arm weak or numb? Ask the person to raise both arms. Does one arm drift downward?
S: Speech difficulty: Is speech slurred? Is the person unable to speak or hard to understand? See if the person can repeat a simple sentence, like "The sky is blue."
T: Time to call 911: If someone shows any of these symptoms, even if the symptoms go away, call 911.
Have you had a stroke? You may be eligible to participate in our Case Management program. This voluntary program is free and available to all members. To learn more or enroll, call 1-888-621-5894 and press prompt 2.

subset: commoncrawl


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Heavy Duty™ Windshields are fixed-mount windshields that use an allen key for removal. Only National Cycle Heavy Duty windshields can fit a long legacy of older motorcycles as well as the newest cruisers.
The Beaded Heavy Duty™ is an authentic three-piece beaded construction and the absolute best there is. This timeless classic has a nostalgic beaded edge and a gloss black lower section that gives your bike a vintage look.
The Beaded Duty Windshields features high quality chromed steel outer hardware and glare-free black inner hardware. Its tough FMR hardcoated polycarbonate ensures many years of riding.
The width of the Beaded Heavy Duty fits best on bikes with wider fork tube spacing, though the Mount Kit (sold separately) allows it to fit on narrow front ends as well.
To top it off, it's backed by National Cycle's exclusive 3-Year Warranty against breakage.
Additional Information
|Heavy Duty™
|Material Finish
|Quantum® Hardcoated
|2.0mm w/ Beaded Edge
|Secondary Material
|Secondary Material Finish
|Mount Type
|Heavy Duty™ Mount Kit Required
Write Your Own Review
Customer Reviews
- Heavy Duty™ Windshield Review by Jim, California
- I ordered a Ranger Heavy Duty™ for my Honda® VT750 Shadow A.C.E. I got it and installed it -- nice product. It was money well spent, for a change. (Posted on 10/27/2014)
- Heavy Duty™ Windshield Review by Ted, Pennsylvania
- Just wanted to let you know that I installed your Touring Heavy Duty™ on my Honda® Shadow yesterday, and it is great. Installation was a breeze and the adjustments to fine tune the install worked out well. Thanks for a great product! (Posted on 10/27/2014)
- Heavy Duty™ Windshield Review by Jeff, Florida
I own a Honda® Valkyrie with one of your Heavy Duty™ Windshields. I was traveling across the Howard Franklin Bridge in Tampa, Florida when a vehicle directly in front of me had a ball peen hammer fall from it and hit the pavement ahead of me. I had absolutely no time to execute any sort of evasive action. The hammer bounced up and hit my windshield dead center just above the crossbar at around 75mph. Thanks to the durability of that shield, myself and my passenger were unhurt! The shield absorbed the impact and deflected the hammer away.
A further testament to the durability of your product is that, upon later inspection, the windshield had sustained no damage, not even a scratch! This was a $200 product that in all likelihood saved my life and the life of my passenger.
I assure you that in any future windshield purchases, I will accept nothing but a National Cycle windshield. A tremendous thanks to your company and to your design and manufacturing people... I owe them my life! (Posted on 10/27/2014)
- Heavy Duty™ Windshield Review by Satisfied Customer, Churchville, VA
While riding to work on my 1996 Kawasaki® Vulcan 750, I was hit in the windshield by a 165-pound deer. It had been hit by an oncoming SUV and thrown airborne into my lane. It was high enough to clear the bike headlight, so my National Cycle Heavy Duty™ windshield took the entire force of the impact. The windshield flexed but did not break, and sent the body of the deer flying over my head. The impact pushed my handlebars down three inches and broke the left mirror but kept the deer off me. I maintained control and didn't even lay the bike down!
After stopping the bike and collecting my thoughts, I rode back home and ordered an exact replacement for the Heavy Duty. I immediately mounted it on the bike, along with a new set of mirrors. When you find something this good, I think you'd better stay with it! (Posted on 10/27/2014)


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It takes extra-special people and an extra-special party to pick these pint glass favors! Are you an extra-special host? When the drinks are on the house, and it's a big celebration, make sure your guests get a great big "thank you!" These pint-sized, personalized glasses should do it!
Features and facts:


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Clean Air Foundation terminates Program Funding Agreement with AQLPA, 30 Sep 2009
From WikiLeaks
Unless otherwise specified, the document described here:
- Was first publicly revealed by WikiLeaks working with our source.
- Was classified, confidential, censored or otherwise withheld from the public before release.
- Is of political, diplomatic, ethical or historical significance.
Any questions about this document's veracity are noted.
The summary is approved by the editorial board.
See here for a detailed explanation of the information on this page.
If you have similar or updated material, see our submission instructions.
- Release date
- October 8, 2009
The PDF file presents a "Termination of Program Fundig Agreement", sent on September the 30th 2009 by Toronto's "Clean Air Foundation" (CAF) to Mr. Belisle of the "Association Quebecoise de Lutte Contre la Pollution Atmospheriqure" (AQLPA).
According to the CAF statement, the agreement is terminated as AQLPA is in breach of various parts of its contract with CAF. The items allegedly breached by AQLPA are listed in the letter. According to the source, the move will mean an employment termination for a few dozen employees of AQLPA.
Further information
- Context
- Canada
- Non-governmental organization


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He that gives should never remember; he that receives should never forget.
The best-selling dinnerware pattern in the world, the Old Country Roses pattern is practically synonymous with the name Royal Albert and a long-standing testament to timeless style and elegant craftsmanship. This Covered Sugar Bowl is decorated with the Old Country Roses signature motif of burgundy, pink and yellow roses, accented with lustrous gold banding.
|Royal Albert
|Old Country Roses by Royal Albert
|What's included
|Vendor Code
|Country of Origin
About The Old Country Roses by Royal Albert Collection
Discover the best selling pattern in the world with Royal Albert and create the perfect mood for a traditional dinner in a modern setting with full dinnerware sets and serving dishes. Add collectible home decor pieces including beautiful vases and precious trinket boxes to complete your Old Country Roses collection.
Standard shipping:
Lijo Decor offers free ground shipping on all orders to anywhere in the contiguous United States. Most orders will ship 4-10 business days after your order is placed. You will receive a shipping confirmation email with tracking information upon shipment of your order.
Expedited shipping:
Expedited delivery options only affect the shipping service used, standard handling times will still apply. To expedite the handling time for your order, please contact customer service at 866-611-4438.
International shipments:
Lijo Decor does not take responsibility for any customs, taxes, duties or fees that may be charged when importing merchandise from the US.
Thank you for choosing Lijo Decor.
We want you to love your purchase, but if you are not completely satisfied, we will gladly accept returns of unused items within 30 days of delivery.
Please make sure to package the items well so that they are not damaged in transit.
Please ship returns to:
Lijo Decor Returns
Order # _______________
1985 Swarthmore Ave. Suite 5
Lakewood, NJ 08701
Unfortunately, we cannot accept returns on custom orders or engraved items.
If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us directly for assistance.
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Phone: 866-611-4438
Thank you!
Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a gift and not giving it.


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Create a Website Account - Manage notification subscriptions, save form progress and more.
September 28, 2023
400 Witherspoon St.
September 30, 2023
Community Room, Princeton Public Library
September 30, 2023
View All Calendars is the default. Choose Select a Calendar to view a specific calendar. Subscribe to calendar notifications by clicking on the Notify Me® button, and you will automatically be alerted about the latest events in our community.
The Mercer County Nutrition Project for Older Adults offers appetizing meals that are served in settings that bring people together for activities and social interaction, important aspects of everyone's lives. The program is open to anyone 60 years old or older or anyone married to someone 60 or older. This federally funded program encourages participants to make a suggested donation of $1 for their daily meal.
The COVID-19 situation has caused the Nutrition Project to change its operations. Without access to any of the buildings for meal preparation, we have established grab-and-go stations at most of the municipal sites listed below. Those who have participated in the former congregate settings may now drive to their center to pick up a frozen meal on a Monday-through-Friday basis. Special arrangements have been made for those who do not drive. Participants may still register for the program by calling 609-989-6650 or emailing email@example.com.
Share My Meals currently delivers prepared meals 3 days a week in Princeton. No ID is required - only a name, address and a phone number to contact you at the time of delivery.
Meals on Wheels of Mercer County provides daily, home-delivered meals to individuals who are homebound, and are unable to shop or prepare meals for themselves. Meals are delivered Monday through Friday, and may include weekend meals.
The Arm in Arm Food Pantry provides prepared grocery bags.
Arm In Arm is accepting referrals for free pantry food delivery to low-income Mercer County community members who are homebound or quarantine. Currently,
Arm in Arm is making deliveries 2 to 3 days a week between 10:00am and 2:00pm
"Neighbors helping local businesses helping local residents"
Happily offering warm meals prepared fresh by local restaurants; dry goods + hygiene products from our local grocery stores & pharmacies; and baked goods + sweets from our local bakeries. Serving all neighbors in need 2x per week on the days listed above from 12pm-1pm out of our Free Store/Tienda Gratis (Mount Pisgah Church, 170 Witherspoon Street). Deliveries available by request to our immobile neighbors: www.mrrogersneighbors.com. (For more information about our product offerings and participating Neighbors' Businesses visit our website.)


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Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Ottolenghi's Chocolate Fudge Cake
I'm rushing today. My hack job photography will be testament of that.
I've had a busy day cleaning, baking and as I often do in the summer when school is out, babysitting (word gets around that you're a stay-at-home mom and willing to watch kids occasionally). Once I post this I'm going to change out of my chocolate splattered clothing, drop off little Humble at her Grandfathers and go volunteer. Woo! Eventually I'm going to crash and burn on this schedule but so far it has been fun.
So, food... Lately I've been testing and tweaking a lot of recipes, in addition to my blogging. Today it was Lemon Meringue. One of my ultimate baking quests is for the perfect lemon meringue pie. I love this pie and I've been making it since I was a tween and still, I can't seem to settle on a recipe.
I can do a mean crust and meringue, it is just that filling that is so pesky. I want to be able to cut it cleanly (not slump or weep) and yet still have a nice acidity. Which is the trouble, as the more lemon juice you use the more likely your thickeners are going to struggle to maintain the structural integrity of the pie. Pesky baking chemistry! So frustrating.
Today's post isn't about lemon meringue pie though. I'm just posting my pie because it's gorgeous (and tasty, just not OCD perfect). Today's post is all about chocolate.
So one of the souvenirs I brought back with me from the UK was a cookbook. I really like picking up cookbooks while in Europe because they always use metric and as un-American as it is to say this, metric is just a better way to cook.
One of the cookbooks I was looking for was Ottolenghi's latest book. Since I've been home, I've cooked from it quite a bit--the spicy meat pie is wonderful--and today we're baking the chocolate fudge cake. It seems that I've developed an obsession with ugly cakes this week, because like the Gâteau Basque Cake, this cake is hideously delicious.
It is hard to describe. It is like a cross between a cake and a baked chocolate mousse or soufflé. One layer is firmer, cake-ier and the other is gooey like brownie batter. It packs a lot of dark chocolate and is probably best reserved for the most of ardent chocoholics.
Ottolenghi's Chocolate Fudge Cake
serves 8-10
240g unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
265g dark chocolate (52% cocoa), chopped
95g dark chocolate (70% cocoa), chopped
290g light muscovado sugar
4 tablespoons water
5 large eggs, separated
pinch of salt
cocoa powder for dusting
Preheat your oven to 170°C (350°F).
Butter a 20cm (8") springform pan and line the bottom and sides with parchment.
In a large heat proof bowl, combine the chopped chocolates and butter.
Combine the muscovado sugar and water in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently. Pour the boiling syrup over the chocolate and butter and stir until they have melted. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, to the chocolate mixture and then set the bowl aside until the mixture comes to room temperature.
In a large bowl, beat the egg whites and salt to a firm but not dry meringue.
Using a rubber spatula, fold a third of the meringue into the chocolate mixture. Once combined, add another third, fold and then fold in the remaining third until just combined.
Pour 2/3rds of the batter into your prepared pan (about 800g, reserving the remaining batter for later) and bake for 40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and leave it on a wire rack to cool completely. Flatten the cake with an offset spatula. Don't worry about breaking the surface crust and pour the rest of the batter on top. Level the surface again. Return the cake to the oven and bake for a further 20-25 minutes. When tested with a skewer the cake should have a few moist crumbs clinging to it.
Allow to cool completely in the springform pan before attempting to unmold it. Dust with cocoa powder before serving.
22 comments:
Looks delicious! I love the image of the fork as well, nice touch whether it was intentional or not!ReplyDelete
Mmmmmmm, that cake is to die for! Yum!ReplyDelete
hmm are you a stickler for all natural ingredients? I am wondering about the tartness in the lemon part.ReplyDelete
I too like the fork outline. You should be a professional food photographer if you aren't already!
wow! what a great recipe & no flour (perfect for a holiday cake)...on my short list...ReplyDelete
& your meringue...just magnificent...in this humidity- i am most impressed!!
would it be nosy if i asked where you volunteer...you do not have to respond...
- AnonymousJuly 14, 2010 at 5:46 PM
Pfft, if anything is unamerican, it's using british imperial units.ReplyDelete
Damn. That looks freaking delicious. Holy moley.ReplyDelete
ha, i bought this book off amazon last week and it just arrived today and my first post about it was going to be this cake! I'm glad you tested it out first though and now i KNOW its going to be good! cant wait!!ReplyDelete
You stole my heart with the missing fork - the cake ain't to bad eitherReplyDelete
Um, I think you forgot to add the photo illustrating you did a hack job because all of these photos look superb as usual! YUM!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJuly 14, 2010 at 8:34 PM
Yay metric!!ReplyDelete
I have been seriously craving chocolate for the past few days... I think I need this. For the record, it's 11:30 PM, I have chocolate cupcakes cooling on a rack and croissant dough in the fridge, and I am very seriously considering busting open the pantry just to get this in my gut.
Also, definitely not hack-job photos. They're lovely :)
I love brownie batter, so I'm guessing that this cake is pretty darn good! Love the last photo!ReplyDelete
Meringue Tip: add the sugar slower than you think!
I love cakes with no or little flour in them...the chocolate and all the other ingreients come out to be tasted....this is an examle...love the lemon meringue...it is a new recipe that is slowly spreading in my country...easy...inexpensive...few ingredients...beautiful for these hot summer days...my filling seems to be fine...but when it cools I always have an excess of water, not a lot sweating between the filling and the white part....don't know what the problem is...all the best from SerbiaReplyDelete
Woo! A metric recipe! I love them! Cup measurements confuse me too much as all the cups in my house are different sizes! Can't wait to make this one, looks amazing!ReplyDelete
I'm with Kaitlin. Love metric.ReplyDelete
You know, that Ottolenghi guy is pretty good looking. How long before cheff success turns him fat, huh?
What a great cake! Yum.ReplyDelete
Ottolenghi is good, don't you think? I wonder, did you get a chance to go there when you were in London, after all?
You refer to this book a s Ottolenghi's latest, however, his new one is "Plenty", just released a month or two ago, and is based on a column he was writing, showcasing vegetarian food. Its a fabulous book but I've not cooked anything from it yet.
I want a piece of chocolate mousse cake!
I don't know why you think these cakes are ugly. I think they're pretty enough to photograph, eat, and post on the Internet. Apparently, you do, too.ReplyDelete
No visit to Ottolenghi for me while I was in London. The day I planned to go was the same day I went to Borough Market and the little Humble had her epic melt-down.
I'll be back in the UK early next year for more food tourism. I do try to visit my Mother as often as Mr. Humble's vacation allowance allows so that won't be my last trip overseas.
Oh I don't mind sharing what I've been up to lately. I've been volunteering with one of our local Coast Salish Indian tribes. Really been enjoying it too, it is so nice to get out of the house/city.
thank you for replying...your generosity of spirit is very large...ReplyDelete
I recently purchased a copy of the Ottolenghi Cookbook and am reading it like a novel...I love it. I haven't made it as far as the dessert/baking chapters yet (other than to peek ahead), but I'm so glad to see that you had good results. Thanks for posting.ReplyDelete
Wow this looks quite delicious. I can't handle anymore chocolate for now but this is bookmarked!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJuly 16, 2010 at 11:09 PM
if only winter was here so i could have all the chocolate i want!ReplyDelete
I'd love a slice right now.ReplyDelete
Until then.


text:
FOXBORO, Mass. -- Mike Vanderjagt's mouth is still causing
trouble, even though he's criticizing his opponents and not his
coach and quarterback.
On Tuesday, New England Patriots safety Rodney Harrison fired
back at the Indianapolis kicker.
"He has to be a jerk, Vanderjerk," Harrison said.
Many of Harrison's teammates brushed off Vanderjagt's remark,
made shortly after Indianapolis dominated Denver 49-24 in the first
round of the AFC playoffs. Speaking about the Patriots, he said "I
think they're ripe for the picking" in Sunday's playoff matchup
with the Colts.
Vanderjagt also said on WISH-TV in Indianapolis that, "I think
they're not as good as the beginning of the year and not as good as
last year."
Those comments stirred little controversy in Indianapolis, where
his outspoken nature is well known. That's a sharp contrast to his
comments two years ago when he said after the Super Bowl that
Peyton Manning should show more emotion and coach Tony Dungy is too
mild-mannered to be effective.
Manning then called Vanderjagt an "idiot kicker" and Dungy
said Vanderjagt should have come to him with his complaints instead
of airing them on a Canadian cable television show. Manning and
Vanderjagt later apologized to each other and Vanderjagt met with
Now Vanderjagt has provided material that coach Bill Belichick
might use to provide extra motivation for a team seeking its third
Super Bowl title in four years.
"Have I ever done it?" he said with a tiny smile. "Yeah,
probably I have."
But quarterback Tom Brady didn't think Vanderjagt's words
carried much weight.
"I mean he's just talking, you know? It's a kicker talking,"
Brady said. "Whether one guy says something or not, a team that's
won two Super Bowls in three years and has established the type of
reputation for playing hard and winning football games, I mean it
kind of speaks for itself.
"I don't think we ever make comments that teams are ripe for
the picking or plucking," he said. "I really think we have enough
motivation at this point."
Vanderjagt indicated on a radio interview during the season that
he may not be back with the Colts next year. His cap number is
around $2.8 million and he told the radio station he might kick in
the CFL where he started his pro career in 1993.
"That's great for Vanderjagt," said Pats linebacker Willie McGinest, who has made big, game-altering plays in each of New England's last three victories over the Colts. "Hopefully, he makes it the next time."
The last reference was a reminder that, in this year's regular-season opener, Vanderjagt missed a potential game-tying field goal in the final seconds.
Instead, his NFL record streak of 42 consecutive successful
field-goal attempts ended and the Patriots won 27-24.
"He should focus on making the field goals, not worried about
what we're doing over here, OK?" Harrison said. "I mean, he has
to be a jerk, Vanderjerk, if he sits there and criticizes Peyton
Manning and Tony Dungy, one of the best quarterbacks in the game
and one of the best coaches in the game. And then for him to put
his foot in his mouth again just shows what type of character he
Vanderjagt made 20 of 25 field goals this season after going
37-for-37 last year. The 20 field goals are the fewest of his
seven-year career, but he had the fewest opportunities with Manning
throwing 49 touchdown passes for an offense that scored 61
touchdowns, nearly four per game.
New England's Adam Vinatieri went 31-for-33.
"You won't catch me (making such remarks). I try to just do my
job on the field and I guess it's better to not be heard, or seen
maybe," Vinatieri said. "He's as much a member of the team as
anybody so I guess it's his right to say what he feels and thinks.
But, like I said, I don't know what he said, so it's no big deal."
Punter Josh Miller, another Patriot who takes the field only
when a drive falls short, understood why Vanderjagt might have
spoken out.
"People do funny things when there's a microphone in front of
them. They really say what's on their mind. I would never do
that," Miller said.
But would he have rushed to cover Vanderjagt's mouth if they
were teammates?
"I wouldn't have to. Someone else would have beaten me to that
one," he said.
McGinest said that Vanderjagt's comments probably will not have much bearing on this weekend's game, but hinted he felt they were ill-timed.
"If Vanderjagt feels confident enough to guarantee victory, that's great," said the Pats veteran linebacker. "Great for him. But [because he's a kicker] there's going to be a whole bunch of plays when he's not going to be out there [on the field]. The rest of his guys will be out there dealing with it."
ESPN.com senior writer Len Pasquarelli and The Associated Press contributed to this report.


text: To all those new to email and think they can just Spam and make a fortune, please read this article, and exit stage right while you still can. The only way to make it in the legit email world is to build real optin data and stay the speed limit! As the Internet evolves, is there a place for spam? In the late 1990s Robert Soloway made US$20,000 a day as a spammer. He drove fancy cars. He wore Armani clothes. He was, by all accounts, one of the most successful spammers on the planet. But if he were starting out today, he'd find some other line of work. In 2011, spamming just won't pay the bills. "It's not something financially feasible for anyone to even consider," said Soloway, who was released from the Federal Correctional Institution in Sheridan, Oregon a few months ago, after serving almost four in prison for spamming. For a time, his business was good. He spammed people to advertise his company, Newport Internet Marketing, which in turn offered a full range of spamming services for the unscrupulous marketer. $195, for example, would buy a 15-day spam run targeting 2 million addresses. Those with more cash could pay $495 and the Spam King, as federal prosecutors called him, would hit 20 million in-boxes. But Soloway now says that even before federal agents arrested him four years ago, spam was a losing proposition. In 2007, "when I had 10 years of experience and knew every possible way to send out spam," he was still losing money, he said. His problem? Spam filters had become too good. In 1997 Soloway was making his $20,000 a day with just one Earthlink account and a single mail server. Ten years later, he had hundreds, perhaps thousands of accounts, computers and Internet domains which he used to play an increasingly complex game of cat-and-mouse with the anti-spam crusaders trying to shut him down. When he finally stopped, he was making just $20 per day. "That should tell you how effective the anti-spam community has become," he said. With each passing year, the reports of criminal activity on the Internet seem to get more disturbing. Distributed denial of service attacks knock entire nations offline; criminal gangs make off with hundreds of millions of dollars using stolen bank card data, a nation's nuclear ambitions are thwarted by a new type of computer worm. But lately a ray of light has cut through all the gloom. Spam -- the Internet's original sin -- dropped for the first time ever at the end of 2010. In September, Cisco System's IronPort group was tracking 300 billion spam messages per day. By April, the volume had shrunk to 34 billion per day, a remarkable decline. "The largest spam-sending botnets are being shut down and a lot of the big pharmaceutical spam has disappeared," said Nilesh Bhandari, a product manager with Cisco. Spam watchers say a handful of high-profile arrests at the end of 2010 put a dent in the business, but there may be a bigger issue: E-mail spamming, at least in its traditional form, may not be as profitable as it once was. "You don't see a lot of new blood coming to the table," said Joe Stewart, a researcher with Dell's SecureWorks group. Every year or two Stewart takes a look at the top spamming botnets on the Internet. He analyzes spam messages and tracks down the networks of hacked computers responsible for sending them out. This year, the news was that there was no news. Stewart didn't find any new spam botnets. "Everything that is spamming today is pretty much what was spamming two years ago," he said in February when he released his latest report. There was a brief, halcyon day when the Internet, or rather its precursor, the Arpanet, was spam-free. But then a Digital Equipment Corporation marketer named Gary Thuerk decided to let a few hundred Arpanet users know about his new DecSystem-20 mainframes, and it was downhill from there. When consumers flocked to the Internet in the mid 1990s -- Soloway's glory days -- the open online culture provided a breeding ground for fraudsters, and soon the vast majority of all messages on the Internet was unsolicited commercial email. Until recently, spammers were in an ugly war of attrition. As spam filters got better and better, spammers bumped up the volume of messages they pumped out. If a fraction of one percent of a million messages get through, that's not profitable. Make that a billion messages and the money starts to add up. But it now seems as though this war of escalation has subsided; not because the spammers have given up, but because the game is changing. U.S.-based spammers have all but disappeared, scared off by prison sentences handed down to the likes of Soloway under the 2004 CAN Spam act. Even overseas there has been progress. In the past year a series of spam-spewing botnets -- Waledac, Pushdo, and most recently Rustock -- have been taken offline thanks to the efforts of law enforcement and private security researchers. And in October 2010, an affiliate marketing website called Spammit closed its doors. It was used by spammers pushing online pharmaceuticals, and was a major source of income for many spammers. That's taken a big dent out of spam, but the nature of the business has evolved. Once a source of irritating commercial marketing messages, unsolicited mass emails are increasingly being used by scammers and criminal hackers to ply their trade. No longer is spam just a way to sell pornography or cheap pills. Spam messages are being used to install malicious software, and for a targeted form of spamming called spearphishing that has become a particularly effective hacker technique. A spearphishing attack opened the door to RSA security and helped hackers to compromise the security of RSA's SecurID tokens. Spammers may be getting more crafty, too. "There has been a decline in what we're getting in our traps, but what we're seeing that's out there is smarter spam," said Gary Warner, director of research in computer forensics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Warner helped set up a massive database at the university that vacuums up as many as a million spam messages per day. Take Feb. 14, for example; Valentine's Day. Instead of the usual Viagra or Rolex spam, Warner saw a flood of messages advertising a legitimate florist -- FTD. That's a more targeted form of spam than what his team would typically have seen a couple of years ago. And the spammers were directing people to a legitimate Web site -- FTD Flowers -- making their money from Web marketing referral fees. If the spammers succeeded in reminding just a few absent-minded spouses to order flowers, they could make money. Another example of smart spam? Those strange emails that come from friends, telling you to visit an online pharmacy or watch a video. Criminals break into Hotmail or Gmail accounts and send messages to every one of the victims' mail contacts before anyone realizes. This type of spam -- sent between two people who know each other -- is much more likely to evade filters. Scammers have taken this game to Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter too. Sometimes they send @messages to their targets. Other times they hack into an account and use it to send out their messages. That's what happened last week to "Shaun of the Dead" actor Simon Pegg's Twitter account. It was used to spam out a Trojan horse program disguised as a screensaver to his 1.2 million followers. The hunt for new ways to pump out unwanted messages is a natural evolution. Old fashioned e-mail isn't the ubiquitous connector it once was. According to the Pew Center for Internet Life, young Internet users shy away from e-mail, preferring texts and instant messages. Pew's December 2010 Generations report on Internet usage found that 70-year-olds are now more likely to use email than teenagers. In an effort to reach these younger Internet users, scammers have turned to search engines too, poisoning search results by gaming Google or Bing. "People are spending more time on Web properties than they were four or five years ago," said Paul Judge, chief research officer at security appliance vendor Barracuda Networks. The result is that search engine results are becoming cluttered with blatantly commercial or useless pages, in much the same way that email boxes were flooded when spam first spiked about a decade ago. Scammers know how search engines work, and they work hard to get their dodgy pages to pop up near the top of search results. They bombard online forums with links to their pages or hack into websites to add links -- all in an effort to boost their Google ranking. For less than $100, crooked marketers can automatically add 10,000 links -- typically from the comments section of blogs -- to whatever webpage they want. This can quickly push a webpage to the top of Google or Bing's results. This doesn't only lead to bad Web-searching. Sometimes it means that people get hacked. In fact, the number of malicious Web pages that use search engine optimization tricks to lure visitors nearly doubled between June and December last year, Judge said. Even spammy Web pages that aren't malicious, the ones slapped together with stolen or low-quality content, are becoming a problem. Earlier this year Google was forced to acknowledge a "slight uptick" in spam pages, and said it was trying new tricks to exclude unwanted pages from its results. Spam is morphing. So while the spam boom that kicked off in the late 1990s may finally be abating, that doesn't mean unwanted mass emails are going away. It's still an effective way for scammers to quickly and cheaply connect with millions of people they don't know, and convince them to buy something they don't need or to go to a Web site they should really avoid. On Monday, Cisco's IronPort group tracked more than 45 billion spam messages. That means spam accounted for 86 percent of all the email on the Internet that day. In a recent report, Symantec pegged spam at 73 percent of all email. But both companies agree that it's at its lowest levels in years. Robert Soloway believes spam will never die, so long as email is free. But the barriers to entry are getting higher. According to the former Spam King, people will try it out, then once they realize how hard it is to make it big, most will move on to something else. But those who have found a way to make money will be around for a long time, said Dell's Stewart. They may be dinosaurs, but "they're dinosaurs that are still making money," he said. "I don't think they're going to quit." Source: http://www.infoworld.com/d/security/the-internet-evolves-there-place-spam-770?page=0,2


text:
235 North Northwest Highway
Palatine, IL 60067
96 N Bokelman Street
Roselle, IL 60172
Would you like your smile to be a bit brighter than it is right now? We can make it happen at Smiles Dental Care, with professional tooth whitening for brighter natural looking teeth. Dr. William Wolski's Roselle, IL area office can effectively lighten your stained or discolored tooth enamel. Whiter teeth not only look great, they improve your self-confidence.
Dr. William Wolski at his Roselle area dental implants practice offers extensive experience restoring your dental implant crown.
Our dedicated team uses state-of-the-art materials and techniques for stability and longevity. You'll enjoy the comfort and confidence of natural-looking teeth.
At Smiles Dental Care we aim to maximize your insurance benefits and make any remaining balance easily affordable. Roselle area dentist Dr. William Wolski and his knowledgeable staff can help answer any of your insurance questions.
We accept most insurance carriers. Please check with us prior to your appointment, but it's safe to say we likely accept the type of insurance you carry.
If you're looking for dentures that look great and last, look no further than Smiles Dental Care located in the Roselle, IL area. William Wolski, D.D.S. will assess your needs and fit you with durable, comfortable, natural-looking dentures - at a price you can afford.
A beautiful smile can brighten your life! If you are continuously hiding your chipped, stained, or cracked teeth from others, it's time for a change! William Wolski, D.D.S., a trusted Roselle area dentist, can fix chips, cracks, and stains to reveal a great new smile - and a new you. You'll look so good you'll wonder why you waited so long!
Bradley, Robert E D.D.S.
124 E Palatine Rd
Palatine, IL, 60067-5110
Meadows Dental Group Ltd
4949 Euclid Ave Ste A
Palatine, IL, 60067
(847) 397-1111
Kowalski, Christopher D.D.S.
566 E Northwest Hwy
Palatine, IL, 60074-6355
Hicks Family Dental Clinic
2381 N Hicks Rd
Palatine, IL, 60074
(847) 359-9100
How early should children get dental braces and orthodontic treatment?
A simple guideline to use is that children should be examined at the time their permanent teeth are beginning to come in. However, every child is different, and sometimes the best starting time for getting orthodontic braces and other dental appliances depends on the type of problem and how severe it is. So the answer really is: "It depends…"
If your child has crooked teeth and requires dental braces, early intervention can make a real difference. That is when the best results with orthodontic braces are seen; ones that might be impossible once your child's face and jaw have completely developed. Also, when started early, completing the orthodontics is much easier.
During an initial examination, your dentist will evaluate your child's facial growth, spacing between teeth, crowding, and extra, missing or crooked teeth. They will also look for overbite and for habits like tongue-thrusting and thumb-sucking that may hinder normal growth and development. These problems can change tooth alignment as well as alter facial appearance.
If, after the initial exam, your child doesn't require orthodontic braces or retainers, most dentists will schedule periodic follow-up exams. This is to ensure that while the permanent teeth are coming in, and their face and jaws continue to grow, their needs don't change. If they do, the problem can be caught and fixed early.
Getting orthodontic braces and retainers can bring your child's teeth, lips and face into harmony. We all know that a pleasing appearance and beautiful smile give children, and adults, a big advantage in life.
Getting started couldn't be easier. In fact, your crooked teeth could be straighter teeth, and your smile, more beautiful, within weeks of receiving Invisalign invisible braces from your orthodontist.
During this first step you will need to make an appointment with an Invisalign Certified Orthodontist. During the initial visit, your orthodontics professional will help you decide on your course of teeth straightening treatment. He will take bite impressions of your teeth and send them, along with a set of precise instructions, to Invisalign.
Invisalign uses advanced 3-D computer imaging technology to transform your bite impressions into a custom-made series of clear and removable invisible braces. There may be as many as 48 in the series or as few as 12, depending on your individual Invisalign clear braces treatment plan.
During your next visit to your orthodontist, you will receive your first set of Invisalign aligners. Your orthodontist will most likely give you a few additional sets for you to wear before you return for your next visit.
You'll wear each set of clear Invisalign braces day and night for about 2 weeks, removing them only to eat, drink, brush and floss. Total treatment time averages 9-15 months, but will vary from case to case. You'll visit your orthodontist only about every 6 weeks to ensure that your Invisalign treatment is progressing as planned.
Congratulations! When you're finished wearing each aligner in the series, your Invisalign teeth straightening treatment will be complete and you will have the beautiful smile you've always wanted.


text:
Milwaukee engineering students build Lego Lambeau
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — A group of students from Milwaukee School of Engineering have been busy constructing a Lego replica of Lambeau Field.
The Green Bay Press Gazette reports their efforts are on display throughout the day Saturday at the real Lambeau Field. They were hoping to finish it up in time for an evening family-oriented event there.
The 13-by-15 foot Lego Lambeau is being built from more than 130,000 of the multi-colored building blocks. It features a working scoreboard, lights, seating, interior and exterior architectural details, and a field complete with players.
The students' professor says it's a useful way to practice their design, scheduling and estimating skills.


text:
Pinterest marketing gives you the opportunity to get your products in front of an audience browsing Pinterest for purchase ideas. In fact, 72% of pinners say that the Pins they see inspire them to shop, even when they aren't actively looking for anything in particular.
These users could very well be potential customers for your products who are in the middle of the research stage in the buying process.
But while many ecommerce businesses could benefit from building a presence on Pinterest, many don't because of time restraints, the difficulty of getting started, or the struggle of consistently creating interesting Pins.
Luckily, there are tools that can help with all of this, that can improve the efficiency and efficacy of your Pinterest marketing. Here are 10 apps and tools that can help you take your Pinterest game to the next level.
If you're new to Pinterest marketing, be sure to check out:
1. Tailwind
Price: $9.99 USD per month (billed annually)
You can save a ton of time on social media marketing by scheduling your content in advance to be automatically published. Tailwind gives you this ability, along with a slew of other features tailored for Pinterest.
Social media strategy and planning templates
Ready to get started with your social media strategy? These free, customizable templates give you tools to plan and execute a strategy that connects you with your target audience while keeping your content calendar organized.
Get your social media strategy and planning templates delivered right to your inbox.
Almost there: please enter your email below to gain instant access.
We'll also send you updates on new educational guides and success stories from the Shopify newsletter. We hate SPAM and promise to keep your email address safe.
You can schedule individual Pins for specific time slots, or create queues of content that will be automatically posted in the next available slot. It's easy to view the entire content schedule at once, and quickly drag and drop queued Pins into different time slots.
Tailwind gives you a few options for creating pins. You can:
- Create Pins from scratch by uploading images.
- Create a Pin from an Instagram post.
- Use their browser extension to save images and create pins from anywhere online, including your own Shopify store. This is a huge time-saver, and it can help you ensure that you don't miss out on a product you should be promoting.
Tailwind also offers Pinterest analytics, which can be helpful to access while scheduling content. There's not much you'll get from their dashboard that you can't already get from Pinterest's native analytics, but it's nice to have it all available on one platform while scheduling content.
Tailwind has a free 30 day trial. After that, plans start at $15 per month when paid on a month-to-month basis. Alternatively, you can check out Buffer if you're looking for a tool to schedule posts on multiple social media platforms beyond just Pinterest and Instagram.
2. Canva
Price: Free, paid plans start at $12.95 USD per month (per user)
Pinterest is a visual-first platform, and if the Pin itself doesn't look good, there's little chance that the pinner will stop to read the description, let alone click through.
Making a strong first impression is key on Pinterest, and design software like Canva can help you streamline the way you create good-looking visual content. Part of creating a high-performing Pin, after all, will be creating Pins that fall within the ideal size ratios.
Canva actually has Pinterest Pin templates ready to go, with multiple layouts that you can choose from to quickly create gorgeous Pins at scale.
Each of these layouts is completely customizable. You can change the text, the font, the background image, add graphics or take design elements away. You can even just start a new graphic from scratch and upload your own visual assets.
Even if you have existing images sized perfectly for Pinterest, you can use Canva to add a logo or text overlay on your images to ensure your brand or website is represented on your Pins as it gets re-pinned.
The basic plan for Canva is free with tons of images and assets available at no cost, with the option to purchase new ones for $1 each.
If you decide to upgrade ($9.95 per month when billed annually), you can gain access to even more design assets and stock photos, with the option to save your branding and design choices for quicker creation.
3. Piktochart
Price: Free, paid plans starting at $12.50 per month
If you've recently browsed Pinterest, there's a good chance you've seen at least a few infographics or infographic-style Pins. Infographics can help diversify your own Pinterest content.
Piktochart works similarly to Canva, but infographics and charts are their specialty. There are infographic templates available to choose from, which give you a quick start and make it easier to create a gorgeous image even if you have zero design experience.
The templates are all fully customizable, though they recommend not changing the size of the text boxes as they're already designed for the ideal ratio. You can, however, change everything about the infographic, including setting new color schemes with just a few clicks. Fast is the name of the game here.
You can technically use Piktochart for free, but most businesses might benefit from upgrading to at least the Lite plan, which costs $12.50 per month. You can get up to 600 templates instead of the 6 offered in the starter plan.
If you can afford it and are using it regularly, consider springing for the Pro plan, which costs $24.17 per month. This gives you access to HD image exports, watermark removal, and custom color schemes for your brand.
For alternatives, be sure to check out these other easy-to-use infographic makers.
4. Woobox's Pinterest Tab
Price: Free
If your store has been around for a while, there's a good chance that you've built up a decent following on Facebook. Facebook, after all, can act as a central hub for your social media presence—it's where users are likely to go to look for social proof, reviews, and more to evaluate your business.
You can make the most out of your Facebook Page with Woobox, which allows you to add a static Pinterest tab to your Page. This tab stands out visually, and lets you share your boards on Facebook. This allows you to tap into the audience that you already have on Facebook and send them over to Pinterest while showcasing your top boards.
Woobox is also known for being a strong social media contest platform, and they have an exceptional "Pin It to Win It" campaign option. This contest type lets you incentivize repins of specific, pre-selected pins with the chance to win a prize at the end.
💡Note: You must give pinners a choice of Pins, because asking them to repin a single image goes against Pinterest's contest rules.
The contest will be run through a landing page, and you'll be able to capture lead information and view analytics as the contest progresses.
Woobox does have a free plan available that lets you utilize both of these features. If you want your contest to scale, however, you can opt for their $30 a month plan, which allows up to 5,000 participants to enter.
5. Pingroupie
Price: Free
Contributing to group boards is a quick way to make connections on Pinterest and to potentially distribute some of your own content in new places. The tricky part is to actually find these boards, because manually searching for them is more difficult than you could even begin to imagine.
Enter Pingroupie. This free tool's entire purpose is to list group boards that are currently live. You could reach out to these board owners and see if they'd be open to doing a group board with you, or if they're in need of contributors like you. If you're able to contribute relevant, non-spammy content of your own, there could be a lot to gain for your brand.
Pingroupie sorts groups by industry, but you can also search for keywords. When you click on them, you can see them immediately on Pinterest.
Pingroupie can also be a strong competitive research tool thanks to the industry sorting feature. You can see what types of collaborative content other businesses in your industry are putting out, and see if you can spot something they're missing that you can offer yourself.
6. PinFollow
Price: Free
It's a common practice to follow a number of Pinterest accounts early on in hopes of having people follow you back. If you've ended up following more people than you have followers, however, you'll want to occasionally prune the accounts you're following to maintain your follower ratio and keep your feed clean.
PinFollow is a valuable tool for this purpose. It can tell you which of the accounts you're following haven't followed you back. Then, if you choose to, you can even unfollow them right from the PinFollow dashboard. It takes an otherwise time consuming and painful process and speeds it up a great deal.
PinFollow is free, and it takes only a few seconds to set up, making it one of the easiest Pinterest marketing tools to use on this list.
Disclaimer: Don't use this tool to mass unfollow everyone at once, as this behavior goes against Pinterest's terms of service and could get your account banned. Instead, you can use this tool to monitor your following and slowly unfollow unengaged users over time.
7. Product Pins
With Product Pins, users can purchase your products directly from a Pin through secure payment options without having to leave the Pinterest app. For users who aren't as familiar with your brand, this can help them feel more confident in purchasing and make first-time purchases easier.
8. Zotabox's Social Sharing Buttons
Price: Free
Pinning your own content is great, but what's even better is when your customers and website traffic do it with you. Enabling Pinterest sharing on your site can do wonders for your Pinterest marketing.
Zotabox is a Shopify app that's easy to install and allows you to add either "Share" or "Follow" social media buttons, along with links and icons to specific profiles.
Adding "Share" buttons that appear across all your content marketing and on individual product pages can help get the word out about your products. People who like what they see, after all, may save it to Pinterest to consider purchasing later or share it with their followers, and the more Pins you have floating around on the platform, the better.
Zotabox's social sharing buttons are free. If you decide to upgrade the app to a paid plan, you can get other features, like the option to remove branding or collect emails, but for the sake of Pinterest marketing, the free plan gives you what you need.
9. Pinoculars Conversion Tracking (Shopify App)
Price: $15 per month
Remarketing can be an exceptionally valuable investment for your business, and that doesn't change with Pinterest ads. Many users, after all, don't buy a product the first time they see an ad.
Pinocular's conversion tracking app for Shopify makes retargeting based on Promoted Pin activity significantly easier. This app can help you get more out of your ad spend to increase your overall profit.
Pinterest's conversion tracking tags are a little more complicated to set up than Facebook's, and for merchants without coding experience it can be intimidating. One of the biggest advantages of this app is that it simplifies the process of setting up Pinterest conversion tracking tags for your store. And without the tracking tags, you wouldn't be able to retarget accurately, or track the results from your Promoted Pin campaigns.
One of the biggest advantages of this app is the ability to effortlessly retarget users who have added items to their carts and then abandoned them. These are high-intent, high-interest users, and giving them a nudge could be all they need to follow through on their purchase.
Pinocular's app costs $15 per month, but there's a 7 day free trial you can check out before taking the plunge.
10. IFTTT for Pinterest
Price: Free
Sometimes the best way to get more momentum on two different social media platforms is to integrate their marketing together. IFTTT is a commonly used tool for creating automated workflows, and now it's one that you can use to improve your Pinterest marketing too.
Their Pinterest and Instagram marketing integrations are particularly valuable. Some of the top recipes include:
- Sync your Instagram posts to Pinterest boards
- Sync Instagram posts to Pinterest boards when using a specific hashtag
- Publish a tweet when a new pin is added to your board
- Upload new Pin images to a specific Facebook album on your Page
As a word of warning, you don't want to overuse this tool to the point where you're completely out of the editorial equation. A fully automated social media presence is obvious to your customers. That being said, it's a useful tool for easy automation as long as you use it to supplement your marketing efforts, not replace them entirely.
Which Pinterest tools do you recommend?
This is by no means an exhaustive list. There are plenty of useful third party tools and apps out there to complement Pinterest's built-in features and improve your Pinterest marketing efforts.
That said, let's hear from you. What tools do you use for Pinterest marketing that you couldn't live without? Share them in the comments below!


text:
Choose a license type for 360Works Email Plugin 5.01
Already have a license? Download the latest version here.
Older Versions: 4.11 3.34016 2.17 1.99
Send and receive emails in Filemaker, with support for multiple content types, recipients, and attachments.
Bypass desktop mail clients when sending email.
Read mail from POP, IMAP, Gmail mailboxes.
Demo version
The product will run in demo mode until registered with a license key. While in demo mode, product will run for 2 hours every time you launch FileMaker (or FileMaker Server, for server deployment).
You can quit and re-launch FileMaker to renew the 2 hour demo period, with no expiration date. Demos are fully functional during time period.
Single-user License
This license allows unlimited use by a SINGLE USER running FileMaker Pro.
You MAY NOT use this license with scheduled scripts or Perform Script on Server on FileMaker Server, or for Web Publishing with FileMaker Server Advanced - you will need a separate Enterprise License to do that.
Workgroup License
This license allows unlimited use with FileMaker Pro for up to 10 users, as long as those users are affiliated with a single company / school / organization.
You MAY NOT use this license for organizations with more than 10 users, or with scheduled scripts or Perform Script on Server on FileMaker Server, or for Web Publishing with FileMaker Server Advanced - you will need a separate Enterprise License to do that.
Enterprise License
This license can be used with FileMaker Pro for an unlimited number of users within a single organization. It also allows the software to be deployed on a SINGLE server within that organization for tasks including web publishing, scheduled scripts, and Perform Script on Server.
It does not permit distribution of the product outside of the licensed organization, and cannot be used for multiple customers by hosting providers.
Solution Bundle License
This license allows a SINGLE developer to distribute the product with a SINGLE solution to an unlimited number of companies / schools / organizations, regardless of the number of users of those organizations. This license also covers use with FileMaker Server scheduled scripts, Perform Script on Server, and the Web Publishing Engine. This product may only legally be used when bundled with the solution distributed by the developer who owns this license. Products cannot be registered using the plugin configuration dialog by end users; they must be registered by the developer using the plugin registration functions. No product support for the developer or sublicensees is included with this license; support must be provided by the developer or by 360Works at our standard hourly rate.
Portfolio License
For less than the cost of 3 of our most popular plugins, you can get the entire 360Works plug-in portfolio, all upgrades and most new releases for a year, and a single license key that works for all covered products. The 360Works Portfolio Bundle includes: - A base license of MirrorSync - A single user license of DocuBin - The popular SuperContainer - And more! As an active 360Works Portfolio Bundle holder, you will receive new versions of our products and paid upgrades released up to a year after your purchase. Simply renew your license for an annual cost of $695 to keep receiving new and upgraded products after the first year. The products you receive during your Portfolio Bundle subscription are yours to keep, regardless of whether you choose to renew your license.
Looking for a different license type? Contact us, we offer additional licensing options and reseller incentives.[cancel]


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Governments meeting to discuss responses to global crime waves are urging countries to impose strict penalties for the trafficking wildlife products like elephant ivory and rhino horn. Members of the United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Friday passed a resolution encouraging UN member states "to make illicit trafficking in wild fauna and flora a serious crime" and to ensure organized criminal groups are prosecuted.
Under UN rules, serious crimes should receive sentences of up to four years in prison or more. In many instances wildlife smugglers are released after paying fines significantly lower than the value of the illegal goods.
"Today the commissioners took a critical step forward by recognizing the serious, transnational and organized nature of wildlife and forest crime. These crimes are not only putting the survival of endangered species in peril, but are also threatening security and sustainable economic development," said Wendy Elliott, leader of WWF's campaign against wildlife crime. "We urge governments worldwide to use every tool available to combat these crimes, which are also taking human lives."
During the crime commission meeting, governments identified links between the illegal trade in wildlife and timber products and other transnational organized crimes such as drug and arms running, human trafficking, money laundering and terrorism. The wildlife trafficking resolution was put forward by the United States and Peru.
Yury Fedotov, Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, told journalists, "Wildlife and forest crimes must be treated as serious crimes with minimum punishments of four years or more so that full force of deterrence can be used against criminals. The harder task, however, will be to curb the demand."
The poaching of elephants and rhinos has reached record levels across Africa, but increased law enforcement effectiveness is also needed throughout the trade chain and in consumer countries like China, Thailand and Viet Nam.
Up to 30,000 elephants are killed each year for their ivory tusks. In poaching epicentre Central Africa, governments will meet next week to address the ongoing security crisis, which is exacerbated by the proliferation of heavily-armed poachers.
"We are seeing that the killing of wildlife is increasingly connected to horrific violence against the rangers and community-members standing between these criminals and their targets. It is long overdue for the punishments to fit the crimes in these cases," Elliott said.
Governments also agreed to a proposal from Norway to address crimes at sea that impact upon the environment, including fisheries crimes. Illegal fishing undermines efforts by governments and responsible fishers to sustainably manage fisheries. It also threatens livelihoods, food security and sustainable development, and costs the global economy US $23 billion annually.
For further information please contact:
WWF: Alona Rivord, firstname.lastname@example.com, +41 79 959 1963


text:
Allec is a business & technology PSD template. It's a perfect combination of modern design and unique authentic look. Allec is designed with the flat concept with muted color scheme in mind. It's fancy and functional in the same time – you get a lot of slick elements to stand out from the crowd as well as different pages for various purposes (corporate, technology, shop, forum, app, blog, landing page or agency etc.). As you see Allec is a multipurpose PSD template. This template is fully editable and can be easily customized due to your needs.
As Allec is a template from technology category, it has a lot of features suitable for a technology website. There are 3 different services pages and single service page. You get support page too. It's important feature for technology website to have ability to provide support to their users with thought-out UX.
Pricing tables are also included and are designed in different styles to give you possibility to choose the one that suits better for you. It is very convenient especially for hosting websites or cloud services providers to show their pricing plans. Btw, Allec has hosting homepage which is designed specially for hosting providers.
As technology based website you may also need dashboard or some sort of admin panel. Allec has such kind of pages as well. Dashboard page is full of various types of charts and stats, calendar and notifications to suit well to the rest of Allec pages.
Allec PSD template can be also used as a landing page or to promote your application. For this purposes there are 5 different homepage designs. Onepage version is also designed for Allec PSD template. These pages are suitable for web agency as well.
This PSD template is perfect match for corporate site too. As it has everything you need. Allec has such kind of pages as about, single employee, careers, testimonials, 4 contact pages, 4 types of portfolio and case study.
Allec has also full pack of e-commerce pages from homepage to checkout process. Besides these pages Avalon offers you 2 page designed for forum.
Our template has pages variety which depends not only on content and purposes, but visuals as well. Allec goes along with light and dark versions. Along with predefined pages you get huge amount of components/shortcodes designed to satisfy any customer. Allec has also big variety of headers and footers options to make different combinations of them.
The download includes 84 well organized PSD files, which enable you to either create a stunning layout of your own or just do some minor adjustments! Check out the screenshots to see them all!
VERY IMPORTANT! We're still working on this template, so you'll get new updates with new features absolutely free.
- 84 PSD Files
- Flat and Cosmic Design
- Bootstrap 3 Grid (1170 px)
- Different Page Layouts
- Easy to Customise
- Unique Illustrations
- Christmas Landing Page
- Pixel Perfect
- Fully Layered and Well-organized with Proper Names PSD Files
- Font Icons
- Google Fonts
- Powerful Shortcodes with Large Amount of Options (Accordions, Alerts, Buttons, Carousels&Sliders, Charts, Counters, Icons Styles, Dividers, Image Containers, Form Elements, Links, Lists, Notifications, Paginations, Progress Bars, Promoboxes, Sequences, Social Buttons, Tables, Tabs, Testimonials, Tooltips )
Pages You Get:
- Version 1
- Version 2
- Version 3
- Version 4
- Version 5
- Hosting Homepage
- Christmas Landing Page
- About
- Single Employee
- Careers
- Testimonials
- Version 1
- Version 2
- Version 3
- Single Service
- Pricing Tables
- Support
- 2 Columns
- 3 Columns
- 4 Columns
- Fullwidth
- Case Study
- Blog with Sidebar
- Fullwidth Blog
- Timeline Blog
- Masonry Blog
- Audio Blog
- Video Blog
- Single Post (Fullwidth)
- Single Post (with Sidebar)
- Post Author Page
- E-commerce Homepage
- Catalog Fullwidth (Grid View)
- Catalog Fullwidth (List View)
- Catalog with Sidebar (Grid View)
- Catalog with Sidebar (List View)
- Single Product Fullwidth
- Single Product with Sidebar
- Wishlist
- My Orders
- Chekout
- Shopping Cart
- Forum Page
- Forum Single Thread Page
- Version 1
- Version 2
- Version 3
- Version 4
Onepage Parallax Layout
Additional Pages:
- Login
- Sitemap
- Coming Soon
- 404 Error
- Shortcodes
- Accordions
- Promoboxes
- Headers
- Footers
- Buttons
- Counters
- Dividers
- Notifications
- Tooltips
- Tabs
- Sequences
- Testimonials Styles
Mobile View:
- Homepage v_1 Tablet View
- Homepage v_2 Tablet View
- Homepage v_3 Tablet view
- Hosting Homepage Tablet View
- E-commerce Homepage Tablet View
- Homepage v_1 Smartphone View
- Homepage v_2 Smartphone View
- Homepage v_3 Smartphone view
- Hosting Homepage Smartphone View
- E-commerce Homepage Smartphone View
The photos used in the template are not included in the main download file, they are only for the preview purpose.
Version 1.7. – Updated: December 7, 2014
Added: Christmas landing page (Homepage) Added: Buttons page Added: Counters page Added: Dividers page Added: Notifications page Added: Tooltips page Added: Tabs page Added: Sequences page Added: Testimonials styles page Improved: Shortcodes page
Version 1.6. – Updated: October 23, 2014
Added: Homepage version 5 (light with hero header) Added: Contact page version 3 Added: Contact page version 4 Added: Pop up for quick product view for e-commerce pages Added: Additional promobox style to Promoboxes page
Version 1.5. – Updated: October 10, 2014
Added: Homepage version 4 (Light) Added: Promoboxes page with additional styles Improved: Shortcodes page
Version 1.4. – Updated: October 7, 2014
Changed: Name Atech to Allec Added: Accordion page & additional pricing table style with countdown Added: Minor improvements
Version 1.3. – Updated: August 2, 2014
Added: Multiple header and footer variations
Version 1.2. – Updated: June 14, 2014
Added: Dark skin
Version 1.1. – Updated: June 4, 2014
Added: Mobile view
Version 1.0. – Updated: May 28, 2014
Initial release


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Masonry is the world's first and largest fraternal organization. It is a body of knowledge and a system of ethics based on the belief that each man has a responsibility to improve himself while being devoted to his family, faith, country, and fraternity.
As Masons, we lead by example, give back to our communities, and support numerous Masonic philanthropies. We invest in children, our neighborhoods, and our future.
Our values:
Our Missions is guided by the enduring and relevant tenets of our fraternity--Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth--and our core values, include:
Our lives are based on honor and integrity, and we believe that honesty, compassion, trust, and knowledge is important.
The fraternity values religious, ethnic, cultural, social, and educational differences. We respect the opinions of others and strive to improve and develop as human beings.
Personnel growth:
Our continuous pursuit of knowledge, ethics, spirituality, and leadership brings more meaning to our lives.
We make a difference in our communities through charitable giving, community service, and volunteers. Brothers demonstrate successful and harmonious living by their actions in their family, in their community and at work.
We strive to be better spouses, parents, and family members and are committed to protecting the well being of members and their families, especially when they are in need.
Masons value the liberties outlined in the U.S. Constitution and continually promote freedom of speech and expression, freedom to worship a Supreme Being in an individual way, and other important liberties. We believe it is our duty to vote in public elections and to exercise all of our liberties within due and proper bounds.


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According to Newsweek, Barack Obama is the Country's 'First Gay President'
Newsweek's May 21 issue will feature a cover story on Obama as the country's first gay president, with an article written by longtime Obama fan and gay political writer Andrew Sullivan. The cover shows Obama adorned with a rainbow halo.
Of course, this is a symbolic title — Sullivan's not throwing shade in the president's direction. But in the same way Bill Clinton was called "the first black president," Obama is "the first gay president" in the eyes of one of his staunchest gay supporters. Obama's certainly gayer than his predecessors, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton — the latter of whom signed DOMA and DADT into law despite his liberal leanings.
Sullivan's story is not available online yet, but he did write a short and emotional blog post in response to Obama's announcement last week.
I think of all the gay kids out there who now know they have their president on their side. I think of Maurice Sendak, who just died, whose decades-long relationship was never given the respect it deserved. I think of the centuries and decades in which gay people found it impossible to believe that marriage and inclusion in their own families was possible for them, so crushed were they by the weight of social and religious pressure. I think of all those in the plague years shut out of hospital rooms, thrown out of apartments, written out of wills, treated like human garbage because they loved another human being. I think of Frank Kameny. I think of the gay parents who now feel their president is behind their sacrifices and their love for their children.
Let's see if Sullivan's Newsweek article is just as impassioned.
[Image via AP]


text:
Is Party Down a comedy or a tragedy? Well, obviously it's a comedy. There are enough jokes, japes, and comedy-elite guest stars (hi Kerry Kenney and Rob Huebel!) to give it that designation in the modern sense. But what about in the more classical sense? In the Shakespearean comedic mold, for example, comedic plots and misunderstandings entangle the characters in a series of lighthearted events that culminate in a happy ending (usually one or a series of marriages); in the Shakespearean tragic mold, a "tragically flawed" but sympathetic protagonist endures a variety of struggles that culminate in everyone being much worse off than they were (usually dead). Now, minus the marriage and death, which of those sounds more like Party Down?
Party Down played with that concept brilliantly tonight with a straight-up comedy of errors that ends poorly for almost everyone involved. (Shakespearean scholars would call this a problem play, or as Kyle puts it, "all of these little misunderstandings adding up to this tragic ending.") Setting the whole thing at the opening-night party of a community-theatre production of what looked very much like a comedy of errors was not only a nice (albeit obvious) way to frame this construct, it also provided a perfect arena for the sort of over-the-top comedy that doesn't always play so well in Party Down's down-to-earth atmosphere. (In what other context would Roman's deliciously awkward Dionysian orgy with Kenny and Huebal have worked? Probably none.)
There were certainly elements of this episode that bordered on slapsticky (which I don't really mind, but judging by the reaction to the funeral episode a couple weeks back, some of you do), and yeah, maybe setting it in a theatre was a little gimmicky (by PD standards at least). But the tight plotting and excellent-as-always performances kept it all glued together. The writing on Party Down has already proved extremely adept at bringing some really complex plotting together in very simple yet satisfying ways, particularly this season, but tonight's episode was an exemplar in that regard. Let's review all the mistaken identities and misunderstandings that went into "Not On Your Wife Opening Night":
• After she pays him a compliment and he catches her staring at the frosting he doesn't know he has on his ass, Ron convinces himself that Lydia is into him. He haplessly flirts with her ("Not if I see you first…") before taking "the direct approach," which results in a face full of mace.
• When the director of the community theatre (Jim Piddock) tells his former protégé Kyle that the theatre's regular donor hasn't ponied up her usual $10,000 check, Kyle vows to "convince" her using his floppy-haired charm. He successfully seduces the red-shirted "Margaritte," only to find out it was actually the actress who played "Margaritte" in the play, so named to honor the donor. Kyle, thatch-headed devil that he is, turns his advances on the correct red-shirted Margaritte (Rachel Harris), but is unsuccessful because…
• She's a lesbian! A high-powered lesbian producer at Warner Bros. with a crush on Casey (more on that in a moment) and an ongoing affair with the director's wife, hence her reluctance to donate. We see her and the director's wife slipping out from behind curtains and doorways throughout the night, and while it was pretty obvious what the deal was early on, that was a nice little homage to classic farce.
• After talking about their kiss in The Guten-hot-tub, Casey and Henry are back to "doing the shtick again," Prohibition banter and all, but they quickly find themselves locked in another passionate embrace backstage after Casey dons a burqua costume from the play. Lydia walks in on them, but thinks Henry is making out with the leading lady.
• Lydia lets slip in front of the director that she saw Henry making out with the leading lady, who also happens to be his cuckolding wife. But Casey won't let Henry explain what really happened, as it would out her as a straight girl in front of the lesbian producer she's been flirting with in order to get roles.
• After the director's wife comes clean about her affair with Margaritte, she justifies it by saying he's been sleeping with the mousy stage manager, Mona, who's been shuffling around throughout the party and is "obviously in love" with him. "That's preposterous!" he exclaims, only to find out later that Mona has the $11,000 that will save his theatre.
• Casey overhears Lydia talking to Ron about Henry's backstage shenanigans, indignantly scolding him "I thought we weren't going to say anything" in front of them. A classic "I thought—" "But you—" "But he said—" ("Oh brother!") exchange, topped with Roman's drunken "Magnicifent!" capped the episode.
Okay, so there are a couple of happy-ish endings in there: The theatre is saved and Roman got a little love. And hey, maybe the theatre director and Mona will live happily ever after. (She was great in Misery.) But long-term, our characters are no better off than they were when things started, and Henry and Casey's relationship is tiptoeing ever closer to disaster (or perhaps happily ever after, but knowing this show I'm not betting on it). Thankfully, we've evolved past binary comedy/tragedy distinctions, and the tragic undertones of Party Down are precisely what elevate the comedy. And anyway, who needs happy endings when there are "pansexual frenzies" to be had?
Stray Observations
• Hey, let's pretend it's 100 years ago and anyone gives a shit about theatre!
• "So you were all magnificent, which means that statistically, magnificent is average and you were all average." Semantics burn!
• "Bear is slang for a large hairy gay man." "Well that explains a lot. I'm going to have to change my online dating profile."
• "Be careful, he's a total cougar." "What's that?"
• "You called me an achiever!" The humiliations of Ron continue, right down to his snot-drip.
• "Since when did ladies karaoke night become lesbian scissoring night?"
• No new images on the Starz site, so let's just go with a generic Henry shot, shall we?