text:
Apartment Source - Since 1985
Considerations in Selecting Your New Apartments in Bossier La and Shreveport
So, you want to find an apartment in Bossier City or Shreveport, Louisiana … in this piece, we will consider which factors are key to a successful outcome to your search.
According to the adage, the most important aspect of real estate is "Location, Location, Location"! This holds truer than ever when considering where you and your family will call home. As such, the first step in searching for apartments in Shreveport LA or a Bossier City apartment is to determine which section of town best fits your needs. Considerations include proximity to your job; the school district where you'd like to reside; convenience to schools; access to mass-transportation (such as bus routes); crime rate considerations; proximity to geographic amenities such as retail, dining options, recreational venues, and parks, and the areas' cost of living. Most importantly, your new apartment community should be situated in an inviting neighborhood where you and your family will feel comfortable and welcomed.
Rental Rate Versus Apartment Size: Typical rates for rentals in Shreveport, LA and in Bossier City, LA range from affordable to quite expensive. As such, prior to selecting a new apartment community to move into, you must consider the size of the unit you will need as well as what is a reasonable budget for your monthly rent. Some of the most important considerations are the number of bedrooms and bathrooms required, the amount of square footage preferred, the amount of common space needed (such as for living rooms, dining rooms, dens, etc.), and for how many family members the unit will be for. As far as the rental rate budgeting, a common "rule of thumb" is that your monthly rent should never exceed one-third of your monthly family income. If your family needs government financial assistance, there are numerous government programs available through local Housing Authorities and through numerous state and federal agencies.
Apartment Community Amenities and Interior Features: Prior to starting your search, take the time to make a list of the apartment community and interior unit features and amenities that are essential ("must haves") versus those features that would be nice to have, but are not priority ("could haves"). Some essential "must haves" for the community might include: accepting pets (and size/breed restrictions), laundry facilities, covered parking, garages, and swimming pools. Similarly, "must haves" for the apartment unit interior could be: the size of the unit, number of baths and bedrooms, washer-dryers and/or connections, ovens with stoves, large closets, and bathtubs versus showers.
After considering and selecting the "must haves" then you should create a similar list of additional items that are not priority but that would be nice to have as "could haves." For apartment communities, some "could haves" might include access to major roads or highways, certain recreational features such as swimming pool, sports courts, or fitness centers, was well as other amenities such as limited access gates, clubhouses, game rooms, media rooms, and even movie theatres. As for apartment interiors, "could haves" might include alarm systems, certain kitchen appliances and features, counter top finishes, patios/balconies, extra storage space, garages, fireplaces, rental furniture, and even flooring, ceiling, or lighting preferences.
Community Sizes and Types: Apartment properties in the Shreveport and Bossier City, LA area range from very large communities down to very small, single-building properties. This market showcases several extravagant communities boasting impressive, resort-style recreational amenities and many also have incredible architecture; however, since most apartment dwellers cannot afford the price tag of such luxury rentals, the result is that simpler and more affordable apartment residences are the norm. Although larger communities usually provide more features and social opportunities, smaller apartment properties typically offer a more peaceful and comfortable environment that is preferred by many renters.
In addition to community size, the rental residence type is another factor to consider. Such rental types include apartment communities, high-rise buildings, garden apartment communities, townhomes, duplexes, and single family homes, which are often in subdivisions with a leasing offices, clubrooms, and community recreational amenities.
Whether you choose a larger community or a more petite residence will depend on your individual taste, your age, familiar status, financial situation, and lifestyle preferences.
Management Company: Also important, you should evaluate the reputation and style of the management company overseeing the communities that you are considering as the place to call "home." Once again, the options facing renters range from large, professional management organizations, who operate hundreds of apartment communities across the US, all the way down to small, single, owner-managed buildings and rental houses. Larger management companies have the advantage of typically having better management systems, more experience, and greater resources, yet smaller, owner managed properties have the advantage of more individualized service and a larger vested interest in the long-term relationship with their residents. Whether a management company or the ownership entity is large, small, or somewhere in between, that management or ownership scenario could have a good or a not so good result for you and your family … it all depends on the specific property and associated management entity you choose. As such, it is suggested that you ask around about the management or ownership entities that oversee the properties you are considering. The best way to evaluate the management of the apartments you are considering, is simply to "interview" some residents living there. Ask such individuals how their experience has been with that management or ownership entity, and if they have heard any negative or positive comments or stories from other residents that might be helpful to your rental decision.
Summary: As one would expect, there are a multitude of apartments and apartment community sizes, types, and choices for residents of Shreveport and Bossier City LA. Similarly, there are numerous variables to consider such as apartment unit and community sizes, features and amenities "must haves" verses "Should haves," and management and ownership entities. Most importantly, your future apartments' location will be the cornerstone of your evaluation of choosing the right apartment home … this is obviously not a "one size fits all" decision. As a renter, you should consider the above criteria and then choose the best apartment community and unit for your individual needs. Happy apartment shopping!
Call now or complete this form and a property representative will contact you shortly.
Call Now!
© 2023 Copyright reserved by aptshopper.com.
Please say:"i saw it at Shreveport-Bossier Apartment Shoppers Guide"


text:
"Kevin Clancy departed this world too soon. He leaves behind his 11 yr old son Michael and 19 yr old daughter Amanda."
Kevin Clancy born July 18th 1969 in Dover, New Jersey to Edward and Sheila Clancy. The fourth of seven children. Oldest sister Erin Brauner followed by Colleen Dougherty and older brother Timothy Clancy, then Kevin followed by myself Daniel Clancy, and the last two sisters Jude Brown and Tara Clancy. We relocated from New Jersey to Florida in 1976.
My parents were married for 44 years. People were surprised when I would tell them how many siblings I had. They would ask"All from the same parents?" I was always proud to say yes. Theirs was a true love story. I have a picture of my mom holding my dad's hand at his first Holy Communion.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Bandai Namco announced a chunky update for Captain Tsubasa: Rise of the New Champions, bringing along three new players and more.
Captain Tsubasa: Rise of the New Champions is now enriched by three new players - Stefan Levin, Singprasert Bunnaak and Ricardo Espadas. Two of them are outfield players and one is a goalie.
Stefan Levin is described as the Swedish noble and a "very well balanced" character. He features the Aurora Feint, an ability the players are already familiar with as well as his original shot.
Singprasert Bunnaak is hailing from Thailand and is best described as a brutish unstoppable force. He will kick the ball into his opponents, knocking them down and continuing to dribble. Unlike Levin who is an honorary player, Bunnaak is a Jr-Youth player.
Ricardo Espadas is a goalkeeper from Mexico Jr-Youth. Unusually aggressive for a goalkeeper, Espadas can recharge his spirit gauge by dribbling instead of taking time to recharge it like the other goalkeepers. Given the nature of goalkeepers who try dribbling the opponents, it's easy to see he is a high-risk and maybe high-reward character.
All three characters will be able in the creation of one's dream team and players will be able to join the training event in Episode of New Hero by using Friend Card where useful skills can be learned.


text:
Graph-Based Iterative Gaussian Detection with Soft Channel Estimation for MIMO Systems
Konferenz: SCC'08 - 7th International ITG Conference on Source and Channel Coding
14.01.2008 - 16.01.2008 in Ulm, Germany
Tagungsband: SCC'08
Seiten: 6Sprache: EnglischTyp: PDFPersönliche VDE-Mitglieder erhalten auf diesen Artikel 10% Rabatt
Wo, Tianbin; Liu, Chunhui; Hoeher, Peter Adam (Information and Coding Theory Lab, Faculty of Engineering, University of Kiel, Germany)
Conventionally, the uncertainties of channel coefficients are neglected, that is the estimated values of channel coefficients are taken as the true values in the stage of data detection. In the communications community, it is still an open question how to take into account the channel uncertainty for data detection/decoding, especially in a low-complexity manner. In this paper, we propose a low-complexity receiver algorithm which utilizes soft channel information. Channel coefficients are treated as variables and estimated in an element-wise manner. Their uncertainties are represented by the variances. Instead of performing channel estimation and data detection in a separate manner, this algorithm does everything in one stage, i.e., channel estimation and data detection/decoding are carried out simultaneously over a general factor graph. The feasibility of this algorithm is verified by means of Monte-Carlo simulations both in bit error ratio (BER) and channel estimation mean squared error (MSE).


text:
School SpiritsThursdays on Paramount+
Follow School Spirits
Where's Dawn? - School Spirits Season 1 Episode 7
- Photo Credit:
- Ed Araquel/Paramount+
- Show:
- School Spirits
- Episode:
- School Spirits Season 1 Episode 7: "Seance Everything"
- Related Photos:
- School Spirits Photos, School Spirits Season 1 Episode 7 Photos
- Related Posts:
- Uploaded by:
- Paul Dailly
- Uploaded:
School Spirits Season 1 Episode 7 Quotes
Simon: Don't bother, Nicole. We already know the truth.
Nicole: What truth? What are you talking about?
Simon: That boot print you found in the woods? Was that to give Maddie's mother hope or let yourself off the hook?
Nicole: I don't know what you're talking about.
Simon: You sent Anderson that video and blackmailed him. Didn't you? Why? Why'd you need the money?
Nicole: Simon, you're seriously having some kind of breakdown. You need meds.
Simon: Buying those Horror-Con tickets, helping Maddie's mom pass out missing flyers at homecoming, leaving the dance to "help" her, was that all about creating some kind of smokescreen? So what really happened? How did you get out of that boiler room alive, but Maddie didn't? What did you need the money for? Huh? So you could split town?
Nicole: No, you asshоlе. So I could be with you. And Maddie. I needed the money so I could move to Chicago and be near your frickin' college.
Simon: What? Why, the art schools you're applying to are in Chicago.
Nicole: Yeah, and I can't get into either one of them.
Simon: You don't know that.
Nicole: When I showed them my portfolio, both admissions counselors said there wasn't a snowball's chance in hell I was getting a scholarship. They basically said my portfolio sucked, and there's no fսcking way my parents are gonna pay for me to go to Chicago and hang out with my friends. We don't have that kind of money. Did you actually believe I could ever intentionally hurt Maddie? I mean, yeah, I stole the teacher's number, but I did that so I could keep us together, not tear us apart. But I screwed up, okay? I didn't know Maddie was the only one who had Mr. Anderson's number. How was I supposed to know that? I spent weeks thinking I was the reason she got hurt. You should've said something.
Simon: Why didn't you tell Maddie and I about that portfolio review?
Nicole: And give you more reasons to think I'm pathetic? No, thanks.
Simon: Nicole. Can I ask you something? Where's the money? If you turn it in to the police, they'll know Mr. South doesn't have it. We'll be closer to finding out what really happened to Maddie. Nicole, that money could help a man prove his innocence.
Claire: I'm thirsty, my slushy's melting, and... I'm hearing you call your son a loser.
Xavier: Claire.
Claire: Last time I checked, a "loser" is an insecure bully who gets his kicks by intimidating people. For the record, your son doesn't fall under that definition. Can I have my slushie, please?
Xavier: Yeah.
Claire: Thanks. Now maybe you can take me home. My parents don't like for me to be out after dark. They don't think this town's a safe place anymore.


text: tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062509833711600070.post5177662488562743825..comments2023-07-19T14:05:03.044-04:00Comments on Permanent Revolution: Greece at the Crossroads: Part IAlex Steinerhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062509833711600070.post-28510980392969818982015-08-23T06:23:35.093-04:002015-08-23T06:23:35.093-04:00Thank you for an excellent post. Looking forward t...Thank you for an excellent post. Looking forward to part II. The final word has not been said. The recent split has most of the European parlamentary left parties in a dilema. (Including my own here in Sweden). Changing sister parties isn't done over night. Not sure if the Syriza group within the EU parlament is intact either. The first week of September should be interesting!Arthurhttps://email@example.com


text:
There are three methods of structural design, i.e. working stress, limit state and ultimate load method of structural design. These design methods are used for reinforced concrete as well as steel structure design.
Methods of Structural Design
- Working stress method (WSM)
- Ultimate load method (ULM)
- Limit state method (LSM)


text:
There's an old dog on a verandah.
Waiting every day,
Keeping watch along the road,
Somewhere down Nannup way.
His owner has gone off to war,
But the farm still has to run.
The family go about their chores,
And see the milking's done.
But the dog stays there all seasons,
Through the dry spells and the rain.
Waiting for his master,
To come back home again.
And never will that dog be hoaxed
To leave his vantage post.
He never tires looking out,
For the one he loves the most.
Then one night they heard him howl,
In the dark they heard him cry.
Up in the hills he roamed around,
And no-one knew just why.
A policeman came next morning.
The boys met him on the track.
He told them that he brought sad news,
For Tich would not be back.
But no-one had to tell the dog,
For he knew exactly when.
He wandered off into the hills,
To be never seen again.
And when the family look back now,
To the time he went astray.
It was just as though young Tich came back,
And took his dog away!
Bill Charlton
Ex-1 RAR
To read the Bob Kearney's story about Tich's dog Shadow Click Here.


text:
Give LOCAL. Support LOCAL.
Full Circle operates from the generosity of individuals, partner organizations, local businesses and foundations.
Your gift matters.
Thank you for your support.
To support us financially:
Make a one-time donation with EFT, Credit Card or Debit Card.
Set up a recurring, Monthly Donation by clicking the DONATE button and selecting "Make this a Monthly Donation" or by emailing our Financial Coordinator at email@example.com.
Make a gift in honor or in memory of a loved one.
Donate by transferring Shares of Stock can be processed by emailing our Financial Coordinator at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Your gift will go towards the following:
Grief Support
Our grief support groups (Overdose Loss, Suicide Loss, Perinatal Loss and Hands On Healing) have continued through COVID, some groups conducted virtually via Zoom and some beginning to meet in person with CDC guidelines in place.
We will continue providing crisis support and case management to all current participants, and bereavement consultations, via phone and/or Telehealth appointments.
Individual Counseling
Our licensed therapists are conducting individual counseling appointments via Telehealth and in-person as we are able.
We are currently accepting NEW clients (insurance and self-pay options) and expanding our services to underserved areas within Central Virginia.
Grief Education
We will continue offering monthly grief education programs through Zoom and virtually on our website.
Our website and social media platforms will consistently be updated with helpful resources and educational materials.
Preparation for the Future
We are expanding our virtual educational programs to support the mental health needs of our community during this unprecedented time.
Mailing Information
You can also mail a check to:
Full Circle Grief Center
10611 Patterson Avenue, Building 201
Richmond, VA 23238
Full Circle is the only comprehensive, long-term bereavement center in Central Virginia. We are an independent 501c(3) nonprofit whose mission is to provide comprehensive, professional grief support for children, adults, families, and communities. Families come to Full Circle from throughout Central Virginia in order to access our groups.


text:
Our Original Cream Top® yogurt is rich and satisfying because we use only whole milk. This Brown Cow yogurt is sweetened with cane sugar and maple syrup, and is made without the use of artificial growth hormones, artificial flavors, or artificial sweeteners.
Cultured Pasteurized Whole Milk, Cane Sugar, Maple Syrup, Pectin, Natural Flavor.
CULTURES: S. thermophilus, L.bulgaricus, L. acidophilus, Bifidus and L. paracasei.
|about 5 Serving Per Container
|Serving Size
|3/4 cup (170g)
|Amount Per Serving
|Calories 180
|% Daily Value*
|Total Fat 7g
|Saturated Fat 3g
|Trans Fat 0g
|Cholesterol 25mg
|Sodium 75mg
|Total Carbohydrate 23g
|Dietary Fiber 0g
|Total Sugars 18g
|Includes 11g Added Sugars
|Protein 6g
|Vitamin D 0mcg
|Calcium 200mg
|Iron 0mg
|Potassium 290mg
This information is intended as a general guide to customers. While we try to ensure the most up-to-date ingredients and nutritional values are on our website, they may not match exactly with what is purchased in-store. The most accurate information is always on the product.
Our Original Cream Top® yogurts are reminiscent of the way yogurt used to be made when rich, smooth cream rose to the top.
No artificial flavors here! Only delicious fruit and quality ingredients are added to our yogurts.
We sweeten our cream tops with cane sugar and maple syrup, and some with honey.
And our cows love us back by providing great milk.
Our Original Cream Top® yogurt is Non-GMO Project Verified…just another reason to indulge.
Our 32oz Original Cream Top® Yogurt is Certified Gluten Free, as well as Halal Certified by the Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America


text:
I spent a great day with a head teacher and deputy head working on difficult conversations. These two were a great fun pair who, to their credit, never shied away from having those conversations so many of us avoid. However, they had reached a point where they both had some conversation classed as 'top-level trickies' and were keen to improve their already good performance even further.
We worked through a range of activities largely focused on body language, questioning, and listening. We've all heard the widely cited Mehrabian research: communication is 55% body language, 38% how it's said and 7% is what we actually say. I should point out that this research focused on communicating emotional content (feelings and attitudes), although the findings have been widely applied to many areas of communication. You can read more about this here.
In focusing on the non-verbal and often neglected sides of these conversations, the team were able to improve the effectiveness of their communication and make progress. Sometimes it was all about the non-verbal messages they themselves were giving, at other times it was about the impact they had on the other.
Through questioning and listening techniques, they were also able to very much focus on the person – a real secret weapon in having successful difficult conversations.
Both moved on leaps and bounds in one day, turning situations that made their hearts pound to ones they approached with calm and confidence.
If you would like to reproduce this Article on your website, you may do so provided that the following credit is given to the Article:


text:
Live In Monterrey
|Live In Monterrey
|Live album by Linkin Park
|June 17, 2014 (USA)
|2012.09.12 Monterrey, Mexico
|41:21 minutes
Live In Monterrey is a live DVD release by Linkin Park in 2014 released with the album The Hunting Party. The DVD (packaged with the normal The Hunting Party CD combo) was released the day the album came out and features a show from 2012, with songs performed from Hybrid Theory, Meteora, Minutes To Midnight, Living Things, as well as single "New Divide". No songs from The Hunting Party are present on the DVD due to the album coming out in June 2014 and the live show being from September 2012.
In September 2012, Linkin Park had just wrapped up a wildly successful tour of North America on the Honda Civic Tour with Incubus and Mutemath, their second tour in support of the new album Living Things. In between the North American Tour and South America in October, the band performed headlining shows in Monterrey and Mexico City, Mexico before closing the run with an appearance at Las Vegas's iHeartRadio Music Festival.
Writing and Recording
Live In Monterrey features eleven professionally mixed and mastered songs from the band's show in Monterrey for MTV World Stage.
The performance featured a unique stage setup and design used only for this show, in partnership with MTV for MTV World Stage.
At this time, Linkin Park was rotating three unique setlists on tour. The setlist that opened with "A Place For My Head" was played in Monterrey and the setlist included 23 songs.
The songs chosen for the release were singles with the addition of "Lies Greed Misery".
The show began with a lengthy intro to "A Place For My Head". The other tracks on the release were performed similarly to their studio versions with the exception of "Somewhere I Belong", which had a lengthy, extended 2012 intro tacked on to the start, as well as the normal outros for both "Bleed It Out" and "One Step Closer".
Linkin Park officially announced the album preorder on May 3, 2014 and made no mention of a DVD.[1]The CD / DVD combo was announced on May 26, 2014 by Best Buy and was released on the day the album came out.[2] In the United States, it was a Best Buy exclusive with The Hunting Party for $16.99, only $3 more than the regular album. At Best Buy, fans could pay an additional $5 to get a CD with "Guilty All The Same" and "Until It's Gone" while supplies lasted. Linkin Park's announcement on May 29, 2014 read, "Pre-order the standard or exclusive deluxe version of The Hunting Party for a $5 deposit at your local Best Buy Store now, and walk away immediately with a 2 Song CD single featuring "Until It's Gone" and "Guilty All The Same" (feat Rakim). Find your local Best Buy store here. The Best Buy exclusive deluxe version of The Hunting Party features a bonus DVD of the 2012 MTV World Stage concert from Monterrey, Mexico and can also be pre-ordered online here."[3]
The combo received a worldwide release - Europe, Asia, South America, South Africa, etc. It was not an exclusive to any retailer in other countries.[4]
Tower Records and HMV originally listed the DVD release as being from Carson, California 2012.[5]
The songs chosen for the release account for roughly just half of the show in Monterrey. "A Place For My Head", "New Divide", "Somewhere I Belong", "Points Of Authority", "Lies Greed Misery", "Lost In The Echo", "What I've Done", "Burn It Down", "In The End", "Bleed It Out", and "One Step Closer" were the only songs released officially by Linkin Park. The DVD was listed as ten songs only on the Best Buy website, but "New Divide" was actually included as well, which is not in the tracklisting, making it eleven songs.
The MTV World Stage episode from this show was broadcasted by MTVLA on October 5th, 2012 and again by MTV three weeks later. The broadcasted songs differ slightly, with the MTVLA version exclusively airing the additional track "LOATR/SOTD/Iridescent".
Additionally, "Given Up" and "In My Remains" were provided for fans to watch on MTVLA.com.
Track Listing
The Hunting Party Bonus DVD - Live in Monterrey
|Linkin Park
|A Place For My Head
|New Divide
|Somewhere I Belong
|Points Of Authority
|Lies Greed Misery
|Lost In The Echo
|What I've Done
|Burn It Down
|In The End
|Bleed It Out
|One Step Closer
Linkin Park
- Chester Bennington: Vocals
- Mike Shinoda: Vocals, Rhythm Guitar, Keyboard
- Brad Delson: Lead Guitar, Backing Vocals
- Dave "Phoenix" Farrell: Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals
- Joseph Hahn: Turntables, Sampling, Programming, Backing Vocals
- Rob Bourdon: Drums, Backing Vocals
Live Performance
External Links
- ↑ https://lplive.net/forums/topic/10733-the-hunting-party-official-preorder-euro-dvd/ LPLive: The Hunting Party Official Preorder
- ↑ https://lplive.net/forums/topic/10801-the-hunting-party-best-buy-exclusive-cddvd/ LPLive: The Hunting Party - Best Buy (Exclusive CD/DVD)
- ↑ https://lplive.net/forums/topic/10825-thp-best-buy-preorder2-track-cd-monterrey-mx-dvd/ THP Best Buy Preorder/2 Track CD + Monterrey, MX DVD
- ↑ https://www.lpassociation.com/forum/threads/alternate-cd-dvd-edition-of-the-hunting-party-with-different-live-show-appears-on-japanese-website.40488/ LPAssociation: Alternate CD + DVD Edition of The Hunting Part
- ↑ https://www.lpassociation.com/forum/threads/alternate-cd-dvd-edition-of-the-hunting-party-with-different-live-show-appears-on-japanese-website.40488/ LPAssociation: Alternate CD + DVD Edition of The Hunting Part


text:
It is essential that your fire shutter doors and smoke curtains are up to code as they are crucial in preventing fire spreading within your premises. Here at BGS, we offer a comprehensive maintenance and repairs service, ensuring that your systems are working correctly.
As well as performing regular checks, we also operate a nationwide 24-hour emergency callout service. So, if you encounter sudden issues with your fire shutters, we will send an engineer to your site within 4 hours.
To ensure that this doesn't happen, enlist the expertise of BGS by calling us on 08009178583.
The health and safety of your employees is vital, as is protecting your goods. Legislation is in place to ensure that your business complies with the law, and if your fire shutter doors don't meet the stringent standards, it could affect your insurance.
Fire shutters are made from steel and are designed to block the spread of fire and smoke within a building.
Many versions are implemented with automatic systems that activate in the event of a fire, while smoke curtains aim to direct smoke and heat towards extraction points in the vicinity.
If your systems are not properly maintained, then it could result in your goods being affected, therefore resulting in a loss of revenue. Even worse, the safety of your employees could be compromised. By enlisting the help of our team here at BGS, you won't have to worry about these risks.
We work on:
It's a legal requirement to have your fire shutter doors regularly serviced. BGS has many affordable service packages available, so don't hesitate to get in touch for a free quote.
By hiring the expertise of our engineers, we will be able to offer an affordable maintenance service, which will include a thorough inspection. We will also test the back-up of your system to ensure that there is a solution in the event of a power failure.
We have a range of vehicles stocked full of trade critical parts that allow our engineers to attempt a first-time fix. Our team are aware of all the common problems and issues, and there are occasions when a fire shutter door can be accidentally activated. Well, we carry a fusible link and solenoid release to combat this.
As a company, we have many features that make us stand out above our competitors, but one that exceeds all expectations is our 24-hour emergency callout service. We operate nationwide, so in the event of your fire shutter doors and smoke curtains malfunctioning, our team can send an engineer to fix the problem.
We are available to answer your call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and 365 days a year. There are many aspects that make our emergency callout service flawless, a handful of which we have listed below:
If you would like to learn more information about our maintenance and repair services, then don't hesitate to get in touch. As mentioned, we operate a 24-hour service, so we are always on hand to take your request.


text:
Photo Credit: Caribbean Business Report
As the race for the White House continues with votes still being counted in swing states, Americans and the international community anxiously await the final election results. As well as electing the next president of the United States, Americans have also voted for members of the House of Representatives and Senators. Preliminary results show Democrats taking control of the House and Republicans maintaining control in the Senate. Joe Biden has stated that if he becomes president, he will restore American leadership and rebuild partnerships to address global problems—a return to the liberal multilateralism which underpinned the Obama-Biden years. America's relationship with both allies and adversaries have been transformed under President Donald Trump and the world has significantly changed over the last four years. To what extent did U.S. foreign policy in the Anglophone Caribbean change under President Trump? If Biden is declared the winner of the presidential elections, how will this impact American foreign policy in the English-speaking Caribbean? Will house and senate election results have an impact on U.S.-Caribbean relations?
Will it matter who controls Congress?
As part of my doctoral dissertation research on U.S. engagement in the Caribbean, I reviewed congressional testimonies from various committees in the House of Representatives and the Senate over the period 2000 to 2016. I discovered that matters pertaining to the English-speaking Caribbean were always addressed in a bipartisan way. There was general consensus, that given the democratic stability of these small nations, the United States had indeed neglected their neighbors and the time had come for increased engagement with the region. The reason for this renewed interest stemmed from U.S. security concerns and U.S. economic interests. Members of Congress raised concerns about drug trafficking and the return of the Caribbean connection, drug-related crime and violence, escalating homicide rates (the English-speaking Caribbean countries experience some of the highest homicide rates in the world), terrorist threats emanating from the region (over a hundred nationals from Trinidad and Tobago left the Caribbean to join the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq), endemic corruption, and infectious diseases, all posing either a direct or indirect threat to the national security of the United States. Additionally, Congress recognized the Caribbean's strong economic linkages with the United States and the need to maintain open trade with secure borders. According to the State Department, in 2018 the U.S. realized a $12.3 billion trade surplus with the Caribbean. The United States also has significant investments in the region and Americans comprise the majority of tourists who visit the Caribbean.
The U.S. government therefore saw the need to increase foreign assistance to the Caribbean which led to legislative action taking place over the course of the 21st century. This started with the Caribbean Regional Assistance Act of 2001. The purpose of the Bill (H.R. 502) was to amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 by adding Chapter 13 – Assistance for the Caribbean Region. On April 14, 2016 the U.S. government prioritized the Caribbean by introducing a bill in the House of Representatives (H.R. 4939) to make it official policy to increase U.S. engagement with the Caribbean, which led to the United States-Caribbean Strategic Engagement Act of 2016. Unanimously passed in the Senate, it became public law in December 2016. In June 2017, as a follow-up to H.R. 4939, the U.S. Department of State and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) submitted a multi-year Caribbean strategy to Congress which established the framework for U.S. engagement with the region. The strategy, Caribbean 2020: A Multi-Year Strategy to Increase the Security, Prosperity, and Well-Being of the People of the United States and the Caribbean, identified security, diplomacy, prosperity, energy, education, and health as the pillars of engagement.
In addition to foreign assistance, U.S.-Caribbean trade is another area which has received bipartisan support. The region continues to benefit from the U.S. trade preference program collectively known as the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI) via the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA) of 1983 which provides duty-free access to the U.S. market for certain goods. In February 2019, U.S. Representatives Terri Sewell (D-AL) and Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) introduced a bipartisan bill H.R. 991 to extend certain provisions of CBERA until September 2030 since the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA) was due to expire in 2020. The bill H.R. 991 was passed in the U.S. Senate without objections. Given the bipartisan support given to matters pertaining to the Caribbean, the U.S.-Caribbean relationship should remain unchanged no matter who controls Congress.
President Trump's Engagement with the Caribbean
Under President Trump, there was more continuity than change in America's foreign policy in the English-speaking Caribbean. The Trump administration continued to deepen U.S. engagement in the region through the pillars of the Caribbean 2020 Strategy. Diplomatic efforts and foreign assistance levels however varied among the countries. As shown in Figure 1, over the period 2001 to 2019, the top recipient of U.S. foreign assistance was Jamaica which received a total of around USD$570 million. Guyana, The Bahamas, and Belize were also significant recipients of U.S. foreign aid, each receiving a total of around USD$272 million, USD$138 million, and USD$120 million respectively between 2001 and 2019. U.S. foreign assistance to the other Caribbean countries was significantly lower. It is therefore not surprising that Jamaica, The Bahamas, and Guyana voted for the OAS resolution to not recognize the legitimacy of Nicolas Maduro's new term as of the January 2019. According to the State Department's 2019 Report to Congress on the U.S.–Caribbean 2020 Strategy, the United States seeks "to balance our efforts to solidify relations in service of long-term U.S. interests with calibrated engagement considering where regional foreign policy positions are at odds with our own priorities, as in Venezuela." The Bahamas, Jamaica, St. Lucia, Haiti and the Dominican Republic were hosted by President Trump in Florida in March 2019—all five countries voted for the OAS resolution. Jamaica also hosted a meeting with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in January 2020 where some, but not all, CARICOM members were invited.
Specifically, in the areas of health, security, and humanitarian assistance, President Trump continued engagement activities. In the area of health, the Trump administration continued funding the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) which was started under President George W. Bush and continued under President Obama. Guyana, Jamaica and the Bahamas benefited from PEPFAR funding under the Trump administration. Under the security pillar, Jamaica received aid from the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI) and the Bahamas continued to benefit from the longstanding counter-narcotics cooperation, Operation Bahamas Turks and Caicos (OPBAT). The Bahamas also received humanitarian assistance for hurricane affected populations. If President Trump returns to office, there will be a continuity in foreign aid under the pillars of Caribbean 2020.
Figure 1: Total U.S. Foreign Aid to the English-speaking Caribbean (2001-2019)
Source: Compiled from USAID Foreign Aid Explorer
A Biden Victory
Preliminary results show Biden ahead of Trump in electoral votes bringing him close to winning the presidency. Victory however has not yet been declared as votes are still being counted and the Trump campaign has indicated that they will request a recount in swing states. Court battles also seem likely before the race is decided. If Joe Biden becomes the 46th President of the United States, how will U.S. foreign policy toward the Caribbean change? I will argue that change will take the form of style rather than substance. According to the Biden-Harris campaign, as president, Biden will "elevate diplomacy" and "restore and reimagine partnerships". All Caribbean heads of state will have the opportunity to meet the new U.S. president at the Ninth Summit of the Americas scheduled to be held in the United States in 2021 as Biden plans to use the opportunity to "rebuild strong hemispheric ties." Joe Biden will no doubt change the tone of U.S. relations with Latin America and the Caribbean.
In terms of substance, Biden will now have to address China's growing footprint in the Caribbean after President Trump made countering China's influence in the region a foreign policy priority which cannot be ignored. The Biden administration will also have to find a way to bring Caribbean countries on board with America's approach to Venezuela given that the region remains divided on the legitimacy of the Venezuelan presidency. Given Biden's prioritization of climate change, the Caribbean may receive more funding for renewable energy projects. Generally, however, strategic engagement with the Caribbean will continue under the pillars of the Caribbean 2020 Strategy. A Trump or Biden victory will therefore not make any significant difference for America's relations with the English-speaking Caribbean.
Samantha S.S. Chaitram is the author of "American Foreign Policy in the English-speaking Caribbean: From the Eighteenth to the Twenty-first Century" published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2020.


text:
The Name Of The Rose Essay, Research Paper
Umberto Eco has an interesting and fascinating style of writing ashe, in great detail, tells of a series of crimes and unbelievablemurders in a wealthy Italian abbey in the year1327. A monk, Williamof Baskerville, and his assistant, Adso, are assigned the challenge ofdecoding the numerous secret symbols to unravel the mysteries.They will have to explore the unusual labyrinth of a library to solvethe crimes. The two monks have a lot of logic, wit, curiosity, andintelligence and find themselves up against a clever enemy, amurderer with all the appearance of the Antichrist. The original reason for William?s being asked to come was toinvestigate the death of Adelmo, a young monk, who hadapparently committed suicide. The abbot had heard of William?sgreat knowledge and invited him to come and try to figure out thereason if or how this young monk had been killed. The abbotinstructed him to bring a novice with him because the abbey had noone extra to spare. William had previously met a young monknamed Adso during his travels and wanted him to come along sothat he could later learn from William. The two traveled to the abbey, high on top of a mountain.When they arrived, the abbot showed his appreciation by preparinga large dinner in their honor. They were then informed of the detailsof the death of Adelmo. His body had been found at the bottom ofa cliff on the side of the mountain. It was assumed that he hadcommitted suicide, but they had no way of proving this hypothesis.If he had jumped, the only possible window would be from thelibrary. This would be nearly impossible because entry to the librarywas forbidden to everyone except the librarian, and the assistantlibrarian; not even the abbot was allowed in this place. This explainswhy William was asked to come and investigate the death. If hedidn?t jump, who killed him and why? Another variable added to thiswhole problem was that someone had brought up the fact that thesigns of the Antichrist were possibly being acted out. The Book of theApostle said at the first sound of the trumpet came the hail, andAdelmo?s body was found in the snow after a hailstorm; which waslater found out from the abbot. Later that day, William and Adsohad a brief encounter with Severinus, the herbalist. They asked himmany questions about the abbey and what kinds of herbs he grew.They were trying to find out what, if any, herbs Adelmo may havegotten his hands on in order to kill himself. The only herbs thatSeverinus knew about that had that kind of power and that he hadin his infirmary were still in their respective cases that had never beenopened. After discussing this briefly, they asked Severinus to givethem a tour of the Aedificium. Severinus took them up onto the second floor of the Aedificium,the Scriptorium. There they meet many copyists, scholars, rubricators,and the head librarian. They were also introduced to an old, blindmonk named Jorge. They talked to Malachi, the librarian, about thebooks in the library. They had a very detailed talk with all of thepeople in the Scriptorium on the topic of laughter, which brings outthe worst in some present, Jorge especially. He mentions that theAntichrist is on his way to the world because certain signs had beenlurking around the abbey. He says, ? He is coming! …….Do notsquander the last seven days!? At supper they were invited to the abbot?s table to eatwith Jorge; Alinardo, another older monk believed to have gonemad; the abbot; Malachi, the librarian; and Berengar, the assistantlibrarian. After dinner they went back into the church for Compline,the service before bed. They noted that Malachi had come in froma different door than all the rest of the monks. They then concludedthat there must be an alternate entrance( an ossarium ) somewherethat he passed through the Aedificium to get out of the library. The next day they discovered something very gruesome. Theywere in the opening services when they noticed that Venantius wasmissing. During the service, a few swineherds came rushing in, whichwas very unusual, and went straight to the abbot. He rushed outsideas the swineherds told all the other monks what had happened.They had seen legs sticking out of a barrel of pig blood and assumedit was a monk because of the sandals on the feet. When the monksheard this, they all rushed out to the courtyard to see for themselves.When they got there, the abbot was having two of the servants pullthe corpse out of the barrel. The blood had distorted the face butnot like it would have if the person had drowned in the pig?s blood.This was just as the Book of the Apostle said that at the secondtrumpet, a third of the waters would turn to blood. The abbot instructed that the corpse of Venantius should betaken to the infirmary to be made ready for burial. William and Adsowere instructed to go along to look at the body to see what mayhave killed him, if it had not been his being drowned in the blood.They then found that a few of the fingers on the right hand wereblackened at the tip and that his tongue was also black. Severinus,the herbalist, told them that there had been no bruises and no bumpon the head. They then again asked what kind of poisons Severinuskept in the infirmary. Severinus hesitated and quickly changed thesubject. Later on in the day, the abbot took the two aside and askedthem what they had found out about the two deaths. William toldhim their information about the death of Adelmo and the death ofVenantius. They had still found no connection between the twodeaths. The abbot told them about his concern for the life of theabbey, and the accusation of heresy among some of the monks inhigher positions. He also tells them that they will be having visitorslater on in the week Who would be debating on the abbeygrounds and William was invited to join them. When they left the abbot, they ran into old Alinardo. He toldthem some very important facts about the abbey and the library.They were instructed never to enter the library, but Alinardo let themin on a secret without knowing it. He told them of an alternateentrance into the library after the doors to the Aedificium are locked.If you enter the church, which is never locked, and go through theossarium ( as William had thought ), there was a door to the stepsleading to the Scriptorium, which also led to the library. He also toldthem that the library was a labyrinth. During the hour of Compline, the two entered the Scriptorium.They went there to look through Venantius? desk for any clues of whyhe would have been killed. They found what seemed to be animportant document, but William?s eye glasses had been stolen andhe was not much help. The document they found was written in aninvisible ink and could only be seen with the addition of heat. Whenthey could read the words, they found that the document was in acoded script. William took the paper with him so that he could look itover when he had more light. At the beginning of the next day, Berengar is missing. The twomonks looked all day long to find the missing assistant librarian andlater find him in the shower room, drowned in a bathtub. This is just asthe Book of the Apostle said: ? at the third trumpet the waters wouldbe disturbed?. When the herbalist looked over the body, he noticedthat the tongue and fingertips were blackened, the same asVenantius?. Severinus then recalled an unknown poison that he hadreceived as a gift from a man who had traveled to many foreignlands and could not tell him what the poison was made of. He onlyknew that it was a slimy yellowish color and could eventually kill ifconsumed. It had been missing for quite some time by now, butSeverinus figured that it had been broken in a horrible storm that hadruined a lot of his herb and medicine cases. The next day, the visitors arrived at the abbey and had a longdeep discussion on the matter of whether or not Jesus had anyworldly possessions. During this meeting, Severinus came in and toldWilliam about a book that had somehow gotten into the infirmary.William told Severinus to go back to the infirmary and lock himselfinside until he could get there to see the book. Later on someonecomes to the church where the debate is taking place and tellseveryone in the room that Severinus had been murdered. Williamrushed out and went directly to the infirmary to see for himself. It was,in fact, true that Severinus had been murdered. He had been killedfrom being hit in the head by his own armillary sphere, which wasmade out of metals in the shape of suns, moons, and stars. William,Adso, and Benno; the new assistant librarian, carefully examined theroom but could not find the book. They actually did pass by it; but,not knowing what they were looking for, they did not take note ofthe book. The death of Severinus also followed along with the Bookof the Apostle, at the sound of the fourth trumpet, ?the third part ofthe sun will be smitten, and of the moon and the stars, so there willbe almost complete darkness.? They later realized that they had passed over the book. Bennohad laughed mischievously when William looked at the book anddismissed it. Therefore, Benno had known that this particular bookwas the one they were looking for and he did not tell them becausehe had to get this book back to Malachi in the library. The book wasin Arabic and they had not thought that it did not fit in with all ofSeverinus? other Greek and Latin books. They later found out thatthe book was not just a book, but that it was several works in severaldifferent languages. The cellarer, Remigio, was arrested for Severinus? death becausehe was found at the scene of the crime making such a mess of theinfirmary. Bernard Gui, one of the visitors, takes it upon himself to trythe criminal as not just a murderer, but also as a heretic. Remigio islater found guilty of heresy and confessed under pressure formurdering the herbalist, although he did not do it and everyoneknew that. After Remigio?s trial, William advises his friend, Umbertino,that he should leave at once. This way Bernard Gui would not take itupon himself to try other persons accused of heresy, Umbertinobeing one of them. At Compline on this same day, the abbot was to speak butbecause of the happenings of the day, he asked the oldest personin the abbey to preach that evening. Technically Alinardo shouldhave spoken, but because he was considered to have gone mad,the abbot asked Jorge to speak. Ironically, Jorge spoke on the topicof the Antichrist?s believed to be soon coming. In his sermon hediscretely tells the curious monks, that if they continue to violate thelibrary, the abbey would never again regain its peace of previoustimes. He also stated that when the Antichrist is about to arrive orhad arrived, that there would be a ? foreign king rise up in the West.?He stated that this characteristic was showing through the Pope orthe King of France at this point in time. The next day, the visitors left with their prisoner, Remigio, nowgone mad. During this day at the first service, Malachi came in late.He was missed by Jorge who always sat next him. When Malachifinally came in, he looked rather weak. During one of the hymns,when all the monks stood up, Malachi stood but then quicklycollapsed onto the ground. William rushed over to his side andasked Malachi what he had seen, Malachi told him, ? He toldme…truly…It had the power of a thousand scorpions…? WhenMalachi tried to speak again he could not, and died. William thenhad the idea to look at the hands and mouth: they were both blackas night. Later on that day, the abbot asked to see the two monks inhis quarters. He asked what, if anything had been learned from orabout the murders. The two had no reply for him. He then askedthat no more investigation take place because he was ashamed ofWilliam?s inability to solve the mystery before so many had died. Hetold William and Adso to leave the next morning because he did notwant them to travel in the night. This only made William want to findout the mysterious murderer even more than before. During Compline, Jorge was missing but the Abbot instructed thatthe service must be started because he wanted to free his mind ofany question of another death. When Jorge was still missing atdinner, some novices were sent to look for him , and they cameback empty handed. All of the murders happened in accordance with the Book of theApostle: the first in hail, Adelmo; the second in blood, Venantius;the third in water, Berengar; the fourth with the sun, moon and stars,Severinus; and the fifth with the sting of a thousand scorpions,Malachi. The death of Venantius gave the answer to the mystery.The coded message left on his desk in the Scriptorium had the key toopening the finis Africae, the room in the library the could not beeasily entered. There was no door that opened to the room butthere was a large mirror with an inscription in Latin above it that read:Super thronos viginti quantor. The coded message that Venantiusleft said ?the first and seventh of four. Quantor means four in Latin,the first and seventh letters of quantor were the key to entering thefinis Africae. They hurried to the library to try and save one moreperson?s life, they were not sure whose. When they got to theentrance of the Aedificium, they heard a loud banging on the wallinside. They assumed that this was the person who was about to bekilled. They were right. When they arrived in the room where the finis Africae was, theypushed on the q and the r of the word quantor. The mirror slowlycreaked and opened to reveal Jorge sitting at a desk with the bookthat they had seen and overlooked in the infirmary a few daysearlier. Jorge had been waiting for them ever since the rise of thesun that morning. He knew that they would sooner or later figure outthe mystery. Jorge explained to them how he got people mad atothers in order to kill the other person or got them so upset that theywould kill themselves. The book that he held close to himself was anobject of great envy among the monks that knew about it. Adelmohad killed himself because he had been having a relationship withVenantius and found out from Jorge that Venantius had arelationship with Berengar. Venantius died because he was lookingat the book that Jorge, a long while ago, had laced with the missingpoison from the infirmary. There was a group of pages stucktogether and when the person licked his fingers to try and loosen thepages, the poison wold enter the mouth and the hands, causing theblackness on most all of the victims? hands and mouths. When thecellarer found Venantius? body in the kitchen, he disposed of it in thebarrel because he knew that they would accuse him of killingVenantius. Berengar also knew about the book and had access to itbecause he was the assistant librarian. He got to the shower roombefore the poison kicked in. Then he drowned in the water.Severinus then somehow got a hold of the book but the poison didnot kill him, but rather the greed of the librarian killed him. The herbsthat burned in one of the library rooms that induced visions, was agathering of herbs that Severinus gave to the librarian regularly.Malachi knew that Severinus had the book so when he wouldnormally come to get the herbs, he took the book instead, andbecause Severinus was guarding the book until William got there,Malachi had no choice but to kill him. The closest object to the doorwas the armillary, it was just coincidence that it had a relation to theBook of the Apostle. Then finally when Malachi died, Jorge told himthat the poison would have the sting of a thousand scorpions, just tostay with the whole Antichrist theme of the murders. All of thesequential order of the murders and their relation to the Antichristwere purely accidental except the last known death, Malachi. Atthis point the person in the small space below the finis Africae hadstopped making noise. Jorge quickly informed them that the Abbothad figured him out also and that there was another entrance to theroom, from the ossarium. Jorge had blocked it when he camethrough earlier in the day. In order to save the book?s reputation and his own name, Jorgethen decided to eat the pages from the book that contained thepoison. After struggling to save the book from Jorge?s mouth, Williamfinally gave up and at that moment, Jorge began to drool ayellowish, slimy substance, which proved that he was the one whohad stolen the poison from the infirmary. Jorge then snuffed thelamp and proceeded to leave the room, still stuffing paper into hismouth. The two younger monks then heard the door begin to creak,Jorge was sealing them inside the finis Africae! They rushed outbefore the door closed on them. Adso then relit the lamp and theychased after Jorge. When they found him, he knocked the lamponto the floor and in the process, set half the room on fire. He thenthrew the book into the inferno and fell over into the flames. NeitherWilliam or Adso had ever seen the face of the devil before thisinstant, but they were both positive that is what they saw that nightjust before Jorge died. The abbey was awakened by the fire and they helped to try toput the fire out but the paper from the books was constantly feedingthe fire. The fire spread quickly to the other parts of the abbey, but itcould not be put out. The abbey burned for three days and threenights before it was finally under control. The reader is leftoverwhelmed by the powers of greed in destroying men?s lives.
The Name of the Rose


text:
Join Our Newsletter
Receive the latest news on Israel Book Shop new promotions, exclusive offers, and new arrivals.
Your cart is currently empty.
Click here to see a sample page...A wonderful book of songs and games for your young child. Each song is accompanied by hand motions that are easy and fun to follow. Great for expanding a child's attention span.
Copyright © 2023 Israel Book Shop. Site by Winter Solutions, Inc.


text:
- Alesha Bradford and Jarryd Salem run the adventure travel blog NOMADasaurus.
- They're based in Australia, but they're on the road for a good part of the year, whether leading tours of Kyrgyzstan or spending the winter in Canada.
- Collecting points and miles and signing up for rewards credit cards has changed the way they travel, getting them access to airport lounges and allowing them to enjoy annual statement credits toward travel.
- Trip protection, which you can get on the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card among other rewards cards, has provided them peace of mind as well.
- See Business Insider's list of the best rewards credit cards you can get »
The Instagram account for NOMADasaurus, the travel blog run by Alesha Bradford and Jarryd Salem, looks like the vision board of someone bent on visiting the most beautiful corners of the globe — if that person was also an amazing photographer.
Alesha and Jarryd, both Aussies, launched their blog in 2013 to document their travel from Asia to Africa — a journey they made without flying. These days, though, they're often in the air. "I can't even count how many planes we get on in a single year anymore," Jarryd told me. So yeah, they know a thing or two about how to travel well.
Enter travel rewards
A few years ago, the two began dipping their toes into the world of points and miles, and as Jarryd explained, it's changed their experience on the road.
While the credit card scene is vastly different in Australia, the upside for us in the US is that credit card offers are even more rewarding here. "A lot of our American friends are flying around the world business class on points and bonuses that they get," Jarryd said. "Australia is nowhere near that. To get 120,000 frequent flyer points is unheard of. We still have a long way to go before we catch up to the US."
Step one for the duo — and for anyone looking to get into rewards credit cards — was to open new travel cards and earn their sign-up bonuses, giving them thousands of points and miles to use toward future travel. But that's just scratching the surface — here are the travel rewards card benefits that have made the biggest difference for the team behind Nomadasaurus, along with the best options for US-based travelers looking to enjoy these perks.
Travel insurance
Jarryd and Alesha travel almost full-time, so having travel insurance to protect them in the event that they encounter any bumps along the way is essential. Their ANZ Rewards Travel Adventures card, which is co-branded with Virgin Australia, offers comprehensive international travel insurance — including flight delay and cancellation coverage, lost and delayed luggage coverage, and travel accident insurance. While this card is only available in Australia, there are plenty of rewards credit cards in the US that offer comparable coverage.
Using one of these cards to pay for your travel — even if it's only the taxes and fees on a ticket booked with miles — can save you money if you encounter delays or your baggage goes missing. If you have a card that offers travel insurance, you should use it to book travel.
The best US credit cards for travel insurance:
- Chase Sapphire Preferred Card ($95 annual fee) — offers up to $10,000 per person and $20,000 per trip in trip cancellation/interruption insurance, up to $500 per ticket in trip delay reimbursement if your trip is delayed by 12 hours or requires and overnight stay, up to $100 a day for five days when your luggage is delayed for more than 6 hours, up to $3,000 per passenger for lost or damaged coverage
- Chase Sapphire Reserve ($450 annual fee) — offers the same protections as the Sapphire Preferred, but the trip delay insurance kicks in earlier — when your trip is delayed by 6 or more hours or requires an overnight stay
- Certain premium American Express cards, including the Platinum Card® from American Express and the Delta Reserve® Credit Card from American Express, will begin offering trip cancellation and interruption insurance in 2020.
Read more:The top credit cards with primary car rental insurance — and why you need it
Annual statement credits for flights and more
Another great benefit of Jarryd and Alesha's ANZ Rewards Travel Adventures card is a complimentary return (round-trip) domestic flight each year. The couple is taking advantage of this benefit to book flights to Perth over the holidays, and they estimate that this perk alone is saving them $900 each — three times the card's annual fee.
There isn't an apples-to-apples comparison with this benefit among US rewards credit cards, but some US cards do offer companion fare benefits that can help you get a nearly free flight, such as the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® credit card, which offers a companion fare for $121 ($99 plus taxes and fees starting at $22) each year after your account anniversary.
Alesha and Jarryd also have the Qantas American Express Ultimate card, which has a $450 annual fee but also offers $450 in annual statement credits to use toward Qantas flights.
The best US credit cards with annual statement credits for travel:
- Chase Sapphire Reserve — offers a $300 annual travel credit which automatically applies to any purchase that codes as travel (from airfare to parking tolls to Uber rides)
- Hilton Honors Aspire American Express Card ($450 annual fee) — offers up to $250 in statement credits each year toward purchases at Hilton resorts, plus up to $250 in annual airline fee credits each year
- Citi Prestige® Card ($495 annual fee) — offers up to $250 in travel credit toward eligible travel purchases every calendar year (it works similarly to the Chase Sapphire Reserve's credit)
Airport lounge access
Especially when you travel all the time, lounge access can make a huge difference; you can enjoy a bite and get some work done while escaping some of the pre-flight chaos at the boarding gate.
Alesha and Jarryd get Virgin Australia and Qantas lounge access through their co-branded airline credit cards, but they also use the Priority Pass network, which has more than 1,200 lounges around the globe.
Luckily, several US credit cards offer Priority Pass Select membership:
- Amex Platinum card
- The Business Platinum® Card from American Express
- Chase Sapphire Reserve
- Hilton Honors Aspire Amex card
- Citi Prestige card


text:
Warm Up
200m FR
200m BK
Set 1 (x4)
50m FR Kick
50m FR Pull (Left arm)
50m FR Pull (Right arm)
Use a kick board for the kick and pull buoy for the pull.
For the arm pull, you can place the unused arm at the front. Alternatively, you can place it at the side of your body to increase the difficulty.
Repeat the set 4 times.
Set 2 (x4)
100m FR (Crossed legs)
100m BR (Crossed arms)
Without using your legs for frontcrawl swim, aim to keep your legs afloat. Make use of body buoyancy and arm pull to help you with that.
Without using your arms for breaststroke, aim to glide and breath even without your arms. Work on your core muscles to achieve it.
Repeat the set 4 times.
Cool Down
200m Easy
Total Mileage = 1900m
Download image below for easy reference during swim
BF = Butterfly
BR = Breaststroke
BK = Backstroke
FR = Frontcrawl
Easy = Any preferred stroke at easy pace
Hard = Any preferred stroke at race pace
Sprint = Any preferred stroke at sprint pace
For any question on the training programme, please feel free to drop us a message at firstname.lastname@example.com.


text:
Find the Core Strategy for Winning Online Slots - To get a win in playing online slot gambling games, you can find various effective core strategies. A slot machine is a piece of equipment that is activated by adding a coin and will have a handle to spin the reels. The coin feeler of this slot machine gets triggered when you add coins and get ready to play with them. The system accelerates the charge when the match is over. All of these play1628 slot have also undergone some changes to meet the higher requirements of this system. This system has been termed in different ways in different countries but the mechanism is still exactly the same. A number of video game request symbols in the mix displayed in this system. If a person is blessed with this combination of symbols, then the system releases income or that I form from the game to play. The device also has three to five 5 reels and also only has one hand. Recently the system underwent a lot of changes and the engine includes this video system feature in addition to the older editions. The main difference between your reel system and the video clip system is the all see calculation of all payouts. From a reel machine, max coins should be made as a way to get a pot jack. The slot machines installed in many casinos now allow the players to choose a level that is favorable in terms of credit only the turn that the soccer player receives due to successful online play. Apart from that, there are multiplayer denomination slot machines where it is possible to choose a bet number from the various alternatives out there of this system. This system provides suggestions about credits to the soccer player's account in exchange for the amount of money placed. This prevents the soccer player from choosing a denomination specific slot machine and the soccer player is only expected to place the denomination he plans to vote for. You have to remember that slot machines are strictly regulated from an arbitrary number of generated. It's true that random numbers turn the final lead into a match often at one point. How to win Slots It's actually a false notion that successful slots are very hard to find. There is no key to winning on your own in slot machines but you can also follow certain tricks that can be useful for you personally in actively playing the game and also expecting big winning slot games too at the same time reducing your chances of dropping this. competition. You have to remember that slot machines are regulated by an arbitrary number of electronically generated ones. It's true that random numbers turn the final lead into a match often at one point. Carefully study the cover table. You have to know the number of coins you need to use to get the jack bud, especially since if you use multiple coins, then you are less likely to actually receive yourself a fantastic result. Avoid continuing to play with if you have more or two wins in the slot, as there is no telling if the system might change. It is mandatory that you choose the level at which you are going to play and stick to it and you should also end the game when your financial plan is complete. Choose a slot machine according to the available money for your own needs and do the gambling. These suggestions can help you increase your chances of winning slot games. If you can't win a slot afterwards, it will be a bad afternoon for you personally.
Posts published in June 2021
Reasons for Must Play Slot Gambling Games - Some of the articles that we will provide are articles that we have summarized from trusted sources, the following is an article that discusses the reasons why slot games must be played. With so many different types of games to play in a casino, it might come as a bit of a shock if you feel like you have to go elsewhere for entertainment. In fact, the option that most people want to jump into at a glance is probably an online casino. Here, people often go in for slot joker388 simply because they are more entertaining and arguably, one of the easiest games you can be comfortable with. Therefore, you might consider it to be one of the best ways to get entertained these days without overdoing the task. There are a number of other reasons why you might want to play online slot games. For starters, you can play as much as you want, without depending on coins or anything like that. In fact, you may find that the game is playable with your credit card, which effectively means you can play however you want without having to worry about running out of change or any other problem you might think of. Furthermore, it is also interesting to note that you can take part in slot games without having to really commit to it. If you like it, you can simply close your computer and just walk away. In a traditional casino, it can be much more difficult to do this and you may run into a lot of trouble when you actually have to leave the casino. These kinds of problems do not exist when you go to an online casino, which is pretty much controlled by you and furthermore, it is up to you to decide what you want to do. Another interesting observation with slot games played online is that you usually have a larger variety to choose from. Therefore, you are not limited to one particular type of machine, which is definitely an advantage you want to have and maybe even take into account. After all, you might want to know more about which game suits you better. This is something you can't do unless you have some other games to look at. For this reason perhaps, you might want to consider playing online and give it a try, as very few people end up not liking it.


text:
Jason Allen 22/06/70
You're probably here because of our list, An Interesting Fact About Every London Tube Station.
Now, like the Underground itself, the list is pretty huge. And also like the Underground, we thought we'd make it easier to navigate – so we also created a little splinter list dedicated to stations on The Metropolitan Line (which – bonus fact! – is the only Underground line to run an express service). A list which, lo and behold, you'll find on this very page…
Is built directly on top of a vast plague pit, where thousands of bodies are apparently buried. No-one knows quite how many.
Built on the original site of the Bethlehem (Bedlam) mental asylum.
Has a virtually unknown second underground line which starts here – the Northern City Line runs from Moorgate to Finsbury Park.
The tube's first rail disaster happened here, 4 people died …and the trains were running again within half an hour.
Originally designed to transport livestock to Smithfield market – there are still cattle ramps onto the street West Smithfield for this purpose.
Has the shortest lift shaft on the network, at just 2.3 metres.
Was the place that the very first piece of work on the underground – or any underground railway on earth – took place. A shaft was sunk in January 1860 there.
Despite having three lines run through it, it only has one pair of tracks, making it one of the most intensely used parts of the network.
Has the most platforms of any tube station – 10.
Analysis of earth removed when tunnelling towards the station revealed that its site was the southern limit of a glacier which covered Britain in one of the Ice Ages.
Was originally constructed to serve Wembley Pleasure Grounds, which were to be centrepieced by a tower taller than the Eiffel Tower. It only reached 200 yards before funds ran out.
Was originally named "Preston Road Halt for Uxendon and Kenton", which would have made it easily the longest name on the line, and the only one with an actual instruction.
Is only 350m from Kenton station, making it the closest tube station pair outside zone 1.
It's actually on Green Hill, north of Harrow Hill.
Is, perhaps ironically, the station people travel to to get to Britain's biggest walking festival.
When the station first opened, there was only one single house nearby, owned by a farmer named Daniel Rayner. The station was duly called Rayner's Lane.
Was originally called Ascot.
Suffered heavy aerial bombardment by the Luftwaffe during WW2, due to its proximity to RAF Northholt.
Due to the convoluted tracks, it's actually possible to reverse trains here, but it takes up both platforms, so it's not done at peak hours.
Said to be haunted each Christmas since the '50s by a woman in a red scarf, who was electrocuted there. She flails her arms, apparently.
The name Hillingdon is Middle English, and means "Hill's hill".
Being the final/first station on the line, it has a tunnel designed to mirror the one at Cockfosters at the opposing end of the line.
Has been awarded the "Best Customer Service" trophy at the London Transport Awards – no surprise, the station master is called James Bond.
In 2009, a Pyrenean Mountain Dog named Rufus became a minor celebrity for his daily commute from Pinner to Baker Street due to his size.
Before it opened in 1933, there was a competition to name it. This was, apparently, the winning entry.
Is actually at a higher level than Northwood Hills.
Has a "secret" unmarked entrance adjacent to a golf course.
A story is told of how a year after the opening of the station in 1926, a group of ladies was directed to it by Croxley's policeman P.C. Haggar. He bade them a cheery "Good-night" – to learn shortly afterwards that they were a band of suffragettes who had set fire to the new station.
Due to not being in the centre of town, has been threatened with closure since 1927. And it may well finally be closed in 2020.
Is a surprising hub for film locations: scenes for both Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, and the Last Crusade were filmed literally two minutes north of the station, as well as Bridget Jones and the Edge of Reason, and Blackadder.
The name literally means "peasant's wood" (and currently has one of the highest qualities of life in the country).
Longest single journey between neighbouring stations: 9 mins on average to Chesham.
Furthest away from any other station, at 3.8mi to the nearest neighbour.
The highest station on the network, at 147m above sea level.
Check out the other lines right HERE.
Got A Tip? Email [email protected]
Log In to add this to My Saved Articles
Not a member and want to find out more then click here
7 Day Free Trial
Member Log In
We rely on member reviews to help keep The Nudge honest, accurate & continually up to date with the very best of London - so thank you!


text:
The Original Greenhouse Hoop Bender
All Hoop Bending Tools
Connector Kits
All Greenhouse Connectors
Greenhouse Coverings
Building Heat Tables
Growing Mushrooms Basics
Drill Your Own Water Well
Customer Photo Gallery
All Videos
Basic G/H Construction
Contact Us
Learn How To Build Your Own Hot Water Heating Table & Save Upto 70% On Greenhouse Heating.
Turn those green leaves into more green dollars.
Heating the root zone is the seceret that saves thousands of dollars on heating.
© Lost Creek Greenhouse Systems 2021, All Rights Reserved
Web Hosting
powered by Network Solutions®


text:
10 x 5" INCH COIL FOR CTX-3030
by Coiltek
Original price $414.00
Original price $414.00 - Original price $414.00
Original price $414.00
Current price $386.00
$386.00 - $386.00
Current price $386.00
This 10 X 5" inch open web elliptical coil is an exciting addition for the CTX3030 detector. Utilizing Minelab CTX technology this coil is fully approved and tested to the highest standard. Fully submersible to 3 meters this coil makes pinpointing easy, conveying an accurate location for fast retrieval. It offers the perfect footprint when it comes to size without compromising depth. This coil is robust, strong and reliable and its ability to source the treasure amongst the trash is outstanding.
Size: 242mm x 138mm
Weight: 700g / 24.7oz
Configuration: Double-D (DD) coil


text:
By Scotty Kyle
From a satellite, the Orange River meanders like a long green snake through extremely rugged mountains and forms the border between Namibia, in the north, and South Africa, in the south. A true African river, it passes through habitats of many Africa's large, charismatic animals, but in the Richtersveld area the Orange River has no hippopotami, crocodiles, lions or elephants and indeed very little game of any sort. It does, however, contain very large fish surrounded by some of the most remote and magnificent terrain on the continent.
As told in the previous part, our family, six of us in a Toyota Hilux doublecab, arrived at Sendeling's Drift, the Richtersveld National Park's Headquarters, in October after an almost non-stop 22 hour road trip of 1 800 kilometres. There were 6.5 days of extreme fly fishing and fun ahead.
First Blood
Desperate to make the most of every minute, we quickly headed to the river just upstream of the camp to get our flies wet and begin our Odyssey. While my family were keen to target largemouth yellowfish, which can grow to 15 kilograms, I was happy to just catch "nice" fish on my medium weight fly rod. I was going to target smallmouth yellowfish (Labeobarbus anaeus), which can grow to a respectable weight, on tiny flies I make myself and that I use to catch Natal scalies (Labeobarbus natalensis). In the meantime everyone else headed off further upstream to a spot where they had caught largemouth yellowfish (Labeobarbus kimberleyensis) during our previous visit.
I fished and fished but, despite seeing a few nice fish moving in the river, didn't even get a tug. The water was quite clear and, as I could see some nice looking fish close to the bank in deepish water, I tried casting upstream. I basically crawled along the bank and, from as far away as possible, cast my fly up above the fish and let the 3 mm tungsten eye bead sink the fly down among the fish. On about my fifth cast I got a result! It was a solid "take" and the fish went strongly out into the main stream and headed for Namibia and freedom. This seemed like the dream beginning of my fishing holiday and, as I played the fish, I wondered just how many wonderful fish I would catch.
The fish played strongly and well, but not rapidly, and, after the first run, seemed to run out of steam. After about a five minute fight I managed to bring the fish carefully to the bank and, using a landing net, as I really did not want to drop the fish at that stage of the game and not be able to show everyone a photo, scooped the fish up and out. It was not a yellowfish at all but a "mudfish" (Labeo capensis) – a good sized one to be sure – but they are toothless and are usually not among the top targets of sport anglers. It's difficult to get too excited about something that does seem to eat mud but it was a good fish and a start. We had just begun the holiday and the first mudfish had taken a fly I had made myself.
I fished on until it was time to go back to our chalet at the camp and I did manage to hook several fish and land two more. Sadly, both of these were also "muddies" and had been "foul hooked" in the dorsal fins. It was clear that there were shoals of mudfish close to the bank in backwaters and, although it was quite good sport, it was not what I was after. Sadly also, everyone else had had excellent sport and caught some really nice small-mouth yellowfish. I thus kept fairly quiet that evening but listened closely to what they were saying and, particularly, about how they had fished.
When chasing Natal scalies we usually use two small flies on a cast but they were using much larger flies. The boys, particularly, had been using very large, sometimes "articulated" flies of startling colours and designs. They targeted really large fish at the cost of not attracting as many smaller ones but that was their choice and their calculation. The girls had used medium sized flies and so I also decided to compromise. I would still use a two fly cast but, while one was small, the tail fly would be a much larger, darker fly. I am very conservative. For scaly fishing, I make and use only one pattern of dark "nymph" fly with a size 12 hook while, for trout, I mostly use a home made "Mrs. Simpson" fly on a size 6 or 8 hook.
Although the river runs through the Park for about 100 kilometers, the road only comes down to it at a few points and driving along the river, where it is possible, can be rough on the vehicle and passengers. We thus decided to spend another night at camp but drive about 30 kilometres upstream to a place called Potjiespram. The trip is not too bad, but you have to climb up and through Akkedis (lizard) Pass, which can be a delightful and wild experience. It is a mass of boulders and normally large numbers of beautifully coloured lizards watch your progress like lookouts on the tops of many rocks along the road. This time, however, there had been a terrible drought and, despite an average rainfall of about 60 mm, they had had less than this in total during the last five years. Desert plants, evolved in and for the area, were dying and lizard numbers had clearly crashed. Many of the roads are a 4×4 enthusiast's paradise but we mostly just wanted to get to the best fishing spots.
The Orange River is the northern border between the Richtersveld National Park, in South Africa, and Namibia.
Previously, the fishing at Potjiespram had been very good and so we anticipated some excellent sport. The river is quite large and you can rarely cast right across although careful wading can usually allow you to cross at rapids. On earlier trips I had found a couple of excellent spots where fish seemed to lurk and I looked forward to trying them again. There was even a "Dad's spot" where I had been very fortunate before but, today, it was not to be.
Since our last visit there had been a long dry period with no floods and so silt and sediment had built up and water weed had grown up and clogged much of the river. It was not easy to find open water areas and it was often necessary to clamber over large rocks to reach the open water and landing a decent fish was clearly not going to be easy. Many fish make maximum use of cover or obstacles of any kind but yellowfish, bless them, usually do not. You could wade far out into the river and cast out over the weedy areas into clear water, hook a nice fish and it would usually completely avoid the weeds and even rocks.
"Dad's spot" proved useless due to weed but I waded further out into deeper, clear water, and cast out into the current and, first cast, wham! A nice smallmouth yellowfish took my fly just as I was about to end the cast and I had loose line in my hand, in the water and around my legs as I tried desperately to tighten the line and set the hook properly. I managed and, fortunately, the fish pelted right across the clear water but did not enter the weeds on the far side, turned and came back. It played hard and deep but simply would not go into the weeds or any cover. After a fairly brief but powerful fight I brought the fish right to me and, as I had a landing net, scooped it up and took it to the bank. It was a typical Orange River small-scale yellowfish, a beautiful bright yellow colour with large scales.
Everyone struggled to catch fish here in spite of them wading out chest deep in the weed filled water to cast into the more open current. We all caught nice smallmouth yellowfish, mostly of fork lengths of high 40's and into the 50 centimeters but no 60 centimeter plus fish. In short it was good, actually great, but still not as good as it could be and so that night we decided to make a move.
The glory about camping in Richtersveld is that it is safe. There are no other people, except a few friendly, semi-nomadic herdsmen and no large, dangerous animals. You may be hours away from actual help or backup but, except from very unlikely accidents, there are few immediate threats and so it is the best of places to unwind, relax and really enjoy the natural wonders of the earth. And catch amazing fish.
The next morning we broke camp and headed through the middle of the National Park to De Hoop campsite, again on a beautiful stretch of the river. We parked on a soft, grassy bank right next to the river and began to fish, setting up camp could be done later, in the heat of the day when the fishing was usually not so good. We split up and I went upstream, to a likely looking spot, and cast out into a nice clear, deep, fast running piece of water. I caught a couple of reasonable yellowfish but no large ones and no large-mouths.
When it was almost time to head back for lunch and to set up camp I took a last cast just above a steep, very, very rocky, tumbling cascade of water that ran down almost to our camp. As the fly drifted close to my bank, very close to the top of the run, something grabbed the fly and simply took it down deep, where it sat for a few seconds, while it worked out its game plan. Having thought carefully it then simply came to the surface, looked at me and then curled downstream and glided over the lip of the rapids and headed for the ocean one hundred kilometers downstream. Panic. I was in deep, fast flowing water with large round, very slippery boulders but I really did not want to lose this fish.
I scrambled, bumbled, tripped, fell and tried to follow the fish. I dropped my wading stick, lost my balance, sense of humour and even, once, dropped my rod briefly but the wonderful fish stayed on the line. The family were downstream and could probably see me so this was going to be a glorious, or very inglorious, moment for me. Camp, and calmer water, was about 300 meters away and the fish seemed well hooked but the rapids were difficult and I dinged and scratched my knees repeatedly as I scrambled over huge rocks.
Just when I thought that, if the fish was going to come off it would already have done so, the line went slack and my heart stopped beating. Nothing, the fish was simply no longer there. With my poor heart still pounding again from the excitement and injuries, I looked downstream to my family and the camp. When I arrived they asked what on earth I had been doing, they thought I must have been having a fit or been stung by a bee so erratic seemed my behaviour.
They had done much better, some really nice smallmouths had been caught and even some fairly decent large-mouths. We ate, set up camp, and that afternoon we all caught some nice smallmouths but we learned a lot about the river conditions, more about what flies worked and where exactly the fish were lurking. Tomorrow, we would have everything in place and I would show my offspring that the old boy still had some tricks up his sleeve. Nothing could possibly go wrong!


text:
Help stop B.C. from firing more medical professionals — let them care!
While the majority of provinces in Canada have started returning to normalcy by lifting all COVID-19 restrictions or committing to do so soon, B.C. is doubling down on mandates instead.
While the majority of provinces in Canada have started to return normalcy by lifting all COVID-19 restrictions or committing to do so soon, B.C. is doubling down on COVID mandates instead. That's why we've created a petition you can sign to say enough is enough.
On February 9, B.C.'s Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced that come March 24, all health-care workers in the province will need to be inoculated with at least one COVID-19 jab to remain working in their profession, and will need two shots within a month after that.
The order has affected a new wave of health-care workers that previously escaped the province's medically-coercive vaccine mandates last year.
It now includes doctors with private clinics, dentists, ophthalmologists, chiropractors, and pharmacists on the long list of medical professionals who have to surrender their bodily autonomy to the state in order to care for British Columbians.
B.C.'s authoritarian approach to addressing life with the significantly less deadly Omicron variant shouldn't be all too surprising to Canadians.
The province has been experiencing a health-care worker shortage for years, but it didn't stop them from putting in place and enforcing vaccine mandates that fired and put more capable health-care workers on leave without pay than any other province in the country last year.
Additionally, while other jurisdictions are dropping vaccine passports like hot potatoes, Dr. Henry has extended B.C.'s passport until the end of June.
Henry is not wavering a bit, even though Vancouver's chief medical officer, Dr. Patricia Daly, admitted that the passports were not put in place because they "were seeing COVID transmission" in the areas they are mandated for, but are instead designed to be an "incentive to up our vaccination" compliance.
That's why I created this petition, calling on not just the usual political suspects — Dr. Bonnie Henry, Premier John Horgan, and Health Minister Adrienne Dix — to stop these health-care mandates, but also to those who are supposed to be the voices of opposition in the provincial government, like health critic MLA Shirley Bond and the newly-crowned leader of the B.C. Liberal Party, Kevin Falcon.
Sign and share this petition to demand our unvaccinated health-care workers be accommodated so that they can care for us, instead of kicked to the curb when we need them the most.
Don't Get Censored
Big Tech is censoring us. Sign up so we can always stay in touch.
Don't Get Censored
Big Tech is censoring us. Sign up so we can always stay in touch.