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At this time it is hard to know what Michael Rasmussen's status really is. Is he still a member of the Rabobank team? The media keeps using words like "sacked" and "kicked out." But it is not clear whether he has been fired from the team, or just pulled from the race. But the important thing is that the race started today without a yellow jersey holder.
So why did Rabobank take this drastic step? Rabobank claims that Rasmussen told them he was with his wife in Mexico in June while he has been reported as being seen in Italy.
"Rabobank is shocked and enormously disappointed that Rasmussen has lied about his whereabouts,"the team said.
Rasmussen denied being in Italy.
"I am shattered," Rasmussen told Danish tabloid BT. "I am on the verge of tears. I was not in Italy. Not at all. That's the story of one man who believes he recognized me. There is no hint of evidence."
I really have to respect the Rabobank team for taking this step. But what I really don't understand is the reactions of the race commentators. Al Trautwig, Paul Sherwin and Phil Ligget when this mornings broadcast started were crucifying Rasmussen for being caught up in the doping scandals. All they talked about for several minutes was Rasmussen and doping. Yet, no one has officially accused Rasmussen of doping. He has not failed any of the 17 drug tests that he was subjected to so far in this year's race. Rabobank claims that Rasmussen was removed from the Tour for violating internal team policies.
Each cyclist is required to report where they are training before the tour and Rasmussen apparently didn't do this. But to automatically assume that he was doping is ridiculous, at least this early in the whole situation.
So I am pleased to see Rabobank take this drastic step to send a message to all their riders that they must follow all the rules. But I am very disappointed in the four race commentators that they were so quick to jump on the doping bandwagon and start convicting Rasmussen of doing something that so far, no one has accused him of doing. I am also disappointed in the race officials. The race continues today without a yellow jersey on the road. The did not make Alberto Contador put on the jersey when the race started. Contador, to his credit has been reported as saying that he didn't want to wear yellow today. Most cyclists will not want to inherit the leaders jersey because of a rider crashing, abandoning, or being pulled from the race. But several years ago, when David Zabriski crashed while wearing the yellow jersey he was left laying beside the road by his team and as a result lost his yellow jersey to Lance Armstrong. The next day Armstrong reported for the race without the yellow jersey claiming that he didn't win it the day before, but had inherited it when Zabriski crashed. At this point the race officials told Armstrong that if he didn't wear the yellow that day he would be disqualified from the tour. Funny how things change if you aren't an American rider. Armstrong tries to be a good sport and he is threatened with disqualification. But when a Spanish rider does the same thing, he is allowed to be a good sport.


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Posts Tagged
US neofolk band WREATHES' new LP reviewed
by Oliver Sheppard There aren't a lot of American neofolk bands, let alone many that are very good. Wisconsin's Wreathes, however, are both American and very good. Unlike recent US neofolk acts like Cult of Youth and King Dude, who have put a new and uniquely American spin on the
CVLT Nation Neofolk Mixtape
Curated by Oliver Sheppard
Whether you call it dark folk, "apocalyptic folk" (David Tibet's term), or the term I'll use here, neofolk, an early musical goal of bands in this genre seemed to be "Joy Division unplugged": Neofolk granddaddies Death in June took the vibe and imagery of Joy Division's "Ideal for Living" EP

subset: commoncrawl


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December 4, 2015
The FAI World Air Games officially kicked off with a bang last night, as the 3,000-strong audience at the Opening Ceremony were wowed with an extravaganza of dancing, zip-line performances and fireworks.
Dropping in on the open-air stage, performers dressed as skydivers and paramotor pilots flew over the crowd suspended on wires, taking the astounded audience on a theatrical flight over glorious Dubai.
"It was great," said Polish microlight team member Kajetan Ruks. "I've never seen anything like it before. And now, I want to see it again."
The musical ceremony mixed the new with the old, presenting a fascinating insight into the history, culture and ambition of this unique location.
Representatives and competitors from more than 50 countries were in attendance, as was guest of honour, His Highness Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
Joao Franciso, who came from Portugal to compete in the air navigation race said of the ceremony: "On a scale of one to 10, I give it 20!"
It's hoped that this World Air Games will help to close the gap between air sports and the Olympic Games. After the show, his Excellency Yousif Hassan Al Hammadi, president of the World Air Games, told us that he hoped the games would bring people from around the world together in a spirit of love and peace.
FAI President Dr John Grubbstrom added that he thought the ceremony was "unforgettable". In his address on the 40-metre screen set up especially for the event, he wished all the competitors a safe, fun and enjoyable time.
Competitions in the more than 20 air sports represented continue tomorrow at five locations around Dubai, running until December 12.
FAI Media Team
Photo: Marcus King/FAI Media Team
Discover the FAI World Air Games 2015
>Facebook: www.facebook.com/airsports.fai
>Twitter: www.twitter.com/airsports_fai
>Flickr (hi-rez images free to use): www.flickr.com/airsports_fai/albums
>Sign up for our daily newsletter: www.goo.gl/nBbsae
Marco Wiederkehr flies to Gold at 533km/hStanding ovation for new Hot Air Ballooning champion
Formation skydiving and the 90-minute turnaroundSkydiving for beginners: at introduction to Parachuting disciplines
All rise for Russian Rotorcraft champsAerobatic F3N Model Helicopter contest hots up
1, 2, 3 for British Microlighting team!Exciting finish to Glider Match Racing
Off the map: Norevik and Strømme win the Air Navigation RaceParagliding Aerobatics champions crowned
Build it, and it will flyCotet hits the golden target
Gladiators of the skyGlider aerobatics: Bertossio takes gold for Italy


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Information for HighSchool Administrators/Counselors
Eastern Oregon University is committed to providing early college learning opportunities for high school students.
The registration process for courses has changed. Students will need to complete the registration steps before registering online through Webster. You will find the registration steps and required documents on the Class Registration page. Scroll to the bottom section of that page.
Students who are interested in taking an on-campus or online class are instructed to contact the Eastern Promise office for further information regarding eligibility. This will also confirm the student will be coded accurately for the correct billing rate.
The high school counselor or home school representative will want to follow all the steps with the students to ensure success in achieving their goal.
How to Verify High School/Home School Enrollment
Send an email from your school designated account to the Eastern Promise office with the following information:
1. Full Name of Student
2. Name of high school currently attending and proposed graduation date.
Eastern Promise
Phone: 541.962.3941
Fax: 541.962.3036
E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com


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MusicalEar is built on real music, over 200 compositions made especially for MusicalEar, with a specific pedagogic idea in mind.
You can create your on development path through the vast material in MusicalEar. Therefore, no matter if you are traditionally schooled or have always played by ear, and feel a need for ear training and putting into words what you hear and do - MusicalEar is for you.
You can start training by entering the Songs section and picking any of the genres of pop/rock, jazz, latin, song, folk music and classical music.
Or you decide to enter the material via Melody/Interval/Fourth, or Rhytm/Straightfeel/Triplets, or Harmony/Chord progressions, cadence/Primary and Secondary Triads.
Or you might want to enter the material through Exercises to target Choir Singing Exercises, or Sight Reading, or Chord Progressions? Or basic Tonailty Exercises? The possibilities are vast and you can develop your ear in many different ways with MusicalEar and design your own develoment path through the material, depending on your own needs and wants.
|Purchase Price
|Student rate of $109 and multi user package available. Free demo of complete application available for 15 days.


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I love this recipe because you can really customize it to your liking. Here are my simple but delicious Energy Bursts Recipe made with Real Layers.
- 1/3 cup Coconut flakes (unsweetened)
- 1/2 cup Rolled Oats
- 1 tsp Ground Flax Seeds
- 1 tsp Chia Seeds
- 3 TBSP Agave (or honey)
- 1/4 cup Peanut Butter
- 1/4 cup Real Layers Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
- Mix all ingredients until combined
- Refrigerate for 15 minutes
3. Roll into 1/2 inch diameter balls (you can make them bigger or smaller)
4. Coat in coconut flakes (this is optional – I like it since it gives it an extra crunch)
5. Freeze for 15 minutes
Eat, Enjoy, and get a burst of energy!
Ready in: 40 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Serving: 12 energy bursts
There are many variations you can make for this recipe. If you don't like coconut, you can remove it and put in your favourite chocolate chips instead. You can also use honey instead of agave but you do need one of these ingredient so the energy bursts will stick together. Another variation I like to make is to switch up the peanut butter to an almond or a cashew butter.
I love to make a bunch of different varieties and I keep them in the freezer so there's always have a healthy snack to munch on. It would also make an amazing after school snack!
Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post. Although this post is sponsored, all opinions are my own.


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Sunday, April 7, 2013
I solemnly swear I'm up to no good...no wait that's Harry Potter...whatever
I know I haven't been updating here like I should. I swear it's for a good cause tho!!! I've been working on getting The Dragon's Portal ready for upload! All in the same week I got the cover back, the edits back, fixed those, formatted it and did the final read thru. Now I am in the process of uploading to Smashwords and Amazon, so cross your fingers and say a little prayer for that process to speed itself along. :D I'll probably post here and on my FB page when it actually goes live, so keep your eyes peeled! Much love and Happy Reading y'all!
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JMB has been here quite a few times, but this current lineup is the tightest we've seen. Jackie's piano-driven soul/jazz/r&b with one special treat this time - the trio will be a quartet with the addition of a fantastic guitarist this time through!
Back to All Events
Earlier Event: December 5Chris Combs & The Dirty Warriors
Later Event: December 19Electric Rag Band


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On 12 March 2018 the Medical Treatment Planning and Decisions Act 2016 commenced in Victoria.
The new Act replaces the Medical Treatment Act 1988 which allows persons to appoint an agent under an Enduring Power of Attorney (Medical Treatment).
The new Act allows Victorians to make advance care directives which set out binding instructions or preferences and values in relation to medical treatment.
An advance care directive may contain either or both of the following:
- an instructional directive which is an express statement about medical treatment that the person consents to, or refuses the commencement or continuation of; or
- a values directive which is a statement about the person's preferences and values to be used as the basis upon which the person would like any medical treatment decisions to be made on their behalf.
The new Act also allows a person to appoint a medical treatment decision maker who has authority to make medical treatment decisions on the person's behalf if he or she has lost decision-making capacity. The medical treatment decision maker is required to make the decision that they reasonably believe the person would have made if he or she had decision-making capacity.
A support person can also be appointed who can assist the person to make medical decisions whilst he or she still has capacity.
Health practitioners are now required to follow an instructional directive which provides specific directives about treatment a person consents to or refuses. If the advance care directive does not include a relevant instructional directive, then the medical treatment decision maker will be asked to make the decision. The medical treatment decision maker is required to consider the person's preferences and values, consider the likely effects and consequences of the treatment and consult the person's closest family members.
The Act significantly changes the process by which medical treatment decisions are made on behalf of persons who have lost decision making capacity and ensures that people receive medical treatment that is consistent with their preferences and values.
For more information please contact:
Justin Hartnett
E firstname.lastname@example.com
Daniela Pavlovic
Special Counsel
E firstname.lastname@example.com


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Broken People, Faithful God
Life Lessons
Day 1: Broken People – Faithful God: Over and over through the book of Judges we see a people who knew God and committed themselves to a relationship with Him yet time after time fell away. And just like the Israelites, we often have the same cycle of brokenness. We can make small compromises and rationalize our attitudes. We minimize and justify our behaviors. We ALL have tendencies to veer away from our heartfelt commitment to our loving God. What does this look like in your life? Consider the past. What are common attitudes, behaviors, and actions that have caused you to turn away from God? Write these reflections in a journal as they can be a gift and a future warning to you. Thank God that He has shown you sin and brokenness. He loves you.
Day 2: Willful sin: Judges 6:1-10. We are reminded from last week's message on 'Repeated Rescue" and our propensity to fall away from the commands of and relationship with God. It can feel like a no-win situation, a hopeless battle. Yet read Philippians 2:13. We can have hope today. With the Spirit advocating for us, He gives us a desire for obedience. Remember, the Spirit of God is GREATER than our places of need (failure). God's discipline is not condemning and accusing, but it gives us the power and strength to get back up and turn back to the Father. Look up and read "When God Ran" – Benny Hester. Remember your list from yesterday. Rest in God's forgiveness and love today.
Day 3: Becoming. Judges 6:11-12. When an angel encounters Gideon in a winepress, he is living out a 'small' story. Yet notice how he addresses Gideon, "The Lord is with you, mighty warrior." The angel sees him not as he is, but as he WILL BECOME. And Gideon becomes that, a mighty warrior! Not in his own strength, but in the strength God provides. Was there a coach, teacher, parent, or relative who spoke into you who told you of special ability or character qualities they saw in you long before you saw it in yourself? Do you think those words impacted your future? Notice again the angel's words. "The Lord is with you, mighty warrior." God is present with Gideon and with us. He does not leave us alone. He speaks encouragement and belief in us. So if He is with us and speaking into what we are becoming, is He calling you into something? Is it a job change, the next game, an upcoming performance, or a new volunteer position? Or is He leading you to a conversation, a new habit or to finally seek some significant help? "For I can do everything God asks me to with the help of Christ who gives me the strength and power." Philippians 4:13 (TLB)
Day 4: Answering. Judges 6:13-14 Gideon had questions. Did you catch the angel's answer? He didn't directly answer Gideon's questions. We too have questions, and at times, God does not appear to answer. But God does not ignore His children and He does not ignore you. He sees you. He hears you. He loves you. Will you trust his counsel, His heart, and His loving direction? Maybe He has answered but it isn't the answer you were looking for. God really does want good things for you. But can you allow God to define what is good for you and trust that it is the good that you need? Read Jeremiah 29:11 again in a different version that you typically read. Pray with faith that He is for you even in the midst of uncertainties in your life.
Day 5: Stop living small. Live bold and inspired! "It's not about getting more of the Spirit, but of allowing the Spirit to possess and to control more of our lives." When God calls us into a bigger story, it's not based on our own abilities, but it's about who He sees in us and what He's calling us into. Like Gideon, God sees us in our fears, pain and failure, yet He loves us and calls us to be a part of a greater story. He is inviting us to the transformation work of becoming like Jesus. What situation, habit or attitude in your life are you willing to allow God to discipline and help you? In what ways can you trust God this week (next decisions or steps) that would lead you into the greater story God is calling you into? Set aside an hour or a morning and have a conversation with God.
Downloadable devotional + notes >


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Apple Podcasts | Google Play Store | Stitcher Radio | Spotify
Today we explore how fear affects us in business
through the eyes of the incredible industry experts who have shared their wisdom on the show, as well as a subject matter expert who offers a lot of insight into the psychology of fear and motivation:
Kareen Walsh, Founder and Solutions Strategist at Revampologist
Andy Musliner, Founder and CEO of InRoad Toys
Greg Johnston, SVP and Creative Director at AgencyQ
Will Choi, President and CEO of Vertical Apps
Dr. Mary Lamia, a psychologist who has spent her career studying and encouraging emotional awareness. She is the author of numerous books for kids, teenagers, and adults, including What Motivates Getting Things Done, as well as the upcoming The Upside of Shame.
The emotion of fear is often seen as a inhibitor - but really it can be just the opposite
We may want to believe that we make rational decisions, but there's always an emotional trigger. And these emotions, often times, can inhibit us from moving forward, if we don't understand them.
One emotion that has been frequently called out by our guests is FEAR.
However, fear shouldn't be always considered as a demotivator. It's important to understand that we can be motivated by both positive and negative emotions. "If you understand your emotions and how they work, you can make them work for you," says Dr. Lamia.
Fear is Fuel
It's also important that we acknowledge there are many individuals involved in a business, and they all experience fear. It's not just business owners – it's everyone you work with.
After you understand how fear affects everyone you work with, and learn to identify it, you can start developing strategies to overcome the business inertia.
Key Takeaways:
Negative emotions are often the most "primary, powerful, and misunderstood source of motivation," says Dr. Lamia. However, we need to develop emotional awareness before we can fill up the tank. In Psychology Today, she writes, "Recognizing how emotions affect your own motivational style can help you more consciously make decisions and pursue your goals… if you understand this emotion, your emotional system can give you an advantage in decision making... if you make proper use of it."
While fear is one of the emotions that tends to impact people the most when it comes to business momentum, there are optimal levels of fear and anxiety that help people complete tasks, motivate them, and keep their momentum going. But, that level is different for each individual. It's about understanding your specific levels that help you achieve that feeling of being 'in the zone'.
Fear impacts our relationships, the ability to achieve alignment between people (particularly in a work environment), and ultimately the ability to successfully deliver on initiatives. In order for any company be successful and reach their goals, people -- not process or technology -- need to address this blocker in achievement.
Understanding one's fear requires you to diagnose the underlying drivers causing this pain, which aren't always rational. And then you need to draw them out in an empathetic way.
Change that occurs in one's business environment can certainly cause fear - fear of the unknown, fear of failure, and even fear of what to do or not to do. But fear is an innate emotion that is there to help us, and it protects us.
Fear never goes away. It's adaptive and functional and necessary. Understand it as a positive motivator and not always as a negative one. One that can fuel the fire and propel you forward.
Dr. Mary Lamia:
What Motivates Getting Things Done: Procrastination, Emotions, and Success
The Upside of Shame: Therapeutic Interventions Using the Positive Aspects of a "Negative" Emotion
Will Choi:
Greg Johnston:
Andy Musliner:
Kareen Walsh:
Subscribe to the Strategic Momentum podcast:
On iTunes
On the Google Play Store


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I gave a talk on "How to create a OpenSuSE repository" during the OpenSource Summit 2008. The talk didn't go that well but the topic was useful.
Just thought to put the ppt out. You can download it from here.
If you have any queries, just add a comment or drop a mail at blvdeer [at] gmail [dot] com


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Recent Posts
Protest Photographs
Archives : Select a month to review posts
Category Archives: Criticism
Letter to the Editor
What is the benefit for Glenavy? AS a resident of the Glenavy area, may I be permitted to comment on the Rose Energy controversy? Firstly, I'm not a 'Nimby'. I have in the last year been exploring various green energy … Continue reading
Posted in Criticism Comments Off on Letter to the Editor
Email to CALNI
Dear Sirs I see by my local paper (The Carrick Times) that you think that Kilroot would be a good site for the proposed chicken waste incinerator. Have you asked the people of Carrickfergus for their views on this matter. … Continue reading
Posted in Criticism Comments Off on Email to CALNI


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Tamarijn Aruba All Inclusive Accommodations
Sand, Sea & Stars - Oh My!
Take a late night stargazing walk along the beach then fall asleep with the soothing sounds of the ocean right outside your room. Wake refreshed to greet the rising sun over the Caribbean and plan another perfect day on Aruba.
Having your room so close to the beach has a number of great advantages. Step out for a quick dip in the ocean. Grab a bike for a ride down the boardwalk. Or simply sit back on your patio or balcony enjoying one of the feature drinks of the day. All our guest rooms are oceanfront with panoramic views of the Caribbean Sea.
- All accommodations right on the water's edge with patio or balcony, air conditioning, color satellite television, hair dryer, iron, ironing board, mini-fridge, Nespresso-style coffee machine and telephone
- Two queen beds or one king bed
- Private shower
- 110 volts electric current
- Daily maid service
- Free Wi-Fi
- Digital safe
Resort Reviews from our past guests


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"And I try to laugh At whatever life brings Cause when I look down I just miss all the good stuff When I look up I just trip over things" -Ani Difranco – As is I love Ani Difranco. I
Teach Me How
Think of your house as a laboratory
I want to be free with my emotions. I want to accept how I feel as natural and beautiful. I don't want to force my emotions to fit inside some little box. A external matrix of what seems right and


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Yep. It is 8:24 am and my battery is at 77% already. I admit last night the charge did not reach full before I unplugged and left my Galaxy Tab A 10.1 to charge overnight. The Tab hadn't been charged for two days and was 40% and better be ready. The Note 5 battery is very good but compared to my LG X Power it is not as much. The LG X Power was used all day a lot yesterday and not charged at all last night and is now at 62%. There is a battery for you.
And Lumia line got discontinued. It is a shame? Progress. Some lines don't face as much adversity not because they are so great but because they con people. iPhone is one which owes it's prosperity more to politics being the only Leftist company in America. Nokia, HTC, Blackberry and so on make great devices but the market is owned and run by politics not technology.
Since Lumia prices are good I got another Lumia to check out. I forget them but think I have had Nokia Lumia 630, 640, 1520 and 1620 or whatever was the big one. I had both 20 and 40 megapixel camera ones. And I have had them in black, blue, yellow and green I am sure. The 640XL will be orange. I am curious about color impact.
I do have a GSM line for testing and goes there. This is the unlocked version but is 3G which won't bother me. It was only after I purchased following the reading of a relevant blog post that I dug into user manuals and there is more than half a dozen versions of this one. I like to test this and probably try the 950XL someday mostly because has some of the technology of Note 7. Progress.
And this be it today. Elections ended and we used to have a President for past 8 years who was best ignored and nicknamed President Zero as how effective he was. If Presidents get a number we have President Minus 10 for now. We definitely MUST ignore him because is big bad news. The less of him the better even of means changing topic to bygone Nokia Lumia line as future technology. It is that bad in politics. The stink from the White House is already filling the country they are saying in DC.
PS. And some speculate Lumia devices be great for Obama Phone users. First rate software at prices only the poor can afford or get for free. That be Progress. A large base will lead to more app development.


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Artist Bio
Lina Montoya, A.K.A. "Ele Eme", Staten Island-based artist since 2010. A passionate, creative and rising Graphic Artist and Designer, born and raised in Medellín, Colombia.
Montoya has an extensive background in Graphic Design, Web, and Advertising and working with several clients and agencies worldwide. During the recent years, because of her community-based creative work, she has been developing her career as Muralist, Teaching Artist, and Community Organizer. She has experience working with public agencies and community based organizations around New York City.
As a vehicle to express her talents, share her migratory experience and celebrate multiculturalism, she founded the "Ele Eme Project" in Colombia, before she moved to the United States in 2010. It is an artistic initiative developed between New York City and Latin America that intends to exchange "Magical Experiences" through socially engaged art for public space beautification and landscape transformation.
She has been working since 2013 on two on-going series of public art: "La Isla Bonita Series", as a tribute to Staten Island and New York City's beauty and diversity and "MusiCalls Series", that intends to beautify as many places as possible along the America from North to South. She founded "La Isla Bonita Summer Festival", an annual celebration on the North Shore of Staten Island since 2015, and the community group for Faber Pool and Park "Do Me A Faber" established 2016.
There's several pieces on display around Staten Island where she has participated. In addition to all the temporary art-making activities she leads around the five boroughs and the murals she has painted in Colombia, Panama, and Mexico.
Montoya is a granted artist by the Department of Transportation (NYC DOT), Staten Island Arts (COAHSI), the Wagner College Port Richmond Partnership, City Parks Foundation (CPF) and UNIQLO Arts Expressions Grant 2017 by the Department of Parks and Recreation New York City Parks. Mentee of the Immigrant Artist Mentorship Program of the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA). Teaching artist for the Police Athletic League (PAL) and Groundswell Community Art Project.
"Ele Eme" is able to take one's vision and bring it to life. In addition, her artistic capabilities, her love for life, the energy she projects, and her love for the arts is what makes Lina an inspiration for the Community.
Artist Statement
"…We can view ourselves as alchemists, able to transform society and the culture at large with our words and ideas. We have the power to heal an ailing culture with the 'Magical Energy' that comes from our imagination". Keri Smith.
My art is a graphic "playlist" that sings a story about migration, how my journey can take me to explore and reflect about the dualism of my world as an "Immigrant Artist", it celebrates bilingualism and cultural diversity.
Languages, music, literature and poetry are my main inspiration. I create visual representations and typographical designs of diverse musical themes, there's a constant reference to the Colombian and Latin American culture, also to different Indigenous artwork and handmade artisan products, that I commonly use to conceptualize most of my colorful pieces.
Through collaborative art making, such as murals, installation art and workshops, the intention is to engage the community into the process of creation to demonstrate how we all can be the catalysts and create positive impact in the world.
My objective is the beautification of public spaces through artistic interventions, using paint, everyday objects, plastic bottles, recycled material and founded objects to transform public spaces and show to the participants that you too can make it! The urban environment is the perfect stage to have my artwork in direct contact with the public all the time, and to invite them to create the pieces with me. The community involvement brings to the artwork it's own chapter of the story and ends up being a major component of the creative process.
My art serves as a love letter to the places we beautify, generating a sense of belonging to locals, visitors and new immigrants, intends to generate dialogues and a space for transformation, creation and self-expression.
Logo by Lina Montoya.
Photos by Adriana Cuartas and Angie Velasquez.


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For Our Pam
We've sat on this news for a couple of weeks now in the hope that we wouldn't have to post it, but as time is still moving on without much hope of a happy ending, we'd best post it.
It's with great sadness that we have to report the loss of a former member of NGI, Pamela Jackson, who has most like passed after going missing from her home on the 2nd of March, 2013.
It's a sad day as it is, but it's made worse to all who knew Pam that a man, believed to be her partner for the last year, has been charged with her murder. Dying is one thing but allegedly being murdered just makes her passing a lot more shocking.
Pam was a funny one. She joined NGI back in early 2007 and certainly made herself known to all present at her first investigation at the Tontine when she ran screaming from a room claiming the Devil was inside. That was Pam. Her sometimes over the top reactions always raised an eyebrow from people present and raised a few laughs too. Fortunately, she would laugh at herself also and kept up her Derek Acorah style sensitivities right through the time she was a part of NGI.
We had some laughs with over the years with Pam – whether her "fainting" and then standing, brushing herself down and carrying on as though nothing had happened when people didn't take her serious, or when she "talked in tongues". It may sound daft to anybody reading but, as said above, that was Pam and although some didn't agree with it, she was always entertaining us and could laugh about it afterwards. There were a number of times she would come up with highly accurate information she claimed to have gleaned from the other side and, coming from an eyebrow raising sceptic, she did impress me from time to time.
Pam was an integral part of NGI from early 2007 to late 2009 when she left to start a new life in Greece. She returned briefly but ill health meant she had to step back again from NGI. She arranged some investigations for NGI, helped organise our nights out – both team only and when we used to run public guest nights – helped move NGI from what we were to what we are today and was NGI's resident medium during that time (Sensitive!! She never called herself a medium). She even had an impromptu dance with Richard Felix when we were at Preston Hall running one of our charity nights!
Although she hadn't been around this last few years barring the odd visit to our foums, she'll still be missed greatly by NGIers past and present and so "Aunty" Pam, wherever you are now, rest in peace chuck.


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This post should help you get a basic syslog server and client(s) up and running in a virtual environment, It will take you through the implementation of a reasonably secure (using rsyslog's TLS authentication) yet flexible setup useful to most virtual based server architectures I will assume if you're reading this that you know what syslog is and what it's used for. (if not have a quick Google then come back)
Why Setup a Centralized Syslog Server
- For convenience – If you for instance have a large number of web servers and you need to diagnose a problem on one of them (maybe not sure which one) you only have to check in one place, if you wanted to compile some statistics from all of them or check if they had all successfully completed a software upgrade.
- For added security – If someone hacks into one of your servers they will probably try and cover their tracks by erasing any log records created by there presence, however if your logs are also sent to another (hardened) server then the logs will still be available to sysadmins.
- Another very useful reason which only really applies to virtual servers is to help retain the log files from a terminated server (e.g. shut-down due to decreased demand on your application).
rsyslog on AWS
For this post I will be using rsyslog which is an enhanced version of the original syslogd and is very similar to other modern versions of syslog such syslog-ng. I will also be using the Amazon Web Services (AWS) build Amazon Machine Image (AMI) , this will keep things simple and allow you to try it yourself using the same kit.
Installing rsyslog and gnutls
This stage on the AWS AMI is rather easy as rsyslog is already installed and running as the syslog daemon. However if it's not on your server simply install rsyslog from your package manager (yum, apt-get, …),set it to startup on boot, stop your old syslog daemon from starting on boot and then stop the old daemon and start rsyslog. To tell if rsyslogd is already running:
# ps aux | grep rsyslogd
You will also need to install rsyslog-gnutls which will allow rsyslog to encrypt the traffic to and from your syslog server using TLS (rsyslog-gnutls requires gnutls but this should get dealt with as a dependency by your package manager).
# yum install rsyslog-gnutls
Creating a CA Certificate
In-order to setup encrypted communication between our centralised syslog server (syslog server) and our syslog clients we firstly need to create our own Certificate Authority (CA) private key and certificate. This will then be used to sign our servers certificate and our clients certificate, because both our machine certificates have been signed by our CA we can get syslog to confirm the authenticity of the server it's trying to connect to (or the client which is trying to connect to it). To create the CA Certificate we are going to use certtool command from the GnuTLS tools package, firstly you will need to install the gnutls-utils package (this only needs to be done on the machine you want to generate the certificates on).
# yum install gnutls-utils
Then we generate the private key:
# certtool --generate-privkey --outfile syslog-ca-key.key
Now we can generate the certificate (as this is self signed you don't need a certificate signing request) you will probably want to make certificate valid for a couple of years or more:
# certtool --generate-self-signed --load-privkey syslog-ca-key.key --outfile syslog-ca-cert.crt
You will be asked a lot questions by certtool, to go with the default option just leave the response blank (press enter) if you need an idea of what your responses should look like have a look on the rsyslog documentation page. Remember to say yes to "Does the certificate belong to an authority?" and "Will the certificate be used to sign other certificates?". Make sure you keep your syslog-ca-key.key private, ideally this should not be kept on either your syslog server or any of the client machines, it should be kept on a non-publicly accessible machine/place with only the owner granted read permission.
Generating the Server Certificate
We will generate a certificate for the syslog server and another for use on all the client machines. We will just use a single certificate for all the syslog clients and not generate a new one for each server tied to it's hostname to allow this setup to work well in a virtual/auto scaling environment where new servers get automatically started up and other ones closed down. If we wanted to generate a new certificate for each one we would either need to have a limited pool of hostnames and have pre-generated the certificates, this would however limit some of the flexibility given by using virtual servers. Or we would need to expose some sort of API to allow a unique certificate to be automatically generated as a new server is provisioned. Neither of which sound ideal so to keep things simple for now we will go with just two certs. To generate the private key:
# certtool --generate-privkey --outfile syslog-server-key.key --bits 2048
Then to generate the csr, set the common name to "syslog server" or something similar:
# certtool --generate-request --load-privkey syslog-server-key.key --outfile syslog-server-request.pem
Follow the prompts on screen to generate the request, you may find the example on the rsyslog site useful. Once you have your signing request you will need to use the syslog CA key from earlier to generate the certificate.
# certtool --generate-certificate --load-request syslog-server-request.pem --outfile syslog-server-cert.crt --load-ca-certificate syslog-ca-cert.crt --load-ca-privkey syslog-ca-key.key
Rememeber to keep the key private and only store it on the syslog server, set the permissions so it can only be read by root.
Generating the Client Certificate
This is the same process as for server certificate. Generate the private key:
# certtool --generate-privkey --outfile syslog-client-key.key --bits 2048
Then to generate the csr, set the common name to "syslog client" or something similar:
# certtool --generate-request --load-privkey syslog-client-key.key --outfile syslog-client-request.pem
Follow the prompts on screen to generate the request, you may find the example on the rsyslog site useful.
# certtool --generate-certificate --load-request syslog-client-request.pem --outfile syslog-client-cert.crt --load-ca-certificate syslog-ca-cert.crt --load-ca-privkey syslog-ca-key.key
Copying the Certificates
You then need to copy the following certificates to your syslog server and put them somewhere like /etc/ssl/mycerts make sure the permissions are set to 400 and root is the owner and group.
- syslog-ca-cert.crt
- syslog-server-cert.crt
- syslog-server-key.key
For the syslog clients you need:
- syslog-ca-cert.crt
- syslog-client-cert.crt
- syslog-client-key.key
Rsyslog Config for the Server
The rsyslog config file will probably be found under: /etc/rsyslog.conf We are going to set rsyslog up to listen for TLS protected tcp based syslog messages on the standard TLS syslog port of 10514. The following lines need to be added to your rsyslog.conf file.
$ModLoad imtcp.so # make gtls driver the default $DefaultNetstreamDriver gtls # certificate files $DefaultNetstreamDriverCAFile /etc/ssl/mycerts/syslog-ca-cert.crt $DefaultNetstreamDriverCertFile /etc/ssl/mycerts/syslog-server-cert.crt $DefaultNetstreamDriverKeyFile /etc/ssl/mycerts/syslog-server-key.key # Provides TCP syslog reception $InputTCPServerStreamDriverMode 1 # run driver in TLS-only mode $InputTCPServerStreamDriverAuthMode x509/certvalid # Just validate Cert $InputTCPServerRun 10514
The CA certificate is used here to validate the client(s) certificate when they try to connect. This setup only allows encrypted syslog connections and only validates the client(s) based on their certificate. For the changes to take effect you will need to restart rsyslog:
# /etc/init.d/rsyslog restart
Firewall rules for the Server
As we are expecting syslog tcp packets over port 10514 you will need to open this on your servers firewall, you should ensure this is only open on the local network and not accessible from the internet.
For instance with AWS you can open the port 10514 up to the local network (10.0.0.0/8) on your syslog server and then only allow traffic from other servers within the same AWS Security Group through. This way the port is only open to your virtual servers on AWS and no one else's.
I tend to use Shorewall to configure iptables, so the following line is added to the Shorewall rules file (followed be restarting Shorewall):
# rsyslog ACCEPT net:10.0.0.0/8 $FW tcp 10514
Then the AWS Security Group is configured:
If your firewall is restricting outbound connections then you will also need to open up the port outbound on the client(s).
Rsyslog Config for the Client(s)
The following is the config required for the syslog clients, this setup again only validates the server based on the certificate and forwards all logs to the central server, it also sets up, upto a 1GB buffer to ensure if the connection to the syslog server is lost temporarily then the logs will still get delivered when the connection is reestablished.
# ### begin forwarding rule ### $DefaultNetstreamDriverCAFile /etc/ssl/mycerts/syslog-ca.crt $DefaultNetstreamDriverKeyFile /etc/ssl/mycerts/syslog-client-key.pem $DefaultNetstreamDriverCertFile /etc/ssl/mycerts/syslog-client-cert.crt $DefaultNetstreamDriver gtls # use gtls netstream driver $ActionSendStreamDriverMode 1 # require TLS for the connection $ActionSendStreamDriverAuthMode x509/certvalid # Just validate Cert $WorkDirectory /var/spool/rsyslog # where to place spool files $ActionQueueFileName fwdRule1 # unique name prefix for spool files $ActionQueueMaxDiskSpace 1g # 1gb space limit (use as much as possible) $ActionQueueSaveOnShutdown on # save messages to disk on shutdown $ActionQueueType LinkedList # run asynchronously $ActionResumeRetryCount -1 # infinite retries if host is down # remote host is: name/ip:port, e.g. 192.168.0.1:514, port optional *.* @@10.10.1.2:10514 # ### end of the forwarding rule ###
You will need to replace the IP address(10.10.1.2) used on the second to last line with the IP address of your central syslog server and then restart rsyslog as before.
See if it works
Firstly check on the general logs on your client machine and make sure rsyslog is running without any problems then try tailing the messages log file on the syslog server and hopefully you should see messages from both the server and the client(s) machine(s).
tail /var/log/messages
That's it you now have a working centralised syslog setup, whilst it is a basic configuration it should be a good base to improve on and tweak to meet your needs and security requirements.
A Word about Security
Whilst this setup is good for a cloud based infrastructure, it uses the same TLS certificate for all clients and only validates the certificate against the CA and not against the hostname of the remote server, this means you can't guarantee the identity of the remote server (although obviously an attacker would need to compromise one of your servers to gain a working certificate and private key).
You must ensure that your private key files are locked down so only root has access (and even then only has read access) and never give the files out to anyone. This also applies to the CA key (even more so).
As your syslog server holds the log files for many other servers and should act as your audit log you must take care to lock this machine down. For instance use different RSA keys for SSH access along with only running the minimum number of services on the machine, i.e. not running a web server. It is advisable to only allow the machine to be accessible from trusted IP addresses (such as your office IPs). You should also make sure the logs on this machine are backed up regularly and preferably to a read only state.
If you look in the log files on your syslog server and see messages similar to the following:
Nov 30 08:49:19 syslog-client.example.com #026#003#002#000V#001#000#000R#003#002NÃ&H<9e>#016<8e>#006èEÃY<99>û#024Aá§þ<8e>L##032<8d>#005#036¨#000#000$#0003#000E#0009#000<88>#000#026#0002#000D#000<87>#000#023#000f#000/#000A#0005#000<84> Nov 30 08:51:29 syslog-client.example.com #026#003#002#000V#001#000#000R#003#002NÃ&ÃHh¦Ã#003Wõ¦51à #002d<97>ü&:EYÃüÃ>GÃî¾T#000#000$#E#0009#000<88>#000#0002#000D#0008#000<87>#000#023#000f#000/#000A#0005#000<84>
There is a good chance you've got the $InputTCPServerRun and $InputTCPServerStreamDriverMode directives in the wrong order, the $InputTCPServerRun should come last.


text:
Not satisfied with lackluster returns on your Google AdWords remarketing efforts? If so, then it might be time to take a look at some advanced strategies.
Fortunately, there are plenty of options to choose from.
Even better: your competitors probably don't know about them.
In this article, we'll go over some of the most effective AdWords remarketing strategies that will help you boost sales.
AdWords Remarketing Strategies – Use Dynamic Remarketing
If you're using plain vanilla remarketing, then you're showing ads to people who've visited your site. However, you can improve your targeting with dynamic remarketing.
What is dynamic remarketing? It's a way to target people who've visited specific pages on your site instead of targeting people who've visited any page on your site.
For example, if you're running an ecommerce website, you can target people based on the product pages that they've viewed. AdWords will show those folks an ad that promotes the products they've already looked at.
That gives you an opportunity to snag a sale on a second effort.
Fortunately, it's fairly easy to get started with dynamic remarketing. Begin by creating a feed that describes all your products or services. It should include details such as a unique ID, price, and image for each item. You can create the feed in any one of the usually recognized list formats: .csv, .xls, or .xlsx.
Then, upload the feed to the Business data section of your shared library. If you're a retailer, you'll need to upload it to Google Merchant Center.
Once you're done with that step, add the dynamic remarketing tag to all pages of your site. That's how visitors will get added to remarketing lists.
Finally, create responsive ads that AdWords will show to people who've visited your pages.
Netshoes used dynamic remarketing during a Christmas push recently. The result: a 30-40% lift in revenue, a 100% improvement in click-through rates (CTR), and a 61% higher conversion volume.
AdWords Remarketing: Launch a Sequential Remarketing Campaign
Remember: the sales process is not a single-step journey. It's often the case that people have to be led by the hand through a series of intermediate points before they finally make a purchase.
You should adapt your remarketing strategy accordingly.
Too often, marketers think that a single remarketing ad is all that's necessary to get people back to their websites where they'll eventually open their wallets. That's not necessarily how it works.
You might need to use a few remarketing ads to help people work their way through the sales funnel.
Start by finding out how long it takes people to convert once they've touched your brand. Here, Google Analytics is your friend. That is, if you've defined goals or collect e-commerce transaction data.
Click on Conversions on the left-hand sidebar. In the drop-down menu that appears, click on Multi-Channel Conversions. Then, select Time Lag.
In the table that appears, you'll see a breakdown of the percentage of customers who converted after a certain number of days.
Let's say that 50% of your customers convert within one week (0-7 days), 30% convert in the second week (8-14 days), and 10% convert in the third week (15-21 days). The rest convert later on.
Now you have some great info. People are most likely to convert within the first week, but you shouldn't ignore people in the second and third weeks, either.
Create three audiences: one for the people who've visited your site within the past week, one for the people who visited your site two weeks ago, and one for people who visited your site three weeks ago.
Then, launch a different campaign for each of the audiences. Tailor your message in each campaign accordingly.
Since half the people who visit your site convert within the first week, that's a good sign that your landing page is closing the deal.You should run an ad that highlights some of the points from that page to people who've visited your site within the past week.
People who visited your site a couple of weeks ago need a little more convincing. Show them an ad that offers social proof or explains why your product is better than what your competitors are offering.
Folks who are three weeks removed from touching your brand need the most incentive. Consider offering them a discount.
Keep in mind: those are just some of the options you can use with sequential remarketing. The possibilities for creating a great sales funnel with AdWords are limitless.
AdWords Remarketing Strategies – Segment Your Remarketing Audience
You probably already segment your market. Now, you need to segment your remarketing audience.
Why? Because all web traffic isn't the same.
For example, somebody who abandoned the shopping cart is in a completely different part of the sales funnel than somebody who visited your homepage and bounced away after 10 seconds.
If you treat both of those people the same, you're wasting resources. That's why you need to segment your audience.
Here are some segmentation options you can use:
- The number of times people visit your site
- The amount of time people spend on your site
- Demographic detail
- Goal completion
- Technology platform (mobile or desktop)
It's not as hard as you might think to segment your audiences. Once again, Google Analytics is your friend, assuming you've linked it to AdWords.
Just click Admin at the bottom of the left-hand sidebar. Then, click on Audience Definitions in the middle section of the page that appears next. Click on Audiences in the dropdown menu.
Click on the New Audience button towards the top. Then, click Create New.
From there, you can define your audience as you see fit. For example, you can set up an audience that consists of people who've visited your site twice and spent more than a minute on the site each time.
Once you've done that, give your audience a name at the bottom and click the Next Step button.
Finally, choose a destination for your audience.
Although you can segment your audiences into some very well-defined groups, be careful about getting too narrow in your criteria. Remember, AdWords won't run ads to an audience that doesn't have at least 100 members.
AdWords Remarketing: Use Content Remarketing
As we've seen, people arrive at the purchase point by going through stages in the sales cycle. Your remarketing efforts should recognize that.
You don't just have to use sequential remarketing to nurture sales leads, though. You can use content remarketing as well.
As the name implies, content remarketing involves running display ads to people who've shown an interest in the content on your site. It's content marketing taken to the next level.
You might have to use some of the tricks you've already learned to make content remarketing happen.
For example, you can identify people who've read blogs on your website. Alternatively, you can segment your audiences into people who you think will be interested in reading some of the articles that you've already written.
Keep in mind: you're not likely to land immediate sales with content remarketing. But that's not the point.
Instead of going for the quick close, content remarketing is designed to keep people interested in your brand. Then, when they have to make a purchase decision later on, they'll take a look at what you're offering.
AdWords Remarketing Strategies – Remarket to Existing Customers
Yes, you read that right.
Part of your remarketing effort should focus on existing customers.
Why? Because they're already sold on your brand. Many of them will happily take a look at "the next thing" you're offering.
Also, it's generally accepted that it costs a lot more money to acquire new customers than it does to sell to existing customers. So you'll spend your marketing dollars more efficiently when you target people who've already purchased one of your products or services.
Here are a few ways that you can remarket to existing customers:
- Advertise new products or services to them
- Offer them an "Existing Customer" discount for a limited time
- Cross-sell or upsell them
How do you find existing customers in remarketing campaigns? Use Google Analytics (again).
Just create a goal that includes a completed purchase. Then, create an audience from people who've fulfilled that goal.
AdWords Remarketing Strategies – Cap the Number of Times Audience Members See Your Ad
Sometimes, it just doesn't pay to keep showing people the same ad over and over again. You need to pull the plug.
Fortunately, you can do that with frequency capping.
If you're unfamiliar with frequency capping in the Google Display Network, it lets you dictate a maximum number of times that people will see your ad before you stop showing it to them.
You can also specify that maximum impression count per day, week, or month. Further, you can apply the cap per ad, ad group, or campaign.
Google counts an impression when 50% or more of the ad displays for one second or longer.
If you want to set up frequency capping, just pop into AdWords and click on the relevant campaign. Then, edit your campaign settings. Within the list of settings, you'll see Frequency capping.
AdWords Remarketing: Change Your Ad for Non-Converting Audience Members
There's a reason why you're not seeing the same beer commercials you saw just a few years ago. It's because people get burned out on the same ads over and over again.
You might think that the Budweiser frogs, "Wassup!", Real Men of Genius, and "True" commercials were all examples of effective advertising. And they were.
But they ran their course. Anheuser-Busch marketing execs knew that the company needed to move on from those commercials. Otherwise, people would get tired of them.
The folks who view your remarketing ads are no different. They're not going to appreciate seeing the same ads repeatedly.
More importantly, they'll subconsciously tune out those ads.
So switch it up. Put a new ad into the mix that will get you some conversions.
Keep in mind, though, when you create a new ad, don't just put different copy in the same graphic design. People won't notice the change in text.
Give your whole ad a complete makeover. That way, you'll capture the attention of people who've been ignoring your overtures.
If you're offering an incentive (like free shipping), consider offering a different incentive (like a price discount). You might even opt for a stacked incentive (free shipping plus a price discount).
Use RLSA For AdWords Remarketing Strategies
If you really want to get out in front of your competitors, consider using Remarketing Lists for Search Ads (RLSA). They work like display network ads, but show up in search results.
Here are a couple of things to keep in mind:
- It's okay to bid on generic keywords with RLSA. That's because you're targeting people who've already taken an interest in your brand.
- You can take your competitive advantage to the next level by bidding on competitor keywords. Use a tool like SEMRush to uncover those keywords.
There's a caveat, though. When you go with RLSA, you need to define an audience of 1,000 members or more. Otherwise, your ads won't display on the search network.
If your website doesn't get a lot of traffic, RLSA remarketing might not be an option.
It's easy to set up an RLSA campaign. Start by creating a "Search network only" campaign. Alternatively, you can select an existing campaign or ad group.
Click on the Audiences tab towards the top. Then, click +Targeting.
Select Add To and choose either Campaign or Ad Group.
Then, click on either Add campaign targeting or Add ad group targeting. Select Interests & remarketing.
In the Select categories dropdown menu, choose Remarketing lists. Pick the audience you want to include in your retargeting campaign. Note that you can choose more than one audience.
Once you're done with that, finish setting up the campaign as you would normally and launch it.
Advanced Google Adwords Remarketing Strategies FAQ
1. Can I Setup My Google Adwords Remarketing Efforts To Reach Out To Customers Within A Certain Time Frame?
If you feel that customers, or potential customers, are likely to make a purchase from your business within a certain time frame, you can set up your Google Adwords remarketing campaigns to reflect that.
For instance, if you know customers tend to return for additional purchases within 30 to 90 days of their initial purchase, you can create 2 remarketing lists for each time period.
Consider experimenting with increasing, or decreasing, the duration of your lists.
Increasing the duration of your lists, for example from 30 days to 60 days, could allow you to reach more customers.
Decreasing the duration of your lists will limit your reach but could target those who have recently purchased and are more likely to convert again.
2. Can I Use Google Adwords Remarketing To Upsell To Existing Customers?
Absolutely. If you have other products or services that you feel your existing customers might be interested in, you can use Google Adwords remarketing to reach that audience.
While you will be reaching a smaller segment of your website visitors by creating a remarketing list of converted customers, you know you will be reaching those who already know and use your brand.
3. Can I Use Google Adwords Remarketing With YouTube?
You sure can. In fact, remarketing on YouTube using Google Adwords has become a necessity given the impact video has had on viewers and marketers alike.
Simply link your YouTube channel to your Google Adwords. From there you can create remarketing lists from anyone who have performed actions such as viewed, visited or interacted with a video or channel.
Wrapping Up AdWords Remarketing
Now you know about a few advanced AdWords remarketing strategies. Pick some of the options highlighted above that you think would be a best fit for your advertising campaigns. Then, run them for a while and check your analytics to find out which strategies are working best for you.
And, as always: test everything.


text: I will start a collection of interviews with animators and compile them on the main blog. You can find them easily by selecting "animator interview" in drop down category button in the right hand column here. Most of them have been copied from stopmotionanimation.com. Most of them started with just 10 questions.


text:
Cowboys are the epitome of ruggedly tough, able to handle the aches and pains that come with their lifestyle.
That's especially true in bull riding, where men weighing 140 to 175 pounds try to test their athletic talents while atop a nearly 1-ton bucking beast. When they don't make the 8-second buzzer, their bodies are slammed around, and cowboy hats don't offer much protection.
That's why a growing number of cowboys are tossing the hats aside in favor of helmets, and a Platte City company is on the forefront of attacking potential head trauma that occurs. Cody McGee and Cris Welch co-founded 100X Helmets and have based their operations in Platte City for the past year.
A large company trailer often sits in their small, non-descript parking lot in a strip mall along Highway 92. Few in the community realize the unique business venture is right here in town.
"It's our job to produce helmets that reduce the risk of serious head injuries that can happen in bull riding," McGee said. "We have seen the effects that these injuries can play on athletes, and we want to do something about it. There are still a lot of bull riders that choose to wear the traditional cowboy hats while competing, but I think it's imperative that we get as many of these guys in helmets as possible.
"It doesn't have to be a 100X Helmet; I just want more guys wearing them and giving themselves a better chance at staying healthy in the long run."
With the Professional Bull Riders' Kansas City Invitational set for Friday and Saturday, Feb. 11-12 at Sprint Center, there will be more cowboys competing in helmets than hats. McGee said 20 of the 35 cowboys competing on the PBR's premier tour – the Built Ford Tough Series – are now wearing helmets, and 14 choose to use 100X Helmets.
At the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo two months ago, 12 of the 15 cowboys in the field wore 100X Helmets, including three-time reigning world champion Sage Kimzey of Strong City, Okla. The main reason is because of the technology McGee and Welch have developed with an understanding of impact distribution.
The company also utilizes lightweight materials that are formed in a certain way to withstand hard-hitting impacts. Because it's a lighter helmet, it allows for bull riders to maintain better balance while also giving them solid visibility through the facemask.
"It's just a great helmet," said Stetson Lawrence, 28, of Lewiston, N.D., one of the bull riders who will be in Kansas City next week. "It's the first helmet specifically made for bull riding and for the safety of bull riders. They've done a good job of taking in all the angle of hits and where to put the pads. The angle of the facemask is so you can see no matter where your head is.
"I've take a couple of hits with them, and I haven't been concussed with it on yet. I think it's been a great thing for me, and I feel a lot safer."
Head injuries are nothing new in sports, especially those featuring large impacts.
Over the last few years, head injuries have led to the discovery of chronic traumatic encephalopathy among many top athletes. One of the most prevalent was Junior Seau, a Hall of Fame NFL linebacker who committed suicide in 2012.
Other renowned NFL players who have killed themselves and have been found to have suffered with CTE were former Chicago Bears great Dave Duerson and former Kansas city Chiefs players Mike Webster and Jovan Belcher.
But the bull riding world took a hit last month when Canadian Ty Pozzobon killed himself at his family's home in British Columbia. That hit home to a number of cowboys that make their living in one of the most dangerous sports.
"Ty's death has been an eye-opener for everybody in the sport of bull riding," Lawrence said. "It's been going on in the NFL for so long, and this is the first case of it in bull riding. You see a lot of guys now second-guessing themselves and leaning toward wearing a helmet."
Pozzobon wore a helmet, but his was more like those worn in lacrosse and hockey.
Those helmets were not designed to take the impact of a bull's head as it rears back in its bucking motion or to understand the force that comes when a bull lands on top of a cowboy that had already been thrown from its back. Still there will be some cowboys that remain committed to the cowboy way of life and the comfort of a felt or straw hat over the protection that can be provided.
"It's really a guy's personal preference," Lawrence said. "In my personal experience, I've been knocked out and had my jaw broken. I had to sit out a long time because of the injury."
Unlike other professional sports, cowboys aren't afforded with guaranteed incomes. They only earn money when they finish better than most in the field. There is no pay if they can't play.
One business in Platte City sits at the forefront of this technology, helping change the sport of bull riding.
"I don't want to sit out because of an injury, and if it could have been prevented, then I feel pretty silly about it," Lawrence said. "The great thing about the 100X Helmet is that it's comfortable, and I feel confident and protected. I've landed on one bull's head and it bent the facemask, but I got out of it clean.
"The other times I've hit the ground hard. Sometimes when you hit the ground hard, you can feel a little rattled. I've never felt any affects with that helmet."


text:
What To Do During Long Flights?
We travel a lot...it's part of our running TVH and we just like seeing new places. That means we spend a lot of time on planes and in airports. For some, it's the worst part of travel but we actually find it kind of relaxing. Up until fairly recently, once your plane took off you couldn't get any calls or emails and it was pretty freeing feeling. Now days, there is in-flight wifi and a few airlines offer messaging apps (like What's Ap, and Facebook messenger) for free during the flight.
Even if the airline offers some entertainment, it's always a good idea to have a few standby options available on your phone or tablet. The most obvious choices are e-books, games and downloaded music or movies. Some less conventional options are language learning apps (Duolingo is a favorite of mine), Evernote for finally writing that blog post or long email message and Audible for audiobooks. Lastly, take some time to look out of the window and see the world go by - you could get a bird's eye view of the Grand Canyon or the beautiful Florida Keys!
Also, don't forget headphones, a good neck pillow and an eye mask to get some sleep on that long flight - it's the secret to minimizing jet lag! Thinking of a long flight as a time to relax and unwind puts you in a good mindset for vacation and can help you get ready to get back into the swing of things on your return flight. To get started on your next trip, start by filling out our trip survey!


text:
Atlants.lv ReporterPRO
Atlants.lv katru dienu publicē no 10 līdz pat 200 unikālus mācību materiālus. Kāds no tiem, Tev noteikti varētu interesēt. Nepalaid to garām!
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First step which we have done was a small exploratory research of competitors. We have checked on the internet and in the super markets what companies produce and sell chocolate in ...View
Presentations for secondary school8
Most popular racers: Mika Hakinen – 2 times Formula 1 champion Called:"Flying Finnish" Marcus Gronholm – 2 times WRC Champion with 30 victories on individual rallies. ...View


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DB Export Beer Bottle Sand
DB Breweries and PHD
With beer consumption in New Zealand at its lowest level since World War II, DB Breweries needed to create a compelling campaign to increase sales. Using the premise that the world is running out of sand, which is the second-most-exploited natural resource on Earth, DB Breweries encouraged beer drinkers to do their bit to save the planet.
It created DB Export Beer Bottle Sand – a sand substitute made from empty bottles crushed by machines. New Zealanders were asked to "empty a bottle of DB Export" so that these bottles could be turned into usable sand.
The campaign debuted as a film across local media platforms; the brand also partnered Mitre, New Zealand's biggest DIY retailer, to make concrete with beer-bottle sand, which was sold at 45 outlets. Product placement on renovation show The Block also showed how sand could be used in construction, while activity was further amplified across TV, digital video, billboards and social media.
Beer-bottle sand has been used across the construction industry, while the launch campaign reached 97% of males in New Zealand. A total of 13 million bottles were emptied, delivering 9.7% year-on-year growth, helping DB Export become the only mainstream beer to grow in both value and volume terms.
Media director: Amanda Palenski
Senior planner/strategist: Simon Bird
Creative agency: Colenso BBDO, New Zealand
MullenLowe Mediahub
Client company: Western Union
Carat UK
Client Company: Diageo
The Lenz
Making Sex Education
Client company: Bayer
Client company: The Canadian Safe School Network


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Many Americans struggle with an increasing amount of debt and a desire to be in a more stable financial situation. In contemplating how to overcome large amounts of debt, some consumers may pursue the route of debt settlement in order to decrease the amount of money they must pay back to their creditors. Although debt settlement can be an effective way to pay off your financial obligations, you must consider the benefits with any potential setbacks that may occur.
Debt settlement is when you negotiate with creditors to pay less than the full amount for a debt you owe. Negotiations occur and you make an offer to the creditor, for example, to make a lump sum payment of $2,000 instead of the $4,000 you owe. If the creditor accepts your offer, you then would make your payment and the account will be settled, meaning you will have no additional obligation to pay the creditor for the full amount.
The benefit of not having to pay your full obligation to the creditor seems very attractive on its face, but must be reconciled with the potential downsides of the settlement. Many people do not want to undertake the task of negotiating the debt themselves and will hire a debt settlement company to work on their behalf. The following are a few of the main things you should look out for and consider when deciding if debt settlement if the right path for you:
Making payments towards your debt during the settlement process
Some companies will advise you not to make payments during the process as it will make your financial situation seem more dismal, and possibly more likely the creditor will want to settle the account for less than the full amount. By not paying your bills, however, you may rack up more fees and interest during this period, and there is no guarantee the creditor will agree to a settlement.
Amount of Fees charged
Make sure to pay attention to and fully understand the fees associated with using a debt settlement company. Often times, the company will charge you a fee equal to the amount of money paid to settle the debt, which could be as high as 25% – 30%. Alternatively, companies may charge you a lower percentage equal to the total amount of debt owed. You should also ensure whether money paid to the company is going directly towards your debt or if it is being applied to the company's fees.
Tax consequences
Because the amount you ultimately settle for is less than your total obligation, the creditor will report a loss on the amount of money not paid. If this amount exceeds $600 then the creditor will report this to the IRS, who will in turn consider it income and require you to list it with your taxes. Depending on the amount of debt forgiven in the settlement, this may cause your refund to be significantly lower or cause you to owe more money in taxes to the IRS.
Impact on your credit score
If you choose to settle an account instead of paying the full amount owed, the account will show as "settled" on your credit reports and will reflect negatively on your credit history. The account will reflect this way regardless of whether you previously paid the account on time or not. If the account was never late and then settled, it can remain on your credit reports for up to 7 seven years from the date of the settlement. If the account was already late or delinquent before being settled then it can stay on your report for up to seven years from the date the account first went late or delinquent. Furthermore, failure to pay a debt in full will almost always be a sign of risk to potential lenders.
The decision to attempt to settle your debts either yourself or through a company should be carefully thought out and based upon your own personal circumstances, with both the advantages and disadvantages kept in mind. It is also important to consider other means to begin paying down your debts, such as debt consolidation or a debt management plan in connection with credit counseling. If you have questions about what method would be best for you then strongly consider speaking with someone who can assist you along the way or point you in the right direction.
Bad credit doesn't have to continue to hold you back. If you have negative items on your credit report that are impacting your credit score, contact Lexington Law. We have the tools and experience needed to help you achieve your credit goals.You can also carry on the conversation on our social media platforms. Like and follow us on Facebook and leave us a tweet on Twitter.


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Short Sale Services
Don't Walk Away, You Have Options!
Learn How A Short Sale Can Help You Sell Your Home to Avoid Foreclosure
Feeling like there is no other option but foreclosure can be an overwelming experience. Know that you are not alone! Thousand of homeowners in the States are facing the same challenges as you every single day. Now more than ever before, there are solutions.
You need help, quidance, and someone who understands the difficult choices you are facing about your home, your family, and your life. Quite often a homeowner facing a foreclosure thinks they have to go through the process alone, forced into a daunting situation caused by unforeseen circumstances beyound their control. Facing damage to your credit, and the possibility of not being able to purchase another home for up to 10 years can be a tough future to face, but by tapping into the expertise of a knowledgeable real estate professional, there are options available for you.
I can provide you with information about how to SELL YOUR HOME, avoid foreclosure, determine if you qualify for a short sale and explain the effects a foreclosure or short sale can have on you, your credit and your family.
Short Sale May be the Sollution for YOU. I will Help you SELL your Home Quickly and Guide you through the Short Sale proceon't Walk Away, You Have Options!
Don't Walk Away, You Have Options!


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The Portland Tribune's Jason Vondersmith talks to Portland Art Museum Curator Sara Krajewski about the Museum's latest exhibition, Andy Warhol: Prints from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation, opening Saturday, October 8th and on view through January 1st, 2017. More than 250 Andy Warhol prints will be shown at the Portland Art Museum, spanning 2 floors of the building and over 10,000 square feet of space.
The interview follows Vondersmith's previous interview with collector Jordan Schnitzer. Krajewski, like Schnitzer, has been fascinated by Warhol. "It's his long-term, through his whole career, investigating our visual culture, our visual landscape," she says. "That started in his beginnings as a commercial artist, when he would collect photographs and create ads based on images circulating in popular culture. We continue to be obsessed with images today."
Krajewski tells Vondersmith that because the Portland Art Museum was able to work with only one collector, it made putting together the exhibit rather easy, logistically. "He has a wonderful storage facility, he displays things at home, he allows museums and universities to borrow ...," she says.
Read the full article.


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Feb 25, 2018
Million dollar views - Japan's best ryokan
Do you ever have those amazing spots you visit, and find you're at odds with whether you should sing their praises from the rooftops (so that everyone wants to visit there) or keep the wonder of it to yourself so that it's still your hidden gem?
That's how I feel about Konansou. In the interest of talking about the best in Japan
though, I had to be transparent and tell you all about this incredible spot. My husband and I visited there last year, and we still talk about it all the time. We've stayed at a number of ryokans in Japan, and it's probably our favorite way to vacation now, in big part because of the experiences we had here. What is it that makes Konansou a standout though, from the other thousands of ryokan across the country? Read on!
The views
If you surveyed a bunch of people and asked them about Japan's most iconic view, they'd probably say Mt. Fuji. There's not much more breathtaking than being shown to your room, having them open the curtains, and Fuji-san is staring you smack bang in the face. We stayed in February and the skies were incredibly clear - I'd recommend if you are going (particularly if it's a one night stay) to go during the winter months to really maximize your chances of seeing the mountain in all its glory.
Meals can be served in the room
Most ryokan will have some kind of dining room, where you head to at a designated time to enjoy your kaiseki meal. It's not as if that presents any massive problem, but if you really want next-level relaxation, not having to leave your room makes your stay that extra bit special.
Incredibly accommodating when it comes to food preferences
One thing that tends to go hand in hand with kaiseki meals is lots of seafood. Not a problem if you love that kind of fare, but if not it can present a few challenges. I'm not a huge seafood fan, and usually when booking places my husband tends to go down the "my wife is allergic" route to ensure that the meals aren't heavy on the fishy stuff. Konansou were exceptionally accommodating, providing a kaiseki meal that was meat rather than seafood based, but still gave us a beautiful Japanese food experience. It was the first ryokan I've stayed at where I actually ate some of every course that was brought out (and that's a lot of food).
Private Onsen
If you're like me, the idea of visiting a public onsen is still a little too overwhelming for your expat sensibilities. Never fear, at Konansou a number of the rooms have private onsen facilities that either give you a view of Fuji or Kawaguchiko depending on the side of the building your room is on. Even if your room doesn't have a dedicated private onsen, you can reserve other onsen in the building so that you don't need to worry about being in your birthday suit in front of a bunch of strangers. There's even a public foot bath on the roof, which means you don't need to get your kit off at all if you want to just dip your feet (and there are those phenomenal views of Fuji and the lake from up there, too!)
If you are seeking an extra special ryokan stay, I'd highly recommend Konansou. There are other accommodation options in the area that will also give you views of Fuji, but to us Konansou truly was the whole package. We're looking forward to staying there again sometime in the near future - although, now that the secret is out it might be all the more difficult to snag a reservation! Map details for Konansou are below, and you can see more about the services and facilities they have available on their website here.
After spending the last several years in the beating heart of Tokyo, I will be spending the next three in the countryside of Japan. I adore this country and all it has to offer - and I'm always learning more and more about life here as I go along!


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Vintage Silicone Printed Flower Watch
Fashionable and unique retro printed flower design with a silicone band.
This is the PERFECT gift for yourself or friends!
LIMITED TIME ONLY. Not sold in stores.
Secure Checkout via: Mastercard - Visa & PayPal
FREE SHIPPING! Note: Due to very high demand, please allow 2-4 weeks for delivery.


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McLaren Speedtail
Technical Details
- Description
- Scale guide
This fine scale model of the superb McLaren Speedtail has been handcrafted and finished in our workshops with the co-operation and assistance of the manufacturer regarding original finishes, materials, archive imagery and drawings.
The use of original CAD supplied by McLaren has allowed us to perfectly recreate every detail at scale.
Furthermore, the prototype model has undergone detailed scrutiny by the manufacturer's engineering and design teams to ensure complete accuracy of representation.
Every Amalgam 1:8 scale model is supplied in a luxury black presentation box and mounted on a carbon fibre or leather base protected by a clear acrylic dust cover. The model title, original branding and edition number are displayed on polished stainless steel plaques mounted at the front end of the base.
In order for us to create your bespoke model, you will need to choose 4 extra options. Paint colour, interior colour, wheel style and caliper colour.
Please complete the form and a member of our Sales Team will contact you.
Bespoke Plus
In order for us to create a perfect replica, you will need to provide a full specification of your car. Please complete the form, and a member of our Sales Team will contact you to help with the details.
Factory options only. Does not include non-standard options.
Contact Us
Please contact us for more information about ordering this model.


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Please note that we have created an online payment system to collect outstanding membership dues. Those of you who have not yet paid will receive an individual notification shortly. Please note that Chapter funding is based on members in good standing as at April 30, 2018.
As you know we have filled the available 95 industry spots and have 10 industry members on the waiting list. There are 18 media spots still available. All media members who have still to register will still have the opportunity to participate in a pre-tour.
All media members who register for the conference by Friday, April 13, 2018 will be entered into a draw for one of three chances to have their conference registration fees waived for 2018.
For TMAC Award sponsorships, contact Elizabeth Kerr. For all other sponsorship opportunities, contact Jerry Grymek.
We will be introducing TMAC's new online Media Marketplace Appointment Scheduling module April 3, 2018. Detailed instructions will be provided.
Please complete your online profiles as soon as possible to ensure that media members can access your online information in order to better appreciate what potential story angles they can pursue with you and your clients.
We will be introducing TMAC's new online Awards Submission module on April 5, 2018. The Categories will remain the same this year. Three new judges will be joining the panel this year. Guidelines will be slightly revised and detailed instructions on how to submit an entry will be provided.


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Frequently Asked Questions
If your question isn't answered, click here to let us know so we can help!
Accounts and Billing
Why do I need to connect a bank account?
What if I can't find my bank in the list?
How do I add children to my account?
How do I add funds to my parent wallet?
Can my child send money to other people?
How do I load money on the card?
How is the Finnest card different from a regular debit card?
How do I see/edit my kids' pin?
What do I do if my kid's card is expiring?
How do I dispute a charge on my child's card?
Can I withdraw cash from an ATM?
Security and Privacy
How does Finnest secure my information?
How does Finnest handle the money on my child's account?
What happens if my card is lost or stolen?
Does Finnest block age-inappropriate purchases?
How can I change my password and other personal information?
Where can I find the Terms and Conditions and the Privacy Policy?
What is Finnest?
Finnest is a mobile app and secured debit card that will make managing money together with your kids and teens easier than ever and at the same time sets them up for financial adulthood. Funds loaded onto the Finnest card are FDIC insured by our banking partner.
We're more than an allowance platform.
Finnest lets your kids actively manage their money within a mobile banking app that is just like yours, but designed for their age. The Finnest app will regularly be updated to offer you and your kids more features. If you have questions around current features or recommendations please contact us through the chat or through email.
How does Finnest teach financial capability?
Through experience, not memorization.
Experiential learning is a key part of our educational model. With Finnest, kids learn about money by using money. They will see their savings grow, learn how to make smart choices with money and explore concepts like budgets, prioritization and the value of a dollar.
How can I find out more about Finnest?
If it's not on the website, email us
Please email us and we'll respond within 24 hours. We don't just want to help you learn more about Finnest but love your feedback of all kinds. If there is something you think ought to be on our website, please let us know.
What is the right age for my child to use Finnest?
Access to a smartphone and understanding basic math
The minimum age requirement for Finnest is 8 years old. On average, financial behavior is shaped beginning at 8 when kids learn to count change, get an allowance, make some of their own purchases and use a smartphone. Our oldest users are college age.
How long does it take to send my kids money?
Guess what? It's instant. As long as you have money in your parent wallet it takes around 2 seconds to send your kids money. You can simply accept their money request or initiate a new transfer at no extra cost.
Is Finnest associated with or owned by a bank?
The Finnest Debit Card is issued by First Century Bank N.A., member FDIC.
Can Finnest be used overseas?
While Finnest is currently available only to US residents the Finnest card can be used internationally wherever VISA is accepted. Be aware that fees may apply. You can find full information on our fees in the cardholder agreement.
Why does Finnest cost money?
Debit cards are unfortunately expensive. There are processing, identification, printing fees, and many others. Bigger banks often pass these costs onto customers in other ways. Our subscription fee is the only fee you pay for almost all we provide. For more information check out our cardholder agreement.
How do I set up an account?
Simply download the app on the app store, click "Sign Up", and follow the steps. You will need to provide your full name, address, date of birth, and Social Security number which Finnest uses to verify your identity. Finally, you will be asked to link a bank account. This allows you to fund your Finnest account so you can transfer allowance or other payments to your kid's debit card.
How do I link a bank account?
During the sign-up process, you will be given the option to link a bank account. If you choose not to do so at this time, you can link your account later in the app by selecting 'Settings', 'Manage Account', then 'Connected Accounts'. You will then be prompted to search for your bank or credit union, and provide account details.
Why do I need to connect a bank account?
Secure connection for better experience
Connecting a bank account allows you to securely fund your Finnest account any time. We will also use this account to charge the subscription for your account. As a user, you can choose between the instant account authentication or alternative option. However, since the alternative option uses micro deposits it will take several days longer until you can add kids or connect an account.
Note: your bank login credentials are never being stored other than with your own bank.
What if I can't find my bank in the list?
No worries. You can add one manually.
You can connect any bank account to Finnest as long as you are authorized and have full access to this account. Simply click 'Can't find your bank?' on the Connect Account screen and add the account with your routing and account number. Note that this process takes 3 days on our end and you will not be able to add kids or load your account in that time.
How do I add children to my account?
Start by selecting 'My Kids' in the main menu and tap on the orange plus sign. After inputting all information your card will soon be on the way.
How do I fund my parent Wallet?
Select 'Wallet' and click 'Add Funds' at the top of the screen. Follow the prompts to add funds to your parent account. Be aware that funds can take up to 5 business days to reach your account.
Can my child send money to other people?
Parents have told us they don't want their kids to be able to send money to friends. If you feel like this is a must-have, please let us know.
Can I log in on multiple devices?
You can log into Finnest from any iOS device.
How do I load money onto the card?
Load money in 4 simple steps
Step 1: Link your existing bank account to your newly created Finnest parent account.
Step 2: Load funds from your existing bank account to your Finnest parent account using your Finnest app.
Step 3: The Finnest transfer feature lets you move funds from your parent account to your kids' accounts instantly
Only you as a parent can fund your Finnest account and not your kids.
When will I receive my card?
Card shipments can take anywhere between 5 to 10 business days to be delivered. If you have not received your card within that time, please reach out to email@example.com and confirm the address on file.
How is the Finnest card different from a regular debit card?
Regular debit cards and their apps are a means to spending without any educational features built in, and they are not built specifically for minors. Finnest motivates kids to move funds from their debit card balance to their savings goals.
The Finnest card also has built in security features that often aren't present with a standard debit card. Lock and unlock the card, set daily spending limits, and approve or decline transfer requests all from the app. While Finnest puts kids in the driver's seat, it keeps parents in charge of the emergency brake.
How do I activate my card?
The card can be activated in the kids app, by selecting 'Settings', then 'Activate Card'. Still unsure? We have informational videos on our blog.
How can I see/edit my kid's card PIN?
Kids choose their personal pin when activating the debit card. The pin can be changed by your kids at any time in 'Settings.'
What do I do if my kid's card is expiring?
We will automatically send you a new card around the time your kid's card expires.
How do I dispute a charge on my child's card?
Please give us a call using the number on the back of your debit card. When you hear the prompt, select "2" to speak with a representative about your issue.
Why was my payment declined?
There could be a few reasons. If there are insufficient funds on the card or if you are over your daily spending limit, a purchase will be declined. If a card has been locked or if it is used at a merchant that is outside the permissions it will be declined. The Finnest card cannot be used for purchasing alcohol, tobacco, adult content, etc.
Can I withdraw cash from an ATM?
You can use the Finnest debit card at any ATM worldwide that supports VISA cards. Please be aware that fees occur. Find more details in the cardholder agreement.
Can I pay using Apple Pay?
At the moment we do not support Apple Pay. Is this something you would like to have? Let us know.
Why do I sometimes not receive a spending notification?
Transactions in restaurant, or coffee shops most of the time allow you to pay tip. These transactions are processed differently on the system, and because the final amount is not yet posted, we cannot send you an instant notification.
How does Finnest secure my information?
We work with the highest standards
All our products are subject to compliance reviews and certification by our issuing bank, First Century Bank N.A.. We use 256-bit encryptions and will never give away any personal information without your consent. In addition, Finnest does not store any sensitive personal information such as Social Security numbers or even your Finnest card numbers. For more information please visit our Privacy Policy.
Why do we need your SSN?
Finnest complies with the US PATRIOT ACT
All financial institutions in the US are required to comply with the federal government and obtain and verify information that identifies each person who opens a card account. We collect your name, legal address, date of birth, SSN, and other information that allows us to identify you. Finnest does not store your SSN.
How does Finnest handle the money on my kids' accounts?
FDIC Insured Accounts
All deposits are fully insured in the highly unlikely case our partner bank First Century Bank N.A fails. In addition, we use best practices to minimize any fraudulent attempts on your kids' cards.
What happens if my card is lost or stolen?
Lock and unlock the card instantly
Once locked, the card will not work. If you or your child finds the card, you can unlock it instantly through the app and it will work again. If you can't find it, you can order a new card directly through the app. The Finnest card is never directly linked to your connected bank account.
Does Finnest block age-inappropriate purchases?
The card in general does not function in stores or websites dedicated solely to selling alcohol, gambling, adult content, or tobacco products. If you have more questions around this please reach out to us.
How can I change my password or other personal information?
Go to 'Settings' and select the button with your name and photo. Here you can update all the information associated with your account. Select 'Password', and enter your current password, then create your new password.
Where can I find the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy?
You can find these documents on our website at the bottom of the page, or in your Finnest app by selecting 'Settings'.
Still, can't find your answer?


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NAIROBI, August 1 – Top international human rights lobby groups Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch together with a number of local rights groups are calling on the government to conduct independent investigations into the alleged unlawful transfer of terror suspects from Kenya.,
In a statement, the 11 organisations claim 140 people who are nationals of at least 17 different countries, including Kenya, were arrested by authorities here between December 2006 and February 2007 and taken across borders.
The organisations said the suspects were taken to countries including Somalia, Ethiopia and the United States illegally under international law.
The rights groups claim most of those arrested had fled fighting in Somalia and were detained for weeks without charge and some tortured and denied access to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
They have cited the case of Kenyan Mohamed Abdulmalik, who is currently being held at the US Guantánamo Bay detention centre in Cuba.
"Nothing was heard of Abdulmalik until 26 March 2007, when the US Department of Defence issued a press statement announcing Abdulmalik's detention at Guantánamo Bay," they said.
"At the time of Abdulmalik's detention, the practice of 'extraordinary rendition' – whereby foreign "terror suspects" are sent to third countries where they are at serious risk of torture — was widely known," their statement added.
The human rights groups want Kenya to name those who are being held in third countries, and call on those governments to either release them immediately or institute charges.
The organisations claim that all the arrested individuals were detained in several police stations in Kenya and were held for weeks without charge and tortured.
They further alleged that some of the detainees were also beaten by police and forced to undress before being photographed.
"The detainees were denied the right to challenge their detention, denied access to lawyers and not allowed any contact with their families. They were not allowed to claim asylum and were denied access to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, which is their right," their statement read.
According to their statistics, between January and February last year, at least 85 of these people were unlawfully transferred – without recourse to any legal process – to Somalia and then on to Ethiopia.
It is noted that more than 40 people were still detained incommunicado and in secret in Ethiopia at the end of last year but some since been released.
"Publicly, the Kenyan government has maintained that no Kenyan citizen was unlawfully transferred to Somalia, Ethiopia or any other third country. This is despite clear evidence to the contrary," the organisations averred.
They also insist that the government must ensure that the results of any investigations that lead to any perpetrators of human rights violations be held to account.
The lobby groups also want the government to publicly identify those still being held in third countries, along with their precise location, and call on the governments holding them to either release them immediately or charge them with a recognizable criminal offence.


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By George Sterling
The womb of steel, with thunder and a moan Released its burden, and the screaming shell Swung up in flame above the heavens' Hell. Remote, on sounding skies till then unknown, Where once the vulture circled, high and lone, Or Alpine eagles had their citadel, That iron offspring took the dark, then fell As falls, unheralded, the meteor-stone. In that domain of majesty and night There stood no haven for its evil flight: Its goal was horror, and the goal afar. Ere long, where huddling babes and women wept, And wounded men were couched, and no man slept, Deep in the midnight city sank that star.