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Adult Forensic Psychiatry Locums Job | Outpatient Coverage in California
*Adult Forensic outpatient coverage
*Community based
*100% female patients
*Five, 8 hour days, Monday through Friday
*Day begins at either 7am or 8am
*No call.
*Will have an hour to see patients for initial assessments and one half hour for follow up assessments.
*Spanish speaking is preferred but not a requirement.
*Client strongly prefers 3 month minimum assignments.
Experience why Jackson & Coker has been recognized by Forbes and Staffing Industry Analysts for our commitment to service excellence.
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Lindsey Parker | 678-###-#### | ...@jacksonandcoker.com
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Staying in touch with the times
It's one thing to tell you how proud we are of Farm Family's 50-year history. (How many companies have such impressive longevity these days?) But it's another to tell you that keeping our product portfolio competitive and contemporary isn't easy.
It takes accurate market research to stay ahead of the pack. And for you, it is worth our time and effort to provide you with products that deliver reliable solutions for modern needs and modern living.
We have an excellent reputation as a leader in the agri-business and business-owner marketplace. After all, your fine reputation is at stake, and so is ours.
You will become a product expert
During your initial training period, you will learn what you need to know to begin selling our Multiple Line products. As your selling activities increase, you will acquire more training and expertise in selling the products that suit your clients' needs and long-term goals. As your confidence and competence grows, so will your income potential!
Let's briefly review some of the products in the Farm Family portfolio…
Farm Family Life Insurance Company
Life and Disability Insurance
- Term Life Insurance
- Whole Life Insurance
- Universal Life Insurance
- Disability Income Insurance
Fixed Annuities
- Special Retirement Annuity (SRA)
- Single Premium Deferred Annuity (SPDA)
- Single Premium Immediate Annuity (SPIA)
Farm Family Casualty Insurance Company/United Farm Family Insurance Company
- Special Farm Package 10
- Business Owners Package
- Contractors
- Mercantile
- Commercial Property Package
- Business Auto Insurance
- Farm and Commercial Umbrella
- Personal Automobile Insurance
- Homeowners Insurance
- Personal Liability Umbrella
- Boat Owners – Safe Harbor
- Recreational Vehicle – Travel Star
- Specialty Autos – CHROME
Please note: Long-Term Care, Group Life and Health, and other Life and P&C specialty products are available through sales agreements with other insurance providers. Not all products available in all states.

subset: commoncrawl


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Over the past few months, my family slowly began cutting gluten out of their diets. Up until a week ago, my nine-year-old niece has called her and me the last remaining soldiers. After getting some news from my doctor that same morning, I too started a gluten free diet.
I am that kid who when she was little would ask for plain pasta with nothing on it, especially no "green stuff" that we all now know as parsley. My favorite food has forever been Italian. Pasta or pizza was always a good go-to for meals with friends or first dates. Needless to say, going gluten free will be a major life change.
Last Thursday, after a day that felt like it would never end, I, with the help of my roommate cleared out my kitchen cabinet and my shelf in the fridge of anything I couldn't eat. There was not much left once we finished. I had to plan a meal for the first time in a while for a friend and me. I ended up making meatballs, rice and asparagus and I'll be honest, it was pretty delicious.
Fortunately for me, I have two sisters and a mom who have become experts at cooking gluten free. I'm nervous to do this. My whole life has been eating pasta. I was that girl who ordered pasta at a restaurant that didn't serve it and they made it for me. Now, I'm starting to realize how hard it will be to eat out. Since kosher meat is not readily available at restaurants in Boston, I will be very limited.
This is going to be an adventure and while I'm looking forward to it, I am sad to give up so many foods I went to for comfort. I know that I am doing this for a good reason, because if I can solve this medical issue with a diet change, I am game.
After one week of going gluten free, I have definitely struggled at points, but my energy level is higher, my sleep is better, my stamina working out lasts longer and my medical issue has practically cleared up. Menu planning is not nearly as hard as I had anticipated and shopping for ingredients or snacks that are gluten free is relatively easy, especially at Whole Foods. Going gluten free still scares me, but I can see it's doable, which makes the adventure less hopeless and more of a, well, adventure!


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I found out yesterday that the PowerBuilder tools site maintained by Anatoly Moskovsky has been discontinued. (Or I should say the tools themselves have been discontinued.) You might want to check them out and download the free ones to keep somewhere in your bag of tricks. I have used PBLDump and PowerBatch and recommend them…
You are currently browsing all posts tagged with pbldump
Discontinued PowerBuilder Tools
Discontinued PowerBuilder Tools - the full story »


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How Help Desk Support in the GTA Proves to be Useful for Organizations
Availability of help desk support in the GTA means that you can re-brand such services as yours. Moreover, when your clients see that you have created your own dedicated support team, it helps to give your business a competitive edge over others. Additionally, it is imperative for some organizations to offer help desk support to its partners, customers as well as other parties, making it necessary to utilize such services. In such scenario, help desk services which can be customized and have various options to choose from proving to be quite helpful for organizations.
Help Desk Support Options
The good thing about help desk support in the GTA is that there are various options to choose from according to your needs. Let us look at few of the options you can choose from.
• System greetings which are automated and fully customized.
• Customized live greetings.
• Provision to include email signatures having your company's logo.
• Custom email reports for all the users.
• Ability to use a web portal that has the logo of your company.
• Customized screen sharing from a remote location.
• Client satisfaction surveys which can be customized according to your requirements.
How can help desk support in the GTA be helpful for your company?
Firms offering help desk support in the GTA can meet any of your requisites, whether you are looking for part or full-time help desk, a fully functional technical resource center, any kind of application support help desk or a general service desk for your clients and customers.
Additionally, you get to utilize the services of technical staff that have the needed certification as well as technical expertise to function as your helpdesk support team.
Notable Features of Help Desk Support
There are several useful features of outsourced help desk support, making them the preferred choice for organizations of any scale. In this section, we will look at some of the important features.
• Real-time monitoring as well as round-the-clock coverage.
• Live support and chat functionality.
• Helpdesk support teams also provide a project manager as well as a team leader so that help desk continues to operate without any glitches.
• These companies also offer multi-technology support so that any type of technical requirement can be fulfilled.
• Use of complain ticket tracking as well as reporting features so that all queries are handled in a timely fashion.
• Another noteworthy feature of these help desk systems is that they make use of online incident reporting system as well as status tools for you to utilize in any way and anytime you want to.
• In case, you already have an in-house team then operation controls can be shared between the outsourced firm and your in-house team.
• You can also create customer satisfaction surveys which are completely branded as yours.
• It is also possible to choose between remote or on-site help desk support in the GTA and that too in a language that your customers prefer.
To conclude it can be said that there are many benefits of utilizing help desk support and helps your organization provide professional services to its customers.


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Okay, I'll admit it – ever since we filmed this scene from our new release Tides of Lust, I have been quite seriously smitten with Lana. Viv is getting tired of me asking when he's shooting her again (I ask at least three times a day!). Not that he is reluctant to book her, as she's an absolute dream to have around – pretty, funny, and so sexy that all the other girls are clamoring to get their hands on her.
Viktoria Diamond (or VikkyD, as we call her) loves to play the sexual predator, so taking the role of the pussy-hungry vixen who seduces Lana behind her girlfriend's back came very naturally to her. It's great that Lana seems so shy and sweet as VikkyD put the moves on her – but when the two are alone on the sand, you see the look in Lana's eyes change from submissive cutie to pure tigress! I'm absolutely convinced that these two had forgotten the camera was even there as they devoured each other. Lana is a sexual tease but knows how to please too… and how to take pleasure. As VikkyD rubbed Lana's clit while fingering her hard, these two were totally in the moment, no acting required, and both assured me later that those powerful orgasms were one hundred percent real.
Check out the rest of the pics of these two hotties – and if that doesn't tempt you to watch the full scene, you must be made of stone! The whole movie is also available on DVD, download and HD download from our store. It's what I call a 'proper' film – interesting plot, beautiful locations, and of course five gorgeous girls having very hot sex!
The post Lana and Viktoria Diamond have sandy lesbian sex in Tides of Lust! appeared first on The Viv Thomas Raunch Report.


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Before hitting play last month to begin a one-on-one listening session of an early mix of his exceptional new album, "Wildheart," the multi-hyphenate musician Miguel offered a sort of preamble.
The Grammy-winning guitarist, producer, singer and lyricist, born and raised in San Pedro and Inglewood, described his goal of making an album that evoked not only a sound but an atmospheric vibe, a certain quality of light, an essential Southern California energy.
"I wanted it to be rooted in Los Angeles because it's where I'm from," said the artist, 29, standing at his laptop in a posh listening room within his management team's Culver City offices. "I wanted it to feel like twilight, because it's my favorite time of day. And it's almost the perfect symbolism for what Los Angeles is."
A confident artistic breakthrough released during a particularly fruitful period for Los Angeles music, "Wildheart" mixes contemporary soul, electrified R&B, rock and commercial pop, ignoring genre restrictions on the way to creating its own brand of cohesion. He wanted the album, which will be released June 30, "to feel the way that I know my city," a place he describes as "a weird mix of hope and desperation."
For instance, Venice Beach, where he's spent a lot of time. "It's beautiful — people-watching, you see all these characters, the sun. But at 8:45 or 9 o'clock, the derelicts start coming out, and it becomes a completely different place."
Thick with more guitar than his previous two records combined, the 13 songs roam the region, driven by a mix of electrified funk and lustful smooth rhythms. Woven through are lyrical themes that document a city alive with pitfalls and possibilities. During "Hollywood Dreams," he imagines fading stardom while bowing before its most potent symbol: "Sweet Hollywood sign, you're my salvation."
The artist born Miguel Jontel Pimentel surfs through barrels literal and figurative on the cowbell-driven "Waves," seduces with bawdy choruses about having sex "like we're filming in the Valley." For "N.W.A" Miguel harnesses the Compton hip-hop group's moniker to describe a lover with a certain taste in men, then turns the track over to expert rapper Kurupt for a more detailed description.
Permeating it all is a musician who's been pursuing a life in music since he was a middle-school kid introducing himself to new classmates by singing them a song. The gesture revealed his confidence, but some members of the audience were less impressed. It touched off a few years of bullying at the hands of a posse of popular kids.
Cueing up "What's Normal Anyway," he quotes one of the city's grittiest bards. "Everybody knows the [Charles] Bukowski quote, 'Find what you love and let it kill you.' I'm just a firm believer that that's what life is really all about." He ups the volume while his recorded voice opens on an adolescence spent straddling cultures: "Too proper for the black kids, too black for the Mexicans, too square to be a hood.... What's normal anyway?"
Early calling
Determination prevailed, as did the messages he was absorbing from West Coast hip-hop and essential East Coast jams by EPMD and Gang Starr. His black mother, whom he describes as "very religious," didn't allow rap music in the house, but his father was more flexible. As such, the son and his brother absorbed the teachings of Funkadelic, Queen, the Rolling Stones, Tom Tom Club and Bob Marley.
"He loved it all," said Miguel of his father, who is Mexican. "All the other stuff — the soul stuff, jazz, that's Mom. Which I love. It's at the core. It's the roots."
That the son would be somehow involved in music was never in doubt, said Miguel. "There's never been any other thing. I've done other jobs, but I always knew I was going to be doing this." That determination, coupled with obvious talent, earned him auditions "in every ... office you could think of," he recalled. "Name them, they'd seen me and heard me."
The allure was obvious. A brown-eyed handsome charmer with almond-shaped eyes that glow and a pouf of black hair that he wears in a curly pompadour, Miguel exudes charisma.
But at first it didn't click. "They were trying to make me more black," he said, reciting a typical rejection spiel: "'Even if we think you're talented, we don't know what to do with you.' That's what it was. It wasn't hard to see." What he calls his "pivotal moment" occurred when he was 19. "I finally stopped trying to conform." He skipped college and immersed himself in songwriting, practicing, producing, working in studios, learning the etiquette and language of the craft.
The more he absorbed, the more he became convinced: "It wasn't out there, what I wanted to hear. That made me believe that I didn't have to settle for being a writer."
Good thing. "Wildheart" is his best, a few levels up from the artist's trend-chasing debut and his follow-up commercial breakthrough "Kaleidoscope Dream." The first, released in 2010 after a two-year delay by Jive Records, generated buzz with "Sure Thing" and "All I Want Is You," the latter of which featured an early appearance by rapper J. Cole.
"Kaleidoscope" was issued by his current label, RCA, in 2012 and transformed his career. Its breakout hit, "Adorn," a swoon-worthy crush-note that set hearts aflutter, hit the top of Billboard's R&B/Hip Hop singles chart that fall and earned him a Grammy Award for best R&B song. The clever come-on "How Many Drinks" featured a breakout verse by fellow Angeleno and friend Kendrick Lamar. The album peaked at No. 3 and confirmed Miguel's commercial potential, but the deeper cuts suggested an artist interested in bypassing the Top 40 dead end.
The time since was spent touring and promoting, a graceful ascent marked by a not-so-graceful improvised stage leap during the 2013 Billboard Music Awards. The accident, for which Miguel has apologized, injured two attendees, one of whom recently filed suit against the artist and the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, where the ceremony was held.
Miguel produced Mariah Carey's should-have-been smash "Beautiful" and helped deliver hooks (with Rod Stewart) on ASAP Rocky's "Everyday" and as part of the "Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1" soundtrack (with the Chemical Bros.). He bought a house in Playa del Rey, up the road from Pedro. While settling in and getting into the creative zone, he processed his rise and contemplated the identity of both his city and himself.
His aim was to better reflect and publicly embrace his multi-hyphenate identity, one that baffled decision-makers earlier in his career. "Everybody was like, 'How do we market him? What is he? Is he Asian and black? But his name is Miguel.' My curly hair would throw people off too. 'We don't get it. He's black? Asian? Mexican? Look at his hair. What?'"
L.A. identity
A few weeks later after a late-morning photo shoot at the Sunken City, beach-side concrete ruins in San Pedro that have become a teen hangout, Miguel and his entourage loaded into a black Escalade and head to Busy Bee Market, a locally well-known sandwich shop and grocery not far from Terminal Island. While waiting for a sub, the artist sat on a bench espousing Pedro as people around him casually rubber-necked in recognition. "It's maintained a bit of a small-town vibe, which is awesome," he said.
He spoke with obvious love for his hometown, a largely working-class transportation hub with a character far removed from the wealthy enclaves nearby. If the Busy Bee visit suggested a newly crowned, newly rich champion revisiting his quaint, rough-and-tumble youth, it was tempered by Miguel's interactions with a few old friends he ran into while eating on the curb outside. "Say hi to your sister," he said to one friend.
"All the longshoremen were up the hill," he said of his neighborhood, which was "closer to where the cruise ships pulled up, right by the bridge." He recalled a thrift store in Old Town called Cheap that provided the style-conscious young would-be artist with inexpensive fashion. "We didn't have any money, so I'd go in there and geek out on weird...." The result was a mix-and-match individualism borne of equal parts necessity and creativity. The store's gone, but Old Town hasn't changed much, he said.
"I had to pick and choose who I identified with, which contributes to me being the artist that I am. I don't feel like I need to conform. I've been different." The tension, though, fueled a realization. "I am Los Angeles," he said. "I'm Mexican and black. As far as I'm concerned, I'm one of the best representations of L.A." Though Korean, Armenian and Chinese Americans and others might take exception, that idea helped define "Wildheart."
The artist, who will headline Club Nokia on June 26, recently announced his Wildheart Tour, which will carry him across North America through the summer. It will conclude in grand fashion on the lawn Hollywood Forever Cemetery on Sept. 4.
At his management offices as the final songs played, the artist came upon a kind of conclusion. "Wild hearts are the ones that transcend," he explained. "They transcend programming, the subconscious ceilings that are placed upon us whether we know it or not. It's the ones that say ... I'm going to do it. I believe I can."
"Wildheart" suggests he already has.
Twitter: @LilEdit


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If and when you manage to make a profit in your business, part of good business finance 101 means now you have to follow it up with a professional approach to managing the cashflow in the small business. This requires a good understanding and keeping a close eye on what drives the cash flow – both in AND out!
The key components of good cash flow management are:
The very best way to handle managing the cash flow in small business is to have a 'Cash Flow Projection'. This is a spread-sheet that plots out what your expected income will be (taking into consideration the time customers are likely to take to pay) and what the expected outgoings will be. As well as income it includes any other funds coming into the business, such as loans, tax refunds etc. Outgoings will include items such as loan repayments, tax, dividends etc. These are just as important to take into account as their timing can have a big impact on cash flow.
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'American Idol' recap: Viva Las Vegas and our top ... 42?
Vegas. In some ways, it's "American Idol's" cruelest round. Having been put through auditions, flights to California, the exigencies of Hollywood's group and solo rounds, and a bus ride to Sin City –- all the while watching lesser candidates sent home –- at this point, those that have remained can probably be forgiven for eyeing the finish line and tasting victory.
Although those "I'm going to be the next American Idol" declarations seem far-fetched during those cattle-call auditions, by the time auditions roll into Glitter Gulch, they seem, if not entirely, at least somewhat plausible. Someone's got to win this thing, and whoever does will have been among the 70 eager young people the judges deemed worthy of stepping onto the "Viva Elvis" stage to sing songs from the '50s and '60s.
Alas, whoever wins will not be among the 28 whose hopes we watched slip away Thursday night, when the Vegas Strip (and three reluctant celebrity judges) stripped them of their shot at the "Idol" crown. Yes, on "American Idol," the city of Lost Wages is truly the city of Lost Dreams.
Geez, have I been watching this show too long? I'm starting to write the way Ryan Seacrest talks!
Bottom line, we saw a variety of old songs performed in a variety of old and new ways and with admirable restraint, overall, when it came to bobby socks and poodle skirts and greaser jackets. Most of the contestants did pretty well, but hey, someone had to get cut. And so Randy Jackson, Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler trimmed away one hopeful here and one there, only to realize -– Holy Graceland! -– at the end of day one, it looked like they hadn't cut nearly deeply enough to get to their magic number: 40.
Which is exactly what happened. And the contestants that were sent home after having initially been put through? Well, they weren't very happy about it. Nor was last year's near-miss Colton Dixon, whose sister, lush redhead Schyler Dixon, had been deemed safe after dressing like an Andrews Sister and singing Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers' "Why Do Fools Fall in Love," only to get chopped the next day. "It's not right. You know it's not right," said Colton, who had accompanied his sister to auditions this year with no plans to participate himself but wound up taking a coveted spot in what turned out to be the final 42.
Well, all 70 couldn't have made it through, and so (back to Seacrest mode) we said goodbye to promising early talents such as apparently erstwhile J.Lo crush Johnny Keyser (he seemed surprised, but I think he may have sealed his fate by continuing to sing in the midst of a groupmate's medical emergency back in Hollywood); Gabi Carrubba ("I'm embarrassed," she said tearfully after getting the bad news, and she'll be really embarrassed when she realizes that the producers cut the Vegas rehearsal tape to make her look like a diva); Angie Zeiderman (whose microscopic yet apparently shakable "tail feathers" Tyler found praiseworthy, but not praiseworthy enough to keep around); Brittnee Kellogg (who bitterly griped that every performance she'd given had been "perfect. I don't get it"); and a host of others.
Left standing and celebrating, for now, were many enduring favorites: Jen Hirsch, Reed Grimm, Creighton Fraker, Heejun Han (who miraculously tamed "Queen of Mean" vocal coach Peggi Blu, turning her into a purring kitty cat), Adam Brock, Aaron Marcellus, David Leathers Jr., Lauren Gray, Hallie Day, Baylie Brown, Elise Testone ... oh and a lot of others.
Mystifyingly, at the end of the day, the irritating cowboy Richie Lawson was still standing. The only plausible explanation is that Lopez and company see in him the second coming of last year's winner, Scotty McCreery. And though I wasn't a big McCreery fan, I will say that Lawson doesn't strike me as being either as talented or as charming as McCreery. I hope the judges baby-lock-them-doors on him soon.
"American Idol" recap: Groups, solos and a lot of swooning
"American Idol" recap: Symone Black recovers; the flu strikes!
"American Idol" recap: Symone Black's fall and 4 other surprises
-- Amy Reiter
Photo: During Thursday's episode, "American Idol" contestants learn their fate in front of the judges on Cirque du Soleil's "Viva Elvis" stage in Las Vegas. Credit: Michael Becker / Fox


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Spanish Fort built a 17-0 lead before Daphne responded to avoid a first-half shut on The Hill in the two neighboring rivals' 2018 meeting – the first league match up for both. The Trojans won the second half 6-3 but it was not enough as the Toros'defense ....
SPANISH FORT, Ala. — Spanish Fort built a 17-0 lead before Daphne responded to avoid a first-half shut on The Hill in the two neighboring rivals' 2018 meeting – the first league match up for both. The Trojans won the second half 6-3 but it was not enough as the Toros' defense came up with big stops to the claim the Region 1, Class 6A win.
SFHS surged ahead on (75-yard and 37-yard) touchdown runs by Zavier Love and a 24-yard field goal by Matt Quinn who added a 46-yarder in the fourth quarter with air to spare.
DHS scored with 16 seconds left in the first half when quarterback Trent Battle tossed a 10-yard touchdown pass to Christian Williams.
After the break Battle found C.J. Young who scored with another 10-yard reception for DHS to make the difference 17-13 with 5:19 to go in the third quarter.
Daphne's offense threatened again down the stretch but senior SF defensive back Desmond (DJ) James came up with two interceptions to halt the Trojans attack. The win was the fourth-straight in the series for the Toros who extended their lead in the varsity football rivalry to 6-1.
SFHS was coming off a loss to McGill-Toolen Catholic and perhaps motivated even more to get a win, said Spanish Fort head coach Ben Blackmon.
"We turned up the pressure on the kids at practice this week and they responded," he said. "Anytime you play a big rivalry game like this, you know it can come down to a play or two. We made mistakes, but we responded each time and were able to win the football game. So, I'm proud of how we played and especially how we responded when things didn't go right. But we've still got a lot to fix."
Daphne head coach Kenny King said too many self-inflicted errors limited the Trojans number on the scoreboard.
"We made too many mistakes. We didn't take advantage of some opportunities we had by fully executing. We have to execute when we have the chance. We just didn't make plays when it counted. One thing about playing a good team early is you get to see where you need to get better. So, we have mistakes to correct and more to work on and get ready for next week."
Up next, Daphne (1-1, 0-1) will host Region 1 foe Saraland at Jubilee Field. Spanish Fort (1-1, 1-0) hosts Moss Point (Miss.) in another non-region contest.
See Related Link for video highlights courtesy of Gulf South Net.com


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Community Assistance & Resources for Seniors, Catholic Charities
Senior Citizen Services
Website: {{http://www.cceva.org}}
Give a SENIOR a Sunshine Day. Volunteers needed to provide assistance with yard work, friendly visits, minor home repairs, shopping and errands and telephone reassurance for seniors. The goal of C.A.R.E.S. is to assist older adults in maintaining their independence, dignity and quality of life, and to provide support for their family members without regard to race, creed, sex, nationality or religion.
Contact Information
Clara Grayb
Volunteer Coordinator
12829 Jefferson Ave. Suite 101
Newport News, VA


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Did you know that your desk says a lot about what kind of person you are? So if you're a pretty messy person, your current workspace may not be the best reflection of your job performance. Scary, huh?
Do not stress, I have good news for you. Remember how last week I gave you food hacks? Well, this week I thought it would be nice to give you some just-as-useful organizational hacks. This time around, they—you guessed it—involve your desk.
You know the drill: These hacks will cost you almost no time or money. In fact, most of these tips will require nothing but what's already on your desk—sticky notes, binder clips, rubber bands, a cereal box, and possibly an old cassette container. (I don't know—maybe ask your parents for that last one?)
Start to declutter your life with these seven hacks, courtesy of BuzzFeed.
Photo of desk courtesy of Shutterstock.
TopicsIn The Office , Videos , Organization , Life Hacks , Productivity
As Editor for The Muse, Alyse is proud to prove that yes, English majors can change the world. Her work has been featured in Fast Company, Forbes, Inc., Motto, CNBC's Make It, USA Today College, Lifehacker, Mashable, and more. She calls many places home, including Illinois where she grew up and the small town of Hamilton where she attended Colgate University, but she was born to be a New Yorker. In addition to being an avid writer, Alyse loves to dance, both professionally and while waiting for the subway.More from this Author


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National Institute for Transportation and Communities
Improving mobility of people and goods to build strong communities — through research, education and technology transfer.
The National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC) is one of five U.S. Department of Transportation national university transportation centers.
Housed at Portland State University, NITC is a program of the Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC). This Portland State-led research partnership includes the University of Oregon, Oregon Institute of Technology, University of Utah and new partners University of Arizona and University of Texas at Arlington.
Urban populations are increasing, yet so is income inequality. As the second-largest household expense, transportation is a significant contributing factor. Demographic shifts, along with efforts to address climate change and other policy challenges, are contributing to the demand for multimodal solutions. Rapid advances in technology and shared mobility have the potential to address these challenges, yet they also pose new ones in implementation and equity. With constrained resources, we need better data and tools to optimize mobility for all.
To address these challenges, our consortium of six leading universities focuses on research to:
Our research is designed with end-users in mind: elected and appointed decision-makers, transportation professionals, and an engaged public. We disseminate our research through education programs and toolkits in order to produce a diverse, interdisciplinary workforce at all levels and ages.
Our shared goal is a safe and efficient multimodal system that promotes economic opportunities, improves health, and reduces inequality - through innovative technology and effective, data-driven decision making.
The Origin of NITC
Portland State University, the University of Oregon, and the Oregon Institute of Technology jointly formed OTREC in 2005 - one of the first national university transportation centers to be designated and funded by the U.S. DOT. The partnership outgrew Oregon's borders to welcome the University of Utah in 2012, adopting the NITC name, and again in 2013 with the addition of the University of South Florida. The NITC program continued its national expansion through the University of Arizona and the University of Texas at Arlington and in late 2016 successfully competed for five years of funding as one of five national centers in the U.S.
Our Team at Portland State University
Jennifer Dill, Ph.D.
Professor, Nohad A. Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning
503-725-5173 | email@example.com
Twitter | TREC Researcher Profile
Director of TREC and the National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC), Jennifer is also a professor of urban studies and planning. She is an internationally cited researcher on sustainable transportation. Among her research projects are Lessons from the Green Lanes: Evaluating Protected Bike Lanes in the U.S., Understanding Types of Cyclists Nationally, Pedestrian Observation and Data Collection Curriculum and more. See her researcher profile here.
Hau Hagedorn
Associate Director
503-725-2833 | firstname.lastname@example.com
Twitter | TREC Researcher Profile
Hau is the Associate Director of TREC at Portland State University and is responsible for the day-to-day management, operations and provides overall direction for the TREC's peer-reviewed research and technology transfer programs, and shaping workforce development efforts. She actively participates in national efforts on conducting and implementing research. She also oversees programming and delivery of professional development workshops through the Initiative for Bicycle and Pedestrian Innovation (IBPI). She is co-Chair of the TRB Conduct of Research Committee, and member of the Oregon Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (OBPAC) and Region 1 Area Commission on Transportation (R1ACT). Hau has over 20 years of public and private sector experience in transportation. In her spare time, she runs to escape juggling the busy lives of three active kids.
Anna is a Transaction Specialist who supports the Departmental Research Administrator by coordinating new hires, travel, contracts, and student support for grant funded activities at TREC. She is a Portland State graduate, with a bachelor's in Business Administration, focusing in HR Management. She recently moved back to Portland after teaching abroad in South Korea and China.
Michael is the Events and Office Coordinator for TREC, overseeing logistics for events and balancing the books. He graduated from Boston University with a B.A. in Environmental Analysis and Policy and spent several years as an Environmental Educator in both Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Portland, Oregon. Michael speaks three languages, has a passion for public transit and loves biking to work every day.
Lacey Friedly
Communications Coordinator
503-725-8545 | email@example.com
Lacey is the communications coordinator for TREC. She connects with researchers, writes articles and takes photos to help spread the word about the transportation research being done at TREC and through the NITC program. Before TREC, Lacey was the acquisitions editor for Dark Discoveries magazine. She also managed the editing department at Ooligan Press, Portland State University's student-run publishing house. She graduated from PSU in 2013 with a master's in book publishing. In her spare time Lacey enjoys swimming, reading, and making stop-motion animation videos. she/her/hers
Cheyanne Kalainoff
Financial Research Administrator
503-725-2829 | email@example.com
Cheyanne focuses on the financial administration of grants for the TREC department, including their NITC grant. She has extensive experience in budget development, financial monitoring, and award management. She serves as the liaison between TREC, our partner's administrative offices, and PSU's Sponsored Projects Administration (SPA). She has been at PSU since 2015. Prior to coming to PSU, she was a Financial Analyst/Program Administrator and Contract/Internal Auditor at Sandia National Laboratories. She has a Masters in Accounting from the University of New Mexico and a Bachelors of English from the University of Iowa. She and her husband have two children and two Siberian Huskies.
Tammy Lee
Transportation Data Program Administrator
503-725-2884 | firstname.lastname@example.com
Tammy is working on a variety of projects for TREC, including documentation, data synthesis, analysis, and visualization supporting ongoing work with PORTAL and Bike-Ped Portal. Tammy received a BS in Genetics & Plant Biology from UC Berkeley before earning a PhD in Environmental and Natural Resource Sciences from WSU. Prior to joining TREC she worked as a data scientist for a political digital media consulting firm. When not working she's either hiding in the forest or experimenting in the kitchen.
John MacArthur
Sustainable Transportation Program Manager
503-725-2866 | firstname.lastname@example.com
Twitter | TREC Researcher Profile
Mr. MacArthur currently manages a complex Federal Transit Administration (FTA) grant to Develop and Test an Emergency Transportation Recovery Plan for the Portland, Oregon Region. This project requires close coordination and collaboration with a variety of public agency partners including city of Portland emergency management and transportation bureaus in addition to transit and other agencies critical to the region's emergency transportation recovery efforts. In addition, this project is creating national training program that will be tested in six cities in early 2018. MacArthur is the Principal Investigator for TREC's electric bicycle research initiatives. His research also includes low-/no-emission vehicle infrastructure in Portland metro, as well as a climate change impact assessment for surface transportation in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. Before joining the TREC staff, John was the Context Sensitive and Sustainable Solutions Program Manager for the Oregon Department of Transportation's OTIA III State Bridge Delivery Program.
Communications Director
Cait joined the TREC team in fall 2017 with an extensive background in event planning and strategic communications for green building policy and design. An avid biker and long-time volunteer with pedestrian advocacy group Oregon Walks, she is excited to tackle the dissemination of the center's progressive portfolio of transportation research on mobility. Storytelling is a critical piece to moving research from the theoretical realm to practical application, and Portland is the perfect landscape for this. Off-hours she spends her time with Tomato the Dog, tending to her 82 house plants, or advocating for more equitable infrastructure in Portland.
Technology Transfer and Workforce Development Program Manager
Lisa enjoys working with researchers, students, faculty and practitioners to create a transportation community and network that connects our research with practice and fosters the development of current and future transportation professionals. She graduated from PSU with a masters in Civil Engineering and worked in the transportation and construction management industry for 7 years before returning to PSU to work at TREC. Her passion for professional development and student success also shows through her board involvement on WTS and ITE, transportation professional organizations and Minds Matter Portland, an after school program for accomplished high school students from low income families. In the evenings and weekends, you'll find her chasing after her three kids (two dogs and a toddler), playing volleyball, running, taking random art classes or trying new local restaurants.
Brendan is responsible for TREC's day-to-day research project management and metrics tracking from inception to close-out. Also, he administers the competitive, peer-reviewed, project selection process including the annual Request for Proposal, Pooled Fund, small starts, and dissertation fellowships. Prior to this, he provided financial management and project coordination for Oregon State University's Precollege Programs. Brendan enjoys playing soccer, going on long bike rides, traveling to other countries, or, most often, making pizza.
Web Developer
Hui moved to the Portland area in 2014, attracted by the green scenery and friendly environment. He has been working in the software engineering field for many years, and believes learning is a lifelong experience. He loves to learn new things and enjoys the process.
University Research Partners
The NITC program is a Portland State-led partnership with the University of Oregon, Oregon Institute of Technology, University of Utah and new partners University of Arizona and University of Texas at Arlington. Our university partners conduct research projects around our theme, and match money to each project.
Project Cosponsors
Dozens of partners, including universities, utilities, governments, businessess, and nonprofit organizations have supported NITC projects with cash matches or in-kind assistance.
The NITC program is a member of the Council of University Transportation Centers. CUTC provides a forum for universities and centers to interact with government and industry.
Executive Committee
Arlie Adkins, PhD
Assistant Professor
School of Landscape Architecture and Planning
Email | Website | NITC Researcher Profile
Keith Bartholomew, JD
Associate Dean of Academic Affairs
College of Architecture + Planning
Email | Website | NITC Researcher Profile
Roger Lindgren, PE, P.Eng, PhD
Professor & Graduate Program Director
Civil Engineering Department
Oregon Institute of Technology
Email | Website | NITC Researcher Profile
Stephen P. Mattingly, PhD
Associate Professor
Department of Civil Engineering
University of Texas at Arlington
Email | Website | NITC Researcher Profile
Marc Schlossberg, PhD
Co-Director, Sustainable Cities Initiative (SCI)
Professor, Planning, Public Policy & Management (PPPM)
Email | Website | NITC Researcher Profile
Avinash Unnikrishnan, PhD
Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Maseeh College of Engineering & Computer Science
NITC Advisory Board
The NITC advisory board comprises transportation professionals from various regions and organizations throughout the United States whose role is to lend guidance in NITC's research, education and technology transfer programs.
Diana Alarcon, Director of Transportation, City of Tucson
Michael Baltes, Federal Transit Administration
Michael Bufalino, Research Section Manager, Oregon Department of Transportation
Wendy Cawley, Safety Engineer, City of Portland Bureau of Transportation
Jen Duthie, Division Manager, Arterial Management, City of Austin
Kate Fillin-Yeh, Director of Strategy, National Association of City Transportation Officials
Toshi Forrest, Program Manager, Moovel
Susan Handy, Director, National Center for Sustainable Transportation
Cameron Kergaye, Director, Planning, Utah Department of Transportation
Bill Keyrouze, Technical Programs Director, Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations
Ted Knowlton, Sustainability Director, Wasatch Front MPO
Brian Lagerberg, Director, Public Transportation Division, Washington State Department of Transportation
Alan Lehto, Director of Planning & Policy, TriMet
Ivan Marrero, Division Administrator, FHWA-Utah Division
Gabe Rousseau, Safety Operations Team Leader, Federal Highway Administration
Brian Saelens, Principal Investigator, Seattle Children's Hospital
Tom Schwetz, Planning & Development Director, Lane Transit District
David Straus, Executive Director, Association for Commuter Transportation
Leah Treat, Managing Director, Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates
Yinhai Wang, Director, PacTrans
Wayne Kittelson, Senior Principal Engineer, Kittelson & Associates, Inc.
Written for our U.S. DOT grant reporting, our semi-annual Program Progress Performance Reports (PPPR) share the activities and impacts of the National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC) research consortium. We also maintain the annual reports from our predecessor grant OTREC.


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Next time you are relaxing with a nice cup of tea, remember that this beverage once sparked a revolution. In 1773, a group protesting against unfair taxes, dressed as Mohawk Indians and tipped the cargo of tea carried by ships of the British East India Company into Boston Harbor. The Boston Tea Party rallied support for the revolutionaries in the 13 Colonies and, some say, started the American War of Independence. Now, tea is a crop leading another revolution, one in sustainable agriculture.
The major environmental issues in growing tea include (Clay, 2004):
- Loss of habitats and effects on biodiversity
- Soil erosion on the often hilly terrain
- Water pollution and reduction in soil health by agrochemicals
- Deforestation as a result of the need for wood for drying tea leaves
Using the non-selective herbicide paraquat for weed control can address three of these four issues. Paraquat can be used to maintain a managed, non-competitive weed flora which provides habitats to encourage biodiversity and helps prevent soil erosion. Paraquat does not affect soil health and does not pollute soil or surface waters.
Paraquat is an essential tool in tea
Paraquat is a broad-spectrum herbicide. Its mode of action is to inhibit photosynthesis, an essential process in plants, and means that paraquat destroys all green tissue. Paraquat is safe to tea for several reasons:
- It is immobilized on contact with the soil meaning that it cannot move to roots and be taken up into plants.
- It is sprayed around the tea plants, which are protected by bark which paraquat cannot penetrate.
- Even if small amounts of paraquat land on lower tea leaves there is little or no damage nor residues reaching the buds and young leaves because paraquat does not move through plants systemically like the alternative non-selective herbicide glyphosate.
Also unlike glyphosate, paraquat is very fast-acting and rainfast. Weeds sprayed with a paraquat solution in the morning will often show symptoms by the afternoon, making it easy for spray operators and plantation managers to see which areas have already been treated. This holds even if rain falls within 15-30 minutes, making it possible to spray for longer before rain is expected.
A video showing paraquat's unsurpassed speed of action can be viewed here.
In recent years, intensive use of glyphosate has caused new weed problems as less well controlled species have 'shifted' to become more dominant and some species have evolved biotypes which are resistant to glyphosate. Using paraquat as an alternative non-selective herbicide with a different mode of action in integrated weed management systems is helping to avoid problems of weed shifts and resistance.
The importance of paraquat in fighting weed resistance to glyphosate and maintaining farmers' options to use conservation tillage systems is discussed here.
In perennial plantation crops such as tea, emphasis is on the management of weeds rather than their permanent removal. This is because maintaining a particular balance of weeds in the plantation flora is important for sustainability by providing habitats for predators of insect pests and minimizing soil erosion though the anchoring effect of plant roots.
Paraquat does not leach because it is extremely tightly bound to soil particles immediately on contact, so it cannot move into groundwater or surface waters by run-off and similarly cannot affect soil animals or microorganisms.
You can read more about paraquat's unique soil properties here.
Paraquat has a very robust environmental profile. Details of paraquat's safety to the environment, spray operators and consumers can be found by referring to the Paraquat Fact Sheet.
Paraquat is an important tool in farmers' battle against weeds, while also having a good environmental profile and creating opportunities in rural communities. You can read more about the benefits of using paraquat here.
Where does my cup of tea come from?
What is tea?
Tea plants (Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze) come from more than 1,500 different varieties. They are all evergreen bushes or small trees with a strong tap root and yellow-white flowers. The major varieties are:
- Assam (Camellia sinensis var. assamica), tree-like with a single stem. Unpruned Assam tea trees can grow 6-20 m high.
- China (Camellia sinensis var. sinensis), which is a bush.
- Cambodian (Camellia sinensis var. parviflora) which is intermediate in characteristics and sometimes referred to as a hybrid between Assam and China tea.
In commercial production, tea plants are pruned to around 1.5 m high.
Teas are made from newly emerged leaves and buds, which are hand-picked every two to three weeks. After picking, leaves are spread on large trays and allowed to wilt for various lengths of time. They are then rolled or chopped to release enzymes followed by 'fermentation'. Sugars and tannins are released as the tea 'ferments'. Actually, this is an enzymic oxidation process as no alcohol is formed. The process is stopped by heating at certain stages to produce the various kinds of tea available, including:
- White tea: a speciality tea, which is dried immediately after picking buds which have been shaded to prevent them from turning green as chlorophyll is produced.
- Green tea: limited 'fermentation' is followed by steaming.
- Oolong tea: partial 'fermentation' giving characteristics in between green and black tea.
- Black tea: 'fermentation' is allowed to complete over two to four weeks before drying ('firing').
Green and, especially, white tea are high in catechins (types of tannin or polyphenols), which are powerful anti-oxidants, believed to have medicinal properties in fighting cancer and enhancing the immune system. Catechins are more concentrated in the younger, more tender leaf tissue picked for green and white tea, and are also better preserved in the processing of these teas which are steamed with little or no wilting or fermentation and then dried.
Although the caffeine concentration in tea leaves can be around 4%, and higher than in coffee beans, the caffeine content of a cup of tea is typically about half that of coffee.
Where is tea grown?
Tea grows best in regions that enjoy a warm, humid tropical climate with rainfall measuring at least 1000 mm per annum. Ideally, tea prefers deep, light, acidic and well-drained soils. In such conditions tea will grow in areas from sea level up to altitudes as high as 2,100 m.
Tea is overwhelmingly a crop of the eastern hemisphere with by far the largest areas in China and India, which grow nearly 1.5 million and over half a million hectares (ha), respectively. Sri Lanka grows more than 200,000 ha (Fig 1; Table 1).
Table 1. Top ten tea producers by area harvested (ha) (FAOSTAT, 2010).
|Sri Lanka
Over the past decade, production has increased particularly in China and Vietnam (Fig. 2). Half of all tea produced (80% is black tea) is exported with a total annual value of about $3 billion. In 2004, Kenya overtook Sri Lanka as the world's leading exporter of tea. They were closely followed by China. India is also a major exporter, and Indonesia completes the top five. Russia, UK, Pakistan, Egypt and Japan are the leading importers. The British and the Irish drink most tea, averaging nearly 3 cups per person every day.
Sustainable tea production
Growing tea
Tea is planted from seed or cuttings and many crops are still being harvested after almost 100 years. Crops grown from seed are first pruned when 2-3 years old and 70 cm high. From cuttings, this stage is reached after only one year. Further prunings are made aiming to produce a bushy plant with many shoots. When these terminal buds are picked, this encourages side-shoots to grow, which are picked in turn at subsequent harvests.
Pests and diseases
Some of the symptoms of insect damage to tea plants include folded, curled or deformed leaves; discolored, striped or spotted leaves; desiccated leaves; and sawdust on trunks, branches or at the base of plants. Insects damaging leaves include leaf hoppers (eg in Vietnam the Tea Green Leafhopper, Empoasca spp. is a major pest), mites, thrips and aphids. Termites (eg Postelectrotermes militaris, Coptotermes spp. and Macrotermes spp.) burrow into woody tissue.
Diseases affect leaves, buds, branches and roots. The most important leaf disease in Vietnam is Blister Blight caused by Exobasidium vexans. Buds are affected by Anthracnose which is caused by several fungi including Colletotrichum theae-sinensis. Pseudomonas spp. bacteria can cause cankers on trunks and branches. Root rots are caused by many fungi including Armillaria spp, Ganoderma spp and Hypoxylon spp.
Weed management and biodiversity
A large number of annual and perennial weeds infest tea plantations. Tropical climates with ample sunshine, heat and moisture mean that weeds thrive and may compete with crops for space, water and nutrients, and shade the crop plants, especially when they are young.
Prematilake et al. (2004) conducted field experiments with various methods of weed control in young tea. They found that paraquat-based systems were superior to those using the systemic non-selective herbicide glyphosate. Intensive use of glyphosate has led to changes in plantation weed flora ('weed shifts') as more tolerant species have become more dominant. 'Soft' weeds, typically prostrate annual grasses which are easily controlled, are replaced by re-invasion of cleared land by more aggressive 'noxious' species, typically creeping and climbing annual and perennial broad-leaved species. These aggressive weeds compete with the tea crop, reducing yields and make spray operations, fertilizer application and picking difficult.
Using paraquat, however, to manage the weed flora rather than eliminate it, can help to maintain a balanced flora that precludes the dominance of aggressive species. Paraquat only removes the top growth of well-established weeds and does not affect the germination of new seedlings allowing vegetation to re-establish after 1-2 months. A controlled presence of soft weeds maintains the balance of the weed flora and prevents weed shifts to noxious species simply because bare ground is less available for them to colonize. The presence of non-competitive vegetative cover also provides habitats to encourage biodiversity. The wildlife encouraged will include predators of insect pests, which would otherwise have to be controlled chemically.
Paraquat can be safely sprayed between the crop rows without fear of damaging the tea plants. It is immobile in soil and cannot move to the roots and up into the shoots. Bark cannot be penetrated by paraquat meaning that it can be sprayed right up to the base of the bushes.
Soil health and water
Paraquat's unique combination of biological and physico-chemical properties, particularly its fast non-systemic action and extremely strong soil adsorption, give it a very robust environmental profile. More information on paraquat' soil properties can be found here .
"Agrochemicals used on tea plantations kill many of the microorganisms that live in soil" according to Clay (2004, p103). However, as paraquat is not biologically active in the soil because of its binding properties, it has no adverse effects on soil fauna or microorganisms.
"The chemical inputs applied on tea plantations have had a deadly effect on soil biodiversity while simultaneously polluting river water, killing fish, and harming the animals and people who depend on the rivers for water" according to Clay (2004, p103). This does not apply to paraquat because it cannot leach into water being so tightly bound to soil, far more so than other agrochemicals. Used as recommended, paraquat is not hazardous to fish or invertebrates because, besides its immobility, even if paraquat spray should drift onto ponds, rivers or ditchwater, it is rapidly removed by adsorption to plants and sediments, and by microbial degradation. Extensive ecological studies have shown that paraquat is not a risk to aquatic environments (Roberts et al, 2002).
Soil erosion
Tea plantations are often found on sloping terrain in hilly areas receiving very high levels of rainfall. This can have dramatic consequences for soil erosion. For example, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) has reported that annual loses of soil by erosion in the upper Mahawelli catchment area of Sri Lanka can be as much as 75 t/ha.
This causes difficulties on and off the tea plantations. There are serious implications for productivity as soil erosion depletes reserves of nutrients and reduces water-holding capacity. Off site, eroded soil can silt-up reservoirs and water courses making problems for irrigation and hydroelectric power generation.
Using paraquat for weed management can help minimize soil erosion by maintaining a vegetative ground cover. It can be used in combination with grass strips between crop rows and weeds are only controlled along the crop rows. Because it has no systemic action or residual effects in soil, these properties allow re-colonisation of weeds by re-growth from roots or new flushes of germination. This means that weed root systems are always present and have an anchoring effect on the soil, resisting movement.
CASE STUDY: Paraquat sustains productivity for Sri Lankan tea farmers
P.B. Ekanayake, K.G. Prematilaka, and A.P.D.A. Jayasekara of the Tea Research Institute (TRI) of Sri Lanka told the 2005 Asian-Pacific Weed Science Society conference how they have found that paraquat can play a vital role in weed management for their tea farmers.
A six-year study in Sri Lankan tea estates concluded that systemic herbicides like glyphosate can be toxic to tea plants and adversely affect growth and yield. However, researchers from TRI found that "the effect was minimal with paraquat."
Glyphosate has been increasingly used because tea growers have been under pressure to simplify their systems and cut costs. However, unless used very carefully, because glyphosate is systemic, spray drifting on to tea can damage young leaves and buds, and cause longer-term reductions in plant vigor, decreasing yields. Furthermore, unacceptable residues of glyphosate have also been detected in dried tea leaves. The weed control performance of glyphosate has also been compromised by the pressure it puts on the weed flora to shift to more tolerant and competitive species.
TRI recommends restrictions on the frequency of glyphosate use, an interval of 1-2 weeks between spraying and harvest (depending on rate), and the use of adjuvants to reduce the rate required. Because of this, the study authors recommend paraquat as a weed management solution for Sri Lankan tea, saying:
"Manual weeding and chemical weeding with paraquat in rotation could be advocated to sustain the productivity and maintain an eco-friendly environment in tea plantations."
The results of this study confirm years of extensive research which support the safety of paraquat to crops and to the environment. The complete paper can be read here …
Impact of Weed Management Studies on the Productivity of Tea Plantations in Sri Lanka
CASE STUDY: Paraquat saves soil in China
Min An-min, Guo Hen-xiao, Li Hong-xia and Zhao Rong of the Sichuan Academy of Forestry have reported how using paraquat to control weeds has reduced soil erosion in sloping tea gardens.
Tea is grown at altitudes above 1500 m in the mountainous upper reaches of the Yangtze River. Tilling the soil to control weeds has resulted in serious soil erosion caused by surface run-off of water. Scientists from the Sichuan Academy of Forestry have found that using paraquat to control weeds is more than twice as effective as glyphosate at reducing erosion compared to conventional tillage.
This is because glyphosate leaves the soil exposed for longer than paraquat, which allows a non-competitive green cover to regenerate. The presence of vegetation disperses the impact of rain and weed roots provide an anchorage for the soil. In trials in tea gardens with slopes of 8o – 18o, the losses of nutrients and organic matter along with the soil were 80-100% less when using paraquat rather than glyphosate.


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I guess David Ortiz' at-bat in sixth inning sums up last night. He hit a bomb that some estimated might have gone 450 feet. But it hit one of those speakers at the top of the Metrodome, and Papi ended up with a single. Totally ridiculous. Manny Ramirez then hit into a double play to end the inning. The Sox scored three late runs, but it was not enough to catch the Twins, 5-3.
The only good thing about this series is that the Red Sox won't have to play in Minnesota the rest of this season. The Twins are getting a new open air stadium in suburban Minneapolis, and it can't come any sooner. That place is the Sox' House of Horrors, and I look forward to the day they set the dynamite charges to the place.
The Red Sox traded David Riske to the White Sox for minor league lefty reliever Javier Lopez (not to be confused with the right handed catcher for the Orioles). Lopez saw time with Arizona and Colorado, and his numbers weren't terribly impressive. He was pitching lights-out at AAA, and the Sox went for it due to a need for a lefty in the pen. Is this guy the answer? I have no idea. Theo Epstein's track record on acquiring relief pitchers is spotty at best. We'll see.
The bats need a jump start, after the three day horror show in Minnesota. They scored just 6 runs in 30 innings this week. Manny and Papi went 3-for-24 in Minnesota. Jon Lester goes tonight in Atlanta. He'll be facing a fading Braves team that just got swept in Miami.
The Mets continued their torrid pace yesterday, beating the Phillies, 5-4. They won 9 of 10 on their just-concluded road trip. Their NL East lead is now 9 1/2. Interleague resumes again today and they take on the Orioles at Shea.
11 days until the big three-game showdown at Fenway.
Friday, June 16, 2006
Blow Up The Metrodome
I guess David Ortiz' at-bat in sixth inning sums up last night. He hit a bomb that some estimated might have gone 450 feet. But it hit one of those speakers at the top of the Metrodome, and Papi ended up with a single. Totally ridiculous. Manny Ramirez then hit into a double play to end the inning. The Sox scored three late runs, but it was not enough to catch the Twins, 5-3.
Posted by The Omnipotent Q at 12:33 PM
6 comments:
- Michael Leggett said...
(A)Will The Vikings be getting a new stadium?
(B)The place was getting known as HomerDome; Must've been done to make Twins Pitching seem more-competent;
I'll be @ Shea, tonight; call it a break from Psychoboy Tavarez; I might even see an old Idiot named Millar, give him a cheer & then chant "Let's Go Mets" with abandon;
@ I didn't cheer Damon-ey in the last game that I was at; I cheer for "Idiots", not a-holes.
- The Omnipotent Q said...
Have a great time at Shea!
The Vikings are getting their own stadium as well, also an open-air park.
"The Homerdome" was a huge misnomer. The Metrodome is about 7th or 8th in the AL in homers. It was back when it opened in 1982 that the Twins hit a good number of homers that year that some fool called it that. Unfortunately, the name seem to stick.
- Michael Leggett said...
& The Metrodome will have lasted a far-shorter time than Shea Stadium did;
Our Red Sox Bretheren in CT are getting screwed out of Red Sox-Braves on FOX61, which also covers Central Massachusetts & will be getting Yankees-Nationals; much of New England will hear Kenny Albert, which is good, but he's being paired with Tim Mc Carver;
Same here on FOX5.
- Peter N said...
Wasn't the Metro Dome known as the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome?
- FINY said...
I saw a game at the Metrodome two years ago and I can honestly say it's the worst place to watch a game that I've EVER seen.
- The Omnipotent Q said...
It still is, Peter.
I'm sure ol'Hubert's rolling over in his grave having a stadium like that named after him.


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Christy K Robinson, author, freelance writer, and blogger, is available to lecture on Mary Dyer at schools, colleges, book discussions, churches, and community groups in the southwestern United States. She is also an expert freelance writer for magazines, newspapers, and websites. To discuss her modest fees and schedule a date, please email her.
Top Ten Things You May Not Know About Mary Dyer
Eleven (yes, because there's a bonus) major facts about Mary Dyer, some of which come from Robinson's research in English and American archives that brings the first light in 360 years to many facets of the Dyer-Hutchinson-Winthrop story.
Life in England and New England in the mid-1600s:
Eleven (yes, because there's a bonus) major facts about Mary Dyer, some of which come from Robinson's research in English and American archives that brings the first light in 360 years to many facets of the Dyer-Hutchinson-Winthrop story.
Life in England and New England in the mid-1600s:
William Dyer's boyhood (education)
The Dyers' 1635 voyage to New England
Winthrop Fleet fights its way to New England in 1630
The Great New England Quake of 1638
What music was on Mary Dyer's iPod?
Civil disobedience, religious liberty, Constitutional rights
Mary Dyer is often remembered as the woman who was killed by Puritans because she was a Quaker. (People who think that are taking Wikipedia too seriously. Educators know to dig further.) Mary Dyer intentionally pursued civil disobedience and provoked the theocratic rulers to execute her, to bring international attention to the barbarian elements of a church-state coalition (theocracy), and to shine a light on "liberty of conscience," or religious liberty. That liberty included both the freedom to worship as the conscience dictates, and the freedom from the imposition of religious laws upon non-believers and other-believers. These are some of the articles in this site that address civil disobedience, religious liberty, and Mary Dyer's influence on religious liberty in the United States Constitution's Bill of Rights.
America's first acts of civil disobedience Mary Dyer was ONE of the first, but not THE first, to commit civil disobedience
May Day and sincerely-held beliefs
May Day and sincerely-held beliefs
Religious liberty under constant assault
Celebrate your connection to Mary Dyer's cause: religious liberty
Celebrate your connection to Mary Dyer's cause: religious liberty
Making a Mary Dyer costume for school How parents can construct an affordable costume for early-colonial history or social studies projects
Amazon listmania Other recommended fiction and nonfiction reading on 17th century
Women and education in 17th-century New England
Did education drive Miss Yale crazy?
Women and education in 17th-century New England
Did education drive Miss Yale crazy?
Five-star books on William and Mary Dyer in The Dyers series (including major characters Anne Hutchinson, Gov. John Winthrop, Katherine Marbury Scott, Sir Henry Vane)
Educator endorsements of The Dyers series by Christy K Robinson
Dr. Rondi Aastrup, high school English department chair, wrote:
As a high school English teacher, I am always looking for books to add to my reading lists—for myself and my students. Back in the 90s I was teaching in a Boston suburb and found a collection of essays about the history of intolerance in America that included the story of Mary Dyer. My students were fascinated by the first story particularly—"The Silencing of Mary Dyer"—since many of them lived in Boston where the story takes place. I've been including it in my "Beginnings" unit every since.Now, I teach clear across the country and have brought Mary's story to my students in Arizona. Again, they found the story interesting, but recently, it became all the more real to them when an alumna of our school published two books about her ancestor: Mary Dyer!I immediately contacted Ms. Robinson and asked her to come share Mary's story along with the research and writing process involved in writing a historical novel. I then bought and read the books and proceeded to be impressed at the turn of each page. This well-researched, well-written two-volume story of an amazing and inspiring woman, her husband and family, along with a large cast of supporting characters, acquaints the reader with those who contributed substantially to the freedom of religion that every American citizen enjoys, regardless of their belief. Ms. Robinson has brought to life a time and place that I, as a long-time student of American literature and history, enjoyed thoroughly, and enjoyed even more sharing with my students, who responded with interest as well. They didn't have to grow up in Boston to be able to see and understand Puritan Boston's terrain—geographical or theological. Ms. Robinson painted the picture clearly and accurately, on every level. She even corrects some long-held misconceptions about Mary Dyer. We all came away with a deeper appreciation for those who lived so long ago but whose life-actions had far-reaching consequences.
Good reads for every age, Ms. Robinson's books can now be found on this teacher's American Literature book list. I will recommend them with enthusiasm and pleasure for years to come.
Charles Barber, high school history and English teacher, wrote:
Christy has done an incredible job of bringing life in 1600s England and New England to life in her historical novel Mary Dyer Illuminated. I wish that she had written this book years ago when I was still teaching high school history classes. The depth of information that she weaves into her story-telling makes it easier for us to understand the struggles of life nearly four hundred years ago. Christy's gift includes bringing the issues of religious freedom and the rights of women to the center of her story.
For most of us, if we knew anything about Mary Barrett Dyer, our knowledge was limited to the fact that she was a Quaker who was hung in the Puritan-controlled Massachusetts Bay Colony. Her story is so much more than that, and Christy brings Mary's full story to life. Along the way, Christy weaves in excellent explanations of the nuances of the theological, political and economic issues of the day. She helps us understand the difficulties in creating a new civilization in New England. But none of this interferes with her telling Mary Dyers' story.
For those of us who have ancestors from the seventeenth century New England, Christy brings these people to life and gives us a chance to understand the issues that they faced daily. I heartily recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the issues of religious freedom and the rights of women. Those who want a better understanding of founding of the colonies in New England will also be satisfied.
In her second volume about Mary Dyer, Christy focuses on Mary's personal struggles with her faith and marriage. For those of us who have lived in the 20th and 21st centuries, it is difficult to understand how Mary could be so committed to her religious evolution. Among Christy's gifts in telling the story is her ability to put us inside Mary's mind as she gives up her roles of wife and mother as her religious convictions become the sole focus of her life. Her descriptions of the oppressive policies of the colonial leadership should make us all thankful for what the Dyers and Roger Williams created and defended in Rhode Island.
I heartily recommend both volumes for readers from junior high on up. Social studies teachers should read these books so that they can better explain the struggles that created and preserved our freedoms. Our understanding of this era, its leading figures and the challenges that they faced is forever enriched by what Christy presents in these books.
Dr. Ken Horn, minister, educator, and international magazine editor, wrote:
You can't read just one. You need to read both these volumes!
I took Christy Robinson's novels about Mary Barrett Dyer with me on an international trip and devoured them both. Mary Dyer Illuminated and Mary Dyer: For Such a Time as This became more than time-passers; they became delightful page-turners. I approached each opportunity to press further in Mary's saga with eager anticipation.
I confess that I seldom read fiction. But Christy's writing is just the ticket for someone like me. I like to learn when I read, and these works, presented on a framework of reliable, detailed history, provide abundant worthwhile information to be gleaned … and in an incredibly entertaining way. I felt the time I invested in reading the set was well spent. Though I was familiar with the main points of Mary's story, Christy's compelling narrative greatly aided in removing Mary from the realm of murky history and making her a real person to me. This groundbreaking individual's important story deserves the kind of treatment the author has afforded.
Christy's books will appeal to three kinds of readers: (a) lovers of historical fiction, (b) lovers of history, well written, and (c) lovers of good novels. I fall into category B. These books really fill the bill for history lovers, primarily because of their meticulous research and integrity—including a scrupulous disclosure of elements that had been added or condensed for the purpose of enhancing the narrative.
I appreciate this sophisticated historical approach, with its refined attention to detail. Add world-class wordsmithing to the mix and the result is a page-turning delight.
These are fascinating books that deserve a much-expanded exposure. They are simply outstanding, a feast for lovers of history and good writing.


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My name is Nicole and I am an Air Force spouse, thus the name of my blog, "The Traveling Seamstress."
As I embark on this new journey of starting my sewing business, I invite you to follow along! This is going to be quite a learning experience, but I see no better way to make a living than to turn my passion into my career. You've heard it many times..."do what you love and you will never work a day in your life."
I have been working furiously all week getting ready for a home-based business awareness event in our local community. I feel like I am prepared, but we will just have to see! I'm currently finishing a Karate Kid costume, as Halloween is just around the corner. Hopefully I will have lots of great pictures to share after the event, but for now, I will leave you with a picture of craziness that is my living room/sewing room...*sigh*...perhaps at our next base I will have the luxury of my own sewing space.


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The lesson of Christ's Baptism
Father Steve Grunow
The Fathers of the Church presented the insight that as Christ immersed himself in the waters of John's baptism, he sanctified all the waters of the world for use in the Church's Sacrament of Baptism.
Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, and it is with this awe-filled liturgy that the three great revelations or "theophanies" of the Christmas season are brought to stunning fulfillment.
The first of these revelations was the birth of the Christ child, which was celebrated on Christmas Day. This "theophany" presented to us the first occasion when it was made known to human sight that God had accepted for himself a human nature and allowed himself to be born in this world as a man. God comes to Israel and the world in much the same manner as we all have. God is born in Christ to particular parents, into a particular family, and at a particular place and time. God is who Christ is--as an infant, as a child, and as a grown man: Christ is God!
The second of these revelations was commemorated in the United States this past Sunday in the solemnity of Christ's Epiphany. In this liturgy, the theophany of Christ as Messiah (that is, as the true king of Israel) was revealed. With this revelation came also signs that foreshadowed Christ's mission--a mission by which he would transform both Israel and the world. The Church professes and believes that Christ is the fulfillment of the expectations of Israel that God would send to his people a Messiah; but more than this, we believe that it is the God of Israel himself who comes into this world as the Messiah!
The third of these revelations is presented in the liturgy for Sunday in which the Church accepts and discerns the event of Christ's Baptism.
Though this event hearkens to and foreshadows the Church's Sacrament of Baptism, we shouldn't confuse the two. Christ does not receive the Sacrament of Baptism, and what John imparts is not what the Church is doing when people are baptized.
The baptism of John was a ritual act of purification which was much like the mikvah that a faithful Israelite accepted before they entered the precincts of the Temple. John presented his mikvah or baptism as an act by which one would be prepared to receive the Messiah and enter with him into the Messianic Age.
It is mysterious as to why Christ would himself accept this kind of baptism.
Perhaps it is to show the depth of his identification with Israel and that, as their Messiah, he would not expect or ask anything of his chosen people that he would not at first undergo himself.
Or maybe it is to foreshadow his immersion into sin and death in the terrifying event of the cross. As he descends into the depths of the Jordan River and then emerges, so will it be in his Paschal Mystery.
The Fathers of the Church presented the insight that as Christ immersed himself in the waters of John's baptism, he sanctified all the waters of the world for use in the Church's Sacrament of Baptism.
These are all interesting and helpful insights, but none in itself is the revelation or the theophany that today's liturgy presents.
The great revelation of the Lord's Baptism is discerned, not in the reason that he accepts Baptism, but that in that moment something about God's identity was revealed that was not fully known or even believed to be possible. The Baptism of Christ is the occasion when the Trinity is revealed--the Son makes himself known, the Father speaks, and the Holy Spirit descends. It is this mystery, the mystery of the Trinity, that brings the revelations or the theophanies of the holy season of Christmas to their fulfillment.
The lesson?
Remember Christians, you do not believe that God is merely an idea in your mind or a projection of your best self. God is not for you some unknown and unknowable force in the universe or a feeling that you contain in your heart. The one, true God has revealed himself in Christ as the Trinity--the mysterious communion of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a communion of Divine Love "in which we live and move and have our being." It is this Divine Love that brought all into existence, and because of Christ, it is to this Divine Love that we will all one day return.
Father Steve Grunow is a priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago. He serves as CEO and Executive Producer for Bishop Robert Barrons Word On Fire Catholic Ministries. He writes on theology, movies, and popular culture for the Word on Fire blog.
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Jump@school is a project led by Sardinia Region and co-funded by EU's Lifelong Learning Programme that involves partners from Italy, Austria, Germany, Poland, Spain, Turkey.
The overall objective is to provide recommendations and tips to define education and VET custom-made policies to prevent and contrast the Early School Leaving.
Specific objectives
Prevent dropouts
To identify tested methodologies, strategies and good practices to prevent and contrast the early school leaving in contexts with high rate of drop out
Improve offers
To improve the education and training offer and policies facing the new challenges and changes (economic crisis, high rate of youth unemployment, high rate of students with migrant background)
The Process
Screening of good practices
State of the art in ESL
The consortium will decide criteria for identifying good practices on ESL, active or realized in the partner countries. All partners will select a limited number of good practices and collect information about them. The information will be summarized in a report and distributed within the consortium.
Guidance, counselling, training and work opportunities
The consortium will design a standardised intervention: it will be a set of adapted and optimised measures (services of guidance, counselling on education, training and work opportunities, etc.). The intervention will be realized in some schools in Italy, Spain and Turkey.
Comparison of quantitative indicators
At the end of the intervention, we'll analyse the collected data and conduct the comparison of quantitative indicators between points in time, between groups and between sites (countries and schools).
Publication and dissemination
The descriptions of interventions and all the project data will be available on this website and there will be much more (documents, tools, infographics, videos) for the dissemination and exploitation.


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NMFIT Natural Beauty Scoop: Pumpkin Beauty Tips for E! News
Last month I was in Los Angeles, CA to tape a segment for E! News, discussing everything pumpkin beauty! Pumpkin is great for whipping up a holiday pie or decorating your home during the fall season but did you know pumpkin is also loaded with a ton of beauty benefits too?! Below are a few amazing perks:
- Alpha hydroxyl acids
- Vitamin A
- Vitamin C
- Helps brighten a dull complexion
- Unclog pores
- Keep wrinkles at bay
- and overall the prefect skin saver
If you missed the segment check it click on the image below!
Try this DIY Pumpkin Mask/Scrub at home!
What you will need:
· A medium or large mixing bowl
· 1 can of organic pumpkin
· 1 cup of brown sugar
· 2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract
· 1 cup of sunflower oil or coconut oil
· 1 mason jar (to store the scrub in)
Mix all the ingredients into the mixing bowl. Make sure to blend thoroughly. Massage the mixture on wet skin; let it sit for 5 minutes. Rinse with warm water.
If you don't have time to create a DIY pumpkin mask/scrub you can always check out the Pumpkin Puree from FarmHouse Fresh.
Training minds, changing bodies!
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