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Photography Retouching
Once you have your best photos, they'll need some retouching. Retouching and colour grading will achieve the best result possible. To stand out from your competition, we highly recommend the investment.
A professional creative retoucher will bring your images to life and add the professional result your business deserves. Ben Greenfield, is a creative retoucher in Sydney and head of CGI and retouching at Prodigious. Ben doesn't simply make any image look a bit better, his creative input would always take the final image to the next level and deliver unexpected results. Ben has a remarkable eye and ability to craft the lighting, texture, form and final composition of everything he works on. Ben created the image below for Virgin Australia airlines along with No Vacancy founder, Nick Bonney. It took over two weeks to construct and they used at least thirty different photographs and various 3D computer generated elements to achieve the stunning result.
Ben says, "A good business will maintain a consistent approach to their imagery. Inconsistent images, in terms of colour and quality, look sloppy and rushed and not the association your brand wants. Avoid cheap tricks and effects, they often look tacky, for example too much motion blur, flares, high pass or depth of field. It's easy to get immersed in a particular style, especially one with a hyper real feel. Unless you are an experienced user, try to avoid this look - done badly it can be off putting. Again, the less you do, the better the result, so a light touch is best.
Always respect the lighting of the original image – an overcast sky cannot be turned into a sunny day, the shadows and colour remain all wrong. This is usually scene in real estate ads, where they replace the sky with something completely unnatural. Badly retouched jobs are often spotted by the lighting differences, for example, a person comped into the landscape, but the focus isn't quite right, the lighting is off, blacks too heavy compared to the background all indicate a bad comping job. Care needs to be taken with putting two different images together, it's the easiest place to make errors."
We asked Ben for his tips on interiors. "Generally, interiors should be well lit – clean whites (yellow casts look like stains) erring on the cool side works for most."
Ben did this test below of a living space at Kuma Lodge. The image is directly from the camera and the short video shows the final craft in consideration of lighting and colour balance.
When composing an image made up of numerous shots it's important to get a few things right if you don't want an obviously 'fake' result. Ben says, "I use the available images to composite what will become the final image. Starting from my hero shot, selected above, I use the extra shots taken to extend the image where required, and use alternate shots to replace other areas where there is need to – this can range upward of 10 images for more complex compositions. For instance, there might be an interior shot where the furniture is arranged in a more pleasing way, or in a landscape image, a shot where there are no people to patch an area where there was a crowd gathered, or more commonly, a new sky is stripped in from the days shoot which has the best cloud and colour for the final layout."
If you absolutely can't afford the investment into a professional retoucher then Ben adds, "It's important to realise that an awesome grade can only fix so much if it's a poorly lit scene or bad composition. Anyone with access to Photoshop can create a colour grade. Of course it all depends on the skill level of the user. It takes time and experience, as well as a keen eye to know what makes a good grade, and what tools to use to achieve them.
Filters do provide a way to create a certain look, but often lack flexibility to make adjustments, meaning you are locked into that grade. Also the filtering process does not take into consideration the particulars of an image, whether it be too dark, has a colour cast etc. This means that to achieve consistency, the photos need to be in a similar colour range, so post filter they look right. If filters are to be used, and used correctly, they can achieve fantastic result. The best approach would be to really focus on the lighting and composition when the photo is taken. Consistent photos in, mean consistent photos out. The best middle ground I can suggest is use a good photographer, or learn to use a Digital SLR camera, the better quality the capture, the less work you need to do in post production, and the better chance a filter works the way it's supposed to.
Most people know what images look good and what they want to achieve. There is nothing wrong with, especially for a beginner, using those sources as inspiration for a style, until you get enough confidence to start exploring different styles, and breaking the rules."


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Next Step, Working with Clients, is for Professional Organisers who have just started out and have little to some experience. It has been designed to equip you with all the right tools you need to establish great working relationships for you & your clients.
This 1 Day Intensive course comprises of 6 modules that are taught at our easy to find training venues in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Canberra, Gold Coast & London. This course is also offered online.
Each module builds on the one before and we include role play:
- Set your clients up for success
- Assessing your clients
- Managing client expectations
- Essential 'kit' items
- Boundaries, yours & your clients
- Estimating time & charges
Each course is facilitated by Sarah Cottman. She is an Accredited Expert Professional Organiser with years of experience organising clients as well as teaching and mentoring new and experienced organisers. She will teach you practical & efficient ways to organise you & your clients!
The course includes our 'Professional Organiser Training' Manual and the assurance that, in the unlikely event you need a refresher, you may do so at no charge*!
- Early Bird discount of $100 (select venue to see if discount applies)
AAPO is The Australasian Association of Professional Organisers. It is the Australian Organising industry association with members throughout Australasia & beyond. Sarah is a Past President of AAPO.

subset: commoncrawl


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The Old Vic Theatre is seeking an experienced Deputy Head of Electrics; reporting to the Head of Electrics.Please see below for more details:
Deputy Head of Electrics:
The successful candidate will demonstrate:
- Extensive experience of working in a similar environment and role
- Strong knowledge of EOS Family Consoles and moving light programming (essential)
- Formal electrical qualifications will be an advantage
- Experience of equipment maintenance and PAT
- Good IT literacy, with experience of Vectorworks, AutoCAD and Lightwright
- Ability to follow instructions and a high attention to detail
- A clear understanding of current health and safety legislation
- A flexible attitude to working hours as evening and weekend working will be required
For further information about the role please: Download the Job Description here!
The closing date for applications for the role is: 5pm, Friday 27 October 2017
Interviews will be held following that.
To apply, please email firstname.lastname@example.com with your CV and a completed application form (quoting your name and the vacancy job title in the subject line). Please note, we will not accept CV's alone.
We also invite candidates to complete our Equal Opportunities monitoring survey via our Work for Us page.


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TORONTO — Kawhi Leonard was asked a perfectly logical question on Friday afternoon about whether the addition of so many players who were not part of previous Raptors playoff struggles would help this team get over the hump.
"What hump?," he said.
I mean, we know you are new here and all, but surely you have spent some time around a television.
Leonard, the guy who was brought to Toronto specifically because the Raptors Playoff Express kept ending up in a ditch with a cracked windshield and smoke pouring out from under the hood, would not take the bait. He said this team had some experienced guys, and now it had some other experienced guys, and all of that was good.
It fell to Danny Green, the guy who came with Leonard from San Antonio, to acknowledge the dinosaur in the room, as it were: That the Raptors, for all the success and the 50-win seasons and the ascension to a truly admirable NBA franchise, have only had over the past five seasons a playoff series with one of two outcomes: a harder-than-expected win, or a loss. They have never had a series that didn't involve doubt, or a creeping sense of dread, or as was the case with the last couple of dismissals by the Cleveland Cavaliers, full-on shame.
Green said it would probably be helpful that the newcomers wouldn't have that baggage. They have their own experiences, while the long-time Raptors "have a little more of a chip on their shoulders."
Marc Gasol, the trade-deadline acquisition whose arrival meant we couldn't ask, on the eve of Game 1 of the first round, Jonas Valanciunas about all those chip shots he missed in the final moments of Game 1 of the second round last year, said all of that stuff was meaningless. "It's irrelevant, what happened in the past," he said.
That might be the case for him, and Leonard and Green, but it will be there in the minds of some of those on the floor with them, and in the memories of the 20,000 or so souls in the seats at Scotiabank Arena, who would love a playoff matchup that did not include the usual helping of angst.
They have never before been so lucky. Unlike the upset specials so routinely observed in the NHL and MLB, the NBA playoffs lean heavily toward chalk in the early rounds. Over the past five post-seasons, the top two seeds in each conference, not including the Raptors, have compiled a 73-21 record in the first round. Toronto, as the two-seed in 2016 and the one-seed last year, has managed an 8-5. The Raptors have also lost three series over that same period in which they had home-court advantage, even though NBA teams have a win probability at home of about 65 per cent in the playoffs. They have just never done it easily, these guys.
Last year, as the playoffs were set to begin at the former ACC against Washington, there was much talk about the Raptors' abysmal 1-12 record in series openers. Kyle Lowry said it weighed on them a little. "I mean, we've lost a lot of Game 1s," he said, matter-of-factly. Dwane Casey, then the head coach, said he didn't think effort had been the issue, but that it was probably more of mental thing. They got tight, they pressed, they passed up shots they would normally take. "It's a phenomenon," Casey said then, and frankly the supernatural was as good an explanation as any for the problems that had befallen them in the playoffs.
Then the Raptors went out and won a Game 1, finally. A few weeks later, we had been reminded that the team's playoff problems weren't about ghosts or demons or vague intangible issues. It was because they lacked the crucial pieces for a deep run. Their best scorer, DeMar DeRozan, could be swallowed up by a top defender, they couldn't stop elite perimeter scorers, and they didn't have any kind of answer for LeBron James.
And so, kaboom. In turning over the roster, the front office brought in a high-end individual scorer in Leonard and added defence all over the place in Green and Gasol. The DNA of this team is utterly unlike previous versions, and the NBA has noticed. Even last year, after a 59-win season, there was a sense around the league that the DeRozan-Lowry-Casey core had to prove that it was for real. It was not. This time, while there are several great teams at the top of the East, the Raptors are getting a least a little Finals buzz. There is no LeBron on the road ahead, ready to swat them into the gully.
It's irrelevant, what happened in the past
Nick Nurse said on Friday that his team is not looking back.
"I think the best thing is that nobody in our circle, and in this building, and not very many people around are trying to live in playoffs past," he said. "Nobody's talking about it, nobody's talking about LeBron, or anything."
Since the first round of the NBA playoffs went to a best-of-seven in 2003, the top two seeds in each conference are a combined 60-4 in those series. The Orlando Magic may have had a good couple of months, but they shouldn't stop the Raptors from adding to the good side of that ledger.
But, first there are games to play. Nurse said he liked what Lowry had said a day earlier, when he was asked if this was the best Raptors team he had ever been on.
"He said,'I don't know yet'," Nurse said. Then the coach had an addendum: "And neither do I and neither do any of you."
It is time to find out.


text: Partnering With Aegis Partnering with Aegis and our network of independent fabricators means quality you can rely on for your next building project. Our fabricator customers pride themselves in providing quality finished products at a competitive price delivering the best overall value for the entire building team. A complete system of prefabricated cold-formed steel trusses for both roof and floor applications along with prefabricated wall panels enhances the building process. These factory built components allow for faster installation at the job site saving you time and money. The line of Aegis Ultra-Span truss products are the most widely used proprietary cold-formed steel truss system on the market. As the largest provider of such products, Aegis and our fabricators can give you peace of mind knowing that our structural systems have been installed in millions of square feet of commercial, institutional and other non-residential construction over the past several decades. Professional Engineering Services Aegis employs the largest staff of Registered Professional Engineers in the cold-formed steel truss industry. Our seasoned professionals have the experience to solve any Ultra-Span truss related design challenge. They are ready to work with our fabricators and you to provide the most efficient solutions possible. Our engineers are licensed in all 50 states and 10 Canadian provinces. Software Development Aegis Metal Framing provides each of its authorized fabricators with state-of-the-art software for the layout, estimation and design of Ultra-Span trusses. Aegis provides extensive software training which enables the fabricator to design your project with Aegis truss products the most efficient way possible. All of the Aegis software offerings are developed by our talented group of in-house software engineers.


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This is a press release submitted to the Las Vegas Sun. It has not been verified or edited by the Sun.
Press Release
FBI Electronic Fingerprint processing for background checks arrives in Nevada
Published on Wed, Dec 19, 2012 (2:42 p.m.)Las Vegas, NV. - LiveScan USA, Inc. has brought electronic fingerprint submission to the FBI to Nevada. These fingerprint background checks which previously took 6-8 weeks to process by mailing fingerprint cards is now able to be done and results received within 7 days – sometimes in as few as 24 hours.
The residents of Nevada can use this service to see what is in their FBI criminal history, or get a clearance letter for foreign adoptions, immigration review, work or travel to another country and other non-state requirements.
The local fingerprint facility, LiveScan Las Vegas, located at 4680 S. Eastern Ave., Suite H – is the FIRST livescan facility in Nevada with the ability to transmit electronically to the FBI. LiveScan USA, Inc is looking to expand this coverage by allowing other fingerprint facilities in Nevada to use their channeling gateway to the FBI.
Nevada residents requiring this service can contact the LiveScan Las Vegas office at 702-949-6060.
LiveScan USA, Inc. has operated a livescan fingerprint facility in Las Vegas since April 2009, processing applicant fingerprint submissions to the Nevada Department of Public Safety for a variety of industries where a criminal background check is required for state license.
LiveScan USA, Inc. is aCalifornia Department of Justice- approved channeler providing connectivity for over 150 livescan facilities in California. LiveScan USA, Inc. is providing channeling services in all 50 states for FBI, but also working with various states to channel state-required applicant fingerprint submissions.


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TourReady is dedicated to simplifying crew management for theatre, concerts, tours, festivals, and events around the world by seamlessly connecting employers to specialized freelance crew online. Some of the most respected and knowledgeable professionals in the live event industry have contributed to TourReady's conception, making it the new standard to find work or freelance crew.
Tour Ready also hosts the industry's premier Vendor Directory, featuring thousands of vendors around the nation that service the touring industry.
TourReady's simple and focused approach makes it the best platform to connect, find, and be found in the live event industry.


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Here are a bunch of Photography quotes I really liked while passing time online. Enjoy.
Passing time after Midnight: Editing in Photoshop
This is a little fast paced and I edited pretty quickly which added up to a total of 42 mins. Much shorter than I would typically spend on a beauty image, but this pretty much contains all the techniques I use in photoshop. My style does change from time to time when I do learn something new, so it varies. I have sped up this video, so it's a really short fun version. I am hoping I can share more videos with more detailed instructions on specific photoshop techniques in the near future. Meanwhile enjoy.
Image is from a recent shoot I did this past weekend. I'm not quite ready to share the editorial, but I will soon once it's published.
Song: Chandelier by Sia


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The aptly named OPERATION: WRONG WAY! is off to a tremendous start with many miles under the belt , gorgeous sunsets, mix-ups with the law, sleeping on the sly, a flat tire, and riding with a Spanish cyclist who is 21,000km into his 22,000km ride from Tierra del Fuego. Venga Ruben! Venga! The bike though, remains unnamed.
Primary Objective: Ride a bike from San Diego to San Francisco (1050km)Operation: WRONG WAY!
Secondary Objective: Make it there sometime this year.
If you know how to drive a boat, you can borrow my bike.
My first day riding went swimmingly, and despite a late start, my bike and I cruised through warm sunshine and 24C weather for 55km to arrive at South Carlsbad Campground in time to witness a spectacular sunset (see photo). The ride was definitely a sharp learning curve. Riding a bike that weighs-in at about 43kg is a little bit different than zipping along on your sub-10kg racer. Inertia, momentum, and gravity are all redefined:
Inertia (n.) – A cruel joke played by people who install stop-lights at the start of a steep uphill stretch
Momentum (n.) – Something you have lots of before above-mentioned stop lights
Gravity (n.) – 1) extreme or alarming importance; seriousness. 2) seriousness or solemnity of manner. 3) A stubborn force of 1.24kN whose sole desire is to try and make Zack and his bike go backwards down a hill, if this is not possible, make him cry.
In short, riding a loaded touring bicycle is more akin to driving a boat than riding a bike.
America: the Land of the Free
Don't let me fool you though, that first day was fun and that sunset waiting for me at South Carlsbad Beach Campground was unbelievable. My new spanish friend Ruben and I were keen to take it all in, when the police rolled up…
Police man: "You guys can't camp here tonight."
Zack: "Why not?"
Police man: "Campground is closed"
Zack: "Oh, hmmm… Well its gonna be dark soon, is there any chance we can just pitch our tents of this piece of dirt over there? We will be gone first thing and I promise we won't break it."
Police man: "Sir, You can't camp here.
Zack: "Why not?"
Police man: "Campground's closed."
Ruben: "Ceeclean in dahk is danherous…"
Police man: "What did he say?"
Zack: "He said, cycling in the dark is dangerous, and he's right. Can't we just stay here?"
Police man: "If I let you camp here, I'd have to let everyone camp here"
Zack: "OK, sounds good."
Police man: "What?"
Zack: "Let everyone camp here, sound greats"
Police man: "SIR! The campground is closed"
Zack: "Why?"
Police man: "Budget cuts"
Zack: "Oh! Does that mean its going to closed all year? How long has it been closed?"
Police man: "Oh no, no, no, it'll be open in time for Christmas, it closed earlier this week."
Zack: "They closed it for a month to save money?!"
Police man: "Politics. It's politics."
Zack: "Oh."
Police man: "And they save money on the electricity."
Zack: "Well, hey! we don't need any electricity and we'll pay $5 to stay here! It's win-win."
Police man: "Sir. You need to leave now. I'll be coming back later tonight so don't even think about trying to pitch your tent"
Zack: "Look, I know you are just doing your job, and rules are rules, but It just doesn't make any sense. Instead of letting us stay here, you are putting our lives at risk and making us cycle 7 miles back the way we came so that we can stay at a different campground run out of the same budget!
Police man: "I'm just doing my job sir, you have to leave"
Zack: "So all the homeless people can pitch their tents on the pavement in downtown San Diego, but I can't pitch my tent at a campground?"
Police man: "It's getting dark sir, you'd better get going."
So my first night on the road, and Ruben's first night camping in great ol' US of A, we got kicked out of a campground and pitched our tents 1 km down the road in a unused lot behind a Mexican take-away restaurant. I'll note here that the Mexicans were more than happy to invite us into the kitchen to fill up our water bottles from the tap.


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When you're on vacation, some hotels will make you feel like royalty — and others will treat you like it.
We scoured the internet to find accommodations around the world that give new meaning to the word "luxury." These over-the-top hotel suites offer amenities including personal butlers, pillow service, and transportation by helicopter. Most are accompanied by a lofty price tag.
These are the lavish hotel suites to stay in before you die.
Melissa Stanger contributed reporting to a previous version of this article.
Nightly rate: $9,750
Imagine waking up, stepping out onto the yoga deck, and enjoying coffee or tea while looking out over Laucala Island's coconut plantations. It's not a bad way to live. The two-bedroom Plateau Villa suite has more than 1,800 square feet of living space, plus an outdoor garden, a bathing area, and dining pavilions that allow guests to live in luxury the entirety of their stay.
Nightly rate: ~$25,000
Suspended between the hotel's Royal Towers and 16 stories up, the Bridge Suite is the most opulent accommodation at the Bahamas' premiere luxury resort. Take in the views of Paradise Island from the floor-to-ceiling windows and indulge in the suite's amenities, like the piano in the living room, twin entertainment centers, and a dedicated waitstaff of seven employees.
Nightly rate: ~$1,190
Built in 1932 and modeled on a Scottish hunting lodge, the Giraffe Manor offers bedrooms with antique furnishings, striking decor, and just-outside-the-door access to a giraffe sanctuary. Other animals wander the 140-acre property, as well. If you're so inclined, stop by the David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage and sponsor a baby elephant before returning home.
Nightly rate: ~ $12,700
The three-bedroom suite has a to-die-for bathroom. The Presidential Suite also boasts a Pompeii-style spa, complete with a swimming pool, a whirlpool, a jacuzzi, a sauna, and a Turkish bath. During your stay, you can entertain guests in the formal dining room, make drinks at the bar, and step onto the balcony to see the Piazza della Repubblica.
Nightly rate: ~ $3,500
Designed to evoke a lust-inspired environment, the Provocateur Suite sets the stage for guests to play out their most intimate fantasies. Claret red and shiny black decorative accents complement the custom-made furniture and dominatrix accessories throughout the suite — making this Sin City destination a thrill for even the most diehard "50 Shades of Gray" fans.
Nightly rate: ~ $30,000
For the cost of one year's college tuition, guests can stay in the two-bedroom Villa La Cupola Suite that overlooks Rome's Via Veneto. The domed living room has a fresco inspired by Renaissance art, as well as a wine cellar, a private elevator, and a fitness room. Guests can book a personal chauffeur, private tours of Rome's historic locations, and transit by helicopter.
Nightly rate:$725 - $1,700
Located just off Sunset Boulevard, the Hotel Bel-Air has a fleet of Mercedes cars that shuttles guests anywhere within a three-mile radius of the hotel. But guests of the stately, one-bedroom Stone Canyon Suite may never want to leave the room, with its spa tub and in-bathroom television, heated limestone floors, private garden patio, and outdoor fireplace and jacuzzi.
Nightly rate: ~ $500
Named one of the hottest new hotels in 2013 by TripAdvisor, the Hotel Casa San Agustin's Suite del Virrey is evidence that the title is well-deserved. The Suite del Virrey has two rooms, each with its own balcony and high, wooden beam-inlaid ceilings. Don't forget the private jacuzzi which sits, yes, on the balcony. The concierge gives out loaner iPad devices, as well.
Nightly rate: ~ $1,153
In a small village 200 kilometers above the Arctic Circle, guests at the famous Ice Hotel sleep comfortably at -5 degree Fahrenheit. Each room is unique, furnished with a large bed and a seating area made of ice and snow. They're decorated with hand-carved installations by artists selected from around the world. The Deluxesvit suite also boasts an ensuite sauna and toilet.
Nightly rate: ~ $26,000
The Hôtel Plaza Athénée sits center stage on Avenue Montaigne in Paris. The Royal Suite is one of the largest and most expensive suites in Paris, complete with four bedrooms, four bathrooms, French antique furniture, and a balcony with sweeping views of the Eiffel Tower.
Nightly rate: ~ $25,000
The Jewel Suite, located in the renovated Towers section of the Palace, is a 5,000-square-foot triplex designed by jeweler Martin Katz. Ultra-glamorous amenities include private Maybach car service, complimentary champagne, and Michel Richard white chocolate diamond truffles.
No need to go souvenir shopping: Guests of the Jewel Suite can set up a consultation with Katz to design a bespoke diamond ring created by the master jeweler.
Nightly rate: ~ $65
One of the more affordable options on this list, The Rock Petra offers the ultimate glamping experience in the desert. Luxury tents accommodate up to four people with plush, comfortable beds and jeweled Bedouin-style decor. The camp sits in a narrow valley filled with ancient rock formations that date back to 7,000 B.C. Guests can experience the Bedouin way of life with authentic and hearty communal dinners, and music and dancing around the campfire.
Nightly rate: ~ $20,000
The Park Hyatt Vendôme may be the most romantic hotel in the world's most romantic city. The 2,475-square-foot Imperial Suite features a living room and a dining area, three bedrooms, three bathrooms, and a private spa. It's also impeccably decorated with contemporary art.
Nightly rate:$1,500
One of the world's few underwater hotel rooms sits 13 feet beneath the surface of the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Tanzania. Designed by Swedish artist Mikael Genberg, the three-tiered suite includes a roof deck, a landing deck at sea level with a lounge and a bathroom, and bedroom windows that offer panoramic views of a coral reef and dozens of species of fish.
At 18,000 square feet, the penthouse of the Hotel President Wilson in Geneva claims to be the largest hotel room in Europe.
Nightly rate: ~ $69,000
Guests here will find an oasis of serenity and luxury at the Royal Penthouse Suite at the Hotel President Wilson. The private terrace sits up against bulletproof glass windows, and the bedrooms and living areas boast state-of-the-art Bang & Olufsen televisions and sound systems. There are 12 bedrooms and 12 bathrooms.
Nightly rate: ~ $17,000
The Chairman Suite, which comes in a choice of black-and-granite or gold-and-earth color schemes, offers unobstructed views of the striking Singapore skyline and lush Gardens by the Bay from its three balconies. The massive suite includes a master bedroom with twin closets and bathrooms, an exercise room with a steam and a sauna, and a game room with a pool table.
A dedicated team of butlers and a pillow menu will make you feel right at home.
Nightly rate: ~ $25,000
The Hardwood Suite, named for its indoor basketball court, covers 10,000 square feet over two floors. It also has a professional locker room and "NBA-sized" beds. The suite sleeps an entire basketball team, but it has capacity for 350 people for post-game after-parties. Guests don't have to play ball to stay here. Celebrities like Russell Simmons and Paris Hilton have taken full advantage of the lavish bar, dance floor, and lounge, and 24-hour butler service here.


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by Hamilton E. Davis
Governor Peter Shumlin's single payer health care reform initiative, which was born in the winter of 2011, will crest in January when the administration brings its financing and operating proposals for a radically reconfigured delivery system into the legislature.
The last three years have been something of a wild ride, owing mainly to the difficulties with the federally-financed insurance Exchange. But those difficulties pale into insignificance compared with the challenges involved in rebuilding the health care delivery system and shifting all or most of its financing to the state.
The most important thing for the legislature and the public to understand is that the proposal for a new system is not yet complete—it is still very much a work in progress. And there isn't much time left, probably less than three months, assuming that it will take some time just to clean up the details once the final decisions have been made.
Most of the final design work will be done off stage, without much public notice, but the Shumlin team is now stretched to the maximum extent possible. Every member of the team, including the governor himself, will have to perform at a higher level than they ever have if the project is to succeed.
Here are the basic problems they face:
The approximate cost of shifting to the Shumlin version of a single payer has been estimated at $2 billion. That would not be new money. The people of the state and many employers are paying it now in the form of private insurance premiums and out-of-pocket payments. The point of the shift to state financing is to begin to repair the inequities in the way the burden of these costs is shared by Vermonters.
Nevertheless, the sheer size of the money-raising bill that the legislature will have to pass if it wants the Shumlin single payer is unprecedented. There's lots of speculation in policy circles that this number—I call it the BN, the big number—will sink the reform effort by itself. That could happen, but I believe the financing issue is more complex.
For one thing, no one so far has seen the financing design now being developed by Michael Costa, Shumlin's tax expert, who has been working on the problem for the last two years. The components of the financing scheme are certain to include some sort of employer tax along with contributions from individuals based on their ability to pay. Costa has shared some of these potential sources with some key legislators and key insiders, but there is no actual plan as yet.
The reason is that the political impact of the financing plan will rest not only on the BN, but on how its burden is distributed across the state. Some Vermonters will see their health care costs go down, others will see it go up. The system now is grossly unfair, but people are used to it. So the legislative decision is likely to be affected by how compelling the burden-sharing plan turns out to be.
Moreover, there could be pressure from the left to take the BN even higher, to as much as $2.7 or $3 billion, so as to eliminate problems with out-of-pocket costs that will increase the complexity of the system. There is no chance, however, that such a shift will come out of the fifth floor—Governor Shumlin thoroughly dislikes first-dollar coverage. But there is no way to predict how such a proposal would fare in the legislature.
There is already some confusion about the Costa work. The opponents of single payer have accused the administration of developing a "secret" plan and hiding it from the public for political reasons. The reality, however, is that while Costa obviously has a pretty good idea about how to fashion a financing mechanism, he has no way to tell how the people affected would react to those changes.
For that reason, the administration contracted with Jonathan Gruber of MIT, one of the leading national experts on health care reform, to build a model that would allow Costa to run test scenarios of the various financing options. The model will not be available until mid fall.
The press got tangled over the issue, reporting in the summer that Costa had hired Gruber to "help design" the financing plan and then reporting, just a few days later, that Costa had shared the financing plan with key legislators. Gruber is good, but he's not that good…
In any event, a coherent financing plan should be available by January. There is no way to tell, given the BN, what the response will be, but two things appear clear.
The first is that the BN is indeed huge and many observers are writing off Shumlin's project for that reason alone. They could turn out to be right, of course, but it's my view that the legislature could buy into the plan if the rest of the project looks rock solid.
Which right now is a huge problem. The administration is already at a confidence deficit owing to the problems with the federally financed insurance Exchange, which still isn't fully operational after two years of work. The Exchange issue got worse earlier this week when the Shumlin team had to shut it down until November to install the latest fixes.
Shumlin has moved, even if too slowly, to remedy that problem; he has installed new leadership at the state bureaucracy that now runs the Medicaid program and it's reasonable to expect that the Exchange should be in working shape over the next several months.
The biggest gap in my view is what I call reorganization, building the governance and infrastructure to run a program of this magnitude. There hasn't been much discussion about this aspect of the reform project in recent months, but in my view it amounts to the heart of the matter.
If you ask the basic question: what does a single payer actually do, you get a deceptively simple answer: it pays doctors, hospitals and other providers of health care. In fact, there is an ocean of hideously complex problems tied up inside that formulation, and after three years of work by the Shumlin team there is no definitive answer yet as to how a refashioned delivery system would work.
As a way of looking at this problem, let's assume the legislature has taken a huge collective breath and voted to raise $2 billion for single payer, and the money is now flowing into a bucket in Montpelier. Who manages the bucket?
In the early stages of the campaign, many people assumed that the manager of the bucket would be the Department of Vermont Health Access in the Agency of Human Services, which has a long history of paying the Medicaid bills for lower income Vermonters.
The mess with the Exchange exposed that proposition as a fantasy, and if there was any doubt about it, Governor Shumlin assured anyone who was listening that the state was not about to build its own insurance company. It is clear to everyone now, since the Governor turned over control of health reform to Lawrence Miller, formerly his secretary of commerce, and followed that up by firing Doug Racine, his secretary of AHS.
If not the Medicaid bureaucracy, then who? Or what?
One way to start thinking about this problem is to divide it into two domains—the issue of governance and authority, much the more difficult, and the very difficult but ultimately more manageable one of operations.
Governance and Authority
Governance and authority is so difficult because it is so fundamental: it asks the question how does our society—the people of Vermont—want to structure the health care delivery system that plays literally a life and death role in their lives and in the process consumes one out of every five dollars they earn.
How should the societal decisions about health care be made? How much of our resources should we devote to health care? How do we decide that? And how should that money be spent? Who speaks for all of us?
Well, there are choices available. The place to start is the legislature and no matter how the rest of the structure-building plays out, its role will be very large. But there are very large constraints on it also: legislators can make policy, but they are absolutely terrible at running anything.
A second option is the executive branch of state government. It operates the government. And it already manages the payment for Medicaid, a major piece of the health care revenue. Even more important in that line is the federal government, which runs the Medicare program. Medicare and Medicaid together pay for roughly half the health care system now and have for nearly 50 years.
A third option is that the legislature can delegate critical powers to entities it creates and we now have one—the Green Mountain Care Board. The legislature set up the board under Act 48, which it enacted in 2011.
The GMC board now regulates hospital budgets, along with the premiums that insurance carriers such as Vermont Blue Cross can charge to enrollees in the Exchange. It also has the responsibility for overseeing the restructuring of the delivery system, including shifting the payment mechanism for doctors and hospitals.
The GMC board is an obvious place to locate even more responsibility for overseeing the system, but the legislature would have to decide whether both regulatory authority and major policy judgments are too much for one body.
In which case, it could establish some new authority to deal with some of the decision-making. Or it could retain for itself a direct role in the governance and operation of the system.
What are the decisions involved? Even a partial list would include:
- How much money needs to be raised? Even more important is how much year-over-year inflation it will permit. On any big program, the legislature can do the first year right. It's how fast the program grows that is troublesome. What if the costs of system regularly outstrip the financing source?
- Will the legislature agree to insulate the flow of money to doctors and hospitals from the vagaries of state financing? The absence of any such machinery would be a huge threat to the whole enterprise because doctors and hospitals almost certainly would refuse to function under such a system.
- There will have to be some way for the payer--the state, in the Shumlin initiative--to negotiate with care providers over the total expenditures in the system, as well as at least some operational aspects of the delivery system. No such plan has yet been settled on.
- How comprehensive should the program be? What benefits will be available and will there continue to be out-of-pocket or premium costs to some Vermonters? One of the few certainties is that there will be fierce lobbying over that question, as there will be over every important pressure point.
- Assuming an adequate amount of money flows to the delivery system, how does the money get distributed through the system? The way this happens now is so tangled and inefficient that it hurts to think about it. Nonetheless, there is no way that you can achieve a financially sustainable system without a dramatic increase in the operational efficiency in the system. The principal tool here is to shift from fee-for-service financing to some sort of group-based payment that shifts financial risk from payers to providers. Achieving that is a huge challenge.
- If the previous issues weren't knotty enough, the Vermont structure will have to figure how to manage the places where Vermont authority intersects with other sources of authority, such as the federal managers of Medicare and Medicaid.
Once you decide on the big issues of the flow of authority and money to doctors and hospitals, you still have to build machinery to make that actually happen, day after day.
Who determines eligibility and enrolls people? Who actually writes the checks to doctors and hospitals? Who in the executive branch oversees all this stuff?
One major decision that has already been made, albeit implicitly, is that the paperwork dimensions of the Shumlin plan—the actual writing of checks and the processing of claims—will be managed by Vermont Blue Cross and Blue Shield, with possible participation by the New York-based carrier MVP.
Still, there would be very complex negotiations around this issue, both for the state and for the two carriers.
One of the routes to at least a partial solution to all of this tangle would be the maturation of OneCare, the state's most important Accountable Care Organization. OneCare is comprised of all the state's hospitals and two third of its doctors; it includes Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, which delivers tertiary care to much of the eastern Vermont population.
The importance of OneCare lies in the implacable reality that no team of reform designers, including the very good one that Shumlin now has in place, is competent to decide what medical resources need to be in place at what location and how much those individuals should be paid.
If this reasoning is valid, it makes sense that something like the Green Mountain Care Board should represent the interests of the people of the state, for both affordable costs and necessary services. And that OneCare, or something like it, that is to say, an entity that can credibly decide just what medical resources are available and whether the services they deliver are of high quality and cost effective, be empowered to negotiate with the board.
OneCare is now in the early stages of building its systems, but it is nowhere near ready to come up to full speed in the next few months. Which is one of the factors that are pressuring the design team getting ready for January of 2015.
If you have read this far, you may be tempted to conclude that it can't be as complicated as all that. In fact, the above survey is just the surface, the highlights. The complexity underlying it is even more formidable…
The Shumlin initiative is hugely ambitious: it proposes nothing less than a template for a new American health care system. Neither the federal government nor any other state government so clearly aims at the stars. Not even the gods of politics and political life can know the outcome, but it is a magnificent effort and, in one way or another, all Vermonters will be part of it.


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Doug McDonald
Doug McDonald founded Bancroft Capital in 1992. He currently leads Bancroft's acquisitions and analysis efforts. Formerly, Mr. McDonald held a post as a Project Manager at TELACU/Carpenter in Irvine, CA. His responsibilities included asset management and disposition of over $250 million in non-performing loans and real estate on behalf of the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC). He began his professional life as a financial analyst at Merril Lynch and holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of California at Berkeley.
Randy ten Doesschate
Randy ten Doesschate joined Bancroft in 1993 and brings to the team extensive knowledge of real estate and contract law. He came to Bancroft following a successful career at Oracle Corporation where he held the position of finance manager. Prior to that, Mr. ten Doesschate was with Miller, Starr & Regalia, a nationally recognized real estate law firm in the San Francisco Bay Area. He holds a bachelor's degree in legal studies from the University of California at Berkeley.
Joe Lamkin
Joe Lamkin came to Bancroft in 1997 and lends the team skills in market analysis, finance and communications. He was formerly with Southwest Airlines as manager of business development and began his career as a financial analyst with Rockwell International. Mr. Lamkin holds a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of California at Berkeley.
Teresa Fourticq
Teresa Fourticq joined Bancroft in September 1999 as CFO and is responsible for all financial matters of the organization. Prior to Bancroft, Teresa was an assistant vice president with Oaktree Capital Management, LLC in Los Angeles. She honed her financial skills as an audit manager for Deloitte and Touche from 1992 to 1998. She is a Certified Public Accountant and holds a bachelor's degree from U.C.L.A.
Bill King
Bill King joined Bancroft in 2005 as acquisitions analyst. Previously, Mr. King was with Merrill Lynch in Los Angeles where his responsibilities included developing and managing long-term financial advisory relationships with high net worth individuals, families, charitable organizations, and small to mid-size businesses, development and implementation of financial plans and equities analysis. Bill holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of North Carolina as well as Series 7 and 66 NASD licenses.


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Home › Lighting › Outdoor Lights › Hikari › Hikari Arrock Arc Gu10 Outdoor Light
indirect radiating floor stand ARC of the Arrock series consisting of the natural product Granite. Thus, each lamp is an incomParable unique specimen. With protection class IP44, it is suitable for outdoor use. Connection is made to the 230V mains voltage. This Light is suitable for lamps of energy classes: E - A++
1xGU10 Bulb Required.
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VIRTUAL MARKETING ASSISTANT SERVICES FOR solopreneurs and SMEs
Even rockstars need a helping hand every now and then
So many amazing people start a home based business thinking it will be super easy to run it and create a lifestyle. Sadly, it's not always the case. Running a business is seriously hard work.
But once you've learnt this magical word, you'll get your sanity back – OUTSOURCING.
It's totally magic! Out of your inbox flies a muddled mess of instructions, and in return flies a well-organised completed task. Bam! See – it's magic.
My magical Virtual MARKETING Assistant services include:
Uncluttering your inbox by sorting/answering needed emails and deleting all those spammy emails you hate
Getting you more Google love by updating your website and blog content
Making you look amazing with branded proposals and presentations
Discovering your client's pain points for content, blog ideas, presentations and competitor research
Helping you see the world by booking all travel details (cars, flights, accommodation etc.)
Getting bums on seats at your events with preparation, promotions, rsvp and sponsor management, venue hire, catering, speaker liaison etc.
If you've never worked with a Virtual MARKETING Assistant before, you'll love this part:
You're going to reduce your stress levels big time. You'll even find you've got time to chill in the evenings without thinking about work.
And better yet, you'll only pay for the time I'm working. No paying employment costs (for a PA who has bad days and does nothing, annual leave, sick leave, taxes, superannuation). No providing office space (who seriously wants someone sitting in their home office with them). No providing equipment (one home office is expensive enough to set up) – you get the point.
You've begged for more hours in a day – here they are
Unless you're in the running for some wildly amazing award like 'super coach of the year', stop trying to do everything yourself.
I'll help you with all those time zapping icky business tasks that you have to do.


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You know what they say:
"Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to brew coffee & you caffeinate him for a lifetime"
...or something like that.
Starting October 11, our popular coffee classes are back. This six-week fall semester offers a thorough coffee education—from espresso basics to coffee cupping—all taught by our own knowledgeable CREMA Baristas.
Spend an hour with our 'sprofessors learning practical tips to enhance your coffee experience from home-brewing to nuances of tasting, and everything in between. Six students are welcomed into each $35 class, allowing for the instructor to pay close attention to everyone involved. Classes are held on Wednesdays, from 4–5 p.m. and 6–7 p.m (each time slot covers the same material).
- Espresso Basics: An introduction to espresso extraction—and yes, we'll let you use the machine.
- Espresso Theory: Brewing ratios, dry mass, wet yields … It's about to get nerdy.
- Milk Steaming: You'll know your way around a steam wand in no time.
- Secrets of Latte Art: A creative lesson in pouring coffee that looks as good as it tastes.
- Coffee Cupping: Learn the subtle skill of truly savoring nuances of coffee.
- How to Brew Great Coffee at Home: We'll take you from the proper equipment to the perfect brew.
- Masterfully prepared coursework
- Discounts for coffee and brewing gear
- Official Certificate of Coffeeness
- 33 Cups of Coffee Journal
- Take-home coffee for two!
If you're ready to take your coffee education to the next level, sign up now and get ready to watch your coffee-brain grow!


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Mayor Miro Weinberger Speech from Democratic Nominating Caucus and Miro for Mayor Re-Election Campaign Kick-Off
Miro Weinberger
January 7, 2018
Contact: Jordan Redell, Campaign Manager
Burlington, VT – Mayor Miro Weinberger today attended the Democratic Nominating Caucus at Burlington High School and delivered his 2018 re-election campaign kick-off speech.
In his remarks, the Mayor set forth three main themes and related goals of the City's work ahead:
"In a third term, this Administration will remain focused on protecting Burlington as an equitable and inclusive City; continue to invest in our public spaces, core infrastructure, and public facilities; and lead on the environment."
The Mayor also laid out three core strategies to achieve these ambitious goals:
"How will we get all that done? By staying true to the same core principles that have gotten us this far together: fiscal responsibility; public engagement and responsiveness; and resistance to President Trump when he attempts to undermine Burlington values."
In his speech, the Mayor addressed criticisms heard on the campaign trail and set the record straight:
"One of my opponents is trying to reuse the old campaign slogan that "Burlington is not for sale," suggesting that Burlington Democrats are recklessly selling off the City's assets. Nothing could be further from the truth. We aren't selling Burlington. We are responsibly, ambitiously, and – because Democrats know how to manage the City's money right – affordably investing in our public spaces, public infrastructure, and public facilities as never before.
In short, this is an Administration that knows it is impossible to get anything done without strong public trust, and that will never stop working hard to earn and make good on that trust."
Please see the complete text of the 2018 Democratic Nominating Caucus speech below:
"Six years ago, I came to this Democratic caucus as a first-time candidate for elective office. I did not have name recognition, deep government experience, or much of a history giving speeches when I stood before you that day. I did have two things: clarity that our great City had lost its way with its finances and was no longer able to get big things done; and a commitment to set things right.
I will always be grateful that this caucus took a chance and voted for a Fresh Start and the opportunity to forge a new direction together.
At the beginning, we faced some large challenges, and the work has not been easy. The City was downgraded to the edge of junk bond status two months after I started, as we teetered on the edge of fiscal crisis. Our wonderful airport had the lowest airport credit rating in the continental United States. Our water, sewer, and traffic funds were all in the red, and our core infrastructure was in serious decline. One of the largest banks in the world came after us for tens of millions of dollars and attempted to tear the Burlington Telecom fiber-optic cable out of the ground. We had to grapple with big, tough questions about the future of our waterfront and our downtown.
However, with challenge after challenge over the last six years, the Administration, the City Council, and the people of Burlington have stuck together. And, we have made great progress:
Together, we have earned three credit rating upgrades over the last three years that will save City and school taxpayers and ratepayers more than $12 million dollars.
Together, we successfully fought off more than $15 million of CitiBank claims, kept the BT fiber in the ground, and saved high-speed internet choice for Burlingtonians.
Together, we righted the ship for all our City enterprise funds, passed the Sustainable Infrastructure Bond, and now our core infrastructure is on the mend.
Together, we have transformed the northern waterfront from an eyesore into one of our best places to walk, exercise, or simply marvel at the beauty of Lake Champlain.
And, after a three-year community debate and continuous improvement of our plans to redevelop the downtown core, the construction of a new, vibrant, mixed-use neighborhood is now underway.
In doing this critical work, we have built a foundation for even greater successes in the next few years. In a third term, this Administration will: remain focused on protecting Burlington as an equitable and inclusive City; continue to invest in our public spaces, core infrastructure, and public facilities; and lead on the environment.
How will we get all that done? By staying true to the same core principles that have gotten us this far together: fiscal responsibility; public engagement and responsiveness; and resistance to President Trump when he attempts to undermine Burlington values.
I will say more about both what we are going to get done and how we will do it.
First, we will remain focused on protecting Burlington as an equitable and inclusive City. Burlington must remain what it has been for over 150 years – the place in Vermont where people of all backgrounds can launch their career, start a family, and grow a business.
This vision of Burlington was at risk six years ago when the average Burlingtonian was spending 44% of his or her income on rent, and large numbers of young households were being pushed out of the downtown by wealthier, older households. We were in danger of becoming a boutique city accessible only to the rich.
One of the ways we are turning this around is by doubling down on our commitment to permanently affordable housing. I have a deep belief in the transformational power of safe, quality housing for our most vulnerable. Just after I finished college, I moved to the rural town of Americus, Georgia. There, I worked as part of a small Habitat for Humanity crew that coordinated hundreds of community volunteers to build a new home for an elderly couple that had played by the rules, but had fallen on tough times when the husband got hurt on the job at a peanut processing plant. On the day we dedicated a brand new home to this sweet couple, their adult children had come home from around the country to carry in the new furniture they were giving their parents, volunteers clapped and cried, the family fed the whole community to celebrate, and I was hooked on a career in affordable housing.
For the next 15 years, I built affordable homes in New York, New Hampshire, and Vermont. I never saw a move-in day again quite as dramatic as that first one, but I never got tired of seeing families and seniors in need move in to high-quality homes.
I brought this commitment to helping our most vulnerable to the Mayor's Office and have converted it into action on many fronts. We doubled the annual investment in the local Housing Trust Fund and used the City's federal housing resources to help protect permanently affordable housing at the Bobbin Mill and South Meadow, and to help our non-profit partners build the new Bright Street Co-op and new COTS housing on North Avenue. We helped the residents of the Farrington Mobile Home Park take control of their future and create the resident-owned North Avenue Co-op.
This work is far from done. Earlier tonight, we welcomed first-time voters to this caucus. If we want Burlington to remain a City that welcomes New Americans from around the world and to remain a place where our kids can start their careers and raise their families, we must get our housing and land use policies right and continue to build as much housing for households of all backgrounds as we can.
Protecting Burlington's equitable and inclusive character also means doing more as a City to support our most vulnerable. In the years ahead, we will: pilot the expansion of the seasonal low-barrier warming shelter we created with partners four years ago into a year-round facility; grow the new Burlington Early Learning Initiative that will make its first-ever grants in the next few weeks so that all Burlington kids – including those born into poverty – have the opportunity to thrive; and turn the tide on the opioid crisis. We will talk about each of these initiatives more in the weeks ahead.
Second, we will continue to invest in our public spaces, core infrastructure, and public facilities. Stewarding our core infrastructure and other physical public assets is one of the most important responsibilities of local government. Public infrastructure supports our economic vitality and quality of life, and the public spaces where we gather for recreation and to advocate for important causes define us as a community.
Improving our infrastructure and public assets has been a top priority since the very beginning of this Administration. We repaired and re-opened the flood-damaged Bike Path so the Vermont City Marathon could be returned to its traditional course in our first 60 days in office, and we completed dozens of Penny For Parks projects in our first construction season.
Since then, we have completely rebuilt more than five miles of the Bike Path, created a new park at the north end of the urban reserve, built a world-class skate park, purchased 12 acres of the former Burlington College land for a new park and public beach, made long-overdue investments in the library, fire houses, and Leddy Arena, tripled our historic level of annual sidewalk construction, and are proactively replacing our water lines for the first time.
And, all that is just the beginning. The voters of Burlington have mandated with multiple votes additional, historic investments in a new lakefront park west of the Water Plant, more than $30 million of additional investment in our streets, sidewalks, water lines, and other core infrastructure, and the rebuilding and improvement of 12 blocks of our downtown, including the reconstruction of the segments of Pine Street and St. Paul Street lost during Urban Renewal. And, in the months ahead, we will create a plan for voters to consider to restore and re-open Memorial Auditorium as a successful 21st Century public assembly space.
One of my opponents is trying to reuse the old campaign slogan that "Burlington is not for sale," suggesting that Burlington Democrats are recklessly selling off the City's assets. Nothing could be further from the truth. We aren't selling Burlington. We are responsibly, ambitiously, and – because Democrats know how to manage the City's money right – affordably investing in our public spaces, public infrastructure, and public facilities as never before.
The work of City government for the next three years will, in large part, be about successfully implementing the plans the voters have recently approved by getting tens of millions of dollars of contracts, design details, and construction oversight right. This work takes sustained discipline, focused commitment, and experience. The City has the right team in place to get this tough work done and, if given the chance to keep leading our City, I promise that we will deliver on these plans just as we have made good on so many past commitments.
Third, we will lead on the environment, particularly with respect to climate change. Burlington has long been a leader on the environment, and this work reached an important milestone in 2014 when we became the first US city to source 100% of its electricity from renewable generation. I look forward to detailing in this campaign how we will build on this work and making great strides in the next term towards becoming a Net Zero Energy City across electric, thermal, and ground transportation sectors over the next 10-15 years and reaching other environmental goals.
That is what we are going to do. Here is how: we will continue to put financial responsibility first because, without that base, nothing else is possible. During the years when our finances were a mess, our community dreams were stalled, and we were in no position to advance our values and beliefs. Together, we cleaned up our finances, reformed our internal controls, and methodically rebuilt our financial reputation, and now we are getting big things done.
One of my opponents has applauded our financial successes and expressed her intent to move on to other matters more in line with Burlington's goals. That is not the way it works. Fiscal responsibility is not a checkbox on a to-do list to be marked and then forgotten. Fiscal responsibility is a work ethic either strengthened through ongoing vigilance or quickly lost. Let's not risk going back to the days when City government was careless with our resources and squandered them instead of advancing our highest community priorities.
We will continue to be proactively engaged with, accessible, and responsive to the public. This has been a focus since Day One. This is the Administration of SeeClickFix, the BTV Stat Dashboard, and the Public Investment Action Plan for the northern waterfront. This is an Administration of weekly public coffees that has taken 17 different ballot initiatives to the voters in six years and worked with the City Council and stakeholders to pass every single one.
In short, this is an Administration that knows it is impossible to get anything done without strong public trust, and that will never stop working hard to earn and make good on that trust.
And finally, we will resist President Trump whenever he pursues efforts that are in conflict with Burlington values.
To the surprise of no one in this room, the first year of the Trump presidency has been harrowing. Almost every day, we learn of new ways in which this federal Administration is attempting to undo the policies and norms that have strengthened and bound us together as a nation.
The most encouraging moments of the last year have been the times when State's Attorneys, Governors, and Courts have stood up to the President, and the checks and balances of the system have held (thank you for your leadership in so many areas, TJ).
Often, this work of checking a reckless federal Administration falls to Mayors. In the first year of the Trump presidency, defending Burlington values included taking legal action to oppose Trump's draconian immigration policies, co-founding the new Vermont Climate Change Coalition so that our state can continue to contribute to the Paris Climate Agreement, and joining an amicus brief in support of the gay couple that was refused service at the Masterpiece Cakeshop, and much more.
We cannot know which Burlington values our impulsive, lying President will attack next, but there is no doubt that more assaults are coming. If given the chance, I will continue to stand up to Donald Trump whenever he comes for us, as I have since his first, out-of-control campaign visit to Burlington in 2016.
Over the next eight weeks, I will make the case I just laid out to you to the people of Burlington. If you support the vision of an equitable and inclusive City full of opportunity for all, with great public infrastructure and public spaces that leads on the environment, I ask for your help talking to all the people who are not in the room with us today.
You can help by signing up for phone banking and canvassing, with your social media posts, and through conversations with your neighbors. Together, this caucus has brought Burlington so far during the last six years. Now is not the time to turn back. Let us leave here tonight and work hand in hand to elect City Councilors and a Mayor who will keep Burlington Moving Forward!"
# # #


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Icepick Amaranth
Icepick is the new trio of Nate Wooley (trumpet), Ingebrigt Haker-Flaten (double bass) & Chris Corsano (drums). "Amaranth," the group's first studio recording, was tracked in a single day in Austin, TX by Ian Rundell (of Ghetto Ghouls), and finds the trio building upon their debut cassette, "Hexane" from 2014. Icepick sculpt pointed & succinct songs out of classic free jazz improvisations. Wooley, Haker-Flaten & Corsano are all at the top of their game here, sounding incredibly comfortable yet inspired in this trio setting. Many who found the debut release a promising start for this group will not be disappointed with the stronger fidelity and stronger connection between these three players.
First edition of 300 LP's with digital download.
praise for Icepick's "Hexane":
"Great live debut by this threesome. Nate Wooley, Chris Corsano and Ingebrigt Haker-Flaten power down into some of the best trumpet trio stuff I've heard since the death of Raphe Malik. Brass and rhythm section sounds like a spare setting, but these guys see that it ain't. Rich and explosive when it's boiling, it's stil damn rich when it's just wafting." – Byron Coley for The Wire
The Reviews & Articles:
Review by LANCE HIGDON for DECODER MAGAZINE.
Review by BILL MEYER for DUSTED MAGAZINE.
Review by RYAN HALL for TOME TO THE WEATHER MACHINE.
Review by GRANT PURDUM for TINY MIX TAPES.
Review by PHILIP NEIL LORD for ADHOC.
Review by JOEL BARELA for FREEJAZZBLOG.
Review by EYAL HAREUVENI for SALT PEANUTS.
Review by GUILLAUME BELHOMME for LE SON DU GRISLI (in French).
Review by CHRIS ROBINSON for OUTSIDE-INSIDE-OUT.
BEST OF 2015 LIST at LE SON DU GRISLI.


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King Henry III kept a polar bear in the Tower of London's menagerie and let it swim and hunt in the River Thames. more...
September 16 , 1620 : The "Mayflower" set sail for the more...
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Follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) levels fluctuate due to various health related factors. In women, menopause or ovarian failure will most likely cause an increase in luteinizing hormone (LH) and FSH levels. Primary testicular failure or developmental defects in men can cause an increase of FSH. Low levels of FSH can be attributed to pituitary or hypothalamic issues in both men and women.
Women with normally induced perimenopause or menopause are likely to have elevated levels of FSH; however, high amounts of FSH in younger women can signal an abnormal reproductive condition. Increased levels of FSH in non-menopausal women often indicate primary ovarian failure. Failure of the ovaries can be due to development defects, certain cancer treatments and chronic diseases.
Developmental defects that lead to an increase of FSH levels in women are ovarian agenesis, Turner's syndrome and 17 alpha-hydroxylase deficiency. Ovarian agenesis is the developmental failure or absence of one or both ovaries. Turner's syndrome is a chromosomal abnormality that can potentially cause ovarian agenesis. A condition called 17 alpha-hydroxylase deficiency causes a defect in the ovaries that results in abnormal production of steroid hormones.
Similar to women, men with developmental defects are likely to show high levels of FSH. Gonadal agenesis and chromosomal abnormalities are two types of developmental conditions that can be responsible for testicular failure and consequently elevated FSH levels. Gonadal agenesis is the absence or a failure to develop gonads. Klinefelter's syndrome is a chromosomal defect that is characterized by male hypogonadism; a high level of FSH is also indicative of primary hypogonadism.
Cancer treatments such as radiation and chemotherapy can interfere with reproductive functions in both men and women. Women may experience ovarian failure, while men will most likely experience testicular failure. For some, reproductive failure is reversible with the cessation of radiation and chemotherapy. Chronic conditions such as autoimmune disorders, adrenal disease and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) can also contribute to high FSH levels.
In both sexes, a pituitary tumor can cause low levels of FSH and LH. In addition to low FSH and LH, men will also have low testosterone levels. Consequently, men with low testosterone will suffer from low sex drive and the inability to produce sperm. Women who have prolactin-producing tumors will cease to ovulate and menstruate.
Along with low FSH and LH levels, overall estrogen will drop. Pituitary tumors have different growth patterns and affect people in different ways. In some people FSH levels are high while in others the levels may only be slightly elevated.
Post 3
Abnormal production of steroid hormones was mentioned by the article as causing changes in FSH. Could the use of anabolic steroids cause FSH levels to fall below normal?
I know that steroid use can diminish testosterone production by the body. Could this be why I have low FSH?
Post 2
@donasmrs-- I'm in the same boat. This happens to many women, and is one of the reasons why some have difficulty getting pregnant. I think high FSH affects the quality of eggs which in turn makes fertilization difficult. Also for in vitro fertilization (IVF) to succeed, there has to be normal FSH levels.
My theory is that my high FSH levels is due to a medication I was taking. More specifically, I've been taking a selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM) and my FSH started increasing after that. But my doctor doesn't think this is the reason.
I'm also taking supplements. DHEA, wheatgrass and Coenzyme Q10 are supposed to help reduce FSH levels.
Post 1
I'm not in menopause, nor do I have ovarian failure. But my FSH hormone levels are consistently high which is actually making it difficult for me to get pregnant. My doctor has recommended some supplements but he hasn't been able to explain why my FSH is high.
Is anyone else in this situation?
One of our editors will review your suggestion and make changes if warranted. Note that depending on the number of suggestions we receive, this can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days. Thank you for helping to improve wiseGEEK!


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World Burning
Do you know that really hot girl that you swear your in love with? Ya that's the one. Despite that "love" you never seem to be able to talk normally around her. Well I can't help you much with that. What I can do is tell you what NOT to say.
#1 Starwars
It takes a special girl to appreciate starwars. You'll want to stay away from this subject until you get to know her.
"Hey do you want to come back to my starship and I can show you my light saber?"
"I may look like an Ewok, but I'm all Wookie where it counts"
"Honey, you've Been looking for love in Alderron places!"
#2 Math
It's not funny or cute. It's just sad, Math lines are probably the worst of the worst. These examples are seriously the funniest I could find. (their not)
"I'm not being obtuse but your acute girl"
"You are the solution to my homogeneous system of linear equations" (sexy?)
"Honey, Your sweeter that pie"
#3 WoW (World of Warcraft)
Aw, The MMO. When I was looking for inspiration for this post I did a little searching for mmo lines. Do you know what I found? These were a lot more…graphic. Here are 3 examples that aren't so bad. If you want to know what I'm talking about just do a little googling and you'll figure it out.
"Are you a vendor? Because I'd like to browse your goods"
"Wanna Grind"
"Ive heard that your an epic mount"
#4 Computer Geeks
Gigabytes and Ram just aren't sexy. The good news is if you ever use one of these lines she probably won't even know what your talking about.
"Your beauty rivals the graphics of Doom 3"
"Isnt your email address email@example.com"
"Want to see my HARD disk? I promise it isn't 3.5 inches and it ain't floppy"
You and a group of friends head off on a simple camping trip, Just wanting a relaxing vacation of drinking until you pass out and any other *ahem* "relaxing activities" you can think of. But then your drunk buddy gets the genius idea to go exploring. So now your friends start disappearing and I'm sure you can fill in the blanks.
Right before getting sliced to bits you ask yourself, "What could I have don't to stop this?". Well, let's look at the do's and don'ts of classic horror situations.
•Do NOT Piss Off the Hitch Hikers!
Seriously, Pissing off a strange person/couple that are walking down a secluded road can never end well. Let's say it's a couple. They will always catch up with you. The fact that they have no car doesn't matter. You will meet up with them. Probably right after someone disappeared.
• No Sex
I know what your thinking,"Whaa? No sex? But this is vacation!" That's true but let's face it. As soon as you get started your either going to hear a weird noise or one of your friends is going to disappear. That brings me to the next point…
• Never Investigate "The Noise"
"Did you hear that?" The girl/guy your with is probably going to say that, There really isn't a good answer to this question. No matter what you say. Do NOT Investigate. If you do you will either watch one of your friends being brutally murdered or be the one getting brutally murdered. Both of which kind of put a damper on the whole "fun" vacation.
• Escaping
By now you have seen the killer and everyone but you and whoever was the closest person to you, has been killed. So how do you escape? The most obvious way is to get in your car and leave. But what kind of Psycho Murderer would leave your vehicles unharmed? Your car either can't start or has been used in some type of unique murder. This leaves you with having to steal the murders Vehicle(Usually a truck). In order to get his/it's truck you will have to either kill or distract him. Clearly there will be many ways to do this. I'll just skip over this part for now.
• Leaving Forever
Great job killing that Psycho! You got that gun that was just lying around by his truck and put a clip of bullets in him. Now you two lucky survivers are driving to get help for that big gash one of you got in your arm when fighting off the killer. It's so nice and quiet, your probably thinking "Thank god we got away from that horrible place." But wait! What is that in front of you? The killer appears in the middle of the road and you swerve into a tree trying to…(NOT hit him?). Your friend/significant other gets knocked out and you now have to kill that Mother F***er AGAIN! *Sigh* You struggle to get his knife from him and end up stabbing him through the heart. (why didn't you do this before?) Finally your done, You wake up your friend that suddenly opens his/her eyes to the sound of your voice(but couldn't hear you fighting) and you start walking down the road as the Police show up right when everything is done. Who called them? Why did they take so long? Hey, I'm just here to help you survive. Your welcome.


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Kylene Sullivan
Kylene was born and raised in Manchester, NH. As a child, she and her family vacationed to the lowcountry and she knew one day, she would call Charleston home. In 1998, Kylene attended the College of Charleston and graduated four years later with a degree in Business Administration. Having been bit by the real estate bug at an early age, Kylene knew real estate was an industry she wanted to pursue. She started her real estate career in 2005 working for a mulit-million dollar company as an on site agent. Selling new construction made her proficient in identifying the many variables involved in the production of a well built home. In 2009, Kylene ventured out into general brokerage and is now part of one of the top real estate teams in Charleston. Kylene loves what she does and she wouldn't change it for the world. When she helps a family find the perfect home for them to build new memories and traditions, she believes that feeling is second to none.
FAVORITE STREET IN CHARLESTON Pitt Street in the Old Village
FAVORITE RESTAURANT IN CHARLESTON Wild Olive
FAVORITE ACTIVITY OUTSIDE OF WORK Beach or boat during the summertime
FAVORITE LOCAL PRODUCT Boone Hall Farms fresh ground peanut butter (the best!!)
FAVORITE ANNUAL EVENT Cooper River Bridge Run
MUST-SEE SPOT IN CHARLESTON Top of the Ravenel Bridge at sunset
Awards & Designations
Accredited Buyer's Representative (ABR)
Military Relocation Professional (MRP)


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Three projects we've been involved with will feature on the Bristol Doors Open Day @BristolDOD programme this year. Bristol Water @BristolWater, Trinity @TrinityBristol and Filwood Green @FilwoodGreen all made the list.
Bristol Water and Filwood Green are both ticketed events, so please book early to avoid disappointment. No tickets needed for Trinity. Let us know what you think by tweeting @gcparchitects and @BristolDOD.
Click here to book tickets for Filwood Green Business Park.


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Project Description
We've helped Eardisley Group analyse and report on the results of their residents' survey and provided planning advice for their neighbourhood development plan (NDP).
This survey gathered the views of 747 local residents in the three parishes using questionnaires developed by the steering group in conjunction with Data Orchard and with input from staff at Herefordshire Council.
The resulting report summarises residents' views on the following topics:
- housing and plans for new homes
- jobs and the economy
- traffic, transport and access
- protecting our environment
- improving community services
- creating a sustainable community
A member of the Eardisley NDP group said "I am gratified and amazed by the work you have done for us – we really could not have coped with this mass of information without the skilled, experienced and empathetic help you at Data Orchard have given us!"


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In addition to not being able to prevent prostate cancer, selenium and vitamin E probably won't stave off dementia either -- at least not in 60-something men for whom the incidence of dementia is "exceedingly low," researchers reported.
Results from the PREADViSE Trial, an ancillary study to the Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial (SELECT), showed that dementia incidence (which was 4.4% overall) was similar across four study arms, Richard Kryscio, PhD, of the University of Kentucky in Lexington, and colleagues reported online in JAMA Neurology.
Action Points
- The supplemental use of vitamin E and selenium did not forestall dementia in an observational cohort of men mostly in their 60s, followed for an average of 5.4 years.
- Be aware of significant study limitations including statistical underpowering, male-only participants, short supplement exposure time, dosage considerations, and methodological limitations of real-world reporting of outcomes.
That translated to non-significant hazard ratios of 0.88 for vitamin E (400 IU daily), 0.83 for selenium (200 μg daily), and 1.00 for combined vitamin E and selenium compared with placebo, the researchers reported.
"The supplemental use of vitamin E and selenium did not forestall dementia and are not recommended as preventive agents," Kryscio and colleagues wrote, cautioning, however, that their conclusion was "tempered by the underpowered study, inclusion of only men, a short supplement exposure time, dosage considerations, and methodologic limitations in relying on real-world reporting of incident cases."
The study is part of a number of first-generation prevention trials for dementia, all of which failed to meet their primary goal, the researchers pointed out.
Many of these drawbacks can be found in other Alzheimer's prevention trials, especially those that "piggyback a cognitive or dementia outcome on a clinical trial of a drug used for another purpose," Steven DeKosky, MD, of the University of Florida in Gainesville, and Lon S. Schneider, MD, of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, wrote in an accompanying editorial.
More than half of the study participants had a college education or higher, and most were in their 60s "when dementia incidence is still exceedingly low," they noted. In other prevention trials such as the Ginkgo Evaluation of Memory study, participants had to be at least 70 to 75 years of age, DeKosky and Schneider pointed out.
"Thus, it is very unlikely that the PREADViSE trial could have detected a salutary effect from the vitamin E or selenium interventions, if indeed there was one to be had," they wrote.
The SELECT trial, which was halted in 2009, showed that antioxidant supplementation didn't prevent prostate cancer but had significant toxic effects. When that study was stopped, its ancillary study -- the double-blind, randomized Alzheimer's Disease by Vitamin E and Selenium Trial (PREADViSE) -- lost half of its participants, resulting in failure to meet 75% of its planned accrual and a sudden drop in statistical power.
Still, the study authors "did a commendable job of trying to keep people in the study over a long period," the editorialists said, noting that only a third of the 325 volunteers who developed Alzheimer's were available for clinical assessment.
"The research team addressed these issues as well as they could, especially considering it was an add-on study. Finding efficient and cost-saving ways to address these issues in long-term, disease-modifying trials must be major goals for research groups around the world," DeKosky and Schneider advised.
In 2002, the PREADViSE trial enrolled a subset of 7,540 SELECT participants who were 60 years of age and older, didn't have dementia, and were reporting to 130 participating clinical sites in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico.
When SELECT ended in September 2009, having transitioned from a randomized controlled trial to an observational cohort study, PREADViSE also evolved into a observational cohort study of 3,786 men and continued until September 2015.
There were no perceivable differences between study arms in terms of medical history, APOE ε4 genotype, or initial MIS score, the researchers reported.
Following randomization to one of the four treatment arms, a two-stage screen was used to evaluate participants for dementia visiting their SELECT site. When the parent study was discontinued, participants were contacted by phone for an enhanced two-stage cognitive screen.
Men with suspected dementia were evaluated by their physician and underwent a functional assessment screen. A consensus review of cognitive screens and medical records was also performed.
Many of the men who failed the screening instruments refused further testing, which complicated case ascertainment, the researchers pointed out. "Diagnoses of [Alzheimer's] that rely on the choice of cut points on neuropsychological tests have been shown to fail to identify individuals in the initial symptomatic stages of the disease," they acknowledged.
"Hence, our methods for case ascertainment could have missed individuals that would have been identified by more rigorous in-clinic examinations," they wrote. "Future trials may benefit from electronic medical records."
This study was supported by the National Institute on Aging. The study authors and the editorialists reported no conflicts of interest.


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This Crockpot Monkey Bread Recipe is the real deal! No monkey business, just a really good dessert! 🙂
There's nothing quite as delicious as Crockpot Monkey Bread! It's cinnamon-sugar-ooey-gooey-goodness at its best!
Well, okay… these Monkey Bread Muffins are amazing, too! 😉
Now if you're on the hunt for the perfect breakfast, crockpot dessert, or holiday brunch recipe… this Crockpot Monkey Bread is a MUST!! It's crazy good!
Crockpot Monkey Bread Recipe
Crockpot Monkey Bread Recipe!
- 16 ounces Pillsbury Grands Original Biscuits {8 count container}
- ½ cup Granulated {White} Sugar
- ½ cup Brown Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
- 1/2 cup Butter melted
- Spray inside of crockpot with non-stick cooking spray.
- Melt butter in microwave safe bowl, and set aside.
- Combine Brown Sugar, Granulated Sugar, and Cinnamon in small bowl, and stir well until combined.
- Transfer Cinnamon Sugar mixture to gallon size ziploc bag and set aside.
- Cut each biscuit into 6 pieces.
- Once all pieces have been cut, take each piece one by one and dip into melted butter, then transfer into cinnamon sugar bag.
- Once all pieces have been added to bag, zip up and carefully shake and gently roll around so all pieces get coated.
- Pour any remaining leftover butter into bottom of crockpot.
- Carefully transfer all sugar coated biscuit pieces into crockpot, and spread out along the bottom.
- Cook on LOW for 2.5 hours, or until done.
- Optional: drizzle with cream cheese icing for even more sweet deliciousness!
- Scoop portions out into small dishes, serve and ENJOY!! It's amazing just how quickly it will all disappear!
What You'll Need for This Recipe:
Ziploc Gallon Bags
5 – 6 quart Crock Pot
Craving more delicious Dessert Recipes and Bread Recipes?? Get inspired below…
Easy Monkey Bread Muffins
Monkey bread is so easy to make, but seems to make too much, so I decided to try making it into muffins.
World's Best Pumpkin Bread Recipe
In a vote of 4-0, this pumpkin bread has been deemed the World's Best Pumpkin Bread Recipethroughout my entire home! And I think… you just might agree!!
Easy Chocolate Zucchini Bread Recipe
Put your zucchini to use with this delicious, easy Chocolate Zucchini Bread Recipe!
Easy Banana Bread Recipe
This Easy Banana Bread Recipe is the Best… and your family will go Bananas for this delicious treat!
Crockpot Strawberry Dump Cake Recipe
Get ready for some strawberry happiness when you make this Crockpot Strawberry Dump Cake Recipe!
Bacon Lover's Hashbrown and Egg Casserole Recipe
Calling all Bacon Lovers!! Your Weekend Breakfast or Holiday Brunch won't be complete without this Bacon Hashbrown and Egg Casserole Recipe!
Easy Eggs Benedict Recipe with Homemade Hollandaise Sauce
Want to know the secret to the perfect Saturday morning? Making your own homemade Eggs Benedict!
Southwest Bacon Breakfast Casserole Recipe
Give your Weekend Breakfast or Holiday Brunch a delicious makeover packed with flavor with this Southwest Bacon Breakfast Casserole Recipe!
Overnight Breakfast Sausage & Egg Casserole
This overnight Breakfast Sausage and Egg Casserole Recipe is perfect for a weekend breakfast or holiday brunch!
150 Fall Crockpot Recipes {Easy Slow Cooker Ideas}
Enjoy Fall and all of it's delicious flavors with this amazing list of yummy Fall Crockpot Recipes!
Grocery Money Saving Tips:
How To Cut Your Grocery Bill In Half
You won't believe how much money you'll save with these little known tips and tricks!
So don't miss out! Catch all the latest fun new Frugal Girls Recipes, Tips + more here…


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No Products in the Cart
Whether it's a gift for someone close or an item that needs a touch of enhancement, satin ribbons are perfect to fill that essential part. The glossy finish and bright colors such as red, blue, white and other colors provide you with an opportunity to pull out your creativeness for any event. Even if it's a wedding decor or you want your crafts items and invitations to be unique, or you need to add an innovative persona to fashion accessories, BB Crafts exclusive collection of satin ribbons is a perfect platform to choose from.
Go for polka dot to create a vintage flair in any decoration or with the animal print you can add a contemporary twist to any piece. For that luxurious touch, you can beautify the appearance with gold edge ribbons. From sophisticated designs to the modern pattern, you can dive through the variety and shop as many pieces as you want.
We assured you of your impressive experience with us!


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Friars rolled over on by Ramblers
Loyola 31
Fenwick 7
It's been a rough ride this season for the Fenwick football team and Saturday's showdown with Loyola wasn't much different. The Friars fell 31-7 to the Ramblers in Wilmette, conceding any chance of competing in the IHSA State playoffs.
The Blue Division of the Catholic League has been living up to its powerhouse status this season. Football programs with burgeoning numbers have welcomed the Friars from the White Division with open arms.
"It's going to take us some time," said Joe DiCanio at the outset of the season. "We're not going to be on that level right off the bat. It's a numbers thing. We need time to build up our program and have the same numbers as our competition. That will come down the road."
The Friars (3-5, 1-4) have held their own in most games this season, but now with the loss to Loyola and an upcoming showdown with undefeated Mt. Carmel their disparity is quite evident.
The Ramblers (4-4. 2-3) stymied Fenwick's offense consistently, not allowing the Friars any points until the fourth quarter when quarterback Brien Rooney scampered in from 13-yards out and Pat Mulhern's extra point was good. But by then the damage had been done. Loyola was comfortably leading 31-7.
The Ramblers got on the board in the first quarter when Joe Suhey burrowed in from a yard out. Tim Harvey's
extra-point was good.
Harvey nailed a 26-yard field goal in the second to raise Loyola's lead to 10-0 by halftime. Running back Connor Detjen struck in the second half, scoring two TDs, one from a yard out and another on a 78-yard run. Detjen finished with 123 yards rushing on the day.
Fenwick was held to just 223 yards of total offense on the day and turned the ball over six times. Rooney (8-of-22, 107 yards) was intercepted four times, one of which was returned 60 yards for a touchdown by Coleman McDonagh.
A daunting task awaits the Friars this Saturday. Fenwick hosts the Caravan (8-0, 5-0) at St. Laurence High School on Senior Day with kick-off at 1 p.m.
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I found this image a few days ago. I don't remember what I was googling. But I feel the need to share it because I'm kind of in love with it. If you don't know me, or aren't familiar with my work and obsessions, you'll probably be weirded out. But then, if you don't know me/my work, I have no idea how you've happened upon my blog.
So here it is: (from here)
I can't help the way I feel (2003)
So here it is: (from here)
I can't help the way I feel (2003)
John Isaacs
"In this work lies an interest in a possibility of the emotional landscape of the body becoming manifest in its surface. Visually, the way in which the flesh grows, erupts, and engulfs the body can be seen as a metaphor of the way in which we become incapacitated by the emotional landscape in which we live and over which we have little control. The body also appears to be suffering from some kind of malignancy, as in cancer, but for me, the image of the figure, coupled with the title, leads one into an open contemplation of the plight of the individual." - John Isaacs


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NCIS' David McCallum Goes from U.N.C.L.E. to a C.A.R. Toon
Jan 26, 2007 3:00 AM EST
For veteran actor David McCallum, it's been a long, strange trip from The Man from U.N.C.L.E. to playing a car named C.A.R.T.E.R., on Disney Channel's The Replacements (Saturdays at 8 pm/ET). Not to mention his gig on CBS' NCIS (as medical examiner "… Read more


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Serene Wooden Home Protected by Imposing Trees: Moji Residence
A creative blend of wood and steel, the Moji Residence envisioned by Patina Design Architects is an example of inspiring modern living. Protected by imposing trees that enrich Bainbridge Island, in the state of Washington, USA, the crib is a perfect refuge for its inhabitants. The L-shaped project was developed around a central patio, especially created for dining and recreation. Its wooden exterior resembles that of a mountain chalet, giving away a perpetual holiday feel.
Despite the elegance and minimalism which define the interiors of Moji Residence, this is a place exuding warmth throughout. An open plan living and dining room acts as the core of the house, with wood playing a major role in the design scheme. A container was ingeniously added to the design, resulting in a perfect home office surrounded by forest views. A master bedroom on the first level completes the serene image of this fantastic retreat.


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International Development & Environmental Sustainability
biol/geog 304 - Pacific Rim - Summer Session II
Environmental analysis and natural resources in relation to society and development issues. The focus of 304 is on ecological sustainability and sustainable society in the context of various factors that are bringing environmental degradation and impoverishment to people and cultures. It deals with topics of hunger, poverty, international debt, appropriate technology, relief programs, missionary earthkeeping, conservation of wild nature, land tenure, and land stewardship. It employs a discussion format both in classroom and field settings. Its emphasis is on grappling with difficult practical and ethical problems and issues that require deep and persistent thought. (4 credits)
Interdisciplinary, Applied.
Professor: Dr. Michael Ferber
Meets: Tuesday & Friday
Knowledge gained
Biblical Understanding of poverty and environmental stewardship
Current state of the creation
Dimensions of global poverty and injustice
Complexities of social, economic and environmental sustainability
Faith-based approaches to international development and sustainability
Relationships between poverty, injustice and the environment
Skills developed
Strategies for transformational development
Micro and Macro approaches to poverty alleviation and environmental restoration
Community building and community development
Capacity building and empowerment
Incarnational approaches to missions, development, and environmental restoration
Capacity to speak hope into a hurting world
field experiences
Rosario Beach
Coupeville Wharf
San Juan Islands
World Vision Headquarters
Gates Foundation
Pike Market
World Relief Seattle Refugee Centre
Olympic Peninsula:
Makah Cultural and Research Center
Cape Flattery (most western point in the continental US)
Hurricane Ridge


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EIBN and EVBN in Slovenia
Vietnam and Indonesia: Gateways to ASEAN in Slovenia was an event organized by EIBN and the EU-Vietnam Business Network which took place in Ljubljana on the 25th September 2014. For this session, EIBN and EVBN have partnered with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia in order to introduce the potential of Indonesia and Vietnam to local companies.
The sessions covered the specifics of the business potential of the Indonesian and the Vietnamese markets and future prospects. The presentation will also approached the information sources and services available for EU businesses through the EIBN and the EVBN.
You may download the programme here.


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Old Faithful: Dogs of a Certain Age
Old Faithful: Dogs of a Certain Age
By Pete Thorne
{As featured in Modern Dog magazine} In this heart-string-tugging collection of photographs and stories, photographer Pete Thorne captures the beauty of dogs who are well loved and well on in years. Old Faithful: Dogs of a Certain Age was born when Throne started photographing older dogs only to discover that their faces contained more life, joy, and wisdom than he had anticipated. In this beautiful book, Thorne gives each dog the space to tell his or her individual story. The resultant 75 stories and photos of puppy mill rescues, adoption triumphs, and lifelong friends are a lovely tribute to our most stalwart companions, reminding us just how special our aging pals are.
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Visual Studio ALM Rangers Build Customization Guidance - Overview of the Guidance
Play Visual Studio ALM Rangers Build Customization Guidance - Overview of the Guidance
The Visual Studio ALM Build Customization Guidance contains practical guidance focused on the customization and deployment of Team Foundation Build 2010 activities such as versioning, code signing, and branching.
This is the first of five videos and presents a quick overview of the guidance, where to get started and demonstrates the Codeplex environment.
For more information please check out aka.ms/vsarsolutions.
There are four other videos in this series:
2. Build and Deploy 1 - Build and Local Deploy
3. Build and Deploy 2 - Automate Build and Deploy to Integration
4. Build and Deploy 3 - Automate Integration Test
5. Build and Deploy 4 - Manual Deploy to Quality Assurance
Download this episode
- High Quality WMV (8.2 MB)
- Mid Quality WMV (9.8 MB)
- High Quality MP4 (79.1 MB)
- Low Quality MP4 (5.6 MB)