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promise(redirected from I Promise)
Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Medical, Wikipedia.
A written or oral declaration given in exchange for something of value that binds the maker to do, or forbear from, a certain specific act and gives to the person to whom the declaration is made the right to expect and enforce performance or forbearance. An undertaking that something will or will not occur. It is a manifestation of intent to act, or refrain from acting, in a certain manner.
In the law of Commercial Paper, an undertaking to pay. It must be more than an acknowledgment of an obligation.
The person who makes the declaration is the promisor. The person to whom the declaration is made is called the promisee.
In contracts, a promise is essential to a binding legal agreement and is given in exchange for consideration, which is the inducement to enter into a promise. A promise is illusory when the promisor does not bind herself to do anything and, therefore, furnishes no consideration for a valid contract.
A promise implied in fact is a tacit promise that can be inferred from expressions or acts of the promisor. A promise implied by law can arise when no express declaration is made, but the party, in Equity and justice, is under a legal duty as if he had in fact actually made a promise.
1) n. a firm agreement to perform an act, refrain from acting, or make a payment or delivery. In contract law, if the parties exchange promises, each promise is "consideration" (a valuable item) for the other promise. Failure to fulfill a promise in a contract is a breach of the contract, for which the other party may sue for performance and/or damages. 2) v. to make a firm agreement to act, refrain from acting, or make a payment or delivery. (See: contract, consideration)
promisenoun affirmation, agreement, asseveration, assurance, avowal, bond, commitment, compact, consent, contract, covenant, declaration, engagement, fides, oath, obligation, pact, paction, pledge, promissum, stipulation, treaty, understanding, vadium, vow, warranty, word
Associated concepts: bilateral promises, consideration, gift, unilateral promise
Foreign phrases: Ea quae, commendandi causa, in vendiiionibus dicuntur, si palam appareant, venditorem non obligant.Those things which are said as praise of the things sold, if they are openly apparent do not bind the seller. Nudum pactum est ubi nulla subest causa praeter connentionem; sed ubi subest causa, fit obligatio, et parit actionem. A naked contract is where there is no considerrtion except the agreement; but where there is a considerrtion, an obligation is created and gives rise to a right of accion. Nuda pactio obligationem non parit. A naked agreement does not effect an otherwise binding obligation. Nuda ratio et nuda pactio non ligant aliquem debitorem. Naked intention and naked promise do not bind any debtor.
promise(Raise expectations), verb augur well, bid fair, cheer, embolden, encourage, enhearten, exxite expectation, forebode, forecast, foreshadow, foreshow, foretell, forewarn, foster hope, give expectation, give hope, inspirit, lead one to expect, make a prediction, predict, presage, prognosticate, prophesy, quicken, raise hopes, set astir, show signs of, signify, stimulate, suggest, threaten
promise(Vow), verb accept a liability, accept an obliiation, accept responsibility, adjure, affirm, affirm posiiively, agree, assert, assert an oath, assert positively, assert solemnly, assert under oath, asseverate, assure, attest, aver, avouch, avow, be answerable for, bear witness, become bound, bind, bind by a pledge, bind oneself, bind oneself by oath, certify, commit oneself, consent, contract, contractan obligation, covenant, declare, engage, engage in solemn manner, give assurance, give one's honor, give one's word, give one's word of honor, give security, hypothecate, incur a duty, insure, make a solemn resolution, make an avowal, make an engagement, make an oath, make oneself answerable, obligate oneself, pledge, pledge one's credit, pledge one's honor, pledge one's word, pledge oneself, plight, plight one's honor, plight one's word, polliceri, stake one's credit, stipulate, swear, swear an oath, take a vow, take an oath, take upon oneself, testify, undertake, underwrite, vouch, vow, warrant
Associated concepts: breach of promise, nude promise, promise to answer for the debt of another, promise to pay
See also: accountability, agree, allegiance, assurance, assure, bestow, bind, bond, commitment, compact, condition, contract, cosign, covenant, coverage, depose, duty, ensure, expectation, guarantee, guaranty, insurance, oath, obligate, obligation, outlook, pact, pledge, possibility, potential, predict, presage, probability, proffer, prognosis, prognosticate, prospect, recognizance, responsibility, security, stipulate, stipulation, swear, testament, testify, undertake, undertaking, underwrite, vouch, vow, warrant, warranty
PROMISE, contr. An engagement by which the promisor contracts towards
another to perform or do something to the advantage of the latter.
2. When a promise is reduced to the form of a written agreement under seal, it is called a covenant.
3. In order to be binding on the promisor, the promise must be made upon a sufficient consideration -- when made without consideration, however, it may be binding in foro conscientice, it is not obligatory in law, being nudum pactum. Rutherf. Inst. 85; 18 Eng. C. L. Rep. 180, note a; Merl. Rep. h.t.
4. When a promise is made, all that is said at the time, in relation to it, must be considered; if, therefore, a man promise to pay all he owes, accompanied by a denial that he owes anything, no action will lie to enforce such a promise. 15 Wend. 187.
5. And when the promise is conditional, the condition must be performed before it becomes of binding force. 7 John. 36. Vide Condition. Promises are express or implied. Vide Undertaking, and 5 East, 17 2 Leon. 224, 5; 4 B. & A. 595.


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I purchased this Exo secondhand jacket via e-bay, because I was convinced about the good quality, en now, after a couple of months with rain and cold up to zero degrees, it feels really; excellent !
Everything the tester mentioned is correct.
And an extra note; I'm 2meters long, and the XL size does fit me perfect!
Keep up the good work Endura
Endura clothing has been around for almost 20 years, and is especially well-known in the mountain-bike world. The Equipe range is for road cycling, and unashamedly aimed at the higher end of the market. As part of this image, the Endura Equipe website makes much of the development of cycling garments for and by the Endura professional road racing team.
Top of the range in the jacket department is the Exo Softshell, and first impressions were excellent. As soon as I put it on, this jacket felt great. The cut is perfect, with a long back and short front ideal for most cycling positions. The fitting is close, and the fabric has a bit of stretch, so it's comfortable with no bagginess. Any piece of serious kit that flaps in the breeze, in my opinion isn't really serious.
The look is stylish and serious too: our test model is a mix of black and lime-green, with some white reflective strips. The jacket is also available in red and black.
In many situations a 'close-fitting' garment means a small garment, and that means short sleeves, but not here. On the Exo jacket, the sleeves are plenty long enough with arms stretched out on the bike. The fitting round the neck is great too: snug, so no draught blowing in, but not too tight.
The fabric is windproof and waterproof. In fact, it feels bomb-proof. It definitely keeps the bad weather out, and the warmth in. As the name implies, the fabric is soft to the touch rather than 'shiny' as most waterproof jackets, and it's slightly fleecy on the inside. I wore it with just a base layer and light cycling jersey underneath on a couple of very cold days, and was totally fine.
Going hard uphill I found the fabric didn't breathe enough to prevent a bit of clamminess building up, but to be fair that happens with any fully windproof and waterproof cycling kit. To overcome this issue, the Exo jacket has side vents, which you can undo on a long climb if you're getting too warm, then zip up for the descent.
As well as the side panel zips, there's a main zip running diagonally across the front of the jacket - vaguely reminiscent of some Star Trek uniforms. I assume this is so the zipper itself doesn't dig in your larynx when the jacket is fully closed.
The quality of construction is top-notch. A friend of mine who has worked in the industrial fabric and outdoor clothing industries gave this jacket a long perusal and says it's some of the best construction he's ever seen: tidy stitching, perfectly joined panels, faultlessly sealed seams - inside and out.
The zips are also sealed, which means they're waterproof, but this also means they're hard to do up and down with one hand (often required if you're adjusting cycling clothing on the go). Less of a problem if you can ride no-handed, but if you're in a tight group or a side wind this isn't always advisable.
Other unexpected features include the double cuffs at the ends of the sleeves: a tight-fitting elasticated inner cuff, and a loose-fitting outer cuff with no velcro strap to adjust or tighten it. It looks stylish, in a commuter jacket kind of way, but I'm not convinced it's practical. Maybe the idea is for a glove to go between the two cuffs, so rainwater doesn't run down the sleeve into the glove, but in reality it's a bit of a faff to get a glove set up like this.
On the lower back of the jacket is a large pocket, reached by a horizontal zip, mountain-bike style (perhaps not surprising, given Endura's off-road heritage). Inside the pocket there's a hanging pouch, divided into compartments for tools or food. This is undeniably neat, and keeps your stuff clean, dry and safe - but it's virtually impossible to root around and find what you need when you're riding with gloves on.
There's also a smaller pocket on the back, also with a horizontal zip (sealed, like the vent zips). It's big enough for a couple of energy bars, and easier reach into with gloves on while riding.
On the front, there's a small chest pocket, where you might want to carry a wallet or iPod (and there's a small interior hole so you can run the wires to the earphones up the inside of the jacket). I put my mobile phone in here but, because it's sealed inside the wind-and-waterproof shell with my perspiring body, it steamed up. This is not a criticism - as this will happen to any phone inside any well-sealed waterproof jacket - but it is a point to consider.
Overall, there are many positives about this jacket: the cut, the design, the style, the fabric and the construction are all excellent. The unusual cuffs and mountain-biker pockets may be negatives for some road riders.
The Exo Softshell retails at a penny under 200 quid, and for that money you need to be sure that all aspects of this jacket suit your needs perfectly.
Stylish, top-quality and bomb-proof against the weather, ideal for serious winter riding, but with some features that won't suit everyone.
If you're thinking of buying this product using a cashback deal why not use the road.cc Top Cashback page and get some top cashback while helping to support your favourite independent cycling website
road.cc test report
Make and model: Endura Equipe Exo Softshell Jacket
Size tested: Lime Green
Tell us what the product is for, and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?
The Endura website bills the Exo as the 'Ultimate performance softshell featuring ultrasonic welded construction for smooth, comfortable interior and externally sealed seams'. This is true, the seams are perfect, and the performance of the fabric is exemplary. Just be sure the cuffs and pockets suit your needs.
On the jacket's main purpose - to keep the bad weather out, and keep the rider warm - performance is faultless. On usability, some riders may find the zips, cuffs and pockets a down-side.
We haven't used this jacket for long enough to comment accurately, but on first inspection this appears to be a very well-made garment and likely to be very durable.
Weighing in under 500g, this is very good for such a weatherproof garment.
Did you enjoy using the product? Yes - the protection is fantastic in bad weather
Would you consider buying the product? Personally, no. The pockets let it down for me.
Would you recommend the product to a friend? Only after explaining the pocket situation. For many people it won't be an issue at all.
About the tester
Age: 50 Height: 5ft 10 / 178cm Weight: 11 stone / 70kg
I usually ride: an old Marin Alp My best bike is: an old Giant Cadex
I've been riding for: Over 20 years I ride: A few times a week I would class myself as: Experienced
I regularly do the following types of riding: touring, club rides, sportives, mtb,
3 comments
I've been using this jacket exclusively for the last two and half years. I estimate I've clocked up over 10,000 miles in this jacket (touring and commuting). The colour (red) is now seriously faded, and some of the glued seams on the arms started to unglue about six month ago - but for now they're still keeping the water out. After all that daily abuse my jacket is still 100% functional - I'm in awe about this.
However, it's now starting to look a little tatty so I'm now in the market for a new jacket. Another one of these is all I'm interested in. I'm just sad that the price has gone up by £40 since my initial purchase.
I bought this jacket in green/black in October last year for the winter after reading very positive reviews. At first i was unsure as the £200 price tag was putting me off but when i saw it in a local bike shop the quality and fit persuaded me to buy it as it looks like it will last several winters. In fact, the bomb proof description seems accurate.
I have worn it on every ride over this winter with only a long sleeve base layer underneath and i have to say i have been very impressed with it. Its totally wind and waterproof, I've been out in temperatures down to -1 and never felt the cold. Around 10 degrees and it does start to get hot but unzipping the pit vents helped keep me cool though i wouldn't wear it in temperatures higher than this. It does get a little bit clammy inside though i only notice this when i get home and take it off but it is totally waterproof so there has to be a compromise somewhere.
The back pocket is big, i can get all my gels, bars and tools in it including a pump and still zip it up.
In short I would highly recommend this jacket for riding in the coldest and wettest of winter weather. I live in Scotland and it doesn't get any colder or wetter than around here

subset: commoncrawl


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Rose of Sharon
Late summer interest in an easy care shrub.
Whether you call it the Althea Shrub, Chinese Hibiscus or the more common Rose of Sharon, the late bloomer produces a profusion of colorful blooms that resemble a small bowl. Rose of Sharon is known for being tolerant of pollution in the air, making it a fantastic choice for urban gardeners looking for low maintenance late summer color.
Plant your Rose of Sharon in the full sun of zones 5 - 9 for best results. Keep soil moist while your shrub is establishing its root system and it will be drought tolerant thereafter.
Lavender Chiffon™
Starting at: $16.99


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Invincible: Detroit's Homegrown, Hip-Hop Activism
Ilana Weaver started listening to hip hop when she was seven, after her family moved from Israel to Ann Arbor, Mich. She was trying to learn English, but soon became fascinated by how hip hop gives a voice to marginalized people.
Now, as the artist "Invincible," Weaver is recognized as a powerful voice in hip hop, a writer of politically charged and passionate lyrics. In her "Emergence Travel Agency" videos, she weaves her own rhymes with images and oral histories from Detroit and Palestine to create media that, in her words, "resists displacement, gentrification, colonization, occupation."
Activism is as much a part of Weaver's life as her art. She mentors youth through a Detroit Summer project, directed a series about women in hip hop, and started a record label co-op.
"I'm inspired to imagine that every small-scale action and project we engage in is deeply interconnected and can have great impact," she says.


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The national political conventions, it is often said, have become nothing more than infomercials. And if the Democratic Party has its way, the 2008 convention in Denver will be just that: a four-day, future-focused love-fest centered on the theme of change.
But with just two weeks to go before the opening bell, presumptive nominee Barack Obama is still grappling with how to handle the biggest power couple of the Democratic Party – Hillary and Bill Clinton. Both have now secured prime-time speaking slots during the convention, she on Tuesday night, Aug. 26, as keynote speaker, he the next night, right before the still-unnamed vice presidential candidate.
The trickier issue for Senator Obama may be how to appease Senator Clinton's supporters, many of whom remain sorely disappointed that she lost the close nomination race and feel she has been treated unfairly. Now that it is clear she will not be Obama's running mate, given her speaking assignment, conversations between the Obama and Clinton camps center on whether Clinton's name will be placed in nomination during the first round of delegate voting. The idea would be to allow Clinton delegates the satisfaction of voting for her – the first woman to come close to winning a major-party presidential nomination – before they fall in line and vote for Obama.
"There's this notion she didn't get fair media coverage, and now on top of that, there's this notion she didn't get fair treatment from Obama, assuming he picks somebody else" as his running mate, says Susan MacManus, a political scientist at the University of South Florida in Tampa. "So from the perspective of her supporters, this may be the only element of fairness that can be injected into the whole process – allowing her supporters to have a chance to vote for her in the roll call."
Ms. MacManus believes it would be smart for Obama to welcome such a vote, allowing Clinton delegates and supporters the "catharsis" they want and allowing them to move on and work for the Obama ticket. "The last thing you need is disgruntled delegates, because they're the ones who need to go home and do all the get-out-the-vote work," she says.
Several important swing states – beginning with Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania – are rich with older, female, and working-class voters who went heavily for Clinton in the primaries and whom Obama has struggled to attract in general-election polls against the likely Republican candidate, John McCain.
Under convention rules, Clinton must make a written request to have her name placed in nomination. She has put out ambiguous signals as to whether she would do that. A videotape posted on YouTube shows her addressing supporters in California two weeks ago and talking about the need for a "catharsis."
"I happen to believe that we will come out stronger if people feel that their voices were heard," Clinton said. "I think that is a very big part of how we actually come out unified, because I know from just what I'm hearing that there's an incredible pent-up desire and I think that people want to feel like, okay, it's a catharsis, we're here, we did it, and then everybody get behind Senator Obama."
Obama appeared cool to the idea of a roll-call vote for Clinton in remarks to reporters on his campaign plane. "I don't think we're looking for catharsis," he said, but added he's leaving the details to the two campaign's teams.
On Friday, as Obama left for a vacation in Hawaii, Clinton appeared as an Obama surrogate at a campaign event in suburban Las Vegas – her first appearance on behalf of her former rival since their joint appearance in June. "Anyone who voted for me or caucused for me has so much more in common with Senator Obama than [with] Senator McCain," she said.
But forces beyond the two campaigns are also at play in the Clinton-Obama drama. The city of Denver has issued a parade permit to a group called Colorado Women Count/Women Vote for Aug. 26 – the day of Hillary Clinton's speech and the 88th anniversary of women's suffrage. The group plans to march through Denver to show appreciation for Clinton's campaign effort and to urge a roll-call vote on her nomination. Another group, 18 Million Voices, is planning a pro-Clinton rally in Denver as well.
The National Organization for Women (NOW) is planning a feminist gathering – "Women's Equali-tea" – on the first day of the convention to celebrate Women's Equality Day. The guest list features a long line of feminist leaders and women members of Congress. Obama's wife, Michelle, has been invited but has not responded yet. NOW endorsed Clinton early in the campaign, and is still deciding whether to endorse Obama.
NOW president Kim Gandy does not expect a decision before the convention and she endorses the idea of having Clinton's name placed in nomination. "I think it makes it easier for [Clinton backers] to support the Democratic nominee," she says.
One Democratic strategist, who declined to be named, says there are inherent risks in the delicate dance going on between Clinton and Obama, especially given the outsize role of former President Clinton – and his slowness in coming to terms with his wife's loss in the primaries. But this strategist predicts a smooth convention. After all, if Obama loses in November and the Clintons are seen as partially to blame, that would hurt Hillary Clinton's chances if she opts to run in 2012.
"It's a tiny sideshow that could take over the main event if it's not handled right," the strategist says. "But I think it will be and I think at the end of the day, it's all going to be fine."


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What is the Alternative Media Task Force?
The Alternative Media Task Force (AMTF) was formed in 2006 as a combination of the Alternatives In Publication Task Force and the Information Policy in the Public Interest Task Force. It is a group of library professionals that promotes alternatives in publishing and the acquisition of alternative publishers' materials in libraries; challenges media consolidation; and promotes critical analysis of communication policies and practices. We believe that the "Library Bill of Rights" is realized by providing access to a diversity of materials, including those that lie outside the interests of commercial information providers.
We are a subgroup of the American Library Association's Social Responsibilities Round Table, and therefore follow the charge of SRRT to "provide a forum for the discussion of the responsibilities of libraries in relation to the important problems of social change which face institutions and librarians." Members of the task force feel that protecting access to a wide range of information resources, even in the face of partisan and doctrinal objection or economic indifference, is a major responsibility of librarians today. Librarians are obliged to serve the public rather than the information industry.
Our Ongoing Activities
The Free Speech Buffet
Bibliographic and Web Tools for Alternative Publications
Getting Alternative Press Titles into Libraries and Promoting Alternative Presses in the Library
Beyond Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, a selected bibliography of sources for, reviews of, and film subscriptions to alternative media in film.
Copyright 2007, Alternative Media Task Force
Coordinator: Carol Gulyas


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Welcome, Guest
A4 Portrait cable display kit, consisting of 6 columns x 5 rows, equivalent to 30 single pockets.
All components are supplied in all of our window and wall mounted cable display kits in accordance with the selected finish and mounting options, providing for a complete installation. Commonly used in estate agent window displays. Suitable for all shops and businesses.
Items Included:
Optional Items:
Our cable fixing track system and special leaflet dispenser acrylic pockets can be found within our Individual Cable Display Items category.
A4 Portrait 4x3 Cable Display Kit
A4 Snap Frame With 25mm Profile - Rounded Corners
A4 Portrait Wall Mounted Easy Access Pocket Display Type 1
A4 Portrait 4x3 Hook-on Pocket Cable Display Kit
Single Sided Mini Clamps - Chrome & Satin
2x2 Acrylic Cube Display - 300mm Panels
A4 Landscape 4x6 Double Pocket Cable Display Kit
Cable Shelving Kit - 3 Shelves 250 x 800
Cable Shelving Kit - 3 Glass Shelves 200 x 600
A4 Portrait cable display kit, consisting of 4 columns x 3 rows, totalling 12 pockets.
A4 snap-frame display with a silver anodised finish and rounded corners suitable for indoor and outdoor use, which can be used to display portrait or landscape prints.
A4 Portrait wall mounted easy access pocket which is attached to the wall using our small stand-off clamps.
A4 Portrait hook-on pocket cable display kit, consisting of 4 columns x 3 rows, totalling 12 pockets.
Single sided mini clamps used to attach our cable display pockets to our floor to ceiling cable kits. The small clamps support pockets made from up to 2.5mm thick acrylic, the large clamps up to 4.5mm. GTM Cable pocket sizes A5, A4 & A3 are produced from 2mm thick acrylic. Our A2 & A1 pockets are produced from 3mm thick acrylic.
Acrylic free standing cube display supplied as a flat pack kit to be assembled.
A4 Landscape cable display kit, consisting of 4 columns x 6 rows, equivalent to 24 single pockets.
Suspended Cable Display Shelving Kit, consisting of three 250mm x 800mm polished clear acrylic shelves, plus cables and clamps.
Suspended Cable Display Shelving Kit, supplied with three 200mm x 600mm x 6mm thick toughened glass shelves.
Customers flat-pack cube display at an exhibition
Floor To Ceiling Fixing Cable Kit - Satin
Acrylic Plate Stand - Medium Size
Chain Display - Frosted Acrylic
A2 Landscape 3x2 Cable Display Kit
9x7 Wall Mounted Photo & Poster Displays
Small Plinth Set
A4 Portrait 3x4 Triple Pocket Cable Display Kit
A4 PT Sloping Leaflet Dispenser
A4 Portrait 4 Wide Hook-on Pocket Rod Display Kit
Streetwise A-Board - Chalkboard
Sprung loaded cable kits used throughout our whole range of suspended display systems. The stainless steel cable is 1.5mm in diameter and has an initial length of 4 metres. The kit also includes the top and bottom special fixings, 2 plastic plugs, 2 fixing screws, and an Allen key.
Medium acrylic plate stand for supporting plates from 170mm to 270mm in diameter. Typically suitable for tea plates, side plates, and small dinner plates.
Multiple frosted acrylic chain display for jewellery chains and necklaces.
A2 Landscape cable display kit, consisting of 3 columns x 2 rows, totalling 6 pockets.
9x7 Inch wall mounted photo and poster frames, which can be displayed in a portrait or landscape orientation.
Small acrylic display stands supplied as a set of three. Each plinth is manufactured from 4mm acrylic and has polished edges.
A4 Portrait cable display kit, consisting of 3 columns x 4 rows, equivalent to 12 single pockets.
Free standing portrait sloping leaflet dispenser with room for 25 to 30 leaflets or brochures. Dimensions: 222mm wide x 291mm high x 96mm deep.
Wall mounted A4 portrait hook-on pocket rod display kit.
Write and draw your own advertisements using our waterproof liquid chalk pens. Your text and images can easily be wiped off by using a suitable damp cloth.
Window & wall mounted cable displays at unbeatable prices
Streetwise A-Board - White
Liquid Chalk Pen Sets
Slatwall Display Shelf - 400W x 200D
Slatwall Tray For General Storage
Free Standing Stackable Display Cube
A4 Portrait 6x5 Double Pocket Cable Display Kit
Acrylic Floor Standing Mirror
Slatwall Spectacle Display - T Style
A5 Portrait 6x5 Triple Pocket Cable Display Kit
A4 Portrait 2x4 - Floor Standing Double Pocket Poster Display
Cost effective and creative design enabling your own printed graphics to be displayed.
Used for drawing and writing your own advertisements on our Streetwise A-Board chalkboard version. The ink is waterproof even against heavy rain fall.
Horizontal slatwall shelf with lip, manufactured from ductile Petg plastic. Shelf dimensions: 400mm wide x 200mm deep x 30mm high lip.
Slatwall acrylic storage tray ideal for small to medium size dispensable items on sale. Dimensions: 225mm wide x 200mm deep x 80mm front-height x 170mm back-height.
Free standing 300mm stackable display cube manufactured from 4mm thick high impact acrylic.
Acrylic mirror which can be placed on the floor and used when trying on footwear, or for any other application.
Slatwall 6 pair optical display, for displaying all types of spectacles and sunglasses. Two part assembly design.
A5 Portrait cable display kit, consisting of 6 columns x 5 rows, equivalent to 30 single pockets.
Freestanding cable display kit, consisting of 2 columns x 4 rows, totalling 8 poster sleeves.
Acrylic & glass cable suspended shelving kits
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Щ…ШӘЩҶ ШўЩҮЩҶЪҜ ШұШіЩ… ШІЩ…ЩҲЩҶЩҮ ШӯЩ…ЫҢШұШ§
Parvaneh Amir-Afshari also known as Homeyra is an Iranian singer. She is a veteran celebrity of Iran's Golden Years of music. Her voice has been measured to span three octaves. Revering singers, the young novice became interested in singing. Her father took notice of this and diligently curtailed her exposure further. He also forbade her from performing in presence of non-family members and insisted if she must sing, then she do so only for him. He and the matriarchs of the family saw her singing as a disgrace to the family's name. At age 16, Homeyra married a European-educated Iranian businessman. He allowed her more freedom and encouraged her to sing professionally. So she took music lessons and also signed up for voice training courses. Overnight fame: Homeyra's leads pulled her into the Iranian music scene soon after her participation in musical lessons. While attending Tajvidi's classes, he composed a song for her and persuaded her to record it as a single for release. Despite her reservations, she agreed and when the song "Sabram Ataa Kon" was played on Iran's radio stations, she became an overnight sensation, and this at age 18. However, in order to disguise herself from the exposure, she chose Homeyra as the name to which this song was to be attributed. It was said this was a first for a debutante singer to gain such quick renown throughout Iran with just a hit single. The enthusiastic record companies were soon to vie for the copyright to the song for wider distribution. When it was officially released in an album, Homeyra's father, recognizing her voice, tried a last minute effort to quell her career. He purchased every single album he could find вҖ" both legal and pirated copies вҖ" to remove the remnants of his daughter's voice from reach. However, some of the copies fell into the hands of loyal fans and he could not stop the furor of Homeyra's fame thereon. He has refused to speak to her ever since and the two became estranged. Recent Events: On August 22, 2009, Homeyra had a unique concert with Michael and Pouya in New York. After the presidential election 2009 in Iran, Homeyra sang the song "Jahan Kharan" for all Iranians suffering from the frauds around the elections. Therefore her fans call her "golden stone in persian music". In February 2010 Homeyra announced that she will start a good bye tour very soon called "toure khodahafezi". This tour will be placed in over 50 cities around the world. On March 6, 2010, she performed in Toronto and the concert was sold out. On youtube (Homeyra, Toronto) you can see how excited fans are when Homeyra comes to the stage. The last female singer of the "great generation" is loved by millions and with her unique voice she is one of the few guarantees for a high class level Persian music in our days. 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I sent in my resignation letter and, of course, got the dodge letter first. I chose to go in and tell them that they could either do as I asked and remove my name from the records or excommunicate me for heresies that I would choose to commit, I was a primary teacher, if they did not. I got the letter stating that my name was removed about two weeks later.
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you like all the smashing and crashing that went on
in Godzilla: Destroy all Monsters, then you're going
to love Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction. You
gonna' smile big or me smash in face, unnerstand?
Radical Entertainment, saw so much potential when
they did the movie-inspired version of the Incredible
Hulk that they decided to do another one. It's not
a sequel so much as it is a revisiting of the legend.
They've listened to the criticism and have delivered
a game that's full of action - which means it's short
on Banner and long on Hulk. This is the best Hulk
game ever. Nuff said?
Hulk: Ultimate Destruction takes place in a city and
out in the badlands. In both environments there are
plenty of things to smash. There is a freedom to the
game that evokes GTA but the city isn't as large.
It's kind of like a big movie set. There are limitations
but the non-linear approach to the gameplay allows
you to discover the adventure on your own. In this
way, you are the Hulk, and events are triggered through
your actions.
you can run around and smash the crap out of things
such as cars, lampposts, trees, fences, bridges and
buildings, there's some strategy to the gameplay.
You can actually use some of the things that you destroy
to help you. For instance you can use items such as
bus for a shield. Or you can knock down a radio antenna
and hurl it like a spear. The Hulk has lots of moves
that makes him very flexible. With combos, chains,
weapon attacks and throws, the Hulk is able to defend
himself against a variety of enemies and their weapons.
immediate enemies are the local law enforcers that
shoot at him with various guns. Later on he faces
the army that is armed with tanks, rocket launchers,
missiles, harrier jets and choppers. Hulk can jump
and avoid some of these attacks but eventually he's
going to have to get a hold of some of these weapons
and destroy them with his bare hands. You ain't seen
nothing until you've seen him take down a harrier
increase the level of difficulty. Some of these guys
can take out an entire city block with one attack.
The Hulk takes on a giant mech specifically designed
to make the Hulk an anti-Hulk. Other enemies such
as the Abomination and Mercury will definitely give
your button pushing skills a workout. It's not that
the gameplay requires button mashing as much as it
requires a methodical approach to using the right
moves and combos. This may stand in contrast to the
Hulk's portrayal of a brain-dead behemoth but remember
that his fighting skills are almost supernaturally
controlled. If there's one thing the Hulk is hard-wired
to perform, instinctively, if not Zen-like, is combat.
It's going to take some time to perfect but it's fun
trying. The free range mode lets you get in as much
practice as you need.
Jennings lends his talents to the production and Ron
Perlman provides us with some excellent voiceovers.
The result is a game that looks good and sounds good
with a storyline that would do Marvel proud. It's
like a "greatest hits" of comic book scenes
come to life.
are a few flaws here and there but they are so minor
that the only reason I mention them is to prove that
I'm not biased. Sure I love the Hulk and I love this
game but I can overlook a bit of gameplay repetition.
At least it's the kind of gameplay repetition that
I want repeated. Plenty of unlockables and a documentary
of the making of the game will ensure that you get
your money's worth.
Hands On: Sometimes we game reviewers are
just like you. Oh sure, sometimes we get perks in
the mail like free games, t-shirts, toys, invites
to parties thrown by Sony....but sometimes we're just
like you and have to play game demos that we get in
magazines. Case in point: The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate
like you I bought the latest edition of The Official
Xbox Magazine and much like you, I discarded the contents
and loaded the demo disk. You mean they write reviews
and previews and stuff? I never noticed either! I'm
just teasing. I like those guys and gals, except when
they let the watercooler guy review games. What's
up with just letting anyone review? Sure it works
for GamePro, but seriously....
two minute timed demo of TIHLUD is a gamma ray sized
blast and I salute Radical for giving us a game that
finally captures the raw power and sheer magnitude
of Lee & Kirby's creation. From the moment The
Hulk smashes down onto the city streets, it's all
out mayhem. As mentioned the demo is timed simply
due to Radical preferring you buy your own copy of
the game when it's released later this month and not
wanting to give you ultimate freedom running around
the Hulk's sandbox. Radical did the right thing by
releasing this demo. Since most gamers automatically
assume superhero games suck and Hulk games usually
really suck, this one would have been dead in the
water. But since gamers are taking out their frustrations
on this virtual New York and lovin every ever-lovin'
green minute of it, Radical, Sierra and Vivendi Universal
are going to sell a Hulk's load of these games. And
so they should; this is a superhero game done right
to the nth degree.
Not-So-Jolly-Green-Giant is a towering menacing figure,
standing at least 10-12 feet tall compared to the
puny humans scrambling beneath his size 24s. He can
pick up any vehicles in his way, smash down buidings
with his fists, jump hundreds of feet in the air,
rips cars in half and wear them as fist protectors,
bowl over approaching enemies with street wreckage,
hurl buses, surf on buses and tanks, run up buildings,
climb up them with his fists...and the moves go on
and on, with each one more insane than the last. It's
good to be The Hulk because smashing stuff never felt
so incredibly satisfying.
Hulk is big, some of the enemies you'll face are even
bigger, giving you quite the challenge. During the
demo you'll find yourself face to face with a mech
who needs to be taught a lesson as well as annoying
little helicopter who Hulk just wants to smash. And
so he does.
not exactly sure how current a build the demo I played
is, but I did find that Hulk's lock on ability wasn't
very forgiving as it rarely allows you to target the
most immediate threat. Perhaps that will change in
the final version. Even if it doesn't, it's a minor
issue at best when compared to how many aspects Radical
got right.
gamers are comparing this game to Treyarch's Spider-Man
2 and for the most part it's a worthy comparison,
although I suspect Hulk's world will be a tad larger.
Hulk even manages to crawl up walls although he does
it with much less finesse than Aunt May's favorite
nephew. While some similarities apply between both
gamers let me just say that copying a successful is
always a great idea. Perhaps more game developers
should do it.
definitely has a mega hit on their hands. The only
competition in the near future for Superhero game
of the year is Treyarch's upcoming Ultimate Spider-Man.
It remains to be seen just exactly how satisfying
it is to tear up the city streets as Venom when compared
to The Hulk. If you haven't already played the demo
(available for PS2 and Xbox...sorry Cube owners, but
nobody forced you to by that Nintendo product) I strongly
suggest you hunt it out today. And since you'll be
at the game store anyway, you had better put in your
pre-order for next week because The Hulk is coming
to town and he's bringing presence. Get it? Presence?
Yeah, whatever. You make a better joke.
Preview: Fresh from the Game Developers Conference
(GDC) comes some new info on the next Hulk game, due
out in August and based on the comic book character,
not the movie CG monster.
mentioned below the game now titled The Incredible
Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, takes place in a "sandbox"
setting which means the game world is open to you
at anytime and you won't be limited by having to reach
other levels to progress - much like Spider-Man 2
for the consoles.
subtitle Ultimate Destruction is certainly appropriate
as gamers will be allowed to destroy everything. The
term anti-hero comes to mind and although it's been
overused, it works for a character like The Hulk who
doesn't really know the difference
between right and wrong. He's just big, dumb and pissed
off and he wants to smash!! So the developers at Radical
allow you to do just that! Rip cars in half, throw
them, knock buildings over etc. The more bad ass you
are, the more authority figures you'll have to contend
with - which of course means "more destructive".
good stuff. We can related to that, but one thing
that raised a red flag was Radical's mention of Hulk
Golf. Say what? Anyway as it was explained, Hulk is
in the desert and he has this giant golf ball which
he has to use incredible force to get it into a hole
miles away. Uh, okay. That sounds decidedly stupid
and inane and the reason it does, is simply because
it is stupid and inane - at least in theory. If Radical
spends ist time on things like Hulk Golf and doesn't
allow the player to play the game as Bruce Banner
and turn into the Hulk when things go sour, then another
developer has completely missed out on an opportunity
which every gamer who plays a superhero game wants.
Gamers don't want to instantly be the hero - they
want to be able to change INTO that hero at will.
The only game to EVER
allow this was Superman on the Atari 2600 and maybe
if memory serves correctly, Superman on the NES (which
sucked). Developers need to realize that the secret
identity of a hero isn't just a plot device - it's
there for dramatic tension.
diatribes aside, we'll be keeping a close eye on this
title as the release draws near. You can now scroll
down and see the pretty new screenshots. Go ahead.
your eyes aren't deceiving you - it's a brand new
game featuring the comic book emerald behemoth! We're
not sure the last game was starring the movie version
of the Hulk, because they were both computer generated....but
in any case, this not so jolly green giant is based
on Marvel's favorite pissed off monster.
so exciting about this particular game is the "sandbox"
style gameplay. This means that like Grand Theft Auto
and other games like it, you are free to do anything
you want to and go anywhere. It doesn't mean that
you Hulk will be carjacking vehicles and talking smack
to dope dealers. Duh! One of the most exciting aspects
is Hulk's never before used ability (at least in videogames)
to jump incredibly high in the air to get himself
around. As well, Hulk will be able to punch his gigantic
fists of fury into the sides of buildings and crawl
up them like Spider-Man. Not sure why he'd bother,
since he could leap them in a single bound, but whatever
floats your boat, I guess. Let me just say for the
record that I promise to never use that "float
your boat" saying ever again.
collaboration with Marvel on The Incredible Hulk will
give gamers the opportunity to play as one of the
most powerful and exciting characters to ever exist,"
said Michael Pole, EVP, Worldwide Studios, VU Games.
"The Incredible Hulk will deliver unlimited power
and freedom immersed in an authentic world that will
engage Hulk fans and core gamers."
are very excited to have Radical developing this new
Hulk title, continuing another blockbuster Marvel
game franchise," said Ames Kirshen, Director
Of Video Game Development at Marvel Enterprises. "Vivendi
Universal Games and Radical are creating an interactive
world where the player will have all of the freedoms
and larger than life abilities of the Hulk in enormous
and interactive sandbox environments which
really capture the essence of the character."
The Incredible Hulk, players can jump anywhere, climb
anything and smash everything -- even destroy entire
buildings. Gamers will create their own Hulk-powered
weapons from anything they can rip out of the environment,
unlock new moves to battle huge enemies in epic boss
fights and experience deep and varied game elements
by exploring free-roaming non-mission and side mission
Incredible Hulk is being developed by Radical Games,
creators the successful The Simpsons: Hit & Run,
and will see a release in Summer 2005 for the PlayStation
2, Xbox


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SAN LEANDRO — A San Jose man who police say used a gun to hold employees hostage at his former place of work was free on bail Wednesday despite a prosecutor's attempt to keep him behind bars.
Armando Aguiar, 41, entered Azevedo Electric in the 1900 block of Alvarado Street in San Leandro around 2 p.m. Friday, and held his former co-workers at gunpoint for about 30 minutes, repeatedly threatening to kill them, police said. Eventually, they offered him cash, which he took; he left without hurting anyone. The gun was later determined to be a replica.
Aguiar was found and arrested Monday at his girlfriend's home on Dorchester Avenue in San Leandro after the employees reported the incident to police, court records show.
He posted a $20,000 bail on Tuesday afternoon.
On Wednesday prosecutors filed multiple charges against him including false imprisonment and brandishing a replica gun. Aguiar appeared in court at the Hayward Hall of Justice later Wednesday and was arraigned with help from a translator.
Aguiar, who speaks Portuguese, said very little in court after Judge Gary Picetti read him his rights.
During the hearing, Prosecutor Eric von Geldern asked the judge to increase Aguiar's bail.
"He held them at gunpoint for a half-hour and repeatedly threatened to kill them," von Geldern said. "He wanted $2,000 from them."
Von Geldern also told the judge the defendant indicated he was using methamphetamines at the time of the incident.
The judge refused, citing a number of reasons including Aguiar's lack of criminal history. The judge did, however, order Aguiar not to have contact with the victims and instructed him to turn over any weapons or firearms he owns to police.
The judge also told Aguiar to attend Narcotics Anonymous three time a week until his case is resolved. If any of the conditions of the $20,000 bail are violated, Picetti said, Aguiar goes straight to jail.
According to court documents, Aguiar worked for Azevedo Electric for five years, was fired about a year ago and wanted money he felt he was owed from the company.
"When he was terminated, there was a dispute over money owed to Aguiar which was never settled," a detective wrote in a probable cause affidavit.
Employees inside the business — identified as Lucino Cardoso and Claudio Azevedo — told police they had seen Aguiar place a handgun inside a small blue, canvas case just before he walked into the business, according to a criminal complaint.
Once inside the business, Aguiar held the bag with the gun aloft, pointed it toward one of the victims, and threatened to kill the employees, saying they were responsible for his financial troubles, police said.
Eventually, police said the owner of the business, Lucino Cardoso, offered him $2,000, which he took, then left.
Fearing retaliation, the victims did not immediately contact police. They changed their minds Monday morning and reported the incident, telling police where Aguiar was staying.
Detectives set up a stakeout outside Aguiar's girlfriend's home and arrested him as he tried drive away from the home. Police found a replica handgun while arresting Aguiar, police said.
Aguiar later admitted his involvement in the crime but said he never intended on harming anyone, a probable cause affidavit shows.
At the conclusion of Wednesday's court hearing, the judge left Aguiar with a few final words:
"There's no way of telling whether somebody means what they say when they threaten to kill somebody," Picetti said. "Please do not make me regret this decision."
Contact Natalie Neysa Alund at 510-293-2469. Follow her at Twitter.com/nataliealund.


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Hola, and a warm welcome to our expat community in the Dominican Republic, the largest nation of the Caribbean. We offer you a wealth of invaluable information dedicated to supporting expats around the world. You are invited to use our detailed guides, take advantage of insider tips, and visit our forum to pose questions to other expats in the Dominican Republic who are happy to share their experience. You'll find the answers to any questions, from the tricky, "how do I apply for a work permit?" to the practical "where can I attend language classes?" and the everyday "can I buy takeaway pizza?". We aim to support you as you adapt to a new culture and open the doors to this fascinating country, from your first taste of mama juana to the treasures of Carnival. Once you arrive, you can meet fellow expats face to face at our large social events or smaller interest-based groups.
With InterNations, you never stand alone. Whether you move to another city or go on a business trip somewhere — our communities are there to make you feel at home wherever you are in the world. Feel free to also check out our other vibrant InterNations Communities like the ones in Hong Kong or Brussels.
Attend our monthly events and activities for Dominican Republic expatriates to get to know like-minded expatriates in real life.
Get trustworthy advice and local insights from fellow members in our Dominican Republic expat forums.
To work in the Dominican Republic you'll need a good understanding of Spanish, and due to the nature of work permits, it's advisable to obtain employment before relocating. Expats often head for the capital, Santo Domingo, where several international companies have offices, and the Cyberpark area of the city provides opportunities for foreigners in technology or high-tech manufacturing. Traditionally, exporting has long been the main industry and tourism is a major employer, but teaching English is also a good option for expatriates. The traditional diet favors meat and starchy foods and benefits from Spanish, African, and Middle-Eastern influences as well as the indigenous Taino. Desserts make use of a range of ingredients, from fresh fruit to coconut and cakes such as arepa, made from cornmeal. The two largest shopping malls in the Dominican Republic are Blue Mall and Agora Mall, both located in Santa Domingo, and busy nightlife can be found in any of the coastal tourist hotspots. National festivals throughout the year include the parades and street parties of Carnival and Restoration Day, and each city hosts unique festivals, such as the lively Meringue festival in Puerto Plata.
InterNations is the largest global network for expatriates, with communities in 420 cities across the globe. Get to know fellow internationals in your city, before you're moving, or when traveling somewhere and never feel like a stranger. InterNations makes it easy for you to stay in touch with your expat friends, both online and offline, so you can grow your network of friends and contacts from all over the world. Whether they live in Shanghai or Riyadh, InterNations allows you to be close to them even if they are miles away.
As a member of InterNations, you can enjoy networking both online and offline in a unique and secure environment where you can confidently interact with other expats. You may want to attend one of our events or explore our groups to meet fellow expats interested in snorkeling, dining out, or arts and culture. Finally, come along to one of our large community-wide events, where you can take the opportunity to socialize with fellow expats who have traveled from all over the world.


text:
Nice work! Enjoy the show!
Link Copied!
Musk deal soothes worried investors, Tesla stock soars
Opening Sequence
Mulvaney's remarks upend WH impeachment strategy
Shells fall in Syria despite ceasefire
Pompeo to Israel: U.S. focus still on Iran 'threat'
Zuckerberg defends Facebook's political ad policies
Mexico's president defends decision to release El Chapo's son
The last Soviet leader warns history is repeating
J&J shares drop after baby powder recall
Plan to close New York's Rikers jails approved
World in Pictures
Closing Sequence


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Views: 3610
I get the same thing. I think it's just that both genders do the "window shopping" bs--I'll get messages from guys who BLATANTLY in their profile say stuff like "wants 4-7 kids, plans on becoming a pastor soon".
....they clearly did not read a word of my profile.
Then of course, I'll send a message to a guy who has everything in common with me(doesn't want kids, doesn't drink, smoke, is atheist) and I'll even start off the conversation on a common topic in his profile--but I never get a reply.
It's the main reason why I'm not particularly looking right now. I could put all the energy I have into it and all I'll succeed in doing is upsetting myself over how seemingly good guys turn me down due to my weight and how every guy who's interested in me expects me to immediately change my mind and want kids, start going to church, etc.
That's totally happened to me too :)
You know some dating agencies really push the idea of putting an effort into writing a really good profile, so the few times I tried, I really tried to use the CCC of writing and create a good profile, but it's a stream of what must be illiterate people cuz they inevitably have NOT read the profile. Even when they write stuff like: "I liked your profile". So I quit that scene too :)
"I liked your profile(specifically the photo part--which was the only part I saw)."
Yeah, I even "completed" the profile on OKC, and I switch out my photos every few months or so--but I doubt anyone really looks at words or reads them. :(
I call it "window shopping", guys just clicking through local profiles, then messaging women the moment they go 'eh, I could fuck her and she looks like she might fuck me, what the hell, I'll message her!"
MY PROFILE DOES NOT SAY ONE NIGHT STANDS. It says Friends, Long Term Dating--that's it. But unfortunately I don't think the guys looking for one night stands bother to read profiles. They just throw tons of spaghetti at the wall and hope it sticks. <sigh>
Jonel, if it makes you feel any better, men have the same problem. Most women don't read profiles, either, they just look at pictures. If he's not "hot", she just deletes his message, unread.
Sadly, humans are visual creatures, and appearance is pretty much everything.
"Fair" isn't the issue here. I'm simply disappointed that people are so shallow. It makes it tough for the approximately 85% of us who are of merely average appearance or worse, that we are judged almost solely on traits that we have no control over.
I think another big thing is that human beings are so arrogant to think that they can change their mates. Of course we all make compromises and changes when we are in a relationship, that's just the reality of the situation. But life altering decisions like having children is something that shouldn't be changed on a whim or at the will of another person.
Yep! most of humanity are foolish blind optimists instead of being realists, and fresh atheists are not immune to this syndrome!
© 2019 Atheist Nexus. All rights reserved. Admin: The Nexus Group. Powered by


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Today Chinese press reported that Qi Fang, a local police chief in Xinjiang, was being investigated over his affair with two sisters from a dance troupe. He is also alleged to have used police funds to rent a luxury apartment for the sisters.
For anyone who's been following Chinese news, its a familiar situation. Local politician taken down by details of his private sex life, leaked to a website (in this case iyaxin.com). Qi may have one thing to be thankful for — photos and/or video of his escapades haven't been leaked (yet), as they were in the case of Lei Zhengfu or Wu Hong.
The sudden glut of sex scandals has some wondering what exactly is going on. "[Seems] a concerted propaganda campaign now to publicize internet exposes of officials and their mistress problems…" Bill Bishop of the excellent Sinocism blog/newsletter wrote in a tweet earlier today.
"[Just] a routine to purge the political opponents from the party and state, regular and cliche," a Twitter user using the name of well-known (and deceased) Chinese journalist and anti-corruption campaigner Liu Binyan wrote.
Certainly it's tempting to link the sudden influx of sex scandals to new president Xi Jinping's drive to oust corrupt officials.
But a more likely reason could be simply that the old world of corruption and affairs is being disrupted by mobile phones, social networks and other technology.
According to official statistics from Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Zhuhai, amongst officials alleged to have taken bribes, nearly 100% of them have at least one mistress.
These people aren't exactly the best with technology either. "China — the world, actually — has produced a generation of older, relatively incompetent, certainly Internet clumsy officials who probably can't even send an email," Anthony Tao of the popular Beijing Cream blog explains. "These are the folks whose private indiscretions are publicized in the very real realm of the virtual world. Rest assured that more of these people will be ensnared in this wonderful world of the Internet. We eagerly await the next."


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Eliphas Levi
French occult author and ceremonial magician
Eliphas Lévi (February 8, 1810 – May 31, 1875), born Alphonse Louis Constant, was a French occult author and magician. "Eliphas Lévi," the name under which he published his books, was his attempt to translate or transliterate his given names "Alphonse Louis" into Hebrew.
The Great Secret: or Occultism UnveiledEdit
(Originally written in 1868. Published in French in 1898. Published in English in 1975.)
- Happy in the time of Jesus were those who wept! Happy, now, are those who can laugh, because laughter is the attribute of man, as the great prophet of the Renaissance, Rabelais, said. Laughter is forbearance; laughter is philosophy. The heavens clear when they laugh, and the great secret of divine omnipotence resides in an eternal smile!
- Book Two: The Royal Mystery or the Art of Subduing the Powers, Chapter V: The Outer Darkness
- We want to be clearly understood on this point. We are not trying to say that signs and rites are a big piece of humbug. They would be such if people did not need them; but we have to recognize that everyone has not the same degree of intelligence. Children have always had fairy stories told to them, and these stories will continue to be told as long as there are nurses and mothers. Children have faith and this is what saves them. Imagine a child of seven saying: 'I do not want to accept anything I cannot understand.' What could one teach such a monster? Accept what your teachers tell you to begin with, my fine fellow, then study it and, if you are not an idiot, you will understand it by-and-by.
- Book Two: The Royal Mystery or the Art of Subduing the Powers, Chapter XI: The Arcana of Solomon's Ring
- Progress is a possibility for the animal: it can be broken in, tamed and trained; but it is not a possibility for the fool, because the fool thinks he has nothing to learn. It is his place to dictate to others and put them right, and so it is impossible to reason with him. He will laugh you to scorn in saying that what he does not understand is not a meaningful proposition. 'Why don't I understand it, then?', he asks you, with marvellous impudence. To tell him it is because he is a fool would only be taken as an insult, so there is nothing you can say in reply. Everybody else sees it quite clearly, but he will never realize it.
Here then, at the outset, is a potent secret which is inaccessible to the majority of people; a secret which they will never guess and which it would be useless to tell them: the secret of their own stupidity.
- Book Two: The Royal Mystery or the Art of Subduing the Powers, Chapter XII: The Terrible Secret
- 'Father, forgive them,' said Jesus, 'for they know not what they do' -- People of good sense whoever you may be, I will add, do not listen to them, for they know not what they say.
- Book Two: The Royal Mystery or the Art of Subduing the Powers, Chapter XII: The Terrible Secret


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Transfer window should know its place
Apologies were quickly made by pensive presenters and the show went on, but something had changed. You could see the anxiety that swirled behind their eyes.
After years of increasingly playful, self-referential hyperbole, the innocence of their transfer deadline day was lost and they knew it. How could they not? A man had just been violated in the ear with a sex toy on live television. I don't care how professional you are, that's the kind of thing that makes you stop and think.
British broadcaster Sky Sports News have made a sort of land grab in recent years, claiming ownership of the deadline day, making it their deadline day by branding it, colour coding it, rolling around in it like an ecstatic dog in a patch of suspiciously browned turf.
And, for all the sniffiness of their competitors, they've done it well, utilising their flexibility, their contacts and their rolling eternity of broadcast time to punch up enormous viewing figures, all for something that comedian David Mitchell once said was "essentially human resources."
But that may change now after a night that was punctuated with the sort of moments that would send even the boldest TV producer straight into the broom cupboard for a quiet cry.
And perhaps that's a good thing.
For the occasional moments of excitement, deadline day can actually be very dull. This is a dangerous thing to say for someone who enjoys a twice-yearly spot discussing it all on Norwegian TV but I think you know it too and I respect you too much to try to deceive you.
As astonishing as the Fernando Torres/Andy Carroll night in January 2011 was, I can remember final days that were dominated by discussions of Sotirios Kyrgiakos' loan move to Sunderland, or Lee Cattermole's on-off move (it turned out to be off) to Aston Villa. The truth is that the better-run clubs complete their business early and leave the rest to scramble.
In general, on the final day, there are few surprises. On Monday, the Falcao story broke before lunch in England and we all knew Danny Welbeck was going to Arsenal by dinner time. Had you gone to bed early, you would have woken up Tuesday morning and been entirely unsurprised by the headlines, having fortunately missed that strange period when a fake Twitter account made us think that Falcao might have failed his Manchester United medical.
So much of this increasingly odd day is contrived anyway. Is it even a deadline? It's not as if administrators are spotted sprinting across car parks, papers in their hands, stopping dead when a Klaxon rings out across the night sky, cursing themselves for their lack of physical fitness.
There are loopholes and extensions everywhere and yet we've started to treat it like New Year's Eve, counting down the seconds until a nonexistent ball drops in an imaginary Times Square to the sound of no one singing.
But none of this stops TV reporters from turning up at every training ground, swiftly followed by hordes of supporters. And while those hordes are good natured at first, boredom soon sets in. How could it not? You're watching a man in a big coat stand in front of a wall and speak for three minutes every half hour. How long can you watch that before the desire for mischief overwhelms you?
Watching from abroad, a curious feeling of detachment always develops. It's as if you were one of the lucky ones, able to scramble onto a helicopter and escape the city as it fell to the zombies. Now, safely ensconced in a bunker overseas, you watch via satellite as your nation disintegrates, feeding on itself in an orgy of mindless hooting.
You stare in horror as isolated broadcasters are surrounded, crowded, stared at and jostled by fans licking their lips as they patiently wait to strike. Take the Arsenal supporters wielding potatoes at the Emirates Stadium. Was it a "spuds" dig at their local rivals Tottenham or were they set to use them as weapons, cracking open the skulls of the press and feeding on their exposed brains? It was probably the former, but you do worry.
Summer transfer window roundup
- Premier League: Team-by-team ins and outs
- Transfer Centre: All the done deals
- Marcotti: Mind-boggling transfers
- Delaney: What did we learn on deadline day?
- Horncastle: European transfer grades
- Smith: Transfers more important than the game?
- Macintosh: We worship goals, not balance sheets
Amid the human carnage, there is nobility. When Alan Irwin was aurally penetrated against his will, he barely skipped a beat, continuing to elaborate on Tom Cleverley's future like the radio man on the Titanic, resolutely tapping out his SOS even as the icy water lapped around his ankles. Another reporter was struck with an inflatable woman, but ploughed on regardless.
However, when a member of the public ran in front of the camera and bellowed something eye-wateringly offensive into innumerable English front rooms, context shifted. Meetings will now be held, wrists will be slapped and somewhere a health and safety representative will feel obliged to say something they never dreamed they'd say at work: "What if that sex toy had been a knife?"
None of us got into football for this. We worship goals, not transfers. We weren't bewitched by balance sheets as kids, our first memory isn't standing up and roaring in celebration of a positive net spend and there were no posters of chief executives on our bedroom walls.
We need to take a step backwards and accept the day for what it is: a mostly underwhelming shifting of the sands that provides a nice, narrative preamble to the main event.
If it takes the sight of a man with a sex toy in his ear to make that point, so be it.
Iain Macintosh covers the Premier League and Champions League for ESPN FC. Follow him on Twitter @IainMacintosh.
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Singing in the Rain
I know that we English tend to obsess about the weather, but please indulge me for a moment.
The terrible summer we've had in the UK got me thinking this week about rain – and about acid rain, in particular.
Acid rain is a term coined in 1872 by Robert Angus Smith but came into popular use in the 1980's as the broader population began to understand the damage it can do and the gradual impact it has. The harm it causes is incremental and cumulative. Take a look around any of the world's cities and you will see its insidious, silent and on-going effects on the corroded façades of buildings, or the worn faces of statues. No one notices it. No one thinks about it as it falls imperceptibly, leaving devastating and irreparable damage in its wake.
I think that acid rain is damage by stealth. And that links, in my mind, to many of the topics I've written about here.
Damage by stealth can be the culmination of the little things we do, at home, in our social lives, or at work, to exclude others, stand in their way or make it hard for them to participate. It's about chipping away at someone's confidence so they lose motivation, direction or a sense of belonging. I've talked to many, many ex-employees of companies, who talk about a "death by a thousand cuts" feeling as a result of being excluded by a boss or colleagues.
It is part of human nature to be divisive. We all have our "in" groups and our "out" groups. Cast an eye around any playground, canteen, office, meeting room and you will see human segmentation in action – those who are "in" and those who are not. There are people, family and friends that we feel subconsciously drawn to and want to include. And those we don't.
But part of being inclusive is being aware of this; taking conscious decisions about expanding our social and professional circles to include people from our "out" groups. And being aware of the damage we can cause to others and to ourselves through exclusion.
Studies have shown that more inclusive people are generally more successful, with more satisfying careers and stronger relationships. This stems from a capacity to recognize and control bias, and take the conscious decision to open up to new ideas and points of view. Being inclusive means looking for the bigger picture, being aware of our own strengths and weaknesses, and working more efficiently together.
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1 Comments
I would agree with Nikki Walker on the point that inclusive people have more promising careers as compared to those who are unaware of their strenghts and weaknesses. I appreciate that as a company cisco keeps the user feedback in consideration when taking decisions and that's the reason why so many innovative developments in the world of IT can be credited to the efforts of Cisco team.


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No, Copyright Has Never Been About Protecting Labor
from the let's-get-rid-of-this-myth deptUgh. So, we recently wrote about Matthew Yglesias' quite accurate economic explanation for why the price of music was going to get pushed to zero, no matter what the industry said or what happened with copyright law. Andrew Sullivan spotted it, and also a response from a guy named Sonny Bunch who apparently has decided to totally reinterpret the history of copyright law in a post he entitled Piracy. Is. Stealing.:
No! False! The purpose of intellectual property law has very little to do with Matt Yglesias being able to enjoy a wide variety of new music. The purpose of intellectual property law is to protect the intellectual property created by artists so they are rewarded for their efforts. The purpose of intellectual property law is to punish people who steal that which isn't theirs.First, on the title, let's get serious. Every time someone claims "piracy is stealing" it suddenly becomes that much more difficult to take them seriously, because it shows they've put no thought into their argument and are parroting specious arguments that have nothing to do with reality. Stealing means taking something away. Making a copy of something means there's two such things, not one, and nothing is missing. It's not stealing, and even the Supreme Court knows this:
Yes, copyright was created in part because there were concerns that authors wouldn't bother creating new work if they were consistently stolen from, leading to Yglesias's oddly solipsistic reading of intellectual property law. But, more importantly, copyright law evolved because we think that artists, writers, musicians, and others have a right to profit from their labors. It's a crazy idea, I know.
Also, Yglesias's cute little bit about the marginal distribution cost being zero ignores the fact that the production cost of music is far from zero -- leaving aside the artists (who Yglesias clearly doesn't care about being paid for their work), there are studio technicians who mix the music, producers who craft the songs, and all sorts of other people involved with the creation of music. I suppose they shouldn't be paid either? That we should just rob them of their labor too?
Since the statutorily defined property rights of a copyright holder have a character distinct from the possessory interest of the owner of simple "goods, wares, [or] merchandise," interference with copyright does not easily equate with theft, conversion, or fraud. The infringer of a copyright does not assume physical control over the copyright nor wholly deprive its owner of its use. Infringement implicates a more complex set of property interests than does run-of-the-mill theft, conversion, or fraud.But that's old hat. What's really problematic is the claim that copyright law was designed to "protect" the creator. False. Copyright law has one purpose and one purpose only: and it's to promote the progress of science and the useful arts. Yes, the method for doing that included some limited protection but only for the sake of promoting the progress. If it is not promoting the progress, then the protection should not be allowed.
But Bunch goes on and makes a "sweat of the brow" argument or the "labor theory" of copyright that has been rejected over and over and over again. Not only has it been rejected, but it has been soundly rejected in clear language -- again, by the Supreme Court:
It may seem unfair that much of the fruit of the compiler's labor may be used by others without compensation. As Justice Brennan has correctly observed, however, this is not "some unforeseen byproduct of a statutory scheme."... It is, rather, "the essence of copyright," ... and a constitutional requirement. The primary objective of copyright is not to reward the labor of authors, but "to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts."And if the Supreme Court isn't enough for Bunch, how's about Congress:
"The enactment of copyright legislation by Congress under the terms of the Constitution is not based on any natural right that the author has in his writings... but on the grounds that the welfare of the public will be served and progress of science and useful arts will be promoted.... Not primarily for the benefit of the author, but primarily for the benefit of the public such rights are given."Everyone is allowed to have their own opinion on copyright law. But not their own facts.
The next paragraph by Bunch is also wrong and misleading. In talking about basic economics, no one is saying that they don't want people to get paid. If you explained why telephone switching technology was going to make the everyday phone operator obsolete did that mean you didn't want operators to get paid? Of course not. You're just explaining the basic functioning of the market, and what it means. It's got nothing to do with what anyone wants. It's about what's happening.
Furthermore, the claim that any of this means people don't get paid is also pure folly. As we've described in great detail, plenty of business models that don't require copyright are working quite well in the industry.
I'm always quite amazed at people who clearly have no experience with copyright law or the history of copyright law insisting they know all about what it's about.
Filed Under: copyright, incentives, labor theory, promote the progress, sweat of the brow


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Case Studies
Wirral Waters
Harman House
Please select a room
Office employees cite the intrusion of unwanted noise as a leading factor in workplace dissatisfaction, reduced effectiveness, and higher stress. Unwanted noise typically relates to "speech privacy", in which employees overhear loud, unwanted conversations from other people sharing the same environment. One study found that 75% of office workers are unhappy with the lack of speech privacy in their workplace.
In open plan, focus, or collaborative spaces, the main function of the ceiling is to absorb sound that would normally bounce off the ceiling into a nearby space or cubicle and block sound from mechanicals in the plenum. Ceiling tiles with balanced acoustics, offering the ideal combination of sound absorption and sound blocking, are flexible to provide the right balance, even when employees are concentrating one minute, and collaborating the next.
In open plenum environments, where noise control can be a significantly greater challenge, consider strategically placed floating ceiling solutions such as acoustic canopies and baffles.
Your facility's main reception area can set the tone for the entire design theme and personality of the building, setting expectations for visitors and business professionals. Lobbies and reception areas provide a first impression as well. In research, visitors perceived that the quality of service would be greater in waiting areas that were well-lit and warm in appearance, compared to those which were dark and cold in appearance.
You only get one chance to make a first impression.
Office ceiling solutions with balanced acoustic performance are available in a variety of materials, styles and colours to match the look and feel of any space.
Like private offices, conference rooms have a need for confidentiality. Whether it's a conference call with a top client or a conversation between an employee and manager, conference rooms require the highest level of acoustical control.
Keep conversations private in conference rooms with balanced acoustic solutions, the ideal combination of sound absorption and sound blocking. Conference rooms are also a place to have fun with design.
Corridors and hallways require the functionality to handle high-traffic and the design flexibility to seamlessly connect to key spaces.
Help reduce unwanted noise coming from noisy corridors with ceiling tiles offering balanced acoustics. Select from a range of materials and styles to match the feel of any design.
Private or individual offices, demand privacy and ability to focus.
Don't let noise from shared plenum spaces negatively affect confidentiality in closed offices. Selecting office ceiling tiles with balanced acoustic performance, the ideal combination of sound absorption and sound blocking, can help keep private offices private.
Perhaps the most versatile room in your space, the cafeteria is used by employees and visitors to unwind, fuel up, and even hold ad hoc meetings. Cafeterias require the functionality of a kitchen with the comfort and style of a conference room.
Create a space for employees to escape from the stress of the working day. Use office ceiling tiles to create a fun space to decompress and also manage office buzz.
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New Nexus 1000V Free-mium Pricing Model
[See Also: Follow-Up Q&A on Freemium Pricing Model]
[Update 11/26/12: the free Nexus 1000V virtual switch is available for download from here.]
Following on the heels of the announcement of our Nexus 1000V 2.1 release last month, Cisco is today announcing a new pricing and packaging strategy for its flagship virtual switch portfolio. Starting with that new 2.1 release, which is now in beta, we will have two editions of the Nexus 1000V, an Essential Edition and an Advanced Edition. The Nexus 1000V Essential Edition will be available for free, plus a nominal annual support fee, in a move that we believe will encourage customers and our partners to proliferate what has already become the most popular virtual switch in the industry with over 6,000 customers to date.
The Nexus 1000V Essential Edition provides all the rich Layer-2 networking features to connect virtual applications to the network and integrate into VMware environments, including: VXLAN capability, Cisco vPath service insertion, integration with vCloud Director, and a plug-in for management and monitoring in VMware's vCenter Server. This free version will enable rapid, low-risk adoption of Cisco's virtual network technology environments.
The Advanced Edition, priced at $695 per CPU, the same price as the current 1.5 release, includes:
- The Cisco Virtual Security Gateway (VSG) for Nexus 1000V, a virtual firewall with visibility to virtual machine attributes for building sophisticated compliance policies, and logical trust zones between applications (VSG was previously sold as a separate product).
- Support for advanced capabilities, such as DHCP snooping, IP Source Guard, Dynamic ARP inspection and Cisco TrustSec Security Group Access (SGA).
One can assume that over time, more Cisco specific enhancements will appear in only the Advanced Edition, whereas the Essential Edition is designed to support the existing baseline capabilities as well as all the open standards and features that allow it to interoperate in multi-vendor environments and with widely available management and orchestration tools. Technical support for both Essential Edition and Advanced Edition will be offered under standard Cisco support terms. Cisco is also creating additional pricing bundles for Nexus 1000V Advanced Edition that include UCS servers, and the ASA 1000V Cloud Firewall and the Nexus 1110 Virtual Services Appliance.
There are a couple reasons for offering a tiered Nexus 1000V licensing model now, including the no-cost version:
- First, this new two-tier pricing structure nicely aligns with a common virtualization industry model of offering baseline functionality to rapidly seed the market and, for additional value add, advanced capabilities and future innovations.
- Second, customers are making architectural choices for their cloud infrastructures and many prefer end-to-end Nexus consistency for physical, virtual and cloud networks. With the Nexus 1000V Editions, Nexus customers can immediately and broadly realize the benefits of end-to-end Nexus architecture with Essential Edition while comforted by the fact that innovations will continue to occur on the Advanced Edition to which they can upgrade as and when their use cases demand. Also, these customers can leverage best-in-class Cisco TAC support for their troubleshooting needs across Nexus (and NX-OS) based physical/virtual/cloud networking environments.
- Finally, many cloud providers would like to build price-tiered public clouds, with multiple hypervisors (including open-source) and OpenStack cloud orchestration. With the Nexus 1000V's upcoming support for multiple hypervisors (Hyper-V, KVM and Xen) as well as for OpenStack networking, the no-cost Essential Edition enables cloud providers to offer base networking services at a competitive price for broader market adoption, along with Cisco advanced networking capabilities at an additional price for higher-margin revenue generation. The multi-hypervisor Nexus 1000V simplifies and accelerates VM as well as tenant migration from one hypervisor to another while ensuring consistent policies, security, operational workflows (respecting separation of duties) and management/trouble shooting tools.
As a reminder of the new features of the Nexus 1000V 2.1 release:
- Support for Cisco TrustSec – Extends Cisco TrustSec security solutions for network-based segmentation of users and physical workloads to now virtual workloads connected to Nexus 1000V, leveraging Security Group Tag (SGT) for defining security segments. (Available only in the Advanced Edition)
- vCenter Plug-in – Provides a holistic view to server administrator of the virtual network from within VMware vCenter
- vTracker – Offers VM-level & host-level visibility to network administrator added visibility into virtual and physical networks (such as VM name and vMotion events)
- Cross Data Center High-availability – Supports split Active and Standby Nexus 1000V Virtual Supervisor Modules (VSMs) across two data centers to implement cross-DC clusters and VM mobility while ensuring high availability
- Enhanced Installer App – Simplifies the entire installation process via single pane of glass
- Simplified upgrade process – Allows flexibility to schedule upgrades on a per-host basis, thus enabling incremental upgrades even during short maintenance windows.
If you recall one of my posts during VMworld, we spoke with Cisco Nexus 1000V customer, Paul O'Leary, an infrastructure specialist at King & Wood Mallesons, an international legal firm, about the new release and how excited he was about the new features we were able to show him back then:
With this new free-mium pricing model, and all the recent Nexus 1000V portfolio announcements we've made, including the new Nexus 1100 series virtual services appliance, the availability of the ASA 1000V Cloud Firewall, the new Nexus 1000V 2.1 features, the ability to support multiple hypervisors, like Xen, KVM and Hyper-V, as well as all the VXLAN support that we were the first in the industry to provide, the momentum for Nexus 1000V couldn't be higher. As evidenced by Paul's video above, customers couldn't be happier either.
And as you probably know, the Nexus 1000V continues to play an important role in Cisco's SDN and network programmability strategy as the foundation for our virtual networking and network overlays within the Cisco ONE framework. Stay tuned to this space as we anticipate more educational materials and announcements in the weeks ahead in this area.
[See Also: Follow-Up Q&A on Freemium Pricing Model]
In an effort to keep conversations fresh, Cisco Blogs closes comments after 60 days. Please visit the Cisco Blogs hub page for the latest content.
19 Comments
Guy Baker
Please can I be added to the Beta? Thanks.
Great addition! This will help many people with their home labs.
Stan Ilchev
Will the Essential Edition include Private VLAN support?
If possible add me to beta, got a UCS Lab ready for testing
I'm interested in the beta.
Great move to the free-mium pricing model.
I would like to participate in the beta.
We are very interested in testing this. We have some OpenStack (Ubuntu + KVM) installations and would love to have this working. We currently have Essex but soon will have some Folsom install too.
Thank you!
What is the support model for the Essentials Edition? Is it per incident, included or something else?
This is important for Enterprise users.
For support with Essentials, will it be on par with support for Advanced (e.g. 24x7x365). Thank you.
Does this require Enterprise Plus VMWare licensing?
Please add me to the beta program.
If possible add me to beta, got a UCS Lab ready for testing!
I'm interested! Please add me to the beta.
I'd like to be added to the Beta of this.


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Scroll down to learn more
Scroll down to learn more
Prado Group is a privately held real estate development and investment management company with a primary focus on residential, retail and mixed-use properties. We seek in-fill, supply-constrained markets with high barriers-to-entry in the greater San Francisco Bay Area.
Our goal is to enhance the communities we work in by creating high-quality, sustainable environments for people to live, work, shop, and relax.
Prado Group is a privately held real estate development and investment management company with a primary focus on residential, retail and mixed-use properties. We seek in-fill, supply-constrained markets with high barriers-to-entry in the greater San Francisco Bay Area. Our goal is to enhance the communities we work in by creating high-quality, sustainable environments for people to live, work, shop, and relax.
Conceived on the steps of the Prado Museum, Prado Group's mission was inspired by the power of blending creativity, masterful design, integration with the natural environment, and the energy of the public realm. In each of our projects, whether existing buildings or ground-up developments, we seek to create quality environments that will serve and inspire future generations.
Prado Group pursues sustainable investment returns by focusing on asset strategies that create value through asset management, development, repositioning, and property enhancement. Our overall strategy is to acquire and develop assets with a strong intrinsic value and a clear opportunity for long-term fundamental growth.
Lisa Congdon
Development Manager
Zach Felson
Vice President of Acquisitions
Since its inception in 2003, Prado has invested in over 60 properties with a significant portfolio located in the city of San Francisco. One of our key investment criteria is that we are uniquely able to improve the property, and as a result, its surroundings.
Our search for the right opportunity is all-encompassing. Our portfolio includes everything from small infill development sites to institutional sized apartment buildings and retail. As a small tight-knit company, we combine an entrepreneurial approach to crafting our value-add plans with institutional level implementation.
To properly deliver our value proposition, we rely on and build a deep network. We actively seek the guidance of community stakeholders, hand select the top team members, and bring in partners with like-minded priorities. Only with the right team can we do what's right for our properties and their communities.
At Prado Group, we take a proactive, thoughtful, and hands-on approach to Asset and Property Management. We identify each asset's opportunities, mitigate the risks, and focus on value creation at each stage in the asset and property management process.
From the underwriting of an acquisition target to analyzing the scope of specific unit improvements, we perform detailed return on investment analysis to assess the costs and benefits associated with each execution. Our marketing and lease up strategies are customized for each property to drive traffic, capture interest, and close deals.
Long term decisions and short term decisions are made with the same philosophy in mind: we focus on the details and attributes that add value, enhance the quality, consider the community and demonstrate positive return on investment characteristics. Our overall goal is to identify and create opportunities while executing prudent strategies that achieve long-term value and sustainable returns.
The word Prado means meadow or grassland. This pure, natural image of a blank slate or "tabula rasa" inspires our aesthetic vision at Prado Group as we strive to blend aesthetic vision into tangible projects through our experiences and sensory perceptions of the outside world.
This act of starting with a blank slate-- creating something from nothing-- and creatively and harmoniously blending art, design, and humanity with each project and its surroundings is what inspires our mission to create vibrant places for people to live, work, shop, and relax.
Throughout the development process, we strive to integrate community, environment, sense of place, and long-term sustainability into our projects and create memorable places for future generations.