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Proxima b was first discovered in August, creating considerable buzz due to the possibility it could harbor alien life. Now, a new study has added more valuable information on the exoplanet, claiming that it may be an "ocean planet," and that it may actually have one gigantic ocean covering it. Could this be something straight out of the 1995 film Waterworld, or the planet Miller from 2014's Interstellar?
Back in August, Phys.org interviewed Geographic Information Technology associate teaching professor Cordula Robinson, who explained that there's a possibility alien life may be able to exist on Proxima b. She noted that the exoplanet is a rocky "Earth-like" planet that may have an atmosphere, but is most notably warm enough to ensure liquid water remains stable. As water is a requisite ingredient for life to be sustained on a planet, this piqued a lot of interest, as well as discussions on whether extraterrestrial life is a possibility or not.
"When we think about the cosmos—and the expansiveness of the universe—it almost defies intuition that the Earth is home to its only life form," Robinson continued. "Yet direct, tangible, and predictable evidence to support such speculation has evaded us until now. Proxima b has the potential to change that and open inquiry into extraterrestrial existence all with a scientific premise."
https://t.co/mbvQKKrmFv : #Proximab #Alien – Recent Study Says There Is At Least One Ocean In Proxima B, More Possibility Of Alien Life pic.twitter.com/UPppCb9eFV— TREND GIZMO (@TrendGizmo) October 9, 2016
Moving back to the present, a new study recently accepted by the Astrophysical Journal adds more color to the previous theories on Proxima b. French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) researchers were able to calculate the exoplanet's size, as well as its surface features, and based on the data gleaned, it does have some similarities to Earth as an "ocean planet."
The planet, as previously confirmed, orbits Proxima Centauri, which at a distance of four light-years away from Earth, is the closest star to the Sun. The CNRS team discovered that Proxima b is about 1.3 times more massive than Earth, and orbits its host star approximately 4.6 million miles away from it, right within its "temperate" zone. That's a very close distance from its host, and only a tenth or so the distance that separates Mercury from our Sun. As for Proxima Centauri, the researchers noted that it is smaller than our Sun, and about a thousand times weaker.
All this points to Proxima b having the potential to host alien life, and the researchers admitted as much in a brief excerpt from its official statement, as quoted on Friday by Yahoo News in a report on the exoplanet.
"The planet may very well host liquid water on its surface, and therefore also some forms of life."
A separate report from Gizmodo Australia further broke down the CNRS scientists' findings on Proxima b, explaining that the exoplanet's radius is about 0.94 to 1.4 times that of Earth's radius. Should the radius be closer to the downside estimate (about 3,915 miles/6,300 kilometers), that would make the planet "very dense," and suggest that it has a metallic core occupying two-thirds of its mass. This makes it highly possible Proxima b hosts "vast" oceans, with surface water likely taking up 0.05 percent of the planet's mass, or more than twice Earth's share of 0.02 percent.
https://t.co/2MiL3Alr2z #Proximab may have oceans ???? This could be groundbreaking #science #space #galaxy #NASA— José Molina (@djchema78) October 8, 2016
But what if the radius is actually closer to the upside, meaning a radius of about 5,543 miles/8,920 kilometers? Gizmodo Australia says that is where "things get even more interesting," as Proxima b would then be likely covered by a single, massive ocean. The planet would be equally split between a rocky core and that vast ocean, and would have a thin, Earth-like atmosphere. According to the CNRS team, that could add to the chances of Proxima b being habitable to alien life.
Still, Gizmodo Australia cautions that more research is needed, and that it's too early for anyone to conclusively say that we aren't alone in this universe.
"It's easy to get excited about this result, but we need to learn a lot more about this planet before we jump to conclusions. The researchers based their models on the assumption that Proxima b harbours a thin atmosphere — but we actually don't know what kind of atmosphere this planet has, or if it even has one."
[Featured Image by Shutterstock]


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<Update 2015/7/28 2:30pm> I received clarification that the SharePoint product group does support installing .Net 4.6 onto an existing SharePoint 2013 farm server. It is the installer for SharePoint 2013 that will fail to detect .Net 4.5 if .Net 4.6 is already installed and thus throw an error. A future update should correct this scenario with the installer.
On a related note I was able to successfully uninstall .Net 4.6 from a server (remove the KB as mentioned at bottom of this post) and then install SharePoint 2013.
Quick publish on this item and I'll update once I have more details. One of my customers is exploring Visual Studio 2015 / .Net 4.6 which was just released a week or two ago. During some testing I found out that (as of July 28 2015 when this is published) you cannot install SharePoint 2013 binaries onto a server that has .Net 4.6 (or Visual Studio 2015 which includes .Net 4.6) installed. I received the below error message.
Since .Net 4.6 is an in-place upgrade of .Net 4/4.5/4.5.1/4.5.2 SharePoint has an issue with finding .Net 4.5.x after applying 4.6. I am testing out removing the associated KB for .Net 4.6 to see if this is reversible should you accidentally deploy this to a dev / test farm. I'm also testing if you can install .Net 4.6 / Visual Studio 2015 onto an existing SharePoint 2013 farm.
Removing associated KB…
Download .Net framework
Hopefully this helps someone before they run into issues with their farm. Feel free to leave a comment if you find out any additional details or workarounds.
-Frog Out

subset: commoncrawl


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First, the features of Chinese hotel decoration
Solemnity and elegance are the features of Chinese hotel decoration. In the decoration of Chinese hotels, there are two styles of traditional Chinese style and modern Chinese style, and the two styles are different in decoration. If it is the traditional Chinese style, it is also different in the decoration materials. The modern style is more particular about the modern style, in the decorative material. The material is also wider than the traditional Chinese style.
Two, Chinese hotel decoration partition
Using partition is a big feature of Chinese hotel decoration. Hotel partition can not only better plan the space of hotel decoration, but also have strong decoration. It should be noted that the partition of Chinese hotel is not the partition of the whole space, but the transition of space.
What are the matters needing attention in the decoration of Chinese hotels
Three, Chinese hotel decoration furniture
Chinese style hotel, in furniture can not choose classical hotel furniture, use Chinese style hotel, in the design of furniture should pay more attention to modern style, not too old, too tedious decoration is easy to conflict with the style of the hotel, the decoration of Chinese hotels should be clear and high taste.
Four, Chinese hotel decoration level sense
The sense of hierarchy is a major feature of Chinese hotel decoration. In the decoration of the hotel, the Chinese style hotel decoration, which embodies Chinese charm, is essential to the antique and furnished, and should be fully considered for the position of the decoration. The Chinese hotel decoration should mainly be red and black in the furniture and ornaments.


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In a rerun of last summer's political interference in pharmaceutical pricing spearheaded by both Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, which initially focused on Martin Shrekli's price hike of the Turing Pharmaceuticals Daraprim drug, then shifted to Allergan (and everyone knows what happened after), over the past few days much of the media's attention has focused on the ongoing cost increases of Mylan's Epipen.
As NBC wrote last Friday, a growing chorus is calling on the Mylan pharmaceutical company to justify its price hikes on EpiPens, a potentially life-saving medication for children and others facing fatal allergies that has little real competition.
In 2007, a two-pack of the epinephrine-filled devices went for $56.64 wholesale, according to data gathered by Connecture, a health insurance technology and data analytics company. Now it's jumped to $365.16, an increase of 544.77 percent. Since the end of 2013, the price has gone up by 15 percent every other quarter.
And, echoring the public outcry following Turing's 2015 price increase for its toxoplasmosis drug Daraprim, doctors, parents, patients, and a former presidential candidate are speaking out on social media — and negative comments are filling up Mylan's Facebook page following an NBC story.
Ironically, even Martin Shkreli has chimed in: "These guys are really vultures. What drives this company's moral compass?" he told NBC News in a phone interview. In 2015, Shkreli famously jacked up the price of Turing's malaria and HIV medicine Darapim overnight, from $13.50 to $750, a move that earned him a grilling by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in February — and the nickname "Pharma Bro" for his seemingly carefree attitude toward affordable medication.
But Shkreli told NBC News he had originally considered gradually raising the price of Darapim, as Mylan did with the EpiPen. Ultimately, "the math, we felt, was a little silly; so we decided to come out and say 'This is our desired price.'"
Just like last year, Bernie Sanders got involved too:
There's no reason an EpiPen, which costs Mylan just a few dollars to make, should cost families more than $600. https://t.co/rVWUlMxD0Q— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) August 18, 2016
So, to keep the analogy with the summer of 2015 complete, where numerous angry congressional letters and hearing followed, moments ago two senior U.S. senators are examining Mylan NV's price increases for the popular EpiPen allergy shot, with one Republican saying the drugmaker's practices may have limited access to the treatment.
Senator Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican, asked the drugmaker to explain "a steep price increase in the product in recent years," citing complaints from constituents who say they have to pay as much as $500 for one of the pens. Grassley heads the Senate Committee on the Judiciary.
"The substantial price increase could limit access to a much-needed medication," Grassley wrote to Mylan Chief Executive officer Heather Bresch in an Aug. 22 letter.
Following the news of the letter, Mylan shares promptly fell 1.5% below $48.
As Bloomberg adds, in a separate letter Monday, Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Mylan's practices with regards to EpiPen's price. She called for the FTC to look into whether Mylan had done anything to deny competitors access to the market in order to keep raising prices.
EpiPen is a self-administered injection of epinephrine, a drug that can be used to treat allergic reactions from bee stings, food allergies or other triggers. Since acquiring the drug in 2007, Mylan has raised the price several times, up from about $57 a shot when it first took over sales of the product, a review of pricing data by Bloomberg found.
Mylan spokeswoman Nina Devlin declined to comment specifically on the letters. The company says that it offers several programs to help people afford the drug. "Ensuring access to epinephrine -- the only first-line treatment for anaphylaxis -- is a core part of our mission.
The biggest irony, however, just like last year, is that it is the permissive government regulations and the US reimbursement system that allows pharma companies like Mylan to charge as much as they want, and - mostly - get away with it.
However, since that particular system is too big, and too unwieldy to change, it appears that Mylan will be this year's sacrificial distraction, meant to placate the public, even as the underlying problem with the US healthcare system remain largely unchanged.
* * *
Grassley's full letter to Mylan is below:


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Curve Ball
Tags: Sports Games / Ping Pong Games
Publisher: Gamer.com.tw
Video Walkthrough
This is a classic remake of the ping pong game combining the best features of squash and tennis. Pong has captured the attention of thousands and is still fairly popular today. Anyway, the idea of the game is just to hit the ball with your paddle but, make it curve to win. The more you'll twist the more the ball will rotate! You will score more points while doing super curves with the ball.
· Control Paddle = Use Mouse
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The Passage of Power
The Years of Lyndon JohnsonBook - 2012
From the critics
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Excellent history .
The selection of LBJ as VP by JFK ,
LBJ becoming President replacing JFK, ,
his masterful winning over of civil rights all impessively told .
The LBJ vs Bobby Kennedy rivalry explained.
After taking a hiatus of a few months from Caro's LBJ series, I finally returned to read the most current book, Passage of Power. If I could give half stars, I'd give it a 3.5. The part about the assassination and LBJ's reaction to it are masterful: I learned a lot I hadn't know before, and the writing was so engrossing, I had a hard time turning off my Kindle. The discussion about the feud between LBJ and RFK was also well done: both men come off looking like playground whiners. What disappointed me was the description about how the Civil Rights Bill of 1964 was passed. While LBJ's grand strategy was pretty well explained, the drama leading up to the actual passage through the Senate is missing. It's as if Caro had a book deadline to meet and decided to skip over this critical part of American history. And there's very little mention of the Voting Rights Act, or Medicare, etc. Maybe that's in the upcoming book, but I was left with the impression that that book will deal primarily with what ultimately brought LBJ down--Vietnam. We'll see if those society-changing acts will be discussed more fully in that volume. In any event, given the incredible detail that Caro typically has given us, I thought that this book didn't do justice to one of the two the most important pieces of civil rights legislation to be enacted since the Civil War.
What a masterful book! This is a long, worthwhile read into a fairly short period of Johnson's life. I wasn't that interested in LBJ before I read this, but now I can't wait for the next volume.
I loved reading this book, found it engrossing, and couldn't wait to pick it back up again every time I had to detach over the course of the couple weeks it took me to read it. But I have to say, Caro could use a good copyeditor. The redundancies can be distracting, and his careful work deserves better. The book is (otherwise) very well designed, and fun to hold and turn through, even given how heavy it is (somehow its heft is a feature of the design).
More of my thoughts on this book, here: http://www.wac6.com/wac6/2012/06/robert-caro-needs-1-a-copy-editor-and-2-a-producer-for-his-footnotes.html
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The Plessy Choice
Even though Report of Liberty stated that "All males are manufactured equivalent," due to the institution of http://cristalservice.pl captivity, this record wasn't to become grounded in law while in the Usa till following the Civilwar (and, perhaps, not fully satisfied for many years then). In 1865, the Thirteenth Change finally place a conclusion to captivity and was ratified. Furthermore, the Fourteenth Amendment (1868) strengthened the rights of recently opened slaves by expressing, among other items, that no state should deprive anyone of either "due means of law" or of the "equal security of the law." Lastly, the Fifteenth Amendment (1870) further increased the rights of recently opened slaves by barring states from questioning everyone the correct to vote because of competition.
While in the South Americans were frequently treated differently than whites in many elements of the united states, particularly despite these Efficiencies. In fact, regulations that generated the legitimately required segregation of the contests were ratified by many state legislatures. Put simply, the laws of many claims decreed that whites and greens could not utilize the same establishments, drive exactly the same coaches, attend the exact same faculties, etc. These laws came into existence known as Jim Crow laws. It was not until the 1890s that they were right challenged in courtroom although many folks experienced these guidelines were not upright. In 1892, an African-American man named Homer Plessy refused to quit his seat to a white man over a practice in New Orleans, as he was necessary to do by Louisiana state-law. He was charged. Fighting the Louisiana legislation separating blacks violated the "equivalent protection condition" of the Amendment for the U.S. Structure, decided to fight his arrest in court. By 1896, his event had managed to get all the way towards the Usa Supreme Court. With an election of 8-1, the Supreme Court ruled against Plessy. In the event of Plessy v. Ferguson. Justice Henry Billings Brown, composing almost all belief, mentioned that:
"the item of the Fourteenth modification was truly to apply the equality of both events before the legislation, but in the nature of items it might not have been designed to abolish differences based on coloring, or to endorse social, as famous from political, equality. If one-race be poor to the other socially, America cannot's Metabolism put them upon the same aircraft. "
The lone dissenter, Justice John Harlan, interpreting the Amendment another technique, mentioned, "Our Structure is color-blind , and neither knows nor tolerates sessions among individuals." The dissent of Harlan could turn into a cry for those in years that wanted to file segregation unconstitutional.
Regrettably, consequently of the Plessy choice, in the early twentieth century the Supreme Court continued to maintain the legality of Jim Crow laws along with other kinds of racial discrimination. In the case of Cumming v. Richmond (Ga.) State Board of Training (1899), for instance, the Judge rejected to concern an injunction stopping a school table from spending tax cash over a white senior school once the same faculty board voted to close down a black high-school for fiscal reasons. Furthermore, in Gong Lum v. Hemp (1927), the Court upheld a school's determination to club an individual of Chinese lineage from a "white" school.
The Street to Brown
(info is James T, from Patterson. Brown v. Board of Knowledge: Its Particular Troubled Legacy and A Civil Rights Milestone. Oxford University Press; Newyork, 2001.)
Early Instances
Despite the ruling in similar circumstances and Plessy of the Supreme Court, lots of people extended to press for the abolition of Jim Crow and other racially discriminatory laws. One particular company that battled for racial equality was the National Organization for that Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) established in 1909. For about the first 20 years of its lifestyle, it attempted to persuade other legislative bodies and Congress to enact regulations that will safeguard African Americans from lynchings as well as other racist steps. Starting in the 1930s, though, the NAACPis Legitimate Security and Education Fund begun to switch for the courts to attempt to create progress in eliminating discrimination. From 1935 to 1938, Hamilton Houston headed the NAACP's legal supply. Houston, together with Marshall, invented a technique where they were maybe weakest???in the field of education to invasion Jim Crow regulations by striking at them,. Although Marshall performed an important part in most of the situations the following, Houston was the pinnacle of the NAACP Legal Safety and Knowledge Account while Murray v. Missouri ex rel Gaines and Baltimore v. Canada were determined. After Houston delivered to private practice in 1938, Marshall turned head of the Account and utilized it to dispute the instances of Work v. McLaurin and artist v. Oklahoma Board of Regents of Advanced Schooling.
Murray v. Maryland (1936)
Disappointed that the University of Maryland Institution of Regulation was rejecting dark applicants only due to their contest, starting in 1933 Thurgood Marshall (who was simply himself denied from this law-school due to its racial acceptance policies) made a decision to challenge this exercise inside the Baltimore judge process. Before a Baltimore City Court in 1935, Marshall asserted that Donald Murray was in the same way qualified as white people to attend the College of the School of Legislation of Maryland and that it had been entirely on account of his battle he was refused. Moreover, he argued that since the "black" universities which Murray might otherwise must attend were nowhere nearby the same instructional caliber while the Collegeis law-school, the College was breaking the theory of " similar although distinct." Moreover, Marshall suggested that the disparities between your "white" and "black" schools were so excellent that the treatment that was only should be to enable individuals like Murray to go to the law-school of the University. The Baltimore Area Court decided and the School then appealed towards Appeals' Maryland Judge. In 1936, the Judge obtained regulations university to confess him and of Appeals likewise dominated and only Murray. Murray finished.
Mo ex rel Gaines v. Canada (1938)
Beginning in 1936, the NAACP Legal Safety and Education Fund decided to accept the event of Lloyd Gaines, a graduate student of Lincoln University (an all-dark school) who put on the School of Missouri Law School but was denied as a result of his battle. The State-Of Missouri afforded Gaines the option of either joining an all-dark law school that it would build (Mo did not have any all-black law colleges currently) or having Missouri help to pay for him to wait a law school in a nearby state. Gaines declined both these choices, and, utilizing Marshall and the NAACP Legal Security and Training Fund's services, as a way to attend the College of Missouriis law-school he decided to prosecute their state. By 1938, his circumstance achieved the Court, and, in November of that year, the Court sided with him. The six- associate bulk stated that since there exist did not currently a "black" law-school while in Missouri's State, the " similar security clause" needed the state to provide, within its limits, a legal education for Gaines. Quite simply, since the state provided legitimate training it might not send black students, like Gaines, in another condition to school.
Perspiration v. Painter (1950)
Prompted by their triumph in Gaines' situation, the NAACP extended to strike officially sanctioned discrimination in degree. In 1946, an African American man named Heman Sweating applied to the College of Florida' "white " law school. Hoping that it would not need to disclose Work towards the "white" law school if there endured already a "black" school, elsewhere around the college of the University, the state quickly put up an underfunded "black" law-school. At this time, Work applied Thurgood Marshall along with the Legal Security and Knowledge Fund's services and sued to become accepted towards the Collegeis "white" law school. He suggested the schooling that he was acquiring within the "black" school wasn't of the identical educational quality since the schooling that he would be obtaining if he visited the "white" law school. If the situation reached the U.S. Supreme Court in 1950, the Judge all decided with him, stating as its cause the clear inequalities between your School's law-school (the college for whites) as well as the quickly assembled school for greens. In other words, the "black" law school was " distinct," however, not "similar." Such as the Murray circumstance, the Courtroom discovered the only real appropriate fix for this example was to declare Sweat towards the Universityis law school.
McLaurin v. Oklahoma Board of Regents of Higher Education (1950)
In 1949, the School of Oklahoma admitted George McLaurin, an Africanamerican, to its program. However, it needed him to sit independent of the remainder of his course, eat at an independent period and desk from white individuals, etc. McLaurin, expressing why these measures were equally unusual and leading to negative effects on his educational passions, sued to put a finish to these techniques. McLaurin applied Thurgood Marshall along with the Legal Protection and Knowledge Finance to fight a case which ultimately went to the Supreme Court, his scenario. In an opinion supplied on a single time as the conclusion in Sweating. The Judge requested which they stop instantly and said that his ability to study was adversely influencing.
Brown v. Board of Schooling (1954, 1955)
The circumstance that had become called Brown v. Panel of Training was basically the name directed at five individual cases which were seen from the U.S. Supreme Court concerning the issue of segregation in public universities. These circumstances were Brown v. Table of Knowledge of Topeka. Briggs v. Elliot, Davis v. Panel of Training of Prince Edward County (VA.). Boiling v. Sharpe, and Gebhart v. Ethel. As each case's details will vary, the primary issue in each was the constitutionality of state-financed segregation in-public schools. Yet again, the Legal Safety along with Thurgood Marshall and Training Fund treated these scenarios.
Though it accepted a number of the plaintiffs'/plaintiffs claims, a three-judge cell at the U.S. District Judge that observed the instances led in support of the college boards. The plaintiffs subsequently appealed for the Supreme Court.
Once the scenarios emerged prior to the Supreme Court the Judge consolidated all five instances beneath the title of Brown v. Table of Schooling. The situation was personally argued by Marshall ahead of the Judge. Although he elevated a number of issues that are legal on lure, the most common one was that separate institution systems for blues were not naturally equal, and so break the Fourteenth Amendment for the U.S. Constitution's "identical security term". Moreover, counting on sociological exams, such as the one conducted by social scientist Kenneth Clark, and also other info, he also fought that segregated school programs had a trend to create dark children experience inferior to bright children, and so such a method should not be legally allowable.
Assembly to decide the scenario, the Justices of the Court understood that they were significantly split over the concerns raised. They'd various reasons for doing this some wanted to change Plessy and assert segregation in public schools to become unconstitutional. Unable to arrive at a solution by July 1953 (the finish of the Court's 1952-1953 phrase), the Court decided to rehear the scenario in December 1953. During the intervening weeks, however, Chief Fred Vinson died and was exchanged by Gov. Earl Warren of California. After the case was reheard in 1953, Chief Warren surely could take action that his predecessor had not???i.e. Deliver the Justices all to consent to support an unanimous determination declaring segregation in public schools unconstitutional. On May 14, 1954, he supplied the impression of the Courtroom, stating that "We consider that inside public education's area the doctrine of 'independent but equivalent' has no place. Educational facilities that are independent are inherently unequal. "
Wanting weight while in the southern states, specially to its ruling, the Court did not instantly make an effort to offer path for its ruling's implementation. Instead, it inquired the attorney generals of all claims for what direction to go with desegregation with regulations permitting segregation within their colleges that were public to submit options. After the subject of desegregation in regards to, on May 31, 1955, the Justices handed-down for how it was to continue an agenda,; desegregation was to proceed with "all deliberate rate." Although it would be a long time before all segregated college methods were to become desegregated, Brown and Brown two (because the Courts policy for how exactly to desegregate schools had become named) were accountable for getting the process underway.


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It is the very nature of plastics- their stability and resistance to degradation- that causes problems after they are discarded.
Where does it come from?
Nearly 80% of marine debris comes from land-based sources. Most of this?debris is carried to oceans via urban runoff through storm drains. Plastics in the ocean are broken down by sunlight, unlike plastics buried in landfills. When UV rays from sunlight strike plastic, they break the bonds holding the long molecular chain together. Mechanical action, like waves or current, also breaks the plastic into smaller pieces.
How much plastic??An estimated "275 million metric tons (MT) of plastic waste was generated in 192 coastal countries in 2010, with 4.8 to 12.7 million MT entering the ocean." ("Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean" by Jenna R. Jambeck et al., Science Feb. 13 2015 ). That's in one year.
And it's going to get worse. According to researchers,?without waste management infrastructure improvements, the amount of plastic that could reach the ocean will increase by 10 times by the year 2025 (ibid.).
Where does it go?
Unless steps are taken to manage this waste properly, by 2025 the ocean could contain one ton of plastic for every three tons of finfish????? —an unthinkable outcome." ?By 2050, the ration of finfish to plastic could reach 1 to 1.?("Stemming the Tide: Land-based strategies for a plastic-free ocean", the Ocean Conservancy)
?Most marine animals accumulate plastic in their bodies by feeding on fish that have ingested plastic fragments.
The constituents of plastics, as well as the chemicals and metals they sorb, can travel into the bodies of marine organisms upon consumption, where they may concentrate and climb the food chain, ultimately into humans.
Plastics in the ocean have dire and wide-ranging consequences, including:
Providence offers a solution that can keep plastic out of the ocean, converting it to a clean synthetic natural gas. See http://www.gzfjd.cn/waste-to-energy/?? Plastics contain at least as much energy as Wyoming coal.
We have partnered with IINA Solutions to address the problem of plastic in the ocean. IINA Solutions is a non-profit humanitarian organization working to improve the quality of life (iina) for marginalized rural Navajo tribal members challenged by the lack of clean water, electricity, and lack of employment. IINA Solutions provides an alternative energy solution that meets the basic human needs including green job training and internships through solar, wind and energy efficiency solutions.
for further information, contact Lex Henkels, Elsa Johnson or Mark Snyder by clicking here


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Last-gasp drop takes Toulon into Top 14 Final
Toulon will face either defending champions Racing 92 or Clermont, who meet Saturday, in the final in Paris on June 4.
In a tense semifinal played in front of 65 000 people at the Stade Velodrome, the match turned in the 50th minute when La Rochelle, who were leading 15-6 and comfortably placed, were reduced to 14 men.
Centre Pierre Aguillon was red-carded for a dangerous tackle on Toulon's James O'Connor which left the Australian star falling head first into the turf.
Welsh fullback Leigh Halfpenny, who scored 15 of his team's points in a tense game where neither side managed a try, slotted over three quick penalties to level the semifinal at 15-15.
But a weary La Rochelle, who had finished the regular season on top of the table and were bidding for a first place in the final, had their chances to seal victory.
Zack Holmes, having replaced fellow Australian Brock James, had two shots from the halfway line but his first penalty fell just inches short while the second drifted wide.
Toulon seized their chance and after a series of gruelling forward charges which inched towards the La Rochelle line, 21-year-old Belleau kept his nerve to pop over the winning drop kick after the hooter had sounded.
It was a shattering disappointment for La Rochelle who were only promoted to the top flight three years ago as well as 35-year-old flyhalf James who kicked all of his team's points.
However, the win means that the likes of Matt Giteau, Drew Mitchell and Juan Smith, who all leave at the end of the season, have one more match left to play for Toulon.
The scorers:
For La Rochelle:
Pens: James 4
DG: James
For Toulon:
Pens: Halfpenny 5
DG: Belleau
Red card: Pierre Aguillon (La Rochelle, 50 – foul play, dangerous tackle)
La Rochelle: 15 Kimi Murimurivalu, 14 Gabriel Lacroix, 13 Pierre Aguillon, 12 Paul Jordaan, 11 Vincent Rattez, 10 Brock James, 9 Arthur Retière, 8 Victor Vito, 7 Kévin Gourdon, 6 Levani Botia, 5 Leandro Cedaro, 4 Damien Lagrange, 3 Uini Atonio (captain), 2 Jérémie Maurouard, 1 Vincen Pelo.
Replacements: 16 Hikairo Forbes, 17 Mike Corbel, 18 Jone Qovu, 19 Romain Sazy, 20 Enrico Januarie, 21 Zack Holmes, 22 Steeve Barry, 23 Mohamed Boughanmi.
Toulon: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Josua Tuisova, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 James O'Connor, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Anthony Belleau, Sebastien Tillous-Borde, 8 Duane Vermeulen (captain), 7 Liam Gill, 6 Juan Smith, 5 Romain Taofifenua, 4 Juandré Kruger, 3 Marcel Van der Merwe, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 1 Florian Fresia.
Replacements: 16 Anthony Etrillard, 17 Xavier Chiocci, 18 Mamuka Gorgodze, 19 Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, 20 Jimmy Yobo, 21 Matt Giteau, 22 Eric Escande, 23 Emerick Setiano.
Referee: Pascal Gauzère
Assistant Referees: Maxime Chalon, Thomas Déjean
TMO: Philippe Bonhoure


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Test footage made by Ray Harryhausen in the late 1940s, as well as production drawings he did, when RH was considered for a film version of WAR OF THE WORLDS.His alien looks like a combo of and octopus with an alternate face that later resembled another of his classic creations, the Ymir.
A publicity photo... but great shots of Peter Lorre, Karloff and Chaney Jr from 1962, in an episode of of the TV series, "Route 66." The episode was called 'Lizard's Leg and Owlet's Wing.'Chaney Jr also played The Mummy and the Hunchback, in the same episode.
And, Peter Lorre somehow required no makeup, Jeff!? Marty Feldman could work that angle as well! Okie
They should have given Lorre a bald cap and he could have re-created his character from MAD LOVE
Setting up a shot for the 1943, Technicolor version of PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, with Claude Rains, on the original 1925 opera house set on Stage 28 at Universal. Now just a memory, since being demolished in 2014 by the dimwits at UNI, in favor of another tour ride or attraction.
i like this Scarlett Street pic, currently on ebay
Great shot of Joan! I guess that is the boom man, too? Cool picture, Redman. Careful, though, outing auctions before they close has caused quite some debate and furor in the past. Safe hunting, my friend. Okie
That's director Fritz Lang sitting on the floor, Okie.
Ole Fritz "Boom Boom" Lang! Awesome! Okie
Not sure where you're seeing a boom. That item next to him is a C(entury)-stand, used to hold a flag, cutter, or diffusion of some kind, very often near or with a light source.
Looks like I don't know my movie equipment, eh Jeff?! Would that be Fritz "Grip Grip" Lang? Help a guy out here, friend! Okie
Abbott and Costello met many of the Universal monsters in the series of films they made, but they never met The Creature. This was as close as they got, when the creature appeared on their live, TV show, as a brief cameo, shortly after CFTBL was released in 1954.


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Winter B23: Spanish Conversation
Date(s) - January 13, 2020 - March 30, 2020
1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Kerby Centre
This course is designed for students with strong knowledge of grammar. It will give an opportunity to practice the language through discussion of selected material, situational conversation, and topics of interest on daily life. Emphasis will be on interaction, focus on pronunciation, listening and comprehension. Minimum Prerequisite: Advanced Spanish Grammar V or equivalent.
- The textbook used for all Spanish levels is "Dicho y Hecho: Beginning Spanish" Sixth Edition By Laila M. Dawson and Albert C. Dawson. It may be purchased through Amazon.com and/or AbeBooks.com. Please ensure it is Sixth Edition.
To register with PayPal, a 2020 Kerby membership is required.
2020 Kerby memberships are available now through the Kerby Centre Membership Department.
Instructor: Norah Hutchinson
Room: 311
**This class runs on Mondays during the scheduled dates.**
NOTE: No Class Feb 3 & 17
Bookings are closed for this event.


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Special Religious Education and Special Education in Ethics
At Lake Heights Public School, Special Religious Education (SRE or scripture) is delivered on Wednesdays from 12:45 – 1:15. Catholic SRE teachers (also known as Catechists) are authorised by the local parish and trained by the Diocese of the Catholic Church. No other faiths have approached the school to provide SRE.
Special Ethics in Education (SEE) currently has no provider at our school.
On enrolment parents/carers are given an SRE and SEE participation letter to complete and return. After the initial enrolment, notification of changes to a child's enrolment in SRE/SEE should be given to the office, in writing.
The Catholic SRE curriculum is approved by the Bishop of the Diocese in liaison with religious education experts. Lessons include activities that are fun and inclusive for students, whilst also providing them the opportunity to critically explore in depth their faith and to pray and reflect.
Catholic SRE teachers engage young people in hearing the Good News about Jesus Christ and learning the key elements of our Christian life and culture.


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England | Scotland | Wales | Northern Ireland | Ireland
Get the latest NHS information and advice about coronavirus (COVID-19).
Check if you or your child has coronavirus symptoms
Find out about the main symptoms of coronavirus and what to do if you have them.
Self-isolation and treatment if you have coronavirus symptoms
Advice about staying at home (self-isolation) and treatment for you and anyone you live with.
Testing and tracing
Information about testing for coronavirus and what to do if you're contacted by the NHS Test and Trace service.
People at high risk
Advice for people at higher risk from coronavirus, including older people, people with health conditions and pregnant women.
Social distancing and changes to everyday life
Advice about avoiding close contact with other people (social distancing), looking after your wellbeing and using the NHS and other services during coronavirus.
GOV.UK: coronavirus – guidance and support
Government information and advice.
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Each month we publish information for our patients in the Ashby Life, The Village Breeze and bi-monthly in The Packington Post.
However in case you do not received any of those publications, we publish these articles on our web site so that you can see this information too.
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|So many toys, so little time!
With such short notice, only one slave was scheduled to serve for the evening and he was put to drink duty as well as some entertainment. We all brought gifts and played white elephant. Some of the most sought after gifts of the game were the Twilight spoof porn, and a black rubber dress. As always we had our champagne and some special cider for the holiday made by Princess Arielle.
This is the fascinating lady who won the rubber dress enjoying herself in the medical room!
After a bit of gift giving and enjoying the service of our slave, the ladies decided as always to explore the toys and tools of the dungeon together. It was the task of the slave at that time to attend, watch quietly and take photos. The slave in service for the evening was very good and I was pleased. The ladies were so pleased he got a little something to take home to remember them by.
Of course I am referring to the little kiss mark he got, not the lady!
|Earlier that evening, in the medical room attaching the electro remote control discipline device for fun and games.


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Hennessy, Wempe and 'Galerie' Come Together to Celebrate the Art of Precision
Hennessy, Wempe, and Galerie Come Together to Celebrate the Art of Precision
What do the world's finest cognacs and Swiss-made watches have in common? One word: precision. Hennessy recently joined Wempe and Galerie to celebrate the art of precision at a cognac tasting where guests were invited to experience Hennessy Paradis Impérial as well as the craft of watchmaking at Wempe's New York flagship boutique on Fifth Avenue. "The Hennessy cognac committee tastes about 10,000 eaux-de-vie a year," says Carolin Ruwe, corporate and private client manager for Hennessy. "Only 10 have the potential to one day become Hennessy Paradis Impérial."
Hennessy Paradis Impérial is a contemporary blend crafted by Hennessy's former master blender Yann Fillioux, whose family has honed and protected a selection of eaux-de-vie for 250 years. Its signature is a mix of jasmine and orange blossom aromas, with a subtle smokiness to the taste, a richness that derives from the incredible consistency of the process by which the eaux-de-vie are chosen.
During this process, the master blender and eight handpicked tasters (the comité de dégustation, or "tasting committee") test some 10,000 eaux-de-vie each year at Hennessy's headquarters in Cognac, France. Of these, per Ruwe, only a handful are selected for Paradis Impérial, a testimony to its superior quality.
Likewise, Wempe, which is a family-run company founded by Gerhard D. Wempe in 1878, employs over 60 watchmakers and master watchmakers in 34 showrooms and brand boutiques throughout Europe and the United States, with, according to Wempe president Ruediger Albers, at least one master watchmaker at each showroom. At the event, guests looked on as one of these craftsmen expertly built a watch, demonstrating the art of precision before their eyes.
Hennessy Paradis Impérial was served neat at room temperature in tulip-shaped crystal glasses—the optimal conditions for serving, according to Ruwe. "You can have all the machinery in the world for both a watchmaker and a master distiller," says Ruwe, "but if you do not have the people who can actually provide this manual craft, then you can't create a watch and you cannot create a cognac."


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The Culpability Question in RMH Franchise Bankruptcy
Soon after one of the most positive quarters in Applebee's recent history came a speed bump. The brand's second-largest franchisee filed for bankruptcy protection, sending the stock right back down and dragging a 'zor-'zee spat out into the open.
Applebee's parent Dine Brands Global reported its first-quarter results and had some positive momentum with 3.3 percent same-store sales growth at Applebee's compared to the industry average of 1.9 percent growth as seen by Knapp Track, a research group that tracks restaurant results. The first-quarter results also showed expected cash flow and net income declines given the roughly 100 restaurants that closed last year. The stock popped on the results.
But a few days later, RMH Franchising, a portfolio company of private equity firm ACON Investments, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. In its filing, the 159-location, 15-state operator called out the franchisor, saying, "specific managerial decisions made on behalf of it by its franchisor … have negatively impacted the debtors' business operations and left them facing near-term liquidity issues," according to the Delaware bankruptcy court filing. It also called out the move to wood-fire grills and a new ad campaign, along with existential restaurant issues like food costs, wages and increasing rents, as factors in the liquidity issues.
The stock sank. Investors were clearly worried that if the 8 percent of the system RMH represents was falling apart, the stock and the generous dividends could follow.
The filing also revealed an ongoing dispute between RMH and the franchisor that had been going on for some time. According to the filing, RMH had been making efforts to slim operating expenses by "renegotiating lease terms with landlords, divesting themselves of certain underperforming locations, and initiating various efforts to reduce corporate and back-office overhead expenses."
The filing states that RMH and the franchisor had been working through the issues and negotiating millions in back royalties and other fees, but on the eve of what would become the company's filing date, the franchisor "indicated that it intended to issue a notice of termination of the Debtors' franchise rights relating to locations in Arizona and Texas." According to the RMH filing, that would have forced 37 locations out of RMH and under Dine Brands Global's corporate umbrella.
The news of that termination is what allegedly prompted RMH to finally file for bankruptcy protection, according to the filing. Also on May 8, Applebee's sued RMH to recover royalties and turn over operations to the parent company. But because of the bankruptcy filing, that suit was moot.
Gregg Flynn, Chairman and CEO of the Flynn group, the largest Applebee's franchisee issued a statement on the topic saying that despite this dispute, the brand is doing well.
"It's unfortunate that this particular franchisee has an issue, but at the same time, I'm very happy that Applebee's is experiencing some of the best sales and traffic in a decade. A strong driver of our success has been our incredible collaboration and partnership among franchisees and Applebee's leadership. I believe the future is very bright for Applebee's," said Flynn.
Who's to blame?
Now it'll be a court battle with a whole lot of restaurants caught in the middle. But the core issue isn't exclusively Applebee's performance.
While Applebee's has floundered to turn itself around in recent years, RMH has risky business in its DNA. It went aggressively from nothing to 163 stores in three years, borrowing incredible amounts of money and selling real estate as it did to fuel more acquisitions, including buying blocks of restaurants that had already gone through bankruptcy.
According to filings, the company owes more than $68 million to senior creditors and more than $51 million to the top 30 unsecured creditors (of the more than 5,000 creditors). The largest unsecured creditor provided a sponsor loan of $30 million for acquisition. Applebee's International is owed more than $14 million.
The wood-fire grill didn't put the company this deep in debt, risky practices did. Now with sales sagging from $431 million in the 12 months preceding March 31, 2016, to $379.9 million in the 12 months preceding March 31, 2018, the company is stuck trying to work out a deal with creditors.
One could argue that Applebee's should be investing in the brand instead of in its stock, but ultra-aggressive growth and deep debt is really to blame here. As John Hamburger writes this month in our sister publication Restaurant Finance Monitor, few franchisees thrive on deep debt.
"Franchisees get rich when they own real estate, keep their leverage ratios below 3 to 4 times EBITDA and maintain their stores in tip-top shape," wrote Hamburger. "There are ups and downs in any franchise system, products that work and don't. Highly leveraged franchisees have no margin for error and only serve to enrich their franchisor, the same ones that allow them to grow beyond their capacity to run great stores."


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Netanyahu Faces Wild Cards in Early Elections
The Israeli government has called a general election for Jan. 22, and polls suggest Benjamin Netanyahu's rightist-religious coalition is likely to win a renewed majority — but an array of wild cards make the outcome of this campaign unpredictable nonetheless….
Ha'aretz poll: Netanyahu Beats Election Rivals, Right-wing Bloc Grows Stronger
A More Realistic Electoral Reform Plan
Murdoch: 'Nightmare for Israel' If Obama Wins
Candidly Speaking: On Israeli Racism and Democracy
Dan Perry
Times of Israel, Associated Press, October 15, 2012
The Israeli government has called a general election for Jan. 22, and polls suggest Benjamin Netanyahu's rightist-religious coalition is likely to win a renewed majority — but an array of wild cards make the outcome of this campaign unpredictable nonetheless….
The vote also comes at a pivotal point in the increasingly acrimonious cultural clash between Western-oriented liberals and Netanyahu's resilient alliance of social conservatives, security hawks and fundamentalist Jews.
That dichotomy is mirrored in Israel's traditional electoral map, a bewildering affair that nonetheless reduces to two rival "blocs" vying for 61 out of 120 Knesset seats — the threshold needed to form a government.
The "left" bloc, historically led by the Labor Party, wants the West Bank and Gaza — captured from Jordan and Egypt respectively in the 1967 war — either traded for peace or separated from Israel in some other way to protect a Jewish majority within "Israel proper." Jews currently make up about three-quarters of Israel's population, but when the West Bank and Gaza are included, the breakdown between Jews and Arabs is close to 50/50. Smaller dovish groups and parties from Israel's Arab minority are also in this bloc.
The "right" bloc is led by Netanyahu's Likud, which historically has been hostile to territorial concessions. Netanyahu now says he is ready for a limited Palestinian state in some of the West Bank — yet his government continues to build Jewish settlements deep inside it and few take him at his word. Rounding out the bloc are even more nationalist groupings and religious parties eager to deepen the Jewish character of the state.
Polls suggest the right could win about 65 Knesset seats — a near-default majority that has mostly held for decades, built in part by the demographic advantage of a religious minority with high birthrates….The new campaign presents a significant number of wild cards that could affect the result:
Popular dissatisfaction with the left-right dichotomy occasionally gives rise to "centrist parties" that claim they might align with either bloc. But these days such parties — whose support and makeup generally reflects the secular and Westernized side of Israel — find their natural location with the left, as Kadima did, and amount to a device for taking votes from the right.
The newest centrist offering is Yesh Atid (There Is A Future), built around the popularity of 49-year-old Yair Lapid — a former TV news anchor, talk show host, newspaper columnist, movie star, mystery novelist and amateur boxer. Polls show he could lead one of the largest parties, with up to 19 seats. Depending on whom he chooses to run by his side, he seems to have a shot at taking votes from the right.
Whereas Netanyuahu is unchallenged in his bloc, the left is splintered into at least three mid-sized parties: a somewhat resurgent Labor, with former journalist Shelly Yachimovich as its leader, running mostly on social issues such as redistribution of wealth; Kadima, now led by the relatively unpopular former military chief Shaul Mofaz; and Yesh Atid.
There is tremendous pressure on them to unite, driven by the idea that this would change the psychology of the race and draw support greater than the sum of the left's current parts. Indeed, a poll in the Jerusalem Post found that a unified party would outpoll Likud and become the largest party.
Would that be enough to crack the advantage of the wider right bloc? That may depend on whether a galvanizing figure is brought in to lead it.
The current speculation focuses on an Olmert comeback, which he is believed to be considering and which would be a gamble. Forced from office four years ago by a corruption scandal, he has been cleared of most charges but still faces trial in a bribery case. The backup is Tzipi Livni, Olmert's foreign minister and a former Kadima leader — who is also said to be mulling the creation of yet another centrist party.
Gabi Ashkenazi, who was military chief until last year, is so popular that it is generally accepted that the recent law freezing top security officials out of politics for three years after their retirement was formulated mostly to keep him from leading the left against Netanyahu — and so in popular parlance it bears his name.
Taciturn and tough-looking, with security credentials and of politically useful mixed European and Middle Eastern heritage he is believed to have strong appeal to the right. The much-discussed scenario has him campaigning for the left under the understanding that if the bloc wins it would repeal the "Ashkenazi Law" and appoint him defense minister.
Although the right bloc has propped Netanyahu nicely for four years, two potential defections exist. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, head of the mid-sized Yisrael Beiteinu party, is an aggressive nationalist who nonetheless took part in the last Kadima government, is bitter about a years-long corruption investigation, and harbors ambitions of leading the right bloc that suggest an interest in seeing Netanyahu go down. And Arieh Deri, the only major ultra-Orthodox leader who is seen as moderate on the Palestinians, is returning to politics after a jail spell and a long hiatus; if he is not reinstated as head of the religious Shas Party many expect him to run against it, taking some of its dozen-odd seats and possibly delivering them to the left.
Some in Netanyahu's circle cast the election as a referendum on attacking Iran — or at least on Israel's right to act militarily to prevent the Islamic Republic from achieving nuclear weapons capability. Normally, on security issues, Israelis do turn hawkish at the polls.
But this one is complicated: The security establishment considers the talk of an attack reckless and seems to oppose the idea; much of the world is arrayed against the notion, seeking more time for economic sanctions to force Iran's hand; and polls show the Israeli public — fearing a massive counterstrike including missiles on their cities and mayhem on their borders — opposes any move that is not coordinated with the United States. It could make very uncomfortable campaigning for Netanyahu.
Netanyahu supporters nonetheless hope the election hinges on the usual strategic issues, especially the Palestinians. On that well-worn ground, Likud is helped by the perception here that the Palestinians are sticking to unreasonably maximalist positions — including a division of Jerusalem that would mean a potentially tense border running right through the downtown of the holy city.
But if the left can change the discourse, Netanyahu is vulnerable on two issues.
So many Israelis are unhappy with the economy — surprisingly good macroeconomic figures alongside tremendous income gaps and widespread poverty — that a social protest movement largely aimed against the government last year sent hundreds of thousands to the streets. If this becomes an election issue it could galvanize the left vote — which historically, unlike the disciplined masses of the religious right, tends to be lazy on election day.
And Netanyahu is dangerously exposed on the question of ending the current system of draft exemptions for tens of thousands in the burgeoning ultra-Orthodox minority — ordered earlier this year by the Supreme Court, supported by most Israelis, and largely ignored by his government. The secular majority, including many on the right, is increasingly alarmed by Orthodox efforts to segregate the sexes in public, their widespread reliance on state handouts, and their school system, which turns out Torah scholars who know little English or math and have few skills for the work world. Netanyahu's utter dependence on their parties' votes for the right bloc's majority could focus minds, drive away the center and amount to his Achilles' heel in this campaign. (Top of Page)
Yossi Verter
Ha'aretz, October 11, 2012
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has no serious challenger in the next election, political experts said after he launched the campaign for the 19th Knesset on Tuesday. A poll carried out for Ha'aretz on Wednesday appears to confirm this.
The poll, conducted by Dialog under the supervision of Professor Camil Fuchs of Tel Aviv University, shows that Netanyahu easily defeats all his possible rivals from the center-left bloc. As far as the public is concerned, Netanyahu is deemed much more suitable for post of prime minister than any of his potential rivals.
At the same time, the Likud-right wing-ultra-Orthodox bloc has increased its strength to 68 Knesset seats, while the center-left bloc has gone down to 52, compared to the blocs' respective strength in the outgoing Knesset and the previous poll.
The candidate with the highest support after Netanyahu is Tzipi Livni, who has retired from political life. However, Livni, who is considering a return, fails to muster more than half of the support attributed to Netanyahu (57 percent – 28 percent ).
Ironically, Livni, who failed as Kadima's leader in the opposition, lost to Shaul Mofaz in the party primaries and was ousted from the political arena by her party members, is the leading opposition candidate. Kadima members may regret voting for Mofaz as their party leader in March. No wonder many of them are hoping that she or Ehud Olmert will return. Or even both of them.
Support for the remaining potential candidates – former prime minister Ehud Olmert, who hasn't decided yet whether he's throwing his hat in the ring, Atzmaut leader Ehud Barak, Kadima chairman Shaul Mofaz and Labor chairwoman Shelly Yacimovich – is not impressive. The poll results lead to the conclusion that Netanyahu will be the next prime minister.
The poll…shows that support for Netanyahu is even stronger than it was in the previous poll some two weeks ago. Asked about their satisfaction with Netanyahu's performance as prime minister, 45 percent of the interviewees were satisfied and 45 percent were dissatisfied, marking a 15 percent improvement from the last poll, in which only 38 were satisfied compared to 53 who were not. The improvement in Netanayhu's position likely results from his presentation at the UN and perhaps from his announcement of early elections.
While the Likud receives a few more Knesset seats and Labor a few less, Yair Lapid is considerably stronger, according to this poll. Ehud Barak's Atzmaut Party does not obtain the minimum required votes to enter the Knesset. Future polls are expected to examine the repercussions of a party led by Olmert on the political map. However, in view of the right wing bloc's strength, it is hard to imagine Olmert, with or without Livni, attracting enough cross-over votes from the right.
If Olmert joins the campaign, he will no doubt affect the power balance in the center-left bloc dramatically. Yacimovich will weaken, Lapid will weaken even more. Mofaz will probably have to renounce his place as Kadima leader. It is not clear, however, whether this will change the outcome for Netanyahu. (Top of Page)
David Gleicher
Jerusalem Post, October 14, 2012
It's that time of the year again when voters' minds begin to think about "What if?" What if we had a better election system? What if our representatives were elected from districts instead of nationwide? In response, "good government" groups and political parties propose various electoral reform ideas, all of them doomed to go down in flames because the reformers forget a basic rule of politics (and of life, I suppose): No one is going to vote to put themselves out of a job.
I'm not against electoral reform. In fact, as a former participant/member of the Cook County Democratic Party (a.k.a. the "Machine"), I believe in the late Mayor Richard J. Daley's adage, "Good government is good politics." But you've got to be realistic about what you can accomplish.
In light of that, I propose an electoral reform plan that can maybe, just possibly, pass, because, counter-intuitively, it adds 30 more Knesset seats, thus preserving the jobs of many current MKs. Here's how it would work:
1: Israel would be divided into 25 electoral districts of roughly equal population. The districts would be drawn by a committee consisting of Knesset representatives, judges and respected "public" members to be chosen by the president. The committee would be instructed to keep districts compact and neighborhoods intact in order to prevent American-style gerrymandering.
Each district would elect three representatives. However, no more than two of a district's representatives could be from the same party. A voter would have three votes at his disposal. S/he could give one candidate all three votes or split the votes between two candidates or give three candidates one vote each. This will prevent one party from dominating any single district….
2: The other 75 seats would be voted on as we do now, as a national ticket. However, the threshold requirement would be 4 percent of the vote, giving a party three seats. This would still give the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) and Arab parties representation in the Knesset, but would force other smaller parties to consolidate or die.
3: The head of the national ticket (that is, the non-district seats) would be that party's candidate for prime minister. However, if a party gets fewer than 25 "national" seats, its candidate for prime minister would be forced into a runoff against the second-highest party's candidate.
Unlike today, the winner would automatically be named prime minister for a four-year term. To give the government stability, a no-confidence vote in the government's first year would require 100 votes; in the second year, 90 votes; in the third year, 80 votes; and in the fourth year, a mere majority.
4: Cabinet members would be appointed by the prime minister and approved by the Knesset. However, a cabinet minister or deputy minister could not also serve as a Knesset member. That would enable ministers to concentrate on their ministries, not general Knesset affairs.
In addition, while Knesset members from districts will receive an office allotment and funds for a secretary and aide, MKs elected on the party slate, not having district responsibilities, will be allotted only one secretary and share a receptionist with other MKs. Another advantage: With the increase in numbers of MKs, each one will have fewer committee assignments, allowing the MK to concentrate on that committee's work.
The raising of the Knesset from 120 to 150 seats will be controversial, but it is a necessary price to get this proposal passed because it would still give smaller parties representation. And we would not be "over-represented."
According to research done by former Jerusalem Post executive editor Amotz Asa-El in his must-read study of Israeli electoral reform ("Israel's Electoral Complex," Azure Magazine, Winter, 2008), mixed legislative systems used in other western countries have the following legislators per citizen: Finland and Sweden have about 26,000 citizens per legislator, Denmark has 29,000, New Zealand has 31,000, and Austria has 32,000. Right now there is one Knesset member for every 62,500 Israelis. The change would make it one MK per 50,000 Israelis, still fewer legislators than the countries listed above.
Politics is the art of compromise. Add 30 more legislators and maybe we get reform. I think it's worth the price. And when former Ra'anana mayor Ze'ev Bielski realizes that he could easily run and win from a Ra'anana district more easily than as a generic Kadima member, and when Tzipi Hotovely realizes that her Rehovot neighbors will vote for her without the need to deal with Likud vote contractors, we may see MKs come to the same conclusion that "Good government is good politics." (Top of Page)
Murdoch: 'Nightmare for Israel' If Obama Wins: Paul Scicchitano, Newsmax, October 14, 2012
Media mogul Rupert Murdoch tweeted on Saturday that it would be a "nightmare for Israel" if President Obama is re-elected to a second term.
Candidly Speaking: On Israeli Racism and Democracy: Isi Leibler, Jerusalem Post, October 10, 2012
Nothing makes us cringe more than screaming headlines reporting racist outbursts or hate crimes in our own country. No matter how rare, such acts not only shame us but encourage us to ask ourselves how such obscene behavior could occur in the homeland of the Jewish people which itself endured 2,000 years of persecution and humiliation in the Diaspora.
Netanyahu: My Gov't Brought Security Back To Israel: Jpost Staff, Jerusalem Post, October 15 2012
PM addresses Knesset, officially asking to advance elections to January 22, 2013, making his case to be reelected; says, "anyone who underestimates the threat a nuclear Iran poses to Israel is not worthy to be PM."


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Loft in Downtown Saint-Petersburg
One could not help but expect an apartment on Pushkinskaya Street to be classically designed. This, however, was not the case here. Given a carte-blanche by the client, it was decided to break away from classicism in this project in favor of a fabulous loft-style apartment that is visually bright, utilizes incredibly complex structural solutions, provides daily functionality for the young resident and lends itself well to youthful social gatherings.
Irina Drozd works from the "Another dimension" series perfectly complement the interior of the apartment. They are a kind of spatial transitions to another beautiful in its lifelessness Saint-Petersburg, so radically different from the appearance of the city outside the appartment's windows.
Design - Zhilin Brothers Design Studio.
Art - Anna Nova Art Gallery.


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Final three rounds of National Apprentice Race Series abandoned
Sky Racing announces new Saturday morning racing circuit
RQ launches new social platform - RaceQ
Punter's Guide to Thoroughbred Tracks
By Duane Ranger
One of Australia's leading trainers should kick more goals at Albion Park on Saturday night.
Logan Village horseman, Jack Butler, who is eighth on the national training premiership, and fourth locally, especially likes the Chris Geary-driven Zaras Delight in the fifth event - the $15,000 Jack Waltisbuhl Memorial Band 5 Pace.
"One is the perfect draw for her. She's performed very well in her last two starts from worse draws (seven and nine). I'm confident she will go well," Butler said.
Hayden Barnes took the Rock N Roll Heaven mare off the mobile arm and settled last when they won at Albion Park two starts ago (Friday March 22).
He then managed slotted her into the three-back and one-out position down the back straight the last time.
The opposition went hard that day and Zaras Delight loomed four-wide on the turn and won by an increasing 2.9m. Her mile rate was a slick 1:55 flat
It was the 6-year-old's 19th win in 78 starts. She then followed that up with a gutsy third on the same track eight days later. Brendan Barnes drove her that night.
Geary will drive her for the first time on Saturday.
Zaras Delight is the $5.50 fixed odds second favourite behind the Narissa McMullen trained and driven Tom Me Gun. That Courage Under Fire gelding, who is the $3.30 favourite, is vying for his fourth win in five starts.
He has drawn awkwardly at one on the second row.
"The draw really counts this time. Her last two runs have been super, and she's come through them well. She would be the best of my five chances on Saturday night," Butler said.
The 42-year-old works a team of between 35 and 40 and has trained 76 winners in 2018-2019. Last year he won 110 times.
"The goal is always to get 100 and then ultimately beat my own personal best of about 120. The season is going along really nicely and we are hitting all targets at this stage.
"The team is fit and I think the reason we are doing so well is because we have a better standard of stock, and horses are able to go through the grades," said Butler.
"I don't have any real stable star as such, but I have a lot of well-grade horses who are progressive types. Having a good team around me helps. Brendan (Barnes) worked for me before he went away to Sydney, and now I believe he's come back a better driver and horseman for it."
Butler thought he might be in for a good night on Saturday. Here's what he had to say about his five other pacers that he's lining up at Queensland's harness racing headquarters:
Race 4: CASINO TOMMY (7) - Chris Geary: "He has fairly consistent form in good company. It's not going to be easy from seven though. He will need the race driven upside down to win. If that happens he can get over the top of them." Odds: $26.
Race 5: LUCIFERS LEGEND (7) - Madi Dux: "He has the concession-claim driver on him and he does have gait speed, but I think I'll talk to the owners first and see what they think. He's capable but from the draw I think his stablemate (Zaras Delight) is a better prospect in this." Odds: $16.
Race 6: MANDY KRIDEN (1) - Chris Geary: "She finally gets a good draw but she's missed a couple of week's work recently. She's getting better all the time and from the ace she should make her presence felt. She's a top mare when spot on." Odds: $6.
Race 9: LEXUS ON THE BEACH (2) - Chris Geary: "He's a tough gelding but does lack a bit of early speed. I can't fault his form and two isn't a bad draw. He's not far off a win." Opened up $2.50 favourite.


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Ive been auto drawing hand drawn with pencil on black paper...one of the things I enjoy about the black paper is I beleive GOd started creating his first creation from a dark potential void a womb of peaceful darkness and the mystery created from that void visions ..thats why i utilize drawing on black paper when I use pencils or gel pens that glimmer glitter and sparkle......recently Ive had a hard bout with insomnia because noises at night unsettle my mind and keep me peeled...GOd forbid Im up half the night afraid of what I hear because it is reminiscent of memories long past...but II get scared...so I listen to classical and new age soothing music to sleep... but I get a yen to draw on black paper beauty and color..and what occurs is symbolic to me.....lately Ive been noticing my techniques are reminiscent of dragon scales and I wnen I draw always get a tree in there....somewhere and water... this is an artistic obsession of mine....So here are the drawings for your viewing pleasure...hopefully they will shed light and no one will freak out because they are basically beautiful but extremely mysterious.....Keep in mind that when I draw like this I have no clue what Im drawing I just allow patterns to embody themselves.....here they are.....there are many but these are the ones that created themselves so to speak......AUTODRAWN ANGELS AND BENEVOLENT DRAGONS.....ARTWORK BY FAUNASERENE....
.i WOULD NOT GIVE THIS TO THE EGO AND SAY HEY THATS A HYDRA OR A 5 OR THREE HEADED DRAGON IN MY HEART THEY WERE MANDALAS THAT WERE BEING FORMED AS FLOWERS THAT ARE UNUSUAL.....PLUS DRAGONS ARE BENEVOLENT TO ME WISE AND REPRESENT ENERGIES........ANY WHOS WHY WOULD ANGELS BE RIGHT BESIDE THEM IF THEY WERE NOT BENEVOLENT IN THIS DRAWING....???? THE HILLS ARE ALIVE IN THEM WITH THE SOUNDS OF DRAGONS !!!!!!! HEHEHE.....ITS REALLY COOL TO ME THAT THEY APPEARED.. OBVIOUSLY TO TEACH ME OF CREATIVITY....I WILL NOT GIVE THEM A NEGATIVE VIBE OF DESCRIPTION LIKE FEAR OR DEMON.....DRAGONS GUARD TREASURE......WHY WOULD THEY BE NEXT TO THE ANGELS IF THEY WERE SO IMPURE??? THEY ARE SACRED TO ME....I FEEL BLEST.....SPECTRUM GLEAMING NIGHT....ARTWORK BY FAUNASERENE...this one was autodrawn as well......when i drew this one I noticed my images morph into stuff......like if you look away through peripheral vision you find fairies......and there is an activeness to the trees in their movement...this tree appears to be sliding off this river.....and the mandala is colorful prismatic and it looks much like an angelic being when seen peripherally....the fact that the tree is slipping off the side of the river is enigmatic to me and I havent a clue what this means in terms of my life and where my psyche was at time of its creation......SWEET SECRET TREASURE BY FAUNASERENE IS A DRAWING THAT WAS AUTODRAWN AS WELL...THERE APPEARS A DRAGON GUARDING THE TREASURE ON ITS BELLY OR SOMETHING....I FOUND THIS PICTURE I DREW MADE ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE.. UNTIL LATER ON I FOUND IT TO BE VERY MUCH OF A MAGICKAL ENCOUNTER... THE IMAGE FEELS LIKE HEAVEN WITH THE RAINBOW AND THE BOW BETWEEN.. NOTICE TWO IDENTICAL FLAME TWIN TREES......I ALSO DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT MY IMAGINATION AND SUBCONSCIOUS CONJURED HERE...I FIND THE PICTURE MORPHS THERE ARE WAVES MORPHING INTO ANGELS.......ITS RATHER COOL TO FIND A HIDDEN TREASURE IN SOMETHING SO NOT MANIPULATED BY THE EGO MIND....AND YET THERE IN THE PICTURE ARE MANY WAYS OF SEEING ..IT WILL BE DIFFERENT FOR EVERYONE SEE.....I KNOW THAT MURIEL IS GOING TO HAVE A FIELD DAY OR HEHEHE FEELED DAY WITH THIS AUTODRAWN TREASURES THAT CAME FROM ANOTHER SPACE .....
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Indeed, beloved Faunaserene, I AM drawn to dive into each of them and thus will print them out and place on my altars. The Violet Tree and Rainbow Mandala picture remind me of the WEB of LIGHT, the NET of LIGHT - indeed, it is LIGHTGRID to me which I, astounded, here see ...
The Spider's WEB
The dragon's LINES ...
their guardians, the trees and mountains, so fine!
The running, living WATER of LIFE
It's all in here - amazing! I thrive :-)
In gratitude for this most heart felt sharing, beloved Faunaserene,
Sonja MYriel
PS: May you be BLESSED with a good night's SLEEP again!
THank you so much beautiful Muriel.......Ive been feeling better.....Ive been doing this art since 2003 when I begged God to give me some sort of artistic ability.....I was coming off of a very bad medicine that was not suitable for me I was diagnosed wrongly and put on haldol and doxepin at that time in my life....Now Ive been on Abilify since 2003. SO much happened during that time thats also when my love for playing music and singing kicked in........I know it is a gift bestowed by Heaven......I call it autodrawing.........I realized that when you draw all it is is patterning....The mandala in the sky is like a little trademark of mine.....the webbing are ley lines.....I love trees and my art teacher Mrs Donegrechia who I would watch daily paint and draw taught me to draw trees and flowers you draw them the way they grow...thats what started it all up in me.... in the past I would doodle like crazy the same thing trees and hills and water in a simple manner...now they are indellibly embeeded when I put my hand to paper to draw.......I prefer black paper over white because its the void I create out of....I love that each image is healing and others benefit from its healing colors shapes lines forms....LIghtgrid is beloved to me and I just want you to know I feel all your prayers and all your heartful thoughts working in my life......LIGHTGRID is very very dear to me and its members are too.....we are a wonderful family......Much love to you.......Sonja..............love you.... ~Faunaserene
Open HEART embraces you, siSTAR Faunaserene!
I have place all three cards on my main altar and they are working their magic already :-)
Connexion to NATURE Spirits are healed!
Elemental GRACE flooding in ...
Lightgrid is US - this WEB which we have created - mostly through our personal contacts here at the site which have led to something so much MORE already ... we are truly about to reclaim our gift of telepathic connectedness, too now, I suppose!
More and more I realize how so many of US are part of ME ... !!!
The bigger picture is still beyons any words for description - but sometimes I get a glimpse of it which brings through the eternal truth - that beyond the veil we are all LIGHT BEINGS - connected through our very LIGHT that we ARE ...
Your artwork is truly inspiring, dear Faunaserene - HEALING :-)
LOVE eternal,
LIGHT eternal,
LIFE eternal,
Sonja MYriel RAouine
Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful artwork Faunaserene.
Blessings of Love & Light,
Steve thank you for loving the artwork....It is a labor of love and definitely of light......I keep them near my bedside and on my wall on mattboards when I get anxious I turn to the original copies which seem much more amazingly vibrant... they glitter and sparkle and shimmer and the message is so potent......Art heals...I know my artwork is healing my anxiety attacks at night.....truly a magic has occured......I feel they are imbued with such love.....its amazing what a little artwork can do to inspire...THeir definitely inspired.......Blessings of love and light to you Steve........~Faunaserene
These are so beautiful! I like all of the graceful etheric lines.
Thank you Faunaserene for sharing your art with us.
Ishema thank you for loving the art.....they are healing my anxiety at night......so much love is in them........its amazing how if you apply yourself at one thing your good at in art and keep building and enhancing it how blessed it is to find such grace given so beautifully by an unseen force of LOVE and LIGHT......I love art and how it makes one feel.....Its creation at its most inspirited......~BLessings dear Ishema......~Faunaserene


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The Ohio State University
Creating the Extraordinary Student Experience
Time: Thursday, February 21, 2019 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Location: Barbie Tootle Room, Ohio Union
Join PMWA and TAO (Transracial Adoptees at Ohio State) in a discussion on Maria P.P. Root's "A Bill of Rights for Racially Mixed People" and what rights a multiracial person or person in a multiracial family should have and how to navigate in society.
Light snacks provided.
This event also counts for 1 DICE Credit toward your DICE Certificate. More information about DICE and how to earn credits can be found here: go.osu.edu/dice.
Add to your calendar
© 2020 The Ohio State University – Multicultural Center
Ohio Union, Suite 1000, 1739 North High Street, Columbus, OH 43210
Phone: 614-688-8449 | Fax: 614-292-4462 | firstname.lastname@example.com
If you have trouble accessing this page, request an alternate format.


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Reducing the number of ZFS user filesystems
Okay, so switching to ZFS and using a filesystem per user seemed like a good idea at the time...
However, when you have roughly a zillion users AND you are using a snapshot-based backup mechanism (znapzend), you wind up with around 10 zillion filesystems. Even simple commands like
zfs list can take minutes in this environmet. We also ran into an obscure limit in ZFS send/recv that limits the number of datasets that can be synced to 10-20,000.
So let's see if we can get this back under a zillion.
We already have a mechanism to "inactivate" users who have not logged in within some period of time. This causes their user homedir filesystem to no longer be mounted and thus no longer exported to boss or other machines. Currently about 6000 of our 10000 users are inactive based on a 24 month activity window. This was our first attempt to reduce the impact of zillions of filesystems as it badly affected
mountd and exports.
What I would now like to do is move all inactive user homedirs to a single filesystem, say /users/inactive. That would eliminate all the distinct filesystems and snapshots. Since we don't need to export these user homedirs individually to any machine there is no export issue. Since they will be inaccesible to the users, they cannot put stuff out there and thus we don't need individual quotas either. We could also export these to boss if we want using a single static line in
/etc/exports.head. One downside is that we have to physically copy the contents of such directories (we cannot just rename them). Not an issue with the serialized bulk-inactivate CLI script we use, but maybe a concern if we dynamically re-activate users via a web page. The latter because of the highly variable amount of time it will take to copy files back to a per-user filesystem.
One variant of this would be not just
rsync their directory when inactivating, but rather just tar up the contents, maybe excluding dotfiles, and then when we restore their directory we just give them their dotfiles and a tarball. This would probably be slightly faster to restore and we can encourage them to get rid of the old tarball if they don't need any of their previous stuff.


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SPARTANBURG, SC — July 2, 2018 — Spartanburg County will host an information session to connect residents with pathways to a career in manufacturing. Through a statewide partnership, an accelerated Lean Manufacturing certification has been developed and will be initially accepted by BMW's Supplier Network in lieu of one year's manufacturing experience.
Attending residents will learn about the accelerated certificate and the opportunities available with BMW's Supplier Network upon completion of the program.
The meeting will be held Saturday, July 14, 2018 from 10 a.m. – noon (doors will open at 9 a.m.) at Byrnes High School, District Five Fine Arts Center, which is located at 150 East Main Street in Duncan, S.C. Registration is required, and space is limited to 1,000 attendees.
The information session is for residents of Spartanburg County; manufacturing experience is not required to attend. For more information, including registration, visit https://tygerriver.eventbrite.com.
"Team South Carolina is committed to ensuring we have a future-ready workforce. By collaborating and thinking creatively, we are not only providing our businesses with the skilled labor they need, but we are also creating opportunities for all South Carolinians." –Secretary of Commerce Bobby Hitt
"Our suppliers play an important role in our global supply chain network. Their creativity brings innovation and new technology into our products and plants. Such creativity requires a highly-motivated and skilled workforce. BMW and its suppliers are committed to the development of our community's future workforce." –Murat Aksel, Senior Vice President, Purchasing and Supplier Network Americas
"This event certainly offers an excellent opportunity for anyone in our community that is interested in pursuing a quality position in the field of manufacturing. We are pleased to be able to help members of the community connect and accelerate their prospects for employment with our local manufacturers and suppliers by supporting this pipeline of local talent." –David Britt, chairman of Economic Development Committee of Spartanburg County Council and board member of the Economic Futures Group
"The Upstate Regional Education Center Board is proud to partner with leadership from SC Department of Commerce, Spartanburg County and local businesses to educate our local workforce. This community meeting is uniquely designed to overcome obstacles to more rewarding employment opportunities and connect our citizens with pathways for success in Spartanburg County." –Robert A. Moore, Jr, Chair Upstate Regional Education Center Board


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MDF Terrain Review: City Walls by XOLK (28mm)
This post is a Terrain Review of the Low City Walls MDF Kit by XOLK. Disclaimer: XOLK sent this product toRead more
This post is a Terrain Review of the Low City Walls MDF Kit by XOLK. Disclaimer: XOLK sent this product toRead more
Some time ago, XOLK sent Must Contain Minis this Ruined Foundations MDF kit for review. A Review of XOLK's RuinedRead more
Here at Must Contain Minis, we use the same table for painting miniatures as we do for playing games andRead more
XOLK has been kind enough to send Must Contain Minis a number of products for review. Among those products isRead more
So far, Must Contain Minis has been very impressed with the Terrain sent for Review by XOLK. In this post,Read more
Recently I reviewed the first piece of Terrain that I bought by XOLK. That product was their Cottage in Ruins.Read more
The first XOLK product that ever caught my attention was their Cottage in Ruins. This product runs for $10.99 CanadianRead more
This post is a quick review of miniature 28mm Children from WizKids' Pathfinder Deep Cuts Unpainted Miniatures line. These figuresRead more
In this article, we Review the Sloop for Blood and Plunder (by Firelock Games) and provide a Tutorial on howRead more
Some time ago, I bought a box of Frostgrave Barbarians from North Star Military Figures. These figures were released inRead more
Here is a product that my readers have seen in many of my Battle Reports. Quite a while ago, CigarRead more
A while ago, Must Contain Minis reviewed the TerraTiles: The Misty Moorlands by RAINN Studios. Today, I will review another product sentRead more


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For those who can't get enough of Halloween trivia here's some additional fun Halloween facts:
Halloween Trivia
- Orange and black are Halloween colors because orange is associated with the Fall harvest and black is associated with the winter season which Halloween/Samhain starts off on the Celtic calendar. Black is also associated with Halloween because it is a Celtic day of the dead, a day to honor and remember loved ones who have passed on in the past year.
- Jack o' Lanterns originated in Ireland where people placed candles in hollowed-out turnips to keep away spirits and ghosts on the Samhain holiday. Pumpkins came from America and were not introduced to the Halloween festivities until the mid to late 1800's.
- Pumpkins also come in white, blue and green. Great for different decorating ideas!
- Halloween was first brought to North America by immigrants from Europe, especially the Irish, who would celebrate the harvest around a bonfire, share ghost stories, sing, dance and tell fortunes and play party games.
- The ancient Celts believed that spirits and ghosts roamed the countryside on Halloween night. They began wearing masks and costumes to avoid being recognized as human in an attempt to scare away the scary spirits.
- Halloween is the 2nd most commercially successful holiday, only after Christmas.
- Bobbing for apples is thought to have originated from the Roman harvest festival that honors Pomona, the Goddess of fruit trees, gardens and the harvest.
- Black cats were once believed to be a witch's familiars who protected their mistress's powers. They were in actuality help mates of the woman whose realm in medieval times was the kitchen and the barns. They kept the vermin level down.
- Tens of thousands of cats were destroyed during the Burning Times in Europe as well as upwards of 7 million people who were put to death on the charge of witchcraft.
- Halloween is on October 31st, the last day of the Celtic calendar. It was originally a pagan holiday, honoring the dead. Halloween was referred to as All Hallows Eve and dates back to over 5000 years ago.
Spooky Trivia
- It is believed that if you see a spider on Halloween, it is the spirit of a loved one watching over you.
- It is believed that if you stare into a mirror on Halloween at midnight you will see your future spouse.
- Ghosts and spirits are as present and active during the day as they are at night. It's legend and spooky stories told around night campfires that has most ghosts stories taking place at night.
- The Ouija Board ended up outselling the game of Monopoly in its first full year in Salem, Mass. Over two million copies of the Ouija Board were sold.
- In the United States, the first citywide celebration of Halloween was in Anoka Minnesota in 1921. (My most recent discussion gave the 1950's as the date. This was in error, my apologies)
- 36 million is the estimated number of trick-or-treaters in 2007— children 5 to 13 — across the United States, down 45,000 from 2005. Of course, many other children — older than 13, and younger than 5 — also go trick-or-treating.
- More than 93% of children, under the age of 12, will go out trick-or-treating
- Over $1.5 billion is spent on costumes each year and more than $2.5 billion on other Halloween paraphernalia
- About 50% of adults dress up for Halloween,
- About 67% of adults take part in the activities, such as parties, decorating the house and trick-or-treating with their children
- 86% of Americans decorate their house for Halloween
- Over 15% of pet owners dress their pets in Halloween costumes
- In 2004 the most popular costume for children was Spiderman!
- The first Halloween card was made in the early 1920′s. Today over 28 million Halloween themed cards are sent each year, with U.S. consumers spending about $50 million on Halloween greetings.
- Halloween candy sales average about 2 billion dollars annually in the United States.
- Tootsie Rolls were the first wrapped penny candy in America and created in 1896.
- Some polls list chocolate candy bars top the list as the most popular candy for trick-or-treaters with Snickers #1.
- In 2004 one poll saw candy corn actually surpass chocolates and Snickers.
- One recent list of most popular Halloween candies list the most favorites as follows:
- Tootsie Roll
- Hershey's Chocolate bars
- Nestle Crunch
- Nerds
- Hot Tamales
- Candy Corn
- Snickers Bar
- Baby Ruth
- Reese's Pieces
- Almond Joy
- Milky Way
- Razzles
- Life Savers
- M & M's
- Sour Patch
- Halloween candy sales average $2 billion annually in the United States and it is the largest candy-purchasing holiday.
- 35 million pounds of candy corn will be produced this year. That equals nearly 9 billion pieces.
Peace and Happiness
© 2010-2011 Enchantments, LLC Portions of this blog posting may include materials from my book "Enchantments School for the Magickal Arts First Year Magickal Studies." For more information, see www.enchantmentsschool.com or go to the title of tonight's discussion and click, it will link you to my school's website.
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India's victories in the first two ODIs against South Africa in Durban and Centurion were down to good bowling and batting performances in equal measure. In the bowling department, Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav were the wreckers in chief as the South African batsman were unable to cope with their guile and variation. And Ravichandran Ashwin believes that Yadav and Chahal's success in South Africa so far has been down to their adaptability.
Ashwin, who is a part of the Test squad but is currently out of the Indian ODI squad said, "I think there is a bit of novelty factor there. It is not about wrist finger or finger spin, it is about the ability to adapt. When T20 first started people thought there was no place for spinners. Then, finger spinners dominated literally for 10 years and then wrist spinners started doing well, which is good. It is more about adaptability."
Ashwin also spoke about his place in the Indian ODI squad, with him not taking to the field in the blue jersey since the ICC Champions Trophy in England last year. He said, "I can only do my part. I don't think I am at that phase of my career that I am going to fret much and look forward to something. Genuinely speaking if I am good enough I will play and I have always believed I have been very good enough to play as a bowler in any team. That is my self-confidence. But I will try to strengthen my ammunition."
Ashwin has also been bowling leg-spin in local matches recently, something he has been looking at as an another arrow in his quiver. "I am not looking at it as evolution or anything," he said. "I have been practising that for some time. This is part of my plan going into the IPL and all that. I am trying to build my armoury. At the top of my run- up, I must have more up my sleeve."
Talking about his perceived lack of success in overseas conditions, Ashwin said, "Most of the talk has been pretty much overrated. Yes, I have failed for a game here and there. It has to be taken in perspective. I am sure people do fail on occasions. I have had opportunities to get big hauls, and it has not turned around. But I am sure it will turn around."
Finally, Ashwin also did not rule out a return to Worcestershire who he represented in the English county season last year. "In all likelihood I will be going back (to Worcestershire) for a few games," he said. "The problem is after the IPL, the number of games between June and July is very less. We start on August 1. So there will be about two-three games or four at max. But that will be good practice. I am still talking. If at all I am going, I will be going back to Worcester."


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Thoughts on the New Pawtucket Red Sox Sports Logo
First and foremost, Happy New Year sports logo lovers! We kick off 2015 with our first sports logo review. The Pawtucket Red Sox or "PawSox" as New Englanders like to refer to them as have a new logo. As you know, I'm a huge proponent of originality in the minors rather than replicating their parent club. There are certain exceptions and I always thought Pawtucket was one of them. They replicated the classic Red Sox uniform. Maybe it's because I grew up in New England and I was used to it. Maybe it's because I was a kid at McCoy Stadium and when I watched the PawSox, I thought I was watching the Red Sox. When I heard the news, I immediately went to check out the new logo and unfortunately, I was immediately disappointed. Let's go through the new logos and start with the primary logo.
I guess the Bear is related to the Paw in the Pawsox. Further down, you'll see their ball cap logos that better fit that thinking. I know Rhode Island gets cold but not cold enough for the jolliest Polar Bear I've seen. To me, this is far too cartoonish and it looks like a logo that if it were a toy box would read, "ages 3-12. Luckily the other logos get better but for a primary logo change, this was a disappointment.
All Right, now the bear at least looks mad and he's breaking a bat. Not a fan of the light blue but at least this is a sports logo that looks like he is ready for battle.
I dig this logo. The P is the focal point and the bear claw reaching around is a nice touch.
This to me is the best of them all and the PawSox will wear this hat logo from time to time. This logo keeps that Red Sox theme that they've had for so many years with homage to their nickname. To me, this would have made a great primary logo and this cap will be on my list to purchase.
Pawtucket and Rhode Island are rich in history. I would have loved to see them tie in a local angle to their sports logo. My vote would be for the Pawtucket Griffins, a Family Guy reference. There is an episode where Peter takes his father to a PawSox game.
After all, they named the Albuquerque Isotopes, the Triple A of the Colorado Rockies after a Simpsons episode so how crazy am I?
Unfortunately, we can't give props to the new Pawtucket Red Sox logo but if you are ever in Rhode Island, McCoy Stadium is a great take with rich baseball history.
Speaking of baseball in New England, the best way you can start the New Year is by subscribing to our T-shirt of the Month Club. That way you can get great discounts on our two New England awesome t-shirts, the Boston Accents and the Cape Cod Scrod.
Happy New Year Everyone!
Gavin Spittle
Founder, Logo Lover, T-shirt Wearer
Awesome Sports Logos
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Helpwise is a shared inbox software for all your team emails like help@, sales@, jobs@, billing@ and so on. In every growing company, as we scale, teams start sharing email accounts which leads to chaos and creates information security-related issues.
So, a growing business should avoid sharing email accounts rather switch to shared inbox software. Shared inbox software provides every team member with a separate login to access the same email inbox. And, the manager can easily track the best and worst performers in the team. Also, using different inbuilt automation tools and integrations, the team can easily share the load among team members and automate a lot of tasks hence saving time and effort.
In the nutshell, Helpwise helps businesses with email collaboration and increases productivity.
Get Shared Inbox For Your Business


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This site is an activity of The Conrail Historical Society, the only non-profit devoted to preserving Conrail's History.
Class H33
CR 879016 - Class H33CR 879016 is seen at Perdix, PA. Car is ex PRR 256001. Most of the remaining H33's only made it into Conrail paint as rebuilt ballast cars.
PRR 255915 - Class H33Rare to see a true H33 out there by 1983... many of the H33's that made it to Conrail were rebuilt to ballast hoppers by 1978/79. (The January 1983 ORER shows only 5 still active with their original PRR number.)
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