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I am a curious person. I am challenged by the unknown. I can be driven, out of sheer frustration, to penetrate a closed veil of conspiracy. And this is what impelled me to go forward to solve the nature of MAGIC.
I've known two professional magicians in my lifetime. One, a friend, and the other, a very close friend. Each discussed magic with me at different times. Each was devoted to protecting the secrecy necessary to maintain the brotherhood of illusion.
My curiosity drove me to investigate on my own. I checked the local library and bookstores from time to time for explanations of how magic was accomplished.
There are, of course, a great many such books around. Always have been. Yet, magic remains a general titillation and puzzlement in our world even in modern times.
"Every great magic trick consists of three parts or acts. The first part is called "The Pledge". The magician shows you something ordinary: a deck of cards, a bird or a man. He shows you this object. Perhaps he asks you to inspect it to see if it is indeed real, unaltered, normal. But of course... it probably isn't. The second act is called "The Turn". The magician takes the ordinary something and makes it do something extraordinary. Now you're looking for the secret... but you won't find it, because of course you're not really looking. You don't really want to know. You want to be fooled. But you wouldn't clap yet. Because making something disappear isn't enough; you have to bring it back. That's why every magic trick has a third act, the hardest part, the part we call "The Prestige"."
There is a reason for this, naturally.
There is an implicit pact between the magician and the audience
I should now like to discuss this pact and use the bond between performer and audience as the premise of something else (about Jehovah's Witnesses) I will reveal at the end. Shall we continue??
An audience attends a magic act for two main reasons.
The desire to match wits in solving a puzzle, discovering its solution and finally, succumbing to a mysterious thrill at the point of failing to conquer the illusion's secret.
Yes, the magician knows full well he is in a struggle to conceal his methods.
The audience will scrutinize his movements for the "secret" so they can feel superior, yet above all else, the audience does not really wish to discover the secret.
Why do I say this?
The entertainment value of being fooled is a far more intense emotion if the audience is amazed and made to believe the miraculous is possible!
Isn't that interesting? A battle in which only one side really wishes to "win"?
But, let's move on, shall we?
A magician jealously guards his secrets for a different reason than you might at first imagine.
The magician doesn't safeguard the secret of the illusion because the secret is a large one. No. But, it is rather because it is so small and insignificant. Yes, the secret is banal, ordinary, bland.
Nothing is so disappointing and deflating than the moment you learn how a trick is accomplished!
Why is this true? Two words: TOTAL OVERWHELM!
We invest ourselves emotionally in our desire of being carried away. We simultaneously fear and crave the feeling. Why? We want there to be real MAGIC in our lives. Even a little.
The audience knows the truth. The world is simple, miserable, solid all the way through. But if you can fool them, even for a second... then you can make them wonder. And you get to see something very special. ... You really don't know. ... It was the look on their faces.
Why? Because the burden of our overwhelming responsibility in daily life is tiring. It is exhausting. It is depressing. How much better if we could simply let go and find ourselves in a magic place where a force overwhelmingly powerful has pulled the rug of expectation out from under us and we have "fallen" into a state of mystical ecstasy!
Such is the bargain between the Magician and yourself.
Read on…
The tools of magic are basic and spare while the powerful effect wielded is profound.
Did you know there are only 6 magic tricks in all the world? Yes, only six.
All illusions, prestidigitations, and sleight-of-hand tricks combined merely juggle these six elements.
Briefly, they are:
Production (something out of nothing)
Transformation (one thing becomes another thing.)
Motive Power (objects with the ability to move on their own.)
Natural Law Violation (levitation, going through a wall, etc.)
Transposition (two objects change places)
Yes, all magic combines one or many of these six elements. Beyond that there is only the convincing performance.
The magician is really what makes the magic appear to be genuine--when it is not.
(Did you read that with the proper importance? Or, did you pass over it lightly?)
A Magician is like a Priest or Shaman as a practitioner of something purporting to be beyond nature while, at the same time, being a total fabrication.
The MAGICIAN is what really makes the magic APPEAR to be GENUINE. The magician is a kind of salesman, rhetorician and psychologist. The Magician is a master of human nature whose skilled performance, a practised performance and an effortless spontaneity, brings magic alive.
The Magician tells you something and sets up your expectation, then astonishes you at your point of greatest anticipation. You are fooled. Why?
Remember the pact? You wish to be fooled. You desire to be defeated. You co-operate while appearing not to. Why? Because of the tickle of original feeling that flushes out that emotional transcendence when you are FOOLED.
There is brain chemistry involved!
Here is a fact about which you may be unaware.
Your brain REWARDS you when your expectations are defeated by something unexpected! Why?
The human brain produces an intoxicating substance any time you LEARN something. Most of the time, a learning experience will make you more fit to survive. Yet, when you are fooled, you are rewarded too. Did you know that? Why? Because you are confronted with the opposite of what you expected and you survived the experience. This is reason enough to be REWARDED by the squirt of brain-heroin that pleases your brain so much! Being fooled is considered a LEARNING process which is PRO survival.
How is it?
In the wild, getting fooled by a camouflaged predator can render you dead or half-eaten. But, detecting the camouflage (if you survive) is a learning experience worth being rewarded for. Now do you understand?
There is a downside. Of course, you knew that was coming.
Playing video games can become addictive because you are rewarded with a squirt each time you "survive" the proxy situation onscreen. Watching movies is pleasurable because you can vicariously survive all sorts of adventures in the comfort of your seat while munching popcorn.
Each time you are amazed, fooled, exhilarated and excited by the UNEXPLAINABLE---you are rewarded by a thrilling brain-buzz which becomes an end in itself.
That's why you might love horror movies, porno, crossword puzzles,and figuring out how a magician does his tricks.
But, hold on! Did I merely want to explain why you like to be fooled?
No. That was misdirection! What I really wanted to reveal has everything to do with the process of creating a rewarding delusion by a different sort of magician: a religious practitioner of the supernatural.
The pact between the BELIEVER and the RELIGIOUS MYSTIC
The BELIEVER starts out skeptical just as the person who sits watching the magician perform "knows" it is all a trick and not a true demonstration of the miraculous. Yet, the desire to be fooled is implicit in the attention given. Pascal's Wager, for example, implies we have nothing to lose and everything gain!
A Magician uses misdirection. He tells you where to look (i.e. where not to look.) It is the art of misdirection combined with the concealment of the essential tipoff element or fact that sets you up to be fooled.
You use your intelligence to predict what is real and how things work.
You base your sense of the real and objective world on everyday experience and have a built in sensibility of how things will go. Causes lead to effects. Life steps gingerly in accordance.
The smarter you are the better you are able to overcome obstacles by predicting problem areas and devising a way around them without self-harm. However! The magician's game is defying the natural with an arsenal of contrivances, gimmicks and false fronts appearing natural and ordinary, concealing their 6 elements.
TWO PRINCIPLES to keep in mind
The audience wants to be fooled while fighting it by trying to use everyday logic to discover the trick.
The trick is designed to take advantage of the expectations and thwart them through misdirection. (A magic illusion is a lie, you see.)
It is artful and designed to work through hidden mechanism. A coin is just a coin. Right?
Wrong; in a magic act, the coin is not just a coin; it is a specially made coin with a device built in.
A card is just a playing card, right? Wrong. It is part of a special deck with hidden aspects the magician can use to achieve his aims.
Your everyday intelligence is NOT AWARE of the phony contrivance which hides the concealed mechanism of a trick. You do not have the BASIC vocabulary of the 6 elements to inform your observations.
Once you know these 6 elements and how they are used, almost every trick you see will be deducible instantly. Magic becomes commonplace at that point. Why? Because it is ordinary. It all comes down to the skill of the performance.
CONTRIVED TOOLS of MISDIRECTION
The Bible is a combination of those same 6 elements and Religion is a magic trick.
Various skilled magicians through the centuries have used those 6 elements to fool the audience of seemingly skeptical believers by taking advantage of hidden properties which defy expectation.
At the earliest stages of human history priests, shaman and magi (from which we get the word "magic") were skilled performers. They gained special status from their level of mastery in duping and thrilling the human mind with its pact of desiring the Transcendent Experience.
All throughout mankind's journey through time these magicians were variously called Prophets, Miracle Workers and Demi-gods. Yet, they used the selfsame 6 elements with skill to achieve their effects and rely on the pact to work their magic.
The rest of humanity relies on the STORIES exaggerating the exploits into momentous achievements at the hands of a super powerful deity.
Magic was divided into Good and Evil magic. God was behind the Good and Satan was the cause of the Evil.
Every religious delusion uses some of the sacred six elements
Muhammed is said to have been ILLITERATE. But wait! Muhammed produced perfect Arabic verses in the Koran Hmmm?What's the trick?
Are we being misdirected? Is something being concealed? Was Muhammad in fact illiterate? How would any of us know this for certain? Should we merely accept this premise?
Joseph Smith was presented with plates of gold with hieroglyphs which he translated using a rock shaped like a donut as a "seer stone." By placing the stone in a hat and burying his face in it, he "translated" those glyphs. Oh--did I fail to mention? Smith hid behind a curtain, no less!
We are told that a great many witnesses actually "saw" these gold plates. Should we accept all this as given? Did you know the oldest copy of the Book of Mormon,the original words of Joseph Smith, are in uneducated, rural english with grammatical errors, and run-on sentences, yet; the modern Book of Mormon has been...ummm..."adjusted" so that you'd never know that at all!
Moses went up on a mountain and nobody was allowed to come near. He returned with tablets of stone actually written by the finger of God himself! But wait! The "finger of God" version of the tablets were smashed to bits, (by Moses) and Moses had to replace them by carving a 2nd version himself! This isn't suspicious behavior, is it? (Yes, that is a sarcastic question.)
Charles Taze Russell was specially chosen by God to be his mouthpiece by allowing Russell to interpret scriptures along with Great Pyramid measurements in order to publish in advance when Jesus would return. The Pyramid inch was a contrivance-- abra cadabra -- nonsense to flavor his chronology date setting and couch it in an ancient bit of misdirection. There was no such thing--it was purely illusory rhetoric.
There are millions of people today who subscribe to the religion Russell started because they believe this! Or, do they? The story has changed many times and the trick goes on.
Remember the pact?
The audience wishes to be fooled.
Their brains are rewarded each time they participate!
All Magic Illusions contain a moment of reveal.
That is my reveal!
Every element of religious belief is rewarded when you allow yourself to be fooled! The feeling of Spirituality--of purity--of connection to heaven and the eternal future--all emotional fluff!
However, the REWARDS are illusory promises--to be collected in the FUTURE, not in the here and now.
1975 was my last "reward".
Fool me once; shame on you.
Fool me twice; shame on me.
MAGIC illusion, like RELIGIOUS delusion, requires your willingness to believe what you are told and shown. If you refuse to be misdirected, if you exercise natural skepticism, if you search for the elements of trickery--you will detect the uninspiring fact behind the performance: IT IS ALL A CONTRIVED SHOW to fool and entertain.
Jehovah's Witnesses, alas, are a captive audience. They're bedazzled at first and strung along, but the show runs late--very late. In fact, the razzle dazzle continues past the audience's lifetime as they each wait on a payoff which never comes!
For JW's, there is no payoff--there is no PRESTIGE. . . only the promise of it. It is a Brotherhood of Delusion.


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The Apple Valley Lake offers some of the best values in all of Ohio. The Apple Valley Lake resort is located in Knox County Ohio and in Central Ohio about an hour north of Columbus and about 2 hours south of Cleveland. Apple Valley is well known as one of the cleanest spring fed lakes in Ohio and it is a popular boating, fishing, water skiing, jet skiing, swimming lake that features 3 sandy beaches. Apple Valley lot prices range from $3,000 for a more affordable home site with lake view lots are commonly found in the $20,000 to $50,000 range and with waterfront lots starting at $89,000. The Apple Valley Lake offers something for everyone!
For a list of available lots for sale at the Apple Valley Lake.
The majority of the lots in Apple Valley include public utilities such as natural gas, electric, public water and sewer, phone and high speed internet. When you consider that once you own an Apple Valley lot you gain access to the lake and the community amenities you will instantly realize that your Apple Valley lot purchase is truly an amazing value. Home sizes at the Apple Valley Lake range from small cabins, wooded retreats, contemporary lakeview homes to large lakefront homes.
You can view all of our available Apple Valley Lake homes for sale and we even organized them in price range order to make it easy to compare home values.
Apple Valley Lake Waterfront Homes and Lake View Homes at the Apple Valley Lake.

subset: commoncrawl


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The underdog story is a huge part of the NFL playoffs every year. No better example of that came just last season when the Philadelphia Eagles got hot and secured their first-ever Lombardi Trophy.
That was no sure thing, either. While Philly looked like one of the best teams in the league heading into postseason play, losing star quarterback Carson Wentz to a torn ACL quickly took them from Super Bowl favorite to a likely one-and-done playoff team.
Backup quarterback Nick Foles answered the call, however, and the rest is history.
That type of epic run is tough to repeat. But the Eagles are back to try and do just that. This time, however, they're joined by three other teams that are underdogs going into the Division Round of the NFL playoffs.
I'm not necessarily saying you should back these teams when you bet on Super Bowl 53, but there's plenty of reason to believe they're not done just yet. Here's a quick case for all four underdogs to move onto their respective conference title game:
Los Angeles Chargers (+171)
Philip Rivers is an unfathomable 0-7 against Tom Brady and the Patriots in his NFL career, but he has a chance to buck that trend and push his Bolts to the AFC championship game.
There is obviously a ton riding on this game. And while Vegas seems to like New England more, NFL fans could take solace in a few things. For one, the Chargers just got past a very stingy Ravens defense. They also did so on the road, where they've improved their record to a blistering 8-1 on the year.
L.A. can run the ball with a solid stable of running backs, Rivers remains a maestro in the pocket and the Chargers also have a rock solid defense. The foundation is there for a title run, but even if the Bolts don't end up winning their first-ever Super Bowl, they can at least get past New England.
The Patriots are a storied franchise and few teams can rival their playoff experience. However, to suggest 2018 has been a down year is an understatement. With the passing game falling apart and the Pats' defense far from elite, this team just doesn't feel unbeatable anymore.
Indianapolis Colts (+198)
It's also hard to hate on the Colts, who have been ridiculously hot ever since a nasty 1-5 start. Teams generally don't go on wild title runs after losing five of their first six games, but that may just go to show how special Indy really is.
Rookie head coach Frank Reich seems to know what he's doing. While the Colts have come quite a ways from their old pass-happy ways, star quarterback Andrew Luck can still slice and dice defenses up and down the field. Moreover, Indy's pass protection might be the best he's ever had.
In addition, Marlon Mack balances out a rock-solid offense and the Colts' defense has even been passable for long stretches.
Going into Kansas City and knocking off the AFC's top seed is still quite the challenge. As difficult as it appears, the Chiefs have not been so infallible lately and actually are just 3-2 over their last five games.
The Chiefs have three issues that could trip them up: they lost Kareem Hunt to an off-field issue, they don't have an elite defense and Patrick Mahomes is playing in his first playoff game.
The latter might be the biggest hurdle, as Mahomes has had bouts with some questionable decision-making. Mahomes is undoubtedly the main reason K.C. is such a threat to win a title, but he also could be precisely why they come undone and allow the Colts to stage an upset.
Dallas Cowboys (+270)
We're getting into a less likely scenario here, as the Cowboys may not have quite the same offensive upside as some of the other underdogs. Still, Dak Prescott has flashed plenty of ability in the passing game and Dallas can still control games with Ezekiel Elliott on the ground.
Perhaps the biggest asset for the Cowboys is the combination of their rushing attack and their ability to play high-level defense. The latter preserved a big home win over the Seahawks last week and just might end up being the answer to keep them in this game with a potent Rams offense.
Jared Goff can struggle under pressure. And if the Cowboys can make this game more about Goff playing from behind and less about a battle of wills on the ground, they could be in a position to win.
Dallas has the run defense to enforce their will here and if they can nullify Todd Gurley's impact, they just might have the foundation for an upset in Los Angeles this week.
Philadelphia Eagles (+305)
The least likely upset is undeniably this showdown in New Orleans between the Saints and the visiting Eagles. Philly got absolutely blasted in this very spot earlier this season, and that was with a healthy Carson Wentz under center.
With Wentz still sidelined with a back issue, all of those Nick Foles truthers may finally see if Philly is indeed better with him running the offense.
I'm not completely sold, but Foles absolutely is the main reason to bet on the Eagles if that's what you're interested in. He ran the table with some pretty magical play last year and just got by arguably the best defense in football on the road.
More than that, Foles worked some magic on a clutch fourth-down touchdown that makes you wonder if anyone can beat this guy when the season is on the line.
The Saints are tough to bet against at home, but the Eagles defend well and in theory have the offensive talent to stick around in a shootout. This would be quite the massive upset, but bettors and fans alike can't say with complete certainty that it's impossible.


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KanikaKatyal / TANGY ONION AND CHILI BHAJIAS {PAKORAS/FRITTERS}
– 1 cup besan
– 1/2 tsp baking soda
– 1/2-1tsp salt
– 2 onions sliced
– 2 green chillies, finely chopped
– 1/2 cup fresh coriander, finely chopped
– Juice of 1 lime
– 1 cup refined oil or ghee
– 10″ heavy bottom Kitchen Aid pan
– Place all ingredients for pakoras/fritters in a large pan and mix well, massaging with fingers until you get a mixture that binds. Add more besan if required, or more onions.
– Stand for 10 minutes so the onions release a little liquid. Mix again.The mixture should hold together.
– Heat the oil/ghee in the 10″ kitchen aid pan. Drop a little pakora batter to check if the oil is ready. The pakora should float up immediately.
– Drop small amounts of batter gently into the oil, fry for a few minutes until golden brown, and then turn to fry the other side.
– Drain onto kitchen towels. Serve immediately with green chutney of your choice.
Note: Don't overcrowd the pan with fritters while frying. Also, please make sure you keep children away from hot oil as it is very dangerous.


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Here's when Regina Transit will be offering free rides on New Year's Eve
CTV News Regina Published Tuesday, December 10, 2019 11:33AM CST
The city is offering free bus rides on New Year's Eve (Creeson Agecoutay / CTV News Regina)
REGINA -- The City of Regina is teaming up with Saskatchewan Government Insurance to offer free rides home on New Year's Eve.
The buses will run from 7 p.m. Dec. 31 to 2:15 a.m. on Jan. 1.
It's part of SGI's Wing in the New Year campaign, which encourages people to make smart decisions and not drive home drunk.
This is the 32nd year that the city has offered the free service.
Moose Jaw is also offering free bus service from 7:55 p.m. Dec. 31 to 3:15 a.m. on Jan. 1.


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Regular price
Give your outfit a bohemian vibe! add this super cute straw earrings to your summer collection
Post backs.
Earring Type: Drop EarringsFine or Fashion: FashionItem Type: EarringsMaterial: ResinMetals Type: Zinc AlloyModel Number: A970519EShape\pattern: RoundOccasion: Wedding / Engagement /Anniversary / ProposeStatement Earrings: Jewelry Women Drop EarringType: Resin / Acrylic / Metal / AcetateFashion Earrings: Women resin earrings


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Finn Valley AC have today released the key events that they will host in 2017 .
The line up of events includes a mixture of Track & Field, Road Race options and no doubt the Donegal and Ulster championships will added in time.
The events kick off with the Glenmore 10 mile, the inaugural organization of this, a 10 mile road run on February 5th at 11 am. (for registration check out www.finnvalleycentre.com). This is followed by the RunDonegal Women's 5k on April 2nd at 11 am in aid of Ovarian Cancer research. The Ballyliffin Coastal Challenge a 10 mile / 7 mile option with the backdrop of beautiful scenery takes place on Easter Saturday April 15th at 1pm and is dedicated to the Cancer Care West charity. (details at www.visitballyliffin.com) .
We enter track/field territory in May with the well-established primary schools days which take place on May 9th/10th with the County Finals scheduled for May 24th. Also in May there is what the popular Little Athletics, also an annual event taking place on the evening of May 12th at 6.30pm.
During the Autumn / Winter months there is the opportunity for all to take part in the Remembrance 10k in November and the St. Stephens Day 5k in December. Finn Valley AC pride themselves on delivering 5 star events and will endeavour to do so once again and look forward to getting the programme underway with the Glenmore 10 on Feb 5th. Entry can be done online by clicking the following link http://www.finnvalleycentre.com/product/glenmore-10-mile/


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Paul Salmons
World-renowned expert in Holocaust education
Paul Salmons is curator of the major new exhibition, "Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away.", which has travelled to Madrid and New York City and will tour Europe and North America for seven years. He is now curating a new exhibit, "Seeing Auschwitz" for the United Nations, which will open in January 2020, and is currently a consultant to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC.
A world-renowned expert in Holocaust education and consultant on numerous international projects, Paul worked for ten years at the Imperial War Museum, helping to create the United Kingdom's national exhibition on the Holocaust and developing its distinctive educational approach. He was a founding Director of the Centre for Holocaust Education at University College London and has taught across Europe, in China, Australia, South America, and South Africa.
As consultant to the memorial at the former Nazi concentration camp at Mauthausen, Paul helped to create innovative new approaches to touring and learning from authentic sites of the Holocaust, and he has extensive experience of leading tour groups in Poland and Lithuania.


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William Buck New Zealand
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The William Buck Hour.
In this free one hour consultation discuss your business aspirations and challenges with a member of our manufacturing team and receive a personalised report with recommendations on how to achieve your goals click here to contact our team. Or call Ian Cattanach on 03 9824 8555.
Infrastructure took centre stage in the May 18 Federal Budget announcement with over $70 billion to be invested over 10 years across Australia, further to the $13.7 billion announced in the Victorian state budget to support a growing economy. This is welcomed by the manufacturing industry as the demand for products, skills and capability is likely to flow directly through to its sectors. With high demand and an estimated 75,000 jobs to be created in Victoria alone, it may be a good time to review your business structure and ensure it has the capacity to scale and manage growth.
The challenge with entity structures is that they really need to be customised to the business. They need to fall in line with the objectives of the business owner(s). This may involve choosing either a company or trust structure or combination of both. It may make sense to put company owned assets into a trust for protection and capital gains tax benefits. Sometimes it makes sense for a trust to own a company. There are a number of variables to be taken into account but it is a good idea to get this right from the start.
If you have the wrong structure, it is possible to change into one that will optimise growth potential but it will incur costs. The amount may depend on the stage of the business.
In the startup phase, many business owners don't differentiate between being the owner and manager, but rather consider themselves as the business owner that manages the running of the business. When you define yourself with just one role, all management tasks sit underneath that role. That makes it difficult to create structure because you can't easily divide the duties and create separate roles.
As your company grows, you can continue to be the business owner but employ someone to take over the management aspect of your business. Once you have segregated your responsibilities into two distinct sections, it's easier to hand one over to someone else. You can handle more customers and projects, and gain higher profits because you have someone assisting you. You can continue to scale the business up by defining the manager role and responsibilities.
Defining roles is often critical in a family business, particularly where responsibilities and tasks can cross over and accountability may become confused. The right organisational structure should provide clarity over who does what and allow teams to flourish with increasing levels of self-reliance. It also has a significant impact on culture for attracting and keeping skilled employees that play a major role in growth.
As the old saying goes, "you have to spend money to make money". A growing business may need more space, staff and equipment. Often this is required before the business has actually grown so it can be stressful when increased costs and/or a big outlay is seen as a risk.
If you have to buy more land to build a factory, a trust could own the property and lease it to the company. If anything happens to the company, the property is still owned by the trust and can't be touched to fund company debts. If you have a reasonable super fund, you may be able to purchase new premises through the personal super fund and lease it to the company.
Possibly the biggest challenge is how to manage cash flow when you are trying to grow. A growth plan with milestones can help build the business incrementally, aligning costs with stages of growth to make sure you don't over capitalise.
If you think applying for grants or making a claim for R&D is in the too hard basket, you could be missing out on much needed funds that could get you through a growth phase. Many startups rely heavily on the R&D rebate to keep going. If you are developing new technology, designs and processes to improve products and services you may qualify and open up a new revenue stream.
Visibility on how the business is doing in real time is invaluable for any business, having access to the right reports for your business will help evaluate progress and allow you to respond accordingly.
Financial reports are mandatory for all businesses. Banks, investors and regulators use these reports to approve loans, lines of credits and to make sure you are following GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles).
With Management Reporting you will be able to dive deeper by focusing on segments of the business to analyse the drivers of your business. An example would be analysing how the marketing department is performing for a certain time period or how much profit one sales employee had in a certain month.
If you don't receive management reporting each month you could be missing out on information that can help your company grow or prevent you from implementing costly programs that don't provide an ROI.
With baby boomers looking at retiring in the next 5-10 years, over 50% of small businesses will be on the market. Finding a buyer can be a challenge particularly where value is the business owner's knowledge, relationships and/or aging equipment. Buyers will be looking for a business that has growth potential so identifying and transferring value is a process that needs to be implemented before finding a buyer and may take a number of years before it's ready to sell.
Focusing on factors that may increase the value of a business is the first step. A formal valuation will help determine options which may be different to what you envisaged such as a merger, competitor acquisition or an Initial Public Offering.
Posted By John Spender on 29/07/2020 03:57:30 am
The ability to return to 'business as usual' will be influenced by a number of factors including the effectiveness of your Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP).…
Posted By Grant Martinella on 03/12/2018 03:05:19 am
While the Christmas holiday break is traditionally considered a time to unwind and reflect on the past year, it can also be one of the…


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Making Headway With Wetland Education
Posted May 16, 2019 by LSC
This past March, Land Stewardship Centre (LSC) attended the Wetland Education Network (WEN) Workshop at the lovely Nisku Recreation Centre in Leduc County. Hosted by Alberta NAWMP Partnership, this second annual WEN workshop brought together individuals and organizations representing four key sectors: agriculture, municipalities, education/public and industry to discuss and share ideas for how to advance wetland education, knowledge and action in Alberta.
Motivated and Action Oriented
The workshop was attended by approximately 60 individuals from across the province and representing the various sector stakeholder groups. During this full day workshop, participants contributed fresh ideas and came away with new knowledge and motivation to support wetland education in Alberta.
The WEN sector action groups, which have been working together for the past year to discuss and develop various tools, resources and approaches to supporting sector-specific wetland education in Alberta, provide workshop participants with an update of each action group accomplished. For example:
The Agriculture Action Group created five media stories that were published in community newspapers and which highlighted producers who have integrated wetland conservation in their operations. The Education Action Group created a guide for engaging communities in local wetland conservation.
The Municipal Action Group developed and informative resource titled Your Guide to Making Wetlands Work in Your Municipality to guide and inform municipalities in the many facets of wetland conservation. They will be releasing an updated version in the coming months. The engaged participants in and tangible outputs of the WEN speaks to the value of a collaborative of partners coming together with passion, knowledge and a shared goal.
More Wetland Work on the Horizon
This year, with support from Alberta Innovates and the Alberta NAWMP Science Fund, LSC will be implementing a wetland conservation and stewardship pilot project to create a case study for wetland markets in the Beaver Hills Biosphere (BHB). LSC looks forward to working closely with Alberta NAWMP, the BHB and other important partners to advance wetland protection in the designated UNESCO Beaver Hills Biosphere.
Learn more about the Alberta NAWMP Partnership and their efforts to conserve and protect Alberta's wetlands. And stay tuned for more information about the innovative wetland conservation project in the Beaver Hills Biosphere.
Some comments...
Judith Basisty says:
We live at the south end of the Beaver Hills Biosphere and are very concerned about preservation and restoration of the wetlands.
We've been busy planting native trees, shrubs and forbs to maintain biodiversity on our property.
Please keep me posted of any upcoming events that we can participate in.
Land Stewardship Centre says:
Judith, thanks for your comments and for letting us know about the efforts you're taking on your property to support biodiversity. We encourage you to follow the Beaver Hills Biosphere on Facebook and Twitter and check out their website http://www.beaverhills.ca/ to stay in touch with what's going on in the Biosphere.
Sorry, comments now closed
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Leslie Scalapino
1985 • 111 pp. • $9.50
(North Point Press)
Purchase from Small Press Distribution
"I enjoy the solidity of Leslie Scalapino's work: a specific sensibility moving in a particular world…Here is elegant presentation of particular facts known uniquely by a powerful artist."
—Philip Whalen
"Here she proves the absolute master of a uniquely compact perception and an intelligence that can track a plurality of relationships in very few words indeed."
—Robert Creeley
"A major poet, and somebody worth watching very closely through long passages and infinitely subtle variations."
—Andrei Codrescu, Baltimore Sun
"The range and sophistication of Leslie Scalapino's abilities as a writer have long been impressive. Here she proves the absolute master of a uniquely compact perception and an intelligence that can track a plurality of relationships in very few words indeed. I know of no one more able to bring writing back from its confusion of genres to the authority of specific articulation."
—Robert Creeley
"Leslie Scalapino's poetry is among the most interesting, arresting, and original writing of the present time…. It is finally the rhythm of the language and the choral patterns created by her repetitions that create the musical coherence that marks this as poetry of the highest order."
—Charles Bernstein
Leslie Scalapino's new book of poems, "That They Were at the Beach — Aeolotropic Series", could probably be taught in a physics class. Not because its title in part derives from physics, nor because it addresses that science directly. Rather, the work grasps the emotional quality of perception redefined by 20th century thinkers. The news is the creation of a form that captures the felt sense of the shifting difference between inner and outer worlds. You may have heard: the Newtonian distinction between the subjective and the objective is dead. But it's not theory Scalapino's expressing — especially, as in the case of most literary experimentation, some idea that will crutch the work as it hobbles into dry obscurity. Listen to her articulation:
"I work, yet seeing someone who was old I had the feeling that she was walking since she was worried about her age. This is in an area where there are hotels and limousines pulling up to them yet at the time there was no one on any of the streets. I was the only one — except for the woman — and so I was happy. The situation should occur again."
As soon as the context changes, emotion changes — the feeling of how things are. And the beauty of the work is how it depends on the "little" words and a powerful sense of rhythm. Conjunctions. Sentences with the balance and syntax of logic yet with the sense unhinged by the connective. The disequilibrium equals the interpenetration of the inner and outer worlds. And it is further articulated by Scalapino's structural building of the poem. Phrases, motifs, appear and reappear, each time singular yet echoing earlier occurrence. This structuring, so much closer to the way experience actually feels, creates an elaborate, provocative music. It takes the place of plot and other narrative devices normally employed to make a long poem coherent. The four poems of "That They Were at the Beach," along with Scalapino's earlier work, establish her as one of the most original and successful poets around.
— Keith Shein, San Francisco Examiner (December 9, 1985)
Leslie Scalapino (1944 – 2010) is the author of thirty books of poetry, prose inter-genre-fiction, plays, and essays. Granary Book just published a collaborative book by artist Kiki Smith and Leslie Scalapino, titled The Animal is in the World like Water in Water. Scalapino's It's go in horizontal/Selected Poems, 1974-2006 was published by University of California Press at Berkeley in 2008. Other books of Scalapino's poetry include Day Ocean State of Stars' Night (Green Integer), a collection of eight years; Zither & Autobiography (Wesleyan University Press), The Tango (Granary Press), Orchid Jetsam(Tuumba), Dahlia's Iris—Secret Autobiography and Fiction (FC2 Publishers); a reprint of the prose work Defoe (Green Integer); and It's Go In Quiet Illumined Grass Land (The Post-Apollo Press).
from buildings are at the far end
A ship (so it's mechanical) is behind the sailor, who's older than I––
his not being old though––their isn't action. In front of that I'm by
the person who's lying near the buildings. People older than I but not
old walking in front of me, the person who's the beggar would just be
seen and not act.
And have been inactive actually in life. Having really occurred.
The ship (so it's in the foreground)––with the man who's the beggar
in back of it, the soil is in back of him––is active. So it's mechanical––
there aren't other people's actions––I don't know how old the man in
back is. Who's older than I, desire'd been had by him for something
else. I'm not old.
And with him being inactive back then/
no one else in the wealthy area:
so money is funneled outside, is in companies. It isn't in the future.
The people in offices are new, therefore it isn't in terms of the past––
the bus which is mechanical being in the foreground––it doesn't
matter if it's active––I don't know how old the man is, who's old.
They're not the same people.
(So they're seen, and not active)
from that they were at the beach––aeolotropic series
A man mugging me––therefore inverted, not just in relation to
maturity––seeing I'm frightened is almost considerate by not hitting
me when I struggle with him, though finally giving him the purse.
The naivet––on my part––he's depressed
He's depressed––by mugging me––corresponds to my having a job
Having an employer, I'd made jokes seen by him to be inappropriate,
had offended him––I make jokes because it's in the past (is therefore
sentient––I'm fairly immature in age and my offending him is un-
Winos were lying on the sidewalk, it's a warehouse district; I happen
to be wearing a silk blouse, so it's jealousy, not that they're jealous of
me necessarily.
They're not receded, and are inert––as it happens are bums––so it's
being creamed; because it's contemporary in time––jealousy because
of that.
The bums happen to be lying in the street, it really occurs that I wear
a silk blouse.
So it's mechanical––because of the winos being there––not from the
blouse which I'd happened to wear though going into the warehouse
Stevedores––I'm immature in age––who are now made to live away
from their families to work, the division is by color; they're allowed
to form unions but not act––so it's evanescent.
(Because it's inactive––not just in the situation itself. Or in their later
not coming to the docks––so they were striking, regardless of them
being fired which occurs then).
The man having been in government––it's evanescent because it's
inactive, our being immature in age––he's assassinated at an airport
where we happen to come in that morning. We get on a bus which
goes to the ocean––it's also beefcake but not because of the man
already having died, is mature.
(We haven't seen him––as with the sailors it's contemporary in time).
A microcosm, but it's of sailors––so it's in the foreground, is
beefcake––is in the past
(Therefore is contemporary in time while being seen then––so
beefcake is in the past––similar to the situation of the other girls
also refusing as I had to walk out onto the field, my then being im-
mediately required to––not just in relation to them cooperating
It's the mechanical birds because of my having gone out on the field
then––is the men
So it's sexual coming––anyone––but corresponds to the floating
world, seeing men on the street.
not in relation to there being too many of them standing around on a
It's hot weather––so it's recent––corresponds to them
(though the floating world was in the past). To others as well––is in
the setting of me being on a boardwalk seeing crowds of people walk-
ing or rollerskating. Some happening to be immature in age––it's not
Being in the past––is jealousy on my part––in general
Not in relation to the people I happened to see who were immature in
age––on the boardwalk––necessarily
Their not being sentient
The reserves––they weren't using the police, so it's inverted––were
wearing battle-gear, it's beautiful weather––they were old––is
not occurring now––and their being frightened of the crowd, so it's
inverted because of that––I'm there but jealousy on my part, in
general–stemming from that
I'm not retroactive––corresponds to making jokes because it's in
the past
(Not retroactive because of the beautiful weather. And taking the car
to be repaired; the mechanic coming out to test drive, its tires have
gone flat in the short time I was in the shop. The man and I get out of
the car, laugh, I walk somewhere else to have its tires filled, drive
away. Buying a dip stick then, I'd done what was necessary to it my-
self apparently).


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With exact precision and highly skilled craftsmanship, Anza was handcrafted of Solid Silicon Bronze. Bronze contains 96% solid copper and is highly resistant to corrosion and operates optimally in severe weather. California's Government specified Bronze for an outdoor lantern installed above a public library.
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The Lutha Report for Hamptons Surf:
Ankle to shin to knee high, residual E background swell with onshore winds and sloppy, mushy conditions…
Wind Forecast:
SW winds 10-15 KT gusts to 20 KT.
Water Temp: 46° – 48°
Wear a hooded 4/3mm, 5mm or 7mm boots, and some high end 3mm gloves.
Montauk Point (Ocean) Tides:
HIGH: 8:15 a.m. • LOW: 1:37 p.m. • HIGH: 8:36 p.m.
Next Chance For Surf:
Light winds with little to no surf Friday, maybe some fun little waves Saturday/Sunday with offshore winds, W-SW wind-slop Monday…
Happy surfing!
Artist and surfer Lutha Leahy-Miller has more than 20 years of experience riding Hamptons waves. He was formerly rated No. 3 in the Eastern Surfing Association for New York State and all of the Northeastern United States. To see Lutha's art or to book a surf lesson, visit lutha.net.


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1 independent reviews for Elephant conservation volunteering in Laos
Reviews for Elephant conservation volunteering in Laos
Sue San review 8 Apr 2019
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?It was very interesting observing and learning about the elephants. Following the elephants up into the forest was exciting, and I loved getting so close to the elephants and getting to touch them.
2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?Make sure that you bring an old pair of pants, top, shoes and gloves if you end up doing some wall painting, as you will get paint all over your new clothes. But it's so much fun doing work around the camp, no matter how dirty you get!
3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?I feel that volunteering for the elephant sanctuary in Laos was one of the most rewarding and memorable experiences in my life, which I have no doubt had an impact and benefited, small or large, everyone and everything around us.
4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?Everything was better and more enjoyable than I had anticipated. The surroundings were so peaceful, making you feel completely out of touch with the problems going on around the world. The huts and bathroom facilities were basic yet clean. The food was excellent and healthy. All the staff, including the mahouts, were so friendly and down to earth.
Holiday Reviews
You can trust Responsible Travel reviews because, unlike many other schemes, reviews can ONLY be written by people who we have verified have been on the holidays. In addition, we don't run these holidays ourselves - our only interest is giving you the best independent advice.


text: The holidays are here and it's time to spread Christmas cheer with a free Elf quote printable. Who doesn't love the whimsy and innocence of Buddy the Elf? This fun freebie features one of the movie's most loved quotes. Spread love, spread cheer, during the holidays and throughout the year.\nSign-up for our email list to receive the latest news, tips, sales and freebies plus get access to this free printable and more by clicking the graphic below. \n\nWe may collect, use and process your data according to our Privacy Policy.\n\nVisit the shop for a great selection of personalized holiday photo cards and stylish holiday party invitations.Cheers!\n\n----------Please remember all downloadable freebies from The Spotted Olive™ are for personal use only.


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Ffilm Cymru has announced a support package for the Welsh film sector during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Support relevant to filmmakers and production companies includes:
An Emergency Relief Fund for writers, directors and producers that are experiencing financial hardship as a result of Covid-19. Non-repayable grants of up to £1,500 can be requested. We expect demand to be high and we may not be able to support everyone, so we will be asking about other potential sources of income. However, we invite you to ask for what you need – regardless of whether or not you have received other income from us through supported applications, or if you are receiving or applying for other third-party sources of funding.
Our Emergency Relief Fund is currently closed.
We have also adapted and increased development support available for creative teams and individuals:
Our increased Horizons Fund is available for individual emerging writers, directors or producers who are yet to make a film budgeted at £1m, with a track record in film or other art forms (e.g. TV, theatre, novel-writing, radio). Applicants do not need to have a project to apply – they can apply for up to £6,000 to support their continued professional development, including costs such as training or mentoring, or they can apply for up to £10,000 to develop a film project. The fund is open now and accepts applications on a rolling basis.
Our accelerated Development Fund for writer, director and producer teams developing their feature film project, aims to provide the equivalent of 12-months of development finance within the first six-months of the financial year. Applicants will be able to include overhead, legal, accounting and other business-related costs, alongside innovation-related costs, such as testing audience demand and exploring IP exploitation. The fund is open now and accepting applications on a rolling basis.
We have also launched our new Change Award loans for Wales-based film production companies. Read all about them here.
Production companies must always ensure the safety of all those who work on their films. The British Film Commission has published guidance on Covid-19 safety protocols.
Other Covid-19 Support
Relevant to filmmakers & production companies
Please see Non-Sector Specific Support, which may also be accessible to you, depending on your specific circumstance.
Government has announced a new £500 million scheme to kickstart film and television production struggling to secure insurance for Covid-related costs - find out more here.
And the new Film & TV Charity Covid-19 Recovery Fund for workers in film, TV and cinema is now live.
The British Film Commission has published guidance on Covid-19 safety protocols for the production of film and high-end TV, as well guidance for Travelling to the UK for work in Film or High-end Television Drama Production During COVID-19: Self-isolation ("Quarantine") Exemptions.
Guidance for post-production and VFX can be found here.
Creative Wales has published new COVID-19 Guidance for a phased return for the Creative Industries in Wales - read it here.
And Welsh Governent has also published guidance for working in other people's homes, including film crews - read it here.
BECTU has also published guidance in their Film & TV Recovery Plan.
ScreenSkills are running a series of TV Skills Fund masterclasses on working safely during Covid.
Find out the latest on responsibly handling personal and sensitive data (such as health information), that is compliant with GDPR regulations, here.
Wiggin has published FAQs on Employment and Data Protection for returning productions - read them here.
The NHS COVID-19 app for Wales and England can be downloaded here. It is additional and complementary to the existing Welsh Government test, trace and protect measures, and businesses, including cinemas, should continue to collect and hold current contact data on their customers (for 21 days from their visit) and employees. We would similarly advise that production companies and education practitioners collect and hold current contact data on their cast, crew and those they work with.
Industry Helpline
The Film and TV Charity Support Line is open 24/7, helping people in the industry manage issues big and small. Call 0800 054 00 00 or access via live-chat here.
BFI Film Continuation Fund
Creative Wales Emergency TV Development Fund (Currently closed, please check back for updates)
Creative Wales Emergency Digital Development Fund(Currently closed, please check back for updates)
S4C Rapid Commissioning Round, Support for the Production Sector, and Online Support Portal
BBC measures to maintain creative health of the independent production sector
BBC Cymru Wales package of support for Wales' creative sector
ITV development fund for independent sector
Writer's Guild of Great Britain
PACT, who are currently offering free and full access to their services and resources to all eligible UK indies for six months. Find out more here.
Relevant to behind-the-scenes film, TV and cinema workers
Covid-19 Film and TV Emergency Relief Fund (Currently closed, please check back for updates)
Film & TV Charity Repayable Grants Scheme for Freelancers (Currently closed, please check back for updates)
Musician's Union
Relevant to creative professionals working in the not-for-profit sector
While the Arts Council of Wales' Urgent Response Fund for Individuals and Stabilisation Fund for Organisations are currently closed for applications, their Stabilisation Fund for Individuals will open for applications from 29th May with a deadline of 15th June. Find out more here.


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This post contains affiliate links (what's that?)
I love reading books about the changing seasons! This post highlights one of my favorite fall books "The Fox and the Falling Leaves" by Julia Rawlinson (which can also be found under the title "Fletcher and the Falling Leaves").
In this delightful story, Fletcher the fox desperately tries to save the leaves that are falling from the tree outside of his den. Throughout the story, Fletcher comes to realize the beauty of the changing seasons.
To compliment this book I've created a free leaf specimen activity. As your children find fall leaves, you can use this printable to record and document their specimens. This activity helps young children start to identify different characteristics of living objects. Many discussions can be had about the changing seasons, as well as the similarities of their specimens they have collected.
With this activity young children can:
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Download your free copy of my leaf specimen printable in my shop below! Looking to extend this activity? You can find several leaf and tree activities inside my leaves & trees activity pack or find some ideas on my FREE Leaves & Trees Lesson Planning Idea page.
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September 2020


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Restaurant A Place For Dining And Interacting
A restaurant is place where food and drink are prepared and served to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants differ in their appearance and offerings, including a wide variety of the cuisines and services offered.
What are the Main Reasons behind the Success of any Restaurant?
Eating out is an expensive business, so you really want to be sure of a good experience. Before opting for any restaurant just consider some important points so that you don't waste your money and time. Eating out is an unhurried social experience, with plenty of time to interact with your dining companions.
The points are:
Setting of the Restaurant - The restaurant setting should be in such a way that it encourages relaxed conversation and enjoyment of food and wine.
Density of public in Restaurants- The restaurant needs to be appropriately busy. It doesn't need to be crammed so full that the noise level becomes intolerable, but equally there's nothing quite as bad as being the only diners in a silent room. And the tables need to be spaced far enough apart that you don't feel you are being eavesdropped in your conversation.
Appropriate Music- Music has such an ability to color the atmosphere of an evening but it's very hard for restaurants to get it right, so the restaurant should keep an eye on the music which is being played.
Service- Restaurants should provide an efficient service so that the customers don't face any inconvenience.
Timings- The restaurants should provide best timings.
We are what we eat is an old proverb. Our nutritional status, health, physical and mental faculties depend on the food we eat and how we eat it. Access to good quality food has been man's main endeavor from the earliest days of human existence. Safety of food is a basic requirement of food quality. So the restaurants should emphasis on quality of food being served otherwise all other factors of success will not work out. If you're searching for the freshest seafood and oysters in Charlotte, you've found your place. Rabbit Spot serves fork oysters sourced from North Carolina and all over the country. We've also got daily seafood catches, and easy, delicious lunches like our lobster roll or fish tacos.
by Justin James
References and BibliographyGet fresh American foods and child beer by beautiful girls during you're your favorite sports. Also we Rabbit Spot provide fresh American food and drinks in Charlotte.
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- This event has passed.
Got a Griever in Your Office?
June 20 @ 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm PDT
Event Navigation
Got a Griever in Your Office?
How to address the grief that exacerbates your clients'
depression and anxiety before sending them to a grief group.
Debi Frankle, LMFT
June 20, 2020
1:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Somatically Safe via Zoom
Grief is one of the top 3 reasons that people come to therapy. Therapists' trainings don't usually have specific information on how to address grief with our clients. Yet, unresolved grief from significant losses (not only related to the death of a loved one) often underlies the depressive and anxiety symptoms that lead clients to our offices.
During session we will be covering:
- The Biggest Mistakes Therapists Make When Their Client has had a Major Loss … and how to avoid them.
- Definitions of Grief, Grief Theory and Losses
- Symptoms of Grief
- Top 10 questions to ask clients when they've experienced a significant loss
- How to address grief from the first session
- How to help your clients with preparing for significant holidays/anniversaries without their loved one.
At the end of this workshop, students will be able to:
- Identify at least 3 theoretical orientations re grief.
- Identify at least 5 symptoms that indicate unresolved grief.
- Identify at least 3 ways to address grief directly with clients in the office.
- Identify 5 questions to use in session with a grief client.
- Identify strategies for dealing with clients' holiday and anniversary reactions.
Debi Jenkins Frankle LMFT, Grief Recovery Specialist. Debi has been working with grievers for over 25 years. She and husband, Mark Frankle LMFT, are the co-founders of the Calabasas Counseling and Grief Recovery Center. Debi is the founder of the Los Angeles Consortium of Grief Professionals Workshops and Trainings for Mental Health Professionals.
Debi's areas of expertise are grief, trauma, medical family therapy, and emotional effects of chronic illness. Debi has led trainings for grief counseling professionals throughout the United States and Canada, in addition to presenting for CAMFT (California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists), SFV CAMFT and various organizations throughout Los Angeles. Debi is a past president of San Fernando Valley chapter of CAMFT, past committee co-chair of the Crisis Response Network for SFV CAMFT and a member of the Association for Death Education (ADEC) and American Academy of Bereavement (AAB). You can join her Facebook Group Private Practice Grief at http://bit.ly/PrivatePracticeGrief and find more information at Calabasas Counseling and Grief Recovery Center.
Continuing Education
Continuing Education Units are available for this training. There is a $20 charge for each CE certificate. Certificates are issued after the evaluation is submitted.
Psychologists: The Insight Center is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The Insight Center maintains responsibility for this program and its content. This course is provides 6 CE units.
MFTs / LCSWs: MFTs / LCSWs / Professional Counselors: The California Board of Behavioral Sciences now accepts APA CEs. This course provides 6 CE units.
Nurses: The Insight Center, Provider Number 14914, is an approved provider by the California Board of Registered Nursing. This course provides 6 CE units.


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Awesome. You folks make it easy. Goes without saying I'm just the tool. It is the crew of volunteers who do everything from helping me unk broken software to the daily vetting of new Vsalonistas who should get the donations for free beers and cheers.
The $$ is appreciated and goes direct to paying the montly tab for server rental and the occasional software upgrade.
Rock on.


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Living in southern California, I see a lot of homeless. In fact, I see a lot of homeless people in really nice areas that I think may be making more money per hour begging than I do working. It makes me wonder if I'm doing it wrong, but I trudge forward on this mortal coil, not giving it a second thought. Hate leads to suffering, and that leads to the dark side. I'm not down for that.
Ian McCall is willing to go to the dark side though, at least somewhat.


text: Typical NMO is characterized by simultaneous or sequential acute transverse myelitis and optic neuritis. Spinal cord lesions extending over 3 or more vertebral segments and normal brain imaging are the typical MRI findings in NMO. In typical cases with positive NMO antibody the diagnosis is easy but in seronegative and atypical cases with different clinical manifestations and MRI features the diagnosis will be challenging. Brain stem syndromes such as ataxia, intractable vomiting and cranial nerve palsies are less common initial manifestations of NMO. Shorter spinal cord lesions in MRI can be found very early during relapse or in residual atrophic stages. Some of the lesions may appear hypointense on corresponding T1-weighted images which reflects sever inflammation with necrosis. T1-weighted hypointensities may help in differentiating NMO lesions from MS in spinal cord. Brain MRI is initially normal in most patients with NMO but serial imaging may depict lesions in up to 85% of the patients at later stages. Brain lesions are usually nonspecific but may fulfill the Barkhof criteria for dissemination in space. Acute, large, edematous callosal lesions with a heterogeneous intensity occasionally develop in patients with NMO (marbled pattern). In contrast, in MS, callosal lesions are small, non-edematous, and the intensity was homogeneous in the acute phase and located at the lower margin of the corpus callosum. Multiple patchy enhancements with blurred margins (cloudlike enhancement) have been reported to be typical for NMO. Pencil-like ependymal enhancement is another type of enhancement around the anterior horns of lateral ventricles. Extensive hemispheric lesions, periependymal lesions surrounding the aqueduct, the third and fourth ventricles and brain stem lesions should raise the diagnosis of NMO. Actually NMO should be considered in any atypical lesion for MS in appropriate clinical settings. Other auto anti bodies such as anti MOG have extended the spectrum of this entity and should be evaluated in special cases who are seronegative for anti-aquaporin 4. Treatment of NMO consists of acute relapse management with steroids and/or plasma exchange and prevention of exacerbations with cytoxic agents or Rituximab.


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Pastor at Charleston's Mother Emanuel reassigned after five months
(RNS) After an usually short time on the job, church officials have reassigned the pastor of the Charleston, S.C., church where a gunman killed nine people during Bible study a year ago.
The Rev. Betty Deas Clark took the pulpit of the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, better known as "Mother Emanuel," in January, seven months after the June 17 massacre.
The nine victims included the church's pastor, the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, who was also a South Carolina state senator.
Deas has declined to provide any details as to the reason for her reassignment.
She will pastor Bethel AME church in Georgetown, S.C., and Bethel's pastor, the Rev. Eric Manning, is expected to come to Emanuel, The Post and Courier reported.
READ: A year after the Charleston church shooting, what has changed?
Typically, AME pastors spend several years with a church before a reassignment. In the time between Pinckney's death and Clark's appointment to Mother Emanuel, the Rev. Norvel Goff, who is the presiding elder of the AME district that includes Emanuel, served as pastor.
Goff, some familiar with the church said, struggled to balance the needs of parishioners with the demands of a church thrust into the international spotlight.
Deas also seemed to have difficulty steering the church back toward normalcy.
Charleston and Mother Emanuel spent 12 days this month mourning and remembering the victims of last year's killing spree with vigils, community suppers and other commemorations.
Authorities say Dylann Roof, a young white man with a history of racist views, sat through Bible study and pulled a gun at the end of the hour, killing most of the 12 people who had gathered that evening.
His federal trial is scheduled to begin in November. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.


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Central bank responsibility, seigniorage, and welfare
Download full text from publisher
References listed on IDEAS
- Freeman, Scott, 1993. "Resolving Differences over the Optimal Quantity of Money," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 25(4), pages 801-811, November.
- Joseph H. Haslag & Eric R. Young, 1998.
"Money Creation, Reserve Requirements, and Seigniorage,"
Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 1(3), pages 677-698, July.
- Joseph H. Haslag & Eric R. Young, 1998. "Revenue-maximizing monetary policy," Working Papers 9801, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
- Freeman, Scott, 1987. "Reserve requirements and optimal seigniorage," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 307-314, March.
- Rao Aiyagari, S. & Gertler, Mark, 1985. "The backing of government bonds and monetarism," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 19-44, July.
More about this item
KeywordsBanking structure; Banks and banking; Foreign;
NEP fieldsThis paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:
- NEP-DGE-2000-04-17 (Dynamic General Equilibrium)
- NEP-MON-2000-04-17 (Monetary Economics)
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KARACHI – British High Commissioner to Pakistan Philip Barton announced 7,500 British Scholarships for needy schoolgirls in 11 districts of South Punjab region during the current year (2013-2014) through Punjab Education Endowment Fund (PEEF).
Another 250 scholarships would be awarded to graduate level students from selected institutes in Punjab. These scholarships were announced after the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Department for International Development – UK (DFID – UK) and Punjab Education Endowment Fund.
Schoolgirls from Chiniot, Layyah, Muzafar Garh, Lodhran, Bahawalnagar, Rahim Yar Khan, Bhakar, Vehari, Dera Ghazi Khan, Rajanpur and Bahawalpur will receive stipends of up to Rs 3,000 (approx. £17) per month which will be transferred by bi-annual electronic payments to cover fees, books, transport, and other costs. The two-year scholarships will enable high-performing girls from poor families to continue their education, which they would otherwise not be able to afford.
The MoU signed between DFID and PEEF would enable PEEC to provide a total of 27,500 girls and 500 graduate students with scholarships, through the £10.9million (nearly Rs 2 billion) from DFID, over a time span of six years. Graduate students would be selected from LUMS, COMSATS – Lahore, FAST – Lahore, Namal – Mianwali, GIKI Swabi, COMSATS – Islamabad and NUST – Islamabad.
In this regard, the British High Commissioner to Pakistan, Philip Barton expressed that, education is the single most important factor that can transform Pakistan's future. These scholarships are provided to help remove financial barriers and provide bright young minds with the opportunity to pursue their dreams and build a future free of poverty. He said that these scholarships are aimed at young schoolgirls because investing in girls and women is transformational – for their family, their community, and for the country. Girls who stay in school for longer go on to have healthier children and a more prosperous future.
PEEF has already started short listing students and is expected to be completed these 7750 additional scholarships by Feb. 2014.


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This weekend could be your most important one this year, or it could pass entirely unremarked. It will be precisely what you make of it, like any other weekend, but the New Moon in Cancer is a unique opportunity to inaugurate new chapters or finally put into action carefully-considered decisions. Get ready. This is your kick in the ass. How long were you planning to wait before you got your shit together, after all? Step up and do it now. Or wait another year (and probably three more, besides). It's up to you.
Leo (July 23-Aug. 22)
Choose your battles more carefully. Sometimes, you get carried away, simply because you know you're right. This, however, isn't about right or wrong. It's not worth arguing about for so many reasons: Perhaps the person you're complaining to doesn't actually have the power to change anything, or it might simply be too complicated. Your head's already dented enough, from slamming into brick walls. Spare yourself further injury by carefully assessing the obstacles before you. Some are squishy and malleable, and some are as immovable and solid as mountains. Learn to recognize which is which, already, would you?
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)
I'm a realist, especially about love affairs. I'm both incredibly romantic and phenomenally cynical. I advised a friend of mine, who's dating a beautiful 18-year-old French model, to enjoy every minute of it, precisely because it won't last forever. He was adamant in his naive faith that they'd die together, of old age, in a hundred years. I think it's better to recognize the ephemeral nature of all things—especially things like love affairs with teen beauties—so as to better enjoy them, rather than deny that they'll ever change or go away, and possibly take them for granted until they do. Don't you?
Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)
Telling someone you're in love with them will change everything between you two, forever—sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. Librans are notoriously susceptible to illusions regarding this very subject, both in how they imagine people might react to such a declaration, and how things could be afterwards in either case. I don't mean to make mountains out of molehills. Maybe this ought to be a molehill. Unfortunately, it's simply not. It's a mountain. Make sure you're ready for such a radical change in your internal landscape before you invite Mount Everest in to stay.
Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)
In all my travels, I've learned to cherish being lost the most. Even when it's stressful. Because I've found, from experience, that these are the moments that will become stories and treasured memories later, and lead to discoveries I never would have made otherwise, both in life and about myself. This applies to emotional journeys as well as physical ones. Remember this the next time you're lost and late: It's actually the best thing that could have happened to you, far cooler than just arriving at your destination, uneventfully and on time.
Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)
You've got an opinion about everything. Luckily, you're also usually quite flexible and open-minded. You'll admit you're wrong, if someone makes a good case for the opposing viewpoint. You do, however, have a couple blind spots, born out of social programming you absorbed when you were just a little kid, mostly about relationships. In those cases, it hardly matters how well someone presents another viewpoint; you just refuse to see it. This time, though, an 18-wheeler looms in that blind spot. Either you acknowledge it and at least make some effort to accommodate it, or it's going to send you crashing into a tree, and you'll be in emotional traction for a year. Adjust your mirrors. It's easier to fix a dented dream than recover from a full-on crash-and-burn.
Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)
Some people are content to just toss some food into the microwave, then eat it when it's hot. Others, though, want to know how it got hot, how the thing works. They take apart televisions, computers, cars and—emotionally, at least—people. They want to know what makes you and everything else tick. I suggest you borrow a bit of their inquisitiveness this week, because some fascinating stuff lurks just beneath the surface of things. It would explain a lot about why your life is the way it is, and why your relationships are the way they are. Don't dismantle anything you can't put back together, but at least open the lid and peep inside.
Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)
Of course I'm addicted to the Internet. It's the closest thing to the sum total of human knowledge that has ever existed, and I love having all that information no more than a Google search away. It has made my brain a bit lazy, in some ways, though. I've never been much of a retainer of trivia, but recalling random facts is mostly beyond me now. Instead, I remember how to find that information; which websites to begin with, and how to extract that particular nugget from the vastness that is the Web. I've accepted my cyborg-hood. When will you acknowledge, admit to, and own the crutches you're using—both good and bad—to make you more than you are?
Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20)
Expose yourself to stuff. The city mouse is more wily and resourceful than the country mouse not because he's gifted with superior genetics, but simply because he's encountered a greater variety of challenging situations that have forced him to become more than he was. Leading a sheltered little country mouse life may appeal to you sensitive Pisceans, but it's poor preparation for the future. Life intrudes, even in the country. Wouldn't you rather be exposed to its dangers on your own terms, by your own choice? It's certainly better than waiting until they simply barge in, unannounced, and force you to deal.
Aries (March 21-April 19)
Start hollering and waving your arms, Aries. Jump up and down. Make sure everyone knows where you are. People are looking for you, but you've maintained such a low profile lately that they can't find you. Emerge from your little bubble of familiar people and situations. I'm glad you've outgrown your need to always stand out from the crowd, but I hope you haven't forgotten how. Make a spectacle of yourself this week, so that those who need someone like you in their lives can figure that out, and ask you to join them.
Taurus (April 20-May 20)
I'd bet that far fewer than 1 in 12 early adopters of the iPhone were Taureans. You guys are generally more cautious about your acquisitions, and rather than waiting in line to be the first person you know to have the nifty gadget, most of you would prefer to wait to see how much of an issue fingerprints are, or how else the thing might fail to live up to its hype, before you shell out your own hard-earned cash for it. Let other people be the guinea pigs, you figure. Fine. Sometimes, though, you have no choice but to try something out for yourself. The iPhone's not one of them, but the relationship before you is. You can't accept others' reviews, this time. You have to write your own hype, then live up to it.
Gemini (May 21-June 20)
The reason alternative medicine is so popular these days is only partially because it's surprisingly helpful. It's also more fun than waiting for your HMO to screw you, and it's more affordable. The mainstream health care industry is totally screwed up. There are ways and there are ways, whether you're trying to heal your body or your heart (or someone else's body or heart). Don't just stick to the most obvious solution (especially since it can't or won't work). Experiment with alternatives. Good ones, preferably. They're out there. All you have to do is look.