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NEW YORK – Oil was lower Thursday afternoon, as traders waited to learn more about the possible impact of a tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico, the wrangling over the debt ceiling in Washington and the debt crisis in Europe.
Tropical storm Don formed in the Gulf near Mexico's Yucatan peninsula on Wednesday and is expected to make landfall near Corpus Christi, Texas, on Friday night or Saturday morning. Its path is south of the mainoil and gas producing regions in the Gulf, but about 500 operating oil and gas rigs are in the storm's path, according to Rich Ilczyszyn, senior market strategist at brokerage service Lind-Waldcock.
Oil companies with offshore platforms in the region — including ExxonMobil, BP and Anadarko Petroleum — have begun to shut some oil and gas production and evacuate workers. A sustained drop in production could bring higher oil prices.
In afternoon trading of oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange, benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude fell 3 cents to $97.38 per barrel. In London, Brent crude gave up 5 cents at $117.38 per barrel.
Ilczyszyn said energy traders are mainly keeping their money out of the market, as they wait to see whether Washington can agree to raise the debt ceiling and avoid a possible default on federal obligations.
If they can't, analysts say the stock market and economic growth would fall sharply. That, in turn, would cut into oil demand and perhaps lower prices.
On the other hand, if the U.S. dollar loses value as the result of a default, it could trigger buying in commodities and push up oil prices. A lower dollar makes oil cheaper to overseas buyers because it is pricedin dollars. Also, traders see commodities like oil as a relatively safe investment in times of stock market volatility.
Meanwhile the value of the dollar and prospects for economic growth in Europe are being affected by the ongoing debt crisis in Europe. On Wednesday the dollar rose in response to another downgrade of Greek debt.
"The uncertainty is crazy," Ilczyszyn said. "That's why you see oil trapped in a $5 range." Oil has stayed between about $95 and $100 a barrel since the beginning of July.
In preparation for Tropical Storm Don, ExxonMobil says it has evacuated non-essential personnel from facilities in the path of the storm and is shutting down production that amounts to 8,000 barrels per day, a small fraction of what Exxon produces every day.
Shell says it will evacuate 195 people by the end of the day and shut production at one platform. BP has evacuated workers from three platforms, though only one was in operation at the time. Anandarko Petroleum says it has evacuated 185 workers and shut six platforms.
Forecasters do not expect the tropical storm to strengthen into a hurricane or to threaten refinery production on the Gulf coast.
U.S. drivers faced higher gasoline prices on Thursday, with the national average for a gallon of regular at $3.706, according to AAA, Wright Express and the Oil Price Information Service.
That's about a penny more than Wednesday and 96 cents higher than last year. It's the first time gasoline has risen past $3.70 in a month.
Natural gas prices dropped after the Energy Information Administration reported that the nation's natural gas supplies grew by 43 billion cubic feet in the past week. Analysts expected a smaller increase because the intense heat wave that blanketed the eastern half of the country last week led to high electricity demand. About 20 percent of the nation's electricity is generated with natural gas. During spikes in electricity demand, like last week, utilities rely on natural gas more heavily.
Natural gas prices fell 7 cents to $4.246 per 1,000 cubic feet. In other Nymex contracts for August, heating oilrose 1 cent to $3.1080 a gallon and gasoline lost 2 cents at $3.0598 a gallon.


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Why we chose Akka for our cloud device solution
At King, we routinely execute automated tests into one or two devices at the same time. The process is pretty simple: take the devices you want to test against, create a build with the game and the test, press play, and grab a coffee.
This has worked well, but we felt that in order to ensure our games work in the maximum number of devices, we needed a system to execute our tests across as many devices as we want. Less buggy games, more happy users.
Here's how we developed a Cloud Device solution for King.
Our approach
Under the Device Cloud, we were essentially pretending to run test jobs in multiple distributed devices. This is similar to running map/reduce jobs in multiple distributed machines. In this sense, we needed to distribute the execution and then aggregate the result. So, we end up taking a look at the architecture of a well-known probe map/reduce framework, the YARN Hadoop architecture:
From our point of view it seems reasonable to start by using the same module structures and a similar assignment of responsibilities to them. Mainly because, as we stated before, the problem at hand has some important analogies.
So, we end up with three main modules:
Resource Manager:
This module is responsible for:
- Handle Resource Discovery and Assignment, in our case the resources refer to the devices connected to the cluster
- Schedule runs
The main difference with the YARN architecture is than we can create as many instances we need for the cloud.
Application Manager:
Each test running in the system is managed by a dedicated Application Manager. So, the main responsibility of this module is to manage an execution of a test (Please note that a test might run on several devices, so an execution of a test is actually spawning several individual tests for each selected device, which are actually executed in different Node Managers.)
- Negotiate Resources with Resource Managers
- Coordinate test execution with Node Managers
Node Manager:
Each device needs to be connected to a physical machine. Each of these machines contains a node manager which is responsible for:
- Executing a test in any of the connected devices
- Coordinate the device test execution with the Application Manager
- Gossip the actual available devices to the Resource Manager
Building distributed systems
Before we get to how we built a distributed system, here's a little background about distributed systems, so you can understand our initial concerns and our thought process.
Our system is basically a bunch of processes talking to each other in order to coordinate themselves. Just like any other cluster of processes. These processes may be in the same machine or may not. In fact, most of the time they are in different machines. So, we needed interprocess communication.
Everyone wants a big, powerful, nice-looking cluster. But, as long as it grows, the more often the cluster begins to fail. In fact, the probability of failure increases with the number of processes. A process may fail because a programming error or it may fail because the machine running the process had a problem, because of network issues, or for whatever reason.
Here's an example: Imagine we have a machine with a failure rate of three months running one process. That means, it is likely to have a problem within the next three months.
Now, take a look at this table:
So, we really need a failure detector in order to be aware of the failing process and take action and also a recovery system in order to restart processes.
Building it: choosing the right tool
So, how did we build our distributed system?
Due to the technical background of the team and time constraints, we wanted to create the cluster with the Java language and use a framework that would speed up our development.
Taking all this into account, there were several framework that we considered:
All of them are capable of being part of a cluster and can be used with Java.
We compared the four candidates under four criteria: interprocess communication, failure detector, recovery system, and programming model, awarding each candidate a score of one to five for each criterion.
Interprocess communication
Quasar and Akka send messages between actors in a completely transparent way. Akka also ensures FIFO message ordering between two actors, as well as sending messages to a concrete actor in the hierarchy. It also supports eventbus-like communication.
Vertx uses a central EventBus with publish/subscribe semantics.
Norbert needs a client/server approach, so no point-to-point message, not very suitable for our purposes.
We need point-to-point communication as well as eventbus-like communication. That lead us to score:
- 5 points for Akka
- 3 points for Quasar
- 2 points for Vertx
- 1 point for Norbert
Failure detector
Quasar and Vertx both use In Memory Data Grid databases for keeping cluster state.
Galaxy for Quasar and Hazelcast for Vertx.
Norbert uses Zookeeper.
Akka uses a Gossip-based Membership Protocol.
In all models, we can subscribe to Cluster State and react in consequence. But Akka does not need a third-party software and also provides cluster-aware routers and metrics.
So we scored 5 points for Akka and 4 points for the others.
Recovery system
Quasar uses Hazelcast to keep internal state of actors and provides 'Migrating Actors' in case of failure.
Akka can use a number of persistence systems (via plugins) to store state information with Persistent Actors.
Neither Vertx or Norbert offers a recovery system.
Akka has the most flexible approach and easy of use recovery system. This leads us to 5 points for Akka, 4 points for Quasar, and 0 points for the others.
Programming model
Quasar and Akka are based on a hierarchical actor model.
Vertx uses a actor-like model without hierarchies and Norbert uses Java classes with an embedded Cluster Client.
The actor system paradigm simplifies concurrence issues, so it will speed up our development process. It also fits very well into our architecture, since we can easily map the main application modules: Resource Manager, Application Manager, and Node Manager, to an actor Hierarchy.
So we scored 5 points for Quasar and Akka and 2 point for Vertex and 1 point for Norbert.
Final score
Quasar are Akka are very close in our evaluation. However, since Akka is more mature, it broke the deadlock, and we decided to choose Akka.
Building it: first architectural design
Once we chose Akka, we laid out our first architectural layout. In the following Architecture diagram, you will see a mix of a runtime component views with a logical deploy view.
If you recall the modules from the 'Main Software Modules' section, you will see in the above diagram that we have a Resource Manager node coordinating with a ApplicationManager who is actually running a Test Execution. The Application Manager itself is coordinating the execution with the Node Manager, and finally the Node Manager is executing the test and sending the device info to the ResourceManager. This is the basic interaction within in the system.
After six months, we ended up with a working proof of concept. That is, we built the core systems and a simple test (without third-party platform integration) that runs with almost no failure in Android and only some failures in iOS. It should be noted that iOS is a more restrictive platform than Android. So more variables might fail when running a test on that platform. The most significant one is the rights restriction and management, based on certificates that iOS imposes in what we can do in order to ensure the successful execution of a test.
Tests for Candy Crush, Bubble Witch 2, and Pyramid have been already launched and successfully executed.
Next steps are to make the system more reliable and robust, as well as add some essential features for game studios. So, we plan to add:
- Facebook, Apple Store, and Google Store integration: So the test can include some parts which interact with these platforms.
- Configuration management: So we can choose which framework to use for executing the test. Right now we only support TestNG test.
- Monitoring System: In order to track the cluster status, both visually and programmatically.
- Audit System: In order to track Test executions and be able to react to failures.
- Eventual Messaging Consistent System: Akka guarantees at most one message delivery semantics. That means, an Actor might receive a message or not. We need to make sure than at some point the Actor receives the message. So we need an Eventual Consistency message model.
- Improve execution engines in the NodeManager, especially for iOS devices.
A note on licences
Akka, Cassandra, and Hadoop have Apache 2.0 licenses. So, we can use them for any purpose without restriction:
"…the license allows the user of the software the freedom to use the software for any purpose, to distribute it, to modify it, and to distribute modified versions of the software, under the terms of the license, without concern for royalties."
Originally published by Ulises Olivenza at techblog.king.com on March 7, 2016.

subset: commoncrawl


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Gudetama Limited Edition EZ-Link CardsMonday, June 19, 2017
Who loves eggs??? *me me me* ✋ Sanrio fans rejoice! Ever since I went to the Gudetama Cafe (Click Here) in Suntec, I realized this character really so cute and NUA laaa! Abit like my hub lor. 😓 So these EZ-Link cards really remind me of him!!! And soooo adorable!
Gudetama is a Sanrio character introduced in 2013 based on an egg lacking energy and unmotivated. In Japan, the term "gude gude" is used to describe someone with no energy or strength, while tama derived from tamago which means egg in Japanese.
Gudetama Limited Edition EZ-Link Cards
EZ-Link presents their latest Gudetama ez-link cards featuring the adorable lazy egg! Progressively available at all TransitLink Ticket Offices and will be sold at $12 each with a stored value of $7.
Gudetama Design 1 and Design 2 (seen in pic above) will be progressively made available at TransitLink offices islandwide while Design 3 is only exclusively available online.
For more info, please head to : https://www.myezlink.com.sg/


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Read this: Nick Clegg cautious on plan to drop licence fee prosecutions - Media - theguardian.com
Summary: David Cameron has expressed interest in the idea proposed by the Tory backbencher Andrew Bridgen to decriminalise non-payment and instead make it a civil offence. Bridgen has won the support of more than 140 MPs for an amendment to the deregulation bill. The BBC says decriminalising non-payment could cost it 200m in annual revenues, forcing it to close local radio stations. - gu.comRead full article: Nick Clegg cautious on plan to drop lice…
Lots more recommendations to read at Trends - ukfree.tv.
Summaries are done by Clipped-Your articles and documents summarized.
CommentsYour comment please


text: If you've ever taken a drive down the streets of Massillon, Ohio, you have most likely heard a few unusual noises coming from vehicles around you—the deafening roar of an exhaust or the rattling of a loose muffler. These sounds don't just distract other drivers, they're downright annoying! But more importantly, they may be signs of a more serious problem that should be taken care of immediately. So what do you do when you realize that it just happens to be your car making all that racket? You make a quick call to your nearby Meineke Car Care Center to see what can be done to fix the problem. Meineke in Canton, Ohio is an expert when it comes to muffler repair and catalytic converter replacement. If you're worried about the obnoxious sounds or excessive fumes coming from your vehicle, Meineke's knowledgeable technicians will do whatever is necessary to improve your exhaust system performance. Continue reading


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Order by Sunday, February 3rd to receive the Ocean Discovery Box.
{available in the US only}
{available in the US only}
Bonus for new subscribers!
{while supplies last}
{while supplies last}
New subscribers to Green Kid Crafts will receive a set of Colour Blocks, stackable, square eco-crayons, FREE when they use the code BLOCKS at checkout. {a $16 value!}
These handmade, recycled crayons are perfect for small hands and encourage creativity and exploration with their unique shape, vivid color and smooth texture.
Disclosure: No compensation was received for this post. Contains affiliate links.


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Handcrafted Reeds For oboe, English horn, and Oboe D'amore
If you are searching for a consistent, reliable source for oboe, English horn, and oboe d'amore reeds, look no further than Back Bay Reeds!
I have been providing quality finished reeds for my customers since 1999. My reeds are completely handcrafted. Each piece of tube cane is split, gouged, shaped, tied, and scraped by hand over the course of several days. Before it leaves my studio, every reed is tested and retested to ensure consistency of pitch center, response, and tone.
Since each reed is made to order, there is a waiting list of about 6-8 weeks. Please place your order well in advance of the time you will need your reeds.


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The Super Mario Brothers X BoardWe offer free discussions and free sharing for the hit fan game; Super Mario Brothers X, and much more! Join today!
|It is currently Tue Dec 11, 2018 10:27 am
View unanswered posts | View active topics
All times are UTC
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text: Afternoon, I'm off to Loch Sunart for a week as of this Friday (4th) and wouldn't mind having a toot with a band of 2nd Section standard (ish) for a rehearsal if there are any nearby. If anyone has any suggestions as to where I could go I'd be most appreciative. Thanks!


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Kuwait's leadership, in the development approach, dedicates much attention to enacting new economic legislations, says the Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs.
Sheikh Mohammad Al-Abdullah Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah, also the Acting Minister of Information, says Kuwait gives priority to economic legislations that are compatible with His Highness the Amir's vision of transforming Kuwait into a regional-international business hub.
He was speaking at inauguration of Kuwait's Fourth Investment Forum, "Investment in Kuwait .. available and wasted opportunities."
The Government, in coordination with the parliament, has drafted regulations for the National Fund for Small and Medium Enterprises.
These laws regulate in particular tasks of the Industrial Bank for funding projects. Meanwhile, the fund chairman, Dr. Mohammad Al-Zuhair, said the fund management has been seeking since May 2015 to improve the business environment, noting that 95 enterprises in Kuwait are enlisted as small.
The fund seeks to employ more than a single Kuwait in each enterprise, Al-Zuhair said, adding that 131 projects out of 199 ones have been endorsed -- total value of which is in the range of KD 13 million.
Mohammad Al-Dallal, Chairman of the Legislative Committee at the parliament, said the parliament has recently approved a number of bills, one stipulating that the capital portfolio be increased to more than KD 150 million for financing small and medium enterprises for 20 years.
Hessa Al-Ayyar, in charge of the department of business pioneers, has indicated that her department helps in creating an adequate business environment, stimulating young investors and boosting their spirit for making initiatives.
Source: KUNA
"It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed."
"Envy comes from wanting something that isn't yours. But grief comes from losing something you've already had."


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Hello everyone! I too am unexplained! Specifically secondary unexplained. Heres my story: I have a 3 year old son we conceived after 9 months of trying and 2nd clomid cycle. Really thought it would be just like this the 2nd time around. That was 2 years ago. We have been at it for 2 whole years now consistently trying. You name it ive done it. This time around Ive done 9 months of clomid, 1 month of femara, 7 IUI's, including 1 injectable cycle with IUI and of course tried the accupuncture and herbs! NOTHING! We even took several months off to try to rest and "JUST RELAX" Hence my screen name and what do you know that didnt work either. We just completed our first IVF cycle and got BFN!!! Of Course. My RE is wonderful I dont know what I would do without him! Hes so supportive and great but I dont think he has anything left for me except another IVF. We have an IVF follow up appt with him on wed. So I think I will take some time off. Im doing herbs, yoga and wheat grass shots (YUK!!) and overall trying to stay healthy and make my baby maker a wonderful place to be!! I know I will have another baby its just a matter of time. Just remember, you are in charge of your own destiny. There is nothing that we cant have, do, or be. Good luck to everyone and I pray for people like you and I every night for great things to happen for us!!!
PS Im glad someone started this thread! I dont get on the IVF forum anymore since Im done with that...For now!


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MP3 music file downloads on the Napster service dropped 36 per cent in April compared to March, according to Internet research firm Webnoize. The filters required by a federal court order have reduced the average number of songs shared by the Napster service to 37, from 220 in March, according to the Webnoize report. Use has consistently dropped since song blocking was implemented. Users downloaded 1.59 billion files in April, down from 2.49 billion in March and 2.79 billion in February.
Microsoft produces the Windows Audio sound file format, which protects music distributors from unauthorised file copying. The two companies have been talking for weeks about a deal, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday, citing sources close to Napster. Microsoft rejected an overture to buy Napster, and discussions now revolve around a licensing deal or equity stake in trade for Microsoft's security technology, according to the Times.
Napster's public relations agency released a statement Friday, confirming their talks. "Napster has been talking with Microsoft, along with a number of other technology companies, about how several of their products might be incorporated into the new Napster service. Those conversations are ongoing," Napster said.
A Napster spokesman said if any talk of a Microsoft buyout had been on the table before, it isn't now. A Microsoft executive refused to comment about the talks, or to confirm that talks were going on at all, beyond saying that Microsoft is in talks with several companies about their technology.
"The next generation peer-to-peer networks are interested in using our digital rights technology," said Jonathan Usher, group manager for the Windows digital media division at Microsoft.
The Recording Industry Association of America Inc. (RIAA) filed suit against Napster last year, seeking an injunction and damages against the service for copyright infringement. US District Court judge Marilyn Hall Patel ordered Napster to begin filtering songs that are copyrighted off the service in March, and has since admonished the company for failing to effectively protect the copyright of music labels.


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Paul Lapchak, PhD, FAHA, is developing natural product analogs to treat acute ischemic stroke. Natural products derived from plants and other natural sources are an untapped resource of bioactive compounds. The emphasis is on polyphenolic compounds based upon fistein and curcuminoid analogs produced by chemical modification of the spice curcumin.
Curcumin derivatives have novel mechanisms of action that can be applied to treat stroke; they also have excellent low-no toxicity profiles.
The Lapchak Lab is also actively engaged in studies to further the development of transcranial laser therapy to promote recovery of function following a stroke by elucidating the mechanism of action of light therapy. In addition, the Lapchak Lab is working to develop new methods to attenuate thrombolytic-induced brain hemorrhage and provide neuroprotection to hemorrhage patients.
See Lapchak's presentation on Stroke Drug De-Risking & Development For Industry .
Other important projects include:
- Testing neuroprotective agents to attenuate ischemia-induced spinal cord injury and paraplegia
- Studying the role of cytochrome oxidase in laser-induced neuroprotection
- Developing therapies to use in combination with thrombolytics to treat stroke
- Testing novel nanoparticles to treat stroke and traumatic brain injury


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Getting to Know Jesus as Our Best Friend
2007 Calvary Impact's
Week Two Bible Study
Last week our Bible had to do with our basic decision to surrender our life to Christ. I certainly hope that each person who did the study either accepted the Lord or rededicated themselves to the Lord. This was the first step in our "Bible Study Boot Camp". It is also the first step that one takes to reach out to the hand that God is always extending to each person. This first step is the beginning of a life-long relationship with the Lord. By accepting the gift that God has given each of us in the death and resurrection of Christ, the Lord now desires to be our best friend.
A best friend is really a neat and fun thing to have. Best friends like spending time together. They enjoy each other's company. Many times, they like the same types of things. Sometimes, they even like to dress and act the same! Our relationship with Jesus is very similar. We should enjoy spending time with Him. We should begin to think that what He says and likes are important, and we should begin to look like Him on the inside and with our outward actions.
This study should show us how we can get to know Jesus better.
Please begin with prayer.
Answer the following questions. They will be discussed at the third week mission meeting.
Please read and then write Ephesians 3:14-19
In this verse it says that for the believer, Christ dwells someplace. Where does Christ dwell?
This passage tells us there are three reasons that Christ dwells in this place. Why does it say that Christ dwells there?
From these verses, how can you tell that the Lord wants a true relationship and friendship with you? How has Christ shown His deepest desire to have this relationship?
The verse says that the Lord wants us rooted and grounded in love. What do you think that this means? Hint: As you think about this, think about the tree that made the cross at
As our friend and Lord, Christ wants us to know how much He loves us and is reaching out to us. Is this the type of friend that you want? Why?
When you are loved to this degree and with the passion that Christ has shown, what is your response to Him?
Read verses 14-17 of Ephesians 3 again. What do these verses say about how much we can really begin to understand how much God loves us?
The last few words of Ephesians 3:17 say that one we begin to get a slight glimpse of Christ's love for us, "that we might be filled with the fullness of God."
What do you think that this means?
Read and write John 15:16.
How do you think that Jesus shows us that He chose us to be His?
Jesus love and relationship will not end even when we struggle in our walk and friendship with Him. At the last supper, Luke 22:31-34 (read this), Jesus tells Peter that He will be sifted like wheat. Even though Peter said that he was willing to suffer with Christ, Jesus told Him that he would deny Him. Please notice that Jesus began by addressing Peter as Simon (his given name) then at the end Jesus addressed Him as Peter. Why do you think that Jesus did this?
Read Luke 22:61. What did Peter do when Jesus was about to die on the cross?
Now read Mark 16:7. Why do you think that Jesus told the two Marys to go and tell His disciples….. and Peter? Keep in mind that Jesus knew how much Peter loved Him.
We can see that Jesus could see Peter's heart. Think about these three passages involving Peter. What do they tell us about Jesus' relationship with you and me?
Using the Scriptures we have read, please tell the kind of friend that Jesus is to a person who has accepted Him as Lord of their life.
Please write several sentences about the kind of relationship that you want to have with Jesus.
Please bow your head and read the above two questions as a prayer. Tell Jesus that you know that He wants to be your friend like….. . Then tell Him the kind of friend that you want to be to Him.
Prepare your heart for ministry on the mission field!
Written by: John R. Wallace, Jr. for the 2007 Calvary Impact


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Healthy Digital Cookbook & Online Workout Videos
Thank you for purchasing my Healthy Cookbook and Online Videos!
Scroll down to view the videos.
You will be receiving a separate email with a link to download the cookbook. You can also click the image of the cookbook to the right and it will start the download.
Enjoy! ~ Brandon
P.S. This page is not available to the public, just to paying customers like you. Please bookmark the page so you can come back and enjoy the videos whenever you want. And do me a huge favor and don't share this page with anyone else. It's just for my paying customers. Thanks!
With these workout videos please consult with your doctor beginning any exercise routine. By purchasing these videos and agreeing to exercise with these workouts you are at your own risk of any injury occurring, so please be careful.
With each video, go at your own pace. You are more than welcome to go longer on any circuit or slow it down if you aren't able to keep up quite yet. The main thing will all the workouts is keep moving, these are designed to burn lots of calories in a quick period.
Feel free to mix and match each workout so you don't do the same routine each time.
Picking 2 to 3 videos each workout will allow you to burn anywhere from a few hundred calories up to 300 to 400 calories per a workout, depending on intensity.
Also, please take breaks anytime you feel you need to but try and push yourself to get maximum results.
Toned Arms Workout
Flat Stomach Workout
Lower Body Blast
Total Body Cardio Blast
Quick Total Body Workout
Strength Training Circuit
Upper Body & Cardio
Sweat it Out 100 Calorie Workout Burn
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A secure portal allowing our customers and vendors 24/7 access to their operational and financial information.
MSC is pleased to be attending this year's TPM Conference in Long Beach, USA.
The event, organized by The Journal of Commerce, is considered a major networking and discussion opportunity for those in the world of shipping and transportation.
More than 2,000 shippers, carriers, port officials and freight forwarders are expected to attend, to hear the latest market forecasts, analysis and much more concerning the container shipping industry.
This year's conference takes place from 4-7 March, and includes an impressive line-up of speakers from across the industry.
You can schedule an appointment with our sales representatives via email. They will be pleased to discuss MSC's services at Room 101A at the Long Beach Convention Center.
Meet our experts to find the right transport solution for your cargo business
It is the second successive year that MSC has won the award, and the seventh time in the last 10 years.
New Rail Connection Between Giengen and Trieste
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Please enter your email address below and we will send you an email containing a link which will allow you to edit your preferences.


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Puppetry Arts Institute Puppetry Arts Institute
Here's a sample of our volunteer opportunities:VIEW AS
Mission Statement
The Puppetry Arts Institute's mission is to preserve and promote puppetry through education and entertainment for all ages
The organization was established in 2001 as part of a dream of local puppeteers, led by Diane Houk, to share this art form with our community. A board of directors meets quarterly to oversee the organization. The Puppetry Arts Institute (PAI) is located in a 3,000 square foot, handicapped accessible building in the Englewood area of Independence, MO. This space includes the Hazelle Rollins Puppet Museum. Hazelle Rollins was a local businesswoman who owned a nationally recognized puppet production company from 1932 to 1975. The space also includes a puppet research library, puppetry performance and workshop area, and offices. The PAI has a website (www.hazelle.org), a quarterly newsletter, a mailing list, email list, and press release list for publicity. The building is open 10:00am to 5:00pm Tuesday through Saturday. The PAI schedules monthly puppet shows and daily interactive workshops to suit the requests of youth, school, senior, and family groups.
This information
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Request administrator status and update its information!


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The New Whitechapel
The Whitechapel has been lotteryfurbed. Nearly 20 million quid later the place is twice the size having expanded into the beautiful old library building next door. There's a big survey of Isa Genzken; I think its safe to say I responded to her early work better as I enjoyed the work downstairs and not the more recent work upstairs; I especially enjoyed the paintings; flat, explorations of surface in emerald greens, the paint having being dragged with some sort of squeegee over canvas laid flat and fixed on the rough unfinished concrete floor of the studio; catching the sudden jarrings of pattern in the flaws and shapes. They are strangely beautiful. The problem of making sense of surface and space continues in the concrete casts of non-space (fragments of the inside of a cupboard space or room), and the tall Manhattan skyscraper sculptures in coloured -deco-like resins and glass inspired by Manhattan skyscapers; the city also presented as models and scrapbooks - an investigation of place.
There is also an embarrassingly small show (given the strength of connection) of Gertler, Rosenberg, Epstein, Bomberg et all called The Whitechapel Boys; a tapestry Guernica in cow-muck sludge by Polish artist Goshka Macuga, fitting as the Whitechapel was the first and only UK exhibition of Guernica; however the colours are pretty grim: look instead at the vitrine of historical ephemera concerning the picture: - high-powered correspondence between the then owners, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Whitechapel Gallery's requests to borrow the picture; I enjoyed Picasso's emphatic non communicated in brusque terms; this all long prior to the work being released to Spain in 1981. There's a rotatation of Jurgen Teller portraits in the Lobby part of the John Kobal Award (one of which is a supremely unkind portrait of my friend David H half asleep and covered in fag-ash); two projects that plug into the neighbouring territory:- Social Sculpture, a sort of noticeboard of place and belonging, and Minerva Cuevas' S.COOP, a 'cultural experiment' exploring notions of community, commerce and exchange by way of a minted coin (the S.COOP) that can be exchanged for white ice-cream in Wentworth Street.
However be that as it may, the real leaps of artistic joy are to be had in Passports, a tiny show of a tiny selection of the British Council collection; an little known and misunderstood organisation that exists to promote British culture aboard forging international links (one of its main jobs is the Brit component of the Venice biennale). The title refers to the document accompanying each of the works setting out their foreign lendings and it is the first of five plunderings of the British Council collection of some 8500 (8500!) works, generally bought from Brit-trailblazers on the up. The show includes a superb Frank Auerbach, with not a single dull or wasted mark, a slab of hard-won Kossoff, a great Graham Sutherland, Paul Nash, and a great 60's Hockney. There's also a Peter Doig but you can't have everything. It has been curated by Michael Craig-Martin, who also used the curation to launch a small attack on the British Council's current lack of international movement and visability in The Observer ('We must start sending our great art around the world again' 29th March 2009); the comments taken on board, wrist duly slapped etc as reported in this months Art Monthly. I've visited a few times and I'm ashamed to say on my first visit I was in such a hurry to see my favourite Gilbert & George that I practically ignored Isa Genzken; racing through the galleries on a mission to see Intellectual Depression from 1980; that great, humanoid tree, caught in twisted angst against the dead-yellow ground; a summing up of mental exhaustion. In fact the room is a triumph; its just such a shame it's such a small show small selection of a great collection; my overriding feeling is that Isa Genzken should have been given the downstairs space only, with the Passports given the entire upstairs for a mammoth celebration of a great collection of great work that is rarely seen en masse. Surely that would have been a far more fitting opening show for this new expanded public space?


text:
Three residents have started the process of running for a seat on the Hesperia City Council Thursday, and one resident has begun the process of seeking a spot on the Hesperia Unified School District school board.
As of Friday afternoon, Mayor Mike Leonard, Russ Blewett and Mark Kirk have picked up the papers from Hesperia City Hall required to run for one of the two open seats on the city council. Councilman Tad Honeycutt has said he does not intend to run for a third four-year term.
Leonard is a retired Hesperia and San Bernardino County firefighter and was first elected to the city council in 2004. Blewett is the former mayor of Baldwin Park and is a county planning commissioner serving the 1st District. Kirk is a member of the Republican Central Committee and the chief of staff for Supervisor Gary Ovitt.
Only one would-be candidate has picked up the papers from the San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters to run for one of the two open seats on the Hesperia Unified School District school board. Republican Central Committee member Anthony Riley, who works for the county's Economic Development department, concentrating on the county's airport system, is the only resident to begin the process of seeking one of the seats vacated by board members Bruce Minton and Helen Rogers, neither of whom is expected to seek another term.
No one has yet picked up papers from the San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters to run for one of the two seats on the Hesperia Recreation and Park District governing board, where incumbents Bob Chandler and Jack Hamilton are up for reelection.
Would-be city candidates must have their completed paperwork returned to the office of the Hesperia City Clerk (for city council candidates) or the San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters (for school or park board candidates) by August 8 at 5 p.m. The deadline is extended until August 13 if one or more incumbents on a governing body choose not to run for re-election.
For more information about the city council candidacy process, call 947-1027. For more information about the school or park board candidacy process, call (800) 881-8683.


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Regional Adventure Updates
New adventures are on the horizon. The following adventures are now available for download from their related regional adventue pages: Bandit Kingdoms, Furyondy, Highfolk, Pale, and Ratik.
BDK6-01 That Which Slept by Britt F. Frey
BDK6-02 Of Gambits, Gauntlets, and Graves by Theo Judd
BDK6-03 Trouble at the Gul Bortha by Keith Symcox
BDK6-04 The Last Word by Theo Judd and Susan Threadgill
BDK6-05 Grass Roots by John Filipek
BDK6-06 Never Stir the Wasp's Nest by Patrick Walsh
BDK6-07 Love Letter by Casey Brown
BDK6-08 Of Ruin, Restitution, and Revival by Theo Judd
BDK6-09 To Bleed or Die by David Polansky
FUR6-01 Master of Bronzeblood by Morgan Meachum and Michelle Sharp
FUR6-02 Crop Circles by Cliff Meggison
FUR6-03 Shadows on the Coast by Michelle Sharp
FUR6-04 When We First Practice by Scott Reid
FUR6-05 Darkest Night by Steve Yee
FUR6-06 Invocation and Intrigue by Steve Bergen and Andrew Nuxoll
FUR6-07 Conjuring Trouble by Andrew Nuxoll
FUR6-08 The Dread Witch Project by John du Bois
HIG6-01 Faerie Fire by Brian Nowak
HIG6-02 Antipathy by Todd Ammerman and Jeremy Vosberg
HIG6-03 Heavy Upon a Heart by Greg Marks
HIG6-04 A Wheat for Your Thoughts by Richard W. Brown
HIG6-05 A Column of Five by Greg Marks
HIG6-06 First Comes the Running by Gary Affeldt
HIG6-07 The Root of the Problem by Richard W. Brown
HIG6-08 Dusk by Greg Marks
HIG6-09 Racial Enemies by Paul Dohearty
PAL6-01 Shapers of Sun and Stone by Lance White
PAL6-02 Tiger, Tiger! by Ron Levy
PAL6-03 A Matter of Grey Importance by Dale Thurber
PAL6-04 Tooth and Nail by Jason Clark
PAL6-05 Heart of Winter by Donovan Hicks and Neil Harkins
PAL6-06 Promises in the Dark by Jason Clark
PAL6-07 Snow Fall by Donovan Hicks and Neil Harkins
RTK6-01 The Fate of Alain by Gregory A. Dreher and Mark Somers
RTK6-02 A Knightly Tale by Brendan Robertson
RTK 6-03 Court and Causality by Dean Bailey
RTK6-04 Those At Sea by Mark Somers and David Adams
RTK7-01 Thin Air by Wes Nicholson
©1995-2007 Wizards of the Coast, Inc., a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Wizards is headquartered in Renton, Washington, PO Box 707, Renton, WA 98057.


text: Preschool Teacher Accused of Giving Kids Sleeping Aid While second teacher accused of binding toddler with tape By Evann Gastaldo, Newser Staff Posted Mar 13, 2013 2:42 PM CDT 19 comments Comments (Shutterstock) (Newser) – Two Northern California preschool teachers are accused in separate, equally disturbing incidents: In Morgan Hill, Deborah Gratz was arrested after officials at the Kiddie Academy reported her for allegedly putting an over-the-counter sleeping aid into some kids' drinking cups. A witness saw Gratz, 59, putting Sominex into the cups in her classroom of 1- and 2-year-olds. Authorities found evidence in Gratz's home, but have not uncovered a motive, KTVU reports. In Pleasanton, Angela Calcagno is being investigated by police for allegedly using masking tape to bind the ankles and wrists of a 2-year-old girl who refused to take a nap, CBS San Francisco reports. Bizarrely, Calcagno took a picture of the bound toddler and showed it to other teachers, including the girl's mother, at a social gathering. Calcagno, who had recently resigned from Centerpointe Christian Preschool, told the teachers she had warned the girl what would happen if she didn't cooperate with naptime. The child's mother reported her. (Read more Deborah Gratz stories.) My Take on This Story Report a story error Show results without voting | 9% Hilarious 1% Intriguing 4% Depressing 2% Brilliant 77% Scary 7% Ridiculous


text:
A Bartender
Starting work at 6am isn't the norm for an average bartender,
however tending this bar requires you to be remarkably better than
average. In fact 'average' is not a word we tend to hear at
The Wolseley.
What's it like working at Corbin & King? We promise you that your day will be stimulating, varied and never boring! Click on the links below to find out what some of our staff have to say:
Starting work at 6am isn't the norm for an average bartender,
however tending this bar requires you to be remarkably better than
average. In fact 'average' is not a word we tend to hear at
The Wolseley.
I started 2 years ago on the Vegetables section in The Wolseley's kitchens. I am now on the sauce section which is one of the busiest and largest sections with a different Plat du Jour every day ranging from Vijay's Chicken Curry to Coq Au Vin which takes a lot of prep.
I take a deep breath while running up the back stairs and I'm on the restaurant floor. The buzz of London's busiest restaurant is incredible - from now I am at the beck and call of the reason we exist – our customers. I clock into our computer system to be able to access table information and place orders, turn around, and I'm in. My service face is on, my mind shifts up a gear (or two or three…) and my shift truly begins.
And so service has begun … The printer keeps printing and checks keeps being called, "SAUCE, LARDER, LET'S GO - TABLE 45! NOW!" We all get lost in the excitement of service and when I look up it almost 3pm. And slowly the kitchen starts to feel over-populated. Ah, yes, the evening shift is in.
How many customers do we have booked for tonight? Who will be working where? Is everything on the menu? Who are the VIP's? What are their likes and dislikes?
We are usually fully booked 2 to 3 weeks in advance for times between 7.30am - 9.30am for breakfast, lunch is 12.00pm - 2.00pm and then dinner 7.00pm - 9.00pm; these times are by far the most popular with the majority of people.
Well-known author and poet Fatima Bhutto, in an essay for GRANTA, describes a night spent with the touriers at The Delaunay, making the viennoiserie destined for Corbin & King's restaurants.


text: Bologna, 17 October, 2007 - The new Datalogic website places second for the "eContent Award Italy" in the E-business category. The "eContent Award Italy" has been organized by Milano's Polytechnic Institute and the European Commission MEDICI Framework with support from the most important Italian institutions (Presidency of the Republic, President of the Council of Ministers and nine Ministries). The aim of the "eContent Award Italy" is to promote young talent, creativity and innovation in the new media in Italy.Datalogic's new website won 2nd place in the E-business category. The company, the third manufacturer in the world and first in Europe for Automatic Identification, activated its new organizational structure on April 2 and consequently redesigned its website, www.datalogic.com. Datalogic's new website now reflects the new Group structure, thanks to its restyling, handled by the web agency Studio Pleiadi. The Datalogic Group is composed of 3 companies, each with its own corporate and product area: Datalogic Mobile (www.mobile.datalogic.com), Datalogic Automation (www.automation.datalogic.com) and Datalogic Scanning (www.scanning.datalogic.com). Global quality and completeness of content were amongst the criteria used by the specialized jury that chose the projects, as well as ease of use (functions, navigation and orientation capability), interactivity, design (graphic/audio aesthetic value), quality of product creation, multi-language feature and project cost sustainability. Along with the public website, Studio Pleiadi also designed and created an Extranet website for Datalogic with multi-level access. This allows Datalogic to share secure operative data and processes in real time with a large network of partners present all over the world.


text:
Xi Jinping: A Hero for China?
Xi Jinping: A Hero for China?
Is Xi Jinping a hero for China today? I would put him in the Nelson Mandela class of persons. A person with enormous emotional stability
Xi Jinpeng
who does not allow his personal misfortunes or sufferings affect his judgment. In other words, he is impressive.–Lee Kwan Yew, Founder of Singapore.
There are some bored foreigners, with full stomachs, who have nothing better to do than point fingers at us China. First, China doesn't export revolution; second, China doesn't export hunger and poverty; third, China doesn't come and cause you headaches, what more is there to be said?– Xi Jinping, Future President of China.
Hu Jintao, China's current president, has been known all his life for his humility. It endeared him to his future father-in-law, to his employees and, ultimately, to the people of China.
Since he was a young man, Xi Jinping has been recognized for his honesty. He is almost painfully honest. Because his statement, above, which is self-evidently true, was labelled a "hardline rant" by Britain's Daily Telegraph, he doesn't say much in public.
Both Hu and Xi are engineers. Both are enormously competent. One is ending and the other beginning the most difficult job on earth.
Xi Jinping has impeccable credentials. His father, Xi Zhongxun, a Revolutionary hero, was imprisoned for supporting more democracy than Mao was comfortable with.
Teenaged Jinping was exiled to a hut in one of China's poorest villages for 7 bitter years. That's what Lee Kwan Yu meant when he said "he does not allow his personal misfortunes or sufferings affect his judgment".
When later asked about his experience during the Cultural Revolution, Xi recalled it saying, "…it was emotional. It was a mood. And when the ideals of the Cultural Revolution could not be realised, it proved an illusion…".
Undiscouraged, he joined the Communist Party in 1974 while his father was still in jail, and rose through its ranks. He joined the People's Liberation Army and worked as a secretary to the then-defense minister while on active duty at the powerful Central Military Commission. This insight into China's military and the friendships he formed will stand him in good stead as president.
Xi studied chemical engineering at Tsinghua University in Beijing from 1975-9 and then served a long stint as a Party official in poor rural areas of Hebei, the northern province that surrounds Beijing. (He recently returned for a visit there and was apparently horrified at how little difference the Government's programs had made, blurting out his shame and disappointment at how little had been done for the people there.
He married, but his wife divorced him, giving as her only grounds the damning word, "Boring". Any engineer's wife will sympathize. He remarried to someone with a life so exciting that she looked forward to coming home to a reliably boring husband: Peng Liyuan, China's most famous singer and far better known to Chinese than her shy husband. Their daughter currently attends Harvard University.
From the mid-1980s, Xi shifted to the export powerhouse provinces and cities on China's southeastern coast. In quick succession he rose to the top of the government in Fujian, then Zhejiang province, becoming Communist Party secretary there in 2002.
In 2007, he was named party secretary in Shanghai and sent in to mop up after his predecessor was jailed and disgraced in a massive scandal over misuse of the city's social security funds. After a short stint in Shanghai, in the fall of 2007, Xi was elevated to the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party Central, ranking 6th. on the elite nine-member group that rules China.
He was appointed China's vice-president in March 2008. In October 2010, he added an important political title seen as a strong indication that he would succeed Hu: Vice Chairman of the Communist Party's Central Military Commission.
American leaders who have met Xi describe him as a man of "immense competence". If you know about the perfection of the Beijing Olympics, or its amazing opening ceremony, you will see Xi's handiwork: he was the man in charge.
Recently Bloomberg ran a typical Western media hit piece on Xi. Bloomberg invested immense resources in tracing all the holdings of people related to Xi. They were unable to discover any wealth owned by Xi, but the implication of the article was clear: the Chinese leadership is just as corrupt as our own. The article failed to mention that his extensive family have been famous from birth thanks to their relationship to Xi Zhongxun. They were all well-educated and perfectly positioned to rise along with China as it began its meteoric ascent in 1980. Xi chose a different path.
So it appears that China's system of choosing leaders has produced another winner to match the retiring Hu and Wen. Another 10 years of progress, even at the reduced growth rate of 7.5%, will see China the universally acknowledged world leader in 2022. An interesting prospect, and one we have not seen before in human history.
Here's an unconfirmed anecdote from PaPaPeng about Xi that supports what we know about Xi's effectiveness in cleaning up Shanghai:
It was in the mid 1980s when China was first opening up. There were few rules and scant regulatory mechanisms in place to oversee the loosening of banking transactions. Corruption was rampant as bank officials stole and ran overseas with millions of dollars from the very banks they were managing. There were scams galore and in all something in the order of more than $100 billions of state money was lost.
The foreign based early investors from the top Western investment houses lost big too and demanded compensation. Many of these scams has the encouragement of the local governments and the westerners thought that meant Chinese government ownership or participation, therefore implied guarantees against fraud. Nothing of that sort. The local governments of course wanted investments and gave nice speeches about their localities' investment potentials. It was up to investors to do their own due diligence.
Anyway you cannot just ignore Wall Street or THE CITY. That's where the money comes from. A low level unknown Beijing bureaucrat was given the task of solving this problem. He called together the biggest debt holders for a meeting and told them:-
"You lost millions. We lost millions. Neither of us are going to see that money back*.
I know you people like to sue. You can sue us in China. You will never win. You can
sue us in the States or in London. We will fight you all the way. We may lose. You may win.
We don't care. But do that and you will never work in China again."
In the report that was a factoid that the Beijing bureaucrat was the husband of a famous folk singer (a general in the PLA) and bit of other biographical data that I cannot remember. There is only one such couple that fit this description, President -in -waiting Xi Jinping.
*(I was at that time puzzled by the vehement stand taken by western governments against any request from China for details of Chinese officials who had emigrated to their countries (US, UK, Australia and NZ, and the various European states) so that their source of funds could be reconstructed. Their flight was certainly highly suspicious as everyone in China was equally poor, without a middle class let alone millionaires. Chinese passports were also next to impossible to get unless the travel was on official business. The standard western reply was they respected human rights, privacy, democracy, ad nauseam. There was no way they would let China have these crooks and the billions they brought into their countries.)
One thought on "Xi Jinping: A Hero for China?"
shelby "First, China doesn't export revolution; second, China doesn't export hunger and poverty; third, China doesn't come and cause you headaches, what more is there to be said?"
This will be proven to be false within a decade or less:


text:
Springtime is Wartime
"No Touching Please"
"Psycho Killer (Harriet Bird Edition)"
"What the Hell is Brimstone?"
- Tim Eymann Bass/lead vocals
- Dave Haq Vocals
- Josh Eymann Drums
Genre: Alt / Indie rock
Sound description: A refreshingly energetic cocktail of punk stylings mixed with funky breakdowns that deliver an altogether crunchy yet catchy sound. Think Cursive's instrumentals, James Brown's rhythms, fused with a DIY punk attitude. -The Indy
Web site: http://myspace.com/springtimeiswartime
Email: email@example.com
Brothers Tim and Josh Eymann grew up in Goleta and have been playing in bands together since high school. In spring 2004 they joined with Dave Haq, who grew up in Torrance and went to school at UCSB. They quickly recorded a four-song demo in 2004 and began playing regularly at local venues. In November 2006, they released their full-length album, The Halo is Lit Toight. When not playing music, Tim is an elementary school teacher, Josh is a marketing director, and Dave is a guitar teacher with Anvil Guitar Instruction. Josh and Tim also tried their hand at running an all-ages venue for four years; the now-defunct Hard to Find Showspace.
Upcoming shows
None scheduled
2004, Goleta, CA
June of '44, Roadside Monument, Sweep the Leg Johnny, Jawbox, A Minor Forest, Fugazi, 31 Knots, Cinemechanica, James Brown, The Police, Talking Heads, Kool and the Gang, Dillinger Escape Plan, Botch
Current status
Their new album with 10 original songs, A Bad Year for Good Men, will be released any day now. Check their MySpace profile for show listings.


text:
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text:
Saturday, December 6, 2008
-Three days of work, unpaid.
-Either a Buenos Aires or Salvador da Bahia add-on to my end-of-the-year romp in Brazil.
-A trip to Cuba in February with some of my best friends from the States.
-New York for Spring Break.
-A new digital camera (the one I have now is very "first generation").
-A new iPod (well, an iPod, as I currently don't own one and this Discman is looking more and more like an 8-track player every day).
-Possibly Mexico in March with another one of my cool peeps.
Now, I know you're thinking that all these things couldn't possibly be worth $800, which is true when considering the individual price of each item. However, when taking into account the accrued interest, fees, and surcharges that go along with robbing Peter to pay Paul, the end amount spent becomes compounded.
If I do go, I'll be making a long-overdue and much-needed visit to Washington, where I lived as a sometime political operative before moving to Colombia. I'll be amongst virtually all of my very best friends in life (and get to see my undergrad university especially represented since our band, the world-famous Marching 100, has been invited to perform). And we'll be witnessing the one and only time that the first black president of the United States is sworn into office. I mean, I'm the history teacher for chrissakes...shouldn't I be there for this one and only history-making life-changing event?
I have to decide by next week.
Note: If this post sounds strange and flighty to you, then you should know that I am indeed a sufferer of vagabond neurosis.
9 comments:
- Catherine said...
take the Buenos Aires option...you won't regret it!!You have plenty of time to catch up with Obama...
- December 7, 2008 at 6:21 AM
- kwerekwere said...
you must really like crowds.
i had [still have, actually] the option to be there. flight on a buddy pass if i so desire.
however, everybody and their mother is going to be there, which is more than enough reason for me *not* to be.
were you in dc for the million man march? did you try to do *anything* in dc that involved being in the middle of town that day? hell, that entire weekend? [i was there. heh. i flew from south africa to make it there, too.]
remembering trying to maneuver dc at the MMM is more than reason enough to not see him up close and personal to get sworn in.
a very close second is, well, it's washington. in january. um, no.
i see your point, but tivo and the innertubes are your friends. you can watch it on a big screen and be warm or you can watch it on a big screen and be cold [you close do you physically think you will get?]
i'm not trying to sound like a naysayer or anything. it's just my inner agoraphobic weather wuss sounding things out.
- December 7, 2008 at 5:00 PM
- Brandie said...
Tough decision. I live only a few blocks from where all the action is going to happen and I seriously doubt I'll be able to see anything up close with the wave of people that are flooding this city. In addition, it is already FREEZING here so spending HOURS outside clinging to a space in the crowd does not sound like a party to me, historic moment and all.
That said, it definitely is going to be a moment of a lifetime!
- December 8, 2008 at 1:31 AM
- iKensington said...
Hey Fly-Bro....
I say GO! This is the most monumental global event happening this century. You must be there. Ok...you will be forgoing some leisure time and some cool electronics...all of these will ALWAYS be available...even if you do have to save (back) up for them. However, the event on Jan 20 in DC has been being saved-up for since our ancestors came to the Middle Passage. Take the $800 and get the tix before they get any higher. You will not regret it.
- December 8, 2008 at 2:21 AM
- Darius T. Williams said...
hmph - well, let me know what you decide - I'm curious.
I thought about going - but it's gonna be waaaay too crowded, right? Plus with all the TV coverage I can chill at home in the warmth and still see what's happening.
- December 8, 2008 at 11:12 AM
- Fly Girl said...
That's a hard decision but weighing all of the options, I think you'll regret not going to the innauguration. Buenos Aires, Salvador (all that laying around that you said was not for you) and Mexico aren't going anywhere. The Obama innauguration however, will. You will never get the opportunity to witness that history mr. history teacher, again. You'll also regret seeing your band and all your best friends in DC. It's like passing up the King March on Washington for a trip to Jamaica with your friends. My mother made the decision to go to the march instead of the trip with her friends and now she has a historic story that she tells her awe-struck kids and grand kids. Some how, a story about the adventures she had with her friends would'nt have left as much of an impression.
- December 8, 2008 at 1:24 PM
- Kevin said...
After living through so many such events big and small in DC myself, and 9 out of 10 events of great import to I ended up having to watch on TV in my DC apartment, I can just imagine how nuts this one is gonna be. I would say you'd better choose DC only if you have 5 other very important reasons to be there other than to fight the crowds everywhere you go (including the parties, the restaurants, the Metro, the cab stands, the corner Starbuck's etc).
Like, me and Vini went by Rockefeller Center last Wednesday with the idea we might see the lighting of the Christmas tree. We ended up trapped at a badly-organized police barrier at 6th and 48th and got trampled and crushed trying to get around it just to cross the street. I would have preferred to watch it on TV :)
The inauguration might be history making and life changing for you, but think about how it is to be appreciated best by you, as a black man and as a history teacher. And also remember that money doesn't grow on trees...
- December 9, 2008 at 9:13 AM
- Fly Brother said...
Thanks everybody for weighing-in. I think, in the end, the cost will determine whether or not I go. I'm not as interested in seeing him up close as I am in absorbing the energy of the crowd, the city, the country. I mean, to be in that space at that particular time...I can't imagine anything like it, at least not in the States. The cold wouldn't bother me, nor would the crowd. I just want to be recharged, re-energized, and most specifically, be around MY people again.
- December 9, 2008 at 11:52 PM
- singleinny said...
Just came across your blog, and am really enjoying it. At the very end, thanks to ou, I identified myself as a vagabond neurotic.
- June 5, 2010 at 9:52 PM


text:
For those of you who are fed up with having to keep requesting copies of blood test results from unhelpful receptionists at your GPs practice - I thought it might be worth flagging up that you might be able to register for online access to your records. I'm not sure how widely this has rolled out yet. You will need to speak to your practice and probably take 2 forms of identification (such as a bank statement/bill with your address and a photo id) to get access.
This is the link to the website which seems to be running the system:


text:
It seems that around the festive season one trend keeps on coming back: red is flattering us in all shapes and shades from merlot, to brick red, to high lighter red. I have seen this lava -red dress by Reiss London in stores during London Fashion Week time and remained restless and sleepless until I finally made it mine. Since I live in Vienna I had to buy it online – I brought the accessories, the necklace and bracelet already with me from my London trip. I love this black and silver jewellery because it is ultra versatile and adding a bit of wickedness to this rather elegant dress.
Since it is freezing cold I had to wrap up in my coat and head band – I chose different variations of red accents to complete my look. I think mixing different hues of red, lighter with darker ones is the new black when it comes to the red trend. We've moved inside a shopping mall because the wind has been unbearably chilly – and of course we had a lot of onlookers: Luckily most of them were positive – yet they were puzzled about what a girl in a lava red dress is doing here.
I'm taking pictures for my fashion journal, mind me – and that ain't crime…
I think every girl must have at least one good red dress in her closet – since the festive season has started and I suppose you all are beginning to get busy, I thought I'd give you a little hand with finding the hottest and most remarkable red dresses across the web – suited to every body type and budget. Here is my pre- selection of the web's best red dresses for you:
And last but not least I have one good reason why you should buy, borrow, steal, well basically own a red dress:
It is sexy!
How will you be rocking the red colour trend this year? Let me know in the comment section below!
xox, the Flamboyante


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Today I'm super excited to participate in the Blog Tour of 'Striking Out' by Scarlet Bennett. This is an adult Australian contemporary that was published on July 14th by Firefield Press. For more information and tour stops, please visit the tour page.
Monday, September 7, 2015
Blog Tour 'Striking Out' by Scarlet Bennett
Today I'm super excited to participate in the Blog Tour of 'Striking Out' by Scarlet Bennett. This is an adult Australian contemporary that was published on July 14th by Firefield Press. For more information and tour stops, please visit the tour page.
Sharon Jackson is a small-town girl with big-city dreams. Forced out of her home in regional Western Australia with her singing career in ruins, she hits the big smoke in search of stardom. After signing with a sleazy agent who wants more than a ten percent cut of her earnings, she struggles to earn a place in the macho world of rock-'n-roll, encountering a series of colourful characters along the way – like Todd, the sexy, brooding muso with a dragon tattoo and Kevin, the whip-smart fighter with some hidden demons of his own.But when her troubled past follows her to the city, Shazza's dreams begin to unravel. With no home to go back to and a past that won't stay buried, everything she has worked for is on the line. Shazza must make a decision that will define the course of her future, and time is running out.
For more information please visit Amazon.
A view weeks ago I was approached about the 'Striking Out' Blog Tour. When I read the book description I was immediately interested in reading this story, especially since it sounded so different than the books I read recently. So I was really excited to read this one. I knew that there would be Australian slang in this book, but with the risk of not really getting it.. I dived into this book.
In 'Striking Out' we meet Sharon Jackson, a young wannabe singer who fled her hometown to escape her past and to make it in the 'city'. Sharon is determined to make her dreams come true. She has a new agent and she can't wait to start with her new life. But nothing is going the way Sharon planned. Life is hard, and her past isn't as easy to get away from. Then there's also the hot and sexy rock star who just doesn't seem interested, and the sexy and tough fighter who has a difficult past himself. The last thing Sharon wants is to be caught between two men. And soon Sharon has to make some difficult decisions.
Although this book really sounded like something I would like, I didn't expect to like it this much. From the moment I started reading, I just didn't want to put the book down. The main character Sharon Jackson, a.k.a. Shazza is one tough girl. Shazza dreams big and isn't afraid to work hard for her dreams. Since her life hasn't been easy all the time, Shazza has some surprises on her sleeve. For one you really shouldn't make her angry, second, don't challenge her for arm wrestling and third she really can sing.
This book was just so much fun to read. It really is a story about the journey of life and about going on, especially when life gets hard. I loved the main character Sharon, and I really enjoyed getting to know her. The thing I admired about her character the most, was the way she really was able to lose her bad habits and become a better and 'smarter' person. I really felt proud of her at the end of the book.
Not only was this book interesting to read, it also was really funny and I just didn't want it to end. For me, the best thing about this book was the way I could really imagine this story being real. It could have easily been a memoir.
Since there was some Australian Slang, and English is my second language, there were some concerns about me really enjoying it and getting everything. I can honestly say I didn't have any trouble with reading this book. And I didn't have any trouble with understanding the writing. It did make me want to go to Australia even more than before I started reading this book. And I really made myself laugh because I imagined the characters with this huge Australian accent. And I'm so bad with accents!!
This book was amazing and I'm so glad I had the opportunity to read this one. I read it in one sitting, and it just wasn't long enough. Scarlet Bennett really did an amazing job with this one. Great job! ;)
Scarlet Bennett spent her formative years in regional Western Australia, and it shows. Years of city living have softened her broad accent, but the slang she's stuck with. After earning a Masters degree in Psychology, the colourful characters of her childhood – and that irrepressible Aussie spirit – found their way onto the page. She is a graduate of Allaboutwriting's mentoring program, and lives inCanberra with her husband, kids, and far more animals than can reasonably fit on a suburban plot.
For more information about Scarlet Bennett please visit her website, Facebook and Firefield Press.
a Rafflecopter giveaway This event was organized by CBB Book Promotions.
Geplaatst door Maureen Bakker op 8:29 AM
Labels: 5 Star Rating, Adult Contemporary, Australian, Blog Tour, Favorite, Giveaway
2 comments:
YAY! Your review makes me happy! I was wondering if the slang would be hard for you so it's good to hear it wasn't at all. Thank you so much for hosting a tour stop and sharing your thoughts!ReplyDeleteReplies
You're very welcome. I really loved this book and I'm so happy that I tried it. Thank you for letting me be a part of the tour. ;)Delete
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Pieces of Barbara Weir
Grass Seed DreamingArtist : Barbara Weir
Nation : Australia
Size (cm) : 60 H x 60 L
1700 €
Unique piece accompanied by a certificate of authenticity
48h delivery - Ref : 477.
48h delivery - Ref : 477.
This work depicts the grass which was found at Utopia until the introduction of cattle grazing in the early 20th century. The grass is important to the Aboriginal people because its seeds were ground up to make flour. The seeds fell to ...
Total: 1
Afo Luba Kongo Dogon Idoma Ibo Yoruba Teke Senufo Grebo Kwele Songye Mambilla Lwalwa Bambara Yaka Baoulé Fang Dan Chokwe Adouma Punu Gouro Gurunsi Lobi Chamba Yaure Hemba Ambete Eket Bembe Mama Mende Lega Bobo Bwa Malinke Mumuye Gabon Wei Douala Ibibio Ogoni Vuvi Bété Toma Boa Koro Bassikassingo Urhobo Mossi Montol Salumpasu Agni Wurkum Kuyu


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Wireless music systems like the Sonos, Apple TV and Squeezebox have made it easier than ever to get music streaming wirelessly across your home or office. British hi-fi maker Naim built its UnitiQute to do just that, accepting audio from a variety of sources both wired and unwired, and producing clear, sharp sound in any setting.
This all-in-one music hub is heavy — around 13 pounds — but it's small enough to easily fit on a desktop or bookshelf. The UnitiQute has an integrated 30 watt-per-channel amp that pumps out tunes from a slew of sources: FM and web radio, CD players, flash drives, iPods, iPhones and networked music from laptops and storage drives.
Naim has been building amps for 40 years, and its experience shows. The UnitiQute produces a balanced, open sound that provides punch where it's needed, but also brings out the nuance and detail in complex recordings. I hooked the system into my Definitive tower speakers with built-in subwoofers, and it proved plenty powerful, with an impressive soundstage and well-defined sound.
The UnitiQute has a bright bluish-green display which can be read clearly from about six to eight feet away. Other than a headphone jack, an input jack and USB port, that's it for the front panel. You'll need to pick up the remote even for the most basic functions. The remote does everything, though: it lets you change the settings (networking, inputs, etc.), as well as view and select album, track, artist and other music data.
A better option, though, is using your iPod touch or iPhone to control the action. To do so, you need to install a Universal Plug and Play server (in this case, EyeConnect) on your computer, and you need to install NAIM's "n-Stream" app. Surprisingly, when you go to download it in the iTunes store, you'll find yourself short $36 — a tough swallow after dropping $2,000 on the hardware unit.
The app lets you browse and select tracks from your music libraries to be streamed through the UnitiQute right there on your Apple touchscreen. Once these two apps are up and running, the UnitiQute can read all the music and radio stations in iTunes, or from any NAS drive on your network. The performance is surprisingly smooth and snappy — a one- or two-second delay when switching tracks, and no dropped connections in our testing. When you touch the top of the screen, the bit rate, sample rate and other track info appears. All in all, pretty slick.
If you want to hook in a CD player or another component, the UnitiQute has a number of analog and digital inputs, and a preamp to connect to an external amp — although with 30 watts per channel, it will do a fine job with most speakers. If you want to play tunes from your iPod, you can connect it via the USB slot on the front of the UnitiQute, and since it flows through a digital connection, you can control playback with the remote. You can also use a flash drive loaded with music, and pop it into a USB slot on the face of the UnitiQute. The albums show up on the display, and the response is quick, so you can flip through the tracks in a snap.
At $2,000, the UnitiQute isn't for the DIY crowd — U.K.-built hi-fi has never been for budget-minded buyers. But if you want a compact high-performance, plug-and-play, all-in-one music player, it's tough to beat.
WIRED Multiple inputs and network connectivity give you lots of music options. Low-key looks, but built like a tank. Big, balanced sound.
TIRED $2,000 and they charge extra for the n-Stream app?
Photo: Jonathan Snyder/Wired


text: Hi, I want to make a mmorpg game for mac. (and windows too i guess, that comes second) I have a team of 4 people so far. We have a guy with maya. I can make trailers with final cut. We have ideas, storylines. But no programmer or artists. If you want to help this could hopefully do well. Please no messages saying "are u crazy? ya right. u have nothing." etc. thx


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|Green Fields - Digital Painting
I have mentioned many times that I have always practiced both photography and painting since I was a child. I had a long period of time where I wasn't practicing either much, but then came back to photography and earned my reputation creating pictorialist styled digital photographs. Achieving the results I did often involved incorporating painted elements into my work, usually just as backgrounds or textures. But this digital work put the paint brush back into my hands and it wasn't long before I wanted to create more than just abstract paintings for use in my photography. I wanted to try to create my photographs in paint.
While not all my paintings are based on my photographs, many of them are. Technologies use starts in the studio where I have a laptop and large tv that can I display the images on. Well, really the technology starts with using a digital camera to capture reference material. Camera and laptop are pretty common in many artists studios today. But the use of computer technology certainly doesn't stop there.
My iPhone is also usually with me in the studio or in my pocket if I'm out plein air painting. Most photo apps have the ability to convert an image to black and white which is valuable for studying values. One of my favourite apps, especially for plein air work, is Value Viewer by Mark Putnam. This app allows you to display a black and white version of the image, but you can also convert it to a two value (notan) or three value (levels) version. Included is a crop tool where you can input your canvas size, and compositional guides.
|Redpolls In Winter - 11x14" - Oil on birch - From photo of the same name.
When I saw a friend mention signing up for a digital painting course, my interest was piqued. I looked up the course and loved what I saw, so signed up. The digital painting Green Fields above was one of my homework assignments. Slowly I'm getting it!
Am I going to replace my brushes with the stylus and go digital? Not likely. But taking the time to learn how to do a digital painting is going to pay off in the studio. I can use the technology to do quick sketches, or even a study painting to work out composition, values, colours, etc. It's not really any quicker to do it digitally. In fact it takes me way longer to create a digital painting than an oil one, but the benefit lies in the easy adjustment and manipulations (and the lack of clean up). It also lies in the portability of it.
We all know the artists mind never quits thinking about painting. While at that meeting or the doctors office, or other places you wouldn't be able to haul your paints out, you can work digitally on your phone or tablet.
Have a painting you are struggling with, or an element you can't quite resolve? Take a photo on your phone and bring it into one of the many excellent apps available for mobile devices. You can create a new layer and paint over top of your existing painting to work out the problem, then return to the studio with a solid plan to fix whatever was bugging you.
I did just that with the painting above, Redpolls In Winter. I was following the photo too closely, but it lacked the details to convincingly portray the turn of the left birds head. It looks strange. I'd scraped it out and repainted it a couple times, but still couldn't resolve the issue. So finally I took a photo and opened up my painting app and worked out the issue there. If I'd created a digital sketch before I'd started I wouldn't have had this struggle to begin with.
|Redpolls In Winter - Digital painting to resolve bird.
This morning I'll head back to the studio and repaint that bird, with a plan on how to make his head turn in a more convincing manner. Then it will be back to my digital painting course homework.
Before incorporating digital technology into my painting process, I probably would have continued to struggle with the bird painting and eventually would have just given up on it, and put it into the "nice try, but not good enough" pile to be destroyed somewhere down the road. There are probably some traditionalists who will view incorporating technology like this into your work as a form of cheating. They are probably the same people who said digital photography was cheating and not real when that technology was just starting out.
For them I say this: the painters of yesterday frowned up the use of the camera obscura, just the same as every new invention throughout history has been viewed with suspicion and disdain. The technology is here to stay and there will likely be some who misuse it and others that embrace it for the true potential it contains. All of the uses I have outlined can be accomplished with pen and paper, or brush and canvas, so it's really up to the artist to decide if the technology has value for them or not. Because I already do a lot of digital image work with my photography, it seems reasonable to use the technology to advance my painting skills.


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- Nelson Glueck - "It may be stated categorically that no archaeological discovery has ever controverted a biblical reference."
- William F. Albright - "There can be no doubt that archaeology has confirmed the substantial historicity of Old Testament traditions."
- F.F. Bruce - "Where Luke has been suspected of inaccuracy, and accuracy has been vindicated by some inscriptional evidence, it may be legitimate to say archaeology has confirmed the New Testament record."
- # Merrill Unger - "Old Testament archaeology has rediscovered whole nations, resurrected important peoples, and in a most astonishing manner filled in historical gaps, adding immeasurably to the knowledge of biblical backgrounds."
- Miller Burrows - "Archaeology has in many cases refuted the views of modern critics. It has shown in a number of instances that these views rest on false assumptions and unreal, artificial schemes of historical development ... The excessive skepticism of many liberal theologians stems not from a careful evaluation of the available data, but from an enormous predisposition against the supernatural."
1. For many critics the account of the birth of Jesus was held as ridiculous. They argued that there was no census, that Quirinius was not Governor of Syria at that time and that everyone did not have to return to his ancestral home for a census. Archaeology has proven the critics wrong (again) -
* The Romans had a regular enrollment of taxpayers and held censuses every 14 years. The procedure was begun under Augustus.
* Quirinius was Governor of Syria about 7 B.C.
* A papyrus found in Egypt gives directions for the conduct of a census. Families were to return to their own governments to complete family registration of the enrollment and that the tilled lands might retain those belonging to them.
2. Critics said Acts was unreliable because Luke wrote that Lystra and Derbe were in Lycaonia and Iconium was not (Acts 14:6). However, in 1910, Sir William Ramsay found a monument that showed Iconium was a Phrygran city. Later discoveries confirmed that.
3. In his letter to the Romans, Paul mentions the city treasurer, Erastus (Romans 16:23). The letter was written in Corinth. Excavations of Corinth in 1929 found this inscripion on a pavement: "Erastus, curator of public buildings, laid this pavement at his own expense." The pavement dates from the 1st century A.D.
4. Many critics have blasted the usage of certain words by Luke.
* Luke called rulers in Philippi "praetors." Scholars argued that two "duumuirs" would have ruled the town. However, archaeology shows that the title of "praetor" was employed by the magistrates of a Roman colony. Luke was right.
* Luke called civil authorities in Thessalonica "politarchs." Critics said there was no such person. However, 19 inscriptions have been unearthed which use the title. Luke was right.
* Luke called Gallio "proconsul." The Delphi inscription was unearthed which reads: "As Lucius Junius Gallio, my friend and the proconsul of Achaia."
Sir William Ramsay wrote of Luke: "Luke is a historian of the first rank ... this author should be placed along with the very greatest of historians."
Note that no single translation constitutes the only version one may consider to be inspired.
JB Phillips would tell you that it is not the word by exact word that is inspired but the meaning. The only perfect versions are the originals themselves.
We do not have them - and for good reason - given man's propensity to idolatry and the worship of 'things' it goes without saying that institutions like the RC church would venerate the originals and make idols out of them. So it's no wonder many sacred items of the past have been "lost".
However we have every reason to accept what we do have as legitimate as I will show briefly.
With the great abundance of MSS available for both OT and NT texts, and the minimal problems involved with inconsistancies between them, there really is no problem at all.
We can safely say with Sir F. Kenyon (former Director of the British Museum), "The number of manuscripts of the New Testament, or early translations from it in the oldest writers of the Church, is so large that it is practically certain that the true reading of every doubtful passage is preserved in some one or other of these ancient authorities. This can be said of no other ancient book in the world." ...
"The interval between the dates of the original composition and the earliest extant evidence becomes so small as to be in fact negligible, and the last foundation for any doubt that the Scriptures have come down to us substantially as they were written has now been removed. Both the authenticity and the general integrity of the books of the New Testament may be regarded as finally established."
And F. J. A. Hort of Cambridge University, one of the greatest textual critics of the New Testament, in his book Introduction to the New Testament in the Original Greek said that, leaving aside the comparatively trivial variations between the manuscripts:
the amount of what can in any sense be called substantial variation is but a small fraction of the whole...and can hardly form more than a thousandth part of the entire text.
And if you really want to be honest and impartial you must also take into account the following :
Numbers of surviving manuscripts of ancient writers
The plays of Aeschylus are preserved in perhaps 50 manuscripts, of which none is complete. Sophocles is represented by about 100 manuscripts, of which only 7 have any appreciable independent value. The Greek Anthology has survived in one solitary copy. The same is the case with a considerable part of Tacitus' Annals. Of the poems of Catullus there are only 3 independent manuscripts. Some of the classical authors, such as Euripides, Cicero, Ovid, and especially Virgil, are better served with the numbers rising into the hundreds.
The numbers of manuscripts of other writers are: for Caesar's Gallic War 10, Aristotle 49, Plato 7, Herodotus 8, Aristophanes 10. Apart from a few papyrus scraps only 8 manuscripts of Thucydides, considered by many to be one of the most accurate of ancient historians, have survived.
Of the 142 books of the Roman History of Livy only 35 survive, represented in about 20 manuscripts. Homer's Iliad is the best represented of all ancient writings, apart from the New Testament, with something like 700 manuscripts. However, there are many more significant variations in the Iliad manuscripts than there are in those of the New Testament.
Does one feel that the above named MSS must be totally refuted or considered unreliable? Of course not. So why is it ALWAYS the bible that gets the most flack?
The answers to that question are pretty obvious - on the purely human side - it's claims are much more significant than any other book.
On the purely psychological and spiritual side - hatred or at least dislike of the idea of the Judeo/Xian God being the one true God. Indeed, the consequences are devastating for the atheist and for the uncoverted rebel.
No other book in all of history has received so much vehement persecution, hatred, multiplied 1000's of attempts to destroy it both physically and evidentially. No other MSS is history is so well supported by so many experts in the fields of archaeology and history.
No other book in history is so loved and so hated. Why?
And, In addition to Greek, we have something like 8,000 manuscripts in Latin, and an additional 8,000 or so manuscripts in other languages such as Syriac, Armenian, Ethiopic, Coptic, Gothic, Slavic, Sahidic and Georgian. As these translations began to be made before the close of the second century, they provide an excellent source for assessing the text of the New Testament writings from a very early date. On this latter point Charles H. Welsh, in his book "True from the Beginning", quotes from the third edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica:
This argument is so strong, that, if we deny the authenticity of the New Testament we may with a thousand times greater propriety reject all the other writings in the world.
Time gap from date of author to date of earliest surviving manuscript
Tacitus 700 years
Livy 400 years
Caesar 900 years
Catullus 1,600 years
Aristotle 1,400 years
Plato 1,200 years
Aristophanes 1,200 years
Thucydides* 1,200 years
Euripides 1,500 years
Sophocles 1,400 years
Herodotus 1,300 years
*For several papyri of Thucydides, the gap is 500-600 years.
The first complete copy of the Odyssey we have is from 2,200 years after it was written! Yet no classical scholar would listen to an argument that the authenticity of Herodotus or Thucydides is in doubt because the earliest manuscript of their works, which are of any use to us, are so much later than the originals.
The differences between the NT MSS are almost all so minor as to change nothing of the supposed original meaning. Some add a verse here and remove one there. So what!
So what does this indicate? All persistent whining and hammering against the bible is not founded on factual evidence, reason, logic or anything of the kind! It is founded upon hatred or at least strong prejudice as is easily evidenced in this forum every single hour!
I say to all wannabe bible destroyers who keep hammering at the Bible that in doing so they will only break themselves on the anvil. The bible has survived 2000 years of hammering, denial, attack, murderous persecutions and attempts to prove it wrong and it will continue to not only survive but conquer...ad infinitum.
"For most assuredly, I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not even one smallest letter{literally, iota} or one tiny pen stroke{or, serif} shall in any way pass away from the law, until all things are accomplished."
"Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away."
The Bible is still the world's best selling book.


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Jackson Strong and 'The Snow Bike Project'
Welcome to the Jackson Strong Snow Bike Project
In the early days of the X Games, with a newly introduced winter event, FMX riders decided to test out their skills in the snow. FMX legend Brian Deegan was one of the first riders to sign up. Untested and on new ground, the riders set out to jump huge distance while throwing tricks down, but the new discipline didn't take off. Between dirt bikes not working well in the conditions and a huge crash from Deegan (it took him a year to recover from injuries), the territory went largely untouched until a new sub-genre of dirt bikes emerged, dubbed Snow Bikes. "You're better off on a Snow Bike," says Deegan. Jackson Strong (seen here) agrees.
Testing the limits
"I think freestyle is for sure going to be a possibility on this thing," says Jackson Strong of the Snow Bike. "If we can get it in the air, freestyle is possible."
Heavy machine operators
Initially, Strong traveled from Southern California to professional MTB rider Ethan Roberts house in Salt Lake City, Utah. The drive, halted by heavy snow, ended when Strong swerved off the road with his truck and trailer. After the snow stopped falling, the crew went to work retrieving Jackos vehicle.
Snow Bike Paradise
Jacko visited the Flying Iron Horse Ranch in Park City, Utah, a huge motocross track covered in snow throughout the winter, to test out the possibilities on his new Snow Bike. "I think it's a Snow Bike paradise," said Strong.
Until the wheels come off
"We rode the wheels off this thing," says Strong. He means that literally.
Pushing for change
Snow BikeCross was contested for the first time at X Games Aspen 2017, but freestyle was still nothing more than a dream. But Jackson Strong pushed to change that. On the final day of X Games Aspen 2017, Jackson Strong was scheduled to debut a freestyle demonstration on his Snow Bike, merging the race side of Snow Bikes with his freestyle roots.
Looking to the future
"It's pretty cool to see how well these bikes work for racing. In the future, these bikes are gonna be huge," says Strong.
Tech changes
"If we want any shot of getting Freestyle Snow Bike into X Games, we're going to have to flip them," says Strong. To achieve the flip, Strong went with some technical changes to the Snow Bike, including a shortened "wheel base."
A natural transition
"The freestyle demo with Jackson Strong really opened some eyes," says Joe Duncan, sport organizer for the X Games. "What's a natural transition after racing? Freestyle Snow Bikes."
Ready for X Games
"Overall, the new Timblersled design worked really well. We stomped a flip and showed that this is event is ready for X Games," says Strong.
Tune-in on ABC
The 'Jackson Strong Snow Bike Project' follows Strong's journey through mastering a second sport -- Snow Bike. Airing as part of ABC's "World of X Games," the 'Jackson Strong Snow Bike Project' airs on April 15 at 2 p.m. ET.
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