text:
3324 Peachtree Rd. NE., Suite C.
Phone: 770-484-7888
Buckhead's MOST SOUGHT AFTER and NEWLY GATED community,conveniently located within walking distance of shops, restaurants and churches as well as nestled in a beautiful residential area.Rarely do homes come available here and this home has it all!!With a little updating, you will have a gorgeous 4 level home with an ELEVATOR to all levels. Main level has large LR and DR as well as beautifully paneled mahogany study, garden room, and bright kitchen.Elegant Master up w/2 other suites .4th floor has skylights for a great workspace. Ter level suite w/kitchen, BR, BA and LR
Unit 12 - 2774 Andrews Drive Nw
Gated, Homeowners Assoc, Walk to Schools, Walk to Shopping, Public Trans., Sidewalk, Street Lights
Attached, Drive Under Main Level, Garage, Side/Rear Entry
Bookcases, Elevator, Entrance Foyer, High Ceilings 9 ft Lower, High Ceilings 9 ft Upper, High Ceilings 10 ft Main, High Speed Internet, His and Hers Closets, Walk-In Closet(s), Wet Bar
Dishwasher, Disposal, Double Oven, Dryer, Gas Range, Microwave, Refrigerator, Washer
Living Room, Master Bedroom, Other Room
Corner Lot, Cul-De-Sac, Landscaped, Level, Private Backyard
Listings identified with the FMLS IDX logo come from FMLS, are held by brokerage firms other than the owner of this website and the listing brokerage is identified in any listing details. Information is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed. If you believe any FMLS listing contains material that infringes your copyrighted work, please click here to review our DMCA policy and learn how to submit a takedown request. © 2019 First Multiple Listing Service, Inc.
For issues regarding this website (and/or listing search engine, as applicable) please contact Real Estate Webmasters - 250-753-9893
Listing information last updated on December 12th, 2019 at 12:30pm EST.


text:
Archive for Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Sporting KC makes most of advantage at new home
July 27, 2011
It was only a month ago that Sporting Kansas City was bracing to open its brand new Major League Soccer stadium: LIVESTRONG Sporting Park.
Tensions were high for numerous reasons: About $200 million had been invested in the new stadium, cyclist Lance Armstrong's cancer-fighting foundation had stamped its name on the building, and fan interest in the franchise was at an all-time high.
Still, few reasons were bigger than this one: The club was in dead last in the Eastern Conference standings. Sporting KC had won just one game before opening its new digs, and there's no better way to spray cold water on red-hot fan interest than losing games.
Yes, it was imperative that Sporting Kansas City win — and win immediately — upon opening its new home.
Winning — or at least not losing — is just about all Sporting KC has done at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park. The squad has had nine matches at home so far, and it is 4-1-4, including a 3-0-3 mark in MLS matches and a tie in an international friendly against Newcastle United of the English Premier League.
The lone loss, a 2-0 setback against the Richmond Kickers on July 12, came in the U.S. Open Cup after a rain delay.
Now, barely a month after suffering at the bottom of the division standings, Sporting Kansas City has surged into fourth place in the Eastern Conference. If the playoffs started today, the club would be in the postseason.
They've given fans more to cheer about than a sparkling new stadium.
Fans have packed the stadium on a regular basis to watch their team surge in the standings. Four games have been sold out and seven attracted more than 15,000 fans. Only the two U.S. Open Cup games pulled in a small number, and those were mid-week contests against lower division opponents.
With the turnstiles ticking at a rapid pace, chances are good that fans will continue to pack the stadium and try to help their team make a postseason push.
Eleven of Sporting KC's final 14 MLS regular season games — including the next eight in a row — take place at home. If the past month is any indication, postseason positioning could be much better and home-field advantage in the playoffs is a realistic possibility.
All of that is good news for Sporting Kansas City as it has quickly created one of the best home-field advantages in Major League Soccer. More importantly, the club is poised to turn a magnificent opening month into a magical season at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park.
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.
Commenting has been disabled for this item.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
White Labelling – What it is ? What are the pros and cons of white labelling?
In simple words, a white label product is a products which is sold under one brand's name but was made by another company. In case of software development, services can be white-labeled too. Even though outsourcing is often white labeled, these two terms should not be used interchangeably.
Marcin Olejnik


text:
Schiek was born in 1836 in Sinsheim, Germany, established as a city about 1192. Throughout history it had been a rather poor town, affected heavily by the wars that raged over its environs from the 16th to the 18th Centuries. It is not clear how much education Schiek received but as soon as he was able, at age 16 in 1852, he took a ship to America. As a boy in Germany he likely had been engaged in brewing and upon arriving in New York he engaged in both the brewery and grocery trades. Shown above as a young man, Schiek was married in 1857 to Barbara Kehr, like himself an immigrant from Germany.
A year later the couple moved to Iowa, a state with a substantial German population and located in Center Township, Allamakee County. The area lies along the Mississippi River at Iowa's extreme northeast. There Fred, as he became known, purchased 75 acres of land which he farmed until 1862. Apparently tiring quickly of working the land, in 1862 he and his family moved to nearby Lansing, a Mississippi river town of about 1,000 population. There he opened a saloon. After twelve years of success in the liquor trade Schiek expanded his building in 1874, adding a stock of groceries and other provisions. With business success came other recognition as townspeople elected him to both the Lansing School Board and the City Council.
During this period, the Schieks also were busy raising their family. They had five children. The eldest was Louis, born in 1861. Then came four girls, Carolina, 1863; Mathilda, 1866; Louise, 1873, and Emilie, 1875. Also living with them was Barbara's younger brother who worked as a clerk in Schiek's store. Then in the late 1870s or early 1880s (dates differ), Fred pull up stakes in Lansing and relocated his family and business up the river to Minneapolis.
While the reason may have been an ambition to succeed on a larger stage, Iowa's continual flirtation with Prohibition must have been a contributing factor. The Hawkeye State started to go "dry" early, passing restrictive laws on alcohol in 1847, just a year after statehood. Legislators successfully added an amendment to the state constitution in 1882, making all manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages illegal within the state. The Iowa Supreme Court quickly declared the amendment unconstitutional the following year but other Prohibition legislation quickly followed.
After arriving in Minneapolis, Schiek opened a retail liquor store, with a separate saloon nearby, both located on Washington Street. There he began to import name brand whiskeys from their distillers in bulk and then bottling them with his personal labels for retail sale. He also was buying raw whiskey, blending and compounding it in his facilities and producing unique labels for those house brands. The labels of Schiek's designing, demonstrated an artistic taste unusual in the whiskey trade.
Among the national brands Schiek bottled were "Lotus Club," "Finch's Golden Wedding," "Gaines' Hermitage Rye, " "Gibson's XXXX," and "Guckenheimers Pure Rye." Principal among his own brands were "Press Club Bouquet Pure Rye," and "Mount Hosmer Bourbon." The latter name was a reference back to Schiek's life in Iowa. Mount Hosmer was a bluff at the Mississippi River that looms 450 feet above downtown Lansing. Fred saw it as an appropriate name for his flagship whiskey.
With the success of his liquor trade, Schiek moved into the restaurant business. In 1887 he opened an eatery at 45-37 South Third Street, one of the major thoroughfares of Minneapolis. A photo caught the cafe sign as a well-attended circus parade marched down the avenue.
Here is a description of Schiek's restaurant interior from a local publication: "Sumptuous Victorian interiors sparkled with beveled glass, carved fretwork, intricate tile, and ornate plasterwork. Dark and moody by design, the fanciful environment enveloped diners while they contemplated an extraordinary dinner menu or an equally long and and diverse list of after-theater and midnight snack offerings." There were two entrances to Schiek's. One opened onto the main dining room; a side entry was for ladies only. A shy woman could proceed down a long corridor leading to the rear of the restaurant, thus shielding her from being ogled upon entry.
The elegance of the restaurant is captured in a photograph from archives of the Library of Congress, shown here. Note the elegant carved bar, the mirrored alcoves and the statuary both behind and on the bar itself. Moreover, Schiek's food was reported to be of exceptional quality. In short, this was not a typical Minneapolis saloon. It was "Schiek's Cafe," another example of the German immigrant's good taste brought to the Twin Cities.
The 1900 U.S. Census found the mastermind of this elegance, now age 63, residing with wife Barbara in a fashionable section of Minneapolis. Son Louis, still a bachelor, was engaged in the business with with his father and living at home, along with two as-yet unmarried daughters. Although Schiek's last name is misspelled on the census form, his occupation is correctly given as "restaurant and liquors." He had never ceased to be in the retail whiskey business despite the success of his cafe.
Four years later, Fred Schiek died in April, 1904, a few days shy of his 68th birthday. Surrounded by grieving members of his family he was buried in Lakewood Cemetery, Hennepin County, Minnesota. His son Louis, thoroughly schooled in the family businesses, continued to manage the restaurant and liquor sales after his father's passing. When National Prohibition put a stop to all alcohol sales Schiek's establishment became strictly an eatery. The restaurant has continued to this present day although locations and cuisine have changed over the years.
A photograph taken on January 1,1934, features a happy bartender at the Schiek Cafe. The man is serving up steins of beer on the stroke of midnight, the moment that the repeal of Prohibition became official. It had been 14 years between drinks. Fred Schiek, a man who brought style and "good taste" to Minneapolis, would have savored the deliciousness of this historic moment.


text:
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. 6, by Edward Gibbon, [1788], at sacred-texts.com
In the strong city of Demotica, his peculiar domain, the emperor John Cantacuzenus was invested with the purple buskins: his right leg was clothed by his noble kinsmen, the left by the Latin chiefs, on whom he conferred the order of knighthood. But even in this act of revolt, he was still studious of loyalty; and the titles of John Palaeologus and Anne of Savoy were proclaimed before his own name and that of his wife Irene. Such vain ceremony is a thin disguise of rebellion, nor are there perhaps any personal wrongs that can authorize a subject to take arms against his sovereign: but the want of preparation and success may confirm the assurance of the usurper, that this decisive step was the effect of necessity rather than of choice. Constantinople adhered to the young emperor; the king of Bulgaria was invited to the relief of Adrianople: the principal cities of Thrace and Macedonia, after some hesitation, renounced their obedience to the great domestic; and the leaders of the troops and provinces were induced, by their private interest, to prefer the loose dominion of a woman and a priest. *_0025 The army of Cantacuzene, in sixteen divisions, was stationed on the banks of the Melas to tempt or to intimidate the capital: it was dispersed by treachery or fear; and the officers, more especially the mercenary Latins, accepted the bribes, and embraced the service, of the Byzantine court. After this loss, the rebel emperor (he fluctuated between the two characters) took the road of Thessalonica with a chosen remnant; but he failed in his enterprise on that important place; and he was closely pursued by the great duke, his enemy Apocaucus, at the head of a superior power by sea and land. Driven from the coast, in his march, or rather flight, into the mountains of Servia, Cantacuzene assembled his troops to scrutinize those who were worthy and willing to accompany his broken fortunes. A base majority bowed and retired; and his trusty band was diminished to two thousand, and at last to five hundred, volunteers. The cral, 28 or despot of the Servians received him with general hospitality; but the ally was insensibly degraded to a suppliant, a hostage, a captive; and in this miserable dependence, he waited at the door of the Barbarian, who could dispose of the life and liberty of a Roman emperor. The most tempting offers could not persuade the cral to violate his trust; but he soon inclined to the stronger side; and his friend was dismissed without injury to a new vicissitude of hopes and perils. Near six years the flame of discord burnt with various success and unabated rage: the cities were distracted by the faction of the nobles and the plebeians; the Cantacuzeni and Palaeologi: and the Bulgarians, the Servians, and the Turks, were invoked on both sides as the instruments of private ambition and the common ruin. The regent deplored the calamities, of which he was the author and victim: and his own experience might dictate a just and lively remark on the different nature of foreign and civil war. "The former," said he, "is the external warmth of summer, always tolerable, and often beneficial; the latter is the deadly heat of a fever, which consumes without a remedy the vitals of the constitution." 29
The introduction of barbarians and savages into the contests of civilized nations, is a measure pregnant with shame and mischief; which the interest of the moment may compel, but which is reprobated by the best principles of humanity and reason. It is the practice of both sides to accuse their enemies of the guilt of the first alliances; and those who fail in their negotiations are loudest in their censure of the example which they envy and would gladly imitate. The Turks of Asia were less barbarous perhaps than the shepherds of Bulgaria and Servia; but their religion rendered them implacable foes of Rome and Christianity. To acquire the friendship of their emirs, the two factions vied with each other in baseness and profusion: the dexterity of Cantacuzene obtained the preference: but the succor and victory were dearly purchased by the marriage of his daughter with an infidel, the captivity of many thousand Christians, and the passage of the Ottomans into Europe, the last and fatal stroke in the fall of the Roman empire. The inclining scale was decided in his favor by the death of Apocaucus, the just though singular retribution of his crimes. A crowd of nobles or plebeians, whom he feared or hated, had been seized by his orders in the capital and the provinces; and the old palace of Constantine was assigned as the place of their confinement. Some alterations in raising the walls, and narrowing the cells, had been ingeniously contrived to prevent their escape, and aggravate their misery; and the work was incessantly pressed by the daily visits of the tyrant. His guards watched at the gate, and as he stood in the inner court to overlook the architects, without fear or suspicion, he was assaulted and laid breathless on the ground, by two *_0026 resolute prisoners of the Palaeologian race, 30 who were armed with sticks, and animated by despair. On the rumor of revenge and liberty, the captive multitude broke their fetters, fortified their prison, and exposed from the battlements the tyrant's head, presuming on the favor of the people and the clemency of the empress. Anne of Savoy might rejoice in the fall of a haughty and ambitious minister, but while she delayed to resolve or to act, the populace, more especially the mariners, were excited by the widow of the great duke to a sedition, an assault, and a massacre. The prisoners (of whom the far greater part were guiltless or inglorious of the deed) escaped to a neighboring church: they were slaughtered at the foot of the altar; and in his death the monster was not less bloody and venomous than in his life. Yet his talents alone upheld the cause of the young emperor; and his surviving associates, suspicious of each other, abandoned the conduct of the war, and rejected the fairest terms of accommodation. In the beginning of the dispute, the empress felt, and complained, that she was deceived by the enemies of Cantacuzene: the patriarch was employed to preach against the forgiveness of injuries; and her promise of immortal hatred was sealed by an oath, under the penalty of excommunication. 31 But Anne soon learned to hate without a teacher: she beheld the misfortunes of the empire with the indifference of a stranger: her jealousy was exasperated by the competition of a rival empress; and on the first symptoms of a more yielding temper, she threatened the patriarch to convene a synod, and degrade him from his office. Their incapacity and discord would have afforded the most decisive advantage; but the civil war was protracted by the weakness of both parties; and the moderation of Cantacuzene has not escaped the reproach of timidity and indolence. He successively recovered the provinces and cities; and the realm of his pupil was measured by the walls of Constantinople; but the metropolis alone counterbalanced the rest of the empire; nor could he attempt that important conquest till he had secured in his favor the public voice and a private correspondence. An Italian, of the name of Facciolati, 32 had succeeded to the office of great duke: the ships, the guards, and the golden gate, were subject to his command; but his humble ambition was bribed to become the instrument of treachery; and the revolution was accomplished without danger or bloodshed. Destitute of the powers of resistance, or the hope of relief, the inflexible Anne would have still defended the palace, and have smiled to behold the capital in flames, rather than in the possession of a rival. She yielded to the prayers of her friends and enemies; and the treaty was dictated by the conqueror, who professed a loyal and zealous attachment to the son of his benefactor. The marriage of his daughter with John Palaeologus was at length consummated: the hereditary right of the pupil was acknowledged; but the sole administration during ten years was vested in the guardian. Two emperors and three empresses were seated on the Byzantine throne; and a general amnesty quieted the apprehensions, and confirmed the property, of the most guilty subjects. The festival of the coronation and nuptials was celebrated with the appearances of concord and magnificence, and both were equally fallacious. During the late troubles, the treasures of the state, and even the furniture of the palace, had been alienated or embezzled; the royal banquet was served in pewter or earthenware; and such was the proud poverty of the times, that the absence of gold and jewels was supplied by the paltry artifices of glass and gilt-leather. 33
I hasten to conclude the personal history of John Cantacuzene. 34 He triumphed and reigned; but his reign and triumph were clouded by the discontent of his own and the adverse faction. His followers might style the general amnesty an act of pardon for his enemies, and of oblivion for his friends: 35 in his cause their estates had been forfeited or plundered; and as they wandered naked and hungry through the streets, they cursed the selfish generosity of a leader, who, on the throne of the empire, might relinquish without merit his private inheritance. The adherents of the empress blushed to hold their lives and fortunes by the precarious favor of a usurper; and the thirst of revenge was concealed by a tender concern for the succession, and even the safety, of her son. They were justly alarmed by a petition of the friends of Cantacuzene, that they might be released from their oath of allegiance to the Palaeologi, and intrusted with the defence of some cautionary towns; a measure supported with argument and eloquence; and which was rejected (says the Imperial historian) "by my sublime, and almost incredible virtue." His repose was disturbed by the sound of plots and seditions; and he trembled lest the lawful prince should be stolen away by some foreign or domestic enemy, who would inscribe his name and his wrongs in the banners of rebellion. As the son of Andronicus advanced in the years of manhood, he began to feel and to act for himself; and his rising ambition was rather stimulated than checked by the imitation of his father's vices. If we may trust his own professions, Cantacuzene labored with honest industry to correct these sordid and sensual appetites, and to raise the mind of the young prince to a level with his fortune. In the Servian expedition, the two emperors showed themselves in cordial harmony to the troops and provinces; and the younger colleague was initiated by the elder in the mysteries of war and government. After the conclusion of the peace, Palaeologus was left at Thessalonica, a royal residence, and a frontier station, to secure by his absence the peace of Constantinople, and to withdraw his youth from the temptations of a luxurious capital. But the distance weakened the powers of control, and the son of Andronicus was surrounded with artful or unthinking companions, who taught him to hate his guardian, to deplore his exile, and to vindicate his rights. A private treaty with the cral or despot of Servia was soon followed by an open revolt; and Cantacuzene, on the throne of the elder Andronicus, defended the cause of age and prerogative, which in his youth he had so vigorously attacked. At his request the empress-mother undertook the voyage of Thessalonica, and the office of mediation: she returned without success; and unless Anne of Savoy was instructed by adversity, we may doubt the sincerity, or at least the fervor, of her zeal. While the regent grasped the sceptre with a firm and vigorous hand, she had been instructed to declare, that the ten years of his legal administration would soon elapse; and that, after a full trial of the vanity of the world, the emperor Cantacuzene sighed for the repose of a cloister, and was ambitious only of a heavenly crown. Had these sentiments been genuine, his voluntary abdication would have restored the peace of the empire, and his conscience would have been relieved by an act of justice. Palaeologus alone was responsible for his future government; and whatever might be his vices, they were surely less formidable than the calamities of a civil war, in which the Barbarians and infidels were again invited to assist the Greeks in their mutual destruction. By the arms of the Turks, who now struck a deep and everlasting root in Europe, Cantacuzene prevailed in the third contest in which he had been involved; and the young emperor, driven from the sea and land, was compelled to take shelter among the Latins of the Isle of Tenedos. His insolence and obstinacy provoked the victor to a step which must render the quarrel irreconcilable; and the association of his son Matthew, whom he invested with the purple, established the succession in the family of the Cantacuzeni. But Constantinople was still attached to the blood of her ancient princes; and this last injury accelerated the restoration of the rightful heir. A noble Genoese espoused the cause of Palaeologus, obtained a promise of his sister, and achieved the revolution with two galleys and two thousand five hundred auxiliaries. Under the pretence of distress, they were admitted into the lesser port; a gate was opened, and the Latin shout of, "Long life and victory to the emperor, John Palaeologus!" was answered by a general rising in his favor. A numerous and loyal party yet adhered to the standard of Cantacuzene: but he asserts in his history (does he hope for belief?) that his tender conscience rejected the assurance of conquest; that, in free obedience to the voice of religion and philosophy, he descended from the throne and embraced with pleasure the monastic habit and profession. 36 So soon as he ceased to be a prince, his successor was not unwilling that he should be a saint: the remainder of his life was devoted to piety and learning; in the cells of Constantinople and Mount Athos, the monk Joasaph was respected as the temporal and spiritual father of the emperor; and if he issued from his retreat, it was as the minister of peace, to subdue the obstinacy, and solicit the pardon, of his rebellious son. 37
Yet in the cloister, the mind of Cantacuzene was still exercised by theological war. He sharpened a controversial pen against the Jews and Mahometans; 38 and in every state he defended with equal zeal the divine light of Mount Thabor, a memorable question which consummates the religious follies of the Greeks. The fakirs of India, 39 and the monks of the Oriental church, were alike persuaded, that in the total abstraction of the faculties of the mind and body, the purer spirit may ascend to the enjoyment and vision of the Deity. The opinion and practice of the monasteries of Mount Athos 40 will be best represented in the words of an abbot, who flourished in the eleventh century. "When thou art alone in thy cell," says the ascetic teacher, "shut thy door, and seat thyself in a corner: raise thy mind above all things vain and transitory; recline thy beard and chin on thy breast; turn thy eyes and thy thoughts toward the middle of thy belly, the region of the navel; and search the place of the heart, the seat of the soul. At first, all will be dark and comfortless; but if you persevere day and night, you will feel an ineffable joy; and no sooner has the soul discovered the place of the heart, than it is involved in a mystic and ethereal light." This light, the production of a distempered fancy, the creature of an empty stomach and an empty brain, was adored by the Quietists as the pure and perfect essence of God himself; and as long as the folly was confined to Mount Athos, the simple solitaries were not inquisitive how the divine essence could be a material substance, or how an immaterial substance could be perceived by the eyes of the body. But in the reign of the younger Andronicus, these monasteries were visited by Barlaam, 41 a Calabrian monk, who was equally skilled in philosophy and theology; who possessed the language of the Greeks and Latins; and whose versatile genius could maintain their opposite creeds, according to the interest of the moment. The indiscretion of an ascetic revealed to the curious traveller the secrets of mental prayer and Barlaam embraced the opportunity of ridiculing the Quietists, who placed the soul in the navel; of accusing the monks of Mount Athos of heresy and blasphemy. His attack compelled the more learned to renounce or dissemble the simple devotion of their brethren; and Gregory Palamas introduced a scholastic distinction between the essence and operation of God. His inaccessible essence dwells in the midst of an uncreated and eternal light; and this beatific vision of the saints had been manifested to the disciples on Mount Thabor, in the transfiguration of Christ. Yet this distinction could not escape the reproach of polytheism; the eternity of the light of Thabor was fiercely denied; and Barlaam still charged the Palamites with holding two eternal substances, a visible and an invisible God. From the rage of the monks of Mount Athos, who threatened his life, the Calabrian retired to Constantinople, where his smooth and specious manners introduced him to the favor of the great domestic and the emperor. The court and the city were involved in this theological dispute, which flamed amidst the civil war; but the doctrine of Barlaam was disgraced by his flight and apostasy: the Palamites triumphed; and their adversary, the patriarch John of Apri, was deposed by the consent of the adverse factions of the state. In the character of emperor and theologian, Cantacuzene presided in the synod of the Greek church, which established, as an article of faith, the uncreated light of Mount Thabor; and, after so many insults, the reason of mankind was slightly wounded by the addition of a single absurdity. Many rolls of paper or parchment have been blotted; and the impenitent sectaries, who refused to subscribe the orthodox creed, were deprived of the honors of Christian burial; but in the next age the question was forgotten; nor can I learn that the axe or the fagot were employed for the extirpation of the Barlaamite heresy. 42
For the conclusion of this chapter, I have reserved the Genoese war, which shook the throne of Cantacuzene, and betrayed the debility of the Greek empire. The Genoese, who, after the recovery of Constantinople, were seated in the suburb of Pera or Galata, received that honorable fief from the bounty of the emperor. They were indulged in the use of their laws and magistrates; but they submitted to the duties of vassals and subjects; the forcible word of liegemen 43 was borrowed from the Latin jurisprudence; and their podesta, or chief, before he entered on his office, saluted the emperor with loyal acclamations and vows of fidelity. Genoa sealed a firm alliance with the Greeks; and, in case of a defensive war, a supply of fifty empty galleys and a succor of fifty galleys, completely armed and manned, was promised by the republic to the empire. In the revival of a naval force, it was the aim of Michael Palaeologus to deliver himself from a foreign aid; and his vigorous government contained the Genoese of Galata within those limits which the insolence of wealth and freedom provoked them to exceed. A sailor threatened that they should soon be masters of Constantinople, and slew the Greek who resented this national affront; and an armed vessel, after refusing to salute the palace, was guilty of some acts of piracy in the Black Sea. Their countrymen threatened to support their cause; but the long and open village of Galata was instantly surrounded by the Imperial troops; till, in the moment of the assault, the prostrate Genoese implored the clemency of their sovereign. The defenceless situation which secured their obedience exposed them to the attack of their Venetian rivals, who, in the reign of the elder Andronicus, presumed to violate the majesty of the throne. On the approach of their fleets, the Genoese, with their families and effects, retired into the city: their empty habitations were reduced to ashes; and the feeble prince, who had viewed the destruction of his suburb, expressed his resentment, not by arms, but by ambassadors. This misfortune, however, was advantageous to the Genoese, who obtained, and imperceptibly abused, the dangerous license of surrounding Galata with a strong wall; of introducing into the ditch the waters of the sea; of erecting lofty turrets; and of mounting a train of military engines on the rampart. The narrow bounds in which they had been circumscribed were insufficient for the growing colony; each day they acquired some addition of landed property; and the adjacent hills were covered with their villas and castles, which they joined and protected by new fortifications. 44 The navigation and trade of the Euxine was the patrimony of the Greek emperors, who commanded the narrow entrance, the gates, as it were, of that inland sea. In the reign of Michael Palaeologus, their prerogative was acknowledged by the sultan of Egypt, who solicited and obtained the liberty of sending an annual ship for the purchase of slaves in Circassia and the Lesser Tartary: a liberty pregnant with mischief to the Christian cause; since these youths were transformed by education and discipline into the formidable Mamalukes. 45 From the colony of Pera, the Genoese engaged with superior advantage in the lucrative trade of the Black Sea; and their industry supplied the Greeks with fish and corn; two articles of food almost equally important to a superstitious people. The spontaneous bounty of nature appears to have bestowed the harvests of Ukraine, the produce of a rude and savage husbandry; and the endless exportation of salt fish and caviare is annually renewed by the enormous sturgeons that are caught at the mouth of the Don or Tanais, in their last station of the rich mud and shallow water of the Maeotis. 46 The waters of the Oxus, the Caspian, the Volga, and the Don, opened a rare and laborious passage for the gems and spices of India; and after three months' march the caravans of Carizme met the Italian vessels in the harbors of Crimaea. 47 These various branches of trade were monopolized by the diligence and power of the Genoese. Their rivals of Venice and Pisa were forcibly expelled; the natives were awed by the castles and cities, which arose on the foundations of their humble factories; and their principal establishment of Caffa 48 was besieged without effect by the Tartar powers. Destitute of a navy, the Greeks were oppressed by these haughty merchants, who fed, or famished, Constantinople, according to their interest. They proceeded to usurp the customs, the fishery, and even the toll, of the Bosphorus; and while they derived from these objects a revenue of two hundred thousand pieces of gold, a remnant of thirty thousand was reluctantly allowed to the emperor. 49 The colony of Pera or Galata acted, in peace and war, as an independent state; and, as it will happen in distant settlements, the Genoese podesta too often forgot that he was the servant of his own masters.
These usurpations were encouraged by the weakness of the elder Andronicus, and by the civil wars that afflicted his age and the minority of his grandson. The talents of Cantacuzene were employed to the ruin, rather than the restoration, of the empire; and after his domestic victory, he was condemned to an ignominious trial, whether the Greeks or the Genoese should reign in Constantinople. The merchants of Pera were offended by his refusal of some contiguous land, some commanding heights, which they proposed to cover with new fortifications; and in the absence of the emperor, who was detained at Demotica by sickness, they ventured to brave the debility of a female reign. A Byzantine vessel, which had presumed to fish at the mouth of the harbor, was sunk by these audacious strangers; the fishermen were murdered. Instead of suing for pardon, the Genoese demanded satisfaction; required, in a haughty strain, that the Greeks should renounce the exercise of navigation; and encountered with regular arms the first sallies of the popular indignation. They instantly occupied the debatable land; and by the labor of a whole people, of either sex and of every age, the wall was raised, and the ditch was sunk, with incredible speed. At the same time, they attacked and burnt two Byzantine galleys; while the three others, the remainder of the Imperial navy, escaped from their hands: the habitations without the gates, or along the shore, were pillaged and destroyed; and the care of the regent, of the empress Irene, was confined to the preservation of the city. The return of Cantacuzene dispelled the public consternation: the emperor inclined to peaceful counsels; but he yielded to the obstinacy of his enemies, who rejected all reasonable terms, and to the ardor of his subjects, who threatened, in the style of Scripture, to break them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Yet they reluctantly paid the taxes, that he imposed for the construction of ships, and the expenses of the war; and as the two nations were masters, the one of the land, the other of the sea, Constantinople and Pera were pressed by the evils of a mutual siege. The merchants of the colony, who had believed that a few days would terminate the war, already murmured at their losses: the succors from their mother-country were delayed by the factions of Genoa; and the most cautious embraced the opportunity of a Rhodian vessel to remove their families and effects from the scene of hostility. In the spring, the Byzantine fleet, seven galleys and a train of smaller vessels, issued from the mouth of the harbor, and steered in a single line along the shore of Pera; unskilfully presenting their sides to the beaks of the adverse squadron. The crews were composed of peasants and mechanics; nor was their ignorance compensated by the native courage of Barbarians: the wind was strong, the waves were rough; and no sooner did the Greeks perceive a distant and inactive enemy, than they leaped headlong into the sea, from a doubtful, to an inevitable peril. The troops that marched to the attack of the lines of Pera were struck at the same moment with a similar panic; and the Genoese were astonished, and almost ashamed, at their double victory. Their triumphant vessels, crowned with flowers, and dragging after them the captive galleys, repeatedly passed and repassed before the palace: the only virtue of the emperor was patience; and the hope of revenge his sole consolation. Yet the distress of both parties interposed a temporary agreement; and the shame of the empire was disguised by a thin veil of dignity and power. Summoning the chiefs of the colony, Cantacuzene affected to despise the trivial object of the debate; and, after a mild reproof, most liberally granted the lands, which had been previously resigned to the seeming custody of his officers. 50
But the emperor was soon solicited to violate the treaty, and to join his arms with the Venetians, the perpetual enemies of Genoa and her colonies. While he compared the reasons of peace and war, his moderation was provoked by a wanton insult of the inhabitants of Pera, who discharged from their rampart a large stone that fell in the midst of Constantinople. On his just complaint, they coldly blamed the imprudence of their engineer; but the next day the insult was repeated; and they exulted in a second proof that the royal city was not beyond the reach of their artillery. Cantacuzene instantly signed his treaty with the Venetians; but the weight of the Roman empire was scarcely felt in the balance of these opulent and powerful republics. 51 From the Straits of Gibraltar to the mouth of the Tanais, their fleets encountered each other with various success; and a memorable battle was fought in the narrow sea, under the walls of Constantinople. It would not be an easy task to reconcile the accounts of the Greeks, the Venetians, and the Genoese; 52 and while I depend on the narrative of an impartial historian, 53 I shall borrow from each nation the facts that redound to their own disgrace, and the honor of their foes. The Venetians, with their allies the Catalans, had the advantage of number; and their fleet, with the poor addition of eight Byzantine galleys, amounted to seventy-five sail: the Genoese did not exceed sixty-four; but in those times their ships of war were distinguished by the superiority of their size and strength. The names and families of their naval commanders, Pisani and Doria, are illustrious in the annals of their country; but the personal merit of the former was eclipsed by the fame and abilities of his rival. They engaged in tempestuous weather; and the tumultuary conflict was continued from the dawn to the extinction of light. The enemies of the Genoese applaud their prowess; the friends of the Venetians are dissatisfied with their behavior; but all parties agree in praising the skill and boldness of the Catalans, *_0027 who, with many wounds, sustained the brunt of the action. On the separation of the fleets, the event might appear doubtful; but the thirteen Genoese galleys, that had been sunk or taken, were compensated by a double loss of the allies; of fourteen Venetians, ten Catalans, and two Greeks; !_0027 and even the grief of the conquerors expressed the assurance and habit of more decisive victories. Pisani confessed his defeat, by retiring into a fortified harbor, from whence, under the pretext of the orders of the senate, he steered with a broken and flying squadron for the Isle of Candia, and abandoned to his rivals the sovereignty of the sea. In a public epistle, 54 addressed to the doge and senate, Petrarch employs his eloquence to reconcile the maritime powers, the two luminaries of Italy. The orator celebrates the valor and victory of the Genoese, the first of men in the exercise of naval war: he drops a tear on the misfortunes of their Venetian brethren; but he exhorts them to pursue with fire and sword the base and perfidious Greeks; to purge the metropolis of the East from the heresy with which it was infected. Deserted by their friends, the Greeks were incapable of resistance; and three months after the battle, the emperor Cantacuzene solicited and subscribed a treaty, which forever banished the Venetians and Catalans, and granted to the Genoese a monopoly of trade, and almost a right of dominion. The Roman empire (I smile in transcribing the name) might soon have sunk into a province of Genoa, if the ambition of the republic had not been checked by the ruin of her freedom and naval power. A long contest of one hundred and thirty years was determined by the triumph of Venice; and the factions of the Genoese compelled them to seek for domestic peace under the protection of a foreign lord, the duke of Milan, or the French king. Yet the spirit of commerce survived that of conquest; and the colony of Pera still awed the capital and navigated the Euxine, till it was involved by the Turks in the final servitude of Constantinople itself.
*_0025 Cantacuzene asserts, that in all the cities, the populace were on the side of the emperor, the aristocracy on his. The populace took the opportunity of rising and plundering the wealthy as Cantacuzenites, vol. iii. c. 29 Ages of common oppression and ruin had not extinguished these republican factions. - M.
28 The princes of Servia (Ducange, Famil. Dalmaticae, &c., c. 2, 3, 4, 9) were styled Despots in Greek, and Cral in their native idiom, (Ducange, Gloss. Graec. p. 751.) That title, the equivalent of king, appears to be of Sclavonic origin, from whence it has been borrowed by the Hungarians, the modern Greeks, and even by the Turks, (Leunclavius, Pandect. Turc. p. 422,) who reserve the name of Padishah for the emperor. To obtain the latter instead of the former is the ambition of the French at Constantinople, (Aversissement a l'Histoire de Timur Bec, p. 39.)
29 Nic. Gregoras, l. xii. c. 14. It is surprising that Cantacuzene has not inserted this just and lively image in his own writings.
30 The two avengers were both Palaeologi, who might resent, with royal indignation, the shame of their chains. The tragedy of Apocaucus may deserve a peculiar reference to Cantacuzene (l. iii. c. 86) and Nic. Gregoras, (l. xiv. c. 10.)
31 Cantacuzene accuses the patriarch, and spares the empress, the mother of his sovereign, (l. iii. 33, 34,) against whom Nic. Gregoras expresses a particular animosity, (l. xiv. 10, 11, xv. 5.) It is true that they do not speak exactly of the same time.
*_0026 Nicephorus says four, p.734.
32 The traitor and treason are revealed by Nic. Gregoras, (l. xv. c. 8;) but the name is more discreetly suppressed by his great accomplice, (Cantacuzen. l. iii. c. 99.)
33 Nic. Greg. l. xv. 11. There were, however, some true pearls, but very thinly sprinkled.
34 From his return to Constantinople, Cantacuzene continues his history and that of the empire, one year beyond the abdication of his son Matthew, A.D. 1357, (l. iv. c. l - 50, p. 705 - 911.) Nicephorus Gregoras ends with the synod of Constantinople, in the year 1351, (l. xxii. c. 3, p. 660; the rest, to the conclusion of the xxivth book, p. 717, is all controversy;) and his fourteen last books are still Mss. in the king of France's library.
35 The emperor (Cantacuzen. l. iv. c. 1) represents his own virtues, and Nic. Gregoras (l. xv. c. 11) the complaints of his friends, who suffered by its effects. I have lent them the words of our poor cavaliers after the Restoration.
36 The awkward apology of Cantacuzene, (l. iv. c. 39 - 42,) who relates, with visible confusion, his own downfall, may be supplied by the less accurate, but more honest, narratives of Matthew Villani (l. iv. c. 46, in the Script. Rerum Ital. tom. xiv. p. 268) and Ducas, (c 10, 11.)
37 Cantacuzene, in the year 1375, was honored with a letter from the pope, (Fleury, Hist. Eccles. tom. xx. p. 250.) His death is placed by a respectable authority on the 20th of November, 1411, (Ducange, Fam. Byzant. p. 260.) But if he were of the age of his companion Andronicus the Younger, he must have lived 116 years; a rare instance of longevity, which in so illustrious a person would have attracted universal notice.
38 His four discourses, or books, were printed at Bazil, 1543, (Fabric Bibliot. Graec. tom. vi. p. 473.) He composed them to satisfy a proselyte who was assaulted with letters from his friends of Ispahan. Cantacuzene had read the Koran; but I understand from Maracci that he adopts the vulgar prejudices and fables against Mahomet and his religion.
39 See the Voyage de Bernier, tom. i. p. 127.
40 Mosheim, Institut. Hist. Eccles. p. 522, 523. Fleury, Hist. Eccles. tom. xx. p. 22, 24, 107 - 114, &c. The former unfolds the causes with the judgment of a philosopher, the latter transcribes and transcribes and translates with the prejudices of a Catholic priest.
41 Basnage (in Canisii antiq. Lectiones, tom. iv. p. 363 - 368) has investigated the character and story of Barlaam. The duplicity of his opinions had inspired some doubts of the identity of his person. See likewise Fabricius, (Bibliot. Graec. tom. x. p. 427 - 432.)
42 See Cantacuzene (l. ii. c. 39, 40, l. iv. c. 3, 23, 24, 25) and Nic. Gregoras, (l. xi. c. 10, l. xv. 3, 7, &c.,) whose last books, from the xixth to xxivth, are almost confined to a subject so interesting to the authors. Boivin, (in Vit. Nic. Gregorae,) from the unpublished books, and Fabricius, (Bibliot. Graec. tom. x. p. 462 - 473,) or rather Montfaucon, from the Mss. of the Coislin library, have added some facts and documents.
43 Pachymer (l. v. c. 10) very properly explains (ligios). The use of these words in the Greek and Latin of the feudal times may be amply understood from the Glossaries of Ducange, (Graec. p. 811, 812. Latin. tom. iv. p. 109 - 111.)
44 The establishment and progress of the Genoese at Pera, or Galata, is described by Ducange (C. P. Christiana, l. i. p. 68, 69) from the Byzantine historians, Pachymer, (l. ii. c. 35, l. v. 10, 30, l. ix. 15 l. xii. 6, 9,) Nicephorus Gregoras, (l. v. c. 4, l. vi. c. 11, l. ix. c. 5, l. ix. c. 1, l. xv. c. 1, 6,) and Cantacuzene, (l. i. c. 12, l. ii. c. 29, &c.)
45 Both Pachymer (l. iii. c. 3, 4, 5) and Nic. Greg. (l. iv. c. 7) understand and deplore the effects of this dangerous indulgence. Bibars, sultan of Egypt, himself a Tartar, but a devout Mussulman, obtained from the children of Zingis the permission to build a stately mosque in the capital of Crimea, (De Guignes, Hist. des Huns, tom. iii. p. 343.)
46 Chardin (Voyages en Perse, tom. i. p. 48) was assured at Caffa, that these fishes were sometimes twenty-four or twenty-six feet long, weighed eight or nine hundred pounds, and yielded three or four quintals of caviare. The corn of the Bosphorus had supplied the Athenians in the time of Demosthenes.
47 De Guignes, Hist. des Huns, tom. iii. p. 343, 344. Viaggi di Ramusio, tom. i. fol. 400. But this land or water carriage could only be practicable when Tartary was united under a wise and powerful monarch.
48 Nic. Gregoras (l. xiii. c. 12) is judicious and well informed on the trade and colonies of the Black Sea. Chardin describes the present ruins of Caffa, where, in forty days, he saw above 400 sail employed in the corn and fish trade, (Voyages en Perse, tom. i. p. 46 - 48.)
49 See Nic. Gregoras, l. xvii. c. 1
50 The events of this war are related by Cantacuzene (l. iv. c. 11 with obscurity and confusion, and by Nic. Gregoras (l. xvii. c. 1 - 7) in a clear and honest narrative. The priest was less responsible than the prince for the defeat of the fleet.
51 The second war is darkly told by Cantacuzene, (l. iv. c. 18, p. 24, 25, 28 - 32,) who wishes to disguise what he dares not deny. I regret this part of Nic. Gregoras, which is still in Ms. at Paris. Note: This part of Nicephorus Gregoras has not been printed in the new edition of the Byzantine Historians. The editor expresses a hope that it may be undertaken by Hase. I should join in the regret of Gibbon, if these books contain any historical information: if they are but a continuation of the controversies which fill the last books in our present copies, they may as well sleep their eternal sleep in Ms. as in print. - M.
52 Muratori (Annali d' Italia, tom. xii. p. 144) refers to the most ancient Chronicles of Venice (Caresinus, the continuator of Andrew Dandulus, tom. xii. p. 421, 422) and Genoa, (George Stella Annales Genuenses, tom. xvii. p. 1091, 1092;) both which I have diligently consulted in his great Collection of the Historians of Italy.
53 See the Chronicle of Matteo Villani of Florence, l. ii. c. 59, p. 145 - 147, c. 74, 75, p. 156, 157, in Muratori's Collection, tom.
*_0027 Cantacuzene praises their bravery, but imputes their losses to their ignorance of the seas: they suffered more by the breakers than by the enemy, vol. iii. p. 224. - M.
!_0027 Cantacuzene says that the Genoese lost twenty-eight ships with their crews; the Venetians and Catalans sixteen, the Imperials, none Cantacuzene accuses Pisani of cowardice, in not following up the victory, and destroying the Genoese. But Pisani's conduct, and indeed Cantacuzene's account of the battle, betray the superiority of the Genoese - M
54 The Abbe de Sade (Memoires sur la Vie de Petrarque, tom. iii. p. 257 - 263) translates this letter, which he copied from a MS. in the king of France's library. Though a servant of the duke of Milan, Petrarch pours forth his astonishment and grief at the defeat and despair of the Genoese in the following year, (p. 323 - 332.)


text:
Shop By Category
Shop By Brand
Super Sales
About Us
Sign In
Recently added item(s)
Your cart is empty
Cart subtotal:
View Cart
Shop By Category
Shop By Brand
Super Sales
About Us
Recently added item(s)
Your cart is empty
Cart subtotal:
View Cart
The Healthy Prostate Diet
The Healthy Prostate Diet
0 comment(s)
Eat these foods and supplements to your diet to keep your "twigs and berries" working properly.
There's only one time when shrinkage down there is a good thing, and that's when your prostate is enlarged. As men age, their prostate (the gland that produces the fluid the carries the sperm) tends to grown bigger and as a result, it can cause urination and bladder problems. In fact, it may have you running to the bathroom as much as a woman who is pregnant. Luckily there are things that you can do to keep the prostate from growing and protect it from cancer. The first is to exercise on a regular basis since inactivity seems to worsen symptoms. The second is developing a good nutrition plan. Read on to find out the foods and supplements you should be consuming to keep everything relatively sizeable.
Decrease Size with Saw Palmetto
The most popular of the prostate helping herbs is
saw palmetto
, known to the scientific community as
Serenoa repens
. Recent research has confirmed saw palmetto's prostate prowess. Chinese researchers reported in the September 2007 issue of the
International Journal of Oncology
that saw palmetto inhibited the growth of prostate cancer tumor cells in mice. Along similar lines but done on human cells, Swedish researchers reported in the March/April 2007 issue of
Anticancer Research
that saw palmetto had an antiproliferative effect on cancer cells. These studies confirm previous findings. More specifically, a Spanish study that had men take 160 mg of saw palmetto extract twice a day for a year, in which the men experience a decline in benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) "the medical term for an enlarged prostate" symptoms. And the herb may also have a synergetic effect with other herbs as Eastern European studies have found. When 160 mg of saw palmetto is paired with 120 mg of stinging nettle and both are taken twice a day, a decrease in BPH symptoms were experienced. There are also studies that suggest that saw palmetto improves the quality of life for those with BPH and that there seems to be no drug-interaction problems. In addition, previous research has found that a combination of
saw palmetto
and pygeum lessen BPH symptoms.
Relieve the Pressure with Pygeum
Pygeum can help reduce the symptoms of an enlarged prostate. The result: fewer trips to the men's room. Why? Because this supplement that comes from the bark of an evergreen tree found in the mountains of central and southern Africa has been found to contain not one, but three types of compounds that relieve the symptoms of prostate enlargement. The most important of the three is beta-sitosterol, which interferes with the formation of substances that cause inflammation and swelling in the prostate. The other two compounds are pentacyclic terpenes, which also reduce swelling, and ferulic esters, which combat enlargement. Recently, three studies have closely studied these compounds and how they inhibit the proliferation of cells that promote prostate growth and affect bladder function. Two separate groups of French researchers found that Pygeum stopped prostate cell growth in the lab and in the body. While researchers in the United Kingdom and six European countries followed 2,351 patients suffering from BPH. Some were treating it with prescription medications (tamsulosin, finasteride, or alpha-blockers) and others were treating it with supplementation (
Pygeum africanum
Serenoa repens
). Their results, reported in the January 2007 issue of the journal of
European Urology
, found significant improvements in 43% of patients taking supplements compared to 57% of those on finasteride and 68% on alpha-blockers. Proving that natural means lessen the symptoms of BPH and cut down on the amount of trips to the bathroom.
Don't Shun Soy
Soy isn't just a super food for women anymore, according to a large-scale study of Japanese men. Researchers found that increasing intake of soy isoflavones significantly reduced the risk of prostate cancer by as much as 50 percent. The study, published in
Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention,
recruited 43,509 Japanese men with a generally high soy isoflavone intake and followed them for five years. During that time, 527 men were newly diagnosed with prostate cancer. In fact, the highest intake of soy isoflavones (at least 32.8 milligrams of genistein per day) had a 40 percent reduced risk compared to those with the lowest intake (less than 13.2 milligrams per day). In addition, a recent study of Seventh-Day Adventist men in California, conducted by Loma Linda University, found that those who consumed soymilk at least once per day had a 70% reduced risk of developing prostate cancer. An earlier study found similar results for Japanese men living in Hawaii who ate tofu. How can soy have such a profound effect on prostate cancer? Soy isoflavones may reduce testosterone levels and inhibit an enzyme involved in the metabolism of testosterone. It's this hormone that may increase prostate cancer risk. But before you start reaching for your wife's or girlfriend's "made for her" soy-fortified foods, know this: these results occur in men eating whole soy foods, such as edamame and miso soup. Considering that over 500,000 new cases of prostate cancer are diagnosed worldwide every year, eating soy foods could be a potent step in prevention.
Drink Red Wine
When it comes to wining and dining, pick up a bottle of cabernet to put her in the mood and do your prostate some good. Researchers have found that men who drink an average of four to seven glasses of red wine per week are only 52% as likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer as those who do not drink red wine, reports the June 2007 issue of
Harvard Men's Health Watch
. Researchers in Seattle collected information about many factors that might influence the risk of prostate cancer in men between ages 40 and 64, including alcohol consumption. By evaluating each type of alcoholic beverage independently, researchers were able to link wine drinking to a reduced risk of prostate cancer. And when white wine was compared with red, red had the most benefit. Even low amounts seemed to help, and for every additional glass of red wine per week, risk declined by 6%. Why red wine? Much of the speculation focuses on compounds--including various flavonoids and resveratrol--missing from other alcoholic beverages. These components have antioxidant properties, and some appear to counterbalance androgens, the male hormones that stimulate the prostate. In fact, researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) have found that when male mice were fed resveratrol, the mice showed an 87 percent reduction in their risk of developing prostate tumors. You see, a glass of wine with dinner may provide unexpected benefits.
Get Your Fruits and Vegetables
You know that you should be eating seven to nine servings of fruits and vegetables daily, but are you? You may want to hustle down to your produce department tout suite after reading this. Johns Hopkins researchers reported in the
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
that foods containing nutrients with antioxidant properties or that influence cell growth and differentiation may reduce the risk of prostate enlargement. More specifically, consumption of fruit and vegetables rich in beta-carotene (such as carrots and sweet potatoes), lutein (such as corn, mango and leafy vegetables), or vitamin C (such as kiwi and oranges) were found to help keep your prostate in check. They also found that men who ate a lot of foods that are high in vitamin C were less likely to have an enlarged prostate.
Pop or Pound Pomegranates
The pomegranate has been shown to possess strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. And while you would think the pom should be included in the above category, it is unlike most fruits and vegetables. This is because it has a very short season; many fruits and vegetables are available year around thanks to worldwide transport. Luckily, food and supplement makers have been able to harness this fruit's tasty goodness in the form of juice and extracts. And this may actually be better. University of Wisconsin at Madison researchers reported in the journal
Cell Cycle
that pomegranate fruit extract inhibited cell growth and caused cell death of potentially cancerous prostate cells. If you decide to drink pomegranate juice instead of popping a pill, make sure its label says, "100 percent fruit juice."
Make Friends with Fish
Unless you have been hiding in a proverbial nutrition news cave, you have probably heard that omega-3 fatty acids do a body good. The benefits are numerous and it seems that we can add another benefit to the list--slow prostate cancer growth. Research done in mice and reported in the July 2, 2007, issue of the
Journal of Clinical Investigation
suggests that a diet high in omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil and certain types of fish could potentially improve the prognosis of men. The study's authors from Wake Forest University concluded that a change in diet could mean the difference between dying from prostate cancer and surviving it. Adding fish to your diet doesn't seem like an awful idea when you consider that the disease is the most frequently diagnosed cancer and is a leading cause of death in men in the United States, and population studies have suggested that consumption of fish or fish oil reduces prostate cancer incidence. In the current study, the mice were fed varying levels of omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). Both are "essential" fatty acids, which means the body needs them for proper cell function but cannot produce them. Many vegetable oils contain omega-6 PUFA. Fish like mackerel, lake trout, herring, sardines, albacore tuna and salmon are high in omega-3 fatty acids. Nutritionists recommend that people consume equal proportions of omega-3 and omega-6 PUFA. However, in current western diets, the proportion of omega-6 to omega-3 is between 30 and 50 to one. Don't like fish? Then you may want to take
fish oil supplements
. A diet rich in soy, fish, fruits, vegetables and red wine supported by supplemental pomegranate fruit extract, pygeum and saw palmetto is a good way to keep your
prostate healthy
and your physique ripped.
Post comment
Added to cart successfully!
go to cart
Add to Cart


text:
If you have an illustration job in mind or are looking for further information on Island Cartoons and pricing, do get in contact either by email or phone. Just ask for Jon. Thanks!
Tel: 0127 141 0023
Email firstname.lastname@example.com
Island Cartoons, 39 Pilton Street, Barnstaple, Devon, EX31 1PJ
or use the contact form below


text:
Wall Street moved higher on Wednesday after four days of losses as lower chances of an interest rate hike whet investor appetite for risk.
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will release a policy statement at 2:00 p.m. ET (1800 GMT). Fed Chair Janet Yellen is scheduled to hold a press conference at 2:30 p.m. ET.
Yellen had hinted at higher chances of a rate hike than the markets had priced in, but weak May jobs data and economic repercussions of a possible Brexit forced her to take a dovish stance last week.
"The Fed is trying to walk a fine line here," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities in New York. The Fed does not want the market to discount a rate hike this year, he said.
Traders see a less than 40 percent chance of an interest rate increase until December, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool.
The S&P financial index rose 1.12 percent, reversing its losses in the past four days.
"The financials are outperforming the broader index simply because they had underperformed it in the past four days," Hogan said.
Bank of America rose 2.8 percent, giving the biggest boost to the S&P 500. The bank plans to cut 8,000 jobs, according to the Financial Times.
At 11:06 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 66.74 points, or 0.38 percent, at 17,741.56.
The S&P 500 was up 7.67 points, or 0.37 percent, at 2,082.99.
The Nasdaq Composite was up 19.52 points, or 0.4 percent, at 4,863.07.
Eight of the 10 major S&P sectors were higher.
Freeport, which struck a funding deal for a copper project, rose 6.2 percent to $10.8.
May producer price index rose by a better-than-expected 0.4 percent, compared with the 0.3 percent rise analysts had expected.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 2,156 to 714. On the Nasdaq, 1,866 issues rose and 777 fell.
The S&P 500 index showed nine new 52-week highs and one new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 21 new highs and 25 new lows.
(Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Don Sebastian)
This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Find latest and upcoming tech gadgets online on Tech2 Gadgets. Get technology news, gadgets reviews & ratings. Popular gadgets including laptop, tablet and mobile specifications, features, prices, comparison.
Updated Date: Jun 15, 2016 23:15:06 IST


text:
What Happens on the Day of the Funeral? A Burial
Many people wonder and are not aware –
What happens on the day of a funeral?
At A Burial
The cortege will arrive at the agreed address at the time given to you on your confirmation letter (please allow us a couple of minutes either side of this time for variations in the volume of traffic). Your Funeral Director will greet you at your door, and escort you and your family to the limousine(s). Once everyone is seated, the Funeral Director will walk the cortege away from the house, before getting in to the hearse and travelling to the place of service.
At a church, the Funeral Director will first go and speak with the minister, then come and collect you when everything is ready. Please remain seated in the limousine until the Funeral Director returns to assist you. The coffin will be taken in to the church and you will be asked to follow behind. Once inside the Funeral Director will guide you to your seats. At the end of the service, the coffin will be taken out of church, and placed on to the hearse to travel to the cemetery.
At the cemetery, the Funeral Director will lead the way to the grave, and again you will be asked to follow behind the coffin. You may gather around the grave, whilst the committal takes place, and you will be invited to scatter earth/holy water into the grave. Some people also choose to bring single stemmed flowers for the same purpose. Please give thought to suitable footwear when attending a burial in winter/wet weather, as the ground can be quite slippery. The Funeral Director will then lead you to look at the flowers, which will be laid out along the ground. Once you have left the cemetery, the flowers will be placed on to the grave. If you wish your floral tribute to remain on the coffin whilst it is lowered, then please tell us in advance.
Following the committal service at the cemetery, the limousine(s) will take you back to an address of your choice, or to a reception venue. Please advise us of the return destination prior to the day of the funeral to ensure our chauffeurs can be instructed accordingly


text:
Trace our coffee contracts
Click the lot number of this coffee on our Current Coffee Lots page, or visit ourcoffeepath.com.
Choice English Breakfast Tea
Current stock: 0
Choice English Breakfast Tea is a skillful blend of smooth, high-grown Ceylon teas with robust, malty selections from Assam and East Africa. The result is a full-bodied cup of tea with rich flavor and a rousing character. This favorite is organic, fair trade certified, and a perfect greeting to a new day. 16 bags/box (32g)
- Organic Black Tea (fair trade certified)


text:
Components for Textile Industry
Needles used in the textile industry require high fatigue strength, high wear resistance and uncompromised purity.
Our UHB 20MC1 steel has been developed with a material structure comprising fine grained well dispersed and stable carbides for needles with excellent wear resistance. Meanwhile, developed in close cooperation with leading needle manufacturers, our UHB 20MC1 latch needle steel is characterised by a high degree of purity and a uniform fine grained structure to ensure reliability and good durability after hardening.
In addition, the needle strip steel has close thickness tolerance to ensure the cross-sectional shape and the needle function, as well as a superior surface finish and clean, precise edges. Also of supreme importance to our customers is its consistent quality from batch to batch for predictable results in automated needle manufacture.


text:
National Guard - Chapter 1607
Chapter 1607 is a new Department of Defense benefit program designed to provide educational assistance to members of the reserve components called or ordered to active duty to a war or national emergency as declared by the President or Congress.
National Guard members who serve on active duty on or after September 11, 2001 under the Title 10 U.S. Code for Contingency Operation and who serve at least 90 consecutive days or more can apply for the new 1607 education benefits. More information can be found at www.gibill.va.gov.


text:
CAIRO — The political crisis over Egypt's draft constitution hardened on both sides on Sunday, as President Mohamed Morsi prepared to deploy the army to safeguard balloting in a planned referendum on the new charter and his opponents called for more protests and a boycott to undermine the vote.
Thousands of demonstrators streamed toward the presidential palace for a fifth night of protests against Mr. Morsi and the proposed charter, and the president, a former leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, formally issued an order asking the military to protect such "vital institutions" and to secure the vote.
With the decision to boycott the referendum, the opposition signaled that it had given up hope that it could defeat the draft charter at the polls, and had opted instead to try to undermine the referendum's legitimacy.
The call for new protests — with major demonstrations expected at the presidential palace again on Tuesday and Friday — ensures that questions about Egypt's national unity and stability will continue to overshadow debate about the specific contents of the charter. Although international experts who have studied the draft say it is hardly more religious than Egypt's old constitution, opponents say it fails to adequately protect individual rights from being constricted by a future Islamist majority in Parliament.
Over the past two weeks, hundreds of thousands of people have poured into the streets to oppose the charter, crowds have attacked 28 Muslim Brotherhood offices and the group's headquarters, and at least seven people have died in clashes between Islamist and secular political factions.Continue reading the main story
The opposition "rejects lending legitimacy to a referendum that will definitely lead to more sedition and division," said Sameh Ashour, a spokesman for a coalition that calls itself the National Salvation Front. Holding a referendum "in a state of seething and chaos," Mr. Ashour said, amounted to "a reckless and flagrant absence of responsibility, risking driving the country into violent confrontations that endanger its national security."
Whether to ask voters to vote no or to stay home has been the subject of heated debate in opposition circles in the week since Mr. Morsi announced the referendum, to be held on Saturday.
Now the question is whether opponents can translate the energy of the protests against the charter into more votes and seats in parliamentary elections that are expected to take place two months after the referendum.
Both sides acknowledge that President Morsi, who belongs to the Muslim Brotherhood's political party, has hurt himself and his party politically with the act that first touched off the protests: a decree giving himself authoritarian powers and putting his decisions above the reach of judicial review until the new charter is passed. He suffered even more, they say, when the backlash against the decree and the new constitution led to a night of clashes between his Islamists supporters and their more secular opponents that left at least six dead and hundreds more injured.
Mr. Morsi surprised his critics after midnight on Sunday by withdrawing almost all the provisions of his decree, a step he said he took on the recommendation of about 40 politicians and thinkers he convened on Saturday for a "national dialogue" meant to resolve the crisis. Leading opposition figures were invited to take part, but nearly all declined; according to a list broadcast on state television, most of the attendees were Islamists of various stripes, and the only prominent secular politician on hand was the former presidential candidate Ayman Nour.
A spokesman for the group said at an authorized news conference that Mr. Morsi was issuing a new, more limited decree, giving immunity from judicial scrutiny only to his "constitutional declarations," a narrow if hazily defined category of presidential actions. Steps he took under the previous decree would also be protected, including dismissal of the public prosecutor, who was appointed under the ousted former president, Hosni Mubarak.
Through the spokesman for the "national dialogue" group, Mohamed Salim el-Awa, Mr. Morsi even signaled a willingness to allow his opponents and allies to negotiate a package of amendments to the constitution that all sides would agree to enact once the draft is approved.
But Mr. Morsi did not concede to the opposition's main demand: to postpone the referendum long enough for an overhaul of the draft.
Mohamed ElBaradei, the former diplomat who now acts as a coordinator of the secular opposition, was the first to fire back on Sunday, resorting again to the language of revolution.
"We have broken the barrier of fear: A constitution that aborts our rights and freedoms is one that we will bring down today, before tomorrow," Mr. ElBaradei wrote in a Twitter posting early on Sunday. "Our power is in our will."
As his proposed compromise faded and tensions mounted on Sunday, Mr. Morsi followed through on plans announced the day before to authorize the military to protect national institutions and polling places. His order, printed in the official gazette on Sunday, amounts to a form of martial law, because it will allow soldiers under the direction of the defense minister to arrest civilians under a military code of justice.
The move indicated that, at least in the short term, Egypt's powerful military was lining up behind the new Islamist president to complete the transition to a new constitution. Muslim Brotherhood leaders cheered a Defense Ministry spokesman's televised statement explaining that the army might step in to maintain order for the balloting next Saturday because the spokesman's wording echoed passages in many of the president's speeches about the need for Egyptians to come together for the referendum.
The apparent alliance between the Brotherhood and the military reverses 60 years of mutual hostility, and it is likely to disappoint some Egyptians who fear the Islamists and had begun to whisper that the military might remove Mr. Morsi from power.
One person close to Mr. Morsi said the president issued the order so that troops could secure the voting process, as they have done in each of Egypt's elections since the ouster of Mr. Mubarak. Islamists, including some around Mr. Morsi, have become increasingly distrustful of the Interior Ministry, whose police forces have failed to stop attacks on Muslim Brotherhood offices or vandalism outside the presidential palace.
But Amr Moussa, a former foreign minister under Mr. Mubarak who is now an opposition leader, said it may have been the military's idea, not the president's, to issue the authorization, and with it a veiled warning. "Everybody — all of us in civil society — are getting really disturbed by this very serious situation," he said. "Everybody is upset, and that extends into the army."
After taking office in June, Mr. Morsi spent months courting the generals, sometimes earning the derision of liberal activists for his public flattery of their role. The constitution his supporters eventually drew up included protections of the military's autonomy and privileges within the Egyptian government, despite the protests of the same activists.
The "national dialogue" group concluded on Saturday, as Mr. Morsi had, that the constitutional referendum had to be held quickly and could not be delayed. The timing was forced, they said, by an earlier constitutional declaration that was approved by voters in March 2011, a month after Mr. Mubarak's overthrow, over the objections of the liberals. That referendum also set up the framework for parliamentary elections, which were won handily by Islamist parties and candidates; the Parliament was later dissolved by the country's constitutional court.Continue reading the main story


text:
Design Tips
Vinyl Stickers
Simple Designs
Vinyl Stickers are printed out on a single colored sheet of vinyl, so the designs have to be kept as simple as possible. But don't let that stop your creativity!
Multiple Colors
Designing with Color
Each color has to be printed on an individual sheet and merged together to create the decal. Make sure your design is a maximum of three solid colors. No gradients.
Black & White
Complicated Designs
Some of the more complex, even single color designs, might not be able to be made. We recommend complicated designs be created and printed at a larger size.
Final Designs
Someone from our design staff will contact you within 24 hours to finalize your design. You can upload .JPG, .PDF, and .GIF files. The file size cannot exceed 3 megs.


text:
There's nothing better than pizza and beer, right? So if you're going to order Pizza Hut, you may as well get some beer to go with it. Or, if you're too lazy to head to the store to pick up a six-pack, you may as well just order a pizza?
That's what Pizza Hut is counting on as it tests alcohol delivery starting today in Phoenix. Customers can order six-packs of Budweiser, Bud Light, Shock Top and Kilt Lifter (a local beer brewed in Tempe, Ariz.) with no additional fees, along with traditional menu items.
The pizza purveyor hopes to roll out the program across the U.S. in tandem with growing its overall alcohol program. It's adding liquor licenses in current locations without one "quickly" and plans to add wine and other craft beers to its lineup of delivery items.
Restaurant chains across the nation are trying hard to entice customers with liquor deals these days. But can pizza and beer beat $1 Long Island Iced Teas and Twisted Freezes? Only time will tell.


text:
Tomorrow I have an appointment with the dentist and I'm determined to get this post in tonight, since I'm going to be out of action for a good while after that. Why such a big deal you ask? Well, I'll explain a little later towards the end of this post. Before I delve into what I'm sure is going to be a horror of a day at the dentist, let me first tell you about our meal at Al Brown's new restaurant Depot, and about bumping into the man in person today. Much more exciting!
Just over a couple of weeks ago, New Zealand held it's first food bloggers conference in Auckland. 'S' and I decided to make it a long weekend up there and on the list of things to do was a visit to Depot, Al Brown's new restaurant.
As with most current eateries, Depot did not take reservations. It was first come first served. Being the keen beans that we are, 'S' and I got there early and got our table. Well, not so much a table since we sat at the bar. But hey, not complaining here. It was as far as we were concerned, a primo spot!
Here's what we ordered, devoured and then ordered seconds for...
Meat platter for 2 - Wild pork salami, beef bresaola, wild rabbit rillettes, air cured paprika beef. These were accompanied with large jars of mustard and baby gherkins. (yes, yes I know baby gherkins are called cornichons, but calling them cornichons here doesn't seem fitting).
Falafel with goats curd and harissa. There was a really nice spicy hit with the harissa. I liked this dish, though I wished there was more than just the one vegetarian dish to choose from!
Asparagus with black olive butter. Couldn't pass up on the asparagus for 2 reasons. One because I can never pass up on these lovely green spears and two, because we'd only ordered one vegetarian dish which strictly speaking wasn't a vegetable but made of chickpeas (and I do like my 5-a-day). 'S' really liked the black olive butter and I've promised to try and replicate it at home soon.
I've saved the best for last: Turbot sliders with preserved lemon and watercress. The bite-sized turbot was cooked just so (I hate overcooked fish) - simply grilled on these large hotplates (this was done only a few feet from where we sat) and sandwiched between these wee sweet buns. The preserved lemon was chopped fine and mixed into a kind of dressing which was perfect against the lightly salted fish and sweetish buns. I couldn't get enough of these little gems! Being able to finish each little 'burger' in only two bites, these were gone in a flash, so I ordered a 2nd plate. 'S' didn't even get a sniff of that 2nd order. I had polished it off in minutes. As I'm typing this post, I can almost taste it...definitely going back for more when I'm up in Auckland next.
And this is the man behind Depot - Al Brown.
I'd met up with some fellow food bloggers this morning (Jemma, Sasa and Viviane) at Floriditas - Sasa was down from Auckland. Low and behold, who should walk in? And what do I do when I spy the man himself sitting in a corner hunched over his laptop with a cuppa, having some quiet 'me' time? I bug him (of course!) for a photo and rambled on in quite an unintelligible way about Depot and turbot sliders. Sheeesh...
I then proceeded to lord it over 'S', pxt-ing the photo to both his cellphones. 'S' thinks Al is the bees knees you see. Mwuahahaha...
Now. Back to that dental appointment which is going to take me out of blogging for a few days.
So, what's the big deal? What is it that's causing me small heart palpitations alternating with light headedness? I think people call this a mild anxiety attack.
Well, tomorrow (or today if you're reading this on Tues) I get one of my wisdom tooth and another rogue tooth taken out. My dentist assures me that I will be so fully sedated with valium that I wouldn't remember a thing. Every fibre of my being is screaming "YEAH RIGHT"!!
This is me we're talking about - the person who needs up to 7 injections in the mouth just for routine hygiene work to be done. How the hell is valium going to help with a double tooth extraction, one of which is a wisdom tooth that will need cutting out and stitches??!!
I don't like it and I don't want to do it. But I have to. *Actual stamping of foot like a 5-year old*


text: Aria: I went to Hollis. Because I was looking for...you know. Her. She was teaching an art class, so I ran inside, grabbed a paintbrush, and painted a scarlet A across her chest. You know, like that woman in The Scarlet Letter? It was awesome. She didn't know what hit her. And then I said, 'Now everyone will know what you've done'.Ella: Do you realize that Hester Prynne is supposed to be a sympathetic character?


text:
Subscribe To 5 Good TV Shows We Want To See Less Of Updates
I've already subscribed
More is not always better. Contrary to what those fine folks over at AT&T would have you believe, there is a limit to the amount we can handle of most things. Remember that chubby kid from Matilda? He learned there's such a thing as too much cake after that heinous principal force fed pounds of it to him. Remember Augustus Gloop? He learned there's such a thing as too much chocolate after he swam in a river of it and got sucked into that tube. And remember the esteemed writers here at TV Blend? Each and every once of us has learned recently that sometimes getting more of a good TV show isn't what it's cracked up to be.
Whether by forcing out a spin-off featuring too similar of a premise, not taking a long enough break between seasons or simply airing the show for too many damn hours during the week, television networks can get a bit greedy when it comes to on-air products they think can bring in eyeballs. So, almost invariably, they add more episodes, add more time or do something to increase the exposure. For fans, those increased orders are typically a good thing, at least until they get to a certain point and the show starts feeling less like a relaxing activity and more like a chore.
After some preliminary conversations (or bitch sessions) between our writers, we quickly concluded everyone has at least one show they would love to have less of; so, we decided to each put our thoughts down in writing. Without further ado, here are five good television shows we would love to have less of…
Kelly's pick: The X-Factor
The X Factor arrived a couple years ago, not as an alternative to American Idol, but in addition to the long-running singing competition, filling the void in the fall season where there were no singing competitions cluttering up the line-up. And that's just what The X Factor did. Sure, it gave us a modified format to the standard Idol mix, and it gave Simon Cowell back to us, but it also filled hours of the TV line-up each week, forcing us to choose between singing and scripted programming.
As much as I love the singing competitions, The X Factor requires three hours of its audience each week, which is too much for me to give for a show that isn't nearly as must-watch as Idol was in its better seasons, especially during the fall when there are new shows to watch and returning favorites to keep up with. In the end, I decided at some point last season to stop trying to stay up to date on The X Factor at the expense of too many other shows I was enjoying more. Now, if The X Factor was an hour -- an hour and a half max -- each week, I might be more willing to make time for it. In the meantime, I'll stick with American Idol.
Alicia's pick: The Voice
This isn't so much a tirade as it is a cautionary tale: The Voice is on its way to OverDoingItVille by hopping on the same train tracks that brought American Idol to its knees. Why? Well, because after season five ends on December 17, season six is slated to pick right up again in February. Which might seem great on paper, but if The Voice isn't careful, it's going to overstay its welcome and ruin the good thing its got.
Singing competition shows are slowly becoming an entertainment property of the past. So much of it is the same, dull format — which is where The Voice stands ahead of the pack, given its structure and the rotating judge dynamic. It is, however, still a show where the talent comes second to the twists, turns, and dramatics. Meaning, the audience will realize — with no clear Kelly Clarkson or Carrie Underwood level success in their midsts — that the talent isn't really important. They'll shrug their shoulders, figuring "eh, it's still a fun show!" and continue watching. Therefore putting an increased pressure enjoyment on the judges' banter and general presence. Only that's where the trap gets set for inevitable failure and over-saturation: just look at Idol and The X Factor.
Shows like The Voice work well because they feel special — almost event-like. Take away said specialness by making it too readily available and the audience will take it for granted. And with that goes the ratings. So slow your roll, The Voice, because ain't nobody like an overeager beaver: you've already got enough of that on your hands with Adam Levine.
Jessica's pick: Once Upon A Time
Bringing fairytale characters to life on the small screen was a fun and inventive idea when Once Upon A Time first hit the schedule. It helped the drama that many of the characters appearing on the show also happen to be part of the Disney canon, which has basically proved to be free advertising for the company. Then, someone had an idea to air a limited series focused on Alice and Wonderland that would air during network TV's winter break. That could have been a good way for ABC to get some original programming on the air during winter hiatus while maintaining interest in a popular series. Regardless, the idea was later turned Once Upon A Time in Wonderland into a full-fledged series, creating two nights of television chock full of fairy tale characters on ABC.
Unlike the original OUAT, the spinoff is a self-contained story, which means it simply feels like a side narrative from Once Upon A Time, rather than a separate idea within a completely separate world. It's true that Wonderland its own distinct place, but since that place has also appeared on Once Upon A Time, it's ideas don't break the mold enough to feel like a separate narrative, despite its completely separate storyline. Beyond this, there are simply too many fairy tale characters on ABC throughout the week. The Once Upon A Time/Once Upon A Time in Wonderland duo may not be the worst offender on this list, but it's not doing anything to improve ABC's schedule, and if it does return for a second season, I'll eat the OUAT Mad Hatter's hat.
Jesse's pick: The Walking Dead
With Breaking Bad now off the air and Mad Men about to embark on its final season, AMC decided to pick up the slack by milking its highest rated series for a spin-off. How inspired. From a business angle, creating a companion series to The Walking Dead seems like a home run (and likely will be) but it does nothing except hurt the brand. I can't see the series bringing in too many new eyeballs. And with the inevitably of the companion show getting its own companion show in The Talking Dead 2, well, that's a lot of zombie centric programming.
I haven't even addressed the fact that simply having The Walking Dead: Georgia (retroactively added location based subtitle) and The Walking Dead: Michigan (subtitle in no way based on fact, simply where I would set the spin-off... companion series) will dilute the power of the original. Just ask CSI: Las Vegas. I feel the same way about the two versions of Anchorman 2 announcement. Why not put the funniest material all in one film? AMC and Robert Kirkman should be putting all their creative efforts into making TWD even better not robbing it of potential characters, storylines and set pieces. Soon Hell on Wheels will probably be getting zombies. Same goes for Low Winter Sun. Thank God for Better Call Saul. What? At least its source isn't still on the air.
Mack's pick: Project Runway
I love Project Runway. Love it. It's such a snappy watch, and for me, it's the perfect balance between actual competition and goofiness/ drama between the reality show contestants. I don't think it's a stretch to say Tim Gunn may well be the most likeable and kind-hearted personality on television, and while the show has only produced one honest to God fashion superstar in Christian Siriano, it regularly churns out talented winners who go on to great careers dressing celebrities and making custom high end dresses. That being said, I could still use a damn break between seasons.
PR used to take a few months off between seasons. One year it even put forward a spin-off series called Project Accessory, but recently, the show has alternated between a normal season and a season of Project Runway All-Stars that begins the Thursday immediately after. I'm all for bringing people back, but it's nice to start missing a show a little bit. It's nice to watch the opening credits and think, "Boy, I've really missed this." That doesn't happen without a break, and contrary to what the producers might think, an all-stars season isn't a real break.


text:
Dow Slumps, 1 Company Drags an Entire Industry Lower Today
Down at one point by 180 points, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied from its morning lows, but the comeback still wasn't enough to put the index in the black on Thursday. Fears that the woes of a troubled Portuguese lender could ripple throughout the continent sent European stocks spiraling lower today, causing Wall Street to take notice. The Dow finished with losses of 70 points, or 0.4%, ending at 16,915.
Home Depot drove the Dow's losses on Thursday, shedding 1.7%, and finishing as the most severe blue-chip decliner of the day. The home-improvement retailer fell after concerns arose about the strength of the housing market's recovery. Deutsche Bank cut second-quarter earnings-per-share, or EPS, estimates slightly, from $1.45 per share to $1.44 per share. Home Depot has proven to be a conservative, yet profitable, way to play the rebound in the real estate market; the stock has soared more than 250% in five years as home prices recovered from crisis-level lows.
Interestingly enough, Home Depot's losses today were more a result of Lumber Liquidators' incorrigibly awful second quarter than anything else. Lumber Liquidators -- a hardwood-flooring retailer -- issued worrisome warnings to shareholders today, telling them, in essence, that its second-quarter results would be abysmal. Traffic fell off, same-store sales slumped 7.1%, and management guided for EPS around $0.60 in the quarter against expectations for $0.90. Shares cratered, plunging 21.5% on the news, and dragging respectable retailers in its industry, like Home Depot, lower as a result.
Shares of Tile Shop Holdings , for instance, were also dragged down by Lumber Liquidators' ugly performance today as the tile retailer caught heat from Wall Street. Credit Suisse went so far as to punish Tile Shop's earnings forecasts, reasoning that if the flooring market was soft across the board last quarter, then Tile Shop is also in for some disappointing results. Tile Shop stock slumped 9.3% as investors feared a same-store sales decline in the first quarter will be followed by another lousy showing in the second quarter.
Warren Buffett: This new technology is a "real threat"
While the housing market has been an area of exceptional growth in recent years, that trend seems to be slowing down. At the recent Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting, Warren Buffett admitted this emerging technology is threatening his biggest cash cow. While Buffett shakes in his billionaire boots, only a few investors are embracing this new market, which experts say will be worth more than $2 trillion. Find out how you can cash in on this technology before the crowd catches on, by jumping into one company that could get you the biggest piece of the action. Click here to access a FREE investor alert on the company we're calling the "brains behind" the technology.
The article Dow Slumps, 1 Company Drags an Entire Industry Lower Today originally appeared on Fool.com.John Divine has no position in any stocks mentioned. You can follow him on Twitter @divinebizkid and on Motley Fool CAPS @TMFDivine.The Motley Fool recommends Home Depot, Lumber Liquidators, and Tile Shop Holdings. The Motley Fool owns shares of Lumber Liquidators and Tile Shop Holdings. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Copyright © 1995 - 2014 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.


text:
JRiver Media Center 23.0.94 Crack 2018 Free Download
JRiver Media Center 23.0.94 Crack 2018 Free Download
JRiver Media Center 23.0.94 Crack – all-in-one news administration software turns any Windows PC into an activity hub for complete control of one's news that is digital, Video, Images, and Television.JRiver Media Center 23.0.94 connects PC to stereo, TV, radio control products, cameras, scanners, and portable players who are MP3. It plays all news, rips, burns, and organizes your music, pictures, and video. MC encodes and plays all media formats that are popular. Efficient utilities include Media Server for streaming music and images to PCs that are remote. Media Center is higher than an international class player that is first. It is additionally a Media system, a house that is whole, movie, television, and solution that is a photo. The best choice for audiophile quality sound. The many news that is effective available; a device that is essential large collections.
JRiver Media Center 23.0.94 License key is a news management application 2018, converts any Windows PC into an activity center for any control that is complete with electronic media. It links to your computer stereo, TV, handheld control that is remote, digital cameras, scanners and portable MP3 players. Enjoy all media, rips, burns off, and arrange all your music, pictures and video.
JRiver Media Center 23.0.94 Free MC encodes and plays report that is popular around. Powerful tools consist of Media Server for streaming music and pictures towards the PC that is remote.
Key Features:
- Single demand copy / send to an editor like Photoshop, and stack image that is new initial
- Video sidecar that is tagging is using
- Chapter Support for MKV and MP4
- Chapters added to On Screen Display
- Info Panel displays metadata
- Image Preview allows zoom from a thumbnail to turn, delete, compare, edit, and more
- Image thumbnail frames (optional)
- Photoshop PSD file help
- Added new" that is"watched to metadata
- EPG can automatically retrieve XMLTV data
- Watch Hulu and YouTube from Theater View
- Customizable nested views in Theater View
- Customizable File Info panel to show metadata
- Automatic the correlation of the XML channel names & MC channel names
- Info Panel displays metadata, including tv program art
- TV system art from YADB
- Speed and quality improvements
- Wiki articles: Remotes and Servers
- Remote Relay using IR transceivers for managing a group top box or receiver
- Remote Setup Wizard
- Custom Backgrounds
- Touchscreen support
- On-screen clock
- Fixed: MC was not in a position to play WAV files through an "RF64" root chunk ID (Broadcast WAVE Format extension).
- Library Server aids read and compose to allow for shared, multi-user database access
- DLNA added towards the UPnP Server
- Library Server customers can form changes straight back to server
- Media Center Remote learning and blasting
- Media Center can connect with another Media Center doing one thing being a remote (remote)
- New HID control that is remote – supports shortcuts with keyboard, mouse, & gamepad
- Remote control with SLEEP based Web Service Interface in Library Server
- Changed: Updated the Chromium online engine to the variation that is latest, and enabled it for 64-bit Media Center
- Fixed: The JRiver WDM motorist could crash and cause a BSOD whenever found in WASAPI mode.
- Library Server connections allow playback on host as Playing Now zones
- Changed: Marked the "Imported Playlists" playlist for interpretation but no longer translate the title that is it should be equivalent to all languages).
- Fresh: A per-device option to disable VideoClock when television that is capture that is operating in non-time-shifting mode.
What's new in?
- New HID control module that is remote.
- 150 MB plate space.
- 800 x 600 presentation.
- Other bug repairs and overhauls.
- System Needs:
- PC with reasonable pace.
How to Install/Crack?
- Install Jriver Media Center Crack.
- Install this program.
- Don't run yet, exit the scheduled system if already running
- Run as admin the Patch & apply
- thoroughly! Enjoy JRiver Media Center that is latest.
[sociallocker]Download Link[/sociallocker]


text:
Topic: Well Being | Posted:December 15, 2015
Kabbalists teach that when tragic events occur and judgment comes to the world it is a wake-up call for all of us. Michael reveals how we can remove negativity and draw protection for the world.
CLICK HERE to watch more from Michael Berg.


text: Agnès b. designer Agnès Troublé is, like so many members of the fashion set, a dedicated art fiend. She even operates a gallery in Paris called Galerie du Jour. So when Troublé opened her 50 Howard Street outpost in New York this weekend, it was inevitable that she would include a gallery of contemporary art amid the array of sailor sweaters and Breton stripes. She even had a cadre of artists create limited-edition T-shirts for the store: the collection includes designs by Louise Bourgeois, Harmony Korine, Ryan McGinley and Jose Parla.