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It can be argued that obsession with celebrities began centuries ago when twelve men decided it would be a good idea to follow around a guy who had long hair. Undoubtedly, this fascination with superstars has only grown since then. The film industry often turns its lens on society, so it is no surprise that there have been many movies on the subject. Brandon Cronenberg's Antiviral takes a unique look at the topic.
Released in 2012, Antiviral takes place in the near future. Society is so infatuated with celebrities that clinics sell viruses from sick stars and their muscle tissues are cultivated and sold as steaks to be consumed by the masses. The film does an excellent job of showing that there is nothing more important than being famous. The escalated levels of celebrity worship are seen throughout the movie. News seems to be run by the paparazzi, televisions are everywhere, and giant billboards with the most famous stars cover the sides of buildings. Cronenberg's vision of the future is not much different from our present, and it is terrifying.
This interesting take on fandom permeates almost every shot in the movie, but it is not just celebrity that the film examines; sickness is another important theme in Antiviral. Multiple scenes take place against clinically white backgrounds giving the movie a sterile feel. Meanwhile, the cast are usually clothed in dark colors. In an intelligent bit of film making, the few moments in the movie that do not have a famous personality are dimly lit. Cronenberg appears to be asking if society's idols are ill or if it's society itself that's truly sick. Essentially, people are the disease in Antiviral's world.
Caleb Landry Jones does a fine job as Syd March for the majority of the movie. He's an employee at Lucas Clinic, one of the top celebrity pathogen clinics thanks to its exclusivity deal with the world's biggest superstar, Hannah Geist. When the audience first meets Syd, he's coldly calm. He talks to customers with a poised indifference, co-workers assume he has access to the newest diseases, and he callously sells celebrity sicknesses on the black market. Jones plays the role with a restrained self-assurance. Syd isn't just a character, he is a part of this anesthetized world. Unfortunately, this becomes a problem when the movie's tone becomes more hectic. Jones varies his acting very little, leading to what could have been impactful scenes falling flat. This is only limited to the middle part of the movie, as Jones's acting shifts gears for the thrilling tone of the third act.
Antiviral's interesting premise begins to lag in the second act. The middle of the movie veers away from its examination of society and instead becomes a murder mystery. Initially, the extreme depths of star worship are still shown. As Syd becomes literally ill, the audience witnesses society's disgusting reaction, reinforcing the question of who really is sick. Suddenly, Cronenberg moves away from the film's central conceit and instead decides to go with a cliché conspiracy story. Not only does the movie abandon its most interesting idea, the pace also slows down. Heading towards its conclusion, the film comes back to its initial premise, but the peculiar change is noticeable. It is almost as if Cronenberg decided to give the audience a breather between the more interesting first and final acts.
The name "Cronenberg" begs the question, "Just how gross is Antiviral?" Brandon's father, David is a master of the horror genre and is known for his intense use of body horror. The younger Cronenberg doesn't eschew his father's trademark style completely, but does use it noticeably less. This is a movie more about psychological horror than visceral scares. That being said, Antiviral has some moments that are definitely not for the squeamish and parts of the movie will be especially tough on anyone with a fear of needles.
Antiviral takes a satirical look at a celebrity preoccupied society. While the movie does not have memorable characters, it does have a strong narrative. A person can practically see today's world in the film. Brandon Cronenberg tells a topical story that every movie fan should take the time to watch.


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Past: Tech Tutoring
Cape Girardeau Public Library
Sign up for individualized one-on-one tech help with our computer lab assistant. From basics to more advanced questions, we'll equip you with skills you'll need to confidently make the most of technology.
Website: http://capelibrary.org
Phone: (573) 334-5279 ext. 113
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Past Dates & TimesMonday, February 11, 2019, 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Monday, February 25, 2019, 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Cape Girardeau Public Library
711 N. Clark St., Cape Girardeau, MO

subset: commoncrawl


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Liv Flourish 4
The smart, stylish, and elegant way to get around town. A lightweight, versatile bike with thoughtful design makes ordinary trips more fun.
With a functional, yet elegant design and a lightweight aluminum frame that's designed specifically for women, Flourish takes you from the market to the city center with ease. The step-through design makes it quick and easy to hop on and off and the wide gear range lets you find your happy place on flat roads and hills. A cushioned spring saddle helps smooth out rough roads, and stylish, comfortable grips add the finishing touch.
- Light and nimble step-through ALUXX-grade aluminum frame
- Chromoly fork
- Suspension seatpost for added comfort
- Shimano 7-speed shifting


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SBCGlobal mail account is a type of mail service that is jam-packed with lots of marvelous and amazing features which users can enjoy on its account. With this mail service, you can get notifications for new incoming mail on your smartphone or iPhone- provided the mail must be configured properly on the system. If you have properly configured it, then you can access it like other mail services.
Besides so many advantages, there are some issues prevalent on it and putting dent on its image. One of the common issue encountered by users is password recovery issue. They are getting the problem in recovering or resetting the mail password. Today, we are going to discuss the steps to recover the email password from the SBCGlobal com login page. If you are a victim of this problem, then must read the steps mentioned below.
The process to recover SBCGlobal mail password
By chance, if you have forgotten the Att Mail password, then there is no need to create a panic. You can recover the same by implementing the simple steps mentioned below.
The very first thing that is required for resetting the password is 'Personal details' for verification purpose. You should be prepared with the complete information. Any information if incorrectly entered may block your account permanently. The primary details required are phone number, member ID and username. After entering the information, follow the steps given below:
- Open the official page of the SBCGlobal mail account.
- Click on the mail icon given in the center of the screen.
- You will find the login page on the front screen.
- Click 'Forgot password' option.
- You have to enter the personal details for authentication. Enter the user ID of your SBCGlobal mail account.
- The password recovery window will then appear on the screen. Enter the new password if prompted to do so.
- Confirm settings and Tap 'Submit'.
- Try login to the account by entering the new password in the username and password field. You need to enter the same password you set earlier.
We recommend you to keep the password protected and safe from online hackers. For the best security of email, you must set a strong password that is a combination of alphabets and symbols. It has come to the fore that SBCGlobal servers automatically block the mail if they find the email account is being hacked by someone. In such cases, you need to contact SBCGlobal support to verify your identity first. The customer care executives will provide the password reset link after verifying your identity.
This is how you can reset the password for your SBCGlobal mail account. If you are still having any problem or the troubleshooting steps mentioned above doesn't work for you, then you can contact att net email login for the issue. The representative will first listen to your query and then provide the solution accordingly. The support providers will assist you in a best possible manner. If required, they may take the remote link of your computer.


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June 21st is the longest day of the year in Montana!!!
That is only 15 days away!!
Come visit The Jeffers Inn garden in her Summer Dress.
Beautiful, Peaceful ... add a waterfall and it is perfect!!
Even if cannot stay at The Jeffers Inn ... come and see her summer gardens and waterfalls !!!
Room rates start at $69.00/night with Full Breakfast
75 Jeffers Rd, Ennis, MT 59729
75 Jeffers Rd, Ennis, MT 59729


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Facebook just named Dr. Sue Desmond-Hellmann, the chancellor of the University of California at San Francisco, to its board of directors. She's the ninth board member.
Here's why that's a great move:
- Desmond-Hellmann is an academic. That brings someone with a new background to the board. (Board member Erskine Bowles formerly served as president of the University of North Carolina, but he's better known for his career in politics.)
- She's also a scientist. She was formerly president of Genentech, and she's board-certified in internal medicine and oncology, the study and treatment of cancer. Most of Facebook board members have backgrounds in software or Internet startups.
- She's not an insider's insider. Desmond-Hellmann does have professional and social ties to Silicon Valley's elite. She hosted a press conference at UCSF announcing the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, an award for scientific research backed by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. And she previously worked for Art Levinson, the former Genentech CEO who's now chairman of Apple's board. So she's a known quantity to the other high-powered members of Facebook's board—which is important—but she can represent Facebook shareholders from an independent view.
- She's on the board of an important advertiser. Desmond-Hellmann is also on the board of Procter & Gamble, an important consumer packaged-goods maker. That can't hurt, as that's a category Facebook is specifically targeting in its sales efforts.
So: Well done, Facebook!
As a startup, Facebook had a very small board tightly controlled by Zuckerberg. As a public company, it's smartly expanded that board.


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|Art Briles. Image via SB*Nation.
Scratch one name off the list of candidates to succeed Rhett Lashlee as Auburn's offensive coordinator. Both ESPN's Bret McMurphy and al.com have reported that former Baylor head coach Art Briles is not being considered to replace Lashlee, who is leaving to become OC of UConn.
Art Briles will not be considered for Auburn OC job, source told @ESPN. Job is "wide open & (new OC) will run the offense," source said— Brett McMurphy (@McMurphyESPN) January 12, 2017
Briles had been suggested as a possible replacement for Lashlee due to his friendship with Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn. This despite being fired by Baylor in May of 2016 over the mishandling of allegations of sexual assault by members of the Baylor football team against female students of the school.
(via al.com)


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Page Owner = the original creator of a Facebook Business Page
Page Admin = an individual appointed by a Page Owner to have rights over all aspects of the Page
Important: Facebook makes no distinction between the above(owner and admin), but it's important to recognize the difference between the two because only a Page owner (NOT a Page admin) can link or send out Offers via a Facebook.
Keep track of who originally created the Facebook Business Page you'd like to use with your Offers Account.
If you're setting up Groovv Offers for a Business Page, but are not the owner of that page, you can ask the owner add you as an admin on their Business page (Business Page Owners Click Here to Give Someone Access).
Trouble logging in? Simply enter your email address OR username in order to reset your password.
For faster and more reliable delivery, add email@example.com to your trusted senders list in your email software.


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Joe Benjamin, the title character in God's Favorite, remarks early in the play: "There's something funny going on here.''
Later in the new staging at Richardson Theatre Centre, playgoers are likely to amend Joe's statement: "There's not quite enough funny going on here."
The playwright is none other than Neil Simon, of Odd Couple fame. We've come to expect more from this king of the one-liners, especially when his root source is the Old Testament.
Yeah, really. The "favorite"' of the title is, of course, Job from the biblical book of the same name. As Archibald MacLeish did in J.B., Simon moved the setting to 20th century U.S.A., specifically the affluent 1980s and a mansion on the ritzy north shore of Long Island, where Joe and his family live. Joe's love of and devotion to God are well-known. But who would guess that it's reciprocal? True: Joe is the Allmighty's pick of the human litter. That's why he has the dubious (it turns out) honor of being mankind's surrogate. Satan wagers that, given enough torment, Joe will renounce God. Never gonna happen, God replies.
Cue the torments: Factory burns, heat is turned off, aches and pains abound. ("Neuralgia with a side order of bursitis...")
Ben Westfried, as Joe, is nothing short of heroic as he wrings chuckles and the occasional guffaw from Simon's disappointing script. The actor's physical contortions during Joe's itch fit are worthy of a choreography credit.
Director and designer Rachael Lindley strains mightily to kick some life into this comedy. She inserts contemporary references to Joel Osteen and Charlie Sheen. And she makes a gutsy gender switch that pays off. Sidney Lipton, the scheming "messenger" who tries to sabotage Joe's faith, was written as a male and portrayed originally on Broadway by Charles Nelson Reilly. In the Richardson staging, Sidney is played to the kvetching hilt by Sara Ragsdale. Sidney is a thoroughly repulsive character, and while Ragsdale does not reverse this, she does succeed in making the wretch entertaining.
Roger Schwermer contributes some rewarding moments as Joe's tipsy first-born. Ditto Jenny King as his goofy daughter and Linda Bi as an insolent Asian servant.
Monday, April 18 at 2:20PM
Have not seen this production, but reread the script a few months ago (am considering producing through the Core Theatre next year) and it is excellent. Do reviewers read play scripts or is that too time consuming? A reviewer is an important part of any vibrant theatre community, which Dallas certainly has. Let's up the quality of reviews above book report status, PLEASE.
Wednesday, April 20 at 7:37PM
Producers don't bother to listen to the public, do they? They just try to jam trash down the public's throat and get upset when reviewers have the guts to tell the truth. This play needs, at a bare minimum, a serious revision of the first act. Neil Simon or not, this is awful. 10 to 15 minutes could have easily been cut of the scene where the "messenger lady" is revealing her secret. It is just excruciating. The last act of the play is worthwhile, but the first two acts drag on way too long. So, let's get the producers to either edit the "first draft" (which this play appears to be) or find something else to do with their time.


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Brrrrr! That Can't be Right!
When I travel, I check with Weather Underground so I will know what to pack. While I barely had time to unpack and do mammoth piles of laundry to repack for the next trip, I did have time to check the weather. Lovely weather, highs in the high 50's and 60's, going up to 80 on Mother's Day this coming Sunday.
So when we landed, and the pilot said "Welcome to Seattle, it is 47° out, my only possible response was "That can't be right." But as soon as I stepped out of the plane, I knew it was. I was wearing a little sleeveless silk and linen weave, with a lightweight cotton jacket over it. Not enough!
Arriving in Seattle mid-day is perfectl; traffic going north is calm and – for Seattle – light. I'm in an SUV; when I got to the rental pick up it's all he had – that, or a Tundra or Yukon, which are just WAAYY too big for me. The car is a Captiva, not a large SUV, but one drive from the airport to Edmonds and I am down about an eighth of a tank, a far cry from my modest little Rav4. On our tip across the US, that sweet little car averaged 30.3 miles per gallon. In Seattle, where the gas prices are substantially higher, I am driving a gas hog. Aargh.
I am staying with my best friend from college. I've stayed in this house before, but it has been entirely renovated since then, and it is like staying in a boutique hotel – entirely lovely.
Here is the view just before dark from her house:
My friend has always been an inspirational gardener, and plants these gorgeous big pots:
When I arrive, she is struggling with a connectivity problem, which gives me some time to gather myself from my early rising to my long flights. Every time, I still thank God it is only two timezones and half a day, as opposed to two long flights and about 24 hours travel time from Kuwait and Qatar.
We run out to buy a new wireless modem, and look for a spot for dinner. This is what I love about my old friend, she's always up for something new. I spot a restaurant I read a review for a long time ago, and she is game to try it.
The prices were unbelievable. This is Seattle. How can you have a simple and serenely lovely interior, full of quietly and happily dining customers, and still charge these low prices? For dinner? I had the Tic Tac combo rice vermicelli dish, and my friend had a different combo. It was delicious! They are on Aurora / Highway 99, and have a steady stream of customers, families, couples, singles, take-out – there are a lot of people love this restaurant, including us. Sorry there are no photos of the meal, but old friends always have so much to talk about, and it never even crossed my mind. Sorry!
This is my lovely 'hotel' room, where I quickly fell into bed and was soon fast asleep 🙂
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New York Deli
Central Business District
255 South Orange Avenue
Orlando, FL
Get Directions
Phone Number: 407.872.3600
About This Location
Located in the bustling business district, this deli offers a variety of lunch meats and toppings to satisfy any appetite. After you build yourself a sub, take it with you or eat it there. This is the perfect place for a great sub on-the-go.


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The Creators of the famous cross-platform VLC media player, are going to release a new video editing program named VideoLAN Movie Creator (VLMC).
On the VLMC home page it states:
VLMC will be available very soon in a pre-release version for Linux, Windows and Mac, stay tuned !
The official announcement of VLMC will take place at the VideoLAN dev'days 2009 in December.
Once the pre-release of VLMC is out, there will be full instructions on how to install it, and we will have all the details. Until then, you can fetch the current working tree using Git:
git clone git://github.com/VLMC/vlmc.git
What we know upto this point:
VLMC will be a free video editing software program, which will offer features that allow you to make professional quality movies. It will be as user-friendly and simple, as the original VLC media player.
Here is a video preview of VLMC:
Stay tuned for more updates on VLMC.


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Sample Sale | April veil
Sorry, currently out of stock
This April veil is made with pale ivory, signature tulle, and ivory trim. It secures to your hair with our rhodium-plated 2016 style comb. Only one available!
- 30/50" FOLDED MANTILLA shape.
- 30" layer can be worn over your face as a blusher.
- Veil is about 80" at widest point.
- 3" wide crinoline trim around entire edge
- Genuine French lace is about 3" wide and is around bottom curve between your fingertips.
- Secures to your hair with a rhodium-plated metal comb.
- Handmade in our Denver, CO studio.
- Packaged in our signature garment bag.
- Ships in 3-5 business days.
- Please CONTACT us to inquire about expedited processing.
- Final Sale: All Sara Gabriel pieces are individually hand cut, stitched, set and soldered by our team of artisans when you place your order, so we can't accept returns.
- If you are not certain a design is right for you, please visit one of the many BOUTIQUES that carry the Sara Gabriel collection for a one-on-one styling appointment and assistance placing your order.


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Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/477098782384634/
Meet-Up Page: http://www.meetup.com/Nintendo3DS/New-York-NY/1051742/
Google+ Event: https://plus.google.com/b/111898744452360692154/events/cb0rp7q5vaclvdac1uc9b2vpt7s
Directions: 1, A, C, E Train to Canal Street
Location: Albert Capsouto Park (Laight St., Canal St., and Varick St., New York, NY 10013)
Date: October 31st, Thursday
Event Time: 4:00 PM - 5:20 PM
StreetPass NYC, the largest unofficial Nintendo 3DS fan club in the United States of America welcomes everyone in the New York Metro Region to join them for the 40th Anniversary Greenwich Village Halloween Parade on October 31st!
Those fans joining StreetPass NYC between those times at the gathering location will have a professional group portrait taken by a veteran Greenwich Village Halloween Parade photographer at 5:30 PM. After the portrait is taken, StreetPass NYC will be given early access to line up in the parade ahead of the hundreds of puppets, fifty-three bands, dancers, artists and thousands of other New Yorkers in costume parading in the nation's most wildly creative public participatory event in the greatest city in the world!
For those who cannot participate, you can watch the parade on TV on channels WPIX from 7:30 PM to 10:00 PM and on NY from 8:00 PM to 9:30 PM.
Last year the Greenwich Village Halloween Parade was the first event cancelled due to Hurricane Sandy. This year the parade will honor the Spirit of Volunteerism including those who sprang into action to pull New York City out of that disaster; the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center Transplant Team and Jeff Bratcher—longtime Parade volunteer—who donated a kidney to the Parade Director's son, and representatives of all those who have volunteered to marshal and animate giant puppets throughout Parade history and kept the humble arts organization going!
For more information on the parade go to http://www.halloween-nyc.com/
# # #
Nintendo, Nintendo 3DS, Wii U and StreetPass are copyright and/or registered trademarks of Nintendo of America Inc. StreetPass NYC is NOT affiliated with or representative of Nintendo of America Inc.


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The Races of Middle Earth (TROME) is a home grown card game that I have found. I loved the game so much I made a youtube video describing the rules so the internet can have this awesome game. Here is a link to the video I made about it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U32Xdv7 ... e=youtu.be
Also it is good to be posting here again!!


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Monday, February 25, 2008
A Debate is Starting About California's Big Alcohol Reds
Most textbooks comparing beer, wine and spirits will use 5 percent alcohol by volume for beer, 12 percent alcohol by volume for wine and 80 proof (40 percent alcohol by volume) for spirits in the examples matching the strengths of each product.
In the last few years, high gravity beers have picked up steam and have grabbed a greater share of the market. Several states have passed bills recently to allow the higher strength beers to be sold. Some argue that while these beers are attracting consumers, that there should be more session beers available, under 4 percent alcohol by volume. Now a debate is starting in California over a trend among a number of wineries marketing red wines that are up to 16 percent alcohol by volume.
Winemakers continue to chase riper, full flavored reds. To get there, harvests are often delayed to build up the big red character in the wines. When you get concentrated fruits and a chewy feel to the wine, this also means the grapes tend to be ripper and have more sugar. The additional sugar converts to more alcohol once the juice is fermented.
During a recent trip to California I encountered a number of reds -- particularly cabernet sauvignons and Bordeaux-style blends -- that were above the 14% alcohol by volume mark. California wineries are blessed and cursed by this fact. On one side are some retailers who do not want to sell the higher alcohol wines and some consumers looking for lighter reds. On the other side are two strong forces: one is nature, the growing conditions in California allow grapes to be left on the vine longer and hot weather further intensifies the flavors and the sugars; and the other is marketing, which has done a terrific job promoting the big red as the quintessential California wine.
As longer as consumer demand exists for these big, bold reds, winemakers will produce them. Up to this point most consumers have either not noticed or don't mind that these wines come with 20-30 percent more alcohol.
Posted by Rick Lyke at 7:26 PM
Labels: Cabernet Sauvignon
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The sides curled towards the back, and maybe if there was one knit stitch on each end that would alleviate that problem.
The colours remind me of chocolate-covered peppermints! Or maybe the stained-glass windows of a gingerbread cottage? Whichever ... I swear I could smell mint as I knit this. Here's the block before blocking:
|still curling top/bottom and sides :[


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Sport Index
Jr. Hockey
Van. 2010
Figure Skating
Other Sports
Big Events
Photo Gallery
Hockey Gallery
The Casino Rama
Grill Room
We are no longer running this site -- visit us at
Lord Athol looks back
By JERRY GLADMAN -- Toronto Sun
Lord Athol Layton with pet pooch Bo in 1981. Photo by Hugh Wesley, Toronto Sun
He would have made such a good bad guy.
They called him the Lord of the Ring and he played the part beautifully. All six-foot-five, 260 pounds, posturing at centre ring in his purple coronation robes, white cape and ermine tails, bowing with disdain to all four corners. He even kept the packed Tokyo hall waiting by insisting on his usual spot of tea in the dressing room before entering the area.
But it wasn't in the cards. Right role, wrong country.
"My intention was to make my mark as a villain by kicking some of those Japanese fellows around," says Lord Athol Laton, looking back almost a quarter of a century on a successful wrestling career that is still remembered fondly around these parts. "But it didn't matter what I did. I had forgotten their great love of pageantry. They loved the robe and tails. And when I bowed to the four corners, they looked upon me as a gentleman."
He came as a villain and left three months later as a hero. And it reinforced a lesson he learned years earlier when he arrived in Canada from his native Australia to try his skill against some of the popular North American grapplers. Success in the ring was more often determined by who you fought rather than what you did.
When promoter Frank Tunney secured his services in 1950, Layton reasoned that his ring attire and hoity-toity manners would fit in nicely with Canada's ties to Britain and the Commonwealth. But he didn't figure on a fella named Whipper Billy Watson, the goodest of the good guys.
"I was doing fine here until I wrestled Watson," he says with a bit of a chuckle. "He made me a villain. After a bit, I realized I wasn't only fighting Watson, I was fighting all of Toronto. I couldn't win."
The message became even clearer when his eight-year-old son informed him his reputation was garnering untold battles in the schoolyard. Most of the kids belonged to the popular Whipper Watson Safety Club and they didn't take kindly to the offspring of a baddy trying to trounce their idol.
"He asked me if it might be possible for me to join forces with Watson and become a tag team. Things would be more comfortable for him at school. So after five years as a villain by virtue of opposing the Whipper all over Ontario, I became a hero."
Like his partner, Lord Layton wore the mantle well. Week after week, for the next 20 years, he drew the cheers of the frenzied Maple Leaf Gardens rassle fanatics by rendering unconscious such wretched foes as The Shiek, Hans Schmidt, Bulldog Brower and the despicable Love Brothers. His trademark was the judo chop, but more than one villain fell victim to the crippling English Octopus or the old Australian Surfboard lock.
And even though he hasn't worked a hold professionally in five years, since the night in Grand Rapids, Mich., when the hated Sheik detached the retina in his right eye, Athol Layton still reigns as the Lord of the Ring down on Carlton Street.
"Apart from the occasional visit to the Gardens, I don't have much contact with wrestling these days," says the incredibly fit 60-year-old, who confines his grappling to promotional duties for Bacardi rum. "I had 30 years of it and I enjoyed it immensely. But I've given up the ring for rum."
And none too soon because the grunt-and-groan game has fallen a long way since the days when I full nelson meant something and a flying mule kick was what a kick should be. Layton will be the first to tell you that the punching and booting administered by today's heroes are a far cry from the exhibition of skill and science for which he and the Whip were revered.
"The real problem is that there is a scarcity of characters. In my day, they were all characters. People like Gorgeous George, Yukon Eric and Killer Kowalski. Apart from Angelo Mosca, most of the younger crop are clones. They look alike and they perform alike.
"There's less wrestling today. When I first entered, it was 75% wrestling and 25% show. Today it's the reverse. It sells because people have been conditioned to the style by TV, whcih really dictates the type of entertainment we watch."
When Layton first began wrestling, there was only skill. A strappling 6-foot-three at age 16, he was among the top amateur wrestlers in his native Sydney. He also had a 10-year career as an amateur boxer and ruled as the Australian heavyweight champion in 1944-45. He continued both sports during five years in the Australian Army and then decided to turn to pro wrestling.
"What I really wanted to do was entertain. That was my fantasy. I even tried acting in Australia, but my size limited me to roles as a heavy. I made up my mind to travel so I turned to pro wrestling."
Influenced by fellow Australian Fred Atkins, Layton hooked into the pro circuit controlled by North American promoters. He spent 10 months in Singapore where he picked up valuable experience and then accepted an offer from Toronto's Tunney to journey to Canada. He had a name, an image and a big future.
"Once I arrived here, I realized there was a radical change in the style of wrestling. There was much more emphasis on entertainment. But I enjoyed it because I was able to fulfill my fantasy of being an entertainer. I played the part of a wrestler and the arena was my stage."
The name Athol, which caused him nothing but grief as a school kid, was parlayed -- along with the robes and manners -- into a top ring gimmick. Touring the U.S., the fans loved to hate him.
"They hated an Englishman passionately if he got out of line. I played on that. They used to do interviews in the dressing room before the bouts and I would take my time drinking my tea and working up the crowd.
"I certainly saw my share of hostile crowds in those days. You had to pass irate fans and run through gauntlets and we were always getting attacked physically. There were times that the same fellows you wrestled had to come to your rescue."
And then Lord Layton made the wise decision. He became a good guy.
Being a white knight had other rewards to go with the cheers. With TV wrestling cropping up on most channels, a fellow with Layton's suave good looks, articulate speech and genial manners was more than suitable for the role of commentator. He had a program for three years in Cleveland, another for 15 years in Detroit and spent five years on CFTO [Toronto] in the 60s.
When the calibre of wrestling began to deteriorate rapidly, Layton gave up the mike. "I wasn't sorry to do so because it reached the stage where there was insufficient wrestling to describe. There's a limit to how much you can talk about punching and kicking."
Inevitably, when talking to any wrestling personality, the discussion get around to the question of the game being phoney. Although Layton admits to there being less skill and science than theatrics, he believes the people got what they paid to see.
"Wrestling is presented as therapy. You must have good against evil to maintain attendance. I believe that a true wrestling fan casts a deaf ear to any suggestion wrestling is phoney. And that is simply because he is interested only in being entertained."
Layton has 30 years of fond memories, particularly his tag-team days with Watson. Their partnership continued outside the ring with both gentle giants spending much of their time helping handicapped children. Layton is a past Imperial Potentate of the Shrine and was a director of St. Alban's Boys and Girls Club. He and Watson also sit on the Advisory Council for the Handicapped.
"There's so much to do for these wonderful children. I find great satisfaction with the charities. I was treated so well by the profession. I feel the work I do is putting a little back in."
Can't argue with the main. And who'd want to?
Lord Layton bio and story archive


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'Noah' Review: A Powerful Reimagining of One of Humanity's Most Iconic Stories
Posted on Tuesday, March 25th, 2014 by Peter Sciretta
I've been a fan of director Darren Aronofsky since I first saw Pi. His film Requiem for a Dream remains one of my favorite movies of all time. Aronofsky has yet to make a movie I have dislike; his last few films were all in my top ten films of those respective years. Over the last decade, Aronofsky has become attached to a bunch of big budget projects including the films that later became Batman Begins, Watchmen, The Wolverine and Robocop. I've been itching to see what Aronofsky could accomplish with a larger budget. Noah is that film. Read my Noah review after the jump.


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Scarf Watermelon
Discover soft feather patterns, adoring pastels and deep forest greens. Luxuriously made from the softest cotton blend, they will keep you nice and toasty in the winter office, whilst being light and fluffy during sunny days at the beach. Scarf, beach pareo, head cover or wrap. It's easy to style with so many pretty colours to choose from. Composition: 90% cotton, 10% fibre Size: 185 x 95 cm Care: Machine washable in 30 ?á?¬???C


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A Modern Yogi Charu Puri continues her talk about her work, her life, her approach to meditation and more here
Yoga for Yogis? Best Yoga Styles, Enlightenment for Today
A Modern Yogi, her life of miracles and meditation and more here
Best Selling Memoirs Lene Fogelberg Beautiful Affliction: Health, Healing and Her Writing
Listen in to learn about this beautiful soul, her previous affliction and how she healed. Then get the book. You'll be glad you did!
Best Selling Author Lene Fogelberg's memoir describes her Beautiful Affliction, the Book and the Struggle
Beautiful Affliction
Interview here
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Paul Tong
Co-Founder / My Fancy Box
Industry: Consumer Goods
* 2015 expected, GEMBA, China Europe International Business School
* 1988, BA in Fashion Design, Fashion Institute of Technology, New York
My Fancy Box is a marketing, customer analytic, and social platform rolling into one. We provide a marketing vehicle/tool for consumer brands to reach their potential customers by offering a first hand experience of a real product plus story telling through inhouse advertising free magazine.
Our proposition is "A box full of surprises!". By saying "A box full of surprises!", there are 2 dimensionals. On the first dimensional, our No. 1 value propositon is an exclusive item to end-costumers, we achieve this by providing a monthly themetic box filled with items which are created exclusively for "My Fancy Box" from well known brands. No. 2 is high perceived value-for-money beyond expectations: the box is sold at only 199 RMB; yet, the perceived value is worth much more owing to the whole user experience. On the 2nd dimensional, our No. 1 value proposition to brand is to reach a very focus customer base without spending a lot; and our No. 2 value proposition to brand is the high conversion rate from trying to buying. As surveys show, the conversion rate of B2C subscription of the box model is as high as 12.5% vs. the less than 1% achieved by conventional marketing channels.
Mr. Paul Tong is the co-founder of My Fancy Box. Mr. Tong has an extensive working experience in High End retail and in particular, luxury retail and fashion industry. Mr. Tong served as Vice President of fashion division at ImagineX Group in Hong Kong for 8 years until he joined Gucci China and moved to Shanghai in 2009. Under his management, Gucci China had achieved the best financial result in 2012. He left Gucci China by the end of 2013. Mr. Joseph Chow is the Associated Publisher/Chief Editor of Tatler Magazine in China. Orginal from Hong Kong, Mr. Chow has been in the publishing industry for over 20 years. Before he joined Tatler Magazine in 2010, he was the Chief Editor of Elle Men in Hong Kong till 2008 before he relocated to Shanghai as the Founding Chief Editor for Noblesse Magazine in China.


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1706 18th St. NW
1706 18th St. NW is a large four-story townhouse built in 1912. The architect was Jules Henri de Sibour, who designed many D.C. offices, embassies, residences, and apartments in the Beaux-Arts style. The original owner was Margaret Cameron. The building is now the Russian News and Information Agency offices.


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Baltimore City Health Department Launches Billion Step Challenge
Monday Jul 31st, 2017
Challenge Encourages Residents to Become Active
BALTIMORE, MD (July 29, 2017)—Mayor Catherine E. Pugh and The Baltimore City Health Department (BCHD) are launching the yearlong Billion Step Challenge, a citywide wellness challenge to encourage all residents and employees in Baltimore City to get active. The initiative, as part of BCHD's strategic blueprint Health Baltimore 2020, will include partnerships with other city agencies, corporate entities and community organizations to host events that will promote physical activity. Healthy Baltimore 2020 outlines key priorities and objectives through which BCHD aims to reduce health disparities in Baltimore by half over the next 10 years.
"As an avid runner, I know how exercise can help relieve stress and combat chronic disease that affects so many Baltimoreans," said Mayor Catherine E. Pugh. "The Billion Step Challenge is a great opportunity for all of us to come together to make our Baltimore a healthier city."
The project will engage City residents toward the goal of a billion steps by:
Hosting challenge events in communities across Baltimore City;
Creating an online inventory designed to promote walks, runs and wellness events throughout the city; and
Working with community-based organizations, churches, the business community, and other stakeholders to promote challenge activities and wellness messaging.
"As an emergency physician, I see patients who are suffering from diabetes, stroke, and heart disease. These are illnesses that can kill—but we can also prevent these diseases and save lives," said Baltimore City Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen. "The Billion Step Challenge is all about all of us—businesses, neighborhood groups, and communities from all across Baltimore—coming together to make physical activity fun and connecting our residents to opportunities to be and stay active."
As a component of the Healthy Baltimore Campaign, the Billion Step Challenge will also educate residents on other aspects of chronic disease prevention including healthy eating, living tobacco free, and much more.
Partners include: WBAL-TV, Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Ravens, Schmidt Baking, Carefirst, University of Maryland Medical Center, BD Diagnostics, Maryland Department of Health, and SectionOne.
At www.baltimorebillion.com residents will be able to access a calendar with a database of health and wellness events and fitness opportunities taking place throughout the City. At that site, they can also register for the challenge and link their smartphone, wearable fitness device, or other step tracker to help the city to reach its goal of a billion steps.


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Resident artist at Erasmus User Centre
Japanese space artist Ayako Ono recently completed the first artist residency at ESA's Erasmus User Centre, in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. Ono hopes the experience can help her create art that communicates space and the International Space Station (ISS) to a wider audience.
During her two-week visit to the Erasmus User Centre, Ayako Ono, a graduate of Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, made full use of the centre's facilities. ESA's engineers and experts were also on hand to provide explanations.
"Each module of the ISS became vividly imaginable through this experience," said an enthusiastic Ono, who is currently living in Paris, France, where she is on a yearlong scholarship funded by the Japanese Government Overseas Study Programme for Artists. She has a particular interest in creating art installations that encourage the general public to interact with space. "If suitable art can be created for a weightless environment, it will not only improve the mental health of astronauts, but also inspire people to learn about the universe and space exploration."
Cultural users
ESA is keen to encourage cultural users of the ISS and other European microgravity facilities, and Ono's visit is a direct follow-on from the Cultural Utilisation workshop held in November last year and some of the recommendations made there by representatives of the European artistic and cultural community. In fact the workshop highlighted the need to provide artists with ways to learn more about European space activities.
With its interactive models, displays and documentation facilities, the Erasmus User Centre is traditionally host to potential users from the science and technology research community, but users from other sectors are also welcomed.
"Anyone who believes that their work can benefit from the very particular physical and operational environment and is interested in using our platforms and facilities can come here and discover what the possibilities are," explains Dieter Isakeit, Head of the Erasmus User Centre within ESA's Directorate of Human Spaceflight, Microgravity and Exploration.
First flights
With its five International Partners; the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan and Canada, cooperation has been essential to the success of the ISS programme, and some of Ono's ideas could build on existing relationships among the partners - for cultural activities for example, between ESA and the Japanese space agency, JAXA.
Reflecting on similarities between European and Japanese ISS facilities (Columbus and Kibo, Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) and HIIA-Transfer Vehicle (HTV)), Ono is considering artwork that would connect the two. In 2007, Europe will launch the first ATV, an unmanned cargo ship, to the ISS. One year later Japan will follow with their HTV, which will bring additional supplies. A space art project could link together the first flight of both vehicles. Possible connections could also exist with the parabolic aircraft flights that both agencies carry out, not only for scientific experiments, but also for education and outreach purposes.
During her stay Ono also met with ESA's International Space Station Education Team who recognised the educational value of her artwork. With its appealing combination of science and aesthetics, video images of one of Ono's previous projects showing three-dimensional microgravity sound wave sculptures may possibly also be used in a future ESA education product.


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Emoji Campaign
Fuddruckers wanted to appeal to younger audiences by creating a campaign rooted in emoji-type graphics that had a high "shareability" quality. They wanted the graphics to connect to different specialized menu items.
The solution veered toward creating actual characters out of these specialty burgers. Rather than hinge on the ingredients themselves, we created a unique personality for each burger. The styles are consistent with common emojis and the uniqueness of each one had to be identifiable on a tiny scale for text messaging and social media use.


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All the things I would do if I were to become king. Great things indeed. Subscribe to my youtube channel if you enjoy this song, and make sure to give it a thumbs up!
All the things I would do if I were to become king. Great things indeed. Subscribe to my youtube channel if you enjoy this song, and make sure to give it a thumbs up!
Well, the results came back that I wasn't one of the 18 qualified for Science Olympiad varsity. Well now we are completely segregated. It is like how blacks were treated before Martin Luther King. There are three social classes in Science Olympiad: The current 8th grade Varsity team, The Junior Varsity who qualify for Varsity next year, and us Junior Varsity who were kicked out. The Rising Varsity gets all of the advantages, they are allowed to do whatever they want, and get to do cool activities too. The old Varsity and us JV who didn't make it are in another separate room, in which we are harshly segregated. The Varsity get to do whatever they want, use computers, play games, talk loudly, choose their seats. What do we get to do? Nothing! "Study hall", our coach calls it. That's just another word for "we aren't going to let you do anything so get used to it, and oh we're also going to treat you like you're less than the other kids in Science Olympiad even though we guaranteed that it wouldn't be so bad if we didn't qualify."
It's pretty much the coaches rubbing it into our faces that we didn't make it, and them telling us that we are lesser than the other 36 kids just because they didn't choose us.
Sssssarrma is back! He is running for our school vice president!
Parody of the popular song Timber. About eating too much…
I made this a few days ago but hadn't posted it to here because I've been gone from here for a long time.
So youtube did this thing on April Fools day, right? "New trends". "Clocking" was one of the trends described in Youtube's ridiculous joke. Omjoe ends up believing it and gets into some trouble…
It used to just be bamboo. But now, Fungi is my #2 enemy. #1 is none other than bamboo itself. Our science olympiad try-outs were about fungus, and the actual test had nothing to do with what we were supposed to learn. So even if you studied hard, you still had the same chance of making it to Varsity as everyone else! I'm really mad at our teacher that she can be so insensitive to how much work we put into Science Olympiad, when just ignores it and gives us the worst test there is! (I'm not saying that I actually studied, but I feel bad for the people who did). Tomorrow we get our building event try-out, and everyone is gonna put their all into it since they too are filled with fungi rage. Everyone thinks they got last place in the fungus try-outs (I'm pretty sure I'm the one who got last place), so people will do anything to get themselves at the top of the building try-out list.
Counting Sheep video, TKO parody, Can't remember to forget your parody, Omjoe and Steve Episode 4, Thrift Shop Parody, Dark Horse Parody all coming within a month. 🙂


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Today, the Popular Gaming Site MmoGah will show you Soul Worker Dungeon Guide: Last Carnival. This guide referred to Ice's last carnival guide, you can read the original article if you want. This dungeon contains six area and a boss area. Now let's enter the Carnival world.
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This site is now read-only. You can find our new documentation site and support forum for posting questions here.
Be sure to read our welcome blog!
Filtering individual calls using CombineVariants
I was wondering if there is a method for filtering individual genotype calls when using CombineVariants to merge single-called VCF files. The desired behavior that I would like would be a hybrid between the KEEP_IF_ANY_UNFILTERED and KEEP_IF_ALL_UNFILTERED arguments to the -filteredRecordsMergeType. By this, I mean that any site that is unfiltered in any input will remain unfiltered in the output, but for any genotype call from a filtered input should have a filter annotation in the "FT" field of the genotype. I will show a simplified example below (extraneous columns removed from the sample files):
Input 1:
#CHROM POS ID (...) FILTER FORMAT SAMPLE1 1 11916764 rs79387574 (...) PASS GT:DP 0/0:45
Input 2:
#CHROM POS ID (...) FILTER FORMAT SAMPLE2 1 11916764 rs79387574 (...) LowQ GT:DP 0/1:3
Desired Output:
#CHROM POS ID (...) FILTER FORMAT SAMPLE1 SAMPLE2 1 11916764 rs79387574 (...) PASS GT:DP:FT 0/0:45:PASS 0/1:3:LowQ
The reason for requesting this is there is occasionally a single sample that may have had a bad call at a site. Using the "KEEP_IF_ALL_UNFILTERED" filters N-1 high quality calls. However, on the other extreme, if we use "KEEP_IF_ANY_UNFILTERED" and only a single sample passes the filters, we introduce N-1 low quality calls and assert that they pass our requisite filters. The requested hybrid method will keep all information from the input samples and allow for better granularity.
John Wallace
Hmm, I see what you're trying to do but this would mix site-level and sample-level filter annotations in a way that could be problematic. In any case we don't recommend combining single-called VCFs for cohort analysis. You'll be much better off switching to the new workflow, where you generate single-called GVCFs then use GenotypeGVCFs followed by filtering to generate the highly granular cohort-aware callset you want.
While I agree that the new workflow is better (and we're switching to that now), part of our pipeline is sanity checking the inputs at various stages of the pipeline.
The data that comes to us is typically single-called, as it is streaming in from multiple sites (using multiple calling methods - typically UnifiedGenotyper version 2.x). Also, the input VCFs emit all bases in our target region, so the VCFs can almost be seen as an approximation to the gVCFs.
I understand that it's not the optimal solution, but it seems that the hybrid method would avoid the extremes of including some bad data or throwing away a bunch of good data. Do you know how the mixing site and sample-level filter annotations could be problematic? I can see that you would need to take care reading the data, but perhaps there's something internally that makes it difficult.
Oh, I really don't recommend using the UG's "emit all sites" mode as a substitute for gVCFs. That method was very naive and will give inferior results.
I'm not sure what you mean by "the extremes of including some bad data or throwing away a bunch of good data". With the new workflow, you have a way to know how good or bad any data point is, so you can weigh it appropriately in your analysis. This is good for all sorts of reasons that I don't have time to go into right now (but much of it is in the docs). And it's much better than deciding up front what to include or exclude based on single-sample results.


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When we are talking about the online currency Bitcoins - a currency backed not by any nation state, but instead a series of mathematical rules - coverage tends to focus either on the surging value of each coin (currently about $130 or £85) or the fact that Bitcoins are quite a handy way to buy drugs online, using the Silk Road website.
Both are of interest, but are roughly akin to focusing on how the aeroplane might disrupt the hot-air balloon industry: it's true, but drastically misses the true potential of an innovation to change the world - for good or for evil.
The real transformative power of Bitcoin, or something like it, lies not in a speculative bubble, but in its potential to put currency outside of the control of governments, or law enforcement agencies.
What that could mean has been brought to light by a s massy international investigation into a different online currency, Liberty Reserve, which now stands accused of involvement in a $6bn money laundering scheme.
Liberty Reserve, which operated out of Costa-Rica, was a centralised "gateway" currency, making transactions hard to trace. People needed to provide only minimal details - name, email, address and date of birth - to open an account, making it an easy way to make money traces disappeared.
In pre-prepared remarks, Preet Bharara, the US attorney for the southern district of New York, described the site in damning terms.
"The only liberty that Liberty Reserve gave many of its users was the freedom to commit crimes, as it became a popular hub for fraudsters, hackers, and traffickers, and the global enforcement action we announce today is an important step towards reining in the wild west of illicit internet banking. As detailed in the indictment, Liberty Reserve was intentionally created and structured to facilitate criminal activity. It was essentially a black market bank," he said.
Law enforcement has finally caught up to the weakest link in the maze of virtual back streets, false-facers and more: the trail of money. Trying to trace a hack is often almost impossible, but trying to follow where - say - stolen money goes is far more doable.
That's not an easy task - securing the Liberty Reserve indictment took seventeen law enforcement agencies. But given the extensive record-keeping in traditional banking, regulations around moving money across borders, and more, chasing the cash is a far easier task than trying to follow sophisticated online operators with experience of covering their tracks.
Unless, of course, some unknown genius invents a currency that so far lies beyond such regulations, is to all intents and purposes untraceable, and doesn't require even the minimal information requested by Liberty Reserve.
Or, in other words, something exactly like Bitcoin.
Bitcoin makes Liberty Reserve look quaint - as unlike the alleged money launderer, Bitcoin is decentralised. There's no single company or entity controlling the currency, and so it's nearly impossible to shut down.
Where real money is exchanged into Bitcoins is still a potential weak spot for authorities - and some Bitcoin exchanges are looking to sign up with regulators - but given that an exchange could operate with almost any currency from almost anywhere in the world, stopping all of them would be no simple matter.
Bitcoin is assailable in lots of ways: attacks on the major exchanges shake people's faith in the currency. Major sell-offs could cause collapse. The central infrastructure is creaking, and so could be pushed over the edge.
But Bitcoin itself is almost irrelevant, it could well overcome its current challenges and gain stability and scale. But if not, it's provided the world a large-scale demonstration of what a decentralised currency could do.
If Bitcoin, or a currency working in a similar way to it, got a stable value and a large user base, it could take cash flows forever out of the hands of government. Whether that's a great thing or a terrible thing depends on what you're trying to do, what you think of government and what country you're talking about.
Giving pro-democracy activists operating in countries run by autocratic regimes is a way to receive funding and operate more effectively is something most of us would approve of. Allowing terrorists or criminal gangs to do the same in our home country is something we would likely oppose. But it's the same technology that facilitates both.
The prosecutors of the southern district of New York are very publicly celebrating their shutting down of the Liberty Reserve operation. They should enjoy it - it may be one of their last such winning.
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On the Evans Artists' page, Jojo Mayer uses the Evans Hybrid Coated.more
Tomas uses an evans hybrid head on the batter side of his snaremore
Justin states that he uses a Evans hybrid head on his snaremore
Devin can be seen using a evans hybrid coated head on his snaremore
At 4:40 of this video clip provided by Gear Gods and from their "RIGGED" series, Nick Pierce, 2016 Drummer of Unearth shows off his Tama Starclassic Performer Bubinga/Birch 4 pc Shell Pack Transparent PS42S. "Tom sizes are 10, 12, 16, and 22x20 kick." "Great sounding drums. The mix of the bubinga and birch gives it a great pop. The initial attack right off of the drums is incredible. They're perfect for metal. However they engineered these things, they did it for just what I do.It's an incredible sounding kit. They are really big sounding. They have a real quick sustain. They get into the mix and get out right when you want them." "So, for heads on the drums I'm using Evans EC2's for batters all across the top and then on bottoms I'm using Evans G1's. For the Snare drum, that's a Tama SLP 13x7 G Maple Snare. I've got an Evans Hybrid on top.more
ash uses a evans hybrid head for his snare drumsmore
samus can be seen using an evans hybrid head on his snaremore
With an Equipboard account you can rate this item, add it to your collection, submit a review to discuss what you like and dislike about it, and associate Evans Hybrid Coated to artists that use it. Create an account!


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Concepts for Profit® provides business consulting and strategic marketing support to the foodservice industry and investor community. We're Bringing Brands Forward® to help operators, manufacturers, and distributors drive profitable business improvement together.
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Concepts for Profit helps foodservice operators drive profitable business growth with strategies to impact consumer demand in the local markets. We provide industry updates and ideas to help drive guest traffic and increase check average, including access to front-of-the-house branded merchandising from leading national brands.
For Manufacturers
Concepts for Profit works to help manufacturers transform working relationships from transactional to highly strategic by focusing on the ever-changing dynamics of the foodservice operator. We help differentiate the manufacturer with operators and distributors by equating brands with profit to drive new demand at the local level.
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Industry Updates – Concepts for Profit helps you stay up to date on the latest trends in the foodservice industry. Check here throughout the day for the latest updates and profitable ideas to support your business.


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In gambling, a parlay is a combination bet that only pays off when every part of the wager wins. So if I bet that the Patriots, Cowboys and
Tax reform is a massive parlay.
Odds are good that the policy bet will pay off. If slashing business taxes, switching to a territorial tax system and giving roughly 80 percent of Americans a tax cut doesn't stimulate economic growth, I'd be shocked. I'll also be surprised if the deficit doesn't go up, but the deficit hasn't really moved many voters since
The gamble that voters not already in the
But the last bet is the real long shot. While I certainly think this legislation will become more popular -- it couldn't get less popular, given the at times absurd media coverage -- it seems highly unlikely that the
First of all, the economy is doing quite well right now, yet
Even more revealing, despite the fact that a plurality of voters (40 percent) say Trump has made the economy better, voters still don't like him. "A president is getting credit for the economy improving and not deriving political value from it," Republican pollster
Trump is at 41 percent approval in the WSJ/
The irony is that Trump won in 2016 by tapping into the Nixonian insight that social issues -- as defined by my old boss
Even the economy, like deficit, is often a stand-in for complicated attitudes about the larger direction of the country. Trump's indictment of "the establishment" and his focus on immigration and crime were inseparable from his economic message.
The president's party almost always suffers in midterm elections. Maybe we'll get a roaring economy and a newfound confidence in the
Comment by clicking here.
Jonah Goldberg is a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and editor-at-large of National Review Online.


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Saugatuck Michigan, Sherwood Forest Bed and Breakfast offers luxury. Hardwood floors, leaded-glass windows and wraparound porch add to ideal surroundings. Two suites are available with Jacuzzi-fireplace. One room sports a hand-painted mural that transforms the room into a canopied tree loft complemented by gas fireplace. Outside is a heated pool adorned with a hand painted mural of a sunken Greek ship embedded in a coral reef. Walk 1/2 block to a Lake Michigan beach and beautiful sunsets.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Eye Ball Cookies-Recipe Below
Today in West Michigan! A 30 percent chance of showers after 10am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 48. North northeast wind between 13 and 15 mph.
The name jack-o'-lantern can be traced back to the Irish legend of Stingy Jack, a greedy, gambling, hard-drinking old farmer. He tricked the devil into climbing a tree and trapped him by carving a cross into the tree trunk. In revenge, the devil placed a curse on Jack, condemning him to forever wander the earth at night with the only light he had: a candle inside of a hollowed turnip.
Here at Sherwood Forest Bed and Breakfast, there's lots of groovy things happening this weekend.
It's almost carving time.
Don't forget to visit the Haunted Corn maze at Cranes this weekend. Hours are from Dark to 10 p.m.
JUST SCARY ENOUGH FOR ALL AGES. The Red Barn Haunted House runs from 7 PM until 10 PM. This weekend, The Wavecrest Robotics Team is spotlighting classic Halloween characters we all know … vampires, werewolves, witches, ghosts, ghouls, goblins and monsters of all types . . . as well as some brand new scarier beasts.
Why not hit the Haunted Saugatuck Dunes State Park and take a long walk through the woods, (watch for for the Goblins) it will be just beautiful. The leaves are sporting some beautiful colors you won't want to miss. Take a walk along the lakeshore, Have lunch at Ida Reds, get there early though, they close at 2:00 p.m.
One of the last weekends to see the Saugatuck-Douglas Historical Societies Museum exhibit, located across form Mount Baldy-this years exhibit is pretty cool-this years exhibit traces (100 years of dead people) on what it's like to live in a summer beach town.
U-Pick Still time to pick some (remember the Witch who gave the apple to Snow White) apples, head to Crane's Orchards, just one of West Michigan's U-Pick Apple Orchards (they might have some peaches left), is less than 7 miles from our front door. October picks are Pioneer Macintosh, Cortland, Empire, Jonathan, Ida Red, Jonagold, Matsu, and Red and Golden Delicious. For more info, call 269-561-8651
Saturday-Broadway star Karen Mason comes to Mason Street Warehouse (where they used to house the dead from the Spanish Flu) for A Night On Broadway, performing songs from stage hits including Chicago, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Sunset Boulevard, Mamma Mia! Funny Girl and many more.
Saturday-FALL FUNFEST DAY-11:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. in Coghlin Park, Saugatuck. pumpkin carving (done by deceased Hobbits) , Pumpkin launch, pie eating. Food vendors, Band, Tug of War.
Breakfast this morning is Breakfast this morning is Cheese and Potato Egg bake, fresh fruit salad and Zucchini Chocolate bread. Of course Italian Espresso organic coffee (yes-free trade too).
(Picture above)
5 ounces white baking chocolate, chopped, divided
20 to 25 vanilla wafers
Blue paste food coloring
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Red liquid food coloring
In a microwave, melt 4 ounces of white chocolate; stir until smooth. Dip vanilla wafers in melted chocolate; allow excess to drip off. Place on a waxed paper-lined baking sheet. Chill until set. Melt remaining white chocolate; stir until smooth. Tint blue. Spread a small amount onto the center of each cookie; place a chocolate chip in the center. For bloodshot eyes, use a toothpick dipped in red food coloring to draw lines from blue circles to outer edges of wafers. Chill until set. Store in an airtight container. Yield: 20-25 servings.
Don't forget to check out our calendar of events for October at Sherwood Forest B & B Monthly Newsletter
You also might wish to give a thought to booking one of our Sherwood Forest Bed and Breakfasr Gourmet Dinners, November through April. Please feel free to check out our website. Sherwood Forest B & B Gourmet Dinners
From all of us here at Sherwood Forest, have a great Day!!!
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In 1964, the U.S. Surgeon General Luther Terry issued the first government report saying that smoking is hazardous to your health. Since that time, organizations such as Anti-smoking.org, Smokefree America, and The Truth have continued to issue warnings about the hazards of smoking. It is estimated that smoking-related diseases cause more than 440,000 American deaths annually, and costs the United States over $150 billion each year in health care costs.
Also On This Day:
- Secret Pal Day
- Milk Day – Milk is first delivered in bottles (1878)
- National Step in a Puddle & Splash Your Friend Day – No puddles here, just snow!
- First recorded lottery took place in England (1569)
- The Lawrence Textile Strike began in Lawrence, MA (1912)
- Amelia Earheart made the 1st solo flight from Hawaii to California (1935)
- Insulin was first used to treat diabetes in a human patient (1922)
- Designated hitter rule was adopted in MLB's American League (1973)
- Apple, Inc. drops its 10% restocking fee (2011)
Mary J. Blige (40)
Clarence Clemens, The E Street Band (69)


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>CBO Believes Obama's Stimulus Hurts America
President Barack Obama speaks to the House Democratic Issues Conference on Thursday in Williamsburg. Associated Press
President Obama's economic recovery package will actually hurt the economy more in the long run than if he were to do nothing, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday.
CBO, the official scorekeepers for legislation, said the House and Senate bills will help in the short term but result in so much government debt that within a few years they would crowd out private investment, actually leading to a lower Gross Domestic Product over the next 10 years than if the government had done nothing.
CBO estimates that by 2019 the Senate legislation would reduce GDP by 0.1 percent to 0.3 percent on net. [The House bill] would have similar long-run effects, CBO said in a letter to Sen. Judd Gregg, New Hampshire Republican, who was tapped by Mr. Obama on Tuesday to be Commerce Secretary.
The House last week passed a bill totaling about $820 billion while the Senate is working on a proposal reaching about $900 billion in spending increases and tax cuts.
But Republicans and some moderate Democrats have balked at the size of the bill and at some of the spending items included in it, arguing they won't produce immediate jobs, which is the stated goal of the bill.
The budget office had previously estimated service the debt due to the new spending could add hundreds of millions of dollars to the cost of the bill — forcing the crowd-out.
CBOs basic assumption is that, in the long run, each dollar of additional debt crowds out about a third of a dollars worth of private domestic capital, CBO said in its letter.
CBO said there is no crowding out in the short term, so the plan would succeed in boosting growth in 2009 and 2010.
The agency projected the Senate bill would produce between 1.4 percent and 4.1 percent higher growth in 2009 than if there was no action. For 2010, the plan would boost growth by 1.2 percent to 3.6 percent.
CBO did project the bill would create jobs, though by 2011 the effects would be minuscule.


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Rebecca "Becky" Perugini, 75, of Springfield, passed away on Saturday, December 22, 2018 at Heritage Health Hospice.
Becky was born on July 12, 1943 in West Frankfort, the daughter of Clyde and Helen Hill Milburn. She married Melvin Patrick Perugini on August 15, 1964 in Sesser; he preceded her in death on December 20, 2014.
She worked for the State of Illinois Secretary of State in data entry and was a member of TRN Club.
She was also preceded in death by her parents; and stepsister, Betty Mitchell.
She is survived by son, Timothy Perugini of Springfield; two sisters, Sara Murray and Jane Roberson; and several nieces, nephews and cousins.
Graveside services will be at 11:00 a.m. Friday, December 28, 2018 at Camp Butler National Cemetery with Reverend Larry Hanson officiating.
To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Rebecca "Becky" Perugini, please visit our floral store.


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Wildfire burns 35,000 acres; shift in winds threatens more homes
An out-of-control wildfire in the Angeles National Forest has burned more than 35,000 acres and is threatening an ever-widening swath of communities from Acton near the Antelope Valley to Altadena in the San Gabriel Valley.
Los Angeles County Fire Department Capt. Bill Sanchez said fire crews needed to cut about 110 miles of fire line to stop the fire's trajectory.
He said the wind changed direction overnight, particularly in the mountainous areas of the Angeles National Forest, to a down-canyon wind, which pushed it toward some residential areas.
"Due to the volatility at the top of some of the areas, it is going to be really challenging," Sanchez said. "We have a lot of work ahead of us. There is quite a bit of instability at the top of the fire."
Weary firefighters were hoping for slightly cooler weather and more resources today as they battled the Station fire.
The fire marched north overnight through remote mountain ridges toward Acton. The U.S. Forest Service was sending firefighters into those areas, which have become the northern edge of the blaze. Mandatory evacuations were in effect in La Cañada Flintridge, Pasadena, La Crescenta, Altadena, Glendale and Big Tujunga Canyon.
Today is supposed to be the last day of a five-day heat wave that has brought triple-digit temperatures along the fire lines. Forecasters said temperatures will drop a few degrees today and that lower temperatures, morning clouds and more humidity are on tap for the next few days.
But even with no winds in the forecast, firefighters said the conditions remain highly dangerous.Forest Service officials said three civilians were burned and airlifted from rural Big Tujunga Canyon, where at least three to five homes were destroyed. One fire official, after surveying the canyon, estimated that the toll may be much worse.
On the southwestern front of the fire, the canyon and sloping backyards in the Paradise Valley subdivision continued to burn throughout the early-morning hours. But in some spots, the fire seemed to slow, giving crews a chance to allow brush to burn out.
At the end of Ocean View Boulevard, firefighters with the North County Fire from San Diego County guarded a brick-and-stucco home and watched patches of brush burn close by.
"We're not going to go after the fire, we are going to let the fire come to us," said Capt. Barry Krumwiede. "These trees are already gone so there's no point in going after them." Along the steep slope, pockets of fire and flying embers neared the pine trees.
The trees, because of their weight and pine needles, serve as excellent fuel for the fire and were a bigger threat to the house. The firefighters' most immediate concern was to keep the pine trees from catching fire but, at the same time, let other brush burn itself out.
"I wish I had good news for you," Les Curtis, a fire operations chief, said during a night briefing for firefighters. He shook his head and pointed to the map of the expanding fire zone. "How many of you have knots in your stomach?" he asked. More than a dozen raised their hands.
"Nothing can stop it," said Jost Vielmetter, 62, a Caltech scientist who watched the flames from the northern edge of Altadena.
At sundown Saturday, as scattered power outages hit the area, flames encircled the ridges near Briggs Terrace on the northeastern edge of La Crescenta. By 7:30 p.m., the northern end of Pickens Canyon, close to the neighborhood, exploded in flames.
"Oh, my God. This is what I've been dreading all day," said David Ferrera, 35, who grew up in the area.
It was the first time that he and his neighbors were seized with worry. At that point, clouds of glowing embers began floating up from the fire. Suddenly, so-called hotshots -- firefighters with shovels and axes -- rushed by on their way to battle.
Later, a wall of fire crept like lava along the mountainside toward Pickens Canyon homes. A tree would light up in a column of fire every few moments. On the streets, the air was still and quiet except for the crackle and roar of flames.
Firefighters climbed through backyards at the ends of the cul-de-sacs fronting the forest, laying their hoses and waiting to make a stand.
Capt. Kevin Klar of the Los Angeles County Fire Department was in place on Bristow Drive. "As far as the area goes, I think we're going to be all right," he said.
More than 1,800 firefighters from throughout California and the West used an arsenal of weapons to fight the flames.
Ten helicopters dropping buckets of water and eight air tankers were enlisted in the daytime fight.
Officials also are deploying at least one DC-10, one of the largest and most expensive pieces of firefighting equipment in the world.
Elsewhere, firefighters were on the verge of containing the Morris fire north of Azusa and a separate blaze on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Firefighters also made progress on a fire near Hemet in the San Bernardino National Forest, which has burned nearly 2,300 acres and was 30% contained.
As flames bore down on canyon cul-de-sacs in the Crescenta Valley into the evening, residents watched raptly as firefighters -- in the air and on the ground -- valiantly kept the fire away from homes.
On the northern edge of Altadena, a DC-10 unloading fire retardant at the base of a column of smoke received a standing ovation from residents in the 3900 block of Chapman Court, which had been under mandatory evacuation orders for an hour.
Among them was physician John Cooper, 52.
"I think the firefighters are doing an incredible job. I'm in awe. I'd like to line them all up and shake their hands one at a time -- and we also have our fingers crossed," Cooper said, acknowledging the precarious nature of his address. "Live on the edge, and you take your chances."
Evacuated residents could only wait, watch and worry as flames licked the ridges near their homes. Some La Cañada Flintridge residents were evacuated Friday night, but on Saturday that mandatory evacuation order widened to parts of Altadena, La Crescenta, north Glendale and Big Tujunga Canyon. More evacuations were expected throughout the night.
All faced the same nerve-racking drill: the automated phone calls ordering them to leave, the choices about what to pack up, the negotiations with skittish pets refusing to be stuffed into portable kennels.
In Glendale, in the evacuation area north of Santa Carlotta Road, residents were packing up their cars and watering their lawns after being notified to leave.
Joanna Linkchorst, 42, dashed around her house videotaping her belongings, but appeared possessed of a preternatural calm. "For some reason I'm not concerned," she said. "There are far too many houses that would have to burn before it gets down here."
Although authorities stressed that people should not defy evacuation orders -- it puts them as well as fire and police personnel at risk -- some did anyway.
-- Raja Abdulrahim in La Crescenta, Alexandra Zavis in La Canada Flintridge and Cara Mia DiMassa
Photo: Orange County Sheriff's deputies watch the fire's glow at a checkpoint on Ocean View Blvd. as the Station Fire rages near homes in the Angeles National Forest in La Canada Flintridge.
Credit: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times
Photos: Southland wildfires
Map: The Station Fire
Related articles:
- Schwarzenegger urges residents in path of flames to flee as fire roars in three directions
- Firefighters endure long night in La Crescenta battling flames
- Fires create another bad-air day in parts of Los Angeles
- La Crescenta homeowners defy evacuation order, band together to fight flames


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Alluring Bird Parks of Singapore Must Visit With Family
- by Jon Ramirez
- 2 years ago
- 0 comments
When we talk about Singapore and birds in a single line, the first memory that anyone will get is about the Jurong bird Park.
The Jurong bird Park is probably the biggest signature of Singapore when it comes to their commitment towards conserving wildlife. The Jurong bird Park is one of the largest bird parks in the world and held the position until it was overtaken by the word park in Germany. It is spread over a massive area of 49 acres. Small country like Singapore which has a surface area less than the city of Bangalore has dedicated a massive part of its land for creating a bird park and showing its dedication towards conservation of wildlife and the bird species from Around The World.
The National bird Park is situated on the Western slopes of the Jurong hill and the bird Park has been growing in its responsibilities and awesomeness that the wildlife reserves of Singapore has reported that in 2020, the park will be relocated to a different place.
History of the Jurong bird park
When Singapore was just beginning to inch into its face of development, the permanent Aviary was conceived by the finance minister of Singapore in 1968. The inspiration for the Jurong bird Park came from the zoo at Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. He was quite impressed with the concept of the free flight Aviary and he saw for himself that is Singapore will have a park like that.
True to his thoughts and words, the Jurong Bird Park was integrated into the Singapore wildlife reserves and was opened on the 3rd of January in the year 1971.
The birds of Jurong
Jurong Bird Park has one of the largest collections of the species of birds from all around the world. There are about 5000 Birds belonging to 400 different species. As if this was not enough, 29 of these 400 species are considered to be critically endangered or threatened.
The waterfall Aviary has an artificial waterfall that Rises to about 35 M and you have a lot of unique words including the turacos and the hoopoe.
The dinosaur descendants bird Park is dedicated to the flightless wonders like the ostriches, the cassowaries and emus.
As a mark of commitment and dedication to the continent of Asia to which Singapore belongs to the section called Wings of Asia has been opened in Jurong. This place has one of the greatest collections of Southeast Asian birds that are scattered over 200 different species. To keep up with the demand of birds to stay in their tropical home, and an artificial thunderstorm is simulated every known which is followed by a light drizzle.
The penguin cost of Jurong Bird Park is its own wonder. It has five different species of Penguins that are housed in a massive 1600 square meter area which include the rock Hopper, the macaroni and the emperor penguins. If you trip to Singapore Jurong Bird Park with your kids you will surely get the mesmerizing travel experience.
And a dedication to the nocturnal birds, the world of Darkness is a place you can experience these kind of birds in their own natural environment. The night herons and the owls are some of the birds that are visible in here. There are about 17 different bird species that you can see in here.
Jurong bird Park is one of the finest examples of how a country should be dedicated towards protecting the wildlife even if the resources and it is beautiful bird park in Singapore. As long as Singapore thrives to be awesome in this respect, Singapore will surely be one of the world's greatest economies!


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As of the 10th cohort which finished in July 2016, the Master Economics QEM programme has graduated 292 students from 49 countries. The full breakdown of graduates is as follows: 5 in 2007, 20 in 2008, 35 in 2009, 38 in 2010, 35 in 2011, 45 in 2012, 33 in 2013, 28 in 2014, 32 in 2015 and 21 in 2016.
Detailed information about the students' country of origin and their testimonies can be found here in Testimonies.
The occupations that successful QEM alumni attain for themselves can be found in Alumni careers.
The vast network of QEM Associated Partners, together with the Partners and sponsors of each university of our Consortium individually, along with the Alumni Network and association, helped our graduates have a high visibility with the largest players in the Job Markets:


text: A Love Song Part 1 by Foxtail Somersault Slowdiving Music, Songs that take you places August 14, 2018September 3, 2019 1 Minute Songs That Take You Places #2. Congratulations. You're at the top of Mt. Everest and luckily it's a clear day. Slow down, look around. Share this:TwitterFacebookLike this:Like Loading... TaggedMusic Published by Slowdiving Pens, Coffee and Shoegaze. Winter-y life. View all posts by Slowdiving Published August 14, 2018September 3, 2019


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What is it?
A hotbed of talent and a virtual market place, Clippings is a curated shopping site that brings the best new designers and brands to the fore. There is a huge variety of names, from well-known international brands (Moroso, Normann Copenhagen) to rising stars in the design world and everything in between. Whether you're looking for a sofa or a stapler, Clippings makes finding it all the more fun, exposing you to a myriad of interesting design along the way.
What's the style?
Since Clippings offers a spectrum of brands, stores and designers, it's tricky to sum up with one definitive style. But in a nutshell, it's contemporary, fresh and innovative.
Why do we love it?
While we'll always love the high street, sometimes occasion calls for something a little more unique. Enter Clippings, champion of emerging talent and emporium of design. By cutting out the middle men, it provides a platform for creative talents to showcase their products and gives customers direct access to original designs straight from the designers and makers.
One of our favourite discoveries is Brose~Fogale, whose Camerino valet stand solves small space storage dilemmas for good and was a crowdfunded project (from £300). Also spotted recently on the site, these beautiful handmade glasswares by Segno Italiano are getting us in the mood to dine al fresco (from £18.16).
See more of our Friday Faves: Pedlars, Decorator's Notebook and Buster + Punch.


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dealerships found
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We have collected information regarding all UK franchised dealerships. This page lists the dealers located in Bridgnorth, Shropshire. If you want to find contact details for a particular Bridgnorth dealer then please select them in the table above or on the map at the top of this page.
We continually update our Bridgnorth, Shropshire dealership list in order to ensure it is accurate however if you are aware of any incorrect information regarding Bridgnorth dealership details, please contact us and we will update our data.
In order to broaden your search to other towns near Bridgnorth or to look at all franchised dealerships within Shropshire then please go to our Shropshire page using the breadcrumb at the top of this page.


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Project Growing Up started at the end of 2013. The project was developed by two friends, Carmen and myself Marieke. We were travelling through South East Asia for over a year when we decided to pursue their passion. Which was to create an educational program that would empower teenage girls and teach them about sexual education. The first pilot program was put into practice in the Philippines, where we educated 51 primary school students in the slums of Manila.
While travelling further and interacting with more and more teenagers across Asia, we realized not only girls needed our program. That's the beauty of teaching; as a teacher you yourself never stop learning. So, we learned and decided to broaden our horizon. Nowadays, the program is not only focused on sexual education for girls. It's for both boys and girls, and is enlarged with all kind of challenging topics for youth while growing up.
Then came the day we missed our home, after more than two years of teaching abroad we travelled back to the Netherlands. But we didn't want the journey of Growing Up to end in Asia of course.
So we started the Project Growing up Foundation. And besides executing our voluntary Project Growing Up projects yearly, now national and international organizations can purchase (one or more components of) our program. The program will always be customized for each organization, depending on their cultural standards and needs.
Project Growing Up also provides a train the trainer program for volunteers who want to organize a Growing Up Project themselves. We guide them towards their own project abroad.
Project Growing Up is a non-profit organization that strives for educating and empowering youth in developing countries, focusing on challenging topics associated with growing up.
Project Growing Up believes that knowledge and the way of teaching is the key. By reaching out to youth into their own values, traditions and culture they can use this knowledge and power to deal with difficult situations while growing up.


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On 3 June the Secretary General of the US-NATO military alliance against Russia, Jens Stoltenberg, "reviewed the Alliance's agenda for the Warsaw Summit, including plans to enhance NATO's forward presence in the eastern part of the Alliance." He declared that NATO's aggressive operations around Russia's borders were "a defensive and proportionate response to Russia's actions in Crimea and Eastern Ukraine."
It is now accepted throughout the western world that the entirely peaceful accession of Russian-speaking, Russian-cultured Crimea region to Russia, on the vote of the majority of its citizens, was "annexation" by Russia. The fact, as noted by Human Rights Watch in its 2016 World Report, that 600,000 people have been forced to flee Ukraine to the safety of Russia is wilfully ignored. And if Russia had wanted to take over Ukraine militarily at the time of the putsch it could have done so within twenty-two days. (That was the conclusion of a highly classified US military analysis.)
The West has been energetic in its propaganda war against Russia for many years – and has now geared up for actual conflict.
This month US-NATO is conducting massive war games in Poland, all the Baltic States, and Finland, that are specifically designed to threaten Russia. The US-inspired coup in Ukraine, with its consequence of chaos, has proved a blessing and a bonus for the NATO alliance, which failed so disastrously in its forays into Libya and Afghanistan.
But Ukraine has proved a blessing in other ways, and it is interesting to examine the stance and character of NATO's successive Secretaries General, who in some cases have over the years made intriguing statements and decisions about that corruption-ridden country.
Former (2009-2014) NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen announced on 28 May that he is becoming Special Adviser to Ukraine's billionaire President Petro Poroshenko and that "I look very much forward to working with the Ukrainian authorities."
There are two intriguing points about this story (apart from its unintentionally side-splitting hilarity), and these are that Rasmussen's advice about even how to tie your shoelaces should be regarded with suspicion; and second, that he's already been working for many years to assist some carefully-selected Ukrainians.
His appointment can be attributed to close involvement with the US while he was prime minister of Denmark, when he supported the Bush invasion of Iraq, even to the point of sending 500 Danish troops to war, against the wish of the majority of the Danish public. Danish soldiers were killed in that catastrophic conflict, but his support of the US paid off, and Washington backed him to take over the European branch of US-NATO.
The process involved in appointing a NATO Secretary General is not exactly democratic, as there is no open vote or indeed any transparency. He is selected by supposed "consensus" of all NATO nations, and of all the self-important unprincipled politicians who have been so chosen, Rasmussen is high on a depressing list.
In 1994 there was Willy Claes who had to resign after he was convicted of gross corruption. Next came the Spanish socialist politician Javier Solana who was not corrupt but was a jumbo-sized hypocrite who embraced NATO's doctrine of nuclear warfare in spite of having written a pamphlet titled "50 reasons To Say No To NATO" and having campaigned against Spain's membership. While he was in the job, NATO conducted an 11-week campaign"of air strikes against Yugoslavia over Kosovo without UN approval."
Human Rights Watch (HRW) wrote to this former anti-NATO pacifist pointing out that his bombing of TV and radio stations in Kosovo caused civilian deaths and unwarranted destruction, and were not "a legitimate military target".
HRW observed that his "decision to target an airfield in Nis with cluster bombs that resulted in an attack on a hospital and marketplace" might have been expected to result in some questions being asked about his suitability for involvement in international affairs, but after his NATO blitz against the Serbs he was appointed to the meaningless but extremely well-paid job as the EU's "High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy".
The next consensus appointment was that of Britain's George Robertson, who not only became a Lord but set an example for those Secretaries General who join the game with an eye to profitable post-NATO benefits. George the Lord was hired by the multinational company Cable and Wireless which paid him a juicy "£421,601, including a £200,000 bonus… for working two days a week" in the year after he left his NATO job. He also raked in "£40,000 from the military aerospace company Smiths Group, and £32,000 from Weir Group, which sells weapons systems to the Royal Navy." Nice post-NATO work if you can get it.
Georgy Boy got the job just before the disastrous US invasion of Afghanistan which he supported to the hilt, and then he visited Ukraine to extend "a warm word of thanks to my friend Borys Tarasyuk, whom we have long known at NATO, and to whom we owe much of the success of the NATO-Ukraine distinctive partnership over the last several years … It is an honour and a privilege to be here." Indeed, it was a privilege – and NATO's links with carefully chosen people in Ukraine were to advance and multiply over the coming years.
In 2004 George the Lord was followed by Dutchman Jaap de Hoop Scheffer who also has a declared partiality for Ukraine. Indeed, at NATO's Bucharest summit in 2009 he declared that "I have mentioned NATO's open door in connection with the Balkans, but I want to emphasise it again. Because there are other countries, too, that wish to join NATO – like Ukraine and Georgia. As long as there is a gap between where countries are and where they want to be, the unification of Europe will not be complete." It escaped the attention of Mr Scheffer that the unification of Europe has got nothing to do with the US-NATO military alliance whose existence is based entirely on confronting Russia.
It is intriguing that so many Secretaries General of US-NATO – who cannot, of course, give a single order without approval of the Washington-appointed military commander, the US-appointed Supreme Allied Commander Europe – have been so supportive of Ukraine.
When he was Secretary General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen declared on 2 March 2014 that "Ukraine is our neighbour, and Ukraine is a valued partner for NATO." Then on 4 September 2014 that "We will take steps to enhance our cooperation with Ukraine."
He has certainly enhanced his personal cooperation with Ukraine in the time since he finished his term as Secretary General on 1 October 2014. Enrichment beckoned, just as for many of his predecessors. So what might the future hold for the present incumbent, Mr Jens Stoltenberg?
When he was appointed Secretary General the BBC described him as "an unlikely choice … an economist with no defence background, a social democrat who built up good relations with Russia…" and it seemed that moderation might at last apply in the billion dollar NATO palace in Brussels. But now he rejoices that his organisation is conducting "the largest war game in eastern Europe since the end of the Cold War." What made him change so violently? And why does he want a hot war?


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CLEAR CREEK COUNTY, Colo. -- It's that time of year again: the snow-making guns are firing in Colorado's high country. Several ski resorts have begun making snow in anticipation of a possible mid-October opening at their facilities.
"Everybody's getting the bug," said John Sellers, Loveland Ski Area's Marketing Director. "Our employees are coming back for orientation, our customers are feeling it, we got a few dustings last week."
This week's cold snap finally dropped temperatures and humidity enough to allow Loveland to activate its snow-making machinery. They're now running their snow guns around the clock. Computers monitor conditions outside, enabling the guns to blast snow at maximum efficiency.
"Very sophisticated, it's like a robot now," said Mark Eldring, a Loveland snowmaker. "As the temperature changes through the night, the guns adjust themselves so the quality snow that you make on the ground stays the same... it's gone leaps and bounds from what it was 10 years ago."
Loveland is hoping for a bounce-back season this year. Last season's promising early snow gave way to a dry winter and spring, which cut into the number of skier visits. Loveland ordinarily gets about 400 inches of snow a year.
"We're optimistic we're going to be a lot closer to that 400 inch mark than we were the year before," Sellers said. "We're optimistic that a long, hot summer equals a long, snowy winter."