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Availability: only 1x in stock Check availability in store
Vans ComfyCush Era (navy / white)
»Keep it comfy!«
In 2019, Vans presents »ComfyCush«, a brand-new innovation that transforms one of the brand's most iconic and classic silhouettes, the Era, with Vans' latest consumer-driven comfort technology.
»The ComfyCush Era exemplifies how Vans is adapting to the evolving needs of our consumers,« said Nathanial Iott, senior director of footwear design at Vans. »With comfort as the goal, the ComfyCush Era employs a one-piece constructed interior including tongue tie-downs for improved fit and feel, added arch support and a co-molded construction of foam and rubber to create the perfect combination of cushion and grip for lasting comfort.«
By leveraging the brand's more than 50 years of heritage and design experience, and employing in-depth consumer feedback, the ComfyCush Era perfectly merges classic styling and modern comfort technology without sacrificing one for the other.
Did you already know?
The very first iteration of the Era silhouette launched in 1976 following skate legends Tony Alva and Stacy Peralta asking Vans for more function in their shoes for skateboarding. Decades later, Vans has continued to listen to its creative communities to launch the ComfyCush Era as consumers began asking for more comfort, without sacrificing the shoe's iconic style.
Vans presents the Era low top lace-up shoe featuring blue padded collars for support and flexibility as well as the waffle outsole, which gives this shoe extra grip and support.The different materials, like cord and suede overlays make this shoe a real eye-catcher.
Category: Boys Color-Producer: dress blues/marshmallow Upper: Leather, textile sole: rubber Model: Vans Era Style: Casual, Retro, Low inner sole: textile lining: textile Fitting: normal Main Color: navy Supplier product number: VN0A3WM9V9U
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Vans Era Suede (beige / leo) €89.95
On Cloud (navy / white) €139.95


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All righty. It's off to the mind of Grant Morrison. True, I haven't read everything, or even a lot, of what Morrison has written, but of what I have, Animal Man seems to reflect Morrison himself more than any other. Morrison says as much in the 26th issue of the series, his final issue.
There were good stories told, too. The entire element of characters that had been wiped out by Crisis on Infinite Earths coming back via the Psycho Pirate, who remembered the pre-Crisis worlds due to being at the center of the whole thing, was great. Those stories could have been told without the self-referential to the writer.
Now, off the top, I have to admit, I came on to this series late. I started with January 1989's issue 7, missed the next two, and then was fully on board with issue 10. I never hunted down the missing 8 issues, either. Truth be told, I finally picked up the trade collecting the first 9 issues just this week. Morrison writes the intro to this collection, and maybe it reveals a little too much.
The series was originally intended as a 4 issue mini-series, so Morrison didn't intend to do any more than re-introduce the character, post Crisis on Infinite Earths, and then leave it to someone else to write any further adventures. Those first four issues do an admirable job in that re-introduction. Animal Man is established as a husband and father, with a 9 year old son and 5 year old daughter. He goes from apolitical and rather apathetic seeker of adulation and celebrity earnings to animal rights activist and vegetarian. True, scientists are charicatured as torturing animals for the sake of a sort of "let's have fun and see what happens" attitude that's not justified by real life science, but Morrison at least acknowledges a conflicting point of view. He artifically poo-poos any countervailing arguments away, but he at least recognizes them.
Issues 5-26 are hailed as seminal works for their philosophical examinations and pursuit of animal rights activism, but I find this part of the run to be nearly pointless and self indulgent. While Buddy Baker (Animal Man, in case you didn't know), has some interesting adventures, obtains some new powers, and becomes a bit more logical in the source of his powers, I think the entire thing runs off the rails into superficiality masquerading as depth when Baker escapes the pages of his comic (within the pages of the comic, of course) and confronts Morrison, his by then departing writer. From the depiction of Morrison as a pale, Morpheus-esque personage to the shilling for PETA, the entire thing just feels forced.
I don't know which came first, the depiction of Neil Gaiman's Sandman or the drawing of Morrison. By order of publication, it's clearly Morpheus first. Perhaps the depiction of Morrison as resembling Morpheus is homage, in the sense that copying the personification of dream is stating again the role of the writer in shaping the comics character. Whatever the intent, it didn't work for me. Instead of Buddy Baker learning about himself, and me as the reader learning about him, I wind up with a story that tells me what I already know: characters are shaped and directed however the writer wishes. No kidding. Gee, thanks. I've never read a book or comic before. Such elucidation.
Really, breaking down the 4th wall? Advocating for animal rights? These are the lasting legacies of this run of Animal Man. What did the former get us? Nada. Hereinafter, Animal Man is just as much the unaware comics character as any other, with the exception of a slight nod to it in 52, which, of course, Morrison helped write. So, what purpose did it serve? It showed Morrison could bring himself into the story and expound on the relationship of the writer to the character. That's what forwards are for. It's not a story unto itelf. Every part of the Morrison run that I read felt like the story was being diverted every time a character addressed the fact that people were reading the comic or the artist was changing a character's appearance or the writer was making their lives a stage, to paraphrase Shakespeare.
There were good stories told, too. The entire element of characters that had been wiped out by Crisis on Infinite Earths coming back via the Psycho Pirate, who remembered the pre-Crisis worlds due to being at the center of the whole thing, was great. Those stories could have been told without the self-referential to the writer.
Animal Man as animal rights crusader? Ok, that fit in with the character. But, on the whole, it was rather one sided. Only twice that I can think of does the animal rights point of view take a hit. Once, when Baker is on a TV show opposite an advocate for animal testing, and Baker's "defeat" there is portrayed as a lack of savvy more than a loss on substance. Another time when some Animal Liberation sorts burn a lab after freeing the animals, which causes injuries to firefighters. That one's just a small stab at extremism rather than at the underpinnings of the animal rights philosophy. In fact, there's evidently nothing wrong with burning a research institution, as long as there's no risk of anyone getting hurt. How about the more remote harm of depriving people of the benefits of the research? Computer models aren't going to cut it and going direct to human trials is a sure way to kill off a lot of people.
Where's the counter arguments against vegetarianism? Nary a one that I saw in 26 issues. No acknowledgement that humans are omnivores. No consideration of the retardation of the species that would have occurred had our progenitors not been meat eaters. Only once did Baker/Morrison address the illogic of the idea that animals are equal to humans. Naturally, it was swept aside.
And here's the conundrum of the animal rights philosophy. On the one hand animals are equal to humans. In fact, all animals are equal in existential worth to one another. On the other hand, many of those animals, not just humans, eat their fellows. To explain away this second element, the philosophy holds that humans are different because we can recognize that we are co-equal with the other animals, hence we should not eat, shear, ride, or otherwise in any way use our co-equals. But, if we're different because we can recognize this, then we're not co-equal with the other animals. We are, in at least that respect, superior to the other animals.
Which is not to say that there aren't valid points to be found in the animal rights movement. No one should harm animals for their own amusement. Torture is torture, be the subject human or animal. Humans do have a tendency to over use resources, and with our population numbers being what they are, we could push too far to sustain ourselves, though that seems less a concern of animal rights than the abstract worth of the animals in and of themselves.
But animal rights misses another important thing, much akin to the prior conundrum. Every animal species pushes to the maximum of its abilities to dominate its environment. The only difference between humans and other animals in that regard is that we've been much more successful at dominating our environment. So much so that we may endanger ourselves, but no more or less morally superior than any other animal. Animal rights adheres to something of a moral superiority of other animals than humans because none of them have wiped us out, or pushed us to the verge of extinction. But some species have caused the extinction of other species. Extinction has occurred for as long as there's been life. That's evolution/natural selection.
The idea that humans are somehow removed from natural selection is a core element of animal rights, and much of environmentalism. The discussion usually revolves around a debate between what's "natural" and what's "human caused". It's a distincton without a difference. We're natural. We didn't just show up here one day and take over like some invasive species. Well, we didn't unless you believe in one of the vast number of religions that says we just poofed into existence from some deity's machinations. As an atheist, I don't.
Ah, enough of that digression. This was a good series in many ways. It made Animal Man into a character worth reading. It inspired a lot of debate. It told some good, if transient stories. It's certainly been worthwhile to me to read it again (or read it anew as far as the first 9 issues go). Funny enough, I think my favorite was issue 7, featuring the story of the Red Mask, a dying, broken down super villian with a death touch. It stood alone nicely, though it was part of the larger whole.
If you don't have any of these issues and want to read them, they're collected in three trades, so they should be easy to come by. Despite the less than satisfactory end, it'll challenge your thinking to some degree. Hell, at the very least you can see a lot of the ideas Morrison had floating around that would one day end up in 52.

subset: commoncrawl


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Until last Sunday when Reverend Chris Okotie, the debonair overseer of the Household of God Church, Oregun, Ikeja, Lagos got separated from Stephenie Henshaw, a widow, there had been speculations about whether or not he would consider remarrying.
This is on account of his divorce from Tina, his wife of over 17 years about five years ago and refusal to marry any woman who did not meet certain conditions and criteria he purportedly laid down. Nonetheless, that never stopped smitten women from trying to win his heart. So much that several of these single, divorced or widowed women in his church embarked on a battle royale to conquer his heart.
Even women who were not his church members were hot contenders for the rich and suave pastor's heart. This position stirred endless speculations in the media as the Pastor was regularly reported to be considering marrying whoever became the superstar at each point in his life.
Among the women rumoured to have enjoyed more than a church member or filial relationship with Pastor Okotie was ex-Miss Nigeria
Vien Tetsola. So close were they that he was instrumental to the purchase of a Volkswagen Bug Tetsola was driving as well as her upkeep and other sundry bills.
The rumour mill went agog with tales of an impending marriage between them when he played a prominent role during Vien's 30th birthday party held at the Sheraton Hotel, Lagos, a few years back. He even cut the cake with her. Soon after, talks about her making a wedding gown made the rounds with Vien confirming in an interview she granted a newspaper that indeed, she would be getting married soon. All of that talk soon faded when nothing of the sort materialized. The pastor moved on.
Next in line was Pastor Elishanmah Ideh, who became prominent in his life during the 2007 presidential campaign. Not only was Pastor Elishanmah a frequent visitor to both the church and Okotie's home, she also played prominent roles during his second failed bid for the presidency. Of course, all of her visibility in his life soon triggered the tales of his plans to marry her. Even friends of Pastor Elishanmah were alleged to have been instrumental in generating rumours of the marriage plans of both Pastors. But, nothing of the sort took place.
Just when many of his flock were getting tired of the endless rumours, both in the church and in the media, the 50-year-old Pastor said he hadn't been ignorant of all the talks about his single status despite teaching about the marriage institution. He said further that he was not unaware of the various speculations trailing whether he would marry and to whom and when.
So, to set the record straight, he formally confirmed to his congregation around July 2008 that he would be getting married soon. Not because it was compulsory, but more because of his desire to have children. He equally revealed the kind of woman he had always fancied as a quintessential wife: one who would simply be by his side and would let him take care of her. Simply put, a submissive woman to the letter.
We gathered that it didn't take some of his 'vigilant' church members long to decode the identity of the woman he was talking about. It was Stephanie, the light-skinned widow of Pastor Okotie's Friend, who had been his responsibility since her second marriage crashed several years ago. Though the relationship generated so much heat when Stephanie's aggrieved husband fingered Okotie's undue interference for the crash of their marriage, he was like a dog fated for disappearance.
To underscore his seriousness, Okotie rented a well-appointed apartment with round-the-clock security for Stephanie at Marwa Gardens, a suburban settlement in Ikeja, Lagos. That was not all. In those days, she was chauffeured round with a security escort in the pastor's cars; a black Mercedes Benz Jeep and a black S Class Mercedes Benz. Added to this is that the pastor took care of all her needs like clothes, shoes, bags and jewelry. So much that on Opebi Street, in Ikeja axis of Lagos, where she shops for household goods, she was openly addressed as Pastor Okotie's Girlfriend or Mistress.
And just when the talk about their parting of ways was beginning to gain ground, with the story that he had settled her with a huge sum of money to move on with her life, not a few were shocked to see her being chauffeured in a brand new C Class Mercedes Benz car belonging to Pastor Okotie. Before close watchers could recover from this, the University of Benin Law graduate married Stephanie in a high-octane wedding.
Just when the new couple was settling to a new life, a certain Remi Odutola emerged from the blues alleging that she has a 9-year-old girl for the man of God. While her assertions beggar belief, the tall and delicately slim lady averred that she's Reverend Chris' secret wife. Hear her, "My name is Aderemi Odutola, a granddaughter of Ogbeni Oja of Ijebu-Ode.
I met Reverend Christopher Okotie in 1997. I was a young Pastor desperately looking for a good church where I could worship and God led me to the Household Of God. Then, I had a music ministry, and because he was an ace musician, I took him as my mentor and strongly believed that he would help me one day. Along the line, something happened. We started seeing each other and I've done abortion for him three times before I decided to leave the last one".
Why did she leave the last pregnancy and why is she coming out nine years after? 'I left the pregnancy not for anything, but for the fact that he proposed to marry me', she said, as tears welled up in her eyes. "Initially, I didn't accept his proposal because of his wife, Tina. I couldn't have married a married man. But he told me that his marriage to Tina was on the brink of collapse. He lied to me! Trouble, however, started immediately I got pregnant. He started behaving funny, unlike the amiable Pastor I met sometime back. At times, I would call him, but he wouldn't pick or return my calls," she said with a soft chuckle that betrayed a mien of good breeding and humility.
Her expression soon dissolved into a sad look when she recalled the moment she gave birth. 'It dawned on me when I gave birth to our daughter that he was just a player. Ever since I gave birth to Tioluwani Okotie (our daughter), Reverend Chris has abandoned us in my family house in Opebi. It has not been easy at all taking care of our daughter all alone," she said and opened a whirlpool of tears.
Does he send money for the child's up-keep? "Money"? Remi said questioningly. She said further, "
Whenever I call him that his daughter needs something, he will be dribbling me, giving me one excuse or the other. I was highly disappointed when I heard he eventually married Stephanie Henshaw, his late friend's wife.
Whenever I call him that his daughter needs something, he will be dribbling me, giving me one excuse or the other. I was highly disappointed when I heard he eventually married Stephanie Henshaw, his late friend's wife.
He did not marry me with all the things I have been through because of him." We visited the church and some church members who do not want their names to be mentioned, confirmed that they have seen the little girl who shares a striking resemblance with the Pastor. We further gathered that even at the children's church, people always gather to look at the girl and unconsciously wonder aloud if she is for Reverend Chris or not.
I tried to confirm this story from this abundantly brilliant man of God to confirm the veracity of the story, but all efforts to reach him proved abortive.
Nigerians what's your take on this? Comments needed...


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All posts in category France
This blog has moved.
Posted by @TomasVH on 26 March, 2014
Castaways of the Marshall Islands | Exhibition October 19 to November 11 in Saint Brieuc
The Photoreporter Festival in Saint Brieuc, France is exhibiting the new work of 15 selected photographers. My project, "Castaways of the Marshall Islands," focuses on Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific Ocean where the lives of the Marshallese people have been upended by decades of U.S. nuclear bomb experiments and ongoing ballistic missile tests.
October 19 to November 11
Galerie du Point Virgule
Langueux, Saint Brieuc
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For more upcoming events, please check my latest newsletter.
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Posted by @TomasVH on 23 October, 2012
Recent publications: 100 Photos du XXIe Siecle, Facebook offices in TIME and Korea in LIFE
December has brought a diverse batch of publications featuring some of my photos. Most notably, one of my images from the Maoist revolution in Nepal was chosen for the book 100 Photos du XXIe Siecle (100 Photos of the 21st Century), which was just published by la Martiniere in France and covers key global events from 2000-2010.
The photo, taken in 2005, shows a young female guerrilla soldier training with a battalion of other Maoists in the village of Gairigaon, which at the time was part of the rebels' stronghold in far Western Nepal. Bizarrely, the girl in the photo is wearing a Britney Spears t-shirt, despite the fact that she is an indoctrinated Marxist fighter.
The village was two separate plane flights and then another five days walk from Kathmandu. There was no electricity, and the soldiers were training in the yard of a dirt-floored school. Exactly how Britney Spears' likeness appeared in such a remote scene remains one of the mysteries of globalization. My partner on the trip through the Maoist heartland was TIME journalist Alex Perry, and he recounts more about that journey and other adventures in his book Falling Off the Edge: Globalization, World Peace and Other Lies.
• • •
Next up is a rare peek inside the Facebook offices in Paris, France.
Linked with the announcement that Mark Zuckerberg was named TIME's Person of the Year, the magazine sent photographers to four of Facebook's offices around the world. To see some of the images that didn't make it in TIME, I've posted a larger selection here.
• • •
And finally, LIFE.com has compiled the work of five award-winning photographers for a revealing photo essay about Korea.
Hats off to LIFE's editors for including long, well written captions with each image. The additional information is especially helpful for a place that is so difficult to decipher.
Posted by @TomasVH on 20 December, 2010
Testing the Leica M9
Just before the holidays, I managed to get my hands on a new Leica M9. Over the past several weeks I have been putting it through the paces around Paris.
Since late 2005, the only cameras that I have consistently worked with are the Leica M6 and the Canon 5D (and then 5D Mark II). Although I preferred the discreet working style of the M6, it became less and less convenient as a tool for modern photojournalism. Slide film is increasingly expensive, annoying to transport, and nearly impossible to develop in the places where I work such as Nepal, North Korea and Cuba.
Eventually, I began using the Canon much more often than the Leica. I adapted my shooting style around its abilities, though this was not always a good thing. SLR cameras encourage a kind of tunnel vision. You see everything through a rectangular dark cave that blackens every time you press the shutter. This makes it harder to anticipate moments — and that often makes for more static pictures. A key advantage of rangefinder cameras is that you have an uninterrupted view, and your left eye is not blocked behind the camera body. In the finder, everything is sharp, unlike an SLR which lets yours eyes only see sharply what the lens is focused on. (If you are focused on the foreground, then the background is a bit blurry.) For my purposes, the best benefit of rangefinders over SLRs is their unobtrusive size and discreet sound. Subjects notice and react awkwardly much more often to a big SLR than to a small rangefinder.
Why the M9?
Before investing in an M9, I looked back through my portfolio of the last five years. Although I was using Canon much more frequently (for reasons of digital convenience), there were many more shots that I preferred from within the smaller batch shot by the Leica. If I want to have those kind of shots in my portfolio in the years ahead — while at the same time retaining the ability to quickly transmit pictures from abroad — the best solution seems to be a digital Leica. Since I don't like non-full frame cameras, I never seriously considered investing in a Leica M8.
Resolution, Sharpness and Color
After several weeks of use, I feel that the M9 does offer the same shooting style as my older M6. The M9 files, when shot between 80 to 800 ISO, actually are much sharper and show less noise/grain than shooting on slide film.
The colors however are much trickier. Normally, I can scan a slide and with very minimal adjustment get a normal color cast with pleasing skin tones and accurate landscape hues.
It took me some minor adjustments, but eventually I was also able to approximate the slide film look using Canon RAW files. The same task proved far more annoying when using M9 RAW files and Adobe Camera Raw software. The embedded Leica RAW profile gives blotchy skin tones and tepid colors. Adobe's own profile is better, but still not as good as the Canon profiles (which do not work on the Leica). A rich spectrum of color information seems to be recorded in the robust M9 RAW files, but converting them to a usable color file requires far too much tinkering. Leica needs to come up with more refined profiles that take full advantage of the sensor's abilities.
High ISO
After 800 ISO, the M9 quickly looses the noise battle to the Canon 5D Mark II. You can get very good files out of the Canon all the way up to 2000 ISO, where as the M9 needs treatment with noise reduction software from 1000 – 1250 ISO. It becomes basically unusable at 1600 ISO. By comparison, my old M6 with color slide film was useless when the film was pushed past 800 ISO.
Processor Speed
The major area where the M9 feels inferior to the 5D Mark II is with the speed of the internal processor. It takes around one minute to format an 8GB memory card on the Leica, while the Canon only takes about one second.
(*UPDATE, March 15, 2010: the firmware update version 1.116 significantly improves formatting speed and image preview rendering.)
If you are shooting RAW+JPEG, once the buffer is full of pictures on the Leica, it takes 7 seconds before your can fire the next shot. When using an equivalent speed card (Sandisk Extreme III) on the Canon, it only takes 2 seconds.
The best solution to this is to shoot the Leica in RAW only mode, without JPEG. The buffer will be ready to shoot again after 3 seconds. Unfortunately, this means you will have to spend more time on the computer later converting your RAWs to JPEGs.
The M9 is a very costly investment. The price is roughly the same as the combined cost of buying a new 5D Mark II and a new Leica MP or M7. (Although having to buy lenses for two different systems would eventually drive the price of that combination past the M9 alone.)
The M9 is a very precise tool that is very good within a highly limited range. Where as the latest digital SLR cameras can accurately shoot with lenses from 12mm up to 800mm, the Leica's optimal working range is only from 28mm to 50mm. While the DSLRs can shoot much higher ISOs and now also video, the Leica can not. But within its tight range, the Leica M9 is the smallest, quietist, sharpest full frame camera available. I happen to take about 90% of my pictures within that small range where the M9 excels, so it turns out to be just the right tool for my kind of work.
Posted by @TomasVH on 25 January, 2010


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iVangeli Curriculum now has Bible Knowledge Exams for our curriculum. All questions are based on work covered in the Teachers Guides.
This is your tool to assess and change your ministry and children's lives.
Benefit of writing the exams:
You will be able to monitor the Bible knowledge of the children.
- Do they understand the lesson?
- Do they know memory verses?
- Are they able to apply the lesson to their lives?
You will be able to see if the teachers are able to impart the lesson to the children and correct any problems.
- Is the lesson boring?
- Has the teacher understood and prepared well?
- Does the teacher need assistance and training?
If a child does not pass or meet you expectations, there may be a reason.
- Is the child attending regularly?
- Is the child disruptive and inattentive?
- Are there problems at home?
- Is there any way the church can help the child or family?
1. The Examination will be set for:
- Primary (Grades 1 – 3, Ages 7 – 9)
- Junior (Grades 4 – 6, Ages 10 – 12)
- Senior (Grades 7 – 9, Ages 13 – 15)
- Preschoolers will not be tested.
2. The exams are separated into 2 parts and can be written in the middle of the year and towards the end of the year. You can also only write once a year in you prefer.
- Lessons 1-17
- Lessons 18-34
3. The Cost per student is R10 per set of exams with an additional cost of R100 for postage which includes exams, certificates and badges.
4. Students who pass will receive a certificate and a badge posted to their church.
5. The papers will be marked and passed according to the following conditions.
- Under 40% will receive a certificate for participation.
- 40% is a pass. These children will receive a certificate and badge for their specific grade.
- 80% and over is a pass with distinction. These children will receive a certificate, a pass badge for their specific grade and a yellow badge of distinction.
Please contact us if you would like to enter the exams or if you would like more information
Bible Exams Enquiry
What People Say
"Dear Ivangeli
Thank you so much for making Sunday school exams available for the curriculum that the children have covered. Our children have really been motivated to learn the Word of God through the process. The exams could put some of our adults Bible knowledge to the rest☺"
Elaine Mpunga
Winning Souls Ministries


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|A Herd of Sheriffs
by J.B.Blocker
|Sheriffs and their Counties
Brewster County borders the Rio Grande. It's the largest county in Texas and spans over 6200 square miles. You could fit Connecticut, Delaware, and Rhode Island into the county and have some spare room. Sheriff Ronny Dodson and his 8 deputies deal with border crossings, drugs, and the BIG BEND.
Rockwall County is the NE neighbor of Dallas County. Of the 149 square miles, 20 of that is a lake. Sheriff Harold Eavenson oversees one of the fastest growing populations in the country. It is the smallest county!
Harris County has a population that exceeds 4.1 million. It's the third most populated county in the country and Sheriff Adrian Garcia manages a staff of over 4000 to deal with one of the most diversified populations in the U.S.A..
Loving County might be better known as the setting for LONESOME DOVE. Sheriff Billy Hopper grew up in Loving and has a limited budget because the population just grew to 82 on the last census. It is the least populated county in America!
And let's not forget the booming and diversified population, numerous rivers and lakes, mountain ranges, the High Plains, the Hill Country, national parks, the bordering states, and Mexico. Did I mention enormous farms and ranches, forests, deserts, valleys, and the Gulf Coast? And how about more varieties of wildlife and weather than any other state. They all add to the complexity of law enforcement from county to county. Whether urban, suburban, or rural Lone Star Sheriffs have their own range of challenges.
|Medina Sheriff Randy Brown
|Host Sheriff Lupe Valdez
Collin County Sheriff Terry Box has held his elected office since February 1985. He has served the county and the state with distinction.
|Terry and Purplelicious
"Heck, I have shown up in baggy shorts and a golf shirt to the conventions. Travel wear!" recalls the seasoned lawman. While most wear their boots and white stetsons, very few dress like civilians.
Normally, Sheriff Box wears dress slacks and a polo type shirt. He could more easily pass as a history teacher at the local high school.
When Terry Box took office, Collin County's population was around 200,000. Now with the tremendous growth of Plano, Frisco, Allen, Celina, Fairview, Anna, Melissa, Princeton, Farmersville, and McKinney, the count is closing in on a million. It won't be long!
The southern border catches a bit of Carrollton, Dallas, and Garland as well as parts of Richardson. In all, 31 cities and towns are inside the county's border. An incredible blend of the newest urban developments and rural historic Texas can be experienced in Collin County.
Box's Upholstery in McKinney was Terry's fathers business. The one time president of the Sheriff's Association of Texas was born and raised in McKinney.
After graduating from McKinney High, he began his career as a 19-year-old police dispatcher. He has dated his wife Rendy since he was a junior in high school, and they are still dating after 40 years.
"My wife is the kindest, most caring person I know," beams the sheriff. "I am sure she gets me more votes at election time than I do! When she goes shopping, she ends up buying things for others as much as for herself."
"When I was 21, I became a peace officer in Plano. I took the job because I just couldn't see arresting people I grew up with and knew so well."
Ten years later Terry was lured to the sheriffs' office with a rank of Lieutenant and was the Deputy Chief three years later. After the death of close friend Sheriff Joe Steenbergen in 1985, Box was appointed by the Commissioners Court to complete the term and has been Sheriff Box ever since.
|Vendor Tim Lacey of Conmed, Van Zandt Sheriff Pat Burnett, Randall County Sheriff Joel Richardson
"Collin County is very fortunate to have a man like Terry Box as their sheriff", claims Randall County Sheriff Joel Richardson.
"When Randall County built their new county jail, we decided to model it after Collin County. "Theirs was one of only two jails to successfully integrate a state of the art Direct Supervision Facility," he said. "His progressive style of management and his kindness, courtesy, and respect for human rights has helped me to see a different side of law enforcement and jail operations. We sent our staff down to McKinney to train at their facility. Sheriff Box and his staff were so accommodating, and all of us were grateful and impressed with the leadership and their management style. When I started in law enforcement, I was part of the bag 'em and cage 'em mentality. Now, I see my job in a more humanistic light of protecting the rights of every individual."
The Collin County staff takes in account that 'not all who are held in a county jail have been found guilty of their charges'. Many awaiting trial and held in custody are later found to be innocent. This facility and its staff helps maintain that consideration.
"The sheriffs' senior staff views Sheriff Box as an inspiration with great ethics, and an approachable style of leadership that makes everyone strive to be a kinder, better person." this from long-time friend Major Mike Anderson.
There isn't enough space to list his resume of boards, directorship, accreditation's, and community service involvement. The modest sheriff doesn't even list them on the county Web site like many others do.
Always early to work, he disdains being lazy or late but forgives others just as easily as he leads by his example. If you want to talk to the sheriff, just call early and he will most likely answer the phone himself.
His humanity showed itself in spades when he discussed the challenges of his border county brethren.
"They live a totally different life than I do! They have to fear for their staff, their families, and even their own safety every day. Not me!" In Lou Gehrig-type style he closed our interview with his appreciation for his family and his home.
"I am always aware that I am one of the truly lucky people to have a job I love, in a great county, and in my home town."
The Sheriffs Association of Texas
"Each year there were are thousands of new bills filed with the Legislators and we go over the ones that passed and will effect our offices. Although many were minor, they still cover the many responsibilities that county sheriffs must understand. You have to know the law to enforce it fairly." Terry Box
The more than 1,900 attendees include vendors showing all the hardware and the newest software that make law enforcement more efficient.
DPS, US Postal Service, Secret Service, were just some of the many that made this annual event the largest gathering of law enforcement in the state.
This is a family convention. Not just the brother/sisterhood of sheriffs, but the week includes events for wives and children to help bond these officers of the law. The cultural diversity of Texas is on display!
Sheriff Box explains: "You learn as much in the hallways and at the dinner tables about how each of us performs our duties. We discuss how we succeed and even how we have failed in order make us better public servants. The training is outstanding and we find ourselves humbled by the different challenges each of us face.
"There is the huge population growth like Collin County, there is the protecting land mass with mostly rural population (some counties have less than 2000 population with a lot of open land to protect), there is the terror of the Border States, and then you add the millions who reside in Houston and Dallas counties to mix up the requirements to perform our jobs. It's a great week that I always look forward to."
Join the Sheriffs Association of Texas!
For a $25 annual fee, you can become an Associate Member of the Sheriffs Association of Texas. Along with the membership card and decals, you receive the quarterly magazine with real stories of Texas Sheriffs. You also help contribute to funds for fallen officers and you support the 7 scholarships awarded every year to encourage new law enforcement officers. The Web site is www. txsheriffs.org is worth looking at, and pay special attention to the fallen officers' memorial and the scholarship funds.
|Robertson Sheriff Gerald Yezak
|Chaplain Larry Spence (Willacy), Directors Jack Haile (Sherman), Oscar Lopez (Jim Wells) County
|Mike Chapman and Danny Dominguez
|Director Steve Westbrook and J.B. Smith
|Humorist J.B.Smith and J.B.Blocker
- J.B. Blocker is a media consultant based in Collin County in North Texas. Advertise with J.B. by calling 469-334-9962. Email: firstname.lastname@example.com


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Here, ahead of the 150 gallery ART15 (Olympia in Kensington Thurs 21 - Sat 23 May), are the chioces I made for STATE magazine from last year's edition...
Art14's USP was its geographical breadth (tagline: 'London's global art fair'), reflecting a much more balanced representation between continents than at, for example, Frieze. This year it was also big, with 180 galleries despite nearly half of the inaugural 120 not returning. I had thought this might result in a more cramped environment, but not so: more of Olympia's vast hall was opened up, though that did mean that much was under a low roof rather than below the expansive Victorian structure. That spaciousness enabled ART14 to maintain a strength in sculptural work, and was a boon when the crowds came. The fair was literally humming on the Sunday, when not only was it busy but performance artist Leah Capaldi had actors sprinkled around with instructions to pass on a hum. The Fair as a whole was wildly uneven. With most of the 25 special projects dotted around being sculptural in nature – including work by the highest profile artists, Ai Wei Wei and Yinka Shonibare - and with gallerists having room to show large pieces if they wished, I was more drawn to sculpture than to anything else.
Alison Wilding: Bedrocked, 2013 at Karsten Schubert, London
Alison Wilding, who was shortlisted for the Turner prize as long ago as 1992 and also contributed a sculpture project, is known for the sensuous appreciation of material qualities which this stacked work demonstrates. That ball is balanced purely by being part-filled with stabilising sand. It sits on an impressive parallelepiped of marbled alabaster, the weight of which seems to make less of an impression than expected on the car tyre beneath. Why so? Because it's actually the solid rubber cast of a tyre, and so suited to the paradoxical role of non-rock rock-bearing bedrock.
Santiago Villanueva: Untitled # 40, 2010, from the series 'Soft Therapy', at Diana Lowenstein Gallery, Miami
Santiago Villanueva: Untitled # 40, 2010, from the series 'Soft Therapy', at Diana Lowenstein Gallery, Miami
Mallorcan-based Santiago Villanueva (born Madrid, 1964) makes gleaming organic shapes of Styrofoam, fiberglass and lacquer, hang from the artist's steel fittings to make an attention-grabbing front-of-stand. Energised by seeming to be just at the point it glops down to the floor, there's also a tension between the sleek surface and an intestinal echo – are we inside or outside the body? Villaneuva says his aim is 'a soft skin of industrial manufacture crystallizing the internal organic emotions'.
Piers Secunda: Painting of a Wuhan Mountain (Blitz damaged), 2013/14 at the Updown Gallery, Ramsgate
Back in the 80's, the Victoria & Albert Museum's collection of Chinese sculpture left a strong impression on the teenage Piers Secunda. Adopting the way in which traditional Chinese painters conjure landscapes out of memory and imagination, he sets a fantastically calibrated hanging monastery in dramatic mountains, the back of which are formed by a cast of a shrapnel-damaged former wall of the V&A, as bombed in World War II. Oh, did I mention that this optimistic tale of fragility's survival, like most of Secunda's work, is made out of paint?
These very economical works from the Colombian Johanna Calle (born 1965) are simply bird cages squashed against the wall. Yes, that's a neat way of supressing the modernist grid, but Calle also makes a double reference to life in her home country: first, she symbolically prevents the imprisonment of at least one bird from the indigenous species, many of which are threatened - all too often kept as pets despite being endangered species. Second, she protests the very cramped housing conditions in which the typical Bogotán lives.
Mohsen Vaziri-Moghaddamm: Pardis, 2007 at Meshkati Fine Art, London
Mohsen Vaziri-Moghaddamm has divided his life between Iran and Italy (1955-64 and 1985 to date – he's a very energetic 90). Lionised in Tehran, he remains little-known here despite a major show at the ICA in 1968, and an impressive back catalogue notable for its sand paintings and immense moveable constructions from the 1970's, They were best altered with the help of a ladder, but this later domestically scaled version of Pardis ('Paradise') - comparable with Lygia Clark's bichos - was displayed in a set-up resembling an animal, but could easily be switched around by hand.
Mat Chivers: Syzygy, 2011 at Millennium Gallery, St Ives
Devon-based Mat Chivers likes to strip the world back to elementals and to render traditional subjects with the most modern techniques. This impressive two part sculpture starts with a stacked cumulus cloud, rendered paradoxically weighty in what he told me was as big a piece of alabaster as you're likely to find, given how it grows in cloud-like nuggets. It's rendered through a computerised translation into thousands of triangles, which were then reduced down to the most essential 56 faces for the Indian black granite version. 'Syzygy'? But of course, a poetic term for the combination of two metrical feet into a single unit...
He An: He Tao Yun, 2013 at Tang Contemporary, Beijing
In a striking combination of nostalgia for his roots amidst China's rapid change and a vandalistic attack on the new, He An (born in Wuhan, at 10m the most populous city in Central China, in 1971) commissioned the theft from shop signs of the three neon characters making up his father's name: He Tao Yun. The damage to the still-operative lighting from its being hacked away gives the resulting floor sculpture a ramshackle aesthetic at effective odds with the futuristic connotations of neon.
Kai Klahre: Tower Guard, 2013 at maerzgalerie, LeipzigWhen painters diversify into sculptures derived from their painted motifs, the results can seem merely illustrative (see e.g. de Chirico or Dali), but I found the still-painterly structure forced onto Kai Klare's atmospheric pictures by his recent turn to small-scale aluminium, plastic and concrete sculptures focused the charge from his faintly mythic figures. They seem adrift between modernity and the forests and history of East Germany with which Klahre (born 1981) grew up. Is this a teenager ignoring the potential of a listening tower in favour of her own headphoned world?
Zhao Zhao: Waterfall, 2013 in ART14 Projects / Alexander Ochs Galleries Berlin | Beijing
Zhao Zhao was Ai Wei Wei's assistant for seven years, and like him comes from a family which was exiled to the north western desert during the Cultural Revolution. At 31, he's now making a significant impact of his own through work as wide-ranging as Ai's, and has himself fallen out with the Chinese authorities. 'Waterfall' is a replica of the Chinese Emperor's throne from the Qing-Dynasty (1662-1722): by covering it in dripping red wax, Zhao suggests blood and implies a continuity of repression between Imperial and Maoist regimes, which both adopted the colour.
Morten Viskum: The Collector, 2013 at Son Espace, Girona (Spain) & Vestfossen (Norway)
Vestfossen resident Morten Viskum had one of the more outlandish practices on display. He makes a life-sized realist portrait every February, showing himself in guises from Christ to bodybuilder to clown to this 2013 version as a collector, holding in his hand the 700 page catalogue for Viskum's own extensive holdings of art. So what are those tasteful near-monochrome exercises in subtle graduation behind his statue and its model? Just that, except they're painted as performances, and not with the artist's hand but the severed hand of a dead man which Viskum uses as a paintbrush.
Lakin Ogunbanwo: Untitled (1), 2013 at Rocke & Van Wyk, Johannesburg
True, this is not a sculpture, but young self-taught Nigerian Lakin Ogunbanwo achieves a maximally sculptural photographic effect through the simple devices of olive oil, dramatic lighting and life-sized prints of a gleamingly chiselled model. The chin is very much the point, proving a punch which chimes with Ogunbanwo's parallel work in fashion photography, as did a colour set of black women with the prominent contrast of cherry red lipstick.
Židrija Janušait: Life consists of these little touches of solitude in Performance Projects / Gallery Memo Parkus, Kaunas, Lithuaina
The performance programme included Lithuanian Židrija Janušait being thethered to a wall either side by assistants armed with white thread, as if the artist were refracting beams of light. The accompanying quotation from Roland Barthes brought memory and communication into play, recounting how he 'happened on a photograph of Napoleon's youngest brother Jerome, taken in 1852'. Barthes was blown away by the thought that he was 'looking at the eyes which looked at the Emperor', but found that few shared his amazement: 'life consists of these little touches of solitude'.


text: Is there any good apps that pulls in radio station streams? When I had the iPhone, I used ooTunes which had radio stations around the world and shoutcast stations. I know Droidlive pulls shoutcast streams but I cannot seem to find my local stations in their databases. Thanks in advance


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Out With Comparisons, In With Confidence
Imposter Syndrome, comparison-itis, and many other terms have been coined to describe this phenomenon. When it dents our confidence, and holds us back from maximising our potential we really need to find a way put the comparisons aside and move forward. You can find lots of useful information on how to define, identify and minimise the comparisons – here are my five top tips. This is clearly not an accurate comparison so let's change our perspective and focus.


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Article first appeared here at The Washington Post on December 14, 2015
JERUSALEM — Lynne Hybels is revered for her work helping the impoverished around the world, but some people view her as dangerous.
Hybels, cofounder with her husband of one of the nation's largest churches, has been called a heretic and an anti-Semite for her efforts to build bridges between Palestinians and Israelis in the Middle East.
Hybels is among a small number of influential evangelicals who are challenging a decades-long stance of blanket evangelical support for Israel's government. They are taking trips to the Middle East, not only to visit biblical sites but to engage with modern-day Palestinians and Israelis in conversations centered more around modern politics than ancient texts. They are organizing conferences and writing publicly in an attempt to discern a new role for Christians in bringing an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Gradually, their ideas are taking hold, especially with young evangelicals.


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While I was away many people continued to email me scary things that they would come across. Thanks so much for sticking with me! For those that didn't… well, they can just suck it!
My favorite thing that was forwarded to me was this Panther Sofa. It was designed by italian Master Craftsman Rodolfo Rocchetti of Tappezzeria Rocchetti. Check out his website for other odd pieces. I absolutely need this sofa! It's so obnoxious and creepy. The only thing I would maybe change is instead of crushed velvet I'd want regular velvet. Don't remember what that's called, but you know what I mean. I do question the placement of the chain however. Are you supposed to sit on it, because having a chain up my butt is not what I am into. Not sure if it is removable or not. It might be handy if you need to detain someone though. For you animal lovers, don't worry, no real panthers were used in the making of this sofa. I tried to find a price, but no luck. If one of you were to maybe buy this for me I might just be willing to rethink the chain up the butt scenario. Ewww… never mind.
* Thanks Becks123 for the link!
3 Responses to "Panther Sofa"
Anonymous Says:
April 10th, 2011 at
sori dats horrible
Cheyenne Says:
January 15th, 2012 at
hey! i love this panther sofa as well! i clicked a link off craigslist to look at a sectional and on this site it shows this panther sofa for 279? i dont know if this website is a total joke or not but it has a number so call and see if its legit! other than that i cant find any prices or places that sell it.. but i want it bad as well!
Mike Says:
November 7th, 2012 at
Hi i would like to purchase your panther couch please send me info


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The article, "What's all the fuss about XBRL?" highlights various features of the eXtensible Business Reporting Language as a tool for financial reporting. This tool enables the translation of data contained in financial reports into a computer-friendly format. XBRL uses the tagging approach to translate pieces of raw data in financial reports into a format that computers can understand and use in diverse accounting tasks (Drew, 2012). The article discusses the benefits of XBRL concerning the enhancement of accounting information systems. These benefits include increased control on financial data and efficiency in the scrutinizing of data by analysts and investors. Using XBRL and other validation software facilitate the creation of a framework upon which concerned parties and stakeholders can quickly extract key information. The author illustrates this concept by considering a scenario in which an analyst wants to evaluate the intellectual property (IP) spending within the technology sector. Using the traditional means, the analysts would undergo a gruesome process of extracting financial filings of all the technology companies and recording the IP spending number in an excel file (Drew, 2012). XBRL shortens the process by facilitating the use of the same IP spending tag in the analysis and compilation of financial results.
The author's view concerning the importance of XBRL in enhancing the analysis of financial data is justified. This tool facilitates an easier and faster exchange of financial information throughout the world upon a platform of software applications. XBRL promotes transparency in various aspects of financial reporting as it allows easy exchange and extraction of fiscal data. It digitizes the existing accounting standards and thus facilitates the establishment of more comprehensive accounting information systems. Various aspects of XBRL introduce flexibility concerning companies' reporting. XBRL eliminates negative outcomes associated with delayed analysis of financial information such as the loss of potential investors, difficulties in convincing financial institutions to provide loans and the depiction of incredible financial statements.
The article, "Technology and CPA", discusses the changing trends in accounting due to the transformation in information technology. The author presents views of professionals concerning the technological trends in accounting. The transformation in mobile technology and cloud computing has facilitated the integration of information systems in most of the aspects of accounting (Drew, 2012). These developments allow accounting professionals to access cloud-based applications, data and communication using mobile devices. The author asserts that technological developments introduce high levels of connectivity that facilitates the efficient and faster exchange of accounting information between concerned parties. The article also discusses the enhancement of business intelligence due to the introduction of sophisticated data analysis tools. These tools will create comprehensive accounting information systems that use large databases and advanced algorithms to analyze the financial activity of an organization. The author describes a situation whereby accounting systems will encompass different perspectives for analyzing risks and opportunities for improvement. These systems will provide real-time data and thus reduce the workload associated with the consolidation of various aspects of accounting (Drew, 2012). In addition, the automation of financial information will streamline aspects of tax analysis, which is crucial in functioning of accounting systems.
An evaluation of the trend in technological advancement substantiates the author's assertions regarding the change in accounting information systems. These advancements will create automated accounting systems that will eliminate the need for data entry. Computer systems will facilitate automated recording of transactions and thus promote effective analyzing of trends and areas that require improvement within organizations. This shift towards miniature gadgets such as tablets and mobile phones as tools for analyzing financial activity will introduce flexibility within an organization's accounting systems and minimize operational costs. Cloud computing will foster faster access to data of an organization by both its employees and external parties such as potential investors.


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Hi, Im Craig and Im 20 years old and have a love for Foxbody Mustangs. I have a 1982 GLX that is a project, although it does run and drive. Just wanted to say hi and I hope I can get some advice and help as I need it. Thank you.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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3 Mins of Double under practice
10 toes to rings
10 toes to bars or knee ups
Grab a partner Burgener "Pre warm-up": The first exercise is the 1st person sits on ground with legs straight out and arms straight out to the sides, while the 2nd person jump over the right arm, legs and left arm- 5 times one way and 5 times the other way. Partners switch. The second exercise is the 1st person gets on hands and knees while the second person jumps over the back and then crawls under the person five times over and under. Then the partners switch.
As a group Burgener warm-up with clean grip, jerk teaching (start from behind the neck helps).
Jerk: Work up to a max set of 5 reps
3 Rounds for time:
30 Toes to Bar
15 Clean and Jerks
L1- choose weight and knee ups or toes to rings
L2- 135lbs/85lbs
L3- 155lbs/105lbs


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For Monthly Contests& Giveaways!
Sign Up for Coupons& Monthly Specials.It's Free!
Your special 18" doll will look so pretty in each of these 3 lovely casual party dresses! Perfect for a day with friends, or a fun outdoor spring or summer party, What a VALUE! The first dress outfit included in this set is a pretty blue and green floral, knee length dress with white waistline details and a fun straw hat with matching fabric bow. The second dress outfit includes a soft blue and white nautical themed, below the knee dress with a beautiful bow at the center of the dress and a white matching headband that stretches to fit nicely. The final ensemble is a lovely blue and yellow floral doll dress, sure to make your doll feel special. This above the knee dress has a wide, satiny yellow waistband and comes with a matching headband that has beautiful flower details and stretches to fit nicely. These fashionable dresses all feature our special "no grab" Velcro closure, making getting dressed a snap! Perfect for your 18 inch doll's next special event, or outing with friends. The hard part will be how to decide which one to wear!


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We went to the air show at Cherry Point Saturday and CAT loved it! All the flying, tumbling, twisting and falling gave me the hiebbies-jiebbies (yes, even though we were stationed on the ground), but it was pretty cool to see everything up close. Here's some pictures from the day. It is nearly impossible to get all 4 Blue Angel planes in one frame on a point and shoot!
Monday, May 24, 2010
MCAS Air Show {for the boys}
Posted by Marian at 8:11 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Labels: weekend warriors
Thursday, May 20, 2010
what's happening in the PCM Studio
Posted by Marian at 9:16 AM 1 comments Links to this post
Labels: colors, greeting cards, handmade, inspirations, paper cuts
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
around the house
Okay, let me start with telling ya'll that I have a historically black thumb. Like, really, really black. As in I can kill most any flower in a very short time. But yesterday I decided our front yard needs some color. (Actually, what it really needs is either a truckload of mulch or lava rock but we haven't had a weekend yet to tackle that job.) So I thought some pretty flowers in my trusty oversized beach buckets would make good band-aids. I stopped by The Friendly Market on my way home from work and got some encouragement ("it's just mostly luck anyway, sweetie") and flowers.
I love these two!
Hopefully I can keep everything alive! Anyone have any gardening tips for me?!?
Posted by Marian at 8:29 AM 2 comments Links to this post
Labels: flowers, home decor
Monday, May 10, 2010
a day in the life
Posted by Marian at 3:27 PM 2 comments Links to this post
Labels: fun, inspirations
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Monogrammed Annabelle Bags
I have been wanting to show ya'll my Monogrammed Annabelle bags for a few weeks now, so I'm excited about this post today! This bag style is easily becoming my favorite. It is easy to use, lightweight, and usually big enough for everything I need. On days that I need more stuff, it fits comfortable into my tote bags. Monogram is available for $9 extra!
I hope to update my Etsy store this month & this will definitely be in the shop!
Posted by Marian at 7:50 AM 1 comments Links to this post
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The mission of the Marine Corps Intelligence Activity (MCIA) is to deliver expeditionary intelligence products and services in order to inform and prepare decision-makers and warfighters for mission success, which
• Providing intelligence forecasts and analysis in support of Marine Corps planning and decision making; doctrine and force structure development; systems and equipment acquisition; wargaming; and training and education.
• Supporting Marine Corps operating forces, the DoD, the Intelligence Community (IC), and allied partners by proving comprehensive intelligence for expeditionary mission sets.
• Facilitating the efforts of the Marine Corps Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Enterprise (MCISRE) through coordinated planning, guidance, and information technology in order to inform decision-makers and enable success on the battlefield.
Located in Quantico, Virginia, MCIA is the Marine Corps' Service Intelligence Center. MCIA consists of a command element; an Intelligence Directorate that includes analysis, imagery, topographic support and weapons and technology support; an Operations Directorate that includes Joint Processing, Exploitation, and Dissemination (JPED), targeting, identity intelligence, and open source intelligence support; a Counterintelligence/Human Intelligence Company; and a Cryptologic Services Group. Additionally, MCIA is the program manager for the Marine Corps' Sensitive compartmented information (SCI) intelligence architecture, providing worldwide access to the Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communication System (JWICS). Each element provides unique capabilities that enable MCIA to fully support intelligence requirements in all facets of expeditionary operations. Together, these elements deliver "excellence in expeditionary intelligence" to MCIA's broad and growing customer set.
As the "hub" of the MCISRE, MCIA maintains a 24/7/365 Enterprise Operations Center (EOC) and serves as the organizational focal point that merges disparate nodes of the Marine Corps intelligence effort into a mutually reinforcing whole. MCIA enhances the way Marine intelligence fights by integrating the MAGTF with the joint force, the IC, and coalition partner capabilities. Through MCIA, the expeditionary-focused MCISRE is "always on," operating in garrison, maintaining continuous situational awareness, and projecting the intelligence warfighting function to forward deployed units.


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Dentist in Wakefield
18 Rishworth Street
Wakefield WF1 3BY
Wakefield WF1 3BY
01924 369412
Wrenthorpe Lane
Wakefield WF2 0NL
Wakefield WF2 0NL
01924 362913
Cosmetic Dentistry » Crowns
helping you to smile
with confidence
A crown is an artificial restoration that fits over the remaining part of a prepared tooth, making it strong and giving it the shape of a natural tooth.
A crown is sometimes known as a 'cap'. Crowns are an ideal restoration for teeth that have been broken, or have been weakened by decay or a very large filling. They can be made of porcelain or gold or a combination of these materials.
- you may have discoloured fillings and would like to improve the appearance of the tooth
- you may have had a root filling which will need a crown to protect it
- it may help hold a bridge or denture firmly in place.
- « Back to Treatment Menu


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Our phone lines will be open if you have questions for Chef Sharynne 1(866)472-5792.
Blood sugar also known as (AKA) Diabetes, Brittle Diabetes, Type 2 Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome, Syndrome X, and Insulin Resistance are all the same disease.
You'll learn What to do about it?
What it's all about?
Where does it come from?
You'll hear things you may find interesting as we continue to educate you on how your body works. Once again your medical doctor has it all wrong!


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When taking part in sports and other outdoor activities, it's always a good idea to do so using the right gear as this will have a tremendous impact on the kind of experience you will have. This article is meant to give you some guidance on what to look out for when purchasing sports gear for your outdoor activities.
Here are 3 important qualities of good outdoor sports gear.
The equipment should help improve your performance
Whether you are buying shoes to take a run around the block or take part in a 10k, the equipment should be able to improve your performance. This means it should be comfortable, absorb more pressure, and put less strain on your body thereby enabling you perform better. Just keep in mind that improving your performance doesn't mean giving you abilities you don't already have.
The equipment should provide protection
Outdoor sports are usually physically intensive in addition to the fact that you are exposed to a number of external elements that can cause you harm. Good equipment should therefore be able to provide you some form of protection against all these thus reducing your chances of getting injured. Always ensure you consult someone experienced before you buy any protective gear.
The equipment should be well fitting
When buying sporting gear for outdoor sports, caution must be taken to ensure that the gear you are using fits you perfectly. Gear that is either too small or too large is likely to expose you to potential injuries. It's therefore critical for you to have equipment that fits you perfectly.
It's always a good idea to consult an expert before you purchase any type of outdoor sports gear so that you don't make any costly mistakes. Different gear will be recommended for different types of sports across different terrains therefore it's important for you to get it right.


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Past Reviews
Off Broadway Reviews
Though it doesn't quite reach the level of hardcore pornographythough video clips from several X- and XXX-rated titles that appear during the evening certainly qualifyit comes close. Worse, it does so without even a tip of the hat to the consistency, thematic coherence, or emotional reality that might make me at least attempt to defend it on artistic grounds. But the word "art" doesn't belong within 100 light years of what Bradshaw and director Scott Elliott have rendered.
This is where I would normally begin describing the plot, but there are so many jumbled, unresolved elements it's impossible to know what, if anything, the narrative takeaway is supposed to be. Foremost among the fragments: Matthew, an aspiring teenage filmmaker, becomes obsessed with the concept of "frottage," or sexual intercourse without traditional penetration, as a method of protecting the virginity of his girlfriend, Sarah; Matthew's born-again dad James mourns his two-years-dead wife by going on obscenity crusades when he's not dripping drool (and other bodily fluids) on copies of Barely Legal, in which he discovers a layout of the neighboring couple's daughter Janet or griping about the work of Sarah's contractor-father Fred, who's married but apparently attracted to Matthew.
The show's title suggests a journey for these people that would guide them from physical pleasure to genuine emotional and spiritual connections, and one assumes that's the excuse Bradshaw envisioned, but it doesn't come through in the writing. The first act is utterly dependent on its luridness and contains nothing else; the crowning "achievement" is an imaginary version of on-the-rise porn actress Janetseen onstage completely naked, of coursebegging her father Jerry to masturbate to her magazine photo shoot. Act II goes an entirely different route, effectively ignoring most of the setup, characterizations, and relationships of the first act in order to keep getting more ridiculously over the top.
During the course of all this, any number of bewildering crudities are enacted. Practically every character gets naked. When a character drops his pants to sit on a toilet, you see (and, sigh, hear) everything. The men are predisposed to visually ejaculating, and unless Elliott's costume designs are more inventive than they otherwise appear, one of actor sports a full erection at one point.
Decry this as disgusting or amoral if you must, but it's also really sloppy theatre. Titillating trappings are one thing if they're in service of a story, but that's not the case here. Aside from the whiplash-inducing flip-flops between the acts, characters pair off in ways, and with people, that make no sense; change their sexual orientations on a whim; and solve intimacy problems we'd not been previously been led to believe they had. And don't get me started on the eighth-hearted resolution to the out-of-nowhere racial subplot.
If Bradshaw's entire goal was just to see how far he could go, mission accomplished. If, on the other hand, he thought he was scribing a scathing satire about puritanical values in a naturally oversexed world, his disordered thoughts and unfinished ideas rob it of any and all impact. Elliott's staging is, I suppose, about as efficient as it could be; and Derek McLane's cluttered suburban set makes for quick movement between locales for the many scenes Bradshaw requires (though Russell H. Champa's self-conscious lights impede the flow more often than they should). But none of it makes you feel that you're watching a serious work bearing a serious message.
Performers are extraneous in such a scenario, and for the most part those here behave like it. I'll spare most of them the association with this enterprise and only call out Daniel Gerroll, who brings a pinpoint honesty to James for a fair chunk of the first act, and Laura Esterman, whose dry comic delivery is a welcome respite from the black hole of subtlety that surrounds her.
Even if what Bradshaw has wrought barely qualifies as a play, I have to concede that it's never boring. Regardless of how offended, annoyed, or impatient you get, ripping your eyes away from this spectacle is a no-go. Whether that is, or should be, good enough is a question I can't answer for you, though New York offers so much theatre that you won't have to look too long to find one that, unlike Intimacy, is both gripping and worth watching.


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Undoubtedly, Email service nowadays has come out to be one of its kind mode of communication to stay connected to the colleagues and companions. You can do instant chat with your friends and family and share the files with them. You can easily send and receive the messages in the inbox of your mail account. However, the mail service is a nuisance on the Mac screen of some users. They are facing difficulty in accessing the mail after updating their Mac OS. Some users are facing problem in the login to SBCGlobal mail account from Mac book.
If you are coming across this same problem, then stop searching for the solution. We are going to give some tricks that will help you come out of this witty situation. After performing each step don't forget to check the mail. Once the problem gets solved, stop implementing further steps.
Now, coming to the workarounds. We have found out 2 tips primarily for this issue. These tips have been proven successful by our support team. So, you can move forward with these steps without any fear or problem. If you find any problem, contact at SBCGlobal mail support.
Check SBC mail settings on new updated Mac OS
- Unlock the screen and click on 'Email' app. You will find a list of apps on the front screen when you unlock the device.
- Go to 'preferences' and click Mail. You will find a drop-down menu appeared on the screen.
- Open mail that is creating a problem on your Mac. Select 'SBCGlobal'.
- Open Advance menu and check the settings of your SBCGlobal mail from there. If you find any settings are altered by default, then change them.
- If you don't know the settings, then Click 'Auto detects mail settings'. This will fetch the best settings automatically.
- If you find the option already checked, then uncheck and Check it again.
- Try test mail from your mail.
- If you have more than one SBCGlobal mail account and getting the same problem on it, then perform the same steps for it.
If you are still getting the problem, then restart your device. You can restart your device by turning it off after disconnecting it from the power supply. Wait for 10 minutes and turn on the device again. You will find that your mail started working normally after this.
If after performing the steps you are still getting the problem, then call at SBCGlobal mail support. They will ask you to delete the account and set up again. When you delete your account it will get deleted from all the devices. So, it must be remembered that don't forget to take backup of your data before deleting the account. You will lose access to the account after this operation.
It has been observed that not all the Mac users are getting the problem with their SBCGlobal mail account but only those who have updated their OS are getting this problem. Though this problem can be easily fixed by performing the simple steps mentioned above. Follow the steps carefully and check the default settings of your SBCGlobal mail account.


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Our objectives for 2019
Take the steps necessary to make it easier for patients and providers to navigate the cancer system across the region. Streamline the diagnostic journey for patients to improve equity and consistency of cancer services. Improve access for patients by promoting improvements that will bring care closer to where patients live.
Together we will…
- Improve system navigation across the continuum of care.
- Streamline the diagnostic journey through the introduction of new diagnostic assessment programs (DAPs).
- Implement the Aboriginal Cancer Strategy to improve access for our First Nations, Inuit and Métis (FNIM) communities.
- Deliver chemotherapy closer to home with new sites at at Perth and Smiths Falls District Hospital and Brockville General Hospital.
- Develop a prostate brachytherapy program.
- Explore the introduction of an allogeneic stem cell transplant program in Southeastern Ontario.
- Embrace new technologies to improve our performance specifically in the areas of telemedicine (OTN) and social media.


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- Resources,Torah Insights
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We all carry around burdens, gnawing issues that distract us. On this topic, Proverbs (12:25) offers the following advice: "A worry in a one's heart—yash'chena." The Talmud provides two interpretations of the last word, yash'chena: the first sees it as an expression meaning "forget," to turn one's mind away. Read this way, the simple instruction is to find a way to "remove all concerns from the mind"
The second interpretation understands the word yesichena, as "to discuss." Plugging this meaning into the verse, the solution to a worry comes through consulting others. The Tzemach Tzedek, a leading 19th century halachic authority and Chassidic master, expounds the interpretation, "to discuss with others," noting that the conversation should be with those who are "others" only in the bodily sense, yet are united on the soul level—they can empathize.
Character Development:
In Jewish thought, human character—the heart of each person— contains seven general attributes, known asmiddot (measurements). The first is chesed (loving-kindness), commonly termed "the right hand;" the desire to bestow benevolence upon another. The left, gevurah (severity or discipline), pulls in the opposite direction, and limits the giving. The third and central function of heart, the mainstay of emotions, is termed tiferet, from which stem the traits of compassion and empathy.
[It is important to note that none of these emotions is inherently negative—it depends on the context. For example,gevurah in the form of self-discipline is a virtue, but an overly severe or stingy person is deficient and needs to strengthen the "giving-muscle" inside the character. From the other angle, misplaced or excessive kindness can be damaging. Consider the common case of parents who due to their strong affection find it hard discipline their young children. They spoil them, running to grant the child's every desire, not teaching them to clean up after themselves, or to work hard—these parents are not doing the child a favor; instead they cultivate self-centeredness, an attitude of entitlement that becomes more difficult to undo with age.
Or consider a "liberal minded" individual who, in the face of evil, wants so badly to believe that all humanity is ultimately good inside. So out of meekness and discomfort with the reality, he or she adopts the slogan of compassion for the perpetrator, with no sense of justice. "I don't want to take sides," she argues. Such failure to condemn or to label immorality is not a virtue, and often leads to impractical dangerous perspectives or policies. Along these lines, the Talmud makes a bold but wise statement: "Someone who is compassionate to the cruel will ultimately become cruel to the compassionate.
The underlying principle (and solution) is that rectified kindness and compassion must discriminate between people and channeled in proper context. Emotions must be guided by thoughtfulness, not instinctively applied. That does not mean one becomes cold and cerebral; on the contrary the mind is used to enhance emotional experience. Let's turn to discuss these emotions as they play out positively]
On Empathy:
In the above mystical system, the distinction between chesed (love) and the central emotion of tiferet (empathy) is that love evokes a natural desire to do good to another, while empathy entails actually living and experiencing the other's situation. Thus, empathy arouses a deeper necessity within the soul to shower one's altruism; it is also more difficult to feel.
In this vein, a friend recently asked me a hard question: "what if I don't have a lot of empathy? Where does that deficiency come from?"
Without daring to tackle such a complex question, I offered some general comments: The lack of empathy often stems from a sophisticated survival mentality, beginning in childhood with an ambitious parent who emphasizes that this world is a rough place; it's important to get ahead of the competition. As the mind and heart are conditioned to be self-serving, acts of "giving" are mainly to protect one's image or soothe the conscience: "I want to feel good about myself," or "I don't want to be known as a selfish person."
Red Flag Comments:
Genuine concern for others—getting too involved—seems to pose a threat to one's personal advancement. When seeing someone in trouble, the mind finds justification for why "you can't help everyone you encounter," or how the rules of life are such that "G-d helps those who help themselves." She got herself into this mess by making bad decisions; I need to focus on myself right now.
After listening to someone seeking advice, a person short empathy may remark "Don't worry; it'll all work out," feeling that with these encouraging words, they have fulfilled their dose of compassion and can freely move on. One of my favorites is when so called people of faith answer, "I'll keep you in my prayers." That statement can resemble a pious version of "not my circus, not my monkeys," insensitivity dressed in noble garb.
In Jewish ethics, if indeed you comfort with such phrases— be sure to follow through with tearful prayer! Say a chapter of tehillim (psalms); plead for that person during your next prayer. But most importantly, if you truly care, inquire how you can help with mental or material means. Then, check on your friend's progress.
Intelligent Imagination:
Next question: "How can I work on empathy?" A prime pathway to changing the heart begins with the mind. Become more curious about what the person is experiencing. Start by finding some equivalence inside yourself. Recognize that when people suffer, there are consequences—it matters in the grand scheme.
During our conversation, I discovered that the person asking "how do I work on empathy" felt bad that, although he had the means, he didn't run to volunteer to give blood or donate to the holocaust museum, seeking charitable opportunities like some of his colleagues.
I told him to worry less about those big acts. Rather, practice interacting better with people in your immediate environment, those who cross your path daily. For example let's say you go to the supermarket late at night and are busy checking out, instead of looking down on your phone, thinking about your next errand while your groceries are being bagged, understand that in front of you is a stranger trying to make a living; Though he or she may appear to have nothing in common, every person is a unique human being. Imagine, for a second, how their life is. Make conversation, try and maximize the interaction.
Every interaction is a golden opportunity to learn, to see G-d's hand moving in the world. Keep the eyes and heart open. Focus on small deeds and feelings until you progress in becoming less exclusive in your caring and connecting. This character fine-tuning is timely for the current period in Jewish calendar—"the three weeks of constriction— when the mitzvah of ahavat yisroel (love for one's fellow) is particularly important.
"There is only one quality worse than hardness of heart, and that is softness of head."— Theodore Roosevelt
How true this is when it comes to choosing candidates, understanding political and economic policies that will affect our daily lives. (Having a hard head and a soft heart in this context should be obvious to those who can discern well.)
The above principle applies even more so, when it comes to religion:
Many people associate Chabad with outreach centers. They see the results yet are our completely unaware of the origin and deep wisdom that has propelled the movement over centuries. The acronym Chabad refers to the intellectual faculties. The name was given for the emphasis placed on strengthening and sharpening the mind in order to be complete in one's spiritual aspirations and connection with G-d.
A soft head is captive to the emotions, whether constructive or negative. "A hard head" in this context is clean mental operating system that can join abstract and practical, understand subtleties and send signals to the heart to feel and to the body to act accordingly,
At the heart of the philosophy is an awareness that it is insufficient for a person—the choicest creature with a gift of intelligence— to rely on simple faith, to pray based on instinctual feeling, or to follow commandments simply out of obedience. The mind is a crucial gateway to the emotions. Through studying the inner dimensions of the Torah, in a rational and methodical manner, and with the right guide, one can arrive at an elevated understanding of the divine and an appreciation what lies behind the surface.
Hardness of heart is being insensitive to the suffering of others. Softness of head is falling in love with an ideology and being oblivious to the consequences of laws that appear to the corrupt individuals that


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This year, JFL introduced a new showcase to its stable of New Faces presentations – the Creators.
It's a way for the festival to embrace the changing face of comedy, where the term "comedian" now describes someone who makes silly Instagram videos or is a YouTube phenomenon as often as it's used to describe a stand-up.
The freshman class of Creators includes Brandon Rogers, Glenn Boozan, Good Cop Great Cop (Matt Porter & Charlie Hankin), Handsome Dancer (Matt Pavich & James Manzello), Juhahn Jones, Quinta Brunson and The Cooties (Ethan Edenburg, Jacob Jeffries, Eric Jackowitz and Raul Fernandez).
Each artist/group created a "best of" reel of their work, then sat down for a very brief Q&A that barely scratched the surface of the basics like "how did you start working together?" and "Why did you gravitate towards a digital platform?" Among the group, Glenn Bozan stood out both in terms of audience reaction to her sketches and her presence during the interview. She opened by riffing on a previous answer from Rogers, reacting to body-shaming comment trolls with, "You don't like my body? OK, you don't have to fuck it," and warming the hearts of creators on any platform by saying she's "always just done what I think is funny first and then you hope the clicks follow."
You can get a taste of Glenn from her web series with her actual Above Average office HR Manager, Is This Ok?
Congratulations to all the New Faces Creators!


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John McLaughlin & Jonas Hellborg Video from YouTube.comSubmitted by jchurchill on Thu, 2006-02-16 18:27
I am unfamiliar with this Jonas Hellborg. Now thats some awesome bass playing ... and check out that double-necked bass. One fretted and one fretless. John is a great guitarist but I knew that already from the Mahavishnu Orchestra stuff. Apparently Jonas did a stint with the Mahavishnu Orchestra too (which I did not know). Also from YouTube.com
John McLaughlin, Jonas Hellborg and Billy CobhamSubmitted by jchurchill on Thu, 2006-02-16 18:08
From YouTube.com
PBWiki makes your content stickySubmitted by jchurchill on Tue, 2006-02-07 13:43
I just have to tell you about my wiki ! I use it to tell my friends whats going on with me and they can let me know what they are up to. My wife uses it a lot to communicate with me. My friend James has been known to keep in touch with me that way too.
If you are interested you can Get your own free wiki at PBwiki.com
Check out the PBwiki tour!
My Wiki is wikiwakiwoo
Pat Robertson suggests God smote SharonSubmitted by jchurchill on Thu, 2006-01-05 21:48
Pat Robertson is a full-fledged maroon. The article says that Robertson's show airs on the ABC Family cable network and claims about 1 million viewers daily. I think "claims" is a good verb to use (claims as in the way a disease claims victims). Ah ... don't get me started.
Pat Robertson suggests God smote Sharon - Television evangelist Pat Robertson suggested Thursday that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's stroke was divine retribution for the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, which Robertson opposed. [CNN Top Stories]
Oregon Junco continues at my houseSubmitted by jchurchill on Sun, 2006-01-01 00:00
My Home Page, My Professional Page, MyWiki
I first saw this odd little bird at my feeders on December 15th when I got a single usable photo of this bird. I saw it again on December 19th and got a few more shots. Those can be seen on my "digiscoping" webpage ...
I saw the bird again today (December 31st; 1 last time in 2005). Will it be seen in 2006 ?
Family member passes away at 25 years oldSubmitted by jchurchill on Fri, 2005-12-23 19:54
My Home Page, My Professional Page, MyWiki
Our beloved niece Andrea Gattens passed away on Thursday 12/22/2005. She died of a brain aneurysm. She was only 25 years old. She was quite literally in the prime of her life, with a nice boyfriend (Dave) and having recently landed a job selling advertising for a magazine. Read the entire obituary from the attached pdf file courtesy of the Cumberland Times News.
Blogging is a processSubmitted by jchurchill on Sat, 2005-11-19 22:00
My Home Page, My Professional Page, MyWiki
I've not written much on this page. I sort of forgot about it when I started working on the Bird Club Website. There isn't as much for me to say here. I'm very happy with the new job at the Appalachian Laboratory. I've been there since late January 2005. Working with the educational project ranges from feast to famine because when there is data to be prepared it seems like deadlines are very tight and we work lots of hours and then later there are times when I have to be somewhat creative to stay busy. I'm spending a lot of time lately creating tech support content to be used in our curriculum.
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