text:
One of the things I do at DreamHost is help with hacked sites. This means when WP is hacked, I look at it, figure out how, and explain to the person how to fix it, or how to tell their tech folks what needs doing. There are occasions where I'll delete things for them, but usually that happens when there's a folder or file with weird permissions.
We have a lot of tricks with what we look for, like
base64, but recently I started to find files that missed my scan, but not my "Hey, wait, wp-mai1.php isn't a WordPress file…" check. Files like this:
$a51a0e6bb0e53a=str_rot13('tmhapbzcerff');$a51a0e6bb0e5e4=str_rot13(strrev('rqbp rq_46rfno')); eval($a51a0e6bb0e53a($a51a0e6bb0e5e4('eF6dWFtv6kYQ/it9qMQ5UlWBCVGtKg+JWozQaSrcU9+qKvIlBIGh6BBCyK/[...]'))); eval($a51a0e6bb0e53a($a51a0e6bb0e5e4('eF7tW1uvotqW/ivnYSe1d85JignSvcxJPXgDtQCXKNdO50TAJSqop7xw6fR/7zHm1CUqqGW91EMnK1FgzHG/[...]')));
Now obviously I can just add
str_rot13 to my checklist (nothing in WordPress core uses it), but .. how do I look for those eval strings?
Eval is a funny thing. In JavaScript: The Good Parts, Douglas Crockford states "eval is Evil: The eval function is the most misused feature of JavaScript. Avoid it" but he's taking JS and I'm looking at php files. So with the (current) assumption that I can ignore js I can try this(I also use ack for this half the time, depends on my mood)(You can leave out 'exclude SVN' stuff if you want to. Most users don't have it.):
grep -R --exclude-dir="\.svn" --exclude="*.js" "eval" .
That gets me a lot of files, though, and I don't want to parse what I don't need to. By the way, there's one and only one file in all of WP that uses eval() in a 'nefarious' way, and that's
./wp-admin/js/revisions-js.php, which is the WordPress easter egg. That's also the only place you'll see
p,a,c,k,e,r code. But clearly I want to look for
eval( or even
eval($ because that's more exact, and that should give me a better result.
This is a two edged sword, of course. If I'm too precise, I will miss some of their shenanigans. If I'm not close enough to what I'm looking for, I get too much. And worst of all, I don't always know what I'm looking for. Quite a lot of finding new hacks is a world where "I'll know it when I see it." So let's take it down and say I want to find no JS, nothing in .svn, and anything with eval and a paren:
grep -R --exclude-dir="\.svn" --exclude="*.js" -e 'eval(' .
That's a lot better, and in fact, this is a good start! But it's hard to read because of how long the lines are:
./foo.php:eval($a51a0e6bb0e53a($a51a0e6bb0e5e4('eF6dWFtv6kYQ/it9qMQ5UlWBCVGtKg+JWozQaSrcU9 ./foo.php:eval($a51a0e6bb0e53a($a51a0e6bb0e5e4('eF7tW1uvotqW/ivnYSe1d85JignSvcxJPXgDtQCXKN ./wp-admin/includes/class-pclzip.php:// eval('$v_result = '.$p_options[PCLZIP_CB_PRE_EXTRACT].'(PCLZIP_CB_PRE_EXTRACT, $v_local_header);'); ./wp-admin/js/revisions-js.php:eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,r){e=function(c){return(c<a?'':e(parseInt(c/a)))+((c=c%a)>35?String.fromCharCode(c+29):c.toString(36))};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--)r[e(c)]=k||e(c);k=[function(e){return r[e]}];e=function(){return'\\\\w+'};c=1};while(c--)if(k)p=p.replace(new RegExp('\\\\b'+e(c)+'\\\\b','g'),k);return p}('6(4(){2 e=6(\\'#Q\\').v();2 i=\\'\\\\\\',.R/=\\\\\\\\S-;T"<>U?+|V:W[]X{}\\'.u(\\'\\');2 o=\\'Y[]\\\\\\\\Z;\\\\\\'10,./11{}|12:"13<>?-=14+\\'.u(\\'\\');2 5=4(s){r=\\'\\';6.15(s.u(\\'\\'),4(){2 t=16.D();2 c=6.17(t,i);r+=\\'\$\\'==t?n:(-1==c?t:o)});j r};2 a=[\\'O.E[18 e.y.19.1a\\',\\'1b 1c. 1d .1e.,1f 1g\\',\\'O.E e.1h 1i 8\\',\\'9\\',\\'0\\'];2 b=[\\'<1j. 1k \$1l\\',\\'1m. 1n 1o 1p\\',\\'1q, 1r. ,1s. 1t\\'];2 w=[];2 h=6(5(\\'#1u\\'));6(5(\\'1v\\')).1w(4(e){7(1x!==e.1y){j}7(x&&x.F){x.F();j G}1z.1A=6(5(\\'#1B\\')).1C(\\'1D\\');j G});2 k=4(){2 l=a.H();7(\\'I\\'==J l){7(m){2 c={};c[5(\\'1E\\')]=5(\\'1F\\');c[5(\\'1G\\')]=5(\\'1H..b\\');6(5(\\'1I 1J\\')).1K(c);p();h.v().1L({1M:1},z,\\'1N\\',4(){h.K()});d(m,L)}j}w=5(l).u(\\'\\');A()};2 A=4(){B=w.H();7(\\'I\\'==J B){7(m){h.M(5(\\'1O 1P\\'));d(k,C)}N{7(a.P){d(p,C);d(k,z)}N{d(4(){p();h.v()},C);d(4(){e.K()},L)}}j}h.M(B.D());d(A,1Q)};2 m=4(){a=b;m=1R;k()};p=4(){2 f=6(\\'p\\').1S(0);2 g=6.1T(f.q).1U();1V(2 g=f.q.P;g>0;g--){7(3==f.q[g-1].1W||\\'1X\\'==f.q[g-1].1Y.1Z()){f.20(f.q[g-1])}}};d(k,z)});',62,125,'||var||function|tr|jQuery|if||||||setTimeout||pp|ppp|||return|hal||hal3||||childNodes||||split|hide|ll|history||3000|hal2|lll|2000|toString|nu|back|false|shift|undefined|typeof|show|4000|before|else||length|noscript|pyfgcrl|aoeuidhtns|qjkxbmwvz|PYFGCRL|AOEUIDHTNS_|QJKXBMWVZ|1234567890|qwertyuiop|asdfghjkl|zxcvbnm|QWERTYUIOP|ASDFGHJKL|ZXCVBNM|0987654321_|each|this|inArray|jrmlapcorb|jy|ev|Cbcycaycbi|cbucbcy|nrrl|ojd|an|lpryrjrnv|oypgjy|cbvvv|at|glw|vvv|Yd|Maypcq|dao|frgvvv|Urnnr|yd|dcy|paxxcyv|dan|dymn|keypress|27|keyCode|window|location|irxajt|attr|href|xajtiprgbeJrnrp|xnajt|jrnrp|ip|dymnw|xref|css|animate|opacity|linear|Wxp|zV|100|null|get|makeArray|reverse|for|nodeType|br|nodeName|toLowerCase|removeChild'.split('|'),0,{})) ./wp-admin/press-this.php: var my_src = eval( ./wp-admin/press-this.php: var my_src = eval( ./wp-admin/press-this.php: eval(data); ./wp-includes/class-json.php: * Javascript, and can be directly eval()'ed with no further parsing ./wp-includes/functions.php: if ( doubleval($bytes) >= $mag )
Okay, lets get smarter!
grep -R --exclude-dir="\.svn" --exclude="*.js" -e 'eval(' .|cut -c -80
Now I'm telling it to cut up after 80 characters, because it's easier to pick out the bad with just that much. Look:
./foo.php:eval($a51a0e6bb0e53a($a51a0e6bb0e5e4('eF6dWFtv6kYQ/it9qMQ5UlWBCVGtKg+J ./foo.php:eval($a51a0e6bb0e53a($a51a0e6bb0e5e4('eF7tW1uvotqW/ivnYSe1d85JignSvcxJ ./wp-admin/includes/class-pclzip.php:// eval('$v_result = '.$p_options[PCLZ ./wp-admin/js/revisions-js.php:eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,r){e=function(c){return(c ./wp-admin/press-this.php: var my_src = eval( ./wp-admin/press-this.php: var my_src = eval( ./wp-admin/press-this.php: eval(data); ./wp-includes/class-json.php: * Javascript, and can be directly eval()'ed with n ./wp-includes/functions.php: if ( doubleval($bytes) >= $mag )
Part of the reason this works is I know what I'm looking for. WordPress, in general, doesn't encrypt content. Passwords and security stuff, yes, but when it does that, it uses variables so you would get
eval('$v_result = '.$p_options[PCLZIP_CB_PRE_EXTRACT].'(PCLZIP_CB_PRE_EXTRACT, $v_local_header);');, which remains totally human readable. By that I mean I can see clear words that are easy to search for in a doc, or via grep or awk without being forced to copy/paste. I can remember "PCLZIP underscore CB…"
Those random characters are not human readable at all. That's how I know they're bad. Of course, if someone got clever-er, they would start naming those variables things that 'make sense' in the world of WP, and I have a constant fear that by pointing out how I can tell this is a hack, I give them ideas on how to do evil-er things to us.
It's for reasons like this that I, when faced with a hack or asked to clean one up, always perform Scorched Earth Security. I delete everything and reinstall it. I look for PHP and JS files in wp-content/uploads, or .htaccess files anywhere they shouldn't be (in clean WP, you have two at most: at the root of your site and in akismet). I make sure I download my themes and plugins from known clean locations. I'm careful. And I always change my passwords. Heck, I don't even know what mine are right now!
But none of this is static enough for me to say "This is the fix forever and ever" or "this is how you will always find the evil…" By the time we've codified and discussed best methods, the hackers have moved on. The logic of what to look for now may not last long, but the basic concept of looking for wrong and how to search for it should remain a good starting point for a while yet.
Do you have special tricks you use to find the evil? Like what Topher did to clean up a hack?


text:
We Walked Away from Our Own Crime: 'The Central Park Five'
Like the best episodes of PBS's Frontline, The Central Park Five is a superior work of journalism that re-examines an important case that has, unfortunately, grown hazy in the memories of many.
The Central Park FiveDirector: Sarah Burns, David McMahon, Ken Burns
Distributor: PBS
Length: approx. 120 min
Studio: Florentine Films/WETA Television
Year: 2012
Release date: 2013-04-13
In Stanley Kubrick's chilling, dystopian A Clockwork Orange, Malcolm McDowell and his cruel Droogs delight in attacking innocent citizens at random, including a hapless vagrant they encounter one night in a nearby park. I couldn't help but reflect on this as I watched the latest offering from Ken Burns (in collaboration with his daughter Sarah and her husband, documentarian David McMahon), The Central Park Five. Perhaps you recall the case?
On 19 April 1989, investment banker Trisha Meili was jogging through New York's often-maligned Central Park when she was set upon by an assailant (or assailants). Raped and beaten, she was left to fend for herself, until another jogger discovered her battered body during the wee hours of the morning. The detectives of Manhattan North were soon all over the case, and five youths were quickly implicated: Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise. Meili was white. The five teens – all Harlem residents, pre-gentrification -- were of African-American or Puerto Rican heritage. The fuse was lit.
One has to understand the social tinderbox that existed in the Big Apple at the close of the go-go '80s, not to mention the gaping socioeconomic chasm between rich and poor. A string of racially-charged incidents involving black residents and New York's finest had stoked flames of fear and distrust – which were hardly new – and although the city had emerged from the bad old days of the '70s fiscal meltdown and infrastructural malaise, the immense wealth generated in finance and the real estate sector didn't necessarily trickle down to all, as our then-president suggested it might.
New York Times reporter Jim Dwyer, interviewed here, claims that New York was "a completely schizophrenic, divided city" and "a social moat" seemed to exist between the haves and have-nots. Cheap 'crack' cocaine flooded the 'hoods, ramping up violence and lawlessness, precipitating a more vigorous crack down from law enforcement. The Rev. Calvin Butts, long a strident voice in the city's political affairs, argues that "the black community was under assault". And this was all before Mr. Giuliani occupied Gracie Mansion.
Nobody – including the boys themselves – denies that they were in the park that evening. They had the misfortune to be in the vicinity of – and witnesses to – criminal activity perpetrated by others; a band of thuggish youths harassed passerby and apparently beat a homeless individual, in an eerie evocation of McDowell's gang of miscreants in Clockwork Orange.
Although McCray was unacquainted with the other four, it wasn't long before all were collared, and in a now-predictable feeding frenzy, media hysteria resulted. We see the Donald, our inimitable Mr. Trump, no stranger to controversy, exhorting for the death penalty, even though the accused – labeled by many a "wolf pack" -- were still minors. Indeed, a new term was coined for the attack on Meili: "wilding". A release of the attack's chronology to the press hardly helped matters. But most damning of all, the boys ultimately confessed to the heinous act. Case closed, yes?
Not exactly. Like most, I'm inclined to assume that any sane person who can be placed at or near the scene of a crime and then confesses must therefore be guilty. We know now, however, that certain individuals, under immense pressure from harried investigators, and gullible enough to believe they would be freed, will sometimes cave and admit guilt falsely. Though few would accept this at the time, that's clearly what happened to these boys who would later be called "The Central Park Five".
McMahon and the Burnses demonstrate that a serious analysis of the confessions reveals numerous flaws, including inaccurate chronologies and mistakes regarding the victim's attire. Also, the ground evidence indicated that only one or two individuals could have left the trail where Meili was dragged from the pathway.
The true culprit, a vicious ne'er-do-well named Matias Reyes, is arrested that summer, but it's not until years later that his casual jailhouse confession alerts the powers-that-be to the possible innocence of the Central Park Five, who by this time, have been imprisoned for years. The boys later recanted, but a jury had already found all guilty, and the boys were refused plea deals. McCray's attorney, Michael Joseph, describes his client as "calm, timid, non-aggressive", but that wasn't sufficient to sway juror opinion. During the trial, Juror #5, Ronald Gold, held some significant doubts, but caved under duress; like the accused, he was anxious to return home, to escape the pressure cooker of the trial.
Extras included are of adequate length, as so much is already told in the film. We hear brief commentaries from Sarah Burns and David McMahon, as well as Ken himself, his hair forever ebony. Kevin Richardson claims to have been "coached" by his interrogators, and a few clips from the film are repeated, as is often the case. I was surprised to learn that The Central Park Five used only five full-time crew members, but what do I know?
In "The Subpoena", we're told that municipal prosecutors subpoenaed the filmmakers' notes, and that a 2003 civil lawsuit filed by the five defendants remains unresolved. In "A New York Wilding", Burns himself reiterates that the New York of that era, and perhaps today, was "two cities". He also reminds us that the exoneration of the men received only a smattering of the press coverage that their arrests and conviction did. Indeed, many people seemed unaware that they had been cleared, and he frequently encountered an attitude of, "Well, they must have done something".
Lastly, in "After The Central Park Five", the men discuss meeting Sarah Burns, and the process by which she gained their trust. Also, Raymond Santana mentions the tearful audiences at the Toronto Film Festival who embraced the story.
The genesis of The Central Park Five is a non-fiction book by Sarah Burns, which she thought would be a terrific basis for a film. And why not, with the one of the most celebrated documentarians in the world as your paterfamilias? Burns' name seems synonymous with top-shelf historical examinations, and I imagine he's swimming in Emmys, with perhaps an occasional Peabody floating by. The Civil War vaulted him onto the map, and he's been churning out dependable work ever since. In fact, his reputation is such that homages/satires? like In Smog and Thunder and Confederate States of America have popped up in theaters over the past decade.
Usually, Ken Burns chooses broader, more-encompassing subject matter, and of course his daughter was the primary force behind making The Central Park Five. For one thing, everyone associated with the case is still with us, so star-studded voice re-enactments are absent here. However, all NYPD personnel involved declined any participation in the project, to no one's surprise.
Like the best episodes of PBS's Frontline, The Central Park Five is a superior work of journalism that re-examines an unfortunate case that has grown hazy in the memory banks of many. Although narrower in scope than past work from Burns, I wouldn't mind if this project – and let's remember it was conceived by his daughter Sarah – hinted at more specialized topics they might collaborate on in the future.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Capitol Pressroom
July 31, 2019: Connect NY Screenagers
August 1, 2019
A special presentation of the PBS show Connect: NY…
We explore screen addiction among teenagers and hear about a film being presented at schools around the country called, "Screenagers".
While there is no official definition for screen addiction, there is research that links social media use to depression, but like so much around technology it's not conclusive. In fact, that's a theme of today's program: more research is needed to answer questions like, "why are some children more vulnerable to screen time than others?"
Today we spoke with 3 experts about developing a social contract with your teenager; creating an open dialogue and navigating a problem that we adults frequently suffer from too.
• Dr. Michael Robb, Director of Research at Common Sense Media
• Bonnie Russell, Immediate past president of the New York State PTA
• Dr. David O'Rourke, District Superintendent of the Erie 2 BOCES


text:
[:en]Prior to the "big day" aka diploma exam day, I ask my students to do three steps in terms of viva voce preparation for me (assuming they have already done all other steps I have given them in the course of diploma exam preparation). And I would like to share with you these three important steps that would give any candidates feel much more prepared and confident to perform well in the coming exam.
The three steps to prepare for a successful viva voce session are:
- Think
- Write
- Speak
- Think
THINK about what and how you are going to answer the questions the examiners pose during the exam. I always give my students a bunch of potential questions the examiners will ask. It is very important to prepare ahead. Don't just think, "oh, I will know how to answer them during the exam." No way! Even you have the information at hand/in your head, it is crucial that you think about how to put the information together in a clear, simple presentable speech. And that leads to the second step..
WRITE. THEM. DOWN. Seriously. This is the next step you must do especially when you worry a lot about how to say what you need to say in the real exam. I hear a lot of this or a variation of this, "oh, I will know how to answer them because I have the information in my head." Really? I don't think so. If you cannot write them down, you cannot answer them. It doesn't have to be written in full paragraph/sentences (although it certainly helps), but at least in point form, using clear, simple sentence structure. And for those who are not native speakers: this is NOT an oral English exam, so don't worry too much about the grammatical mistakes or trying to sound like a native speaker or Shakespeare! – actually they might not even understand you if you speak like the latter anyway. The easiest way is to speak clearly and slowly in simple sentence (just use present tense in all circumstances to make it easier for yourself when in doubt), so that you can present your ideas through effectively and get points for that! I do advise those who worry about their oral English ability to write out everything in full sentences first, not to memorize them, but to…
3. Speak
SAY IT OUT LOUD! It is very important for anyone to not only practice their speaking, but also practice talking about music. I have met so many musicians/candidates who might know a lot about music yet fail to deliver their ideas through speech. It is great you can perform well for the recital part, but you do also need to speak well in your viva voce too! Therefore, I always advise my students to TALK TO ME in our lessons, especially in the last few sessions prior to the exam. I ask them questions, and they give me answers in terms of the general repertoire, background of pieces, form and analysis, composer information, etc etc. I also check their programme notes and pose some questions based on what they wrote (and help with some editing- they do have to write their own notes first!). I encourage students to practice talking out loud at home for the viva voce practice and come back with the answers so I can help correct the content as well as sentence structure. That way students feel much more prepared and confident going to the real exam session.
I welcome any questions on the viva voce/programme notes/piano diploma exams in general.
A guided video to how to revise for your viva voce exam part:
Teresa Wong[:]


text:
Inspired by tangram, Lucent is based on seven shapes derived from a perfect square. The relationship between the shapes are altered by the use of transparency; the overlap creates secondary shapes. In addition to the basic shapes, shared individual parts make consistent appearances in creating the letterform.
Yachun conducted this type design exercise while studying at Cornish College of the Arts in 2015.


text:
Business Admin Qualifications
ideal for those working in an office environment and who wish to gain a qualification whilst they work
Business Administration
Scottish Vocational Qualifications (SVQs) in Business and Administration are designed to equip those working in business and administration with the skills and knowledge they need to demonstrate competence in their job role. They are ideal for those working in an office environment and who wish to gain a qualification whilst they work.
Modern Apprenticeship in Business Administration
This suite of qualifications can be undertaken as a Modern Apprenticeship. Modern Apprenticeships are for existing or new employees of all ages. It is a great way to get a funded or part funded qualification whilst you work.
SVQ2 Business Administration (SCQF5)
Level 2 involves a good range of activities with some degree of complexity and limited autonomy. Mandatory Units cover undertaking allocated work, communicating and managing own performance in a business environment.
There is a wide range of optional Units including document production, supporting events, meetings and diaries, customer service, IT and various specialist administrative functions.
SVQ3 in Business Administration (SCQF6)
At Level 3, candidates have a broad range of activities with significant complexity, responsibility and autonomy, often in a supervisory or team-leading role.
Mandatory Units cover managing workload, communicating and planning, and improving own performance in a business environment. There is again a wide range of optional Units including work responsibilities, document production and design, managing events, customer service, managing business resources, and managing information and data.
SVQ4 in Business Administration (SCQF8)
At Level 4, SCQF level 8 candidates will normally be managers with responsibility for staff and/or financial or other resources.
Mandatory units involve managing and being accountable for own performance, and managing work and communication in a business environment. Optional units include business support services, project management, managing business resources, innovation and change, managing Information and data, customer service and communication.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I gain the qualification?
It's up to you!
One of the benefits of gaining your qualification with us is that we will fit around the needs of the candidate and the organisation they work for. You will see your tutor once a month. You can either come to our training room or our tutor will visit you. If you live at a distance then we are happy to overcome barriers by setting up regular Skype calls.
As this is a vocational qualification you will gather evidence of the topics from work you do. For example if you are covering a document on producing documents you might provide a word document that you have created, an email to your manager asking what is required or an email to a team member with the completed document.
It's as easy as that! There are times where your tutor may want you to do a piece of writing about something you have completed within your workplace. The tutor may also observe you undertake a specific task or ask your line manager to provide a witness testimony.
How long will it take?
One of the first considerations is always 'how long will it take?' Undertaking any qualification is a big commitment and you will want to be re-assured that you have time to complete it.
One of the benefits of studying with us is that there are no 'get this to me by this date or you will not pass'. We work around the commitments of both our learners and the organisations in which they work.
Some people take a year and some complete their qualification in less than 6 months. If you had two hours a week to dedicate to producing the evidence and work needed you could easily complete in 6 to 8 months for a full SVQ.


text:
Blogger Stacy Becker has released an interesting article disputing the claim that "one in five" relationships have started on an online dating site. According to her research, she says that number might be inflated, which is to be expected. When have statistics NOT been fudged for the benefit of the company behind them, right?
In her post, she goes through five questions:
1. Is it really one in five?
2. Is one in five really a lot?
3. What actually constitutes a relationship?
4. What are the chances of finding love through an online dating service?
5. How much work does it take to be a 'one in five'?
Based on her research, she seems to believe that finding love online, while not impossible, is definitely much tougher than the ads claim. For example, she refutes the one in five claim, citing a 2011 survey that said while 14% of cohabitating couples met online, only 38% of those had met on an online dating site… which puts "one in five" down to a measly 6%.
She went on to state this interesting statistic:
The U.S. study reported that 17% of those who used an online dating service said they had been in a long-term relationship with or married someone they met through a dating website. This seems not too bad. But the other end of the equation is perhaps more interesting. The international and U.S. studies report that considerably more than half of online daters (63% and 56%) meet zero people. None.
The article goes on to discuss the odds of one of your "matches" on a dating site actually being someone you forge a relationship with. All in all, the article does not present online dating in the most successful light.
However, from our point of view, dating isn't about statistics, whether online or not. Although Match used the somewhat inflated "1 in 5" statistic to promote the online dating industry, the fact of the matter is finding love online OR offline is all about chance. While there may have been a statistic to predict if you'd bump into your future husband at a bar, people don't discuss it, because meting at a bar needs no advertisement. While Stacy Becker may have done a bang up job refuting Match.com's over-the-top statement, tearing it down to shreds only does one thing: it shows that statistics are meaningless, and that includes hers.


text:
Hey everyone, so, I have this girlfriend who never actually answer my question about something. It is not like the question is about her deepest privacy or anything. It is just like one those question when you just offer your gf somethin and then she refuses. But the problem is, she never actually telling me the real reason. And I have to try to make guesses, and when I said, "It's not about it, isn't it? But about....", she only answer, "haha", like she was saying, yep you're right haha.
I've been telling her that it is okay to tell me the truth and I would never be mad at her, because why would I? If she has her reasons, well, she can have it, it is her right to do that. But it keeps happening everytime, and it is so frustating sometimes, like, why cant she just tell me?? Is it soo hard to tell the truth?? I wont be mad, or judge, or make fun of it, I just want to understand you more. That's all.
Look, all i want is for her to be happy. I would gladly do anything for her, but I am afraid that there is somethin that is keeping her for telling me the real reason. Am i just overthinkng? or too curious? is it wrong that I want to know the reasons? Or is she just dont want to offend me and I should be glad for it?
I need to know what to do about it? Should I keep forcing her to tell me? or just let it go although you know she is just making excuses. But tell you what, it huts me everytime whenshe did it.
What should I do?


text: Nine former classmates from the Batavia High School Class of 1943 celebrate turning 90 years old this year. Pictured in the front row are Lorraine (Courtright) Baxter (from left to right), Josephine (Giacomarra) Simone, Betty Jo (Benski) Castner, Betty (Johnson) Hansford, Mildred (Beckman) Miller, Gertrude (Theile) Ruppenthal, Lorraine (Heidelberg) Anderson and Carol (Leland) Honaker (back row). Pauline (Johnson) Carlstedt is not pictured.


text:
Please note: This application only currently works with PC computers.
Bill4Time can integrate with QuickBooks Pro, Premier, Enterprise, and Online for PC.
What is imported into QuickBooks
Finalized invoice totals - time and expense totals, any payments, and adjustments made in Bill4Time. No line items or details of the entries import, only the totals of what was billed.
This is a one-way integration from B4T to QuickBooks.
Follow these steps to download the application:
From your Bill4Time system, scroll down and click the Downloads link
- Click the link to the QuickBooks Connector. A file will download
- Click on the download and follow the step-by-step instructions
- After loading, the application will start automatically
- Click here for the Quick Start Guide to give you step-by-step instructions on setting up your application and linking it to your QuickBooks account.
What if I want to import again or exclude items from import?
If you would like to exclude items from import or if you would like to import items again you can contact support and request for items to be either Flagged or Unflagged.
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This month, at a sprawling sanctuary in South Carolina, an ape named Maui celebrated his 26th birthday.
Not that he wanted anyone to make a fuss about it.
You see, while staff at the International Primate Protection League (IPPL) sang "Happy Birthday" at breakfast on December 8, they were careful not to disrupt the gibbon's daily routine.
Over the years, Maui has made it very clear he likes nothing more than routine. Just baked potatoes every morning, please.
"Sweet potatoes. Not just regular potatoes. Every single morning," Shirley McGreal, founder of IPPL, tells The Dodo.
And the rest of the day clambering on ropes with his best friend, another gibbon, named Speedy.
With maybe a break here and there to tinker with a super-secret invention involving plastic tubes.
What's a day on the calendar to an ape who's been savoring every second of sanctuary life since he was rescued from a crumbling zoo in 1996?
Maui is among 37 gibbons at the sanctuary - the only refuge in the U.S. dedicated strictly to the primates.
But that's about where the strictness ends. Maui, like his friends, are free to while away the day any way they want to.
It's a far cry from his old life at the Maui Zoo.
"The zoo life compared to sanctuary life is completely different," Meg McCue Jones, senior animal caregiver at IPPL, tells The Dodo. "We're not getting the normal stressors like the animals would get at a zoo. They're not being gawked at. People running around. People yelling. It's a pretty low-stress environment here."
Before the zoo closed its doors in 1996, Maui - along with his mother, Jade, and father, Palu-Palu - were little more than exhibits.
Just things to be gawked at for the price of admission.
When the zoo shut down - McGreal says over animal welfare violations - the sanctuary negotiated to take the entire family.
Today, Palu-Palu and Jade are still living at the same sanctuary - but not in the same enclosure, since gibbons, like humans, look to kick out their children when they become teenagers.
The sanctuary is home to more than zoo refugees. There are former lab animals here too, as well as gibbons who survived attempts to turn them into pets. And while the average life span of a gibbon in the wild is around 25 years, many of these residents live much longer. Some have even reached well into their 50s.
None of them look a day over 18.
"Gibbons have a benefit over us humans," McGreal says. "They don't look old."
They don't even get wrinkles. They don't go gray.
Maybe it's because they don't give a lick about birthdays.
But at 26 years old, Maui is a testament to the rich, beautiful life an animal can have when he's left to be what he was born to be.
So happy birthda--- Errr... have a good day, Maui.
If you would like to support the International Primate Protection League in its mission to save gibbons around the world, consider making a donation.


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Fox have rewarded their comedy New Girl with a seventh and final season.
Created by Liz Meriwether, New Girl stars Zooey Deschanel, Jake Johnson, Max Greenfield, Lamorne Morris and Hannah Simone. The viewership is down but the fact that it is an internal property and has been a backbone of the schedule for a number of years means that Fox is willing to let the show go out on its own term with a final season that is believed to consist of 8 episodes.
SOURCE: Variety.com


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Vietnam is among countries with alarming hepatitis B and hepatitis C infection rates in the world.
The Southeast Asian country is ranked the second country with high rate of hepatitis B and the third with high rate of hepatitis C in the world. Worse, the two kinds of hepatitis are easily transmitted and threaten human health condition largely.
Rooms in the National Tropical Disease hospital in Hanoi are overloaded with patients suffering from hepatitis; some of them were hospitalized late when the disease became complicated and is threatening their lives.
Hepatitis B is the leading cause of liver cancer, with 25 percent of patients developing cirrhosis and then liver cancer if they are untreated.
Most people do not suffer any symptoms during the acute infection phase, but some people have acute illness with symptoms that last several weeks, including yellowing of the skin and eyes, dark urine, extreme fatigue, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.
Worse, the rate of people with hepatitis B and C in Vietnam is high. Study results conducted by the Ministry shows that the rate of Vietnamese having hepatitis B accounts for 6 percent of the whole population and the rate of hepatitis C from 0.2 percent to 4 percent.
Deputy Head of the Department of Preventive Medicine Do Huu Tuan said that currently the country has approximately 8.7 million people having hepatitis B and around one million suffering hepatitis C.
More than 23,000 people died of hepatitis B and nearly 7,000 people died of hepatitis C meanwhile the two hepatitis are easily transmitted among people in the community. Director of the National Tropical Disease Hospital Dr. Nguyen Van Kinh warned both hepatitis are mainly transmitted through blood, from mother to children during birth, or via unprotected sexual intercourse, according to the department. Compared to hepatitis B, hepatitis C transmitted silently and has no sign yet it leaves more severe consequences.
Still there has been no vaccine for hepatitis C and medication for the disease is costly. Medical experts said that treatment for hepatitis C in a few months cost VND200 million (US$ 177,940,000) – a big sum for poor people - because patients must take these drugs which each costs up to VND4-5 million. Many poor people can not afford the treatment so they discontinued; accordingly, hepatitis leads to cirrhosis and liver cancer.
Upon the reality of high rate of hepatitis in the country, Dr. Nguyen Van Kinh warned to preventive hepatitis people should be immunized especially newly-born babies should be injected vaccine against hepatitis within 24 hours after birth and further vaccine as per schedule. Those who are infected should go to medical facilities periodically as per doctors' advice.
The Ministry of Health will have treatment guideline for treatment of hepatitis, update new medicine and propose medical insurance company to cover the treatment to reduce a part of patients' burden.


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Ariadna, from Poland, has an excellent fashion blog called Help! I have nothing to wear: http://helpihavenothingtowear.blogspot.com and she agreed to republish some of her posts here at mantyhose.net – if you want to be published as well, just scroll down to the end of the page for more info.
This is how she commented this styling: 'Colorful, long, short, flared, floral… shops are full of different dresses, but for the years the queen is only one – little black dress. This one I bought at SheIn.com. I like it in the company of equally timeless additions: the elegant black high heels, pantyhose and stylish jewelry.'
Go to the next page by clicking on the number below!


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In May, Duval County School Board voted 3-3 on a proposal to close Bank of America Learning Academy and save $310,000 annually.
Because of the tie vote, Chairman W.C. Gentry announced that the measure had failed, saving the small, exclusive school from closure.
Those in the crowd opposed to closing celebrated the outcome and burst into tears of joy.
Well, turns out three votes are all that was needed to close the school.
"It did pass," Gentry said, "and we didn't know it passed."
An obscure law that applies only to counties with a population between 800,000 and 900,000, states that in the case of a school board tie, the chairman's vote decides the matter.
"Our district fits that law," Gentry said. "We did not know that at the time that we took that vote."
Board member Martha Barrett, an employee of Bank of America, abstained from the vote, leaving six members to settle the matter. Gentry voted to close the school, so based on the law, the school should have been closed because of the vote.
"I take responsibility for it," Gentry said. "I'm the chairman. I called the vote wrong. Ignorance of the law is no excuse."
The law was discovered by Karen Chastain, who works in the city General Counsel's Office and is the board's attorney.
Gentry said the board agreed the only fair way to handle the matter was to vote again. If the outcome is another 3-3 tie, Gentry's deciding vote will determine the school's fate.
The board will vote at its regular monthly meeting Tuesday. Closing the school will save the district $310,000 annually.
Gentry said he would again vote to close the school, primarily because the district is about to explore the closure of traditional small schools in the community.
"We can't in good faith do that when we're spending several hundred thousand dollars a year to subsidize this school," he said.
Gentry said he wouldn't be willing to consider the closure of any other small school as long as the district was supporting the Bank of America Learning Academy.
The school is run by the school district under a provision of state law that allows districts to partner with local businesses to form schools. The school was originally part of an agreement with Barnett Bank, which eventually became Bank of America.
The school has been open for 10 years, and only Bank of America employees can send their students to the school.
Board members Becki Couch, Gentry and Fel Lee voted to close the school, while Betty Burney, Tommy Hazouri and Paula Wright voted against the school's closure.
Topher Sanders: (904) 359-4169


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This Honda PC800 may not be the nicest looking one, but I can't stop talking about how comfortable this ride is. It goes where I want it to go and general handling is sooooo much better. This is a promising thing for when I am going to buy an ST1100 or ST1300.
So far, the only two problems I have with this bike are the windscreen that is too low and riding when having strong side wind. Especially the latter can become rather scary, to be honest. I'm already a little bit too light for this bike and when you then get a strong wind from the side, the bike goes everywhere.
But yes, while I am still planning on buying a small motorbike for quick city riding, I am very glad I took the chance on this model.


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I finished and submitted my paper on the commercial transformation of world soccer/football. So with that off my desk, I'm getting back to thinking through the Braudelian distinction between market life and capitalism. I'd intended - based on my every-other-week posting goal for the year - to have something up last Sunday. For the sake … Continue reading Scale and Logic of Framebuilders: A Typology
Category: Uncategorized
Spitballing and Speculating
I still owe all you readers a quick 2x2 analytical table using the different dimensions of capitalism and markets (and thinking about the scale of the business enterprise) to categorize different kinds of builders and brands. My spring break is drawing to a close tonight and, fortunately, I made good progress on my commercialization of football … Continue reading Spitballing and Speculating
Two week deadline again...and running up short. Making progress on my political-economy of world soccer article manuscript, but this leaves me short on the framebuilding stuff. Been thinking about it, though, and had hoped to build on the Braudelian markets vs. capitalism material from past two posts.You can probably tell where I'm headed with that … Continue reading Placeholdin'
"Operationalizing" Braudel
First off, big picture update here.Though I missed it by a day, I'm trying to stick to this every-2-weeks posting thing, no matter how painful. Two weeks go by so fast (between teaching, administrative stuff, going on school field trips and so forth) and I'm finding that trying to write to this schedule is a … Continue reading "Operationalizing" Braudel
Markets vs. Capitalism & Fernand Braudel
In previous posts (yeah, from a year or two ago...but that's still previous!), I've used - without explanation - the term "capitalism" when trying to think through the position of handmade bike builders and the bike industry more broadly and I'd like to circle back to that a bit in this post and ones to … Continue reading Markets vs. Capitalism & Fernand Braudel
2 Weeks?! Article Update
Just passed the 2-week mark since my last writing...which means I owe myself a blog post here. I do have a good reason for not posting: finally finished the revision work on this academic article manuscript and resubmitted it to the journal this morning (technically still on the weekend, with today as a holiday)! Revising … Continue reading 2 Weeks?! Article Update
Starting 2017 Off Right
Well, at least I'm starting it with a plan - and one that might provide some public accountability! Yes, I went the entirety of 2016 without posting to this blog. Hard to believe, but there you have it. I drafted quite a few things and stayed busy with actual work (interviews, listening to interviews, … Continue reading Starting 2017 Off Right
Estimating Handbuilt Bike Segment Size: Next Steps
The first steps in my "estimating the size of the handbuilt segment" effort were pretty successful in soliciting some useful feedback directly and on the forums...while also kicking off some interesting discussions (on list and off) about how to delineate and categorize different parts of the segment as a whole. Knowing the scale of the … Continue reading Estimating Handbuilt Bike Segment Size: Next Steps
How Big is the Handbuilt Bike Segment? Part III
Last time we looked at the total number of handmade bike builders in the U.S....which turns out to be a pretty big number. Turning to output and value, estimation is even more challenging; without direct observation, we must rely largely on informed-insider opinion and observation. The following, then, is intended only as a "thinking out loud" … Continue reading How Big is the Handbuilt Bike Segment? Part III
How Big is the Handbuilt Bike Segment? Part II
Last time we worked through the bike picture outline of the bike trade in the U.S. The really short story is that a lot of bikes are sold overall ("a lot" - that is - if you only took "bike shops" as your frame of reference), most of them for kids, most of them comparatively … Continue reading How Big is the Handbuilt Bike Segment? Part II


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Curriculum Policy Statement
The work within physical education is designed to support, contribute to and complement the aims of the school by providing pupils with the opportunity to achieve the highest possible standards of which they are capable.
To this end, physical education provides equality of access for all pupils to a programme of broad, balanced and suitably challenging learning experiences. The KS3 curriculum is designed to promote and develop every pupil's ability to acquire, develop, select and apply knowledge, skills and understanding, alongside their knowledge and appreciation of fitness and health.
Two hours per week of high quality Physical Education in both KS3 & KS4
The KS3 curriculum aims to build on pupils' work in KS2 and provide them with a comprehensive physical education programme through which they can assess their own abilities and interests in relation to the activities they experience, and to the roles they adopt within those activities. Through a balance of individual, co-operative, collaborative and competitive learning situations, pupils will be encouraged to appreciate their own strengths and weaknesses, and respond appropriately and sympathetically to the needs of others.
Experiencing success, and receiving acknowledgement of that success, are considered crucial to the promotion of a pupil's self-esteem and sense of well-being, and consequently to their enjoyment and appreciation of physical activity now and into adult life. Differentiated and developmental curriculum plans support a curriculum that is sympathetic to pupils' needs, and sets high levels of expectation for every pupil relative to their ability and experience.
Physical education aims to provide a supportive learning environment in which each pupil will develop increasing self-confidence and a desire to strive for his/her highest possible levels of achievement. The combination of appropriately challenging targets, a diversity of teaching and learning approaches, and tasks and resources suitably differentiated to meet the needs of all pupils aim to support high standards of attainment, motivation and participation.
Curricular Aims
- To extend each pupil's knowledge and understanding, and to develop his/her ability to perform skills and actions with increasing control, fluency and originality (acquiring and developing).
- To develop pupils' ability to make informed and considered judgements regarding their selection, combination and application of skills, knowledge and understanding in increasingly complex and demanding practical situation (selecting and applying).
- To develop pupils' observation skills, and increase their understanding and appreciation of movement principles, to allow them to effectively analyse, assess and make improvements to their own and others' work (improving and evaluating).
- To promote pupils' understanding and appreciation of the relevance and importance of fitness and health in relation to practical performance and develop their ability to apply knowledge of fitness, health and training principles to assess and improve their own and others work (fitness and health).
- To develop pupils' knowledge and understanding of safe practice, and their ability to demonstrate consistently due consideration for their own and others safety and well being.
- To develop each pupil's ability to work independently, and as a sympathetic, supportive and positive member of a group, showing respect for themselves, other pupils and adults
Out of hours policy statement
The department believes that out of hours learning has an important role to play in raising pupils' levels of achievement and extending their opportunities for participation beyond those afforded them within the curricular programme.
The out of hours programme complements and supplements the curricular programme, allowing pupils to build on curricular experiences and learning, and have access to new activities and learning environments. Out of hours participation is viewed as an important contributor to the development of good exercising habits and due consideration is given to the inclusion of activities within the local community to which pupils have access, or will have access on leaving school.
A co-ordinated network of provision inclusive of local clubs and neighbouring schools provides the optimum use of facilities and expert leaders, and extends pupils' experience of such. Inter-school activities and competitions provide valuable opportunities for pupils to meet with peers and adults outside the confines of the local community, develop inter-personal skills and increase their self-confidence.
The programme caters for pupils' differing interests and preferences by providing a balance of team and individual activities and competitive and non-competitive activities. Pupils are provided with opportunities to further develop their preferred roles of performer, coach, organiser and/or official.
Every pupil is afforded equal access to out of hours provision, irrespective of their age, gender or socio-economic background. All have equality of opportunity to extend their skills, knowledge and understanding in accordance with the subject's 'Equal Opportunities Policy'. Every pupil who takes part regularly in an out of hours activity is provided with the opportunity to represent the school in that activity, as appropriate. Representation is not based solely on ability criteria; commitment and enthusiasm are considered to be equally important prerequisites for selection. An extensive and co-ordinated programme of inter-school activities, events and competitions aim to maximise opportunities for participation by all in out of hours learning.
The achievements of all groups and teams irrespective of their age and gender makeup, are acknowledged within school and in the local community. The participation and accomplishments of individual students are given due recognition in their personal profile and Record of Achievement.
Out of Hours Activities:-
Athletics, Badminton, Basketball, Cricket, Cross-country, Exercise & Fitness, Dance, Football, Hockey, Netball, Rounders, Table-tennis, Tennis


text: So after about a 6 month blogging hiatus, I've returned to the coast for my final semester of school and thought maybe I should just check in and say hello! It is a lovely foggy good-smelling morning at UPS, and I'm awake before any of my friends (surprise surprise). I've got a bunch more pictures from Europe that I'm working on making into a coffeetable book, but I'm not going to post them here now. Perhaps I'll try to get them posted if I have time later in the semester. I also have some fabulous pictures from the summer trip to yellowstone that I will get up eventually, but for now, I'm just checking in and offering a quick update. I hope everyone had a lovely summer and will have a wonderful back-to-school.


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Instrumental analytical packages with large number of elements
For geochemical exploration of the base metals, we recommend aqua regia digestion of the sample and multi-element analysis by ICP-OES (Method 511P). The package can be upgraded by additional ICP-OES-elements or ICP-MS- analysis to include larger set of elements and lower detection limits (Method 511PM).
Alternative package which includes elements Au and Pt, is method 515PM. This method employes also a larger subsample weight of 5g.
Although aqua regia is a powerful leaching agent, it still produces a partial dissolution for many elements. The dissolution of silicates and refractory minerals (e.g. baryte, chromite and other spinelles, zircon, cassiterite, tourmaline) varies depending on different factors. Most of the sulphide, carbonate and oxide minerals (ore forming minerals) are, however, dissolved. The data will also give information on alteration and weathering of rock and till samples.
Multi-acid near-total digestions and ICP-OES and ICP-MS –analysis (306P and 306PM or 307M) are also available for geochemical samples.
As geochemical methods have been optimised for analysis of large set of elements preferably with low detection limits, they have analytical limitations on very high concentrations. Thus the laboratory has defined upper concentration level for each element. When this concentration is exdeeded, a more suitable ore grade assay method should be used for checking the grades. The optional method for most elements is sodium peroxide fusion with ICP-OES finish (method 720P). Sample with high grades of Ag (>200ppm) , should be analysed by Fire Assay -method with gravimetric finish (method 704G) and high concentrations of sulphur (>5%) should be checked with combustion technique (method 810L).
The multi-element packages may have to be complemented with element-specific, individual method for elements or components which cannot be analysed by these analytical packages with compromised digestion/pretreatment and instrumental methods. These methods include high -grade sulphur-, carbon-, Hg-analyses, physical parametres like loss-on-igntion, specific gravity, saturation magnetisation (SATMAGAN) etc.
The analytical schema may require analyses of the elements in specified mineralogical phase e.g. Ni in sulphides and silicates, carbonate and non-carbonate carbon. For these analyses look Additional analyses.
Ask more
Business Director
Tel. 050 470 4608
Business Director
Tel. 040 720 2231


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The 2020 Hyundai Palisade is easy to drive. That was my first takeaway during the recent press preview.
It's a large vehicle, with seating up to 8, but it doesn't drive big. And even as a petite female, I was able to adjust the driver's seat and steering wheel to create optimal comfort and visibility.
My second takeaway: The Palisade has a lot of innovative technology.
At the base trim, you'll get standard features such as automatic emergency braking, lane keep assist, adaptive cruise control and Apple CarPlay/Android Auto.
Available goodies include some of the usual suspects such as navigation, head up display, a 10-inch infotainment screen, blind spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, a surround-view monitor, wireless charging, up-level Harman Kardon premium sound system and up to seven USB ports.
There are three new tech features, however, that deserve a special shout out:
- A dual Bluetooth connection that allows you to pair two phones to the vehicle at once, one for phone calls and one for audio streaming.
- A blind-view monitor, which shows an image of your blind spot in the available 12.3-inch full-digital instrument cluster as soon as you activate either your right or left turn signal.
- An ultrasonic rear-seat reminder that detects movement in the back seat of the vehicle and sends a text message to your phone so that you don't forget a child or a pet in the vehicle.
With all the available technology, there was one tech miss I need to address. The Palisade comes equipped with a speed limit sign reader, and it will automatically change your cruise control speed whenever the speed limit changes. While this is cool in theory, the fail is this: It only works if your cruise control is set exactly to the speed limit.
Ford has a similar system in its new Explorer, and it allows you to set a tolerance plus or minus 10 mph, and it will adjust your speed on federal highways to that tolerance level. For example, if you normally set your cruise control +9 mph, and the speed limit changes from 55 mph to 65 mph, your cruise control will automatically adjust to 74 mph.
Now that is cool.
Moving away from technology, the Palisade comes standard with cloth seating surfaces and a bench seat in the middle row at the base SE trim. If you opt for the SEL trim, cloth captain's chairs are standard, but the bench can still be added back in for a $0-cost option.
One of my biggest beefs with most three-row SUVs is access to the third row. Many SUVs make it difficult to move the middle row seats, and the space created to access the third row is barely large enough for an infant to crawl through.
But Hyundai has made it clear that the Palisade's third row is not a penalty box. With a one-touch button, it's easy to move the second row to create a gap big enough for an average sized adult to climb through.
Third-row Legroom is decent, the seats are comfortable for moderate drives, and there are cup holders and available USB ports.
Plus, that middle row is light enough to slide back in place without too much fuss – which a lot of the other SUVs in this class haven't managed.
Palisade only has one powertrain option: a 3.8-liter V-6 that delivers 291 horsepower and 262 pound-feet of torque.
For simplicity's sake, this makes buying a Palisade easy as choices are limited, but it does put Hyundai's newest SUV at a slight disadvantage when competitors such as Ford Explorer have hybrids and sport-tuned options available as well.
On the plus side, Hyundai's V-6 is a good one. It has decent accelerations for passing and merges. It's not heart-flipping fast, but it gets the job done.
I say all this with a couple caveats: We weren't driving at high altitudes and there were only two of us in the vehicle.
Overall ride and handling are smooth and competent. We traversed gravel roads, pockmarked construction zones and smooth highways, and the Palisade managed each with equal aplomb. It also feels much lighter than its 4,000 pounds, and retains some nimbleness.
One interesting aside: We drove both an SEL and a Limited model, and we noted that the Limited, while it handled the same, was slightly quieter in terms of outside noise entering the cabin.
Because of the close relationship of the Palisade with the Kia Telluride (same size, same platform, same powertrain), the obvious question arises: What sets them apart?
While I haven't driven the Telluride and can't speak to handling, the look of both vehicles is decidedly different. And while Telluride is positioned more as an adventure-ready vehicle, Palisade falls more on the premium side.
Additionally, there are three features available on the Palisade that are not on the Telluride: the 12.3-inch behind-the-wheel TFT display, a power folding third row and the shift-by-wire transmission.
Curiously, it's also worth noting that the Telluride has a higher starting price, but the all-in, top-tier price caps out less than the Palisade.
The Palisade is standard as a front-wheel-drive vehicle, and it will have three available trims:
- SE ($31,550): Standard with 8-passenger seating, 8-inch touch screen display, Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, adaptive cruise control, forward collision warning, lane keep assist and a driver attention warning.
- SEL ($33,500): This adds blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, captain's chairs, proximity key, push button start, heated front seats, dual climate controls and second-row dual automatic temperature controls.
- Limited ($44,700): This trim adds Nappa leather seats, ventilated front seats, a 12.3-inch full digital instrument cluster, head up display, surround-view monitor, blind view monitor, ambient lighting and the Harman Kardon premium audio.
All-wheel drive is available for $1,700 and the destination fee will be $1,045.
Palisade is just now starting to roll out into dealerships.
The Bottom Line:
I like the look and the feel of the all-new Hyundai Palisade. It has lux-level looks and amenities, it drives smaller than a typical 8-passenger vehicle, it's comfortable, and it has a lot of nice convenience features – some of which I haven't seen in other vehicles.
While one downer is the lack of additional powertrains, the major positive is the overall value proposition. You can go all in, with all the tech extras and AWD, for slightly more than $46K.
Editor's Note: Driving impressions in this "First Look" review are from an invitation-only automaker launch event that allowed special access to the vehicle and executives. Hyundai covered our accommodations, meals and transportation costs.


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The DCE End User Profiles highlighted here showcase some of the innovative solutions created with DCE and DCE-based products. However, you won't find all DCE users here. Some feel that DCE gives them too much of a competitive advantage and won't let us talk about their work. Others don't know that this publicity opportunity exists - please tell them! Contact us if you would like us to write about your company's DCE successes.
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Category: Stock Graphic, Textures
Stock Graphic >> Texture - Glitter Chevron Textures Nautical 18818 by SonyaDeHart @ CreativeMarket
File Size: 35.21 MB; DPI: 300 DPI; Dimensions: 8 x 8 in.
5 Commercial use 8 by 8 inch digital paper textures. In .JPG Format.
Keywords: glitter textures, glitter papers, digital papers, sparkle papers, sparkle textures, sparkly textures, glitter, textures, digital paper packs, texture packs, nautical.


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Note: Telephone Number Change.
January 18, 2007
Release #07-084
Firm Contact Number: (800) 345-4109
Graco Children's Products Inc. Recalls to Repair Contempo Highchairs Due to Collapse Hazard
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall to repair the following consumer product.
Name of Product: Graco® Contempo Highchairs
Units: About 100,000
Manufacturer: Graco Children's Products Inc., of Exton, Pa.
Hazard: The highchair can collapse if it is not fully opened and locked into place from the storage position prior to use. If the highchair collapses, a child occupying the highchair can be injured.
Incidents/Injuries: The firm has received 18 reports of the highchair collapsing. There has been one report of an 18 month old male who suffered a bruise on his foot. Additionally, there have been two reports of the highchair collapsing outside of the United States.
Description: The Contempo highchairs have an "A" frame design. The highchairs feature six height adjustment positions and three recline positions. The recalled highchairs have model numbers that begin with 3800, 3803, 3804, 3805, 3810 and 3811 followed by a three letter fashion code. Model numbers included in the recall include: 3800COU, 3800DRB, 3800FMT, 3800GGG, 3800GRM, 3800HEM, 3800JEN, 3800LEG, 3800MNS, 3800OWD, 3800SND, 3800TFE, 3800RIT, 3803HRL, 3804CNR, 3805BDA, 3810PEW, 3810PST and 3811PST. The highchairs were manufactured from October 27, 2005 through November 22, 2006. The model number and manufacturing date are printed underneath the snack tray of these highchairs.
Sold by: Babies "R" Us, Toys "R" Us, Target, Target.com, Wal-Mart, Wal-Mart.com, Burlington Coat Factory, Shopko, AAFES, USA Baby and various specialty retailers nationwide from December 2005 through December 2006 for between $100 and $130.
Manufactured in: China
Remedy: Consumers should contact the firm to obtain instructions on how to receive a free repair kit. Consumers can continue to use the highchair until the repair kit is received but must make sure it is fully opened first. Consumers should open the highchair until they hear a "click" which indicates the hub is locked into place.
Consumer Contact: For more information, contact Graco toll-free at 800-345-4109 anytime or go to the firm's Web site at www.gracobaby.com
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of injury or death associated with the use of thousands of types of consumer products under the agency's jurisdiction. Deaths, injuries, and property damage from consumer product incidents cost the nation more than $1 trillion annually. CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical or mechanical hazard. CPSC's work to help ensure the safety of consumer products - such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters and household chemicals -– contributed to a decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 40 years.
Federal law bars any person from selling products subject to a publicly-announced voluntary recall by a manufacturer or a mandatory recall ordered by the Commission.
To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury go online to www.SaferProducts.gov or call CPSC's Hotline at 800-638-2772 or teletypewriter at 301-595-7054 for the hearing impaired. Consumers can obtain news release and recall information at www.cpsc.gov, on Twitter @USCPSC or by subscribing to CPSC's free e-mail newsletters.
Please use the below phone number for all media requests.
Phone: (301) 504-7908
Spanish: (301) 504-7800


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Where do humpback whales live?
Humpback whales can be found in oceans all over the world. They tend to follow regular migration routes each year, where they spend the summer months in temperate and polar waters for feeding and spend the winter months in tropical waters for mating and calving.
How big is an adult humpback?
Male humpback whales measure 38-42 feet long while the females measure 40-45 feet long, which is about the length of a school bus. They can weigh between 35 and 40 tons.
Do humpback whales sleep?
Yes, researchers believe humpback whales sleep by shutting off half of their brain at a time. Unlike humans, they are conscious breathers and have to think about each breath they take.
What do humpback whales eat?
Humpback whales filter krill, anchovies, cod, sardines, mackerel, capelin, and other schooling fish through baleen plates.
How do they feed?
Humpbacks have a series of 270-400 baleen plates instead of teeth. These overlapping plates are made from keratin, the same substance found in your hair and fingernails. To feed, they take in large volumes of water and filter their food through the baleen plates. Adult humpback whales consume more than 1 ton of food per day.
How big is their mouth?
An average size humpback whale can hold approximately 5,000 gallons (18,927 liters) in its mouth. That is enough to fill a 12-by-10 foot swimming pool at a depth of 7 feet.
How much does an adult humpback whale's brain weigh?
A humpback brain can weigh up to 14 pounds (6 kilograms), nearly 5 times the weight of a human brain.
How long do humpbacks live?
The life expectancy of a humpback whale is 60 – 100+ years. They become sexually mature between the ages of four and eight.
How long does a humpback whale's pregnancy last?
A humpback's gestation lasts from 10 to 12 months. Females generally give birth every two years, but a small number have been observed with calves in successive years.
How big is a humpback calf?
A newborn humpback whale calf is approximately 12-15 feet long (3.5 – 4.5 meters) and weighs approximately 1.5 tons.
How long does a humpback calf stay with its mother?
Humpback whale calves stay with their mothers for approximately one year. They are born during the winter months in Australia and Fiji and travel back to Antarctica in the summer for feeding. They may accompany their mothers the following winter on the trip to Australia as yearlings but will become independent during the journey.
On their migration from Antarctica to Australia, how far do they travel and at what speed?
Humpbacks travel around 2,500 km twice a year. They can travel at speeds up to 8 km/hr but most make the journey at slower speeds at around 1.6 km/hr as they rest and socialize along the way.
About how many whales migrate to Australia each year?
At least 1200 whales make the journey from Antarctica to Australia.
Where is the best place to see Humpbacks in Australia?
Anywhere along the New South Wales coastline is a great place to see the whales swim the "humpback highway" during their migration.
What is breaching?
Breaching is when a whale propels >2/3 of its body out of the water. Not much is known about why whales breach but scientists suspect that breaching can be a form of communication, can help dislodge parasites, or may be a form of play.
What is spyhopping?
This is when a whale sticks its head straight up out of the water. They rely on buoyancy control and pectoral fin placement to hold this position for a few minutes at a time.
What is a peduncle?
The peduncle is the body part connecting the tail flukes to the body. Humpbacks will often throw their tail out of the water and slap the peduncle on the surface; this is called a peduncle slap.
How do humpbacks communicate?
The most well-know form of communication is by singing. Male humpbacks will emit a complex series of moans, grunts, shrieks, and blasts that can last up to 30 minutes. All of the singers in a population sing the same version of the song, but the song itself will change over time. Males will usually sing during mating season so scientists suspect they are related to mate selection but some shorter songs seem to be used specifically for feeding. A humpback whale song can travel up to 62 miles (100 kilometers). Another form of communication is body language and movement. Breaching, tail of pectoral slapping, and lunging are all used to communicate with other whales.
How long can a humpback hold its breath?
Adult humpbacks surface every 7-15 minutes to breathe but can remain underwater for up to 45 minutes. Calves must surface every 3-5 minutes. Their lungs can exchange over 90% of the air making them more efficient than ours.
How do scientists identify individual whales?
Scientists are able to identify individual humpback whales through a process called fluke identification. Each whale has a fluke (tail). The distinct black and white patterns on the underside of the fluke and the unique serrated edge of the fluke differentiate between individuals.
What preys on humpback whales?
Killer whales are the main predators, although sharks have been known to attack young, sick, or dead whales. Another threat to humpbacks is human influence.
What human activities harm humpbacks?
Getting hit by boats and becoming entangled in nets and fishing gear are the main sources of activity that threaten humpback whales. Hunting whales made a huge dent in the whale population until it was banned in 1982; federal laws now protect humpback whales from harassment and injury.


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WHERE: 10 Art Museum Drive, three miles north of Baltimore's Inner Harbor.
For general museum information, call 443-573-1700 or visit www.artbma.org
ADMISSION: free
The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) is showcasing Kimono and Obi: Romantic Echoes from Japan's Golden Age, as part of We wear culture, a Google Arts & Culture project launching today that uses state-of-the-art technology to present 3,000 years of fashion in the world's largest virtual exhibition of style.
The We wear culture project invites virtual visitors to explore 400 online exhibitions from 180 cultural institutions presenting everything from the ancient Silk Road and the courtly fashions of Versailles to iconic creations by Coco Chanel and other famous fashion designers. The BMA's selection of exquisite Japanese kimono robes and obi sashes were originally shown at the museum from July 2016 to January 2017. Many of the images in the online exhibition can be magnified to examine the individual gold threads that were woven into or embroidered onto the garments. Viewers can also click on image titles for detailed descriptions of the many elaborate techniques used to create these stunning kimono and obi.
"We chose kimono and obi made in the last 150 years, during Japan's period of modernization, that still paid homage to a high point of traditional Japanese culture—the Heian period (794-1185) from a thousand years ago," said BMA Curator of Textiles Anita Jones. "The symbols on these textiles refer to the artistic achievements of the men and women of the Heian Court and are created with extraordinary labor intensive techniques that produced breathtakingly beautiful garments."
Consulting Curator Ann Marie Moeller adds, "The women who first wore the exhibition kimono displayed their knowledge of Japanese history, art, and literature with the subjects they chose to adorn their clothes. This online exhibit provides an opportunity for the world to discover the messages they wished to convey to their peers." This is the BMA's second online exhibition collaboration with Google Arts & Culture. Questioning the Canon, a survey of 17 works by African American artists in the museum's collection, was launched in February 2016.
Google Arts & Culture puts more than a thousand museums at your fingertips. It's a new, immersive way to explore art, history and wonders of the world. Following projects that made street art, performing arts, and natural history accessible to people all over the world, We wear culture allows everyone to explore the world of fashion. The Google Arts & Culture app is free and available on the web, on iOS, and Android. The Google Arts & Culture team is an innovation partner for cultural institutions. The team works on technologies that help preserve and share culture and allow curators to create engaging exhibitions online and offline, inside museums.
THE BALTIMORE MUSEUM OF ART Founded in 1914, The Baltimore Museum of Art is a major cultural destination recognized for engaging diverse audiences through dynamic exhibitions and innovative educational and community outreach programs. The BMA's internationally renowned collection of 95,000 objects encompasses more than 1,000 works by Henri Matisse anchored by the famed Cone Collection of modern art, as well as one of the nation's finest holdings of prints, drawings, and photographs. The galleries showcase an exceptional collection of art from Africa; important works by established and emerging contemporary artists; outstanding European and American paintings, sculpture, and decorative arts; significant artworks from China; ancient Antioch mosaics; and exquisite textiles from around the world. The 210,000-square-foot museum is also distinguished by a grand historic building designed in the 1920s by renowned American architect John Russell Pope and two beautifully landscaped gardens featuring an array of 20th-century sculpture. The BMA is located in Charles Village, three miles north of the Inner Harbor, and is adjacent to the main campus of Johns Hopkins University. General admission to the BMA is free so that everyone can enjoy the power of art.
General admission to the BMA is free. Special exhibitions may be ticketed. The BMA is open Wednesday through Sunday from 10 a.m.–5 p.m. The museum is closed Monday, Tuesday, New Year's Day, July 4, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.


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As with print materials, when evaluating Internet resources you should ask questions, using five evaluative criteria: accuracy, authority, objectivity, currency, and coverage.
How reliable and free from error is the information? Be aware that anyone can publish on the Internet. Resources in that medium are not usually verified by editors or fact checkers. The Internet, by its nature, imposes no standards to ensure accuracy, as is the case with some other media.
Who is the author or developer of the material? Sometimes it is difficult to determine authorship of Internet sources. Even if the author's name is included, there is often no indication of that person's qualifications. Who is the publisher or producer of the site? Unfortunately, sites do not always indicate publisher responsibility. Sites developed by a university, college, library, or other scholarly organization carry more authority than one whose author is an amateur enthusiast with a personal home page on the Internet. Also, look for evidence of how the information in the site is documented. Are there footnotes and/or a bibliography? Often this is not the case. If there is such documentation, what is the quality of the sources revealed?
Is the site's information presented with a minimum of bias, or is there an attempt to sway the opinion of the audience? If the producer is commercial, do business concerns affect presentation of the information? If the producer is an organization with an ideological agenda, is that agenda reflected in the treatment of the historical material? Producers of Internet materials do not always clearly state their goals or aims. The Internet sometimes functions as a "virtual soapbox."
Is the content of the work up-to-date? Is the publication date clearly labeled? Regrettably, dates are not always included on Internet pages. Even when there are, it is not always clear whether they refer to when the information was written, when it was placed on the Internet, or when it was last revised.
What topics are included in the work? Are these topics explored in depth? Note that Internet pages can begin with one topic but link to other unrelated topics. Even when the topics are related, the linked material may be inferior in quality to the site to which it is linked. It is sometimes difficult to determine the extent of coverage of topics in Internet sites.
Remember that the Internet is only one source of historical information. It can be useful for researching certain topics but almost useless for others. To research a topic thoroughly, use a variety of sources, including traditional library hard-copy materials. Apply the evaluation criteria mentioned above for all resources.
For more on this subject, see Critical Approaches to the Web -- Part I: Evaluation, by Jack Solack. It includes links to other similar sites.
(Adapted by this project's developer, Roger Griffin, and by Teresa Ashley, Reference Librarian, Northridge Campus Learning Resource Center, Austin Community College, from The Web as a Research Tool: Evaluation Techniques, by Jan Alexander and Marsha Tate, Reference Librarians, Wolfgram Memorial Library, Widener University, Chester, Pennsylvania.)
On to the next section
Back to Title Page/Table of Contents


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Super Tuesday Preview
Today is Super Tuesday, often referred to as the most important day on the primary calendar. The states that vote today are home to almost 20 million more people than the entire population of the United Kingdom, and the 595 Republican and 1,004 Democratic delegates on offer represent almost half the total needed to win each party's nomination. In every presidential election since 1988, the winner of the most states on Super Tuesday for either party has gone on to be the nominee.
The Parallel Republican Primary
After several months of preamble, the nominating process to find the next president of the United States officially started this week with Monday's Iowa caucuses. The theme on both sides of the political divide was of outsiders breaking down barriers. Hillary Clinton became the first woman ever to win in Iowa, while Ted Cruz went one better, becoming the first Latino to win a presidential primary or caucus in any state.
With the New Hampshire primary two days away, it seems this theme will continue, with real estate mogul Donald Trump and democratic socialist Bernie Sanders the unlikely frontrunners in their respective primaries. While the arrival of the outsiders will likely dominate the headlines of Wednesday's newspapers however, of perhaps more importance to the race is the 'parallel primary' taking place within the Republican field: a four-way battle for the support of the establishment.
Hope and Change Revisited
It has now been eight years since Barack Obama won the first Democratic primary in the 2008 election campaign, opening his victory speech that night in Iowa with reference to those who 'said this day would never come':
They said our sights were set too high. They said this country was too divided, too disillusioned to ever come together around a common purpose. But on this January night, at this defining moment in history, you have done what the cynics said we couldn't do.


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Position: Full sun or light, dappled shade.
Soil: Well drained, fertile soil.
Hardiness: Reasonably hardy. Griselinia littoralis 'Variegata' requires protection from severe winter frost in cooler parts of the U.K.
Flowering Period: June - August.
Flower Colour: Pale yellow
Rate of Growth: Moderate to vigorous but a smaller plant than the classic Griselinia littoralis.
Habit: Medium or eventually large densely branching, rounded shrub.
Height: 3 m (10 ft).
Spread: 2.5 m (8 ft).
Notes: Griselinia littoralis 'Variegata' can be grown as a hedge if pruned regularly.


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Arrives just in time, too:
"Islamic State Captures Tora Bora, Once Bin Laden's Afghan Fortress" by Rod Nordland New York Times June 15, 2017
KABUL, Afghanistan — Tora Bora, the mountain redoubt that was once Osama bin Laden's fortress, fell to the group that calls itself the Islamic State group early Wednesday, handing the extremists a significant strategic and symbolic victory, Afghan officials said.
So they say. I'm smelling rank-rot, war-pushing propaganda.
Taliban fighters who had previously controlled the extensive cave and tunnel complex fled overnight after a determined, weeklong assault by the extremist group, according to villagers fleeing the area Wednesday.
That means IS is the U.S.'s ally? Or then the Taliban are their ally?
You know what works here? Make ''em all enemies. Who cares about the contradictions, who cares about the absurdities? Just roll with it.
Hazrat Ali, a member of Parliament and a prominent warlord from the area who helped United States forces capture Tora Bora from Al Qaeda in 2001, said that the offensive was prompted by the US decision to drop the so-called mother of all bombs on an Islamic State network of tunnels in Achin district in April.
That's garbage, and this guy is one of the Northern Alliance Tajiks and Uzbeks that were more brutal than the Taliban before they were pushed out in the 1990s.
All this ISIS, OBL, Tora Bora talk is a big mind-f*** to trigger you mentally and get geared up for the upcoming summer attack and false flag. That's what this rot smells like.
Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for the Taliban in that area, accused the United States of carrying out airstrikes in support of the Islamic State, but local officials and residents denied hearing any.
We will get to more of those later.
Residents said the Taliban had fled. "The Taliban escaped from the area last night and left us to ISIS with our women and children," said Juma Gul, a tribal elder from the Suleymankhel Valley, close to Tora Bora, who said he was among hundreds of families who fled the area after the Islamic State took over. "There was no resistance by the Taliban against ISIS, and local tribes had no way to fight them anymore, so we just escaped."
That I don't believe.
The militants now have an easily defended base at Tora Bora, Ali said, as well as access to many other parts of Nangarhar province through the Spin Ghar mountains along the Pakistan border, where Tora Bora sits. "ISIS has a stronghold and will capture these areas one after another," he said.
Pakistan to be slowly turned into an enemy soon? Looks that way.
Ali has extensive experience fighting against al Qaeda in the area but has also been accused of having helped bin Laden escape from Tora Bora in December 2001, reportedly betraying his U.S. and Afghan allies as they closed in on the al Qaeda leadership.....
Why not? They both worked for the same boss.
"Trump gives Pentagon authority to set troop levels in Afghanistan" by Thomas Gibbons-Neff Washington Post June 15, 2017
WASHINGTON — President Trump has given the Pentagon new authorities to decide the troop levels in Afghanistan, a US official said Tuesday. The move could lead to a deployment of thousands more troops as commanders decide the way forward in the now 15-year-old war.
With the new authority, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis could authorize deployment of additional troops to Afghanistan, something commanders on the ground there have been requesting for months. General John Nicholson, the commander of US forces in Afghanistan as well as his direct superior, head of US Central Command, General Joseph Votel, have both made cases for sending a few thousand more troops. If sent, the forces would help the fledgling Afghan military regain portions of the country that have fallen to the Taliban since US forces ended their combat mission there in 2014.
The decision from the White House comes the same day Mattis told lawmakers on the Senate Armed Services Committee that ''we are not winning'' in Afghanistan. Mattis said that the Taliban was surging throughout the country. When asked what ''winning looks like,'' Mattis replied that it would mean a long-term US presence.
Confirms what I've stated repeatedly: it's not about "winning," it's about being there. Now you know why the U.S. and its allies support ISIS. Need a reason to stay.
In the short-term, Mattis and the chairman of the Joint Chief's of Staff, General Joseph Dunford, said additional US troops sent to the country would provide more fire and air support to the Afghans. Airstrike and artillery, they said, would give the Afghan forces breathing room to build a more effective force.
WTF have they been doing for the last 16 years?
How much money have they spent training forces?
All wasted, huh?
In the first eight months of 2016, Afghan forces suffered 15,000 casualties, including more than 5,000 killed. Recruiting efforts have been barely able to keep the Afghan security forces from maintaining their current ranks, let alone growing to a size large and capable enough to project security in the country.
The Taliban ''had a good year last year,'' Mattis said.
With an air force that is still in its infancy and corruption still rampant in the ranks, the Afghan army could take years to mature enough to negate the US role in the country, experts say.....
It makes you laugh save for all the dead bodies and misery be inflicted upon the place.
See: McMaster's War
It will be if it isn't already, and "the move is similar to the April decision that gave the Pentagon more authority to set troop levels in Iraq and Syria."
UN: 'Staggering' loss of life reported from US-led air raids on ISIS-held Raqqa
The tragedies of war.
Dozens of Islamic State militants in suicide vests launch Mosul counterattack
Nothing about the sick kids today?
"Qatar pulls all its troops from Djibouti-Eritrea border" Associated Press June 14, 2017
DOHA, Qatar — Qatar said Wednesday that it had pulled all of its troops from the border of Djibouti and Eritrea, east African nations that have a long-running territorial dispute Doha had helped mediate.
They need them at home.
Qatar offered no explanation for the move, though it comes amid a diplomatic dispute with other Arab nations that have cut diplomatic ties and now are trying to isolate Qatar from the rest of the world.
Not working; Oman, Iran, Russia, and Turkey have filled the void.
While the dispute hasn't escalated to a military confrontation, Qatar's military is dwarfed by neighboring Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Eritrea's top diplomat to the African Union, Araya Desta, said the move came after Eritrea cut diplomatic ties to Qatar; however, Desta said his country wanted no confrontation with Djibouti.
''We don't want to take any of Djibouti's land,'' Araya said. ''The last time we had some skirmishes. It was unnecessary.''
That's like saying it's not about the money.
Doha mediated the conflict between the two countries in 2010. Gulf nations have stationed troops in both African countries, using that as a jumping-off point for the ongoing Saudi-led war in Yemen.....
Good thing for Djibouti there is a Chinese base nearby.
"US troops in besieged city of Marawi, Philippine military says" by Felipe Villamor New York Times June 14, 2017
MARAWI, Philippines — US troops are on the ground in the embattled southern Philippine city of Marawi.
Then someone lied to me yesterday.
The spokesman, Brigadier General Restituto Padilla, said the US forces were not engaged in combat, but his statement was the first official confirmation of the US military presence in Marawi.
Yes, the pre$$ always needs official confirmation or it's not true.
US officials have framed the assistance as part of a long-term counterterrorism project, noting in a statement Monday that the Special Forces had been "providing support and assistance in the southern Philippines for many years."
This goal here is the same as in Afghanistan!
On Sunday, President Rodrigo Duterte told reporters he had "never approached America" for help and was unaware of US military assistance in Marawi. His spokesman, Ernesto Abella, said on the same day that the US role "does not involve any boots on the ground." Those comments suggested the Philippine military, which has a long relationship with the US military, may not have consulted Duterte.
Then we have had a SILENT COUP in the Philippines!
Duterte needs to pull an Erdogan!
Padilla noted that the United States and the Philippines were bound by a 1951 mutual defense treaty that calls for them to aid each other in times of aggression by a third party. Hundreds of militants claiming allegiance to the Islamic State attacked Marawi last month with the goal of establishing an Islamic caliphate in the Philippines....
Yeah, came out of nowhere in the elite section of town and an area with a nearby U.S. military base. Hmmmmm.
Twist in Otto Warmbier Case: North Koreans Don't Usually Beat American Captives
"Human rights groups and the United Nations have condemned the policy, under which refugees and asylum seekers have languished for years in grim conditions on the remote, underdeveloped islands....."
G'day, mate!
Also see: Senate overwhelming votes to curtail Trump's power to ease up on Russia sanctions
The vote count was 97 to 2. No messy partisanship when it comes to war.
I assume they were paired with sanctions on Iran, no?
Senate passes sweeping sanctions bill targeting Iran, Russia
98-2 this time.
"Islamic State militants have set up new headquarters in Syria where they are digging in and likely planning more attacks against the West. The militants' relocation could extend their ability to wreak havoc in the region and beyond for months to come. US officials and Syrian activists say many commanders have fled the besieged cities of Mosul, Iraq, and Raqqa, Syria, in recent months for Mayadeen, a remote town in the heart of Syria's Islamic State-controlled Euphrates River valley near the Iraqi border, although the United States-led coalition is aware of the migration and has launched airstrikes there....."
Somali survivors tell of restaurant siege by rebels; 31 dead
Suicide bomber strikes near Shiite mosque in Kabul, 4 dead
Pentagon to send 4,000 additional US forces to Afghanistan, report says
In general, the rest of the paper is sh**, too.


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I think the insecurity I have with my writing these days has to do with wondering whether or not my ideas are as fun and interesting as I think they are. I have a lot of fun spending time with my characters. A lot of fun thinking about them, and designing scenarios for them that work within the greater plot/storyline I've built. But what if people read about Jordan and think...how boring. Is anything ever gonna happen? Is he ever going to become interesting. My first book comes out in two months. I guess I'll find out.
Anyway...that's it. Now I'll go and check out yours.


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Clip Board and Stationary Set:
It's back to school time! Here is a perfect gift ensemble for the kids' teachers! The ensemble includes a clipboard, matching pencil box and a set of cards! Make several sets and give them as gifts to not only the teachers, but co-workers, friends, etc. and be sure to keep a set for yourself!
This great project was created by Heidi! If you have a chance please stop by Craft Project Central and leave Heidi a comment on her project!
If you would like to subscribe to the August edition of Craft Project Central and get 10 fabulous tutorials for just $10.00, then click HERE!


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Before the creation of the world He chose us (Eph 1). Through what He created He has revealed His character and nature to us (Rom 1). The beauty we see around us pours forth His beauty (Ps 19). Our God is a revelatory God. Every day He is reaching out to us, pouring Grace and blessing over our lives, showing us the Truth of His nature, and drawing us to Himself.
God's love is an active love that pursues us. Before we give our lives to Him, when our hearts are far from Him, He pursues relationship with us. And when we surrender our hearts and lives to Him, He continues to pursue relationship with us, revealing more of Himself to us, and causing us to fall more deeply in love with Him.
Jesus, when living and ministering on this Earth, modelled this aspect of God to us. We see it when He detours through Samaria to bump into the Samaritan woman at the well. He did it when He called Zacchaeus down out of the tree. We see if most when He went out and pursued twelve people to follow Him who become known as "His Disciples". As Christ lived His God given purpose on Earth He pursued the people who were placed in His path.
Living out the Great requires that we too go in pursuit of the people around us. Our world is in a relational mess. We all long to have someone care for us. People apply by the millions for reality TV shows in the hope that someone will take notice of them and they'll begin to matter. Today, time is the most expensive commodity, and no one seems to have time for anyone else.
In this climate, we have an opportunity and a responsibility. We have an opportunity to be God's hands in the world, communicating value to people through our actions. But it's also a responsibility placed upon us. God is a God Who Pursues… and He made us in His image. Not only did He make us to be relational beings, but He commanded us to be it (Look at the numerous "one another" passages in Scripture, and the Great Commission).
The command to Make Disciples requires that we become physical manifestations of God's character as we go in pursuit of people. Discipleship is NOT passive. While there are many occasions where God drops someone on your path for you to meet that is not an excuse to be passive in discipleship. When that person is dropped in your lap, it's time to walk in the Spirit and allow Him to turn you into His instrument of pursuit. Too many of us sit in churches waiting for God to bring people along for us to disciple. But there are so many people in our churches who are longing to be discipled. And they're praying for someone to reach out to them.
We are to pursue people. Like God, we are to reach out to people, pouring out grace and blessing, showing them the Truth about who we are, and through our relationship with them, revealing to them the character of God, and leading them closer to Him.
Sitting in your church and in your circles of friends are people who feel alone (even in a room full of friends), and worthless (even in the midst of their success). Part of living a life of faith, as a disciple of Christ, is that we go in pursuit of the people He's placed around us.
How? It's simple. We ask them to coffee, we watch them play rugby, we attend their music recital, we go to a movie together, invite them to your birthday, send them a text, we have them over for dinner, we play video games together, we study in the library with them, we find out about the things that they enjoy, we welcome them into our lives, we listen! Whatever we do, we go seeking them our, we prioritise our relationship with them. As we do, we communicate our desire to have them around. We communicate that they matter and the things they care about matter to us. We acknowledge the value they have and increase it as we show them the value they have to us and to Him. And through it all, we demonstrate God's character to them, the God Who Pursues.
Are you passive in your discipleship or are you actively pursuing the people you are investing in? As you look at the people around you, who is God asking you to pursue?


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For additional information, review the School of Professional and Applied Psychology FAQs, or visit the Admissions FAQ section.
Usually two years if attending full time, three years if attending part time.
Most classes are scheduled from 5:15-8:45 p.m., and meet once a week in the fall, winter and spring terms. A few courses meet on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Summer courses meet from 5:15 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. two times per week for six or seven weeks.
Over the past five years, our graduates have achieved a 100 percent pass rate on the National Counselor Examination for Licensure and Certification (NCE).
Here are a few comments from our students:
In addition to the 60 credit-hour M.S. degree, you also must pass a licensure examination and complete at least two years of 3,000 hours of supervised work experience (i.e., a paid position). For more information on licensure requirements for professional counseling in all 50 states, visit the American Counseling Association Counseling.org - American Counseling Association.
Neither MAT or GRE scores are required for admission.