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The Walther Collection presents the third exhibition in its multi-year series on contemporary photography and video art from Africa and the African Diaspora. Presented thematically and surveying a varied range of work, the series builds upon the collection's longstanding focus on African photography, providing a platform for engaging current practices.
The series began in fall 2015 with The Lay of the Land, a group show examining the postcolonial African cityscape, and continued in spring 2016 with Close to Home, an exhibition highlighting new visions of portrait photography in Africa. The third installment, Recent Histories, opens on Thursday, September 22, 2016 at The Walther Collection Project Space in New York.
Recent Histories features work by Simon Gush, Délio Jasse, Lebohang Kganye, Dawit L. Petros, and Zina Saro-Wiwa, five emergent figures from a new generation of multidisciplinary, lens-based artists dedicated to exploring African narratives from a diversity of perspectives. Common to their disparate practices is the use and embellishment of documentary modes to portray the vicissitudes of modern life. Engaging an array of sociopolitical concerns—including migration, lineage, the legacies of colonialism and Calvinism, and local custom—the works in the exhibition are so finely attuned to the broader contexts in which they have been made that they might also serve as veritable, if fragmentary, records of our time.
In conjunction with Recent Histories, The Walther Collection has co-organized a symposium entitled Beyond the Frame: Contemporary Photography from Africa and the Diaspora, which will be held the afternoon of October 21, 2016 at Chermerhorn Hall 501, Columbia University. Bringing together a variety of artists, scholars, curators, critics, and cultural producers the symposium will provide a unique opportunity to discuss current developments in photographic and video practices in Africa and the African Diaspora, as well as the platforms and networks supporting these practices.
Featured presenters include John Fleetwood, former head of the Market Photo Workshop; Kerryn Greenberg, Curator (International Art) at Tate Modern, London; and Chika Okeke-Agulu, Associate Professor of African and African Diaspora Art, Princeton University. This event is co- sponsored by The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery and the Department of Art History and Archaeology, Columbia University, and is also being held in conjunction with The Expanded Subject: New Perspectives in Photographic Portraiture from Africa, a concurrent exhibition at the Wallach.
Event Time & Date: 22/09/2016 – 17/12/2017
Venue details : Project Space New York | 526 West 26th Street, Suite 718 | New York, NY 10001 USA
Organiser: The Walther Collection | email@example.com | +1 212 352 0683
Event website: Recent Histories: New Photography from Africa
Event cost: Free


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PRROOTS.com Knowledge Repository News-->
New Additions and Changes
This year we are making some changes to our website applications adding New Message Boards, FAQ Knowledge Repository and our New Overhauled Main Website with Facebook, Twitter interaction. We hope you enjoy and are able to use these tools to help you in your quest.
We are all united in our cause to help find, understand, appreciate and relate our lives to those of our forefathers.
Please let us know what we can do to better serve you in your quest.
Thank you and we look forward to your comments.
Remember "Somos Una Familia"
How to use the FAQ System
The system is a simple method of asking questions and getting answers that everyone can benefit from.
1.Simply ask your question
2. The question will be answered in a timely manner
3. The question and answer then become part of the database so all can benefit from the information.
It's that simple so over time we build a data repository full of helpful knowledge, but it only works when you take the time to ask that question.You can also ask the question and provide the answer, once the question and answer are approved everyone can benefit.
So take the time and share your knowledge, everyone benefits and we can all help each other find our Puerto Rican Roots.
There are 9 records online

subset: commoncrawl


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Go to Original
By Michael Piotrowski
An Open letter to Dianne Feinstein
You may be surprised and offended by my familiar salutation, but you have lost the right to be addressed as Senator Feinstein. Although I have voted for you in every single election I could (a lot, I'm 60), you have failed miserably as my elected Senator. I now completely withdraw my support for you and the Democratic Party. For the past seven years I have begged and pleaded with you do your job and uphold the solemn oaths you have repeatedly sworn to protect and defend the Constitution of these United States and its laws. Your standard pablum response has been a patronizing pat on the head and a vacuous reassurance that someday something might be accomplished through further legislation, providing Bush doesn't veto it or your colleagues disapprove. Your latest such response (written correspondence, 29 April 2008, regarding torture) is the final straw. I am tired of your sorry excuses and dilatory tactics. Your failure to do your duty has helped bring us to this sorry state of affairs.
I was deeply disappointed, but completely unsurprised, by your utter disregard for the Constitution, the law and what is morally right. From what I can deduce from your actions, words and behaviors, protecting your position, your party, and your class are your driving motivations, not governing, not protecting the NATION (you remember the 99% of us who aren't wealthy?), not respecting the rule of law. Despite his assertations to the contrary and your obsequeious submission to them, the President is not, repeat NOT, above or beyond the law whether in peacetime or wartime. In wartime, the President is Commander-in-Chief, and as such is subject to the provisions of the Uniform Code of Military Justice as much as the lowest private is. He stands in violation of that code, and YOU accept it. Beyond the many laws this criminal has violated and could be prosecuted for, there is the Constitutional remedy you have repeatedly refused to employ: impeachment.
It is far too late for you to ever regain the respect I once had for you and your party, but at least you might reduce the degree of contempt in which I now hold you. DO THE RIGHT THING: stand up for immediate impeachment. Before you tell me that it is the House's responsibility (trust me, I apparently know more about this than you do), let me point out that it is YOUR responsibility to LEAD. The House will do nothing unless and until the Senate signals its willingness to go forward with it. If your argument is that elections are near and soon he will be out of office, kindly explain to me in a written response that actually addresses the points I'm raising, why that excuses criminal behavior (illegal wiretaps, use of outlawed torture, kidnapping and assassination as government policy, corruption, fraud, cronyism, lying as official policy [Pat Tilman, Abu Graib, Jessica whatever-her-name was}). Failure to impeach this criminal will be the deathblow for this nation. We may stagger on a few years, but I see the end of the United States looming as clearly as the demise of the USSR. Failure to impeach, to hold a fellow member of your socioeconomic class actually responsible for the harm he has caused us will make most doubt the whether the return on investment, the cost of supporting a system that works against 99% of us, is worth it. The Soviet citizens decided that their system wasn't worthy of support and ended it: the same is already happening here.
As an example of why this is occuring, I cite the response I will receive from your office regarding this email. Despite the time, care and thought I have put into it, not only will you not read this, you will probably be completely oblivious to it. I will recieve yet another pablum response thanking me for my interest, citing some meaningless future bill that might be remotely related to one or two of the issues I've raised, written by some juvenile intern hoping to make his or her fortune in politics. In other words, I have wasted my time and thought with trying to communicate with you: you and this system are unworthy of any further support. I will be showing the response I receive from you to many people in my social circle, and advise them to vote one last time for true change. No, not for Obama or Hilary or McCain or any other Democrat or Republican. I will advise them to vote for ANYONE who is not a Republicrat. When that fails to get the message through, as it will, my advice will be to start doing what the Senate does: ignore any laws and resposibilities they don't like, as there is no longer a valid contract between the citizens and their "elected" officials.
Mark my words: you have perhaps a year, maybe two, before the riots start. High gas prices, high food prices, incompetent disaster relief, home foreclosures, lack of jobs, and a loss of faith in the system will combine to create chaos. If your aides were to look up my previous correspondance with you they will find that I accurately predicted the lack of WMD, the quagmire that is Iraq, and a number of other things. I'm sure you believe that if we can just get throught the election, everything will be better with a Democratic President. Wrong: whoever is president will soon discover that we are broke, the business class has no interest in rectifying anything, and we are bereft of influence. More people will lose their homes while you and your colleagues pump billions into corporations "that are too big to fail". Those corporations will take that tax money and invest it outside the United States. The kicker is going to be TV, in February '09. When you have millions of people with no home, no work, no money, hugely expensive gas and food, and nothing much to do besides watch TV, and you take THAT away from them what exactly do you think they will do? Vouchers for new TVs or adapters don't help if you can't afford to feed your children. The subsequent riots will spin completely out of control with most of the National Guard deployed overseas.
While most of this is too far gone to stop, it might yet be mitigated if you do the right thing and support the impeachment of Bush and his cronies. Unfortunately, my concerns are going into the empty head of some ignorant intern who is likely going to have to look up some of the words I've used (and still not comprehend them). So to you who is actually reading this: hide and watch as our country falls over the next two years or so and when it happens, remember that she was warned well in advance and nothing you could do would get her to do anything constructive about it, because that would require more sacrifice and selflessness than she, or anyone in Washington for that matter, is capable of.
Despite all that, I still expect a written response, if only to annoy the office. But don't worry: I don't expect anything like a reasoned, respectful response, just more phony pablum.
with contempt,
Michael Piotrowski - Citizen, Vietnam Vet, Educator, former Democrat


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Hi All,
Just for fun, thought i'll expand on my name.
As you probably have figured medical Xrays is what i do.
Here's some shots of my BR 03-94 and buckle under xray. I doubt after seeing this anyone can questions how strong BR is built since under xray its pretty much a slab of metal.
photo 1.jpg photo 3.jpg
photo 2.jpg photo 4.jpg


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This past fall, Special Collections and University Archives Intern, Beth McDonald, processed and created finding aids for two of our newest acquisitions the Michael D. "Micky" Moore Papers and the Chuck Waters Papers. Moore and Waters made their careers in the entertainment industry in very different ways. Moore was an actor and director while Waters is a stuntman and actor. The two men worked on several projects together and were close friends.
Moore began his film career as a child actor on the silent screen and between 1917 and 1929, he acted in over 40 films. Moore worked with such silent screen stars as Mary Pickford, Jack Holt, Gloria Swanson, Lillian Gish, Conrad Nagel and Tom Mix.
Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Moore worked as a Prop Man before he was offered the opportunity to move in to production as an assistant director. He jumped at the chance. As assistant director, Moore worked for some of the most famous directors of the day, including his mentor, Cecil B. DeMille, on DeMille's last film as a director, The Ten Commandments.
From the 1960s on, Moore became well-known as a reliable and confident seco nd unit director with a knack for action sequences. He worked on some of the most famous movies of the twentieth century, including Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Patton, Rooster Cogburn, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Moore retired in 2000 after wrapping his final movie, the Walt Disney picture 102 Dalmatians.
The collection includes photographs, scripts, storyboards, letters, videos, movie memorabilia, and materials from his memoir.
Chuck Waters is an American stuntman and actor who has worked on more than 130 films. Even as a child, he was known for his adventurous nature: as early as five years old, he could be found climbing on the roof of his house and jumping to a nearby tree to get down. In the 1960s, waters decided to move to Hollywood to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. Waters eventually connected with well-known stuntman, Paul Stader, who owned a boxing gym in Santa Monica where he trained up and coming stuntmen. Chuck began training with Stader and in 1965, after only 9 months of training, was recommended to take Stader's place on a job as a scuba diver on the TV series Honey West starring Ann Francis.
In the 1970s, Waters career took off. He performed stunts in major films such as High Plains Drifter, The Exorcist (crashing through a window and down 75 steps as Jason Miller's stunt double), The Deer Hunter, and Apocalypse Now. Over the course of his career, Waters has worked with many of the top names in Hollywood, including George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, William Friedkin, and Francis Ford Coppola. He has worked with actors such as Harrison Ford, Martin Sheen, Sean Penn, Robert De Niro, and Sean Connery. One of his longest working relationships is with actor/director Clint Eastwood, with whom Waters has done 13 films. Additional movies Waters has worked on include: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, National Lampoon's European Vacation, Flubber, Every Which Way But Loose, Flags of Our Fathers, and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.
The collection includes scripts, notes, photographs, stunt reels, articles, and ephemera relating to Waters' career in the stunt industry.
In November, Chuck Waters, his wife Charlotte, and Moore's daughters Sandy and Tricia, meet with Special Collections and University Archives staff.
For questions about the collections, please contact Katie Richardson at email@example.com or (310) 506-4323.


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Age group: 1 to 2 year olds Colours: Orange, Royal Blue and Hot pink Material: Bamboo Fibre
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I'll probably be a little quiet the rest of this week as I run myself ragged at the 1st Annual Pharmaceutical Meeting Planners Forum, a meeting we're putting on in conjunction with the Center for Business Intelligence. For the ins and outs of my foray into the on-site world of meeting planners, visit face2face, our meeting planner blog. In the meantime, here's a reminder from my Capsules co-blogger, Anne Taylor-Vaisey: National Task Force on CME Provider/Industry Collaboration, October 24-26, 2005 in Baltimore, MD
The American Medical Association and the National Task Force on CME
Provider/Industry Collaboration will host, The 16th Annual Conference of the National Task Force on CME Provider/Industry Collaboration "Practical Strategies for Survival in the Guideline-rich Environment of 2005" on October 24-26, 2005. The conference will be held at the beautiful Baltimore Marriott Waterfront Hotel in Baltimore, Maryland.


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Pain Channel
Topics & Medications
Related Channels
Clinoril Uses
Many conditions related to pain, inflammation, fever, or stiffness can be treated with Clinoril. Uses may include the treatment of pain and joint swelling associated with different forms of arthritis; pain related to bone, muscle, or tendon injury or inflammation; and fever. On occasion, Clinoril may also be used to treat migraines, chronic fatigue syndrome, or fibromyalgia. There are no Clinoril uses for children.
Clinoril® (sulindac) is a prescription medication that has been licensed to treat several conditions related to pain, inflammation, fever, and stiffness.
Specific Clinoril uses include the following:
- Pain relief, such as for pain following a medical procedure, from muscle strain, or from inflammation in a tendon (tendonitis) or bursa (bursitis). Clinoril can also be used to treat general pain, such as knee pain, lower back pain, or neck pain.
- Treatment of arthritis symptoms, including pain, stiffness, and swelling. Clinoril can be used to treat several different types of arthritis, such as osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, and gout. Clinoril does not cure these types of arthritis, however, nor does it change their progression.
Clinoril and other NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) are thought to work by inhibiting the action of certain hormones that cause inflammation and pain in the body. These hormones are called prostaglandins. By blocking the effects of prostaglandins, Clinoril is effective in:
- Reducing pain related to bone, muscle, or tendon injury or inflammation
- Reducing fever
- Alleviating pain and joint swelling associated with different forms of arthritis and other conditions.
Clinoril Information
Written by/reviewed by: Kristi Monson, PharmD; Arthur Schoenstadt, MD
Last reviewed by: Kristi Monson, PharmD


text: Here is a map that b4IkLu and I have been working on for a while. It is based off of Donya Fortress from the Close Quarters expansion pack for Battlefield 3. There are 2 maps included one is the more detailed one donya_edit and the other is donya_simplify which is where we are stripping out donya_edit. The map titles are just residual from editing.


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Book Review - jQuery Mobile Web Development Essentials
jQuery Mobile is a tool for mobile sites and which provides a way to turn regular HTML (and CSS) into mobile friendly sites. jQuery Mobile is focused on HTML. It's a powerful, practical way of creating mobile websites that any existing HTML developer can pick up and adapt within a few hours. jQuery Mobile has some very big sponsors - Nokia, Blackberry, Adobe,and other large companies but it is completely free to use for any purpose and completely open source.Along with not paying a dime to get, and work with, jQuery Mobile, the best thing is that as web developer you probably already
However, against misconceptions ,jQuery Mobile does not by itself create native phone applications. It may however be combined with wrapper technologies such as PhoneGap to create native apps. In general, jQuery Mobile is for building websites. The book jQuery Mobile Web Development Essentials by Raymond Camden and Andy Matthews (Packt Publishing Ltd ISBN 978-1-84951-726-3) shows how to create applications with jQuery Mobile. In 13 simple to read chapters, it shows how to create mobile-optimized sites with jQuery and also to leverage the knowledge to create native apps for mobile devices.
Chapter 1, shows how to build your first jQuery Mobile website - how to create a simple HTML page , add jQuery Mobile to the page ,make use of custom data attributes (data-*) ,update the HTML to make use of the data attributes.
Chapter 2, shows how to add multiple pages to one jQuery Mobile file , how links are modified by jQuery Mobile (and how to disable it), how additional files can be linked to and added to a jQuery Mobile site and how jQuery Mobile automatically handles URLs to allow for easy bookmarking. This chapter fleshes out the concept of jQuery Mobile pages and how to work with multiple pages.
In Chapter 3 the reader will learn how add headers, footers, and navigation bars (NavBars) to their jQuery Mobile pages. It shows how the proper div tags will create nicely formatted headers and footers on your page and how to make these headers and footers persist over a long page.
Chapter 4, discusses how to work with list views in jQuery Mobile. It shows how to turn a regular HTML list into a mobile optimized list and demonstrates the numerous types of list features available with the framework- from simple lists to lists with custom thumbnails and multiple user actions.
In Chapter 5, the reader may at last begin to get practical with a real world application by building a simple hotel mobile site. This chapter, demonstrates how to build a very simple, but effective, website for a fake hotel. This website will share essential information for folks needing to learn about the hotel while on a mobile device, makes use of Google's Static Maps API to create a simple map showing the hotel's location, and demonstrates the use of tel and mail to URL schemes for automatic phone dialing and e-mailing.
Chapter 6, discusses forms and how they are rendered in a jQuery Mobile application. It discusses how jQuery Mobile automatically turns all form submissions into Ajax based calls and updates form fields to work better on mobile devices. By this, not only are all your form fields automatically updated, but they can also make use of new controls like the toggle, slider, and search inputs.
In Chapter 7, the reader will look at dialogs, grids, and collapsible blocks. The reader will learn more about how jQuery Mobile enhances basic HTML to provide additional layout controls to mobile pages. With dialogs, the reader will learn how to provide a basic, quick, modal message to users ; with grids,new way to easily layout content in columns. Finally, with the collapsible content blocks, the user will learn a cool way to share additional content without taking up as much screen space.
Chapter 8, finally brings in the JavaScript. It looks at how you can configure various jQuery Mobile settings, what utilities exist, and how to handle post-rendered updates to enhanced controls.This chapter explains how jQuery Mobile sites can be configured via JavaScript , discusses the various JavaScript utilities that ship with jQuery Mobile and how they can be used and explain the APIs used to work with the enhanced jQuery Mobile form and widget controls
Chapter 9, looks into events that jQuery Mobile application can listen and respond to. These events include physical types (scrolling, orientation, touching) and page based ones as well.It discusses touch, swipe, scroll, and other physical events ; it also discusses page events.
In Chapter 10, the reader can extend their skill by building a Notepad - a living, breathing mobile application with jQuery Mobile.It will walk the reader through the process of listing the requirements for the app, building the wireframes, and writing the HTML. The reader will learn about HTML 5's local Storage, using templates for text replacement, and some of the cooler features of jQuery Mobile including dynamically adding and refreshing elements on the page.
Chapter 11, teaches advanced CSS techniques that are central to the jQuery Mobile experience, and how jQuery Mobile uses them to provide a rich interface to the end user. It takes a deep dive into the basics of jQuery Mobile theming and how it works. The reader is taught how to build a custom theme using the ThemeRoller tool, a custom icon with their very own hands, and how to tie all those things together and implement them in their own application.
Chapter 13, finally shows how to become a jQuery expert by building an RSS Reader application. It discusses the RSS Reader application and its features , how to create the application and also what could be added to the application.
Creative mobile applications with jQuery could be more than fun ; it makes good sense too. With average access device use for internet running as hog as 70% worldwide it should not be pushed aside . This book gets you up and running in no time. http://www.packtpub.com/jquery-mobile-web-development-essentials/book


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Property ID : 10332732
Leased $390 per week - Unit
Taking pride of place on the top floor, this unique dual level apartment makes full use of its balconies on both levels. Stylishly presented throughout, it delivers a premium MODERN lifestyle just a few level metres to superb shopping and eatery options and express public transport to the City and Westfield Liverpool. Accommodation: * Open plan design with free flowing living, dining and kitchen * Modern kitchen with stone benches, electric cooking and dishwasher * Upper level bedroom with en-suite and balcony * Second bedroom with built-in wardrobe. Features: * Fresh and inviting light-filled interiors * Generous alfresco Balcony * Internal laundry facilities * Secure basement car space * Secure entry with video intercom


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Retirement living choices can be confusing
There are many housing options available for seniors today. But navigating them can be difficult. Step one in the process is understanding what your choices are. Typically, choice is based on your specific needs. In the case of seniors needing socialization, good nutrition and motivation to remain active, an independent living community is the perfect choice.
Independent Living is known by other names such as:
• Retirement communities
• Supportive housing
• Retirement homes
• Congregate living
• Active adult communities
• Senior apartments or senior housing
Seniors requiring ongoing support beyond that provided within an Independent Living community are often better served in an Assisted Living residence. With PARC's new Independent Living+ service, a Wellness Nurse can help navigate residents through their changing lifestyles to find suitable options designed to meet their needs.
Is Independent Living right for you?
A few questions to ask yourself or your loved one…..
1. Is it easy to maintain your current house or is it becoming a burden?
2. Is it difficult to maintain friendships and family connections on a regular basis?
3. Is it easy to get around? How much do you have to rely on others?
4. How is your health?
5. Have you lost a spouse recently or are you feeling lonely and isolated?
6. How well do you eat? Are you eating well-balanced nutritious meals appropriate for your age?
7. Are you exercising your body and brain?
If you are struggling with one or two or more of these issues, Independent Living+ may indeed be the right choice to alleviate these challenges and create a healthier, happier you.


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The Project Se7en is not just "another event". We gather a group of talent designers on the grid who offer high quality designs AS WELL AS some small-to-mid scale stores with unique and original creations that you seldom see in events. TP7 do not limit on themes and varieties. We aim to meet with large variety of guests from different genders, different tastes, different styles and different countries.
The Project Se7en runs on the 30th of every quarter (i.e. March, June, Sept, Dec) of the year.
October round (sept, 30th- oct-20)
Atlas Cuffs
Our exclusive is a set of beautiful and colored leather cuffs.
They come with a hud ( 6 options for leather, 6 for metals and 4 color sets for the dots)
100 % Original mesh
Copy and Modify
Your TAXI


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Population structure of Escherichia coli O26ŌĆŖ:ŌĆŖH11 with recent and repeated stx2 acquisition in multiple lineages.Ogura Y , Gotoh Y , Itoh T , Sato MP , Seto K , Yoshino S , Isobe J , Etoh Y , Kurogi M , Kimata K , Maeda E , Pi├®rard D , Kusumoto M , Akiba M , Tominaga K , Kirino Y , Kato Y , Shirahige K , Ooka T , Ishijima N , Lee KI , Iyoda S , Mainil JG , Hayashi T
Microb Genom.2017 Nov ; 3(11):.PubMedŃü¦ĶĪ©ńż║
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A key virulence factor of enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) is the bacteriophage-encoded Shiga toxin (Stx). Stxs are classified into two types, Stx1 and Stx2, and Stx2-producing strains are thought to cause more severe infections than strains producing only Stx1. Although O26ŌĆŖ:ŌĆŖH11 is the second most prevalent EHEC following O157ŌĆŖ:ŌĆŖH7, the majority of O26ŌĆŖ:ŌĆŖH11 strains produce Stx1 alone. However, Stx2-producing O26 strains have increasingly been detected worldwide. Through a large-scale genome analysis, we present a global phylogenetic overview and evolutionary timescale for E. coli O26ŌĆŖ:ŌĆŖH11. The origin of O26 has been estimated to be 415ŌĆēyears ago. Sequence type 21C1 (ST21C1), one of the two sublineages of ST21, the most predominant O26ŌĆŖ:ŌĆŖH11 lineage worldwide, emerged 213ŌĆēyears ago from one of the three ST29 sublineages (ST29C2). The other ST21 lineage (ST21C2) emerged 95ŌĆēyears ago from ST21C1. Increases in population size occurred in the late 20th century for all of the O26 lineages, but most remarkably for ST21C2. Analysis of the distribution of stx2-positive strains revealed the recent and repeated acquisition of the stx2 gene in multiple lineages of O26, both in ST21 and ST29. Other major EHEC virulence genes, such as type III secretion system effector genes and plasmid-encoded virulence genes, were well conserved in ST21 compared to ST29. In addition, more antimicrobial-resistance genes have accumulated in the ST21C1 lineage. Although current attention is focused on several highly virulent ST29 clones that have acquired the stx2 gene, there is also a considerable risk that the ST21 lineage could yield highly virulent clones.
PMID: 29208163 [PubMed - in process]
PMID: 29208163 [PubMed - in process]
- [Review] Enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli O26:H11/H-: a human pathogen in emergence.
- Detection of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli serotypes O26:H11, O103:H2, O111:H8, O145:H28, and O157:H7 in raw-milk cheeses by using multiplex real-time PCR.
- Characterisation of the Shiga toxin producing Escherichia coli O26 isolated from human in Poland between 1996 and 2014.
- Targeted amplicon sequencing for SNP genotyping of attaching and effacing Escherichia coli O26:H11 cattle strains using a high-throughput library preparation technique.
- Virulence gene profiles and clonal relationships of Escherichia coli O26:H11 isolates from feedlot cattle by whole genome sequencing.


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Apparently yesterday's massive attack on Twitter/Facebook/Blogger/Livejournal was aimed at a single blogger. This amazing for a couple reasons. First, the attack was massive, it was a Distributed Denial of Service (DoS) attack that used a huge number of drone machines to send false emails and web hits to these services and overwhelmed them so that normal users couldn't get through. Its the equivalent of blanket carpet bombing several towns (Twitterville, Facebookberg…) just to get at some guy you heard hangs out in those towns sometimes. (more…)
All posts tagged russia
Russia to approve new Moon rocket
Well apparently Russia doesn't like being left out of the upcoming Moon party and they have approved a new Moon rocket. Frankly, I find the push to get everyone back to the Moon is a badly motivated. I'm hugely in favour of increased exploration of space, both robotic and manned, but is the Moon the best way to advance?
I think we should have set up a Moon base long ago and that such a base would be fundamentally more interesting and useful than the current space station. It mightn't have been cheaper mind you, its a long way to the Moon compared to low Earth orbit. But it would have been more exciting and allowed for more people and more science to happen if we had a solid moon base instead of a rickety floating one. I know there is micro-gravity science to be done too, but that could mostly be done in shuttles or other experiments. After all these years it is only now that the space station is complete enough and soon will have room for more crew that real science can be done around the clock. As it is now the current few astronauts are busy just maintaining the systems.
But I digress. The planetary society recently released its plan for a bold new future in space and exploration of the Moon is in there, but as an optional addition. They encourage NASA to allow other nations just getting their feet wet in space, like China, Japan and even Europe, to do the Moon bit. Meanwhile, the more experienced US program should push beyond the Moon, out into interplanetary space with missions to near Earth asteroids. These missions would be exciting, scientifically useful and …well exciting! And they would give some real preparation for the real goal of human space exploration which should be putting some bootprints on Mars.
Posted by Mark Crowley on March 16, 2009


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I can't believe this is really going to happen.
We've talked about over the years. We bat the idea around… and I always chicken out.
Yes! I'm packing boxes.
I'm sorting to sell, donate, trash and move. All at the same time--- I also want to stage our home and get top dollar for it. We need to show it's best potential! I've read different ideas on home staging. I've found one source to be especially helpful. I'll link that at the end of this post.
The microwave hutch—complete with Spaghetti sauce splatters! :/
I am starting small. Last night I unpacked the hutch. Removed and edited items. Packed what I was taking and separated the trash from the yard sale/ donate pile.
After… much better. It's dark in there. I'm thinking of adding a light to the inside of the cabinet. It also needs touch up paint. (and that yellowed glue…scraped and painted over) It's weird what we choose to live with, isn't it? That little spice rack used to look like this...
Preparing to move. For me—and I bet most people, it's more than packing boxes. Preparing mentally and emotionally. Preparing to leave your home. Preparing to take a piece of furniture or leave it. My husband supervised my youngest son when they built this step back cupboard (ie: microwave hutch) It has served me well. I am probably going to leave it for the next occupant. It's crazy.
I've always loved my kitchen. Finally, after I started blogging—I realized my KITCHEN STYLE had a name. "Unfitted Kitchen" … not to be confused with 'an unfit kitchen' … No. An UNFITTED KITCHEN has a farmhouse feel to it. Very little, if any built in cupboards. The rest—furniture.
Preparing to move. Emptying the cupboards to the bare essentials. Keep in mind… nothing is staged yet. Just edited and packed. I'm taking pictures of the whole process in order to get a better visual.
We're definitely looking for something smaller. We're at a national average of about 1300 sq. ft.- Small by some peoples standards, large by others. I want smaller for the obvious reasons. It's just the two of us—buying smaller, will hopefully be cheaper too, not just purchase price; but maintenance, utilities, taxes, etc.
My DONATE BOX… was BIGGER THAN MY KEEPS!
Here's the link I promised you -- I downloaded it to my Kindle. Its great! Very informative.
Goodbye, House. Hello, Home! 31 Days to a Staged Home --- Thanks Leslie!
'Til next time, Be Blessed!
"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." ~Joshua 1:9
I'm participating in Nester's annual -31 Days of writing


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Reef Micro•Fuel
Is gentle on the system it provides an alcohol free non-flammable and sugar free rich carbon source for accelerated growth of bacterioplankton for food sources for corals and other invertebrates as well as for the crucial functions of nitrification denitrification nutrient assimilation and remineralisation. Proper use of Reef Micro•Fuel will result in reduction of nitrates and phosphates to very low levels providing for a cleaner and more beautiful aquarium.
Continuum is founded by marine aquarium hobbyist engineer and long time aquarium products manufacturer Jack Kent (You have all heard of Kent Marine) well since leaving Kent Marine he has not stood still.He has researched and adapted a range of products taking them to another level ahead of their predecessors. Now launching a new business called Continuum Aquatics he continues his quest for the most innovative high quality aquarium products combined with excellence in customer service.
Continuum Aquatics has developed a complete line of cutting edge chemical and nutritional supplements vitamins and filtration media to maintain marine aquarium environments for the aquarium novice and for the most demanding hobbyist or public aquarium. Continuum products are thoroughly thought out tediously tested and made to the highest standards of quality.
We have found the marketplace is flooded with many additives and treatments all at varying prices and all laying claim to being the best in that area. We however have found many fall short of their claims and many have sat back and been left behind in this ever progressive hobby relying on their past reputation.


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Completed some testing to see if the dark frame would orientate auto-magically while live stacking. Started a new live stack and changed flip to both vertical and horizontal. Applied the master dark frame and result is below. Obviously the dark did not flip with the image. Is this something to consider adding to dark / flat frame UI? Thoughts?
Stack_2frames_480s_WithDisplayStretch by Black Wikkett, on Flickr
Calibration Frame Flip
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Job Description
An exciting opportunity has arisen for an Interim Senior Marketing Executive to join a leading distributor of own brand and branded beauty products based in Tamworth. Supplying to both Professionals and Retailers, they have a passion for the brands they work with and scour the globe to bring the best of the best to their customers.
The Role: This Interim Senior Marketing Executive is required to start with the business in September to cover a 12 month maternity FTC. This role will focus on two brands within the business with a possibility to oversee other brands when required by the business. The role is multi-channel to ensure all consumer touch points are reached including owning all in store campaigns as well as understanding digital marketing, as collaboration with the digital team will be frequent - a true generalist marketeer is required.
Key Responsibilities:
- Develop, own and deliver the annual marketing & PR plan & campaigns ensuring campaigns are executed with strong ROI
- Implement a marketing strategy in line with the forecasted sales growth
- Strong creative writing skills to create copy for all marketing materials
- Project mange all events and exhibitions
- Build and maintain strong partner relationships and handle all consumer media/PR
- Manage all POS, marketing communications and promotional activity; ensuring all brand guidelines are met
- Collaboration with whole marketing team to support business needs
The candidate: To be considered for this Interim Senior Marketing Executive role you must be available to start in this 12 month FTC in September and ideally have worked in a consumer environment such as retail or leisure and travel where the end customer is always in mind. You will be confident, flexible and able to demonstrate successfully building relationships and negotiating agreements with key trade partners as well as strong creative writing skills. A natural commercial acumen will be advantageous to the role.
The role would suit an existing Senior Marketing Executive or Marketing Executive or Marketing Officer looking for a great opportunity, responsibility and diversity in their role.
The role will be office based in Tamworth, a short distance from the M42 with a salary of circa £30,000-£32,000, pension and 25 days holiday.
Interim Senior Marketing Executive, Tamworth, £30000-£32000


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Posted: Nov. 26, 2014
Jim Harrison grew up on the prairies, played Junior in Saskatchewan, and pro with the Bruins, Leafs, Hawks, and Oilers. Three years before a former teammate equaled the mark, Harrison set one of the most enduring and seemingly unreachable records in professional hockey with three goals and seven helpers on January 30, 1973. And almost nobody remembers.
This is Harrison's story: the games he played, the agent who stole from him, the woman he mourned, the fights he fought, and the friends he made — and lost — including Bobby Orr and Darryl Sittler. It's about the injuries he suffered, the pedophiles who preyed on him and other young players, and a Players Association that, he says, �wants me to die."
But The Lost 10 Point Night is also a response to Stephen Brunt's Searching for Bobby Orr and Gretzky's Tears — a book as much about Harrison as it is about author David Ward, a 50-year-old guy who went in search of his childhood hero . . . and what happened when they began looking at Canada's game together.
|I had never heard of this player before, Jim Harrison. He played in 324 NHL games and 232 WHA games and one night in 1973 he scored 10 points in a hockey game. Now in 73 in So. California all I got was the Kings who I still follow but I would not have paid attention to that stat. the author Mr. Ward, also though goes looking for his childhood hero and when finds him he is disappointed. This is a great book not only about hockey but how hockey and some sport hero's don't disappoint when you find them. he is dealing with injuries from his playing days like so many of the older players and that part was sad, but overall a very good a upbeat story. I really enjoyed the read, and it was well written. I got this book from net galley.


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Our range of reclaimed wine racks will ensure your wine is always store in style. We have wine racks to suit every kitchen or dining room, from rustic to classic country-chic.
Crafted from recycled materials such as solid wood, each of our reclaimed wine racks are not only eco-friendly, but totally unique.


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- Home
- Government
- Elections
**NOTE: Residents of the city of Eagle cannot register to vote at Eagle City Hall. This process is done through Ada County Elections. Please visit their website for information.
Election Date: Tuesday, November 5, 2019
The 2009 Idaho State Legislature passed HB 372 which is one of the most significant reforms to LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS in Idaho history.
For the City of Eagle, the Ada County Clerk is the Chief Elections Officer and shall exercise general supervision of the administration of the election laws in the City of Eagle. Which means the Ada County Clerk is now in charge of all City of Eagle elections.
The General City Election is held for the purpose of electing two (2) Council Members for terms of four (4) years, and the position of Mayor for a term of four (4) years.
This year the General City Election will be held on Tuesday, November 5, 2019.
When candidates are running for multiple City Council positions, such as two (2) four-year positions, the top two vote-getters are elected to fill the available City Council positions and candidates are not required to obtain a majority of the votes cast.
The first day for a candidate to file a Declaration of Candidacy is Monday, August 26, 2019 at 8:00 a.m. The candidate filing period for Declaration of Candidacy closes on Friday, September 6, 2019, at 5:00 p.m.
Candidates for City elected office are required to file a Declaration of Candidacy with the Eagle City Clerk, accompanied by a nonrefundable filing fee of $40 or a Petition of Candidacy signed by at least five qualified city electors. Signatures on the Petition of Candidacy must be verified by Ada County Elections Office (400 N. Benjamin Street #100, Boise, Idaho 83704) prior to filing with the Eagle City Clerk's Office. Declarations of Candidacy forms are available at City Hall during regular business hours or on the Candidates and Documents page.
Friday, October 11, 2019 is the last day to register to vote before the day of the Election. The Ada County Clerk is the Registrar of the City of Eagle, located at 400 N. Benjamin Street #100, Boise, Idaho 83704. Persons may download the registration form from the Ada County Elections website https://adacounty.id.gov/elections .
Election Day registration is available. Please register at your appropriate election precinct. You will be required to provide proof of residency by (1) Showing an Idaho Driver's License or Idaho identification card issued through the Department of Transportation; or (2) Showing any document which contains a valid address in the precinct together with a picture identification card; or (3) Showing a current valid student photo identification card from a postsecondary educational institution in Idaho accompanied with a current student fee statement that contains the student's valid address in the precinct.
An individual who is eligible to vote may also register, upon providing proof of residence, as stated above, at the "absent elector's polling place" which is located at 400 N. Benjamin Street #100, Boise, Idaho 83704.
Applications for an Absentee Ballot are available at the Ada County Elections Office located at 400 N. Benjamin Street #100, Boise, Idaho 83704. In person Absentee Voting will be held at the Ada County Elections Office on Benjamin Street. Ada County Elections Office offers several "pop-up" absentee voting opportunities prior to the election. Please visit their website for times and locations.
Friday, October 11, 2019, Close of registration. Voters may still register when voting in-person absentee, early voting, or at their polling place on Election Day.
Friday, October 25, 2019, Mail-in absentee ballot requests must be received by 5:00 p.m. by the Ada County Clerk at the Ada County Elections Office located at 400 N. Benjamin Street #100, Boise, Idaho 83704.
Friday, November 1, 2019, is the last day for in-person absentee voting until 5:00 p.m. at the Ada County Elections Office located at 400 N Benjamin Street #100, Boise, Idaho 83704.
Campaign Finance Reporting. Idaho Code 50-477 provides for the application of the Sunshine law to City Elections for Mayor and Council in cities over 5,000 in population.
Campaign Finance Disclosure information is available at Eagle City Hall, 660 E. Civic Lane, Eagle, Idaho and on the City's website www.cityofeagle.org.
All forms and reports required under Campaign Finance Disclosure must be filed with the Eagle City Clerk. Candidates and political treasurers should direct all questions about the Sunshine Law to the Eagle City Clerk's Office.
A Political Treasurer must be certified before an individual becomes a candidate for city office, or prior to the time an organization becomes a political committee. No contribution shall be received, or expenditure made by or on behalf of a candidate or political committee until a Political Treasurer is certified. Appointment and Certification of Political Treasurer for Candidates and Committees form is available at City Hall during regular business hours 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday as well as on the City of Eagle website.


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Racing icon Tony Stewart named All-Star Celebrity Coach
Championship driver will lead North Division All-Stars during the CCM/ECHL All-Star ClassicJan 9, 2018
INDIANAPOLIS – The Indy Fuel, in conjunction with the ECHL, announced Tuesday that auto racing superstar Tony Stewart will serve as a celebrity coach during the 2018 CCM/ECHL All-Star Classic. The three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion will lead the North Division All-Stars on Monday, January 15 during the ECHL's mid-season showcase at Indiana Farmers Coliseum.
The winner of 12 racing championships in multiple divisions over the last three decades, Stewart is the first and only driver to win titles in stock cars, Indy cars and open-wheel Midget and Sprint cars. The native of Columbus, Ind. is a two-time winner of the Brickyard 400 and seven-time champion at Daytona – part of an illustrious 20-year NASCAR driving tenure.
Retired from NASCAR as a driver since 2016, Stewart currently serves as co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, working with drivers such as Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer and Kurt Busch. Within the dirt racing circuit, Stewart's own Tony Stewart Racing team has accumulated a total of 22 owner championships since 2001.
Providing assistance to Stewart behind the bench will be Fuel assistant coach Ryan McGinnis. The duo will join Colorado Eagles head coach Aaron Schneekloth (Mountain Division), South Carolina Stingrays head coach Ryan Warsofsky (South Division) and Fuel head coach Bernie John.
The CCM/ECHL All-Star Classic is coming to Indianapolis in 2018! The best players in AA hockey take the ice at Indiana Farmers Coliseum on January 15 as part of a celebration of professional hockey in the Circle City, which will include NHL® legend Wayne Gretzky. Visit ECHLAllStarClassic.com for more information and to purchase your tickets, and become an All-Star Insider to get event updates, ticket information and special offers delivered right to your inbox.
About the ECHL
Began in 1988-89 with five teams in four states, the ECHL has grown into a coast-to-coast league with 27 teams in 21 states and one Canadian province for its 30th season in 2017-18. There have been 633 players who have gone on to play in the National Hockey League after starting their careers in the ECHL, including 10 who have made their NHL debuts in the 2017-18 season. The ECHL has affiliations with 26 of the 31 NHL teams in 2017-18, marking the 21st consecutive season that the league has affiliations with at least 20 teams in the NHL. Further information on the ECHL is available on its website at ECHL.com.


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Created on: Friday, 21 September 2018 Modified on: Tuesday, 08 January 2019
Wedding Venues in Dillon County, SC
Unfortunately, TheRing.org does not list any venues in Dillon County, South Carolina to host your wedding. We want to make it as easy as possible for you to find the best wedding location. You can go towards the bottom of this Dillon County page to find the search function we have put together. There, we provide a list of both South Carolina city and county pages. This way you can consider all wedding venue options in different parts of the state.


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Toronto, ON. "Toronto–based father-son design duo announced their return to the runway to present the CARAS, Stephan Caras Fall/Winter 2018 collection on Tuesday, March 13 at 8 p.m. at TW " Toronto Women's Fashion Week. Caras newest collection stays true to its philosophy of design, continually inspired by femininity and sensuality while offering an elegant and enticing expose of dramatic lines, trailing lengths and plenty of volume.
The emphasis of this season's collection is placed on the use of luxurious textures, sophisticated lines and exquisite detailing. Plunging neck lines, asymmetric treatments and fun flirty contours connect to create dramatic silhouettes. The collection seduces through the use of bold colour palettes in floral undertones. It is inspired by opulence and femininity.
"Our Fall/Winter 2018 collection is inspired by women who enjoy a touch of drama in their outfits, demonstrating their individuality and sensuality, said designer Stephan Caras. This bold collection is a fashion forward statement and an ode to the strength of confident women."
"Our philosophy has always been to create collections that are feminine and sensual. For Fall/Winter 2018 we showcase a vivid palette of colour that emphasize opulence. Sleek shapes achieve a balance between elegance and drama." added co-designer Kyriako Caras.
Signature CARAS gowns made of silk taffeta and luxurious beaded lace reign in a fluttering palette of dark floral undertones, while evening wear parades beaded and textured floral lace, flowing organza ruffles, and opulent brocades and cloques. The collection creates drama and shows that a woman can have fun and be elegant all over again.
Hashtag: #StephanCaras #Caras
Twitter:В @StephanCaras
Instagram: @StephanCaras
Facebook: Stephan Caras
About Stephan Caras Design Inc.:
Stephan Caras is a well-established Toronto-based designer with more than 20 years of fashion expertise. Caras has participated in various fashion events in cities around in the world, including Paris, New York, Hong Kong, Athens and Toronto. Born in Greece and educated in Australia, Caras now calls Toronto home. His European-style fashion house is located in a beautifully renovated heritage building at 744 Queen St. E. in Toronto. His gowns, dresses, suits and designer jeans sell internationally. StephanCaras.com
About Kyriako Caras:
Kyriako Caras was born into the world of fashion. At age five, he joined his father in Jeanne Beker's first interview with a Canadian designer. He has developed a complementary sense of artistic expression and now designs alongside Stephan. Kyriako has a bachelor of arts in archaeology from the University of Toronto and draws inspiration from his knowledge of culture and history. His designs often focus on fluidity and motion. As co-designer, Kyriako and Stephan have created the collections we know today as part of the CARAS brand.
PR INQUIRIES please contact:
Desia Halpin-Brill, BRILL COMMUNICATIONS


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How much does chapter 13 bankruptcy cost in Dayton, Ohio?
How much do you charge to file chapter 13 bankruptcy?-and can I make pay arrangements if its too much?
How much do you charge to file chapter 13 bankruptcy?-and can I make pay arrangements if its too much?
Filing for Chapter 13 bankruptcy generally costs less up front than filing for Chapter 7. Here's why:
Chapter 7 fees are all due up front before the case can be filed with the court. In other words, you cannot get Chapter 7 bankruptcy relief without first paying all attorney fees, filing fees, and any fees for obtaining the Credit Counseling Certificate that is required before commencement of all consumer bankruptcy cases.
However, Chapter 13 fees are generally broken up into two categories: (1) fees paid prior to filing the case, and (2) fees paid through the Chapter 13 plan. Here in Dayton, Ohio, there is really no such thing as price shopping for a Chapter 13 attorney. Nearly every attorney files for the same amount of money. The difference between the offices is how much the attorney requires in up front fees versus what the attorney will take out of your future plan payments.
Here, we base our up-front fees on the amount of up-front work that the case will require. For instance, in terrifically simple Chapter 13 cases, we charge no up front attorney fees. We also charge less for dire situations such as a newly repossessed vehicle or an active garnishment. In the event that it is a $0 up-front Chapter 13 fee, the client would only have to pay the $281 filing fee that the court requires along with the $23 fee to take the Credit Counseling course on the internet. If you want to see what we would charge up front to help you obtain Chapter 13 relief, then feel free to contact us to set up a free consultation where I can learn more about your situation.Log in to Reply
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Contact Information
6826 Loop Road
Dayton, OH 45459
United States
Phone: 937-401-5000
Fax: 877-845-1231
211 Kenbrook Drive, Suite 5
Vandalia, OH 45377
United States
Phone: 937-387-1598
Fax: 877-845-1231
2 W Columbia St, Ste 200
Springfield, OH 45501
United States
Phone: 937-284-8139
Fax: 877-845-1231


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What is Neurofeedback? Well, it is also called EEG biofeedback or neurotherapy which makes use of the brain's capacity for change to reshape brain networks. If you live near Portsmouth or Seacoast NH and Maine you now have a way to naturally train your brain towards more normalized function whether you have symptoms of anxiety, depression, focus, memory, headaches or brain injury. It is a way to directly train the brain to function better. Neurofeedback is a research-supported treatment to sharpen attention, relieve anxiety, enhance mood, and improve learning, and behavior…without medication.
Although the technology is complex, the process is simple, painless, and non-invasive. It is just learning. You learn to alter your brain activity the same way you learn every other skill. You learn through feedback and practice. What is new in neurofeedback is that you are guided by a form of feedback that was previously not available to you. With neurofeedback, you get instantaneous information or feedback about changes in your brain's electrical activity. Every half second, your brain activity is compared to your target or goal for change. You get a signal and "reward" when you meet the goal. No signal or reward when you do not.


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Every business and every new company that start out in Australia is not just simply a small setup rather it is an entity with a solid base with all the legal compliance that is needed. It is quite clear that when a company is started or a person establishes a business sin Australia they need to be very careful when they are opening up a new outlet or a new company because of the fact there are state rules as well as government rules that are important to follow up. If not there could be obligations that may not be easy to confront for a new business at all.
In all such circumstances there are many things that need to be handled and this only turns out to be easy when a commercial lawyer or a contract lawyer is there to help.
Because right from the start when you register a company, you may need to hire a trademark lawyer so that he or she may help while you register a trademark, describe and prepare non disclosure agreement and employment agreement and make sure to offer help in other areas as well.
For a qualified lawyer it is easier to manage things like the preparation of the legal agreements and documents and all things like that. It becomes safe and easy to manage legal aspects so that the company may not fall into any kind of legal trap and may get things stated in the right ay with the right base for their business.
Further, a lawyer may also help in giving the best advice when it is require din case if the company gets into any sort of trouble due to some flaws and management issues and this can be managed with the lawyer's advice so that they are not getting into any kind of issues and may make a good start as whole.


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- Stoke on TrentTemporary
Excellent opportunity for an interim Building Surveyor to oversee an investment programme for a leading housing association.
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Excellent interim opportunity with a high peforming Housing organisation
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Haven't found the job you are looking for? Use our new smart new Job Match tool to find your next opportunity.
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Submit your CV to register with us and we will contact you if a suitable role becomes available.


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Paul Barbour
Senior Risk Management Officer
Paul Barbour is a Senior Risk Management Officer in the Economics and Policy Group of MIGA, the political risk insurance arm of the World Bank Group.
Paul worked previously for the International Finance Corporation (the private sector investment arm of the World Bank Group), as an economist and strategist. Prior to this he was a senior economic advisor in the UK's Department for International Development, advising on a number of projects across Africa. In his early career, Paul served as an economic adviser for the Government of Fiji.
Paul has a Master's Degree in Economics from Oxford University, and an MBA from the Yale School of Management. He is also a Chartered Financial Analyst.
- The APMG PPP Certification Program: Q&A with Paul Barbour
- Winning the Game of Mining Taxation
- Are Rates of Return in Places that are Fragile and Affected by Conflict Really Higher?
- Partnership in Political Risk: Singapore Goes Global!
- Do Investment Promotional Agencies Leave Investors Out in the Cold?
- How Risky, Really, Is the Arab World for Investors? Take Two.
- Parsing Asia: What New World Bank Reports Say about Investment in the Region
- How Risky, Really, Is the Arab World for Investors?


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When you become disabled and unable to work, it can have a jarring effect on your life. You suddenly have to worry about how you will take care of your family. If you have already applied for Social Security Disability (SSD) benefits and been denied, the stress may be compounding. You need representation by a skilled SSD lawyer to guide you through the process.
I am Steven J. Finkelstein Attorney at Law. For more than 25 years, I have provided high-quality representation to individuals in New York who seek to receive SSD after they become unable to work due to illness or injury. Whether you need help submitting your application for SSD or have already applied, been denied and are looking for guidance through your Social Security Disability appeal, I will be by your side through every step in the process, answering your questions and advocating on your behalf.
Skillfully Guiding Individuals Through The Social Security Disability Process
To be eligible for SSD, you must be disabled, which the Social Security Administration (SSA) defines as a condition which is disabling for at least twelve months or is expected to result in death, and that keeps you from earning a certain monthly income as a fulltime worker.
Applications for SSD are often denied initially. If you already applied and received a denial letter, this does not mean that you will not be able to receive SSD benefits. I have extensive experience helping individuals appeal their denials with an excellent success rate. I know how to develop your evidence so your case for benefits is stronger, putting you in the best possible position for success on appeal.
Contact Steven J. Finkelstein Attorney At Law | Free Initial Consultation
To learn more about applying for disability in Staten Island, I invite you to schedule a free initial consultation with me. Contact me online or call me at 347-201-7082.


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NHS performed 24 abortions on three teenage girls
"Abortions were given to three teenage girls in England and Wales who had previously had at least seven pregnancies terminated, latest figures reveal."
"Pro-life campaigners said young women were being "let down in an appalling way" after it emerged three of the 38,269 teenagers who had a termination in 2010 had undergone the procedure at least seven times."
"Of the abortions carried out on teenage girls in 2010, more than 5,300 were on teenagers who had already had at least one termination.
A spokeswoman for pressure group LIFE said: "Abortion is a serious procedure, one which all sides of the abortion debate agree should not be undertaken lightly."
"Yet here we have young women, still not fully mature physiologically and emotionally, undergoing abortions numerous times."
As a person of the male gender, my experience of such matters is necessarily limited. However, I do remember a girlfriend confiding in me a long time ago that she had already had 2 abortions, and the doctors had advised her that to continue such a practice would risk problems when she did want to carry a child to full term. Consequently, this defined how our relationship was conducted.
Since then I have known other young ladies that have been through the same procedure, some with little or no problem, others with difficulties and complications that caused quite a lot of worry. In general, abortion is something to be treated as an emergency solution to a problem, and not as an alternative to other more readily available forms of contraception.
On this page, there is a poll which asks "Should there be a limit to how many abortions women can have on the NHS?".
The current response is 33.4% = No, 66.6% = Yes.
I disagree with the question altogether, however, as I think a limit on the number of abortions is wrong in principle. At the same time, however, I see a need to be more persuasive in reducing the number of abortions per person – especially in teenage girls. I would therefore advocate applying a fee on a sliding scale after the first. The fee would increase with each successive abortion, and would progressively deter women from choosing this method. There should always be an opt-out in, that if an abortion is required as the result of rape, no matter how many abortions had been done before, the fee would be waived.
And for under-age and unmarried girls, I see it as imperative to ensure that the parents are fully informed.
In the meantime, somebody should start doing a full analysis to find out how we can reduce these figures. It is not just a matter of cost.
We must all be quite clear about the fact that any abortion is a tragedy!
"It is very important that every woman who has an abortion is offered counselling and given good advice and supplies of contraception. 'There are many types of contraception available to suit women's needs from the pill to long acting reversible contraceptives such as the contraceptive implant."
It appears that counselling and good advice are not doing the job. We need more than this. We need to establish who is most at risk, and follow that person's reproductive health closely until it becomes clear that they have understood the message.
As for the overall cost to the Health Service, well it is not exactly "chicken-feed"! See
NHS 'spends £1m on repeat abortions' and
Abortion costs £30m higher than previously thought
With coordinated and directed action, I am certain we can improve the lives of these unfortunate ladies and girls, and with the money saved offset some of the damage caused by cuts to other parts of the Health Service.


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The presidents of Sudan and South Sudan are two of Africa's oldest rivals, but they put their differences aside briefly to assure the world that the flow of oil between their countries would not be disrupted.
South Sudanese President Salva Kiir flew to Khartoum on Tuesday to meet with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. It was only his second visit to Sudan's capital since the countries separated. At a press conference, Bashir told reporters that ongoing disagreements would not imperil oil exports, which both countries rely on heavily due to a lack of economic diversification.
"We are committed to implement the agreements signed by the two countries," Bashir said, according to Reuters. "We want to leave the problems of the past behind us and open a new page for the benefit of the two people."
South Sudan, the world's youngest country, broke away from Sudan in 2011 following decades of civil war. But border disputes remain deadly, and oil transport disagreements have kept both administrations at odds over the countries' most valuable revenue source.
Landlocked South Sudan seceded with most of the formerly united country's oil fields, but Sudan retains the ports and facilities needed to get that product to market. A row over transport fees led to a 16-month standoff, shuttering production of about 350,000 barrels per day. The shutdown took an immense toll on both economies, which suffered skyrocketing inflation. Sudan implemented harsh austerity measures on an already-pinched populace, while South Sudan was unable to afford much beyond national defense, at the expense of much-needed infrastructure and development.
Both leaders restarted their oil flow this March, but the disputes are far from over even after Tuesday's meeting. There were hints during the press conference that oil flow could still be affected by ongoing disagreements. Sudan still accuses its neighbor of supporting rebels operating on Sudanese territory, which South Sudan denies. Outside analysts suspect both administrations of backing insurgents across the border.
Both countries also still contest a border territory called Abyei, which is rich in oil and symbolically important to both countries. Tens of thousands of people are still displaced from the territory, a zone of constant conflict until a UN Security Council-enforced ceasefire took effect in 2012.
Kiir and Bashir also addressed bilateral trade on Tuesday, with both presidents acknowledging that opening up the border for commerce would be a step in the right direction. But Bashir has so far refused to take that step due to South Sudan's alleged support of rebels.
"We are not supporting the rebels, and this can be seen in reality," Kiir said, according to AFP. "We have to close the old chapters and open a new page."


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I am delighted to be able to share with you all the official Press Release from the organizers of #BloodyScotland for the 2017 McIvanney Prize Long List.
Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival 8-10 September 2017
LONGLIST ANNOUNCED FOR THE McILVANNEY PRIZE
'In what is shaping up to be a record-breaking year at Bloody Scotland (we sold twice as many tickets on our first day as last year), I'm pleased to see so many of the highlights of the 2017 programme featured on this longlist. It's also brilliant to see a few debut novels on there slugging it out with the more established names. I certainly don't envy our judges the task of picking a winner from this excellent crop of crime novels'
Bob McDevitt, Director of Bloody Scotland, June 2017
'I went to Bloody Scotland and I was just knocked out….this event was so friendly, so supportive I was honestly overwhelmed'
William McIlvanney – speaking on BBC Scotland, 2012
Last year the Scottish Crime Book of the Year Award was renamed the McIlvanney Prize in memory of William McIlvanney who established the tradition of Scottish detective fiction. His brother Hugh McIlvanney OBE, came to Stirling to present the prize to Chris Brookmyre who won it for Black Widow. The book went on to be shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger and is currently on the shortlist for the Theakston's Old Peculier Prize to be announced at the Harrogate Festival next month.
Ever a step ahead, Bloody Scotland today announce the longlist for this year's McIlvanney Prize. The winner will be announced at the opening reception at Stirling Castle on Friday 8 September (6.30-8.30pm) and followed by a torchlight procession – open to the public – led by Ian Rankin on his way down to his event celebrating 30 years of Rebus. The award recognises excellence in Scottish crime writing, includes a prize of £1000 and nationwide promotion in Waterstones.
The longlist which has been chosen by an independent panel of readers and features 6 male and 6 female writers, established authors and debut writers, small Scottish publishers and large London houses, is released today:
Lin Anderson – None But the Dead (Macmillan)
Chris Brookmyre – Want You Gone (Little, Brown)
Ann Cleeves – Cold Earth (Macmillan)
Helen Fields – Perfect Remains (Harper Collins)
Val McDermid – Out of Bounds (Little, Brown)
Claire MacLeary – Cross Purpose (Contraband)
Denise Mina – The Long Drop (Random House)
Owen Mullen – Games People Play (Bloodhound)
Ian Rankin – Rather Be the Devil (Orion)
Craig Robertson – Murderabilia (Simon and Schuster)
Craig Russell – The Quiet Death of Thomas Quaid (Quercus)
Jay Stringer – How to Kill Friends & Implicate People (Thomas & Mercer)
The judges will be chaired by Director of Granite Noir, Lee Randall, comedian and crime fiction fan, Susan Calman and journalist, Craig Sisterson who between them cover three continents. The finalists will be revealed at the beginning of September and the winner kept under wraps until the ceremony itself.
Previous winners are Chris Brookmyre with Black Widow 2016, Craig Russell with The Ghosts of Altona in 2015, Peter May with Entry Island in 2014, Malcolm Mackay with How A Gunman Says Goodbye in 2013 and Charles Cumming with A Foreign Country in 2012.
Some absolutely brilliant books on there and I don't envy the judges their choices. Can't wait until September now and Bloody Scotland so I can find out who has won.


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I have been expressing concern over the gay abandon with which politicians indulge in corrupt practices. Through the past decades we have several instances of land grabbing, cornering of government contracts and executing these with poor quality and speed money collected at different levels for 'liaison' work. There have been several instances of illegal mining that range from quarrying sand to granite.
A recent one relates to the systematic adulteration of milk supplied to Tamil Nadu Co-operative Milk Producers' Federation Ltd. (Aavin). A political bigwig of AIADMK, N Vaidyanathan, based in Salem, has reportedly perfected this practice with the connivance of several senior officials of Aavin. He owns over a dozen milk tankers; In each one of these over 10 per cent of quality milk was drained out, replaced by water each day. Milk from several such tankers have been adulterated. Estimates put the value of money generated this way to lakhs of rupees each day.
All the care bestowed in collection of milk, chilling it, homogenising it and moving it in refrigerated vehicles go for a toss by the adulterator, diluting it with water of unknown quality.
Tamil Nadu is not unfamiliar with such practices. Until a couple of years ago,www.rosebags.cz such practices were widespread in adulterating diesel and petrol. The money swindled this way ran to hundreds of crores of rupees every month. After decades of efforts, oil marketing companies devised systems to curb this practice with more effective locking and sealing systems, as also taking recourse to the GPS to keep track of movement of the oil tankers.
Nearly two decades ago IE pointed to widespread adulteration of fuel dispensed to motor vehicles. A survey of 21 petrol retail outlets revealed such adulteration of all the samples tested. When senior advocate K Vijayan filed a case against oil marketing companies, this was re-confirmed. The OMCs terminated dealerships of several retailers. But in a system where the retail outlets were awarded as political patronage, before long most of these got back their dealership.
And despite all this, Aavin has been ignorant of the possibility of such a transfer of technology from oil to milk! The milk scandal is part of a malaise that is deep rooted in society nurtured by widespread corruption. This has spread like a cancer. It needs cleansing pronto.


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Vince Rapisura
Mariel Vincent Andres Rapisura , or "Sir Vince" to most people, was born on November 8, 1978 in the far-flung outskirts of Maddela, Quirino. Vince grew up in a small rural neighborhood and was the town's pride as he was the first one to study in Ateneo de Manila. He grew up with his parents training him to be an entrepreneur exposing him to various business endeavors at a young age.
In 2001, Vince was one of the few youth ambassadors who represented the Philippines in a cultural exchange program – the Ship for Southeast Asian Youth Program. He also represented the Philippines in the Global Youth Leadership Program in Japan in 2004 and was the youngest National Leader among 40 participating countries worldwide.
Vince Rapisura has been teaching microfinance and social entrepreneurship at the Ateneo de Manila University for the past 13 years. He established SEDPI, a social enterprise that provides financial literacy trainings to low-income OFWs in 15 countries worldwide. Since 2004, SEDPI has trained more than 30,000 individuals and has managed social investments close to PhP325 million. SEDPI's experience has been shared in various international conferences held in India, Israel, Italy, Myanmar, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Thailand, Spain and Vietnam. For his work, Vince received awards from Ernst and Young in 2012 and from Price WaterhouseCoopers in 2015. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Management from the Ateneo de Manila and a Master's Degree in Entrepreneurship from the Asian Institute of Management.
He recently released his book on personal finance entitles (L)Earning Wealth: Successful Strategies in Money Management. The book is available in all major bookstores nationwide.
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If you Google my name, you'll find I've been busy writing thousands... and I mean thousands... of articles on everything under the sun from "How to Teach Your Toddler to Brush his Teeth" to "The Advantages of Taekwondo" to "Preventing Foot Pain in Ice Skating." It seems like you name something and I've written an article on it; even things like "How to Buy Baby Calves Online" (which I do kind of feel guilty about, I mean, I didn't stop to think of what people would do with the poor baby calves, once they followed the steps to buy 'em. Before you judge me, stop and think -- maybe they're buying calves for humanitarian reasons... like to give as gifts to rich kids who need a petting zoo. Maybe the lives of those baby calves will be even happier, more joyful and more fulfilling than mine, once they're purchased. You never know).
My personal favorite of these was written a few years ago, when I first started this non-fiction pay for play type of prose... "How to Kill Mosquitoes in a Car." I kid you not. Someone assigned me this to write based on the fact that supposedly numerous people were Googling this burning query. Every now and then, I wonder what sort of person Googles the steps to mosquito persecution when sequestered in an automobile. I have, on occasion had to follow my own steps to get rid of a bug, usually a bee and the stop the car and run out screaming until it flies away method seems to work best for me. Still I keep picturing that lone wolf hunting down the perfect method to mosquito-in-car extinction. Truth be told, I couldn't keep a straight face while writing those particular words of wisdom, though the task was to write it without humor. That's the only problem with these little ditties, for the most part, the clients I write for specifically do not want my questionably "sophisticated" brand of Bluesy humor. Never mind that it's taken me years of honing this writing style to a finely tuned barbed machine of wit and whimsy. Forget all of those classes at UC Berkeley I had to take in comedy to become "a professional" (okay, so it was one class in comedy, and it turned out to be a snoozefest, as I recall. But hey, it was an easy "A").
So there you have it. I haven't been blogging because I've been writing. Some of that writing has been on my books, to which at this point, I am working on two fiction YA books (three if you count the one I start and stop with a dear buddy, when the stars align and we manage to carve time out between coming up with excuses why not to write the darn thing... that's what happens when you get two professional procrastinators in a room. Still, you never know, we could surprise ourselves and finish it one day). Aside from my two (or three) fabulous young adult fiction books, I've also managed to write and complete a really witty, fun picture book (but don't get too excited, the illustrations aren't done yet... and I am illustrating this one by myself). I'm also writing a biography of a really cool martial arts master.
And in between all this writing, writing, writing... and planning... and playing with my kids... and trying to make sure they grow up to be smart, responsible, funny people that add to society in some outstanding way (nurture, nurture, nurture)... in between all the dog walks, plant waters, and hours spent battling cellulite on an elliptical road to nowhere soul sucking machine; among the hours spent staring into the vast ocean and picking sand out of uncomfortable places; between all the great books read (see my Goodreads list if you don't believe me); between all the shlepping and shopping and hours spent playing with Spotify;
There's the Summer Moviewatching (so far, Pacific Rim and Man of Steel have both been loud and fun). And, of course, ample TV watching... so many shows, so little time:
Now for what you really want: This Summer's TV Watch
So far, I've been enjoying: Orange is the New Black (well worth a months subscription of Netflix), "The Killing," "True Blood" (still but honestly, it's getting a little boring lately), "The Newsroom" (I'm an Aaron Sorkin junkie, am I alone with this addiction? I wonder), Dexter (still fabulous in it's final stand, Charlotte Rampling rocks, though I do not trust her for a nanosecond... in fact, she and Jonathan Lithgow's character seem to have something in common), Ray Donovan, Continuum (my time machine sci fi fix), Stephen King's Under the Dome (my SK fix), Falling Skies, The Bridge, Royal Pains, Suits, Necessary Roughness (Nico, make a move already; who knew Jonathan Stamos could be cool to watch again), Covert Affairs (I'm thrilled that Annie and Auggie are together but I kinda miss the cheesy That Girl animation and upbeat music from the old intro), Mistresses (Don't judge me, it's summer), Switched at Birth (Come on... Angelo.. need I say more?), The Fall, Longmire (a new addition, I'm catching up on last season with Netflix, along with missed episodes of The Walking Dead and Supernatural... yes, I'm behind, okay? There's just not enough procrastinating hours in a day/week to keep on top of these things). I'm probably missing stuff. I'm looking forward to Breaking Bad again, although since I know it's the last season... I'm sad already that it's only for a short while before it's gone for good. Sniff. I miss Mad Men already, and it's only been a few weeks. Here's a recap from that last great episode of the season:
Until next time... Go, Make other plans, I dare you. The Universe waits for no one.
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The Tycoons of Tease have hit the West Coast! We are two shows into tour and having a blast! We have one more show in San Francisco before we head south! Monday night we are at Monday Night Hubba with the Hubba Hubba Revue at DNA Lounge!
Cali, come say hi, see some striptease, buy some merch, and even take a workshop or set up a photo session with the amazing One Chance Fancy, aka La Photographie!


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Small Town Hero
I have these moments during the beta weekends where, after I have just finished a few Events or Hearts in a small area, I stop to look around and ponder what to do. I am mindful of the idea that if I talked to more scouts in the world, I'd have somewhere marked out on my map as a next destination, but I have avoided scouts for my own reason. I like to explore. The times where I've filled up my tasks and think I have nothing left to do tend to lead to my favorite moments.
At a certain point in the beta, I turned off the UI and began fighting moa birds without the UI to assist me, taking screenshots of the combat without the combat text or UI to explain what I was doing or what was being done to me. I did this to have some clean combat shots for this blog, but I also did it to become better at reading combat and using my skills. This was a moment where I was not pursuing a quest-like goal, but doing whatever I wanted. It just so happened that I was fighting Moas by the lake in Kessex hills. This is where a fishing village had been repeatedly attacked by Krait slavers. I knew I needed to learn more underwater skills, so I took my blind combat into the lake.
I quickly found that I actually liked the Mesmer's trident weapon skills more than most of the Mesmer's land-based skills. The Trident is about the only thing in game that makes the Confusion condition matter. I noticed that the lake had an opening on the far end, at the opposite shore from where I was fighting the moa birds. I swam off in that direction, picking off krait slavers along the way, and learning my trident skills.
At the lake opening, I found a shallow tributary with some fish and crab, along with those kraits. I swam my way through this watery avenue until I came upon an even greater lake than the previous one from which I had came. I turned my UI back on, and saw that a heart had opened up somewhere near me, along with a skill point challenge. I tried to find a way back up on land, finally locating a low ledge to my left. When I got onto the ledge, I noticed a watery cavern was just below me. I hopped down into the cavern and found a Hylek waiting for me.
What I had come across was the "pig quest", a heart in which the Hylek shaman turns you into a pig and you forage the cavern for truffles. I had seen youtubes of this event before, but had no idea where it actually was. I was excited to find it, and found the heart a nice bit of fun. While doing my little piggy truffle shuffle, I heard some Hyleks talking in the water. I hopped into the water, found an underwater passage and followed it all the way down and around, until I came up into a hidden cavern that was home to a tiny Hylek encampment.
After finishing the heart, I found my way back out and tried to find the skill challenge nearby. It took some climbing, but I did run across a stinky Asuran engineer who had some weird stink bomb contraption. He challenged me to see if I could handle his invention and we proceeded to battle. His "stinky" contraption lobbed poison all over the ground and the fight was rather challenging. I did manage to take him down and receive my reward. Looking over my shoulder, I saw what looked like an Asuran outpost on the beach.
I swam over to this outpost and found that it was full of strange races, some new and some from the first game. There were Asurans, but there were also Caromi, Sylvari and Quaggans. The Quaggan seemed to be the locals of the area, and a rather annoying one kept begging me to do something about the Sea Witch. I finally said yes, and a boss Dynamic Event popped up in the middle of the lake.
After selling off my junk items, I dived back into the lake in search of this Sea Witch.
Inside the lake was another heart, and another Quaggan. This task consisted of checking crabbing traps and fighting crabs, krait and the rest of the things that probably scare Quaggan. Given their perosnalities, I think everything scares the Quaggan. While i could handle the previous lake's Krait warriors, this lake was decidedly more reinforced with Krait militia. As I tried to complete the heart and find the Sea Witch, I kept running into more and more foes. Once I finally found the mouth of the Sea Witch's cave, I saw that it was guarded by veteran Krait that proceeded to run me out of town. A nearby player helped me escape, but I decided to put the Sea Witch on hold.
After I went back to the crabbing work, I found another opening in the underwater geology. Wandering in, I came to a new dynamic event. I had found a Quaggan town underwater that was being attacked by slavers. This was one of my favorite events, but also one of the more vile events, and for the same reason. First, I was doing it alone, and I was doing it all for the Quaggan. I fought off wave after wave of Krait, stopping to free the Quaggan that had been shackled by the slavers. This event allowed me to use all the underwater skills I had just learned, and my reward for completing it was hearing a chorus of Quaggan conversation.
The Quaggan look like manatees and talk like rejects from a really bad children's show. When I had run off the Krait, the town mayor remarked "Stwoopid Kwait!" The villagers looked to blame someone and rambled on about recovering something. They celebrated and discussed what next to do. I felt like I had, by myself, saved these poor Quaggan townsfolk, but then again, I wasn't so sure I wanted to hang around and hear them talk like babbies.
Major Tests of a major issue
I was not happy to hear about the change to traits that ArenaNet had made for the Beta Weekend Event. I am a big fan of the previous system which allowed you to pick any major trait in any major trait slot. In Guild Wars, I was a build maker and tester. Even when my guild was not doing any PvP matches at the time, I was busy testing out ideas and theories. Even to this day, I try to break the system and find something crazy to do. This means that tiering and restricting traits is not something that fits my playstyle, nor is it something that really, truly helps balance. You either are good at balance or you're not, and you don't really know what your balance is until the public gets its hands on your game. This BWE2 was a prime example.
In the previous BWE, there were at least a few good Mesmer builds. I messed with a staff build that high survivalbility, and I played around with creating a Mind Wrack shatterbombing build, trying out a couple variants on that same idea. I tried to create confusion based builds, but the condition was and is still lacking.
This BWE, I wanted to try out a new Glamour+Confusion build idea that I had made in the various build calculators available on the web. The new trait system had changed some things up, but I was still able to replicate the
build. Unfortunately, the build required I take three glamour utilities and I quickly became aware how much I depended on kiting people through those glamours. It wasn't horrible, but it was extremely situational. My glamours blinded and confused foes entering them, and my blinds also applied an extra confusion. As I played, I noticed my Duelist from my pistol off-hand was doing some good damage. It was mostly the Duelist and my Confusing Images that were being effective.Word was getting around that Phantasms had been buffed. After a few runs with my first build idea, I reworked the idea and sacrificed all the blind and blind creates confusion traits for pure Phantasm pumping buffs. I started to see obscene numbers from my Duelist, and then I tested it out on the Golem dummies, seeing the obscene damage numbers replicated. As it turns out, Phantasmal Haste was basically removing the cooldown from Phantasm attacks and turning my illusions into machine guns. By the end of the day, I had adjusted everything into a build that most would call "broken". I still retained the Glamours cause confusion and longer lasting glamours, but now they worked with my Duelists by their strength as a combo field.
Anyways, by the end of the first night, the public had found an overpowered build in the new trait system designed to mitigate such things. Not a damning thing, but not an impressive thing.
Speaking of the Mesmer..
I thought they were reworking the Mesmer, but ANet hadn't really changed much, and what they did change, I am not sure anyone likes. Clones now do zero damage, but can take an extra hit. This makes them slightly more durable for shatter purposes, but also makes them even less a deceptive tool. Phantasms now pose legitimate threats, but still get overwritten by the weaker clones. As for shattering, the previously powerful Mind Wrack was nerfed through its traitline, deep into the ground. A mind wrack now hits the same as my MH Sword attack. Not all that impressive or worthy of consideration. Since Phantasms outwork shatters, I stopped using shatters in PVP and used them less in PVE than I had in the previous BWE. Overall, the Mesmer is in worse shape now than it was in the previous BWE. They have all the same major issues, but feature fewer viable builds and tactics.This may be why I began my second character this BWE while playing Mesmer for the entirety of the previous betas.
That Finale
The finale for this BWE was bewildering and awesome at the same time. What was going on wasn't as apparent as I expected, but once I figured out what was going on, it was one of those "AWESOME!" moments. Unfortunately, the finale really needed two hours instead of 45 minutes. Many servers had the event start late, and no server that I know of took the event to completion.
The basic premise of the finale was this: The Crystal Dragon has appeared in the sky and sent in its forces. The Flame Legion has joined the dragon legions and begun to set up camp outside The Black Citadel. The first part of the event featured fighting off the Flame Legion, but after about 10-20 minutes, these crystal shards started showing up around Waypoints in the Charr starting area. Our massive zerg ran from Crystal to the next, fighting corrupted Charr legions. At a certan point, strange crystal creatures started showing up with names that looked like player names. My event notifier told me to destroy them, so I did. I still couldn't figure out where they were coming from. Our zerg kept going from Crystal spawn to Crystal spawn, while Rhytlock roamed through the Ascalon Foothills, looking for a fight. Finally, I died in one of the giant battles. When I clicked on resurrect, I showed up at one of the crystal corrupted waypoints and found that I had been corrupted and turned into a crystal creature. I had a new set of skills and a new job to do: kill and corrupt all the remaining players. Now the game had turned into a giant game of kill-tag. We got to about 80% of the playerbase corrupted before the event ended.
It was fun, but I really would have liked to seen what happens at the end. Do we fight Rhytlock? Does the dragon come down from the sky? I mean, come on!
Other things
I did do a bit more WvWvW this weekend, but again, our server was severly outmatched and running into a meatgrinder was in no way or shape fun for me. At a certain point during the first night, we had taken 60% of the map and I was part of a group that was clearing keeps and killing Keep Lords. This was enjoyable, though it didn't involve much fighting other players. Once all of us Americans went to bed, the second place server went to work overnight, capturing about 90% of the map and never looking back. There needs to be something done about the way every WvWvW turned into a pure domination. The third server in this matchup was never ever a factor. We wiped their zone out and then the other server wiped us out.
I did play some engineer and found it to be a supportive, wacky, fun little class that I can see functioning in the background of combat. I'll have more thoughts on it later.
I got my crafting p into the 80s and made myself some gear. I also got some cool threads from wandering into the new zone and fighting higher level mobs. I got a good amount of dye drops and don't have a problem with the drop rates or the dye system so far.
I unfortuantely didn't get to 30, which is what happens when you try to do everything there is to do. This means I still have no dungeon experience to speak about. I hope they don't reset characters for at least the next BWE so that I may be able to experience the dungeon and finally do a write-up on the game's dungeon design.
That's it for now. Long live the Moletriat.