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Previously on Uber-Man: The Driver…
"Who knows, maybe I'll get some material out of it…"
For some reason, I can't help but think of the advice 'careful what you wish for'.
As I talked about last week I rented a car while my usual ride was off the road. That side of things has been fairly reasonable. The biggest issues I've had with it have been about differences between the two cars that you don't think about until you experience it. Little things like having a handbrake instead of a footbrake, a mechanical gear stick that's got some resistance to it instead of an electronic one that can change settings by tapping it.
Thankfully that was all the issues I had with it. Given the running around – or to put it more correctly, Uber-ing around as a passenger instead of a driver as usual – to get the rental, getting my car to and from mechanics, I'm not sure I could've maintained my tenuous hold on sanity otherwise.
Anyway, I was able to get around the city, make money with rides and get on with personal errands. Given the alternative I was originally facing of just not having a car at all, it was reasonably good all things considered. It was tricky on Friday getting my car to Toyota, but only the normal tricky of driving somewhere and not being able to drive back. Sure enough, a few hours after getting back home I got a message from Toyota saying my car was ready to go. After getting back I got my next disappointment, though on the scale of one to the cancellation of Firefly, it was a three.
All the recall issues were dealt with, and being recalls were sorted out for free. And they were able to identify what was causing the knock sound. Apparently it would cost about $500 to fix, replacing the steering column. Initially I agreed to go ahead with the repairs which would take another week or so to get the parts and get them installed, as it was necessary to get my car up to snuff to be registered.
Except it wasn't! It was just a bit of gunk that had built up and was causing a sound that might be annoying. Absolutely no safety issue at all, in no way impeding the process of passing the rego safety check. Of course, when I got there it was just when the mechanics who could do the safety check had gone to lunch. Given I'd be back in the neighbourhood to drop off the rental car on Monday, I organised to do the safety check then. Also, I cancelled the order for the steering column fix.
After that it all worked out reasonably well. I returned the rental car on Monday morning, after dropping off my car for the safety check. There was a little bit of a hold up as apparently they'd not processed too many Uber rentals and there was some special process or option or thingy-ma-jig that took a little extra time to sort out. Nothing too horrendous, the staff were nice about it and I wasn't in a rush. (Tip to people when in the role of 'customer': generally speaking shouting and screaming at staff to hurry up or to do their jobs properly or other similar orders don't actually help speed the process up.)
I got back to Toyota, where my car was almost ready to pick up. While I was waiting, I checked to see if they'd uploaded the details to the RMS. They had, so while I waited for my car I paid my rego, which was almost the trigger for my car to be announced as ready. Even though I'd driven the car to its appointments over the last couple of weeks, it felt like it was the first time I'd had it since taking it to the smash repairers. I finally had my car back, and was ready to go.
As a bonus, when I got back home my copy of the core rulebook for the Star Trek Adventures role-playing game! If this is the first post you've read on this site, fair enough, but otherwise you've got no excuse for not realising ahead of time that I'm a nerd. If you too are a nerd, like RPGs, Star Trek, both, or are curious about any of the above, Modiphius have published this new game. You can buy your own copy of the book or any of the other paraphernalia for the game from their site here.
Also this post's title probably makes a bit more sense now.


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Ethel Vera PEEVER1900 - 1996 (95 years)
Name Ethel Vera PEEVER Born 10 Aug 1900 Bromley Twp., Renfrew, Ontario, Canada Christened 22 Jan 1901 Methodist, Bromley Twp., Renfrew C., Ontario [1] Gender Female Died 21 Mar 1996 Pembroke, Renfrew, Ontario, Canada Buried Letts Corners C., Renfrew C., Ontario Person ID I18002 Fay's Family Connections Last Modified 1 Mar 2020
Father Thomas Guest PEEVER, b. 17 Aug 1859, Haley Station, Renfrew, Ontario, Canada , d. 15 Nov 1932, Bromley Twp., Renfrew, Ontario, Canada (Age 73 years) Mother Merinda (Minnie) FRANCIS, b. 06 Aug 1865, Northcote, Renfrew, Ontario, Canada , d. 06 Apr 1930, Bromley Twp., Renfrew, Ontario, Canada (Age 64 years) Married 06 Jul 1887 Northcote, Renfrew, Ontario, Canada [2] Family ID F7500 Group Sheet | Family Chart
Family Charles Alfred MCKIBBON, b. 15 Mar 1891, Wilberforce Twp., Renfrew, Ontario, Canada , d. 20 Nov 1970 (Age 79 years) Married 06 Sep 1922 Wolftown, Renfrew, Ontario, Canada [3] Children 1. Keith Alfred MCKIBBON, b. 2 Jul 1928, Wilberforce Twp., Renfrew, Ontario, Canada , d. 25 Jun 2009, Renfrew, Renfrew, Ontario, Canada (Age 80 years) 2. James Francis MCKIBBON, b. 27 Dec 1929, Wilberforce Twp., Renfrew, Ontario, Canada , d. 24 Oct 1930 (Age 0 years) 3. Elmer Reid MCKIBBON, b. 22 Mar 1932, Wilberforce Twp., Renfrew, Ontario, Canada , d. 3 Nov 2013, Cobden, Renfrew, Ontario, Canada (Age 81 years) 4. Living Last Modified 3 Mar 2020 Family ID F580 Group Sheet | Family Chart
Photos 1617-McKibbon, Ethel nee Peever and children 1617-Peever Siblings
Ft: Billie & Winnie Smith; Charlie Ross; Margaret (Mrs Wilfred Peever)
Bk: Helen & Harold Peever; Marion Ross; Wilfred Peever; Charlie & Ethel McKibbon
1617-Peever siblings
Harold & Helen Peever; Wilfred Peever; Ethel & Charlie McKibbon
1617-Peever Siblings
Marion, Wilfred, Harold, Ethel & Winnie
April 1966
1617-Peever Siblings
Leslie, Ethel, Wilfred, Winnie, Harold, Marion
1617-Peever, Ethel and Winnie 1617-Peever, Ethel, Billie Smith, Winnie Peever 1617-Peever children
Elmer, Ethel, Winnie and Leslie
1617-Peever, Ethel 1617-Peever Picnic
at McKibbon's Island
1st:child, Ken Francis, Clarence & Glenna Peever
2nd:Charlie McKibbon, Herb Francis, Mabel Francis, Lois Smith, Winnie Smith, John Parfionko, Ethel McKibbon, Margaret Peever, Essie Francis
3rd:Allen S. Francis, Cordelia & Stewart Francis, Luella & Emerson Briscoe, Ellard Peever, Rachel Humphries, Helen Peever, Aunt Em Francis, Grandma McKibbon, Aunt Kate Patterson, Sarah Phillips
4th:Margaret Francis, Ellsworth FRancis, Wilfred Peever, Joyce Francis, Gladys Francis, Harold Peever, ?, Ena Francis
1617-McKibbon family - Elmer, Ethel nee Peever, Harold, Alton & Keith
from the collection of Alton McKibbon
1617-McKibbon, Charlie & Ethel family: Keith, Harold, Ethel (nee Peever), Charlie, Alton & Elmer
from the collection of Keith McKibbon
Documents McKibbon, Charles & Ethel Peever wed
Newspaper Clipping from the collection of James Parro
The Cobden Sun, Sep 21, 1922 p. 1
McKibbon, Ethel nee Peever celebrates 95th birthday
Newspaper clipping from the collection of Lola Peever provided by Valerie Peever
McKibbon, Ethel nee Peever celebrates 95th birthday
Newspaper clipping from the collection of Lola Peever, provided by Valerie Peever
McKibbon, Ethel nee Peever grows funny cucumber
Newspaper clipping from the scrapbook collection of Gladys Francis
Headstones Gravestone-McKibbon, Charles & Ethel nee Peever
Letts Corners Cemetery, Wilberforce Twp, Ontario
photographed by Fay Bennett
Gravestone-McKibbon, Charles & Ethel nee Peever
Letts Corners Cemetery
Wilberforce Twp., Renfrew, Ontario, Canada
photographed by Fay Bennett, May 2013
Histories 16-Exerpts from The Francis Family in Canada 175 Years Part 9
The Francis Family in Canada 175 Years, A Story of Pioneers and Their Descendants 1822 to 1997 by Fay E. Bennett and J. Allen Francis
Chapter Nine - Merinda Francis and Thomas Peever
- [S692] Methodist Baptism Registration for Ethel Peever.
- [S893] vital Statistics of Ontario - Marriage Registration of Minnie Francis &Thomas Peever, (Name: 1887, 010675;).
- [S4] "Ontario Marriage Registrations online at Ancestry.com", FamilyTree.Com, (Name: subscription www.ancestry.ca;), 018534 (Reliability: 3).
Name: Charles Alfred McKibbon Birth Place: Wiberforce Age: 31 Estimated birth year: abt 1891 Father Name: Thomas McKibbon Mother Name: Catherine Reid Spouse Name: Ethel Vera Peever Spouse's Age: 22 Spouse Estimated Birth Year: abt 1900 Spouse Birth Place: Bromley Spouse Father Name: Thomas Po*Ley Peever Spouse Mother Name: Minnie Francis Peever Marriage Date: 6 Sep 1922
at Wolftown, ON Witnesses: Bernice G Blackwell, Cobden; Jane E McKibbon, Eganville; by Ernest D Mitchell, Cobden, Methodist; farmer
- [S692] Methodist Baptism Registration for Ethel Peever.

subset: commoncrawl


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Elizabeth Strout's 6 favorite books
by Bill Hayes
For The Week, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Elizabeth Strout lists her 6 favorite books.
Another Country by James Baldwin … Many years ago, when I first read Baldwin's 1962 novel about a doomed Greenwich Village jazz drummer, I thought, "Wow, I can't believe it. The narrator is so fierce and strong, and the book pulsates with such honesty. The language — !" [more]
May 10th, 2017 in Books, Lists / Rankings, Literature / Writing / Language


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Starting bubbles: 40
Recommended potions: 7 Extra Bubbles
Points needed for 1, 2, 3 Stars:
70 000, 100 000, 130 00
Special bubbles:
3 Bomb Bubbles
Black Bubbles
As shown on the attached picture, there is a Bomb in the upper left hand corner at level 80. It wouldn't be so much of a problem, if it wasn't for all the clustered bubbles. You will have a big fat chance to burst bubbles accidentally that gets the Left-corner Bomb going. You have to burst bubbles at the lower part of the scene very carefully, so that you don't get an unpleasant surprise all the sudden.
Try to burst clusters (of bubbles) that aren't big. The smaller clusters you burst, the more will be left for falling into the cauldrons, which will generate more scores.
Because of the Bomb in the second row up left, you maybe don't want to use the 3+ holes in the ceiling at this level. :)
Watch this video for Level 80 by Jorge Skyghost!
Here is a good video for level 80, provided by skillgaming.


text:
Specialized in Manufacturing Sign Medias, Decorative Films and Car Wrap Vinyls Since 2012
Working Environment
Green is the Symbol color of Ally Sign, it signifies Peace, as well as Environmental Protection.
Our working office is located at a peace place surrounding with big trees, which greatly match our company symbol, which is located at Baiyun District, Guangzhou, China, with a first-floor showroom for customers' convenient visiting & negotiating for orders. Here we have a series of samples for PVC Flex Banner, Self Adhesive Vinyl, One Way Vision, Window Film, Printable Wallpaper, Car wrapping Vinyl, Roll Up, X Banner, and so on.
Meanwhile, it's not very far from Guangzhou Baiyun Airport and near to the Metro, which is convenient for customers' visiting. Here please find images for your brief viewing.
Ally Sign sincerely welcome your visiting when you are here!


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When smartphone manufacturer HTC went looking for ways to make life easier for its internal app developers last year, it turned to the cloud, where huge pools of resources are available for hourly rental to anybody with a credit card.
HTC's developers didn't need help building their apps, which HTC Senior VP of Cloud John Song describes as "social, viral" apps like the HTC Gallery, Zoe and One M9 Photo Editor — Song himself is ex-Facebook, and his engineers had little problem making user-friendly apps that would encourage people to share.
But they needed reliability and scalability in order to make sure those apps worked for everybody, all the time, with plenty of computing power underpinning them on the backend. Which is what brought them to the idea of moving development to the cloud in the first place.
"HTC is a hardware company," says Song, and it's "not like a Web 2.0 company." In other words, HTC just isn't really equipped to provide that level of service from its own facilities.
When HTC turned to the cloud, it turned to at least five big vendors: Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Alibaba's Alicloud, IBM's Softlayer, and Google Cloud Platform. They all have their selling points: Amazon tends to run a little cheaper; Microsoft's has deep integrations with other products from the company. There's a cloud war going on.
Initially, Google was the last in line. HTC is based in Taiwan. All of the other big vendors offered their cloud computing services in China, but Google did not.
"Out of the gate, Google was our least favorite," Song says. "There's no Google in China."
Amazon and company had their selling points on this count. But when Song came to Amazon's salespeople with HTC's demanding performance requirements, they were rigid and inflexible — they have their portfolio of cloud products, and wanted Song's team to use them, even if it meant changing the entire way they did business.
Google was a lot more flexible and willing to work with HTC, Song says, which immediately made the team like them better.
But the really killer feature for the Google Cloud Platform comes at the data center, he says. Google has at least 20 data centers located around the world, all of which are connected to each other with high-speed fiber connections.
That means that anything hosted in Google's cloud gets automatically replicated and shunted across the tubes to be everywhere in Google's world, all the time.
This gives Google two advantages. First off, it means that even if several of its data centers were to burn to the ground, Google — and Google's customers — would still be standing. Plus, since it's all hosted in Google's data centers, Google has its top engineers making sure the whole kit and caboodle stays up.
More importantly for HTC's purposes, Song says, it means that a customer will always be served from the data center that's closest to them, meaning lower latency and faster apps.
"It takes time for electrons to travel," Song says, and a closer data center means your photos download just that little bit faster.
Amazon has a similar offering called "Availability Zones," with 30 data center facilities dispersed across 11 geographically-distributed regions, but Song says that they have to be manually configured (they don't replicate automatically) and have a reputation for unreliability.
"It works, but it collapses when you need it most," Song says.
In fairness, a recent report claims that it has one of the highest uptimes of any cloud provider, with its core EC2 computing service only going down for 1.32 hours in the past year. Still, way back in 2012, a huge outage across multiple Amazon Web Services Availability Zones resulted in sites like Reddit, Hootsuite, and Quora going down for hours.
HTC's developers love having the more robust infrastructure, Song says. And when something goes wrong, Google's top engineers get back to them in minutes with smart answers that help them get back up and running.
It's not totally perfect, though — there's still that China problem. That's why HTC is using Google Cloud Platform everywhere but China, where it went with Microsoft Azure instead.
Get the latest Google stock price here.


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Hungry Girl's Maximum Mexican
Mexican might be the ultimate comfort food — rice, beans, tortillas ... cheese! Not to mention hot sauce...
Hungry Girl to the rescue with ingenious recipe swaps for when you get a hankering for the good stuff, but don't want to completely blow your diet:
- Get crunchin' on Lisa's Crazy-Good Corn Chips, just perfect with her Holy Moly Guacamole!
- Her Shrimp Cocktail Tacos will fill you up on great flavor, for only 245 calories!
- Nachos and baked chicken, in one amazing dish! It's Nacho-rific Stuffed Chicken.
- Don't forget the most important part! This Magical Low-Calorie Margarita is delicious, refreshing, and goes down smooth.
Plus, Hungry Girl's Mexican Restaurant Survival Guide will arm you with the crucial tips and tricks you need to enjoy a night out without breaking the calorie bank. And that's muy bueno!
Say adiós to extra fat and calories and hola to Mexican deliciousness, Saturday at 4pm.
for more tips and advice from this episode.


text: PennHouse Productions has worked with an extensive variety of Auction and Registration systems, our experience can benefit you. Fluid in multiple platforms, we specialize evaluating and recommending what works best for each client and event by creating specialized Registration or Auction systems that distinctly unique to your event. Our systems can be used to sell tickets, manage guest lists, collect advanced funds for auction previews, all with a custom landing page reinforcing your brand. Let us know if we can help!


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September 30, 2007
September 29, 2007
"These are places no one wants to go to, but someone has to go."
Kenji Nagai was 50 years old. He was one of at least nine people killed during the government crackdown in Burma/Myanmar in response to peaceful pro-democracy demonstrations.
Mr. Nagai was most likely killed because he had camera. Burmese state television has accused foreign journalists of pumping out a "skyful of lies."
September 28, 2007
The New Yorker has an excellent article about Joel Surnow, co-creator and executive producer of "24" and apparently friends with Rush Limbaugh.
I have never really gotten into the "24" craze, although I think I understand the appeal. The ticking time bomb scenario, the do-anything-it-takes hero. The disparity lies between those that see "24" as a compelling narrative for plausible real-world scenarios or a highly-idealized fantasy world. The fact that "24" character Jack Bauer has directly entered into presidential debate answers is indicative of its effect on the culture and shows the extent to which the line has been blurred.
"Evil: Inside Human Violence and Cruelty" is incredibly instructive to what is occurring. "24" appeals to the myth of evil. Terrorists have somehow gained the upper hand on the forces of good, and it is up to the hero to fight them. Since, evil is inherently weak and only gained its position through some sort of trickery (like the bleeding-heart liberals that enable them), it caves when confronted by the hero who is willing to really fight them and demonstrates it by torturing them. The fact that the hero will not succumb to the same treatment is further proof of his righteousness.
This is an extraordinary narrative and makes for great drama and entertainment, however it couldn't be more divergent from reality. First of all, the "terrorists" rarely see themselves as evil. For them, they are on the side of righteousness and we are on the side of evil. Americans tell ourselves that they hate us for our prosperity. However, that is turning a blind eye to the civilians we have bombed, the legitimate leaders we have overthrown and brutal dictators we have backed. Americans tell ourselves that the Islamo-fascists kill themselves for virgins they are promised in heaven, not to affect political processes here on Earth, not for the sake of loved-ones killed or countrymen still suffering.
The hard fact of the matter is that torturing a terrorist in a time-bomb scenario is especially prone to not working. Terrorists know they merely have to hold out for the specified amount of time. The torture would vindicate the beliefs that the enemies are evil, and that they are truly on the side of righteousness.
However, it also speaks to a larger world view: the best way with people who oppose you is with a stick and not a carrot. There is no need to raise the conscience of humanity, no need for dreams and appeals. There is no need for reciprocity and unalienable rights, just anything it takes to stay on top. We are exceptional, and the rest of the world is base. This is the superiority complex that tyranny is made of. It is not enough to preach of the great liberal values of this nation, we must live by them also. "24" does not possess that morality. It is a fiction, and how they present scenarios in it is the "Bizzaro World" to this reality and surely leads to dystopian end no matter how happy-ever-after it turns out on T.V.
September 27, 2007
Burma/Myanmar Protests
Burma has experienced a large pro-democracy protest and a subsequent crackdown by the military junta.
As the BBC article notes, US President George W. Bush has announced a tightening of existing US economic sanctions against Burma. I really don't understand how economic sanctions are supposed to help the situation. Dispatching a small group of U.N. peace keepers to protect the protesters would seem like a better route. However, such an action would likely be blocked by China.
Burma would seem to be on its own. I have hope that peaceful, non-violent protest may affect change. However, I do not see how it works in the face of the abject tyranny and violent crackdowns. In order to work, the non-violent protest would have to compel the soldiers not to fire on the unarmed civilians. Historically, this seldom seems to occur.
However, the future of humanity rests on ordinary people seeing themselves and each other outside the systems in which they are placed, and then doing the right thing. In this sense, Burma's situation is not unique. There is no indication that some outside power will come and save humanity. As sad as it is to say, I don't have much faith that the world will do much more than what is proposed by George W. Bush. Burma will have to find a way forward without outside intervention. Their solution should serve as a lesson to us all.
September 26, 2007
Ahmadinejad Visits America
I haven't been able to track down all the footage to Ahmadinejad's Columbia speech yet. However, I have caught portions. It is tough because he is speaking a different language, so the two processes of translation tends to garble some of the meaning. In addition, the president himself, like all politicians, can be pretty evasive. However, the people interviewing haven't been helping much either.
Challenging the president of Iran on the human rights record of his country is fair. Condemning public executions, women and gay rights abuses is also fair. Although, we must correctly understand his position and also live up to the standards we are judging him by ourselves.
Two charges level against him are:
- Holocaust Denial
- Wiping Israel off the Map
The beauty about a public forum is that you can actually get Ahmadinejad to clarify statements that he made that you find offensive. As for Holocaust denial, this one has been tackled before.
He doesn't seem to denying the Holocaust. He is arguing that the Holocaust does not justify complete victimization of Palestinians in order to create Israel. The whole debate surrounding Israel and Palestine is extraordinarily distorted in America. I don't think that Americans understand that their government has been party to a extraordinarily small minority on the issue. The fact that American's are so woefully uninformed is part of the reason why we can't connect with good questions and more a indictment of us than him.
The other issue is whether Ahmadinejad said Iran should "wipe Israel off the map."
Again, it seems to be a misinterpretation of what he is saying.
I don't consider Ahmadinejad an ally. However, we need to be especially clear of what his crimes are.
His government supporting Shi'ite militias in Iraq. Human rights abuses. Support for other terrorist organizations (like Hezbollah). Development of nuclear enrichment programs.
All these issues are better addressed diplomatically for now. War with Iran is almost certainly to cause more problems than it will solve, a lesson we constantly reminded of with our war in Iraq. A plausible scenario on how bad an air-strike on Iran might go is given by Scott Ridder.
War with Iran might be unavoidable. But, one thing is certain, I do not trust the current Commander-in-Chief to make that determination and execute it. Nor should anyone else.
September 25, 2007
Money As Debt
I found the above video enlightening to how the nation's monetary system works. As it should be apparent to anyone that has actually interacted with a bank, that it works quite differently than how conventional wisdom usually describes it. One of the things that I like about the video is that the solutions it describes are actually sensible, compared to people that want to go back to the gold standard, although it has its share of monetary conspiracy quotes.
A floating currency tied to a democratic government, not handed off to a separate corporate entity, is likely the best way to go. A money supply completely controlled by private interests is fine in theory, suicide in reality (conglomeration, rise of monopoly or cartels).
As the video points out, there is no difference between taxation and inflation since they both work to the practical goal of decreasing buying power. People who vote Republican should keep in mind that large public debt will fuel future inflation. Even if your taxes are low now, there will come a time to pay the piper. It also must be understood that much of the current prosperity of the nation is borrowed, and puts the nation in strategic peril. As always, the poor will be the ones most hurt when the time comes.
It is frustrating to watch big, sensible ideas such as election reform, nuclear disarmament, energy independence, and fiscal reform consistently fall by the wayside. But somehow, inheritance taxes can take center stage. The debate is so lilliputian in the grand scheme of things. Although, the first priority has to be to get out of a state of war. I don't think citizens know how much this war is actually costing us because we haven't reached the cliff yet. There is a reason financial sectors are booming. However, it should be obvious to anyone, that trading doesn't fundamentally create wealth. So, how are financial sectors making all this money? Now, you should know the answer, and why Enron and the sub-prime crisis are just tips of a larger unsustainable ice-berg.
September 24, 2007
The Real News
The Real News is a new attempt at a completely independent news service. Independent in the sense that it is free from the economics of advertising, government and corporate sponsorship. The economic model is essential to independence. There are many good people in the traditional media, but unfortunately the people that own the companies pick the people to run the news desks. There has been more of a media consolidation recently. In some respects, this has been fueled by the Internet. On the other hand, projects like the real news have the potential to completely decimate the old power structure and lead to a more democratic society. One based fundamentally on better information.
Below is an interview with CEO and founder Paul Jay.
People like Paul Jay are one of the reasons why I find history more interesting than fiction. People like moan about the media, and here is someone actually trying to do something about it. I'm not an idealist, and the real news is going to face hurdles, however the world is no better a place than what we make it.
September 23, 2007
Blackwater Back To Work In Iraq
It came as no surprise to me that the U.S. pressured the Iraqi government to allow Blackwater to continue working in Iraq. As Jeremy Scahill points out, Blackwater is an equivalent to a praetorian guard. The differences in rules of engagement is quite intentional, along with the fact that they are not covered by military or Iraqi law. Their mission is to protect their client, by any means necessary, even if that means firing on civilians unprovoked.
Jeremy Scahill gets it right with his interview with Amy Goodman.
I found Doug Brooks hiding behind the international definition of mercenaries amusing, and his accusation that if Jeremy Scahill was a "serious" researcher, he wouldn't use the term. However, when he is finally called on his definition, Brooks has a hard time explaining how Blackwater doesn't meet the criteria. I'm sure there is some fine disingenuous splitting of hairs involved. What Doug Brooks really means to say is that United States can't hire mercenaries, since that is a pejorative term that we use for adversaries. The United States hires security firms. If Scahill were "serious" he would understand that, just like this war isn't for oil, it is to spread democracy throughout the Middle East.
In this respect, the Iraqi government is a failure. We need not look any further for a reason than our own "Declaration of Independence."
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
So according to our founding document, Iraqi people are justified to end the American occupation, abolish the current government and establish one more likely to secure their safety and happiness. If Blackwater is indiscriminately killing people to protect their high-level official then obviously people aren't being treated equally. To the extent that the Iraqi government supports this behavior, they are destructive to their own people, and hence the Iraqi people have a right to overthrow and establish a new one.
The true policy of the United States is not to establish a democracy. It is to establish a strong government to shoulder the burden of pacifying the populace, but not sovereign enough to take control of the oil. Such a government in Iraq is inherently unstable and probably untenable long-term.
Incidents like this, and their aftermath should make it broadly apparent to Americans why Iraq is destined to end in failure. The tipping point is whether there is significant community support to shield the "terrorists." Try to place yourself as an Iraqi citizen, imagine that a family member was killed by a Blackwater employee, imagine that your home was bombed by a U.S. plane, and that you don't have clean drinking water (a problem you didn't have before the Americans came to liberate you). Who would you side with, the Americans and their supported government, or the "terrorists?" Winning the hearts and minds of average Iraqis is key to this conflict, but actions speak louder than words.
September 22, 2007
Senate Condemns MoveOn Ad
Twenty-two Democrats came across the aisle to favor a non-binding resolution condemning an advertisement run in the New York Times by MoveOn.org. Again, most news organizations just show the "General Petraeus or General Betray Us? Cooking the Books for the White House" portion of the ad, leaving the rest of the text completely unreadable. I think it is clear that news organizations don't get this world wide web thing, since you can link directly to the ad, and give readers context, instead of just emphasizing the most controversial and least material aspects of it. I will demonstrate how easy it is. Here is the PDF off of the MoveOn website along with background information.
Here is the list of democrats that voted in favor of condemnation (trimmed from this list)
- Baucus (D-MT)
- Bayh (D-IN)
- Cardin (D-MD)
- Carper (D-DE)
- Casey (D-PA)
- Conrad (D-ND)
- Dorgan (D-ND)
- Feinstein (D-CA)
- Johnson (D-SD)
- Klobuchar (D-MN)
- Kohl (D-WI)
- Landrieu (D-LA)
- Leahy (D-VT)
- Lincoln (D-AR)
- McCaskill (D-MO)
- Mikulski (D-MD)
- Nelson (D-FL)
- Nelson (D-NE)
- Pryor (D-AR)
- Salazar (D-CO)
- Tester (D-MT)
- Webb (D-VA)
However, the Democrats were unable to bring enough Republicans across the aisle to obtain cloture on an amendment to a bill that would guarantee troops as much time at home as they were deployed in Iraq or Afghanistan. The reasoning behind the amendment was simple, as the debate for or against this war wages on, at least we should be able to put partisanship aside and place some limit on the time a soldier spends in the combat zone in relation to being at home. An equivalent amount of time seems fair and not out of proportion with previous wars, especially since this particular one has no end in sight. How many Republicans would cross the aisle?
- Coleman (R-MN)
- Collins (R-ME)
- Hagel (R-NE)
- Smith (R-OR)
- Snowe (R-ME)
- Sununu (R-NH)
Six. I could understand maybe condemning the ad to get the Webb amendment passed, but this isn't even tit-for-tat. The Democrats sold out. The Democrats are so scared of the attack ads the Republicans would run if they didn't vote in favor of condemnation that they completely capitulate. But, hey, where are people in the MoveOn organization going to turn? The Republicans? A Third-Party?
I can't help but imagine a bunch of Democrats sitting around a table talking about all the political gains they are making by voting the "right" way. As if they are covering all their bases. As long as they stay in office, it doesn't seem to make a difference whether or not they are doing what they were elected to do: bring this war to a conclusion, stop the corruption and abuse of power in the executive branch, and protect our civil liberties. Instead, they seem to be content with just being slightly less pro-war than the Republicans to stay in power.
However, I am of a different view. As John F. Kennedy put it "… there is little value in insuring the survival of our nation if our traditions do not survive with it." This requires that those with power take a stand, although it may take those that they would condemn to show them how.
September 21, 2007
Douglas Adams: The Origin of God
Above is Douglas Adams explaining how early man may have come to the belief that there is a God. As Richard Dawkins has pointed out, history is filled with abandoned Gods and deities. I don't know what the mental block is that makes the overly religious so certain their God is the right one. As if they literally can't imagine being born in India and trying to imagine what it would like to be raised a Hindu, or born into a Jewish family, or born in Saudi Arabia and raised Muslim. How would that change their outlook? Would they still be a Christian, or would they have a different religious persuasion?
Much like Sherri Shepherd's explanation that she didn't know the world was round, I imagine this particular issue isn't given much thought by the true believer. Or maybe they believe faith is a virtue. However, faith in this case means believing in something despite strong evidence to the contrary. Or put from the opposite view, the supposed virtue is the ability to continue believing in a lie.
One of the things that I find interesting is how much evidence we find to support the man-made God hypothesis that Douglas Adams gives. Our fitness to the world is amazing because we are the end product of billions of years of evolution.
No matter how much evidence we find that God is a psychological need and evolutionary artifact to give a narrative to the unknown forces and eventualities in our lives, it doesn't seem to give the religious pause or signal the need for reflection. The anthropogenic God view explains what we see in the world so well, and the opposite requires such a complicated set of beliefs about the truth of the world versus what the religious texts say that new evidence constantly destroys the complicated patchwork almost as quickly as it can be established.
Astronomy tells us that our place in the universe is very small. Religion gives us the idea that everything in our lives is of cosmic importance. However, as we gaze at galaxies millions of miles away and in the past, we find no sign of anything that will save us. Avoiding extinction is rationally, something we must do for ourselves.


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Radar Detector Shopping Guide
A radar detector is a device meant to alert you whenever it detects a radar speed gun used by cops. This equipment, besides the fact that it helps you avoid getting a speeding ticket, it will also make you drive your car with more confidence and in a much safer way. Therefore, in case you've decided to invest in a radar detector, you must know certain tips before purchasing one. This article will present you some guidelines that will help you buy a radar detector.
You will find two types of detectors available on the market and they are radar detectors and laser detectors. The difference between the two devices is that the radar detectors can't detect the modern technology used by police officers, such as laser speed guns. Moreover, concerning the method of installation, we can divide them into another three categories: corded detectors – they are the most common and provide the best range of detection; cordless detectors – they can be installed easier than the corded detectors and can be transported between vehicles; and remote-mount detectors – they are the most expensive and they are permanently mounted to the vehicle.
After you've agreed upon what type of radar do you want, you must check the bands it can detect. Most radar speed guns use the Ka band, but there are also devices which use the X and the K band. Buying a radar detector that can detect all these three bands will certainly be a good choice.
In general, the wider the range is, the sooner the radar will alert you. In this way, you will have time to react and slow down the speed of your car. Although the detectors with a wider range are usually more expensive, choose the best option that's closest to your budget.
Among the features you should look for when buying a radar detector there are filtering, which means the ability to filter the alerts and not receive all kinds of false alarms, city mode which reduces the range of sensibility within the urban area, VG-2 and spectre protection which will tell you if the police are using radar detector detectors (RDD), digital voice alert, instant-on protection, GPS technology,smartphone compatibility, and so on. Look carefully for all kinds of improvements and buy a radar equipped with the adequate features for your needs.
The radar detectors come in a wide range of prices, therefore you should check and compare the prices and choose the one that fits your needs and your budget.


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Who needs to see? Imagine spending a full day without having the ability to see anything. How would that one day go? Now imagine spending the rest of your life like that. Now how does it 'sound'?
Those of us who have been fortunate enough to have the ability to see with their eyes might find the thought of loosing their eyesight horrifying. Yet among us there are many who are completely or partially blind. Using assistive technologies and computers in particular has been a great aid to blind people, yet still human support goes a long way in making their lives easier and better.
Yesterday while at Resala, I was fortuante enough to be asked to assist a young lady in researching info online for her masters degree, the young lady hapenned to be blind. I entered the computer lab specially set for the blind at the Nasr City branch of Resala and spent some time with the young lady trying to help her out find info related to her masters thesis.
With some training, the blind are able to use computers well, provided that the computer is equiped with some reading program such as JAWS for instance. The reason why she needed me was not due to a lack of ability to use the computer, but she was just new to using the Internet and she also needed someone to help her with the English while searching online through websites written in the English language. After spending some time online, we managed to find several articles discussing topics related to her thesis. At the end, she thanked me a lot and I felt happy to be able to help.
If you have never had the chance to deal with the blind before and would like to try and help out a blind person, you may volunteer some of your time and come visit a Resala branch near you. Helping a blind person can be one way to express your greatfulness for being a sighted person. Call Resala now by dialing 19450 from anywhere in Egypt to get connected to the Resala branch nearest to where you're calling from. Resala has 32 branches in Egypt.


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Too lazy for a Teaser? You decide–the Spreading Book Lurve ChallengePosted by houndrat on Tuesday Oct 27, 2009 Under writing
So, I'm writing a book review today based on a challenge I saw posted on a friend's blog.? No, really–it's not because I was too lazy to get a Teaser ready.? Ahem.? Anyway, I saw the challenge on Amy Bai's The Purple Patch, and I guess it originated from Lisa and Laura Write.? The challenge is to write about a book you read and loved.? Wow–finally a challenge I can meet!? Short, sweet, and something I love to do—blab about books!
So, because my attention span rivals that of? a gnat (although, do gnats have attention spans?? Or brains, even?? And hence we see my short attention span at work) I pretty much only read Young Adult novels these days.? While there are so many great ones to choose from, the novel I'm going to spread some love to is:
Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr? ? I really can't say enough good things about this book.? The author tackles a sensitive subject–a small town, thirteen-year-old? girl who's caught having sex in the back of a car with a seventeen-year -old by her dad–and turns it into something both funny and profound.? Two years after the incident, Deanna Lambert still struggles with other people's perceptions of her–most notably, her father's–with wit and angst and the occasional bad choice.? The story chronicles how one? moment can define your entire life—if you let it.? ? ?
I love the voice in this book, how it's not preachy at all, and how it shows Deanna ultimately conquering her past and her fears to move on with her life.? ? The humor isn't over-the-top, but sly and perfect. Oh, and did I mention–it's a National Book Award Finalist?? To me, Story of a Girl represents contemporary YA fiction at it's finest.? Don't pass up an opportunity to read it.
Now, with my gnat-like (or brainless-like–did we decide yet about gnats and brains?) attention span, I'm off to surf Greek fanvids on YouTube procrastinate on writers forums learn how to hand roll pasta work on my revisions.? Um, wish me luck?Share on Facebook
6 Responses to "Too lazy for a Teaser? You decide–the Spreading Book Lurve Challenge"
October 27th, 2009 at 11:48 am
Sounds like a good book. I don't normally read contemporary YA, but I think I may have to see if our local library has it.
Enjoy your *cough* revisions *cough*
October 27th, 2009 at 11:52 am
Yay for more book rec goodness. I haven't read much YA contemporary, and I probably should.
October 27th, 2009 at 1:32 pm
Oh, I love the premise. Definitely going to have to pick that one up!
October 27th, 2009 at 1:38 pm
Now the comments work! *scratches head*
You made me want to buy the book. As a matter of fact, I think I'll put it on my Amazon wish list for good measure.
October 27th, 2009 at 2:41 pm
I STILL have not read this book! And it's been on my wish list forever. *sigh* How do these things slip away? lol.
October 28th, 2009 at 10:54 am
Ooh thanks for the rec. My bookshelves are already groaning, but what's one more, right?


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You can also use store-bought zucchini bread to make this extravagant dessert, topped with ice cream and a sweet bourbon-spiked butter sauce. Plus: More Dessert Recipes and Tips
How to Make It
In a medium bowl, whisk the cream, milk, eggs, vanilla extract and confectioners' sugar until blended. Transfer to a 9-by-13-inch glass or ceramic baking dish. Add the zucchini bread slices and let soak, turning once, until saturated, about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, combine 1 stick of the butter with the maple syrup, bourbon and salt and bring to a simmer, whisking constantly. Simmer until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.
Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in each of 2 large nonstick skillets. Drain the zucchini bread. Add the slices to the skillets and cook over moderate heat, turning once, until golden and firm to the touch, about 15 minutes.
Arrange the zucchini French toast on 8 plates. Top with a scoop of ice cream and spoon the hot maple-bourbon butter on top.


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Groundbreaking new technology could revolutionize flight safety and efficiency, and students in the Center for Human Factors and Advanced Aeronautics Technology (CHAAT) work with NASA to study these possibilities.
The Long Beach Trauma Recovery Center works with law enforcement, legislators, and local health services to provide victims of violence with support of all kinds.
Climate Change
How do human effects on the environment influence animal behavior? Sea turtles in Long Beach waters are providing researchers with valuable insight.


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Found this in my inbox…
Although I have only personally met a few of you, word must be getting out. LOL.
… and I have one vote so far!
I must have a stalker. 🙂
Urban Canadian Father of 3 children. Est 2004.
I am a smelly whore.
I am a slutty whore.
Hello I want to congratulate to you. This site is fantastic, looks like entertained and very good to me it elaborated. I invite them to that they explore a little on my site of the Web
Our real estate listing includes great opportunities on Costa Rica Central Valley's provinces such as San Jose, our Capital, with remarkable cities as Escazu at the west, or Curridabat at the east, experiencing a great development on both commercial and residential properties, making their real estate pricing highly attractive to investors; on other hand, Alajuela city gathers places with a very special warm weather such as Grecia, La Garita and Atenas, or beautiful farms for agricultural, cattle or nature preservation purposes as those located on San Carlos or Sarapiqui. We also offer land properties in Guanacaste, which is the province, along with Puntarenas, with the most beautiful tropical beaches on the Pacific Coast such as Tamarindo, Playa Grande, El Coco, Playa Hermosa, Nosara, Samara, Herradura, Jaco, Manuel Antonio, Dominical and Golfito, where the real estate business occupies the first place as the local economic activity.
Great investment opportunity at Costa Rica Pacific Coast, Preconstruction condos in costa rica ,Condo sales in costa rica, Retirement property in costa rica. Visit us for more info at: http://www.costa-ricarealestate.com/
anon – please, go ahead and vote. So far I have 4 votes. The leader in this category has 225. With your vote, I would have 5. Nuff said.
Gisele – tres rude. If you cannot post appropriate comments, do not comment at all. They are not welcomed.
Laura – Bootie? No, I want to win, place or show. LOL
Laural – Thank you for your support, but please do NOT ask Urban Mummy… she has NOT voted for me. LOL. What does that say?
Gisele – Do I know you? Please only comment age appropriate comments.
see three of us lewd girlies want to see you!!!! you really should!!!!!


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User Experience
A single mobile phone experience is a key market requirement that PSMP fulfills for all security levels, including PSD2-compliant strong authentication.
Our game-changing solution combines extraordinary user experience with high security in mobile environments.
The Protectoria Secure Application has built-in support for three different levels of security and varying interaction scenarios.
- Low risk: enter PIN to log in. Authorize the transaction by pressing "OK".
- Medium risk: enter PIN to log in. Authorize the transaction by entering the PIN or with a fingerprint.
- High risk: enter PIN to log in. Enter PIN and a TAN received by voice call to authorize the transaction.
Protection against attacks
The PSMP solution offers a full set of unique security mechanisms:
- An application-level Trusted Execution Environment providing security for the applications.
- A secure communication layer with certified cryptography.
- A secure storage layer making the local storage unreadable unless the client receives a unique key from the server.
- A secure display layer protecting against overlays and any attempts at modifying what the user sees.
To learn more about these mechanisms, please see the technical white paper
Trusted Execution Environment
The PSMP Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) operates within the application layer and is completely server-side controlled. It provides active protection mechanisms with patent-pending security solutions, such as just-in-time transfer of code blocks – both valid ones and honeypots – with large entropy and extensive, device-unique integrity checks.
PSMP turns cybercriminals' own weapons against them and reduces the possible attack surface to close to nothing. The entropy and the limited time available to launch an attack increase the potential costs of attacking the app, thus exponentially reducing the criminals' ROI. Compared with other methods, such as dedicated hardware deployment, increasing the defense entropy is an extremely cost-efficient way of defending the app.
The PSMP server generates a unique one-time TEE per device, customized in size and complexity depending on the resources of the platform. The TEE is self-contained within the application layer, as it always assumes the OS is controlled by malware and its components cannot be trusted.
The TEE is continuously morphing in unpredictable ways determined by server updates. The unpredictability is based on a randomization of all the parts of the running TEE, including secure storage, secure communication and (possibly) secure display.
The randomness has a huge and configurable entropy that can be tactically increased, such as if honeypot-based anomalies have been detected.
The entropy efficiency is scaled by having a very small validity time of the just-in-time injected code blocks and considering the limited computational resources of the device, which TEE itself is strongly bound to.
A mass attack on a PSMP-protected device is considered to be practically impossible, since the TEEs load huge complexity and correlation efforts across all the morphing TEEs onto the attacker.
In this scenario, the client side is either a separate executable or an independent library that can be bundled with an existing application. The user interface is branded to look similar to your existing application, and the only purpose of PSMP is to secure authentications and transactions.
Ideally, the user should not notice the switch between the existing interface and PSMP. In this implementation, the application is split in two: a normal, fast, user-friendly part, and a "super secure" part, which only handles the secure tasks.
In this scenario, the developers can implement elements and functionalities of PSMP into an existing application using the provided SDK.
The Protectoria Secure Mobile Platform is a generic solution and can be used in cases such as the following:
- Retail customer of a mobile bank or a money remittance service:
Authentication, transaction authorization, document and transaction signature.
- Enterprise customer with a mobile user base:
Transaction authorization, document and transaction signature and enterprise system security.
The Protectoria Secure Mobile Platform is particularly well suited for payment service providers targeting the consumer market, as they are likely targets for malware. The recent EU Payment Service Directive (PSD2) has shifted the liability for transactions to the payment service provider if the provider cannot show that strong authentication has been used.
The Protectoria Secure Mobile Platform is focused on a single goal: helping payment providers protect their authentication and transaction authorization systems, which are the most likely target for attacks.
Payment Transaction Security
A crucial challenge posed by the the PSD2 is how to translate into practice the separation of responsibilities and liabilities. By using a secure platform such as PSMP, it is possible for a third party to initiate the authorization process without being involved in the processing of the credentials.
The PSMP transaction security mechanism is generic. This means that it can be implemented in an omnichannel scenario, as it is completely agnostic of the context of the transaction and its channel of origin.
In such an implementation, the PSMP secure app appears as a pop-up, prompting the user to verify the transaction. It functions in a manner similar to the many services that alert their users about suspicious activities and ask for their consent, for instance in case of suspected card transaction fraud.
On the client side the Protectoria Secure Mobile Platform is provided in two ways:
- As a separate executable or library that can be bundled with an existing application, but branded to look similar to it, and which only purpose is to secure authentications and transactions.
- As a SDK, where parts of the full Protectoria Secure Mobile Platform functionality can be implemented in an existing application.
In the first case the user should not notice switching between existing/non-secure functionality. In practice this means that the application is split in two: A normal, fast, user friendly part, and a "super secure" part, which only handles the secure tasks. In the second case it is up to the developers of the application to use functionality from the SDK as they see fit.
PSMP has undergone a third-party security evaluation, as required under PSD2.
- Recommendations for the Security of Internet Payments, Final Version after Public Consultation, European Central Bank, Eurosystem.
- [SecuRePay_Guide] Assessment Guide for the Security of Internet Payments, February 2014, European Central Bank, Eurosystem. https://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/pdf/other/assessmentguidesecurityinternetpayments201402en.pdf
- [FAQ] Fragen und Antworten zu den Mindestanforderung an die Sicherheit von Internet zahlungen (MaSi), BaFin, 2016-06-24 https://www.bafin.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/DE/FAQ/dl_faq_rs_1504_ba.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=3
Other PSMP relevant payment security frameworks
a. PSD2 publications by EU Commission
b. European Bank Authority Regulatory Technical Standards Consultation Paper
- eIDAS
a. EU Commission on the digital single market: http://ec.europa.eu/priorities/digital-single-market_en
b. eIDAS regulation as implemented in EU/EEA from 1st of July 2016: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32014R0910&from=EN
c. EU Commission blog post: https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/blog/eidas-and-eba-discussion-paper-strong-authentication-0
d. EU Commission blog post: https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/blog/eidas-regulation-and-european-digital-single-market-4
e. ETSI standards on digital signatures: http://www.etsi.org/technologies-clusters/technologies/security/digital-signature
The Protectoria Secure Mobile Platform protects against all current threats!
With us, you can feel safe even from malware targeting your app in particular. In the event of malware targeting just one installation of your app, all the other installations will be kept safe and unaffected.


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Click the heart icon beside an item to save it to your favorites and make it easier to review, share or purchase later.
Made from a nappa leather, these women's high-waisted leather pants in orange feature a rear zip closure and Bally logo embroidered detailing.
Upon confirmation, it will take up to 5 days to receive your order, depending on the delivery region.
Generally it will take 1-2 days for Kanto region and around 4 days for all other regions.
Please use the tracking number provided in the shipment confirmation email to follow the progress of your order.
If you'd like to specify a delivery date or ask further questions about this, please contact Client Services.
Please note that we share stock with our stores and it may be possible for an item to be sold out even if an order is accepted. In this situation we'll inform you of the order cancelation via email.
For full details see Returns and Refunds


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Circular Flow of Money with Saving and Investment!
In the circular flow of money, saving is one of the leakages and investment is an injection. In fact, the household and business sectors do not spend their entire money income. The consumers who represent the household sector do not spend their income wholly in purchasing goods and services. Rather, they save a part of their income for a variety of motives.
Similarly, business firms do not spend their entire income from the sale of goods. But they keep a part of it in the form of undistributed profit. Such savings of consumers and firms are not hoarded but are invested in bonds, shares, debentures, etc. in the capital market. They flow in to the capital market.
On the other hand, business firms borrow funds from the capital market for making investment. Thus savings which flow into the capital market are taken away by the business sector for investment and the circular flow of money is maintained in the economy.
Figure 63.2 shows how the circular flow of money is altered by the inclusion of saving and investment. Expenditure has now two paths: (i) directly via consumption from the households to the business sector, and (ii) Indirectly via investment expenditure by the business sector.
In the centre of Figure 63.2, there is the capital (or credit or financial) market which shows the inflow of savings from the household sector and the business sector into the capital market, and the outflow of investment into the business sector from the capital market. The capital market coordinates the saving and investment activities of the household and business sector s and maintain the circular flow of money in the economy.


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Dried Pyogo (shiitake) mushrooms are preferred over fresh ones in Korean cooking as they are more intense in flavor and taste. To top it off, dried ones are more beneficial as the sun-drying process breaks down proteins into amino acids and transforms ergosterol into vitamin D; both amino acids and vitamin D are known to exhibit antioxidant and anticancer activities, help prevent osteoporosis and promote the bone growth. The dried pyogo is very low in saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium. It is also a good source of vitamin B6, folate, magnesium, potassium, zinc and manganese, and a very good source of riboflavin (or vitamin B2), niacin, pantothenic acid, copper and selenium. (Click here for details.)
Due to the sun-drying process, this food is also loaded with (i) lecithin that is known to have significant effects on lowering cholesterol and triglycerides while increasing HDL ("good cholesterol") levels in the blood, (ii) retinol (or vitamin A) that is known to help suppress the cancer cell growth, (iii) lenthionine that is partly responsible for the flavor of pyogo and known to help lower cholesterol, inhibit blood clotting, and clear mental confusion by flushing the toxins from your system, and (iv) dietary fiber that helps prevent colon cancer.
I always have dried pyogo mushrooms handy in my freezer to make MSG-free soup anytime I want. Some are ground separately in a blender and stored separately in a jar. Some are stored in zipper bags as is, or used in cooking right way after reconstituting.
Dried pyogo is commonly used in Korean cooking: jeon, jjigae (찌개, "Korean-style stew"), gui (구이, "grill"), or jorim (조림, "braising"). You may substitute any other kinds of mushrooms for it but why don't you give it a try for its unique flavor and taste called gamchil mat (감칠 맛, "a fifth basic taste together with sweet, sour, bitter, and salty") and its health benefits?


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When Julia Roberts And Erin Brockovich Exchange Roles
In the film Erin Brockovich by Steven Soderbergh, the real Erin Brockovich plays a waitress in the scene where Julia Roberts, who personifies Erin Brockovich, is going out to dinner with her children. Erin wears a badge with the name Julia, to underline the fact that Julia Roberts plays her character.
This situation occurs in many films, and the process is called a cameo. Alfred Hitchcock was famous his cameo appearances.
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Last week, I had a session with a personal trainer who showed NO MERCY on me, but did give me a good plan to get back in shape, or at least in better shape. Basically, I use the exercise balance ball and hand weights, as well as a bosu balance board. These exercises are for my "resistance" training. Trust me when I say they were much tougher than they looked. The benefit of doing your weight work on one of these balance thingies is that while you are exercising your arms or legs, you are also working your core stomach muscles. Double benefit...Yay! Then, I need to do some form of cardio for at least 5 days...ideally 6. If I do one of the machines at the gym (treadmill, ellyptical...) I can get away with 30 minutes per session. If I choose walking at home or biking, she said I need to do one hour. Yikes!!!! Since my goal is not only to tone and get stronger but to lose weight, I need to make sure I am burning those calories. Anyway, I think I can do this. My girls are on board to help me out so wish me luck on Day 1 of the 30 Day Challenge:-)
"The advantage of exercising every day is that you die healthier."
"I know what Victoria's Secret is. Nobody under the age of 30 can fit into their clothes!"


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by Amber
Oompa Loompa Baby Costume
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Oompa Loompa Baby Costume
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|Costumes for Babies
This homemade costume for babies entered our 2014 Halloween Costume Contest.
A word from Becky, the 'Oompa Loompa' costume creator:
This is our son, Gavin Skjoldager, who is 16 months. Totally homemade costume by his mom, Becky Skjoldager. His dad, Justin Skjoldager, helped a little too.
Similar costumes:


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City Surgeon, Small Town Miracle / Bachelor Dad, Girl Next Door(2010)
An omnibus of novels by Sharon Archer and Marion Lennox
CITY SURGEON, SMALL-TOWN MIRACLE Marion Lennox Dr Maggie Croft-s decision to have her late husband-s baby has left her combining pregnancy with caring for a small town community! Dr Max Ashton had been heading back to his glamorous city life - but Maggie makes him remember another time, before he locked his heart away- BACHELOR DAD, GIRL NEXT DOOR Sharon Archer Single dad Dr Luke Daniels has come home to heal his heart. Dr Terri Mitchell remembers Luke from growing up in Port Cavill - maybe too well! The twinkle in the new doctor-s eyes makes her shiver, just the way it always did! Terri can-t stop herself falling for Luke and his young daughter. But Luke only sees her as the girl next door-doesn-t he?
Genre: Romance
Genre: Romance
Used availability for Marion Lennox's City Surgeon, Small Town Miracle / Bachelor Dad, Girl Next Door
Paperback Editions
March 2010 : UK Paperback


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Parramatta. Jim's back on board
Jim Bosnjak, former owner of the Parramatta-based Westbus transport company and deputy chairman of the West Sydney Razorbacks basketball team, which pulled out of the National Basketball League several years ago, is on the board of the Sydney Kings which will re-enter the competition in October.
Labels: Transport. Parramatta


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You have all been asking to see some belly pictures.
I honestly have not taken too many. First because we were hiding the pregnancy and then 'just because' I didn't get in too many photos.
Here are the "official baby bump photos" so far.
And here are some other fun little baby bump photos along with a photo dump!
Over all, this pregnancy has been very similar to the others.
I was a little queasy the first trimester and SUPER tired!
Right at 13 weeks I got my energy back and totally "nested!". I cleaned out and purged both of our storage closets and got my shit together in terms of my Rodan+Fields business and made some lofty goals for Naptime Tales. I still have some "to-do's" but thankfully I have some time.
My hips have been pretty sore recently and my cha cha area has been in some extreme pain so working out has been a bit of a challenge for me. But, I am doing what I can and trying to maintain some control over the weight gain.
All in all, I cannot complain! It is so hard to believe I am in the home stretch!!
And now that the cat is out of the bag I promise to post more belly pics and keep everyone updated!


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Disclosure: I created this post in partnership Modern Map Art, but all ideas included here are mine. This review contains a referral link.
I have the hardest time buying birthday gifts for my husband. Do I get him yet another shirt for work? (Boring.) Shoes? (He likes to pick out his own.) T-shirts with cool sayings on them? (Did that for Christmas.) Ties? (He hates wearing them.) Ski gear? (He knows what he wants.) Yet another electronic gadget? (He really doesn't need that, does he?)
You see the challenge here, right? I find that birthdays have shifted, as we've gotten older. It's much, much less about the gift giving, and so much more about celebrating another year of being together and creating memories.
That's where the folks at Modern Map Art come in.
As I was surfing the Internet looking for birthday gift inspiration, Modern Map Art reached out to tell me about their products based on more than 600 cities, countries, and ski spots around the world. You name the place, and they likely have taken a section of its map and turned it into a colorful piece of art. What a fun idea for world travelers, recent graduates, or friends moving to a new city.
Since I was intrigued by Modern Map Art's blend of art and memories, I first looked at their artwork of Boston, as it was, after all where my husband and I first met. The Boston piece is offered in a number of colors, including Celtics green (of course!). Then I saw Glasgow. My husband studied at the University of Glasgow during college, and we traveled to Scotland to celebrate our engagement. The country has always been special to us, and I loved the idea of having a remembrance of our time there hanging in our house. The Glasgow poster, in particular, is a vivid blue that I thought would be a good fit for our home. Ta da! Birthday gift dilemma solved.
In addition to prints, Modern Map Art sells phone cases and pillows of its map art, and prices start at US$29.99. They also have a custom option, allowing you to create map art for a place you find meaningful. That could be a thoughtful wedding or engagement gift, or even a baby gift. (Think of the spot the wedding took place, where the proposal was made, or where the baby was born.) Shipping is currently free in the US, and the artwork is mailed in strong cardboard tubes, with each piece wrapped up in tissue paper inside, keeping it safe during transport.
A few weeks ago, amid bites of birthday cake, my husband unwrapped his gift, which I had placed in a white frame I already owned. The first thing he did, upon realizing the picture was of Glasgow, was open up Google Maps on his phone to see if the neighborhood he lived in during college was captured on the map, and sure enough, it was. He was quite pleased, and I was relieved. Success! Now, I only another 365 days to come up with next year's birthday gift! All ideas welcome.


text: Obtaining and owning a rental property On this page: Keep records from the start Co-ownership of rental property Pay as you go instalments and withholding When investing in a rental property, you'll need to keep records right from the start and work out what you can and can't claim as a deduction. If you buy the property with someone else, you'll also need to work out how to divide the income and expenses. If you make a net profit from renting your property, you may need to make pay as you go (PAYG) instalments towards your expected tax liability. Generally, you only declare the income you earn from a property and claim related expenses if your name is on the title deed. If you buy a property, the date you enter into the contract – not the settlement date – is your date of purchase for capital gains tax purposes. Apart from buying, you can obtain a property by inheriting it, receiving it as a prize or gift, or having it transferred to you as a result of a marriage breakdown. Keep records from the start With an investment property, it's important to keep records right from the start. You'll want proof of all your expenses so you can claim everything you're entitled to. You'll also need records of the date and costs of buying the property so you can work out any capital gain (or capital loss) when you dispose of it. While owning the property you need to keep track of any related income and expenses. You also need to keep track of any significant changes – for example, if you carry out repairs or improvements or subdivide and sell part or all of it. Remember to keep the costs of repairs or improvements separate from depreciation costs (the decline in value of depreciating assets). This is necessary to work out your deductions correctly and any capital gain or loss when you sell the property. What records do you need to keep? You need to keep proper records in order to make a claim, whether you use a tax agent to prepare your tax return or you do it yourself. You must keep records of: the rental income you receive and the deductible expenses you pay – keep these records for five years from 31 October or, if you lodge later, for five years from the date your tax return is lodged your ownership of the property and all the costs of purchasing or otherwise acquiring it and selling or otherwise disposing of it – keep these records for five years from the date you sell or dispose of your rental property. As capital gains tax may apply if you sell your rental property, we recommend you keep records of every transaction over the period of ownership of the property. This would include contracts of purchase and sale, and conveyance and loan documentation. Keeping these records will help you work out your capital gain or loss correctly and ensure you do not pay more tax than you need to. Co-ownership of rental property Rental property activities are generally considered a form of investment rather than a business. This means that where a rental property is owned jointly, rental income and expenses are divided among the co-owners according to their legal interest in the property. This is despite any written or oral agreement between co-owners stating otherwise. However, where partners carry on a rental property business, the net rental income or loss is divided among them according to the partnership agreement. Co-owners of a rental property This video explains the rental income you must declare and the expenses you can claim if you co-own a rental property. Media: [Co-owners of a rental property]http://tv.ato.gov.au/ato-tv/media?v=bd1bdiun85ittqExternal Link (Duration: 02:18) Co-owners of an investment property – not in business A person who simply co-owns one or more investment properties is usually regarded as an investor rather than being engaged in a rental property business with the other co-owners. This is because of the limited scope of the rental property activities and the limited degree to which a co-owner actively participates in rental property activities. As investors, the co-owners must divide the property's income and expenses in line with their legal interest in the property. If they own the property as: joint tenants – they each hold an equal interest in the property tenants in common – they may hold unequal interests in the property (for example, one may hold a 20% interest and the other an 80% interest). Rental income and expenses must be attributed to each co-owner according to their legal interest in the property, even if there is an agreement between co-owners, either oral or in writing, stating otherwise. Partners carrying on a rental property business Most rental activities are a form of investment and don't amount to carrying on a business. But where you are carrying on a rental property business in partnership with others, you must divide the net rental income or loss according to the partnership agreement. If you don't have a partnership agreement, you should divide your net rental income or loss between the partners equally. See also: Rental properties Taxation Ruling TR 93/32 - Income tax: rental property - division of net income or loss between co-owners Pay as you go instalments and withholding PAYG instalments If you make a net profit from renting your property, you may need to make pay as you go (PAYG) instalments towards your expected tax liability for an income year. An individual is generally required to pay PAYG instalments if they have gross business or investment income (including rental income) of $4,000 or more (or $1 for foreign residents) in their most recent income tax return and the tax outstanding on their income tax assessment is more than $1,000. If you're required to pay PAYG instalments we'll notify you. See also: PAYG instalments PAYG withholding If your property is negatively geared you may be able to reduce the rate at which tax is deducted from your salary or wages (the PAYG withholding rate) to better match your year-end tax liability. If you believe your circumstances warrant a reduction to your rate or amount of withholding, you can apply to us for a variation. See also: Varying your PAYG withholding When investing in a rental property, you'll need to keep records right from the start, work out what you can and can't claim as a deduction and, if you buy the property with someone else, work out how the income and expenses are divided.Last modified: 08 Oct 2018QC 23627


text: Having moved to London a few years back, I initially did not believe that there were foxes living here, as it took me a good year to finally spot one. One night, cycling back home, a shadow crossed my path, quickly acknowledged my presence and returned back to his secretive world. Jean-Christophe Bailly's essay, The Animal Side, describes these chance encounters with wild animals as instances where we touch some part of their world. However centuries of human development and civilization now seems irreversible and have drastically minimized these shared spaces. Back home in South Africa, I have this latent fear of protected nature reserves becoming the last "vestiges of a world about to dissappear" as global policies of infinite growth with finite resources hurtle forward. So in a localized context, the Fox Diner aims to reclaim a communal space for humans and animals to overlap, where instead of discarding food on the ground (as one often sees on the streets of London), passersby can read a menu of food that foxes enjoy eating and share it with them, and in so doing, learn something about another species, and help to sustain it. That is in essence is what sustainability entails: the sustenance of life. This project is thus aimed at Londoners who can be sadly wasteful of their food at times. What better way to share one's meal with another in need?


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text:
Russia's answer to Deborah Moggach's The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.
Before I Croak is a comic novel from one of Russia's most outstanding young novelists. Five middle-class women in their sixties arrive at a care home in suburban Moscow, keen to experience their 'second youth'. One of them even has the heady dreams of writing the Great Russian Novel of her generation, only to discover more than she bargained for.
What follows combines elements of fantasy – the story is set in 2039 – with the everyday truths of life: intrigues and jealousy, plans made and frustrated, and a thirst for life and love. The women gradually discover mutual friends and connections and solve longstanding riddles, in exchanges that burst with humour, mirth and wit.
Translated by Muireann Maguire.
Anna Babiashkina was born in 1979 in a small town in Central Russia. She has a degree in Journalism from Moscow University, and now works as chief editor of a women's magazine with a circulation of 180,000. In 2011 Before I Croak won the Debut Prize and the Bestseller Prize for Best Urban Novel.
Muireann Maguire is a Fellow in Russian Literature and Culture at Wadham College, Oxford.
Also available as an eBook here.


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I am always re-introducing hard boiled eggs to the boys in hopes they will like them eventually. Today I decided to entice them with some cute colored fish and car molded eggs. I even added all the other bento fabulous foods including checkered apples, chocolate swirl sandwiches, cheese on a pick and carrot flowers. If all that weren't enough I put the salt and pepper in that adorable little container. So here's the trick when it comes to getting your kids to eat some not so favorite foods. First try making it cute. If the cute doesn't work then dare them. We have food challenge occasionally in our lunches. The boys are given a challenge or sort of dare and often times that does the trick! Sometimes they are rewarded when they get home from school with a treat for eating the lunch challenge item. I don't know how long this will work but it's been very effective so far!For more great lunch ideas visit
What's For Lunch Wednesday


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Tuesday, April 11, 2017
Using the Parking Mobility App
Once you download the app which is free, you have to verify your email address and then you can start sending in reports. But do you know all of what a violation looks like? There's more to it than just where you park. Let's start with what is NOT a violation.
-A disability placard, in clear view from the rear view mirror. On the dashboard is acceptable so long as it is in clear view. More on that coming.
-A license place with a disability wheel chair emblem on it.
-A license place that begins with DV or has "Disabled Veteran" on it.
You may come across a plate that say PH (Purple Heart). By state laws, this does not work. There must be a placard or wheel chair emblem present.
Now what does a violation look like?
The obvious is a car without any of the legal markings parked in a clearly marked accessible parking space. But there are other problems.
-Blocking: When any car parks on the slanted yellow or blue lines, they are blocking safe access to the accessible parking space. Let's look at an image:
So the SUV isn't blocking anyone from parking per se, but the lines on this side of the spaces are still meant for disabled persons to move around safely, without having to squeeze between cars to get to the store. ANY car parked on these lines is a violation. Even if they have placard or plates.
One thing that is great about the app is that, if something you send in isn't a violation, they will inform you of it. So if in doubt, send the report.
Parking on slanted lines between accessible spaces or next to one is also a violation. Even if they have a placard or plates. They are blocking someone's wheelchair access.
You will come across what I call "just shoddy parking". Where someone parks halfway in an accessible space and halfway over the slanted lines next to it. If they have their placard and plates, this is usually excused. But if in doubt, send the report. List it as blocking.
-Placard not visible: Sometimes you will come across a vehicle that has the placard resting on the dash, but is covered with old mail or some junk. Or maybe it's been shoved so far down the windshield, it's nearly all obscured. Us the drop down menu in the app and select 'Placard not displayed properly'. Do all the other prompts as normal.
-Fake, Expired or Defaced Placards: This is another report in the drop down menu. If you think it might be a fake placard or something might be off about it. This is the report you use. They will let you know if you are mistaken. I've seen placards pieced together in laminate with odd bits next to them that didn't make sense. You may have to get closer to the car for this report than with others.
-ID on the dash: Another trick you might see is an ID card left on the dashboard instead of the placard. This is a violation. Nothing replaces the placard except the proper plates.
How to use the app:
When you bring up the app, you will have a map showing your location and a menu you can tap on. When you tap on "Report Violation" you will see a selection of points you need to fill in.
Violation Type: This is the drop down menu for the violations I listed above.
Below this, you will see 2 or 3 dark windows you can tap on that are labelled for photos of the violation. It is suggested to use your zoom feature where you can so you don't look like you are too close to someone's vehicle. I like to stand back a good ten feet or so if possible and use the zoom to capture the information. I've even stood in another entire lane of parking to catch windshield shots before because people were sitting in the car. They had no idea I took the picture.
Scrolling down, you will next find a tap map for the location of the space they are parked in. You can move the indicator to the best of ability to show where they are parked on the map. If there isn't a indicator of a parking space there, you can add one easily.
Next, is the License plate. You don't have to put in the State, just the number/letter combo.
Finally, there is a comment section. I used this to put in what store I'm in front of or other business as a helpful indicator.
You can do these things in any order you are comfortable with. Most people get the photos and then move away to finish the report. All in all, the whole things takes seconds to complete and you carry on with your day.
A rule of thumb: It is asked that you avoid confrontations. If someone asks you what you are doing. You could say anything, and then just walk away. Some people say they are taking down accessible parking information for mapquest or something like that. Nothing wrong with being clever, just get the info and move on. Confrontations are not only dangerous, but usually don't help the situation. People will say all sorts of things, but don't like being told how it really is.
In my next write up I'll share some of the confrontations I wound up in and how to handle them quickly and safely. I have my past law enforcement experience to fall back on, and I'll share that with you.
Posted by David Wilde at 8:30 AM
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Police in Rilland, a town in the Netherlands near the Belgian border, seized chemicals that could be used to make 1 billion ecstasy pills, and have reported that it's the largest seizure they have ever had. The town's police found 35 cans of chemical waste, runoff from what they believe to be an illegal ecstasy lab, one day earlier.
The seized chemicals, including 100 bottles of hydrogen gas, caustic soda, and thousands of liters of other chemicals, are worth hundreds of thousands of Euros and were found inside a truck that aroused suspicion in a parking lot when it wasn't moved for several days. Though police declined to estimate a street value for the final product, 1 billion pills are worth around $10 billion on the street. No arrests have been made.
The Netherlands is one of the world's major producers and distributors of ecstasy, according to the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction.


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It has often been claimed, both before and after the release of the radiocarbon dating of the Voynich leaves, that it would have been either unlikely or impossible for the book's creator to have found old vellum to make it from. This assumption has been used to presume the manuscript must have been made soon after the radiocarbon date of the vellum, which is approximately 1404-1438. It has been said that the cost of vellum and parchment throughout history has meant that it would not have ever been stored, blank, for long periods of time. And furthermore, the case of the palimpsest has been used to show that the value of vellum was so great that the religious scribes painstakingly bleached and scraped ancient manuscripts to reuse them. While all these may be true to some extent, during some times, in some places, what I have found is that it is not at all improbable that a Voynich author may have come across a batch of old, blank, vellum somewhere… and also, considering that some of the presumed intentions of said author, it would have actually been a choice more likely than one for your run of the mill herbal or astrological treatise.
Back in 2007 I began looking for examples of blank vellum on the internet. I quickly found a book dealer named Pirages, who was advertising 20 or more sheets of what he described as, "RULED BUT OTHERWISE BLANK VELLUM MANUSCRIPT LEAVES", which, he said, were from the 16th century. Apparently they were from some book, which was falling apart, because he believed they "were possibly from the previous entry"… a catalog entry which was gone by the time I saw the listing. Unfortunately, all 20+ leaves had also been sold by the time I contacted him, for $35 a piece. The point remains that in 2007, a person with a knowledge of historical ink formulas could have made a 40 page "Voynich Ms." which would have radiocarbon dated to the 16th century. And, done so, for about $700. That is assuming that these leaves were too small to fold into quires, which would have then allowed an 80 page "Voynich".
Further searching revealed a book which was and is still on the market, the " PROTONOTARII APOSTOLICII", or Bullae et Statuta Officii Septem Sedis Apostolicae Protonotariorum In Curia Romana Participantium. It is offered by Michael Sharpe Rare & Antiquarian Books, for $95,000. This book is entirely in vellum, and was first created in 1523. It was then used for entries, continuously, until over 300 years later, the last entry being 1839. But it is not finished: The book remains for sale, today, with 44 blank leaves, comprising 88 blank pages, measuring about 11 1/4″ x 8 1/4″. So again, if you have the money, and the knowledge of historical inks, your summer hobby could be to make an 88 page Voynich rival… and when Arizona got it's hands on a sliver or two, it would reliably date it to 1523.
Listed in the Huntington Library's periodical, "Miniature Book News", #65, June, 1990, is this listing,
"The second volume is an odd little manuscript bound in a metal binding which was probably produced in the late fifteenth century. It contains 154 vellum leaves of which all but three are blank. The page size is 3 7/8 inches by 2 7/8 inches. The text is only three odd leaves from a Book of Hours. The first leaf contains fifteen lines to the page with the capital letters in gold and blue. The text is in Latin. The second leaf contains fourteen lines and is an elaborate leaf with a floral border. The text, in Latin, concerns the Virgin Mary. The third leaf contains fifteen lines to the page with capital letters in gold leaf over various colors. The text is in Latin. Apparently the three leaves in the center of the volume were thickened by the blank vellum leaves in order that they would fit inside the metal binding."
Well that would make a cute little Voynich, so write small! But at least it would make up for number in what it lacks in size, for you would have a full 302 page book when you were done. And there would be some head-scratching among manuscript scholars after Arizona got through with it (if you mixed your inks well, and not in brass containers, either), for it would apparently date to 1450 to 1500.
In 2008 the British House of Lords had a decision to make. It seems they had some blank parchment left over, after making the decision to finally… after a millenia or more?… stop using it for official purposes. Below is the letter I found.
Dear Mr.Todd,
Thank you for your e-mail of 24 July.
It may be helpful if I clarified the position as far as Acts of Parliament are concerned. William Cowley Ltd. supplies vellum to our printer The Stationery Office. The costs include those for printing.
The unused vellum held by the House administration will be used for the construction of the Roll of the Lords (and not Acts of Parliament). Members sign the Roll when they take the oath.
We do not hold recorded information relevant to your questions concerning the stock of vellum held by the administration. However, I
have spoken to a colleague who deals with the Roll. He informs me that there are approximately 100 sheets. Given the limited use it is likely to take some time to exhaust this supply.
Frances Grey
Freedom of Information Officer
House of Lords
It was probably not very old, I think we might assume. But it was blank, and it was in storage. Should we assume this same case did not exist in 1450, 1500, 1550, 1610, or 1912? Can we assume that for the first time in history, a government agency over-bought vellum, and was not sure what to do with the excess? Do we know that the author of the Voynich Ms. had no access to any such government stores? One is welcome to speculate these cases have always been impossible, up until 2008, but I cannot.
What was the case in the 19th century? I found in the "Royal Commission on Historic Manuscripts", 1870, page 69, the following listing,
"A series of loose vellum leaves, large folio, once bound together, the boards still remaining… …Next follows, on a series of like vellum leaves, a Calendar, in which the latest date is the 34th Henry 6 (A.D. 1456) of all grants by deed made by the Royal Founder… …Then follows, after some dozens of blank vellum leaves, a Catalogue of the College Library…"
I'll take "some dozens" to be more than "two dozen"… but let's be conservative and begin there. We know that in 1870 there existed (and probably does exist, today), 24 to 36 or more blank vellum leaves, equaling 48 to 72 or more blank vellum pages, which would carbon date to pre-1456.
The above screenshot is from a dead link, so I would assume the item has been sold. No estimate for the date of this book was given, and the sellers never wrote back to me when I asked. But as they are a "Rare and Old Book" seller, this is obviously not referring to some recent product. The description reads,
"Volume of 105 blank vellum leaves of 313 x 205 mm, with 3 blank leaves of paper at beginning and end, in old plain vellum binding, blind triple line fillet on covers."
Not that I need to point this out, again, but with this little volume, whomever bought it, could make a nice little 210 page Voynich replica.
And so on. Every so often, I search the internet for such examples. There are dozens more cases of between one and five or so, blank vellum or parchment leaves left blank, but this of course was standard practice to fill out the ends of books. I did not save those references. But examples such as the ones I list above, are easily found, today. There must be many more cases which I have not found, and which may have not made it onto online lists.
The point is obvious, but I'll summarize nonetheless: It is very possible that the Voynich could have been created at almost any date after 1438, from old, found, blank vellum. The fact that even today, ancient blank vellum leaves exist in quantity, reasonably implies it would have always been so. If a person desired to create an old-looking manuscript, at any time from the 15th century to today, they could have found a usable pile of old vellum, in the back of an old book, unused ledger, government archives, or a dusty old storeroom. Adding to the proven existence of such vellum is the often assumed importance and value of the Voynich to the creator of it. The vellum was out there, we know… and the Voynich author probably had every incentive to find it, and use it… whoever that was, and whenever they made it, from 1404 until 1912.
Tags: blank, manuscript, palimpset, vellum, voynich


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The development of leaders and managers to help sustain their performance at the highest levels possible is a particularly crucial element of business planning nowadays.
During the late 1990s, management consulting firm McKinsey coined the phrase the 'war for talent' as part of its research identifying talent management as a critical business challenge. Fast forward fifteen years and many of these challenges still remain. However the concepts of leadership development and talent management have now evolved into essential management practices. What was once predominantly associated with recruitment now covers a multitude of areas including individual and organisational development, performance management and succession planning. At Holgate HR we have the skills to be able to support you in all of these areas in order to help you to gain competitive advantage, by developing an approach in these areas that best suits your organisation and helps you to get the best from your people.
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We really value their contribution and see the relationship that has developed between our two businesses to be an integral part of ensuring the future growth and success of FSC.
|John, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Future Strategies Consulting Ltd


text: Van Nuys Corridor Transit Options Jan 1, 2011 16:32:41 GMT -8 Quote Select PostDeselect PostLink to PostMemberGive GiftBack to Top Post by tobias087 on Jan 1, 2011 16:32:41 GMT -8 What is your preference for Van Nuys? The project would likely start at Van Nuys/Ventura, then head north. It will hook up with the 405 Line at Ventura, the Orange Line near Oxnard, Amtrak and Metrolink at the Van Nuys Train Station near Saticoy, and go by The Plant, the Panorama Mall, and various other retail outlets.For more information:thesource.metro.net/2010/12/21/fta-gives-metro-the-green-light-to-study-transit-alternatives-for-van-nuys-corridor/


text: You'll know Jordan is behind the camera when I can get halfway-decent photos of myself. He directs me behind the scenes: "quit making that face" "why are you squinting" "quit hunching and stand up straight" "look at the camera" "what are you doing?" "what is that face" I'm awkward and unnatural in front of the lense, but he can somehow make it appear like I'm sane. #flashback #ubud


text: Stores aren't waiting until Black Friday to cut prices on toys, electronics and other items. By Cameron Huddleston, Former Online Editor November 5, 2010 You could get up before the crack of dawn, stand in long lines and brave the crowds to score deals on Black Friday, the big shopping day after Thanksgiving. Or you could actually relax and enjoy the long weekend, knowing that you already bought all of your gifts on sale. Which one you choose depends on how much you want to get a deal or the BEST deal. Several stores and online retailers are having early holiday sales starting this weekend. There will be some great deals, says Dan de Grandpre, editor in chief of Dealnews.com. Sales on toys and clothing will be particularly good because prices won't fall much more three weeks from now on Black Friday. For electronics, though, it's better to wait until Black Friday (and later) to get really deep discounts, he says. But he says ask yourself whether it's worth waiting -- and dealing with the Black Friday crowds -- if you can get a good price now on what you need. Sponsored Content Here are some of the bigger sales happening this weekend. Be sure to check with your favorite retailers to see if they're marking down prices early. Advertisement Amazon.com already is offering daily deals as part of its Countdown to Black Friday promotion. You don't even have to leave the comfort of your home to shop this sale or the Black November 24-hour sale every Friday at online electronics retailer Newegg.com. Toys R Us will mark down prices 30% to 50% online and in stores for its two-day sale starting November 5 at 3 p.m. to midnight and November 6 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Best Buy is having a Shop Early sale in stores November 5 and 6. However, de Grandpre expects Best Buy to cut prices even more on Black Friday. JCPenney is marking down women's and kids' clothing up to 70% online and in stores November 5 and 6. Other items will be discounted up to 50% to 60%. Advertisement Walmart kicks off the holiday shopping season early with a sale November 6 and 7 on HDTVs, laptops and video games. Discounted electronics will be in stores and online at Walmart.com. Target is having a sale on toys (up to 50% off) until November 24 and weekly online-only deals. Starting November 21, Target will have a four-day sale on more than 170 items, including electronics and toys; and it will have an online-only sale on Thanksgiving Day. Skip the sales at Kmart and Sears because the discounts aren't deep enough, de Grandpre says. Follow me on Twitter