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Ohio State is just getting started with the 2019 recruiting class, but the Buckeyes are hot on the trail of many of the nation's top prospects. The Buckeyes have only one commitment in the class to date, but plenty of top prospects have been visiting and staying in communication with Ohio State's coaches. Here's what to know about Ohio State's 2019 recruiting:
Latest news for Ohio State's 2019 recruiting class
- Ohio State recruiting: Pennsylvania's top prospect to visit; Jowon Briggs picks back up with Buckeyes – Feb. 22
- Coachspeak: Ohio State DT Tommy Togiai has elite size, strength – Feb. 22
- Ohio State recruiting: 5-star Buckeyes target wows with athleticism, elite linebacker plans visits – Feb. 21
- Ohio State recruiting mailbag: Buckeyes' biggest needs, offensive line updates – Feb. 21
- Ohio State signee Josh Proctor wants to let you in on secret he's been keeping for months – Feb. 20
- Ohio State recruiting: Buckeyes are 'top of the list' for Zeke Correll – Feb. 20
- Ohio State called 'dream school' by ATH Derrick Davis Jr. hours after he lands offer – Feb. 19
- Ohio State recruiting: In-state star Darrion Henry lands Buckeyes offer – Feb. 19
- 5-star T Devontae Dobbs: Buckeyes separating 'themselves in every category' – Feb. 19
- Ohio State pushing hard to win over standout Michigan commit Nolan Rumler – Feb. 18
- Ohio State recruiting: Buckeyes could be match for South Florida receiver – Feb. 16
- Ohio State recruiting: Breaking down Buckeyes' top targets on defense – Feb. 16
Ohio State football's 2019 class
Ohio State has just one commitment in the 2019 recruiting class, coming from longtime pledge Doug Nester from Huntington (W.Va.) Spring Valley. Nester has been committed to Ohio State since Aug. 5, 2017.
- T Doug Nester, 4 stars, Huntington (W.Va.) Spring Valley
Where Ohio State's 2019 class ranks
Ohio State's 2019 recruiting class ranks No. 39 in the 247Sports composite team rankings. Of course, with just one commitment in the class, the Buckeyes are hard-pressed to rank very high in the team rankings at the moment. The good news is that they have the top-ranked class in the country among teams that have only commit. Nester is ranked as the No. 52 player overall and the No. 8 tackle in 2019.
Position breakdown of the Buckeyes' 2018 class
Ohio State's target number for recruits remains extremely flexible with nearly a year until National Signing Day in 2019. The Buckeyes also don't have a clear idea yet of their projected scholarship numbers for the 2019 class without knowing which players could leave the program between the start of spring football and the start of the 2018 season. There's plenty of time for these projected numbers to change and adapt.
Geographic breakdown of the class
West Virginia: 1 (Nester)
Top uncommitted Ohio State targets
Ohio State's target board is just beginning to sort out, and there's plenty of time for things to change. Here are some early looks at what you could expect out of the list of top prospects moving forward:
- Ohio State recruiting: Breaking down Buckeyes' top targets on defense – Feb. 16
- Ohio State recruiting: Buckeyes' next top targets on offense emerge – Feb. 15
- Ohio State recruiting: Breaking down Ohio's top 2019 prospects on defense – Feb. 13
- Ohio State recruiting: Breaking down Ohio's top 2019 prospects on offense – Feb. 12
The post Ohio State recruiting: Latest news on Buckeyes' 2019 class appeared first on Land of 10.
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Big East Wrapup & Tourney PreviewPosted by rtmsf on March 10th, 2009
Rob Dauster of Ballin is a Habit is the RTC correspondent for the Big East Conference. He will be live-blogging all the action from his executive suite at MSG this week.
Tuesday, March 10th / First Round
– Game 1: #9 Cincinnati vs. #16 DePaul
– Game 2: #12 Georgetown vs. #13 St. John's
– Game 3: #10 Notre Dame vs. #15 Rutgers
– Game 4: #11 Seton Hall vs. #14 South Florida
Wednesday, March 11th / Second Round
– Game 5: Game 1 Winner vs. #8 Providence
– Game 6: Game 2 Winner vs. #5 Marquette
– Game 7: Game 3 Winner vs. #7 West Virginia
– Game 8: Game 4 Winner vs. #6 Syracuse
Thursday, March 12th / Quarters
– Game 9: Game 5 Winner vs. #1 Louisville
– Game 10: Game 6 Winner vs. #4 Villanova
– Game 11: Game 7 Winner vs. #2 Pitt
– Game 12: Game 8 Winner vs. #3 UConn
Friday, March 13th / Semis
– Game 13: Game 9 Winner vs. Game 10 Winner
– Game 14: Game 11 Winner vs. Game 12 Winner
Saturday, March 14th / Finals
– Game 15: Game 13 Winner vs. Game 14 Winner
It is only fitting that the biggest conference in college basketball have the biggest tournament. For the first time, the Big East is inviting all 16 teams to MSG for a five day extravaganza. The BET is always full of exciting moments – from Ray Allen vs. Allen Iverson in 1996 to Taliek Brown's banked in 30 footer in 2002 to Gerry McNamara's superhuman performance in 2006. With the number of good teams and absurdly high number of talented players, this year's edition of the BET should not disappoint.
Before we get into the tournament itself, let's take a look at the season that was:
Biggest Surprise: I'm going to go with Villanova. I thought the Wildcats were going to be good this year, but I never could have predicted that they were going to be in and around the top 10 for much of the season, finishing in the top four in what many think is the toughest conference in the country.
Biggest Disappointment: Notre Dame barely edges out Georgetown to earn this not-so-special title. The Irish were picked in the top 10 in the preseason and are led by Luke Harangody and Kyle McAlarney, but lost seven in a row in Big East play and finished in 10th in the league at 8-10. Maybe this will teach Mike Brey you have to play defense if you want to win games.
Coach of the Year: Rick Pitino deserves credit for turning his team around at the start of league play. Jim Calhoun needs a mention for the way UConn played all year despite missing Stanley Robinson and Jerome Dyson for extended periods of time. Keno Davis did a commendable job getting the Friars within a win of an NCAA tournament trip. But my COY award is going to Jay Wright at Villanova. His team has far less talent on their roster than any other school that finished in the top six in the league, but he has his guys playing as well as anyone in the country. After starting Big East play 2-3, the Cats won 10 of their last 13.
Most Improved Player: This one is a tie between Wesley Matthews of Marquette and Dante Cunningham from Villanova. Matthews has always been a talented player, but he was never asked to be a scorer under Tom Crean when the Eagles already had McNeal, Dom James, and Lazar Hayward. With new coach Buzz Williams running the show, Matthews has turned into one of the most potent slashers in the league. Cunningham has always had a ton of natural ability, he just never could put it all together. That changed this year, as he has added a feathery jump shot to his repertoire. Now, instead of strictly being a rebounder and back-t0-the-basket guy, Cunningham can square you up and take you to the rim. He has turned himself into a guy that could go in the first round.
Defensive Player of the Year: Umm, Hasheem Thabeet. Are you kidding?
Freshman of the Year: Greg Monroe of Georgetown was the best freshman in the conference all season. Monroe has the kind of tools and ability that has NBA scouts drooling. He can handle the ball, pass, defend, shoot from the perimeter, and score in the post. On the season, he had numbers that would make fantasy nuts drool – 12.9 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 2.6 apg, 1.8 spg, 1.4 bpg. Oh, and it looks like he may be coming back for his sophomore year.
Player of the Year: It is an unenviable task to try and reduce the number of talented players in this conference down to just six first teamers, so try to imagine whttling away five more people to try and determine a player of the year. For me, it came down to four people – Jerel McNeal, DeJuan Blair, Hasheem Thabeet, and Terrence Williams. I am going with T-Will, for one simple reason – he is the best player on the league champion, and he doesn't need to score to be effective. Williams got off to a bit of a sluggish start this year, but he was the key to the Louisville turnaround. He is the Cardinal's playmaker, their best defender, and their leader. But more than that, he is one of the most fun players in the country to watch and seems like he enjoys every second he is out on the court. For the season, he averaged 12.8 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 5.1 apg, 2.3 spg and shot 38% from deep, but it was the last six games when he really showed what kind of player he is going to be. Over that span, T-Will exploded for 15.8 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 7.0 apg, 3.0 spg, while hitting 14-28 threes.
All-Conference Teams:
First Team
Jerel McNeal, Marquette
Da'Sean Butler, West Virginia
Hasheem Thabeet, UConn
DeJuan Blair, Pitt
Sam Young, Pitt
Second Team
Jonny Flynn, Syracuse
Levance Fields, Pitt
Luke Harangody, Notre Dame
Dante Cunningham, Villanova
Wesley Matthews, Marquette
Third Team
AJ Price, UConn
Alex Ruoff, West Virginia
Earl Clark, Louisville
Jeremy Hazell, Seton Hall
Jeff Adrien, UConn
Mike Rosario, Rutgers
Kemba Walker, UConn
Samardo Samuels, Louisville
Yancy Gates, Cincinnati
Devin Ebanks and Truck Bryant, West Virginia
Favorites: There are essentially three teams that you have to consider as the favorites – the three teams that all had a shot of winning the regular season crown on Saturday: UConn, Louisville, and Pitt. Of this group, I think Louisville is the most likely to win it because they have an easier road (possible date with Villanova in the semis while UConn would have to face Pitt). I also think the Cardinals are built for this time of year, with their defense, their transition game, their athletes, and T-Will. The biggest issue for them is they have no point guard. Pitt does, and he just so happens to be one of the best in the nation. I love Fields, and when you combine him with Blair, Young, and the rest of that team, you are looking at maybe the best team in the country. The problem with Pitt in years past has been the inability to score, meaning that if they played a tough defensive team in the dance, they would get knocked off. They are much better offensively this season, using a fast break that is new to their repertoire this season. This UConn bunch has still never won any sort of postseason game. I'll consider them a serious threat when they win their first tournament games.
Contenders: Syracuse, West Virginia, Villanova, and Marquette are all excellent basketball teams, and it would not surprise me in the least if one of them got hot and made a run to the BET title. The most likely off this bunch would have to be Villanova, because they play just the three games. But Syracuse has one of the most talented starting fives in the country, and if those guys ever figure out how to play together and play with passion from the tip, this team may be good enough to make a run to Final Four, let alone a Big East title.
Sleepers: I'm going to say Notre Dame and Georgetown. I know that both teams were ranked during the season in the top 10, but the fact of the matter is that they both had long losing streaks that they couldn't turn around. As a result, without an impressive run through the BET, neither of these teams will be dancing.
BIAH's Pick: Pitt.

subset: commoncrawl


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27 Oct 2018
Top 23 for Best Gel Glofe 2018
4ucycling Touch-screen Multifunction Gel Padded Super Breathable Cycling Gloves #ad - Skid-resistance and breatheble of the finger and palm, the upper end of the middle fingers is of skid resistance, increasing the friction between the glove and handlebar, and improving security level the inside of the thumb is stitched breathable, the lower part of the other fingers is designed with wicking breathable holes, so that the palm can breathe freely, which makes you feel more comfort. Wicking, breathable and flexible, of the hand back, keeping your hands dry and comfort, the hand back is spliced by three different composite fabric, such as high-grade breathable mesh, wear-resistant microfiber leather and velvet texture effects sweatbands. Multi-function, suitable for all seasons, the gloves are not only for riding, but also for hiking, fishing, trips and other activities they are multi-function and high-quality, indispensable for all seasons,stylish style, safe and convenient, the stylish reflective logo design ensures the safety of nighttime riding the vogue velcro stamped with brand makes it more convenient to wear it or peel it off, and is helpful to keep out the cold, as well. Screen touching the thumb and index finger adopt the conductive touch-screen leather, which touches the screen in a sensitive way even when wearing this cycling gloves, it easy to use in touch your smart-phone and all kinds of touchable control electronic products. Skid-proof and shock absorption and durable on the palm, the palm uses three layers of solid silica gel palm pad which is skid proof and shock absorption wear resistant foam gasket further improves the degree of resistance to wear and tear, making this glove more durable.
Tour Master Adventure Gel Gloves – Small/Black #ad - Comfortable goatskin backhand with an armor-link mesh ventilation panel and soft, perforated goatskin and stretch lycra forchettes. Durable, reinforced goatskin palm with vibration absorbing gel padding in the areas that contact the handle bar. Pre-curved palm and fingers with action expansion panels improve comfort and dexterity, and help reduce hand fatigue. Extended goatskin cuff with a secure hook and loop wrist closure. Molded two-piece knuckle armor with an expandable neoprene relief panel provide vital protection and all-day comfort.
Napa Deerskin Leather Fingerless Gloves with Gel Pad (Black, Large) #ad - Fully closed back. Palm gel pad shock absorber reduces fatigue causing vibrations. Fingerless gloves made from the best, most beautiful "a" grade american deerskin, are some of the most comfortable gloves the motorcycle industry has ever seen. Leather hook and loop closure secures the glove to your hand. Stretch fit wrist for comfort.
Olympia 712 Gel Reflector Ladies Motorcycle Gloves (Black, Medium) #ad - Either way, you're set. Stretchable nylon is allows air flow, and fits/feels great. Look great, and feel great, in these gloves. (Light blue not available). These 712 gel reflector gloves can show off your feminine side or a tougher persona. Flexible neoprene knuckles adds flex, gel padded leather palms dampens vibration, reflective piping adds safety. Gel padded leather palms for vibration resistancereinforced fingers and thumbs for protectionflexible neoprene knuckles and cuff for comfortlycra finger panels give great fitreflective piping for low-light visibility.
Tour Master Gel Cruiser 2 Fingerless Men's Leather/Textile Cruiser Motorcycle Gloves – Black / Large #ad - Comfortable, abrasion-resistant armor-link mesh backhand and forchettes, with protective goatskin knuckle and finger panelsdurable, reinforced goatskin leather palm with articulated silicone gel and eva foam padding to reduce shock and vibrationintegrated, goatskin finger and thumb pulls help to ease glove removalarticulated eva foam knuckle padding is both protective and comfortableextended slip-on cuff, with a secure hook and loop wrist closuresoft brushed polyester lined upper interior for additional support2011 model.
Tourmaster Gel Cruiser 2 Mens Leather/Textile Gloves – X-Large #ad - Durable, reinforced goatskin leather palm with articulated silicone gel and eva foam padding to reduce shock and vibration. Comfortable, abrasion-resistant armor-link mesh backhand and forchettes, with protective goatskin knuckle and finger panels. Pre-curved palm and fingers with action expansion panels improve comfort, dexterity and help to reduce hand fatigue. Extended slip-on cuff with a secure hook and loop wrist closure. Articulated eva foam knuckle padding is both protective and comfortable.
Olympia 400 Gel Classic Motorcycle Gloves (Black, Large) #ad - This cruiser type road glove is made for putting on the miles. Soft and supple leather for comfortanti-vibration gel in palms for maximum comfort, protection and shock absorptionlight padding on knuckles for protection and comfortelasticized cuff, velcro closure on strap for best fitreinforced nylon stitching to prevent premature wear. The back of the glove features light padding across the knuckles, and our soft, supple leather gives you a luxurious pampered feeling so you're comfortable the whole ride. Gel throughout the palm reduces stress and fatigue of the hand while gripping the bars.
Olympia 760 Air Force Gel Motorcycle Sport Gloves (Black, Large) #ad - A gel palm reduces vibration and hand fatigue, and in the hot summer months, terry cloth on the back of the thumb even wipes sweat from your browmesh back provides cooling airflow and allows sweat to evaporateribbed nylon knuckles on fingers and back of hand provide flexibility and protection from knuckle bumps and abrasionsgel padded palm absorbs vibration and reduces hand fatigueperforated, adjustable neoprene cuff for breathability and comfortterry cloth sweat wiper on the backs of thumbsdurable construction reinforced stitching and synthetic leather palm holds up to rugged use. The ribbed nylon knuckles are great for flexibility and protection. This glove is a great all-around glove for the sport, street and touring rider. Its mesh backing provides airflow and allows sweat to be wicked away, evaporating from the material quickly and leaving the rider's hands dry.
Olympia 410 Sport Gel Classic Motorcycle Gloves (Black, X-Large) #ad - Soft and supple leather with double leather reinforced forefinger, knuckles and fingersanti-vibration gel in palms for vibration protection absorption for comfortgauntlet cuff with velcro closure on strap for best fit, and special side cut for easy entryreinforced nylon stitching holds up well to wear and tear. Olympia 410 gel sport gloves are cool enough for summer, warm enough for spring and fall rides. Gel padding in the palm absorbs vibes from the bars, for improved comfort. Soft supple leather offers a good feel for the grips and controls. These warm to cool weather gel motorcycle gloves are warm down into the 40's and make handlebar buzz and hand cramps a thing of the past. Extended gauntlet cuff covers jacket sleeves, and a special side cut for easy entry. No hard protection, but comes with double leather reinforced forefinger, knuckles and fingers.
Kevlar Gel Padded Motorcycle Mechanics Gloves XL #ad - Easy care water, dirt & oil repellent, heat, abrasion & tear resistant. Reflective qualities day & night. Size xl fit hands measuring 9″-9-1/2″. Premium quality mechanic gloves. Tough & rugged kevlar on palms, gel pads on knuckles & fingers.
Tour Master Dri-Perf Men's Textile Street Racing Motorcycle Gel Gloves – Black / Large #ad - Tour master dri-perf men's textile street racing motorcycle gel gloves details durable perforated goatskin construction with nylon. Stretch panels on the fingers reduce fatigue and increase dexterity. One of the country's top names in gear for sport riders, cruising riders, touring riders, every rider. Gel inserts across the lower palm reduce shock and vibration. That's why you can "trust the master" to offer you high quality riding gear and accessories with one very special bonus, a fair price. For over 26 years, tour master has been developing and manufacturing a full line of motorcycle apparel and accessories. Waterproof, breathable e-dry barrier allows for the passage of air and perspiration, while remaining completely water tight. Eva foam padding on the fingers and outside of wrist combine with a hard knuckle protector. Hook and loop gauntlet closure. Touchscreen compatible conductive overlays on the thumb and index finger.
Fox Racing Reflex Gel Gloves – Men's Flo Yellow, XXL #ad - Silicone print on the fingertips keeps your shifting and braking performance on the top shelf, a microsuede thumb patch wipes noses and glasses, and the hook-and-loop cuff tab provides a secure and easy-to-use closure. Sure, they sport comfortable gel padding in strategic spots, but they manage to do so without losing the responsiveness that singletrack riders demand. The double-layer clarino synthetic suede palm is outfitted with ergonomically placed gel pads to take the sting out of the long xc rides, and the air mesh upper keeps your hands cool and dry. Gel gloves have traditionally been the best friends of bike path cruisers and weekend casualistas, but the fox racing reflex men's gel gloves see things a little differently.
Olympia 711 Gel Reflector Motorcycle Sport Gloves (Black, Large) #ad - What else can we saygel padded leather palm, for anti-vibration shock absorptionflexible neoprene knuckles and cuff for added comfortlycra finger panels and velcro adjustable strap for a better fitreflective piping for greater visibility and low light safety. The stretch nylon back allows for a nice airflow to keep hands cool and comfortable over a wide range of temperatures, spring through fall, and reflective piping adds visibility in low light conditions. The gel padded leather palm makes it a great anti-vibration glove, shock-absorbing and very comfortable on long rides. The gel reflector glove is one of our most popular gloves, for good reason. One more thing, they fit really well.
Men's Naked Cowhide Driving Gloves with Gel Palm GL2091 XS #ad - The gel application increases comfort significantly. These are good quality gloves which will last long. Increases circulation so your hands don't fatigue as quickly. The new real genuine leather motorcycle riding driving gloves with gel palm and velcro. Having gel in the palms helps damp vibration.
Men's Fingerless Perforated Naked Cowhide Leather Gloves with Gel GL2090 S #ad - The gel application increases comfort significantly. These are good quality gloves which will long last. The new real genuine naked cowhide motorcycle riding driving gloves with gel and velcro. Having gel in the palms helps damp vibration. Increases circulation so your hands don't fatigue as quickly.
Leather Fingerless Black Motorcycle Gel Palm Gloves 3XL #ad - Gel palm absorbs vibration for a smooth ride that is great on long trips. Size 3xl fits 11″-11-1/2″. Velcro closure at wrists means a comfortable, adjustable fit. Leather fingerless black motorcycle gel palm gloves 3xl. These gloves are designed for the serious rider.
Shaf International Deer Skin Fingerless Gloves with Gel Padded Palm (Black, X-Large) #ad - Sh851. Milwaukee leather men's deerskin black leather perforated fingerless gloves, sh851. Perforated vented back with gel padded palm. Made of premium american deer skin leather. Designed to provide great comfort, style, and durability for your next ride. Check out these quality men's light-weight high performance fingerless riding glove. Velcro closure.
Olympia Sports Men's Air Force Fingerless Gel Gloves (Black, XXX-Large) #ad - Washable synthetic leather palm with full mesh back for maximum airflow. Perforated neoprene cuff with adjustable strap. Gel padding on the palm with quick release nylon pull tabs, terry cloth sweat wipe on back of thumb.
Olympia 712 Gel Reflector Ladies Motorcycle Gloves (Black/Pink, Medium) #ad - These 712 gel reflector gloves can show off your feminine side or a tougher persona. Look great, and feel great, in these gloves. Stretchable nylon is allows air flow, and fits/feels great. (Light blue not available). Flexible neoprene knuckles adds flex, gel padded leather palms dampens vibration, reflective piping adds safety. Gel padded leather palms for vibration resistancereinforced fingers and thumbs for protectionflexible neoprene knuckles and cuff for comfortlycra finger panels give great fitreflective piping for low-light visibility. Either way, you're set.
Men's Leather Cruising Gloves w/ Clean Look, Gel Palm – Great for Riding or Driving (Large) #ad - Gel palm. Short wirist. Premium leather. Velcro wrist strap.
Olympia Sports Men's Gel Gloves (Black, X-Large) #ad - Adjustable strap. Gel padded palm. Drum dyed leather.
Leather Fingerless Motorcycle Biker Gel Palm Gloves 2XL SH442 #ad - Leather fingerless gloves. Designed for the serious rider. Absorbs vibration to keep hands comfortable on long rides. Extremely soft yet durable.
Men Women Touchscreen 5mm Gel Silicone Padded Windproof Light Fleece Lining Full Finger Gloves for Winter Outdoor Cycling Mountain Bike Road Racing Bicycle Riding Motorcycle Driving #ad - Fingertips with conductive fabric,you can use your smartphone at all times. Thumb with cloth to wipe the sweat,wrist with velcro closure to adjust. Palmnon-slip and wear-resisting microfiber fabric. 5mm-thickness gel silicone(sbr) pad on palm to absorb the vibrations and to protect from the stresses. Backelastic eva material and light fleece lining.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.


text: Photo Gallery L10 Cheveley CircleAnchorage, AK 99515 $359,000 Vacant LandStatus: Contract Pending Sqft: Lot:19,470 sq ft MLS#: 19-7380 61.116298675537109-149.90280151367188 This listing courtesy of: Keller Williams Realty Alaska Group Description: Gorgeous luxury home sites in Resolution Bluffs could be the last of their kind! Just steps away, you may enjoy Anchorage's Coastal Wildlife Refuge and Campbell Creek Estuary. This is not your typical development. In Resolution Bluffs you get to Choose Your Lot and Choose Your Builder!Main Features: Listing Status Contract Pending School District BayshoreSchool District2 Mears School District3 DimondCounty Anchorage Rental Price $0Zoning R1 - Single Family Residential Extra Features: Acres 0.45


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Last Saturday morning, we started the day by heading to the organic market. Since I have taken so many pictures there before, and I have blogged about it here, here and here, I did not take any new pictures when I went with my sister and Chris. We did however get these yummy fresh baked apple muffins there. Boy were they delicious.
After running some errands, Ryan and I went down to the beach to pick up my sister and Chris who I had dropped off earlier for a little shopping and looking around. While we were waiting, we grabbed some quick lunch.
After we got us some tasty "fuel" we headed out to see what nature has to offer on this island, which is composed of not one, but rather 4 volcanoes. To get a taste of the intense nature that occurs with volcanic activity, you need to head to the center of the island. The scenery here is totally different from what you see on the coast line here.
As we headed in the direction of the caves, we found some farmers herding these goats into a field. I have never in my life seen so many goats at one time.
The first stop was Lagoa Negra and Gruta Do Natal (AKA the Christmas Cave).
This is Lagoa Negra and it sits just in front of the entrance to the cave. In the interior of the island, the outdoor temperature drops, so I always make sure to bring something warmer with me.
Here is the cave entrance.
For this cave, because of some low ceilings, you must wear a hard hat, which they provide.
This cave is known as the Christmas Cave because it was first opened to the public on a Christmas eve and they held a mass inside, at the altar, which is pictured below.
Sorry they are blurry. These were taken before I changed my camera setting. This picture just below is of ropey lava formations. The caves are basically lava tubes and other volcano related openings.
The next stop was to Furnas do Exofre, which are basically fumaroles, or sulfur pits. The fact that it still vents sulfur and steam from below makes me wonder if the volcano is still active, although all reports I have heard say these volcanoes are dormant. Either way, these fumaroles are an awesome display of nature.
These are some shots taken leaving the pits and heading to the next cave.
This is the area where the next cave is just below.
It is more than just a cave, it is a hollowed out volcanic lava tube and only one of two in the world that ever formed in this way. The other one is in Indonesia and not open to the public, so this becomes the ONLY volcano you can actually climb inside. The local people worked to build an entrance that would allow for people in the future to enter through a tunnel and then use stairs built inside. The picture just below was taken down on the first platform and is looking out the "blow hole" of this volcano.
Inside you can see the work of the lava.
Rachel and Chris are heading down to the lake. Now it was only 7 meters of water, but after the rainy winter, this lake grew to 20 meters deep.
If you look closely, there is my sister at the top point inside, after you walk down and into the volcano, there is another area that you can actually walk up on the other side of the entrance.
Look who we found as we were leaving Algar do Carvao (the last cave that is a volcano):
This time they were without a farmer/herder and I think they were escapees. they were just walking down the road, entirely in our way, so we got out and took pictures.
After a fun day of exploring the islands interior nature, we headed to a bull fight. After searching for a place to watch from, we found a nice family with space in their yard and we made ourselves comfortable there. As this is a small island, we soon discovered this house belonged to a relative of a relative to this girl who was on my sister's flight to the island, and would be on their return flight. She is from the US and this was her first time visiting the island to see her family here.
At the bull fight we tried out some of the foods that the walk around vendors sell to the crowds. This was like kettle corn.
These are fried fava beans (like potato chips almost but much smaller and made of favas), and then baked broad beans, I think, although the non-English speaking vendor said they were favas too.
This guy is about to jump the fence as the bull is headed his way.
These "professional" street bull taunters put on a great show right in front of us.
There you have it…another fun filled day with our visitors.
QUESTIONS: Have you ever visited an area with volcanoes? What is your favorite display of nature?


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The department of disinvestment (DoD) wants the government to halve the PSU stake sale target for this fiscal to Rs 30,000 crore, as volatile stock market conditions have rendered disinvestment difficult.
So far this year, the government has raised Rs 12,600 crore by selling its stake in four public sector undertakings (PSUs) as against the target of Rs 69,500 crore for 2015-16.
"The target of Rs 30,000 crore seems more reasonable for current financial year given that there is no big stock to sell," a source told PTI.
The Modi government had planned to raise Rs 69,500 crore through disinvestment in the current financial year, of which Rs 41,000 crore was targeted from minority stake sale and Rs 28,500 crore from strategic stake sale.
Last week, the DoD had extended for the third time the deadline to appoint merchant bankers in its efforts to sell a 10% stake in Coal India for about Rs 21,000 crore ($3.3 billion).
Merchant bankers have stayed away from the CIL stake sale process, citing a deficiency in CIL's environment sustainability commitments.
While more than 20 PSUs have cabinet approval for stake sale, the government completed disinvestment only in four companies - Power Finance Corporation (PFC), Rural Electrification Corporation (REC), Dredging Corp and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC).
The benchmark stock index had plunged by more than 1,600 points on the day of stake sale in IOC. The BSE Sensex faced its biggest one-day fall in the past seven years on that day.
However, the government-owned insurance major, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) stepped in to rescue the government's 10% stake sale in IOC by buying 86% of the shares.
Similarly, the PFC stake sale happened on the day when the Sensex fell by over 550 points.
The government raised about Rs 25,000 crore in 2014-15 through disinvestment as against the target of Rs 58,425 crore. It has failed to meet the disinvestment target for the past five consecutive financial years.


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By Former Staff / April 7th, 2017
D3 Publisher have released a new trailer for their upcoming PS4/PS Vita exclusive ecchi roguelike, Omega Labyrinth Z. The title is an expansion of 2015's Vita-exclusive Omega Labyrinth with this port adding new characters, gameplay features and more.
Omega Labyrinth Z releases in Japan on July 6th this year physically and digitally for both platforms. No Western release has been announced at the time of writing. You can watch the (NSFW at times) trailer below.
D3 PublisherecchiJapanomega labyrinth zportPS VitaPS4Roguelike
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Eugenia Zukerman, flute
With Helena Baillie, violin, and Anthony Newman, piano
Works by JS Bach and CPE Bach
Sunday, May 26, 2013 at 3pm ~ $75 per person
In a mountaintop home in Hillsdale, NY *
Trio sonata in b flat major (CPE Bach)
Duo for flute and violin (CPE Bach)
Duo for flute and piano (Bach)
Italian Concerto for piano (JS Bach)
Chaconne for violin (JS Bach)
C Major trio (JS Bach)
Seating is limited, so make your reservations now!
Please send check to:
Berkshire Bach Society
PO Box 1002, Great Barrington, MA 01230
To reserve by credit card contact us at:
firstname.lastname@example.com or 413 528-9277
* Directions provided upon receipt of payment.
The Berkshire Bach Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.


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As you may know, FPI has aligned itself with the Kairos USA movement, as articulated by those followers of Jesus who are responding to Kairos Palestine.
We have taken our inspiration from Mark Braverman, an American of Jewish heritage. There are others, but he has rallied ecumenical and evangelical Jesus-followers to respond to the cries of Palestinian Christians and Muslims for justice.
If you want to know what Kairos USA and Mark are about, you can go no better place than this interview by Ira Glunt and Philip Weiss (in Mondoweiss, June 5, 2013) through this link:
I might quibble with Mark about a few things in re my understanding of the person and work of Jesus and Paul (and the whole supercessionism matter), but I know him personally, and can vouch for the truth that he has been captured by a vision of Jesus as the one who best articulates the soul of the Prophetic tradition of Judaism, and a Torah pointing to love for God and neighbor. He has a new book coming out on the application of the South African model to I/P. Be sure to read his book, Fatal Embrace: Christians, Jews and the Search for Peace in the Holy Land. As most of you know, I archive these posts on my blog (link below).
Pray for us going to Isr/Pal June 15-29, to meet with Israelis and Palestinians "on the ground", to put hearts, heads, hands and feet to the vision of an inclusive community in a city and a state for three faiths and two peoples. JRK


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This story is worth passing on! Because it is happening all around the world. I can attest to this as it is flagrant in Thailand, just as it is at the origin of this Story. The majority if not all Thai Schools apply this method of grading. It is not what you learn, it is a matter of the amount of money you are willing to Pay to the Head-Masters, The School Administrators, and the School Board. Today, it's about Money and being profitable, not about the quality of Education that the students receive. The student is the real looser, because they get passed without earning the Grades to pass legitimately. The Government and the Board of Education is responsible for this situation. Because they write the laws, but do not pursue the law. They allow this corruption to exist, because that's the way it is done.
In the story that follows I have intentionally removed the names of the people and places involved; The Facts as reported!
The day after I submit grades for the first marking period of the year, I get a visit from the assistant principal. She walks into my classroom carrying a huge stack of forms.
"You're going to have to change all of the failing grades to passing," she says, slapping the papers on my desk.
The Independent School District, Grade Correction Form, the heading reads.
"What?" I ask.
"You're going to have to change the grades. Too many failed."
I had heard that kids were promoted without proper skills, but I hadn't expected to see the sham up close, and so soon. I hadn't expected to be ordered to participate in it. I had been a middle school English teacher for three weeks, the second half of the first grading period. The children had a string of substitutes for the first half. No viable grades or evaluations were left for me, probably because none could be taken with so many people floating in and out of the classroom.
Soon after I arrived on campus, I was instructed to give a test worth 15 percent of the grade and a project worth 20. I could not give a test after just two and a half weeks. It would take the students, seventh-graders, about six to settle down. I suggest some other means of evaluation, or even no evaluation. It was not the kids' fault that six people taught the class during those first six weeks. They could have figured a rabbit would show up next. No, I am told firmly, I will have to give the test and project.
I teach what I can. I write a test. It's pretty easy, and I prepare the kids for it for days. Three-quarters of them fail.
The project is something the department head creates, and the rest of us have to duplicate it. Write about someone who is important in your life and draw pictures, paste photographs, show and tell. I pare the assignment down to one paragraph, and one photo, if at all possible. I notice that there are packages of colored construction paper and markers in a cabinet, so I hand them out. I devote two days of class to the very important project. Of my 64 students, 14 turn in the assignment. I give the students three extra days to complete it, right up to the minute that grades are due in the computer. I get 14, that's it.
"Ms. Smith," I say, outraged. "I gave the required assignments, and they failed."
"It doesn't matter. When in doubt, just give them the 70. It's so much easier," she says, smiling. "Here are the forms. Get them to me by Friday."
I write an email to the principal, and Ms. Smith, stating that I will not put my name on a legal document that is fraudulent, let alone supportive of a policy that pretends students are successful when they are not. The students earned the grades, as did the ones who did not fail. I know to save the forms.
Later, I look up "when teachers are asked to change grades in zzzzz," and hit upon the zzzzz Education Agency Code, which clearly states that administrators may not request that a teacher alter grades when they have been given according to district standards.
The next day, I am ordered to attend a meeting in the principal's office. I bring a union representative with me. The principal tries to throw the union rep out of the office, but caves in when she suggests he call the NEA attorney, instead. It is possible that the two fine educators have plans to fire me right then, until the union person makes herself comfortable at the principal's oval table. They give me a "new assignment." They take away my 64 students, sending their schedules into disarray, without warning. The kids find me in my classroom, asking questions. They are confused, rebellious. They write statements of protest on the board. They send petitions to the administration. They had just begun to feel secure in the class.
The principals divvy up the students and add them to the other English classes, raising their rosters by nearly 12. I am assigned 25 ESL students with limited English. I am not an ESL teacher. The other teachers raid my room for desks, acting funny. I tell them to send anyone to my class, whenever they need to. I am ejected from the English department, prevented from attending meetings or receiving information and materials from the other teachers, and am no longer part of a seventh-grade team. I am de-teamed. A planning period is taken away. I am directed to sit with the band teacher at a faculty meeting. I wear the scarlet F, for Failer. I am energized.
I guess my supervisors at the middle school were used to intimidating teachers into doing things that are unconscionable. There is a very clear administration-teacher schism at this place, with aggressive tactics for keeping track of and punishing infractions — "Omissions of Opportunity," they are called. There are 800 of them. If they spot you doing something wrong, they put an "Omission of Opportunity" form in your mailbox and make you sign it. They didn't realize that stumbling on illegalities such as altering grades for purposes of inflating passing records, i.e. passing records that reap federal funds, is the kind of thing that gets me going. A chance to expose outright dishonesty and abuse, where children are sacrificed for the jobs of adults? Manna from heaven.
I file a grievance.
I collect 25 pieces of evidence, including incriminating emails, dated photographs of my desolate classroom (it was four days before the ESL kids arrived), and the actual grade-changing forms, which are accessible, by the way, only to administrators. I report to the appointed district office and am given 30 minutes to tell my story to the district's attorney, employee relations witness and Ms.Smith, who is required to sit quietly.
"Since when is it ever a good thing to increase class size?" I ask them.
"How would I have gotten these forms if a principal hadn't given them to me? I don't even have loose leaf paper in my classroom. Or a pencil sharpener."
The employee relations person shakes her head.
"How would I know that I had the most failures, 49, of any teacher in the school, if an administrator hadn't told me? Who loses here? Is it me, or is it the kids?"
It was an open and shut case, I knew, as a practicing non-attorney. Easy peasy.
Ms. Smith smacked gum like a kid in, well, the principal's office. She swiveled in the swivel chair. Guilty. Caught red-handed.
A month later, I receive the decision in the mail. The district has found that "the ZZZZZ Independent School District did not act in an arbitrary, capricious or unlawful matter… the claim is without merit." I can drop the case or pursue the next step. I pursue the next step, realizing that the steps could be as phony as the grades, and the denial of any grade-changing. A chain of lies. And the process looks so democratic. So, here I go, again. I'm sure that by the time I get the next set of findings, I'll be one of 4,000 teachers fired due to budget cuts. Or more likely, for something more exciting. Stay tuned.
Related Articles


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Over the past six or so months, many of you have followed along and even walked with us on a very painful and very personal journey. In the beginning of June, Trey and I chose to publicly share the news that our unborn daughter had screened positive for Down Syndrome earlier in my pregnancy. What began last March as an exciting and "normal" pregnancy rapidly turned into a high risk and unpredictable pregnancy as complications arose. I was eventually hospitalized for nine weeks in order to allow our daughter Alisa the greatest chance for growth, health, and a full-term stay in my womb.
The morning before my induction at 38 weeks, I sat for the last time alone in my hospital room on the antepartum floor. Later that day, our family would fly in to join us as we prepared to welcome Alisa into our arms. Trey would come that afternoon to stay with me for the rest of our time at the hospital. As I searched my heart and feelings, I found myself facing a question that had surfaced many times throughout my pregnancy:
What if God says no?
For anyone who has read or heard of our story, you know of our bold prayers to the Lord asking for healing and health over Alisa. We had an idea from sonograms of potential health problems she might have once born, including a hole in her heart and possible digestive issues. Since she hadn't received a prenatal diagnosis of Down Syndrome, but only screened positive, we also begged God that she might be born not just healthy, but without Down Syndrome at all. We loved Alisa no matter what, but as her parents, we longed for her to born with little or no health challenges as her young life began.
And so, that morning I wrestled with the question that tumbled endlessly in my spirit as I considered our many prayers over Alisa's life: What if God says no?
I found myself in Daniel 3, reading a story most could recite from memory. Three young men, followers of the One True God, found themselves as captives in a pagan culture. Their captors, the Babylonians, were ruled by King Nebuchadnezzar, a man so terrifying and powerful that he was worshiped as god by his people. This king, arrogant as he was, created a golden image of himself and set it before his people. No doubt this statue was beautiful, large, and intimidating. No doubt it loomed over the people of the land, domineering and horrifying. The king then issued a decree that whenever the music played, every person was to bow down in worship to this image, his image. To refuse to worship meant immediate death by being burned alive in a fiery furnace.
Most of us remember what happened next. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to worship anyone but the Lord their God, so they did not bow down to the king's image. When this news reached the the king, it took him to a place of "furious rage." He called for the three men to be brought before him, and he questioned them on their defiance. "Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up?" he challenged (Dan. 3:14). He decided to give them one more chance to bow to his image, instructing the music to be played as he watched to see what the men would choose. But before he did so, King Nebuchadnezzar gave this warning and challenge: "But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?" (Dan. 3:15).
Who is the god? Who could possibly deliver them from the retribution of the most powerful king of their time? Here they stood, three mere men in a life-and-death situation, and this king not only threatened their lives but challenged their faith, their God. I wonder what they felt at that moment. I wonder if their hearts wrestled with the fear that would naturally threaten a person in this situation. I wonder if they recited scripture silently in their hearts, taking captive those thoughts that are not of the Lord and reminding themselves of God's faithfulness. Did they consider bowing down to this altar to save their own lives?
I remember the day my doctor called to tell me Alisa would most likely have Down Syndrome. I felt so alone, so broken and scared, and I considered a similar challenge that arose in my heart: who is the God will deliver us from this? How could this have happened to us? Where is God right now?
As I read on that morning, the response of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego struck a cord in my heart. Whatever internal wrestling they might have faced, these three men spoke aloud the firm decision of faith determined in their hearts: "King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and He will deliver us from Your Majesty's hand" (Dan. 3:17).
The God we serve is able. He is able. To his challenge that no god could deliver them from his power, these men responded to Nebuchadnezzar with simple and resolute belief that they served the One God who was more powerful than even the most powerful king on earth. He is the One who was able to deliver them. Even as they spoke those words, I have no doubt that these men whispered desperate prayers to their God. Deliver us! Help us, O God! We need You! They found themselves in a place that was more than they could bear, and they turned in complete faith toward their God.
They did not stop there in their response to Nebuchadnezzar, though, for they knew that even though their God was able to deliver them and save their lives, He might also not deliver them. "The God we serve is able to deliver us" they said. Their belief in the power of God was resolute, yet they continued, "But even if He does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."
But even if He does not…
If God says no…
You see, the faith of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego was not dependent upon God doing what they asked. Their faith was not measured in size by their ability to believe God into acting as they wished. No, their faith was simply in God. He could do this thing we ask, and He could not do this thing we ask, but either way, we know that He is Sovereign, He is able, and He is the God we will serve.
The end of their story is one of power and redemption as God not only saved their lives but brought glory and honor to His Name in that pagan land (Dan. 3:19-30). For these men, God did not say no to their physical deliverance. He saved their lives that day in a most miraculous and wonderful way.
Two mornings after I read their story in Daniel 3, Alisa was born into this world. Alisa Jane, my joy, my gift from God, was pulled from womb at 3:47am on October 29. After the NICU team looked over her, the nurse brought her to my side. I saw her beautiful face, and I immediately knew: Alisa was born with Down Syndrome. God had said no.
Why do I write this post today? How could I share the "end" to our pregnancy story when some might say that my prayers were not heard or that my faith did not "work"? How could I write about this "no" to our desperate prayers, when some would challenge that my God had let me down?
Because He didn't. As I held Alisa that morning and studied every beautiful feature of her face, her body, I knew that God had indeed answered our prayers. While we had prayed in belief that God was able to take away any syndrome, and defects, any health problems, we also prayed that God would bring glory to His Name. We dared pray the scariest prayer, that His will would be done, and it has been. While He may not have answered every prayer in the way we asked, our faith is not dependent upon how God works or responds to our requests. Our faith is in Who God is.
I write this post today because I pray we all might examine our faith. The world tells us that our God is only relevant to us in what He can do for us, but this is not true. The world tells us that God will not give us more than we can bear, but that could not be further from reality. The world tells us that a loving God would never allow us to face terrible griefs and heartaches in life, but again, this is a lie of toxic faith. The truth is that our God is able, and He will sustain us in life no matter what we face. The truth is that while we live in this broken and fallen world, we will face troubles, but Christ promised us that He is our Overcomer (ie John 16:33). The truth is that God will hold us up in life no matter what we face, if only we would fall on Him.
For those who might wonder, we are absolutely in love with our precious Alisa. Life right now is…normal for our given stage. We have a healthy newborn who eats, sleeps, and fills her diapers throughout the day and night. We prayed for joy during pregnancy and in Alisa's life, and the Lord has provided us joy abundantly. While there will be specific challenges and obstacles we will face related to her Down Syndrome, those are yet to be determined. There will also be challenges and obstacles we will face unrelated to her Down Syndrome. But isn't that true of every child we parent?
Life has a way of throwing us curve balls, but as genuine followers of Christ, we are not shaken. He hears our prayers, and we can trust that He watches over us as our loving Father. I have learned, though, that genuine faith means leaving room for God to work in ways we do not want or expect. Genuine faith allows the Lord to act otherwise, even when our prayers are desperate, even when our faith is pure, so that when God says no, our faith remains in Him, for He is Sovereign, He is able, and He is the God we will serve.


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Robert France, DPT
Physical Therapist
Director of Rehabilitation at Brown County Hospital
Treatment Philosophy:
"I enjoy getting to know people on individual level in order to set specific goals and use a combination of exercises, manual skills, and modalities to best meet their needs. I strive to provide the highest standard of integrated therapy services focused on improving motion, decreasing pain, and restoring function. "
My wife, Devyn, and I recently had a baby daughter named Alora. She joins our family already including two dogs and a cat. We enjoy traveling together and spending time with our families. When I am not at work, I love to spend time outdoors golfing, hiking, fishing, and biking.


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South Asia
Dr. Lotay Tshering Premiership: A new beginning for India – Bhutan foreign relations
Authors: Srimal Fernando and Siksha Singh*
Bhutan is the only democratic constitutional monarchy in South Asian region holding tremendous Geopolitical importance for Asian giants, India and China. Recently the Himalayan nation held its third Parliamentary election. In Previous elections like of 2008, Jigme Thinley of Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT) party won and in 2013 Tshering Togbay's People's Democratic Party (PDP) formed the government. The 2018 election results unseated Prime Minister Tshering Togbay and installed Dr. Lotay Tshering of Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa (DNT) by winning 30 seats in the National assembly out of the 47-seat elected lower house of Bhutan's Partliament.
The National council of Bhutan on the other hand has 20 seats out of which 5 seats are nominated by the King. High youth unemployment, debt to the tune of 108.6% (World Bank), 114,000 postal votes and an extensive social media campaign were cited as the reasons for this anti-incumbency wave. Nevertheless the economic indicators were promising as the country's GDP grew at a robust rate of 8% in 2017 (World Bank).The sector which contributed to this growth story include Bhutanese Hydro power in which India is a major trading partner. Bhutan also has a distinguished honor of being the world's happiest nation according to Gross Happiness Index (GHI), the term 'gross national happiness' was first coined by the Fourth King Jigme Singye Wangchuck in the year 1972.
Dr. Lotay's party won a historic mandate on the grounds that it would ameliorate the inequality by focusing on regions outside the State Capital Thimphu. To implement these new vision plans, a ten member cabinet was administered the oath by the current Prime Minister.
Bhutan's bilateral relations with its neighboring countries like India have also faced some difficult times during this tenure. One of the key concerns that are challenging the bilateral relations between the two nations are Bhutan's is hydro-electricity sector which the DNT party was campaigning during the 2018 elections. However, under the new Bhutanese government, both countries can work closely in resolving the hydroelectric projects as it contributes a substantial proportion to government's revenues. A couple of months back, Bhutan also drew international media's attention concerning Doklam, a disputed territory between China and Bhutan, which also holds strategic significance for both India and China due to its proximity to India's borders. Bhutan got embroiled into this diplomatic crisis and subsequently the issue got resolved through diplomatic channels. India's neighborhood first foreign policy is the key to keeping this bilateral engagement on the right track.
The foreign policy of India should look beyond the existing neighborhood foreign policy paradigm. Firstly it should look into the geographic locality of Bhutan to be a buffer country. Secondly the economic and hydroelectricity deals should be in favor of both Bhutan's current government and people's aspirations. Thirdly the bilateral trade volume has to be doubled in the coming years and the foremost priority for policy makers should be to solidify this relation with further economic engagements like the hydro-power projects which will benefit both nations especially Bhutan.
*Siksha Singh, scholar of Masters in Diplomacy, Law, International Business at Jindal School of International Affairs, India
South Asia
NOTA: A Step Forward Or Just A Toothless Tiger?
Authors: Nakul Chadha and Abhay Raj Mishra*
" I went to vote once, but I got too scared. I couldn't decide whom to vote for."[1]–Andy Warhol
The above-mentioned statement by an American artist to a certain extent defines the situation of almost every voter while casting his vote in a democracy. Every voter gets stuck in the dilemma that to whom he should vote so that it can be in a best interest for him as well as for the nation. Democracy is something which provides the citizens to participate and help in the formation of a good governance with their choice of change. It is essential that best of the men should be chosen for the survival of a democracy in a country.[2] Thus sometimes there comes a situation when voter has no confidence in the candidates that are standing in the fray, so he does not want to cast his vote to any of them.
Before NOTA, if a person wanted to abstain from voting to show his rage against the candidates, he has to go through a process that annihilated his secrecy. Hence, it pushed a need for a provision that allowed secrecy of every voter intacted even if he does not want to vote to any of the candidtes standing in the fray.
Hence, NOTA was introduced in the year 2013 keeping above points in mind by the Supreme Court through People's Union for Civil Liberties v. Union of India[3] judgement. Although, It does not provide the Right to Reject and thus candidate who has got the maximum vote eventually wins the election irrespective of the number of NOTA votes. Still, India became the 14th country to introduce a concept of negative voting.
The authors have critically analyzed the situation for which NOTA was required. The purpose of this article is to evaluate whether this reform in election process i.e. introduction of NOTA has contributed to strengthen the democracy or not. The authors have criticallly analysed the judgement of the Supreme Court in the case of PUCL v. UOI, 2013 and it also takes into consideration the belief and opinion of ECI about NOTA. It reviews the role of NOTA in the election process.
The authors have taken into account the issues like flaws and loopholes that are present in the provision and thus analyzing it and suggesting some of the measures that can be taken to make it more helpful in conduction of free and fare election and thus strengthening the backbone of democracy.
Background – Need For The NOTA
India stands as a paragon in front of many arising democratic countries and is also designated as one of the spirited democracy across the globe. One of the principle virtues of a democratic state is its free and fare elections. It is the fundamental principle for every democratic state to have Right to Vote as a constitutional right for the citizens and conduction of election in free and fair form. Although we are proud of our democratic system but there are many area that has to be strenghtened or renewed and in such a large country it cannot be done in one go but through a gradual development until we realize the true potential of a well-operative democracy.[4]
The main objective of NOTA was to increase the number of voters in the election and for maintaining the secrecy of a voter in an election. As secrecy of voting is one of the pivotal factor that keeps up the purity of a election. Introduction of Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) and implementation of rule 49-0 of The Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 raised the foremost concern for the Election Commission of India (ECI) as it made impossible to protect the privacy of voters who wanted to abstain from voting.
In order to fix the critical flaw regarding the secrecy of voters with respect to Right to Reject,
the Election Commission on 10.12.2001, addressed a letter to the Secretary, Ministry of Law and Justice. The letter declared subsequent opinions that the electoral right present under Section 79(d) also includes a right not to cast vote. It also suggested to provide a panel in the EVMs so that an elector may indicate that he does not wish to vote for any of the aforementioned candidate and at last gave the viewpoint that Such number of votes expressing dissatisfaction with all the candidates may be recorded in a result sheet. Although no actions were taken by the ministry in this regard.[5]
The fate of the Right to Privacy while voting was finally decided in the case of Peoples's Union For Civil Liberties v. Union of India. In the afore-mentioned case, the Apex court stuck down Rules 41(2) and (3) and 49-O of the Election Rules as being ultra vires section 128 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and Article 19(1)(a) and Article 21 of the Constitution to the extent they violated the secrecy of voting.[6]
Rule 49-O – Elector deciding not to vote – "If an elector, after his electoral roll number has been duly entered in the register of voters in Form 17A and has put his signature or thumb impression thereon as required under sub-rule (1) of rule 49L, decides not to record his vote, a remark to this effect shall be made against the said entry in Form 17A by the presiding officer and the signature or thumb impression of the elector shall be obtained against such remark."[7]
Citing section 128 and section 79(d) of RPA, court duly quoted that 'secrecy of casting vote is duly recognised and is necessary for strengthening democracy' to maintain the purity of elections.
Section 79(d) defines electoral right of a person to vote or refrain from voting at an election whereas section 128 of the Act obliges any person performing any duty in connection with the recording or counting of votes at an election to maintain secrecy and penalizing in failure.
If the international provisions would be taken in consideration then Article 21(3) of Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and Article 25(B) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) provides for secret vote for ballot for guaranteeing the unbound expresssion of the will of the electors.
Court said that no distinction can be drawn between the voter for the right of secrecy, regardless of the fact voter decides to cast vote or or to not cast vote in the fray.[8]
With this it was fully ensured that voter's may or may not cast vote with maintenance of their secrecy and purity but without the fear of being victimized if his vote is disclosed.
NOTA – As A Provision
NOTA is basically an option which gives voters a right to reject all the candidates. It is present at the bottom of the Electronic voting machines (EVMs) after all the contesting candidates and the voter can cast his NOTA vote by pressing it. Provided that democracy is all about choices and furthermore it is a essence of democracy, NOTA made it easier for voters to have a choice without being victimized.
Earlier, if the voter wants to cast a negative vote then he had to inform the presiding officer which surely was infringment of the Right to secrecy of the voter thus making him stand in a position of being victimized but this does not requires any involvement with any officer on duty and one has to give no information even if he do not want to vote to any of the candidate contesting in the fray.
'NOTA' or None of the above came into existence in September, 2013 when the Supreme Court, in the case of PUCL v. Union Of India upheld the right of the voter to reject all candidates contesting elections saying it would help in cleansing the political system of India as it would lead to political parties contesting clean participants in election. So, Supreme Court in its judgement said "We direct the Election Commission to provide necessary provision in the ballot papers/EVMs and another button called 'None of the Above' (NOTA) may be provided in EVMs so that the voters, who come to the polling booth and decide not to vote for any of the candidates in the fray, are able to exercise their right not to vote while maintaining their right of secrecy"[9]
The NOTA option was first introduced in 2013 assembly election in four states Chhattisgarh , Mizoram , Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and one Union Territory, i.e., Delhi.
Positive Aspects Of NOTA
Addition of NOTA option on EVMs has helped in several ways in the election process such as by giving voters their freedom of expression, preserving their Right to Secrecy and with all this making a systematic change in elections.
NOTA as a tool for protest:
NOTA preserves freedom of Expression by allowing voters to express dissent or their right to reject all the contesting candidates. This would lead to potentially improve the voter turnout by providing an option to disapprove all the candidates, by this it can encourage more participation in the democratic process i.e. Elections. It also prevents bogus voting as a result of higher voter turnout.
Someone would go for NOTA option only if the ruling party has not done enough work in their previous election term and the opposition party is very weak. For e.g. we can take Gujarat legislative assembly election 2017, there seemed to be an incumbency on the part of Bharata Janata Party(BJP) rule in the state due to several factors and people wanted to change the ruling party but the opposition was Indian National Congress (INC) which has lost its significance in Gujratover the years due to Modi government .
So, it would have been a different scenario if voters chose NOTA option, there was a possibility that BJP would not have won the election in the first place or won it with a very little margin, helping them realise that the party has not done enough and thus encouraging them to work hard for the next election.
NOTA as a tool to protect secrecy:
NOTA also preserves voters Right to secrecy because before NOTA if a voter wants to reject all the candidates i.e. give a blank vote then according to rule 49-O of Conduct of Election Laws, 1961, voter had to sign a form with their name on it which would lead to violation of their right to secrecy and the blank voters could be traced and punished for their choice but with this there was no disclosure of any names to anyone helping voter to have his secrecy.
NOTA as a tool for change in politics :
After, NOTA there is a possibility that most of the candidates selected are honest because after NOTA the contestants representing the parties are also with good and clear public image as the political parties have fear that voters can give votes to the NOTA option.
By utilizing this power, electorates can send a clear signal to the political parties that some people are not happy regarding the candidates that are contesting in the election and thus creating extreme pressure on the parties to only field those candidates who are more acceptable to the electorates. This empowerment of the voters may also result to more systematic change in the election process.[10]
Negative Aspects:
Although NOTA to a certain extent has fulfilled its major cause, that is, to protect the voters of the country from being victimized by safeguarding their Right to secrecy but no rule or provision comes without flaws.
- No significant increase in participation:
NOTA seems to fail in increasing the participation of voters in the elections, which signifies the strength of democracy as the court implied that turning up to booths and voting on NOTA is far better that not voting at all.
- Not equal to Right to Reject:
The observation behind it was to give the voters a feeling of empowerment. But the meaning of the order has not been taken correctly. It in no way provides a Right to Reject. The Supreme Court just assserted that as people have right to show the liking for a candidate to be elected, in the same way they should have a choice for the Negative voting.
Yet, as former CEC, S.Y. Qureshi, points out by giving a example that even if 99 votes out of 100 total votes goes to NOTA still the candidate who has got that 1 vote will be treated as a winner, as he has got the highest number of valid votes. The rest of votes given to the NOTA are considered to be invalid or as no vote.[11]
- Only a moral obligation to parties:
It only bounds the political parties to nominate a better and more ethical and moral valued candidate as larger number of votes going to NOTA shows a kind of disafffection towards the candidates that are present in the fray. But in general, it only puts a moral pressure on the parties rather forcing them by rules and regulations which in some ways is a bit more optimistic and thus political parties refuse to stop the candidates from contesting in the election making NOTA a tool of participation for voters and nothing more than that.
S.Y. Qureshi along with Mr. Rajeev Dhawan and Subhash Kashyap, Former Secretery General of Lok Sabha also believed that Supreme Court is in some way too optimistic in thinking that NOTA will by-product in a cleaner politics. While K.K. Venugopal and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) forced to elongate it a Right To reject.[12]
NOTA by far can be said said as toothless tiger as it does not result in re-election or disqualification of the candidates that once have got less vote than NOTA itself and thus, in no way it influences the result of elections. It is not a direct substitute to a bad governance but only is a motivation to change and improvement. Candidates also began to campaign against NOTA and said it be a wastage of vote and thus influencing the voters against it who may not have a full knowledge about the provisions.[13]
Conclusion And Suggestions:
With this, a conlusion can be drawn that a country like India having vibrant democracy, adding NOTA button in the EVM will certainly increase the political participation but only if, it is provided with more power and is implemented in better way. In order to further strengthen the NOTA, there are several suggestions.
There should be addition of rules that votes casted to NOTA should also be counted and if in an election where NOTA has got the most number of votes, none of the contestants should be elected and all the candidate contesting in that particular election would be barred from contesting again as they have already been opposed by voters.
Other than that, political parties should also think about the fact that they should only field such contestants in the election who have a certain qualification, experience in public service rather that by seeing his ability to spend money or to which caste or religion he belongs.
Also door to door campaigning should be stopped as it can help in manipulation of voters and mal-practice and corruption. Above all there is dire need of awareness programs to make voters more cognizant of the concepts of NOTA as one can only take a decision about certain things when he is fully aware of its repercussions and keeping in mind the fact voters are backbone of a democracy in a country.
*Raj Mishra, Maharashtra National Law University, Nagpur
[1] Edward D. Powers, "Third-Party Politics: Andy Warhole's 'Vote McGovern', 1972, Zeitschrift Für Kunstgeschichte, vol.75, no. 3, pp. 391–416, 2012< www.jstor.org/stable/41642670 >Accessed May 3, 2020
[2] Ms. Mamta D. Awariwar, 'Supreme Court Guidelines on Right to Reject and its Implication : A Study', University Grants Commission, Pune, July 2017
Accessed May 3, 2020
[4] Sanjeev Kumar Chaswal 'A Paradox of Right to Recall and Reject- A boon or a bane' The Institute of Constitutional and Parliamentary Studies
<https://www.academia.edu/8249541/_A_Paradox_of_Right_to_Recall_and_Reject_-_A_boon_or_bane_> Accessed April 29, 2020
[5] Report No. 255 , Electoral Reforms, 'Nota and the Right To Reject', ch.1, pp.190, March 2015,
Accessed April 29, 2020
[6] People's Union for Civil Liberties v. Union of India, AIR 2003, SC 2363
[7] The Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961, Rule 49-O
[8] Pooja pandey, ' The NOTA Judgement in India: A Bigger Narrative'
Accessed April 30, 2020
[9] PUCL v. Union Of India, 2003, SC 2363
[10] Arindam Mandal, Biswajit Mandal, Prasoon Bhatthacharjee, 'Does NOTA Affect Voter Turnout? Evidence From State Legislative Elections in India', Asian Journal of Economic Modelling, Vol. 5, No. 3, August 17, 2017<https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318008834_Does_Nota_Affect_Voter_Turnout_Evidence_from_State_Legislative_Elections_in_India>
Accessed April 30, 2020
[11] S.Y. Qureshi, Pressure of a Button, The Indian Express, October 3, 2013
Accessed May 3, 2020
[12] Katju Manjari, 'The None of the Above Option', Economic and Political Weekly, vol. 48, no. 42, October 19, 2013 <https://www.epw.in/journal/2013/42/commentary/none-above-option.html>
Accessed May 3, 2020
[13] Dr. Vijaya Laxshmi Mohanty, Ms. Ramneet Kaur, NOTA- A Powerful Opponent or a Toothless Tiger?- In Perspective of General Election 2014, Institute of Public Policy Studies and Research, Odisha, December 14 2014<https://www.academia.edu/9787108/NOTA-A_powerful_opponent_or_a_toothless_tiger_-in_perspective_of_General_elections_2014>
Accessed April 30 2020
South Asia
Populism: Effects on Global Politics and Pakistan
Populism is a concept in political science that postulates that the society is divided into two groups that are at odds with each other. According to Cas Mudde who is the author of Populism: A Very Short Introduction, these two groups consist of: 'the pure people' and 'the corrupt elite'. The term 'populism' is often used as a kind of a political insult. For instance, Jeremy Corbyn, Leader of the Labour Party in Britain has often been accused of invoking populism over his party slogan 'for the many not the few', but it's not actually the same thing. According to Benjamin Moffitt, author of The Global Rise of Populism, the word "is generally misused, especially in a European context." A populist leader in the true sense of the word claims to represent the uniform will of the people, stands in opposition to the enemy – that is often embodied by the current system which is aimed at either 'draining the swamp' or 'tackling the liberal elite'. Dr. Moffitt continues, "It generally attaches itself to the right in a European context… but that's not an iron rule."
In the contemporary world, Populism is everywhere in the political spectrum: there are politicians like Marine Le Pen in France, Donald Trump in the US, Viktor Orbán in Hungary, and Narendra Modi in India. Political scientists believe that populism is not a new phenomenon but in the past decade it has certainly accelerated, and has taken many forms in the 2010s – which were often overlapping. In some countries a socioeconomic version was observed, where the working class pitted against big businesses and cosmopolitan elites who were believed to be benefitting from the capitalist system, such as, in countries like France and the US. While others saw an overwhelming focus on the cultural form thrive with emphasis on issues like immigration, national identity and race, for instance, in countries like Germany and India. However, the most common type of populism was the anti-establishment populism that pits the common masses against the political elites and the mainstream political parties represented by them. These forms of populism are likely to also continue into the next decade, although the main focus may probably shift from immigration to climate change.
Associate professor of comparative politics at the University of Reading in England, Daphne Halikiopoulou opines, "If the 2010s were the years in which predominantly far-right, populist parties permeated the political mainstream, then the 2020s will be when voters are going to see the consequences of that." Although in some ways the results are already beginning to manifest in some states, a case in point being the 2016 vote in Britain to exit the European Union – Brexit – and the consequent political fallout that led to the resounding victory of the populist Prime Minister, Boris Johnson in the general election. Moreover, in other countries also the populist parties are beginning to make their impact in various ways – if not through directly passing legislation then by exerting pressure in the opposition.
In the near future i.e. the 2020s, many populist political figures are expected to rise to power and prominence. For example, Italy's Matteo Salvini, who is the leader of the far-right and nativist League party has sworn to return to government as the prime minister, and if successful he is likely to forge alliances with his fellow populist leaders, inter alia, Boris Johnson and Donald Trump. Such alliances could herald a reinvigorated wave of populism in the world. On the other side of the globe, Narendra Modi, the Indian Prime Minister, has also signaled to continue his quest of deepening his Hindu-nationalist agenda. It is in this context that his government enacted a controversial Citizenship Amendment Act – which grants citizenship to refugees belonging to every major South Asian religion except Muslims – leading to weeks of protests and unrest across the country, in addition to continuing his policy of political repression and harsh lockdown in Kashmir.
Pakistan is, of course, not immune to the global move towards populism. Imran Khan is viewed by many political science experts as a populist prime minister. Ever since coming to power he has pursued divisive politics by sometimes silencing and at other times discrediting dissenters. The arrest and imprisonment – often on groundless allegations – of many opposition leaders can be viewed in this context. Moreover, on more than one occasion certain quarters of the media have been targeted and demonized in a bid to kill the messenger if you can't kill criticism. These policies of the incumbent government led by Prime Minister, Imran Khan, to stifle opposition negate principles of pluralism and democratic tolerance. Pakistan is indeed on a slippery slope vis-à-vis the rise of populism in politics.
Populism is likely to persist as a fixture of politics for the foreseeable future. How countries choose to respond to it may become the defining feature of the remaining part of the twenty-first century. Propagation of values of democracy such as international cooperation, religious tolerance, pluralism and diversity seem to offer the only ray of hope in this, otherwise, dark tunnel of populism.
South Asia
India may attack Pakistan under false flag operations
Prime Minister Imran Khan once again stressed that India is gearing up for false flag operation to divert the entire world's attention from the genocide it is committing in its part of Jammu & Kashmir.
India is accustomed to attacking Pakistan on lame excuses to divert world attention to its crimes. Last year, in February, using the self-designed Pulwama incident, committed surgical strikes deep into Pakistan. Just after the hours of Pulwama incident, without conducting any inquiry or collecting evidence, the Indian Prime Minister blamed Pakistan and threatened with surgical strikes. Pulwama was pre-planned and used as a lame excuse only. A similar trick can be repeated by India again.
In fact, India is facing a massive economic crisis, internal insurgencies, mass-protests, ethnic divides, and religious discrimination. Poor agriculture declined Industrial output, and lack of economic activities, the country is facing enormous challenges.
Due to its poor records of Human rights and religious discrimination, the world reaction is intensified. Human rights watch's reports, or the US commission on religious freedom's story, or EU reports, all are condemning India. Islamophobia has distanced India from the Muslim world too. India is facing isolation internationally.
Having disputes with all its neighbors, India is under immense pressure. Indian territorial disputes with Nepal had taken a new turn, when Nepal issued a new Map, showing its whole territory, parts of Indian Occupied territories too. Amended Citizenship Act may impact two million Muslims and may face deportation to Bangladesh, and water disputes make two countries (India-Bangladesh) enemies. With Mayanmar, territorial disputes and refugee issues also made odd-relations between them. By supporting Tamil insurgents, India spoiled its relations with Sri Lanka. Over-interference in domestic politics, its ties with the Maldives soared. The Illegal occupation of Jammu & Kashmir, Gurdaspur, Juna Ghar, is the real cause of tension between India and Pakistan. Denial of right of Self-Determination of Kashmiri people for seven decades and non-implementation of UN resolutions passed in 1948 on Kashmir are genuine concerns for Pakistan. Frequent violation of line of control and cross-border terrorism is a matter of serious attention. Indian occupation of Chinese territory and border clashes are getting severe recently. India hosts the Dalai Lama's exiled government of Tibet, and openly opposing BRI is causing discomfort between two countries. The over-tilt toward the US and Indian attempts to compete and contain China may be a genuine issue of concern for Beijing.
The recent tension with Nepal and China may become a catalyst, and India makes another false flag operation against Pakistan. India is using spy-drones against Pakistan, one of such was shot down by Pakistan 650 meters inside Pakistani territory.
Indian frequent violations of Line of Control (LoC) and cross border terrorism, are the tools to incite Pakistan and force to a full-fledged war.
Pakistan is in the hands of visionary leadership, and the people of Pakistan are peace-loving in nature. Pakistan has been observing restrains and patience because we know the consequences of war, especially when both India and Pakistan are nuclear states and posses enough piles of weapons to eradicate each other. If India is crazy, we are not.
It is an appeal to the international community to intervene and force India to cool down its war-craze. UN and P5 may notice an aggressive Indian attitude toward all its neighbors, especially with Pakistan. Timely intervention may avert a big disaster.
However, our love for peace may not be mistaken as a weakness. If war imposed, Pakistan is in a position to surprise India. We did surprise India last year on 27 February and can surprise in a much stronger way if a situation arose in the future.
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Nitesh ITC Garden Enclave
Location: Yelahanka, Bangalore
Disclaimer: The imagery used in the page is indicative of style only. The photographs of the interior, surrounding views & location may have been digitally enhanced or altered & do not represent actual views or surrounding views. The furniture and fittings shown in the picture are only indicative in nature and NOT a part of the offered sale of the unit.
Nitesh ITC Garden Enclave
Location: Yelahanka, Bangalore
This award winning development by Nitesh Estates, makes Nitesh Garden Enclave – ITC Homes a perfect getaway from the busy urban life, giving it a top quality resort feel and yet being in the centre of it all – that is Nitesh Garden Enclave.
Additional Information
This Rs.100 crores state-of-the-art world-class Premium Condominium is located away from the hustle-bustle of the city, amidst tranquil green surroundings. It comes bundled with the very latest amenities encompassing a well-equipped Clubhouse, Jacuzzi, Swimming Pool, Squash Court, Tennis Court and Play Area.


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Updated: 09-Jun-2014
At the Going Linux Podcast, we often receive emails asking the question, "What is the best Linux distribution for users switching to Linux?" We believe, as of the writing of this article, that Linux Mint is the easiest to use and the best Linux distribution to recommend to newbies.
eWeek (Jun, 3, 2014): "Linux Mint 17 With Cinnamon Desktop Keeps Focus on Ease of Use" Sean M. Kerner
Mint 17 was released in late May, 2014 as a LTS (Long Term Support) release. LTS means that it is supported with security patches and updates until 2019. With Linux, these include both operating system updates and updates for installed applications. LTS also means that in-place upgrades from Mint 17 to the next release will be very easy to accomplish until then. In the world of desktop operating systems, Ubuntu Linux is currently better known than Linux Mint, probably due the availability of Canonical's resources to produce better marketing. Linux Mint, on the other hand, has been described as "Ubuntu done right" because it pre-installs what most switchers and cross-platform users will want. That makes Linux Mint "just work" right out of the box for most people. Even so, it's the "for most people" that can cause problems. There are some things you should do right after installing Mint 17 to maximize your satisfaction with Mint. Some of these suggestions may save you some time looking them up elsewhere.
Do the 10 things listed below BEFORE you invest the time...
We'll use Linux Mint 17 Cinnamon edition for our examples. Most of this applies, sometimes with slight modifications, for most Linux distributions.
Before you do anything else, look in the panel for the icon that indicates that updates are available. Click the icon and install the updates. In the unlikely event that you are asked to reboot, do it before you go any further.
Mint does a fabulous job of detecting devices and using the right drivers. Linux drivers are generally in the Kernel and don't have to be installed separately. On rare occasions, things don't go according to plan and need a little adjusting.
Choose "System Settings" from the main menu and click "Device Drivers."
If the open source driver doesn't work as you think it should, and there is a proprietary driver available, then choose the proprietary driver and apply the changes.
The latest version of Ubuntu and derivatives (like Mint) may have an issue with Broadcom cards not being recognized correctly and the appropriate drivers not being installed. This forum post details a fix for getting a stubborn Broadcom card working: http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=169434&p=870973&hilit=broadcom#p870973)
You'll find selections for each of these under "System Settings". Which ones you like are all up to you. Try them. You can easily inactivate them if you don't like them.
Choose "System Settings" from the main menu and click the "Mouse and Touchpad" icon.
Make changes so that the mouse and touchpad work they way you want.
The update manager in Mint 17 has seen some improvements. It provides more control.
Levels tab: Clearly identifies what's risky and what's safe.
Ignored packages tab: If you have installed an older version of an app, this is where you tell Mint never to look for, or install updates. (E.g. You may need to use an older version of Skype.)
Some new features have been added to the Nemo file manager. For example, you can now select a size threshold for showing previews of various kinds of files. For people, like podcasters, who (pre)view video and audio files in the file manager, the new default settings are too low. Open the file manager and select "Preferences" from the "Edit" menu. Choose the "Preview" tab.
If you want to see the preview icon for files larger than the default, there are plenty of settings to choose from.
Remember the hidden folders. That's where all the settings are stored for your installed applications. Doing this before you install additional applications will save you some time.
In episode 245 we detail how to use dpkg to backup and restore installed apps: http://goinglinux.com/shownotes.html#glp245
If you have an SSD drive, use our tips for optimizing Linux for use with your SSD. See our article, "Optimize for SSD" for details.
Finally, install your favorite theme and make all your other personalization tweaks. Here I my theme-related tweaks:
Theme music for the Going Linux podcast is generously provided by Mark Blasco. https://www.podcastthemes.com
Going Linux Podcast by Larry Bushey is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.


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It's summer. It's Australia. It's hot. After a big wardrobe cull last year and spending the better part of the year either pregnant or post partum, my wardrobe has been depleted, so I dragged the kids to the shops and began searching for a few cotton shirts to replenish what had been stretched out, puked on or torn.
I know that with a baby in the house, there's no point in buying anything nice. Kmart, Target, Big W…. that was my scope at first. I mean, you can almost always find your basic cotton shirts there, right? And, with three kids in tow, I wanted to do a quick in and out, but I soon realised that I wasn't going to easily find what I was looking for. Everything I found was either made from polyester, polyester/cotton blend or viscose. Hmmm… no thanks. I mean, in summer?! Read the rest of this entry


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Lady GaGa - Paparazzi: Stuart Price & Yuksek Remixes
Last week Perez Hilton premiered GaGa's crazy new video for "Paparazzi," and two remixes by Stuart Price (aka Jacques lu Cont, Killers & Madonna producer) and Yuksek.
Stuart Price gives us a sound reminiscent of Madonna's classic "Confessions on a Dance Floor." This sound really work well with Lady GaGa. She might want to recruit Stuart Price for what better be the follow-up for the century, he will definitely find a way to keep it interesting. Yuksek's remix is a bit more up my alley when it comes to remixes — lots of vamp, lots of cuts, and a penetrating, rolling drum that allows me to really sink my teeth into it. To be honest, if you ever wondered what a Lady GaGa and Justice collaboration would sound like, I would suspect it would sound a lot like Yuksek's remix. Bravo!
Catch both remixes after the jump.


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Join Nigel French for an in-depth discussion in this video Captions, part of InDesign: Elements of a Layout.
- [Voiceover] Captions accompany artwork and give it context.…In some publications, they can also…provide a summary of the body text.…Captions are smaller than the body text.…They are set with ragged alignment and without hyphenation.…Captions are another opportunity…for repetition and contrast.…Repetition of the headline type-face family…and contrast to the body text.…Typically, they're positioned below the image,…but they can be positioned anywhere proximate to the image.…
Even over the image, just so long…as the visual connection is clear and the text is readable.…Though I haven't yet placed my pictures,…I'll create a style for the captions.…So I actually have the caption text on the paste board.…I come to the right paste board…and drag this text frame into position.…And then zoom in on it.…Double-click to insert my type cursor into there.…Command + a to select all of the text.…I'm going to start by applying the sidebar, no-indent style.…
This is the most similar style.…But then I'll come to my character formats…
Graphic designer Nigel French shows how to create a magazine layout using a modular approach that improves the ongoing usability of the document template and the appearance of the resulting designs. In this course, Nigel uses a magazine layout to explain the purpose of each layout element and to demonstrate the use of InDesign features. He explores text elements, picture elements, and page elements. He demonstrates how to set up a document and how to format logically with Styles, Layers, and CC Libraries.
- Setting up a template
- Using Paragraph Styles, Character Styles, and Object Styles
- Working with picture treatments
- Establishing hierarchy
- Incorporating white space into a layout
- Using CC Libraries


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Rights areas:
On 13-14 February FRA took part in the fourth National Roma Contact Points' meeting, organised by the European Commission.
The meeting was attended by all EU National Roma Focal Points and discussed the implementation of the Council of the EU's recommendation on effective Roma integration measures in Member States; the Commission's priorities for 2014, including the Roma Summit; EU funding for local and regional authorities; and cooperation with the Council of Europe's Committee of Experts on Roma Issues (CAHROM). FRA's presentation focused on awareness raising and good practices for fighting Roma discrimination. On the second day, Equinet and national Equality Body representatives joined the meeting to discuss cooperation between National Roma Contact Points and Equality Bodies, as well as the role of Equality Bodies in developing and implementing Roma integration policies.


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N.M.L. No More Landmine – Zero Landmine (2001)
Zero Landmine is an EP recording created to promote awareness of the problem of landmines and to promote a ban on landmines. Ryuichi Sakamoto led a collection of musicians to form a group called NML (No More Landmines), and they released the single Zero Landmine on April 25, 2001.
Please note although the CD is in mint condition and un-opened, this is not a new release but backstock.
01. Zero Landmine
02. Zero Landmine (Piano + Vocal Version)
03. Zero Landmine (Piano + Cello Version)
04. Zero Landmine (Short Version)
05. Zero Landmine (Piano Version)
06. Zero Landmine (The Track)
Japanese Artists
Taeko Ohnuki
Kazutoshi Sakurai (Mr. Children)
Miwa Yoshida (Dreams Come True)
Masato Nakamura (Dreams Come True)
Takahiro Nishikawa (ex-Dreams Come True)
Motoharu Sano
Hideki Matsutake
Teru (Glay)
Takuro (Glay, guitar)
Ryuichi Sakamoto (keyboards, piano)
Haruomi Hosono (bass)
Yukihiro Takahashi (drums)
Sugizo (guitar)
DJ Krush (Scratch DJ)
Foreign artists
Brian Eno
Cyndi Lauper
David Sylvian
Dok-su Kim
Steve Jansen (drums)
Kraftwerk ( "Zero Landmine" sound logo)
Waldemar Bastos
Jaques Morelenbaum


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This is one plate that I would want my kids to draw on! Check out this great giveaway and see how you could win!
Make A Plate Giveaway
Hosted by Pea of Sweetness
Sponsored by MAKit
With MakIt's Make A Plate kit, you can create any unique design that they'll bond to a plate. It's sturdy enough to use everyday, and precious enough to cherish forever! These would make great gifts for grandparents and other family members!!
The Make A Plate kit is:
- Made of break-resistant, durable melamine
- Measures 10 inches in diameter
- Nontoxic (BPA-free) and dishwasher safe *Do Not Microwave*
- Comes with 25 blank templates
MakIt is offering a special promotion so you can order a Make A Plate Kit for only $12.99 - $5 off the original price! (ends 6/31)
Visit Pea of Sweetness to read the full Make A Plate review.
About the Giveaway:
This giveaway begins on 6/7 at 8pm EST and ends on 6/22 at 12:00am EST and is open to US residents ages 18+.
Please refer to the full terms and conditions in the Giveaway Tools
The Prize: One lucky winner will receive a prepaid Make A Plate Kit!
Disclosure: Void where prohibited by law - I received no compensation for this publication. My opinions are my own and may be different than yours. My Kind Of Introduction is not responsible for prize fulfillment. The odds of winning are based on the number of entries received.
** This promotion is no way sponsored, endorsed/administered by, or associated with, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Etsy or Instagram**


text: Yes leads can be on multiple lists! Depending on the conditions you set for your smart lists and how you segment your static lists, it's possible to have the same lead on many different lists. It's important to know that while leads can be on different lists, they will still only take up the space of one lead in your overall lead count.


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MHA Motor Dealer Report 2017
We are delighted to share with you the second Annual MHA Motor Dealer Report which has been put together by Steve Freeman, Partner and head of our National Motor team, including Steve's colleagues at MHA, our UK-wide association of accountancy and business advisory firms.
The report looks at the current outlook of the sector, the future outlook of the sector, including online retail, Alternative Fuel Vehicles and Autonomous Vehicles and an M&A outlook.
As specialist advisors in the industry we wanted to provide you with a useful report to give a better understanding of the challenges dealerships face and the opportunities for the year ahead.
The report also features expert commentary from Sue Robinson at the National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA), Trevor Reeve the Chairman and owner of Pentagon Motor Holdings and provides a manufacturers perspective from Paul Flanagan, who until recently led Renault's UK operations. Steve would like to thank all involved in creating this insightful report.
For any further information on the report or if you would like to know more about the services Steve's National MHA Motor Team are able to provide, please send us an enquiry.