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By: Zvi Bar'el
"If Iran tries to block the Bab al-Mandab strait, I'm sure it will find itself facing an international coalition determined to prevent it. This coalition will include all Israel's army branches as well," declared Benjamin Netanyahu in August, following Iran's threats against American sanctions.
Such a coalition had already been set up in 2015 by Saudi Arabia, who partnered with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Egypt and Pakistan. Israel is also an unofficial partner. Israeli cyber companies, gun traders, terror-warfare instructors and even paid hitmen operated by an Israeli-owned company are partners to the war in Yemen.
In September, London-based Al-Khaleej Online published a long article about Israel's involvement in training Colombian and Nepalese combatants, who were recruited by the UAE for the war in Yemen. The report cites sources in a U.S. House Intelligence Committee who said the foreign fighers' recruiter was Mohammed Dahlan, who was a member of Fatah's central committee and head of intelligence in Gaza. Dahlan was ousted from Fatah in 2011 and later moved to the UAE, where he became the advisor of the crown prince and the liaison and mediator between the UAE security forces and Israel.
The report also says that Israel set up special training bases in the Negev, where the mercenaries were trained by Israeli combatants. Dahlan occasionally visited those camps, in which the UAE flag was hoisted.
The mercenaries later took part in the war on the port town Hodeidah and other fighting zones in Yemen.
The site's sources said Israel also sold bombs and missiles to Saudi Arabia, some of which are banned. Recently it was reported and later denied that Israel also sold Saudi Arabia combat drones and intends to sell it Iron Dome systems as well.
Many reports have been written about Israeli companies like the NSO group, which is suspected of selling Saudi Arabia Pegasus spyware accused of helping trace and survey Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, or the AGT company owned by the Israeli businessman Mati Kochavi, which in 2007 won the $6 billion bid to set up surveillance and monitoring systems in Abu Dhabi. But what remains a mystery is to what extent Israeli technology served the fighting forces in Yemen.
Another company, Spearhead Operations Group, which was set up by Israeli Avraham Golan and is registered in the United States, was responsible for assassinating Yemenite clergyman Anssaf Ali Mayo in December 2015. Mayo was one of the leaders of the Yemeni reform party, which is affiliated to the Muslim Brotherhood. The latter is classified in the UAE as a terror organization. Golan confirmed to BuzzFeed in October that "there was a plan for targeted assassinations in Yemen. I ran it. We did it. The plan was under the UAE auspices as part of the Arab coalition."
Golan added that during the months his company was active in Yemen he was in charge of several "high profile" assassinations and that the United States needs a murder plan based on the model he set up. According to BuzzFeed, those who actually carried out the assassinations were apparently former combatants in top American commandos.
Israelis aren't the only ones selling military services to the UAE and Saudi Arabia to go to the war in Yemen. Private American companies, senior officers and ex-CIA agents found their bonanza in these two states, just as private companies made a huge fortune out of "military" services they provided the Iraqi government after the occupation. These services include active warfare and intelligence gathering as well as commanding mercenary units or combatant units from Saudi Arabia and UAE. For example, the former American general Stephen Toumajan is serving as the UAE's commander of the Joint Aviation Command and was the chief of a combat helicopter unit that fought in Yemen.
Toumajan isn't the American security agencies' subcontractor, he wears the UAE air force uniform and in interviews he speaks of himself as a general in the state's army. Toumajan represents a new stage in the privatization of the war in Yemen and in other states in which the United States is involved but isn't taking part in the battles.
A foreign partnership in the armies of Arab states isn't new. Pakistani pilots for example fly Saudi planes, the Presidential Guard commander in the UAE is Australian general Mike Hindmarsh. Companies from all over the world including Israel run advanced intelligence systems, so the term "mercenaries" has evolved from armed combatant units from poor countries who come to improve their standard of living to a role filled with extensive activities including setting up combat units, commanding them, planning war moves, purchasing equipment and managing budgets.
The difference between sending combatants who serve in the armies of foreign countries, like Russian forces in Syria, or forces of the Western coalition fighting in Afghanistan, and mercenaries who are recruited privately, is blurry. Regular forces acting in foreign states are subjected to the laws of the state that sends them, compared to mercenaries, who act at the instructions of the recruiting state. But this is also the problem with employing them.
These forces need a legal permit, which is given after a parliamentary debate or by legislation, and then the state can decide on the kind of fighting its forces will be involved in and the length of time they'll stay on foreign soil. In contrast, mercenaries, whether combatants or in air conditioned high tech companies in Dubai or Riyadh, are subject only to the terms of their employment contract, unless they pass information to a foreign state without a permit.
An example for this is the United States House of Representatives' decision to ban the involvement of U.S. troops in the war in Yemen (although intelligence cooperation is still permitted). This is a declarative decision intended to convey to President Donald Trump and the Saudi crown prince that the U.S. no longer supports this war, which has generated one of the greatest humanitarian tragedies, despite its description as a struggle against Iran.
The United States doesn't have military forces that are active in the war in Yemen, but an "army" of mercenaries, which includes numerous Americans, may continue to act unhindered as long as it is financed by Arab states.
After all, it's all for the same purpose – Israeli's security or the region's security or the world's security.
"The views expressed in this article belong to the author."


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In the current SEO landscape there are many updates a website can face, whether it is a manual review or an algorithm based review. Many of which we do see or understand without deeper analysis.
The aim of the audits is to provide you with actionable takeaways and recommendations to improve your sites performance, make technical changes to your site or portfolio and disavow or manually review potentially problematic backlinks.
I offer four different types of audits:
Top Level Audit – This audit reviews your domain, your domains history, metrics, link portfolio and internal factors. The top level audit breaks down problems and potential future issues, assigns individual ID's and assigns priorities issues so you know what your business needs to amend and fix first.
Penalty Audit – There is a worry across many businesses especially within the marketing and SEO teams that your site(s) could potentially under threat of a search engine penalty. My penalty audit reviews key components of your site, it reviews not only your back link profile but your technical infrastructure and any onsite factors which could be or lead to a penalisation from Google.
This audit can be independent or worked with your existing team to ensure protection and future proofing or help your team through an existing penalty.
Full Technical Audit – This is more than just a site MOT. The full site audit reviews all of your on and off site activities and data, review your competitors and breaks down their performance, analyses your sites data and understands what is really happening to your site.
Full Program Audit – As the name suggests the full program audit analyses your current organic search offering. It includes all of the technical aspects of the full technical audit but also includes spending time and interviewing your existing staffing set up. The audit reviews your in-house team, the set up, how the team performs, reviews the current KPI's and recommends how to amend your KPI's to get the best output for your business and out of your staff.
The audit can also review your agency (whether they are supporting your team or work independently) and digs deep into their offerings, the work they produce and how their KPI's are set up and recommends direct improvements to ensure you have the best set up possible for your business.
All audits are charged at day rates. Please get in touch if you would like any more information.

subset: commoncrawl


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Latest News
11 July
Ultimate Sutukil Experience
Ultimate Sutukil Experience
One of the best ways to get a taste of a local's culture is to sample its native specialty cuisine. That's why last February 12, 2016, our very own Isla Sugbu Seafood City (Seafood City) invited members from the press, bloggers and guests all the way from Manila, Bacolod and Iloilo in a launch event, so they can experience Seafood City's freshest take on the popular Visayan method of cooking—Sutukil.
To showcase the Seafood City way of Sutukil, celebrities Jericho Rosales and Mylene Dizon were invited to participate in a cook-off, wherein both are tasked to come up with the best Sutukil dishes in only one hour for 150 pax with the help of their partner cooks, Chef Sheena and Chef Atong, respectively. The winning team brings home P20,000 & P5
0,000 will be given to their chosen charity. While the runner-up gets P10,000 & P20,000 to their chosen charity.
The battle was both intense and fun, as the two celebrities went dish-to-dish until the end. But Mylene Dizon's team managed to capture the taste buds of the guests, as they garnered more votes versus Jericho's.
11 July
Blow By Blowout
Blow By Blowout
Last April 10, 2016, the Grand Convention Center of Cebu gave Cebuanos a haymaker of a feast, as it prepared a grand crossover brunch buffet with a free live broadcast of the Pacquiao-Bradley III fight.
The buffet blowout allowed guests to indulge their appetite, in as many rounds as they want, from the three outstanding in-house restaurants of GrandCon, which are Isla Sugbu Seafood City, Tsay Cheng, and Grand Majestic.
Isla Sugbu Seafood City prides itself as the Best Seafood Restaurant in Cebu, as it brings the freshest seafood dining experience in every visit. On the other hand, Tsay Cheng restaurant is one of the finest and authentic Chinese restaurants in Cebu. No wonder the Chinese community in Cebu keeps coming back for more. And last but not the least, the Grand Majestic.


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Oh, wow! I've been basically off-line for a while. I did read the Egypt trip, and it was hilarious! And now, I see that the legacy may die, or go on a year-long hiatus?
I vote for hiatus over death, or just post with the pictures you have, and maybe see if you can ship over your PC, eventually? But anyway, please don't cancel forever! It's too funny!


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Learn something new every day
More Info... by email
Sans Forgetica is a typeface designed to be somewhat hard to read, which is thought to boost information retention. more...
May 25 , 1787 : The Constitutional Convention convened in Philadelphia. more...
Usually, foot swelling, also called edema, is nothing to worry about, and the swelling itself is painless. A person's feet may swell after she has been in a car for a long period of time or after a long airplane ride. Other common causes of foot swelling include standing for a long period of time, a woman's menstrual cycle, and consuming high-sodium foods. More serious conditions, like circulation problems, can cause swelling as well, however, as can kidney or liver problems. Pregnancy and some medications can also cause this symptom.
Serious heart conditions, such as heart failure and venous insufficiency, can cause the feet to swell. When someone suffers from heart failure, the heart cannot pump blood through the body properly. Blood pools in the feet, leading to the swelling. The same happens when a person has venous insufficiency, which is when a person's veins, usually in the legs, are not strong enough to pump blood up to the heart. As a result, the blood stays in the lower appendages, causing the feet to swell.
Other causes of foot swelling include liver and kidney damage. When someone's kidneys do not function properly, waste products and salt cannot be fully eliminated from the body. The excess waste builds up in blood vessels, increasing swelling. Cirrhosis, or liver damage, disrupts the organ's ability to remove toxins and fluids from the body, resulting in swelling in the feet, legs, and stomach area.
A woman who is pregnant may experience swelling in her feet and hands because she is retaining fluid. In some cases, swollen feet during pregnancy could be a sign of preeclampsia, high blood pressure during pregnancy that can be very dangerous for the fetus. Changes in hormonal levels, which occur during pregnancy, during a menstrual cycle, or from birth control and hormone replacement therapy, can also cause swelling in the feet.
Several different medications may cause this problem as well. Calcium channel blockers, used to treat high blood pressure, can make the feet swell, as can thiazolidinediones, which are used to treat diabetes, and vasodilators, drugs that open up blood vessels. Some antidepressants and corticosteroids can also increase swelling in the feet.
Foot swelling can often be reduced by propping the feet up above the level of the heart several times a day. Some people notice a reduction in swelling when they get up and move around. Limiting salt intake and wearing compression stockings can also help. If the edema is caused by a heart, liver, or kidney problem, swelling may go down when the medical condition is treated.
Post 3
@bear78-- I'm not a doctor or expert. But I think that if you are pregnant and have suddenly started getting foot swelling, you need to see your doctor for a check up. Preeclampsia does cause swelling and it may be difficult to know whether the swelling is normal or not if it is mild. So it's best to see a doctor and get tested for preeclampsia just in case.
My sister had preeclampsia during her pregnancy. In her case, she had swelling, not just in her feet and ankles, but also her hands and face. So swelling in multiple parts of the body can be a warning sign. My sister's swelling developed suddenly and it was severe so there was no doubt about it being abnormal in her case.
Post 2
So how can a woman who is pregnant know whether foot swelling during pregnancy is actually normal or not? It seems like such a common pregnancy symptom. Are there warning signs that the swelling is not normal?
Post 1
My high blood pressure medications sometimes cause foot swelling. I was terribly worried about it at first but after a thorough check up with the cardiologist, I know that I'm fine. In my case, the occasional swelling is just a side effect.
But I agree with the article that reducing sodium in the diet, taking a walk every day and keeping feet up when resting at home are very helpful. I do experience less swelling when I do these things regularly. As someone with high blood pressure, I need to do these for my general health and to keep my blood pressure under control anyway.
One of our editors will review your suggestion and make changes if warranted. Note that depending on the number of suggestions we receive, this can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days. Thank you for helping to improve wiseGEEK!


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- Saturday, October 26, 2019 at William Land Park
- 8:00 AM – Late registration
- 8:30 AM – Warm-up and Kids' half-mile race starts
- 9:00 AM – 5k Run/Walk begins
This event occurs rain or shine.
Entries are not confirmed and numbers are not mailed.
Start and Finish at William Land Park at the Village Green Area (corner of Freeport Blvd. and Sutterville Rd.)
Dri-fit t-shirt, delicious light complimentary breakfast, ChronoTrack D-tag timing, entertainment, kids' area, massage area and awards for each category. First 700 registered participants are guaranteed a race T-shirt.
Pre-Race Packet Pick-up
Fleet Feet Sports
2311 J Street
Sacramento, CA 95816
Date: TBD Time: TBD
You can come and register at the Pre-Race Pick-Up event too. For Fees see Register Page.
My Sister's House tax i.d. is 68-0464114. Your contribution is tax deductible to the extent allowed by governing laws. For your tax records, this registration is your written acknowledgment of your contribution. Please note that race registrants receive goods and services valued at $15.00.
Awards Ceremony
The awards ceremony will begin at approximately 10:00 AM. Awards will be presented to the overall male/female winner and the top male and female runners in each category:
All kids in the half-mile run will receive a special award.


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|Cauliflower soup with cheese flan and scraps of ibérico ham.
I served the potatoes reheated alongside a roast chicken and stashed the black-eyed peas in the freezer. Dressed with olive oil and Sherry vinegar, they make a wonderful side dish for partridge or quail,.
Now, what about the cauliflower? It doesn't freeze so well. Soup? Yes! But, with an embellishment, a savory cheese flan.
The recipe for the soup and flan comes from my La Mancha cookbook, COOKING FROM THE HEART OF SPAIN—FOOD OF LA MANCHA, so the preferred cheese is Manchego. Manchego cheese is made only from the milk of Manchega-breed ewes and is aged a minimum of 60 days. For the flan, a cured cheese is best.
|Cheese flan baked in a loaf pan.
|Cheese flan with salad.
The flan might also be served on its own as a starter, with salad greens and vinaigrette.
Cauliflower Soup with Cheese Flan
Sopa de Coliflor con Flan de Queso
Serves 6 to 8.
3 eggs, beaten
1 ½ cups whole or 2% milk
Pinch cayenne
¼ teaspoon thyme
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon flour
2 cups grated cheese (about 6 ounces)
Preheat oven to 375º.
Combine the eggs, milk, cayenne, thyme, salt, flour and cheese. Pour into an oiled 6-cup loaf pan. Cover the pan with foil. Place it in a larger pan and partially fill with boiling water. Bake until a skewer comes out clean, 45 minutes. Remove foil and bake 10 minutes more until the top is golden.
For the soup
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon sweet pimentón (paprika)
Pinch of cayenne
Pinch of cumin
1 pound potatoes, diced
4 cups cauliflower florets (1 pound)
8 cups water or chicken stock
1 tablespoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon wine vinegar
Chopped scallions to garnish
Chopped ham to garnish (optional)
Heat the oil in a soup pot and sauté the onion 5 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the pimentón, cayenne, and cumin. Add the potatoes and cauliflower to the pot with water. Season with salt, pepper, bay leaf and vinegar.
Bring to a boil and simmer the soup, covered, until potatoes are tender, about 35 minutes. Remove bay leaf and let the soup cool slightly. Puree the soup in a blender or with an immersion blender. Reheat the puree gently.
Cut the cheese flan into slices and lift them out of the loaf pan with a spatula, discarding any accumulated liquid. Place a slice in each soup bowl and ladle the soup over. Garnish with scallions and ham.
|January sunset, North Africa on the horizon across the Mediterranean.


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We are told in Romans 10:17 that, "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." As our bodies are sustained by food, our spiritual life is sustained by hearing the Word of God. The truths of the Bible are timeless and when practiced in the life, bring the fruit of the Spirit, "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." Galatians 5:22, 23
It is exciting to discover how God operates within the universe and our personal lives. How the ministry of the angels influences all the people on the earth. How prophecy points to the events in the last days and the final triumph of those that love God and have died to self.
[vc_btn title="Discover More Sermons On Our Vimeo Channel" style="flat" color="primary" size="lg" align="center" button_block="true" link="url:http%3A%2F%2Ffanninsdachurch.com%2Fvimeo|||"]


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BANZAI7 NEWS--As of Saturday, it will have been a year since the U.S. Congress created the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, originally intended as a bailout just for the financial system.
And as we all know, the Bailout Boys are still in town...
(The Boys Are Back in Town, Thin Lizzy)
Singalong link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FmPhJkdTwU
Guess who just got back today?
Those wild-eyed Bailout Boys of BAC, AIG and CITIII
Havent changed, havent much new to say
But man, those cats keep losing Billions and Billions
They were asking if Uncle Sam's around
How his TARP wallet was, where he could be found
I told them he was hiding somewhere downtown
All the Wall Street bankers driving him crazy
The Bailout Boys are Back in town...
The Bailout Boys are Back in town...
You know that Hank Greenberg used to dance a lot
Every day he'd be on the NYSE floor shaking what AIG got
Man when I tell you he was cool, he was red hot
I mean AIG was steaming
That night over at Pandit's place
Sandy Weil got up and slapped Chuck Prince's face
Man we just fell about the place
That Chuck did'nt want to know, forget him
Friday night in Charlotte theyll be pinstriped to kill
Down at dinos bar and grill
The drink will flow and blood will spill
If Lewis and Thain want to fight, you'd better let them
That jukebox in the corner blasting out my favorite Banzai7 Bailout Song
The nights are getting warmer, it wont be long
It wont be long till the Bailout winter of 2009
Now that the Bailout Boys are here again
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Posted by williambanzai7
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


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John Phipps
Jenny Carter
Burgess Hill
Tom Ingoldsby
The £200 Rollover Prize number was NOT won.
This means that next month's Rollover will be £600!
The Sovereign Draw Lottery is a fun way to support UKIP while giving you the chance to win Gold Sovereigns in our monthly draw. For as little as £3 per month – that's less than a Pound a week – you can help influence the future of Britain! The average stake is £5 a month, but you can play up to £20.


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I know that for many the controversial reboot of Starfire and Catwoman is old news. So why wait so long to post a blog about it? Well, I feel that there is still a lot to say. Instead of writing a lengthy rant about how these rebooted characters are offensive, I am going to make a list of what is offensive and briefly explain why I- as a woman who reads comics and as an artist who likes to draw sexy women- am offended by these reboots.
1. "Men with tits"
Perhaps my biggest problem with comics in general is the fact that the female characters aren't women. They don't talk act, or sometimes even look like women (unless they are all related to Ice-T's wife, Coco). Instead, they are just pantomiming how men think women act. I mean, what is with that dialog? Starfire is like an emotionless blow-up doll. (Oh and I am not slut-shaming. Because she isn't a real slut. She doesn't act like a real slut.)
2. Sexually liberated
If we really cared that these characters were sexually liberated, we'd care more about what they want- not about what our viewer wants to see. Starfire, for example, walks around posing, flipping back her wet hair, and contorting her body whilst staring at the reader. Obviously women who are sexually liberated at the beach walk around doing these things. A sexually confident woman apparently isn't seductive either. "Wanna bang?" "Uh-Sure." "Cool."
Catwoman, on the other hand, is more liberated and has a personality.
3. The Rape Defense
I have seen a lot of people defending Starfire's new behavior by saying that 'since she was raped- she's just trying to reclaim her sexuality'. And what about that is appealing? Isn't that just really sad? Looking at the comic now, remembering that she is a victim of rape and her ridiculous poses are her trying to make sense of her body and her sense of self-worth, how is that represented by dripping-wet sexiness? If this was really the intent of the authors/artists to portray the tortured struggle a woman endures after being raped, then Starfire wouldn't be acting this way.
4. I Tapped That
"She's with you?" "With us, yeah. But she's been with me." ("Dude! Niiiice! You gotta hook me up." "I'll see what I can do. These Tamarainians, man, I tell ya…") Once again if this was about Starfire, she'd be the one feeling sexually confident about her prowess.
5. Purpose
I thought that this reboot was DC's overly-hasty attempt to draw in new readership after "Batgirl" at San Diego Comic Con put them to shame. How is this drawing new readership? I think that comic book artist Eric Canete illustrated this point perfectly with this strip:
6. Catwoman in 'Arkam City'
I think that the portrayal of Catwoman in these comics isn't helped by how she is portrayed in the video game 'Arkam City'. They didn't make her any more sexual than usual (but they did sex-up Harley. What kind of gymnast is built like that?), but they called her a 'bitch'- constantly. The only saving grace this has is that you are Batman and you beat the shit out of these people. But calling women 'bitches' is something that is in general becoming more and more prevalent in our culture. And it sucks.
Like I said at the beginning, I am an artist who thinks that super attractive women and erotic art are acceptable. However, I still want these women to actually be women- especially because this was DC's answer to "where are the women. Apparently they are in the bedroom getting fucked. And as far as their costumes go, at least Catwoman's is somewhat practical. It could have been a lot worse (think Catwoman film). Starfire, however… It just doesn't seem practical to go into battle wearing nothing. If it were, why can't men in comics wear sexier clothes?
Hey, DC. Want female readership? Sexy. Naked. Scantily clad. MEN. Or female characters with depth. Whatever you're comfortable with.
– Bat Cat


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There's nothing like stripping percussive performance back to its bear bones, and the Chinese Lion Dance is an excellent example. I was lucky enough to catch this one today (video below) in a little village in the south of England, performed by the Waterside Lion Dance Club, who created a polished, energetic display in the middle of a drab, wet afternoon.
The percussion is traditional – a drum, a gong and a couple of cymbals. It's simple, repetitive and mesmeric. The last time something as raw as this captured my attention was years ago in Zimbabwe. Lying in a field one afternoon I watched some kids come out of a school nearby with a few oil drums and sticks. Most of them formed up, and spontaneously sprung into action, dancing perfectly in sync to the pounding, impressive rhythm in the background. I wish I'd recorded it – I do have a photo though. I'll see if I can dig it out.
Anyway, it all serves to remind me that talent is much more important than expensive kit. A well played collection of saucepans is more entertaining than a badly played Tama Imperialstar.


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SHANGHAI, Dec. 13 - One week after the police violently suppressed a demonstration against the construction of a power plant in China, leaving as many as 20 people dead, an overwhelming majority of the Chinese public still knows nothing of the event.
In the wake of the biggest use of armed force against civilians since the Tiananmen massacre in 1989, Chinese officials have used a variety of techniques -- from barring reports in most newspapers outside the immediate region to banning place names and other keywords associated with the event from major Internet search engines, like Google -- to prevent news of the deaths from spreading.
Beijing's handling of news about the incident, which was widely reported internationally, provides a revealing picture of the government's ambitions to control the flow of information to its citizens, and of the increasingly sophisticated techniques -- a combination of old-fashioned authoritarian methods and the latest Internet technologies -- that it uses to keep people in the dark.
The government's first response was to impose a news blackout, apparently banning all Chinese news media from reporting the Dec. 6 confrontation. It was not until Saturday, four days later, with foreign news reports proliferating, that the official New China News Agency released the first Chinese account.
According to that report, more than 300 armed villagers in the southern town of Dongzhou "assaulted the police." Only two-thirds of the way into the article did it say that three villagers had been killed and eight others injured when "the police were forced to open fire in alarm."
But even that account was not widely circulated, and it was highly at odds with the stories told by villagers, who in several days of often detailed interviews insisted that 20 or more people had been killed by automatic weapons fire and that at least 40 were still missing.
The government's version, like a report the next day in which authorities announced the arrest of a commander who had been in charge of the police crackdown, was largely restricted to newspapers in Guangdong Province.
"The Central Propaganda Department must have instructed the media who can report this news and who cannot," said Yu Guoming, a professor at the School of Journalism and Communication at Renmin University in Beijing.
The government's handling of information about the violence has drawn sharp criticism from a group of prominent intellectuals, more than 50 of whom have signed a statement condemning what they called the "crude censorship by the mainland media of any reporting of the Dongzhou incident." Word of the petition has circulated online, but it has not been published in China.
Not one among several of China's leading editors interviewed acknowledged receiving instructions from the government on how or whether to report on the death of protesters, but in each case their answers hinted at constraints and unease.
"We don't have this news on our Web site," said Fang Sanwen, the news director of Netease.com, one of China's three major Internet portals and news providers. "I can't speak. I hope you can understand."
Li Shanyou, editor in chief of Sohu.com, another of the leading portals, said: "I'm not the right person to answer this question. It's not very convenient to comment on this."
A link on Sina.com -- the third of the leading portals and the only one to carry even a headline about the incident -- to news from Dongzhou was a dead end, leading to a story about employment among college graduates.
Even Caijing, a magazine with a strong reputation for enterprising reporting on delicate topics, demurred. "We just had an annual meeting, and I haven't considered this subject yet," said Hu Shuli, the magazine's editor, speaking through an assistant.
Further obscuring news of the events at Dongzhou, online reports about the village incident carried by the New China News Agency were confined to its Guangdong provincial news page, with the result that few who did not already know of the news or were not searching determinedly would have been likely to stumble across it on China's leading official news Web site.
The government also arranged more technologically impressive measures to frustrate those who sought out news of the confrontation.
Until Tuesday, Web users who turned to search engines like Google and typed in the word Shanwei, the city with jurisdiction over the village where the demonstration was put down, would find nothing about the protests against power plant construction there, or about the crackdown. Users who continued to search found their browsers freezing. By Tuesday, links to foreign news sources appeared but were invariably inoperative.
But controls like these have spurred a lively commentary among China's fast-growing blogging community.
"The domestic news blocking system is really interesting," wrote one blogger. "I heard something happened in Shanwei and wanted to find out whether it was true or just the invention of a few people. So I started searching with Baidu, and Baidu went out of service at once. I could open their site, but couldn't do any searches." Baidu is one of the country's leading search engines.
"I don't dare to talk," another blogger wrote. "There are sensitive words everywhere -- our motherland is so sensitive. China's body is covered with sensitive zones."
While numerous bloggers took the chance of discussing the incident on their Web sites, they found that their remarks were blocked or rapidly expunged, as the government knocked out comments it found offensive or above its low threshold. Some Internet users had trouble calling up major Western news sites, although those were not universally blocked.


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Bayelsa government to sack absentee workers, pay roll fraudsters
…Labour Kicks
Even as state and local government workers groan over the hardship caused by months of unpaid salaries in Bayelsa state, the State Advisory Committee on Public Service Reforms has confirmed that it will not hesitate to sack workers who absent themselves from work or engage in pay roll fraud.
Chairman of the state advisory committee on public service reform and the paramount ruler of Twon-Brass Kingdom, HRM King Alfred Diete-Spiff, confirmed this during an interactive meeting between members of the committee and relevant stakeholders in Brass local government area. He revealed that the ongoing reforms have shown that some workers would be sacked.
However, the Bayelsa state chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), said labour was not in support of such, considering the fact that government was owing workers several months, especially local government workers up to 13 months.
The NLC scribe in the state, Comrade Torukeregha Dimipre, in a telephone chat, said the NLC expected the state government to be more polite to the workers in the face of the hardship they face without salaries for months.
Spiff, who is also the Chairman of the Bayelsa State Council of Traditional Rulers noted that funds made available to the various councils are supposed to be used for developmental projects and not only for salaries.
Also speaking at the event, the Vice-Chairman of the committee, Chief Francis Doukpola and the Secretary, Dr. Felix Tuodolor stated that any civil servant that does not want to work does not deserve pay, stressing that even private companies do not tolerate such indiscipline/conduct. He also maintained that henceforth any staff that flouts the policy would be penalized accordingly.


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Have you ever wondered what happens when you visit Rainbow Pediatrics? Before you even walk through the door? When you are at the front desk? While you are waiting in the exam room before your provider walks in? You see people seated at desks looking like they may not be busy but let's take a step-by-step look behind the scenes to find out.
Before you arrive
Up to one week in advance, our office staff begins to prepare for your visit. They review past records, link and review your CHADIS report and other documents to make sure your charts are up to date. We check to see that we have received any outstanding reports such as lab results, specialist visits, or emergency room visits. This helps us to make sure that we have all the updated information so that your provider can prepare for your visit. Our Front Office Team will review our schedules several days in advance, then work to verify insurance coverage and note any changes from previous visits. If our staff finds any changes, they can contact you (if you have made sure that we have the most current phone and email) before your visit to update our records and save you time when you arrive.
At the front desk
Your appointment is finally here! You arrive at one of our offices at least 5-15 minutes prior to your scheduled appointment. Find the black or white kiosk with the blinking lights. This is where you will check in. You will verify all your essential information and even take a picture of your child to add to our charts. This photo helps so that if you have to call about your child we have a picture so we know exactly who we are discussing. You will even use the kiosk to swipe your card to pay your co-pay. Have a seat for a brief time and wait for our nurses to call your name. We are behind the scenes working quickly to get you back after your check-in is complete.
In the reception area
While you are waiting in our reception area, our Medical Assistants (MA) and Providers are busy seeing other patients and cleaning the exam room in which you will be arriving soon. Because we have multiple Providers seeing patients at one time, you may not be called back into an exam room in the order that you arrived. We know that can be frustrating sometimes, but if someone goes back before you in that situation, they may be seeing a different Provider who is running on a different schedule.
We try very hard to be as fast and efficient as possible. We cannot always predict when other concerns, problems or even emergencies will arise and we always want to give every one of our patients as much time as we need to make the best possible assessment, provide the best possible care, and of course, answer all of your questions and concerns. We do our best to let you know when a Provider is running behind, but please feel free to ask for an update if it seems like you have been waiting for a long time – we don't mind.
In the exam room with nurse
On your way back to your exam room our Medical Assistant will get your vital signs (height, weight, temperature, and blood pressure). Once you are in your room they will ask some necessary medical history questions. This information allows your Provider, especially in the case of a sick visit, to get a quick picture of what's going on before entering the room. This is all important information for the Provider that helps guide the treatment plan. Sometimes your Provider might ask similar questions, but that is because they are trying to pinpoint things just a little more clearly.
All of our Medical Assistants have special medical training, so they are prepared to spot any warning signs that may come up when taking your vital signs and history. If they see a reason for concern – they move more quickly to get an available Provider to the room right away. This happens sometimes if a child is having trouble breathing or has a really high fever. Situations like this are one reason you may sometimes have a longer than usual wait. Sometimes we have to skip over appointments order if it's necessary to safeguard the health and safety of one of our patients. Once all of your information has been gathered, the Medical Assistant will leave the exam room and let your Provider know that you are ready to be seen. Your provider will glance over the information and history gathered today and then make their way to find your room.
In the exam room with a Provider
Finally, it's your turn! Once your Provider reviews the history and asks if you have any other questions or concerns, they will begin their exam. Your parent can open the Healow Kids app and see if they wrote down any questions to make sure to ask at the visit. They can also write down any notes so they do not forget. After the exam, the Provider will put all the information together to come up with a plan such as ordering a test or ordering immunizations. If that is the case, the Provider alerts the Medical Assistant who will prepare and then deliver whatever you need to complete your appointment. While your Medical Assistant is taking care of those tasks the Provider may go and see another patient to make sure the schedule keeps flowing smoothly. When the Medical Assistant is finished, you usually will see your Provider one more time to wrap up any questions you may have and give the final treatment plan if they have not already discussed that information.
At check out
Once your exam and treatment are complete, you head back to the front to check out. This is usually our patient's favorite part of the visit as they can use a special gold coin, parents can use a quarter for siblings, that the Provider will give to them after the visit if they were a good listener and cooperative during their exam. While you are doing this it is the perfect time for parents to make your next appointment. This is also the time for patients who have a balance from the visit and or pay out of pocket to make their payments.
After you leave
Once you walk out the door, we still have a lot of work to do in order to complete your visit.
First, your Provider completes your chart by putting in all the notes from your exam. They formulate a diagnosis and order medications and procedures. They send the medications to the pharmacies electronically. If needed, they make referrals to arrange for a specialist to see your child. The visit summary is uploaded to our patient portal and Healow Kids app usually within 72 hours for you to login and review information that was discussed at that visit.
Once the office notes have been completed by the Provider, they are reviewed by our billing department. They are members of our staff who attach charges to a bill and make sure they are correct before they submit them to the insurance companies.
Once your bill has been submitted to your insurance company, our Billing department follow the charges and update your account after payment is received. We may not know until then whether there are certain charges or parts of your bill that your individual insurance plan did or did not cover. If there is a balance due, it is our Billing department who will put together a billing statement.
When you call with a concern
There is one more important group of people you may not encounter in our office, but with whom you frequently speak with on the phone. Our triage staff works as a team to answer all phone calls, questions, and concerns about medical issues. They are able to answer many of these questions themselves because they are Registered Nurses but for others, they will consult with one of our Providers to get you the best possible care advice. All the care advice they discuss with you is recorded in your electronic medical record and reviewed by a Provider. Because of those electronic medical records, we can access your information and treat you with the exact same great care at both our office locations.
So there you have it! That is the behind-the-scenes look of what happens before, during and after your visit to Rainbow Pediatrics. We hope it gives you some idea of all the things that happen and all of the people who work together to get you through your visit and to keep your precious children as healthy and happy as we can.
Patient Forms
If you are a new patient to our practice,
please pre-register on our patient portal BEFORE you call to schedule the first appointment.
If you have already scheduled your appointment with our office DO NOT REGISTER AS A NEW PATIENT.
You can go to our patient portal then click registration.
You also have the option of printing out our new patient paperwork below to fill out ahead of time and reduce your wait time.
Please remember to bring your insurance card and a photo ID. If you have any record of your child's immunizations, please bring those to your first visit. Not having previous vaccination records may delay your child getting important immunizations at that visit if needed. If you do not have any records, please come prepared to fill out a release with all past physicians' phone numbers and addresses.
ADHD Consults
We prefer you login to CHADIS online, available through our home screen to complete forms and email forms to teachers as these upload directly to your child's chart.
Invitation code: Rainbowpeds. Once logged into CHADIS you can even email multiple teachers links to complete questionnaire's.
If your child is coming in for a Sports Physical and/or need sport-related forms completed at your well child exam, please print YOUR CHILD'S Sports Physical History Form, complete it and bring it to your appointment.
If you print out any forms PLEASE REMEMBER to bring them with you to your child's visit!
As you can read in our Vaccine Policy below – We DO NOT accept families that do not plan to fully vaccinate with all the required vaccines (flu, hpv and Hep A are not required but highly recommended).
Please be advised that delaying or "breaking up" vaccines goes against expert recommendations and can put your child at risk for serious illness.
Finally, if you should choose not to vaccinate your child we ask that you find another physician who shares your philosophy of medicine.
Click below for more information about each topic
- We firmly believe in the effectiveness of vaccines to prevent serious illness and to save lives.
- We firmly believe in the safety of vaccines.
- We firmly believe that all children and young adults should receive all of the recommended vaccines according to the schedule published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, American Academy of Pediatrics and State of Florida.
- We firmly believe, based on all available literature, evidence and current studies, that vaccines DO NOT cause autism or other developmental disabilities.
- We firmly believe that vaccinating children and young adults may be the single most important health-promoting intervention we perform as health care providers, and that you perform as parents/caregivers. The recommended vaccines and their schedule given are the results of years and years of scientific study and data gathering on millions of children by thousands of our brightest scientists and physicians.
- Various health insurance policies can offer different benefits. This means some plans can affect which doctors, hospitals, or other providers you can use.
- Health insurance plans can work with different networks of hospitals, doctors, pharmacies, and health care providers to take care of people in the paln. The policy you choose to buy may affect the providers that you can and cannot see as well as how much you will have to pay.
- To get more information about how insurance works or purchase the plan visit HealthCare.gov. You can also call the Health Insurance Marketplace Call Center at 1-800-318-2596. TTY users should call 1-855-889-4325.
Congratulations on the arrival of your new baby! Parenthood is one of the most joyous and satisfying experience of life and we are honored that you have entrusted us to help you with the care of your child.
When the physician is discharging your baby from the hospital, he/she will tell you when to bring your baby into the office. Typically, this is between 24-48 hours after your discharge. At that time, we will weigh your baby and the provider will perform a brief exam. Come prepared with any questions that you may have an be sure to bring the discharge paperwork that was given to you by the hospital.
After your first newborn well visit, the provider will ask you to return at the following ages to monitor the growth and development of your child:
At Rainbow Pediatrics your child's health is our top priority. This is the reason we have designed our nursery rooms exclusively for infants. We recommend that you keep your newborn away from crowds for the first eight weeks and this includes being at our office. You and your newborn will not sit in the lobby. Upon your arrival, one of our receptionists will bring you back to one of our nursery rooms. There, the nurse will come to your room to measure and weigh your baby. Please note – If you have any other children with you then you will not be able to be put in one of our nursery rooms. These rooms are designed only for our young newborns less than 2 months of age and we strive to keep them as clean as possible and do not want to contaminate these rooms with germs from older children.
We encourage all of our parents to download our HEALOW Kids App but there are some really exciting tools for new parents. Check out the more section for information on developmental milestones, immunization guide, and our favorite the Ins Outs Ups Downs for feeding/pooping/sleeping tracker.
Meet and Greet
Well Child Visit Handouts
we see you yearly from age 3-18!
Q: Are you taking new patients?
A: Yes! To make the new patient process easier and more convenient, please pre-register your child FIRST BEFORE making your appointment. To pre-register please click on the patient portal on our home page. After you pre-register, call our office to schedule your appointment. All of your child's information will already be in our system. It is often helpful to bring your child's most recent immunization record with you to your first visit so we can scan that into our charts. We will ask you to request records from your previous provider but keep in mind this often takes at least a week to obtain records. Of course, you may also call our office or stop by to set up your appointment. Please be aware if we do not have a complete immunization record at the time of your well child visit this will delay our practice in preparing Florida documentation that you may need for school or daycare.
Q: What are your office hours?
A: Normal office hours for all locations are 8a-5p. The Hodges location offers early morning hours from 7a-8a. All locations are open 5p-6p for those late afternoon emergencies. Our Hodges location is also open every Saturday from 8a-12pm only for our established patients with acute sick visits. We are also open on all holidays from 8am-12pm for same day sick appointments as long as the holiday does not fall on a Sunday.
Q: How do I make an appointment?
A: At Rainbow Pediatric Center, we want to ensure the highest quality care for your child as well as be accommodating when it's most convenient for your child and your family. For non-urgent issues like wellness exams and chronic problems, we ask that you call in advance to schedule an appointment with the provider of your choice. Well check visits can usually be arranged within a 1-3 week window. Please note in July, August and September our well check appointments book in advance from 4-5 weeks in preparation for school.
When your child is ill, please call us as early as possible in the day so we can find an appointment time that works best for you.
To ensure the provider has time to fully address any concerns you may have, please let us know in advance if more than one sibling needs to be seen so we can make each child his or her own appointment. Please understand that our providers work very hard to stay on schedule and if you ask to add a sibling to the schedule it disrupts other appointments. We are happy to see siblings as long as you schedule them together prior to arriving at our office.
We also like to know if you have multiple concerns or complex problems (behavior issues, significant developmental delays, chronic medical conditions, etc) so we can be sure we give you the time you need.
We may ask patients who arrive more than fifteen minutes late to their scheduled appointment to reschedule for a later time that same day or a different day entirely.
We are committed to seeing all sick children the same day. Existing patients may schedule Same Day sick appointments online! See the button at the top of our Home Page.
Q: How can I contact your office?
A: Please feel free to call our office at 904-223-9100 between 7a and 6pm Monday-Friday with any questions or appointment requests. We have dedicated staff answering phones during those hours. If you call the office during office hours, then your routine or general message will be returned by the end of the business day. If the call is urgent, you should receive a call back within 30-60 minutes. If you have a life-threatening emergency please call 911. The patient portal or Healow Kids App is not a means of urgent communication. If you leave a message via the patient portal or the app then it may not be returned until the end of the next business day.
Q: How do I pay for services?
A: Our office participates with most major insurance plans as well as Medicaid. Please call the billing office if you change insurance policies or have questions about whether we are participating with your insurance providers. Also, please bring your current insurance card to each office visit. Co-pays are collected at check-in. If there is an outstanding balance due to coinsurance, deductible or other factors we ask that you pay your bill on the day that your child is seen. Whoever brings the child in that day is responsible to pay the balance or co-pay at that visit. We accept cash, checks, Visa, MasterCard and Discover. If you should have any concerns or questions regarding your bill, we will be happy to review it with you in the office.
Q: How do I transfer care from my previous pediatrician?
A: Complete the Records Release Form in our New Patient Registration Packet 2020 and we will fax this to your current/previous pediatrician. Please keep in mind, although we will do our best to obtain these records as promptly as possible, there is often a delay in obtaining vital information for Well Child Exams such as immunization records.
If your child has not received immunizations in the state of Florida, and/or has not been entered into the Florida SHOTS system, please anticipate requesting your child's immunization records prior to your appointment or bringing them into the office yourself the day of the appointment to make sure that we can verify your child is up to date with all immunizations so we can complete any forms that may require that information.
Q: How can I get medication refills and school forms completed?
A: The best way for you to have your prescription refilled is to use our Healow Kids app and submit a refill request ANYTIME of day or night. You may also have your pharmacy fax a request to our office. Lastly, you can still call our office at 904-223-9100 ext. 7 and leave a message for one of our nursing staff.
School physical forms (Yellow) DH 680 Forms/Immunization (Blue)are routinely issued on the date of your child's yearly physical at no charge to you. If you should need the Physical or Immunization forms at any other time, 48 hour notice is required to create these forms. There will be a charge of $5 per form as our providers must to take the time to review your child's chart and complete the requested form. Any additional forms including disability, camp, sports, daycare registration etc. typically require a provider's extended personal attention, so there is a charge of $10 for these and we ask that you allow 7-10 business days to have them completed. FMLA paperwork is $20 to complete and requires 7-10 business days to complete.
Q: Will you refer us to a specialist if we feel it is appropriate?
A: Yes, your child should have the best treatment available and we stand ready to refer you to the best specialists in the area. Our referral coordinators will work hard to ensure your child is matched with the best provider in your insurance network and obtain any necessary prior authorizations for care. Our referral coordinator will contact you and coordinate an appointment. Referral update status is shown on our Patient Portal. In order to make specialty care more convenient our office has in house the following specialties: asthma certified physician with asthma clinic, allergy skin testing
Q: How are you using technology to improve patient care and safety?
A: Rainbow Pediatrics is committed to making sure our patients receive the very best, most up-to-date care available. Our office uses an EMR (Electronic Medical Record) system to ensure accurate information about our patients in real time wherever it's needed. Our electronic prescribing program tracks all our patients' prescriptions, can send your prescription directly to the pharmacy of your choice and automatically checks for drug allergies and interactions. Our internal messaging tracks appointments, labs, X-rays and referrals. All information is kept strictly confidential and adheres with patient privacy policies.
We also now utilize a partner app to our patient portal which is called Healow Kids. Please read more information or watch a quick video from the At Home page. As of December 5, 2016 our office will check patient's in via our kiosks. From this kiosk you will be able to check-in, verify insurance information, change pharmacy information, take a picture of your child for our chart and pay your co-pay.
Q: Will I always see the same provider?
A: All of our providers and staff treasures our ongoing relationships with our patients. In fact, we love watching the children we care for grow up before our eyes. We always try to schedule you with the provider of your choice, but we also feel one of the greatest assets we have as a practice is our teamwork. We encourage our patients to develop relationships with multiple providers on our team in order to take advantage of each provider's individual strengths and talents.
Q: Will my child catch something from being around sick children in your office?
A: It is frequently seen that pediatric offices have separated waiting rooms. Few know that Dr. Reddy herself designed both offices. We steered away from the separate waiting room concept and instead focused our attention on infection control, wait time and office cleanliness. At Rainbow Pediatrics, we try very hard to keep all our patients as healthy as possible. Although two separate waiting rooms sound like a good idea, germs don't have a border they can't cross. We have specific protocols for children with fever, rash and cough to minimize exposure to other children. We do, however, have a dedicated nursery for newborns and nursing mothers and will ensure that infants are taken back to an exam room promptly on arrival. You may also notice our waiting area has no loose toys. We only have wall mounts or freestanding stations which are easy to disinfect and done on a regular basis, several times a day. We do keep books in the waiting room as well as exam rooms where we can clean them between patients. You will see alcohol hand sanitizer throughout the office and in all patient care areas. We encourage our patients to use this along with our providers and staff who are required. We also are continually striving to minimize wait times throughout your office visit.
Q: Who is allowed to bring my child to the office?
A: With your written permission, any person is allowed to bring your child to our office. The exception to this rule is in the case of children of divorced or separating parents, which custody cannot or has not been established. In these cases, each parent will need to provide proof of custody to bring child in for care. Please see our forms section for the consent for Authorization to Bring Child Form. We strongly recommend a parent/legal guardian accompany your child to the office for any Well Child checkups, vaccinations or procedures so that you are available to answer any questions that may come up in the course of that visit. Your signature is also needed for any vaccines your child receives so a parent or guardian must be present for the exam.
Q: What is a Patient-Centered Medical Home?
A: We would like to partner with you to make sure that all of your child's needs are taken care of. We strive to be the home base for your child's medical care.


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April 2010
The Fringe Dweller video book trailer is now available for viewing on You Tube. Monica Holy describes her lucid dream experience assisting a person passing over from life to death. This type of interaction occurs when Monica's astral body meets someone who is still in the physical world . To see the video trailer CLICK HERE.
October 2009
After four long years of insanity getting Fringe Dweller from A to Z (meaning an idea stuck in my head, to that physical thing you can hold in your hands), no books. Welcome to my world, or rather my sandbox. Not the kind the cats go in, most of the time. The kind that wonderful and creative things happen in, spontaneously, if only you trust.
It's a good thing I have an ironic sense of humour, and have had lots of practice learning to trust, or I might have been less gracious. As it was, I laughed. Ah well. I believe you take what action you can, but then don't berate yourself for the things outside your control.
From the ashes of chaos came the most fantastic experience. My friends came over to help celebrate and lord knows I owe them for putting up with me these past few years – so the wine and sushi were flowing that night (it IS Vancouver after all.) My partner and fellow author did a brief reading, and then we all stood around in our fuzzy slippers and PJ's taking turns sharing our personal metaphysical stories.
You see, we decided that PJ's were to be the theme of choice because I am after all a 'lucid dreamer' and the Night Shift stories happen when I'm asleep, so it seemed apropos. Besides, it was laundry day.
What Magic! Open Mic nite of the Paranormal unfolded as naturally as two bar flies trying to pick each other up after last call. It was beautiful. Like everyone had been sitting on some gigantic secret egg and finally the time was ripe to hatch. It was like a load had been lifted. I expected two or three stories to be told, but more than half of the group had an experience to share, and it was clear they felt relieved to have a safe environment for it.
So I want to present the following suggestion. Throw a Paranormal PJ Party in your town – books are optional! It's a great theme and you can even hand out gifts for the wildest ensemble. 'Martha Stewart' the theme as much as you like, but remember the point is to create dialogue. Isn't it time we all came out of the psychic closet? Maybe paranormal IS normal? Oh, and by the way, if you do decide to host a party… pleeeease write in and let me know how it went.
Dream on, the Fringe Dweller
Spring 2009
After completing the manuscript for 'Fringe Dweller', Monica signed with Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC in spring of 2009. Told that 'Fringe Dweller' was to be put on 'the fast track', the book was released in October 1, 2009. Further information can be found at Red Wheel's website.
During the course of a 2008 Mark Victor Hansen workshop in Los Angeles, titled Mega Book Marketing, Monica had the opportunity to pitch the paranormal concept of 'Fringe Dweller' to an agent, Ginny Weissman, representing Martin Literary Management. The result was signing a contract for representation with MLM. Sharlene Martin currently represents Monica Holy and 'Fringe Dweller' for literary, media, and film/TV rights. For inquiries, contact Sharlene Martin at Martin Literary Management.


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Ards and Down Area Plan 2015
Policy Framework: Windfall Sites
Windfall development is housing provision on undesignated sites and as such, can not be precisely anticipated. It can arise as a result, for example, of plot sub-division or property conversion and can normally make a significant contribution to the housing land supply over any Plan period. Accordingly, past trends have been used to estimate the potential level of windfall sites that might become available for development during the Plan period and this has been taken into account in the housing allocations designated for each settlement.


text:
Accupuncture with Dr. Doshi has helped me able to relax and increase my
energy levels. It even helped with some allergy sinus congestion. She
worked on the areas related sinus and a few hours after treatment I
could breathe easier with less congestion. I would highly recommend Dr.
-Paul W


text:
Friends, in favor of greener pastures and shorter web addresses, I've dropped the pesky '.wordpress' portion of my web address and moved to the sexy and slim new site of… http://samcassellisanalienandilovehim.com. Don't worry though, you can still find all the same overly verbose and sporadically updated observations on the NBA, and all that good stuff, over thar. Hope to see you at the new digs.
Moving DayPublished September 2, 2009 Basketball 3 Comments
Game notesPublished December 7, 2006 Basketball , Minnesota Timberwolves , shoes 2 Comments
So some serious shiznasty has gone down in the NBA world since the last time I posted, which will happen when you don't post for 10 days. Naturally, we'll have to get to those very interesting and compelling topics at a later date and time. Of current concern, however, is the Twolves quality win over a quality opponent, the Houston Rockets, a not-too-shabby 90-84 victory for the home team. A couple things of particular note:
– Those NBA refs are a wily bunch. Case in point: Yao Ming, the gentlest 7'5″ beast in the NBA, managed to pick up a technical after dunking over Eddie Griffin, who seems content to only get off the bench for 5 minutes every five games, allowing him just enough playing time to get dunked on by players like the league's gentlest giant. Initially it seemed the technical was assessed for something Yao said to E-Grif after the dunk, implying that the refs are actually fluent in multiple languages and able to translate Yao's Chinese-laden trash talk immediately upon its utterance. I mean, how else is one to explain the T? Ahhh but of course, there's a different explanation to this. Via ESPN.com, we learn Yao received the rebuke "apparently for hanging too long on the rim." But since Yao tests the laws of gravity with every single step he takes, somehow lifting a massive 89-inch frame off the ground for even long enough to take an actual step, it's a modern scientific miracle that he can even dunk on a hoop. Well I'm on to you, refs, and so should you be international NBA players– them refs been practicing their foreignspeak.
– So when I moved into my new apartment with two new housemates/old friends, I suddenly became not the only person in possession of a TV at the locale I refer to as home. To be honest, we've actually got a surplus of television sets at the new place, with two TVs practically stacked on top of each other in the TV room and a third sitting idly in our "office." And just so you don't have to work too hard imagining such an elaborate arrangement, here are a few captures of our luxurious viewing room, with some help from professional male model J-Ban.
The best thing about this setup? We'll often have more than one NBA game on at one time in the evenings, and occasionally a Game Break highlight clip of the Twolves game I'm watching on one TV sceen will play on the other screen via an FSN broadcast of a different locale. Nothing like seeing on one screen a highlight reel of the game you're actually watching on the other. Ahh yes, NBA League Pass and two TVs: a powerful trifecta if there ever was one. Surprisingly, watching the same game on two screens seems a bit excessive and redundant. Now someone explain that phenomenon to me.
– Lastly, but not in the least bit unimportant, the family has grown: I finally purchased a new pair of sneakers, breaking a year-plus shoe drought which had my whole footwear collection a bit down in the dumps. A confession: when my interest in sneakers first skyrocketed after the purchase of my gorgeous green and pastel-pink Nike Dunk Lows, I told myself that each new pair of sneakers I bought would be my favorite, better than the last. For a while that theory held up, particularly after the purchase of my brown and orange Adidas at that incredible little Adidas store in Cambridge, MA last Thanksgiving. While I don't mean to be insulting my new Nike Dunk Low CL Jordan Retro 2's, which are so simply beautiful, beautifully simple if you will, they definitely do not surpass the Tgiving Adidas. (On a side note, is there a more perfect shoe template than the Nike Dunk Lows?) While these shoes certainly satiate my sneaker appetite for the time being, if you think I'm not going to be looking for another all-star pair of shoes during my trip to NYC over New Years, well, you've got another thing coming friend. Here's a picture of my killer new sneaks for your viewing please:
Notice the fine detail on the shoe, such as my personal favorite touch, the imitation snake-leather design on the side of the shoe that crosses through the swoosh. Additional views (and perhaps more professional shots) can be seen here, here, and here. Needless to say though, I didn't pay nearly as much as the unbelievable rates those sites have the shoes listed for.
You've got something on your facePublished November 26, 2006 Basketball , NBA rule changes 3 Comments
So the NBA under David Stern is trying to remake its public image, trying to cut down on the thuggishruggishbone perception of the NBA, blah blah blah nothing new there. Some teams (or some coaches, rather) seem to be taking Stern's directives a bit more seriously than others. Scott Skiles of the Chicago Bulls in particular. A little context first: Skiles is an excellent defensive coach, having coached the Bulls to the best team defense last year, and they're certainly moving in a similar direction again this season. You would think that the Bulls' biggest free-agent acquisition and four-time Defensive Player of the Year, Ben Wallace, would be all about Skiles' style then. Funny what losing can do to a team.
Wallace has been a pretty unhappy camper with the Bulls and their 3-9 start (before last night's victory over the, snicker, Knicks) and the rumors about Skiles and his starting center being at odds have already begun to circulate. So Wallace, never known for being all that reserved, took it upon himself to exercise some civil disobedience, streetball style. Skiles has this rule forbidding any player in a Bulls uni from wearing a headband. So when Wallace decided to openly defy Skiles' said team ban one night after he played a season-low 20 minutes and recorded no points and no rebounds in a blowout loss to the 76ers, Wallace was pulled only 2 minutes and 2 seconds after tipoff. When Wallace removed the headband with about two and a half minutes left in the first quarter, Skiles promptly re-entered him into the game, and he played for nearly the rest of the half. When Wallace again slyly slipped the headband back on just before the start of the second half, Skiles again immediately benched him, with Skiles again reinserting him back into the lineup within a minute of the removal of the headband for a second time.
And this is where the Skiles-Stern connection comes in. See, David Stern last year decided to eliminate the brandishing of certain superfluous tights and other miscellaneous game equipment, but he has never issued any edicts against headbands. So maybe I'm reading too much into Skiles' motives here, but how is one supposed to take such a ridiculous rule? Would Skiles have ever pushed for this kind of team rule, say, five years ago, before Stern took it upon himself to whiten up (excuse me, class up) the NBA? The Bulls have no bad reputation to shed like, say, the Portland Trailblazers, so that can't be it. Some explanation, any explanation would be nice.
The Bulls' starting point-guard, Kirk Hinrich, had this to say after the game: "We want to make sure everybody is on the same page. Hopefully we will be." Listen, I'm all about team coordination. If a player on a team ever put on, say, their road jersey for a home game, well, that's an NBA faux pas to say the least. If Ricky Davis ever decided to break out some yellow shoes to go along with the Wolves true blue-and-green, well let's not even go there. But Wallace isn't an idiot, and his red headband even matched the Bulls' red-and-black home jerseys quite tastefully. Skiles contributed this valuable post-game input on whether he was worried about the growing rift between him and Wallace: "No, I don't know why. I'm just not." Something in me just doesn't want to believe that crap.
Well here's some commentary on the matter I can believe, the words spoken from Wallace himself: "Man, I don't care about that. All I know is we got the win." Wallace is a gamer, he made his point by wearing the headband AND his team still got the win. Of course, nobody knows now how any of this will play out. Maybe Ben Wallace will come out for the next game wearing, like, three headbands and some anklets, and a red-and-black protective facemask just for the hell of it (thank you very much, Rip Hamilton). Either way, I'm pretty certain the days of seeing Ben Wallace let it all hang out (as pictured below) are well over.
The NBA can be such a prude sometimes.
BREAKING NEWS!Published November 19, 2006 pop culture , relationships , Sam Cassell 3 Comments
They say you learn something new every day. Well today I learned that aliens prefer datings humanoids over their own kind. How fascinating! The New York Post reports that Sam Cassell and former MTV VJ Ananda Lewis are, like, totally into each other. Not only that, the two are even good friends with comedy legend Eddie Murphy. Oh, to be a member of high society!
Dime-a-Day has obtained some super-duper exclusive pictures of the happy couple out and about on the town. Here's a picture of Sammy C just moments after getting off the phone with Ms. Lewis planning their first date. Look at how cute and excited the little guy is:
Here's a picture of the happy couple enjoying an intimate moment:
Uh oh, trouble in paradise?!
Aww, looks like Ananda and Sam made up! And they're cuter than ever…
Congrats to Sam Cassell on his new dating life. We wish him the best of luck in this and all future romantic endeavors.
Bruce Bowen, I've got my eyes on youPublished November 18, 2006 Basketball 3 Comments
There was a little bit of a dust-up recently, a bit of a spat between two of the NBA's top teams, the San Antonio Spurs and the New York Knickeldickels after Isiah Thomas said some mean-spirited things in the general vacinity of one of the Spurs players, which is a pretty big deal. See, a coach addressing a player on an opponent's roster is generally a no-no. It's sort of like getting scolded by a friend's parent when you were little for doing something that was totally ok at your house but not at their's. Basically, a head coach takes care of their own team and keeps out of the other team's bidness. So when Isiah Thomas, that peanut of a brain behind the worst-run franchise in the NBA, threatens to break a Spurs player's neck (maybe he just said foot) amidst a profanity-laden tirade, you know some nasty stuff is probably going down.
The object of Thomas' fury was of course none other than one of the dirtiest players currently playing the game, Bruce Bowen. Many know Bowen as a perenial All-Defense player who, despite having marginally more talent than your average Greg Buckner, manages to get tons of credit just because he's played next to one of the best power forwards of all time for almost his entie career (and won some rings in the process). I'm convinced– Bowen has constructed the perfect NBA career. His quiet, workingman's demeanor has earned him a good guy rep around the league, aided by his penchant for being a total fucking pest on the denfensive end and of course his incredible fortune to have spent the past six seasons in a starting lineup with Tim Duncan. The man was even invited to play for USA Basketball this past spring (nevermind that he was cut from the team by the end of the summer). Under that slick, bald veneer, however, lies a dirty, dirty cheater.
Back to the matters at hand: Isiah Thomas got all in a huff at Bowen because during a recent game, he alledges that Bowen slid his foot underneath Steve Francis while Franchise went up for a jump shot in an effort to take Stevie's mind off his shot and affect his shot motion. The result? Francis went up for the shot like normal and when gravity acted upon that overhyped, over-the-hill little tweener of a player, causing him to bring all 191 pounds of his tiny frame down on an awkwardly-angled ankle which fell on top of Bowen's foot, the ankle suffered a sprain and all of a sudden the Knicks are Franchise-less for the next three games (which Isiah Thomas somehow interprets as an actual threat to the Knicks' chances for success– I know, crazy, right?). Regardless of Francis' actual worth, when a player suffers a relatively needless injury, it is completely understandable that their head coach feels the need to stand up for them. So when Isiah Thomas thought Bruce Bowen attempted the same foot slide crap as Jamal Crawford went up for a shot in a rematch between the two teams a couple days later, the once-NBA legend went ballistic.
Now, I'm no Isiah Thomas backer. I mean frankly, the man bankrupted the CBA before embarking on two completely inept stints as a GM and coach with the Toronto Raptors and Indiana Pacers, respectively– not to mention the current pathetic state of the Knicks. In short, the man's just an idiot. But in this case, he helps illuminate a very valuable point: Bruce Bowen is a dirty, dirty cheater.
Nevermind the fact that some of the NBA's best players, such as Kobe Bryant, Ray Allen, and Vince Carter, have made similar accusations in the past. You can even forget the fact that Bowen considers kumite a useful and legal tactic in guarding certain ex-Twolves players. What can't be ignored is the call Bowen recently got from Stu Jackson, the NBA's Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations (aka the rule police) in which Big Stu asked Bowen to watch yo-self in the future. Yep, that's right, Bruce Bowen: you're officially on notice. Now besides Rasheed Wallace, how many NBA players can claim they've got Stu Stu on their cell phone's call log? I mean, how many of the NBA's "good guys" even receive warnings like this? For anything they do on the court? (Off court activities are exempt from this particular discussion.) How many players have elicited comments such as this from other head coaches in reference to their on-court defensive tactics:
"I'd beat the — out of somebody," Thomas said Friday. "Really, I would — murder them. … There's certain things you don't do."
Of course, if you still have any doubt about Bowen by this point, you can just watch the clip for yourself.
You are absolvedPublished November 16, 2006 Basketball , relationships Leave a Comment
Sometimes you just really feel like you know someone really well. Like Elton Brand, for example. I knew there was a reason I picked Elton in the first round (seventh overall pick) of my fantasy league's draft. I mean the guy's a winner, plays hard and honest every single night, and averages 20.2/10.4/2.6 and 2 blocks a game. That's exactly the kind of player one wants anchoring their team. So when Brand started the season a bit on the slow side (to the tune of just 15.7 points and 8.7 rebounds per game… ok, the 2.3 blocks per game are still nice), I couldn't help to be but a little bit down in the dumps, a little despondant, a bit disheartened. But more than anything, I was really just confused. But then, Brand reached out right to me in an effort to make amends, via that tramp of a sportswriter, Sam Smith:
Off to a slow scoring start at about 15 per game after playing for USA Basketball, Elton Brand continued to show his concern for the fans. Said Brand: "I feel bad for the fantasy GMs."
Well you know what Elton, I certainly wouldn't fault you for devoting your free time this summer to USA Basketball. No, talking smack about our national team is something that is below this particular writer. Well friend, I just can't fault you for your performance as of yet this season either. It's obvious this is eating you up as much as me, and the season is still rather young (unless you're the Memphis Grizzlies, whose season got old and died sometime in training camp). And really, it's just nice that we're both committed to this relationship; that is after all the key to long term success. And Elton? Don't take things so hard. I mean, you'd think that seeing Sam Cassell almost every day over the next 6+ months would signal to you how comic life can really be.
Game For FoolsPublished November 13, 2006 Minnesota Timberwolves 4 Comments
On Saturday night I saw this man at First Ave, and can now officially proclaim him as the Smoothest Man in the World. Sorry me, you'll have to be relegated to the two-spot on that list.
Before watching Mr. Smooth do his thing, I watched the Twolves' try their best to live up to this song of the aforementioned Smoothie in a home game against the up and coming Orlando Magic. Here's the thing about my beloved Wolves– they're just not very good. They've got some talent, sure, but for the Wolves to play at any level of significant competitiveness, they'll need to muster up a season of career-type years from at least a handful of their players–not dissimilar from the string of overachievers the Twins sewed together from their feisty little lineup.
Besides the usual [insert any superlative] performance from KG, by my tab not only have we yet to see anything amounting to over-achievement from any of our other starters, but our bench has also been predictably thin and ineffective. There was no local broadcast of the Wolves game on Saturday night, so I had to tune into the Orlando telecast (via League Pass, of course). A more apropos comment regarding our starting point guard has never been made (via the Orlando Magic's commentators): "Mike James had a good statistical season last year." The same sentiment can be said for many other players on our team, including our alleged Second Banana, Ricky Davis. Neither player has made any tangible, substantial impact to this team yet, and while the temptation to write it all off on early-season jitters and a roster that's unfamiliar with each other can be strong, we heard Dwayne Casey make similar half-hearted excuses with the Wolves second-half swoon last season as well, claiming the lack of a training camp hurt the team's ability to play cohesively.
Speaking of the man who has only one more year of true NBA experience than Craig Smith– while I defended Dwayne Casey for much of last season (I mean what was one to expect from a rookie coach with a thin, relatively talentless roster?) he's certainly shown little this season to convince anyone that last year was an aberation. How long until more blurbs like this one from the New York Daily News pop up:
"Bad omen for Dwane Casey: One Minnesota veteran said the team needs "five balls" and that Casey won't last the season."
A couple things: how does something like this break in a New York paper before local ones? Any guesses on which member of our esteemed roster could've said this? I've got two guesses: Troy Hudson and Troy Hudson.
In other news, my search for a new pair of shoes enters its day somewhere-near-340. The last pair of shoes I bought, my beloved brown-and-orange Adidas, are about to celebrate their first birthday! Kudos to them. Somewhere out there, a little brother pair of shoes is just waiting to join the family. If anyone has any suggestions at all of shoes they think would look good on my feet, please send relevant information my way.


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Almost that time of year again…
We're deep in cookie baking, tree decorating, house cleaning and all the other fun stuff that surrounds this time of year, not too much time to cook fancy things, but I did have time here and there to make some fun stuff. This will be more of a photo album kind of post, I'll get back to Ad Hoc ad Home and other books soon though!
While at Whole Foods recently I stumbled over some Oregon Black Truffles. I had never heard of such a thing and the price wasn't too outlandish, so I got me some. Packed in a small clam shell box with arborio rice. I was gonna post a picture, but they did not come out, just imagine little pieces of charcoal on rice They have wonderful aroma, though taste is very faint, you need add quite a bit to taste them. Last time I had black truffles from Italy is years ago, don't really have a reference anymore, but while these are good, I'd not run out to buy them again. We had some on "perfect scrambled eggs" made like Gordon Ramsey does here:
I served them on toasted multi grain bread with some fresh wild arugula salad:
Recently we watched Julie and Julia, fun movie and Meryl Streep is fantastic as Julia Child. Probably because that movie is out, PBS had a two hour special with some of "the best" Julia Child episodes, one of which was the omelet making one. Her book Mastering the Art of French Cooking has several pages with pictures on how to make this, I never quite got it though and hesitated to try. After watching her and seeing how easy it really seems to be, I made two 3 egg omelets today, grated some more of the truffles on top and added some parsley, just like Julia would have done You know what? It's really easy to make these in a non stick pan, I was surprised. You can see the episode (for now at least) at the link below:
Here's how ours turned out:
Now, on to some meat! While shopping at Whole Foods recently I saw some fantastic pork shoulder roasts at the meat counter. About as picture perfect as I can imagine one, so I just had to get one:
I decided to cook this one in my Big Green Egg again, low and slow, spiced with salt, pepper, and cumin seeds, just like I make nice Bavarian pork roasts. Here it is, ready to roll:
To go along with it I caramelized some red and yellow onions and made some Semmelknödel, Bavarian dumplings made from bread and other stuff. These actually were from a package, I have yet to walk down the road of made from scratch Bavarian bread or potato dumplings. I also marinated some red and white radishes in a vinaigrette as a side salad. The roast came out perfect, I took it off the BGE once internal temp was about 140 degree and let it rest for a good 20 min or so. The meat was tender and juicy and succulent, one of the best pieces of pork I've come across in a while! And it was quite cheap, I think the entire roast cost about $12 and we had dinner 3 times from it!
I only have pictures of the first two, one with the dumplings, onions (where I added the drippings from the drip pan in the BGE and the juices from the cutting board) and some arugula salad. Later in the week I cut a big slize, fried it in the pan until a nice crust developed no the cut sides and sliced it. Meat was warm, tender, and had not cooked any further. This time we had some nice potatoes and yes, arugula salad. I just love that stuff!
Well, since then we had two sing fests at the kid's schools and all kinds of other stuff going on, and I had to get things ready for cookie baking time! One thing we need for what's here wrongfully called gingerbread cookies – Lebkuchen – is candied lemon rind. We used to buy this at Safeway, a jar full of oddly green or yellow colored tastes like nothing somethings. Last year Safeway ran out before I got to them, so we had to make them ourselves. And they are so much better that way, they're not even the same thing! And so easy: peel a lemon with a knife, including the white pith, put into a pot with water, bring to a boil, drain and repeat two more times. That takes care of the bitterness of the pith. Then you weigh it, add the same amount of sugar and some water, bring to a boil and simmer for about an hour, until translucent. Skim out, put on drying rack for two or three days, sprinkle with sugar and there you are. A delicacy, not only for baking, but all by itself too! Dip in chocolate for a real treat
Some pictures of the process and the product:
And that's it for this post, the next update will have lots of cookie pictures (though no recipes, family secrets! Well, maybe some, we'll see) and a little side step about Italian meat balls made from scratch in a moment of temporary insanity


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What The Media Says
Deborah Halpern: Playing with Firing.
The outsider in modern mythology is a romantic character. In reality, it is a tricky role to play well. To revel in one's differences. one must believe in their intrinsic worth. Deborah Halpern, was, in a sense, born an outsider…
Deborah Halpern's Mosaic sculpture on show.
A NEW queen has her eye on the people of Manningham and Nillumbik.
Sculptor Deborah Halpern, the creator of the National Gallery of Victoria commissioned Angel, has installed her latest work, The Queen of the Shire at Kangaroo Ground-Warrandyte Rd, Warrandyte North.
Sculpture shapes a revival.
Deborah Halpern, born in 1957, is one of the younger artists exhibited but possibly the best known. Her 1988 work Angel stood in the moat outside the NGV until it was relocated to a position next to the Ian Potter Gallery on the banks of the Yarra.
Sculptures find new street cred.
Author Ken Scarlett says "one of the challenges in this time of globalisation is not to lose sight of our Australian character. Artists must continue to forge our national identity, like Deborah Halpern, who embraces Australian larrikinism."
The work of arts.
Her images have helped define Melbourne's identity, but artist Deborah Halpern shies from taking herself too seriously. This is the sort of day Melbourne needs Deborah Halpern, reports Deborah Stone of The Age.


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**** Register a team for any league MORE than 30 days before the published start date of the league online and get a $50 discount! MUST mention this ad under *NOTES in your online registration page!
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Join us on Facebook to keep up to date with Indoor Soccer Spot
Waxahachie / Red Oak's ONLY Indoor Soccer Spot


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Neighborhood Profiles
Angora Highlands
Angora Highlands is a popular Lake Tahoe neighborhood where home buyers search of coveted mountain and lake view real estate for sale. Not too far from South Lake Tahoe's Y area this serene, ... Details
Heavenly Valley
Looking for your own slice of heavenly real estate, preferably a home (or second home) for sale with gorgeous lake views that happens to be located at the base of a world-class ski resort? Or perhaps ... Details
Montgomery Estates
Real estate in Lake Tahoe's Montgomery Estates is consistently one of the most sought-after neighborhoods in all of South Lake Tahoe for many reasons. Most of the homes in this subdivision are newer, ... Details
North Upper Truckee
Lake Tahoe's North Upper Truckee is a great mix of local residences and second home owners. It happens to be where my family live. We have built a couple of homes for ourselves off of North Upper ... Details
Tahoe Keys
For many prospective Lake Tahoe homebuyers, the only thing possibly better than lakefront real estate are homes for sale located on the lake itself. The Tahoe Keys Resort is a unique private community ... Details


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A unique and colourful addition to your kitchen, accessorise with this lamb cuts tea towel.
MADE IN ENGLAND - Brilliant for a gourmet's birthday, housewarming gift, 'thought you would like this,' or something to make washing the dishes a little more interesting and allow you to mull over what cut of meat you will have next Sunday! This gift is part of our best selling range of butcher's meat prints and it's not suitable for vegetarians.
It allows you to add character and colour to your kitchen and is a fantastic talking point for guests who choose to do the washing up when they come for dinner. The colour has a wonderful depth and this tea towel is perfect to hang over a drawer or cooker handle.
100% cotton with hanging loop, machine washable at 40 degrees maximum.
46 x 76 cm


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Power from USB port on my desktop PC w/ included microUSB cable.
Used generic HDMI to DVI adapter to plug into standard 17″ LCD monitor for testing.
You have to hold the power button on the unit for a couple seconds. Then the blue LED glows.
Intial boot-up. Had the screen turned off so missed any BIOS messages.
"Test Mode" in large gray letters appeared over Windows Desktop.
System automatically logs in as Administrator.
Lower right corner says Windows 8.1 with Bing Build 9600.
Plugged in wireless keyboard/touchpad RF receiver (Logitech K400r).
Screen resolution defaulted to 1280×1024 (on 17″ 4×3 screen).
Open Network and Sharing Center and was able to join my WiFi network no problem.
"Test Mode" large gray lettering remains superimposed "in front" of everything else on the screen. It is not a desktop background.
Reboot and "Test Mode" goes away. Could not get this to re-appear. Oh well.
System control panel says "Windows is not activated", as expected.
Noticed some Chinese in Explorer menus. Used Region and Language control panels to change to United States and English.
Had to Reboot to get Intel HD Graphics Card menus to change to English.
Time Zone defaulted to Beijing.
Tried to "Activate Windows" and "Buy Key" in system control panel, but got an error: "Sorry, you can't buy keys online in this country or region, but you can buy Windows from a retailer near you." Changing Region control panel back to China had no effect.
Planning to install Ubuntu anyway. Just exploring the Windows options.
Some links…
Triple Install Ubuntu/Android/Windows – Ian Morrison
Ubuntu Bluetooth Drivers – Jud Christophe
Bios File – Jud Christophe
Bios Settings Video – Jeremy Naglich
Unboxing – GizChina
Inserted MicroSD card. Going to try to get Ubuntu downloaded.
To be continued…
Ordered from MakeTheOne for $109.00 with premium shipping for $12.99, total $121.99.
Ordered on Jan 27, 2015 8:05 PM.
Shipping was FedEx International Priority service.
Delivery attempted Jan 30, 2015 10:27 AM, but I was not available.
Package and held at FedEx distribution facility and re-attempted next business day.
Recommend adding note requesting signature release.
Started setting up the Windows system that shipped with the unit for home theater.
Installed the following software…
– VLC Media Player
– Combined Community Codec Pack
– Utorrent
– Google Chrome
– ClassicShell
– Notepad++
Added some bookmarks for online content…
System is now showing the "Test Mode" message again, all of a sudden. Found a video on how to get rid of it…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_4xd0Rc_4c
Basically, open run sysprep and click Generalize with other settings defaulted, but this may wipe out all of the previous configuration, so gotta make notes first.


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40 Acre Desert WildernessCasa Grande, Arizona
Set amid the lush landscapes of the high Sonoran desert, these 20 to 50 acre parcels enjoy scenic mountain views and solitude in a quiet and secluded setting. The properties are situated in the Aguirre Valley fifteen minutes south of Arizona City and Interstate 10. Each parcel enjoys uninterrupted views of the Sawtooth and Silverbell mountain ranges which rise up from the desert floor to form a beautiful backdrop to each property.
Each acreage enjoys paved road access and close proximity to water, telephone and power service. General Rural zoning allows a wide range of uses including livestock, manufactured housing and agricultural development as well as additional lot splits down to 1.25 acres. The ability to split off and sell additional lots can help meet both investment goals as well as estate planning objectives. Each tract is bounded by hundreds of acres of State Trust lands and their pristine Sonoran desert landscapes. These lands are held in trust and provide a quiet and scenic backdrop to each property.
Shopping is a short drive away in the communities of Arizona City and Casa Grande where a fine compliment of services await. Both Phoenix and Tucson with their big city attractions are 45 minutes away in either direction via the I-10 onramps at Arizona City.
There is no property owners association to contend with. Each property is independent of the others and free of property owner association rules and regulations. There are no CC&R's or annual association assessments to pay.
Pinal County 16 miles south of Arizona City & I-10 in south central Arizona.
Access is paved all the way to each property via the Arizona City off ramp on I-10.
Each tract is within a short extension of metered domestic water and underground power service.
Surrounding Areas
The land surrounding the properties is primarily virgin desert and agricultural farmland. State Trust lands border the properties to the west and south. Light density residential borders them to the west and agricultural lands border them to the north. Just to the south is the 129,000 acre Ironwood Forest National Monument with its miles of hiking trails winding through
stunning Sonoran Desert landscapes.
Exceptional winter weather during the months of November through April. Daytime highs average in the mid 70's to low 80's under bright clear sunny skies Nighttime lows average between the upper 30's to the low 50's during these months. Temperatures begin to rise in May and remain hot throughout the months of June, July, August and September, then moderate at the beginning of October.
A short drive away in Casa Grande is Promenade Mall where Ross, Dillards, Kohls, Marshalls, JC Penny and a host of other shops are available. Just west of Arizona City on I-10 is a discount outlet mall with its 26 national brand stores.
Casa Grande offers a host of medical services including the Banner Casa Grande Medical Center.
Seller Financing
No qualifying seller financing is available on all tracts. There are no closing costs, no prepayment penalties and the loans are assumable.
10% down 8% interest 15 years
20% down 3% discount 7% interest 15 years
30% down 5% discount 6% interest 15 years
Cash 7% discount
20-50 Acre Desert Ranches
Tract A – 23.42 acres $46,800
Tract B – 19.46 acres $38,900,
Tract C – 21.55 acres $42,500,
Tract D – 48.94 acres $79,500,
Tract E 49.07 acres $79,750.
The Timeless Legacy of Land Ownership
John Hohlbaugh