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A Guinness World Record attempt at creating the largest comic book.
Mapambano is derived from Swahili. It means struggle and gives rise to the project's theme 'Struggles of the African Child'.
AIM: Creating a 10-paged Comic Book of 182.88cm by 91.44cm in an attempt to break the record for the largest comic book in the world. Beaming attention to the issues faced by the African child.
From poverty, exposure to diseases, malnutrition, poor newborn care, poor hygiene, limited access to quality education, child labor, child marriage, violence, female genital mutilation, amongst others.
Every child has a story to tell... It would be told on April 27, 2019 at the JJT Park, Alausa ; Ikeja, Lagos
Managed by the Lagos State Parks and Gardens Agency (LASPARK), Johnson Jakande Tinubu (JJT) Park is a modern recreational Park with lots of facilities including Children's play area, dry fountain, gazebo, love nest, rock formation Eyo waterfall, flags and educational information of all African countries, seating area, car park and free WiFi. The JJT Park is located in front of the State House of Assembly and occupies a land area of approximately 21,880sqm.
Learning, Networking, Art Exhibition, Kids art, Speed art, Book reading, Talk, fun fair, Games
Artists,Communication Experts,Industrialists,Parents,Royal Leaders,Religious Bodies,Civil Organizations,Task Agencies,Policy,Makers,GeneralPublic,Government, Students,Parents,Colorists,Penciler,Animators,Cartoonist,
llustrators,Doodle Artists,Education and Training Authorities
- Join 2000+ local and international attendees in Lagos.
- Meet with internationally accredited experts in the HVA & development spaces
- Experience 200+ art exhibitions.
- Take advantage of innovative formats for interactive engagement.
- Gain practical learning.
To Volunteer, Participate or Sponsor
+234 (0) 805 5903 206
+234 (0) 805 7107 982


text:
August 07, 2020
Fourth installment of sustainability report highlights new achievements and programs for community and employee-centered initiatives
Submitted by: Smithfield Foods
Categories: Philanthropy & Corporate Contributions, Sustainability
Posted: Jul 27, 2016 – 08:15 AM EST
SMITHFIELD, Va., Jul. 27 /CSRwire/ - Today Smithfield Foods, Inc. announced a new record for its charitable giving and employee engagement efforts with the release of the Helping Communities and People sections of its 2015 Sustainability & Financial Report. These sections detail achievements and progress in Smithfield's efforts to support the vitality of local communities and provide safe, rewarding jobs for employees.
In 2015, Smithfield increased its total charitable giving by more than 30 percent over the previous year to $27.1 million. This includes food and cash donations provided to charitable organizations both by Smithfield and through its cause-related partnerships, which raise funds for charities and create positive change for issues related to hunger, education, health and wellness. Smithfield supported these partnerships with more than 100 cause-marketing events, a 400 percent increase over the previous year.
While cash donations increased by 25 percent, Smithfield increased its food donations by more than 37 percent. Last year, Smithfield donated 18.8 million servings of protein to food banks nationwide through Helping Hungry Homes®, a company initiative focused on alleviating hunger across the country.
"As a global food company, we understand the importance of proper nutrition and value our responsibility to improve food security across the country," said Keira Lombardo, senior vice president of corporate affairs for Smithfield Foods. "We're passionate about strengthening the communities where our employees live and work and creating opportunities for our people to excel both personally and professionally."
Smithfield also gives to support educational opportunities by providing academic resources for employees and their families. In 2015, Smithfield gave more than $1 million in educational assistance programs. This includes tuition reimbursement for employees earning their bachelor's or master's degrees as well as educational scholarships provided to dependent children and grandchildren of employees by the Smithfield Foundation, the company's philanthropic wing.
In addition to education-focused initiatives, the People section of the sustainability report details new milestones in Smithfield's efforts to foster engagement and a company culture that nurtures and rewards employees. Organizational changes include establishing a chief people officer, creating a centralized talent development function to manage training and employee development activities, and developing a key leadership position focused primarily on diversity and inclusion. The report also includes new and revitalized employee engagement programs as well as innovative technology and methods to advance employee safety and wellness.
"At Smithfield we understand that our success relies on the health and engagement of our employees," said Mark Garrett, chief people officer for Smithfield Foods. "We're improving our programs and creating new ones to better support our employees including new resources tailored to meet the needs of minorities, millennials, women and other underrepresented groups so that we may better leverage the unique strengths of all employees looking to build a career with Smithfield."
This is the fourth of five installations of Smithfield's annual sustainability report, published in segments organized by pillar of the company's sustainability program. The goal of the multiphase release is to better engage a broad range of stakeholders by delivering information in a more accessible, meaningful way. Following the release of the Helping Communities and People sections of the report, Smithfield will make the Full Report available in mid-August.
The Helping Communities and People sections are now available. This release follows the Animal Care, Environment, and Food Safety and Quality sections.
About Smithfield Foods
Smithfield Foods is a $14 billion global food company and the world's largest pork processor and hog producer. In the United States, the company is also the leader in numerous packaged meats categories with popular brands including Smithfield®, Eckrich®, Nathan's Famous®, Farmland®, Armour®, John Morrell®, Cook's®, Kretschmar®, Gwaltney®, Curly's®, Margherita®, Carando®, Healthy Ones®, Krakus®, Morliny®, and Berlinki®. Smithfield Foods is committed to providing good food in a responsible way and maintains robust animal care, community involvement, employee safety, environmental and food safety and quality programs. For more information, visit www.smithfieldfoods.com.
For more information, please contact:
For more from this organization:Smithfield Foods

subset: commoncrawl


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What we believe:
- The Godhead is triune: one God, three persons - God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit - all equal, all knowing, all powerful, eternal.
- The Holy Bible (66 books) are the written Word of God. The Bible is divinely inspired and inerrant from beginning to end. The contents of the original autographs are trustworthy, accurate, and complete. It is authoritative not only spiritually, religiously, but also historically and scientifically.
- Scripture is best interpreted by Scripture.
- All sin leads to death, defined as eternal separation from God and His provision.
- Jesus of Nazareth (the Christ) was a historical figure, both fully human and fully God. He was born of a virgin (Mary) and the Holy Spirit nearly two thousand years ago and is the most singularly important person in all history.
- Jesus Christ (God the Son) paid for the sins of mankind by His death on the cross. He rose from the dead, ascended to Heaven, and is now seated at the right hand of the Father. Jesus is the only path to eternal salvation: a gift freely given to any who will submit themselves to Christ, by His grace alone. Rejection of Jesus Christ leads to eternal separation from God and His provision.
- Mankind was made in the image of God; all human life is sacred and begins at conception (fertilization).
- Marriage was defined and instituted by God from the beginning (Genesis) and as such is only between one man and one woman, exclusively for life.


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When I was a kid, I thought camping was what people did when they couldn't afford to go on real vacations. Leaving the comfort of my home, braving inclement weather and eschewing bathrooms without hovering mosquito catchers wasn't my favorite way to spend a few days.
As I got older, I learned that a lot of people in the Northwest (including my dad) like camping (unironically).
I was always being invited on some trip. "We'll hike in! We'll cook outdoors! There will be no one around for miles!" friends would say. They said all of these things like I was supposed to think they were good.
On one of the last camping trips I ever accepted, I went along because one member of the group was a professional chef. At the very least, I expected the food to be exceptional. We hiked in, set up camp and he got to work, crafting a delicious dinner I would have been happier eating inside.
The next morning, it rained so hard that everyone stayed inside the tents, reading. I volunteered to find dry firewood in the forest, intent on some egg dish he was cooking inside plastic bags. Four hours later, he served breakfast — I was soaked to my skin, eating eggs cooked in a bag. It was a low point.
Now, when people ask me about camping, I say: "You know, no one has to call it the great indoors. Everyone already knows."


text:
2017 Kia Soul Base vs. Plus (+) vs. Exclaim (!) Tampa Clearwater St. Petersburg FL
The 2017 Kia Soul is the latest in a lineage of crossover vehicles with a stunning combination of efficiency, features and fun design that has set the automotive industry on fire since it was first introduced nearly 10 years ago.
While every trim option of the 2017 Soul comes with 61.3 cubic feet for cargo to go along with the interior comforts and safety features that combined to earn it a spot on U.S. News & World Report's "2017 Best Cars for Families" list, there are differences between the trims - the Base, Plus (+) and Exclaim (!) - that we would like to point out so you can find the ideal vehicle for your driving needs. Keep reading for a deeper look at the different trim levels of the 2017 Soul.
Compare the Soul with Competitors
|Trim Level
|Plus (+)
|Exclaim (!)
|Friendly Kia VIP Price
|MPG (city, highway)
|25, 30
|25, 30
|26, 31
|UVO3 eServices?
|Voice-Command Navigation?
Bring More (Kia) Soul to the Tampa, Clearwater and St. Petersburg FL Area
The Base trim option of the 2017 Kia Soul comes with 130 horsepower and the base entertainment package, with six speakers and no UVO eServices, but it has a spacious interior with 101 cubic feet for passengers.
The Plus trim option has an uptick in performance with 164 HP, and also comes with the most exterior color options, with 10 total, while maintaining the base fuel economy of 25 mpg city, 30 mpg highway. UVO3 eServices are available.
The Exclaim trim option has an all-new turbocharged engine that churns out 201 HP, plus there is an increase in fuel economy at 26 mpg city, 31 mpg highway. UVO3 eServices are standard for this trim option, as well as voice-command navigation.
The 2017 Kia Soul is revamped with an all-new engine option and plenty of the fun features and affordable pricing that make it a smash hit everywhere you go! We proudly have the Kia Soul on the lot at Friendly Kia, 5819 US Highway 19 in New Port Richey, FL. We also serve the Tampa, Clearwater and St. Petersburg area. Call us at 877-544-6706 or come visit us so you can take the Kia Soul for a test drive and fall in love today.
If you plan on purchasing a new or used car, please take advantage of our trade-in policy and our exclusive partnership with Kelley Blue Book KBB.com's Trade-In Marketplace/Buying Center.


text:
During the week, he's officer Chris Wyatt, a veteran of 24 years with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.
His beat is the streets of downtown Jacksonville, which he patrols on foot.
On weekends, Wyatt becomes Mr. C., a Christian clown who performs at kids parties, church festivals and other events.
About a decade ago, Wyatt, the father of three, was working a lot of off-duty jobs to help pay for the home he and his wife, Evelyn, had purchased in Argyle Forest.
"I was missing home life, my family and my church," he said.
He got an idea for a different way to make some extra cash.
"I had a vision of balloons," Wyatt said.
He set up shop at the Pecan Park flea market, making and selling balloon animals.
He made about $75 that first day. Another vendor told him that if he wanted to get more attention and sell more balloon animals, he should dress as a clown. So Wyatt strapped on a big red nose.
"I definitely got more attention," he said.
He also got a job offer from someone who wanted him to perform at a children's party.
"I went home and told my wife, 'I'm going into the clown business,' " Wyatt said. "... I have not worked an off-duty job since then."
As he's gotten older, he's found the physical demands of being a clown a challenge.
"I can't be doing all that hopping," Wyatt said.
To compensate, he has added Bob the Train, a trackless train with an engine and four cars in which passengers can ride.
A native of Fort Wayne, Ind., Wyatt came to Jacksonville while in the Navy. After leaving the Navy, he stayed, working as a civilian at the Naval Air Station Jacksonville. He joined the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office in September, 1989, and is planning to retire in December 2014.
But he'll keep being Mr. C, keep running Bob the Train and making his balloon animals.
"God has blessed my talents and gifts," he said.
To contact Mr. C, call (904) 703-9594.
Charlie Patton: (904) 359-4413


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Training the Versatile Hunting Dog, Expanded 2nd Edition by Chuck Johnson
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Chuck Johnson has owned and trained versatile hunting dogs for 25 years. He is also the Versatile Hunting Dog editor of Pointing Dog Journal. Training The Versatile Hunting Dog shows you how to develop a great hunting dog with Chuck's new approach.
This approach emphasizes letting your young dog develop his natural abilities, desire, search, pointing, and tracking first. Then, after his first season, putting on the controls, force breaking to retrieve, and whoa training. The versatile breeds also love water, and there are detailed chapters showing you how to train your dog to be an outstanding water retriever. This is a revolutionary book written for the popular versatile hunting breeds: German shorthairs, wirehairs, griffons, Vizslas, and Weimaraners.
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text: 'Shotgun Soliloquy (Ragga Remix)' gives you yet another peek into WAKE THE CITY, the budding musical collaboration between Guante and SEE MORE PERSPECTIVE. This "premix" of sorts is a remix of a track that has yet to be released. That's just how we get down at the Boombox Emporium. The Rube's simultaneously throwback and forward-thinking production suits the rappers' boombap tendencies perfectly. Expect to hear more funky concoctions from these three in the future, probably sooner than you think!


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Prison Visitation
To prevent the potential spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), prison visitation was suspended as of Monday, March 16, 2020, with the exception of legal and pastoral visits. Those visitors will be subject to medical screening prior to entrance.
The health and safety of employees and offenders in our care are the top priorities of the Department of Public Safety. THIS IS NOT A STATEWIDE LOCKDOWN OF PRISONS. We apologize for the inconvenience this may have on offender families and friends. Visitation will resume when conditions are deemed safe.
For information on coronavirus and how to protect yourself, please go the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services website http://www.ncdhhs.gov/coronavirus.
For information on what other moves Prisons is making to combat coronavirus, click here.
Visitation by family and friends is encouraged and can make a positive difference during an offender's time in prison. Prison staff understand the importance of offenders maintaining contact with their family and friends. However, offenders can not be assigned to specific facilities within the prison system for the convenience of visitation.
For more information regarding prisons and visitation, please read the Handbook for Family and Friends of Inmates.
Entrance Procedure
Since Oct. 16, 2017, anyone age 16 and older is subjected to a "pat/frisk" search, along with a search by electronic device, by correctional officers prior to entering any state prison. All searches are conducted by the least intrusive means. The mandatory procedure is a revision of the current Prison Entrance/Exit Policy (Chapter F .3300), which did not require a mandatory "pat/frisk" search.
The increased safety and security measures are implemented to address, and ultimately eliminate, the introduction of contraband into state prisons. Any refusal to comply with all search procedures will result in the denial of entrance into the facility. Cellphones are considered contraband and are prohibited from all prison facilities. Appropriate attire is required.
The "pat/frisk' process involves:
- Male officers will only be allowed to pat/frisk search male employees and visitors. Female officers may conduct pat/frisk searches on either male or female employees and visitors.
- At no time shall a staff member or visitor be asked to place his/her hands against a partition during a search.
- Visitors who call to make appointments will be advised that they are subject to the pat/frisk search upon arrival.
Questions concerning the prison Visitation Policy/Procedure (D.0200), should be directed to the warden of the prison you are visiting.
Prison Visitation Rules
Visitor Applications
Offenders must obtain blank application forms from the facility. A maximum of 18 applications will be allowed per offender.
Offenders must mail the blank applications to those persons from whom they wish to receive a visit while incarcerated.
An application for each adult and minor must be complete. Completed applications must be returned to the prison facility where the offender is currently housed. Prison mailing addresses can be found on the prison facility webpages.
Applications will not be accepted from offenders. Incomplete applications will not be approved.
Each applicant age 16 and older, must choose one of the approved picture IDs and attach a copy to the application. Driver license ID and state-issued ID's must be issued by any state Division of Motor Vehicles. Minors under age 16 must have a copy of their birth certificate attached to the application.
It is the offender's responsibility to notify the visitor of their application status.
It is the visitor's responsibility to update their application information. (i.e. address, phone numbers, etc.) Incorrect application information could lead to an approved visitor becoming disapproved.
A minor under the age of 16 must update their application upon reaching age 16 to include a copy of a photo ID.
Clergy visitors must complete a DC-949P application and be approved prior to visiting with an offender. They will not be counted as part of the 18.
Disapproving Applications
The following reasons MAY be grounds for disapproving a visitor application:
- Application form was copied and not an original.
- Application was not complete or did not include proper attachments.
- Application contained false information.
- The visitor has a prior criminal record. *
- The visitor was a participant in the criminal activity for which the offender is incarcerated. *
- The visitor is an ex-offender that has not been release for a minimum of 12 months. *
- The visitor is on probation/parole, supervised release or has not been off probation or supervised release for a minimum of 6 months. *
* There may be exceptions for these rules for immediate family members.
Offender Visitation List
Each offender is allowed 18 approved visitors (adults and minors).
Legal, law enforcement, consular officials, local and state Family Services and Juvenile Court officials must register with the facility prior to visiting with the offender. They will not be counted in the maximum 18 approved visitors.
Only immediate family members or those who have acted as immediate family, clergy, legal, law enforcement, family/juvenile services, or consular officials will be approved for visitation with more than one offender.
An offender's visitation list remains active when transferring to a new facility.
When an offender is released or paroled, the visitation list becomes inactive. If the offender is re-admitted, the visitation process must start over.
When an offender reaches the maximum number of 18 approved visitors, he/she will not be able to adjust their visitation list until their open enrollment period.
An offender's open enrollment period will be every six months based on the date of admission to prison. (i.e. offender's admission date is January; open enrollment is July and January) If an offender has 18 approved visitors and they want to add a new visitor during open enrollment, they must first remove one of the current approved visitors from the list.
An offender may request that an approved visitor be removed at any time. They may not add a replacement until his/her open enrollment.
If a facility suspends an approved visitor, the offender may not add a replacement until his/her open enrollment period.
An application for a new visitor must be submitted, completed, returned, and approved BEFORE the new visitor can visit. It is up to the offender to inform the new visitor of their visitation status.
Under normal circumstances, offenders will be allowed no more than one visiting session per week not to exceed two hours. This does not include legal, law enforcement, or clergy visits.
The normal maximum number of visitors per visiting session will not exceed three approved visitors.
Facility wardens have the discretion to modify the number of approved visitors during the visitation session based on operational and space considerations.
Violations of visiting privileges may result in disciplinary action against the offender and appropriate administrative or legal actions against the visitor.
Offenders with serious or critical medical conditions will be allowed visits by their immediate family members as specified by the facility warden.
Offenders on administrative or disciplinary segregation, or offenders in control status, except for protective control, will be restricted to non-contact visits by appointment. A facility warden has the discretion to alter the visiting times, frequency of visits, duration and number of visits based on security and/or operational considerations.
Offenders on administrative segregation may be allowed visiting privileges.
Offenders in disciplinary segregation will be allowed visits from attorneys, legal assistants and clergy. Personal visitation privileges may be limited consistent with security requirements.
Offenders validated as Security Threat Group Level 2 will be allowed contact visits with approved immediate family members. Offenders validated as Level 3 will be allowed non-contact visits with approved immediate family members. Offenders validated as Security Threat Level 2 or 3 will not be allowed visits with individuals who are not immediate family members.
Regular population offenders may be restricted to non-contact visits based on behavior detrimental to the security of the institution. (i.e. drug/alcohol disciplinary convictions, refusal to submit drug/alcohol test, disciplinary convictions or misconduct during visitation).
Appropriate Dress for Visitors
The following requirements are for visitors and apply at all facilities. The dress code will be strictly enforced. It will be the offender's responsibility to communicate these standards to his/her visitors.
- All visitors must pass through, and clear, a metal detector search.
- Shirts and shoes are mandatory.
- Halter tops, bare midriffs, strapless tops, tube tops, body suits, underwear-type T-shirts, tank tops, sleeveless shirts or dresses that are inappropriately revealing (a sleeveless shirt or dress is considered inappropriately revealing when the female breast or lingerie can be seen), fishnet shirts, or any type of shirt or pants made with see-though fabric are NOT allowed to be worn by any visitor (male or female).
- Visitors may wear Bermuda-length shorts provided they are not more than three inches above the kneecap.
- Females may wear dresses or skirts. Dresses or skirts may not be more than three inches above the kneecap. Slits in skirts and dresses may not be more than three inches above the kneecap. Dresses and skirts for pre-teens may be shorter than three inches above the kneecap.
- Any shirt or other articles of clothing with a picture or language that may be considered profane or offensive by current public standards or Adult Correction standards, or considered STG (gang) related will not be allowed.
- Wave caps, doo rags and bandanas are not allowed.
- Slacks and pants are to be worn at or above the waist.
- Spandex clothing is prohibited.


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Spirituality 101
Our mission: Earth & Water Wellness is dedicated toward helping enrich personal and spiritual growth within our clients.
The term "spirituality" is often used loosely, and may mean dramatically different things to various people, so the following article seeks to define and explain spirituality within the context of our mission at Earth & Water Wellness.
It's All About the Soul
At the core of spirituality is a belief that everyone is a soul incarnate. Essentially, souls are eternal beings that choose on occasion to incarnate into physical bodies on temporal realms such as Earth. Although many religions also teach belief in the soul, there are differences with what we are speaking of here. For one, religion tends to acknowledge the soul almost as an afterthought, something that we happen to possess, but only taking on importance after death. In contrast, spirituality stresses that we are souls first and foremost, and everything else follows from that primal fact
Many religions also teach dogma that says humans are born "sinful" and evil, and must be redeemed through various rituals and practices or else face eternal punishment. People can believe what they want, but the soul is oblivious to religion. Spiritual teaching simply points out that the soul has existed eternally, and chooses to incarnate for its own purposes. Even though it inhabits a physical form, the soul is intrinsically part of God and inseparable from God. What takes place in the "afterlife" is an interesting enough study, but not as important as understanding what the soul seeks to experience here and now.
It's all about the soul, because we each find ourselves here on this journey, but may not realize why or even who we really are. The ego-based mind we employ to navigate physical reality is not very good at sensing spiritual reality. From its limited perspective, we are suddenly thrust into a cold, frightening environment with nary a clue as to who we are or where we came from. The "amnesia" effect of incarnation is valuable for the soul to start each life with a clean slate, so that past lives that may have featured the same lessons and "cast members" do not inhibit us from plunging into our current lessons with full intensity.
It's all about the soul, because many of us get stuck and don't have a clue why. The soul often intends a challenging regime of lessons and experiences that made sense during pre-birth planning, but seem overwhelming when mired in the fog of ego-based consciousness. Since the ego has no recollection of signing up for such challenges, it tends to view life as stressful and filled with suffering for no good reason. Yet, much, if not most suffering results from resisting the lessons that our soul planned. Generally speaking, the soul will not plan suffering for its own sake. The only way out is to complete the lesson and fulfill the soul's agenda. Embracing the soul's agenda is the quickest route to happiness, fulfillment, and reduced suffering. In order to do that, we must gain some understanding of the soul and its agenda.
It's all about the soul, because a shift is taking place in human consciousness that causes spiritual understanding to be more readily accessible. Many mystics say we are headed toward a higher dimensional existence, with the entire planet making the transition. However, we still also exist as humans on a physical and causal plane. The exciting thing is, we can now more readily access and experience the best of both worlds. We can live with one foot grounded on Earth and "One Foot in Atlantis".
My term for this process is "The Fully Actualized Life" as featured in many posts on this blog.


text:
The purpose of this mini-essay is to present Canadian Indians as an internal colony and to indicate some aspects of a strategy for sovereignty.
An internal colony is a people subject to colonial rule within an imperialist settler-state. Possibly, six internal colonies exist: American Indians, Canadian Indians, Aborigines, Maoris and, by way of slavery and annexation, African-Americans and Mexican-Americans. These peoples are colonized within four imperialist settler-states: the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
Geographically, each internal colony is composed of many communities or territories that are distributed throughout an imperialist settler-state. Demographically, with the exception of the African-Americans and Mexican-Americans, internal colonies have small populations. Due to expropriation, the members of an internal colony are also members of the working class of an imperialist settler-state.
The concept of a Native internal colony is diametrically opposed to the new Canadian concept of First Nations. The concept of First Nations is a product of Canada's ongoing effort to make circumscribed treaties with Indian tribes and bands that will, ultimately, de-legislate the existence of a colonized people and, formally, incorporate them into Canada. Treaties are, by definition, made between nations. For the purpose of piecemeal treaty-making the federal government has designated Indian tribes and bands to be nations, i.e., First Nations.
The federal government is intent upon treaties as opposed to other types of agreements because the matter on which Canada wants resolution concerns the relationship between two peoples and, therefore, two nations. The "new relationship" that Canada wants to establish is, simply, one in which Indians no longer exist. Canada's present Indian policy is tantamount to bureaucratic ethnic cleansing and forced annexation.
In the federal government's comprehensive treaty process Indians are required, tribe by tribe or band by band, to (1) renounce their nationality by agreeing to remove themselves from the jurisdiction of the Indian Act and (2) cede their right to self-determination by formally incorporating into Canada. These requirements of the treaty process contravene Article 15 of the UN Universal Declaration on Human Rights and Article 1 of the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that state, respectively, "No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality" and "All peoples have the right of self-determination." Insofar as the treaty process is a bottleneck for receiving government funds and having Indian rights recognized, it is coercive.
The federal government's present Indian policy was, for a short time, proposed as the Government White Paper Policy on Indians (1969). The White Paper proposed to unilaterally abolish the Indian Act, the Department of Indian Affairs, Indian reserve land, old treaty rights, and aboriginal rights and title. This proposal was actively opposed by all Native people. The federal government began immediately to create a Native leadership that is dependent upon government funding and that can be depended upon to carry out government policy. In 1973, the federal government reaffirmed the objectives of the White Paper in its Comprehensive Land Claims Settlement Policy and, along with its captive Native leadership, proceeded to effect the objectives of the White Paper, bilaterally.
To date, Natives on 40 percent of Canada's land area (all of the North including northern Quebec) have signed treaties, and many tribes and bands in the South have entered the treaty process or have signed treaties.
Some Indian people accept the First Nations designation in that it appears to be a recognition of nationhood. It is true that the early treaties signed between the Indian tribes and Great Britain were made on a bona fide nation-to-nation basis. However, when the remaining British colonies in North America became the independent Dominion of Canada (1867), an imperialist settler-state came into being and within it was established an internal colony of Canadian Indians. The term "Canadian Indians" refers to the national entity created by internal colonialism, composed of the formerly independent tribal peoples, and, subjected to direct rule by Canada.
Furthermore, national entities exist in the contemporary world not only because of their moral entitlement but also because of their individual and allied power. Tribes were defeated at contact precisely because they were national entities on the level of tribes pitted, separately, against developing world empires. In the twentieth century, nations have demonstrated that, militarily, they can defeat imperialism in the Global South.
The situation and condition of the internal colonies ally them to the two great social movements of modern history – the national liberation movements in the Global South and the socialist movements in the imperialist countries. The national liberation movements are the principal and determining conflicts of our time. The victorious growth of these movements can only strengthen and help to define the internal colonies.
In the early twentieth century, the revolutionary movements in the imperialist countries were subverted by reforms conceded to the domestic working classes based on imperialist superprofits derived from the colonies.
The national liberation movements, inevitably, will weaken imperialism and preclude reformism in the imperialist countries. This will reawaken class struggles in the imperialist countries. The members of the internal colonies can be a part of these struggles, can demand support therein for the right of all oppressed nations to genuine self-determination, and can negotiate therein the terms of native self-determination.
The type of self-determination achieved by the internal colonies will be a product of national liberation in the majority world, choice in the internal colonies, and negotiation with worker's power in the imperialist settler-states. It may be that the settler-states and the internal colonies are so closely interrelated that complete separation is not possible. Sovereignty for the internal colonies may require economies that are integrated with those of the former settler-states and rights of dual citizenship for those resident on the land of the other. While sovereignty cannot be the answer to all the world's problems, unity and peace are unlikely to be achieved without the prior liberation of the oppressed nations.


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Parents roles are to support children when they need it and phase out that support as children are more able to do tasks on their own. Roles include toileting, dressing and taking care of their own toys are skills developed when they are younger. As they get older, responsibilities should increase along with privileges so children are able to learn independence skills to phase out of dependence of adults to only verbal reminders. This is a task that is so much easier said than done and is a continuous, unrelenting process, sigh… → Read more
When life is going well, we cruise along without a care in the world. There is effort in the day to day but it may seem as though we can do anything and often not a lot of extra thought into what we are doing. Yet, when things go wrong and they sometimes (usually) will, it takes extra effort, thought and most times some problem solving skills to get through it. As adults, we are able to access previous experience and background information to help us through these situations, we may even ask for help so we have the skills to get us through tough situations. The people in our lives while growing up as well as a little of hard knocks of life taught us how to persevere through tough situations and that is the same or even more so today. → Read more
The tantrum at the store, the blowup at the friends house or the refusal to leave somewhere fun are all issues of the prek world. Some children may be able to go with the flow with minimal outbursts while others may do all of the above every time and more. Some children may be strong willed with their own ideas and others may be experimenting with independence which is typical behavior yet can be exhausting. → Read more
When providing learning experiences for toddlers, it is quite different than conventional adult directed activities. Toddlers have short attention spans and don't take in a lot of lengthy directions or discussions. In order to get them to participate and stay for a moment, the experience needs to be rich in sensory stimulation as well as some back and forth interaction. → Read more
The most important meal of the day…breakfast is the meal that fuels the brain and body work for the morning and starts the momentum of the day yet the majority of food marketed for breakfast does quite the opposite. Being informed of what the best foods and worst foods for your kids can be the difference between rough starts and solid starts. → Read more
Brains need fluids and when kids start school, it is especially important that kids are getting enough to drink to keep the brain (which is made up of 75% water) and body hydrated. Think of a sponge, when it is hydrated it is bouncy and squishy and when it is dry, it is hard. When the brain is dehydrated, it is hard for the dendrites to make connections and in turn, thinking gets slower and more labored. → Read more
The number one hardest part of parenting and one of the most important aspects of parenting is the follow through. From the promise to go to the park to the time you say you will leave if a child does a behavior again, it is important to follow through with what you say you are going to do. → Read more


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Health RSS
Crystallised Honey - Is it OK to eat?
Your honey is crystallising. It's become grainy and starting to solidify. Time to throw it out right? Wrong! Honey is one of the only food products that has a near unlimited shelf life. Crystallisation or candying of honey is a completely natural process and nothing to be feared. Lets take a closer look. Honey is more than 70% natural sugar and less than 20% water content. You don't need to be Einstein to realise that it's unlikely for all that sugar to stay in solution without some sort of intervention. Many of the larger honey brands, the ones that you...
The best ever, all natural, Cold and Flu remedy
The cold weather is here again and winter is knocking on our door. It's cold and flu season. Read on for our unbeatable cold and flu remedy! Honey, Ginger, Lemon and Cinnamon Tea This tea is not only delicious, but each of the ingredients has been carefully selected to give you the immune boost and cold and flu-fighting power you need. Honey soothes the throat and reduces coughing, which helps you get a better night's sleep (You need to be well rested to fight off that cold!). It has natural antiseptic and anti-microbial properties helping your body to fight off the...
More than sweetener. Honey's amazing health benefits.
Honey. It's a delicious natural sweetener but the health benefits of consuming this simple natural product are even more amazing. We'll take a closer look at these benefits in this article. It's believed that humans have been harvesting honey one way or another for over 10,000 years. There are numerous references to honey over this time including rock paintings and drawings, honey and honeycomb found buried in tombs in ancient Egypt and references to it in ancient texts such as the Bible and Quran. During this time humans have eaten honey, used it to heal wounds, traded it, fermented it...
- All
- Acne
- Allergies
- Bee
- Bee Friendly
- Bees
- Burns
- Cancer
- Candied
- Cinnamon
- Cold
- Cough
- Crystallised
- Dandruff
- Elixer
- Flowers
- Flu
- Gardening
- Get Well
- Ginger
- Glyphosphate
- Granulated
- Hangover
- Hay Fever
- Health
- Health Benefits
- Heart Burn
- Heat Treated
- Hive
- Hive Removal
- Home
- Honey
- Ill
- Itchy Scalp
- Lemon
- Medicine
- Memory
- Pesticides
- Pimples
- Raw Honey
- Reflux
- Remedy
- Removal
- Round Up
- Save the Bees
- Sick
- Sneeze
- Solid
- Sore Throat
- Swarm
- Swarm in Tree
- Tea
- Unwell
- Weed control
- Weeding
- Weeds
- Wellness
- Winter
- Wounds


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The card allows you to use up to 5.5MB of RAM without affecting the PCMCIA port but above this the PCMCIA port is unusable. The card was also supplied with a program called MagicMem.
Using the MagicMem Program
The "MagicMem" program operates automatically, and does not require any input from the user. If there is a 1-meg SIMM installed in te DKB 1202 card (and the jumper settings correctly reflect this configuration), the program will add this memory to the computer. If there are two 4-meg SIMMs installed (and the jumpers are set for 4 megabytes), the program will check the existence of a PCMCIA card. If none are present, the entire 4megabytes of memory will be added in its normal address space. If such a card is present, however, 1.5 megabytes out of the second 4 megabytes will be added at the $C00000 address space for a total of 5.5 megabytes, the maximum amount of expansion RAM that can be added when a PCMCIA card is in use.
For advanced users, there are two ToolType options which may be set by selecting the "MagicMem" program icon, and selecting the "Information" menu item from the "Icons" menu of the Workbench screen. The NO4MEG ToolType will always add the second bank of memory at the $C00000 address space, so that you can never have more than 5.5 megabytes of expansion RAM. The NOC00000 ToolType will never add the second bank of memory at the $C00000 address. If you use both ToolTypes, the second bank of memory will never be added.


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In my last post, I shared with you about my personal journey
to self-advocacy and how it was not only a valuable skill for me, but a valuable
skill for us to teach to our students. As special educators, we look to find
ways to empower our students and encourage their growth every day.
The one skill that is sometimes unintentionally overlooked
is self-determination. Self-determination is not only having the ability to
self-direct one's life but it encompasses many skills, including making choices, problem
solving, making decisions, setting and attaining goals, self-awareness, self-regulation,
self-advocacy and self-efficacy (Wood, Karvonen, Test, Browder, & Algozzine,
So, I invite you and your students to take this journey with
me. Our first stop is continuing to look at self-advocacy and explore10 steps
mentioned on a The LD Pride website,
which I found helpful. This website also shares a self-advocacy manual that
could be provided to some of your students or used as a resource for teaching.
The 10 Steps are:
- Accept your disability.
- Admit your
disability to others.
- Understand your learning style.
- Realize how "other issues" might interfere with your
- Know what you need.
- Anticipate your needs in each class.
- Know your rights and
- Be willing to compromise.
- Know where to go for support.
- Plan for the future.
I would like to challenge all
of my Reality 101 readers to share how you are encouraging the self-determination
and self-advocacy of your students. If you are not currently teaching, how
would you teach these skills to your future students? What are some of the
barriers you might face? Are any steps in the process missing from this
list? My hope is that we can come
together to share and discuss ideas to help us all better help our students.


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When Yelp is good enough can anything else beat it?
Yelp is like that relationship you've stayed in for three years simply because you're too lazy to get out of it. Yeah, Yelp isn't your dream mate. Sure, it's got a lot of flaws that get on your nerves and make you wonder what the hell you're doing still using it. Perhaps you're perfectly aware that there's some better restaurant review option out there. But at the end of the day inertia wins out.
On Friday, a new app called Wisely launched on iOS in an effort to take on Yelp and win your heart. Here's the pitch. Users link their credit cards to the app, which collects data on when and where they're spending money. That data is anonymized and aggregated among all users, providing an objective map of the most popular bars, restaurants, and cafes around. The idea is that its "democratizing" financial data, a claim made before by companies like failed Blippy.
Wisely has its own value add, but I'm just not quite sure it will win against the entrenched Goliath in the space.
Although it wasn't first to restaurant user reviews, Yelp conquered almost all who came after. Its network effects were just too high. There were enough people on it, reviewing a wide enough swath of restaurants in far flung corners of the nation, that any other application struggled to compete. The only user review platforms that have come close to challenging it on a large scale are tied to service professions, like Angie's List, or have reviews as an after thought, like Foursquare or Google Maps (reviews powered by Google Places).
Yes, news frequently breaks that some Yelp reviews are forged. Sure, there have been rumors about companies advertising with Yelp in exchange for the removal of negative reviews. Of course, the sheer subjectivity of the platform meant that after skimming hundreds of review for different restaurants in the area they all seemed to blend together, with near equal shares of "I love this place!!!!" posts beneath "The waiters are all dicks and the food is crap."
Unfortunately for Wisely, Yelp is good enough. Ish.
Wisely's objective data about restaurants' popularity may be a welcome change from the bipolar pages of Yelp reviews. But to collect such objective data, Wisely will need to bring a large swath of the population on board with the app, a task easier said than done.
Its co-founder Mike Vichich has a grand vision for the product that extends far beyond just competing against Yelp. "The notion of democratizing data, that's what I want my life to be about," Vichich says. "Finance underpins everything." He imagines the Wisely platform eventually mapping costs and spending in sectors as wide ranging as healthcare and education. "If we could apply it to hospitals we could find out how much an MRI costs here or there. There's so many things you can do with it," Vichich says.
It's noble in theory. But to get there Wisely needs to get many many users excited about the product such that they'll link up their credit cards with the app. And Yelp users are not an easily swayed bunch.
It doesn't help that the end of the day, a more objective Yelp is not that exciting of a pitch. In-N-Out might be the most popular burger joint in town according to users' repeat visits, but that doesn't mean I'd prefer it over an Umami or a Slater's. People have different preferences and tastes, so as imperfect as the Yelp reviews might be, they're still more likely to point me in the right dining direction than customer spending data.
Plus Wisely will need to get more credit cards onboard -- at the moment the app can only track the spending of AmEx users. As a result, when I check out the app a bar like The Wreck Room has 0 percent repeating customers. It's not that The Wreck Room doesn't get people coming back a second time -- it's just that there's probably only a few people who have AmEx, linked it to Wisely, and used it at The Wreck Room.
Although it will be an uphill battle acquiring customers for the company, Wisely is off to a promising start. Apple chose to feature it in the iOS app store when it launched on Friday. Perhaps there are enough people out there excited about financial data to get this Yelp competitor going.


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While I've made the decision to not invest the time and energy required to format "Ophelia's Wayward Muse" for the Kindle, Nook, and other tablets, I have decided to offer a .pdf version of the book for sale on Lulu.com
There are a few reasons for this. The product I designed was specifically designed to be appreciated as a book. From the cover art to the colours to the font choices, it has a slightly antiquated and personal feel that simply can't be conveyed on a computer screen. I firmly believe that what I've created is meant to be read in such a way that you might forget, for a few moments, that everything we do is electronic, instantaneous, and impersonal.
Yet, I am aware that people enjoy having a lower-cost option available, and many people simply do not want stacks of books cluttering up a space. So, in the spirit of compromise, I'm offering an electronic edition of "Ophelia's Wayward Muse in old-fashioned .pdf format. There are no bells and whistles, and you're missing out on the back cover (which is really just a lovely quotation and my bio).
The .pdf is $2.99 (compared to $7.99 for a hard copy on Amazon.com), and can be purchased instantly on my Lulu Author Spotlight page. However, for the truly old-fashioned book lovers and romantic spirits, I'd still recommend ordering the book in physical form. You'll enjoy it all the more for being tangible.


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Pan roasted seabass, braised fennel, brown shrimp in a chive butter sauce.
Season the flesh side of the fish with salt and pepper. Score the skin of the fish 3 times with a sharp knife. Heat a non-stick pan until hot and add the olive oil. Place the fish in skin side down in the pan and turn the heat down to medium as soon as the fish hits the pan. After 3 minutes turn the fish over and take the pan off the heat, leaving the fish to carry on cooking in the pan.
Place the washed potatoes in a large saucepan of salted water and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes until just slightly tender.
Drain, and when cooled enough to touch, slice into thickish 2cm slices.
Cut the fennel into 6 slices width ways. Heat a pan to a medium heat and add the butter. When foaming add the fennel along with a pinch of salt and pepper. Colour for 2 minutes on each side. Add the sliced potatoes.
Pour in the fish stock to deglaze the pan along with the lemon thyme.
Cover with tin foil and place the pan directly in the oven to braise for 15 minutes.
Peel and finely dice the shallot.
Finely slice the chives but keep separate.
Sweat the shallots in 5g of butter until translucent.
Add the lemon thyme and the wine.
Reduce by half.
Over a very low heat slowly whisk the butter into the sauce a knob at a time. Finely chop the chives and whisk in with a squeeze of lemon and the shrimps. Check the seasoning and consistency of the sauce and adjust accordingly.
Place the fennel discs in the middle of the plate and place the fish on top. Spoon the sauces around the fish.
«If you have them add different seafood like mussels or clams into this recipe»


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Burn Fat Fast Cardio Blast
Get ready for insane RESULTS with our burn fat fast cardio blast that utilizes circuit training! If you are looking for serious results we got you covered!
Let's get started.
Healthy Living Starts Here
Circuit Training Equipment & Location
Exercise equipment includes:
Cardio machines
Circuit training does require using a lot of equipment. That's why we recommend gyms that feature express circuit training as part of their service such as Fit4Less.
The Fit4Less 30 Minute Express Circuit allows you to get to get to the gym and get out fast, giving you quick results so you can make the most of your day.
If you need additional motivation to start exercising, Fit4Less allows you to get results starting at $4.99 every two weeks (plus a joining fee).
Finally, there is a gym with minimal costs on a monthly basis!
Considering how large Fit4Less facilities are, the price is quite affordable! It has an array of free weights, weight machines, cardio equipment and a 30 Minute Express Circuit™ for those with limited time!
Key Highlights At Fit4Less
- Low Cost (starts at $4.99 every 2 weeks + joining fee)
- Most clubs are open 24/7 perfect for late night visits or early risers. Please confirm Club hours by visiting www.fit4less.ca/locations
- Convenient to join online or at a kiosk in-club at any location
- 50+ pieces of cardio, and strength training equipment and large free weight area
- Virtual cycling and virtual classes depending on gym location
- 30 Minute Express Circuit™
- Additional amenities include tanning, massage chairs and hydro massage beds depending on your gym location
Please Follow Fit4Less On:
Twitter, Youtube, GooglePlus, Facebook, Instagram
Scroll Below To See Full Instructions Along With Our Printable PDF For The Burn Fat Fast Cardio Blast
1) Ten exercises for the circuit
2) Instructions on how to perform each exercise
3) Infographic with visual instructions to follow online
4) Print PDF available at the end of the infographic
Squat Jumps
Jackknife From Lying Flat
Bodyweight Pistol Squats
Squat With Lateral Leg Raise
Glute Bridge to Leg Raise
Glute Bridge
Donkey Kicks
Plank Rotations
How To Do Squat Jumps
1) Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and lower into a squat position by bending your knees. Keep your spine straight, chest lifted, and knees behind your toes.
2) Jump up and swing arms overhead while keeping your arms at your side and return to the squat position.
How To Do Crunches
1) Lie on your back on the floor or an exercise mat.
2) Bend your knees, while lifting your legs so they sit at a 45 degree angle.
3) Place your arms behind your head.
4) Lift your shoulders towards the ceiling using your abdominal muscles.
5) Ease back down slowly as you inhale.
How To Do A Jackknife From Lying Flat
1) Lie flat on the floor or an exercise mat on your back with your arms extended behind your head with your legs fully extended.
2) As you exhale, bend at the waist while simultaneously raising your legs and arms to meet in a jackknife position.
3) Your legs should be extended and lifted at approximately a 35-45 degree angle from the floor, while your arms should be extended and parallel to your legs.
4) While inhaling, lower your arms and legs back to the starting position.
How To Do Bodyweight Pistol Squats
The pistol squat can be difficult to master, however this technique builds amazing leg strength without weights.
1) Stand on one leg, maintaining your balance and ensuring your weight is distributed through your heel. In addition, extend your arms out straight in front of you, and raise your other leg so your knee is bent. Your raised leg will give you additional stability.
2) Squeeze your core and your supporting leg. Slowly bend your supporting leg, lowering your torso downwards.
3) Your butt should be 1-2 inches off the ground, while your other leg should be extended out straight in front of you.
4) Squeeze your supporting leg and slowly raise your body upwards.
5) Repeat on the other leg.
How To Do A Squat With Lateral Leg Raise
Here's a move to make you feel the burn on both sides of your butt while helping you smooth out your saddlebags.
1) Stand with your feet shoulder-width distance apart, feet parallel. Hold your hands (with or without weights) out in front of you for balance. Bend your knees and lower your hips so your thighs are parallel to the floor, consequently keeping your weight back in your heels.
2) Rise back up, straighten your the legs and lift your left leg out to the side, squeezing your outer glute.
3) As you step the foot back into shoulder-width position, squat down again.
4) Stand back up and do a side leg lift on the right side, then lower the leg back to the starting position.
How To Do A Glute Bridge to Leg Raise
1) Lie on your back and bend your knees so your feet rest flat on the floor or exercise mat.
2) Raise one leg until it is stretched out (it can be straight or bent). Drive the heel of the grounded foot into the floor and push your hips up until your body is in a straight line from your shoulders to the toes of your outstretched foot.
3) Slowly lower yourself down and repeat.
How To Do A Glute Bridge
2) Lift your hips off the ground so your knees, hips and shoulders form a straight line. Squeeze those glutes and keep your abs tight so you don't overextend your back.
3) Hold your position for a couple of seconds before easing back down and repeat.
How To Do Donkey Kicks
1) Get on all fours on an exercise mat (hands under shoulders, knees under hips).
2) Bend your right knee at a 90-degree angle, flex your right foot and lift your knee to hip level.
3) Lower your knee without touching floor and lift again.
4) Switch legs, repeat.
How To Do Swimmers
Swimmers are a terrific way to work your whole body whilst giving your lower back a workout.
1) Lie on your stomach and squeeze your glutes as hard as you can, raising both legs off the ground.
2) Reach forward with your arms, keeping your palms facing downward a few inches above the ground.
3) Lift your alternate arm and leg up into the air, squeezing all of the muscles from your shoulders down to your glutes.
4) Repeat with the other arm rapidly.
How To Do Plank Rotations
1) Get into a plank position, hands under your shoulders with your feet hip width apart.
2) Twist your torso and lift your left hand towards the ceiling.
3) Bring your left hand back to its original position and repeat on the right side.
Additional Instructions
In addition to making sure you perform each exercise for the set number of seconds, make sure you do the required number of sets.
We Love Fast Results! Circuit Training Does Not Disappoint
Sculpt muscle and blast fat fast with a 20 to 30-minute workout that combines cardio and strength training. Circuit training can be done anywhere, at the gym or in your home.
Knock Out Boredom With A Punch
Circuit training, is a fun fast paced workout in a group setting that will sky rocket your motivation to keep you going.
Circuit training only requires you to perform 1 exercise for a minimum of 20 seconds depending upon the gym or class.
Benefits Of Attending Circuit Classes Or A Circuit Gym
- Solves exercise boredom
- Burns 10 calories per minute
- Raise metabolism
- Group setting enhances motivation
- Firms your muscles while burning fat
- It sculpts your entire body
- Get maximum results with less time
- Burn calories up to 48 hours after your workout
Intensity Level At Gym
All levels available
Muscle Groups Targeted
- Arms
- Back
- Core
- Glutes
- Legs
Type Of Exercise
Combination of strength and cardio
See INFOGRAPHIC Below
Print PDF Below
Fitness Training Resources
Our Best Home Based Printable Workout Routines
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Fit4Less. The opinions and text are all mine.


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It may not be sexy, but Jack Wallen believes the Pantech Breakout is a nice, inexpensive way to experience Verizon's 4G LTE network.
Purchasing a smartphone in the 4G LTE arena isn't exactly cheap. In fact, if you want to play with the big boys, you better be ready to pony up nearly $300.00 (even with a contract), which is out of reach for many users.
But then there's the Pantech Breakout. With this phone, you get on the 4G bandwagon for a fraction of the cost -- that is, $99.99 and a two-year contract with Verizon. However, does the low price equate to a cheap product? Let's take a closer look at the Breakout and find out.
- Weight: 4.87 oz.
- Dimensions: 5" x 2.54" x 0.47
- Battery: Talk: 5.8 hours max.; Standby: 300 hours max.; 1500 mAh Li-ion
- Display: Type: LCD (Color TFT/TFD); Resolution: 480 x 800 pixels 4" diagonal
- Processor: 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S2 MSM8655
- Memory: 234 MB internal storage; 8 GB card included
If you're surprised by the specs, I don't blame you. So far, all of the 4G phones have shipped with 4.3" screens, so the Breakout helps to lower cost by shipping with a smaller 4" screen. But the size is (mostly) not noticeable. And even though the processor is outpaced by other 4G offerings (for example, the RAZR ships with a dual-core processor), the device feels snappy running Android 2.3. It certainly outpaces any 3G-only handset (regardless of power).
There's very little sexy about the Breakout. It's not super slim, super light, or super stealthy -- but it is super functional. Some users may not like the placement of the buttons and ports, but I think Pantech has done a great job with placement. Here's how it lays out:
- Left side: Volume and voice control
- Right side: Power button, camera button, and micro USB port
What I like about this layout is that it allows the phone to be used completely with one hand. No matter which hand the device is in, you can access all buttons for all actions with that single hand.
The display is also quite nice. It's the same type as the Thunderbolt (WVGA), with only a slightly lesser resolution (due to the size).
On the down side, the case sort of has a cheapish feel. It's obviously not in the same class as the Bionic or the RAZR, but it's not at the bottom of the barrel either. Considering the price range, this handset is fairly solid and the outer casing has enough of a pebbled feel to keep the phone from slipping out of your palm or off a counter.
As I mentioned earlier, the Breakout ships with Android 2.3. It's not stock, so it has a Pantech overlay. It's not quite as sprightly as a straight up Android desktop, but it works well. And, as usual, you can add a different launcher (such as ADL or GO Launcher EX) to get away from the modified desktop. But for those who don't care to replace stock UI, fear not ... the interface works quite well with the hardware. You will experience a speedy, reliable Android experience.One of the nice "upgrades" to the stock UI is the addition of three icons on the lock screen (see Figure A) -- phone, messaging, and email -- which can be dragged to the center of the lock screen to immediately jump to that application. Figure A
Tap and drag one of the icons on the bottom to the light blue circle in the center of the screen to jump to that app.
General conclusion
The Pantech Breakout may be one of those phones that mobile snobs look down upon, but truth be told, it's a great bargain for anyone wanting to break into the fast world of 4G. And while a Bionic or a RAZR would be my first choice for 4G phones, I wouldn't sneeze at the Breakout. It's a worthy contender for your hard earned, mobile dollars.


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Powerful words every true artist needs to contemplate.
"It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.
It doesn't interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.
It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain!I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it, or fix it.
I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the…
View original post 270 more words


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Tulsi is also known as the "Queen of Herbs". Used for thousands of years, this major herb of India is classified as an Adaptogen.
Enjoy a pleasant cup of this Caffeine Free treat any time of day! Drink it hot or iced. Try it with vanilla.
Water Temperature: 206 F degrees
Caffeine Content: Caffeine Free
Steep Time: 5-7 minutes
Suggested Serving Size: 1 Tbsp/8oz
Ingredients: Tulsi
Origin: India
Talk with your healthcare provider before using herbs. We make no claims.
After Dinner Delight in the calming, rejuvenating flavors of after dinner tea to finish off...
Blood Orange Revitalize your taste buds with caffeine-free blood orange tea, which features notes of...
Celery seed (Apium graveolens) is used in cooking and it also makes a great herbal...
Chamomile Imbue your soul with relaxation with organic chamomile tea, available loose or with teabags....


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Canada's military says it plans as soon as possible to remove references [to] phrases from the Bible citations inscribed on some of its firearm sights that have whipped up a storm of controversy - writes Leanne Larmondin.
Before a US television network broke the news story on 18 January 2010, armed forces around the world - including the United States, Britain, New Zealand and Australia - did not realise that U.S. manufacturer Trijicon had put biblical citations on firearm sights in use by forces in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Alongside the serial number on one type of Trijicon gun sight, an inscription reads JN8:12. In the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, John 8:12 reads: "Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life'.".
A Canadian Special Operations Forces Command spokesperson said the military has a limited number of the affected sights but he said the inscriptions are inappropriate and the armed forces will move as quickly as possible to rectify the situation.
Canadian military technicians are examining how to remove the inscriptions without damaging the sights. Trijicon, a Michigan-based company has a US$660 million contract to provide up to 800,000 sights to the US Marine Corps, and additional contracts to provide sights to the U.S. Army.
Trijicon announced it would provide free modification kits to remove the Scripture citations but it is uncertain when the kits will be available to Canadian forces.
In a 20 January statement on its website, Trijicon said future orders for the US military would not include the inscription. The company noted, "As part of our faith and our belief in service to our country, Trijicon has put Scripture references on our products for more than two decades."
General David Petraeus, head of the US Central Command, said he found it "disturbing" that the references were put on the gun scopes because of the perception they might convey that the US was on a Christian crusade in its war against Islam, an accusation that it indeed faces from some Muslims.
Australia and New Zealand also expressed concerned about the biblical references inscribed on the firearm sights.
[With acknowledgements to ENI. Ecumenical News International [1] is jointly sponsored by the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches and the Conference of European Churches.]


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Well the mould arrived looking like this which was quite an interesting way to package something. I guess it was cheaper that way.
|Six Heart Love Chocolate Cake Mould
I knew a 1kg batch of soap wouldn't fit into the one mould so I cleaned out my other heart mould ready to use if I needed it. When I was looking at it I saw there was a heart shape at the bottom of each heart so I had an idea for an experiment...as you do! I had been given some little heart shaped soaps by Suzie from The Curing Room so I wondered what it would look like if I put one in the bottom of a few soaps.
Well obviously it didn't work out but I have read that some soapmakers hide little animal shapes etc. in the soap they make for children which I would try doing if I had any children to make soap for. Give it a go if you are into soapmaking and let me know if it worked. I am sure it would if the shape was put in the middle of the soap when using different shaped moulds.
In this soap you only use olive oil and castor oil plus the lye and water of course but I wanted to see if I could colour the hearts a light pink so added 1t Australian pink clay (mixed thoroughlywith 3t of the oils earlier) into the mixture and was a bit disappointed when I unmoulded the soap the next day as it was white.
However, as it has started curing it is turning a very light shade of pink which is quite pretty but I can't really get the right colour when taking photos unfortunately.
I love this soap and, as I said before, it is one of my favourites. Next time I make it I will add more oil or water in with the clay as there are a few pink specks showing up in the soap even though I thought I mixed it thoroughly. This recipe is from a book I got from the library and I didn't put it through the soap calculator as it turned out well for me before although I didn't add the clay last time. The oil and lye need to get to 40C and I didn't wrap towels around the moulds overnight like I usually do.
Here is the recipe if anyone is interested. As I said it is a quick and easy soap to make and the heart shaped moulds make it look very pretty and great for gift giving.


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Artistic Innovation
Sometimes artists produce amazing innovations, with painstaking labour. Subsequent technology makes this painstaking labour unnecessary. We can recognize two separate innovations - the product innovation (what the artist produces) and the process/production innovation (what the technology produces).
What is the linkage between these two innovations? To what extent has the artistic innovation stimulated the technological innovation, established a proof-of-concept which technologists can then implement. Great art changes the way we perceive the world, and this may include changing our understanding of the possible.
One example I have quoted a couple of times is Karlheinz Stockhausen and the synthesizer. In the 1950s, Stockhausen and other composers produced some innovative pieces of electronic music, for which every sound had to be hand-crafted. Once the synthesizer had been invented, similar music could be easily produced with a few quick knob-twiddles. As a result of the widespread use of synthesizers in popular music, as well as the many rock musicians (Beatles, Can, Zappa) who pay explicit tribute to Stockhausen, a piece like Kontakte sounds a lot less strange to the modern ear than it did to the contemporary ear.
On this point I disagree with Brian Eno, who once commented that "Stockhausen was an example of a charismatic theoretician who inspired a lot of people but whose own work is generally unlistenable." [source: MOJO April 1997, interview with Andy Gill]
Does this familiarity diminish the striking originality of Stockhausen's work? Or should we regard Stockhausen's achievement with greater respect, because of his lack of tools, and his (arguable) influence over later technology as well as (acknowledged and unacknowledged) influence over later music-making.
I should also mention the BBC Radiophonic Workshop here. The brilliant Delia Derbyshire produced the original theme music for Doctor Who using hand-made equipment - music that today still sounds utterly wild and futuristic. (Sadly, the BBC no longer uses this version, and now plays a tame remix recorded with modern equipment.)
Similar examples can be found in the visual arts before the invention of photography. Many artists developed styles of painting and perspective which predated the modern camera.
Enterprise Innovation
I think there are three important patterns here that may be relevant for enterprise innovation.
- Innovation before automation. Don't automate something until you have understood it, simplified it, improved it. (This principle is sometimes known by the slogan: Don't pave the cow-paths.)
- Retain the capability for further innovation. Automation should not eliminate the possibility of hands-on creativity. Lewis Mumford (in Technics and Civilization) argues that it is generally beneficial to retain some 'craft' production alongside automated 'factory' production, as a source of 'education, recreation and experiment' and 'as a means to further insight, discovery and invention'.
- Invent in order to innovate. A composer such as Thomas Dolby, who sets out to invent new tools for producing music (including building new hardware and software), may thereby be able to produce music that is different to what everyone else is producing.
For further discussion of Stockhausen, see my posts on Thomas Dolby's keynote speech at the 2005 Rational Conference (May 2005), Lightweight Enterprise (March 2006), and Grandpa's SOA (Oct 2007).
Chloe Glover, Manchester honours the woman behind the pioneering music of Doctor Who (Guardian 10 Jan 2013)
Updated 12 Jan 2013 (Delia Derbyshire Day)
Updated 12 March 2015 (removed link to wrong Andy Gill)


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Blatchford: Even with the Jeffrey Baldwin memorial statue, people won't remember the horror of his life and death
TORONTO — It was never more than the mawkish comment of a man whose children were utter strangers to him and who was struggling to answer a lawyer's gentle questions about who Jeffrey Baldwin had been.
Richard Baldwin was Jeffrey's father, but he didn't have a clue about what the little boy had liked, what kind of child he was, what had made him tick.
So at the coroner's inquest into his son's murder last fall, when lawyer Freya Kristjanson was asking him about Jeffrey, Baldwin had to search his scant memories.
What he came up with was frankly observational, a list of things a passerby or one-time babysitter could have offered: Jeffrey was affectionate; he had blond curly hair; he loved dinky cars and, oh yes, Superman.
This man who about a month before Jeffrey died on Nov. 30, 2002 — finally wasted, starved and broken beyond repair — watched him crawl up the stairs in his grandparents' home because at the age of five he was too weak to walk, and who noticed that his son's face was sunken, and who did sweet bugger all to help him, then or ever, dared to say, "Jeffrey was my world. He was my little man."
From this caricature of a parental epilogue from this caricature of a parent was born a myth and a great kindness.
The myth is that Jeffrey loved Superman.
Maybe he did, but none of those who were in a position to know — his young and self-absorbed parents, the maternal grandparents who starved and neglected him unto death, the inept social worker from the Catholic Children's Aid Society of Toronto (CCAS) — paid enough attention to the little boy to actually know.
And all of them are nakedly unreliable or self-serving witnesses, just as they were in the witness stand at the inquest.
The original kindness came from an Ottawa man named Todd Boyce, who followed Jeffrey's wrenching story as it emerged last year via the coroner's inquest, and then raised the funds to erect a memorial to him and hired a sculptor. The secondary kindness came Wednesday in an announcement from DC Entertainment, the comic book publisher, which reversed itself and decided it will allow the Jeffrey statue to be dressed as Superman, complete with the iconic S shield.
Good for Boyce and good for DC Entertainment.
That said, I am enraged that anything that came out of Richard Baldwin's mouth should have led to this and cringe at the thought that years from now, people may see Jeffrey's statue and not have a clue as to the horror of his life and death and what it says of our world.
He died of pneumonia, septic shock and starvation. He weighed less at his death than he had as a healthy one-year-old — 21 pounds.
He and his sister, just a year older, were locked in a foul, unheated room of the grandparents' house. The little girl was probably spared only because she had started kindergarten for half-days, where she wolfed down all the snacks she could get.
Jeffrey spent most of his life in that fetid room, which reeked of feces and urine (the children couldn't get to the bathroom, their door being locked from the outside). When he was allowed out, he was usually forced to stand in a corner of the kitchen, variously called the "pig's corner" and the "pig wall," and sometimes allowed to root with his sister in a bowl of leftovers from the other members of the family.
He was always treated with contempt and cruelty.
Living in that small east-end Toronto house at the time were six adults: Elva Bottineau and Norman Kidman, the grandparents convicted of second-degree murder, and two of their grown daughters and their husbands or boyfriends.
There were also six children: Jeffrey and the neglected sister, two other siblings (who were not treated so shabbily, but were left scarred with guilt nonetheless) and a couple of cousins.
Bottineau and Kidman had gained custody of Jeffrey and his three siblings, with the approval of family court and the support, often overt, of the CCAS, because their parents (Baldwin and Yvonne Kidman) were good at having babies, not looking after them.
And though the parents weren't living at the house, and though their collective care could be described generously as cavalier, they knew enough of Jeffrey's deteriorating condition. Baldwin admitted this, reluctantly and furiously, only in cross-examination with Kristjanson, who represented Jeffrey's surviving siblings.
The key CCAS worker, Margarita Quintana, had inexplicably formed the view that Bottineau was a warm and motherly figure.
Neither she nor anyone else at the agency ever discovered what was long in their own files — that both Elva Bottineau and Norman Kidman were already convicted child abusers.
Quintana went on to have a full career, from which she has now retired, at the agency, despite her role as overseer in Jeffrey's death.
I have been writing about him since shortly after his death, on and off, at two newspapers. Yet when the inquest began last year, what had happened to this child (and to varying degrees to his siblings) was treated as news, when in truth the facts of the case had already been explored at the grandparents' murder trial in 2006, and before that, in the papers.
People didn't remember. Neither will they when they walk past the statue of him in his Superman outfit.
If I'd designed the thing, I'd have put food beside Jeffrey, and toys, and blankets — all the necessities of life, as they're called, that he was denied, not to mention the little luxuries, like love and kindness.


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My shop is for people who can appreciate imagination and frugality combined together to create one-of-a-kind handmade objects. My shop is for people who think that all existing objects of beauty and/or functionality should have another chance in life to make us happy.


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This is the new hype for Geeks, screenshots of a phone which resembles to a Playstation is all over Internet. All Tech sites are reporting on it. Even before launch or announce, it is marked as a trend in Twitter. A few Tech sites put down the specs as follows.
"...The device snapped up top (and in our gallery below) is sporting a 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8655 (a chip similar to the one found in the G2, but 200MHz faster), 512MB of RAM, 1GB of ROM, and the screen is in the range of 3.7 to 4.1 inches. The handset does indeed have a long touchpad in the center which is apparently multitouch, and you can see in the photos that it's still bearing those familiar PlayStation shoulder buttons. For Sony buffs, you'll be interested to know that there's no Memory Stick slot here, but there is support for microSD cards...."
More screenshots can be found Here.


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This is the first year we braved the cold rainy weather to go to the Oregon Zoo for their annual ZooLights. We went Friday, December 7th. When we arrived it was already dark and we were greeted by this amazing purple and green lit tree in the parking lot. My kids were excited as we exited the van. We quickly got our tickets and shuffled through the gate. I took some pictures of the zoo lights sign as we entered. Then we saw some spectacular light displays, some that seemed to be moving across the landscapes and others that blinked into different poses and positions.
Other firsts for us were riding the Thrill Ride simulator and the zoo train. For the Thrill Ride we got to pick out our movie simulation and we all agreed upon the Prehistoric Underwater one. We waited our turn under a covered area behind the ticket booth and I took some more pictures. We were handed 3D glasses and entered the simulator ride. The glasses were too big for my youngest daughter and so I held her in my lap so she could see the screen while holding her glasses on her face. My boys especially loved the simulator and would love to do another ride again someday. The simulator is hydraulically operated and it twists and turns to the movie so you feel like you are in a submarine.
We parked our stroller under a nice covered area just for that purpose. It was so nice of the zoo to provide these covered places so that the strollers and wagons wouldn't get soaked while we were riding the train. While we waited in line Teela hugged a person in a tiger suit. The steam train was all decked out in lights too and it's steam rose like an iridescent blue cloud from the smoke stack. The zoo train was very pleasant and even though the metal seats were cold we enjoyed seeing all the zoo lights all along the train ride. It was definitely a unique view of the lights and some of the lights that we saw can only be viewed from the train.
I was in awe at just how many lights there actually were and we didn't even seen all of them. We stopped and saw some hula hoopers that were also lit up for the event do their performance. I took a few more pictures and the kids were getting cold and hungry. We decided to go even though I would have loved to stay longer to see more and we totally missed the concert lawn lights which I heard from others were spectacular. I also heard that we missed out on some free fudge from the gift shop because we didn't bring an old string of Christmas lights. Maybe we can see more and get some fudge next year if they are still honoring the promotion. At some point we would also love to see the new baby elephant that was born recently too.
We had a lot of fun and we are glad we could go this year. We loved seeing all the magnificent lights and sights while we were there. We can't wait to go back next year to experience more.
2012 Oregon Zoo Lights Facts
What: "More than a million LED lights transform the Oregon Zoo into a luminous winter wonderland filled with moving sculptures, forests of lighted trees and animal silhouettes."
Admission: ZooLights admission is included in memberships at the Plus level and higher. Train and Thrill Ride simulator is extra, but can be purchased at a discount through member packages. If you buy one of the packages with the train at the admission counter instead of getting them after you enter you can skip the hassle of multiple lines for the train. You can also take advantage of some nice specials the zoo is offering for ZooLights.
Dates: November 23rd-December 31st, There will be no ZooLights Dec. 24 or Dec. 25.
Times: Sunday-Thursday hours: ZooLights gates are open from 5-8 p.m. Guests may stay on grounds until 9 p.m. Friday-Saturday hours: ZooLights gates are open from 5-8:30 p.m. Guests may stay on grounds until 9:30 p.m. Train will begin running around 5:15 p.m.
Preparation: Bundle up and check the weather forecast and temperature before going so you know how to dress. You might want to pack extra warm clothing just in case, especially if you are planning on staying long. The food stations and restaurants at the zoo do cost extra so you might want to pack food and drink for the trip. Take a stroller or wagon for small children and extra baggage. Come a little early to get a good parking spot.
Oregon ZooLights Link Up:
DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: Since I am in the Cascadia Connect group of bloggers I became aware of this event and was given free tickets for my family to go as well as free tickets for the zoo train and simulator ride. Thanks to the zoo and others involved for this opportunity. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for doing this promotion.


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Ok, back to Organicville's Dairy Free Ranch Dressing. I was jumping in the aisles of the grocery store (literally) when I saw this. I picked up my $4 bottle of salad dressing and ran and picked up every type of lettuce and salad topping you could imagine. I got home, made my perfect salad, turned on my tivo and took a bite. DISAPPOINTMENT! It was like a vinegar/soy milk combo. I checked out the website and there are a lot of great testimonials so I'm willing to give their other dressings a try but as for the ranch I recommend just googling a vegan ranch recipe and trying that one. In fact, here's one I googled. I'll try it and let you know how it goes...
Vegan Ranch Dressing
1/2 cup vegan mayonnaise
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon parsley, chopped
1/4 cup unsweetened soymilk
For the nutrition info check out http://www.recipezaar.com/132916


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Well after spending a significant amount of time in Michigan, I can confidently say that I am loving it here. I am glad that I am once again living with men I am comfortable calling my brothers. These past few days have been quite incredible. I am transitioning once again into living on my own…so to speak (living outside of my parents house). I am finding jobs to keep me busy while the long term work finalizes. We are also finding another apartment to live in and that is going very well.
It is a very specific, familiar feeling being back in Grand Rapids….like a warm blanket fending off a cold chill. Every street passed and smell taken in is a wave of nostalgia that had remained hidden to keep the pain at bay. Being away from my friends when I moved in 2008 was a painful experience. In order to take away some of the pain and enjoy my move back to Illinois, I had to separate nostalgia from friendship. It wasn't Calvin College I missed, or even GR necessarily. The thing I missed most was my family that I had made in Michigan.
But now that I am back in GR, living here once again, I can't help but fall in love with this city all over again. There is so much life, love, and happiness here that can't be explained. I am not really too sure what it is that makes this place so different from where I grew up, but it is clear and it is true.
I will work very hard in the time that I am here, and I will also relish in every moment that I can before I eventually leave here for my journey to New Zealand. I am excited, even as I write this post, knowing that one day my dream…will become a reality. I have stepped into a brave new world here in Michigan, full of opportunity, joy, peace, and friendship. I cannot see anything bad or painful at the moment, and that is what I need right now. I experienced enough pain last semester…
If you are my friend, and you know me well, then I thank God for you and how you have influenced me. No matter where you are now, or what we have both been through, I will always pray for you and give thanks for the moment when we met, and you blessed my life.


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Faux Fur Accent Poncho
Additional Information
Item Number:
Please Select Color & Size
Crafted in baby French terry with faux-fur trim at the cuffs, this layer takes your look to the next level. V-neck with contrast drawstrings and brushed silver grommets. Handkerchief hemline.
- Novelty poncho silhouette
- 30" longest length
- Cotton/poly
- Machine wash
- Imported
Fashion That Fits: A V-neck poncho with contrast drawstrings, brushed grommets and faux fur trim at sleeves offer a luxe upgrade to your cozy knits collection.


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ARRIVATO – ARRIVEDWednesday 8 November 2017
Standard: £7
Family: £22
A long running, well established and successful Performing & Production Arts Academy has arrived in Cheshire and Merseyside.
A show packed with all kinds of Dance and Musical Theatre, performed by the UK's future celebrities. It all starts here! Commercial Dance, Classical Ballet, Contemporary, Spanish Dance Urban…a show packed with variety.
Come and support the entertainers of the future and experience the technical side of theatre brought to you by a creative team of technicians soon to be working in a Theatre near you.


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Amanda's Journey
Morbidly Obese. Morbid. The first time I realized that my BMI of near 50 qualified me as Morbidly Obese, I was morbidly horrified. I had always been fat, or at least it seemed like it. I knew I was obese, but to put my height and weight into an online calculator and have the words MORBIDLY OBESE pop up stopped me dead in my tracks. It was a significant shock.
My life has been greatly impacted by my obesity. It affected every facet, including my family life, self-esteem, work and daily activities. Because of my weight I had a long list of CAN'TS:
- Can't ride a bike
- Can't walk or hike
- Can't sit in a movie theatre seat – and don't even get me started with airplane rides or booths at a restaurant
- Can't go to the gym
- Can't go on rides at the amusement park
- Can't control my eating
- Can't shop for clothes in the store – even the plus size section was too small
- Can't go for a ride in the ambulance – the most humiliating event of my life was when I needed to be transported for an emergency surgery from one hospital to another and the EMT's could not lift me. I was in excruciating pain and they could not move me.
- Can't carry a healthy pregnancy - . I have PCOS, or Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. In my case, PCOS is caused by Insulin Resistance, my body can't utilize the insulin it makes and so it produces more, setting off a chain reaction of other hormonal imbalances. I have not been able to carry a successful pregnancy. In 16 years of trying to conceive, from hormone shots, to fertility drugs, and more, I have conceived 3 times, all of which have ended in miscarriage, devastating losses to me and my husband. My weight is directly correlated to my PCOS. It is caused by the PCOS and the PCOS is made worse by the excess weight - a vicious cycle of imbalanced hormones. My last miscarriage was September 15, 2013. Heartbroken, I finally decided…It's time.
It was time to change my body, my attitude, my esteem. It's time I take charge.


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So that's it then: Jeremy Clarkson has been effectively sacked by the BBC, which will not be renewing the controversial Top Gear presenter's contract once this current series of the show ends.
Clarkson has always walked a fine line between tongue-in-cheek wind-up and full-blown arse, but it seems his latest altercation, said to have involved a physical bust-up with show producer Oisin Tymon, has pushed the Beeb's patience beyond its limits.
Tony Hall, the BBC's Director-General, has released a statement explaining the decision, which you'll find in full below:
It is with great regret that I have told Jeremy Clarkson today that the BBC will not be renewing his contract. It is not a decision I have taken lightly. I have done so only after a very careful consideration of the facts and after personally meeting both Jeremy and Oisin Tymon.
I am grateful to Ken MacQuarrie for the thorough way he has conducted an investigation of the incident on 4th March. Given the obvious and very genuine public interest in this I am publishing the findings of his report. I take no pleasure in doing so. I am only making them public so people can better understand the background. I know how popular the programme is and I also know that this decision will divide opinion. The main facts are not disputed by those involved.
I want to make three points.
First – The BBC is a broad church. Our strength in many ways lies in that diversity. We need distinctive and different voices but they cannot come at any price. Common to all at the BBC have to be standards of decency and respect. I cannot condone what has happened on this occasion. A member of staff – who is a completely innocent party – took himself to Accident and Emergency after a physical altercation accompanied by sustained and prolonged verbal abuse of an extreme nature. For me a line has been crossed. There cannot be one rule for one and one rule for another dictated by either rank, or public relations and commercial considerations.
Second – This has obviously been difficult for everyone involved but in particular for Oisin. I want to make clear that no blame attaches to him for this incident. He has behaved with huge integrity throughout. As a senior producer at the BBC he will continue to have an important role within the organisation in the future.
"Third – Obviously none of us wanted to find ourselves in this position. This decision should in no way detract from the extraordinary contribution that Jeremy Clarkson has made to the BBC. I have always personally been a great fan of his work and Top Gear. Jeremy is a huge talent. He may be leaving the BBC but I am sure he will continue to entertain, challenge and amuse audiences for many years to come.
The BBC must now look to renew Top Gear for 2016. This will be a big challenge and there is no point in pretending otherwise. I have asked Kim Shillinglaw to look at how best we might take this forward over the coming months. I have also asked her to look at how we put out the last programmes in the current series.
So, is there life for Top Gear beyond Clarkson? Or will the show fail any future MOT without the presenter at the helm? Share your thoughts, petrolheads.
Update: Richard Hammond speaketh:
Gutted at such a sad end to an era. We're all three of us idiots in our different ways but it's been an incredible ride together.
— Richard Hammond (@RichardHammond) March 25, 2015