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Category Archives: Anti-Abortion Movement
Fetus Wars
An ugly intramural skirmish has broken out amongst the professional haters of the extremist 'Christian' right. The reactionary elements that have held sway over the blistering agenda of bigotry and hatred through the manipulation of phony moral issues like gay marriage and abortion are apoplectic that they are losing members of the flock to those who preach more rational, more traditional Christian values rather than the apostasy of the generations of strip mall and mega church fundies weaned on the ultra-violent Left Behind pulp fiction novels of Timothy LaHaye and their apocalyptic dementia that has transformed Jesus Christ into some sort of malevolent avenger intent at returning to earth to murder millions for the glory of the Rapture pimps.
Now for the first time being challenged in the ideological arena by Christians with true humanitarian values more in line with the prince of peace rather than the god of war the hucksters, hate mongers and goats among sheep are striking out. The usual fifth columnist, anti-American activist suspects including James Dobson, Gary Bauer, Tony Perkins, Donald Wildmon and Paul Weyrich recenty blasted National Association of Evangelicals director Rev. Richard Cizik in a letter reeking of brimstone for daring to suggest that taking a stand against global warming as a moral issue that –GASP – was destroying God's earth.
The American mullahs called for Cizik's head on a platter for daring to deviate from the more politically successful homosexual witch hunts and that wonderful 3 card monte scam that is the Orwellian named pro-life movement. God forbid that the hidden agenda of the well connected right-wing lynch mob's true agenda is exposed which is evident by Tony Perkins' comments: We're saying what is being done here," Mr. Perkins said, "is a concerted effort to shift the focus of evangelical Christians to these issues that draw warm and fuzzies from liberal crusaders." Hitler hated liberals too, and in taking a look back at history homosexuals were only an appetizer for the Third Reich's voracious appetite for human suffering…but I'm getting ahead of myself here.
The entire abortion farce is as essential a lure to victims as is candy to a schoolyard pedophile when it comes to the snake oil salesmen of the Religious Right. The animosity that fuels the movement is largely fueled by a highly organized, well-funded activist machine that uses the power of the so-called pro life crusade to tap into the inner anger of the economically disenfranchised who have been victimized by the ravages of years of Reaganaut greedheads conducting a take no prisoners looting spree and a savage war on the middle and lower classes.
This raw anger is then harnessed by opportunistic, power mad televangelists and assorted other shamans and is channeled into a vicious backlash against the perceived evils of liberalism and world that they blame for all of their misfortune and the demonizing of women's rights that is represented by Roe V. Wade is an opportune and fat target. For abortion is a super charged emotional issue that can be cloaked in Manichean terms by propagandists and right-wing wordsmiths and it is especially successful in pandering to those who are the most ignorant and has spread like mutant kudzu through the red states in peckerwood nation.
Thomas Frank's excellent book What's The Matter With Kansas takes a hard look at the 1990's rise of religious extremism on the basis of using abortion as a war cry against modern progressive society. Frank analyzes the nation's hard rightward lurch by looking at that most mythical bastion of Americana that is the state of Kansas. Hell, what could be more reminiscent of the baseball, hotdogs, mom and apple pie version of that great white picket fence land of yore, Oz and Bob Dole than the crappy Midwestern state that has long been the most agonizing place that motorists have had to drive through to get to someplace else. Militant anti-reproductive rights vampire Randall Terry and Operation Rescue had made similar connections between Kansas and the American psyche and descended like a plague of locusts on Wichita for massive rallies and civil disobedience during the so-called 'Summer of Mercy' back in 1991 that was Mecca for the rubber fetus crowd – Pat Robertson, James Dobson and others gave fire and brimstone speechs at a Nuremberg style rally in Cessna Stadium (home of the Wichita State Shockers) to a fired up mob of culture warriors. Any resemblance between the huge rally and footage from Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph Of The Will is purely coincidental.
As is evident from Newton McPherson Gingrich's latching onto the Religous Right's agenda like a barnacle on the bottom of a garbage scow it is a must for every neo-fascist political prick with a disdain for constitutional democracy and delusions of grandeur to curry favor with the American Taliban. Aspiring nominee and shameless phony Mitt Romney has been spending a fortune sucking up to the anti-democratic tendencies of the Religious Right extremists and Jerry Falwell is going to have to undergo surgery to remove Manchurian McCain's nose from where it has been permanently imbedded between the fleshy cheeks of his big fat ass.
Then there is the savage anti-gay onslaught that is encouraged at every step by demagogues who won't be happy until they incite pogroms and the streets are running red with blood. This has proven to be a big winner as a red meat issue to the pathetic losers looking for scapegoats for their own failed lives and has irresistible allure to the Republican party apratchik as well as their God squad Gauleiters. Even nice guy NFL Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy's luminous halo is being drawn over to the dark side and coming to resemble the light of the fires of hatred and intolerance rather than the beacon of Christlike compassion that the media would have you believe. The first black coach to win a Super Bowl is essentially spitting on the hard fought sacrifices by Civil Rights activists who rebelled against bigotry and won by making an appearance in front of a militant anti-gay group with an affiliation to Christian jihadist James Dobson's Focus On Family. Maybe he and Ann Coulter can lead the choir in an inspiring rendition of Burn the Faggots at The Stake!
When defending Dungy's visit to the temple of hate with a lame press release "Coach Dungy's feelings on the importance of marriage and family are well known" the Colts themselves are as guilty of hypocrisy and endorsing these theocratic fascist groups through their lack of action. If there is a time when the NFL could and should make a serious example that they condemn discrimination of all sort then Dungy and the Colts should be slapped with a serious penalty – imagine the uproar if a white coach made a guest appearance at a Ku Klux Klan or similar white supremacist gathering.
I never did get a good handle on all of this cloaking of raw bigotry, vicious scapegoating and dehumanization in the language of "pro-family" and "pro-marriage". If the Religious Right really gave a rat's ass about family they would not be serving as brownshirts for a rapacious monopoly capitalist system that leaves families in disarray and children hungry, uninsured and entrapped in a desperation that will last a lifetime. Increasing poverty and hopelessness it seems is the desired result of the theocratic fascist movement which as Chris Hedges put it in his great American Fascists: The Christian Right And The War On America is necessary to create a "culture of despair" that makes recruitment to this most anti-democratic of movements much easier for the reptillian Elmer Gantry style preachers looking to build the strength of their local bunds.
There is also nothing about divorce in the gospels of the hate mongers, it would seem to me that any movement that is truly interested in propping up the institution of marriage would look into strengthening the bonds of matrimony by offering financial counseling, community outreach and sermons and lessons accentuating the positive virtues of building a strong family structure by emphasizing the sacred vows. Of course such a focus would strongly condemn adultery, the practice of which the last time that I looked was actually one of the motherfucking Ten Commandments! This would of course be inconvenient for the serial philanderers amongst the flock including the politicians and the mega-church ringmasters. Hell, maybe a bit more focus on propping up the family rather than knee jerk phantom issues could even prevented a fine Christian man like Pastor Ted Haggard from wandering northward in search of anal sex and crystal meth.
The ugly truth is that the entire pro-family/marriage movement is as big a fraud as the culture of life that cares so much for it that it condones and does so with smugness and self-righteous glee at the wanton slaughter of brown skinned, Muslim children on the front lines of the battle of Armageddon. Save the fetus, slay the child – double bonus points said child happens to be incinerated in a blaze of napalm or white phosphorous.
It's all nothing more of the same standard slick marketing, chicanery and fraud that has been so perfected by McCarthyist Republican trolls over the past half-century or so. It is all about power, and it is all about hate and anybody who dares to tell you anything else is pissing on your leg and telling you that it's raining. In American Fascists Hedges often refers to his mentor Dr. James Luther Adams who had witnessed first hand the rise of the Nazis while in Germany in the 1930's:
Adams, finally, told us to watch closely what the Christian Right did to homosexuals. The Nazis had used "values" to launch state repression of opponents. Hitler, days after he took power in 1933, imposed a ban on all homosexual and lesbian organizations. He ordered raids on places where homosexuals gathered, culminating in the ransacking of the Institute for Sexual Science in Berlin and the permanent exile of its director, Magnus Hirschfield. Thousands of volumes from the institute's library were tossed into a bonfire. The stripping of gay and lesbian Germans of their civil rights was largely cheered by the German churches. But this campaign legitimized tactics, outside the law that would soon be employed against others. Adams said that homosexuals would be the first "social deviants" singled out and disempowered by the Christian Right. We would be the next.
I have always strongly suspected that George W. Bush was not really the one to be afraid of, that he was only a willing dupe who would allow the constitution to be gutted, torture to be codified, a police state infrastructure put into place and the ground sown for a true tyranny as vile and destructive as any since Hitler's Reich.
This much has happened already and the kingmakers are still conducting auditions for the chosen one who will be the future Führer of the Fetus Wars and finish the job of swapping out the Constitution for the Malleus Maleficarum.


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Oct 29, 2008
Convert finds beauty and love in the Catholic Church.
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subset: commoncrawl


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Is there a way to run Mac OS X (Leopard or Tiger) in Windows on a virtual machine? I have 2 GB of RAM and a 2 GHz processor. My processor is an 32-bit AMD, but I don't think this will matter because the VM will probably emulate a 32-bit Intel type processor.
Thanks for any help.


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Capricornian themes abound this week as the Saturn-ruled sign comes into prominence. Our attention turns toward stability and building a solid foundation for ourselves as Venus enters Capricorn on Saturday the 13th. Creative relationships and close partnerships shift towards material pursuits and tangible, security-related goals. Venus and the Sun have been moving together through the zodiac for the past week, and will continue to do so until mid-February. Venus then, is considered to be in combustion until this conjunction breaks apart. The Sun's energy is overpowering Venus's in a very real way right now. This feels very yang or masculine-tinged, with action, security and power taking precedence over intuition, emotion and natural manifestation. The desire to force things into being, or to exact change from situations that are not ready to allow it, will be high this week.
This is exacerbated as the Sun joins Venus in Capricorn on Sunday the 14th. The term that springs to mind is "cutthroat", as this interplay of energies appears to force some to reach out for their goals, no matter the consequences. Reactivity follows, and then the situation continues to spiral deeper with the egoic self growing stronger all the while. It will be important to make use of the New Moon in Capricorn on Tuesday the 16th. The positive pole of Capricorn can be visited by glimpsing its negative (which in many ways, is still a mirror). We may become more focused and capable by recognizing the ways in which we are still scattered and overwhelmed. We will become more grounded and abundant by seeing that which holds us back from being so. This is the work of the new moon.
The new moon takes place in the Uttara Ashadha nakshatra, or lunar mansion. This mansion is the one of a quiet, composed and dignified leader who remains calm in times of strife. We are further reminded of this if we look at the current most prominent constellation in the northern hemisphere's sky, Orion the Hunter. Orion climbs the southern sky a little after 10pm, and stands as a lone huntsman whose own ego became his downfall. This reminder shines bright above us. Our ego disconnects us from our true nature, and is little more than an elaborate, dizzying act. We may take on roles that we believe society or those close to us have assigned to us, and these build up into something that we do on a loop, out of habit. It is enough now to recognize these as they arise in us; we don't have to completely dismantle our egoic selves as this is, more likely than not, impossible.
On Wednesday the 17th, Mars enters Scorpio which adds an acid-tinge to harsh words. Be careful in your dealings with others, because it may be hard to overcome such arguments later on. The positive side of this transit, which lasts until March 7th, is the boost of energy. Mars is quite content here in the sign it rules over (on the Vedic side of things at least) and allows for a lot of physical stamina and creative inspiration that will need to be directed. If it is not given a proper avenue to be released in, the Scorpion sting will be felt. Allow yourself to open up to where your personal energy is flowing, and direct it in a calm and loving way rather than forcing yourself into situations which only serve to empower your egoic self. It will be important to set realistic goals during this time, particularly in the realms of career and creativity, as the feeling of accomplishing things will be helpful. Otherwise, Mars makes us feel restless and as though we are sitting by idly (even if this is not true). Open up and take action towards something that feels authentic and true for you, even if it is something small and seemingly easy to complete.


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CEO/Founder Nadege Brown is a Fashion Institute of Technology Graduate, with a Bachelor's Degree in International Trade and Marketing; Minoring in Textile Development and Marketing. She founded Sirènes De Soleil Swim in order to promote confidence in woman of all ages, and allow the freedom to jumpstart her philanthropic career. Nadege is of Franco-American descent and believes her background has gifted her with classical and delicate taste. Her partner Valentina Arbelaez is a Colombian born, naturalized American; who has familiar ties to prominent figures in the South American Fashion Industry. Her upbringing has contributed to her polished eye and working knowledge of the industry.
Together the dynamic duo represent a unqiue blend of Sexy, Fresh, Glamorous Swimwear unseen in the American Industry. Using only the finest in craftmanship such as Swarovski Crystals and being solely manufactured in the NYC Fashion District; Sirènes de Soleil Swim is a luxury Swimwear Brand focused on creating jobs in America, while empowering women and supporting world causes. What makes SDS SWIM different is its quality and attention to the slightest in details. We at SDS SWIM rival Top Swimwear Competitors currently in the American Market, and intend to create an incomparable shopping experience. Having a large resource base, we have been successful in Marketing our Brand and Generating a large buzz and demand.


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PLACEBO stormed into Birmingham to an amazing response from the Carling Academy crowd - after devoted fans queued outside for hours in freezing conditions in order to gain a front row place.
Opening with Meds from the new album, the trio blasted out a range of new material, including Infra-red, Song to Say Goodbye and the latest single Because I Want You.
Lead singer Brian Molko may have chosen not to interact a great deal with the audience, but that didn't affect the crowd response.
Older material included The Bitter End and Special Needs from 2003, both of which got the crowd rocking.
But the encore of Nancy Boy from their mid-1990s debut brought the biggest applause of the night - and the loudest singalong.
Mention should also be made of support act White Rose Movement, who went down well with their own brand of Indie/electro rock.


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Serendipity is when someone finds something that they weren't expecting to find. We have all heard stories of how people meet by chance and develop a lifelong friendship. Sometimes, serendipity comes from being the first to see something, like Dr. Roentgen when he discovered X-rays. And sometimes it's not about being the first to see a new thing, but the first to see something common in a new way. For example, Percy Spencer noticed that the microwaves he was working on at Raytheon had melted the candy bar in his pocket. Percy wasn't the first person to notice that microwaves generated heat, but he was the first to think of using microwaves to heat food.
Serendipity often makes history. Take the movie "Casablanca." Ingrid Bergman wasn't Warner Brothers' first choice. The famous last line "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship" was written after the shooting was completed and the producers had to call back Bogart to dub the line. The song, "As Time Goes By" was almost cut because the artist who wrote the score didn't like it. When they tried to reshoot the scene with another song, Ingrid Bergman had already cut her hair for her next film, which saved the song.
Salespeople can harness the power of serendipity by preparing the right message which will lead to an unexpected surprise for the buyer. For example, the cofounder of Salesforce.com Marc Benioff wasn't the first one to create and sell online software. Pat Sullivan, the founder of ACT! Launched Interact, an Internet-based CRM system long before Salesforce.com started. Tom Siebel, the founder of Siebel Systems (later bought by Oracle) created Sales.com,another online CRM system. Both services vanished. What set Benioff apart was his ability to create a more compelling message designed to surprise more buyers. His first message was "Point, Click, Close" but it didn't create a lot of traction. By seeing things in a different way, he discovered the slogan "The end of software," which later morphed into "Software as a Service," and even later turned into "Cloud Computing." Since then, every large software company has jumped on the Cloud wagon, and Benioff recently stated that the Cloud was an old hat and declared that the next great thing will be the"Social Enterprise." Because more and more customers rely on social networking to learn about new products and services from people they (barely) know (but whose opinions they trust), the term Social Enterprise seems the perfect bait on an old hook designed to catch more fish.
Salespeople can use serendipity as a great sales tool to surprise customers with an unexpected message. Lawrence Block defined serendipity as follows: "You look for something, find something else, and realize that what you've found is more suited to your needs than what you thought you were looking for." Customers are always looking for good surprises. They have seen it all, and they buy from salespeople who give them something that they don't expect. Serendipity is like getting a first class upgrade on a long flight. Think about ways to give your next customer an upgrade to a first-class sales experience. That's harnessing the selling power of serendipity.
Question: Can you share an example of how serendipity helped you sell?


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'Scientists have a moral obligation to clearly warn humanity of any catastrophic threat and to tell it like it is. On the basis of this obligation and the graphical indicators presented below, we declare, with more than 11,000 scientist signatories from around the world, clearly and unequivocally that planet Earth is facing a climate emergency.'
BioScience, peer reviewed journal
...'Profoundly troubling signs from human activities include sustained increases in both human and ruminant livestock populations, per capita meat production, world gross domestic product, global tree cover loss, fossil fuel consumption, the number of air passengers carried, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, and per capita CO2 emissions since 2000 (figure 1, supplemental file S2). Encouraging signs include decreases in global fertility (birth) rates (figure 1b), decelerated forest loss in the Brazilian Amazon (figure 1g), increases in the consumption of solar and wind power (figure 1h), institutional fossil fuel divestment of more than US$7 trillion (figure 1j), and the proportion of GHG emissions covered by carbon pricing (figure 1m).'


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- The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
- Source: The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, Volume 3, Issue 6, 1 Nov 1954, p. 1040 - 1054
Chronic Pneumonic Plague in Macaca Mulatta
Twenty-four monkeys were exposed to Pasteurella pestis strain 139L administered by the inhalatory route. Dosage ranged from approximately 24,2000 to approximately 112,000 organisms per monkey. Investigation of the cause of the low mortality rate (3 deaths, 21 survivors) led to the finding that survivors bore lesions which indicated a chronic pneumonic process in contrast to the acute character of the lesions seen in non-survivors. Virulent, phage-sensitive P. pestis was recovered from the survivors in two instances, one at 15 days, the other at 48 days following exposure to the infectious clouds. In additional trials, phagesensitive P. pestis, still virulent for guinea pigs, was recovered from one of two animals sacrificed at 40 days. The gross and histological lesions are described.


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April 16, 2012
We recently had the chance to visit Second Street community school in Burnaby where the entire school of over 300 students has been working for the past three months with local artists Anna Talbot and Mona Lochan and the City of Burnaby's Community Arts Development Coordinator, Shelley Twist to create a series of banners that explore the theme of Celebrating our Community.
During the brainstorming stage, they came up with a range of ideas including lanterns, dragons, mehndi and nature. With the help of the artists in residence, their ideas were translated into images that have been captured in a series of 6 banners, which when complete, will be mounted on custom-built wooden frames and then used as a decorative background at community celebrations and presentations at the school.
During our visit, the kindergarten and grade 1 students were scheduled to do some painting and it was lovely to see their excitement and enthusiasm first hand. Mona gave them a little demonstration of how to paint using the many coloured paints laid out for them to choose from. They then jumped right in to painting the pencil drawing that they had created in a previous session, which by this time, had been transferred to an appropriate spot on the mural.
Many of the murals were laid out for us to see and we were impressed by the students' work. According to Shelley, many of the senior students have become so engrossed in the project that extra blocks of time have been added to so they can spend more time working on their part of the banner. The level of detail and care was clear in the mini-masterpieces being created in the many scales of the giant red dragon that swirled about one of the banners.
This artist residency project was funded by Westminster Savings' community investment program, Project Better Balance through ArtStarts' AIE2 grant program with additional support from the City of Burnaby. Westminster Savings' Foundation & Community Investment Manager, Nicole Eich, joined us at this school visit, and was clearly as enthused as we were by the success of the project and the chance to see first hand one of the many projects that they fund, brought to vivid and colourful life.
Here are the results of all their hard work!
Congratulations to all the artists and students who were part of this project. You've done such a wonderful job!
AIC Projects | Arts Integration in Action | ArtStarts Artists | ArtStarts Team | Community Events and Engagement | Exhibitions | Grants | Guest Blog | Infusion Pro-D | Knowledge Philanthropist | Meet a Community Art Star | Showcase | Supporters | The Next 20


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When considering residential house painters
When you are choosing residential painters to paint the interior of your house, the work that's performed has gotten about as personal that you and your contractor are going to be. You expect someone who calls themselves a professional to be as professional as can be done. From properly moving furniture & possessions safely to returning them when they are finished. Your service provider to be trusted to make your house look like a home and do it while working around and taking care of your most prized possessions.
And then everything in between being as non-invasive or inconvenient for you as possible. To use the proper materials and procedures even when they are not being watched, no unnecessary shortcuts to make extra money on the project.
Consummately professional residential painting contractors is what the customer can expect from their house painter. My projects are bid to include the correct amount of time from the beginning as is materials included. It's more important to me to have a job cost me more money than I expected than to try to save money by cutting time or materials from the original contract. That extra money spent for a job well done will come back to your painting contractor in so many ways, both professionally and personally if I start with happy customers at the end of the job.
Angies List Super Service Award
Why People Hire Us
- We promise to hire qualified residential house painters with experience and character.
- We promise there will be no alcohol or drugs. (We drug test all of our employees).
- We promise we will respect you and your property.
- We promise we will not pull off the job until the job is completed.
- We promise we will show up on time.
- We promise to be courteous and considerate.
- We promise to stand behind our work with a written guarantee and more important a guarantee that a handshake will guarantee because of the reputation we have worked our lives for.
Eggshell, or Satin finishes are great looking paint products that have a bit of sheen which also is washable to an extent. Top of the line paints are sometimes "scrubable" because of their resistance to stains. Flat paint is commonly used on ceilings, to deflect glare and hide imperfections are some of the reasons a homeowner might choose this finish.
For pictures of our work please look at The Gallery. There not many areas of painting professionally both commercial and residential, interior and exterior custom house painting I've not done or learned not to do left. In fact I think we have found the market that matches our expertise wonderfully. Residential repainting custom and high end homes is what we do best. And now do just about exclusively. The painters that will be on site will be dressed in company attire and ask questions about what you want and how you want it done before even breaking out any equipment.
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Karaoke aficionados, enthusiasts and diehard fanatics are eagerly waiting for 21st November when the Karaoke World Championships 2013 will kick off in Lappeenranta, Finland. This four day even to be held at the Holiday Club Saimaa will complete the ten year anniversary of a global competition that came out more out of passion than necessity.
Holiday Club Saimaa is one of Nothern Europe's biggest entertainment spa and an ideal venue for a grand event such as this. The 2012 World Championships was held in Raquel Pando, Spain & Luis Boutin, Panama jointly in the month of December and sought entries from all over the world. This year, it is expected to double in size and in anticipations.
What Is KWC?
Karaoke World Championships or KWC provides a platform to the world's best karaoke singers crowning one man and woman as the World Champions. This title based event has been annually organized since 2003.
Karaoke World Championship differs a lot from the average pub karaoke scene. This isn't a talent show or a publicity stunt rather it is a global and serious competition for only top singers who can be compared with the greatest world performers. Over the ten years of its conception, KWC has gradually attained a name and glamour quotient for itself as the largest and most prestigious of all karaoke mega events in the world. From music lovers, to karaoke aficionados, this is the time of the year to gather together and bask in the only common factor – karaoke. With language no bar, age no bar, country no bar, the competition currently entertains entries from thirty countries.
The Past Championships
KWC was held in the tropical environment of Bangkok in the year 2007 following which it moved to Lahti in Finland for 2008 and 2009 in the luxurious Lahti Hall. For 2010, KWC moved over to Russia in the Forum Hall, Moscow. For 2011, it was time for an Irish twist as the event headed out to the picturesque countryside of Ireland. To commemorate the completion of ten years and a start of a new decade, this year, the competition heads back to Finland once more, where it all began in 2003.
How To Participate
Unfortunately, there is no possibility of a direct entry to this global event unless your country already hosts national trials for the Karaoke World Championships. KWC grants licenses to member countries based on the minimum criteria set by them. For countries without such a grant, contact KWC to find out more.


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Technical Center Pittsburgh is home to robotics engineers that are building some of the most sophisticated autonomous driving prototypes in the industry.
Pittsburgh is the birthplace of autonomous vehicle technology. The eastern part of the country is arguably becoming the heart and soul of autonomous technology development.
TCP, home to more than 100 engineering and robotics experts, is motivated by the thrill and real engineering challenge of making autonomous vehicle safe and reliable.
Graduates of Carnegie Mellon University and formerly Ottomatika, Tech Center Pittsburgh is steeped in the spirit of academia, innovation and ideation.
Walk into our office, and you immediately feel the 'start up' mentality. We are dedicated to developing and delivering autonomous driving platforms to our customers.
Check out our upcoming career fairs and internship programs.


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Need inspiration on how to layer your favorite Spirit Lala pieces? Look no further.
Pair one of our Medium Circle Reversible pendants on an 18" chain with our Open Circle Beaded pendant on a 28" crystal chain. Add an Eco Glass Bracelet for a fun pop of color.
Step up your layering game with double beaded pendants. (Beaded Medium and Beaded Large pendant)
Wear one with the quote showing to add some contrast. Throw in matching gemstone circle earrings and your outfit is complete.
How perfect is the abstract Pink Flower design for Summer?
For all the sunflower lovers, this ones for you. Start simple with a stainless cast sunflower charm on an 18" chain, throw in a funky triangle piece, and finish with a Large Beaded Pendant.
This pendant contains one of our favorite quotes - "Enjoy the simple pleasures of life."
Keep it simple and sweet with our newest pendant size.
Sold on matching cards with 18" Stainless chains.
Layer Art Side or Quote Side depending on your mood or what matches your outfit.
Another one of our favorite quotes.
(Medium Beaded and Large Beaded)
"Not all who wander are lost"
Mix and match or just get your favorite piece!
Spirit Lala


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This is how it all started...
Our STAFF
Gustav Procházka
Founder, Constructer, Demo-Driver, COB
Gustav Procházka is Founder of Peraves CZ. He is also the person who will guide you through your Demo-Drives or Driving Lessons.
Arnold Wagner
Founder, Constructer, Inventor, CEO, Senior Engineer
Arnold Wagner is Founder of PERAVES CZ. He is Father of modern Cabin-motorcycles. He developed basic parts and system of all versions.
History of the project
How Monoracer Enclosed Cabin-Motorcycle was born
PERAVES CZ was founded in 2009 by Gustav Procházka, COB of Company BOHEMIA MOBIL, and Arnold Wagner, COB of PERAVES Switzerland. The main idea was to continue and extend cooperation in development and construction of Fully Enclosed Cabin-Motorcycles, which started to be produced by Switzerland company Peraves, in 1987.
Till 2009 around 90 pieces of Ecomobile version were made in many variants, including two racing prototypes for just one passenger. Since 2005 BOHEMIA MOBIL and PERAVES developed and made the first five MonoRacers. This time also many new CZ-manufacturers started to participate on particular components. Since December 2015 is the PERAVES CZ owner of Type-approval certification Nr. e8*2002*24*0015*00 for fuel version of Monoracer.
Since 6.3.2017 PERAVES CZ s.r.o. transformed into PERAVES CZ, a.s.


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The Tacoma 1st Platoon deploys as a united Veteran volunteer force to assist in the creation of youth programs, the elimination of poverty and crime, and a focus on rebuilding our schools within the Hilltop and Lincoln Districts. Our work focuses on strengthening the bond between the veterans of Tacoma and the community at large.
Tacoma 1st Service Platoon is proud partner with the Bryant Montessori School.


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About Us
*** Please note – we have changed our blog name from "Fast Unto Action" to "Australians for Tamil Justice" ***
**** contact us by emailing firstname.lastname@example.com ******
We, a group of Australians are increasingly worried about what is happening to the Tamil people in Sri Lanka.
We will continue to use this blog to post articles, thoughts, campaigns, hopes and visions as a way to our own sanity…and hopefully as a way to help you understand what is going on to the 300 000 Tamils living in Sri Lankan government concentration camps, the 10 000 plus Tamils who have disappeared in Sri Lankan Government controlled areas and the more than 30 000 Tamils killed in the recent phase of the Tamil's struggle for homeland.
Originally this site was called 'FastUntoAction' which comes from the first campaign we ran early in 2009, when nine tertiary students fasted at Martin Place, Sydney to make the Australian government acknowledge the humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka.
If you would like to contact us please do so at email@example.com
Australians for Tamil Justice is not an organisation or society with members. Our blog provides a forum for opinions that are those of their authors and not those of Australians for Tamil Justice organizers or signatories of any of our petitions or statements. We cannot be held liable for any comments that may be deemed as offensive to any party.
Australians for Tamil Justice endorses The Australian Tamil Congress
Australians for Tamil Justice endorses the Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace and Justice
300km for 300,000 lives – FREE300K
Seran Sribalan and Vishna Sivaraj, two young Australians walked 300 km from Sydney to Canberra to create awareness of the plight of 300,000 civilians being forcibly detained in military controlled internment camps in the island of Sri Lanka.
Seran Sribalan and Vishna Sivaraj had family members detained within the military run internment camps. They walked for 9 days, passing through Sydney city and country towns en route to Federal Parliament House in Canberra, where the '300km for 300,000 lives' campaign conclude at 12.30pm on Tuesday 18 August. A lunch time discussion took place in Federal Parliament House to coincide with their arrival.
Events were held at each pit stop along the route.
Seran and Vishna appealed to the Ministers of Parliament and Senators they met to urge Australian government to apply more diplomatic pressure upon the Sri Lankan government to ensure the Tamils detained within the camps are released and re-settled back in their own villages.
Both have no professional athletic background and have had no professional training.
For more information on their campaign visit www.free300k.com
Fast Unto Action Campaign – Part III
Sutha was one of six hunger strikers who ceased their fast on the seventh day after a DFAT representative assured them Australia would do all it could to push Sri Lanka to enter a cease-fire.
However, since then while Australia has not engaged in any such action, Sutha lost his younger brother who was killed in a Sri Lanka Air Force bombing in the no fire safe zone in Northern Sri Lanka. The news reached him through relatives and Sutha does not even know the date of his brother's death. He has not spoken to his father, mother or sisters for over 6 months.
Sutha recommenced his hunger strike on 3 May 2009.
He has four demands which they want met through the actions of the Government of Australia, which has the ability to use its diplomatic powers to push the Government of Sri Lanka:
1. to enter an immediate ceasefire with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam;
2. to immediately allow food, medicine and aid into the conflict zone;
3. to allow vital services, including medical services into the conflict zone;
4. and the international community to allow the Tamil people, both in the conflict zone and those indefinitely detained in concentration camps in government-held areas, to decide independently where they wish to reside.
Fast Unto Action Campaign – Part II
In the first three months of this year alone, over 3500 Tamil civilians have been killed and over 12,000 Tamil causalities resulted due to the Government of Sri Lanka's bombing of hospitals and civilian targets both inside and outside its self declared safe zone. There is evidence of the Sri Lankan Army's use of cluster bombs, white phosphorous and chemical weapons in these attacks. They have also banned medicine, aid and food from entering the conflict zone, effectively using starvation as a weapon of war. These breach international law and are war crimes.
Three young Tamil Australians are to embark on a hunger strike at 5pm on Saturday 11 April 2009.
They have four demands which they want met through the actions of the Government of Australia, which has the ability to use its diplomatic powers to push the Government of Sri Lanka:
1. to enter an immediate ceasefire with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam;
2. to immediately allow food, medicine and aid into the conflict zone;
3. to allow vital services, including medical services into the conflict zone;
4. and the international community to allow the Tamil people, both in the conflict zone and those indefinitely detained in concentration camps in government-held areas, to decide independently where they wish to reside.
Fast Unto Action Campaign – Part I
A hunger strike was started on the 28th of January, in Sydney's CBD, to urge the Australian government to support calls for a cease-fire between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and State Armed Forces in Sri Lanka.
Organised by the Australian Tamil Students (ATS), a national coalition of tertiary students, the protest aims to bring light to the intolerable silence and lack of international condemnation to the unfolding genocide in Sri Lanka.
The campaign comes only days after the Sri Lankan military is said to have killed 300 Tamil civilians in an agreed "safety zone", where government ministers had earlier instructed people to take shelter, promising safe refuge.
The participants are calling on the Australian government to condemn the attacks on civilian populations and support calls for a ceasefire, as aid organisations and some other governments have.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says a quarter of a million are trapped within 250 sq km of intense combat with virtually NO medical care available [27/01/09]:
"Hospitals and ambulances have been hit by shelling and several aid workers have been injured while evacuating the wounded. The violence is preventing the International Committee of the Red Cross from operating in the region," said ICRC's Jacques de Maio, further adding that they did not receive security clearance to evacuate 200 critically wounded people, who now face certain death.
Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre [27/01/09]:
In an official statement said that his government condemned the ongoing war in Sri Lanka which has caused "unacceptable sufferings to the civilians," in the country.
Former U.S. Deputy Associate Attorney General Bruce Fein [24/01/09]:
"There can be no difference of opinion over the fact that what is happening to Tamils in Sri Lanka is a clear-cut case of genocide."
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier [22/01/09]:
"They have been completely cut off from international aid for more than 10 days…The most important thing now is to negotiate a ceasefire."
Sri Lankan Crisis Statement Campaign
Please visit www.srilankancrisis.com
More to follow soon…
Nala Sandrasegaran permalinkJanuary 29, 2009 10:17 pm
Selfless and bold effort. Good luck and take care of your health. Youth like you 9 are the gems in our community. Hope your efforts are fruitful.
Sie.Kathieravealu permalinkMarch 9, 2009 2:02 pm
What is the present condition of those students who are participating in the "Fast unto Action" campaign?
It is also understood that a similar campaign started by eight students in America and had been encouraged by many others by participation.
One humble appeal. Please do not limit this campaign to "Tamil Students". Please enlighten non-Tamil students by personally approaching them with a view to get their support for the cause.
Not only in Australia but in other countries too similar action has to be taken to enlist the support of the non-Tamil student community by enlightening them of the present situation as well as the root causes that led to the present situation.
It is through the common people and the student community that we can muster the necessary world support for the Tamils to live in dignity in Sri Lanka and elsewhere.
Non-violent struggle FAILED in Sri Lanka BUT it can help us to win our legitimate rights in mustering the support of the majority of the countries.
Terminator permalinkMarch 21, 2009 9:49 am
Dear Eelamtards,
I wish you every success in your fasting. Please show your commitment to Eelam and fast to the death. It's the only way to be sure. Or better still get to Sri Lanka and fight. Everything else is just hot air. Happy fasting. Your struggle has just entered its terminal stage and soon you'll be like the Cuban exiles in Miami. Hoping and waiting.
Terminator permalinkMarch 21, 2009 9:52 am
Oh, I forgot to mention the gem above about a 'non violent struggle' having failed in Sri Lanka.
How is the air in your planet. If what Sri Lanka has experienced from the LTTE is 'non-violent' you are truly demented. But hey, Eelam is just around the corner, right!
Gauhar Siraj permalinkApril 1, 2009 9:46 pm
I think the manner in which LTTE wiped out every other group and opinion has left the entire Tamil community worse off. Who would believe this "non-violent" comment of yours? The entire world know what LTTE did and stood for. It is sad to see how the Tamils have driven themselves in to a corner ideologically and morally.
I think there is still time for the Tamil community to change its strategy, give up violence unilaterally and engage the Sri Lankans in talks. I hope the ongoing war stops quickly so that peace building can begin.
My best wishes to you all.
Gauhar Siraj
April 17, 2009 10:10 pm
Gauhar Siraj's comment is reminiscent of Zionists who berate the Palestinians for picking up the gun. He seems to be totally blind to the infinitely greater violence of the Sinhala chauvanist Sri Lankan state, which has historically & currently left Tamils with little choice but to respond in kind. Yours is a just struggle against oppression and genocide in Sri Lanka, and this blog is a fine contribution to promoting awareness of it. You have my full support.
luke weyland permalinkMay 18, 2009 1:31 am
As a member of Socialist Alliance I fully support the Tamil's struggle for self detmination. I abhore the attacks made against the Tamil Community both in Sri Lanka and today's in Sydney Australia. I uderstand that the LTTE are the legitimate voice of the Tamil's struggle against oppression. This struggle is far from over.
J. S. permalinkAugust 10, 2009 11:12 pm
Where do you go from here. Pathmanaban's arrest is distressing!
Bala Sunderam permalinkSeptember 15, 2009 10:56 pm
If there are any more moderate Tamil Leaders send them to heaven or hell. LTTE will look after the Tamil people.Long live the LTTE!!
Ana Puveneetharajah


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EURUSD continues to advance and positive updates from Germany's coalition talks over the weekend could sustain the climb. However, price is hitting a roadblock at its short-term channel resistance and might need a correction before heading further north.
Applying the Fibonacci retracement tool on the latest swing low and high shows that the channel support is in line with the 61.8% level at 1.2100. The 100 SMA is above the longer-term 200 SMA to indicate that the path of least resistance is to the upside. Also, the 100 SMA lines up with the channel support to add to its strength as a floor.
Stochastic is pointing down to show that sellers are returning even without seeing overbought conditions. Reaching the oversold level and turning back up could draw more buyers to the game and possibly even lead to a break past the channel resistance.
Flash PMI readings from Germany and France are lined up from the euro zone this week, and these usually provide strong clues on how the economy might fare in the next few months. However, traders are starting to get concerned about the shared currency's appreciation as some ECB officials pointed out that this could dampen inflation. The ECB decision is also scheduled this week.
Apart from that, German coalition updates continue to push the shared currency around as the prospect of political uncertainty has been bearish. On the other hand, a definitive agreement between Merkel's party and SPD could lead to more gains.
As for the dollar, government shutdown concerns have been mostly bearish for the currency over the past week and could continue to weigh on US assets while it lasts. Only the advanced GDP report is due from the US this week, but the attention could be fixed on Washington.
By Kate Curtis from Trader's Way


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Pronounce it: wi-sk
A kitchen instrument manufactured with a series of thin metal wires, each formed into a loop so both ends of the wires attach to a handle. The loops, which are placed in slightly different directions from each other, form a rounded bulb shape.
Whisks are used to blend ingredients together quickly or to incorporate air into ingredients such as egg whites or heavy cream in order to increase the volume of the mixture - hence the verb 'to whisk'.


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EVERY GIRL WHO HAS TAKEN THE TEST HAS DIED.NOW IT'S KATE'S TURN.It's always been just Kate and her mom--and her mother is dying. Her last wish? To move back to her childhood home. So Kate's going to start at a new school with no friends, no other family and the fear that her mother won't live past the fall.Then she meets Henry. Dark. Tortured. And mesmerizing. He claims to be Hades, god of the Underworld--and if she accepts his bargain, he'll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests.Kate is sure he's crazy--until she sees him bring a girl back from the dead. Now saving her mother seems crazily possible. If she suceeds, she'll become Henry's future bride and a goddess.IF SHE FAILS...
What drew me to The Goddess Test was the cool idea and incessant coverage in the blogosphere. I love Greek myths, especially when they're retold in a fresh, new fashion. But I didn't think anything about The Goddess Test was fresh, or new. Every aspect, from the main character to the cheesy high school experience, left me unimpressed. It was a promising seed of an idea, but it I felt it could have been presented a lot better.
The summary itself doesn't seem to promise much. It's chockfull of unsurprising elements. Of course the Lord of the Underworld is "dark" and "tortured." When I think of a fresh, new take on Greek mythology, I have more in mind of a Hades (if he's a teenager in the modern world) that likes to go around wearing a three-piece suit and marvels at the way life flourishes, even in his presence. Not a long, black trench coat. And, of course, Henry is unbelievably, undeniably gorgeous. Not the kind of depth and originality I was hoping for.
Modernizing the myth of Persephone is a rich concept, whereas Carter's story seemed to barely scratch the surface. It was clouded with things that had already been done before, from the bitterly worn out high school hierarchy (where the head cheerleader is blond and of course dates the quarterback and/or captain of the football team) to the prose itself. The prose was entirely telling, no showing, making it lackluster for me. From page to page, I was left unsurprised. It was so easy to see how the plot was going to progress from page one, so by the time I got to page sixty, I was ready to cry with frustration and boredom.
The frustration came mostly from the main character, Kate. I can empathize with her plight (though I'm not watching my mother slowly die, it's a member of my family) but I cannot sympathize with her. I expected more anger out of her; some other emotion than just perpetual flakiness around anyone other than her mother. She just came off childish after a while, and I quickly tired of her.
I thought The Goddess Test was going to be amazing, but it was simply one of those books that did not live up to my expectations. I was hoping for a story with an edgy charm, but it was blunted by superficial characters and melodramatic action.
Book Info
- pages - paperback, 293
- published - April 2011
- publisher - HarlequinTeen
- genre - mythology/paranormal romance
- received via - Borders
- rating - 2/5
- series - Goddess Test
- The Goddess Test
- Goddess Interrupted
- The Goddess Inheritance


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As soon as I saw the headline, I knew exactly how the religious right would react.
Utah polygamy ruling criticized
And I bet now that you've seen it, you do too. First, let's look at just what this ruling is…
(CNN) – Some social conservatives are blasting Utah's ruling striking down part of that state's law banning polygamy.
The suit was brought by the stars of the television reality series "Sister Wives," and a federal judge's ruling Friday throws out the law's section prohibiting "cohabitation," saying it violates constitutional guarantees of due process and religious freedom.
Got that? "Cohabitation". As in living together. The law told consenting adults whom they can and can't live with. Obviously unconstitutional. It remains illegal in Utah to obtain more than one valid marriage certificate, but the law can't tell you whom you can live with, regardless of marital status.
Cue the froth.
Former Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum – who a decade ago came under fire for comments indicating polygamy would become legal if courts banned anti-sodomy laws – responded to the ruling over the weekend.
"Sometimes I hate it when what I predict comes true," the former U.S. senator tweeted Sunday.
Sometimes I hate it when Santorum opens his big fucking mouth. Actually, I hate that all of the time. The man is constitutionally incapable of uttering a single sentence that isn't demonstrably false and/or idiotic and/or bigoted and/or ignorant and/or frothing.
The ruling didn't legalize polygamy, idiot. It legalized cohabitation, which is something the government has no business meddling with in the first place. How would you like it if the government told you you couldn't live with the one you loved?
The Family Research Council, led by prominent social conservative Tony
Perkins, also weighed the Utah statute, warning of "serious consequences
of redefining marriage."
Tony Perkins is just not a human being. He's a loosely organized collection of god-humper buzzwords with an automatic hair trigger. Did someone mention marriage in any capacity or context? REDEFINING MARRIAGE!
"Throughout history, marriage has been future-oriented, focused on the
next generation and the best interests of children. The reality is that
society needs children, and children need a mom and a dad," Perkins said
And these kids get a mom and a dad…and a mom and a mom and a mom. Just like in those good old Biblical days you claim to believe in so literally.
"However, redefining marriage to fulfill the desires of same-sex couples
or polygamists only moves society away from this vital public interest
and creates social chaos."
Five hicks in Utah get to live in the same house. They're still not legally married. The only thing that's been redefined here is the meaning of "redefined" whenever Tony Perkins blubbers it out.
In striking down the section of the law Friday, Judge Clark Waddoups used a 2003 Supreme Court landmark gay rights case Lawrence v. Texas, which ruled that anti sodomy laws were unconstitutional.
During that Supreme Court ruling a decade ago, Santorum told the Associated Press that bans on sodomy would open the doors to a "right to polygamy" and other sexual acts.
"If the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual (gay) sex within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery. You have the right to anything," Santorum said in 2003.
If there were no right to adultery, then half the Republican Party would be in fucking prison.
But Waddoups' ruling keeps in place the ban on bigamy "in the literal
sense – the fraudulent or otherwise impermissible possession of two
purportedly valid marriage licenses for the purpose of entering into
more than one purportedly legal marriage."
Fuck off, facts! We've got a narrative to shill!
Some religious groups also criticized the ruling.
What the fuck is the point of this sentence? Is anyone OTHER than religious nuts criticizing it?
"This is what happens when marriage becomes about the emotional and
sexual wants of adults, divorced from the needs of children for a mother
and a father committed to each other for life," said Russell Moore, of
the Southern Baptist Convention.
See how he weaseled that word "divorce" into his lie? This is the verbal equivalent of putting the Republican base in a jar and shaking it to make them fight. It's all about stimulation, not information. Anyone with half a monkey brain knows that having children was never a requirement for people getting married. Childless marriages have never been illegal in this country. And even if that were the issue, it's fucking irrelevant because the current case hasn't altered the marriage laws in any way.
"Polygamy was outlawed in this country because it was demonstrated,
again and again, to hurt women and children. Sadly, when marriage is
elastic enough to mean anything, in due time it comes to mean nothing."
Sometimes it hurts women and children. If girls are forced into plural marriages against their will, that's obviously harmful.
But that's not an issue of polygamy. ONE forced marriage is bad. Multiple forced marriages are just more of the same bad.
Once again, the real issue here is the one thing that god-humpers refuse to acknowledge: CONSENT. The idea of a woman consenting of her own free will to pretty much anything is antithetical to the misogynistic beliefs that god-humpers desperately cling to. Women and girls can't self determine. They can't act and choose under their own power. They have to be sheltered and controlled. So protecting them from sexual predators becomes a matter of controlling other people's private behavior, rather than punishing those who do things to them without their consent (which is the way it SHOULD be done).
Todays lesson: Every god-humper is a liar. And not everyone who claims to protect women and girls is a feminist.


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text:
by Lizzie K. Foley
ages: 9+
First sentence: "High on the top of a majestic mountain, in a spot where every view of the valley below was more breathtaking than the next, was a small town called Remarkable."
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy provided by the publisher.
I have to admit up front that any book with the title "Remarkable" has the decks stacked up against it. Because to be remarkable, you have to be so much better than good, you have to be, well… remarkable.
And so it helps that this one, at least in my opinion, is using the word somewhat ironically. See, in a town full of remarkably talented, amazing, wondrous people, ten-year-old Jane Doe is just average. Plain, not especially talented in anything, she goes through life in the shadow of her remarkably talented architect mother, best-seller novelist father, supremely talented painter (of photorealistic portraits) brother, and math genius sister. That's not even mentioning her grandmother, the mayor. The only person in town who even comes close to Jane in plainness is her grandpa, who people generally seem to forget is there.
From that premise, however, things get both really weird and yet never quite develop in ways that I wanted them to. There's something about a bell tower and pirates and the sea monster in the lake and a jam feud with the next town and evil genius twins, but it all kind of just seemed like it was a hamster on a wheel: spinning in circles, but never really going anywhere.
I wanted it to be more ironic, more of a parody (it was, to an extent, but not far enough for my tastes), but most of all, I wanted Jane to do something. I wanted her to be a hero, to discover that she was remarkable, in some little way. (You know have the reverse happen: since everyone is remarkable, only those who aren't labeled as such really are?) Or maybe for everyone else in the town to discover that being remarkable was overrated, and stop discriminating against unremarkable people. But, it just kind of petered out by the end, which I found disappointing.
That said, C really enjoyed reading this one, so maybe it's a case of me not being the right audience for the book. Which is not really remarkable at all.


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text:
3 reasons why I won't use Google *Knol
– if I weren't an online marketer 🙂
1. I'm tierd of this "give and get for free" thing.
I think it was my father who told me that when you think about it, at the end – any cheap buying turns to be the most expensive one. I really enjoy using blogger (Google blog platform) and gmail (google free email service) and all the rest of Google's freebies, but it's starting to feel like the price for all of this is getting higher and higher each and everyday.
We all heard about Google reader getting into the users' pants just as we all suffer from overload of adsense on our gmail.
The online world enjoys plenty of sharing-information platforms (which I am sure Google could have purchased). I don't need another one by Google, especially if it's going to influence its SERP (See You Tube acquisition by Google).
2. I'm tierd of the world trying to sell me things and I bet the knol platform would be full of not only valuable content but also google ads (rumors say one can decide whether to show or not to show adsense on his knol). No doubt it would be highly targeted and contextual and yet. No thanks. I
think am sure I'll pass.
3. I'm tierd of people like me (SEO people) who just can't hold theirselves from not abusing any social platform that comes in their way, especially if it is Google related. 🙂
* Knol = Google's version for wikipedia focusing on the authors.
Still in beta.


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Since 1948, the British Council has helped countless Bahraini residents and nationals study in the UK and improve their skills. Wafa and Agrima share their own experience.
Agrima Jaiswal – It all started with IELTS
Agrima Jaiswal had her eyes on the prize when she sat for her IELTS exam several years ago. With the British Council's preparation courses serving as a source of comfort, she took the exam that served as her metaphorical ticket to pursuing education abroad.
Fortunately, Jaiswal passed with flying colors and shortly thereafter, enrolled at Queen Mary University of London and pursued her bachelor's degree in economics and statistics. Still brimming with dedication and a desire to succeed, she went on to attend the University of Exeter where she obtained her master's degree in financial mathematics.
Upon completing her education, Agrima used her knowledge and expertise to land a job in commodity exchange in Bombay, India. After a year and a half, she missed home and decided to move back, eventually securing a job with the UK-based interdealer broker, ICAP. She currently works in operations, specializing in standing data management, support, board management, continuations and much more. Although her success story is still being written, her first step towards success was at Bahrain's British Council.
WAFA ALOBAIDAT – British Council helped me succeed in business
Wafa Alobaidat is a young, successful entrepreneur with numerous business ventures under her belt. Her business journey officially started when she registered for a preparation course to take her IELTS at the British Council.
Soon after, she was admitted to the Chelsea College of Art and Design where she began to build the foundation for Obai & Hill, a PR and Design agency. After moving back to Bahrain and taking her business venture with her, she became known as one of the most successful businesswomen in the GCC. Years later, she was invited by the British Council to attend the Dubai-London Enterprise week, an initiative to benefit and develop young entrepreneurs through a series of intercultural networking, workshops and opportunities to connect with other great business minds.
"From the IELTS prep courses to their events and workshops, I believe it is essential for everyone to take advantage of the British Council programs if they are serious about getting ahead," says Wafa. "People have lost business deals due to their inability to communicate their ideas in English. With the presence of the British Council in Bahrain, there really is no excuse for that."


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An abandoned bus terminal at the Orange County Civic Center appears to be on the verge of being used for what many advocates – and some elected officials – have long hoped for: a homeless services center.
The bus terminal, which lies right next to where hundreds of homeless people live in the Civic Center, is up for a closed session discussion Tuesday by county supervisors. They're considering whether to have the county government buy the terminal from the Orange County Transportation Authority.
At the same meeting, supervisors will talk about plans to protect homeless people — especially those encamped in the Santa Ana River bed — from expected El Niño storms.
Up for action is approval of up to $500,000 for temporary emergency beds and services for homeless during the El Niño season, with county staff running a competitive bidding process to pick a contractor to provide the services.
Meteorologists say this could become the most powerful El Niño ever recorded. A major concern is that the heavy rains will turn the largely concrete riverbed into a raging river that drowns homeless people who live there.
During a day-long trip last week, county officials counted 440 homeless people in the riverbed.
You can contact Nick Gerda at email@example.com, and follow him on Twitter: @nicholasgerda.


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Success – Second Time Around
By the end of 1961, it appeared that the Fitzgerald family book saga had ended. The market that had swept up around John's first series was dwindling. Sadly, the transition left one book John had written unpublished. The Great Brain manuscript floated from slush to slush pile. For six years it lay dormant, on some floor or table stack. Eventually, publisher, Phyllis Fogelman, saw potential in the book. Scooping it up, she contacted John. Together they took the original manuscript apart. With deft skill they created a delightful Young Readers book for Dial Books.
Hot off the press in 1967, the new YA Great Brain book was a hit. School Library Journal wrote, "This first-person novel starts humorously, ends tenderly, and never drowns in nostalgia."
Just like John's first series, the release of The Great Brain, opened up a potential new series for Fitzgerald fans. 1969 would find More Adventures of the Great Brain, playing the role of book two in an unexpected eight book series.
How Far to Go?
1971 through 1975, John published a book a year. Readers, teachers, parents, and librarians couldn't get enough of the Tom Sawyeresque con-man, T.D. Fitzgerald. The Booklist stated, "Once again Fitzgerald proves himself an entertaining storyteller, and Tom back in action will delight his fans." Horn Book concurred with The Booklist, even went so far as to say, "Characterized by the pace, flavor, and humor which have ensured a permanent niche for its predecessors among the chronicles of boyhood, this latest collection of the Great Brain's escapades will be welcomed by all his fans."
Behind the scenes though, author and publisher were having a tug of war. In a "Publisher's Note" written by Phyllis Fogelman in 1995, at the end of book 8, The Great Brain is Back, she reports, "By the 1975 publication of The Great Brain Does It Again he (John) was ready to retire from writing….(In fact, by then I had a constant struggle with him not to let Tom reform.)"
This amazing insight would never have been shared had John D. Fitzgerald not left a nearly completed manuscript among his possessions when he died. Following his passing in 1988, "loose papers already titled The Great Brain is Back were found. "We at Dial have taken great pride in arranging and editing the material and publishing it to coincide with the twentieth anniversary of the publication of The Great Brain."
The stories in the series are more than fun capers and mischievous adventures. Profound life lessons such as inclusion, immigrant families, over coming handicaps, love of pets, and community connection all come to life among the 60 plus chapters these eight books inhabit.
I adore watching a new generation of readers devour these books.


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Multiple Teams · Beware of Scam Regarding Baseball Pictures
It has come to our attention that the information below was sent to a business in downtown Russellville and is being passed off as a fundraiser for the RHS Baseball team. THIS IS A SCAM. If you receive any information like this, disregard it immediately. We have contacted the proper authorities to look into this


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Perhaps a donald trump haircut goes you more
How can you scold short hair, if you have never walked with such a donald trump haircut? Everything is learned through experience and experimentation. Perhaps with short hair, you will feel 100 times more comfortable and more confident, and you do not even guess about it.
A donald trump haircut demonstrates your grooming
Unless, of course, this is true. A donald trump haircut and good styling show that you often go to a stylist, maintain a hairstyle, strive for a new and creative, try to follow all trends. And it doesnt cost you anything to get up early and put your hair beautiful. So, donald trump haircut!
donald trump haircut is healthy hair
The fact is that the hair just does not have time to spoil. Daily styling, ironing, curling, and frequent dyeing is not so terrible when you go to the hairdresser once a month. No split ends and brittle hair. They are always fresh and healthy. Choose donald trump haircut and stay well!


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Friday, December 7
Saturday, December 8
For all of Jupiter's satellite events, as well as all of the Great Red Spot's transit times, get our handy new JupiterMoons app!
Sunday, December 9
Monday, December 10
Tuesday, December 11
Wednesday, December 12
Thursday, December 13
Friday, December 14
Sirius, just 8.6 light-years away, is the brightest star in the night sky. It's also the closest that's ever visible to the unaided eye from mid-northern latitudes.
Saturday, December 15
Want to become a better amateur astronomer? Learn your way around the constellations. They're the key to locating everything fainter and deeper to hunt with binoculars or a telescope.
For an easy-to-use constellation guide covering the whole evening sky, use the big monthly map in the center of each issue of Sky & Telescope, the essential guide to astronomy. Or download our free Getting Started in Astronomy booklet (which only has bimonthly maps).
Once you get a telescope, to put it to good use you'll need a detailed, large-scale sky atlas (set of charts). The standards are the little Pocket Sky Atlas, which shows stars to magnitude 7.6; the larger and deeper Sky Atlas 2000.0 (stars to magnitude 8.5); and the even larger Uranometria 2000.0 (stars to magnitude 9.75). And read how to use sky charts with a telescope effectively.
You'll also want a good deep-sky guidebook, such as Sue French's Deep-Sky Wonders collection (which includes its own charts), Sky Atlas 2000.0 Companion by Strong and Sinnott, the bigger Night Sky Observer's Guide by Kepple and Sanner, or the beloved if dated Burnham's Celestial Handbook.
Can a computerized telescope replace charts? Not for beginners, I don't think, and certainly not on mounts and tripods that are less than top-quality mechanically (able to point with better than 0.2° repeatability). As Terence Dickinson and Alan Dyer say in their invaluable Backyard Astronomer's Guide, "A full appreciation of the universe cannot come without developing the skills to find things in the sky and understanding how the sky works. This knowledge comes only by spending time under the stars with star maps in hand."
This Week's Planet Roundup
Mercury, Venus, and Saturn form a diagonal line in the southeast as dawn begins to brighten. Venus is by far the brightest, at magnitude –3.9. Look well to its upper right for Saturn, magnitude +0.7, and farther on for Spica, magnitude +1.0. Look lower left of Venus for Mercury, magnitude –0.5. Mercury is having its best morning apparition of 2012. This line of four points is lengthening: it grows from 33° to 42° long this week.
And watch the waning crescent Moon step down the line on the mornings of December 9, 10, and 11, as shown above.
Mars (magnitude +1.2, in Sagittarius) remains low in the southwest in evening twilight. In a telescope it's just a tiny blob 4.3 arcseconds in diameter — hardly larger than Uranus!
Jupiter (magnitude –2.8, in Taurus) is just past opposition. As twilight fades it's already glaring low in the east. It climbs to dominate the eastern and southeastern sky through the evening, with orange Aldebaran 5° to its lower right and the Pleiades about twice as far to its upper right. Jupiter is highest in the south around 11 or midnight. In a telescope it's a big 48 arcseconds wide, essentially as large as it ever appears.
Uranus (magnitude 5.8, in Pisces) and Neptune (7.9, in Aquarius) are conveniently placed in the south right after dusk but move lower later. Finder charts for Uranus and Neptune.
All descriptions that relate to your horizon — including the words up, down, right, and left — are written for the world's mid-northern latitudes. Descriptions that also depend on longitude (mainly Moon positions) are for North America. Eastern Standard Time (EST) equals Universal Time (also known as UT, UTC, or GMT) minus 5 hours.
Like This Week's Sky at a Glance? Watch our SkyWeek TV short. It's also playing on PBS!
To be sure to get the current Sky at a Glance, bookmark this URL:
If pictures fail to load, refresh the page. If they still fail to load, change the 1 at the end of the URL to any other character and try again.
You must be logged in to post a comment.


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We've moved!
This donation page is on the old Big Give website. Please go to theBigGive.org.uk to find current campaigns and opportunities to double your donation.
If you have any queries on the changes, please email us at email@example.com.
Project information
Giving The Civic back to the people
Large capital project to finish our arts centre building.
To include a studio theatre, a learning space, a bespoke gallery space and a dedicated rehearsal space.
Additional public engagement spaces to also be included.
We aim for four years to allow for fundraising £5m and completing the build.
Charity information: The Civic (Barnsley Civic Enterprise Ltd.)
The project will solve the building operating as two buildings with confusing access routes for the public.
It will enable us to become more sustainable, reach more people and put over 22,000 square feet of inaccessible space back into use.
The capital scheme puts all unused and unfinished space back into use and enables the front entrance to be reconnected with the rear of the building.
The project means we can grow artistically, offer more opportunities for local people, create jobs and reduce our reliance on subsidy for covering our core costs by helping us generate more income.
Aim 1
To enable Barnsley people to access and enjoy all of our venue to the fullest.
Activities» We we will open up the core of the building which is currently inaccessible, re position the main entrance and improve visitor way finding overall
What success will look like
We will be able to demonstrate an increase in ticket sales, gallery visitors and schools visits.
Aim 2
To support us to grow our artistic programme through the creation of new bespoke spaces
Activities» We will create a new purpose built studio theatre to house our children, family and new work programme.
» We will extend our Gallery to provide a dedicated innovation space that explores materials and the process of making to support learning
» We will improve access to and facilities alongside neighbouring public gardens so we can use the gardens for outdoor events
What success will look like
We will offer a broader range of events including a new exhibition programme, ,more new commissions of family and theatre work and more artists supported.
Aim 3
To increase our capacity to offer learning, education and engagement activities for all ages.
Activities» We will create a new classroom and a new rehearsal room for outreach and engagement activities so we implement a brand new programme.
What success will look like
We will establish a new engagement programme including more schools opportunities and an increased capacity in Cross the Sky our programme for learning disabled adults.
Aim 4
To improve our ability to generate income by creating capacity in spaces we already use
Activities» Our existing spaces are supporting arts and commercial activities. We are almost at capacity. This project eases this pressure and enables growth.
What success will look like
Our commercial income targets will exceed their 5% year on year growth targets and we will attract more long term clients and tenants.
Aim 5
To enable us to contribute fully to Barnsley's evening and visitor economy.
Activities» Improve the visitor experience throughout the venue.
» Create more choice and more opportunities for all ages and backgrounds to enjoy the arts
» Increase our half day or evening visit to a full day offer.
What success will look like
Analysis of our audience and visitor data and their habits such as accessing food and beverage offer locally will provide evidence of our contribution to the growth of these areas
The project will mean that our building is finally wholly accessible to the public and can play its pivotal role in Barnsley's town centre to its fullest.
It will ensure an exciting arts centre offer is created within the significant redevelopment of the town centre that our local authority is already underaking.
We will demonstrate our success through increased turnover, sustainable income streams and increased audience and visitor numbers wiht correlating data to the wider leisure offer.
We at the very beginning of this project and its journey. We may encounter physical challenges in the building itself that create a risk of delay to the project. We may also need more time than we have scheduled to raise the full amount needed to complete the project.
Both of these risks will be managed through a robust and structured project management approach including effective communication, support from specialist professionals and rigorous planning at every stage.
We will provide regular monthly newsletter updates on our project. Hold briefing events and hard hat tours at key stages in the development and create a group for all out supporters where we can share progress images, updates and good news stories throughout.
Budget - Project Cost: £10,000Loading graph....
Amount Heading Description £5,000 New studio theatre Contribution towards creation of new studio theatre £5,000 New learning classroom Contribution towards new learning classroom
We are based in the town centre of Barnsley, South Yorkshire.
Barnsley is an ex mining borough with significant levels of social deprivation. There are high levels of health problems and a significant skills shortage amongst the potential work force.
The town is under going a significant programme of regeneration which to date has included new secondary schools, a new transport interchange and now a large leisure and retail development in the town centre.
Our building and our current organisation as custodians of it were created to to provide the people of Barnsley with cultural, learning and self improvement opportunities.
Our project will specifically benefit young families, those with learning disabilities and schools through bespoke dedicated programmes. More broadly the project will benefit all of the community by raising aspiration, enabling more access to the arts and in doing so improving well being and reinforcing a sense of civic pride
Why Us?
Why Us?
Only our charity can carry out this project as we are based in the venue and are the custodians of its future.
Read more about the Charity running this project.
Helen Ball, Chief Executive
Helen will lead the project overall and ensure the funds raised here are part of the kick start to our public fundraising campaign.
Board Of Trustees
Our Board of Trustees all play individual roles in ensuring this project remains on track. With each one taking a pro-active role in the fundraising.
Staff Team
The whole staff team at The Civic are passionate about this project. They are pro-actively looking for ways to fundraise and using their skills.


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Time for another monthly favourites video. This month I will be sharing with you what I have been loving throughout April. There is a few beauty bits and some random bits as well. Also check out my youtube channel HannahxoxoBlog. I hope you enjoy!
Affect Transparent Loose Rice Powder with Matt-Effect:
I received this is in my glossybox and I was very eager to try it out. The main reason why I love this powder so much is the packing. It is a loose powder so normally they are really messy, but because there is a twist top it hardly makes as mess. This is a matt powder which I do prefer some days, especially in the Summer when I'm looking bit too shiny. I don't have a matt powder in my make up collection as well so I do really appreciate having one now.
Tarte Shape Tape Concealer, Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer and Zoeva 142 Concealer Buffer:
I have recently been loving this combo to cover my dark circles under my eye's. I watched a Sephora make up video on youtube about covering dark circles. Now I will start off by concealing under my eyes (Tarte Shape Tape Concealer) and then in the darkest area's I will use a lighter concealer (Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer) tap it into my skin just in the darkest area not all under my eyes therefore, I will use a smaller brush (Zoeva 142 Concealer Buffer Brush). I find it definitely helps more to cover my under eyes as well and it's such good little make up trick.
Imperial Leather Foam Burst Luxurious Body Wash:
Again I received this in my glossybox and I fell in love with it. I haven't seen any product like this before and I love how it foams up and it smells amazing. I am sad it is limited edition as well. I will say I am not a massive fan of the packaging ,as after you've used it the nozzle bit will foam up from the excess product. I have tried to clean away the excess product around the nozzle after using it but it still manages to foam up and look messy and dirty. However, I do still love this product.
Sure Shower Fresh Anti-Perspirant:
I picked this up when I was doing my weekly food shop. I find it a good anti-perspirant and does the job. The main reason I love this product is because of the smell. Normally I'm not too bothered by the smell of anti-perspirants. However, it smells really good and I have got so many compliments from it.
I have re-fallen in love with the cereal 'Krave' recently. This is my go-to cereal in the morning (or anytime at that matter). I love the 'milk chocolate' and 'hazelnut' favours as well.
HP Sprocket:
I got this for Christmas and I have used it a little but recently I have been absolutely loving it! If you haven't heard of a HP Sprocket it is a wireless printer which doesn't use any ink. The pieces of paper it prints onto is also a sticker as well. I find it so quick and easy to printer any pictures straight from my phone. I have also done a collage using this printer with pictures of all my friends and family.
The Range:
I have recently had a new range open in my town and I had a look in there the other week and I found so many good little buys. I have been back multiple times as well. There is a cafe upstairs which is lovely and there is such a good range of products including furniture, home bits and bobs, pets and garden.


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It's home tour time. I am bringing you to Aalborg, Denmark third largest city. Vibeke and Jesper owns of one of my favorite Danish brands, Skagerak. More welcoming and warm-hearted people is hard to find, which I also grant a huge part of their recent success of making Skagerak a International renowned brand. Before you head over to buy new amazing garden furniture have a look inside Vibeke and Jesper's breathtaking home and find out more about Vibeke in my interview with her.
Please introduce yourself?
I`m Vibeke Panduro, Brand Ambassador and part owner at Skagerak. Mother of two teenagers and married to Jesper Panduro.
When and why did you move here?
We moved in 2 years ago, after 5 months of renovation. In July 2017. We wanted to make life simpler for our family. The Skagerak office is now in walking distance of our home and the kids bike to school. We ride our bikes to pretty much everything.
What changes did you make before moving in?
The basic changes involved excavation of the basement, new windows, wall and ceiling renovations, new kitchen and two bathrooms.
What didn't you want to change?
We basically wanted the house to look like it was built with our renovations. Making classic new choices and respectful changes and updates.
What objects hold a special meaning for you?
Inherited older furniture and special gifts and art. I think art brings something special to a home.
How do you choose which items enter your home?
We go to art exhibitions and we often "test" our own new designs, but other than that we don't buy much. Function, design and love means a lot. If you don't love it, don't buy it.
I do still buy ceramics and other small interior items when I travel. That will never change.
How has your style evolved over the years?
In our first home we brought together furniture and style from the past, and started our family. Very simple loving living. Getting involved with Trip Trap, later Skagerak meant lots of inspiration and learning from so many talented designers and craftsmen and style over time evolved.
Travelling all over the world and going to fairs in Europe, has been a great inspiration to me, but also visiting private people homes during photoshoots and styling assignments.
Which materials are important to you?
We are wood people, and love the honest material, but materials alone don't do it. There must be craftsmanship and design added to make materials matter.
When are you happy at home?
Having breakfast with the family in our kitchen corner, and having Sunday dinner and game nights with friends and family. There is something about gathering for a meal that makes me happy.
What do you think makes a welcoming home?
First the people, and next personality and history in your home decor. It is nice when things are not just white, grey and black, but have a story to tell and a life lived.
And I have learned from a friend to always offer a drink within the first 10 minutes of their stay. A nice and effective way to make friends feel welcome.
What's your favorite oldest interior piece and what's your favorite latest purchase?
Our oldest interior pieces must be our wishbone chairs from 1967, inherited from my mother. We love those chairs for the history, materials and the design and the craftsmanship.
My latest interior must be our round dining table. Specially designed for us by designer Chris Liljenberg Halstrøm. A long wait and process, but worth it.
Which interior piece are your dreaming about owning?
Michael Anastasiade's Tube Chandelier.
If you could live anywhere else in the world, where would it be?
Anywhere close to my loved ones. But I'm not a fan of January or February and the dark short days, so I picture us living in Italy or even Vietnam part of the winter when that time comes.
Next travel destination?
Japan… again. And Bornholm for the summer of course.
Favorite travel destination?
Vietnam for the food, people and sun. Japan for the food, people, nature and craftsmanship.
New York for the big city vibe and endless possibilities.
If someone is visiting Aalborg for the first time, which places would you recommend?
Breakfast tea at café Penny Lane, a visit to our very own Alvar Aalto art museum and lunch in the basement overlooking the museum park. A walk in the old parts of Aalborg and ending the day at Street Food, The Light House overlooking the harbor. Maybe a night swim at the gorgeous open air pool also by the harbour.
3 favorite Instagrammers?
Maja Vase – @majachocolat
Mikkel Karstad – @mkarstad
Leonora Christina Skov – @leonorachristinaskov


text: George Tavner is a Level 4 Coach and one of the leading player development coaches in the country. He has a proven record of graduating players into professional rugby. He was recruited from SGS Filton College where he enjoyed great success leading up the program. He has also been Diector of Rugby at UWE. Within the club he is also works hard to develop our coaches in his role as Academy Coach Development Officer.