text:
Dear Ms. Christina Kennedy,
I am interested in pursuing a career in Farming and am searching for a position where I can use my skills to their fullest potential.
I have a bachelor's degree in agriculture from Eastern Kentucky University, which included courses that focused on the business side of farming. My training includes working with various computer programs and conducting extensive research. It also includes creating schedules, preparing budget plans, working with suppliers and learning about the newest farming technology available today.
I completed an internship where I gained extensive knowledge of the crops grown in this region. This includes knowing the best planting and harvesting times and how much of each crop to plant to achieve the best harvest based on the space allowed. My experience also includes working with the different types of machinery and farm equipment, the basic care of the animals, soil testing and using pesticides safely.
I have lots of patience and good interpersonal skills needed to work efficiently as part of the team but I also have the ability to take the initiative and go that extra mile to ensure the job is done correctly. I possess strong organization skills with the ability to multitask and manage my time efficiently.
I am physically fit and able to perform the duties required, respond well during emergencies and confident this is the right career for me. If you need someone who is highly motivated with a clear understanding of what it takes to be a success in the farming industry, give me a call.
My contact number is (555)-555-5555.
Your Signature
Benjamin Ford
Enclosure: Resume


text:
Welcome to London Airport Taxi Bookings get a quote or book online >Get a Quote Online NOW!
Any questions? We're always here to help. Give us a ring on +44 0330 088 2222
About London Airport Taxi Bookings
Airport Cars UK carries out airport transfers to and from all UK towns and cities
Operating out of at London Gatwick airport, London Heathrow airport and London Stansted airport. As well as airport transfers, we offer transfers from all major UK cruise ports and passenger terminals, as well as railway stations and City transfers London.
Airport Taxi Fare Calculator Quote
The taxi fare calculator is very useful for for transfers to or from London's airports
The cost can be worked out in advance with the London city cab fare calculator giving very competitive prices, it gives you the taxi fare for many different size vehicles with the shown discount at the time of booking. Get an instant price for a London City Airport Transfer.
Our London City Airport Taxi Transfers
- Meet and Greet Taxi Service
- London Airport Taxis Cars
- Large Luggage Transfer
Top Taxi Deals
Below are some of the best taxi prices:
Epsom To Gatwick
Dorking To Gatwick
Taxis From Gatwick
Heathrow to Gatwick
"Just wanted to say a huge thank you for your wonderfully efficient service. We were thrilled with our driver arriving on time both ends of our journey - its beneficial rates which bettered the long-stay car park costs and removing all the hassle of normal airport car parking."

subset: commoncrawl


text: Christina, a writer and editor for the Thoroughbred Daily News for over 14 years, traveled all over the world to cover the sport's most important races and sales. From 2013 through 2015, she served as on-air host/handicapper for Gulfstream Park. A regular guest commentator on HRTV, she was also a member of TVG's East Coast team in 2013 and 2014. Specializing in hospitality services as the Director of the TOBA Owners Concierge from 2015 through 2017, Christina has been a member of XBTV's on-air East Coast team since December of 2016.


text:
COASST Marine Debris Training
COASST (the Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team, based at the University of Washington) offers a training session for its marine debris survey. (This is a different survey, using different methods, from the one conducted by CoastWatch.) The session runs from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Suite 100 at the Port of Tillamook Bay's headquarters (4000 Blimp Blvd.) in Tillamook. A second training takes place the previous day in Astoria—see separate listing.
The COASST Marine Debris program goes beyond identifying debris. Participants characterize the debris and measures its abundance in particular zones of the beach.
Through an interactive, hands-on workshop, trainees will learn how to collect data that speaks directly to the source and transport pathways of debris, as well as to the potential harm to people, wildlife, and local coastal ecosystems. The COASST training provides participants with the tools to monitor for potential changes in the marine environment and promote stewardship of local marine resources.
There will be a short break in the session for lunch--bring your own sack lunch, or purchase food in the area. Volunteers need no prior experience with scientific data collection, just a commitment to survey a specific beach at least once a month.
RSVPs are helpful. Contact COASST at 206-221-6893 or firstname.lastname@example.com. For more information on COASST visit coasst.org.


text:
Tax Lovers of
I wish to alert you to a serious problem. There is a movement across the country to dispose of the Federal Income Tax System and replace it with a National Sales Tax, also called a "consumption tax." It's known as the FairTax proposal.
Not only will we lose our income and payroll taxes but we will also lose our gift taxes, estate taxes, capital gains taxes, alternative minimum taxes, Social Security/Medicare taxes, self-employment taxes, and corporate taxes. All this WITHOUT reducing revenue to the Federal Government!
The problems with this may already be obvious to you but I will go over them just in case.
First of all, you will no longer be required to keep any records for tax purposes—no record of income and no record of expenditures. Do you understand??—NO RECORDS OF ANY KIND!
Tell me—how is the federal government going to keep track of our individual personal finances if there are NO RECORDS???
Fortunately, with this proposed National Sales Tax, the businesses that sell goods and services WILL have to keep records and they will have to forward the sales tax money to the government just as they do now with state sales taxes.
But you and I, the citizenry, will NOT have to keep records. This is very upsetting! I am sure you are as upset by this as I am.
And it doesn't stop there. Under this new system, no one will be required to file an Income Tax Return!!! NO RECORDS!! NO RETURNS!! NO APRIL 15th DEADLINE!! NO IRS!!!!!!!
This is un-American. I weep for our country.
In fact, the 16th Amendment to our United States Constitution (put there in 1913), which authorizes the government to collect income taxes from its citizens, will be REPEALED! That means it will be gone from the Constitution, just as PROHIBITION is now gone from the Constitution.
We let them repeal PROHIBITION! Are we now going to allow them to repeal INCOME TAXES?
With an income tax, a portion of your income goes directly to the government before you have a chance to spend it. Then the government spends it for you. What a beautiful system!! Why would anyone want to change that??
With a consumption tax, you get all the money you earn (minus any state income taxes) and the only way you will be allowed to pay federal taxes is by buying things. And here is where it gets really insidious. If you don't buy a lot of things, you will pay LESS TAXES. This drives me crazy!
It gets worse.
If we only pay taxes when we buy things, whom do you suppose will end up paying the most taxes? RIGHT! RICH PEOPLE!!!! What will happen to all those great tax shelters and foundations and accountancy tricks and loopholes rich people use to avoid paying taxes? They will become USELESS!!!!
There will be no way for rich people to avoid paying taxes because they are not going to want to stop buying things—because what is the point of being rich if you don't buy things? DUH!!!
So the rich people will end up paying the lion's share of the taxes because they are going to keep buying things—luxurious, high-priced things—because that is how you let people know you are rich and successful—you BUY things! They are not going to stop this practice and this is a direct assault on our democracy—for what good is a democracy if there is no way to cheat the system!!!???
But this "FairTax" proposal will not just affect the rich. It will also seriously impact organized crime!
Let me ask you this. When was the last time organized crime paid taxes? RIGHT! NEVER! Organized crime does not pay income taxes because what they are making their income from is ILLEGAL and needs to remain HIDDEN! They do NOT fill out an IRS return which says they made $100 million dollars from drug sales so they can pay taxes on it.
Remember, only HONEST people pay income taxes! It is a right and a privilege reserved for honest, hardworking Americans.
But criminals do BUY things with their ill-gotten gains. Under the "FairTax"/consumption tax plan, criminals will be taxed like everyone else. Can you imagine what that will do to their bottom line? From zero taxes to a sales tax on everything they buy—suddenly they will be sharing in the support of the country. They will be helping to fund the very law-enforcement organizations that are there to put them behind bars.
Now, you may wonder what is wrong with that? I will tell you. Organized crime and all criminals are a precious part of our national heritage. Imagine life without "The Godfather" series of motion pictures or "Good Fellas," "The Sopranos," "Married To The Mob."
There is a whole criminal culture here and part of its appeal is that they get a free ride. Dent that free ride and we could lose that culture!
Criminals, who operate completely on the idea of non-contribution—something for nothing—will now be forced to contribute to the society like everybody else, when they BUY things. Is criminal activity going to be worth the risk if they end up having to pay taxes just like the average Joe?
I don't know if the criminal psyche can deal with this, not to mention putting a lot of good cops and prison guards out of work.
I'm sure you see the seriousness of the threat and why we need to stop this "consumption tax" movement before it ruins everything.
Now you need to be alert for arguments from the other side. For example, here is a direct quote issued by one of their propaganda outlets.
"To ensure no American pays tax on necessities, the FairTax plan provides a prepaid, monthly rebate... for every registered household to cover the consumption tax spent on necessities up to the federal poverty level. This, along with several other features, is how the FairTax completely un-taxes the poor, lowers the tax burden on most, while making the overall rate progressive."
Okay, there you have it in their own words. The FairTax completely un-taxes the poor and they call that "progressive."
It's always the poor, isn't it, who get the short end of the stick, while the rich get to pay nearly all of the taxes because they buy so damn much.
Another argument that is made in favor of a consumption tax is that the current income tax system results in higher prices for consumer goods and services, because of the tremendous income tax compliance costs that end up being added into the prices of things.
Well, that is what is so fabulous about an income tax!! These costs are HIDDEN!! No one thinks about them!!! We don't know we are being charged for this!!!
With a consumption/national sales tax, it will all be right out there in the OPEN!!! Every time you buy something you will be aware of exactly what the tax is!!! A lot of people will be upset by this!!! They will start to complain and they will demand that the government stop SPENDING so much!!! That is like asking the government to stop BREATHING!!!!!!!!!!!
(Deep breath...) I'm sorry. It's important not to panic.
The answer to these arguments, of course, is the pure beauty of the income tax system, which only you, my fellow tax lover, can completely appreciate. I must admit, it gives me chills of pleasure just thinking about it. Here it is.
With an INCOME TAX, every working person in the country pays taxes in proportion to how much he or she earns (excepting criminals and the tax-dodging rich). Earnings are, more or less, based on production. The more a person produces or the better the product or service, the more the person earns. The more the person earns, the more the person is TAXED.
To the tax lover, this is pure joy. To the person who does not appreciate taxation the way we do, this is looked upon as "punishing" production. They make the analogy of a football team where the star running back gets FINED every time he makes a touchdown. Can you imagine? They have a problem with this!!!
But there's more. Not only do the successful producers pay more taxes, they spend countless hours each year keeping records and compiling data in anticipation of their annual tax filing. Most hire tax accountants who are needed to interpret the 7 million word tax code.
When it comes to businesses and corporations, the time and money spent on this process is HUGE! In fact, it is estimated that it costs taxpayers $225 BILLION per year for tax filing, tax record keeping and tax reduction advice.
Well, it is true that this expense is passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices, and some complain about that. But they are just not looking at the big picture.
When our prices are high, people around the world cannot easily afford to buy what we produce. This helps countries like China and India take over the world markets. That means less jobs for us and more for them. Hey! What are unemployment lines for!!!???
You see how beautifully this all works? And these "consumption tax" types want to CHANGE all that! They will completely eliminate the time and expense of income tax compliance that individuals, businesses and corporations have to deal with, and our prices will come DOWN, making us MORE competitive on world markets and creating MORE AMERICAN JOBS!!!. Do you really want to live in a country where everyone WORKS!!?? I don't think so.
Needless to say, I hate and despise these "FairTax" people. But don't despair. We can defeat them if we just continue to spread the incredible logic of our position.
As always... and always,
Tax Lover
|P.S. If you want to lodge a complaint against this "Fair Tax" plan directly, go to http://www.fairtax.org but don't say I sent you - they're dangerous.
This bit of satire is
brought to you by
|Click HERE for Video
Copyright © 2004-2018 by Tom Solari


text:
Sargy Mann (29 May 1937 – 5 April 2015) was a British Painter and one of the most extraordinary artists of recent times. Both a landscapes and figurative painter, his diverse work are recognisable by their bright colour scheme and focus on light. Although deeply influenced by Cezanne and Bonnard his paintings attain a remarkable originality. Mann was undeterred by his failing vision and continued finding new ways of seeing, even though his final complete blindness. The colours featured in Mann's work reflect the stages of his changing vision and the effects of each eye operation.Featuring these artists:
Past Exhibitions
Sargy Mann Gouaches
30th November - 19th December 2009
Enquire Now


text:
Artisan Crafted byHaand
1 Color:
Current Color selection: White
Current Selections
Nadia Mug
color: White
Item No: 286081
Made by artisans in North Carolina's HAAND ceramics studio, these 12-ounce mugs are slip cast from porcelain. Featuring glazed interiors and rims and matte ivory exteriors, they offer dual texture and color. Dishwasher and microwave safe.See the full Nadia collection
Artisan Crafted by:
Started by childhood friends, this ceramics studio produces functional pieces with an organic feel. From pouring the porcelain to glazing then polishing every piece, artisans put care into every step of the process.
Details of Nadia Mug
Product Details
- Dimensions: 4" diameter 3"h
- Capacity: 12 ounces
- Features: dishwasher and microwave safe; food safe
- Construction: hand-made
- Product Origin: made in North Carolina
- Material Origin: United States
- Item Number: 286081
- See all photos
Material Details
- Material: porcelain
- Color: white
- Finish: glaze
- Material: porcelain
- Color: white
- Finish: glaze
- Colors may vary depending on your monitor and printer. For color accuracy, request a swatch.
Receive unlimited items for only $99 within 100 miles of our stores or $139 anywhere else in the contiguous United States. Plus enjoy free UPS shipping on hundreds of select items. Learn more: www.roomandboard.com/delivery


text:
The auction.
I was with my father, I was about 12 or 13 and we were at our favourite auction house. It was love at first sight. This bureau and I were meant to be together. My hands caressed the wood which felt warm to my touch. Slowly easing out the drawer revealed a former life with aged newspaper lining. I dared to turn the key and unlock the case to reveal the compartments for letters, pens, the tiny draw for those precious items that I would stow away. I loved the smell of the wood and the fragrance of the lingering memories of previous owners.
Thankfully my father recognised my longing for this exquisite piece of furniture and he did what only a father can do and opened the bidding. I don't remember much about the sale, but I do remember the feeling of gratitude, recognising that this was a gift of love.
It took pride of place in my new bedroom and slowly began to hold my treasures. My first attempts at writing, short stories and fumbling verses I called poetry. Later, it held letters from special people, including the Canadian boyfriend, later to become fiancee and husband….
.. but that maybe another story.


text:
Dynamic Clusters – Maybe You CAN Get There From Here
Fun thing about blogging is the participation of commenters: already got some good hints in comments on how dynamic peer clusters may form.
I previously posted that "dynamic peer clusters" – groups of people who like the same books or movies or music or whatever as you do – are a perfect source for recommendations of new books or movies or music or whatever. You are all scouts for each other and you all have roughly the same tastes – especially in whatever. But, I lamented, what incentive do people have to provide the information necessary to establish the clusters in the first place? The clusters don't become useful – they don't give anything back – until a lot of people have done some work to put information in.
In a comment, reader vcmc cites last.fm: "I'm finding it's performing pretty well for me as a dynamic peer cluster, via the 'neighbors' the system generates for you after a week or two of tracking your listening patterns."
last.fm describes musical neighbors as "people that the system automatically detects have a similar music taste to you." last.fm learns your music taste by noting what tracks you listen to and how long you listen to them. It also has a downloadable client called an "Audioscrobbler" which you can run on your machine to let it know what music you listen to from other sources like iTunes. You can listen to a customized "radio" station based on your musical profile. More to the point of dynamic clusters, you can also listen to virtual stations based on the preferences of your musical neighbors. Looks to me like you can get to meet your musical neighbors as well if they want to be met. You can certainly see their profiles.
OK. last.fm has figured out how to get there (a critical mass of people to make dynamic neighborhoods) starting from here (not enough users for any social value). They have established value from the first user on by offering free music to listen to. They give their users a reason to compromise their privacy by running "Audioscrobbler" because the more last.fm knows about you, the better job it can do in customizing your radio station.
They hold out the promise of making new friends who have similar tastes. They also offer artists a free way to promote music which, in turn, makes more music available for downloading.
(note: I may be the only unmusical person in the blogosphere so can't give any useful input on how good last.fm really is. I just roamed the website for awhile after I got vcmc's recommendation and scrolled through a pretty good guided tour. My interest is in effective ways to get people to arrange themselves in dynamic peer clusters and this may be one.)
Reader vcmc does have one criticism: "…the assumption is made that the more you listen to a track, the more you enjoy it. Which - in general - is accurate, but there are always exceptions. I always feel like I'm 'poisoning' my account if I listen to a new record a few times to see if it sinks in but I don't end up enjoying it." vcmc suggests a mashup of last.fm and metacritic to get around this problem.
Which brings us to a comment by Jason about Netflix which does solicit customer ranking. "Every time I rank a movie, their recommendations get better. So I keep ranking movies. That's one way to encourage the user to deposit data." So Netflix may be building clusters and using them to generate recommendations. Mary and I stopped using Netflix because we were having a hard time thinking up which movies we wanted to see. If we'd been more patient, perhaps we would have gotten recommendations which helped us over this hurdle.
Jason asks: "What if one company aggregated data from Netflix, Amazon, Last.fm, Pandora, etc., etc., and then both re-supplied the larger data sets to each collector and used the database to create their own recommendation sites.
"In that case, I guess 'getting here to there' would involve someone persuasive enough to talk the big data collectors into selling their data." There is also the problem of matching up the different identities each of us have with different services and there are sure to be privacy concerns. Still, it's an intriguing idea. There is probably a pretty strong correlation between what books people like, for example, and what movies. Don't know about music, of course.
Again, Netflix has found a way to give a user an almost immediate advantage – better suggestions - if the user takes the trouble to rank movies. This starts out being just an added benefit of a service which people love because it eliminates late fees. But, in the end, when there are multiple good ways to get video on demand, users will resist switching from a service which includes their neighborhood, their dynamic peer cluster.
Amazon understand that, of course, but seems to have been almost reticent to do more than the simple correlation of people who bought this book also bought this one.
It may be that dynamic peer clusters become a sine qua non for online retailers, particularly in the arts. The retailers do have the purchase or listen or view or download information. They don't have the feedback unless they solicit it but Netflix has shown that it should be easy to get users to provide this feedback. It may be that the business opportunity is in providing retailers with the tools to do the clustering well (if you're not a retailer yourself). Certainly this is AN opportunity.
But I think there's more opportunity than just enabling retailers – as big as that opportunity is. Look forward to hearing more good ideas from you (or seeing the alpha of your new dynamic peer clustering service – I'm sure you'll have a better name for it than that).


text:
So… After moving to Upstate / Central New York, I realized just how many apples one can get in autumn. So many that I had trouble finishing the apples before they would go bad. I needed to do something, something that could use up a large amount of apples. Hence the apple pie.
It's easy, it's delicious, it's almost addicting! And it's a good way to use up all the apples I just had to buy. I don't recommend anyone using margarine, it's not the healthiest oil, try using coconut oil instead. Also, try using olive oil instead of canola oil.
Again, this recipe is from a very well-known cookbook that has been around for a long time, a lot of people made this recipe, and some looks very pretty!


text:
Energy is a fundamentally interdisciplinary field, yet I've found that business people have trouble talking to scientists, who in turn have trouble talking to politicians. This past week, the third annual ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit in Washington, DC facilitated just this conversation between policymakers, entrepreneurs, investors, government officials, researchers, university students and even major corporations such as FedEx, Walmart and Xerox.
From this multi-faceted conversation, a few themes emerged:
Stop Comparing Internet to Energy (Moore's Curse)
The unprecedented rapid growth of the IT sector in the past decade has distorted the perception of the true pace of energy innovation. Those in the IT sector often reference Moore's Law, the trend that the number of transistors that can be placed on an integrated circuit doubles every two years. Though it is tempting to think this will be the case for energy technology, a transition from fossil fuels will take decades, if not more. Thus, the idea of "Moore's curse" was conceived of by author Vaclav Smil, who is arguably Bill Gates' favorite energy author. The former Microsoft chairman mentioned Smil four times in Tuesday's fireside chat with Secretary of Energy Steven Chu.
Venture capitalists that have traditionally invested in IT need to understand the long time frame for technological breakthroughs in the lab and taking a product to a market that dislikes change. Unlike technology, in which people crave the newest gadget, energy is a much more fundamental part of our lives, and it is often a part we'd rather not change.
We can always expect venture capitalists to be driven by profit, but there needs to be a shift away from the "quick flip" strategy that is so alluring for investors in Internet startups. In energy, VC's play a role in teaching a scientist how to grow a business: how to scale, how to hire, and how to commercialize. The ultimate upside in energy is orders of magnitudes greater than what they could ever do with IT, because energy is something people need on an everyday basis. Instead of searching for the next Facebook, venture capitalists need to search for the next gasoline replacement, the smallest battery with the greatest storage, the smartest grid integrator, or something that can otherwise revolutionize the way we currently consume energy.
Perhaps we all need to be "cheap" like Steven Chu in order to support energy efficiency projects, which is how Chu claims he became interested in energy efficiency decades ago. Bill Clinton suggests starting with the low-hanging fruit first: retrofitting buildings and getting rid of landfills by harvesting the methane in it for transportation fuel.
More funding in energy technologies is needed…in the public sector
ARPA-E is funding energy technologies that have game-changing potential and need help "crossing the chasm" from the lab into scalable businesses. But as Matt Trevithick, Partner of Venture Capital firm Venrock said, "Technology makes the world bigger, policy cuts it up." Some innovative startups that Director of ARPA-E, Arun Majumdar, highlighted in his keynotes and discussions include:
- Envia Systems, "world-record" energy density 400 Wh/kg in lithium-ion rechargeable batteries
- Polyplus, lithium-air, lithium-water, lithium-sulfur batteries
- Codexis, transforming waste biomass into clean fuel
- 24M, lithium-based flow battery at half the price and faster recharge than conventional batteries
- Cree, single transistor made of silicon carbide that can handle a megawatt of electric power, so transformers can fit in your suitcase
- Sheetak, thermoelectric solid-state cooling system to replace air-conditioning that uses less energy, less materials to make, and no polluting refrigerants
- Tobacco plants that produce fuel, at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. "If they're successful, you would have big oil and big tobacco saving the world," said Arun Majumdar.
According to Arun, these startups will "compete, and if they don't succeed, they'll come back and find another solution."
More funding in energy technologies is needed…in the private sector
Private financing in energy technologies isn't a disaster; you just have to look for it in the right places. The panelists discussing "Financing the Future Electric System" agreed that the potential for renewable energy project finance is in pension funds, institutional investors, and large corporations serving as tax equity providers. Fueled by policy uncertainty, technology risk, and the limits of tax equity, the uncertainty in cleantech is what raises the cost of capital and scares off private investors. Stuart Bernstein, Global Head of Clean Technology and Renewables at Goldman Sachs, said on the panel discussion that he believes the venture capital winners will be counter-cyclical, investing in a time where many are too cautious about the risks and uncertainty of going against the grain.
Energy Clubs bring together business and engineers; Start with the campus
On Monday, the ARPA-E Student Program gathered the energy club leaders from universities across the United States for exclusive talks and discussion about the role of students in energy innovation (A big thanks to Shannon Yee for organizing!).
"Energy clubs provide a low-cost way to increase US energy competitiveness by engaging students, fostering new companies, educating a new workforce and catalyzing energy innovation," said Asher Burns-Burg, an ex-president of BERC.
In the spirit of "ask for forgiveness, not permission," the Student Program shared their dreams and best practices of running their campus energy clubs. The most common frustration was the issue of collaboration between departments and among universities; that is, how much potential there was for amazing innovation if only the different energy disciplines could better communicate with each other. Getting the Engineering PhDs to be interested in the same events as the MBAs was one hurdle. Some solutions include MIT's Energy 101 lecture series, in which technical students taught basic clean energy concepts to business students in an attempt to level the playing field. The Berkeley-Stanford Cleantech Conference is an example of how two universities can create a bigger and better conference together – BSCC brought Steve Chu in 2011. In a student roundtable session with Arun Majumdar, he suggested starting with retrofitting the university campus to be the best it can be.
By the Numbers
The third Annual ARPA-E Innovation Summit:
- 2,440 attendees from 49 states and 26 countries
- 107 speakers
- Technology Showcase: 240 breakthrough energy technologies
ARPA-E funds
- Over 180 projects to date
- $521.7 million over 12 program areas


text:
tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13948933.post3956026419330466285..comments2020-06-19T03:25:40.461-05:00Comments on Theological Meditations: Theophilus Gale (1628–1678) on the "Day of Grace"Tony Byrnehttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-13948933.post-23324756029734016502009-08-03T15:14:14.724-05:002009-08-03T15:14:14.724-05:00Of course, if you did start using Twitter, you'...Of course, if you did start using Twitter, you'd have to apologize to all of your friends for mocking them... :-)email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-13948933.post-4685335554822876722009-08-03T13:05:40.216-05:002009-08-03T13:05:40.216-05:00Thanks, Tony. I understand your low view of Twitt...Thanks, Tony. I understand your low view of Twitter, but I do think it would be beneficial to others for you to tweet your posts. You can even use third party software to automate that process using your RSS feed. At that point, you could gradually tweet older posts that you felt merited email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-13948933.post-12324361210398347602009-08-03T12:35:21.574-05:002009-08-03T12:35:21.574-05:00Hi Barry, I am not presently using Twitter or Fac...Hi Barry,

I am not presently using Twitter or Facebook. I did have a Facebook account until recently, but I closed it, at least for now. I was only using it to speak to one friend, and I didn't want to get caught up adding more and more people so as to spend even more time on the Internet. I MAY rejoin, but not now.

Also, I have such a low view of the nature of Twitter Tony Byrnehttps://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-13948933.post-12369281262909102992009-08-03T10:54:20.385-05:002009-08-03T10:54:20.385-05:00Tony, are you on Twitter or Facebook? If not, I w...Tony, are you on Twitter or Facebook? If not, I wish you'd consider joining and sharing some of your posts. Thanks, email@example.com


text:
Indeed the best people to learn about a trade from are, from those who have walked the path! We recently asked mums the big question –
What is one best personal tip or advice you would share with parents and parents-to-be?
Good things are meant to be shared. Here are the top 15 parenting tips you might find useful:
1. Talk with them and listen to your child. Respect and recognise your child's feelings! – Elaine Tan
2. Be a good role model to the kids in your daily life and be aware of the way we speak as children learn everything from adults. – Penny Chan
3. Be generous with rewards — your love, hugs, and compliments can work wonders! – Lee Eleen
4. When talking to our child, please do not lecture them. Speak in short sentences, especially for preschoolers. And try to put demands in the positive. For example, say 'walk' instead of 'don't run'. – Ana CT Ani
5. The most important lesson you can give to your child, no matter how young they are, is that they are always capable of doing anything, just as you show them they are capable of sitting, and walking. The same goes for everything else in life. – Esther YS Ling
6. Always tell your child you love him/ her. Many times a day! For no reason! No matter how old they are! No matter if they cringe in return or not. – Sharon Goh
7. Let children to drink breast milk until two years old as breastfed kids are relatively more healthy and we save money from buying milk powder. It's alright to let them wear second-hand clothes, with babies wearing cloth diapers. Instead of wet wipes, wash hands with water and always have a handkerchief in hand when on the go. – Qing Yi
8. Pray for our children, pray with our children. When things are down, pray. When things are up, pray. Prayer works! We do our best as parents, we let God do the rest! – Stacy Wong
9. Each child is a different and unique individual. The rule is don't compare! That way, parents will be less stressed and the child will be stress free! – Faith Chan
10. When you think you can, you can! (especially for breastfeeding among first time mothers) – Huang Bao Xian
11. Our role as parents is not to ensure our kids are happy. It's to prepare them to find their own happiness. So it's good to let kids fail. They will learn how to cope when things don't go their way, and gain the self-confidence to try new things, and go for it. – Easter Wong
12. Let it go! We parents have to learn to let go, so that they could learn all by themselves. We are here just to guide them and not owned them. – Chan Yu Chin
13. When we were kids, we used to learn that, if we ever got lost (say, in a department store), we should find a policeman for help. But how often is a policeman present? Instead, I should tell my kid she should look for a mum with children, since it's more likely that the person could help. It makes a lot more sense to me! – Tan Aik Guan
14. Instead of using an electric thermos to make hot milk for baby, invest in a good portable thermos that is able to keep warm for 6-8 hours. It saves electricity. Use hot boiling water to sterilise milk bottles or baby feeding items instead of buying a steriliser. It works the same way in killing harmful germs. – Katelynn Kayley Low
15. Teach them to be grateful as we were told to be grateful to all those who had helped us. – Sk Lim


text:
Here's that other Chum Lee entry I promised to post last week, I think. He's soooo cute!!!! And I am proud to say that I took most of these photos, hahaha! I think all except the ones with me in them, of course. :]
I have so much research to do today for school. I think I'll go get back to that now. Wish I could go out with my family. Maybe I will. I don't know yet, haha. I don't want to end up cramming :\ haha
Anyone excited for Easter Sunday? :] It truly is an amazing day we should all hold dear.
Blurry Kyle, haha
Looooooook at that faceeeeeee! Gah.
"Read the directions and directly you will be directed in the right direction."
- Alice in Wonderland (1951)


text:
In a land of plants, flowers, honeybees and butterflies life goes so beautiful and pleasant. All went fine until the evil dragonflies showed up. They have captured a cute honeybee and held him as captive in a cage. Help him get out of that steel cage so that he can escape from the suffering.
©2005-2020 FLASH512. COST: 0.003s Feedback


text:
System i Developer Expands Free
iAdvocate Resource Library
Summit Keynote Ian Jarman contributes vignette slide set
Peterborough, NH - October 29, 2013 - System i Developer, the consortium of top educators on IBM i development technologies, today announces the addition of several new resources in their online IBM iAdvocate Resource repository. This freely accessible repository provides IBM i professionals with compelling data and presentation materials that they can use to communicate the strengths of IBM i as a business application platform to their colleagues and management.
A key addition to the repository is a presentation - complete with speaker notes - entitled 25 Years of IBM i Innovation. Originally developed by IBM's Ian Jarman to celebrate the system's 25 year history, the presentation's clever vignettes have been used around the world to highlight the unique strengths of the platform. The repository also includes a companion white paper.
"The 25 Years of IBM i Innovation materials are as a great way of educating the IBM i illiterate using simple, everyday comparisons," says Susan Gantner, partner at System i Developer. "The stories are interesting and memorable, and they drive home just why the IBM i is the strongest platform for business."
Jarman shared personal insights into the development of the vignettes during his Keynote address at the RPG & DB2 Summit on October 15.
Other iAdvocate resources include new benchmark results for SAP on IBM i as well as independent cost/benefit research findings for SAP on IBM i.
"The truly exciting thing about this new research is the fact that the brand-new, much-touted in-memory HANA database couldn't beat good ol' DB2 for i!" exclaims Gantner.
"In spite of all the hype from SAP and Oracle, our very own DB2 for i has had in-memory capability for 25 years - 35 if you count the System/38! Mike Cain set that record straight on his blog. It speaks to our database's efficiency for any business application, not just SAP."
The iAdvocate repository is one component of System i Developer's iAdvocate program, which was designed to arm RPG & DB2 Summit attendees with the skills, information and confidence to advocate for IBM i - and their own careers - within their own shops.
The second component of the iAdvocate program is interactive skills training at each RPG & DB2 Summit via a main tent session developed by IBM's Mike Cain. The iAdvocate Tutorial and Discussion focuses on exploring techniques to 1) articulate the IBM i message and 2) get into the position to influence decision makers within our organizations.


text:
Brookfield Summer Fun Days are taking place this weekend. Click to hear KMZU's Chelsea Pounds speak with Chamber of Commerce Director Paul Fry.
Fry said several new events will take place this year. "We're going to have a 3-on-3 basketball tournament in the 200 block of N. Main. Also new this year, is the main street lottery wheel. Every hour on the hour you can come up and spin the wheel and take your chances on winning, a 50/50 pot type of thing. So, you can try your luck at that."
Fry added there is something for everyone at this event. "If everybody would like to come out to Brookfield for Summer Fun Days, it's a small town atmosphere." He said, "There will be lots of vendors and hometown food. The Main Street businesses will be open, so there will be a lot of things for just about anyone to do."
The event will run through Sunday, June 17th.


text:
All of our Ethnic Christmas Tea Lights will be on sale from now until 12/19/2010. These tea lights will have their retail price reduced by at least 34% during this sale. View the collection today and enjoy another one of our deeply discounted holiday collectibles!
View our: Christmas Tea Light Collection


text:
PREMIER BUSINESS & FINANCE Exploring the business of the Luxury Auction and examining the benefits they provide to both buyers and sellers.
PREMIER BUSINESS & FINANCE Luxury Real Estate Auctions
OK, so let's talk about real estate auctions….but first, what comes to your mind when you hear the word "auction" as it applies to real estate?
Do you assume (like many others):
- An auction is because the seller needs to sell at any price?
- An auction is because the seller needs to sell at any price?
- An auction is a property in foreclosure?
- An auction is held because the seller wants to drive up the price over market value?
- An auction is held because the house cannot sell any other way?
This is not always the case and never the case with the "Luxury Auction" run by independent auction houses.
Over the next two issues we will be exploring the business of the Luxury Auction and examining the benefits they provide to both buyers and sellers.
First and foremost, we must dispel the common misconception that ALL auctions are about desperation and foreclosure. There are many countries throughout the world that utilize the real estate auction process to achieve TOP DOLLAR not BOTTOM BASEMENT pricing.
The most familiar real estate auction to us is the auction held by the bank when the owner has defaulted on the loan and the bank has foreclosed. This is a forum where everyone wants to get the "deal of a lifetime". Rarely is that the case. To make matters more confusing, if the property has value in the eyes of the foreclosing lender, they typically will hold it in their inventory and put it on the market at a later date as "bank owned" and will accept highest and best offer that is almost always based on current market value.
So what about the Luxury Real Estate Auction? We have all watched movies or TV where the paddles fly uncontrollably because someone just has to have the item being auctioned….whether it be a piece of fine art, jewelry or antiques. So, why do we think so differently when it comes to real estate? Simply we do not clearly understand and utilize it on a regular basis. Remember that Luxury Auctions are not for everyone or every home.
What is an effective and legal Luxury Real Estate Auction and how does it work? I reached out to Anna Houssels and Brittany Hahn, with Pacific Sotheby's International Realty who have extensive experience in Luxury Real Estate Auctions to help clarify the details.
They explained that traditional methods of sale require you to establish a price which encourage buyers to come in low to begin negotiations. Additionally, as a seller, you risk missing some buyers who think they cannot afford your house based on your first asking price and then find out later that it sold for a price they would have paid. In this scenario both buyers and sellers are negatively impacted through a lack of transparency.
"Buyers begin looking for property logically by a budget with which they feel most comfortable. If your original asking price is too high you may miss the opportunity that a capable buyer will ever see your home," according to Brittany Hahn.
"Competition pushes the property price up. Additionally, in our current market traditional sales do not create an environment which encourage multiple offers. Once you have advertised a price to the market they are apt to see it as a cap," states Anna Houssels.
In summary of this section:
- Sellers of property by Luxury Auction believe that maximum marketing exposure in a defined period (4-6 weeks) will produce a more advantageous sales result.
- Sellers of property by Luxury Auction have opted to take control of their timeline and lower their days on market. Waiting and hoping can often be an expensive exercise as it negatively impacts the final sales price.
- Luxury Auctions assist the market like a price finder. It is easier for the industry as well as the consumer to ascertain what properties are REALLY worth.
Benefits to the seller
- Auction targets a wider range of buyers from the lower and the higher ranges of your property's value.
- Keeps the pressure on the buyers to make a decision as there is a deadline.
- Buyers must perform all due diligence and waive all contingencies before submitting offers.
- Intensive marketing focused on your property both through private database, local market and international resources will be key.
- There is a time certain/deadline date
- Reduces time on market. The longer that property sits on the market after 60 days, statistically, the price begins to decline regardless of market conditions as the market views it as "stale" or "overpriced".
- Avoid long time on the market and hefty cost of carrying. i.e. the cost of your mortgage, taxes, maintenance, insurance, etc.
- In areas where there is a lot of inventory or inventory is stagnant, it helps your property to stand out.
- Buyers understand you to be a committed seller and not testing the market.
- The more unique the property the more it benefits from maximum exposure to relevant and qualified buyers.
- Forces a competitive market which encourages multiple offers.
- You can feel confident that the "best buyer" is found and not just any buyer interested in purchasing who may not actually take the transaction all the way through to close of escrow.
Benefits to the buyer
- Transparency – you are not relying on agent's anticipation of price and value but on actual buyer's level of financial interest. Therefore you do not need to fear "overpaying" as you are aware of what the market is prepared to pay.
- On the Auction floor the sellers are ready to sell their property.
- Strong purchasers don't have to wait for the auction as they can buy now.
- Auction house provides independent professional inspections for the property for the buyers to review, at no cost. No surprises!
- Generally, auction properties have committed sellers who are looking to sell, no testing of the market.
- Normal loan options exist…you do not need "all cash".
In conclusion, it is important to remember that real estate auctions are not for everyone or for every property. But they can be a very effective resource if you truly understand the process and have reasonable expectations.
Please contact a qualified Realtor® for more information and guidance. Be sure to ask about the benefits of independent auctions houses as well as auctions held by your Realtor®
Depending upon your property value and the uniqueness of your property, an independent auction house working alongside your Realtor® may be the preferred option with the largest upside.
By Diana Rubottom, Pacific Sotheby's International Realty


text:
Apparently the nice folks at Good Things Utah liked me as much as I liked them, because last week they asked me to come back! I had a great time putting together some lunches to show you what I do for my first grader. I hope this gives you some good ideas!
Here we are, discussing the deliciousness! (Why yes, that is Michelle Money from the Bachelor, aren't I cool to be hanging out with her? She is so nice!)
For you local Utah peeps, watch ABC (channel 4) tonight. I had the fun experience of having Emily Clark come interview me in our home, and it is playing tonight at 10:00 p.m.! You can also watch it on February 2nd at 5:00 p.m., and then again sometime in the morning next week. I'll try to come update here when I hear more. It's so exciting, come watch me! And of course I'll post a link here later.
For lots more healthy school lunch ideas, make sure you are following me on Instagram! I post my first grader's lunch almost every day.
What do you like to send for lunch with your kids?


text:
Hello dear reader, this is an archive of all the satirical (and a few non-satirical) posts of Russia Without BS. I have long since moved on to other things, and currently maintain a Youtube channel known as Spaghetti Kozak.
Do check out the Facebook page and my Twitter feed @RussiawithoutBS
I have been published in The Guardian, The Moscow Times, Open Democracy, RUSSIA! Magazine, Voice of America and Cracked.com. I have also been featured as a guest on Sky News, France 24, CBC, StopFake, TRT World, CBS radio, BBC radio, and The History Channel.
Email contact: firstname.lastname@example.com
Crimea is Ukraine. Donbas is Ukraine.


text:
Exigo, stage left.
Here's to the fall guy. You know, the guy who gets stomped on instead of the hero, the one the villain rips to pieces just to show the audience that he's a tough mother. These guys usually aren't worth any words – they're just fodder separating the good guy from the bad guy.
But every fall guy has a mother, maybe even a fall gal, who would cry at the sight of her beloved Todd getting speared by an orc, shot by a crook or callously blasted by a terrorist just to give new life to the star of the show. What was the point of his hideous death?
The same could be asked of EA's sacrificial lamb, Armies of Exigo. This strategy game offers nothing new, borrows liberally from games that came out ten years ago, and has received virtually no online support from EA. Not only is it inferior to this year's RTS crop, it's barely as good as the ancient games it mimics. Say hello to the fall guy.
In the lands of Exigo, the human Empire reigns supreme. Then the Arch-Mage dies, and the Orc hordes start attacking civilization's borders. Before you can say "déjí vu," it's all out war between Orcs and Humans. But then, from underground, a new threat emerges. The Fallen, a mysterious race of insect-controlling Elves, stake their own claim to the overworld and start attacking everyone. Alric, the new Arch-Mage, must beat down the evil Elves and Orcs to maintain humanity's place in the sun.
Armies of Exigo is clearly a Warcraft knock-off, but it also steals plenty of tricks from Starcraft and the Age of Empires games. You harvest stuff, build up humongous battalions, and then wipe out your enemies with superior numbers and efficient resource hoarding. It's a ridiculously derivative RTS. Take this gameplay tip from the manual:
"Gather resources quickly. Create enough gatherers to get a jump on things so you can begin training units and building structures early."
Go ahead and let that marinate for a second, because that's a hint. Here's another one: "Don't bother."
Armies of Exigo shakes things up a bit with pre-rendered dungeons beneath some of the game's maps, so you can take your battles of attrition to whole new sub-levels. In gameplay terms, there is no functional difference between the overworld and the underworld. You can mine gold, chop trees, and collect gems both above ground and below, which is a little silly when you think about it. Shouldn't trees only grow above ground? And wouldn't it make sense for gems to be a strictly underground resource, thus making existence on both planes essential?
In the end, you will have to give both levels some thought, but not because of resource distribution. In maps with a subterranean level, every side's starting point has a subterranean counterpoint. Therefore, if you go underground, you will definitely be able to get underneath your opponent's base. When you do, you can use certain units to attack the surface or a super-attack to wreak havoc on both levels.
Since many of the subterranean maps are smaller than the overworld maps, they're easier to control and can quickly lead to direct confrontations. The subterranean areas include a bunch of critters, so you can level up your troops down there before confronting the enemy.
Much like in Warcraft III, your units and heroes can gain experience and level up. Unlike Warcraft III, though, gaining levels is just as important for your troops as it is for your heroes. At level three, they get auras, which provide an attribute bonus to a few of the units immediately around them. Units can reach level five if they get in on enough action. Don't be fooled into thinking that your level five soldiers are anything more than cannon fodder, though, because infantry units are almost entirely worthless in Armies of Exigo.
While there is a bit of a rock-paper-scissors system going on between units, none of it matters, because heavy units utterly demolish any infantry they come across. One knight or ogre can beat down scores of expensive, high-leveled infantry, forcing most fights into the upper branches of your unit trees.
That is, unless you play as The Fallen. Not only do The Fallen spread creep exactly like Starcraft's Zerg, but their basic harvesting unit is also their basic combat unit. Even though Armies of Exigo is all about attrition, a good Zerg, er, Fallen rush can really distract your opponent…just like it did six years ago.
Armies of Exigo's A.I. is also outdated. Enemy units will attack the first thing they come across and not stop, regardless of damage or heals applied to their target. Instead, enemies will send a constant barrage of crap at you in increasingly larger waves. Once you learn the key to defeating whatever wave the enemy is going to send your way, it becomes simple to hold off your foes while hoarding resources and building up a big force. Never done that before.
There's a decent amount of single-layer game here, with three separate offline campaigns (one per race) comprised of 12 missions apiece as well as Skirmishes. Get used to those, because finding a game online is just about impossible. Once you find the single, populated matching channel, you can either start a game or join one. Online matches support up to twelve players and can be played in Skirmish, Capture the Flag, King of the Hill, and Melee modes. Games begin sluggishly while players set up defenses and start hoarding resources, but eventually you'll get into some pretty big battles. Since Armies of Exigo is such a graphical lightweight, your computer will definitely be able to handle the attrition, even if you can't.
Armies of Exigo is ostensibly a 2D game. The camera is locked in an overhead position and can be rotated about thirty degrees with the Page Up/Down buttons, but as soon as you lift your finger off one of the buttons it snaps back into its original position. Zooming is an equally interesting affair, in that you have to continually tap the Home button. With each tap, the camera zooms in a smidgen. You can't zoom in very far, nor can you zoom quickly, so you probably won't do any zooming at all (unless it's to the store for a refund).
The environments in Armies of Exigo are pretty dull above ground, just lots of foliage and hills. Underground, though, they at least benefit from some randomly colored lighting and weird, fungal trees. The units are poorly detailed and horribly animated, although they are very good about not getting stuck on one another, even if they get hung up on the environment all the time.
Some of the worst voice-acting ever can be found in Armies of Exigo alongside some forgettable scores. The sound effects are right on par with the voice-acting, if that's even possible; arrow fire literally sounds like someone tapping a pencil against a table.
Armies of Exigo is a playable RTS and even marginally entertaining, but that's only because its developers blatantly adopted every single hackneyed RTS convention they could get their hands on. Even the fall guy has enough self-respect to avoid doing that..


text:
Wine Country fires show we can still come together
Like so many disasters, no one saw it coming.
The weather was perfect, and many of us in San Francisco spent the day enjoying the Blue Angels at Fleet Week, or the Italian Heritage Festival or Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. The talk was of our baseball teams packing it away for the winter and our football teams' lackluster performances.
All of that changed when night fell and scattered blazes in the North Bay, kicked alive by high winds, turned into a fire disaster the likes of which we've never seen.
It's a bit of a cliche to note that disasters like this bring out the best in us, but that doesn't make it any less true. First responders go days with little or no sleep. Churches open their doors to fire refugees. And ordinary folks flood the zone to help. One evacuation center was so inundated with donations last week that it had to put out an urgent call for people to stop bringing food — there was too much.
Even Gov. Jerry Brown and President Trump managed to set aside their many differences to get federal aid rolling to a state on fire.
We sometimes wonder these days whether civility in public life is a thing of the past. Maybe more than sometimes. So it's reassuring that we're still capable of an outpouring of human kindness that can match the intensity of a firestorm.
Stepping up to the plate: There have been heroes aplenty during the fires, and one of them was Barry Bonds. As the Atlas Fire burned, the former Giant and should-be Hall of Famer spent hours shuttling people to safety from the Silverado Country Club. He'd fill his car, take evacuees to a safe spot, then head back to pick up more.
That's a performance as worthy of celebration as his 73rd home run.
Weighing in: President Trump, at 6-foot-2 and well over 200 pounds, has met his match in "Little Bob Corker."
Corker may be 5-foot-7 and 160 pounds, but he's a giant next to the president. He was an early supporter of Trump during the campaign, which makes his conclusion that the president is putting the country "on the path to World War III" all the more credible — and unsettling.
And unlike Trump, Corker is making his views known in a respectful way that doesn't demean anyone.
Sacked: As the NFL twists itself into a knot over players who take a knee during the national anthem, owners would be wise to remember that their multibillion-dollar empire is wholly dependent on the contributions of the finest football players in the world — 70 percent of whom are African American.
Ask anyone who watched replacement players stumble around the field during the 1987 NFL strike. Or ask the handful of people who witnessed Donald Trump's New Jersey Generals and their desultory contests with other USFL teams in the '80s. There's no substitute for the real thing.
A mass action by protesting players would be a real threat to the NFL.
By the way, kneeling is what many of us do to pray. It should never be interpreted as being disrespectful.
Movie Time: "Blade Runner 2049" stars Ryan Gosling, last seen in the delightful "La La Land." No musical numbers in this one: Gosling plays a principled robot who teams up with Harrison Ford in a sequel to the 1982 sci-fi classic.
The acting is fine, the apocalyptic scenery is breathtaking, and the movie lasts an eternity. Don't go in the evening — it's sure to put you to sleep.
No savior: There was a pool toss the other night to raise money for Tenderloin nonprofits that worked out great — $460,000 came in. The highest bid came from John Konstin, owner of John's Grill, who paid $35,000 to dump Mark Leno (wearing a Shirley Temple wig) into the pool.
"He's been trying to convince me that he walks on water," Konstin said. "I just wanted to give him a chance to prove it."
He sank like a rock.
Want to sound off? Email: email@example.com


text:
We have fund raised and saved hard and now we have a new minibus. This is a great asset to the group and will enable us to have even more trips and adventures.
We are now looking for any local businesses that may be interested in having an advertising sign on the bus, in exchange for a small sponsorship fee. Please contact us if you are interested.


text:
Resarch Methods: Qualitative vs. Quantitative
This content was COPIED from BrainMass.com - View the original, and get the already-completed solution here!
Please discuss two different research methods and state whether those methods are qualitative or quantitative.© BrainMass Inc. brainmass.com June 4, 2020, 3:30 am ad1c9bdddf
Solution Preview
Qualitative vs. Quantitative:
Qualitative research uses more than one method and it is considered to be very interactive and humanistic (Pershing, Stolovitich & Keeps, 2006). A quantitative method uses more statistical models and it deals with numbers that are turned into those statistical models in an attempt to explain what they have observed. Let's first discuss the features and differences of each method.
- Is looking for more of a complete and detailed description.
- Most researchers have a good idea in advance what they are actually looking for.
- This type of research should be done in the beginning phases of a project.
- The actual design of this study will emerge as it unfolds.
- Your researcher is the one who collects the data.
- The data will either be in the form of objects, words or pictures.
- This type of research is more subjective. This means that an individual's interpretation of events is very important. You will use more participant observations or even more in-depth interviews (Pershing, Stolovitich & Keeps, 2006).
- This type of data can be more time consuming and it will be harder to generalize.
- Your researcher can become subjectively immersed in the subject matter at hand.
- The major aim of this type of research is to classify features, count them and then you can construct your statistical models in order to try and explain what was observed.
- In this type of research your researcher will know exactly what they are looking for.
- You would want to do this type of research during the final phases of a project.
- You will have all aspects of the study designed before you collect any data.
- Your researchers will use questionnaires or different types of equipment that can collect numerical data (Miller, 2010).
- All data will be statistical in the form of numbers.
- This type of research is considered objective because it seeks precise measurement and analysis of what ...


text:
Drivers headed to Tor Kielce, Poland as the opening round of the 2016 Federal Tyres King of Europe ProSeries, Pro2 and Queen of Europe seasons got underway. With qualification taking place on Friday, drivers were pushing their cars to the limits in the perfect weather conditions at the impressive high speed circuit, which features on the King of Europe calendar for the first time.
With the ProSeries drivers having plenty of practice in the perfect dry and warm conditions, the weather suddenly turned which immediately changed the situation drastically. As the rain poured down on the track, the challenging qualification laps got underway for the drivers. Although they were facing the extreme conditions, it didn't stop them pushing as hard as they could – clocking entry speeds of over 155kph!
Polish drivers are known for putting up a strong fight on home soil, and this round was certainly to be no exception as they occupied 9 positions out of the Top 10 rankings in qualifying. Austrian driver Alois Pamper would be the exception after taking 4th place. Paweł Trela would take 1st place, with Marcin Carzasty in 2nd and Jakub Przygonski in 3rd.
2015 Pro2 Champion Pavlin Penev would once again sit at the top of 40 drivers in the Pro2 series qualifications, Lukasz Gieras would take 2nd with Marcin Galat in 3rd.
In the Queen of Europe series, Aleksandra Fijal would take 1st place in qualifying, with Katarzyna Zydb in 2nd and Karolina Pilarczyk in 3rd.
Unfortunately for the drivers, the weather conditions didn't improve throughout Saturday as the battles got underway. It would make for incredibly challenging conditions which would cause upsets for even some of the best drivers.
2015 ProSeries Champion Norbert Kovacik would face well-known local driver Pawel Trela in his Top 16 battle, despite solid driving from both it would be Trela who edged his way to the Top 8. After taking 3rd place in 2015, Adam Frank would find him up against Alois Pamper in the Top 16, sadly a mistake from Frank in the first run cost him dearly and despite winning the second battle it wasn't enough. The upsets continued in the Top 16 as the winner of the 2015 Polish round, and 3rd place qualifier Przygonski made a mistake which allowed his opponent Andras Molar to advance. French driver Laurent Cousin would go out to local driver Pawel Borkowski after an unfortunate error.
In the Top 8, it would be French driver Mike Kauffmann who would fall victim to the Polish drivers, despite consistent driving throughout the weekend, with Maciej Jarkiewicz advancing to the Top 4. Austrian driver Alois Pamper would again progress after beating local driver Borkowski. Andras Molnar would put up a good fight against Marek Wartalowicz, with Wartalowicz edging his way past.
In the Top 4, it would see Pawel Trela face Alois Pamper, two drivers who had been on top form throughout the weekend. After a mistake from Trela in the first battle, despite winning the second battle, it would give Pamper enough points to head to his first King of Europe final. He would go up against Wartalowicz who knocked out Jarkiewicz.
In the small final, Trela would go up against Jarkiewicz. After both drivers collided in the first corner, with Jarkiewicz at fault, it would hand Trela the third step on the podium.
In the main final, after an incredibly close battle between Pamper and Wartalowicz, the judges were unable to decide a winner, which forced a one-more-time, much to the delight of the home crowd. This time it would be a mistake from Wartalowicz which would hand Pamper his first ever King of Europe ProSeries win!
In the Pro2 series, 2015 Champion Pavlin Penev would make an unfortunate exit in the Top 8, which would allow opponent Adam Jarkiewicz to advance to the Top 4, which he would subsequently win to progress to the final. In the small final, Mateusz Pawlak would go up against Lukasz Gieras. It would be Gieras who took the win, handing him 3rd place. In the final battle between Jarkiewicz and Galat, Galat would win both battles 10-0, 10-0 to take the win, handing him the top spot on the podium.
In the Queen of Europe series, Karolina Pilarczyk, who took 2nd place in the 2015 Championship would find herself up against Katarzyna Zdyb. After an initial 0-0 battle in the tricky conditions, Pilarczyk would win the second 10-0 after a mistake from Zdyb.
With both Aleksandra Fijal and Pilarczyk fighting the tough conditions in the final, it would go to a one-more-time battle, before Karolina Pilarczyk was able to return to the top position on the podium to take the first win of 2016.
Photos Eyedea Media


text: Enter the labyrinth! For decades, BRIOs classic wooden Labyrinth game has been fascinating and developing the concentration of 6 year olds and up. This timeless toy is still a challenge for all ages and tests your hand/eye coordination to the limit. Here you'll find all of our labyrinth games, toys and accessories suitable for children of 6 years old and up.


text:
Level 2, Market City S/Centre Haymarket NSW 2000
February 17, 2011
Level 2, Market City S/Centre Haymarket NSW 2000
Anyone got a recent review of this joint?
My first ever experience was in this place and it was fantastic. girl was really nice did a great massage bodyslide and he to finish off. Been 4 times since and it really was hit and miss from there on. ive had 2 great experiences and 2 where i basically needed to get myself excited as the girls did nothing for me either from them not looking interested or tryng to milk me as fast as they could, no teasing or playing no smile. Very hit and miss and for $188 you expect a bit. Ive been to west ryde ausfung massage once, was $60 one hour with he but she was old left clothes on and really reminded me of a mates granma dresses like an old lady just didnt do it for me at all.
Tried golden touch at Parramatta 2 weeks ago at the temporary unit. Told there was 3 girls available but only one when i got there. She was so skinny fake boobs she tried but massage wasnt nice and she couldnt get me up had to get myself hard price was $150. One thing i liked about this place was that they shower with you i love that. Will try them out again but will ask for a larger boobed girl I think.
Surely there is a place where its not so hit and miss and good value. I noticed for full service at hornsby 142 its only $150 yet i pay more for only a massage and he I dont want to go fs never have and im trying not too.
Any good [place
I just called them. They close at 3am (good). She said 1 hour is $188 – what do you get for that?
Okay Gents walked in there 2 weeks ago, it is a must! What you will encounter as soon as you walk in is an establishment straight out of a Hong Kong/Chinese movie. Even the people that escorted me said that (and they have travelled to Hong Kong). The lady at the counter is a killer! She has the bargaining tact of of a flee market trader. All negotiations are hasty but somehow funny. After choosing what you want (and they offer everything, although full service I believe is subject to further negotiations) I was told to go and take a shower.
Hopefully you don't suffer from homophobia or cringe by male nudity, as the spa and showers are open plan, so hopefully an 80 year old walking from the showers to the spa every 5 minutes does not turn you off.
After the showers they give a robe and ask you to wait in the lounge room, which contains about 30 comfortable lounge chairs. Here you can get your feet massaged for an extra fee or you can choose your girl for the session. The madam carries a book with all the hotties. My friend and I chose the wildcard option, meaning we just want an erotic massage and got the madam to choose a girl for us. I got a cracker-jack called Yen Yen. She was a tall girl by Chinese standards but her body I would rate top class. She asked what I wanted and I said the full package which was erotic massage with HE.
Here you get a remedial massage which was okay and then she proceeds to the body slide etc. Different approach to the Korean definitely. But this particular girl was good value, she was trying to engage in conversation, although her English was terrible at best.
After the session finished I walked out for another shower and left Babylon with a smile. Highly recommended.


text:
Please note: The Shop has now moved up the road to 8 St John's Street, IP33 1SQ. Hope to see you there.
Cambridge Market Every Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
You can't miss our fantastic pitch on the corner of the market nearest to the Guildhall, Petty Cury and the entrance to the Grand Arcade. Baskets and eco-friendly sheepskins, cowhides, reindeer hides, baskets and many other stunning products.
Bury St Edmunds Market Every Wednesday and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Just outside Starbucks in Corn Hill on Saturdays, and half way up, in front of Croasdales the Chemist on Wednesdays, we'll have our classy light grey gazebo stacked high with amazing sheepskin rugs, lovely cow and reindeer hides, and an amazing range of baskets of all shapes and sizes!
The Shop is open every day except Sunday.
The address is:
The Shop
8 St Johns Street
Bury St Edmunds


text:
Question # : 563
United Kingdom
Answer : 563
Published on: May 26, 2007
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
(Fatwa: 541/J)
In the above case, after the due rights preceding inheritance, the entire property of the dead will be distributed in to 120 (one hundred twenty) shares. Out of these shares, the wife will receive 15 (fifteen) shares, each daughter will get 7 (seven) shares and each son will get 14 (fourteen) shares.
Allah knows Best!
Darul Ifta,
Darul Uloom Deoband
Related Question
I have a question: A man dies leaving a son,3 daughters During the lifetime of the deceased man he gave 2 acres of land to share equally between the 3 daughters, and in the family house a section for the 3 daughters Many years have passed the 3 daughters died but no distribution has not been done The land is about 20 acres the question:How shold the Shares in the house be done to the 3 daughters The 2 acres of the land for the 3 daughters how that should that be divided.
A couple (my khala and khalooo) had six children, one son (eldest) and five daughters. One daughter is mentally distorted. The father MF died when youngest daughter was not matured enough. The second last daughter was disabled. The four elders decided and transfer the house in the name of mother by signing an agreement on stamp paper......In view of all this what action would be correct. What was the actions taken wrongly earlier. In case of wrong action how it can be rectified and what action children should do to rectify.


text:
Last November my family experienced a one-of-a-kind evening when my brother, Mark Mikel, a professional musician, held a 35th Anniversary Concert here in our hometown of Toledo. As a family who loves art, including the audible kind, we were very proud to watch Mark's talent and dedication celebrated alongside fellow musicians and long-time fans. I particularly liked the event poster Mark created and wanted to hang it along with the event's press pieces as a keepsake on our family's "hall of fame."
See Framing Concert Memorabilia: Part 2
This type of event memorabilia is fun to display and there are many ways to do it. I decided to design a double-sided, archival treatment with the poster on the front and the press on the back. In addition to making them easy to display, framing the items keeps them together and preserves them against sunlight and dust. I designed the frame to be double-sided to keep its overall size small enough to conveniently hang, but both sides of the treatment do have mat board and acrylic, so it's truly a two-sided, archival frame.
In part one, I'm going to walk through the elements of the framing project that are determined for you:
In part two, we'll tackle design and ordering.
In part three, we'll take a look at assembling the treatment.
I started by measuring and recording the length and width of the items I wanted to frame. In my case the largest item is the poster, 16 7/8" x 23 7/8". This sets the absolute minimum size the frame will be, but I'm adding mats, so the frame will need to be bigger.
Next, I measured and recorded the length and width of the smaller materials, in my case news articles measuring 10 ½" x 8" and 11" x 11 ½". You might have tickets or snapshots of the event.
With the length and width of materials recorded, my next step was to determine how thick all the framing materials would eventually be. I needed to know this because the stack of materials, "artstack" for short, needs to fit in the frame. Some frames are deeper than others. The channel, or rabbet, the artstack slides into has to be at least as deep as the artstack is thick.
To compute the thickness of my artstack, I looked up how thick each item I'm going to use is. This information can be found either in our Handbook or online.
To view it online:
Here are the thicknesses of each of my materials.* I listed them in the order they will be stacked when framed:
*Keep in mind I have two mats and two acrylic pieces because I'm designing a double-sided frame.
Next, we do math! All these thickness have to be added together so I know the minimum rabbet (or channel) depth I need on my frame.
In my project the math looks like this:
*If by now you've given up (converting and simplifying fractions! yikes!), call us and one of our operators will be happy to assist you.
With the rabbet depth in hand and the length and width of my poster and news articles recorded, I was ready to begin designing a treatment. That required a little more math, but from here on out it was mostly colors, textures and free expression!
Check back next week to see how I selected a frame and designed two mats, one for the poster and one for the press articles.
Join in on the framing fun by participating in National DIY Framing Month


text:
Kiss of IceAlice loves life as a geothermal engineer, searching the globe for her next adrenaline thrill. Falling down a crevice into a glacier and finding a frozen Viking of a man was an adventure she never saw coming.
Erik pissed off the wrong witch and she cursed him. Every living thing he touches…freezes. His only escape was to hide away and hope the curse died with the witch. The gorgeous woman who finds him is everything he's ever craved, but he can never have.
Can Alice and Erik learn how to break the curse before it's too late or will the ice freeze their chance for love?
Free @ *SMASHWORDS*
Discovering Their Treasure
This was an excerpt into a series idea that is still rolling around in my subconscious. If you like it let me know. :) Nagging often works when I need to focus on things. LoL
All Chrysta had been looking for was help after her piece of crap car broken down on a quiet road in the Rockies. The dim lights she'd spotted down a long drive held the promise of a warm room and phone.
Never in a million years did she expect to see a room filled with weapons, but it was what happened behind the building that sends her fleeing into the night…
Branches caught and pulled at the arms of Chrysta's sweater as she ran through the underbrush. The moon hung full and bright in the sky giving her a bit of light to navigate her panicked race through the woods. Hiding was out of the question, she had to get out of here. Branches snapped and the dried underbrush crushing under her feet echoed in the silence around her. The racket from her escape would wake the dead in it intensity but she couldn't stop.
Vivid images of what she'd seen continually flashed through her memory. The sound of human bones snapping and reshaping as they undulated beneath skin that had stretched to the point of tearing. All of it had her frozen in shock, but the intense heat from the fire is what got her moving. Everyone knew about the unexplained forest fires the last few years, rumours of lightning strikes and careless campers being the cause, but she knew the truth.
She'd recognised them all from town. The men often came into her diner for dinner over the past couple weeks. Sometimes they all sat together, but two of them always sat in her section. Scorch and Griffin, strange nicknames and she'd never heard any of them use a traditional name when speaking to each other. They were always respectful and tipped well. Breathtakingly gorgeous, with muscles on muscles and a quiet, dangerous intensity that always affected the crowd around them. No one had ever commented on her shaking hands while she poured their coffee or occasionally spilled pop on the table when she brought their orders over to them. Instead they'd smile and her chest would clench as her hormones would get up and dance.
Her foot caught on a branch, ripping her from her thoughts as the world lurched in a sickening twist driving her towards the ground.
A split second before slamming into the ground, thick muscular arms wrapped around her, "Got'cha."
The world spun again as she was placed back on her feet. Gripping handfuls of his t-shirt, her heartbeat echoing in her throat, she looked up at the man who'd caught her. His eyes looked black in the darkness, but she could recognize him anywhere. She'd never been this close to him, other than the odd time he and Griffin passed by her as they left the diner. Desire pulsed through her body, coating her nerves and smothering her fear.
A heavy thump of wings created a wind that whipped her hair into her face and she braced for an attack. When nothing more happened she looked up but, the creature that caused it disappeared against the black sky.
"What are you doing out in the woods, Chrysta?" Scorch brushed back her hair with one hand, the other lay like a hot brand against her lower back. She stared at his jaw, fighting the inappropriate urge to run her tongue along the strong line. "Spying?"
"N-n-n-no." It was hard to try to speak as she panted, but looking up into his black gaze, the languid calm washed over her again. "My car broke down, back there. I was looking for a phone."
"Why don't you carry a cell?"
"We're in a dead zone. No signal for miles because of the mountains."
Scorch muttered a curse under his breath, "That's why they're holed up here." He stared over her head, scanning the darkness as if he could really see through the night.
He blinked and she found herself the focus of his dark gaze again. "Doesn't matter, what does matter is you being here now."
"My car really broke down." She waved a hand in the general area to her left. "I'll show you and then I'll go."
Scorch shook his head, "No. You're finally where you belong. I'm not letting you go." He cupped his hand along one side of her jaw, preventing her from looking down. "Besides, you have a terrible sense of direction. Your car is the other way."
"What do you want me to do?" Her heart pounded against her chest and her panting hadn't eased but now it had everything to do with the man holding her. How many times had she fantasied about him and his friend, Griffin, stretched out in her small twin bed in her tiny apartment in town?
Scorch lowered his head, closing the distance between them. "I want you to say…Yes."
There wasn't any point asking to what, the gleam in his eye was obvious. Her base fears were obliterated under the soul deep assurance that this man could and would keep her safe. Her rational side wasn't as easily convinced. It's nuts. This is a bad idea. Knee him in the nuts and run.
"Yes." She whispered the word so quietly that when he froze for a moment she wasn't sure she'd actually said it.
A heartbeat later he closed the distance between them and plundered her mouth. Lips softer than any man had a right to slid against hers igniting her fantasies and waking a voracious hunger she never knew existed inside of her. It swamped over her senses, desire pulsed against her senses demanding to be fed its due. She made tight needy noises in the back of her throat and tugged the back of his shirt out of his pants. The need to feel his skin under her palms overrode any logical nonsense. She needed to touch him, a craving so strong the world might be obliterated if she didn't touch him.
"Yes, I'm all yours." He whispered against her lips, breaking their kiss long enough to get his shirt over his head.
She danced her fingers over the line delineating his muscles, sliding over abs that she could easily do laundry on and back up his sides. Every inch of him felt like a coiled spring quivering to attack, but he touched her like a delicate flower.
Another wave of warmth cloaked her back, a heartbeat before she felt hands wrap around her shoulders. "I'm all yours too, Chrysta." She turned as best she could and glanced behind her, unsurprised to see Griffin standing there. He and Scorch were always together. His jeans hung low on his hips, button undone, and his chest bare. They were built the same, layers of powerful muscles, black hair and dark eyes but Griffin's hair was longer and he often kept it tied back at the base of his neck. Tonight the soft breeze lifted some strands up to float around his face.
Her brain tried to explain what she'd seen earlier and create a logical explanation. Other than someone slipping her a massive dose of a hallucinogen before she left work, nothing else came to mind. "I saw…you're…you're both a…" the thought was so foreign she couldn't complete it.
"Yes," Griffin answered, catching both her sweater and t-shirt he lifted both of them over her head in a quick swipe. "But, we'd never hurt you."
Heated longing for them coursed through her veins but hadn't completely obliterated her sense of self-preservation. "How do I know for sure?"
"Because, you're meant to be ours," Scorch's hands felt hot against her skin. He stroked her over her rib cage and up under her breasts, his thumbs sliding along the underwire of her bra. "We've known it since the moment we walked into your diner. "
"This might rank at the top of the list of bad timing, but I can't keep my hands off you. Not now." Griffin pressed a line of kisses along her neck to her shoulder, his hands rested on her hips, flexing as he held her.
She looked up at Scorch, "Because, I saw what you are?"
"Partly, but also because we're selfish, impatient bastards who want you safe," his fingers traced the lower edge of her bra and had it unhooked a scant moment later.
She wished she could see his expression clearer but the moonlight simply enhanced the angles of his features. "Safe from who?" she asked.
"Everything" Scorch dropped to his knees in front of her, lifting his face to nuzzle the underside of her breasts.
"Anything" Her bra straps rode Griffin's fingers as he caressed her arms from shoulder to wrist.
The air had felt cold and ominous before, now heat blazed against her skin calling out to a deep vibrant lust churning inside her. Scorch flicked his tongue against her navel, as Griffin cupped her breasts the sensation melted into her feeding the craving that demanded more. The situation started to feel so surreal; she doubted the reality of it all.
Men who shape shifted into dragons, mysterious shacks filled with weapons, sex in the middle of a forest with the men she'd be lusting after at work. "It's a dream."
"Nope, it's real." Griffin kneaded her breasts with his fingers, teasing her nipples into tight nubs while pressing open mouth kisses against her neck. "Not the best timing but I can't wait any longer."
Scorch undid the button on her capris and she felt the material drop down her legs. She reached down to grab his hair, as if to stop him, but the moment he pressed his mouth against her panties and breathed hot air through them a deep craving roared to life and all thoughts of stopping him were long gone. She arched her back, pressing her shoulders against Griffin and gripped Scorch's short black hair as best she could. She heart the soft tear of fabric and then his mouth was on her, his tongue spearing between her folds.
"There we go, now you feel it don't you." Griffin whispered in her ear like a devil on her shoulder. "The hunger, the need for us, you finally stopped questioning and holding back. Let us take care of you."
"But, but," she wanted to say it was too soon, too fast, but Scorch flicked his tongue around her clit and right in that moment she didn't give a damn about anything. All she wanted and desperately needed was more.
"Take it all, Chrysta. Be selfish, don't let Scorch get lazy." A firm pinch to her nipple punctuated his words, the bite of his fingers shot electrified tingles straight to her pussy. She kicked off her shoes and let Scorch lead one leg to his shoulder, opening her to his view.
His large hands were wrapped tightly around her thighs, as his tongue made lazy circles around her clit. The demand for faster, harder, more sat on the tip of her tongue.
She rocked her hips against Scorch's face, her arms wrapped back around Griffin's neck as she stretched out her body, loving the languid arousal he created. Griffin supported her body as Scorch slide his hands up her inner thighs to the top. She held her breath as he teased her with little touches around her pussy and vaginal entrance.
"Scorch," she ground out between her teeth.
"Tell him what you want," the large devil currently nipping at her shoulder whispered.
"I need more, please touch me, faster, make me come."
He moaned against her pussy and trapped her clit between his lips and flicked it mercilessly with his tongue. Chrysta thought she would lose her mind at the divine pleasure but his fingers eclipsed the sensation when he pushed one inside of her.
Her body clamped down on the digit, the invasion was a rare occurrence but the voracious craving slammed against her senses. More I...We want more. For a second she felt as though that thought hadn't been her own, but Scorch pushed a second finger inside of her and all her concerns melted under the incredible heat that burned through her torso. He pumped his fingers and she rocked her body in counterpoint. With one hand still gripping Griffin's neck she reached down and gripped Scorch's head again. Pressing his mouth against her body, she swirled her hips, chasing the incredible feeling building inside of her. Scorch slipped his fingers up her pussy and parted the puffy lips to bare her throbbing clit, continually stroking it with a combination of flicks and swirls at an insane speed.
"God, yes. Fuck yes, more. More!" She demanded, echoing the thoughts in her head. She'd never felt as powerful as she did right now. Pressed between two men completely focused on her pleasure she selfishly took everything they offered and demanded more.
"Give it to him." Griffin's deep voice pulled at her soul. The orgasm she'd been chasing raced up on her, cresting over her sensations like a fireball. It burned away the latent memory of any man who'd ever touched her because what she'd felt was nothing compared to the intensity of this moment.
Her entire body quivered with aftershocks and she couldn't stop the soft whimper that escaped her throat as Scorch slowly withdrew his fingers.
"That just got you warmed up didn't it?" Scorch stood up and held her against his large body. Nuzzling her neck his whispered against her ear, "Why don't you ask Griffin what he has planned for you."
Chrysta grinned at the playfulness. Any insecurity she might harbor couldn't survive under the intensity of how they made her feel. "What do you have for me, Griffin?"
"I've got the condom."
Scorch released his hold on her and Griffin spun her around. Gripping her waist he lifted her up, sliding her soaked pussy against his abs before lowering her down until the blunt tip of his cock rested at her entrance. His cock felt like a hot baseball bat and she bounced slightly to get him to lower her. Hooking her ankles around his back she locked her grip, "Yes, do it."
"Say it, Chrysta. I want to hear it, filthy and nasty."
Fear clogged her throat for a moment but a layer of strength that she'd never truly believed she had welled up, "Fuck me, Griffin. Slam your cock in me, Right now."
"You're a badass," Scorch smacked one of her butt cheeks where Griffin wasn't holding on.
"That's what I like to hear. Demands," Griffin lowered her in short bounces, his cock stretched her vaginal muscles to the point of pain but it didn't satisfy her craving.
"Stop teasing me with your cock, Griffin or I'm going to get Scorch to get me off again."
Griffin clenched his teeth and pushed, filling her up with one long persistent stroke. Chrysta arched her back, gasping for air as he invaded her. She felt every inch of him and knew Scorch's careful preparation had been for this. We want both. It was as if the hunger had a mind of its own and the mental image of being claimed by both men was enough to tip her over the edge again. She cried out as Griffin shuttled in and out of her body. He let her drop back and Scorch caught her in his arms as she shook.
"You're right Scorch, look." Griffin's awed voice had her opening her eyes.
She followed their gaze, shock slamming into her as she watched lines appear on her chest, right over her heart. It looked like multiple people were drawing on her at the same time, forming a complete image in her skin. Her skin prickled but didn't hurt and less than a minute later a stylized pair of dragons lay over her heart. Both lay with their tails curled around their body, one eye open as if they were guarding the treasure behind them.
"What the hell?" Panic iced her veins as Griffin pulled out with a shudder. "What's happening to me?"
"We need to get out of here, now." Scorch stepped away from Chrysta and for a split second she felt an overwhelming wave of disappointment wash over her combined with confusion. Now that you both got what you wanted…
Griffin's arms wrapped around her and the emotion dissolved, "Come on sweetheart, get dressed. I'd prefer a more romantic cuddle as well but we need to get you somewhere safe."
The sight of Scorch disappearing into the forest was blocked by Griffin pressing her clothes into her hands. "What's the rush?"
"Because, it's harder to protect you out in the open like this."
She pulled on her clothes as Griffin passed them to her. When she held out her hand for her panties, he grinned at her and shook his head. "They didn't survive."
"What do I need to be protected from?" Aside from the mischievous grin, Griffin was acting much more nervous than she thought was necessary.
The moment she pulled her shoes on Griffin scooped her up into his arms and lifted her up over his head in one swift motion, bracing one hand on her butt and the other in the middle of her back. "We need to get you to a secure location."
"What the hell!" She flailed her limbs looking for a more secure grip. The deep thump of wings commanded her attention and she looked up in time to see a massive black dragon drop out of the sky toward her. "No! Help!"
Griffin tightened the grip on her clothes. "Chrysta, it's Scorch!"
Before she managed to let out the scream locked in her throat, the obsidian dragon's large back claws wrapped around her legs and its front arms hugged her torso, pulling her up close to its belly. She expected a slippery, fishy feel against her cheek but instead each scale felt soft and velvety. Another massive thump of the dragon's wings and Griffin dropped out from beneath her.
"Don't panic, I'll be right behind you."
… Watch for the release of Rage of Dragons Mercs' series in the future.


text:
There are so many things to be thankful for. I'm realizing just how quickly the days, weeks, and months pass, especially when you're raising a kid (or kids!). I try to remember to look to my toddler to slow me down. My favorite, favorite time of day is bedtime when I'm trying to settle her. She always asks me to look out the window. I'll admit, there are days that I get annoyed by this. I feel so guilty typing that, but it's true. I'm exhausted, frustrated and I've been with her ALL DAY (I'm an only parent). I've missed some deadlines for work or didn't get to the laundry I intended to do. I'm spent and I just want her to sleep already. But then she says, "I see a crescent moon. What does mommy see?" and I melt. Because she genuinely wants to know what I see and because I'm her world. And there will be a day when I'm a much smaller piece of her world.
So it's November and a month for thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I like it more than Christmas. I like it because I have really fabulous memories of my loud family talking over one another while I gnawed on a turkey leg in just my undershirt so I didn't get my dress dirty. Family means the world to me – both my biological and chosen. The people we surround ourselves with are everything. I want my daughter to have these memories and I want her to be thankful for what she has, because (even if, as a parent I want her to have so much more) she has a lot.
I'm not sure if this intro is even completely relevant, but it is why I want to children's books that teach gratitude and kindness. That teach readers to be thankful and appreciative for what you have and who you are.
My first choice is The Big Orange Splot. I have a lesson plan post in the works dedicated to this book, because I love it so much. It might be an odd or unassuming choice, but I believe that it teaches the reader to embrace our individuality. To appreciate what makes us unique – which is an incredibly important and (in my opinion) undervalued lesson and also an act of kindness. It's at the heart of what I want for my daughter. I want her to ooze her individuality and to be surrounded by people who love, accept and embrace her for that. Families are made up of all different 'types' and we accept, support and love one another. It's a valuable lesson to accept people for who they are and how they express themselves. It's also important to let children know that they are always free to be who they are.
The Giving Tree. I mean, come on, how could I not put this on the list! It's a book that still makes me cry. I recently read a parenting article about carrying our kids (a debate about when is 'too old') and the author said to her child, "you'll never be to old for me to carry you, just to big." I love that. It's such a beautiful thought and in a weird way it reminded me of The Giving Tree. A classic for children and adults.
The Thankful Book. I love Todd Parr for his other stories, so I was very happy to stumble on the this children's book. One of the first books I purchased for my daughter (before she was born) was The Family Book. His illustrations are simple, colorful and fun and his messages are that of kindness and acceptance. It's a wonderful Thanksgiving choice for your little pre-schooler.
An Awesome Book of Thanks by Dallas Clayton. Aside from it's whimsical illustrations (what initially appealed to me) this book breaks the act of being thankful down in a very concrete way. There are so many wonderful tiny moments in this book, I don't know where to begin! Clayton mentionsbeing grateful for "balls to kick and kites to fly and places to go when you want to cry". But my favorite quotation reads, "It's so easy we see these things everyday to forget to say thank you in every way." This sentiment ties into ending each night with acknowledging the moon and stars and trees with my daughter, as we look out the window together.
Good People Everywhere by Lynea Gillen & Kristina Swarner is an uplifting story that encourages readers to see the good in everyone. It's a refreshing book reminding children of the kindness in the world and within themselves. Something about this book really speaks to me. Maybe it's negativity is so often highlighted in the media and emphasis is not placed on the 'good people'. Whatever it is, it's a must read for families who want to pause and take in the kindness.
What are YOUR favorite books for giving thanks. I want to know!


text: Bangladesh is holding a summit looking at ways to improve the textile and garment sector. The industry has been in the spotlight since 2012, when disasters struck several garment factories. But most survivors and their familes said they are still waiting for compensation from top garment retailers. Al Jazeera's Maher Sattar reports from Savar, Bangladesh. SOURCE: Al Jazeera Environment Humanitarian crises Business & Economy Asia Bangladesh