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- Tile Type
Floor Accessories
STANDARD RAMP EDGE - DARK GREY£8.00 Incl. VAT: £6.67 Excl. VAT:
STANDARD CORNER EDGE - DARK GREY£8.00 Incl. VAT: £6.67 Excl. VAT:
Here you can find adhesives and accessories to install your rubber floor. These are high quality products which include Two-part Polyurethane Adhesive, PVC Sit-on Skirting, Acrylic Adhesive and Trowels, all of which are designed to make it quick and easy to fit your new flooring with the minimum of fuss. One of the main benefits of a rubber floor is that it can be fitted with relative ease, so with a little DIY knowledge you could undertake this home improvement project yourself without having to call in the professionals.
Our range of tools and adhesives can help you to achieve a high quality finish at home, and are offered at fantastic prices to make it more affordable to update your property with a new floor. Shop now to find the kit that you need to get the job done properly, and order today to take advantage of our competitive prices.


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Our private halls include: Student flats in Northampton, student residences in
Northampton, halls of residence in Northampton and student apartments in Northampton.
click on the larger schemes below to view more details...
If you cannot find what you want then please try our smaller student accommodation options.
Private housing in Northampton
Private Halls city list

subset: commoncrawl


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- Details
- Delivery
Agraria's candles are presented in a decorative crystal glass that is a modern interpretation of woven palm leaf cases. The intricate glass pattern accentuates the movement of the flame to create a luminous and mesmerising glow.
Each hand poured candle is covered with a silver-plate lid stamped with the Agraria crest.
A warm woody floral that blends the sultry depth of Cedarwood with the uniquely fragrant Damask Rose. Surrounding the rose are hints of Violets and Lily of the Valley.
Enjoy a burn time of up to 40 hours.
198g / 7oz
Shipping & Delivery
UK Shipping is Free for all orders £70 and above and £3.95 for orders under £70. We aim to deliver UK packages within 1-3 working days.
Shipping to Europe costs £20.00 and takes 3-5 working days.
For the rest of the world, shipping costs £25.00 and takes 3-7 working days.
All our parcels will require a signature upon delivery.


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Author Name
Berenson, Laurien
Title Doggie Day Care Murder
Binding Paperback
Book Condition Very Good
Publisher Kensington 2009
ISBN Number
0758216068 / 9780758216069
Seller ID 16052
More Description
Melanie Travis thought her sleuthing days were behind her. She has a new baby to take care of--not to mention five Standard Poodles. These days, the closest Melanie gets to detective work is scoping out the scene at the local doggie day center for her friend Alice Brickman.
As Melanie learns, it's a dog's life at the Pine Ridge Canine Care Center--and life is good. Everyone seems blissfully happy. Everyone canine, that is, as Melanie soon discovers there are some simmering resentments among the Pine Ridge staff. And when Steve Pine, the center's charming, good-looking co-owner, is found shot to death on the floor of his office, there's no shortage of suspects.
With the police at a loss for leads, it's now up to Melanie to go undercover and sniff out a killer whose secrets lie buried in a dog's paradise that's proving to be anything but. . .
"Warm and fuzzy. . .another cute tail-wagging puzzler."--Publishers Weekly
"A top-notch mystery. . .Newcomers to the series will be hooked, and returning readers will continue to enjoy Melanie's relatable nature and charm."--Romantic Times
Price =
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Here are some relevant stats for San Antonio Ultra-Luxury sales in January 2010.
There were 7 sales of $1,000,000 or higher. The top sale was 206 Elizabeth Road in Terrell Hills for $1,656,353. This was a 4,581 sq. ft. new construction home built by Chad Powell Homes. That comes out to around $361/square foot.
Congratulations to Krista Boazman of Phyllis Browning Company who had the listing and Trey King of King Realtors who brought the buyer. The average sold price per square foot on these homes was $247.
There are 296!!! homes listed for sale in MLS at $1,000,000 or above. The average asking price per square is $331/square foot. So it's clear that the Seller's asking prices are generally way off from what the solds are. 67 homes sold last year for $1,000,000 or higher…they averaged $244 per square foot. See a pattern? Just less than $250/ square foot seems to be a winner. Sellers are you paying attention?
So taking the last 12 months of $1 million and up sales, an average of 5.5 sell each month. With the current supply at 296, that would take 53.8 months or 4.5 years to sell off this inventory.
Jason Glast, Realtor/Attorney at Phyllis Browning Company sold more than $31 million in 2009 including five homes above $2 million. www.jasonglast.com


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This is another post in a several part series by Sam Cohen. Find the rest of the entries HERE
In this post I want to show our viewers why the food system within American culture is the way it is and possible resolutions for fixing it. Step one turn on your Telivision. What do you see? Lets start with the channels that our children and the next generations watch. Food that is advertised on these channels are picked specifically for their target audience, children. You see magic Irishman prancing around with gold and this little magic cereal that kids are like "Hell yeah, are those magic marshmallows in there?" Then you flip to other kids channels and see kids playing with toys and eating a mutated cheeseburger and you're kids are all like "You mean all I have to do is eat that strange piece of meat that you're serving and I get to play with this plastic piece of crap for twenty minutes before I forget about it… count me in". You smack your hand to the middle of your face in disappointment as you watch these stupid freaking kids. Instead of continuing to tell you more and more problems with the system I think it's always good to be constructive and positive in a primal lifestyle. So, How do we fix this problem within American society? We need to start by guiding the children in the right direction. When was the last time you saw healthy primal foods being marketed to children. There need to be kid friendly public service announcements warning children against eating the crap they see on TV. Thought for food, think about it.


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Antoine Griezmann has confirmed he is leaving Atletico Madrid, in a video posted to the club's official Twitter account.
The France forward only signed a five-year contract extension last summer, but has now said his time with the club has come to an end.
Last year, it appeared Griezmann was poised to move to Barcelona
But he made a dramatic u-turn, airing his intention to remain with Atletico during an infamous video reveal.
Talk of Barca retaining an interest in the 28-year-old has rumbled on from that point, with another approach mooted for this summer.


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Moscow Urban Forum – a major international congress and exhibition platform – organizes a number of international trips to study the role of agglomerations in today's world. They initiate a dialogue on the development of global megacities, their impact on neighboring areas, and the paramount importance of agglomerative development as a key driver in the domestic and global economy. Moscow is conducting research on world agglomerations within the topic of Agglomerations. World > Russia > Moscow, endeavoring to study the best practices and the experience of modern megacities and to generate its own approaches to strategic planning and city management.
From May 11-12, 2017, Milan hosted a two-day dialogue between Milan and Moscow. The key topic was the comprehensive study of the ongoing transformation of Milan's management system. The meeting was addressed by three vice majors and several top managers from key infrastructural, developmental and organizational mega-projects that are involved in implementing the development master plan of Milan Metropolitan Area, also known as Grande Milano. When studying the experiences of global agglomerations, Milan's case is of great interest for those planning further development of the Moscow agglomeration, especially in terms of inter-municipality interaction, transport infrastructure and attracting investment.
Bulat Stolyarov, Managing Partner at Sputnik Management Company, said, Italy's experience in managing leading agglomerations is extremely relevant to Russia, as Milan and fourteen other major Italian agglomerations are currently restructuring their management systems in accordance with the Constitutional Reform of 2014. The reform has essentially granted these cities a quasi-regional political status: they are all part of a European pilot project on granting a special regional status to a network of cities. The MUF Program Directorate presented the results of the Agglomerations. World > Russia > Moscow research at the round table, in particular the section on the Milan agglomeration. The Milan delegation is going to actively participate in MUF-17 activities.


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The Power of the Burn Community
This past weekend, I watched San Francisco 2.0, a documentary examining the impact tech has had on SF recently. It got me thinking a lot about what life looks like in a city that is shifting away from the values it originally stood for. Being a Bay Area native and also working in tech, I can tangibly acknowledge these effects when conversations revolve less around authentic relationships and more on startup funding, of course, all of the increases in rent.
With this large shift towards technological isolation and having to hustle harder to afford this city, it's so incredibly refreshing to be part of the Burn community. I first tried Burn via ClassPass and out of all the studios I went to, I felt the largest sense of community at Burn.
I see it every Tuesday when I come to Lisa's class on Irving street. The conversations after class are spirited and focus on which schools their children attend or if they've checked out the new restaurant in the hood. Everyone is thrilled to see one another, as I'm sure these workout sessions have been part of their daily routine for years.
And, it's great to see it online as well with the #6weeks2Burn Facebook group. It's awesome to read the stories on how this community has prioritized Burn into their daily lives. I've been moved in how everyone has come together to cheer each other on, and the ability for individuals to share on what drives them to push themselves harder in class.
I've only been taking classes at Burn for a year and a half, but the power of community and inclusive spirit is truly special.
-Kate Talbot


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Today is the 11th year anniversary of the death Irma Jeanne Chatelle, my beloved mother who died on November 30th at approximately 7 pm at her home in New Braunfels, Texas. Although her death was expected, the timing was unusual to me in that Mom died a full two months after a day in August when we were told to 'send for the family, she will not live beyond today'. In those two months, she spent time with her precious grand-daughters and family, and perhaps did a lot of mental processing and preparing for her journey from this earthly life. On that particular evening 11 years ago, shortly after my father slipped out of the house to take a much-needed walk around the block, my mother took her last breath, with me sitting beside her, holding her hand. I think she did not want to die in front of my father. How I wish I knew more for certain as to what was going on in her head.
This I do know for certain: I am blessed to have had her, and always have her, as my Mom. For all those who've gone on before us, I am grateful on this post-thanksgiving week. Melody


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A new look for TFN with the launch of a monthly magazine
Susan Smith calls on readers to help TFN become an even louder voice for the third sector
Spring is in the air, and for Third Force News (TFN) this year, that heralds the start of an exciting new adventure as it gets ready to become a monthly magazine.
We've recognised that most of our readers now prefer to read news digitally, so the last weekly TFN newspaper will be published on Friday, 29 June 2018.
And from August, we'll be replacing it with a new 32-page monthly magazine full of exclusive features and analysis of what's going on in Scotland's third sector.
This is part of a new strategy to ensure TFN is providing Scotland's third sector with a valuable news and journalism service that will help organisations grow and tell their stories effectively.
The magazine is the print element of this strategy, and it will complement our news-focused digital service and the growth of our live events calendar.
We've made this decision after listening to our readers, many of whom took part in our 2017 readers' survey. There was a clear call for more indepth coverage of the third sector and for less repetition across print and online.
Alongside comment and analysis, the magazine will also feature a series of investigations into what's really happening in the third sector. We want to help draw attention to issues that need to change to enable third sector staff, volunteers and service users to flourish.
All the latest news and comment will contine to appear on the TFN website on a daily basis and we will provide this for free through our suite of e-bulletins. In 2019, we will be looking at how we can develop our digital and live content even further.
The only difference for now is that from August, content produced for TFN magazine will be available on the website only for those who have a password to access it. If you are an SCVO member or TFN subscriber, you'll receive a password in time for the launch of the magazine.
So, the summer of 2018 is an exciting time for TFN and Scotland's third sector. We have a great opportunity to refresh the service we provide for you, and you have the chance to help TFN become an even louder voice for the third sector.
We're always on the look out for news, blogs and other contributions but the team also welcomes readers getting in touch to talk about our plans and provide ideas. To make sure the new TFN magazine covers the issues that really matter to you, email or call the editorial team on 0131 474 8000 to give us your ideas.
Susan Smith is editor of Third Force News.


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this is not something i wrote, but hey haven't found a more entertaining explanation 😀
Heidi is the proprietor of a bar in LA.
In order to increase sales, she decides to allow her loyal customers – most of whom are unemployed alcoholics – to drink now, but pay later.
She keeps track of the drinks consumed on a ledger (thereby, granting the drunks loans).
Word gets around and as a result, a large numbers of drunks (read: customers) flood into Heidi's bar.
Taking advantage of extending liberal credit facilities to her customers, Heidi increases prices of wine and beer, the most-consumed beverages. Her sales volumes increase rapidly.
A young and dynamic Customer Service Consultant of the local Investment Bank recognizes these customer debts as valuable future assets (being receivables) and increases Heidi's borrowing limit. He sees no reason for undue concern since he has the debts (receivables) of the alcoholics as collateral.
At the Bank's Corporate Headquarters, expert Investment Bankers transform these customer assets into DRINKBONDS, ALKBONDS and PUKEBONDS. These securities are then traded on markets worldwide. No one really understands what these abbreviations mean and how the securities are guaranteed. Nevertheless, as their prices climb continuously, the securities become top-sellers.
One day, although the prices are still climbing, a (spoilsport) Risk Manager of the bank (subsequently of course fired, due to his negativity) decides that slowly the time has come to demand payment of the debts incurred by the drunks at Heidi's bar.
However they cannot pay back the debts.
Facing high borrowing costs, poor cash flow and 'nil' repayment capability, Heidi cannot fulfil her loan obligations and files for bankruptcy.
DRINKBOND and ALKBOND drop in price by 95%. PUKEBOND performs better, stabilizing in price after dropping by 80%.
The suppliers to Heidi's bar, having granted her extended credit facilities, and having invested in the securities too, are faced with a credit crunch.
With liquidity being restrictive, and at hard terms, making it difficult to raise money to keep afloat, her wine supplier claims bankruptcy, and her beer supplier is taken over by a competitor through a share-swap deal (that did not involve any cash transaction).
The cash strapped Investment Bank on the verge of collapse, is saved by a Government bailout (can also be read as 'Obama stimulus package') following dramatic round-the-clock parleys between leaders of political parties and the corporate elite. To give a fillip to the faltering economy, they reasoned…..
The funds required for this purpose are obtained by a tax levied on the non-drinkers.
Cheers !


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Henry became a big brother today to Quin. For more updates going forward, visit www.cousinbros.com.
Author Archives: Mark Cousin
Uneven Parallel Bars
Henry Faces – November '15
Frog Ride
Bigger frog than the one he rode when he was younger.
Downtown Platform
Whitney Museum
Henry and I paid our first visit to the Whitney Museum's new location in the Meatpacking District. We enjoyed the collection in its new exhibit space and Henry was especially impressed with the building's exterior metal-grated staircase.
Sugar Ray Richard
High Liners
Today's activities included an excursion to the High Line, a park built on a reclaimed elevated freight train line.


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Access Foreclosures and Short Sales in Maricopa County, Pinal County!
Find Foreclosures and Short Sales often below current market value! Also receive updates as soon as new foreclosures come on the market!
*Disclaimer: Most distressed properties on our list, especilly those offered below market value will be sold as is.
Exclusive property list are compliments of American Realty Brokers
"I get it done"
Ray Saigh, American Realty Brokers
(602) 955-6606


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While Pilsner Urquell is the more well known Czech beer in the U.S., and rightly so, it's pretty special, its Czech brother Staropramen might just be even better. Not just because one is a pilsner and the other lager. And not just because it's harder to come by, and therefore more elusive and special- because it stands as well on its own as it does with food. Urquell, while terrific in both respects as well, falls a hair short by itself, because it's so much lighter, which makes for an ideal meal companion, and drinkability, but on its own the flavor is not so impressionable that it would ever have you savoring the aftertaste. Whereas Staropramen is all of that and a bag of yum. Crisp. With a longer, more complex taste. And a much stronger finish that could put most Olympic gymnasts to shame.
McSorley's Dark Ale (pictured)
For my micro brew bestie I have to give it up to McSorley's in New York City. It's the oldest bar in Manhattan offering up only two beers since 1854, McSorley's Ale and McSorley's Dark Ale (pictured). Served in biblical proportions. No seriously. This isn't an exaggeration. It's a Noah's ark business model. They only serve their beers in twos. And while both are great, I'm a bit partial to the dark. It has a Negro Modelo vibe about it, but with a little more ester to it. If you're in NYC for a visit or live there, this place is a must for a glass of beer. Well, technically two glasses. Or four… Or six… They go pretty quickly.
If you're getting sushi you have two options as far as I'm concerned. Sake or Sapporo. Screw Asahi and save the green tea for dessert. Sapporo is the perfect companion. Made remarkably smooth with the use of rice, which is perhaps part of why it grooves so well with Japanese cuisine. In fact, it goes so well, it's almost as if it were purposefully engineered to go specifically with sushi. Well, be it the case or not, suffice it to say that Sapporo is the Sonny Bono to raw fish's Cher.
I'm not exactly sure why any other stout beer exists, because they're all trying to be like Mike. And they all fall miserably short. Tasting like the hops took a shit in your glass. But not Guiness. Oh no. This stout manages to caress your buds in a lather as smooth as milk. But the craziest thing is that while most stouts are very heavy and highly caloric, Guinness is neither. The only nit is that she's a temperamental brew. She doesn't like to sit around, so make sure you're getting your pint from a place that pours a lot of it, otherwise don't even bother. And while the bottle and can versions are much improved over the years, they still don't compare to the likes of a well-poured pint from the keg.
Blue Moon
This newest comer to the list exploded onto the scene about ten years ago and shook up the beer category so much that it needed Dramamine to recover. In fact, this Belgian Wheat is so damn good it's the only one that I keep stocked in my house. Goes great with seafood, burgers, dogs and pizza. And while it's often served with a slice of orange, don't discount it as a fruity, fru fru brew. It's just as great sans slice, and better than every other Belgian beer I've had.
Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale
As the only non-mass beer on the list, I feel the need to go above and beyond to say just how special this beer is. If you should be so lucky as to happen upon a tap, be sure to order it. Spare no expense, because it will pay for itself on the first sip. You have never tasted anything this special in beerhood. Forget the opulence of Chimay, although I must admit it sort of reminded of the creamy Belgian, but instead of deriving its cool from brewing it in a monastery, Kentucky pulls a trump card and brews it in actual bourbon barrels, as the name suggests. The result layers the beer with incredibly complex notes that subtly spring to life in your mouth. Balanced by a hint of sweetness, the takeaway becomes smooth and creamy. And while the alcohol content is a bit higher than the others, it's surprisingly easy to drink. Perhaps too easy.


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Welcome to CDFconnect™
Learn more about how we can help your business grow.
It all adds up1
33,000 dealers
1,400 distributors and manufacturers
4 global regions
60 years inventory financing expertise
160 years of strength and stability
= CDFconnect
What we're here for
Whether it's sharing best practices, implementing process improvements, or delivering insights and training — CDFconnect is here to help. Our experts, and real-time technology and analytics help make it easier to increase revenue, improve margins, gain market share, and reach broader audiences.
CDFconnect gives our customers – including OEMs, dealers, vendors, and distributors – access to a wealth of knowledge, innovative solutions, and invaluable services to help businesses grow.
To learn more email email@example.com.
CDFconnect topics
By tapping into industry trends, listening to customers' needs, and leveraging CDF's 60 years of inventory financing expertise, CDFconnect can address a broad range of topics including:
- Inventory management
- Succession planning
- Leadership capabilities
- Salesforce optimization
- Customer experience programs


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Due to the variety and complexity of lighting requirements, based on the principle of light distribution, we use the optical transmission design with traditional design method. Then secondary optical design is published according to its feature of unique light distribution, it meet the national lighting standard , and reduce the design complexity, which is used LED flood light or LED street light design .
The basic function of secondary optical design is to make light source spread out, next to gather the light in a smaller range. Now it is used material with silica gel lens, optical lenses PMMA lens, PC lens and the glass lens commonly, etc.
Considering the transmittance, production efficiency, manufacturing difficulty, heat resistance and processing cost, PMMA lens is widely used in many fixture and become mainstream increasingly, its light transmittance can reach 93% . You know most of LED flood light adopts the PMMA lens, its advantages is high thermal conductivity, small light failure, light color purity, no ghosting, and high brightness.
Then let us deeply know the optical lens design. It's said that the designing idea of the traditional lamp is band coefficient method, which is under the condition of known light distribution and target light distribution, divided the target lamp into a series of light band according to appropriate view, so each band has a corresponding band coefficient, corresponding to the light source is also divided into a series of band, also to calculate the flux in the band, so it's too difficult for us.
Lens simulation software to establish the secondary optical lens entities, and entities need to be given material properties and surface properties, according to the previous analysis, PMMA lens is the main product material. Surface feature corresponding to the light transmittance of the material, the penetration rate of 3mm thickness generally can reach about 93%, and the material of different wavelengths of light refraction properties is relatively uniform,when tracing, using a single wavelength to improve the efficiency of
The LED light is used in different field. For instance, the LED flood light is installed on the wall for passers in the night.Due to the influences of light source, a normal light maybe easy to form a glare and round without the light distribution. In order to solve this problem, need to improve the light distribution of LED, it means that should design a secondary light distribution. At the same time, you know people prefer to warm white,if it is required the light penetration in fog days, so the light need yellow spectrum to create a better lighting environment for people.
Actually, the purpose of secondary transmission design is to meet the application requirements by changing the light beam angle and light distribution . The secondary optical lens design can solve the problems of LED flood light and LED street light,just like the light efficiency/the light uniform/the angle of light distribution/glare and safety effectively etc. Of course, the secondary optical transmittance lens still has a reference significance to realize green lighting.


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Northwest Comfort Systems
The fully licensed HVAC contractors at Northwest Comfort Systems in Auburn, WA, are thoroughly trained, and we're proud to be certified by North American Technician Excellence. We're a locally owned and operated company that offers excellent customer service, and we know how to work on all makes and models. Whether you have a problem with your heater or your air conditioning unit, we offer financing options and flexible appointment availability to suit your needs.
We're available to assist you Monday - Friday, 8am - 5pm, and we'll give you a complimentary in-home estimate. Our technicians will carefully assess your needs so that they can provide you with appropriate advice, and we're a great choice for:
- Air conditioning installation
- Air conditioning repair
- Heating system installation
- Heating system repair
Don't hesitate to call Northwest Comfort Systems whenever you need an HVAC contractor in Auburn or a nearby area. Getting the job done properly from the very beginning is our number one goal, and we can handle all types of projects whether big or small.
Why Choose Northwest Comfort Systems?
- Locally Owned & Operated
- High Quality Work
- Punctual Service


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6 Avandon Cats
A man on a bike found ダンボール on his touring.
In ダンボール, 6 kittens.
They were abandoned in 林道.
The man stoped the touring and went back home.
So he took them home.
He saved kittens.
A Stray Cat
There was a stray cat under レンタル倉庫.
A man took it his home.
It was just two month old.
The man named it Chiko.
He saved a kitten.


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Recent Posts
Oscar Isaac Reveals Letter Written By Obi Wan Actor Alec Guinness
Posted byon
Oscar Isaac has read aloud a letter by Alec Guinness, star of the original Star Wars trilogy in his role as Obi Wan Kenobi, at the London event Letters Live. The letter was written whilst he was filming the 1977 movie Star Wars: A New Hope to his friend Anne Kauffman.
According to Isaac, the letter said that he thought the dialogue for Kenobi was 'rubbish' and he complained saying 'can't say I'm enjoying the film.' Talking of fellow actor Harrison Fordin the role of Han Solo, he said he was a 'languid young man'.
Before reading the piece, Isaac jokingly said that he wouldn't attempt an accent.
The letter said:
"New rubbish dialogue reaches me every other day on wadges of pink paper, and none of it makes my character clear or even bearable.
[I'm off to the studio to work with] Mark Hamill and Tennyson (that can't be right) Ford. Ellison? No! Well a rangy, languid man who is probably intelligent and amusing."
Others who appeared at the event were Sophie Hunter, Louise Brearley and Benedict Cumberbatch who read a letter by Mark Twain.
Star Wars: Episode VIII is set to be released in 2017 seeing the return of Isaac as well as actors Daisy Ridley and John Boyega.
A new actress is set to join the crew also by the name of Billie Lourd. She's currently known for Scream Queens and Billionaire Boys Club alongside being Carrie Fisher's daughter. She could be seen slightly in the Resistance base scenes in The Force Awakens and on the red carpet for Scream Queens last night she confirmed her return for Rian Johnson's Episode VIII.
"Yes, [I will be returning]" Lourd said. "I can't say much about it but yes. i am working on Star Wars VIII but that's allI can say."
She also said that her next role will play a bigger part as she was a little hard to spot during Episode VII.
"Oh yeah, yeah," Lourd told us. "The last one was a little Where's Waldo-y."
The first photo from the set of Episode VIII was recently released as well which you can see above.
The photo doesn't reveal much but confirms that they have begun production. This particular scene apparently comes straight after Solo's death where the crew of the resistance fighters have returned to the Starkiller base in order to break the news. One of the main issues people had with this scene was that Leia seemed more concerned with Rey opposed to Chewbacca when they have a far longer relationship.
"That was probably one of the mistakes I made in that," Abrams said. "My thinking at the time was that Chewbacca, despite the pain he was feeling, was focused on trying to save Finn and getting him taken care of. So I tried to have Chewbacca go off with him and focus on Rey, and then have Rey find Leia and Leia find Rey. The idea being that both of them being strong with the Force and never having met, would know about each other — that Leia would have been told about her beyond what we saw on-screen and Rey of course would have learned about Leia. And that reunion would be a meeting and a reunion all in one, and a sort of commiseration of their mutual loss.
"Had Chewbacca not been where he was," Abrams added, "You probably wouldn't have thought of it. But because he was right there, passed by Leia, it felt almost like a slight, which was definitely not the intention."
You can catch Star Wars: Episode VIII in theatres on December 15, 2017.


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SSL VPN solution brings managed hosting offering to the next level with enhanced security, performance and management features
MILPITAS, CA - April 29, 2009 - Array Networks Inc., a global leader in enterprise secure application delivery, today announced that managed hosting provider SingleHop selected the Array SPX Series SSL VPN platform for its recent SSL Virtual Private Network offering. With Array's solution, SingleHop customers now benefit from increased performance, security and flexibility in addition to advanced management capabilities - once again demonstrating Array's leadership in Universal Access Controllers.
With the Array SSL VPN solution, SingleHop can now bring a higher level of performance to its customers through secure access control and simultaneous connections without sacrificing security. In addition, Array's SPX Series also provides limited server access through the secure back-end SSL VPN. The strong management capabilities of the Array SPX Series enabled SingleHop to compliment its Private Network solution.
"Since we began operations in 2006, we have seen a significant demand from customers for additional security, performance and control requirements," said Andy Pace, vice president at SingleHop. "As part of our ongoing commitment to service the small business hosting community better, we chose Array's SSL VPN to provide our customers the best available tools, and we are very satisfied with the results."
"The managed hosting industry is under constant pressure to deliver faster speeds and management options while maintaining the secure environment necessary for businesses to thrive," said Sunil Cherian, vice president of product marketing for Array Networks. "We are please to work with SingleHop. Together, we address growing customer demand with our SPX Series SSL VPN solution."
Array SPX series supports up to 256 separate SSL VPN virtual customized portals and allows organizations to support multiple business units, partners, and customers on a single platform. Additionally, third-party applications can be used to automate management tasks, greatly reducing total cost of ownership and increasing productivity.
Founded in 2000, Array Networks is a global leader in enterprise secure application delivery and universal access solutions for rapidly growing SSL VPN and application acceleration markets. More than 2,500 customers worldwide - including enterprises, service providers, government and vertical organizations in healthcare, finance, insurance and education - rely on Array to provide anytime, anywhere secure and optimized access. Industry leaders including Deloitte, Red Herring, and Frost and Sullivan have recognized Array as a market and technology leader.
Robert Adler
Vantage Communications for Array Networks
+1 415 984 1970 ext. 104


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Sufjan Stevens, Bryce Dessner, Nico Mulhy at The Barbican
Anyone else got tickets this morning? I'm pathetically excited given its not until April.
I hadn't heard of this. Will have to get tomorrow as am not a member.
When does this go on sale today, 10am?
I can't seem to find a non-members option at the moment.
so all these are new pieces?
i'm intrigued
Pretty much
Bryce Dessner's string quartet Tenebrae was premiered by Kronos Quartet at the Steve Reich Reverberations Festival at LSO St Luke's in May, but with Sufjan's vocals recorded. Other than that pretty sure all of the programme is premiere's.
Yeah non members at 10am today
Not a clue what this consists of, but i can't really miss Sufjan.
can someone explain the 'select a ticket type'
business on barbican booking. Trying to book Jaga Jazzist but it keeps asking me to 'select a ticket type'....but there is nothing to select!?
I'm a member
But the site keeps crapping out. Stupid Barbican website.
If you're a member (rather than just someone who has registered on their site),
you should have been able to buy tickets yesterday.
I've logged in fine, just waiting for 10am to roll around...
oh man 10am is when my internet
get's locked down even harder, hope i can still access the site
Not too bad.
Kept telling me that a pair of seats were taken when they weren't so had to get the next best ones.
It's because the seats 'lock out' for 20 minutes if someone selects them,
even if they did it before 10am and weren't a member.
Oooh, I locked out my own seats.
What a twat.marckee this'd this
The site wouldn't work for me
So I called and got two in the 3rd row circle. I can't wait.
A connoisseurs choice
Or just the most central of the best available...
The former
First two rows are terribly gauche, fourth and back for the hoi polloi and don't even get me started on the stalls or the balcony.
Stalls are where it's at
So you can run up to the front and dance, dance, dahncemarckee this'd this
2 pound booking fee
Row J (stalls)
raised area of stalls, my favourite spot
locked myself out of even better seats though, numpty
I'm in row C in the circle, i think
Got mine.
Circle, row B, in the middle.
Circle row B too :)
Really curious to see what this is going to be like! Of course everything Sufjan touches turns to gold so i've no worries there :P
this is now sold out
and i have 2 spare tickets for sale - face value. £50 for the pair. PM me if you are interested.
my tickets
have now gone, thanks
I think I've lost my tickets! I assume the Barbican will replace? Please?
I keep my tickets on a pinboard which is above my recycling and I turned up at work with a pin in my hair and it's just dawned on me...
Stand down everyone.
They'll reprint them on the night.


text:
Robert D. Fox and John S. Kirk of Manko, Gold, Katcher & Fox, LLP, Speak at ALA's Annual Conference in Orlando, FL - Tuesday, May 24 - Creating and Maintaining an Extraordinary Managing Partner/Administrator Team
May 31, 2011
MGKF Press Release
Philadelphia, PA (May 31, 2011) – Robb Fox, Managing Partner of Manko, Gold, Katcher & Fox, LLP (MGKF), was joined by the firm's Director of Administration John S. Kirk as speakers on a panel on "Creating and Maintaining an Extraordinary Managing Partner/Administrator Team." It was presented at the Association of Legal Administrator's (ALA) Annual Meeting on Tuesday, May 24 in Orlando, FL. The panel helped identify and explore the traits and behaviors that characterize truly exceptional law firm leadership duos, which is a key element in the leadership success of any managing partner.


text:
I haven't written in a while – well, duh.
I think I've been pretending to myself that I'm my old self, the self that never had cancer. And I also think that is what prompted my mini melt down this morning. I was talking to my husband about how I felt my reconstruction was going, and feeling a little impatient and dissatisfied with this sort of in-between/half-baked place I'm at, and then telling myself I need to BE patient, when for apparently no reason I burst into tears. I mean ugly, red-faced, snot-dripping from my nose, hard crying. I wasn't really upset about anything, but at the same time, I was upset about EVERYTHING, and apparently it's all wrapped up in how damn mad I am at having no parents. Yeah, I know I'm supposed to be a grown-up, and I am responsible for my own feelings and actions, but sometimes don't we all get a little fed up with being grown up and tough about all the shit that has happened to us? I know I do. My dad, who I always thought was so hard to talk to when I was growing up, I now feel was probably the one who actually listened and gave a damn about us kids and our hurts – even as he was trying to toughen us up, as he was always telling me. And now I don't have him, and I'm pissed about how he was taken from us, but mostly I'm pissed at myself for not appreciating him until now, three years too f-ing late.
So I guess I haven't been dealing with any of that, either.
Anyway, I'm thankful to have my cancer treatment behind me, I really am. I'm thankful that (most likely) all my surgeries are behind me. But I'm also kind of restless and dissatisfied with where I'm at, compared to where I thought I would be at. I really believed that I'd have everything all wrapped up, tied in a neat little bow, within one year. Mastectomy, chemo, radiation, and reconstruction. Oh, and I'd be feeling like my old self, too. Like this never happened. We all know the reality was no where near what I had envisioned in February 2013. So I'm a little grumpy about that. But it occurs to me, I've actually been given a HUGE gift. I get to completely redefine my life. I'm still mother and wife, and part-time bunny wrangler. But the rest of it I get to make it up from scratch. Why aren't I happy about this? Everyone, at some point in their lives, craves a "Do-Over" button. Here I have one, a great big blinking golden Do-Over button, and I'm not happy. I am scared shit-less, that's what I am.
So what do I do now?
What mostly got me through chemo and radiation was just to keep on going, and doing what the medical team told me to do. But that's just a survival technique. What I'm trying to do here is take advantage of an opportunity to create a whole, new life experience for myself and my family. And there is not anybody who can tell me how to do that, and there aren't any guidebooks out there, at least none that are specifically for my experience. Because that – I'm going to have to discover for myself.
2 Responses to Don't Mind Me, We're Just Having a Little Melt-Down, Here
Oh baby girl…your life is just beginning. Now you truly know all the value of making it matter, making it be all it can be. You really were given the most warped gift, but it works because you're right…you got a re-do button! How many people get that awakening and go from day to day, unhappy, dreams lost, goals to the background? YOU get it, and got it! Now what do you do…you take it minute to minute, you breathe in, and out…and you take those steps, little ones at first, until you are ready to run. Once you run…you run free and hard with your life and grab onto the gifts hanging out there for you!!! YOU already made a difference…you have a beautiful daughter who will be a leader one day because of all you have taught her!!! I love you xoxo


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Mormon Men's Reputation and Purity Are All That Matters
It's a breezy mid-May morning up in Northern Utah, and I'm standing at the edge of a wheat field enjoying bird calls and fresh air smelling of green growing wheat stalks. I'm waiting to meet up with a client for work to conduct their annual inspection. I've never met the main contact for this company, just corresponded by email before meeting here in what is basically the middle of the nowhere most of the way to the Idaho border.
I hear the rumble of an engine and turn toward the end of the road to see a truck coming to meet me. In it are two men. One introduces himself as my contact, and he introduces the other as his brother. I get in the truck and we begin a tour of the farm.
So much has been written about Mormon purity culture in Utah, and it's almost difficult to know where to start unpacking and explaining what's going on in this meeting. Most commonly we talk about the purity culture in Utah from the standpoint of keeping students ignorant of their own bodies and sexuality or just flat out slut shaming women. Those are important elements certainly, but what is at play here is both uniquely tied into Mormon sexual culture and very, very old.
Simply put, I represent the medieval demonic temptress who wants nothing more than to destroy men's vulnerable souls. My very presence is read as sexually contaminating the morality and reputation of the man I'm here to meet for business. And that is why he brought protection: another man to chaperone and preserve religiously based moral authority and honor.
When I return to the office a female coworker asks me who the client brought with him. Because she knows. Because he did it to her last year, as have many of our other clients. Another customer I met with last week also made sure I wasn't alone with him. They don't bring along chaperones to meet with our male inspectors. It's always about our presence being dangerous, so they'll defend themselves in ways no one talks about or acknowledges.
A couple years ago, a male inspector was in training to do these kinds of inspections and needed to shadow someone experienced on an inspection. That inspector refused to carpool in a fleet vehicle with my female coworker for a commute that was over an hour long because "he is a bishop." Her potential sexual availability him (despite being married and being universally professional) is taken as a given, one that has to be protected against because his reputation can't survive it. There is no question of what seems obvious to people unfamiliar with the overwhelming influence of Mormonism on Utah question: that men and women can work together professionally without sex being implied.
His religious misogyny was given accommodation and two vehicles were allocated to send two employees from the main office to the site. His religious authority allowed him to refuse to work following the same rules as everyone else and let him implicitly state my coworker was a sexual threat to him. By allowing this, management reinforced that my coworker's dignity and professionalism are beneath his comfort.
The truly exhausting and angering part of this from my point of view is that there actually is an issue of potential risk and safety at play when I meet with clients out in the field, and it is given no consideration or value whatsoever by these Very Concerned men. Mine. The gender safety gap is something inextricably tied into male privilege and rape culture, but it's impossible for me not to factor the potential vulnerability of driving far into empty spaces without so much a nearby occupied house to meet with a man I have never met alone. My feelings or comparative vulnerability weren't even considered at this appointment. The client decided not just to meet me on his land far away from anywhere with indeterminate cellular reception, but to meet me with another man I don't know and didn't know was coming. If he had considered it, would he have made the same decision to bring another male stranger?
I'm not actively afraid and don't think I'm likely to be harmed, of course. But that initial hesitation is still here. It's the same reason I make sure before I go out in the field I tell my spouse where I'm going to be, even if I say it halfway as a joke. The same reason I text to check in at lunchtime afterward. Just to be safe. Because in Utah, one of the crime rates that's universally higher than the national average is sexual violence. I can't forget that when I'm living my life here in Utah. It colors everything I do in subtle ways.
When I initially talked about this on Twitter, a man outside of Utah was confused why the chaperone the client brought along wasn't a woman. Elizabeth Mitchell (@Pixelfish on Twitter) replied first, explaining that this would mean he would be alone with the female chaperone before and after meeting me. Which is true, although it's also more than that as well; in a lot of ways, bringing another man along for when you're going to be alone with a women is an extension of companionship on an LDS mission.
Adult men in the general congregation in Mormonism are considered to have religious authority purely due to their gender. Men who would be considered laymen in other religions are considered to have priesthood and that is also part of what's happening here. Bringing along a male peer is bringing along someone with moral and religious authority who watches your behavior to help you behave righteously. If you brought a woman, you wouldn't have that aura of upright & moral behavior to counter any sense of sexual tainting by working with a woman.
The most frustrating thing about this is I'm not even surprised anymore when this happens to me. This is my life as a woman in Utah. But that doesn't mean I'm going to quietly accept sexist garbage as inevitable.
And the Hobby Lobby Ruling Just Keeps Making Everything Worse
While the horribleness of this July's Supreme Court ruling on the Hobby Lobby case is dreadful enough on its own, it just keeps being used to allow people to do and get away with evil bullshit through a truly disturbing elevation of religious privilege. This week, it's being used to let FLDS officials legally avoid any questioning during investigation of hundreds of children working in violation of child labor laws in 2012.
It's so good to know that not only is the court's decision being used to hurt women in favor of protecting powerful men, but it is now also set up to ensure they can dodge questions from the Department of Labor about kids. Because if you can't use religious authority to control and coerce the powerless and vulnerable, what good is it?
"It is not for the Court to "inquir[e] into the theological merit of the belief in question," Sam wrote, citing the Hobby Lobby decision. "The determination of what is a 'religious' belief or practice is more often than not a difficult and delicate task …. However, the resolution of that question is not to turn upon a judicial perception of the particular belief or practice in question; religious beliefs need not be acceptable, logical, consistent, or comprehensible to others in order to merit First Amendment protection."
The idea that religion is increasingly allowing people to exempt themselves from following laws should be chilling. Yet instead I see more and more reluctance to actually justly enforce laws (including basic protections for children) with staggering deference to religious claims without examination.
Utah Polygyny Often Intricately Linked with Child Brides
Growing up in Utah, my biases about polygamy and polyamory were deeply marked by the oppressive religious practice of control and child rape practiced by some splinter sects of the LDS faith. The obvious difference is consent, but I had to unlearn years of association of polyamory with coercion and abuse.
It's easy to condemn those in other places that condone child rape through marriage. It's safe and comfortable. But the painful fact is, I live in a state where child brides have been (and almost certainly continue to be) part of an ongoing system of abuse. I have a deep rage that the communities where it happens are calculatedly isolated, and they exert total control over the lives of growing children, who have even less capacity for autonomy & consent than most.
We are talking about the kind of subculture that has literally burned books intended for a local library to keep control and maintain ignorance. It's been almost impossible to find and prosecute the child
marriages rapes because the communities have their own police and shunning the outside world is a religious imperative.
What's even worse, even men who have admitted their child rape may not even be eligible for prosecution because within the last decade Utah's legal code allowed the rape of girls as young as 14 so long as their parents consent.
At the time, Utah's marriage age was 14 with parental consent. In 2005, the Utah State Legislature changed it to 16. In 2003, the legislature made any polygamous marriage involving anyone under 18 a felony of child bigamy.
Shit like this shows just how uninterested our judicial system really is in prioritizing the protection of adolescents from predators using religious coercion. When as recently as 10 years ago, parents' will could substitute for full legal consent to sexual activity, it's clear that far from being the enlightened moral actors we make ourselves out to be, we are just beginning to question living in the dark ages.
A criticism (I believe fairly) lodged against more moderate religious voices is they give cover to, and downplay the abuse of more extreme versions because they find criticism of religiously backed abuses uncomfortable. There is no more clear example in our modern backyard than the fact that a man like Winston Blackmore may not even have committed a crime under our laws.
The Basic Problem is They Don't Respect Our Agency
Whether it's when we're demanding our right to control our own bodies and fertility, including full abortion rights, or we're asking those who proclaim themselves our allies to recognize how important it is they always recognize our rights, autonomy and agency without debate, it's become clear that the problem we face is on a basic level, they don't recognize that we are the sole owners of our bodies, our time, our energy and our feelings.
Now, those who claim they're our allies and offer the most insipid & milquetoast kind of pro-choice attitudes insist they're not like those bad people who'd force us to give birth against our will. They respect us and our choices. But must we always be so adversarial about it? So dogmatic? What's so horrible about allowing debate or other viewpoints about abortion? It's not as clear cut a secular advocacy issue as equal marriage rights, after all.
Because every time they tell us we have to support and endorse movements that include and welcome those that devalue us, they are telling us we have to defend our most basic rights of self over and over again. It means that our supposed allies don't respect our rights to own our time.
They are displaying the same toxic underlying male privilege assumptions they claim to denounce. They are saying with their actions that they do feel they or others are entitled to our time. And that our justifiably angry response to that imposition is wrong.
Let me be clear if you do not consistently support or respect the basic bodily rights and autonomy of people who can become pregnant, I don't care if you are nominally pro-choice. You may think standard medical care like abortion care should be legal, but you haven't shown you any respect for my agency. You have shown what you truly think is important, and it is you and your comfort above me and my actual life.
Predictably, Defense Tries to Put Murdered Teenager On Trial
I'm sure no one has been surprised that the tactic used by George Zimmerman's defense counsel is to try to put a murdered black minor on trial instead of the man who stalked, harassed and ultimately killed him. The entire trial has seemingly been an attempt to make us distrust the morals and credibility of the black people involved in front of a nearly all-white jury.
So it's offensive, but not sadly consistent that Mr. Zimmerman has regularly referred to a dead kid, Trayvon Martin as "the suspect."
Suspected of what crime? Blackness in Zimmerman's neighborhood, but the defense is obviously hoping the jurors don't register this prejudicial language and think about the naked racism it expresses.
I'm furious that this needs to be stated, but Trayvon Martin was not a criminal, was not a "suspect." He was a boy who will now never know what it's like to live as a grown man.
When the Phrase "Being Armed" Is Meaningless
This week has been so packed with important, groundbreaking and openly discriminatory news that is has been overwhelming. But there is one underreported thing from the start of George Zimmerman's trial on Monday that leaves me so angry, outraged and sad that it bears mentioning.
Many places have reported with shock that Mr. Zimmerman's defense counsel included a knock-knock joke in his opening statements. And it was offensive bullshit, so it's understandable that people are talking about it alongside Don West's shitty treatment of Rachel Jeantel in an attempt to make the super white jury think she's not worth listening to.
But what still makes me feel ill when I think about it is the assertion West made in opening statements that the murdered teenager was not actually unarmed. Dead high schooler Trayvon Martin purportedly "armed himself with a concrete sidewalk and used it to smash George Zimmerman's head."
George Zimmerman, we were told, was simply a helpful citizen who was savaged by an out-of-place black kid. He had no choice but to shoot and kill this minor. This idea makes me so angry still that I want to smash things into little pieces.
I cannot believe anyone could be so transparently dishonest to try to contort the simple concept of weaponry and being armed in such a way that no one can ever be "unarmed" because there is always something that can be claimed as a weapon, including the ground you stand on. This is not just insulting, but asks us to throw out any legal standards of proportional response. It asks us to use the self-defensive, desperate tactics of victims as an excuse for their attack or murder.
This asks the jury to ignore the vast differentials in power and physical threat that exist here. Mr. Zimmerman used his vehicle, his age, his assumed justification as a neighborhood vigilante to intimidate and frighten a young man who will now never see adulthood. He's now using the claim of injuries after he stalked and harassed Trayvon Martin to excuse his murder.
I desperately want to be wrong, but I have strong suspicions that Mr. Zimmerman will not face conviction and prison for profiling, stalking and murdering a minor. This makes me so helplessly angry it brings tears of rage to my eyes. I want to be wrong. I want there to be justice for Trayvon.
Do We Need Penicillin, Mr. Gohmert?
On Monday, Texas Representative Louie Gohmert made a deeply disingenuous argument to ensure that having sex remains as shameful and risky as possible to continue a long standing history of backing up religious hang-ups with healthy sexuality with intentionally created risk.
His statements on the conservative radio show, WallBuilders:
You don't have to force this sexuality stuff into their life at such a point. It was never intended to be that way. They'll find out soon enough. Mankind has existed for a pretty long time without anyone ever having to give a sex-ed lesson to anybody.
This got me thinking about all the things that humans have existed without for "a pretty long time" and which of these important modern developments Representative Gohmert thinks we don't really need either. Of course, the obvious answer is that we're only supposed to follow shitty antiquated levels of ignorance and suffering when it comes to the sex, but I'd really like to get him to own up to that.
Here's is a extremely incomplete list just off the top of my head of things that humans as a species have done perfectly well without.
- antibiotics
- air conditioning
- glasses/contacts
- television
- safe potable water
- roads
- modern sanitation
- safe surgical procedures
- football
- guns
- computers
- injectable insulin
- cars
- airplanes
- boats
- painkillers
- blood transfusions
- washing machines
- restaurants
- radio
- deodorant
- formalized education
- agriculture
- domesticated animals
- electricity
- representative government
- chemotherapy
- phones
- birth control
- movies
- pharmacology
- soap
- coffee
- refrigeration
- chocolate
What's Supposed to Happen AFTER You Shut Up and Listen
For the last several weeks, I've felt growing jealousy toward those friends and acquaintances who have had the opportunity to attend the second Women In Secularism conference. I felt that twinge of envy die back considerably watching the twitter and liveblogging reactions of surprise and disappointment when the conference kicked off with the remarks of Ron Lindsay, who is the president and CEO of the conference's sponsoring organization, the Center for Inquiry. Now while I still wish I could have been present for those panels, in many ways I'm relieved I have not given (for my budget, considerable) funds to an organization whose highest leadership seems to fundamentally not understand the purpose of something that means so much to me.
I'd also like to extend my greatest sympathies and support to Melody Hensley, whose task in successfully managing this event has been made harder and harder by the management of her own organization. It is absolutely not her fault that this has become disastrously mismanaged, and my admiration for her dedicated work has only grown in the face of this "PR disaster" as she described it last night (can't direct link to the comment, which is #40 on this latest doubling down by Lindsay). Ms. Hensley said,
Half of the Slymepit have shown up to support these series of blogs. These are not our supporters or donors. They are harassers and sexists.
I'm completely embarrassed. I feel betrayed that that my allies are upset and the people that wish me ill will are cheering this on. I wish we could go back in time and delete this PR disaster.
I agree. And while I've watched this in increasing frustration, the thought occurred to me that maybe Ron Lindsay never actually read far enough to understand what's supposed to happen after someone with privilege shuts up long enough to listen to the experience of someone who has a better view of the social and legal deck stacking in society. In the hopes that he can learn to listen long enough for understanding, I'll try to give him a concrete example of how this is supposed to work.
Privilege is one of those remarkably sneaky things where it's inherently part of having privilege that it is hard to see how you are benefited and how a thousand little things create the microaggressions that wear others down every single day. It can be something as simple as not having choices created with you in mind because you are not considered the default.
A while back, Greta Christina wrote about something that drives her crazy. (Me too!) When organizers for events order merchandise, somehow it seldom seems to occur to them to order t-shirts in women's styles for their female attendees.
Here's where the shutting up and listening portion comes in: my spouse, after hearing about this concern, one he never would have known about had he not been receptive enough to listen and learn (the shutting up and listening part), realized he's seen this done on a particularly egregious scale in his own professional life.
Spouse's office has to do with programs that feed children, and so disproportionately deals with women rather than men. Far more women than men attend their conferences and training sessions. Yet every single time they've ordered shirts for these, events, they've ordered
unisex men's t-shirts. How is it that for years, it had never occurred to anyone to order women's style shirts for these events when they vastly comprise those they work with?
Simply put, shutting up long enough to be receptive to a criticism of Greta Christina's, spouse has learned something he can be aware of and implement that will make one less message these women will receive in their day that men are the default and nothing can be done about it. It makes their lives slightly better and costs my spouse nothing but a moment of consideration during the planning stages of events. This isn't about silencing. It's about caring enough to learn how to be a better person.
Now I realize that Lindsay does not believe his opening remarks were primarily about how he fears privilege is used to silence critics. He may certainly not have intended his speech to launch Women in Secularism to tell attendees, speakers and panelists to say that asking others to check their privilege is a silencing tactic, but that is what he did.
I've read his prepared remarks. They open by discussing religious traditions of deliberately disempowering and silencing women, move on to telling this audience he does not welcome them because there's too much work to do, then express concern over what kind of feminist foundation is being built in the secular movement before they get directly into criticism of the critically important concept of privilege. Your remarks are about how uncomfortable you are with how many of us use privilege as a key tool to educate and change behavior. There is a clear line of reasoning (that you yourself cite!) that links the opening statements of religious silencing tradition with the straw-stuffed explanation of privilege checking in your remarks.
Mr. Lindsay, I ask you to take this opportunity to stop, listen, reflect and learn. Stop and consider that the criticism of your remarks came from your own hosted panelists as well as attendees at at the conference while the loudest applause you are getting is coming from the very people who want to tear down the work of Women In Secularism and the dedicated efforts of those in your own organization.


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"All the interesting people I know are in jail,"
"I am very reluctant to put you in touch with people," ...
"I am not worried about you at all; it is people who visit you that may be put in jeopardy. I am not being paranoid, it is just that the place has become very unpredictable. I cannot figure out the logic of who they pick up and why."
"We don't like the government, but we cannot change it," ... "They punish us when we protest. People are afraid."
"Thirty-five percent of Iranians like this government and Ahmadinejad, ... "Twenty-five percent are against. The rest don't care."
"We can't do anything," ... "If we do something, the police come and put us in jail. It is very tight here."
"There are so many limitations on us — on our dress, our relations with boyfriends, our chances to have fun together," ... . "We want to take off our head scarves, but it's not possible. All we can do is live and stay quiet."
"I voted, but I don't believe my vote was counted," ... "Many who voted last time won't vote next time. I'm one of them."
"Intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan has brought nothing but death and suffering," ... "We don't want that. Above all, we want to preserve peace in our country. We would rather live under a regime we don't like than one that is placed in power by foreigners."
"What worries us is Pakistan," ... "We don't have anything like the Taliban or Al Qaeda in Iran. Crazy fanatics are not going to take power here, but in Pakistan it could happen any day. We can't understand why the Americans allowed Pakistan to become a nuclear power but are so upset about Iran."
"Nobody can prevent us from having democracy in our country," .... "It is our wish and our right. But it will take time. You cannot change a very strong government in a few months."
These statements reflect the diverse views of people Kinzer met by chance, but they reveal some of the sentiments in place now after a year of demonstrations and brutal government crackdowns. As Kinzer notes, government brutality pays, as it has for generations past. That of course says nothing about the human yearnings for something more, something more authentically just. So the world waits . . .
Some of us perversely insist that it will indeed come. . . .


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Grilled meats on salt rock and ceramic tiles are the standout dishes at Làng Ngói Đá in HCM City. Mỹ Duyên reports.
The Làng Ngói Đá restaurant may offer an overwhelming number of items, but it's the grilled beef, pork and seafood dishes cooked on either terracotta tiles or salt rock that keep diners coming back.
Though located in HCM City's busy centre, Làng Ngói Đá, which claims to be the only restaurant in town that offers these grilled specialities, has a stylish decor similar to a country house without air conditioning.
The menu features locally raised premium beef and pork and carefully selected seafood, chicken and ostrich, with prices starting at VNĐ69,000 (US$3).
As recommended, my colleague and I began our weekend feast with the most popular dish -- a prawn appetiser in sweet-sour sauce with red chilli, onion, garlic and cilantro. The price was VNĐ160,000 ($7) for 200 grams.
The dish consists of two items: a prawn head that is deep-fried, accompanied by chilli salt, and prawn body half-cooked in a sweet-sour sauce, with a side of homemade green chilli sauce.
"Most of our customers choose this prawn delicacy whenever they visit us," Ngô Anh Tú, owner and manager, told me.
While I'm not usually a fan of raw fish, I enjoyed the sweet rich taste of the partially cooked prawn. In fact, it was the freshest prawn I had ever eaten.
But, we had to leave room for the grilled dishes that are the "pride" of Làng Ngói Đa.
We settled on a salt rock grill at VNĐ290,000 ($13) for our main course, a large combo of fresh beef, pork belly, shrimp and cuttlefish cooked on a square-shaped salt rock heated by charcoal.
Wonderfully aromatic, the dishes were exceptionally flavourful.
"We don't marinate or put spices on foods grilled on salt rock. We want our customers to experience the natural salty taste and exceptionally aromatic flavours from the freshest cuts of meat and seafood," Tú said.
The grilled beef, pork and seafood can be wrapped with rice vermicelli, herbs and lettuce, and served with passion fruit sauce. Or, the dish can be enjoyed with just green chilli sauce.
Grilled meat dishes cooked on terracotta tiles are another highlight at the restaurant.
Ribs with honey (VNĐ82,000 or $3,7), spicy ribs (VNĐ82,000 or $3,7), BBQ ribs Korean and Thai style (VNĐ85,000 or $3,9) are all on offer.
"Tiles that are not overheated cook the meat to medium, and it's not dry. It keeps all the flavour and taste of the delicious marinade. The tiles are non-toxic," Tú said.
We sampled the beef with 29-spice powder for the price of VNĐ190,000 ($8,6). The dish included a selection of vegetables such as grilled eggplant, corn and okra.
As it was marinated for a minute before grilling on the tiles, the beef was juicy with a delicate aroma.
For those who love to have heartier fare that will fill you up, the restaurant offers hotpots from VNĐ150,000 to VNĐ200,000 each, enough for two or three persons.
Fried rice, which starts at VND60,000 ($2,7) for two, can be ordered with seafood, beef Malaysian style, eggs or salted fish.
I heartily recommend a visit to the restaurant. Its delicate dishes, prepared in various ways that can only be found at Làng Ngói Đá, contribute to a dining experience not to be missed, and one that is also surprisingly affordable. VNS
Address: 18A/39 Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai Street, District 1, HCM City
Phone: 08.62918525
Opening hours: 4:30pm -11pm
Comment: good location, fantastic grilled dishes, cosy ambiance.


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Quenched Drills Well #300 and Receives National Recognition in the Nonprofit Community
This summer is flying by! In just a few weeks, my kids head back to school. I can't believe it! As we head into the second half of 2019, it's amazing to look back and see all that's happened. We rebranded Living Water for the Thirsty to Quenched, continued to expand the work of the ministry to new areas in Nepal and India, and had an impactful Vision Night in Peoria, Arizona. God is certainly on the move, and we are excited to share some other updates from the field and stateside.
Well #300
In June, we completed a series of wells in some predominantly Muslim areas in Northern India. Over 82% of the population in India is Hindu, so this was a unique opportunity for Quenched to reach yet another faith both physically with water, and spiritually with the Gospel. The 300th well since our founding was completed in this series of wells with a Muslim family as the recipient. Their testimony is unbelievable: "I am the first man in my village to get a well from Christians. My previous assumption about Christians was wrong. I found how they are loving and caring towards the poor and needy." This is exactly what Jesus told us to be, a light in the darkness and difference makers to those in need. We continue to pray for these families that they come to believe in Jesus as the one true God.
Baptisms & RAD Training
Since the beginning of 2019, 105 people have been baptized as a result of Quenched's ministry in Nepal and India. Momentum continues to build as the work spreads to new areas. We have seen new churches planted, with our Rapidly Advancing Disciples (RAD) program leading the way. RAD training is a key component which makes us different from other clean water ministries. At these trainings, new believers are taught what it means to follow Christ, how to share their faith, and how to plant and grow a healthy church. Each time we receive a well sponsorship donation, the funds are split between digging the well and training disciples in that same community. With RAD training, wells become the foundation for a sustainable church plant. In the last 90 days alone, we have seen 17 new house churches started from these efforts.
Invest in Others Finalist
Back here in the U.S., Quenched just received some national recognition which we are very excited about! It's connected to my day job as a financial advisor. Invest in Others, an organization that recognizes the impact that financial advisors have on a nonprofit, has selected myself and Quenched as a finalist for the Invest in Others Global Impact Award. As a finalist, a $10,000 donation will be given to Quenched. If named the winner at the awards gala in September, the donation will increase to $40,000! We are so excited to see how God will use this nomination and donation to further his work in Nepal and India.
Finally, please keep Quenched in your prayers. We truly believe this movement is of God. Please pray that He will continue to advance the work in a way that only He can do. In addition to your prayers, please consider donating. Our commitment is that 100% of your donation will go to the field to dig clean water wells and train disciples because all of our overhead is covered by private donors. We would be honored for you to join us as we help unreached people living in extreme poverty receive clean and Living Water through the local church.
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July 2019


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Creativity is very much connected to health and confidence.
When I'm feeling creative, I'm feeling strong and confident in myself. I'm not looking to others to tell me what to do, or to give their approval of what I'm doing. When I am creative I am my own master, and whatever I do, no matter how unconventional or unpopular it may be, is done with a clear and confident resoluteness of purpose. When I am feeling creative it effects all spheres of my life. Not just a matter of doing this one creative thing, it effects everything that I do. And consequently, if I'm feeling creatively blocked, that too effects all spheres of my life, reducing my confidence, diminishing my energy, and negatively effecting my health.
To me, creativity is intrinsically connected to feeling healthy and confident. Not just a physical feeling of health and well being, but having a healthy mental outlook. To be creative is like always being in love with the art of creation, with the process of discovery and exploration of inspiration, and the sharing with others what you find in your meetings with the divine, the metaphysical ecstasies in your mind, like a prism reflecting the energies outside of time.
Potential creative energy is activated by a spark of heat and light, where the mind is like a prism and the creative inspiration is like the sun passing through that prism. Where the prism must be positioned in such a way that allows the light to pass through it, otherwise if the sun is obscured, or if the prism it out of alignment with this light, darkness ensues. So it is with creativity.
To create something on your own, developing an original idea, or reinventing an older idea, is very much about tapping into a certain potential energy that exists everywhere in the world at all times, as an invisible quality permeating the mind like air, always there, but not always recognized, but upon making the connection of recognition, it creates a spark that ignites a flame, a flash of insight making the invisible visible, creating an illuminated bridge between the world and the mind and the creative soul fire that lies outside of time.
What happens when this creative link is lost?
If you are a creative person, who suddenly finds yourself feeling creatively blocked, it can be a very disturbing situation to be in. You may feel like you are experiencing an identity crisis, like you have lost your sense of direction, that you no longer know who you are or where you are going. If for instance, you are an artist who paints, not just as a vocation, but whose entire life and sense of identity revolves around being inspired, thinking creatively, and creating art, but who has suddenly lost the inspiration and the ability to paint, what then, and how does such a person reclaim their creative inspiration?
What does a creative person do, who suddenly finds themselves unable to create?
Well from what I've learned of it, creativity, much like insight, cannot be forced. (See: Random Insight #2: Insight Cannot be Forced, and Creative Soul Fire.) All one can do, really, is to improve the conditions that make one more receptive to inspiration, removing any obstacles in the way to make it easier for you to see and to hear and to receive the gift of creative insight.
To create is to feel vibrantly alive, passionate, confident, like a flowing river unimpeded by nothing in its path. For myself, one of the main obstacles to creativity is illness. Feeling poorly, sick, depressed, in pain, too hot, too cold, weak, exhausted, uncomfortable, unable to relax, and unable to focus. If you are feeling sick, or depressed, your creatively will often be blocked. This is because you are distracted by these other concerns.
Therefore if you are feeling creatively blocked, the best way to reclaim your creativity, is to do everything within your power to make yourself feel better; take a vacation, rest, recuperate, detoxify your body, increase your strength and energy, and improving your overall mood and state of health.
That's all I have to offer about that. Improve your health and the creativity will follow.


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AMD FreeSync
Customer review
Great monitor. I am thinking of buying another
Good Monitor
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Overall, great monitor for the price. Son loves it. Good for gaming.
I bought one
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Tag Archives: candy
Easter in Bloomington
Well, home from Bloomington, wow it's a long drive. I got a chance to do some reading because Craig drove the entire way, I'm about halfway through Pat Conroy's, The Water is Wide. This is a book he wrote years … Continue reading
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CentOS in printed publications 2
I stand corrected. For some reason Amazon does not show excerpts when looking just for CentOS. And the list of books that match CentOS is incorrect. Now if I redo my search query using CentOS Linux the real search-inside-the-book mechanism starts to work. Maybe it requires at least 2 keywords?
The result is a shining 15 books that contain CentOS in one way or the other.
I am confident that CentOS needs to talk to publishers and use its marketshare numbers and its community to make sure CentOS is somewhere on the cover. Because I am certain this is a win-win situation, for all parties involved, including Red Hat (which I will come back to in a later blog article).
CentOS in books
I'm glad you came across our new book "Fedora Linux Toolbox: 1000+ Commands for Fedora, CentOS and Red Hat Power Users." I'm afraid there's no particular conspiracy here about why there isn't much written about CentOS.
Sales of "Red Hat" books took a big hit when Red Hat Linux disappeared. Tons of Red Hat Linux Books in the pipeline were quickly renamed to "Fedora," and all but the few top books sold poorly. When CentOS began to emerge, it wasn't clear that CentOS users would pick up the slack buying general-purpose Linux books.
With the Linux Toolbox series, we thought it was a good opportunity to give a nod to CentOS users. While a Bible may be inefficient for an an advanced CentOS user, I thought a compact book with over 1000 command examples would be useful to the more sophisticated CentOS user.
Anyway, thanks for the great work you have done. I was glad to see that several of my books came up when you searched for your name at Amazon.
-- Chris Negus


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- "Boiling an egg, removing the yolk and filling the center with salt and then eating the whole, shell included!"
- "Sticking 9 pins into a red onion, taking it backwares to the bedroom and sleeping with it under the pillow."
- dumb cake ceremony.
St. Agnes was a Roman Catholic child martyr who was sentenced to death for refusing to marry. "St. Agnes, the patron saint of virgins, died a martyr in fourth century Rome. She was condemned to be executed after being raped all night in a brothel;however, a miraculous thunderstorm saved her from rape. St. Agnes Day is Jan. 21. " One of the oldest superstitions associated with this night is that "if she went to bed without looking behind her and lay on her back with her hands under her head, he would appear in her dream, kiss her, and feast with her".
But personally, every year I perform the spell listed in Gerina Dunwich's Everyday Wiccaon page 87.
The basic instructions of the spell say that right before bed you should light a pink candle (anointed with the love oil of your choice) and stare into a hand mirror. While looking into the mirror you say:
"Dear Saint Agnes, sweet and fair
I call to thee with humble prayer:
with clarity I wish to see
the face of my true love to be.
tonight let him be dream-revealed;
with a kiss this rhyme is sealed.
So mote it be!"
Then you kiss the mirror ( I like to wear lipstick so it leaves the kiss mark), then you place the mirror (glass up) under your pillow and prayer to St. Agnes to thank her for listening to you. Gerina's end note states:
"If there is marriage in your future (anytime within the next twelve months), you should receive a vivid dream about the man who is destined to become your partner in matrimony."
Now, obviously the spell was written (by a woman) for women. But I see no reason it can't be used by men with a few alterations!
Sources (In order of use):
Everyday Wicca, Gerina Dunwich, 1997, Citadel Press


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JUDY COLLINS, the legendary British singer, best known for her interpretations of Leonard Cohen, is an admirer of Irishman Scott Maher.
"I feel something special, unique and very different about you," she told the singer-songwriter. "This is beautiful music – amazing arrangements and you sing like an angel."
It is not only Collins who has been impressed. In Dublin has called his voice "sublime", while The Irish Times has praised his music's "classic sounding hooks". Galwegians will have a chance to see why when Scott plays upstairs in the Róisín Dubh tomorrow from 8pm.
Admission is €10. Check out his albums, Cartoon Moon (2005 ) and 21 Bends (2009 ).


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Nestled on the western edge of a gently sloping cliff site in South Kuta, Bali, sits this charming 60 room boutique hotel, gazing out over 25 private resort villas and on towards the endless Indian Ocean.
Featuring a cascading two story water fall entry and unique transparent hexagon swimming pool with Buddha.
All hotel rooms and villas have wide open views to the sea and impressive ocean views.


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I'm not really a doll collector any more, but I do enjoy reading some of the blogs and keeping up with what's going on in the collectible doll scene. I was blown away today though because I had no idea this was in the works! The Tonner Doll Company created a licensed Beetlejuice fashion doll for 2012!
Her name is Ms. Beetlejuice and she's quite pricey, like most Tonner dolls.
Ms. Beetlejuice stands 16 inches tall.
What do you think? Pretty cool?


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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Numerous studies have shown that the brain molecule neuropeptide Y (NPY) helps to restore calm after stressful events. A team of University of Michigan-led researchers has now found that people whose genes predispose them to produce lower levels of NPY are more responsive to negative stimuli in key brain circuits related to emotion – and are therefore less resilient in the face of stress and may be at higher risk for developing a major depressive disorder.
The scientists hope the research will eventually help with early diagnosis and intervention for depression and other psychiatric illnesses, and in the development of therapies that can be tailored to individuals based on their genetic profiles. The findings were published Feb. 7 in the Archives of General Psychiatry.
"This is what we mean when we talk about 'personalized medicine,' " says the study's lead author, Brian Mickey, M.D., Ph.D., an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Michigan Medical School and researcher at the U-M Molecular and Behavioral Neurosciences Institute. "These are genetic features that can be measured in any person. We hope they can guide us toward assessing an individual's risk for developing depression and anxiety."
The findings also help fill in new areas on the genetic "map" of depression, says the study's senior author Jon-Kar Zubieta, M.D., Ph.D., a professor of psychiatry and radiology and research professor at the Molecular and Behavioral Neurosciences Institute.
"We've identified a biomarker – in this case genetic variation – that is linked with increased risk of major depression," Zubieta says. "This appears to be another mechanism, independent of previous targets in depression research, such as serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine."
Using three separate approaches, researchers found that individuals with the genotype that produces lower amounts of NPY had measurably stronger brain responses to negative stimuli and psychological responses to physical pain. They were also overrepresented in a population diagnosed with a major depressive disorder.
Three approaches
Using three separate approaches, each with a varying number of research subjects ranging from 58 to 152, U-M researchers and their partners studied the link between NPY gene expression and emotional processing.
U-M researchers recruited and characterized participants, performed neuroimaging, and conducted the pain challenge. Their partners at the Laboratory of Neurogenetics at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism in Bethesda, Md. performed the genotyping.
The research subjects were classified according to whether they had low, medium or high NPY gene expression.
Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the scientists observed the brain activity of each subject as he or she viewed neutral words (such as "material") negatively charged words (like "murderer"), and positively charge words (like "hopeful").
In response to negative words, subjects in the low NPY group showed strong activation in the prefrontal cortex, which is involved with processing emotion, while subjects with high NPY demonstrated a much smaller response.
"This tells us that individuals with the risk-associated NPY gene variant tend to activate this key brain region more than other people, even in the absence of stress and before psychiatric symptoms are present," says Mickey.
In a second test, healthy subjects reported their emotional experiences during a stress challenge. Saline solution was injected into the jaw muscle, which produces moderate pain for 20 minutes, but no lasting harm. The level of pain was adjusted for each person to until it was, for them, a 4 on a scale of 1 to 10.
These subjects rated the positivity or negativity of their feelings both before and after the pain challenge. Those in the low NPY group were more negative both before and after the pain – meaning they were more emotionally affected while anticipating the pain and while reflecting on their experience immediately afterward.
Lastly, scientists compared the NPY genotypes of subjects with major depressive disorder with control subjects to see if there was an association between the condition and low expression of NPY.
Subjects with low-expression NPY genotypes were overrepresented in the group with depression.
"We're not just associating a particular gene with a particular illness," Zubieta says. "We're expanding the understanding of the physiology of depression."
Funding: The research was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Mental Health, National Institute on Drug Abuse, the Intramural Research Program of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and the Phil F. Jenkins Research Fund.
Disclosures: Zubieta has acted as consultant for Eli Lilly and Co, Merck and Johnson & Johnson over the last year.
Additional U-M authors: Mary M. Heitzeg, Ph.D.; David T. Hsu, Ph.D.; Scott A. Langenecker, Ph.D.; Tiffany M. Love, Ph.D., Marta Peciña, M.D., Ph.D.; Tal Shafir, Ph.D.
Other authors: Laboratory of Neurogenetics at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Bethesda, Md.: Zhifeng Zhou, Ph.D.; Colin A. Hodgkinson, Ph.D.; David Goldman, M.D.; Elizabeth Heinz
University of Maryland Dental School: Christian S. Stohler, D.M.D.
Reference: "Emotion Processing, Major Depression, and Functional Genetic Variation of Neuropeptide Y," Archives of General Psychiatry, Feb. 7, 2011
Media Contacts
- Ian Demsky: [email protected], 734-764-2220


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