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Jensen talks about the impact fans have on the show in this new CW video.
TVGuide has this awesome video of Jensen, Jared & Misha talking about their fan favorite wins.
"After four weeks, seven rounds, 64 competitors, 12,000 Facebook likes, 8,000 blog comments and 1.5 million votes" the winner of the 2011 E! Online Alpha Male Madness tournament is...Jensen!
E!Online has an exclusive interview with executive producer Bob Singer where he talks about cowboys and cliffhangers and the possibility of season 7.
I for one can't wait to see this week's wild west episode.


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Description: With Father's Day less than a week away, Caswell-Massey has launched their men's collection at Studio Beautymix at Fred Segal (Santa Monica), and here are some of the products they are highlighting: Greenbriar Cologne spray- $30 With a blend of scents including Artemisia, sage, thyme, and a hint of lavender, seasoned with sandalwood, vetyver, and amber, it's just the right amount of fragrance. Almond Pre-Shave Oil- $12 Moisturizing natural oils and extracts help to prepare the beard for shaving, and help protect from razor burn and ingrown hairs. Almond shave cream- $16 Rich lathery cream leaves the skin smooth, soft and moisturized. Greenbriar Shave Soap- $18 Leaves the face brisk and smooth and gives dad an incomparable close, comfortable shave. For more information about these Caswell-Massey products and many more, you can visit Studio Beautymix at Fred Segal in Santa Monica or check out www.CaswellMassey.com.
Price: $12.00 to $30.00

subset: commoncrawl


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If on one hand their imperiaist success was by unearned random chance, then morally it puts them in the same stratum as all the other non-western empires that tried to conquer as much as they could when they got the chance.
If, on the other hand, you say there was some exceptional property that granted them their unusually great success, Industrialization is the most obvious answer, which in turn raises a second-guess about how much they really stole, and how much they actually produced.
Outside of these two options, you can't really characterize the west as an exceptional evil without also invoking something like "European magic," which is poopy.


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King Arthur romantic comedy
While Guy Ritchie is set to make a film based on the 1485 tales written by Thomas Mallory called Le Morte d'Arthur (Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com), it's just been announced that the rights to John Steinbeck's The Acts of King Arthur and his Noble Knights, which is based on the Mallory tales and retells the King Arthur legend, have been bought to be adapted to film.
Steinbeck actually retold seven of the legends from the original text, and the article hints that more than one of these legends is to be made into a film, so we could be looking at a franchise to rival the Guy Ritchie King Arthur project.
Jennifer Lee is set to adapt one of these legends into a film, and according to Variety it's the story of the quest of Arthur's knights Gawain, Ewain and Marhalt which one of the producers describes as:
"…a compelling romantic comedy adventure targeted for the youth audience"
Ah, you're losing me there already. I don't think there's really going to be any challenge there for Guy Ritchie's projects is there?
This story will see a young Knight exploring relationships, growing to understand more about maidens, and becoming a true man and a Knight in the process, gaining a place at King Arthur's Round Table.
I have to admit it's not the first Arthur legend I would consider adapting for the big screen, but then the major ones have been told a few times before and it looks like a deliberate move not to clash with the story to come from Ritchie's film. Mind you, from all these legends there's no word yet which one will be the basis of Ritchie's story.
Still, without knowing which story Guy Ritchie's film will cover, it's a sure bet it won't be covering a romantic comedy version of the Knights of King Arthur and so this film will stand alone.


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- in Articles by Mystic Mouse
Eleven-Eleven: The End Times
The 11:11 phenomenon that's intrinsically linked to digital clock displays is very much about time. We're living through a long awaited period of transition, that's known as "The End Times" and as our reality moves towards its omega point, most people will agree that time nowadays appears to be speeding up – which it is! Time is literally collapsing, and as incredible as that may seem to some of you, the term "End Times" means quite simply the end of time.
Haven't you noticed how time appears to pass quicker each year? We are now entering a higher dimensional aspect of our planet, and whilst you would never see this in the hands of a clock moving any faster – you can readily sense "Cosmic Time" speeding up. many have talked about these changes in different ways, with some even declaring that the 24 hour day now only equates to 16 hours … now didn't you just know that!
Time certainly feels different now, for our world is restructuring herself. The energy of ascension is really moving fast, and with it the structure of our own bodies is altering. It's simply has to be said that the long held prophesies of a reality change will occur because the many elements, such as the speeding up or quickening of the Earth's pulse already exist …
Everything within creation is a vibrating energy. Whenever the speed of vibration increases, energy becomes less dense and heat is created. So look at what's been happening to the temperature of the planet over the last few decades … we now have global warming. In all probability, this has more to do with the quickening frequency of the planetary energy field than anything else.
Through an 11:11 triggered response, information easily becomes a commodity that's almost as important as food. As soon as you start to grow in awareness, you intuitively sense that primarily you're a spiritual being … and along with that realisation, suddenly the fact that you pre-programmed yourself with a 11:11 reminder before you arrived here, doesn't appear to be so far fetched!
Crop circles are also a trigger … often employing eleven in their measure, these profound wake-up calls are literally a physical manifestation of spiritual consciousness. They profoundly announce with elegant and intricate beauty, "the paradigm shift is upon you"! Acting as heralds, they've long been working in our recycled fields to achieve the forthcoming harvest. Each and every transmission carries a message and what has to be understood is that these cosmic imprints have an incredible power to transform. One important messenger arrived in oil seed rape at West Kennet Wiltshire early in '98. It became known as "The Beltane Wheel". (figure 1)
Consisting of 33 tongues of flame, this ancient symbology embodies "Blazing Fire of Bales" or "Bale Fire" that referenced the old Celtic festival of Beltane. Beginning on May 1st of each year, the Beltane Festival was celebrated right throughout the month. The first half of the Celtic year though began in November and was known as "Entering the Dark" … wintertime, with its short-lived days. The second half of the year began in May at Beltane, and was known as "Entering the Light". At Beltane, fires were prepared on hilltops using sacred wood. They were lit just before dawn, and symbolically were a celebration of leaving the dark and entering the light.
The Beltane Wheel was found lying opposite Silbury Hill, early on the morning of the 4th May. This was a fascinating formation, and one you couldn't fail to notice with its yellow flower heads as flames. It appeared in a field that's been overlooked by the West Kennet Longbarrow, for the past 5700 years or so. Often attracting formations within its environs, the Kennet Longbarrow is the largest barrow in England, and the ground plan of its chambers resembles a pregnant squatting goddess. The principle function of the barrow was to provide a womb, in which the dead could be reborn. With its message of entering the light, the Beltane Wheel perfectly echoed rebirth. Being springtime, there's evidence of renewal everywhere, for suddenly meadows become alive with flora celebrating new life.
The construction of the Beltane Wheel is quite complex. Although it appears to have no circular components (that's to say beyond its structure as a ring) it's in fact made up of many overlapping rings.
33 is a sacred number, for it evokes "The Christ Consciousness" … eternally giving light, the 33 flames of the Beltane Wheel represents Christ's earthly years. 33 is derived from 3 and 11, and simply by employing these numbers we find that we can easily unlock what's encoded here.
First of all, if we slice the inner circle pizza fashion into three we can then go on to divide the lower segment into eleven pieces. (figure 2) Next by drawing a triangle we can instantly produce another three triangles that create a three dimensional effect. (figure 3) What we've actually created here though is a pyramid, which in being a temple of enlightenment, symbolically pours out "the light" of enlightenment, as we enter along our chosen pathway towards a new reality.
At this very moment in time, the Earth is slowly entering and journeying through a band of light particles known as photons – collectively "The Photon Belt". With our entry into this belt, we are literally entering "The Light". (figure 4) For many thousands of years man's consciousness has been in the dark and now we are reawakening into the light … the very message of Beltane, and that which we find encoded in the Beltane Wheel.
As the veil that separates us from higher realms becomes thinner, we are able to absorb more spiritual energy. As this energy is consumed, negativity becomes a waste product. Eleveners along with many others that are soaking up this light, should be aware that as the veil lifts the light will intensify, with the result that the dark will literally become darker. Right now the so-called dark and negative are in panic… it's all around us I'm afraid. All of this though is nothing to be fearful about, for in the forthcoming new age of enlightenment we're heading far beyond a fear-based reality.
Before you incarnated here, you were subjected to a process that laid out the contract governing this lifetime. In it you established the way you wished to imprint yourself upon this physical reality. Through the 11:11 experience you've literally been triggered into remembering this connection. This trigger is an amazing integration of spirit with physicality, which briefly allows you to glimpse the full sense of your being.
11:11 is a vibration that's awakening a network. 11:11 is a vibration that switches on the grid consciousness and selects those for whom are pre-destined to follow this path, for there are many in service as well as in lesson. With 11:11 appearing so frequently, it's never long before you find yourself mentioning it to others. In so doing you'll often find that those you've mentioned it to, get back to you at a later date and can't wait to tell you that they're now having the same experience. Well folks, you've awakened them! … for there's a multiplying factor here that's now being recognised as a part of all this.
People from all walks of life experience this phenomenon, right across the board. Pre-encoded with their own personal life mission, eleveners are awakening as the Christ Consciousness. Christianity and Islam both teach that Christ will return at the end of days, and whilst that's still possible in the flesh, it's far more likely that the Second Coming should be regarded as a collective consciousness shift en-masse.
Before "The Guy from Galilee" began His ministry, it was the Baptist who foretold of His coming. John immersed Christ symbolically into the waters of enlightenment, for he was the Water Bearer who was pre-destined to announce the physical coming. It's now Aquarius, the eleventh sign of the zodiac that spiritually pours out the waters of enlightenment that's announcing the Second Coming. At long last "The Christ Consciousness" is being announced, as we ourselves become baptised as we become fully immersed in the Light. This is the long-awaited transition into Superconsciousness that'll reawaken our spiritual faculties … finally it seems, we shall see ourselves for what we really are – spiritual beings!
Graham Tucker
(Article and diagrams © 2003)


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Happy Monday!!! Hope the weekend was a good one!
Today's card is for Prickley Pear.
I tried to go vintage after a series of CAS cards. It was fun, and I also got to use up some last scraps from the fabbie Bo Bunny's Gabrielle paper pad. I love this Sewing ad stamp.
The banner is from the Hot Air Balloon Clear Stamps Set. And I also used the Coffee Stain on both banner and ad.
I used Card Patterns' sketch 162. Another great one!
The Prickley Pear blog is filled with Design Team inspiration. Go check it out! :)
Have a great day!!!


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How can productivity in manual order picking be increased without placing an additional burden on the employees? The Fressnapf Group faced this question at its two warehouse locations in Feuchtwangen and Krefeld. The answer: with the Lydia® pick by voice solution from topsystem. Since the introduction of the voice-guided picking system, the specialist chain for pet food and accessories has recorded a productivity increase of 10% and a reduction in the error rate of around 50% at both locations. In addition, Lydia® fulfils all other requirements, such as an easily memorised voice dialogue and short training times.
The Fressnapf Group operates two warehouses under its own management: the 60,000 m2 logistics centre in Krefeld and the regional warehouse in Feuchtwangen with a total area of 30,000 m2. Both locations have a large parts area. Around 2500 fast-moving items are stored there at the Feuchtwangen site and around 8000 articles at the Krefeld site. Manual picking was previously carried out using digital picking lists. "In order to optimise the picking process and make it more efficient, we were looking for a system that increases productivity and at the same time is flexible and can be used without long training periods," says Gerhard Kunkel, Head of Outbound Logistics at the Fressnapf Group. The right solution for these requirements was offered by topsystem: the Lydia® pick by voice solution impressed with its intuitive operation and easy-to-remember voice dialog, which all warehouse employees can quickly learn regardless of their native language. "We also liked the option of choosing between a headset and the Lydia® VoiceWear® picking vest. It is important to us to offer our employees ergonomic working conditions," says Gerhard Kunkel.
Error rate halved
Around 360 order pickers work together with Lydia® Voice in the two large parts areas in the Feuchtwangen and Krefeld warehouses. The system guides the employees through the warehouse in a route-optimised manner, indicating the correct pallet location and the correct number of units to be removed. The order picker then only has to place the goods on the appropriate load carrier, for example on a pallet or in a box. Since the introduction of Lydia® Voice, the Fressnapf Group has recorded a productivity increase of around 10% in the central warehouse in Krefeld and in the regional warehouse. The number of picks has improved from 190 to 205 packages per hour. "We had not expected such a positive development in performance at this level," says Gerhard Kunkel. However, this was not the only surprise: since the use of Lydia®, the error rate has been significantly reduced by almost 50% to just 0.2%. One of the reasons for this is the Hands free-/Eyes free-concept, which enables full concentration on the picking process. The Fressnapf Group is currently investigating additional application possibilities for Voice in order to achieve further process optimisation.


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Gentle Readers,
You asked, you voted, and today I am happy to unveil the cover for Crucible, a beautiful painting by Sandro Rybak:
Sandro did a beautiful job of capturing the essence of the story: clashes of old and new, and the starkness of the mercy and cruelty we inflict on one another. I have been itching to show this cover off for weeks, and I am delighted to do so! In the coming weeks, I will be unveiling artwork for each character, stories to set the scene, and even music set in the world of Novum!
With that said, I do have some very exciting news: Crucible has advanced to the Quarter Finals of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest! The contest spans five genres, and at the website you can find excerpts and blurbs for all of the Quarter Finalists – there are a ton of great books, so head on over to check them out!
If you're on GoodReads, you can add Crucible by following the link
Happy Cover Reveal Monday, Gentle Readers!


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- The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
- Source: The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, Volume 13, Issue 5, 1 Sep 1964, p. 681 - 685
Epidemiology of Echinococcosis in the Middle East
III. A Study of Hydatid Disease Patients from the City of Beirut*
Because of the seriousness of the disease and the level of infection, hydatidosis is a significant public health problem in Beirut. It occurs more frequently in predominantly Christian quarters than in predominantly Moslem quarters of the city. There was no significant difference between former patients and uninfected controls with regard to socio-economic status or hygienic condition of their homes. The only statistically significant difference observed between the infected and non-infected group was dog ownership. An estimate of the relative risk of owning and not owning a dog and acquiring hydatid disease in Beirut was calculated to be 21.5.
Former patients retested after operation showed persistently positive Casoni reactions up to 11 years after surgery. In contrast, some of the serological positives to the complement-fixation and indirect hemagglutination tests reverted to negative.


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Dubai: Sultan Al Mansouri, UAE Minister of Economy, is leading a high-level delegation to Ethiopia aiming to build on the partnership agreement signed between the two countries towards strengthening bilateral cooperation in trade and investment.
The agreement inked in 2013 led to the formation of a joint committee for cooperation in economic, political and social sectors and the opening of a representative office for the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Ethiopia.
The two-day visit from March 19-20 will include a number of official meetings with representatives from the government of Ethiopia and events including the Emirati — Ethiopian Business Forum.


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If you're excited about virtual reality, you probably won't want to sit and play games all by yourself. Instead, you'll want to explore and play games with other people. Unless you have a friend with a virtual reality headset and a co-op game, your best option will be to play virtual reality games online.
While virtual reality is still in its early days, there are already a number of interesting games out there. Although some of them offer a solo experience, there are others that are specifically designed to be enjoyed with other people.
Here are a few things you should know about playing virtual reality games online.
Finding The Right Games
You will have to look at some of the choices available, and pay attention to the kinds of communities they have. Because VR is in its infancy, a lot of games may not have a thriving community yet. Thankfully, this should change with time.
A lot of virtual reality online games aren't actually games at all. Instead, they are social experiences. If you remember old social games like Habbo Hotel, you'll have an inkling of what these sorts of games can offer.
If you don't see any games that look appealing to you, you shouldn't give up. There are all kinds of developers out there working on new VR titles. In addition, there are many people that have pre-ordered VR devices that they still haven't received. In time, there will be a lot more games to choose from, and there will be a larger community for you to play with.
Selecting The Right Community
In a standard online game, a bad player may not be much of an issue. If someone is irritating you, all you have to do is mute them. After that, you won't be able to notice them at all.
However, things work differently in virtual reality. The other players will be right there with you. You will have to work with them in a more direct way. Minor annoyances can easily turn into a big headache.
Thankfully, a lot of games have already given people ways to deal with more irritating players. Instead of muting someone, you can make a person disappear from a game completely. Some games have even added entertaining animations for this feature.
Read also: How To Make Friends in the Virtual World
In addition, many games give you the option of playing with your own group. You can put together a community of like-minded players and enjoy games along with them. You won't have to put up with anyone else.
Right now, you might struggle to find a community that you're happy with. However, in a year or so, finding the perfect gaming community can be a breeze. Spend this time experimenting with virtual reality and becoming more comfortable with it. That way, when it really catches on, you will already be an expert.
What Virtual Reality Has To Offer
You're not limited to first-person shooters if you want to enjoy VR games online. Because of the ways VR changes gameplay, all kinds of virtual experiences are possible.
In the future, you might be able to turn a classic open world RPG into a multiplayer experience. You and your friends can trek across a vast world, each having your own adventures. It will be like an enhanced version of the classic MMO.
In a VR game, you can work with your friends to solve puzzles, or can simply experience a story together. Even games that are focused on narrative can easily be enjoyed by two people.
The virtual reality landscape already has a lot to offer consumers. There are countless new games set to be released this year, and even more scheduled for 2017. You will never run out of choices.
How Games Will Grow And Change
While the current state of virtual reality is fairly impressive, it's going to become even more breathtaking in the years to come. As new players join in, developers will have more money to work with. When there are larger playerbases, new types of games will become feasible.
In addition, the technology surrounding virtual reality will continue to advance. Consumers will get new devices that will allow them to interact with a virtual world in a more intimate way. Players will have more options and freedom than ever before. Virtual reality is growing more impressive by the day.
If you have a virtual reality device, you can start enjoying virtual reality games online right away. With that said, you shouldn't assume that this is all there will ever be. There are going to be a lot of exciting new games released in the future. VR will soon have a lot more to offer you.


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Michelle Obama Hilariously Breaks Down Why Melania Trump's Inauguration Gift Exchange Appeared So Awkward
The former FLOTUS also explained to Ellen Degeneres how Barack stepped in and saved the day.
Being father and manager to one of music's biggest stars has its payoffs, but reportedly Matthew Knowles hasn't given the IRS its full cut. Knowles, who severed business ties with Beyoncé in 2011, has been slapped with a $1.2 million tax lien for non-payment dating back to 2010.
According to the financial breakdown, Knowles owes $485,575.95 for 2010 income, and $728,004.89 for 2011, bringing his grand total to $1,213,580.84.
Bey dropped her dad as manager just as rumors of his infidelity and having a lovechild with a woman half his age became more prevalent. "It was hard for me to let her go," he told U.K. publication The Sun of ending the business relationship, explaining that the decision was mutual. "Let's be clear on that. She didn't let me go, we both let each other go. That's a big difference."
During their time together, Knowles helped the superstar amass a multi-million fortune by way of record sales, successful tours, endorsement deals, acting gigs and clothing lines. In 2010, the 31-year-old singer placed second on Forbes' Celebrity 100 list, bringing in $86 million over the span of a year. Today, she and hubby Jay-Z are music's first billion-dollar couple, each holding a personal net worth above the $300 million mark.
Knowles, the father, continues to run his Music World gospel label but has fallen on hard times. He is said to be struggling to keep the business afloat.
Get ready for the BET Experience, featuring Beyoncé, Snoop Dogg, R. Kelly, Erykah Badu, Kendrick Lamar and many more. Go here for more details and info on how to buy tickets.
BET.com is your #1 source for Black celebrity news, photos, exclusive videos and all the latest in the world of hip hop and R&B music.
Click here to subscribe to our newsletter.
(Photo: Claire Greenway/Getty Images)
The former FLOTUS also explained to Ellen Degeneres how Barack stepped in and saved the day.
"When my teacher asks me a question thinking I'm not paying attention, but I get it right."


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One of the neat things about this swap is that I've had the chance to chat with a couple real nice guys that I probably wouldn't have called otherwise. Good stuff.
So after talking with Marty this is going to be a 1-piece hybrid with a low grip ; 62" AMO ; 52-55lbs @ 27"
Other than that the only request he had was a darker riser & lighter limbs.
Here is my lumber corner: I really really need to do some organizing. Blocks & pieces are everywhere & the pampers boxes are full of unsorted call blanks. Uggg.
Ok...so I narrowed it down to a few pieces. The top is Iroko, middle Wenge, bottom Rosewood.
After staring at them for a good half hour I decided to use all 3. I think it'll work, I just hope it's not to busy. I should know after gluing the riser together.
After a little time with a pencil & eraser I went to the bandsaw & started cutting. I got both accent pieces cut & the wenge piece fitted in the rosewood. That's as far as I got. Tomorrow I'll grind an accent strip for between the wenge & rosewood. Since the Iroko is going to overlap the wenge, I'll need to glue up the wenge/accent strip/rosewood section before cutting out the cradle for the Iroko.


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FREE SHIPPING on all USA orders over $99
Metal Expression
Regular price
Customize your home with our personalized metal monograms! Great for any room in your home or office, inside or outside. Our custom metal monograms are made from a high grade steel material making a product that will last a lifetime. Monograms are produced in-house using our state-of-the-art CNC laser machines and then powder coat painted in either a black wrinkle, gold vein, silver vein, copper vein or raw steel with clear coat powder coat. Personalize your family name with our one-of-a-kind custom monograms today! Lead time average of 10 to 14 days to complete the design, laser cut, powder coat, package and ship.


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Gary King
Gary King is the Weatherhead University Professor at Harvard University -- one of 26 with Harvard's most distinguished faculty title -- and Director of the Institute for Quantitative Social Science. He is an Elected Fellow in 8 honorary societies including the National Academy of Sciences and has won more than 50 prizes and awards for his work. He has published more than 150 scholarly journal articles, 20 software packages, 8 books, and 6 patents.
King created and led OpenScholar as an open source project at Harvard and co-founded the company with Jess Drislane. He is also co-founder and an inventor of the original technology for Crimson Hexagon, Learning Catalytics (acquired by Pearson), Perusall, Thresher, and other firms. King received a B.A. from SUNY New Paltz and a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He likes to mountain bike, ski, and start great companies.
For more information, see GaryKing.org.


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Secret hotels family continues to grow with the opening of
Secret Legend Suites and Santorini Secret Premium.
Currently Santorini's Secret Hotels are seeking to recruit
for the awarded "Black Rock" Restaurant
with the below skills.
Position Requirements:
Key Responsibilities:
The Company Offers:
Please send us your CV with recent photo and
any available references/recommendations.
[Για να στείλετε το βιογραφικό σας, κάντε κλικ εδώ.]


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With the SHOWTIME app, you can stream entire seasons, star-studded movies, groundbreaking documentaries, comedy,
sports (including SHOWTIME Championship Boxing), and much more – all commercial-free. Watch all the latest episodes of
your favorite shows whenever and wherever you are – live or on demand. New titles added all the time so there's always
something great to watch. On the go? Download full episodes and movies and watch offline. No cable subscription
Simply download the SHOWTIME app to sign up for your free trial, then only $10.99/month. Create your account and start streaming on your favorite phone, tablet, connected TV, gaming console or on your computer by visiting Showtime.com. Cancel anytime.
The SHOWTIME app is a standalone streaming service that enables anyone with a high-speed internet connection in the U.S. to sign up for SHOWTIME.
*You will not be charged for the SHOWTIME streaming service during the free trial period. TO CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AND AVOID BEING CHARGED, YOU MUST CANCEL BEFORE THE END OF THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD. To keep your subscription once your trial period is over, you will not have to do anything.
© 2019 Showtime Digital Inc. All rights reserved. SHOWTIME is accessible for viewing solely in the United States and its territories and possessions with a high-speed broadband connection. Minimum 3G connection is required for viewing on mobile devices. Free trial is available to new customers only.


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Liquid Steel - Midnight Chaser (Vinyl 140g)
"Entertaining and engaging 'Keep it True' classic heavy metal!" (dangerdog.com)
As Vinyl is the medium that best represent the sound of METAL, the Band went back to Studio Hundert, to give the Midnight Chaser a dedicated Mix and Master for Vinyl.
Do not miss out on this audiophile Edition!
"This is the way how people are supposed to listen to music! - Jay Hundert"
Limited Edition of 300 Vinyl. Hand signed and numbered by the Band. Including free LS-Patch for the first 19 units soled!
- Kingdom Of Silence
- Midnight Chaser
- Air Aces
- Hiroshima
- Starrider
- Fright Night
- Nightchild
- Autumn Leaves
- Kubla Khan
Released on 25th of November 2016
Produced by Jay Hundert
"Beware öf the Midnight Chaser" – LIQUID STEEL.
Mehr Infos:


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Monday, November 16, 2009
More thoughts on the Bob Berring "open access" versus pay-to-play legal research debate
Here are some more thoughts from DePaul's Mark Giangrande via the Law Librarian Blog regarding yesterday's post here regarding the Bob Berring video:
Bob Berring's statement about Lexis and Westlaw being a better alternative to legal research than volunteer Internet sites is pretty accurate. Both databases offer depth of resources, organization, precise search language and tools that simply can't be matched by the Internet in its current form. I also agree with Berring that the work performed by volunteer sites is admirable. Nonetheless, they do not come close to the rich research experience available to Lexis and Westlaw subscribers. If nothing else, West (and Westlaw) has a 100+ year start on gathering and organizing Anglo-American law and providing the metadata to make that law accessible. Lexis started in 1975 but it was then and is now well capitalized to compete with West at the same level and with comparable editorial standards. Who else is out there who can match these efforts (read through to the bottom for the answer to this question)?
You can read the rest of Mark's thoughts here.
I am the scholarship dude.


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What is Initial Markup?
Initial Markup (IMU) is the difference between the cost and selling price of an item when it is first introduced for sale. It is also called Initial Mark On, Markon or Markup. The formula for this calculation is: Selling price – cost = Initial Markup Dollars. If a buyer brings in a new line of jeans with a cost of $25 per pair and initially prices them to sell at $55 per pair, the Initial Markup is $30.
Selling Price – Cost = Initial Mark Up Dollars
Initial Markup is normally expressed as a percent. The Initial Mark Up %, for the above example, based on the retail selling price, is 55% (calculated as $30 / $55). The IMU% should always be based on retail dollars, not cost dollars as some retailers and software programs too often do. After all, you own a retail store and record sales at retail. Your sales goals are expressed in retail dollars. Plus, net sales, at retail, are used as the basis for expressing account amounts from the financials (For example, what percent is your Occupancy Costs actually means what percent of your net retail sales are dedicated to Occupancy costs.). Use RETAIL.
An initial retail price must obviously cover the cost of the item, and any selling expense associated with the item. It also must cover a portion of the store's day to day expenses for rent, fixtures, insurance, utilities, etc., also known as overhead, as well as leave you some profit. Stated another way, Initial Markup must be enough to cover Planned Markdowns + Planned Profits + Selling and Overhead Expenses. The Selling Price covers all that plus the cost of the item.
What is Gross Margin?
Gross Margin (also called Maintained Margin or just Margin) is related to actual sales. It is expressed as a percent of Net Sales. Gross Margin is the difference between Sales and Cost of Goods Sold. (Net Sales – Cost of Goods Sold = Gross Margin Dollars.) Gross Margin is always based on Net Sales and is always expressed from a retail viewpoint. Initial Markup addresses the aspect of price for merchandise: "How much can I get for this ___________?" Gross Margin answers the question: "How much did I make on this __________?"
Impacts on Initial Markup % and Gross Margin %
Many factors affect how retailers decide just how much Initial Markup will provide the best return on their investment. Things that affect Initial Markup are Brand, Competition, Market Saturation, anticipated Markdowns and perceived customer value to name a few. Perceived value is often most difficult to pin down. Occasionally there are certain labels that seem to perform magic when it comes to moving merchandise. A perfect example-Tickle Me Elmo (Tyco) in 1996-was a slow seller until being featured on an afternoon talk show. "In the weeks leading up to Christmas, Tickle Me Elmo dolls were in such scarce supply that ads cropped up in newspapers asking for as much as $2000 per doll." The Brands (both the talk show and Elmo) were magic. Competition kept the prices up. Low Supply kept the market from becoming saturated. But, customer perceived value kept the prices unbelievably high.
Another major impact is Markdowns. No matter what your Initial Markup is, if it isn't great enough to cover your planned markdowns and expenses, you will give up your profit to make the sale. When an item doesn't move, most over-worked and stressed out retailers will take the path of least resistance, and take a larger markdown and keep taking those markdowns until the offending merchandise is gone. Some will keep the poor seller, hoping for the one customer who will come in "someday" and purchase that saved item… if that customer ever arrives and if you can find the item when he does. If Markdowns are higher than anticipated, net sales will be lower, and therefore, gross margin, a.k.a. Maintained Margin, or just Margin, will also be less. Brand, competition, market saturation and perceived customer value also affect Gross Margin–just like Initial Markup.
The Finer Points of IMU% and Gross Margin
It does not follow that each class of merchandise will realize the same IMU % or the same Gross Margin %. Each class and each style within a class (or category) is as unique as each vendor. Competition, pricing structure and perceived customer value may make it necessary to deviate considerably in actual IMU% and GM, but make a point to plan for your profit as well as you plan sales, markdowns or expenses. You want to make sure that you are achieving your Gross Margin plan at the store level, even though some classes may fall far short. The Gross Margin for other classes needs to be high enough to make up the difference for the lower performing classes.
For example, if your Initial Mark Up is 58% and you plan a 9.5% Markdown rate with a goal to maintain a 54% Gross Margin, you can use a "cost multiplier" of 2.40 to achieve your goal. The Cost Multiplier is a number you can multiply the merchandise cost by to achieve the desired Gross Margin percent. An item that Costs $20 will carry an Initial Price (Cost + Initial Mark Up) of $48 when using the 2.40 cost multiplier. If you plan Markdowns of 35% and require a Gross Margin of 54%, merchandise will carry a 66% IMU, using a Cost Multiplier of 2.95 to achieve the same 54% Gross Margin.
Markdowns do not affect IMU% after the initial price is set. The Initial Markup is what it is. However, Markdowns have a huge effect on Gross Margin %. Markdowns decrease profit. It doesn't matter how much an item is marked up, if it must be marked down those markdowns come from your Gross Margin. Of course, the reverse is also true. When you bring in that unique item that your customers must have, you may not need to take planned markdowns. Then you get to enjoy your higher profit.
Ways to Increase IMU% and GM
Of course, you can just raise your IMU%, but if you raise it too much above the competition, you will lose sales. If you sell popular items that your customers feel a need to own, you may have lower than planned markdowns resulting in a higher Gross Margin. Another good way to boost both the IMU% and the GM is to make a practice of holding some money back from your Open-To-Buy when shopping and plan to rely on some in-season purchases to see you through. Generally, in-season purchases delivered immediately allow for a higher IMU% because you pay less for them.
Another thing we recommend is joining a Buying Group. Buying Groups have benefits for their members to save them time and money. Also, when you go to market, look for a new vendor or two to try. Generally, your customers value individuality as much as you. Give them some items to pick from that set you apart from the pack when possible.
If you feel there is little excitement for your inventory or it is developing "sameness" in appearance, try a different market. All vendors do not go to every market and by going to a new market you may be able to find just what you want. New vendors may offer a unique appearance in color, fit or style that appeals to your customers. Look for merchandise keeping with your quality line that offers a higher markup.
Using an Open-to-Buy is a great way to plan, record your actual results and then check yourself to see how you are doing as the year progresses. It can also help to prevent the high markdowns needed to clear out excess inventory.
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text:
Why the SABC's 90% Local Music Policy Is A Bad Thing
Just yesterday, in an unprecedented move, it was announced by the SABC that 90% of all the music they will be playing from this day forward on all of their 18 radio stations will be by South African musicians.
Already many local musicians are rejoicing at the prospect of having more of their music played to a wider audience. All in all this seems to be a good thing for the South African recording industry. Or is it.
Here's the thing. For ages the quality of local music has been lagging behind that of international artists. Simply because there has never been enough incentive or funds to uphold a high standard of music production in South Africa. In recent years this has changed, with more exposure available to local acts via means such as social media, making it easier and more efficient to widely distribute and promote their music.
By which means does one compare yourself to other artists? At first, by simply listening to the music of other musicians, and realising what it is the consumer yearns for. In our case, the best measurement of quality is radio. Your music gets to be played on radio if it's quality is on par with that of international artists, otherwise it will simply not make the cut.
Here at RadioActive Rock we get numerous music submissions from bands throughout SA, and the world. We decline many artists based on many reasons. Either the music does not fit in with the genres of music we adhere to, and in most cases, the actual quality of the music is poor and simply not good enough to play alongside Metallica, Disturbed, and the like on radio. This is not done as a means to shoot down the spirits of a band or artist, but rather to encourage them to up their game. Most of the world's most famous artists started out one way, and ended up only being great with experience.
With our public broadcaster now changing their policy, forcing all their radio stations to play pretty much only local music, they will need to acquire enough current content from local musicians to fill up all of their playlist slots. The fact is, there is not nearly enough local content out there to make this a feasible solution. What will happen now, is that many bad, amateur local wannabe musicians will pop up everywhere, with the prospect of having their music played on radio, earning them airtime royalties. The sad fact is, the SABC will be left with very little choice but to spend on these musicians.
Instead of promoting the advancement of the quality of local music, encouraging local musicians to get their music quality on par with that of their international counterparts, the SABC is basically saying that they will play music by absolutely anyone without any merits. I can now go and record a horrible song and send it in to the SABC, and I will be just short of guarenteed airplay, because the SABC is desperate enough for the content.
This excessive measure to try and promote local music will in fact have a counterproductive effect on the South African music industry. Yet they are not the ones who will suffer the greatest consequences. It will be the listeners of these radio stations. When listening to SABC's radio stations, you will subject yourself to a substandard quality of music. You will be denied the prospect of listening to great music coming from artists beyond our borders. And when an international recording artist or band's music is not promoted or even known of in a particular region, that artist or band will simply exclude that region from their world tours. You will be denied the opportunity to see your favourite acts live in South Africa.
Time will tell what the true effects of the SABC's extreme measure will be. One thing you can always rely on is that RadioActive Rock will always play the hottest, highest quality rock, metal, and alternative music from local artists, and international artists alike.
Help us grow. If you want radio to stay alive in this country, we need to change the way we listen to radio. Yes, FM is more convenient, but you are left with very little quality music to choose from. Online, including here at rarock.com, you will find better music, worthy of your attention. Share us. Let your friends know there are alternatives out there. When we grow, we will become more accessible. Who knows, one day you may just be able to tune into SA's REAL Rock Station using any 'ol FM radio…


text:
Baby's boat the silver moon
sailing in the sky
sailing o'er the sea of sleep
while the clouds float by.
Sail, baby, sail
out upon that sea.
Only don't forget to sail
back again to me.
Baby's fishing for a dream,
fishing near and far.
His line a silver moonbeam is,
his bait a silver star.
Sail, baby, sail
out upon that sea.
Only don't forget to sail
back again to me,
back again to me.
I became taken with this song and decided to learn it for myself. You don't hear many lullabies these days. Such simple innocent timeless imagery is conjured, the moon, the sky, the clouds, the sea. Baby's boat the silver moon… the lyrics were written by children's poet and lyricist Alice C.D. Riley sometime around 1898. The music was written by Jessie L. Gaynor. I found a version of this song performed in 1914 by famous Mezzo-Soprano Christine Miller which was released on Victor Records. You can listen to it on National Jukebox, I urge you to check it out (unfortunately it's unembeddible in WordPress).
There are a couple of modern versions of this song as well. There's one from the mid-sixties by Mrs Miller, a fascinating figure (and no relation to Christine Miller). Mrs (Elva) Miller gained some notoriety self-releasing albums of shrill, off-key renditions of popular songs. According to Wikipedia, "Miller was apparently unaware at first that her musical ability was being ridiculed, but eventually realised it and decided to go along with the joke." This clip on YouTube features a comedic introduction by someone claiming to be her husband and calling her Mrs Festoon.
I really enjoyed the process of recording this song. Though the piano leads the arrangement, I gave the bass and drums some real power. It seems counterintuitive for a lullaby, but I liked the effect. Cork songwriter Lynda Cullen lends her vocal talents, and Paul Moore (Polo Moro) improvised some lovely fiddle parts, I'm so pleased with the final version that's going to be on the album. The simple imagery of the lyrics lends itself to a very literal visual interpretation, so I made an animated video to accompany the song. I couldn't tell if the vintage sleeping baby illustrations I used were girls or boys. So I changed the lyrics to make it a lullaby sung to a girl, where originally it was a boy. Because why not?
Show this to your little ones at sleepytime. Okay, goodnight.


text:
October 4, 2008Posted by K in Copyright Infringemnt, Funny, Recent reads-and my comments.
Tags: Pistache, Radio 4, Sebastian Faulks, T.S. Eliot
add a comment
The BCL is undergoing renovation. Hurrah! Lol. I get to borrow 5 books instead of 3 and 3 DVDs instead of 2 till December, because of that :D:D (The books have come to Bombay with me. Muhaha.)
Sebastian Faulks' (Not Faulk, apologies) Pistache has, amongst others, this-
T.S Eliot
reflects that it might have come out better in limericks
Said a Lloyd's clerk with mettlesome glands:
'To Margate- I'll lie on the sands.
The Renaissance and Dante,
Dardanelles and now-Shanti!
God, it's all come apart in my hands.'
I once missed the moment to be
Someone not on the periphery;
But my second-hand life
Was too dull for a wife:
Now the stairlist awaits only me.
For an Anglican, time is too vast;
A rose or a vision can't last:
It's a moment in history,
Our grace and our mystery,
And the future is lost in the past.
The weight of the past makes me pine
For a language that's English, but mine.
No more hog's-head and Stilton,
And to prove I'm not Milton,
I'll compose with four beats to a line.
The Yearbook Graffiti Article… April 24, 2008Posted by K in Funny, Life.
Tags: graffiti, Student art
6 comments
Graffiti: The Tale of the Table
Generations of dissidents have stamped their rebellion on walls, streets and public toilets. Generations of LSR students have silently subverted the fifty five minute class by occupying themselves in creative expression on desks.
Graffiti, the bane of the Establishment, and boon of countless bored students, could provide fodder for an intensive neurological study. Our brains are wired to produce rationality and coherence. How the process got hijacked midway is left to conjecture, but let there be no doubt: our minds are twisted and strange. Here's why.
In the beginning God created the pre-oedipal Dada fodder. That would be us. Born free, born wild (in a manner of speaking).
Then we met the parents.
Then we become institutionalized.
And THEN… we went to college.
(Should that be enough? Need I go on? Do you not know what is to follow?)
Like a rubber band we were played by figures of Authority. They all took turns, and mocked our impotence. We waited, we watched, and in college, we produced this-
That out of the way, we moved on to other things. If Wordsworth and Co. would like you to believe that poetry is genius of the moment, then so would the undergraduates at LSR. If the thought appears, catch it before it flies away, or so would seem the motto. And judging by the artwork on the desks, it would seem we lack not the genius. A not-so-careful scrutiny will reveal pop art, elaborate squiggles, and the many wisdoms that pop to mind every now and then. The Tale of the Table; a relatively non-elitist occupation (esotericism is not an accusation that can be leveled against our art) of a fair section of elite LSR. Peruse at leisure.
Category 1(Miscellaneous Outpourings)
Wish you were here => Pink Floyd.
(The secret desire of an Undergraduate student revealed.)
'Banana pancakes, Banana Pancakes'
'I have momos…''–> I want'
(Obviously hunger was uppermost on somebody's mind)
'Sneha's pen is drunk'
(It seems that it is not just the flush that displays inappropriate behaviour in the English corridor.)
Certain teachers are a member of an exclusive body: CHTLL: Class Hungry Teachers League of LSR.
(Chiefly characterized by their refusal to cancel even one class)
'I was here…
And you weren't'
'I wanna go to Cal.'
'Namaskar! Pranaam!
Aadab! Hello!
(We are multi-lingual and polite)
Category 2(philosophical)
'I am Tormented and Tortured'
'Death is only the beginning…'
'Have you been there?' ' ya how do you know?'
'No social Formations'
'Love thy crooked neighbour
With thy crooked heart'
'I hate people who tYp LyK dIs'
'Start Studying'
(Valuable advice being dispensed)
'Never tickle a sleeping dragon'
(Yeah, wake them up first…)
'The tide is high
But I'm holding on
I'm going to do well
In these exams'
'I have eloped with my dreams'
'Plz dnt show your creativity on the tables.'
'Why Not? ' *So what are you doing expressing your own here!!'
Its FUN.'
'Yeah! And neway, class is so boring.'
'Stop Moral Policing'
(A five way conversation being carried out in absentia. The debate on graffiti shall live on.)
Category 3(plain bored)
'Here lies the bored body of Smrithi'
(Oops. We should probably not have printed the name! 😉 )
'If Lara Dutta
Marries Brian Lara
She'll be Lara Lara. Bolo Tara Ra Ra'
'Please find me a pg…"
(Presumably the body rotted un-noticed in class…)
Category 4 (Academics!)
'I dislike Eco from the deepest
Recesses of my souls core!'
'Robi is a HUNK
Tridib's a HERO.'
(Extra-textual judgement of Shadow Lines)
Has a Devil
Put aside
For Me'
(Yeah, dream on, baby…)
If found, please contact:
'Paradise Regained
We're finally done with MILTON'
'Dil mein mere hai dardnak Derrida
Dardnak Derrida, dardnak Derrida…'
Ramblings of an Unscholarly Mind… April 24, 2008Posted by K in Diary, Extreme Nostalgia, Friends, Funny, Life, Lyrics, Maiden, Nonsense.
Tags: class notes, Doodles, graffiti
2 comments
To counter my absolute blankness when faced with the books I am supposed to answer 75 marks worth questions on, I opened my notebooks. I had a total of four notebooks this year (no, make that five…I think) to take, well, notes, and I had picked them all with tender loving care. My favourite one was the one with the champagne glass on the cover. It's appeal is obvious 😉 Then there was the breathtaking art on the red one, which I reserved for one of my ex-favourite teachers. The one with the abandonment and music on the cover was rather nice as well, but the point I am trying to make, is that these beauteous notebooks…contain no classnotes.
I flip page after page, and find graffiti, doodles, graffiti, maiden, graffiti and…you get the picture. So I thought I would dedicate this post to my class time activities. Let me reproduce here the things that held my attention, while the rest of the class was (presumably) engaged in scholarly pursuit.
- 29/02/08 (I have a habit of obsessively dating my 'notes') : In parentheses- Chucked out of previous two classes for not reading text *grin*
This would be the Conrad class, where for about 3-4 four classes the teacher taught 5 out of some 40 students, because the rest hadn't read Heart of Darkness, teehee.
- 15/02/08 (This is in Pallavi's handwriting; we were mocking something, but I forgot what…) 'Every woman needs her daily male'
- 22/01/08 sees the pictoral, stick figure representation of The Life of A. Parthosarathy, and involves an attempt of said gentleman to understand his solitude…'cept there's a power-cut and he forgets the question. I shall try and post a pic of it sometime.
- 24/01/08: Pictoral depiction of two clouds trying to eat each other.
- 18/01/08: 'Fresh, crust, roast, crisp, crunch'. An enumeration of my favourite food sounds (I think I was hungry,lol)
- 03/03/08: 'We sail away… On ships of wonder' Beautiful lyrics from Rainbow. Catch the Rainbow, I think. Minor case of ear worming, I think.
- 29/01/08: A stylized 'REAPERS REPOSE'. Two Eddies on the page, and the inevitable SCREAM FOR ME MUMBAI!!! Iron Maiden Somewhere Back in Time.
- 17/01/08: "Give me freedom, or kill me!"
- 20/09/07: In a Swift class, discussing the living dead, the Struldbrugs in Gulliver's Travels – 'Dead-in-Law' Har har har.
- 4/12/07: I was apparently in a 'familial' mood. Figures drawn of Eddie's Mother, and Harlequin's brother.
- 17/01/ 08: scribbled along the margin top of the page- 'sleepy sleepy sleepy Gray sleepy sleepy sleepy'. This was during a lecture on Thomas Gray, delivered by a teacher who is quite good, but unfortunately, possesses quite a soporific drone 🙂
- 4/12/07(etched in blood, it says): (Hertfordshire) doesn't get Maiden… Mumbai does. *GRIN* MODERN MAN fell asleep. Eddie woke him up and said "Will you scream for Bangalore? I am trying to shift the MAIDEN…INDIA…2008 venue."
- 17/10/07: Rama Rama Melodrama Sniff sniff sneeze Fly with the breeze Eat your pen Inhale.
- 30/10/07: In a DH Lawrence Sons and Lovers class- 'Mother did actually want to be a man'. ' Miriam…books did not matter to her'. (In my defense: I was busy admiring graffiti on desks in all DH Lawrence classes)
- 29/08/07– Lots of Maiden… 'Transcendental Eddie'.……'IRON MAIDEN OWNS YOUR SOUL (YOU JUST DON'T KNOW IT YET 😉 ) …………..Air Harris!……………FREEZE YOUR SOUL AND MAYBE EDDIE WON'T EAT YOU HAIR \m/
And so on, and so forth 🙂 I think I shall put up a post with all the graffiti I copied from desks…they deserve to be read 😀 What creativity people show, I tell you! 😀
Quote Misquote December 15, 2007Posted by K in contemporary, Funny, People.
Tags: 15th December, 2007, Hindustan Times, Narendra Modi, Quote misquote
5 comments
Hindustan Times occasionally manages to nail it 😀 I am talking, ofcourse, about the 'Quote Misquote' feature on their editorial page, where they () quote someone (usually famous) and take the piss with a What he/she really meant and What he/she definitely didn't column. Today's features Modi.
" Do you want Modi to be CM?
Do you trust Modi?
Do you love Modi?
Don't you think Modi lives only for Gujarat"
What he really meant
Who's your daddy? Who's your daddy? Who's your daddy?
What he definitely didn't
I must say it's odd to refer to myself in the third person singular, but it makes me less of an ego-centric person, doesn't it? I hope you answered yes,yes and yes to the questions on your left(referring to the quotes) , otherwise I'm afraid Modi will be very, very upset.
I hope the bastard doesn't win the elections, but I'm afraid he will. I am finding it quite hard to believe how even after Tehelka's systematic expose(yes,yes, I know we all knew anyway, but this just seems to put it on a platter, doesn't it?) NOTHING is happening with regard to him.
Amusingness September 23, 2007Posted by K in Diary, Funny.
4 comments
"Are you someone?"
"Er, what?"
"Are you someone?"
"Er, WHAT?"
"I mean, are you with someone?"
"I want to get two of my friends into RDX. Are you both free?"
Amused smile. Silence. (Drug fest? Drug fest! Drug fest!)
"But what is RDX??"
"A place where people dance. Only couple entry" (Damn, and I thought it was a drug fest…)
"Will you go with them? Are you free?"
"We are not interested aur actually ham free bhi nahi hain."
Hahaha*blink*. And RDX is still a mystery- it is either a poolside party or a disc within IIT…


text:
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text:
June 18, 2007
Dear Professor Pudup:
We would like to bring to your attention several concerns that we have about one of the
courses that Community Studies will be offering this summer. Dr. Dalit Baum is
scheduled to teach "Violence and non-Violence in Social Change" (CMMU-124) in the
first summer session. A careful review of the course's on-line syllabus (attached) and a
consideration of the instructor's past performance lead us to believe this course may not
meet professional norms of academic integrity and competence, for the following
1) We have serious concerns about the unusual inclusion of the instructor's biography in
the course syllabus, which stresses not her academic credentials but rather her credentials
as an anti-Israel activist: "During the last several years she has been active with the
nonviolent joint Palestinian Israeli campaign against the Apartheid Wall being built in
Palestine". There are three serious problems with the instructor's statement: First, her use
of the term "Apartheid Wall" is a clear indication that she believes Israel to be a racist
state. Second, her use of the term "Palestine" gives life and legitimacy to a Palestinian
state that does not exist. Both of these examples not only indicate the instructor's
extreme political bias, which could set the stage for indoctrination rather than education
in her classroom, they are also inaccurate and misleading, suggesting that the instructor's
bias could substitute for accuracy, truth and scholarship, and even impede the
dissemination of knowledge. Moreover, a student who does not agree with the
instructor's political bias, and may even find it offensive, is not likely to sign up for this
course. Therefore, not only is the instructor reaching out to like-minded students, which
would seriously limit the points of view that will be expressed, but the inclusion of her
political bias has acted in a discriminatory way, effectively excluding students who do
not share her political beliefs.
2) We are also concerned with the course readings. At least a quarter of them deal
directly with the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and each of these takes a pro-Palestinian
anti-Israel perspective.
3) Another concern has to do with the last two weeks of the course, which, according to
the syllabus, involve activist training and planning of (and presumably following through
on) an activist intervention. Considering the extreme political bias expressed in the
instructor's biography and reading list, we have reasonable grounds for fearing that these
last two weeks will be more politically than educationally motivated and directed.
legitimate academic endeavor, we wonder how a politically biased course which
encourages students to engage in social or political activism and teaches them how to do
4) Finally, after reading the testimony of an undergraduate student who took a
Community Studies course with Dr. Baum last summer on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
(CMMU 120), we have ample reason to believe that all of our concerns about this
summer's course are well-founded. The student reported that Dr. Baum used her
classroom as a platform for egregiously politically biased and unscholarly instruction,
and that she sought to indoctrinate students to her anti-Israel perspective, stifled
dissenting opinions and inappropriately encouraged students to engage in anti-Israel
activism. (See Appendix 1 for the student testimony about Dalit Baum's course "The
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict"(CMMU 120), and the instructor's web posting to students).
In summary, we are concerned that the course which Dr. Dalit Baum will be teaching this
summer will not meet even minimal professional norms of academic integrity and
competence. Moreover, we believe a careful review of the instructor's proposed
syllabus, together with a consideration of her past performance, would have revealed
these deficiencies, and we wonder how your department could have allowed this course
to be offered as part of the undergraduate academic programming at this university.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Ilan Benjamin
Professor of Chemistry, UCSC
Head of UCSC Scholars for Peace in the Middle East
Tammi Rossman-Benjamin
Lecturer in Hebrew, UCSC
Member of UCSC Scholars for Peace in the Middle East
cc: Prof. Jaye Padgett, Chair Committee on Educational Policy
Appendix 1
Student testimony and instructor's web posting from "The Israeli-
Palestinian Conflict" (CMMU 120), a course taught in summer 2006
in the Community Studies department at UCSC
1) Student testimony
My last class at UC Santa Cruz was a Community Studies (CMMU 120) course on the
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. What I thought would be an interesting and informative
course exploring the two sides of a very complex conflict, turned out to be so
outrageously one-sided and anti-Israel as to make a mockery of the educational system.
The professor used her lectures, classroom discussions and course readings as a vehicle
for her own personal vendetta against the state of Israel, against Zionism, against Israelis
and against Jews. She even used the class website to distribute information about anti-
Israel protests occurring in the Bay Area and to invite her students to attend. Many times
when I would confront the professor in class or on WebCT, she would argue with me so
harshly that I felt personally assaulted by her. This class went against everything that the
academic world should stand for. It was not about the presentation of diverse ideas so that
students can use the valuable information they learn to construct their own opinions.
Students were fed lies, twisted truths and one sided information- all presented as facts.
2) Instructor's web posting to students
Author: Dalit Baum (CMMU120_Baum)
Join us for a rally.
A CALL BY BAY AREA JEWS: Break the Siege on Gaza! No War on Lebanon
BEFORE OUR EYES, the people of Gaza are being brutally and collectively
punished by Israel. Israel is using a single captured Israeli soldier as a
pawn to employ its enormous military might and terrorize an entire people.
With the bombing of civilian targets in Lebanon, Israel threatens to
escalate the current crisis into a regional war, with potentially devastating consequences
for people throughout the region.
The humanitarian situation in Gaza, already dire from 39 years of occupation, and a
recent Israeli blockade of basic supplies, is now desperate. Israel's bombing of power
stations and bridges and cutting off fuel supplies in Gaza deprives people of electricity,
refrigeration, pumped drinking water, and sewage disposal. The relentless and deadly
attacks by the Israeli military are compounded by the threat of epidemics and starvation.
Presenting this as an isolated hostage-taking incident ignores Israel's
regular abduction of Palestinians from their homes. Israel holds over 9,000
Palestinians in prison, including almost 400 children. Thousands of these
prisoners are held in "administrative detention" without charges or trial.
They too need to be returned to their families.
With the recent arrest of 64 members of the Palestinian Parliament and many
members of the Palestinian cabinet, Israel is also using this opportunity to
wage an assault on Palestinian democracy. All of this is being done with
diplomatic support and $3 billion in tax-funded annual aid to Israel from
the U.S. government.
As Jews, we cannot and will not remain observers of crimes committed in our
name. We call on other Jews and all people who believe in justice and peace
to take a principled stand against this brutality.
Here's what you can do.
SUPPORT ISRAELIS protesting against their government's destructive actions:
Gush Shalom (zope.gush-shalom.org), Israeli Committee Against House
WRITE TO YOUR REPRESENTATIVES to demand that the US government stop
funding Israel's war crimes and act to achieve an immediate ceasefire.
Organized by: Break the Silence, Jewish Voice for Peace, Jews for a Free


text:
weed? ID help
Another section by popular demand. If you want to talk about anything else that grows that is not livestock, herbs, fruit or vegetables here it goes.
Post Reply
- Millymollymandy
- A selfsufficientish Regular
- Posts: 17637
- Joined: Tue May 10, 2005 6:09 am
- Location: Brittany, France
Re: weed? ID help
I have no idea! I too love mystery plants so please let us know when it does something like flower!
http://chateaumoorhen.blogspot.com/boboff wrote:Oh and just for MMM, (thanks)
- margo - newbie
- Posts: 22
- Joined: Tue Apr 28, 2009 3:28 pm
- Location: Donegal, Ireland
- Contact:
Re: weed? ID help
Certainly not Rosebay Willowherb, nor any of the other Willowherbs (there are many). Those scales on the stem below the leaves (which tell us it isn't a Willowherb) suggest a member of the Lily family, but time will tell.
- A selfsufficientish Regular
- Posts: 1439
- Joined: Thu Mar 13, 2008 3:49 pm
- Location: Hailsham East Sussex
Re: weed? ID help
No problem love a challenge!julie_lanteri wrote:Becks77, I've got loads of unidentified plants so you might get inundated with pictures :)
"no-one can make you feel inferior without your permission"
Post Reply


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CORONAVIRUS: All patients are required to wear a face covering when attending hospital as of Monday 15th June 2020. Read More Coronavirus update
She was UK trainee representative to the British Association of Dermatologists 1997-1999. Thanks to the award of a Geoffrey Dowling Fellowship, she spent a year as a clinical research fellow in Connective Tissue disease and Immunodermatology at the University of British Columbia (2000). She was appointed as a Consultant Dermatologist at the Royal Free Hospital in January 2001. She is a past president of The Saint John's Dermatological Society and a founding member of the British Society for Medical Dermatology.
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Dr Orteu lectures regularly on scleroderma and scleroderma-like diseases as well as on the cutaneous aspects of Fabry disease to Physicians, Rheumatologists and Dermatologists in the UK and abroad. She has published principally on the immunological mechanisms involved in the generation of chronic cutaneous inflammation and auto-immunity, localized scleroderma and scleroderma-like diseases, and on the cutaneous manifestations of Fabry disease.
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Copyright © 2014 by The Weinstein Company
A record label executive, Dan Mulligan (Mark Ruffalo) is released from his company for not signing any new talent. Gretta (Keira Knightley) has just left her unfaithful boyfriend, Dave Kohl (Adam Levine) and is living temporarily with her best friend, Steve (James Corden). Steve drags her out to a bar where he performs for her to forget her sorrow. Coerced into performing a number for the audience, Gretta sings one of her penned songs which is coldly received by all except Dan who has been drinking after a confrontation with his wife, Miriam (Catherine Keener) about their daughter, Violet (Hailee Steinfeld). Seeing the potential, he convinces Gretta to sign a record deal with him but she declines, fearing fame will compromise her beliefs as a real musician. However, she changes her mind and allows Dan to help her produce a live album centred in the open areas of New York City during the months of summer.
Much has been lauded about John Carney's previous directorial effort, 'Once', a musical about the music industry made on a shoestring budget and gained deservedly recognition from a win in the Academy Awards for 'Best Original Song', upstaging veterans Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz's three-time nomination for the equally acclaimed 'Enchanted'. Since then, 'Falling Slowly' has seen many renditions including Il Divo, Josh Groban and Shayne Ward tailoring to their own styles but it is 'American Idol' winner Kris Allen's intimate live cover that is regarded a moving favourite by many.
Where does he go from here? Why of course to ride on the original's victorious coattails and follow it up with 'Once Again', I mean 'Begin Again', a souped-up retelling of opportune moments in the most unexpected circumstances. While 'Once' depended only on its affable charm and infectious music to hoist the movie from its simplistic nature, Carney's latest boasts plenty of star power. An intelligent move for a bigger turnout on opening day but it does surprisingly little on a creative level.
Other than the naturally shared chemistry among the main cast, the lead roles could have easily been undertaken by anyone with less acting experience (which is why I thought recruiting two coaches from reality-based singing competition, 'The Voice' and accomplished musicians on their own right who are expanding their gamut did not bother me one bit). In fact, Levine of 'Maroon 5' and CeeLo Green turn out to be much better actors than I could have possibly hoped.
True, Levine can be a lot more comfortable on screen but his personality comes through enough to even consider forgiving his infidelity towards his partner of several years. Certainly a good start as compared to Mariah Carey's disastrous and Britney Spears' by the numbers debuts. It is the foursome of Knightley, Ruffalo, Steinfeld and Keener who do not break new ground on what would typically be Oscar bait; all have the distinction of being nominees before.
It could be inadequate writing to character development as the strongest in the bunch, Knightley is still a far cry from her best. Carney's focus on the wheeling and dealing of the entertainment industry and the trials of preserving an unaltered identity provide a fairly thorough insight to a struggling artiste who has to choose if selling out is the only way of obtaining artistic integrity. Praises also go to the songwriting team for delivering one helluva of a soundtrack – it will keep you grooving (and tearing) to Gretta and Dan's journey for a second chance. And sometimes, that may just be enough to get by on a lazy afternoon.
Entirety: B+
Acting: B+
Plot: B
Rated R for language


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Competing in the Information Age: Align in the Sand
By Jerry N. Luftman
Oxford University Press, 2003
432 pages, $44.50
In his second edition, Luftman presents 19 articles by leading thinkers on IT alignment, covering assessment, measurement, communication, governance, partnering and IT architecture and human resources.
Connecting the Dots: Aligning Projects with Objectives in Unpredictable Times
By Cathleen Benko and F. Warren McFarlan
Harvard Business School Press, 2003
272 pages, $35
Benko and McFarlan, of Deloitte and Harvard Business School, respectively, show executives how to bring all their company's projects into alignment while reducing risk and fostering an adaptive mind-set.
The Cycle of Leadership: How Great Leaders Teach Their Companies to Win
By Noel M. Tichy with Nancy Cardwell
HarperCollins, 2004; 464 pages, $16.95
Noel Tichy, author of The Leadership Engine, discusses how leaders at companies such as GE, Ford, Dell and Southwest develop business knowledge into "teachable points of view" that can be readily shared for winning results.
From Business Strategy to IT Action: Right Decisions for a Better Bottom Line
By Robert Benson, Tom Bugnitz and Bill Walton
John Wiley & Sons Inc., 2004; 328 pages, $45
The authors present a suite of tools aimed at helping CEOs, CFOs and CIOs understand, manage and control their IT budget so they can focus on the best—and most profitable—IT initiatives for their organizations.
The Heart of Change: Real-Life Stories of How People Change Their Organizations
By John P. Kotter
Harvard Business School Press, 2002
208 pages, $24.95
The follow-up to Leading Change reveals the results of research at more than 100 organizations undergoing the "eight steps" of change, with lessons and tips that can be applied within your company.
The Hidden Power of Social Networks: Understanding How Work Really Gets Done in Organizations
By Rob Cross and Andrew Parker
Harvard Business School Press, 2004
304 pages, $29.95
Most managers don't understand how employees interact to get work done, argue Cross and Parker. Based on their in-depth study of more than 60 informal networks within organizations around the globe, they show how to identify, assess and support the networks most crucial to competitive success.
IT Governance: How Top Performers Manage IT Decision Rights for Superior Results
By Peter Weill and Jeanne W. Ross
Harvard Business School Press, 2004
269 pages, $35
Weill and Ross show that effective IT governance—how a company sets up IT decision rights and accountability—is closely connected to business value. The MIT researchers reveal how to design and implement an effective governance approach based on their studies of high-performing companies.
Manage IT as a Business: How to Achieve Alignment and Add Value to the Company
By Bennet P. Lientz and Lee Larssen
Butterworth-Heinemann, 2004
304 pages, $44.95
Despite the best intentions, many IT projects fail because they are not aligned with the business. The authors present over 200 practical guidelines and techniques executives can use to foster alignment, keep projects on time and on budget, and address staffing and technology challenges.
Organizational Culture and Leadership
By Edgar H. Schein
John Wiley & Sons Inc., 2004
464 pages, $35
Drawing on a wide range of contemporary research, organizational pioneer Edgar Schein updates his influential view of business culture—what it is, how it is created, how it evolves, and how it can be changed—in the third edition of this classic work.
Articles and Reports
"Cascading the IT Balanced Scorecard: Transforming the IT Organization"
By Craig Symons
Forrester Research Inc., August 19, 2004
$349, available for download
How to effect true change and create a performance-driven culture by applying the Balanced Scorecard approach.
"Decisions: How Will You Maintain Alignment?"
By Paul Michelman
Harvard Management Update, September 1, 2004; $4, available for download
Experts share their best-practices in the final installment of three articles in HMU on strategic alignment.
"Optimizing the Business Value of IT: Driving IT Employee Productivity"
Gartner Inc.
March 2004; $350
Explains how a strong, integrated corporate culture is a common characteristic of high-performing IT organizations.
"The Organization vs. The Strategy: Solving the Alignment Paradox"
Jeffrey Bennett, Thomas E. Pernsteiner, Paul F. Kocourek and Steven B. Hedlund
Strategy + Business, Fourth Quarter 2000
The four Booz Allen Hamilton consultants explain how alignment can help companies better execute their strategy. The key is changing the organizational structure and improving the decision-making process.
"Follow the Money"
CIO Insight, Fall 2003
Hones in on how ROI, measurement, portfolio management and IT finance policy can improve alignment. Includes articles by David Norton, Cathleen Benko and Robert Gold.
"The Alignment Gap"
CIO Insight, 2002 Special Issue
The issue examines the division between IT and business strategy, and how to fix it. Includes interviews with Jim Collins, Marianne Broadbent and Jerry Luftman.
This article was originally published on 10-15-2004


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Hwayugi just finished airing on TVN and is the anticipated new show from the famed Hong Sisters.
Year: 2017-2018
Synopsis of Hwayugi from Viki:
When a human woman can give great powers to any demon who devours her, how can she stay safe?
Jin Sun Mi (Oh Yeon Seo) is a successful real estate CEO who has the ability to exorcise demons from bad-luck properties. But to the demons living on Earth, she is known as Sam Jang, who carries the irresistible scent of a lotus flower and can give great powers to anyone who eats her.
When Sun Mi was a young girl, Son Oh Gong (Lee Seung Gi), a trouble-making deity, tricked her into releasing him from a castle where he was imprisoned and made a contract with her to always appear and protect her whenever she called out his name. But he tricked her again by removing her memory of his name. In modern times, Son Oh Gong freeloads off of Woo Hwi (Cha Seung Won), another deity known as Woo Ma Wang who works as the CEO of an entertainment company and enjoys more fame and adoration than some of the celebrities in his company.
Son Oh Gong is intent on finding Sam Jang so that he can eat her and become the most powerful god. His friend, top idol star P.K (Lee Hong Ki), wants just a nibble for himself. When Song Oh Gong realizes that Sam Jang is Sun Mi, he at first protects her from attacks from other demons to save her for himself. But with the help of Woo Ma Wang, will Sun Mi find a way to force Son Oh Gong to serve as her protector?
Hwayugi couldn't decide what it really wanted to be. I've come to expect some disconnect from the Hong Sisters, don't get me started on Big, but Hwayugi could have benefited greatly from cementing itself in one camp. Was it an epic romance? A monster-a-week romp? A look into Korean folktales? Who knows!
Despite the discombobulation, the actors really knocked this out of the park. Oh Yeon Seo portrayed a woman that takes the punches thrown at her perfectly. Between her and Cha Seung Won the drama was saved for me. I didn't really care for Lee Seung Gi's acting in this one. I didn't feel the advancement of his feelings toward Sam Jang.
As always Lee Hong Ki delights and was the only character to make me ugly cry.
All in all a strong 2018 drama that will keep you interested. I do feel it's better for a binge watch, rather than weekly viewing so you're all set.
You may enjoy my reviews of Legend of the Blue Sea and Revolutionary Love.
New to K-Drama, here's ten awesome dramas to get you started.