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European Sciences review
Scientific journal
№ 3–4 2018 (March–April)
Ryabceva Yulia Sergeevna,
doctor of Philosophy (Ph. D),
Head of the Scientific-Research Laboratory
"Live Country", Agri Research Foundation
E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com
Abstract: The efficiency of Bombus terrestris colonies pollinating the sweet cherry orchards was studied in two locations of Ukraine: Novoselki village, Kyiv region (Institute of Horticulture, National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine), and Sadove village, Zaporizhia region (Producing and commercial company "Melitopol cherry" Ltd). In the study of the bumblebee flying activity, it was established that the insects remained active during the whole day in spring if the temperature was stable. Our observations confirm that the bumblebees successfully pollinate the plants in the overcast weather, starting at the temperature threshold of 8 °C, which is especially important for pollination of the outdoor crops.
Bumblebee colonies provided a significant increase in the yield of sweet cherry by 29.93% (Sadove village), and by 503% (Novoselki village). This incredible increase in the latter yield is caused by the timely and high-quality pollination of flowers by bumblebees, counteracting to a degree the unfavorable spring weather conditions of 2017 in Kyiv region.
Keywords: pollination, bumblebees, Bombus terrestris, sweet cherry, Prunus avium, yield.
A high-quality harvest is inconceivable without the participation of pollinator insects. It is through their efforts that the pollen of one plant falls on the flower of another plant of the same species, i. e. there is cross-pollination. This type of pollination contributes to the development of faster-ripening, symmetrical and large fruits.
Natural pollination is provided by many insects: bees, bumblebees, flies, butterflies and various species of beetles, etc. The leader of all pollinators is the honey bee, which does up to 80% of the total crop pollination [6, 15]. However, in the last few decades, honey bees have been scarce or completely absent, causing a significant decrease in the yield of several important horticultural plants, including fruit trees.
There is no horticultural technique to compensate for the absence of natural pollination, which is why finding the alternative pollinators and studying their effectiveness are such important tasks.
More than 30 years ago, the first bumblebee colonies were grown on an industrial scale for the pollination of greenhouse tomatoes [12]. The demand for efficient pollinators contributed to the rapid growth in bumblebee colonies sales and their active use for pollination of indoor and outdoor crops [9, 11, 13, 14, 16].
Nowadays, the peculiarities of using bumblebee colonies for pollination of fruit crops remain an urgent problem. There are recent studies that describe the positive influence of the bumblebee pollination on the harvest of cherries, apricots, pears, apple trees, etc. [7, 8, 10]. However, they present fragmented data and require clarifications and additions.
Studying the use of bumblebee colonies for pollination of fruit trees will possibly allow organizing an effective pollination process of these crops and increasing their yield.
The main goal of our study was to evaluate the pollination activity of Bombus terrestris (Linnaeus, 1758) on sweet cherry Prunus avium.
The following tasks were then sat:
1. Assessing the attendance of cherries by commercial bumblebee colonies "Live Country";
2. Measuring the basic yield indicators in the areas serviced by commercial bumblebee colonies and in control areas with a natural composition of pollinators.
Materials and methods
Study of the bumblebee pollinating effectiveness on the cherry cultivar "Melitopolska Chorna".
The research was performed in spring of 2017, at the plantations of Producing and commercial company "Melitopol cherry" Ltd (Sadove village, Zaporizhia region, Ukraine).
Climate. The experiment was conducted in an area with a sharply continental and arid climate. Annual precipitation fluctuates from 370 to 430 mm.
Plant sort description
The tree is big, fast-growing. The tree habit is wide and round, raised, dense. The bark on the stem and skeletal branches are gray-brown. Shoot-forming ability is strong. Shoots are straight, yellowish-greenish-gray. The buds are large, oval, 7 mm long. The foliage is quite dense.
The fruits are large, monocarpous, 6–8 g in average, rounded oval, dark red (almost black). Fruit apex is rounded, the fruit base with a shallow and wide depression. The seam is shallow and hardly noticeable. The stem is 45–49 mm, of moderate thickness, easily picked off the branch. Pitting the fruit is easy, the pulp tears off without juice loss. Skin is thin, dense, dark red, and at full maturity almost black, shining, easily separated from the pulp. The pulp is dark red, dense, fleshy and juicy. Juice is dark red. The pit is small and rounded and. The taste is sweet and pleasantly acidic. The cultivar is self-sterile.
Six commercial bumblebee colonies ("Live Country", Ukraine) were placed at an experimental plot (0.5 ha). The orchard was planted in 2013 with "Melitopolska chorna" sweet cherry, at a planting distance of 5 x 3 m. A similar plot, without bumblebees, was used as control (Fig. 2). The distance between these plots was 150 m.
The bumblebee hives were set up in the Institute of Horticulture on April 13, 2017, when sweet cherry began to blossom.
The flying activity of bumblebees was estimated once a week for 3 weeks. Activity was defined as a mean number of bees leaving hives and returning to the nest – in the morning, at the midday and in the evening for 15 minute periods.
Two 50m*25m sites were chosen at the experimental and control plots to study the pollinating efficacy of bumblebees (Fig. 2). Each site harbored 40 cherry trees, and for each tree, the number of fruits, the number of deformed fruits and the total yield weight were calculated.
Evaluating the pollinating efficacy of bumblebee colonies on the sweet cherry cultivar "Lubava".
The experiment was conducted in spring 2017 at the Institute of Horticulture, NAAS of Ukraine (Novoselki village, Kyiv region, Ukraine).
– bumblebee hives set up; the direction of the flight openings;
– sites for assessment of bumblebee pollinating efficacy
Figure 1. Design of the experiment on "Lubava" sweet cherry cultivar: A – control area; B – experimental area
Figure 2. Design of the experiment on "Melitopolska Chorna" sweet cherry sort: A – control area; B – experimental area
Climate. The study area is characterized by moderate continental climate, with approx. 550 mm average annual precipitation.
Plant cultivar description
The tree is of medium height, with a dense, rounded and well-branched habit. Fruits are produced during the 4th-5th year after planting. The tree is not self-fertile. The fruits are large (8–9.8 g), rounded heart-shaped, yellow with bright red blush, tolerant to cracking.
They are easily detached from the stem. The pit is of moderate size, easily detached from the flesh. Pit to flesh mass ratio is 4.9%. The flesh is light-yellow, juicy, crunchy, with a nice sweet flavor. The produced yield is suitable for all purposes.
We used three commercially sourced colonies of B. terrestris ("Live Country", Ukraine) that were placed at the experimental plot (0.2 ha). The trees were planted in 1997, at the planting distance of 6 m*4 m.
The bumblebee hives were set up at the beginning of inflorescence period, on April 13, 2017. The bumblebee hive set up scheme is given in Fig. 1.
As control plot, 0.2 ha area with sweet cherry cultivar "Lubava" was selected, planted in 1997, with planting distance of 6m * 4m. The distance between these plots was 500 m.
The state of bumblebee colonies was monitored for the first few weeks after their installation. In addition to the external inspection of hives, the number of foragers flying out of the nest in 15 minutes was counted.
To assess the bumblebee pollinating efficacy, three sites were selected at the experimental plot (fig. 1). The ovary percentage, the percentage of crop damage from unfavorable weather conditions, and the ratio of the crop to plant weight were determined for each site. These characteristics were also assessed at the control plot.
All obtained quantitative data was processed using the standard "PASW Statistics 17" and "Statistica 6.0" software packages.
Results and discussion
Today, bumblebees are recognized among the most effective pollinators in agriculture. About 30 years ago, it was shown that bumblebees can excellently pollinate tomatoes in greenhouses. Since then, bumblebee colonies have been successfully used not only for pollination of indoor crops but also for raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, pears and other important outdoor plants. This increased involvement of bumblebees to a greater extent, thanks to their advantages over other insect pollinators including honey bees. Honey bees can also pollinate most of the agricultural crops, but they are often less efficient than bumblebees.
1) Bodies of bumblebees are built to carry twice as much pollen as honey bees.
2) Bumblebees provide good cross-pollination because of their unique flight process which involves the frequent change of plants and tree rows.
3) Bumblebees have longer tongues than honey bees, which are unable to pollinate certain flowers because of it.
4) Bumblebees are more tolerant to unfavorable weather than other pollinator insects. They can pollinate in overcast weather and at 8–10 °C, which is especially important in the case of outdoor crops.
For pollination of outdoor fruits and berries, it is recommended to use a colony with one queen, 120–150 workers, and brood (larvae, eggs, and pupae). Higher numbers of larvae require more pollen brought by the workers in the nest. They forage more and, consequently, increase the productivity of pollination. Bumblebee pollination leads to higher fruit quality and increased total yield, and thus to a better price.
The results of the experiment on the cultivar "Melitopolska Chorna".
In our study, the foraging insects could move in and out of the colony freely and follow their normal daily routine. The flying activity of bumblebees was estimated in cherry blossom period. To this end, the bumblebees' departures and arrivals were counted in the morning, at midday and in the evening for 15-minute periods (Table 1).
The insect is always influenced by a combination of factors. However, the factor that is most remote from its optimal level affects it most strongly [5].
The daily activity of bumblebees in nature was studied separately by D. V. Panfilov [2] and by V. I. Blinnikov [1] (on Carduus pycnocephalus L. in August). Researchers found that the insect forage all day long, with markedly higher intensity in the late morning (9–11 a. m.) and in the evening (4–6 p. m.). From noon to 2 p. m., most foragers are in the nest avoiding the danger of overheating in this hottest time of the day. According to the classification of rhythms by V. B. Chernyshev [3], the bumblebees can be classified as daytime insects with a long morning and evening activity.
Table 1. – Flying activity of commercial bumblebee colonies "Live Country" on the sweet cherry cultivar "Melitopolska Chorna"
In the first week of observations (25.04), the maximum activity of bumblebees was recorded in the morning at the sunny weather: 53 foragers flew out of the nest, 48 bumble bees returned to the hive during the 15-minute observation.
In the afternoon the temperature dropped. This appeared to be the decisive factor, which caused the flying activity of bumblebees to decrease to three departures.
In early May, cold and windy weather fully prevented the flight activity. However, in sunny weather and at +17 °C, the flight activity index increased to 43 flights in 15 minutes. At 11 a. m., the maximum number of departures in 15 minutes was 69. By 16 p. m., the insect activity declined to 42 flights.
According to the observations, the bumblebee flight activity is constant in the morning and at noon if the air temperature is moderate. If the temperature drops to + 4…+ 7 ° С, thebumblebees do not fly out to forage. Nevertheless, at the threshold of + 8 ° С (first week) they resume pollinating. Our results confirm that bumblebees can pollinate in the overcast weather and at + 8 … 10 ° С, which is most important for outdoor growers.
The results of B. terrestris bumblebees pollinating the sweet cherry cultivar "Melitopolska Chorna" are given in (Table 2).
Table 2. – Pollinating efficiency of bumblebee colonies "Live Country" on the sweet cherry cultivar "Melitopolska Chorna"
Bumblebee pollination caused the number of fruits to grow by 30.33% (t = 2.98, df = 78, р < 0.01), to 482 fruits per tree compared to 369.8 fruits on the control plot.
The number of flowers, as a rule, much exceeds the number of ripe fruits for almost all cultivars of sweet cherry. Excess flowers and ovaries fall in the first weeks after flowering, mainly because of insufficient pollination and fertilization, and delayed development [4].
Thus, at the plot with the natural composition of pollinators, approximately 30.33% of flowers were either less or not at all pollinated compared to flowers on the plot, where commercial bumblebee colonies were active.
The percentage of deformed fruits at the experimental plot was lower by 0.2% than at the control plot. However, this difference was statistically insignificant (t = 1.51, df = 78, р > 0.05).
As a result of bumblebee activity, the yield weight significantly increased by 29.93% (t = 2.96, df = 8, р < 0.01). The bumblebee colonies increased the overall pollination of the studied sweet cherries, thus causing the larger yield weight.
The results of experiments on the "Lubava" sweet cherry cultivar.
The bumblebee colonies were observed successfully foraging in cold weather (+ 5 … +9 ° С) (Fig. 3). In this temperature range and in sunny weather, bumblebees much more often (up to 57 times) flew out the afternoon, closer to 15.15 p. m. (21.04).
The daily dynamics of bumblebee activity is most likely explained by the combined effect of considered factors.
Figure 3. Flying activity of commercial bumblebee colonies "Live Country" on the sweet cherry cultivar "Lubava"
Table 3. – Pollinating efficiency of Bombus terrestris on the sweet cherry cultivar "Lubava"
At + 5 … + 9 ° С, the foragers were relatively active all day long, making from 11 to 57 flights in 15 minutes.
The pollinating efficiency of B. terrestris is presented in (Table 3).
The –2 °С … –5 °С frosts in April and May present the biggest danger for the sweet cherry yield. These frosts damage the reproductive buds and ovaries significantly, sometimes even killing them. The pistil stigmas are the most sensitive flower parts that can die in the buds or after the flowers start blooming.
In the study, frosts of low intensity (0 … –2 °С) were noted in the Kyiv region when the sweet cherries were blooming. The yield loss caused by unfavorable weather was significantly higher by 37.47% (t = 2.8, df = 4, p < 0.05) on the plot with the natural pollinator combination, in comparison with the plot with bumblebee activity. It is obvious that the bumblebee colonies lessened the influence of spring frosts. If the pollination and germination of the pollen tube happened before the pistils have frozen off (at –1.5 ° С), the fruits would develop as usual. The bumblebees contributed to the timely and qualitative pollination and thus to a significant reduction in yield losses from unfavorable weather factors. Thus, the yield weight increased by 503% s(tС = 16.01, df = 4, p < 0.01).
It is reliably shown that the bumblebees enhance the quantitative indicators of the sweet cherry yield. It is found that at a relatively stable temperature in spring, the foragers remain highly active. Our observations confirm that bumblebees can effectively pollinate plants in overcast weather, at a temperature of +8 °С, which is especially important for pollination of outdoor crops.
On the example of two sweet cherry cultivars, we showed the efficiency of using bumblebee colonies for pollination of this species. Bumblebees provided the high-quality pollination, contributing to an increase in the number of fruits per tree (Sadove village, Zaporizhia region), and weakened the influence of negative weather conditions on the harvest (Novoselki village, Kyiv region).
Thus, we believe that the bumblebee colonies are promising for obtaining high yields of sweet cherry.
The authors are grateful to O. N. Yareschenko and E. A. Kyschak (Institute of Horticulture, National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine), and M. I. Grintsev (Producing and commercial company "Melitopol cherry" Ltd) for their helpful assistance in the course of this work.
The work was supported by "Futura" Foundation for culture and innovation.
1. Блинников В. И. Зоология с основами экологии. – М.: «Просвещение». – 1990. – С. 68–80.
2. Панфилов Д. В. К экологической характеристике шмелей в условиях Московской области // Учен. Зап. Пед. Ин–та им. Потемкина. – 1956. – № Т. 61. – Вып. 45. – С. 467–483.
3. Чернышев В. Б. Экология насекомых. – М.: Изд–во МГУ, – 1996. – 304 с.
4. Шайкин В. Г. Энциклопедия сада. – М.: Олма–Пресс, – 2002. – 351 с.
5. Яхонтов В. В. Экология насекомых. – М.: Высшая школа, – 1964. – 460 с.
6. Bohart G. E. Insect pollination of forage crops // Adv Agron. – 1960. – V. 12. – P. 72–58.
7. Calzoni G. L., Speranza A. Pear and plum pollination: honey bees, bumble bees or both? // Acta Hortic. – 1996. – V. 423. – P. 83–90.
8. Chaillout S. Do commercial bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) have an added value in outdoor pollination of sweet cherry (Prunus avium) and raspberry (Rubus ideaus)? – Agricultural sciences. – 2016. – 49 p.
9. Goodell K., Thomson J. D. Comparisons of pollen removal and deposition by honeybees and bumblebees visiting apple // Acta Hortic. – 1997. – V. 437. – P. 103–107.
10. Velthuis H. H.W, van, Doorn A. A century of advances in bumblebee domestication and the economic and environmental aspects of its commercialization for pollination // Apidologie, Springer Verlag. – 2004. – V. 37 (4). – P. 421–451.
11. Javorek S. K., MacKenzie K.E., Vander Kloet S. P. Comparative pollination effectiveness among bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) on lowbush blueberry (Ericaceae: Vaccinium angustifolium) // Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. – 2002. – V. 95. – P. 345–351.
12. Ravestijn W. van, Nederpel L. Trostrillers in België aan de kant: hommels doen het werk // Groenten en Fruit. – 1988. – № 6 (12 februari). – P. 38–41.
13. Sampson B. J., Spiers J. M. Evaluating bumblebees as pollinators of 'Misty' southern highbush blueberry growing inside plastic tunnels // Acta Hortic. – 2002. – V. 574. – P. 53–61.
14. Thomson J. D., Goodell K. Pollen removal and deposition by honeybee and bumblebee visitors to apple and almond flowers // J. Appl. Ecol. – 2001. – V. 38. – P. 1032–1044.
15. Todd F. E., McGregor S. E. The use of honey bees in the production of crops // Ann Rev Ent. – 1960. – V. 5. – P. 265–278.
16. Whidden T. L. The fidelity of commercially reared colonies of Bombus impatiens Cresson (Hymenoptera: Apidae) to lowbush blueberry in Southern New Brunswick // Can. Entomol. – 1996. – V. 128 (5). – P. 957–958.


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A disturbing undercover video exposes how your seemingly innocent #1 with cheese and a large Coke is actually funding some of the most horrifying abuses/exploitation of living beings on the planet. (scroll down for video)
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Friday 25 January
|Ailuronyx (1)
Like all geckos of the Ailuronyx genus, the giant bronze gecko is endemic to the Seychelles islands (2). This enigmatic species is rarely seen due to its preference for remaining high above the ground, and also because of its sandy-bronze colouration, which camouflages it against the stems and branches of its preferred tree, the coco-de-mer palm (Lodoicea maldivica) (3).
Only limited information is available on the ecology of the giant bronze gecko, but comparison with its two close relatives, the bronze gecko (A. seychellensis) and the dwarf bronze gecko (A. trachyscopaeus), provides some further insight (2).
A pattern of vertical stratification is believed to exist, in which the giant bronze gecko, the largest of the three species, dominates the canopy, forcing the smaller sized animals into lower vegetation and tree trunks. This pattern has been observed in other gecko species (Phelsuma day geckos), and correlates with the pattern of distribution found between these three bronze gecko species. Although the bronze gecko may occur in the canopy, it will tend to be forced out where the giant bronze gecko is present. By dominating the canopy, the giant bronze gecko feeds on the most nutritional food sources that, at least on Praslin, comprise the flowers of the coco-de-mer palm. During the day, this species feeds exclusively on the nectar and pollen of the male flowers, biting them to stimulate nectar flow and sometimes consuming the flower. Insects, which supplement the diet of the bronze gecko, may also be eaten by the giant bronze gecko at night, but there is no direct evidence of this (2).
This species' reproductive biology is unknown (1).
Confined to the Seychelles islands of Silhouette and Praslin (1).
This arboreal, canopy-dwelling gecko is found in tropical forest with a canopy over 15 m (1).
Classified as Vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List (1).
Although there is no evidence of a decline, the giant bronze gecko is considered vulnerable to extinction due to the small and restricted nature of its range, with populations known from just two small islands. Thus, any habitat degradation within this restricted range, such as through the spread of invasive plant species, could have a dramatic impact on the gecko (1).
The giant bronze gecko and its habitat are protected within Praslin National Park (1), and alien plant control is being undertaken on the island (4). Habitat restoration programmes are also being conducted to help this species on Silhouette (5), where it has been suggested that forest habitats on the island could benefit further by being included in a new protected area (1).
Authenticated (20/11/2006) by Justin Gerlach, Scientific Co-ordinator, The Nature Protection Trust of Seychelles.
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© Dr. Justin Gerlach
Dr. Justin Gerlach
Nature Protection Trust of Seychelles
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Do you and your family have a favorite breakfast ritual? Is there anything special that y'all do concerning breakfast on those days everyone can enjoy it together?
For our family, it's eating outdoors on the picnic table when the weather permits. And we have been known to eat out there even when the wind was blowing so hard you had to anchor everything down to keep it on the table.
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You can take simple dishes and make them an enjoyable meal. You have little stress preparing the food and the time to enjoy the simple pleasures of those you're with.
One of our favorite breakfast meals is homemade fries and an English muffin filled with ham, scrambled egg and a slice of Kraft Velveeta Sharp Cheddar Cheese. Pair that with a cup of fresh ground Dark Italian Roast coffee and you have a delicious combination.
A meal doesn't have to always be fancy and elegant to be enjoyed. The time you spend enjoying the meal with family and friends is what makes it special.
I start with four average size potatoes, wash and pat dry. Then cut them into wedges leaving the skins on. Put enough Canola oil in a skillet to cover the potatoes completely. Turn the oil on high to begin with. Once it's heated up, turn the heat to medium, add potatoes carefully and cook until golden brown, turning occasionally.
While the potatoes are cooking, cut English muffins in half and toast. Just pop them in the toaster to achieve your desired texture.
Using a cookie cutter (or plastic Tupperware container like I do), cut the ham and cheese into circles the same size as the muffins. Scramble your eggs, but leave them in an omelete-like texture so you can also cut circles out of them. You can add the excess pieces from the circles to the muffins if you want a little extra in your muffin. You can add butter, mayonnaise, mustard or nothing to your muffin before you begin assembling it.
When the potatoes are done, carefully remove them and place on paper towels to drain. Quickly sprinkle your choice of seasoning on them. I use Lawry's Garlic Salt and fresh ground black pepper for a nice bite.
Assemble your muffins and home fries on a plate, grab a cup of coffee and joins us at the picnic table. It's a great way to enjoy good food, good company, and watch the boaters go by.
Cucina felice!
Serves: 2
- 4 Average size potatoes
- 2 Large eggs
- 2 Slices Kraft Velveeta Sharp Cheddar Cheese
- 4 Slices cooked sandwich ham
- 2 English muffins
- Canola oil
- Lawry's Garlic Salt
- Fresh ground black pepper
- Wash and dry potatoes, cut into wedges. Heat Canola oil in skillet (enough to completely cover potatoes). Once oil is hot, turn down to medium heat and carefully add potatoes. Cook until golden brown, stirring occasionally.
- Scramble eggs in a splash of Canola oil. Cook until the texture of an omelet and remove.
- Cut English muffins in half and toast.
- Using cookie cutter, cut circles the size of the muffins in the eggs, ham and cheese. Excess from the circles can be added to the muffins.
- You can add butter, mayonnaise, mustard or nothing to the muffins and then begin your assembly. Place the ham, cheese and egg on a muffin half, top with the other muffin half and place on a plate.
- When the home fries are golden brown, carefully remove from oil and place on paper towels to drain. Sprinkle your choice of seasonings (garlic salt, black pepper, etc.) on the fries while they are piping hot. Add to plate with English muffin and serve.
- The home fries are good by themselves or dabbed in your favorite condiments.


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There are many tools available that allow individuals to operate their own live video streaming event using a smartphone or tablet along with an appropriate app. These apps are very easy to use, and often come at no cost. Here are several that we're familiar with:
For assistance with these apps, or if you know of another service that you'd like some help with, please contact the ITS Service Desk.
For assistance with professional video streaming services, please contact the Office of Communications.


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H.Res.46 - Supporting the contributions of Catholic schools.113th Congress (2013-2014)
ResolutionHide Overview
|Rep. Lipinski, Daniel [D-IL-3] (Introduced 01/23/2013)
|House - Education and the Workforce
|Latest Action:
|House - 01/23/2013 Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. (All Actions)
This bill has the status Introduced
Here are the steps for Status of Legislation:
- Introduced
Subject — Policy Area:
- Education
- View subjects
Summary: H.Res.46 — 113th Congress (2013-2014)All Information (Except Text)
There is one summary for H.Res.46. Bill summaries are authored by CRS.
Shown Here:
Introduced in House (01/23/2013)
Expresses support for the goals of Catholic Schools Week, an event cosponsored by the National Catholic Educational Association and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and established to recognize the vital contributions of the thousands of Catholic elementary and secondary schools in this country.
Applauds the National Catholic Educational Association and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops on their selection of a theme that all can celebrate.


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East 542
The only place to be the evening before opening day at Mt. Baker Ski Area is Grahams in Glacier, a dark old wooden place with a giant antique wood stove and wooden English style bar, a pool table, and the best fish tacos (and other food) in the region. It's not because there's a party or things get crazy the night before opening day, it's because there isn't anywhere else to go when you're in Glacier. Yes, it also gets crazy there at times.
The next morning my phone rang at 7am. My neighbor Joseph wanted to let me know the conditions which were pretty good- powder galore and temperatures in the mid 20's. I jumped out of bed, tripped over my gear, and twenty minutes later we hit the road for opening day. Along the way we picked up every hitch hiker we could find until the mini-van couldn't hold another snowboard or pair of skis.
Picking up hitch hikers in Maple Falls or Glacier when you're going to Mt. Baker ski area is not only smiled on by the gods of snow around here, but you make local friends very quickly this way. If you're new to Baker, picking up folks looking for a ride is a quick and easy opportunity to learn about the mountain and where the best skiing is. In addition you just never know what other perks the hitch hikers might bestow upon you as a form of appreciation for the ride.
When Joseph picks up hitch hikers not only is he helping folks out, it gives him an opportunity to talk about The Trailhead, his condo and pub project just up the street from downtown Glacier. This project is just about ready to break ground and it's pretty exciting- Glacier is really starting to pick up these days.
It doesn't take long to get to the mountain from Glacier. White Salmon Lodge has great breakfast selections. The Shuksan Scramble comes to mind. After eating and playing with the lodge cats (a lot more cuddly than the snow cats outside) we took the walk over the hill to get to chairs 5 and 6 where the best fresh tracks are found.
The day turned out great. I lost Joseph early on, but there are no friends on a power day anyway. It doesn't matter, when you know everyone in the area it's easy to find groups of friends and other people to ski with.
Chair 6 opened late which is usual on a big powder day because it takes the ski patrol a while to do avalanche control, but when it did it was worth it because they delay opening chair 6 the only reason is because the powder is epic. The hike over to Chicken Ridge did not disappoint with powder flying all over the place, into my mouth, down my jacket, I had to spit out hunks of snow just to get my breath!
I didn't ski the next few days of opening weekend, way too many people from all those places where ski areas didn't open, but I hit it hard last week and have no complaints except from my legs.
Just how do you get in shape for skiing?
I once asked the great Scot Schmidt, arguably one of the worlds top back country skiers and one of the fathers of modern extreme skiing, how he got in shape for skiing. He said, "I go skiing." Simple enough.
Play by Play
My most epic momenst last week were in the trees. Secret trees. Usually these trees are tracked out early, but with the winds and low visibility that day, not a lot of people were staying on the hill.
On a windy day where the snow is blowing and you can't see a thing, the trees are where it's at. No wind, perfect visibility, you can't go wrong. I made a dozen runs through these trees and the only tracks I ever saw were mine. The powder was light and fluffy, landings were soft, turns were amazing. Some of the best tree skiing of my life.
Now Baker has over a hundred inches at the base. How about that?
On November 23rd?
It's going to warm up this week a bit, but I don't think that's going to hurt Baker much. Last week it warmed up and the snow pack turned all saturated because of melt water, but it stabilized again when it turned cold and it's pretty strong now. A good warming up with rain will destabilize it again, but for now we've got a nice snow pack that's really going to stick. There's always a chance of some sort of 100 year avalanche in these situations, where the entire two foot thing frozen slab comes off and causes havoc, but odds are we'll be OK.
I'm still riding on my Dynastar Legend Pros, the 174cm version. I think they are a very solid ski, kind of heavy, but when you're going 50mph down a mountain side, that heavy feeling is rather comforting in a way. The only downside to the Legend Pros for a light weight like myself (160lbs skiing weight) is that I can't get as jiggy on them as I want, I can't dance in the bumps, I just have to power through them.
One of these days I'll try out some lighter weight rocker skis and I hear K2 is one of the leaders in this pack. I've got some connections, so we'll see what happens. No one I've talked to has anything bad to say about the twin tip rockers, however I have some observations.
It seems like rocker skis give people the ability to slide or skid the tails of the skis even in powder and rough conditions. This can easily lead to overall poor technique. I'm noticing more and more skiers on rockers initiating turns by sliding their tails out instead of unweighting and then powering through the turn. This is a similar problem I notice when someone has been skiing groomed runs their whole life.
In crud or powder sliding the tails doesn't work because you'll catch a tail and go flying when you try to turn the other way. However rocker skis let you slide around in those conditions and I'm watching guys get away with leaning way back and sliding around without any problem because of the backwards camber.
I don't think it matters most of the time as long as a person stays in control, but sometimes you need to be able to crank a high speed turn to get out of a jam and if your technique is poor, that turn might not happen, and on the mountain life can change forever in a split second if you're not constantly vigilant.
This is another reason why I think that everyone who skis, and boards, could benefit from taking a weekend of race lessons, even if you're not a racer. Racers have the best technique out there and taking some racing lessons will put almost anyone on the next level. You can take racing lessons at the beginning level, you don't need to be a racer, and almost all the ski areas give lessons like these.
I'll try out rockers this season and let you know what I think- I'm actually really looking forward to the experience.
Glacier News
Scotty Peterson has opened up his own ski tune shop. Scott was the main tune up guy at the Glacier Ski Shop, always does an amazing job, and he's a great guy on top of that, so if you need a tune up check his place out as you drive into Glacier.
The Glacier Ski Shop is a great place if you want to rent or buy the latest stuff, and prices are reasonable.
The Wake and Bakery with Court and Rebecca is still going strong so if you need coffee before the hitting mountain, wait until you get to Glacier and hit up the Wake and Bakery for your fix. Their baked goods are second to none as well.
I'm looking forward to a great ski season and I hope all of you are too, thanks for reading!


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On Friday, Sally Jewell, Interior Secretary, announced that the National Park Service will begin marking places of importance in the history of the American lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) communities. She stated that one of the National Park Service's responsibilities is to tell the story of this civil rights journey. Jewell made this announcement at the Stonewall Inn in Manhattan, New York. Stonewall Inn is known for riots that took place there in 1969 in protest to a police raid of a bar in Greenwich Village where people were arrested on moral charges. In the year 2000 it became classified as a national historic landmark. Her announcement comes just before LGBT pride month which is in June.
Next month, Jewell is expected to organize a panel of 18 scholars who will carry the tasks of researching the details and history of the American LGBT movement. They will explore religion, law, civil rights, media and the arts and pinpoint specific locations that will be considered for addition in the National Register of Historic Places. Jewell stated that the country is moving forward in ensuring that the civil rights of minority groups are protected. Jonathan Jarvis, Park Service Director stated, "The Park Service is, in my view, America's storyteller through place."
"It's important that the places we recognize represent the full complement of the American experience,'' he said.
Executive director of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, Eliza Byard, commends the Park Service for their efforts in recognizing the LGBT community and stated that this will serve as a tool for teaching students about LGBT history through taking field trips to the specifically marked sites. In 2011, California was the first state to pass a law that requires public schools to teach their students about the influences that LGBT Americans have made throughout the country's history. Although California has made efforts in regards to education of LGBT Americans, there are several states who have done the exact opposite. One such state is Arizona, where school curriculums cannot contain any material that would present a homosexual lifestyle in a positive light.
Since the elections in 2008 regarding Proposition 8 which eliminated the rights of same-sex couples to marry, some states have taken steps towards the equal treatment of the LGBT community especially in regards to same-sex marriage. As of this year a total of 19 states and the District of Columbia have legalized gay marriage. These states are: Hawaii, California, Oregon, Washington, New Mexico, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Maine, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland.
One of the scholars who will be on Jewell's panel is Gerard Koskovich from San Francisco. He stated that the history of the American gay rights movement really began in 1924 with the establishment of America's first gay rights organization in Chicago. Nearly a century later the United States is continuing their slow but active process towards protecting the civil rights of the LGBT community. In support of their efforts, the panel study has received a $250,000 donation from The Gill Foundation which is an organization that provides funding for civil rights work for the LGBT movement.
By Sarah Temori
ABC News
CBS New York


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1. At the end of the week, specifically Friday and Saturday, many locally employed walking ATM machines will come to your bar, choose carefully! Some have money, but others do not! If he is wearing a suit and tie, check that the tie is not a Pratunam special and check that he isn't wearing trainers. If he is, forget him because he is most likely an English teacher, and they will only give you peanuts, if they give you anything at all.
2. No matter how fat and ugly he is, no matter how bad he may smell, no matter how drunk he is, make sure you always tell him he is handsome. Sit close to him and run your hands over his body, arousing him. As soon as he has paid the bar fine, you can stand clear of him. Even if he knows that you despise him, he'll still pay you. The hard part is getting him to pay the bar, and as soon as he has done that, the rest is easy.
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
The Ten Commandments of Bangkok Bar Girls
Ladies and gents, presenting The Bangkok Bar Girls' Ten Commandments. "Thou shall not say how fat or ugly he is." Interesting read on how these girls really work. From FriskoDude:
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Singapore License.


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August has begun, and many go on vacation. As I am Freelance, I don't have it, so here I am here to show you the news about the Pi and celebrating something that I tell at the end of the post...
MAGPI No. 26: It brings a selection of hardware, software and articles about programming with quality: UZE BASIC, robotics and build a VOIP server with Asterisk among others. | Themagpi.com
Ringbell with push notifications and email with Webcam: A boy prepared a small development for a bell that alerts you if someone is in front of your door and sending you a snapshot instantly using Motion | Deddieslab.blogspot.nl
Raspi magazine, new digital magazine celebrating and experiencing the Raspberry Pi: It's out in the Apple Store this journal by the LinuxUser hand. It is paid but the content you might also worthwhile. In this first issue of 52 interactive pages including articles talk about how to build you a Drone and use the accelerometer. More info on linuxuser.co.uk | App Store
Take this opportunity to thank you: This humble blog for days exceeded the 300K visitors and 400 Twitter's followers. That now means that more than 8,000 users visit me every month and see about 20,000 pages. Thank you!


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Exercise Can Improve Bone Density in Postmenopausal Women: Study
A research conducted by West Virginia University School of Public Health and the University of Colorado suggests that exercise can reduce risks of osteoporosis and improve bone density in postmenopausal women.
"Osteoporosis is a disease that weakens bones, increasing the risk of sudden and unexpected fractures. Literally meaning "porous bone," it results in an increased loss of bone mass and strength. The disease often progresses without any symptoms or pain," according to Cleveland clinic.org.
The disease is usually not detected easily and in most cases is discovered only after weakened bones cause painful fractures. Also, once a person suffers an osteoporotic fracture, he/she becomes more likely to suffer another one.
For the current study, researchers examined the effects of exercise on bone density in postmenopausal women. They compiled findings from 25 studies that included 1,775 postmenopausal women.
The exercises suggested in the study included weight-bearing exercises, such as jogging as well as weight lifting. Improvements in bone density were found at the hip and spine, the two most common sites for fracture, Medical Xpress reported.
"Osteoporosis affects an estimated 200 million women worldwide. It is well-established that low bone density leading to fractures of the hip and spine are a major public health problem in postmenopausal women," George A. Kelley, D.A., and Kristi S. Kelley, M.Ed., researchers in the WVU School of Public Health Department of Biostatistics, and Wendy Kohrt, Ph.D., University of Colorado Denver, said.
"These findings suggest that exercise is an important option for improving bone mineral density in postmenopausal women."
The study appears in the November issue of BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders.
See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare


text: Google : A feed that adds intrigue An animated grid of live search terms brings the technology giant's otherwise-uninspiring new corporate home page to life. click to view The feature Google provides a panel on its recently-revamped corporate home page that shows 'what the world is searching for now'. The panel consists of a grid of cells, each in one of Google's brand colours. The cells constantly expand and contract to reveal search terms that the company claims are currently being keyed into its search engine. The search terms appear on letter at a time, as if they are being manually typed in. The takeaway Most of Google's new corporate home page is more conventional, and less distinctive, than ever before. The panel links promoting 'Our values in action' are an example of this. But the animated grid of search terms is visually striking; editorially interesting; immediately conveys an impression of innovation; and vividly illustrates the company's core service in action. https://www.google.com/about/ First published 12 July, 2017 < Back to Tips


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Chapter 1Posted by Julia on Feb 19, 2013 in Pet Detective Story | 0 comments
Michael turned his car into the front drive of his cottage, and driving around the crescent shape, he positioned his vehicle to face out of the second entrance. He was in a hurry, and he frowned slightly at the unexpected journey he would have to make to London. The phone call he had just received had come at an inopportune moment as his plans for the weekend may now have to be cancelled
His job as a consultant accountant often took him away from home, to places such as Spain France and Greece, where he had built up a wide clientele of ex-pats. living abroad. He enjoyed travelling and he made the most of his visits to sunny climes by taking holidays whilst he was there, enjoying the countries he visited.
This time, although it was to be a short journey to London, it was for more than just work.
At 40 years old, trim and fit but going grey at the temples, he remained single. He felt contented with his life, although lately he had felt very tempted to make a change and settle down.
This November morning had been sunny although clouds were now beginning to form in the east, and he hoped he wouldn't have to battle through rain on the motorway. He hoped there wouldn't be too many lorries on the road at this time of day, as a clear run through to London, do the business, and drive back, he might be able to salvage some of his plans for the weekend.
He got out of the car and looking for the key which was in it's usual place under the boulder in the front garden, he used it to open the door which lead into the kitchen. He laid the key on the table and noticed that all the cupboards had been emptied and the contents were strewn haphazardly across the worktops. Being a man of tidy habits, he felt repulsed at the mess.
"Mrs Jenkins has been in doing a spot of cleaning." he thought. "Hope she's coming back to clear up"
Mrs Jenkins was a lady from the village who came to clean for him twice a week. He had never had any complaints about her before today, so he assumed she would be back to clear up.
Today was not one of her days.
Michael had to arrange for his dog walker to look after Barney, his three year old Springer spaniel, for the weekend. So taking out his mobile phone he dialled a number which rang into voice mail and he left a message.
"Hi Jules. This is Michael Shelly. I'm sorry that this is such short notice, but I have to go away for a few days. Can you come and fetch Barney and keep him until I phone and let you know when I'm back? I'll leave his basket and food inside the door ready for you. Cheers my dear."
He switched off his phone and wondered where his dog had got to. Barney always came running to meet him when he came home from work, anticipating a treat which was more often than not followed by a long walk along the mole, which is a stone causeway on the nearby beach. This was Barney's favourite afternoon's walk.
"Barney. Barney where are you?" he called, but instead of an animal leaping up to him with joy all he heard was a muffled sound coming from inside the broom cupboard. Slightly concerned he went and opened the door and the dog rushed out barking and snarling.
"What the ….?" he started to say before something heavy came crashing down on his head He fell to the floor unconscious, his mobile phone rolling away into a corner of the kitchen.
"You hit him too hard" a voice said.
"Just get on with what we came here to do, and leave this to me We have to find it. It should be here somewhere, and get this vicious dog out of my way" an older gruffer voice said, landing the dog a rough kick.
The two intruders continued their search of the cottage. First the lounge was ransacked, cushions torn apart and tossed across the floor, drawers and cupboards emptied from the dresser and ornaments broken in the process. Even the carpet was torn up and the curtains pulled down from their rails. Upstairs it was the same. Beds were stripped, pillows torn apart, clothes were strewn about the rooms, no place was left untouched. Finally, after exhausting their search they had come up with nothing. Time was now against them and they would have to leave.
"What shall we do with him?" asked the smaller of the men nodding to the body on the floor.
"We'll take him with us. Maybe we can get him to talk when he comes round properly. Anyway we can't just leave him here, he may have seen us. You take his car and drop me off where we left the pick up and I'll meet you back at the house."
Angrily they bundled Michael into the boot of his car and drove off.
Julia petted the horses, Pixie and Trixie while they munched at the hay she had put down for them. The horses were getting old now, and were happy living out the remainder of their lives in the comfort of their paddock at the back of the cottage. They were always happy to see Julia's car pull into the drive, whinnying and galloping down to her as she brought them fresh water and hay. Julia's job as a pet carer took her to many different places and she looked after all kinds of animals.
She liked coming to White Cottage. It had an air of serenity about it and although the cottage was right on to the road, it was not a particularly busy road. She had never been inside the building, but she knew that it was spacious with five bedrooms, two reception rooms and a large kitchen. Much too big for Christine Hughes the single lady solicitor who lived there, she thought.
The garden to the side of the cottage had been neglected, but had been well laid out with what was once an ornamental pond in the middle of a now overgrown lawn. It was obvious that once a lot of time and care had gone into the garden. In front of the paddock where the horses lived, there ran a little brook with a wooden bridge over, and a pathway leading to two barns, one of which housed two goats at night, and the other was a storage area for food. This was just the sort of property she was looking for, for herself and Martin. Maybe a bit more land would be useful so that they could put up boarding kennels and extend the business, otherwise it seemed perfect for their needs. she mused.
Checking the sky for weather, she put the goats into their barn where they would be warm and dry from the rain she knew would come before morning. An old black cat lay asleep in the hay and she put fresh food down and gently picked him up.
"Come on sunshine. You must eat" she said. She rubbed the back of his ears and he purred softly before tucking into his food.
She went outside and sat on a little wall which surrounded the garden and took out her coffee flask from the haversack she had brought with her, and poured herself a mug of coffee, enjoying the sun while it lasted. Sipping the warm liquid she remembered that she had a voice mail on her phone. She pulled out her mobile phone and listened to the message from Michael. Sighing she put the phone away and looked at the time. Barney would have to wait a bit longer as she had another job to do in this area.
" It's a pity Martin is over at Cardigan today," she thought, "As he could help out with Barney."
Julia had given up a well-paid job as a personal assistant to a partner in a firm of accountants in Birmingham. She had enjoyed her job especially when she had to organise meetings and find venues for conferences. She began to spend more and more time outside the office, so that when she was in the office she began to feel stifled. She longed for the outdoors, and thinking that a break from work would do her good she had come out to Pembrokeshire for an extended holiday.
She had met Martin, a friend of the family she was staying with, shortly after arriving and within the year they were married.
That had been two years ago now, and she couldn't be happier.
Julia was in her early forties, slim with shoulder length fair curly hair which she wore loose. She was dressed in her usual commando trousers topped with a navy anorak which sported the logo "Animal Care" across the back.
Martin matched her love of animals, and together they had set up Julia's business to keep her busy while Martin was out doing his own job as an electrician. The animal business had taken off straight away and Julia was now working full time and had a book full of clients. Most of her clients had been introduced to her through word of mouth, and many of them were professional people with the cash to spend on their pets. Martin helped where he could and being a country boy, he did the heavier jobs such as caring for Shire horses and pigs. Often they would walk the dogs together in quiet companionship.
"I must have the best job in the world" she thought to herself as she got into her car and prepared to drive to her next assignment.
It was well after three o clock when Julia turned into Michael Shelly's drive. With an eye on the dark clouds which had begun to gather, she decided to walk Barney on the coast and along the mole before taking him back to her home where, although she had a shed for keeping the stay over dogs, Barney, being her favourite "client" would stay in the house with Dylan her own dog, as he had done on many previous occasions.
Michael's cottage lay back from the road and was sheltered from sight by overgrown bushes and trees. There was a small patch of garden under a bay window at the front, which had the remains of a few summer flowers, and by the side of the little patch was a large boulder under which Michael always kept the key to the back door of the cottage.
The main garden lay to the side of the property which had a patio near the house leading on to a well kept lawn bordered by shrubs. At the bottom of the garden stood a small greenhouse where tomatoes grew in summer. Otherwise the garden was pretty well low maintenance. To the rear of the property there was a small strip of land running the length of the cottage and was fenced off with a gate at the bottom. This lead to a alleyway which joined the few scattered houses situated along the road. Beyond the alleyway lay fields where cattle grazed.
Without bothering to lock the car, she went straight to the boulder to pick up the key to the back door. A whimpering noise startled her, and she looked up to see Barney crawling towards her on his tummy with his tail between his legs.
"Barney. Whatever is the matter boy? And why are you outside?"
At the sound of her voice Barney jumped up and bounded towards her, his tail showing how glad he was to see a friendly face. Julia knelt down and fussed him and he licked her face then started to jump about knocking into the door and pushing it open.
"Well! Michael was certainly in a hurry today" she thought as she went inside and saw the kitchen mess. "Poor Mrs Jenkins" she smiled.
Quickly grabbing Barney's lead from the usual hook, she spotted the key on the table and grabbing it, went out and locked the door behind her.
Barney jumped happily into the back of Julia's car and they headed off towards the coast.
Just three miles away from Michael's cottage, was a small bay with a car park and a little arcade of shops accommodating Tourist Information, gift shop and café with toilets in the first block, while in a larger area Ocean World offered the holiday maker entertainment for inclement days. Visitors were very few and far between this November afternoon, but in the summer the place was heaving with holiday makers.
Stretching out into the sea was the causeway and at the end of the causeway stood a beacon standing on top of what looked, to an untrained eye, like a wooden shed. Walking the Mole made for a pleasant afternoon, but today Julia decided on a shorter walk before the rain came.
Suddenly remembering the coffee she was drunk earlier, she tied Barney to a bench outside the café and dashed inside the cafe to the toilets. While she was drying her hands she heard barking outside and quickly went out to find Barney barking and snarling at the café owner.
"That dog needs a muzzle" said the man. "Don't leave him on my bench again." Glowering at the dog he walked off.
"Barney! That's not like you at all. What's the matter boy?"
She petted the dog and although he seemed a bit nervous he wagged his tail. She glared at the man in the café and turned towards the Mole. The sea was beginning to whip up the waves and the wind had turned sharp. Julia pulled her hat down over her ears and walked on, Barney happily trotting at her side, pulling up occasionally to sniff at the little tufts of grass which had grown along the side of the causeway. Before reaching the beacon at the end of the causeway, they turned round and headed back inland. Large spots of rain had begun to fall and it wasn't long before the rain became icy making walking difficult. Barney tucked himself round the back of Julia's legs to protect himself from the worst of the weather, and it seemed to take them ages before they stood on the sea front again outside the café. The man was staring at them from inside, unsmiling and looking angry. He picked up a phone and talked excitedly before banging the phone down.
"Horrid man" thought Julia as she bundled Barney into the back of her car "Soon be home now and in the dry." She rumpled his fur, settled him down and drove off back to Michael's cottage to fetch Barney's food and basket before heading off back to her own home.
Arriving back at Michael's house, and using the key she went into the kitchen. Now having more time to be aware of her surroundings she was shocked at the mess before her. This was more than Mrs Jenkins's spring cleaning. She walked into the lounge and was horrified at what she saw there. She went back into the kitchen and took out her mobile phone from her rucksack and dialled Michael's number. She jumped, startled when she heard the phone ring in the kitchen, and quickly looking around she found Michael's phone in the corner of the room hidden by a chair which had fallen over. She went and picked up the phone and seeing her own number on the screen, she disconnected both calls. Michael always carried his phone with him, like most people do, and she was puzzled as to why it lay discarded on the floor. As she picked up the phone she noticed a patch of blood on the quarry tiles and her blood froze. Barney had been outside, which he never was, the door was left open and the house had been ransacked. Something sinister had happened here and she began to feel frightened.
Using her own phone, her first call was to the police, and the second call was to Martin.


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Or, 40 jours et 40 nuits, avec Duolingo, as I would say if I spoke French well enough to do so. Which I suppose I actually kind of do. I say "kind of" because I did use Google Translate for that translation but that's mostly because I have yet to learn how to say the word "day" in French. Everything else, I totally knew.
And according to statistics—believing Duolingo's own "34 hours"—I should now have completed the equivalent of one semester of French.
So, what's my experience been like? Honestly?
Words can't begin to describe how incredible awesome their whole service is. The fact that they offer it for free, with no ads, well that's just a crowning cherry on top of their already unbelievable Ice Cream Sundae.
I still find myself surprised at what my subconscious picks up when I think that I haven't learned anything for a few days but then I'll notice myself understanding something in French that I haven't understood before.
Is it flawless?
Of course not. Sometimes I wish I could go more in-depth and read about specific grammar rules but instead Duolingo offers me a—sometimes too simple—"You're incorrect. Moving on". Though I suppose this isn't really a critique of the service itself but rather a testament to how learning should target every aspect
I also feel like I should mention that the Android app got a complete overhaul recently, bringing it up to par with their iPhone and iPad app, giving it some much appreciated profile viewing abilities, something it lacked prior to the update.
Another thing that seems to be possible from their website but not from their app is to practise your weakest words. I would really like to be able to do this from my app but who knows, maybe it will be a feature in the future. I imagine this is only the beginning of where they are taking Duolingo, but it's already an incredible service. Je suis impressionné.
So, if you want to start learning a language I would highly recommmend Duolingo.com. They currently offer the following languages: Spanish, English, French, German, Portugese and Italian and they're incubating more languages constantly. I've thought about helping them add Swedish at some point.
I'll do another post, another 40 days from now, on the 19th of January and we'll see how things are going then because I am determined to stick with this and continue to use it everyday.
Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with Duolingo.com. I was recommended their service by a co-worker who uses it to learn Spanish and I only wanted to express my thoughts of the service.


text:
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Kittredge, George Lyman is the author of 'Elementary English Grammar, Book', published 2010 under ISBN 9781146526548 and ISBN 1146526547.[read more]
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Xelix's mission is to eradicate overpayments & protect the bottom line. It's estimated that up to 0.3% of organisational spend is lost due to process errors and invoice fraud.
Xelix acts as the "eyes and ears" to finance - using machine learning & predictive analytics to surface disbursement threats in real time & stop problems before they happen.
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text: Hello and welcome to my current and upcoming classes schedule!Photography Project: The Hand-made BookAnderson Ranch Art Center, AspenAugust 3 to 7 2020Register here I have been teaching photography workshops for more than 15 years to student of all level from 5 years to 81 years old. I teach at the International Center of Photography in NYC, on location in NYC or elsewhere, from my photography studio in Williamsburg Brooklyn as well as at selected photo festivals around the world. Whether I teach portraiture, travel photography or reportage, wether you want to take on a long term project or making a book, I am all about the story behind the scene and getting you to your next step.See you soon!


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This unit is based around a project report arising from issues encountered during a 120 hour internship project and through a professional development program designed to provide students with the resources to enhance their intern experience. Students are required to attend 4 workshops which cover: Australian business culture, management styles, cross cultural business communication, teamwork and reflective learning. An interactive approach will be used in the workshops to enable students to draw on their own experiences. Each workshop will have a pre-assigned reading text and a related question. Students will be expected to answer the question on BlackBoard in 200-250 words and to comment on at least one classmate's post. These discussions will be continued in the workshops for which participation marks apply. Students will also be given a post-workshop article to be read as non-compulsory, supplementary input. During the students' internship placement, they will also complete 4 reflective journals and a final report.
4x2hr workshops, 120hr internship
4x400wd reflective journals (20%), 1x2500wd final project report (60%), workshop and online participation (20%)
Additional information
only available to incoming Study Abroad students
Intensive January
06 Jan 2020
Intensive June
25 May 2020
Semester 1
24 Feb 2020
Semester 2
24 Aug 2020


text:
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August 23, 1998, Section 14, Page 9Buy Reprints
When the Postal Service dropped the names of Queens communities from its national ZIP code data base, erasing the Baysides and Woodsides, the Rosedales and Belleroses, the borough's residents did not take it lightly.
They griped about it for years at civic meetings, phoned their local politicians and wrote letters by the bundle to a local weekly newspaper, The Queens Tribune. The paper, in turn, adopted the cause last November and even invented a mascot, Mr. Zip, as its cartoon crusader.
Last week, victory finally arrived.
Under the old policy, the Postal Service bunched all the neighborhoods in Queens into one of four zones, called a ''multi-zip city.'' For example, all ZIP codes in its data base that began with 111 were labeled Long Island City; 113 ZIP codes were designated Flushing, 114 were marked Jamaica and 116 as Far Rockaway.
Of course, the service delivered mail containing neighborhood addresses, as long as it had the right ZIP code. But if someone from Astoria gave a mail-order company his ZIP code, he was told he lived in Long Island City. And when a woman from Kew Gardens received promotional mail or address labels from her favorite charity, her residence was listed as Jamaica.
''I live in Woodside,'' declared an indignant Dorothea Osbourne in a letter to The Tribune. ''And I do not wish to be a Flushingite.''
Sean Walsh, president of the Queens Civic Congress, a coalition of 91 civic groups, said that over the last two years the topic came up at nearly every one of its meetings.
''Most people don't say they come from Queens,'' Mr. Walsh explained. ''They identify themselves with their neighborhood. This really grated on people because they felt like, 'Now they are trying to wipe out our identity.' ''
Representative Gary L. Ackerman, a Democrat whose district includes northeastern Queens, said that the Postal Service was at first unwilling to consider reverting to the old system because it would be too hard to reprogram its computer data bases.
In the end, after many meetings with Mr. Ackerman and continuing community pressure, localism prevailed. Last week the Postal Service began retooling its ZIP code data bases to include the names of Queens neighborhoods. Mr. Ackerman said it should take marketers, bulk mailers and other companies that use the data bases several months to update their mailing lists.
Lily Jung, the Postal Service's district manager for Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island, said the three-digit zoning, which took full effect in 1995, was created mostly to help commercial mailers.
Nevertheless, Ms. Jung said the Postal Service yielded to the local pride of those living in Queens -- the only borough where, even before the service changed its policy, a locale other than the borough itself was generally used as the agency's recognized address. ''We're here to cooperate,'' she said. RICHARD WEIR
Chart: ''REVISION -- Change of Address''
In 1995 the Postal Service divided Queens into four multi-neighborhood zones. But last week the zones were jettisoned, after residents complained about the loss of local names in their mailing addresses.


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The best solution with this is to act casual and not expect too much.
The truth is that if you sit back and hesitate, you'll miss a chance.
The only way to learn is to try and experiment.
The first time you ask a guy out, it is always a bit awkward.
The second time, you are more comfortable, and after that, you keep on perfecting your "asking out" skill.
It is a "move" you have to practice to get it right.
It is always 50/50.
There is no guarantee that he will say yes because he can have dozens of elements in his life which stop him from dating you right now.
There is only one way to find out: Take the step!
How do you do that?
If you know where he hangs out, go there and if you see him, walk straight to him with a big smile:
"Hi...! How are you? Good to see you!..."
Don't focus on the date thing.
Simply establish a connection first.
Chat for a few minutes and then say something like:
"Was fun seeing you again..."
Then write your number on a piece of paper, look at him straight in the eyes and say:
"Call me. I know you already tried once... But guaranteed. This time I'll say yes. You are a fun person and I would like to see you again. It will be nice"
It's casual, spontaneous and it does work wonders.
If for some reason he does not respond, stay cool and alert and keep your options open.
If you expect too much, you systematically get hurt.
So simply try it out as an experiment and if it does not go the way you expect, drop it and focus on someone else.
The art of dating has lot to do with going with the flow and responding to opportunities when you see them.
Sometimes, you can rationalize too much when in fact only action (even imperfect action) will give you the answer.
Go for it!


text:
Check out Pandora Radio. First, test drive it.
You can do so by opening the website and typing in the name of a song or artist.
The test drive plays four or five songs; then you can decide to subscribe.
To subscribe:
Click Continue Listening button
Type in login information
Click Continue
Click Listen for Free
Click Continue
Click Create a New Station
Type Name of song or artist. It creates a radio station of similar songs and/or artists. eg., Ms. Jill Scott.
The station gives you the option to rate the songs. It's free. Free forever.
Monday, November 19, 2007
1 comment:
- AnonymousNovember 30, 2007 at 12:59 PM
Hey Cuz! I happen upon Pandora's Radio because I had to funeralize my radio at work. After 23 years of wonderful service it became comatose and eventually we had to pull the plug. It was in intensive care for some years but through prayer and laying on of hands it survived. Than the Lord of the Radios called the ole servant home, sliently of course. If I had to imagine the words they would go something like this, "Well done good and faithful music provider, news provider, noise maker, come on home. You've finished your course and ran this race with loud sounds sometimes sweet and sometimes obnoxious. Ha ha ha ! Girl I crack myself up sometimes.ReplyDelete
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text:
The night before the Grand Prix of Beverly I dreamt I was flying. I had gone over the edge of a cliff during a mountain bike race and was plummeting to an inevitable death thousands of feet in the valley below when I realized there was another option: to fly.
I summoned up the willpower and, instead of the typical weak, anemic response, I was suddenly rocketing skyward. I shot past the edge of the cliff, turned a loop, and landed gently on my feet to the astonishment of onlookers.
In the car ride to Beverly, I told my wife about the dream and she said that it meant I was "unblocked" and I was ready do something special.
I had been patiently building cycling fitness, having skipped the Boston Marathon and gone straight onto the bike after the ski season. But my form seemed slow in coming. I had done a few Masters races with little to show, apart from finishing. I had abandoned the longer Pro/1/2 road races due to insufficient mileage in my legs. I had survived New England Crit week with solid bottom-of-the-top-25 finishes. But no stand-out performances thus far.
My best years were growing evermore hazy and mythical. I was beginning to doubt I had ever been a "real" bike racer.


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2007 Quinta de Vallado Douro Tinto
The young vines portion (defined as 15 years old, which is fine for most people) includes Touriga Franca (25%), Tinta Roriz (20%), Touriga Nacional (20%), Tinta Amarela (5%) and Sousao (3%).
Although it does not show a lot of mid-palate depth, noting that the wines from this estate are always on the more elegant side, it has fine structure and complexity, a certain earthy nuance and some brightness. It is gripping on the finish and should develop a medley of flavors as it ages. It is yet another in the string of regular or second wines in this vintage that perform particularly well at excellent price points. Drink now-2017.
Mark Squires - Wine Advocate - eRobertParker.com - Dec 2009
wine at a glance
Delivery and quality guarantee
About this WINE
Quinta de Vallada
The Douro region begins 100km inland from Porto and extends east to the Spanish border. With its winding river, sculptured terraced hillsides and wild, hilly vistas it is one of the most beautiful wine regions in the world.
Dominated by the region's famous fortified Ports, the Douro's still wines are gaining a rapidly improving reputation. Most top wines are labelled as Douro DOC (Denominação de Origem Controlada) although there are also some good wines using French grape varieties (not authorised under the DOC) that are labelled as Vinho Regional Terras Durienses.
With much of the areas overlapping, the Douro DOC covers almost 38,000ha, the Vinho Regional slightly more (45,500ha) and the DO for Port slightly less (32,000ha). The region's soils benefit from a thick layer of schist on top of the typical granite that abounds in most of northern Portugal. The schist absorbs and radiates heat back into the vines, while allowing the limited amount of rain to seep far into the ground and the vine roots to delve deep into the vertical planes.
The wines are predominantly red and range from relatively light, lively and fruity to deep, dark, concentrated and fully-flavoured. The former tend to be made from Rabigato, Gouveio, Codega, Donzelinho, Malvasia Fina and Viosinho while the latter come from the better-known Port varieties: Tinta Roriz (aka Tempranillo), Touriga Nacional, Tinta Francesca, Tinto Cão, Bastardo, Mourisco Tinto, Tinta Amarela and Tinta Barroca. Classic French varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc and Gewurztraminer are also planted and used to produce the Vinho Regional wines.
Recommended Producers: Quinta de la Rosa, Jorge Moreira, Altano
Other Varieties
There are over 200 different grape varieties used in modern wine making (from a total of over 1000). Most lesser known blends and varieties are traditional to specific parts of the world.
Customer reviews
Critic reviews
Mark Squires - 22/12/2009


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There have been a few changes at QCL just recently, we have welcomed our newest team member Charlotte, who replaces Sophie at reception.
Charlotte comes to us with some great experience having previously worked at Whitecross Medical for 18 months as the receptionist and administrative assistant to their immigration team. Charlotte loves a challenge and to learn new things, she has hit the ground running here assisting not only our clients but also the entire team at QCL.
Outside of work Charlotte enjoys going to the gym, dancing, travel and spending time with family & friends.
Sophie has not left us but moved into the new role of Legal Administrator here at QCL in which she assists both the lawyers and management team with the day to day running of the practice.


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IMI are proud to offer the FREE ePortfolio system to approved centres.
See also:
See also
Autocity is the one-stop-shop for careers information and advice on careers in the Retail Motor Industry.
In line with DVSA's requirements, the IMI DVSA MOT annual assessment is now available for existing MOT testers.
John Deere awards top apprentices31 young service technicans graduate from their apprenticeship programme...
It is essential that current MOT testers complete a minimum of 3 hours' annual training, in addition to the MOT annual assessment, to maintain their approved Tester status.
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Our MOT packages consist of:
MOT annual training and annual assessment £60 + VAT
MOT annual assessment £34 + VAT
MOT annual training modules £36 + VAT
Start your training and complete your assessment today, www.theimi.org.uk/motannualtraining.
Alternatively, take our free practice beforehand to raise your confidence. The link for our free practice material can be found on the right hand side of this page.
Got any queries about the DVSA changes? Watch our short video clips to clarify anything you are unsure of, http://tinyurl.com/zoljx6b.
Alternatively, visit our website www.theimi.org.uk/mot or call 01992 511521.


text:
Massage is one of the oldest known forms of healing.
It is human nature to apply touch when we feel pain. Massage has many well-recognized benefits, including:
- relaxation
- comfort
- stress reduction
- relief from discomfort such as muscle spasms, chronic tension, soreness, and stiffness
- improved circulation and reduced swelling
- reduced blood pressure,
- relaxation of muscle "knots"
- breaking up of adhesions and scar tissue
Cranio-Sacral Therapy
Cranio-Sacral therapy is a gentle, hands-on therapeutic technique that uses light pressure to affect deep structures. Specifically, Cranio-Sacral Therapy works with the nervous system and the body's rhythms to affect other body systems. It improves the movement of muscles, fascia, membranes, and fluids.
Cranio-Sacral therapy sessions last about 60 to 90 minutes. Examples of challenges that may be improved with cranio-sacral therapy include:
- pain (e.g. neck, back, and shoulder)
- headaches (e.g. migraines, tension, and sinus)
- jaw pain (TMJD)
- stress
- hyperactivity (ADHD)
- recovery from head trauma
Links for further consideration:
Lymphatic Drainage
Lymphatic Drainage is a massage technique that promotes lymphatic fluid movement throughout the body. The therapist uses soothing, wavelike movements. No oils are used.
Lymphatic Drainage therapy relieves swelling and inflammation that causes pressure and pain. It improves circulation of all body fluids. This leads to: movement of excess water, increased detoxification, improved digestion and elimination, strengthened immune function, improved hormone balance, and increased fat transportation.
Lymphatic Drainage therapy may improve:
- sinus congestion, pressure, and pain
- headaches of all types, especially sinus headaches and migraines
- auto-immune conditions (e.g. arthritis)
- acute swelling and chronic edema
- gastrointestinal disorders (e.g. IBS, colitis)
- inflammatory conditions (e.g. allergies, sinusitis)
- overuse syndromes (e.g. carpal tunnel)
- speed of wound healing
Links for further consideration:
Deep Tissue Massage
Deep tissue massage is designed to relieve pain and muscle tension throughout the body. This type of massage is extremely beneficial because it reaches the deepest layer of muscles, fascia (connective tissue surrounding the joints) and tendons. The goal in deep tissue massage is to breakdown adhesions (tense areas within the muscle). Adhesions in the muscle are very important to address because they cause pain, inflammation and limit motion of the muscles and joints.
Benefits of Deep Tissue Massage include:
- Help alleviate pain
- Aid in recovery from injuries (sports related, falls, whiplash, etc.)
- Increase mobility
- Decrease muscle tension
- Recover from repetitive stresses (sports, computer use, lifting, etc.)
- Improve Posture
For More Information, contact:
Fertility Massage with Mercier Therapy
Get pregnant with Mercier Therapy, a holistic and gentle approach to conception. Preconception bodywork is a way to help prepare the body and mind for the best possible chances for conception and pregnancy.
Difficulty conceiving can be stressful, painful, and take a toll on the body, mind, and everything else. This special form of bodywork can help calm the mind, make you more aware of your body, and help you to attain your goal of having a child.
Mercier Therapy is a deep yet gentle pelvic visceral manipulation of the uterus and ovaries to support conception. It is also safe for women facing fertility challenges, experiencing pelvic pain, and for pre and post gynecologic procedures.


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In part because the Netherlands appeared more intent on making dirty tackles instead of playing the free-flowing attacking style it had displayed earlier in the World Cup, the World Cup final wasn't very pretty.
Nonetheless, La Furia Roja of Spain was the worthy winner.
España 1, Oranje 0.
Spain showed its class in winning its first World Cup trophy.
And appropriately for a team with a starting lineup made up primarily of Barcelona players, a Barça man scored the winning goal in the dying minutes of overtime.
Andres Iniesta, the brilliant 26-year-old attacking midfielder for Barcelona, scored the game winner in the final, just as Barcelona central back Carles Puyol scored the game winner in the semifinals against Germany.
Barcelona plays the most open and beautiful style of soccer in the world, and Spain's national team displayed that fine touch while maintaining possession most of the World Cup.
They scored only eight goals in the tournament, but that was more than enough because they hardly let opponents have the ball.
The Netherlands had chances, but goalkeeper Iker Casillas proved today why many people consider him the greatest goalkeeper in the world.
Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas, a Catalan who came up through the Barcelona academy with the likes of Argentina's Lionel Messi, made a solid impact in overtime. He more than fit in well, and now Gunners fans must dread the fact that he's been quite adamant that he wants to leave the Premier League on transfer to Barcelona.
Whatever the case, Spain's victory over the Netherlands is a testament for the value of playing the beautiful style that Barcelona has showcased to the world.
Here's hoping more teams follow the Barcelona style, because nothing gives soccer a bigger black eye than when teams win by hunkering down and refusing to open up an attack.
Spain showed up to play its style, and it was rewarded.
La Furia Roja are worthy champions.


text:
Contact us at:
E: firstname.lastname@example.com
Phil's Bio
Phillip Johnson
I'm committed to greening our cities and addressing water management through innovative and flexible sustainable landscape design. My design philosophy centres on recreating habitat and accommodating changing environmental extremes. Nature has enthralled and inspired me since I was a child, and I hope my work re-engages people with power and joy nature brings.
Phillip Johnson is recognised as an Australian sustainable landscape pioneer in the residential and commercial sectors. He leads one of the most awarded firms in the industry, known for their multi-award winning green walls and natural pool creations – centred on the use of indigenous and native plants, water management and the re-creation of thriving habitats.
Working with leading architects, developers, government and residential clients across the country, Phillip has been 'recreating habitat' for more than 16 years. He is a passionate advocate for sustainability and the environment, and is focused on greening our cities through ongoing work with urban planners, commercial partners, and "one backyard at a time".
Phillip has been collaborating with renowned botanist Patrick Blanc for the past three years, working to achieve new benchmarks in large-scale commercial green walls through the creation of innovative design, build and maintenance practices. Their most recent collaboration was for the TRIO apartment development in Sydney – the largest vertical garden in the southern hemisphere. TRIO was also awarded the landscaping industry's highest accolade in May, 2011 – winning the Commercial Project Maintenance category at the 2011 Australian Landscape Excellence Awards.
Being named as a finalist in the 2010 Victorian Premier's Sustainability Awards represented a career highlight for Phillip, validating the past 19 years of sheer hard work in trying to educate consumers and the industry on native and indigenous habitat recreation, and symbolised the quantum shift in what people consider "beautiful" garden design.
Determined, and displaying his ever-present enthusiasm for nature, Phillip started his own landscape design business when he completed university. At the time, his sustainable principles, preachings on water capture and conservation, and love of Australian native and indigenous plants were not a part of the industry vernacular. When he completed his Applied Science degree in Horticulture at the University of Melbourne one of Phillip's mentors, Dr Greg Moore, told him that his designs and philosophies were around 10 years ahead of their time.
As the issue of climate change continues to escalate, it would seem that Phillip's most vocal advocate is Mother Nature herself. Passionate about educating people on sustainable design imperatives, Phillip lectures at various Australian universities and industry conferences. His design philosophies have global application, and Phillip maintains important relationships with international counterparts.
Vaughn's Bio
Vaughn Greenhill
General Manager
After almost 14 years working in the virtual world, Vaughn Greenhill decided it was time to get his hands dirty once again, returning to his real world passion for horticulture. After completing his horticultural studies, Vaughn started his own landscaping business in 2003, and later joined the Landscape Industry Association of Victoria (LIAV) in 2007.
Creating incredible landscapes that are truly sustainable in terms of the environmental, social, and economic benefits they provide is inspiring to me.