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The Genius Pipe
11 Oct
Blog By M. Mitera
With how busy people are these days, it's important to have access to quick, easy smokeables. while on the go. Having something small and discreet on hand while you're out and about is perfect. For a portable pipe that fits in your pocket, hits smoothly, easy to clean, and durable, we highly suggest that you give the Genius Pipe a try!
Made out of high quality aluminum, the Genius Pipe will hold up to most tests of strength. The thing is tough enough that it could probably break a glass table if you dropped it the right way. As soon as you hold the pipe in your hand, you can feel the weight of the craftsmanship that went in to it's creation. In addition to being well-made, the pipe delivers a hit that is sure to change the mind of even the most pipe-hating smoker.
The design of the Genius Pipe features three different pieces, held together by magnets that easily pull apart for cleaning purposes. The top and bottom plate hold the middle plate in place while it's in use. When lit, the smoke travels through the piece through a series of dimples in the metal. Because this lengthens the time it takes for the smoke to reach the user, the Genius Pipe delivers a cool, flavorful hit that you're sure to enjoy. Many users claim that this pipe doesn't make them cough, even if they do while using a normal pipe.
Overall, the pipe has an amazing design. The only downside of it is the cost ($90) but for the piece that you're getting, it's worth it. Allowing up to ten draws per filled chamber, users can carry the Genius Pipe with them all day and not worry about running out. Once you use this piece for yourself, it's easy to see why it's called the Genius Pipe.


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Duck breast in mushroom sauce
Special recipe with Silly Saison
French cuisine / Season : throughout the year
Category : Main course, Poultry
Serves 4:
40cl Saison de Silly
4 duck breast fillets
500 g white mushrooms
1 onion
3 teaspoons green peppercorns
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 / Pour the beer into a dish. Add the duck breast fillets and marinate for 4 hours.
2 / Rinse the mushrooms under running water and allow to drain. Peel and dice the onion. Drain the duck fillets and set apart.
3 / Pour the marinade into a saucepan, heat up with the diced onion at a high temperature. Season with salt, add the mustard and the sour cream. When the sauce is creamy remove from the heat but keep warm.
4 / Fry the duck breast with its skin-side down for 5 minutes at high temperature. Remove the fat from the pan from time to time. Turn the duck and fry for another 5 minutes. The meat should still be pink.
5 / Remove the skin from the duck fillets, separate and arrange them on the plate. Pour over the mushroom sauce. Serve with potatoes sprinkled with parsley and a green salad.

subset: commoncrawl


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Device used to produce an illusion of motion. The effect is achieved by rapid movement of successive still images placed on the inside of a turning cylinder. The user looks onto the pictures through a small hole.
It's not that easy to imagine so we recommend Zoetrope on Wikipedia.
Posted in: curio


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Mackenzie Miles, a senior catcher for the Pana Panthers, recently signed a letter of intent to continue her softball career at Kaskaskia College, a junior college in Centralia.
College decisions
Pana's Miles picks Kaskaskia
Mackenzie Miles, a senior catcher for the Pana Panthers, recently signed a letter of intent to continue her softball career at Kaskaskia College, a junior college in Centralia.
As a junior last season, Miles batted .338 with 11 doubles, two triples and a home run. She earned honorable mention on The State Journal-Register All-Area Softball Team.
Girls basketball
King named MVP at Carrollton tourney
Winchester West Central senior center Tiffany King, who led the Cougars to a runner-up finish in the Carrollton Lady Hawks Invitational, received the tourney's Most Valuable Player award.
King, who has signed with McKendree University, also was the MVP as a sophomore and shared the honor with Quincy Notre Dame's Karlee Gengenbacher last year.
Two other West Central players were named to the all-tournament team: Alex Schaad and Ashlyn Jacquot.
Kelly Lonergan, who led Jacksonville Routt to a third-place finish, also made the all-tourney squad.
PORTA's Sinclair at 1,200 and climbing
She's only a junior, but Stacey Sinclair already has moved up among the top career scorers in the history of Petersburg PORTA girls basketball.
And with the rest of this season and next season remaining, there's a chance the 5-foot-9 Sinclair could set a new standard for the Lady Jays.
Sinclair reached the 1,000-point mark in a first-round game of the Riverton Lady Hawks Christmas Classic this season, and she's currently at 1,203. Josie Boehm, a 2010 PORTA graduate, finished with 1,209, although that included her freshman year at Ursuline.
Alison Epping, a 2006 graduate, totaled 1,176 points at PORTA.
The actual school record holder was unclear over the weekend, although 1980 graduate Monica Rebbe Harvatin scored 1,452 points over the first four years of the Lady Jays' program. PORTA played a total of 76 games in that span before Harvatin went on to San Diego State and then finished college at Illinois State.
Boys basketball
Tigers, Spartans among all-tourney picks
Tournament runner-up White Hall North Greene and third-place Beardstown placed two players each on the Beardstown Tournament all-tourney team.
Players selected from round-robin Pool B were North Greene's Jake Hull and Blake Fulton; Beardstown's Drake Vermillion and Deion Summers, Havana's Jordan Atwater and Rushville-Industry's Kyle Harris. Pool A honorees included Petersburg PORTA's Jordan Burnett and Concord Triopia's John Love.
— Compiled by Dave Kane


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The Comfort Group was founded by the current owners' forbearers in 1935 and has actively grown through organic growth and strategic acquisition, most recently with the purchase in both NZ and Australia of the SleepMaker bedding and Dunlop Foams businesses.
The business includes the SleepMaker, Sleepyhead, Simmons, Dunlopillo, Design Mobel and Serta bedding brands and flexible foam manufacturer, Dunlop Foams. In New Zealand the group also manufactures carpet underlay.
The Comfort Group is dedicated to building and maintaining a highly skilled and robust local manufacturing capability, using locally sourced components where possible, and has an established reputation for combining leading edge innovation, expertise and world-class operating processes to produce products of the highest quality which are distributed through a comprehensive network of wholesalers and retailers.
The Comfort Group is committed to long term on-shore manufacturing, and plans further initiatives to improve Australasia's competitive advantage in the world market.


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How to defend yourself from a bully Self Defense Techniques #5 | Master Wong Do you what to build your, Self-confidence and develops Physical conditioning? Start now: http://bit.ly/2GDOyYA
the basic training will help you improve yourself in many ways. The benefits you should achieve are Self-confidence, coordination, reflexes, fitness and better health.
Let me ask you some questions…
Do you want Self-confidence and are you ready to improve your health and coordination?
Wouldn't it be awesome if you could get rid of fear and learn to defend yourself? What if you could instantly download Wing Chun into your brain? These are questions I used to ask myself as well.
Just imagine if you had that Wing Chun Kung Fu skill, what would you do with it? Would that instantly change your life and health for the better? Unfortunately, Wing Chun Kung Fu isn't as easy as inserting a cord into our brains to download the information like the Matrix. You'll have to find a good Master if you want to learn correctly. Even if you find a Master that could expedite your training, it's going to take years to hone the skills that you envision.
Talk about "Wing Chun Kung Fu overload" . . .
Start now!: http://bit.ly/2GDOyYA
FACEBOOK ► https://goo.gl/f9ns2A
Instagram ► http://bit.ly/2OX3Esw
Twitter ► https://goo.gl/S8glr9
T-Shirt ► http://bit.ly/2DUTVk4
~ About Master Wong ~
Master Wong never had an easy life through childhood. Being bully from and a young age till his late teens, Master Wong has overcome this problem by changing his mindset which you'll read in this book. ► http://bit.ly/2N8sE0a


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|Biosequences .. Software .. Molbio soft .. Network News .. FTP
Charlie Wilkes <charlie_wilkes at easynews.com> wrote in news:p28rivoik33lpt92102hee4r0focutqbns at 4ax.com: > On Sun, 03 Aug 2003 14:41:17 GMT, Counteragent 86 > <spamspamspam at spam.spam> wrote: > >>Charlie Wilkes <charlie_wilkes at easynews.com> wrote in >>news:djlpivk5ip0q8959a6nd9qmm2kr3je8kj8 at 4ax.com: >> >>> On Sat, 02 Aug 2003 17:49:58 GMT, Agent 86 <spamspamspam at spam.spam> >>> wrote: >>> >>>>Studies done in the seventies around the world showed that marijuana >>was >>>>not an opiate as previously thought >>> >>> I don't believe it. I want to see more information about these >>> studies and where exactly "around the world" they were done. >>> >>> Charlie >>> >> >>Pot is not an opiate, no matter how ignorant you may be. > > Cites, please. > > Charlie > Why don't you provide a cite that says it is? ; ) -- Can I borrow a feeling? http://www.mp3.com/gortician Bass for your anus: http://www.mp3.com/manticore http://www.mp3.com/meterversusyard http://www.mp3.com/highc http://www.mp3.com/measurerecs. "[The artwork of Andrew Penland] is REAL...what I mean by "real" is that it made NEW THOUGHTS occur in my head, which would have never otherwise occurred." --Full Force Frank


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From Elefun Games comes another spellbinding installment in the popular Witches' Legacy series! Your girlfriend, Anabel, has just been kidnapped and dragged into a magical realm by the ruthless ice twins.
She is the only one who can help them restore power to the dark witches and bring about the downfall of the human world. Will you let this happen? Of course not! Set out on a fantastic adventure to save everything you love from being destroyed in this hidden-object puzzle adventure game!
Now on Startselect!
Now available at Startselect: Witches' Legacy: Dark Days to Come. At Startselect you can purchase your digital games and giftcards anywhere and anytime. All of our products are fully authorized and supported by the publisher or developer.
Do you want to purchase this product? Just pick one of the payment methods, check out and you will receive your digital code almost immediately in your mailbox. If you run into any problems or if you have a question, our support team is standing by. We want to give you the easiest shopping experience, so you can use your product straight away!
Happy with your choice? Be sure to check out all the other products available at Startselect!


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Identity for a series of events exploring ways in which we engage with the city with a focus on working together. This first event specifically focuses on the economy: co-production, labours of care, volunteering, social enterprise, gifts, bartering, salvaging and cooperatives.
The poster uses archive imagery depicting the Portland Works, one of the first places in Sheffield to make stainless steel cutlery and the building in which the event took place.
The Co- series has been developed by artist Charlotte Morgan and designer Julia Udall through a common interest in the points at which art and architecture practices intersect. The events aim to create a space in which to share practice, projects and ideas within a small group including specialists and nonspecialists.


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Go digital with myBühler
June 15 - 09:29
myBühler is your new online ordering tool for Bühler equipment. You have access on a 24/7 basis, you can check the availability and prices of components, place your orders, and obtain information on the status of your orders.
You can streamline your purchasing process thanks to up-to-date price and material information. The app also includes manuals and catalogues and is available on smartphones, tablets, and desktop computers.


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Damnation • Page 2
The clue's in the name.
What really sinks this uninspiring experience, however, is the skittish control, which never becomes as intuitive or fluid as it needs to be in order to sell the daredevil aspect. A nudge on the stick sends Rourke lurching forwards, making precision movements problematic. Scenery snags are depressingly common, and there's a weird judder when you leap, as the game seems to hurriedly adjust your location to match up with the landing animation on whatever ledge you're aiming for. Those clichéd AI companions are a hindrance more than a help, too, blundering into your line of sight during shootouts or simply charging ahead like angry wasps and getting incapacitated for their trouble. It's no secret that the game began life as an amateur Unreal mod, but whatever attempts have been made to bring it up to professional standard haven't had the desired effect.
Even the much-vaunted vertical levels do little to compensate for the flakiness. True, each level does have multiple routes, but that's just because as long as you keep moving in the right direction you really can't go wrong. Progress feels inevitable rather than something to be earned through ingenuity or hard work. Few are the moments where you'll need to actually plot a path through the game but, since there's no map and no objective indicators, when you do get turned around by the procession of identical buildings and rocks, the odds of getting back on course are slim.
It's an ugly game in appearance as well, with boxy character models, horrific frame-rate and a generally unfinished air to proceedings. Apart from a reasonably impressive draw distance, necessary to show off those artificially elongated chasms, there's not much in the way of passable eye candy. Characters pop in and out of existence or glitch through solid objects as they try to navigate the crude geometries of the gameworld. The camera is awkwardly passive, pointing lazily in whatever direction you last looked until you wrestle it back into line yourself. Needless to say, as you leap this way and that you're often left struggling to see where you're going. In a game based around a need for nimble navigation, it's yet another example of the many ways Damnation fails to deliver on even the most basic fundamentals of modern gaming.
Crackdown, Prince of Persia and Mirror's Edge all delivered on the vertical gaming premise far more successfully than Damnation ever manages, and all are vastly more polished and enjoyable to boot. The best Damnation can offer to alleviate its woes is a spread of multiplayer modes and a drop-in co-op option. Both are welcome inclusions, but are still rendered pointless by the grim game engine. Who wants to share such a clumsy experience with a friend? It's not even as if Damnation benefits from co-operative play. With levels that confuse sheer size for shrewd design and enemies that will happily stand six feet away from you without attacking, there's no real need for team play. You're just running around the same giant, hollow playground at the same time.
The game does feature numerous vehicle sections, in which you race chunky motorbikes and trikes over ramps and along sheer walls, and this does at least allow one player to steer while the other shoots. Since you're always moving too fast for any enemies to prove a problem, there's absolutely no reason to do this, but at least the thought is there.
Even after looking for a glimmer of quality, hoping that there'd be some redeeming feature to balance out this avalanche of weary criticism, Damnation offers little to which to cling. At best, it's a functional third-person platformer that sometimes acts like a shooter. At worst, it's an astonishing collection of poor design decisions, half-hearted implementation and mindless narrative clutter that will only lead to buyer's remorse in all who decide to give it a try.
3 /10


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Upcoming Chapter Meeting: AAII Houston
Date: Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Topic: Building a Multi-Asset Low-Correlation Portfolio
Speaker: Craig L. Israelsen, Ph. D., Associate Professor, Brigham Young University
Using historical data, Israelsen examines the growth and loss potential of various portfolios during the build-up phase (prior to retirement) and the draw-down phase (post-retirement). The presentation evaluates the impact of rebalancing over multiple time periods and specifically examines the use of "alternative asset classes" in portfolio design. Israelsen also introduces the 7Twelve Portfolio, a multi-asset balanced model.


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Friday (August 23), Jake Owen released his live cover of Waylon Jennings' "Never Could Toe The Mark."
The "Down To The Honkytonk" singer dropped the track following his announcement of his Sounds From Soundcheck series. The news came Thursday (August 22) when Owen shared that he plans to start releasing songs that he's recorded live at soundcheck over the years. "Thanks to y'alls overwhelming response to my post yesterday, I'll be releasing songs I've been recording at soundcheck over the past few years," he wrote in an Instagram caption.
He continued on writing, "I love classic country music so much and feel I don't always get to show you that side of me," Owen says. "Over the next few weeks, I'll be serving up some of my favorites to y'all. It's out job as country music artists to educate and remind folks that we wouldn't be here today with out the trailblazers and characters that paved the way for us in Country music."
Wrapping up the caption Owen shared, "My first little ditty is from one of my favorite artists of all time. The man. Hoss. Waylon Jennings. OUT TOMORROW!!"
Owen's most recent album, Greetings from...Jake was released back in March 2019. "Homemade" is his latest single off the album following the platinum-selling No. 1 single, "I Was Jack" and "Down To The Honkytonk." This summer leading into fall, you can catch Owen out on the road at a variety of music festivals. See exactly where he's headed right here on his website.
Take a listen to the latest from Owen below with his live cover of Waylon Jennings' "Never Could Toe The Mark." Stay tuned for more tracked from his Sounds From Soundcheck series to drop in the next few weeks.
Photo: Getty Images


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Halos are fictional megastructures and superweapons in the Halo video game series. They are referred to as "Installations" by their AI monitors, and are collectively referred to as "the Array" by the installations' creators, the Forerunners. The series' alien antagonists, the Covenant, refer to the structures as the "Sacred Rings", believing them to form part of a greater religious prophecy known as "The Great Journey". According to Halo's fiction, the Forerunners built the rings to contain and study the Flood, an infectious alien parasite. The rings also act together as a weapon of last resort; when fired, the rings kill any sentient life capable of falling prey to the Flood, starving the parasite of its food. The installations are at the crux of the plot progression for the Halo series.
The Halos are massive ringworlds, which feature their own wildlife and weather. The constructs resemble Larry Niven's Ringworld concept in shape and design. The structure that Halo: Combat Evolved takes place on was initially to be a hollowed-out planet, but was changed to its ring design later in development; a staff member provided "Halo" as the name for both the ring and the video game after names such as Red Shift were suggested.
Contents [hide] 1 Overview 1.1 Design and development 1.2 Scientific analysis 2 Installations 2.1 Installation 03 2.2 Installation 04 2.3 Installation 05 2.4 The Ark 3 See also 4 Notes 5 References 6 External links
Design and development
The term "megastructure" refers to artificial structures where one of three dimensions is 100 kilometers (62 mi) or larger. The first use of a ring-shaped megastructure in fiction was Larry Niven's novel Ringworld (1970). Niven described his design as an intermediate step between Dyson Spheres and planets - a ring with a radius of more than 93,000,000 miles (150,000,000 km) and a width of 1,000,000 miles (1,600,000 km); these are dimensions far exceeding the ringworlds found in the Halo series, which feature radii of 5,000 miles (8,000 km)[1] The Halos are closer in proportion to the Bishop Ring (habitat), an actual proposed space habitat first explained by Forrest Bishop, though the proportions of the Halos don't exactly match up with Bishop's idea, and don't sit at Lagrange Points, as Bishop proposed. As seen in the games, Halo installations feature a metallic exterior, with the interior of the ring filled with an atmosphere, water, plant life, and animal life.[2] A massive wall on the sides of the structure, combined with the centrifugal force produced by the ring's rotation, keep the environment from leaking into space.[3] What appear to be docking ports and windows dot the exterior surface, suggesting that a fraction of the ring structure itself is hollow and used for maintenance, living, and power generation.[4]
Before the title for game developer Bungie's next project was announced and development of the game that would become Halo was in its early stages, the megastructure that Halo: Combat Evolved took place on was a massive, hollowed-out planet called "Solipsis". The planet became a Dyson Sphere, and then a Dyson Ring.[5] Some Bungie staffers felt the change to a ringworld was "ripping off Larry Niven", according to Bungie artist Paul Russel.[6] Bungie employee Frank O'Connor wrote in a post on Bungie.net that "the specific accusation that we swiped the idea of a ring-shaped planet wholesale is not accurate," explaining that Bungie used a ringworld because "it's cool and therefore the type of thing a Forerunner civilization would build."[7]
At the time, the game was known as Blam!, but Bungie had always expected to replace the working title with something better (Blam! was only used after studio co-founder Jason Jones could not bring himself to tell his mother their next project was dubbed Monkey Nuts.)[8] Titles such as The Crystal Palace, Hard Vacuum, Star Maker, Star Shield, and The Santa Machine were suggested.[5] Russel suggested calling it Project: Halo because of the ring. Despite concerns that the title seemed too religious or lacked action, the name stuck.[9] In turn, "Halo" became the ring's name as well.[6][10]
Combat Evolved's Halo was intended to be populated with large animal life,[11] collectively known as Fauna. The Fauna included "pseudo-dinosaurs" and mammals,[12] as well as a Chocobo-like creature—the "Blind Wolf"—that players could ride.[13] The animals were removed for technical and conceptual reasons; there were difficulties in getting herd and behavior action to work, and under pressure to complete the game's more central aspects, the animals were dropped. Bungie also felt that the desolate ring heightened the sense of Halo's mystery, and made the appearance of the parasitic Flood more terrifying and unexpected.[12]
Scientific analysis
The five Lagrangian points in a two-body system. For Halo, the gas giant is the yellow circle, the lone moon is the blue circle, and the ringworld is positioned at L1. Physicist Kevin R. Grazier, Ph.D, posited in a 2006 essay the composition and problems associated with a Halo installation. The complete Halos seen in Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2 orbit gas giants similar to Jupiter, though much larger; the bodies exhibit characteristics of both a jovian planet and a small star.[14] In each system, there are five points where a body of negligible mass would remain stationary to the two much larger bodies in the system, the gas giant and its moon. These areas, known as Lagrange points, are classified by stability; while bodies at 60° angles to the gas giant would remain in the same location relative to the other objects in the system, the other three Lagrange points are meta-stable, having the tendency to be unstable in one direction. As the Halos are located at point L1, the installations must actively correct its orbit.[15] The apparent gravity of the Halo installations is close to Earth normal. A Halo would have to spin with a tangental speed of 7 kilometers (4.3 mi) per second to match Earth's gravity, translating to 19.25 rotations in a day.[16]
Aside from its unstable position, Halos would have to contend with thousands of meteor and micrometeor impacts which would destabilize or destroy the ring; there is no evidence in the games that the installations project an energy shield to prevent this occurrence.[14] Because of the magnetic environment around the gas giant, a Halo would be exposed to high levels of radiation.[17] Earth is protected from such radiation by charged particles created by the planet's magnetic field. Grazier posits that huge conductive cables could run the circumference of a Halo; when an electrical current was run through these cables, a protective magnetic environment could be created to sustain life.[18]
In the games, spectroscopic analysis of the ring's composition proved "inconclusive", implying that the Halos are constructed of an unknown material (unobtainium). Were a Halo to be constructed using conventional materials a light steel alloy would be most feasible. Assuming that the ring structure is 50% empty space, a 5000 km ring composed of steel alloy at an average density of 7.7 grams (0.27 oz) per 1 cubic centimeter (0.061 cu in) would result in a total mass of 1.7x1017 kg.[4] The amount of material required to build such a ring would be akin to the total material available in the asteroid belt.[19]
Installation 03
See also: Halo 4 Installation 03, also referred to as Gamma Halo, appears in Halo 4. Whilst no gameplay takes place on the installation, an extremely dense asteroid field surrounding the installation is the site of the UNSC scientific research base Ivanoff. It is here that UNSC scientists are conducting experiments on the Forerunner artifact called the Composer, which has the ability to convert biological forms, specifically humans, into AIs. Once the game's antagonist, the Didact, activates the device, the UNSC base is left uninhabited. No further information regarding the fate of the installation was revealed.
Installation 04
See also: Halo: Combat Evolved Installation 04, also referred to as Alpha Halo, appears in Halo: Combat Evolved. The majority of gameplay takes place in areas on this installation, and its exploration drives the story.[20] The ring is managed by an artificial intelligence known as 343 Guilty Spark, and is located in the Soell system, dominated by a gas giant known as Threshold.[21] Halo orbits Threshold's only satellite, an extremely large moon known as Basis.[14] A group of humans aboard the ship Pillar of Autumn crash-land on the ring after being pursued by the alien Covenant.[22] The ring holds religious significance to the aliens, while the humans believe it is a weapon that could turn the tide of the war against the Covenant in their favor.[20] In reality, the ring is home to a virulent parasite called the Flood, which are accidentally released by the Covenant and threaten to infest the galaxy. The human soldier Master Chief eventually detonates the Pillar of Autumn's reactors in order to destabilize the ring and cause it to break up, preventing the spread of the Flood and the activation of the Halo network, which would kill all sentient life as a fail-safe to starve the Flood.[23] The Ark was alerted to its destruction and proceeded to create Installation 04B, which, too, was destroyed by Master Chief. During the game's events, Guilty Spark alludes to a previous firing of the network, which Bungie's director of cinematics Joseph Staten said occurred around 100,000 years previous to the events of the game in the year 2552.[24]
Installation 05
See also: Halo 2 During the events of Halo 2, the Covenant and humans discover a second ringworld, Installation 05, or Delta Halo. It was monitored by 2401 Penitent Tangent, who completely ignored Flood warnings and was captured by their leader, the Gravemind. The Covenant leadership wants to activate the installation, believing it is the key to their salvation.[25] At the same time, the Flood, led by an intelligence known as the Gravemind, lay siege to the Covenant's city-ship, High Charity. After 343 Guilty Spark informs Halo's true purpose to the Arbiter, a Covenant holy warrior, of the danger that the Halos truly represent, a group of humans and Covenant Elites prevent the firing of the ring.[26] The unexpected shutdown activates a fail-safe protocol, priming the remaining Halo installations for remote activation from a location known as The Ark.[27] In Halo 4, it is revealed that the UNSC has created an oversight base on the Installation (or around it), as they did with Installation 03.
The Ark
See also: Halo 3 The Ark, also referred to as Installation 00, is located outside the Milky Way galaxy and serves as the construction and control station for the Halo weapon system. It does not share the ringworld geometry of the other installations. During Halo 3, the Covenant discover a portal on Earth that leads to the Ark and are pursued by the humans and a breakaway faction of Covenant opposed to activating the rings. Gravemind, having hijacked High Charity, also crash-lands on the installation. The remote firing of the rings is halted by Master Chief and the Arbiter. In order to end the threat of the Flood, Master Chief decides to activate Installation 04B under construction in The Ark, the replacement for the Halo that he destroyed in Halo: Combat Evolved. Unknown to everyone but 343 Guilty Spark, a premature firing would destroy the installation; the monitor attempted to defend 'his' ring but was defeated by Master Chief, who proceeded to fire the weapon. The firing tears apart the incomplete Halo and severely damages The Ark as Master Chief, Cortana, and the Arbiter try to escape through the Portal, which closes as they enter, leaving Master Chief and Cortana drifting in space while the Arbiter returns to Earth successfully, forming the setting of Halo 4.
According to Greg Bear's Forerunner Trilogy, a "Greater Ark" served as the location for the construction of larger 30,000 km rings.
See also
- Bishop Ring (habitat)
- Orbital (The Culture)
- Ringworld
Jump up ^ Grazier (2006), 39–40. Jump up ^ Hiatt (1999), 94–96. Jump up ^ Gillen (2000), 45. ^ Jump up to: a b Grazier (2006), 41. ^ Jump up to: a b McLaughlin (2007), 1. ^ Jump up to: a b Jarrard, et al (2008). Jump up ^ Perry (2006), 6. Jump up ^ Trautmann (2004), ix. Jump up ^ Trautmann (2004), 73. Jump up ^ Toyama (2001), 61. Jump up ^ Preston (2000), 19. ^ Jump up to: a b Bungie. Jump up ^ Lehto, et al (2002). ^ Jump up to: a b c Grazier (2006), 44–45. Jump up ^ Grazier (2006), 46. Jump up ^ Grazier (2006), 49. Jump up ^ Grazier (2006), 47. Jump up ^ Grazier (2006), 48. Jump up ^ Grazier (2006), 42. ^ Jump up to: a b Trautmann (2004), 77. Jump up ^ Grazier (2006), 43. Jump up ^ Trautmann (2004), viii. Jump up ^ Barrat (2007), 2. Jump up ^ McLees, et al (2006). Jump up ^ "Cortana: That's what I thought he said. The Prophet of Regret is planning to activate Halo! / Master Chief: Are you sure? / Prophet of Regret: I shall light this sacred ring, release its cleansing flame, and burn a path into the divine beyond! / Cortana: Pretty much."—Bungie. Halo 2. (Microsoft Game Studios). Level/area: Regret. (2004) Jump up ^ Barrat (2007), 3. Jump up ^ "343 Guilty Spark: Fail-safe protocol: in the event of unexpected shut-down, the entire system will move to standby status. All installations are now ready for remote activation. / Keyes: Remote activation? From here? / 343 Guilty Spark: Don't be ridiculous. [...] the Ark, of course."—Bungie. Halo 2. (Microsoft). Level/area: The Great Journey. (2004) References[edit]
Barratt, Charlie (2007-09-22). "Halo: The Story So Far". GamesRadar. pp. 1–4. Retrieved 2009-04-19. Buckell, Tobias, ed. (2009). Halo Encyclopedia. DK Publishing. ISBN 0-7566-5549-8. Bungie (2006-02-10). "One Million Years B.X.". Bungie.net. Archived from the original on 2006-02-10. Retrieved 2009-07-17. Gillen, Kieron (July 2000). "Halo, Beautiful". PC Gamer UK: 45. Hiatt, Jesse (November 1999). "Halo; the closest thing to the real thing". Computer Gaming World: 94–96. Jarrard, Brian; Luke Smith (2008-08-21). "Bungie Podcast: 08/21/08; With Paul Russel and Jerome Simpson". Bungie.net. Retrieved 2008-08-27. Lehto, Marcus; Martin O'Donnell; Robert McClees; Paul Russell (2002). Evolution of Halo. Electronic Entertainment Expo: Bungie. Retrieved 2008-04-15. McLaughlin, Rus (2007-09-20). "IGN Presents The History of Halo". IGN. pp. 1–3. Retrieved 2008-11-01. McLees, Robert; Frank O'Connor; Joseph Staten (2006-08-01). "HBO interview with Joseph Staten". Halo.Bungie.Org. Retrieved 2008-05-01. Perry, Douglass C (2006-05-17). "The Influence of Literature and Myth in Videogames". IGN. pp. 1–6. Retrieved 2009-03-19. Preston, Jim (August 2000). "Scoop!; Halo". PC Gamer: 19. Toyama, Kevin (May 2001). "Cover Story: Holy Halo". Next Generation Magazine: 61. Trautmann, Eric (2004). The Art of Halo. New York: Del Ray Publishing. ISBN 0-345-47586-0. Grazier, Kevin (2006). "Halo Science 101". In Glenn Yeffeth. Halo Effect: The Unauthorized Look at the Most Successful Video Game of All Time. Dallas, Texas: BenBella Books. ISBN 1-933771-11-9.
External links
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Steel Pallet Wooden Pallet
We take immense pleasure to introduce ourselves as one of the well established manufacturers and suppliers of Steel Pallet Wooden Pallet. Available with us in various specifications, these are designed and manufactured using best quality materials which are procured from the trusted vendors of the market. Offered to the clients at most moderate prices, this Steel Pallet Wooden Pallet is available with us in various specifications. Owing to our wide distribution network, our company is capable to meet the bulk requirements of the clients within the decided time period.
FUTURE INDUSTRIES All Rights Reserved.(Terms of Use)
Developed and Managed by Infocom Network Ltd.


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This blog provides information about the Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers Market and inspiration for cooking with local ingredients from the Southern Willamette Valley. I'm Karen, a resident of the Fairmount neighborhood, parent at Edison Elementary School and Roosevelt Middle School, and faculty member of the University of Oregon. The market's inception was a chat I had back in 2010 with DeeAnn Hall, owner of the former Eugene City Bakery, about how nice it would be to have a neighborhood Sunday Farmers Market. As we explored this possibility, we received valuable advice from Lynne Fessenden of the Willamette Farm and Food Coalition and Dan Armstrong from the Southern Willamette Valley Bean and Grain Project. DeeAnn talked with the owner of Sun Automotive across the street about using their space, and Ned Forman from ECB talked with lots of farmers, and found a few brave pioneers in Rachel and Tom from SLO Farm, Kasey and Jeff from Lonesome Whistle Farm, and Linda from The Salmon People. For the market's second season, Rachel and Tom took the reins and were joined by John from Sweetwater Farm, Stephanie from Songbird Farm, Linda from The Salmon People, and Dan from the Southern Willamette Valley Bean and Grain Project. In the market's third season, Sweetwater Farm took the helm, joined by Jenni and Scott from Fair Valley Farm. For the fourth, fifth, and sixth seasons, Sweetwater Farm's new owner, Erica, continued to run the market, along with Jenni and Scott from Fair Valley Farm. Starting with the seventh season, farmers Jonah and Amber from Camas Swale Farm took over the market, with continued participation from Fair Valley Farm and Tiger Lily Art Company.
The idea for this blog came from a conversation I had with Lotte Streisinger, who founded the Eugene Saturday Market in 1970 as a venue for local artists. Lotte told me that for many years she had a radio show in which she offered recipe ideas for produce on sale at the Saturday Market, and it occurred to me that today's equivalent would be a recipe blog. My first post was early in the Fairmount Market's first season. When the market's first season ended, I continued to crave locally grown, fresh food and to feel inspired to write about it. I joined local CSAs: Lonesome Whistle Farm for beans and grains and Open Oak Farm for produce. Over the seasons, this blog has been a place for me to document my family's growing knowledge and appreciation of our valley's remarkable bounty, and it has introduced me to some of our region's remarkable people who are committed to the conscientious production of food that is healthy to eat and gentle on the earth.
Thank you for supporting our neighborhood market.


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Sam Sez
Question: "Inflationary problems?"
Answer: Yes, but in different ways.At first the attempt to inflate the system out of credit destruction and constricting demand missed its mark. Quantitative easing (QE) is a euphemism for wealth transfer or overpaying for damaged assets. Some analysts suggest that Quantitative Easing is better defined as Qualitative Easing or the reduction or elimination of sound quality standards. Zero Interest Rate Policy (ZIRP) is a related effort to prop up financial assets but by doing so it impairs the price and risk discovery mechanism for capital markets because it basically says low or no cost money/credit for and project/application particularly for members. In fact, the economy may be on the cusp of the negative outcome event horizon. See related ZIRP articles about regulatory capital impacts et cetera. Recent talks and papers about another round of Quantitative Easing or QE2 are problematic. The indicated purpose is to raise asset values whether tangible or not and to spur consumption. However, the opposite outcomes are more likely. The greater the inflationary impact, the less disposable income because of the progressive income tax structure. Low real-wage earners would be catapulted into the higher or even highest tax brackets. Therefore if their nominal wages doubled or tripled, the real percentage allotted to taxes would jump and actually less would be available for expenditure. This is dangerous for a consumer/consumption based economy for many reasons. Traditionally this type of movement was somewhat slow and was referred to as "bracket creep." Dramatic inflation or hyperinflation would trigger bracket jump. As many government bodies are experiencing revenue decline due to lower income, sales, mortgage and so on taxes and fees, they are mismatching borrowing proceeds for tax revenues. These bodies are raising sales taxes and fees to close their budgetary gaps. However, for the vast majority of people, they spend most of what they make. These actions will curb other consumption expenditures reinforcing further declines in true consumption and productivity. A Value Added Tax or VAT is being discussed. It is regressive similar to regular sales tax but on a national level. In other words, VAT impacts the poor more than the affluent. Once again, if many people spend most, all, or even more than their incomes (think unemployed, under-employed, financial/medical crisis) then that tax precludes other purchases. Basically, the economy is experiencing a major move towards only inelastic demand goods and services and a movement away from elastic goods and services. The former are necessities whereas the later are the niceties.
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Photography Classes in South Dennis NJ
Looking for photography classes in South Dennis NJ? Whether you are a hobbyist, professional, or beginner, the most effective way to improve your photography technique is through hands-on training with skilled instructors.
There are many accredited and recognized photography schools in New Jersey. Photography classes cover topics such as digital capture, lighting techniques, exposure, composition, outdoor photography, and many other basic and advanced camera techniques. Becoming an accomplished photographer can lead to a prosperous professional career or lifelong hobby.
There are numerous Photography Classes in South Dennis NJ:
- South Dennis Studio Photography Classes
- South Dennis Photography 101
- South Dennis Digital Photography Classes
- South Dennis Nature Photography Classes
- South Dennis Editorial Photography Classes
South Dennis NJ Photography Classes
Delaware Technical Community College-Terry
100 Campus Drive
Dover, Delaware 19901
Phone: (302) 857-1000
38.80 miles away


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UX Design Techniques: Creating Scenarios and Storyboards
Scenarios and storyboarding provide a reality check for your designs, allowing you to see how the interaction will play out in a real environment. This course shows how to use these tools to map your ideas about what the user needs to their day-to-day tasks and workflow. Author Chris Nodder explains how to write scenarios and transform them into visual storyboards that show elements of the interactions that are hard to describe with words alone, such as emotion, action, detail, and progression.


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Top 10 Sightseeing Tours in Beijing, China
Fall is a great time of year to visit Beijing. When we were there a few years ago (late-September early October) the weather was perfect – warm, sunny and dry. Did you know that Beijing has more attractions than any other city in China? Highlights of our trip were touring the magnificent Forbidden City and walking along the Great Wall of China. If you are planning to visit Beijing this year or sometime soon, consider taking one of these fun Top 10 Sightseeing Tours:


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By Sara Sayed
US companies are now starting to take notice of the monumental opportunities to expand their markets to the Middle East and South East Asia. This is partially due to a recent interest in emerging economies by marketing firms, and the resulting market research.
The research showing growing economies with large populations demanding higher-end US products has stimulated interest in market expansion to these regions. According to David Smith, in his study "Global Futures and Foresights, Major Market Trends of 2011", Muslims represent 23% of the global population today, and this figure will increase to 26% by 2030. Currently, Muslims account for 2.7 trillion dollars in global trade, and conservative estimates expect this figure to triple by 2030.
In the Middle East, for example, Midamar has witnessed exponential growth in the market for Halal foods over the past 40 years – particularly in the past decade. Increasing population growth, migration and the development of the food services sectors in Arabian Gulf countries have led to a demand for high-end USDA approved Halal protein products.
To quote from the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Gain report on the retail sector in the UAE:
"The UAE enjoys a modern, diverse and growing retail food sector. The emergence of hypermarkets in recent years has led to a number of new players in the large store market. An estimated 90 percent of food is imported and prices are relatively high given transportation costs and exchange rate fluctuations. After several years of rapid growth, retail food sales slowed during the early part of 2009 as global economic conditions worsened, but many retailers report that sales have begun to rebound. In the absence of official data, major retailers estimate the annual value of the UAE retail market at $5 billion and the expected annual growth in retail sales at 10-15 percent."
The same statement, with minor modifications could apply to other GCC countries, including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman. For years, popular American based dining establishments have been locating in Middle Eastern countries with great success. As a result, Middle Easterners began to develop a taste for US beef cuts of all grades as well as turkey, deli meats and more.
Midamar began exporting Halal foods to the Middle East and South East Asia in 1974, and is the first food company in the USA to coordinate with USDA in the development of Halal standards and processes in USDA inspected and approved processing facilities. Since then, Midamar has become a globally recognized Halal Brand and leading exporter of USA produced Halal protein products.
Relative to European countries, the USA is still more insulated from the global economy. However, exporting has become an increasingly important driver of job creation and better paying jobs. US Commerce Department Statistics show that exports represent about 11 percent of US GDP but they account for over 35% of economic growth. Approximately 12 million American jobs depend on international trade and export expansion. This number is increasing annually.
According to the official Whitehouse site, www.whitehouse.gov, in 2010 the Obama Administration launched the National Export Initiative, whereby the President set the ambitious goal of doubling US exports while supporting millions of new jobs over five years. Exports have been growing at an annualized rate of 16.3% when compared with 2009, a pace greater than the 15% required to double exports by the end of 2014.
The Administration's goal is to ensure US businesses, farmers, ranchers, and workers are able to compete and win in world markets where intellectual property is protected, where agricultural and industrial standards are based on science, and where transparent rules and regulations enhance export development. This has created a supportive environment for US businesses to pursue international trade opportunities.
As markets grow and develop, so do consumer tastes and preferences, this is particularly true of the food and hospitality markets. Most recently, consumers world-wide have been demanding a more stringent degree of Halal oversight, as well as confirmation that animals are raised and harvested humanely.
"Midamar is a Halal food company…we see ourselves as more than a company that has recently decided to sell Halal food in pursuit of rapidly expanding market opportunities," explains Jalel Aossey. "Over the years we have supplied protein products to Middle Eastern and South East Asian markets and have needed to adjust to the growth and development of these markets."
Along with the opportunities, there are risks and complexities when engaging in international trade, particularly in the food export sector. This can be seen in the recent ban on US Beef products by the Saudi Food and Drug Administration (SFDA). The ban is a result of a case of 'Mad Cow' disease found in California. According to the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, the SFDA has indicated its willingness to lift the temporary ban on US beef and beef products in accordance with its standard procedure for lifting bans imposed on imports of meat and meat products. The standard procedure includes sending SFDA food safety experts to the US to inspect and approve US beef producing facilities that will be allowed to export beef to Saudi Arabia
"Of course Midamar has been affected by the SFDA temporary ban on US beef. Exporting frozen beef products is very capital intensive and there is an element of risk that unfortunately plays out in these circumstances. That being said, the SFDA will conduct an investigation that will take some time. Once the Saudi authorities have completed their research and their confidence in the quality and safety of US beef products is restored, Midamar will be ready to resume supply of premium quality Midwestern Halal beef products to Saudi Arabia. " explained Aossey.
When exporting abroad, companies must account for risk in the political and economic environment of each market. There are variables that companies have no control over, like for example currency issues, domestic unrest, political relations and unforeseen events.
"Halal food companies in the USA must be vigilant in setting standards that minimize risk to the food supply. Rather than rely on regulators, as an industry we need to ensure that the food supply chain is healthy in order to prevent problems before they arise," added Aossey.
One way to ensure a healthy and stable food supply is to adhere to Islamic principles in everyday business operations. This includes, raising animals in humane environments, transporting animals humanely, properly restraining animals, and harvesting by trained Muslim slaughter-men using sharp tools.
The best research to date on humane slaughter has been done by Temple Grandin, a renowned animal rights scholar in the USA. On her website, www.grandin.com, Dr. Grandin summarizes several decades of research. She states that there is very little difference between Halal and Kosher slaughter techniques. In any country there needs to be awareness of humane techniques and willingness on the part of those who perform the slaughter to adopt humane practices, and to hone the skills of their craft.
There also needs to be some oversight by governmental and non-governmental organizations. You may find inhumane practices by some Muslim slaughter men in developing countries – it is very likely that slaughter men of other faiths are also adopting inhumane practices due to a lack of education and oversight in the same countries. Similarly in the USA, Temple Grandin's research shows that 50% of (non Muslim) slaughterhouses still have what she considers "inhumane practices".
In the course of her research with cattle, Dr Grandin has observed that if the handling and restraining are carried out according to her guidelines, calm animals show "little or no reaction to the throat cut…it appears that the animal is not aware that its throat has been cut."
The Halal industry could be at the forefront of the animal welfare movement, setting new benchmarks for responsible and considerate treatment of animals, and further enhancing the value of Halal produce.
"Humane treatment of animals is not only good for the animals, but for the health of the entire food supply. It leads to healthier animals and better quality meat and poultry. And it is an integral part of the Halal food supply. By adhering to Halal standards, we as an industry can do our part to ensure that protein products are safe and healthy to consume," added Aossey.
While there are tremendous opportunities for growth in international Halal markets, consumers and governments are becoming more conscious and aware of how processes affect the health and welfare of animals and the people who consume protein products. The Halal industry must set the standard for producing the highest quality and safest protein products available. It is not enough to wait for regulators to enforce rules. It is up to Halal food producers to set the standards.
Reproduced from HalalConnect #4


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I know that Thea has said that there are no rules, but I think some kind of focus for me is a good thing. Somehow B seemed appropriate. You'll get my drift before the end of it.
I've just started playing with a reggae band, so I've been listening to the tunes of this amazing musician for inspiration. After all, Bob Marley IS REGGAE, right?
Bob Marley – Them Belly Full
Over the weekend I listened to Beethoven's Symphony No.9 (his last) played by the Australian World Orchestra. This amazing orchestra is made up of professional Australian musicians, all of whom travelled from around the world, and around Australia, to take part. The broadcast on ABC Classic FM was almost as good as being at the Sydney Opera House 😉 It's such an uplifting piece of music, and quite something to see it performed live. What beats it? Actually performing it as part of the orchestra or choir. Enjoy this performance (0ver two videos) by the NAFA Orchestra from Singapore.
Beethoven – Symphony No.9, 4th movement (in 2 parts).
I was introduced to Beady Belle a few years ago by some friends at our church in Perth. This particular tune is good late-night-winding-down music. So sit back, relax, and enjoy it, if you're in that kind of mood.
Beady Belle – Closer
What have you been listening to lately? Feel free to share it with us over at Thea's blog.


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With only a week before lift-off, the Zambia Study Abroad programs of Gonzaga (traveling to Zambezi & Chimfunshi) celebrated with a "missioning" service this afternoon. Through the singing, blessing, poems and reflections we were called to allow ourselves to be served where we serve and engage the experiences with a full mind, body and spirit.
Ethan Kane, Zambezi '17, shared that when he returned from Zambezi, after "doing" and having so many incredible experiences — a baby shower, a circumcision ceremony, a wedding, a baptism, an exorcism, and even burying someone — he would often reflect on the feelings that Zambia provoked. He shared about the sand of the roads, the sounds of the choirs, the fear of a spider, and the music that moved his body. Ethan explained, "Did you feel inspired? Did you feel in love? Did you feel your heart break? Did you feel passionate? In the end, Zambia was WAY more about what I felt, than what I DID." He challenged the teams to go out and pay attention so that each person can feel Zambia and the lessons she holds.
We hope you will follow along as the Zambezi 2018 group discovers the lessons that Zambia has for them in the coming month. Most days, a member of the Gonzaga-in-Zambezi student group will reflect on their learning, the challenges, and the transformation that true accompaniment with a community can bring. We hope you will join us.


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Daily Fishing and Outdoor Report
I'm perfectly drive to fine ...
Thursday, March 05, 2015: looks like we will achieve that 6 to 8-inch covering of wet thick snow, as opposed to the blowy snow we've had during storms to this point.
To think this falling snow – and related road and walkway slush will fresh to rock with tonight's single-digit lows – and stay that way for 48 hours. Then, temperatures turn the bend for a rapid climb.
Useful information: The average number of calories burnt shoveling snow is something like 300 to 350 calories per hour, per www.fitday.com. Oh, the number of people who die in the US from heart attack/disease is about 600,000 per year. There's probably some math that should be done I there somewhere.
Memory isn't what most people think. If you concentrate too much on memory, it purposely hides. The problem arises when you begin to wonder if you're losing your memory.
Just worrying about losing one's memory thwarts the memory's ability to be itself, to move freely. How often has something you're trying so hard to remember come to you as soon as your stop trying to remember it? I can't remember how often that has happened to me. It shows that memory doesn't liked being bothered. It'll show up when -- and if -- it's good and ready. No amount of prodding, worrying or hurrying is going to change its mind about when it'll make its presence known.
The most important thing to remember about memory, as you get older, is the fact you've always pretty much sucked at remembering things. Getting older barely enters into it. It has always been, "Oh, that's the weird guy that used to be on whatever that show was with the scary house with big doors and that talking hand … and the goth woman with the boobs."
Thing. The thing at the big doors was called Thing, in the show called "The Addams Family," with the weird guy, who was called Gomez, who was John Aston in real life, and it was a hot Carolyn Jones, who was the boobsy Morticia.
Now, see, that's some serious, upper-shelf memory flow -- which, in my case, was my instantly remembering to Google "The Addams Family."
So, here to fore, those of you fearing you're losing your memory, simply remember to always keep a direct line open to Google -- and also to never drink a glass of anything clear before sniffing it thoroughly – and Googling "What should I do before drinking a glass of something clear?"
Obligatory info from AHA:
TBT ... Hey, check out this way-recent throwback ... mainly to see the warmth and summernesss ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exhb5T0-rqc&feature=youtu.be
Below: Fire out at 1:15. I don't know if any animals perished.
I'm passing this APP release on since I've now gotten 9 calls/emails asking if the animals are OK in the Whiting barn fire ...
MANCHESTER TOWNSHIP – Authorities are responding to a barn fire involving animals in the Whiting section, police said.
A barn full of animals went up in flames late Monday morning, Manchester Township Police Capt. Todd Malland said. They managed to get out, but some are still at large in the area.
Crews from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals were called to the scene of the fire to try to corral them, Malland said.
First responders from Whiting Volunteer Fire Company, Ridgeway Volunteer Fire Company, Jackson Mills Volunteer Fire Company and Plumsted Township Fire District also were called to the scene.
SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Daily Press] By Tamara Dietrich - March 5, 2015 -
The harsh winter hasn't only hit motorists hard — it's also done a number on aquaculturists, especially on hard-hit Tangier Island in the Chesapeake Bay.
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) says about 175 of the floating cages watermen use to grow market oysters went missing. The group is asking fishermen, boaters and coastal residents to keep an eye out for them.
Some cages have already washed ashore as far away as Cape Henry and the Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge, both in Virginia Beach, Epes said. About 70 were found as of Tuesday, with Marine Police from the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC) and the U.S. Coast Guard also were pulling cages from the water.
Missing cages represent a "significant loss" for commercial watermen on Tangier, Epes said. Their island was also iced in by the recent stretch of Arctic freezes, keeping oystermen from work for days at a time. As a result, VMRC extended the oyster season on public grounds by nearly two weeks, to March 13.
Oyster aquaculture is a growing industry in Virginia, and now accounts for about two-thirds of the state's annual oyster harvest. In 2014, the commercial harvest totaled 504,000 bushels.
The missing oyster cages are about 3 feet long, 3 feet wide and 2 feet deep. They're fixed to black plastic floats about 3 feet long and a foot wide
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These days it is common to see social media websites being used to promote products, services and special deals to consumers. Accounts like LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, YouTube, etc. are all popular in the realm of promoting. There are a few Do's and Don'ts about using social media as a marketing tool for your c-store.
- Be sure to change the privacy settings to "public" to ensure that the posts can be widely available for anyone to read.
- By including a photo to the posts, it will attract the reader's attention.
- Post on several different social media sites. Everyone has a different favorite site, so posting on only one site will not allow you to reach the whole target audience. Things to keep in mind; Facebook is more personal although many businesses take advantage of it, LinkedIn is business-focused. Twitter offers fast and short conversations. YouTube is a great place to demonstrate "how to" forms of information.
- Post regularly. It is great to share articles, videos, photos, blog posts, and quotes that all target your audience. To keep things organized designate only one employee to focus on social media for your store.
- To keep the audience engaged, offer some form of a reward for the people who connect with the business on social media having customers recognize your business is very valuable so by making them feel appreciated will keep them coming back.
- Say anything on the social media sites that you wouldn't want to appear on the front page of a newspaper. This can happen by keeping it clean and professional; no profanity or jokes.
- Post things that are only sales messages. A good rule of thumb is eight general post to every one business specific post.
- Post without proofreading. Having typos in your posts will affect the store's credibility.
- "Like" your own post.
- Post the same information multiple times on one social media site. If there is an important message, wait about 5 days to post it again.


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Your calls and emails have been working – House Bill 4163 to prohibit school calendar and schedule as a subject of bargaining has been slowed in its movement through the House.
Thousands of calls and emails have flooded lawmakers who want to remove educator voices from important decision-making. The bargaining prohibition could keep frontline experts from discussing holiday breaks, parent-teacher conferences, teacher prep time, bus route scheduling, professional development scheduling, and more.
Keep it up – contact your state representatives, and get parents and other interested community members involved in the fight. Tell legislators not to silence educators. We know what our communities need in terms of school calendar and schedule.


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The Importance of Value Stability
This is an edited version of a piece I wrote 2 years ago – additional experience and learning added for seasoning!
Traditional crypto currencies (bitcoin/ether etc.) have been a lot of fun to date; but for long term personal or business dealings, they suffer from high degrees of value fluctuation (often called volatility) which makes working out future costs of things in a fixed amount of crypto hard. E.g. To paint my house next month, I agree to pay you 10 Bitcoin on completion.
Agreeing to get paid in a specified amount of Bitcoin 1 year, 1 month, 1 day or even 1 hour from now involves at least one (or both) parties taking a bet on the future value of Bitcoin, in addition to whatever risk might be associated with the reason for the payment in the first place. To the avid bitcoiner, that may look like a good bet. To the average man on the street/business; they just want to know whether they can pay their rent with it when they get it.
This brings us neatly to the concept of value stability. Value stability, over a long time period, is NOT the same as price stability. Let's say I really like cheeseburgers. I want to be able to buy one cheeseburger a month for the next five years; so I create cheeseburger coin. This coin has the magical property of always being equivalent to exactly one cheeseburger at my favourite cheeseburger stall.
Let's say over this same 5-year period, that cheeseburger has gone up in price, due to inflation, from £1.50 to £2.50. The property that both I and Barry (the guy who owns the cheeseburger stall) want is for that cheeseburger coin to be worth the price of one cheeseburger, regardless of when the coin it is used. I.e. 1 cheeseburger coin is worth £1.50 today and £2.50 in five years time, allowing me to always get a 1:1 cheeseburger:cheeseburger coin exchange rate, and Barry to always be able to sell the coin at the price a cheeseburger is sold for at the time of use, allowing him to pay for his inputs and make his profit.
This, essentially, represents both the time value of "normal" (fiat) money: e.g. £1 in one year is worth less than £1 now (assuming positive inflation), and an economic concept called Purchasing Power Parity (PPP): what equivalent money do I need to purchase a specific good (e.g. a cheeseburger) given some sort of variation (time/geography etc).
Smart contracts
Smart contracts are a broad, often accused to be a badly named, concept. In this instance, I am restricting a smart contract to include code on block chain that has an ability to control assets (e.g. Eth on Ethereum), with defined rules as to how it administers those assets.
This still covers a huge number of scenarios; but let's go with a simple escrow service example, with a binary outcome (either done or not done) that can be determined by code alone (i.e. no arbitration/opinion input needed).
Let's say I really, really want to become famous. To achieve this, I create a smart contract that says; here is a 10 second video of me looking amazing, if you are the first person to get 10 million people to look at my video of me looking amazing by posting it on your Youtube channel, I will pay you $10k (not a real offer, please don't).
Before anyone seriously embarks on this, they will want to know the money is there. They have no reason to trust me, but there is real work involved and an opportunity cost in doing this vs doing something else. Smart contracts can solve this problem: by putting the funds into a smart contract, anyone can go and see, on the public block chain, both that the funds are available, and also, how they can earn/win some/all of the funds.
However, there is a problem: to put the funds into the smart contract, I need to fund the contract in crypto assets. Now comes the uncertainty of value. I go out to my favourite exchange and buy $10,000 worth of Ether; I take that Ether and place it in the smart contract. Now, not only am I hoping that Ether doesn't crash, so is everyone who is considering taking on the project.
This is a contract that may take some time to complete, so I am hoping that not only is someone willing to take a punt on getting my face in front of 10 million people, they are also hoping that by the time they do it, that Ether was worth it in REAL (i.e. cheeseburger) terms — i.e. if I would charge $10k for this service today, and it takes 1 year to complete, I want $10k + inflation (at least) by the time I manage to finish the work.
The thing is, getting this right is actually pretty difficult. For this bit, I will let Preston Byrne summarise:
It is this value stability that is fundamentally critical to the wider adoption of smart contracts; removing value uncertainty, and radically broadening the real world applicability of crypto currencies in general. Once that is solved, there is only one question remaining: is it worth trying to get 10 million people to view this ugly mug for a measly $10k + inflation?


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Crown Princess Victoria, Current Events Part 8: December 2008 - June 2010
Welcome to the 8th thread for Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden´ current events.
The previous thread can be found here.
Please post current news and pictures of Crown Princess Victoria in this thread.
While doing so, please remember to follow the TRF posting guidelines and the copyright rules TRF Posting Rules & Guidelines :
Yesterday evening the crown princess celebrated the Prins Eugens Kulturpris:
CP Victoria is in the Prince Eugene Cultural Awards
ANP Beeldbank
ANP Beeldbank
ANP Beeldbank
ANP Beeldbank
:previous: The return of . . . do dum, do dum, do, do do . . . (oh rats I just can't get the intro notes to Jaws right), :eek: :eek: the dreaded 'ponytail!' :nonono:
Despite her obvious ability she does not dress formally enough and it just come down to the hair. It's sort of pull it back off my face, it'll be OK. Some people misconstrue it as a sign she is bored or just doesn't really care about her public appearances.
Besides for an evening event, she is very casual dressed. That´s office wear!
The female award winner is wearing an long evening dress and the crown princess, who should be the most regal of all, was coming in teacher blouse + skirt :nonono:
Hopefully...next week...better
Crown princess Victoria has participated this week at a top level seminar on Peace and Security held in the Swedish town of Uppsala
The Jakarta Post/UN, multilateralism best for global problems: Scholars
Unt/Victoria i Uppsala för ny förkovran
This was a very interesting article. It is nice to see CP Victoria involved in seminars like this. I know that she has done things with the UN before, but is this the first time that she has participated in discussions on peace and security?
She had attended a similiar course in May 2002. As much as I know this one was an addition to the other course.
Conflict resolution is a very tricky topic for Royals...as it´s hyper-politically.
But if she is really interested, I´d still wish, she would make something out of it. Would be part of high profile (UNO) conferences...and would visit successful projects on peace (keeping)...so that they would get more attention.
But so far it looks, as if there would be no thread in her work. She seems to attend courses, she is interested in, just to give awards on this&that with a big frog grin on her face.
Her big trips in 2008 were mainly about being there, and while climate research is important, I am wondering, when she would go to the next level: climate protection. :nonono:
Yesterday evening the crown princess opened the exhibition "Hjälpmedelsinstitutets" in Belgrad!
C.Princess Victoria
- Haakon er som en storebror - SEHER.NO : Sveriges kongehus
Here pictures of the visit in Belgrad:
Kraljevska porodica Srbije
Link to information and pic from royalcourt:
Thanks ursulajohanna! Nice to see HRH with the Serbian royals, crown princess Katherina always seems such a good natured lady. Victoria seems to be in a good mood, she is all smiles and looks rather pretty, dispite the trousers.
Any idea why she is opening this institute btw, did the Swedish state/charities invest in it perhaps?
Marengo, here information (in swedish) from Hjälpmedelsinstitutet about opening the exhibition together with Swedish Trades.
Svenska hjälpmedel för barn och äldre visas i Belgrad - Hjälpmedelsinstitutet
has the court informed what she will do spring 2009
or does they do that in jannuary?
About this information we will informed by the court at January/February 2009!
Pics 17.12.2008
Sigh...same dress for 2 award ceremonies during one season. :nonono: Now one could say, I am superficial...but what is the point of all this, if mags don´t get interested.
Victoria had been patron of the Tobias foundation for more than 15 years. A great cause! A foundation raised after a boy having waited for a bone marrow donation - in vain. He had died age 17 in 1991.
But as it seems her complete involvement since 2000 had been this award, which she gave with ponytail and the same dress she had also chosen for an entrepreneur award less than 2 months ago.
This way hardly anyone would pay attention to bone marrow donation. Missed chance...but that´s normal for her these days. Go on...and say, she is sooo serious and sooo commited :nonono:
I know crown princely comparisons are not popular...but Mary as consort somehow shows more commitment.
Now one could say Victoria´s role is different. Is it? And what would be the positive things, she had achieved in this difference.
Norwegianne had written a summary of the original interview in Aftenposten
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Dave Cummings
Tag Archives: sage
What's the point? Finding your calling
Finding your calling Of all the works of God's creation, I think ecosystems are the most beautiful. Ecosystems bring together the living and the non-living into complex relationships that are balanced precariously but exquisitely. I live in what ecologists here … Continue reading
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I was in France, working on the first part of the documentary, editing recording voice over, translating interview etc… I was also planning the second part, looking at the different place I would go and how to get there when Fred from HSA called me.
He asked me to come back here in Kara Tepe, Lesvos to continue the documentation and video work I started there by winter 2015.
As soon as possible I booked a flight and leave for the island.
Somehow I knew that the things were different there now that the EU-Turkish deal was in place, but I didn't expect the things to be so drastically changed. I arrived on Lesvos few days after the Fred call and met him and David at the Mytilini airport. They drove me straight to the camp to show me how it has evolved over the last few months. First, the place looked the same to me, I even met some good friend I made across the volunteers of the camp last winter like Sara who was still working there, but soon I realized how much everything has changed: new infrastructures, new offices, sanitary area etc … The camp was now turned into something new: a long-term humanity base. And as the people couldn't move further anymore due to the deal, they were staying and living here.
First I felt strange experiencing this kind of "neighborhood atmosphere", Kara Tepe was really feeling even like a Holliday camp kind of … Everyone was smiling, the kids were running and playing all over the place… Cinema screening and activities such as football and kindergarten were happening every day … You could not feel the stress and the pressure that we were experiencing last winter when the boats were still arriving every day. And it was strange not to feel this tension, not to expect the phone to ring at any moment to warn you that a boat was arriving. To not be in "emergency mode" was disturbing as you would feel everything was alright but though, the work was still crucial and of course, to not have boat arrivals didn't mean we had nothing to do …
Between school, food distribution, close distribution, sorting and storing donations etc … Many things were still needed. We weren't facing an emergency humanitarian crisis anymore but were running a long-term support for the thousand people stacked there.
Of course they couldn't move, but still, they needed a place to live by the time they're waiting. And our work was to make the life less difficult for everyone and to sustainably make them passing through the process of getting the asylum. So we were working every day … Little by little … Slowly but surely we were sustaining the effort.
Our tasks were basically the same than the last winter but they were taking a different form. The food distribution was for example driven by Sara. She was one of the most devoted person I ever met and she was doing everything she could for the people of the camp. Then she had the idea to change the process of the food distribution, and to make it easier for the refugees, she organized a daily door to door food distribution service.
And it was way better than just delivering the meal in front of a queue of starving people, it was way more exhausting of course, as we were carrying heavy food boxes all over the camp, but at the end, everyone was happier this way. We were getting to know our people better, they were glad we were going to them. And I think this was one of the things that was making the difference between our group and the other NGO in place.
We were going to them.
Also, the clothes distribution was not a mess anymore as we were delivering the goods based on a appointments schedule so that we would focus on fewer people every day but we would be able to respond to their needs more efficiently. One of my other task in the camp was to take over the French lessons in the school HSA was running. Indeed, African people were among the refugees and were also asking for education. Then I met their kids and started to teach them every day trying to cover the whole spectrum of the basic education. It's weird to realize how useful your knowledge can be as little as it is.
I never expected to be a teacher but I discovered myself a new utility that could make a change in these people lives. And it's funny to think that you could never be a teacher in France without at least a master or something similar while here, the little you know makes you running classes of writing, mathematics, geography etc …
And I was also driving unofficial French lessons for Arabic speakers, working hard to make it through Arabic, English and French.
And for an entire month, while working hard to make the life in the camp sustainable, I discovered how the crisis changed and how the EU-Turkish deal had an impact on people life. I realized the difference between helping in an emergency situation and a long-term humanitarian support which is completely different but as important and crucial.
For an entire month, I realized we were not only helping the "refugees": we were living with them. They were part of our lives, part of the people we were seeing all day long. They were friends. And it was tricky to keep the distinction clear as you were willing to spend some time with them, just enjoying spending good moments and to get closer to them … but you also had to keep in mind that you couldn't get too close … you had to keep a gap and to stay neutral. They were still "refugees" and you were still "humanitarian volunteer" and that meant you had responsibilities towards them.
This was a pain and a difficult thing to do. We were so close to them, doing so many things together, drawing, swimming, singing, gardening, learning, joking … well, basically all the good things you're doing in the life with the people you love BUT you were not allowed to see them as your friends as for the NGO's they were first "people in need" that we were helping.
I'd say that this situation made me question myself on how important was the human relation through a crisis like this. I asked myself if it was possible to help people with humanity. To help "your friends" passing through a critical situation and to be fair enough to be equal with everyone.
I think it's one of the most tricky things in the humanitarian work.


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The 16 hours looks better. I did not clean the screen after last week, just the slot area. the growth is a lot better on the end away from the inflow. The flow is a lot better on that end also.
I presently have my screen centered on the pipe. I plan on leaving everything as is and see if I can duplicate what I got this week, unless you think I need to change the time up or down some more??? After I get my results next week, I may consider moving the screen to the far end of the pipe.
I did some flow testing. The absolute best flow that I can get out of my system, without it overflowing is 365 GPH. But with that I right at the point, that if I increase the return flow, I run a chance of overflowing the tank. Which means I will either have to build a bigger weir overflow, or drill the tank. I tested the flow with and without the screen in place (without the screen was just out of the pipe not through the slotted pipe) My comfortable flow rate, without fear that I was pushing the envelope, fear of over flowing, was 320 gph. With everything seat the same and putting the pipe with the screen on it the flow off of the screen is about 300. With that I have a about 1.5 " of water in the bottom of the scrubber. If I increase the flow, I would probably have to add another drain hole.
Thanks for all your help.


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|Product Info
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See on Scoop.it – EconomicFactors
The origins of "political correctness" or "cultural Marxism" can be found in the early parts of the 20th century from the Frankfurt School, which was the hea…
Do you perceive a destructive attitude on College Campuses in America? Wonder why, and from where it comes? Do you detect hatred of "normal" behavior and fascination with deviant behavior? Do you wonder why Marxists are always hostile and filled with anger, bitterness and prone to violence?
See on www.youtube.com


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About Us
My name is Dick Griffith and I am the owner of Broadway Appliance Service, along with my partner Gil Wrigley. We have been in business since 1993 and have over 30 years experience. We are located in Taunton, at the corner of Broadway and Coram St.
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We make house calls within the Taunton and surrounding areas.


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Transport DC Complaint Form
Use this form to file a complaint about a Transport DC trip in the District of Columbia. The Department of For-Hire Vehicles has jurisdiction over public vehicles for hire which are licensed in Washington, DC only. If the vehicle does not fit this description, direct your complaint to the appropriate jurisdiction's taxicab licensing agency.
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Pikorete The Clown Dancing To, Take Over Control, While Driving Through Rochester NY
Pikorete The Clown was driving in the streets of Rochester, New York and as soon as he heard the song Take Over Control from Afrojack, he started dancing in the car like a maniac.
Pikorete The Clown & Pompita The Face Painter In 1st Birthday Of Yanziel in Rochester NY
Pikorete The Clown & Pompita The Face Painter went to celebrate Angel Yanziel's fisrt birthday party in Rochester, New York.
The kids and the adults had a great time while participating in all the crazy games Pikorete did with them. Pompita did the Face paintings while Pikorete dis the ballon Sculpting.
Pikorete The Clown In Jansiel's Birthday in Syracuse, NY
Pikorete The Clown went to Syracuse, New York to celebrate the 3rd birthday of his boss nephew called Jansiel. Last year Pikorete was living in Puerto Rico and he was going to travel to Syracuse, NY for Jansiel's birthday but there was a change of plans. But we did this past June 2015 and everybody there had a lot of fun.
Clown Pikorete Having fun the 4th of July in Rochester, NY
Pikorete The Clown first time in Rochester, New York saying Hi during the 4th of July 2015. This was right after his first show near Ontario Lake.
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Please look around this website and if you like what you see, give us a call at 787-485-4049 to check availability.


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Dear Madison,
It's been over a month since I've last written you. You are bigger, you have learnt so much, you still amaze me every single day. I still stare at you from a distance, across a room or in my rear view mirror while driving, I still ask myself "Am I doing this motherhood thing OK?" "Am I being the best mother I can possibly be?" I guess the sooner I realize that I'm going to ask myself this question each and every day the sooner I MAY just stop beating myself up because there is no such thing as "The Perfect Mother"
Your curiosity has peeked at an all time high, I can't even keep up with you these days. Your vocabulary has doubled since the last time I wrote. You are still so frustrated, which in turn frustrates me and daddy. To no end. Your testing your limits more than I ever thought a child could. We just spend Labor Day weekend flopping down on the couch together after we put you to bed because you exhausted us, in a good way, but a confusing way. When daddy is home on the weekends you tend to really really "want him" it doesn't hurt my feelings, I get so much time with you, I want you to have that time with your father, he needs to learn all of the parental things I learn throughout the week.
The last time I wrote summer was in full swing and we had already enjoyed a family vacation at the camp. Now, we are welcoming fall into our lives and we are getting ready to close up the camp. With such mixed emotions. Mommy grew up at this camp, Nana grew up at this camp, your Nana and Grampy met at this camp. However it costs money and since mommy would rather be home with you everyday it makes it tough sometimes. We want to buy you a beautiful home so you can run and grow more. We want you to have more space to play and become all that you are supposed to become, we want to give you a little brother or sister some day, all these things weighed on us as we were making the decision on whether or not to come back the following summer. Bottom line, we are giving it another summer to see if it's something that will work for us and our family. So we will close down next month and wait and see what next summer brings us.
You still don't enjoy very many toys, though you still seem to get yourself into mischief! Your favorite things to do: Well you love putting things (anything) into bigger things (barrels, draws etc) We never know what we are throwing out on a daily basis and we never know where pup pup maybe hiding! You love playing at Nana's camp, you play "Peekie, Peekie" with TT all the time. You are starting to really play with other kids, this makes mommy so gosh darn proud. I know you enjoy your nights with Grammy singing your favorite song "Twinkle Twinkle little Maddie." 🙂 You had lots of daddy time this summer. You went to the beach alone with him one night. You went to the park with daddy and yes their were a few McDonald's trips against mommy's wishes. It's ok. It's Daddy time. You loved the beach this summer, it was your favorite thing to do. You would either sit at the shore and dig in the mud or you would go out really deep with Daddy.
What are some of the things you did with mommy this summer? Well we went to Charmingfare Farm, we went raspberry picking, remember, mommy got stung by a bee (or two) and said some really silly, bad, really bad words I told you to never ever say. We had friends up to the camp to play. We went and had ice cream, just because we could!
We went to Davis Farm as a family while we were on vacation too! You loved this place, so much interaction with the animals and well you really loved the Fred Flintstone cars! We also went and supported Grammy Memere at the Relay for Life since she finished her radiation treatments and is on the road to recovery. Mommy & Daddy also went away for a night to a family wedding and you stayed with Nana and TT, you were such a good girl, so good, that I often wonder just how smart you are because your always good for everyone else 😉
So now that I've updated you on what you've been doing as you slowly make your way to year number two (OMG!!) let me tell you how Momma has been doing since this is all about our journey together. Some people would call it Type A personality, however I just like to call it a Momma with a really big heart kind of personality because I want to make everyone happy, you daddy, family, friends, that sometimes I often forget to make "ME" happy. I guess it's what momma's do. I always feel the need to be "The Perfect Mommy" because, well, I want to raise a beautiful, smart, talented young lady and it's the toughest job any person can ever have. I do spend a lot of my days wondering if what or how I'm doing things is right, but then I spend the other half of those days saying that as long as your happy, growing, and learning everyday then my job is done. Here are my current worry's boo:
1. Are you eating ok? You are a very picky eater. You don't like meat, you drink A LOT of milk, you could live on fruit but you eat the same ten things on a weekly basis. Daddy gives you A LOT of candy, I hate it, but is keeping it from you, denying you some thing that every kid should have. Don't worry we worked it out, you can have candy but on special occasions and to a minimum. Shhhhh Daddy has a real bad sweet tooth and it's little addiction!
2. What are the things that I should say no to? When you hit me in a rage because I didn't give you what you wanted? What did you want? Oh you wanted to play in the fridge, or go through mommy's draws.
3. Should I do more activities with you? It's hard to take out crayons, pencils and paper when you only sit for 5 minutes.
4. Should I potty train you now or wait longer? When is the "right" time to potty train….you can't even say pee pee or poo poo, ok you did say pee pee the other day but it's not like you EVER have a dry diaper.
Now that you are getting older I do get to do more things with you, you are showing an awful lot of signs of not really being a girly girl, but time will tell and in the mean time, I'm still going to continue to push the dresses and dance lessons. 🙂 You are registered to start Dance lessons this coming weekend and we are also checking out a soccer team that you and Mommy can take part in together!
Another thing that I've tried to get you more involved in is cooking with me in the kitchen! Yay! So far you've made a pizza and you've made some muffins! You go girl! You love helping mommy, I've come to realize that you just want to be part of things, part of decisions, part of the whole process we call life. When we go to the market, you help me pick the green beans and fruits. When we cook, I let you put in all the ingredients I've measured, when you get dressed, I let you do as much as you can, when it's snack time I let you choose what you'd like for a snack. As the author of the Happiest Toddler on the Block said, you just want to have some decisions in this life, which you do.
So when mommy tries so hard to be "The Perfect Mother", it's only because I love you, if I seem to "try" too hard sometimes, it's only because I want the very best for you. If I loose my patience sometimes, it's only because I love you and I may not understand why you don't understand certain things.
Mommy already knows that there is no such thing as "The Perfect Mother" but I'm never going to stop trying to be a better Mommy for you baby girl. When I feel as if the day just can't get better, I look at you. When I feel like such a failure, I look at you. When I feel like my bad actions will influence you, I look at you. When I want to throw my hands up in the air and give up, I look at you my love.
All my love,


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The book Wasted:A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia, contains plenty of quotes that interest me. I find that the most intriguing quote was: "When I was growing up, I always felt there was an expectation that I would do one of two things: be Great at something, or go crazy and become a total failure. There is no middle ground where I come from." This quote is significant, because it shows Marya Hornbacher's extreme behavior. The pressure to live perfectly, work perfectly, and do things perfectly is exhausting and grueling. It displays a glimpse of the various reasons that drove her to unimaginable coping techniques. Marya Hornbacher felt that she had to do so well in all situations and tasks and if she failed to meet the expectations that she had set for herself, then she was driven mad with her failure. Facing one's own failure is not a simple task one may not stay calm when one realizes that one was not "good" enough to successfully complete the desired task. The middle ground that the narrator mentions is where all people should stand; they should strive for greatness and perfection of any task, but they should not treat their failure as a grave situation, rather as a useful, learning experience. Marya Hornbacher's decisions could have been from the extreme desire to complete all tasks perfectly. This quote jumped off the page when I read it, because it is relevant to my own life. I am a perfectionist when dealing with most school assignments. I can not let go of small errors and kinks in my assignments. If I do not complete the assignment my way, with my personal idea of perfection, then I feel it is not worth it to work on it at all. I do not have a middle ground to settle on. If I catch an error in sight, I attempt to fix it, but, many times, this leads to an assignment with a greater number of errors than the previous one. Ultimately, all people should work to reach a middle or stable ground, to truly be successful. Marya Hornbacher was critical towards herself and all she expected from herself was perfection. There was no space for error, which is part of the reason that she felt the need to self-harm. Unfortunately, nobody is perfect in all aspects of life, and each individual must learn to accept that crucial fact.
Pick A Quote


text: il Casale Lexington follows in the grand tradition of Sunday suppers for family dining. From 1:00-8:00pm, chef Dante de Magistris and team wrap up the week with hearty Italian specials. Plus, live jazz strikes up at 5:00pm to finish the weekend on a musical note. Call 781.538.5846 to reserve a table.


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Reports have surfaced that Hilton Worldwide may not be paying its home-based telephone agents all the compensation to which they are entitled.
According to the job description, and confirmed by the reports, Hilton's reservation sales representatives are responsible for fielding inquiries and requests, handling complaints, providing information, introducing products and services, and "input and retrieve data using a computer reservations system." Pay practices involving the last item on that list, however, may violate the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and state labor laws.
Regardless of whether they work at home or in brick-and-mortar locations, call center workers have been targets of industry-wide wage theft and abuse, a danger that the prompted the U.S. Department of Labor to issue a warning of illegal pay practices. Like other call center employers that require agents to use computer systems to perform their jobs but don't properly compensate hourly workers, Hilton is suspected of failing to pay reservation sales representatives for all the time they spend:
- Booting up computer systems, logging into applications, and downloading work instructions before beginning their shifts;
- Waiting on hold with technical support when disconnected from computer systems and networks;
- Shutting down applications and computers after ending their shifts; and
- Reading work-related emails before and after their shifts.
These "off the clock" tasks account for a significant amount of time, sometimes several minutes each day, and can push work hours beyond 40 hours a week for which employees must be paid overtime at time-and-a-half.
The attorneys in Sommers Schwartz Employment Litigation Group are now interviewing individuals who worked as Hilton reservation sales reps regarding their suspicions of unpaid wages and overtime. If you worked for Hilton Worldwide in this capacity or have information to share, please contact us today!