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Bill Rose
Selling the Valley, One Yard at a Time!!
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June 23, 2006,
Dear Bill,
How does one find a house, move in and get the deal through escrow in less than thirty days? We discovered the answer; make sure your Real Estate professional is Bill Rose
Bill , you have our unending appreciation for the great job you did. Your efforts were outstanding and you were always available to answer our questions. The combination of your knowledge and effort moved this deal smoothly through the maze and we were able to move in and enjoy the fruits of your efforts in less than thirty days.
Amazing, you made what seemed impossible happen.
With ur sincere thanks and kindest regards,
Joseph Diamond & Therese Diamond
Diamond Law Firm
Joseph & Therese Diamond
Dear Bill,
How can we possibly thank you for all you have done for us?
Our relationship started when I contacted you in 1998 when Bob's mother had passed away leaving her house to us. Because we weren't sure what we wanted to do, we decided to lease the house.
We decided to sell the house in the summer of 2005 hoping to get in on the hot sellers market. But we had signed a lease that wouldn't expire until mid March 2006. Because you had continued to send us housing updates and newsletters (and calendars) for 7 years, I decided to contact you via email. You were more than willing to help us construct a time line on when to notify the tenant and what would be involved.
Upon taking possession, we determined there was going to be a great deal of work to do before we could put the house on the market. From the first day when you had several sub contractors on our step at 11 AM until we closed escrow you have been there every step of the way.
Since we live 400 miles away and were only in the valley every other week, you were most helpful letting the subs into the house and making sure the work was done before we paid for the work. Your list of sub-contractors was immensely helpful. Because of your knowledge of what is needed to sell a house, you were able to guide us through a maze. Everything from the regulations for the gas meter to the retrofit of the toilets. Since we don't live in Los Angeles County, there wouldn't have been any way we would have known these regulations.
We really leaned on you for your opinions on just about everything. Not once did we ever feel we were not getting good advice. We felt you really knew the neighborhood and you wanted a quick sale without giving the property away at too low of a price.
We were lucky. You found us a buyer within two weeks and we had a three-week escrow. Having bought and sold a few houses, I know that this is not norm. But because we followed your expert advice, that buyer was at the right spot at the right time.
So a Thank You just doesn't seem adequate. It is so much more that that. You have our gratitude.
Keep up the good work. There is not secret to your success. It is called hard work, honest opinions and being totally trustworthy. And we feel that is very rare these days.
Our sincerest appreciation
Bob & Rita Kennedy
Heating & Air Conditioning Contractor
Robert & Rita Kennedy
see all news...
Why Do Home Buyers Wait For Spring?...
Taking Title To a Home With Your Friend...
June 23, 2006, Dear Bill, How does one find a house, move in and get the deal through escrow in less than thirty days? We disco
Joseph & Therese Diamond
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Our Precis
Further, we have strong and enthusiastic professionals, who ensure that all our products meet the particular requirement of our clients spread across nationwide. Throughout the development and designing of every single product, we consider all details and requirements given by our clients and also implement them. Moreover, to maintain faultless production, we test our products on numerous parameters such as dimensional accuracy, shapes and sizes.
Fully Equipped With Necessary Facilities
Strict Quality Checking Has Led To Make Happy Our Clients

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Archive for November 2016
Can I keep my car if I am financing it at the time I file for Bankruptcy in New Jersey?
A reaffirmation agreement allows a person who files for bankruptcy to keep certain secured debt by removing it from the bankruptcy making it a debt that would not be discharged in the event of default on the loan. This article specifically addresses the reaffirmations process as it relates to the financing of a car.
By executing a reaffirmation agreement, you will be agreeing to be held liable under the terms of the original contract, including but not limited to the obligation to make payment of unpaid principal, interest, fees and other costs associated with the reaffirmed/assumed debt.****
In certain circumstances, you may be required to appear before the court to testify as to your ability and desire to continue making payments on the reaffirmed debt. The agreement may not be approved by the court. You are not required by law enter into this agreement and can rescind (cancel) the agreement at any time before the bankruptcy court enters your bankruptcy discharge.
If you enter into this agreement and you default on the reaffirmed debt after the bankruptcy case is completed, the creditor can repossess the car and sue you for any deficiency. If you do not enter into this agreement, your property may be repossessed and that debt would be discharged in bankruptcy.
Some creditors will allow you to retain possession of your property even if you do not enter into the agreement as long as you continue to make payments (this is referred to as a "pay and drive" option). When the Bankruptcy Law changed it removed the "pay and drive" option from the law and in its place required car owners who file bankruptcy to enter into a reaffirmation agreement. Even companies that have allowed car owners to pay and drive after filing bankruptcy there is no guarantee its policy will not be changed after the case is closed. If you do not enter into the agreement and and you maintain the collateral and continue to make payments, the lender may not report post-bankruptcy payments to the credit reporting agencies. If you do not enter into this agreement, you may not receive account statements and may not be able to make automatic payments on the account.
Who should I bank with if I have debt or I am thinking about filing bankruptcy in New Jersey?
In the process of preparing your bankruptcy petition, you will be asked to provide information concerning banks and other lending institutions that you transact with. In our experience, we have come to learn that certain institutions will freeze or levy client bank accounts upon receiving notice of a bankruptcy filing. While we believe this conduct is illegal and in violation of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, the institutions continue this conduct despite warnings and the imposition of sanctions from the Court for doing so. As such, we provide the following guidelines to our clients:
- Never bank with an institution that you owe money to.
- If you are currently banking with a creditor that you owe money to (i.e. – you have a savings account and a credit card with the same institution and the credit card has a balance), you must immediately close the bank account.
- Never open a bank account with a bank that you may get a credit card from in the future (no matter how good the terms).
- Never, ever, bank with "Wells Fargo Bank". This includes opening bank account, obtaining credit cards or taking loans. This lender has been reprimanded and sanctioned several times for conduct found to be harmful to consumers. Furthermore, Wells Fargo will freeze your account upon filing even if you do not owe them any money.
- Never give any creditor permission to debit your account automatically. Instead, you can use bill pay through your bank and manually click a button to process payment.


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"I was writing in my Journal pretty late. You were wearing a Pink Hooded sweatshirt and a walkman. I gave you a rose, you asked if I was a poet."
If you didn't have the guts to get her phone number, when you should have, post a note at isawyou.com, maybe she'll see it and respond. Probably not though. You should have gotten her number when you had the chance.


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The Optisoft Brand from Optimum Professional covers all of your disposable paper hygiene products in one section, including kitchen, toilet, medical, wiping paper, tissues.
For a product catalogue, download the Optimum Brochure here.
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This site and all contents are ©2015 Oilswell Ltd.Email: firstname.lastname@example.com Telephone: 01422 375 555


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Sarasota Memorial's Venice Health Care Center includes urgent care, diagnostic imaging, laboratory services, and the medical offices of First Physicians Group. Our state-of-the-art facility offers conveniently located, comprehensive services for the Venice area and neighboring communities.
Urgent Care Center - Venice
Our Venice Urgent Care Center treats urgent, non-emergency health conditions, such as the flu, earaches, fractures and sprains, eye injuries, cuts, burns and more. Sarasota Memorial Urgent Care Centers are staffed by the hospital's emergency and family medicine physicians. With the latest technology, including access to on-site imaging at Venice, our Urgent Care physicians can make fast, accurate diagnoses right in the office.
Open seven days a week, from 8 am to 8 pm, our goal is for patients to be seen by a physician within 30 minutes of arrival. Click here for all of our Urgent Care Center locations.
7 days a week, 8 am – 8 pm
(941) 952-4250
Radiology/Imaging Services
Sarasota Memorial's Venice Outpatient Radiology services feature the safest and most advanced technology and highly trained technicians. Our diagnostic imaging also provides convenient on-site service for our Venice Urgent Care. Click here for additional Sarasota Memorial Imaging Center locations.
- X-Ray
- Bone Density
- Mammography
Laboratory Tests
A full-service, outpatient laboratory provides most basic lab testing on a walk-in basis with a physician's order. Blood draws and other tests are performed by our certified phlebotomists. Click here for additional Sarasota Memorial Laboratory locations.
7 days a week, 8 am - 8 pm
(941) 952-4250
Anticoagulation Clinic
Is an outpatient medical specialty clinic that helps patients safely manage their anticoagulation medications, including Warfarin sodium, Coumadin and Jantoven, and increase the amount of time their blood tests (INR) remain in the appropriate range. In recent years, studies have shown that patients who are managed by Anticoagulation Clinics experience fewer incidences of bleeding and harmful clot formations, as well as fewer hospital visits resulting from these complications. Our team manages multiple conditions that require the use of short-term or long-term anticoagulants – including those with atrial fibrillation, mechanical heart valves, or those who have had deep vein thrombosis, a pulmonary embolism or other forms of blood clots.
Open Wednesdays, 8:30AM-4PM
(941) 917-8889
Sarasota Memorial's First Physicians Group
Backed by the strength and integrity of Sarasota Memorial Health Care System, First Physicians Group offers primary and specialty medical care in several locations. In Venice, our Internal Medicine and Family Practice physicians provide continuing comprehensive health care for individuals and families, from pediatrics through geriatrics. For information or to schedule an appointment, please call (941) 952-4220. First Physicians Group also offers Obstetrics and Gynecology specialty care physicians. To schedule an appointment, call (941) 917-8565 or (941) 917-8561.
Venice Health Care Center & Urgent Care Center
997 N. US 41 Bypass
Venice, Florida 34285
Site optimized for Chrome or Firefox | Copyright © 2015. Sarasota Memorial Health Care System. All rights reserved.


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Website http://www.wpce.org/ | Edit Freely
Category environment;environmental sciences;environmental engineering;engineering
Deadline: November 05, 2019 | Date: December 05, 2019-December 07, 2019
Venue/Country: Xiamen, China, China
Updated: 2019-11-07 12:09:13 (GMT+9)
Keywords: Accepted papers list. Acceptance Rate. EI Compendex. Engineering Index. ISTP index. ISI index. Impact Factor.
Disclaimer: ourGlocal is an open academical resource system, which anyone can edit or update. Usually, journal information updated by us, journal managers or others. So the information is old or wrong now. Specially, impact factor is changing every year. Even it was correct when updated, it may have been changed now. So please go to Thomson Reuters to confirm latest value about Journal impact factor.


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We strive to provide our customers with affordable, quality replacement parts, delivered quickly, and with friendly customer service. We have a large inventory which allows us to ship most orders the same day they are received. We provide FREE ground shipping on all orders of $150 or more within the continental U.S.
Download our Catalog, (4MB PDF), just click HERE !
or "Right Click" and select "Save Link As…"
If you'd like to view some of our products by category, just see below:
Edger Blades
Trimmer Line
Riding/Walk Behind Mower Blades & Parts
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Flail Mower Blades and Parts
For product details or to place an order, please call 1-615-848-1813.
You may also download our Catalog, (5MB PDF), just click HERE !
or "Right Click" and select "Save Link As…"


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Check All Elementshttps://readymag.com/Lstore/746362/
- Added new font combination
- Added dark version
- Added version for Adobe XD
- Bug fixed
Check Behance Presenation: https://www.behance.net/gallery/45942097/Resourse-UIUX-Tool-for-Web-Services
High-Quality UI/UX Tool for Web Services Huge library of perfect handcrafted UI components with flowcharts
1. For Commercial and Side Projects. Create unlimited amount of websites with this high polished UI components 2. Work Faster. Speed up your workflow with a huge library of customizable elements 3. Easily create structure maps with this collection of flowcharts. We built flowcharts for almost each component so that you can quickly create a structure before working on elaborate details
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Important: This file is over KiwiMarket file size limit. Links you can see in PDF.
0.000 reviews
- Our tabbed widget supports up to 6 tabs. Inside any of these tabs you can add html styled content, plain text or even better; shortcodes.
The theme itself comes with additional shortcodes to display product ratings, list of purchasers, users online and much more.
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Understand what you can do with variable data content, and you open up a whole new realm of creative possibilities. Now that digital printing technologies make high quality print affordable and accessible, designers can exploit the benefits that working with data can bring. Don't let the idea of "working with data" scare you – you do it every day on your smart phone. All the stuff that gets delivered to your mobile device or your favourite social media apps is made possible because someone somewhere has been "working with data" to make something special happen. And you can do it too, using data to create innovative wild format digital printing projects.
To read more download the PDF below.


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As of January 1, 2016, Gapers Block has ceased publication. The site will remain up in archive form. Please visit Third Coast Review, a new site by several GB alumni.
✶ Thank you for your readership and contributions over the past 12-plus years. ✶
Thursday, August 6
The annual Greek Independence Day Parade in Greektown on April 22 may be smaller than usual after a year of organizational turmoil.
GB T-Shirt $12
I ✶ Chi T-Shirts $15


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The lead article in the new Cato Policy Report is entitled "We Can Cut Government: Canada Did." The article reviews Canada's economic reforms since the 1980s, which have included free trade, privatization, spending cuts, sound money, large corporate tax cuts, personal tax reforms, balanced federal budgets, block grants, and decentralizing power by cutting the central government.
spending cuts
Freshman Republicans Switch from Tea to Kool-Aid
This week the Club for Growth released a study of votes cast in 2011 by the 87 Republicans elected to the House in November 2010. The Club found that "In many cases, the rhetoric of the so-called "Tea Party" freshmen simply didn't match their records." Particularly disconcerting is the fact that so many GOP newcomers cast votes against spending cuts.
A Contradiction in Keynesian Fiscal Policy
There's an internal contradiction in the way that Keynesian-oriented economists and policymakers address the federal budget situation. I've noticed it over and over. A passage in a Washington Post op-ed today by Mohamed El-Erian of Pimco captures it perfectly:
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and Spending Cuts
House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) are pushing back against criticism from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops over the GOP's proposed cuts to domestic spending programs. They should.
Has Congress Cut Any Spending Yet?
It's been a year since Republicans assumed control in the House in the wake of the 2010 elections, which were powered by Tea Party concerns about massive federal spending and deficits. With the more conservative House, has Congress made any progress on spending cuts yet?
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Andrew Zarowny, 7/10/2018
Brett Kavanaugh was nominated last night by President Donald J. Trump to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court. Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy announced two weeks ago that he was retiring his seat on the SCOTUS, Supreme Court of the Unites States. Kavanaugh, 53, is currently a Circuit Judge on the bench of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, a seat he was appointed to by George W. Bush in 2003. He had served under Bush′43 as his White House Staff Secretary. A Yale Law School graduate, he was once hired by Obama-appointed Elaina Kagan as a law professor when she headed the Harvard Law School. Kavanaugh is considered to be Conservative and an Originalist concerning the U.S. Constitution.
Protests by the Democratic Party and pro-abortion groups began even before Kavanaugh was nominated. Things got so ugly on the steps of the Supreme Court last night that Fox News host Shannon Bream had to cancel her planned live broadcast. Police were called in to deal with some demonstrators. On the subject of abortion, he is on the record as supporting the ruling of Planned Parenthood v. Casey, upholding the ″right″ to an abortion. So this topic may go nowhere once Senate confirmation hearings begin.
Of his some 300 judicial decisions, Kavanaugh is generally Conservative, including on issues like EPA regulations and the Second Amendment. Of the finalists being considered for President Trump′s nomination to the Supreme Court, Kavanaugh appears to be the best choice to succeed in the highly divided Senate vote. He should receive the votes of all Republican Senators, and perhaps a couple from Democrat Senators campaigning in states won by President Trump. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is promising a quick floor vote.
For more REAL NEWS and views follow Andrew Zarowny on MeWe, or on Twitter @mrcapitalist. Also follow Andy at his own website, nationalistpundit.com. Support this website via Patreon.


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Archive for December 28th, 2010
Paraplegic Psycho in a Souped-Up Cadillac with One Headlight!
Okay, now that I have your attention, watch the movie "Highwayman". It is about a paraplegic with severe road rage. And I think, when it comes down to it, that is what we have all been waiting for isnt it?


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Windows Phone 7. He'll be joined on stage by AT&T's Ralph de la Vega and when the pep rally is over, we're promised opportunities to finally handle the official incarnations of retail Windows Phones for ourselves. We know all this because Microsoft has just dropped a kind little invite into our inbox urging us to attend its October 11 get-together. We will, of course, be there live, but don't forget Microsoft's also holding a London event on that day, ostensibly for the same reason, so make sure to be up nice and early next Monday if you don't wanna miss a thing.
As we reported last night, the company is also holding a gathering centered around T-Mobile WP7 handsets, though details are more scarce on that event. We saw an official invite from the folks in Redmond, but it looks like that showing may be smaller in scale. We have to imagine that AT&T and their GSM competition don't want to share the stage, but as this is a Microsoft launch, anything is possible. Regardless, if there are multiple carriers showing hardware come October 11th, we'll have all the goods.


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I'm looking at possibly changing the TXV in my 1966 Chevy truck.
The first pic is supposed to be for my application. Note the coiled bulb.
The one in the second pic has the same flat style bulb as my original. I am concerned that the coiled bulb wouldn't transfer as efficiently as the flat one. My original flat one is clamped to a flat/square section of a tube on the evaporator.
Both include 1966 in the model year range but I'm not sure if they're maybe calibrated differently.
My original TXV bulb wasn't sealed with tar tape. Maybe tape would help if I wind up getting the coiled bulb?
TXV Bulb Styles
Friendly format provided to inquire about automotive a/c systems.
Archived Forum
Archived Forum
Moderators: bohica2xo, Tim, JohnHere, Dougflas, HECAT
1 post • Page 1 of 1
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Return to "Automotive Air Conditioning Forum"


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Today, Sony announced 2 new Cybershot cameras The TX5 and The H55. The H55 Cybershot camera from Sony has a 14 megapixel, 25-250mm lens with 10x zoom capability. It is also able to record videos at 720p, but the sound quality will be mono. The camera has a 3 inch LCD to view your clicked pictures and videos.
The more capable sibling of the H55 is the TX5. The TX5 is exactly opposite to H55 and is less than an inch thick. According to Sony, the TX5 is the thinnest waterproof camera in the world. The cam is water proof in up to 10 feet of water, and can also survive drops of up to 5 feet. The TX5 features a 10.2 megapixel lens, with a 3inch touch screen. Like its sibling H55, the TX5 will also be able to record videos in 720p resolution.
The H55 and TX5 cameras features Sony's Sweep Panorama mode along with Active Mode. The former assists you in taking Panorama images by stiching up to 100 images together. The latter helps in shooting smooth videos when walking or running. Sony's Smile Shutter and Face Detection technologies are also present. Both the H55 and TX5 support SDHC and Sony's proprietary Memory Stick card formats.
The H55 and TX5 Cybershot cameras will hit the stores in April, this year and will cost 250$ and 350$, respectively.


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From time to time problems may arise in school, please do not hesitate to talk to your child's class teacher or the Headteacher if you have any concerns relating to the school and how it operates. It is hoped that concerns and complaints can be dealt with initially through discussion with the class teacher or Headteacher.
Section 23 of the Education Act 1988 allows parents and others to make a complaint if they think that the Governing Body or Local Authority is failing in its duty to comply with the legislation.
There are 3 stages:
The Local Authority has produced some guidance on procedures to follow for complaints.
Click HERE for information and to be directed to their website.
Please click here to view the Sheffield School Terms
Lowfield Primary School
London Road
Sheffield S2 4NJ
Tel: 0114 2552501
Headteacher: Mr C Holder
Office/Business Manager:
Lisa Wainwright
Office Staff:
Louise Colton
Maddie Allen


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Points and Awards
Points System and Awards
The players with the lowest three scores in each division will receive awards.
Award winners must be present to accept prizes at the event.
Points will be awarded to all players who complete their round, which will accumulate during each tour season to establish the Emerald Coast Junior Golf Tour Champions for each season and division.
As the FSGA recognized junior tour in the Panhandle, we also award Florida Junior Golf Tour (FJT) STEP exemptions to allow our better players preferred access to Florida Junior Tour events. They will be awarded to the 18 hole division winners of our 2 day events, as well as our Spring and Summer Tour Champions, Match Play Championships and our Players of the Year. For Full details, view "Exemptions".
AJGA exemptions may be awarded for the Spring Series Champions and the Summer Tour Champions depending on the strength of field and as detailed in the "Exemptions" section of the Tour Information on the left. Other events may also qualify for AJGA PBE Stars and will be advertised as such.
In the event of ties the following tie-breaker rules will be in force:
No points will be awarded for an event if the last group in the division has not completed at least 50% of the holes.
A division must have at least 3 participants who are ECJGT members and who finish the competition, for points to be awarded.
A player must play in a minimum of 4 events in each season (the Spring or Summer Tour) to be qualify for the respective season ending awards.
Points will be awarded as follows:
1st 200 points
2nd 170 points
3rd 140 points
4th 120 points
5th 100 points
6th 80 points
7th 60 points
8th 50 points
9th 40 points
10th 30 points
All other players in a division who have completed their rounds will be awarded 20 points.
The Tour may designate some events to award double points.
No points will be awarded in the Premier 9 hole divisions.


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powered by Caredove
advanced search
Adult Day ProgramProvides a daytime group environment of supervised activities, meals, companionship and recreation for older adults and those with chronic or palliative conditions.
Friendly VisitingProvided at homeOffers no charge visiting companionship such as conversation, reading, games, or crafts, while providing a safety check. The contact may be face-to-face at the client's home or through a phone call.
Group DiningServes nutritionally balanced lunches, or dinners, in a social group environment.
Home Maintenance & RepairProvided at homeMatches eligible clients with individuals or businesses that provide affordable repairs and maintenance to a senior's home.
Home Safety AssessmentProvided at homeAssessment of safety of patient living at home.
Meals on WheelsProvided at homeDelivers a nutritionally balanced noon hour hot meal by volunteers who provide a social contact and a safety check for the client. Special diets may be accommodated. Frozen meals may be available.
Personal Emergency ResponseProvided at homePersonal home emergency monitoring, often for people at risk of falling, so they can signal for help at any time of time.
Rides & TransportationProvided at homeProvides door-to-door rides for seniors or adults who have a disability to attend medical and therapeutic appointments, social activities and perform other daily tasks such as shopping trips.
Supplies DeliveryProvided at homeHome delivery of essential supplies such as groceries and medications.
Support GroupIn-person meetings where members provide each other with help for a particular life challenge. Often involves relating personal experiences and providing sympathetic understanding. May be clinician or volunteer-led.
Telephone Reassurance & Safety ChecksProvided at homeProvides regularly scheduled phone calls to ensure the safety for those with health issues or who experience loneliness or depression.
Home Address
Search near a home address, city or postal code
230 Victoria Street, Simcoe230 Victoria Street, Simcoe
Find and book community health referrals online with Caredove.
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As a mother of three, I struggled myself with weight and that is why I decided to take a different lifestyle approach. I want to be a role model to my own family and set some goals and challenges to show that anything is possible.
I began training, and fell in love with the results, which lead me to compete at the NPC level and won top 3 awards in all my competitions. I am very passionate about what I do and love motivating parents and children to live a happy, healthy lifestyle. I apply behavioral, motivational, and exercise strategies to healthy individuals and those with medically controlled conditions to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
I dedicate myself to each session in order to tailor to the needs of my clients, as well as motivate them to leave their exercise comfort zone in order to achieve optimal results.
Circuit Interval Training, Weight Loss, Muscle Development, Toning and Sculpting, Endurance Training.
Education & Training
2004, B.S. in Biology – Interamerican University of Puerto Rico
- CPR Certified
- Fitness Nutrition Specialist (NASM)
- Kettlebell, Spinning Instructor Mad Dogg Athletics certified
- Senior Fitness Specialist


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Ten Questions for Councilmember Dona Spring
1. Where were you born and where did you grow up, and how does that affect how you regard the issues in Berkeley and in your district?
I was born in Plentywood, Mont., and I grew up in Montana and Colorado in rural areas. When I was about 15 years old my family moved to Los Angeles, and when I was 18 I came here to go to school at Cal. The way my youth affected the job I do today is that growing up in rural areas where everybody knew everybody else you're exposed to much more of a village, family-like atmosphere. And Berkeley has that atmosphere. It's a relatively small town and I've known people here for over 30 years. It's a place where you can put down deep roots and it's got a history and I like that about it, as opposed to living in a suburbia that seems to have no past or future: it's just a place for people to go and sleep; it doesn't have the strong since of history and community that Berkeley does. Or the pride in the community that Berkeley has in terms of integration, civil rights, women's rights and environment. It was really one of the cradles of the green way of thinking.
2. What is your educational background, and how did that help prepare you for being a council member?
I have a double B.A. from Cal in psychology and anthropology. So having gone to school in Berkeley helps me understand the needs of the campus community, because I've always considered myself a part of the campus community. When I graduated I started to go to work for non-profits like the Center for Independent Living, which had just started. So I was in at the beginning of the disability rights movement. And I was also here as a student for the protest on the Vietnam and Cambodian War. I was involved in city politics a decade before I decided to run for office. I knew many people in the community before I ran and I've always been devoted to grassroots community politics. That's where my roots are and that's where I want to stay.
3. What are the top three most pressing issues facing your district (4)?
I'd have to say high rents, the high cost of living. So many people can't afford to live here anymore. Longtime Berkeley residents are simply getting priced out of existence in Berkeley. People were fortunate to get their homes before the rents and the mortgages really skyrocketed. It's always been expensive but it's been escalating in the last decade as well. The other thing, besides the high cost of housing, which impacts all the things that Berkeley cares about in terms of its community, is its diversity. The high cost of living impacts the kind of people who can afford to live here: many people of color, lower income people, and other ethnic groups are getting priced out. We don't want to become a white-bread community. So, you know, our diversity is at stake, and then I would say, because it costs so much to live here, we don't have enough money to deal with all the deferred structural work that needs to be done. There's a structural deficit, and by that I mean our storm drains are crumbling, our sewers are crumbling, our sidewalks need work, our streets need work. So, those I would say are the three most critical challenges for my district as well as the rest of the city.
4. Do you agree with the direction the city is heading in. Why or why not?
I would agree with about 70 percent of the direction we're heading in. There are some differences I have about our direction. I think we're becoming much more of a top-down government. Decisions are made behind closed doors and with the powers that be rather than grassroots, with the average citizens to help make decisions on how we should run our city.
5. What is your opinion of the proposal to develop a new downtown plan and the settlement with the University of California over its LRDP?
Well, I don't think we really needed a new downtown plan. We maybe need to update our current plan. We have a very good plan that was written into our general plan and so I think we need to stick to that, not change our plan to order to accommodate the university's development. We should work with the university. But the university has made it clear regardless of all the planning we do, they're going to do what they want to do, as they always have.
6. How do you think the mayor is doing at his position? Are you considering running for mayor, and if so, what changes would you try to make?
Yes, from time to time I do consider running for mayor because I feel such a frustration; that's one of the main reasons that attracted me to political office—which was to empower the neighborhoods. The community-involved government came out of the time when we did initiatives, You got a group of committed people together and you put what you wanted on the ballot. And now we have to resort to that and more and more, like with the landmarks ordinance. It's shocking to me how the top levels of the government have tried to kick the landmarks ordinance. And it's been really reinvigorating to see that the community has come to the defense of a vital quality-of-life issue in Berkeley, which is protecting our neighborhoods and saving our historical housing. You know, many rent controlled units are in historical buildings. And the only way you can control the rent controlled units is by rebuilding the structure so that the renters don't lose their value, otherwise they're easily evicted at an expensive market rate. So it also has consequences for what I think is the most pressing issue, which is the lack of affordable housing.
7. Has Berkeley's recent development boom been beneficial for the city? What new direction, if any, should the city's development take over the next decade?
Well, I think the development has been beneficial, especially for students who needed more housing opportunities. I think that when you get to the interface between the commercial areas and the neighborhoods, more can be done to interface better with the neighborhoods. But by and large I think it has been beneficial in that it's created more housing opportunities. I think, though, it has left a sour taste in the neighborhoods who had to contend with the ad hoc interpretation of the zoning ordinance and state law. So the surrounding residents of the development have not been given a square deal by the city.
8. How would you characterize the political climate in Berkeley these days?
Old timers are, as I said, willing to work on important issues like preservation. But we need to get more youth involved in caring about issues. So I would like to see more younger people involved with Berkeley politics.
9. What is your favorite thing about Berkeley?
It's the beautiful environment. That might include the beautiful diversity of people that we have here, people who share the values that I share, which is working for the common good. There are so many people here who are enlightened in one way or another. They're either brilliant academics, poets, writers, socially conscious attorneys, filmmakers, artists ... this city is filled with people riches. Dedicated teachers. People working to make their communities better. It is a real privilege to be able to live here, quite frankly.
10. What is your least favorite thing about Berkeley?
How expensive it's become. I would never be able to afford to live in Berkeley if I came here today without any assistance. And it's getting harder and harder to get subsidized housing. That's very sad, that people like myself would not be able to live in Berkeley anymore.
Councilmember Dona Spring
District 4
Born Jan. 22, 1953
1st elected November 1992


text: I am a recent graduate of TV and Film Set Design at USW. I am interested in the art department roles in theatre, tv and film industries. I am originally from Manchester but decided to stay in Cardiff after graduating as I feel there are a lot more opportunities here.


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EXTREME UNIVERSE: Early Quasar Is Brightest Object Ever Found in the Universe June 30, 2011Posted by jcconwell in Black Holes, Extreme Universe, Quasars.
Tags: Black Hole, Quasar, Supermassive Black Holes, ULAS J1120+0641
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It's not the most distant object ever seen, but a redshift of 7.1, putting it at an age of 12.9 billion years old. It is the furthest quasar ever seen. Seen in the picture below, the center red dot, it is also quite bright, it is estimated that it's luminosity is 60 trillion times that of the sun!
What could power such a beast? In a paper published today in the journal Nature, it is estimated that a supermassive black hole of 2 billion solar masses would be necessary to power such a monster. I'll also add, it must be well fed with gas and dust falling into it, as an isolated black hole would not be seen.
Quasars like this were common in the universe one to ten billion years ago. Much earlier than ten billion years, it's thought the universe would not have enough time to easily form black holes big enough to be seen as quasars. ULAS J1120+0641 was formed only 770 million years after the big bang. It is estimated that only about 100 of these bright quasars are at this distance. It's existence is an important clue into the formation of these supermassive black holes.
Although more distant objects have been confirmed (such as a gamma-ray burst at redshift 8.2, and a galaxy at redshift 8.6), the newly discovered quasar is hundreds of times brighter than these. Among objects bright enough to be studied in detail, this is the most distant by a large margin.
Its brightness, at 60 trillion times the luminosity of the sun, mean that even at this large distance you can get a quality spectrum.
The hunt for this object was a 5 year endeavor.The European UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS) which uses the UK's dedicated infrared telescope in Hawaii was designed to solve this problem. The team of astronomers hunted through millions of objects in the UKIDSS database to find those that could be the long-sought distant quasars, and eventually struck gold.
"It took us five years to find this object," explains Bram Venemans, one of the authors of the study. "We were looking for a quasar with redshift higher than 6.5. Finding one that is this far away, at a redshift higher than 7, was an exciting surprise. By peering deep into the reionisation era, this quasar provides a unique opportunity to explore a 100-million-year window in the history of the cosmos that was previously out of reach."
Extreme Universe: The Most Massive Neutron Star October 27, 2010Posted by jcconwell in Astronomy, Extreme Universe, General Relativity, Neutron Stars.
Tags: most massive neutron star, neutron star, PSR J1614-2230
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Using the National Science Foundation's Green Bank Telescope , astronomers have discovered the most massive neutron star ever, this discovery will offer profound insight on the limits of neutron stars and the nature of matter under such extreme conditions.
"This neutron star is twice as massive as our Sun. This is surprising, and that much mass means that several theoretical models for the internal composition of neutron stars now are ruled out," said Paul Demorest, of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO). "This mass measurement also has implications for our understanding of all matter at extremely high densities and many details of nuclear physics," he added.
The neutron star, called PSR J1614-2230 contains twice the mass of the Sun but compressed down into pulsar that is smaller than 20 kilometer It is estimated cubic inch of material from the star could weigh more than 10 billion tons. I have two videos below with more details for you.
The first is about the Discovery
The second is about the Instruments
Extreme Universe: The Most Distant Object Measured in the Universe October 21, 2010Posted by jcconwell in Cosmology, Extreme Universe, Galaxy.
Tags: Extreme Universe, Galaxy, UDFy-38135539
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Coming in as the most distant object with a confirmed redshift, UDFy-38135539 is the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (UDF) classification for a galaxy which, as of October 2010, is the most distant object from Earth known to exist in the universe. Its discovery is formally detailed in the 21 October 2010 article "Spectroscopic Confirmation of a Galaxy at Redshift z=8.6" in the journal Nature.
Other than putting a trophy on the wall for a new record distance, what makes this object so important? To understand this, it might be better to translate this from the most distant object to the oldest measured object. With a measured cosmological redshift of z=8.6, the object emitted the light we are seeing about 13.1 billion years ago, or more useful here, when the universe was only 600 million years old.
What was it like in the universe at that age? Conditions were quite different back then. This epoch of time is when the Universe went from largely neutral gas to basically ionized plasma, called reionization.
The reionization period is about the farthest back in time that astronomers can observe. The Big Bang, 13.7 billion years ago, created a hot, plasma filled universe. Some 400,000 years after the Big Bang, temperatures cooled, from the expanding universe, so electrons and protons joined to form neutral hydrogen, and the murk cleared. By about 1 billion years after the Big Bang, this neutral hydrogen began to form stars in the first galaxies, which radiated energy and reionzied the hydrogen. Radiation from the hot new stars started to clear the opaque hydrogen plasma surrounding the newly formed galaxies that filled the cosmos at this early time.
Much of any ultraviolet light from these new stars was absorbed in the gas surrounding the stars, the remainder has been redshifted down to the infrared by the expansion of the universe over 13.1 billion years.
To obtain such dim spectra, scientists turned the the VLA (Very Large Telescope).
The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is made up of four separate optical telescopes (the Antu telescope, the Kueyen telescope, the Melipal telescope, and the Yepun telescope) organized in an array formation, built and operated by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) at the Paranal Observatory on Cerro Paranal, a 2,635 m high mountain in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. Each telescope has an 8.2 m aperture. The array is complemented by four movable Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of 1.8 m aperture. Working together in interferometric mode, the telescopes can achieve an angular resolution of around 1 milliarcsecond, meaning it could distinguish the gap between the headlights of a car located on the Moon.
To get a spectra of such a dim object, about 4 billion times dimmer than the dimmest star you can see with the naked eye, the VLA took an exposure of about 16 hours.
Extreme Universe: 300 Solar Mass Star Uncovered July 21, 2010Posted by jcconwell in Extreme Universe, stars.
Tags: Extreme Universe, R136, stars
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A team of astronomers led by Paul Crowther, Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Sheffield, has used ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT), as well as archival data from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, to study two young clusters of stars, NGC 3603 and RMC 136a in detail. NGC 3603 is a cosmic factory where stars form frantically from the nebula's extended clouds of gas and dust, located 22 000 light-years away from the Sun (eso1005). RMC 136a (more often known as R136) is another cluster of young, massive and hot stars, which is located inside the Tarantula Nebula, in one of our neighbouring galaxies, the Large Magellanic Cloud, 165 000 light-years away (eso0613).
Spectroscopic analyses of hydrogen-rich WN5–6 stars within the young star clusters NGC 3603 and R136 are presented, using archival Hubble Space Telescope and Very Large Telescope spectroscopy, and high spatial resolution near-IR photometry, including Multi- Conjugate Adaptive Optics Demonstrator (MAD) imaging of R136.
Comparisons with stellar models calculated for the main-sequence evolution of 85 – 500 M⊙ accounting for rotation suggest ages of ∼1.5 Myr and initial masses in the range 105 – 170 M⊙ for three systems in NGC 3603, plus 165 – 320 M⊙ for four stars in R136.
Original paper at:
Extreme Universe: New Class of Supernovae: SN 2007bi December 2, 2009Posted by jcconwell in Astronomy, Extreme Universe, supernova.
Tags: pair instability supernova, SN 2007bi, supernova
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First confirmed pair instability supernova
Berkeley, CA – An extraordinarily bright, extraordinarily long-lasting supernova named SN 2007bi, snagged in a search by a robotic telescope, turns out to be the first example of the kind of stars that first populated the Universe. The superbright supernova occurred in a nearby dwarf galaxy, a kind of galaxy that's common but has been little studied until now, and the unusual supernova could be the first of many such events soon to be discovered.
The analysis indicated that the supernova's precursor star could only have been a giant weighing at least 200 times the mass of our Sun and initially containing few elements besides hydrogen and helium – a star like the very first stars in the early Universe.
"Because the core alone was some 100 solar masses, the long-hypothesized phenomenon called pair instability must have occurred," says astrophysicist Peter Nugent. A member of the SNfactory, Nugent is the co-leader of the Computational Cosmology Center (C3), a collaboration between Berkeley Lab's Physics Division and Computational Research Division (CRD), where Nugent is a staff scientist. "In the extreme heat of the star's interior, energetic gamma rays created pairs of electrons and positrons, which bled off the pressure that sustained the core against collapse."
"SN 2007bi was the explosion of an exceedingly massive star," says Alex Filippenko, a professor in the Astronomy Department at UC Berkeley whose team helped obtain, analyze, and interpret the data. "But instead of turning into a black hole like many other heavyweight stars, its core went through a nuclear runaway that blew it to shreds. This type of behavior was predicted several decades ago by theorists, but never convincingly observed until now."
SN 2007bi is the first confirmed observation of a pair-instability supernova. The researchers describe their results in the 3 December 2009 issue of Nature.
Extreme Universe: The most distant object known! April 28, 2009Posted by jcconwell in Extreme Universe, Gamma Ray Bursts.
Tags: Gamma Ray Burst
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On April 23, 2009, the Swift satellite detected that explosion. This spectacular gamma ray burst was seen 13 billion light years away, with a redshift of z = 8.2, the highest ever measured.
The cataclysmic explosion of a giant star early in the history of the Universe is the most distant single object ever detected by telescopes.
The colossal blast was picked up first by Nasa's Swift space observatory which is tuned to see the high-energy gamma-rays emitted from extreme events. Other telescopes then followed up the signal, confirming the source to be more 13 billion light-years away. Scientists say the star's destruction probably resulted in a black hole.
"This gets us into a realm where we've never been before," said Nial Tanvir, of the University of Leicester, UK. This is the most remote gamma-ray burst (GRB) ever detected, and also the most distant object ever discovered."
"We completely smashed the record with this one," said Edo Berger, a professor at Harvard University and a member of the team that first measured the burst's origin. "This demonstrates for the first time that massive stars existed in the early Universe."
The burst occurred some 13.1 billion years ago, or perhaps a bit more accurate, when the Universe was only 630 million years old, a mere one-twentieth of its current age. Astronomers like to use age rather than distance because when you get this close to the big bang, there are three ways (at least) of referring to distance.
There is a Luminosity distance which ASSUMES a 1/ (distance squared) law, which works when the space in between in FLAT.
There is the way that you'll see it referred to in the press, most of the time, since the light has been traveling for 13.1 billion years, the distance is 13.1 billion light-years. Not wrong, but it assumes no expansion.
Then there is….sound of can opener, opening up can of worms….
the proper distance… the distance you would measure if you could take into account all the extra real-estate the universe has added for 13.1 billion years, the expansion of the universe.
To give a little background in redshift and cosmology, a redshift is an increase in the wavelength of the light. There are three types of redshift. The first is Doppler caused by the motion of the source away from the observer. The second is a gravitational redshift caused by light climbing out from a strong gravitational field, like a black hole or neutron star. The third is what we see here the cosmological redshift, caused by the expansion of the universe.
All three are measured by a number called z. This number is the fractional change in the wavelength of the light, or
z = (λ-λ0)/λ0
Where λ0 is the wavelength emitted from far away and λ is what we see in our telescope. The new gamma ray burst had a z = 8.2, meaning an ultraviolet line of Hydrogen emitted at 121 nm. would be shifted all the way down to infrared at 996 nm, (visible is between 750 nm and 380 nm)
Now in cosmology, General Relativity gives a relation between the AGE of the object, since the big bang, with t=o as the moment of the big bang and its redshift z. Using a model of the expansion of the universe, redshift can be related to the age of an observed object, the so-called cosmic time–redshift relation. This depends on the shape and density of the universe, if we denote a density ratio as Ω0:
with ρcrit the critical density dividing a universe that eventually crunches from one that simply expands. This density is about three hydrogen atoms per cubic meter of space. At large redshifts one finds, with H0 as the Hubble constant at the present time:
But finding the distance is a little more complicated.
Picture walking along a sidewalk to your friends house one block away. Now if you had a insane construction crew adding sidewalk as you were walking, by the time you got to your friend's house and looked back you might see a lot more than one block of sidewalk.
Well the mad construction crew of the universe can add a lot in 13.1 billion years, so that if you look back now to the gamma ray burst you might find it around 40 billion light years away.
For more info on cosmological distances go here.
Extreme Universe: Magnetic Fields and Magnetars March 12, 2009Posted by jcconwell in Astronomy, Extreme Universe, Gamma Ray Bursts, Neutron Stars.
Tags: Astronomy, Gamma Ray Burst, magnetar, neutron star
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Neutron Stars are extreme to begin with, but magnetars add a whole new level of extreme to these exotic objects. Magnetars, as the name implies, are neutron stars with ultra high magnetic fields. As a matter of fact, the most extreme magnetic fields ever found in the universe!
There are about 15 magnetars known, they are all examples of a class of objects called "soft gamma repeaters" . The most magnetic one, and the most magnetized object in the known universe is SGR 1806-20. The magnetic field of this magnetar is estimated to be about 2 x 1011 Teslas or 2 x 1015 gauss, one Tesla being equal to 10,000 gauss.
Now, to give you some sense of how big this is, the Earth's magnetic field is about 1/2 gauss or .00005 Tesla. The magnet in a hospital's MRI is about 3.2 Tesla or 32,000 gauss, and the largest sustained magnetic field created in a lab is about 40 Tesla.
So we're talking about magnetic fields 1000 trillion times bigger than the Earth's field. Very weird things can happen with fields this large. One thing that's interesting is how much energy is stored in such a field. So let's break out an equation from physics and use an example I did in my electricity & magnetism class last week. If you look it up, you'll find the energy per cubic meter, or energy density, of a magnetic field is given by:
u = B2/2 μ0
u is the energy density given in Joules per cubic meter. A Joule is the energy you use to lift a kilogram about 10 centimeters off the ground.
B is the strength of the magnetic field given in Teslas, and μo is a constant that has a value of 4π x 10-7 (it has units , but we'll ignore them). Using a field of B = 2 x 1011 Teslas, the most powerful magnetar, we will get a huge number…
1.6 x 1028 Joules/(cubic meter)
or every cubic meter contains this amount of energy. To put this in context, the largest hydrogen bombs have a yield of 20 Megatons of TNT, which is about 1017 Joules of energy. So in each cubic meter of magnetic field has the stored energy of 160,000,000,000 (160 billion), 20 Megaton bombs.
Since we're having so much fun, lets think about it this way. Einstein showed mass and energy are equivalent, so how much mass would one cubic meter of this HUGE magnetic field have? Well…
or m = E/ c2 = 1.6 x 1028 Joules/(3 x 108m/s)2 = 1.78 x 1011kilograms
Each cubic centimeter of magnetic field would have a mass of 178 metric tons!!! If you multiply this by the number of cubic meters in the Magnetar, about 40 trillion, assuming the whole neutron star is magnetized, you get a lot of magnetic energy stored in Magnetar.
To give you an idea of what a small amount of this energy would do, consider the events of December 27, 2004. On that day the magnetar we've been using as a example, SGR 1806-20, under went a "superflare". The "superflare," from a magnetar named SGR 1806–20, irradiated Earth with more total energy than a powerful solar flare. Yet this object is an estimated 50,000 light-years away in Sagittarius. During that flicker of time it outshone the full Moon by a factor of two. The gamma rays struck the ionosphere and created more ionization which briefly expanded the ionosphere. Assuming that the distance estimate is accurate, the magnetar must have let loose as much energy as the Sun generates in 250,000 years.
Extreme Universe:Most Extreme Gamma-Ray Blast Ever! February 24, 2009Posted by jcconwell in Astronomy, Extreme Universe, Gamma Ray Bursts.
Tags: blackholes, Gamma Ray Burst, supernova
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The explosion, designated GRB 080916C, occurred just after midnight GMT on September 16 (7:13 p.m. on the 15th in the eastern US). Two of Fermi's science instruments — the Large Area Telescope and the Gamma-ray Burst Monitor — simultaneously recorded the event. Together, the two instruments provide a view of the blast's gamma-ray emission from energies ranging from 3,000 to more than 5 billion times that of visible light.
With the greatest total energy, and the highest-energy initial emissions ever before seen, a gamma-ray burst recently observed by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope set new records. The blast, which also raises new questions about gamma-ray bursts, was discovered by the FGST's Large Area Telescope, a collaboration among NASA, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science and international partners.
A team led by Jochen Greiner at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching, Germany, established that the blast occurred 12.2 billion light-years away using the Gamma-Ray Burst Optical/Near-Infrared Detector (GROND) on the 2.2-meter (7.2-foot) telescope at the European Southern Observatory in La Silla, Chile.
"Already, this was an exciting burst," says Julie McEnery, a Fermi deputy project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "But with the GROND team's distance, it went from exciting to extraordinary."
FGST team members showed that the blast exceeded the power of nearly 9,000 ordinary supernovae, using a distance of 12.2 billion light-years, and the gas emitting the first gamma rays must have moved at no less than 99.9999 percent the speed of light. This burst's is the most extreme to date, in both power and speed .
Extreme Universe: Smallest Black Hole January 10, 2009Posted by jcconwell in Astronomy, Black Holes, Extreme Universe.
Tags: Astronomy, blackholes
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Not all records in astronomy are about the big stuff. Good information comes in small packages. A classic case is XTE J1650-500, the smallest or lightest Black Hole measured.
Discovered in 2008 the lowest-mass known black hole belongs to a binary system.. The black hole has about 3.8 times the mass of our sun, and is orbited by a companion star, as depicted in this illustration.
Credit: NASA/CXC/A. Hobar
Using a new technique, two NASA scientists have identified the lightest known black hole. With a mass only about 3.8 times greater than our Sun and a radius of 11 kilometers, the black hole lies very close to the minimum size predicted for black holes, or the maximum mass neutron star that originate from dying stars.
The search for the smallest black holes is important because of the information they tell us about neutron stars, which have a critical upper mass thought to no larger than 3 time the mass of the sun. This upper mass, very similar to the upper mass of white dwarf , which is about 1.4 Solar Masses called Chandrasekhar's limit, is harder to calculate for the case of a neutron star.
Neutron stars have three extra complications, their rapid spin, the necessity of using general relativity to describe the gravitation, and most important, the nuclear forces at densities the exceed that of normal nuclei. Depending on the nature of the force you can get equations that relate the pressure and densities that very by a factor of 2 or more. resulting in different maximum mass neutron stars that depend on the nuclear force.
Thus the smallest black holes put constraints on the possible type of matter that make up neutron stars.
Extreme Universe: Biggest Black Hole! December 26, 2008Posted by jcconwell in Astronomy, Black Holes, Extreme Universe.
Tags: Astronomy, blackholes
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In keeping with the end of the year theme of the blog "Extremes in the Universe". The day after Christmas, an irresistible pull… a point of no return… no we're not talking about your holiday credit card bill or the after Christmas sales. We are talking black holes.
The heavyweight champion of the year, and at 18 billion solar masses, the largest known black hole in the universe was discovered in January of this year. The biggest black hole beats out its nearest competitor, the black hole in the heart of M87, by a factor of six.
Located in the heart of a quasar called OJ287, it's at a distance of 3.5 billion light years .
Just like other champions, it had some help. In order to measure the black hole's mass you need an object orbiting it. A smaller black hole, which weighs about 100 million Solar masses, orbits the larger one on an eccentric path every 12 years. It comes close enough to fly through the disc of matter around the larger black hole twice each orbit, causing a pair of outbursts, coming and going, that make OJ287 suddenly brighten.
General relativity predicts that the smaller hole's orbit itself should precess over time. This effect is seen in Mercury's orbit around the Sun, on a much smaller scale.
In the case of OJ287, the immense gravitational field of the larger black hole causes the smaller black hole's orbit to precess at an 39° each orbit! The precession changes the timing of when the smaller hole punches through the disc surrounding its larger companion.
About a dozen of the resulting bright outbursts have been observed to date, and astronomers led by Mauri Valtonen of Tuorla Observatory in Finland have analysed them to measure the precession rate of the smaller hole's orbit. That, along with the period of the orbit, suggests the larger black hole weighs a record 18 billion Suns.
The most recent outburst occurred on 13 September 2007, as predicted by general relativity. "If there was no orbital decay, the outburst would have been 20 days later than when it actually happened," Valtonen told New Scientist, adding that the black holes are on track to merge within 10,000 years, due to orbital decay caused by gravitational radiation.
Craig Wheeler, of the U of Texas, says the observations of the outbursts fit closely with the expectations from general relativity. "The fact that you can fit Einstein's theory [so well] … is telling you that that's working," he says.


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Introducing our new 8-Day Grand South Africa Luxury Safari. This trip offers a great overview of South Africa with an emphasis on wildlife and game viewing with a taste of Cape Town.
This trip includes
- 2 nights in Sabi Sands at the Leadwood Lodge
- 2 nights in Phinda at the Phinda Homestead or Zuka Lodge
- 2 nights in Cape Town at the Ellerman House
- 1 night in Johannesburg at the Saxon Boutique Hotel


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Transparency and Communication
Monetary policy can only operate effective with open communications between Bank Indonesia and the public. For this reason, Bank Indonesia works consistently to ensure that monetary policy is communicated to the public in a transparent manner. These communications also represent part of monetary policy accountability and play a role in shaping public expectations of future inflation. Bank Indonesia encourages the public through these communications to perceive and shape future inflation in keeping with the stance adopted in the published target. Monetary policy is therefore communicated on an ongoing basis through announcements and explanations of the future inflation target, Bank Indonesia analysis of the economy, the working framework, past and future monetary policy actions, the schedule for the Board of Governors Meetings and other matters as determined by the Board of Governors.
Monetary policy communications are issued in press releases, press conferences after Board Meetings, publication of the Monetary Policy Review/Report presenting the background to decisions made and explanations provided directly to the public, media, economic actors, market analysts and academics.
Bank Indonesia communicates monetary policy through the following publications:-
Monetary Policy Review -
Indonesian Economic Report -
Quarterly Report to Indonesian Parliament (ID) - Press Releases on Monetary Policy (link: BI Rate or BI 7DRR)
Bank Indonesia reports regularly to the Indonesian Parliament on the operation of monetary policy as part of the accountability of Bank Indonesia in performance of tasks and functions vested by law. The reporting of monetary policy takes place through written submissions and verbal explanations of the operation of monetary policy each quarter and of specific aspects of monetary policy as may be deemed necessary. In addition, the Policy Accountability Report is tabled with the Government and made available to the public for the purposes of transparency and coordination.
If the inflation target is not achieved during any given year, Bank Indonesia shall issue an explanation to the Government as material for open explanations presented jointly by the Government and Bank Indonesia to the Indonesian Parliament and the public.


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Holiday Inn Old Sydney
If you think of Sydney, Australia, as a purely summer time destination, you need to visit during the Vivid Festival in winter.
At this time of year, Sydney transforms into a night time wonderland of crowded streets, light shows and displays, and street food. It's crazy busy, and reminds me a little of a bustling international marketplace.
I was lucky enough this year to squeeze in a visit to my old hometown, and to stay at the Holiday Inn at Old Sydney (or The Rocks, as most of us Sydney siders call it) for the Vivid Festival.
Location and Views
The Holiday Inn possibly boasts the best views of Vivid Festival in Sydney. I'm treated to a harbour view room, and watch the colours splash across the Opera House at night like silent fireworks, and the lit up boats sail across the harbour. Waking up early the next morning, I walk across the Rocks up to the Botanic Gardens, and I'm greeted with a clean, silent Sydney. It's the perfect way to get your first glimpses of this city.
On a practical note, the Holiday Inn is well placed to check out Sydney's most iconic tourist attractions: the harbour, Circular Quay and its ferries, the Harbour Bridge, the Opera House (and Opera Bar), various Rocks breweries and pubs, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Walsh Bay, and the Botanic Gardens. It's surrounded by great cafes, restaurants, and bars, and easily accessible by bus, train, and ferry.
My room with the rockstar view is a King Superior Room. I sink into the bed after a day of traipsing around Sydney and it's heaven. The pillows come in a variety of firmness and are labelled accordingly. Another day and I arrive back at an ungodly (for my mid 30s age) hour in the morning from Frankie's Pizza, and if possible, it's even comfier. The bathroom is a good size, with a nice shower and bathtub.
As mentioned in an earlier post, the hotel has a good roof-top event space, replete with a roof top swimming pool.
Standard Internet is free in all rooms for IG members, and costs $18.95 per night for non-members.
Staff, Ambience, and Dining
The staff are genuinely lovely and helpful. The night I check in is a pumping night in the Rocks for the Vivid Festival, and they suggest some areas to me and help me with maps. I didn't get to check out the restaurant or bar on this occasion because of my Vivid activities, but I did help myself to some room service one night when I was exhausted. There's an option to have it delivered "take away" style, without the full white napkin and cutlery service. I opt for this, particularly as I'm having wedges with sweet chilli sauce and a coke – not exactly requiring plates or cutlery. 😉 It's also cheaper than the full menu.
Would we stay here again?
Definitely. The service was impeccable, the views were spectacular, and the room was comfortable. I recommended this hotel to my parents and family shortly after I stayed in Sydney, and hopefully get to have a family visit in the future.
Location & contact details: 55 George Street Sydney, 2000 Australia Bookings: 1 877 660 8550
Check In & Check Out: 3pm and 11AM.
Cost: King Superior Room from $200.
Website: https://www.ihg.com/holidayinn/hotels/us/en/reservation/book?qAdlt=1&qBrs=hi.ex.rs.cv.ic.cp.in.vn.sb.cw.ul.6c&qChld=0&qCiD=03&qCiMy=072015&qCoD=04&qCoMy=072015&qDest=Sydney+AUSTRALIA&qGRM=0&qHtlC=sydgs&qPSt=0&qRRSrt=rt&qRef=df&qRms=1&qRpn=1&qRpp=12&qRtP=6CBARC&qSHp=1&qSlH=sydgs&qSmP=3&qSrt=sDD&qWch=0&srb_u=1&method=redirect&modifySearch=bookhotel_sydgs#roomratestitle


text: Freaks is a 1932 American horror film in which the eponymous characters were played by people who worked as carnival sideshow performers and had real deformities. The original version was considered too shocking to be released, and no longer exists. Directed and produced by Tod Browning, whose career never recovered from it, Freaks has been described as standing alone in a subgenre of one. ... more on Wikipedia


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For Apple iCal, iPhone, Outlook or if your browser is setup to accept the webcal protocol:
Click webcal://chem.usc.edu/dept/seminars_ical.php
Notes: For Apple iCal, Make sure to set the "Auto Refresh" to Every day.
To subscribe in Google calendars :
Click on "Add" on the left menu under "Other Calendar" and select "Add by URL"
Type: webcal://chem.usc.edu/dept/seminars_ical.php and click "Add Calendar".
To subscribe in Yahoo calendar beta:
Click on the icon to expand the view. (Top left, below the "Today" and "View" buttons).
Click on the + sign and select "Subscribe to calendar"
Type: webcal://chem.usc.edu/dept/seminars_ical.php and click "Next".
To subscribe in Windows Live/Hotmail:
In the Calendar View, Click on Subscribe in the toolbar near the top of the page.
Under Calendar URL, paste "webcal://chem.usc.edu/dept/seminars_ical.php". For Calendar name, type Chemistry Seminars, and click on "Subscribe to Calendar".
The calendar is not loaded immediately but will appear along with your Windows Live calendars when you log in next day.
To subscribe from GroupWise:
Right-click on the calendar icon and select "Subscribe".
Type webcal://chem.usc.edu/dept/seminars_ical.php in the "Location".
Type "Chemistry Seminars" in the "Folder Name".
Set the update frequecy to "Daily".


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Watermeadow Medical, one of Ashfield Healthcare Communications' agencies, began in 1997 in Oxfordshire, UK, founded by Paul Hilditch.
Since its inception, Watermeadow has grown to become a global agency thanks to many of its longstanding employees playing a pivotal part in its success – our current Managing Director Nicola Duckworth joined in 2001, together with Penny Butcher, Principal Medical Writer, and Liz Southey, VP Medical & Scientific Services. Murray Edmunds, our VP of Medical Writing Excellence, is our longest serving employee, having joined Watermeadow in 1999.
Exciting growth ahead
Since then, Watermeadow has gone from strength to strength with more than 80 employees across three locations in the UK, with some home workers in the UK, USA and Canada, delivering programmes and materials supporting more than 25 different products.
Watermeadow's offices have seen a number of changes over the years to accommodate our expansion. In 2000, we opened offices in Witney, while one of the founding members moved to Albany in the USA. However, we soon filled the space, and so we were on the move again to our current location on Range Road in 2006. A year later we gained a presence in north-west England by opening an office in Knutsford and that same year, our US presence
was increased by establishing an office in Manhattan, New York City. After rapid growth, Watermeadow became part of Ashfield in 2012 and two years later we opened an office in Copenhagen, Denmark.
It's all in a name
Our name derives from the fact that our founder's home overlooked an old watermeadow in Stanton Harcourt, near Witney. The idea was to create a name that would not confine the activities of the company; 'Watermeadow' allows modification of our business offerings to our pharma clients, because it does not evoke any particular service. Currently, the services we offer to clients include publications, medical education, interactive meetings and events, strategic planning and many more!
We're proud of our work
Since 1997, Watermeadow has won a number of coveted awards, including the Communique Medical Consulting Agency of the year in 2009 and 2010 and, more recently, a Silver Investors in People Award, and ISO 9001 accreditation in 2016.
The exciting and dynamic environment at Watermeadow has led to a high staff retention rate and numerous new recruits. Our staff are dedicated and motivatedspanning a wide range of skills and expertise, with 90% of our writers educated to higher degree level. We've our own specialist events team, with a collective experience of more than 40 years and an excellent client services team. We also have six Publications Managers, who ensure smooth delivery of compliant publications and, of course, our team of precise, patient and incredibly meticulous editors.
We're also keen enthusiasts!
In addition to our expertise in healthcare communications, our employees have interests and skills outside of work. We have fossil enthusiasts, bee-keepers, qualified chiropractors, rock-climbers, cold water swimmers, heptathletes, jewellery makers, dog trainers, potters, aerialists, runners, taxidermists, musicians, songwriters, dressmakers, plasterers, quilt makers, flower arrangers and yogis in our ranks. Some of our employees are multilingual and a total of 15 languages can be spoken across the business!
To celebrate 20 years, Watermeadow went to Drayton Manor, where employees enjoyed the theme park, zoo and crazy golf, before a BBQ and a boogie in the evening. We also celebrated with our agency colleagues in Hazelwood House, Tytherington, with cakes and party food – a great way to get to know our neighbours!
And a final word from Nicola Duckworth, Managing Director:
"I'm delighted to have been a part of Watermeadow from its early days, and to have seen the successes that the agency has achieved over the years. We are excited, too, about the future: our constant drive for maintaining our high scientific rigour with innovative solutions means that we are ideally placed to support our clients in the years ahead."


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How Recent Changes to YouTube Will Affect You
Chances are, you've been on YouTube. You've probably watched a few hundred hours of video from your favorite YouTuber Three YouTube Stars Interviewed President Obama, Here's What Happened Hank Green, Bethany Mota, and GloZell Green didn't waste their chance to interview President Barack Obama. Read More or kept track of your favorite movie channels Love Movies? 4 Awesome YouTube Channels You Need to Watch While there are a lot of YouTube channels that focus on reviewing movies, there are some YouTubers who go beyond simple reaction videos and dig deep into what makes films special. Read More . You may have even uploaded a video or two in hopes of being the next big YouTuber. Whatever your reason, you need to know about a couple of big updates.
10 Years of YouTube!
Before we dive into the updates, it's worth noting that the video-sharing website is now 10 years old. Since its inception in 2005, YouTube has amassed more than a billion (yes, a billion!) users, with more than 300 minutes of video uploaded to the site every minute. Pretty impressive.
An Overview of Updates
During its existence, YouTube has continuously updated their site in an effort to bring the best possible experience to viewers and YouTubers. The social-viewing website recently made some updates that it says, will "make your videos even more interactive" and your live streams "silky smooth."
What does this mean? According to YouTube, this means a lot of new and exciting updates for you. Let's break it down.
For YouTube Viewers
As a viewer, the cards update BlackBerry Releases New Tablet, YouTube Cards Kill Annotations [Tech News Digest] The BlackBerry SecuTablet, YouTube scraps annotations, Sotheby's comes to eBay, EA ditches Tiger, Street Viewing Brazilian islands, and President Obama reads mean tweets. Read More makes it even easier to interact with videos and channels. This means it will be easier to follow your favorite brand and engage with content by clicking on the card icon or teaser icon shown in each video.
Previously, annotations were used to direct viewers Want To Enhance Your YouTube Videos With Clickable Links? Here's How! Have you ever tried to add a clickable link to your YouTube videos, only to find that there's just no way to do it? Well, actually there are two ways, methods that have remained hidden... Read More to material. YouTube said annotations would "boost engagement, give more information, and aid in navigation," which they certainly do. However, because annotations aren't supported on mobile devices — and around half of YouTube views come from mobile devices — they will eventually be replaced by cards. This is great news for viewers wanting to access more, especially mobile video viewers.
And don't worry, the cards shown in the videos won't affect your viewing experience. You can easily close or open the cards while the video is playing with no interruption.
For Channel Owners
The most popular channels 10 Best Channels for STEM Education on YouTube STEM is not just an acronym but an idea that could help transform how our children are taught. These ten YouTube channels not only teach but also inspire to study STEM subjects better. Read More are popular for a reason — they stay up to date. Channel owners can now update their site and engage with mobile users by offering clickable cards in their videos. For popular YouTube channels Tech Videos -- Best Of The Best YouTube Technology Channels When it comes to new technology, there are a number of YouTube channels that help you get a grasp on the latest and greatest. Here are ten must-watch channels every geek should subscribe to. Read More , this means many things, as there are five different types of interactive cards for YouTubers in good standing. The options are: Associated Website, Fan Funding, Fundraising, Merchandise and Video or Playlist. Each card provides a different feature for viewers to engage with.
The Associated Website card allows you to display your Google verified website on a card during your video. The card will appear as an icon in the upper right corner of your video, with a link that directs users to your website.
Fan Funding and Fundraising are both similar options, allowing viewers to voluntarily donate money 4 Unusual Ways of Monetizing Your Creative Content Are you a creative person? Perhaps you're a fiction author, or an investigative journalist? Monetizing your work is tricky. Here are four of the best ways to monetize content without an inch of advertising. Read More directly or through a supported website to support your channel or cause. Merchandise cards work to sell your products, and the Video or Playlist card will encourage viewers to watch another video from your channel or a playlist.
The cards are pretty basic to set up and have proven to be effective with users that have taken advantage of the new update.
Live Streaming Updates
YouTube #Live wants you to upload more of your live video streams. 3 Ways to Stream Live Gaming Action From Your PC So let's say that you want to get in on that sweet live-streaming fame and fortune. Do you need expensive software? A degree in computer science? A jury-rigged second monitor with a webcam glued to... Read More They're increasing from their 30 frames per second (FPS) live streaming capabilities to 60 FPS, for what will likely be most exciting for gamers. The update was made to compete with Twitch Watch Artists Work In Real-Time on These 4 Twitch Channels One effective way to learn digital art is watching live experts draw and teach in real time. Did you know that Twitch.tv has a category dedicated to Creative Arts? Read More , the live-streaming video site that has rapidly gained popularity.
YouTube stated the update means "silky smooth playback for gaming and other fast-action videos." The "early preview" is available on HTML5 supported browsers. In addition, playback and speed-up options are available for live streaming.
"YouTube live streams will use an HTML5 player in supported browsers. And because our HTML5 player supports variable speed playback, you can skip backward in a stream while it's live and watch at 1.5x or 2x speed to catch back up."
What Do You Think of Cards?
How have these updates affected you? Have you used YouTube cards in your own videos, or engaged with them on another channel? I'd be interested in hearing how the cards have helped your channel in the comments below.
Do you stream live video? Has the 60 FPS update helped with your view count? Can you see a difference in quality?
Affiliate Disclosure: By buying the products we recommend, you help keep the site alive. Read more.


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Inflector News & Updates
The Ottawa Hospital's Annual President's Breakfast September 12, 2018
Sep 19, 2018
On September 12th, more than 550 industry leaders gathered in the Trillium Ballroom of the Shaw Centre for theRead more
Ottawa-based Inflector Environmental Services ranks 469 on the 2018 Growth 500
Sep 17, 2018
Canadian Business unveils 30th annual list of Canada's Fastest-Growing Companies Ottawa, ORead more
Industrial lands need cleaning up before ambitious urban planning venture
Apr 06, 2018
One of several Inflector Quebec-based projects in 2017 took place at the Domtar Lands – the site of the future Zibi deveRead more
Inflector goes the distance – the 1300km distance to remediate lead paint and landfill
Apr 06, 2018
Slate Island Coast Guard Station is located within the Slate Islands Provincial Park situated 12 km south-southwest of TerRead more
Hospitals demand especially cautious and methodical environmental services
Apr 06, 2018
Started in 2016, this project at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) was scheduled in phases with other coRead more
90-year-old school requires abatement, remediation and demolition before re-build
Apr 06, 2018
Inflector began work on Broadview Public School in late summer 2016 and completed the job by early 2017. Originally constrRead more
Ottawa Hospital's Annual President's Breakfast
Sep 26, 2016
On September 13th, more than 500 industry leaders gathered in the Trillium ballroom at the Shaw Centre for the annual OttaRead more
40 under 40
Apr 24, 2016
In April 2016, Jeff W. Clarke was honoured by Ottawa Business Journal/Ottawa Chamber of Commerce as one of 2016's recipiRead more
Inflector Environmental Services in the news
Apr 02, 2016
The article touched on our humble beginnings, rapid growth, and the current focus of the executive team. In the article, IRead more
We have moved!
Jul 31, 2015
To accommodate the rapidly growing team Inflector Environmental Services has moved to 6961 McKeown Rd in Greely, 20 minuteRead more


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The Pit Room owners to take over former Cane Rosso space in Montrose
The domed pizza oven at Cane Rosso in Montrose barely had time to cool after it closed on Dec. 30 when a new operator assumed the lease at Richmond and Yoakum.
But the new tenant is a neighbor, and just happens to be one of the hot new restaurant groups in Houston. Michael Sambrooks of Sambrooks Management Company announced Monday he will take over the Cane Rosso space and create a new Tex-Mex concept there.
"I felt like the space is perfect for Tex-Mex," said Sambrooks, the owner of The Pit Room whose company purchased the assets of the former Cherry Pie Hospitality restaurants including Star Fish, Pi Pizza and the former Lee's Fried Chicken & Donuts (now Sam's Fried Chicken & Donuts) in September.
Sambrooks' new Tex-Mex doesn't have a name yet but he expects it to open in the summer.
HOUSTON SMOKE CATCHES FIRE: How The Pit Room became a hit
As a restaurateur, Sambrooks is no stranger to the staples of the classic Tex-Mex canon. The success of his Pit Room is owed in part to the quality and flavors of Tex-Mex items on that traditional barbecue joint menu. We're talking brisket fat flour tortillas, smoky charro beans, fajitas, smoky brisket tacos, and house-made salsa.
All those will be on the menu at the new Tex-Mex where Sambrooks said he plans to install custom wood-burning grills and ovens as well as trompo meats.
That the new Tex-Mex is only two blocks from The Pit room at 1201 Richmond is a good thing: Customers can walk from one concept to the other. As sister restaurants they will share the same recipes when it comes to the Tex-Mex offerings.
Cane Rosso at 4306 Yoakum closed at the end of the year but its Heights restaurant remains open.
Greg Morago writes about food for the Houston Chronicle. Follow him on Facebook or Twitter. Send him news tips at firstname.lastname@example.com. Hear him on our BBQ State of Mind podcast to learn about Houston and Texas barbecue culture.


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California environmental law faces changes
Sacramento --
A proposal to loosen California's landmark environmental protection law is expected to be introduced at the Capitol as soon as Thursday, giving the public and lawmakers only about a week to debate and consider the controversial legislation's fate.
Backers of the proposal, largely from the business community, say the California Environmental Quality Act passed in 1970 needs to be updated because it has become cumbersome, and some individuals and groups misuse the law to stop or delay development for non-environmental reasons.
Republicans in the Legislature have long sought changes to the environmental law, commonly known as CEQA, and this year some Democrats, including Gov. Jerry Brown, signaled that they are open to discussion.
At a news conference last month, the governor said, "I've never seen a CEQA exemption I didn't like." And on Wednesday in San Francisco at a news conference for his ballot measure to raise taxes, Brown said of the proposal that has been circulating: "To tell you the truth, I have not read it. In fact it's not even clear we have a final draft yet. But look - CEQA reform is the Lord's work."
Environmental groups say the proposal is an attempt to gut the law in the waning days of the legislative session to avoid public input and scrutiny. The Legislature's two-year session comes to a close Aug. 31.
Typically, it takes at least several months - often longer - for a proposal to be vetted by committees and then go to a vote of the Legislature. But nearing the end of a session, controversial proposals sometimes are inserted into bills and pushed through.
While the bill has yet to be introduced, people both for and against it expect language that would alter the environmental law to be inserted into SB317 by state Sen. Michael Rubio, D-Bakersfield. That bill pertains to fish management in the Kings River, and amendments to the bill with the new language were released by proponents late Wednesday.
An influential law
CEQA is the cornerstone of California's environmental protection efforts. It was signed into law by then-Gov. Ronald Reagan, and has been a model for other states and even for some changes in federal law. Under the law, a project that will have a significant effect on the environment is subject to an environmental impact report.
Members of the public can comment on that report, and government agencies preparing the report must respond to those comments. Once the impacts are identified - they can range from traffic congestion to public health problems and damage to the environment - the developers must take steps to mitigate those impacts.
Perhaps more than any other, the law is responsible for how communities across California look today.
Eliminating reviews
Business leaders called the law an important tool that provides the public with an assessment of the environmental impacts of projects, but said it needs revisions.
"Since CEQA became law, many other environmental and land-use laws have been passed by multiple agencies at the federal, state and local levels, creating duplicative and overlapping processes, standards and mitigation requirements which often result in lengthy project-permitting delays and uncertainty," said Bill Allen, CEO of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., in a letter to lawmakers supporting the proposal.
Under the proposal, projects that meet the requirements of an existing land-use plan - which has met CEQA mandates - would be exempt from going through the law's rigorous environmental review process. Backers say that eliminates duplication, but opponents say it means the public will not have a chance to weigh in on - and force changes to - large projects that will affect them or the environment, including power plants and hazardous waste dumps.
Exemptions from CEQA may also apply to two of the governor's biggest priorities: high-speed rail and the proposed tunnels to move water under the delta, environmentalists said.
"It would be really devastating for California and probably the rest of the nation for the kind of precedent this would set," said Jena Price, legislative director for the Planning and Conservation League.
Previous measures
She said attempts to alter the environmental law frequently emerge at the end of the legislative session, but previous measures have not gone as far as the current proposal.
"This is one of the more, if not the most, egregious attempts to gut CEQA I have ever seen," Price said.
Other environmental groups, including the Sierra Club, already have called on their members to contact leaders of the Legislature to block action on the measure even before it's an actual bill. Business groups, too, have asked members to call lawmakers, but to urge them to make changes in the law. Variations of the proposal for exemptions have been passed around the Capitol for more than a week. On Monday, a coalition of business groups, developers and some labor unions held a press conference to outline what they would like to see in a proposal.
Their ideas are reflected in the amendments.
But environmentalists are pushing back, and on Tuesday a group of 33 lawmakers sent a letter to the Democratic leaders of the Legislature calling for no changes to CEQA without first going through the full public process.
What is CEQA?
The California Environmental Quality Act, passed in 1970, is the cornerstone of California's environmental protection policies. A public agency must determine whether a proposed project would have a significant environmental impact. If so, the project becomes the subject of an environmental impact report, on which the public can comment. Those comments must be addressed, and the report must include ways to mitigate impacts on the environment.
Wyatt Buchanan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com


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Dear Cheese Father,
Our Children have monsters in their closets, but our landlord says that getting a pikaboo violates the "no pets" portion of our contract. What else can we do?
Trapped Renter
Dear Renter,
Monsters, and whose responsibility they are, is something you really should have negotiated with your landlord about before you moved in. Check your contract again, but look under Pest Control to see if he would have to help you get the monsters out.
If that doesn't work out, it's never too late to try and renegotiate. If he will hear you out, tell him what a safe 'pet' a Pikaboo can be. Technically, they aren't even a "live animal". They feed on electricity, and so are incapable of producing waste that would stain any carpet. They don't have claws that need sharpening on furniture. They will never track in dirt, mud, or yak droppings from next door. They are not outgoing enough to bother the neighbors. And they are fairly unlikely to start house fires.
If he still stands firm on "No Pets", you can use the same arguments to try and reclassify a Pikaboo as a small appliance.
Dear Cheese Guy,
Bats keep getting into my house. How can I put a stop to this?
Invaded Belfry
Dear Bel,
Remember, bats navigate their world mostly by sound. If you sound-proof your home, it should be nearly invisible to them. Any bats still hiding inside will immediately attempt to move out because they are blind and miserable in the soundless environment you've created.
Dear Square Root of Kevin,
I hate my job and who it's made me become. I want to go back and make it so I never worked there, but I lose my nerve when I think about all the movies I've seen where people mess up the future or almost destroy the whole space time continuum. How dangerous is it really to do this? Am I really putting the whole universe at risk?
Needing a Change
Dear Needy,
Time travel is indeed risky business; There are the risks of unintended changes* to the timeline, the hazard of less than 100% reliable transportation back to the present day, and those pesky paradoxes that you were referring to.
While indeed very dangerous, I can't say that paradoxes necessarily put the whole universe at stake. It's possible that the damage could be very localized, limited only to your own galaxy. But I'm sure your neighbors would agree that this is still a significant risk. Proceed with extreme caution.
Something else to consider is that most time travelers retain their memories of what the timeline was like before they changed it. This means that in your case, changing the past will not help your goal to change who you have become. What you should do is ask a trusted friend to go back and make the change for you.
Examples of possible unintended changes worth consideration:
Preventing an accident that turned out to be how your parents met;
Redirecting the path an abandoned puppy that would later have been rescued, adopted by the old couple down the street, and later foiled an attempted burglary on their home;
Swatting a fly that was the grandfather of the one that irritated your great aunt, causing her to wave her hand and spill her drink, which would have caught the attention of her no-longer-husband-to-be thus canceling the birth of that cousin with the birthmark that inspired your mother's interest in botany.


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Math is just one of those subjects that baffle many young students. As it is, early readers have their plates full as they are still learning their ABCs and associating words with pictures. Not every child has an innate interest in learning about numbers and being proficient in arithmetic. That being the case, introducing these tricky concepts can be made much easier with the use of games such as Marble Math Junior. Instead of confining the learning experience to the classroom, why not mix it in with a little gaming fun at home? Your kids can acquire valuable math skills and have a blast too.
Marble Math Junior is intended for kids 6 to 8 years of age. It makes good use of your device's touch screen interface by requiring players to roll or drag a marble through a maze. If your little one wishes to roll the marble instead, then choosing the Roll option upon starting a level allows him to make use of your mobile device's accelerometer instead.
Each path way has a number or shape at the end which may or may not be a correct answer to that stage's math problem. For example, if the goal is to collect all the octagons then the only way to get out of that maze is to guide the marble to all eight-sided polygons found on that stage. Doing so unlocks the exit portal. Otherwise, choosing the wrong shapes will give players the option to retry the problem or view the solution.
Since this app is intended for kids who are still learning the ropes when it comes to reading, there is an option to hear the stage goals read aloud. Tapping on the math problem located at the top of the screen plays a sound clip to assist early readers. The goals are segregated based on difficulty. Level 1 contains Easy goals, Medium difficulty math problems comprise Level 2 while the most difficult ones fall under the Level 3 set.
There are a good variety of challenges. The problem sets can range from simply tasking players to get the marble to all items that equal 4 to asking them to collect coins that add up to 75 cents. Every time the marble passes by a number, that digit is displayed and added (or subtracted) at the bottom of the screen. This ensures that players are always aware of any revisions they have made to their solution, taking guesswork out of the picture.
The bright and colorful graphics used in Marble Math Junior is polished; however, the delivery is pretty generic as there is a lack of characters which kids can associate with the game. It would have been great to see a mascot to make the game more memorable to very young players. On the plus side, giving kids the option to choose their own marble design is a nice touch. Kids can also customize their profile in the avatar creator.
Marble Math Junior is a remarkable educational app which puts emphasis on formulating strategies and making number-based decisions. Kids can learn all about numbers, shape matching, consecutive integers, fractions and math operations. They can even practice telling the time using this app.
Bonuses and obstacles can also be toggled on or off depending on a player's preference. To keep the subjects in-line with topics currently covered in school, adults are given the option to narrow down the available problem sets. The currency can be altered as well, making the app applicable to a bigger global audience.
Marble Math Junior is available for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. Kids easily get immersed with the app's goal-based stages, imparting valuable math concepts while keeping the experience immensely enjoyable.


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I am looking for a service manual for a Cell-Dyn 1700. I am working on it for a buddy who runs a free clinic, trying to track down "Pressure Level Time Out" and "Vacuum Level Time Out" errors.
Pressure level timeout means that the pressure pump was unable to satisfy the pressure sensor (0.5PSI) within 45 seconds. This means there is a leak or the pump is not running at all.
Vacuum level timeout means that the vacuum pump was unable to satisfy the vacuum sensor (8" Hg) within 45 seconds. This also means there is a leak or the pump is not running at all.
If you get both indications, I would bet that the pumps are not running at all. Remember that a single tubing disconnected or removed from a pinch valve can cause this, as well as rusty solenoids that don't close (usually near the bottom of the front panel).
email me if you need more help. The service manual would be of no help diagnosing this.
do u have service manual of abott cd-1700? i am a freelancer, in bombay, india.
- firstname.lastname@example.com