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On Monday the 6th/19th of August 2013, the feast of the Transfiguration of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was celebrated on Mount Tabor in remembrance of the extraordinary and sublime event which came to pass in glory and brilliance within a luminous cloud as the Father said from the heavens: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 17, 5) and in the presence of prophets Moses and Elijah – the revelation and manifestation of the divine nature of the Lord, His human nature briefly concealed before the eminent disciples Peter and James and John.
The event, celebrated by the Church as one of the feast's of the Lord, was honoured on the very site where it took place and also at the adjacent Holy Monastery during a nocturnal Divine Liturgy out of doors, His Beatitude Theophilos, our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem, officiating. Co-officiating were the Most Reverend Timotheos, Metropolitan of Bostroi and Patriarchal representative in Cyprus; the Elder Chancellor, His Eminence Aristarchos, Archbishop of Constantina; Hieromonks of the Holy Sepulchre, and Presbyters of the Arab-speaking Communities of the Patriarchate from towns lying in the vicinity of Mount Tabor, amidst the pious sound of Byzantine chants sung in Arabic by a choir conducted by the Hegoumen of Accra-Ptolemais, Archimandrite f. Philotheos; and in Greek by Presbyter f. Georgios of the Church of Greece. A great crowd participated reverently, of faithful pilgrims from Greece, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Romania and Cyprus.
After the Divine Liturgy, the Hegoumen of the Holy Monastery, Archimandrite Hilarion, hosted the Patriarchal retinue and offered them rest at the Monastery's guesthouses.
On the morning of the feast, the Divine Liturgy was held inside the Church, the Most Reverend Kyriakos, Metropolitan of Nazareth officiating. Co-officiating were Hieromonks of the Holy Sepulchre and Arab-speaking Presbyters in the presence of a great crowd from the Northern Communities of the Patriarchate.
At noon, the Hegoumen Archimandrite Hilarion hosted His Beatitude, who spent the night in Tabor, for lunch, as well as the Most Reverend Metropolitan of Nazareth, their retinues and pilgrims.
For the feast of the Transfiguration, the Divine Liturgy was held at the Tomb of the Virgin Mary in Gethsemane, His Eminence Dorotheos, Archbishop of Avila officiating, and at the Holy Monastery of the Transfiguration of the Saviour in Ramallah, His Eminence Philoumenos, Archbishop of Pella and Patriarchal Commissioner in Irbet, Jordan, officiating.
From the Secretariat-General


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In which Dr Aust ponders slime. And scientific tendencies.
Reproduced from the wonderful xkcd.com, the comic strip that regularly captures the spirit and the reality of science
Last weekend the Aust entourage, including Junior Aust (aged six-and-a bit-well-nearly-seven-in-a-few-months) visited this event at one of the nearby museums, run by the people from Manchester University's Life Sciences Faculty.
In the event you could, as it says, "Come on a tour of the human body" and learn "how the heart works and how your lungs help you breathe", among other things.
Junior Aust was fairly unimpressed by the nice chaps with their two-electrode ECG trace, even when I told her it was one of the things dad gets his students to measure on each other. I think the ECG wasn't participatory enough for her, as they weren't allowed to wire up members of the public (a shame, really, but understandable).
I DID manage to persuade her to blow into the spirometer and have her Forced Vital Capacity measured – another of those things you can find me getting students to do in their lab classes. I also measured myself for comparison, though I'd already done my annual Hypochondrial Full-service Multi-parameter Respiratory Function Self-assessment while I was running the student classes earlier this Semester.
She was a bit more impressed with the video of the view of the inside of your airways during a bronchoscopy (not done live, before you ask!), which I was able to tell her was the kind of thing mummy used to do to patients.
But the thing that REALLY made a deep and lasting impression on Junior Aust was the "make your own mucus-alike slime" stand. Kitted out in disposable plastic pathologist-style apron and dashing purple nitrile gloves, she was helped to concoct some truly disgusting-looking greeny-yellow slime out of acrylic glue, water and food colouring. I reassured her that the yellow colour was just enough to made it look properly yellow phlegm-like and grungey, and she was given some of her confection (tied up in another nitrile glove, no plastic bags left) to take home.
Now, we assumed she would lose interest in the stuff quickly enough, but this turned out not to be the case. For the rest of the day we were repeatedly called into action to stop her turning the slime out over the table, or the chairs, or the floor. Despite our best efforts, small chunks of it made their way onto her and her brother's clothes, and onto the furniture. Yum.
But then we made a truly catastrophic error.
** Warning – you may find the next bit slightly disgusting. **
In a moment of attempting to out-gross Jurior Aust, The Boss (Mrs Dr Aust) remarked "That slime" (which was now semi-congealed) "looks exactly like what was in Junior Two's nappies when he was ill the other week*"
Oh dear.
Big mistake.
Big, biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig Mistake.
For, thoughout the week since this conversation, we have been regaled daily (or indeed several times each day), by one or both children, with the useful information, faithfully and exactly repeated, of just exactly what Jr Aust's slime resembles. Typically combined with a display of THE GLOVE, turned inside out so we can have a good look at the congealed yellow stuff.
Note to self:
Take care what information thou doth impart to those under seven.
For verily, thou canst not take it back.
Anyway, we are trying to look on the optimistic side. You certainly have to applaud Junior Aust, and her younger sibling, for their impressive curiosity. Even curiosity into slightly gross stuff.
Which explains why I found the cartoon at the top of the post, from the brilliant xkcd.com, so funny when I saw it earlier this evening.
Now, Mrs Dr Aust and I have sworn an oath, in blood and in at least two languages, that the Aust-Sprogs are to be discouraged at all costs from going into any career related to science, or into medicine.
But there is, I fear, the chance that genes, or conditioning, will out.
Time, I guess, will tell.
* It was almost certainly a rotavirus infection, BTW. Most unpleasant, and not a week we are keen to remember.

subset: commoncrawl


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Professional, courteous customer service
IT shouldn't come with an attitude.
Technical support can be a pleasant experience. Get in contact to see how it's done.
Get it done right the first time
When it comes to technology, experience matters.
Let us show you how efficient Mac IT in small and medium business can be.
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Benefit from a vast wealth of Apple and Mac OS knowledge.
We love to talk technology, and can also chat in layman's terms. Get knowledgable answers that you trust and understand.


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Yes, it's dated and it's college hockey, but can you honestly think of a better way to kick off the NHL season than watching a rampaging polar bear from outer space destroy a mid-sized American city? Didn't think so.
Seriously, this bear is fucking pissed. Wouldn't you be if you were the mascot for an obscure college hockey team in Fairbanks and then got banished to the stars? I would certainly want to smash some shit up, starting with that small moon over there. Do not fuck with the Nanook Space Bear.
Anyway, now that you're appropriately fired up—I SAID "FIRE UP," ASSHOLES—let's watch some hockey!
Oh. Well, now that we've got the Versus bashing out of the way, let's really watch some hockey! Tonight we have four games kicking off the regular season, also known as the six-month waiting period before the Penguins vs. Red Wings Stanley Cup Final. I guess there's a chance that won't happen again—Caps? Blackhawks? Anyone?—but let's just operate under that assumption for now. We're a long away from that eventuality and offseason transactions in any sport put me to sleep, so just be glad that real games are back. And smutty commercials like this:
Apple MacBook Air Laptop
Powerful performance
The M1 chip delivers 3.5x faster performance than the previous generation all while using way less power. Get up to 18 hours of battery life.
By the way, after the half-naked girls skated circles around Laraque, he punched one of them in the face. I'm sure she deserved it.
We'll leave the in-depth previews to the real experts, but remember—if you're at a game this week and a giant bear rips the roof off the arena, don't panic. Just let him play left wing and get out of his way.
Schedule for October 1, 2009 [NHL.com]
The 11 burning questions puckheads are asking this season [Puck Daddy]
The Cup is up for grabs again and, this time, anything's possible [ESPN]
Season Previews [Melt Your Face Off]
Listen: KB's NHL Season Preview Extravaganza! [Orland Kurtenblog]
Conference Haiku Previews [The Two-Line Pass]
They Shoot Better Commercials In Quebec, Don't They? [The Score]


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The Evergreen State College, St. Martin's University, South Puget Sound Community College, and Centralia College Commit to Focus the Nation on Global Warming.
The Evergreen State College, St. Martin's University, South Puget Sound Community College, and Centralia College Commit to Focus the Nation on Global Warming.
Event Commences at 7:00 p.m. at the Washington Center, January 30, 2008
(Olympia, Wash) The Evergreen State College, St. Martin's University, South Puget Sound Community College, and Centralia College have joined together to host a community forum on global warming to be held January 30, 2008 at the Washington Center for the Performing Arts – Stage 1. The Focus the Nation community forum is free to the public. Doors will open at 6:00 p.m. and the forum will begin at 7:00 p.m. The first 500 people through the door will receive an ENERGY STAR® qualified compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulb courtesy of Puget Sound Energy.
Creating a Climate of Change: A Community Forum on Climate Change in the Pacific Northwest will kick off with opening remarks by Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels. Mayor Nickels spearheaded the U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, in which mayors across the nation commit to reduce emissions in their cities to seven percent bforuelow 1990 levels by 2012. Since its launch in 2005, well over 500 mayors have committed to this goal, and the number continues to rise, highlighting concrete steps taken by communities throughout the country. The forum will also bring together local and state government officials, scientific experts and community members. The event will be moderated by the Associated Press state political writer David Ammons.
The event aims include the following:
- increasing action to address the challenge of climate change locally with sound practices,
- increasing knowledge and personal commitments to assess and act for energy efficiency and assess strategies and technologies in efforts to deal with climate change,
- demonstrating area communities' willingness to act with responsibility toward the climate.
The partnering organizations are proud participants in Focus the Nation, a nationwide campaign that is bringing campuses and communities together to find solutions to the challenges of global warming. Activities will also take place at each of the campuses during the day. The day's global warming teach-in activities are coordinated by area institutions of higher education in an unprecedented partnership, including The Evergreen State College, the South Puget Sound Community College, Centralia College, and St. Martin's University. The growing list of sponsors for the event includes The City of Olympia, InterCity Transit, The Washington Center for the Performing Arts, and Puget Sound Energy.
The event is part of a larger series of actions that Washington State and its academic communities are undertaking in continuing response to climate change.
- For more information on the evening's events, visit http://focusthenation.evergreen.edu.
- For directions to the Washington Center for the Performing Arts located at 512 Washington Street. SE, in downtown Olympia, visit http://www.washingtoncenter.org/directions/.
- For more information on daytime events occurring on the four partner's campuses, visit http://focusthenation.evergreen.edu.
- For information on the national Focus the Nation campaign visit, http://www.focusthenation.org.
The Evergreen State College is a nationally recognized public liberal arts college known for its distinctive interdisciplinary curriculum, high level of student/faculty engagement and emphasis on putting learning into action.


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SoccerNation is the unparalleled authority on the game of soccer in and around your community.
Beyond just the story, our website provides a platform and arena where soccer fans and supporters can voice their opinion through commentary on the topics they care about most.
Advertising is available on SoccerNation.com and in our email newsletter. If you want to mix and match any advertising options, content packages are available upon request.
For more information, please contact: firstname.lastname@example.com
If you are interested in a partnership, click here to view the details of our media kit:
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Banner, Sidebar and Wallpaper ads as well as Newsletter opportunities.
Content packages available upon request. For more information, please contact firstname.lastname@example.com


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I am selling at Artisans on Second, 175 S Second St, Hamilton, MT 59840 - 406.961.9600 Visit Facebook aMontanaView on Facebook Please leave comments! You can also email me at firstname.lastname@example.com. About me: I live south of Missoula, Montana on the west side of the Bitterroot valley. Many of my photos are taken here in western Montana, but also around the world. I love being outdoors. I hike, bike, fish, hunt, ski and ALWAYS take photos. I use a Canon 7D and 5D Mark III (with a few lenses and tripods) and shoot in RAW. I process my photos into JPG with Adobe Lightroom with as few adjustments as possible.
Wilson's Snipe - Gallinago delicata
The usual view of the Wilson's Snipe is as it flushes from grass or sedges, escaping in rapid, zigzag flight while uttering a rasping "scaipe." It is a medium-sized sandpiper (length about 28 cm, mass about 100 g), with long straight bill (about 6 cm). Sexually monomorphic plumage; no obvious seasonal or age differences. Crown striped with black and buffy, upperparts a mixture of brown, black, and gray, forming spots and barring; light colored spots tend to form 4 lines running down the back; tail appears russet. Underparts mostly white, but neck and breast heavily streaked or spotted with brown (Mueller 1999.) From Montana FWP fieldguide http://fieldguide.mt.gov/detail_ABNNF18030.aspxRead More


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Feel free to contact us via following ways, we will try our best to answer all questions with in 24
The Kanek Skate shop is a unique and new shining example of why Newark as a city is flourishing. This landmark was built by the people, by lovers of the skating life, and has cropped up to a new cultural epicenter in it of itself – in downtown Newark New Jersey. The crisp night air lights up the concrete streets with a waning that makes any boarder wish they had the dopest deck, and could hardline a handrail, at 15mph. And the wheels!
A magnificence to behold. The decks and boards at the Kanek Skate shop was akin to visiting a modern art gallery. You have, HAVE to stop by this place if you pass nearby Newark New Jersey. Skateheads are going to revel in the modern artistry of Kanek artists. The party is in downtown Newark, NJ and its name is KANEK. One love.


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Lost in the madness of the Broncos' wild 51-48 shootout win over the Cowboys was the fact that Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning moved past Dan Marino for second-most all-time passing yards in NFL history.
Manning, who has thrown 20 touchdowns and only one interception this season, now has 61,371 career yards and just trails Brett Favre on the list for most career yards all-time.
Contributing: Nate Scott


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Student Banned From Carrying Guinea Pig on College Campus Receives $40,000 Settlement
In a major victory for depressed guinea pig owners everywhere, Kendra Velzen won a $40,000 settlement from Grand Valley State University after the college restricted the 28-year-old student from carrying her pet guinea pig around the school's campus. Velzen, who suffers from depression and uses a pacemaker, was permitted to keep the rodent in her pet-free dorm because, as her lawyer put it, the guinea pig (named Blanca, by the way) "provide[d] her with emotional support and attachment (reducing symptoms of depression), and physiological and psychological benefits." But the school drew the line at allowing the animal into dining halls and class. So Velzen sued, claiming the school violated their agreement with her.
As a result of the settlement, the school will collaborate with the Fair Housing Center of West Michigan to create a campus policy addressing assistance animals. Though the college says it never "acted wrongly or failed to act in anyway with regard to Velzen," they also agreed to a $40,000 settlement and issued the following statement:
"The parties' decision to enter into this agreement represents a compromise of disputed claims and creates the framework for the parties to move forward without the disruption and cost of litigation," the settlement said.
The school also said: "Should Kendra Velzen ever reapply for on-campus housing and make an accommodation request to live with a guinea pig or animal of similar size and nature, Grand Valley will grant said request."


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SC ranks 45th in kids' ability to succeed
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina ranks better than just five states in the overall wellbeing of its children.
That's according to a new Kids Count survey released Monday by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
South Carolina's overall ranking slipped two spots from last year's report, to 45th overall in children's ability to succeed.
The report ranked the economic well-being of the state's children at 44th in the country, a drop of nine spots from last year. Sue Williams of the Children's Trust of South Carolina attributed that indicator to high state unemployment, which at 8 percent last month ranked 14th-highest in the nation.
There were some improvements, including in children's health. Only 8 percent of the state's children listed as without health insurance in 2011, compared to 13 percent in 2008.
Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP


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Jonathan Papelbon, after pitching two innings and throwing 24 pitches yesterday, was needed for two outs in the ninth inning today. He ended up facing five batters and throwing 31 pitches (16 strikes and 15 balls).
Craig Hansen, with a 11-7 cushion, allowed singles to two of the first three Baltimore batters. Papelbon had Corey Patterson struck out, but was squeezed on what were called balls 1 and 4, so it was a walk and the bases were loaded.
Kevin Millar hit a double play grounder to shortstop, which should have ended the game, but Alex Cora brought his glove up a bit too fast and it rolled into short left field for an error. 11-8, bases loaded.
Papelbon fell behind Nick Markakis 3-1 before coming back to strike him out on a 95 mph fastball. Papelbon fell behind 3-0 to Brian Roberts -- Remy said he hasn't had this much problem with his control all year -- and ended up walking him to force in a run. 11-9, bases loaded.
Melvin Mora battled through a nine-pitch at-bat, fouling off three pitches, before grounding hard to third. Mike Lowell backhanded the ball, spun around and threw a bullet to first. Game over. Whew!
Lowell also hit a first-inning grand slam. Kevin Youkils hit a three-run shot in the seventh and Doug Mirabelli added a solo blast in the eighth (the Stud has hit a bomb in three straight games).
Manny Ramirez's 27-game hitting streak is over. He was in the on-deck circle when Youkilis made the final out in the eighth. Manny walked and scored in the first, flew to deep right to end the third, lined out to shortstop to open the fifth (Tejada made a fantastic diving catch to his left), and reached on an error by the pitcher in the seventh. It was a little squib to the first base side of the mound that was spinning wildly. When Todd Williams touched it, it darted off in another direction; then he tossed it wildly to first.
The Yankees lost 5-3, so the East lead is down to one game.
Daniel Cabrera (4.95) / Jon Lester (3.86), 2 PM
Wily #5! ... And Tito assures us that Ortiz is just getting a rest before the games with the Tigers and Yankees.
Roberts, 2B Crisp, CF
Mora, 3B Loretta, 2B
Tejada, SS Youkilis, 1B
Conine, LF Ramirez, DH
Gibbons, DH Pena, LF
Hernandez, C Lowell, 3B
Patterson, CF Cora, SS
Millar, 1B Kapler, RF
Markakis, RF Mirabelli, C


text: Lothar Meggendorfer was born in Munich, Germany. He was a versatile book illustrator, as well as a watercolorist. He drew for the German humor magazines Fliegende Blätter and Münchener Bilderbogen, as well as his own Meggendorfer Blätter, which also featured the work of other important German. Like several of his contemporaries, he contributed a couple of cartoons to the Sunday pages of the Chicago Tribune in 1906.


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Truck and youth getting transformation
Youths working at Glory to Glory Customs already have experienced the wrong side of the law.
So it was an intriguing pairing when the Peoria Police Department recently awarded Glory to Glory the $7,500 contract to convert a donated Brinks armored truck into a second Armadillo, or nuisance abatement surveillance vehicle.
"That's one of the cool things about it," said Juan Rios Jr., an ordained minister who created the car shop. "One of the kids told me, 'A couple years ago I would have been trying to figure out how to break into the Armadillo.' They realize they've gotten into trouble because of the choices they've made."
The Armadillo, dispatched to trouble properties throughout Peoria in an effort to curb lawless behavior, has gained national media attention, including a front-page article in the Wall Street Journal.
Converted from its former life as a Brinks truck, the original Armadillo is reinforced with bulletproof windows, locks, coverings for all lights and foam-filled tires. Inside, cameras and computer software are in place to record activities outside a problem residence.
Neighborhood response has been so strong, the waiting list for the truck often reaches several weeks.
When a second armored truck was donated, Peoria police looked to Glory to Glory to perform the work. It is funded by asset forfeitures.
Glory to Glory's work will become the Armadillo 2.
"(Rios) has a ministry that reaches out to kids, and the Armadillo gives the police a chance to work with kids who have been in trouble and are trying to rehabilitate and do good things," said Peoria police spokesman Doug Burgess. "This gives them a chance to be involved in a positive project."
Rios' customized work has appeared in "The Fast and the Furious" movies. Mostly through contacts with Tazewell County probation officers, Rios takes in youngsters who have been arrested and must work community service hours.
Instead of wages, workers receive community service hours and funds to pay legal fees, restitution and other costs.
The program is no guarantee.
Of last year's first "class" of 14 young workers, four have been arrested since finishing their stint in the shop.
"You help them as much as you can and then you take off the training wheels," Rios said. "If they fall, you help pick them back up."
Michael Howard, 16, of Pekin enjoyed working at Glory to Glory so much, he kept coming when his community-service obligation was over. But when the school year began in August and Howard moved away from the shop, he resumed drug use and was once again in trouble.
Recently, Rios welcomed Howard back.
"It was nice to be around people with the same experiences, in a positive environment," Howard said. "It kept me away from the stuff that got me in trouble. (Eventually) I just got back around the same people."
Glory to Glory's second "class" - five youths and an adult - has begun preparing the "naked Armadillo" and preparing it for the body reinforcement and painting before it gets returned for city of Peoria employees to install cameras and other electronics.
"The kids realize that instead of taking something away from the community, they're going to be giving something back," Rios said.
Glory to Glory is located at 228 Margaret St. in Pekin but soon will relocate to Mackinaw. For information, call 453-1016.
Ryan Ori can be reached at 686-3264 or firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Planning Department
The Planning Department is comprised of three divisions: Planning & Zoning, and Engineering. The Department also provides support to seven boards and commissions. There are six full time personnel on staff. The Director of Planning is a licensed Professional Planner in New Jersey and holds a national certification from the American Institute of Certified Planners.
The Planning and Zoning Division administers the Township Land Use Code. Responsibilities range from granting Zoning Permits for new buildings and additions to managing development applications for the Planning Board and Zoning Board of Adjustment. The Planning and Zoning Division also supports several other boards and commissions including Environmental Commission, Historic Preservation Commission, Economic Development Committee (formerly the Industry and Commerce Commission), Kingston Village Advisory Committee, Transportation Advisory Committee and Open Space Committee. More information on boards and commissions can be found under other web pages for the Planning Department.
Geographic Information System (GIS) services and expertise also reside in the Planning and Zoning Division. The maps generated by the Department are prepared on the GIS system. This system was instrumental in the preparation of the 2007 Master Plan Reexamination Report.
The Engineering Division reviews site plans and subdivision plans for the Planning Board and Zoning Board, and inspects construction sites to assure that projects are developed according to approved plans. The Engineering Division also designs and oversees capital projects authorized by the Township Council.


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Benchmarks Of The Latest Nouveau Gallium3D Driver: In recent weeks we have published a number of benchmarks showcasing the ATI Gallium3D driver that supports the R300-R500 graphics processors as this open-source driver has been maturing at such an exciting rate with impressive changes and measurable performance gains over a short period of time. This ATI Gallium3D driver in most instances is outperforming the classic Radeon Mesa driver that supports up through the ATI Radeon X1000 series graphics cards. However, how is the Nouveau driver maturing that supports NVIDIA's wide-range of GeForce graphics cards? In February we published some Nouveau Gallium3D benchmarks, but now we have a fresh set of numbers from three different NVIDIA graphics cards and we also compare the Nouveau Gallium3D driver to NVIDIA's proprietary Linux driver.
Copyright © 2023 by Phoronix Media. All rights reserved.


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We really didn't think it was possible to out-do the music video for "Best Song Ever," but 1D has done it again with"Story of My Life." The beyond adorable new music video from One Direction begins with the boys developing their ridiculously cute childhood pics in a darkroom, and then gives us flashes of the guys' lives before 1D, as the images suddenly come to life. From Zayn going back in time and hanging out with his little sister to Harry laughing with his mom, our fave British boys take us on a trip down their (incredibly cute) memory lane.
We're pretty positive this music video is the best #TBT of all time EVER. So if you haven't watched the video yet, grab some tissues and prepare to fall in love with your fave British boys all over again!
What do YOU think about the new music video? Do you think it's their best one yet? Tweet us and let us know!


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Small spaces can be a challenge to decorate. The wrong color can feel claustrophobic, too much furniture can feel chaotic, and the wrong patterns just feel too busy. Professional interior decorators are master illusionists when it comes to meeting these challenges. Using ten of their favorite tricks, you, too, can make a small space look larger than it is.
rilueda / Getty Images
Have you ever walk into a room painted a dark color with dark furnishing and a dark rug? It feels like the room is closing in on you. That is the problem with dark colors and it is especially confining in a small room. A small room needs to appear larger than it is to feel comfortable. Using light colors will make walls appear to recede, creating a bright and airy feel. Colors to consider are light blues, greens, light grays and neutrals.
Pieter Estersohn / Getty Images
Some people resist the idea of going bold in a small space, but smaller spaces are great canvases to experiment with bold ideas. Start by keeping the color scheme to a few complimentary colors. Consider using, large-scale florals, and graphic prints, vertical or horizontal stripes. The horizontal stripes will visually widen a small narrow room. Vertical stripes will make a low ceiling seem taller. A small room will open up with the use of big prints. Avoid tiny prints; they will be too busy and chaotic in a small space.
Stockernumber2 / Getty Images
Like Goldie Locks looking for the right bed, one was too big, one too small, and finally one was just right, furniture needs to be just right in a small room. A large couch in a small area can overtake the space, while a small couch will seem dwarfed. You want to use a mix of large pieces along with smaller pieces for balance. Consider using a large bookcase, or sideboard along a wall. Slipper chairs are great options too; they have a low profile and can balance out a six-foot couch.
ArchiViz / Getty Images
Your eye follows the floor up to the wall and then to the ceiling. When they are the same colors, or tones you will see it as a continuous line. By keeping the three surfaces in the same color family the space will visually open up as they recede creating the illusion of more space. A room with one floor color, another wall color, and yet another ceiling color will appear disjointed and can make the space appear small.
KatarzynaBialasiewicz / Getty Images
Clutter is not much different from dark walls when it comes to a small room. If you walk into a room crammed with furniture, overrun with knick-knacks and collectibles it will feel like it is closing in on you. To keep the open feel you want, pick a few cherished items and display them in creative ways. Accessorize a bookcase, or hang a floating shelf for your family pictures, but do not clutter a tabletop. Less is more when furnishing a small space.
JuliaLototskaya / Getty Images
So, you have the right scale furniture, but you want to move around the space easily. A fabulous trick is to float your furniture in the space. Move your couch and chairs away from the wall. This will create depth in the space. You want to see a fair amount of the floor. The more of the floor that can be seen the larger the room will appear. Next, ground your furniture with an area rug in the same color tones as the flooring. You will visually open up the space.
Eoneren / Getty Images
A small room with poor lighting will feel cave like and claustrophobic. A properly lit room, ought to have three sources of light that bounce off walls and give the room a visual breadth. In a space with little floor room for table lamps or floor lambs, track lighting can help to light a room. Another good trick is to use mirrors. A good mirror will do two things for a small room. It will reflect natural light and the light from lamps and it will create the illusion of a wider, deeper space.
dit26978 / Getty Images
Small rooms can be overwhelmed with windows framed in full and billowy window treatments with a lot of pattern. Using elaborate window treatments draws attention to the windows instead of just accenting them. Pick window treatments that let light in and gently frame the windows. A simpler style will gently blend harmoniously with a wall rather than visually breaking up the wall.
FollowTheFlow / Getty Images
Walls that lack interest are boring, but can be exciting with the addition of a few architectural details. Wainscoting and molding, often thought of, as ornate details best used in larger rooms, are beautiful options. They define small spaces well and add visual interest to otherwise dull walls. Consider using chair rails, panels molding or bead board to create some excitement.
ExperienceInteriors / Getty Images
Once everything is in place, you may realize you have no room for storage and no floor space to add anything. The walls are still there and they are not just for artwork. Take advantage of the vertical space the walls offer, look at it as extra square footage. They are a perfect surface for hanging shelves, or built-ins.
When it comes to decorating small spaces, it is all about tricking the eye to believe that the space is much larger. The next time you face a small uninspiring room, take a page out of the decorators' playbook. Applying their tips will let you create the illusion of space too. Which tip did you find surprising?
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Transnational project management is a key feature of all European projects, comprising a range of more or less formalized tasks and activities, that shall allow for the smooth and efficient implementation of projects. Over the past years a broad range of methods and tools have been developed, with a view to support the day-to-day and strategic management of EU projects. The bulk of those however is dedicated to planning, monitoring, documentation of results and outcomes, accountancy and evaluation.
The "TOI TOI TOI" project in the framework of the Erasmus+ programme has developed a range of web tools, which shall allow project coordinators to evaluate themselves, partner organisations and whole project consortia with a view to their capacity towards ensuring sustainable impact of projects.
The tools have been developed based on in-depth analysis of past LdV-ToI projects, and by project coordinators can be used to evaluate their own and other partners' organisational and professional capacities, including a range of basic competences needed in order to effectively contribute to the creation of impact and sustainability of education development projects. The tools can be used for both, self- and team-evaluation.
Website: Toi Toi Toi Project
An increasing number of VET teachers/trainers work as developers or project coordinators of transnational project work. They need more competence in the field of international projects planning, implementation and evaluation, but most of all a validation system recognising their competence and experience. A large part of this is acquired through non formal or informal learning. We seek to recognise and accredit this learning by creating an integrated European system.


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Top Ten Reasons to Work at SCA
- We make a difference. For more than 60 years, SCA has been connecting young people to nature through hands-on service. While others talk, SCA puts conservation into action.
- We're focused on the future. Climate change, endangered species, green careers: SCA builds new generations of conservation leaders today to ensure a healthier environment tomorrow.
- We're green pioneers. SCA got started before the Wilderness Act, the EPA, or Silent Spring. We continue to grow even greener – in our beliefs, policies, and practices.
- We like to have fun. You can work hard and accomplish much while laughing and enjoying yourself. Otherwise, why do it?
- We care. About our mission and about our people. We offer a supportive culture and variety of benefits that help people meet their varying needs.
- We are flexible. SCA knows we don't all fit in the same box, hence there are few set "working schedules." We believe in flexibility to meet personal, professional, and organizational needs.
- We believe in service. Whether through coaching a soccer team, volunteering at a local shelter, or working in a community garden, we encourage staff to give back in a way that is meaningful to them, and we provide time to do so.
- We offer growth opportunities. In addition to internal promotion, we also encourage input and participation in organization-wide groups to continually strengthen and enhance staff experience and skills.
- We appreciate you. We know that recognition is a great motivator if done sincerely and we strive to recognize the big accomplishments and the small wins that keep us moving forward as an organization.
- We are a unique bunch. We are as diverse as the environment we serve. It makes for interesting conversation, varying perspectives, and a richness of culture.
SCA is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.


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Tufted Floor Pillow With Filling Abstract Black Print
Tufted Floor Pillow With Filling Abstract Black Print
Tufted Floor Pillow With Filling Abstract Black Print
Shipped with its own filling, this floor pillow is as comfy as it is stylish.
.: 100% polyester .: 100% polyester filling
.: Sewn seam closure
.: Double-sided print
.: Comes in 2 sizes
Quality control
Operates with an AQL program to measure the incoming components for all raw materials used in the process. This same program is used to check the in-process quality and outgoing finished products. The data that is collected from these audits is used to provide feedback to respective areas for continuous improvement.
Packaging control
All products are shipped in cardboard boxes.
Free shipping worldwide on all products over $500. Affordable rate from $9 on all products outside The USA. Free shipping on all products within The USA,
Free replacement and repair in case of manufacture errors. No refunds on handmade items.
Please be reminded that we design and manufacture and execute quality check before packing every items prior to fulfillment. You will receive the tracking link of your designated courier once your order is ready to be shipped out. Total handling time of 2-7 days depending what item and quantity. In most cases, we ship immediately. Estimated arrival within 2-8 days post production depending what country via FedEx® international. We also ship via UPS / DHL / USPS. Learn more here.
Where are the items shipped from?
- The original artworks come mainly from United States or from the exhibited countries if currently being exhibited outside the US. Other products will come from our warehouse in the US, Europe, Australia, Canada and UK.


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On internet we read a lot of this third chapter of DeadSpace. There are people who loves it and people who hates it, personally I found the demo technically excellent and I will buy even this last chapter for sure.
I agree on one thing however, the magic of the old dead space no longer exists . I remember when I bought the first game almost by mistake, how I was shocked by the tension of the unknown and the suffocating environment. Now we know the Necromorphs and what they are capable of to well and even us, are no longer the same. Us like our Isaac, have fought these damn monsters too much to let them scare us again.
Anyway let's enjoy these works of art.


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SA Orthopaedic Journal
On-line version ISSN 2309-8309
Print version ISSN 1681-150X
SA orthop. j. vol.11 n.3 Centurion Jan. 2012
The effect of joint line restoration on kneeling ability after primary total knee replacement
MA HassaballaI; HO GbejuadeII; AJ PorteousIII; JR MurrayIV
IMCh(Orth), MD. The Bristol Knee Group, Avon Orthopaedic Centre, Southmead Hospital, Bristol, UK
IIMBBS, MRCS. The Bristol Knee Group, Avon Orthopaedic Centre, Southmead Hospital, Bristol, UK
IVMBBS FRCS, FRCS Trauma and Orthopaedics Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon The Bristol Knee Group, Avon Orthopaedic Centre, Southmead Hospital, Bristol, UK
BACKGROUND: Total knee replacement (TKR) surgery has become one of the commonest orthopaedic procedures undertaken. Pain relief and restoration of function are two major expectations following knee arthroplasty. Kneeling is a knee function required for many types of occupation and activities of daily living, making its restoration following knee arthroplasty essential. Restoration of joint line position is a surgical factor that has been reported to have an important impact on functional outcome after TKR.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: We reviewed 100 (43 males and 57 females; with a mean patient age of 71 years) consecutive cemented Kinemax Plus TKRs (Stryker, Newbury, UK) performed in our unit with a minimum follow-up of two years. Joint line measurements were made on the pre-operative and post-operative X-rays. The kneeling ability component of the Oxford Knee Score questionnaire was analysed for all patients. The pre- and post-operative Oxford Knee Scores were prospectively recorded. Patients' ranges of movement (ROM) were measured.
RESULTS: The mean pre-operative ROM for the group was 82° (std ± 15). Post-operatively, the mean ROM for the whole group was 109° (std ± 8). A joint line within ± 5 mm of the pre-operative measurement was considered 'restored' and more than 5 mm was considered 'elevated. Seventy-five per cent of patients had the joint line restored within 5 mm of their native joint line post-operatively.
The mean ROM for restored and elevated groups was 116° and 108° respectively. This difference was statistically significant (P < 0.01). However, there was no significant difference in the total Oxford Knee Score between the groups.
CONCLUSION: Seventy-five per cent of cases in this study showed a restored joint line position. In this group, the ROM was better than in the group with elevated joint line (116° for restored joint line versus 108° for elevated joint line). This study showed that restoring the joint line had a positive impact on the post-operative ROM and kneeling ability. However, kneeling ability can be affected by other factors and further studies are necessary to fully investigate this complex function of the knee joint.
Key words: kneeling, total knee replacement, joint line restoration, range of motion
Total knee replacement (TKR) surgery has become one of the commonest orthopaedic procedures undertaken. Patients with significant pain and functional limitation due to arthritis benefit immensely from this operation. Although the majority of these patients are pleased with the pain relief gained from the surgery and get back to managing activities of daily living, the functional improvement can vary.1 Kneeling is an important function of the knee joint and is required for many activities of daily living.2 While inability to kneel in the West may make gardening and praying difficult, it also precludes certain occupations such as plumbing, flooring, carpet laying, painting, roofing, mining, building and many others.3-9 It is an important aspect of religious practice in almost all major world religions and spiritual practices.10 In many Asian countries citizens enjoy kneeling, squatting and sitting cross-legged. These activities are mandatory for daily living and religious acts. They are central to the culture and life of the people in the East and any loss of function which prevents these activities is unac-ceptable.11 Unnanantana found that it was imperative to obtain a range of knee flexion of more than 110° for Thai patients to maintain a nearly normal life style. Postures required for daily activities in Thai culture include kneeling, squatting and sitting cross-legged.11 Many patients presenting for surgery for arthritis of the knee enquire about the ability to kneel after operation.12 Kneeling has also been shown to be an intermediate position exercised by older individuals to enable them to rise from the floor.13 Various factors govern the outcome of TKR, which can be broadly grouped into patient factors and surgical factors. Patient-related factors such as age, sex, underlying pathology and pre-operative ROM cannot be changed; however, surgical factors such as surgical technique and expertise can greatly influence functional outcome. Restoration of joint line position is one such factor that has been reported to be important influencer of outcome after TKR.14-16 Figgie et al14 have demonstrated that elevation of the joint line by more than 8 mm in primary TKR is associated with an adverse outcome. Similarly, elevation of the joint line in revision knee surgery has also been shown to result in significantly worse outcome.17
We have reported on perceived and actual kneeling ability after fixed bearing total, unicompartmental and patello-femoral knee replacement in previous works.7,8,18 However, to our knowledge there are no published studies on the relationship of joint line position and kneeling ability after TKR.
The primary aim of this study was to investigate the impact of joint line position on post-operative ROM, and functional outcome with specific reference to kneeling ability.
Materials and methods
We reviewed 100 consecutive cemented Kinemax Plus TKRs (Stryker, Newbury, UK) performed in our hospital between January 2005 and December 2006. The minimum follow-up was two years.
All patients received fixed bearing posterior cruciate retaining implants. Retrospective radiographic review of the tibiofemoral joint line position before and after knee arthroplasty was performed on standard anteroposterior and lateral radiographs. Joint line position was measured on lateral radiographs using the method described by Figgie et al.14 Measurement was made from the top of the tibial tubercle to the superior surface of the tibial component. Because the tibial inserts are radiolucent, measuring to the most distal part of the femoral component is necessary.
Many methods of measuring the joint line are mentioned in the literature without a universal agreement.19,20 Using Figgie's method14 (Figure 1), in a previous study investigating the effect of the joint line level after revision knee replace-ment,9 made us familiar with the method and we found it to be reproducible. Joint line measurements were made on the pre-operative and post-operative X-rays. A joint line within ± 5 mm of the pre-operative measurement was considered 'restored' and more than 5 mm was considered 'elevated.
The kneeling ability component of the Oxford Knee Score questionnaire11 was analysed for all patients (Table I). The Oxford Knee Scoring categories were recorded from 0 (worst) to 4 (best). The pre- and post-operative Oxford Knee Scores were prospectively recorded.
Two trained observers measured the patients' ROM in research clinics using a manual goniometer. Patients' notes and operation records were reviewed. Cases with extreme deformity were not included in this study.
Correlations between joint line level and ROM were established. Those between joint line level and kneeling ability were also calculated.
One hundred consecutive Kinemax Plus cruciate retaining cemented TKRs were evaluated. There were 43 male and 57 females; mean patient age was 71 (51-87) years. Osteoarthritis was the underlying pathology in all patients.
Measurements of change in joint line height in millimetres taken by the two observers showed good inter-observer agreement with a Kappa value = 0.775. When classified as either 'elevated' or 'restored' there was complete agreement between the two observers.
The mean pre-operative ROM for the group was 82° (std ± 15). Post-operatively, the mean ROM for the whole group was 109° (std ± 8). The mean ROM for restored and elevated groups was 116° and 108° respectively. This difference was statistically significant (P < 0.01). However, there was no significant difference in the total Oxford Knee Score between the groups (Table II). Table III shows the mean joint line position, ROM and change in total score while Table IV shows the distribution of kneeling scores in the two groups.
This study investigated the ability to reproduce joint line position in primary TKR. It also analysed the relationship between the joint line, post-operative ROM and kneeling ability of the knee after total knee arthroplasty.
In 1986 Figgie et al stated that restoring the joint line to within 8 mm of the index level was associated with a favourable outcome in the form of better knee scores and range of motion and felt that elevating the joint line would lead to an imbalance of extensor mechanism.14 This is due to the fact that the patellar tendon is of a fixed length. Restoration of soft tissue balance with regard to varus/valgus alignment will not necessarily tension the extensor mechanism appropriately. However, restoration of the patella tendon length, which is directly influenced by the joint line level, will lead to a favourable surgical result.17
Other investigators have also confirmed the need to recreate the joint line within a certain limit to achieve a satisfactory result both in primary and revision surgery.17 In the former group Ryu et al stated that the level of the joint line should not be elevated by more than 2.1 mm.21 In revision total knee surgery a comparable restoration of joint line level has been quoted as being within 3 mm to 8 mm.21-23
An important outcome measure of TKR is the postoperative ROM. A recent review1 links good pre-operative range of motion, posterior cruciate ligament substituting prostheses, good surgical technique and vigorous rehabilitation to favourable total knee arthroplasty outcome. Negatively linked to the outcome are obesity and previous surgery. While pre-operative ROM is probably the greatest determinant of post-operative ROM, the restoration of joint line has been previously stated to be a contributing factor1 and the results of our study also confirm this. Furthermore, joint line restoration has an effect not only on ROM but also stability. Both in vitro24 and in vivo,23 joint line elevation produces instability in TKR.
The ability to restore the joint line is dependent on the surgical technique, including the level of tibia resected25 and the preservation or sacrifice of the posterior cruciate ligament.17,26
All the above-mentioned studies have used fixed bearing TKRs to look at the effect of joint line change on the post-operative function and ROM.
There has been a paucity of studies looking specifically at the ROM and its effect on kneeling ability.7 There are no studies in the literature that investigate the relationship between joint line position and kneeling ability.
Seventy-five per cent of cases in this study showed a restored joint line position. The mean joint line position was 1.2 mm. This demonstrates that the surgical instrumentation of a modern knee replacement system can help the surgeon in effectively reproducing the joint line to within ± 5 mm of the pre-operative position. Although there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups regarding the kneeling score (Chi-Square = 7.286, probability = 0.1215 (P >0.05)), most of the cases that had the highest kneeling score (4) were in the restored group (90%). This could be clinically significant.
Although the current study showed that restoring the joint line had a positive impact on the post-operative ROM and kneeling ability, the numbers involved were small and a larger prospective study is needed.
Kneeling ability can be affected by many factors. Further studies are necessary to investigate this complex function of the knee joint.
No benefits of any form have been received from a commercial party related directly or indirectly to the subject of this article. The content of this article is the sole work of the authors.
1. Chiu KY, et al. Review article: Knee flexion after total knee arthroplasty. J Orthop Surg (Hong Kong), 2002;10(2):194-202. [ Links ]
2. Coggon D, et al. Occupational physical activities and osteoarthritis of the knee. Arthritis Rheum, 2000;43(7):1443-49. [ Links ]
3. Popko J, et al. [Stress-induced changes in the knee joint in men working in a kneeling position]. Med Pr, 1984;35(4):305-308. [ Links ]
4. Tanaka S, et al. Skin effects of occupational kneeling. Am J Ind Med, 1985;8(4-5):341-49. [ Links ]
5. Jensen LK, Eenberg W. Occupation as a risk factor for knee disorders. Scand J Work Environ Health, 1996;22(3):165-75. [ Links ]
6. Jensen LK, et al. Work-related knee disorders in floor layers and carpenters. J Occup Environ Med, 2000;42(8):835-42. [ Links ]
7. Hassaballa MA, Porteous AJ, Newman JH. Observed kneeling ability after total, unicompartmental and patellofemoral knee arthroplasty: perception versus reality. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc, 2004;12(2):136-39. [ Links ]
8. Hassaballa MA, Porteous AJ, Newman JH. Can knees kneel? Kneeling ability after total, unicompartmental and patellofemoral replacement. The Knee, 2003;10(2):155-60. [ Links ]
9. Schai PA, Gibbon AJ, Scott RD. Kneeling ability after total knee arthroplasty. Perception and reality. Clin Orthop, 1999;367:195-200. [ Links ]
10. Moon MS. Range of motion after total knee replacement: a review from the East. Current Orthopaedics, 2000; 14(4):302-308. [ Links ]
11. Unnanantana A. Press-fit-condylar total knee replacement: experience in 465 Thai patients. J Med Assoc Thai, 1997;80(9):565-69. [ Links ]
12. Palmer SH, et al. Ability to kneel after total knee replacement. J Bone Joint Surg Br, 2002;84(2):220-22. [ Links ]
13. Ulbrich J, Raheja A, Alexander NB. Body positions used by healthy and frail older adults to rise from the floor. J Am Geriatr Soc, 2000;48(12):1626-32. [ Links ]
14. Figgie HE, 3rd, et al. The influence of tibial-patellofemoral location on function of the knee in patients with the posterior stabilized condylar knee prosthesis. J Bone Joint Surg Am, 1986;68(7):1035-40. [ Links ]
15. Emodi GJ, et al. Posterior cruciate ligament function following total knee arthroplasty: the effect of joint line elevation. Iowa Orthop J, 1999;19:82-92. [ Links ]
16. Cope MR, O'Brien BS, Nanu AM. The influence of the posterior cruciate ligament in the maintenance of joint line in primary total knee arthroplasty: a radiologic study. J Arthroplasty, 2002; 17(2):206-208. [ Links ]
17. Porteous AJ, Hassaballa MA, Newman JH. Does the joint line matter in revision total knee replacement? J Bone Joint Surg Br, 2008;90(7):879-84. [ Links ]
18. Hassaballa MA, Porteous AJ, Learmonth ID. Functional outcomes after different types of knee arthroplasty: kneeling ability versus descending stairs. Med Sci Monit, 2007 Feb;13(2):CR77-81. [ Links ]
19. Hofmann AA, Kurtin SM, Lyons S, Tanner AM, Bolognesi MP. Clinical and radiographic analysis of accurate restoration of the joint line in revision total knee arthroplasty. J Arthroplasty. 2006 Dec;21(8):1154-62. [ Links ]
20. Babazadeh S, Dowsey MM, Swan JD, Stoney JD, Choong PF. Joint line position correlates with function after primary total knee replacement: a randomised controlled trial comparing conventional and computer-assisted surgery. J Bone Joint Surg Br. 2011 Sep;93(9):1223-31. [ Links ]
21. Ryu J, et al. Factors influencing the postoperative range of motion in total knee arthroplasty. Bull Hosp Jt Dis, 1993;53(3):35-40. [ Links ]
22. Bourne RB, Crawford HA. Principles of revision total knee arthroplasty. Orthop Clin North Am, 1998;29(2):33. [ Links ]
23. Saleh KJ, et al. Techniques in revision surgery. Techniques in Orthopaedics, 1999;14(4):332-38. [ Links ]
24. Martin JW, Whiteside LA. The influence of joint line position on knee stability after condylar knee arthroplasty. Clin Orthop, 1990;259:146-56. [ Links ]
25. Ritter MA, et al. The clinical significance of proximal tibial resection level in total knee arthroplasty. Clin Orthop, 1999;360:174-81. [ Links ]
26. Mihalko WM, Krackow KA. Posterior cruciate ligament effects on the flexion space in total knee arthroplasty. Clin Orthop, 1999;360:243-50. [ Links ]
Reprint requests:
Dr MA Hassaballa
Avon Orthopaedic Centre,
Southmead Hospital
Westbury-on-Trym Bristol BS10 5NB, UK
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com


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There are connections to be drawn between the tragic events at an Aurora, Colo., movie theater last week, and the movie those people had come to see, Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises. But they're not the obvious ones.
Yes, we can find parallels to last Friday's news if we search the 73-year history of Batman: there have been a lot of Batman stories in that time, across TV, movies, and comic books, and some of them may seem to offer eerie coincidences. Batman stories often involve violence, and sometimes they involve movie theaters, too. But their main character explicitly despises firearms—precisely because his parents were murdered after a visit to the cinema—and has vowed never to kill. Any direct comparisons between this real-life tragedy and fiction are at best pointless, and at worst tasteless.
Instead, if you take a closer look, Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises can offer a nuanced perspective on contemporary debates around gun control and the way media can influence individuals. Like his earlier Batman movies, it explores the gray area between opposing positions, and shows us how easily those seeming opposites can become blurred or even switch sides.
We've seen these themes before, in Nolan's previous installments. Batman's counterterror measures, in The Dark Knight, start to look a lot like Joker's terrorism, and his use of fear as a weapon in Batman Begins is no different from Scarecrow's modus operandi. Who is the real hero and the real enemy here? The Dark Knight Rises plays repeatedly on this motif of switching sides, with cops becoming an underground army, prisoners becoming hostage-takers, billionaire Bruce Wayne becoming a bum, waitress Selina Kyle rising through society ranks, and beat cop John Blake leaving the police force. The movie shows explosives ripping up a football field and revealing the city's industrial underbelly; the distinction between recreation and work, surface and structure, Nolan reminds us, can be broken down in seconds. Even Bane, the film's villain, boasts that despair is nothing without its opposite—a glimmer of hope.
But one of the most relevant points for the debates happening around the shootings is the movie's explicit statement that any tool can easily become a weapon in the wrong hands: a source of clean power can become a deadly bomb, and a firearm can take lives or save them. Bruce Wayne develops a military armory—to protect the city, not to destroy it—that inevitably falls into Bane's possession, and is used against him.
While Batman himself is firmly anti-gun, and John Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) tosses his service weapon aside after shooting two criminals, cynical Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway) disobeys Batman's "no guns" order at the movie's conclusion and, in killing one man, offers millions of citizens a chance to live. Rather than pushing a single political message, The Dark Knight Rises offers a variety of positions, and shows us that people's views can shift, and their values can alter, as circumstances change.
And if a clean fuel source can be misused as a bomb, if a firearm can end the world or save the day, and any tool can be transformed into a weapon, shouldn't we also consider that a movie—particularly a complex, challenging story like Nolan's—can carry more than one meaning?
We know that holy books, teaching the value of life and love, can be corrupted into justifications for hate and murder, and that preachers of peace can be cut down by an assassin's bullet. Our popular novels and rock songs can contain "hidden messages" for someone determined to find them. And our comic books and movies, too, can uplift and enrich, or shape a disturbed imagination. The story of Batman, the orphan who pledged to save his city, can be twisted in the mind of an unhappy individual, or it can bring people together in celebration. We saw both, in the Aurora shootings: a fan gathering around a favorite story, which was abused and led to tragedy.
The Dark Knight Trilogy resonates because it captures some of our society's underlying contradictions. Are we justified in fighting fire with fire? Is it ethical to step outside the law for the greater good, or to infringe civil liberties as a means to an end? Nolan offers no easy answers. But he reminds us, in his exploration of the blurred boundaries between opposites, both that any message—including a movie's—can be read in different ways, and to ensure that our weapons don't fall into the wrong hands.


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Curriculum Description
The curriculum of the Ethnic Studies Certificate Program is designed to offer students the outstanding benefits of an interdisciplinary education. To accommodate this educational goal, the Ethnic Studies Certificate Program follows the model of a multi-disciplinary curriculum. Students will have the option of choosing from a menu of courses that cover various aspects of ethnicity or various ethnicities. The curriculum of the program is grounded in core courses devoted to the critical study of the main concepts and methodologies related to ethnicity. Besides focusing on these concepts, the courses examine different theories of ethnicity and race as well as other issues about the creation and legitimization of ethnicity emerging from its social and historical construction. Consistent with the viewpoint of the program, the core courses are taught from an interdisciplinary perspective.


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The first time I heard of Jaspal Bhatti I'd already stolen from him.
I was nine and trying to make a movie with my best friend, Varun Bahl. We tried hard to write a funny enough script, but nothing quite struck filmable gold — enough to justify commandeering the bulky camcorder — till Varun apparently hit paydirt. Builderon Ki Duniya (The World Of Builders) was a wicked script hilarious enough to impress our parents, and would have been a significant step for two pre-pubescent comics — except, as Bahl soon confessed, his brainwave lay mostly in stealing a plot idea from an episode of Bhatti's excellent Flop Show, and, for good plagiaristic measure, borrowing a great line ("he doesn't just add sand to cement, he adds cement to sand") from the venerable Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron. And yet, despite Varun pulling an AnuragBasu, and the two of us coming up with seriously substandard dialogue, BKD still worked as a script simply because the idea it was built on was so damned terrific.
Jaspal Bhatti was a genius.
His accessible yet damning satire, his rollicking song parodies, his exceptional insights: they all came together brilliantly as he took on the establishment — and even, at times, each of us — with casual ease. Flop Show and its predecessor Ulta Pulta delivered bonafide laughs laced with vitriol, irony and true wit. Smarter than any comedy for miles around, Bhatti's shows made us guffaw in unison: quite a feat considering how unwilling we normally are, as a nation, to laugh at ourselves.
But the bearded one cut across prejudice and objection with breezy nonchalance, the start of his Flop Show mocking the very idea of opening credits: opening with a grave cautionary note, and — set to a synthesizer-driven band, with an eyepatched man barking like a dog, and a skinny, highly enthused dancer miming out various occupations — it proudly said it was 'misdirected' by Jaspal Bhatti.
The episodes themselves — invariably featuring Bhatti himself, his wife Savita and the spectacularly talented Vivek Shauq, who passed away last year — focussed on one issue and then doodled around the margins. So he'd take, for example, medical reimbursement claims, and then weave not just a story about faking death, but also create unforgettable characters and arm each of them with fantastic moments. There were just ten episodes of Flop Show, but over two decades after it first aired, it remains fantastically quotable and funny as ever. It's aged, as Bhatti may well say, like a Sardar: as good as ever, only — looking at the tragically bad television we see around us — it seems heavier now.
It's hard to find an Indian parallel to Bhatti simply because there hasn't ever been one.
His style of humour is drier than we're used to, and yet completely accessible, unafraid to veer into farce or to steer into serious criticism. The jokes in his shows are like perfect stand-up routines fine-tuned into sketches, then strung together into a show that somehow works through and through. Each of those ten episodes is a side-splitting masterclass.
It's deeply distressing, to us as viewers, that Bhatti never capitalised on his widespread success and never made anything of serious impact after Flop Show. There was no revival, no new show, no feature films of note. Was this Bhatti's failing? Or was it the fault of current television, that has dumbed down beyond the point of accepting anything with any smarts? All we know is that we lost out.
Imagine Bhatti with a show like Louie, one that gave him elbow room to indulge his whimsy, one where he could show us life through his own unique perspective. Imagine the delightfully amiable Bhatti hosting his own late night talk show, zanily riffing with guests he'd picked and constantly taking potshots at them and the worlds they come from. Imagine Bhatti doing one stand-up special a year and being paid the way he deserved to be. Imagine Bhatti forming a Pythonian troupe of inspirationally insane smarts.
Jaspal Bhatti was too good for Indian television. And if it takes his death and all the eulogies to wake us up to that fact — to jolt our box out of its utter idiocy — he may well have considered it a worthy sacrifice. At the time he died, he was promoting a film about electricity failure called Power Cut, and the least we can do is watch it and wonder what might, or, actually, what should have been.
For now, all you, me and Varun Bahl must do when we hear someone say Bhattisaab is dead is to imagine him instead hiding out in the bathroom, eating bananas. It's what he'd have wanted.
First published Rediff, October 25, 2012


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Here is the story on CBS News.
Chick-fil-A's president spoke out against gay marriage last week, sparking a huge uproar in the gay community, and now the issue is spilling over to a Colorado bakery.
The owner of Masterpiece Cake Shop in Lakewood refused to bake a wedding cake for a local gay couple and now people are pushing a boycott against the owner.
Shop owner Jack Phillips probably didn't think he was going to be wading into a civil rights debate a week ago when he told the gay couple that he would not make a cake for their wedding, but that's exactly what has happened.
Dave Mullin and Charlie Craig say they dated for nearly two years before getting engaged. They went into the Masterpiece Cake Shop thinking they'd spend a full day trying cakes for their ceremony. Instead the meeting lasted a few seconds."My first comment was, 'We're getting married,' and he just shut that down immediately," Craig said.
Mullin and Craig were stunned. They went online and posted their experience on Facebook. The response has been huge.
Dozens of protesters gathered outside the shop on Saturday and were very angry.
It wasn't the first time the shop turned down gay couples who wanted a cake. Phillips has received more than 1,000 angry messages about his stance.
"If gays come in and want to order birthday cakes or any cakes for any occasion, graduations, or whatever, I have no prejudice against that whatsoever," Phillips said. "It's just the wedding cake, not the people, not their lifestyle."
Personally, I would have sold them the cake. Whatever he may think of their lifestyle, their money spends as well as any and no business can afford to turn away customers without good reason. Still, it is his business and he can run it however he pleases.
This again, to me, is a freedom issue. If you think Phillips is being a jerk about this, than freedom has to include the freedom to be a jerk. Otherwise it is not really freedom at all, and of course Dave, Craig and friends are completely free to take their business elsewhere.
Related articles
- Bakery Faces Boycott for Refusing to Make Gay Wedding Cake (radio.foxnews.com)
- Baker Targeted For Refusing Gay Wedding Cake (creativeminorityreport.com)
- Same-sex couple denied wedding cake by bakery (cbsnews.com)
- Gay Mob Targets Baker Who Won't Bake for Gay Wedding (Video) (thegatewaypundit.com) And again this is the whole issue. If the baker doesn't wan to make them a cake, he shouldn't have to.
- Shop: No Gay Wedding Cakes (drudge.com)


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Form ADV Part 1: Annual Updating Amendment and More
Event Navigation
Course Description:
Inaccurate and/or inadequate Form ADV disclosures are consistently cited in the SEC's and many states' list of "Top Deficiencies." In this session, experts will systematically walk through Form ADV Part 1 and examine disclosure requirements that impact all advisers (including private fund advisers). This session will also review the method of calculating "regulatory assets under management (RAUM)," re-examine the changes to the ADV Part 1A that became effective recently, and discuss how the SEC's new custody guidance on first- and third-party transfers should be reflected on Form ADV. Finally, your instructors will provide guidance on correlating the information reported in Form ADV Part 1 to disclosures in Form ADV Part 2.
In addition to a detailed overview of Form ADV Part 1, Schedule D, and applicable Form ADV Part 1 Instructions, instructors will help you fully understand Annual Amendment filing requirements, appreciate the meaning of certain key words and terms, and avoid making common mistakes.
After attending this course, attendees should be able to:
- Compile and analyze the new information required by the Form ADV amendments in order to have an accurate Annual Amendment.
- Identify and avoid common Form ADV Part 1 mistakes
- Scrutinize your firm's practices for first- and third-party asset transfers to accurately answer custody questions under new SEC guidance.
- Calculate Regulatory Assets Under Management (RAUM), using Form ADV instructions
- Establish a team approach to develop and maintain a Form ADV Part 1 that complies with current regulations and is consistent with your firm's Form ADV Part 2, policies and procedures, advisory contracts, client communications and advertising
- Isolate areas of potential conflicts of interest to alert and remind advisory firm employees of potential risk
Coming soon.
For Whom: Designed to increase the professional competence of investment adviser professionals with legal, compliance and management responsibilities
Suggested Skill Level: Basic
Instructional Method: Group – Internet Based and Group Live
Pre-requisites for participation: No prerequisites are required. However, attendees can benefit by reviewing the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and Form ADV to become familiar with structure and terms.
Advance Preparation: None
NRS Continuing Education Guide
Recommended CPE Credit: 2 in the Regulatory Ethics field of study
Recommended IACCP® CE Credit: 2
Recommended CA MCLE Credit: 2
Recommended CFP® Credit: Pending


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From OnnoWiki
OpenGTS™ ("Open GPS Tracking System") is the first available open source project designed specifically to provide web-based GPS tracking services for a "fleet" of vehicles.
To date, OpenGTS™ has been downloaded and put to use in over 110 countries around the world to track many 1000's of vehicles/assets around all 7 Continents. The types of vehicles and assets tracked include taxis, delivery vans, trucks/trailers, farm equipment, personal vehicles, service vehicles, containers, ships, ATVs, personal tracking, cell phones, and more.
While OpenGTS™ was designed to fill the needs of an entry-level fleet tracking system, it is also very highly configurable and scalable to larger enterprises as well.
Current Features:
OpenGTS not only supports the data collection and storage of GPS Tracking and Telemetry data from remote devices, but also includes the following rich set of features:
Web-based authentication: Each account can support multiple users, and each user has its own login password and controlled access to sections within their account. GPS tracking device independent: Devices from different manufacturers can be tracked simultaneously. Support for the following GPS tracking devices is included with OpenGTS: Aspicore GSM Tracker (Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson phones) Astra Telematics AT240, AT110, AT210 Sanav GC-101, MT-101, and CT-24 Personal Tracker (HTTP-based protocol) Sanav GX-101 Vehicle Tracker (HTTP-based protocol) V-Sun 3338 Personal Tracker GPSReader GPS data logger with automatic Wi-Fi upload, for in-cab Windows-based computers. Certain Boost Mobile phones (OpenDMTP compliant) Android App "GPS2OpenGTS" HP hw6965 Windows/CE phone (OpenDMTP compliant) TAIP (Trimble ASCII Interface Protocol). ZhongShan Technology Co, Ltd. "SIPGEAR" tracking devices. Most TK102/TK103 tracking devices (those using the common TK102/TK103 protocols). TrackStick GPS data logger "GPSMapper" capable phones. "NetGPS" capable devices. iCare G3300 Personal Tracker. Some Mologogo capable phones. With custom coding, other devices can also be integrated as well using the included example "template" device communication server. Customizable web-page decorations: The look and feel of the tracking web site can easily be customized to fit the motif of the specific company. Customizable mapping service: OpenGTS comes with support for OpenLayers/OpenStreetMap in addition to support for Google Maps, Microsoft Virtual Earth, and Mapstraction (which provides mapping support for MultiMap, Map24, MapQuest, and more). Within the OpenGTS framework, other mapping service providers can also easily be integrated. Customizable reports: Using an internal XML-based reporting engine, detail and summary reports can be customized to show historical data for a specific vehicle, or for the fleet. Customizable geofenced areas: Custom geofenced areas (geozones) can be set up to provide arrival/departure events on reports. Each geozone can also be named to provide a custom 'address' which is displayed on reports when inside the geozone (for instance "Main Office"). Operating system independent: OpenGTS itself is written entirely in Java, using technologies such as Apache Tomcat for web service deployment, and MySQL for the datastore. As such, OpenGTS will run on any system which supports these technologies (including Linux, Mac OS X, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Solaris, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 20XX, and more). i18n Compliant: OpenGTS is i18n compliant and supports easy localization (L10N) to languages other than English. Languages supported currently include Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Spanish, Serbian, and Turkish.


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Anderson Cooper 360: Blog Archive – Michigan attorney general defends employee's right to blog – CNN.com blogsPosted: October 1st, 2010 | Author: Kink On Tap Editorial Staff | Filed under: Briefs | Tags: 61, activism, homophobia, law, politics, sexuality | 1 Comment »
A painfully hypocritical double-standard is on display in Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox's office as he refuses to discipline assistant AG Andrew Shirvell for waging a bigoted campaign against the first openly gay president of the University of Michigan's student council. Mr. Shirvell has called the student "Satan's representative" and runs a blog where he posts pictures of the student with nazi insignia scrawled across his face.
A State Attorney General has legal grounds disciplining employees for engaging in "conduct unbecoming" of public officials. But while Cox rightfully defended Shirvell's actions under the First Amendment, he also called "conduct unbecoming" an "empty vessel," with no meaning. This would certainly shock Melissa Petro, a tenured teacher who may face the loss of her job for "conduct unbecoming" of her role after blogging about being a former sex worker.


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A key aspect that we use as an excuse, reason and justification to 'evade reality' is precisely the way in which we have accepted and allowed ourselves to shape reality as, which is through relationships of abuse and mutual neglect. It isn't pretty and that is why we turn to love, light, spirituality, happiness, fulfillment, enjoyment which is mostly translated to drugs and spirituality or spiritual-entheogen trips that lead to the ultimate high that is quite difficult to let go as an experience, and it is quite fascinating how such Experience becomes a constant 'thrill' that is sought by individuals, revolving their entire lives around these moments wherein they can feel 'more alive' or 'more connected to themselves' and existing in this paradise like realm of their mind in a virtual reality formed through visions that are upgraded to the status of revelations and mythical encounters that one is apparently getting to as a 'moreness' of oneself.
So here I want to focus in the mechanisms that lead oneself to seek for this evasion of reality and justifying it with some sense of 'spirituality,' which has become another excuse to seek 'peace and love' – like in the 60's – while adding the 'transcendental' aspect to make it seem more 'evolved' in nature, yet at the level of who we are as the mind, it's exactly the same thing.
This constant seeking for the 'good experience' is precisely explained in the Quantum Systemization interview: Quantum Systemization – Mind Wallpaper System – Part 14 wherein this 'feel good experiences' are in essence covering up the actual reality that is existent as our inherent nature that we are constantly seeking to cover up/ sugar up and spice in order to hide from facing ourselves as our mind, our reality, our creation.
While listening to this interview, it became clear to answer the questions as to why we have always had in the back of our heads 'all I want in life is to be happy' and how we will do all that we can to justify our happiness thrill, claim that we are hurting/harming no one in order to remain seeking this personal blissful self-experience that in fact is stemming not from a benevolent truthful desire to become a better human being, but to evade reality, to 'see more' and eventually end up hooking only within the experience that we perceive as absolutely positive and nice with all the fluffy silky experiences in the mind. Well, what has been unknown so far within our human knowledge at the expense of what we are able to generate such marvelous self-experiences, and that is: at the expense of the human physical body – read the entire series to get more information on this, including:
155. Are we all Cannibals? « and a quote that sums it all up:
"Where I had within and throughout my Life, created who I am in my mind, and connected everything/everyone into and as my who I am in my Mind and so emerged into/as physicality reality through a Mind/as a Mind. Where, the processes of thinking/internal conversations emerged as how I would, within my Mind-Reality and the relationships I had formed within it – evolve it through thinking, and having internal conversations within myself and substantiate the Mind through/with energy/energy-experience as I make my internal alternate mind reality of actual physical reality 'alive'. And so create an entire ILLUSION of what it means to live/be alive, not seeing, realising and understanding how for the Mind to exist, the Physical Body is sacrificed.." – Sunette Spies – Thought Designs – Part 2: DAY 154
Continuing from:
220. Drug Culture: Mad Society as a Lifestyle
225. Is Living Life about Getting High?
259.Drug Addiction Prevented by Unconditional Living Support
So, before we get to the spirituality realm of justifications to seek for the positive, seek to get a constant experience of this 'godhood' through drugs and believe that everything is just fantastic "outside of our bodies" while seeking to connect with a higher force, let's look at the reality conditions that I have summed up today from a group chat wherein we discussed all the entertainment and forms of distraction that we have used in order to not become politically active, which should in essence be an inherent living condition to our human-nature, meaning: we are social beings, we live in an organism, we Should care about all aspects that define and decide the way that we live and interact within this same ecosystem. Thus it should be already a matter of psychological dysfunction to think and believe that we should only look after our own interests while holding the constant backchat of 'I don't care about anyone else but me,' which is the type of cancerous thinking that we end up wanting to run away from when we avoid realizing how we have created our reality through such constant and continuous thinking processes, which is us participating in the mind to create our reality: big problem.
Drugs are pervasive within all circles/castes in society: wealthy, 'middle class' and people living in extreme poverty, all use drugs alike. It should already be a matter of public health crisis to see this problem, why is it that no amount of apparent 'well being' can also mitigate the need to get high/ consume drugs. In fact, when having a lot of money, you get power-high and seek for further forms of entertainment that usually incorporate more 'extreme' activities as entertainment that usually entail more abuse that elevate the energetic 'kick' out of it. This is why people turn to for example, extreme sadist pornography/ snuff films, killing and torturing animals, ritualistic abuses and rites of passage that lead to an apparent 'welcoming' to a certain era/phase or place in a human's life, absolutely gut revolting when considering to what extent we regard suffering as a form to prove oneself being 'strong enough' to make it in this world – Evolution, anyone?
Alcohol, drugs, sex, entertainment and its multiple hybrids and variations are always sought. Once again, here we are not looking at 'why' drugs are bad or good, but the root-cause of such pervasive desire to 'escape from reality' which I gathered from our group conversation:
poverty, lack of resources, wealth, uselessness, evading reality, freedom from the 'hooks' of the mind, feeling good, escaping from stress, fitting in, socializing, keeping awake, passing time, disinhibiting purposes, wild sex, personal reward system, moment of distraction justified by not harming anyone, earning such heavenly moment through hard work, relaxation, getting a break from oneself, turning the tables, opposing the system, spiting society, being progressive, being liberal, being transgressive, open mindedness, spiritual purposes, self-connection, enlightenment, mitigating hunger, avoiding pain, boredom, anxiety, nervousness, hyperactivity, depression, looking for a thrill, wanting to 'feel alive!' and the list goes on….
what do all of these processes have in common? The mind. These are Not physical experiences craved by the physical body to exist, they are Mind experiences that we have believed ourselves to be/ become and seek to escape from, quite a conundrum to see how we have built our entire civilization based on this desire to 'feel good' wherein physical needs and requirements are neglected and mind-desires and obsessions are fueled and supported as an actual 'living right,' as proof of this, it's easier to see a TV and drugs in a poor family home than proper sewage and potable water systems, along with decent infrastructure and food – and by drugs I don't only mean 'hard drugs,' but alcohol is part of the generic term that should be applied to alcohol as a social self-indulgent drug that has been made 'mild' due to the key factor it represents in the numbing and dumbing down of society –as well as the juicy profit – and believe that everyone is being 'free to exert their right to drink,' which is one of the main reasons why people want to get to their 18 or 21 years of age: to be legally able to be self-abusive and… vote, yes of course…
Social responsibility have been thrown out of the window because: monkey see, monkey do and through this, we are all taking ourselves down the plughole to a massive electric shock to 'feel good' and define that as enjoyment. Now, we have gotten hooked on self abuse through looking at such self-abuse all around us, because not giving proper support to all living beings is self abusive, not caring enough about life to create immediate solutions to live in dignity is deliberate self abuse and neglect, not giving a damn about all the resources in the Earth that we are consuming to build our 'civilizations' is self-abusive.
So we create our 'windows of escapism' from the nightmare and hell we all help build and recreate every single day that we define 'who we are' as the mind. – Catch the drift?
I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to become so addicted and hooked on to my own thoughts, feelings and emotions that I have sought to get More of such energetic experiences, regardless of the amount of abuse it entails –
I realize that the outflows we are facing as humanity is our consequence for having followed through with energy and the mind while neglecting physical reality as who I really am and must honor in Equality and I see that everything that I have ever participated in as the mind is the Lie that we have used to consume the Life that we are and embody, and as such have used the same mind to formulate reasons, excuses and justifications to 'keep our party alive,' pretending one can genuinely 'forget' about something and not have it all come back 10 times fold once the high is gone.
I commit myself to explain and properly share how it is that through one's own self-addiction to the mind, we have created this current world of vanity and egoism that only seeks to 'feel good' and believe that 'no one is being harmed through it,' which is quite the ultimate declaration of the cells that compound the cancer as the desire for more, as an 'overgrowth' that must be brought to justice by our own hand: we educate ourselves, we support people to wake up and the decision must be made by self as an actual irrevocable decision to never again support the same abusive system that we have become as the externalization of the relationship between the mind and the physical body.
I commit myself to live the realization that it is only through equal and one support that we can stop seeking to 'escape from reality' and instead look forward to live and create a real living-environment where getting high becomes a real thing of the past.
We will continue with this in the next post – suggest you review the long list and spot where and how you are trying to escape your reality and what do you use to do so.
For Further Support:
Never wait to change, it might be too late:


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Magic Item Prices for the Sane and Discerning Dungeon MasterResource(self)
I used Sane Magic Item Prices for a few years and it was a great help to my campaign. We were playing in a high magic environment and my characters were constantly asking for the price of this and that and it was a pain to come up with and track all of them. But it got a little long in the tooth. As new books were published, I was back to making up prices again for all of the new items.
Recently, I stumbled on the Discerning Merchant's Price Guide (DMPG) and decided we'd switch over to using that, as it had been more recently updated. The prices can sometimes vary widely from what was in 'Sane', as it goes more strictly by the DMG recommendations and not based on subjective value of the item in question.
My biggest gripe with both of these PDFs though, was trying to quickly find items in them. I was always having to thumb back and forth through it, and had no way to really do any analysis on it. If you check the comment thread for DMPG on DMsGuild you'll see the same thought I had about it - can't we just get this as a spreadsheet? If you're one of the folks who felt the same way, I've got what you're looking for.
Here is a spreadsheet listing magic items in every official release so far, including prices from Sane and DMPG where available:
Comments and suggestions welcome. I'll try to keep this up to date as new publications are added. As you'll note, I don't have page numbers for Mad Mage as I only have it on dndbeyond.com, so if anyone with the book would like to send me a list of actual pages I'd be glad to update it. I'd also love to know if anyone else has another popular price guide - I'm always open to new ones and will add any comprehensive data set to this one if it exists.
And to answer another question both I and others have had, here's a graph that shows a comparison between the prices in the two guides:
Price Comparison By Rarity
Universal solvent is legendary, but that doesn't put it on the same power level as the Sword of Kas. That's why I put "rarer" in quotes. The broom of flying is uncommon too, but I doubt DMs put anywhere near as many of those in game as +1 weapons.


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Costa Rica President Laura Chinchilla announced there were no reports of major damage and called for calm.
At the epicenter, the beach town of Cangrejal, Jairo Zuniga, 27, said everything in his house fell when the quake hit at 8:42 a.m. (10:42 a.m. EDT; 1442 GMT).
"It was incredibly strong. I've felt earthquakes, but this one was `wow,' he said.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake was centered about 38 miles (60 kilometers) from the town of Liberia and 87 miles (140 kilometers) west of the capital, San Jose, where frightened people ran into the streets.
The magnitude initially was estimated at 7.9, but was quickly downgraded. Local residents said it shook for about 30 seconds and was felt as far away as neighboring Panama and Nicaragua, where school was canceled in some areas.
Officials initially warned of a possible tsunami, and local police supervisor Jose Angel Gomez said about 5,000 people -- 80 percent of the population -- had been evacuated from coastal towns in the Samara district west of the quake's epicenter. But by mid-day they were allowed to return.
Panama also briefly called for people to evacuate beach areas.
In Costa Rica, one man died of a heart attack caused by fright, said Carlos Miranda, a Red Cross worker in the city of Liberia.
Douglas Salgado, a geographer with Costa Rica's National Commission of Risk Prevention and Emergency Attention, said officials a landslide hit the main highway that connects the capital of San Jose to the Pacific coast city of Puntarenas, and hotels and other structures suffered cracks in walls and saw items knocked off shelves.
Rosa Pichardo, 45, who lives in Samara, was walking on the beach with her family when the quake hit.
"When we felt the earthquake, we held onto each other because we kept falling," Pichardo said. "I've never felt anything like this. We just couldn't stay standing. My feet gave out under me. It was terrible, terrible."
In the town of Hojancha a few miles (kilometers) from the epicenter, city official Kenia Campos said the quake knocked down some houses and landslides blocked several roads.
"So far, we don't have victims," she said. "People were really scared ... We have had moderate quakes but an earthquake (this strong) hadn't happened in more than 50 years."
Michelle Landwer, owner of the Belvedere Hotel in Samara, north of the epicenter, said she was having breakfast with about 10 people when the earthquake struck.
"The whole building was moving, I couldn't even walk," Landwer said. "Here in my building there was no real damage. Everything was falling, like glasses and everything."
In the coastal town of Nosara, roughly 20 miles (30 kilometers) southwest of the epicenter, trees shook violently and light posts swayed. Teachers chased primary school students outside as the quake hit. Roads cracked and power lines fell to the ground.
Wednesday's quake occurred in a seismically active zone where the Cocos tectonic plate is diving beneath the Caribbean plate.
"All along the Pacific coast of Central America, you can expect fairly big earthquakes," said seismologist Daniel McNamara of the U.S. Geological Survey.
The quake was somewhat deep -- 25 miles (41 kilometers) below the surface. Quakes that occur deeper underground tend to be less damaging, but more widely felt.
"If it was a shallower event, it would be a significantly higher hazard," he said.
In the last four decades, the region was rocked by 30 earthquakes magnitude-6 and larger. Two were larger than magnitude-7 -- in 1978 and 1990 -- but did not cause any deaths.
The last deadly quake to strike Costa Rica was in 2009, when 40 died in a magnitude-6.1 temblor. The last similar-sized quake to hit the country was in 1991 when 47 people were killed in the Limon-Pandora area.