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No matter how wonderful the product or service you're offering, your business is unlikely to thrive if your prospective customers are unaware of it – or completely ignorant of its merits. That's where field marketing techniques can be extremely helpful. A specialist field marketing company will be able to provide you with a number of services that can help to get your business out there – as well as providing you with valuable feedback on how you might make your stores more effective.
If you're a retailer looking for a reason to hire a field marketing company, then why not consider some of the factors listed here?
Product Demonstrations
If you've got a product whose appeal isn't immediately apparent, then you'll need to provide the public with some information about it. And that information should ideally be presented in a way that's going to accentuate the merits of the product, and persuade people to actually buy it.
This sort of persuasive ability is a skill that can't be acquired overnight. Fortunately, specialist field sales firms have been perfecting this skill for a long time – and they're more experienced than anyone in grabbing attention and converting it into sales. They'll know when to push and when to back off – and they'll be able to provide you with realistic expectations about the efficacy of any prospective campaign.
Product Sampling
The easiest way to demonstrate the effectiveness of a product is to allow a would-be customer to use it for themselves. That's where product sampling comes in. Of course, this is a technique which is much more effective with certain products than with others – a product whose merits can be quickly appreciated will tend to fare better than one that's arcane, and so a chocolate cookie will fare better in sampling campaigns than a book.
The best product sampling campaigns, like the best product demonstrations, are those which are as targeted as possible. By seeking out the customers who will be most inclined to buy a specific product, we'll stand a better chance of creating conversions. A specialist field marketing company will stand the best chance of success in this regard, as they'll have a base of experience and expertise to draw upon.
Mystery Shopping
If you're running a store, then you'll appreciate the value of customer service. Customers that feel dissatisfied with their experience are likely to tell their friends, who in turn are likely to tell their friends. News of terrible customer's service, then, will spread like wildfire. While the same is true of very good customer service, it's much rarer – and so focussing on maintaining a certain level of service across the board is essential.
Unfortunately, if you're the owner or manager of a retail outlet, you'll be among the last people to know if the service there is terrible. After all, your staff are unlikely to volunteer the information – and when you're around, they'll improve their performance. What's more, you'll be too close to the project to be objective about its shortcomings.
The only way to glean an accurate impression of the quality of your service, then, is through the help of a dedicated mystery shopper. This anonymous person will visit one of your stores (or many of them) and fill out a questionnaire detailing their experience. You'll be able to collaborate with the field marketing company when devising this questionnaire, and so you'll be able to focus your enquiry on the areas that are most important to you – or those which you suspect to be weakest. This will help you to gather valuable information about your business's performance, which can be used in future decision-making.
Retail Audits
In order to gain the most accurate possible picture of your store and its performance, then you'll want to perform a retail audit. This sort of audit is much like a financial audit – except instead of examining a company's finances, it examines the company's retail-front end, and comes to recommendations about how best to improve the business, attract more customers, and make more conversions.
An outside auditor is the best candidate for the job for a number of reasons. To begin with, they're objective and impartial. But more importantly, they're specialists who perform audits on a regular basis, and have access to technology and skills that'll allow them to get the job done quickly, efficiently, and effectively. They're therefore a sure way to get the information you need about how to improve your business.


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Mantra Love Teases Psych-Rock Reinvention with New Single 'Strawberry Milk'
"Psychedelic" is covered with the dust of the past. We associate it with the free-spirited, drug-laden cultural movement of the '60s that only gray-haired folk and Deadheads (somewhat) remember. Alongside a resurgence of girls rocking Kate Hudson's Almost Famous bohemian crunchiness, this hazy genre is making a definitive comeback with the likes of bands such as Post Animal and Beach House. Modernizing that sound could be intimidating, but Derek Silva, Fabian Silva, Gilbert Castillo and Justin Martinez of Mantra Love, an emerging Houston psych-rock band, proves it can be done by breaking away from the traditional sound of the genre to create a style unique to themselves.
Mantra Love released their first self-titled EP back in 2015 that garnered some well-deserved attention from the Houston music community, specifically that of Justin Martinez of The TonTons who eventually became their drummer. Imagine if The Strokes, Mac DeMarco and Tame Impala had a musical love-child; Mantra Love's sound is nostalgic to the heyday of psych with wavering tempo, plucky guitars and dreamy vocals. Their tracks lead us through an introverted search for spirituality, with "Perceptions," "Song for the Human Experience" and "Dream Chasing" delivering a lasting, enjoyable trip without the necessity of any drugs.
Mantra is a word chanted repeatedly to invoke spirituality, and Derek Silva wants Mantra Love's message to be clear—one of pure love and good vibes. "Mantra is something you repeat," he says. "In the most simple way, repeat love. It's a reminder to return to [your] center."
"Strawberry Milk" ups the group's production quality to move away from its previously grainy tracks that sound like re-discovered vintage vinyl. The track breaks away from the moodiness of their prior work and introduces the possibility of toying with other genres, such as pop. Overall, the sound is tighter, cleaner and more electronic all while maintaining the meandering, twangy, omnipresent guitar simmering beneath it all.
Although a single, the new track is a prelude to their next EP slated for later this fall, and Mantra Love plans to drop a music video directed by Bryce Saucier toward the end of August. Silva doesn't plan to reveal any secrets about the video yet but promises a bright, "pop" cinematic approach. The band hopes its new music and new videos can help place Houston on the map.
"That's one thing we're trying to change," Silva says. "We want people to take Houston bands more seriously. We think for that to happen we need to have musicians that are really stepping up to build an audience."

subset: commoncrawl


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NBA Playoffs: Surprises Will Be Scarce in Round TwoMay 3, 2009
Now that the first round of the 2009 NBA Playoffs is in the books, fans can focus on the four matchups that will entertain us in round two.
Each series has its own unique story line, and the level of play and intensity should be even higher than in the opening round.
Check out LayupDrill.com's preview and predictions for each series.
One of my personal favorite NBA team blogs is The Dream Shake, which covers the Houston Rockets. I was checking out a story from earlier this weekend that said what another writer told me today: The Winner of the Lakers/Rockets series will win the NBA title. I didn't agree at first with that statement, but after really looking at the path to the finals I can see its merits.
Houston finally made it to the second round, and now face the best in the West in L.A.—a team they have not defeated this year in four attempts.
The Rockets will need to figure out a way to make someone on the Lakers to beat them other than number 24. Kobe Bryant has had games this year when he was perfectly happy facilitating his teammates' success, dishing out assists, and running the triangle to perfection.
There also have been games when Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol, and Andrew Bynum stood around in awe of Kobe as he took over the scoring load.
In Shane Battier and Ron Artest, the Rockets have two players capable of keeping up with Bryant. They also have Yao Ming, who will draw some serious attention inside.
If the Rockets get some scoring off their bench, and can win the rebound battle, they will have a shot. Still, I see the Lakers having too much for Houston in the end.
Prediction: Lakers in six
The Denver Nuggets are the league's best team that flies below the radar. Denver dismantled the Hornets pretty easily in the first round, while the Dallas Mavericks surprised some in taking out the Spurs in five games themselves.
Dallas is playing at their peak level, and Rick Carlisle realizes he will need his team to remain consistent in their defensive play if they want to slow Denver.
The Nuggets have an advantage at nearly every position, according to our friends over at The Nugg Doctor, and we agree. Dallas matched up very well with the broken-down Spurs in the first round, but will find themselves in a different situation now.
Expect some high-scoring, high-energy games, but after it's all over, Denver will win this series.
Prediction: Nuggets in seven
The Boston Celtics may not be the most exciting team to watch, but they have the most heart of any of the eight remaining playoff teams. Boston battled the Chicago Bulls in one of the most amazing first-round series in NBA Playoffs history, but were able to outlast Chicago in the end owing to superior defense.
While Boston is not truly deep, their role-players know that when Doc Rivers calls on them to deliver, they need to come in and shut down their assigned man.
The Magic, meanwhile, come off an impressive close-out victory over the Sixers in Philly without Dwight Howard. Orlando gets a chance to knock off the defending champions now, but they will need to rely on Superman early and often to dethrone the champs.
Boston will throw Kendrick Perkins, Mikki Moore, Glen Davis, and Brian Scalabrine at Howard throughout, however the perimeter defense of Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo, and Paul Pierce will be tested by the outside shooters of the Magic.
I expect to see Tony Allen play critical minutes during this series, and I believe we are headed to another seven-game series. In the end, I still don't see the champs checking out yet, and Boston will advance.
Prediction: Celtics in seven
Cavs vs. Hawks
The Cleveland Cavaliers had been sitting and waiting patiently to find out the identity of their second-round opponent. Atlanta's big Game Seven win over the Miami Heat sealed the deal, and the Hawks will provide Cleveland with plenty of competition in this round.
While the Hawks provide an inside-outside punch of Joe Johnson and Josh Smith, the Hawks have no answer for slowing down LeBron James. If you double James, then Mo Williams, Delonte West, or Daniel Gibson can make you pay.
The Hawks will have to pick their poison wisely, but it won't matter much, as Cleveland will advance.
Prediction: Cavs in five


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When it was once the tallest building between New York City and Chicago, LeVeque Tower in Columbus was used by pilots as a landmark in their flights. Today, it's been reborn as The Hotel LeVeque and serves as a beacon of hospitality to travelers.
Originally completed in 1927, American Insurance Company operated the 47-story building (then named the American Insurance Union Citadel). At over 555-feet tall, it was the fifth-largest building in the world at the time.
It was home to the Deshler Wallick Hotel and later became known as the Lincoln LeVeque Tower, then simply the LeVeque Tower after its purchase in 1945.
Clad in unique glazed terra cotta relief tiles, the tower's art deco architecture and imposing size makes it the most recognizable structure in the city's skyline. The Hotel LeVeque opened in 2017 with 149 guest rooms and six luxury suites. Apartments and offices occupy the rest of the building.
After the six-year long restoration process, Architectural Digest magazine dubbed it, "The most beautiful hotel in Ohio".
The interior continues the Art Deco style, but based around a celestial theme. The light fixtures, including the lobby's dramatic chandelier, references stars and constellations. The rooms all have small telescopes that guests can use to stargaze (or survey the view of the Scioto riverfront). Projectors in the rooms create a delightful planetarium effect on the ceiling.
The hotel is part of Marriott's boutique Autograph Collection. This national group of smaller hotels steers clear of standard, cookie-cutter hotel décor and emphasizes unique design elements reflective of the property's history. Marriott likes to say that these hotels are "Exactly Like Nothing Else," and that's certainly true of the Hotel LeVeque.
A local fashion designer was tapped to create the unique hotel uniforms, while artwork, toiletries, and scented candles in the hotel are all from local artisans. Their on-site restaurant, The Keep, uses local ingredients in its signature fare and classic cocktails.
The hotel offers a "Holiday Lights & Shopping Package" November through January, and it does fill up quickly over big event weekends (like The Ohio State University football games).
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Hotel Leveque is located at 50 West Broad Street, Columbus, Ohio (43215). Book your next stay here.


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Would you pay $4,500 to pass your driving exam? It sounds ludicrous, but more than 100 people in London were willing to fork that over to bribe a driving instructor for a license, according to the BBC. That instructor was arrested earlier today by police, who are investigating a "cash-for-pass" driver's license scam.
Driving students would give as much as £3,000 — about $4,500 in American money — to obtain a license from the accused instructor. Their licenses are currently being revoked after authorities seized boxes full of documents.
From the BBC:
Andrew Rice, head of fraud and integrity at the Driving Standards Agency, said: "We believe the candidates have approached their driving instructor, they've had a conversation saying for x amount of money we can guarantee you a pass.
"The candidate then agrees to that. The driving instructor then speaks to our member of staff and tells them which candidate to pass."
This report makes it sound like it's a fairly widespread problem in England. Police there are also investigating some 900 cases of identity fraud where a candidate would pay someone else to take the test for them.
It's crazy that someone would pay that much for a driver's license. How difficult can the tests be? And getting someone else to do the test for you? Come on, you're not trying to get an FIA Superlicence so you can race in Formula One.
Just do like we Americans do and drive illegally if the tests are so hard.
Photo credit Shutterstock


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I'm very blessed to have shot the LV X NBA Collection campaign imagery, I'll just keep it short and say thank you Virgil for the opportunity, Shai for being A1, Carina for sticking by me through the entire process and to everyone else who helped make this happen. Maybe I should post some BTS pics and elaborate more but I'll update the post another day, I'm still letting this sink in.
Oh, you can see more photos here.


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This is an in-person event.
Woodmont Hills Church of Christ
3710 Franklin Pike
Nashville, TN 37204
United States
Nancy Steele, M.Ed. former teacher and technical assistance specialist at the National Center on Deafblindness, will provide a workshop on communication instruction for individuals with severe and multiple disabilities. The workshop includes both instruction and practical exercises. These are designed to support participants in expanding their understanding of how they might encourage children with significant disabilities to demonstrate and further develop their ability and desire to communicate.
This training will be open to family members, teachers, speech language pathologist, therapists, early interventionists, paraprofessionals, and others working with children with significant disabilities. There is no charge for this training and lunch will be provided onsite. Each participant will receive a "Communication Toolkit" to take home.
To register: Contact: Danna Conn, Project Coordinator at 615-936-0262 or 615-936-0262615-936-0262 or click on the link below (you may need to cut and past in your browser).
This project is supported by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). Opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the position of the U.S. Department of Education. Grant HC326T130030. Participants will receive certificates of participation for six hours for the day.


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Frequently Asked Questions
Restile 2015
MIRAGE represents top quality Italian ceramics across the globe and is a point of reference in the world of design and building. Thanks to qualitative research, innovative design and technology, Mirage is able to offer a range of solutions that are not only formal, but are also integral to the planning and design contemporary living spaces.
More than 130mln squared meters of ceramics sold and installed worldwide, from America to Europe, Asia and Oceania, are the tangible guarantee of Mirage solidity and reliability as a company that has as good as written the history of porcelain stoneware across the world. Tremendous experience combined with the constant and the vast investments in research and technology have allowed the company to satisfy the needs of project-planning in an effective and versatile way, promoting innovative and evolved solutions in terms of performance and design.
Further information on www.mirage.it
Mirage products are manufactured using pure raw materials such as minerals, kaolin, feldspar and clay that make up the 99% of every single slab, while the natural colours complete the aesthetic appeal of products.
The compacting process of materials is carried out without the addition of adhesives or resins thanks to a mechanical pressing process of over 500 kg per cm²; the products are then fired in 90 metre long kilns at a temperature of over 1,250°C, making the tiles homogenous and compact throughout their mass. Innovative production technology has enabled this material to become extremely resistant and compact. Its vitrified structure with low porosity guarantees high resistance to acids, dirt and frost.
A product that fully complies with the international standards in terms of safety of private and public spaces, mainly in terms of slipperiness, resistance to deep abrasion and to fire. A high-tech porcelain stoneware that is particularly suitable for areas subject to high traffic.
Submit, regulations and timing
1. If I am not able to load the file via the form, to which other address should I send the project?
Should you have trouble in sending the project, this could be due to the file being bigger than allowed size. For further information, you can send an email to the following address email@example.com
For ease of clarity, we recommend to send one PDF format file with description, design and technical specifications.
For further information relevant to the material, we invite you to send an email to the following address firstname.lastname@example.com
No, you can't. Participants are only allowed to present one project each.
Anyone over the age of eighteen can take part in the ResTile contest. Anyone below the age of eighteen can only take part if authorised by parents and/or legal guardians.
Projects must be submitted by 1 March 2015.
Placements and awards
The Jury will base their assessment of the entries on the following criteria: the creative scope of the entry, the feasibility of the solution from a technical and manufacturing point of view, the compliance with the contest's goals in terms of the product presented, the level of the entry's innovation compared to what is currently on the market.
For any further information, please refer to point 7 of the Contest Rules at www.miragecontest.com/restile
The Jury will announce one winning project and a maximum of six special mentions. There will be three cash prizes of different amounts, assigned by winning order, with total prize money of EUR 10,000.00.
No co-winners are allowed. For any further information, please refer to the Contest Rules at www.miragecontest.com/restile
The results of the contest will be published online and notified to all participants via email.
Design and planning specifications
The chromatic range corresponds to the CMYK quadrichromatic class and to the RAL scale. No fluorescent colours are permitted.
Porcelain stoneware can be manufactured in the same way as natural stone, therefore polishing and honing treatments as well as textured and bush-hammered surface finishes are feasible. The choice for the finish depends mainly on the destination of use of the material and not on the production process: for specific applications, it is recommended to guarantee the necessary anti-slip coefficient and easy cleaning and maintenance of the surface (for further information visit http://www.mirage.it/en/porcelain-stoneware/use-and-maintenance-instruction/ ).


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Osama bin Laden's new audio tape message addressed to President Obama is simple and direct: The attempt to blow up Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on Christmas Day will be followed by more terror until America stops supporting Israel. Al Qaeda is warning that the Nigerian who tried to destroy the Amsterdam-to-Detroit flight was not a one-off, but part of a larger conspiracy and a campaign of suicide bombers. We don't know if bin Laden is bluffing (we should assume not), but his focus on Israel is vintage bin Laden. Some argue the al Qaeda leader is a "johnny-come-lately" to the Israel issue and has only in recent years taken it on to appeal to angry Muslims. In fact, the opposite is true. He and his gang have had the destruction of Israel at the top of their agenda for decades, but they believe the road to that goal goes through Washington.
We can separate al Qaeda from the vast majority of Muslims by advancing a just and lasting peace that Palestinians accept.
Osama spent much of his youth in the Arab states of the Levant—Syria, Lebanon and Jordan—where the Arab resistance to Israel has always been the strongest. His mother was a Syrian. His father rebuilt the mosques of Jerusalem in the early 1960s—including the Dome of the Rock, the symbol of Palestine in the Islamic world, when it still belonged to Jordan. The young Osama spent time in Jerusalem at the family residence near the mosques. He was educated in Lebanon at schools where the Palestinian narrative was gospel and the Palestinian anthem was sung every day. He would have been deeply affected by the hatred around him for the Jewish state.
Bin Laden's world view was deeply impacted by his first mentor and partner in jihad, a Palestinian named Abdullah Azzam, who has rightly been called "the father of the modern global Islamic jihad" by a former head of the Mossad, Israel's secret intelligence service. Azzam was Bin Laden's teacher in Jidda at university and then lead the Arabs who flocked to Afghanistan and Pakistan in the early 1980s to join the mujahedin in fighting the Soviets. His writings called for jihad as the only solution to the Islamic world's humiliations at the hands of the Americans and Russians, and advocated the destruction of the two superpowers as the means to Islam's salvation. Azzam and bin Laden created the "Services Bureau" to help jihadis coming to Afghanistan, an early version of what would become al Qaeda.
Bin Laden declared war on his homeland, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in 1994 because the Saudi royal family had decided to support the Oslo peace process begun by Yitzhak Rabin and Yasir Arafat. To bin Laden, any peace deal with Israel is treasonous, and represents a betrayal of Islam.
The life of Ayman Zawahiri, al Qaeda's second in command, has been even more tied to fighting Israel and peace. He was a minor player in the plot to assassinate Anwar Sadat in October 1981 and was jailed for his role. Sadat was an enemy of Islam for Ayman because he made peace with the Israeli enemy and thus deserved to die. For Zawahiri, Israel is the Crusaders' tool for dividing the Islamic world and keeping it weak by ensuring that only Israel has nuclear weapons in the Middle East.
Al Qaeda believes the way to destroy Israel is to defeat its ally, America; then, shorn of U.S. military aid and financial support, Israel will collapse. Without the "far enemy," the "near enemy" will die on the vine. As bin Laden has said repeatedly, and says again in this new message, the 9/11 attacks were all about punishing America for backing Israel.
But al Qaeda has also targeted Israel and Jews extensively over the last decade. The soft target—Israeli and Jewish tourists—has been attacked in Kenya, Turkey, Tunisia, India, and Egypt by al Qaeda and its allies. Al Qaeda has also tried to stage attacks on Israel itself, a much harder target. It has planned an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv and even an attack on the Israeli port city of Eilat to be staged by mutinous al Qaeda sympathizers in the Royal Saudi Air Force. So far its ambitions have exceeded its capabilities.
Al Qaeda thrives on the anger and frustration that so many in the Islamic world feel about Israel. The siege of Gaza has been a propaganda gold mine for bin Laden. He and Zawahiri talk about it constantly in their propaganda messages. The bleeding sore of a million and a half Gazans under siege because they support a jihadist movement has been used to recruit bombers like the Jordanian of Palestinian origin who blew up the CIA's base in Afghanistan on December 30, killing seven Americans and a member of the Jordanian royal family.
Obama should take bin Laden's threat seriously; prudence dictates no less. We should keep the pressure on al Qaeda in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Yemen. But we must also strike at the narrative that al Qaeda sells to wage its war. We can separate al Qaeda from the vast majority of Muslims by advancing a just and lasting peace that Palestinians accept. The President was right to make reviving the Arab-Israeli peace process a priority in 2009 and to promise America would do more to help end the misery of the Palestinians. We do this not to appease al Qaeda, but because it is in our national security interest to end this conflict that breeds so much hate for our country. Obama should redouble his efforts in 2010.
Bruce Riedel is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution's Saban Center for Middle East Policy. He was a negotiator at several Arab-Israeli summits and is the author of The Search for al Qaeda.


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Efficient spending and saving will give the family more security, more opportunities, more education, and a higher standard of living. Votes: 6Ezra Taft Benson
We should be trying to make education less expensive, not more. Votes: 4Bob Inglis
Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe. Votes: 4H. G. Wells
A thorough knowledge of the Bible is worth more than a college education. Votes: 4Theodore Roosevelt
Even in a time of fiscal austerity, education is more than just an expense. Votes: 4Arne Duncan
An education is a more surefire guarantee that you have possibilities opened to you. Votes: 4Jonathan Taylor Thomas
When it comes to college education, American families are paying more and getting less. Votes: 4Patricia Schroeder
In England, literary pretence is more universal than elsewhere from our method of education. Votes: 4James Payn
My understanding is that Kansas, Massachusetts, they've been more pioneers on the special education side. Votes: 4Margaret Spellings
His lack of education is more than compensated for by his keenly developed moral bankruptcy. Votes: 4Woody Allen
Too much of what is called 'education' is little more than an expensive isolation from reality. Votes: 4Thomas Sowell
No part of the education of a politician is more indispensable than the fighting of elections. Votes: 4Winston Churchill
Natural ability without education has more often attained to glory and virtue than education without natural ability. Votes: 4Marcus Tullius Cicero
Parents should continue to become more involved with their communities, and more involved in their children's education. Votes: 4Sandra Day O'Connor
Natural ability without education has more often raised a man to glory and virtue than education without natural ability. Votes: 4Marcus Aurelius
The American education system couldn't be more badly directed or poorly funded if the Secretary of Education were Ed Wood. Votes: 4Dennis Miller
Education is more than Pisa. Particularly musical education. We also need education and training for more than reasons of usefulness and marketability. Votes: 4Johannes Rau
You know, nothing is more important than education, because nowhere are our stakes higher; our future depends on the quality of education of our children today. Votes: 4Arnold Schwarzenegger
The last thing that should happen is funding cut for education; it should be increased. We need to put more money towards education, and anything else is abusive. Votes: 4Flea
The more education a woman has, the wider the gap between men's and women's earnings for the same work. Votes: 3Sandra Day O'Connor
Most green-collar jobs are middle-skill jobs. That means they require more education that a high-school diploma, but less than a four-year degree. Votes: 3Van Jones
Since in reality there is nothing to which growth is relative save more growth, there is nothing to which education is subordinate save more education." Votes: 3John Dewey
But to me the bottom line is the more education you can give yourself, and the more preparation you can do, the less chance of failing. Votes: 3Stuart Pearce
You can go far on hard work and big dreams, often a hell of a lot farther - and faster - than people with more education and experience. Votes: 3Mike Michalowicz
I don't feel I'm qualified to be a coach outside the high school level. I think I would need to do more education to really be a good coach. Votes: 3Carl Lewis
But I decided I wanted more education and I had to make a choice between starting law school, which was interesting to me, and going for a graduate degree in engineering. Votes: 3Daniel J. Evans
She had observed that the more education they got, the less they could do. Their father had gone to a one-room schoolhouse through the eighth grade and he could do anything. Votes: 3Flannery O'Connor
Once I had a professor say to me, "You know you have as much education as a lot of white people." I answered, "Doctor, I have more education than most white people." Votes: 3Joycelyn Elders
I try to find more education in the sport while helping people who are trying to be better at whatever they are trying to achieve. That is probably the thing I love most about coaching. Votes: 3Robin Farina
It's not just that people with no education have worse health. People with a bit of education at somewhat better, with a lot of education it's even better. And with even more education it's better still. Votes: 3Michael Marmot
Even child abuse specialists do not routinely screen for domestic violence. This shows how much more education we need to do, even among experts, to understand the known links between violence of the child and the parent. Votes: 3Jocelyn Brown
Religion is usually nothing but a supplement to or even a substitute for education, and nothing is religious in the strict sense which is not a product of freedom. Thus one can say: The freer, the more religious; and the more education, the less religion. Votes: 3Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel
What is needed now are increased efforts to promote youth participation and commitment; more services aimed at youth; more parental involvement; more education and information, using schools and other sites; more protection for girls, orphaned children and young women;and more partnerships with people with HIV and AIDS. Votes: 3Carol Bellamy
Education makes some men wiser, others more ridiculous and foolish! Votes: 1Norm MacDonald
Nature is more powerful than education; time will develop everything. Votes: 1Benjamin Disraeli
Education best serves students by helping them be more self-reflective. Votes: 1Randy Pausch
In education, once more, the chief things are equality and freedom. Votes: 1Leo Tolstoy
Ignorance is more costly to any State than education. Votes: 0Booker T. Washington
True education reveals self-potential, more than just sows ideas. Votes: 0Toba Beta
Education is more valuable than money, in the long run. Votes: 0Robert Kiyosaki
The only thing that is more expensive than education is ignorance. Votes: 0Benjamin Franklin
Theories are more common than achievements in the history of education. Votes: 0Richard Livingstone
Education helps you earn more. But not many schoolteachers can prove it. Votes: 0Charles E. McKenzie
As a society, we can and should invest more money in education. Votes: 0Daphne Koller
I am the slave of an internal power more powerful than my education. Votes: 0Arnold Schoenberg
The aim of education is growth: the aim of growth is more growth Votes: 0John Dewey
Jesus changed how the world thinks about science, medicine, human rights, education & more. Votes: 0John Ortberg
We can't want an education for kids more than they want it for themselves. Votes: 0Tony Danza
We can only transform humanity and create a happier more compassionate world through education. Votes: 0Dalai Lama
The education already given to the people creates the necessity of giving them more. Votes: 0Horace Mann
Education makes the wise slightly wiser, but it makes the fool vastly more dangerous. Votes: 0Nassim Nicholas Taleb
And the president should be doing more about education than saying, 'Lights, camera, action.' Votes: 0Dick Gephardt
Most men of education are more superstitious than they admit - nay, than they think. Votes: 0Georg C. Lichtenberg
My hobby more and more is likely to be common school education, or universal education. Votes: 0Rutherford B. Hayes
The truth is mightier than eloquence, the Spirit greater than genius, faith more than education. Votes: 0Martin Luther
More particularly, having a largely German-oriented education has made me very responsive to 19th-century German literature. Votes: 0John le Carre
A lot of education is like teaching marching; I try to make it more like dancing. Votes: 0Peter Schjeldahl
That which we do not call education is more precious than that which we call so. Votes: 0Ralph Waldo Emerson
There is more in the education of children than the everlasting iteration of the word "don't!" Votes: 0Austin O'Malley
It feels important to go school; not necessarily to further my education, but more like a hobby. Votes: 0Mandy Moore
I believe we all agree that, for the health of Kansas, nothing is more important than education. Votes: 0Kathleen Sebelius
Art is the more spiritual side of education that really does saves lives and makes amazing individuals. Votes: 0Mya
Few things are more important to each individual's future success or to our nation's prosperity than education. Votes: 0Mark Kennedy
Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil. Votes: 0C. S. Lewis
I wish my parents had spent more time worrying about my education than me being a star. Votes: 0Shania Twain
In 1920 [H.G. Wells] described human history as becoming more and more a race between education and catastrophe. Votes: 0Joel Garreau
When women earn more, families are stronger, and children have better access to quality health care and education. Votes: 0Kirsten Gillibrand
Human intelligence is richer and more dynamic than we have been led to believe by formal academic education. Votes: 0Ken Robinson
You may be a redneck if... you have spent more on your pickup truck than on your education. Votes: 0Jeff Foxworthy
Poorer students take out larger loans and will have to contribute more to the cost of higher education. Votes: 0Anne Campbell
If you step up the self-education curve, you will come up with more answers than you can use. Votes: 0Jim Rohn
Nothing brings more money to the Treasury of the United States, than investment in education of the American people. Votes: 0Nancy Pelosi
In the pursuit of education, individual desire is more influential than institution, and personal faith more forceful than faculty. Votes: 0Russell M. Nelson
The education of young people in science is at least as important, maybe more so, than the research itself. Votes: 0Glenn T. Seaborg
we should contract our ideas of education, and expect no more from it than it is able to perform. Votes: 0Anna Letitia Barbauld
Soap and education are not as sudden as a massacre, but they are more deadly in the long run. Votes: 0Mark Twain
Natural ability without education has more often raised a man to glory and virtue than education without natural ability. Votes: 0Marcus Tullius Cicero
The best education you will ever get is traveling. Nothing teaches you more than exploring the world and accumulating experiences. Votes: 0Mark Patterson
I don't like the word transparency; cold dead glass is transparent. I prefer education or understanding, which are more human. Votes: 0Julian Assange
Like health care, education is something worth spending on and worth investing in, but we're spending more and getting less. Votes: 0Tom Golisano
Education must enable a man to become more efficient, to achieve with increasing facility the legitimate goals of his life. Votes: 0Martin Luther King, Jr.
I wonder whether if I had an education I should have been more or less a fool that I am. Votes: 0Alice James
I do not want art for a few any more than education for a few, or freedom for a few. Votes: 0William Morris
So if a college education is indispensable, the challenge as I see it is how to make it more accessible. Votes: 0Gordon Gee
It seems to me that at this time we need education in the obvious more than investigation of the obscure. Votes: 0Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
The privilege of a university education is a great one; the more widely it is extended the better for any country. Votes: 0Winston Churchill
People generally have more feeling for canals and roads than education. However, I hope we can advance them with equal pace. Votes: 0Thomas Jefferson
Education today, more than ever before, must see clearly the dual objectives: education for living and educating for making a living. Votes: 0James Wood-Mason
Reading and writing, arithmetic and grammar do not constitute education, any more than a knife, fork and spoon constitute a dinner. Votes: 0John Lubbock
Mathematics education is much more complicated than you expected, even though you expected it to be more complicated than you expected. Votes: 0Edward G. Begle
Education, I am convinced, must be nothing more than this: The journey toward the limits of Reason, if any there be. Votes: 0Richard Mitchell
Gandhi, brought out of his semirural setting and given a Western-style education, initially attempted to become more English than the English. Votes: 0Pankaj Mishra
In this land of the Ganga (Varanasi), there was education of culture. But, more importantly, there was a culture of education. Votes: 0Narendra Modi
Religiosity turns out to be the best indicator of civic involvement: it's more accurate than education, age, income, gender or race. Votes: 0Jonathan Sacks
Obesity is a prison; in the US we spend more to treat type 2 diabetes each year than is spent on education. Votes: 0Paul Zane Pilzer
I'm not a policy expert - I am only arguing that there is more to an education than an economic ticket. Votes: 0Rebecca Mead
I think investing in a good education has been key for me, although the investment was more in time than money. Votes: 0Nouriel Roubini
As few subjects are more interesting to society, so few have been more frequently written upon than the education of youth. Votes: 0Oliver Goldsmith
English usage is sometimes more than mere taste, judgment and education - sometimes it's sheer luck, like getting across the street. Votes: 0E. B. White
I know more Australian people than I know New Zealand persons. I feel like there's a real gap in my education. Votes: 0Cameron Esposito
Poor people, people of color - especially are much more likely to be found in prison than in institutions of higher education. Votes: 0Angela Davis
The purpose of education is to save young people from the paralyzing effects of wealth and poverty. (more or less verbatim quote) Votes: 0Kurt Hahn
Education is the most powerful tool countries have for boosting economic growth, increasing prosperity, and forging more just, peaceful and equitable societies. Votes: 0Wendy Kopp
America believes in education: the average professor earns more money in a year than a professional athlete earns in a whole week. Votes: 0Evan Esar
I knew a man who carried his education in his vest pocket because there was more room there than in his head. Votes: 0Karl Kraus
I do not think [poetry] is more, or less, necessary than food, shelter, health, education, decent working conditions. It is as necessary. Votes: 0Adrienne Rich
A word says more than a thousand images. Exercises for the visually inclined: illustrate "appreciation", "humor", "software", "education", "inalienable rights", "elegance", "fact". Votes: 0Erik Naggum
Yes, many immigrants cherish the value of choice and opportunity and the value of education more than 7th or 8th generation Americans. Votes: 0Malcolm Wallop
Those outside of autism need to understand this is an epidemic and we need more government funding, insurance coverage and education reform. Votes: 0Jenny McCarthy
No man can instruct more than half-a-dozen students at once. The whole problem of education is one of its cost in money. Votes: 0Henry Adams
Computer science education cannot make anybody an expert programmer any more than studying brushes and pigment can make somebody an expert painter. Votes: 0Eric S. Raymond
Working on my knowledge and education and learning how to become a more talented and wise person make me feel more sexy. Votes: 0Natassia Malthe
Many badly needed goals, like fusion and cancer cure, would be achieved much sooner if we invested more [in scientific education and research]. Votes: 0Stephen Hawking
Cause and effect is the basis of my education, leading me to an essence far more profound than any rule of societal conditioning. Votes: 0Ka Chinery
I must dedicate my life to teaching my people, for only education would make their lot less bitter, their latent power more strong. Votes: 0Y. C. James Yen
California is now close to spending more on prisons than it does on higher education - surely the death warrant of a civilization. Votes: 0Molly Ivins
Education by choice, with its marvelous motivating psychology of desire for truth, will make life ever cleaner and happier, more rhythmical and artistic. Votes: 0R. Buckminster Fuller
Younger Arabs are much less satisfied with education in the region than their elders, and are more comfortable networking and communicating via digital means. Votes: 0Joe Saddi
When parents are confident that their children will live, they have fewer of them. They invest more in each child's food, health and education. Votes: 0Anne M. Mulcahy
Higher education is confronting challenges, like the economy is, about the need for a higher number of more adequately trained, more highly educated citizenry. Votes: 0Margaret Spellings
Universal education is not only a moral imperative but an economic necessity, to pave the way toward making many more nations self-sufficient and self-sustaining. Votes: 0Desmond Tutu
The education and empowerment of women throughout the world cannot fail to result in a more caring, tolerant, just and peaceful life for all. Votes: 0Aung San Suu Kyi
I definitely believe in the power of education. I believe the more people know, the more they are able to do what they can. Votes: 0Debby Ryan
The point of education is to learn other ways too. Don't just assume that all you know is right. Learn more and then chose. Votes: 0Shannon Hale
Our obsession is how we can use technology to reach our big goals, first peace, which will allow us more equality and better education. Votes: 0Juan Manuel Marquez
The point of education is to learn other ways too. Don't just assume that all you know is right. Learn more and then chose. Votes: 0Hale
Education makes us more stupid than the brutes. A thousand voices call to us on every hand, but our ears are stopped with wisdom. Votes: 0Jean Giraudoux
Education would be a divine thing, if it did nothing more than help us to think and love great thoughts instead of little thoughts. Votes: 0John Lancaster Spalding
We cannot but pity the boy who has never fired a gun; he is no more humane, while his education has been sadly neglected. Votes: 0Henry David Thoreau
We have seen a central government taking more and more control over public education, over communications, over transportation, over every detail of our daily lives. Votes: 0Robert W. Welch, Jr.
All entertainment is education in some way, many times more effective than schools because of the appeal to the emotions rather than to the intellect. Votes: 0Hortense Powdermaker
The College Access and Opportunity Act addresses the important need to make higher education more affordable and easier to access for low and middle-income students. Votes: 0Ron Lewis
A girl child who is even a little bit educated is more conscious of family planning, health care and, in turn, her children's own education. Votes: 0Azim Premji
For me, education means to inspire people to live more abundantly, to learn to begin with life as they find it and make it better. Votes: 0Carter G. Woodson
It's not getting any better for the American people. It seems to be getting worse. That's predictable; education is a cycle. Stupidity breeds more stupidity. Votes: 0Bill Maher
Education is great ... but it's really my creativity that's taught me that I can be much more than what my education told me I am. Votes: 0K.K. Raghava
I desire to see the time when education, and by its means, morality, sobriety, enterprise and industry shall become much more general than at present. Votes: 0Abraham Lincoln
I had no education in filmmaking. I started with a 8mm camera. I made 34 films, and little by little I gained more experience in filming. Votes: 0Bahman Ghobadi
One of my great laments is that education today seems to have... be less about passion and more about process, more about tactic or technique. Votes: 0Neil deGrasse Tyson
We must create a climate where people agree that human beings are more alike than unalike. The only way to do that is through education. Votes: 0Maya Angelou
I've got a very deep and abiding passion about education being far more than buildings and textbooks; it's what children bring into school with them. Votes: 0Johann Lamont
Education for immediate effective consumption is more popular than ever, and nobody wants to think of the long term, or the intellectual tone of the nation. Votes: 0Robertson Davies
Teachers say their schools of education did not adequately prepare them for the classroom. They would have welcomed more mentoring and feedback in their early years. Votes: 0Arne Duncan
Much of coaching consists of teaching and communicating ideas, concepts and philosophies to the players and my education helped make me a much more effective coach. Votes: 0LaVell Edwards
Thanks to quality education, Israel is one of the most advanced countries in the world .. Israel is advancing in high-tech even more than other developed countries. Votes: 0Bill Gates
I've been in elementary education for years and my belief is that Christmas pageants in schools are little more than conditioning kids for the Christian religion. Votes: 0Jack Bowman
Head Start graduates are more likely to graduate from high school and less likely to need special education, repeat a grade, or commit crimes in adolescence. Votes: 0Joe Baca
A country like Belgium, or socialist countries in central Europe spend more money on art education than the United States, which is a really puzzling thought. Votes: 0Mikhail Baryshnikov
This journey is not over. Our education initiatives have so much momentum, and we're committed to sharing even more stories from the Arctic when we return. Votes: 0Ann Bancroft
Whereas she wished more of the population were better educated, she also believed that education was largely wasted on the majority of the people she met. Votes: 0John Irving
The life prospects of an American are more dependent on the income and education of his parents than in any of the other advanced industrial countries. Votes: 0Joseph Stiglitz
Though her mien carries much more invitation than command, to behold her is an immediate check to loose behaviour; to love her was a liberal education. Votes: 0Richard Steele
Looking ahead, I can see more and more instances where I will disagree with the president on very fundamental issues. The largest, for me, is education. Votes: 0Jim Jeffords
I discovered that success has very little to do with education or race or disposition; it has more to do with principles and following those principles. Votes: 0Myles Munroe
We at the Department of Education are going to provide technical assistance; I've committed $14 million to show states how they might meet this more sophisticated approach. Votes: 0Margaret Spellings
Nothing would more effectively further the development of education than for all flogging pedagogues to learn to educate with the head instead of with the hand. Votes: 0Ellen Key
You cannot simply put more money into the same system and get better results, so we will need to reform and innovate in the delivery of education. Votes: 0Rob McKenna
I give priority to up-bringing over education because the ultimate goal of up-bringing is morals, and we have a more urgent need for morals than for knowledge. Votes: 0Ameen Rihani
Self-education is a continuing source of pleasure to me, for the more I know, the fuller my life is and the better I appreciate my own existence Votes: 0Isaac Asimov
Homeschool history tells of more than two centuries of home-teaching influence on American education, although it has been largely obscured by the drawn curtains of conventional bias. Votes: 0Raymond S. Moore
Transforming education is not easy but the price of failure is more than we can afford, while the benefits of success are more than we can imagine. Votes: 0Ken Robinson
I have made education a top priority of this Administration because when we get it right, when every child learns, America will be a more hopeful place. Votes: 0George W. Bush
I feel there is so much more we can do in improving education, making it accessible and understanding how technology can be a part of the solution. Votes: 0Jim Breyer
Education in music is most sovereign because more than anything else rhythm and harmony find their way to the innermost soul and take strongest hold upon it Votes: 0Plato
In 1998 I invested in the Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship at Strathclyde Uni and subsequently put more capital into enterprise education to try and help change the culture. Votes: 0Tom Hunter
Good character is more important than wealth, good looks, popularity and even education. These things do not guarantee happiness and often they become obstacles to developing good character. Votes: 0Michael Josephson
In an ideal world, entertainment would be regarded as what it is - entertainment - and wouldn't be valued more heavily than education, than science, than environmental awareness. Votes: 0Chris Kluwe
Attitude is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than what people do or say. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. Votes: 0W. C. Fields
Attitude is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than what people do or say. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. Votes: 0Charles R. Swindoll
Lastly, there is bankruptcy, as the United States pours its economic resources into ever more grandiose military projects and shortchanges the education, health, and safety of its citizens. Votes: 0Chalmers Johnson
A woman with an education may be able to spend more time sitting in a chair instead of lying on her back. A sound advantage, I should think. Votes: 0Anne Bishop
Health is more than the absence of disease. Health is about jobs and employment, education, the environment, and all of those things that go into making us healthy. Votes: 0Joycelyn Elders
There is no more reason to pay for private education than there is to pay for a private swimming pool for those who do not use public facilities. Votes: 0Albert Shanker
In Brazil there are more Avon ladies than members of the army. In the United States more money is spent on beauty than on education or social services. Votes: 0Nancy Etcoff
There are some races more cultured and advanced and ennobled by education than others; but there are no races nobler than others. All are equally destined for freedom. Votes: 0Alexander von Humboldt
Of all the public services, education is the one I'm most interested in. You get a more dynamic economy, you deal with most social problems, and it's morally right. Votes: 0George Osborne
In business, poor performance leads to bankruptcy or, at a minimum, a restructuring of the company. In American education, failure entitles the bankrupt system to even more taxpayer dollars. Votes: 0Cal Thomas
The difference between rich and poor is becoming more extreme, and as income inequality widens the wealth gap in major nations, education, health and social mobility are all threatened. Votes: 0Helene D. Gayle
An unschooled man who knows how to meditate upon the Lord has learned far more than the man with the highest education who does not know how to meditate. Votes: 0Charles Stanley
Give your child a single valuable idea, and you have done more for his education than if you had laid upon his mind the burden of bushels of information. Votes: 0Charlotte Mason
I think that with some education there are real possibilities at the high school and college level, but more so at the college level, to bring people into cycling. Votes: 0Kristin Armstrong
The progress of freedom depends more upon the maintenance of peace, the spread of commerce, and the diffusion of education, than upon the labours of cabinets and foreign offices. Votes: 0Richard Cobden
He was a simple man who had no inferiority complex about his lack of education, and even more amazing no superiority complex because he had succeeded despite that lack. Votes: 0Maya Angelou
To exterminate our popular vices is a work of far more importance to the character and happiness of our citizens than any other improvements in our system of education. Votes: 0Noah Webster
The progress of freedom depends more upon the maintenance of peace, the spread of commerce, and the diffusion of education, than upon the labors of cabinets and foreign offices. Votes: 0Richard Cobden
A proper education enables young people to put their lives in order, which means knowing what things are more important than other things; it means putting first things first. Votes: 0Wendell Berry
If we want boys to succeed, we need to bring them back to education by making education relevant to them and bring in more service learning and vocational education. Votes: 0Michael Gurian
Educating all of our children must be one of our most urgent priorities. We all know that education, more than anything else, improves our chances of building better lives. Votes: 0Nelson Mandela
We were arguing about what was good to deal with making education fairer, diverse and more American. We were not arguing about where black scientists get a good education. Votes: 0Chris Hayes
The education of the common people requires, perhaps, in a civilized and commercial society, the attention of the public more than that of people of some rank and fortune. Votes: 0Adam Smith
It's the combination: big idea with a good entrepreneur: there's nothing more powerful. That's just as true [for] education and human rights as it is for hotel or steels. Votes: 0Bill Drayton
It's time to declare a cease-fire in the education arms race. We have far more to gain from collaborating to solve our common problems than competing for higher rankings. Votes: 0Wendy Kopp
At present, there can be little doubt that the whole of mankind is in mortal danger, not because we are short of scientific and technological know-how, but because we tend to use it destructively, without wisdom. More education can help us only if produces more wisdom.E. F. Schumacher
The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows. Votes: 6 Sydney J. Harris


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Our Corporate Leadership Team of Chief Officers and Senior Managers meets on a weekly basis to develop policy issues commensurate with the Council's aims, objectives and priorities and to discuss key issues.
The Corporate Leadership Team, led by the Chief Executive, also considers other internal control issues, including risk management, performance management, compliance, efficiency and value for money, and financial management.
Paul Wilson, Chief Executive, is Head of Paid Service and has overall responsibility for all Services and areas of work.
The Chief Executive advises Members on policy at a strategic level and ensures their decisions are converted into action.
He is the key link between Members and Officers, taking responsibility for organisational development, major strategic partnerships, governance and resources, together with supporting front line services.
Paul ensures the Council is fit for purpose and gives line management support to Service Directors, supporting:
- Director of Resources and S151 Officer
- Director of Corporate & Customer Services and Monitoring Officer
- Director of Regeneration and Policy
- Director of Community & Environmental Services
- Director of Regulatory Services
- Director of Housing Services
- The Human Resources Manager also reports directly to the Chief Executive.
Service Directors
Service Directors are the operational leads for their areas and take full responsibility for delivery of their services. The Chief Executive offers personal support and advice to the Service Directors and with them develops policy areas and the direction of travel for their service areas.
Karen Henriksen is Director of Resources and has statutory duties as the Council's appointed Chief Financial (Section 151) Officer. Her responsibilities include: Accountancy & Exchequer, Audit, Council Tax and Non-Domestic Rates/Benefits (outsourced to Chesterfield Borough Council), Estates & Facilities, ICT, Risk Management, Data Protection.
James McLaughlin is Director of Corporate & Customer Services and Monitoring Officer. His responsibilities include: Administration, Committee Services, Communications, Customer Services, Elections, Land Charges, Legal, Reprographics.
Tim Braund is Director of Regulatory Services. His responsibilities include: Arboriculture & Landscape, Building Control, Conservation & Design, Development Control, Environmental Health, Licensing.
Steve Capes is Director of Regeneration & Policy. His responsibilities include: Corporate Plan, Economic Development, Equalities, Partnerships (LSP, Business Peak District etc), Performance, Planning Policy, Public Consultation, Tourism, Transformation.
Rob Cogings is Director of Housing. His responsibilities include: Home Options, Homelessness, Housing, Strategic Housing.
Ashley Watts is Director of Community & Environmental Services. His responsibilities include: Arts, Community Safety, Enabling Community Delivery, Events, Leisure, Markets, Matlock Bath Illuminations, Sports Development, Agricultural Business Centre Operations, Car Park Operations, Cemeteries, Countryside Management, Enviro Crime, Parks & Streetscene, Pest Control, Public Conveniences, Transport Operations, Waste & recycling.


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DECK: Universal Waite Tarot Deck
CARD: Two of Cups
POSITION: Reversed/Inverted
The Two of Cups is a card of union and balance. It can refer to a romantic relationship, a good friendship, a unified community, or even a career partnership. It can also indicate a parent and child bond or even the bond between yourself and a beloved pet.
Drawing this card in the reversed position signifies the need to reflect on your inner feelings. Trust and love yourself. Once you do this, all of your further relationships will be stronger for it.
Take some time to think about all of the relationships and partnerships in your life (and even potential ones). Whichever of these is weighing on your mind at the moment is that which you need to put your energy into.
Drawing the Two Of Cups indicates a need to start new projects, go on an adventure, or do something else that is vital to the particular relationship you are in need of nurturing.
Take this time to nurture the relationship on your mind and it will grow strong.
If you drew the Two of Cups card in a deck of Universal Waite Tarot Cards, what did you learn? Tell us in the comments below.


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The average college graduate has a staggering $37,172 in student loan debt according to the Wall Street Journal. (1) Most graduates will be lucky to pay off their debt before they have children of their own. There has to be a better way, right? Now is a great time to start putting funds away to help cover costs of student loans. City Credit Union helps prepare children for their future with many different savings accounts ranging from ages 0-5, 6-12, and 13-17. Here are four ways to start saving money for college.
- Get a Job
Whether it's babysitting, a part time gig, or finding a full time job in the summer, having a job can help your child save money for college. This also gives your child work experience to put on their resume in the future. Set up direct deposit so the funds are put into an account that can collect and save money over the years to put towards college. If you need an account to set up direct deposit with, stop by City Credit Union or visit our website to see all the options we have available.
- Apply for Scholarships
Scholarships are free money for students that you won't have to pay back. Each school has different scholarships available so if you or your child excel in academics or athletics, look into the options available and apply to them. Apply to as many as your child is eligible for including the small ones. The more scholarships your child receives, the less student loans you will have to pay in the future.
- Take Advanced Placement (AP) Classes
AP classes give your child an opportunity to earn college credits in high school. This can cut down on the amount of classes they'll need to pay for in college. Have your child talk to their academic counselor to see what classes are available to take.
- Open a Savings Account
City Credit Union has 3 different youth savings account options and you can open the account when your child is as young as a newborn. If you or your child is serious about saving money for college, these different savings account options give you the opportunity to start creating a plan and be consistent at putting money somewhere so it can build overtime.
Sprout Account: Designed specifically for children ages 0-5 years, the Sprout Account savings account provides incentives for deposits made, and is a perfect way to help your child's savings grow strong!
Timber Account: Children ages 6-12 will benefit from a Timber Account offering the same great savings incentives and information, with a bit more independence. Timber Account members will enjoy account access through My City Branch and Mobile Money.
Branch Out Account: Our Branch Out Account for teens 13-17 years of age includes options for savings, a checking account/transactional account, debit card access and incentives for deposits made.
Start creating a plan for your child's future and start saving money early to cut down on student loan debt. Contact City Credit Union to see all savings options available by calling us at 816-252-2415 or visit our website to learn more.


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Amoeba's Lorica: Chalk
Your Friendly Neighborhood Amoeba is not much on nostalgia. He is generally content to leave past events where he buried them, take such lessons as he could pry from them – or as they liberally dumped on him – and … Continue reading
Posted in Amoeba's Lorica, personal thoughts Tagged Adam Summers, chalk art, chalkboards, Drew Harvell, Friday Harbor Laboratories, marine biology, sea of glass, university lectures Comments Off on Amoeba's Lorica: Chalk


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Book your rooms online! Our service is
Hotels Helsinki - Hotel Kamp
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Reservation hotline (+45) 75 85 89 81
Hotel Kamp
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Description of Hotel Kamp:
In November 1887, restaurateur Carl Kämp made a dream come true. The Hotel Kämp was born, offering a country on the threshold of independence a taste of great European cities, luxury and refinement like nowhere else, a level of service hard to imagine. The Hotel Kämp became an integral part of Finnish history, blending eastern and western Europe with art, politics and business life. Today, after faithful restoration, the Hotel Kämp takes its place once again in the heart of Helsinki - as genuine and elegant as in the past - an experience to delight all the senses.
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Hotel Kämp has 179 rooms individual guest rooms which have been completely refurbished retaining the original character of the hotel from the late 19th century, whilst providing all the modern facilities. Luxurious marble bathrooms are equipped with bath, separate walk-in shower and all dreamlike amenities. The biggest suites have also in-room sauna. Bathrobes and slippers are placed in the rooms for complete comfort and relaxation during your stay with us. All the rooms have color televisions with satellite, film and radio channels, 3 direct-dial telephones with voicemail and pc connection, Mini Bar and 24h Room Service. All the suites have a fax.
Room facilities
Prices at this hotel from EUR 165.00
check availability and prices in quickSearch to the right.
The extensive renovation of Hotel Kämp's restaurant facilities has been finished. We have created a lively restaurant entity that offers temptations and experiences from morning till night, for both private and corporate customers.
The traditions of Kämp Café are here again, providing a meeting place for private and more casual corporate use here in Helsinki. The new concept includes a restaurant and a cozy bar, which offer classical yet creative food and attentive service. A modern Japanese restaurant Yume is replacing the old Kämp Brasserie.
The most unique meeting rooms and the Legendary Mirror Room are renovated lightly by bringing new kinds of tastes, feelings and emotions to fulfill your unforgettable party, meeting or cocktail reception.
Our furniture, equipment and atmosphere are perfectly suitable for arranging a small meeting as well as for cocktail parties, gala dinners or weddings.
The hotel also offers butler service, nightly turndown service, bell service, a doorman, a concierge, 24-hour room service, and a gift shop.
Hotel facilities
Hotel Kämp is located opposite to the Esplanade Park, in the finest shopping area and pedestrian zone of Helsinki. Next door to the Kämp Galleria, and near Stockmann's Department Store and the Market Place. Close to the South Harbour and all major cultural sights.
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Dayton Fire – History & Mission
The Dayton Fire department (DFD) was founded in 1962. The original fire station was located at the intersections of Dayton River Road. and Robinson Street. in old town Dayton. Today's stations one and two were both built in the 1980's. Many trucks have come and gone over the years, but the original engine is still owned by the DFD and is being considered for restoration.
Our Mission Statement
The Dayton Fire department strives for excellence in the performance of duty during the service they provide to all citizens.
The DFD fleet currently consist of three engines, two rescue trucks, two rescue boats, two utility trucks, and a tanker. The newest addition, Engine 12, is housed at Station 1 and was acquired by the DFD in July of 2021. As in many departments across the United States, DFD values and operating procedures have morphed greatly in the past 25 years. The DFD strives for excellence and we hold to our core values of Trust, Integrity, and Professionalism.
About Us…
Dayton is one of the fastest growing cities in Minnesota. In spite of unprecedented growth, we remain committed to providing trusted and professional care to our residents. The population increase and thousands of new structures create new and exciting challenges for the DFD. We are working hard to keep up with the growth by increasing our training hours, our number of firefighters and by keeping our equipment up-to-date.
When fully staffed, there are 36 members who continuously train in order to become more effective and efficient at protecting lives, homes, and other property from fire and other disasters. Currently, there are 25 paid-on-call firefighters and a full-time Chief in the DFD. Our paid-on-call firefighters include an Assistant Chief, four Line Officers and a Public Education Coordinator. Dayton Fire is hiring paid-on-call firefighters at this time. In addition to fighting fires, our members are trained as First Responders and are first on-scene for all of Dayton's medical emergencies. The DFD responds to nearly 400 calls of various nature each year.


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Sold out
Cooper Menswear Mini Skirt
$375 $62
This tailored skirt, cut in a smart mini length, is the ultimate classic, on-the-go piece this season. Wear it with everything from the coordinating Cooper Silk Wool Cut Out Blazer to a relaxed top. A luxurious, lightweight virgin wool and silk blend material from Italy creates a versatile and uniquely airy suiting option.
- 85% Virgin Wool, 15% Silk. Professional Dry Clean Only.
- Style Number: S118CM5001
- Available in: Grey Multi, Mustard Multi
- Length: Measurements from a Size 2 equivalent. Center front length from top edge: 13 7/8"
- Model is 5'11 with 34" Bust, 25" Waist, 34" Hip wearing Size 2 equivalent
- Fits true to size, take normal size
Our Customer Care team is available Monday – Friday, 9AM-6PM EST. For styling advice, size questions or general inquiries, you can reach us at:


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2017 - 1
Observational examples of spectral line calibration at the 30m telescope with MRTCAL and MIRA
2016 - 2
Gridding spectra with CLASS
2016 - 1
MAPPING for NOEMA: Concepts and Usage
2015 - 4
Introducing Associated Arrays in CLASS
2015 - 3
Importing Herschel-FITS into CLASS
2015 - 2
NOEMA sensitivity estimator
2015 - 1
Extended support of sky spherical coordinates in CLASS
2014 - 1
CLASS Data Fillers
2013 - 3
CLASSIC Application Programming Interface
2013 - 2
CLASSIC Data Container
2013 - 1
Improvement of the IRAM 30m telescope beam pattern
2011 - 4
Description of the spectral axis handling in CLASS
2011 - 3
CLASS User Section
2011 - 2
WIFISYN: The GILDAS implementation of a new wide-field synthesis algorithm
2011 - 1
Preparing GILDAS for large datasets. I - GREG 2011
2010 - 3
Polarimetry with EMIR / XPOL
2010 - 2
IRAM-30m MAMBO time / sensitivity estimator
2010 - 1
IRAM-30m HERA time/sensitivity estimator
2009 - 6
Read-write optimization in CLASS
2009 - 5
Comparison of ATM versions: Impact on the calibration of IRAM instruments
2009 - 4
|Averaging spectra with CLASS
Authors: S. Bardeau, J. Pety
Keywords: AVERAGE, ACCUMULATE, resampling, weighting, concatenation
Related Documents: CLASS manual, IRAM memo 2005-1: CLASS evolution: I. Improved OTF support
Abstract: CLASS90 (hereafter CLASS) provides a set of commands capable to average two or more spectra. They provide many averaging modes, presented hereafter in this document. The different modes often imply to perform internally and silently some important computations, namely resampling and weighted average. Combining these operations at the same time may imply some non-trivial effects described here. On October 2008, it appeared that some particular combinations of the tunable modes were not behaving as expected (either in CLASS90 and in CLASS77). A complete cleaning and factorization of the algorithm was performed, associated to exhaustive tests of all combinations. A test suite was also provided to check the output of each commands and modes. Following this maintenance of the code, and the use of these capabilities to concatenate the new EMIR spectra, it was decided to write this document in order to keep a trace of all the methods applied. This was also the occasion to investigate deeply in the code and to examine the effects which can occur during all the possible processings.
Download: [ PDF file ].
2009 - 3
|A simulator of interferometric On-the-fly observations
Authors: N. Rodriguez-Fernandez (IRAM), Frederic Gueth (IRAM), Jerome Pety (IRAM)
Keywords: interferometric wide-field imaging, on-the-fly observing, simulations
Abstract: We have developed a simulator of interferometric on-the-fly observations in the framework of our research on image synthesis for mosaics observed in the on-the-fly (OTF) mode, in which the interferometer takes data at the same time that the antennas move continuously across the source. This simulation tool has been developed on the basis of the IRAM/GILDAS ALMA+ACA simulator (Pety, Gueth & Guilloteau 2001).
Download: [ PDF file ].
2009 - 2
|Imaging of interferometric On-The-Fly observations (I): context and discussion of possible methods
Authors: N. Rodriguez-Fernandez (IRAM), Jerome Pety (IRAM), Frederic Gueth (IRAM)
Keywords: interferometric wide-field imaging, on-the-fly observing
Abstract: We discuss the measurement equation for interferometric observations of fields larger than the primary beam of the antennas, both for standard "pointed" mosaics and for mosaics observed in on-the-fly (OTF) mode. The main advantages of using the OTF mode are a gain of observing time and a higher homogeneity of the dataset. OTF mosaicing is similar to classical stop-and-go mosaicing but the effective beam when observing OTF is not exactly the primary beam of the antennas. We show that the effective beam is similar to the primary beam when the scanning rate is better than Nyquist. We review different techniques to image and deconvolve mosaic data, in particular the Ekers & Rots 1979 (ER79) scheme, which consist in Fourier transforming the visibility function with respect to the scanning coordinate. We discuss how to implement an OTF-optimized imaging algorithm to deal with the mosaic data as a whole based on the ER79 scheme. Finally we discuss observing time and mosaic size constrains for OTF observations.
Download: [ PDF file ].
2009 - 1
IRAM-30m EMIR time/sensitivity estimator
Download: [ PDF file ]. 18-Feb-2010: Simplified Version 1.1
2008 - 2
|Single-dish observation and processing to produce the short-spacing information for a millimeter interferometer
Authors: N.J. Rodriguez-Fernandez, J. Pety, F. Gueth
Keywords: interferometric wide-field imaging, short-spacings
Abstract: Adding the short-spacing information filtered out by (sub)-millimeter interferometers is crucial to obtain good images of wide fields (observed in stop-and-go or on-the-fly mode). In this memo we discuss how to obtain the short-spacing information with single-dish data using the pseudo-visibility method. We have computed the natural weights of the pseudo-visibilities from the noise in the single-dish map. We also discuss 1) the relative weights of the single-dish and interferometric data, 2) how the relative weight equation transform into relative integration time and 3) severals ways of weighting the pseudo-visibilities. Finally, we discuss the addition of the short-spacings in practice (e.g. single-dish artifacts, field-of-view,...).
Download: [ PDF file ].
2008 - 1
|Test Observations of CLOUDSAT
Authors: D. Morris (IRAM Grenoble), G. Butin (IRAM Grenoble), N. Marcelino (IRAM Granada)
Keywords: IRAM 30m telescope, Cloudsat, receivers, satellite interference
Related Documents:
IRAM Newsletter 63: Cloudsat - consequences for Radio Astronomy
IRAM Newsletter 66: The 30m and the Cloudsat
Abstract: Test observations to assess the risk of interference due to Cloudsat emissions were made at the IRAM 30m telescope in July 2006. The telescope was pointed at various offsets from the predicted culmination of Cloudsat and short integrations were made. A simple axially symmetric model of the antenna sidelobe patterns was used to predict an upper limit to the expected signal. Although interference in the shared band was detected, it is of short duration. In routine astronomical observations its impact can be reduced by telescope pointing restrictions during staellite transits and by avoiding observations when the satellite is near the zenith. The loss of observing time will be small. In this special case (time)sharing between Radioastronomy and an active service is feasible at the price of some loss in observing time. This is possible because only one fast moving satellite with excellent sidelobes in angle and frequency is active.
Download: [ PDF file ].
2005 - 1
|CLASS evolution: I. Improved OFT support
Authors: P. Hily-Blant (IRAM Grenoble), J.Pety (IRAM Grenoble, LERMA Paris), S. Guilloteau (L3AB, Obs. de Bordeaux)
Keywords: CLASS, single-dish telescope software, OTF
Related Document: CLASS manual
Abstract: CLASS is a GILDAS software for reduction and analysis of (sub)-millimeter spectroscopic data. It is daily used to reduce spectra acquired with the IRAM 30m telescope. CLASS is currently used in many other facilities (e.g. CSO, HHT, Effelsberg) and it is considered for use by Herschel/HIFI. CLASS history started in 1983. As a consequence, it was written in FORTRAN 77 and tailored to reduce pointed observations. On-The-Fly support was added in the 90s but it showed limitations as the quantity of OTF data increased quickly. One year ago, we decided to fully rewrite CLASS in FORTRAN 90 with the 3 following goals: 1) clarifying satisfying features with backward compatibility in mind, 2) improving code readability to simplify maintenance and 3) easing reduction of large OTF data sets. This memo is describing the current state of affair with a particular emphasis on changes in the program behavior. Future foreseen changes (linked to the increase of receiver instantaneous bandwidth like an improved conversion from frequency to velocity axis) will be described in a future memo.
Download: [ PDF file ].
2005 - 0
|Thoughts about polarization calibration with the next generation receivers at Plateau de Bure
Author: H. Wiesemeyer (IRAM Grenoble)
Keywords: polarimetry, leakage terms, crossed-band polarization calibration
Related Document: IRAM technical report 2001 - 1
Abstract: With the next generation receivers, the Plateau de Bure interferometer will be able to simultaneously measure all four Stokes parameters. The interferometer can be optimized for the detection of either linear or circular polarization. In both cases, the weakness of the polarization of all bandpass and phase calibrators requires calibration schemes that are more involved than the usual mode. Time estimates are given.
Download: [ compressed PS file ] or [ PDF file ].
|Case for interoperability as an ALMA off-line model
Authors: J. Pety (Obs. de Paris/IRAM Grenoble), F. Gueth (IRAM Grenoble), S. Guilloteau (ESO/IRAM Grenoble), P. Teuben (U. Maryland), M. Wright (RAL, U.C. Berkeley)
Keywords: Interoperability, Offline, Software, Science, Calibration
Abstract: In this memo we argue that interoperability between the existing radio-interferometry packages provides a fast, robust, flexible, complete, and user-friendly data reduction package for ALMA. We discuss our first steps toward interoperation with MIRIAD and GILDAS using python as a command line interface.
Download:[ compressed PS file] or [ PDF file ].
| Complementarity of the AIPS++, GILDAS and MIRIAD packages as seen from evaluations for ALMA off-line processing
Authors: J. Pety (Obs. de Paris/IRAM Grenoble), F. Gueth (IRAM Grenoble), S. Guilloteau (ESO/IRAM Grenoble), P. Teuben (U. Maryland), M. Wright (RAL, U.C. Berkeley)
Keywords: Requirements, Offline, Software, Science, Calibration
Abstract: In this memo, we analyze the results of the audit of the AIPS++, and of evaluations of GILDAS and MIRIAD packages for compliance with the ALMA Offline Data Processing Requirements. These evaluations/audit show that about 2/3 of the SSR Requirements are fulfilled by each data reduction package, and almost 90% are fulfilled if we use existing software from all three packages.
Download: [ compressed PS file] or [ PDF file ].
|Evaluation of the GILDAS Package for ALMA Off-line Data Processing
Authors: F. Gueth (IRAM Grenoble), S. Guilloteau (ESO/IRAM Grenoble), R. Lucas (IRAM Grenoble), J. Pety (Obs. de Paris/IRAM Grenoble), M. Wright (RAL, U.C. Berkeley)
Keywords: Requirements, Offline, Software, Science, Calibration
Abstract: This memo presents the evaluation of the GILDAS package for compliance with the ALMA off-line data processing requirements (ALMA-SW Memo 18). This evaluation follows exactly the same template that was used for the AIPS++ audit.
Download:[ compressed PS file] or [ PDF file ].
|Evaluation of the MIRIAD Package for ALMA Off-line Data Processing
Authors: M. Wright (RAL, U.C. Berkeley), P. Teuben (U. Maryland), J. Pety (Obs. de Paris/IRAM Grenoble)
Keywords: Requirements, Offline, Software, Science, Calibration
Abstract: This memo presents an evaluation of the MIRIAD package for compliance with the ALMA off-line data processing requirements (ALMA-SW Memo 18). This evaluation follows exactly the same template that was used for the AIPS++ audit.
Download: [ compressed PS file] or [ PDF file ].
2001 - 1
|A Calibration Scheme for the IF Polarimeter using the Coherence Matrix Formulation
Author: H. Wiesemeyer (IRAM Grenoble)
Keywords: polarimetry, calibration, Stokes parameters, IF polarimeter, Jomes matrices, coherence matrix
Abstract: A calibration scheme for the IF polarimeter at the MRT is worked out using Jones matrices and the quantum-mechanical density operator (the
coherence matrix in classical theory). It is shown that the proposed calculus combines the advantages of Jones calculus and Mueller matrices.
Download: [ compressed PS file ] or [ PDF file ].


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We encourage you to reach out to us with any legitimate questions, comments, or stories about alternative medicine. Like you, we are very busy and have little patience for spam or trolls. Still, we're passionate about alternative medicine and the ways that people use and think about this term. Good or bad, tragic or life-saving, academic or real-world, tell us about your experience with the methods and practices of alternative medicine.
We'll try to get back to you as soon as we can. If you're writing to us with a story or even a short essay, tell us whether you'd be comfortable with us publishing the piece on our site. Be well and keep moving forward!


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Release Date: 09/28/2010
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The complete condition of pre-owned MySims: Sky Heroes includes Manual, Box
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Take to the sky to lead the resistance against Morcubus and his drone army and to stop his plans to take over the skyways. MySims SkyHeroes is an all new adventure that brings the thrill and high speed action of flying to the creative, immersive world of MySims. Go from unknown pilot to celebrated hero as you defeat dangerous enemies in aerial dogfights, test your reflexes in fast-paced speed challenges, and take on massive enemy bosses that demand all your skill as a pilot to survive. As you progress, you build, customize and tune your aircraft to give you an edge in combat – upgrade your wings for swifter maneuvers, switch out your engine for a speed boost, or change the paint job to camouflage your plane and avoid enemy fire. Face Morcubus' drones with an ally in split-screen cooperative gameplay, or take the game online to challenge your friends in fun, competitive 10-player high speed action. Morcubus and his drones must be stopped; will you rise to the challenge?!
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Downtown Circleville is a reflection of how a community sees itself. The future should be a vital concern for every citizen and business person in the community. A vibrant, prosperous, and attractive downtown will increase pride in the area and be a visible barometer of the well-being of the entire community.
The Circleville Downtown Business Alliance is working to take care of our downtown area, both for today and for the future.
It is important for:
– MERCHANTS located in the Downtown who want to bring more customers into their stores, restaurants, businesses.
– LONG-TIME RESIDENTS who remember how their hometown used to be.
– PARENTS who want their children to grow up in a community with a strong sense of identity.
– INDIVIDUALS who care about Circleville's values and history.
– BUSINESS PEOPLE in all areas of the community whose businesses will benefit from increased economic growth and civic pride generated throughout the Downtown.
– NEW RESIDENTS who are looking for a sense of community.
Together you and I can help keep our downtown area active and alive. We hope you will join us in our mission:
Mission Statement
To provide businesses, individuals, and organizations with the tools and support to aid in the advancement of the downtown Circleville community.


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U.S. Grounds Every F-35 After Fire
The United States has grounded all of its F-35 aircraft after one was destroyed in a fire:
WASHINGTON — The Defense Department has grounded its fleet of F-35 fighter jets after an incident in which one of them caught fire as it was preparing to take off at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, the Pentagon said.
The grounding is the latest in a long string of delays that has plagued the Air Force's newest, and most advanced, fighter aircraft, and comes just days before the plane was to make its international debut at an air show in Britain.
The root cause of the problem at Eglin two weeks ago remains under investigation, the Pentagon's press secretary, Rear Adm. John F. Kirby, said in a statement on Thursday night. "Additional inspections of F-35 engines have been ordered, and return to flight will be determined based on inspection results and analysis of engineering data," he said.
The Pentagon was seeking to determine if the Eglin fire was an isolated incident or whether it signaled a wider problem in the F-35 fleet, which is spread across the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps.
Admiral Kirby said preparations were continuing for the fighter jet to take part in international air shows. A final decision on the British exhibition will be made in a few days, he said.
No one was injured in the fire at Eglin, but the Air Force and Navy temporarily suspended flights. The F-35, which is manufactured by Lockheed Martin, will bring stealth capability to the country's fighter fleet; its backers say that it will also bring a new versatility that will enable it to operate in virtually any battle situation.
This is only the latest setback for a blame that has been beset by woes for years now, and has been criticized for being far too expensive. At this point, though, the U.S. military has committed to the plane for the foreseeable future, and there are several air forces in allied nations that are set to purchase a version of the plane for themselves. So, the only solution will be to find out what the cause of this latest problem is and fix it, as soon as possible.


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It had been a long season of spiritual apathy. Years of intense trials and trauma had taken their toll. There had been a lot of questions unanswered, a lot of transition, grief, relational and financial strain. It depleted me to a point of complete and utter exhaustion.
After the worst was over, I felt relieved, but instead of starting to feel renewed, I sunk into a sort of spiritual monotony.
Feeling like I was just going through the motions, I set aside some time one afternoon to pray about what was going on. "God, I need spiritual renewal. I feel disconnected, numb, dispassionate. It's not like me. I miss the sense of Your presence. I yearn for the refreshment I used to get every time I read my Bible. What's going on with me?"
Can you relate? Our spirits grow weary during hard seasons with a lot of unknowns, don't they? When we're waiting for results from medical tests or a call back about a job after unemployment, we grow weary of wondering what's going on and what our next steps will look like. When our marriages are difficult or our children are not walking with the Lord, we're afraid.
We don't know how to "fix" things. There's so much beyond our control and it's exhausting to sit around and wait for something good to happen. Or we frantically, blindly search for something that always seems out of reach.
It's exhausting, not restful.
It's scary, not peaceful.
It's chaotic, not calm.
It's uncertain, not secure.
It's draining, not fulfilling.
Spiritual renewal is possible in any situation. We explored how this looked in David's life in a previous post. (I encourage you to read it before continuing here.) He wrote Psalm 23 when he was walking "in the valley of the shadow of death", hunted by enemies. It's helpful insight into finding the security and fulfillment we're looking for, even when our circumstances are chaotic.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
Restoration in the Midst of Chaos
Have you ever watched a flock of sheep? They're not the smartest animals. That's why they need a shepherd. The shepherd knows what they need better than they do. He can lead them on the right paths, provide for them, protect them. Sheep appear content and secure. They trust the shepherd.
A shepherd faithfully guides his sheep, but the sheep must follow him. The sheep hear his voice and go where he directs. Only as they walk in obedience to him do they enjoy his benefits. If the sheep wander too far, they can't hear the shepherd's voice; they get lost and the shepherd can't protect them.
How can we become sheep who enjoy the guidance, provision and protection of our Shepherd? How do we experience peace and contentment, trusting God to be the Good Shepherd?
We need to get to know Him.
The Voice of the Shepherd
When he [the shepherd] has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers." (John 10:4-5)
How do we get to know our Shepherd?
By hearing what He has to say. By listening to and reading His Word. (We focused on this in the earlier post.)
When we're in a spiritual wilderness, it's hard to muster up the energy to read the Bible. But if the spiritual renewal we long for can only come from Jesus, spending time with Him is our only option.
As we read His Word, we get to know Him. We learn to discern His voice amid the millions of other voices that speak into our lives each day.
"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." (Romans 12:2)
Follow Him
Just like a sheep hears its shepherd and follows his voice, when we hear what God is saying to us as we read our Bibles, we must take steps to follow Him.
Reading the Bible is not the same as truly believing it and living it out. We are called to be doers of God's Word.
Being a doer of God's Word requires that we trust Him. It's difficult to follow someone if we don't trust them. And reading the Bible is how we get to know God more, so we can trust Him more.
Growing in our knowledge of Jesus renews us. We become more like Him.
"…put on the new self which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator." (Colossians 3:10, emphasis mine)
As Christians, we are sheep of the Good Shepherd and have been reborn. We are to "put on the new self", living as the "new you" rather than the old, unredeemed sinner (Ephesians 4:17-24). As followers of Christ, we are being renewed in knowledge into His image. Knowing Him more fundamentally changes who we are. We are being transformed from the inside out.
That day I prayed for spiritual renewal, God convicted me. He showed me how I hadn't really been actively following Him. I had been walking in His general direction. I kinda knew which way He walked, but I was so consumed with the "stuff" of life that I was really just meandering on my own.
It was time to go beyond just reading the suggested passage in my Bible reading plan and getting on with my day. I needed to actively listen to the voice of my Shepherd. When I read His Word, I need to act on it, follow where He's leading. It's more than head knowledge. It's heart change manifested in how I think, speak, and act.
A life lived in submission to the leading of the Good Shepherd is a life of spiritual fulfillment – no matter what your circumstances are. Following the Shepherd even in the midst of the "valley of the shadow of death" is a walk of soul satisfaction. The "still waters" and "green pastures" David talked about in Psalm 23 do not refer to a life free of difficulty. He could say, "I shall not want" because his spirit was at rest in Jesus.
There is sweet relief in knowing we don't have to know it all. There is rest and renewal that comes when we trust Him and simply follow where He leads.
Live It Out
Read your Bible today. If you don't know what to read, try Psalm 1 or the rest of Psalm 23.
Before you do that, pray, asking God to open your eyes to His Word for you today.
After you read, pray again, asking Him how He would have you respond to and apply what you've read.
A Prayer to Help You Follow the Shepherd
Father, sometimes it feels overwhelming to follow You faithfully, especially when I'm weary. But You are the Good Shepherd and You'll never lead me wrong. You always equip me to do what You've called me to do. Open my eyes to Your will for me today. Help me to follow You, one step at a time. As I take a step in the right direction, begin to revive my heart and refresh my spirit.


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Monthly Archives: September 2012
Taking the plunge!Leave a comment
September 21, 2012 by Zuri
Ok! I've done it! I've made the commitment! No…. I'm not getting married! I've committed to the Nerd Fitness 6 …
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LTNS – and diet change!1
September 10, 2012 by Zuri
Wow. I can't believe I haven't posted for a few months – shame on me! I don't have a lot …
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What Household Products Kill Bees?
Soapy water and boric acid are household products that can kill bees. Boric acid dust or powder is an insecticide that is useful for bumblebees and carpenter bees.
To use boric acid as a bee killer, sprinkle the powder in areas where bees frequently appear. This product works when the powder adheres to bees and they take it back to the hive. Although it takes some time for bees to die with this household product, it is an effective method to control bees.
Another method to kill bees is to use a combination of dish detergent and water. Mix about 1 cup of dish detergent soap with a gallon of water, places this solution into a garden sprayer and sprays an exposed bee swarm. This method may be useful for Africanized honey bees. However, this method may not be effective if bees are in underground nests or inside of walls.


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Tuesday 11th December, Bangalore.
Well here I am in Bangalore at the end of two months cycling in India. Can't quite believe it's gone so fast.
The split tyre repaired with Gorilla tape has held up over more than 400km with some pretty rough terrain.
I've now got to get the bike packed up for flying. That's tomorrow's job.


text: "Evangelicals have often been presented with a false choice about our role in public life. We either completely withdraw from trying to influence things, or we initiate 'takeover' programs. There is an alternative pattern, thought, one that I believe is mandated by Scripture: in the present time, where the fullness of Christ's kingdom is not yet with us, we are called to do what we can in the political realm, given the opportunities and abilities that God has provided for us in the places where the Lord calls us to be faithful." — Richard Mouw, Restless Faith: Holding Evangelical Beliefs in a World of Contested Labels


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This April, Cook County unveiled a one-stop source that consolidates information from the Cook County Assessor, Cook County Treasurer, and Cook County Recorder all in one place. Even better, a search may be done by common address only if you don't have a PIN number handy. Kudos to the people running the various Cook County government websites for creating this useful tool.
You can find it here: www.CookCountyPropertyInfo.com