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Written by Nancy Hobbs, Executive Director, American Trail Running Association.
The 4th annual US Trail Running Conference wrapped up in Estes Park, Colorado, at the historic Stanley Hotel on October 1, after three and a half days dedicated to all things trail running. The program, hosted by Active at Altitude in partnership with the American Trail Running Association (ATRA), included sessions geared to race directors for the first two and a half days, with the final day focused on trail runners.
Chris Kostman, AdventureCORPS, Inc., a panelist for several sessions on race directing said, "Though I was there to share and teach, I can honestly say I learned plenty as well. The diversity of panelists and attendees was phenomenal and made for rich and compelling sessions."
More than 50 race directors, representing 19 states and two foreign countries, along with more than a dozen vendors, attended the first two and a half days with haku as the presenting sponsor.
The program got underway on Wednesday afternoon, September 28, with a session on trail race organization and logistics and covered topics such as staff and volunteers, registration, timing, and event atmosphere. Representing the panel were seasoned race directors of small and large events including Kostman, Jim Harman (EX2 Adventures), Aaron Saft (Foot RX Running), Paul Gigliotti (Pirate Perry Events), and Mike Bone (Spectrum Sports).
Prior to a networking evening sponsored by Leslie Jordan, Inc., a second session regarding safety, entry limits and insurance was held. Craig Thornley (Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run), Tia Bodington (Miwok 100K), Nathan D. Nicholas (Nicholas Hill Group, Inc.), and Dr. Frank Dumont (Estes Park Medical Center), joined the panel to provide details on weather conditions and their potential impact on events, details on cancellation insurance, runner identification on course, and more.
Thursday, September 29, was packed full, with four sessions, presentations by vendors, and an informative keynote by Keith Peters, Council for Responsible Sport. Peters provided a "cook book" of things, race directors could do to reduce event impact on the environment.
During the sessions, course marking was addressed, as was the use of drones, cutoff times, results, awards, sponsorship, financial viability, stocking aid stations, and delivery of goods and services. The day culminated with a networking hour sponsored by haku.
Friday, September 30, began with a group run and trail shoe demo with Inov-8, at the Lumpy Ridge Trail. Participants were able to select footwear from Inov-8 and take the shoes for a spin on the trails which included climbing and descending and a variety of terrain both single track, and wider footpaths.
Sessions on Friday started with ATRA presenting their 2016 Year in Review, which highlighted accomplishments over the past 12 months. Sessions included kids on trails with Nick Clark (Gnar Runners), and Peter Maksimow (Kokopelli Kids Trail Running Series), joining as panelists sharing details on starting a kids' race and the logistics and issues related to young runners on the trails.
Marketing and social media with additional panelists Richard Bolt (Director of Online Marketing, ATRA), Paul Cuno-Booth (Trail Runner magazine), and Salem Stanley (Vacation Races), provided an overview of social media management tools, strategies to better market events, and content for advertising and promotion.
Joining a third panel on Friday was Ann Baker Easely, (Executive Director, Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado), who along with her colleagues Peters, Bodington, Kostman, and Matt Gunn (Vacation Races), discussed sustainability and greening events. From pre-cycling, to composting waste, tips to reduce carbon footprint and achieve a better environmental balance were provided by the experts.
A session on drug-free sport and clean race programs featured Maksimow (2016 US Long Distance Mountain Running Team member), Melody Fairchild (multi-time US Team member for road, cross country, and mountain), Cuno-Booth (associate editor Trail Runner magazine), and Kevin Burnette (founder Clean Sport Collective which debuts in November). Participation in anti-doping programs by athletes and events was discussed, along with the costs associated with testing.
Matt Tucker and Ben Pickel rounded out the presentations with SSI Data from Sports One Source featuring trends over the past year related to footwear, hydration product, and energy gels and bar sales.
Later in the evening, the Colorado premier of FIFTY THE MOVIE, was held at the Reel Mountain Theater in downtown Estes Park. The film followed Mal Law's bold attempt to run 50 mountain marathons over 50 peaks in just 50 days, all around New Zealand, in order to raise funds for the Mental Health Foundation. Law was at the screening to answer questions from the audience, and will be touring with his wife Sal at various venues around the US and Canada showing the film, before returning to their home in New Zealand.
Another morning on the trails at Lumpy Ridge was in store on Saturday for conference participants with demo shoes from Inov-8 and Altra. Unlike a cloudy day on Friday, Saturday was cool and crisp with sunshine illuminating the rocky outcroppings and a fresh blanket of snow dotting Long's Peak.
Those attending Saturday sessions at the Stanley, which totaled about 120 individuals, learned about shoe and gear developments, healthy nutrition and hydration strategies, beginning tips for trail runners, healthy lifelong running, engaging trail communities, and women's participation in trail running. Panelists had diverse backgrounds in the sport and included some of the former day's presenters as well as Brian Beckstead (Altra), Jeff Browning (Altra), Dina Griffin (ENRG Performance), Kelly Bailey Newton (Real Athlete Diets), Alan Smith (VFuel), Jim Galanes (EPOC Performance Training), Adam St. Pierre (ASTP Coaching), Dr. Taylor (Estes park Medical Center), Verne Carlson (Trail Runner), Erin Fitzgerald (Small Change), Danny Basch (Rocky Mountain National Park), Reid Delman (Gemini Adventures), Susan Farago (Trailhead Running), Lauren Jones (Lifes2Short Fitness), Jordan Ciambrone (Mindset for Strength), Richelle Criswell (Trailhead Running), and Elinor Fish (Run Wild Retreats).
Richard Bolt, ATRA's director of online marketing, said, "The US Trail Running Conference keeps getting better and this year was no exception. With presentations and panels on topics like anti-doing, sponsorships, course marking, nutrition and technology in trail running, there was something for everyone – race directors and trail runners."
To round out the program, on Sunday, the Estes Park Running Club hosted a 5.8-mile trail race, the Estes Trail Ascent, in which many of the conference attendees participated. The course included single track trail, groomed trail, dirt roads, ascending and descending.
Chiplin shared his positive message after Sunday's race, "I am thrilled that the 2016 US Trail Running Conference exceeded expectations at every level. With increased attendance, additional expert panelists to offer a wider diversity for race directors, a focus on trail running as a healthy lifestyle option for runners of all abilities and ages, and enthusiastic and engaged vendors and sponsors, the Conference offered something for everyone participating. I am looking forward to building on the continued momentum and create an even fuller Conference for race directors, trail runners, as well as sponsors and supporters, for the fifth year of the Conference here in Estes Park in 2017."
Added Nancy Hobbs, ATRA's executive director, "Being involved since year one has provided me the opportunity to watch the Conference mature. Sessions will continue to reflect new technology and trends in the industry and keep the program relevant and fresh. This is a must-attend event for anyone involved in our sport from race directors to vendors, from elite athletes to recreational runners, from vendors to journalists."
Dates for the 2017 US Trail Running Conference will be announced soon.


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betsson moves on full csr transparency launching onebetsson comby Joker 30.10.2019 0 comments
Stockholm-listed Betsson AB has launched onebetsson.com, a new information portal detailing full transparency on the firm's social responsibility directives and sustainability initiatives.
Onebetsson.com will allow the public to access information and maintain progress on Betsson's ongoing social commitments, partnerships, action plans and corporate social responsibility directives.
Launching a key platform, Jesper Svensson, CEO for Betsson Operations said" "At Betsson, we have always been involved in and contributed to the societies where we are located. Recently we have taken this engagement to the next level – some 10 months ago, we have launched a new global Local Community Engagement strategy which saw the creation of location-based committees in all our offices across the globe. The new www.onebetsson.com site is a result of this concerted effort,"
Betsson's CSR website is split into three core sections;
"We have always been at the forefront of RG and CSR and with this new website we are offering complete transparency in terms of social impact initiatives that we're part of and hope that by doing so, others will follow suite," said Jesper Svensson.

subset: commoncrawl


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B&B Holdings and Investments Ltd.
B&B Holdings & Investments Ltd. is the holding company of the B&B Group. The group of companies it encompasses are mainly engaged in the building construction and development sector. The main company of the holding is B&B Construction Ltd. , a company focused on the construction and manufacture of building materials. Another main asset of the group is HoneyHomes Furniture Ltd. , a company that imports and manufactures high quality furniture. The group is striving to create the best possible synergy between these two companies in order to develop a complete product for the customer.


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Good morning! We are finally ready to reveal the gender of our twins! A few weeks ago I took a poll to see what gender everyone thought our identical twins are. It showed that 65% of you think that they are girls and 35% think they are boys. Well we are excited to announce………
(If the above .gif is not playing automatically see the below family picture with the answer!)
Surprise! More boys are on the way! I absolutely love being a mom of boys, so I was very happy when the doctor said they were boys. A little part of me wanted to see Kevin with two daughters, but raising a house full of boys will be so much fun!
As you can see we are on a beach in the above picture. Last week we went on our last family vacation of a family of four to Florida. We spend half the week in Orlando and the other half in Naples with Kevin's aunt and uncle. In the picture we were on a beach near Naples, FL. It was absolutely beautiful, probably the nicest beach I've every been too! More details to come in a future post! Stay tuned!


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Doug Jones of 'The Shape of Water'
With 13 Oscar nominations, filmmaker Guillermo del Toro's "The Shape of Water" defies categorization. Part fantasy, part science fiction, part dreamy romance, it depicts the love story between a fish-man captured by government scientists and the quiet, reclusive woman who helps set him free.
A frequent del Toro collaborator, Doug Jones plays the aforementioned fish-man and said the closest he had come previously to "playing a love interest in a monster suit" was in "Hellboy II: The Golden Army."
"I was Abe Sapien — the fish-man in that too — and I had a love interest and we had a flirtatious back and forth but it never got to fruition, as is typical for monster movies."
When del Toro approached him about "The Shape of Water," Jones said the director explained that he would be playing "this romantic interest that becomes involved in a consummated relationship. And he said to me, 'I know you're a good Catholic boy, so I want to make sure this is going to be OK with you.' And I was like (voice rises an octave), 'Oh, hahaha, how far do we go?' And he said, 'Well, there's a bathtub involved.' And I thought, 'Oh, for dear sakes. How about you start at the beginning and just tell me the whole story and get me to the bathtub and then I'll tell you how I feel about it!' Because he didn't even have a script yet; this was in 2014 when he was telling me about this, we were working on 'Crimson Peak' together, I was two of his ghost ladies in that."
So del Toro walked Jones through the story. "And I'm mesmerized, I've got my chin in my hands: 'So then what happens? Oh really? Aw!' And of course we end up in her apartment and the bathtub and of course, where else are you going to put a fish-man? And I was like, 'Ah, we're at the tub, I get it now. And there's no wall between us, no supervision, no chain involved, we have free access to each other — awwww, of course there's love!' So I told Guillermo, 'I think the good Catholic boy in me is OK with it because there's an innocence to it and a charm to it and I don't even think the Bible itself has a protocol for animals in the wild getting married before they have sex (laughs), so I think it's going to be OK!'"
Jones has made transforming himself something of a specialty and he has extensive experience with monster suits and other elaborate prosthetics. Which means there are all kinds of perils that could lead to a worst moment — including his costume for "The Shape of Water," which encased him head-to-toe in rubber, with just a single flap that "could come unsnapped" in the front if he needed to use the bathroom.
"But I didn't have easy access to the flap," he said, "because I was wearing webbed fingers with claws on them and those were glued onto the arm. It was a huge production to go to the bathroom — so I decided it would be better not to!" Luckily, there were no mishaps.
The same can't be said for his co-star on a much earlier film. "I have a story for you," Jones said, "and it's from a movie from 1998 that went straight to video called 'Bug Buster.'"
"Oh gosh. OK, this is going to sound preposterous because it was: The movie is about a bunch of insects that are infesting this town and people are dying from their bites, so they call in this general from some branch of the military who is now a specialist in eradicating problems. He's played by Randy Quaid and he comes to this town decorated with all kinds of military hardware and wearing Coke bottle glasses. Hilarious. And he's like, 'We're going to kick some bug (butt)!' I think the movie was supposed to be scary? But it's one of those movies that you laugh at because it's just so bad.
"So Randy's on the case and he ends up following the trail to this cave that's just outside of town and he ends up in there all by himself with some kind of weaponry, ready to take on this bug infestation — and he sees a 6-foot-5 mother bug played by, yes, Doug Jones! (Laughs) I am very proud to have on my resume Mother Bug, if you must know.
"So I turn around and see him when he yells at me, and I'm guarding my pile of eggs because the infestation must continue — that's my purpose! — so he pulls out a rifle and pelts me with bullets but they don't do anything. Then he pulls out a CO2 gun to freeze me, and nothing. Then he pulls out a flamethrower and I don't burn. So he throws everything down and puts up his fists — this is where it gets weird — he puts up his fists and says, 'Alright: you and me, mano a mano!' Like we're going to have a hand-to-hand fistfight, right? It's utterly absurd.
"And I am in this costume that is incredibly difficult to maneuver in. The further you get away from human, the harder the costume is to wear because of the posture you have to hold, especially a six-legged insect with a stinger coming out of your butt and a head that's way up above your own. My actual face was in the neck of this insect behind some netting. So I'm itchy and I'm in a little bit of my own hell in this costume, kind of bent over to make sure that all six of my legs touch the ground every so often. But my two front arms — my real arms — were operating these pinchers. It's an insect, she must have pinchers on the front. It was a cockroach-y type of insect.
"The long pinchers were made of fiberglass, so here's the discussion I had with Randy, who can barely see my face through this netting: 'Randy, listen: I can't see you very well so please be careful.' And he says, 'Doug, it's OK, buddy, I'll be fine! Do what you gotta do, we'll get through this!' So, no worries in the world. Great.
"We have a handheld camera following us for the entire fight scene and the swinging starts, the body-shoving, the banging into the walls of the cave, rolling around on the ground. And I felt myself connect with him a couple times with my arms, my pinchers. And we end up with him on his back and me on top and they call 'cut.' A team of people have to help me get up so I can go back to my special bug chair that I lean forward on because I've got a stinger in my butt. So I'm breathing heavy because that was a lot to do in a heavy bug suit and I ask one of the makeup creature effects people, 'Can you go check up on Randy? I didn't see him get up.'
"So she walks over, I can't see anything and I hear this voice from across the cave, it's Randy, and he says, 'Doug buddy, can you hear me? I'm fine, don't worry about a thing, we can do it again! It's all good, it's all good — don't worry about a thing!' All right, I guess he's fine.
"And the next voice I hear was a young production assistant, like this 20-year-old kid, and he says, 'Um, can I get some ice over here? I can't stop the bleeding.'
"Well, I had gashed both — both — of Randy Quaid's forearms! The blood was gushing out of this man and how he had the wherewithal to say, 'I'm fine! Let's do it again!' — are you kidding me?
"So he comes back for Take 2 with these flesh-colored bandages on, but it didn't match at all but it was 'Bug Buster' so it didn't matter."
What was going through his mind …
"All that went through my mind the rest of the day was, 'I'm going to kill Randy Quaid and this is how I will be remembered — the guy who killed Randy Quaid.' We did have a quick discussion before Take 2 and we decided that instead of me swinging my arms toward him, he would grab the top of my arm and guide that swing. He figured out a way to keep my pinchers from connecting with him."
What were things like with Quaid afterwards?
"I was like, 'So sorry!' And he was like, 'No, it's fine, it'll be great!'
"A few years later I played an FBI agent that got turned into a carrot — now that's a long story — for 'The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle' (from 2000) and Randy Quaid was playing the head of the FBI in that movie. We didn't actually have any scenes together.
"But we were all at the table read, where we sit down in a conference room and read the script out loud. So there was Randy Quaid playing the head of the FBI and I rounded the table before we started and said, 'Randy, hi — you're not going to recognize me. (Laughs) I'm Doug Jones and I played the Mother Bug in "Bug Buster"' and he's like, 'Oh my gosh! That was somethin', wasn't it?' And I said, 'Yes it was! I'm glad to see you're standing and alive because I thought I almost killed you that day.' And he said, 'Really, why?'
"He didn't remember the incident at all. So I could have let it go! If I had bled all over a cave, I think I would have remembered that. But Randy was like, 'Really? Oh, well. Thanks for saying so, but no, I'm good!' So we had a lovely little reunion years later and I guess all was forgiven because he forgot about it!"
"What I learned that day was to rehearse a fight scene in costume before you do it, because so much can go wrong. And from watching Randy Quaid's work ethic I thought, 'Well, there's a trouper.' The show must go on, that's an old saying in showbiz, and Randy Quaid was living proof of that. When you see the end product you realize we weren't making art, but in the moment I loved his work ethic and I learned a lot from that."


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A week after the communal violence in northeast Delhi, the residents are slowly picking up the pieces as the government's relief and rehabilitation measures have kicked in amid tight vigil by security forces. The police have been conducting flag marches and holding meetings with the locals in Jafrabad, Maujpur, Babarpur, Chand Bagh, Shiv Vihar, Bhajanpura, Yamuna Vihar and Mustafabad where the violence, that sparked from protests over the amended Citizenship Act, was the most intense.
In Mustafabad, an Eidgah has been turned into a relief camp, and the locals too have also opened their homes for those seeking shelter. Many families have been sought refuge at the relief camps in Mustafabad and Shri Ram Colony, with others preferring their relative's house.
Students are appearing board exams that were postponed in riot-affected areas with the police and paramilitary personnel maintaining a tight vigil outside the centres. However, government schools in the area will remain closed till March 7.
Some people are visiting their burnt-out homes to assess the damage. Many of those who fled during the violence are still fearful about returning and say that they would wait for a week more before deciding anything.
The Delhi Police has registered 436 FIRs and arrested or detained 1,427 people in connection with the communal violence that claimed 42 lives and leftover 200 injured, an officer had said on Tuesday, adding 45 cases were registered under the Arms Act.
The situation in the riot-affected areas was under control and the police control room (PCR) have not received calls regarding rioting in the past six days, the force said.
On Tuesday, Mohammed Shahrukh, who was seen confronting unarmed police personnel during violence at Maujpur last week, was arrested from Uttar Pradesh's Shamli district, police said.
ALSO READ | Delhi Violence: 'Pistol man' Shahrukh Khan who pointed gun at cop sent to police custody
ALSO READ | Lawyers' body offers free legal aid to Delhi riot victims


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On our final day we visited the coast, staying in accommodation in Kamien Pomorski on the Zalew Kamienski, a large lagoon connected to the even larger Szczecin Lagoon. The lagoons are separated from the sea by only a narrow stretch of land and are saline due to connectivity with the sea via short channels. This contributes to a very interesting landform and ecology.
The area has become a very popular area for tourism, with many Germans and Poles traveling to visit the attractive beaches and coastline. This popularity has contributed to the growth of a number of large settlements and contributes to relatively intense visitor pressure, particularly in areas near the coast.
We visited the seaside resort of Miedzyzdroje, a settlement with a permanent population of only around 5000 people but with a much larger influx of visitors during holiday periods. The Wolinski National Park covers the area immediately East of Miedzyzdroje and managing the intense visitor pressure on the area is a key challenge for the national park authority.
The national park authority has its headquarters in Miedzyzdroje and the headquarters complex includes a visitor centre. The visitor centre provides a popular wet weather tourist attractions and serves to explain local natural and cultural heritage to visitors. Our group spent some time in the natural heritage exhibition and in an exhibition showcasing some of the local archaeological work and ancient finds. The natural heritage exhibition was interesting in that it made extensive use of taxidermy, not a technique that is common in the UK. There was a particularly large collection of ruff, highlighting how important the area is for this wading species in winter. The Exhibition highlighted how the national park was important for cultural heritage as well as natural heritage, an area of interest not typically part of the remit of national parks in Poland. This contrasts with national parks in Scotland, where one of the statutory aims of national parks is to conserve and enhance the natural and cultural heritage, with no particular prioritisation being made between natural and cultural heritage. In Scotland, some would argue that the inclusion of the cultural element of this aim has diluted the benefits of the national parks to natural heritage, so it was fascinating to hear that national parks in Poland are only starting to explore how cultural heritage may be considered and that there was no existing legal requirement for them to do so. 17
After the visitor centre we stopped at a cafe and viewpoint overlooking large reedbed islands in the estuary. Such a large area of natural reedbed wetlands is unlike anything we have at home and the cafe and viewpoint was a fantastic place to view the expanse of this habitat, a small part of which is managed by the Society for the Coast.
We also visited a spectacular viewpoint on a steep coastal hillside close to Miedzyzdoje. The site had been used as a cold war look out station but post-communism had been opened up for public access and had since become a very popular visitor destination. Although scarcely a couple of hundred meters high, in the generally flat landscape, the viewpoint offered very attractive views. It was part of a geological cliff along the coast, which formed the high point of the narrow strip of land separating the Baltic sea from the lagoons behind. The cliff was formed from sedimentary material and dunes stabilised by forestry and other vegetation. As in many areas of West Pomerania, the area was heavily wooded with mixed broadleaf woodland. The amount of woodland was a stark contrast to the relatively treeless landscapes, even in the lowlands, that we are used to in Scotland.
The potential for conflict between visitor and development pressure and nature conservation was highlighted more in Wolinski National Park than any of the other areas we visited. It was also interesting to see the differences in approach between Polish national parks and Scottish national parks. In Poland, although many are in mountainous or upland areas, there are national parks across the country. They are relatively small and typically have a clear focus on nature conservation. In Scotland we have just two large national parks, Loch Lomond and the Trossachs being the smaller and covering an area of 1,865 km 2 . The Cairngorms is much larger at 4,528km 2 , which is much larger than Polish national parks. The aims of national parks in Scotland are also quite different. National Parks in Scotland have four statutory aims, as set out in the National Parks (Scotland) Act 2000:
(a) to conserve and enhance the natural and cultural heritage of the area,
(b) to promote sustainable use of the natural resources of the area,
(c) to promote understanding and enjoyment (including enjoyment in the form of recreation) of the special qualities of the area by the public, and
(d) to promote sustainable economic and social development of the area's communities.
This means that Scottish national park authorities and other public bodies are required to actively promote development in the national parks as well as conserving and enhancing natural and cultural heritage. As a result, there have been a number of high profile development proposals in Scotland's national parks. This seems to contrast with Polish national parks, where, although 18 development could happen, as we saw through the development of a new lifeline road through Wolinski National Park, this was very much the exception.
Conclusions and Recommendations
This was a particularly interesting day, with the issue of reconciling recreational and visitor pressure a clear common difficulty between Poland and Scotland. Of particular interest was the fact that Wolinski National Park, a national park with much stricter protection than the national parks in Scotland, was able to resist the vast majority of development pressure and yet was still able to make a significant contribution to local economic development by providing a popular visitor attraction and resource. In Scotland, proposals for new national parks or other protected areas are inevitably met with strong resistance from those with primarily economic interests, who suggest that their presence will be economically damaging. In this instance at least, this clearly has not been the case. While there are still challenges, the example of Wolinski National Park seems to show that a relatively strict protection of natural resources can coexist with very successful and busy local communities – an important lesson for Scotland as we look to progress long awaited additional national parks and other protected areas.
Conversely, there seemed to be less investment in interpretation and access related to wildlife than we are used to. It seemed that real opportunities exist to promote the wildlife value of this area and add to the visitor experience. While this would need to be done with care, it appears to offer significant potential to develop eco-tourism businesses that would benefit local communities and provide an incentive to conserve and enhance the wildlife of the area.
Previous: 4, Odra Delta — — — — — Next: Conclusions (Overall)


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The integration of historical clinical study data into one standardized and submission-ready format can be a challenging with legacy studies. We can provide the expertise and consultation needed when preparing clinical data across studies for a regulatory submission. Collaboration with the sponsor is essential through the process, especially when defining patient populations, summarization algorithms, summary tables and graphs etc… We can support your team so you can focus on other components of your regulatory submission!
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The fall seasons is a great time to go camping or to spend an evening around a campfire. A great way to add custom seating for a fire pit or campfire is to add some illuminated tree stumps. These are not hard to make if you are looking for something fun to do or want to make something that is unique.
Making your own illuminated tree stumps is not a difficult task. You just need to have the materials and supplies that are needed. The hardest part of the project will be preparing the logs to use to make a variety of seats. All of your seats need to sit level on the ground.
LED lights are used to make your illuminated tree stumps glow. These lights use batteries so means a power cord will not be necessary. All you need to do is use the existing cracks in the logs or make your own with a saw or other tool.
Information about illuminated tree stumps is available on countryliving.com here…


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Large Laundry Hamper Collapsible Design with Aluminum Frame Soft Handles
✅Large capacity
✅Perfect solution to save space
✅Elegant shape
✅Stable, reliable in use: sturdy X shape metal frame
✅Lightweight yet durable material ensures consistent use
✅Easy to use: no tool requires
✅Waterproof coating
When your clothes are too dirty for closet but too clean for laundry, here comes our design. Our collapsible hamper with stylish aluminum frame, soft touch material and sturdy construction is suitable for collecting clothes, toys or other items you want. Folded design is easy to storage and save space. 2 woven handles ensures increased convenience for you with unforgettable soft touch on hand. Aluminum frame ensures good shape and can stay stable even carrying loads of clothes. Our classic design could be a good décor of any corner in your room as well, which can show your personality well. A women with good taste can always keep her room tidy and clean.
-Size: 39ⅹ35ⅹ57cm(15.4''ⅹ13.8''ⅹ22.4'')
-Color: Grey
-Material: 600D Oxford with PVC Coating, 10ⅹ19mm Aluminum Frame, Fabric Grip


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|What a happy handbag! It's jumping and everything.
Image courtesy of Morguefile
My theme is as follows: each day I will ask for words beginning with that day's letter, which I will randomly select five from to use in a sentence in an ongoing story. That sentence will be posted the next day when I'll ask for words for the next letter. So my Z sentence will appear on May 1st.
A hulking 201 words were hurled my way yesterday (thanks!) Here are the five which have been handpicked (well actually no, it's completely random) to continue the story:
Gregarious (suggested by Alex J. Cavanaugh - an apt choice for the Ninja Captain!)
Grapes (suggested by Ilima)
Guilt (suggested by L. Diane Wolfe)
Gel (suggested by Carol Kilgore)
Gardengoyle (suggested by Gwen Gardner - I'm so happy this got picked!)
So here's what we have so far...
Angels had always had a certain ambiguity, being both human and divine, reflected Acatour with an acute sense of malaise as he looked down on the arable fields of medieval England. A bird flew past making a belligerent shriek, unnerved it seemed by a boggart; Acatour descended, thinking it would take a brainiac like him to unravel the poor soul's beginnings and why it had not reached Heaven.
York Cathedral hove into view, shrouded in wooden scaffold as part of the local bishop's campaign of restoration; but before he could challenge a carpenter over whether any of his colleagues had fallen to their doom, his presence was announced by the crawdad he'd eaten back in 20th century New Orleans repeating on him. He wiped dribble from his chin as the remains of the crustacean narrowly missed the workmen to land in the dew of the graveyard, berating himself for his debauched and unangelic behaviour the previous night; why did that dame have to desert him? The effervescent Ella had always been eager for exciting adventures, but when he'd asked her to accompany him on this esoteric time travel mission, she'd called him a crazy drunk and left.
It did sound rather fabulous, in the true sense of the word, he thought to himself as he descended further before landing on an empty area of scaffold, all the better for making himself visible; next to him was some viscous fluid, making him think that any fall from this precarious structure would surely be a fluke. Stepping away from the gel-like substance, he felt something watching him and turned to see a Gardengoyle on the wall next to a carved bunch of grapes, which caused the gregarious sounds of the workmen to die away as two thoughts rang clearly in his head: what was it doing here, and did he detect guilt in the creature's eyes?
I humbly ask you to continue to humour me by handing me your H words. You can offer as many as you like, and they can be as obscure and outlandish as you like (feel free to use a dictionary for inspiration). The more words you suggest, the more chance you have of one being picked. It doesn't matter if you suggest the same word as someone else (as I know not everyone always has time to read all the comments); each will count as its own entry.


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ITC creates customized market analysis studies to support Trade Support Institutions and policymakers in:
Spot new opportunities for trade development with the new Export Potential Map, and contact us for at firstname.lastname@example.com for customized studies and solutions to best suit your needs.
21 Mar. 2018Exploring Malawi's export potentialRegional integration is the key to Malawi's trade success, according to a new ITC report that uncovers the country's greatest untapped export potential in agro-processing.
16 Jun. 2016Export Potentials of Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique and ZambiaEthiopia, Kenya, Mozambique and Zambia have distinct opportunities for export growth in established products as well as and opportunities for diversification into new products and markets.
11 Dec. 2015Spotting Products with Export PotentialCountries have room for export growth in non-traditional markets, according to an ITC assessment of 64 developing countries' export opportunities in European, South-South and regional markets.
05 Nov. 2014African, Caribbean and Pacific TradeDeeper regional integration goes hand in hand with strengthening processing industries and the internationalization of SMEs.
29 Nov. 2013LDCs and Global Value Chains: Using Aid for Trade to Seize New OpportunitiesGlobal value chains are key for LDCs to increase their share in global trade. Investment in Aid for Trade delivers significant returns, according to new evidence in this report.
07 Aug. 2013Improving Africa's cotton value chain for Asian marketsStronger ties between African cotton producers/ginners and Asian buyers can improve the market positioning of African cotton. This study examines African challenges to improve along the value chain to meet Asia's growing demand.
08 Mar. 2013Commonwealth Trade: Prospects for Stronger CooperationEnhanced economic cooperation among Commonwealth states could boost trade integration despite differences in terms of geographic location and economic development. This paper employs up to date trade statistics to analyse the export performances of the member states of the Commonwealth, recognising their differences in terms of levels of development and the business climate.
09 Oct. 2012Africa's Trade Potential: Export Opportunities in Growth MarketsSub-Saharan Africa can boost annual GDP by US $15 billion if time in customs clearance is cut by 50%, and add another US $20 billion by improving transport infrastructure. This paper outlines policy options to dramatically increase export growth.
The Participation of LDCs in Value ChainsAid for Trade programmes can boost the integration of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) into global value chains through the improvement of transport infrastructure and customs procedures.
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Everyday of Navarathri iam reading this page .... really very informative and devine powers of Goddesses Durga maatha history learnt in detail .......
Navratri 7th Day (Maha Saptami) observes the worship of Goddess Kalaratri as well as Goddess Saraswati. This day people also arrange the Utsava Puja. On Navratri day 7; Navagraha puja is also performed. Maa Kalaratri is considered to be the most ferocious avatar of NavaDurga and is known for destroying ignorance and removing darkness from the universe.
|Chaitra Navratri Day 7
|Also called
|Maha Saptami
|2022 Date
|Friday, 8 April
|Chaitra Sukla Paksha Saptami
|Maa Kalaratri
|Kalaratri Puja
|'Om Devi Kalaratryai Namah'
|Krishna Kamal
2022 All Navratri Day 7 Dates
– Day 7 Magha Gupta Navratri: Tuesday, 8 February
– Day 7 Chaitra Navratri: Friday, 8 April
– Day 7 Ashadha Gupta Navratri: Wednesday, 6 July
– Day 7 Shardiya Navratri: Sunday, 2 October
Maha Saptami(7th day) marks the major day of rituals for the goddess of power. Mythology says that after a vigorous fight of 9 days the Goddess overpowered the most treacherous demon in history – Mahisasura. Saptami was the day when the Goddess commenced the war with the buffalo demon and killed him on the 10th, that is on Dussehra.
According to legend, Dasta Shumbha-Nishumbha and Raktabeej had made a stroke in all three states. Worried by this, all the goddesses went to Shiva Ji. Shiva asked the goddess Parvati to kill the demons and protect their devotees. Considering Lord Shiva, Goddess Parvati assumed the form of Durga and killed Shumbha-Nishumbha. But as soon as Durga killed the bloodbath, the blood released from her body produced millions of raktabeej. Seeing this, Durga Ji made Kalaratri from its fast. After this, when Durga killed the raktabeej, Kalaratri filled his blood in his face and slaughtered his blood base after cutting his throat.
This avatar is depicted as a destructive form of the Goddess. She can be seen riding a dark black donkey. Her complexion is dark black and she has four hands. The positioning of her hands are in Abhaya and varada mudra and she carries a sword and an iron hook in her left hand. It is said that she licked the blood of demon Rakta Beeja, who had the potential to create more demons from his own blood. Because of the powers she possesses, she is also referred to as Goddess Shubhankari.
Bathing Navapatrika: This day, tithi, and timings are considered to be very auspicious to worship the nine planets. People worship the nine planets representing banana, pomegranate, turmeric, ashoke, bel, arum plant, colocasia, and paddy which are tied together and taken to the river Ganges at pre-dawn for bathing. The puja starts after that. You must be wondering why the nine planets? During the war, Devi Durga created 'Ashtanayika' who were the eight war partners. These eight goddesses and Devi herself symbolized "NavaDurga". These forms helped fight the demon.
Rituals for Goddess Saraswati: Normally in certain southern parts of India, mainly in Kerala, Goddess Durga is worshipped as Goddess Saraswati on the seventh day of Maha Saptami. They keep books and musical instruments before her and pray for insight and knowledge.
Maha Snan: A beautiful ritual like this will fill your heart with satisfaction. A mirror is placed with the reflection of Goddess Durga. This mirror is given the ritualistic bath which is known as Maha snan.
Prana Pratishtha: Prana pratishta forms one of the major rituals on Saptami. A pot with holy water with a bunch of five mango leaves and a coconut is placed in front of the deity. Divine chants and hymns are sung to invoke the Goddess in the deity.
You may like: Navratri mantras for all nine days
Mantra: Om Devi Kalaratryai Namah.
Prarthana: Ekaveni Japakarnapura Nagna Kharasthita, Lamboshthi Karnikakarni Tailabhyakta Sharirini.
Vamapadollasalloha Latakantakabhushana, Vardhana Murdhadhwaja Krishna Kalaratrirbhayankari.
Stuti: Ya Devi Sarvabhuteshu Ma Kalaratri Rupena Samsthita,
Namastasyai Namastasyai Namastasyai Namo Namah.
Dhyana: Karalavandana Ghoram Muktakeshi Chaturbhujam,
Kalaratrim Karalimka Divyam Vidyutamala Vibhushitam.
Divyam Lauhavajra Khadga Vamoghordhva Karambujam,
Abhayam Varadam Chaiva Dakshinodhvaghah Parnikam Mam.
Mahamegha Prabham Shyamam Taksha Chaiva Gardabharudha,
Ghoradamsha Karalasyam Pinonnata Payodharam.
Sukha Prasanna Vadana Smeranna Saroruham,
Evam Sachiyantayet Kalaratrim Sarvakam Samriddhidam.
Stotra: Him Kalaratri ShrimKarali Cha Klim Kalyani Kalawati,
Kalamata Kalidarpadhni Kamadisha Kupanvita.
Kamabijajapanda Kamabijaswarupini,
Kumatighni Kulinartinashini Kula Kamini.
Klim Hrim Shrim Mantrvarnena Kalakantakaghatini,
Kripamayi Kripadhara Kripapara Kripagama.
Aarti: कालरात्रि जय जय महाकाली। काल के मुंह से बचाने वाली॥
दुष्ट संघारक नाम तुम्हारा। महाचंडी तेरा अवतारा॥
पृथ्वी और आकाश पे सारा। महाकाली है तेरा पसारा॥
खड्ग खप्पर रखने वाली। दुष्टों का लहू चखने वाली॥
कलकत्ता स्थान तुम्हारा। सब जगह देखूं तेरा नजारा॥
सभी देवता सब नर-नारी। गावें स्तुति सभी तुम्हारी॥
रक्तदन्ता और अन्नपूर्णा। कृपा करे तो कोई भी दुःख ना॥
ना कोई चिंता रहे ना बीमारी। ना कोई गम ना संकट भारी॥
उस पर कभी कष्ट ना आवे। महाकाली माँ जिसे बचावे॥
तू भी भक्त प्रेम से कह। कालरात्रि माँ तेरी जय॥
Everyday of Navarathri iam reading this page .... really very informative and devine powers of Goddesses Durga maatha history learnt in detail .......


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UBL Omni has made a landmark collaboration with Pakistan Railways for the country's first ever e-ticketing service. Through this service, railway customers/passengers all across Pakistan for the first time ever are now able to book and pay for their train tickets via UBL Omni Dukaan, Omni Mobile App or any Debit/Credit Card at their ease and convenience.
The nationwide spread network of 42,000+ Omni Dukaans is one of the channels use for payment of Railway tickets for non-account holders
Customers are able to easily purchase railway tickets through the Pakistan Railways website and pay instantly from their nearby Omni Dukan:
Omni Account holders have the advantage of paying for their reserved train tickets from the comfort of their home anytime anywhere using computers or mobile phones.
Omni Account holders are able to easily purchase railway tickets through the Pakistan Railways website and pay real time against the unique reservation using the Omni Customer Mobile App:
Incase of cancellation of a booking, refund will be made according to the Railway policy.
Copyright © Last Updated On: June 17, 2021 UBL. All Rights Reserved.


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48th Annual Institute and Conference of the National Black Nurses Association, Inc.
July 28, 2020 - August 2, 2020
Nursing Resilience: Disruptions in Practice, Research, Education, Policy and Entrepreneurship
We are beyond excited as we commence planning our 48th Annual Institute and Conference Tuesday, July 28 to Sunday, August 2, 2020 at The Diplomat Beach Resort in Hollywood, Florida. The National Office, Board and hotel staff are working to ensure we have a fabulous, engaging and comfortable learning environment.
Our Conference Committee and staff goals are to offer you the very best in continuing education, career development, leadership enhancement and networking every day. We guarantee you will have a memorable 2020 conference experience. Please thoroughly review the registration materials as there are several changes and new addtions to the conference schedule. For example, we are adding poster sections this year.
If you enjoyed the 2019 conference in New Orleans (or missed it), you don't want to miss this conference. We invite you to bring a friend and join us for this productive and successful conference. Hollywood, Florida, all of our Florida members and we are waiting for you!
Dr. Martha A. Dawson, DNP, RN, CNE, FAAN, President
and NBNA Board of Directors


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Intricuts are intricate cuttings from wood, stainless steel or steel. These are delicate ornaments to hang on the wall or free in the air. Placing a spot light gives interesting shadows! I design these in several patterns inspired by mandalas, organic plant forms and budddhist deities. Wooden intricuts are hand burned with detailed patterns, leaving a beautiful fragrance of wood. Steel intricuts however are suitable for your garden as well as the interior. These can be made from stainless steel, steel or aluminium with optional finishing of paint or powdercoating.
My new range of Intricuts will be for sale soon! Send me a message and you'll be the first to know when they are ready. Or would you like to have your personal wall decoration? I love creating something just for you, reflecting your personal story, or powerfully enhancing your interior design. This includes a personal consultation and step-by-step design. Let your imagination run free!


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SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) Cooks enjoy coming across a new cookie recipe, but once in while there's a back story that gives the delectable snack another dimension.
Here's one: A year's supply of new recipes sweetens up another edition of last year's firefighters' recipe calendar that raised about $10,000 for the California Fire Foundation.
The 2005 Milk & Cookies Calendar features 12 recipes and photographs of firefighter-bakers and their cookies. All proceeds benefit the California Fire Foundation, a charitable organization committed to honoring fallen firefighters and assisting their families.
The calendar is sponsored by the California Milk Advisory Board, which challenged firefighters from across California to create cookies using at least ½ cup of butter, and then chose the 12 best for the calendar.
The recipe for October is an original from firefighter Dangkhoa Nguyen of Chula Vista, Calif., who names his cookies "Dalmatians." Yes, they do have spots: When you make them you press chocolate chips into the butter and cream-cheese frosting that tops sugar cookies already good enough to eat on their own.
"I wanted to submit a clever recipe that was representative of the firefighters," Nguyen said, explaining how he got going with his entry. "The Dalmatians turned out great, and they taste the best when I wash them down with a tall glass of milk."
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
For the frosting:
½ cup butter, softened
8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1-pound box powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup semisweet chocolate chips for topping
In large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla and flour and mix well. Cover and chill for 1 hour.
While cookie dough chills, make frosting: In separate bowl, beat butter and cream cheese until smooth and creamy. Add powdered sugar gradually, beating until smooth after each addition. Stir in vanilla and set aside.
Preheat oven to 300 F.
Roll chilled cookie dough into tablespoon-sized balls and place on lightly buttered cookie sheets. Flatten each ball until they are about ¼-inch thick. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely on wire racks. Spread frosting on each cookie and top with chocolate chips.
Makes about 2 dozen cookies.
The 2005 Milk & Cookies Calendar is available from Oct. 9 for $15, including shipping and handling. Information on how to purchase the calendar online is at:
The calendar is also available by sending a check or money order payable to California Fire Foundation to: Milk & Cookies Calendar, c/o California Fire Foundation, 1780 Creekside Oaks, Sacramento, CA 95833.
Calendar brings cookies for a good cause
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) Cooks enjoy coming across a new cookie recipe, but once in while there's a back story that gives the delectable snack another dimension.


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Edward G. Rendell
Edward G. Rendell, "Pennsylvania's 45th Governor, began a second term of office on January 16, 2007, following a landslide re-election victory. As Governor, Rendell serves as chief executive of the nation's 6th-most-populous state and oversees a $26 billion budget...
"From 1992 through 1999, Governor Rendell served as the 121st Mayor of the City of Philadelphia. Among his many accomplishments as Mayor, Rendell eliminated a $250 million deficit; balanced the city's budget and generated five consecutive budget surpluses; reduced business and wage taxes for four consecutive years; implemented new revenue-generating initiatives, and dramatically improved services to the City's neighborhoods. The New York Times called the Philadelphia renaissance under Rendell "the most stunning turnaround in recent urban history." Before serving as Mayor, Rendell was elected district attorney of the City of Philadelphia for two terms from 1978 through 1985.
"The Governor, who served as general chair of the Democratic National Committee during the 2000 Presidential election, has always been active in the community through a variety of memberships on boards, and also teaches government and politics courses at the University of Pennsylvania. An Army veteran, the Governor is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania (B.A. 1965) and Villanova Law School (J.D. 1968). He was born on January 5, 1944.
"The Governor and his wife, First Lady Marjorie O. Rendell, a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, have a son, Jesse. They will celebrate their 36th wedding anniversary on July 10, 2007." [1]
- Former Director, Center for Democracy
- Member, Aspen Institute / Nonprofit Sector Strategy Group
- Ex Officio Trustee, Chesapeake Bay Foundation [2]
Resources and articles
- ↑ Meet Governor Rendell, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, accessed July 26, 2007.
- ↑ Leadership, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, accessed June 5, 2009.


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NHL risks losing sponsorship money by taking two-week negotiating break
Former NHL coach and current broadcaster and bon vivant Harry Neale had one of the greatest lines in hockey history. Commenting on his 1981-82 Vancouver Canucks, Neale quipped, "Last season we couldn't win at home. This season we can't win on the road. My failure as a coach is I can't think of anywhere else to play."
That kind of sums up the current state of negotiations between the NHL and the NHL Players' Association, doesn't it? They tried very public negotiations where the media would stake out their offices and chronicle them flinging mud at each other. Then they tried to meet in double-secret locations and keep their mouths shut.
Neither of those worked, so now they're going to try not talking at all. At least that's what NHL commissioner Gary Bettman would like to see. Of course, this will have the "lock-them-in-a-room-and-feed-them-bread-and-water-until-they-reach-a-deal" contingent up in arms. But really, can not talking at this point be any less productive than what these two sides have produced already? Perhaps two weeks of reflection – which will also equate to two weeks of lost money for both sides – is exactly what they need. If neither side is going to bring anything new to the table, what's the point of even going to the table in the first place?
What this proposed time-out by Bettman tells me is that the NHL is stronger than ever in its resolve to get the deal it thinks it needs moving forward. Not good news for the players, who missed their third paycheck this week. Bettman and the owners know that they can outlast the players if they remain united and resist the urge of getting a deal done just to save this season. The players will never get back the money they lose by being out. But the owners do have a chance to recoup their losses from this season with a favorable deal.
The reason why I say this is that by shutting things down for two weeks, the league is putting an awful lot into jeopardy. According to a source with a good knowledge of the NHL's business workings, the league has a deal with its major sponsors that will pay it 100 percent of its money if the league plays a schedule of 61 or more games. If the schedule dips below 61 games, the league will receive only 75 percent of its sponsorship money. That percentage continues to decrease down to 50 percent if the league only plays a 41-game schedule.
So by pushing things back by two weeks, Bettman is putting millions of dollars of sponsorship money into jeopardy. Through Friday night, the league had already missed a total of 244 games, which works out to an average of about 16 games per team. That takes the schedule down to 66 games. Now, the league would jam a lot more games into whatever time remained and most teams would be playing three games in four nights on a fairly regular basis, so there's still time to get it done.
But it pushes everything back. If Bettman's two-week hiatus is observed, both sides would get back to the bargaining table by Dec. 1. Based on Steve Fehr's assertion that the two sides could reach a deal in a couple of days "once the time is right" – which begs the question, wouldn't now be a pretty good time? – let's say it takes a week to get a deal. That takes us to Dec. 8 and a 10-day training camp takes us to Dec. 18. According to this year's schedule, that takes us to Game No. 449, or about 30 games lost per team.
It's not inconceivable that given a jam-packed schedule with the playoffs extending into late June that the league would still be able to have a 60-game schedule. But the league is taking a calculated gamble here, hoping that another two weeks and another missed paycheck on Nov. 30 will erode the resolve of the players.
That's debatable. First of all, the league isn't doing itself any favors when deputy commissioner Bill Daly comes out and says it's clear to the league that the players have no interest in coming to an agreement. They have interest in coming to an agreement, just not one where they come out on the losing end and get embarrassed by their employer. Actually, it has been well-documented that the players very much want to strike an agreement, since they've already conceded defeat to the owners.
And another thing that undoubtedly strengthened the players' resolve is the role the stars have played so far. In this dispute, both Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin have been very vocal in their criticism of the league and even more intriguing, neither has backed down from his comments.
This, you have to understand, is a radical departure from the norm. For too long, the biggest stars in this league have stayed silent during times like this, allowing the foot soldiers to do all the talking. When teammate Ted Lindsay and a small group of players tried to start a union in the late 1950s, Gordie Howe stayed silent. And ever since then, stars from Wayne Gretzky to Mario Lemieux have basically kept their noses out of union affairs.
We know the owners are strong, and even if they're not, all Bettman needs is eight of 30 teams supporting the lockout to keep it going. The players are going to have to be equally strong and aside from a few retired players who have no stake in this issue giving a dissenting view, there haven't been any cracks yet.
Looks as though we're in for a long one.
Ken Campbell is the senior writer for The Hockey News and a regular contributor to THN.com with his column. To read more from Ken and THN's other stable of experts, subscribe to The Hockey News magazine.


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Newly elected Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) recently stated that facial recognition "algorithms" (and by extension all "algorithms") "always have these racial inequities that get translated" and that "those algorithms are still pegged to basic human assumptions. They're just automated assumptions. And if you don't fix the bias, then you are just automating the bias."
She was mocked for this claim on the grounds that "algorithms" are "driven by math" and thus can't be biased—but she's basically right. Let's take a look at why.
First, some notes on terminology—and in particular a clarification for why I keep putting scare quotes around the word "algorithm." As anyone who has ever taken an introductory programming class knows, algorithms are at the heart of computer programming and computer science. (No, those two are not the same, but I won't go into that today.) In popular discourse, however, the word is widely misused.
Let's start with the Merriam-Webster dictionary definition, which defines "algorithm" as:
[a] procedure for solving a mathematical problem (as of finding the greatest common divisor) in a finite number of steps that frequently involves repetition of an operation broadly: a step-by-step procedure for solving a problem or accomplishing some end
It is a step-by-step procedure. The word has been used in that sense for a long time, and extends back well before computers. Merriam-Webster says it goes back to 1926, though the Oxford English Dictionary gives this quote from 1811:
It [sc. the calculus of variations] wants a new algorithm, a compendious method by which the theorems may be established without ambiguity and circumlocution.
Today, though, the word "algorithm" often means the mysterious step-by-step procedures used by the biggest tech companies (especially Google, Facebook, and Twitter) to select what we see. These companies do indeed use algorithms—but ones having very special properties. It's these properties that make such algorithms useful, including for facial recognition. But they are also at the root of the controversy over "bias."
The algorithms in question are a form of "artificial intelligence" (AI). Again, from Merriam-Webster, AI is:
[a] branch of computer science dealing with the simulation of intelligent behavior in computers.
The technical field under the name "AI" goes back to the mid-1950s, and many AI techniques have been tried in the intervening decades. By far the most successful is known as machine learning (ML), which is "the process by which a computer is able to improve its own performance (as in analyzing image files) by continuously incorporating new data into an existing statistical model." And one of the most popular ML techniques today is the use of neural networks, which are "a computer architecture in which a number of processors are interconnected in a manner suggestive of the connections between neurons in a human brain and which is able to learn by a process of trial and error." (I won't try to explain what neural networks are, but here is an excellent explanation of how they're used for image recognition.)
So: algorithm, artificial intelligence, machine learning, neural networks. In popular cant, these refer to the same thing: computer programs that learn. And they learn by being fed training data, which we'll get into more below.
There's another important thing to know about these system: they are not, in any way, shape, or form, "intelligent." They can do many things that intelligent beings can do, but they aren't creative. Fundamentally, ML systems are about finding patterns, whether obvious or subtle.
These patterns come from the training data, which is the information initially fed into ML systems. Modern systems continuously update themselves. Every time you click on a link from, say, a Google search, the system updates itself: this link, for this person, is a more likely response to some particular query than is some other link.
These patterns don't have to make sense to a human! Consider this selection of products below that Amazon once offered me. For the life of me, I can't see any correlation between a phone charger, creatine, and a salt-and-pepper grinder set—but the Amazon algorithm found one.
This is what's important: machine-learning systems—"algorithms"—produce outputs that reflect the training data over time. If the inputs are biased (in the mathematical sense of the word), the outputs will be, too. Often, this will reflect what I will call "sociological biases" around things like race, gender, and class. This is usually unintentional, though malicious individuals can deliberately feed poisoned training data into ML systems (as happened to Microsoft's Tay chatbot).
Even with the best intentions, eliminating sociological bias is very hard. Consider mortgage lending. I very much doubt that any major lender in the US is explicitly including race in credit-scoring algorithms (which would be highly illegal) or to help them "redline" neighborhoods (which has been illegal for more than 50 years). But there are plenty of other things beside race itself that correlate with race.
Amazon learned this the hard way when it tried using an internal ML system to screen resumes and found that the system became, in effect, biased against women:
Amazon's system taught itself that male candidates were preferable. It penalized resumes that included the word "women's," as in "women's chess club captain." And it downgraded graduates of two all-women's colleges, according to people familiar with the matter...
Amazon edited the programs to make them neutral to these particular terms. But that was no guarantee that the machines would not devise other ways of sorting candidates that could prove discriminatory, the people said.
This is the sort of thing that Rep. Ocasio-Cortez was discussing—despite being "just math," the results of many "algorithmic" systems can be biased. Though this is probably not because of deliberate efforts by developers, it's a problem nevertheless:
All of this is a remarkably clear-cut illustration of why many tech experts are worried that, rather than remove human biases from important decisions, artificial intelligence will simply automate them. An investigation by ProPublica, for instance, found that algorithms judges use in criminal sentencing may dole out harsher penalties to black defendants than white ones. Google Translate famously introduced gender biases into its translations. The issue is that these programs learn to spot patterns and make decisions by analyzing massive data sets, which themselves are often a reflection of social discrimination. Programmers can try to tweak the AI to avoid those undesirable results, but they may not think to, or be successful even if they try.
What should be done? The obvious answer is to design ML systems that explain the reasoning behind their outputs so that biased results can be found and problems eliminated. It's a wonderful idea, but it's beyond the current state of the art. "Accountable machine learning" is a hot research area, but it's just that: research.
If a real solution to the problem doesn't exist, what should we do now? One thing is to exercise far more care in the selection of training data. Failure to do that was the likely root cause of Google Images labeling two African-Americans as gorillas. Sometimes, fixing the training data can help.
Of course, this assumes that developers are even aware of the bias problem. Thus, another thing to do is to test for biased outputs—and some sensitive areas, such as the criminal justice system, simply do not use these kinds of tools.
On rare occasions, a simple fix is possible. In 2004, when Google had a problem with neo-Nazi sites showing up as high-ranked outputs for searches on "Jew," the company internally purchased an "ad" for that keyword (which led to this explanation). In a nutshell, legitimate queries and pages tended to say "Judaism" or "Jewish;" bigots used "Jew" more.
(Why is this no longer the problem it once was? I'm not 100 percent certain, but my guess is that, at least in part, it was fixed in a different way. Google these days puts a lot of effort into trying to "understand" queries. One thing they do is "stemming:" reducing search terms to root words. Thus, searches for "Jew" and "Jewish" today both find the same documents.)
Given that ML systems (including facial recognition systems) can produce biased output, how should society treat them? Remember that, often, the choice is not between algorithmic output and perfection but between algorithmic decisions and human ones—and humans are demonstrably biased, too. That said, there are several reasons to be wary of the "algorithmic" approach.
One reason is that people put too much trust in computer output. Every beginning programmer is taught the acronym "GIGO:" garbage in, garbage out. To end users, though, it's often "garbage in, gospel out"—if the computer said it, it must be so. (This tendency is exacerbated by bad user interfaces that make overriding the computer's recommendation difficult or impossible.) We should thus demand less bias from computerized systems precisely to compensate for their perceived greater veracity.
The second reason for caution is that computers are capable of doing things—even bad things—at scale. There is at least the perceived risk that, say, computerized facial recognition will be used for mass surveillance. Imagine the consequences if a biased but automated system differentially misidentified African-Americans as wanted criminals. Humans are biased, too, but they can't make nearly as many errors per second.
Our test, then, should be one called disparate impact. "Algorithmic" systems should be evaluated for bias, and their deployment should be guided appropriately. Furthermore, the more serious the consequences, the higher the standard should be before use.


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An overview of curriculum taught to South Australia students from birth to year 10.
Early years
The national Early Years Learning Framework guides the learning of children from birth to 5 years of age and through the transition to school.
It's a guide to the programs in a range of early childhood settings. There is more information available on the early years curriculum on the sa.gov.au website:
- understanding the curriculum in the early years
- progress reports at preschool
- preschool and kindergarten.
Indicators of preschool numeracy and literacy
The department has developed indicators of preschool numeracy and literacy for teachers to use to identify, plan for, assess, monitor and report on each child's learning and growth.
These are intended to provide parents and families with an understanding of the numeracy and literacy achievement of their children, and to support early years educators in the assessment and reporting of children's progress.
More detail is available in the implementation for indicators of preschool numeracy and literacy (PDF 2.2MB) document.
Schooling - reception to year 10
The Australian Curriculum is taught in government schools for reception to year 10 students.
Teachers use curriculum to:
- plan student learning
- monitor and assess student progress
- report student progress to parents
- support student wellbeing.
The curriculum learning areas are:
- English
- mathematics
- science
- humanities and social sciences – history, geography, economics and business, civics and citizenship
- the arts – dance, drama, music, media arts, visual arts
- technologies – design and technologies, digital technologies
- health and physical education
- languages.
Elective for year 9 and year 10 students:
There are 7 general capabilities that describe the knowledge, skills, behaviours and dispositions that children and young people need to live, learn and work successfully in a changing world.
- critical and creative thinking
- literacy
- numeracy
- information and communication technology capability
- personal and social capability
- ethical understanding
- intercultural understanding
There are 3 cross-curriculum priorities that provide global, national and regional dimensions to develop students knowledge, understanding and skills relating to:
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures
- Asia and Australia's engagement with Asia
- Sustainability.
Years 10 to 12
Get information about curriculum and study options for students in year 10 to 12:
- Curriculum for year 10 to 12 students
- South Australian Certificate of Education (SACE)
- Curriculum in South Australian Schools, sa.gov.au.
Keeping Safe: Child Protection Curriculum
The Keeping Safe: Child Protection Curriculum is required for all children and young people in government schools and preschools, Catholic schools, and is used in independent schools. See information for educators.
Parents and families can also see Keeping Safe: Child Protection Curriculum information for parents and families.
Curriculum and Learning
Phone: 8226 1017
Email: Education.CurriculumAndLearning [at] sa.gov.au


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Those reserved for a Parking Permit holder are marked with the wheelchair symbol.
Do not park if the space is marked with someone's name or a licence plate number.
Do not park on the striped area adjacent to a disabled person parking space – it is there to allow a wheelchair user access to and from the vehicle.
Colorado Parking Permit holder
You may use your Parking Permit in most states of the USA, and in many other countries around the world.
Look at the entry for the state or the country you intend visiting to see if your Parking Permit can be used.
Visitor to Colorado
Visitor from another USA state – you may use your Parking Permit in Colorado.
Visitor from abroad – we are currently unable to say whether or not your Parking Permit can be used in Colorado – ask locally if you are entitled to the parking concessions shown opposite.
You may park in a parking space marked with the international wheelchair symbol.
Colorado municipal authorities (eg Denver, Colorado Springs) apply their own parking concessions – ask locally.
Parking concessions in car parks may vary - check the car park notices or ask an attendant.


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Subscribe to the Real Truth for FREE news and analysis.Subscribe Now
A recent interview with Father Jesús Castellano Cervera, Vice Rector of Rome's Teresianum Pontifical School of Theology and a Consultor of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, reveals much about the Roman Catholic Church. The following are excerpts from this interview:
Regarding mysticism today: "Today there are many people who speak in the name of God, of the Virgin, and of the saints, who present messages. Today mysticism abounds on the Internet, where there are many sites with revelations and messages. However, without the positive judgment of the Church, which always moves with lead feet, it is very difficult to classify these people as mystics. The Church is investigating many of these visionaries, and looks for absolute certainties. Those who act as mystics in the Church or in society are not always the most worthy of belief. A mystical experience must be backed by the Church—its concrete and clear approval. I believe there are more genuine mystics than one thinks. I know several people who have a genuine supernatural experience of God, but I prefer not to give their names. God will reveal them in the opportune moment."
Regarding mysticism, the Church, and politics: "The mystic wishes to be the presence that translates into words and deeds, in suggestions for the Church, the will of God, the carrying out of his will. If by politics is understood 'God's doing,' the translation into apostolic works of truth and love, justice and fraternity of what is God's plan, I see no opposition between mysticism and politics. There are mystics who have this prophetic function in the Church and the world: to affirm forcefully the rights of God and his holy will against the abuses of the powerful."
Source: Zenit News Agency


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Sophisticated Harvard Faculty Club Cambridge Wedding
We recently had the great pleasure of being the entertainment for Kasey and Alex's fall wedding at the Harvard Faculty Club in Cambridge, MA on the Harvard University campus. The men were dressed in black tuxes and the women were dressed in light blue dresses with the beginning of the wedding starting at Christ Church Cambridge.
As guests filled the club for cocktail hour and the reception, they were greet with beautifully colored floral arrangements of dark oranges, pinks, reds and yellows that perfectly reflected both the tone of the club and the season. The table tops were each individually decorated with items that symbolized various places in the world they had traveled to in a way that matched the artwork that decorated the walls .
The reception began led by DJ Omari with an incredibly choreographed dance to 'A Thousand Years' by Christina Perri that was flawless from start to finish leaving their guests wowed. Later after the cake cutting, Kasey shared a dance with her father to a recording of her father singing a song that from her childhood which was once of those moments that was powerful to witness. This transitioned to an evening of electric dancing from the guests who were chomping at the bit to join them on the dancefloor.
Congratulations to Kasey and Alex on such a beautiful wedding, for having Keros Entertainment, & DJ Omari perform for your, and to all the amazing vendors that made this wedding such a success.
To see more photos from this wedding, I highly recommend visiting Michelle Girards website of the entire wedding.
Wedding Photography by Michelle Girard Photography Wedding Reception at the Harvard Faculty Club Wedding Gown by Vera Wang from Vows Bridal Outlet Bridesmaid's Dresses from AZAZIE Groom's Tux from 9tailors Wedding Ceremony at Christ Church Cambridge Flowers by Hallie's Flower Garden Entertainment:Keros Entertainment, Keros String Quartet & DJ Omari Wedding Choreography by Dance in Boston Cake by The Icing On The Cake Cheese Cake by Formaggio Kitchen
Harvard Faculty Club Wedding with Keros Entertainment – 617.487.8807 – firstname.lastname@example.com


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2011 Lunar New Years Fireworks in Changsha, China VII, originally uploaded by Serenity in China.
I should post a blog (albeit a little late) about our experience during Lunar New Year's eve in China.
I can sum it up one word: BLAM!
Changhsha has, I think, the largest number of fireworks' factories in all of China. Having such a huge supply of fireworks at hand seems to mean that during the year they are set off on a daily basis at all times of the day and night.
Having such a large supply of fireworks at hand during the Lunar New Year's festival, and especially on New Year's eve, seems to mean setting off enough fireworks as to make one think they are in the middle of a WAR ZONE!
On New Year's eve Julianne and I were watching a movie with the volume on my surround sound system at about medium power–and I had to turn it up beginning around 10pm; then I turned it up more at 10:30pm; then I turned it up MORE at 10:45pm . . .
Finally, at MAX POWER we still couldn't hear the dialog in the movie because the fireworks being set off literally ALL AROUND us were so loud that we couldn't hear anything INSIDE OUR APARTMENT.
I went outside and took some pics. This is one of my favorites.
The 'end of the world' soundtrack aka beginning of the new year lasted till about 1:30am or so.
Welcome to China!
Happy New Year!


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From time to time an unsolicited redesign pops up and receives a lot of attention. This time it was Fred Nerby's take on Facebook's look and concept.
Unsolicited redesigns are a new look on something familiar and they seem to be an interesting experiment or exercise for the designers creating them. That is great.
On the other hand they are completely based on assumptions. They are missing a basic building block of good design – understanding the needs of a client. That is something a designer gains by direct communication with his client. It is like telling someone you barely know, that they should change their haircut. Brandon Harris said this well in Quora thread about Wikipedia: What does the Wikipedia community think of "The Wikipedia Redefined" concept?
I know, authors of unsolicited redesigns usually don't explicitly say that the target of their redesign has to consider the new concept. The problem I see there is that they don't say anything at all on this topic and silently wait what will happen.


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A. Guidelines for Sponsorship for Conferences
|Sponsorship by the society will be considered for:
|Funding will be partial comprising:
|Sponsorship is limited to one per calendar year per member.
|In cases where there are more applicants than the number of sponsorships being offered, priority will be given to a member who is an invited speaker, chairman of session, or person with a presentation (oral or poster).
|The EXCO will approve the application and its decision is final.
|The sum set aside for each year is to be determined by the EXCO each year. Sponsorship is subject to availability of funds.
|Sponsorship from companies is welcomed and will be offered to members who express interest in attending. Priority will be given to a member who is an invited speaker, chairman of session, or person with a presentation (oral or poster).
B. Guidelines on Educational Events (Lecture/Seminar/Conference) by Pharmaceutical Companies Co-Sponsored by ICA(S)
|The Chairperson of the educational event must be a member of the society.
|The society has the right to provide feedback and advice to the pharmaceutical company regarding the educational event.
|An administrative fee of S$500.00 (before Goods and Services Tax) will be imposed on the pharmaceutical company requesting the sponsorship of the educational event. A reduced fee of S$200.00 (before Goods and Services Tax) will be imposed on corporate members of the society.
|The curriculum vitae of the invited speaker(s) and the abstract of the proposed lecture(s) must be submitted to the executive committee of the society for approval at least 6 weeks prior to the date of the educational event. The society reserves the right to reject the proposed speaker(s) if necessary.
|The society's logo must be included on the invitation cards, related publicity materials and the banner/backdrop on the day of the educational event.
|Invitation cards for the event must be sent to all members of the society.
|The CME points awarded should be clearly stated on the invitation cards.
|For more information, please contact us at firstname.lastname@example.com


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I want to open pdf files in flash without exiting the .swf.
I am making buttons in flash. And i know you can open a pdf externally with acrobat.
But I want to click a button, stay in the swf,and have a page flipper pdf built in or something. Is anything like this possible/available?
It all has to run locally.


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1 Oracle: Do as much damage as possible, regroup with Oracle 2.
2 Oracles: Harass where undefended (gas, buildings being constructed)
4 Oracles: Try to snipe tech lab, other buildings. Use revelation to scout + maintain vision.
Original post with more detailed information
Submitted by: Kogasa
Credit: Kracen
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China's current H7N9 avian flu epidemic has almost as many infections as the previous four avian flu epidemics combined, CDC researchers found.
A total of 759 human infections with H7N9 viruses were reported in China and its territories, including 281 deaths, from October 2016 to August 2017, they wrote in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
The viruses appeared to have mutated since the prior four epidemics, with the emergence of high pathogenic avian influenza viruses and some viruses that are less susceptible to antivirals. In addition, the lineage of the viruses split, making them "antigenically different" to those in earlier epidemics, and thus likely to require a modified vaccine.
The rise in human infections is likely due to wider geographic spread of the virus and higher prevalence of Asian H7N9 viruses among poultry, researchers said.


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According to West Bromwich East MP and Labour Deputy Leader Tom Watson, the future of the Labour Party is at risk and that a number of leftist supporters have enacted a "secret plan" to overthrow the party.
Watson said, "I regard this as a battle for the future existence of the Labour Party."
The comment came amid claims that Len McCluskey, General Secretary of Trade Union Unite (Britain's largest trade union) is planning to affiliate the Union to Momentum, a grassroots campaign of activists in support of Mr Corbyn. The news broke after The Observer obtained and published a tape of Lansem talking at the Momentum branch in Richmond. He said:
"Assuming that Len McCluskey wins the general secretaryship, which I think he will, Unite will affiliate to Momentum and will fully participate in Momentum, as will the CWU."
Watson hit out at Lansman on Twitter, telling him: "You've revealed your plan. If you succeed you will destroy the Labour Party as an electoral force. So you have to be stopped."
It is unknown whether Corbyn is aware of the plan, to which Watson said:
"I'm going to talk to him about it, I don't know what he knows and doesn't know.
"I'm the deputy leader and I didn't know about it until I heard this recording. And I regard this as a battle for the future existence of the Labour Party. This is high stakes.
"What Jon Lansman has outlined is a plan with Len McCluskey, the leader of Unite, to take control of the Labour Party."
He added, "The significance of this is that we have never seen the biggest union organising a political faction within the Labour Party with the tacit approval of the leadership."
It is feared that Momentum would gain access to funding from the union, should Union be affiliated, and be able to take and retain control of the Labour party through its campaign organisation. If so, the Union, Momentum and even the CWU would have a firm hand in the control of the Labour party.
The West Midlands organsier of Unite, Gerard Coyne, and McCluskey's election opponent, said: "I have been warning for weeks that Len was trying to act as puppet master to Jeremy Corbyn. Now the evidence is clear for all to see."
"I have been warning for weeks that Len was trying to act as puppet master to Jeremy Corbyn. Now the evidence is clear for all to see."
However, a Unite spokesman said: "As Unite has stated, repeatedly, it is for the Unite executive council, not the general secretary, to agree to which bodies our union aligns. There are no plans whatsoever for Unite to affiliate to Momentum, as has, again, been made repeatedly clear.
"It is extraordinary that the deputy leader of the Labour Party continues to interfere in Unite's democracy in this way."


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Land Tenure in Pastoralist Societies
The Land Tenure in Pastoralist Societies Learning Alliance was designed and moderated by GRADE (Peru) and Tegemeo Institute, and was based on established research, and on new regional and comparative research that the two research centres undertook for the ELLA programme. This Alliance reviewed how land tenure practices are evolving in pastoralist societies, in the face of a series of challenges. It drew particularly on a comparative study of the Andean altiplano and the East African savannah, to identify land tenure policies that enhance the sustainability of pastoral productive systems. The learning phase of the Land Tenure in Pastoralist Societies Learning Alliance was run during 2016, and it is now closed to new members. Existing members can continue to log in for networking purposes.


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Invar® 36, Super Invar® 32-5, Invar, NILO® 36, & Pernifer® 36
Invar 36 (also know as Invar, NILO 36, Pernifer 36, and Invar Steel) is a low expansion alloy consisting of 36% Nickel, balance Iron. Invar Alloy exhibits extremely low expansion around ambient temperatures, making Invar Alloy particularly useful in applications where minimum thermal expansion and high dimensional stability is required, such as in precision instruments like optoelectronic devices, optical and laser benches, electronics, and other kinds of scientific instruments.
Ed Fagan Inc. stocks Invar Alloy sheet, Invar Alloy plate, Invar Alloy rod, and can cut, slit or centerless grind these to your specifications. If you require another form of Invar Alloy, please call 800-348-6268, and one of or material experts can help you with your request.


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Best Free Standing Punching Bags For Perfect Training RoomsFebruary 24, 2020
Freestanding punching bag will allow the simulation of a true competitor for a number of reasons, but that should you purchase training sessions at 2018? You will discover a lot of manuals of boxing bag like about even rate totes, boxing banana bag that is hefty, classic design bag or bag that are uppercut. It is extremely uncommon to discover a manual of free-standing punching bag but also the most effective tools for muay Thai, boxing or kickboxing. An excellent free standing punching bag does not behaves just enjoy a hitting tote. It simulates a true individual, deliver feeling and receive your strikes. In this informative article, together with my expertise, I'll allow you to pick the free-standing bag that will earn a hitter from you.
Bags are a popular alternative for home gym consumers. They're also very popular for fitness courses due to their size and durability. Their simplicity of installation means you don't need to be concerned about putting holes in the ceiling or calling your landlord to hang out on a string. Freestanding bags give a higher striking surface compared to bags, which makes them simpler for non-strike coaching. In the following guide, we zoom on the seven free-standing punching bags on the sector. And we based our study on five particular regions of materials; adjustability, durability, focus, equilibrium, and value. The Century Wavemaster XXL is a completely free-standing best free standing punching bags which stands in 69 inches in height and contains an 18-inch diameter.
Its size makes this tote the person with the surface breathtaking region of any free standing punching bag on the marketplace – a vital component in our position it. This tote is full of high-density foam filler that's great at absorbing effect and has a good rebound back. The difference in responsiveness could be sensed. Additionally, this substance won't sink the manner that fabric filler will perform. The outside cover of this tote is made of hardy vinyl to get a durable and powerful synthetic coating. This tote makes a fantastic companion to other strength training exercises.


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Don't wait 'til last minute to enroll in Obamacare
Attention shoppers: After today, for those whose employers don't offer health insurance, there will only be five shopping days left for coverage that starts on January 1, 2015.
December 15 is the last day you will be able to pick an Obamacare plan if you want to be insured beginning New Year's Day. If you're like most folks, you'll wait until close to the deadline to make a choice.
Don't be like most folks.
If you don't give yourself enough time to sort through the options available to you, you might wind up paying your insurance company a lot more than necessary — which is exactly what a lot of my former colleagues in the business are hoping for.
Insurance company executives have spent millions of dollars persuading us — and the people we vote for — that what we crave is more "choice and competition." They even bankrolled a group called the Choice and Competition Coalition, which is little more than a public relations and lobbying outfit designed to protect the profitable status quo for health insurers. They do so by making sure certain members of Congress don't even think about giving us the choice and competition that would really make difference.
That would be the choice of a government-run "public option" to compete with private insurance companies. Insurers spent millions of dollars on lobbying and campaign contributions in a successful effort to strip the public option from the bill that became the Affordable Care Act.
In my 20 years in the insurance industry, I never met anyone who said they were looking forward to picking a health plan. There's a good reason for that. Trying to figure out what's best for yourself and your family can be bewildering. Even with my background in the insurance world, I would rather have a root canal than sit in front of a computer for hours trying to determine which plan offers the best value.
Industry statistics show that once people make a decision, they'll stay with the same plan for years, even if there are other plans available to them that would cost less and provide better coverage. Why? We don't enjoy the process because we're not educated consumers of insurance. We don't really know what we're doing or what we're buying. Polls have shown that large percentages of Americans don't even have a grasp of basic insurance terms and concepts.
That was borne out by a study released in October by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Kaiser Family Foundation. The researchers described insurance literacy barriers as "huge" for most Americans.
Of the millions of people who enrolled in Obamacare plans last year, "many…didn't understand basic concepts like how a deductible works or why premiums must be paid every month," the researchers wrote. "Many consumers also had trouble understanding (Affordable Care Act) premium and cost sharing subsidies."
Knowing this, the Obama administration last week pleaded with folks who will be returning to the marketplace this year to shop around. Chances are good they can save money and get better coverage if they do.


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Time of Year:
The most suitable time of year to do native planting is during the typical rainy period here in Southern California. Fall season normally is the start of the winter rain and with our warm days and cool nights, the establishment of native plants and the survival rate is greatly increased as the plants rooting system is active and top growth is limited due to the short sunlight periods of time through the fall days. Spring time is also a great time to do plantings of natives and the winter rains help keep the plants well hydrated. As we move into the warmer months of the year, it is advisable to take note of what types of natives you are attempting to install and understand that plants blooming period. Work at adjusting your installation time to duplicate the native plants natural cycle of growing and blooming. It is better to plant before it blooms than just before in my opinion. With the warmer summer months, it becomes difficult to balance the natives actual water needs ( Some native receive almost no supplemental water at all during the warmer summer months ) and the actual moisture needs of the plant due to evapotransporation of the applied water to the plant. Some folks and contractors for that matter, tend to over water the native due to the need to keep the plant alive but the natural characteristics and requirements of the native is to not receive as much water as it is receiving thus leading a lot of times to plant failure and death.
keeping these thoughts in mind will help you better plan your native plant installation time and give you a better success rate when it comes to the survival of your plant materials.
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May 2022


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14 Feb John Chantler
Posted at 13:27h in 2020
John Chantler is a musician living in Stockholm, Sweden working with modular synthesizers, electronics and pipe organs. Chantler did a resedencies at GRM (France) and EMS (Stockholm) and released albums on Lawrence Englisch's label Room 40.
As part of an exchange programme with EMS starting this year, Chantler is invited to work at Willem Twee studios and will give a live performance during the festival.
Thursday March 19 at Willem Twee toonzaal


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Raw - Aragonite small
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Original price $5.00 - Original price $5.00
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$5.00 - $5.00
Current price $5.00
Color ranges - Brown
- A crystal that aids in healing the earth
- encourages conservation of Earth's precious resources
- Use with the Root and Earth Star Chakras
- Lets you ground and connect to the Earth
- Soothing, tension release and clearing
- Star clusters radiate energy outwards in all directions, beaming rays of light and love in all directions
Pieces are approx. 1/2 - 1 inch in size
These stones are never meant to replace a doctors medical advice. At all times continue on your medication and follow a doctor's best advice.


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Nike Air Max 270 Be True
Reseller Only • Release Date : 21 Jun 2018 7am • AR0344-500
Without a doubt, the Nike Air Max 270 is one of the best silhouettes to drop in recent memory, and the Nike Air Max 270 Be True perfectly embodies everything that makes the shoe so great. Unveiled as part of the Swoosh's Air Max Day 2018 celebrations, the silhouette takes some of Nike's classic '70s running features and combines them with a clean and modern design.Part of Nike's 'Be True' collection, which celebrates the LGBT community the Air Max 270 Be True boasts a completely redesigned Air unit in the midsole, which appears to be quite similar to the full length bubble seen on the Air VaporMax. Considered to be a lifestyle sneaker with a convenient slip on construction, this Air Max 270 is painted in a lilac shade, with pink Swoosh branding on the toebox, and black on the side panels and tongue. Hyperfuse detailing on the mudguard and toe region rounds off the design. If you are searching for something unique yet understated to rock this summer, then look no further than the Nike Air Max 270 Be True! We recommend you go true to size for the perfect fit! The Nike Air Max 270 Be True arrives alongside several other distinct colourways, so be sure to hit that bell icon above for release reminders on the run up to launch, as well as an email alert as soon as these go live!
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