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Some Canadians have visited a Texas facility to "deprogram" children who have been "alienated" from one parent by the other. – News item
Sometimes when I'm referring back to a book that I haven't read in a while, I find one of a number of bookmarks that were once made for me.
The man who is now my ex-husband was bothered by the fact that instead of using a bookmark, I'd grab whatever was handy – a page ripped from his current TV Guide, a phone bill, a leaf from a tree, a thinner book – or a thicker book, which, if half-opened, works just as well, if you sort of spoon the two books together.
Also good are a tube of lip balm, a credit card or a piece of toast. Along with the bookmarks kindly printed for me, I still find these other items inside of books too.
In fact, there's a black Lanvin ballet flat stuck inside the book I'm reading right now, beside me, and like most pieces of low-heeled footwear it's doing the trick just fine.
Anyway, my husband-at-the time printed the bookmarks for me shortly after we bought our first laser printer. He printed these words over and over on a page and then cut it into strips: "Bookmark. Instructions for use: Place in the book. Close the book."
On the back, it said, "D–- Loves Tabatha." And now, whenever I stumble across one of these bookmarks (as I did this week) while looking through some half-forgotten book, standing alone in my office – I feel absolutely nothing.
The bookmarks are a reminder, but they're a reminder like a Miami hotel wakeup call – entirely unemotional. I'm not happy or unhappy. I'm just reminded. Because that's what the end of a relationship comes to, for both parties, much of the time.
I've shown these bookmarks to my children and we've laughed about their cuteness and I've tried to make my voice soft but not sad and told them how sweet it was of their dad to do that for me.
My eldest child – who has never forgiven me for using a World of Warcraft CD in one of the longer books that I started reading early last year but picked up again only this year – says, "Dad kinda had a point about the bookmarks."
And I've agreed and added earnestly that Dad had many a good point, and that he loves them, even though we're divorced. And they roll their eyes. I'm not sure at whom.
I show the children these bookmarks because I want them to know that they were conceived in love and born of good, romantic stock, but the truth is that I feel fake when I do it. Even though it's true. I know what I'm doing is offering them another piece of their largely absent father and that I'm doing it partly because that's what I've been told I must do.
There's no harm in this, I guess, although one strives to be genuine. But sometimes I wonder where my responsibility to ensure affection ends. At what point am I giving them this information naturally and honestly, and when am I only labouring to not be "one of those mothers?"
There has been a lot written lately about a few cases in which one parent has proved to be alienating a child from his or her other parent. This does happen and it's very sad – another parent, a stepparent and stepgrandparents are all just more people to love your children. But we do have some well-crafted, child-centred laws around custody and access that can, with patience and common sense, right many of these wrongs.
These particular alienation cases were extreme. Mostly I think that these things, like most things, are best solved without anyone being forced to go to Texas. What these cases may do, though, is leave hovering over some sole-custodial parents something approaching libel chill – a fear that might cow some fathers or mothers out of acting in the best interests of their children.
Some parents also wonder if, as well as providing food and clothing, meeting with teachers and overseeing medical care (all of which are a joy compared with driving them to those birthday parties routinely hosted in strip malls, during rush hour), they'll now be expected not merely to facilitate contact with the other parent, which generally benefits everyone, but to ensure the quality of that relationship. All the while documenting their efforts.
People resist having their emotions managed. And ultimately, that – people – is what children are.
This conversation is closed
- tiffany poledancer from the beach, Thailand writes: Thanks for the article...it is interesting as a non-custodial parent to see glimpses of the 'other world' Couple of points... 1. the use of the term 'largely absent' without qualifier is exactly what non-custodial parents cringe at. A lot of us are 'largely absent' because we are working to pay large child support settlements in a wacky global economy. Some of us are largely absent because the other parent has chosen to hit the road to continue their personal life with trailer and shared children in tow. Other parent with job location paying support BE DAMNED. But heck, 'largely absent' is a great way to explain it to friends, family and others in the 'in' circle. It garners sympathy. At someone's expense...the children's and the other parent's. 2. Sharing with your children a glimpse of a real but finished love nutures in them that their existence is and was a fruit of a good coupling based in loving care. If you feel fake fostering this idea in your children then perhaps you should be re-visiting the reasons you had children. Perhaps they were fake and illegitimate also. Maybe it is time to call Mr. Largely Absent Bookmarker and tell him he is better able to rear the kids.
- Posted 14/02/09 at 8:38 AM EDT | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment
- L G-W from Ottawa, Canada writes: While I enjoyed reading this article, I found that some of the questions raised by the author disturbing. Her concern with 'fake' or 'fabricated' emotions about her ex-husband and how this is somehow emotionally manipulating their shared children seems to almost be presented as a justification for simply not making the effort to make sure the children are not alienated from their father. Now we don't know the details of the divorce from this article but I have first hand experience with my brother who is battling with his ex to have visitations with his daughter that doesn't involve the harrassement of the mother or the maternal grandmother. There are some very heartbreaking cases out there where one parent's unrelenting vitriol and bitterness has damaged the child's relationship with the other parent to such an extent that 'deprogramming' is perhaps the only option. The Family court system cannot always be depended upon to see that such cases do not happen (as with my brother). His ex simply ignores the recommendations of the court as well as the Children's advocate and since she receives legal aid, her recourse is to go through the court system for everything and anything, thus ensuring that any contact between father and child is postponed for months/years. When he had visitation rights, she would call the police and accuse him of trespassing on her property when he went to pick up his daughter at the appointed time! There was even a time where she accused him of harming his daughter because she had a scratch on her hand (she was three years old). I think that in the face of cases such as these, the author's ongoing (if albeit disingenuine) attempts to assure that her kids do not feel alienated from their father (from her side) are highly recommendable.
- Posted 14/02/09 at 9:59 AM EDT | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment
- Yvonne Wackernagel from Woodville, Canada writes: I am glad she was not my mother and I pity her children. Women should think a hundred times before they jump and go into debt to buy a white dress (after having sex for ages) and pretend to be a beautiful bride for a day. And then produce children who do not ask to be born, but have to put up with mothers who find them a burden after their own vision of how good life should be for THEM; well, you get the point. It all started with Feminism. When women married for love and allowed the men to be the breadwinners, things were better because children were nurtured by their mothers who were always there for them. SOME women cannot balance life between work, home, children AND LOVE FOR THEIR HUSBANDS; which means that in today's world, a lot of women should not get married or have children. LIFE IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT. YOU! Now, let me be prepared to receive the abuse!
- Posted 14/02/09 at 11:11 AM EDT | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment
- rethink it from Canada writes: Interesting Yvonne on my wedding night i had a forget the condom christian wedding night request which produced a twin pregnancy. Uncomfortable with the prospect from the start I was convinced everything would be ok by the husband and mother in law?something along your lines of recommended traditional non-feminist thought. I bought in only to discover during the pregnancy it was a regime of control freakish alcoholism tempered by unless you are a christian you are ignorant mentality. When I questioned how prepared we were for the pregnancy the response was - you spread em baby!! I was so abusive I left while pregnant to a different city to deliver. He later followed I had a good delivery thanks to great doctors and nurses. In my room I remember the woman across with her flowers and gifts and her husband and the baby-it was warm and loving. On my side I was learning to breastfeed 2 babies and my husband was out having something to eat but did return with an extra slice of pizza. After leaving the hospital he wanted to take one of the babies to his mother 3000km's away- that would be the boy baby. I wouldn't seperate them that afternoon and was physically abused for it. Eventually I had to call the rcmp to get him away. Seperated,I provided access to the twins and the boy baby had 3rd degree burns in his care -got a supervised access order, he refused to take parenting class but offered his mother and wife of his ex-business partner as an alternative caregiver now that they were living together. My point is? when i see his emails or his name comes up i feel the same as the author looking at the bookmarks -nothing -complete indifference-blank. I don't feel like a victim I made my decisions the whole way through. I also made the best one of my life- don't raise the kids with a controlling alcoholic partner. I also made another decision become a breadwinner get an excellent job so you can support your kids and who cares if the house is dirty. The story ends well.
- Posted 14/02/09 at 12:18 PM EDT | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment
- cyan blue from Canada writes: You say.. "There has been a lot written lately about a few cases in which one parent has proved to be alienating a child from his or her other parent." You seem to infer this is rare, but unfortunately is prevalent, and particularly when unequal time is spent with each parent. I have a five-year old distant relative for whom time with his father was awarded only each Wednesday and every other weekend, and among other things he states with complete certainty that "my Daddy has no brains." The Family Court system has split his time unevenly, mostly with the mother and in her anger the dominant carer has brainwashed this young boy and removed any sense of male self-esteem or male identity. In my opinion this kid is now a train wreck waiting to happen. I see in him absolutely no interest in reading, I see no empathy, I only see anger and violence. Family Courts 1. Society 0.
- Posted 14/02/09 at 2:24 PM EDT | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment
- cyan blue from Canada writes: (continued).... I should add the two parents live within 2 km of each other. .
- Posted 14/02/09 at 2:30 PM EDT | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment
- the catholic church from Canada writes: There are two main points in Tabatha's article, neither of which has any relevance to anyone other than her: - she has disastrous organizational skills (toast as a bookmark? seriously? that's a great example to set for you children, that food is a convenience for anything other than eating) - she doesn't love her ex (so? who cares? lots of relationships end, but MOST people move on instead of documenting their indifference)
- Posted 14/02/09 at 3:45 PM EDT | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment
- A C from Paris, France writes: Hmmm. Alcoholic and abusive. Seems a few things are missing from your story. As written you don't pass for anyone who deserves any king of sympathy. So, you left for another city to give birth. And you're complaining about you husband bringing you a piece of pizza? Maybe your kids roll their eyes for a reason? Perhaps you aren't alienating your children from their father but I wouldn't be surprised if you were. The perpetrators always justify their behaviour, when they don't deny it outright...
- Posted 14/02/09 at 4:14 PM EDT | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment
- A C from Paris, France writes: Of course my remark was directed at this poster from..."rethink it from Canada writes: "
- Posted 14/02/09 at 4:20 PM EDT | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment
- rethink it from Canada writes: AC from Paris, Im not looking for sympathy like I said I made the decision to marry an alcoholic and have children. All I said was Im no different than the author in that thoughts of dad make me feel numb. As for my being a perpetrator- thats interesting? Courts do a fair job of awarding supervised access usually its based on child safety, 3rd party reports and other evidence- its not something I ever hoped to or caused like you suggest but after a month in a hospital holding a child in burn trauma you can call me a perpetrator if you want . I'll call myself a mom with kids who made it out with no further damage and my kids are thankful and good kids and they only roll their eyes when they hear a bad joke. Thanks for the judgement.
- Posted 14/02/09 at 7:18 PM EDT | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment
- Murray Thom from Silver Star Canada, writes: From Largely Absent Grandparent That Canada has "well-crafted, child-centred laws around custody and access" may be a view held by many Canadians. In reality this is not true, particularly where one parent chooses to continue past marital conflicts using the children as the spoils of war. The terms "largely absent father", or worse "deadbeat dad" are frequently tossed off with impunity. Little effort is made to examine what has forced these men to remove themselves temporarily, or in some cases to give up altogether. One comment today mentions the mother who has access to legal aid and resorts to the courts to settle issues. A parent who lacks legal support soon finds himself financially unable to participate. Without the financial resources to represent himself, a father has no choice but to walk away. Even when divorced parents have court registered agreements in place for custody and access, these agreements can be challenged in court by a "material change of circumstances". A material change of circumstance can include altering access times to suit one parent's change in priorities, or moving children out of the country to suit one parent's change in personal goals. These are hardly child-centred reasons for opening court registered agreements. Family Law may be in place ostensibly to ensure that the best interests of children are served, but in reality it does not work that way. Thankfully, parental alienation is coming into the public conscience and articles and comments such as these are raising public awareness.
- Posted 14/02/09 at 7:58 PM EDT | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment
- Shane MacLaughlin from Wollongong, NSW, writes: The legal case in question doesn't justify the conclusion that you seem to have drawn, that is to take action to engender affection for the other parent with the children. It does however require that you stop taking action that will alienate the children from the other parent. Incidentally, if a parent does act to create alienation, isn't this essentially depending on the children for emotional support; who is the adult in the relationship?
- Posted 14/02/09 at 8:12 PM EDT | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment
- Joe Canada from toronto, Canada writes: i would quietly suggest that the 'writer' in question not air her personal 'beliefs' in public. i will also gladly add that i'm glad she's not my ex-wife. nor the parent of any of my kids. (4) salut
- Posted 14/02/09 at 11:31 PM EDT | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment
- m a from Toronto, Canada writes: I think that when Ms. Southey speaks from personal experience, it's fine. Her feelings are her feelings, whether people understand or agree with them or not. However, when she makes generalizations about the state of Canada's child custody laws or what is or is not rare behaviour, she shows her intense ignorance and/or prejudice. There is only one thing I know for sure about Family Law in Canada, and that is that you can't generalize or judge unless you are in it. Cases are individual and one solution does not fit all. The tragedy of our system is that this is apparently too difficult a task.
- Posted 15/02/09 at 12:15 AM EDT | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment
- Grace Sadowski from Lions Bay, Canada writes: Be careful about who you marry...Very careful.
- Posted 15/02/09 at 1:54 AM EDT | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment
- Warren Coughlin from toronto, Canada writes: Tabitha's concern that Parental Alienation will somehow cause a "chill" or pressure to inauthentically promote a postive relationship with the absent parent is unwarranted. The line between requiring one to avoid harming a child and being the catalyst of another relationship is huge. Moreover, the courts should ideally be concerned with the best interests of the children, not the burden that responsibility imposes on the parents. In these discussions, one detects a breakdown in the rights of the custodial or non-custodial parents. I suggest that these "rights" are wholly irrelevant. What is poorly appreciated is the incredibly destructive nature of parental alienation. And by this, I do not mean destructive to the relationship between the child and the non-custodial parent, but on the ability of the child to sustain healthy relationships throughout their life. This is thus ultimately destructive to the child's ability to achieve happiness and satisfaction in their lives. If one cannot bury one's disdain for one's ex to act in the best interests of the child, then that parent is not deserving of the title. If you have accepted the responsibility of raising a child and fought for custody because you feel you are the "better" parent, then suck it up and fulfill that responsibility. (By "you" I don't mean Tabitha, but any parent who engages in criticism of the other parent or otherwise interferes in the development of a healthy relationship between the other parent and the child)
- Posted 15/02/09 at 12:21 PM EDT | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment
- Chris McIntyre from St. John's, Canada writes: It's simple (though not necessarily easy)... always speak honestly of your ex to your kids - whether positive or negative. and never 'fight' for custody of the children...ever (assuming the children are not being abused). Always leave the choice up to the kids. And if that means they don't want to see you for a while...tough. You have children for their benefit, not for your entertainment. If they don't want to spend time with you (even if you are convinced it's because your ex has mistakenly convinced them you suck) then you are out of luck and just be patient and ready for the day that they do want to spend time with you. Any parent that needs to go to court to decide about child custody (again assuming no abuse is involved) is a very selfish parent is thinking far more about themselves then their children and is, imo, a failure (at least temporarily) as a parent.
- Posted 15/02/09 at 7:28 PM EDT | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment


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1. One gentleman who lives in LA visited me in last week. He has mouth and tongue (etc.) dystonia for many years. He has Botox injections, which helped to diminish the symptoms in some extents. The patients had one month herbal tea (we mailed herbs to him) and two months' capsule, as well as 20 sessions' acupuncture (in LA).
His personal experience is acupuncture (did in LA by a local acupuncturist) did not help him very much, the herbal tea seems help his more. During the herbal tea treatment (with acupuncture), he had more relieve in dystonia. He had acupuncture in our office once a day for three days, during that short period, we did not find a significant improvement.
He decide to use herbal tea and acupuncture for a few months and see if Chinese medicine could help him to overcome his dystonia.
Dr.Fan notes: Some of patients may respond the herbal tea better than that in acupuncture.However, some patients have better response in acupuncture. Basically, I recommend acupuncture plus herbal tea. Some time the capsule LIU JUN SAN also plays a good rule.
2. One middle age woman who has neck dystonia, or we call it Crooked, Twisted Neck Cervical Dystonia, or Spasmodic Torticollis (ST). She had to use muscle relaxant and 4 or more tablets of Ibuprofen everyday. After our acupuncture (with LIU JUN SAN capsule) for about 8 sessions, she could have 4 to 5 days pain relief (still use muscle relaxant) per week, and dystonia very less (self report "50% improvement"). She still uses Ibuprofen in 2-3 days/week, but the amount drops to 2 tablets a day. She is still in treatment–acupuncture, twice a week. Due to some reasons, she does not use herbal tea.
3. One young man with Spasmodic Torticollis who lives in Columbia, had Botox injection which leads a partial symptom relief. Using herbal tea and LIU JUN SAN one treatment course(one month), he feels better. So we decide to start the second course herbal tea plus LIU JUN SAN capsule today.
4.One young woman with both hands/fingers dystonia(right hand worse). She has used Botox injection for long time. She has seen me for three years and has used LIU JUN SAN capsule in some times. Yesterday, she came again and still just for LIU JUN SAN. Her experience is LIU JUN SAN capsule helps in eliminating the partial dystonia which Botox injection does not work, i.e. She feels Botox injection plus LIU JUN SAN capsule help more than Botox alone.
5. Three women with Spasmodic Torticollis who had acupuncture here for many years and recovered very well, still come for "tun up" acupuncture, i.e. once 2 weeks or one month. Still using LIU JUN SAN sometime as maintaining treatments.
Dr.Fan notes: Acupuncture at least could work on relaxation, adjusting the neurological function(such as work on Dopamine system,etc), as well as treating the pain and spasm from dystonia. Herbology is more complicated, according to our data, our special herbal formula for dystonia ("tea" and capsule) could diminish the dystonia and very stable.

subset: commoncrawl


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A Domino's pizza isn't complete without the fast food chain's famous garlic and herb dip.
The super-sized tub - which is 100g - was launched in 2015 after customers complained that the regular-sized pot wasn't big enough.
But recently Domino's revealed the calorie content of the large tub and it just might put you off ordering it.
According to the nutritional information on its site, a 100g pot contains a shocking 675 calories - that's almost 700 calories just for a pot of sauce.
That means the large pot of dip contains more calories than two McDonald's cheeseburgers - which come in at 301 calories each .
Although the larger size is supposed to be for sharing, the news about its calorie content isn't going down well on social media.
After all, who isn't guilty of having one pot all to themselves?
User @SophieJayne_ said: "Just read that the big pot of garlic and herb dip from Domino's contains basically 700 calories...morning ruined."
"Discovering that the Dominos garlic & herb dip is 700 calories has ruined 2017 tbh..." added another.
"No chance have a just found out the big garlic n herb dip from dominos has nearly 700 calories in it wtf : S" another wrote.
Abbey Everett, spokesperson for Domino's, said: "Our Garlic & Herb Big Dip is great for sharing with family and friends, and we recommend each party size should serve at least four people. Single size pots are also available at 169 cals each.
"We're committed to providing transparent nutritional information on our website and via our app, to enable customers to make informed decisions."


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Theraclone Sciences announced positive results from its Phase 1 study of TCN-032 (anti-Influenza A mAb), for the treatment of influenza A infections at the 52nd Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC). The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 1 study enrolled 40 healthy adult volunteers in 5 single-dose cohorts. Each cohort consisted of 8 patients, 6 receiving TCN-032 and 2 receiving placebo. Dose levels tested were 1, 3, 10, 20 and 40 mg/kg. Subjects were monitored up to 60 days after study drug infusion for clinical and laboratory evaluations, pharmacokinetics (TCN-032 blood levels) and anti-drug antibody levels.
No serious adverse events were observed with TCN-032; most adverse events observed were mild to moderate and unrelated to the study drug. Pharmacokinetic evaluation demonstrated dose proportionality, half-life of approximately 15 days and other parameters consistent with an IgG antibody therapeutic. In addition, TCN-032 showed no signs of immunogenicity. A proof-of-concept Phase 2 study in human subjects is planned to initiate by the end of 2012.
For more information, visit www.theraclone-sciences.com.


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Adaptogens are some of our best herbal allies to help ourselves cope with chronic stress. Adaptogens are herbs that help increase the body's ability to adapt to all kinds of stressors: physical, emotional, environmental, social, and biological.
Adaptogens help build the body's resistance and reliance to stress by supporting the nervous, immune and endocrine systems. They help to increase the body's strength, stamina, vitality and immunity.
Many adaptogens have been considered supreme herbal tonics in the cultural systems from which they come. For example, reishi mushroom was considered in ancient China to be the "herb of immortality"and Holy Basil is considered a panacea in India and in Ayurvedic medicine.
Dosing for adaptogens: The more we need the adaptogen, the more we need to increase the amount and frequency of dosage. For lower stress levels, stick to the lower recommended doses. For higher and acute stress, higher doses more frequently are…
View original post 617 more words


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Here's what I
made started while my kids were hard at work on their snowflakes. I got the idea from Jenni at One Thing, and (when I finally finished it 3 days later) I was pleased with how it turned out.
Oh, and on another craft-copying note, remember the Robinznest candied nuts recipe that I mentioned awhile back? I made it (using 10 lbs of almonds!!) and it turned out wonderful. My family and I highly recommend it. The younger kids were disappointed to learn that I planned to give at least half of that sweet goodness away. I reminded them that a sure sign of a good gift is if you're tempted to keep it yourself.


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Keppel Data Centre) and the Alpha DC Fund have entered into an agreement to develop and operate their first greenfield data centre in Johor, Malaysia.
The new centre will sit on approximately 261,000 sq ft of land and feature minimum tier-3 equivalent specifications for concurrent maintainability, spread over 100,495 sq ft of gross floor area within an industrial park.
Expected to be completed by 2020, the initial development of the data centre and subsequent facilities management will be undertaken by Keppel Data Centres.
The Alpha DC Fund entered into agreements with a leading technology company (the customer) to develop a high-availability build-to-suit data centre.
"Enterprises have been moving to rationalise their ageing data centre infrastructure, including moving many workload requirements to the cloud," said Wong Wai Meng, CEO of Keppel Data Centres.
"In response, major cloud service providers and technology companies are expanding rapidly outside of top tier data centre markets to cater to this demand.
"Our customers in these segments recognise the value that Keppel Data Centres brings to the table when planning future IT workloads and data centre deployments. We are proud to be partners enabling our customers' regional expansion requirements."
The investment is structured to include put and call options, which are exercisable under certain conditions.
The put option granted to the Alpha DC Fund gives the Fund the option to require Keppel Data Centres to purchase the holding company indirectly holding the data centre and its underlying land title sublease within an agreed period.
When exercised, the put option will allow Keppel Data Centres to secure a steady cash flow stream from the data centre, while providing greater flexibility for the Alpha DC Fund to unlock value for investors within the fund life window.
The customer also has a call option to buy back the data centre, which can be exercised within an agreed period.
"Demand for data centres has been increasing with the expansion of the digital economy and the Alpha DC Fund is pleased to be able to capitalise on such growth in the Asia-Pacific region for its investments," said Alvin Mah, CEO of Alpha Investment Partners, the manager of the Alpha DC Fund.
"The addition of this greenfield investment provides diversification to the fund's existing portfolio."


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It's Too Expensive
Discover how to understand what your customer means when they say it's too expensive.
Two Minute Training Series
If you don't have much time and you want a little sales boost…check out 2 minute training!
Check back often for new topics or subscribe to KO Sales Coach on YouTube!


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$ 42.00
A medium-sized hoop gets an upgrade featuring rows of lustrous glass pearl beads. These hoop earrings are uber chic worn solo, or try pairing with pearl ear cuffs for even more of a statement.
- Sterling silver base
- 18K yellow gold-plated
- Simulated pearls
- Hinge closure
*Please note delivery time is 10-14 business days.


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Article by Diane Brunjes, HAS Gardener, published in February 2020 HAS Announcements
Photo by Diane Engles
Living in a northern climate as we do, makes one appreciate anything that brings color and life to the garden in the winter. And there seems to be nothing that does that better than conifers. Strictly speaking, the ones we are referring to are evergreens. There are however, conifers that are NOT evergreens, like larches (Larix), the bald-cypress (Taxodium) and the dawn redwood (Metasequoia), which all lose their needles for the winter. But the ones we will focus on now are the ones that retain their needles over the winter – hence, ever-green.
Many gardening experts and designers say that your garden should be composed of approximately 30% evergreens. This figure can be adjusted to suit your tastes, but how many of us can claim that we get anywhere near that percentage? But considering that most of the garden is D-O-N-E by late October, and really doesn't get going again until April, that leaves at least five full months of drab – unless you plan and plant carefully.
Of course, many perennials bring winter interest, like sedums, opuntias, grasses, agaves, penstemons with its evergreen foliage, hellebores, coneflower seedheads, and artemisias are just a few of the flowering herbaceous plants that we can rely on for winter interest. At least, until that two-foot snowstorm with 40 mile-an-hour winds occurs, and then most of our interest is plowed under until the next growing season.
That's why adding evergreens to your garden can be the year-round boost that you might be looking for without realizing it. One of the evergreens we will be adding to the sensory garden this year is Pinus nigra 'Bambino'. The name alone is enough reason to grow it, but its dwarf nature and tight branching certainly are other reasons. Forming a low wide dome over many years, this evergreen eventually becomes so dense, that reaching in with a gloved hand every two or three years becomes necessary to clean out the accumulation of fallen needles. Although it looks very "pet-able", the needles retain the stiffness of the Austrian pine, and if you do clean, do it carefully. Look for it in the HAS Gardens this spring.
Another evergreen we are excited to be adding is the very narrow exclamation point Juniperus scopulurum 'Blue Arrow'. A selection of our native Rocky Mountain juniper, this is even narrower and slightly smaller than J. 'Skyrocket'. Its new growth tends to be slightly bluer, but this varies per specimen, as we have seen some that definitely trend more towards green. We will be adding three of these in the Demo Garden. This kind of exclamation point has several design functions. In one spot it will "stop" the eye, in another, it will be simply a backdrop to other features, and in a third spot, it will be that exclamation mark that is so useful in the garden if not overused. In ten years, these junipers will be 12-15 ft tall x 2 ft wide.
If you are looking for design inspiration for your own garden, be sure to google The Bressingham Gardens in Norfolk, England. Some conifer gardens can feel heavy and even a bit oppressive, but Adrian Bloom makes amazing use of grasses, vibrant-stemmed dogwoods, and deciduous plants to bring lightness and movement to his garden. Be warned, though, if you watch the video on their website, you will think it is just a perennial garden! Bloom used to use, very heavily, heaths and heathers (which we can't grow) but in the last decade has begun to move to the above-mentioned groupings. This has horrified some conifer garden purists, but makes a very welcome change, we believe, for everyone else.
Happy Gardening, and as always, come visit the Gardens!
Photo of limber pine courtesy of Nebraska Forest Service
P.S. If you would like to reserve one of these trees that will be offered at the Plant Sale, please click on the links provided below.
Reserve a Hung Hai Tung Crabapple


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2015 Kia Soul EV+ Electric Vehicle – Review and Test Drive
The Kia Soul EV sneaks up on you, quite literally. Like other electric vehicles, it moves quietly. Indeed, there's something to be said about the strong but silent type, and that description fits the Kia to a T.
The Soul EV is extremely quiet as it glides by, and there's a distinct lack of powertrain noise or engine vibration when behind the wheel. With an 81.4kW AC synchronous permanent magnet motor developing 109 horsepower and 210 pound-feet of torque, it isn't going to set any speed records and it lacks the go cart-like slam of a BMW i3, but it does give the distinct feeling of going faster than it actually is, getting to 60 mph (96 km/h) from a standstill in about 12 seconds.
The only thing you may hear from it is the Pedestrian Warning System, which softly beeps when in reverse or at speeds of 12 mph (19.3 km/h) or below and who drives that slowly anyway?
The Soul EV wears 302 pounds (137 kilograms) more than the petrol variant, in part due to a 620-pound (281-kilogram) battery pack under the floor. It has a single-speed transmission that connects the motor with the front wheels and it can deliver all 210 pound-feet of torque from a standstill, the calling card of all electric vehicles. Kia said it modified the Soul's suspension to allow for the increase in weight and change in weight distribution for the EV powertrain.
Compared to the gasser, it feels more responsive despite the extra weight (indeed, the battery pack significantly lowers the vehicle's center of gravity, contributing to that feeling).


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Many factors have conspired to convince consumers that to drink well, one must drink red wine. The arrival of fall and heartier cuisine would seem to support that notion. While on the appropriate occasion, a noble bottle of red can and should be the centerpiece of a special evening, unless you're whipping up a Magret de Canard or Pork Arrista, I'd argue that the moment is not tonight. With the wealth of fresh, vibrant ingredients readily available, our diet more often than not calls for wines of similar disposition.
I am unapologetically drawn to whites raised in cool climates which allow the grapes to maintain abundant levels of tartaric, malic and citric acid. Consider acid the fulcrum that keeps wine aloft in the mouth with balance, stability and grace. Without it, the wine can fall and lack dimension. With it, the wine plays across your palate's receptors and primes them for more.
Look to the nervous energy of Verdicchio or the saline snap of Muscadet as examples of wines loaded with sharp acidity but coated in flavors so developed that their edges are smooth and subtle. Not only are wines like this up for the challenge of radicchio, endive or artichoke, with fattier dishes they will provide a refreshing and restorative counterpoint to the richness. Pairing the brooding power of a sappy Syrah with a butter-drenched rib-eye can drown out any subtleties and quickly become fatiguing. But a Spanish Albarino or Greek Moscofilero perform in much the same manner as a good squeeze of lime; they perk up the flavors, highlight the nuances and tame the impact of what might have been a daunting combination.
The great news is that we are not talking about rare and elusive mailing list treasures here. These wines should be readily available at the better shops in town and carry price tags under $20. And to be sure you are getting the most for your money, keep that bottle out of the refrigerator once you have chilled it down. Bring it to the table with you and watch it develop at room temperature.
David Rosoff is the GM at Osteria Mozza.
Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.


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Armor and Mobility: A Guide to Tactics – Part II
A guide to all tactics and strategies in Blitz, split into two sections, armor and mobility.
Basic (Part I) and Advanced (Part II)
It is recommended for newcomers to only read through the Part I's of each sections and learn those skills before moving on the the Part II's. Likewise, if you are a skilled player, feel free to skip the Part I's.
Table of Contents
- Finding Hull Down Positions
- Angling Against Multiple Enemies
- Watching the Enemy's Gun
- Large Autobounce Zones
- Using Your Own Gun
- Finding Hull Down Positions
This seems like it's pretty straight forward, but when playing tanks such as the Russians, with great turret armor but barely any gun depression, it's hard to find places to use that turret. One simple strategy to getting enough gun depression to shoot over a hill is to: look for hills behind you.
Behind you? How would that be useful at all? Actually, this tactic is very useful if all sorts of tanks. If there is a hill in front and behind you, you can back up onto the hill behind you so that you either are high enough to just barely look over the hill in front of you, or, since you are backing up onto a hill, you get the added gun depression (since you are facing a little bit downwards, what used to be your gun depression limit is now further down) to shoot at a tank while hull down. This doesn't only have to be done driving backwards onto a hill. You can drive forward up a hill and aim behind you or drive sideways with half of your tank on the incline, giving you more depression off to the side.
- Angling Against Multiple Enemies
Sometimes, when your spending your time trying to shoot over that hill, you find that the enemies just charge you. Now there's an IS-3, M6, and ISU-152 coming straight at you. What should you do now? Well first off, try not to let them get behind you, and also prioritize your angling.
Instead of just angling in the general direction of the enemy while backing off slowly, think. That ISU has just fired and missed, so now you know he'll be reloading for quite a while. Now what's more dangerous, the IS-3's BL-9 doing 400 average damage or the M6's M1A1 doing 160 average damage? Angle towards that IS-3, and once he fires, you know he will take a while to reload, meaning it's safe for you to turn around to face the M6. However, by then you should prepare, because the ISU with its mighty BL-10 gun has probably reloaded.
- Watching the Enemy's Gun
Now let's say you're in an E75, a very heavily armored tank. However, the BL-10 has an extremely high penetration value, so even if you wiggle slightly, trying to get a bounce, your armor protection still won't be able to protect you from taking 650 damage. In this case you should be watching his gun. If he's pointing at your front, then angle your front a ton, to about a 290 mm of protection. This will mean your side will have way weaker protection, however if your doing it right, it won't be a problem.
If you see the enemy's gun move over to shoot your side, quickly angle back so your side armor is at a near auto bounce angle. Your reaction speed is most important part, otherwise the ISU can easily just shoot at your side armor if you take a long time turning your tank back to angle your side. At this time, the ISU should be annoyed that he can't find a shot and try to rush a shot at your front again, resulting in a bounce if you ankle back quickly. Now if it was the other way around, and you're trying to bounce the E75's shot, you can face hug him and try to angle your tank so that he shoots your gun mantlet, the only armor you pretty much have. A lot of times, this tactic is extremely hard to pull off because it's much easier for the enemy to readjust their aim than for you to turn your whole tank, but there are some lucky times when you manage to pull it off.
- Large Autobounce Zones
Now if you were in an IS-3 in the above situation, your armor would have no chance of holding up against the ISU. To maximize your chance of bouncing a shot, angle. Are you kidding? Angling with a pike nose makes your armor way weaker. True, against opponents with 200 or below mm or penetration. Against higher tier opponents who can easily go through your front without even aiming, this creates a large auto bounce zone and a weak, albeit small, target where they can actually penetrate.
Since the IS-3's armor is pre angled to the sides, if you angle, one side becomes too sloped to penetrate. The other side is a small target, and by using wiggling techniques, you can make that target hard to hit as well as switching which side of the pike nose is the weak side by turning your tank back and forth. And since the ISU's BL-10 is very inaccurate, there's a decent chance he'll miss your one small weakspot and hit the heavily angled part of your tank everywhere else.
- Using Your Gun
This is a tactic that not very many people know about. When face hugging an enemy who is able to penetrate the majority of your turret, wiggling doesn't really matter as he can just shoot wherever on your turret. In this case, as long as he manages to land a shot on your turret, he will most likely penetrate, which is why you use your gun to try to block a shot.
If someone shoots right at your gun, most likely you will not lose any hit points, only getting a damaged or destroyed gun. So when face hugging, if wiggling won't work, try to aim your gun so that your gun barrel overlaps with the enemy's. It's extremely hard, as the enemy can just move his gun a little and you have to readjust your gun again, but there's still a chance that he only ends up damaging your gun, which can mean the difference between life and death (credit goes to Spinee for this tactic).
Table of Contents
- Proper Flanking
- Flexing
- Turning Around
- Engaging Multiple Enemies
- Different Ways of Flanking
A lot of times, someone will decide to flank all the way around the map just to get behind the enemies and then start trading shots with the heavy tanks that turn around to face him. Doing this is pointless, as it only takes on enemy to turn around and face you and kill you off, and you can't circle them as they're mostly within range of support, meaning you'll be shot from behind if you leave cover to circle him. This type of flanking works well in a group of fast tanks, where you can utterly destroy a lone enemy within seconds, but this rarely happens in public matches.
Let's say you and the other mediums on your team manage to take out the enemy mediums on Middleburg. There's only two of you left, and you start to go down into the town. Instead of flanking all the way around and shooting at the enemies in the back, you should either stay on the hills out of spotting distance so you can keep shooting at them without receiving return fire, or get up close, take a few shots at them, and when they turn to face you, find a different target to shoot at, unless they are completely alone. In my opinion you should be going back and instead flanking across the map, do a semi flank by finding a side position to shoot at the enemies actively engaging your teammates. They are already engaging your teammates so they can't pull away to shoot at you. Well, they can, but then you can just relocate. This is another way of flanking, and in my opinion, the better way.
The last type of flanking is something that can be done by all tanks as it requires very little mobility and should be done by everything. If you and a teammate are engaging an enemy tank on the opposite side of a large rock, pillar, or building, instead of popping out on the same side as your teammate, go around the object on the other side and shoot from there. It will force the enemy to take about one to three seconds adjusting where he has to aim. If he aims at you, you simply don't pop out and let your teammate take shots at him. When looks back at your teammate, then you can pop out again. You should always be aiming to do this kind of flanking, not only in mobile tanks.
- Flexing
People often say that in a fast tank, you have the ability to support a weakening flank. This is true, but they don't explain the other ways of flexing. A lot of the times, a fast medium tank doesn't have the ability to help a flank that's losing by more than two tanks, as one tank can't do much against three or four enemy tanks, unless the driver is very skilled and can see before the flank starts to crumble that they will need extra support. Just because your teammates are dying doesn't mean you should charge back and die with them.
When this happens you can set up a scouting position or an ambush, then quickly run back when you're spotted. That's flexing too. It can be early game as well, when you see that you're the only medium on your team and the enemy team has two, you can find a hull down position where you expect them to come just to hold them off for a few minutes until your team comes to help. Mediums can flex well meaning they can relocate to get extra damage in on the enemy, scout, or stall the enemy. They can also mean the difference between your team losing one against two or winning two against one. A medium tank is very annoying, and when the games close to the end and your low health teammate is battling against an enemy tank, you can often cause that tank to look towards you and not finish your ally, and together with the guy you just saved, finish him off.
- Turning Around
If you're forced to engage two tanks at one time, you most likely will not survive the encounter, and should run away. We've all had those moments when your last teammate is killed, and you become the main target. The only hope in this situation is to turn around and run away, hoping to engage the remaining enemies one on one. There are less enemies alive, so you can use your mobility to excel by fighting on your terms. You better hope the enemies don't have multiple medium that will chase you down together when you run away. However, if there is only one medium on the enemy team preventing you from escaping, there may be a chance still.
Staying to kill that medium first is not an option unless the other tanks are way too far away to help. But in this situation, they're all within 50 meters, and will be onto you within seconds if you run away. But if you run away, you have to look where you're going, and that allows the enemy medium to follow you since he has the speed to shoot you over and over until you die. How do you look forward and aim behind you at the same time? You don't. You allow auto aim to aim behind you. No, stop trying to be smart. If you pull away from the target to look forward, you break away from the auto aim. True, but there is a handy dandy little scroll that you can turn on in the settings that allow you to look around without moving your tank. This will not break away from the auto aim and will allow you to look forward while driving (you will have to lift your finger to click the fire button, causing the screen to turn back towards the medium you're locked onto again, but if you shoot fast, you should be able to scroll back within a second, so as long as you don't crash within that second, you'll be fine). However, this is auto aim, so don't expect to win all the time with this tactic. It may work, but it's still a last resort. You should expect it not to work and be happy if it does.
- Engaging Multiple Enemies
Now, if you were the last one left alive except the enemy team only outnumbers you two to one, then you can engage them both at one time and still win, as long as one of them is a tank destroyer or a really slow heavy. If you manage to circle a tank and get behind them, they become totally incapable of damaging you. This is why, in the above situation, you should aim to circle the heavy or tank destroyer, preventing him from damaging you, and instead of shooting at him, shoot at the other enemy tank. This works especially well when you have more health than the enemy tank your engaging, meaning you can trade shots and win, and the enemy your circling is very heavily armored and slow. This tactic works in early game as well, but you have to be sure there isn't a third tank hiding somewhere.
If you have less health than that enemy tank than you can do the opposite instead and focus on keeping that heavy or tank destroyer in between you two at all times and keep putting shots into him. This ensures that you can take at least one tank down with you if you do it right, as the tank you're circling can't shoot you and is providing cover from the other tank. After finishing the first tank, you can use him as cover to try to bounce shots from the remaining tank. Both of these strategies work; it's just a matter of preference.
Part I


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Don't Give a Damn About Joburg's Bad Reputation
19 February 2019
We arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa with zero plans but a steaming pile of prejudice against the city having encountered a few people who either lived in South Africa or had visited there. Everyone, and I mean everyone*, described the city as no less than the 10th Circle of Hell...but with more pickpockets. We arrived and quickly holed up in our 8th floor AirBnB apartment where we could look down at the city with an air of smug superiority.
Annoyingly, our spot was also filled with South Africans who quietly and patiently challenged our perceptions of the city with their "actual experience" from living in the city. As if. All joking aside, these guardian angels took us under their wings and introduced us to the real Joburg, the good, bad, and ugly. Stay tuned for some great podcasts with said guardian angels from Nate coming soon! They were careful to give a healthy amount of safety advice (...don't go north of this street...don't walk with bags or visible phones...don't look directly at the sun), but they also, and more importantly, introduced us to the diamonds in all that rough.
Joburg is unlike any city we've visited on this world tour. It lacked a clear tourist area with shopkeepers hawking African curios, real or imitation. Its bad reputation has kept the city largely untouched from would-be travelers. What is evident on the surface is a whole mess of scars from Apartheid. It seems like no less than a quarter of the buildings in the city lay empty and in varying states of decay. Meanwhile, the streets are unabashedly filled with homeless people who are prohibited by the government from squatting in the buildings. This is what remains in the wake of the great "white flight" from the city when Apartheid fell in 1994.
1994...I was eleven before Black Africans were given equal rights to Whites in South Africa. For nearly 50 years, the country's official policy was to keep White, Black, and Colored South Africans (Note: "Colored" in S. Africa refers to someone who is of mixed parentage, i.e. black and white parents. It does not carry the negative connotations of the same term used in America's history of Civil Rights) separate and never equal, a policy that the government policymakers authored after diligently researching other Nation's attempts at institutional segregation, including our own US of A. Nate and I did what we could to learn about Apartheid. We listened to Trevor Noah's book about growing up in the city as a Colored person (Xhosa mother and Swiss German father). We also talked with people who lived through Apartheid, both our Afrikaans host (Afrikaans = White South Africans of mostly Dutch heritage who arrived in S. Africa in the 17th century) and several Black Africans of various tribal backgrounds (Zulu, Xhosa, Tswana, etc.).
We learned all the horrifying details that you'd expect to hear from the systematic dehumanization of a people group. Especially cringe-worthy was how the Powers That Be (hereafter PTB) would determine what race someone was so that they knew how to appropriately classify them as first or second-class citizens. When skin color wasn't a clear enough indicator of race, the PTB would subject citizens to the pen test: this is where a person would literally have to stick a pen or pencil in their hair, and if it didn't slide right out, they were clearly Non-White. *Cringe*
So I guess Joburg does deserve some of its bad reputation, but only if you're living in the past; it's a new generation. The new generation knows why people prefer to avoid their beloved Jozi, but with all the mean-mugging that Joan Jett herself can muster, they simply don't give a damn. They're looking forward to a bright future and it shows.
We enlisted the help of some of these Inexhaustibly Optimistic Jozi Youth (hereafter IOJY) to take us out of our glass watchtower and into the heart of the city. The IOJY helped us sift through the ugly and see those diamonds, at times literally opening a door to a shabby, rundown building to reveal a pristine restaurant or hidden bar. We started with a free walking tour that had us walking in Nelson Mandela's footsteps. Then I took a three-hour tour of the fashion district. My host Charlie took me from fabric shops filled with bright, African prints to workshop floors where the prints were being transformed into the latest runway trends.
Lastly, we explored Maboneng, the hip part of the city that is the closest Johannesburg/Joburg/Jozi has to a tourist-y area. The featured part of the district is a little cooperative called the Arts on Main where several artisans sell their handmade treats and goods. The streets around the warehouse are lined with cool spots to eat, get coffee, and chat up some starving artists.
If the three tours weren't enough to convince me of Joburg's bright future, there was one last incident that sealed the deal. Nate and I, having graduated from our IOJY-tour-guide training wheels, went exploring on our own to find some fresh veggies at the nearby open-air market. We were waiting to cross a main thoroughfare when I saw an older, Black gentleman walking diagonally through the intersection. He caught my eye not only because of his lack of concern about being run over, but because his eyes were locked onto us. Those old prejudices started to reemerge with a sassy "I told you so" ready on the lips. I shifted my eyes quickly away hoping to avoid whatever inevitable unpleasantness was heading our way. As the man came to stand directly in front of us, I had no choice but to look up. There I found a wide grin as the man excitedly told us how this was the third time he'd seen us walking around the area. He instantly transformed from a would-be assailant to a doting grandfather. He was so happy to see some tourists and wanted to let us know in person. He clapped us each on the shoulder with a smile and then bid us a good stay in Joburg before walking off. Take that bad reputation...I won't listen to you anymore.
Oh no (no no no no no no)
Not me (me me me me me me)
*Except Liz Derr who told me she loved her trip there and actively encouraged me to go.


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Numerical study of damaged ship flooding in beam seas
Gao, Zhiliang and Gao, Qiuxin and Vassalos, Dracos (2013) Numerical study of damaged ship flooding in beam seas. Ocean Engineering, 61. pp. 77-87. ISSN 0029-8018 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oceaneng.2012.12.038)Full text not available in this repository.Request a copy
An integrated numerical method that couples a seakeeping solver based on the potential flow theory and a Navier-Stokes (NS) solver with the volume of fluid (VOF) model was developed to study the behaviour of a damaged ship in beam seas. The dynamics of water flooding and sloshing in the compartments were calculated by the NS solver, whereas the hydrodynamic forces induced by the sea waves on the external hull surface were calculated using the seakeeping solver. At each time step, the instantaneous ship motion was applied to the excitation of the internal water motion; the corresponding load inside the compartments was added to the resultant external force, which was used to update the ship's motion. To assess its performance, the integrated method was used to simulate the roll decay of a damaged Ro-Ro ferry and the ferry's motion in regular beam seas. Validation against experimental data showed that the proposed method can yield satisfactory results with acceptable computational costs.
ORCID iDsGao, Zhiliang, Gao, Qiuxin and Vassalos, Dracos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0929-6173;
Item type: Article ID code: 57266 Dates:DateEvent2013Published Keywords: damaged ship motion, floodwater motion, interactive dynamics, sea wave load, Naval architecture. Shipbuilding. Marine engineering, Ocean Engineering, Environmental Engineering Subjects: Naval Science > Naval architecture. Shipbuilding. Marine engineering Department: University of Strathclyde > University of Strathclyde
Faculty of Engineering > Naval Architecture, Ocean & Marine Engineering
Depositing user: Pure Administrator Date deposited: 04 Aug 2016 11:12 Last modified: 01 Oct 2022 03:03 Related URLs: URI: https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/id/eprint/57266


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Hi There!
Finally getting back into the swing of posting!
A Blog Friend of Mine - Coley - asked if I would create a little goodie for some very special ladies that she works with at BirthMom Buds, which is a not for profit organization that provides support to birthmothers (women who placed children for adoption) and pregnant women considering adoption. Each year on the weekend before Mother's Day they have a big retreat in Charlotte, NC for birthmothers and they needed items to fill goodie bags for these ladies! COUNT ME IN!
Anyhoo...this is what I cam up with for the lovely ladies...hope they enjoy their retreat and a little "spoiling" as well! These are Mini Clipboards made out of blank coasters with an altered binder clip and a matching "Pebble Magnet" for the frig! So cute but so easy - and useful as well! These are a great way to get rid of all those DSP scraps that you have laying around your craft room! These are always a big seller for me at my craft shows. Check out all the details for these below....
Blank 3.5x3.5 Coasters - Blockhead Crafts
DSP - scraps I had laying around the room
ModPodge used to attached DSP to coaster
Medium Binder Clips - Staples
Glass Pebbles - Hobby Lobby (flower dept)
Stamps - Papertret Ink
1/2" magnet - Sun and Moon Crafts - Etsy
1/2" magnet - Sun and Moon Crafts - Etsy
Thanks for Looking!


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Business Ethics
Inventive tricks to get hold of business finance focuses on strategies to acquire capital, which is a crucial element for the success of any commerce. Throughout town, the steel encasing his workplace at the Association of Banks in Lebanon told the opposite side of the story as a nation with barely sufficient money for necessities hurtled towards the primary debt default in its history. The current financial mess we're in now could be due partially to monetary institutions appearing a authorized method but not essentially an ethical one. Loans were given out with out due diligence, resulting in subprime mortgages and what have you. Perhaps if banks would have taken more moral initiative, and not simply handed out loans to people that clearly were not able to repay them, a few of this financial disaster could have been avoided.
Given the epidemic, corporates and native governments are likely tougher hit than the households. It is therefore possible that the central authorities might be extra lenient in native government debt scenario," mentioned Amy Yuan Zhuang, chief analyst at Nordea Markets. Some of the fraudulent establishments ever perpetrated on the American individuals and the world, is the Federal Reserve System. Banks were shoved into the spotlight when King Mohammed VI in October ordered lenders within the North African nation to open the credit taps for entrepreneurs and small businesses. The monarch's tackle to lawmakers brought about the committee to overview its priorities and transfer banks ahead of a planned probe into cement companies, which it plans to look into over allegations of high prices and anti-competitive habits, Bouanou said.
Yesterday the Irish Government have been forced to admit that they'd got it totally fallacious in regards to the bank bail-out that that they had guaranteed two years ago. The Irish Government had to purchase Allied Irish Financial institution yesterday with monies from the national pension reserve fund. The Irish Government had been also pressured to confess that the final invoice for bailing-out Anglo Irish Bank could be in extra of 35 Billion, leaving the Irish Tax payer will exposure of not less than 65 Billion Euro.
Socio-economic costs associated with hyperinflation embody: erosion of buying power parity, increased uncertainty in business planning and budgeting, diminished disposable income, speculative actions that divert sources from productive actions, pressure on the home change fee attributable to elevated import demand and poor returns on financial savings. During this era, to enhance revenue there was increased cross border buying and selling as well as commodity broking by people who imported from China, Malaysia and Dubai. This effectively meant that imported substitutes for local products intensified competitors, adversely affecting native industries.
Fleet risk management is the process in making certain that firms do as a lot as possible to make sure that company car drivers are insured, secure and as conscious of dangers whereas out on the street. All isn't lost. Even after the decline on Monday, the S&P is still up one hundred forty p.c over the last 10 years. And the scorching bond market rally — bond prices go up as yields go down — has delivered outsize returns to many individual buyers. Mutual funds and E.T.F.s holding longer-term U.S. authorities bonds were up 22 p.c thus far this yr as of Friday, in accordance with Morningstar.


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|Hear this word that Yahweh has spoken against you, children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up out of the land of Egypt, saying,
|You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will visit on you all your iniquities.
|Shall two walk together, except they have agreed?
|Will a lion roar in the forest, when he has no prey? will a young lion cry out of his den, if he have taken nothing?
|Can a bird fall in a snare on the earth, where no gin is set for him? shall a snare spring up from the ground, and have taken nothing at all?
|Shall the trumpet be blown in a city, and the people not be afraid? shall evil befall a city, and Yahweh has not done it?
|Surely the Lord Yahweh will do nothing, except he reveal his secret to his servants the prophets.
|The lion has roared; who will not fear? The Lord Yahweh has spoken; who can but prophesy?
|Publish you in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria, and see what great tumults are therein, and what oppressions in the midst of it.
|For they don't know to do right, says Yahweh, who store up violence and robbery in their palaces.
|Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: An adversary there shall be, even round about the land; and he shall bring down your strength from you, and your palaces shall be plundered.
|Thus says Yahweh: As the shepherd rescues out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the children of Israel be rescued that sit in Samaria in the corner of a couch, and on the silken cushions of a bed.
|Hear you, and testify against the house of Jacob, says the Lord Yahweh, the God of hosts.
|For in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel on him, I will also visit the altars of Bethel; and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground.
|I will strike the winter-house with the summer-house; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, says Yahweh.


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The demand for security doors has increased because the number of theft and crime has increased significantly over the years. There are a number of users who use security doors for homes, shops, commercial buildings, as well as on their business premises.
There are various types of doors made of different materials, and aluminum doors are very popular. Galvanized metal doors are highly protected from all types of interference by thieves and thieves.
Unique features such as strength, durability, fire resistance, strength, and a sophisticated locking system offer advantages over other types of doors. You can also choose best aluminium security doors in Sydney for better protection for your home.
Image Source: Google
Here are some of the advantages that can be achieved when installing aluminum doors:
1. Strength
This is one of the main advantages of aluminum doors compared to the others. The material is stiff and is not easy to bend under high pressure. Therefore, thieves and invaders can easily find it difficult to get to where they should be.
This material is also very durable and guarantees service for more than 30 years.
2. Color area
This is also the reason why modern homeowners install aluminum doors on top of other types of doors. The doors can be powder coated and anodized, giving users the freedom to choose various colors to suit their tastes and preferences.
3. Be precise and supportive
If you want to increase your security at an affordable price, of course, it is advisable to choose the type of door. Aluminum doors are also very easy to maintain because most homeowners have busy lives.


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Honesty. You should expect this from every flight school, but misleading sales tactics and misinformation have become all too common in this industry. No matter where you train, be sure to ask plenty of questions. We won't try to sell you a huge overpriced package, or give you misleading information about the industry. Becoming a career helicopter pilot can be challenging and you should know this up front, before you spend your money.
Experience. We have worked in the helicopter industry for years and have experience flying in many different training environments all over the United States. In addition to being a flight school, we are also an active commercial operator. You as the student will benefit from our real-world experience and expertise.
Flexibility. At Vertical Advantage Helicopters you are in control of your flight training. You can train multiple times a day, or as infrequently as you wish. We are available 7 days a week with flexible hours for all your flight training needs. At Vertical Advantage Helicopters we work around your schedule.
Pay as-you-go. Many flight schools want to sell you a huge package filled with hidden fees and unnecessary expenses. They often require a large deposit or the total price of training before you can begin. You don't pay for college or any other education in this manner, so why would you pay for your flight training this way? At Vertical Advantage Helicopters all billing is done on a lesson by lesson basis. We do not require, or encourage the customer to pay for any flight training expenses up front. This protects YOUR MONEY. At Vertical Advantage Helicopters you buy exactly what you need, and skip what you don't. For more information about why pre-paying for flight training is an extremely bad idea, click here.
Superior Equipment. We fly Enstrom helicopters. Enstrom helicopters are the safest piston helicopters in the world. Enstrom helicopters have a margin of safety and performance that is unmatched in the piston helicopter world. Their sturdy design, solid reputation, and extreme margin of safety make them ideal training helicopters.
Unlike other popular helicopters, Enstrom helicopters were designed for training and are not subject to any special federal aviation regulations (SFAR No. 73). This can save you thousands of dollars in flight training costs, and allow you to be a marketable pilot much sooner.
Aircraft rental after certification. If you complete your primary helicopter training with us, you will be able to rent the helicopter, and take passengers the day you get your pilot certificate. While you might expect this would be true at every flight school, it is not. Many new pilots are surprised to find out that the insurance policy at the flight school they trained at does not cover them for passenger carrying rental after they are certified. When you complete your training with us, you will be a fully prepared and capable helicopter pilot. We are confident in our training program, and trust you with our aircraft upon completion.
Expertly Maintained Aircraft. At Vertical Advantage Helicopters we take our job of providing students with the safest training helicopters very seriously. All of our aircraft are maintained 100% according to the manufacturer's maintenance specifications at our factory authorized Enstrom Service Center.
Fixed wing experience can benefit you in the fact that you will already have knowledge of basic aviation fundamentals such as navigation, radio communication, weather, etc. However it is ABSOLUTELY NOT necessary to have any fixed-wing experience. Airplanes and helicopters are totally different. While the FAA minimums for an "add-on" rating requires less hours you will find that many students require more than the minimums.
We are located at the Lebanon Warren County Airport (I68). The Warren County Airport is centrally located between Cincinnati and Dayton Ohio. We operate in Class G airspace, directly underlying Class E airspace. We are less than 25 minutes from Dayton's Class C and Cincinnati's Class B airspace allowing students the opportunity to obtain real world experience in busier environments.
We get a lot of calls and e-mails concerning using the Montgomery G.I. Bill to pay for flight training. There is a lot of confusing information out there, so we will try to give you some good basic information about how it works. First, the Montgomery G.I. Bill cannot be used to pay for any expenses related to your private pilot certificate. Essentially, you must be at least a private pilot before you can use the G.I. Bill for flight training. Once you hold a private pilot certificate the G.I. Bill can be used to pay for approximately 60% of your flight training. Many people are led to believe that they can use the G.I. Bill for any flight training expenses, this simply is not the case. No matter where you go you will first need a private pilot certificate before you can use your G.I. Bill benefits in this manner.
Usually, the follow-up question is, "Ok, once I get my private pilot's certificate can I use the G.I. Bill for flight training at Vertical Advantage Helicopters?"At this time we can not accept these benefits.
Please visit the following links for more information about current scholarship programs.
HFI Scholarships
Whirly Girls Scholarships
Learning to fly a helicopter can be a very challenging endeavor. Like most skills, practice makes perfect. We recommend flying a minimum of once a week to maintain your proficiency and build on what you have already learned.
This is entirely up to you and will be determined by your goals and availability for training. We have a very flexible training program and can design a training program that fits your schedule. A private pilot applicant could finish in as little as 8-12 weeks. While this would certainly be an ambitious training regimen, it is possible with the right amount of focus and dedication. The part-time student could spread his/her training over a 6-12 month period, or longer if needed.
For those pursuing advanced ratings such as a commercial certificate and a flight instructor rating, this can be completed in as little as 10-12 months. At Vertical Advantage Helicopters you decide how frequently you fly and how quickly you complete the program.
There are a variety of study materials that will help you towards your goal of becoming a pilot. Many of the FAA publications are free to download in a .PDF file. You can also purchase a hard copy from just about any online bookseller for a small charge.
Helicopter Flying Handbook Click link for this free PDF download, the definitive guidebook for helicopter flying.
More Free FAA PDF downloads A listing of other free aviation related handbooks and information packets.
The total amount of money spent on your training depends on you and your goals. Students who fly frequently during the training process have a proven track record of completing training in a more timely fashion and at a lower cost. While the FAA lists minimums on the various ratings sought, not all students complete their rating in the minimum number of hours. For a private pilot rating you can plan on completing an average of 50-60 hours of training. A commercial rating requires 150 hours (see Rates for details).
For those pursuing a career as a helicopter pilot the comparison of a commercial rating with that of a 4-year college degree is very comparable and usually less than the degree. In addition, you can also earn college credit towards an aviation degree while completing your training with us.
No experience is required. We have many years of experience training everybody from aviation newcomers to retired airline captains.
You can expect to spend $100-$400 on various supplies such as textbooks, interactive software, etc. In addition you will spend $90-$150 dollars for a flight physical and $175 for an FAA knowledge test. Headsets are provided in the helicopter for student use, so there is no need to purchase a headset. The fee for the FAA practical test can be found in our Rates section.
No. All training is done in a real helicopter from day one.
You will need to bring payment in the form of cash or credit card for your helicopter time. You should also bring a pilot's logbook to keep track of your flight time. You don't absolutely need a logbook for your first flight, but we highly recommend getting one soon after. Logbooks are inexpensive and can be found at pilot shops in most airports. Our airport has a pilot shop with logbooks for sale.
You will need to bring proof of your United States citizenship. This can be verified by one of the following:
These documents must be verified and copied prior to your first lesson. These documents are not required for Discovery Flights.
Vertical Advantage Helicopters conducts training under part 61.
Yes, you can still receive helicopter training, although the process is more involved. You will need to register with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and be approved prior to training with us. To start the application process visit TSA's alien flight student training website at: https://www.flightschoolcandidates.gov/. If you have any questions or problems with the process feel free to email us or call us at 513-746-7994.
The simple answer is, as soon as you would like. At Vertical Advantage Helicopters all training is one-on-one and personalized to your learning preferences. You will never have to delay your training waiting for group classes to start.
Yes. At Vertical Advantage Helicopters safety is our primary focus. We are extremely proud of our 100% perfect safety record. We are a registered air tour operator, and part 135 air carrier. Our aircraft are subject to greater inspection standards and scrutiny than most general aviation aircraft. We fly Enstrom helicopters, which according to recent NTSB statistics are the safest helicopters in production.
The simple answer is, wherever you want. Some of our common requests include flights over downtown Cincinnati and Dayton. We also can fly over your home or where you work. Every tour flight can be customized to exactly where you want to go.
Yes! We encourage you to bring a camera and to take as many pictures as you wish.
We can take up to 2 passengers (weight dependent).
Physical Address:
Vertical Advantage Helicopters2460 Greentree Rd.Lebanon, OH 45036
Phone:(513) 746-7994
Coordinates:39° 27′ 44″ N, 84° 15′ 7″ W


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International Conference, 29 – 31 March 2017, Vienna, Austria
Host Institution: Interdisciplinary Centre for Urban Culture and Public Space, Department of Spatial Planning, Faculty of Architecture and Planning, TU Wien, Karlsgasse 13/2, 1040 Wien
Conference Venue: TU Wien Sky Lounge, 11th Floor, Getreidemarkt 9, 1060 Wien
Conference Programme 29 – 30 March 2017
Book of Abstracts
The Interdisciplinary Centre for Urban Culture and Public Space at the Faculty of Architecture and Planning, TU Wien, invites participation in the conference Unsettled: urban routines, temporalities and contestations. The conference aims to explore conditions and conceptions of the unsettled. Urban life is characterized by diverse manifestations of instability which continuously stretch or redefine the social order and community infrastructures of cities: everyday struggles related to the capitalist system of production, revolutions in political life and political system overthrows, quests for dominance and their oppositions in political, social, economic, ecological or cultural domains. These unsettling practices simultaneously challenge and nourish a variety of idea(l)s of the city as an inclusive place of liberation, cooperation, equal opportunities and shared (better) futures. The goal of the conference is thus to (1) understand the uncertainties, disturbances, inconsistencies, residuals and blind fields which constitute the urban both as lived space and the political idea(l), and (2) foster an inquiry into the socio-political potentialities of unsettling and re-settling urban routines, temporalities and contestations.
The conference explores different notions of unsettled, and thus invites contributions reflecting one or more of the following aspects:
- unsettled as a condition or pre-requisite for urban change, where established political practices are challenged by (voices aiming at) incremental or more radical change;
- unsettled in the sense of the uneven making of public space through contrasting relations of power across daily routines and transformative urban strategies;
- unsettled as a state of mind which results from practices of unsettling which affect individuals and groups in both constructive and destructive ways;
- the acceptance of unsettled as a description of urban realities which are socially produced in and of material space – such as where people are displaced from their homes through warfare or economic and urban restructuring;
- and finally, of unsettled as a paradox, where the city is understood as both a place of settlement of buildings and populations while also a site of unsettlement through trajectories of constant change.
We look forward to original contributions that examine these dimensions considering the past, present or future of the city, urban societies and urbanization processes. During the conference we will discuss such urban realities in the context of unsettled places, conditions, structures, actors, collectives, populations, routines, realms and situations of the city.
Embedded in the City of Vienna Visiting Professorship Programme at TU Wien, the conference works across urban practice and urban theory. In this context, the conference will emphasize urban culture and public space as areas for intersecting research and action which explores notions of the unsettled in contemporary cities. We invite interdisciplinary public from universities, research institutes, offices, public authorities, activists, consultancies, and others to present critical, subversive, reflexive, interventionist, activist and visionary research, ideas and practices concerning notions of the unsettled.
Keynote Speakers
Prof. Dr. Mustafa Dikec, Professor of Urban Studies, Ecole d'Urbanisme de Paris and LATTS, France
Keynote Speech Mustafa Dikec: audio record
Prof. Dr. Sophie Watson, Professor of Sociology, Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences, Open University, UK
Keynote Speech Sophie Watson: audio record
Opening Words
Rector of TU Wien, Prof. Dr. Sabine Seidler: audio record
Dean of the Faculty of Architecture and Planning, Prof. DI Rudolf Scheuvens: audio record
Head of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Urban Culture and Public Space, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sabine Knierbein: audio record
The conference is organized into three themes:
Session Chairs: Sybille Frank and Tihomir Viderman
This theme puts urban routines centre stage for their intertwinement with both (settled) urban social order and (unsettling) revolutionary or subversive moments. Urban routines are constituted, conceived of, celebrated, contested, dismissed and curbed with regard to an infinite range of their respective material occurrences: from the ordinariness of everyday life, such as kids skateboarding in front of town halls, to grand historical events, such as disruptions of political celebrations by civil opponents. They are sets of doings, sayings, tasks and projects through which individuals, collectives and institutions tacitly or purposefully engage in the unsettled urban conditions. Urban routines also emerge as thought-through and consciously produced (institutional) practices. We may think of routines of how a city is governed and administered, how economies are organized and performed, or how performative acts shape public places. Urban routines could also be considered in respect of involved practices of arts producers, strategies and tactics of political activists or means of how the city is imagined, conceptualized and planned by professionals. All of these routinized practices may be unsettled. If unsettled, routines become reflexive. Acknowledging that routines are commonly established under reoccurring and reliable (thus settled) conditions, but can also be an adequate answer to continuous unsettlement (e.g. as routines of war or financial crisis), we invite contributions that investigate how urban routines are being unsettled, reintroduced or invented anew in conditions of unsettled.
Session Chairs: Sabine Knierbein and Ed Wall
The second theme will focus on relations between notions of unsettled and urban temporalities. In the contexts of constant construction and cyclical rhythms of redevelopment and everyday life in contemporary cities – accelerated, disruptive and faltering on one side, and stabilizing, routinizing and socialising on the other, we aim to explore narratives, conceptions and visions of what urban temporalities entail. Urban design, which aims to realise new plans, frequently dismantles historic forms and displaces activities. Ambitions to complete architectural spaces can be understood to restrict the necessary temporal conditions of public spaces as sites of contested discourse and action. In contrast, practices of unsettling can also open up moments for innovative ideas, spaces and ways of life to emerge. They can be employed to question existing power structures and nostalgic claims of urban order, territorial divisions and political hierarchies. Unsettling can provide the foundation of migrant narratives, departures, journeys and shared trajectories entwined with hopes for more stable futures. Yet unsettling through the use of the politics of time can be a tool for disruption, displacement and dispossession. We welcome contributions, which highlight the critical concerns for what is lost or gained through practices of unsettling that work with different, sometimes colliding, versions of speed, velocity, acceleration, break, pause, periodization and time in general.
Session Chairs: Elina Kränzle and Nikolai Roskamm
The city is a place of conflict and contestation, and as such, it constantly enters into conflictual and ambiguous – or unsettled – relations with its institutional form. It is in the city, that unsettled publics have continued to contest power relations and hegemonic rule demanding economic, social and environmental equality, across various political spectres and scales. In the context of the economic crisis, urban movements called for their right to the city, against the imposition of the state's austerity policies. City governments and citizens alike contest the rise of nationalist and racist sentiments that have come to the surface in recent national elections. In cities around the world, urban dwellers and citizens contest the on-going mega-development of increasingly segregated urban neighbourhoods in their struggle against displacement. Contestation, by definition political, emerges out of changing urban realities and opens the field of the possible. It may help to overcome latent crises and challenges hierarchies, centres of power, and static forms of bureaucratization. Looking at cities as the contact points for social and political transformations, the theme discusses the role of conflict in cities, and the continued negotiating and (un)settling of social order. In this third session we aim to stress forms of critical and reflexive contestation. Both, theoretical approaches (for instance, concepts of antagonism, agonism, violence, conflict, spontaneity) and reports from contested urban realities are welcome.
ADD-ON-Day Programme, 31 March 2017
For the third day of the conference we have invited colleagues at universities, as well as institutional and non-institutional actors in Vienna and beyond to organize workshops and excursions. In various sites in the city of Vienna these workshops and excursions will create a space of exchange on design, research or performative strategies and programmes as well as urban policy in connection with broader theoretical and practical debates concerning the unsettled. The organisers of the Add-On-Day workshops, excursions and workshop-excursions offered on 31 March ("Add-On-Day") are in charge of the contents and organization of the workshops. The team of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Urban Culture and Public Space, along with the Scientific Committee of the Conference, support the organisers by taking care of the registration modalities for these workshops.
Participants of the conference are invited to register for either 1) a workshop (W1-3) in the morning and an excursion (E1-3) in the afternoon, or 2) for one workshop and excursion combined (WE1, WE2). The events are designed for 10-25 participants and might be rearranged according to the number of participants. Find more information on workshops and excursions here:
The Association of European Schools of Planning's Thematic Group Public Spaces and Urban Cultures, Future LAB Öffentlicher Raum as well TRACCE Urbano, Urban Research Network and INURA Vienna will organize events as part of the Add-On Day. Furthermore the Endowed Professorship for Research in Visionary Cities, the local urban renewal offices GB*3/11 & GB*2/20 and GB*7/8/16 & GB*9/17/18, as well as the Caritas Project Community Cooking will offer insights into their work in workshops and excursions.
Scientific Committee
Sybille Frank – Prof. Dr. for Urban Sociology and the Sociology of Space, TU Darmstadt, Germany, City of Vienna Visiting Professor 2016, TU Wien
Sabine Knierbein – Assoc. Prof. Dr., TU Wien; Head of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Urban Culture and Public Space, TU Wien
Elina Kränzle – Univ. Ass. MSc BSc, TU Wien
Nikolai Roskamm – Prof. Dr. phil. habil. for Planning Theory, Urban Design History and Sustainable Urbanism, FH Erfurt, Germany, City of Vienna Visiting Professor 2015, TU Wien
Tihomir Viderman – Univ. Ass. Dipl-Ing MSc, TU Wien
Ed Wall – Academic Leader Landscape, MUP, University of Greenwich, UK; City of Vienna Visiting Professor 2017, TU Wien
Doctoral Seminar "Doing Urban Studies"
The participants of the Doctoral Seminar "Doing Urban Studies" engaged in the documentation of the various speakers' contributions throughout keynote speeches and the three thematic sessions on urban routines, temporalities and contestations. read more
Exercise "Mapping a Conference"
A group of bachelor and master students involved in the course "Unsettled. Mapping a conference" produced two short movies, which have been displayed in the course of the Evening Reception at AzW. These are available via the following links:
Sponsoring and Partners
City of Vienna (Visiting Professorship Programme), Vice Rectorate for Research and Innovation, TU Wien; Faculty for Architecture and Planning, TU Wien; Department of Spatial Planning, TU Wien; Architekturzentrum Wien Az W.


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The new face of independence: Autonomy, partnerships and technology
Change is coming to independent trucking, says Dennis Brannon, a former owner-operator based in Columbia, S.C. He believes that as the Millennial generation (those born during the 15 or 20 years following the early 1980s) takes the reins of trucking, a more fluid, broadly connected business model will define the most successful owner-operators.
Brannon, who heads Artisan Logistics, an independent agency in Landstar System's network, already sees a surge of interest among younger drivers in operating independently, whether owning a truck or leasing equipment.
"The Millennials want to be more independent," he says. "They want that flexibility. They're tired of working for the man, and they want results now."
Brannon's not alone in his thinking.
The ability to tie the financial side of the business seamlessly into the systems of carrier and brokerage partners will make it easier for independent contractors of any generation to run with their own carrier authority, leading to growth in that segment of the owner-operator world.
Helping to launch this trend is the profusion of networked mobile computing tools and access to information for operational, financial and relationship-building purposes. It will help the owner-operator to evolve further into "a more business-minded person," says ATBS President Todd Amen, whose financial services firm works with thousands of owner-operators, most of them leased.
Amen also looks forward to a generation reared on smartphone apps and videos, eager to tinker with the business status quo of trucking. Brannon believes that the on-demand transactional models that mobile communications technology and the Internet itself have begun to facilitate will become entrenched in the trucking business as that generation takes over.
"Those under the age of 35 I've talked to – they don't want to put in a year or two to get their head beat in," run ragged by a large long-haul carrier for years before achieving independence, Brannon says. Motor carrier authority, as well as leased rather than owned equipment, will be more attractive, he adds.
Operators will use real-time information more readily to guide efficiency in load negotiation and the ultimate transaction. Baseline telematics systems in virtually all trucks, embedded in their hardware or via operator smartphones or other devices, will present new tools to a population that has not had much opportunity to use them.
Comfort with information sharing will grow, says Jay Thompson of Transportation Business Associates. "You'll be able to do a better job of personal time-planning, managing your log time. Information sharing [with shippers and receivers] will make the flow of freight in and out better."
Traditionally, owner-operators "never are 100 percent safe" when times get tough, particularly in an exclusive lease to a carrier with a large number of company drivers and owned assets to protect, says Gary Carlisle. No longer driving, he owns a truck and manages the small private fleet of oil and gas services company Agri-Empresa in Midland, Texas.
However, if Brannon and others are correct, tomorrow's owner-operators may be more willing to assume such risk. What's more, continued diversification of business partners for the most independent of truck operators holds potential to reduce the risk.
"There's an increasing kind of osmosis between the big guys and the small guys" in accounting, vehicle and driver monitoring, and other areas, Thompson says.
One example is Trucker Path's routing and load-matching application, which integrates transportation management software, says Charles Myers, vice president of strategy.
Integrated TMS tools help manage functions such as load negotiation, invoice collection, tax accounting and profit analysis. Integrated TMS tools for small fleets already are available from companies such as DAT and Truckstop.com, and they will be a growing boon to owner-operators, he says.
"If the guy can fill out his cost matrix in the back end of the [software] – fuel, insurance, tires – this software will quickly spit out what his profit is and how he's doing with his loads," Myers says. "Managing all of the costs and trying to figure out where's the sweet spot on their rate per mile" could become much easier.
Amen says such widely available and affordable tools will increasingly "free up the driver to not be tied exclusively to massive systems and massive companies."
A multiplicity of business partners, even for those operating without authority, could evolve into the norm. Given increasing connection between the truck cab and the back office, the threat to today's exclusive-lease model is real.
"More so than it happens today, [owner-operators] might haul for multiple carriers rather than one," says Thompson. He foresees it being commonplace that an independent with his own authority may "pull a Schneider or Swift trailer from point to point and then get someone else's trailer to go back."
Or a nonexclusive blended leasing model, with carriers agreeing to share capacity, may emerge as a norm. Something similar is happening today in the Omnitracs Sylectus Alliance Network, particularly prevalent among expedited carriers using the Sylectus TMS.
The platform allows carriers to easily reach out to others using the system for needed capacity when a load can't get covered, streamlining such transactions.