text:
Having gynecomastia is no fun. I was drawn to performing treatment for gynecomastia with surgery after realizing how much gynecomastia negatively affects those who have it (not to mention their friends and loved ones). Living with gynecomastia is a daily issue—from deciding what to wear every morning to avoiding social situations that could result in embarrassment.
So how does living with gynecomastia affect my every day life? After treating as many gynecomastia patients as I have, I can answer that question with everything I've learned from my patient stories, and ultimately about the motivation they all had to make a positive difference in their life and treat the condition.
After you finally decide what you are going to wear that day and determine what activities and spaces you are going to avoid (you certainly aren't going to take you shirt off at the office pool party), you will likely spend most of the day with your shoulders hunched so your condition is less noticeable. Every day you live with a condition that you think about, that reminds you, that you are ashamed of.
Gynecomastia comes in various shapes and forms. The universal constant is that in many guys it plays with your head. Over a long period of time, this can lead to maladaptive behaviors that change who you are and can influence who you may be in the future.
I see the reality of this situation every day in my practice and it is my hope, that by increasing awareness and lowering the barriers for treatment, that I help those who suffer and save those who are just beginning their journey with gynecomastia.
Timing is everything. The earlier we are able to treat those with this condition the more likely they will not suffer permanent mental damage. In most cases, it starts during puberty, which occurs sometime around ages 10-12. If it is not gone in a year or two, and if you are preoccupied by gyno and it has been a source of humiliation, this is the time to seek medical advice.
Life is too short and precious to waste being burdened with gynecomastia. Fix it with gynecomastia surgery and move on. I am here to help, but you have to take the first step. Liberation can be an Online Consultation away!


text:
Dog and Cat Door Installation
We love getting calls for pet door installation because we love pets! Mr. Handyman is the preferred pet door installer of PlexiDor Performance Pet Doors.
Exterior Door With Pet Door Installation
Pet door options exist that allow family pets to go outside and come back in again without your assistance. Learn more about these products, and then talk to your professional handyman about which one best suits your situation.
Installing Screen Doors
Screen doors open your home to the outside world. Get the lowdown on choosing, repairing, replacing and installing the right screen doors for your home.
How to Order Sliding Glass Doors or Exterior French Doors
Incorporate the beauty of your outdoor space into the design of your indoor space with glass doors. Compare options and choose between sliding patio doors and exterior French doors.
Choosing the Perfect Front Door For Your Home
Your front door offers up the first impression of your house. Explore your options before you choose the perfect style and material to complement the architecture of your home.
Pick the Right Hardware For Your Entry Door
Choose hardware for your front door that complements both the architectural style of your home and its interior décor. Consider type, style, finish, and additional hardware to complete the look.
Adding Style with a Glass Entry Door
Make a stylish statement by adding an entry door with glass to the front of your home. Consider style elements, glass type, and architectural style to make the best choice for your new entryway.
Do I Need a Professional Installer to Replace a Sliding Glass Door?
Replacing a sliding glass door might not be the ideal DIY job for a homeowner. You'll need to consider transporting the doors, special tools needed, and the amount of time the task will take depending on experience and skill level.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Corporate Retreats
Located just 40 km south of Canmore, Alberta and a short two-hour drive from Calgary International Airport, the lodge is easily accessible by car while maintaining a backcountry feel. We offer a unique and incredible private setting for your team to connect without distractions and gain inspiration from the pristine wild of Kananaskis.
All meals are included at Mount Engadine, from afternoon tea on the day of your arrival to lunch on your day of departure. Our spacious dining area is ideal for a meeting space, with tables that can easily be reconfigured to meet your group's needs. There are also three sitting areas if you desire a more casual setting.
The lodge comes equipped with a projector and screen for your presentation needs, and we have lodge Wi-Fi available to all our guests. Although we are out of cellular range, our staff would be happy to accommodate your gathering with a conference call to connect back to the office.
Our knowledgeable staff can help arrange excursions like group hikes, snowshoeing, or guided trips. We can assist in arranging any equipment you require, and our staff of passionate guides will ensure a memorable experience.
Our lodge accommodates up to 39 adults depending on room assignments. Price include daily breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner. There is also a yurt available that can accommodate four people (should any of your guests feel adventurous).
Book a Retreat
(587) 807-0570
Lodge Features
- 9 rooms
- 5 heated, year-round glamping tents
- 4-person yurt
- sleeps up to 39 adults
Dining area tables can be reconfigured to meet your needs.
4 meals included
Alcohol Services
Full bar on site.
Projector + WIFI
- Project and screen
- Wi-Fi available


text:
Pandemic Flu
How can I help prevent pandemic flu and protect myself and my family from catching it?
Follow these steps to avoid catching any kind of flu:
- Wash your hands properly and often. This page shows all the steps to proper hand washing.
- If you aren't near a sink, use an alcohol-based cleaner to wash your hands. Use enough alcohol-based cleaner to keep your hands wet for a minimum of 20 seconds. Rub your hands together as the cleaner dries. Make sure you rub the cleaner all over your hands. Don't forget to rub between your fingers, the backs of your hands and under your fingernails.
- Cover your coughs and sneezes. Cough or sneeze into your sleeve, not your hand. If you cough up phlegm (mucus), spit it into a tissue, throw the tissue away and wash your hands properly right away.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread that way.
- Stay at home if you are sick. If you have flu symptoms, call your doctor or health-care provider. Depending on your symptoms, they may tell you to stay home or to come to the clinic or hospital.
- Use a regular household disinfectant to wash common surfaces every day. Make sure you wash:
- counters, taps and sinks in your bathroom and kitchen
- bedside tables
- children's toys
- computer keyboards
- desks and tabletops
- Wipe surfaces with paper towels that can be thrown away or cloth towels that can be washed afterwards. Use soap and water to clean the toys and objects that young children may put in their mouths.
- Stay away from people who may be sick.
- If possible, avoid crowded places.
- Keep good airflow in your home by opening windows.
- Stay healthy overall: get enough sleep, eat healthy food, exercise.
If you have a long-term lung disease like asthma or COPD, take extra steps to protect yourself.


text:
Posted on October 19, 2018 in: General News
Have you ever felt called to visit hospitalized patients and bring the Eucharist to Catholic patients? The Pastoral Services Department at Mercy Hospital is currently recruiting committed active Catholic lay persons to be Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion to the sick. Training, mentoring and support will be provided. This commitment would require about two hours of your time each visit to Mercy Hospital. You will be scheduled as often as you prefer, and the time of the visits to patients is lexible. Please call Fr. Tom (417.887.0600) if you are interested.
Immaculate Conception
3555 South Fremont,
Springfield, MO 65804
Phone: 417-887-0600
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Office Hours: 8:00 AM – 4:30 PM


text:
I'm firmly in favour of the referendum on whether Scotland should be an independent country, and that the vote should be honoured, to the fullest extent, which ever way it goes.
For me, that means that if there is a no vote, the union continues, and each member of the union should get the same rights, and have the same responsibilities, as the others. In turn, that would mean creating a National Assembly or equivalent for England, which has the same rights and powers for England as the Scottish and Welsh equivalents. The current arrangements mean that Scottish and Welsh MPs get to vote on all legislation affecting England, but English MPs do not get to vote on all legislation affecting Scotland and Wales, since some of that is done in their assemblies. I don't see why the English shouldn't get the same flexibility on certain areas of policy as the other parts of the Union.
If the vote is for independence, it should be for exactly that, a fully independent Scotland completely separate from the UK as far as it can be, including fiscally. If it were down to me, and practicality wasn't an issue, I'd instate border controls as well. However, being pragmatic, and given the precedent with Ireland, that's not really feasible.
Personally, I think both the UK and Scotland are better off with Scotland continuing to be a part of the UK, in the same way I think both the UK and EU will be better off with the UK remaining a part of the EU.
Scotland maintaining fiscal union with the UK smacks of the UK attitude to Europe – keep the bits that we like, but leave the rest, and I think that's taking the piss.


text:
79% of Scots back deposit system for bottles
ALMOST four out of five Scots back the introduction of a deposit refund system for drinks in bottles and cans, a survey has found.
The Association for the Protection of Rural Scotland (APRS) said Scottish ministers are now "looking positively" at such a scheme in a bid to increase recycling rates.
The Scottish Government already has the power to introduce such an initiative under the Climate Change (Scotland) Act of 2009 and APRS has now published polling showing 78.8 per cent are in favour of this.
While shoppers would have to pay a deposit when buying drinks in cans and bottles, this would be refunded to them when they returned their empty containers.
Results from pilot "reverse vending machines", in which people put bottles and cans to obtain a refund, run by Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh have been encouraging, according to APRS, while similar schemes are up and running in Denmark, Canada and Germany.
The research by Survation showed that 41.1 per cent of people are strongly in favour of such a scheme, with a further 37.7 per cent giving it "somewhat support".
Only 3.3 per cent strongly oppose it, with a further 5.2 per cent being somewhat against the move, leaving 12.7 per cent who are neither for or against it.
APRS director John Mayhew said: "Cabinet Secretary Richard Lochhead asked 'Is deposit refund perhaps the next big thing in Scotland?', and the answer on every count has to be yes.
"The verdict of the Scottish people is in. Our poll showed that three-quarters supported it, with fewer than one in 12 opposed.
"These results are a robust mandate for ministers to do the right thing and bring in a deposit refund system for Scotland.
"What's more, Holyrood itself unanimously approved the Climate Change Act in 2009, the legislation which gives ministers the powers needed to introduce a deposit refund system."
He added: "We know it works in other countries, tackling litter, reducing waste, boosting recycling and supporting good new jobs in the circular economy.
"We also know that the current approach means cans and bottles end up as landfill and litter, wasting resources, spoiling our environment on land and at sea, and forcing up costs to councils across Scotland.
"As with the carrier-bag charge, some in big business will complain about it in advance, even though it's roughly cost-neutral, and as with the carrier-bag charge the evidence from elsewhere is that a deposit refund system will just work for Scotland.
"It's great to see Scottish ministers looking positively at this proposal and we will be taking part in a meeting with stakeholders next week to urge them to move quickly to get this system up and running."
Calum Duncan, Marine Conservation Society Scotland programme manager, also backed the introduction of such a scheme, saying: "A deposit refund system for bottles and cans would quickly be cost-effective and likely to lead to measurable reductions in litter, especially marine litter.
"Our beach litter data shows that over the past decade plastic drinks bottles alone have, on average, made up 5 per cent of litter found on Scottish beaches.
"We have, therefore, been supportive of a deposit refund system for some time and commend the Scottish Government and Zero Waste Scotland for this pilot work which we hope can be rolled out across Scotland contributing to litter-free beaches in future."


text:
We Offer a Wide Variety of IT ServicesWeb Designing Company in Coimbatore
200+ Outstanding Websites & ECommerce Development Projects Delivered in 5+ Countries have given us the Popularity to be One of India's Best ECommerce Website Development Company in Coimbatore, No.1 Web Designing Company in Coimbatore.
Software Development
We are the No.1 Software Development Services, managing software development, and customization. We are your ideal partner to leverage emerging tech in innovative ways. Gain deep insights from our tech experts and stay updated with innovative technologies.
Web Development
We help to secure your future in the fast-growing internet world. The website, creating a powerful online presence requires a combination of creativity, skills, and imagination. We Experiences, and creativity to provide highly interactive web solutions to a worldwide client base.
Website Design
We are experts in designing website solutions for a wide variety of clients. Our experts ensure that the deliverables are excellent in quality and effectiveness. We put sincere efforts into web designing. Our ICore team using innovative technologies for the best results.
Mobile app development
Our Mobile App Development Solutions are strategically planned, designed, and continuously developed for you and again tested to produce best-in-class deliverables with the functionality that you just simply need for effective utilization and satisfaction.
Web Hosting
Web hosting is the internet hosting service that enables the organizations and people to impart accessibility to their website using the World Wide Web. Web hosting is obligatory to internationalize the financial wings of a company.
Social Media Optimization
Social media optimization (SMO) refers to the creation of online content that is likely to be shared through social networks
Content Management System
Content Management System (CMS) is an easy-to-use application that allows you to quickly update images and other elements of your website. This helps you control your online presence just by using few clicks.
WooCommerce Service
Our highly skilled in-house WooCommerce developers can help locate the best solutions and make modifications and improvements to give you the results you want.
Magento Services
Magento Website Development Services provide highly innovative, Creative and fully functional shopping cart framework that make your ECommerce sites more attractive.
SEO & Internet Marketing
SEO is referred to as Search Engine Optimization. It is a process of ranking a website at the top of the search engine result page and increasing the number of visitors to a website for a particular keyword targeting the website in the mainframe search engines like Google, Yahoo or Bing.
Vehicle Tracking Systems
Our GPS Vehicle Tracking Systems and keys allow you to accomplish your business assets and resources effectively, providing access to vital information that helps you to expand your services and decrease costs.
Responsive Web Design by Top Web Designers in CoimbatoreWeb Designing Company in Coimbatore
We ICore Software Technologies,
a No.1 Web Design Company in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. We've compiled enough exceptional talents through the years to bring brands to life. As a selected website design and Web Development Company in Coimbatore uniqueness, quality, and timely delivery of the projects are assured cost-effectively. Our team has goal-oriented interactive knowledge in Mobile application development, Search Engine Optimization, Ecommerce development, Web Designing Services, custom application development, Search Engine Marketing, and infographics.
We Guide You From The backendWhat We do
"We Offer a Large Style of Services for You. With Outstanding Services, We make certain that your Business gets the Most Effective Benefits. We are the One-stop Solutions of Web Designing Company in Coimbatore"
We will Deliver you a Website that meets all the user RequirementsOur Promise
Web Design Company in Coimbatore ICore provides Static Websites, Dynamic Websites, ECommerce Platforms, Corporate Websites, and Small Business Websites for Our Clients.Web Design Company in Coimbatore
The Best Web Designing Company in Coimbatore
We ICore Software Technologies,
a Top-notch Web Designing Company in Coimbatore and Premium Web Development Company in Coimbatore, providing complete web designing services that are low-cost, best in quality, and result-oriented. We tend to furnish custom web solutions that target quality, innovation, and speed. We are specialized in mobile responsive websites, WordPress CMS web designing services, E-Commerce Website Designing and Development, active static websites, data-driven dynamic websites, portal web development, multimedia and flash style websites, open-source web development services, SEO services, SEO optimized web designing, conversion rate optimization, and landing page optimization. Are you looking to create a website? To present your business immediately well on the internet, meeting all budgetary constraints, we can help you always.
Our ICore services
are further diversified with website maintenance and revamping services as our clients need. We also offer web hosting and domain registration services that will meet all of your specific requirements. Utilizing the No.1 designing practices and resources. We Guaranteed Best Services of Web Designing Company in Coimbatore
ICore Software Technologies
can assist you to live up to all your business aspirations and goals and drive successful business operations well beyond all your expectations.
Trusted From Over 3700+ ClientsOUR CLIENT'S
I HIGHLY recommend this company! "They have very dedicated, competent and patient web designer and anybody doing business with ICore is going to get GREAT results!"
My new site created by ICore Software Technologies. I am very impressed with the all aspects of our new website. We would highly recommend ICore Software Technologies to anyone looking to build a new website.
I would highly recommend ICore Software Technologies. They are great to work with. The traffic to our website has increased thanks to their SEO program.
Turn Your Vision into Reality.What We Offer
Are you looking for Full-Service Web Designing? We ICore Software Technologies provides the following services to you.


text:
Available from Croker Risk Management Services
Product Details
Croker logbooks are designed to comply with city, state and federal codes. Multiple logbooks may be necessary and/or required to meet all compliance initiatives. Croker has developed an assortment of logbooks to meet different building types and requirements. A number of Croker publications/logbooks have also been filed accordingly and granted copyright protection from the U.S. government.


text:
Buy from https://ift.tt/38H5Vm9 now!
Soft white ukulele t-shirt with red embroidered #playukulele hashtag design.
Show your friends, family and colleagues your passion for the ukulele. And when you post photos of it to social media, you'll know what hashtag to use! This t-shirt feels soft and light, with just the right amount of stretch. It's very comfortable and the unisex cut is flattering for both men and women.
♥ Stylish modern hashtag design in red embroidery
♥ 100% ringspun white cotton
♥ 4.5 oz/y² (153 g/m²)
♥ Tear-away label
♥ Shoulder-to-shoulder taping
♥ Side-seamed
The female model is wearing a size M shirt. She's 5.8 feet (178 cm) tall, chest circumference 34.6" (88 cm), waist circumference 27.16" (69 cm), hip circumference 37.7" (96cm).
Carefully packaged to protect the product, with a tracking number for reassurance.
Find more ukulele gifts that you'll ❤here:
Hint: When searching for ukulele items, make sure to use the correct spelling "ukulele" for best results, rather than "ukelele".
Buy from https://ift.tt/38H5Vm9 now!


text:
Book events
Angie Cruz, author of "Dominicana," in conversation with Irina Reyn, part of the Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures Made Local series, Presented in partnership with the Pitt Center for African American Poetry and Poetics
6 p.m. Sept. 18, South Wing Reading Room, Carnegie Library Main, Oakland. Free, with registration
Cruz, an associate professor in the English Department's Writing Program, is the author of the novels "Soledad" and "Let It Rain Coffee," a finalist in 2007 for the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. Her latest novel, "Dominicana" begins with 15-year-old Ana Cancion. Ana never dreamed of moving to America, the way the girls she grew up with in the Dominican countryside did. But when Juan Ruiz proposes and promises to take her to New York City, she has to say yes. It doesn't matter that he is twice her age, that there is no love between them. Their marriage is an opportunity for her entire close-knit family to eventually immigrate.
"Tropic of Football: The Long and Perilous Journey of Samoans to the NFL" by Rob Ruck
2-4 p.m. Sept. 20, 2500 Posvar Hall
The History Department Book Symposium Series presents a panel discussion of "Tropic of Football." The panelists include: Ruck, Theodora Polamalu, of the Troy and Theodora Polamalu Foundation; Rich Scaglion, professor emeritus of Anthropology; and Penny Semaia, senior associate athletic director for student life. The panel will be moderated by Marcus Rediker, professor of History. A book signing and reception will follow.
Sigrid Nunez, author of "The Friend," part of Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures Ten Evenings
7:30 p.m. Sept. 23, Carnegie Music Hall. Tickets $15-$35, $10 for students.
Sigrid Nunez won the 2018 National Book Award for "The Friend," a moving story of love, friendship, grief, healing, and the transcendent bond between a woman and her dog. The novel became an instant New York Times bestseller. When a woman unexpectedly loses her lifelong best friend and mentor, she finds herself burdened with the unwanted dog he has left behind. Her own battle against grief is intensified by the mute suffering of the dog, a huge Great Dane traumatized by the inexplicable disappearance of its master, and by the threat of eviction: dogs are prohibited in her apartment building.
Kathy Newman discusses "Banning Books Means Banning Children's Literature"
4:30-6 p.m. Sept. 16, 501 Cathedral of Learning
The talk stems from a course called "Banned Books," which Newman has been teaching in the Carnegie Mellon University English department for the last 10 years. She has learned from this class that books in the are most often banned and/or challenged by adults ostensibly on behalf of children. The issue of censorship and banning books is an issue for the field of children's literature, and, ultimately, it's an issue of power. In this talk, Newman will feature a few recent incidents in which children's literature was challenged and discuss some suggestions about how we can think about and combat book banning in a difficult time. Sponsored by the Children's Literature certificate program in the English Department.
The University Times welcomes information about new books, journals, plays and musical compositions written or edited by faculty and staff.
Newly published works can be submitted through this link. Please keep the book descriptions short and accessible to a general audience.
Journals should be peer-reviewed. Self-published works will not be accepted. The listings also are restricted to complete works, because individual chapters, articles, works of art and poems would be too numerous.
We'll also be highlighting some books and book talks with connections to Pitt.
If you have any questions, please contact editor Susan Jones at email@example.com or 412-648-4294.


text:
The Potters House Part 1 "Just a Lump of Clay"
(first in a six part series)
"The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying: 'Arise and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause you to hear My words." Jeremiah 18:1-2
Have you ever been soaked, cut, kneaded, slammed, stretched, molded, put out to dry, then gone through the fire, covered with slime and into the fire again???
I am honored to be friends with potters Marty and Sheila McLendon. They offered the opportunity to come to their new pottery shed and 'make' something. My thoughts at this invitation were that I would go over one afternoon, pick up a piece of clay and shape it into a lovely bowl. Then, a few days later I would run by and pick up the finished product, my exquisite masterpiece, and proclaim, "Look what I did!"
Not so fast!!! Marty, the wonderful teacher that he is, allowed me the privilege to work with the clay from start to finish. And work I did! The Lord told Jeremiah to go to the Potter's house and listen. The Hebrew word there is Shama' which means to hear with the intent to obey, discern, perceive, understand and then to publish, make it known. He had much to teach Jeremiah and much to teach me as well.
Before ever touching the clay, Marty had me draw and design this piece, the finished product! Oh! You mean I needed to know what the finished product would look like when I finished? You mean this piece of lumpy, gray clay held within it a design that only I knew? You mean I must know the end from the beginning, to have a plan for this piece of dirt? Yes, Ruthie, go to the Potter's house, I want you to understand more fully not only who I am but how intimately we are connected!
As I was preparing to work with this clay I realized that indeed it was I who would choose the clay, process it, design and shape it. Everything about this piece was MY CHOICE. The destiny of this lump of clay was in my heart and mind before it was in my hand. Isn't that just like our Father. We were in his heart and mind before we ever came to be. Before we were born, we already had a purpose and destiny! We were already loved, cared for, and the way of salvation was already opened to us before we were shaped in our mother's womb. (Psm 139) So my friend, You are no accident! You are one of a kind! You have His fingerprint in the core of your very being! You were made by him and for him, designed by his hand and shaped for His purposes, your destiny! You were his choice! And Oh! How he loves you.


text:
Each year, The Simon School, a top-ranked graduate business school in Rochester, conducts a campaign asking alumni to donate to the school. To inject life into this repetitive message, we produced a two-minute webmercial delivered via email. This mini-movie uses music and motion graphics to suggest that a gift to Simon will increase the value of a graduates own degree, plus engage the worlds next generation of business leaders.
The goal was to create a value proposition and move the audience to immediate action. The execution resulted in a wave of online donations from a single mass email. The webmercial was so successful in showing off the Simon School that it is being repurposed for marketing to potential MBA and PhD candidates.
- Video
Eastman School of Music
Eastman School of Music


text:
🧐 What is ocean water temperature and How does it work?
** Way more than just ocean temperatures and tides ** Features Include: * Current ocean water temperature and tides! * SST (Sea Surface Temperature) charts * 6-hour historical wave height reports * 7-day, hourly NOAA wave forecast * 7-day, hourly harmonic tide forecast * 5-day National Weather Service marine weather forecast * NOAA Weather Layer Charts * Automatically saves your favorite buoy for quick viewing 6-hour History Data Includes: - Primary and secondary wave height, period, direction - Wave energy, period, direction 7-day NOAA WaveWatch III Forecast Model Includes: - Hourly swell component predictions (1-6 swells) - Accurate wave height, period, direction predictions 7-day Hourly Harmonic Tide Forecast Includes: - Interactive tide graphs - Hourly tide predictions - Current tide 5-day NWS Marine Forecast Includes: - Text summary forecast - Weather, sky, wind, waves Weather Layer Charts include: - Sea Surface Temperature (SST) - HD Weather Radar - Wind Speed & Direction - Air Temperature - 12-Hour Rain Probability - Significant Wave Height ** Available for iPad and iPhone with single purchase** IMPORTANT: Please remember that this app can only show data the buoy collects. Not all buoys collect wave data. This app will display all data collected by a buoy. If you have any questions before purchasing, please email me at email@example.com. I typically respond by the end of the day. If you notice a missing a buoy, please contact me first rather than leaving a poor review. If you are correct, the buoy can be easily be added to the cloud database. Enjoy.


text:
It's no secret that Alison and I love fall. I know it's not quite fall yet, but next Tuesday it officially will be! The crisp mornings and evenings are my favorite. I got my first pumpkin spice latte of the season this morning and left my windows rolled down so I could feel the cool air. I just love it! I can't wait for the leaves to start their change and it to be cool enough for indulgent hearty soups and cozying up by the fire for the evening. Check out our Pinterest for more inspiration!
-Laurie & Alison


text:
QR Portfolio
Wanna see a portfolio? It is the image on the right.
Don't understand? Read the previous post.
I just played around and realized that Photoshelter portfolio folder can be referenced directly AND it is Javascript-based / no flash. IPhone/iPad friendly in other words.
Not that this portfolio is up to date or worth seeing in the first place… but nice to know it works. Just for testing purposes, I tried to throw the SCAN app off-balance by a dropshadow and stupid framing, but no effect: it seems to work anyway. And notice, how small the QR is — and still works. Totally cool.
(Updated 18.1.2011)
Just made the simplest possible "Instructions" ‑webpage on my server entitled "How to Use QR-code?" in case you want to try it out and you need to reference instructions to your client or something. It's in both our official languages — i.e. Finnish and English… ;-)


text:
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The NFL map will include Canada now that
the Buffalo Bills will play an annual regular-season game in
Toronto starting this year.
Citing the "tremendous amount of interest" the Bills generate
across neighboring southern Ontario, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell
announced Friday that the team will play a regular-season game in
Toronto in each of the next five seasons.
The plan also includes three Bills preseason games -- one every
other year starting this season -- in Toronto during that stretch.
The NFL has played games outside the United States, most
recently when Miami faced the New York Giants in London in October.
But the Bills will be the league's first team to do it annually.
In his pre-Super Bowl address to reporters, Goodell said the
Bills' plan, first presented to league owners in October, "was
done thoughtfully to help regionalize the team even more broadly.
Goodell sidestepped questions regarding the NFL's interest in
basing a team in Toronto.
"That's not our focus right now," Goodell said in Phoenix.
But he didn't rule out the possibility of playing more games in
"We'll never take out the idea it could lead to more, but
that's not our plan," Goodell said. "This is a deal for five
years. We're going to focus on the next five years."
The games will be played at the downtown Rogers Centre, a domed
stadium with a retractable roof that's home to baseball's Toronto
Blue Jays and the CFL Argonauts.
The Bills' bid is their most ambitious attempt to secure the
small-market franchise's long-term future in Buffalo by tapping
into Toronto's vast corporate base. Toronto is Canada's financial
capital and largest city, with a population of about 4.6 million
and located a 90-minute drive from Buffalo.
Bills owner Ralph Wilson said the team's proposal received
unanimous approval from NFL owners. He also credited the
cooperation of Blue Jays owner Ted Rogers and Larry Tanenbaum,
chairman of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, which owns the
Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors.
"The population growth in Toronto, the passion the Canadian
fans have shown for the Buffalo Bills and the vision of Ted Rogers
and Larry Tanenbaum have made this possible," Wilson said.
Rogers, who also owns the Rogers Centre and is president and CEO
of Rogers Communications, has previously teamed with Tanenbaum to
lead a group seeking to bring NFL football to Canada.
The date of the game and the Bills' opponent is expected to be
announced once the NFL schedule is released in April. The game is
expected to be played in December to avoid conflict with the CFL
season, which concludes with the Grey Cup championship in late
A press conference has been tentatively scheduled for next week
in Toronto.
Toronto's FAN 590 radio station has reported that Argonauts and
Hamilton Tiger-Cats season-ticket holders will have the first
opportunity to buy tickets, followed by Bills season-ticket
holders. The station also reported that the average ticket price
for games will be $250, and buyers would have to buy tickets for
all eight games to be played in Toronto through 2012.
That's a significant increase over ticket prices at Ralph Wilson
Stadium, which average about $46 each.
"This is like a dream come true," said Phil Lind, vice
chairman of Rogers Communications. "Canadians love NFL football,
and this series will let Canadians see the games live in Toronto."
The Bills, who count Toronto as part of their territory, attract
an average of 15,000 Canadian fans to their home games, but have
had little success establishing marketing deals and selling luxury
suites to companies north of the border.
The Bills have maintained this is an extension of their bid to
regionalize their base.
But fears have been raised that these games mark the first step
toward permanent relocation, especially once Wilson dies.
The 89-year-old Wilson doesn't intend to sell or relocate the
Bills while he's alive, but does plan to have the team sold to the
highest bidder after his death.
In November, Rogers questioned Buffalo's long-term ability to
support an NFL franchise, while backing the Bills' bid to play
limited games in Toronto.


text:
Extend your existing WiFi range to every corner of your home with Netgear EX6150 setup. Netgear EX6150 AC1200 WiFi range extender boosts your existing network range and delivers the continuous WiFi speed up to 1200Mbps (Megabits per Second). It works easily with any standard WiFi router and is ideal for very large homes and frustration free HD video streaming and online gaming.
Netgear EX6150 Manual: When you invest on a brand new Netgear EX6150 AC1200 range extender, you receive a manual in it. The Netgear EX6150 WiFi extender manual consists of a series of Netgear EX6150 installation steps from starting to ending. You simply have to follow the Netgear EX6150 setup instructions given on the manual to make your EX6150 extender working. But hold on! Understanding the Netgear EX6150 extender manual can be difficult for a beginner. To install Netgear EX6150 WiFi range extender without any problems, chat with our professionals now.
Note: If your existing WiFi router supports the 5 GHz (Gigahertz) band, simply repeat steps 1 and 2 and connect your Netgear EX6150 extender to the 5 GHz (Gigahertz) band.
To set up your Netgear EX6150 extender using Netgear installation assistant:
Unplug your Netgear EX6150 AC1200 WiFi range extender and move it to a new location. But the location you choose must be within the range of your existing router.
The FastLane technology offers you the maximum WiFi performance. Additionally, it provides high-speed of the internet with a dedicated band connecting your Netgear EX6150 extender and your WiFi-enabled device, and a second band connecting your range extender and your WiFi router. Follow the steps below to enable the Fastlane technology on your Netgear EX6150 AC1200 WiFi range extender.
Now, you will get two options. You have to select any one of the following:
At last, click on Apply to save the settings.
If you got stuck at any step while enabling the Fastlane technology then feel free to chat with our professionals now.
Does your Netgear EX6150 WiFi extender start acting weirdly? Is your Netgear extender not providing the required speed even after a successful Netgear EX6150 setup? If yes, then update Netgear EX6150 extender firmware right away. Here's how to update Netgear extender's firmware.
To update the firmware on your Netgear EX6150 WiFi Range Extender:
Go through a few troubleshooting steps given below to fix NetgearEX6150AC1200 extender setup issues.
In case the above-mentioned tips do not resolve the issue, then please chat with our professionals now.


text:
Silesian Activist Network
Initial recognition carried out by activists operating in several Silesian cities (Cieszyn, Katowice, Częstochowa, Bielsko-Biala, Gliwice, Pszczyna, Dąbrowa Górnicza, Bielsko-Biała) regarding the needs related to everyday work of socially engaged people – as volunteers, employees or social activists operating to improve the living conditions in the city – indicated common areas that require better preparation of social workers to carry out tasks to the benefit of residents.
Identified areas include, among others:
1. cooperation in the network and creation of common resources to develop own organizations and support other, therefore more effective activities from and for the benefit of local communities
2. Ways of communicating with the environment that activists could use (including local media)
3. Solving local conflicts and mediations.
The Silesian Activist Network is a response to the need to continue the conversation about creating a platform enabling reflection on the tools, practices and goals of work with the local community and raising the work standards of people associated with various non-governmental organizations
Silesian voivodeship
20 activists
engaged in local community development
july – october
Key activities
improving the quality of work of Silesian activists by preparing three workshop meetings in Gliwice, Cieszyn and Katowice
providing volunteers, members of NGOs and grassroots groups with tools that will enable them to work more effectively
development of common tasks for the network
integration of people involved in working for local communities from various cities in the Silesian Voivodeship
raising the level of civic engagement and involving residents to participate in the life of their towns.
Participating organisations
Fundacja Arteria (Częstochowa)
Gliwicka Rada Rowerowa
Fundacja Napraw Sobie Miasto
Świetlica Krytyki Politycznej "Na Granicy" (Cieszyn)
Ośrodek Studiów o Mieście (Gliwice)
Budżet Obywatelski (Pszczyna)
as well as people connected and sympathetic with social organizations from Bielsko-Biała, Bieruń and Dąbrowa Górnicza.
For more information reach
Wioleta Hutniczak
573 131 912
Project is financed by Civic Initiative Fund Programme – Silesia Locally


text:
Family files second suit in fatal Talleyrand crane collapse
The family of a St. Augustine man killed after a portable industrial crane collapsed at Talleyrand Marine Terminal in 2011 has filed a second lawsuit over his death.
Last year they won a $2.5 million judgment against Draper Enterprises, the company that employed 58-year-old Anthony F. Roberts. But the company cannot pay up because of insurance issues.
The estate is now suing Acorn Insurance, saying the New Hampshire company failed to provide insurance to Draper even though it was paid and had issued a certificate of liability insurance.
Steve Pajcic, attorney for the Roberts estate and his widow, Eleanor Roberts, said his client has been hit with two companies committing negligence.
"First the company that employed Tony followed reckless, hurry-up procedures," Pajcic said. "Then on top of that, its insurance agency never even obtained insurance to cover his death."
They are asking a judge to order Acorn to pay the $2.5 million judgment already issued against Draper, Pajcic said.
Roberts was working on a crane that was brought in to dismantle a shipping crane. Attorneys for the Roberts family argued that Draper jerry-rigged a load, failed to use a tag line for safety and misjudged the weight of the load by almost 16 tons.
Roberts had seven children and stepchildren.


text:
Jazsmin Lewis has agreed to star in the long-awaited third installment of the Ice Cube led comedy "Barbershop 3." Along with Lewis the cast returns many of the stars from the earlier films, Cedric The Entertainer, Anthony Anderson, Michael Ealy, Queen Latifah, Eve, and this time around also features Nicki Minaj in a starring role.
Lewis will reprise her role as Jennifer, Ice Cube's wife in the film. Principal photography begins in Atlanta next month. "Barbershop" and "Barbershop 2: Back In Business" were big hits for MGM so many expected there to be another film. Malcolm D. Lee ("The Best Man Holiday," "Scary Movie 5") will direct this new movie.
"I can't wait to get to Atlanta and to start shooting," Lewis said. "This cast is one of the best to work with and it is great most everyone has signed on to come back. Plus adding Malcolm as the director and Nicki to the cast, this is going to be even more special."
Lewis has appeared in a long list of films and television shows including "My Sister's Wedding," "Flip The Script," on the feature film side and "Meet The Browns," "Eve," "Line of Fire," "Living Single" and others on the small screen.
Jazsmin Lewis is producing an exciting and deeply needed new TV project called "The Road To Recovery." The project, which will be somewhat of a documentary series is an in-depth look at five women who are dealing with different forms of depression as they struggle to work their way through it.
Lewis decided to produce the project because she knows that with women, and particularly women of color, depression is not something people like to talk about or acknowledge. So as a result many of these women deal with the issue alone, and in some cases they may not even realize they are dealing with depression at all.
Lewis is seeking out the women she will profile in the story and it is open to any African-American, Asian, Hispanic or other woman of color anywhere in the U.S. who has been diagnosed with depression or who feels they are likely dealing with it or bi-polar disorder.
If you fit the bill and are interested, please email email@example.com with your phone and email address, and a little about your situation or story.
Fans of popular and busy actress Jazsmin Lewis are in for a special treat in her next movie, which begins filming next month in Philadelphia. The actress will be playing a revenge-seeking action hero in the film.
It is a much more physical role than the actress has done recently, but it is not new to her or out of the realm of her skills considering she started out doing action and she is still in so-called "fighting form."
"I have been wanting to get back to doing a physical role like this for some time," Lewis said. "I love martial arts and getting to do fighting scenes, getting to kick some butt. So this is going to be a fun role to play and I think a lot of people are going to be surprised to see me do this because it is so different than what they have been seeing me do lately."
The movie is a crime drama called "Pantheress" and it is about a heroic heroine who takes on some evil doers out to destroy her community.
This casting continues a string of busy months for the seemingly always working actress. Another film, "Conflict Of Interest" is due out soon, she is working on another film project for her own production company and she has agreed to take on the title role in the comedy feature, "Wanda's Place." She also has several other films that were released in the last year alone. Lewis is certainly showing no signs of slowing down despite her long list of film and TV credits.
"Conflict Of Interest," the latest film starring popular TV and film actress Jazsmin Lewis, is set to release soon. The film was directed by Tommy Ford, who also co-produced and co-stars, and in additon to Lewis, the film features such notable actors as Bria Murphy, Mark Lawrence, Karen White, Dorian Wilson, Miguel Nuñez, and Carl Payne.
The dramatic movie is about a District Attorney who risks everything to find out if the artist she is prosecuting is the son she put up for adoption many years before.
Jazsmin Lewis brings a long list of credits and experience to the role, having appeared in some of the biggest movies ever made, including "Barbershop" and "Barbershop 2: Back In Business" as well playing roles on such hit television shows as "Meet The Browns," "Eve," "Line of Fire," and many others back to "Martin," "Moesha," and "Saved By The Bell" among many others.
"It was a true joy to work on this fantastic movie," Lewis said. 'I can't wait for everyone to see it. I got to work with some truly great actors and I know the final product has to be good considering the work and professionalism that was put into every aspect."
Jazsmin Lewis is managed by Harris Management and represented commercially and theatrically by Mavrick Artists Agency.
"Working Mother" Magazine Features Article On JazsMin Lewis As Part of Its Celebrity Mom Series
National and online magazine Working Mother published a feature article this week on Jazsmin Lewis as part of its "Celebrity Moms" series. Lewis now joins a long list of Hollywood stars who have been interviewed in the magazine about balancing motherhood and the requirements of film and television stardom. Some of the others featured have been Vanessa Williams, Heidi Klum, Kristen Bell, Kristi Yamaguchi, Jane Seymour and Debra Messing among other notable stars.
Here is an excerpt from the article:
Working Mother
"Celebrity Moms"
by Leah C. Powell
Fresh from filming romantic comedy Four Seasons (in which Jazsmin plays the winter choice of handsome bachelor Xavier Lamar) and gearing up for projects such as the third installment of box office hit Barbershop, Jazsmin Lewis recently spoke to us about life, love and her dream role! (hint: it's probably not what you are expecting)
You've played a beautiful journalist and hopeless romantic in the film Traci Townsend, and you also played the sassy yet sweet wife Jennifer Palmer to rapper/actor Ice Cube in the movie Barbershop. Are these your dream roles?
I don't know if you noticed but I'm always glammed up [in films]. I would really like to play someone on drugs or in a mental institution where I just get to be completely stripped down and vulnerable. That's one of my dream roles. Now I don't know what it is yet because in the next several projects I am still in all the hair and makeup. But it's coming…I promise!
You have been in the film industry for almost 20 years but you don't look a day over 25! What are your beauty secrets?
I do all the same stuff that every woman does. I try to take care of my skin. I drink a gallon of water a day. I exercise---but its honestly just staying active and keeping up with my son [Christian, 3].
On Instagram you refer to Christian as your best friend. Why is that?
It's interesting because the moment I became pregnant everything changed. It became completely not about me. Christian gave me a whole new purpose. I get to see the world all over again through his eyes…parts that I even missed as a child. He just changed my world. If you have any kids you know there is no love like that.
For more of the article click here.
Continuing what has been a very busy period for the popular actress, Jazsmin Lewis has made the move to Mavrick Artists Agency as her agency representation.
Lewis, who has had the benefit of a long successful careeer in the business, has not slowed down one bit. Fans remember her from her early days just starting out as a young actress on shows such as "Martin, "Saved By The Bell" and "Family Matters." But proving she was not a fleeting star, she continued to work, starring in many major film and televison shows through the years, including "Barbershop," "Barbershop 2: Back in Business" playing opposite Ice Cube as his wife, and appearing on such hit shows as Tyler Perry's "Meet The Browns" "Eve" and "Line of Fire." Continuing her long string of success, she starred in three films all in just the last year alone.
Lewis is not slowing down one bit. The move to Mavrick Artists Agency is another step in making sure her career continues and expands as would be expected of someone with her resume and talent.
"Mavrick is the perfect place for me right now at this stage of my career," Lewis said. "I have been blessed to have the successes I've had up to now but I don't have any intention of sitting on that. I trust my new agents at Mavrick will play a huge part in helping me keep things happening. I don't take anything for granted in this business and I know the power of the right team supporting you."
Jazsmin Lewis has been cast in a leading role in a new comedy stage production set to play for two nights in Dallas, Texas in September. The play, called "My Daddy's New Wife," will feature the well-known film and TV star with a host of other popular actors.
Lewis is best known for her roles in front of the camera. She played Ice Cube's wife in the two hit feature films, "Barbershop" and "Barbershop 2: Back In Business" and has starred in numerous feature films before and since then. The list includes the recent films "Four Seasons" and "My Sister's Wedding" as well as "Flip The Script" and "Traci Townsend." All in all she has done more than twenty-five feature films.
But Lewis is also familiar to television audiences. She has had roles on Tyler Perry's "Meet The Browns," "Eve," "Living Single," Martial Law" and "Line of Fire" among others. She even appeared on "Martin" and "Family Matters" when she was starting out in the business.
Stage is not new to Lewis though. She is an accomplished stage performer and has done numerous shows in many parts of the country. So she is thrilled to be able to do this performance in Dallas.
"I do enjoy doing theater," Lewis said. "I love the immediate feedback from the audience. And I love this script. It is a funny play but with its own message hidden in there. I can't wait to get to work on it."
"My Daddy's New Wife" is written by Katrice Walker. The play is scheduled for two nights, September 6th and 7th with possible plans for shows in other cities at later dates. For more on the play or ticket information click here.
May 2015


text:
SwiftTec FAQ: How to setup transaction codes
You want to setup transaction codes for membership, barcoded goods or custom info.
Applies To
The transaction codes are configured by running the CMS Admin Tool and selecting the Transaction Codes tab.
A new code can be created by clicking on the button to create a new code. An existing code can be edited by double-clicking on it, on single clicking and pressing the button. The allows a selected code to be deleted.
When adding or editing a code you are presented with a new window to edit the transaction code details.
Here you must enter the details of the transaction code:
On completion press OK to accept the edit/addition. You will not be able to use any new codes until the changes have been applied to the database.
Copyright © 2022 SwiftTec - all rights reserved.
SwiftTec is a trading name of Simon Sparkes


text:
File this one under "bizarre, strange, and a teensy bit scary." A mega hotel chain has just offered a new service option to please its (chilly) guests. Feeling cold? Just call the concierge and he'll send someone up to, um, lie in your bed to warm it up. Tell me I'm not alone in thinking that this is the craziest thing I've heard in a while ...
It's true. According to reports, The Holiday Inn has added an unusual new service to a few of its hotels in England (sorry gals, this hasn't caught on here at home yet). If a hotel guest is feeling cold, a specially trained hotel staff member, in a "zippered fleece suit," will rush right up and lie in the guest's bed until it's adequately warmed up.
"The new Holiday Inn bed warmers service is a bit like having a giant hot water bottle in your bed," Holiday Inn spokeswoman Jane Bednall said in a statement.
As much as I like my personal hot water bottle--my husband--I just don't think I'd go for a stranger warming up my sheets, thankyouverymuch. I wonder who would actually go for this service?
How about you? Would you actually want someone--a stranger--to warm up your bed for you?
More reading:
The 2010 Sleep Challenge! See what Glamour's Cindi Leive and the Huffington Post's Arianna Huffington have been up to this month ...
Do you like a warm or cold bedroom at night? Which is healthier?
Recurring nightmares? The expert tip on how to stop them ...
Bad dreams? They may have something to do with the way your room ... smells!
More Ways to Get Glamour
You could win $50,000 just for registering or logging in to Glamour.com!
Sign up for Glamour.com's Style Tips of the Week and Beauty Tip of the Day newsletters!
Add Glamour to your iGoogle homepage.


text:
The interactive parts of this resource no longer work, but it has been archived so you can continue using the rest of it.
Vast crowds gathered in London's Trafalgar Square
to celebrate the victorious end of the First World War on 11 November
1918. However, the joyous mood was short-lived. Post-war Britain,
as many contemporary observers noted, did not seem like a country
that had just experienced a great military triumph. Various political,
economic and social problems ensured that the return to peacetime
conditions was not a soft landing.
The Representation
of the People Act (June 1918) gave the vote for the first time
to all men over the age of 21 (subject to a six-month residency
qualification) and to women over the age of 30. As a result, it
almost trebled the franchise in Britain, from 7.7 million to 21.4
million. Historians have long debated the relative impact of this
and the war itself on the dramatic reconfiguration of party politics
after 1918.
The Liberal Party - divided between supporters of the Lloyd George
coalition that regained power in the 'coupon election' (December 1918) and supporters of the former prime
minister Asquith
- went into steep electoral decline during the 1920s and never recovered.
Its status as Britain's 'second' party of government was taken by
the Labour Party, a development confirmed when the first-ever Labour
government - a coalition led by Ramsay MacDonald - took office in January 1924.
Amid these radical changes, the success of the Conservative Party,
which dominated government during the inter-war years, constituted
the major remaining link to the pre-war British political map.
Although demobilisation
was relatively unproblematic, the end of the war did not witness
a swift return to pre-war 'normality' for the British economy. More
British than German workers were involved in strikes in 1919. Unemployment
in 1921 reached its highest point (11.3%) since records had begun.
Staple wartime industries - such as coal, ship-building and steel
- contracted. Working women were forced to cede their jobs to returning
How was post-war British society different from
the society that had entered the First World War in August 1914?
It was indubitably more democratic. Previously under-represented
groups such as women and, in particular, the working class became
better organised and more powerful during the war. This, in turn,
encouraged the growth of less deferential attitudes, as did the
cross-class experiences of the trenches. There had been a disproportionately
high percentage of casualties among the landed classes, and the
strict class hierarchy of Edwardian Britain disappeared for good
in the immediate post-war years.
Yet, though the working class became a more powerful political
force, it shrank numerically. Growing numbers of the working population
in inter-war Britain were employed in 'white collar' jobs. The First
World War thus marked an important staging post on the road to 'modern'
British society.
The following references give an idea of the sources
held by the The National Archives on the subject of this chapter.
These documents can be seen on site at the The National Archives.


text:
Hi everyone!!! Our school has been selected for an Erasmus + Project, ka101 and, at the same time, we are going to participate in an eTwinning Project with another European school.
Moreover, we are participating in "Seccions Europees". This project implies that we have to teach a subject in English, in our school is Art.
The spines of hedgehogs and grass is made with forks.


text:
Kelly Sotherton will officially be a triple Olympic medallist at tonight's Team GB Ball when she is awarded the heptathlon bronze from the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
Sotherton had originally finished fifth 10 years ago but disqualification for Ukraine's Lyudmila Blonska and Russia's Tatyana Chernova means Sotherton adds to her bronze medals from the Athens 2004 heptathlon and the Beijing 2008 4x400m relay.
Blonska originally claimed silver in Beijing but was disqualified three days after the end of the competition after testing positive for methyltestosterone, promoting Russia's Tatyana Chernova into the bronze medal spot and Sotherton into fourth.
Chernova was then herself disqualified for doping offences in April last year and despite appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, the decision was upheld in December, promoting Sotherton into the bronze medal spot.
The Team GB Ball is the second occasion the 41-year-old has been awarded an Olympic medal a decade on from the Games, having been given the 4x400m relay bronze at this year's Müller Anniversary Games.
Sotherton and teammates Christine Ohuruogu, Marilyn Okoro and Nicola Sanders were officially upgraded to third place in July following doping violations from the Russian and Belarussian teams.
In winning heptathlon bronze, Sotherton becomes only the fifth female track and field athlete from the UK to win three Olympic medals and is now one of eight Team GB athletes from Beijing 2008 to win multiple medals.
Sotherton will presented with the bronze medal by Sir Hugh Robertson, Chairman of the British Olympic Association, at the Team GB Ball at London's Royal Horticultural Halls in front of a room of fellow Olympians.
Kelly Sotherton said: "It'll be a nice feeling leading into it. Until I have the medal I don't really know how I'm feeling. The 4x400m medal in the summer was great but I trained as a heptathlete and that's the medal that I really want and it will mean quite a lot to get it.
"It'll close a chapter of my athletics career. Receiving a medal 10 years after I should have got it is a little bittersweet but it indicates the career I had and it will finally confirm me as a three-time Olympic medallist.
"When I found out in April 2017, it was very emotional. It was the start of the journey because you never know when you're going to get that medal. I got the call last month to say it had arrived and I couldn't wait any longer.
"I wanted to get my hands on it. I had the option of waiting until Tokyo which would have been amazing but that's too far away, I just want to have the medal. When my family see me with all three medals I'm sure they'll be just as happy and emotional as I will be."
Sir Hugh Robertson said: "No occasion can ever replace the opportunity to stand in an Olympic stadium and receive the just rewards for years of dedication and commitment.
"Tonight, it is a privilege to honour Kelly's achievements at Beijing 2008 and congratulate her on the bronze medal.
"To be a three-time Olympic medallist is an incredible accomplishment and Kelly should be rightly proud of her outstanding athletics career."
The bronze now takes Team GB's total at Beijing 2008 to 50 medals - 19 gold, 13 silver and 18 bronze – with the British Olympic Association still waiting on confirmation of the amended results and reallocated medals from the women's javelin.
The process of reallocation begins with the sanctioning of athletes following the retesting of samples from the Olympic Games. Those disqualified athletes then have a right to appeal.
If a disqualified athlete's appeal is unsuccessful, the IOC is only then able to officially reallocate the medals and will do so informing the British Olympic Association.


text:
Corpus Christi man dies in fatal crash near Robstown
The Texas Department of Public Safety is investigating a car crash that left one man dead and four injured outside of Robstown this weekend.
A release from the DPS stated the crash occurred at 11:57 p.m. Friday on County Road 48, approximately three miles north of Robstown.
The driver of a 2008 Ford Mustang GT was traveling west on the county road with four other passengers when he veered off the roadway and struck a cement culvert, the release stated.
More:Sign up to have news emailed to you daily
The driver and three passengers were ejected from the vehicle upon impact. A front passenger was not ejected. The release stated the passenger was wearing a seatbelt.
The driver of the vehicle, who was identified as 18-year-old Justin Dylan Franco of Corpus Christi, was found dead on scene.
Franco was a senior at Tuloso Midway High School, according to a GoFundMe page that was created Saturday.
"Justin was such a sweet and caring young man with a heart of gold," the post reads. "Our family is devastated to be planning his funeral rather than what would have been his High School graduation in just a couple of months."
The page, created by Misty Martinez, is seeking $10,000 for funeral expenses. The post has received nearly 2,000 shares on Facebook, as of Sunday afternoon.
Three male passengers between the ages of 18 and 19-years-old, who were in the vehicle with Franco, were transported to Christus Spohn Hospital Shoreline with serious injuries.
A teenage boy was also transported to Bay Area Hospital with serious injuries, Brandley said.
Faculty and students are also banding together to help raise money for those involved in the accident, with the Tuloso-Midway High School Student Council seeking $5 donations for a "No shave" pass for all male students. The pass will allow those male students the opportunity to not have to shave for a week, according to a Facebook post shared Sunday by Tuloso-Midway Athletics.
Students from the Calallen and Tuloso-Midway independent school districts also gathered at Grace United Methodist Church Sunday morning to pray for all those affected by the accident.
"Our teens are heartbroken," according to a Facebook post from the Tuloso-Midway Athletic Booster Club. "Please continue to pray for our community."
State troopers are still investigating the cause of the crash, the release stated.
Related news stories:
Double homicide on Corpus Christi's Northside: Here's what we know about women, suspect
Document: Fatal shooting of Corpus Christi man may have been planned robbery
Portland officer shoots man who charged at police during disturbance call


text:
Portuguese and La Roja skipper have had their differences this campaign.
Real Madrid head coach Jose Mourinho has taken yet another swipe at goalkeeper Iker Casillas, according to reports in the Daily Mirror.
The pair have not seen eye to eye all season long, with the Portuguese trainer even dropping the legendary Madrid captain from the starting XI earlier this season.
And, after the Spain international had won his place back in the side, the 31-year-old then suffered a broken finger in his hand resulting in Mourinho bringing experienced Sevilla keeper Diego Lopez to the Santiago Bernabeu as cover for Casillas.
However, the duo have since fallen out once again over Mourinho's refusal to recall the Spaniard to the Madrid team, despite Casillas having fully recovered from his injury, and now the 'Special One' has hit out at the shot stopper, criticising the player's attitude.
Casillas has played in 654 matches for Los Blancos to date in an illustrious 14-year career in the Spanish capital.
"Problems exist when someone thinks he is above the rest," said Mourinho.
"With players who feel they are all at the same level I have no problem."


text:
You see these guys everywhere in Alaska, except of course isolated islands and where only the mountain sheep go. But this Moose was too curious around too many curious people with too many cameras. Hence, we has moose pics. I figured he was going to hop a train to Fairbanks. More photographic evidence from Coworker Jens Blog suggests otherwise.
|ICRC Moose


text:
Don't miss the latest foreign film coming to town. Indie Films Fernie is proud to present the Canadian/Indian heart-wrenching movie Siddharth.
The film tells the tale of a poor Delhi street merchant desperately searching for his missing son. Mahendra, who mends zippers in the streets of New Delhi, sends his 12 year-old son Siddharth to work in a factory in another province to support their family. When Siddarth fails to return home for the holiday of Diwali, Mahendra embarks upon a moving, tangled, and often seemingly futile journey to find his son.
A powerful story about the ramifications of a single decision and the limitations that result from poverty, it underscores that in the face of the unspeakable, one must keep moving forward.
Filmed in India, Siddharth is told in Hindi with English subtitles.
The movie will play Monday night, 7 pm, at the Vogue Theatre. Tickets are available at the door and online.


text:
Knowledge Front's alerting system is designed to be simple and effective. There are no limits to the number of destinations per alert and no limits to the number of configured alerts per monitor.
250 SMS Messages or voice calls per month are included with each monitor, for every month of paid service. The total is cumulative. For example, if there are 4 monitors configured the total number of included SMS or Voice alerts is 4 * 250 = 1000 (i.e. 4x250).
There will be a $0.10 USD charge for each SMS or voice call performed over the included amount.
In order to facilitate reliable delivery at an increased rate the Knowledge Front alerting system utilizes a pool of phone numbers
SMS and Voice Numbers:
Replying STOP to any SMS message will *Permanently* stop all SMS messages to that mobile device.
To stop alerts temporarily use the Pause Alert function from any of the alert configuration pages.
Special note regarding SMS alerting and Indian mobile devices: the Indian government has established regulations impacting the deliverability of SMS alerts. First, any phone number listed in India's Do Not Call Registry will not be able to receive SMS alerts. The owner of the mobile device must follow these specific instructions provided by the Indian government. Second, SMS alerts will only be delivered between the hours of 9 A.M. and 9 P.M., local time in India. We apologize for these limitations, but they are regulations enforced by the Indian government.
Currently voice alerts are only available for US, Canadian, and UK numbers. We are currently working on international voice calls. Feel free to contact us if interested in this feature.
Email alerts are sent by firstname.lastname@example.com. This is an unattended email address. Please use email@example.com for questions.


text:
Isadore "Izzy" Kranzel, 81, comes each week armed with family photos to visit his 102-year-old mother.
Clutching a thick photo album containing a century of family history, Isadore "Izzy" Kranzel, 81, practically bounces from one side of the lunchroom table to the other.
Seated in one wheelchair is his 102-year-old mother, Sonia Kranzel. Across the table, also wheelchair-bound, sits his 91-year-old aunt, Freda Rosenzweig. He's been serenading both with a Gershwin tune, the notes echoing through the institutional hallway.
Sonia Kranzel has lived at the Madlyn and Leonard Abramson Center for Jewish Life in North Wales for nearly six years. Rosenzweig moved in to the long-term care facility a few months ago, after her husband died. Both sisters suffer from dementia.
But Izzy Kranzel, a retired administrative law judge and onetime assistant city solicitor, is nothing if not determined to retain a connection to the women, even if the sparks of recognition are fleeting, focused more on the past than the present.
Every Friday afternoon, Kranzel and his wife, Myra, make the 45-minute drive from their Center City apartment to Abramson. (And every three weeks, they drive to Bethlehem to visit Myra's mother, who's 97, and also in a care facility.)
At Abramson, they are almost always joined by Izzy's younger sister, Fran Chelder, and her husband, Larry. The Chelders live in Elkins Park and are active volunteers at Abramson.
Abramson currently has 18 residents who are 100 or will turn 100 this year: The oldest is 104. A number of them don't have living adult children who check on them regularly, according to staff at the facility, so the center doesn't have many octogenarians like Izzy Kranzel visiting centenarian parents.
For those parent-child seniors, this extended relationship can be a mixed blessing — a heavy responsibility but also a time to cherish.
"It is stressful to be 75 and dealing with your own issues around aging, and then to have a parent to worry about," according to Joy Shore, of Abramson Care Management Programs.
Shore, 49, can relate beyond her professional capacity. Her grandmother, Sylva Naden, is one of Abramson's centenarians. Her 74-year-old mother, Barbara Beller, is also a regular visitor.
"We have been going through having my grandmother age for a quarter of a century," said Shore, who, as part of her responsibilities, meets with family members of prospective residents. Shore's mother "made the flip in her head a long time ago that she was the parent" to her own mother.
Regardless of whether someone is 70 or 90 or 102, if they suffer from Alzheimer's or another form of dementia, families often confront the same questions.
How can a connection be maintained? How can a son or daughter have a meaningful relationship with a person who bears so little resemblance to the one they knew?
According to Sarah Humes, director of therapeutic recreation at Abramson, staff members often have a much easier time interacting with residents than family members, because professionals come to the person without much knowledge of their prior lives.
Despite all the research in brain science, there's little if any knowledge about how to reverse the tide of dementia, said Humes. But researchers have learned a great deal about how to engage such patients and how to improve their quality of life while limiting moments of disorientation and distress.
Staff members try to learn as much as possible about what's important to the person and find ways to use that knowledge, said Humes. For instance, for someone who was an avid tennis player, a staffer might bring in a can of tennis balls, a racquet or a book with photos from tennis history, and try to enage with the resident. Ideally, she said, family members could be doing the same kinds of things.
With every patient it's different, she said. "Your goal may be to get them to have a great day. It might be that they have a positive five minutes."
Izzy Kranzel alternated between his mother and aunt as he showed them images of family members, both immediate and distant. The pictures tell the story of one family's experience. They were taken in Russia, in the hardscrabble neighborhood of Kensington in the 1930s and '40s, at a vacation bungalow in Neshaminy Falls, in front of the family home in Mount Airy and at a massive 1982 family reunion held at Germantown Jewish Centre.
"Now, see if you can tell me who that is?" he asked his mom.
After a moment, she replied quietly, "Freda."
"That's right, Mom. That's your sister," he said, the excitement evident in his voice. No matter how many times he's done this, he said, he's amazed that she recognizes the woman in a 50-year-old photograph, but doesn't appear to know the same person sitting just a few feet from her.
"We don't know an awful lot about how connections are made by people who have dementia," Kranzel said. "Where are the connections in their brains that cause them to remember certain things and not others?"
Humes said that Kranzel is, if not unique, exceptional in his approach. Unlike many visitors, he doesn't appear to expect his mother and aunt to get better.
"He may have the exact same experience on his end, but to her, it is new every time," she said. "He doesn't need her to say, 'Oh Izzy, I'm so glad you are here to look through the photo album like we did last time.' "
A body of research exists on reminiscence therapy and how to use oral histories and visual cues to benefit an older person's mental health. But Humes noted that Izzy Kranzel came up with the whole routine on his own.
"It helps me and her. Using that method increases her sense of family," he said.
But 10 minutes after he leaves, Kranzel added, "She can't tell you I was there."
In contrast, Kranzel, co-president of the Philadelphia Jewish Archives at Temple University, seems to have the past on a recall button. Ask him where his mother was born — Novoukrainka in what was then Russian territory and what is today part of western Ukraine — and you'll get a 10-minute lecture about the history of Eastern Europe until the Russian Revolution.
When more than 200 family members attended that 1982 reunion at the Germantown Jewish Centre, Kranzel compiled a 20-page booklet that contained families trees and individual histories and gave copies to everyone present. And he's written a play and several short stories — all unpublished — based on his mother, the person he says he admires more than any other.
For Kranzel, keeping track of this history and spending hours with his mother and aunt are not burdensome.
"I do not find it painful at all. I find it rewarding. I'm doing what I'm supposed to do," he said. "Our daughter finds it hard to visit her grandmother. She is too fixated on what her grandmother was once like. My son is better, he's more stoic, he accepts it more easily. They were both very close to her."
About 15 years after she left Mount Airy and moved into the same Center City building where her son and daughter-in-law live, Sonia Kranzel started to forget things. In 2007, she moved in with her daughter and son-in-law in Elkins Park, but they had trouble caring for her. After six months, she moved into the Abramson Center.
But Kranzel doesn't fret over the possibility that his mother could live another five years or worry about any potential toll the traveling back and forth could have on himself, his wife or his sister. This time together, he said, is truly blessed.
Through it all, his mother, who will be 103 next month, remains upbeat, he said. Despite all she's been through, he's convinced she's glad to be alive. "And that is a great comfort."


text:
Rezz may not intentionally be taking shots at RL Grime with this INSANE October mix but she is most definitely setting the bar quite high for spookiest mix of the year.
'Nightmare on Rezz Street' is a project I took on to create a 32-minute mix of original, unreleased music that fans never would have access to otherwise. The video component is very important to this project.
The video is directed and curated by Beama Visuals' Cam MacNeill whose understanding of live visuals and prior work as Rezz's VJ clearly prepared him for the unique job of creating this incredible piece that I imagine completely satisfies the artist's imagined creative direction. Filled with monsters, portals, and various symbols from the Rexx Cult-iverse, you may find yourself sucked from reality while watching this mix as the bass-driven narrative is quite trance inducing.
As music and art should always seek to push new boundaries, Rezz is shockingly persistent in her ability to innovate and take her once-niche brand to new heights. Much love to this whole project and the product that has resulted: a simultaneously twisted and clear vision that I cannot imagine executed any better…


text:
For the last couple of days I have been wearing OPI's 'Bright lights, Big color' on my nails, which is a very pretty orange/pink colour that has a golden shimmer in it. I absolutely love this colour and don't have anything else quite like it. The only problem with this polish is the longevity is terrible and I feel like it starts to chip almost instantly (even with a topcoat). I think this may be one of the worse polishes I own chipping wise which is disappointing. The colour definitely makes up for it though and I think this will be one of my most worn polishes this summer!
Do you own this colour? Do you have problems with it too?


text:
When I departed for a short visit to Haiti 10 years ago, I had no idea that it would ultimately change my life forever, as well as a small corner of the world called Caneille. On my first visit to Caneille, Haiti, I caught a glimpse of what the world was like for so many. I had played with children who struggled to get enough to eat in a day and I watched someone's life nearly come to an end because they were born in a place without access to medical care. More than anything, I came to understand the hopelessness that my new friends felt about their ability to change the world around them.
After returning home with more questions than answers, I came across this sentence in a dry World Bank Country Report completed for Haiti that same year, "Education is the single most important determinant of an individual's potential to escape poverty in Haiti." With that sentence, the Caneille Regional Development Fund was born. We provide education in a rural community because education is what empowers people to create positive change in their lives and community.
Since we began our work 10 years ago, hundreds of children and their families have been given greater opportunity through education thanks to the tremendous support of our donors. Every time I talk with our students, teachers, or facilitate a parent meeting, I see the incredible impact of our work.
As we look ahead to the completion of our 10th academic year in just a few months, we would like to invite you to join us to celebrate A Decade of Difference on May 19th at Riverview Gardens in Appleton. We want to share more about the impact we have had, celebrate with those who have made it possible, and introduce new friends to the cause we are all so passionate about.
This fun evening will include live entertainment, drinks and light hors d'oeuvres, fantastic silent auction items, and so much more. Please join us by clicking here for more information and to purchase your tickets.


text:
Ways to Give
Tamassee DAR School is supported by alumni, businesses, churches, DAR and friends. Year after year, we count on gifts of all sizes to help us deliver quality-driven educational programs to students. There are many ways to help the children of Tamassee DAR School and it is because of you that they will receive it.
Please browse this section to learn how you can support Tamassee DAR School.
Please make your gift to Tamassee DAR School today! Our greatest need is for the Children's Fund which provides for the daily needs of our children, programs and services.
Checks can be mailed to:
Tamassee DAR School
P.O. Box 8
Tamassee, SC 29686
Credit Card
The fastest and easiest way to give to Tamassee DAR School is to make a credit card gift online using our safe and secure online gift form. Make your gift recurring and join the Tamassee Faithful Recurring Gift Program.
Make your monthly gift online or contact the Development Department at 864-944-1390 to schedule and provide your credit card information.
Stocks/Mutual Funds
Your gift of security often provides you with great tax benefits while providing support to our services and programs for children. Electronically transfer your stock directly to Tamassee DAR School to receive the greatest tax benefit possible and provide the largest gift possible to Tamassee.
Matching Gifts
Double or even triple your gift to Tamassee DAR School through your employer's gift matching program. Many employers offer a dollar for dollar matching gift that will significantly amplify your gift to Tamassee DAR School.
Click below to find out if your employer is a matching gift company.
Real Property
Make a gift of real property to benefit Tamassee DAR School! Your primary home, vacation home, farm, commercial buildings or undeveloped property (no buildings), makes a great gift to Tamassee while providing you with substantial tax benefits.
Personal Property
There are many ways to support Tamassee DAR School. To donate personal property such as a car or boat, contact the Tamassee DAR School Development Department at 864-944-1390. Gifts such as cars and boats will need to be evaluated by Tamassee DAR School prior to acceptance and may require you to obtain a certified appraisal for tax purposes.
Estate Planning
Adding Tamassee DAR School in your estate planning is a wonderful way to provide for the children we serve while leaving a lasting legacy. A bequest from your Will or a living trust lets you make a gift of any size to Tamassee DAR School while providing you with estate tax benefits. Contact Jason Eller, Chief Development Officer at 864-944-1390 or firstname.lastname@example.com to learn how you can leave a legacy today for tomorrow's children.
Other Ways to Give
Your participation in these programs is appreciated and we are grateful for the many needs that are fulfilled through the rewards generated by these programs.


text:
2016 Toyota Camry Vs 2016 Nissan Altima in Brandon FL
Serving Winter Haven, Plant City, Brandon, FL, and the Surrounding Areas
Are you in the market for a new mid-size sedan but are feeling overwhelmed by your options? Well, it never hurts to start your car search with the latest version of America's best-selling mid-size sedan, the 2016 Toyota Camry. After an all-new, redesigned Camry debuted for the 2015 model year, the Camry returns for 2016 with improved interior features and better use of technology, including a vivid Multi-Information Display that now comes standard on all Camry models. Also new for 2016 is the Camry Special Edition model, which adds exclusive features like 18-inch Special Edition machined alloy wheels, standard Qi-compatible wireless smartphone charging, and unique interior with blue stitching. Drivers near Winter Haven, Plant City, Brandon, FL, and the surrounding areas can experience the stunningly spacious and well-appointed Camry at Lakeland Toyota. As an authorized Toyota new car dealership, we carry a huge inventory of new vehicles spanning the entire Toyota lineup, including the ever-popular Camry mid-size sedan. You can begin your car search here on our website by browsing our complete inventory of Camry sedans and other Toyota vehicles. Then, plan a visit to our authorized Toyota dealership, where we will get you out on the road for a test drive!
Did you know that our website is a great place to research Toyota's latest models, like the 2016 Camry, and even compare them to the competition? Continue reading below to see how the 2016 Toyota Camry mid-size sedan stacks up against its latest rival from Nissan, the 2016 Altima.
Standard Interior Amenities
No matter if you are looking to get into a new mid-size sedan at the lowest price possible or you want a fully-loaded, V6-equipped model with all the bells and whistles, the 2016 Toyota Camry will not disappoint. The 2016 Camry comes so well-equipped in standard base trim that it seems that anything above the base price is just icing on the cake! Standard features on the 2016 Camry include a rearview backup camera, 6.1-inch touchscreen display audio system, and an 8-way power-adjustable driver's seat. Nissan, on the other hand, does not offer any of the features as standard equipment on its 2016 Altima mid-size sedan. In order to get the rearview camera, large touchscreen, and power-adjustable front seats, you will have to add them as options or upgrade to a completely different Altima model. Either way, you will be paying a higher price for the Altima if you want a comparably equipped model to the 2016 Camry base model. The Camry LE base model's Entune Multimedia Bundle is packed with high-tech features, like hands-free phone capability, advanced voice recognition, phone book access, and music streaming, thanks to Bluetooth wireless technology. A six-speaker audio system with an AM/FM radio with CD player and MP3/WMA playback capability, auxiliary audio jack, and USB 2.0 port is also standard on the Camry base model. If you expect the latest technology and convenience features as standard on your new mid-size sedan, then you may want to pass on Nissan's Altima, and get yourself into the Toyota Camry.
Standard Safety Features
When it comes to standard features, the 2016 Toyota Camry offers much more in addition to its technology and convenience amenities. Drivers and families alike will be happy to learn that occupants of the 2016 Toyota Camry are protected by ten airbags. In addition to its driver and front passenger Advanced Airbag System, driver and front passenger seat-mounted side airbags, rear seat-mounted side airbags, and front and rear side curtain airbags, the 2016 Camry also provides knee airbags for the driver and front passenger. One of the most common types of injuries resulting from a front-end collision is knee injuries; that is why Toyota has outfitted many of its latest vehicles with standard knee airbags for both the driver and front passenger. Nissan does not currently provide front knee airbags on its Altima, nor does it have an answer to the Camry's Star Safety System suite of safety features, which also come standard on every new Camry. Six advanced safety features make up Toyota's Star Safety System, all of which can help prevent accidents or collisions before they occur. Included in this suite of safety features are Smart Stop Technology (SST), Electronic Brake-force Distribution (EBD), Brake Assist (BA), Vehicle Stability Control (VSC), Traction Control (TRAC), and an Anti-lock Brake System (ABS). Toyota believes that you should never have to upgrade to get critical safety features, and it shows with its impressive list of standard safety features on the 2016 Camry.
Advanced Safety Features
From the available Rear Cross-Traffic Alert (RCTA) and Blind Spot Monitor (BSM) to Lane Departure Alert (LDA) and even Dynamic Radar Cruise Control (DRCC), Toyota offers a lengthy list of advanced safety features on its Camry. The 2016 Camry's Blind Spot Monitor (BSM) and Rear Cross-Traffic Alert (RCTA) help keep the driver informed of surrounding vehicles that may be out of view. Backing out of a parking space or into the street just got a lot safer, thanks to the Camry's Rear Cross-Traffic Alert (RCTA) and the standard rearview camera! The Camry's available Lane Departure Alert (LDA) system sends audible and visual alerts to the driver if the system detects an inadvertent lane departure. Underinflated tires are a serious safety hazard; that is why Toyota has equipped its new Camry with Direct Tire Pressure Monitor System (TPMS). Direct TPMS alerts the driver when a tire is underinflated, and you can even see which specific tire needs to be inflated by viewing the Camry's Multi-Information Display. Another feature that increases safety and convenience is Toyota's Dynamic Radar Cruise Control (DRCC), as it allows the Camry to maintain a preset, safe following distance behind the vehicle in front -- and eliminates the need to start, stop, and adjust your cruise control. While Nissan offers some similar safety features on its 2016 Altima, they will come at a price: Toyota's top of the line, V6-equipped Camry, the 2016 Camry XLE V6, starts at an MSRP of $32,205, while a comparably equipped 2016 Nissan Altima 3.5SL is priced at over a thousand dollars more, or $33,525. For advanced safety features at a more affordable price, choose Toyota's 2016 Camry over the 2016 Nissan Altima.
Passenger Space
Not only does the 2016 Toyota Camry have comfortable seating, but it also provides more passenger space than the 2016 Nissan Altima. The Camry provides one cubic foot of additional passenger volume when compared to Nissan's Altima, meaning that passengers can stretch out and enjoy the ride. All five passengers will benefit from the Camry's greater passenger volume, as the Camry tops its rival from Nissan in all second-row dimensions, offering more rear legroom, headroom, hip room, and shoulder room. Front passengers also get more shoulder room and hip room in the Camry. If you care about the comfort of your passengers, why not drive the sedan with more interior space?
Cargo Capacity
When it comes to cargo capacity, mid-size sedans have become increasingly spacious and versatile over the years. Case in point are the latest versions of the Camry and Altima. Both of these mid-size sedans provide an impressive 15.4 cubic feet of cargo space inside their trunks. As both come standard with 60/40 split-folding rear seatbacks, cargo capacity and versatility can increase when the rear passenger area is utilized as additional storage space. The pass-thru storage area that is exposed when the rear seats are folded down allows you to transport larger items easily, at a flip of the 60/40 split-folding seatback. However, since the 2016 Camry provides a more spacious second-row of seating, that extra level of spaciousness also means that maximum cargo capacity is also greater in the Camry.
With so many reasons to drive a 2016 Toyota Camry, isn't it about time for you to explore one for yourself? If you live near the cities of Winter Haven, Plant City, or Brandon, FL, then you can visit Lakeland Toyota's nearby showroom. Beyond the test drive, be sure to explore all of the Camry's technology and convenience features, along with its spacious and versatile cargo area. Stop by the Lakeland Toyota showroom today; we are located at 2925 Mall Hill Dr., in Lakeland, FL. You can reach our sales team by phone at (888) 711-5722.View Inventory


text:
On the Issues: Health care
There was a day when a trip to the doctor for a routine condition could be paid out of pocket without sending a family into bankruptcy.
But today, a family without insurance can hardly afford to spring for treatment of even the most routine physical ailments. And even with insurance, co-pays and deductibles can eat away at their savings.
That's why health care costs have been a key topic in election campaigns for years and remain a key issue in this fall's presidential race. But a solution has been impossible to come by, largely because of the major difference between the two political parties into how great a role government should play in our medical care.
Democrats favor a more active role, ranging from a government safety net of insurance for those who need it all the way to a federal takeover of health insurance. Republicans prefer a market-based approach and more options to help people acquire insurance and save for out-of-pocket expenses.
That's roughly where we are in this year's presidential race as well between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain.
Whatever one's views on government's role, there is agreement that changes are needed. As costs continue to rise, too many Americans are having to forego necessary health care needs, often bypassing doctor visits when the money isn't there.
Uninsured patients account for some $86 billion in U.S. spending this year, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. That organization also estimates that insuring those who lack it will cost even more, some $123 billion a year.
Some 47 million Americans still don't have insurance provided by an employer or other source, leaving them vulnerable to a catastrophic illness. As a result, many seek care in hospital emergency rooms, which are obligated by law to treat all patients. Yet the cost of ER care is prohibitive compared to private practice physicians, driving up the price of health care for everyone.
Health care costs now account for $1 of every $6 spend in the U.S. economy, according to the Congressional Budget Office, compared to $1 out of $10 in 1960. The CBO estimates that will reach $1 for every $4 spent by 2025, one-quarter of our spending incomes. Such a drain takes away from money that could be spent on other individual and societal needs.
Businesses foot the bill for a huge share of their workers' health insurance needs, taking away from their ability to invest in growth and provide greater salaries and benefits. With the economy slumping, companies are squeezed at both ends, trying to maintain their employees' expensive coverage even as their own bottom lines suffer. It's a tough balancing act, one that has led many businesses to cut back on coverage, or worse, cut back on the number of workers they can afford.
Thus, health care is not just a quality-of-life issue, but also an economic one. As long as the American people and their employers have to burn so much of their income on health needs, turning around our slumping economy is made more difficult.
There are numerous causes for skyrocketing health costs. Indigent care is a major factor, along with malpractice lawsuits that have driven up the cost of insuring doctors. The risk of lawsuits also leads many physicians to err on the side of extreme caution when treating patients by ordering expensive tests that may not be needed, driving up costs even more.
The first step toward getting a handle on runaway costs will be finding a more cost-effective way to treat indigent patients that provides the level of care they need. Many communities are doing this through free or low-cost health clinics to stave off serious conditions early before more costly treatment is needed.
Last week, Gainesville opened a new wellness clinic for city employees to treat routine illnesses, exams and prescriptions. Good News Clinics is another local option for those who lack insurance or the ability to pay doctors' fees. Government can encourage these community-based solutions by offering incentives and startup money to expand and maintain such clinics for everyone.
Government also can assist small businesses who have a hard time affording insurance for their employees. Group rates are preferable to individual policies, and the more workers that employees can get onto insurance rolls, the better. Tax breaks for businesses that make this effort are an easy fix that both parties agree on.
Another idea both candidates agree on is that health insurance should be portable, allowing workers to maintain coverage when they change jobs. The gaps and waiting periods during such transition can be costly and devastating when an illness hits.
The federal government also can fully fund state-run programs such as Medicaid and SCHIP for poor children. Millions of Americans benefit from these plans, but many states, including Georgia, have trouble maintaining the quality of care and accessibility these plans offer. Keeping sick kids out of classrooms where they can infect others is a shared goal.
Most agree as well that insurance companies need to be more lenient in covering those with pre-existing conditions. When an insurer drops someone from a policy because of their high risk, we all pick up the tab.
Lowering costs across the board should make it more viable for providers to maintain coverage for everyone.
And we can all do our part as well by maintaining healthy lifestyles and managing our family health care expenses wisely. It's not government's place to tell us how to live, but when we run off to the doctor for mild conditions, we jack up the cost of care for everyone.
The idea of creating a federally-managed health plan that covers everyone is a tough sell in our current political climate, and may not guarantee that costs or services would improve. That's why both candidates prefer to chip away at the problem with smaller steps designed to bring costs in line while providing more coverage to more Americans in a market-based approach.
That appears to be a wise starting point for fixing the problem, one that will require some compromise and cooperation from our leaders but is well within their ability to do so.


text:
Reading comprehension exercises about gender discrimination at tech industry. The text was taken from https://www.usnews.com, on 6th october, 2017. It´s an article written by Karen Ross, the owner and CEO at Sharp Decisions. The text can also be used as a starting point for a debate on the subject of discrimination. The key for the exercises is provided. Hope you like it.
Upload date: 2017-10-21 09:22:55