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In last week's article we focused in on the last word of Romans 12:1: letourgia. It means "liturgy," or "the work of the people." We took an excursion to a Saturday afternoon NCAA Division 1 College Football game to see what I believe real liturgy aspires to do: to facilitate a dynamic, dramatic, scripted yet spontaneous, corporate yet personal embodied response to the God (or in this sense, the gods on the field).
Today I want to spend some time talking about the playing field. There's a small phrase in Romans 12:1 which packs a massive punch. I overlooked it for the longest time. It's the phrase modifying "offer your bodies." It's the little phrase:
"In view of God's mercy."
In Romans, Paul takes the first eleven chapters to paint a panoramic vision of the view of God's mercy. It's like he's summarizing those first eleven chapters of the most studied letter since the reformation and in five words: In view of God's mercy.
Too often, we are content in worship to let the vision of God's mercy be reduced to a theological concept or worse a transactional proposition: The mercy of God is the substitutionary, penal, propitiating, atoning work of the second person of the Trinity through his death on the cross, resurrection from the grave and ascension into heaven for the sins of the world and the righteousness of the saints, whom he saves by grace through a confession of faith which most often happens through what is known as the "sinners prayer."
While this is perhaps one way to characterize the view of God's mercy, it seems to defy what Paul is getting at when he says "in view of God's mercy." The mercy of God is not primarily a concept to be grasped but a vision to become subsumed in. As we said from the start, "Worship starts with seeing." Worship is a visionary activity. The mercy of God must be seen.
It's important to note that Paul began casting the vision of mercy in Romans 1 not with the sin of humanity but with the goodness of the created order. Only then does he graphically depict the fall from grace. Next he turns to wrath and the law and Abraham and Israel and Jesus and Adam. In Romans, Paul masterfully depicts for us what it looks like to be a theological storyteller. And this is precisely what we must learn to do as the people of God gathered for corporate worship.
What Worship Leaders Can Learn from Disney
How do we shape "in view of God's mercy" in our worship gatherings? This past Christmas our family made the pilgrimage to Disney World. It's fascinating how Disney didn't set out to build a theme park but to create a world. When you enter the world of Disney you leave your world behind. It is an immersive experience. But what happens there is more than just a few thrill rides and funnel cakes. Disney has created a world which offers an immersive context for memory making. From the majestic entry gates to the evening fireworks, through the "Small World" cruise to the top of Space Mountain, all the while surrounded by the great cloud of witnesses led by the Patron Saint, Mickey Mouse, one day at Disney can create a lifetime of memories.
What does this have to do with worship? Our worship gatherings present us with a weekly opportunity to bask in the glorious view of God's mercy. What would it take to develop our places of worship into arenas of revelation? How might our worship leaders learn to become theological storytellers through song choices, scriptural declarations, corporate gesture and so forth? It's another post, but this is what the great cathedrals aspire to do with every square inch of their existence.
Worship is the Weekly Opportunity to Reorient ourselves inside the True Storyline of our Lives
So often our worship services seem content with offering an ephemeral experience rather than cultivating contexts for deep dives into the Spirit-filled world of biblical memory. There are a number of ancient, time tested strategies and practices for doing this. Next week I will address the ways the Christian Calendar casts the vision of God's mercy through building an arena of Divine revelation.
For now, I'll close with another word from Robert Jensen, from his essay entitled, "How the World Lost its Story."
"The church's assemblies must again become occasions of seeing. We are told by the Scripture that in the Kingdom this world's dimness of sight will be replaced by, as the old theology said it, 'beatific vision.'. . . . . And in this age, the church must be the place where beatific vision is anticipated and trained."
To read more of the series, start here.


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Celebrating 40 Years of Making Cows Happy
This year, Nobis Agri Science is celebrating 40 years in business: four decades of progressive animal nutrition, first-class customer service and commitment to the dairy industry. The company has grown from the passion of founder/President, Terry Nobis, to the Midwest's leader in ruminant nutrition with a staff of 20 and the continued vision to feed smarter.
Founded in 1978, Nobis Agri Science continues to be a family-owned company that focuses on ruminant nutrition, custom feed manufacturing and overall herd health and performance. Over the years, Nobis Agri Science has built its reputation on our ability to provide progressive strategies that are tailored to our customers - and their herds'- individual needs.
To celebrate, Nobis Agri Science invited employees, customers, friends, and business partners out to the company's main facility for an open house. "It gives me great pride in joining Nobis Agri Science employees, customers and business partners in celebrating the company's 40th anniversary. We have come a long way since the business was started in 1978 and are very excited about our future as the company and our customers continue to thrive in these difficult economic times," said Nobis when discussing the celebration.
Nobis Agri Science readied itself for growth by providing their customers with unmatched customer service and progressive nutrition in the industry. "We do what is right for our customers and are committed to their success. Because if our customers are successful then we, Nobis Agri Science, will be successful," described Vice-President, Ben Nobis.

subset: commoncrawl


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Katie Piper shares photo from hospital after eye surgery
Katie Piper has shared an update from her hospital bed after undergoing eye surgery.
The 37-year-old TV presenter and mental health campaigner has undergone multiple operations to reconstruct her face and restore her vision after she was the victim of an acid attack by an ex-boyfriend in 2008.
After her latest op, Piper posted a picture on Instagram showing her sitting up and smiling in her hospital bed.
Thanks for all your messages I'm in hospital recovering from my recent eye operation, everything went well. Big thank you to Mr Naresh Joshi and his team 🙌🏼
A post shared by K A T I E P I P E R (@katiepiper_) on
"Thanks for all your messages," she wrote.
"I'm in hospital recovering from my recent eye operation, everything went well," she said, also thanking her doctors.
Watch: Katie Piper shares details of eyelid surgery
Read more: Katie Piper defends censored acid attack post on Instagram
Piper was previously in hospital in July, when she had surgery to graft new skin onto her eyelid.
Speaking on ITV's Lorraine at the time she said the operation was "a relief" as her eye had been getting infected a lot.
Fellow celebrities such as Fearne Cotton and Michelle Visage were among those to post messages after Piper's latest procedure.
Read more: Katie Piper describes 'difficult time' as her acid attacker prepares for prison release
"Love and good vibes to you always wonderful woman," said Cotton, while Visage called Piper a "sweet angel".
Singer Kimberley Walsh said she was "sending love" and Peter Andre posted: "We are thinking of you."
Piper rose to fame following her acid attack after waiving her right to anonymity to help raise awareness for burns victims.
The model has two daughters aged two and six with carpenter husband Richard Sutton.
Watch: Acid attach survivor has an empowering 10-year challenge post


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Clinton backs contraception for maternal health
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton waded into a global discussion about maternal health Tuesday, saying any discussion has to include contraception, family planning and access to abortion.
Clinton's comments came in a news conference at the conclusion of a G8 foreign ministers meeting in Gatineau, Que. As she began her answer to a reporter's question, Clinton made it clear she was not going to join any discussion about specific Canadian government policies.
"I'm not going to speak for what Canada decides," Clinton said as she sat beside Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon.
Earlier this month, Cannon said that Ottawa's new maternal health initiative for developing countries wouldn't include contraception. Two days later Prime Minister Stephen Harper clarified the policy, saying it would allow it.
For her part, Clinton said her viewpoint had been shaped by experience.
"I have worked in this area for many years," Clinton said. "You cannot have maternal health without reproductive health, and that includes contraception and family planning and access to legal, safe abortions."
Clinton also said that those people concerned about abortion should make sure women have access to family planning.
"I do not think government should be involved in these decisions," Clinton said, adding that in her opinion "it is perfectly legitimate for people to hold their own personal views based on conscience, religion or any other basis."
As she continued in her remarks, Clinton also took issue with countries such as China where, she said, a one-child policy has, at times, led to the "abhorrent" practice where the "policy is implemented by forced abortions."


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"In a distinguished career as a faithful public servant, Barbara has served the people of this state with distinction, diligence, a wealth of knowledge, and unique graciousness," said Rainwater. "Mark Brady is an innovative thinker who will provide strong leadership at DOA, which he has already demonstrated with his results-oriented management approach."
Biography of Mark Brady
Mark Brady most recently served as Chief of Staff in the Office of the Commissioner of Administration. Prior to joining the Division of Administration, Brady served as Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director of the Arab Bankers Association of North America (ABANA).
Prior to joining ABANA, Brady was U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Services in Washington, D.C. He oversaw and managed three separate offices, which developed trade policy, identified foreign market barriers, and analyzed trends affecting the domestic and foreign competitiveness for U.S. businesses in the service, tourism and financial services industries.
Prior to assuming that position, Brady was appointed by President Bush to be the first Executive Director of Corporate Partnerships for the U.S. Commercial Service. Before joining the Bush Administration, Brady was President of Manchester Partners, Inc., a corporate financial advisory firm where he worked with executive management of both publicly and privately held companies on financial management and international business development. Brady is a former member of the New Hampshire Legislature where he represented district 2 and served on the Commerce Committee. He has written and testified extensively on fiscal, health care, and environmental policy, and successfully sponsored legislation into law as a legislator.
He earned a degree in Economics from the Whittemore School of Business and Economics, University of New Hampshire.
(From Press release from the Department of Administration, State of Louisiana


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In the midst of an ongoing civil crisis in Cameroon, Open Dreams is opening a new Center in Cameroon's capital, Yaounde, replete with computers, desks & books, providing a safe haven for aspiring college scholars to fulfill their academic potential. Despite difficult circumstances, over 50 Open Dreams scholars have overcome long odds to achieve their dream of attaining a full college scholarship. Through this new center, we hope to serve future scholars displaced by this conflict in Yaounde.
The recent civil unrest in Cameroon, specifically in the English-speaking Northwest region, has sent many of our scholars fleeing from our home base of Bamenda for the safety of their lives, being forced to evacuate. Many of our scholars' lives have been upended with no regular schooling offered over the past 3 years. In response to this tumultuous situation, along with our goals of expanding the presence of Open Dreams across the country, we are establishing a second center in Yaounde.
Open Dreams prepares aspiring college students from disadvantaged backgrounds through our unique Global Mentorship Model, connecting each scholar with mentors around the world who help them revise essays, explore colleges and majors, write recommendations and give general guidance with regard to the college application process. Our Summer Academy program includes computer programming, public speaking, leadership, entrepreneurship and community service requirements on top of SAT preparation.
"Teach a man to fish rather than give a man a fish". Our scholars are community leaders, visionaries, technologists, entrepreneurs, etc seeking to bring development and innovation to their own communities. Despite difficult circumstances that include constant power outages, over 50 of our scholars have climbed long odds to fulfill their dream of attaining a college scholarship. Educated youth go on to help others in their communities, demonstrating the 'ripple effect' of community development.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.Start a Fundraiser


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Am 21.02.2012 15:38, schrieb Rinke Hoekstra: > However... is it me, or isn't the 'almost 2B triples' a very > disappointing number? If you go through all datasets advertised on the > Data Hub, the advertised number of triples is over 40B ! This means > that only one out of 20 triples in the linked 'open' data cloud is > publicly accessible. It certainly is and this is one of the reasons we developed this tool to get a better picture of the LOD cloud. Of cause this difference is partially caused by invalid links in CKAN and some issues we still have with dealing with very large datasets, but these issues real users might have as well. > Another thing... it seems as if LODStats is merely checking whether a > SPARQL endpoint is 'up' and whether the endpoint actually contains the > data that has been advertised on the Data Hub. For instance, my very > own bubble is listed without problems, but I know for a fact that the > triple store no longer contains the data (sorry!). Do you have any > thoughts/ideas on how to detect such problems? We currently don't delete our stats when an endpoint is not available once, but try to check back later. Of course after a certain number of check backs and timeouts the stats should be invalidated. Can you point me to your endpoint and we will have a look what's the problem there. Best, SörenReceived on Tuesday, 21 February 2012 14:51:57 UTC
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thursday, 24 March 2022 20:29:57 UTC


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February 9, 2018
By: Barry M. Shulman
So you're presented with a Commercial Lease, say a business retail tenant in a shopping center. You're perhaps a Landlord, or a Tenant. You carefully review all of the terms and have no problem with their clarity. They're explicit and unambiguous. What you might not realize is that there can be a third and silent party to the lease who may have other ideas – the Court, if there's a law suit—which can amend even the plainest terms on the basis (called equity) of unfairness.
A couple of examples: In a 2011 case involving a discount clothing store in New York City called Daffy's, the Tenant gave late notice of its desire to renew. The Lease terms were plain as to when the Lease needed to be renewed (1 year before expiration). The 1 year date was missed by 4 days. The Court, noting the Tenant's "Good Will", allowed for the late renewal date, saying that not to do so would be unfair to the Tenant. The wording was plain, yet the Court swept it away finding that the Tenant had acted properly and that not to permit the delayed notice date would be unfair – reversing years of strict interpretation by Courts. Perhaps well drafted language in the Lease explaining why holding to the date was so important, could have better justified the renewal terms.
Another example, existing in New York State is called the Yellowstone Injunction, named after a certain Yellowstone Shopping Center in Forest Hills, N.Y. Basically it means that if the Tenant is delayed in payment and has breached its lease obligations, and if there's a cure period in the Lease (providing for example, if the Tenant hasn't paid rent, its time to do so may be extended by a stated number of days), and if the Landlord can thereby obtain a forfeiture of the Lease, the Tenant can seek relief despite the terms of the Lease if the Tenant can show a few things – (1) that it is bound by a commercial lease, (2) that it has received a notice of default, a notice to cure or the threat of an injunction, (3) that the Tenant has requested an injunction against ending the Lease prior to both termination of the Lease and the period to cure and (4) that it is prepared and has the ability to cure the alleged default by any means short of vacating the Premises. This is a much easier course of action than if a tenant sought a preliminary injunction with all the required Court showings including that it can succeed on the eventual merits. Thus even though there's a commercial lease with breach and cure rights limited in time, the Court can step in and give more time, without even a showing as an application for a preliminary judgment might require (that it might eventually win on the merits). Again out of a sense of fairness.
Lastly, might be the issue of when a holdover tenancy is considered to be liquidated damages (enforceable) or a penalty (not enforceable). If a tenant fulfills its Lease obligation in every respect except that it doesn't vacate at the end of the Lease Term, many leases provide that the Landlord can charge holdover rent, which often is a better landlord remedy than a costly and inefficient eviction. The problem is that the amount of holdover rent, while clear, may be considered in retrospect to be excessive and therefore unfair and unenforceable – a penalty. For example, if the Tenant holds over and by doing so, the Lease clearly allows the Landlord a 300% charge for holdover rent, it is likely that such percentage will not be enforced if found by a Court to be unfair and excessive; 125%, on the far other hand, may be considered fair. What about a number in between? A good draftsperson could include language whereby the Lease justifies why an increased charge is supportable and a higher charge enforceable – liquidated damages. The worry here again is that even though a landlord and a tenant may clearly agree in a lease to terms that are absolutely clear and not subject to interpretation, still there might be an unexpected result because of Court involvement enforcing only when it considers that there's fairness.
Tags: Court Penalty, Landlord, Liquidated Damages, Renewal Date, Tenant


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Jan. 22 marks the 35th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision, which decriminalized abortion in the United States. To celebrate the ruling, and also to raise awareness about current reproductive rights issues, members of the local chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW) are marching from the Chinese Park at Santa Rosa and Marsh Street to the SLO courthouse.
NOW coordinator Angie King is expecting a peaceful event beginning at 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 22. Representatives from several reproductive rights groups will speak, there will be an open mic, and the event will conclude with a vigil for people who have died in the struggle to keep abortion legal, including women who died as a result of abortions performed by non-professionals.
King said that the goals of the reproductive rights movement have changed from the original ambition to legalize abortion, into a mission to improve the reproductive health of men and women through access to services and ensuring that they're available to anyone who wants them.
"It's not just about keeping abortion legal," King said. "It's equally important for women to fight for the kids we do have, as well as the ones we don't."


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Quaker Heritage Press > Online Texts > Isaac Penington's Works > Isaac Penington to Widow Hemmings (1672)
THERE are two or three scriptures now on my heart to lay before thee; and it is the desire of my soul, that thou mayst so know the Lord, and so receive his Son, as that thou mayst experience them.
The first is in Prov. 5:15: "Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well."
The second is the words of Christ: John 7:38. "He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers (or streams) of living waters." For "there is a river the streams whereof make glad the city of God."
The third is that of John 4:14. where Christ signifies, that whosoever drinketh of the water which he giveth, shall never thirst more after water from without, but shall for ever thenceforward be satisfied with the springings up of the well of life from within.
To these I may add the precious promise of the sweet state of the gospel: Isa. 12:3. "Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation." The outward Jew drew the outward water from the outward wells: they had the upper springs, and the nether springs outwardly; but the inward Jew, in the light of the gospel day, draws inward water out of the inward wells with joy. The thirsting after it, when the soul could not meet with it, was a time of great sorrow and perplexity; but when the river of life is found, when the well of life is received, and the water springs up, the soul draws it from the spring, and drinks it with unspeakable joy. This metaphor, or similitude, is explained by the evangelist John, in chap. 7. ver. 39. The receiving of the Spirit, the receiving of the substance, belongs to the Christian's state, as the receiving of the figures did to the Jew's state. When the Spirit is received, the river, the well of life, is received; and then the waters thereof flow, and are drawn and drunk of. Now, the primitive Christians did receive the Spirit, not only in gifts and manifestations, but as a fountain of life and heavenly virtue dwelling within them. Rom. 8:9. And as he dwelt in them, so life sprang up from him, -- peace, joy, knowledge, virtue, wisdom, power, &c.; even the peace which passeth all man's understanding, and joy which is unspeakable and full of glory. The presence <495> of God was with these, and they knew the times of refreshment, even the times of consolation from the holy Comforter.
These things are witnessed now again, in the preaching of the same everlasting gospel, by the same eternal Spirit and power which preached it at first. For though the vessels in which the power appears are contemptible now, to the professors and wise ones of this age, as they were then, to the professors and wise ones of that age; yet it is the same treasure of life which is hid, and at times is made manifest, revealed in and through the earthen vessels: blessed be the Lord! of whom is the excellency of the glory, and not of us, who are but instruments and vessels in his hand. Now, seeing the Lord hath given us to partake of the riches of his grace, and of the precious treasures of life in his Son, and of his everlasting kingdom, we cannot hold our peace; but are required of him to proclaim the day of the Lord, the day of the gospel, even the everlasting day, which never shall have an end; and invite to the waters of life, the pure, still streams of Shiloh, which our souls drink of, and are satisfied with; especially to such as now thirst after them, as our souls once vehemently did, and were near failing through the extremity of thirst; which thirst, or desire, for the nature of it (blessed be the Lord!), is not lost or extinguished, but satisfied. And so the spouse having heard the Spirit inviting to the waters, being taught by Him to come to and drink of the living streams, daily also enjoying life and sweetness therefrom, -- now she cries also to her fellow-travellers, to the weary and thirsty ones: Oh come, saith she, to the fountain of life, which I mourned after, and languished for want of! oh, taste the sweetness of my Beloved, for whom my soul fainted, when I could not find him! So that not only the Spirit of the living God saith, Come; but the bride also saith, Come; for the fountain is not now sealed any longer, but open through the tender mercies of our God, for every thirsty soul; that whosoever hath a will kindled in him by the Lord may come to drink of the water of life freely.
Oh! drink then no longer at the muddy streams of your own conceivings and imaginations, with which, that which inwardly thirsts after the living God, and his pure streams of life, cannot be satisfied (it is not the true seed, it is another birth which is <496> satisfied with these things, before the fountain of life comes to be opened in the heart); but wait on the Lord, retire in spirit to be gathered into his light which he causes to shine in the heart, and into his Son's life and Spirit, which he manifesteth and revealeth there; that ye may eat that which is good, and be satisfied with the fatness of his house, and drink of the river of his pleasures. For indeed, the Lord, in this his gospel day, doth make to his children a feast of fat things, and of wines on the lees well refined, on his holy mountain, even in the kingdom which cannot be shaken; and the Beloved doth not only knock at the door of the heart, but comes in, and sups with his, and they with him.
16th of Eighth Month, 1672


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'Homosexuals Were Taken Care of in Ways I Can't Describe'
Last Thursday, at a Tea Party speaking event in Tennessee, the Republican congressional candidate Ron Kirkland spoke about President Obama's stance on Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Kirkland, a Vietnam veteran, described his time in the military thusly: "I can tell you if there were any homosexuals in that group, they were taken care of in ways I can't describe to you." Fellow Republican House candidate Randy Smith chimed in: "I definitely wouldn't want to share a shower with a homosexual. We took care of that kind of stuff, just like (Kirkland) said."
Kirkland and Smith have since walked back on their comments--Kirkland says he was making "a joke," while Smith, who has a gay daughter, says that he was offering a serious warning about the hazing gays face in the military--but that hasn't stopped the expressions of outrage from spectators who read the remarks as an endorsement of homophobic violence.
- Hate Speech, Plain and Simple For Ed Brayton of ScienceBlogs, there's no ambiguity here. "Everyone knows that the best way to help any group avoid being bashed is to keep them in a perpetual state of inequality," he writes, with an almost audible eye-roll. "You're a bigot. Stop pretending not to be and just own up to it."
- An Insult to the Troops An item at Queerty suggests that Kirkland's comments reveal "what he thinks about American soldiers. Namely, that they would all intentionally inflict harm on their comrades ... Does hazing in the military exist? Sure. But here's a military veteran recommending keeping a discriminatory policy in place because straight soldiers — trusted to hunt down terrorists, keep conflict areas peaceful, and maintain this nation's security — cannot be trusted not to inflict harm on their own. Yeah, vote for THIS GUY."
- Where Are the Tea Party Denouncements? wonders Libby Post at the Albany Times Union, noting that Kirkland and Smith were speaking in front of a predominately Tea Party audience. "Everyone tells me the Tea Partiers are just about less government and lower taxes and not social issues," Post writes. "If that's the case, why haven't we heard any Tea Party people anywhere come to the defense of the LGBT community?"


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Two Wrightsville Beach Officers Reprimanded while a third Resigns
Two members of the Wrightsville Beach Police Department have been reprimanded while a third resigned Tuesday morning.
WHQR's Michelle Bliss reports that town officials are remaining mum on the allegations at the center of last month's internal investigation of the officers.
At a morning press conference, Town Manager Bob Simpson explained that Sergeant Rob Miller and Corporal Shaun Appler will both receive rank reductions and a 5-percent pay decrease as part of their reprimands for unsatisfactory performance. Both will also be placed on probation for a year.
Simpson did not disclose what behavior led to the disciplinary actions.
"All I can say is unsatisfactory conduct at this point for Officer Appler and Sergeant Miller. And that's the extent of what I can tell you."
Michael Altilio, a third officer involved in the internal investigation, has resigned. Simpson also did not address specific allegations against Altilio but offered this distinction:
"In the case of Officers Miller and Appler, it was one specific incident. In the case of Altilio, it occurred over a period of time."
The officers were placed on paid administrative leave last month during the internal investigation. After receiving complaints from within the department, Police Chief Daniel House recommended that the men be terminated last month.
All three officers appealed through a town process that ultimately left the decision up to Town Manager Bob Simpson.
Wrightsville Beach resident Michelle Roylance, who attended the press conference, says she's concerned because Simpson's final word does not follow Chief House's original recommendation.
"When you have a new chief who determines that their actions warrant termination, I would think the town manager would be supportive of that. And these officers were allowed to appeal that and have it be overridden. And they're back on the streets and how can we be certain that our children are safe."
Roylance says that without a clear sense of what conduct the officers were involved in, residents have been left to speculate.
The three officers have served nearly 40 years in law enforcement combined.
Do you have insight or expertise on this topic? If so, we'd like to hear from you. Please email the WHQR News Team.


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Yesterday, Saturday (26 April), I kicked off "Market Days," an open-air vendor event hosted by my friend Lynne Breeden in the spacious parking lot adjacent to her store in Staunton, VA, called LTD7.
I was joined by Scott Volles from Gainseville, VA, who came down for the day to visit Staunton on the occasion of "Bridge Day," the second anniversary of the reopening of the historic Sears Bridge in the wharf area of town, connecting the wharf to the Sears Hill area over the AMTRAK station. http://www.bridgedaystaunton.org/
I met Scott when he came into Little Bear Banjo Hospital with his tenor banjo, a Vega Style R WL pot joined to a sturdy neck of uncertain parentage, for repairs and an overhaul. Scott has performed with the Irish bands "The Shebeens" and "Half Seas Over" who plays guitar, mandolin, Bodhran drum, and whistles to perform. An Irish Session player, he uses Irish flute, whistles, Irish banjo and mandolin to play Reels, Jigs, Polkas and Aires.
We had never played together before. We exchanged set lists – mine was a half page of tune names. His was three pages in length. I knew I'd be sitting down with a Real Musician, and figured I'd be in for a run for my money.
Scott has a great, sturdy and vigorous voice, and a very fine accompaniment playing style. He hauled along some whistles, a harmonica, an octave mandolin, a nice Martin guitar, and a mandolin, his Bodhran – I got a five-minute lesson on how to make one of those things work and I'm now tempted to give it a whirl!
We compared notes, searched for some common ground, and traded tunes for two hours at this open air market event.
I have done only a few of these since retiring to Staunton in late 2010, and I remain wary of my staying power. I start off strong. I can hear the banjo, and catch the goings on out of a corner of my eye. I'm not good yet at splitting my concentration between the work of playing the banjo and acknowledging people who stroll by, stop to listen, and maybe offer some words of greeting. Scott has been busking for eons, and assured me that it comes with practice and time.
At some point, maybe halfway through an event, as the din picks up and the bustle of activity takes on a pulse of its own, I loose track of the banjo, have trouble hearing myself, and begin to wonder whether the thing has gone dead – so it was nice to have a partner to remind me that the banjo was ringing out clearly, and that I was on the right basic musical trajectory in pairing off with him on a wide range of tunes.
He was musically clever and quick enough, and familiar with basic Old Time tunes and styles, to figure out the chording on guitar to go with some of the tunes I played: Waynesboro, Old Cripple Creek, Barlow Knife, Boatman, Abe's Retreat, Cluck Old Hen, June Apple, Around the Horn, Hop High Ladies, Red Wing, Come Back Boys Let's Feed The Horses.
Scott has an admirable easy way with such events. He has a special touch with children who happen by. He invites them to grab the Bodhran and pound along with a tune, instructing them to watch his right foot and smack at the drum in time with him. And he gets them singing along, filling in the last word to a rhyming tune he sings with a children's theme.
We were joined during the last half hour by Scott's friend from northern Virginia and busking partner Michael Francis Haley, a super accomplished classical fiddler who plays old time, celtic and anything else thrown his way.
Michael and I found common ground playing Waynesboro, Angeline the Baker, Round the Horn, Turkey in the Straw, Cripple Creek.
After lunch we headed over to Ed and Cindy Fridy's store in Staunton, the newly re-opened The Missing Piece.
Ed's just getting the store under way after closing it down for a year. We played amid some impressive pickings that Ed gets from trolling auctions and other sources of great old furniture and household items. Scott, Michael and I went over the common ground we established, and Scott and Michael covered some of their standards. I got to hear Michael do an astonishing Ashoken Farewell.
And I picked up a new banjo student. A women came over, asked whether I repair old banjos, told me about her Dad's banjo that needed some work, and confessed to the desire to learn some picking!!
At the risk of making this blog entirely too long, I've got to add one more point.
As we were setting up at Lynne Breedon's Market Day, I noticed a vendor tent across from the musician's stand and was mesmerized by the artwork of a young local artist whose sister told me I was looking at the work of Kaylor Vaughn Cline.
Ms Cline had not yet arrived at the event, so I did not get to meet her, but her sister and a male relative enthusiastically guided me through some of her work and it was startling vivid, fluid and effective in capturing movement and moments in time – I especially liked a portrait of a Bob Marley sort of musician caught in a vigorous musical moment.
I learned that Ms Kaylor Vaughn Cline is a native of Staunton. Lynne Breeden told me that she specializes in drawing and painting, graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Radford University with a concentration in oil painting. She's just 22 years old and already can cast an artistic spell. Lynne's FACEBOOK webpage says this: "Her wide range in subject matter and painterly style embodies colorful artwork featuring animals, cityscapes, and portraits. Although painting is her central devotion, she enjoys exploring all outlets of creative expression. Her focus recently has expanded to include beadwork and up-cycling furniture. Currently, Kaylor is a preschool teacher at Bears and Blankets Academy of Early Learning in Staunton, VA. "
Ms. Vaughn Cline's work is vibrant, impressive, and worth seeing. I snipped this from Lynne's web page:
Thanks for visiting my blog.
Play hard,


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Afghanistan: According to the information given by the officials, as many as eight security guards of Bagram Air Base, the largest US military base in Afghanistan were killed by Taliban militants while there were on their way to work and two others were injured in the attack.
While talking to the media, the official stated: The attack, in which two other guards were injured, took place on Monday night in Shahkoh village, in Parwan province, while they were on their way to the base.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement in which he accused the victims of spying for the US.
In November 2016, a suicide bombing inside the base killed four Americans and injured 17 people.


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U.S. District Judge Liam O'Grady will hold another hearing to help him determine what to do with the digital files owned by MegaUpload users.
O'Grady is responding to a motion filed by Kyle Goodwin, an Ohio-based sports videographer. Goodwin has sought the return of the video files, mostly of high school sports action, that he stored at MegaUpload, the Internet storage locker that was taken offline by the U.S. government.
In January, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia accused MegaUpload founder Kim DotCom and six other company managers of criminal copyright violations, wire fraud, and money laundering. U.S. officials allege that MegaUpload was operated as a criminal enterprise that profited from the copyright violations committed by users.
DotCom and the other defendants have denied wrongdoing and are fighting U.S. attempts to extradite them to this country. The case is shaping up to become one of the Web's most important copyright cases ever and could help form how Web storage lockers are operated.
Since the shutdown of MegaUpload, the company's servers and the files contained within have been stuck in a legal limbo.
O'Grady has already heard arguments from MegaUpload, the U.S. Attorney, Goodwin, and the Motion Picture Association of America about what should be done with the files. The MPAA and the government have argued that much of what is stored on MegaUpload's servers is pirated movies, music, and other media.
The judge appears to be stumped about what to do with the data.
"Upon thorough review of the arguments before the Court," O'Grady said in court documents, "and careful consideration of the applicable law, the Court finds that it is unable to reach a conclusion as to this matter without an evidentiary hearing."
Ira Rothken, the Silicon Valley attorney in charge of MegaUpload's worldwide defense told CNET that he believes this will present an opportunity for MegaUpload to call select U.S. officials to testify.
"Megaupload will be filing papers with the court to specially intervene," Rothken said, "considering that it is only the Internet service provider that, under applicable privacy laws, is the only party that can access the data and coordinate return to consumers."


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Here are a variety of ways you can make notebooks, paperbacks and books of all kinds a little more special. Some are permanent, decorative options while others are slipcovers or wraps that can be reused over and over. Many involve sewing but there are a couple crafty solutions as well. At the bottom you'll find a vintage tutorial for making a custom-fit with oil cloth using two different methods: Glue (permanent) and Pocket (replaceable).
Mini: Made with scraps of material, tab & velcro closure. Inner pockets to replace items as needed, easy to make custom size.
With Inner Pockets: You can switch out items as needed with this project, has a button and elastic band closure.
For Paperbacks: A side is a pocket, and the other side closes with a cotton tape.
Quick: Lined with flannel, inner pockets to switch out items easily. Button & elastic closure (can hold a pen if desired).
Patchwork: Replaceable. Made with charm pack squares, material and fusible web or iron-on adhesive.
Scripture: Nice! Features inner pockets to slide the Bible into, handles for carrying and a button & loop closure.
Felt Blankets: Features an outer pocket to hold a small notepad and a loop along the spine to hold a pen.
Planner: Ruffled strip across the front while inside features inside pockets to hold a pen and supplies.
Woven Maps: Cut 1/2″ strips from an old map or atlas pages, weave together then apply woven sheets with double sided tape.
Here's an idea: Keep your cookbooks (or other items) clean by covering them with oil cloth. You can either glue the cloth directly on top or make a pocket cover. These two methods are outlined below (including diagrams).
Glue Method
Make a pattern by laying the book, opened at center, on paper and tracing around it. Allow about two inches at top, bottom and both ends to fold under. Cut away the corners from the part that folds under, and also cut away a V-shaped piece from the middle at top and bottom–to allow the cloth to fold under without buckling. See diagram below.
Cut the cloth from the pattern, fit it over, and glue the part that turns under to the inside.
Pocket Method
If you do not want to paste or glue the cloth to the outside, a straight strip of cloth may be used, making pockets at each end to slip into.
Cut the cloth longer than the measurement when the book is open. Draw pencil lines on reverse side at both ends. Allow about 1/8″ extra width top and bottom. Fold at pencil lines, and bind top and bottom to for pockets at each end. See diagram above.
Can use oil cloth, fabric or heavy paper.
Adapted From: How To Make good looking-inexpensive Things For the Home With Blenback Oil Cloth (1920's/1930's).


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Office to Open in Early Spring 2015
Construction begins this week to transform an acre-sized office space located in Science Park in New Haven into a headquarters for the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library's Technical Services Department, the staff members responsible for cataloging, archival processing, and digitizing the library's collections.
The new space, located about a mile from the library's iconic building, will also house Yale University Library's Preservation Department.
It will be no ordinary office. The space has been designed to accommodate the specialized work of processing and preserving manuscripts, archives, and printed materials. Tables will be strong enough to support hundreds of pounds of books and manuscripts. Carpeting will be restricted to specific areas, such as the staff lounge, to accommodate book-cart traffic. The space is spread out over a single level so that staff will not have to carry materials on stairs or elevators. A loading dock, a feature unavailable at the Beinecke's main building, will facilitate the safe and secure transfer of collection material.
At about 43,000 square feet, the space is large enough to consolidate operations that currently occur in three locations into a shared space with room to spare. Sharing the space with the Preservation Department will put Beinecke staff in close proximity to the people and operations dedicated to the physical care of the library's collections.
Construction will be completed in the early spring, providing sufficient time for the Technical Services Department to move in ahead of the May 2015 closure of the Beinecke's Wall Street building for major renovations.
View a floor plan and a pre-construction slideshow of the new space on the Beinecke's renovation website.


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15 Jan 2016
January 15, 2016
Select Roofing has just opened a new office in Northern Ireland, to oversee operations on our growing number of projects there and elsewhere in the UK.
Our office is centrally located in Magherafelt, Co Derry, allowing convenient access to the major cities of Belfast and Derry and also to all other points within Northern Ireland.
Our dedicated Magherafelt office staff include:
- Charles McDermott – Operations Manager
- Emmett McCann – Commercial Manager
- Paddy Magill – Quantity Surveyor/Estimator
- Martin Marshall – Design Manager
- Barry Robson – Site Manager
Current projects being overseen from our new Magherafelt office include:
- Magee College (University of Ulster), Derry – major redevelopment of large building on campus
- Altnagelvin MacMillan Centre, Derry – construction of a new medical research centre
- Victoria College, Belfast – construction of new buildings at one of Northern Ireland's most prestigious boarding schools
- Adelaide Street development, Belfast – construction of ten-storey commercial office block
- Randox Laboratories, Antrim – refurbishment and extensive upgrade of the former Masserene army barracks into a state-of-the-art clinical diagnostics facility
- Babcock House, Crawley, West Sussex – renovation of former office block into 185 luxury apartments
- Northwood Educational Campus, London – construction of a major new school and sports hall
- Lidl, Burnley – major extension to existing supermarket premises
Contact details for our Northern Ireland and UK office are:
31B Rainey Street, Magherafelt, BT45 5DA
Telephone: 028 7930 0402
Mobile: 0759 2155801
E-mail: email@example.com
Recent Posts
- 18 May 2016Select Roofing is honoured with Kalzip Award^ From left: Paudi Reidy (Operations Director, Select Roofing); Patrick Monhan (...
- 04 Mar 2016Safety in Roofing award^ Shirley Abbey, Health & Safety Manager with Select Roofing, accepting the...
- 15 Jan 2016New office in Northern IrelandSelect Roofing has just opened a new office in Northern Ireland, to oversee oper...
- 03 Feb 2015Select Roofing accredited with Safe-T-CertSelect Roofing are proud to announce our accreditation with a Safe-T-Cert in rec...
- 02 Feb 2015Launching our newly revamped and revitalised websiteAs a complement to our growing business we are delighted to launch our newly rev...


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Researchers from MIT have discovered a way to send highly targeted audio signals directly to someone's ear at a distance using laser beams. The system works using the "photoacoustic" effect, where water vapor in the air absorbs light, forming sound waves. The research may pave the way to systems that allow audible messages to be transmitted to spies or other agents, warning them of impending danger like an active shooter.
The team started with a laser beam that fired at wavelengths absorbed by water. By sweeping the beam at the speed of sound, they found that it could be used to generate sound that can only be heard at a specific distance from the transmitter. That would allow a message to be sent to an individual, rather than just anyone who crossed the path of the laser.
"This can work even in relatively dry conditions because there is almost always a little water in the air, especially around people," said research lead Charles M. Wynn. And if you're thinking that a laser at head level sounds like a bad idea, apparently it's fine. "It is the first system that uses lasers that are fully safe for the eyes and skin to localize an audible signal to a particular person in any setting," added Wynn.
The scientists also found a method that works by modulating, rather than sweeping, the beam. "There are tradeoffs between the two techniques," said researcher Ryan M. Sullenberger. "The traditional [modulation] method provides sound with higher fidelity, whereas the laser sweeping provides sound with louder audio." The system currently works at more than 2.5 meters (8 feet), so for the next step, the scientists plan to scale it up to longer distances. After that, "We hope that eventually a commercial technology will develop," Sullenberger said.


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"Marijuana is dangerous and has no medicinal benefit."
— White House drug czar Gil Kerlikowske, at a Fresno, Calif., press conference yesterday.
If this is change I can believe in, why are the morons still in charge?
Fuck you, Gil! Marijuana is not dangerous, and it has numerous proven medicinal benefits. Volumes of information exist attesting to marijuana's efficacy in treating many ailments, but you obviously haven't been curious enough or sincere enough in your job to apprise yourself of the facts.
You're either a fucking ignoramus or a fucking liar. One or the other. But you can change that; you can educate yourself on the subject, or you can start telling the truth. In the meantime, Gil, spare us any more of your ignorant, disingenuous bullshit. Resign your position, immediately.


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Suspected bomb explosion kills 9, wounds more than 20 others on Philippine passenger bus
MANILA, Philippines – Police say a suspected bomb blast has killed at least nine people and injured more than 20 others on a bus in front of a university in the southern Philippines.
Police officer Rufina Bayarcal says a powerful blast ripped through the bus Tuesday as it was traveling near the gate of Central Mindanao University in Bukidnon province's Maramag town.
Investigators are trying to determine the source of the explosion.
A 17-year-old student aboard the bus, Ralph Quilla, said by cellphone that the blast at the back of the vehicle sent shrapnel and debris flying and wounded him in the arm.
Muslim rebels and extortion gangs have been blamed for bus bombings in the south in the past.


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refuge and fortress. How differently will they then traverse the mighty deep; and, when permitted to return to the land of their birth, they will erect their Ebenezers, saying, "Hitherto the Lord hath helped me."
"There go the ships."—Ps. civ. 26.
The freighted vessel leaves the land,
And plows the watry main ;
She'll reach her port again.
The construction and power of a ship, are particularly calculated to invite our curiosity, and call forth our praise. How ingeniously is the whole contrived, and how admirably adjusted! Her masts and yards are suited to her magnitude and power; the ballast is of a proper weight to ensure her buoyancy
and favour her sailing, and every piece of rope is judiciously arranged to secure her spars, and facilitate the working of her sails. Lower and aloft, she is a model of the completest order and beauty.
What a fine piece of mechanism is a ship! so is man. He surpasses all the wonderful works of God, and exhibits one of the grandest, and most perfect proofs of the incomprehensible wisdom and mighty power of the divine Architect. The body, how erect, how noble, how adorned ! What a beautiful and delicate organ is the eye; how sensible to light, and how comprehensive in its function! Look at the ear, how curiously formed, and how admirably adapted for the transmission of sound, and conveying all the pleasures of harmony to the soul ! How exquisite is the sense of taste and feeling! How readily are we apprised of any thing obnoxious, and how quickly alive to whatever is agreeable! How astonishing are the functions of the arteries, veins, and nerves; and how beautifully do they meander throughout the body! The brain, how important; the lungs, how useful; the stomach, how necessary! In fact, every part of man's body is destined for grand and important uses; and the whole shows the greatest contrivance, order, and beauty. The more we study this master-piece of creation, the more we shall be led to admire. the wisdom of that Being, "who is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working."
A ship is very capacious; so is man. Some ships are, literally speaking, floating cities, and are capable of containing some thousand tons weight of goods. Let us then suppose one of the largest taken up for the exclusive conveyance of jewels, or gold, the richest treasure earth can afford. Who could estimate the value of such a freight? In gold it would amount to hundreds of millions ; but, were it to consist of diamonds, or precious stones, computation would be set at defiance.
Man's body is freighted with far greater riches than a million ships thus laden: it contains an immortal spirit, which is a treasure of countless value. Worlds cannot redeem it from misery, nor exalt it to bliss. Though it leaves our frail bodies at death, it is only for a short time. At the consummation of


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When promoting spy devices and all method of surveillance tools it is much simpler to protect your self from the beginning as an alternative of ready for bother to search out you. The time period spy in spy cameras means that these units were reserved for covert operations or in a more colloquial sense: Used from beneath the noses of oldsters being monitored. So really feel safe from any inherent legal hassles and sell spy gadgets and security objects. Microwave indicators from the satellites transmit to GPS tracking units. Of their most straightforward sense, spy cameras operate in an analogous manner as typical security CCTV cameras sometimes found in commercial and business establishments.
From covert & Hidden Cameras or Audio Recorders to tracking units our range of Spy Devices cover every little thing it's essential track and document your target. Consider what your carrying right now as there is potential to interchange any article of clothes or jewelry into a secret high tech spy gadget so you are all the time ready for any state of affairs that will come up.
With so many secret agents-both real and fictional-within the public consciousness nowadays, we thought a short checklist of high-tech spy gear was so as. We design, build, and supply a full range of customized surveillance for peace of mind evidence gathering including hidden spy cameras and automobile trackers , by way of to voice recorders for all your property and office security necessities.
You may easily get the devices through on-line from Action India Residence Merchandise or via offline from the Spy Outlets close by your area. Yelp users have not requested any questions yet about Spy Gadgets 'R' Us. The sad part was they had six safety cameras, but none on the cash drawer. In case you are in a line of work which necessitates excessive safety measures, that you must get the highest finish equipment, which is going to be expensive.
We succeeded to search out alarm clock cameras, pen cameras, lipstick cameras and brooch cameras! Other spy devices embrace GPS trackers, signal jammers, location finders, and so on. Know who is swiping firm property by recording video footages of suspected perpetrators. ComSec's TSCM providers detect voice recorders and other audio spy devices. Whether it's monitoring your nanny whilst you're out working or finding out what worker is stealing from your business, our skilled hidden cameras can file hours of high-definition video and transmit it to you wherever you're.


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Daedalus is an Italian act that perhaps isn't well known to the great masses. I decided to change that when I heard their second album called THE NEVER ENDING ILLUSION which has the potential of becoming a ground breaking masterpiece in the bands own genre. Progressive metal is the music of Daedalus and I had the opportunity to speak with guitarist Andrea Torretta.
Interviewed by: Anders Sandvall
Promo group pictures by: Claudio Castellini, Franco Pastorino
Pictures also taken from the bands MySpace site.
Hi Andrea, Your new album is called THE NEVER ENDING ILLUSION and was released a little while ago. How long did it take to write and record the album?
THE NEVER ENDING ILLUSION was released in January 2009, many songs were already written some years before but, due to some line up change, the recording sessions were delayed until Davide Merletto joined the band. Then we worked together on the newest arrangements and recorded the album in a couple of months.
From what I can see the album is a concept album. Is that right? What is the album about?
Every song deals with a different situation where reality and illusion mix up each other in everyday life. In particular the last song 'Mare di stelle' is the conclusion of the trip described by all the songs from the beginning of the album. In a way, it could be defined as a concept album.
Was the plan from the beginning that you were going to do a concept album or was it something that happened along the way?
No, every song was written singularly but we noticed immediately that most of the lyrics written had to do with the same main theme, so we decided to focus the entire album on it, trying to propose a more interesting album.
The material is mostly written by bass player Gremo and the keyboardist Spanò; does the rest of the band have a say when it comes to the material?
Yes for sure. Fabio particularly has great composition skills, while Beppe has a great imagination for lyrics. However each member brings his experience during the writing process and usually proposes riffs, dynamic changes, arrangements as well as backing vocals and obviously soloist sections. Now that the band has a solid lineup it's not unusual that every song grows up from each one's ideas.
There are also guest appearances from Roberto Tiranti (Labyrinth) and Alessandro Corvaglia (La Maschera di Cera) on vocals. Which songs are these guys on?
We asked Roberto and Alessandro to sing the main and backing vocals on "Mare di stelle", together with Davide. They are really kind persons and talented singers and made this song sound beautiful! When we wrote it, inspired from the Italian 70's sounds, we immediately proposed a duet and we enjoyed together to play with their different vocal tones. And the result was stunning!
How did they end up singing on THE NEVER ENDING ILLUSION?
Roberto and Alessandro are great singers in the prog rock and metal international scene. In particular I met Alessandro playing together some year before. Since the song 'Mare di stelle' (literally 'Sea of stars') has been drawn on our beautiful city, Genoa, with his characteristic sea, boats and …stars, we wanted to call singers from our country to add grace to this song with Italian language lyrics.
Why did you name the album THE NEVER ENDING ILLUSION? Is there any special meaning behind the name?
The album takes its name from the longest track for we think it gives the right meaning of the whole album. 'The never ending illusion' could be intended also as the experience of living our everyday life thinking that sacrifices imposed by modern society will determine our happiness in the future. We think nowadays this is the biggest illusion… And there's more beyond the wall we use to look at.
The cover art-work is made by Mark Wilkinson, what do you think of the cover art-work? Do you think if reflects the music on the album?
Yes, the cover artwork and the lyrics have many figures in common like the wall that obfuscates our sight and lets us see only a fake reality through the window, the comfortable chair where we sit in everyday life or the darkest reality beyond the wall. The artwork continues inside where you can find the never ending wall broken by the same chair as a smash in our wont.
Do you think that Daedalus has developed musically through the years and if so in what way?
We all think that THE NEVER ENDING ILLUSION is a more mature album than the first LEADING FAR FROM A MISTAKE: we introduced more classical, jazz and Italian folk elements, we tried to write more catchy songs without loosing technical details and harmonic intricacy. We also decided to reduce virtuous sections moving away for that typical genre, working more on humor and ambient changes, proposing a more interesting and fascinating trip to the listener.
Have you read any reviews of the album yet? How has the media and the fans responded to the album?
We are receiving many wonderful reviews from radios, magazines and webzines and we're really happy because the album is achieving a good interest from the audience. We also really appreciate all the messages we receive from fans who like our music, after this hard work!
I think the most important thing about a review is that it should analyze the content of the work without prejudice, and it's what I like to read when a journalist write about us. Some magazine like to define us as 'clone' of other bands: well this is the most trite observation they can do, while they don't speak about the inside of our songs. Moreover 'prog music' is such a wide expression that if you used to listen 'speed-power-prog' maybe you wouldn't like the 'Genesis sound' for example… so it's a quite hard work for a journalist to be objective.
You have featured two strictly instrumental pieces on the disc, why?
Well, "Waiting For The Dawn" is a keyboard based song which would create the right suspension for the begin of the album, while "Horizons In A Box" is an instrumental track that sounds over different ambient changes. In this track I play different guitars but here is also a great work of bass and keyboards which create the right atmospheres.
The last track on the disc is an Italian piece called "Mare di Stelle". Why did you choose to feature an Italian song on the album?
We liked to introduce more Italian folk based elements in this album, drawing inspiration from the sounds of 70's prog-rock Italian bands. Although this is a completely acoustic song, I think it doesn't sound so different from the rest of the album.
Are there any plans on taking on the US market?
The album is distributed mainly in USA and Europe by Ryko and SPV, so you should find it easily in the stores.
Are you gonna try to make it in the rest of Europe with this new album?
We'd love to play our music out of Italy where the prog metal scene is more important, but we need heavy resources to schedule a tour. At this moment I can advance that we will play in November at the 10th anniversary of our label Galileo Records in Swiss.
How would you like to describe what kind of music Daedalus plays?
I think our music is a fascinating trip over different atmospheres, with complex harmonic textures but simple and open melodies to obtain an ease listening. We like to take inspiration from different styles as jazz, classical, metal and electronic music, combining all of this in our songs.
In the bio you say "This time we composing more mature and polished songs with greater accuracy and attention to details" what do you mean with that?
Well, first of all we paid more attention on the arrangement details, we called professional classical musicians to record some sections and we used quality technologies for the realization. Then we invested more resources on mix, master and production to obtain a modern sound and a really professional product.
Do you have any favorite tracks on the album?
I think my best song is "A Journey To Myself' because it represent very well our sound and what we want to play.
You recorded the album in Daedalus own studio, are you the only ones that uses the studio or does other acts also record there?
In our studio we recorded all the songs; even if each band mate has his technical skill I generally follow the preproduction as sound and mixer tech. Sometimes it happens that I use Daedalus' studio to record and produce other bands.
Where is it located?
We're in Genoa, in the north-west part of Italy, near the sea.
The disc was mixed by well known ex-Helloween, Masterplan member Roland Grapow. How was it to work with Grapow?
Roland is a very kind person, really professional besides a great musician. His warm welcome and liking made pleasant the mixing sessions and thanks to his studio our songs now sound really modern and powerful. He gave us also many precious advices for the future with his great experience.
Do you know Grapow from before or how did he get involved to do the mix of this album?
We were looking for an experienced studio to mix the album so we contacted some of the most important musicians in the scene and Roland was helpfully available to work with us.
Did any of the members participate during the mixing process?
Yes, Davide, Fabio, Daz and I had the opportunity to work with Roland in the latest mixing sessions.
And the album was mastered by another famous guy. Dario Mollo, how was it to work with him? Do you know him from before?
We knew Dario Mollo thanks to his experience and because he mastered some of the best Italian metal bands. His work has been very accurate and we obtained the perfect result in just a couple of days!
Do you think that you're gonna continue working with these guys in the future?
Working with Roland and Dario was great but I can't tell you at this time, let's see when the new album will be ready.
How come you inked a deal with ProgRock Records? And were there many other labels that were interested in signing with you?
We sent many demos and received some contractual proposal but the professionalism of Galileo Records, a small Swiss label, affected our interest. Galileo and ProgRock Records work together to produce their respective bands, so we had the opportunity to be produced and promoted both in Europe and USA.
Do you see any problems or difficulties with that PR aren't based in Europe?
No problems since ProgRock and Galileo work strictly together; we think there's a beautiful relationship between us and these labels since they really believe in us.
Earlier on you were signed to New LM Records, what are the main differences with being signed to PR and to your old label?
Unfortunately New LM Records didn't offer a good distribution; both Galileo and ProgRock seem to offer great services of promotion and distribution and better guarantees.
In the booklet there are a number of labels listed like Audioglobe, SPV, Ryko and PR. Are the rest of the labels distribution labels or what?
Galileo Records and ProgRock Records are our production labels, while Audioglobe, SPV and Ryko are international distributors.
Is the album released worldwide today?
Yes, if the album isn't in your best music shop you can (tolto always) order it from the distributor or buy it from our label's internet shop.
For how many albums are you signed for at PR?
We signed only for THE NEVER ENDING ILLUSION. When the next album will be ready we'll evaluate to continue to work with them.
When was Daedalus formed? Who is the band leader?
Daedalus formed in 2000 from an idea by Fabio Gremo who proposed to Beppe Spanò and other past members to set up the band. The actual lineup was formed during these years due some change; actually we have Fabio Gremo (bass), Beppe Spanò (keyboards), Daz La Rosa (drums), Davide Merletto (vocals) and me Andrea Torretta (guitars). There's no band leader since each member takes care of different aspects of the band and each one is essential for the band to exist. We are good friend too, so this is the main reason.
You have been inspired by Queensryche, Arena, Dream Theater, Rush and Iron Maiden. Which one of the bands do you consider being the main influence in Daedalus?
All these bands influenced very much our style, I could say Dream Theater just because they are the undisputed milestones on prog metal music scene, but which prog band doesn't have such influence? You may easily find some Queen recall on choirs or solos for example…
Where does the band-name come from and does it mean anything special?
Daedalus was the father of Icarus and the architect who designed the Cnossos's labyrinth. We like to think that our music is rather complex as a labyrinth but easily solvable just following the Ariadne's thread.
During 2002 singer Brunetti and drummer La Rosa joined the band, what happened with the former drummer and singer?
I joined the band just some year later, I know they left the band due personal motivations; we have still a good friend relationship with them.
Your debut album was released in 2003 and was called LEADING FAR FROM A MISTAKE. How did the media and fans respond on your debut?
The first album was well welcome from the media about all over the world, but as I told it didn't have a good distribution. However that album permitted the band to make some good gig and finance the new album. Our fans never let us lonely and we have to thank them very very much!
The band has had many line-ups since the start, which members is today an original member?
Actually only Fabio Gremo (bass) and Beppe Spanò (keyboards) come from the first line up.
You and singer Merletto joined Daedalus in 2004/5, have you been involved any other acts besides Daedalus?
Yes, first of all we are musicians, and then most of us would like to make music our first job, so often we have side projects to keep on playing. I work also as sound mixer for example.
How did you end up in the band in the first place?
They were looking for a new guitarist who could play 7 strings guitars, while I recorded a demo cd of prog music some year before, so they asked me for an audition and were well satisfied.
Have Daedalus played a lot live during the years?
Yes, we've played a lot live in these years and sometimes we have had the opportunity to share gigs with some relevant artist. At this time we're keeping on promoting the new album, so new live dates are coming out!
How did your fans greet the new singer Merletto? I know it's hard to change singer.
We've been in trouble for many years before we met Davide. Now we are really satisfied: he has great skills, a beautiful voice and can reach well both high and low tones. Moreover he has great capacity to interpret our songs with theatrical perform and this is just what we were looking for. The fans seem to be really satisfied with this choice because they understood his great talent.
Why did it take you so long to release this album? I mean your debut came in 2003 and this new album is your second one.
As I told you we've spent some years before we met Davide delaying the recording process of the songs.
Where in the world do you have your biggest fanbase?
I think here in Italy at this moment because we are making some good promotion thanks to Nadir Rock agency. We hope to play live all over the world soon to spread our music as much as possible.
What have the members been up to in between the release of the albums?
Between LEADING FAR FROM A MISTAKE and THE NEVER ENDING ILLUSION we had some lineup changes on vocals due to the search for the definitive singer. Now we are really happy with Davide.
Do you think that this current line-up is a solid one and a one that will last?
Yes for sure! Now we have the opportunity to work hard together and we are planning the work for the next years. I really think this lineup could keep on the good work.
You have a MySpace band page do you what do you think of MySpace is that a good way to do promotion for the band do you think?
Yes, I invite all the readers to visit our MySpace page at www.myspace.com/progdaedalus where you can listen for free some of our song! I find this platform very useful to maintain and create new contacts. I think also that today there are too many bands who can free promote their self in this way, so the listeners have to do an hard work to select what is good or bad or useful.
Are there any plans on going out on the road now and do you have any festival shows booked for this summer?
Yes, we have some gig booked every month until November at this time, please keep an eye on our MySpace page to know, we'll announce the dates from time to time.
What's the climate for metal in Italy today?
Italy unfortunately doesn't offer many opportunities for metal bands; we hope to obtain a good interest in the rest of Europe and USA to make some good work out from here. However both Trevor from Nadir Rock agency and our labels are doing a really great work to promote us with also some interesting gigs.
When can we expect to find the next Daedalus album out in stores?
We've already written the songs for the third album, now we have to study and record them, so I think 2010-2011 would be a realistic approximation.
What are the plans for Daedalus now?
We're going to keep on promoting our work for the whole year, we're thinking about a video clip maybe too. In the meantime we're going to keep on working on the new songs.
Give the readers three reasons why they should go out and by THE NEVER ENDING ILLUSION?
You should buy THE NEVER ENDING ILLUSION because it contains great songs and different atmospheres, from classical to jazz or heavy prog metal; because if you like refined prog this should be a great discovery for your collection and because you'll love to discover Daedalus' music!
Thanks a lot for taking the time to answer my questions, I wish you all the best in the future and are gonna close the interview with asking you if you have any words of wisdom for the readers and fans out there.
Really thanks to you for this beautiful interview. I'd like to remind all the readers our contacts on www.myspace.com/progdaedalus and www.progdaedalus.it and I hope you'll find our work really interesting. See you soon in some live date!
More info about the band


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Last month, Apple announced it's Q3 earnings.
Being the most valuable company in the world does have it's benefits, especially when you have billions of cash in the bank that you can throw at new products.
Eight years ago, Apple released their first tablet onto the market, quickly eating up most of the market share with this new and innovative device.
Focusing on their iPad products, we've gathered together some incredible stats about Apple's flagship tablet and how it's influenced the company's finances. Take a look below:


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Suresh Bhaskaramurthy currently leads research initiatives at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS') Insurance and Healthcare Innovation Lab. He specializes in developing and managing next-generation solutions that use the latest niche technologies for the insurance industry. Suresh has a Bachelor's degree in commerce from the University of Madras and is a Fellow of the Insurance Institute of India (FIII). He is also an Associate Member (ACMA) of the Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICAI).
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NeuRA Discovery Portal
Due to the increasing volume of worldwide research into mental and brain-related disorders, there is a need to collect, collate and store these research findings in a free, online database. This allows the general public, consumers, carers, researchers, clinicians and policy developers to better understand, investigate and manage these disorders.
The Libraries within the NeuRA Discovery Portal provide only information that is gained from the most reliable research findings published in systematic reviews. Once these reviews are collected, the evidence is summarised and quality assessed so that the strength of the evidence can be measured. This evidence is presented in topics covering symptoms, treatments, diagnosis, risk factors, outcomes, co-occurring 'comorbid' conditions, epidemiology, and physical features associated with each disorder. Gaps in the evidence are flagged to encourage further research in those areas.
We hope the NeuRA Discovery Portal is a valuable resource for all to access.
Evidence Libraries
Answers to all your questions on schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and PTSD
Australian Schizophrenia Research Bank
A collection of information from over 1,000 individuals with schizophrenia and healthy controls.
Videos and Podcasts
Latest NeuRA Discovery Portal videos and podcasts
News and Events
Latest NeuRA Discovery Portal news and events
Subscribe to the NeuRA Discovery Portal for updates.


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George R. R. Martin's contribution to the Dangerous Women anthology purports to be an official history of one of the darkest and bloodiest chapters in the annals of the Seven Kingdoms, detailing the events of the infamous civil war known as The Dance of the Dragons. Given the relative darkness and bloodiness of most of the historical snippets strewn like grisly breadcrumbs throughout the Song of Ice and Fire novels, fans of the series should know enough to brace themselves for a wild ride…and Martin does not fail to deliver.
Set almost 170 years before the events of A Game of Thrones (80 years before the Dunk and Egg stories), the tale begins with the death of the king, Viserys I Targaryen. Viserys had long declared that his eldest daughter, Rhaenyra Targaryen, the only surviving child of his first marriage, would succeed him as heir to the Iron Throne. His second marriage had also produced children, however, including several adult sons, and upon his passing the newly widowed Queen claims the throne for her eldest son, Aegon. The stage is set for an epic war of succession between the two branches of House Targaryen, a conflict waged on land, sea, and in the air, as the competing royals turn their dragons against one another, bringing both dragons and the Targaryens themselves to the brink of extinction.
A note about spoilers: if you've been paying close attention to the novels, chances are you already know the outcome of the war, but I won't reveal those kinds of story-specific details in this review—those who want a refresher on Targaryen history should check out this incredibly helpful timeline/family tree. Because the novella is set in the past, there are no spoilers for the series in the story itself, but you may want to stop reading before the comments if you'd like to avoid any speculation on how this story might relate to the plot of the books through A Dance With Dragons.
The first thing you might notice about this story is that it's a bit of a departure from the novels and the Dunk and Egg stories in terms of voice. The full title actually reads "The Princess and The Queen, Or, The Blacks and The Greens: Being a History of the Causes, Origins, Battles, and Betrayals of the Most Tragic Bloodletting Known As the Dance of the Dragons, as set down by Archmaester Gyldayn of the Citadel of Oldtown ((here transcribed by George R. R. Martin))." Martin seems to be having quite a good time inhabiting the stodgy, fussy voice of the Archmaester, who disdains the flowery and dramatic embroidering of poets, singers, and gossipmongers throughout the telling, yet somehow can't seem to resist mentioning the kind of innuendos, rumors, and flourishes he claims to hold in such contempt, as a Serious Historian.
Martin had originally reported that the story appearing in this anthology would be the fourth installment of the Dunk and Egg series, with the rather intriguing working title of "The She-Wolves of Winterfell." As much as I look forward to catching up with the further misadventures of Ser Duncan as soon as possible, I enjoyed "The Princess and the Queen" precisely because it presents a new facet into the world of Westeros and its history, and it's an interesting change of pace from both the various POV characters who feature in the novels and the Dunk and Egg tales. In the books, we've gotten to know Daenerys as she's grown from a frightened, abused, and isolated child to a warrior queen fighting to regain her throne. She believes herself to be the last Targaryen, and spending her life in exile has set her apart from both dynastic tradition and the family she never knew (except for her crazy brother—the less said about that guy, the better). We may not always agree with Dany's decisions (or her taste in men), but we understand her and can sympathize with her.
In the Dunk and Egg stories, the earlier Targaryen royals are also humanized quite a bit through both the character of Egg and the eyes of Ser Duncan, the baseborn, brave, and often bewildered hedge knight who becomes entangled in the family's affairs. Sure, they still practice incest and play with dragon eggs, and a spoiled royal sadist or a creepy sorcerer cousin might pop up once in a while at family reunions, but some of them are pretty okay, you know?
On the other hand, "The Princess and The Queen," written as a history, is not particularly interested in humanizing Daenerys's ancestors. Instead, it depicts the Targaryens as they were seen by the people they had conquered—remote, even magical figures, "rightly regarded as being closer to gods than the common run of men." These characters are writ large: dragon-blooded titans plotting and clashing on a grand scale as the narrative swoops gleefully from high drama and intrigue to the basest folly and butchery. Both sides suffer horrific losses and stunning reversals of fortune, and time and time again we're allowed to follow individual characters just long enough to get attached before some violent calamity befalls them. It should probably be noted that if you have problems with Very Bad Things happening to men, women, children, and dragons, lining up some potent unicorn chasers in advance might not be a bad idea. Be prepared for a body count that makes the end of Hamlet look like Care Bears on Ice.
In spite of the historical remove, fans of the series will recognize plenty of familiar names, themes, and situational parallels with the books. The Lannisters are rich and powerful, the Starks are grim and honorable, the Baratheons are proud and make trouble, the Greyjoys are belligerent and fickle, and some of the alliances made (or undone) during the Dance reflect the lines drawn during Robert's Rebellion and the War of the Five Kings. There are also some interesting mother/son relationships, particularly in the case of Rhaenyra and her sons. Here's a fun bit of a trivia for you that shouldn't come as either a spoiler or a surprise: even back in olden times, the headstrong sons of Westeros staunchly refuse to listen to their mothers (much to their detriment).
Beyond all these little bits of Westerosi history repeating, we also get our first real glimpse of dragon-centric warfare, along with the problem of finding able riders. Since dragons will only accept and bond with riders of Targaryen blood, the story chronicles the search for bastard-born "dragonseeds" to join the fray (with mixed results)—a subplot which clearly holds some potential relevance for Daenerys and her trio of dragons as events continue to unfold in the novels…
The name of the anthology is, of course, Dangerous Women, and this novella is very intentionally framed as a conflict between the two powerful female entities mentioned in its title: Rhaenyra and the Dowager Queen Alicent. The Queen sets events in motion by refusing to recognize Rhaenyra's succession and conspiring to put her own son Aegon on the throne (in spite of the fact that he initially has no interest in being king), but after that, she recedes into the background. Rhaenyra takes a more active role—the story paints her as far more of a warrior than previous references have allowed. But while the Dance of the Dragons unfolds on the battlefield, it is strongly suggested that the true origins of the war began at a ball held long before the king's death. Rhaenyra wore black, the Queen wore green, and as their rivalry grew their opposing factions divided themselves up accordingly (hence the second half of the title).
I'm not giving anything away by saying that Martin seems to be constantly undermining the idea that an attempt at an objective, factual history can ever really capture the truth at the heart of a story—implying that the truth lies somewhere in the messy personal motivations, relationships, and grudges that can only be understood by getting more intimately acquainted with the players than a formal history will allow. We know what happened, but we may not ever truly know why; as satisfying as the story is, since we're not told what transpired at the ball, the entire tale retains a note of mystery (which feels right—if House Martin ever needs a motto, it should be "There's Always More To The Story…").
This shadowy central relationship aside, we're also introduced to several other imposing female characters who hold their own throughout the narrative: Princess Rhaenys Targaryen (known as "The Queen Who Never Was"), Baela Targaryen, the teenaged dragonrider called Nettles, and Alys Rivers, a seer. All are secondary characters, but they make quite an impression even in the midst of all the macho posturing, chest-thumping, limb-hacking, and throne-stealing.
Finally, it's interesting to note that the entire conflict revolves around the question of male primogeniture—a custom that was not necessarily the rule with the Targaryens as it had been with other rulers of Westeros. Up to this point in history, the Targaryens played by their own set of rules as conquerors: they continued the Valyrian practices of incest and polygamy, for example, frowned upon by the other great houses of the Seven Kingdoms. They saw themselves as exceptional—the blood of dragons—and perhaps that's why King Viserys named his daughter as his heir, rather than his firstborn son, breaking with the accepted customs. The old laws, the law of the Andals, demanded a king, however, and while the issue is complex and riddled with competing political claims and personal self-interest, in many ways The Dance of the Dragons boils down to whether or not a woman can truly rule Westeros. As we await the next installment of the Song of Ice and Fire, that's a question that remains exactly as potent—and as dangerous—as the Mother of Dragons herself.
Bridget McGovern is the managing editor of Tor.com. She's the kind of reader who gets really excited about mapping out the convoluted family trees of fictional characters, even when everyone is named "Aegon." Just in case that wasn't totally obvious.


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Dead Terrorist (In Brief):
Yeah, you know, the woman who climbed the light pole near Ground Zero late last night and flashed her bra to the cheering, chanting crowd, according to WNYC, that was probably someone who didn't really get what the hell just happened. Or someone who just associated any occasion with drunkenness and tit-showing. America loves booze, boobs, and killing.
Yes, yes, let's get it out of our systems. Look, hey, sure, fine, enjoy yourselves, dear, happy Americans, holding that Osamagasm in for ten long years. How nice it must be to finally spew that jizz of jingoism right into dead bin Laden's bullet hole. Oh, shit, yeah, it's good to be a liberal who gets to be bloodthirsty for the right reasons. How sweet it is, no?
No, really, though. It's okay for a second or two to say, "Yippee-kay-yay, motherfuckers." It's okay to enjoy the defeat of an avowed violent asshole. It happens everywhere. When the execution of dictator Nicolai Ceausescu was announced in 1989, Romania exploded into celebration and debauchery. So, you know, it's human, so tragically human, to dance over the remains of your enemies. Have at for a few minutes. And then let's clean off the patriotic spunk and get back to work.
Are we leaving Afghanistan now, let alone Iraq? Are we going to stop the relentless cutting back of civil liberties? Are Republicans gonna treat President Obama like a leader and not the lawn jockey who won the lottery? (That we'll discuss later.)
One last note: the Rude Pundit finds it sadly funny that, after a trillion plus dollars spent on the wars, after thousands of soldiers killed, that what it took to get Osama bin Laden was a criminal investigation and an intelligence operation followed by a quick strike. As we ponder our dead, all our dead, as we remember and make silly statements about "closure," let us wonder what might have been for the United States had that been our approach all along.


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Civil Partnership Dissolution in St Helens
The breakdown of any relationship can be a stressful and emotional time and so if you need to organise the dissolution of a civil partnership you need to choose the right family law solicitor.
Dissolution of a Civil Partnership Needs to Be Done Through the Courts
A civil partnership needs to be dissolved through the Courts, and although it is similar there are some differences with divorce proceedings. In order for dissolution of a civil partnership to take place, the irretrievable breakdown of the relationship must be proved.
This could be because of one of the following reasons:
- Unreasonable behaviour
- 2 years separation and both parties consenting to a divorce
- 2 years desertion
- 5 years separation (no consent is needed)
In order to dissolve a civil partnership you must have been together more than one year.
Financial Options Are the Same As Divorce Options
If your relationship ends our family law solicitor can help you to dissolve the relationship explaining procedures, help with any financial claims, assist with factors that govern the division of assets and any issues relating to children you have.
When a civil partnership ends, both parties have the same financial legal rights as divorcing couples. You have the rights to claim maintenance, lump sum payments, property transfer and pension sharing/attachment orders.
We Can Organise Mediation If Needed
Through our experience we know that mediation can be a useful tool sometimes to resolve matters, and we can arrange for you to have access to this service.
Our family law solicitor and accredited panel specialist, Deb Choudhuri, is a member of Resolution and other societies, meaning he is committed to the constructive resolution of family disputes.
Hattons Advise You On Civil Partnership Dissolution and Your Options
At Hattons Solicitors we pride ourselves on our expertise and experience. We can advise you of your best options and answer any concerns or questions that you have before deciding to proceed.
We work closely with our clients to keep them informed about their cases and our clients can also access our online file view system to find out where their case is up to at their own convenience.
We cover all aspects of family law and offer very competitive rates and payment plans to ease the financial pressure. Costs can be discussed at the initial appointment.
If you would like to find out more about Civil Partnerships call our expert legal team on 01744 744400, fill out our contact form below or contact our key person:


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Blog Archives
Cards in Envy Challenge – Bug Me!
For this Cards in Envy Challenge, we are bugging out with a "Bug Me" theme. Choose any insect or bug on your card to enter. Our challenge runs through Sunday, August 20th and the design team will be picking their favorites. As a quick reminder, Cards in Envy asks that you make your card fit into a standard A2 card, which is 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches.
My card today features an old Close to My Heart stamp set called "Beetle Bug". I stamped him using tombow (443 & 173) markers on watercolor paper. Once the image was stamped, I went back with an aqua brush and dropped it additional color. I then highlighted the bug with a Fabercastell pen and added back ground with Daniel Smith watercolors in Hematite. Last, I stamped a club scrap foliage stamp and cut out the design using a My Favorite Things stitched flag die. My paper pad is "We Are Family" by Echo Park and the sentiment Lawn Fawn "On the Mend".
I hope you will join us at Cards in Envy this week and show us your "Bug Me" cards.


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Swiss Exams is an organisation specialising in "Exam Management" and its related fields and processes.
- Exam marketing, promotion and communication
- Exam Paper design and development
- Recruitment and vetting of exam staff
- Exam logistics
- Exam registration
- Exam day management for written, speaking and computer-based exams
- Exam result and certificate management
- Exam support HelpDesk
- Exam management advisory and consulting services
With 30 years of experience, Swiss Exams has a unique set of skills and related experiences. We help our clients find the most suitable solutions for their exam requirements and offer the connected exam management services.
Security is one of the major issues in exam management today. Our staff are highly-trained individuals with the necessary skill set and awareness in regard to exam security. In all exam management processes, quality and security are the top priorities. We have won international awards in our effort to provide top quality and security.
Exam marketing, promotion and communication
International exam boards such as Cambridge Assessment English or the Goethe Exams from Germany rely on our know-how in marketing international exams in Switzerland. We have a vast network in the Swiss educational environment and have successfully been promoting international exams in Switzerland. We have won an international award from Cambridge Assessment English for our marketing achievements.
Recruitment and vetting of exam staff
For international exam boards we have recruited staff and gained unique experience in recruiting and vetting staff that can be employed as supervisors, invigilators and proctors.
Exam logistics
Exams require that the right material is in the right place at the right time. This requires properly developed and executed processes. Our clients can rely on our exceptional and thorough planning and execution skills in regard to exam logistics.
Exam registration and exam day
The registration process is very important for candidates, schools and teachers alike. We have developed a specialised registration and back-end system which allows us to effectively register and process candidates online. Our system makes sure that everyone is in the right place at the right time with the proper information so that an exam day can be successfully run without incidences.
Exam result and certificate management
Very important for candidates is, that they get their results in good time. Result management is among our fastest processes while guaranteeing the proper security standards.
Exam support HelpDesk
For our clients, candidates, schools, teachers and even our exam staff, Swiss Exams runs a 24/7 exam support HelpDesk. This service which offers a solution at all times, is critically important to successful exam management.
Exam management advisory and consulting services
We want to share our experiences! Over the last two or more decades we have gained unique experiences in managing paper-based and computer based exams. Exam management can be a tricky undertaking and sharing experiences means eliminating errors and increasing the quality of the exam experience as a whole.
If you are interested in our services, please contact us.


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Diamond, round or low-profile round head
Round or diamond head, low profile
Diamond or round head, steel or stainless steel
Locating key
Round or diamond
Round or diamond, w/ shoulder
GripShape Finger Blanks are a fast and convenient option for creating a custom gripper design. Save machining time by starting with these gripper finger blanks and customize to match workpiece shape and application needs. Read More


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Tech Support
Our technical team acts as a support group that works closely with our sales and purchasing departments. This ensures that you, our customer, receive only the best quality products for your application. If you have any questions about a product or its performance, before or after the sale, our technical team will be happy to answer your questions and assist you in any way.
Call us at 1-973-771-3445


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A 10 Year Guarantee – What's that?
Simple. No hassles.
All Sewn NursesBag products come with 10 Years of Support.
FREE repair of Hardware, Zippers and Velcro
FREE repair Stitching of Seams
Note: We do not repair/replace products damaged from unreasonable use or improper cleaning
So you're wondering …why not a Lifetime Warranty – everybody else seems to have one?!
Well, because frankly, it sounds too good to be true and that's the point. It doesn't really say anything and creates a large gray area that basically leaves it up to the manufacturer to decide if they want to repair/replace the product for free.
First of all the question is "Whose lifetime are we talking about?" – at first glance, it sounds like the life of the customer – but then if you reflect that would be unreasonable – so what they're talking about is the Life of the bag or pack. Well, now that's a can of worms! I mean what's the life expectancy of a bag?! To clarify things the manufacturer would have to provide you with age limits on their varied products so you could add this to your criteria when selecting a product. In most cases, manufacturers that give a Lifetime Warranty, define the life of the bag as "the period of time it takes for the bag to deteriorate, through normal use, until it can no longer function for the purpose intended". So this gives the manufacturer the leverage to give different warranties for the same bag – say, 2 years to one customer and 6 years to another.
Well, we don't agree. We want our guarantee to be simple and clear. The fact is, we make our products really strong! They're made from the best materials and hardware available and are stitched together with stringent specifications. We make them to LAST -when we send you one of our designs…we don't want it back!
We feel you should get at least ten years of reliable use from our sewn products, without worrying about repairs, cleaning, etc. This doesn't mean our products will "bite the dust" after ten years – quite the contrary. We have packs, briefcases, bags and wallets out there over twenty years old and they're still being used!


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Welcome to the RISE Germany Lounge!
Information session from November 30, 2021 as PDF document.
Here you can watch and listen to the recorded Online-Seminar for RISE Germany interns from April 6th, 2017.
More Downloads:
Download: RISE Germany Poster 2023 (pdf, 2.60 MB)
Download: RISE Germany 2023 Flyer for students (pdf, 223.44 KB)
Download: RISE Germany - Guideline for applicants & interns (pdf, 88.08 KB)
Download: Guideline - Virtual Internships (en) (pdf, 397.72 KB)
Download: Guideline for supervisors - Virtual Internships (en) (pdf, 408.00 KB)
Download: RISE Germany Statistik 2019 (pdf, 223.16 KB)
Download: RISE Germany Statistic 2005 - 2019 (pdf, 174.68 KB)
RISE Germany photo contest 2019
Here are the winner photos:
RISE Meeting in Heidelberg 2019
Have a look at our picture Gallery (142 pictures):
From July 5 to July 7 the RISE group met in Heidelberg: In 2019 for the fifteenth time in a row! 312 scholarship holders from the RISE Germany program and 39 from RISE Professional enjoyed the beautiful city of Heidelberg with great networking opportunities during the meeting.
We welcomed several special guests and offered a great program at our Welcome Meeting like a guided city tour of Heidelberg, presentation from RISE scholars of their research projects during a conference and of course a BBQ with party.