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In Spring 2007 I cycled through the Middle East.
In beautiful Damascus I wandered the catacomb markets and haggled for jewelery while the trader brought me mint tea and fresh-baked flatbread from a neighbour's kitchen. I travelled up to Maaloula where I heard the lord's prayer in Aramaic. I stargazed from a field outside Bethlehem, and convoyed through Beirut flanked by motorbike outriders.
Looking back from 2017 I realise how fragile, fleeting and unrealistic the peace and optimism really were, if they existed at all.
A crowd of women makes quite a bit of noise anywhere in the world. Put the women on bikes, put them in the Middle East, give them a powerful message, and the crowd creates quite a bit of attention too. This crowd was collectively Follow The Women. In April 2007 I joined them in Syria to cycle through the Levant countries to Palestine's West Bank.
Follow The Women is a movement established to promote peace in the Middle East, show solidarity with Middle Eastern countries and raise awareness of the region's volatility and how it affects the lives of women and children caught up in conflict. Most of all, FTW's aim is for a more peaceful, stable future for the people there.
The participants were young and old; from all walks of life; from Iran and America, Syria and Spain, Palestine and Portugal – in all 25 countries were represented; some teams were as many as 17, some countries had a team of one; most of the participants had never met before. For some of us this trip was a straightforward thing to do, for others the personal courage it took was inspiring.
Cycling for Arab women is frowned upon in many circles of their society, so put this on a pair of legs that have probably only ridden a bicycle in the weeks preceding the event, and the significance of FTW is really put into perspective.
Arriving at Damascus airport I felt like I sucked down a packet of Marlboro in passive smoking before we caught a connecting flight to Aleppo where we spent our first night. Not for us the Franciscan monastery of the itinerary, we were staying in careworn university halls. The next few days set the tone for the whole journey: a muster time of 7.30am is more likely to be 10.00am; banish all thoughts of setting off on time and ignore the itinerary. Learn patience; learn to wait; expect the unexpected. With this mantra in place the UK team was equipped for the rest of the journey.
On the first day of cycling it was easy to spot the participants who had barely been on a bicycle before. They wobbled, they braked irrationally and occasionally flew over their handlebars; they veered erratically and without warning, unintentionally took out anyone in their path and caused catastrophe behind them. You quickly learnt to avoid the wobblers at all costs: not a very friendly strategy but essential for personal well-being. They were lethal; you couldn't help but love them.
Syria's First Lady Asma al Assad joined us for a day in the saddle; then into Lebanon and lunch in the Hariri Palace in Beirut; in Jordan a truly moving cycle ended on Mount Nebo and as we rounded the final mountain bend Moses' Promised Land gradually appeared with its arid ridges disappearing into the hazy distance; in Palestine we stood in beautiful darkness in Bethlehem's Beit Sahour – Shepherd's Field – with a clear starry night above and for that moment all was peace.
Throughout the journey we were greeted in villages and towns by locals and dignitaries who lined the roads, gave out flowers as we passed by, and waved and cheered in welcome, and who had put on food, fanfare welcomes, speeches, and more food. Despite the echo of current conflict these welcomes were not serious or gloomy, they were hopeful and joyous.
I often felt like a bit of a fraud at these welcomes because the combination of over-zealous sponsors keen for publicity, over-optimistic co-ordinators, and absurd waits at borders often resulted in the cycling being curtailed to just a few kilometres with coaches doing the rest.
The more I learnt, the less I understood as we travelled through the five countries. The politics are complicated enough with all the past and present conflict, suspicion and power struggle within the area; now there is the added international demonisation of the Arab world. As one of the Lebanese riders said, 'We hate Al-Qaeda too. We are Arabs; we are not terrorists.'
At every border the authorities played out a mirthless psychological power game. The first border was Syria into Lebanon and took four hours to cross. All our passports were collected and taken away for scrutiny. Some were not in order – pointless to ask which ones. The clock ticked; we had to stay on the coaches, we were told. Other people are outside, we said. Okay, you can get off the coaches. There was nothing at this bleak coastal checkpoint except crashing waves and feral children haranguing the gun-toting soldiers.
Eventually the passports were returned and we piled back on the coaches. Then a guard with a vicious firearm boarded the coach and gave us, and our passports, another once over. We were finally free to move on. Variations of this scenario were performed each time we crossed a border, which we did six times, not counting the Israeli checkpoints scattered throughout Palestine.
The 150 cycles were provided by Beirut By Bike whose owner, Jawad, was committed, and patient, and unfazed by these vocal, exigent ladies as he and his crew flanked us on the rides through Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. They fixed gears, ignored hissy fits and brought up the rear with a breakdown truck for any FTWs who fancied a lift instead.
Jawed seemed unperturbed to watch us stream away on his precious bikes towards the Israeli checkpoint at Allenby Bridge and into Palestine for our final few days. He didn't accompany us because he is Lebanese Arab and not permitted into Palestine.
Israel controls all border crossings into Palestine and also controls the movement of Palestinians within Palestine. Bar a few exceptions, the Jordanian border was where we said goodbye to our Arab companions.
Farewell Naima, vivacious Beirut co-ordinator, lover of premiership football and studying an MA in aero-dynamics; adieu angry, passionate Algerians; auf Wiedersehen Iran, whose beautiful puppet show entertained us in a cold mountain youth hostel; goodbye hopelessly disorganised, exuberant Team Jordan. Yasser Arafat's daughter Lena was one of the few Arab exceptions whose liberty to travel through the region was not curtailed. She strode through the Israeli checkpoint resplendent in her orange 'dangerous' t-shirt.
Once we got through the big Jordan – Israel check point and the Israeli guards allowed us to cycle into Jericho, our reception at the tatty yet grandly named Yasser Arafat Stadium was a marvellous, heady evening of tinny music, delicious food, impassioned speeches in broken English and frantic dancing (sitting out was not an option).
Here I met Marwa, a young Palestinian whose home is a camp just outside Jericho. She chatted about her daily situation, her school, her aspirations, but how water was the main problem because the supply was frequently cut off for days by Israel. When this happens they then have to buy water at inflated prices – from Israel.
Stories like Marwa's made me wonder if anything could really change. With so much resentment, allegation and constant conflict, wasn't it a bit ridiculous to think that a bunch of women on bikes could make a difference? Perhaps. But when you have cycled round a hillside bend in Syria to be welcomed by school children singing out from the grassy roadside, waving flags and bubbling with anticipation, you know that something about the journey was worthwhile.
I watched shy Palestinian women stand and give speeches, and saw the pride and empowerment this platform provided. For this moment they had the world watching and their voices were being heard. "It is our right to live with dignity and without suffering".
The trip was not all hand-wringing, soul-searching and do-gooding. There was a lot of fun and laughing at our own short-comings, vanities, capricious needs, and the entertainment factor of getting 150 women of different languages through five countries complete with their luggage, bicycles, and paraphernalia: only a couple of bags got lost and miraculously no people.
This journey emphasised for me the immeasurable value of freedom. I am a London cyclist.
I pull on my cycle clothes every day and expect to bike somewhere unmonitored and unrestricted. I cannot begin to imagine being unable to do this: to travel unhindered around my homeland.
The wobblers careered wildly down hills and slopes and were gloriously unperturbed by the many spectacular accidents they caused along the way. When asked why they went so fast the reply was immediate: "because it feels like freedom".


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Marvel have a seemingly infinite roster of characters with abilities often deemed as, 'super'. Some chatacters are grounded and reflect real life, and some are otherworldy and unorthodox. Either way, we all wished we had their super powers. I bet there's millions of people who know of Spider Man and have therefore imagined walking up walls. Remember that time you got really angry and just wanted to turn into The Hulk and smash everything up? Or that time you found yourself in an awkward situation and just wished you could teleport away? Imagine if real life was littered in powerful and vibrant vigilantes, all wearing colourful costumes. The local newspapers with headlines like: 'Ten-Armed Woman Stops Car Crash with Rainbow Lazerbeams'. Living in a world where superheroes were the norm would be amazing right? Well we're going to find! First of all, we need to discover what would be plausible for a real life super power, how we'd apply it to a human, and what exactly defines its "superness".
Please note: If you're planning to use my findings and research to kick start your super villainous activities, such as rob a bank or form your very own Sinister Six with your friends, then don't tell anyone I'm the reason behind your inspiration to destroy the world, because that would look bad on me.
Okay, so we need to figure out what could potentially be done in the real world. Yeah that's right, spoiler alert, those awesome powers you see on screen often defy all known laws of physics… sorry for crushing your dreams. I suppose we should start with a list of common super powers and work from there. So there's things like flight, instantaneous growth or shrinkage (size manipulation), telekenisis & mind control, time foreseeing or manipulating, shapeshifting, teleportation, invisibility, immortality, inhuman damage resistance, elasticity, energy harnessing, portal creating and reality warping. Then there's all the things that have the word, "super" in front of them which are amplifications of real life traits, like super; strength, reflexes, healing, agility, endurance, sensory or speed. All these things are either built with fictional science, magic, or they're woven within characters genetics. Even though I've just tipped my brain upsidedown in search for as many different powers, there's probably a hundred more… but for now, I'm sticking with the popular ones that came to mind. (If you think I've missed some big/obvious ones then please leave a comment and we'll figure out its plausibility together!) In the comics/movies, a toxic waste barrel will guarantee someone some pretty badass powers with no repurcussions. However, do that in real life and the only thing you'll be getting is super death. So in conclusion, I think we can rule out barrels of dangerous substances as origin stories. It's clear to see what defines an ability/trait as "super". Anything that humans can't do with their bodies is super, and amplifications of what we can do is also. Next I think we should filter through the list from least plausible to most. Starting with Reality Warping.
Reality Warping: The alteration of the world as we know it, physics turned upside down, backwards, or completley inside out for that matter. I think it's safe to say, this is out of the question. How would we begin to harness a reality-changing ability? Not only that, but how could we then alter it into something new. You wouldn't be able to comprehend a new reality when all we know is our reality! The closest we could get to this is gas to liquid to solid manipulation, which, if you didn't know, if nothing too spectacular I'm afraid.
Time Foreseeing or Manipulating: Being able to pause, rewind, slow down or fast forward time itself, as well as look ahead or pass through an infinite array of alternate timelines. I'd give this one a big fat nope, and here's why. Time is not real. Let that sink in for those that didn't know as I elaborate. Time is just something we humans created to measure the distance between what happened before, what's happening now, and what's to come. We invented seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years etc for the sake of keeping track and segmenting our lives. Yep, time is just a made up measurement, just like mathematics. We invented numbers to count objects and so on, which funnily enough, we then applied to clocks. So in theory, we could easily manipulate time if we told ourselves something like, a day will now be made up of the total of 37 hours instead of 24… but that's no fun. We're talking about the ability to actually skip by moments or physically relive previous ones. First of all, I think the only way to technically go back in time is to sift through old memories in your brain. As for going forwards in time, how can you see or travel ahead to something that hasn't happened yet? Some will argue that because time isn't real, it should therefore be possible to traverse forwards and backwards. But that theory is a double-ended sword because you can say the opposite. If time isn't a real concept then surely it's impossible to traverse it? I'm afraid the only way you're going to be able to have dinner with your great, great, great, great, great grandkids is if you freeze yourself for a while… but that's not travelling through time is it. As for peering through alternate timelines, you'd have to make sure they even exist which again, nope. Yes there's a lot of theories but they're called theories for a reason. If there were alternate timelines we'd need a way to see them all, like some sort of hub where you can observe the ongoing infinite alterations of events. Let me know when you've figured out how to extract yourself from life and find a way to look at varying versions of the universe.
Teleportation & Portal Creating: The contruction of a two dimensional doorway through time and space, and the ability to instantly alter your presence to another location. I put these two powers together because they're fairly similar and both pretty much ruled out. I don't have to repeat the issues we have with traversing time again do I, so we'll focus on traversing through space and moving ones location in the blink on an eye. The problem I have with teleportation is that you'd have to not exist for a moment whilst your body shifts from one place to another, because even if you change location seemingly instantly, time has still passed from when you were at Place A to when you arrived at Place B, even if it was a fraction of a nanosecond. There might be a way to get around this however. Instead of instantly changing location, we define 'teleporting' as moving from one place to another almost instantly. That lets us think of a different way of travelling. The way I imagine it is if we used an orbital satellite to somehow "beam you up" and then back down to place you somewhere else. Think of it like sending a text, you hit "send" and the data of that message goes to a satellite which is then passed to your friends phone for them to receive. The atoms that make up your body and its cells would be the data so to speak, and you would deconstruct cell by cell and then passed to another location, which you would then reconstruct! Unfortunately, we hit some barriers. What is determined as your atoms? Atoms make up the universe so how would something be able to highlight everything regarding 'you'? Would your memories be intact afterwards? How would you reconstruct perfectly back the way you was? Before that you'd have to hope you survive being literally torn apart. Then we come to portals. Seemingly, you don't need to tear yourself apart, as you're given a convenient opening to a new location. First off, how would you make a portal and what determines where its exit is. You know what, let's not waste our time, it ain't happening.
Telekinesis & Mind Control: The ability to move/manipulate objects with your mind as well as take command of another humans vessel via the victims own brain. This one is overused in my opinion. You also see a lot of claims of these powers in the real world too, for example, hypnotism. Mind control would insinuate you could tap into someone else's head even though you're not connected… unless we all are? I'm not talking about that connection you have with your best friend where you know one another so well, I mean literally know what the process of another humans thoughts are, as well as take control of them. Some say that twins sometimes know when one of them is in danger. That seems more plausible than two strangers experiencing something like that, seeing as though twins are developed at the same time, together in the same womb. Is there a chance that their brains are in a way, one? Another example of connection is when you see someone yawn and you feel the need to do the same. Some scientists say that the sharing of yawns is something that goes back to when we were four-legged swamp monsters crawling out of the sea. It's the same as wolves howling together. In that case we should rule that out as genetic instinct rather than a direct connection to another person's brain. I'm rather sceptical of hypnotism as it is, so imagining someone with the ability to take command of another person's mind like you see in the comics/films is pretty hard. Could demonic possession be classed as mind control? Let's not give ourselves nightmares. On to telekinesis! Look at the object furthest away from you that you're not currently touching. Imagine moving that without having to move closer or by laying a finger on it for that matter. We'd need to be able to connect our brains with inanimate objects which inclines we have a connection with it in the first place. Technically, as we discussed, the universe is made up of atoms so we're in fact part of the same thing but not at the same time. If there was a way to extend from the atoms of your body and steer an object then sure, but I highly doubt it.
Size Manipulation, Shapeshifting or Elasticity: Instant bodily alterations either at ones will or not. Our skin is indeed elastic to some extent. That's why you become saggy and wrinkled when you grow old (sorry for the bad news). It's because your skin is old and it's lost the majority of its elasticity. So we know that we're stretchy to a miniscule degree, so how would we acomplish feats like Mr Fantastic? His entire body stretches, not just his skin, so for full bodily expansion, your organs, bones and muscles would have to stretch too. Of course, we grow from a tiny baby so we do stretch in theory but it takes us 18-21 years to reach our maximum height. To stretch ourselves or to simply grow or shrink ourselves, we'd need our entire bodies to alter instantly without tearing apart! (Hashtag, Stretchmarks). Unfortunately we don't grow that fast, and we don't choose our minimum/maximum heights. I'm afraid there's no known way to regrow cells as rapidly as that. That leaves us with shapeshifting. Again, we technically change through time. It's called evolution and growing up. Our bodies have adapted to our ever changing enviroment through the millions of years. I know, we'd want to shapeshift into something or someone else entirely in the matter of seconds… but evolution decides that for us, and I'm afraid it takes its sweet time.
Invisibility: Changing the entirety of ones body completley transparent. I have similar issues with this that I have with teleportation; what determines 'you' in this equasion? Here's a gross example for you… if you were able to make your body invisible, what about your organs? Do they turn invisible too? Okay, well what about your poop? Does that turn invisible too or does that just seem to float in the air?! I suppose if the skin was the cause of invisibility, for example, the pigments, then I guess it would be a sort of cocoon which'd hide everything from that and inwards. Unfortunately, that's not good enough. How would there be a projection of what's behind you anyway? Therefore, the whole of you would have to literally be transparent. Unless we go back to the cocoon idea and we evolve chameleon-like skin to mask ourselves into the background. If our skin isn't up to the task then we can only hope that crazy scientists create clothing with the same effect.
Energy Harnessing: Absorbing external energy and using it to amplify yourself or to transfer into an outgoing projectile. I guess we can absorb energy to an extent. We absorb the suns light, electricity is able to travel through us… but how can we purposefully collect it in great quantities to then shoot out of our bodies? There's eerie stories about people spontaneously combusting but the solidity if those cases aren't concrete. Even if they were, it's a bit too sporadic to be classed as harnessing energy, even if they do end up exerting it. The only way humans would probably be able to harness energy is through technology which humans have already with solar panels, wind turbines etc. If those things powered ones super suit then I guess you'd technically be harnessing energy as a power… but it doesn't sound too 'super' does it?
Inhuman Damage Resistance, Super Healing or Immortality: Skin deemed impenetrable, cell regeneration at a faster pace than normal and the ability to never reach an age, which would begin the deterioration of any aspect of ones body that would usually result in death. We'd all love to live forever I think, or at least not have to jump up and down in agony when you hammer your thumb instead of the nail you were holding against the wall. Surprisngly there are people out there that actually don't feel pain due to a problem with their nerves. However, this doesn't mean that their body isn't taking damage. Saying that, it would still help when you're fighting crime with bare fists. The only way I can think of having an impenetrable fortress for a body is if you wore a suit of armour made entirely of diamond, which would just create a whole new set of problems. It's a shame we don't have Vibranium huh? Increased cell regeneration could be done through certain remedies, but I don't think it would be particularly rapid! In terms of immortality, I think that's just as implausible as time travel. Think about it, what happens when all life on Earth has died and you're just stood there alone? What happens in billions of years when our solar system doesn't exist anymore and you're just floating through space aimlessly. Does immortal mean you can die, just not from natural causes? Immortality is too vague, so it's too difficult to achieve. Basically, just eat well and hope you don't die whilst fighting crime in your diamond suit. Still, no way near worthy of being considered 'super'.
Flight: Wing-powered or mechanical aviation as well as magical levitation. First of all, I'm crossing levitation off the list becauase you can't alter gravity somewhere of your choosing. Unless we evolve wings which would probably only occur if the Earth had less land in the future. Even then, we have more chance of evolving into aquatic creatures than avian. It all comes down to a mechanical frontier, which we already have. Ever since the Wright Brothers invented the first working plane, humans have advanced from jets to jet packs… even fabric wing suits. It's only a matter of time until we see a near-match to a flying IronMan suit, I assure you. It's the same as mobile cellular phones; they were huge and terrible, but after time they became smaller and more powerful. Flight is one of the most plausible super powers… but if it's so easy and common in the real world, it doesn't particularly stand out as 'super'. At least you can expect to see a lot of flying vigilantes.
Super Reflexes & Super Senses: Enhanced touch, taste, sight, hearing and smell as well as the ability to react and process and calculate actions at a faster rate than normal. We all know that ones senses and reflexes can be fine tuned and mastered with time and practice, but we're looking to exeed that. For advanced reflexes, the synapses in our brains, everything to do with our senses and our thought process would have to work as though it was predicting the events before they were occuring. Certain foods and liquids are said to awaken and envigorate you such as caffeine or sugar, so unless man makes an artificial consumable which helps out further, we probably have to stick to mastering it in a ninja dojo for a millenia.
Super Agility, Super Speed, Super Endurance & Super Strengh: Exceeding traits and inhuman power regarding all aspects of the body. I suppose you can find all three of those traits inside of a generic super soldier. I swear, 99% of everything revolves around someone trying to create a super soldier serum! The question is, could they? If not, you can always rely on mechanics to assist the human body to give it a boost. This can already be seen with paraplegic volunteers as well as fabled army prototypes you know you've probably seen on Buzzfeed or something.
It seems that there are some plausible contenders, but would we actually see a superhero rise? The thing about the comics/films, everything falls into place because the story is obviously scripted. Life is spontaneous and all over the place. Hell, you have a greater chance of getting crushed by a vending machine than you do getting eaten alive by a shark. So if you're swaying between becoming a ghost seeking vengeance on marine life or a vending machine pancake then choose the latter because you have more chance. Yes, things like flight and enhanced strengh are plausible super powers, but what are the chances of someone being a successful hero? Real life is full of rules and regulations… it took the MCU 13 movies to get to the superhero registration… I guarantee you that whoever dares become a super vigilante in the real world would be signing something on their first day! Unless they're arrested for life.
Yeah, I know it's a shame that life can't be as cool as the movies but that's probably for the best. Let's talk ethics for a moment. Vision has a great quote in Captain America: Civil War, where he stresses that the increase of superhero activity has in turn increased the amount of super villains. He says there's a causality… and I agree when he says that something powerful would invite challenge (even though I was #TeamCap!). With all this to take on board, what's wrong with being plain old human anyway? We humans can do remarkable things! Scientists are constantly discovering and unfolding the answers of life and the universe, whilst athletes are achieving incredible feats on a day to day basis. People look after the planet, give food, blood, money to those in need. We have doctors, nurses, firefighters and police, all intended to save us when we're in need. I'd say we're already pretty super. You just have to work hard enough and aim high! That doesn't mean we can't look to our favourite movie heroes as role models, seeing as though they only seem to be as human as us underneath their amplified traits.
Bye for now and stay awesome!
Bonus: Super Smarts. Some say we only use a third of our brain… who's ready to see how omniscient we become when we unlock the rest of it???

subset: commoncrawl


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THE owner of the historic Queen Mary steamer has come under fire after one of the ship's propellers was put up for sale online.
Businessman Ranjan Chowdhury, 49, pledged to launch a restoration programme of works after buying the only surviving Clyde-built turbine steamer three years ago.
But the ship still lies rusting in an English dockyard and it has now emerged that one of her brass propellers was offered for sale at £15,000 on auction website eBay last month.
Listed by a seller using the name Ranj1981, the item had a starting price of £10,000 but failed to attract a single bid.
Sources claim that the seller was 49-year-old London antiques dealer Chowdhury and that he was persuaded to withdraw it after an outcry from marine enthusiasts.
Iain Sim, a trustee of the charity Friends of TS Queen Mary, who want to buy the ship and home her in Govan, said: "If we had the ship, the propeller would be kept as it's part of the ship's heritage.
"We have made our intentions very clear that we want to bring the ship back to Glasgow and would pay a fair price for her."
The Friends of TS Queen Mary say the boat needs £750,000 of essential repairs.
Robert Orr, who wrote the book Aboard Queen Mary II: A Purser's Life on the Glasgow Boat after working on her for seven years, said: "I was very strongly against the sale of the propeller. I understand Mr Chowdhury will want to recoup some of the reported £100,000 he spent on buying her and the docking fees, and probably make a little bit too. But it's disappointing."
The owners were trying to sell honorary board memberships of the ship for £50,000.
A website set up by The Queen Mary Preservation Group but since closed down detailed how volunteers would get perks including an invitation on the maiden voyage.
The Queen Mary ferried thousands of passengers "doon the watter" for four decades to resorts such as Largs, Rothesay, Campbeltown and Brodick.
But since being auctioned off in 2011, she has been left to languish at Tilbury Docks in Essex.
Exclusive Sunday Mail pictures revealed how the ship's interior and exterior have decayed. Chowdhury and his business partner Greg Taylor have refused to speak about their plans.
The preservation plans by the Friends of TS Queen Mary are backed by several MSPs. A recent Scottish Parliament motion by Dumbarton MSP Jackie Baillie supported the charity's bid to return the ship to the Clyde.
In 1935, the TS Queen Mary was renamed Queen Mary II to allow the name Queen Mary to be used by the Cunard liner. When the liner was retired in 1967, the name reverted back to the Clyde-built steamer.


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Friday, August 30, 2013
We had the honour to be invited to the Second Regional Partner meeting organized by the initiative Healthy Reef for Healthy People.
Last year, GVI data collected by the volunteers was shared with them in order to produce a report on the health of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef system; this year we participated on their regional meeting where people from Guatemala, Belize, Mexico and Honduras got together to work on the Eco-Audit that will be released this year.
The purpose of the Eco-Audit is to have a systematic multinational evaluation of the implementation of recommended reef management actions by governments, NGOs, and private sector. The Eco-Audit includes several indicators across different themes and documents that support such information. Click here if you want to know more about this: http://www.healthyreefs.org/ecoaudit/EcoAuditBrochure.pdf
GVI Mexico Country Director, Lluvia Soto, attended this 3 day meeting in Belize city, where different criteria were evaluated in order to produce the 2013 Eco-Audit. Amongst the participants were people from different government agencies from the four countries, as well as different NGOs including our local partners Amigos de Sian Ka'an.
Apart from working on the new criteria, the participants were also shown how the new online data base will work; this will be for public access and will contain information from the four countries involved. As well as the data base that will be used to summit the data on the following years.
As a plus, people from the Catlin Seaview Survey from Australia came to the meeting to show us the method they are using to create 3D images of our reef! They are at the moment working on taking the images in the Mexican Caribbean to then continue with the reefs in the other parts of the world. All the participants definitely agreed that they have a really cool job!
It was definitely a very successful meeting! Thanks again for inviting us.
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Do you ever wonder what happens to the seaweed that washes up on Fort Lauderdale's beaches? The City is in fact on the move every morning to clear seaweed from the shore.
Seaweed floats ashore due to strong easterly winds and dips in the Gulf Stream, creating a dumping effect on our beaches with mounds of seaweed arriving virtually overnight. This seaweed can trap unwanted trash on the beach and degrade conditions for visitors and for marine wildlife.
For the past six years, we have been reusing that seaweed it in a novel way. City crews remove the seaweed on a daily basis utilizing Barber Surfrakes pulled by track based tractors. A typical day will bring in about six tons of seaweed, but much more is possible on high tide days. In 2012, in just a few days period, our crews removed more than 40 tons of seaweed! The seaweed is loaded into dump trucks and shipped off to Snyder Park where it is added to a compost pile. It is allowed to ripen for about 90 days and eventually turns into rich soil which is then used in city planting projects.
Composting seaweed saves us about $180,000 per year that we would be spending if we had to transport collected seaweed to a county landfill instead. It also saves money on purchasing new fill soil. Every three months, we dedicate about 200 yards of soil to landscape projects, and we can use our free seaweed compost instead.
It's a sustainability win-win: Good for people, because it keeps our beaches clean. Good for the planet because we reuse a resource. Good for our economy because it keeps our beaches beautiful and accessible for visitors.


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Mrs. Ohio visits the kindergarten
The kindergarten received a visit from the current Mrs. Ohio, Jeri Ward, during their lessons about the state. Jeri is an active volunteer, advocate, social worker, counselor, and autism specialist who lives right here in Dayton. She currently works for the state of Ohio in


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Some may argue that, in the past, Solange has always been in the shadow of her big sister, Beyonce. The two siblings have always been opposites, but in recent years, Solange has risen to the spotlight with her hipster fashion and funky progressive music. There's definitely no argument there.
Knowles, who released her first number one album, A Seat At The Table, late last year, ended 2016 on a high note and is starting this year the same way with a Grammy nomination and countless critical acclaim. Let's not forget, she has also never wavered from who she is as an artist, human being and a black woman.
Solange is on the cover of this month's Interview Magazine and she was interviewed by none other than her big sister, Beyonce. The two had a one-on-one conversation as Solange made her way back to New York from Philadelphia. The Knowles sisters talked about everything, from how it was growing up in their Parkwood neighborhood in Houston, Texas to her inspiration for her popular album cover.
Peep some of the excerpts below:
On what inspired her cover art for A Seat At The Table:
"I wanted to create an image that invited people to have an up-close and personal experience—and that really spoke to the album title—that communicated, through my eyes and my posture, like, "Come and get close. It's not going to be pretty. It's not going to be perfect. It's going to get a little gritty, and it might get a little intense, but it's a conversation we need to have." I wanted to nod to the Mona Lisa and the stateliness, the sternness that that image has. And I wanted to put these waves in my hair, and to really set the waves, you have to put these clips in. And when Neal, the hair stylist, put the clips in, I remember thinking, "Woah, this is the transition, in the same way that I'm speaking about on 'Cranes.'" It was really important to capture that transition, to show the vulnerability and the imperfection of the transition—those clips signify just that, you know? Holding it down until you can get to the other side. I wanted to capture that."
On the misconceptions of being a strong woman:
"Oh my God, they're endless! [laughs] One thing that I constantly have to fight against is not feeling arrogant when I say I wrote every lyric on this album. I still have not been able to say that. That's the first time I've actually ever said it, because of the challenges that we go through when we celebrate our work and our achievements. I remember Björk saying that she felt like, no matter what stage in her career, if a man is credited on something that she's done, he's going to get the credit for it. And, unfortunately, that still rings true. It's something I've learned so much about from you, getting to be in control of your own narrative. And, at this point, it should be an expectation, not something that you're asking permission for. I feel like I'm getting closer to that, not taking on all the baggage when I have to just stand up for myself and say, 'No, I'm uncomfortable with that.' And I really appreciate you and mom being examples of that, being able to speak about our achievements, these things that deserve to be celebrated, without feeling bashful about it."
On Beyonce as a big sister:
"You did a kickass job. You were the most patient, loving, wonderful sister ever. In the 30 years that we've been together, I think we've only really, like, butted heads … we can count on one hand."
You can read the complete interview here.
And in the meantime, Solange is preparing for the 59th Annual Grammy Awards, in which she scored a nomination in the Best R&B Performance category for her hit single "Cranes In the Sky."
Written By: Jnelle Belle
Twitter: @JnelleOnAir
Instagram: @JnelleBelle


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This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.
SAN DIEGO — A woman waded into the river in Mission Valley to avoid police late Friday afternoon, officers said.
The woman jumped into the San Diego River near Mission Center Road around 3:30 p.m. Police said the woman was homeless and had a misdemeanor warrant for her arrest. She waded into the river to avoid officers, according to police.
Medics and lifeguards were called to the scene to get the woman out safely, but officers were unable to track her down. She had not been caught as of 6 p.m. and officials had cleared the scene.


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Close Your Eyes And Make A Wish
Our daughter is nearly five years old and she's never been to a children's birthday party. She understands what a party involves. She's had plenty of exposure to birthday cake, candles, balloons, ripping open birthday wrap, and celebrating. But only ever with family. In two years of preschool I've seen invitations passed around to every girl in the class but mine. Now with her first year of Kindergarten drawing to a close, I assume at least one child in her class has had a birthday party. Maybe I'm wrong. Perhaps every child was born in the summer? This doesn't directly impact my child. She doesn't know she's being excluded. But it impacts me. I may be too sensitive (or so I've been told) but I definitely feel the sting of rejection on her behalf. I find myself wanting to shout, "What the hell people?" Alas, I can't force people to include her. It's their choice. So I say nothing. Though, I'd like to just say this… If there's a child with a disability in your child's class, please don't overlook them. You might assume they can't go to a party due to mobility or behavioural issues. Maybe you think they pose a[…]Read More


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If you have recently relocated to Baltimore, then you are required to obtain a new driver's license and vehicle registration with the State of Maryland within a specific timeframe. The Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA) handles auto-related documentation at offices located throughout the greater Baltimore area.
Maryland MVA provides car titling and registration, license plates, tag renewals, ID cards and driver licenses. Keep reading to learn more about the MVA. You can find out how to get a license as a new resident and learn how to change your address if you moved to Baltimore from another area of Maryland.
How to Get a Driver's License in Maryland
You must transfer an out-of-state driver's license within 60 days of moving to Maryland. If you have a commercial driver's license (CDL), then you only have 30 days to obtain a Maryland CDL after moving. To transfer your license to MD, you must have a valid driver's license or one that has been expired for less than one year.
If you are a new license applicant, then you must surrender your previous driver's license when applying for a new one. You cannot obtain a Maryland driver's license if you have a suspended license in another state. As long as you meet these qualifications, you can get a new license or transfer a previous one at any MVA branch office. Simply follow these steps:
- Present your Social Security number (SSN), proof of identity and Maryland residency and provide proof of legal presence in the United States.
- Pass a vision exam.
- Pay the MVA's current $72 fee.
- Get your photo taken.
The clerk will give you a paper license that is valid until your license card arrives by mail. You should receive your license within four to seven business days. In most cases, your license will be valid for eight years. Note that all Maryland driver's licenses are REAL ID compliant. There is no need to complete an additional step to receive REAL ID as in many other states.
If your current driver's license has been expired for more than one year or you have never had a driver's license, MVA requires you to take a written driver exam and a behind-the-wheel driving test. In addition, applicants younger than 18 years of age or those with less than 18 months of driving experience in another state may have to get a Maryland provisional driver's license before obtaining full driving privileges.
How to Get a Maryland Vehicle Title and Registration
As with a driver's license, new MD residents must transfer vehicle titles and tags within 60 days. Failing to meet this deadline can result in being ticketed for driving without a valid registration. Most people can complete a title and registration in one visit at any full-service MVA branch office by providing these documents in person:
- Vehicle's current title or other proof of ownership
- Completed MVA Application for Certificate of Title (Form VR-005)
- Maryland Safety Inspection Certificate
- Bill of sale or other proof of the vehicle's value
- If leased, a copy of the lease agreement and proof of monthly lease payments
- Lien information on cars being paid for with a loan
- Lien release
- Proof of auto insurance that meets state liability coverage minimum
You may also need to provide a power of attorney, but only if someone else is signing the forms on your behalf. If it is more convenient, you may submit the above documents by mail. Include a check or money order for your tax and title fees and send the documents to:
Out-of-State Title Unit
6601 Ritchie Highway
Glen Burnie, MD 21062
Most applicants will be able to use one form for the vehicle title and registration (Form VR-005, Application for Certificate of Title). However, certain applicants may have to provide the MVA with other documents to complete a vehicle registration. Car title and registration fees and taxes will vary, depending on the weight and class of the vehicle. An MVA clerk or the agency's website can help you configure the appropriate fees for your vehicle.
How to Renew a Driver's License and Registration in Maryland
You will receive a notice from the MVA prior to your driver's license expiration date. This notice will be printed with instructions for obtaining your renewal. In some cases, you may not have to provide any new documentation. If this is the case, you can easily renew your license online via the MVA eStore. Simply log on, answer a few questions and pay the license renewal fee.
If the MVA needs new documents from you, the notice will state what is needed and you must renew your license in person. You can use the online scheduling feature to set up your renewal appointment. MVA driver's license renewal fees are currently $6 per year. For convenience, most drivers choose to renew for eight years, the longest period of time possible. You can expect an eight-year renewal to cost $48.
Maryland vehicle tag renewal is usually required every two years. The MVA will mail you a vehicle service renewal notice about 60 days before your tag expires. Follow the directions on the notice to renew your registration and obtain new stickers for your tag.
How to Submit a Maryland MVA Change of Address
If you are already a resident of Maryland and move within the state, you can update the MVA by submitting a change of address. Most drivers can submit this information in person at an MVA office or update it easily online. MVA does not charge a fee for changing your address to a new Maryland residence, unless you want a new license, ID card or vehicle title printed with your new address. To get new documents, you must pay a $20 fee.
The MVA will need the following information to change the address on your account:
- Driver's license number
- Date of birth
- Last four digits of your SSN or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN)
For online transactions, you can use your four-digit MVA PIN instead of entering your SSN or ITIN. If you order new documents, expect them to arrive by mail within four to seven business days.


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RouteStock Chardonnay & Cabernet
"RouteStock creates wines from classic grape varieties grown along well-known routes in the world's most respected wine regions. Tried, trusted and true to their routes, these wines are handcrafted by our winemakers to be approachable and a reliable favorite."
Route 29 Cabernet – "Route 29 travels through the heart of Napa Valley, which is arguably a perfect home for Cabernet Sauvignon. On a drive down Route 29, you will pass many of the vineyards that supplied perfectly ripe grapes for this Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon."
Route 121 Chardonnay – "Route 121 meanders through Carneros ("ram" in Spanish), a region once known for its sheep populations. On a drive down Route 121 you will pass many of the vineyards that supplied perfectly ripe grapes for this Carneros Chardonnay.
Carneros is well-known as a cool-climate region, perfect for growing Chardonnay. The morning fog and afternoon breezes off the chilly San Pablo Bay cool the region, while the Napa and Sonoma valleys to the north heat it up. This heat causes the air to draw inland over Carneros, drying the vines of the moist morning fog. As night falls, the fog rolls in, protecting the vines from potential morning sun."


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Cyber Monday
Mark your calendars for Monday, November 26th! Go Be Love is participating in #CyberMonday for the first time in history and we're putting a whole new spin on one of the biggest online shopping days of the year.
Cyber Monday History: The term "Cyber Monday" started getting used in 2005 by the National Retail Federation (NRF), which needed a name for the flurry of online sales the Monday after Thanksgiving. Since 2005, consumers have become more and more content to shop from the comfort of their desks instead of standing in line in the cold outside their favorite stores. In 2017, Cyber Monday reached a record $6.59 billion spent in online sales.
On #CyberMonday we will launch something very near and dear to our hearts. On November 26th, you'll see why. We can't wait to share all the details with you!


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There?s this intense debate between traders and investors, with the lather ones considering themselves somehow more special. The reality is that strengths and weaknesses can be found on either side and today we want to show you that, so you will be able to decide whether it will be good for you to embrace short-term trading, or become a small Warren Buffett and take the path of long-term investing.
Trading in the short-term
Although most of the experts say short-term trading is only for beginners, the reality is completely different. Many professionals choose to adopt this approach, mainly because we live in a period of economic uncertainty. Buy-and-hold strategies are overrated right now and the best thing to do is to try and generate returns on smaller market moves.
The downside of this is that in the short-run the market can be choppy and you will get a lot of false trading signals. As a result, you?ll need a tested rule-based strategy and act upon it by filtering the signals you get. Just because it?s short-term trading it does not mean you have to enter the market each day.
You should also consider that you will need good trading conditions and the best infrastructure, like the trade.com multi platforms.
Choosing long-term investing
It is true that in order to make investments in the long run, you?ll have to commit more capital. Returns are generally smaller, which means it will be hard to make a living out of long-term investments if you don?t have a lot of money.
As opposed to short-term trading, in this case, you will be able to avoid the ?noise of the market? and invest based on your long-term vision. Knowing how to build a balanced portfolio across different assets is essential in order to avoid being hit hard by a single bad investment.
If you are at the beginning and you want to learn more on the subject, Tony Robbins? book ?Money Master the Game? would be a great start. There you will find how Ray Dalio, a famous US investor and the creator of the biggest hedge fund on the planet, creates a balanced portfolio.
You?ll need more advanced knowledge at a macroeconomic level, not just information on technical analysis and market sentiment. That is why most of the people start with short-term trading and as they progress, they gradually move a longer-term approach on the market.


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[+] Toby Keith in Wantagh, NY Jul 06, 2019 – presale password
The Toby Keith presale code that we've had so many requests for is available for our members to use! During this limited time presale you have got the chance to buy show tickets before anyone else! Right now is the best time to order your tickets – before they go onsale and sell out! Buy your tickets right now to see Toby Keith in Wantagh, NY!
Toby Keith show details:
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Patty Da Silva SELLS Homes | Green Realty Properties®
REALTORS® in Cooper City, Davie, Miramar, Pembroke Pines, Plantation, Hollywood
Most Closed Sides : YADIRA MARTINEZ
Yadi's journey in the Real Estate and Mortgage Industry began in 1999, which has allowed her to develop vast knowledge in the industry over time. With over ten years of experience, Yadi is able to provide her customers step by step guidance throughout their buying and/or selling experience.
Yadi specializes in working with investors, buyers and sellers interested in discounted and/or distressed properties, as well as commercial leasing. Her mission is to provide her clients with unsurpassed, exceptional service by utilizing current market research, professionalism, technology, excellent communication skills, and adhering to the Code of Ethics.
Most Closed Volume : SHERYL HARTLEY
Sheryl have been in the industry since 1976 and she is our 2014 REALTOR® of the Year. She did it once again, this time topping the most closed volume as of January 2015.
Congratulations Yadi and Sheryl, you did a fantastic job!
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Keep Swimming: Charity Bash charity helps families stay afloat
December 14, 2018
Spending day and night in a hospital is pricey already, but paying the steep price of the non-medical expenses makes matters even worse. One charity is trying to help families in those situations, and this year's charity bash is helping to achieve that goal.
The Keep Swimming Foundation was founded in 2017 by Bill Coon, an alumni of Lake Zurich. Coon says the charity means a great deal to him, as he went through the traumatic experiences the foundation aims to prevent.
"When I was 20 years old, I was in the the hospital for 70 days waiting for my second heart transplant and first kidney transplant. While I was in there I watched my family almost every single day come to my hospital room, and I watched them pay for so many things out of pocket," Coon said. "I watched it add up, and it took its toll. It made what was already a stressful situation ten times more stressful because that's stuff insurance will never [deduct]"
His family was not the only one struggling with the hospital experience, Coon says. According to Coon, people can end up with loads of debt, adding on to the painful experience of being ill.
Coon said that after meeting with several families who had similar experiences, he "started to realize that almost everybody who finds themself in that circumstance ends up somewhere between $5,000 and $10,000 in credit card debt. My family, personally, was in just over $7,500 of credit card debt in just 70 days."
Students say that the founder's experience is not unfamiliar, and that most families at least know of others who have had similar experiences. Aidan Gralinski, junior, says that empathy plays a big role in how the charity is received.
"I think every student at the school has a family member that could be struggling with a very difficult diagnosis. Personally, I think that Keep Swimming Foundation connects a lot with the student body, since almost everyone knows how expensive medical bills can get," Gralinski said. "With these charities and fundraisers, students have an opportunity to snap out of their everyday routine and feel sympathy for others."
Even students who do not relate to the cause often feel the need to contribute, according to Kelsey Selzer, freshman. Selzer says that with fundraisers like Charity Bash, students can realize their place in society and show generosity towards those who are less fortunate.
According to Selzer, students tend not to realize the privileges they have, and by helping raise money for this charity, they can see "real world problems". The charity "could make them more aware of problems that could coming up in another person's family," Selzer said. "Students can see how minor their problems are compared to these families being supported by the fundraiser, which leads to them feeling both sorry for the families and thankful that their family isn't going through this."
Students often feel benefits from raising money for a great cause like the Keep Swimming Foundation, Jillian Baffa, student council member, says. According to Baffa, the empathy that comes from the charity's powerful stories inspires the school to come together.
"Just hearing the stories that the students have and the owner of the charity [has] really inspires people. With that, people can get really connected to the charity, and they want to come together to play dodgeball and play badminton," Baffa said. "Students think of them as fun activities that you don't really think about, but at the same time we are raising money. So through these events and charity bash as a whole, we can see the student body coming together for a great cause."
Coon says that visiting such an energetic student body that takes the cause seriously is inspiring, but it is not the only reason he is looking forward to Charity Bash. According to Coon, coming back to his hometown gives him a special feeling that makes everything worthwhile.
"It's such a good feeling knowing that to some degree I left behind a positive impression where the community still wants to support my endeavors, and the teachers want to support my endeavors, and obviously the students now," Coon said. "There's something special about going back to your hometown."
This story was originally published on Bear Facts on November 27, 2018.


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Learn About Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion (TLIF)
Our Spine Program is run by Awarded Spine Expert Dr. Steven Leckie.
Locations in Duxbury & Sandwich, Massachusetts
About Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion (TLIF):
A Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion is a Minimally Invasive Spine procedure, which involves the removal of a herniated disc and the fusion of two vertebrae. The goal of this procedure is to alleviate pressure on the spinal nerves which causes localized pain in the lower back as well as pain that radiates into the buttocks and legs (known as Sciatica). The spinal nerves are most often impinged or pinched due to a lumbar disc herniation, Degenerative Disc Disease, Lumbar Spinal Stenosis and instability of the spine (Spondylolisthesis). The long term goal of this procedure is also to ensure the stability of the spine after the damaged disc has been removed.
How is it performed?
A TLIF is performed by first making a small incision through in the area of the herniated or damaged spinal disc . A procedure known as a Laminectomy is then performed to allow the surgeon to visualize the spinal canal. The degenerated or herniated disc is removed and a small fusion cage is inserted into the space where the disc was removed. The removal of the lamina and the damaged spinal disc relieves the pressure on the spinal nerve that is causing painful symptoms. Small rods and screws are added to stabilize the motion spine. Over time the fusion cage implant will knit with the vertebrae above and below to form a more stable spinal segment.
Meet Our Board-Certified Spine Expert
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Alright guys, we're officially planning a Backpacking trip this fall. A 7-day trip with 5 of those being on the 40-mile Maroon Snowmass Capitol Creek Loop in Colorado. This is one of the most beautiful areas in the Rockies with 2 14ers, multiple Alpine lakes, waterfalls, and rich, colorful plant life all around.
The rough cost is $400 per person covering transportation, food and lodging (everything needed except for your own personal gear) and for us married folks a little babysitting and 2 getaways for our wives while we're away. Happy wife = happy life.
Right now I need to know which dates you absolutely could not do in September and October. I mean impossible dates here, not "I'd prefer to not do these dates" dates. Once I've heard from everyone planning on going, I'll pick the best window based on that info and let you know.
So please fill out the form below if you want to go. I'm going to leave this form open until June 20th. After that the dates will be nailed down and pretty much immovable.
Last thing: this is a given, but you will be required to be in excellent physical shape for this trip. There will be required conditioning to come. Quite simply, the better shape everyone is in, the more fun the trails become.
Sorry. This form is no longer available.


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According to figures provided by the Franklin County Auditor, the dollar amount of revenue that would be generated by the tax levy during the first year of collection is $61,031.77, based on the current assessed valuation of the district of $35,320,380. Two mills for each one dollar of valuation amounts to twenty cents ($.20) for each one hundred dollars of valuation.
The levy, which is a renewal of an existing levy, will allow the Mifflin Township police department to sustain its current operations for the next five years, maintaining a staff of six full-time and seven part-time officers, and a fleet of four vehicles. Funding will support such needs as training, staff salaries and updated equipment.
"The amount of funding generated by this levy may sound small compared to levies for other police districts, but it is vitally important that we maintain a police presence in this community," said Mifflin Township Police Chief William Price. "Not only does it allow us to build positive relationships with residents when we have sufficient staff to patrol the area, it provides training to give us the tools we need to address conflict in a diverse population dealing with an influx of new immigrants."
Only voters in the unincorporated portion of the township served by the Mifflin Township police department - which has about 4,000 residents - will have a say on the levy. The township's police department has an annual budget of approximately $700,000.
Mifflin Township has a police department that serves the unincorporated portion of the township. The division has a police station and employs 6 full time police officers and 7 part-time officers. The department received 4,543 calls for service in 2015.


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Yesterday was beautiful... A shot of sunshine... just what I needed!
Friday night was date night, our friend's church youth group were raising money with a " movie night" complete with
pizza, popcorn and drinks.. We had a great time with wonderful folks watching God's Not Dead.
It was great having the soon -to-be-married kids at home for the weekend. Josh also came over for a bit. Almost perfect!
Today was Bible Study in Raleigh, ( The love chapter Corinthians 13) , lunch with Mother in Law and then we had coupons.... to Joann's ...and I found baby and wedding treasures
I have tons of pictures of all the snowy weather crafting I finished... hopefully I can get those posted this week...
I hope everyone has a great week... all week long!


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Talos to have formal Zama resource report by year-end
- Exploration & Production
U.S. oil company Talos will have a formal resource report on its large Zama oil discovery offshore Mexico by the end of the year.
Talos made the discovery in 2017 – one of the largest shallow-water finds in decades – and has during the summer completed the appraisal program at the field aimed to better define the resource potential there.
In an update on Wednesday, Talos said: "Following the successful completion of the Zama appraisal program, Talos is working with Netherland, Sewell & Associates, Inc. to complete a formal resource report by year-end 2019. The company reiterates its previously stated resource guidance in the upper half of its pre-appraisal estimated range of 400 – 800 MMBoe gross recoverable resources."
As previously reported, Premier Oil, Talos' partner in the field in June refined its gross resource estimate of the Zama structure to 670-810-970 mmboe (P90-P50-P10).
Talos on Wednesday reminded it had initiated early FEED work to allow for "the earliest possible initial production date and is utilizing all of the appraisal data to create an optimal development plan for the field."
It also said that Zama unitization discussions with Petróleos Mexicanos ("Pemex") were ongoing. As reported last year, the two companies have been in unitization talks as the Zama find might extend into a nearby Pemex-owned offshore block.
The Zama field is located in Block 7 of the Sureste Basin offshore Mexico in the Gulf of Mexico and has a water depth of approximately 540 feet (165 meters). The field, one of the largest shallow-water fields discovered in the past 20 years, is expected to be brought online in 2022, with estimated peak production of approximately 150 MBOE/day.
The U.S. company McDermott was selected in November 2018 for concept and engineering services for the Zama field development project.
It has previously been said that the plan to develop Zama might include three production platforms across the structure. The field would continue to be developed through 2024 when Platform C is expected to be installed. Talos in September 2019 said that the Final Investment Decision for the Zama development might be made in 2020.
Talos on Wednesday posted a net income of $73,3 million for the third quarter of 2019, up from $13 million in the corresponding quarter of 2018
Production for the third quarter of 2019 was 4.8 MMBoe down from 2Q 2019 production of 5,3 MMBoe. Talos said its production was affected by impacted by Hurricane Barry in the Gulf of Mexico.
Offshore Energy Today Staff
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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- The amount of money flowing into hedge funds slowed during the fourth quarter after some managers suffered big losses from the broadening credit crisis, Hedge Fund Research reported on Tuesday.
A net $30.4 billion flowed into hedge funds in the last three months of 2007. That's down by a third from inflows of $45.2 billion during the third quarter, Hedge Fund Research said.
Still, bigger inflows during the first three quarters of last year made 2007 another record year for the industry. A record $194.5 billion flowed into the industry in 2007, up from $126.5 billion in 2006, another record, HFR reported. Total assets in the industry reached $1.87 trillion.
The mortgage crisis hit some hedge funds hard during the second half of 2007. Two funds run by Bear Stearns
However, other hedge fund managers, such as Paulson & Co., Harbinger Capital Partners and Scion Capital, generated huge returns last year betting that the mortgage market would deteriorate.
"It was another record year for hedge funds when it came to attracting new assets, in spite of the slower pace in the fourth quarter," Kenneth Heinz, president of HFR, said.
There are now more than 10,000 hedge funds in the industry, he added.


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Saudi Aramco appears to have succeeded in its drive to cut drilling costs by negotiating lower rates with rig contractors operating in the region
Drilling rates in the shallow waters of the Arabian Gulf off eastern Saudi Arabia have come off as much as 20 per cent recently, according to a report by US-based investment bank group Cowen and Company.
Those are part of a broader push by Aramco to reduce project and operating costs across the board, with contractors on major projects coming under pressure to increase the scope of their work with little or no price adjustment.
The Cowen report highlighted Aramco's rate reductions on jackup rigs for London-based rig provider Ensco International. The company says in its April fleet status report that it had agreed to lower day rates for its seven offshore jackup rigs in the kingdom. The reductions range from 10 per cent to 20 per cent, with effect from April 2015 to January 2016.
'We expect further rate negotiations are ongoing, and could affect other operators with units contracted to Aramco,' Cowen says.
Since the New Year, Aramco has been pushing for markdowns of up to 25 per cent with rig providers and other oilfield services as the price of oil remains around $50/barrel.
'We continue to believe this will be an industry-wide trend as NOCs and IOCs seek to renegotiate current contract rates in light of lower commodity prices,' the report says.
According to an executive at an oilfield services provider, Aramco is looking at new contracts linked to oil prices to reflect the volatile conditions, but there has been no decision yet if this will be the method used.
'This would be a compromise, with discounts while the price is low, but also higher rates as conditions improve,' the source says.
Saudi Aramco declined to comment on its rig status or talks with contractors.
RBC Capital Markets described Middle East rig activity as the hardest hit globally in March, with the region dropping eight rigs to 407, according to RBC estimates.
'However, service companies have mentioned the Middle East as an area of relative strength and the data backs this up so far,' RBC says in a report dated April 8.
According to RBC, the Middle East's rig count has dropped 6 per cent since July 2014, compared with 9 per cent in Africa, 8 per cent in Asia Pacific, 12 per cent in Europe and 14 per cent in Latin America. Significant drops in Iraq of 40 per cent and Egypt of 20 per cent have partially offset increased rig counts in Saudi Arabia, up 19 per cent, and Kuwait, RBC says.
Other analysts have predicted that Aramco's 2015 drilling activity would remain about the same as last year as the state petroleum company moves to implement Riyadh's new policy of protecting Saudi Arabia's share of the global oil market. But sharply lower oil export revenue due to the recent price slide puts Aramco under pressure to do more for less, meaning it can only achieve its production targets if drilling costs fall.
Aramco's former chief executive Khalid Al Falih said in late January that the company had sufficient cash to fund its 2015 capital programme but would have to re-examine its approach to a number of projects as a result of the price crash.
Since then, Aramco has increased crude output.
Aramco acting CEO Amin Al Nasser says that Aramco was operating 212 oil and gas rigs across the country and had not decided either to increase or cut its drilling fleet.
The kingdom's rig count is not expected to fall significantly in 2015, Aramco's cash flow is being managed carefully across all of its operations.


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Jeremy Peter Mighdoll, MD
The information is not available
I speak: English
My gender: Male
Where I practice
- Emergency service
- Urgent care services
- After-hours services
- Pharmacy services
- No emergency services
- No urgent care services
- No after-hours services
- No pharmacy services
About me
Welcome to my Web page. I am an emergency physician and have been with the Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center since 2006.
I am originally from Southern California. I have lived in various parts of the United States due to work and education. Since I was young, I have wanted to become a physician. Various volunteer positions, jobs, and educational experiences motivated me to pursue emergency medicine as my career.
About my practice
In the Emergency Department, we work as a multidisciplinary team within the department itself and with the other specialties throughout the hospital. Emergency medicine is full of highs and lows given the variety of circumstances we encounter. Throughout this we strive to maintain an upbeat attitude and give our best to every patient.
How I thrive
Living a balanced life is important to me. Outside of work, I enjoy Crossfit, biking, various outdoor activities, spending time with friends and family, and travelling.
My office
Languages spoken by medical staff
Help is available in your language. Learn more.
My provider typePhysicians and Surgeons
Medical groups and plans
Southern California Permanente Medical GroupList Header Plans Accepted
- Exclusive Provider Organization (EPO)
- Medi-Cal Managed Care
- Point-of-Service Plan (POS)
- Senior Advantage/Medicare Cost
Contact information
- Advice/appointments/cancellations/messages
- 1-833-574-2273 (1-833-KP4CARE) (toll free)
- After-hours advice
- 1-833-574-2273 (1-833-KP4CARE) (toll free)
- California Relay Service
- 711 (TTY for the hearing/speech impaired)
My training, certifications and licensing
Medical schoolAlbany Medical College
Board certification
Emergency MedicineAmerican Board of Emergency Medicine
Medical training
Emergency MedicineKalamazoo Center for Medical Studies
Joined Permanente Medical Group2006
Active license information
License numberA95918
License typePHYSICIAN AND SURGEON
License issuing stateCALIFORNIA
National Provider Identifier (NPI)1871641894
My hospitals
All Kaiser Permanente physicians and podiatrists have admitting privileges or the ability to refer patients to our plan hospitals. Admitting privileges of other providers may vary by plan and facility. Contact your plan administrator for details.
I have admitting privileges at this hospital.
Setting the standard: Measuring care quality in our hospitals(PDF)
To find:
- a provider's office hours, search our facility directory
- providers in your plan or accepting new patients, call 1-800-464-4000 (toll free) or 711 (TTY for the hearing/speech impaired)
The information in this online directory is updated periodically. The availability of physicians, hospitals, providers, and services may change. Information about a practitioner is provided to us by the practitioner or is obtained as part of the credentialing process. If you have questions, please call us at 1-800-464-4000 (toll free). For the hearing and speech impaired: 1-800-464-4000 (toll free) or TTY 711 (toll free). You can also call the Medical Board of California at 916-263-2382, or visit their website.
We want to speak to you in the language that you're most comfortable with when you call or visit us. Qualified interpreter services, including sign language, are available at no cost, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week during all hours of operations at all points of contact. We do not encourage the use of family, friends or minors as interpreters. Only the services of interpreters and qualified staff are used to provide language assistance. These may include bilingual providers, staff, and healthcare interpreters. In-person, telephone, video, and alternative modes of communication are available. Learn more about interpreter services.
If you would like to report an error in provider or facility information, please contact us.
Kaiser Permanente enrollees have full and equal access to covered services, including enrollees with disabilities as required under the Federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
Kaiser Permanente uses the same quality, member experience, or cost-related measures to select practitioners and facilities in Marketplace Silver-tier plans as it does for all other Kaiser Foundation Health Plan (KFHP) products and lines of business.The measures may include, but are not limited to, HEDIS/CAHPS performance, member/patient complaints, patient safety scores, hospital quality measures, and geographic need. Members enrolled in KFHP Marketplace plans have access to all professional, institutional and ancillary health care providers who participate in KFHP plans' contracted provider network, in accordance with the terms of members' KFHP plan of coverage. All Kaiser Permanente Medical Group physicians and network physicians are subject to the same quality review processes and certifications.
Kaiser Permanente uses the same geographic distribution consideration to select hospitals in Marketplace plans as it does for all other Kaiser Foundation Health Plan (KFHP) products and lines of business. Accessibility of medical offices and medical centers in this directory: All Kaiser Permanente facilities are accessible to members.


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Immediate Methods For charmdate.com Described
For a lot of, reaching below their bed and pulling out their used, dusty, never-washed Magic Wand while scrolling by means of Crash Pad videos is a well-known solo night in. Nevertheless, once we add another particular person into the bedroom, the Magic Wand stays tucked away collecting mud under the bed. Age Difference –


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Understanding Depression Slideshow
- Take the Depression Quiz
- Benefits of Treating Depression
Medical Author:
Roxanne Dryden-Edwards, MD
Medical Editor:
- Depression facts
- What is a depressive disorder?
- What are myths about depression?
- What are the types of depression, and what are depression symptoms and signs?
- Major depression
- Dysthymia
- Bipolar disorder (manic depression)
- Symptoms of bipolar disorder and mania
- Depression symptoms of manic depression
- Mania symptoms of manic depression
- Depression symptoms and signs in men
- Depression symptoms and signs in women
- Depression symptoms and signs in teenagers
- Depression symptoms and signs in children
- What are the causes and risk factors of depression?
- Postpartum depression
- How is depression diagnosed?
- What treatments are available for depression?
- Antidepressant medications
- Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)
- Psychotherapies
- Alternative medicine approaches to treatment
- What is the general approach to treating depression?
- What about sexual dysfunction related to antidepressants?
- What about discontinuing antidepressants?
- What are complications of depression?
- What is the prognosis for depression?
- How can depression be prevented?
- What about self-help and home remedies?
- How can someone help a person who is depressed?
- Where can one seek help for depression?
- What is in the future for depression?
- Where can people find more information about depression?


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Floyd Mayweather has said he is coming out of retirement for a rematch with Manny Pacquiao.
The undefeated American boxer posted an Instagram video of the pair meeting informally at what appeared to be a music event.
They exchange words but it is hard to hear exactly what is said.
Mayweather posted: "I'm coming back to fight Manny Pacquiao this year. Another 9 figure pay day on the way @mayweatherpromotions."
Filipino fighter Pacquiao has so far not commented, and there has been no official confirmation or other details released.
Mayweather, 41, won on points when the pair fought each other in May 2015, but the fight was widely considered to have fallen well short of the hype.
Both boxers earned tens of millions after record-breaking pay-per-view sales.
Mayweather – whose nickname is "money" – showed off a $100m (£76m) cheque he said was payment for the Pacquiao showdown.
The American was last in the ring in August 2017 for another bumper payday against UFC star Conor McGregor.
He "retired" again after winning the fight which was rumoured to have earned him around $300m.
Pacquiao, 39, is now a senator in his home country but remains the current WBA welterweight champion.
Sky News


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I have noticed that this has been a reoccurring issue for sometime now in the community and I have tried everything I can think of. Even though I am not allowed to login I do see that there was access from my android phone in the connected devices settings. I followed the step to hit 'revoke access' and reinstall Soundcloud on my phone but am still presented with the same sign in error.
Can someone please help reset this?


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After your old tenants move out and before new ones move in, you need to make sure that your property is in great condition. Therefore, you need to check whether everything is functioning properly and deal with any possible safety issues. Not only will this safeguard you against any possible legal liabilities, but it will also enable you to appeal to top tenants.
Security updates
The first thing you need to do, after your tenants move out, is change the locks. You can never be sure whether they've made additional copies, so you need to provide your new tenants with additional security. You can also install security bolts and locks on doors and windows if you haven't already. In addition, you can also install security cameras in hallways if you own an apartment building with several tenants and families.
Painting your interior walls is a great way to give your rental property a fresh look. When doing so, you should consider using VOC-free paint for a healthier home environment. However, if you go with regular paint, you should paint the property several weeks in advance to let it air out before your new tenants move in.
Checking the electrical installations in your rental property is of the utmost importance for the safety of your tenants. You need to check whether there are any possible issues, faulty wiring and other problems. Furthermore, you can use this opportunity to implement certain changes. For instance, in Australia, more and more properties are switching to LED lighting as an eco-friendly and energy-saving alternative. In fact, reputable Sydney electrician teams specialise in electrical installations of LED lighting solutions while also providing other electrical services. Therefore, you should find such a professional who can provide you with emergency, regular and additional services. Switching to LED lighting will appeal to a greater number of tenants as well, because they will see it as a savings opportunity.
The same goes for plumbing – it's essential that you deal with any hidden leaks and problems that may cause additional expenses and further damage. You should check your plumbing around the toilet, shower and faucets and have any leaks fixed. In addition, you can also consider installing low-flow faucets and a dual-flush toilet that will enable your tenants to consume less water and reduce their bills. Of course, this certainly isn't a must, but it will be a plus among your possible tenants.
Styling up the bathroom
After dealing with repairs in the bathroom, you should take some time to style it up. Simple changes can help you design a dream bathroom that your tenants will love. You can introduce new cabinets or update the old ones, change the hardware and even upgrade the lighting. This will certainly boost the value of your rental property and enable you to ask for a higher rental price.
Modernising the kitchen
Updating the kitchen in your rental property will have a similar effect like updating the bathroom. You don't have to make any major changes either because sometimes even the simplest updates can make a world of difference. The most important thing is to check your appliances and make sure that they're functioning properly. If they're in great condition, but look slightly outdated, you can just apply stainless steel stick-on covers and give them a modern flair. You can also update the hardware, repaint the cabinets or introduce additional storage units.
Cleaning and decluttering
Finally, one of the most basic and essential steps is deep cleaning your rental property and removing unnecessary items. You should consider hiring a cleaning company that can apply appropriate cleaning products and tackle every corner of your property. Paying special attention to carpets, rugs, drapes and mattresses is important because they've probably gathered a lot of dust, mites and other allergens. Finally, make sure to remove clutter that your old tenants might have left. This will enable you to create an open and more pleasant space for your new tenants.
Being a landlord brings a lot of responsibilities, both legal and moral. Dealing with these essential steps will help you prepare your property for your new tenants while also setting your property apart on the market.
by Chloe Taylor


text: cristeen olleyforever 21how to wear nauticaljustfabnauticalshoemintsummer fashionsummer fashion 2013 Nautical Of Course! I simply cannot stay away from the Nautical Trend! I love it! It's super easy to work with and can be simple to put together if you are laid back… Continue Reading May 31, 2013 2 comments 0 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest


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The San Juan Islands have got to be one of my favorite places in Washington.
There are more animals to see than in a zoo (and you know that they're happy and free… except for the rising sea temperatures, lack of salmon which is killing whales, and plastics in the oceans).
There are gorgeous landscapes and parks, and you're surrounded by the beautiful ocean and looming fir trees.
Plus, each island is full of hiking, kayaking, biking, and other fun outdoor activities that we all love and that laid back, island vibe. Since San Juan Island is the biggest one, this is what I'll be writing about today.
Are you planning a trip to San Juan Island? Here's a sample weekend itinerary with some fun things to do in San Juan Island so you can make the most of your trip!
And if you'll be exploring Seattle afterwards, check out my detailed Seattle travel guide!
In This Post
Day 1
Visit the lavender farms
You don't have to go all the way to France to see lavender farms- San Juan Island has them too at Pelindaba Lavender Farm. There are actually a few things to do on the farm besides just taking pictures of the fields. Plus, visiting is free!
Go whale or dolphin watching
You can do a tour, but even hanging out at Lime Kiln Point State Park, you can see whales for free, and the park tracks whale sightings!
Even when it's cloudy, I've always seen a ton of whales here. On the way to the park, consider stopping by The Whale Museum to learn a bit about their history and role for the natives.
If you do want to go on a tour, you can see more different types of animals (including dolphins!), and they have air, boat, and kayak tours that take you much closer to the whales. I haven't done the air or boat tours here because I'm broke, but if you have a company you'd recommend, let me know in the comments! For more info on kaysking, keep reading.
Bike around parts of the island
Biking is not my most favorite activity, but biking in San Juan Island is a beautiful way to experience the island. We did a quick route around Jackson Beach, but for more and longer ideas of bike routes based on what you're interested in seeing (whales, history, art, etc), check out this site. Some routes actually take you through the above!
You can't tell from this picture, but there were, in fact, whales.
Day 2
Check out the Farmers Market
Okay, sure, everyone has a farmer's market nowadays. How is the one on San Juan Island any different?
Every time I go here, I have the best food of my life. I am rewriting this post 3 years later to be more useful, and I still remember eating the best BLT of my life here. I know, you may be thinking, "BLTs are so basic how can you have one worthy enough to be called the best?" Picture thick bacon with fresh juicy tomatoes and perfectly baked sourdough. Yes, it was absolutely the best. Check out the farmer's market here for a good meal.
Kayak around the island
This is my absolute favorite thing to do in San Juan Island.
The best kayaking experience I've had here was when we did our 6 hour tour. While most of the time I am super against tours (they cost more money than doing things on your own, they seem manufactured, and you have to follow their schedules), this one was amazing. The guide was so friendly and knew a ton about the land and animals. He showed us baby seals, bald eagles, starfish, stingy and not stingy jellyfish, edible plants. You learn so much you wouldn't have on your own (unless you are also a nature expert). We were with a group of six friends, so had the guide to ourselves.
I would recommend doing this exact tour on the last day of your trip and if you're relatively fit- kayaking for 6 hours in the ocean is no joke!
Purple starfish?! Don't worry, this guy was trained.
Taste local beers and wines
Like most places in the world, San Juan Island has craft breweries and local wine shops. San Juan Vineyards is a cute, small winery with friendly workers. where you can taste a few of their wines. San Juan Island Brewing Co is more like a bar but they have their own beers and a tasting menu where you can try multiple. Whether you're a beer person, wine person, or both, it's the perfect way to relax at the end of your trip!
If you have more time, there is a ton that you can still do on the island- visiting museums, ziplining, hiking, etc. For more ideas of things to do, check out San Juan Islands' official website!