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Studies in John (Lesson 7: The Feast of Tabernacles)
I. The Feast of Tabernacles
It is by no means a mere coincidence that the events of this week's lesson, and Christ's subsequent teachings, took place during the Feast of Tabernacles. For, as we have already noted with respect to the tabernacle furniture, so we will find that Christ likewise fulfilled all the symbolism of the great religious feasts of the Jews. But before we can understand how Jesus was the fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles, we need to go back and read about why and how it began.
Leviticus 23:24-44 tells us of the institution of the Feast of Tabernacles, as a holy celebration to be observed in remembrance of God's bringing Israel out of Egypt, and making them his people. It is the last of three times in the year in which all of Israel was commanded to come up to Jerusalem for a sacred feast to the Lord. There are several notable things about this feast in particular that deserve our attention.
First, its timing as the last great feast of the year, and specifically, as the feast which took place immediately after the Day of Atonement, is significant. After the most solemn day of the year, in which Israel was to afflict herself, mourn for her sins, and offer a sacrifice of blood for those sins (Leviticus 23:27), the Jews then celebrated the most joyful feast of the year. This feast was a celebration of the ingathering of the harvest of grapes and olives, and so it is sometimes called the Feast of Ingathering (Exodus 23:16). But this ingathering of the harvest is only a small part of the significance of the celebration – for ultimately, the feast looked ahead to the ingathering of God's people from all the nations, and their joyful celebration together in God's presence (see Zechariah 14:16-21). The basic meaning of the feast, then, is to remember that, after the effective sacrifice of the Day of Atonement (fulfilled by Christ on the cross), there would follow the bountiful fruits of this sacrifice. Christ's atonement would have the effects of bringing people from all over the world to rejoice in the presence of God. That is the essence of what the Feast of Tabernacles looked forward to.
This truth is also fleshed out by the tabernacles, or booths in which the Jews were supposed to live during the days of the feast. These booths looked backward to when God first redeemed his people from Egypt, so that they had to put up crude booths for shelter (Leviticus 23:42-43); but also, they looked ahead to when God would "tabernacle†among his people. So in sum, the Feast of Tabernacles, coming at the end of the year, and immediately after the Day of Atonement, looked ahead to the day in which the final fruits of Christ's great atonement would be enjoyed – and these fruits would be the gathering of a people from every nation to rejoice in the very presence of God.
Before we move on, we must mention one more thing: the two ceremonies that took place at the Feast of Tabernacles, which set it apart from the other feasts, were, first, the pouring out of water, and second, the illumination of the Temple. This is significant because Jesus clearly alludes to these practices when he is teaching the people during the feast, and he applies their symbolic meaning to his own person and work. The pouring of water he alludes to in John 7:37-39; and the illumination of the Temple he alludes to in John 8:12. We will discuss both of these sayings when we get to those texts.
II. Textual Analysis
Jesus is Expected at the Feast of Tabernacles (John 7:1-13)
Chapter seven begins at the time of the Feast of Tabernacles, when all the Jews were expected to go up to Jerusalem. However, Jesus is staying in Galilee, because the Jerusalemites have been trying to kill him, ever since his dispute with the Pharisees over the Sabbath (John 5:18).
At this time, Jesus brothers still do not believe in him, as can be seen in their request for him to go up and do signs, to validate his claims about himself. This is no doubt occasioned by the mass exodus of Jesus' supposed disciples (John 6:66), following his controversial teachings on his equality with God the Father, and the blindness and inability of natural man. It is as if they are saying, "You lost all your disciples because of your radical claims – they will all be in Jerusalem for the feast, and the only way to get them back is to go up and do some miracles for them. You can't expect the world to believe you, if you hide yourself from the world.†Of course, this very sort of thinking is exactly what Jesus condemned in the Jews who had left him. Their demand for more signs was evidence of their lack of true faith.
In response, Jesus tells his brothers that, although they are of the world, he is not. His goal is not for the world-at-large to believe in him – he knows they will hate him, because he exposes their evil deeds. In fact, throughout John's gospel, it is clear that Jesus expects the world to reject him, and only those whom the Father has given him to believe and so be saved. We have already seen some indication of this reality, but it will only become more and more clear throughout the rest of the gospel (e.g. John 10:25-27; John 17:6-10).
This underlying difference – that his brothers are of the world and he is not – is no doubt the reason for his response to them. Any time is appropriate for them to go up to the feast, for they do not even belong to the Father, and cannot be a part of his redemptive plan. But Jesus does belong to the Father, and always follows his will – and so for him, there is a definite, appointed time for everything that he does. He is not saying that he will not go up to the feast at all, but that there is an appointed time for him to do everything, according to the Father's plan of redemption. And only at that precise time will he go up. And so he waits in Galilee until the middle of the feast.
Jesus' brothers do go up right away, however, and it is apparent that they are not the only ones who are expecting him to attend. All the people are wanting him to arrive, and there is considerable dispute over who Jesus truly is – but all of the people, even those who believe that he is, in some sense, "good,†fail to believe in him as the true Son of God; which will become clear as the dialogue between Jesus and the Jews unfolds over the next few days.
Jesus Teaches at the Feast, and Causes Much Controversy (John 7:14-53)
Although Jesus came up to the feast in secret, at first (vs. 10), he eventually makes himself manifest to all, and begins to teach publicly. Although he does not here do any more miracles, the authority and power of his teaching is so great that the Jews marvel and question its origin. Jesus responds to them by saying that his teaching is so powerful and true because it is not just his doctrine, but it comes straight from the Father – and anyone who truly desires to do the Father's will would know that this is the Father's doctrine. Jesus is not teaching for his own glory, but for the glory of the Father, and this fact alone should convince the Jews that he is righteous. However, since the people did not even believe the Father (for they were not even willing to follow the law of Moses, which the Father gave to them) they would not believe in Jesus, but would instead try to kill him. This murderous intention just proves their resistance to the Father's law; for, although Moses commanded not to kill (Exodus 20:13), the Jews are trying to murder Jesus, an innocent man.
The Jews are appalled at this assessment, and even suggest that Jesus had a demon, to speak so foolishly. But in order to prove his point, that they are actually breaking Moses' law, Jesus reminds them of the miracle that he had done formerly, when he healed a man on the Sabbath. Although Moses had commanded that no work be done on the Sabbath, the work of restoring sinful man was clearly excluded – for circumcision, which brought man into a covenant relationship with God, was still allowed on the Sabbath, even by the Pharisees. But if so, then why did the Jews try to kill Jesus, who restored a man from the devastating effects of the curse on the Sabbath day? If they allowed for a man to receive circumcision on the Sabbath, even though that "broke†the command not to work, then they should allow Jesus to accomplish the very work of restoration and salvation to which circumcision pointed. But they were not willing, because they were not righteous.
At this point the Jews, who recognize that the Pharisees really did want to kill Jesus, wonder why they did not then attempt to kill him, after these accusations – and the only explanation they can come up with is that they really did know that he was the Messiah. And yet, even granting this much, they were not willing to accept him as the Messiah, because they "knew†where he was from – Galilee, from where the Messiah could not possibly come. But even in response to this unasked question, Jesus clearly gave an answer: You should already know where I come from, if you know God – because he is the one who sent me. I didn't come from Galilee or anywhere else on earth – I came from God. And everyone who knows God will know me. This definite assertion produced two basic responses: some of the Jews attempted to seize him, for blasphemy – but some of them believed in him as the true Messiah.
Among the former were the Jews that the Pharisees sent to arrest Jesus. But Jesus told them that their efforts to seize him would do them no good – for he was about to go where no one could follow. Of course, he meant that he was about to go to heaven, after he had accomplished redemption; but they did not understand, and wondered if he was about to go into the lands of the barbarians, where they would not be able to follow him.
It as at this point (John 7:37, ff.), that Jesus makes his famous offer, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.†It is notable that this occurred on the last day of the feast. On this day, as well as the six days preceding, the Jewish leaders would take water from the Pool of Siloam, as well as the regular offering of wine, and pour them out before the Lord. This was supposed to symbolize the blessings of the Messianic Age, when life-giving water would stream out over all the earth, just as the water flowed from the Rock in the wilderness. So in essence, Jesus is saying, "Only I can fulfill this reality – I am the true Rock from which the water of life flows.†And, in order to illustrate his claim from the scriptures, he alludes to Zechariah 14:8, and applies it to himself. In order to make clear just what Christ is saying, John then tells us that Jesus is speaking of the Holy Spirit, whom he would send out into the world. Yes, the Messianic Age would be one in which the Spirit would flow out over all the earth, and bring life to the nations. And, just as the water flowed from the rock in the wilderness, so the Spirit would proceed from the true Rock, giving life to all who believe in him.
Throughout the rest of the chapter, we see the various responses to Christ's teaching. Although some almost believe in him as the Messiah, yet eventually the same objection that they brought up earlier, namely, that Jesus was from Galilee, and therefore not of the seed of David, convinces them otherwise. Of course, this was a false assumption, which might have been easily cleared up, if they had taken the pains to inquire into his history. So then, at the end, the people finally decide that they should arrest Jesus. In fact, servants of the Pharisees are sent to do this very thing – but the betrayal and arrest of Jesus was going to happen in God's planned time, and that hour had not yet arrived; and so, being amazed at his authority, they are powerless to seize him. The Pharisees have certainly made up their minds about Jesus, by now, but their time has not yet come. In fact, the only glimmer of light to be seen among their ranks is in the case of Nicodemus, who, although still timid and weak, is starting to give some evidence that he truly was regenerated and given faith in Christ, at the occasion of his nighttime visit to speak with him.
The Adulterous Woman (John 8:1-11)
The textual evidence for the next passage, about the woman taken in adultery (John 7:53-8:11), is very tenuous. But even if it was not an original part of John's gospel, it was likely a historical event, and certainly teaches nothing contrary to the picture that the gospel paints of Jesus. It simply relates another attempt of the Pharisees to prove that Jesus really is a law-breaker, opposed to the penalties demanded by Moses. In response to this, Jesus first demonstrates that they are all just as guilty as she (perhaps this was pointed out in some way by his writing on the sand); and then, he demonstrates his own intrinsic authority to forgive this sinner who openly acknowledged her sin. Just as with the Sabbath controversy, when the Pharisees attempt to show Jesus' lawlessness, he instead proves that they themselves are the guilty ones, and that he is able to forgive and restore.
"I Am The Light of the World†(John 8:12-59)
This next passage relates another claim that Jesus made of himself, in relation to the ceremonies of the Feast of Tabernacles. In the following chapter, he will illustrate his claim, by the sign-miracle of giving sight to the man born blind. But for now, he simply makes the assertion, with solemn authority, that "I am the light of the world.†The result of this newest claim will be to catapult the Pharisees back into the same old argument and controversy that they have had with him before – and in response, Jesus will make the same offensive claims that had alienated him from the religious leadership before: first, that the Pharisees are unable to believe in God, and second, that Jesus truly is God – only this time, he will make these claims even more clearly and emphatically.
In response to Jesus' claim to be the true and exclusive Light of the world, and hence, the fulfillment of this Temple illumination ceremony, just as he was with the water-pouring ceremony, the Pharisees immediately jump on a point that Jesus had made in an earlier argument. Jesus was bearing witness of himself, so his witness must not be true – after all, even he had said that his witness was not true if it came from himself. In response, Jesus clarified that his witness is indeed true, because it does not originate with him, but comes from the Father. Then, he turns the argument back on the Pharisees, and tells them that they do not know the Father – for if they did, they would know that the Father's message is one and the same as Jesus' claims.
Then, Jesus brings up another teaching that had been a point of discussion in the past – "Where I am going, you cannot follow.†Only this time, he makes it clear that he was speaking of their destiny after death. When they died, they would not go where Christ would be after his own death, for they would still be in their sins, because they did not believe in him. Eventually they would see him glorified, but they would not be able to be with him, for they rejected the words of the Father, which Jesus was clearly teaching them. This certainly did not go over well with the Pharisees, but among the rest of the people, there were some who believed in him, through his teachings.
Jesus then addresses these people who have come to believe, and emphasizes to them that, if their faith is truly genuine, they will continue to believe in his words – and it is only in the truth of his words that they would find true freedom and liberation from their sin and its effects. But at this teaching, the shallowness of their faith becomes apparent – for their hope for freedom is actually in their being descended from Abraham, and is not in Christ. Of course, this error is something that John had addressed from the beginning, when he clearly explained that God's children were not those who were descended from Abraham, but those who were given a new birth by the Spirit (John 1:12-13).
It is at this point that Jesus becomes even more offensive: the Jews are not truly Abraham's children, or else they would do what Abraham did – and Abraham believed in the teaching of God. Yes, they were physically descended from Abraham, but in reality their spiritual father was the Devil, and they were enslaved to him and to their own sin – that is why they will not listen to Jesus' words, which come from the Father; and that is why they do not love Jesus, but seek to kill him. Because they belong to the Devil, and not to God, they are not able to believe in Jesus.
These Jews, who just before had professed faith in Jesus, lash out in a verbal attack against him, calling him one of the hated Samaritans, and claiming he had a demon, after hearing this latest teaching. In response, Jesus claimed once again that eternal life could only come to the one who believed these truths – and that God the Father would vindicate Jesus' claims, and glorify him in the final judgment. The Jews become incensed that he would make himself greater than Abraham – for even Abraham could not give eternal life; to which Jesus clearly responds that Abraham rejoiced because he believed in Jesus, the Christ who was to come: and furthermore, that he alone was the eternal Yahweh, and greater than Abraham. By now, the shallow faith of the Jews is utterly exposed, and instead of believing on Jesus, they take up stones to kill him with.
At the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus makes some staggering claims, which demand that all the symbolism of the great religious feasts of the Jews be fulfilled in him alone. Thus, he alone can pour out the life-giving Spirit upon all flesh, and he alone is the true Light of the world. Of course, this is too great a claim for a mere man to make of himself; but, as Jesus makes indisputably clear by the end of the feast, he is not merely a man – he is also Jehovah God, who existed eternally, and in whom the forefathers of Israel placed their trust. This teaching caused much animosity among the Jews, which was only stirred up all the more by his equally unpopular claim that the reason they did not believe him is that they did not belong to God, but to their father the devil, and they were therefore unable to believe the truth of God. The controversy that has begun between Jesus and the Pharisees is intensified and spread to the common people on this occasion – soon, in God's own timing, it will result in the atrocity of the cross, which is both the greatest crime and the truest act of love and mercy in all of history.
I am so greatful to have read you information about the feast of the tabernacle. I am a religion major and the question was asked about Jesus symbolism nuderlying the feast of the tabernacle. I am still wanting more about it but I now have a better understanding than I did.
Thank You so much and may God Richly bless you.


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Support of the Civil Society Development in Selected Regions of Crimea, 2011
30.01.2012 / 22:33 | Aktualizováno: 30.01.2013 / 22:36
People in Need, PIN
The PIN project focused on capacity-building of grassroots non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and initiative groups (IGs) as well as activation of high-school students in remote and economically under-developed regions in Crimea. The overall aim of the project was to strengthen the impact of the civil society in the western, northern and eastern regions where such initiatives were scarcely supported by the state or international donors. PIN and its local partner in Crimea – the Centre for Regional Development "Top Kaya" – helped build up a network of active NGOs and IGs which are now able to independently implement their own projects and to developer themselves. Such development of the civil society in regions is one of the crucial conditions for consolidation of the local communities and for forming of alternatives solutions to the social problems.
PIN and Top Kaya fulfilled this goal through a series of activities: seminars for NGOs/IGs on capacity-building and seminars on activation for high-school students, management of a web portal, small sub grants for the trainees, financial and legal consultations for the NGOs/IGs, a study trip for Crimean NGOs´ representatives to the Czech Republic, a festival of HR documentary films in Crimea and establishment of a public HR documentary films collection. PIN finds the development of the partner organization a success story as it has become a leading Crimean consulting body for the third sector and the web site, which it manages, a valuable and fast-growing source of information. Top Kaya is currently able to work without any financial support from PIN.
Support from MFA: 1 776 300,- CZK

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Dec 4th is Lego Advent Calendar day!
I love Katie's Holiday Trees, so I'm using them in all my Dec Daily pages!
Katie Pertiet:
Days of December Layered Template Set No. 07A
Le Poirier Element Pack
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MONTREAL - For most guys, shaving is a tedious but unavoidable morning chore, a quick up-and-down with a disposable razor or an electric shaver.
At Emporium Barbershop on an out-of-the-way corner of Mile Ex, it's something else altogether. Alex Sirois, the shop's owner, is one of a new school of barbers reviving one of the oldest of men's grooming rituals: the single-razor shave.
In less than a year in business, he has already built a loyal following of customers who have given up shaving at home in favour of the close, smooth shave from Sirois's straight razor.
For men who came of age in an era of disposable cartridge razors, a single razor shave is both epiphany and history lesson.
"It's the closest shave you can ever get," Sirois says as he waits for a midday customer to turn up at Emporium, a plywood-panelled shop decorated in a style he calls "grandfather's living room." Scissors and razors are set out on a vintage Arborite cart. There's a bottle of Jameson whiskey and a stack of lowball glasses by the sink.
"Guys need to take care of their skin, just like women do. Many of them think they have sensitive skin, but really it's because nobody ever taught them how to shave. Or they are using a multiple-blade cartridge that's dull or clogged with dirt."
Straight-razor shaving had become something of a lost art after Frenchman Marcel Bich's completely disposable razor, the Bic shaver, hit the market in the 1970s and became an instant worldwide hit.
The art of shaving, which dates back to the ancient Egyptians who used essential oils, creams and pumice stones to shave their faces and heads, had fallen out of favour. An open blade to the neck was the stuff of gangster movies. As an older generation of Montreal barbers retired or went out of business, there were fewer veterans to pass on the old techniques. Sharpening strops and honing stones used to sharpen blades were relegated to antique shop displays. Nobody remembered what a hot lather machine was. There was not even a barbering school left in Montreal.
But just as the last of the candy-stripe signs disappear, a new generation is poised to take over. In cities across North America and Europe, the barbershop is making a comeback. Around Montreal, more than a dozen new men-only shops have opened in the last year or two, some swanky, some spa-like, some retro.
"Guys want a place of their own. They don't want to wait anymore in a salon filled with women getting their highlights done," Sirois said. "They want a barber who knows how to trim a moustache and line up a beard. Somebody who knows what he's doing with a straight razor."
Some say the comeback of the straight razor can be traced straight to the scene in the latest James Bond movie, Skyfall, in which Daniel Craig stands at a mirror, his face slathered in foam, shaving with a straight razor. Within weeks, demand for the old-school shaving tool also known as a "cutthroat blade" was going through the roof on online shaving sites and in specialty shops.
Zayid Al-Baghdadi just wanted to write about his hobby when he launched his website esqboutique.com a few years ago. Tired of irritating his face while shaving, he had begun looking on online shaving forums for alternatives to his disposable razor.
The 33-year-old Montreal defence lawyer now finds himself in demand as a straight-razor shaving coach and online retailer of shaving gear. He has even started a sideline sharpening and restoring old razors. He began to receive so many requests for help shaving or sharpening and restoring old razors that his wife suggested he turn it into a business. Now he offers private and group lessons.
Al-Baghdadi says his students are teenagers looking for beginner information and old-timers who want to learn to use a sharpening strop or honing stone.
They are men who have inherited straight razors that languished in a grandfather's dresser drawer for decades, hipsters drawn by the mystique of the old and the esoteric and environmentalists feeling guilty about all the disposable shavers that end up as landfill.
Quite often, his students are longtime shavers who are fed up with rashes and ingrown hairs.
Shaving's renaissance is part of a larger boom in men's grooming.
L'Oréal, the French beauty company, reported sales of men's grooming products growing at twice the rate of products for women as pomades, beard oils, badger rushes and moustache waxes find their way into the men's room.
Here in Montreal, three friends who launched a line of all-natural, handmade men's grooming products called Groom are racing to keep up with demand.
Tending their own quite spectacular beards and moustaches, Maxime Leclerc, Julien Blanchard and Étienne Côté found themselves spending a fortune on pomades and lotions they bought online.
Last June, they created their own line of all-natural products.
They began by selling their lightly scented beard oil, moustache wax and shaving oil at local craft fairs and through Mile End barbershops. They now sell online to individuals and barbershops cross Montreal and as far away as Quebec City and France.
"Each gender has its own grooming rituals, but men had lost theirs," said Blanchard, who shaves only with a straight-razor that he sharpens with a honing stone and polishes with a leather strop after every use.
Oddly enough, the growing popularity of beards and moustaches has increased interest in shaving.
Alexandre Lemoyne, who gets his close-cropped red beard trimmed twice a month, says a well-groomed beard requires more attention than a clean-shaven face.
"Without regular maintenance, it quickly goes wild," said Lemoyne as he waited at Emporium Barbershop for a lineup that would even the two sides of his beard.
"It's an expense, but it's worth it. Guys these days really care about their appearance."
Over at Notorious Barbershop on Notre-Dame St. W. in St-Henri, co-owner Corey Shapiro offers one of his last customers of the day a finger of Macallan Scotch before he sinks into a chair under a pile of steamy wet towels that will soften his pores for the hot shave to follow.
"For a lot of men, grooming wasn't much of a pastime. They'd get in and out of the barbershop for a haircut. They'd shave at home, mess it up and bleed," he said.
But now they are ready for a little pampering, he said.
His customers go home with $23 platinum-flecked shaving cream.
Shapiro describes the most expensive shave on offer at Notorious.
It's a $1,000 straight razor shave performed with a gold razor blade that the customer gets to keep.
"In this place, we allow every kind of grooming insanity to exist. It's whatever makes the customer happy."
Twitter: susansemenak


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Property Details
Lower Lonsdale / Queensbury
508 East 4th Street, North Vancouver, BC, V7L 1J6, Canada
Character house on a large 50x137 lot on a quiet street in the beautiful Lower Lonsdale/Queensbury neighbourhood. This 1600sqft three level charmer has 2 bedrooms on the top floor with a 3rd bedroom on the main level, bright kitchen, separate dining room with French doors to the back patio and large living room with crown mouldings. Lower floor is a one bedroom suite with kitchen/dining area and living room; great for home stay, mortgage helper or in-law suite. The outdoor area is amazing with plenty of sun and space for gardening or for the pet lover with large wooden deck and grassy area complete with fruit trees, a utility shed and 2 lane accessed parking spaces. This property is perfect for a 1st time house buyer or investor looking for a future building lot. Location is perfect with easy proximity to schools, shops and transportation. Call us today for your private showing.
Listing Provided By
Adam Knight 604.916.9940
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- VPG Realty
- #159 - 1233 Lynn Valley Road
- North Vancouver , BC


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To determine girth, starting at the left shoulder measure around their body lengthwise, through their crotch and back to the left shoulder. Please make sure you allow the tape measure to go along the curve of the back when you are getting this measurement.
Adult leotards allow for the hips and bust as they grow into a young lady.
Your Lizatards leotards can be washed in cold water by hand or in a machine on delicate (hand wash cycle) INSIDE OUT. Fabrics with metallic or rhinestones will eventually dull from repeated washing but washing by machine will dull the fabrics faster.
Take care if the leotard has a light and dark color fabric. These should be hand washed in plenty of cold water. Do not let soak and remove promptly after washing. Rinse with plenty of water and never wring them out. Use a towel to squeeze out the excess water. Lay flat or hang to dry. Do not put in dryer.
We have 76 of the tween size bra tops
Retail Value $1694
Make us an offer...one price buys them all....firstname.lastname@example.com


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Faded Fragments Cling Rubber Stamp Set
Item Description
Faded Fragments is a set of three, hand-designed art stamps from my Impression Obsession, Inc collection. Made in the USA, these stamps are deeply etched, red rubber that is backed with repositionable cling cushion.
This set includes the following three stamps: Broken Tile, Screen Print and Starburst.
The package measures approximately 4 3/4 x 7 inches.
Please read my Store Policies which can be found at the link at the footer of every page. And please note: If you live in the United States, you can order directly and immediately from this site. If you require international shipping, please email me in advance of your order to discuss shipping options as international shipping can be variable and expensive.
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If I'm going to pay $20 for a bowl of rice at a restaurant I want it to change my life. (I mean that when I rely solely on a grain to provide my sustenance for the evening, it better do its job.)
Rice is usually a side dish and nothing more. It's an extra texture to wrap in your roti while scooping up a thick curry. Another small white carton to add to your takeout order because you'll feel naked without those little frozen shrimp.
But Arborio filled risotto? Why is it a pricey main dish at good restaurants?
Probably because most people think they can't make it at home. Or, they just don't want to. That's understandable because, unlike any other rice dish, you can't just leave it on the stove to brown and bubble over. Nope. It needs attention, and lots of it.
So, who wants to try their hand at this dish attempted only by the culinary elite? Anyone? Hello?
From here on, I want you to forget everything you've heard about making risotto. Simply this, if you can tie a shoelace you can make this dish. It just takes a little patience and elbow grease.
The best approach to this recipe is to have all of your ingredients prepped ahead of time so you can be where you need to be, right in front of the stove. No joke, you're going to be there for a few good, muscle-building minutes.
This is because a luscious risotto needs constant stirring. Pampering will release the starch from the grain and give your dish a creamy, carbonara-like finish.
Also make sure to not overcook it. Risotto needs to be al dente, or "to the tooth." You want it to be tender but not weak, with just a desirable hint of resistance. You should taste your risotto throughout the cooking process to make sure it's just right.
You see, not hard. Just some stirring and sampling throughout and you're going to have a beautiful dish on your table, one that's saturated with spring herbs and finished with bright lemon.
One that's so versatile it can be a satisfying main or a thunder-stealing side. You can serve it on its own, top it with fresh grilled scallops, or even stir in some crispy pancetta.
So forget $20. If I'm going to ask you to spend 20 minutes stirring something then it should be chock full of things you love.
Lemon and Herb Risotto
2 tablespoons (30 mL) olive oil
1/2 cup (125 mL) white onion, finely chopped
3 cups (750 mL) Arborio rice
1/2 cup (125 mL) dry white wine
8-9 cups vegetable or chicken stock, heated
4 tablespoons (60 mL) unsalted butter, cubed
1/2 cup (125 mL) Parmigiano-Reggiano, finely grated
2 cloves garlic
3 cups (750 mL) of heavily packed, mixed fresh herbs (like dill, basil, parsley, chives and arugula), finely chopped
Zest of one lemon, finely grated
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp (5 mL) freshly ground black pepper
Sea salt, to taste
Mise En Place (preparation):
Finely chop onion in a food processor. Remove and set aside.
In the same food processor add herbs, garlic, lemon juice, zest and pepper. Blend until well chopped. Set aside.
Heat stock in a medium pot until just simmering.
Grate 1/2 cup (125 mL) Parmigiano-Reggiano.
In a large saucepot, heat olive oil on medium-high heat. Add onions and stir for 3 minutes, making sure not to brown. Add rice and stir for 2 more minutes to toast grains. Add wine and stir until absorbed. Reduce heat to medium.
Add 1 cup heated stock and stir until fully absorbed and mixture begins to look thick and glossy.
Repeat adding 1 cup stock at a time and stirring until absorbed.
Do this until rice is slightly firm but tender all the way through (20 to 25 minutes).
To finish, stir in an extra 1/2-cup of stock, butter, Parmigiano-Reggiano, herb mixture and a generous pinch of sea salt.
Serve hot.
Happily feeds 4 as a main course


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Ol Myrt here is dumbfounded to read Book Venders Banned from the RootsTech Exhibit Hall posted today by Leland Meitzler. FamilySearch has made a huge blunder here, painfully hitting these vendors quite literally in the wallet. I'd even characterize this as an unfair business practice.
Mr. Myrt and I felt it was so important that Martha Mercer of Mia's Books also vend at RootsTech 2012 that we offered her space in our downtown time-share condo to compensate for her coming all the way from her Ohio base of operations.
Leland, Martha and other book and magazine vendors have already beefed up their inventories in anticipation of high sales volume from what we all calculate to be the single largest conference in our field this year, if last year's RootsTech debut is any indication. This capricious RootsTech decision to exclude booksellers leaves these vendors with high inventories and no place to vend.
For FamilySearch to have actively recruited Leland's RootsTech 2012 participation as recently as the September 2011 FGS Conference and now renege on the deal three months later is unthinkable.
There was room last year in the RootsTech vendor hall for a large Microsoft display with ping pong, foosball and pool tables. What does that have to do with genealogy and/or technology? Were the Microsoft video games more relevant to genealogists than offerings by book, magazine and genealogy tee-shirt vendors? I think not.
If I am wrong then perhaps we are to scan and immediately destroy our first edition Book of Mormon, along with the three family bibles from the late 18th and early 19th centuries. I think not.
Last year we excused away a lot of logistical problems, but into year two, RootsTech should definitely have it's act together.
I can only anticipate an immediate apology from FamilySearch, and a move forward to include any genealogy, history or preservation vendor.
FamilySearch - the ball is in your court. Let's play nice.
PS - I am currently listed as an "Official RootsTech 2012 Blogger" but this blog post may place that status in jeopardy. Even so, I remain in support of all genealogy product vendors.
Myrt :)
Your friend in genealogy


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New Music Tickles or Bores Brain Region
When you hear an unfamiliar tune, how do you wind up either tapping your foot or plugging your ears? A study finds that a specific brain region gives the song a thumbs up or down. The research is in the journal Science. [Valorie N. Salimpoor et al., Interactions Between the Nucleus Accumbens and Auditory Cortices Predict Music Reward Value]
As 19 subjects listened to samples of unfamiliar songs, their brains were scanned with a functional MRI machine. After hearing each clip, the subjects could bid between zero and two dollars to purchase the song. And the values participants assigned to songs were associated with activity in the nucleus accumbens, a section of the brain's pleasure center. For more popular tunes, this region was more active and communicated more with the brain region that stores auditory information.
The scientists think the nucleus accumbens, which helps set expectations, draws on stored musical knowledge to predict how a new tune will play out. When the music fulfills or even exceeds these expectations, the listener feels rewarded. So your listening history helps determine whether you'll like a new song—or tell it to hit the road.
—Sophie Bushwick
[The above text is a transcript of this podcast.]


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VBAS Facilities News
April 16, 2012. S21 Status and a farewell note ....
Hello there!
Sorry for taking so long to update the status of the VBAS Facilities. Combination of "life" duties got in the way and took me a while to find some time to write this.
As promised I will focus on the status of one facility at the time and we will start with the Swanson Observatory, also known as the S21 Facility.
History. The Swanson Observatory (S21) is the oldest building of the VBAS facilities and was inaugurated in 1957; it went through a very extensive renovation and restoration process in the past 15 years and has been re-opened to the public last October 2011, just in time to celebrate, this past march, the 100th birthday of the man that was behind the establishment and many achievements of the Astronomical Society, Dr. Von Braun. It is dedicated to the Memory of Dr. Swanson, one of the founding members of the Astronomical Society, that was also its first Observatory director and operated it for many years.
Description. The Swanson Observatory is composed by a 14 feet remotely controlled rotating wood dome with solar powered sliding doors made of two quarter ring sections of a Sky-Lab mock-up (Third Stage of the Saturn V) . Inside the dome is hosted a 21 inches Newtonian F4 telescope installed on a Modified Asymmetric German Equatorial mount (also known as Maggie-May like the song). The telescopes carries 3 video cameras for pointing and observations and will soon host a new16 bits/ 8.3 Megapixels (STF 8300) color imaging camera and a planetary camera that will double as star tracker. Below the dome is the control room that hosts the VBAS FTP Server and the equipment to remotely operate the dome, the telescope and the cameras and broadcast the images to the Planetarium dome. Outside the control room is a foyer that hosts a large screen video monitor showing live operations of the team in the control room; On the side of the foyer, near the steps, there is the only bathroom of the whole VBAS facilities complex (you may imagine what is our next big renovation project... )
Mission. After the renovation and with the addition of the new digital cameras, the S21 is back among the top astronomical instruments in the South-East of the United States. To give you some prospective, the two biggest telescopes in the South East are a 30 and a 35 inches telescopes both located close to Decatur GA (not far from Atlanta). The F4 configuration makes the S21 an extremely "fast" telescope" capable of capturing details with short expositions on a large field of view: this makes it well suited for observing deep sky objects and other faint structures. However the main mission of this telescope is not to produce great images but to provide a "first hand" experience about how modern Astronomy exploration is conducted in state of the art facilities across the world. Astronomy is nowadays a multidisciplinary experience that involves knowledge in many fields ranging from Optics and Mechanics to Software and Electronics and everything in the middle, including Building code, Carpentry and almost any other skill known to humankind (and do not forget a lot a patience!). VBAS has a program to educate and certify operators for the use of the S21 that is open to all VBAS members that are 18 years old or older (and memberships is only $24/year, $36/years for a Family and $12 for Students!); the goal is training a new generation of observers and astronomers and VBAS is committed to involve the North Alabama community in this opportunity.
Present and Future Activities. The S21 facility may make you feel like you never work twice on the same telescope! There is always some tweaking and improving going on but the overall goal is to streamline the operations and make the facility more accessible and comfortable. The latest big project has been to replace the wood casing for the actuators of the dome sliding doors with metal casing. That has removed the bending and off axis push/pull that caused uneven operation and the doors to slide outside the rails. The upgrade was successful and operation of the doors has been reliable for the past few weeks. Next upgrade will consist into adding a new Ethernet connection from the Control Room up to the main camera on the scope to allow for imaging capturing and camera control. This will be an interesting task considering the already crowded conduit, or umbilical cord, connecting Maggie-May to the Telescope. Other ready to be started activities include the installation of a new laminate floor in the control room and the replacement of the AC window unit. Also, there is a plan to move the grinding machine, that was used for the mirror in the telescope, back under dome as part of a small museum area that will also include the original Von Braun telescope currently lent to the US Space and Rocket center for the Von Braun exposition. Volunteers to take the lead on any of these activities are welcome!
A lot has been done and a lot has been planned; as a matter of fact, VBAS members have completed the definition of the long term planning for the facilities and have prioritized the next big projects. The document is available in the NEW VBAS Planning Documents (Click to follow the link) section of the website. Please feel free to comment and suggest improvements and do not forget to thank Jeff for the outstanding job of collecting and rationalize all the inputs.
With this note I come to the end of my tenure as Facility Director. It has been a fun and intense time in which I have appreciated the work of many of you and the support of the whole community. I hope I have been a good steward and left thing in good order; I will continue my contribution to this page and the VBAS activities but the new Facility Director will take care of coordinating the next steps. For him and all of us that some time or another have been confronted with the question of :"Why do we spent so much money and effort tendering facilities like VBAS while more compelling problems are at our doorsteps" I would like to point to the response that Dr. Ernst Stuhlinger, another of the VBAS founding members, gave to a similar question. The answer can be found at http://www.meaus.com/whyExplore.htm or clicking here.l
For the next few updates of this News I will keep this format and I will talk, one by one, of the facilities that we have, describing the current status and the next projects. This will allow many of you to familiarize again with the facilities and, I hope, find area of interest where you may want contribute.This is the planning for each of the subjects:
- Swanson S21(April 2012)
- Angele C16 (May 2012)
- Stulingher Solar Telescope (June 2012)
- Planetarium (August 2012)
- Library and General Fruition Facilities (September 2012)
- Long Term Planning (October 2012 - Astronomy Day)
I will keep the list of accomplishments up to date. Please, remember to take pictures of yourself and your contributions. I will be glad to post them in this section!
VBAS Completed, Current and Planned Projects
- Ang New roof and Solar Telescope Sliding cover: COMPLETED! Thank You!
- Ang Observatory Door and platform fix: Richard, Jeff: COMPLETED! Thank You!
- S21 Declination gear: Wes, Jeff COMPLETED! Thank You!
- Ang Outside VBAS logo:Melissa & Lowell COMPLETED! Thank You!
- Ang Access Ramp: Melissa, Richard COMPLETED! Thank You!
- Pln Laptop Cleanup: Melissa COMPLETED! Thank You!
- Pln Showcases Lights Covers install: Gena, Bob and Lowell Crooks,COMPLETED! Thank You!
- Pln Projector Mount on Pedestal:Roy, Wes, Jared, Jeff, Frank, Richard, Gena, Tom COMPLETED! Thank You!
- Web Site Transition: Michael , Jared COMPLETED! Thank You!
- S21 Image processor SW Registax Installed COMPLETED! Thank You!
- Pln Connection to live S21StreamingCOMPLETED! Thank You!
- Pln Old Projector ready for return: Wes Roy COMPLETED! Thank You!
- Out Landscaping: Richard Gena Melissa COMPLETED! Thank You!
- Stu Mirrors Back: John & Daughter COMPLETED! Thank You!
- S21 Image Server: Lothar COMPLETED! Thank You
- Pln Projector pedestal wood cover: Frank COMPLETED! Thank You!
- S21 FTP Server: Lothar COMPLETED! Thank You!
- Fence repair: Gena COMPLETED! Thank You!
- S21 Dome walls painting: Benton: COMPLETED! Thank You!
- S21 Dome Floor finishing: Benton COMPLETED! Thank You!
- Pln Carpet Clean: Gena COMPLETED! Thank You!
- Lib Network: Charles COMPLETED! Thank You!
- Lib Network Printer Connection: Charles COMPLETED! Thank You!
- S21 new Battle Station: Jeff, Mimmo, Tom, Wes COMPLETED! Thank You!
- Pln Old Projector returned to Walker County Planetarium: Roy COMPLETED! Thank You!
- Lib RJ 45 Connection: Charles COMPLETED! Thank You!
- S21 Door opening Fix: Lars, Mimmo, Daniele COMPLETED! Thank You!
- Facility Entrance Signs, Neil COMPLETED! Thank You!
- Pln Projector Install: Roy, Wes, STARTED (Star Sphere operational! moving to the planets!)
- S21 "Old" CCD Camera: Wes, Mimmo STARTED (Battle Station ready)
- S21 Ctrl Room Floor: Mimmo
- S21 Mirror Grinding Machine: John, Mimmo
- Stu User Manual: John
- S21 Door knob - unassigned
- Ang stairs Handrail; unassigned
- Pln User Manual: unassigned (Megan?)
- C16 Floor paint: unassigned
- C16 Network: unassigned
- Pln debris from ceiling tiles in front showcase: unassigned
- S21 Install new AC Unit: unassigned


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Oman Air and Qatar Airways have announced a codeshare agreement, allowing Oman Air's customers to book flights from any of the 42 departure points within its network to Doha, the capital of Qatar.
The codeshare agreement is effective immediately and customers can now book flights through local outlets or by visiting www.omanair.com.
Announcing the codeshare, Wayne Pearce, Chief Executive Officer of Oman Air, said: "We are delighted to be joining with Qatar Airways to offer even greater choice, value and convenience for our customers. This codeshare will make travel within the Gulf region easier, effectively extending Oman Air's network.
Both Oman Air and Qatar Airways offer customers extremely high standards of comfort and service, so I am pleased that we are now offering this great opportunity and am sure that it will prove to be an outstanding success."
Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said: "Qatar Airways is pleased to partner with Oman Air to provide passengers with extensive choice and flexibility when planning their travel schedules.
"Qatar Airways is focused on delivering its signature five-star service to its passengers, as well as an extensive network of destinations to choose from, which is further enhanced with this new partnership," said Al Baker.


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Premier League preview: Manchester United meet Liverpool and Tottenham face Arsenal
Liverpool's trip to Manchester United and the derby between Tottenham and Arsenal dominate another pivotal weekend.
By Rob Parrish - Follow me on Twitter @skysportsrobp
Last Updated: 15/03/14 12:42pm
Manchester City have little time to recover from their Barcelona disappointment as they head for Hull City looking to cut the gap to leaders Chelsea, who can restore their nine-point advantage over Manuel Pellegrini's men on Saturday Night Football away to Aston Villa.
After losing the Capital One Cup final and then exiting the FA Cup, Sunderland must now refocus on avoiding Premier League relegation when they host fellow strugglers Crystal Palace at the Stadium of Light.
Rock-bottom Fulham have a home date with Newcastle, Cardiff face a testing trip to Everton buoyed by their win against the Cottagers last weekend and West Brom, who are only out of the bottom three on goal difference, head to Swansea.
Norwich need to improve on their miserable away form to ease their drop fears as they head to Southampton, while Stoke City host West Ham, having already overcome Arsenal and Chelsea at the Britannia Stadium this season.
Liverpool head to Old Trafford for the Super Sunday showdown against Manchester United in a role reversal of recent years; with one team battling for the title and the other scrambling to stay in contention for European football. While United's fortunes have plummeted under David Moyes in his first season at the helm, Brendan Rodgers' Liverpool have shown a steady improvement and know victory at the home of their bitter rivals will ensure they remain second in the standings. The visitors have dropped points in just two games during a nine-match unbeaten Premier League run and their form in front of goal has seen them overtake Manchester City as the leading scorers in the top-flight. United, meanwhile, know their title defence is over and even the Champions League looks unlikely, as they trail fourth-placed City by nine points, having played two more matches.
Arsenal's title ambitions have been hit hard by two defeats in their last four matches prior to the Super Sunday derby date with Tottenham, while their UEFA Champions League dreams were ended for another season by Bayern Munich in midweek. Spurs, meanwhile, head into the contest on the back of their 4-0 drubbing at Chelsea and the harsh words of manager Tim Sherwood in the immediate aftermath, in which he questioned the lack of 'characters' in his side. The Gunners' 1-0 victory over their neighbours at Emirates Stadium back in September was a rare low-scoring encounter between the two teams, as only Liverpool v Newcastle (126) has seen more goals than meetings between the north London duo (125) in Premier League history.
Manchester City followed Arsenal in exiting the Champions League this week, with the title hopefuls suffering a 4-1 aggregate defeat to Barcelona on Wednesday night. A Saturday lunchtime meeting with Hull City at the KC Stadium offers little recovery time to Pellegrini's squad, who are facing up to another spell without talismanic striker Sergio Aguero after his latest injury setback. City's title prospects remain in their own hands, as they have nine points to make up on leaders Chelsea with three games in hand and a superior goal difference, but the advantage is surely with Jose Mourinho's men. Hull have a Wembley FA Cup semi-final against Sheffield United on the horizon, but must focus for now on guaranteeing their top-flight status for another season, as Steve Bruce's men sit five points above the bottom three.
Chelsea take on Aston Villa, live on Sky Sports 1HD, later on Saturday with the Blues having the distinct advantage of knowing how their key title rivals have fared. The Blues' imperious Premier League form - 11 wins and three draws from their last 14 games - suggests that Mourinho's self-styled 'little horse' would be equally comfortable running in the Cheltenham Festival. The Portuguese coach must juggle domestic demands with their impending Champions League clash with Galatasaray, with the Turkish club to be tackled at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday evening. Villa climbed to 11th on the back of their 4-1 success over Norwich last time out, but the packed nature of the bottom half of the table means they are closer to Fulham in 20th than they are to ninth-placed Southampton.
Sunderland and Crystal Palace are two of the teams battling to preserve their Premier League status ahead of Saturday's pivotal Stadium of Light meeting. The Black Cats, who earned huge praise for the manner of their defeat by Manchester City in the Capital One Cup final at Wembley, demonstrated their inconsistency just seven days later with a limp FA Cup exit against Hull City when a trip to the iconic stadium was once again within touching distance. Gus Poyet's side find themselves back in the bottom three after cup distractions, one point from safety but with two or three games in hand on their relegation rivals. Palace have a two-point cushion on the bottom three but have been in miserable form on the road this term, with 10 defeats suffered in their 13 fixtures away from Selhurst Park and only six goals scored.
Newcastle manager Alan Pardew's seven-game suspension, of which the first three see him banned from the stadium, commences at Craven Cottage in Saturday's clash against struggling Fulham. One positive for Pardew is that the Magpies are comfortably in the top half of the Premier League heading into the final 10 matches, with assistant John Carver tasked with guiding the side in his absence. Opposite number Felix Magath has significantly greater concerns, with Fulham four points from safety with only nine games remaining. The Cottagers' last Premier League win came on January 1 against West Ham, with the following nine games seeing them suffer a demoralising seven defeats, and leading to Magath's appointment in place of Rene Meulensteen last month.
Cardiff's hopes of avoiding an immediate return to the Championship were given a significant lift by their home win against Fulham last time out. They head to Everton for Saturday's showdown with renewed hope, although Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side remain in the drop zone on goal difference and have played a game more than many of the teams above them. Roberto Martinez's hopes of winning back-to-back FA Cups with two different teams after last season's triumph with Wigan were ended by Arsenal last weekend, leaving the top-flight as their only route into Europe. Should Capital One Cup winners Manchester City claim their expected spot in the top four, then sixth would be enough to secure a Europa League berth, a position currently held by Manchester United, with Everton behind the outgoing champions on goal difference, but with a game in hand.
Pepe Mel has now overseen seven Premier League fixtures as West Brom manager and the Baggies are still to record a victory under his tutelage going into Saturday's trip to Swansea. Four draws and three defeats, coupled with reports of dressing room unrest under the former Tenerife and Real Betis boss, leave them only just above the bottom three ahead of a host of fixtures against relegation rivals and title hopefuls. Swansea cannot be discounted from the scrap against the drop, with rookie manager Garry Monk having won just one of his four Premier League games in charge since replacing Michael Laudrup, although that success did come in the south Wales derby. Swansea have won just four of their last 19 home top-flight matches, while the Baggies do not have a three-point haul from their previous 10 away fixtures.
Norwich are another side embroiled in the survival scrap as they prepare for the weekend trip to Southampton, with the away form of Chris Hughton's side a key factor in their struggles at the wrong end of the table this term. The Canaries have managed just two wins and two draws from 14 contests away from Carrow Road, largely due to a meagre goals-scored column which has been troubled on just nine occasions. Southampton returned to winning ways last time out with a 1-0 victory away to Crystal Palace after back-to-back defeats against West Ham and Liverpool when manager Mauricio Pochettino felt they were hard done by. Just over four years ago, this fixture was a meeting between two League One sides, in which Wes Hoolahan and Adam Lallana found the target for their respective clubs.
West Ham are the latest team tasked with denting Stoke's impressive home record at the Britannia Stadium, with Mark Hughes' men having lost just twice in front of their own supporters this season, and with Arsenal, Chelsea and Man Utd having left the Potteries empty-handed this season. Unfortunately for Stoke, they are another side to struggle away from home, although they hold a six-point cushion on the bottom three. Sam Allardyce's Hammers saw their impressive four-game winning streak halted by a narrow 1-0 reverse to Everton in their last match, back on March 1. Allardyce will hope his side can improve on their poor showing when the two teams met at Upton Park back in August, when West Ham went down to a 1-0 defeat and failed to muster a single shot on target.


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Comment Oracle will have to look more like HP and HP will have to look more like Oracle.
The other converged or unified IT stack system vendors will have to look more like HP and Oracle too, or get left behind.
How do I justify this view?
Distributed processing was like seeing centrifugal force in action as the various parts of IT, the storage, the servers, the networking and the system software, were flung off into separate data centre orbits over the past 20 years or so. This trend is now reversing as suppliers push the idea of better systems by integrating the pieces.
It all stacks up
The main pieces, layers in the IT cake, are storage, servers, networking, virtualisation software, system software, middleware and base application software. The end goal is a single SKU (stock keeping unit) and product serial number for the bundle so that it is supplied, sold, operated, managed and supported as a single unit by its supplier. This is an iPad-like approach to IT - as Oracle boss Larry Ellison has pointed out.
From HP's viewpoint it has all the pieces up to the base application software where it is lacking things like a database. There Oracle reigns supreme among the unified stack vendors as it has the entire Oracle database-centric application portfolio to lead sales of its stack. The Oracle pitch is that, by owning and integrating all the pieces in this stack it can deliver cost and performance efficiencies to its users that no-one else can.
However, there is a hole in its offering, a networking hole, because Sun's networking gear is not strong enough to capture Oracle customer's networking spend as they connect Oracle's unified stacks together, within and between data centres, and to clients. There, Cisco rules and HP plays, much to Cisco's annoyance.
Below base
HP has all the pieces below the base application software - thank you ProCurve networking - and Oracle has all the pieces down there apart from the networking, and also, some would say, lacks storage products with wide appeal.
So commentators look at these two gaps in Oracle's offerings and suggest it might buy NetApp for storage or Juniper or Brocade for networking. The commentators look at HP's base application gaps and conjure names like SAP out of the air.
They even suggest HP could buy Red Hat to get its own server virtualisation offering.
What do these thoughts mean for other unified stack players, such as IBM, Dell and HDS?
IBM has to bulk out its networking offering. Dell has to bulk out its networking offering and get base supplication software. HDS has to integrate its storage with Hitachi servers and networking and then look at base application software as well.
All players competing with Oracle have to assume that Oracle will continue to proclaim openness and willingness to support non-Oracle HW and operating systems, while subtly encouraging its software customers to prefer Oracle hardware through support and licensing conditions and costs.
Imagine if Oracle did buy a networking supplier and a storage supplier to increase its stack's integration. That would be such a disruptive move that it's plausible to suppose that its competitors would have to pursue unified stack equivalence.
"What happens when Larry goes?"
That, in turn, would drive them to favour the sales of their own complete stacks and slowly turn off the tap for sales of third party stack layer components through their channel, limiting the sales opportunities for stand-alone networking and storage vendors.
Planes, trains and bandwagons
We don't know how this will play out. Will the converged IT stack suppliers model themselves on car manufacturers and act as the sole delivery channel for virtually all components in the car, or will they be like airplane manufacturers, letting customers choose their own engines?
The car model says stand-alone networking and storage suppliers selling to end users have to join a converged IT stack supplier or die. The plane model says they can fly by offering a best of breed product set. Oracle and HP and, I think, Dell, IBM and HDS, are betting on the car model. VCE (Cisco, EMC and VMware), NetApp, Brocade, Juniper and similar suppliers are betting on the plane model.
Gentlemen, hedge your bets
If it became necessary, Cisco could jump models, changing from a plane to a car strategy, and buying in storage technology. I doubt if the others in the plane list could do that. One other card yet to appear in the deck that every one uses is the succession of Oracle's CEO.
What happens when Larry goes? Many have queued up for that position and been spat out by Larry. Who will his anointed successor be? Is Mark Hurd the next Oracle CEO in waiting?
Oh frabjous joy. What a great and uncertain business this IT business is! ®


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BBC News
- PM says face masks 'should be worn' in shops
- Mortgage prisoners: Key workers in 'financial nightmare'
- Nicole Thea: Pregnant social media star dies with unborn son
- Manchester City overturn two-year ban from European competition on appeal to Cas
- Huawei: BT says 'impossible' to remove all firm's kit in under 10 years
- Priti Patel sets out post-Brexit immigration details
- Coronavirus: More than 100 outbreaks tackled a week, says Matt Hancock
- Face coverings mandatory on transport in Wales
- Quiz suspends supplier amid exploitation claims
- Christopher Aurier, brother of Tottenham's Serge, shot dead in France
- Bat found in car in Hartlepool after 500-mile journey
- Bearded vulture spotted in the Peak District
- Coronavirus: Can Scotland close the border with England?
- Covid-19 survivor, 104, gets back to crosswords and crochet
- Make cheese or shoes? Five unusual new lockdown hobbies
- Leicester lockdown: 'Stop-start routine' affecting children's wellbeing
- Coronavirus lockdown: Parents 'frustrated' by birth registration delays
- Coronavirus: Lockdown song written by Cardiff children
- James Bay on the 'fantastic drama' of fame
- Hong Kong security law: Why we are taking our BNOs and leaving
- My Money: 'Instead of the holiday buffet, it's egg and toast at home'
- Jack Charlton: Leeds and Ashington legend remembered
- Coronavirus: 'Being in the bath just isn't the same as the pool'
- 'Lockdown brought out the workaholic in me'
- Home-schooling during coronavirus: a child's verdict
- How video is challenging the traditional CV
- The family social distancing for years
- BFI competition winners mini-TV shows broadcast
- Coronavirus: Outdoor swimming restarts in England
- Coronavirus: Manicures and tattoos now possible in England as lockdown eases
- Twelfth: Bands march in local Twelfth parades across NI
- Coronavirus: City-wide lockdown in Leicester 'not justified'
Our traditional ANY-Village websites can still be found at their original location:
Below we are listing some of the most popular UK property websites advertising homes for sale in the Builth-Wells area:
Nestoria (BUILTHWELLS Map Search)
Vebra.com (BUILTHWELLS Map Search)
Rightmove (BUILTHWELLS Map Search)
Zoopla (Builth-Wells Map Search)
Homes for SALE / Flats for SALE in BUILTHWELLS
Homes for RENT / Flats for RENT in BUILTHWELLS


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Look, I think electric cars are a great idea -SO LONG as we allow more energy to be produced, which the big proponents of electric cars, for some reason, oppose. I remember posting about this irrationality before. Allow me to quote myself:
The three main components of Obama's [energy] plan are:
— Get 1 million 150 mile-per-gallon plug-in hybrids on U.S. roads within six years.
— Require that 10 percent of U.S. energy comes from renewable sources by the end of his first term – more than double the current level.
—Reduce U.S. demand for electricity 15 percent by 2020.
Which brings us to this rather comical audio from the Mark Levin show:
"You plug it in at night!"
So I guess magical 'green' electricity comes from "the night"…and evil fossil fuels then must come from Dick Cheney.
Seriously though, the real solution is Nuclear power, as environmentalist Gwyneth Cravens (a former opponent of nuclear energy) points out in her book: Power to Save the World: The Truth About Nuclear Energy:
My book is fundamentally about prejudice based on wrong information.
I used to oppose nuclear power, even though the Sierra Club supported it. By the mid-1970s the Sierra Club turned against nuclear power too. However, as we witness the catastrophic consequences of accelerated global temperature increase, prominent environmentalists as well as skeptics like me have started taking a fresh look at nuclear energy….
When I began my research eight years ago, I'd assumed that we had many choices in the way we made electricity. But we don't. Nuclear power is the only large-scale, environmentally-benign, time-tested technology currently available to provide clean electricity. Wind and solar power have a role to play, but since they're diffuse and intermittent, they can't provide baseload, and they always require some form of backup–usually from burning fossil fuels, which have a huge impact on public health.
was surprised to learn that:
- Nuclear power emits no gases because it does not burn anything; it provides 73% of America's clean-air electricity generation, using fuel that is tiny in volume but steadily provides an immense amount of energy.
- Uranium is more energy-dense than any other fuel. If you got all of your electricity for your lifetime solely from nuclear power, your share of the waste would fit in a single soda can. If you got all your electricity from coal, your share would come to 146 tons: 69 tons of solid waste that would fit into six rail cars and 77 tons of carbon dioxide that would contribute to accelerated global warming.
- A person living within 50 miles of a nuclear plant receives less radiation from it in a year than you get from eating one banana. Someone working in the U.S. Capitol Building is exposed to more radioactivity than a uranium miner.
- Spent nuclear fuel is always shielded and isolated from the public. Annual waste from one typical reactor could fit in the bed of a standard pickup. The retired fuel from 50 years of U.S. reactor operation could fit in a single football field; it amounts to 77,000 tons. A large coal-fired plant produces ten times as much solid waste in one day, much of it hazardous to health. We discard 179,000 tons of batteries annually–they contain toxic heavy metals.
- Nuclear power's carbon dioxide emissions throughout its life-cycle and while producing electricity are about the same as those of wind power.
- Nuclear plants offer a clean alternative to fossil-fuel plants. In the U.S. 104 nuclear reactors annually prevent emissions of 682 million tons of CO2. Worldwide, over 400 power reactors reduce CO2 emissions by 2 billion metric tons a year.
As I learned more, I became persuaded that the safety culture that prevails at U.S. nuclear plants and the laws of physics make them a safe and important tool for addressing global warming. Clearly many of my beliefs had originated in misinformation and fear-mongering.


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This sophisticated five-light tiger bronze ceiling light features a beautiful Vibraphonic Bounce pattern shade.
Additional Info:
Sleek and elegant, this beautiful ceiling light will make your home glow with style. A tiger bronze finish complements the clean lines, while five lights make this fixture a delightfully bright and versatile choice for any style of home decor. This stylish fixture is custom made-to-order and features a beautiful Vibraphonic Bounce giclee pattern designed by retro modern pop artist and illustrator Ragnar printed onto the drum shade. Shade printing process U.S. Patent # 7,347,593.


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Dr. Nadine Moeller
Tell Edfu, one of the most well-preserved ancient towns in Egypt, houses the remains of what once had been the capital of the 2nd Upper Egyptian province. Continuous occupation over several millennia led to the constant build-up of settlement layers, creating an artificial mound, or a tell, of considerable height. Tell Edfu is one of the rare places where nearly three thousand years of ancient Egyptian history are preserved in the stratigraphy of a single site - therefore, it provides an enormous potential for increasing our understanding of ancient urbanism in Egypt, a topic that is still poorly understood since it relies almost entirely on archaeological data. Few ancient Egyptian settlement sites are currently accessible and even fewer have been excavated and published.
The past excavation seasons at Tell Edfu have focused along the eastern part of the tell, which yielded evidence for the early administrative center of the town. The first finds by Dr. Nadine Moeller and her team have already proved to be spectacular, such as the large grain silos that are so far unique in the Egyptian archaeological record. For the first time, it has been possible to discover archaeological settlement remains that complement the already abundant ancient administrative textual sources.
The budget for each field season at Tell Edfu is spent mostly on airfares and salaries for specialists - such as zoologists, archaeo-botanists, and ceramicists - and workers. Further research and analysis of new data, such as taking samples for radiocarbon dating, and post-excavation work after each field season, like preparing materials for publication, are parts of the project that are currently underfunded. Adopting Tell Edfu as a dig can increase the output possibilities of the project by funding more researchers and providing for efficient and accurate data processing after each season.
Nadine Moeller has been working on numerous excavations in Egypt since 1998. Her main research interests are settlement archaeology, urbanism, and climate change and its effects of ancient societies. Nadine studied at Heidelberg, Germany, and Cambridge, where she received her PhD in Egyptian Archaeology. She has been directing the excavation at Tell Edfu since 2001, and started working at the Oriental Institute in 2007.
To schedule your five-year pledge commitment, call Tracy Tajbl, Director of Development, at 773.702.5062, or email her at: firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Conservation and Environment in Fiji: Monthly Updates
Conservation in Fiji - Monthly Update - March - April 2015
Another fantastic two months at the Shark Conservation Project in Fiji! For the last two months our volunteers have been participating in shark tagging with the University of the South Pacific in order to try identify nursery grounds for scalloped hammerhead sharks in Rewa River. For our Dirty Day, we helped The Happy Homes complete construction for their new building and painted a community hall in a local village called Culanuku. We also participated in a beach cleanup, attended a reggae concert for Earth Hour and had the pleasure of hosting our Deputy Director of Operations, Anne Buglass. We heard through the coconut wireless that she had a great time!
This month we also celebrated Easter and the volunteers cooked a traditional dinner and organised an Egg Hunt. We were also fortunate enough to be visited by Angelo Villagomez who is the Global Shark Conservation Manager for PEW Charitable Trust, Founder of Shark Defenders and the Shark Stanley Children's book.
We had a few close calls with some cyclones passing by Fiji, but were lucky to be spared. Our hearts go out to our fellow Islanders of Vanuatu who were severely impacted by Cyclone Pam. Our prayers and thoughts are with them.
Until next time,
Pacific Harbour.
Ten juvenile scalloped hammerheads were caught over March and April in our local tagging in Korovou bay. Tagging will continue for another few months before we start the assessment of a new location looking for shark nurseries.
The tagging programme has climbed another step in the past few months. Each volunteer is now invited once a month by the University of the South Pacific (USP) to participate in their tagging programme in Suva. The project mainly targets scalloped hammerhead sharks, in order to define the quality of the river mouth as a nursery ground for this species, but tag every shark caught.
The volunteers are split up onto two boats and tag sharks in Rewa river mouth for about five hours. Two groups of volunteers have already been and had an incredible experience catching respectively 46 and 9 juvenile scalloped hammerheads. The sharks were tagged and released by the University and Projects Abroad staff members, while the volunteers assisted them. One of our Danish volunteers said:
"Tagging in Suva was one of the most exciting, amazing and fulfilling tasks I have ever done. Conservational science is often being practiced through analysing data and the political processes that follows. But in this case, we were actually doing something very real, where a live animal was depending on the work we were doing, which I found amazing and of course it was a lot of pressure at the same time, but pressure often makes us even more concentrated on the task we are doing.
The process was handled very professionally, and it was made clear that we were there to assist and that the actual handling of the shark was staff work, but if emergencies would occur, we should do whatever was asked of us.
Over all, tagging in Suva was an amazing experience handled very professionally, and it was a very real example of what field marine biology actually is. It has only enhanced my passion for the profession, and I cannot wait to pursue the same kind of fulfilment for the rest of my life."
Also, our lead scientist Gauthier Mescam had the pleasure and honour to be invited by Mike Newman and Juerg Brunnschweiler to participate in tagging adult bull sharks on Shark Reef Marine Reserve. The first pop-up satellite tag has been set up thanks to a spear gun on Tip, one of our big females, which you can discover on our Facebook page: Shark Reef Marine Reserve. The tag is now attached to the back of Tip, close to her first dorsal fin. The post-settlement reaction and behaviour of Tip was carefully studied. She reacted very well and came back straight away after bursting for a few meters.
What a wonderful and successful experience for our team! The volunteers can now observe Tip and her tag roaming the arena during the shark dives. New satellite tags will be delivered during the first week on May and installed on different adult bull sharks, thanks to a spear gun. They should provide information about their travel around Fiji over the year. Stay tuned!
Clam Nursery Project
The famous Fijian dive centre Beqa Adventure Divers (BAD) and Projects Abroad have started a new Conservation project on Shark Reef Marine Reserve: A giant clam nursery!
The volunteers built cement slabs and cages that will receive and protect the juvenile clams until they reach a sufficient size to avoid predation. The BAD and Projects Abroad teams have worked together to install the slabs in a suitable place chosen as a nursery. The volunteers will then settle the juvenile clams onto the slabs over the beginning of May. Every two weeks, the volunteers will clean the clams and cage and measure their growth rate.
Giant clams are listed as vulnerable on the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) list and all species are categorised in Appendix II of CITES (United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora). They play an important role in the coral reef ecosystem as filter feeders, but are heavily threatened in Fiji as they are greatly appreciated for their meat as food and for their shells as ornaments and souvenirs.
Survey Diving/BRUVS
It's been a busy two months with sightings of reef manta rays, eagle rays, zebra sharks and several turtles. The new programme for survey divers has been implemented with great success. The BRUV drop has been missed several times due to poor conditions and it is expected to remain this way until the end of July. However, juvenile tiger sharks, guitarfish, and many indicator species have been spotted on the BRUV's over the past few months. The new mapping project has begun with the intention to successfully map every potential dive site in the medium and small reserve in Beqa Lagoon.
The survey dives have been consistent throughout the past two months, with a much larger emphasis on volunteer training and fish identification. Three zebra sharks have been spotted in the medium reserve and Yanuca reserve. A lucky dive group saw a giant reef manta ray at the beginning of April in the Yanuca reserve. Bull sharks and grey reefs are a regular sight on the survey dives conducted at Shark Reef Marine Reserve and Combre Reef. The second dive in the afternoon has been cancelled three times in the past two months due to unsafe diving conditions.
The combination of a more outlined training process on land and underwater has resulted in more trained volunteers in indicator fish identification. The survey test has been in place with a rotation of three tests given once a week. The volunteer's data is not used until they graduate from the training group into the survey diver group by passing the final test with 80% or higher and completing all of the required diving and survey diver skills outlined in the Projects Abroad Survey Diver Distinctive Specialty course. At the beginning, approximately 30% of volunteers passed their test on their first try. As of the end of April, that number has increased to approximately 70% pass rate on the first attempt.
The weather conditions have been difficult especially in the month of April, limiting the number of BRUV drops we can do. On average, three BRUVs are successfully deployed every week and one cancellation due to diver and BRUV safety. The weather is expected to remain a challenge for BRUV drops over the next few months. The BRUV viewing has been very productive on land, with tiger sharks and guitar fish being observed. The data is backed up and is being reorganized by Gauthier at the end of April. The new outline for BRUV viewing will be in effect by May (designed and implemented by Gauthier Mescam).
The new mapping project has begun. It is a slow and ongoing project. Volunteers who are here for a while and are very competent at both diving and fish identification skills are being asked to map out the exploratory dive sites and draw them out during their land-based time. All the maps are being collected and a map book of all the sites we regularly visit will be made available in the future. Sometimes we are unable to conduct dives in the medium or small reserve due to weather conditions, which means sometimes no maps are drawn for a couple of weeks. However, we have now accumulated enough maps to make dive maps for three new sites: Anders Place, Sophie's Point, and Leo's Paradise (working dive site names). There are approximately 5 other dive sites waiting to be mapped when we visit them next. The goal is to have all survey dive locations in Yanuca, medium and small areas and make them available to dive centres and tourist stations in the area.
Over the last two months, much work has been completed with the Mangroves for Fiji project. The project has a few different aspects involved and this includes constructing nursery areas from bamboo and nylon mesh, recycling plastic bottles by cutting them in half and making holes in the underside, filling bottles with substrate, collecting propagules, planting propagules in pots, watering propagules, weeding pots, replacing dead propagules for live ones, and planting established propagules into the wild. The outcome of all this work has various benefits and by taking part in mangrove reforestation volunteers are indirectly responsible for:
- depositing significant quantities of detritus into the marine environment, which in turn, provides food for sea life
- providing a nesting, nursery and refuge ground for mammals, amphibians, reptiles, countless species of plants, juvenile fish including sharks, invertebrates, sponges, barnacles, oysters, mussels, crabs, shrimps and many avian species
- recharging underground water supplies
- trapping debris and silt, stabilising the near-shore environment, preventing shore erosion and clarifying adjacent open water which facilitates photosynthesis in marine plants
- buffering natural forces such as hurricanes, wave action, tidal change and run off
- sequestering carbon from the atmosphere and mitigating the effects of global warming
In March, Projects Abroad volunteers and staff constructed a new nursery in Vunibau village and planted 2700 propagules in pots recycled from plastic bottles. In April, established propagules were collected from the nursery areas in Uprising Beach Resort, Pacific Harbour Multicultural School and Ventura apartments and taken to Vunibau village to plant in the wild. 5000 propagules were successfully planted with the help of the locals on the Navua riverbank and these will be monitored over the coming months in order to obtain successful establishment rates. Other work completed during April includes the expansion of the Ventura nursery area, increasing potential capacity from 5000 propagules to 12,500 propagules, and 3000 new propagules were planted in the Ventura nursery.
The objective of this year is to increase the nursery capacity to 40,000 and also to construct a large nursery area at Uprising. Once this has been achieved, Projects Abroad aims to approach local businesses and estimate their carbon footprint. Using this information, emissions can be translated into the number of hectares of mangroves needed in order to offset their carbon emissions, and businesses will be able to become carbon neutral with the help of Projects Abroad.
Community Days
Community days over the last two months have been very successful. Volunteers visited Vunibau village, Galoa village and Rampu Primary School. In Vunibau volunteers attended the kindergarten and performed a puppet show, introducing the children to the marine world and species encountered. The entire exercise was used as a tool for teaching the children the importance of conserving their marine environment and how sharks are not to be feared.
On a separate occasion, volunteers gave various presentations to the adult villagers and introduced and explained the work that Projects Abroad is conducting in Fiji with regards to mangroves restoration, shark tagging, community work and marine survey work. In Galoa village, volunteers again worked in the kindergarten performing the puppet show, whereas in Rampu Primary School, volunteers worked with older children teaching them about marine species, mangroves, recycling, ecology and conservation.
Dirty Days
The Shark Conservation Project not only encompasses survey, restoration and community education but also gives something back to someone or somewhere in need. This can be through building, painting or even cleaning. Over the last two months, volunteers visited The Happy Home Trust in Suva City in March, which is a refuge for children in need, and then Culanuku village in April to help with the construction of the community hall. At Happy Homes, a bunk house for the children is currently being constructed and volunteers were involved in the sanding of the freshly plastered walls.
Although it was 'dirty work', everyone that took part left knowing that they had done a selfless act for somebody that would never have asked for help. In Culanuku, village volunteers assisted the villagers with a range of activities from cleaning windows, carrying sand from the beach for cement and painting the ceiling, beams and walls. After the day's work, volunteers were rewarded with a traditional Fijian lunch and many bowls of the tradition drink; Kava. The villagers were tremendously grateful and all involved had a lot of fun!


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Welcome to the APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur—How to Publish a Book website. This site contains all the information you need to buy, review, and use APE.
In 2011 the publisher of Guy Kawasaki's New York Times bestseller, Enchantment, could not fill an order for 500 ebook copies of the book. Because of this experience, Guy self-published his next book, What the Plus! and learned first-hand that self-publishing is a complex, confusing, and idiosyncratic process. As Steve Jobs said, "There must be a better way."
With Shawn Welch, a tech wizard, Guy wrote APE to help people take control of their writing careers by publishing their books. The thesis of APE is simple but powerful: When a self-publisher successfully fills three roles—author, publisher and entrepreneur—the potential benefits are greater than with traditional publishing.
Guy and Shawn call this "artisanal publishing."
Artisanal publishing features writers who love their craft, and who control every aspect of the process from beginning to end. In this new approach, writers are no longer at the mercy of large, traditional publishers, and readers will have more books to read.
APE is 300 pages of tactical and practical inspiration. People who want a hype-filled, get-rich-quick book should look elsewhere. On the other hand, if you want a comprehensive and realistic guide to self-publishing, APE is for you.
"There must be a better way."
- Steve Jobs
"As digitization creates a revolutionary opportunity for writers to become their own publishers a new self-publishing infrastructure has emerged. This book will become the standard guide to this new publishing universe."
Jason Epstein, former editorial director of Random House and co-founder of On Demand Books.
"Nuts, bolts, and inspiration too. Once again, Guy delivers, kicking the shiitake out of anyone who would tell you that you shouldn't, wouldn't or couldn't write a book."
Seth Godin, author and founder of The Icarus Project.
"Guy's book is the perfect companion on the journey of independent publishing and great reading for the millions who aspire to become authors."
Atif Rafiq, General Manager, Kindle Direct Publishing at Amazon.com
"APE is easily the most comprehensive, best organized, nuts-and-bolts-useful work on self-publishing I've seen to date. I think Guy has written the bible on self-publishing, and I expect it will be recognized—and widely used—as such."
Barry Eisler, bestselling novelist of the John Rain series including The Detachment, Requiem for an Assassin, and The Last Assassin.
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APE contains over 350 hyperlinks. If you own the ebook version, all you need to do is click on them. But if you own the printed version, use this page to navigate to the hyperlinks.
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Use the MCAT to test copyeditors. The copyeditor of APE, Rachelle Mandik, created this test. Send the test document to copyeditors and ask them to "Track changes while editing." (If the copyeditor doesn't know how to do this, it's an automatic fail.) Then compare their copyedits to Rachelle's answer key.
Use this Word document to write your non-fiction or fiction books. The document contains the sections and Word styles used to create a book that's easy to organize and lay out.
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Guy Kawasaki is the author of APE, What the Plus!, Enchantment, and nine other books. He is also the co-founder of Alltop.com, an "online magazine rack" of popular topics on the web. Previously, he was the chief evangelist of Apple. Kawasaki has a BA from Stanford University and an MBA from UCLA as well as an honorary doctorate from Babson College.
Shawn Welch is the author of From Idea to App, iOS 5 Core Frameworks, and iOS 6 for Developers as well as the developer of several iOS apps. Previously he worked as a senior media-editor for Pearson Education. He also helped pioneer many of Pearson's earliest efforts in iPad solutions. Welch has a BS from Kansas State University.
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text: Nigeria, Ghana and a few other African countries are excluded from many online dating sites because of the scams and schemes coming out of those countries, but those who persevere can find love. Micky and Faith were able to find love as many are doing despite the negativity from the various online sites. I say hang in there and keep going. We can see it pays off for many!