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10 Ways to Save Money on Your Pet’s Health
Don’t let the economy get you down. (Wikimedia) Saving money is on everyone’s mind these days. While we can cut back on that cup of Starbucks or a new pair of shoes, we can’t stop providing for our pets. On average a dog costs $1,200 per year and a cat costs around $800.
I’d argue those figures are even higher for many people who indulge in specialty pet boutique offerings like custom beds and sweaters.
While pet food and cat litter remain fixed expenses, there are steps that you can take to reduce the amount of money that you spend on your pet’s health. By planning ahead you can lower the chances of having to pay costly veterinary bills. Making prevention your goal will not only save you money but it will also keep your pet happier and healthier.
- Vaccinations. Infectious diseases are on the rise and veterinarians have found that vaccinations are an effective way of protecting .your pet. Discuss with your vet which vaccinations he feels are necessary as well as the frequency with which future vaccinations need to be administered. Necessary vaccinations depend on your pets’ lifestyle, how often he’s indoors, exposure to other animals, and are not uniform for all pets.More easily transmittable and potentially fatal diseases are part of core vaccines. For dogs they usually include: distemper, adenovirus, parvovirus and rabies. Cats receive panleukopenia, calicivirus and herpesvirus, and rabies as part of their core vaccines. Lyme disease and kennel cough are two non-core vaccines that can be given to your dog depending on his lifestyle.
- Heartworm protection. Heartworm occurs when a mosquito bites an animal that has been infected, gets the worm larvae in its blood and then goes on to bite a healthy animal. While this disease is more common in dogs than cats, it is extremely debilitating and can be fatal if left untreated. There are a number of heartworm medicines in the form of pills, injections and topical liquids. Talk to your vet about the best course of action for your pet. The disease is curable in dogs, but unfortunately is not in cats yet. By preventing worms from infecting your pet you can avoid expensive x-rays, bloodwork, and injections that are necessary to treat heartworm.
- Dental care. Just like you, your pet’s mouth needs to be kept clean every day. Oral care is extremely important in your pet. Infected gums and tartar can lead to more serious infections throughout the body. Invest in specially formulated toothpaste for your pet in addition to a diet that promotes good dental health. There are also gels and rinses that can be used to aid the cleaning process. Look in the pet store for chew toys that rid your dog’s teeth of plaque build-up. Make it a point at your next visit to the vet to ask about dental care so that you are equipped to do it at home. That way you can prevent expensive and painful extractions and infections down the line.
- Exercise and diet. Like humans, cats and dogs are also experiencing an epidemic of obesity. In 2007, the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention found that 43% of dogs and 53% of cats were overweight. Also like us, increased weight leads to heart disease, diabetes and a number of other ailments. While it’s easy to show our pets love by giving them an extra treat, think twice before you do. A fat pet is most likely unhappy and unhealthy. With regular exercise and a well rounded diet, you can prevent weight-related illnesses and give your animal a better quality of life.
- Pet insurance. While you may have trouble securing your own insurance, pet insurance has become increasingly popular. By paying a small monthly fee, pet owners can get coverage for costly procedures, medications and visits to the vet. There are a variety of different plans out there so do some research to find one that’s right for you. Many plans have premiums and co-pays, and may have restrictions for particular breeds or require that you go to a certain veterinarian. With greater technology in veterinary medicine also comes at higher costs. Insurance is a practical way to pay for all of the treatments that your pet may require in the future.
- Wellness exams. Do not forgo the yearly exam for your pet if you want to save some money and you think your pal is healthy. Animals age more rapidly than humans and often do not outwardly show signs of illness.Use the visit to ask questions about the latest in treatments, nutrition and dental health so that you are in the know. Many illnesses are treatable if caught early on, so save yourself and your pet the pain and suffering and make that trip to the doctor.
- Spay/neuter. All pets should be spayed or neutered when they are young; however, it’s never too late to have the procedure done if your pet has not been fixed. Having this done not only prevents unwanted pregnancies in your pet but it also ensures a great chance of reproductive health. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, 50% of all breast tumors in dogs and greater than 85% of all breast tumors in cats are malignant. Spaying your pet greatly reduces the chances of mammary gland cancer and other illnesses that afflict the reproductive system.
- Prevent accidents. Whether ridding your house of poisonous plants or foods that are harmful to animals, take the time to make your home pet-friendly. Also, think about new items that are brought in on a daily basis. Don’t leave your medications or cleaning products lying around. Be cognizant of open doors and broken fences to prevent runaways and car accidents. Use baby gates to keep animals off of new furniture or a light colored rug. Move vases and antiques out of reach. While you can’t avert all disasters you can minimize the risks by preparing a safe environment for your animal companion.
- Know your pet. Be familiar with your breed and your specific pet. If you know that your pet is prone to joint problems, discuss with your vet ways to prevent or delay the onset of arthritis. There may be a particular diet or certain medicines that will help your pet live without pain and prevent a more serious and costly illness in the future. Think about your pet’s routines. If you can tell that certain times of year or certain behaviors are typical when you pet is unwell, take action before the ailment is full-blown.
- Give love. An enjoyable and easy way to nurture the health and well being of your pet is through love and attention. A pet that is loved is more likely to be well behaved and less destructive. The more time you spend with your pet, the more easily you can determine if something is wrong with his health. Taking your dog to the park or giving your cat an extra cuddle is also free!!


Vehicle barriers and loading bays
K3.—(1) Vehicle ramps and any levels in a building to which vehicles have access, shall be provided with barriers where it is necessary to protect people in or about the building.
(2) Vehicle loading bays shall be constructed in such a way, or be provided with such features, as may be necessary to protect people in them from collision with vehicles.
Limits on application
In the Secretary of State’s view, you can meet requirement K3 if, in order to reduce the risk to the safety of people from collision with vehicles in and about buildings, you:
a. provide vehicle barriers that are capable of resisting or deflecting the impact of vehicles
b. provide loading bays that have an adequate number of exits or refuges which enable people to avoid being struck or crushed by vehicles.
The standard of provision for guarding needed to give an acceptable level of safety depends on the circumstances. For example, in a public building the standard of provision may need to be higher than in a dwelling, because people may be less familiar with the building and there may be more users.
For areas where access is required only for maintenance, greater care can be expected from people and therefore a lower standard of provision may be acceptable.


Asia-Pacific Markets Mixed; China, Hong Kong Tech Shares Surge, Regional Energy Stocks JumpU.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order banning transactions with eight Chinese software applications.
The major Asia-Pacific stock indexes finished mixed with China and Hong Kong posting solid gains. Driving the price action in those two regions were developments out of Washington that centered on Chinese tech giants. In all of the areas, regional energy stocks took center stage with strong advances.
The gains in China and Hong Kong were driven by strength of shares of Chinese tech giants Tencent and Alibaba which rose after U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning transactions with eight Chinese software applications, including WeChat Pay and Ant Group’s Alipay. The order is only set to go into effect after Trump leaves office.
In the cash market on Wednesday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index settled at 27055.94, down 102.69 or -0.38%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index finished 27692.30, up 42.44 or +0.15% and South Korea’s KOSPI Index closed 2968.21, down 22.36 or -0.75%.
China’s Shanghai Index settled at 3550.88, up 22.20 or +0.63% and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index finished at 6607.10, down 74.80 or -1.12%.
In other news, regional energy stocks also advanced in Wednesday trade after Saudi Arabia agreed to voluntary production cuts in February and March. Also, a private survey showed services sector activity in China expanded at a slower pace in December.
Trump Bars US Transactions with Eight Chinese Apps Including Alipay
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order banning transactions with eight Chinese software applications, including Ant Group’s Alipay mobile app, the White House said, escalating tensions with Beijing two weeks before President-elect Joe Biden takes office.
The move, first reported by Reuters, is aimed at curbing the threat to Americans posed by Chinese software applications, which have large user bases and access to sensitive data, a senior administration official told Reuters.
China’s Blue-Chip Index Ends at 13-year High Led by Gains in Banking, Healthcare Stocks
China’s blue-chip index closed on Wednesday at its highest level in nearly 13 years after rising for five consecutive sessions, as investors expect the government to sustain policy supports to counter COVID-19’s persisting impact on the economy.
In other news, a private survey showed services sector activity in China expanding at a slower pace in December, with the Caixin/Markit services Purchasing Managers’ Index coming in at 56.3. That compared against November’s reading of 57.8.
Hong Kong Shares End Higher on Energy, Tech Supports
Hong Kong shares extended gains on Wednesday after rising for six consecutive sessions, led by energy and tech shares. At the close of trade, the benchmark Hang Seng Index was trading at its highest level since last February.
For a look at all of today’s economic events, check out our economic calendar.


YOKKAO 39 - 40 is shaping to be one of the most stellar cards in the Australian Muay Thai scene to date and it about to get even more impressive. Former Lumpinee and Rajadamnern champion, Superbank Mor Rattanabandit has just been confirmed to headline the coming show in Sydney!
Superbank has stepped up on less than a month's notice to replace Manachai who had to pull out due to the KO loss at Lumpinee stadium. After an exciting promotional debut at YOKKAO 37 in Bolton UK, Superbank will now make his second fight appearance for our promotion in Sydney. The Thai phenom is widely regarded as one of the ring technicians among his generation of fighters, particularly for his slick sweeps and flawless timing. He will take on up-and-coming Australian fighter, Zac Einersen for the YOKKAO 40 main event.
Fighting out of Perth Riddlers Gym, Einersen is a 2-time WMC state champion and WKA national champion. The 24-year-old has competed regularly in Thailand, winning recently against a high-level Thai opponent at the prestigious Lumpinee stadium. Einersen will now face a full-fledged elite Thai champion in the fight of his career at YOKKAO 40.
Along with Superbank vs Einersen, other confirmed bouts include Singdam vs Alexi Petroulias, and Spencer vs Albert Xavier. Look out for an updated fight card which will be released tomorrow.
Organized in partnership with SRG promotions, YOKKAO 39 - 40 is set to take place at the Australian Technology Park on Saturday, 25 May.
Tickets are already on sale now. For more info, visit asia.yokkao.com/pages/yokkao-39-40/
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Our amazing honeymoon excursion started on September 25, 2012 (three days following our beautiful wedding in Portland, Oregon) and sadly came to an end on October 5th, although we almost didn’t make it back home - and not on purpose.
Choosing our destination was almost as challenging as planning the wedding. We (and by we, I mean mostly my wife, Brianne), spent countless days, weeks, and months checking all the travel websites, hotels, and reviews trying to not only find the best deal we could get, but find a place we knew would be special for us.
After countless hours deciding between places like Italy, Bali, Fiji, Bora Bora, Costa Rica, the Greek Isles, and Hawaii, we finally decided that in the spirit of the end of the world in 2012, we would stay on the Caribbean coast of Mexico’s Mayan Riviera, at the beautiful Secrets Maroma Resort.
Seeing a theme here yet? We live in Portland, so it was of the upmost importance that our honeymoon be someplace where it is warm and we can actually see the sun for a week or two. Not only that, but we are both very into health and fitness and felt it was important that we got a chance to show off our bikini bodies (only kidding! Well, sort of).
Finding Traveler's Joy was a dream come true for us. We had everything we needed for our home, so the thought of a registry at Pottery Barn or a Bed, Bath and Beyond would leave us with a bunch of stuff we couldn’t fit in our house. We also wanted our friends and family members to feel like they were personally involved in helping us achieve our dream of the perfect honeymoon. Not only did everyone have a good time choosing certain items from our registry page, but we also tagged them in our Facebook pictures of the trip, so they had a chance to see what their contributions rewarded us.
We touched down in Cancun the first day where (wouldn’t you know it) it was raining. At least it was a warm, tropical rain, and not the cold, damp weather we are used to at home. We picked up our rental car right away and headed down Highway 307 south, about 35 minutes to the resort near Playa del Carmen.
The resort itself was nothing less than spectacular. We drove off the highway and deep into the jungles close to the beaches just to get there, where the doors of the main entry gate were comparable to the ones straight out of Jurassic Park. Then we entered the lobby, and it was as if we entered our own personal palace, where we were immediately surrounded by exotic wildlife, beautiful décor, marble everything, and are waited on hand-and-foot 24 hours a day. The resort felt so secluded we never saw, or heard from any of the other resorts. Not to mention the beautiful white sandy beaches and crystal clear blue water surrounding the property. We had our own personal swim-out suite, where we could take a dip anytime we wanted right out on our patio, and our room was as elegant as the lobby.
The service and atmosphere was everything we imagined and more. There was entertainment all day long, professional shows every night, tons of all inclusive restaurants, and our own personal concierge Romina, who we adored; we even met the King of Rock himself one night. Yes, Elvis is alive, and he is living in Mexico. If that wasn’t enough, they just happened to play a football game of Rob’s favorite team, the Denver Broncos, just by chance the first weekend we were there (and they won!). It was relaxation and paradise in every sense of the word. It literally had us jumping for joy (see inserted picture).
But what would a honeymoon in an exotic locale be without a little exploration and adventure? We decided to venture into the town of Playa Del Carmen, which has a lovely shopping district and great beaches, restaurants, and clubs. That’s where we got to hang out with a couple of Mayan Warriors and hold a leopard cub in the process. We also hit the stores for some extra shorts, because Rob forgot to pack some for the trip (yep, an entire suitcase of clothes but no shorts), and ate at a local restaurant for some authentic Mexican food. It was delicious, and they made us a personalized tequila bottle with our picture on it to bring back home with us. We also left from the port of Playa and took a half-day trip to Cozumel, which is an island about a half an hour away by ferry from the coast of Playa. We did deep water snorkeling and spent the afternoon in the town of Cozumel wandering around and shopping for souvenirs.
We traveled by car farther south for a little jungle fun later in the week, and went to the Hidden Worlds Adventure Park. Because of some late cancellations, we got to go on our own personal adventure tour. The trek to the deeper part of the jungles was needless to say bumpy, and Brianne found herself come down with a little case of motion sickness. Being the consummate trooper, she sucked it up and still did the majority of the activities. We rode through the sky above the trees on air bikes, came down by zip-line, went deeper underground by repelling into the cenotes (underwater caves) upside down, and where we (or should we say Rob) went snorkeling in the dark waters of the caves. We capped it all off with a zip-line rollercoaster, where you are clipped in, given a rusty looking handle with wheels on it, and are let go down what is essentially a line of metal PVC pipe, that starts at the top of the hill and ends down in the cenote, where only the water in the underground cavern can bring you to a stop. Rob went down twice. Brianne could only handle once for fear of safety and her life. Tons of fun!
Next we decided to have some fun in the sun and we went to Xel-Ha (pronounced shell-ha), a natural aquatic theme park off the Caribbean coast. The whole park is in an inlet created by the warm ocean water. To say it was fun is a huge understatement. There is a natural lazy river, cliff diving, ocean zip-lining, and you get snorkel gear near the entrance of the park so that you can swim or let the current take you from one end to the other without even getting out of the water, and where you could see exotic fish, including stingrays. That’s where we also took time out to swim with some dolphins, because, who doesn’t want to swim with dolphins? After a long day of playing, we took a nap in the hammock park. Did we mention it was all-inclusive too? Gotta love Mexico!
In the spirit of the apocalypse, we saw two different Mayan ruins; Tulum, an ancient trading city right on the coast of the Caribbean, and took the three hour trip to Chichen Itza, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, and the hub of our world ending. One of the most interesting tidbits we took away from the visiting ruins was that the Mayans never believed in the end of the world, but that it is the end of one era, and the beginning of a new era of human enlightenment.
Chichen Itza houses the giant temple that everyone comes to associate with the Mayans, where they held the human sacrifices (including babies if necessary), in the hope that the Gods would bring them rain for the crops of the season. Unfortunately they no longer allow tourists up the main temple stairs, but there were tons of workers there remodeling the top of the temple, passing buckets and cement up and down person by person in a line along the stairs. No cranes were used. We got a little nervous for them. The stadium, where the captains of the losing teams were beheaded, was amazing and you could playfully bounce the echoes of your voice and hand claps from one wall and hear them against the walls on the other side of the field.
The Mayans were incredibly ingenious with their construction and architecture techniques, building them in accordance with the stars and night sky, so that they could predict seasons, planting, keep time…and hence the calendar was born. There was an observatory built in the middle of the city to keep track of this, where the high priests would spend their time star gazing. We found it fascinating that we still implement the same techniques they used 1,000 years ago to keep track of time, days, month and years.
So it was all that sight-seeing, adventure, food, relaxation, and fun, we reluctantly packed up to come home. Except (and this is where we come back to the beginning of this story) while standing in line to check-in at the airport for our flight back home, we both came to a sudden, unwelcomed epiphany.
Brianne left her passport in the safe at our resort— 40 minutes away. Normally it wouldn’t be the end of the world (no pun intended), except for the fact that we only had 45 minutes left to check in for our flight. So in a calm panic Brianne set off to get her passport back. She went to the calling card dispenser to get one so that we could call the resort and have them drive her passport to the airport. Problem was they were out of calling cards. It was as by some kind act by a divine Mayan God that they were just coming to refill the machine at that same moment. Bri bought one and attempted to use the pay phone; which came with its own set of challenges, considering we did not have the number to the resort and everything was in Spanish.
Luckily Brianne is very resourceful and managed to use the little Spanish she knew to get someone to help her call. Brianne contacted the Hotel, was patched through to security, who managed to get the safe open and get the passport in the hands of one of the driver’s on staff, on a mission to get to the airport and find Brianne at the airport before time expired. We paid the $36 US dollar ATM fee for the pesos we pulled out to pay the taxi driver, and waited with baited breath. And just our luck, the skies brought a heavy rain, the bane of our existence, and halting traffic throughout the city. After waiting for what felt like an eternity, the driver finally arrived with the precious cargo, we paid and thanked him and checked into the flight—with 2 minutes to spare before they closed it. We took a deep breath, boarded the plane, and came back home to Portland, where it was raining.
The total cost of our trip ended up being approximately $6,200, but we ended up paying nothing out of pocket thanks to all of the generous gifts we received from our friends and family through the Traveler’s Joy registry. We booked the whole trip sans the extra activities through Expedia, so resort and flight were included with them, and all the added activities we tacked on later. It was an extravagant honeymoon at an incredible price.
If you don’t like warm and exotic locales, great and friendly people, all you can eat meals all day long, exciting adventures, and ancient wonders, then this trip just isn’t for you. Of course we are being sarcastic. We couldn’t recommend it enough, and every time we talk about it you would think we worked for the tourism department of Playa del Carmen! However, the best getaways are always spent with the ones you love the most, and with memories that will last forever. We are already planning our return visit.

domain: geography


Check out the new single 'Don't Wait' by Vaux. Saved from the grips of the major label machine, Vaux's third album, Beyond Virtue, Beyond Vice was released on August 1 through VX Records/ Outlook Music Co. Equal parts beauty and destruction, Beyond Virtue is a coherent follow-up to 2004's acclaimed Plague Music.
Produced by Garret "Jacknife" Lee (Snow Patrol, U2), and mixed by Dave Sardy (Marilyn Manson, Oasis) Beyond Virtue reveals a sonic palette of intoxicating melodies disguised as angst-ridden rock.
Gendry has been living under Cersei Lannister's nose for quite some time now.
The director would love to take the films in a different direction.
He'll be performing a new residency at an intimate theatre.


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Teekay LNG swings to profit
Teekay LNG Partners, one of the world’s largest owners of LNG carriers, swung back to profit in the second quarter of 2018.
The partnership reported a net income of $2.7 million for the quarter under review, compared to a net loss of $6.9 million in the first quarter of the year and a net loss of $16 million reported in the corresponding period in 2017.
The adjusted net income dropped to $13.5 million from $22 million in the previous quarter and $17.8 million in the second quarter of 2017.
The net income increase has been positively impacted by the deliveries of seven liquefied natural gas (LNG) and three LPG carrier newbuildings between July 2017 and May 2018 and the commencement of short-term charter contracts for certain of the vessels in the Partnership’s 52 percent-owned joint venture with Marubeni Corporation, the company said in its report.
The company’s president and CEO, Mark Kremin said that it has “experienced another quarter of increased earnings and cash flow from” LNG carriers.
“We have taken delivery of nine LNG carriers over the past nine months, including the Myrina and the Megara in early-May and mid-July 2018, respectively, both of which are on long-term, fixed-rate charters to Shell, and we are anticipating the delivery of the Bahrain Spirit FSU later this month,” Kremin said.
Quarterly voyage revenues increased during the period under review, reaching $122 million compared to $100 million reported in the quarter ending June 30, 2017.

domain: news


Lima, OH (WIMA) - The Neighborhood Concerns Committee of Lime City Council met on Monday evening.
A host of city residents showed up to discuss issues relating to yard clippings, parking regulations, and landlord registration rules.
2nd ward councilman Jesse Lowe resided as chairman of the meeting, and he talked about property owners' concerns on parking restrictions.
Many landlords stepped up and spoke on that issue as well, and they also talked about the issue of landlord registration.
Lowe also said during the meeting that an issue like this will take time to work out any problems, if council chooses to pass it in the future.


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Physicians pointed out that zinc deficiency will cause symptoms such as easy fatigue, hair loss, abnormal taste, and slow wound healing. You can eat more oysters, beef, black beans and other foods to supplement; the situation is as shown.
(picture taken from freepik)
[Health Channel/Comprehensive Report] Lisa (pseudonym) is a busy woman in her 30s. She often feels stressed and tired.
Recently, it was discovered that her hair became thin and dry, her skin became dry and rough, and even the oral and tongue wounds festered for a long time, and the healing was slow.
Zhang Yihao, a physician at the Zhang Yihao ENT Specialist Clinic, pointed out that zinc deficiency will cause symptoms such as easy fatigue, hair loss, abnormal taste, and slow wound healing. You can eat more oysters, beef, black beans and other foods to supplement.
Zhang Yihao posted on his Facebook fan page "Doctor Zhang Yihao i Sensory Physician x Medical Parenting x Growth and Development x Nutrition and Immunity" and mentioned that Lisa thought that these physical symptoms were caused by work pressure or going to bed late, so she didn't pay much attention.
Until one day, when she was at work, she suddenly had a bleeding tongue, so she rushed to see a doctor.
Afterwards, some drugs were prescribed and treated for about a month, but there was no improvement, which made Lisa even more anxious and restless.
Please read on...
Poor effect of drug treatment, balanced diet, and improved zinc supplementation
Zhang Yihao said that due to the poor effect of drug treatment and considering Lisa's diet, he decided to assist nutritional therapy, and pointed out that these symptoms may also be caused by the lack of zinc ions.
Suggest Lisa to eat more fresh and balanced food, exercise and rest more in free time, seek doctor's help and local treatment when the oral mucosa is painful and uncomfortable, and worked hard for another 2 months, and finally felt much better, and the oral mucosa of the tongue No longer festers for a long time.
Zhang Yihao explained that zinc ions are one of the essential trace elements for the human body, and participate in many body functions, including: regulating physiological functions, maintaining growth and development, normal metabolism of proteins and nucleic acids in the body, helping normal reproductive functions, raw materials for the composition of various enzymes, Maintain normal sense of taste and appetite, improve skin health.
If there is a lack of zinc ions, the following 6 major symptoms will appear:
●Children will be stunted.
● abnormal taste.
●Slower wound healing.
●Easy to get sick and catch a cold.
Zhang Yihao pointed out that the human body does not have a special system for storing zinc. It needs daily intake of zinc to maintain a stable state of zinc in the body. Foods high in zinc include oysters, beef, black beans, nuts, crabs, and wheat germ.
Zinc recommended intake
●Infants and young children (1-6 years old): 5 mg per day.
●School-age children (7-9 years old): 8 mg per day.
●Prepubertal children (10-12 years old): 10 mg per day.
●After puberty and adults: 15 mg per day for boys; 12 mg per day for girls.
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☆For more important medical news, please go to Liberty Health.com.

domain: biology


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HB 2916: Potential "terrorism" charges for nonviolent protests
Would create two new, sweeping “terrorism” offenses that could cover nonviolent protesters. One new offense, “terrorist violent mass action,” is defined to include “violent protests” and “riots” that “appear intended” to coerce or intimidate groups, governments, or societies. The bill provides that “any person or group that participates” in such an action commits “terrorism.” “Violent protest” is not defined in the bill or elsewhere in the law, nor does the bill require that a person individually commit any act of violence or property damage to be culpable. As such, someone who peacefully participates in a nonviolent but rowdy protest where a few individuals commit property damage could conceivably face felony charges for engaging in a “terrorist violent mass action.” Likewise, a nonprofit group involved in organizing or supporting such a protest could be deemed a “terrorist organization” under the bill. Individuals and organizations not directly involved in such a protest could also face felony “terrorism” charges for providing protesters with “material support”--broadly defined by the bill as “any property, tangible or intangible, or service.” The bill also creates a new “terrorism” offense for “actions… taken for political reasons to bar other persons from exercising their freedom of movement, via foot or any other conveyance.” As defined, that could cover a large, peaceful march that even temporarily stops traffic; under the bill, participants in such a march could face charges of “unlawful restraint, kidnapping, and terrorism.” Meanwhile, the bill provides complete immunity for people who “injure perpetrators or supporters of perpetrators” while attempting to “escape” such “unlawful restraint, kidnapping, and terrorism.” This provision would seem to eliminate consequences for acts of violence against protesters by people whose movement has been blocked by a protest, including drivers who hit protesters with their cars. Additionally, under the bill, any person or group that conducts “a deliberate attack” on “critical infrastructure” also commits “terrorism.” “Attack” is not defined or limited, for instance, to actions resulting in any actual damage, such that any large demonstration near infrastructure that authorities want to shut down could seemingly be deemed an “attack.” (See full text of bill here)
Introduced 23 Jan 2023.
Issue(s): Damage Costs, Conspiracy, Driver Immunity, Infrastructure, Security Costs, Riot, Terrorism, Traffic Interference


Ralepelle is not part of the current Bok squad due to injury, but was tested in France while recovering from a knee injury picked up playing for Toulouse against Biarritz in February.
The test was conducted during out-of-season random testing and Ralepelle could face two years out of the game if found guilty by an anti-doping disciplinary hearing. This could effectively rule him out of next year’s World Cup in England.
French paper L’Equipe reported Ralepelle, 27, failed the ‘A’ sample containing traces of Drostanalone, an anabolic steroid that is often used in bodybuilding.
Drostanalone is marketed as Masteron and is on the IRB’s banned list of substances, with its uses leading to higher levels of testosterone in the body. It has been medically used to lower cholesterol and in the treatment of breast cancer.
According to the French daily, Ralepelle was now “under investigation” and his club, Toulouse, had been informed of the positive test.
While the player is within his rights to request a B sample, his case would be affected by the fact he was already involved in a previous banned substance ordeal although he was found not guilty.
While on tour with the Boks under the former coach Peter de Villiers, he and fellow Bulls player wing Bjorn Basson were found to have a banned substance – methylhexanamine – in their system when tested after South Africa’s clash with Ireland in Dublin in 2010. The duo were sent home, but claimed the substance was in the Springbok-approved supplements they had taken and the charges were dropped.


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Madagascar by the numbers
As we get ready to leave the land of lemurs, here’s a look back at our travels in Madagascar:
- 16 – days we traveled around the country, five of which we spent honeymooning in the private Anjajavy reserve.
- 3818 – pictures we took, many of which are blurry, out-of-focus attempts at capturing sifakas mid-jump.
- 1450 – kilometers of route nationale we traversed, including all 100km of RN3 from Tana to Anjozorobe and the entire RN7, which stretches for nearly 1,000km from Tana to Tulear and is the only well-paved road in the south of Madagascar. This does not include the off-roading we did to access many of the places we visited.
- 30 – we don’t have a precise count, but this represents our best estimate of how many times D spontaneously burst out with the chorus to “Karma Chameleon,” only half those times when we actually saw chameleons. The fact that the song was playing in the taxi during our ride to the airport might be to blame for this. In addition to lemurs, Madagascar is famed for its reptiles. We saw half a dozen different chameleon species, ranging from pinky-sized ones to others that measured two feet from head to tail.
- 14 – varieties of lemurs we saw. This represents only a fraction of the 100+ distinct taxa, but we did a lot better if one considers just the main archetypes. The five lemur families are broken down into fifteen genera, of which we saw eight, including all the diurnal ones. In the daytime, we found indris, sifakas (white-and-brown Coquerel’s, orange-and-white diademed, and black-and-white Milne-Edwards’), true lemurs (common brown and red-fronted brown), ruffed lemurs, ring-tails, bamboo lemurs, and the nocturnal woolly lemurs. At night, we saw sportive lemurs and the diminutive mouse lemurs (there are 18 different mouse lemurs that have been identified throughout Madagascar and how to tell these tiny, shy, and sprightly creatures apart is anyone’s guess; location is usually the best indicator and we’ve been told that we saw the grey, golden brown, and rufous varieties on our several night walks in various parts of the country).
- 9 – different animals we’ve consumed. For a while, it was a dead heat between this number and the one above, but our visit to Andasibe helped put some daylight between how many exotic animals we saw in the wild vs. on our plates. Excluding fish and various kinds of seafood, we’ve been served zebu, pork, lamb, chicken, duck, quail, rabbit, bat, and frog.
- 5 – flights we’ve taken thus far, including one on an 8-seater Cessna that is the largest plane in the MTA fleet, the private airline that flies to Anjajavy. On the way back, the 8-seater was unavailable, which left us stranded in paradise for a few extra hours before returning to Tana in a private, 2-seater Cessna 206 belonging to French filmmaker Charles Gassot after it had deposited the hotel’s creator on the tiny dirt airstrip of Anjajavy International Airport.
- 3 – National Parks: we visited Andasibe, Ranomafana, and Isalo. Our hike in Tsara was in the Andringitra Mountains but did not cross into the national park. The primary forest around Anjozorobe remains unprotected though it might someday become developed enough to merit national park status.
- 2 – time zones we’ve been in, though one of them was the somewhat dubious Anjajavy time invented by the hotel barely ten years ago.
- And the most important number: this was one perfect and very memorable way to start our anniversary-moon.


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Diet plans can be a great resource for people looking to lose weight or streamline their nutrition. When choosing one program over the other, think about the individual foods allowed on the diet—if you must source some ingredients yourself, does this fit into your budget? Do the meals satisfy your preferred tastes, and do they incorporate alternatives for food allergies or sensitivities?
A gigantic Farmer’s Market-style salad with a variety of fresh seasonal produce and fresh herbs, such as fresh baby arugula and radicchio, and red wine vinegar sassed up with a little horseradish. Enjoy visiting your local Farmer’s Market every week and asking the vendors, “What’s new and tasty this week? What would make great ingredients for my salad?”
Ah, quinoa. This healthy, rich-tasting whole grain/seed has so many nutritional riches that it puts refined grains like white rice to shame. Tofu is the perfect sidekick because it’s both waistline-friendly (per bite, tofu tends to have about one-third the calories of meat and poultry) and heart-friendly (tofu has no artery-damaging saturated fat or cholesterol).
The idea is that the fasting induces mild stress to the cells in your body, helping them become better at coping with such stress and possibly helping your body grow stronger. The verdict is still out regarding the diet’s long-term effectiveness with weight loss, according to a review of preliminary animal research published in January 2017 in Behavioral Sciences. (17)
This company’s latest plan, Turbo 13, promises you’ll lose 13 pounds (and seven inches from your girth) in the first month. When you join Nutrisystem (membership is required), you’ll mix their pre-packaged meals with food you buy at the grocery store. The plan recommends splitting up your meals into a six a day. As with many diet plans, the research backs the short-term results, but there’s little evidence that it works in the long term. Convenience is the biggest pro; cons are the price and the highly processed foods. Nutrisystem is not for you if you are under 18, pregnant, or breastfeeding, or if you have food allergies. For research-backed tips, try these scientifically proven ways you can start losing weight right now.
Preheat oven to 400°. Coat a baking sheet and 1 (3-ounce) chicken breast with cooking spray; bake 30 minutes or until done. Chop 1 small potato into 1-inch cubes; toss with 2 cups broccoli spears, 2 teaspoons olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Roast 30 minutes. Mix vegetables with 2 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese and 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar; serve with chicken.
Liquid calories could sabotage weight loss success. Soda is an obvious culprit, but fruit juice, energy drinks, alcohol, and other sugary beverages could all also add to weight gain or obesity, according to research. “Sometimes a bottle of iced tea or juice has 2.5 servings,” says Lisa Lillien, founder of HungryGirl.com and author of the book The Hungry Girl Diet. “Read labels and you’ll see it’s just not worth it.” Dr. Bazilian adds that sodas and other fruit “drinks” don’t satisfy hunger—meaning you may eat equal or more in food calories too. These are the quick weight loss tips nutrition pros swear by.
* The average person can expect to lose 1-2 lbs. per week. Results may vary. Weight loss is influenced by exercise, food consumed and diet.* FREE 1-3 Day Shipping on Orders Over $99 from Shop.Atkins.com. ©2017 Atkins Nutritionals, Inc.Disclaimer: Nothing contained on this Site is intended to provide health care advice. Should you have any health care-related questions, please call or see your physician or other health care provider. Consult your physician or health care provider before beginning the Atkins Diet as you would any other weight loss or weight maintenance program. The weight loss phases of the Atkins Diet should not be used by persons on dialysis. Individual results may vary.
If you want to lose weight and feel better, you need to eat nutritious food that will keep you full for longer. Protein and fiber take longer to digest and therefore keep you feeling full for longer than simple carbohydrates and sugars. Whether you eat three bigger meals or five or six smaller ones throughout the day is entirely up to you, as long as you keep in mind the number of calories you consume. Typically, a woman should eat approximately 1400-1700 calories each day to lose weight, depending on their specific bodies and nutritional needs.
This could be because the body increases insulin secretion in anticipation that sugar will appear in the blood. When this doesn’t happen, blood sugar drops and hunger increases. Whether this chain of events regularly takes place is somewhat unclear. Something odd happened when I tested Pepsi Max though, and there are well-designed studies showing increased insulin when using artificial sweeteners.
Have Protein at Every Meal and Snack. Adding a source of lean or low-fat protein to each meal and snack will help keep you feeling full longer so you're less likely to overeat. Try low-fat yogurt, small portion of nuts, peanut butter, eggs, beans, or lean meats. Experts also recommend eating small, frequent meals and snacks (every 3-4 hours), to keep your blood sugar levels steady and to avoid overindulging.
Because they don’t cater to one person’s weird eating habits. They provide a general guide for normal palates. If you don’t like the food, make up your own plan. Or write up a plan for other picky eaters like yourself! Sounds like with the limited amount of food you find acceptable to eat, surely you shouldn’t be overweight. And if you rely on junky snack foods in place of these perfectly healthy AND flavorful options, nobody can help you but yourself.

domain: food


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High School Sports
- Scores & Schedule
Friday, April 12, 2013
Friday, April 12, 2013 | Region 15 | Played at Emery
Justin Hutchins hit two home runs, Brooke Lyman hit one home run, and Tatianna Sue Sue, along with earning credit for the win on the mound, also hit a home run in the San Juan win against Emery.
|SUE SUE, Tatiana||1|
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I know you all have been waiting for the Underworld Gang Wars game for a long time, it’s been a month or even a year but still, we don’t know when this game will be released.
But some time ago there has been some movement from the company’s side and the company has just conducted the final alpha playtest, which shows that the game is almost ready. So, let’s know about the UGW alpha playtest.
Final Alpha Playtests Of Underworld Gang Wars (UGW)
The company has recently completed its Underworld Gang Wars Final Alpha Playtest in which some gamers from India were called and they were given this game to play. They played the game and whatever they felt was good or bad, they gave their feedback on the basis of which the company updated it. Whatever flaws the game has. Will correct that and will soon present a fresh and great battle royale game before us.
As you can see in the video given below, the players are playing the game, currently, the players have played Single Mode, Duo Mode and Squad Mode, which are said to be very good, the players are also appreciating that the company has developed the game.
Made it even better. Some of these players had played the game earlier and after a few months, when they came back to play again, they felt the change and they also shared it with us.
What next after the Alpha Playtest of UGW Game
After the Alpha Playtest, the company is going to make a community Playtest in the month of December in which those Discord users whom they choose will get to play this game. Now it remains to be seen how the game is going to be.
I think this time a lot more people will get to play the game. You will get your feedback and give it to the company, whatever changes need to be made to it, we will release it as soon as possible.
I believe that the company will make a good game for us and no matter what happens, I would definitely like to play this game from my side and would like the game to be played by all the gamers in India as well as all over the world.

domain: hobby


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In February, the murder of long-time Orting citizen Mike Compton shook the small town’s sense of safety. What followed was a citizen uprising.
Mike’s murder was only Orting’s second in 15 years. On the night of February 19, 2014, police think he was attempting to protect his property when gas thieves turned his own gun on him. His wife, Nickie Compton, found him dying on their front porch.
Once the initial shock of the murder wore off, Mike’s friend, Chris Hopfauf, also a born-and-raised Orting resident, started a patrol group called “Compton’s Crew.” His goal was to patrol the streets of Orting to let the ne’er-do-wells know that someone was watching and that they’d be caught.
The community rallied behind Compton’s Crew in its infancy. But then, for many, as stories began to surface of alleged profiling and false reporting, the line between citizen patrol and law enforcement began to blur and the backlash began.
Hopfauf funded his crew by selling ribbons in camouflage-pattern material – Mike’s favorite. He said he raised about $600 from the sale of the ribbons and with that money, he was able to purchase Compton’s Crew gear: notebooks, pens, fliers, warning signs and the car magnets that identify Compton’s Crew patrol vehicles.
When Hopfauf started Compton’s Crew, he was unemployed and dedicated most of his time to the job of patrolling. Now, four months later, he’s found some employment but is still dedicated to patrolling in the lonely overnight hours of 2 a.m. to 6 a.m.
Other members of Compton’s Crew have a regular shift, as well.
I joined Hopfauf for one of his patrols. “We’re just going to take a little drive, I need to go down through Village Green, there’s a lady down there that keeps asking for patrol,” Hopfauf says as he starts up his truck.
He patrols Orting in a grid pattern: Northwest, Northeast, Southwest, and Southeast.
“We need to go through the Northeast neighborhood because that was the neighborhood we were asked to stay out of by a few people,” he says.
You can’t derail Hopfauf from his mission. He’ll even admit that friends have asked him to back down, to stop the patrols, to stop the further divide in the community. But Compton’s Crew is Hopfauf’s outlet to deal with his friend’s murder.
“Anything we can do to keep Mike’s murder out there on the forefront, that’s what it’s all about,” Hopfauf says, as if he’s said it a million times.
Hopfauf says the ugly truth is that Orting has a drug problem and that Compton was an innocent victim of the town’s inability to keep it under control. So, he figured he’d try.
“One of these homes right here is a drug house,” Hopfauf says pointing to a nondescript white house in the middle of a seemingly nice neighborhood. “These are the ones that are coming down and making their drug deals behind this lady’s house here.”
He’s referring to Compton’s Crew supporter Suzy Paschall, who has signs outside of her house thanking Compton’s Crew for their patrols. The side fence of her house is apparently a popular hangout for drug dealers and users.
“She’s picked up needles and foil and baggies and all kinds of stuff,” Hopfauf says.
We patrolled for about two hours by slowly weaving through Orting neighborhoods, slowing for suspected drug houses or anyone who looks out of place. That night we didn’t see any activity that would warrant a call to police. But that’s a far cry from the crime reporting you’ll get on the Compton’s Crew Facebook page.
When Hopfauf isn’t patrolling, he’s at home posting to the Compton’s Crew Facebook page at all hours. He does that on purpose so the “rats” think he’s always watching.
“Rats” is his nickname for the trouble-makers of Orting. Their tales are featured prominently on Hopfauf’s Facebook page, which acts as a message board that might be doing more harm than good for him.
“Some of the language, some of the accusations I’ve used on Facebook, some of the comments I’ve made out of anger or sarcasm were taken to heart and just keep coming back on me time and time again,” Hopfauf says.
Hopfauf tries to ignore the negativity his page has garnered, but when you run on high emotion like he does, it can be hard to turn the other cheek. Even with the support of Mike’s widow, Nickie Compton, it might be too late to undo the bad publicity Compton’s Crew has experienced.
“We want to go a step farther and the accusations of targeting teens has just been grossly exaggerated,” says Hopfauf.
However, during my time in Orting, a citizen slipped me some court documents detailing an encounter between Hopfauf and a group of teens.
Hofauf says the teens harassed him and his 6-year-old son at the park and mooned them in the process. The teens alleged Chris threatened them with a bat and made up a report about “indecent exposure” when the teen says he pulled his pants down slightly to show his friend a skateboarding injury.
Others who spoke with me have their own stories of conflicts between Chris and teens. “It was very aggressive, that is, even the police won’t do that,” says Orting City Councilmember William Birkes of an alleged encounter between his teenage son and Hopfauf.
An anti-Compton’s Crew Facebook page popped up that was made by a group of teens.
Those teenagers were ready to give me an interview during my time in Orting, but backed out saying they’d noticed Hopfauf had backed off in recent days. Other Facebook pages joined in that were seeking to shut down Compton’s Crew.
Community members in the newer housing development in northeast Orting are also fed up with Compton’s Crew. They say Hopfauf has unnecessarily profiled their own teenage kids.
“If you see them doing something criminal, then call the cops. Don’t call just because you want to know if they’re doing something wrong,” says parent Felicia Lariva.
Members of the city council question his motivation, too. And Mayor Joe Pestinger, has concerns about Compton’s Crew running his streets.
“I’ve had people come to me and come to the city council meetings saying, ‘Hey, wait a minute maybe this group is going a little bit overboard and are infringing on our rights,” Pestinger said.
What do you do when there’s a murder in town, you see a drug problem on your streets, and you’re trying to patrol to make things safer? What do you do when there’s pushback from the community and city officials?
Hopfauf is defiant and says he won’t back down.


How health care reform impacts coverage WMUR New Hampshire Sat, 30 Jun 2012 02:37 AM PDT The Supreme Court's ruling Thursday to uphold health care reform has widespread implications for both insured and uninsured consumers.
Lake Stevens man struggles to afford prescriptions Everett Herald Sat, 30 Jun 2012 02:35 AM PDT When he hits the doughnut hole in Medicare, Jack Holden pays about $350 a month. The health care bill will reduce out-of-pocket costs for those on the prescription drug plan.
Wildfire smoke may pose health risk Glenwood Springs Post Independent Sat, 30 Jun 2012 02:32 AM PDT National Jewish Health LungLine (800) 222-LUNG / (800) 222-5864 Registered nurses are staffing this line. The service is free.
Some Dems still skittish on health care; GOP riled Laramie Boomerang Sat, 30 Jun 2012 02:32 AM PDT The constitutional win for President Barack Obama and Democrats on health care overhaul is reopening political cuts within the party over the unpopular law.
Will the unpopular health mandate penalty be effective? Minnesota Public Radio Sat, 30 Jun 2012 02:30 AM PDT The Supreme Court's decision to uphold the individual mandate requiring Americans to have health insurance or pay a penalty has angered some people and frightened others.
What small business can expect after health ruling Everett Herald Sat, 30 Jun 2012 02:25 AM PDT The overhaul of the nation's health care system requires that by 2014, all businesses with 50 or more employees must provide health care benefits that are deemed affordable under the law.
Some small companies may opt for fine over coverage Everett Herald Sat, 30 Jun 2012 02:25 AM PDT As small businesses consider their options after the U.S. Supreme Court's health care ruling, some say the fines may be cheaper than covering their employees.


Recently I have been using the graph database neo4j to visualise a dataset. If you have used the HTML-based graph visualisation engine inside the neo4j browser you would have quickly come to the realisation that is not a well fit for anything else than visualising a minimal set of nodes and relationships.
Previously I have used Gephi for visualisations, and that is normally my weapon of choice when it comes to Desktop-based processing of graphs of several reasons.
So the question obviously was: how to get the nodes from neo4j to Geph
I actually thought that this topic was well described online before I started. Turns out that it wasn’t. The closest I came to a working tutorial was this post by Graph people. That and the APOC user tutorial which was a bit daunting by the first looks of it. Long story short, APOC is the one plugin you want.
With that in mind, I ended up with the following architecture.
APOC - or “Awesome Procedures On Cypher” (I chose that variant), serves as a streaming client for a streaming server running inside Gephi. This means that when a query runs, as shown in the figure above, with a call to the APOC procedure for Gephi - the objects streams to Gephi’s HTTP JSON-server.
Setting Up neo4j
There is a couple of steps that you should take at this point:
I’ll make this brief. First off, setup Neo4j like this:
cd /usr/local/src/ mkdir /usr/local/src/neo4j-community-3.4.6/ wget https://go.neo4j.com/download-thanks.html?edition=community&release=3.4.6&flavour=unix tar -xvf neo4j-community-3.4.6.tar cd neo4j-community-3.4.6/plugins wget https://github.com/neo4j-contrib/neo4j-apoc-procedures/releases/download/18.104.22.168/apoc-22.214.171.124-all.jar cd ../ && ./bin/neo4j start
You have now installed the neo4j community server, installed the APOC plugin and
started neo4j locally. I suggest you go to the “neo4j Browser” at
http://localhost:7474/browser/ to get to know the workbench a little better.
Setting Up Gephi
For this step you will need Gephi (desktop application) that you can get from here.
Next: go to the Tools menu, select Plugins and install the Graph Streaming plugin:
After restarting Gephi, you can create and start the streaming server at port 8080. The default config is on the APOC side, so you will need to change that in neo4j if you’d like to use another url and port.
At this point Gephi is listening on port 8080 for objects streamed from neo4j APOC.
Streaming from neo4j Browser
To get vertices (nodes) and edges (relations) from neo4j to Gephi, you will need to stream the objects. Go to the “neo4j Browser”. Once inside, execute something like the following query. This may export many objects, so make sure you keep this in mind.
MATCH path = (some_label)-[some_relation]->(some_label) CALL apoc.gephi.add(null,'workspace1',path,'weight',['address','desc','comment']) yield nodes return *
So what happened above? The APOC docs on Gephi streaming describes the procedure as the following:
apoc.gephi.add(url-or-key, workspace, data, weightproperty, ['exportproperty']) | streams passed in data to Gephi
The command was confusing to me at first, especially the part passed to Gephi. The
exportproperty defined as neo4j graph properties on beforehand as
comment is the ones that will show up if you have a look at the columns in the Gephi “Data Laboratory”. These will be custom to your graph, and if you use e.g. the Python neo4jrestclient - they are the ones you add as:
Once again, these will show up as (I added
address_type after the data export, so that doesn’t show in the screenshot):


Just knowing that your import car’s engine maintenance will never follow the general rules of domestic brand cars is enough to bring it in to a specialist. Your vehicle is designed differently from the ground up, and requires special care to be serviced properly. Our experience with foreign car engine repair allows us to approach engine maintenance and repairs with the skill necessary to service your vehicle with efficiency and speed. Getting your luxury import back on the road quickly and with as little expense possible is our number one priority, and a skill at which we excel.
Especially for drivers of imported vehicles, it is important to make sure that your engine repairs are conducted by qualified technicians. This will ensure that your car gets the care it needs to function properly. The difficult thing is that here in Phoenix AZ, engine repair for quality import vehicles is few and far between.
Luckily, we at Arizona Import Specialists have dedicated our time, training, and expertise to making sure that your engine maintenance is well in hand. Our technicians are ASE certified professionals who have honed their skills over the years to address the specific needs of your quality import vehicle. Engine maintenance is one of the most important things that you can do for the value of your vehicle. Keeping your engine tuned properly will help ensure the smooth operation of your vehicle, but it will also help your engine stay well preserved for as long as possible.
One of the most important things to remember about engine maintenance is the fact that it extends beyond the simple oil change. In fact, there are a few processes that should be conducted at specific intervals. For example; changing out the belts which drive the secondary components of your engine before they wear out entirely can do wonders for the longevity of your vehicle. Belts which run your alternator, fans, and effect timing can actually do damage to other components of the engine if you allow them to break. Another process to keep in mind is the fact that your engine needs to be able to cool itself effectively. Making sure that your radiator, its hoses and fluids are operating properly can save you a roadside breakdown, and a bundle of cash.
Another example of important maintenance scheduling is the Mini Cooper. There are actually two levels of scheduled maintenance that need to be done. These two inspection levels must be conducted periodically or your vehicle will experience serious troubles down the road. One of the most interesting features of the Mini Cooper is the service countdown; this is what will give you an indication of the best time to have your vehicle serviced with either Inspection one or two.
At Arizona Import Specialists, we work hard to keep your car in the best condition possible. We understand that there is a reason you chose to drive a fine import vehicle. We take pride in our ability to repair and maintain you import vehicles with excellent accuracy. We understand that imported vehicles require their own procedures and are prone to a different set of issues than the standard domestic vehicle. Our experience working with vehicles from all over the world has given us valuable insight and a specific skill set of working with fine imported vehicles.
Our love for imported vehicles has lead us to use a specific approach with auto repair. Because of our experience with these vehicles, we are able to understand the root of the issues that your vehicle is experiencing and attack the root of the issue rather than simply repair the side effects. This practice is what will actually keep your vehicle operating long into the future.
For any driver in Phoenix AZ, BMW, Mini Cooper, Audi, Toyota, or any foreign car engine maintenance can be a frightening prospect. The real issue when it comes to any major engine repairs is to find out exactly what the problem is and find out what it will cost to conduct the proper engine maintenance.


2D AND 3D DRAWINGS
3D Model structures and weight:
3D modelling is vital for any project that relies on the analysis of different candidate shapes and structural solutions by different methods of simulations such as FEA and CFD.
The quality of the results of such analysis requires a state of the art modelling software. We use Pro/Engineer and CATIA as a central 3D tool that serves as the origin of all geometrical inputs for the FEA and CFD analysis. Furthermore, MAAT is used for the design of hull shapes and hydrostatic and stability calculations.
In-house software called CONDOR has been developed to perform a very accurate weight and centre of gravity estimation based on variable parameters such as hull shape, canting angle, rig configuration, weight, etc.
From this very 3D accurate model, will be extracted all the 2D deliverables needed for the boat yard to build the yacht.
As described in our Design Spiral process, it is very common that each drawings gets to be revised at least 3 times.


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There’s already a high level of self-sufficiency in St. Croix – where many, many homes rely almost entirely on rainwater cisterns for their freshwater supply. As batteries and residential renewable energy become cheaper, many residents may willfully follow Mr. Boyd’s footsteps, and begin to fully opt-out of the Virgin Island electric system by going off grid. But for economies of scale, utility-scale renewables and large batteries can pack a big economic punch. Lower systemwide power prices can help reduce electric bills, but also attract new companies seeking paradise on a dime. Meanwhile, brandishing ecological credentials could improve the islands’ largest industry: tourism. In the Netherlands, tourists readily pay for windmill and wind farm excursions.
As the Virgin Islands celebrate the 100th anniversary of Transfer Day, let’s hope it won’t take another 100 years for renewable energy.
Just over 6,600 megawatts of installed wind power capacity exists in the Sooner State – enough to meet about 25% of the state’s annual electricity needs – more than what coal provides. Oklahoma installed nearly 2,000 megawatts in 2016 alone. By the end of the year, Oklahoma became third in the nation for the most wind power installed.
The South’s newest wind farm, Amazon Wind Farm U.S. East, in North Carolina is a perfect example of the impact a wind farm can make on a local, rural economy. The project generated approximately 250 construction jobs and 14 permanent jobs, but these statistics just touch the surface when it comes to economic activity. The wind farm is a $400 million capital investment in Perquimans and Pasquotank Counties, and the project is expected to generate $250,000 in property tax revenues in just 2017 alone. The wind developer, Avangrid (formally Iberdrola), is now the largest taxpayer in the two counties the turbines are located in. The combination of landowner payments and local taxes add up to $1.1 million injected into the local economy a year!
This wind farm is a monumental step not just for North Carolina, but for the entire Southeast. There is only one other wind farm in the south, Invenergy’s Buffalo Mountain Wind Energy Center in Tennessee. With so few wind farms operating in the region, wind power remains a fairly unfamiliar resource. That makes it easier for anti-wind energy activists to spread misinformation and nonsense. But as people begin to see the positive effects of wind power in their community, it becomes obvious that wind power is a winner. Studies suggests that states with more wind farms boast more public support for wind energy.As more wind farms are developed throughout the South, public acceptance will continue to increase.
The new study highlights the beneficial job and economic development impacts associated with the proposed power line. According to the study, the Southern Cross Transmission project will provide significant economic benefits within Louisiana, and Mississippi, including $3.9 billion in total direct, indirect, induced and fiscal economic impact. The benefits primarily stem from construction, potential local tax revenue, and operations. Notably, the benefits from low-cost wind power associated with the transmission project were not included in the analysis, suggesting a conservative analysis.
Wind power is wildly popular. But, wind power hasn’t been as quick to catch on here in the south, so we get a lot of questions and comments about wind energy. Let’s clear the air on wind farms.
Wind resources from western Oklahoma and Texas – where the Clean Line and Pattern Energy transmission line projects will source wind – are being marketed at prices around $20-30 per MWh. That’s comparable to the price of operating a modern natural gas power plant, making wind not only cost-effective but a guaranteed low-cost electricity source for decades in the future.
The single most-significant difference came from the so-called ‘leading experts’: a hand-selected group of 22 individuals who are among the wind sector’s most knowledgeable and senior leaders. Those experts were, on average, even more optimistic about wind energy cost reduction, expecting LCOE to decline by 27% by 2030 and 48% by 2050 in the median scenario, and by 57% and 66% in the low scenario (Figure 4). The views of this group suggest even greater potential for cost reduction than noted earlier.
Thanks to NPS’s new sound level mapping, it is fairly clear that a 35 decibel sound limit isn’t just discriminatory to wind farms, it’s likely impossible to achieve under already-existing conditions in significant portions of the country. By enacting sound level regulations that are below existing, ambient sound levels, anti-wind energy activists are obviously attempting to ban wind farms.
Wind power is an American success story. Wind turbine component manufacturing or support facilities exist in all 50 states. Domestic content for wind farm projects is around 60%, meaning American jobs are helping build America’s domestic energy industry. In 2014, American companies exported about half a billion dollars worth of wind turbine components around the globe. A few major manufacturers here in the southern United States include General Electric’s turbine facility in Pensacola, Florida, Blade Dynamics in New Orleans, ZF Windpower in Georgia, PPG Industries in North Carolina, LM Blades in Little Rock, just to name a few.


text:
Hamilton v. Unknown
ORDER signed by Magistrate Judge Michael J. Seng on 9/30/2013 to SHOW CAUSE; to submit IFP Application or pay filing fee; file Prisoner Civil Rights Complaint re 2 , 3 Notice; 12 Order. (Show Cause Response and Filing Deadline: 11/4/2013). (Attachments: # 1 Complaint Form and IFP Application)(Lundstrom, T)
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
ORDER (1) TO SUBMIT APPLICATION
TO PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS
OR PAY FILING FEE, and (2) TO FILE
PRISONER CIVIL RIGHTS COMPLAINT
ON PROPER FORM
ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE WHY
ACTION SHOULD NOT BE DISMISSED
FOR FAILURE TO OBEY COURT
ORDERS AND FAILURE TO
Case No. 1:13-cv-01462-MJS (PC)
(ECF Nos. 2, 3, 12)
THIRTY DAY DEADLINE
This action was opened in the United States District Court for the Northern
22 District of California on July 18, 2013 based upon Plaintiff’s letter to the Honorable
23 Thelton E. Henderson alleging that prison staff at Kern Valley State Prison (“KVSP”)
24 had participated in a "pattern of racketeering activity" and thereby created an "extremely
25 dangerous and stressful prison environment." (ECF No. 1.)
Plaintiff was notified his action would be dismissed unless, by August 26, 2013,
27 he submitted a complaint on the proper form and either paid the $400 filing fee or
28 submitted a completed in forma pauperis (“IFP”) application. (ECF Nos. 2, 3.) On
1 September 10, 2013, the case was ordered transferred to this Court. (ECF No. 12.)
The August 26, 2013 deadline has passed without Plaintiff filing a complaint on
3 the proper form and either paying the $400 filing fee or submitting a completed in forma
4 pauperis application.
REQUIREMENT TO PROCEED IFP OR PAY FEE
Plaintiff is a state prisoner proceeding pro se in a civil rights action pursuant to 42
7 U.S.C. § 1983. He has not paid the $400.00 filing fee or submitted an application to
8 proceed IFP pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915.
Within thirty days from the date of this order, Plaintiff shall submit the attached
10 application to proceed in forma pauperis, completed and signed, or in the alternative,
11 pay the $400.00 filing fee for this action. No requests for extension will be granted
12 without a showing of good cause. Within sixty (60) days of the date of service of this
13 order, Plaintiff shall submit a certified copy of his/her prison trust statement for the six
14 month period immediately preceding the filing of this action.
REQUIREMENT TO SUBMIT CIVIL RIGHT COMPLAINT
Plaintiff’s July 18, 2013 letter does not state a cognizable federal claim. 28
17 U.S.C. § 1915A(a).
Section 1983 “provides a cause of action for the deprivation of any rights,
20 privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws of the United States.”
21 Wilder v. Virginia Hosp. Ass'n, 496 U.S. 498, 508 (1990), quoting 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
22 Section 1983 is not itself a source of substantive rights, but merely provides a method
23 for vindicating federal rights conferred elsewhere. Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386,
24 393-94 (1989).
To state a claim under § 1983, a plaintiff must allege two essential elements: (1)
26 that a right secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States was violated and (2)
27 that the alleged violation was committed by a person acting under the color of state law.
28 See West v. Atkins, 487 U.S. 42, 48 (1988); Ketchum v. Alameda Cnty., 811 F.2d 1243,
1 1245 (9th Cir. 1987).
A complaint must contain “a short and plain statement of the claim showing that
3 the pleader is entitled to relief . . . .” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2). Detailed factual allegations
4 are not required, but “[t]hreadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action,
5 supported by mere conclusory statements, do not suffice.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S.
6 662, 678 (2009), citing Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007).
7 Plaintiff must set forth “sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to state a claim that is
8 plausible on its face.” Id. Facial plausibility demands more than the mere possibility that
9 a defendant committed misconduct and, while factual allegations are accepted as true,
10 legal conclusions are not. Id. at 667-68.
The Court must dismiss a complaint or portion thereof if the prisoner has raised
12 claims that are legally “frivolous, malicious,” or that fail to state a claim upon which relief
13 may be granted, or that seek monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from
14 such relief. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1),(2). “Notwithstanding any filing fee, or any portion
15 thereof, that may have been paid, the court shall dismiss the case at any time if the
16 court determines that . . . the action or appeal . . . fails to state a claim upon which relief
17 may be granted.” 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii).
No Federal Claim Stated
No Named Individual Defendants
Plaintiff fails to name any defendant(s). Fed. R. Civ. P. 10(a). He may not
21 proceed against unidentified defendants other than by naming “Doe” defendants.
Pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, Plaintiff must demonstrate that each named
23 Defendant personally participated in the deprivation of his rights. Jones v. Williams, 297
24 F.3d 930, 934 (9th Cir. 2002). The Supreme Court has emphasized that the term
25 “supervisory liability,” loosely and commonly used by both courts and litigants alike, is a
26 misnomer. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 677. “Government officials may not be held liable for the
27 unconstitutional conduct of their subordinates under a theory of respondeat superior.”
28 Id. at 676. Rather, each government official, regardless of his or her title, is only liable
1 for his or her own misconduct, and therefore, Plaintiff must demonstrate that each
2 Defendant, through his or her own individual actions, violated Plaintiff's constitutional
3 rights. Id. at 676–77.
Plaintiff may not attribute liability to groups generally. See Chuman v. Wright, 76
5 F.3d 292, 294–95 (9th Cir. 1996) (holding instruction permitting jury to find individual
6 liable as member of team, without any showing of individual wrongdoing, is improper).
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Immune
8 from Suit
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (“CDCR”), allegedly
10 engaged in racketeering, is immune from suit. The CDCR is a state agency and is
11 entitled to Eleventh Amendment immunity. Aholelei v. Dept. of Public Safety, 488 F.3d
12 1144, 1147 (9th Cir. 2007).
Plaintiff May not Bring a Class Action
Plaintiff asserts this is a class action. However, Plaintiff is not an attorney and is
15 proceeding without counsel. A non-attorney proceeding pro se may bring his own claims
16 to court, but may not represent others. Fymbo v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co., 213
17 F.3d 1320, 1321 (10th Cir. 2000); Johns v. County of San Diego, 114 F.3d 874, 876 (9th
18 Cir. 1997); C. E. Pope Equity Trust v. United States, 818 F.2d 696, 697 (9th Cir. 1987).
19 A pro se litigant simply cannot “fairly and adequately protect the interests of the class.”
20 Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)(4); Fymbo, 213 F.3d at 1321. Therefore, this action will be
21 construed as an individual civil suit brought by Plaintiff rather than as a class action.
Plaintiff May not Bring Criminal Action
Plaintiff does not have an individual right of action to enforce criminal statutes
24 cited in his letter to Judge Henderson.1 Plaintiff may not file a criminal complaint. 28
25 U.S.C. § 547; Ivey v. National Treasury Employees Union, No. 05-1147 (EGS), 2007
26 WL 915229, *5 (D.D.C. Mar. 27, 2007); see also Figueroa v. Clark, 810 F.Supp. 613,
Plaintiff cites to 18 U.S.C. §§ 241-242, 1512-1513, 1693, 1701-1703, 1951, 1959, 1961-1968.
1 615 (E.D.Pa. 1992) (plaintiff “cannot bring criminal charges against defendants through
2 a private lawsuit,”). Moreover, where federal statutes contain provisions for criminal
3 penalties, citizen suits, judicial review, or even administrative proceedings alone, the
4 Supreme Court has found the remedial scheme sufficiently comprehensive to foreclose
5 an independent § 1983 cause of action. See City of Rancho Palos Verdes v. Abrams,
6 544 U.S. 113, 121-22 (2005); see also Buckley v. City of Redding, 66 F.3d 188, 191-92
7 (9th Cir. 1995).
FAILURE TO PROSECUTE
Plaintiff has not complied with Court orders that, by August 26, 2013, he submit a
10 complaint on the proper form and either pay the $400 filing fee or submit a completed
11 IFP application.
Local Rule 110 provides that “failure of counsel or of a party to comply with these
13 Rules or with any order of the Court may be grounds for imposition by the Court of any
14 and all sanctions . . . within the inherent power of the Court.” District courts have the
15 inherent power to control their dockets and “in the exercise of that power, they may
16 impose sanctions including, where appropriate . . . dismissal of a case.” Thompson v.
17 Housing Auth., 782 F.2d 829, 831 (9th Cir. 1986). A court may dismiss an action, with
18 prejudice, based on a party’s failure to prosecute, failure to obey a court order, or failure
19 to comply with local rules. See, e.g., Ghazali v. Moran, 46 F.3d 52, 53-54 (9th Cir. 1995)
20 (dismissal for noncompliance with local rule); Ferdik v. Bonzelet, 963 F.2d 1258, 126021 61 (9th Cir. 1992) (dismissal for failure to comply with an order requiring amendment of
22 a complaint); Carey v. King, 856 F.2d 1439, 1440-41 (9th Cir. 1988) (dismissal for
23 failure to comply with local rule requiring pro se plaintiffs to keep court apprised of
24 address); Malone v. U.S. Postal Service, 833 F.2d 128, 130 (9th Cir. 1987) (dismissal
25 for failure to comply with a court order); Henderson v. Duncan, 779 F.2d 1421, 1424
26 (9th Cir. 1986) (dismissal for lack of prosecution and failure to comply with local rules).
In determining whether to dismiss an action for lack of prosecution, failure to
28 obey an order, or failure to comply with local rules, the Court must consider several
1 factors: (1) the public’s interest in expeditious resolution of litigation; (2) the Court’s
2 need to manage its docket; (3) the risk of prejudice to the defendants; (4) the public
3 policy favoring disposition of cases on their merits; and (5) the availability of less drastic
4 alternatives. Thompson, 782 F.2d at 831; Henderson, 779 F.2d at 1423-24; Malone,
5 833 F.2d at 130; Ferdik, 963 F.2d at 1260-61; Ghazali, 46 F.3d at 53.
In the instant case, the public’s interest in expeditiously resolving this litigation
7 and the Court’s interest in managing its docket weigh in favor of dismissal. The third
8 factor, risk of prejudice to defendant(s), also weighs in favor of dismissal, since a
9 presumption of injury arises from the occurrence of unreasonable delay in prosecuting
10 this action. Anderson v. Air West, 542 F.2d 522, 524 (9th Cir. 1976). The fourth factor -11 public policy favoring disposition of cases on their merits -- is greatly outweighed by the
12 factors in favor of dismissal discussed herein. Finally, as for the availability of lesser
13 sanctions, at this stage in the proceedings there is little available which would constitute
14 a satisfactory lesser sanction while preserving scarce Court resources. Plaintiff has not
15 paid the filing fee for this action and is likely unable to pay, making monetary sanctions
16 of little use, and given the early stage of these proceedings, the preclusion of evidence
17 or witnesses is not available.
Plaintiff has not responded to Court orders (ECF No. 2, 3, 12).
CONCLUSIONS AND ORDER
Plaintiff has not responded to Court orders for prosecution of this action.
Accordingly, it is HEREBY ORDERED THAT:
The Clerk's Office shall send Plaintiff (1) a blank civil rights complaint form
and (2) a copy of his letter to Judge Henderson filed July 18, 2013 (ECF
Within thirty (30) days of service of this order, Plaintiff shall show cause as
to why this action should not be dismissed for failure to comply with Court
orders (ECF No. 2, 3, 12), or file a complaint on the proper form and either
an application to proceed in forma pauperis, or pay the $400 filing fee; and
If Plaintiff fails to show cause, or file a complaint on the proper form and
either file an application to proceed IFP or pay the $400 filing fee, it shall
be recommended that this action be dismissed without prejudice for failure
to obey Court orders and failure to prosecute, with all pending motions
IT IS SO ORDERED.
September 30, 2013
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
DEAC _Signature- END:
Michael J. Seng
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domain: law


text: Smallholder plantation accounts for 39% of total oil palm plantation in Indonesia, which is currently estimated at 12 million ha. Limited information on spatial distribution of smallholder oil palm and the growth of plantation pose a great challenge for providing information in scientific based. Therefore, information on smallholder oil palm plantation are necessary and they will give valuable input for policy maker and related stakeholders. This study is aimed to generate smallholder oil palm distribution map using optical satellite data of SPOT 7 and investigate the backscatter values of ALOS PALSAR-2 with height and age of oil palm in mineral soil and peatland. We mapped 46,756 ha of smallholder plantation or about 18% of total oil palm plantation in district of Kotawaringin Barat, Central Kalimantan province and 14% of which is located on peatland area. From the result, height to age mineral soil has a strong relationship with R2 value 0.80 but weak in peatland with R2 value 0.31. Relationship between height and backscatter in mineral soil has R2 value 0.43 for HH and 0.30 for HV and in peatland 0.28 for HH and 0.15. Relationship between age and backscatter in mineral soil has moderately strong correlation with R2 value 0.55 for HH and 0.37 for HV and in peatland 0.36 for HH and 0.28. In all relationship, independent variables are statistically significant with Significance-F value lower than 0.05. In general, height, age, and backscatter relationship in peatland is lower than in mineral soil. Backscatter value can be useful for studying height and age of smallholder oil palm. Further studies are suggested to involve more potential variables and utilize multi temporal datasets in determining height and age of oil palm trees using backscatter values.

domain: literature


text:
Today's topic is How To Practice Self Compassion
Listen to “How To Practice Self Compassion” on Spreaker.
Audio On How To Practice Self Compassion Contributed by Our Friends at The School of Life
In today's audio, our friends from The School of Life share a brilliant message with us on the importance of self compassion.
Thought For Today:If your compassion does not include yourself, it's incomplete. Click To Tweet
More Links and Resources On How To Practice Self Compassion
Click Below Now
More Great Self-Improvement Books and Resources
Show Notes and Credits:
Audio clip in today's episode of the 7 Good Minutes Podcast is courtesy of our friends at The School of Life
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Thanks for Listening Today!
If you enjoyed this podcast please share it with someone you believe will also enjoy, and benefit from listening to it.
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- Ask Clyde questions via Twitter @ClydeLeeDennis
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- Leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Your ratings and reviews really help out a lot.
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Even More Great Resources from around the Web on Self Compassion:
Self Compassion Isn't Selfish
(This article originally appeared at compasspointcounseling.net)
If you’re like many people, you spend a good deal of energy and time beating yourself up! You may frequently engage in an internal monologue about how lame it was for you to have said something or how you’re not successful enough, or not good looking enough.
This toxic internal self-speak merely adds to your troubles. Self-compassion, on the other hand, helps us build resilience to difficulties that have the potential to sink us into a state of self-defeat. When we make mistakes or experience a rough day, having self-compassion allows us to get back in the game and try again, rather than being swallowed by a self-centered swamp of self-pity.
What Exactly Is Self-Compassion?
Self-compassion is the antidote to self-deprecation. Sadly, many people put themselves down with self-loathing comments. In the movie Annie Hall, Woody Allen plays a character named Alvy who says, “I would never want to belong to any club that would have someone like me for a member.”
Some people think putting themselves down is cool, funny or charming. In Self Compassion: Stop Beating Yourself Up and Leave Insecurity Behind, renowned self-compassion advocate, psychologist, professor and speaker, Kristin Neff, Ph.D., promotes a very different message.
Neff explains that self-compassion is a must in today’s day and age. She states that it is very different from selfishness. Neff says self-compassion is comprised of three distinct ingredients: mindfulness, empathy, and connection.
By now, you have likely heard the word Mindfulness a few hundred times. It is quite the buzzword these days! But what exactly does it mean to be mindful and how does mindfulness relate to self-compassion?
Mindfulness means being aware of what is. It does not require changing anything. Rather, mindfulness means paying attention to or drawing our awareness to our own thoughts, feelings, reactions, emotions or surroundings, at the moment. Sounds simple, right? Well, not so much because we often go through life reacting without thinking.
Have you ever driven to work and then wondered how you got there or not remembered anything about the drive itself? Often, we ruminate about something that occurred in the past or worry about something that could occur in the future, so much that we have little awareness of what is occurring right here and now, in front of us.
Mindfulness draws us in to notice and become more aware of what is–a requirement of having self-compassion. You cannot have self-compassion if you are not mindful of what is.
The second ingredient of self-compassion is empathy. When we have self-compassion, we treat ourselves with the same empathy that we would a good friend. Why must we be quick to forgive our friends when they make an honest mistake but we hold ourselves to such high demands that we cannot do the same for ourselves? We are only human, after all.
We pride ourselves on being empathetic to others’ needs, treating others with kindness and love, just as we should. Yet, at the same time, when it comes to how we treat ourselves, we are downright relentless. What would happen if we gave ourselves the same sort of empathy that we provide so freely to others?
How might that change the way we operate in our daily lives? I believe we would feel calmer, cared for, happier and more peaceful.
Neff describes the third and final ingredient of self-compassion as a connection or connectedness to others. When we notice our connection with others and appreciate that we’re all human and “we’re all in this together,” it makes facing life’s challenges more tolerable.
Conversely, when we believe that we are the only ones in the world with a particular difficulty, we become self-absorbed, we isolate ourselves further, and we pity ourselves.
In effect, we become more selfish and self-centered. Whereas, when we feel a connection with those around us, we have confidence that everything will turn out ok—that others face this difficulty too, and if we can’t tackle it by ourselves, we know people who have already faced a similar challenge who can help us.
Take Care of Yourself So You Can Take Care of Others
I attended a workshop about a year ago led by Neff who instructed participants to think of the video that airlines show passengers before taking flight on an airplane. The video instructs you to first place an oxygen mask on your own face before helping others with their oxygen masks because if you cannot breathe, you cannot possibly help anyone else.
Similarly, when we practice self-compassion, we are better equipped to help those around us. Without adequate self-compassion, we sink into self-absorption, making it more difficult to support others.
This is the distinction between self-compassion and selfishness. It is with mindfulness, empathy toward ourselves, and the recognition that we are all in this thing called life together, that we can practice self-compassion, and more effectively help ourselves and each other.
This recipe can be difficult to follow but if you keep at it, the end result can bring you more satisfaction in life.
(Read more at compasspointcounseling.net)
You might also enjoy:
5 Ways to Boost Your Self-Compassion
Self-compassion is the ability to accept, understand, and love yourself. It is basically treating yourself as you would your family or friends: with kindness and empathy instead of self-judgment and criticism.
I just watched a 35-minute interview with Dr. Kristin Neff last night on the importance of self compassion. I found it fascinating because it is something that I realize I myself have been struggling with.
You’re always messing things up. You’ll never get things right. You never seem to say the right thing. You are ugly. You don’t belong to be here.
The School of Life is an organization built to help us find calm, self-understanding, resilience, and connection especially during troubled times.
We place emphasis on the need to understand ourselves better, so that we can secure serenity and make optimally reliable decisions, particularly around love and work.

domain: psychology


text:
Bobby Short has always shown an uncanny ability to find the right song for the right moment. And in opening his 31st spring season at the Cafe Carlyle, the eternally ebullient singer and pianist gleefully trotted out a 1936 Cole Porter chestnut, ''Rap Tap on Wood,'' that he first recorded 28 years ago. ''When every meal you take/Is made of milk and honey/ When every stock you stake/Is making mints of money,'' the song cautions, then it's time to ''rap-tap on wood.'' What lyric could be more relevant for this season of the booming stock market and soaring sales in Viagra?
This year, Mr. Short is continuing the tradition he inaugurated last spring of performing with an eight-piece band. If the chemistry between Mr. Short and the musicians seemed a little shaky last year, it has since jelled beautifully. The band accentuates the swing elements of Mr. Short's singing and pianism. More than ever, he has become a stylized belter who shouts out song lyrics with the jubilant, slightly hoarse joie de vivre of someone excitedly calling out to an old friend across a crowded room.
The program for the current Carlyle run's opening night, on Tuesday, blended the usual Short signature songs like ''Guess Who's in Town'' (which he uses to announce he is back in New York) and ''Just One of Those Things,'' with obscurities by Duke Ellington, George Gershwin and others. ''Sophisticated Lady'' became a monologue declaimed with a high dramatic intensity and near-Shakespearean elocution. ''On the Sunny Side of the Street'' was delivered as a hedonist's vote for the power of positive thinking.
As he returns to the Cafe Carlyle season after season, the most remarkable thing about Mr. Short is that he never gets stale. The boyish enthusiasm that bubbles up in him transforms songs of bitter worldly experience into songs of discovery. This Manhattan roue has a seemingly inexhaustible gift for tapping directly into his inner child and finding in the lyrics of great popular songs a world that is brand new.Continue reading the main story

domain: entertainment


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text:
James D. Kubicki , Pennsylvania State University
Molecular H isotopes can be used to interpret the source(s) of petroleums accumulated in reservoirs. Knowledge of the thermodynamics and kinetics of H/D exchange at various types of C sites will facilitate such applications by enabling us to evaluate the imprint of isotopic exchange on molecular signatures.
The fourth year of research into the thermodynamics and kinetics of H-D isotopic exchange on kerogen-related molecules was conducted by performing calculations on H abstraction and H-D exchange reactions with hydroxyl groups representative of those on mineral surfaces (e.g., clays). As kerogen interacts with the minerals of the host rock or as petroleum migrates through sedimentary rock, H-D exchange may occur. This research will be used to help interpret observed H-isotope fractionation factors in ancient organic matter from sedimentary rocks. Theoretical values are needed because molecular-specific isotopic analyses have recently been made possible, but experimental values are difficult to obtain especially for specific sites within compounds. Observed fractionation trends will require knowledge of both the equilibrium fractionation factors and exchange rates as a function of temperature. Knowledge of isotopic H-D fractionation factors between kerogen and petroleum components and mineral surfaces is limited.
The B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) method was used to calculate vibrational frequencies of the organic compound 2-methyl butane (Fig. 1) and molecular clusters representive of mineral surface groups. The calculated frequencies were used to estimate ln(b) values for alkane compounds. The α values were then calculated by the difference between the alkane ln(b) values. This method of calculating ln(b) values has been previously tested by comparing the model ln(β) value against the known value for water vapor.
The reaction half-lives were then found from t1/2 = ln(2)/k and are listed in Table 1. Without H2O, the half-lives indicate that isotopic exchange rates will be so slow via H abstraction that this reaction can be ignored within geologic time. The half-lives are all significantly longer that measured for stereochemical inversion in pristane incubated on shale with elemental sulfur by Abbott et al. indicating the other reaction paths are necessary to induce significant H-D exchange on alkanes. We reiterate that these activation barriers are reasonably accurate because the experimental value for methane is 438 kJ/mol. Note that increasing the (q*/qreact) ratio to 10 would decrease these half-lives by one order of magnitude.
Without H2O, the half-lives indicate that isotopic exchange rates will be so slow via H abstraction that this reaction can be ignored within geologic time. The half-lives are all significantly longer that measured for stereochemical inversion in pristane incubated on shale with elemental sulfur by Abbott et al. (Abbott et al., 1985) indicating the other reaction paths are necessary to induce significant H-D exchange on alkanes. We reiterate that these activation barriers are reasonably accurate because the experimental value for methane is +438 kJ/mol. Note that increasing the (q*/qreact) ratio to 10 would decrease these half-lives by one order of magnitude.
The most important conclusion of this study of organic-mineral H-D isotope exchange is seen in Table 2. The calculated activation energies are in the range of 140 to 300 kJ/mol. Compared to calculated H-D exchange activation energies for 2-methyl butane and H2O (in the range of 200 to 300 kJ/mol), these can be dramatically lower for all C-H sites when interacting with surface aluminol groups. Consequently, we conclude that H isotope exchange can occur at significantly lower temperatures and with faster rates when kerogen and petroleum interact with aluminosilicate mineral surfaces. Because the surface hydroxyl H isotope signature is determined by interactions with pore waters, this ends up being a way to catalyze H isotope exchange between water and organic matter at depth either in the source rock or during migration of fluids.
Table 1 Estimated half-lives (t1/2) in years for MP2/ and B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) H abstraction reactions on 2-methyl butane with and without H2O present.
Temperature a-primary b-primary Secondary Tertiary____
25°C 0.10E+51 0.33E+51 0.92E+49 0.76E+44
100°C 0.56E+36 0.15E+37 0.81E+35 0.70E+31
150°C 0.11E+30 0.26E+30 0.20E+29 0.52E+25
200°C 0.55E+24 0.12E+25 0.12E+24 0.76E+20
250°C 0.29E+20 0.57E+20 0.72E+19 0.91E+16
25°C 0.35E+41 0.17E+42 0.83E+38 0.15E+34
100°C 0.15E+29 0.55E+29 0.12E+27 0.20E+23
150°C 0.23E+23 0.73E+23 0.33E+21 0.15E+18
200°C 0.60E+18 0.16E+19 0.13E+17 0.14E+14
250°C 0.11E+15 0.28E+15 0.37E+13 0.74E+10
25°C 0.81E+14 0.22E+10 0.21E+13 0.66E+09
100°C 0.79E+07 0.18E+04 0.44E+06 0.69E+03
150°C 0.40E+04 0.25E+01 0.31E+03 0.10E+01
200°C 0.99E+01 0.13E-01 0.10E+01 0.62E-02
250°C 0.76E-01 0.19E-03 0.96E-02 0.96E-04
25°C 0.40E+25 0.79E+24 0.11E+21 0.20E+16
100°C 0.28E+16 0.76E+15 0.63E+12 0.10E+09
150°C 0.14E+12 0.44E+11 0.84E+08 0.39E+05
200°C 0.54E+08 0.19E+08 0.72E+05 0.75E+02
250°C 0.94E+05 0.38E+05 0.24E+03 0.48E+00
Table 2: Calculated activation barrier energies (in kJ/mol) for H abstraction from each 2-methyl butane H site with each type of surface hydroxyl (see Fig. 2). The activation barrier energies are calculated from the energy-minimized structure of 2-methyl butane and the O of the surface. The bonds were brought together in 0.2 Å increments up to a distance of 1.05 Å for the O-H bond. Two sites for the Si surface were examined: SiO- and SiOH. _______________________________________________________________________
Molecule Site Al-OH Al-H2O SiO- SiOH
2-Methyl Butane Alpha 148 184 185 287
Beta 140 180 193 282
Secondary 155 160 195 295
Tertiary 168 175 188 290
Figure 1: The molecule structures that were modeled a) 2-methyl butane and b) 2,6-octane. The four separate H positions are labeled in each molecule tertiary, secondary and two primary H atoms (one a and one b to the tertiary C atom).
Figure 2: H abstraction between the reaction pathway between a model Al2(H2O)4(OH)6 surface and the secondary carbon site on 2-methyl butane. A H2O site on the Al surface, deprotonates after 2-methyl butane deprotonates, thus 2-methyl butane accepts the H from the Al-OH2 site.
Abbott G. D., Lewis C. A., and Maxwell J. R. (1985) Laboratory models for aromatization and isomerization of hydrocarbons in sedimentary basins. Nature 318, 651-653.

domain: chemistry