text: What ingredients go into Szechuan chicken? You can absolutely leave these out and sub black peppercorns. It's a sticky-sweet culinary meme with a complicated past and an unexpectedly long shelf-life — one that's rivaled by the literal shelf-life of Szechuan Sauce itself. You’ve seen a version of it in the Sheet Pan Szechuan Chicken and Brussel Sprouts recipe a while back and so many of you have commented on the recipe, I thought it deserved a post of its own! (Photo illustration by Salon/Getty Images), ------------------------------------------, Drive-Thru Dreams: A Journey through the Heart of America's Fast-Food Kingdom, Szechuan Sauce from the '90s was sold for $14,000, according to writer and food tour guide Michael Lin, Entertainment Weekly's Suna Chang reported at the time, said the campaign was "the equivalent of a drive-by mooning. (This distinguished it from the chain's OG sweet and sour McNugget dipping sauce.) Categories: Asian Recipes Tags: chinese, marinade, sauce, stir fry recipes. In the first episode, "The Rickshank Redemption," one of the series' main protagonists, Rick Sanchez, revisits a memory of going to a McDonald's drive-thru and ordering chicken McNuggets with Szechuan sauce. It has a magical ability to elevate everything. Says Paul Leung, a Chinese-American student at Cornell University who started an E-mail protest campaign, 'You don't even have to be Chinese to be offended. ★☆ The five spice seasoning has white pepper, Chinese cinnamon, sugar, salt, mushroom powder and more. ", In February 2018, McDonald's officially revived the sauce, with an estimated 20 million portions distributed to locations across the U.S. For many Chinese American restaurant owners, it was "it was accommodate or bust," Lin wrote in his email. Mix ginger, garlic, red pepper, soy sauce, chili garlic sauce and sugar in a pan … Unlike other Szechuan recipes, this popular … (Rumors still persist that the dipping sauce was simply a mixture of the chain's sweet and sour and BBQ sauces, which, if you compare the ingredient lists, isn't the case). Once again I learned that I absolutely hate tofu. Some fans reported being disappointed that the sauce didn't measure up to how they remembered — or live up to the hype. If using as a marinade, forgo the cornstarch and make sure to season what you are marinating ( chicken, tofu, beef) with, If making a stir-fry, try adding a few dry Chinese or Arbol chilies (5-10) to the stir-fry, right before adding the Szechuan Sauce. 65 ($0.16/Ounce) Save 5% more with Subscribe & Save. In each edition, we give you the background on a condiment that should be in your pantry and how you could be using it to spice up your meals (often literally). . Szechuan Peppercorns add a unique flavor, but using too much will overpower. The tofu…not so much. The best thing to do is just try one! How did McDonald's Szechuan Sauce make a comeback? Welcome to FEASTING AT HOME where you'll find delicious, healthy, VEGGIE-DRIVEN recipes with tips and tricks from a chef's home kitchen. .' A lot of people in the "Rick and Morty" target demographic had hazy memories of Szechuan Sauce. Reproduction of material from any Salon pages without written permission is strictly prohibited. The Szechuan peppercorns give the sauce a really authentic “zingy-ness” that is hard to replicate, but it also tastes just fine without! "Saucy" is Salon Food's condiment column. Hot and Sour Soup. "To cater or accommodate to Americans' preferences, the very traditionally lighter (and thinner) sweet and sour sauce was changed to this thicker texture that we are more used to today," Lin wrote. It felt innovative, even though it was just, you know, a lot of corn syrup, a fair bit of sugar and something that just tastes a little bit different.". When something ends up in a fast food restaurant, that is when it has appeared in several places before; it's been tested and vetted.". Some people began selling packets of the limited-issue sauce for more than $200 a pack on eBay, where, months prior, an original packet of Szechuan Sauce from the '90s was sold for $14,000. You have a couple of options, including one of the most popular at-home copycat recipes came from Reddit user Xeropoint. Minor's Szechuan Sauce and Hot Sauce, Made with Oyster Sauce, 4 lb 9 oz Bulk Bottle (Packaging May Vary) 4.5 out of 5 stars 939. OK, so let's say you (reasonably) don't want to shell out hundreds of dollars for a little packet of eBay Szechuan Sauce. * Offer good for standard shipping in the 48 contiguous U.S. states. I will definitely make this again. fine. . If home cooks want to really experiment with Szechuan flavors at home, Lydia Chang, the chief of business development Q by Peter Chang, a Bethesda-based Szechuan restaurant, would actually recommend a dry seasoning. I made the sauce in a stir fry with turkey kilbasa, squash, zucchini, and onions. Remove from heat, and allow it to cool. To that point, so many restaurants lapse into a trap of invoking a country or region's cuisine by relying on a single ingredient, according to food writer Su-Jit Lin. Pleasant enough, but no one rioted when the sauce exited menus after about a month, coinciding with the end of the "Mulan" promotion. As Adam Chandler noted, once something reaches McDonald's, it's already pretty mainstream: In 2018, dessert shops in Sichuan starting posting images of creamy white ice cream flecked with deep red chili oil. AMAZING Authentic Szechuan Sauce! For some, fast food can emerge as a specific marker of blended cultural heritage and childhood, as John DeVore wrote in his achingly beautiful essay "Finding Home in Taco Bell.". optional- 2-3 teaspoons corn starch, to thicken, see notes. But fast food has a hard time grappling with trendiness. McDonald's Szechuan Sauce was never going to be truly ground-breaking, nor was it likely ever really meant to be. Boneless chicken thighs: traditional Szechuan chicken uses chicken thighs for their tenderness.Chicken breasts also work but are easy to overcook. "Ultimately, Szechuan sauce was about 'Rick and Morty'— not the taste of the sauce itself," as Business Insider pointed out. He's not motivated by saving the world or his family — or, well, anything other than "that McNugget sauce. Add this recipe to the list of your pressure cooker recipes along with these other favorites Baked Potatoes, Egg Bites, and Cream of Mushroom soup! Keywords: how to make szechuan sauce, szechuan sauce recipe, szechwan sauce, authentic szechuan sauce, szechuan stir fry sauce, stir fry sauce, chinese stir fry sauce, Tag @feastingathome on Instagram and hashtag it #feastingathome. It's one suggestion which McDonald's has already implemented. Szechuan sauce is a thick and bold Chinese condiment that has savory heat and a tangy bit of sweetness. The company soon released a public apology, admitting that its super-limited, though well-intentioned batch clearly wasn't near enough to meet the demand of eager fans. When I first tried Szechuan peppercorns, I have to admit, I was not a fan. This style originally comes from the Sichuan Province in China. One dictionary definition of the word indicates that it serves as a descriptor for things that are "unrealistically simplified." Rate this recipe It would took place on Oct. 7, 2017, and it was an unmitigated disaster. Some people began selling packets of the limited-issue sauce for more than $200 a pack on eBay, where, months prior, an original packet of Szechuan Sauce from the '90s was sold for $14,000. It’s especially great on tofu – either baked tofu or crispy tofu! "In the last 24 hours, we've worked to open any portal necessary. So be sure start conservatively! But it took off online and was even featured in an episode of a viral episode of the YouTube cooking program "Binging with Babish.". All rights reserved. "And I think I liked it. Ashlie D. Stevens is a staff writer at Salon, specializing in culture and food. So fast and easy! I always eat the chilis. 4 tablespoons hoisin sauce. Running parallel to Szechuan Sauce's delayed ascension to unexpected "cult condiment" status are narratives about the complicated nature of the Americanization of "global" flavors, as well as fast food's cyclical ability to dictate and be dictated by pop culture, even while serving as a benchmark for mainstream tastes. Looking back at how Szechuan Sauce was marketed in the '90s, it's obvious that ad execs relied on tired stereotypes to signal to viewers, "Hey, this tastes, uh . Lin continued, "Chinese American food has had a long history, and it has been significantly impacted by local ingredients and Americans' tastes and preferences. Makes a little over ½ a cup and will keep for 10 days in the fridge. ", "If someone likes something saucy, Kung Pao is a great pairing and easy to make at home," she added. It was a dark brown sauce that had a touch of acid from the addition of apple cider vinegar and a little nuttiness from roasted sesame oil. Some people looooooove this. That's my series arc, Morty! Mar 29, 2019 57 Comments ★★★★★ 4.9 from 29 reviews. This region’s cuisine is traditionally loaded with bold flavors from garlic, chili peppers, and the Sichuan … 1998 every day. We all loved it! I'm not sure that the company could have envisioned the decades-long tail Szechuan Sauce would have. Marinating ingredients: the chicken marinade includes soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, cornstarch, green onions, and … This smokey wondersauce has a fairly … Some do not. 1/4 cup soy sauce This is fabulous sauce. It has a very strong perfumy flavor and numbing effect on the tongue, adding interesting complexity! Police were called, and there were a lot of angry customers. . He would also encourage home cooks to purchase Red Chili Oil (which, like Sriracha, deserves a column all its own). 2 garlic cloves, blanched and chopped finely (about 1 tablespoon) 1 green onion, chopped finely. With that said however, I will be using this sauce on a big wok of stir-fried vegetables soon. What's a good at-home substitute for McDonald's Szechuan sauce? I’m not sure why you tell people not to. It's a limited-edition menu item that hasn't reached stateside McDonald's, but you can make your own version at home. Healthier than store-bought versions with no preservatives or msg, It is gluten-free adaptable and vegan! Additionally, there's something to be said for introducing people to new-to-them flavors in a way where there is a low barrier to entry, but the point remains that there was nothing particularly "Szechuan" about McDonald's sauce. If you prefer a thicker sauce when stir-frying, add corn starch. I tried it out, and it's pretty good (if more flavorful than the actual stuff from McDonald's). Here's a character that will obsessively bend space and time to get his hands on a dipping sauce that was just . ", Kardashian-endorsed Mandarin Chicken salads, sending a "Ricky and Morty" creator Justin Roiland a four-pound jug of Szechuan Sauce, starting posting images of creamy white ice cream flecked with deep red chili oil. Hey, I'm Sylvia! Szechuan Sauce is coming back once again this winter. But after I went to China, and had them in moderate doses, I actually grew to love them. Packets of the original sauce are still floating around online, where you can read the full ingredient list. In 1983, McDonald's introduced the McNugget alongside four signature sauces: BBQ, honey, hot mustard and sweet and sour. . This may be very pleasant, or very unpleasant to you. According to a quote from Cinema Blend in 2017, Roiland has some incredibly fond memories of McDonald’s Szechuan Sauce: “My memory of it was that it was the most f—ing … We have a great online selection at the lowest prices with Fast & Free shipping on many items! and 'McNuggets are Chinamite!' This easy recipe features the famous mouth-numbing Szechuan peppercorn! It does not contain Szechuan (or Sichuan) pepper, which is commonly used in actual Sichuan cuisine. Get it as soon as Fri, Jan 29. It's a really funny moment in the series, because as mentioned above, Szechuan Sauce wasn't overwhelmingly popular upon its initial release. Chaos broke out as "Rick and Morty" fans clamored to get a slot in line. Mickey D's acknowledged them by sending a "Ricky and Morty" creator Justin Roiland a four-pound jug of Szechuan Sauce found in "Dimension C-1998M is a dimension where it's always 1998. Made it less spicy and it had so much flavour. Sie ist eine köstliche selbstgemachte Alternative zum Fast-Food vom Chinesen nebenan und bietet die perfekte Kombination aus … Americans anecdotally have a preference for thicker sauces — barbecue sauce, ketchup, mayonnaise and salad dressings — and enjoy things that veer more sweet than bitter. This week, we turn our attention to McDonaldâs Szechuan Sauce.Â. If unfamiliar, start with ½ teaspoon. Diese Szechuan Sauce ist eine aromatische, herzhafte und leckere Stir-Fry Soße. Since I’m not too keen on Chinese Five-Spice but I recognize its value in Chinese cooking, I decreased the amount to ⅛ teaspoon and really like just the hint of it. "Mala spice being spicy or five spice which is mild," Chang said. It's perhaps a tricky endeavor to demand nuance or authenticity from a fast-food restaurant tasked with feeding 62 million people a day. Ingredients include red peppers (dried red chilies) soaked in water besides loads of garlic and ginger, some shallots, Schezwan peppers, soy sauce… Whether you add the Szechuan peppercorns or not, the Szechuan Sauce is still delicious and worth making so I hope you give it a try. PNW Chef & 2018 Saveur Blog Awards Finalist! Maybe it was better than they remembered? I’m a huge fan of Szechuan Sauce but hate all the preservatives, sugars and msg that go into store-bought versions, so we make our own at home. The Szechuan Sauce is a Chicken McNuggets condiment that was originally released in 1998, and briefly returned in 2017 and 2018. Wonderful for meal prep, you can use this scratch-made sauce in this flavorful stir-fry as well! . And instead of being a one-day-only and limited to select restaurants, we're bringing more – a lot more – so that any fan who's willing to do whatever it takes for Szechuan Sauce will only have to ask for it at a nearby McDonald's. But then, the third season of the adult animated show "Rick and Morty" debuted in April 2017. No smartphones, no social media. Stir Fry Beef. That's how ludicrous it is and ignorant of the culture when mass market and even local restaurants do this.". Make Szechuan Sauce. Using Tamari Soy Sauce will make this way too salty! Thank you! We all taste things differently! As such, McDonald's sweet and sour sauce would have felt familiar to Americans, though it's worth noting that it's distinct from traditional Chinese "sweet and sour" sauces that rely on a mixture of light vinegar and sugar. 1. If it takes nine seasons!". '", Jeff Yang, who was the founding editor of the Asian-American publication A. This, for me was an acquired taste. The sauce is thick, tangy, slightly sweet with a bit of a kick. "Cartoonish" is actually a great way to describe the original Szechuan Sauce itself. He cautions that it's "not identical to McD's version, it's more of a tribute." Peanut Sauce (Chinese Style) Peanut sauce is a great way to add flavor to appetizers, salads, noodles, fried tofu, and satays. "They'll call anything with soy sauce 'Asian,' anything with sweet chili 'Thai,' anything with gochujang 'Korean,' and on and on," she said. In India we call Schezwan sauce and it’s an fusion Indo-Chinese recipe. But they've got Szechuan Sauce on the regular menu. Then pull some chili oil out of your purse — I like Fly By Jing's Sichuan Chili Crisp — and give it a drizzle. At home, I usually have a jar of Lao Gan Ma chili oil in my fridge.". Pull up to the McDonald's drive-thru, and order a vanilla soft-serve. "Just because it's a strong presence doesn't mean that it's their one single note [or] culinary contribution, nor a representation of an entire country, much less a continent," she continued. This version of Szechuan Sauce is FULL of flavor and can be made very spicy or kept very mild. It's a weird, scary place. This version of Szechuan Sauce has Szechuan Peppercorns in it – but if you don’t have them, don’t fret! . >> More. Use as a flavorful stir-fry sauce for veggies or noodles, or as a flavorful marinade for tofu, chicken, shrimp or beef! Schezwan sauce is a spicy and hot Chinese chili sauce which is used in many fusion Indo Chinese dishes. If using as a stir-fry sauce, and you would like to thicken it, whisk in 2 teaspoons cornstarch. If you make this, make sure to wear gloves when working with the chiles , I recently got a spice grinder and wanted to make my own Chinese Five spice blend and was looking for more recipes to utilize both the blend and my leftover Szechuan peppercorns – this sauce was absolutely DELICIOUS!!! It will never be cutting edge," he said. ★☆ ★☆ "It would be a tragedy for it to not come back to McDonald's.". "So, we're gonna make this right," the statement read. Recipe: Xeropoint's Copycat Szechuan SauceApproximately 1/4 cup of sauce. . Love this recipe. On June 19th, 1998, The Walt Disney Company released their animated feature film Mulan , the story of a brave daughter who posed as a man and enrolled into the Chinese military to take her wounded … Get the best deals for szechuan sauce at eBay.com. "Considering that a large portion of Chinese immigrants opened restaurants to make a living upon their arrival to the country and that Chinese Americans spread all throughout the vast country (even in small towns and rural areas), Chinese American cuisine has deep and widespread roots here," Lin wrote via email. Associated Press articles: Copyright Â© 2016 The Associated Press. Do not eat the chilis. Hallo liebe FreundeHeute zeige ich Ihnen, wie man eine weitere meiner Lieblings-Sossen macht. 3 tablespoons honey (or sub maple syrup , coconut sugar, brown sugar or sugar … McDonald's officially announced it would revive the sauce for a one-day promotion with a limited supply.


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Donald Trump’s fourth child, Tiffany, took a break from her Miami birthday celebrations to attend her father’s town hall event. Last week, the US President sparred against NBC’s Savannah Guthrie during the contentious NBC News interview. As his political opponent, the Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, spoke on ABC during a similar event in Philadelphia, Mr Trump struggled to answer questions about coronavirus testing, his taxes, his debt and a host of other issues.
Several people from Mr Trump’s inner circle attended the last-minute event at Pérez Art Museum Miami, including his youngest daughter, Tiffany, who was spotted in the crowd.
Tiffany was already in The Magic City, partying with friends for her 27th birthday.
A few days before, she hosted a “Trump Pride” event in Tampa, Florida, in an effort to court LGBTQ voters in the area.
Mr Trump’s fourth child seems much more involved in the presidential campaign than she was four years ago.
Tiffany has often been less visible than Mr Trump’s other children.
For this reason, she has sometimes been referred to as his “forgotten daughter”.
Calling in to speak to Fox And Friends on election day in 2016, Mr Trump even said he was proud of Tiffany to “a lesser extent” than his other adult children, Donald Jr, Ivanka and Eric.
In the throwback interview, he said: “I’m very proud of my children.
“I mean, I’m just looking at them right now, as an example for your show.
JUST IN: Joe Biden sparked fury after declaring he ‘understands’ China’s one-ch
“But I’m very proud, because Don and Eric and Ivanka – you know, to a lesser extent because she just got out of school, out of college – but, uh, Tiffany, who has also been so terrific.
“They work so hard.”
Tiffany, a University of Pennsylvania graduate, is the only child of Mr Trump and second wife Marla Maples.
She was named after Tiffany & Company; her father purchased the air rights above the Fifth Avenue jewellery store in the Eighties while building Trump Tower next door.
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Her parents divorced in 1999 after being separated for two years.
She was raised by her mother in California and had a fairly decadent childhood in her time spent between her family’s New York and Florida properties, even taking over part of the Trump Mar-a-Lago resort for a Titanic-themed fifth birthday party.
Tiffany has gradually become a socialite in her own right after appearing at fashion and art events around New York City.
Though she has largely kept a distance from Mr Trump’s years in office, Tiffany has joined her siblings at official appearances, including the White House Christmas Tree lighting ceremony.
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domain: news


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Yes, she is the star on Dancing With The Stars right now. She is the star on Disney Channel hit show, Shake It Up. Rocky!
We Just added a limited edition print of Zendaya to http://www.KickstarterPresidents.com and the first one went in 3 seconds! If you pledge only $35, you will get a digital book of Future Presidents and
Limited edition print of Zendaya!
Nowhere else you can get this print. our Future Presidents project exclusive. So if you love Zendaya, this is the ONLY CHANCE to get this offer!! Limited to 25 prints only. You don’t want to miss it! 🙂
She is Zendaya Coleman, amazing 16 years old girl from California. Who doesn’t adore her? She is just so amazing, adorable, beautiful and talented!! Yes, As I have mentioned, she is one our Future President! Maybe she will inspire first female president when our book project, “Future Presidents” comes out to the world. She wrote forward for this project. What a amazing girl to have closely on our project. She is our friend, she is our star. In person? Yes, she is just amazing as you see her on TV.
Who knows what this project will take us to? It may grow so big where you will be so proud that you are part of this project by supporting us. and first of all, that is what we want and we will do all we can do to make it happen and make every supporter proud!
Zendaya for our Future President! 😉 Do you vote for her on Dancing With The Stars? Vote for her on our Future President Kickstarter Campaign! 😉

domain: artistic


The cold #war had two big adversaries - the USA and the Soviet Union. It was at its height in the fifties and sixties of the last century. Both nations produced fighter interceptors. The American F-104 Starfighter was the rival of the MIG-21.The fighters often competed with each other but there was no real combat between them. The only time the planes met in combat was during the two wars between #India and Pakistan from 1965-1971. There was also brief combat between the Nationalist China air force and Communist China air force over the disputed islands in the China Sea.
The Nationalist air force F-104 were attacked by Chinese MIG-19's. It was an unequal combat and the F-104 was the victor. The MIG-19 was slower than the Starfighter and really stood no chance.
Combat between the Starfighter and MIG-21
The Russian-made MIG and Lockheed Starfighter faced each other in 2 wars on the sub-continent. Pakistan was a member of US sponsored military alliances and was gifted the Starfighter. India on the other hand, having been denied western aircraft started manufacture of the MIG-21. It formed the backbone of the IAF fleet.
The MIG had a top speed of 1250 mph while the Starfighter could speed up to 1450 mph. Both planes were single seat fighter interceptors and had an altitude ceiling of 55000 ft.
They carried missiles as well as guns. The MIG had a shorter turning radius and if handled properly was more lethal than the F-104. During these 2 wars, the MIG had the better of the Starfighter and 6 of them were shot down. The skill of the PAF pilots was also a factor as many planes may otherwise have been lost because of lack of pilot skill.
Which was better?
Obviously, the MIG-21 was the better interceptor. It is still in service, while the Starfighter is obsolete and not in service. A dozen nations including the German and Israeli airforce flew the Starfighter but there were issues of safety. The US air force lost 21 pilots to air accidents. One of the top German pilots protested against the safety record of the F-104 and it was retired.
The MIG also had issues but was a more versatile plane. The MIG-21 is still in service with the Chinese and Air Force. The Chinese have named their version as the F-7. The MIG and the Starfighter met in battle only on the sub-continent and in those wars the MIG had a clear edge.


A backyard habitat is not difficult or expensive to create or maintain. With an ever-changing palette of colors and textures, along with the watchable wildlife you will attract, this garden will be a fantastic landscape addition. It will bring beauty and joy to your yard.
Key to designing a Habitat Garden is including a diversity of plant species and layers of plant structure – designing for vegetation that grows from the ground (grasses and forbs) up to shrubs and trees. These key concepts combine to not only create beauty, but will successfully encourage a diversity of life on your property.
Another advantage to maintaining and creating natural diversity: the yard will have very few pests. Allowing natural predators such as spiders, garter snakes, gopher snakes, lizards, preying mantis, and native wasps will help maintain a natural, healthy balance.
It is also critical to minimize soil disturbance on your property. With little disturbance of the naturally occurring conditions, comes little problem with weeds. Where weeds do grow, do hand work to remove them and seed natives grasses or forbs in their place. Many native grasses and forbs are now also available in containers. If your soil has been disturbed, adding native grass and wildflower seed and a light layer of native chippings will help the area heal, and retain needed moisture for plant establishment.
Avoid the use of pesticides or herbicides of any kind. Pesticides remain in the tissues of insects and rodents, and can poison other members of your natural system unintentionally when these are ingested. Many of these chemicals also remain in your yard and soils and can contaminate you and spread unintentionally to other areas with rainfall.
Some other important considerations for your Habitat Garden:
- Include perennials with different flowering times (late winter to late fall). You will have a lovely array of native insects, and will have a great hummingbird population without maintaining feeders. If you want to add feeders, that is fine. Be sure to keep them very clean. Check with the Audubon Society or local birding stores for more details.
- Retain and plant a variety of natural grasses for seed sources and shelter. The flowering stalks with set seed should be left into fall for cover and food for birds. Cut dry grasses down after seeds have dropped and before the spring fire season. In summer you will not have to feed birdseed as often, since much seed is already present on the landscape!
- Do your research or buy plants from knowledgeable Local environmental education organizations or Cooperative Extension are your best options. Many plants are called native that are not. Why does it matter? Native animals and native plants have adapted with each other to life in the southwest. In many cases our native animals will not tolerate a yard that has lost all the native plants, diversity and layers of cover. You lose habitat you lose your wildlife. Quail, towhees, and other ground nesters must have cover at the ground level, birds like bushtits and titmice need cover as they move through in feeding flocks. The caterpillars of many butterflies and moths are very species specific. If you have that food source in your yard or nearby you will help maintain that population of insects.
- Retain, enhance or create boulder outcrops and rock walls. These act as shelter for reptiles and other small animals. In the Prescott area you can support a fantastic population of lizards including: Arizona Alligator Lizards, Striped Whiptails, Clark’s Spiny Lizard, and Plateau Lizards. Collard Lizards may still be found in some areas.
- Maintain natural leaf mulch and add other native organics. Native chippings can be added in a 1” layer. Organic materials help plants and also encourage a variety of life including predatory insects and spiders, the lizards and their prey. In coniferous zones, retain 1” of needles on top of the natural dark decomposing zone below the needles. This will hold moisture in your soil, and discourage erosion. Your trees and shrubs will be much healthier, and will not be as stressed in late spring and early summer. In the Prescott AZ area, native chippings are available for no cost at our City dump site.
- Minimize fertilization. Fertilizers are not necessary in most cases when you use regional native species for your landscape. These plants are well adapted to our soils.
- Keep water available for wildlife – this is critical. An irrigation emitter can very simply be secured in a large water dish. This not only provides a water source, but it helps keep wildlife from chewing into your irrigation system to find the water they can smell. Creating a small waterfeature with moving water in a small, recycled design is ideal and will attract a wide variety of birds. Designing for this in a shaded area reduces water loss to evaporation.
- Be aware of the heavy impact that domestic cats and dogs have on our native wildlife. If you have dogs or cats that attack birds and lizards, consider creating your habitat in a area away from your backyard. Cat yards are a great way to help protect wildlife (and your cat) as well. In any case, be sure to place water in areas that domestic cats or dogs cannot easily attack the life you are attracting.


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An Angel Investor and Serial Entrepreneur Calls You on Your B-*!#*(%
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
He did a post recently on this topic, What I Learned About Entrepreneurship Through 15 Angel Investments, over on his entertaining blog, QuickSprout. The upshot -- entrepreneurs often don't tell the truth.
Here are some of my favorite lessons he shares, and how you can use this knowledge to help you land investor money.
Stop exaggerating. Don't tell potential investors the company is doing great-great-great when in fact you're 60 days from closing the doors if someone doesn't give you a lump of cash.
Don't play funny with the books. Patel says entrepreneurs who've pitched him tend to count revenue they know is coming, but isn't yet actually in the door. Investors have a sophisticated industry name for this scenario: They call it lying.
Share your financials openly. Transparency is highly prized by investors -- if you're in talks with possible angels, send them frequent financial updates so their information on the company's cash-flow situation stays current.
Be openminded. Look at things from your investors' point of view -- how does the model look purely as an investment? Where's the return on investment potential? Also, if investors have suggestions, listen. Remember that their goal is the same as yours: To grow the business. When that happens, everybody wins.
Sell yourself. Patel says he invests in a great entrepreneur more than a great idea, having learned the hard way that doing it the opposite way around doesn't work out. A great idea's going nowhere without a brilliant entrepreneurial mind at the helm.
What have you learned from seeking investors? Share your pitch lessons in the comments below.

domain: economics


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The operator of San Francisco’s supervised drug use site fabricated the number of people who the site allegedly served, according to a San Francisco Department of Public Health executive, whose emails were released as part of California’s Public Records Act.
“I think Gary is just making up random #s,” wrote Dr. Rob Hoffman, Special Project Manager with the San Francisco Department of Health, in a February 8 email to other city employees including ones with the Department of Emergency Management and city homeless service agencies.
Gina McDonald, co-founder of Mothers Against Drug Deaths, filed the public records request, and was the first to report that of the 23,367 drug users who have visited the Tenderloin Linkage Center, just 18 have received drug treatment.
The Gary in question is Gary McCoy, an employee of city contractor HealthRight360, which is one of the private sector operators of the Tenderloin Linkage Center, which San Francisco Mayor London Breed created last December as part of her proposed crackdown on the open drug market in United Nations Plaza in downtown San Francisco.

domain: sociology


The 36v DL 63Ah single battery is optimal for 36v trolling motors, or boats & vehicles where weight is at a premium. Ideal for deep cycle applications in marine environments where you need lots of power for a long time.
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Ideal for rugged & harsh environments. Much better than SLA or other lithium’s. -20'F min, +120'F max optimal operating temps (battery performs well down to -20'F). Avoid charging below 32'F.
60 A max continuous, 100 A max pulse 10 second pulse. The flat discharge voltage curve provides a 75% bigger capacity than a comparable 63Ah SLA battery.
31.5 A max, 42 V max recommended. Included is a 36v 8 amp LiFePO4 compatible charger (8 hour charge time). Upgrade to a 36v 18 amp charger for 140% faster charge time!
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Battery is great lite compact takes up less room than 3 deep cycle battery only used it couple times sofar with my trolling motor it has great run time
Very happy lasted all day in current
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Easy transaction. Can’t wait to use it this weekend
Very impressed with the run time.
I have a Lund Pro V 1900 IFS Walleye Tournament boat mounted with a Minn Kota Terrova 36 v 112 lb thrust trolling motor. I purchased this battery to replace 3 size 31 SLA batteries. I l was able to shed 200 lbs out of my boat doing the battery swap alone. Last weekend I really tested this battery in a local walleye tournament. We had extreme winds gusting 40- 50 mph for nearly half of the tournament each day. I was trolling for this tournament LLC day long and this battery lasted me all day long. Several other tournament anglers were complaining their batteries went dead half way through the tournament. I still had plenty of “full power” left when the tournament was finished. I purchased the high speed charger and the battery recharged in just over 2 hours. I’m in love with this new Dakota Lithium battery.


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Meet Zephyr, the native bee!
Native bees are one of our most important pollinators and a new species has recently been scientifically described through Curtin University-led research.
Dr Kit Prendergast from the Curtin School of Molecular and Life Sciences, has named the new species Leioproctus zephyr after her dog Zephyr after noticing that this little bee has a dog-like snout.
“Zephyr provided emotional support during my PhD,” Dr Prendergast explained.
“When I first examined the specimens I collected during my PhD surveys discovering the biodiversity of native bees in urbanised regions of WA’s southwest biodiversity hotspot, I was instantly intrigued by this bee’s very unusual face,” Dr Prendergast said.
“In perusing the WA Museum’s Entomology collection, I discovered that a few specimens of Leioproctus zephyr had been collected in 1979, but it had never been scientifically described.
“The rare and remarkable finding adds to existing knowledge about our evolving biodiversity and will help to ensure Leioproctus zephyr bees are protected by conservation efforts,” she said.
Dr Kit Prendergast is a native bee ecologist and science communicator. Her PhD involved investigating the impact of honeybees on native bees and pollination networks , and the impact of urbanisation on native bees. Her research on the newly classified bee species has been published in the Journal of Hymenoptera Research.

domain: biology


In the Pocket: Donato Singles one of region’s elite events
Friday, March 2, 2012
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Although every era has its marquee names, It’s hard to argue the fact that the late Joe Donato was one of the two or three greatest bowlers ever to splatter pins in the Capital Region. Remembering the Donato name is one of the reasons why his son, Redwood Lanes manager Tom Donato, started the Joe Donato Scratch Singles tournament, and it’s also why that event has become one of the premier tournaments on the local schedule....


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2013-12-23Open Day for Homeless Citizens at Human Rights House Tbilisi
On December 20, at 12:00 pm lawyers of the Article 42 of the Constitution organized an Open Day for homeless people in the HRHT Conference hall.
2013-12-18Number of Women with HIV/AIDs Increasing in Georgia
According to the recent surveys in Georgia, number of women with HIV Infection has increased. 113 out of 443 patients revealed in 2013 are women. 85 of them died.
2013-12-13Progress, Shortcomings Reviewed on Human Rights Day
On the International Human Rights Day, December 10, Public Defender and some rights groups highlighted main trends in Georgia’s human rights protection over the past one year, noting progress, but also pointing at problems and challenges.
2013-12-11Human Rights and Freedoms Situation in Georgia in 2013
On December 10, 2013, Public Defender presented a report on Human Rights and Freedoms in Georgia. The given report represents the initiative of the Public Defender of Georgia to summarize human rights and freedoms situation in the country annually, by December 10.
2013-11-21Boys Choose Technical Faculties and Girls – Humanitarian
Nika Pachulia, 22, graduated the Faculty of Humanitarian Sciences at the Tbilisi Ivane Javakhishvili State University this year. He selected this profession regardless his parents’ protest. “Lecturers were surprised that I was studying Humanitarian Science because traditionally girls prefer to study there. There were only five boys in this faculty. I should admit that lecturers were more loyal to us than to girls. Maybe they wanted to morally encourage us to feel more comfortable in female environment. To tell the truth, initially I felt a bit awkward but later got used to it,” Nika Pachulia said.
2013-05-07Georgian Orthodox Church Calls for Anti-Abortion Law
Patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church, Ilia II, has called on the Georgian authorities in his Easter epistle for adopting anti-abortion law, saying that it would contribute to resolving country’s “grave demographic situation.”
2013-02-22Pregnant Woman Dismissed from Work
2013-02-01Former Employee of the Sport Ministry Said She Was Sacked for Gender
“They requested me to quit job claiming a woman cannot be a director of a public law legal entity,” said former director of the Children and Youth National Center Tatia Eliadze.
ECHR Extends Ruling over Rustavi 2 TV Leaked Natural Gas Killed Two Persons in Gori for Past Two Days 53-Years-Old Man Was Killed in Gori South Ossetia Calls Referendum to Rename Itself ANNUAL REPORT - State of Human Rights in Georgia, 2016 Archive
In recent days, Campaign This Affects You has become more active for the society. A new slogan has appeared on the famous labelArchive
I learned about healing water Dzuguri first several days ago. Having searched information, we learned that Dzuguri water is sold near the chainArchive


Member since: 2020
Organization: Analitica Salvadorina
Sharp images and superb optics.
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Wild World Top
Wild World Top! -- 28$ w/ FREE shipping!
You'll fall in LOVE with the fabric of this top! So soft and comfortable with great stretch and a gorgeous animal print design! The gathered detail on the bottom hem gives a flattering finish to this fierce look!

domain: design


The Muppet Movie ushered Jim Henson’s famous puppet characters to the big screen in fitting fashion, with the creatures sitting down to watch themselves in the film proper. It’s the first of many self-aware tics in the film, up to and including some characters reading the movie’s script to know where to intercept their friends, and numerous jokes throughout call attention to both recurring gags and the wall that exists not only between character and audience, but puppet and guiding hand. The screening-room framing device also grounds the film’s Hollywood dreaming; seen as an adult, the naked ambition of Kermit and his felt pals can be surprising, at least in the context of the film’s indefatigable good cheer.
But then, the Muppets have always epitomized the most optimistic vision of the Me Decade’s narcissism and self-fulfillment. Combining elements of ’60s touchstones like the puppet program H.R. Pufnstuf (particularly in the form of benign burnouts Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem) and variety shows like The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, The Muppet Show ported over the psychedelic overtones and social commentary of neither. Instead, the sardonic wit of the show, and this film, exists for its own reward, a goofy lark. Celebrities get in on the act as well, turning up in droves as Kermit journeys from a Louisiana swamp to a West Coast metropolis. The egotism of it all should be noxious, but the sheer affability of the Muppets’ brand of comedy wins out; this may be a party for the rich and famous, but you’re invited too.
The giddy boastfulness of the film’s tone extends to the structure and production elements. Foreseeing the current trend of unnecessary origin stories in franchise films, The Muppet Movie’s basic plot concerns how the Muppets came to be. Instead of droning on about each character’s roots or the like, however, writers Jack Burns and Jerry Juhl recognize that these are, in fact, just puppets, and the narrative chiefly focuses on the shared energy of this idiosyncratic and individualistic group of characters. But nothing compares to the bald showing off of the film’s small but innovative technical achievements. From the moment director Jim Frawley cuts to Kermit sitting on a log, whole “body” in view, the film can’t help but call attention to the puppeteers’ clever positioning or the difficulty of staging something as deceptively simple as Kermit pedaling a bike. In making the Muppets seem more real, the filmmakers spotlight the fakery that goes into them, a contradiction that suits the Muppets well.
That The Muppet Movie should be so upbeat is impressive, given the macabre subplot that pushes the film forward. As Kermit pursues dreams of stardom and amasses a growing collection of fans, he finds himself frequently sidelined by Col. Sanders’s swamp kin, Doc Hopper (Charles Durning), a fried-frog-leg impresario looking to put Kermit’s vaudeville talents in service to selling the breaded limbs of his own species. Hopper turns to increasingly vicious means to get his way, but still Kermit attempts to reason with his would-be tormentor, even when Hopper perseveres with his plan.
Hopper’s presence makes this the best cinematic depiction of the Muppets, not only for the focus it provides to the story, but for the manner in which he demonstrates the Muppets’ key quality. Despite Hopper’s villainy, the film never deals with him harshly, even as a source of ridicule. The latter defines Muppet humor: frequently complex and dark, but never aimed too hard at anyone. From layered, referential jokes to the cameos from hip (but not exactly kid-friendly) stars, The Muppet Movie flirts with esoterica, but a spirit of inclusiveness wins out. The Muppets are family entertainment that manages to actually be for the whole family, welcoming and nonjudgmental to kids and sufficiently aware and clever for older viewers. As with the intense technical skill involved in the most intimate and subtle of puppet gestures, the film’s seemingly laidback, simple pleasures stem from a carefully honed, almost alchemical balance of niche appeals into something universal.
Disney’s restorations of their animated films err toward too much digital clean-up, but from the opening shot of The Muppet Movie, it’s clear that grain has been left healthily intact. The film still looks like a movie shot in the late 1970s, with its earthy color palettes and inconsistent textures, but Disney’s transfer clears up the film’s soft contrast without wiping away image details; indeed, the fleshy/fuzzy details of the Muppets’ felt never looked so good. A solid and clear 5.1 lossless track won’t give a home theater setup a workout, but dialogue is always crisp and Paul Williams and Kenny Ascher’s songs swell in the mix, practically begging for a sing-along.
For such a subtly technical film, The Muppet Movie sports no features that delve into the arduous process of pulling off the film’s advance puppet movement. Perhaps that helps maintain the illusion of the Muppets’ reality, though, an idea marginally backed up by the presence of the old feature "Pepe’s Profiles Presents Kermit," a parodic behind-the-scene clip of Kermit the celebrity as his puppet pals (and a few celebrities) sing his praises. The full Doc Hopper commercial and the original theatrical trailers round out the port-overs. A sing-along of the film’s big three numbers exists on its own and as part of an unnecessarily elaborate but amusing intermission when the main feature is paused. By far the best feature, though, is director Jim Frawley’s camera test, in which some of the Muppeteers goof around getting test footage in the English countryside. Henson and company riff on everything from some nearby cows to Fozzie’s hat always blowing off, but a casually sadistic joke from Frank Oz’s Miss Piggy takes the cake, rendering Henson literally breathless with laughter. At times this feature feels less like a camera test than a set of solid outtakes.
The first, and still best, Muppet feature comes to high definition all set to hook a new generation to Jim Henson’s quick-witted but good-natured creation.


Nikola is recalling all Tre BEV trucks manufactured between November 2021 and April 2023 in the United States due to an issue related to the Bendix Intellipark Tractor Park Valve Module. Per the recall notice, the recall covers 364 total Tre BEV trucks.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced that the park valve module might become stuck in the unparked position and not transition from unparked to parked when the Park Switch is pulled on the dash, increasing the likelihood of a crash if the driver fails to fan down the brakes.
The mechanical components in the PVM are at the upper limit of design thresholds, allowing for excessive internal air leakage, which prevents pressure from building properly when the pilot solenoid is activated.
Bendix supplied the part in question. Nikola first became aware of the issue on March 16, 2023, and decided on April 6 to conduct a voluntary recall in coordination with the NHTSA.
Dealerships and Tre owners will be notified of the recall between May 1 and May 31, and dealers will replace the PVM with a corrected part free of charge.


If I scroll down my bleacher report team stream far enough I can see stories from two weeks ago about how good the Raiders Defense was playing, and how they had hopes for the playoffs. Scroll up a bit and the Raiders collapse against the Eagles has taken the headlines.
At first glance the raiders big loss could be attributed to the Raiders overlooking a struggling Eagles team. Frankly, The Raiders just didn;t match up with the Eagles well.
At the beginning of the season many picked the Raiders to be the least talented team in the league. Well the Raiders are stacked with intelligence and work ethic, even I wouldn’t argue they are stacked with talent. The Eagles on the other hand are a struggling team with tons of speed and athleticism.
I think the Raiders were just over matched all over their field. On defense, players had their hands on their hips. They failed to get any real pressure on quarterback nick foles. The Defensive backs were stumbling all over the place. And the worn out defense failed to stop the run and limit big plays.
On offense a make shift offensive line could not provide Pryor any real time. The recievers and playmakers of the raiders failed to counterreact the high octane Offense of the Eagles. While they were able to get yards, there defense just couldn;t get any real help. But its a new week and the Raiders have no time to waste as they face another struggling athletic team.
I don;t think anyone would argue that Eli Manning and his two superbowl rings are more consistent than Nick Foles. Combine that with the big physical receivers of Hakeem nicks and Victor cruz and there are elements for a similar debacle if the Raiders don’t bring an A game. On the Defensive side the Raiders will also have to do a much better job at pressuring Eli, so that he can be forced into interceptions.
Offensively the Offensive line face Jason Tuck and Pierre Paul. They have the speed and explosiveness to pressure Pryor and keep hm contained. Pryor needs to recognize blitzes and get the ball out. He needs to not have happy feet trying to perserve the play. Manelik Watson will make his starting debut, and pryor should be able to trust is offensive line. Running lanes should be there if he chooses to scramble but that should only be after his first or second read. Lastly, someone is going to have to step up and make a play for pryor. 2010 Mcfadden is not going to be on the field, so the raiders will take playmaking ability from anyone. It is time for one of the Rookie tight ends to step up and make a play. Otherwise Reece or Moore seem the most capable of providing the offense a needed spark.
This game against the Giants will tell a lot about Dennis Allen and this Raider team. Allen has already been quoting as saying this team won’t collalpse like last season. Well this will be an indicator of progression or regression for this Raiders team. The Giants have won two games and are playing every game to win like a scrappy boxer. If the Raiders don’t want to knock the hope out of their playoff pipedream than they need to have an A game against the giants.


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The Texas Water Resources Institute (TWRI) is hosting two meetings in May for anyone interested in becoming involved in a partnership to improve and protect the mid and lower Cibolo Creek watershed.
The first meeting will be May 18 at 6 p.m. at the Bexar Social Hall, 15681 Bexar Bowling in Marion. The second meeting will be May 30 at 6 p.m. at Kosciusko Hall, 7975 E. Farm-to-Market Road 541 in Stockdale.
Clare Entwistle, a TWRI research associate, said identical information will be distributed at both meetings so interested people can attend either meeting.
Entwistle said the meetings are the first in a series of meetings with local watershed stakeholders on developing strategies needed to address water quality impairments in the watershed.
“The mid and lower portions of Cibolo Creek are both currently designated by the state as impaired because of elevated bacteria concentrations and low dissolved oxygen concentrations,” she said.
The institute is coordinating a project with the San Antonio River Authority (SARA) to develop a watershed-based plan.
Entwistle said the initial meetings will provide an introduction to the stakeholder process and the watershed planning process.
“We will explain the watershed-based planning process to address these water quality concerns and the proposed timeline for developing a plan,” she said.
Current water quality data will also be presented, as well as an introduction to point and non-point pollution sources for the different impairments.
Entwistle said interested stakeholders should become part of the planning process.
“We’re encouraging citizens of the region to attend this meeting as their input is essential for identifying land and water issues and ensuring that appropriate and desirable management measures are included in the watershed-based plan,” she said.


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Very interesting article, thanks for sharing!
astounding work there - hope someone important notices! I'm just jrpg fan. . . somebody needs to hire you!
Yasss you guys rule so much LOVE please do the next part!!!
Michael Graham has just released a useful texture packer for Unreal Engine 4. The tool lets you pack individual textures into a packed RGBA texture inside the editor. No need to switch to Photoshop or some other tools.
This simple to use Blueprint allows you to pack individual textures into a packed RGBA texture inside the editor, without having to go out of Unreal Engine into packages like Photoshop.
You can now use the tool with versions 4.14, 4.15, 4.16, 4.17 and 4.18 of the engine.


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Gossip-mongers Are Trouble Makers: A Personal View Of Patti Warashina's Modern Clay Artwork
How does trouble in good relationships begin?
This art work is one of Patti Warashina's best clay sculptures to raise social awareness among us. Baked in low-fire, underglazed, glazed and mixed media, she has perfected her sculpting prowess with relevant messages.
She is a story teller, a humorous one. Her characters are amusing. She expresses her subconscious voice in a no-nonsense way.
Patti Warashima, based in Seattle, Washington started to experiment with clay in the 1960's. Long before she perfected her art, she has experienced several frustrations over the use of her dominant material, the clay.
A good relationship is depicted in this art. Two people talking while relaxing, enjoying each others company. One is talking, the other is attentive. An ideal friendship where both shows respect for each other.
Here comes the gossip-mongers... These two clay figurines were not even part of the real conversation. Their gestures look like they overheard something and they are straining their ears to hear more from a distance.
There goes the gossip, transferred from one ear to the next. It is interesting to note that even the crudest form of communication, like these cans, will interest many people to listen to the unfounded facts.
With the present high technology, internet and text messaging, it has provided gossip-mongers faster tools to transmit stories in a flash.
The gossip has already spread to others and it has gone over the top. As depicted in one of the characters, the story is so juicy that he placed the "can" on top of his head.
Gossip-mongers tell stories that are "unbelievable" and "awesome" at the same time! As the saying goes, news that are passed around becomes more exaggerated as it travels from one ear to the next.
The saddest of all things is when the two characters who were having a good conversation from the start got the news! They started to fight. Trust is broken. Friendship is gone.
Proverbs 25:23, "Gossip brings anger just as surely as the north wind brings rain."
The fight is so intense that there are bombs on their feet. Will they blow up each other? Who knows how this tragic relationship will end?
How To Make Home Made Clay
Salt - 2 cups
Water - 2/3 cups
Cornstarch - 1 cup
Cold Water - 1/2 cup
1)Stir salt and water in a saucepan
2)Remove from heat
3)Add cornstarch and cold water
4)Cool clay and shape as desired
Copyright © 2012 The Girls. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without permission prohibited.


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The formation potentials of solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI) were investigated in 1-butyl-1-methylpyrrolidinium bis(fluorosulfonyl)amide (BMPFSA) and 1-butyl-1-methylpyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)amide (BMPTFSA) containing LiFSA and LiTFSA, respectively, by monitoring the redox reaction of ferrocene with high sensitivity. The SEI was found to affect the electrode kinetics of the outersphere electron transfer reaction. The SEIs with the thickness of less than a few nm formed in LiFSA/BMPFSA and LiTFSA/BMPTFSA at 2.4 and 2.5 V vs Li|Li(I), respectively. The cathodic decomposition of FSA- and TFSA- was considered to be promoted by the interaction with Li+ based on the ab-initio calculation.
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
- Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
- Surfaces, Coatings and Films
- Materials Chemistry

domain: chemistry


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Jó reggelt!Aranyos, Járai Andrásné! Legyen vidám napod:))!
Köszönöm Tivadar! Neked is! Szia!!
Buona giornata e buon fine settimana.
Gaudenzio - Italia
Wonderful gallery. Closer to an art gallery than picture gallery. The portraits are all outstanding. A big like for this portrait of a cute little girl. My best wishes to you
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Photo taken in Budapest, City Park, 1146 Hungary
Misplaced? Suggest new location


The '91 GMC Syclone is a high performance pickup derived from the regular GMC Sonoma pickup produced for 1991. The high performance turbocharged engine with all-wheel drive made it the fastest high performance pickup ever made at the time. This sent a shock wave in the car community as its acceleration was comparable to most sports cars at the time.
The Syclone featured all-wheel drive, 4-wheel anti-lock brakes and a turbocharged V-6 engine which, at the time, made it the fastest stock pickup truck in the world.
Condition: New in package
Mainline Number: 150/250
HW Hot Trucks Number: 3/10
Year: 2020 ***New Model - First Year Release***
Color: Black with Red Syclone on sides
Tampo: Detailed headlights, grille, tail lights, and logos/graphics
Bonus Hot Wheel is a randomly picked Mainline car which may be "carded" or loose (uncarded)
New in Sealed card. Never opened
Packaged and Shipped with Love :)
All new Collectible Vehicles will be shipped in a box, never shipped in a padded envelope
1-3 business days
Buyers are responsible for any customs and import taxes that may apply. I'm not responsible for delays due to customs.
Apr 29, 2022
Apr 16, 2022
Another great purchase. Highly recommend ordering from this shop.
Apr 11, 2022
Mar 3, 2022
Feb 18, 2022


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FULL GOLF MEMBERSHIP CONVEYS with this beachfront parcel. Enjoy days of relaxation and birds eye view of the Chesapeake Bay's ever changing amazing sunset show. This is an opportunity you don't want to miss! Not only are you getting a beautiful bayfront lot to build your dream home on, you also get Full Golf Membership to two spectacular world class Signature golf courses. The community amenities also include pool and tennis. If that isn't enough enjoy being right in the town of Cape Charles with its boutiques, gourmet restaurants, art galleries, art center with amazing shows, music in the town park, two marinas and all of this just a golf cart ride away.
|Days On Site||611|

domain: geography


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Having listened to the debate, however, I have concluded that it would be appropriate to strengthen this discretion to provide an even stronger safeguard for heads and governors. So subsection (2) of new clause 17 will amend the ASCL Act to allow the ombudsman discretion in cases where the complaint is "frivolous or vexatious".
This will ensure not only that the ombudsman will be able to decide not to pursue complaints that are clearly not in the best interest of parties concerned-vexatious complaints-but also that he has a clearly stated power to decline or discontinue investigation where complaints obviously lack merit or would be disproportionately costly to investigate, given the potential benefits-that is, frivolous complaints. I hope that hon. Members will welcome this change.
Subsection (3) of new clause 17 is a technical amendment extending defamation privilege to head teachers. It amends section 216 of the ASCL Act to ensure that any statement made by a head teacher in correspondence with, or subsequently published by, the ombudsman in a decision does not lead to the ombudsman or head teacher being sued for defamation. This small but important change will enable head teachers to be entirely candid in their views, and permit their evidence to be given and considered more openly, which can only promote the proper investigation of complaints. The amendment merely extends to head teachers the protection that already applies to governing bodies and local authorities under the Local Government Act 1974 or the ASCL Act.
We have made it clear in previous debates on the guarantees that it is not our intention to enable parents and pupils to pursue civil claims through the courts if a local authority, governing body, other proprietor of a school or head teacher does not meet one or more of the guarantees. However, we listened to Members' concerns in Committee-including points raised by the hon. Member for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton (Mr. Gibb)-and we agree that this could be made more plain. The amendment will ensure that this is clear on the face of the Bill.
The amendment refers to "liability in tort", which covers, most importantly, both liability in negligence and liability for breach of statutory duty. It will put beyond doubt that parents and pupils will not be able to pursue claims for damages through the county courts based on the individual guarantees in the document. It is, of course, right to say that parents and pupils already have a number of pre-existing rights, which will be unaffected by the changes implemented by the amendment. It will apply solely to the impact of the guarantees themselves. The amendment does not need to seek to prohibit a claim under contract law, as there is no way in which the guarantees can create contractual relations between schools and parents. We consider that any claim for contractual liability would be entirely unsustainable.
I hope that those brief introductory remarks will show that I have listened to the points raised by the hon. Members for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) and for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton, and tried to take them into account and include them in the new clause and the amendment, as I said I would.
Mr. Nick Gibb (Bognor Regis and Littlehampton) (Con):
I am grateful to the Minister for his courtesy and careful consideration of the deliberations in Committee, but the Government new clause is a frank admission that the pupil and parent guarantees set out in clauses 1 to 3 are likely to lead to a proliferation of complaints. That is likely to happen, however, with or without the new clause, when we have an education system in which 9 per cent. of boys leave primary school without being
able to obtain any grade in the key stage 2 English SATs. In other words, they are leaving primary school completely illiterate. Given that we also have an education system in which 40 per cent. leave primary school without having mastered the basics of reading, writing and maths combined, there is plenty of scope for complaints under these guarantees, particularly under guarantee 2.2, on page 24 of the guarantee document, which states that
"the curriculum is tailored to...every child's needs so that...every...pupil receives the support they need to secure good literacy, numeracy and ICT skills, learn another language and about the humanities, science, technology and the arts".
The new clause amends the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009, particularly sections 207 and 216, which relate to the complaint procedures that are the mechanism under which the guarantees can be enforced-to the extent that they can be. As the Minister has said, the new clause is designed to change the complaints procedure so that the local government ombudsman does not have to investigate complaints that he considers to be "frivolous"-an addition to the word "vexatious", which is already in the Act.
"the creation of these guarantees will open the floodgates for increased litigation against schools. The introduction of these guarantees has the potential to create a 'whingers' charter' and bring a proliferation of frivolous complaints by a minority of litigious parents, thereby serving to increase the work load of school leaders and undermine the work that schools have done to create more positive relationships with parents."
It is obviously right to ensure that the local government ombudsman does not have to investigate frivolous or vexatious complaints, and it is right that head teachers are protected from defamation suits in their communications with the local government ombudsman on these matters. There is absolutely no guarantee, however, that the ombudsman will be able to remedy any of the complaints about the standard of education provided. Tony Redmond, the current local government ombudsman, said in evidence to the Committee:
"I do not think that it is the role or responsibility of local government to change a school". --[ Official Report, Children, Schools and Families Public Bill Committee, 19 January 2010; c. 5, Q11.]
"we are also conscious of the fact that in terms of the curriculum and teaching, some of those things might step outside the jurisdiction of the ombudsman". --[ Official Report, Children, School and Families Public Bill Committee, 19 January 2010; c. 7, Q5.]
Government amendment 67 is, as the Minister has said, a concession to both Opposition parties following our amendment in Committee that sought to make it clear that the pupil and parent guarantee did not create legal obligations under either the law of contract or the law of tort. Our original amendment said:
"A pupil or parent guarantee shall not be capable of creating any obligation in respect of whose breach any liability arises in contract or tort."
That amendment was lifted almost word for word from section 111(6) of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998, which was introduced to prevent home-school agreements from being enforceable in the courts.
We believe that the Bill as originally drafted would have left open the possibility that the pupil and parent guarantees could be enforced through court action against schools that might breach those guarantees. That also concerned the teaching unions. The Association of School and College Leaders, for instance, said:
"ASCL believes that the creation of these guarantees will open the flood gates for increased litigation against schools."
"Our main concerns about the Bill are around the guarantees and potential in an increasingly litigious society for parents to take up an awful lot of head teachers' time in disputing what are rather uncertain and woolly guarantees." --[ Official Report, Children, Schools and Families Public Bill Committee, 19 January 2010; c. 4.]
"NUT head teachers are concerned that without adequate resources or provision for staff training these proposals may leave schools vulnerable to litigious parents or over-eager lawyers who have misinterpreted the Government's intentions. The NUT is concerned that any breaches of the guarantees should not be treated as akin to breaches of statutory duty in the health and safety sphere granting persons distinct rights to legal action and monetary compensation."
In Committee, the Minister said that he agreed with the sentiments expressed in the amendments, and would return to the issue after examining it further. He also said, however-as he said a moment ago-that he did not think it necessary to include the explicit reference to the law of contract. He said:
"The guarantee document does not create a contract between parents or pupils and the school, because it is a public law document." --[ Official Report, Children, Schools and Families Public Bill Committee, 28 January 2010; c. 254.]
It is clear from Government amendment 67 that the Government have only explicitly ruled out tort, and I think that that is a mistake. The creation of guarantees implies, or could imply, a contractual obligation. The only thing missing is a consideration to give rise to a contractual obligation, but surely the consideration in this instance is taxpayers' money. If the complainant is a taxpayer or council tax payer, surely that might be regarded as the consideration element of a contract, implicit in the pupil and parent guarantees in clause 1.
As for its being a public law document, surely that would apply equally to a home-school agreement, but the drafters of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 considered that an explicit exclusion of liabilities under contract law as well as tort law was necessary.
Mr. Coaker: The hon. Gentleman is making an interesting point, but does he not agree that there is a difference between this Bill and the 1998 Act? The home-school agreement is obviously a contract-a specific contract between home and school, which people must sign. It is relevant to an individual parent, an individual pupil, an individual school and an individual family. That is why the Act excluded it in terms of contract. The position in the Bill is entirely different. It is not necessary to rule out contracts, because no contractual agreements arise as a result of the guarantees in the Bill.
Mr. Gibb: That says something about the extent to which the Minister feels that the guarantees are worth anything. Normally, if a private sector service provider gives a guarantee for the quality of his or her work, that is regarded as a contractual guarantee, just as the home-school agreement could constitute a guarantee. Although the Minister may well be right, I believe-this was the thinking behind the provision in the 1998 Act-that it is safer to include this provision in the Bill to ensure that that no action can be taken under contract law in future. There is surely no harm in including it.
Mr. Coaker: I am not a lawyer. We have had this discussion before, and the hon. Gentleman has conceded that he is not a lawyer either. I am advised, however, that there is no contractual agreement. I can see that a home-school agreement, involving the signing of a specific document, constitutes an individual contract between the pupil-or parent-and the school, but I see no analogy between that and the guarantees in the Bill.
Mr. Gibb: If the guarantee is a real guarantee, there is a high likelihood that it will give rise to contractual rights. If, however-as is probably the case, which is why I will not be calling for a vote on this issue-the guarantees are not really worth very much and this is merely political posturing, the Minister is right, and it will not be possible to enforce these provisions in the courts, regardless of whether that is explicitly ruled out in the legislation.
The guarantees represent an expensive and bureaucratic approach to trying to raise standards in our schools. They are, in effect, the last refuge of a Government who know that they have not delivered. This new clause and amendment go some way towards mitigating the downside of some of the implications of the pupil and parent guarantees, however. For that reason, we will not oppose them-but they will not create one single thing that will help to raise standards in our schools.
Mr. David Laws (Yeovil) (LD): I start by thanking the Minister for Schools and Learners and his team for the generally productive approach they took in Committee, and I also thank him for starting today's debate with a small olive branch of consensus, before we move on to the dissent that is likely to permeate the rest of our debate. He has listened, to some extent, to the criticisms of clauses 1 to 3, and in response he has offered some small and rather modest gifts to the Committee and the House to try to dispose of a few of the problems that will arise if the guarantees are ever implemented, which we must doubt. We support him in seeking to remove "frivolous" complaints, and we agree with his points about not creating legal rights that could result in legal action, with parents and pupils suing for damages.
However, our main problem with clauses 1 to 3-in this regard I agree with the hon. Member for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton (Mr. Gibb)-is that the Government have drawn up the pupil and parent guarantees in such a vague and unhelpful way. Goodness knows what the ombudsman is going to make of trying to enforce those guarantees, which the Secretary of State and his advisers cobbled together one evening a few months ago. No ombudsman will be able to make a serious job of enforcing the types of obligations and supposed guarantees set out in the White Paper.
The hon. Member for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton cited just one of the flawed pupil guarantees. I have cited in the past, and shall cite again in future, the pupil guarantee that specifies that every 11 to 14-year-old should enjoy
"relevant and challenging learning in all subjects",
"personal, learning and thinking skills so that they have strong foundations to make their 14-19 choices."
We are told that that will be phased in by September 2010. The Minister is a fair-minded person who must know that our criticisms are entirely right, and I put it to him that it will be impossible for any ombudsman service, regardless of how many staff it has, to make head or tail of most of the pupil and parent guarantees. Indeed, if we read the small print of some of these guarantees, we discover that in the commercial sector people would get into serious trouble for seeking to present them as guarantees.
For example, the guarantees on access to physical education and competitive sport are phrased in such a way that although they give the impression that there is a guarantee of five hours of sport-or culture, or whatever-the truth is that all the Government are talking about is "access" to those things, which could be delivered in a series of very unconvincing ways that would mean that the vast majority of young people would not get five hours of any of them, because they are available in such a way that they cannot be taken for granted. Meanwhile, however, a head teacher-or more likely a Secretary of State-would be able say, "Hurrah, we've delivered all these wonderful guarantees, and young people can have access to these things."
If the Secretary of State had come up with even a couple of sensible guarantees that were outcome focused rather than input focused, and had linked them to giving freedom to schools to make their own decisions about how to deliver them, we might have supported him. He was in the Treasury back in the early days when all those delivery targets were set. They often focused on inputs rather than outputs, and then the Treasury realised that it had got it all wrong. Because he is so experienced and knows all the flaws of setting targets in this way, he should not, as Secretary of State, have come up with such a lot of nonsense: so many guarantees that are unenforceable, or focus on inputs. He must know that he has cobbled these guarantees together on the back of a fag packet. Although he has sought to do that to create some dividing lines for electoral purposes, the guarantees deserve to be put in the waste paper basket before the election, rather than being implemented in such a way that they will be extremely difficult for any parent or pupil to enforce, and will give the ombudsman service an impossible job.
Of course the Liberal Democrats welcome this small olive branch; we do not want to be churlish and we are grateful for all concessions. I hope that I have not struck a note that has implied any lack of charity or enthusiasm -[Interruption] -or, indeed, any churlishness, in response to these small concessions. However, they are very small concessions, they sit on top of a very big problem, and they do not address the flaws in clauses 1 to 3.
I sometimes wonder whether it is worth coming forward with concessions; if those are the reactions that I get for doing so, I will just do full-blown opposition and get on with it. However, I welcome the limited
welcome given to these concessions, and just wish to make a couple of points before allowing us to move on. They are important concessions and changes, and they directly relate to some of the problems that the hon. Members for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton (Mr. Gibb) and for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) set out. We have tried to respond to those so that the document becomes more workable and we do not encounter some of the problems that would have arisen had we not amended the Bill.
The document is being consulted on for 12 weeks-I do not recall exactly how far through that process we are, but it is about seven or eight weeks-and people are responding to that consultation exercise. When my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I go to meetings, people talk to us about the guarantees and they do not see them as being fit for the waste paper bin. People are engaging with us about the real effort that we have made to lay out, for the first time, what the state's offer should be to parents and to pupils in terms of state education. This was not a "back of a fag packet" effort; serious discussions took place over a considerable time so that we could put forward a document setting out what a parent and a pupil can expect in terms of education.
Let us go into fantasy land for a moment: if, after an election, we had a Conservative Government or a Liberal Government -[Interruption.] It has come to something when I am barracked by my own side as well. I would have a wager with the hon. Members for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton and for Yeovil that if and when this becomes law, they will not abolish it.
Mr. Coaker: This is an interesting point. I do not believe that they would abolish it, because when it is set out with the guarantees on one-to-one tuition, on sport, on recreation, on culture, on languages, on learning, and on parents being kept informed both online and through proper consultation-through parents evenings and so on-parents, teachers, pupils and the general public will see that, far from being a useless piece of bureaucracy, it is a live document that, for the first time, sets out what the state's offer is on the educational entitlement of the young people of this country. With those brief comments, and having taken note of the overwhelming gratitude that I have received for introducing these provisions, I commend the measures to the House.
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domain: law


Architect Norman Foster has released details of a self-funded proposal for a huge airport in the Thames Estuary.
The plan, much ballyhooed by Boris Johnson (to general disdain / ridicule by his party, the airlines and other interested parties) is for a floating airport in the Estuary, to alleviate and eventually replace Heathrow. Foster's proposal is not quite the same as the Mayor's plan, but is similar in its location, and is nothing if not ambitious. Built on reclaimed land on the Isle of Grain, the Thames Hub would be the world's largest airport, operating 24 hours a day and serviced by a huge slab of new transport infrastructure that would include the UK's busiest station, with 300,000 people passing through each day. The airport would be accessible from central London in 30 minutes, and the scheme also incorporates a new orbital rail route around the capital and a second Thames flood barrier.
Foster has nous when it comes to ambitious airports. His firm's Beijing terminal was briefly the world's largest, while Hong Kong International Airport is built on reclaimed land (on a perhaps less impressive note, he also designed Stansted Airport). But as Financial Times architecture critic Edwin Heathcoate notes, it is a
complete re-imagining of the UK’s transport, energy and communication infrastructure, a vision of the kind of integration in transport and utilities that has not been considered since the great age of canals and then of railways
The £50 billion project has inevitably won the backing of Boris Johnson, while dissenting voices come from Kent residents, wildlife groups, and Terry Farrell, a not-entirely disinterested party as he is drawing up the masterplan for a transport hub at Old Oak Common in north-west London.
In outlining the project, Lord Foster harked back to Britain's Victorian traditions of entrepreneurialism and industrial derring-do. Protesting perhaps too much, he said that the project was 'no pie-in-the-sky', and that building it would be "the most powerful single statement we could make about the ambition of this country". Given the country's miserly economic situation thus far in the 21st century, the notion of spending £50 billion on an airport (to say nothing of the associated infrastructural costs) might strike some less as ambition than fiscal foolhardiness on a colossal scale.
Yet there's something so bold, so ambitious, so Buck Rogers about the plan that it's almost impossible to imagine it happening.


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Someone asked that I provide the list I am using for the photo a day challenge. It's from
The Idea room Photo A Day July 2015 List
They provide a list every month and anyone can use it. I'm using it for inspiration to get out there and take pictures. Some of them are good others not so much but it's fun.
Copyright © C.A. Bailey 2010 - 2015, All Rights Reserved.


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Wilson Chandler is calm amidst the trade-rumor storm.
The Knicks’ swingman is being dangled as part of a potential trade package for Hornets point guard Chris Paul, but the swirling rumors haven’t affected Chandler’s offseason preparation.
Chandler was at the Garden last night for the Liberty’s 77-72 victory over San Antonio and told The Post he is working hard in anticipation of playing alongside new Knicks Amar’e Stoudemire and Raymond Felton.
“I try to think about things I can control,” Chandler said. “I’ve just been in the gym working on my game. Everything’s going pretty good. Working on my ball handling, shooting, few moves, first step.”
Chandler averaged 15.3 and 5.4 rebounds last season in 65 games but was shut down in March with a groin injury. Knicks president Donnie Walsh and coach Mike D’Antoni like Chandler’s game, but if the Knicks are going to be players in a trade for Paul, Chandler likely is expendable.
Other than LeBron James, a potential Paul trade has been the hottest topic of the NBA’s summer, so Chandler understands he could be a Hornet come opening night. Still, he expressed excitement at the prospect of playing with Stoudemire and Felton.
“Raymond is a great point guard,” Chandler said. “He’ll attack and pass the ball. I think he’ll be great in D’Antoni’s system. Amar’e is a great player, dominant force down low, and I think he’ll really open the floor for guys like me and [Danilo Gallinari].”
Chandler exchanged pleasantries with Knicks owner Jim Dolan at halftime and clearly enjoyed the Liberty game. He smiled and laughed at the entertainment during stops in play, and had high praise for Liberty rookie Kalana Greene, who had 17 points.
“I enjoy watching the girls,” Chandler said. “Greene is going to be a great player.”


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WHAT’S THIS ALL ABOUT?
Using different wires in black, silver, gold and brass, your teacher Zack McLaughlin will show you how to twist the wire to make a life size wire wren. Each one ends up with a different stance and look, and each one is charming. This class is extremely popular, and you will get the patterns so you could create a whole flock. The templates included are for three British birds, House Sparrow, Eurasian Wren and the Eurasian Robin.
Click the link below for more details.
Fill in your contact details for full access to Indyhouse!

domain: hobby