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Model & Strategy
Small and growing businesses (SGBs) across Latin America face stagnating productivity and increasing susceptibility to climate variability and natural resource degradation. Low levels of productivity, lack of differentiation, and minimal integration into value chains make SGBs vulnerable to closure. When an SGB goes out of business, it triggers a waterfall effect that strips the livelihoods of business owners, employees, and their respective families. Additionally, SGBs’ aggregate contributions to environmental degradation are increasing, with 80% of corporate greenhouse gas emissions coming from the first SGBs in their value chains. Negative impacts are even more acute for women in business, where persisting gender gaps in economic opportunity have led to women entrepreneurs in Latin America facing some of the highest rates of business failure in the world. These realities are worrisome; SGBs contribute up to 50% of Latin America’s GDP and employ over 90% of the region’s population. COVID-19 exacerbated these trends, and the region is recovering from a 7% contraction and the loss of 26M jobs.
Agora accelerates the growth of SBGs and transforms them into drivers of positive change. The regional organization works with local actors to support SGBs on the road to economic, social, and environmental sustainability. Their work focuses on the three major components necessary for SGBs’ success:
- Capacity building: Drawing on more than 15 years of experience working to accelerate the growth of over 3,300 entrepreneurs and SGBs across Latin America, Agora’s tailored training and advisory services support SGBs, entrepreneurs, and entrepreneurial support organizations to move towards economic, social, and environmental sustainability. The focus is on organizational financial, operational, and managerial effectiveness while supporting SGBs’ integration of social innovation into their models.
- Market linkages: Responding to the scant integration of SGBs into productive value chains and their low levels of internationalization, Agora supports SGBs in accessing new markets and sales channels. Agora works in partnership with retailers, corporations, online platforms, and logistics providers to extend market linkages to SGBs for domestic and international expansion.
- Access to finance: Recognizing that SGBs need capital to survive and thrive, Agora helps pinpoint capital requirements, particularly as they relate to the implementation of environmentally positive practices. Agora partners with financing actors, fintechs, investors, banks, microfinance companies, and non-banking institutions to extend friendly financing to SGBs.
Cecilia became Agora’s CEO in late 2020 after serving as the organization’s chief programs officer. Cecilia has spent 15+ years leading and managing impact initiatives for strategic growth and innovation across the globe, with a targeted focus on the Americas. Her experience spans business strategy, partnership building, business development, design research, program design, financial modeling, digital marketing, curriculum design, and organizational change for youth development, healthcare, agriculture, microfinance, women’s empowerment, and entrepreneurship initiatives. Cecilia currently serves as the Chief Programs + Innovation Officer for Agora Partnerships. Previously, she held roles directing or managing operations, marketing or programs for Global Citizen, Global Goods Partners, and AHA Bolivia. Additionally, Cecilia has founded and built two organizations, Torus Teens and Small Fry, to address education and economic opportunity gaps in disadvantaged communities in the US. Cecilia holds an MBA from Baruch College, an MS in Global Education from Drexel, and a BS in Apparel Design from Virginia Tech.
Cecilia has worked in or with over 25 countries across the globe and has lived in Costa Rica, Bolivia and Mexico.
While a student at Columbia Business School in 2005, Ben launched Agora Partnerships with the help of nearly 20 Columbia students and Ricardo Teran, an entrepreneur from Nicaragua, home of the organization’s first office.
Ben was an examiner in the International Affairs Division of the White House Office of Management and Budget and has worked at Ashoka on its Full Economic Citizenship initiative. Ben received the I-Qube award for innovation, inspiration and impact from Dalberg Global Advisors, and the Social Venture Network Innovation Award. He is a top 40 under 40 development leader in Washington, D.C. and is part of the Aspen Network for Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE).
In 2023, Agora helped launch Juntas Contamos, a program co-designed and financed by Agora Partnerships, IDB Lab, We-Fi and other key contributors, that will serve 4,000 women entrepreneurs from the countries Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Mexico over the next three years.
To date, Agora has served more than 3,300 entrepreneurs across 23 countries; 50% of entrepreneurs served are women.


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Usher's new role as "soundtrack curator" of Macy's Fourth of July fireworks spectacular gave him the opportunity to highlight some of America's legendary artists — like Usher, Usher, Usher and, oh, Usher.
The R&B star's decision to use four of his own songs back to back alongside classics and modern masterpieces such as Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York," and Jimi Hendrix's "Star Spangled Banner" drew some backlash on Twitter, with one user calling it "selfish and self-centered."
The music, synchronized to the lavish fireworks display over the Hudson River, certainly skewed younger than in years past, with Alicia Keys and Jay Z's "Empire State of Mind," Kelly Clarkson's "Stronger," Rihanna's "Diamonds," and an “America the Beautiful” rendition from Miranda Lambert and Usher's "The Voice" co-star Blake Shelton.
"I wanted to represent America," he told the New York Daily News earlier in the week. "To highlight incredible things we’ve overcome as people in America. Making an investment and being able to empathize and understand and give credence to some of the things we’ve had to overcome. And that right there is what I think creates a legendary artist, a legendary person, a legendary show.
Usher didn't address the mini-controversy, though he did tweet earlier this morning that the best part of the event was "looking out over the crowd to see all those faces, people of different ages and races."

domain: entertainment


Who is Reza Zarrab?
Born in Tehran in 1983, the Turkish-Iranian businessman was one of the 21st century’s most prolific money launderers before his 2016 arrest by U.S. authorities while en route to a Florida vacation.
Zarrab began doing business in Turkey around 2008, shortly after obtaining citizenship through a foreign investment program. But the true nature of his dealings there were largely shrouded in mystery until a 2013 bribery scandal exposed his apparent ties to the country’s government.
The most significant client of Zarrab’s “cash transfer” business was the Islamic Republic of Iran, which he helped violate U.S. and U.N. sanctions designed to curb the country’s nuclear ambitions.
But OCCRP uncovered that Zarrab’s company moved money for Russian clients as well, despite his testimony to the contrary in a U.S. court. Some of his transactions were tied to the massive tax fraud exposed by Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who died in prison after blowing the whistle on the affair.
How did Zarrab’s money laundering operation work?
Zarrab’s money-laundering empire used complex networks of shell companies — some owned or managed by family members or subordinates — as well as hand-couriered deliveries of gold and cash to move billions of dollars on behalf of Iran and other clients.
His illicit money transfer activities relied on correspondent banking services provided by some of the biggest financial institutions in the world, including Standard Chartered and Deutsche Bank.
Evidence analyzed by OCCRP as part of the FinCEN Files project, and detailed in a recent investigation, suggests that some major global banks may have wilfully ignored red flags relating to Zarrab’s operations.
Why is Zarrab still in the news?
The money launderer has become a major focus of U.S.-Turkish relations in recent years.
In sworn testimony, he has directly accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of complicity in the conspiracy and suggested that several high-ranking Turkish officials, including former Minister of the Economy Zafer Caglayan, had accepted multi-million-dollar bribes to look the other way.
Zarrab has cooperated with U.S. prosecutors in their investigation into the role of Turkey’s state-owned Halkbank in the sanction-evasion scheme.
There were early warning signs of Zarrab’s nefarious activities and high-level connections — he’d previously been arrested by Turkish police during a bribery investigation in 2013.
Erdoğan denounced the probe as part of a judicial coup, and Zarrab walked free after just two months in custody.
What about the alleged interference from Trump?
According to media reports, Erdoğan made repeated pleas to U.S. presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump to drop the Zarrab case — and Trump reportedly considered it.
Zarrab was at one point represented by Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, who lobbied for his release in exchange for Turkey freeing American pastor Andrew Brunson, who’d been detained on terrorism-related charges.
Trump wanted to explore this, but then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson dismissed the idea in an Oval Office meeting in 2017.
Lev Parnas — a former associate of Giuliani who emerged as a key player in the Trump-Ukraine impeachment inquiry — told OCCRP in the first on-the-record account of that meeting that Giuliani was furious with the result.
Turkey also tried to get Trump to axe the case against Halkbank.
A U.S. Senate inquiry found that Trump met with Berat Albayrak, Turkey’s Treasury Minister and Erdoğan’s son-in-law, at the White House. In the April 2019 meeting, he reportedly said he would look into halting further enforcement.
Prosecutors allege that Albayrak was directly involved in the scandal, instructing officials to continue transferring funds between Iran and Zarrab’s accounts even after the money launderer’s arrest in 2013.
Why did Iran choose Zarrab to launder its money?
The exact nature of Zarrab’s relationship or communications with the Iranian regime is unknown. But one thing is clear — he was good at what he did.
According to a conservative estimate by U.S. prosecutors, Zarrab washed at least $20 billion in dirty cash for Iran between 2010 and 2015. The scheme ran for as long as eight years.
Longstanding ties to the regime maintained by his father, Iranian businessman Hossein Zarrab, couldn’t have hurt.
But he wasn’t the only one. OCCRP has revealed that Hatam Khatoun Nema, a Swedish-Iranian businessman, also laundered hundreds of millions of dollars in Chinese oil money on behalf of the Islamic Republic.
How is Zarrab perceived in Turkey?
Zarrab’s opulent lifestyle, complete with an office in Istanbul’s Trump Tower, earned him the nickname “The Turkish Gatsby” in the country’s tabloid press.
His celebrity rose when he married singer, actress, and TV personality Ebru Gündeş, a best-selling performer of Turkey’s popular Arab-style love songs and a former judge on the country’s iteration of singing competition The Voice.
Gündeş filed for divorce after Zarrab’s arrest in 2016. They were believed to have reconciled, but according to recent reports, the divorce is proceeding.
Where is Zarrab now?
It’s unclear, but he’s likely somewhere in the United States.
He was reportedly seen dining at an expensive Manhattan restaurant in September 2018. OCCRP has determined that a number of his companies remain active, possibly continuing to provide him with some form of income.
One thing’s for sure — he won’t be returning to Turkey anytime soon, at least not willingly.
His testimony about Erdoğan was reportedly met with fury from the Turkish president: The country seized Zarrab’s assets and declared him persona non grata.


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The AFL has secured its first official cryptocurrency exchange and official cryptocurrency trading platform, agreeing to a major sponsorship deal with Crypto.com, worth a reported $25 million.
The cryptocurrency exchange app is based in Singapore and has existing partnerships worldwide at an estimated total of $1.5 billion, including French soccer club Paris St Germain and the UFC, and more recently has taken over the naming rights of the now-formerly known Staples Center in Los Angeles.
It is understood that Crypto.com has partnered with the AFL to become a major financial backer of the AFLW, with the five-year deal set to substantially aid the financial domain of the women's sporting sector, according to The Australian.
Women in Australia are understood to be more likely to invest in cryptocurrency compared to overseas, with the above-average usage a key attraction for Crypto.com.
“Uniquely for Australia, compared to other markets, is that they generally skew towards blokes, but here we are skewing more towards women,” Crypto.com general manager Asia & Pacific Karl Mohan told News Corp.
“It is very encouraging to see that Australians from all walks of life, irrespective of gender or background, are very keen to adopt cryptocurrencies and we think the AFL has led the way to bring gender diversity to Australian sport.
“Australia is an important market ... It is a tech-savvy population, it loves adopting technology early and the regulation is becoming very clear in Australia.”
The Western Bulldogs announced their partnership with cryptocurrency exchange CoinSpot in May last year, becoming the first company of its kind to partner with a major sports team in the country.
We are thrilled to announce that we are extending our Major Partnership to a multi-year deal with the @westernbulldogs
To celebrate, CoinSpot is giving away $10,000 of Bitcoin & a signed Western Bulldogs guernsey!
To enter, head over to:https://t.co/0Tge10O2Xv
Good luck! 🚀 pic.twitter.com/KQVkxw3La4
— CoinSpot (@coinspotau) September 24, 2021

domain: news


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You give me back. Phœbus, my bond for four hundred thousand sesterces; lend me rather a hundred thousand more. Seek some one else to whom you may vaunt your empty present: what I cannot pay you, Phœbus, is my own.
I pleaded your cause, Sextus, having agreed to do so for two thousand sesterces. How is it that you have sent me only a thousand? "You said nothing," you tell me; "and this cause was lost through you." You ought to give me so much the more, Sextus, as I had to blush for you.

domain: literature


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Senior Associate - Tax Adviser
Menno Maat, senior associate, is a member of the Tax Practice Group and team leader of the Tax Compliance team in our Luxembourg office. He focuses on tax compliance matters for multinationals.
Menno’s practice areas are corporate income tax and tax compliance. He specialises in tax compliance aspects of companies in international structures (predominantly holding – and financing activities).
Prior to joining the Luxembourg office of Loyens & Loeff, Menno worked in the tax practice of a Big Four company in the Netherlands where he acquired experience in Dutch tax compliance aspects.

domain: law


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Learning From Saudi Arabia
Is Saudi Arabia doing more than it is getting credit for?
January 6, 2005
When Islamist terrorists detonated two bombs outside Saudi Arabian security centers last week, within hours three of the leading terror suspects in the kingdom had been killed and others apprehended by Saudi security forces.
Yet, when similar terrorists in Iraq slaughtered 30 government soldiers in attacks on succeeding days, they did so with impunity — and many more massacres are feared in the coming weeks.
According to the neo-conservative policymakers who have shaped U.S. Middle East policy in the Pentagon, the National Security Council and the office of Vice President Dick Cheney, it was not supposed to be this way.
Indeed, it was supposed to be precisely the opposite: Iraq two years after the toppling of President Saddam Hussein was supposed to be a pillar of regional stability, pumping out enough oil to break the power of the OPEC cartel.
Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, was expected to remain a dangerous breeding ground for active Islamist terrorists.
The situation in Saudi Arabia, the neo-cons assumed, would only change over time as the Saudi people — fed up with their regime — would be tempted to follow the Iraqi example of democracy and prosperity.
Clearly, it did not happen that way. More than six times the number of American soldiers has been killed in Iraq since President George W. Bush declared the end of major combat operations on May 1, 2003, than died during the actual invasion.
Yet the neo-cons in the Bush Administration still believe Iraq policy is “on track.” They believe that the elections for a new National Assembly on Jan. 30, 2004, will produce a united Shiite bloc that will look to Washington far more than to Tehran.
And they still have faith that their old favorite, Ahmed Chalabi — head of the Iraqi National Congress and one of the top ten figures on the united Shiite list of candidates — will steer the new majority in the way Washington wants.
Then, the neo-cons believe, the Sunni Islamist guerrilla insurrection across Iraq will finally be crushed.
Yet, the harsh, grim, unrelenting fact remains that the new Iraqi security forces that were rapidly rushed into existence over the past 20 months to take the burden off the overstretched U.S. troops in Iraq have so far shown no ability to do the job.
Their morale of most Iraqi security forces is poor, their equipment miserable and their training derisory. U.S. military analysts fear the new forces are riddled with Islamist and former Ba’ath agents, making them even less efficient.
In Washington, many Middle East experts now opine that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld should have opted for slowly building an elite, carefully screened, much smaller Iraqi force.
The Iraq guerrillas had demonstrated their reach and determination by August 2003, in attacks that killed United Nations special envoy to Iraq Sergio Vieira de Mello and Shiite Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim in the same month.
Still, neo-con pundits publicly predicted the insurrection was tiny, unrepresentative, could not last and would not spread. All those predictions have been proven false.
Another prediction by the neo-cons turned out to be just as wrong. They repeatedly argued that catastrophe and doom would rapidly fall upon Saudi Arabia once the United States got serious about reforming the Middle East.
Five years ago, with global oil prices down to an historic low of nearly $10 per barrel, there was indeed good reason to believe that the Saudis might be running out of cash to fund the generous and expensive social contract that has bought them decades of peace.
But today, with global oil prices still well above $40 a barrel, the Saudis certainly do not lack for financial resources to fund either their social programs or their security services.
Instead, over the past year, their revitalized security services — which were always, in reality, far more effective than hostile critics in the U.S. media often painted them — have scored one success against Islamist terrorists after another.
Al Qaeda’s organization in the Desert Kingdom has been reeling, with at least three of its directors of operations in succession killed by Saudi security in only 12 months.
As a result, the Saudis have done more to dent the image of invincibility that al Qaeda instantly gained across the Middle East after 9/11 than 22 months of U.S. military operations in Iraq.
The neo-cons — with the enthusiastic support of Rumsfeld, Cheney and Bush — were convinced that they could “drain the swamp” of the Middle East by sweeping away repressive regimes and creating U.S.-style democracies.
They have argued that doing so would almost instantaneously eliminate popular support for al-Qaeda and its cohorts. Instead, the opposite has occurred.
Far from it. Thus far, the most dangerous and effective enemies of al Qaeda outside Afghanistan have been the security forces of existing Arab governments.
Among them are the Saudi security services, the small but highly efficient security forces of King Abdullah II in Jordan or the Mukhabarat intelligence service of Baathist Syria under President Bashar Assad.
Indeed, Syria has been an invaluable source of intelligence on al-Qaeda to the U.S. intelligence services over the past three years.
At least for the moment, the Saudi security authorities continue to have murder by the throat in their own country. But in neighboring Iraq, murder still has the Bush Administration by the throat, not the other way round.
Perhaps it is time Bush Administration policymakers abandoned some of their prejudices — and took a few tips from Riyadh.

domain: politics


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I have been to this restaurant twice and in love with this restaurant from the first moment. It is such a nice and cozy restaurant. There are so many good choices of shushi and Vietnamese dishes. The food is fresh and so delicious. The taste is original, which make me love to go to this restaurant alot, as I felt that I was at thome. The service is excelent, the food comes in 10 or 15 minutes and the staff are polite and friendly. The prices are very reasonable. This is a good address that I have told to many good friends of mine.
If you own or manage Tachi, register now for free tools to enhance your listing, attract new reviews, and respond to reviewers.

domain: food


1962 PORSCHE 356 B
The 356 B took over the reigns of the 356 A in 1959, and proved to be a gentle evolution of the rock-solid 356 concept. Externally, as on the 356 A, minor changes added up to a completely new look – for example, the bumpers were increased in size and strength, and also positioned higher up the car. The headlights were uprighted by a couple of degrees, and new wings were fashioned to accomodate this. A larger, heavier, chromium-plated handle was utilised on the bonnet, changing the face of the car. Internally, the cabin benefitted from larger windscreens, and the option of sunroofs. Luggage space, or at least the ease of access to the space, was increased by the modification of the bonnet, and the engine received a twin-louvered cover. Although upgraded, the car was considered ugly at first. yet after continued use in films and races, the B won lots of respect As well as the continued use of the 1600 and 1600S models, in 1960 Porsche bolstered the range with the addition of the Super 90, the most powerful 356 yet. Pushing out 90BHP, thanks to a higher compression ratio, a modified cylinder head, new Solex carburettors, bigger valves and lighter cylinders, the Super 90 was capable of up to 110 mph – super performance for the period. The Super 90 also marked the introduction of radial tyres on Porsche cars.


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Whether you want to win a life changing payout, or you are simply looking for a fun way to spend an afternoon, you may be interested in playing the lottery. However, there are a number of things you should know before you start purchasing lottery tickets.
There are several official state-run lotteries that are available in most states. These include Mega Millions, Powerball, and several other lottery-style games. Each lottery has its own set of rules and laws, so you should be careful about how you play. You also want to make sure you are buying a ticket that is legal and is permitted by your state. Some states have strict rules about the purchase of lottery tickets, while others allow players to buy tickets from anywhere in the world.
The lottery has a long history in the United States. The first official lottery was launched in Puerto Rico in 1934. Today, there are 44 states that run a state-wide lottery. The only two states that do not have a state-wide lottery are Hawaii and Nevada.
The lottery is a popular form of gambling, with many people becoming millionaires by winning the jackpot. The lottery also helps fund important government programs and schools. Some of the profits are used to pay for education, care services, and low-cost prescription programs. Most of the proceeds are used to help people in the community.
The lottery is run by the state, with the governor deciding how the money is used. The lottery is often a 50/50 raffle, with the state receiving a percentage of the revenue and the remaining funds going toward the prize pool. Most of the profits are then distributed to public programs, schools, and other local businesses.
Some lottery enthusiasts are convinced that the results of past draws have an influence on future ones. That is known as the gambler’s fallacy. The odds of winning the jackpot are almost impossible for any individual, but the house edge is only about half that. This means that you have a higher chance of winning if you buy more tickets than anyone else.
You can also find some lottery-style games online. Some of these sites offer tools that can help you choose which lotteries are the best. You can search by draw dates, jackpot size, and other criteria to ensure that you are playing the right game. These websites also feature past winner bios, winning numbers, and other useful information.
While the US online lottery system has evolved with the development of technology, there are still some legal and safety issues to be aware of. You should also be aware that some states do not permit the sale of lottery tickets over the internet. While these states may be supportive of the lottery’s expansion into the internet, they do not always allow tickets to be purchased on their websites.
Some states, such as Florida, Louisiana, and Virginia, support state-sanctioned online lottery subscription services. There are also third-party lottery apps that are beginning to appear in recent years. These apps do not provide the same level of service that official online lottery sites do.

domain: finance


Today people live longer, more urban lifestyles. But technology can accompany lifestyle and demographics change.
New solutions are constantly being developed to encourage more prevention, patient autonomy, self-monitoring and active and fulfilling lifestyles. With Big Data, artificial intelligence, gamification, Internet of Things, the cloud, wearables, and social media, the digital transformation health systems are just getting started.
Such solutions will drive the data economy while shifting the way we access, interact and use healthcare and wellbeing services.
Satellite data, satellite location and navigation, and satellite telecommunications are part of the technology mix that drives new applications.
This conference will feature hands-on case studies about the use of satellite services in taking care of people remotely, monitoring and modifying factors that affect health in urban and rural areas while motivating autonomous, healthy living for longer.
Join and mingle to learn from:


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For as long as I could remember, my dad’s evening commute included a one-mile walk from the 7 train’s terminus at Main Street, Flushing to our two-family home in Auburndale. Usually, he would come sauntering through the door, whistling some complicated tune and swinging his canvas briefcase like a happy grade-schooler handling his lunchbox. He’d maintain this jocular mood while walking up the steps to our second-floor apartment, then his happiness would disperse and he’d adopt his regular sour puss in preparation for what was to come–for very often, there was some situation involving my brother. Adem was caught cutting class again. Adem drank all the beer in the house. Adem punched the bathroom mirror, shattering it and lacerating his hands with the shards. In the ten seconds it took for my father to traverse the hallway between the front door and the door to our apartment, between his guises as Employed Guy and Punitive Father, you could catch a glimpse of the man in his natural state, unencumbered by responsibilities and ethics and harsh realities. And you know, I’m glad he had that much. Because as bad as my brother could be, there are plenty of dads who don’t get even that time to be themselves, to be absolved of their own anger and guilt and whatever other stupid feelings parents have towards their wayward children. For want of a twenty-minute walk home from the subway, other dads have no respite at all.
Take, for instance, Commissioner James Gordon, that well-known fictional character from the Batman universe. Doggedly devoted to his job and a high-minded concept of justice, Gordon is commonly depicted sympathetically by applicable funny book writers, sort of the “good cop” to Batman’s “bad cop.” But he is not without his faults, and along with his awards and trophies and commendations for stellar police work, Gordon is also the owner of one failed marriage, one second wife tragically murdered in the line of duty, a handful of crooked cops making merry on his watch, and other assorted failures and derogatory accusations. These hurdles, they wear on any man, even dads. And Commissioner Gordon is a dad, to his adopted daughter (in the current iteration) Barbara Gordon and his biological son, James Gordon, Jr.
Oh, you don’t know about James Gordon, Jr.? You don’t remember when, as a baby, he was rescued by Bruce Wayne in Batman: Year One? That act of heroism is why then-Captain Gordon started trusting Batman in the first place. See, now you remember, but you didn’t remember before because James, Jr. appears in Batman: Year One and practically nowhere else. He figures prominently in the well-done graphic novel Night Cries by Archie Goodwyn–in which we actually see Gordon’s first wife separate from him and move to Chicago–but otherwise, we don’t learn too much about the lil tyke. We’re so intimate with Barbara Gordon that we can predict her menstrual cycle, but James Gordon, Jr. remains an enigma.
Until the story arc contained in Batman: The Black Mirror by Scott Snyder. Perhaps you’ve been avoiding reading recent Batman fare because all of the established constants of the mythological world he inhabits are perpetually shifting as of late. Or maybe you never gave a shit about Batman and are asking yourself why you’ve read this much of my review. For the purposes of The Black Mirror, it’s only important to know that the usual Batman, Bruce Wayne, has taken leave and left his ward, Dick Grayson (aka Nightwing, aka the first Robin) to wear the Batman costume. Get all that? So where the Bruce Wayne Batman is all brooding and large swaths of black ink, the Dick Grayson Batman is more convivial and happy, preferring the high-flying trapeze routines recalled from his youth as a circus performer to wallowing in the filthy streets, violently separating miscreants from their teeth. Got all that? Any questions? Good. You should have questions.
So in The Black Mirror, you’ve got Dick Grayson playing Batman, trying to fill the shoes worn by his adoptive father, Bruce Wayne. You’ve got the bastard daughter of mafia boss Tony Zucco, now a bank manager trying to escape from the shadow of her biological dad’s criminal past. And you’ve got James Gordon, Jr., who approaches his poppa with an apparently sincere desire to reconnect with his family. The rub is that James Junior is a psychopath, he does not feel empathy for his fellow man, and is suspected by his dad of having committed several violent crimes. Intertwining all of these characters, The Black Mirror challenges the idealized nature of father/son relationships, affirming the dichotomy of being any member of a family and its contradictions. Parents are sometimes required to dole tough love, children need to be self-reliant and independent in order to prove that they’ve been raised with due attention. Dealing with members of your immediate family can sometimes be like looking into a mirror, a black mirror at that, a very similar reflection turned unfamiliar by obfuscating the features we expect to see.
And that, my patient readers, is where The Black Mirror fails. For while I was able to create an adequate metaphor for the story based on the title of this trade collection, Todd Snyder goes on for the entire run about how Gotham City is “hungry,” how it feeds on pain or whatever trite bullshit you want to assume about a city that’s positively famished. Sure, Gotham City is hungry, it’s also sleepy and sneezy and Doc if you sit and think about it long enough. You can apply virtually any metaphor on a fictional city, so why Snyder insisted on going to the long way around to describe its hunger is beyond me. It’s called Black Mirror, many parent/child relationships can be construed as each person being a mirror for the other, and sometimes that mirror is blackened in that we see things about ourselves that might not be pleasant. How does a starving city play into this? What does a corrupting, peckish city have to do with fathers and sons? Very little, I think, and Snyder doesn’t seem to care enough to draw even those parallels. It’s more like he wanted a noir concept to run through the series in order to tie the narrative together, but either didn’t see or care to acknowledge the lay-up concept. No matter. It’s disappointing to see an easily-fielded ball dropped, but it doesn’t mar this engaging story terribly. Check it out, Batman fans.


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London, UK / Total Pet Publishing
/ March 7, 2011 — A recent study by UK-based dog publication K9 Magazine has revealed that puppy house training is the most challenging thing to face new/novice dog owners.
The survey, which quizzed 100 owners of dogs under the age of 6-months, showed that the biggest stress new owners faced was in successfully training their dogs not to go to the toilet in the home.
Many dog owners get disheartened when house training their puppy when it appears the dog has mastered the habit only to seemingly go back to old ways a few days later.
K9 Magazine publisher, Ryan O'Meara
, on the common problem faced by new dog owners:
"Often when someone gets a dog for the first time they've never actually been exposed to the messy side of dog ownership. It can sometimes take people a little while to get used to the idea of their beautiful home being soiled by this adorable bundle of joy that has recently come in to their lives. However, where problems take hold is when owners start to despair and worry that they will never be able to house train their puppy. Our survey showed that many owners started to question whether they'd done the right thing in actually getting a dog at the point where despair had taken hold and their fears set in about never having a house trained dog."
In the survey, 89% of owners said they had turned to the Internet to help them succeed with puppy house training
84% said that articles such as K9 Magazine's 'puppy paper training
' guide had helped to assure them that support was available and that small problems could easily be overcome.
Next to puppy house training, the biggest problem new dog owners complained about was puppy biting and puppy howling.
K9 Magazine has produced several tip sheets and reports on curing the most common puppy behaviour problems.

domain: pet


Many luxury-good sellers aren’t feeling the same pressure to cut marketing budgets that has hit other categories in recent months, thanks to a booming market for luxury cars, travel packages and other premium products.
Luxury brands are benefiting from pandemic-era growth in the net worth of the wealthiest consumers, along with the emergence of millennial millionaires and a rise in so-called revenge spending, or consumers spending more than they ordinarily would as they emerge from the pandemic.
Global luxury goods revenue will increase from $309.6 billion last year to $349.1 billion in 2022, according to market-research firm Statista Ltd., en route to $419 billion in 2027.
“At the high end, life is good and demand is robust,” said brand consultant Simon Sproule, who formerly held top marketing and communications roles at
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings
“‘As wealth rises, people tend to accumulate higher-end experiences as they go.’”
Businesses ranging from social-media firm
Meta Platforms Inc.
to publishing conglomerate
Inc. have seen their earnings clipped in recent months as overall ad spending softened.
Some formerly red-hot startups have cut both head counts and marketing budgets, while big spenders in sports betting and cryptocurrencies have had to recalibrate their outlays.
Luxury marketers are making different calculations.
Most luxury brands could theoretically stop marketing since they can’t produce goods fast enough to meet current demand, but smart marketers are spending more to build long-term equity, Mr. Sproule said.
Luxury brands’ marketing budgets were much higher in 2022 than in 2021 and show no sign of slowing as 2023 planning begins, according to Julie Michael, chief executive of
Publicis Groupe SA
advertising agency Team One, which specializes in working with luxury brands such as
Toyota Motor Corp.’s
Marriott International Inc.
St. Michelle Wine Estates Ltd. has increased its marketing budget by 15% year-over-year, driven by increasing demand for premium varieties, said Chief Growth Officer Toby Whitmoyer. “Lower-value wine is in decline, while the $15-plus price category is showing growth,” he said.
Marriott has boosted 2022 marketing budgets for high-end names including the Ritz-Carlton and St. Regis, similarly motivated by increased demand for high-end hotels, said Chris Gabaldon, senior vice president of luxury brands at the hotel chain.
“As wealth rises, people tend to accumulate higher-end experiences as they go,” Mr. Gabaldon said.
And Four Seasons Hotels Ltd.’s paid media budget will increase 300% year-over-year in 2022, according to
the luxury hospitality chain’s executive vice president and chief commercial officer.
Four Seasons in August began an ad campaign themed “Luxury Is Our Love Language,” which it said will be the most expensive in the company’s sixty-plus-year history. Ads depict scenes that Four Seasons said are based on real-world examples of high-profile guests being catered to by hotel employees, such as an executive who receives bathrobes, lattes and steaks branded with his signature monogram.
The decision to base the campaign around individual guests’ experiences was informed by Four Seasons’ work over the past year-plus expanding its internal data analytics capabilities and developing profiles of some two million guests, in part to better target the high earners who provide a disproportionate share of the company’s revenue, Mr. Speichert said.
“I have their email; I have their address; we have a profile. The minute they walk into the door, I know that these are the guests that I should be paying particular attention to,” he said.
Some brands are going to great lengths to reach the jet set with events.
Electric-vehicle maker Lucid Group Inc. just began a city-by-city “Dream Ahead” tour where people who have reserved but not yet purchased cars—along with other interested parties like reporters or Lucid email subscribers—can test-drive its high-price cars.
“There’s no filtering, it’s direct-to-consumer, and we think that’s how consumers want to hear from luxury brands,” said Jeff Curry, vice president of marketing, communications and product, in describing Lucid’s marketing strategy.
In May, around 300 people who had preordered limited edition Aston Martin 2022 V12 Vantage sports cars traveled from as far away as Australia to attend a black-tie dinner inside the auto maker’s main factory in Warwickshire, England, where they saw the cars unveiled on the same floor where they were assembled, according to a company spokesman. The models retail for approximately $300,000.
Executives said these events for existing customers and even paid events double as marketing functions, because they have the potential to raise luxury brands’ profiles among wealthy consumers.
Later this month, Four Seasons will launch a program in which a small number of guests take a weeklong drive through the Tuscan countryside in the luxury sports car of their choice. All parts of the trip, such as visits to exclusive venues and interactions with area chefs, are curated by the chain, with a price beginning at around $35,000 per guest.
Four Seasons also expanded its 24-day, international private jet experience program, with the least expensive “around the world” trips starting at $190,000 per person. Mr. Speichert said the program is 90% sold out through the end of 2023, with the company currently selling tickets for 2024.
A number of brands attracted by the luxury sector’s profit margins have also begun attempting to move into the category, leading some more established luxury names to try to move even higher up the ladder, said Mr. Sproule, the consultant.
Last year, Aston Martin began describing itself as “ultra-luxury,” and in July it launched a rebranding campaign to emphasize the exclusivity of its products, said Renato Bisignani, head of global marketing and communications.
It has moved money away from outdoor display ads, as well as mass-market gatherings that aren’t targeted to ultra-high-worth individuals, Mr. Bisignani said.
“Luxury is probably one of the most abused terms in the industry right now,” he said.
Write to Patrick Coffee at [email protected]
Corrections & Amplifications
Julie Michael is chief executive of advertising agency Team One. An earlier version of this article misspelled her last name as Michaels. Separately, Aston Martin held a black-tie dinner for people who purchased the 2022 edition of its V12 Vantage sports car. An earlier version of this article incorrectly said it was the 2023 edition. (Corrected on Sept. 15)
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8


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The implementation of PostScript hinting in Glyphs allows manual and automatic hints inside the same font. Before resorting to manually inserting hints, try to get as far as possible with autohinting. Only glyphs that do not display correctly at low resolutions will need manual intervention.
Manual and automatic hinting cannot complement each other inside the same glyph. Any manually hinted glyph is excluded from the autohinting process. Thus, when adding hints manually, the glyph must be hinted fully by hand.
There are two types of glyph-level hints, stem hints and ghost hints. Stem hints describe a vertical or a horizontal stem or stem-like feature of a glyph, like a serif or a crossbar. Ghost hints mark the top and bottom edges when a horizontal stem hint cannot be applied.
In combination with alignment zones, horizontal ghost and stem hints are important for the vertical alignment at the vertical font metrics, like the x-height or the ascender. At low resolutions, the rasterizer will try to vertically align the edges of all hinted horizontal stems that reach into an alignment zone. The horizontal hints must have their Y coordinates in common with the nodes that are supposed to align. A single hint will do for all nodes it touches at its height.
Stem hints can overlap each other, for example, the vertical stem hints in the figure eight. PostScript hinting does not allow overlapping of hints. So, in cases like this, Glyphs will automatically insert pieces of information called hint replacement, which turns hints on or off for different parts of the glyph outline. This handles issues related to overlapping hints.
In a Multiple Master setup, only hints in the main master will be considered. In this case, make sure all manually set hints are linked to nodes on the outline (see Stem Hints). See Hinting Multiple Masters for details.
In Edit View, choose Autohint from the context menu to get a good start. This way, glyph-level hints will be inserted like the autohinter would have done it when the font is exported. Edit these hints as described in the following sections. Remember that a glyph is not automatically hinted at export if it contains manual hints so that no additional hints will be added at export.
Add a stem hint to a glyph by choosing Add Horizontal Hint or Add Vertical Hint from the context menu. A gray bar with a number badge will appear. The two numbers indicate the origin and size of the hint.
Adding a hint while two nodes are selected will link the hint to these nodes. Adding linked hints this way even works on multiple node pairs at once, as long as each pair is on a separate outline. For best results, always link hints to extremum nodes (see Extremes & Inflections).
Select a hint by clicking its gray number badge. Shift-click to select multiple hints. Edit the value of the selected hint in the Info box (View → Show Info, Cmd-Shift-I). Press Tab to select the next hint, or Shift-Tab to go to the previous one.
Edit a hint graphically by dragging the blue marks at the edges of the hint. The blue circle indicates the hint origin, while the triangle shows the size and orientation of the hint. When one of the markers is dragged onto a node, Glyphs will link the hint to the position of the node. Moving the node will also adapt the hint. Delete the selected hints by pressing the Delete key.
In the exported OTF file, all stem hints must have a width greater than zero. Glyphs will automatically correct hint directions at export to turn all stem hints positive.
Use ghost hints to vertically align the top or bottom of a glyph when horizontal stem hints are not applicable. For instance, consider a sans-serif uppercase I. The top needs to align with the cap height zone, the bottom with the baseline zone. In a serif I, horizontal hints would apply to the serifs, but the sans-serif letter lacks the horizontal features necessary for a horizontal hint. In this case, put a top ghost hint on the top of the I and a bottom ghost hint at the bottom of the I. Similar situations occur on the top of a sans-serif L and at the bottom of a sans-serif P:
Create a ghost hint by Control-clicking or right-clicking a single node and choosing Add Horizontal Hint from the context menu. Turn an existing hint into a ghost hint by Control-clicking or right-clicking the coordinate badge of a hint and choosing Make Ghost Hint.
The badge of a ghost hint only displays the position and its orientation. An upward arrow ↑ a top ghost hint; a downward arrow ↓ indicates a bottom ghost hint. Attach it to a point by dragging the blue circle onto a node. Set the vertical orientation of a ghost hint by selecting it and clicking the upward or downward icon in the Info box (View → Show Info, Cmd-Shift-I).
Hinting Multiple Masters
PostScript hints, like TrueType hints, need to be defined for only the main master.
By default, that is the first master in the masters list.
Get Hints From Master custom parameter in File → Font Info… → Font (Cmd-I) to mark a different master as the main master.
Provided the hints are linked to nodes on the outline and the paths are compatible, they will be transferred to the corresponding nodes in compatible masters at interpolation time.
Manual hints in other masters will be ignored unless there are no hints in the main master. When using Alternate or Intermediate layers, insert hints in the layer that replaces the master layer carrying manual hints.

domain: design


The number of shootings in New York City has spiked by 13 percent so far this year, though the murder rate is on track to hit a 50-year low, a statistical paradox that experts said reflects quick medical response.
As of Sunday, some 507 people had been struck by bullets since Jan. 1 in New York City, up from 448 in the comparable period a year ago, according to data compiled by the New York City Police Department.
There has been a particular uptick in shootings over the past month, with 121 victims of gunfire over a 28-day period ending Sunday, compared with 86 for the same period last year, marking a 41 percent increase.
But homicides have continued to fall in the nation's largest city. There were 120 murders reported so far in 2014 compared with 140 a year earlier, a 15 percent decline, the data indicated. That puts the city on track to set a new low after posting a total of 333 murders last year, the fewest homicides recorded in citywide crime statistics dating back to 1963.
Police Commissioner William Bratton has said spikes and declines in crime rates are not unusual.
The declining homicide rate, despite an increase in shooting victims, reflects in part improved emergency medical response time, said Steven Messner, a criminal justice professor at the State University of New York at Albany.
Isn't that interesting. It seems the gun rights fanatics have been trying to pull a fast one over on us, again. Murder rates are dropping overall (just slightly) but the number of shootings has been increasing. Combined with the fact that fewer and fewer people own guns, in other words the average number of guns per (gun owning) capita has increased, this destroys one of their main talking points: more guns means less crime. Ha, take that.
Ha, take what? You just cited stats showing an increase in shootings in NYC which has a near total ban on citizens having guns. An increase in shootings might be significant if it was nationwide, or in an area with more respect for gun rights rather than data cherry picked from one city.ReplyDelete
As for the "fewer people owning guns" shtick, you keep harping on that old saw without providing evidence, yet we keep seeing more and more new shooters all the time. Repeating a lie over and over . . . makes gun controllers Feel better.
You're the one repeating the lie about new shooters. Are you talking about your own little circle of shooters? Or are you basing that on news reports on the internet?Delete
You guys used to claim that the boom in gun sales a few years ago was proof of more gun owners until it was shown not to be. People who own guns own more guns than they did last year or five years ago.
I did indeed provide evidence of that in a recent post about Gallup Polls.
"People who own guns own more guns than they did last year or five years ago."Delete
And there are more people owning them, as evidenced by your recent post about Gallup polls.
That's not what the Gallup polls showed. Look again.Delete
"People who own guns own more guns than they did last year or five years ago."Delete
Here is what you said. And here is the poll you cited,
Which seems to show a 5% increase in the number of Americans with guns in their homes.
We talked about this before. You choose only the last marker on the graph to make your point. The overall trend is clearly downward though, right?Delete
Mike, I've given good sources in the past for proof that the number of actual gun owners has risen, and not just the number of guns that each owns.Delete
If you want to base your claim on a phone survey, you're quite welcome to. I'm quite willing to wait and see if the upward trend in ownership continues to rise, or not.
Why is Mike's survey phoney and your numbers are not?Delete
I never said Mike's data is phony. Just not as accurate, since its a survey and prone to a margin of error. The sources I've given in the past have been real numbers linked to hard data.Delete
For example, to own a firearm in Illinois, you need to get a Firearm Owner's ID or FOID. The one card is good for multiple guns owned and can be used for multiple purchase. This eliminates the claim regarding multiple purchases by one person. One ID equals one owner.
And it appears that the Illinois State Police are having trouble keeping up with demand due to the growing numbers,
"The Illinois State Police (ISP), Firearms Services Bureau, (FSB) has received a record number of FOID card applications since May 2012. For example, in January 2013, the ISP FSB, received 61,172 FOID applications. As a comparison, in January 2012, the ISP FSB, received 31,655, which had been the highest number of FOID applications received during the month of January in years prior to 2012."
Even the Gallup poll which Mike contends shows a general decline long term has shown an increase this past year which coincides with the majority of those polled now placing gun rights as a higher priority than gun control.
And, as I told Mike, I'm perfectly ok with waiting to see if this one year increase repeats next year. Plus I have personally done my part to increase numbers of gun owners and participation in the shooting sports.
What shooting sports? Do you teach people to hunt? I thought you were military? The military teaches people to kill.Delete
I've gifted a friend recently with a carry permit class. I've also been teaching my children to shoot. The oldest is in the school trap league and has completed a hunter safety course. Next oldest while learning well isn't really into shooting at this point. Next one after that is very good and very interested. Youngest, hard to tall at this point.Delete
"I thought you were military? The military teaches people to kill."
I am military, and likely will be till they kick me out. Its interesting that you understand the true purpose of the armed forces. Its much like a firearm and completely dependent on the one who wields it, be it for good, or evil.
I'm an NCO, and the job of all NCO's are to train soldiers. I teach them to shoot effectively and accurately. I also teach things like rules of engagement and escalation of force.
Fine, but I'll call you out when you say "teaching shooting sports" I don't include your own children. You implied you taught classes to the masses.Delete
Ah, but I teach anyone who asks. I don't limit myself to soldiers and family. And except for training soldiers, which is my profession, I don't charge a dime.Delete
Who has asked? How many classes do you teach sport shooting to? You do tend to make claims you can't back up.Delete
I've instructed about twenty in the last year, either singly or in pairs. What claims are you suggesting I'm making that can't be backed up?Delete
"If you want to base your claim on a phone survey"Delete
That's you saying Mike's survey is phoney.
" Plus I have personally done my part to increase numbers of gun owners and participation in the shooting sports."
"I've gifted a friend recently with a carry permit class"
It's not quite clear, do you give classes, or gift classes?
"I'm an NCO, and the job of all NCO's are to train soldiers."
I wasn't talking about soldiers, but training civilians in your claim of teaching "sporting classes."
When you get your story straight, get back to me.
"I've gifted a friend recently with a carry permit class"Delete
It's not quite clear, do you give classes, or gift classes?"
In this case, I purchased a carry permit class for a friend since I'm not currently certified to instruct such classes.
"I wasn't talking about soldiers, but training civilians in your claim of teaching "sporting classes."
I currently teach both, and my training of civilians is limited to those I know and who ask. I have been considering doing more formalized teaching after I retire from the service. Either by becoming a certified carry permit instructor or by becoming involved in Project Appleseed. Though I also want to throw in teaching my other love also, motorcycling.
So... You're telling us shootings have increased in one city where they just passed the SAFE act. What? New York isn't SAFEr???ReplyDelete
What about the rest of the country?
SJ and TS got it out quicker than I and right they are.ReplyDelete
You guys are saying what? Because gun murder rates go up and down (a normal occurrence) that their is no gun problem?ReplyDelete
"Because gun murder rates go up and down (a normal occurrence) that their is no gun problem?"Delete
I've never suggested that Fred. It just seems a bit confusing since the normal claim is that strict gun laws reduce gun violence. Except when real numbers disprove it, then its caused by "other factors".
The only thing I'm sure of from this article is that the city's medical response procedures have improved resulting in more lives saved. A good thing.
I can't think of a law that has stopped 100% the crime that law is aimed at. That doesn't mean we eliminate that law, or don't pass laws because they don't work 100%. We do what we can and hope we can stop some of the needless crimes and deaths. Makes sense to me that trying to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and the deranged would reduce gun violence, if we do nothing then certainly we will not reduce gun violence.Delete
Sarge was clearly talking about a lack of any reduction in violence.Delete
"the normal claim is that strict gun laws reduce gun violence. Except when real NUMBERS disprove it, then its caused by "other factors". "Delete
There are always other factors. Gun availability is only one of them, but it is a concrete one which, if addressed, would result in a reduction in gun violence.
Gun availability is only one of them, but it is a concrete one which, if addressed, would result in a reduction in gun violence.Delete
Don't you worry, Mikeb--gun availability is being "addressed," and in just the right direction.
"the normal claim is that strict gun laws reduce gun violence"Delete
I was responding to this SS comment. I disagree that there is no reduction in violence, the facts say differently.
More people being shot, and fewer people dying? Sounds as if guns are becoming less lethal. How will the Violence Policy Center spin that? Sugarmann has been arguing that as manufacturers find ways to make guns of higher capacity, and capable of firing more powerful rounds, lethality keeps going up.ReplyDelete
You're playing dumb again. Medical emergency services are improving all the time.Delete
Medical emergency services are improving all the time.Delete
Improving faster than the supposed increase in the "lethality" of firearms and ammunition? Have you told Sugarmann about that?
Besides, I thought the U.S. health care system sucked. Are you going "jingoistic" on us, Mikeb?


text:
Give your Valentine what’s really on her wish-list this February 14th, like a gem or two that will seamlessly become jewelry box staples—and last way longer than flowers or chocolates. From mixed-metal rings to precious stone necklaces and shining pearl earrings, we’ve rounded up an elegant mix of fine jewelry stunners that she’s sure to love. With meaningful motifs and stunning details, these picks will stay timeless for years to come.
While you wear your heart on your sleeve, she'll wear this heart "forever."
A cheeky stack of lip-shaped rings is perfect for February 14th.
Conflict- and devastation-free diamonds for the socially conscious gal who loves an earring with a hint of sparkle.
The classic tennis bracelet is updated in modern rose gold and champagne-colored diamonds.


Checked in purple
A checkerboard in shades of purple this classic pattern can never go out of style. Oozing elegance and charm it is sure to fashion a lot of attention as you go.
*This saree has made a big screen appearance, read about it here : https://www.baragaonweaves.com/baragaon-to-bollywood/
17 in stock
Elegant and Handcrafted, this is a saree comfortable for everyday wear. it is low on maintenance with no requirements of starch and has a wonderful drape. With design inspirations from the tribal colours of Red and Black it is a perfect fit for a saree lovers wardrobe.
Size : Length is 6.5 m (Including 1 m of blouse piece), width of 44 inches.
Material : 100% Pure Cotton, Handloom.
- Mild Detergent
- Cold Wash
- Gentle Machine Wash
- Or Hand Wash
- First Wash separate
- Dry in shade
- No Dipping


By Ingrid Duran, Senior State Legislative Associate While most state legislatures have adjourned for the year, the pro-life community remains hard at work assisting in passing last- minute legislation before the 2011 legislative session ends. Just three days before Christmas, pro-life Ohio Governor John Kasich signed a bill into law preventing taxpayers from having to …Continue reading "Pro-lifers continue to fight for unborn children even as 2011 State Legislative Sessions are Ending"
By Dave Andrusko Under the category of ‘be careful what you [pro-abortionists] wish for’…. Earlier today the House of Representatives passed the Protect Life Act, 248-173. The Act is very much needed remedy because ObamaCare is a vipers nest of ( among other things) funding streams for abortion. The insistence of President Obama and Senate …Continue reading "Battle for Life Taking Place in Congress and State Legislatures"
By Dave Andrusko The story was one of those flattering accounts that would make any pro-life organization blush. While there are some unique qualities specific to Nebraska, the reasons Nebraska Right to Life was so successful this legislative session (“Abortion foes grab upper hand”) are largely the same reason Kansas and Oklahoma and other states …Continue reading "The Reasons why Pro-Lifers Fared so Well in 2011"


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Happy Monday. I have a quick post for you tonight.
This weekend, I was informed by Altenew that I had passed my first level test with this card. I was really happy to hear that and have now moved to level 2 classes!
The first class that I did had several lessons from the very talented Marika Rahtu ad the class is called "Beautiful Details". Her coloring is beautiful and she has a very unique take on many of the flower sets from Altenew. One of the lessons was detailed coloring on vellum using Copic markers and pencils. Ah..... fabulous... my two favorite coloring methods - all in one :-)
As I had to make a card inspired by one of the lessons in the class, I chose this one. It's been a while since I did anything with vellum and had forgotten about coloring on vellum. I chose the Build a Flower: Magnolia stamp set as my flower.
I began by stamping the flower and heat embossing it with clear embossing powder. I then put a piece of red cardstock behind the vellum so that I could clearly see the embossed flower. Now, the stamp set comes with some layering pieces to add interest and dimension, but I did that with Copics and pencils.
The key to coloring on vellum is to color from the back of the vellum - so all the detailed coloring is more noticeable on the back and the front is softer.
Here's a closeup of the colored flowers. You can see the various color browns I used for the stem and the multiple colors for the flowers. But, you can also see the subtle embossed areas.
The coloring behind the vellum also allowed me to add a couple of rolled up Lots so that I could lift the flower off the base just a little. It adds more interest when you can do that.
I mounted the flower and the sentiment layer onto fun foam and mounted it to the card base.
Here's my full card:
I love the fog cardstock behind the flower - it's a subtle contrast that separates the white card base from the white embossed flower and the stitched borders around both layers help to frame the flower and focus the eye. I really think I will be using this technique more often. You really should check out Marika's gorgeous card using this technique. A stunning piece of art!
I'll be back later in the week with another card and some photos. In the meantime, warm hugs and prayers for those of you who need a little lift tonight.
- Cardstock: Neenah Solar White; Fog - Simon Says Stamp
- Stamps: Build a Flower - Magnolia. Sentiment: Thinking of You - Altenew
- Inks: Copic markers; prismacolor pencils


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Samaritan Ministry of Greater Washington works to help the homeless in our community and others in basic, systemic, and unmet needs that underlie poverty, especially during this unprecedented time.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Samaritan Ministry has continued its great work with people who want to make a positive change in their lives - people like Antoinette Green. Click the video link to see a conversation with Antoinette just prior to the pandemic.
Save the date! On Thursday, October 29 at 7 p.m. you’ll have a chance to meet Antoinette live on Zoom to hear how she has maintained her success during the pandemic.


In this beautiful piece, the composer explores the different sonorites of the various chord qualities: major, minor, diminished. The melody is tossed back and forth between the hands, and the student must pay attention to the balance. Finally, the young pianist must be able to manage thumb crossings and good pedaling. "A Little Blue" is also a wonderful piece with which to introduce students to the concept of rubato.
Joyce Grill, a former faculty member at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, provides practical suggestions from her extensive teaching experience as she presents workshops to teachers and students across the country. Grill holds the MTNA Master Teacher Certificate and has been active in MTNA serving as the Wisconsin State President and the Division Vice-President. She also founded the La Crosse Area Music Teachers Association and serves on several arts advisory boards. In 2006, she was named a MTNA Foundation Fellow.
Grill holds degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has also received training at the School of Fine Arts in Fontainebleau, France, where she studied theory and composition with Nadia Boulanger and piano with Robert and Jean Casadesus.
Known for her ensemble writing, Grill is also a frequent guest conductor for multi-piano concerts. Some of her best-known publications originally published by Warner Bros. Publications, including In Style, Down the Road, and Accompanist (Yes, It Really Happens), are now available from Alfred Music Publishing.
Country Scenes is available through Alfred Music Publishing.


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Discarded food is one of society’s most pervasive problems, and was recently reported to be the leading cause of “green guilt.” While consumers may feel guilty, a lot of that food gets wasted long before it makes it to their plates.
A 2012 issue paper by Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) adeptly frames the increasingly popular topic and summarizes the opportunities to reduce wasted food – and money – along its journey from farm to fork to landfill.
Among the NRDC paper’s key findings:
- Americans trash 40 percent of our food supply every year, valued at about $165 billion;
- The average American family of four ends up throwing away an equivalent of up to $2,275 annually in food;
- Food waste is the single largest component of solid waste in US landfills;
- Just a 15 percent reduction in losses in the US food supply would save enough food to feed 25 million Americans annually.
“As a country, we're essentially tossing every other piece of food that crosses our path – that’s money and precious resources down the drain,” says Dana Gunders, NRDC project scientist and the issue paper’s author. “With the price of food continuing to grow, and drought jeopardizing farmers nationwide, now is the time to embrace all the tremendous untapped opportunities to get more out of our food system.”
NRDC isn’t the only group making this observation. In a recent report identifying opportunities in the area of resource productivity, the consulting firm McKinsey & Company ranked food waste as number three out of 130 areas.
It will require a collective approach by decision-makers at every level in the supply chain to increase the efficiency of the US food system.
Who are these decision-makers? The NRDC issue paper defines the key agents for change in this way:
- The US government should conduct a comprehensive study for food losses in our food system and establish national goals for food waste reduction. One key action will be to standardize and clarify the meaning of date labels on food so that consumers stop throwing out items due to misinterpretation. A waste reduction organization in the United Kingdom has estimated this type of clarification could prevent about 20 percent of wasted food in households.
- State and local governments should lead by setting targets and implementing food waste prevention campaigns in their jurisdictions as well as their own operations. One key opportunity for this is education alongside municipal composting programs.
- Businesses should start by understanding the extent and opportunity of their own waste streams and adopting best practices. For example, Stop and Shop was able to save an estimated $100 million annually after an analysis of freshness, shrink and customer satisfaction in their perishables department.
- Americans can help reduce waste by learning when food goes bad, buying imperfect produce, and storing and cooking food with an eye to reducing waste.
NRDC explains that by investing in these strategies to reduce food waste, “we can reap the tremendous social benefits of alleviating hunger, the environmental benefits of efficient resource use and the financial benefits of significant cost savings”; what the group refers to as a “triple-bottom-line solution.” If everyone plays their part, in tackling food waste, there are many social, environmental and financial benefits to be harvested.


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Best family adventure guide to Zion National Park! We had exciting adventures with a 1-year old in Zion National Park. You can do it with your family too! In this video, Ray talks about our adventures to Zion National Park with Aaron was only 1 year old. We hiked the classic Subway and Narrow and had fantastic time. You will see the challenging hikes, beautiful scenery of these two adventures. We will share the detailed logistics of these hikes, the gears you need to bring, how to take photographs and the other important tips.
https://scenictoursusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/1583029029_maxresdefault.jpg7201280Family World Wandererhttp://scenictoursusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/scenic-tours-USA-zion-national-park-rv-rental-vacation-utah.pngFamily World Wanderer2020-03-01 02:17:082020-03-01 02:17:12Zion National Park Adventure Guide with Kids | Subway & Narrows | Family Travel
In the final episode of my 2019 Zion National Park Series, I was fortunate enough to have my best photography day of my entire trip. It was an awesome way to end my trip. Thank you to everyone that has followed along.
https://scenictoursusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/1581845593_maxresdefault.jpg7201280Diego McCartneyhttp://scenictoursusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/scenic-tours-USA-zion-national-park-rv-rental-vacation-utah.pngDiego McCartney2020-02-16 09:33:122020-02-16 09:33:16My Best Photography Day In Zion National Park | Fall of 2019 | Landscape Photography
Zion National Park is one of the most visited national parks in the USA. See two of the top hikes in Zion National Park in this video including the Weeping Rock Trail, The Riverwalk Trail to the Narrows.
https://scenictoursusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/1580753116_maxresdefault.jpg7201280Little Birdie Travelhttp://scenictoursusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/scenic-tours-USA-zion-national-park-rv-rental-vacation-utah.pngLittle Birdie Travel2020-02-03 18:05:152020-02-03 18:05:21Zion National Park Part II - 2 of Zions Top Hikes - Weeping Rock Trail & Riverwalk to the Narrows
Four National Parks; Five Days. In this trip, Lindsey and I traveled to four national parks; Hot Springs, Mammoth Cave, Cuyahoga Valley, and Indiana Dunes. Make sure to leave a like on the video and check out my other videos.
https://scenictoursusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/1580202730_maxresdefault.jpg7201280Matt Lewishttp://scenictoursusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/scenic-tours-USA-zion-national-park-rv-rental-vacation-utah.pngMatt Lewis2020-01-28 09:12:102020-01-28 09:12:13Four National Parks; Five Days
https://scenictoursusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/1578950814_maxresdefault.jpg7201280Diego McCartneyhttp://scenictoursusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/scenic-tours-USA-zion-national-park-rv-rental-vacation-utah.pngDiego McCartney2020-01-13 21:26:542020-01-13 21:26:56I’ve Never Photographed Something Like This Before | Landscape Photography In Zion National Park
In Zion National Park, there is a lookout point at 5,790 feet elevation with sweeping 360-degree views. We checked it out. ** Warning** if you get motion sickness this may not be for you. There are a few shaky spots when I couldn’t use my hands to steady the camera.
https://scenictoursusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/1578198962_maxresdefault.jpg7201280Alexis Bradleyhttp://scenictoursusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/scenic-tours-USA-zion-national-park-rv-rental-vacation-utah.pngAlexis Bradley2020-01-05 04:36:012020-01-05 04:36:04Journey to the top of Angel’s Landing !
Este é o primeiro vídeo da série “Oeste Americano de MotorHome RV”. Durante 10 dias percorremos aproximadamente 2400 km na região oeste dos Estados Unidos. O primeiro parque visitado foi o Zion National Park, em Utah. Passamos um dia incrível no meio de magníficas paisagens, finalizando o dia passando pelo túnel Mt Carmel em direção ao Bryce Canyon. Aqui você vai encontrar dicas práticas, como estacionamento, tickets e trilhas.
https://scenictoursusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/1578078055_maxresdefault.jpg7201280MemoriArte Viagenshttp://scenictoursusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/scenic-tours-USA-zion-national-park-rv-rental-vacation-utah.pngMemoriArte Viagens2020-01-03 19:00:542020-01-03 19:00:59Zion National Park Dicas Rápidas
https://scenictoursusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/1577423807_maxresdefault.jpg7201280MemoriArte Viagenshttp://scenictoursusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/scenic-tours-USA-zion-national-park-rv-rental-vacation-utah.pngMemoriArte Viagens2019-12-27 05:16:462019-12-27 05:16:50Zion National Park em um dia: Dicas Rápidas
Zion National Park is a truly amazing park with lots to do and see. But what if you don’t know what to do first or what if you don’t have a lot of time? That’s why we put together a list of our Top 3, Must See places in Zion National Park!
We’ll show you where we went and how we got there along with some tips for the different areas too. Don’t miss Zion National Park. Its beauty is amazing and it’s a place for families, groups and individuals who are looking for awesome vistas and adventures.
Thanks for watching our video and let us know how your trip went to Zion National Park!
Sawback Gear places an emphasis on safety for all outdoor sports. Knowledge is truly powerful and knowing the right gear and techniques for the situation is important. Be safe, have fun and we’ll See You Outside!
For more information and in-depth blog posts about our favorite pieces of gear, recommended techniques, and the best places to travel, check out our website:
The recipe for Sawback Gear was born high on the switchbacks of Mount Whitney. The idea was simple, we wanted everyone to have the opportunity to experience the combination of relaxation, excitement, and rejuvenation that only the outdoors can provide. Start by giving people the know-how they need to ensure their adventures are successful and fun. Next, help people find the best equipment and gear they need. Finally, focus on the community, creating a group of people who simply love being outdoors. Throw in a handful of conservation (because you can’t go outdoors without the outdoors) and you’ve got the recipe for Sawback Gear. Whether its rock climbing, backpacking, mountaineering, or camping, if you want to get outdoors, we are here to help. If you love the outdoors as much as we do, subscribe to our channel! Click the link below:
https://scenictoursusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/1574248973_maxresdefault.jpg7201280Sawback Gearhttp://scenictoursusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/scenic-tours-USA-zion-national-park-rv-rental-vacation-utah.pngSawback Gear2019-11-20 11:22:522019-11-20 11:22:57Explore Zion National Park! | Our Top 3 Must See Places! | Sawback Gear
Join us as we explore beautiful Zion National Park in Southwest Utah. You can spend weeks In Zion National Park but for us, this was a day trip. If time is limited and I can only do one thing is Zion National Park it will be walking or hiking the Narrows in Zion National Park (notice how I manage to get “Zion National Park” in there so many times for SEO LOL haha there I did it again =). It’s considered one of the absolute best trails in the world and it’s a hike nearly anyone can enjoy.
Adam Hopkins is a local Real Estate Agent in the greater Las Vegas area.
Feel Free to call or text anytime 702-860-2007
Join our Facebook Group the Vegas Report. https://www.facebook.com/groups/VegasReport/
The park was established on November 19, 1919 (That’s a lot of 19’s)
In 1920, Zion National Park had 3,692 visitors. In 2017, the park had 4.5 million visitors.
The park is open all through the year, but the peak time is from April to October.
The fall and mild spring temperatures are perfect for hiking. That being said being from las Vegas Summer temperatures are always cooler than we experience. I have enjoyed this park in all kinds of weather and times, from show to lightning and thunderstorms which is spectacular to hear the rumble through the canyon and see unbelievable waterfalls. the other perks to going off-season are that you have far fewer people in the park and can drive in the park that is only seen via the tram in the main visiting season.
The wonders of Zion National Park include, but are not limited to: mountains, canyons, mesas, monoliths, rivers, slot canyons, and natural arches. plus you have to check out the 1.1-mile tunnel Zion-Mount Carmel Highway At the time of its completion it was the longest non-urban road tunnel in the United States and features six large windows cut through the massive sandstone cliff.
Things to consider when hiking the Zion Canyons Narrows:
Our family lives in Las Vegas and we enjoy visiting as often as time will permit and with only being 3 hours away makes for a nice quick getaway from las vegas. Thanks for watching this weeks episode: Exploring The Narrows in Stunning Zion National Park in Southern UT Our Family Adventure. As we make this epic hike
1 person (No vehicle access $20)
2+ person (Per vehicle) Offseason
Zion Annual Pass $60
Interagency Annual Pass (for seniors it a lifetime pass) $80
Interagency Access Pass (US residents ages 62 & older) $20
Interagency Access Pass (US residents permanently disabled) FREE
Interagency Military Pass (Current US military) FREE (Thank you for your service:)
Zion is located in the Southwest corner of Utah.
The closest major airports are:
150 miles from Las Vegas
Or 300 Miles from Salt Lake City
The driving time that’s about 3 hours from Vegas, 4.5 hours from Salt Lake City, or 8 hours from Los Angeles
There’s a couple of other small airports closer by, Saint George is just 49 miles from the park, and Cedar City is 60 miles
(no drone footage was filmed by me inside the park footage came from Zion National Park)
https://scenictoursusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/1573473137_hqdefault.jpg360480Adam Hopkinshttp://scenictoursusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/scenic-tours-USA-zion-national-park-rv-rental-vacation-utah.pngAdam Hopkins2019-11-11 11:52:172019-11-11 11:52:18Exploring The Narrows in Stunning Zion National Park in Southern UT Our Family Adventure
SCENIC TOURS USA
Videos, News & Information about the West’s most exciting locations, parks & recreation!

domain: hobby


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The Boston area has experienced about a year’s worth of rain in the last 24 hours, and it’s flooding areas that are generally never underwater. As this driver found out, a Mazda Miata might not be the best option for fording a river.
The photo comes from the intersection of Route 126 North and Route 9 East in Framingham, Massachusetts, about 25 minutes west of the city of Boston.
There’s a Tout video showing the same intersection from a different angle, where a number of drivers of an Infiniti QX50, a Chrysler Town & Country, and a Mazda3 Hatchback made their way out onto Route 9 like U-Boat commanders:
— Rob Haneisen (@Rob_HaneisenMW) September 30, 2015
Our hapless Miata driver must’ve tried the same thing, but there’s no way a car with the ground clearance of a deck of playing cards is going to make it through that much water.
The Massachusetts State Police closed the intersection by 11:00 this morning.

domain: geography


text: DC Universe Online's latest cinematic trailer asks you to trust Lex Luthor. Time is running out for Fracture as an invading enemy force threatens to overtake the base. Lex has stolen the exobytes from Brainiac, giving humanity the ability to evolve into heroes and villains. This isn't actual gameplay but it's definitely a breathtaking cutscene. DC Universe Online is available now for the PS3 and PC.


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In its weekly evaluation of the pandemic launched on Tuesday, the UN well being company mentioned circumstances and deaths globally have risen by about 6%, with about 3.6 million new infections and 51,00 new deaths reported within the earlier week.
WHO’s Europe director Dr. Hans Kluge warned that with out pressing measures taken quickly, the continent might see one other 700,000 deaths by the spring.
“The European region stays within the agency grip of the Covid-19 pandemic,” Kluge mentioned, calling for nations to extend vaccination and to take different management measures like masking and social distancing to keep away from “the final resort of lockdowns.”
He famous that whereas more than 1 billion vaccine doses have been administered throughout WHO’s European region, which stretches to central Asia, the vary in vaccination protection varies from 10% to 80%.
In the final week, Austria, the Netherlands and Belgium have all adopted stricter measures together with partial lockdowns to attempt to stem the most recent surge of the coronavirus. Germany is additionally set to report more than 100,000 Covid-19 deaths this week, with some politicians now calling for a vaccine mandate, just like the one ordered in Austria.
Globally, WHO reported that Covid-19 in Southeast Asia and the Middle East dropped by 11% and 9% respectively.
The greatest lower in coronavirus deaths within the final week was seen in Africa, the place fatalities fell by 30%, persevering with a lowering development in Covid-19 that first started in late June.
Although circumstances remained secure within the Americas, WHO mentioned the variety of deaths rose by about 19%.
The company mentioned the easier-to-spread delta variant stays the predominant model of Covid-19 globally. Of the more than 840,000 sequences uploaded to the most important publicly out there database of viruses within the final week, about 99.8% had been the delta variant.
Other variants together with mu, lambda and gamma made up fewer than 1% though they proceed to make up a big proportion of sequences from Latin America.


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If you are looking for a residential home please enter the type and location of the service in the boxes then click the search button to be taken to a list of homes that match your criteria
Your guide to residential and nursing care homes including specialist learning disability, respite, EMI and dementia in Suffolk. For further information click on a home in the list below or alternatively select one of the county's districts from the list on the right hand side.
Suffolk is the 8th largest county in England by area and the 31st largest by population. Like its immediate neighbour to the north Norfolk, Suffolk is a rural county, comprising a mainly wetland habitat - including the Broads - and arable land. The county also borders Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. As of the 2001 census there were 90,029 people aged over 70 living in Suffolk, approximately 13.4% of the total population. Within the county there are over 200 residential care and nursing care homes providing services for older people and people with learning disabilities.
21 Temple Road, Stowmarket, IP14 1AT
Cedar Lodge Residential Care Home, Culford, Bury St Edmunds, IP28 6DX
43 Park Road, Aldeburgh, IP15 5EN
Church Terrace, Off Chapel Lane, Wickham Market, IP13 0SG
30 Vinery Road, Bury St Edmunds, IP33 2JT
236 Felixstone Road, Ipswich, IP3 9AD
Union Lane, Oulton, Oulton Broad, Lowestoft, NR32 3AX
The Croft, Sudbury, CO10 1HR
322 Colchester Road, Ipswich, IP4 4QN
1-3 Saltgate, Beccles, NR34 9AN


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Willbriggie North and South campgrounds
Murrumbidgee Valley Regional Park
Camp beside the Murrumbidgee River at this dog-friendly campground. Book a stay at one of 8 campgrounds in the Willbriggie North and South area of Murrumbidgee Valley Regional Park.
You can choose to camp at any of these 8 locations when you arrive:
- Alfies Beach
- Bunyip Hole
- Clives Corner
- Dolans Beach
- Horries Beach
- Paradise Beach
- Swaggys Beach
- Whitakers Bend
There are no camping fees but a $6 booking fee applies. Bookings are required.
- Campfires are permitted between April and September.
- Collection of deadfall timber is permitted for small campfires only.
- Dogs and domestic pets are permitted everywhere in Murrumbidgee Valley Regional Park, but they are prohibited in Murrumbidgee Valley National Park. You can walk and camp with your dog in Murrumbidgee Valley Regional Park but you will need to keep them on a leash at all times and remember to pick up after them.
You can't remove firewood from the park. Chainsaws are not permitted.
Vehicle access and road quality
All roads leading to Willbriggie North and South campgrounds are unsealed. 4WD vehicles are recommended when wet. Campervans/RVs are permitted in this area, however not all campgrounds suit these types of vehicles.
How to get there
From Darlington Point to Willbriggie North:
- Travel 1km along Carrington Street.
- Follow onto Bridge Street for about 50m.
- Turn left onto Forest Drive an unsealed road and travel about 100m.
- This is the Willbriggie North main entrance.
From Darlington Point to Willbriggie South:
- Turn right off Bridge Street onto Carrington Street.
- Turn left off Carrington Street onto MacLeay Street.
- Travel 700m on Kings Street, then turn right onto an unsealed road.
- This is the main entrance to Willbriggie South.
There are no rubbish collection points. Please take all rubbish when you leave.
These maps give a basic overview of park attractions and facilities, and may not be detailed enough for some activities. We recommend that you buy a topographic map before you go exploring.
- National Parks Contact Centre
- 7am to 7pm daily
- 1300 072 757 (13000 PARKS) for the cost of a local call within Australia excluding mobiles
- Griffith office
- Monday to Friday, 9am to 4pm. Closed 1pm to 2pm.
- 02 6966 8100
- 200 Yambil Street, Griffith NSW 2680


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Closing the book on its short-lived supplier agreement with Apple, GT Advanced Technologies announced on Thursday that its finalized settlement will see the company exit the sapphire production business, and spend the next four years paying back — interest free — the $439 million prepayment it received from Apple.
As part of the settlement with Apple, GT Advanced Technologies has agreed to no longer produce sapphire materials. Instead, the company plans to refocus its business as an "equipment supplier, manufacturing and developing sapphire growth systems and process."
The settlement must still be approved by a bankruptcy court in November. The deal allows GT Advanced to be released from its exclusive agreement with Apple, and it will retain "all production, ancillary and inventory assets located in Mesa."
GT Advanced plans to go on selling more than 2,000 "Advanced Sapphire Furnaces" on the open market without any restrictions in order to repay its debt.
As a result, Apple is "provided with a mechanism for recovering" the $439 million prepayment it made to GT Advanced. That was only part of the $578 million contract Apple inked with GTAT a year ago, but the last $139 million was withheld after the sapphire maker was unable to deliver on agreed upon production goals.
Though Apple will recover the $439 million it invested in the company, it will take up to four years to do so, and the money will be paid back without interest. The money will come from a portion of the proceeds from the furnaces GT Advanced plans to sell.
In the end, the deal between GT Advanced and Apple lived for less than a year — the original master development and supply agreement between the two parties was signed on Oct. 31, 2013. GTAT has already begun the process of shutting down its facility in Mesa, Ariz., and about 650 employees there have been laid off.
Work is still happening at the facility, but will be wound down over the coming months. GTAT has said it is "committed to supporting" the employees laid off, as well as their families, "through this transition."
"We realize that our filing for Chapter 11 protection has caused uncertainty and hardship for many of our important stakeholders," said Tom Gutierrez, president and chief executive officer of GTAT. "We have been working diligently to develop a restructuring plan that will allow us to emerge from Chapter 11 as quickly as possible and with the operating flexibility and resources to position GT for long-term success. This agreement with Apple is an important step in that direction as it will allow us to monetize our advanced sapphire growth and fabrication technologies in an unrestricted manner."
GT Advanced shocked investors and observers alike when the company filed for bankruptcy earlier this month. The exact details surrounding the company's implosion remain unknown, thanks in part to strict confidentiality agreements with Apple.
Apple currently uses scratch-resistant sapphire crystal to protect the fingerprint sensor found within the Touch ID home button on its iPhone and iPad lineups. Sapphire also covers and protects the rear iSight camera on the company's iPhones.


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Cotton Cake vs Thunder Disco Club
- Henry Northmore
- 5 July 2010
Two of Glasgow’s finer club nights team up for a new quarterly night of house, disco, kitsch electronic delights and more besides, all in aid of the Princess Royal Trust. With visuals by Joe Crogan, photography by Tommy Ga Ken Wan and reportage from blogger duo Les Garçons de Glasgow.
Sub Club, Glasgow, Fri 16 Jul.

domain: artistic


Aston Villa are ready to launch their meteoric Meatball in the shape of John McGinn at Manchester City this weekend.
The high-octane Scottish superstar is primed to out-run and out-fight Pep Guardiola's midfield at The Etihad, with Dean Smith himself beaming: "They wouldn't have come across a player like John McGinn, he's quite unique."
He added: "They would have come across different players in the Champions League and in the Premier League week in, week out but, when you look at Man City, Pep is very happy with the way they play and their approach to the game."
And while the star-studded plaudits were sent Jack Grealish's way following the dramatic last-gasp Brighton victory a week ago, it's McGinn who's already bamboozled the Premier League's elite this term, scoring against Tottenham and Arsenal respectively on Villa's two trips to north London.
Another grand stage awaits Villa in the east-end of Manchester this Saturday lunchtime - and McGinn could hold the all-important key to any likely success for Smith and his troops up against the likes of Kevin Du Bruyne and Raheem Sterling.
The Scot is the only Premier League player to rank in the top-10 for both tackles (26) and successful dribbles (24) so far after the nine-game start, the latter figure more than any other central midfield player. City could - and probably will - find McGinn's combative playing-style awkward, too, as the 25-year-old remains the third-most fouled player (26) in the league behind Wilfried Zaha (30) in second and teammate Grealish (38).
Staying on the pitch, McGinn's relentless energy, drive and quality on and off the ball makes him a threat for any team - even Pep's City.
"I've always believed he's a goal threat," explained Smith. "He makes great runs, has got good timing which you've seen with his goal at Arsenal. He's good at arriving and that's the key to being a good goalscorer.
"He has unbelievable energy levels, a big, big heart but people don't see the technical side of it as well - he's got that in abundance."


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SoCal skate docs collide with North Sea DIY surf movies at Nord Nordwest Surf Film Fest, Hamburg. Here are the festival favourites.
Hamburg's Nord Nordwest Surf Film Fest is a chance for the Northern European surf and skate community to come together and be counted.
Five German skaters set sparks flying as they cruise Dresden’s epic Old Town in the dead of night.
Five skaters take on the vast and surreal landscape of Alaska in a breathtaking short film.
The Spiel Sesh is a new quick-fire Q&A series with Huck's indie culture heroes. First up, Machotaildrop and Devil's Toy Redux filmmaker Corey Adams.


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Much has happened since the series of deadly events on September 11, 2001 that terrified Americans and kept us all glued to our television sets for days on end when 2,977 people were killed and more than 6,000 others were injured.
But more terrifying for some Americans and millions of people across the globe, have been the actions our political leaders in Congress and four administrations have carried out in response to the carnage on that day in New York City, Washington, D.C. and Shanksville, Pennsylvania. They have funded and orchestrated a Global War on Terror (GWOT) for the past 21 years to root out terrorism in the Middle East and beyond — across 85 countries no less. An ongoing full-spectrum program ranging from the overt violence delivered by the American military machine to the devastating effects of intimidation through political, media, economic and financial manipulations.
At what cost? According to a team of scholars and researchers at The Costs of War project at Brown University: $8 trillion and counting, and 929,000 deaths as a direct result of the fighting — armed combatants on all sides, civilians, journalists, and aid workers.
But this human toll does not include indirect deaths caused by disease, lack of access to clean drinking water, food and shelter.
We must also recognize the ongoing trauma and suffering 38 million people are experiencing because they’ve been displaced either within their own country or seeking safety in another country as refugees. If you’ve encountered refugees from any of the dozens of war-torn countries, most recently our newly arrived Afghan refugees relocating in Brattleboro, you might have a sense of what displaced survivors have endured.
So what did we Vermonters, as taxpayers, receive in return for our financial contribution towards the $8 trillion cost of the GWOT? What if that dollar amount had been invested in things we and our neighbors need?
• A health care system funded to support good health starting with access to affordable housing, water, food, child care and medical services? Resources to respond to the current drug addiction epidemic. Upgrades for better care for veterans.
• Well paying jobs with benefits starting with a $15 minimum wage with emphasis on rebuilding the state’s physical infrastructure — bridges, roads, (flood-control), municipal water and waste systems, “healthy” school buildings, environmental projects (eg: Lake Champlain clean-up), public parks and recreational facilities.
• Incentives to recruit and retain nurses, teachers, especially in child care and early child education, law enforcement personnel and firefighters.
• Affordable college education, starting with two-year technical programs and apprenticeships in tradition and emerging trades (think solar and clean energy). We witnessed four colleges closing in our state in the past decade when everyone is crying for an “educated” workforce.
• Incentives for home-owners and businesses to invest in solar electricity systems, especially those tied to micro-grids and the GMP grid.
• Transition to an electric transportation system: incentives for hybrid and all-electric private, commercial and state/municipal vehicles; expansion of rail services across the state.
• Support for organic farming and dairy operations and the processing and distribution of its products to counter the export of our food dollars.
Instead, we find ourselves paying for the GWOT and its staggering legacy and unabated propagation of untold human suffering, environment destruction and generations of loss opportunities across the globe. And in this country.
What can we do about all this? We can continue to work for “The Good” here in our community. Personally I am in awe of the level of giving-back, be it through for municipal governance and services, churches, dozens upon dozens of non-profit groups, local-minded businesses and the whole spectrum of activist, art and cultural activities.
But if we believe in the shared values of truth, social justice and sustainability, I would suggest that we try to understand how this GWOT originated. No better time than now — the 21st anniversary of the events of 9/11 is upon us. We need to take responsibility for allowing our country’s political leadership to respond to those events with unbridled vengeance.
After all, making war is arguably the single most unsustainable of all human activities. And an unjust war is morally reprehensible, weighing on our hearts, whether we realize that or not.

domain: sociology


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Single greeting card featuring Folk Dance by Cyril Powers from the collection of the National Galleries of Scotland.
Produced by Portfolio, the card comes with envelope, and it is blank inside so you can add your own message. Printed in the United Kingdom on chlorine free, FSC accredited environmentally friendly board.
Folk Dance is a linocut made in 1932 printed with 3 block colours. The juxtaposition between the cool toned blues and the richly coloured reds creates a striking and dynamic image that echoes the movement of the dancers.
Cyril Edward Powers (1872 - 1951) was born in Chelsea, England in 1872. He studied architecture and was awarded the Sloane Medallion from the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1900. Power worked as an architect at the Ministry of Works and in 1908 he became a lecturer of architectural design and history at the School of Architecture, University College and at Goldsmiths College in London. While he was teaching, Powers published a series of books called A History of English Mediaeval Architecture, in 1912 which featured 424 of his own ink drawings. In 1922 he started to experiment with watercolour paintings, creating a series on Town and landscapes and subsequently enrolled in the Heatherley's School of Fine Art where he was also elected a fellow of the Royal Historical Society. Powers’ incredible career continues as he helped to establish the Grosvenor School of Modern Art and became principal lecturer there. In 1930, Power was then elected a member of the Royal Society of British Artists and started to exhibit his own artwork on linocuts and monotypes. Powers continued to experiment with different mediums well into his later years and in 1951, before his death, he made around 90 oil paintings portraying various British landscapes.

domain: history